Maggie's Farm

Heck, I'd pay not to read Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd. Times to drop Times Select

What is it about Wagner? TimesOnline

I don't watch these candidate debates, but my take on the Repubs is not too far from Willisms'

As you may know, it is a felony to practice private medicine in Canada. But Quebec's top court has now struck down that ban, which could rescue Canadian docs from serfdom. h/t, Dr. Bob. Watch the govt try to put a five-year hold on that decision.

New tree ring data: normal climate fluctuation (h/t, Flares)

How to pass a class in high school in NYC

My excellent adventure at Yearly Kos. Rick Moran

16% of the American economy is related to medical care. That % is expected to go higher. Will people go for socializing 16% of the economy? They might, if they think it's a free lunch. h/t, Mankiw. My view is that if the Dems were a bit craftier, and less ideological, they could propose to make Medicare available to everyone who wants to sign up. It would be a budget-buster.

Walking is bad for Gaia. Driving is better. No need to even try to satirize the warming movement: it satirizes itself.

Hillary Clinton's "experience." What experience? We missed this April piece by Dick Morris from The Hill. As we have asked before, What has she ever run? What has she ever done?

Erik von Markovic: Master Seducer. I need this guy's book.

Tom Wolfe on the Hedgies: Pirate Poseurs and Twinkie Wives.

Modern Scouting in Dorset. Pitiful. Sounds like a program designed to turn men into Victorian girls mice.

The critics and Jon Swift on Antonioni and Bergman.

Lots of good news from Iraq that we aren't being told. This bit has been passed all around, but we found it first at Synthstuff.

The Ask What Your Country Can Do For You Department: Here's a candidate who has a different view:

“Government cannot take care of you. You’ve got to take care of yourself.” He said the marketplace, not the government “nanny state,” needs to do the work of fixing the nation’s health care problems. He said that “We’ve got to solve our health care problem with American principles, not the principles of socialism.”…

“Americans believe in free-market solutions to the challenges we face, and I believe we can reduce costs, expand access to, and improve the quality of health care by increasing competition. America’s health care system is being dragged down by decades of government-imposed mandates and wasteful, unaccountable bureaucracy.”…

“I don’t care what Michael Moore says in his movie,” he said. “I’ve never had anybody ask me for help to get into a Cuban hospital or a Canadian hospital or an English hospital. They all want to come to America. So let’s take what’s right about our system and let’s improve it.”

How was my three-day AT hiking and camping trip? Wonderful. Gets cold up there at night. Only problems are that, between foot blisters and aching legs, I can hardly walk to the fridge. I think my life is too sedentary except during partridge season. Oh - I almost forgot the nice combination of sunburn and bug bites.

I missed this post by Taranto on Friday. It's almost like the Carnival of Insanities.

No Looking Backwards' quote of the year: “CAIR can go to Hell and they can take their 72 virgins with them.” Read the lawyer's letter at Michelle.

Silicon Valley update, from Never Yet Melted:

“You’re nobody here at $10 million,” Mr. Kremen said earnestly over a glass of pinot noir at an upscale wine bar here. …

 Money never protected anyone from being a total a-hole. I do, however, like Buddy's comment on this post: 

"You're nobody around here with $10, Mr. Kremen said earnestly over a grape soda at an upscale bait shop here..." 

Camping this weekend on the AT in NH. Leaving now, without camera or anything with weight. Bringing buns for toasting though (toasting buns photo via Theo). Wish Theo could join us.

Who do we want in charge of medical care? A good piece on why the SCHIP is a bad idea (h/t, No Left Turns). I guess I just don't care about children, right? Interestingly, polls show Americans don't want to give up their medical freedom... as they have done in the UK, where docs owe their loyalty to the government, not the patient, as in this horrible example of organ-stealing. I thought grave robbing was against the law.

The Death of Sweden. Brussels Journal. A sad story about a suicidal nation. I guess there has always been a lot of depression and self-loathing in Sweden anyway.

Meet Dr. Mohammed Ahmedna - he is the guy who will save peanuts!

More on talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine. Does anyone really want that Fairness Doctrine back? And is it even constitutional? TCS. (h/t, Insty)

In NYS, Bruno and Cuomo are now gunning for Spitzer. As well they should.

