Maggie's Farm

Strange Cosmos labelled this a "Redneck Snowplow." I'd call it a damn fine and useful vee-hicle. But hey, wait a minute...That's My Car!

Iraq

Shiites are still torturing Sunnis in Iraqi prisons. The ABC poll of Iraqis reveals optimism, but ongoing Shiite-Sunni-Kurdish differences. No surprise there. Checkerboard discusses the poll. This week's election could/should be a turning point: NE Repub. - they seem to be getting the idea.

The Habits of Highly Defective People: How to screw up your life. Doug Giles

Iran defends holocaust-denial statements, and statements about eliminating Israel. Ca. Yank 

Wal-Mart to open medical clinics. Am. Thinker.

The religious zealots of the Left. Prager

London raises a pint to the passing of the Routemaster: Telegraph

A book for the youth: Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy

Crude, Nasty, and In Poor Taste

Our Editor made me post this "I'm Dreaming of a White Trash Christmas" image on a continuation page (see below) so as not to contaminate the elevated and refined tone of the Maggie's Farm front page. As if we thought we were Powerline, with a magisterial dignity to maintain. We love barbecue and beer, right? How many barbecue, beer, Bush (?), and Botticelli blogs are there out there?

The White Flag ad has been released. Ankle Biting has the link. I'd call that gentle push-back. Or maybe iron fist in a velvet glove?

What do churches do when Christmas falls on a Sunday? NYT. My humble opinion? You have church. It's the Sabbath. You do the Christmas Eve service, then you do a brief, joyful Christmas Morning service. Whoever comes, comes. It beats drinking Spicy Clamato and vodka at 10 AM and listening to carols and tossing wrapping paper into the fireplace. Well... for me it does. Cannot say it always would have. And always thought the combination of carols on the player and boxes of presents was just wierd and phony anyway. Not that I do not love the music - love it to death. All the same, Christmas Eve is what it is about. A Holy Night.

How taxation on unearned income effects savings. Marginal Revn.

Disarming Canadians further. And it isn't working. RTLC. Pretty soon, only criminals will have guns. I have heard that the ducks and reindeer favor Canada-style gun laws. But the crims couldn't care less. Indeed, the less guns people have, the better for the crims.

A store for gizmos. The Wired Store.

Department of Media Bias

Yet one more. Confederate Yank.

Campus Recruiting

The Solomon case reaches the Supreme Court. And the good punditry, here. 

Look, we all know this isn't really about gays - it's about anti-military and anti-America. Gays are just being used as a pawn in this game, which was going on way before gays were "gays." Indeed, gays are foolish to let themselves be exploited in this way by the anti-American crazies, who have always latched onto the most convenient or fashionable excuse for their America-bashing efforts.

I want to see what would happen if gay-slaughtering Al Quaida recruiters handed out fliers in Harvard Yard. Nothing. Free speech, right? And multi-culturally sensitive. When will we see poorly-paid but devoted military recruiters given the same respect as the pin-striped fancy guys from Morgan Stanley, GE, and Shearman & Sterling - all of whom depend on our guys and gals in uniform for their freedom and prosperity?

Bolton at the UN: NY Sun

Christmas book ideas: Hanson's book on The Peloponnesian War. And two ideas from RWN's list: Gates of Fire by Pressman and Basic Economics by Sowell.

How many errors in Wikipedia? Some, for sure. Blogger News Network. Still, a great resource. I still prefer the Britannica.

Hillary's flag trick. Newsmax. No, it didn't backfire. She wanted that negative comment from the NYT. NYT playing along? Well, consciously or unconsciously. Clever and devious? Yes. Wise? No. It's the Sistah Soljah triangulation that Dick Morris devised for Bill. Watch her follow Dick's old plan in every detail: you wink at your base and make a few meaningless centrist-sounding maneuvers. Simple to do, if you throw honesty out the window. But, what the heck...careers are at stake.

More real hope for spinal cord injuries. Science Daily

John H. shows quantification of press bias: P'line. They do this to all Repubs, and they have done so for many years. And they always select one "good Repub", to seem fair. Once upon a time, it was Nelson Rockefeller. Now it's McCain. But if he runs - watch out. It's always the guy they want to run - and lose.

Algeria vetoes condemnation of Netanya blombing.

Blocking market forces in conservation of grazing lands. How can they block this? The Commons. There's a moral to this story.

