Tuesday, September 27. 2005
Gimme Some Money, Part 2 Katrina's flood waters woke the poverty pimps from their dormancy, but now the heavy hitters are getting on board - massive pork projects for LA. Quoted from Washington Times at The Corner: Louisiana Sens. David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D) tucked the request into their $250 billion Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act, the state's opening salvo in the scramble for federal dollars. The bill, unveiled last week, would create a powerful "Pelican Commission" controlled by Louisiana residents that would decide which Corps projects to fund, and ordered the commission to consider several controversial navigation projects that have nothing to do with flood protection. The Corps section of the Louisiana bill, which was supported by the entire state delegation, was based on recommendations from a "working group" dominated by lobbyists for ports, shipping firms, energy companies and other corporate interests. The bill would exempt any Corps projects approved by the commission from provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. It would also waive the usual Corps cost-sharing requirements, ensuring that federal taxpayers would pay every dime.
Monday, September 26. 2005
Katrina, Environmentalists, The Corps of Engineers, and Money Powerline highlighted this piece in the WSJ. Good. A sample: "...the Corps hardly has a record of rationality. It claims that Katrina produced surges higher than the levees that Congress funded it to build. But Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center found that "the flooding of most of New Orleans" came from breaches of floodwalls on canals adjoining Lake Pontchartrain; Katrina's surges did not pour over the levees but breached them because the Corps' floodwalls were shoddy. The barrier stopped by the lawsuit was designed to keep storm surges out of the lake, so it would have reduced the pressure on these floodwalls. And now, as we have seen, Hurricane Rita drove new surges into the lake. The Corps actually contributed to increased pressure from the surges on Lake Pontchartrain by building the little-used Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a 76-mile long canal that destroyed 20,000 acres of wetlands. The Corps causes floods across the country by destroying wetlands and channeling rivers. Meanwhile, the federal government encourages construction in flood plains by providing flood insurance."
Canada's GunScam, at Captain Ed Killer Dolphins Missing? At Ex-Donk. Howler reports on Ed Decker. Who he? Find out, and watch Howler rip the poor soul a new one.
Photos from the Anti-War protest Photos here. Gives you a good sense of who these people are. Thanks, Powerline. Protest posting from No OIl, too. Definitely Moonbats on Parade - their signs are revealing. Respectful disagreement, people? The Coalition Against Civilization Even wackier than the anti-war crowd. Thanks, LGF Men outnumbered by women on campus. This has got to be fun for the guys, unless half the women are transgender whatevers. At Instapundit
On natural Disasters, from Barcepundit: 579. That’s the current death toll in Louisiana from the hurricane and catastrophic flooding. Terrible for the victims, their family, their friends. But also much less than the 10,000 widely predicted. And, BTW, much less than the more than 35,000 killed by a heat wave in Europe two summers ago. You recall the debate that set off about European heartlessness, racism and discrimination? No, neither do I." Read all of his comments on the latest news stories cause he is good:
Sunday, September 25. 2005
Stop the ACLU has a fundraiser for an ad in the Washington Times. It has been many years since I have believed that the ACLU had America's best interests at heart. The Anti-War "Movement" Ah, the nostalgia for the 60s. They sang "We shall overcome" and "Blowin in the Wind." Lots of "angry grannies." Powerline reminds us of who organizes this stuff, in a 2002 piece by David Corn. The IFC looks dead Chalk up one more giant slayed by the blogosphere. I can just hear the Marxist professors on the Committee saying to eachother "Rats. Foiled by the know-nothings again." Sweet. Washington Times editorial, yesterday It begins like this (I cannot link to it): IT SHOULDN'T BE necessary to write in praise of the three Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who this week voted in committee to confirm John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice of the United States. Supporting overwhelmingly qualified members of the opposite party for the Supreme Court used to be the norm, not an act of courage. Yet, set against the general opposition from Democrats to the nomination, and truly intense pressure from interest groups, the votes cast by ranking Democrat Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) and Wisconsin's Herb Kohl and Russell Feingold took guts. Their votes ensure that Judge Roberts will not take the helm of the judiciary perceived as the representative of only one party, and they guarantee that at least some Democrats -- albeit sadly few -- will have the moral authority to demand Republican support for qualified liberal nominees in the future.
Darn right. Big mistake to change the rules of the game. Not very grown-up, either: petulant.
