But George Bush's contemporaneous announcement of the repeal of an executive order on off-shore drilling didn't have anything to do with the 13.5% drop in oil prices.

Oil prices tumbled more than $3 a barrel Tuesday as Tropical Storm Dolly grew increasingly unlikely to threaten supply, knocking out one more reason traders had to prop up prices.

The sell-off was a throwback to last week's sharp declines, and dragged crude to its lowest level since early June. A stronger dollar helped keep prices in check.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $3.09 to settle at $127.95 a barrel in its last trading day on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier the contract, which will be replaced by September crude Wednesday, dropped as low as $125.63. It was crude's fourth decline in the last five sessions.

So, the notion that drilling here immediately will decrease gas prices is a hoax. Speaker Pelosi? If so, then why is the mere hint of doing so depressing oil prices, as well as strengthening the dollar and the stock market?

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Who writes these headlines, anyway?

6-legged deer an unusual sight

Yeah -- more than four is definitely an unusual sight.

Found in today's Rome News from Rome, Georgia.

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No, not for talk radio.

For the pages of the New York Times.

An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.

'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'

Oh -- the decision was made by a former White House staffer during the Clinton Administration. He's the same guy who approved Barack Obama's piece to which McCain was responding. Nothing suspicious there -- just move along.

The paper is, of course, continuing to defend itself. And some journalists are supporting them. But others are not.

But it does raise an interesting question -- why doesn't a piece by one candidate rebutting the views of another candidate expressed in your editorial pages constitute an acceptable response?

McCain's piece is below the fold (twice in one day -- and I almost never go below the fold!) -- and in the New York Post.

Others commenting include MVRWC, Patterico, Malkin, Political Radar, Don Surber, Gay Patriot, Wolf Howling, Election HQ, LGF (noting that NYT won't publish McCain, but will publish Hamas), AOSHQ, Hot Air more...

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Adding more capacity that the aggregate capacity of the next 14 states combined!

Texas officials gave the go-ahead Thursday to the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring pollution-free energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.

Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and wind supporters say Thursday's move by the Public Utility Commission will make the Lone Star State a leader in moving energy to the urban areas that need electricity.

"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."

Once again, it is up to Texas to lead the way in the search for energy resources for our country -- this has the potential to be the Spindletop of wind energy.

Too bad certain a certain liberal Senator from a very blue state can't accept a little inconvenience in behalf of energy independence. Typical lib-ocrite.

And by the way -- while this is great, it is only one part of the solution.

We need to increase nuclear power.

And tap the oil resources of ANWR and the outer continental shelf.

DRILL HERE!

DRILL NOW!

Posted by: Greg at 07:04 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, I guess we now understand why the high priests of the Church of Global Warming proposed the imprisonment of those heretics who reject their dogma -- because many of the experts in the field of climate studies don't support the theory! There's no better way to stop dissent than to jail the dissenters.

Well now the cat is out of the bag.

The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming.  The APS is also sponsoring public debate on the validity of global warming science.  The leadership of the society had previously called the evidence for global warming "incontrovertible."

In a posting to the APS forum, editor Jeffrey Marque explains,"There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution."

The APS is opening its debate with the publication of a paper by Lord Monckton of Brenchley, which concludes that climate sensitivity -- the rate of temperature change a given amount of greenhouse gas will cause -- has been grossly overstated by IPCC modeling.   A low sensitivity implies additional atmospheric CO2 will have little effect on global climate.

Larry Gould, Professor of Physics at the University of Hartford and Chairman of the New England Section of the APS, called Monckton's paper an "expose of the IPCC that details numerous exaggerations and "extensive errors"

So you see, there is considerable disagreement among those who study the issue -- including over the validity of the models put forward by the followers of the Wamingist cult to support their religious beliefs that man is destroying the planet. And now that the Warmingists have tried to claim consensus, those who have a more rational view are beginning to publish materials that disprove the alleged scientific basis of the false dogma around which Warmingists have claimed consensus.

Carbon Sasquatch Al Gore was too busy selling carbon indulgences to comment.

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Putting every gay marriage in a sort of legal limbo when it passes.

The California Supreme Court has cleared the way for Californians to vote in November on whether to ban same-sex marriages in the state.

The court on Wednesday denied a petition to remove the initiative from the state's general election ballots. The unanimous decision was handed down without elaboration.

Hundreds of marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples since mid-June, a month after the court overturned the state's laws against such unions.

However, on June 2, opponents of same-sex marriage filed for a ballot initiative that would ban such marriages in the state's constitution. Such a ban would overturn the court's May ruling.

Interestingly enough, by making it state policy that such marriages are not recognized by the state of California (which is arguably already the law in the state -- California voters passed precisely such a measure several years ago, though the will of the people was ignored by the California Supreme Court in its ruling this spring), the status of marriage entered between June 17 and the passage of this measure is quite tenuous. After all, the effect of the law may well be to derecognize same-sex California marriages entered into during that time, as well as prevent future ones.

Expect some fum litigation to come out of this if it passes.

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The governor of Illinois is talking about deploying troops in the streets of an American city to deal with rising violent crime.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday raised the possibility of bringing in state troopers or even the Illinois National Guard to help Chicago combat a recent increase in violent crime -- an offer that Mayor Richard Daley didn't know was coming.

Appearing at signing ceremony for a bill that toughens the penalty for adults who provide guns to minors, Blagojevich said "violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control."

"I'm offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help ... stop this violence," said the governor.

Blagojevich said Daley had not asked for help and he had not talked to the mayor about offering it, adding he would call Daley after he met later in the day with the state police, National Guard and others.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to submit to you that the city of Chicago is not worth the life of a single member of the US military -- active duty, reserve, or National Guard. Chicago did not attack us on 9/11, and those who flew the planes that day were not Chicagoans. Al-Qaeda is not in Chicago, and deploying troops in a location where it is clear that there exists a state of civil war is foolish and not in the best interests of the United States or the state of Illinois.

