Wednesday, July 9. 2008
 A report on the recently-discovered Chauvet cave in France, and its art. New Yorker
Obama playing the voters for dupes. Lowry Extrapolating from a single data point. Climate Skeptic American cost of living, in perspective. SDA Bush: buffoon or great leader? Is Socialized medicine a done deal in the US? Barack Obama woos Hispanic vote with promise of citizenship for 12m illegal migrants. Free Republic Canada: an example to the world? Insty Toon courtesy of Theo
Tuesday, July 8. 2008
Who is Obama? TigerHawk. I tend to think that he is a Marxist with a Left-Liberal facade, but you cannot get elected as a Marxist.
 Rooting out racist toddlers. Atlas. Racism in toddlers includes saying "Yuk" to ethnic foods. Photo: Eyeball Soup, an ethnic dish. Yuk.
Now Iraq feels ready for a timetable. Great. More on free speech and "media reform." Am Thinker AP: Everything is terrible. We need Obamamessiah. Then everything will be just fine. How economic liberty produces personal fulfillment. Reason The sky is falling! Everybody panic! Pajamas What's Mayor Mike gonna do? Merrill wants to sell $6 billion of Bloomberg stock. The "Constitution in Exile" vs. the Leftist view. Villainous
Here's the video of the largest reenlistment ceremony in US military history. July 4, in Baghdad:
Monday, July 7. 2008
Still catching up with Good Stuff du Jour after my long weekend away. It may be TMI, but I do feel the responsibility to put these good things out there anyway, and will give myself a break in the morning:  Photo: Evil imperialist American soldier at the opening of a swimming pool in Baghdad.
A bad economy? Coyote puts our American standard of living into some perspective. Patriotism and American Exceptionalism. That's my view too. Related: Be a patriot and get a job and support your family: Driscoll The latest Just Ask Me from Surber. It's a good schtick. "For many years, I was a charcoal snob..." Prof Bainbridge Like us, interested in the Scottish Enlightenment Like us, interested in the illusion of time. By the way, what time is it? Related to time: The affluent have less spare time. Duh. They do things. It's not just the NYT. Arianna is upset with Obama too. Sounds just like conservatives' upset with McCain. But do I give a damn about what Arianna thinks? Not really. Related: How Obama really "put his career on the line" re Iraq. Sheesh. Related: Ripping off the Hillary band-aid. Related: Obama's flips don't matter. Economists support McCain's economics. Related, from Kristol's Where's Murph? McCain is frustrated. He thinks he can beat Obama (politicians are pretty confident in their own abilities). But he isn’t convinced his campaign can beat Obama’s campaign. He knows that his three-month general election head start was largely frittered away. He understands that his campaign has failed to develop an overarching message. Above all, McCain is painfully aware that he is being diminished by his own campaign. This last point is galling. McCain has been a major figure in American public life for quite a while. And yet his campaign has made him seem somehow smaller. Obama is a first-term senator with no legislative achievements to speak of. His campaign has helped him seem bigger, more presidential.
UK Updates: Knife crime is Britain's shame. Also, Brown advises Eat all of your food. But how does that work with their war on obesity? Also, what do teachers do these days in England? Despite the trashing and thrashing that Bush's minimalist Social Security reform plan received, many government employees are exempt from Social Security taxes. Most teachers, for example. How that happened I do not know, but it's a raw deal for us regular folks in the private sector. The worst Economist article of all time. Ask what the government can make you do for your country...? Related: A Nuremberg rally? I agree with whoever said that this is getting creepy. Why the heck is California doing this, if there is no global warming? Is everybody crazy out there? What's the deal? Jihadis with American police records. Other ways that a bad credit rating hurts you. New moves to ban race preferences. CSM Insty: "EXPLAINING TO THE A.P. THAT Yahoo! is not the government." Dr. Tim Ball further debunks the warmists. Why do I continue to expect reason to prevail?
Re Obama. I have seen no reason at all to doubt that. Furthermore, I do not believe that most ordinary, "moderate" Dem voters are ready for what his true views are (which is why he has been so busy backtracking and concealing them this past week).
 A new Watteau has been found, hanging in a corner in an English country house (image on the right). A good chance to remember that artist.
