I wish DC's mayor was this tactlessly fun. It would give me something to respect about him. … [Read more...] about Hizzoner luvziz booze

A shocking new development in the Jacko trial! … [Read more...] about If Look(alike)s Could Kill

My former alt-paper colleague Steve Barnett, now a first-year law student, has a detailed but accessible examination of Roper v. Simmons, the case the Supreme Court just used to overturn the juvenile death penalty. He disagrees with the decision, but finds most of the reasons for disagreeing with the majority opinion wanting. For the record I'm part of that weird subset of … [Read more...] about How do you solve a problem like Scalia?

Robert Novak appears to believe that the changes in Social Security being pushed by President Bush will not survive passage through Congress without major changes. Is he misunderestimating the President, as has been done by so many others before? Possibly... but Social Security is referred to as the "third rail" of politics for a reason. Could it be that despite the current … [Read more...] about Misunderestimation or prescience?

Is there an impending crackdown on blogging? Blogging has become the unpoliced Wild West of political ideas. Due to campaign financing rulings, will the Federal Election Commission become involved? The answer is: the FEC is ALREADY revving up to start to the tricky task of regulating some aspects of blogging — and the tipoff comes in an interview CNET News conducted … [Read more...] about Are Some Blogging Freedoms Going To Be Curtailed?

A student journalist at Rutgers has set off a firestorm that might shut down the university's investigative journalism class...find out the details here. … [Read more...] about Another university that loves speech anywhere but campus

A centrist finds fault with both the left and the right in the online article Iraq, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, And The Couch Potato’s Burden: A Muscular Centrist Attack On The Pro-War Position. I don't necessarily agree with all the assertions made, but it is often good to have assumptions challenged even if simply so that thought does not become caught in a box. … [Read more...] about Worth reading, even if you disagree

We already know that boobs bid for items on EBay, but did you know you can bid FOR boobs on EBay? Well, maybe not the real ones: A former topless dancer who was famously cleared of battering a Florida nightclub patron with her "crazy big" breasts has shed her oversized silicone implants and put one of them up for auction on eBay. The woman known professionally as Tawny Peaks … [Read more...] about The Perfect Farewell Gift For Michael Powell

Here's a new twist in the Michael Jackson trial for you: a judge's gag order is interfering with comedian Jay Leno's gags. No joke: Attorneys for the star of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" said Judge Rodney S. Melville's sweeping order barring anyone involved in the case from discussing it outside court "could be interpreted to limit Mr. Leno's ability to publicly … [Read more...] about Judge’s Order Limits Jay Leno’s Material

Click here to read Stephen Green's post Yet Another Reason I'll Never Be a Conservative. Read the post in its entirety. It deals with the censorship issue. We'll just give you his punchline: Keep the Democrats out of my wallet and the Republicans out of my entertainment. Please. Indeed, Green hits on a fascinating aspect of American politics. There have been many times in … [Read more...] about A Byproduct Of Overreaching

The Age of Internet politics is upon us, and what better manifestation of the new era's resounding techno/political success is there than the Democratic activist MoveOn.Org — or IS IT? At issue is a meaty Rolling Stone piece by Tim Dickinson which has this underlyling message: don't you Democrats think you're possibly putting too many of your eggs in an iffy Cyberspace … [Read more...] about Are The Democrats Making A Dot Com Mistake?

Are we focusing on "fixing" the wrong social program? While Social Security is expected to exhaust its reserves in 2042, Medicare should deplete the trust fund financing its hospital benefits in 2019, the latest forecasts show. In addition to the timing, what about the magnitude? Social Security, which Bush has hoisted atop his domestic agenda, is $3.7 trillion short of … [Read more...] about You pays your money and you takes your crisis?

Bill Gates is receiving something from the Queen of England: The king of computer software Bill Gates has received an honorary knighthood from the Queen. Mr Gates, 48, the world's wealthiest man, said it was "a great honour" to be recognised for his business skills and for his work on poverty reduction. The Queen had spoken to him about using computers, he said after a … [Read more...] about At least we don’t have to call him “Sir Bill”

...you can go here, and find something else to groan about, but in a good way (is there a good way to groan???). … [Read more...] about When you are tired and groaning over politics…

The Cato Institute released its annual fiscal report card of the nation's governors - guess which one topped their list. My former governor, a moderate Democrat who (to my delight) infuriated a lot of liberal state lobbies, is high on the list. … [Read more...] about He’ll be back…with a balanced budget

Everyone's favorite moderate Muslim country has a decidedly intolerant strain. … [Read more...] about The (dis)honor of Jordan

Whether you're for posting the religious symbols on public property, or if you're on the other side of the issue (meaning you actually read the Constitution), you'll be interested in this: The top of the American judiciary is set to make a decision on the issue. I wonder - if the Church-State boundaries are upheld, will the Justices suddenly be Activist Judges? … [Read more...] about Supreme Court to Review Ten Commandments

The results of the "Name Ann Coulter's Next Book" contest are in, and the winner is "Roosevelt: Wheelchair-Riding, America-Hating Terrorist." Plausible. I happen to like "Help: I'm Out of Liberal People, Places and Organizations to Hate" better. But the virulent vixen, as always, had a comeback:"Well, at least now they're trying to be funny, a welcome change from all the … [Read more...] about Her feelings were so hurt she stopped eating

To paraprhase what Mark Twain was supposed to have said: Reports of the death of the West are greatly exaggerated. … [Read more...] about Whoa, whoa I say!!!

It sounds as if New York City narrowly escaped another terrorist attack: a train bombing at the hands of the terrorists accused of last year's bloody Madrid train bombings. Hand-made drawings and other "highly specialized technical information" about the station were found on a computer disk seized from the home of one of the suspects, El Mundo reported, citing sources close … [Read more...] about The Madrid Train Bombings: Did NYC Dodge A Terrorists Bullet?