Boyd

RCP:

Reporter Brian Ross: "Mary Mapes was the woman behind the scenes, the producer who researched, wrote and put together Dan Rather's 60 Minutes report on President Bush's National Guard service, a report which Rather and CBS would later apologize for airing . . ."

Ross to Mapes: "Do you still think that story was true?"

Ex-CBS producer Mary Mapes: "The story? Absolutely."

Ross: "This seems remarkable to me that you would sit there now and say you still find that story to be up to your standards."

Mapes: "I'm perfectly willing to believe those documents are forgeries if there's proof that I haven't seen."

Ross: "But isn't it the other way around? Don't you have to prove they're authentic?"

Mapes: "Well, I think that's what critics of the story would say. I know more now than I did then and I think, I think they have not been proved to be false, yet."

Ross: "Have they proved to be authentic though? Isn't that really what journalists do?"

Mapes: "No, I don't think that's the standard."

- on ABC's Good Morning America, Nov. 9

CNN:

"I think it's unfair that men put laws on a woman's body," Fleiss says. "I think a woman has a right to choose with her own body. I mean, I don't think prostitution is a career ... but maybe [it is] a little steppingstone?"

On the other hand, if you're a parent of a daughter your number one job is to keep her off the pole.

Update: Start by not naming her after a car.

I like this post at JR's. A pro-newspaper guy is bemoaning the rise of blogs and says the newspaper folks should quit for a year presumably to show everyone how indispensable they are. OK. Go ahead John Henry.

NewsMax:

Donald Trump is considering asking New York State voters in next year’s gubernatorial race to tell him: You’re hired!

No more The Apprentice. It was getting tired anyway. The new show will be The Lieutenant Governor.

CNN:

Rock star Bono said Saturday that his commitment to campaigning against poverty caused tensions within his band, U2.

Remember when U2 was the coolest thing going? Bono is just self-deprecating enough to get away with stuff like the 'Let it fly' comment in the Sunday Bloody Sunday video. And I suppose if you have to have a pretentious, self-righteous rock star preaching to you, you could do worse.

Reed:

Not long ago my wife and I were eating lunch in a greasy spoon in a small South Carolina county seat. A black guy in work clothes (name embroidered over his shirt pocket) came in to pick up a take-out order. He was chatting up the white waitress (tattoos, short cropped hair) and when he asked her for a date, I started eavesdropping even more intently.

She said no. He persisted. She said no again. He asked why not. I braced myself for her reply. I know it's a New South, but this town seemed to me the sort of place where maybe they hadn't got the memo.

She said, "I don't date men."

Newhouse:

Willie Pham loves his work here.

"I don't look at my job as a lower job," he says.

"I was placed here for a purpose."

Pham works for the hospitals' Environmental Services Department. His shirt says so. You'd call him a janitor if you saw him pushing those two big yellow trash bins room to room, picking up bags of dirty linen and medical waste.

But people who know Pham call him other things:

Mr. Willie. Brother Willie. An inspiration, a blessing, a saint. An angel sent by God.

1. Howard Coble will win.
2. The Colts will not.
3. Impeachment talk will fade away.
4. Corruption talk will not.
5. Interest rates will go up.
6. Housing prices will stagnate.
7. I will enjoy the heck out of the new Harris Teeter on Church St. in Burlington and the new Harris Teeter on Friendly in Greensboro.
8. There will be natural disasters in the US.
9. There will be natural disasters in the rest of the world.
10. Duke will not win the tournament.
11. Republicans will retain control of the House and Senate.
12. They will not have learned anything from their scandals.
13. Democrats will not gain control of the House or Senate.
14. They will not have learned anything from Republican scandals.
15. Gas prices will go down.
16. The team which drafts Reggie Bush will be disappointed due to their too high expectations.
17. NC colleges will continue to field mediocre football teams and will do so until they merge or buy each other out.
18. Speaking of buy-outs, people will continue to be stunned by CEO pay and figure out that laws passed to prevent hostile takeovers have led to this abuse.
19. I will not begin training for a marathon.
20. NASCAR will not stop making rules up as they go.
21. Israel will attack Iran.
22. Things will improve dramatically in Iraq. They will make great strides in bringing oil online.
23. The rest of the world will become more free. The US will become less free.
24. Folks in the US will really begin to understand the debacle that is the prescription drug plan. They will blame drug companies.

May:

Almost a thousand years ago, Genghis Khan provided a candid and classic answer: "Man's highest joy is victory: to conquer his enemies; to pursue them; to deprive them of their possessions; to make their beloved weep; to ride on their horses; and to embrace their wives and daughters."

That's Jenjis Khan for you libs.

Batman Begins is the best Batman movie. Worth a watch. No silly villains and more story than chases. One downside is enduring Katie Holmes who plays an up and coming assistant DA. She's cute to look at and her acting is fine, but to see her on screen makes you think about Tom Cruise and what brainwashing techniques he must be using. After all, he knows the history of psychiatry.

If you're not watching My Name Is Earl, you should be. It's a Southern thing. You'll understand and you'll laugh out loud.

AP:

"There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction," he wrote.

"Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice's call for help. Unfortunately altruism is always in short supply. Not enough are willing to set aside the material ambitions of this transient world, put morality first, and risk their lives for the cause of humanity. So I will."

"I want to experience during my Christmas the same hardships ordinary Iraqis experience everyday, so that I may better empathize with their distress," he wrote.

Via Althouse:

"Narm." -- Nate Fisher on "Six Feet Under."

Elder:

What about my dad? How did he manage? How do you compare what it's like now to what it was like then? He grew up in the Jim Crow South during the Depression, when black adult unemployment was 50 percent. He dropped out of school at age 13, after his mother threw him out of the house in favor of her then-boyfriend. Hard jobs followed, and he served in World War II. When he came out, he worked two full-time jobs as a janitor, cooked for a family on the weekends and went to night school to get his high school G.E.D. He saved his money and somehow managed to start a restaurant when he was in his 40s, which he ran until he was in his 80s. If racism didn't stop him then, how can racism stop you today? And he votes Republican!

