Maggie's Farm

According to the report by Expose the Left (nee Political Teen), Sam Donaldson pontificated that the cartoons were wrong because they made Moslems angry, as if Moslems were rabid dogs. Now it's my turn to pontificate. Four points:

First, worrying about making someone angry as a principle for limiting speech and publishing is absurd. There are always some group of folks who will get angry about something or other. For instance, I get furious when I read the New York Times, yet they continue daily publication, (for the present, anyway). Some people are really pissed off at this and other blogs. Too bad. Are we all supposed to burn buildings to get some sympathy and consideration, and to stop people from pissing us off? Succumbing to people's emotions, especially irrational anger and irrational hatred, is not only cowardly - it makes the very idea of free speech a joke. (And, by the way, don't we all remember Donaldson worrying, years ago, about saying anything to make the Soviets mad? It's a submissive reflex in the guy - probably married to a dominatrix.)

Secondly, I believe in decent, mannerly, and tasteful behavior. Those are important values of civilization. But I reserve the right to speak and write whatever I want, even if someone thinks it's tasteless or unmannerly. Sometimes it's just fun.

Third, I see a coming risk of self-censorship to avoid trouble with Islam, leading the West further down the road to censoring unpleasant truths. PC baloney already rules in many areas of life, witness Larry Summer's intimidation by a handful of hysterical, hypersensitive females at Harvard. If a bright, full-grown guy can be intimidated by that, how intimidated would he be by a bunch of Jihadists? He'd give them the whole dang school in a second, along with honorary doctorates in Jihad Studies!

Fourth, I believe that the so-called "rage" is really an effort to intimidate and silence the world, freeing the Jihad to continue their relentless pursuit of the Caliphate wherever and whenever they have the chance. (They aren't truly angry - they are having an old-fashioned "Hate Party," like the KKK used to have.) Filling Europe with unassimilated Moslems was a good start. Shutting down criticism and satire is a next phase. Wiping Israel off the map is next.

Blame-shifter Ray Nagin continues to have new tricks up his sleeves. Now he is soliciting foreign aid, due to failures of Admin. Hope New Orleans can see through the tricks he uses to try to salvage his ruined reputation as a leader. His title should be changed from Mayor of New Orleans to Complainer of New Orleans. Pathetic.

Is England tiring of dhimmitude? Dhimmi Watch(Image via Samizdata via The Dissident Frogman)
From LGF: Cartoons are a Zionist Conspiracy.
Aussies say No to dhimmitude: Moonbattery.

New animals discovered in New Guinea. Including some dramatic-looking birds. NYT Science Times

Poll: Americans oppose socialized medicine. Dem. Project

Senate Intelligence Committee is studying the Loftus tapes, in which Saddam discusses his WMDs. NYSun. This will be a big story, and should put an end to the "Bush lied" nonsense.

The hearings on the NSA and wiretapping: the lawyers at Powerline are doing a fine job with it, and making waves in the process. It seems to me that there is a valid legal issue here, but the purpose of the hearings is more to score points, because no-one will dare demand that the NSA stop what it is doing. Furthermore, having these hearings in public is nuts.

A quote from Jack Straw in the Scotsman (P'line found the article):

"If people looked at these cartoons and were to replace the images of the Holy Prophet with images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, they can see that, even in our culture, if they were directed at the Judeo-Christian traditions, there would be similar outrage," he said.

That relativistic, morally nihilistic, ridiculous, patently untrue and pathetic statement says everything that is wrong with the England of Tony Blair. Does that thinking imply that if England had had high inflation and a rotten economy in 1923, they would have created their own Hitler with their own Pub Putsch? Indeed, it reveals the limpness of Liberalism in the West - along with its elevation of emotion above reason. "Let's not make anyone angry." Grow up, weenies. The world isn't like that - being a wimp is not a defense strategy to protect your nation.

The Prof wonders whether the Vatican is turning relativistic...I doubt it. For a direct, refreshingly non-relativistic and classically crude take on the Middle East, try RTLC.  More cheery news on the Shiite creed of the coming apocalypse and the 12th Imam in Washington Times.

