Free kibbles

Senate passes $300 billion bailout bill for mortgages. I'm buying a mansion and passing the cost on to taxpayers. Since government doesn't want us to take responsibility for making our loan payments, everybody should. Mortgage company IndyMac fails. They specialized in making subprime loans. Duh. At least Congress didn't bail them out. That's what we get for forcing lenders to make subprime loans. It opened a pandora's box, and the results are painful. If the government had kept out of the business of lenders, we'd never even have created the term subprime loan.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face capital problems. These 2 companies are creations and wards of the government. Cato fears if the president and Congress don't call for both to raise capital, we may face a $5 trillion bail out. The point of these 2 companies is also to make subprime loans.

KBR implicated in the electricution of American soldiers with shoddy construction of bases and failure to fix the problems when brought to their attention. Wow. They should pay a heavy price for this. This is what happens when government circumvents market forces.

Because Congress refuses to do anything to increase supply and decrease demand, oil tops $147. Stock market in the tank. Putin tours a new oil well. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody in America could do that?

The Senate confirmed General Petraeus as the new commander of Centcom. Well deserved.

Russia and China, always obstacles to doing the right thing, veto sanctions on Zimbabwe. They want to continue selling arms to Zimbabwe.

Court rejects cap and trade policies on sulfur dioxide of Bush administration for limiting acid rain. I hadn't heard acid rain was a problem for the last 2 decades.

Bill ostensibly to ban illegal immigrants from city would require every renter to get an occupancy permit from the city. That's a bogus big-government power grab masquarading as anti-illegal immigration policy.

US officials report the Iranian missile test was a bluff. They fired old, out of service missiles, not their new ones. I guess they didn't want to waste the new ones.

I guess Chavez knows when to suck up to a winner, and he makes conciliatory noises toward Columbian President Uribe. Cato reports that signing our free trade agreement with Columbia would boost Uribe and help Columbia and the US grow.

Swift crackdown on gangsters on rich Catalina Island. I wonder why there's no such swift crackdown in poor neighborhoods.

Reason explains that the state of Texas' claim agains the Yearning for Zion Ranch was an attack on that religion.

Reason sees mounting evidence that Americans are tired of pandering, government handouts, and government intervention. We need a citizen-representative to make the argument that the cost off all those handouts and market interference is far more than any perceived gain by even the special interests who receive the benefits.

Real Clear Politics refuses to show Bob Barr's polling numbers. I'm sending an email.

Spike Lee says that after Obama is elected, we'll use Before Obama and After Obama as ways of discerning the ages. He said Obama will bring about seismic change in the universe. It's safe to say Spike has bought into the Obama as Messiah baloney.

Why does McCain, the audience, and liberals think it was a gaff when McCain said we should exploit our offshore oil reserves. Is it because they're not proven reserves? Or is it just that liberals don't like the world exploit? Of course we should discover then exploit them. McCain just keeps coming off like a dottering old fool.

Author laments the variety of web development tools and the specialization that comes with it. This is silly complaint. Anybody who can develop in one tool can develop in another. It doesn't take hardly any time to learn new tools, especially in a team environment. The problem is that specialization breeds separation, including a new set of TLAs, and a feeling that others who aren't on the bleeding edge of the specialization can't join, which is baloney.

Photos of McCain's room in the Hanoi Hilton.

How does an environmental group challenge permits given to BP to expand an oil refinery? How do they have standing?

Senior Al Qaeda operative convicted of terrorist attacks and bomb plots in Jordan is now living in a $1.6 million house with an income of $100,000 a year all provided by British taxpayers because a court ruled he couldn't be deported because his conviction in Jordan may have resulted from torture. These terrorists are using us to their advantage in their war against us, and we're just happily participating.

Organization rates all 50 states based on which is best for business. Texas is number 1. Ohio is 30. I think Ohio is really worse than 30.

The systematic dumbing down of American schools in the name of feel-good, self esteem policies has moved up from elementary through middle and high schools into college.

Newspaper subscriber is suing newspaper for cutting size and staff. Man sues church for injury because he was overcome by God. Our courts should never entertain these ridiculous lawsuits.