PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH says that the White House is blowing it on the Law of the Sea Treaty.

IN THE MAIL: Jon Lauck’s new book, Daschle vs. Thune: Anatomy of a High-plains Senate Race.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Jeff Flake speaks on earmarks and corruption:

Perhaps the most frequent justification for the contemporary practice of earmarking is that, quote, ‘Members of Congress know their districts better than some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, DC.’ I’m not here to defend faceless bureaucrats. In fact, faceless bureaucrats often waste money on questionable projects in my own district. Faceless bureaucrats in federal agencies waste so much money that they need someone constantly looking over their shoulder. This is why congressional oversight is so important.

But, let’s face it: when we approve congressional earmarks for indoor rainforests in Iowa or teapot museums in North Carolina, we make the most spendthrift faceless bureaucrat look frugal. Excess by federal agencies should not excuse congressional excess. If federal agencies don’t follow procedures requiring competitive bidding or other processes we have mandated, we should act by cutting funding and/or mandating improvements, not trying to one-up them with equally suspect appropriations. . . .

The truth is, we can try all we want to conjure up some sort of noble pedigree for the contemporary practice of earmarking, but we are just drinking our own bathwater if we think the public is buying it. It seems that over that past few years we’ve tried to increase the number of earmarks enough so that the plaudits we hear from earmark recipients will drown out the voices of taxpayers all over the country who have had enough. It hasn’t worked, thank goodness. For every group that directly benefits from earmarks, there are hundreds who see it as a transparent gimmick to assure our own reelection.

Indeed.

GREGG EASTERBROOK: Ignoring the greatest living American.

UPDATE: Reader Richard Fagin emails:

Gregg Easterbrook has it half right about why Norman Borlaug is ignored by the press. It’s not because he spent his life serving the poor, per se. Press accounts are filled with stories about those who serve the poor. It’s that Mr. Borlaug didn’t serve the poor by giving away other people’s money, or by demanding that other people give away their money. He served the poor by DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY, which in the view of the press is just as evil as making money, if for no other reason than someone makes money from the developed technology.

You won’t see any accolades afforded all the brilliant researchers at GE Medical Systems, Pfizer, Merck, Glaxo, Medtronic, or you name it, for precisely the same reason.

Good point. In fact, I had a post a while back pointing out how the anti-arrhythmic drug Tikosyn has given my wife a new lease on life, more or less literally. I got a thank-you note from the President of Pfizer, which suggests to me that the pharma guys are a bit starved for praise. They shouldn’t be. As Fagin notes, they do more good than the do-gooders.

A LOOK AT AL QAEDA IN IRAQ.

UPDATE: A somewhat different take here from Captain’s Journal. It’s worth reading, too.

BIG BROTHERISM:

With little fanfare, the newly appointed Maryland State Police superintendent, Col. Terrence Sheridan, last month sent a letter to state gun dealers requiring that anyone who applies to purchase a handgun after July 31 sign a release allowing police access to the applicant’s mental health records.

According to a published report, by signing, the prospective buyer will be agreeing to let health agencies in Maryland and other states disclose any information about whether he or she has ever suffered from mental illness, has a history of violent behavior or has been confined in a mental health facility for more than 30 consecutive days.

Anyone who refuses to sign the release will be prevented from purchasing a handgun in Maryland.

The problem with this is — at least as it appears from this report — that this goes way beyond the mental conditions that disqualify people from owning guns, and instead allows police to troll through the mental health records of gun owners at will. As a matter of parity, then, let’s open up the records of Col. Sheridan and his officers to public inspection, since they all carry guns themselves . . . .

WILL PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES overlook police spyware?

NABBED! Much more here.

RUDY GIULIANI HAS A COLUMN ON JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS AT PAJAMAS MEDIA. Excerpt:

When I worked for President Reagan as his Associate Attorney General – the third highest ranking official in the Department of Justice – I participated in the selection process for Federal Judges, United States Attorneys, and Marshals, working closely with Ted Olson, who went on to become U.S. Solicitor General and John Roberts, who is now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The goal was to appoint responsible judges guided by a constitutional compass.

As President, I will nominate strict constructionist judges with respect for the rule of law and a proven fidelity to the Constitution – judges in the mold of Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito and Chief Justice Roberts.

Read the whole thing.