I therefore think it is imperative that we find out immediately -- what is Barack Obama's exit strategy from Chicago? What is his timetable for withdrawal of US forces? I realize that such a withdrawal may result in increased violence and perhaps genocide -- but abandoning the city to its own devices is the only proper course of action.

NO WAR FOR DEEP-DISH PIZZA!

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Especially since I teach high school, I find the notion of an adult wanting to have sex with a teenager to be repulsive. And I certainly don't understand the idea of luring victims via the internet -- both because it is disgusting AND because it is well, known that the cops troll chat rooms looking for pedophiles.

But to show up for your rendezvous wearing this particular item is even sicker.

33-year-old Michigan man is accused of wearing a "World's Greatest Dad" shirt to a meeting for sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Daniel Allen Everett of Clarkston was arraigned Tuesday in Novi on charges of child sexual abuse and using the Internet to attempt child sexual abuse.

Here's hoping that this sick puppy spends many years in jail -- where Everett will no doubt spend much of his time answering his cellmate when he asks the question "Who's your daddy?"

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After all, can't St. Vincent's Hospital do its charity work somewhere else? You know -- so that second-rate performers like Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins don't actually have to see or come in contact with such peasants in their daily lives.

"The hospital provides $40 million in care to the indigent every year," one proponent told us. "Robbins dismissed more than 100 people rallying in support of the hospital - low-income, union workers and veterans of the AIDS crisis - as 'those people out there.' " Sarandon said in a statement: "Improving the hospital is a great idea. However, this can be accomplished without compromising the neighborhood. St. Vincent's should consider the proposed alternative solutions."

Seems to me that "those people out there" -- and the rest of us -- need to make sure that we don't spend any money watching these snooty liberals who put buildings and personal convenience above actual human beings in need of medical care.

And I wonder -- since this pair are supporters of Barack Obama who have threatened to leave America if he loses, what does the candidate have to say about their hope that the city will make the hospital change its plans to suit their NIMBYism?

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Because they would be neither practical nor possible without the improvement in the security situation in that country brought by the Surge of a year ago.

The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.

Such a withdrawal would be a striking reversal from the nadir of the war in 2006 and 2007.

* * *

Although no decision has been made, by the time President Bush leaves office on Jan. 20, at least one and as many as 3 of the 15 combat brigades now in Iraq could be withdrawn or at least scheduled for withdrawal, the officials said.

The desire to move more quickly reflects the view of many in the Pentagon who want to ease the strain on the military but also to free more troops for Afghanistan and potentially other missions.

And while that withdrawal would make it possible to draw down troops to next to nothing in the sixteen month time frame set by Barack Obama, it also demonstrates something else -- namely that the withdrawal is possible because of the success of the policies of the Bush Administration, not their failure.

Another sign of the improvement is this tidbit from the Maliki government.

The green zone of Baghdad, a highly fortified slice of American suburbia on the banks of the Tigris river, may soon be handed over to Iraqi control if the increasingly assertive government of Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, gets its way.

A senior Iraqi government official said this weekend the enclave should revert to Iraqi control by the end of the year. “We think that by the end of 2008 all the zones in Baghdad should be integrated into the city,” said Ali Dabbagh, the government’s spokesman.

“The American soldiers should be based in agreed camps outside the cities and population areas.

“By the end of the year, there will be no green zone,” he added. “The separation by huge walls makes people feel angry.” Dabbagh acknowledged that getting rid of the green zone would be a huge undertaking, given the thousands of American soldiers, private contractors and foreign workers who live inside. He said the concrete walls that divide it from the rest of the city would be taken down slowly, “depending on the threat and circumstances”.

Translation: Baghdad is sufficiently pacified and and the terrorists sufficiently crippled for the American-trained Iraqi forces to take over many of the duties that had formerly been handled by Americans -- and to eliminate some of the extreme security measures that had been necessary up to this time.

In other words -- we are winning.

Posted by: Greg at 01:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Over the course of his decades as a surgeon and researcher, it is hard to argue that any single individual made contributions to the progress of medicine in the twentieth century than Dr. Michael DeBakey, who passed away last night at the age of 99.

Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey, internationally acclaimed as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery — and considered by many to be the greatest surgeon ever — died Friday night at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was 99.

Methodist officials said DeBakey died of natural causes. They gave no additional details.

Medical statesman, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, and a surgeon at The Methodist Hospital since 1949, DeBakey trained thousands of surgeons over several generations, achieving legendary status decades before his death. During his career, he estimated he had performed more than 60,000 operations. His patients included the famous — Russian President Boris Yeltsin and movie actress Marlene Dietrich among them — and the uncelebrated.

"Dr. DeBakey singlehandedly raised the standard of medical care, teaching and research around the world," said Dr. George Noon, a cardiovascular surgeon and longtime partner of DeBakey's. "He was the greatest surgeon of the 20th century, and physicians everywhere are indebted to him for his contributions to medicine."

Living here in the Houston area, one cannot help but be struck by the fact that this man was not merely respected by this community, but truly loved as one of the most important individuals in this community. His work went a long way towards putting Houston on the map as a center of medical excellence, and the people of Houston never forgot that. And may I add that it is no accident that HISD's magnificent magnet school for young people interested in entering the health professions is called the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions.

Dr. DeBakey's death will leave a void in our community -- and a standard of excellence towards which future generations of medical professionals in this community will strive.

Posted by: Greg at 02:11 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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For a long time, there were only two individuals who attracted me t to FoxNews -- Brit Hume and Tony Snow.

Sadly, this morning's perusal of the Web brings reports of the death of one of those men -- consummate commentator and former White House press secretary Tony Snow.

Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53.