Imports beat American cars for the first time. Viking. Well, we still make better wine than the Japanese.

The attempted Russki "land" grab in the Arctic. I guess we have to accept that this is just what Russians do.

Who wants protectionism "to protect jobs"? Dems supported by unions, that's who. Protectionism damages the American economy and damages the American consumer. Is that too subtle for Americans to understand? As Coyote says, "Stop right there or I will shoot myself."

The Euroland Left is moving towards the center, while the American Left is moving further to the left. Europe has already hit the rocks,, but the American Left still hears the syren's call.

What does Africa need? Business schools!

Yes, it was spooky that we posted the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse video yesterday.

Sympathy for Hitler, in the UK? This could be a dubious news item.

Westerners claim federal rules make wildfires worse. I have no problem with wildfires anyway. They are natural and necessary.

Finding relatives lost in institutions

"Promoting Diversity and Love with an iron fist", from Hot Air, via Dust My Broom:

Hate ought not be a crime. It’s an emotion. Hate can lead to crimes, but so can many other emotions and attitudes that we haven’t (yet) criminalized. Greed, envy, lust, jealousy — all of these can lead to crimes just as often, if not more often, than hate does. Are we going to criminalize all of them, too?

Farming the government. Factory farming and federal subsidies. View from 1776

Fun with Chomsky. Attack Machine

Is Iraq ready for self-governance? Rick Moran is fed up.

LaShawn says that the fight against voter ID shows contempt for blacks. Where I vote, you have to show an ID with an address.

Don't be a victim! The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation (h/t, reader)

Filson's semi-annual sale.

Germany encourages incest? Is this for real? Right Wing News

A mind is a terrible thing to lose. "Tillson executed." I learned in college that paranoia was about projection.

Dems scramble to restore NSA eavesdropping ability

Don't get kidnapped in Venezuela. The reasons here.

In praise of Wendell Berry

Journalists don't want to believe that they are part of an industry. Prof Bainbridge

Even Rolling Stone editorializes against ethanol as fuel. Viking

Antonioni: Here's one obit, via piece at Never Yet Melted. Here's his wiki entry

Canada's nightmare health system.

Kids take on the Lunch Lady

Losing hope for the Korean hostages.

The cost of travel in 1800. Marginal Revolution. No wonder nobody ever went anywhere beyond their local market village, unless they were rich. Stagecoaches were expensive.

Sovereign Wealth Funds: The new thing. Government entities are learning to be capitalist investors. Guess they realized they can't run businesses themselves.  Dinocrat. Yes, governments love money and power, don't they?

Uppity whites in Boston.

Debka Files is not the most reliable source. Gateway linked this story. Is it true? I hope it is true, but count me as a skeptic.

The tax hike that the Dems long for. John Kyl discusses. Pure class warfare, if you ask me.

Great comments by Old Man Tyme on this Jules piece. For some reason, I have been having trouble getting to his site this week.

How Congress is hampering terror surveillance. Never Yet Melted. Idiots.

Boy Scouting turns 100 years old.

Brits "horrified" by Olympic shooting sports. Who are these people?

Joe Lieberman escalates his attacks on Dems. The Hill

From Wretchard (h/t, Reader):

The US campaign in Iraq is probably one of the most complex campaigns in military history. It is an event fundamentally unsuited to facile political characterization. And I am afraid that, if General Petraeus' efforts meet with some success, what was officially a "bad" war -- after first having been a "good war" -- will become a "good war" again, as politicians anxiously reposition themselves according to the latest polls. Iraq will become, whatever it is, exactly what the politicians want it to be. And that's bad. Because the one thing that Gen Petraeus is doing right -- if he is doing anything right at all -- is adapting; moving through the OODA loop faster than his enemies and unfettered by restricting shibboleths and doctrinal dogma. Success is based on seeing things as they are as opposed to viewing them through political lenses. In some sense you have to see things different from Washington to have a snowball's chance in Hell.

