Boyd

Read this article which lead me to this site. I think I used to hang out with the bass player in this band back in the day. If so, hello Todd. If not, no matter, their music is tremendous.

Zakaria:

Al Qaeda Central, by which I mean the dwindling band of brothers on the Afghan-Pakistani border, appears to have turned into a communications company. It's capable of producing the occasional jihadist cassette, but not actual jihad. I know it's risky to say this, as Qaeda leaders may be quietly planning some brilliant, large-scale attack. But the fact that they have not been able to do one of their trademark blasts for five years is significant in itself.

Instead of 9/11 as evidence of a strong adversary, it's looking more and more like a lucky shot, albeit a fairly clever one. Al Qaeda might end up as the VH1 one-hit wonder of the United States enemy CD collection.

Once they lose their power to shock and the population becomes saltier, they've got nothing. Their only hope is that someone shares a nuke with them. However, even then, there are lots of motivated folks, I'm sure, who would sign up for a nuke. It's probably prudent to worry more about the folks not on the run.

Kaus:

What mass transit couldn't do: $3.50 gas appears to have had one effect: for the time being, it's at least partially solved L.A.'s worsening traffic congestion problem. On Monday I made it from the beach to Eagle Rock in 45 minutes at rush hour--that's normally an hour-and-a-half drive . It won't last--people will grow accustomed to the price and start driving again--and I assume it's hardest on the working poor. But, speaking selfishly, if I had a choice of a) paying $4 a gallon and getting where I want to go in as little time as it took 20 years ago and b) paying $1.50 a gallon but spending twice as much time to get there, it would be a no-brainer. $4 is a bargain! Will a secret base of support for higher gas prices emerge in the suburban upper middle class of previously frustrated drivers?

This is interesting. In addition to getting rid of SUVs, high gas prices spark a new status symbol - those with money go, those without stay.

On the other hand, I've been away and coming back today on 95 and then 40, I can assure you that there is no lack of traffic in NC. I was a bit disappointed.

AP:

Mexico's Congress on Friday approved a bill decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin for personal use, prompting U.S. criticism that the measure could harm anti-drug efforts.

The only step remaining was the signature of President Vicente Fox, whose office indicated he would sign the bill, which Mexican officials hope will allow police to focus on large-scale trafficking operations rather than minor drug busts.

The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, 5 grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), or 0.5 grams of cocaine -- the equivalent of about 4 "lines," or half the standard street-sale quantity (though half-size packages are becoming more common).

"No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use," according to the Senate bill, which also lays out allowable quantities for an array of other drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and amphetamines.

Buy stock in Mexican spring break destinations.

Son: Uh, mom. Dad.

Dad: Yes, son?

Son: I'd like to go to Cancun this year. Daytona's getting tired.

Dad: Wasn't it destroyed by a hurricane?

Son: They've built it back. It's real nice. Besides, all the kids are going there.

Dad: Well, I guess it'll be alright.

Son: Gee, thanks! This is going to be the best vacation ever. See you later!

Dad: Before you go, there's one more thing.

Son (apprehensively): Yeah?

Dad: Bring me back 5 grams of pot.

Given that 3 of the first 26 players in this year's draft played defense for NC State, why didn't they challenge for the ACC title - or at least go to a bowl game not in Charlotte?

Via Drudge. Variety:

Ayn Rand's most ambitious novel may finally be brought to the bigscreen after years of false starts.

Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to "Atlas Shrugged" from Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who will produce with John Aglialoro.

As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it's not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie's name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt.

Is it possible that Angelina Jolie is an enthusiast? Whoa. I must recalibrate my opinion of the obviously beautiful, but also smart, bordering on genius, Jolie.

As for Pitt - brother. I always had your back on that Aniston thing.

And Atlas Shrugged has always needed a good editor. May the scriptwriter be talented and may the director be a believer.

CBS:

The Senate Finance Committee promised "a comprehensive review of the federal taxes paid" by the oil companies on their record profits last year.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's chairman, said the panel was concerned about high profits and executive compensation at oil companies.

Look, guys, it's easier to explain capitalism and where profits come from and how corporations don't really pay taxes (their customers do), than it is to pretend to be Democrats. By pretending to be Democrats, you automatically lose all arguments because Democrats can always out Democrat you. They have more cred when it comes to the subject. The kicker? You still look like mean, old, white men, but now all the people who like mean, old, white men are mad at you.

Currie:

Sometime in March, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker approached network executives with their idea for an episode satirizing the Danish cartoon spat. Could they depict the Muslim prophet Muhammad on screen? No way, came the immediate reply. True, Comedy Central had allowed South Park to broadcast a Muhammad character five years earlier, in the episode "Super Best Friends." But that episode debuted on July 4, 2001--just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "A lot changed two months later," one source close to the show told me, explaining the network's decision. "It's a vastly different world that we live in right now." Yes: a world where terrorists apparently have veto power over American television.

Don't forget veto power over newspapers, either.

And yet, the Rhino's still around, right? No one got killed, right? How is that possible? Everyone else was so afraid. Oh, well. Maybe next time. Freedom of speech always needs defending. Even when the stakes aren't as great and you might just be offending non-Muslims.

Since decider really is a word, I'm going to stake a claim. Can't make a decision? Are you wishy-washy? Do you flip-flop at will? Call me. The Decider.

Stossel:

If pursuing profit is greed, economist Walter Williams told me, then greed is good, because it drives us to do many good things. "Those areas where people are motivated the most by greed are the areas that we're the most satisfied with: supermarkets, computers, FedEx." By contrast, areas "where people say we're motivated by 'caring'" - public education, public housing etc. - "are the areas of disaster in our country. . . . How much would get done," Williams wondered, "if it all depended on human love and kindness?"

Greed gets people to cooperate. If you want to benefit from other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you. Consider one of the wonders of our age, the supermarket. There are thousands of products on the shelves. How'd they get there?

Who would've thought Stossel could go from getting beat up by Dr. Death to genius in the span of one career?

Which brings me to the point of this post: an excuse to quote Gordon Gekko. Not the lizard selling insurance, the guy from Wall Street.