''America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character,'' President Bush said in a statement from Camp David, where he was spending the weekend. ''It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work.''

Snow, who served as the first host of the television news program ''Fox News Sunday'' from 1996 to 2003, would later say that in the Bush administration he was enjoying ''the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have.''

Snow provided what I believe to be the only effective service by a press secretary during the Bush Administration. His wit, feistiness, and charm, coupled with a command of the facts, made him the standard to which future press secretaries should aspire.

It is sad to see him leave us too young.

May God care for and comfort his family at this time.

Posted by: Greg at 01:49 AM | Comments (66) | Add Comment
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And end the scourge of unsanctioned Wiffle ball in their midst!

Seems the kids built their field on overgrown town property, and the neighbors don't like them having healthy, outdoor recreation near their homes.

Vincent Provenzano, 16 years old, experienced his Kevin Costner moment one Sunday afternoon in May after a thrilling day of Wiffle ball in a friend’s backyard. He came home, gazed at a field of weeds, brush and poison ivy in an empty lot off Riverside Lane, turned to his friend Justin Currytto, 17, and proclaimed: “If we build it, they will come.”

After three weeks of clearing brush and poison ivy, scrounging up plywood and green paint, digging holes and pouring concrete, Vincent, Justin and about a dozen friends did manage to build it — a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.

But, alas, they had no idea just who would come — youthful Wiffle ball players, yes, but also angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes. It turns out that one kid’s field of dreams is an adult’s dangerous nuisance, liability nightmare, inappropriate usurpation of green space, unpermitted special use or drag on property values, and their Wiffle-ball Fenway has become the talk of Greenwich and a suburban Rorschach test about youthful summers past and present.

“People can remember how much fun it was to go out in the woods in the summer, build a fort, do something fun and creative, so there’s something pretty cool in what these kids did, especially at a time kids grow up in such an incredibly structured and stressful environment,” said Lin Lavery, one of three Greenwich selectmen, who inherited Wifflegate while the first selectman, Greenwich’s version of mayor, is on vacation.

“But we have a situation that’s escalated,” Ms. Lavery said. “Neighbors are upset that it’s too close to their property; building has been done on town property; there are issues of traffic and drainage. We’re hoping to come up with a compromise, but there are a lot of issues to address.”

Actually, it strikes me that there is only one -- the fact that we as a society have moved so far from the standards that were in place a mere three or four decades ago, when the town's mayor would have patted the kids on their backs for their initiative and improvement of the property. The town would then bring it up to snuff -- having told the neighbors that this was an improvement and an amenity for the city, not a public nuisance.

Alas, we are now in a different, litigious age when NIMBYs with clout are able to strike down things that benefit the public -- whether those are US Senators shutting down wind turbines needed to establish energy independence because they would create a barely discernible smudge on the horizon, or neighbors who are worried that letting the towns young people engage in healthy, wholesome recreational activities might disturb their own serenity.

Posted by: Greg at 01:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Since the Democrats are nominating a black man, the Democrat convention will be blacked out.

"This is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the White community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "Whites have fallen in love with John McCainÂ’s family, his candidacy Â… we will be covering the Republican convention all the time."

But Barack Obama shouldnÂ’t expect the same treatment. The network doesnÂ’t plan any coverage of the Democrat convention.

"We are not a news organization," said Rodgers, speaking at the opening session of the semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills. "We are a television network designed to celebrate White achievement."

"My audience is 93% White," Rodgers added. "I serve my audience."

It is, of course, shocking that such racism still exists in this country today, and that any cable system will carry this disgusting network espousing racial separatism. Such attitudes are unAmerican -- and I hope that the governing authorities which granted cable franchises to the companies that carry TV One will dump those revoke them for carrying Grand Dragon Rodgers' foul station.

Oh, wait a minute.

it seems that a correction has just come over in when I refreshed my browser. Here's the actual story.

"This is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "African Americans have fallen in love with Barack ObamaÂ’s family, his candidacy Â… we will be covering the democratic convention all the time."

But John McCain shouldnÂ’t expect the same treatment. The network doesnÂ’t plan any coverage of the Republican convention.

"We are not a news organization," said Rodgers, speaking at the opening session of the semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills. "We are a television network designed to celebrate African American achievement."

"My audience is 93% black," Rodgers added. "I serve my audience."

Well I guess that makes all the difference in the world. Rogers isn't a malignant racist -- he's just promoting cultural pride. Funny how the mere substitution of white and black takes such actions from "beyond the pale" racism to politically correct, isn't it.

So remember, folks -- black pride good, white pride bad. After all, it is a scientifically proven fact that lack of melanin causes racism.

But I do have a question -- will this wall-to-wall coverage of one convention but not the other be treated as an illegal corporate campaign contribution, since Grand Dragon Rodgers' TV One network is not, by his own admission, a news organization?

H/T Gateway Pundit

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There was a time when no respectable publisher would touch such a book. There was a time when no respectable retailer would carry such a book. There was a time when no respectable human being would read such a book.

It appears that such days are gone.

A major book publisher is planning to release a sexually provocative, fictionalized novel loosely based on First Lady Laura Bush's life during the first week of September - a date that conveniently coincides with the Republican National Convention.

Radar Magazine said Curtis Sittenfield's latest tome American Wife, to be published by Random House, 'is sure to send the White House into a fury.'

Of course, it is "just fiction" -- but the main character is explicitly based upon the current First Lady. More to the point, an unfortunate interpretation of libel law effectively forbids any legal action to slap down this sort of nonsense casting a woman of high moral values in a most unseemly light.

Seems to me that the time has come to bring back the venerable old practice of a defamed and offended lady's husband thrashing tracking down such a poltroon and thrashing him to within an inch of his life in the street while the public watches justice being served.

