MORE ON THE TEXAS POLYGAMY CASE, which seems to be getting worse in terms of legal screwups. On the upside, at least they didn’t burn everyone to death, like Janet Reno.

And here are some more thoughts on the subject from Michele Catalano: “Even polygamists are innocent until proven guilty.”

A COMBAT ZONE on the U.S. / Mexico border?

PRINCIPALS CAN BE TACKY: No graduation ceremony for student who rode horse to school.

CHINESE PARENTS ARE ANGRY, as the earthquake reveals substandard construction in the schools.

The earthquake’s destruction of Xinjian Primary School was swift and complete. Hundreds of children were crushed as the floors collapsed in a deluge of falling bricks and concrete. Days later, as curiosity seekers came with video cameras and as parents came to grieve, the four-story school was no more than rubble.

In contrast, none of the nearby buildings were badly damaged. A separate kindergarten less than 20 feet away survived with barely a crack. An adjacent 10-story hotel stood largely undisturbed. And another local primary school, Beijie, catering to children of the elite, was in such good condition that local officials were using it as a refugee center.

“This is not a natural disaster,” said Ren Yongchang, whose 9-year-old son died inside the destroyed school. His hands were covered in plaster dust as he stood beside the rubble, shouting and weeping as he grabbed the exposed steel rebar of a broken concrete column. “This is not good steel. It doesn’t meet standards. They stole our children.”

Building codes matter.

AT AMAZON, a big sale on automotive tools and equipment.

I KNEW NEWSPAPER REVENUES WERE BAD, BUT NOT THIS BAD:

From:

Subject: Buy or DIE!!!

FREEMAN DYSON on global warming.

RELATIONSHIP ADVICE from IowaHawk.

HOW TO FIX A DAMAGED CD, with ordinary household materials.

ROBERT ASPRIN has died. He will be mythed.

OKAY, THIS, FROM THE AP’S ERIN CONROY, SEEMS A BIT LESS THAN EARTH-SHATTERING: “It’s going to cost a lot more than it did last year to cook a burger, or just about any other barbecue favorite, on the grill. . . . The price of an average barbecue – with burgers, hot dogs, beer, soda, condiments, salad, paper plates and lighter fluid – could run families about 6 percent more than last year.”

Um, okay. But is six percent really a lot more? If I got a six percent raise it would be nice, but I wouldn’t say “I’m making a lot more than last year.” I know they’ve got to stretch to combine editors’ demands for bad economic news with editors’ demands for lame holiday-weekend-themed stories, but still . . . .

UPDATE: If 6 percent is “a lot more,” then how can 54-35 be “a small margin?” It’s all in the narrative, I guess . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Tracy Allen emails:

I was reading the article you commented on, and was struck by the comments from the ad/marketing individual who was shopping at The Food Emporium about how he was questioning every purchase. You should take a look at The Food Emporium (http://www.thefoodemporium.com/). It’s not exactly the Piggly Wiggly.

You should probably always question every purchase when you shop there . . . And note this passage from the article:

This year, the price for a pack of hot dogs has climbed almost 7 percent to $4.29. A 2-liter bottle of soda and a 16-ounce bag of potato chips both jumped more than 10 percent to $1.33 and $3.89, respectively, while a package of eight hamburger buns costs $1.61, 17 percent more. The surge in prices is forcing people to try to cut corners and find bargains where they can, such as buying store brands, which tend to cost less than name brands.

Okay, hot dogs are up almost 28 cents a pack (what’s that, about 3 cents each?). Soda up 13 cents for two liters, about 6 or 7 cents a liter. A pack of eight hamburger buns up about a quarter — that’s over three cents per bun! Yeah, this is huge.

WELL, GOOD RIDDANCE: “The leader of Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Farc, has died, the military has claimed in a statement.” I hope it’s true.

IOWAHAWK: The Career Arc of a Republican Congressman. Ouch.

A MCCAIN BLOWOUT IN 2008? Well, possibly. However, the fact that people are even talking about this is evidence that, despite the primary-season griping, the GOP in fact nominated its strongest general-election candidate. People may like other candidates better, but I doubt any of ’em would have as good a chance of actually winning.

ONE WOULD EXPECT ANDREW SULLIVAN, OF ALL PEOPLE, to have a less-stringent attitude toward political inconsistency . . . .

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: See also this post from Brendan Loy.

JOHN PODHORETZ says that Hillary was just reading the stage directions. “The reaction is overwrought, and the whole business has been skilfully manipulated by the Obama campaign to deliver a TKO of its already wounded rival. But that’s politics. No one made her open a mouth.” Meanwhile, Ann Althouse is rethinking the whole sociopath thing.

FIVE ALBUMS FOR FIVE BUCKS, via legal, un-DRM-encumbered download. Now this is how things ought to work. . . .

DEAN BARNETT: “Perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me, but I think we’ve seen more gaffes from top tier candidates in 2007-2008 than we saw in the past 20 years combined.”

UPDATE: Had this as Michael Goldfarb earlier — sorry, it’s the dreaded coblogger confusion.

DON BOUDREAUX on the infestation of sexists plaguing Hillary.

THE THIRD-GENERATION PRIUS to debut in 2009? But no plugin until 2010, apparently.

STATUE-GATE?

ALGAE: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? For Treating Blindness, Scientists Look to Algae.

SOME KNOXVILLE PHOTOBLOGGING from Les Jones.

CORRUPTION IN EASTERN EUROPE: Back to square one.

HOW TO HANG the U.S. flag.