In addition to the aforementioned Mexican capitalist, I'll spend time with a black capitalist in a heartbeat over a white socialist.

Something explains the economic success of the US. What is it? It sure ain't making people dependent on government. Understanding that past performance is the greatest predictor of future success, why in the world wouldn't you advocate for what made this country economically powerful in the first place?

Update: Someone asks about white capitalist vs. black capitalist and who to spend time with. Depends on which is the least annoying.

Opinion Journal:

At some point, the president of the United States will have to get behind the Statue of Liberty or Tom Tancredo's wall.

I don't want to live behind a wall. What we need to be doing is figuring out how to help Mexico reform itself so the opportunity disparity between our two countries is not so great. What we don't need is to criminalize 10 million folks who are here.

I've said it many times, I'd hang out with a hardworking Mexican capitalist anyday over a white socialist. Hell, I'd rather hang out with a lazy Mexican capitalist than a hardworking white socialist.

VDH:

Before we went in, analysts and opponents forecasted burning oil wells, millions of refugees streaming into Jordan and the Gulf kingdoms, with thousands of Americans killed just taking Baghdad alone. Middle Eastern potentates warned us of chemical rockets that would shower our troops in Kuwait. On the eve of the war, had anyone predicted that Saddam would be toppled in three weeks, and two-and-a-half-years later, 11 million Iraqis would turn out to vote in their third election - at a cost of some 2100 war dead - he would have been dismissed as unhinged.

At first I thought it might have been a denial of service attack by some angry lib, but alas the cause is more pedestrian - a failed hard drive on a PowerBlogs server. A new server was ordered and installed, however it required an IP change and you know how long those take for whatever 20th Century reason.

No matter what mean things people say about him, Chris at PowerBlogs is cool in my book.

Update: When I decide to quit, I'll give you advance notice.

AFP:

President Vladimir Putin's outspoken liberal economic adviser Andrei Illarionov announced his resignation to protest what he said was an end to political freedom in Russia. "It is one thing to work in a partially free country, as Russia was six years ago. It's another when the country has stopped being politically free,"

The Russian people still haven't been given the chance they deserve.

Don't these other countries look at the US and wonder how it's possible? What makes the US so economically successful? Our people are not smarter. We're not more talented. It's obvious, isn't it? It's freedom. Give up control, Russia, and be prosperous.

Rafael:

It had all the ingredients for a great fight. Nonstop, savage action. Blood. Courage. Momentum swings. High stakes. Knockdowns. Controversy. And an ending so stunning, so sublime, that you could hardly believe what you were seeing.

I remember relaxing on the couch last May when this fight came on HBO. Most of the time, when all the lights are out and I'm on the couch and it's late and I'm trying to watch something, sleep wins. However, on this occasion I was too stunned. This was a perfect fight. This is the kind of fight non-boxing fans can appreciate. This is the kind of fight that keeps you coming back in spite of boxing promoters.

Dionne:

Lord knows, a housecleaning in the Capitol is definitely in order. But the Abramoff scandal is just part of the corruption of our political system. There is another level of special-interest influence that cannot be handled by prosecutors: Only the voters can render a judgment on a politics of favoritism that has created a new Gilded Age. It's clear that the national government has placed itself squarely on the side of the wealthy, the privileged and the connected.

Sowell:

Power is such a dangerous thing that ideally it should be wielded by people who don't want to use power, who would rather be doing something else, but who are willing to serve a certain number of years as a one-time duty, preferably at the end of a career doing something else.

The Democrats used to be so corrupt that I thought if only the Republicans can come to power, then we can get something done. However, I've been let down. Now, some folks want the Democrats back in because the Republicans are equally as corrupt. The problem is that just because they are telling you what you want to hear doesn't mean they're all of a sudden not corrupt. Let's see their plan for changing the system. For that matter, let's see the Republican plan for changing the system.

UPI:

U.S. President George Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court was challenging him at an unprecedented rate.

Barone:

...markets work and that lower taxes and less onerous government produce more economic growth than the alternative. About 43 million jobs have been created in the United States since December 1980, while the number in the more statist nations of western Europe is on the order of 4 million. Markets are creating millions of jobs in nominally Communist China and once socialist India.

Markets work everywhere they're tried. The only folks arguing against them seem to have some sort of delusional idea that if the government can get control of dispensing resources they might get to influence how money is spent and hence magnify their own power more so than if they are left to compete. In other words, they trust a bureaucracy (and their skills at maneuvering within it) more than they trust the people.

Rocky Mountain News:

The South did indeed rise again; 36 percent of the nation's population lives there, putting it well ahead of the other regions - the West with 23 percent, the Midwest with 22 percent and the Northeast with 18 percent. The three states that lost population between 2000 and 2004 were Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts.

Ever wonder why things in Washington are complicated? It's hard to search for particulars in bills. It's hard to read judicial opinions. Why? The principles involved are usually pretty straightforward.

It's to keep us blind to behind the scenes deals and workarounds. Remember the Alaskan bridges that were canned due to outrage over spending? They're back. As soon as the dust settled, Ted Stevens got his money. And all of his other politician buddies were complicit because they're going to want some help in the future - not for their people of their state, but for the sake of their own personal power. They want to do a favor for someone with your money so that they will be owed.

Reason:

But the state still got the money – a $454 million blank check.

And sure enough, Gov. Frank Murkowski has included money for both bridges in his new state budget.

Krugman:

Here's how I see it: Republicans have turned into tax-cut zombies. They can't remember why they originally wanted to cut taxes, they can't explain how they plan to make up for the lost revenue, and they don't care. Instead, they just keep shambling forward, always hungry for more.

You make up for 'lost revenue' by not spending it in the first place.