Saturday, September 24. 2005
Flood Insurance Pennywit revisits the issue, one which always deserves revisiting. Morgagees must always have it - what bank would not insist? There is a larger question: Why do local governments permit building on flood plains and coastlines where flooding is certain? Well, we know the answer: It's about development and real estate. My opinion: I hate the idea that my taxes might be subsidizing insurance that permits people to live in zones where commercial insurors are unwilling to assume the risk. In the part of Cape Cod that I tend to visit, we see houses disappear into the ocean every winter. There's an expression: "Cape Cod Real Estate - Going Fast." The Atlantic is eroding the shoreline at an average of 3 feet per year. Got to accept nature's power. A Link between Warming and Hurricanes? Nope, reports Grist magazine hurricane expert.
Friday, September 23. 2005
Unbelievable Chirac's face on new Palestinian stamp. Atlas.
Told Ya So Anyone who would live in New Orleans is a Total Moron and deserves these consequences. Make it a national park for ducks and gators, and ivorybills. Or a Disney thing to celebrate Cajun coonass culture - best food in the USA. Let the mighty Mississippi run wherever it wants to. Or, hey, move back in...there's always next year to ride your roof again. Someone, please tell me why I should support such below-sea-level idiocy with my taxes...this isn't just below normal sea-level, it's below normal IQ level. And for those Brit idiots who blame US-caused global warming for hurricanes, check here. And for those scumbags like Rangel and Mr. Hillary who attack Bush for hurricanes, check here. And hey, you ignorant emailers who never sucked the yellow fat out of a crawfish shell - learn about coonass.
Time to Cash in on your Blog? Who wouldn't want to? WSJ has story today. We will entertain any offers over ten million for Maggie's Farm, as of today. Cash only. I told you we were cyber-sluts. Update: 24 hours and still no emails with offers to buy...I do not understand that at all.
Thursday, September 22. 2005
 Bird Dog's New Nephew
Nathaniel is famous already with this Maggie's debut, with a Keith Richards hairdo and Yoda mannerisms, and getting used to a windy Cape Cod beach a couple of weeks ago. Nat? Gnat? Nate? Yoda? May the Force be with you, little fella.
Smallest robots built by Dartmouth researchers. Positive review of Stones new album: A Bigger Bang. In The Week. Soros is back. Is this guy an American citizen and, if so, why? Why engineering is a lousy career path, by Kern at TCS. The Krugman Report, by Luskin. Merkel's failure: Not much of a politician, I guess. NYT VDH on Katrina Reporting: There you have one of the media's favorite devices for disguising opinion as news, one on display in the coverage of the disaster in New Orleans. At the very height of the disaster reporters solicited opinions from people about what was happening and why, and unsurprisingly, the majority of poor black people asked said Bush and the federal government were to blame, a perception echoed by Democrats and black politicians for obvious partisan reasons. These perceptions of reality were then reported day after day, and not long after there followed the “scientific” poll to solicit even more perceptions based on the earlier perceptions publicized by the media. The result is then reported as news, and thus through the magic of media alchemy subjective perceptions become facts in the minds of many. Read entire predictably good piece.
Too Much Good Stuff Today: More on family collapse as cause of poverty: Bray at Detroit News Dickerson mocks failures of fiscal conservatism. He has a damn good point. Lee makes same point. Newspapers dying a slow death, grieving from Eric. Why? Is it because "You are stuck on stupid, reporter" ? - video here, thanks to Political Teen. Or is it because of pieces of stupidity such as the disparagement of motherhood by the NYT yesterday, reported by Charmaine. Sheehan is gone for good. Why? The Doc suggests that it is because she took on the media's sweety-pie - the lovely, charming and feminine Hillary. And speaking of feminine, California women feel oppressed by having to wear bathing suit tops, reports Right Wing Nation. Story here. The link to Nude Beach at the bottom is x-rated - do not visit that site. Boston most expensive town in US: Martinipundit
Rita Update Go to Stormtrack for details. And scroll down a bit to see his school bus posting.
A sane Moslem, in a nation which is well on its way to becoming majority Moslem - Sweden. Latest on the Bird Flu Fred Barnes on the difficulties in getting a conservative court Scott on Pork - did we need Katrina to remind us of pork? It must be fun to be so generous and extravagant with other people's hard-earned $. England update at New Criterion. Bork on Roberts. Sample: The hysteria of the Democratic Left is understandable. It has lost confidence in its ability to compete in the political arena and sees a politicized judiciary as its only hope to advance its agenda. The policies it desires, and the Supreme Court has so far advanced, are ones that encourage radical personal autonomy in moral and cultural matters. Activist judges announce principles and reach results that have no plausible connection to the Constitution. Thus, it is increasingly obvious that activist judges are issuing decisions that have no basis other than the judges' personal preferences. There is more than a grain of truth in the statement that the court represents the blue states in their contest with the red states.
