Free kibbles

Washington D.C. spends $25,000 per child on education, and lies about it, reporting only $8,322 per child. This is government at its typical.

Iraqi PM Maliki warns Sadr supporters that they will be excluded from the political process unless they disband the Mehdi Army. I'm not sure that's the right approach. The goal is to invite people into the political process as an alternative to insurgency, not to push people out and leave them only with the option of insurgency.

Iran urges oil countries to stop trading in dollars. I wonder why they haven't stopped already. Are they afraid that would precipitate a global economic collapse? They'd be better off trading in Euros right now.

Washington D.C. is offering homeowners amnesty for owning handguns if they voluntarily allow police to search their homes and confiscate the handguns. This government run amok. This shows how big-government inevitably leads to more oppressive government. They start by banning handguns, an obvious violation of the Second Amendment. Then they pressure citizens to permit police to search their homes without a warrant. Voters should throw these elected officials out on the butts.

Federal officials are investigating the Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation because its drivers' test is in English. Iranians filed the complaint to force Oklahoma to provide the test in Farsi. This is the natural evolution of stupid lawsuits forcing our government to provide documents in the language of immigrants. The solution is to pass a federal law proclaiming English the official language of government.

Democrats want to use our tax dollars to buy more votes with another so-called stimulus package. Taking on more debt is not a stimulus. This will make more people dependent on government, which is good for Democrats.

No more blue laws, please. Businesses and workers can set their own hours without interference from government.

Foreclosures hit million dollar houses. Of course. They went down in value too. The head of the IMF claims international help is needed for the credit crunch. This gambit is a power grab by the IMF.

Climate alarmist thinks CO2 reduction targets are too low. That's the folly of the global warming fraud. If man-made CO2 is the problem they say it is (which it's not), the solutions they propose won't work. Those solutions aren't about stopping global warming - they're about harming the US and other developed countries and transferring our wealth to developing countries. The global warming fraud is the new communism. It's stunningly irresponsible for this guy to base his alarmist comment solely on the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere at the start of the ice age. I guess he thinks he can fool people into not only believing that CO2 is a major driver climate (it's not), but that it is the exclusive driver of climate. I hope this fraud loses his job.

Since the global warming fraud is the new communism, proposed solutions are always tyrannical. San Francisco proposes fining businesses that keep their lights on. With policies like these, San Francisco will go green because everybody will move out to do business elsewhere.

Reason thinks all the presidential candidates support classic Democrat-style military adventurism. I don't think the Democrats would commit US troops. Their MoveOn.org base wouldn't allow it. Except for Sudan. And anywhere else in Africa. And the Balkans. Maybe Tibet. Democrats are schizophrenic on the subject. They want the US to send in troops any place that doesn't help the US, but no place were it does. Republicans want to send them in where it at least arguably helps the US (and according to Democrats, that makes Republicans evil).

Dan Senor says Condoleezza Rice is actively campaigning to be named John McCain's vice-presidential running mate. Greenspan endorses McCain.

McCain will get his doctors together at a press conference to proclaim he is fit to be president.

ABC catches Clinton in another lie - this time about her Iraq war record.

French protesters snuff out Olympic torch, three times.

Blood test can predict Parkinson's and Alzheimer's 6 years in advance.

Cybercrime is on the rise.

Absolut apologizes for Mexico ad.

Playing World of Warcraft relieves stress.

Cato claims nation-building squanders US power, money, and lives. While this is true in general, sometimes it's necessary (in which case, it's not squandering). What would Cato have us do in Afghanistan? Turn it back over to al Qaeda or the next extremist to come along? I hope not. Afghanistan shows why the US should have the ability to nation-build. This ability should not be mistaken for a mandate to use it at will, as it seems all 3 presidential candidates want to do. But our representatives haven't been able to create that ability, ever. Government tried it during the Marshall Plan, and our bureaucracies failed to work together even that long ago.

Cato reports that earmarks are more prevalent than ever.

San Francisco is charging the federal government $5.4 million to fight border crime even though they are 500 miles from the border. They are also a sanctuary city. This is government out of control.

Video illustrates how TSA's ridiculous rules regulating pilot's carrying a gun could have led to the recent accidental discharge of a weapon on a commercial flight. This bull about padlocking the firearms is just stupid.

Indianapolis Airport adds footbaths to accommodate Muslims. That's fine, as long as its private. If that's a taxpayer subsidized airport, that's crap. Taxpayers do not pay to subsidize particular religious activities. I sure hope they're private, like stalls. I don't want to have to watch anybody wash their feet.

Boortz explains why there is no right to health care.

Highlighting the us-versus-them state of government aristocrats versus regular Joes, study shows that hundreds of thousands of California government employees can run red lights, avoid paying tolls, get away from parking tickets, and be let off by police because they have government protected license plates. So much for every American being equal in the eyes of the law. So much for no aristocracy in America. We might as well give our government officials a knighthood so we won't be hoodwinked into thinking they live by the same rules as us peons.

England and Wales have banned the sale, import, or creation of Samurai swords. What about Ninja swords? This is stupid. Violators face 6 months in jail and a 5,000 pound fine, or much more for importers. But of course collectors and reenacters are excluded, meaning that just average Joes are banned from having Samurai swords. Gun control laws always target the poor, average Joe because aristocrats fear him. The same arguments were used to ban cheap handguns, after branding them "Saturday Night Specials".