Thursday, January 12. 2006
Limericks are the Haiku of Western civilization. They seek associative, allusive, connotative, and humorous revelation, rather than the mystical and ineffable, mostly. I will get it started: There once was a judge named Alito
Who the Left did dislike con spirito,
So they smeared him with slime,
But ran out of time,
So left crying in their beer and Doritos. Update: Emailed from an Italian-American reader "Vinny in NJ": There was a paysan named Alito,
To us Dems he's a nasty mosquito.
He's a working class wop
but he ain't union shop,
I'd rather vote for a friggin' burrito. It's a difficult rhyme. One more, emailed in from who knows where: There once was a judge named Alito,
They claimed he had gone incognito,
And hates women and blacks
Like all Reagan hacks,
But he stuck like a chunk of granito. Waste some time. Send us more. Email, or via Comments. There once was a justice named Sam Who got a Senatorial rectal exam. In the face of attacks From partisan hacks
He closed it up just like a clam. Sanity back to The Court? It's been like a venereal wart.
You scratch it and hide it
But you just can't abide it,
They abort and contort and come short.
I decided to re-post our Wood Duck entry from last March, m ainly to remind those with streams and marshes to begin to plan to build or buy, and put out, new duck houses before March. There are a few reasons to plan now: for one, it's a easy time to put out your nest boxes - you can get out on the ice, punch a hole in the ice, and hammer your post into the mud. Second, the males arrive early so it's nice to have everything in place when they arrive. If you clean out your old nest boxes in the winter, don't be surprised to find something roosting in there - screech owls or whatever. The male Wood Duck is the most flamboyant and exotic looking bird in North America. They have just returned here, where I live - saw a few on Sunday afternoon. It's getting late to put out nest boxes, but not too late quite yet. Assuming you have water - streams or ponds or marshy lakes. Their growing population relies on human intervention, because dopey humans cut down the dead trees they like to nest in. Build duck nest boxes: Click here: Wood Duck . Buy them: Click here: Duck Houses at BestNest.com! with good instructions re nest box placement, and learn about "Woodies": Click here: All About Birds
Ted Kennedy and Joe McCarthy: Funny. Volokh. Jonathan Turley: "A dangerous nominee". USA Today A quote from Am. Princess: "The things Democrats really care about have been placed in the hands of the courts, if by the design of Democrats: liberal judges, activist judges, Due Process mavens of the sixties took abortion, gay rights, civil rights, right to die, right to life, right to contract, right against cruel and unusual punishment, directly out of the hands of legislatures where they belonged. A shift on the court towards conservativism costs them not only their political stance on these issues, it likely costs them a lot of power. And thats not even considering the fact that it is the Supreme Court that is the sole arbiter between the Executive and Legislative branches. Curious about Presidential power to eavesdrop? Don't be. It'll be dealt with, and not in the liberals favor.
Win elections, Democrats, but you've made the courts powerful: that's where you wanted the power, after all, since most of the initiatives that you championed could never have won by popular vote. Now, its likely that the most powerful court is out of your control." Lileks on when ideologues turn loony: "Bad news is good news. Everything’s going to hell, but at least they’re smart enough to catch the whiff of brimstone. (Second-hand brimstone. There ought to be a law.) But what if the worst doesn’t happen? That would be worse than bad. That would mean all those bumperstickers they put on their cars had no effect whatsoever. What if people don’t Question Authority, visualize World Peace, speak truth to power, or rotate during cooking? What if letters to the editor don’t end up in CIA files? What if subversive college students are ignored? What if the dark night isn’t descending after all? However will they go on? " Hypocrisy about Whaling: Samizdata Barry Goldwater: his evolution to Libertarian. Busch at Opinion Journal
Wednesday, January 11. 2006
Syria and Iraq: The inside story at Protein Bush pushes back at defeatist critics Black-footed ferrets bounce back from verge of extinction. Are newspapers doomed? Epstein in Commentary A few reflections on the Alito hearings at Volokh. My feeling is that his approach is to bore them into silence.
Tuesday, January 10. 2006
The religion of peace: LGF Gender imbalance in India due to aborting girls: RTLC Germans advise US on Gitmo morality! RWN Short skirts and work: Ace Neo looks at "nukular" A new book about the Dust Bowl: CSM Good point: NYT claims their sources of leaked info are sacred, but the national security of the US isn't. There's got to be a word for that. Dhimmitude or something? Am. Future Bird Flu: This flu in Turkey isn't the one we're worried about. Still no human to human transmission. But this one will impact poultry farmers, and surely bird hunters, in time. Norm finds another liberal heretic. Bellows Falls or Pottersville. What kind of country do people believe is worth defending? Paul M in WS
Monday, January 9. 2006
 JFK
I see Mr. Kelly fantasizing about what might have happened in the wake of the JFK assassination, if info about Cuba's possible involvement had come out. (Pres. Goldwater) A President Goldwater would have been fine with me. Dylan, after all, thought he was great. I have often fantasized about what would have happened if Kennedy had survived. The country would be in much better shape today without Lyndon Johnson. JFK was a natural conservative, a tax-reducer, pro civil rights and confident about America's role in the world. A damn shame. (Are you old enough to remember this scene in the photo? I am. Robert Frost read a poem..."The Land was ours before we were the land's...")