Who was the real first Bozo? The WTC hole and the politics of "can't do". A New Declaration of Independence. Purcell at Front Page Al Qaida defeated in Iraq. Ace: We are winning. Iraqis lead final purge. Related: The Taliban have a plan. Not a very good one, though. It must suck to be Joe Wilson today. More on Saddam Hussein's nuclear program at Am Thinker Sarkozy wants to turn screw on the Irish. Didn't the French referendum also vote down the EU "Treaty"? Via David Thompson, Abandoned Hotels Freedom of photography in the UK. Re yesterday's post on biofuels, How many orangutans per mile? Rocket fuel needed. McCain tries yet another campaign "relaunch" Liberal imperialism? A lib wishes the empire had held together. Obama changing essentially all of his campaign messages. This displeases the NYT. Good update by Viking. He's flipped on the Iraq war, on foreign policy in general, on loving America, on welfare reform, and on abortion in the past four days. More to come.
Sunday, July 6. 2008
Got home tonight and spent an hour or so catching up on all sorts of stuff to try to keep me - and Maggie's - up-to-date on the world's latest nonsense. Great stuff, including a whole section on how Obama is changing his stated views on everything. You should'a seen it. But you won't see it. Somehow, I lost my entire post, and I am beat from a long weekend at sea and a heavy traffic drive home. My body is still rocking - or is the land still rocking? Maybe my brain too. Since I am sure that you are interested, I did catch one ginormous Striper on a wet fly up on the Cape. Released her in the hopes that she will breed next Spring, and ate clams instead. All I have the energy to post now is a quote quoted by Kimball on British tyranny and Obama's tax plan: The colonies were taxed at 10 percent of British metropolitan rates and most of that was spent on protecting them from the French and Indians. Obama’s 56 percent marginal tax rate will put British ‘tyranny’ into better perspective for you …
Saturday, July 5. 2008
 Yesterday, a friend who follows Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's career closely mentioned the fallout in LA government from his dramatic and rigorous financial disclosure reforms.
LA, famous for its long history of corruption and ineffectiveness as exemplified by the Katrina fiasco, has elected Mr. Clean and people are fleeing government service - and coming up with any excuses they can for doing so. He is applying a heavy-duty disinfectant. I Googled jindal financial disclosure and found page after page after page of stories about commission members' resignations. How many of these resignations are for simple privacy reasons and how many are to avoid revealing compromising information is anybody's guess, but my friend suspected mostly the latter. Forbes noted, however, Those standards require disclosure of details about virtually all sources of income, including amounts earned, and details about property ownership. That led to complaints that some people were turning down invitations to serve on public boards, and some were planning to resign, rather than disclose the information. The law approved will still require board members and their spouses to disclose information about income, including their employers and businesses in which they own an interest.
and in the same article notes that the LA legislature decided to ease up on some of the disclosure requirements. Still, I think this marks the end of business as usual in LA.
Friday, July 4. 2008
 Here's the real Fourth. Been there, friend. Related: On Cape Cod, nothing happens until the 4th
Is the "tiresome" baby boomer cohort beginning to retire from their faculty jobs? Neo hopes so. Washington's boyhood home found. Tiger growls at the NYT: Are they the rubes? (Yes, they are, outside of Easthampton and the West Side of Manhattan.) More on My Alcoholism: Dean's World (h/t, Dr. Bob) Largest re-enlistment in history. Experience matters. Ask John Adams Moonbats hate the 4th of July An anorectic guy? Litigious little SOB too. All Freedom pieces at RCP today For the umpteenth time: Oil is a bubble. Same as many other commodities right now.
 It's the Puppy Tactic. And the head-scarf tactic.
How JFK's assassination changed things. Driscoll. Related, from a piece on patriotism at Powerline: One of the basic problems faced by liberals, and the reason why they tend to get sensitive whenever the subject of patriotism comes up, is that a large majority of Americans share the conservatives' view of their country. Rasmussen Reports adds up the numbers: 75% of respondents are proud of America's history, while 13% are ashamed of it. 64% say the U.S. is a positive role model for human rights. As always, these numbers break down quite differently based on party affiliation. 91% of Republicans are proud of our country's history, compared to 64% of Democrats. Not surprisingly, there is also a racial divide: 81% of white respondents, but only 44% of African-Americans, are proud of America's history. (It would be interesting to see the breakdown for other races, but for some reason Rasmussen doesn't provide it.)
