IT’S THE BIRTHDAY OF BOTH BARBIES AND LEGOS — follow the link for more, including a celebratory video: Michael Jackon’s Thriller redone in Lego. No, really.
Archive for 2008
February 17, 2008
TEDIOUS? OR JUST TIRESOME? The arrival of “EcoMoms.”
WHERE IS OBAMA ON GUN RIGHTS? “Here, there, and everywhere.”
IRAQPUNDIT: Sunni extremism is now in retreat.
UPDATE: More here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Some sunshine from Mr. Sunshine himself, Bill Quick.
DISSING NAFTA: “Both candidates in the Democratic primary have turned their backs on one of Bill Clinton’s major accomplishments.”
THOUGHTS ON gun-free zones and school shootings, at RedBlueAmerica.
NEWSWEEK INTERVIEWS Students for Concealed Carry on Campus:
A nonprofit organization called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus would like to change that. The group, whose 12,000 members nationwide include college students, faculty and parents, champions legislation that would allow licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on campus, in the hope that an alert and well-trained citizen could stop a deranged shooter before he or she could do serious damage. According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, 13 states are currently considering some form of “concealed carry” legislation aimed at campuses. Utah is the group’s model; after a state Supreme Court ruling found that the state university had violated a law allowing permit holders to carry concealed weapons, the school agreed that guns could legally be carried on its grounds.
Read the whole thing.
It seems to me, however, that there are two differences between this election and the last. One is John McCain, and the other is Barack Obama. If Obama is the Democratic nominee, the presidential candidates in both parties will be likable (and well-liked) political figures with proven abilities to broaden their party’s base of support. That wasn’t exactly the case in 2004, if you recall.
Another potential difference between the two elections is that public opinion polls seem to indicate that, on a variety of issues (every issue except abortion and guns, from what I can tell), the political center has shifted left. If that had been the case in 2004, George W. Bush would not have won reelection. But it is 2008, and John McCain understands, and knows how to win, the political center, wherever it falls on the ideological spectrum. Which means no particular outcome is certain. And no issue is off the table.
It’s possible that in this environment McCain is the best the GOP can do.
MEGAN MCARDLE: “What most of us are really in favor of is higher taxes on other people. If we wanted higher taxes on ourselves, we’d give the money to charity.”
MINNESOTANS for global warming.
HMM: “A U.S. congressman is asking Georgetown University about its academic scrutiny of Saudi Arabia and its use of $20 million donated by a Saudi prince in 2005. . . . Of particular concern, Wolf said, was the university’s role in training current and prospective U.S. foreign service personnel.”
February 16, 2008
TALKLEFT: Obama as the next McGovern? Hey, everybody I know voted for him!
UPDATE: Related thoughts here.
HISTORIANS for Hillary!
JOHN SCALZI IS AUCTIONING OFF A PRE-PUBLICATION COPY of his new book Zoe’s Tale to benefit disabled American veterans. Zoe’s Tale is the fourth book in the series that started with Old Man’s War, a blogosphere favorite.
INSTAPUNDIT’S IRAQ CORRESPONDENT, MAJOR JOHN TAMMES, EMAILS:
Your Iraq Correspondent is stuck in Kuwait. Knowing your deep and abiding love of camels (ha!) I have attached a couple of pictures from the ranges we used out in the Kuwaiti desert. Right now I am waiting for air traffic to get back on schedule after a fairly, uh, interesting sandstorm rolled through the area.
One interesting thing to note – without exception, everyone here who was delayed is impatient to get “up North” and into the fight. Could you imagine such a thing in, say, 1973?
Nope.
BEWARE THE COMING THEOCRACY! “People mocked Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney for their religious backgrounds often during the presidential campaigns, but at least they never claimed to be on a mission to save the souls of Americans through government action.”
DETROIT HOME SALES, up 15%. That’s good news, I guess, though in part I suspect it’s just evidence that the housing bubble never got to Detroit.
JACK LAIL: Boss Hogg Couldn’t Survive Bloggers’ Buzz.
ELEANOR CLIFT: “Al Gore on the second ballot: A scenario that a few weeks ago seemed preposterous is beginning to look plausible to some nervous Democrats looking for a way out of the deadlock between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”
This seems more like a pundit’s dream than anything that’s likely to happen. But to the extent that Democratic leaders are seriously talking about this, it’s a poor reflection on both Clinton and Obama.
DON SURBER: “Having actually worked at a textile mill, I say the people in Bangladesh are welcome to make my shirts.”
VOTE-COUNTING PROBLEMS IN NEW YORK: “Several Harlem precincts recorded 0 votes for Obama.”
Plus, charges of PMS sexism. “I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal.” I blame the staff!
UPDATE: Just remember: PMS = Perpetuating Male Superiority!
PHOTOS FROM ZOMBIETIME: Code Pink protests the Marines in Berkeley.
(Sorry — had my Zombies mixed up there for a bit.)
PROGRESS IN IRAQ: Whatever happened to those benchmarks?