You cut taxes because the money belongs to the people earning it in the first place. And no matter what your politics, you have to admit that the people spend their own money more efficiently than the government spends the peoples' money.

The Wall Street Journal editors have long advocated for getting rid of withholding as the best way to reform the tax code. Imagine if everyone had to sit down monthly or quarterly and write a check to the government. How many folks would believe then, like Krugman, that they pay too little?

Media Research Center via Drudge:

Media Millionaires for Smaller Paychecks Award

NPR’s Nina Totenberg: "And let us say one other thing. For years, we have cut our taxes, cut our taxes and let the infrastructure throughout the country go, and this [Katrina damage] is just the first of a number of other crumbling things that are going to happen to us."
Charles Krauthammer: "You must be kidding here."
Moderator Gordon Peterson: "She’s not kidding."
Totenberg: "I’m not kidding."

— Exchange on Inside Washington, Sept. 3.

and...

Oh, That Liberal Media! Award

Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas: "Is this attack [on public broadcasting’s budget] going to make NPR a little less liberal?"
NPR legal correspondent Nina Totenberg: "I don’t think we’re liberal to begin with, and I think if you would listen, Evan, you would know that."
Thomas: "I do listen to you and you’re not that liberal, but you’re a little bit liberal."
Totenberg: "No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s a fair criticism, I really don’t — any more than, any more than you would say that Newsweek is liberal."
Thomas: "I think Newsweek is a little liberal."

— Exchange on Inside Washington, June 26.

There are many more sad, sad awards. And yes, Nina Totenberg wins a few more. She might get the Lifetime Achievement this year.

Cobb's been on Fishbone the last few days. I was a DJ at QFS for a while back in the early 90s and someone there turned me on to Fishbone. The studio had Truth and Soul. It got heavy play.

In some ways Kelo was worse because it involved many government officials and employees (including the incomprehensible Supreme Court - if this isn't a violation of the Constitution, nothing is - if you can find a right to privacy, why can't you find something that is clearly spelled out) all acting in the interest of government against individual property rights. And if you don't have property rights, you don't have democracy. Property rights are second only to speech in the struggle against tyranny.

Kirkpatrick:

"For public use--for a bridge or a road or a school or a hospital--that's bad enough," says Ms. Kelo over tea at the kitchen table of her little house at 8 East Street in the Fort Trumbull section of the city. "But you add insult to injury if somebody else can live here. That's exactly what they plan on doing here. Making it so somebody else can live here." But "I live on East Street. I live on East Street. Why can't I live here?"

Newhouse:

The sudden rush of Latino immigrant workers to the Gulf Coast in Katrina's aftermath has thrown into sharp relief the existence of an identifiable worker caste, a class of people at once economically essential and socially marginal. It is a national corps of day laborers...

There's a demand for immigrant labor. There is no question about it. What drives the demand? You and me. Whenever you look for a deal. Whenever you shop for a service, you're creating an opportunity for someone willing to work for less.

And what's the problem with this? Unemployment in the US is 5%. Many Americans don't want to do the difficult manual labor that these guys take on. So be it. Our economy has evolved to the point where Americans have choices. Use your brain, gather skills, show up to work on time, be respectful, do what your boss says and you don't have to work in a field.

On the other hand, illegal immigration is a big problem. We don't know who's coming into the country which is unacceptable. What we need is a sensible guest worker program where folks may register to come in and begin working toward citizenship. What we don't need is a permanent underclass resented by the folks already here and never fully assimilated into the culture.

WP via Coturnix:

Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.

The work suggests that the skin-whitening mutation occurred by chance in a single individual after the first human exodus from Africa, when all people were brown-skinned. That person's offspring apparently thrived as humans moved northward into what is now Europe, helping to give rise to the lightest of the world's races.

Well, well, well. One guy, huh. OGW - original grand wizard.

Update: Top 5 reasons OGW thrived.

5. Inability to dance allowed more time for mating.
4. OGW blended in with the snow hence making him less of a target for polar bears.
3. Affinity for Gap fashions big step up from loin cloths.
2. Smaller 'endowment' tremendous source of curiosity for potential mates. Think cell phones.
1. First ever to introduce primitive woman to the seductive power of Michael Bolton.

CNN:

Osama bin Laden's niece, in an interview with GQ magazine in which she appears scantily clad, says she has nothing in common with the al Qaeda leader and simply wants acceptance by Americans.

AP:

Sales of new homes plunged in November by the largest amount in nearly 12 years, providing the most dramatic evidence yet that the red hot housing market over the last five years is starting to cool down. The Commerce Department reported Friday that new single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.245 million units last month, a drop of 11.3 percent from October, when sales had surged to an all-time high.

Carlson:

Why didn't the Administration bother to get warrants for the wiretapping? Bush's aides claim there wasn't time; the terror threats were so pressing, bureaucratic niceties could have been dangerous. Sounds good, except that the 1978 law that governs federal eavesdropping allows the government to apply for a warrant after the wiretap has already been conducted.

This is exactly right. The question is why would you not want to get warrant? Even if everything is on the level you make it easier for the next guy or gal to push the limits a little more. A small government conservative would understand this, but then...

TSG:

Remember the SNL skit from the 90's labeled "Steroid Olympics" and that guy tries to dead lift 900lbs and as he jerks up, both arms rip clean off his shoulders and are still attached to the barbell on the floor and blood is spurting out everywhere from his shoulder sockets ... I hope Damon's arm comes flying off while he is trying to make a throw home and his hand and arm are still attached to the ball as it weekly lands in front of A-Rods foot and then A-Rod vomits and passes out and Joe Torre has to come out and give mouth to mouth to A-Rods bloated purple lips ... That would ease the pain of this trade
-- Mark Faselle, Dallas, TX

I wonder why anyone cares about baseball to this degree anymore? You've got two teams spending $150 mil plus on players. You've got other teams spending $25 mil. It's like the seventh grade divides into two teams to take on K-3 and then the seventh grade trades a few players back and forth to settle the 'world' championship. Call me when they get a salary cap and a level playing field.

