Free kibbles

The USS Cole is back in the Middle East showing support for Lebanon. I bet Michelle Obama is not proud.

Turkish troops withdraw from Iraq.

Israel threatens heavy retaliation against Hamas in Gaza for ongoing rocket attacks. It's about time. They need to take out the Hamas terrorists and everybody how harbors and supports them.

Russia has rigged the upcoming presidential election in favor of Putin's hand-picked successor.

The Euro, gold, and oil set new records against the dollar.

UK tax policy is shifting financial institutions out of London. Western governments are competing to see which can hurt their country the worst. Except for Ireland which is experiencing explosive growth since dramatically reducing taxes. Funny how that works.

Prince Harry pulled out of the fight against the Taliban after being exposed by the Drudge Report. Our Afghanistan mission is as misguided as the Iraq mission was before Gen. Petraeus took over. There are not enough troops in Afghanistan for counterinsurgency, and our NATO partners would happily sit on the sidelines and watch Afghanistan fail instead of ponying up enough troops to win. Probably the most interesting aspect of the Prince Harry story is that the UK press showed national solidarity and responsibility by keeping the lid on the story. The American press would have provided the Taliban exact coordinates to kill an important American in a similar situation, then claimed it was their journalistic duty.

Is Matt Drudge the world's most powerful journalist?

Nancy Pelosi throws a hissy fit and demands the Justice Dept. invoke a grand jury to investigate contempt of Congress charges against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolton. She doesn't have a legal leg to stand on because these were close advisers to the president, which invokes executive privilege. Maybe she'll hold her breath until the Justice Dept. complies. Our government is composed of spoiled, bratty children.

Mickey Kaus explains the virtual border fence and that amnesty aristocrats like Bush, McCain and Chertoff never intended to build either a physical or virtual fence.

McCain's Freudian slip - calls himself a liberal. Unlike Bush, McCain can't hide the fact that he's a liberal pretending to be a conservative.

Hillary Clinton whines that it's hard running for president as a woman. Now she's whining about Texas' delegate selection process, and threatening to sue. She wasn't worried about when she was the frontrunner, was she? This must be the most classless woman alive.

Obama raises over $50 million in February. Apparently Michelle Obama is afraid of her husband's middle name. Why didn't she get him to change it?

Shades of Microsoft. Apple OS X had hidden APIs that provide performance boosts to Apple software, but not 3rd party software.

Cato explains that out of control criminalization led to the unprecedented incarceration of 1 in 99 Americans. To be tough on crime, we must reduce the burden of our laws because they obviously don't differentiate between real criminals and regular people.

If Cato wants to celebrate these presidential candidates instead of lamenting them, they're nuts.

Turkey plans to perform a radical reinterpretation of the Hadith, and therefore the Koran, to remove centuries of baggage devoted to political control for purpose serving the religious needs of Muslims in a secular democracy. That's a fantastic goal.

Graphs showing the success of the surge at quelling violence.

John Stossel explains that gun control laws are just restrictions on self-defense and that gun free zones are free crime zones.

US Representative Diane Watson calls Washington DC a chocolate city, but Willie Cunningham is called a racist for calling Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama.

The Democrats are the anti-competition party.

Apparently the British Foreign Sec. has not heard the news that global temperatures are dropping rapidly do to diminished solar activity.

Big government in Pennsylvania using tax dollars to promote big government with a campaign against privatizing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Big government is like any other organism - it wants to grow - and it uses the taxdollars we feed it against us so it can continue to grow.

Free kibbles

1 out of 99 American adults is in prison. We are being crushed by government. The overwhelming weight of our government and our laws has turned the land of the free and the home of the brave into the land of the imprisoned and the home of the better be afraid. This rate is much higher than China's or Russia's.

Newly released FBI documents contradict the politicized 9/11 commission report (with Jamie Gorelick on the commission, it lost all credibility anyway) and show that the hijackers had arraignments waiting for them when they arrived in the US, tied to the Saudi government.

28 mile virtual fence along Arizona/Mexico border delayed 3 years. Why? Why towers? I think blimps would be cheaper.

Economy grows, but only by 0.6%.

Iraqi presidential council rejected law allowing for regional elections. Let's hope they get their differences worked out and pass this law quickly. Sunni fighters flex their muscles, calling for the removal of Shiite police chief. The government better listen.

Israel retaliates for rocket strikes from Gaza. I don't understand why Israel shows so much restraint. The Israeli government has the responsibility to protect its citizens, and the only way to protect them is to wipe out Hamas in Gaza. If the citizens of Gaza continue to harbor and support Hama terrorists, then they're going to suffer right along with them. Same with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but Hezbollah doesn't fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis.

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund is changing the balance of power in financial world. This is an inaccurate headline. The balance of power is shifting because our government restricts US citizens from drilling for oil in the US, allowing China to team up with Cuba to take the wealth from the oil in Gulf instead of us. This keeps the supply of oil lower than it could be, driving up the prices. It also restricts us from building cost-effective nuclear, coal, and even natural gas power plants. This keeps the demand for oil higher than it could be, driving up the price. The net result is unprecedented transfer of wealth from the US and free western nations to oil rich countries including the tyrannies of the Middle East. How is this good for freedom or American citizens? Instead of traveling to meet with fund managers, Senators should be removing government restrictions of drilling for oil and building cost-effective alternative energy power plants. Our "diminishing global stature" is the direct result of big, bad, government. Dubai invests in Las Vegas.

Because the increasingly wealthy Chinese people are ignoring the 1 child law, China's government may change the law. Too bad our government isn't as responsive to the people as China's.

Interesting description of Supreme Court hearing of the Exxon Valdez case. I'm not aware of any details, but I wonder why punitive damages are even involved. Why didn't the original case just so direct damages that would compensate everybody for lost wages? It seems to me that Exxon should be liable for all the cleanup and for everything people lost because of the spill - no punitive damages necessary.

Profile of Russia's presumed next President, Dmitri Medvedev.

Drudge breaks story that Prince Harry is serving in Afghanistan. Breaking story may end his tour.

The downside of wind power is that there is no power when there is no wind. Lack of wind caused emergency power shutdown in Texas.

Reason explains how western writers and academics are willingly used by Hezbollah as propaganda tools.

Reason exposes Democrats on anti-free trade and NAFTA.

Reason celebrates William F. Buckley for helping open the door for the libertarian movement. Cato fears conservatism may have died with him. I think libertarian based conservatism died about a decade ago with Reagan's illness, Bush the Elder's abdication, and Gingrich's overreaching.

Bob Geldoff call Bush an emotional man. That's why he's governed like a Democrat. We need leaders who govern with reason, not emotion.

If Barack Hussein Obama doesn't like his full name, he can change it. Willie Cunningham calls everybody by their full name. It's part of his shtick. But how ridiculous is it that when a non-liberal uses Obama's full name, he's fear-mongering. What was it when Cunningham used to talk William Jefferson Clinton? And he still talks about Hillary Rodham Clinton. And John Wayne McCain. How come Obama hasn't come out and said he's proud of his full name?

Clinton raises $35 million in February. She may be down, but she's far from out.

McCain explains that Obama's Iraq war position is based on the past, not the current reality.

Being born in the Panama Canal zone to American parents will not stop McCain from becoming president. If he wins the election, somebody will file suit, and the Court will uphold it.

