PUBLIC TAKING OF PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES: Stephen Bainbridge looks at the Kelo case argued before the Supreme Court today:

The Supreme Court has held that private property can be seized via eminent domain as part of an urban renewal project when the property is blighted, a loophole that local authorities have greatly abused to seize private property. Yet, in this case, the government doesn’t even bother trying to hide behind that fig leaf. They assert baldly the power to seize private homes because they think some other user can put them to a higher tax generating use. Except, in this case, they don’t even know what the land will be used to do!

As Bainbridge notes, this is no minor technical dispute.

JUST GOT TO THE OFFICE, having visited Helen at the hospital for a while. She’s doing pretty well, and hoping to get out this afternoon. I’ve got to get ready for class, but if you’re looking for delightful bloggish diversion, head over to Tom Maguire’s place, where he lays out a link-rich post on Gannon / Guckert for dummies. Emphasis on the “dummies” part, it looks like.

WHEN THE INSTA-DAUGHTER packed her bag for her various family travels this weekend she took a book, but I slipped this Harry Turtledove book into her suitcase, too, just in case. Sure enough, she finished her own book and started reading it. Her conclusion: “It’s really good!”

LOTS OF GOOD STUFF AT THE BELMONT CLUB: Just keep scrolling.

THIS POST by Jonah Goldberg on blogger triumphalism is probably on-target — but his quotation from Daniel Drezner is wildly out of context, which is amusing since Drezner’s point was precisely the danger of cherry-picking quotes. The good news is that you can follow the link, as I did, and spot the error pretty fast. [Is it “blogger triumphalism” to point that out? — Ed. More like “HTML triumphalism.”]

UPDATE: Jim Geraghty, on the other hand, has not one, but two posts on the obsolescence of newspapers.

INTERESTING ARTICLE on nanomaterials from the New York Times, whose reporting on nanotechnology has — as I’ve noted before — been quite good over the years.

ENDGAME IN AFGHANISTAN? Things must be going well, because it’s not getting much press coverage . . . .

ANTI-MUBARAK PROTESTS seem to be growing:

About 500 protesters gathered outside Cairo University Monday to urge Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to abstain from seeking a fifth term.

The protest was organized by the Egyptian Movement for Change, which warned Mubarak against grooming his son, Jamal, “to inherit him.”

The protesters shouted anti-Mubarak slogans and called for amending the constitution to allow the election of the president by universal suffrage instead of a referendum on a single candidate approved by Parliament.

Interesting development. Omar thinks it represents a trend in the Middle East.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, here’s more on Lebanon, from Amir Taheri:

UNTIL a week ago, the courtyard of the Muhammad Ali-Amin Mosque in central Beirut was a quiet place where elderly citizens took time off to feed the pigeons. Yesterday, however, it held the largest gathering Lebanon has ever seen.

This was the culmination of a week in which an endless flow of people from all walks of life and different faiths had continued in and out of the mosque united by a single purpose: to call for a restoration of Lebanon’s freedom and independence as a nation. . . .

Did Damascus see Hariri as the only politician capable of uniting the Lebanese opposition against Syria’s continued domination of virtually all aspects of Lebanon’s life?

If so, it was correct — but only in the context of Lebanon’s elite-dominated politics. Yet Hariri’s murder has ended elite politics by bringing into the picture a new element.

That element is people power, the same force that swept away the totalitarian regimes of Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s and, more recently, led Ukraine into a second liberation.

Let’s hope that this phenomenon is repeated.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Javier Solana says that Arab despots are panicked at the spread of democratization. He says that like it’s a bad thing.

Meanwhile, it’s democracy-promotion for Togo, too to the surprise of some. I believe it was Cavour who said that the preferred method for deceiving diplomats was to tell them the truth, since they would never believe what you said . . . .

ORIN KERR looks at replacements for Rehnquist, but unaccountably fails to mention Eugene Volokh.

RUNNING THE NUMBERS for Frank Rich, who apparently doesn’t read the Times much.

SOMEHOW, I haven’t been able to get as excited over the Larry Summers flap as a lot of people. Arnold Kling explains why I’m wrong.

