Maggie's Farm

"Domestic spying"? A phrase borrowed from the Nixon era. I do not believe anyone who claims they have been spied on. Pure narcissism. The Globe loves to write stuff like that.

Canadian Border Guards run away!!! Too funny. Maybe Harper will correct the weeniness in Canada. RTLC. Funny coincidence: Harper wants to increase Canadian tourism from the US. I guess a gun works better than a passport.

Steve Cropper. You can listen to him here and here. Didn't know he played so much with Wilson Pickett, but did know he is is the greatest soul and R&B guitarist in the world.

The Border War with Mexico. It is happening. Moonbattery

Is 12 years enough for reporters who reveal national security secrets? YARGB. I'd prefer banishment - why should we pay their room and board? And more on the press...since when do laws not apply to them? Lib. Leanings

Repubs should quit worrying about Hillary. Why do they worry, anyway? Cap'n Ed. Repubs should worry more about living up to their stated ideals.

The Joel Stein Follies. Pline

Michelle corrects the Ben Franklin misquote that had been going around. Thanks. Was gonna do it myself.

The "curious rise of anti-religious hysteria," from Furedi at Spiked

Religion of peace: Brit Moslems to boycott Holocaust events. Am Future

Education: Stossel: The poor are trapped in their schools.  And this new idea, the 65% solution to school budgets. 65%!!! WFT. CSM

Balance on the Court matters now, but it didn't with Ginsburg. Reason looks at the news, then and now.

The Blackberry case. NY Sun

Why are the once-optimistic Dems floundering again? McIntyre at RCP

Wolfowitz isn't getting it done at the World Bank. Financial Times

Clinic assists doctor's suicide. BBC

A fine TR (therapeutic rant) on American education. View from 1776

Confed. Yank on Hillary, blacks, Repubs and Dems. And Shelby Steele.

NYT argues against Alito in bad faith and dishonestly. P'line

Bloomberg wants NYC to go into the cigarette business big-time. NYSun. Why doesn't NYC simply build a cigarette factory of its own?

A wonderful Manitoba hunting camp on Lake Winnipegosis, last October. A place that the Maggie's Farm workers love. And the people there, too. The CTV election news report here.

Is Ahmadinejad truly nuts? This immanent 12th Imam stuff sounds wierd. On the other hand, our Second Coming probably sounds wierd too. Condi said yesterday that the time for discussion is past. What next?

The Plague of Athens led to the end of the Golden Age around 430 BC. Strong new evidence that it was typhoid fever.

McCain-Feingold cannot be constitutional. I see no way it can be, despite the Court's 2003 ruling. The Court returned this Michigan case back to a three-judge panel yesterday, but it may come back to the Court. As far as I can tell, without being a lawyer, this case represents simple infringement of political speech.

Canada's elections: We will know late tonight. It should be interesting to see whether Harper can eke out a majority govt. Strange that there is so little interest in the US MSM. Michelle has a summary, and of course Captain Ed is master of the ship. We ignore Canada, but should not. It seems that lots of Americans view Canadians as the stereotypic nice, irrelevant, harmless Lefty wackos, lacking in testosterone and cultural confidence, and oppressed by a corrupt Nanny State that won't leave them alone to work and achieve (very different from our view of the Aussies). And they do not seem to like us Americans too much, but they should. We do not match any unflattering stereotype they hold of us, either. We are all warm and cuddly, when we aren't busy hunting ducks and deer and fascists and terrorists, and rescuing civilization from barbarians.

US Govt borrowing: It is huge, claims Dem watchdog group. Regardless of their partisanship, there should have been a temporary war tax - on ice cream or something. Or imported beer. Or tea? But Bush Jr. didn't want to mess with taxes. It destroyed his Dad: remember "Read my hips"?

Satanic drivers in Afghanistan. Amazing.

Mrs. Clinton was pandering to her plantation. P'line

The American Left is on a Death Trip - literally. So opines American Thinker.

The quest for the perfect Don Giovanni. Marginal Rev. H/T, YARGB. My opinion - a live performance beats all that plastic.