Gekko:

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, greed is good. Greed works, greed is right. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all its forms, greed for life, money, love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind..

WSJ:

Few things are less becoming in a political party than desperation, as Republicans are now demonstrating as they panic over rising oil and gas prices. If blaming private industry for Congress's own energy mistakes is the best the GOP can do, no wonder its voters may sit out the November election.

Oil prices hit $75 a barrel last week, while gas has reached a national average of about $2.85 a gallon. The Republican response has been to put on Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi fright wigs and shout about corporate greed and market manipulation.

Why in the world, if you're a Republican concerned about gas prices, wouldn't you start talking about domestic drilling including ANWR, less restrictions on building refineries, lower gas taxes and one standard gasoline formulation?

On top of that you could start talking about flex fuel and eliminating restrictions on agriculture imports.

The last thing you should do is try to beat Democrats at their own game. If the people want Democrats, let them vote for Democrats. If you want to be a Democrat, switch parties.

Johnson:

Goldberg:

We are horribly dependent on foreign oil. But we shouldn't develop domestic oil or boost our refining capacity. We need a gas tax to wean Americans from foreign oil, but high gas prices are an outrage. We need alternative forms of energy, but we shouldn't use nuclear power. We need renewable, sustainable energy, unless it spoils the view of rich liberal icons.

Got it?

What should we do short of using wish power?

Via Althouse. And you thought flying was bad now. Why is this real and not an SNL skit? Good lord. Maybe next they can just fire us out of a cannon in the general direction of our destination.

Elliott:

The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class?

A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."

Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none have agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.

Thinking of complaining to the FAA? Forget it.

The Federal Aviation Administration does not mandate that a passenger be in a sitting position for takeoffs and landings; only that the passenger be secured.

Sounds to me as if air travel Slim Pickens/Major Kong style may be permissible. Just strap yourself in, cowboy.

Yahoo!

Contactmusic:

Tom Cruise isn't letting the media circus surrounding his personal life affect the release of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III, insisting journalists who generate tabloid headlines are unhappy with their own lives.

Aha! Reporters meet Xenu. Xenu, reporters.

Page:

In short, one headline called Murray's plan "The $10,000 Solution." He proposes to replace almost every federal social program-Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the rest-with a $10,000 annual cash grant to every American over 21 and not in prison. Those of us who make more than $25,000 would be taxed back to $5,000, but every adult not in prison would be included.

It's an attractive idea, if it worked, because Murray's plan would simplify the government's enormous menu of social spending in the way that the "flat tax," another conservative fantasy, would simplify the revenue-gathering process that gives us headaches every April 15.

Why's the flat tax conservative fantasy, Clarence? Cause you don't like it? Inane. If you started from scratch, it's much less of a fantasy than the current byzantine system is. Maybe there's a reason newly formed democracies in Eastern Europe, with the choice to build any type of system they wanted, overwhelmingly chose flat tax systems instead of the current incomprehensible, American morass.

Looking on the bright side, at least at some point the whole mess will collapse under its own bulk. However, not before, I'm sure, a bunch of us feel a lot of pain.

Reuters:

"I know this is an emotional debate," Bush said. "But the one thing we cannot lose sight of is we're talking about human beings, decent human beings. Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic. It's not going to work."

I'd say at this point it's got a better shot than bringing democracy to the Middle East.

O'Reilly:

Gasoline supplies are at an eight-year high according to OPEC. There is plenty of gas selling on the open market, more than enough to meet the worldwide demand.

So rising gas prices are not a supply-and-demand issue.

What the American oil companies are doing is exploiting the uncertainty in the world. Every time the nutty Iranian government threatens to kill the Jews or the Americans or whoever, speculators bid up the paper price of a barrel of oil.

These speculators operate in the so-called commodities markets. They gamble on where the price of oil and other tangible assets will be months from now. These Vegas-type people sit in front of their computers and bid on "futures" contracts.

Every time the oil company executives, guys like Lee Raymond, see these people bidding up oil "futures," they order their retail gas station owners to jack up prices to you. Supply and demand? -- my carburetor, this has nothing to do with the free market.

Where to start? Dear Lord, what an idiot. Why does he have a popular television show? Why does anyone take someone formerly of Inside Edition seriously?

If it was this easy for these 'speculators' he mentions, where were they in the 1990s? Seems like a sure fire money-making scheme to me. Wonder why they waited so long to put their diabolical plan into action?

And, my God, if speculating on commodities isn't the free market, then please tell us Bill, what is?

Arnold:

Like many government agencies, the SBA proudly trumpets its track record on job creation. Superficially, there is nothing wrong with job creation, though when the government does it, it leads to unintended problems. When the government creates jobs, it also creates workers dependent on the government.

Whether they are in the public or private sector, these government-supported workers become de facto lobbyists dedicated to defending the existing funding level and prying more dollars out of Uncle Sam's wallet. This makes it exceedingly difficult to provide real scrutiny of government programs and makes eliminating programs, even unnecessary ones, seemingly impossible.

Every worthwhile cause doesn't need a bureaucrat cheerleader behind it. Keep regulation to a minimum and quit passing a bunch of laws that favor one group over another and the champions of this or that can retire and do something else.

Oh, wait, they're not interested in retiring? They'd like to hold on to their comfy jobs a while longer? I see.

IAMO:

I filled up my SUV this weekend, and, after seeing the bill, my immediate reaction was, "Someone must die for this!" After a little thought, I knew who should die: foreigners. Foreigners with oil.

We need a war for oil.

Supposedly, our previous incursion into the Middle East were about oil, but it hasn't looked that way. Unlike all this establishing democracy hooey, a real war for oil would follow a much simpler mission plan: We go in, we kill lots of people, and we take all the oil. Also, we would know for certain when the mission is accomplished; if we have all the oil, we're done.

Gross has a selection from a recent Krugman column regarding the demise of the conservative agenda.

The real test of the conservative agenda came after the 2004 election, when Mr. Bush tried to sell the partial privatization of Social Security.

Social Security was for economic conservatives what Iraq was for the neocons, a soft target that they thought would pave the way for bigger conquests.

