HOW TEXANS bailed out the British.

MORE ON THE POLITICS OF WAR.

IN LIGHT OF YESTERDAY’S POST ABOUT TV, ARNOLD KLING SENDS THIS:

Back when I had my relocation web site, we got hold of some zip-code level marketing data. When I looked for purchases that correlated with affluence, hardback books was one of the strongest.

Rich people read. Books.

I’m not surprised to hear that.

ADVERTISING AGE ON THE LATEST MOVEON STUNT: “What’s left unsaid in the AP piece is that MoveOn has been pitching this story for weeks now. . . . And if the owner of a local business has gone through the trouble of specifically buying an ad on Fox News, it’s because he wants to be there and he wants to target Fox News viewers. And such an advertiser more than likely has certain views about MoveOn. I can only imagine what the conversation will sound like when a self-appointed MoveOn monitor calls up Joe’s Bait, Tackle & Hunting Supply to say he should remove his ads from Fox News.”

SO THEY SENT ME A DVD OF No End In Sight. the documentary on Iraq that takes a rather different approach than, say, J.D. Johannes’ Outside the Wire. I was too busy — a triple deadline Friday on a law review article, a Popular Mechanics column, and a Wall Street Journal piece — to watch it. But Tom Maguire has some thoughts and comments: “I am not sure why Bush gets a pass in this movie. It was Bush’s job to know whether the reconstruction planing was getting the proper attention, focus and coordination; if Rumsfeld was putting too much effort into the invasion planning and not enough into the reconstruction phase, Bush should have re-directed his effort.” But note the discussion in the comments.

UPDATE: Phil Carter liked it.

THE RICH ARE GETTING RICHER, AND SO ARE THE POOR: Why does this bother so many people?

A “LIFELONG ROCKETEER.”

MICHAEL TOTTEN: The rule, not the exception.

RED MEAT FOR REPUBLICANS: Democrats will block all Bush Justices.

Bush should make a lot of recess appointments to the courts, just to mix things up. I volunteer to fill any vacant Supreme Court slots on a recess basis. I promise to make things interesting . . . .

THE KLEIN KLUB: Son of Townhouse?

A NASHVILLE BLOGGER UNDER ATTACK: Via Michael Silence.

POLICE UNCLEAR ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

PORK FOR COPS.

DRUNKEN ASTRONAUTS: The story is looking a bit thin:

For those hoping for juicy details on the drunk astronauts, there aren’t any. The review panel was told of anecdotes of two astronauts who were intoxicated just prior to flight. However, the panel did not pass on information identifying the individuals or the flights. NASA officials said they were investigating but could not say whether the incidents actually occurred.

Hmm.

UPDATE: Jay Leno: “Maybe that’s why they call it the Kennedy Space Center.”

THOUGHTS ON HOLLYWOOD AND THE TROOPS, from Marc “Armed Liberal” Danziger.

ONE TRUE COMPLIMENT: SARAH PULLMAN IS SAYING NICE THINGS ABOUT STRANGERS.

Just today, I paid a compliment to a woman at the gym — she’s been working with a trainer and I commented that she was showing real progress (which she was). “You’ve made my day,” she said, and she seemed to mean it. When I think something complimentary about people, I try to say it, if there’s occasion. There’s not nearly enough of that in the world.

IT’S BAD TO BRING A KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT. It’s worse to bring a soda can:

An elderly man beaten unconscious by an assailant wielding a soda can awoke and shot the man during an attempted robbery, police said.

Willie Lee Hill, 93, told police he saw the robber while in his bedroom Wednesday night. Hill confronted the man and was struck at least 50 times, police said. He was knocked unconscious.

Covered in blood, Hill regained consciousness a short time later and pulled a .38-caliber handgun on his attacker. The suspect, Douglas B. Williams Jr., saw the gun and charged the man, who fired a bullet that struck Williams in the throat, police said.

“I got what I deserved,” Williams, 24, told police when they arrived, officers said.

I think he’s right.

ARE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES WUSSING OUT on the YouTube Debate? Rick Moran has been working the phones with the campaigns.

UPDATE: Woof, woof, big fella.

MORE BAD NEWS FOR STOCKS: “Wall Street extended its steep decline Friday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 500 points over two days after investors gave in to mounting concerns that borrowing costs would climb for both companies and homeowners. It was the worst week for the Dow and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index in five years.” I blame the new Democratic Congress!

DEMOCRATS AS VICTIMS? Jake Tapper looks at the new theme of Democratic victimology.

THOUGHTS ON THE SCOTT THOMAS STORY, from Megan McArdle. With a followup here.

UPDATE: Actually, being married to a TNR staffer isn’t a silly reason to suppose someone more credible, if you’re the editor of TNR. But the whole whistleblower thing does sound like a double standard.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More from The Mudville Gazette.

MY EARLIER POST ON RANDY BARNETT AS ATTORNEY GENERAL — clearly he would have been better than Gonzales, no? — got me reminded of the prospect that, if nominated, he might liveblog his own confirmation hearings. Even more reason to support him next time the position is open. Er, which could be soon. . . .

WHAT DOES THE MILITARY KNOW?

AND I MISSED IT: Knoxville band JagStar was a featured artist on iTunes this week.

More on that here, and more on JagStar here.

IN LONDON, BLAMING THE LAWYERS. When I was in law school, one of the courses was called “The Limits of the Law.” Few seem to accept that law, and lawyers, even should have limits now.