Maggie's Farm

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

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!

From last January, The Hybridization of America by Vanderleun

George Will loves McDonald's

Don't let the bedbugs bite.

Record industry goes after personal use of music. Lots of iPods out there with lots of music on them.

Do Dems desire failure in Iraq?

Betsy, with many others, view the Iowa system as screwy. I think it is sensible, although I tend to feel that the old smoke-filled rooms made sense.

California schoolkids to decide their own sex. Progressive, or sick? You decide.

The FARC Farce, directed by Oliver Stone

Don't fear the exorcists. Anchoress

The New Deal Jobs Myth. Schlaes

Mrs. Clinton gets the facts entirely wrong on Pakistan

Do teens overestimate the benefits of risk?

Remington will buy Marlin

If you haven't read this Fred bit, it's good.

Bipartisanship to "get things done"? I agree with Ace: terrible idea. The less govt does, the better for us citizens. Excellent short piece on the subject by Roberts at Cafe Hayek.

Alibis for sale.

Surveillance and the threats to privacy in the West

Outsourcing pregnancy

The NYT makes no sense on immiration. Protein

75% of Al Qaeda in Iraq destroyed.

Katha Pollitt (who's that?) loses it about Kristol going to the Times; wonders whether the NYT is closet neo. Sheesh.

Hey George Bush: Stay away from Brattleboro. The Sheriff has a warrant fer yiz.

A good two-day hunt in New Hampshire. Snow on the ground but we found a few good grouse coverts especially in the marshy alders.

P.J. O'Rourke rips Arthur Schlesinger. Who wants a country run by people who lunched at Mortimers?

Planet hysteria. Dr. Sanity

More on Faulkner: His famous 1950 Nobel (brief) speech.

News flash: funny weather on the way! Related: SUV sales up. Good. they will help fend of the coming Ice Age.

Whales are deer? Viewfrom the Right. Hey, I'll believe anything scientists tell me. Tell me to eat broccoli, I eat broccoli. Tell me to eat meat, I eat meat. I do what I am told. Not.

Is this entrapment? Patterico

Is Spain unraveling? Gates. Youngest daughter: "Duh, Dad. Everybody knows that."

The Fred Blogburst? I am on board.

A perspective on trade. Damn interesting. Cafe Hayek

The EU Constitution scam. TCS. Does this have any legitimacy at all?

Al Qaeda claims "credit" for Bhutto assassination.

The good housing news: homes more affordable. Is there a single person in America who didn't know that the housing bubble would burst? Related: The banking business model that came and went.

Investing in Iraq. Insty

When were you saved? LaShawn

Moustache of the Day. h/t, Norm

Most over-rated and under-rated book of the year. Derbyshire

Second link in one day about Al Sharpton. TNR. With all of the serious black commentators and thinkers out there, why does the MSM pick this vaudevillian self-satirical con man to be a black spokesman? Is he supposed to be their tap-dancing entertainer?

NYT wants a new socialist welfare state in New Orleans. I guess they miss Huey Long.

Peace in our time, revisited. Plus a news flash: Brit Libs do not feel morally superior to Taliban. Hmm, maybe they aren't... Related: 180,000 in Germany willing to be suicide bombers.

"...the cause of anti-racism perpetuates racism. It’s one of life’s bitter little ironies." Indeed.

The Taxes of the Times: NY Sun

Record snows this year. Don't every say I didn't warn you about the coming Ice Age.

I thought abortion was going to kill off all the Liberals. Global warming will drown all of the Conservatives. The man is sick.

"Nothing better to worry about?"

When in the course of human history has mankind been so healthy, secure and prosperous that national political leaders, scientists and the media elite worldwide could be preoccupied with a theoretical crisis predicted to occur 50 years hence? Controversy continues to rage over  Anthropogenic Global Warming Theory, most recently with a minority Senate report citing 400 eminent scientists, yet it's worth reflecting on what this debate means about the human condition at the advent of the 21^st Century

The corollary to this preoccupation with hypothetical dangers 5 decades hence, of course, is that there is not one imminent threat to western nations that demands our immediate attention.  Not one human soul is, or ever has been, in immediate danger from Global Warming. 

Whole thing at Am. Thinker

The two-fer problem: Dick Morris. It is beginning to look like Bill is running for another term.

Israeli Arabs prefer Israel to Palestinian State. Duh. Who wouldn't?

Bush understands Brave New World. Good on him.

Gov. Spitzer has a solution to the NY malpractice escalation. As usual, he's come up with a humdinger. It reminds me of the California plan to tax hospitals to pay for medical care.