From third rail to soft target in one election cycle. Let's be careful here not to confuse the failings of Bush with the collapse of an entire agenda. Carter didn't make the libs give up. Neither did Reagan. Neither did '94. And face it, Clinton owes no small debt to Perot.

The greatest challenge the Republicans face is within the party for abandoning what they said they would do.

Artie has always bored me. However, Artie finding inner strength enough to beat up that kid from Doogie Howser was OK and the hand in the boiling sauce and the rabbit were nice touches.

Chris creeping out Ben Kingsley and then mugging Lauren Bacall was inspired as was describing Frankie Valli as horse-faced.

Phil going off about Vito at dinner was cool too. Let's hope we get some resolution there soon. According to IMDB, next week's title is Johnny Cakes.

Klein:

I still look for moments of spontaneity and courage from the politicians I follow — moments when they deviate from their script and betray a real emotion. Moments when they tell their supporters an inconvenient truth or force their detractors to think in a different way; moments when they stumble across a new and gorgeous locution, when they inspire a crowd without high-flown or overblown or pretested words.

If there will ever be a time to be yourself in presidential politics, it's coming up. Someone's going to go first and they're going to be so different than everyone else that they'll be heard and hailed. Howard Dean was probably that guy last time. Too bad for him, he's such a nutjob.

A commenter at Althouse's at 1:40 who has a pretty cool blog himself:

It's not news gathering that's in jeopardy from the blogosphere--yet; it's opinion writing for old media that's dead man walking right now.

AP:

The Islamic militant group Hamas distanced itself Sunday from purported comments by Osama bin Laden accusing the United States and Europe of supporting a "Zionist" war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Palestinian government.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group's ideology is vastly different from al-Qaida's...

What kind of stroke do you have left when even Hamas doesn't want anything to do with you?

Tell you what, if I was part of the inner circle, I'd seriously be considering the $25 mil and a relocation package.

CNN:

Parts of audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden aired Sunday on an Arabic-language TV network in which the al Qaeda leader attacks the West for cutting off funds to the Palestinian Hamas-led government...

I'm sure we'll feel their full wrath now since we've stopped making welfare installments. Off to the bomb shelter.

John has a good post about the retired generals.

Did Marshall ever have to follow orders with which he very strongly disagreed? Yes, often.

For instance, against his advice and that of his staff, Roosevelt and Churchill repeatedly delayed the Allied attack on northwest Europe and ordered Marshall instead to direct forces and supplies to other areas.

In such circumstances, Marshall knew he had the options every Army officer has: request a transfer or resign.

Given those honorable options, it’s not expected an officer will carry out orders with which he or she strongly disagrees, remain in the Army accumulating grade and benefits, and then retire and join others in attacking former civilian superiors.

Update: On the other hand, there was McClellan. As with that, all depends on the outcome.

Barnes interview with George Allen:

...he also disagrees with Mr. Bush on the scope of the federal government. The president accepts its size as a given and advocates using it for conservative ends. Mr. Allen says he has "a libertarian sense." He describes himself as more in sync with Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan than with George Bush. "I'm one who dislikes limits. I don't like restrictions. I like freedom. I like liberty. Unless you're harming someone else, you leave people free."

Maybe we should give al Qaeda a shot. It appears we may be out of ideas.

It tastes great, makes women appear more attractive, and makes a person virtually invulnerable to criticism.

- Mayor Quimby of Simpsons fame

Via a random comment viewed somewhere by me this morning.

Buchanan:

China's performance tells us that, contrary to the teachings of free-trade liberals, dictatorship and protectionism do not necessarily ensure stagnation. For China is a one-party state and the most protectionist great nation on earth. Yet, her growth has been unequaled by any free-market rival nation for 15 years.

How does China achieve her success? By keeping her currency cheap - refusing to let it float against the dollar - China is able to offer Chinese goods at fire-sale prices to U.S. consumers, while the cheapness of her currency keeps U.S. goods priced out of China's market.

There's something wrong with this analysis. He goes on:

In China the consumer does not come first. Nor do the voters decide policy, for there are no voters. The regime, state and nation come first. China's leaders want to make her first in manufacturing and high-technology, to become the primary producers for the world, and to displace the United States as the dominant power in Asia and the world.

There it is. Can productivity gains withstand oppression? Pat's bemoaning China's 10% annual growth, but so what? Bear with me, it's easy for growth stocks to increase 10% a year. They start small. Over a few years, it's a lot easier to go from $50 mil in sales to $100 mil in sales than it is to go from $500 mil in sales to a billion in sales.

I can't see how China keeps its thumb on its people the more they invest in capitalism and the more the Chinese interact with the rest of the world. At some point, enough people are going to start asking enough questions and then things are going to get uncomfortable for somebody.

Read the China papers once in a while. There are a few listed to the right. This isn't the monolithic beast intent on destroying the US that we hear about. They've got their own problems and they're major. From a serious lack of health care for those without means to no heat if you live in certain parts of the country to an incredible income gap, China faces a difficult path getting its people to perform while continuing to not reward them fairly.

Kolbert:

In terms of adaptation, it’s a nice idea, and certainly it will be necessary; the amount of warming that is already inevitable is quite significant and may cause severe disruptions. At a certain point, though, the changes will become so great that adaptation will become extremely difficult; a five-foot rise in sea levels, for example, would put parts of the state of Florida underwater.

Oh, I don't know, people in Florida can always move.

Glaser:

Hours after Connie King gave birth to a stillborn boy, a stranger arrived, carrying a camera.

Photographer Michelle Reed Cantley entered the room and quickly went to work, posing baby Nicholas on the couple's bed and in the arms of his parents, hoping to capture both his beauty and his peace.

Cantley, who has spent most of her eight years as a photographer chronicling joyous events such as weddings and proms, has found a calling giving grieving parents a remembrance of their babies.

Here's their site. Beautiful pictures. You'll probably cry.

Lowry:

...student protests in France show how vested even the youth are in the status quo, in contrast to the electric dynamism of India and China.

Stark, isn't it?

Henry:

...politicians hate backlashes. And they have done everything in their power to eliminate the possibility. State redistricting conferences, which ostensibly promote more wins for candidates of the majority party, actually see pols of both sides horse trading as they draw district lines to assure that no incumbent need ever lose. That's what made Gingrich's revolution so remarkable. Hardly any House seats ever change hands. And it's world-shaking news when an incumbent Senator loses.