Tom Brewton takes on the anti-war people, the 60s counterculture, the culture of hedonism and the juvenocracy:

"The counter-cultural effect was certainly a long-lasting, industrial-strength one.  Today, liberal/Progressives give lip service to “supporting our troops,” but their actions make clear that military personnel are for them objects of cynical disdain, while they have made entertainers and athletes the most glamorous and astronomically-highly-paid group in history.

Hedonism, not patriotism, is the McLuhan TV ‘massage’ for liberal-Progressives."  Read entire. It's an excellent thoughtful rant.

Remember Pearl Harbor - and remember this photo (as if you could forget it):

The Enemy Press in the US: Horowitz

Conspiracy theorists, from neoneocon: "What's the origin of the need to see a conspiracy behind every unpleasant event? One reason is the desire for order and control--even though, paradoxically, conspiracy theories posit a shadowy world out of the control of most of us. But, like children who want everything to have a reason and an explanation, conspiracy theorists can rest assured that at least someone (if only the conspirators) is in control and that there are few accidents, few random terrible and unpredictable events that we cannot control."

For Christmas - The Bob Dylan Store

Book for Christmas: The Martini and other tasty related subjects.

Steyn rips into the eco-cultists. Telegraph

The Birds of Baghdad: Michael Yon. Who knew he was a bird-watcher too?

Five types of people you meet in every office. Which Type are you?: Blogcritics

EU OKs airline blacklist. A good idea, and it's about time. Travelwire

Thornton at VDH, on Sowell:

"The cause of this sorry state of affairs is the transformation of a once-noble Civil Rights movement into the Civil Rights industry, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party and the Social Welfare Plantation. This collection of academics, activists, pundits, bureaucrats, lupine lawyers, and all-around busybodies has reduced the discussion of race in America to a crude melodrama in which the prime mover is white racism, and black people are kept helpless victims in chronic need of rescue by big-hearted liberals and race-tribunes like Jesse Jackson. The economic and political gains made by black people are ignored, while the true sources of the problems and dysfunctions afflicting many black communities are obscured."
Read entire.

A changing approach to global warming:
Science Times

Neckties are coming back: CSM

Triangulate this. Hillary heckled: Newsmax

Child sex tourism on sale at Amazon. Travelwire.

Hey Congress - I want my MTV: Reason

Gay marriage now OK in UK: BBC. The Scots seem thrilled.

The nice girl next door: Murielle Degauque - Protein

Interesting gun - the XM109: RRWH. For popping rats at the dump?

Gizz yer money: Blair and the EU beggars - Tangled Web

Jihad - It's really all about killing Jews (and other infidels): Pres. Ahmadinejad of Iran:  “We are in the process of a historical war between the World of Arrogance [the west] and the Islamic world... Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? You had best know that this slogan and this goal is attainable, and surely can be achieved.” Is there any limit to limp "tolerance" and "understanding"? Do we not value our culture? Where is our Churchill? Read Steyn's comments.

Time for a political offensive by the Admin? From Am. Thinker:

"The Democrat Party has just entered the McGovern Zone. The nation is at war against deadly enemies and the Democrats are going into an election committed to capitulation.  They are gambling everything on failure in Iraq.  If, in six months, successful elections have been held in Iraq and we have begun reducing our troop levels there, only a few hardcore nutjobs will still cling to the idea that Iraq is a hopeless quagmire.  That idea is all the Democrats have to offer and when it dies the Democrat Party itself will be teetering on the edge of extinction."

The pros like Barone and John Leo are going to drive the amateur bloggers, like us, out of existence. That's OK - we accept Darwin. And we are glad that Barone has a blog. Quote: "The impulse of intellectual elites in Europe, and North America as well, is to show their tolerance by tolerating intolerance of tolerance."  Hey - ain't that Virtuous?

Most ignored book on the NYT best-seller list: Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam 

From Gov. Blanco's staff emails after Katrina (NYT, via Drudge): (my bold print):

"Bush's numbers are low, and they are getting pummeled by the media for their inept response to Katrina and are actively working to make us the scapegoats," Bob Mann, Ms. Blanco's communications director, wrote in an e-mail message that afternoon, outlining plans by Washington Democrats to help turn the blame back onto President Bush." and  "She must temper her anger and frustration," Johnny Anderson, Ms. Blanco's assistant chief of staff, wrote a day after it became widely known that large crowds were suffering at the New Orleans convention center. "We have to work too hard to lose the public relations battle.""

As Bird Dog always says, you cannot be too cynical to understand politics. They are not "good people": A "necessary evil."