Bloated Bodies Tens of thousands, ummm, thousands, ummm, hundreds? The media hysteria about NO.
Scheisse. Demarche on Germany's unraveling.
Wednesday, September 21. 2005
 Why Citizens Need to be Armed, Part 18
Right equals Might explains it, in NO
Courtesy of Cox and Forkum: 
Bush's cronyism - come on, GW - give us good people - we pay for them Brit Moslems worried about extremists - but not the kind you think. LGF The Porkbusters Campaign: worth a good try. We endorse it, Instapundit. Steyn on Germany: a Quote: Germany is dying, demographically and economically. Pick any of the usual indicators of a healthy advanced industrial democracy: Unemployment? The highest for 70 years. House prices? Down. New car registration? Nearly 15 per cent lower than in 1999. General nuttiness? A third of Germans under 30 think the United States government was responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11. Whole thing here.
Marx still popular? WFT? Katrina News Lie # 37, debunked. Bush agenda dead? Some say so. Hope not. But where are all of the political geniuses?
Tuesday, September 20. 2005
Sunday Fishing A teaser which will keep you following Maggie's Farm: Last Sunday morning, 6:30 AM. I am out in the garden in the semi-dark, working, digging, weeding, transplanting, drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee and content to be alive. Along comes John and a bunch of my best buddies in his politically incorrect Suburban. "Hurry up. Get in the car, as you are." I guess I missed his call - I do miss some calls. So I grab my camera (without battery), and do so, of course, guiltily aware of missing church and church picnic, etc. Photos, and mysterious story of a death at sea, to follow...
Environmental engineering summary of why rebuilding NO makes no sense: Confed Yankee. Read it. Agree with him completely. Guard the Borders Blogburst: The latest in illegal hutzpah. Poverty in socialist paradise France. Joe Carter outs himself as a Calvinist. So what, exactly, is a Calvinist? Read comments after article too. Very good. Bloomberg opposes Roberts. Huh? Brit bishops repent war in Iraq. WTF? Norm. Tropical deforestation and weather Health advice from FMFT: Sample: Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach. Read 'em all.
Monday, September 19. 2005
Afghanistan Election Despite neo-Taliban threats, etc., the election happened, and an inspiring one, too. Have we lost interest because it's going well? Publius has all of the details.
New Orleans refugees finding better lives From neo-neocon: Some telling statistics: for two-thirds of those people whom Ladov and his friends flew to Denver, it was the very first time they'd ever been on an airplane. And all of those evacuated to northwest Arkansas were given the following choice: stay in that part of Arkansas, move back to New Orleans, or relocate elsewhere. Ninety-five percent chose to stay in Arkansas, an extraordinary percentage.
Read entire Kindness of Strangers
The bureaucratic approach, at FEMA, reported by Buzzmachine/ Stop the US Occupation of NO: Sheehan and the Left display more wisdom; NE Repub Roberts is great: Vote against him. NYT via Powerline, also by Right Thinking The problem the Dems face, from Macho Nachos: Unless they discover a purpose, a vision, and a personality, the Democrats will be doomed to repeat the same political note over and over again - namely, tying themselves to the possibility of American failure in Iraq, or at the very least, Republican failure at home. However, they will always have a problem taking this approach: no one is inspired by someone who looks for failure, who barely contains their glee when it occurs, and who seeks to capitalize on a misfortune that affects a whole country. That is not the sort of agenda that almost anyone votes for, and it certainly isn't one that's capable of flipping a ten-seat majority.
Read entire Yahoo plays ball with China: Right or wrong? Roger Simon The civilized world gradually comes around to Bush: Chris Christner
Friday, September 16. 2005
This photo reminds me of John (Gigolo-John, AKA "Gig-John") Kerry's most famous quote during the campaign: "Whom among us does not love NASCAR?"
Roberts refers to Calder v. Bull on Kelo: Samizdata. Sounds unambiguous to me. Ms. Zanotti sums up the Roberts hearings. Yes, Roberts does believe that blacks have a right to vote. Whew. Was worried about that. Flight 93 Memorial: Is it a covert pro-Islam thing, or is it a sappy Hallmark card embarassment? You decide. Angela Merkel: Learn about her now. Germany's next Chancellor, probably. Her father, a pastor, moved the family from West to East Germany as a religious missionary. In the NYT
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