Fred on Federalism. I strongly agree with this piece (h/t, Right Wing Nation). A quote:

A good first step would be to codify the Executive Order on Federalism first signed by President Ronald Reagan. That Executive Order, first revoked by President Clinton, then modified to the point of uselessness, required agencies to respect the principle of the Tenth Amendment when formulating policies and implementing the laws passed by Congress. It preserved the division of responsibilities between the states and the federal government envisioned by the Framers of the Constitution. It was a fine idea that should never have been revoked. The next president should put it right back in effect, and see to it that the rightful authority of state and local governments is respected.

Why are we importing doctors? From a piece by Kesler:

Physicians in the USA: 794,893.
Foreign graduate doctors in the USA: 185,234 (from 127 countries).
* Percentage of doctors in U.S. training programs who are foreigners: 24%.

Is it art or a crime? Never Yet Melted. It's not a crime, just terrible manners.

In defence of Ward Churchill: He's just like the rest of them. Coyote

Always late? No matter - time may not exist. Samizdata

How the Brits prevented us from catching Osama. Ace. This was sick. More from Dinocrat.

Dr. Pettit speaks about his lost family.

A free public service school? I say nuts to that commie, Frenchie notion, and so does Tammy. Part of the idea of America is citizen-politicians, not trained managers of us masses. That is why I am sympathetic to term-limits.

If our gummint can't run a passport office, why should we imagine they can run American medicine? Cafe Hayek

The Dissident Frogman is back.

The Gonzales story. There is no story. He is just another potential scalp. The Democratic Party: The Party of Hate. Not to defend the dopey Repubs or to be unbalanced, but the Dems have gone over the edge.

Mr. Sun is good for you. Take off that greasy sunblock.

Cool new US Army weapon systems.

Ulrich Muhe died. Still need to see this movie.

World's tallest woman. Video. That is one big hunk of woman.

Waziristan update. Powerline. It's an un-reported battle.

"Attempts to Islamize the West cannot be denied," warns the Vatican. Gates of V.

The foreign policies of Spain are not usually a hot topic, but right now it's an interesting subject. Brussels Journal

While the surge seems to be working, the government of Iraq is in splinters. CSM. Maybe they need a dictator or king or whatever, to be civilized.

We had lots of posts about hippies last week. Driscoll looks back on that era via Tom Wolfe.

The Red Fox making a comeback in the Northeast. That is good. We have a family of them on the farm. Our coyotes are known to kill fox kits - so much for canine multiculturalism.

Speaking of foxes, more on the war against FOX News, at Gateway

And speaking of the dog family of animals, Derbyshire ponders whether dogs have consciousness, based on the latest research - and thus whether they have souls.

Photo: That is our North American version of Mr. Red Fox. We wrote about him in Dog of the Week a while ago.

How good is Tony Snow? See press conference video. Gotta love this guy.

The dark side of green. Michael Eckhart of Harvard.

Must Christians support illegal immigration? LaShawn

Deforestation and crimes against humanity in Vietnam, Camobodia, and Laos. Democracy Project.

The Nero Dems. Conspiracy. Why are they anti-growth? Must be because there is a conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid.

Orson Card on computer modeling and warming. We missed that one. h/t, No Looking Backwards

As most readers are aware, The New Republic really f-ed the pooch, pooped in its pants, etc. this week. If you scroll down through Ace you can see most of the story, delivered in an appropriately sarcastic manner.

Schumer: We will confirm no more Bush Supreme nominees. That is a declaration of war.

The perfect relationship. She talks a bit slow, but it's good.

The economy: Wages are rising for everyone. Marginal Rev. (h/t, Insty)

MoveOn targets FOX. Silliness.

Stop trying to help Africa, says an African. I am sure he is right. WaPo. Not only is it condescending as hell, but it's a new form of colonialism. Crooks there will take our money gladly, however. What the West can offer Africa is opportunities to trade, especially in agriculture. We already buy their oil.

Photo: One of Theo's girlfriends. She slipped me her phone number while he wasn't looking, but I lost it. I like her nice, firm biceps.

I still cannot understand why Putin is trying to provoke, and alienate, the West. What's in it for him? Internal politics? We mean them no harm.

Quit washing your clothes. It's bad for Gaia.

For the children. Internet censorship proposed. h/t, Insty.

What are "Men of Goodwill"? Anchoress. It is my goal to be one of those men.