Crowd dispersing ray gun. The problem with non-lethal force like this is that government won't hesitate to use it. Just look at the abuse of tasers. These weapons were developed with the wonderful intention of saving lives, but the actual result is that government has become more oppressive and powerful.

Free kibbles

Global temperature drops sharply, wiping out the entire temperature rise of 1 degree C over the last century in 1 year.

Bernanke warns on inflation. Bernanke hints at rate reduction. Runaway government spending, the punishing income tax, restrictions on our economy, and flooding the market with dollars to hide the problems have put our economy in an untenable position. If Bernanke reduces rates to keep the economy growing, we'll suffer inflation and the devaluation of our currency. If he holds rates steady, we'll sink deep into recession. Euro surpasses $1.50. Gold is near $1000 an ounce. Oils is $102 per barrel.

Russia signals it may support sanctions on Iran. Russia and China have been protecting Iran because Iran is draining the resources of the US, but they realize that they don't control Iran, and that any nuclear weapons developed by Iran will threaten them as well.

Barrage of rockets from Gaza kills Israeli. This is the neverending story.

Turkey continues assault on PKK rebels in northern Iraq. This is the model Israel should use to wipe out Hezbollah and Hamas. Lebanon and the Palestinian leadership should let them wipe out those terrorists so there can be a roadmap to peace.

Saudi's set up coffee sting operation to entrap professor who angered them.

Germany blocks spying on computers of criminals and terrorists.

Democrats force Republicans to move website highlighting their attempts to hold Democrats to their own earmark reform rules. This is just fighting politics with politics, trying to convince voters that a difference exists between the 2 parties on earmarks when none does. Neither Republicans nor Democrats want to stop earmarks.

EU fines Microsoft $1.35 billion for failing to comply with anti-trust ruling. Cato contends that anti-trust laws are poorly written and poorly implemented.

Hong Kong cutting taxes as economy soars.

Reason contemplates nanobots.

Reason discusses how modern society leads to reduced fertility rates. This shows one of the great survival benefits religions bestow on cultures - providing incentive to produce more children. In any competition of cultures, the one with the fastest growing population will eventually win.

Reason explains that Obama's messianic campaign is just what Americans want. Americans want a messiah for a president. Big-government, socialist government undermines religion because it usurps the role of religion and churches by presenting itself as the solution to all problems and the fulfillment of all dreams. This is why conservative socialism undermines religion as much as liberal socialism. But Reason is really reaching when it tries to revise history by claiming Bush was some sort of messianic figure in 2000.

Why has Barack Obama authored a global poverty bill? Does he know he's a US Senator, not a world Senator? Does he know that free markets and free trade are proven policies that pull people all over the globe out of poverty? Does he know that out-of-control government spending is going to destroy America? I know he knows the last one. I don't think a global poverty bill will help him in the general election while Americans are worried about the US economy.

Obama pays lip service to the second Amendment.

Analysis of Clinton-Obama debate.

William F. Buckley died.

Cato explains that government policies are driving up the price of food.

Cato explains why Medicare doesn' work in practice.

Cato explains that demagoguing NAFTA does a disservice to Ohioans. Ohio didn't lose jobs because of NAFTA. Ohio lost jobs because we've gone from the 3rd least to the 5th most taxed state in the union.

And you thought Terminator was fiction. Autonomous, armed robots continue evolution.

Article gets Willie Cunningham's name and radio station (WLW) wrong. Willie is unbowed.

Congress asks for probe into perjury charge for Roger Clemens.

It's illegal to issue tickets from red light cameras in Florida, so they issue civil infractions. In Ohio, judges refuse to hear the cases, so they were also changed to civil infractions. It's a violation of due process in Ohio.

Boortz provides a bunch of links to show the cost of illegal immigration.

Free kibbles

Iran's supreme leader Khamenei hails nuclear victory and praises Ahmadinejad.

Seed arc opens in Norway.

China to help on North Korea nukes. How long have we been listening to this song? North Korea will just renig again.

UK convicts terrorist recruiter.

Flexible morphing technology is the future of handhelds.

Free kibbles

Russia to support Serbia against Kosovo independence. Not that it can do much. It doesn't have an oil pipeline it can cut off in an energy extortion plan like it uses with other countries.

Food prices to rise.

Testing for the sex of an unborn baby before deciding whether to get an abortion.

Mickey Kaus reports that McCain's lobbyist worked for Univision. I never heard that before. If that had come out before Romney dropped out of the race, it would probably have cost McCain the nomination. As I said when this story first broke, the NYTimes waited until the McCain nomination was secure, because liberals love McCain when he's competing against Republicans, but they'll attack him mercilessly from here on out because he's competing with Democrats.

Obama is trying have it both ways in Clintonesque fashion. He supports free trade, but not NAFTA because it's not fair. Either you support free trade or you don't. He's singling out NAFTA simply because it's unpopular. I support free trade with every country that isn't trying to kill us, but I don't support outsourcing our trade policy to supernational organizations, so I don't support NAFTA or the WTO. I would prefer to negotiate a free trade agreement with Mexico and a free trade agreement with Canada. And we should remove China from most favored nation status and use trade as a lever to move China toward freedom, and to end China and Russia's new Cold War of Terror against us. The US should never be afraid of free trade with friendly nations. Our problem is the burden of government, our punishing income tax, while our trading partners have business friendly VAT taxes.

Clinton trying to smear Obama with photo of him wearing native dress on a trip to Kenya. This is desperate. Clinton moves from anger to sarcasm. I bet this blows up in her face. You can't fault Hillary for aggressively defending her client, even against a 12 year old.

South Africa to allow elephant cull. I probably hear about the precarious, nearly extinct elephant every week or every month. I've never heard it reported that their numbers have increased from 8,000 to 20,000 since 1995 in South Africa. That's not on the verge of extinction. That's rapidly increasing population.

AMD was on the decline when I left, and it hasn't recovered.

Star Parker supports the FairTax.

Socialized medicine is failing in Canada. Despite Canada's strong economic boom based on oil revenue, the increasing price of socialized medicine is outstripping revenue. This is happening despite the rationing of health care by denying access to specialists, new, life saving medicines, and enforced delays, making Canada's health care system already inferior to the US. The recommendations are for free market reforms - having Canadians pay for their own health care. Otherwise Canada will go broke. Sound familiar? Hillary, Obama, Romney, Schwarzenegger and others want to accelerate America down the same path.

Cato explains that free trade creates wealth and jobs for America. This protectionist movement is going to cost us plenty.

Republicans will be handicapped in the general election because any attacks on the Democrat will draw accusation of racism or sexism.

The Fed is in denial about inflation.

Author describes the heroism of Marines at the battle of Hue during the Tet Offensive. The media never reported on their heroism, focusing instead of negative stories like My Lai, and misleading the public into think Vietnam was an unwinable war instead of a war we were winning and eventually won, before Congress lost it. Now they're doing the same thing, undermining our troops, ignoring their heroism, and undermining the war effort in Iraq.

Free kibbles

Bush resumes wiretaps. I thought we needed this law to keep Americans safe? Apparently not, if he can just wiretap anyway. Actually, the article hints at the real problem, which has never been explained though I've read 100 articles and essays on the subject. Apparently Bush understands that he can intercept enemy and suspected sympathizers communications during a time of war without Congressional or Court interference, but the telecom companies who are the ones who actually do the wiretapping are afraid of lawsuits. Look out if a Democrat gets the presidency. Hillary would just nationalize the telecoms so she could wiretap anybody she wanted ever.