Lots of work for him to post his Alito Vote Watch. Calif. Yank.

That high school kid who went to Iraq - the real story finally appears. BareKnuckle

A 25th anniversary review of Reaganomics in the Opinion Journal, with this quote:

Where Republicans have most strayed from the Reagan vision has been on controlling federal spending. But most still adhere to his tax-cutting lessons, with a few prominent exceptions (notably Senator John McCain). They should all recall the Gipper's words in his inauguration speech 25 years ago: "It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government."

USA to Bin Ladin: "Nuts." NYSun

Blogger in the news: Zany and irreverent lawyer David Lat (now blogging at Wonkette), and his blogging problems with his boss. Funny piece. NYT

Fuming about the no-smoking laws in Spain. NYT

US Navy catches Somali pirates. Cool.

Gary's Crush of the Week: Lisa Schue. Yikes. A Harvard gal, too. Ex-Donk. Maggie's Farm does Dogs of the Week and Birds of the Week, etc., but we probably should do a Soft Porn Babe of the Week to really improve our numbers...but, thinking further on this, why bother with Soft? And, for the gals and the gays, we could do a Hunk of the Week too. But Bird Dog would not stand for that: we are supposed to be a dignified blog. Maybe I need my own blog.

Canadian Libs made a campaign error by talking anti-American? Cap'n Ed. I guess the US and Israel are the world's main scapegoats these days for desperate politicians. How many times must America rescue large chunks of the planet from Fascism? And will we ever be appreciated for it? Maybe not. But in the US we are still grateful to France for their necessary assistance in our war against the Brit Empire. We know gratitude. And George lll wasn't a bad guy: Parliament was stupid and greedy.

Is it possible to flirt without cigarettes? "Got a light?" - WaPo

Rushdie gets psychological with Moslems - fear of female sexuality: Tel Chai. I don't buy it.

A tattle-tale parrot leads to divorce. Classical Values. Moral of the story: Own no talking birds or dogs.

More on Europe's decline: John at Powerline. Regulation and socialism destroy the economy, and in my opinion undermine the historically vigorous character and heart of the people.

The effect of moonbats like Belafonte and Sheehan is to make other moonbats appear less insane.

Christians should get their hands dirty by venturing into pagan worlds. Giles at Town Hall. Good piece. A quote:

"Look, horribly confused Christian:  from what I’ve gathered from reading the scripture a few times, the believer has three options when he’s faced with an overtly wicked environment.  He can either:

1. Absorb the culture.
2. Separate from the culture.
3. Or infiltrate the culture.

Let’s check out the tres selececciones."

Sundance Film Festival: Selections from short films here.

Is Bin Ladin working for Rove? Ex-Donk Or is he planning to run in the Dem primaries?

I thought Dems wanted a "living constitution." Now they want a precedent-respecting constitution. Principle-less opportunism. Pardon My English

Can a liberal be a friend? Bill Quick doubts it. I don't.

In three days, companies traded on the Tokyo exchange have shed roughly $300 billion in shareholder value -- more than the gross domestic product of Norway. Livedoor alone has lost $1.8 billion in market capitalization. Scandal Panics Tokyo Market

Need some good belly-laughs? The Free Photo Booth thing from the Leno Show.

A double standard? Religion in politics, left and right. Protein

Kennedy should go for impeachment of Alito, or be totally inconsistent. The Prof.

Will Michigan be the next haven for trial lawyers? Opinion Journal

The latest charter school injustices. Education Wonks

Believing in the unbelievable. Evangelical Outpost.

Iran wraps CNN around their finger, just like Saddam did. Disgusting. Instap.

NYT praises Tel Aviv suicide bomber. LGF

Kondracke: Give Bush the data-mining authority. Why not do it now? Let's have a vote. Double-dare anyone to vote against.

The stench of corruption. Hillary and the Barrett Report. Very bad sh-t. Gateway

"You can get away with it with the Christians." Christians in Palestine. Dhimmi Watch

Old hymns vs. praise songs. Ten Napel

Liberals in Canada go berserk about the blogs. SDA. Yeah, can't let the ignorant voters know too much. Facts might confuse the voters, right?

