Read it.

Brian May, guitarist for rock band Queen, completes Ph.D. thesis following 30-year hiatus

Read it.

Read it.

Cistercians were always a bunch of slackers.

Read it.

Keeping you informed about the important trends of the day.

*Universalist Unitarian Obamaists: This denomination believes there are other politicians besides Obama, but they enjoy the fellowship of the weekly campaign events.  They are the least reliable Obamaists, as they aren’t certain if they will vote for Obama, or if he even exists at all.

Read it.

For a brief period of time, MySpace was the site where everyone kept their profile and managed their friendships. But soon, the service began to attract fake profiles, the wrong kind of white people, and struggling musicians. In real world terms, these three developments would be equivalent to a check cashing store, a TGIFridays, and a housing project. All which strike fear in the hearts of white people.

Read it.

The only principles in the Democrat party are tactical.

Read it.

Perhaps we could do that with the guys down in Gitmo. Shave ’em bare. For health reasons, of course.

Read it.

Compare and contrast those in political office. Why is Ted Stevens still in office? Why is William “Cold Cash” Jefferson not only in office but filling important committe slots?

Would we really be worse off if the military ran the country?

Read it.

Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

Yaacov ben Moshe is always worth reading.

Tyranny- It Always Quickens the Progressive Pulse

Read it.

Megan McArdle gives us some very interesting graphs about who’s producing and who’s not.

Read it.

Forensic examination of the crew’s skulls, which were found next the 16th century wreck in The Solent, has revealed that Henry VIII’s flagship was mainly crewed by foreign sailors, thought to be either mercenaries or Spanish prisoners of war.

More info here.

Megan McArdle is really a girl after all.

Is it possible to be a vegan without judging other people?

Possible, yes; likely, no. Most vegans are like anti-smokers and atheists — it’s not enough that they’re living on a higher moral plane than you are, it’s required that you be forced to admit it. They’re a lot like Muslims that way.

And somebody ought to reveal to them that “vegan” is somebody from the star Vega. People who only eat vegetables are herbivores. You know, like cows.

Megan McArdle fisks a bunch of lefty professors at Chicago whose undies are in a wad over possibly being associated with such a heinous figure as Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman.

Translated, “when we go to fashionable lefty cocktail parties in Venezuela, it’s embarrassing to admit who signs our paychecks.”

John Tierney is on the case.

For most of the year, it is the duty of the press to scour the known universe looking for ways to ruin your day. The more fear, guilt or angst a news story induces, the better. But with August upon us, perhaps you’re in the mood for a break, so I’ve rounded up a list of 10 things not to worry about on your vacation.

Read it.

It all started with Herodotus.

Read it.

A lot of people don’t seem to realize that.

Read it.

Amazing how that works. Guess the Kumbaya juice has lost it’s magic power.

Read it.

I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked.

Read it.

Read it.

And there was much rejoicing. Break out the jiffy-pop.

Read it.

We have the technology.

Read it.

Read it.

It’s all about Steve. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

As you know, my basic shtick is that, increasingly, specific government policies tend to matter less than the quantities and qualities of various populations. For example, Hong Kong became prosperous under free trade and laissez-faire, while Singapore became prosperous under protectionism and paternalism.

Thus, immigration policy is more central to the future of America than most of the controversies more welcome in the pages of the New York Times.

And he makes a good case for it. I’ve always said that there’s nothing wrong with New York that about a million ethnic Chinese wouldn’t cure.

Read it.

Darwin Award.

Read it.

Cool, yeah, but would you trust your life to one?

Read it.

I guess that means “stay away from Antigua”.

Read it.

Obama is really a rather garden-variety liberal. Makes one wonder what all the shouting is about.

Read it.

An interesting perspective. The whole question of how to create a fair and effective examination is one which doesn’t appear to get a lot of serious thought.

Read it.

Wouldn’t they be astonished if the military targeted them back?

Read it.

Read it.

Of course. “I’m not defective. Your test is defective for being geared toward NORMAL PEOPLE.”

If someone were to shoot him, it would solve the whole problem.

Read it.

Words fail me.

The Wall Street Journal is just full of happy news today.

Sen. Stevens, 86 years old, has been dogged by a federal investigation into whether he pushed for fishing legislation that also benefited his son, an Alaska lobbyist. Authorities have also scrutinized his ties to a corrupt oil contractor who paid employees to renovate the senator’s home.

Unfortunately there isn’t any way to get back any of the billions of taxpayer dollars he’s wasted over the years. But at least we may see him go to jail. I’d pay money for that.

Read it.

Well, I suppose I should be happy that Edwards got caught a la Clinton, but I’m not. People ought to behave themselves.

Read it.

Not really news to anybody who pays attention, but that still leaves a lot of people.

Read it.

Wonder whether they asked the gorilla whether it wanted to go back to Africa. Probably not.

Read it.

Good thing he wasn’t in Parliament. Then he could have blown up the economy trying to make biodiesel.

Read it.

Unfortunately, it would seem that they neglected the “and prayer” part.

It had never been designed to “take the place” of law enforcement but had served to “bring people together and raise consciousness,” he added.

Will all of the attempts to “raise consciousness” since that vile phrase was originated in the 60s, you’d think that there wasn’t any higher it could go.

Read it.

Apparently the problem is that they were behaving too much like Americans.

I can see the difficulty.

Read it.

And that, I think, about sums it up.

I wonder if I could have some bumper-stickers made up with that phrase. I bet I could sell a lot of them.

Read it.

A pity they don’t still have keel-hauling.

But the Navy insisted that the dismissal was “absolutely not” related to the capture of 15 sailors and Royal Marines last year or to any personnel issues on board.

Too bad. He ought to have been dragged from his bridge in irons.

Read it.

No doubt a “special needs Yeti” who requires protection from exploitation by an unfeeling populace. Oh, the horror.

Read it.

And the Luddite program to cancel the Industrial Revolution proceeds apace.

Read it.

Read it.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Badr al-Hasnani was 18 when he got into a fight with a soccer rival and fatally stabbed him. He confessed and was sentenced to death by beheading, as prescribed by sharia, or Islamic law.

For more than two years, Hasnani has been in a juvenile detention center awaiting execution while his family has tried to save him.

The parents of the victim, Majid al-Mahmoudi, have three options under sharia: to demand punishment, to spare Hasnani’s life to receive blessings from God, or to grant clemency in exchange for diyah, or blood money.

When I was a kid, I always wondered what it would be like to go back to the Middle Ages, only taking modern technology with me. Little did I know that I could do that today, by visiting Saudi Arabia. It’s the 7th century, with AK-47s.

The Mahmoudis agreed to accept diyah, setting the sum at $2 million in cash, much more than Hasnani’s family can afford.

I guess “blessings from God” don’t compare to cold cash in Muslim lands. Perhaps they aren’t so medieval after all.

Read it.

Steve must be doing something right if the “Southern Poverty Law Center” (a name that is the oxymoronic equal of “Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea”) doesn’t like him.

Read it.

Read it.

I’d rather be comfortable than have friends. But that’s me.