Things I've learned since 9/11.  Right Thinking from the Left Coast. It's impossible to agree with Lee on everything, but he can be counted on to say what he thinks.

Is $100 dollar oil on its way? I wouldn't be surprised. Prof. Deneen. Economic consequences? You bet.

The Lancet was once the most respected medical journal in the world. Since it went political, it isn't any more. Rick Moran. It survives only on its old reputation.

World poverty plummets. There's nothing like commerce and trade to do that.

And some details on American poverty. Attack Machine. Bear in mind that poverty stats for the US do not include the funds or money value of benefits such as welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, Medicaid, etc.

How the Left provides "force multiplication" to Islamic extremists. Dr. Sanity. Same as they did for the North Vietnamese.

Pythons in the Everglades. More unwanted and uninvited aliens. The government wants to put chips in every non-native snake that is bought or sold. Wish they could be as determined when it comes to illegal humans.

A graphic demonstration (graph on the right) that the primary role of the US government has become redistribution of money, from a piece at Villainous Company:

Even the Guardian admits progress in Iraq. Jim Miller

 Who is rich, according to the Dem candidates? Meaning whose taxes can they get away with raising?

That bottom-smacking story from Oregon sounded like a joke, at first. Now it just sounds utterly insane.

"Are there any white kids in your school?" Another teacher for school choice.

Darn darn darn. Accidentally deleted my entire morning links piece for today, and now I don't have time to try to reconstruct it. Here are a few of them:

Al Quaida opening a new war front in Africa. Captain Ed. It is very self-centered of the US and the West to imagine that we are their sole enemies: we are just one of many.

The Left usually prefers to talk about "root causes" instead of individual choices. Their political stance tends to be one of socio-economic determinism rather than the dignity and freedom of the individual. Case in point - poverty. What is the number one cause of poverty in the US? Unmarried mothers. Will Edwards discuss that? No.

Alphecca's Quote of the Day, recently, from the Pittsburg Tribune:

The Brits haven’t learned that inanimate objects do not cause crime. Guns and knives do not rob, rape or murder. Criminals will use whatever means possible to prey on the innocent; potential victims will use whatever means possible to defend themselves.

And when Big Brother then grabs every fork, spoon and toothpick in Britain, will anyone, no matter how trustworthy, be allowed to hold a rock?

Why Woolworth had to die.  I still miss my Woolworth's, but I guess it's capitalism's "creative destruction." American Heritage. They say Woolworth was once what WalMart is today.

Great Statists of History. Licinius, at Dust My Broom

If you are returning from vacation today, don't miss a couple of our good recent essays - they are up on the left column. Also, our piece on the Roger Scruton essay - scroll down.

Breaking news. Teens don't like the Nanny State. They rebel against that sort of thing, naturally.

Do you take Vit C? It's made in China.

Aid to poor nations does no good at all. Mankiw. Of course it doesn't - it's just a feel-good thing.

Brave police work in the UK. Blair. How can you catch a guy if you can't say what he looks like? On the same theme, Captain Ed, like me, is also confused about why the Dems seem to want to protect possible terrorists. Is it just PC gone psychotic?

The Call of the Entrepreneur. It's a new movie, which celebrates freedom. Kling discusses at TCS.

Even the WaPo finally gets it about Iraq. Jules. And John at Powerline on the surge's success:

Currently, there are two tides running in opposite directions: a trend toward success on the ground in Iraq, and a seemingly inexorable drive toward defeat, or will to lose, in Congress.

The inequality obsession. Libertarian Leanings. Also, the piece by Arthur Brooks in City Journal, What Really Buys Happiness? A quote illustrating true insanity:

Cornell economist Robert Frank, a major critic of income inequality, adds that such a move might not make the rich as unhappy as you’d think, since they tend to use their income on things they don’t really want or need. “We could spend roughly one-third less on consumption,” Frank writes, “and suffer no significant reduction in satisfaction.” Some egalitarians even make the astounding argument that we should tax the economically successful in order to discourage them from working, since their work will only make them richer and thus sadden the less successful. According to British economist Richard Layard, “If we make taxes commensurate to the damage that an individual does to others when he earns more”—the damage to others’ happiness, that is—“then he will only work harder if there is a true net benefit to society as a whole. It is efficient to discourage work effort that makes society worse off.” Work, according to this postmodern argument—contrary to millennia of moral teaching—is no different from a destructive vice like tobacco, which governments sometimes tax in order to discourage people from smoking.