Rosett:

...James Bone of the London Times began asking questions referring to two of the scandals that continue to bedevil the secretary-general: the saga of Oil-for-Food, and the cameo of a Mercedes-Benz allegedly bought and shipped under false use of Kofi Annan’s name and U.N. status by his son, Kojo Annan.

Instead of answering Bone, Annan cut him off, first calling him "cheeky," and then interrupting him again to say: "Hold on. Listen, James Bone. You have been behaving like an overgrown schoolboy in this room for many, many months and years. You are an embarrassment to your colleagues and to your profession. Please stop misbehaving, and please let’s move on to a more serious subject."

When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When the law is on your side, argue the law. When neither is on your side, pound the table.

Charlotte Observer:

A sex toy and video mail order business, once picketed by ministers and searched by postal investigators, has been named business of the year in Orange County.

On the other hand, discover a need and fill it.

Raw Story (from the WSJ):

Amid soaring CEO compensation, a number of companies are paying extra sums to cover executives' personal tax bills. Many companies are paying taxes due on core elements of executive pay, such as stock grants, signing bonuses and severance packages. Others are reimbursing taxes on corporate perquisites, which are treated as income by the Internal Revenue Service. They run the gamut from personal travel aboard corporate jets to country-club memberships and shopping excursions.

Executive pay has gotten completely and utterly out of hand. I'm the biggest free market proponent you're going to find. However, I'm also against folks abusing or gaming the system. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Congress to pass a law forbiding companies from doing this, but they should be shamed by exposing it and their large institutional shareholders should speak out against the practice.

Part of the problem is all these laws passed to prevent hostile takeovers. If you can't change a board of directors easily, of course you're going to get corruption. And corruption is what it is. These guys are paid these absurd sums regardless of performance.

I'm sure you're dying to know. REK.

Check this out from the spirited folks at the News & Record and the homeowners on Deerglade Court.

If it weren't so cold, I'd move to New Hampshire so I could have that, the coolest of all state mottos on my license plate.

Fineman:

Arguably the most interesting - and influential - Republicans in the Senate right now are the libertarians. They’re suspicious of the Patriot Act and, I am guessing, pivotal in any discussion of the NSA and others' spy efforts. Most are Westerners (Craig, Hagel, Murkowski) and the other is Sen. John Sununu. He is from New Hampshire, which, as anyone who has spent time there understands, is the Wild West of the East Coast. All you have to do is look at its license plate slogan: "Live Free or Die." It'll be interesting to see how other nominal small-government conservatives - Sen. George Allen of Virginia comes to mind - handle the issue.

The Economist:

In recent years, housing has been a peach of an investment in many rich countries. The Economist's latest house-price index shows that since 1997 prices have soared by more than 85% in America, 100% in France, 112% in Australia, 150% in Spain, 166% in Britain and a whopping 208% in Ireland.

Williams:

Since consumers are far more numerous than businessmen, one might ask how in the world is it politically possible for businessmen to get congress and state legislators to allow them to rip us off?

Read the column for the blueprint on how businesses stifle competition. It is the job of government to create as fair and level a playing field as possible. After that, let the chips fall where they may.

A sad day to have to delete The Troublemaker from the Blogroll of Honor.

Update: Fooled again. Watch out Winston-Salem. Having worked in Winston for almost a decade, I can say without a doubt that it's a much more stratified community than Greensboro. You'll have your hands as full with them as they will have with you.

Boot:

It seems like only yesterday that every high-minded politician, pundit and professional activist was in high dudgeon about the threat posed to national security by the revelation that Valerie Plame was a spook. For daring to reveal a CIA operative's name - in wartime, no less! - they wanted someone frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs, preferably headed for the gallows.

Since then there have been some considerably more serious security breaches. Major media organs have broken news about secret prisons run by the CIA, the interrogation techniques employed therein, and the use of "renditions" to capture suspects, right down to the tail numbers of covert CIA aircraft. They have also reported on a secret National Security Agency program to monitor calls and e-mails from people in the U.S. to suspected terrorists abroad, and about the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Field Activity designed to protect military bases worldwide.

I've been wondering about this. It makes infinite sense in terms of some folks with big megaphones wanting to take shots at Bush no matter what the news is. Leaks good for Bush - Get the leaker! We can't have it! We endanger the CIA! Leaks bad for Bush - Someone is a principled whistleblower.

AP:

The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support.

Drilling supporters fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

I just don't get it. It's like banning slaughterhouses from being built and eating a Porterhouse every night. When you turn on the computer, do you ever wonder what makes it possible?

Two great articles in the WSJ today. Three if you count the one about realtors getting nasty over commissions. Oh sure, they smile in all those Rhino ads and they dress nice and smell nice and are perfect hosts at Showcase of Homes and Parade of Homes, but underneath it all, it's all about the 6%. What? You thought they did it for their health?

Anyway, the two great articles were first one about the oil situation and how we got where we are today. Factors are potential decline of Saudi oil fields, terrible short-term data on supply and demand, increased demand from China, continued high demand from the US, oil company focus on profits and cost cutting rather than exploration and speculators in the energy markets.

One thing that everyone worries about is peak oil. When do we cease discovering new oil and demand permanently outstrips supply? Of course, no one knows the answer to this and we won't know until it happens and even then a new technology breakthrough could change the equation However, I've heard many folks bemoan the fact that we don't search hard enough for alternate energy sources. The problem is that it's too risky. Go spend billions on new energy sources and you may or may not come up with anything. If you do succeed, what happens if new ways to extract oil are discovered or improved like what's happening in the Canada tar sands? Oil is still likely to beat whatever you came up with. The only way the investment makes sense is when oil really does go into decline and the price increases permanently. This way everyone's in the same boat and must invest. Risk drops dramatically.