Jay Rockefeller may be a leak investigative target. Am Thinker Is Ted Kennedy wearing out? Pittsburgh Post Gazette Rumor mill. Bin Ladin dead? Cap'n Ed Armstrong Williams reviews everything the press got wrong about Katrina The Leipzig School - trend-setting from the former East Germany. The Alito hearings? No news there. Just a formality and chance to grandstand. It's a done deal. Ho hum. We are sending no reporters over there.
New Stuff for 2006! We will have a Logical Fallacy of the Week (and a Dog of the Week during the Year of the Dog...just a photo, not much more, with special attention to the sporting breeds). Recently added or adding to our Blogroll: Libertarian Leanings, John Leo's Blog, Barone Blog, Bird of Paradise, Brendan Nyhan, Dinocrat, Sensible Mom, Just One Minute, the Political Teen, YARGB, Synthstuff, Wizbang, WILLisms, Shrinkwrapped, and Daily Pundit. Surely more to come. So many fine blogs, so little time.
Sunday, January 8. 2006
Just helping to pass it around Diligent blog readers already are aware of this report from Italy of the arrest of terrorists who were planning a major attack on the US, because Michelle and Powerline highlighted it. And there are two stories here: First, the terrorists. Second, the failure of the MSN to say a word about it. If I were the Sulzberger kid, it would be front page. But "see no evil" prevails, unless it is the Evil Bush. Sure hope wiretaps helped to catch these slimes.
Saturday, January 7. 2006
Most Senate Dems took Abramoff cash. Is this whole Abramoff thing a real story? I can't find the story in it yet. Politicans accept campaign donations from a sleazeball? That's a story? A real story would be a politican not accepting $ from sleazeballs, but that guy or gal would be a goo goo schlemiel loser, wouldn't he? "F-ing Welsh." Tony Blair said it, and now police investigating it as a possible hate crime. Protein. "F-ing crazy Brits." I said that. Arrest me. (Reductio ad absurdum) Cat evolution finally understood, via mitochondrial DNA. Two things pain me about this article: 1. The great cats of the world are essentially extinct, or on the verge of it. 2. House cats are not close to extinction, sad to say - it would be a far more perfect world without those damn things. How Alito might alter the balance of the Court. CSM 2005 was second warmest year since the 1890s. Reason unknown. Book of Daniel is an unholy mess. WaPo New Orleans refugees raise crime rates in Houston. City Journal Chavez' antisemitism. Tangled Web Duke Cunningham wore a wire for a while. I see sleepless nights in DC. Wizbang Zawahiri: US troop reductions in Iraq prove insurgent victory. BKP Hey, NYT, check this graph. Mine deaths rose during Clinton, declining now. Not that a Pres. has anything to do with such things anyway. Poor and Stupid Palestinians have begun fighting eachother instead of Israel. Gates
Friday, January 6. 2006
Two views of the miner story - we goofed vs. we were perfect: Pressthink Moslems sacked Rome in 846. Did not know that. Jihad has a long history. Dems and leftists reveal their contempt for democracy, according to Hitchins. Gaza seeks to encourage tourism. Think again. Travelwire. Academic physicians complain of focus on income instead of research. Chronicle of H.E.
Schwartzenegger bends to the will of the people. No-one could have made a better or more earnest effort to bring Calif. into reality, but even he was not strong enough. Too bad for Calif. Only a bit of psychiatric medication in the drinking water, and a double-dose of American Spirit, could solve their insane mess. You will not believe what this Vermont liberal judge did. Ex-Donk. I guess with the years of the Supreme Court making things up, other judges think they are above the laws too. Oh, there really is a relationship between demand and price? Booze at Cafe Hayek Is a war between Israel and Iran getting closer? Very possibly. Front Page. Not a pleasant thought when one considers all of the innocent Iranians. Crime in Nice Canada. Worse than the US. Go figure. Small dead animals. A look at the Florida Constitution at their court's decision yesterday to reject Charter Schools. Crescat Sententia More on Lynn Swann at the PA gov. race. Plus the interview with Hannity. Pol Teen "Feelings." NE Repub has the money quote from the Letterman thing.
Climate: Our Current Ice Age I always had thought that we were living in an inter-glacial. Technically, no. Ice on the poles signifies a glacial period, and we are just fortunate enough to experience a minor retreat of the fluctuating glacier over the past ten thousand years. When the next glacial advance begins is a matter of debate, but it will turn New England back into a polar environment, buried under a mile of ice, when it decides to return. With dire results for our property values. And now it turns out that greenhouse gasses may not protect us from that fate. Carbon dioxide may cause global cooling. Oh, man - not yet another reason for the enviro-anarchists to return us to the stone age.
