Magic Eight Ball for liberals
Just like the real thing, only designed for hyper irrational liberals:"The far left is busy these days. Between whining about the country's war efforts and attending celebrity benefits for fashionable diseases, they simply don't have the time for trifles like political debate and thoughtful analysis of issues."

"Therefore, as a public service, buttafly.com has invented the amazing Hysterical Liberal Magic Eight Ball. So if you would like to hold a discussion of current events and politics but can't find any liberals, don't worry! Just click on the magic ball for the answer to any tough question from the point of view of an emotional, irrational liberal."

Ivy covered envy
What is the world coming to when Ivy League schools are caught hacking into each other's admissions records?

He used to be a liberal
Then he was mugged by reality.

Pharma explanation
If you've ever wanted to know how the pharmaceutical industry works, why drugs are expensive, and why reimportation of drugs from Canada won't help, go here. It's a long, thorough post, and there are tons of great replies in the Comments section, so check those out too.

If this happens
I'm walking out on baseball. Three strikes and you're out.

Death of the SUV
I don't think implementing new regulations to curb greenhouse gases is such a bright idea, but it will have one nice benefit: less SUVs on the road. As a driver of a Honda Civic and an avowed truck hater, I won't be sorry to hear that SUVs will either be getting more expensive or have weaker, more fuel-efficient engines to comply with the new emissions standards.

What will TIPS look like
Maybe something like this.

New Geneva blog
Innocents Abroad documents the frivolity that occurs daily in the world capital of diplomatic condescension and NGO/IGO self-righteousness. Check out his refutation of EU bloke Chris Patten concerning America's reasoning for opposing the ICC.

2 plus 2 equals...
Alan Keyes is getting bumped from MSNBC's lineup, despite relatively decent ratings. Is he being silenced because of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Subverting democracy "for a good cause"
I understand the desire of homosexuals to legalize gay marriage, and I can appreciate the comparison to the civil rights movement of the '60s, but I don't agree that undermining the democratic process is the way to go about establishing domestic policy. The ballot meausre to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts should have gone to the voters, not quashed by the legislature unfairly. I don't particularly care for the idea of "direct democracy" and propositions/initiatives, but if you're going to have that as part of your system, then don't thwart it illegitimately.

Oh my God
I can't believe the blatant hypocrisy of The New York Times. I mean, I read both of the articles in yesterday's paper condemning Bush for the way he got rich off the Arlington Stadium deal, and the newspaper's owners are doing the exact same thing in NYC! That's beyond ridiculous. Where is their credibility, their integrity?

The impending strike
If and when the baseball players strike, I also will strike--only mine will be permanent and thorough. Sure I haven't gone to a game in years and I don't plan on going anytime soon, but there are other ways I'll show my displeasure with those millionaire loggerheads. For one, I'll stop playing fantasy baseball, which I not only love, but I'm very good at it and usually win my leagues, too. That, however, will be out the window, and my time will be spend doing other, more productive hobbies. Also, I'll stop checking scores and news about baseball on Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, or anything else. That's one less click of traffic, one less TV viewer or radio listener, one less person buying a replica jersey or a Dodgers cap.... Sure I am only a drop in the pond, but apathy is contagious. I will mourn the passing of America's pastime, but then I'll move on, and Bud Selig, Donald Fehr, will get nothing more from me than my middle finger.

Falklands flashback
Only instead of the Iron Lady, we have the wimpy Spanish, and instead of the chauvanistic Argentinean junta, we have moronic Moroccans. The end result is the same: a European power boots the imposters off the island in semi-dramatic action (more hype than substance though). Of course, this is perfectly representative of the EU, which is more concerned about symbolism than anything that actually matters like, oh, say, democracy.

Sober warning
I think this is a good reminder of why family values-type conservatives need to be careful when talking about marriage and morality. If we wish to uphold the sanctity of marriage, we have to be careful not to undermine it in other, less obvious ways.

State Dept hassling reporters?
Investigative journalism is never appreciated, especially when it serves its purpose so well. Witness the damning fallout of a recent incident that exposed how our State Department was fast-tracking visas to Saudi nationals. Make sure to get the whole story with all the background details, too.

Regime change in Iran
Thank God for Michael Ledeen's incessant harping on the need to topple the Iranian mullacracy. It seems to be paying dividends stateside.

Tax history
Yeah, you really want to read this post now, eh? Are there two more boring subjects than tax policy and history? Perhaps, but try to stay awake for a moment and bear with me. This week marks a revolutionary turn in our country's tax policy history, one that killed off the hyperinflation and stagflation era in the 1970s and paved the road for the prosperity of the '80s and '90s. We should all be thankful and respect the implications by voting against tax-and-spend liberal Democrats whenever the opportunity arises.

And what about the Mizrahim?
Barbara Lerner answers that question, informing NRO readers what should be a more well-known fact that there are millions of Jews who have always lived in the Middle East and that they indeed constitute the majority of Israelis. Yet just as they were ignored for so long in their own State, so the rest of the world ignores their existence and history.

Israel is actually a very socially complex, diverse state, with immigrant Jews from cultures and lands all throughout the world--not just Europe and the US. From the relatively small group of Falasha/Falishmura (sp.) Jews, to the Israeli Arabs, plus add in the ethnic divisions (Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi--which includes Yemenite Jews, Farsi Jews, and Northern African Jews), and the religious vs. secular, Zionist vs. non-/anti-Zionist divisions, and you have quite a mixed up nation. It's no surprise then that there are dozens of parties in the Knesset. And still we try to fit Israelis onto the Left-Right continuum, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for the most part.

One thing's for sure: the more Israel feels under attack, the more all these diverse Jews pull together and cling to their Jewish identity. Hence it is downright foolish to believe that Israeli society will tear itself apart by terrorizing and isolating it; on the contrary, you will only make her people stronger and more resolute.

Amateur genius
One reason I check up on Tony Pierce's blog almost daily is because of posts like this (especially the poem). Whether or not "nothing in [t]here is true", he pumps out some of the most engaging stuff on the net with his irreverent style and random thoughts, coupled with his attention to artistic detail and poetic abilities. I have no ability to write or be artistic/poetic like that whatsoever, but I sure can appreciate it.

Euro equals dollar
I'm glad this happened this summer, and not last year while I was in Europe!