Maggie's Farm

Some old computer ads. h/t, Synthstuff (sample on right)

Turning the tables on the enemies of the Second Amendment. Surber

Men, women, and empathy. Frontal Cortex

Global cooling crisis hits Iran hard

Being unfaithful keeps me happy. Telegraph

Mrs. Clinton defends Bill's attack dog role in her campaign. When did Bill ever know anything about dignity?

The behind-the-scenes Thompson story. Makes sense to me.

Another Gaza crisis? Red Cross wants Israel to offer more supplies to Hamas. As Cinnamon quotes:

You tell me what other country would be supplying electricity to people who are bombing their children on a daily basis, and risking their lives to do so.

Another bewildered journalist. Squaring the Boston Globe. The guy sounds like he thinks there has been a "market failure" in journalism, and wants a government job.

The WSJ on Obama's Clinton Education. A quote:

One of our favorite Bill Clinton anecdotes involves a confrontation he had with Bob Dole in the Oval Office after the 1996 election. Mr. Dole protested Mr. Clinton's attack ads claiming the Republican wanted to harm Medicare, but the President merely smiled that Bubba grin and said, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

We're reminded of that story listening to Barack Obama protest his treatment by the now ex-President Clinton on behalf of his wanna-be-President wife. "You know the former President, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling," Mr. Obama told a TV interviewer. "He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts -- whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas."

 Now he knows how the rest of us feel.

Michigan denies driver's licenses to illegals.

French students prostitute themselves for tuition. I guess the mean government forced them into it - or maybe they have no other skills.

Rorke's Drift, on this day in 1879

Do you care about the budget deficit? Megan McArdle

Saudi Arabia to permit women to drive.

Right Wing Prof liked Cloverfield. So did a Bird Dog pup.

More MA medical insurance mess.

A Danny Ortega update.

Why you don't need to worry yourself about the Ice Caps

Is NATO irrelevant? RWNH

Are we reaching the end of cheap food? First the Chinese wanted oil, but now they want burgers too.

The MSM is not only on the Dem side, but they are afraid of the Clintons, who have the influence and willingness to destroy careers if it will help them. A quote from Am Thinker:

The Clinton political machine is nothing if not formidable.  When annoying tidbits inadvertently surface in the mainstream press, the political hammer comes down.  MSNBC is simply not allowed to criticize Democrats and especially not Hillary.

The preferential treatment the left receives from our mainstream press has become undeniably obvious.  Conservatives have pointed to it for many years, but the greater public is just now awakening to the truth, as reflected in the consistently low numbers the media receives in opinion polls.  CNN's staging of questioners during a recent Republican debate is a case in point.  While silly puff pieces about Hillary abound, we have yet to hear any substantive or aggressive questioning of the Senator.  Her agenda will likely remain a mystery, as most of the press is in her pants suit pocket.  Annoying cackles aside, the special contempt FOX receives from the socialist left is precisely because they are not part of the "progressive" team and not as easily controlled or intimidated as the rest of the media.  The Democrats take their influence for granted, and despise press they cannot control.

The usually-calm and sane Dr. Sanity lets loose a rant: Let's end the cold war and get rid of Marxist BS once and for all. A quote:

We were mistaken in the 90's when we thought we had won the cold war against the communists.....The same Marxist dialectic crap is now being played out in the Democratic primary. Which "oppressed" group will triumph over the other oppressed groups and go on to be oppressed by the evil Republicans, I wonder? There exists a heirarchy that determines whose victimhood is more worthy (I refer to it as the "socialist food chain" here). Will it be Obama or Clinton? Or, perhaps the pandering Edwards, who, while the low man on the victimhood totempole, is trying to suck up to both groups at the same time.

Isn't it time we finally showed this ideological nonsense the door and slammed it shut? We have a chance to not only finally put an end to the kind of racial and gender discrimination that only divides us and keeps us in perpetual victimhood; we have the chance of truly renouncing the vile communist and socialist ideas that suck the freedom and dignity out of all of us.