A defense of Hillary: RWNH

Questioning the Gulf Stream science: Classical Values. Appreciate his looking deeper into the story.

Dems ass over elbows in confusion. ACE

Subway searches: legal or not? Calif. Yankee. If they're constitutional for airplanes, why not subways? They are just airplanes, with wheels instead of wings. All busses.

Bird of Paradise considers Narnia.

The declining interest in video games. Have they become too complex for people with day jobs? Vodkapundit

Iran should link up with the ACLU: Iran "will stop Christianity in this country." Atlas

FIRE burns Univ. of Wisconsin: Bible allowed back. FIRE

Norwegian govt hires philosophers for help in spending money. Too funny. Excellent piece on Scandinavian moral bankrupcy at View from 1776.

Paul at Powerline: "The Democratic party -- part pacifist, part opportunist, part bureaucratic, part clueless -- is attempting to make the existence of a date certain for victory a condition for supporting war. This is a recipe for impotence."

Gen. Smith on Napoleon. Personally, I think Napoleon was half-crazy. Samizdata.

International complaints about Google's eye in the sky: CSM

Send a Christmas card to the ACLU (H/T, Michelle): Crosswalk

Weakening of Gulf Stream will cool Ireland and England. Via Science Daily

NYT will charge for the op-ed online. Real money? Are they kidding? IBD

A nicotine vaccine for smokers? Good idea.

How journalists spread crazy rumors during Katrina. Reason

The moslem war in southeast asia.

Awaiting Saddam's return - Libertarian Leanings:

"Only Saddam can save us. It felt terrible but I am willing to hang and torture again. Saddam taught us about force. He is a strong personality," he said.

Boston Globe advises the Church on theology? Squaring the Boston Globe

John Dos Passos, Hemingway, the Spanish Civil War, and useful idiots: neoneocon

Thomas Fraser to enter Country Music Hall of Fame. Who? A Scotsman. Here. H/T, Norm.

Brits censor Christopher Marlowe, to not offend Moslems. WTF? What happened to the progressive line that art is meant to unsettle people (a loony idea with which I disagree, anyway)? : GOP Bloggers

Iowahawk has a Christmas present suggestion - a charming item.

Tax cuts for whom? Env. Repub.

Democide numbers. Marg. Revolution

The Bible as a career handbook? Christian Science Monitor

Repub pushback works. Protein and No Oil comment.

Willis to make film about Michael Yon: Michelle

Vouchers for Special Ed? Acton Inst.

Roggio blogging from Iraq: Fourth Rail

Barone on the plight of the car companies: Op. Journal: "The end, or the beginning of the end, of a familiar and comfortable world: That's how General Motors' announcement last week of massive layoffs and plant closings, following the bankruptcy of Delphi last month, strikes one who grew up in the Detroit area in the two decades immediately after World War II."

Increase immigration? I don't think this is what Americans have in mind. Calif. Yankee

Another take on the Iraq poll: optimism about freedom in Iraq: Pardon my English

Cindy's book signing. Kinda sad. Synthstuff

Ice cores reveal carbon dioxide level changes. CSM

Our shortage of skilled workers: Cafe Hayek

Concubines are back in style in China, but it gets expensive: LAT

The Administration's immigration reform plan: Fred Barnes in the Daily Standard

Deconstructing the Pew polls on Iraq: Dinocrat

The Second Amendment in New England: Alphecca

Scott at Powerline on multiculturalism: " I don't know enough to judge whether France is in better shape than Great Britain with respect to the corruptions of multiculturalism. Moreover, it seems to me that elites in the United States -- the "leaders" whom John wrote about yesterday -- have similarly elevated multiculturalism into an operative principle, if not a principle of governance."

A Marine reports the good news from Iraq: Democracy Project

Grandma takes on Liberal Larry: Blame Bush

Free Jack Idema. Cao's Blog

Why did Welfare lose political popularity? Marginal Revolution

Bill Richardson mishandles a baseball lie: Tammy Bruce

Charitable giving, by red and blue states: Irish Pennants

Why do Europeans work less than Americans? Kenneth Anderson

Liberal fear of American power: LLBS

Buying medical insurance: Right Thinking

Postal service eliminating Christmas stamps? Tell me it's not true. Darleen.

Is anti-muslim racist? Daniel Pipes

The great Aldous Huxley died the day JFK did. Grampa remembers.

The new DDX destroyer: Calif. Yankee. Very cool. Makes you want to join the Navy.

Nagin bitches from Jamaica: Sweetness

The Chinese blogosphere: Samizdata