This is a sticky problem because while president has the power to intercept the communications, he doesn't have the means. The telecoms have the means, but the president has no power to protect them from the Court. Only Congress can do that. This is sticky intersection of Executive, Congressional, and Court power, separation of powers and capitalism.

Excellent article detailing how Congress hides pork projects. The projects are not in legislation, and therefore are not even law. That money is being stolen. Every Representative and Senator who was part of this fraud is guilty of embezzlement and conspiracy to commit embezzlement.

Immigrant soldiers have trouble getting citizenship. This is a disgrace. Immigrants come here and join our military to protect this country should have no problems getting citizenship.

Cuba's version of the Politburo to select Castro's successor. Since Castro hand picked his brother Raul, and Castro is still alive, he's the likely choice. Raul Castro is the new Cuban president.

Iraqi Kurds to defend themselves against Turkish incursions. If the Kurds have the military capacity to defend themselves against the Turks, then why haven't they ousted and defeated the PKK? Iraqi Kurds must be harboring the PKK terrorists. US "urges" short Turkish campaign. How impotent does that sound?

Al Qaeda tries to spark more sectarian violence in Iraq by bombing Shiite pilgrims.

Documentation of widespread voter intimidation tactics used by Putin to insure his party's victory in the last election.

Mugabe has completely destroyed Zimbabwe since taking over in 1980, but he expects to win a 6th term as president. Unbelievable.

I have a hard time imagining that Amazon nuts will replace oil. I keep reading about schemes to convert trash to biofuel. Lots of groups have pilot projects. But where's the refinery scale production?

Democrats hope their historic primary turnout translates to votes in November.

At least Ralph Nader recognizes that the 2 parties are failing to work for the interests of the American people, and he's going to run as a 3rd party candidate. Transcript of Nader on Meet the Press.

Huckabee parodies himself on SNL's Weekend Update. The guy has a great sense of humor.

A quick review of the Clinton's Whitewater scandal that is noticeably absent from this campaign despite the convictions of the their partners, Hillary's legal work, hiding the files, and all the unanswered questions.

Obama's amazing fund-raising. Obama's speeches contain both platitudes and policy, but his fans only care about the platitudes. Obama's vision for America looks a lot like Canada. Yuk. The author recognizes that average Americans can sense their future us spiraling away from them, but he doesn't understand that the reason for that is big-government.

Observer of Iraq and Afghanistan wars understands that we can win, but we need to stay through the next administration at least. As I said from the time we invaded each, it will take on the order of 10 years before those countries can stand on their own. There are no shortcuts.

Prince to have hip replacement. OMG, I'm old.

DUI rehab director arrested for DUI. This isn't just a personal irony, it's a commentary on the march of authoritarianism in the US in the face of rejection of laws by the people. A century ago when the people rejected prohibition by attending speakeasies, distilling moonshine, etc. the government responded to the will of the people (and the loss in taxes) and repealed the law. Even in the 60s, civil disobedience led to some laws being overturned. But the counterculture of the 60s created a backlash of authoritarianism that is rapidly growing today, mostly fed by the ideological followers of the 60s counterculture. The American people have rejected DUI laws by continuing to drink and drive, the overwhelming majority doing so safely. DUI laws are like gun control laws, punishing all Americans for the actions of a few. The American people have rejected the drug laws by continuing to use drugs. But government no longer cares about the will of the people. Government is at war with the people, and the people haven't realized it yet, and we're losing big-time.

The old Cold War mentality won't work for today's problems. Neither will John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama and his support for long discredited socialist policies.

Mark Steyn explains that Democrats idolize rock stars, not politicians, and Obama is doing to Hillary what Bill Clinton did in 1992.

The high-profile destruction of the failing satellite will give missile defense a much needed publicity boost. Why would anybody be against shooting down incoming nuclear missiles?

Net neutrality and keeping the internet innovative.

It's ironic that Hillary rode her husband's coattails to the Senate for a state she never lived in, then to a presidential campaign, is claiming that Obama hasn't earned his way.

Karl Rove says that Obama's debate performance last Tuesday, focusing on his far-left liberal agenda, has exposed him as the opposite of the uniter he claims to be, opening up opportunities for Clinton and McCain to bring him down to earth. Obama is the mouthpiece for MoveOn.org. I can't help but laugh every time MoveOn.org's candidate talks about getting rid of special interests and uniting the country.

Obama supporter feels like she's become a member of a cult.

The WSJ analyzes the candidates positions on trade.

If Obama ends up debating McCain, McCain is going to point out that Obama was not against the Iraq war - he said he didn't know how he'd vote. And he's going to hammer him for being indecisive and misrepresenting his position. Obama is very much like Bill Clinton. He knows how to walk a tightrope and never get caught solidly on any position. I can easily see Obama saying, "you can't prove that" or "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is".

This is the most informative and concise explanation of campaign financing and why all our presidential candidates suck that I've ever read. Ann Coulter compares how Reagan campaigned to post-McCain-Feingold campaigning and explains why incumbents are king and the mainstream media are kingmakers.

Congratulations to this geek for winning his copywrite infringement suit against a big corporation.

Central Planning Is Not Smart

Central Planning Is Not Smart

by Mark Luedtke

Governor Strickland thinks he's smarter than all 11 million Ohioans put together. According to Strickland, we aren't smart enough to know what kind of energy plants or businesses Ohio needs. We aren't smart enough to see that our children get good compulsory education, and we aren't smart enough to see that they get a good college education. So he will take our money and dictate all of that.

To start his his State of the State address, Gov. Strickland explained that Ohio is facing at least a $733 million budget shortfall this year. Since he is required to balance the budget this year, he announced $733 million in budget cuts, including closing Twin Valley Behavior Healthcare on Wilmington Pike. $733 million in spending cuts will help the state's economy, and when Strickland promised to go further, I found myself hoping for even greater budget cuts, corresponding tax cuts, and deregulation to free Ohio citizens from the burden of government to build businesses, create jobs, and bring educated Americans to Ohio instead of chasing them to greener pastures.

But his flowery prose typical of socialists when they announce Utopian plans squashed my hope. In this time of financial strife, Gov. Strickland called for 4 new initiatives, and he proposes funding them with $1.7 billion in new bonds. Strickland apparently doesn't know that you can't fix financial problems by assuming more debt. Strickland brought big-government and big-debt back from Washington.

The governor plans to take our money to bring alternative energy plants to Ohio. He never addressed why businesses weren't already building alternative energy plants - they aren't cost-effective. And government restrictions keep Ohioans from building cost-effective oil, coal, and nuclear plants. But the governor thinks he's smarter than all of us, so he's going to take our future tax dollars, the new debt, and spend it on expensive power plants instead of allowing us to keep our own money and build cost-effective ones.

Gov. Strickland also plans to spend the new debt, our future tax dollars, on a jobs program. He fails to mention why jobs are fleeing the state like rats leaving a sinking ship – high taxes. Ohio has the 5^th highest tax burden of any state. 38 states have greater economic freedom than Ohio, and high taxes drive jobs to economically free states.. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize how to bring jobs back to Ohio – lower taxes, cut spending, and deregulate. But Strickland dictates the opposite.