I am tired of the primaries and the elections. Michelle live-blogged the Dem debate while most people snoozed. However, our friend TigerHawk managed to find some humor in it. Obama calls Bill Clinton a liar. Is that news to us? He is supposedly running against Mrs. Clinton, but they are double-teaming the poor guy, and Bill seems to want his pied a terre in DC back again. Personally, I would never care to spend any time with Mrs. C, but I'd be happy to have a beer with Obama - although I would never vote for him. Meanwhile:

Mrs. C. thinks she is smarter than the markets. I somehow doubt it...

Do I vote for a black guy or a "female" person. Sheesh. Such deep reportage.

And David Brooks wonders about the Reagan coalition. Don't worry so much, Dave.

But the most fun of all: Nader considers running.

I am so sorry that hunting season is over.

h/t, Roger Kimball

Rupert takes on Pinch.  Am. Thinker. I'd like to watch that competition. Truth is, I like the NYT EXCEPT for the way they propagandize in their news pages. The fact that their editorials are 1960s-era knee-jerk radical chic is predictable for a Manhattan-based newspaper, and one does not have to read them.

Whole Foods CEO lays out the future of food. (h/t, Am. Digest)

Is morality important in a partner? Dr. Helen. Duh.

Culture alters the brain. Of course it does - everything does. And big things effect it a lot.

How do politicians do this? Hillary Clinton's money.

The Canadian human rights scam. Steyn

Elegant bird feeders

You know you're near a bottom when mortgage brokers start jumping off bridges

Hawk killers. CNN Video. These are bad people.

Re McCain: What's a maverick? Betsy

Success of gun laws: Canadian knife deaths now exceed shootings

Fred: What might have been. Krumm (h/t, Insty)

Steyn on Bill Clinton in NRO:

Tomasky's missing the point: It's in part because "thousands of committed progressives... went to the mat for him" that he's in a position to screw you over ten years later. He decided back then he'd do what was necessary to win. Why would you expect him to behave any differently today? And how deluded do you have to be to think, of all people, Vernon Jordan's going to tell him to cut it out?

I love the way all these worldly Democratic sophisticates - the ones who told us "everybody does it" - sound so sweetly naive at discovering that this time round "everybody" has done it to them. Better get used to a lot more of that.

How the Dems view us, the people, at Moonbattery:

At a healthcare forum in Fremont, loony-left Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) offered some insight into how his kind view us little people.

Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, which oversees Medicare, Stark admitted that Dems are imposing socialized medicine incrementally so that people don't rebel:

If I told voters that we would implement a brand-new health care system on January 1, 2009, I'd be nailed to the front door of the nearest hospital.

Stark questioned why economic freedom should ever be applied to healthcare. He even declared that we have a "right" to force others to pay our doctor bills.

Speaking of which, a quote from this 1970 Time magazine piece about Saul Alinsky:

If the occasion requires, Alinsky's forces will not refrain from spreading rumors about an antagonist or indulging in something that comes very close to blackmail. "Our organizers," he says, "look for the wrong reasons to get the right things done."

Yes, the ends justify the means...For the Left, in my view, there are higher laws than those of morality.

Obama: None of our hands is clean. Sorry to disagree - mine are. Also, Obama goes after Bill. More from Wizbang. Apparently Obama is beginning to feel that hs is running against Bill, and I can understand why.

The archeology of downtown NYC. Wooden water mains. h/t, Synthstuff

Is divorce good for women?

The sex life of a polyglot. George Steiner on himself.

The twilight of the nation-state in Europe. Bruce Thornton

"I have a dream" speech was plagiarized, in part. Gateway. Cannot fault MLK's delivery, though.

MSM Propaganda: 1.Definining poverty in America. Half own their own homes, 3/4 own cars. Cramer  2. The fictional horrors of war. Steyn. More on the "soldier as felon" at Small Dead Lemmings

The darkest material on earth. Thompson

Siberian Light has a new format and a new mission

Chavez is a coke-head.