Marry "Mr. Good Enough"? Single, and turning 30. It's about time: McCain shakes up campaign. Related: Prager on Why I Support McCain. I agree with most of that. Lefties go bonkers as Obama slips and slides towards the center. Also, Obama's Chicago deals. Photo: That's our Dylanologist sitting on a water taxi in Baveno in June. He is now back in Rome.
Thursday, July 3. 2008
From BBC: Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
Are you OK with that? Whole report here.
 I have dibs on our leased boat for this weekend down in Rhode Island, and will pick up the boat in salty Newport today with a new special friend. Should be good fun even though she doesn't know too much about boats...yet.
Newport is always a pretty good time if you can avoid bar fights with the alcoholic sailors in the local pubs. Maybe we will shove off tonight, or maybe in the morning. I am considering heading to Buzzard's Bay, stopping at Cuttyhunk, popping up through the Cape Cod Canal and then putt-putting around the Bay. Maybe to Wellfleet for the best oysters in the world, and P'town for a Portuguese seafood meal, and then maybe out onto the ocean, Stellwagen Banks to see some whales, then out to the Race for some Striper fishing. Depending on weather, I might take the outside route down to Chatham to hole up for the night, and make a big circle but this trip will require speed and might be too ambitious, not to mention burning tons of gas. The GPS makes it so easy, but filling the gas tank is going to hurt badly. Carpe diem, though. Back home late Sunday night to the Massachusetts woods, God willing. See ya later. XP was pretty good, but it's gone now. Rush signs $400,000,000 contract. God bless him. Still less money than the big hedgies make, but he adds more value to the world. He made my lazy brain think, and I am in his debt. Here's the real story about the Starbucks closings "No M2 for you?" Well, you can buy a cannon easily, online. Let me opt out of Social Security. Please. I understand all of the arguments, but I have no desire to force the youngsters to be taxed for my retirement. My life is my gift, and my problem - not yours and not your kids'. Jolly good show. Prince William is on the job. An entirely-intentional chilling effect. "Artful." It's an artful word. "Annoy A Liberal - Work hard and be happy," "Work Harder. Millions On Welfare Depend on You!" and other bumper stickers. Quack quack. WPAs celebrate 50 years. Good stuff. Tell Edfu - ancient Egypt. More good stuff. Unequal America. Naturally, from Harvard Magazine. Two comments on this thoughtful if deeply flawed essay. First, the serious one: It makes the fallacious assumption that wealth is a zero-sum game. Wrong: there is no such thing anymore as "share" of wealth, except via taxation. Wealth has not been zero-sum since economies were based on farming, and you had to own land. It is, and should be, the goal of the American economy that everyone be wealthy, and we've done a better job with that than anybody else in the world. Without the Death Tax, we'd have even more wealthy folks. Me? I am voluntarily poor right now (an IRA, an old 4WD F-150, a boat-share, and a rental apartment), and more than half-loving my single, free-as-a-bird life. When I need more money for kids or whatever, I will find surely find a way. Socialism makes everybody equally poor, and unmotivated to achievement. Second comment: When Harvard College admits applicants by lottery, I will believe in their committment to "equality." Until then, I think their committment to "equality" is the empty sanctimonious elitism which we are so sick of. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. "Meta-messages" and re-defining patriotism. Am. Thinker Why America is the greatest country on earth. Ben Shapiro But some disagree. Who is responsible for "the greatest holocaust in human history"? Hitler? No. Stalin? No. Pol Pot? No. Attila the Hun? No. Mao? No. The correct pomo answer is apparently the American Founding Fathers. Good grief. Rockin' and rollin' at NRO. Scroll. They are all in a good mood over there. I am, too. Warm beer, and fireworks from the waterfront villages shooting over the water. Always a fine American weekend, regardless of weather. God Bless America.