Benazir Bhutto assassinated by suicide bomber. See Drudge for details.

A sad day, but not surprising. It is just more proof that Jihad isn't specifically anti-Western - it's anti-freedom and anti-democracy, anywhere and everywhere on the planet. Freedom and democracy are admittedly Western ideals, but many in the rest of the world, with aspirations for human dignity and self-determination, are drawn to them.

However, if one is a devout Moslem, it is my impression that it is one's duty to convert and control the world either by submission (dhimmitude, as in Europe) or by blood, and then to provide theocratic rule. "A clash of cultures."

Mrs. Bhutto was educated at Harvard and at Oxford.

Whither the Conservative coalition? Blankley

Mutual exploitation: Sharpton and the MSM

Praise for Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism

There's a lesson in this: Eliminating traffic signals improves driving safety.

How to get a real person on an automated phone message.

Buying stuff people cannot afford.

7 medical myths. Tammy

Everybody always bitches about their election choices. If they were voting for a Messiah, I would understand that, but they are just voting for an executive politician. Sowell discusses the field.

Sailing to the Galapagos Islands. NYT. I would do that.

Quoted by Sen. McCaskill at Polipundit:

“Why is it that hundreds of bar owners can be sanctioned in Missouri every year for letting somebody with a fake ID have a beer, but we can’t manage to sanction hundreds of employers for letting people use fake identities to obtain a job?”

Micro-lending: a good deed for the world's poor.

Should states be permitted to require an ID for voting?

Former French ambassador warns of the "suicide of Europe". Related: Muezzin callling from minaret in Oxford.

"The only thing more over-rated in education than teacher creativity is student creativity." RWN

Read the Pajamas bit about "culture being a massive sham perpetrated by rich capitalist oppressors"? The lexicon at the end is amusing.

Politics vs. Good Cheer. Jonah Goldberg

Those crafty Jews: Their soldiers don't rape Palestinian women for a sneaky purpose

Illegals self-deport - but to where?

Brit smoking ban kills pubs. Now people are drinking at home, alone, where they can light up a cigar. Who in the UK deliberately voted for such a Nanny?

There are two Christmases. Quite right. One of them is Saturnalia.

What's So Great About Christianity? Am. Thinker

Just war, the UN, and Iraq. Asst Village idiot

Tortoise Thompson?

Tony Snow interviewed at Reason

What exactly is Hillary Clinton's experience? Perhaps she is pumping the experience theme because there isn't much of it, which is a weak point.

John Kerry - unprincipled pimp

Christmas in Bethlehem

The persecution of Christians in Moslem lands

Those tiresome manipulators. Dino

The Dem racist history they want you to forget. Opinion Journal, A quote:

The Republican Party committed a great public crime when it gave the right of suffrage to the blacks. . . . So long as the Fifteenth Amendment stands, the menace of the rule of the blacks will impend, and the safeguards against it must be maintained." - The New York Times, 1900

A critique of George Bailey. What I Saw in America. Fair enough, but Scrooge-like, Dr. Pat: it misses the reason the movie brings tears to our eyes.

Massachusetts health care plan is a mess. Of course. You can use teh power of the State to make me insure my car, but leave my body alone. Related: The untold story of the disaster of French medical care.

What American accent do you have? I have Northern Inland.

All I want for Christmas is an EU-approved slurry tank. I guess the EU doesn't believe in the nitrogen cycle, in which animals eat the stuff, and then recycle it by pooping it back on the fields.

Business success must be stifled. No Pasaran. It's just not fair to the losers in the sport.

"Culture" is a sham perpetrated by the rich to oppress their poor victims. Pajamas. No doubt. Those despicable rich are the only people who want filthy lucre.

A clever solution to restaurant and bar smoking bans.

The imaginary coming Recession. It might happen, and it might not. Like global catastrophe.

Dems try to cut eachother's throats at Christmastime. Some people like dogfights, some like cockfights, some like streetfights, and some like politics.

Bare ruined choirs. Europe's empty cathedrals. American Thinker

Why is Greenland ice melting? After all, the ice sheet is growing in Antarctica.

I want our federal government to have less power and less money. Nevertheless, these Laffer data should please governments, from Willisms:

Why legal immigrants come to America. Anchoress.

George Bush's excellent year. Kudlow

The Peace march in Baghdad. Gateway

Reintroducing beavers to Scotland. h/t, Englishman. Next on the agenda: snakes to ireland?

Is it really all about Bill? Maureen Dowd, via Lucianne. I am sick of these people.

In 2008, the US will become the world's largest consumer of wine.

Speaking of which, The Art of Drinking Well.