The USA is still a center-right country.

What's new in diversity at Yale? John Leo

Women in Saudi Arabia worse off than prisoners at Gitmo. Jules

Cassandra's Dream reviewed in the NYT. I won't be bothering to see it.

Ten Commandments "stupid," says Bill Maher. Can't fault him for lack of self-confidence.

PC pizzas, kids. (h/t, Theo)

Irish emissions bad. Bulgarian emissions good.

Obama and Rezko

Whither Fred Thompson? NYT

Alinsky's tactics: Hillary and Obama.

What does success in Iraq look like? Powerline

Rudy: Not running as an Italian-American.

Photo: Colorado skiing, last year.

I will be off duty for a couple of days for a bit of a hunt - a wild goose chase for a couple of days in the snow and wintr'y weather.

Speaking of killing, look what PETA does. Natural born killers?

As much as I love rail, the nation's massive  "investment" in it is not producing dividends. Coyote. If you ask me (and nobody does), this country does not need one more road on my nickel. Nor, apparently, does it need one more rail. Perhaps we're done with basic transportation for now.

Illegals moving north to avoid enforcement. Wizbang

Via Mankiw, Anna Schwartz dings the Fed. And yes, a feckless Fed did cause the Great Depression. The "market failure" meme was a scapegoat, but the Leftys did get some mileage out of it, and still do.

If you have not read about this already, the story of the NYT's public editor's assault on Bill Kristol is hard to believe. They clearly have no idea about how lucky they are to have him, but I still think they should hire Mark Steyn. When they hire Steyn, I will renew...maybe.

The truth about those famous Vietnam photos. Neoneo. Thanks for that piece, Neo, and for the series it is a part of. You put plenty of work into that series, to our benefit.

And speaking of MSM propaganda, the NYT used nine reporters to produce this utterly dishonest smear of American veterans. How can they bear to look at themselves in the mirror?

No clothes? Or an empty suit? Why Hillary, despite celebrity status, is an empty pantsuit.

I think this is accurate.  Why Mayor Menino doesn't want low-cost medical clinics - because they aren't run by the government. Who is he to decide where I get help? I'll go to the darn veterinarian, who is my pal, if I want to.

From a Betsy quote on college admissions craziness:

As for the remainder of the tuition--that portion not covered by student aid--it must then be provided by the parents, who work overtime in America's marvelous market economy so their children can spend four years in the care of college professors who despise the market economy and the bourgeois buffoons who work in it overtime so they can send their kids to college, where, coincidentally, the kids will acquire a degree that does next to nothing to prepare them for working in the market economy.

Witches useful to police in Kenya.

Steve Jobs' keynote speech, summarized. Without a doubt, Apple=Gizmos.

No comment on Michigan. All of this micro-punditry is hot air.

Shelby Steele explains why Obama is correct about Iran. Not saying that I agree, but Steele makes an intelligent case.

Children who need parents - not pills. Daily Mail

Does anybody believe this? Asthma and diet. Smells like junk science to me.

"Everything you need to know about how Hillary would govern." Sisu.  Viking explains it all, about the Hillary campaign. Indeed, Hitchins has it right - one quote:

In the New Hampshire primary in 1992, she knowingly lied about her husband’s uncontainable sex life and put him eternally in her debt. This is now thought of, and referred to in print, purely as a smart move on her part. In the Iowa caucuses of 2008, he returns the favor by telling a huge lie about his own record on the war in Iraq, falsely asserting that he was opposed to the intervention from the very start. This is thought of, and referred to in print, as purely a tactical mistake on his part: trying too hard to help the spouse. The happy couple has now united on an equally mendacious account of what they thought about Iraq and when they thought it. What would it take to break this cheap little spell and make us wake up and inquire what on earth we are doing when we make the Clinton family drama—yet again—a central part of our own politics?