And if you are new to Maggie's Farm, read our Love Letter to Europe.

How socialized medicine becomes politicized and paralyzed: Brit judge orders treatment, hospital refuses. BBC. At least in England you can pay your own doctor if you want to. In Canada, you're chained to the government plantation. But it's a short drive to the US for freedom and choice in medical treatment.

The continued growth of mega-churches. Congregations of 16,000? CSM. It is difficult for a Yankee, where our Protestant churches often have 150-300 members, to comprehend how such huge churches can feel like congregations instead of like rock concerts. But it clearly works for folks. It's not for me, but God bless 'em.

De-bugging Australia. Bed bug infestation. Gross. Hey, Aussies: wash your sheets and call 1-800-Mattress.

Specter claims Admin broke law. If so, please fix the law.

Iran, Arabs love Bill Clinton. Why? Newsmax

Marsh Arabs restoring their marshes, with a little help. Amazing. Big Lizard. Saddam destroyed the Birthplace of Civilization, just to eliminate political enemies. What a destructive, dangerous, low-life scumbag. Not to mention that those marshes are an important migratory bird location.

Is there something emotionally missing in Hillary? Orlando Sentinel. Yes, there is something about her that feels creepy and insincere. And I am talking psychology, not politics. A Nixonian streak.

Why isn't the Admin showcasing the US economic boom? Good question. Kudlow

PC interfering with clear thinking and honest speech in Europe. Blair has been the worst offender, according to MacQueen at TCS. This kind of BS offends me: do I have to burn a building for someone to care about my feelings?

Americans are comfortable with nuclear power. CSM. Let's get lots of it. Cheap, clean, and endless.

Predictable but appalling hypocrisy from the Boston Globe, neatly presented by Volokh. Offense to Moslems is apparently qualitatively different from offense to Christians, probably because many Christians are uncomfortable with abortion, family-oriented, and conservative in temperament, while Islam is surely the true Religion of Peace as the news proves daily (plus Christians are tame, and don't make a big fuss). The subject was not missed by the ever-vigilant Squaring the Boston Globe. The only reason to look at these papers is to identify their most recent hypocrisies, logical fallacies, and propaganda. Good sport, now that hunting season has ended.

This is reminiscent of the NYT's recent advocacy of the filibuster, while having presented many editorials in the past urging its elimination. How unprincipled, opportunistic, and reflexively anti-US culture can these newspapers be? Talk about offensive! Who wants to pay money for such abuse of our intelligence?

Image at right borrowed from Atlas. Guess what, jerks.
I will insult or criticize anyone I please, whenever I want. And I am armed, so please try to cut my head off. No 9 mm weenie arms, either. You will not enjoy the consequences, because Mohammed has run out of virgins. Hard to find them, nowadays.

Buy Danish: The new computer-generated LEGOs, at Samiz.

Valentine's Day: How to get a girl in ten days. Chris' Super Blog

The big news is the economy, producing for the US a 4.7% unemployment rate - the lowest since 2001. Do not hold your breath until the MSM lauds the "Bush Economy."

Silly story of the week - silly but disturbing. The Moslem cartoon flap. Michelle has been all over this story, with disturbing photos from London here.  And LGF has a blasphemy update: several pieces in a row on the blasphemy issue in Norway, Indonesia, Denmark, etc, with a piece by VDH. Cavanaugh at Reason says the whole thing is healthy. Latest embassy torchings at Gateway. Not healthy.

The Winter Games begin next week. I don't hear anyone talking about it. Turin prepares: CSM

Pennsylvanian soliders in Iraq prepare for Superbowl. Special food too.

Iran reported to Security Council. Only Venezuela, Cuba and Syria voted against. WFT? No doubt this will accomplish a lot. BBC

Connect the dots: China, internet, cartoons, etc. Democracy Project

On a roll! Expose The Left, aka Political Teen. Too much good stuff to link.

