IS ACE RETIRING? Or is it a late-breaking April Fool?

MICKEY KAUS says that the Washington Post’s bogus “talking points” story undercuts claims by Big Media outfits that they do better fact-checking:

What the Allen incident shows is that credentialed MSM reporters are under just as much “scoop” pressure as bloggers–maybe more pressure, since they must meet to a set of rigid deadlines, with demands (in Allen’s case) not only from the reporter’s own paper but from all the other papers that subscribe to his paper’s news service, not to mention all those apparently ineffective editor-checkers who are waiting around to go home. Because bloggers don’t have these rigid corporate deadlines, they may actually find it easier to balance the “scoop” imperative with the “check” imperative–if a story hasn’t checked out, they can just wait an hour or two.

Read the whole thing.

MORE ON ZIMBABWE, from Heather Hurlburt and Suzanne Nossel.

AUSTIN BAY writes that Saddam’s remaining henchmen are desperate for headlines.

Sounds like some folks in the press were trying to help today.

Meanwhile, Winds of Change has a roundup on Iraq that’s more useful than anything you’re likely to find in a newspaper anyway.

BILL QUICK HAS INTERVIEWED A SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIAL who says that the S.F. ordinance won’t affect blogs. Can we get that in writing, please?

DO BLOGS LOVE OR HATE THE POPE? Depends on which channel you’re watching, apparently.

DONALD SENSING will be on The O’Reilly Factor tonight at 8 p.m. EDT.

COLBY COSH WRITES on Canadian publication bans:

Under the metaconstitutional Oakes test, any infringement of individual Charter liberties, such as a publication ban, must have a “rational connection” to the intended benefit and must be the most minimally restrictive measure that can bring about the benefit. The argument here is that if a ban doesn’t work in practice–say, because American webloggers are all printing the mind-blowing stuff Canadian ones cannot–it can’t meet Oakes. With due respect to the ban, which I consider myself to have observed herein, it would actively help free the hands of Canadian webloggers and reporters if our foreign cousins were to be aggressive about “publishing” the substance of the Brault testimony outside the reach of Canadian law.

The Belmont Club has more. And more here.

For more on the Canadian scandals, check out this post from Winds of Change, and Kate McMillan notes that Canadians are flocking to foreign websites to learn what their own government doesn’t want them to know.

UPDATE: More on these events here, with reports that Canadian bloggers may still be charged for linking to this stuff. Jeez.

But we will not be silenced — er, except that Ed Morrissey is developing laryngitis from being interviewed by Canadian media outlets about his willingness to ignore the ban.

And here’s more commentary from Damian Penny.

BAD NEWS FOR ZIMBABWE — and Africa: Over at GlennReynolds.com.

I HAVEN’T PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION to Second Amendment / Firearms issues lately, but you should check out David Hardy’s new blog on the topic, which is making up for my lack.

THIS IS BAD:

China is apparently planning an “out-of-the-blue” (OOTB) attack on Taiwan, that will initially consist mainly of missiles, warplanes, paratroopers and troops out on “training exercises”. What this means is that, during what appears to be peacetime maneuvers, the troops involved will suddenly move against a nearby nation and invade. This tactic was developed by Russia during the Cold War, but never used.

If I were the Taiwanese, I’d be looking to buy nuclear weapons from North Korea . . . .

MORE: Reader Jeff Cook emails:

I expect it within the next two years. We should be selling nuking up to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, and let it slip out that we’re doing it. Within a decade a China with 1 billion citizens and 9% economic growth will be able to afford armed forces and weapons systems we can only dream about. They will be a threat to all of South Asia, Phillipines, Indonesia, and, who knows, Australia.

Unless we build a buffer of reasonably friendly and well-armed states, including Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, we will find ourselves in a war we cannot win. I have no strategic competencies, and no qualifications. It’s just seems obvious.

Macchiavellian plan: Give nukes to Taiwan. Have Taiwan explode one in the Pacific as a “test.” Have Taiwan announce that it got them from North Korea and Iran and will acquire more. Watch China deal with both countries . . . .

AMONG THE BOBOS, and their judgmental religious fanaticism: Oxblog reports.

BUSINESS-BLOGGING-A-GO-GO: This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up. And don’t miss the Carnival of Cordite, a regular blog roundup for shooting enthusiasts.

IN THE MAIL: They Just Don’t Get It : How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety–and What You Can Do About It — an attack on Bush’s homeland security and antiterror policies from the right. I think we’ll see more of this.

UNSCAM UPDATE:

For six months, I have insisted that Annan be held accountable for the U.N.’s gross mismanagement of the Oil-for-Food Program. Last week, the U.N.’s own investigators issued a report criticizing Annan’s own conduct — including his failure to resolve a serious conflict of interest concerning his son — and the conduct of his chief of staff.

The Volcker report did not “exonerate” Annan, as many have claimed; to the contrary, it pointed the finger directly at him. Indeed, one member of Volcker’s committee, Mark Pieth, made that point loud and clear: “We did not exonerate Kofi Annan.”

With that in mind, I reiterate my call for Annan’s resignation.

That’s from Sen. Norm Coleman.

PHIL BREDESEN IN THE TIMES OF LONDON:

THE first signs of a Democratic revolt against Senator Hillary Clinton’s much-anticipated march on the White House are emerging in the American South, where one of the party’s most successful state governors called last week for Democrats to consider other candidates.

In a calculated snub of Clinton’s accelerating bandwagon, Governor Philip Bredesen of Tennessee warned that voters were “kind of dissatisfied” with the Democrats’ current presidential contenders and that Clinton would face an “uphill road” to win the White House.

Bredesen also expressed dismay that speculation about the 2008 race was already focused on the wife of former president Bill Clinton and on Jeb, the brother of President George W Bush and governor of Florida. “Surely in the United States we can go further than having to have a single family dominate one side and a single family dominate the other,” he said.

Good point. You can read my thoughts on a Bredesen candidacy here.

JOHN LEO writes that everyone behaved badly during the Schiavo flap.

PAPAL SELECTION, NUCLEAR OPTIONS, AND FILIBUSTERS: Rick Hasen draws a connection.

ARTHUR CHRENKOFF ROUNDS UP more underreported good news from Afghanistan.