If lightning never strikes twice in the same place, I guess we're safe up here in Yankeeland. The end is near for everybody else, though.

Is it true that Columbus brought syphilis to the old world?

Nifong files for bankruptcy

Yglesias critiques Goldberg's book. Atlantic

Not dead yet. Fred's raising $

"Please do not let this person near policy formulation again." Tigerhawk.  Yes - she is the return of Bella Abzug. Also piling on this wacko lady, Attack Machine.

Rush exasperated but "on fire." The Corner. More exasperation from Dr. Sanity:

What has the Republican Party come to? With all the socialism-lite being bandied about here in Michigan; all the empty promises glibly being made--how are these guys any different from the feckless Democrats who got us into this economic mess to begin with?

Where is the candidate who will proudly stand up for the free market? Who will say that too much government is the problem and that the solution is to do away with government regulation that is stifling economic freedom in Michigan and elsewhere?

Are we at the end of small government conservatism? The end? When did it begin?

Another letter to the NYT that will not get published. Powerline

Why is Mayor Menino going after low-cost medical clinics?

Tim Blair diagnosed with abdominal cancer. God bless, and good luck, Tim.

Remembering Bernie Goetz. Never Yet Melted notes:

The Goetz shooting was an intolerable assertion of individualism, one potentially capable of effectively politically challenging the principle of the state’s monopoly of force. Thus, from the statist perspective of the left, it was the Goetz self defense incident, not the crime level, which constituted the nadir of history for New York City.

Fuhrer knows best. Wilson reviews Goldberg's book in the NY Post

The elite readers of the NYT

"Ah, those clever literary intellectuals." neoneo

"Something for sneering know-it-alls to think about." No Pasaran

The desire for a political messiah. JR Dunn

Financial advisors' #1 worry: A Dem in the White House

A school vouchers Democrat. Front Page

More ice or less ice - Either way, it's global warming

Spies for Al Qaida. Big Lizard. The bad guys seem to slink away right before an assault.

Teaching teachers not to teach. h/t, Minding the Campus

The real meaning of academic letters of recommendation.

The LAT's phony propaganda

John McCain: Enemy of free speech

Krugman just can't stop America-bashing...but he will stop, once there's a Dem in the White House. Also, at Am. Thinker: Krugman sees Europe thru the looking-glass.

NYT begins a vet-bashing series

Strong stuff from the Pope: Trivialized sex=trivialized women

Global warming has doubtless caused the beautiful snow in Baghdad. Locals feel it's a signal from God - a signal of peace.

What about America's "international standing"? Donald Douglas

With a lower dollar, American products - and American stocks - are cheaper for the world. Why is that a bad thing?

More strong stuff from Vanderleun on New Orleans:

"You've got a mouth full of gimme, a hand full of much obliged." -- Bessie Smith, Gulf Coast Blues

I don't know about you but I have had it with the legions of hustlers, grifters, drunks, junkies, pathics and drooling layabouts that keep waddling and teetering up to the public trough from that swamp of puke called New Orleans. The latest of an endless line of calls upon the kindness of strangers by these public-purse pimps is this little bit of chicanery: Katrina victim sues U.S. for $3 quadrillion.

A good wholesome rant. Read the whole thing. 

Answer the questions and find your candidate, here.

An ad Ms. Magazine doesn't want you to see. Powerline

If you think US corporate tax rates are too low, read this at Surber.

The taxpayer is helping to underwrite the Countrywide buy-out.

French textbooks: good preparation for sitting in cafes all day talking about subjects you know nothing about

Nathaniel Hawthorne and health care. Phillips at Attack Machine

Remember this from 2004? Reuters admits appeasing terrorists

Who's stalking whom? Krumm on what Fred Thompson is up to.

Hillary's immigration flip-flops. And what's with her attacking big businesses while taking their money? And I see she has hired a new image guru.