Unions kill jobs. So says And Rightly So.

Bring in the "suits." A VC

Fascist Dog replaces Sheehan. Blame Bush

350 BC wine and oil. Good stuff. Another ancient shipwreck found. If the wine is retsina, you can keep it.

Nasty internet worm going around: Do not open any emails with porn connotations today. Really.

Nasty bug going around: A deadly intestinal bacterium

A different category of "insensitive" cartoons: cartoons from the Arab world. Dinocrat. And Bird of Paradise has the wisest take on this whole cartoon subject, from a Christian standpoint. (Can't believe we are talking about cartoons.)

Feisty goldfish Phin makes fun of Pajamas Media. Wolcott goes after PJ too.

Building a wall of fear: Julian Bond says "blacks have no freedom" in America, and Repubs are Nazis. How does this kind of rhetoric help anything? Well, it seems clear that its purpose is to scare your constituency into staying on your political plantation. But this kind of talk goes way beyond routine lying demagoguery and pandering and victimhood-mongering: it is plain despicable and destructive and dishonorable. Confed. Yank has story.

Dems narfle the garthok at the SOTU. Indeed they did. RWNH And in those images is a gold mine of political advertisements. Must be devilish Rovian genius at work.

Afghan terrorists targeting schools. That's one way to try to win the hearts of the people.

Why go to Florida or the Caribbean? Here's a real vacation: The Four Seasons' Golden Triangle in Thailand. Tents.

Yes, we are finally updating our blogroll. Will provide a list of all of those sites we use, but have neglected to list, soon.

Yet another piece on the uselessness of the military 9 mm. One Hand Clapping

Michelle on the Danish-Moslem issue. The French caved on free speech, not let's see if the Brits do. And what about us? Michelle is on it, including how it is coming to the Brits too. (Image borrowed from Michelle)

Black families flee the government plantation in Minneapolis. H/T, Powerline. Given the freedom to do so, it would happen across the US - black, white, and other.

5'9", and scores 113 points.

As mentioned in the Dalrymple piece we posted earlier today, more on the French failure to produce visas for visitors to the US: Travelwire.

Union using non-union labor to picket Walmart. Hmmm.

Bush's poll numbers graph - pre- SOTU: Right nation

Will Brokeback Mountain create a Wyoming tourism boom? It was filmed in Canada.

Safe travel. Store your travel documents online. Good idea.

The latest on hormone relacement: Science Times

It looks good for Lynn Swann in PA

Are doctors prepared for the big moral decisions? Overby at The New Atlantis thinks not. And he is one of them. I suspect that he is mostly wrong.

How to ration beer and snacks at a Superbowl Party. But who would be so cruel?

A Lefty pro-abortion person tells Dems how they could have defeated Alito. My DD

Mass. defeated offering tuition breaks to illegals. Missed the conslusion of that story. Amazing.

A good, hard-working blogger throws in the towel. Blogging is a bitch. Quoted from the fine, but recently- defunct Conservative Friends. Sad:

What I'm really here to say is this: I'm done. No one reads this site. No one visits here. I've done everything I know for a year and a half to promote this site and traffic has actually gone DOWN. I'm tired and instead of being fun, it's become a pain in the ass. I dread every day trying to come up with enough content to keep a tiny handful of people from leaving along with everyone else. I can't do it anymore.

Bush on Iran: Jihad Watch

Sheehan at the SOTU. Johnson at Frontpage looks into the ridiculous details. She is great for comedy, at her expense. Call it tragicomedy.

Lots of bloggers on the story of France-Soir publishing the Moslem cartoons. Dr. Sanity has a nice post on the subject, also commenting on Slick Willy's loathsome comments. And the latest on this silly story at CSM.

Sen Reed (who he? D, RI) thought Alito wanted too much religious freedom, so voted against. You can't make this stuff up. Anchor Rising. Hey, RI - you are marching to your own kazoo.

Is there a "right" to a child? Touchstone says no. Of course not - what a dumb idea.