In a passing note, the governor mentions that tuition in Ohio increases 9% per year. He never explains why – government subsidies. Subsidies increase demand, and the economics of education is like anything else, increased demand drives up prices. The more government subsidizes education, the more expensive it gets, and the more students are excluded. But the governor wants to increase government subsidies for college anyway. He has also created a new government bureaucracy to burden our colleges and taxpayers. He does get one thing right. He wants to increase the supply of education by allowing local colleges to offer bachelor's degrees. Increasing supply will reduce prices.

When presenting his plan for compulsory education, it's ironic that Gov. Strickland focused on innovation, saying “we must create learning environments that foster and nurture creativity, innovation, and global competency.” But his first core principle illustrates he's mired in the failures of past, “the vast majority of Ohio children are and always will be educated in the public school system.” That's not innovative.

America's greatest strength is the innovation of its citizens, free from the burden of government, forming businesses and providing services in a free market. Education is no different. Nobody has ever accused our government of being innovative. Yet as smart as the governor thinks he is, he is locking our children into a government school monopoly, rejecting the power of free market innovation that made America the greatest country in history.

While praising great teachers the governor reports that 50% of teachers quit in 5 years. He doesn't explain why. I think the problem is bad teachers, which he never mentions. How frustrating would it be to be a great teacher and see bad teachers harm students' education but get the same raise as you every year? Because Gov. Strickland is heavily backed by teachers unions, he doesn't mention the toll that teachers unions, bad teachers, and lack of merit pay take on our students' education.

Gov. Strickland proudly announced that he has taken more power from parents to insure their children get a good education, increasing Ohio's funding of education from 48% to 54%. He wants to create a new bureaucracy to burden taxpayers and schools. He calls this accountability, but it's really just the opposite - government protection of bad teachers and bad administrators. When teachers and schools are accountable to parents, education will improve. But Strickland is too smart to allow school competition or parents to have the power of school choice and input in teacher reviews.

Gov. Strickland missed an opportunity to improve Ohio's financial problems by dramatically cutting the budget and taxes, unleashing the free market to return Ohio to prosperity. Instead, he saddled us with new government programs and debt. Central planning by elites can never be as effective as all Ohioans working together in a free market. We should restrict the governor to running state government, not our lives.

Free kibbles

Argentina and Brazil are building a nuclear power plant. Now we're being out-innovated by South America because our government runs our lives.

Fearing more violence, US evacuating Serbian embassy. Looters in Belgrade end up on YouTube.

Iraq warns Turkey over incursion into Kurdish territory.

Iran's proxy militia Hezbollah says that Israel's disappearance in the next couple of years is an inevitable fact. The only way that could happen is if Iran, or Hezbollah supplied by Iran, nukes Israel. Iran fails to provide answers to IAEA regarding western intelligence evidence that Iran is making nuclear weapons. Hopefully we can get some harsh sanctions this time.

NASA fostering competition for space cargo delivery. This should have been NASA's charter all along. Google sponsoring prize for landing rover on the moon. Heck yeah. Empower the free market.

Saudis arrest men for flirting. Yeah. Let's visit Saudi Arabia so we can get arrested for flirting.

Shooting down a ballistic missile, or several, is much harder than shooting down a satellite.

Reason explains that the press still gets it wrong on Castro and tyrants in general.

McCain aid says they are going to war with the NYTimes. It's all about war with McCain. He's scary. McCain defends ties to lobbyists. This is going to hurt him. McCain's public persona is anti-lobbyist, but like any long-time Washington insider, he's in bed with plenty of them.

Huckabee is pushing for a brokered convention, hoping for win in Texas and Ohio. Sounds like Hillary's plan. Right now, RCP has McCain up by 12% in Texas. I'd like to see Ron Paul do better in his home state.

Hillary Clinton is counting on Gov. Strickland to deliver Ohio. I hadn't been aware that he was principle in her first socialist HillaryCare proposal, which she's replaced with a fascist program - government dictates the plans to the health insurance companies, but the health insurance companies implement them. Considering Strickland is to going to put us $1.7 billion in debt to pay for several socialist programs of his own, these are 2 peas in a pod.

Analyst points out that Hillary steals other people's lines when she's trying to express emotion.

Superdelegates following voters to Obama.

Christopher Hitchens explains that Kosovo was never legally part of Serbia, only Yugoslavia, so its declaration of independence is just a reaffirmation of its legal status since Yugoslavia broke up. This is a new, interesting twist that provides legal cover the independence claim, different from other, potential independence claims. Then again, sorting out the legalities of what happened in the Balkans since the end of the Ottoman Empire and WWI will be impossible to reconcile with the will of all the different groups of people.

GM vice-chairman calls global warming the most dangerous fraud perpetrated on the people of the world since communism, but those are my words. He uses a shorter, blunter description, - "Crock of s***".

Man robbed of $100,000 in midtown Manhattan. Tax collectors do that every year, and its not news.

Michelle Obama's senior thesis from Princeton has been withdrawn until the election is over. Why? It focuses on identity politics, claiming that despite her liberalness, she will always be relegated to the periphery of society because she black. It sounds like a celebration of black victimhood. Educated whining is still whining, and her husband's candidacy shows just how wrong she was. What kind of weirdo writes a whiny thesis that focuses on herself? This thesis should be on display for all to see.

Springsteen, Vetter, and Neil Young join forces for soundtrack to convince Americans to repeat the mistake of Vietnam, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq, and allow Iraq to spiral into chaos and ethic cleansing, then blaming Bush for starting the war instead of blaming themselves for losing it instead of winning it.

Vista SP1 is less compatible than the original.

Now liberals are pushing for mandatory community service. And she invokes Reagan to make her point! I like how she says "must do a volunteer stint." She obviously has no idea that's an oxymoron. "Enforced community service". Yeah, that would be real healing. It just shows that modern liberalism is the antithesis of freedom. Others must be forced to do the right thing, the right thing being defined by liberals of course. Liberalism all about "must" and "force" - government force. I'd like to see her reaction if a conservative said everybody "must" do service in a faith-based charity. She would see that as the epitome of evil, fascist conservatives, though it's the exact same thing she's proposing, just a different faith - the faith of government.

Author expresses the dangers of under-reacting to radical Islam.

Where does a judge get off keeping a woman from fixing her car after she wrecked it driving drunk. This is judicial tyranny.

Netherlands Bank stops giving piggy banks as gifts for opening accounts because Muslims and Jews consider pigs to be unclean. British man fired from Muslim school that celebrates 9/11 because he complained that textbooks refer to Christians as pigs. I bet that school is partially funded by taxpayers and partially funded by Saudi Arabia. Do you notice tolerance going both ways?

Western Antarctic glaciers sliding into the sea may raise sea levels over the next century if nothing else changes, but won't because ice is growing on the rest of Antarctica.

Half petaflop computer at UT Austin.

Flashlight that makes people sick.

100 mile per gallon car coming to US. Not invented by government.

Free kibbles

Feds to put up virtual border fence in Arizona. This is a great idea. I still think mini-surveillance blimps would work great. Solar power cells on their tops. They could run for months or years at a time.

Why would government OK the merger of Sirius and XM? Government's sole interest in the free market should be to ensure competition for the benefit of consumers. These 2 satellite radios are the only competition in that market. A merge would give them a monopoly.