Moral Health Care vs. Universal Health Care. The Objective Standard

Racial tensions roil Dem race. Ben Smith

The idea of America and moral relativism, from neoneo. A quote:

The United States is not just a country bound together by a common language or birthplace, as is the case with most other nations. There is something in American thought that is, in a sense, inherently proselytizing, and that is this idea of liberty and equality of opportunity as a great good for all humankind. And indeed, Americans did not hesitate to fight for their own liberty, and have not hesitated—especially since the twentieth century—to use military force at times to protect liberty around the world. This certainly isn’t in line with moral relativism.

Matt Stuart's street photography (h/t, Wall St. Fighter). Sample on right:

The Blonde Map of Europe. Assistant Village Idiot makes sense out of it.

How the biofuel market is destroying the jungles rainforests

The Dems face a moral choice. Am Thinker

"I've never worked a day in my life." A Mark Twain 1905 interview (h/t, Classical Values)

How do the unchurched view the churched? (h/t, News for Christians)

Women of the world should thank Hillary to making it now possible for women to cry. Is she out of her mind? Betsy on the subject.

Repent! The End is Near!

MA to permit CVS walk-in clinics.

Thank you America. Michael Yon

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton upset about Obama's run. It's quite clear why: he's not playing the game.

Is there a problem? Blame global warming, says the NYT

Hillary publicly accused of alligator tears. I have no doubt.

What is a hand worth? Dem Project

Steyn: All Repubs lost

The smokescreen of environmental concern. Sisu. Well said.

View from the Left: Pro sports need to be politicized

Glenn Beck had a terrible time in the hospital in CT. He is right to complain, but I have never heard of an experience like that before, in the US.

Natural killers. This piece (via a reader) is fascinating but we ran out of time trying to figger out whether it's real. MacArthur is misspelled, which makes me skeptical even though the essay is persuasive. Update: A reader informs us that it is a fake. It's still interesting.

Speaking of natural killers, I am having fun with this book.

A serious telephoto lens.

Goldman predicts recession in 2008

Headlines in 2029

Image of well-known Fall River, MA diner from Diner City, which has photos of diners across the USA

It is amusing for me to see all of the punditry humbled by NH. It is a strange primary, though, in which Independents can vote. What sense does that make? Isn't it the job of a party to select its own candidates?

The history of the banana.

More guns and less crime in Michigan.

The death of high-fidelity sound. Rolling Stone. One quote there from Bob:

Last year, Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone that modern albums "have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static."

And speaking of real rock by older gents, try this.

Illegals in Boston are deporting themselves.

Daniel Pipes reviews Liberal Fascism in Frontpage

LaShawn loved the movie Day Zero

The warming catastophe all theoretically comes from feedback. What's the feedback?

Prof Deneen considers the nanny state and Libertarianism. One quote:

Living long lives becomes the sine qua non of modern liberal polities. "Morals" legislation becomes impermissible in favor of legislation that prevents actions that would shorten our lives. While initially a ban on harm committed by some against the physical well being of others, the logic of self-preservation and the avoidance of physical harm ultimately extends to preventing the ignorant from harming themselves. Paternalistic laws forcing people to be healthy are a logical outcome of a certain life-obsessed libertarianism.

Misguided recession talk. Tamny at NRO. I am a recession skeptic, but I am always a skeptic about most everything. Including my own opinions.

The MSM always talks as if the Clintons were married. Why do they do that? They do not live together in the same house, and Bill does whatever he wants. (h/t, Dr. Sanity) Is that a marriage?

There is no global warming in the southern hemisphere.

Thompson: "I'm skipping NH." I do not understand the Fred campaign.

Kim for President! His stump speech.

A Letter to the Editor of the NYT which you will not read there.

Obama is Sidney Poitier?

Bill Kristol takes a look at Mike Huckabee

Woops. Revising the sea-level rise emergency. Besides, apparently it's been rising slowly for 8000 years, probably because of Fred Flintstone's SUV. h/t, Junk Science

I looked down, and there it was. Sippican

Short-term warming trend has peaked, probably will reverse itself.