UPDATE: Looks like the sluttiest columnist at the New York Times, who publicly expressed her desire to trade places with Monica during the presidency of BJ Billy, thinks that a fictionalized account of incest, lesbianism, and other sexual acts involving the First Lady "a well-researched book that imagines what lies behind that placid facade of the first lady". I'd ask if Dowd had any decency -- but we already know the answer.

Malkin wonders why the standard for Laura Bush is different from teh standard for Michelle Obama

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About ten years ago, a student from my high school was killed in a robbery. There was outrage over the incident -- especially over the fact that the man who admitted killing the teen was never arrested or prosecuted for the murder.

I'll never forget the anguished words of one of the dead teen's classmates --"I don't know why that man had to shoot him -- he was only trying to rob the gas station!"

Yeah, that's right. Folks were upset because the clerk at the gas station used a legal gun to shoot down an armed robber.

Which brings me to this case.

The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn't have pulled the trigger.

According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money from the employee behind the counter. When they tried to force John Lovell into the bathroom, he pulled out a gun and shot both men, police said.

Donicio Arrindell, 22, was shot in the head and later died at the hospital. Fredrick Gadson, 21, was shot in the chest and ran from the Subway, but police found him in hiding in some bushes on the property of a nearby BankAtlantic.

* * *

Gadson's grandparents told Local 10 on Thursday that Lovell was wrong for pulling the trigger.

"He should not have taken the law in his hands," said Rosa Jones, Gadson's grandmother.

Her husband, Ivory Jones, also condemned the media for its portrayal of Lovell's actions.

"I don't condone what they did, (but) I definitely don't condone the news people making him out to seem like they're making a hero out of this man because he shot somebody down," he said

Un-freakin'-believable! These folks are blaming the victim for defending himself from their criminal grandson and his thug-buddy.

Ivory and Rosa Jones are nothing but trash -- low-class, no-account trash, utterly lacking in morals and sense.

But I will agree with their one comment -- John Lovell shouldn't be a hero. What he should be is an example to every single American of how they should respond to crimes committed by punks like Donicio Arrindell and Fredrick Gadson. What he did should be the ordinary response to crime, not an extraordinary one. The fate of Donicio Arrindell and Fredrick Gadson should be the common result of criminal activity, not something that is newsworthy because it is unusual.

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A Harris County grand jury has declined to indict Joe Horn for killing two guys robbing a neighbor's house.

A Harris County grand jury decided today that Joe Horn should not be charged with a crime for shooting two suspected burglars he confronted outside his neighbor's home in Pasadena last fall.

The decision to clear Horn of wrongdoing came two weeks after the grand jury began considering evidence in the case, including Horn's testimony last week.

Horn, a 62-year-old retiree, became the focus of an intense public debate after the Nov. 14 shootings. Many supporters praised him as a hero for using deadly force to protect property, while others dismissed him as a killer who should have heeded a 911 operator's instructions to stay in his house and wait for police.

One of the key details in the case?

Pasadena police Capt. A.H. "Bud" Corbett said a few weeks after the shooting that a plainclothes detective had parked in front of Horn's house in response to the 911 call. He said the detective saw the men between Horn's house and his neighbor's before they crossed into Horn's front yard.

It appeared that neither Horn nor the men knew a police officer was present, Corbett said.

"It was over within seconds. The detective never had time to say anything before the shots were fired," Corbett said. "At first, the officer was assessing the situation. Then he was worried Horn might mistake him for the 'wheel man' (getaway driver). He ducked at one point."

When Horn confronted the suspects in his yard, he raised his shotgun to his shoulder, Corbett said. However the men ignored his order to freeze.

Corbett said one man ran toward Horn, but had angled away from him toward the street when he was shot in the back just before reaching the curb.

"The detective confirmed that this suspect was actually closer to Horn after he initiated his run than at the time when first confronted," said Corbett. "Horn said he felt in jeopardy."

What really needs to be looked into here is why the cop sat in front of the house watching rather than confronting the robbers. The city council in Pasadena may need to investigate that -- and do a thorough housecleaning.

My hope is that the next move is a lawsuit against the families of Diego Ortiz and Hernando Riascos Torres, seeking recovery of all legal fees that have been incurred by Mr. Horn -- and restitution for the good ammunition that Joe Horn had to use on these thieving illegal aliens who died as a result of their own felonious conduct.

Great commentary on this decision here.

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It isn't quite the sort of departure that Andrew Carnegie did when he quit running his steel company to become a philanthropist, but Bill Gates is doing something similar at Microsoft.

On his final full day at Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates went on stage to reminisce with his longtime friend Steve Ballmer, and neither man could hold back tears as Ballmer handed Gates a large scrapbook as a farewell present.

Gates, who is stepping back to focus on his philanthropy, sat with CEO Ballmer in a Microsoft conference room and meandered through moments in Microsoft's history. They stopped to get in a few good digs at IBM Corp., whose first personal computers were loaded with Microsoft's DOS operating system before IBM adopted its own operating software and their relations strained.

Frankly, I see this as a good thing. After all, as long as Bill gates remains the driving force at Microsoft, there is really only a single ultimate source of the vision for the company. On the other hand, this change could spur more and better ideas from the company that now dominates the software world.

And let us have no doubt about the importance of Bill gates.

I'm sitting at a computer using a Microsoft operating system, a Microsoft office suite, and at least one peripheral that is a Microsoft product. There is literally nothing I do on this computer that does not intimately involve Microsoft products -- and that is true of most computers in the country. Not bad for a college drop-out.

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I've avoided engaging in the Tim Russert hagiography seen in the media over the last ten days, but I do want to comment on this decision by the folks at NBC News.

Tom Brokaw will replace Tim Russert as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” through the November presidential election, the network announced today.

Brokaw, 68, filled in for the first post-Russert week. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams was the host today, and revealed Russert's interim successor during the broadcast.