The second article was about Olin College. The central question is if you had $400 million to start an engineering school, how would you design it to produce the best engineers in the world? What they came up with was the inverse of the way education is normally done. Instead of learn then do, it's do then learn. From comments on students who have been interning in private business, their bosses are generous in their praise.

By the way, there are no academic departments, no tenure and no tuition.

Innovation is the key to everything. Government schools don't innovate. Private enterprise innovates because it faces competition. Want to make something better? Find something to compete against it.

AP:

"The meaning of 'Barbie' went beyond an expressed antipathy; actual physical violence and torture towards the doll was repeatedly reported, quite gleefully, across age, school and gender," she said.

While boys often expressed nostalgia and affection toward Action Man - the British equivalent of GI Joe - renouncing Barbie appeared to be a rite of passage for many girls, Nairn said.

What does this mean? I have no idea, although I do know that when guys hate each other there's always a chance of reconciliation and a strong bond derived from mutual respect. When women hate each other, it's over. I think this may spring from the fact that women see men as not much of a threat - kind of how cats view people. However, quite clearly they view other women as a lethal threat - kind of how cats view other cats. Why don't men see anyone as a threat? I don't know. We just like to drink beer and watch football. Life's pretty simple that way. Two problems. Run out of beer - go to store. Football not on - that's why they invented ESPN Classic.

Fox:

More than 7 million people in and around New York City were forced to walk, find a cab, drive into work or work from home Tuesday after the strike began at 3 a.m. EST. The strike affects not only Manhattan but the other city boroughs as well - the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

These are pretty good jobs. Give someone else a shot.

Will:

Particularly in time of war or the threat of it, government needs concentrated decisiveness -- a capacity for swift and nimble action that legislatures normally cannot manage. But the inescapable corollary of this need is the danger of arbitrary power.

I think Bush is earnest and I think he thinks he's doing the right thing. The problem is the great leap forward in these type of powers. A line has been crossed. If ignored, the line will be more easily crossed in the future until it is a line no more.

Nordlinger:

You know how we on the right have been beating Bush up for ages on spending, and how many on the left have been doing it too? You know how Bush has been a drunken sailor, chastised by pretty much all sides? I always thought that, as soon as he tightened up a bit, he would be blasted as a heartless budget-cutter, willing to throw Grandma in the snow.

Well, whaddya know. I quote the AP report: "The House narrowly passed a plan to cut deficits by almost $40 billion over five years in legislation hailed by GOP conservatives as a sign their party was returning to fiscal discipline and assailed by Democrats as victimizing medical and education programs that help the poor."

Democrats are always going to say stuff like this when it comes to fiscal discipline. So why play? Do a press conference and say, "Yeah, we're cutting the rate in growth of spending and we're quite sure it's going to kill your grandma, but we're Republicans and we're doing it anyway because we just don't have the cash."

Nordlinger:

And did you hear his answer to the New York Times's David Sanger yesterday? Sanger asked whether errors in the Iraq intelligence made it harder to conduct diplomacy and warn people of current or future dangers. Bush said - yes.

I may be naive, but I think people in this country respond well to candor. Be straight up. We can handle it.

Heard a few minutes of Rush today. He was mocking Barbara Walters upcoming interview with a failed suicide bomber held in an Israeli prison. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy mocking Barbara Walters almost as much as I enjoy mocking Maureen Dowd. However, the very good news is that during the interview she asks the would-be bomber about his reward in the afterlife. He firmly believes the 72 virgin myth. He also firmly believes that only Muslims go to Heaven and everyone else is doomed to Hell especially Jews.

Given the evident primitive education level of this ignorant fool, it really shouldn't be that much trouble to put a little doubt in the minds of terrorist foot soldiers. All it's going to take is exposure. These guys have been brainwashed their whole life. Let's put our tax money to good use and buy everyone in the Middle East a subscription to DirecTV.

What are they doing? Do they want to be civil servants? Do they want to be celebrities? Do they want to be models? What is it with them and posing?

UCLA News via PEER Review:

Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

CSM:

If China graduates more than eight times the number of engineers that the United States does, is it thrashing America in the technology race?

That's what many scientists and politicians are suggesting in the wake of an October report by the highly regarded National Academies. Its numbers are startling: China adds 600,000 new engineers a year; the US, only 70,000. Even India, with 350,000 new engineers a year, is outdoing the US, the study suggests.

But that gloomy assessment depends on how one defines engineers: Those with at least four years of college training? Or do their ranks include two-year graduates of technical schools and even, in China's case, auto mechanics?

There is no question that India and China are where it's at for the 21st Century. There's also no question that they're going to be aspiring to US levels of all sorts of things for years to come. And when they get there? So much the better. It's never a bad thing to have rich friends.

Nordlinger:

"How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb? None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!"

Power Line:

I'm just guessing here, but I suspect that we have technology in place that allows us to begin intercepting phone calls within a matter of minutes after we learn of a phone number being used by an al Qaeda operative overseas. My guess is that there is a system into which our military can plug a new phone number, and begin receiving intercepts almost immediately. I hope so, anyway; and I'm guessing that the disclosure of this system to al Qaeda is one of the reasons why President Bush is so unhappy with the New York Times. If we do have such a technology, it certainly would help to explain the remarkable fact that the terrorists haven't executed a successful attack on our soil since September 2001. And the disclosure of such a system, by leaking Democrats in the federal bureaucracy and the New York Times, makes it more likely, by an unknowable percentage, that al Qaeda and other terrrorist organizations will launch successful attacks in the future.

I caution all of us to remain hinged on this. Spying on Americans is one thing. Spying on Americans who are al Qaeda operatives is another.

My objection is that our intelligence agencies haven't proved themselves to be all that on the ball recently. And without adequate accountability do they really deserve the benefit of the doubt in receiving an all access pass to spy on their countrymen? When government powers take a leap forward like this, there will inevitably be unintended consequences. All Republicans who were upset about Clinton and the FBI files ought to consider this carefully. All Democrats who dismissed the FBI file scandal, ought to weigh their Bush hatred vs. their love for the Constitution.