Gretchen Wilson garners the attention of the Fug Girls.

In Gretchen's defense, you dance with who brung ya.

Update: Maybe I should say, you dance in what you wore to the ball.

AP:

In a surprise outburst that cast a diplomatic shadow, a screaming protester confronted President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao and interrupted the welcoming ceremony on the White House lawn Thursday. Bush later apologized to the Chinese leader.

"President Bush, stop him from killing," the woman shouted, to the surprise of hundreds of guests spread across the lawn on a sunny, warm day. "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong" - a banned religious movement in China.

Standing beside Bush, Hu had just begun his opening remarks when the woman started yelling in Chinese and English. Bush leaned over and whispered to Hu, "You're OK," indicating the Chinese leader should proceed. Hu, who had paused briefly, resumed speaking even though the woman kept screaming for several minutes before security officers forcibly removed her.

That's speaking truth to power right there, baby.

Jackson:

All the while, the most troubling issue remains buried. Lost in the sensationalistic aspects of the rich men/poor woman, white men/black woman, guilty men/lying woman angle of what will be the biggest sports-related story of 2006 is the disturbing thought that this could have been avoided had three men employed some form of authoritative competence. Duke president Richard Brodhead, athletics director Joe Alleva and recently resigned lacrosse coach Mike Pressler remain unguilty. Not enough criticism has been pointed in their direction or at the board of trustees at Duke for their roles in allowing the culture for the alleged assault to exist. No one wants to identify them at the scene of the crime before the crime was committed. No one wants to deal with the fact that the players on Duke's lacrosse team are not solely responsible for what happened at 610 North Buchanan five Mondays ago.

Duke University is.

Thomas:

It is going to take an enemy to break our oil addiction. The perfect enemy is the oil-producing states with a track record for funding terrorism and whose brand of religion produces young fanatics determined to destroy the West.

If we can get to the moon, virtually from scratch and in just eight years, we can become independent of the mullahs, ayatollahs, sheiks, imams and whackos like the president of Iran and assorted other world criminals who hate us and want to destroy us.

Everybody wants big government except when it will actually do some good. This is the kind of problem tailor made for a national effort to coerce and nudge all the different players. And we know the anwswer: alcohol, not just from corn either, but from sugar. Mandate flex fuel autos from manufacturers, remove restrictions on new refineries, get rid of 'botique' blends of gas and end restrictions on ag imports and we're on our way.

Pelosi:

Our growing national debt to China is a national security issue. Countries such as China that own our debt will soon not only be making our toys, our clothes and our computers, they will be making our foreign policy.

First, this borders on a fundamental misunderstanding of global money movement and the nature of US debt. However, if you really believe this, wouldn't you be doing all you could to reduce spending and thus the need to borrow?

Nordlinger:

The recent flap over Rumsfeld — the insistence of a handful of retired generals that he resign or be sacked — reminds us of the great power of a minority with whom the media agree. Now, as the SecDef himself pointed out, a great many generals, retired or otherwise, support him. But they really don't matter. Their view is not sexy or agreeable enough for prime time. The antis are the ones who bask in media glory.

I'm cool with the six or seven or whatever it is retired generals calling for Rumsfeld's ouster. They can do what they want and they certainly have a fair amount of evidence on their side which makes for a compelling argument. However, to elevate the word of the military in military matters, but then discount all the other retired generals who support Rumsfeld is more than a little foolish. If this is how we're going to decide things, wouldn't we take a vote of military retirees and go with that? While we're at it, why don't we go with how the majority of retired generals feel about the roles of women and gays in the services.

Thomas Dolby has some cool posts. Kind of an introspective day to day thing on being a rock star.

I should've been a rock star. That was my calling. Even better, I should currently be a retired rock star sitting around in one of my fabulous houses getting fat and telling stories and being obnoxious.

A different take on the Duke lax story.

ESPN:

In the wake of publicity generated by the sexual assault scandal surrounding the Duke men's lacrosse team, sales of merchandise bearing the "Duke lacrosse" name and logo have skyrocketed.

Hirsh:

The new Iraq is growing up around our presence and is as dependent as a child.

Was there a worse possible outcome?

So sayeth esteemed sociologist Edward Laumann.

Matthews:

Some believe that if Mexico would simply open its economy, it would grow 8% to 10% a year—making the country an economic powerhouse, putting it up there with India and China.

Mexico is resource rich with vast amounts of workers who only want a chance to make a decent living and provide for their families. If Mexico would create the economic and regulatory environment that would give its workers a chance to get ahead, the immigration problem would be solved.

Undoubtedly the real problem is corruption and lack of freedom in Mexico. All these folks motivated to risk their lives to come to the US are a real resource. Too bad Mexican leaders can't see the bigger picture. Of course, we lose sight of it sometimes too, don't we?

Peters:

The problem isn't with democracy. It's with us. We expected too much of a tool, forgetting that specific skills are required to use it well. We imagined that others could master in a day what we spent a millennium practicing. And we failed to allow for basic human emotions and bigotries: Hatreds, jealousies, ethnic and religious rivalries, and the fierce competition for resources in the lands of never-enough.

Democracy remains by far the most-promising form of government--but it's much more difficult to master than we pretended. A series of elections does not constitute democracy. Democracy also requires a spirit of compromise, of shared values and ultimate goals, of social and personal integrity, and a still-rare-in-this-world measure of identification with the state--not just with ties of blood or belief.

When you read this:

Tom Cruise yesterday revealed his latest bizarre mission..to eat his new baby's placenta.

and you sit here and wonder if it's true or not and how it might be considering that, after all, the person in question thinks we were flown to Earth in 747s and deposited in volcanos by Xenu, then, you know, it doesn't really seem that far out. And when it doesn't seem that far out, you just want to shoot yourself.

Update: Why might Cruise want to eat the placenta of his soon to be screwed up child? Kate's future is getting cloudier.