NBC News President Steve Capus said: "A lot has been said in recent days about what 'Meet the Press' means to NBC News and to the nation. To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers."

NBCÂ’s plans for a successor to Russert, who died two weeks ago after collapsing at the networkÂ’s Washington bureau, have been the subject of hot speculation. The interim plan gives network executives time to figure out how to preserve the showÂ’s prestige and profitability for the long run.

Frankly, it is the right choice. Love him or hate him, it was always hard not to respect Tom Brokaw. In retirement, he is a voice of reason and something approaching objectivity. In this time of crisis for the network (but not, as some would paint it, for America as a whole), the decision to make him the interim moderator of Meet the Press is a good one. As a known quantity, it signals that there will not be many changes during the run-up tot he presidential election.

There is another reason that this is a good choice. CBS really does not have a successor to Russert waiting in the wings. Chris Matthews? Keith Olbermann? Dan Abrams? Certainly not. Brian Williams? Maybe, but who would take the nightly newscast? By giving themselves six months or longer to consider the best direction, the network will likely be able to preserve the Meet the Press brand. In the end, that isn't just good journalism -- it is also good business.

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One of the venerable names in the free email business will be coming back -- and will be joined by a new domain, ymail.com -- under a new plan announced by Yahoo.

Rocketmail has been dormant since Yahoo purchased Four11 Corp in 1997, with no new registrations allowed once Yahoo began offering Yahoo email addresses. Ymail is a totally new domain.

Why the change? Because Yahoo has run out of desirable email addresses at its original domain. After all, to sign up now for a yahoo,com address is to get what you want with some random string of numbers attached to the end -- making the addresses difficult to remember. Yahoo clearly hopes that the newly available addresses will increase its share of the freemail market, with its lucrative advertising revenue.

Posted by: Greg at 10:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Or are you just glad to see me?

Police say a cook at a New York restaurant was arrested after coworkers allegedly caught him trying to hide 15 lobster tails in his pants.

Investigators said they found Raymundo Flores, 40, with 15 frozen lobster tails stuffed into his pants and bandages on his legs after two of Flores' coworkers at Junior's Restaurant in the city's Brooklyn borough caught him taking the tails and called 911, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Two points.

1) Would you want to eat anything that had been stuffed down your pants to get it home?

2) I suppose he had to be satisfied with the lobster tails -- trying to smuggle live lobsters this way has its own punishment.

Posted by: Greg at 10:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I don't know about you, but I see a resemblance.

One of them is an Afghan warlord who hates America and denigrates the troops -- the other is a hack sports reporter turned television blowhard who does the same.

Separated at birth? You decide -- but it would help support the theory that Bush Derangement Syndrome is congenital.

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Are they out of their friggin' minds? I don't give a rat's hindquarters why this punk burned down the historic building -- the "young, politically-motivated male" -- burned down the Governor's mansion. Indeed, I denounce him and his motivation right now, without knowing a thing about it.

A young male may have been politically motivated when he set fire to the Governor's Mansion June 8, state officials speculated Monday.

State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado issued two appeals Monday — one to the public with a Texas Crime Stoppers $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and another directly to the person responsible for the fire, which caused major damage to the 152-year-old mansion.

Maldonado said investigators figure the arsonist's actions conveyed a message and want him to contact them.

"We do feel that you have a message, and we would like to hear from you," Maldonado said. "We are not quite sure what that message is. But please contact us."

Maldonado promised the arsonist that state officials "will listen to your message."

You know, Tim McVeigh and Osama bin Ladin had messages, too. Neither deserved an audience, due to the methods by which they were communicated. Neither does this guy.

And as an aside, the official description of the arsonist eliminates my prime suspect. After all, despite his anger management problem and propensity to threaten political opponents with violence (as well as to violate federal law), he is certainly NOT young.

Posted by: Greg at 04:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Take agricultural and other organic waste and convert it to petroleum!

“Ten years ago I could never have imagined I’d be doing this,” says Greg Pal, 33, a former software executive, as he squints into the late afternoon Californian sun. “I mean, this is essentially agriculture, right? But the people I talk to – especially the ones coming out of business school – this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into.”

He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.

Unbelievably, this is not science fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world”.

Mr Pal is a senior director of LS9, one of several companies in or near Silicon Valley that have spurned traditional high-tech activities such as software and networking and embarked instead on an extraordinary race to make $140-a-barrel oil (£70) from Saudi Arabia obsolete. “All of us here – everyone in this company and in this industry, are aware of the urgency,” Mr Pal says.

Think about it -- stuff which goes to waste now will go into your gas tank. Heck, imagine if we could just get these critters to excrete the stuff already refined.

But one has to ask -- will the environmental scaremongers seek to block this method of petroleum creation with scare-stories about genetic engineering?

Posted by: Greg at 04:16 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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And then revoke his passport.

Maybe he can harangue the Red Chinese dictators for being the biggest emitters of so-called "greenhouse gases" in the world!

China has now clearly overtaken the United States as the world's leading emitter of climate-warming gases, a new study has found. The increasing emissions from China - up 8 percent in the past year - accounted for two-thirds of the growth in global greenhouse gas emissions in 2007, the study found.

The report, released Friday by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, is an annual study. Last year, for the first time, the researchers found that China had edged ahead of the United States as the world's leading emitter.

I suppose the only problem with my plan is that the rulers of Red China are even less tolerant of dissent than Gore is. I can only imagine their response to his efforts. It might look something like this.

Posted by: Greg at 04:11 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Shocking and sad.

Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.

Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.

Let's be real honest here -- Russert generally tried to be fair. And regardless, it is impossible to see his death as anything other than tragic, given his relatively young age. Let our prayers go out to his family, friends, and co-workers, in particular to his wife, Maureen Orth (of Vanity Fair magazine) and son, Luke -- as well as his father, "Big Russ".