A BUNCH OF PEOPLE want me to comment on Bill Keller’s latest blog-dissing, but I think Mickey Kaus has it covered: “That’s too much gay bathhouse imagery for me to deal with right now. … Take it away, Wonkette. … ”

Though this IMAO post seems relevant, somehow . . . .

UPDATE: Some useful advice for Daniel Okrent, from Tom Maguire.

HOME: Left the hospital about an hour ago and picked up the Insta-Daughter from my sister-in-law’s. I’ll take her to school tomorrow, and by the time she gets home, with any luck, her mom will be home, too. Helen’s doing quite well, and we’re happy to follow the advice of Doug and Sissy.

I’VE BEEN WITH HELEN for the last several hours. She’s doing fine, and says thanks for all the nice messages and emails.

MASSIVE ANTI-SYRIA PROTESTS in Lebanon. Good.

UPDATE: Bush is on the offensive:

President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac said Monday they had patched up their differences over Iraq as Bush appealed for European unity in helping to spread democracy across the Middle East.

At the same time, Bush prodded Russia to reverse a crackdown on political dissent, suggesting Moscow’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization could hinge on it. He said he would press the point when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the week.

“I intend to remind him that if his interests lie West, that we share values and that those values are important,” Bush said. “They’re not only important for people who that live within Russia, they’re important to have good relations with the West.”

He also demanded that Iran end its nuclear ambitions and told Syria to get out of Lebanon.

They’d be well-advised to comply, I think.

UPDATE: More on Bush’s speech here, and the transcript is here.

MORE: Sort-of related thoughts on China and North Korea, here.

MORE STILL: “Good cowboy.” Heh.

THIS WEEK’S CARNIVAL OF THE CAPITALISTS is up.

And Ann Althouse is guest-blogging over at GlennReynolds.com.

JUST SPOKE TO THE CARDIOLOGIST: The surgery went well, and Helen is in the recovery room. It’ll be a while before I can see her, but he says that everything went fine and that she should have a smooth recovery.

UPDATE: Well, we won’t be needing one of these, now that it’s built-in. But it does make me wonder if Amazon knew something. . . .

$820,000 FOR INSTAPUNDIT? Hmm. That might be undervaluing things, but I’d be willing to enter into discussions, I guess. . . .

JEFF JARVIS AND BILL KELLER OF THE NYT go back-and-forth. And Roger Simon weighs in.

Not quite so edifying is round two of the Estrich / Kinsley debate . . . .

INTERESTING PIECE on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees race, which includes Todd Zywicki of The Volokh Conspiracy.

MORE EMBARRASSMENT:

The U.N.’s top refugee advocate resigned Sunday amid a festering controversy over allegations that he sexually harassed several female employees at the U.N. refugee agency. . . .

U.N. diplomats said Lubbers had become a political liability for an organization already striving to demonstrate its willingness to hold senior officials accountable after damaging scandals involving corruption in a U.N. humanitarian program in Iraq and sexual misconduct by U.N. peacekeepers in Congo.

Annan is bracing for a report next month by a U.N.-appointed panel probing allegations of influence peddling in the U.N.-administered oil-for-food program in Iraq by his son, Kojo Annan. Those charges have triggered calls for Annan’s resignation from some legislators, including Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

On the other hand, this story of rape and child abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in the Congo seems like much bigger news.

THEY’VE HAULED HELEN OFF TO PRE-OP, and I’m waiting in the Surgery Lounge, where at least they have (sort of) comfy chairs. She was surprisingly chipper this morning, and quite ready to have it over with. She sends thanks to all the people who emailed with words of support.

My earlier comments about hospitals and sleep deprivation led to quite a few posts by medical bloggers. You can read their observations here, here, here, here, and here. Interesting reading.

HUNTER S. THOMPSON is dead.

James Lileks: “File under Capote, Truman – meaning, whatever you thought of the latter-day persona, don’t forget that there was a reason he had a reputation. Read ‘Hell’s Angels.’ That was a man who could hit the keys right.”