Cruise: Just give it to me Doc. Munch. Munch. Munch. I can't believe I gave up Kidman for this. Munch. Munch. Munch. Xenu really let me down this time.

The year 2026.

Cruise Spawn: You mean there is no Xenu? You mean all this was a lie? All those classes? All that money? There were no jet planes? No hydrogen bombs? My dad's off his rocker?

David Boyd International Superstar: You got it kid.

Update II: It's alive! No word on what we all want to know - cabernet or pinot.

Via Althouse. Tucker:

For five years, the most wildly popular talent contest on American television has been dominated — thoroughly, totally and completely — by kids from Southern Hicksville, USA. Seven of the eight top-two finishers in the first four years were from states that once formed the Confederacy, and five of the seven remaining finalists this season are, too.

Bubba!

"There's still an awful lot of old-school singers who got their starts in church, and many mainstream country musicians still do a gospel album," said John Reed Shelton, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina and one of the region's most respected observers. "Everybody tends to go to church, and Southern evangelical Protestantism, both black and white, emphasizes and rewards musical performance."

I think part of it has to do with the earnestness of the performers. Wise guys don't last long.

Glenn's got a post about the current silliness that is congressional districting and the brutal fact that incumbents are re-elected 98% of the time. More from Slate here.

Here are maps of current NC districts. I've been thinking about this for about five minutes. Since no one has a good idea about how to draw districts that make sense, let me offer a few possible rules.

1. Each district shall have roughly the same number of constituents based on the latest census. Let's say +- 50,000 people.

2. A district shall not end other than at a county line. In other words, no more dipping district lines into counties or dividing counties.

3. Counties included in a district shall be contiguous and shall be as equidistant from a central point as is possible. Let's say +- 50 miles. Obviously some leeway may be granted for the coast and other uneven borders.

Update: According to the Census, there were 8,049,000 people in NC in 2000. According to my rules, that means roughly 620,000 people per district. There were 695,000 people in Mecklenburg county in 2000 which means it is its own district according to my formula. Wake had 627,000 people which makes it its own district as well. Fine by me. I think the county line rule is the most important. It can't be manipulated by politicians.

Update II: Look at the beauty of this map that I did in about fifteen minutes. The populations are roughly equal. Not perfect. I may have to change my +- 50,000 to +- 100,000. But why can't we have something like this? I have no idea what the politics are, but it's got to be better than the current incumbent protection act that is present day North Carolina congressional districting.

UPI:

"You and I are beneficiaries of these jobs," Bloomberg told his WABC-AM radio co-host, John Gambling. "You and I both play golf; who takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?"

This is being referred to as Mayor Bloomberg's Marie Antoinette moment.

Sometimes I think I don't like Americans. But, then I think, nah, just the elitists.

Morris:

Bush has truly become the Republican equivalent of President Jimmy Carter, out of control, dropping in popularity, unable to resume command.

There's a grain of truth in this. I think the commonality is that Bush is overwhelmed like Carter was.

Boudreaux:

As people in China and India become freer, and as advanced technology enables them better to serve customers in America, some jobs currently done in America will indeed be 'outsourced' to these distant lands. But America's loss of some capital to foreign countries creates opportunities for other investments in America.

This is exactly right. Remember the early nineties when Clinton was elected and everyone was so depressed about the economy? What happened? The Internet. The Internet blows up and all of a sudden there's opportunity where before there was nothing. There are a heck of a lot of smart people in India and China. Give one of them opportunity instead oppression and who knows what wonderful thing might spring forth out of his mind. And when it does we'll piggyback on it and shape it and manipulate it and produce it and so forth. Value will be added. Productivity will go up. We'll get richer.

Kinsley:

When the United States should use its military strength to achieve worthy goals abroad is an important question. But based on this record, it seems a bit theoretical. It's like asking whether Donald Trump should use his superpowers to cure AIDS.

Seriously. It's a great point. You know how conservatives are always upset with liberals for their big government programs like welfare and how conservatives demonstrate that welfare is bad because it destroyed inner-city families and stuff like that, but then liberals say that they had good intentions? Well, bombing folks or invading them to make them love each other is sort of the same thing now, isn't it? Our intentions are noble, but real change comes from within. If we didn't know before, we know now.

Linbeck:

Once upon a time our tax policy may have been intended to spur growth in segments of the economy while fairly funding the government. Today it is simply a lucrative Washington business that specializes in shearing taxpaying sheep while rewarding those wealthy enough to buy into the corrupt auction of taxpayer's wealth. This assault on taxpayers and the nation's best interests cries out for fundamental reform.

In addition to a site in Virginia...

NYT:

Toyota is also considering sites near Chattanooga, Tenn., Greensboro, N.C., and in northeast Arkansas, where state officials have tried for years to land an assembly plant from a major automobile manufacturer.

Very cool. Hope we have a legitimate shot.

I like typing that motto whenever possible. When it's the title of a Sopranos episode, so much the better.

I'm going to write about my spoiler from yesterday now. So go away if you don't want to know. Vito going after Finn makes even more sense now. Vito finding out that Finn told the story of Finn seeing Vito at the construction parking lot is going to enrage Vito. The violence that will occur will be in perfect contrast to Vito kissing his sleeping kids and antiquing in New Hampshire. It will also fulfill the die part of the motto since it's just a fantasy that Vito could ever live free.

Meadow's reaction to all this is going to be very interesting. How far and fast will she regress?

Update: Althouse didn't like it. Fell asleep she said.

I think folks hold this show to a higher standard due to its past successes. Much like Seinfeld. When you first find a show of this quality, you're just delighted. After time, expectations become outsized. What's interesting specifically about The Sopranos is that some episodes and story lines are one-offs (the Russian) and others are part of the whole. It's hard to keep perspective going week to week. However, that's how the medium is set up. When something unexpected happens, like Richie's death and head, all of a sudden, what came before fits. On the other hand, when they keep hammering a theme like Vito, the payoff better be there and better be there in an unexpected and surprising way. Otherwise the investment will seem a waste.

Goldstein:

...anything that offends me (the argument goes) is by its very nature intolerant and can be—nay, must be—squelched, through violence if necessary. And in fact, the very act of squelching such "intolerance" is, conveniently, the apotheosis of tolerance!