American college grads lack basic skills. Duh.

Dems want to have it both ways: now the administration is relying too much on the UN and international efforts. Huh? Gimme a break. GOPBloggers.

Eritrea and Ethiopia. This could get really ugly. Where's the UN? Open Democracy/ Elsewhere in Africa, the Ivory Coast heats up with promises of mass slaughter, mayhem, and horrible tragedy. The UN ran away. Wretchard.

Beeb wants to raise the telly tax. How do Brits tolerate a government tax-supported information source? It's the Brits' Pravda, and it's nuts. Right for Scotland

What's all this about Sudoku? The game's interesting history (it's not Japanese), how it works, and why it's fun. The Week

How you are supporting the ACLU, without writing them a check.  Like a tapeworm, they feed off scams, legal threats, and settlements against local and state governments, on our nickel. Trial lawyers in drag. Want to feel depressed? Read this: Cao

GM's death spiral. Am Spectator

The French and Indian Wars, on TV tonite: Irish Pennants. Yes, they were a very important (to the future USA) aspect of the war between the Brits and the French. But not as historically important as the later series of Indian Wars in which the Indians allied themselves with the Brits to prevent migration into the Indian Lands, and the 19th century Indian Wars when land-hungry American homesteaders succeeded in conquering the country.

CraigsList. Who is Craig? Dinocrat

Powell on Iran: Confed. Yank. Hillary too (is she going to do a daily "major speech" between now and 2008? - or is she trying to distract from the Barrett Report?)

When do women smell best? LiveScience

Condi is shaking up State in a major way: Checkerboard

Why Hollywood loves Johnny Cash and not Merle Haggard: City Journal (Maggie's Farm loves both - and City Journal too.)

Response to Iranian nukes? RWNH goes through the thinking as if he worked for the State Dept. I wish he did.

A way to stand up to the ACLU's attacks against American security. Michelle.

PSA, Prostate cancer, medical tests, and economics. Very good, in-depth piece by Dr. Bob

Osama (or his impersonator) cries uncle. RTLC

Google vs. Yahoo: A VC

Fuel economy to fall? Env. Econ.

The UN maps that delete Israel. Atlas

Another gun lobby, new to me, looks good, deserves donation. Citizen's Committee

Doctoring in Tibet.

The new microjets.

An excellent new trend: Local news blogging. Pressthink. This model could, and should, go worldwide.

The Liberal Goatherd: Video satire on the Alito Hearings by Fidelis

More humor: A redneck alcohol and ammo game. Chose your weapon.

And even more humor: Broder praises Al Gore

Earmarks and taxpayer-funded lobbying. Kesselman

Custom-made bacteria, including germs that blink like Christmas lights. Science Times

The Barret Report, finally: Captain Ed

A Moslem cultural exception for smoking in bars in NYC? Gates. Similarly, in Scotland, Moslems want a Catholic school to teach Islam instead. Ace. What gives with all of these demands? Me and my friends have lots of demands, but the world ignores us. Do we have to go Moslem?

A good Bush video parody.

Senators openly discuss military options re Iran. Reuters. I'd prefer to see a revolution of sanity in Iran.

Olduvai George is Carl Buell, an animal artist specializing in ancient animals, who now paints with Photoshop and graphics tablets. Very cool. Shows you how he does it, here. H/T, Synthstuff.

Colorful Narcissists: Kennedy and Robertson. Austin Bay

Greenwalt's new documentary goes after Walmart. Same guy who did MacDonalds.

Now it's liberal Dems blocking the schoolhouse door. John Fund on Florida and vouchers.

Why does. Mass. keep losing population? Jacoby

A fresh look at Stossel's Stupid in America. And "have the unions won?" The latest on vouchers at CSM

A high school newspaper wouldn't be this dumb: Michelle with the NYT's latest.

From Captain Ed:

The debate over abortion has never gone away, and as science teaches us more about embryonic development, the question of killing a foetus for the convenience of the mother becomes more and more complicated. The electorate has the sense that Roe stole the ability of the people to make their own decision about policy regarding abortion and created an unresolvable political impasse as a result. The usurpation of authority that the Court committed also poisoned its role in America's governing system, with the current poisonous tone for Supreme Cout and federal appellate bench confirmation hearings resulting from that point.