WELL, THAT’S BIG OF HIM: “The nation’s first Muslim congressman said Tuesday that he erred in comparing the Bush administration’s response to Sept. 11 to an event that led to Adolf Hitler’s consolidation of power in Nazi Germany.”

DOLLAR AGAINST THE EURO over the past year: Way down.

Is that bad? I don’t know. Over the same period it’s been rising against the Yen, which is the comparison we used to worry about.

ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR MAYOR BLOOMBERG: “With his traffic-fee proposal all but dead, Mayor Michael Bloomberg lashed out Tuesday at lawmakers who blocked it, saying they were gutless and had jeopardized a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'”

THE POWER TO TAX IS THE POWER TO DESTROY: Professor Bainbridge looks at the latest example.

CONGRESSIONAL FECKLESSNESS:

While pressing President Bush all year to begin bringing troops home from Iraq, lawmakers leading the legislative campaign have not developed any plans to confront the widespread killing that could follow a pullout. . . .

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s horrendous,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat who has helped lead the drive against the war. “The only hope for the Iraqis is their own damned government, and there’s slim hope for that.”

Apparently, our own damned government isn’t good for much.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey: Republicans call Reid’s bluff. Most amusing bit — Reid skipped his own all-nighter: “Reid didn’t even bother to attend his own No Snooze Until We Lose party after the first instruction motion, choosing to hit the sack instead while Republicans took the podium all night long.”

From the comments: “This was primarily a Democrat fund-raiser. At least it pulled Republicans together.”

Plus, “Byrd doesn’t give a damn.”

MORE: Much more on the slumber party, including this important question: “Why can’t the Senators change their own sheets?”

RICH KARLGAARD notes a strangely underreported story about the global economy: “The global economy from 2003 to 2007 has grown about 5% a year. It is a quarter bigger than it was five years ago–about $15 trillion a year bigger. That’s equivalent to adding a new North America to the global economy. Each year. Wow.” It’s news to me.

SHOULD GREAT BRITAIN invade Zimbabwe?

FOILING A RUSSIAN PLOT TO KILL BORIS BEREZOVSKY.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS isn’t out yet, but it’s already online.

VETS FOR FREEDOM, on the Hill.

BARON BODISSEY EMAILS: “I just attempted to post at Gates of Vienna, and was told by an automatic message that our blog is suspected of being a spam blog, and has been blocked by Blogger.” It’s not spam.

IS THERE SOMETHING FISHY in Al Gore’s enviro-talk? Rebecca Keeble of the International Humane Society writes:

ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore’s green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter’s wedding in Beverly Hills.

Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass – arguably one of the world’s most threatened fish species.

Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks.

This keeps happening.

UPDATE: Reader Dave Mason thinks Al Gore deserves credit for bringing attention to the problem, rather than blame from the small-minded: “In Al’s defense, I did not know that the Chilean sea bass was endangered. By this act of selfless consumption, awareness has been raised. I will continue to not eat Chilean sea bass, and Al has once again saved some portion of the planet. Give that man a Nobel prize and some lemon juice.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: TigerHawk rises to Gore’s defense:

It seems a little harsh to pick on the Gorebot, as the International Humane Society has done, for serving Chilean sea bass at his daughter’s wedding. For starters, what father even knows the menu at his daughter’s wedding in advance, much less influences its selection? Indeed, had word gotten out that Gore was micro-managing his daughter’s wedding for political effect, even liberals would be making fun of him.

Good point. But as I’ve noted before, when you speak in terms of moral crusades, sin, and righteousness, people will tend to hold you to a higher standard. Ask Sen. Vitter.

MORE: It appears there’s less to this story than the above suggests. Al Gore, victim of environmentalist exaggeration?

PLANS IN CASE OF A flu epidemic.

MAX BOOT: “You don’t hear much about Anbar Province anymore. That’s because this area, once the scene of the heaviest fighting in Iraq, has turned remarkably quiet of late.” He’s got a lengthy email from a soldier there.

THE POLITICO: Senate GOP resurgent on Iraq.

UPDATE: McCain weighs in: “A man addresses the boys.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: More on McCain from Captain Ed.

TIME’S RIGHT: My brother’s new CD is out. We used the title cut for one of our podcasts and quite a few people liked it enough to email about it. It’s downloadable at the link, as are the rest of their tunes. I like ’em!