We permit idiots to vote. Sheesh.

George McGovern has learned nothing over the years. You cannot fault him for inconsistency on his anti-Americanism, but isn't a person supposed to learn with age, and change?

The late great George McDonald Fraser on PC in Britain. Jules

The really cheap Indian car horrifies the Green lobby in the West. Let them eat cake ride camels?

Funny, about smoking.

Another review of Liberal Fascism, with Jonah's response.

Obama looking to win NH. What about all of the other states? I think I like Obama as a person, but are the Dems infants? This guy knows nothing, it seems.

Britain now has no-go zones. Nice. I hope they mark them on maps for tourists who expect Olde England with our cheerful cousins.

Hillary caught bussing audiences into NH

Honeybees. The Voice of the Hive writes very well about bees and bee-keeping. Example: The Last Flight of the Forager. h/t, Synthstuff

Forty Second Boyd and American military strategy. Eject Eject

Global Warming fears creating a new religion? Baden at TCS

Have you read any of Glenn Allport's stuff? Here's How the boomers almost saved the world. Here are a bunch of his essays. A quote from one of his essays:

The single most damaging error of the modern age is the misperception of government as an agency of compassion.  As a replacement for the "divine right of kings," this misperception has, for those in power, been an astonishing success.  For the rest of mankind, it has frequently been a disaster beyond imagining.

Government is nothing more than structured, widespread coercion, and the idea that it can implement compassion for us by force is simply a vile and cunning lie.  It is cunning because people are primed and willing, even desperate, to believe it. 

Obama leading in NH polls. Are voters eager to move on from the Clinton era? Op. Journal

Update on the Lionheart story. Gates

CNN manages to not mention the Hsu-Clinton connection

Do political fiscal policies make any difference? Megan McArdle

Freudian slip? Powerline

Journalist org. advises reporters on use of diversity language.  Among other things, reporters are informed that "jihad" means self-improvement.

Another NH blogger with his view on things

One source of economic growth in France! No Pasaran

Oshinsky's review of Goldberg's book in the NYT

Obey if you want medical care. Moonbattery

Hillary Clinton: I am the "most innocent". What is that supposed to mean?

Admired blogger Andrew Olmsted killed in Iraq. He had prepared this post to be used in that event.

CT spends 10 million for state agencies to lobby the state govt for money

Candidates tout a variety of tax schemes. CSM

Smart: US to use Paki tribes against Al Qaeda. It seems to have worked in Iraq. h/t, Jules

The Financial Times: Europe's Urgent Need for Reform. h/t, Chequerboard

How come Mrs. Clinton never mentions her role in Watergate?

Anti-Americanism isn't just for Dems anymore.

The UN makes no sense: Isn't tolerance of everything a cultural attitude in itself? And an idiotic one, too.

An excellent rant from No Pasaran: "Earth to Europe: Go pound sand."

Our NH blog friend wonders who to vote for

David Warren knew Benazir Bhutto, and was not impressed

The infamous Lancet death study finally thoroughly debunked

Gwynnie collected these globalistical warmening data for this winter:

National Snow Coverage (how much of the United States land mass had snow in the ground) at this date( Jan 2, 2008):

2004: 28.3%
2005: 30.0%
2006: 31.2%
2007: 40.5%
2008: 47.4%

Season-to-Date Snowfall Totals & Anomalies

Marquette: 82.0" [20% more than normal]
Milwaukee: 31.0" [90% more than normal]
Chicago: 20.5" [83% more than normal]
Indianapolis: 11.5" [37% more than normal]
Detroit: 17.1" [18% more than normal]
Syracuse: 57.4" [50% more than normal]
Albany: 33.8" [81% more than normal]
Newark: 4.3" [16% more than normal]
Hartford: 21.8" [77% more than normal]
Boston: 27.7" [194% more than normal]
Portland: 37.7" [115% more than normal]

Boston was 0.2" shy of their All-Time December Snowfall Record

Photo: The Sunrise Diner in Jim Thorpe, PA, from Dinercity

I can't extract a quote from this Kimball essay, because it's all of a piece. Just read it if you are curious about the future of Conservatism.