Read about the tortured justification offered up by a Northern Kentucky University professor who invited some of her students to join her in destroying an anti-abortion display at the school as an expression of their free-speech rights. You can't make this stuff up.

Don't read this if you don't want to know.





Still here?





Sure you want to know?





It's from a mole buried deep.





Super secret source.





Alright. Here it is. Vito ain't dead. He's going after Finn.

I hope this is true. The suicide angle would be too easy. Too predictable. Plus Vito has become such a fun character, and the Finn thing has been building since last season with that construction parking lot encounter, that he deserves to go out in a blaze of glory. In addition, it'll be fun to see how Meadow reacts. Jackie Jr. was business. This will be personal. Her character will go to a whole other level.

Update: Thinking more about this, this seems very plausible. No way was Vito ever going after Finn with Tony back in control. After being found out last week, what's he got to lose?

Even the folks who say they are for them, change their minds when they get in. If that's not a perfect example of the corrupting influence of power, I don't know what is.

Chapman:

This year, there are nine House Republicans who once vowed to leave after the coming election but later decided they'd rather stay. U.S. Term Limits spokesman Paul Jacob...says that in all, at least 25 members of Congress (not all Republicans) have broken such promises.

This brings to mind Lily Tomlin's remark: "No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." When Republicans managed to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 after 40 years in the minority, they owed the victory in large part to their support for term limits, an idea that was much in vogue. Better yet for them, they got the benefits of that bargain without ever having to subject themselves to it.

John Saunders was advocating for Derek Whittenburg, current Fordham coach, to get a crack at the State coaching job this morning on The Sports Reporters. According to Saunders, Whittenburg hasn't been contacted at all.

State could do worse. Fordham went from 2 wins year before last to 16 wins in Whittenburg's first year. They ought to talk to him.

Whitlock:

Zawahiri's visibility, eclipsing Osama bin Laden's, reminds al-Qaeda's enemies that the network is capable of more attacks. But a closer look at his speeches and writings, and interviews with several longtime associates in radical Islamic circles, suggests another motive: fear of losing his ideological grip over a revolutionary movement he has nurtured for 40 years.

The success of the Sept. 11 hijackings temporarily united al-Qaeda's feuding factions under the leadership of bin Laden and Zawahiri. But now long-standing ideological and tactical disputes have resurfaced, according to analysts and former Zawahiri associates.

Mitchell:

Politicians can raise a lot of money by trading tax loopholes for campaign cash. Lower taxes are a great thing, but carving out special tax shelters for interest groups with richest lobbyists is not a recipe for a pro-growth tax system. Indeed, special tax breaks harm growth, since they lure people into making decisions for tax reasons rather than what makes sense from a business perspective. Not only that, every special tax break creates a risk that politicians will raise tax rates on work, saving and investment to compensate for the foregone revenue.

Seebach:

But when the government makes mistakes, then everybody is required to make them. Even if the government is right sometimes, which certainly happens, the consequences of being wrong are greater. And, Glaeser suggests, as the difficulty of problems increases, and the human ability to solve them decreases, "the quality of government decision-making decreases even faster than the quality of private decision-making."

If public policy mistakes come from the efforts of interest groups to persuade bureaucrats to enact the policies, and certainly some of them do, and if it costs less to persuade a few high-level bureaucrats than millions of consumers or thousands of local officials, then, Glaeser predicts, government decision-making will be particularly flawed.

If I understand this argument correctly, textbooks are an example. A very small number of people decide on statewide textbook adoptions in California and Texas, and what they like, everybody gets. Without them, we'd have better textbooks and a wider variety of textbooks. Publishers would be able to experiment, indeed they'd have to, in order to sell books to thousands of individual school districts, with widely varied opinions about what kind of books are good. Some books would emerge that are better than the government-adopted ones, and their value would be proved by experience.

Strassel:

Overbearing regulators, new corporate governance rules, protectionism, a failing tort system, prosecutors unleashed--these, as (Hank Greenberg) sees them, are the obstacles to corporate greatness.

They are indeed. The bigger picture is that we are competing with China and India and other motivated folks from all over the world who are not handicapped by the same things we are. Regulation is necessary to make the playing field level and when done right enhances the flow of capital since folks are comfortable where there is transparency. However, burdensome regulation because of poorly written laws or regulation to satisfy the career aspirations of bureaucrats harms our companies and markets and people.

WP:

In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer.

Out there, awaiting her building fury: the Angry Left, where O'Connor's reputation is as one of the angriest of all. "One long, sustained scream" is how she describes the writing she does for various Web logs, as she wonders what she should scream about this day.

She smokes a cigarette. Should it be about Bush, whom she considers "malevolent," a "sociopath" and "the Antichrist"? She smokes another cigarette. Should it be about Vice President Cheney, whom she thinks of as "Satan," or about Karl Rove, "the devil"? Should it be about the "evil" Republican Party, or the "weaselly, capitulating, self-aggrandizing, self-serving" Democrats, or the Catholic Church, for which she says "I have a special place in my heart . . . a burning, sizzling, putrescent place where the guilty suffer the tortures of the damned"?

Here's her blog, My Left Wing.

Here's the thing about all the commenters at Kos and Atrios and elsewhere, even if I agree with your positions, I don't want you or anyone answerable to you in power. I can't abide your emotional reactions to problems. Makes me wonder how you'll deal with non-partisan crises.

And yeah, I know there are right-wing ranters. However, ranters seem to be more numerous and more vociferous on the left these days. Maybe it's a function of being out of power. Maybe it's a function of youth. Who knows? But you'd be more effective, if you wouldn't react to every bit of news like a thirteen year-old girl. Or worse, like a thirteen year-old boy who has just learned a few new curse words.

Word Up Dumb Duck post:

Ed Cone: Our country has prospered greatly since the social safety net and other reforms were instituted.

David Boyd: Causality or coincidence?

Cone: Given the length of time involved, and the empirical data available on the economy and standards of living prior to said reforms, coincidence seems unlikely.

Boyd: Many other countries have larger safety nets than we do. Seems that if the safety net was the thing driving prosperity, we'd see them with greater growth rates than the US.

