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Megan McArdle kicks some ass.

Have I mentioned recently that I hate PIRG?  Well, I hate PIRG with the kind of blackhearted distilled rage that normally characterizes the breakup of a thirty year marriage.  They, and their whole canvassing operation, are a vile beast that subsists on dishonor, greed, and the rapidly disintegrating idealism of impressionable young people.

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In addition to the magazines, of course.

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Hey, I didn’t pick the headline.

“This test demonstrates that the Airborne Laser can fully engage an in-flight missile,” said Boeing jumbo-blaster veep Michael Rinn. “Pointing and focusing a laser beam on a target that is rocketing skyward at thousands of miles per hour is no easy task, but the Airborne Laser is uniquely able to do the job.”

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Ah, but did they get a good severance package?

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I must admit, his approach to politics is far more African than American.

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Eurabia is coming. Are you ready?

How about when “Mohammed” becomes the most popular boy’s name in Dearborn?

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We all know what a disaster a sunburned penguin would be. The PETA people would have a cow, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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No, they’re not talking about Democratic Senators.

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It’s important to remember that the bulk of the slave trade went in the opposite direction — from Africa to the Arabian peninsula. The Arabs have been enslaving Africans since prehistoric times, and the slave trade in Saudi Arabia wasn’t abolished until the 1960s. An underground traffic in slaves continues to this day, particularly in Mauritania and other countries in western and northern Africa.

Islam has no objection, either formal or informal, to slavery.

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A serious disappointment.

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Tell the truth: Who would be interested in what a chimp has to say?

Oh — right — he won. I keep forgetting.

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So much for Dr Atkins.

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A bike, with computer-like intelligence, which can never be stolen and has puncture-proof tyres could be in everyday use by 2029, says British Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman.

I suppose Olympic cyclists don’t mind getting mud all over them, which would explain the lack of fenders.

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Arlen Specter was on the receiving end of a townhall again today. This video shows some of the action; it’s becoming a familiar scene. As Specter ruefully notes, hardly anyone at the event appears to be on board with the Democrats’ health care plans:….

Now that he’s come out of the closet as a Democrat, and more importantly as a slimy scum-sucking unprincipled power-whore, it’s fun to see his “natural criticism base” unleashed. Would that Senators Snow, Collins, Graham, Voinovich — and, yes, John McCain — would be served similarly.

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While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:….

I’m sure that “eat more arugula” is in there somewhere, but I’m too lazy to look for it.

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Physics – it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.

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Natural gas from shale formations is the new magic phrase in the oil and gas industry, as new technologies have led to stunning increases in potential resources and anticipated profits.

Now, this is the New York Times, so it needs to be confirmed from a reliable source.

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Last week, we reported on Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s statement that copyright law has become equal to the life of Mickey Mouse.

It would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.

Megan McArdle kicks ass.

I was writing about my deeper opposition to the entire project of providing, paying for, or otherwise guaranteeing health care.  Since for most people on the left, this is akin to declaring that I would like to take up killing orphans in my spare time, I outlined why I think that this is morally correct even if you take the liberal set of initial values, and don’t place any moral weight on taxation or other coercive action by the state.  I have voiced my various practical objections to the particular options on the table at various moments.  But the main thing is that I don’t want to give the government a greater role in health care markets.  Nay, not even if all the other countries . . . well, all the cool countries, anyway . . . are doing it.  To the liberals proclaiming that, unlike those of us in the conservative or libertarian camps, they are practical people just seeking the best way to make us all better off, I say:  I think your utilitarian calculus is badly wrong.

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Which of the many “Bush tactics” that Obama has embraced are we talking about here?

President Obama has issued signing statements claiming the authority to bypass dozens of provisions of bills enacted into law since he took office, provoking mounting criticism by lawmakers from both parties.

Why, how Bushitler of him. I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked.

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Also, read A World Lit Only By Fire.

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Remember that the next time you watch one of those stupid action/adventure movies.

1. No, the CIA and the military don’t get the latest and greatest equipment. Typically their stuff is 20 years out of date, and was provided by the lowest bidder.