Wednesday, July 2. 2008
Fact is, we love newspapers. I worked for one for over a year, and our News Junkie works for one now. What we do not like is purportedly credible and objective newspapers being used as propaganda mills. I do not mind newspapers like Il Manifesto, on every newsstand in Italy, which is a Communist paper. You can assume they slant their reporting and cherry-pick their facts to support their political agendas. Their readers want their views reinforced, and not challenged. One reason Conservative blogs exist is because the MSM so frequently overlooks inconvenient truths. Glenn, who rarely writes anything resembling a blog post, today discusses newspapers. Related: The Great media Depression
King Abdullah: Get used to these gas prices. Who's smearing whom? Politico How bad is the economy? Stossel. My take is that the economy isn't terrible, but prices are hurting the middle class. Obama wants more support for faith-based groups. That is a clever chess move. Related: Barack Trudeau Obama? 55% of US handgun deaths are suicides. Gun control, at Pajamas Al Qaida's new global strategy. Image on top from Theo
Tuesday, July 1. 2008
Global warming as mass neurosis: WSJ. We all know AGW is to blame for everything, and now the NYT adds decreasing penguins to the list - even though Antarctic ice is increasing. And, for utter looniness, Prince Charles runs his Aston Martin on surplus wine. I have no idea what "surplus wine" means. Does it mean his extra cases of Margaux '91 that he'll never get around to drinking? (1891, that is.)
Brits regulate salt shakers. Has anybody considered that these government people just don't have enough to do? Related idiocy: European travel space requirements. McCain's Universalism vs. Obama's Particularism. Something hit us in 1908 In France, it's the reputation, stupid. Do we live in a post-factual world? Related: Mr. Valiant for Truth. Oil makes us sick? Excuse me: oil is wonderful stuff. In Congress, the guilty interrogate the innocent. Reisman Going places. Mr. Obama is going to travel to Europe this summer. How nice for him. A broadening experience and all that, you know? Apparently he has never gone anywhere, despite making millions over the past few years. Related: Obama's real patriotism problem. Hey - we all know this guy doesn't have a patriotic bone in his body. He only sees the negative, as the effete elite like to do. That's allowed - it's a free country - but I am not sure it's a Presidential attitude, or an attitude that appreciates our country's history or its spirit.
Sunday, June 29. 2008
Luskin on Obama, with comments on the Social Security mess Today's Insanities Repubs cannot reply to obvious Leftist intimidation Maternity Prom dresses? How enlightened and progressive. Just give me a dang table gift. Capt. Capitalism A deep thinker? Justice Kennedy's Song of Himself. Related: Liberals collectively pee in their pants. I just want one more guy or gal in there who reveres the Constitution more than their personal preferences. The self-inflicted economic death of Ohio. WSJ. A sad story. I like Ohio. A website about "Creative Capitalism." My view: "Creative Capitalism" is the opiate of the mega-wealthy. If I invest in a business, I want my full share of the profits. I will decide, myself, what to give away, and to whom. Nanny state fest, at Blue Crab. Just read a few of his latest. Related, at Betsy: No scores for games. As she comments, "It's clear that future battles of Britain won't be won on its playing fields." The greatest student prank of all time. Tiger Please remember this 13th Century Law from the City of Augsburg: The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love. — Law, the City of Augsburg, 13th Century
Via Free Republic: DURAGI, Afghanistan -- Early morning, and 14 U.S. soldiers stand in a semi-circle for a mission briefing. Four Humvees, engines running, rumble beside them. "We're going to Warshallah today," Army Capt. Sam Karr, 28, of Manhattan, Kan., tells his platoon. "I guess it has, like, 200 bad guys in it. That's nothing, dudes -- we've got 14, so we're good."
Another case for global cooling. Reference Frame
Saturday, June 28. 2008
 Leaving tonight for a fishing trip (not for Catfish, however), so I will offer this good pile of items:
What it's like to be a bat. The Englishman appreciates Scalia's historical sense. As do I. Why humans left Africa 80,000 years ago Why men are becoming reluctant to volunteer with kids. Brits harassed for flying their flag The Canadian Human Rights folks blinked. Driscoll is quite right: it was to save themselves. What change does Obama offer us? JC Phillips Americans overwhelmingly support conservative economic policies Swedish nanny state wants to tell you who to invite to your birthday party. They should tell their nanny to go jump in the lake, or fjord, or whatever. More on "I hate practicing medicine." Via Bainbridge: Justice Breyer as culture warrior. Re guns, Surber's Just ask me What's really up with Arctic sea ice? (And do we care? Well, it is interesting.) My view on oil markets. Coyote Time for a Grand New Party? Beijing is ready. Just don't breath the air. I agree that this is stupid. Liberals as enablers of totalitarianism Taliban back to their old ways. Gateway I went to Wiki today to check the history of the Fairness Doctrine I also had to refresh my understanding of the Turing Test. The real question is whether people can think. The value of a practical education: John Hawks. Related, at Villainous, who wonders who should teach From a piece at Dino: The Beltway MSM are historically 12 to 1 for the Democratic ticket, and have said that their favorable coverage is worth perhaps 15 points in electoral results. That’s in a normal year. But this appears not to be a normal year; we sense that there’s payback on the minds of some in the press. The coverage could get pretty out-of-control before November rolls around.