The story of Shanahan and the new NHL rules. CSM Too much good stuff on Radioblogger with HH: Tancredo, Steyn, and Matthew Dowd, here. (Scroll down) Height and birth order: Boys later in the birth order do tend to be taller than the first. Same holds for girls, but only through the first couple of girls. The cause for the tendency is unknown. Which would you prefer? Taller, or short but inherit the kingdom? Am I the last person on the planet to know about Engadget? The growing mess in the Worker's Paradise of Venezuela. Publius
Thursday, January 5. 2006
Jobless claims at a 5 year low. Curiouser and curiouser. The Tice story. RWNH A thoughful response, or rebuttal, to the Steyn piece, at YARGB Did Castro have JFK killed? Is it paranoid to wonder? Irish Pennants
World Economic Forum at Davos coming up: Their agenda here. Are Saddam and John Murtha talking? Gateway First, Canada blames the US for their gun violence. Now MA blames NH for theirs. Grow up. NH Insider Risen seems to prefer "experts" to elected leaders: Pline Blogs: Is their time past? Hope not - we are just getting warmed up. A Scottish blog we have found. It's about time for a blog with kilts. Right for Scotland Taxes and growth in local and state economies: from the Willism files. Are birds dinosaurs? It is quite an interesting debate. And it's funny, because birds don't taste like dinosaurs.
Providence Journal claims New Englanders and Pacific Northwesterners better than other Americans. Anchor Rising questions their "reasoning." A Citizenship Test: ex-donk Chess, Appellate Briefs, Newton, and Creation. Pejman Althouse on Dion Lynn Swann to run for PA Gov.
Wednesday, January 4. 2006
I did have the same idea but Dymphna did it first: the two ladies marketing their sons' deaths: Gates of Vienna Kuala Lumpur is closed today. Travelwire. You want a reason? The death of Spain. Tangled Web. Brits, Danes and Dutch are next in line. The French... Who cares? Holocaust was pure propaganda. So says Iran. Protein A Democratic dictatorship in LA? Lonely Centrist. Gee, maybe afraid of an "election"? A prediction: Alito is in like Flynn. He isn't even a conservative. He's an Italian from NJ.
A therapeutic rant against the press re the miner story. Ex-donk An excellent WW 2 time-line. Very useful. Do you want Canadian medical treatment, aka "health care" ? From the Conspiracy. People think Hilary is a conservative...Good strategy - fool the people some of the time. Pol. Teen Ham at HH addresses Castro: HH New-wave feminism: Let's become men. Am Spectator Larry Summers was right: Squaring the Globe Neo does our wonderful Robert Frost: Neo Michelle does the dumb Letterman story. France (properly) tries to defend their constructive colonial heritage. CSM
2005 sucked blew: Wilma, Rita, and Katrina. Miami Herald California Wines: The Prof's picks Best photos of the year from the WaPo View from the Left: We lost the war. Ash. We did???
Tuesday, January 3. 2006
The always-composed Hinderaker is provoked into a true blogger rant by Dean. China ratchets up controls of the press. CSM IQ vs. Self-Discipline. Cognitive Daily
Death cult celebrity: LGF Is abortion necessary "health care" ? Am Spectator Newspeak at the NYT: Scott How men and women use the internet differently Big Oil becoming Small Oil: Opinion Journal Bird flu - Sim Science, esp epidemiology. Very cool. From Captain Ed: " I, for one, would rather have the NSA checking on valid leads on al-Qaeda terrorists here in the US than to have my granddaughter vaporized by Islamofascists at the Mall of America." No doubt.
The most important news of 2005. Productivity. TCS An alcohol-related visual-brain problem: measuring alcohol. We thoughtfully saved this one for after New Year's Eve. Geothermal energy. It's a growing thing, and seems good. Still, we need nuclear. Finally, the truth about poor Sacco and Vanzetti. Norm covers it. Has anyone missed Patterico's summary of the LAT's bias in 2005? If not, read with despair. Or can he have an impact? If so, we need a Patterico for the NYT. Preferably a sharp legal mind with time on their hands, and yet willing to read the damn thing.
Monday, January 2. 2006
African literature update: Chronicle of Higher Ed 2 views of Palestine: Belmont Russia, and nuke power: Samizdata Steyn predicts the death of Europe: New Crit, via LGF Useful idiots, at Am. Thinker Is Walmart evil? Pejman Events of the Year: No Oil Farrahkan wins a prize. Unbelievable. Michelle Bush elected President of Iraq. Onion Mars rovers still on the move. Heard about it lately? Ca. Yank That map again, via NRO, H/T Instap. Most ancient canals in the world: Peru $ effects of Title 9 - Willisms
Why legal pro bono work is inefficient: Cafe Hayek The Ferret looks handy, and other Brit military hardware that you can buy. Khaki Corps And on a related topic, a website featuring the ruins of the Third Reich. Coming out of the closet as a neocon - tough thing to do if you live in the wrong neighborhood. Neo 2005 quotes from the news of 2005. Althouse Where Bush went wrong: where they always go wrong, by over-reading an election as a mandate. RCP
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