PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATORS, angry about publicity that required them to forego a self-awarded 16% pay raise, are striking back with punitive new taxes that single out media organizations. The Steel City Cowboy is unimpressed: “You work for us, you sons of bitches, and don’t forget it.”
And maybe the media folks will acquire a bit of sympathy for Wal-Mart.
BLOG DOCUMENTARIAN ANDREW MARCUS is at the American Film Renaissance festival, and is shooting video with his partner, Clay Champlin. Here’s their first video report from the event.
UPDATE: Link above changed — I direct-linked the video on Andrew’s site, which I thought he wanted me to do, but I was wrong. Hope I didn’t cause any server problems.
WHAT’S NEW, PUSSYCAT?
2006 is already shaping up to be a weird year. But as a commenter says, “When you live under the same roof as Dennis Rodman and manage to out-weird him, it may be time to consider professional help.”
UPDATE: More on Greg Gutfeld’s double-secret hidden blog. (Via Kaus).
“SO THEN, Condi’s running, right?”
CATHY SEIPP writes on Richard Feynman, who is one of my wife’s heroes because (1) Her father knew and liked him; and (2) She admires anyone who stands up to stuffed shirts. And here’s a nice Feynman reminiscence: “I sat next to him at dinner once, and (since it was expected of those in such a setting) I asked him a physics question. Which, by the way, I now realize was not a very smart question, and I’m too embarrassed about that to repeat it. He answered my dumb question, however, with grace, clarity, and detail. One of life’s high points.”
THE COUNTERTERROR BLOG has a roundup on reports of Zawahiri’s death. I hope they’re true, but I’m not popping any corks just yet.
BIG DEVELOPMENTS WITH IRAN: Publius has a roundup on the end to negotiations. Meanwhile, The Officers’ Club speculates on what’s to come. Nothing very pretty, is a safe bet.
NATIONAL REVIEW is endorsing John Shadegg for House Majority Leader:
There are three imperatives for the House GOP in the current environment that threatens its majority: Can it clean up its image? Can it reform practices that have at best made for sloppy governance and at worst contributed to corruption? And can it pursue policies that restore the trust of its political base and restore a purpose to an often direction-less majority? Shadegg is the best candidate on all counts.
He also gets some grudging praise from the Left, as AZCongressWatch writes: “They could do a hell of a lot worse than Shadegg.” Which, based on experience, means they probably will . . . . But maybe not. (Via Blogometer).
SONIA ARRISON on nanotechnology regulation: “Not only can too many regulations strangle innovation in the cradle, but over-regulation can ironically cause under-regulation, leading to safety hazards.” Couldn’t have said it better myself!
PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here’s a joint statement by a number of bloggers on the House leadership election:
A SHADEGG ENDORSEMENT over at RedState.
CATHY YOUNG: “But in fact, while I’m sure that Alito is a highly qualified jurist and an intelligent and decent man, I think that concerns about his attitudes toward individual rights, civil liberties and state power are justified.”
(Via Mondo Alito).
SHORTER ZHIRINOVSKY: “Make that scary woman stop scaring me.”
JAKE TAPPER: “For Alito, it’s all over but the votin’….It does not appear that the Democrats inflicted any real damage on the Supreme Court nominee, excepting of course his wife’s mascara.” Austin Bay has related thoughts.
SCIENCE FICTION UPDATE: I’m reading Ken MacLeod’s Learning the World: A Scientific Romance, and liking it a lot so far. In its smart-but-low-tech aliens it’s vaguely reminiscent of Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness in the Sky. One difference: The heroine is a blogger, though they call it “biologging” in the story. Is this a trend or something?
JOHN SHADEGG IS NOW IN the House leadership race. I don’t know a lot about him, but I think it’s good that the race is opening up.
I’d like to see the candidates talking about how they’re going to reform the House to make it more transparent and accountable. So, I suspect, would a lot of other people. More on that later, but these suggestions from Mark Tapscott are a good place to start, and I’d like to see the candidates talking about them.
UPDATE: Here’s more on Shadegg from the Post, and here’s an AP story on the race.
DEBATING THE “FAIR TAX” at the Washington Post. (Via TaxProf).
Beneath the rumble of the Abramoff scandal and the Alito confirmation, a pretty spirited argument is taking place within the Democratic Party: not just the usual soul-searching about finding a winning message for 2008, but about the war and national security and the essence of what the party stands for.
You can’t build a successful party around Bush-hatred, even though it’s good for fundraising.
CONSERVATIVES MAY BE HEADING FOR A MAJORITY in Canada, according to Ed Morrissey.
CALIFORNIA — The one-cow state: “Now taxing the hell out of the Malibu Mafia to pay for improving healthcare for the poor emotionally hits the all the right notes for me (I’m the Armed Liberal, remember). But I’m grown-up enough to notice that what feels good emotionally doesn’t necessarily make for good policy.”
MY RESPONSE TO JARON LANIER is up now, over at Cato Unbound: Coming up next: John Perry Barlow and David Gelernter.
RED ON RED in Iraq.
FORGET THE NSA: Look at what the USDA IS DOING:
While fewer than 100 cases have been prosecuted using satellite imaging since the RMA started its crackdown in 2001, data mining _ coupled with satellite imaging _ pinpoints about 1,500 farms annually that are put on a watch list for possible crop fraud, Hand said. Ground inspections are done on the suspect farms throughout the growing season.
The agency says its spot checklist generated by the satellite data has saved taxpayers between $71 million and $110 million a year in fraudulent crop insurance claims since 2001.
The agency stepped up its enforcement after the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 mandated it use data mining to ferret out false claims, Hand said. Every year, it ships claims data to the Center for Agriculture Excellence at Tarleton State University in Stephensville, Texas, where analysts look for anomalies in claims. They generate a list of claims for further investigation, with satellite imaging pulled on the most egregious cases.
Just as U.S. satellites kept track of things like the wheat harvest in the former Soviet Union, other countries have also launched satellites to monitor American crops. Germany, France and others have satellites monitoring crop conditions, and many other private firms sell those images in the U.S.
“Everybody spies on everybody. I was stunned to hear that myself,” Edwards said. “Someday, I may have to rely on a French satellite to convict an American citizen.”
David Brin’s The Transparent Society is looking more prophetic all the time.
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