Cobb:

Here's the thumbnail sketch. Sharpton, Farrahkan, Cosby, Winfrey, Jackson, the five greatest oxygen suckers in all of black America formed a joint task force to derail Chappelles Show. Why? Because of his negative portrayals of black people. It came to threats and intimidation on his family.

For the sake of Comedy Central, let Chappelle be Chappelle.

Marcus:

The Democrats can't utter a sentence these days without bemoaning the Republican "culture of corruption." How better to take the wind out of their sails than to co-opt the corruption issue? The president's most effective immunization against the Abramoff virus is one he could administer himself, by getting out ahead of the problem.

I don't care how it gets done, but it needs to get done. Let's have a vote on lessening the influence of lobbyists and see where everyone comes down.

WSJ:

Long a stronghold for Islamic extremists and the world's second-most populous Muslim nation, Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11, while support for al Qaeda in its home base has dropped to its lowest level since then. The direct cause for this dramatic shift in Muslim opinion is clear: American humanitarian assistance for Pakistani victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed 87,000. The U.S. pledged $510 million for earthquake relief in Pakistan and American soldiers are playing a prominent role in rescuing victims from remote mountainous villages.

VDH:

...American history is far kinder to those who persevered than those who alleged that their country's victory was impossible. Most today revere Lincoln and Marshall, along with Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, who weathered unimaginable slurs. A Gen. McClellan or Sen. Jenner - who opportunistically piled on when news from the front was bad - was mostly forgotten when things inevitably improved.

Thornton:

Whether this government succeeds or not, however, is ultimately the business of the Iraqi people, its success or failure their responsibility. What we need to make clear is that we spent blood and treasure to give Arab Muslims the opportunity to create a society and government that can allow its citizens a chance at the prosperity and freedom that do not exist anywhere else in the Arab Middle East. But we can't force them to make the most of this opportunity. They themselves have to want it more than they want their ancient religious and ethnic rivalries or their pipe dreams of lost Muslim glory or their toxic hatred of Israel.

King:

Said Leftwich: "You know the world is changing when the slow black quarterback stays the quarterback and the fast white quarterback gets switched. With Matt, it's fun to teach him what I know. He's a good learner.'"

Black guy as tutor. White guy as student. While I'm talking Jacksonville, did you know the Jaguars are an all-black-quarterback team? Leftwich, Garrard and Quinn Gray. Does anyone write about it, talk about it?

It's almost embarrassing to point it out is how far we've come. And how about Lovie Smith in Chicago and Marvin Lewis in Cincy? How many owners feel like idiots for passing these two by for so many years?

WP:

In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the New York Times reported last week, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of hundreds of U.S. citizens and residents suspected of contact with al Qaeda figures -- without warrants and outside the strictures of the law that governs national security searches and wiretaps.

I don't know what to think yet. It was inevitable that we reach this point either in this administration or a future administration. Terrorists aren't going to face us on a battlefield. They're going to even the odds as best they can which includes recruiting US citizens and operating within the US. How to find them out and track them? They understand the restrictions on the government. There was no question they would attempt to exploit these restrictions. They already have.

Ask yourself, how would you feel about unauthorized wiretaps if they had been used to discover Atta and prevent 9/11? How would you feel about torture if it was used to get information out of Atta on other pending terrorist plots?

On the other hand, what do we gain in the War on Terror by condoning torture or spying on citizens? We may gain short-term tactical advantage, but we begin to lose what makes the US unique. The only strategy that wins this culture war in the end is the promotion of freedom and democracy. As I've said over and over, you can't play defense against terrorism. They're too small, the weapons are too big and the targets are too numerous. The only real way to win the war is to change the equation for millions of people around the world. If they see the US as tough and principled and willing to confront the evil in the world in the form of tyrants and the UN and European elite types that help them stay in power, they may begin to believe that things can be different. If this experiment works in Iraq, we may be doing more good than anyone can imagine. We ought not jeopardize that chance by sinking to the levels of our enemies. We are better than that. We've been better than that since we were founded.

The Colts are done. San Diego wore them out today. Peyton you can take the next three weeks off to get ready to play the Patriots who will be coming to see you this year. I might be worried Colts Nation.

Tracy and I went to dinner Friday with two of our favorite liberals. I'm grossly simplifying, but our conversation got me thinking.

A constant theme from liberals is that they don't trust business - Wal-mart, textile mills, developers, drug companies, big oil. You name it.

At the same time though they place unquestioned trust in the government. Maybe not the current government under Republican leadership, but the idea of government. Why? If you don't trust big business, why do you trust big government? Intentions? The primary motivation of business is to increase profits and the primary motivation of government is to care for its people? Do you trust someone because they choose to spend their life serving their fellow man in government? Are their motivations always pure? How can you tell?

Nature compared Wikipedia to Britannica.

Nature via The Corner:

The exercise revealed numerous errors in both encyclopaedias, but among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three.

His site is performance art.

Power Line:

During the Roberts process, the MSM did a great job of finding primary documents, such as the memos Roberts wrote as a young Justice Department lawyer. But when it came to analyzing these memos and making arguments about them, specialty bloggers ran circles around even the best MSM legal affairs reporters.

JIC:

Lady Churchill was concerned for her son's safety. With a flippant insensitivity excused by his youth, he told her he would not die in combat because "I do not believe the Gods would create so potent a being as myself for so prosaic an ending."

Yes! Weekly:

"We're driving up Interstate 85 and we can't get into Greensboro because the traffic is backed up. We're saying it must have been a bad accident, but it was all people going to see wrasslin'."

Greensboro was rasslin' central for a long time. How about a Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Hall of Fame? Get the city council to appropriate a few mil, put it downtown and start counting the tourist dollars.