The Amazin' Dancin' Alito. Pretty cute. Court Jester

Math teachers are hard to find. Yeah, math is sooooo hard. Especially if you can't think straight or clearly. Education Wonks

The whining of the MSM. Finally, another arrogant quasi-monopoly falls. Buzzmachine. Teddy Roosevelt would love it. Welcome, newspapers, to the Kodak, Inc. experience. Or should I say the "Kodak Moment"? Obsolete tree-killers.

Hand-holding is good during stress. Yes indeed it is, at any age. Accidental Verbosity.

Google corrects. About time. I would not buy it.

What did I dislike about Bush's speech? I disliked the laundry list of things the Federal Govt wants to do for us. We elect conservatives for devolution of money and power. But politics drives things in the opposite direction. Example: CT has an over 300 million surplus this year, maybe much higher. Local municipalities want that $ so they don't have to deal with the political consequences of raising their taxes or cutting "services." Likewise, in other situations, CT goes hat in hand to the Feds for $ they can squeeze out of them so CT doesn't have to raise state taxes. Is government just a big vote-buying scam?

And, on the subject of CT, there is a push to remove one of the remaining Blue Laws of the puritan era: the Sunday hunting ban. The Sunday ban has been law since the 1600s. For working folks, it gives you only one day - Saturday - to hunt. That is not enough.

Did the MOMA sell its soul for its new building? Perl in New Republic says it has become a mall. There's no such thing as "modern art" anyway. Fra Angelico was once modern.

More on the Moslem cartoons. They need to work on their sense of humor. No-one is exempt from humor and satire. No-one deserves to be, either. Powerline joins the fray. Go Vikings!!!

CAIR is looking for a few good men. LGF. College credit available. CAIR has learned a lot from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but they have learned nothing noble or honorable from either of those mountebanks.

Lileks is sick of this sh-t and so am I. PC Maoist BS run amuck. Not to mention anti-Christian. We should we way past this sort of thing - it's material for satire, not for real. But it keeps on coming.

Harper Lee. I didn't realize she was alive. She keeps a low profile, most of the time. NYT

Are the Danes caving in to the Jihadist bullies? BKP. Hope not. Please buy Danish - Democracy Project tells you what to buy. Of course, Bill Clinton has to have his say: Belmont

Moho is still on the job. They drilled a hole almost to the earth's mantle. Very cool.

Is there a health care crisis? Merline at TCS looks at the numbers and asks "Is there a Recreation Crisis in the US?" A quote:

If there is a crisis in health spending, it is the direct result of government policy over the past four decades, which has encouraged the dramatic rise in third-party payment of health care.

Two boys in Boston were playing baseball when one of them was attacked by a rabid dog. Thinking quickly, the other boy ripped a board off of a nearby fence, wedged it into the dog's collar and twisted it, breaking the dog's neck. 

A newspaper reporter from the Boston Herald witnessed the incident and rushed over to interview the boy. The reporter began entering data into his laptop, beginning with the headline:

"Brave Young Red Sox Fan Saves Friend From Jaws Of Vicious Animal"

"But I'm not a Red Sox fan," the little fellow interjected.

"Sorry" replied the reporter. "But since we're in Boston, Mass, I just assumed you were." Hitting the delete key, the reporter began:

"John Kerry Fan Rescues Friend from Horrific Dog Attack"

"But I'm not a Kerry fan either," the boy responds.

The reporter says, "I assumed everybody in this state was either for Red Sox or Kerry or Kennedy. What team or person do you like? "

"I'm a Texas Ranger fan and I really like George W. Bush" the boy says. Hitting the delete key, the reporter begins again:

"Arrogant Little Conservative Prick Kills Beloved Family Pet."

The Sears Roebuck 1975 Catalog. Cafe Hayek

Math in California. It's not your father's math. RWN. Why do we pretend that everyone can learn everything? It is so obviously not true.

Dean is going down. Too bad. Excellent source of humor and amusing press. Everybody loves a clown. Dean has been our Galloway. More from Vodkapundit.