A Jew responds to "Merry Christmas." h/t, neoeneoneoneo

How to read the newspaper. Sippican

Al Quaeda's quagmire. Small Dead Little Cuddly Animals

Virtual Science. We have frequently noted that no meaningful "climate change" has occurred yet other than random variation. An ex-Greenpeace guy discusses the hysteria. As we remind our readers frequently, the real threat to civilization will be the next Ice Age, about which we will be able to do little other than to drive our SUVs as much as possible, hoping it will make a difference.

"Mr. Bush has bought into some of the Beltway's most useless climate superstitions." Sisu

Free Mark Steyn! Sign me up

The Star, at American Digest, which begins:

Theirs was the Age of Myth; a world where night was not clad in the web of lights that now obscures the stars. It was a world lit by flaring torches, dim oil lamps, guttering candles, the phases of the moon and the broad shimmering river of the Milky Way. When the sun went down and night ascended, life withdrew into homes. Only the very rich or the very poor were abroad.

Read the whole thing.

A holy and merry Christmas to our readers. God bless you all. Your NJ will be back on duty after Christmas.

Postmodern Cold: Asst Village Idiot

DC has a new schools Chancellor, and she is kickin ass. Opinion Journal. Godspeed to her.

Environmentalist supports a whale fishery.

Tony Blair converts to Catholicism

Will the climate hucksters take us to the cleaners?

A blogger in Cuba. Video at Babalu

Four Revolutionary battle flags come home to the US.

No choice. Hillary had hoped to run as herself, but it didn't work. Now she has to run for co-President. Captain Ed

Compulsory voting in Australia. Norm. Sounds utterly insane to me. And if somebody is running for an uncontested seat, it's like Saddam Hussein or Russia.

My old hippie friends. NE Republican, which has a great new look

Department of Sartorial Intimidation. Powerline

An interview with a former ACLU lawyer, mainly about the ACLU's war on religion

Sacha Baron Cohen is killing off Borat. I'll miss Borat.

Saudis plan world's largest SWF: 900 bn.

Is Al Gore God?

London: Capitol City of the World. Looks like NYC is #2.

Photo: The Wellfleet, MA First Congregational Church sits on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. It has curved pews and rings ship's bells instead of landlubber time.

Photo: Christmas, 1944, from Dr. X's endless supply of vintage photos. It is captioned: "San Jose, Mindoro (Philippines); 2nd Field Hospital: Sgt. Edward F. Good helps his friend Pfc. Lloyd Deming with a leg of Christmas turkey."

Jules' questions for Al Zawahiri. Mine: can I call you "Al"?

George W. Clinton? A Bolton interview at Gates

California's Health Plan proposes to be supported by a tax on hospitals?

"Change" and "hope" are simply cynical political tactics

Tyranny of a minority. Tangled Web

This just in: Global warming isn't happening anymore

Murdered cities: Done with Mirrors

Just an excuse to take your clothes off

Guns don't kill people - ham sandwiches do. Also, Four year-old dies from epidemic

The greatest gift? Sex. Also, Why females make noise during sex

The real Man of the Year: at Gay Patriot

Publishing while Catholic. The Corner. More at Catholic Insight

A war reporter is not a nature reporter. Neoneo

Hillary is a world-class genius. Says Bill. Related: It Takes a Village (to write a book). Also related: Kinder, Gentler character Assassination

Old forests are killing Gaia. They are also of no use to songbirds or to Ruffed Grouse.

The Met's marvellous year.

Who benefits from the Federal government?

More on those climate scientists who dispute the IPCC reports. More at Small Dead Reindeer.

CT Principal bans "competitive activities" during recess. I wonder if that rule includes "rock, paper, scissors"?

How to win at rock, paper, scissors. h/t to somebody, but I forget to whom

An Oklahoma State University bans the word "Christmas." Brilliant idea, certain to be popular. Of course, what these morons do not understand is that Advent is the religious time. Christmas is just a party. If you are an angry enough person to hate Jesus, then ban Advent. And Lent.

Virtual Legos. h/t, David Thompson

Bonuses surging on Wall Street?

Hillary Clinton launches two different Obama attack websites on the same day. I guess that's a Merry Christmas from Hillary to Barry O.

A critique of Edward Said's Orientalism. NY Sun

What happens when medical care becomes politicized? Dem Project

Race horse genetics: less important than people think

God is a conservative and Santa is a liberal

Michael Savage vs. CAIR. Cinnamon

Putin has 40 billion bucks. Not bad for an altruistic servant of the people.

I'm glad somebody has the time to worry about the mental health of worms

Zimbabwe introduces the "kajillion dollar bill"