Turkey has invaded Iraq to take on the PKK. US military is aware and somewhat concerned.

Al Sadr sticks his head up and declares the Mahdi Army will continue the ceasefire. I wonder if this is just a waiting tactic until US troops are reduced in summer, or if this signals that even Sadr recognizes the progress in Iraq.

Serb protesters attack UN police at Kosovo border. Cato says supporting Kosovo independence will spark more violence in the Balkans.

The NAFTA superhighway that politicians keep calling imaginary is real, is called the Trans-Texas Corridor, and construction is about to begin. This seems like a stupid issue to me. Every highway in America required the use of imminent domain. Every highway in America changed the landscape and the lives of the people on the path. This doesn't seem any different. I-35 goes from Laredo to Canada, and nobody complains about that. I think these complaints are just about free trade with Mexico, not a highway. If it wasn't for the burden of our government including the punishing income tax, free trade would be an overwhelming success for the US.

Super-bacteria hitting war veterans.

Republican Congressman indicted for extortion, fraud, and money laundering. It looks like he's part of the corruption factory in Washington.

Secret service orders police to stop weapons searches at Obama rallies. Do they check for weapons at every candidate's rallies? Given Obama's Messianic-like campaign, I think checking for weapons is a good idea. False prophets bring out the opposing loonies.

Reason explains all 3 presidential candidates will continue Bush's exercising of presidential power. What this essay doesn't address is that we are at war, 2 wars actually, and therefore the president's war powers are in effect and legislation can't override the president's war powers.

McCain's flip-flops on campaign financing. McCain managed to deflect the NYTimes article back onto their journalistic integrity, but McCain has a long history of being overly-linked to lobbyists behind the scenes, while publicly renouncing them. McCain is anything but a straight talker.

Obama and Clinton even in debate. That was my opinion from what I watched too. Their policies are practically identical, but Obams is much more likable. I watched hoping to see a desperate Hillary get aggressive, but she didn't so the dynamics didn't seem to change, imo. Both candidates backtracked on their votes to build a border fence, blaming Bush again. Obama turns Hillary's one jab about plagiarism to his favor.

Clinton's campaign spending is out of control. Imagine if she got hold of our tax dollars.

This guy is redefining the goal of the surge to meet his personal desires, then claiming the surge is a failure because we aren't bringing troops home faster. He feels like Bush made a personal promise to him to bring troops home. What a crock. Bush made a long overdue strategy change to win the war, and it's working.

Vegas doorman making $500,000 a year. I'm in the wrong business. I'll do it for $250,000.

China bans US food at Olympics, but athletes are bringing their own. I hope they're not bringing the recalled beef.

Cato keeps harping that taxpayer funded campaigns force taxpayers to fund candidates they don't like. They never address that the same is true for every government program. Funding the military forces some taxpayers to support a military they don't like, but we recognize that the military, and courts, foreign policy, Congress, etc., are required to protect our liberty and therefore must be funded by taxpayers even if taxpayers don't like them. The same is true for federal campaigns. I'm all for non-taxpayer funded ways to insure a number of viable candidates get an equal chance to get their messages to the people, but I'm not aware of any proposals that could do that. An informed electorate is vital to our country, and that means we need to insure a number of candidates have the resources to communicate with the American people without being overwhelmed by richer candidates. Cato's argument is specious and avoids the real issue of fair and equitable campaigns, not for the candidates, but for the people.

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Our wars should not be funded by emergency legislation. Those expenses are predictable. It's just a way to fool the American people into not revolting over the budget.

Police collecting DNA from arrested men who have not been convicted.

Online journalist suing city for revoking his press credentials.

Serbs attack US embassy in Belgrade to protest Kosovo independence.

US anti-missile missile destroys failing satellite. Cool video. This was not just simply (?) shooting down the satellite. The mission was to destroy the fuel tank to destroy the toxic fuel and also to make the debris tiny and fall back to earth to burn up. That's a lot of detailed planning and targeting. China wants our data. I'm sure they do. Tough. I don't remember them providing us their data when they blatantly tested an anti-satellite weapon that left a dangerous debris field that's still in orbit.

Police Lieutenant tasers cow and emails video to fellow police officers, illustrating just how widespread abuse of power and lack of empathy is in police officers. This is the kind of thing sociopaths do to animals.

This guy makes a lot of bizarre assumptions about energy independence. Energy dependence doesn't require protectionism any more than daylight does. If solar energy became viable, every country would be energy independent and could still trade with each other.

Oil tops $101 per barrel. Gold hits record high.

This headline misses the point: "Undocumented students face problems on campus". That's because they don't belong in our country, let alone on our campuses.

Australian report claims that China and India are speeding climate change. Of course that's wrong since the earth is cooling because of reduced solar activity. But it still shows the true agenda of the Marxists who have hijacked the environmentalism movement - they want to harm America and the west, not solve climate change.

Reason calls John McCain the tonic for the Republicans. What? This guy is just more of the same, but with an even more liberal and more hawkish approach to governing. It's the worst of both worlds.

McCain refutes NYTimes impropriety accusation. The NYTime is between a rock and a hard place on this story. Critics are accusing them of holding the story, but anybody who reads it is accusing them of a hatchet job because the story is nothing but rumor and innuendo, unsourced. Did they wait until the McCain nomination was secure so he would win?

Both Clinton and Obama have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm.

This worship of Obama is unseemly, unhealthy and ultimately counterproductive to his campaign. Obama's flock has checked their brains at the door and critical thinking is absent in them. Half of liberals are falling for this stuff, but the rest of the country will not fall for meaningless platitudes, they will be turned off by his vacuous followers. Crowd applauds Obama for blowing his nose.

Israeli MP blames earthquakes on tolerance for gays.

Google to store health care data. When unrestrained by government, the free market will make health care cheaper and more effective. Obviously this data is subject to being hacked because it is online, but any database carries that risk.

The lunar eclipse was excellent last night.

Lawrence Kudlow claims Hillary is finished, and he notes her Marxist speech bashing capitalism and free trade in Wisconsin as a repudiation of Bill Clinton's presidency and showing her true colors in desperation. Obama was further to the left, first. Hillary will hate Bill forever for convincing her to pretend to move to the middle, among other things.

The debate tonight should be a doozy. Clinton is going to go for the jugular. Maybe she'll cry too. Or tell a story about Chelsea crying. That might be the better calculated move.

Boortz explains that government and press started pushing the idea that our government was a democracy during the Wilson administration so it could pass welfare laws. There's nothing compassionate about welfare, mob rule, or misleading the public.

Holy crap! Look at the salaries for these eco-bureaucrats in San Fransisco.

Muslim representative Keith Ellison's ties to radical Muslim organizations.

McCain is losing independent voters to Obama.

Arctic ice is back to normal (it melts in the summer, and the hysteria was explained this summer, but the press didn't report that the melting was normal - just that the ice was melting). Antarctic ice is 1/3 more than normal. We're having a record cold winter. People are dying right and left in winter storms. But we have to be afraid of global warming, and we have to self-flagellate by making ourselves poor in a worthless attempt to cut CO2. I hope we have enough money for warmer coats.