Re "settled science," McQ at Q&O wonders whether Al Gore has read this yet.
The Bad News Banks Amnesty International hits bottom The EU goes to ground Why guns are a feminist issue. Class. Values It's just a question of who they're afraid of. Indeed. More on the father of Canada's health care system, and his renunciation of it. It's a basic lesson in how reality works. Why McCain isn't doomed. The New Patriotism will be on display in Denver. Also, no fried food? Good grief. Change we can be shocked at. Rick Moran
Friday, June 27. 2008
Getting the French to work. (h/t, Flares) It's about Amendments 1,2, and 14. The NY Sun on the candidates and Heller. And Tiger on the NYT on Heller. A quote: "There are plenty of Constitutional rights that drive inefficient, inconvenient, or even unwise public policy. One can recognize that a right exists and deplore the consequences of the right." Lots of wisdom in that simple sentence. Rights aren't about efficiency or even effectiveness - they are about human dignity and freedom. As the old saw goes, "Mussolini got the Italian trains to run on time." Save the planet - ban drive-thrus. The insane world of Congress. Powerline. Nevertheless, House Dems seem headed for a "permanent majority." Even if deserved, it's a depressing thought because they do not seem to understand even the basics of free market economics - or to value freedom as I understand it.
Thursday, June 26. 2008
Sometimes forces defy control, like weather. This about captures it. It's not a perfect world, and only the seductive and subtle salesman Devil himself would suggest that it could be otherwise. Life will teach us humility, if nothing else: it seems designed to do so. Furthermore, as our Dr. Bliss often says, no two people would ever agree on what "perfect" might mean anyway. For some, it's the womb. For others, it's constant challenge and difficulty.
 The DC gun ban case should be out this morning. It won't be the be-all and end-all, but it will be interesting.
Why the Left abandoned Darfur. A quote from Bernard-Henri Levy at SC&A: We are prisoners of a scheme of thought in which, if you are a victim and if you don’t play a role, if you don’t have a part on the big stage, in the big history, in the big tale of the opposition of the evil empire and the good anti-imperialist forces, you don’t really deserve attention.
Why passenger trains don't work in the US: Charlie Martin at Pajamas A Utah warning for McCain Dems want the fairness doctrine back. At Tiger: "There should be no doubt that this is nothing less than a broadside attack on freedom of speech." Another guy eaten by a Mountain Lion. Too bad they won't stick with healthy fruits and vegetables. I guess they haven't had the advantage of modern nutritional "science." It's best to be armed in serious lion country. You can't throw them a banana any more than you can throw a Jihadist a pork chop. Anatomy of surrender. Bruce Bawer in City Journal: "Motivated by fear and multiculturalism, too many Westerners are acquiescing to creeping sharia." Global warming causes terrorism? Add it to the list. I'm pretty sure it causes my Athlete's Foot, too. Check these photos of Berkeley antiwar folks. The pics say it all. Our blog friend at Squaring the Boston Globe is resigning from blogging following his wife's cancer diagnosis. We will miss his good work, but it's the right thing to do. Best to his family, and God's presence. The case against Turkey's ruling party. Prison had "criminal subculture." That's headline news, folks. Why won't jailbirds behave like the sweet, passive, innocent victims of The System that they are? Guess they didn't get the memo. Who are the subprime villains? Every story needs a villain. If you're a paranoid, anyway.  And, speaking of witchhunts, has it occurred to Americans that those evil evil oil speculators might not be American? Hong Kong to have its own commodities exchange. Chart on the left from the piece at Dino.
Photo: Cahoon's Hollow, Wellfleet, Cape Cod
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Yellow Science.