I'm not opposed to social safety nets, but to say that they are responsible for the prosperity of the United States is foolish. Sure Social Security, like all government spending, has economic benefits, but it doesn't drive net growth. If it did, to be rich, all we'd have to do is pass out money.

Update: Turns out Ed doesn't think social safety nets are responsible for the prosperity of the US. His statement means that social safety nets haven't impeded US prosperity.

Beatles:

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet

Crook:

Year in, year out, the median pay of top executives rises much faster than do overall wages and salaries. There is no reason why this should be so -- not if the market for CEOs is working as rigorously as the market for other kinds of labor. But, of course, it is not.

It's a disgrace that these hired guns are pulling down the kind of cash they are, regardless of performance. They're gaming the system and it hurts the country when the people see the supposed champions of capitalism exploiting the system for every last dime. Continue this idiocy and Congress will pass a bad law restricting the market and hurting us in numerous unintended ways. Ironically, it was changes to rules regarding hostile takeovers that got us in this mess. If management is screwing up, shareholders have to have a way to get rid of them if the board won't. How to do this? Change the board.

Peters:

Europe built social mansions on economic quicksand. The blindly praised cradle-to-grave welfare systems of states such as France, Germany or Italy worked - barely - as long as Europeans engaged in protectionism at home, while exploiting captive, neo-colonial markets abroad and fostering global corruption.

Might I add, also worked because of not having to pay for their own defense.

Via Fcneud Snecth:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

AFP:

Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States.

"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.

Alrighty there buddy. Y'all sure got a lot of faith in the goodness of the United States, huh. Instead of going over there, wiping out your leaders, enslaving your people and taking your oil, all we want is for you to be free and democratic and prosperous. Please pardon our magnanimity.

Saw the Cartoon Wars episodes last night. Who would have ever thought that it would be South Park that would be leading the charge for free speech and liberal values instead of the great American newspapers like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Greensboro News & Record.

Update: The funniest part was in part II in Bush's press conference when the Washington press corps kept asking Bush what he planned to do about this first amendment.

Update II: There's an extensive post at Volokh about it.

This is a very cool representation of the insignificant amount of time humans have existed on earth. Via PotatoStew.

Scroll down then scroll over.

I see McCain's name everywhere when it comes to the Republican nomination for '08, but I don't see anyone talking about how old he is. In '08 he'll be 72. Assuming he were to win and then win a second term, he'd be 80 when it ends. If competence is going to be a big theme of the next election, age is going to be a major issue.

AP:

Parker and Stone were angered when told by Comedy Central several weeks ago that they could not run an image of Muhammad, according to a person close to the show who didn't want to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity.

The network's decision was made over concerns for public safety, the person said.

Comedy Central said in a statement issued Thursday: "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision."

I haven't caught the past two South Park episodes yet where this is dealt with, but it's pretty freaking telling about the state of Western culture when there's zero problem mocking George Bush and Jesus Christ in about a vile a manner as you can think of, but Mohammad is completely off limits in any context because a bunch of namby-pamby suits are backed up bumper to bumper on the path of least resistance.

More here.

So I'm at the airport today watching the farce that is the TSA. Why does the government have this zeal to just do something, anything when faced with a problem? Soundbite culture?

Same thing with the useless law that is Sarbanes-Oxley.

How about next time there's a big crisis, we just wait about six months and see if it goes away? During this waiting period, reporters will be lashed for acting indignant and/or trying to make themselves look good by complaining every five minutes about inaction.

I hate the lottery. It's a scam. The state shouldn't sponsor it.

However, I play when they get to $100 mil. Cause if you're going to win, you may as well win big.

Kelly:

Wind power, no. Nuclear power, NO. I really think I'd rather we took the risk of all going out together than that some people somewhere have another Chernobyl so the rest of us can go on plugging in our chargers. De-industrialize? Tear ourselves from the electric tit? Return to a simple agrarian mode of life? Much as I enjoy picturing myself as the stern but benevolent patriarch of a happy little farming community with six comely Amish wenches under me, it seems unlikely.

AP:

Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler said wives and girlfriends had a stormy history during NASCAR's early days and many have been thrown out of tracks because of their behavior.

"That kind of stuff was common back in the old days -- everybody was fighting back then, especially the women," Wheeler said. "But there wasn't the TV coverage we have today, so it wasn't that big of a deal."

Money and TV ruin everything.

Coulter:

America has a seller's market in immigration, but thanks to Teddy Kennedy's 1965 immigration law, we no longer favor skilled workers from developed nations, but instead favor unskilled immigrants from the Third World. Kennedy's bill promptly cut the number of European immigrants in half and increased Third World immigrants to 85 percent of the total.

Not surprisingly, post-1965 immigrants have sharply higher levels of poverty and welfare dependence. Europeans may not seem like ideal new immigrants, but the truth is, if what they want is welfare, they'll stay in France.

It's as if we've got the last Xbox 360s available on Christmas Eve and instead of doubling the price, we're entertaining low-ball offers. Or more accurately, we're paying our customers to take the darn things off our hands — and the customers are still indignant with us.

Karlgaard:

For my money, it is the real reason why Americans feel bad, even in a good economy. It’s all about the pace of change. Which is accelerating.

Maybe. I feel bad because of the unsustainable government spending that is going on and that is coming up in the near future. The problem with most of current spending is that it's not for investment. It's just spending. It may for whatever worthwhile cause you want to mention, but just the same, there is no return. At some point, sooner or later, someone is going to pay.

Update: Kudlow has a post about it.

Miniter:

...health insurers are prohibited from offering coverage that pays for only catastrophic events, such as a serious injury or heart attack. Rules vary by state, but in most places insurers are forced to cover everything from routine checkups to chiropractic care. Remove these mandates, allow deductibles and "copays" to be raised high enough, and in an instant the price for some health plans would fall to about that of dinner out and a movie for two.

The only reason to have health insurance is for catastrophic events. If you could keep the $200 to $800 a month it costs you and your employer to cover you and your family, you could afford to pay for an office visit.

