A LOOK AT Judy Garland, and what might have been. Plus, James Lileks’ experience with a lap-sitting Munchkin.

JOHN HAWKINS: “The Inside Story Of How The Senate Immigration Bill Died.”

(Via Kaus).

GRANDPA SIMPSON VS. THE INTERNET: I’ve got a review of Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

As I mentioned a while back, Larry Lessig had some thoughts on it, too.

UPDATE: Terry Heaton has reviewed Keen’s book, too.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Dan Gillmor has a review, too. I don’t think the book is being well-received.

IT’S BIGGER THAN STATELY INSTAPUNDIT MANOR. Nicer, too. But they don’t have Cholmondeley.

CONNECTING THE DOTS. (Via Jawa).

PUDDLES on Mars?

SO I SAW THIS PICTURE OF BOB GELDOF, and at first I thought “Angela Merkel has lost weight.”

A NOVEL DEBATE PROPOSAL gathers steam.

WHO SAID THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WASN’T KEEPING AN EYE ON THE BORDER:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday that Washington is taking steps to address Mexican concerns the U.S. is not doing enough to stop illegal weapons from being smuggled across the border and into the hands of brutal drug gangs. . . . “The firepower we are seeing here has to do with a lack of control on the (U.S.) side of the border,” Patricio Patino, Mexico’s top anti-drug intelligence official, said last month.

Maybe they could build a fence, or something . . . . Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

CHINA IS CENSORING FLICKR: Probably trying to keep citizens from seeing Taiwan’s Betelnut Beauties and wondering if they’re on the wrong side . . . .

REASONS TO LIKE BILL RICHARDSON:

He owns a 12-gauge Browning over-and-under shotgun, which he has used for hunting birds, including quail and dove. Richardson also owns a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, which is not for hunting, but he has a state permit to carry it concealed. He has borrowed rifles to hunt big game such as elk, deer and the oryx. . . .

While a congressman, the Democrat voted against a ban on assault weapons and opposed a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases. As governor, he backed and signed legislation allowing New Mexicans to carry concealed weapons.

His space-related record is good, too. (Via Alphecca). I don’t like what he says about the war, though like all the candidates, what he says now is one thing, what he’ll do once actually in office in 2009 is another.

ANBAR SPREADS?

U.S. military officials say they are making progress in negotiating with tribal leaders in a turbulent region north of Baghdad, using a formula that helped reduce violence in western Iraq. . . .

Anbar province, once among the most violent regions in Iraq, is held up as an example of how local politics can reduce violence. “A year ago we were about to write off Anbar province,” Everett said. “We have turned it completely around.”

A key part of the turnaround was an effort to work with tribal leaders. A growing number of the leaders, sometimes called sheiks, have joined with U.S. forces and turned against al-Qaeda militants. The average weekly attacks in Anbar province dropped from about 250 last year to about 100 last month, according to the U.S. military. This year 12,000 Iraqis volunteered for Iraqi security forces in Anbar, up from 1,000 in 2006, Odierno said.

“Anbar could be a microcosm of what could happen in the rest of country if the right elements come into play,” said Army Col. Ralph Baker, a former brigade commander who served two tours in Iraq and now serves at the Pentagon.

Goins said he has used the example of Anbar when meeting with tribal leaders. He said he has met regularly with them since arriving in Iraq last fall.

Diyala differs significantly from Anbar. Anbar is almost entirely Sunni Muslim and influenced by tribal leaders. Diyala is split between Sunnis and Shiites and has 25 major tribes and more than 100 minor groups or offshoots. “The melting pot of tribes in Diyala makes it problematic,” Goins said in a telephone interview from Iraq.

Let’s hope they can pull it off.

AUSTIN BAY LOOKS AT Putin, missiles, and Russia’s problems.

ANTIGUN CONGRESSMAN FORCED TO GIVE UP HIS RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS: Heh.

VACLAV HAVEL criticizes appeasement at the E.U.

I still think he should have been Secretary General of the UN.

STANLEY KURTZ ECHOES BILL QUICK: “Without the conservative web, the immigration bill would likely have passed–probably in a rushed vote before Memorial Day.”

Hmmm. You can write off Quick’s comments as blogosphere triumphalism, but not so much with Kurtz.

ANOTHER TERROR BUST: “A suspected international arms dealer was arrested yesterday in Spain and charged with conspiracy to sell millions of dollars in weapons to a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization in Colombia to kill Americans.”

THE CARNIVAL OF CARS is up!

WAS THE IMMIGRATION BILL COLLAPSE A DEFEAT FOR BUSH? Yes, but:

On the other hand, the immigration compromise was almost universally disliked and threatened to split the GOP coalition. Maybe its death was a blessing for the president.

Unless he’s dumb enough to bring it up again, which I predict he will be.

MORE ON THE WINKLER CASE.