The "urban heat island" in NYC. NASA is studying it. Interesting phenomenon. ScienceDaily

The Fed budget looks bad. We always said that there should have been a temporary war tax. Freedom isn't free. It costs blood and treasure.

Hillary has chosen not to be the standard-bearer for Dem centrism. NYSun: What was she thinking? And the Leftist bloggers are giving the Dems heartburn, and delusions of grandeur: Captain Ed

First Denmark, now Norway feels the Jihadist heat. Stand firm, Norsemen. Dinocrat. Moslems have to learn to take a joke - and to look at themselves: Classical Values has example, and links to more Moslem cartoons. Somehow I sense that Jihadists are lacking in a sense of humor. They need therapy.

Savings rate lowest since Depression. Not good.

Hamas: opinions at Am. Princess, Gay and Right, neo-neocon, Daily Pundit

Cindy for Senate! Something on which everyone seems to agree. Ace, Ten Napel, Michelle,

Standing by its values: Notre Dame. Sensible Mom

Do not raise your hand in England schools? This is the sure sign of a decadent culture, in decline. Painful to watch. Moonbattery

Who is an Indian? Phin

Not news, but the dumb pseudo-filibuster cum fund-raising effort went down fast. YARGB is right about that. Any press is better than no press, right? The DNC is desperate: According to Drudge tonite,  They are broke. A good way to look like an out-of-touch fool but, as on Wall Street, there is always a bigger fool to buy what you are selling. What should be interesting is the next Supreme nominee. She will be female, and a lady too. I can't wait. Anyway, Alito is a done deal now - but he always was. Now he can go back to his usual habits of smoking pot and chasing babes at the strip clubs and driving drunk and getting off on Ecstasy. A tip to radical Leftist Dems: Save your bullets....aw, it's too late now. You used them already.

"Aslan isn't safe, but he is good." Hunter at Ornery American digs into the Narnia movie, with some praise and some serious critique: A Defanged, declawed Aslan

I know Ted Kennedy just gets riled up, but I can't believe he said this about Alito and asthma. Makes himself look like a total idiot. Alito's not a doctor. Not that Mass. cares. Wizbang

Cement is not a boring subject. Neither is this graph of world cement production, via Synthstuff.

Why Mommy is a Democrat. It's a book. How come it's not "Why Daddy is a Democrat"? Maybe because he isn't. Right Wing News

Bush supporters are all bigots. Science says so, so it must be true. Expose the Left (did the Political Teen grow up? My, my, my - how time flies.)

Is eBay fundamentally a fraudulent enterprise? The Prof wonders.

Very funny photo of "Mrs. Clinton" with soldier. Confed. Yank

Hamas: Pothole-fillers or Nazis? Front Page says Nazis. They sure sound like it.

View from the Left: Americans even dumber than Bush. Paul Craig Roberts. Yup, no doubt that's the problem with America: we let dumb conservatives vote. I haven't heard the suggestion yet for "thought-adjustment centers." Wait a minute - we already have those. They're called "public schools" and "colleges."

View from the Clitoris: Shere Hite on orgasming the world to peace. Haha. She doesn't mean it as satire, tho. She needs to get out more.

The Great Wall of Cuba. The ongoing fear of ideas, at Paxety

New polls on immigration: Instap. It's a major political issue, and both parties wish it would just go away. This is a fundamental problem with immigration anywhere: if you have too much of it, it intimidates the politicans and, the next thing you know, it isn't your country that you know and love anymore. That is a big problem for national unity and identity and shared purpose. And that is why we believe that would-be immigrants should stay home and fix their own place. A country is family - or should be. Japan understands that basic principle of human nature. More tomorrow.

Our cousin and brother-in-arms Mr. Free Market and friends enjoyed a good shoot. But I don't get the jays and magpies. Are they edible? Or is it the old "If it flies, it dies" approach to shooting? I could get on board with that. Robin ravioli with gibier sauce and black truffle? Jay on toast? Chickadee puree with leek sauce?