The WSJ presents some interesting questions that reporters should be asking the Democrat candidates about health care, but aren't. Another question they should ask is what percentage of health care costs are already paid for by taxpayers (60%), and why they think we should put even more of a burden on taxpayers. Another is since government subsidies are responsible for spiraling health care and insurance costs, why do they think that increasing the government subsidies and further increasing demand will help make health care cheaper. The last one is a doozy because it shows that the Democrats' plans are designed to fail so that they can implement 100% socialized medicine.

Most of our health expenditures go to treatment for smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise. This guy understands that the health insurance companies and government both win the more government gets involved in health care. Doctors also win because people don't take responsibility for their own health. Taxpayers, who are also the patients, lose. If we had free market health care instead of our current, mostly socialized, medicine plan, people would be healthier, wealthier, and happier because they would take care of themselves and spend less on health care than they're paying now through their taxes.

TV news just reported that Ohio law could make you libel if you shovel your walks, but not if you don't. That's dumb. You shouldn't be libel either way - if people can't walk in the snow, it's their own fault.

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After losing big in elections Pakistan President Musharraf reaches out to victors. Bhutto's party reaches out to militants. Here's the next backfire of our policy to stick our nose in Pakistan's politics - appeasement of the terrorists. Slate has analysis. Cato recognizes that the US should not focus on Pakistani politics but on our interests in the region instead.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad said Iran's nuclear drive has brought world powers to their knees. He called Israel a dirty virus created by the same world powers. What do you do with dirty viruses after you bring the world powers to their knees? He'll really bring us to our knees if he succeeds in getting a bomb. Nuclear extortion would be the new world order. "We've planted nuclear bombs New York, Washington, and Los Angeles and London. If you retaliate against us for destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa, or allow Israel to retaliate, we will set them off." The Mullahs with a bomb is never-ending nightmare.

Economist describes 12 step process for the meltdown of the US economy. We're not in this process now, but we're feeling the precursors. Sometime in the next 2 decades, if we don't dramatically reduce the size and scope of government, we will go through a similar process, but far worse, and it will make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park. It's unlikely we'll ever recover our world leader status. This shows that our economy right now is a house of cards because of government debt and government regulations, which drive personal debt, and that's the uncertainty people feel.

Florida government schools will finally use the word evolution to describe evolution. It's about time. One school system is a little less stupid today than it was yesterday, but our government schools are still terrible.

Environmentalists misinform on GM crops. Misinformation and fear-mongering are the tools of choice for environmental groups.

Supreme Court rules that individuals can sue 401K plans for losses when plan managers fail to carry out the instructions of the individuals. Sounds like the Court got this one right. It should go without saying that the managers are responsible for the consequences of their actions, or failures to act as directed.

Judge holds reporter in contempt for failing to reveal sources in Anthrax case.

Government is stupid. San Antonia is considering a law to ban cell phones in school zones. The result is that drivers would be distracted from driving by turning off, then turning on their phones, at ever school zone.

Oil retreats from over $100.

Police officer tases his own son after his supervisor told him not to.

Judge sentences man to 8 years and permanent license suspension for 19 DUIs. Why did the courts allow this to get to so bad?

Bloomberg blames fraud for Obama's 0 vote totals in some New York City precincts. The Clintons and Democrats are masters of voter fraud as well as masters of false accusation of Republican voter fraud.

Attempt at developing a personality profile of the presidential candidates. It sounds pretty accurate to me. It's no surprise that Bush the Younger is the same type as LBJ, JFK, and FDR, as is McCain. These are 3 losers.

Obama's drug policy is conventional.

Reason hasn't missed either that McCain seems to have suddenly morphed into Bush the Elder.

Barack Obama takes a slim, slim lead after winning Wisconsin and Hawaii for 10 states in a row. Obama donations skyrocket as McCain hammers him on reneging on his promise to accept public funds. Obama defends his wife's statement that she is proud of America for the first time. Maybe he feels the same way. He would be smart to say she chose her words badly. Obama's Marxist mentor helped him establish his identity.

Barack Obama writes op-ed in an attempt to deflect McCain's attack on him because he's breaking a promise to forgo federal funds. It was just dumb to make that promise. If you think you're the best candidate to run the country, you don't limit your options like that. You say you'll do whatever is best for your campaign because that's what's best for the country.
Hillary takes a shot at hedge fund managers, which is what Chelsea is. Speaking of which, how does Chelsea get so much time off work to campaign for a year? Maybe Hillary's right. Or it's good to be the daughter of the queen when your boss is a supporter. This just shows Hillary's contempt of the free market. Compensation is based on value, not how much you sweat.

Clinton keeps asking voters to name 1 accomplishment of Obama's. I can name plenty of corrupt accomplishments for Hillary, but not 1 positive accomplishment. How come nobody turns this around on her.

Gamer's headset will read thoughts and emotions. Pretty soon gamers won't even exercise their thumbs. And our thought patterns will be sent across the internet to be stored forever.

Gravity lamp. Why not just make a pendulum lamp?

Fat genes evolved to keep our water ape ancestor warm, not for cold air.

Cato celebrates record fundraising and refutes public financing of campaigns. Their argument against public financing is specious. Plenty of people in this country hate the military, but Cato wouldn't argue that they shouldn't pay taxes to support the military. The military provides benefits to everybody, as does a fair and equitable presidential campaign. This is one of the few legitimate powers of government, imo. Existing campaign financing laws and public funding don't meet these goals, but I stand by my matching funds proposal.

Google delists UN whistle-blower webnews site after partnering with UN. Government corrupts companies.

Michelle Malkin describes all the reasons she is proud of America, unlike Michelle Obama.

Amity Shlaes proposes a measured response to the transition of Cuba.

Christopher Hitchens understands that the Iranian nuclear program is mainly about keeping the Mullah's in power, because Iran is moving toward regime change as the Mullah's self-destruct. Hitchens recommends offering a carrot to the Iranian people, a proposal I often make (why aren't we flooding Iranian, Palestinian, Iraqi, etc. airwaves with goodwill and concrete negotiations directly with the people?), in the form of assistance from a future earthquake and aid in a peaceful nuclear program in return for open inspections off all Iranian nuclear sites. This offer isn't to the Iranian government, but directly to the people, which should help hasten the fall of the Mullahs. We're so locked in our views that government is the be all and end all of power, that we never go straight to the people in the countries

Victor Davis Hanson explains that the issue of Kosovo today is much different than 9 years ago. Russia understands that NATO is severely weakened because Europe won't pull its own weight and that the US is fed up with Europeans because of they haven't stood up for their own security in the war on terror. That could prompt the belligerent Russians to flex their muscles into Kosovo. I hope they don't, and I don't think they will because it would unite Europe against Russia, but I can't help but savor the thought of Europe begging for US assistance after all the crap they've heaped on us while we've been sacrificing to keep them safe.

I like Judge Napolitano, and he's right about the 4th Amendment and FISA during peacetime. But he doesn't once address the president's wartime powers which override the 4th Amendment. The founding fathers made it clear that there is only 1 commander in chief, that he has the full powers of any commander in chief in history, and that no other branch of government can interfere with his prosecution of the war. Because we have co-equal branches of government, it doesn't matter if Congress passes a law saying differently or if the Court rules differently - those branches of government are not the boss of the Executive Branch any more than the president is the boss of them. If the president abuses his war powers, Congress can remove him from office. Congress can also end the war. That's it.