UPDATE: Tom Brokaw announces the death of Tim Russert.

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One more example of how environmentalism run wild is a threat to human needs.

Two conservation groups plan to sue to protect polar bears from petroleum exploration and drilling off Alaska's coast.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment gave the federal government formal notice Monday that they will sue under the Endangered Species Act to protect the bears, which were listed as threatened last month by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

Polar bears are threatened -- likely to become endangered -- because their sea ice habitat has melted dramatically and computer models predict further losses, Kempthorne said. Polar bears use sea ice for mating, denning and hunting.

Kempthorne said the best scientific judgments did not conclude that polar bears were threatened by oil and gas development.

The conservation groups do not agree.

Of course, there is no real threat to the polar bears, whose population has been expanding. But the willingness of the Bush Administration to make the faulty classification of the bears as threatened now threatens America's energy independence and national security.

After all, one group recently indicated its intent to start challenging projects it considers "global warming threats" ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY as threatening the polar bear's habitat in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Two things need to happen here.

First, the Bush Administration needs to admit its error and remove the polar bear from the threatened list.

Second, the Endangered Species Act needs to be amended to put human needs first -- or better yet, it needs to be repealed completely.

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This is one of those stories that takes on a different hue because it is not just a national in scope, but also local -- after all Galveston is just a few miles down the road from where I type this post.

And so it is with sadness and admiration that I note the passing of Roger Stone, who saved two fellow sailors at the cost of his own life on a boat owned by Texas A&M at Galveston.

A college student who survived a boat sinking with four others said Monday that a safety officer who died on their boat was a hero for staying behind and pushing him out.

Steven Guy, a Texas A&M University sailor, said Roger Stone saved him and another sailor by helping them to safety.

"He is my hero," Guy said. "He saved me. If it wasn't for him, I would not be here."

The group never saw Stone after he pushed the two men out of a hatch in the boat, the mariners said. Stone, the boat's second safety officer, was found dead by the Coast Guard on Sunday afternoon.

The two men said they spent a day in open water after their vessel sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

The survivors -- four university students and a safety officer -- told the Coast Guard they were forced off their sailboat after it took on water and capsized early Saturday.

The five survivors were found and airlifted to land around 2 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard said.

Stone sacrificed himself so that the other sailors, students from the university, might live. But on a day to day basis, his job was to safeguard those others. By all accounts he did it well -- and in the end, without regard for his own life. May he rest in peace.

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One in four New Yorkers has herpes!

A city Health Department study finds that more than a fourth of adult New Yorkers are infected with the virus that causes genital herpes.

The study, released Monday, says about 26 percent of New York City adults have genital herpes, compared to about 19 percent nationwide.

The department says genital herpes can double a person's risk for contracting HIV.

Herpes can cause painful sores, but most people have no recognizable symptoms.

Among New Yorkers, the herpes rate is higher among women, black people and gay men.

You know what? There are some good reasons to engage in monogamous relationships with partners you know are not infected. Anyone familiar with the rates of multiple sex partners among the groups with the highest rates of infection? And want to bet we would find a correlation?

Posted by: Greg at 07:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No details yet, but what we do know is that the pre-Civil War structure was reported burning this morning around 1:45 AM Central Time and that it apparently has suffered "extraordinary, bordering on catastrophic," damage.

An early morning, four-alarm fire caused extensive damage to the Governor's Mansion today. But no one was in the building, which has been closed several months for renovation.

Gov. Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, are in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing up a weeklong, trade-related trip to Europe.

Damage to the 150-year-old historic structure is "extraordinary, bordering on catastrophic," including a partially collapsed roof, said Perry spokesman Robert Black.

Security officers staying on the grounds in a carriage house discovered the fire, and when the first firefighters arrived about 1:45 a.m., the fire already had spread to the second floor and the ceiling.

About 100 firefighters responded; none were injured, Black said.

The state Fire Marshal's office has begun an investigation, he said.

The building is in the midst of a $10 million renovation project, which raises the question of whether the fire is somehow related to the work in progress.

And the irony of it all.

Ironically, one of the purposes of the renovation project was to install a sprinkler system in the building, which had none. Before work began, the mansion had a fire alarm system on the first floor but none on the second floor, where the governor and his family lived.

UPDATE: Eyewitness report from YouTube.

Also, let me respond to a private email about this sad event: No, I don't think that delegates to the Texas Democrat Convention in Austin this weekend burned the Governor's Mansion -- even though I agree with the assessment that they are unlikely to have a member of their party win that office anytime in the next decade.

UPDATE 2: Now they say it is arson. Maybe that emailer was on to something after all.

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If AMD has its way, it just might.

A.M.D. has accused Intel of systematically giving its customers — the world’s leading personal computer makers — large discounts, at times below Intel’s own manufacturing costs, in exchange for commitments not to do business with competitors. Intel has responded that its discounts were legitimate incentives, not offered below cost, and benefiting customers who can buy computers at lower prices.

Intel has also maintained that A.M.D. tried to make up in the courts for its failures in the marketplace.

While Intel has denied the allegations, A.M.D. executives are hoping the case will present an easy opportunity for the next administration to take a noticeably more aggressive approach to competition issues. Technically independent of the White House, the trade commission is led by appointees of the president.

The charges, if true, would be indicative of a major violation of antitrust law. The possible result? Think about what was done to Ma Bell in the 198os..

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Could it be due to government actions that made hiring workers more expensive?

Especially since the number of jobs lost is relatively modest -- too modest to account for the jump in unemployment. It has to be because of the influx of new workers that happens in late spring and early summer each year, as teens and college students seek jobs.