Valentine's dinner at Alto. $4400 for two, (but tip is included, and one would hope a little romance too, afterwards). $4400 is pocket change for us Maggie's Farm sharecroppers - we made a killing by shorting pumpkin futures in October.

Not all Dems are Moonbats. Obama sounds rational. Calif. Yank

Brit poll: Less abortions. RTLC

Who is standing up for Denmark in their refusal to be bullied my Moslems? Classical Values is, and so are we, for what it's worth. Stand firm, Vikings.

Euro and American relationships with Libya are normalizing. CSM. Proof, is it not, that if a Moslem country renounces aggression toward us, we'll leave them alone.

American Future takes on The Nation, which asserts that the Iranians aren't scarey. They blame the US for "stoking a climate of fear."  WTF? And LGF posts a speech - Nukes for all Moslem countries.

Who is the enemy of America? Bush, or the Jihadists? Patterico attempts to clarify this knotty question.

We posted "Stuck on 1968" yesterday. Today, Barone makes a similar point at TCS, "Stuck in the 70s".

Condi says we won't give $ aid to Hamas. Duh. However, we do give over 350 million of hard-earned taxpayer $ to Palestine annually. Where does that $ end up? And why should coal miners in West Virginia, and cops in Paducah, be giving their $ to Palestine when they have their own Christmas credit card bills to pay? Not to mention their bar tabs.

Can you believe this? I guess I can. Naomi Wolf finds Christ. I should say that Christ found her. She was a very bitter, angry, destructive person, beloved of the man-hating feminists, but I guess divorce was tough. Can hardly blame the poor fellow who probably has to go out there and eat protein and try to grow his penis back. Now, she will be ostracized by the Moonbats.

Evil, evil Halliburton: No-one wants to buy their KBR subisidary, which isn't making any money in Iraq. Winding it all down.

I am fat. It is the restaurant's fault. Can't blame me: I just eat what they give me.

Recharge your cell phone by working out. There's a good idea. Engadget.

"Brea, buter en grienne tsiis is goed ingelsk." That is Frisian for "bread, butter and green cheese is good English". Frisian is said to be the mother tongue of English - but is English just Frisian? I guess so. A dialect of Frisian, with a bit of Latin and French added for flavoring.

Cockburn on Kristof's brothel issue. Hahaha

Pikeville wants its environment destroyed. Amazing. I know Pikeville. Good American coal town, with solid church-going people on their front porches in the evening, smoking and sipping coffee or beer in their undershirts while their wives are cleaning up in the kitchen, and saying Howdy to the folks passing by. Pronounced "pok-v'l."

Anti-Americanism at the Beeb. There has got to be a limit. YARGB. Hey, Beeb - we ain't all that bad, really. We're just your average blood-thirsty imperialist capitalist monsters who want to oppress the world with evil freedom and evil economic success and evil life opportunity. We are bad, aren't we?

France's D-Day Museum tried to go the way of the 9-11 Memorial. Got to keep an eye on the sneaky Moonbats. Moonbattery

The End of the Spear. HH recommends it. Will see it, and will bring Gwynnie.

Getting difficult to find dog on menus in China. What a shame. The sad loss of an iconic multi-cultural item. Like live monkey brain, which no doubt our kids eat in grammar school when they do their multi-cultural sensitivity section on China, immediately following their section on Tienanmen Square, no doubt. Am I a bit pissed off at China? Yes. Our growing handful of Chinese readers have abruptly disappeared. Why would they block a Farming Blog? Or am I paranoid? Yeah, I guess they probably just didn't enjoy Maggie's...

And where the heck are our Cuban readers? We love Cuba, hate Fidelito. Guess no-one there can afford a PC because it's a People's Paradise where everyone can be happy without being confused by information. Socialism has kept them a Third World country. Great free medical care, though, if you don't mind cockroaches, rats, and Russia-trained doctors: notice how many Americans go there for treatment? Exactly none, even though travel to Cuba by Americans is easy and often done these days. You just go via Mexico. They want dollars. As Fidel ages and dies, we should loosen up with Cuba. More connection with the US will help the next generation of Cubans, but I know the hard-ass Florida Cuban-American vote is important to the Repubs.