These inequality mavens seem to believe that the sin of envy is the most important source of unhappiness. It may apply to them, but not to most. I feel every sort of emotion on occasion, including envy, but it doesn't ruin my life. Plus I know that I could do something entrepreneurial any time I want. Right now, finding a nice girlfriend is all I need to be fully happy.

10th Century Viking treasure found in Yorkshire. Nice stuff.

Partner pay in top 200 law firms. Rising fast. They make this on the backs of the child labor of their young and hungry Associates. It's a good deal.

How Music Works. A great site for the real basics of what music is made of, if you know nothing about music theory. There is enough here to give oneself a little basic music course.

The Supremes haven't considered the Second Amendment for 70 years. Will they take a look at Parker? More thoughts on the subject at Willisms. I hope the Court will take it on, but letting Parker stand is fine too.

Looks like TNR got busted. Gateway. Fake but accurate? On the same subject, this bit from Ace is hilarious.

An $18,000 hand. Cheap at any price, if you ask me.

Nobody has ever said that Charlie Rangel lacked cojones. I can so easily imagining him saying to his staff "F- them if they don't like it. I'm in charge here."

Does Putin want another Cold War? What for?

Sexual assaults in the military. CSM. Not good.

Bill McKibben not too smart, and a bit lacking in imagination. But he's virtuous, right?

Dawkins makes enforced atheism sound like Sharia. Wizbang

Purdue Pharma spanked hard. The lawyers of the addicts no doubt made out well.

More BBC disasters. Does anyone trust them anymore, when it comes to politicized matters?

From Martin Durkin (who produced The Great Global Warming Swindle) in a piece in The Australian following the airing of his film last week (h/t, Lubos Motl):

Why are the global warmers so zealous? After a year of arguing with people about this, I am convinced that it's because global warming is first and foremost a political theory. It is an expression of a whole middle-class political world view. This view is summed up in the oft-repeated phrase "we consume too much". I have also come to the conclusion that this is code for "they consume too much". People who believe it tend also to think that exotic foreign places are being ruined because vulgar oiks can afford to go there in significant numbers, they hate plastic toys from factories and prefer wooden ones from craftsmen, and so on.

All this backward-looking bigotry has found perfect expression in the idea of man-made climate disaster. It has cohered a bunch of disparate reactionary prejudices (anti-car, anti-supermarkets, anti-globalisation) into a single unquestionable truth and cause. So when you have a dig at global warming, you commit a grievous breach of social etiquette. Among the chattering classes you're a leper.

But why are the supporters of global warming so defensive? After all, the middle classes are usually confident, bordering on smug.

As I found when I examined the basic data, they have plenty to be defensive about. Billions of dollars of public money have been thrown at global warming, yet the hypothesis is crumbling around their ears.

To the utter dismay of the global warming lobby, the world does not appear to be getting warmer. According to their own figures (from the UN-linked Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the temperature has been static or slightly declining since 1998. The satellite data confirms this. This is clearly awkward. The least one should expect of global warming is that the Earth should be getting warmer.

Photos: All of these boats are for sale to prosperous capitalists. God bless 'em. Details here.

I have no idea what the Dem Senators were doing when they voted against the John Doe provision. It's a vote for terror success, and I just don't get it.

Totten: Welcome to Baghdad.

Ed Koch bails out of his support of Iraq. He has had it with the Iraqis.

Prostate cancer. It can be aggressive, and it can be very lazy, indolent and harmless in older guys. A new test to tell the difference.

Your tuition dollars at work. New Zealand considers college courses in prostitution. Moonbattery. Hey - it's the world's oldest profession. Sally Smith, B.J.

A new grand Roman villa discovered in Rome.  AOL News. See the photos.

How smart does Gen. Petraeus sound? Interview via Attack Machine.

Barry Obama believes that criminals just need more love. Pretty to think so. Where did he learn that theory?

Image: A famous Alberto Vargas girl from the 1920s.