The LATimes acknowledges the political process in the Iraqi government and provides a realist and hopeful assessment of our responsibilities going forward. With the security improvement, local political reconciliation, and now fitful government progress, we may just be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Our chances of success in Iraq are steadily improving, which is just amazing given everything that we did wrong for 4 years, including invading in the first place.

Essay about Churchill's early days as PM.

Article claims that Bush's liberal policies are popular, but his conservative policies are not. Yikes.

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Banks borrowing huge amounts of money from the Fed. We've long suspected that there was some secret deal between the government and lenders that went along with the other agreements brokered by the government because why would lenders need the government to broker a deal otherwise. Now we know what it was. Banks are already one of the most regulated industries and are therefore little more than branches of government, but now they're becoming even more closely tied with government to the detriment of everybody.

Supreme Court dismisses spurious lawsuit against warrantless wiretaps brought by ACLU. Nobody has been hurt by these wiretaps, so there is no remedy, so there is no case. The Court got this one right. These lawsuits were intended to get the Court to make law, but that's not its purpose - its purpose is adjudicate disputes.

US court shuts down whistle-blower website.

The last US strike killing an al Qaeda commander in Pakistan was done without Pakistan authorization. The US is taking a harder line on attacking al Qaeda's safe haven in Pakistan instead of allowing Pakistan to block us. Surely this will antagonize Pakistan's leaders, but it's about time we asserted ourselves. Letting Pakistan make all the calls has just made al Qaeda and the Taliban stronger, and Pakistan needs to recognize the US will protect US interests. While we prefer to work with Pakistan, we won't let Pakistan hurt our interests.

The widower of recently murdered Benazir Bhutto, infamous for being even more corrupt than she was, leads her party to victory in Pakistan.

Castro permanently steps down as leader of Cuba. Now is the time to promote freedom in Cuba. We should be prepared to assist any movement by the people to overthrow the communists, help restore law and order to prevent corruption, and help rebuild our neighbor. Profile of Raul Castro. US won't lift embargo at this time. Cato calls the US embargo of Cuba a failure. I disagree because had we traded with Cuba, chances are a more powerful Castro would have spread communism throughout the western hemisphere. The embargo helped contain communism. Cato says that there are signs Raul Castro and the military support reform in Cuba.

Kosovo Serbs burn down border checkpoints in protest of Kosovo independence resolution. Cato reports that Kosovo independence will put more stress on NATO, which is already stressed in Afghanistan.

It took a long time to decide that saboteurs may have cut Middle East internet cables.

China inflation hits 11 year high.

US to shoot down failing satellite Thursday. China to launch 10 satellites this year. This contrast is quite the symbol of US decline and China's ascension. We can turn that around by dramatically reducing the size and scope of government and adopting the FairTax.

As if a global compact to fight global warming wasn't bad enough, now group wants global compact to fight obesity. These incessant calls for more government control of our lives are driving me nuts. Government is the problem. Free people are the solution. And the push is now for these supranational organizations, which are nothing less than the precursors to one world government. If you think the government in the US is unaccountable, unresponsive and oppressive, imagine how bad a world government would be. We're in dire need of less government, not more, and not less accountable. Cato says that the problem of obesity is exaggerated. Especially when the solution is so easy - personal responsibility. When people pay for their own health care, they'll make themselves healthier.

Heavy snow in Greece. Snow in Jerusalem. Global warming must be making the planet cold. I think the concerns about the Maunder minimum are getting a little support from the cold weather.

Reason reviews a book asking how you fight against small, stateless groups who can do tremendous damage. As technology advances and energy gets cheaper, the destructive ability of small groups and even individuals will increase, and it will be harder and harder to stop them. This was the premise I proposed for Neill's book site.

Clinton campaign co-chairman in Michigan says that red state delegates are second-class citizens. This is how Clinton plans to unify the country.

Governor laughs at charge Obama plagiarized him. This will help Obama. Clinton tries to prove a pattern of plagiarism. Obama accuses Clinton of plagiarizing him. These Democrats are like 6 year old. I thought that about McCain's attacks on Romney too. Romney attacked McCain on policy, accurately. McCain would retort with schoolyard style attacks. We're going to be governed by children.

Michelle Obama says she is proud of America for the first time in her life. That officially makes her part of the hate-America left. How can any person be so twisted that they aren't proud of America's accomplishments? We defeated the Soviets without firing a shot. We've made tremendous strides in racial equality since the 50s. We have led the world to increased freedom, standard of living, health, lifespans, opportunity. Our accomplishments are legion, and dwarf our problems and our mistakes, and while we should always strive to improve, nobody should discount our accomplishments as a country. Her comments fit in with Obama's Marxist ties. Does anybody else think Michelle Obama is planning to follow in Hillary's footsteps and launch a presidential bid from her husband's coattails?

McCain pledges no new taxes the same day he gets endorsed by Bush the Elder. Coincidence? I think not.

Comcast possibly fudging internet performance to fool testers. I get wildly different bandwidth reports depending which tool I use to test my Time Warner connection, though each tool is consistent, so I think Time Warner is doing something similar.

Ann Applebaum understands that the independence of Kosovo will lead to many other separatists to declare independence and will like spark civil wars in the Balkans and Caucuses and possibly Spain.

Lunar eclipse saved Columbus and his crew.

Bob Geldoff recognizes Bush provided more welfare to Africa than any other American president. He'll probably be kicked out of the liberal club for say so.

What's wrong with this headline? Man Permitted to Keep 50 Cobras, Vipers, and Rattlesnakes in Residential Home. Why wouldn't he be permitted? It's bad enough he had to purchase a permit to be permitted. If you don't like the snakes, don't go in his house.

How does history differ based on a student's skin color? History is history for everybody. This man is indoctrinating students into Marxist revolutionarism with our tax dollars. Once again, progressives are exposed as Marxists.

Thanks to government and teachers unions, schools have a hard time firing teachers who molest children. Our tax dollars fund the government bureaucracies that make this happen. Government is sick, and we have to take our power back from government before it can damage us more.

Muslim group supports Barack Obama, but warns against any radical policy changes. What radical policy changes toward Muslims does this group want? This doesn't sound good at all, and it's probably not good for Obama.

Jails should provide healthy food. It's not like the prisoners have a choice.

Hamas calls for jihadists to blow up the Danish embassy and kill the ambassadors because the Danish cartoons of Mohammad have been reprinted. I wonder why Israel hasn't made peace with the Palestinians yet.

Tribal elders shut down voting for women in northwest Pakistan. This shows that Pakistan does not have the rule of law at this point. There will not be democracy on Pakistan, just like everywhere else, until it has democratic institutions in place like the rule of law.

Indiana residents warned by government to stop helping their Amish neighbors with rides because the Amish people provided gas money and occasional gifts. Our 2 party government is running amok, and everybody finds and excuse to continue voting for the 2 failed parties.

We've heard all about Hispanics, blacks, and white women in the election, but not white men. They don't matter. But Angry White Men matter. You can't talk white men unless they're angry.

I couldn't even finish this essay by this conservative socialist.

Chuck Norris understands that most of our social problems are the result of liberal viewpoints and big-government, but electing a minister who rejects evolution is not the answer. I wouldn't elect a person who thought the sun revolved around the earth either (and they're out there too).

How in the hell does a judge think he has the power to tell the Navy not to use sonar? He must think somebody made him king of the world. Judges like this must be impeached.