Saw Narnia today. Liked it. Had never heard of it before the movie came out. The scene where Aslan is killed is too intense for little kids. I was surprised. The battle was done very well though.

One curious thing, it was strange how the whole outcome depended on the witch not understanding the bylaws of their constitution. Seems like since she'd gone to the trouble of understanding that traitors belong to her that she'd have read a little further to know that if she killed Aslan like she did that he'd be back. After all she had 100 years of winter to read up on this stuff.

On the other hand, maybe it's like Scientology and she didn't contribute enough to get the advanced course.

Update: Having written the word Scientology and published it on the Internet, I fully expect to be sued.

Opinion Journal:

All of this ignores what is the real bipartisan scandal of modern redistricting--which is the lack of political competition. In 2004 in Texas, there were two races out of 32 in which the margin of victory was 10% or less. In California, thanks to a Democratic gerrymander, only two of 53 contests were decided with less than 60% of the vote. Nationwide, 90% or more of all House seats are now considered "safe." In short, the politicians are now selecting their voters, not vice versa.

Districts all over the US are a disgrace. How can you throw the bums out with what we've got? We have established a kingmaking enterprise via the political parties. The most important thing now is getting the favor of party bosses. Once you're in, you're going to win the election.

CNN:

...Mostafa Pourmohammadi told The Associated Press: "Actually the case has been misunderstood. (Ahmadinejad) did not mean to raise this matter."

Of course he didn't mean to raise the 'matter.' It would've been better if the 'matter' had continued to be discussed amongst Arabs and had not gotten in the western press.

News.com via Raw Story:

"Iran's got a president that, that, you know, second-guessed the Holocaust and has announced ... the sort of destruction of Israel," said Bush. "He's an odd guy."

Wonder how you sort of destroy somebody.

VDH:

The world does not hate the United States. Of course, it envies us. Precisely because it is privately impressed by our unparalleled success, it judges America by a utopian measure in which anything less than perfection is written off as failure. We risk everything, our critics abroad almost nothing. So the hope for our failures naturally gives reinforcement to the bleak reality of their inaction.

If you think you are funny, you need to read this and weep.

We're stuck in the past today aren't we? I was very confused momentarily when I went to two typepad blogs back to back and they displayed entries from 12/11. Hmmm, thought I. Is there a disturbance in the space-time continuum? Or have I been working so furiously that I am now five days ahead of everyone else?

Cobb posted this table.



Interesting that more people are killed by deer than by lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes. Who knew deer were such a menace? I sense the need for another non-profit. There's a lobbyist somewhere who needs a job.

I was for Randal until he declined to endorse Rebecca for a second position. Who will want to work for him in the Trump org now that he's shown himself to be selfish and too calculating? Was his magnanimity up to that point a ruse? Who's going to put themselves on the line for this guy? If I was Trump, I'd have fired him on the spot and hired Rebecca. And speaking of Trump, why leave it up to Randal on whether to hire Rebecca? He just got through saying his success was based on people he chose to hire. When you've got a winner like Rebecca, why leave it up to Randal to decide her fate?

Or maybe it was all a ruse to get us talking this morning.

More thoughts here.

Two good lines from Randal speaking of Rebecca. When asked by Trump who was more qualified, Randal (consultant firm owner) said there was a world of difference in that he had ran a business and Rebecca (financial journalist) had only written about business. And when asked whether to give Rebecca a second slot, Randal said the name of the show was The Apprentice not The Apprenti.

ESPN:

Bruce Gordon, who heads the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, issued a statement calling McNabb "a great quarterback, an excellent role model and a class act" and said he intended to apologize for denigrating remarks made by Philadelphia chapter president J. Whyatt Mondesire.

"The NAACP has many civil rights issues that require our attention," Gordon said. "Criticizing Donovan McNabb is not one of them."

Good for them. Score one for common sense.

Americans who watched 9/11 on TV and saw their countrymen jumping from the towers or Middle East despots who suddenly have to deal with democracy? What do they say to their people now about how evil the US is when their people watched the US remove the most brutal despot and paved the way for free elections?

Brookes:

Iran's vigorous support for the Iraqi insurgency tells us that the mullahs' regime is probably the one most troubled by Iraq's democratic political revolution.

Guarino has several sensible suggestions in his proposed contract. I especially like 3, 5, 6 and 9.

Theroux:

In the early and mid-1960's, we believed that Malawi would soon be self-sufficient in schoolteachers. And it would have been, except that rather than sending a limited wave of volunteers to train local instructors, for decades we kept on sending Peace Corps teachers.

Drudge says Kong took in $9 million yesterday and asks if it's a bomb. Of course, it's a bomb. Expectations were absurd.

Here's the other thing. What's important is story. Not effects. Understand? Let me restate. Story important. Effects not.

Just because you can do something with effects, doesn't mean you should. And the effects aren't as good as you think. Yeah they're incredible based on how far we've come, but wake me up when I can't tell if it's a real person or not. Or a real King Kong or not.

Nordlinger:

When I was a serious student of the Middle East some years ago, I would often think, "You know, the world doesn't know anything about this - the Holocaust denial, the freakish theories, the irreconcilable hatred." And I wished the world could know more about the Middle East.

One thing that always amazed me is that many Middle Eastern elites couldn't decide whether to deny the Holocaust, celebrate it, or lament that it didn't go far enough.

AP:

Iraqis voted in a historic parliamentary election Thursday, with strong turnout reported in Sunni Arab areas and even a shortage of ballots in some precincts.

Better than expected turnout. Low violence. A good day.

ESPN:

Donovan McNabb is on the defensive again.

Just two years after responding to Rush Limbaugh's claims that he received accolades from the press because he is African-American, McNabb is now reacting to Philadelphia NAACP leader J. Whyatt Mondesire who wrote an opinion piece for the Philadelphia Sun in late November, claiming McNabb used the "race card" as an excuse for his poor play. Mondesire, the Sun's publisher and editor, wrote that McNabb is a "mediocre talent" who tries to disguise his ineffectiveness behind "some concocted reasoning" that African-American quarterbacks who scramble are somehow lesser "field generals."

