Read it.

As usual, our race-obsessed media has decided that the larger story to be derived from the recent slew of ethics charges against Democrats is that the members of Congress who have featured most prominently in the scandals, Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), were unfairly targeted because they are black. No one has produced any evidence to back up this accusation, nor have those making it stepped up to defend Rangel or Waters. Instead, they’ve insinuated that the ethical violations of white members are being ignored.

But there is a larger story to be derived from this story, and specifically from the case against Waters, that illustrates how such morbid racialism corrupts politics and politicians.

Read it.

How’d they get the picture? You wouldn’t get me to within a mile of half a million wasps.

Steve Sailer is always worth reading.

All four comparisons point in the same direction, and lead them to the same conclusion, which I’ve put here on your handout. I’ll just read it. “Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic societies.”  The acronym there being WEIRD. “Our findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Overall, these empirical patterns suggest that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions of human nature, on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin and rather unusual slice of humanity.”

An awful lot of theories in evolutionary psychology, for instance, are tested by giving questionnaires to UC Santa Barbara students.

Read it.

Brings ‘tone-deaf’ to a whole new level.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with “wealthy clients in tony locations,” but isn’t it ironic that Waters — who militates constantly in the name of social justice to the poor — should get entangled in ethics charges over a bank that seems mainly to have been interested in helping the rich?

The Crust take care of their own, no matter the color.

Best. Commercial. Ever.

Makes up for that stupid chav lizard. Not totally, but a lot.

Read it.

This is God telling you not to argue with women wearing high heels.

Just don’t.

Read it.

The U.N. sanctioned two activist groups Monday after a Saudi Arabian nameplate was vandalized at a recent climate change conference.

Three members of the World Wildlife Fund and Oxfam International were barred from future meetings for taking the Saudi plate at a June meeting, breaking it into pieces and distributing photographs of it in a toilet bowl.

One wonders what the reaction would have been had it been the nameplate of the U.S. or any European country that had been so treated. My suspicion is that the Arabs (with behind the hand participation by the Saudis) would have been the first to nod, wink, and applaud.

Read it. And watch the video.

The idea is to make use of the space between regular-size cars and bridges, thus saving construction costs as well as minimizing congestion impact by allowing cars to drive underneath these jumbo buses.

Read it.

The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials  by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues.

Politico, of course, is a Voice of the Crust.

Read it.

If Mike Castle becomes the next United States Senator from Delaware he is going to get sworn in, serve a bit, then become a Democrat, resign, and let Beau Biden get an appointment.

It’s a done deal. The deal has been made already. I’m hearing this not just from Christine O’Donnell people, but party regulars in Delaware, some of whom support Castle. It is insane.

And here’s another dirty little secret Mike Castle would prefer you not know. This election? It’s a special election. Whoever wins it gets sworn in immediately. Immediately as in prior to any lame duck session of Congress.

Read it.

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

Read it.

The Horror.

Read it.

This is not an area in which I would be willing to be a first adopter.

Read it.

Presumably that means it will kill three times as many birds.

Watch it.

Read it. It is not a pretty sight.

The best indication of the vast cultural gulf separating people involved in Boy Scouts from people who report and edit the Times probably was in the photo cutline that ran with the story. “Boy Scouts said their pledge at the recent National Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Va. The organization is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.” As any Boy Scout would know, there is no Boy Scout “pledge.” There’s a Scout Law, and a Scout Oath (or Promise).

It goes in that vein. The Times sneers at the Scouts’ size: “In the last decade alone, membership has dropped by more than 16 percent, to 2.8 million.” No mention of what has happened to the Times’s circulation or advertising over that period, or of the fact that, at 2.8 million, there are still a lot more Boy Scouts than New York Times subscribers.

Read it.

For reasons I have never understood, some people think it would be a good idea to put the government in charge of their families’ health care. Most who favor government health care would admit that socialism, whenever and wherever it has been tried, has been not just a failure but a debacle. Still, they seem willing to give socialism a try where it matters the most.

It’s really quite simple. They want to get a service that somebody else ‘pays for’.

Read it.

Pfc. Bradley Manning is the only suspect in the Wikileaks scandal that may have endangered both American soldiers in Afghanistan and their Afghan allies. He is now in custody awaiting court martial. Manning worked in intelligence and was stationed for a time outside Baghdad. I have no insight into whether Private Manning is guilty or not; presumably the facts will come out in his court martial. I am struck, however, by the lack of curiosity the American press has shown about Private Manning.

Why would they? He’s not useful as a stick with which to beat Bush or the Republicans, so he’s of no interest to them.

First, Private Manning is openly homosexual. Did you know that? I didn’t; if the fact has been reported in the American press, I’ve missed it. Moreover, Manning was an activist who demonstrated against Congress’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. His Facebook includes a photo of him at a gay rights rally, holding a sign demanding equality on “the battlefield.” Further, he has posted anti-military comments on his Facebook page. An uncle describes him as “an introverted kid who loved computers and was fired up politically.” That tantalizing reference is left hanging. Whether he was fired up about something other than gay rights remains unknown, for the moment.

Read it.

My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised. It’s even getting through to the New York Times.