Hillyer:

Right reason is on the retreat, the American conservative movement is splintered, the national Republican Party (especially its congressional wing) is virtually useless -- and the rest of the West seems on a quest (this is no jest) to do its best to invest the rest of its capital in a viper's nest of statist, defeatist policies that in no way pass the test of success. All of which, of course, leaves too many national economies (and their cultures) depressed.

You know what it is? You know why socialism keeps advancing and government keeps getting bigger? Motivation. The folks inclined to advocate for big government think they'll get something out of it. So they keep hammering. Folks inclined to advocate for limited government get nada. All they're asking for is to be left alone.

Alright. Saw this linked to by Instapundit and Volokh.

Silverman and Mandel:

Oprah Winfrey is a rich woman – and she's got no problem with that.

Speaking in Baltimore on Monday at a fundraiser for Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Winfrey told the audience, "I have lots of things, like all these Manolo Blahniks. I have all that and I think it's great. I'm not one of those people like, 'Well, we must renounce ourselves.' No, I have a closet full of shoes and it's a good thing."

Winfrey, 52, who is reportedly worth more than $1 billion, said she doesn't feel guilty about her wealth. "I was coming back from Africa on one of my trips," she said. "I had taken one of my wealthy friends with me. She said, 'Don't you just feel guilty? Don't you just feel terrible?' I said, 'No, I don't. I do not know how me being destitute is going to help them.' Then I said when we got home, 'I'm going home to sleep on my Pratesi sheets right now and I'll feel good about it.' "

Somebody quipped that Oprah will be having the book club read Ayn Rand next. We can only hope.

Individuals being successful is what leads to higher standards of living for everyone. How is it possible in the first place that Canada is able to give away drugs that help people? Because companies trying to make a profit and people trying to make a living invented them.

Yes!

Bartlett:

...24 percent of people think all taxes should take less than 10 percent of a person's income. Another 43 percent think they should take less than 20 percent. And an additional 22 percent of people think the tax burden should be no more than 30 percent of income.

In other words, two-thirds of Americans think that 19 percent is the most anyone should pay, and 90 percent think that a tax rate of 29 percent should be the maximum.

However, Americans also think the government should pay for their healthcare and drugs and retirement and schooling and on and on. Why the disconnect? Maybe people think the other guy is paying more than they are. Maybe they think legions of government bureaucrats deliver services more effectively and efficiently than the private sector. Maybe they think space aliens will drop in and whisk all aging baby boomers away to Omega 3 before they can begin drawing social security.

Rockingham represents tonight! Awesome, baby! His best performance by far. That was great. He'll be here another week.

Boo Simon. Mediocre. Yeah, right.

Update: Oh what the hell. Let's do 'em all.

Ace: Whatever. Send him home.

Kellie: She seemed terrified for the first couple of lines, but the hard section brought it home. Very cool. I liked when she strained a little. Reminded me of Kim Carnes.

Chris: Brian May and Chris looked natural together. Like the beard too. At this point, maybe Chris ought to just ditch the show and go on tour.

Commercial break. Via Althouse. This guy has the mp3s up already.

Katharine: Pretty good. I think it could've been great if she'd had another week to work on it.

Elliott: More than all the rest, makes me realize the gap between everyone on this show (but Chris) and Freddie Mercury. His singing was fine. No problem. But it's so much more than that. You've got to be larger than life.

Taylor: He's an entertainer. Can't you see him in a casino for the next four decades?

Paris: She looks different. Wow. I'll really like her if she'll drop acting like a little kid. She pulls it off. Whoa. I'm impressed. But she goes back to talking like a baby. It's not endearing. It's freaking irritating.

AP:

Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard engaged

Sarsgaard? Peter? That's carrying this Brokeback thing a bit far, huh, Jake?

Fortunately Jake has a sister, Maggie. For a minute there I thought we were striking back against the Academy.

Krauthammer:

The spirit of this revolution is embodied most perfectly in the slogan on many placards: CONTRE LA PRECARITE, or "Against Precariousness." The precariousness of being subject to being fired. The precariousness of the untenured life, even if the work is boring and the boss no longer wants you. And ultimately, the precariousness of life itself, any weakening of the government guarantee of safety, conformity, regularity.

Inspiring, huh?

I posted this story in the comments at Lenslinger's recently. Having failed to generate even so much as a 'Heh,' I'm putting it up here.

A former juvenile parole officer, who is a friend of mine, had a case out toward Caswell County. Family was about as backwards and as extended as they come - outhouses, chickens in the yard, second cousin on the couch pregnant and so on. He got along great with the kid who he was assigned to and he often dropped in. One day, shortly after my buddy had moved from Graham to Elon, he goes to see this kid and the kid's father won't hardly look at him. This goes on for a while and puzzles my friend greatly. Finally he's able to get the parolee alone and asks about the father's behavior. Reluctantly the kid reveals, "Deddy put a root on you."

"A what?"

"A root. Deddy put a root on you."

"Is that some kind of voodoo thing?"

"Don't know. But you cursed now. It ain't safe to talk to you no more."

"Why'd he put a root on me?"

"He won't say, but he thinks you're getting kind of uppity."

Stumbled across An Evening with Kevin Smith last night. I watched a couple of hours of it. It's about four hours long and it's Smith on a college tour telling stories and taking questions. It's hilarious.

What it basically comes down to is Kevin Smith on stage describing how Hollywood, the entertainment industry and wannabe celebrities and power brokers take themselves too seriously. You'd think they'd get a clue after someone goofs on them, but they don't. Fortunate I suppose. Otherwise mockery would be more difficult.

USA Today:

•Ace Young, We Will Rock You: "I urbanized the verses a little, just by riding on (the notes). I put a little R&B soul on it. When we were done, they said, 'That sounds like a record.' "

•Bucky Covington, Fat Bottomed Girls: "Yes, we all love the fat-bottomed girls."

•Chris Daughtry, Innuendo: "It's a relatively unknown song. It just had a mixture of a dark feel and a positive message. And I just found out they've never performed this live."

•Elliott Yamin, Somebody to Love: "I was drawn to the passionate emotion of the song. I heard a lot of soul in it."

•Katharine McPhee, Who Wants to Live Forever: "How could (this) not be fun? We're working with so many different leg