David Warren has the same take on things that we do down here:

The over-urbanized are the willing clients of the nanny state. They are loathe to take responsibility for anything; they assume when anything goes wrong, some specialist or expert will fix it. Even when they have children they expect “child-care facilities”. They are salaried people; few have ever taken a risk on their own dime. Their taxes are lifted from them at source. They are easily frightened when a Paul Martin or a Jack Layton warns that a bogeyman from Alberta is going to take their entitlements away.

Sounds familiar. Who is picking up the tab for all of these state-castrated souls? Read his entire thoughtful piece.

He is 7' and 323 lbs. He is "the beast from the east" and he is the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

A bird flu vaccine produced at Univ. of Pittsburgh. That is very good news and a big deal.

How can computer-generated animation convey emotion accurately? You have to study the human face: Cog. Daily

If you have not already, check Michelle today on two things: Harry Byrd's support for Alito, and Kerry's considering using the filibuster.

Scott takes a look at the Return of the Rosenbergs. Hey - these folks were criminal spies.

A cool science/philosophy site: Edge. H/T, Instap.

Ken Blackwell in Ohio: Malanga in City Journal. Malanga is always excellent. Quote:

Ken Blackwell has so many people worried because he represents a new political calculus with the power to shake up American politics. For Blackwell is a fiscal and cultural conservative, a true heir of the Reagan revolution, who happens to be black, with the proven power to attract votes from across a startlingly wide spectrum of the electorate.

Eric asks "What is news?" He wonders why the Canada elections and the border war with Mexico aren't considered news by the MSM.

And, after reading Gwynnie's post below, I have to wonder why the NYT is not subject to McCain-Feingold. If blogs are theoretically subject to them, then why isn't an overtly partisan dog-training tool like the NYT? At least blogs don't kill trees to be published. We posted our last rant on the subject, "Cancelling the NYT," in Sept. We'd be on their case more often, but it's just too easy. Give us a harder target.

Monkey police: Live Science

Google turns to the Dark Side: Blogcritics

Canada: Tory minority in Canada is for the best, says Cap'n Ed. And is "Canadian Military" an oxymoron? TCS And more on Canada: The Harper Derangement Disorder is rapidly developing - you won't believe the quotes: Belmont.

Hillary: To know her seems to be to dislike her. Maybe the Dems should take a pointer from Bill, and find someone else to love. She'll end up filling Ted Kennedy's shoes for the rest of her life, or for as long as New York puts up with her. Goldberg at LAT on Hillary's downslide:

But there's a great irony here. Hillary Clinton's success over the last decade and a half has been in pretending to be her own woman while really playing one part or another for the benefit of the media, her husband or various feminist constituencies desperate for a role model to confirm all of their comfortable stereotypes.

That's why there's something oddly satisfying in the possibility that Clinton being herself is politically disastrous. And, if she's really just playing one more role according to some classically Clintonian political triangulation, there's something equally satisfying to the prospect that even her fans aren't falling for it anymore.

The great Brit disgrace: The National Health. Tangled Web. Thank God we never went for that here in the US. Politicized medicine has got to be one of the worst ideas possible.

If what Loftus said last night on the excellent John Bachelor Show on ABC radio is true, this could be the The Story of the Year.  Tapes of Saddam discussing WMDs, how he fooled the inspectors, what countries are helping him, etc. Loftus is hyping the unveiling of this info, in February. Why wait?

Howard Dean & Co. may need to get ready for a rapid "adjustment." Should be interesting, especially if this intelligence is real, of course. But Loftus claims that a US intelligence agency has confirmed that it is Saddam speaking, and has confirmed the meeting dates on the tapes - but I will be a sceptic for now.

Similar, but separate info via the Sada book at RWNH and at Powerline.