EARTH DAY CONTRARIANISM from The Fat Guy.

A LOOK AT Rachel Carson’s legacy.

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL DEMONSTRATES HIS IGNORANCE ABOUT FIREARMS AND FIREARMS LAW, but his lack of knowledge doesn’t stand in the way of strong opinions! Video here.

Really, this kind of ignorance is inexcusable, at least among people who pretend that their opinions matter. It’s like commenting on sex education when you don’t know which bodily parts go where.

UPDATE: A commenter observes: “This sort of cluelessness would be laughed off the set of any sports panel show. Why do we tolerate it in our political discussion?”

You’d think the McLaughlin Group would set a higher standard.

MORE: Reader Michael Kemp notes that Cathy Seipp had Lawrence O’Donnell figured out years ago.

ERIC POSNER: “Liberal democracies, not activists and international law, protect human rights.”

HARRY REID GETS HAMMERED IN HIS HOMETOWN PAPER: “The Democratic strategy to use the ongoing violence in Iraq to their political advantage in the run-up to the 2008 elections requires some skill and nuance. But it’s growing harder to believe Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — Nevada’s own — actually possesses those skills.”

Via Don Surber, who comments: “By the way, Reid was among the 77 senators who voted to send the troops into Iraq. It was popular then. Now that it no longer is popular, he opposes the war. Support the troops? He exploited them.”

THOUGHTS ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND “SAY ON PAY” from Professor Bainbridge.

STOP COMING TO WORK AND SAVE THE PLANET:I’ve written on this topic before. And Rep. Frank Wolf has been pushing the idea too. But a lot of employers don’t like telecommuting for various good — and not-so-good — reasons.

Then there’s always the prospect of losing weight: “How much is one’s carbon footprint increased by the consumption of food? Isn’t everyone who is overweight overconsuming? I’d like to see a number representing the environmental damage we do for each excess pound we carry. . . . It’s a serious matter that’s got to be at least at the level of leaving the wrong kind of light bulbs on when you’re out of the room. Plus, it might help people lose weight if they could reenvision their problem in terms of environmental responsibility. And if you’re going to say to me that it’s bad to shame people into good behavior, then are you against all the other shaming we are subjected to about the environment?” On the other hand, if you’re fat aren’t you just sequestering carbon?

Let’s start with the telecommuting. More thoughts on that here.

UPDATE: Reader John McGinnis emails:

Key component being missed in the whole discussion — the inability of management to match deliverables with work. I’ve worked in the IT business for 30 years in all that time management in some 10 firms have never been able to measure my productivity or those of my peers. As a consequence rewards go to the suckups. Here is a classic difference. I can setup a trip approved by management and rack up $5k in expenses in Chicago for 4 days. That will be most likely considered a ‘success’. However if I was to suggest that I need 4 days of privacy away from phones and interruptions to get a project done it is reviewed with a great deal of scrutinty. Management has to get over thier fears and come up with a reasonable objective measurement system that works.

Yeah, I had some related thoughts on that phenomenon here.

“END THE WAR:” Right message, wrong address. But it’s all about that message control.

THOUGHTS ON the war, politics, and message control, from The Mudville Gazette. And don’t miss the “key message” at the end.

MARK STEYN: “To promote vulnerability as a moral virtue is not merely foolish. Like the new Yale props department policy, it signals to everyone that you’re not in the real world. The ‘gun-free zone’ fraud isn’t just about banning firearms or even a symptom of academia’s distaste for an entire sensibility of which the Second Amendment is part and parcel but part of a deeper reluctance of critical segments of our culture to engage with reality.”

UPDATE: More thoughts on the perversity of treating helplessness as a virtue.

FRENCH ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN: Fausta has been liveblogging. Nidra Poller — who predicted the outcome pretty well — is commenting, too.

IN BRITAIN, WASTING AWAY: “A third of women graduates will never have children, research has concluded. The number of highly educated women who are starting families has plummeted in the past decade, according to findings that provide the most detailed insight yet into education and fertility.”

UPDATE: “The future belongs to those who show up for it.”

ONE BILLION BULBS: An energy-saving initiative that’s worth your attention.

And they’re not just for the utility closet, either!

Plus, compact fluorescent bulbs compared.

A LOOK AT FAKE NGOs: NGOs offer power without accountability. Why wouldn’t governments get into the game?

AT POPULAR MECHANICS, a look at what should be in your home toolbox.

I’m not sure it’s quite the kind of thing they’re talking about, but I’d hate to do without this.

Some earlier toolblogging, here.

UPDATE: Some more thoughts on tools. They’re getting better and cheaper!

THE LOGJAM ON IMMIGRATION AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL has produced record amounts of state legislation on the subject. There’s an employer-sanctions bill moving in Tennessee:

Senate Bill 1870 by Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Brentwood) passed the Senate on Thursday by 27-2.

Known as the �Employer Responsibility in Hiring Practices Act�, the bill requires employers to use the Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program to ensure that new hires are eligible to legally work in the United States.

The program is a web-based system that is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Here’s a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures on immigration bills across the country.

WERE THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS a sign of “the crisis of young males in a feminised society?” I’m skeptical.

TIM BLAIR is back from hiatus.

UPDATE: Via Blair, quote doctoring!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Tim Lambert responds to the charges of quote-doctoring, though he acts as if they originate with me instead of their actual source. Is that “link-doctoring?” I’m just enjoying the show from the sidelines.

IT’S EARTH DAY, “the Festivus of the environmental movement.”

And yes, I still have the unpowered push mower. Works great!

A LOOK AT EUROPEAN SCHIZOPHRENIA over gun control. Frankly, schizophrenia is an improvement over monomania, in this case . . . .

UPDATE: This, on the other hand, looks more like mental retardation . . . .

ARE THE DEMOCRATS IN DANGER OF LOSING THE BLACK VOTE?

That’s what Don Surber says, inspired by Angela McGlowan’s new book, Bamboozled. It’s an interesting argument, but it would be more persuasive if the Republicans were smarter.

THE PLANET IS SAFE: The Eco-Socialites are on the case. But not too much:

Still, she has no plans to reduce the family’s significant carbon footprint by, say, selling the Manhattan second home. “I’m not a perfect person,” she said. “I’m not the greenest woman in America.” And there was scant indication that other guests, most of whom, presumably, knew their way up the steps of a private jet, were contemplating major lifestyle cutbacks. Glancing about the room, Ms. Barnett said, “We aren’t all going to move to one-bedroom apartments.” . . . She plans to practice conservation, to a point. Energy-saving light bulbs are fine — for the utility closet, perhaps. In other rooms, “they don’t give a very pretty light,” she said.

That’s for the little people.

THE INSTAWIFE ON THE VTECH SHOOTINGS: Video at the link. (Click the camera icon at the upper right). Or click here.

A BLIND COMPARISON TEST using recycled printer cartridges.

The cartridges for my printers are pretty expensive — and one of the many colors is always running out — so maybe I should give this a try.

HEH. But it’s not just Nifong.