2. No, you can’t plunge through a plate glass window without getting cut all to shit. Ask an ER doctor if you don’t believe me.

3. No, not even Steven Segal can beat six armed opponents with bare hands. Don’t try this at home.

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The image of Ian Fleming’s character has also been good for morale in the service, said Sir Colin McColl, who ran MI6 from 1989 to 1994.

They get James Bond, we get the Obama Apology Tour. *sigh*

Arnold Kling is always worth reading.

Consider the following definition of freedom: the absence of monopoly.

The absence of monopoly means that you can exercise exit, even if you cannot exercise voice. The presence of monopoly means that, at most, you can exercise voice.

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You know why.

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Israeli and Belgian lawyers acting for Eyal Katorza, who is also a French citizen, are preparing a legal case demanding that the EU does more to protect the 300,000 Europeans living in Israel.

Legal documents, seen by The Daily Telegraph, have accused the EU of indirectly funding Palestinian terrorism because of a failure to “prevent the misuse of European funds by non-profit organisations which use these funds to finance terrorism”.

Pass the popcorn.

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Check it out.

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California could get nine House seats it doesn’t deserve because illegal aliens will be counted in 2010.

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A look at “salad bar” evolutionists.

A brief analysis of human social behavior would conclude that there is a strong selective pressure against pacifism, especially absolute and unconditional pacifism. Those social groups whose political institutions are based on pacifism will sooner or later be confronted and overcome by groups that observe no such restrictions on violence.

Neither great intelligence nor advanced technology is required to defeat a pacifist polity. Fists, cudgels, and knives are more than enough to put an end to a people that refuses to defend itself.

This isn’t rocket science. A few minutes’ application of basic logic leads inexorably to this conclusion. So why does pacifism as a political ideal continue to enjoy such a pervasive vogue amongst left-leaning literati in all Western societies?

The obvious explanation is that pacifism — like all the other destructive ideologies of the Left — is nurtured under the roof of Western military might. Pacifists are free to dispense their noxious fumes because they are hothouse flowers, and would be unable to survive as a political movement in the cold world outside.

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“You’re a fraud, you have not read the bill,” screamed Mike Sola, who got directly in the lawmaker’s face in furious confrontation, wheeling his 36-year-old son, Scott, who has cerebral palsy, directly to the podium before police stepped in and encouraged the Milan, Mich., man to leave. He asserted that the bill would not help his disabled child.

“Fascist America,” Mr. Sola screamed on his way out.

Pass the popcorn.

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Let that be a lesson to us all.

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You can find anything on the Internet.

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I am not making this up.

Darwin Award.

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The zebra crossing which featured on the cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album should be removed because fans are causing too many accidents, politicians have claimed.

Whoa, this is a valuable national resource–dimwitted fans ought to be encouraged to use it so as to remove their defective genes from the gene pool. Politicians never think things through.

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Although not, of course, the question of who actually wrote his plays.

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Indeed, it’s already happening. Remember: Except for Lake Woebegone, half of the population is below average, by definition.

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In the last few years, I have had the opportunity to compare the human and veterinary health services of Great Britain, and on the whole it is better to be a dog.

Just think: In the Obama Nation, we could have this same situation in the U.S.

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I am not making this up.

Didn’t realize that Muhammad Ali had an ancestral home in Ireland, did you?

Neither did I.

I do notice that Muhammad Ali would appear to pass the brown paper bag test, though.

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Of course, a hundred years ago this would not have been worthy of comment.

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But, of course, they would say that, wouldn’t they?

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Don’t believe the surrender-monkeys.

Peggy Noonan looks at the Obama Nation.

They must know at this point they should not have pushed a national health-care plan. A Democratic operative the other day called it “Hillary’s revenge.” When Mrs. Clinton started losing to Barack Obama in the primaries 18 months ago, she began to give new and sharper emphasis to her health-care plan. Mr. Obama responded by talking about his health-care vision. He won. Now he would push what he had been forced to highlight: Health care would be a priority initiative. The net result is falling support for his leadership on the issue, falling personal polls, and the angry town-hall meetings that have electrified YouTube.

Guess Democrats aren’t really into that whole democracy thing.