Didn't Philly play in the Super Bowl last year? McNabb is a class act. Lay off.

If you work outside in the winter and need waterproof gloves that allow for good mobility, you can do worse than these. They're not good for tree work. They'll fall apart, but for everything else they're great.

Aljazeera:

Resistance fighters have in recent days backed away from the threats they used to keep Sunni Arabs away from the January elections. Some groups vowed not to attack polling stations to avoid civilian casualties.

That truce, combined with sealed borders, a three-day ban on traffic and a mass presence of Iraqi police and forces, backed by around 160,000 Americans, could make the election safer than the Jan. 30 poll, when more than 40 Iraqis died in bombings and shootings.

Correspondents say that a majority of Sunnis, who largely boycotted the last poll, are expected to vote in today's historic election. They also expect the vote to lead to a different, less Shia-dominated government.

Chapman:

As Cato Institute budget analyst Chris Edwards notes in his new book, "Downsizing the Federal Government," Republicans have learned that shoveling out dollars is a lot more fun than pinching pennies. In the 1995-96 session of Congress, for every bill introduced to reduce outlays, there were two bills to increase outlays. By 2003-04, the imbalance had become positively grotesque -- with 24 spending bills for every one bill to cut spending.

Jerusalem Post:

Shrapnel had split open his head and shredded his back and legs, but through semi-consciousness Aras Abded Akram smelled cooking gas and then rotten apples.

Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Air Force dropped dozens of gas-filled bombs on this Kurdish town in 1988. About 5,000 civilians died immediately, 21 of them from Akram's family, including his parents and all 10 of his siblings.

On Wednesday, Akram, now 39, buried his uncle, who died at 58 from cancer related to the sweet-smelling concoction of mustard, cyanide and VX gases he inhaled as he fled into the hills.

But vengeance would be his, decided Akram, standing on the spot where the bomb that killed his parents landed. "This is my victory, this democracy," said Akram, "and it's a message to other Arab dictatorships.

"I will be the first in line tomorrow to vote," he said.

Charlotte Observer:

For the third time in six years, Augusta National has undergone a dramatic renovation, continuing the perpetual pursuit of maintaining the rhythm and demands created by designers Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie.

Why? Why go to all this trouble of mucking around with a classic golf course when what you really ought to be doing is putting some limits on equipment (tennis too, by the way). Otherwise, let's just go straight to 10,000 yard courses and forget the 500 yards a year it's taking to get there.

Jacoby:

Less than three years ago, Iraq was a place where dissent was crushed, freedom of speech unknown, and civil liberties nonexistent. Today it swirls and bubbles with democratic excitement. Thousands of Iraqis are running for office in this week's election. The sights and sounds of self-government -- political posters, passionate debate, radio and TV commentary, candidates pressing the flesh -- are everywhere. It is an extraordinary moment in Iraqi, and Arab, history.

Sperry:

Now for the first time, a key Pentagon intelligence agency involved in homeland security is delving into Islam's holy texts to answer whether Islam is being radicalized by the terrorists or is already radical. Military brass want a better understanding of what's motivating the insurgents in Iraq and the terrorists around the globe, including those inside America who may be preparing to strike domestic military bases. The enemy appears indefatigable, even more active now than before 9/11.

I have no idea what the answer is. But I wonder when we talk of Islam as a peaceful religion how much of it is the West projecting its idea of what religion is on Islam.

Reuters:

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Holocaust was a myth, ramping up his rhetoric and triggering a fresh wave of international condemnation.

In other news, Ahmadinjkfdkadkfjkjkjdkfjla reiterated the rock solid fact that you get 72 virgins for blowing yourself up in a crowded Jewish market.

Kazakhstan couldn't be so silly as this, could they?

China News:

As abbot of the world-famous Shaolin Temple, the holy land of kung fu, Shi indeed plays multiple roles. His latest is executive producer of a $25-million movie about the life and times of the legendary fighting monks that is set to hit cinemas in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also has a reality TV project in the works, a kind of "American Idol" for kung fu masters.

To critics, Shi's lifestyle and projects prove how far the Shaolin Temple has strayed from its roots in an increasingly commercial society. But its controversial abbot says it's no crime to keep up with the times in order to preserve the past.

"Movies, TV shows, the Internet - these are all modern communication tools," said Shi, sitting in the dark chambers of his office in the Shaolin Temple as aides with shaved heads buzzed around arranging his busy schedule on their cellphones. "We are monks living in a new era. We should take advantage of these technologies and use them to serve Buddhism and traditional culture."

Townhall:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, led by North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole, continues to meddle in the Rhode Island GOP primary at the expense of conservative challenger Steve Laffey.

Nice. Very nice.

From the NRSC site:

Today, Club for Growth, a self-described conservative 527 organization, endorsed Steven Laffey for Rhode Island’s U.S. Senate seat. In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, Club for Growth Chairman, Pat Toomey, implies that Mr. Laffey will carry the Ronald Reagan torch for limited government and tax reductions. In fact, Club for Growth portrays Mr. Laffey's record as Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island as one that highlighted hard-nosed spending cuts to correct Cranston's troubled budget woes.

That is plainly and categorically untrue.

Mr. Laffey never cut overall spending - he has increased municipal spending. As Mayor, Mr. Laffey balanced the budget by increasing taxes. In fact, under Laffey's leadership, Cranston now has the highest residential property taxes in Rhode Island.

Incumbents are the problem. They'll do whatever it takes to stay in power and by being the incumbent they have too many advantages in campaigns. It's time for term limits.

Lowry:

Democrats complain of a "culture of corruption" in the Republican-controlled Congress, and they are right in one respect: The spending process has been so twisted by the Republican majority that it has become inherently dirty.

The instruments of