If anything, the Alito hearings show that the issue of abortion has become an albatross around the necks of Democrats.

A personal look at the abortion issue by Am Princess

The Gaia Theory: I hope this fellow Lovelock is wrong. And, in keeping with the theme, very strong positive review of the 2007 Tahoe.

Stunningly beautiful cinematography. See it.  Hero (2004)

Cats think HDTV is reality.

Ahmadinejad update: Method to his madness? Telegraph. And more on the cult of the Hidden Imam: LGF

Pacifists: One person highlighted by YARGB. And the Methodist Bishops.

Did The Netherlands (!) take anti-terror efforts too far? RTLC

Murtha needs a neurological check-up. Unbelievable. Ankle-Biting

Rowland's successor, Repub. Rell, on track in CT. Calif. Yank. How did she do that?

Shadegg seems to be the bloggers' favorite. Kudlow.

The mugging of Walmart: Cafe Hayek

A new bio of Mark Twain. Reason

What's the real tyranny? Bush, or the Regulatory State? Vodka

Mona Charen reviews Kate O'Beirne's Women who make the world worse:

Strangely, while feminists were burning with indignation toward men, they also enthusiastically endorsed promiscuity. O'Beirne quotes Harvard Law professor Mary Ann Glendon, who notes that early feminists who sought the vote and other rights "saw that the ready availability of abortion would facilitate the sexual exploitation of women . . . they regarded free love, abortion and easy divorce as disastrous for women and children." Modern feminists, by contrast, were characterized by a "puzzling combination of two things that do not ordinarily go together: anger against men and promiscuity; man-hating and man-chasing."

Read the whole review.

NYT needs to hire a legal consultant- for their editorials. Patterico

Krauthammer: Munich the Travesty. Harsh.

Is Europe ready to deal with a war with Iran? No Oil

Kinsley provides an excellent example of the cheap legal "Slippery Slope Fallacy," which will be coming up soon on Fallacy of the Week, I am told. Has anyone told Kinsley that there is a war on? Somebody named Ali wants to kill you, Michael, but we want you to stay alive, even if we don't agree.

The economic fate of the Boston Globe.

UN gets in with the gun control crowd. Of course they would.

Canadian Libs support polygamy. Hey - there's a way to win an election. In a Moslem country.Captain Ed.  Well, you might get the guy vote.

Alito v. Kennedy: A snippet. Libertarian Leanings

Disposable cell phones and terrorists. Michelle

Day-O. The Banana Brain Song. Paxety

Doctors vs. guns. BFA

The "A List" blogs. Where's Maggie's Farm on there? RWN

The dangers in abusing nominees: The Prof. Bush will get at least one more pick, probably two more. The court, plus freedom in the middle east, will be his legacy.

Sense about Roe v. Wade: Whether pro or con, leave it to the conscience and judgement of the voters: RCP

The anti-Al Quaida insurgents: Captain Ed

No shame: the Alito hearings: Chapman

2006 predictions: NE Repub

I rarely quote Powerline, because I assume everyone reads them, but I have to. John:

For the left, however, things have changed since the heady days of the 1970s. History doesn't seem to be flowing their way anymore, and liberals are mostly hanging on, giving ground grudgingly and waiting for better days to return. In this context, the overruling of Roe v. Wade would have significance far beyond abortion. It would mean the end of the one-way ratchet, and would be a visible symbol of the receding of the liberal tide. For that reason, I can understand the Democrats' feverish efforts to lock Roe in as inviolate, even though the immediate political fallout, if the case were reversed, might favor the Democrats.

Ted Kennedy and Joe McCarthy: Funny. Volokh.