Quote from Adler at Politico:

Thompson’s campaign is widely seen as ineffectual — it allowed a candidate who polled in second place nationally a couple of months ago slip to fifth place. Then he tied in Iowa with a candidate who hardly campaigned there.

Ruffini at Town Hall:

Count on voters to decide with their hearts, not with their heads. 2004 was all about momentum vs. organization. 2008 was about candidates of the heart vs. the head. Clinton and Romney had well-reasoned closing arguments centering around their fitness for the office, which should be the bottom line in any normal election. But in Iowa, the pull of identity, of gut decisions, and of emotion, won the day.

Quote from Barone on the 16-year itch:

Every 16 years--in 1976, 1992 and now in 2008--American voters have seemed less interested in experience and credentials and more interested in a new face unconnected to the current political establishment.

And, on media leftist bias: "Bush unemployment at 5% - Bad. Clinton unemployment at 5.4% - Good." Graph from Gateway's piece:

(Editor: Dr. X rightly observes that the above graph is highly misleading.)

 Related: Busted again: Phony Repubs showcased at the NYT

Peggy Noonan on Iowa. Tons of commentary at Pajamas

New Jersey clearly continues to attempt to drive jobs, and residents, out of the state. They've done a good job of that, thus far.

The NYT goes orgasmic. Sounds like satire.

Headline of the Day: Frozen Iguanas Fall from Trees. It must be Climate Change. Iguana popsicles?

No slump in NYC real estate.

Insane, or just a sneaky tax plan? Mankiw

Is the gay-straight dichotomy an artificial one?

A "centrist" agenda? No thanks. My center might not be your center.

Christ and the Grand Inquisitor. Globe, via Squaring the Boston Globe

Drugging brains, young and old.

Outlaw these things - because otherwise I will buy them! Ace

Violent deaths in Venezuela exceed those in Iraq.

Too sane to win the Presidency?

At The Edge, an archeologist changes his mind about cultural relativism. h/t, Norm

There is nothing new about "Big Box Panic". Reason

Fatalities in Iraq.

Give hate a chance: John Edwards wants to negotiate with Iran, but not with American corporations

If I were a Dem, I'd vote for Biden

Everybody in the world wants some. Oil hits $100

Good old funky Cannon Mountain has record snow.

Wishful thinking seems to pervade the MSM reporting on the economy: they hope it will tank before the election, but it hasn't.

Obey the government if you want medical treatment.

He reviews Goldberg's book but only read the title. h/t, Adler

Yesterday's link on American Exceptionalism is exceptional.

A solar-powered fisherman's kit bag

Don't give up on the kids yet.

Poll: Immigration is top issue for Repubs and Independents

When reality is no constraint for Garrison Keillor

Nannie State in Australia requires internet filters - for the children of course.

What's going on in Kitsap County?

What accounts for differences in black and white mortality?

Why John Edwards' populism is in error

McCain still against the Bush tax cuts

What is LibiGel?

Another list: The 10 most corrupt politicians in 2007

Chavez fails again. Looks like FARC made a fool of Hugo again.

Brussels cancels New Years Eve out of terror fears. The EU is supposed to run everything in your life, but just keeping Brussels reasonably safe is too much for them?

A Bloomberg quote:

Without hesitation, Bloomberg responded, "No, I will not run for president, but I will speak out to try to get people to really focus on the issues and to get rid of partisanship and special interests."

What people mean by that is that everybody ought to agree with them. Partisanship is fine, as long as it has intellectual integrity and is consistent with reality - which is asking a lot of politicians. They always say "We can't get anything done": Thats good!