Why have these new job seekers found it difficult to get jobs? One reason is that Congress made jobs costlier just in time for this economic slowdown. Congress raised the minimum wage last year by seventy cents an hour, from $5.15 to $5.85. It will rise again in July to $6.55 an hour, and next year will hit $7.25 per hour. That makes entry-level labor as much as 27% more expensive this summer, when consumers have already slowed down their spending. The natural loss of work from the slowdown amplifies the effect of the minimum-wage increase, because businesses now cannot afford to raise prices to maintain their entry-level positions.

When the minimum wage increase was under debate last year, many of us warned that it would have precisely this effect. Now we see it unfolding before our eyes. Will the Democrats acknowledge the error and take the blame for hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to their economic meddling — or will they try to shift the blame to the Bush administration for no good reason at all? (via Power Line)

I know I pointed this out in mid-February of last year.

Think about it -- increasing wages by 27%. Why wouldn't we have a decrease in low-wage entry-level jobs as a result? And how can anyone call the increase in unemployment that resulted an unforefeen consequence of the wage increase.

But don't worry -- the additional wage increases coming next summer is sure to make the situation much better. Won't it?

UPDATE: A great real-world example of the impact of the minimum wage increase on a real business over at Patterico's Pontifications-- one operated by the blogger's parents.

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Looks like there is a FIFTH tax warrant out against Emperor Keithius Smallpenius of the Olbermann Broadcast Empire.

Olbermann Watch has confirmed that the New York State Department of Labor filed an Industrial Commission Warrant against Olbermann Broadcasting Empire on April 1, 2008 for $1,039.15 with the New York County Clerk's office.

An Industrial Commission warrant is a remedy available to the Labor Department after all administrative procedures have been exhausted - the employer had been given notice of the claim, had an opportunity to contest it, and the time for all appeals has lapsed. It creates a lien on all property of the corporation within the county and gives the county sheriff the right to execute the warrant by, among other things, attaching and selling the employer's property within the county. There are various procedures that the sheriff has to go through before selling the property.

And if you don't like the source on that story, we can always give you the AP's confirmation of the initial report.

Here's my original post on the subject.

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Yeah, Dick Cheney made a stupid joke on the subject. But Slate asks the question of how West Virginia got its reputation for such things -- and then tries to answer it.

Exaggeration-prone outsiders. In the 1880s and 1890s, writers such as Mary Noailles Murfree and John Fox Jr. traveled across Appalachia, looking for "local color," and overstated the degree to which mountain populations lived in isolation. During the same time period, missionaries reported pervasive ignorance and poverty, with large families living together in ramshackle cabins. The notion of widespread inbreeding was at least in part the result of crude assumptions about how these isolated forest people might have been perpetuating their communities.

* * *

Stereotypes about West Virginian breeding practices have long been linked to the state's poverty. When Eleanor Roosevelt visited West Virginia mining towns in the 1930s, national newspapers ran pictures of rundown shacks and barefoot kids in rags, which left a lasting impression of the state as a backwater. West Virginians became the prototypical "hillbillies," and incest served as a crude "scientific" explanation for their downtrodden social condition.

Personally, I have a different explanation for that stereotype.

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With a May death toll more than twice the level of American casualties in Iraq, it is clear that the situation in New York City is untenable and the US should immediately withdraw to a more sustainable position -- perhaps New Jersey.

NYC had 43 murders in the month of May 2008.  ThatÂ’s over twice the US deaths in Iraq (19) for the month of May.

While the liberals and the mainstream media love to remind us (daily) of the death count in Iraq as a way to fuel their anti-war propaganda, they might want to consider focusing their attention to local US deaths as a healthy comparison to the job we are doing over in Iraq.

When we lose more Americans in a major city than we do in a war zone, it is clear that the we are winning that war. It may be disheartening to those who need a US defeat to shore up their electoral position, but that is a hard and fast reality.

H/T Ace

Posted by: Greg at 03:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A bit over a decade ago, my wife was the pastor of a small rural congregation of the United Church of Christ in southern Illinois, and I worked for the county mental health agency in the next county. We lived in the century old parsonage next to the church and a cemetery that dated back to the Civil War and half-a-mile from the nearest neighbor.

Neat as that was, we were also 10 miles from the nearest gas station. Even so, I would often play the "how low can you go" game with my car's gas gauge in the last few days before payday -- and inevitably lost the bet five miles from the nearest gas station. Fortunately, a county sheriff happened by a few minutes later and took me to town for gas. It never dawned upon me that there might be something newsworthy about my situation.

But the fine folks at the Washington Post seem to think there is.

Brent Saba had just dropped a church group off at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday morning and was heading north on Interstate 95 when it happened: His 15-passenger van ran out of gas.

Saba, a 24-year-old church pastor, made it to the shoulder just past the Ben Franklin Bridge and waited more than 30 minutes for someone to stop and lend him a cell phone. Then he waited a while longer for AAA to arrive with fuel.

With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, motorists like Saba are putting less fuel in their tanks _ then coming up empty on the highway.

Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don't exist, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill 'er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel.

DUH! If you put less gas in the tank you run out sooner or need to fill up more often. If you run out of gas because you have tried to stretch enough fuel for 150 miles to drive 200 miles, you are not going to be successful unless you have gale force tail winds at all times.

And the MSM thinks this is news? I guess there aren't any serious issues to report on.

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And as far as I am concerned, he ought to obey it.

A Washington Times reporter has been subpoenaed by a federal judge who wants him to reveal the sources for a story he wrote about an engineer convicted of conspiracy to export U.S. defense technology to China.

National security reporter Bill Gertz was ordered to appear before U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in June, the newspaper reported Saturday. The judge has also requested e-mail messages, files and correspondences.

Gertz cited U.S. government sources in a 2006 story saying that Justice Department officials approved an indictment against Tai Mak and that four of Mak's relatives would also be charged.

Mak's attorneys had objected to Gertz's story, contending the government violated a federal rule barring federal officials from giving information about grand jury proceedings to outsiders. Carney ordered an investigation to determine who leaked the information.