Jonathan Turley: "A dangerous nominee". USA Today

A quote from Am. Princess:

"The things Democrats really care about have been placed in the hands of the courts, if by the design of Democrats: liberal judges, activist judges, Due Process mavens of the sixties took abortion, gay rights, civil rights, right to die, right to life, right to contract, right against cruel and unusual punishment, directly out of the hands of legislatures where they belonged. A shift on the court towards conservativism costs them not only their political stance on these issues, it likely costs them a lot of power. And thats not even considering the fact that it is the Supreme Court that is the sole arbiter between the Executive and Legislative branches. Curious about Presidential power to eavesdrop? Don't be. It'll be dealt with, and not in the liberals favor.
Win elections, Democrats, but you've made the courts powerful: that's where you wanted the power, after all, since most of the initiatives that you championed could never have won by popular vote. Now, its likely that the most powerful court is out of your control."

Lileks on when ideologues turn loony:

"Bad news is good news. Everything’s going to hell, but at least they’re smart enough to catch the whiff of brimstone. (Second-hand brimstone. There ought to be a law.) But what if the worst doesn’t happen? That would be worse than bad. That would mean all those bumperstickers they put on their cars had no effect whatsoever. What if people don’t Question Authority, visualize World Peace, speak truth to power, or rotate during cooking? What if letters to the editor don’t end up in CIA files? What if subversive college students are ignored? What if the dark night isn’t descending after all? However will they go on? "

Hypocrisy about Whaling: Samizdata

Barry Goldwater: his evolution to Libertarian. Busch at Opinion Journal

Syria and Iraq: The inside story at Protein

Bush pushes back at defeatist critics

Black-footed ferrets bounce back from verge of extinction.

Are newspapers doomed? Epstein in Commentary

A few reflections on the Alito hearings at Volokh. My feeling is that his approach is to bore them into silence.

The religion of peace: LGF

Gender imbalance in India due to aborting girls: RTLC

Germans advise US on Gitmo morality! RWN

Short skirts and work: Ace

Neo looks at "nukular"

A new book about the Dust Bowl: CSM

Good point: NYT claims their sources of leaked info are sacred, but the national security of the US isn't. There's got to be a word for that. Dhimmitude or something? Am. Future

Bird Flu: This flu in Turkey isn't the one we're worried about. Still no human to human transmission. But this one will impact poultry farmers, and surely bird hunters, in time.

Norm finds another liberal heretic.

Bellows Falls or Pottersville. What kind of country do people believe is worth defending? Paul M in WS

Jay Rockefeller may be a leak investigative target. Am Thinker

Is Ted Kennedy wearing out? Pittsburgh  Post Gazette

Rumor mill. Bin Ladin dead? Cap'n Ed

Armstrong Williams reviews everything the press got wrong about Katrina

The Leipzig School - trend-setting from the former East Germany.

The Alito hearings? No news there. Just a formality and chance to grandstand. It's a done deal. Ho hum. We are sending no reporters over there.

New Orleans

Will it be politically possible to rebuild New Orleans in a rational manner?  Kelman at HNN:

"The call now for improved levees is predictable. Joe Canizaro of the mayor's commission worries that nobody will return until they "feel safe." He's right. But what if people feel safe yet aren't? Before Katrina, disaster amnesia and denial allowed people to ignore the danger. Past disasters, says engineer Robert Bea of the University of California, Berkeley, were "alarm bells, but New Orleans kept hitting snooze." The city now has to rethink flood control.

Like most engineers, Bea is certain that levees can be constructed to withstand a Category 5 storm. "It's just a matter of political will and funding," he says. But the funding isn't pocket change; the project requires billions. No one knows where that money will come from. While President Bush has promised the Feds will pay for levee repairs, he hasn't made the same promise about levee improvements. If the money is found, the political will must be sustained across fifteen years, the time needed to build levees to a Category 5 standard. "

Read entire.

Just helping to pass it around

Diligent blog readers already are aware of this report from Italy of the arrest of terrorists who were planning a major attack on the US, because Michelle and Powerline highlighted it. And there are two stories here: First, the terrorists. Second, the failure of the MSN to say a word about it. If I were the Sulzberger kid, it would be front page. But "see no evil" prevails, unless it is the Evil Bush.

Sure hope wiretaps helped to catch these slimes.