Megan McArdle takes a look.

To be clear, I do not object to the teacher’s unions because they have a union. I object to the teacher’s unions because teachers are among the competing interests that run low-income school districts for the benefit of the various interest groups, rather than the children. The union merely gives them more power to move value from children to teachers.

And that is the essence of a union. Whenever you see a union, you see a group of people who are attempting through politics to gain an economic advantage that they cannot gain through a free market.

Sort of like a government that way, come to think of it.

Or a street gang.

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Tell the truth — who, being an elephant, would not have done the same?

They’re lucky it didn’t try to climb on top of the car just to see how far it would squish.

I would have. But that’s me.

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Perhaps because it helps to be soused when listening to what passes for music these days.

But that’s just me.

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It would seem that there is an IQ test in New York for running for political office — pass, and you’re disqualified.

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My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

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Well, they ignore corruption in this country, why not ignore it in Iraq as well?

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Where have I seen this before? Oh, yeah — Star Treck, one of those episodes where Kirk or Spock or somebody gets court-martialed.

He looks really happy to be wearing it, doesn’t he?

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And you’re paying for all this. Be proud.

Inside the Beltway.

Inside Politics.

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And about time, too.

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Information is power. Who could doubt it?

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Money may not buy happiness, but it can rent Harvard and Jimmy Carter for a good long while.

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And they can’t draw the obvious conclusion. None so blind as those who will not see.

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Megan McArdle points out some common threads of “alternative medicine”.

I love the ionic foot baths that use salt ions and your skin fat to create lye while telling you that the disgusting looking brown stuff is “cleansing your liver”.

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(Is this a trick question?)

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Oh, no!

Wait for the enviro-nazis to mandate it.

Megan McArdle has been discussing the minimum wage. This post is particularly excellent.

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Consider this tough talk from UN chief Ban Ki-moon: “I want to register my deep concern and immense frustration on the unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis.” The problem is, something is only unacceptable if it’s not accepted. So, eleven days into the unacceptable, we’re still pretending that the UN is going to get around to caring about corpses that can’t be linked to the American military or the Israeli Defense Force.

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Time to invade Burma?

Remind me what use the U.N. is.

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We have the technology.

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I am not making this up.

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White people love rules. It explains why so they get upset when people cut in line, why they tip so religiously and why they become lawyers.

If a white person were to catch a mistake in The New Yorker, it would be a sufficient reason for a large party.

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Okay, new technique that differs from what everybody else is doing, and it demonstrably works —

Chances of it getting widely adopted: None.

Amount of time between now and when it is in general use: Approximately 100 years. And homeschoolers will have been doing it for 50 of them.

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I’d want to specify “No socialists need apply.” But that’s me.

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Great. When New York and Los Angeles go under water, we can move to Australia. They’ll have enough food for us.

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Also, organically reared cows burp twice as much methane as conventionally reared cattle – and methane is 20 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Huh. Organic food is … wait for it … bad for the environment. Who knew?

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Yeah, he talks a good fight, but talk is cheap — can he deliver?

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Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. ‘They are men and know what honour is,’ he said.

Though her horrified mother, Leila Hussein, called Rand’s two brothers, Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his foot on her throat, they joined in. Her shrouded corpse was then tossed into a makeshift grave without ceremony as her uncles spat on it in disgust.

This in an Iraq that is supposedly suffering under the Iron Boot of American Imperialism. Where are Dick Durbin or John Murtha when you really need them?

Your future under Islam. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

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I still have my copy of the Compact OED. Wouldn’t part with it for anything. And the magnifying glass came in handy for many occasions, too.

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Megan McArdle thinks so that you don’t have to.

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I think teenagers ought to be encouraged to injure themselves. Saves the rest of us some effort.

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And reality, apparently.

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Invade? The international community cannot “protect” the Burmese people from a military government without employing military means.

And long past time, I would say.

The United Nations, of course, is not prepared to use force. So Burmese by the tens of thousands will perish.

Remind me what good the U.N. is.

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Can you say “Mystamation”? If you can, and know what it means, then you’re an old fart just like me.

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Aw, isn’t that cute….

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“You can make a mainframe / from the things you have at home.” Jeez, I haven’t thought about that song in years.

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“Want to ship American jobs overseas? Ask me how!”

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I can’t think of any place in Africa or South America that wouldn’t profit from a large influx of Chinese. Hell, I wish we had more of ’em here.