“We will be presenting our case to the judge and we remain hopeful that he will be receptive to the arguments we present to him in trying to preserve Bill's and the Times' First Amendment right to report the news and his other legal rights as well,” Times executive editor John F. Solomon said.

The four family members were eventually indicted. All have pleaded guilty to related offenses in exchange for leniency. Mak is serving a 24-year sentence in federal prison.

It is my profound hope that the judge is not at all receptive to the arguments put forward by the Washington Times and its attorneys. Members of the press are not royalty, and ought to be mandated to obey curt orders in exactly the same way other citizens. Given that Gertz may well be a witness to the criminal disclosure of grand jury testimony, he must be compelled to obey.

Posted by: Greg at 08:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Guess what rich liberal has skipped out on paying taxes like the rest of us?

It initially appeared to simply be a case of his tax-avoidance shell corporation failing to pay a relatively paltry amount -- $2269.50

New York State has issued a tax warrant against Keith Olbermann for failure to pay taxes on his humbly named personal corporation, Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc. Olbermann is listed in legal records as the President of Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc.

A call to the Albany County Clerk's Office in upstate New York confirmed that the warrant is still outstanding and that Olbermann has still failed to pay his back taxes. State records show that Olbermann's company failed to pay $2,269.50 in state taxes. A judgement was entered against Olbermann last summer (Docket Date: 8/21/2007), just weeks before Olbermann closed on a a luxurious $4.2 mm condo at Trump Palace, at 200 East 69th Street.

By the way -- you've just gotta love the name of the tax-dodging corporation -- Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc.. I wonder, would that make him Emperor Keithius Smallpenius of the Olbermann Broadcasting Empire?

But it turns out that there may be a reason for setting up the corporation -- some personal tax issues that go back several years.

A search of records in New York State turned up another Judgement against Keith Olbermann - this one for Keith personally not his "Empire" shell corporation). The Judgement was filed on 7/27/2000 for $21,565.

California records show yet another judgement - this one for a whopping $77,425 - which was filed on 9/21/2001. I guess Keith's professed patriotic fervor in the wake of 9/11 had cooled by the time his tax bill was due. This one was filed in Los Angeles County. Records indicate that Keith was finally got around to resolving the matter four months later.

All together Keith's tax warrants and judgements now exceed $100,000.

How do you miss a $77K tax payment? That is more than most Americans make in a year. But at least he seems to have paid it. It remains unclear, though, whether Olbermann ever made good on that other $21K of money owed to the government. Makes me wonder if the Olbermann Media Empire is really nothing but a way of protecting his assets from those personal judgments.

UPDATE: While MSNBC tried to spin Olbermann out of this one, it now appears that Emperor Keithius Smallpenius has in fact had $150K in tax leans against him or his shell corporation over the last 9 years.

H/T Newsbusters

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I'm sorry -- those who made a big deal out of Rachel Ray's scarf in a Dunkin Donuts commercial were simply nutty.

A few months after doughnuts became a presidential campaign issue, they stood at the center of a storm created by right-leaning bloggers. This was a story about “donuts and dumb celebrities” who were “mainstreaming terrorism” to make a buck, asserted Little Green Footballs and Michele Malkin. And Atlas Shrugs revised a bell-ringing catchphrase thusly: “TIME TO MAKE THE JIHAD!”

Suddenly, Dunkin’ Donuts was accused of promoting terrorism, thanks to the wardrobe choices of Rachael Ray, its celebrity spokesman, during an online advertisement. According to the bloggers, she had decided to embrace “hate couture” by wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf popular in the Arab world and preferred by Yasir Arafat and other Palestinian militants during their rise in the West Bank and Gaza.

“The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,” Michele Malkin wrote in her nationally syndicated column. “The Keffiyeh Kerfuffle,” as she called it, might warrant a boycott. Other bloggers agreed.

On Tuesday, Dunkin’ Donuts announced that it was dropping the advertisement. But they also made clear that this was all a big misunderstanding. “Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design,” the company said in a statement, according to The Boston Globe. “Absolutely no symbolism was intended.”

Moreover, Rachael Ray’s role was minimized — the controversial scarf “was selected by her stylist.”

The upshot is that the scarf probably wasn't a keffiyeh. This was a tempest in a teapot, fueled by several folks who I like, respect, and in at least one case have a good personal relationship with via email. It was simply silly, in my opinion.

But what it does do is show the power of the blogosphere -- and the potential power of those of us on the right if we embrace efforts to harness that power in the way that the left has done.

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Clearly, some folks have no concept of what a right is and its place in our system.

ThatÂ’s clear in this column by Tom Eblen of the Lexington Herald-Ledger.

As society becomes more diverse, we must regain the lost art of compromise. Otherwise, we'll never be able to deal with complex problems in ways that protect everyone's rights. Polarization may be good for special-interest groups and political parties, but it's bad for America.

If Second Amendment absolutists keep standing up and daring others to pry their guns from their "cold, dead fingers," eventually somebody's going to do it.

Now I wonder how Eblen would respond to the same call for “compromise” in the case of freedom of the press. After all, the same “helping law enforcement for the sake of public safety” can be used to argue in favor of allowing police unfettered access to the notes and work product of reporters. We know, however, that Eblen would blow a gasket defending his First Amendment rights in the event that someone were to seriously propose such a thing. Heck, his employer has waxed eloquent in the past against requiring reporters to submit to subpoenas on the same basis as ordinary citizens. I guess that maybe he and his journalistic confreres consider some rights to be more precious than others.

But let me remind Eblen of one thing – when they come to pry his keyboard from his “cold dead fingers”, it will be many of those same special-interest Second Amendment absolutists who will be standing there trying to defend him from the stormtroopers in jackboots – provided that Eblen hasn’t managed to compromise away their ability to do so.

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