Author points out that Romney wasn't conservative and blames talk radio for electing McCain because they promoted Romney over Huckabee. But he fails to point out that Huckabee is the biggest spender and government power candidate of them all. Conservativism isn't supposed to be defined by anti-gay and anti-abortion ad the author would have us believe.

Pat Buchanan explains the folly of our intervention in Kosovo, protecting terrorists who have ethnically cleansed the Serbs, and then recognizing its independence. This is little more than an appeasement of Muslims against US law, international law, and for no gain. Expect this to ignite firestorm of independence claims in the Balkans, Caucuses and elsewhere.

Rich Lowry explains the real loss of intelligence while we wait for a new FISA bill. The president should never have caved to Congress or the Court regarding intercepting foreign communications during war. That was stupid. He should have stood by his constitutionally protected war powers.

Ralph Peters says that Kosovo independence is part of an inevitable trend to demolish and correct the bad borders drawn by European imperialists.

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Russia pressures UN to ignore Kosovo independence resolution. If we recognize Kosovo, we will spark independence movements all over the world. How do we determine which separatist movements should be legitimized and which should not? We're seeing the further balkanization of the Balkans. We're lucky and blessed in America that we don't know this kind of ethnic hatred. It makes you wonder what would have happened if we had lived up to our agreements with native Americans in past centuries. US, UK, France, Germany, and Italy support independence. Fearing its own separatists, Spain does not amid fears of violence in Kosovo. Russia also has a separatist problem. China joins Russia, its ally in the new Cold War of Terror, to condemn Kosovo independence.

Iranian leader says that its proxy, Hezbollah, will destroy the cancerous growth that is Israel - with radiation therapy. I wonder if Iran has already supplied Hezbollah with dirty bombs. Ahmadinejad says God will punish Iranians if they don't support his nuclear program.

2nd Afghan bomb kills 35. I think the Taliban is making statement, thanking us for allowing them safe haven in Pakistan with their al Qaeda buddies. We've known since the dawn of time if you give a guerrilla army a safe haven, then will gain strength and destabilize any counterinsurgency effort. Yet we've done just that in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We don't have to be stupid. Surely we could make it worth Pakistan's while to allow us to wipe out those safe havens.

9 Pakistani election security officials are feared kidnapped. They can't even protect their own security personnel?

Why shouldn't we provide significant financial incentive to American to join the Army? I agree that offering a $40,000 signing bonus will attract short-timers though. Having to pay much more shows that ideological support for our wars is low. But risk amazingly low. There has never in history been a war with so few casualties.

China plans to surpass the US in nanotechnology.

On President's Day, Reason celebrates George Washington's presidency.

Reason shows that Hillary is more tyrannical in her economic plans than Obama, despite having tried to position herself as more centrist by being a hawk.

Nearly naked hotties for Ron Paul.

Obama accused by Clinton of plagiarizing speech.

Liberals think that McCain is more liberal than even conservatives think.

As stupid is discrimination is, free people are free to discriminate, therefore Americans should be free to discriminate. In a free market, businesses that discriminated would suffer because they would have a smaller pool of potential employees and customers compared to businesses that didn't discriminate. They would suffer from continual protests. The people, through social pressure, would end discrimination. But when the law gets involved, it just aggravates the problem because it infringes our freedom, and it keeps the people from overcoming discrimination. Americans have equal rights under the law, but that doesn't mean private citizens can't discriminate. As always, the Constitution should be our guide. The law has no business sticking its nose in private property rights.

Christopher Hitchens takes on the NYTimes for cleaning up quotes to protect readers from what was actually said. That's not journalism.

Boortz provides an relevant quote for our times:

I THINK THIS REALLY DRIVES THE POINT HOME. WISH I HAD WRITTEN IT!

This alert came from a listeners. He was reading "The Bad Boy of Baltimore" a biography of H.L. Mencken by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers. On page 409 of that book he finds the following"

"By the mid-1930's, thanks to the New Deal, all that self-reliance had changed, prompting Mencken to declare: 'There is no genuine justice in any scheme of feeding and coddling the loafer whose only ponderable energies are devoted wholly to reproduction. Nine-tenths of the rights he bellows for are really privileges and he does nothing to deserve them.' Despite the billions spent on an individual, 'he can be lifted transiently but always slips back again.' Thus, the New Deal had been 'the most stupendous digenetic enterprise ever undertaken by man.... We not only acquired a vast population of morons, we have inculcated all morons, old or young, with the doctrine that the decent and industrious people of the country are bound to support them for all time. The effects of that doctrine are bound to be disastrous soon or late.'

When someone asked, "And what, Mr. Mencken, would you do about the unemployed?" He looked up with a bland expression. "We could start by taking away their vote," he said, deadpan. Mencken was not surprised when the majority disagreed. "There can be nothing even remotely approaching a rational solution of the fundamental national problems until we face them in a realistic spirit," he later reflected, and that was impossible so long as educated Americans remained responsive "to the Roosevelt buncombe."

"Buncombe," by the way, means either a county in North Carolina, a city in Illinois or another word for "nonsense."

Please ... cut and paste the Mencken quote. It is so very much more relevant to what's going on today than it was in Mencken's time. Send it to your friends ... send it far and wide. Post it on your blogs. Get it out there. Wonderful stuff.

Virgina created a "Tax Me More Fund" in 2002, and it has raised only $10,217.04 since. Apparently those hypocrites calling for higher taxes aren't willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Apparently, because of Obama's hope, people won't shoot up schools anymore. If that was true, why didn't this guy just faint at an Obama rally like everybody else? And we already waste too much time on making people "feel safe". I'm sure those students felt safe right up until the murderer, who didn't bother to obey the rules, surprise, surprise, killed them. Banning guns on NIU made people feel safe, but it made them less safe. This article is political opportunism at it's worst, and this woman is slime.

Not so satirical essay describes the consequences of cutting man-made CO2 as demanded by Al Gore and the politicians in the IPCC. 1 billion dead are just the start. What do the Marxists masquerading as environmentalists care? It's a Great Leap Forward for the new century, right? Just like Mao, Stalin, and Pol Pot, they understand you have to break a few eggs to turn the world into paradise.

Another essay describing the dumbing down of America.

Berkeley taxpayers spend $93,000 in police overtime thanks to the city council's denunciation of US Marines.

British atheists are attacking the Boy Scouts for mentioning God in an oath. These fruitcakes need to find a reason to exist.

Any poll that ranks JFK as the 4th greatest American president is bogus.

40% of British Muslims advocate introducing Sharia law into Muslim locals of Britain. Why are there Muslim locals in Britain? Why isn't all of Britain, Britain. This is the definition of balkanization. Muslims in Britain use supposedly powerless Sharia courts to supplement British courts, especially in the case of marriage. Those courts may not currently have the backing of British law, but they aren't powerless if a subset of British people follow them. This is going to keep growing and infect British law.

McCain says he won't raise taxes. But he also says, he "see[s] an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower tax rates, and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates". If it's good for the economy to lower interest rates, lower tax rates, and lower corporate tax rates when the economy is deteriorating, why isn't it good all the time? And why should we just lower them instead of abolishing them in favor of an ideal, business-friendly tax system that acknowledges the economic reality that all taxes are eventually paid by consumers at the point of sale? This kind of non-critical thinking exposing our politicians as frauds. Adopt the FairTax.