Bob Denver has died. I actually liked him a lot more as Maynard G. Krebs, though.
Cut The Pork
Tim Cavanaugh knows where to find the money to rebuild southeast Louisiana:
Nobody, however, made out on the highway bill quite like the state of Alaska and its ravenous political class. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, bragged to his constituents that the transportation bill (which Young loves so much he named it after his wife) was “stuffed like a turkey” with handouts for his state, and he was not exaggerating. The $721 million in tundra spending includes: a $2 23 million “bridge to “nowhere,” connecting the 8,900-person town of Ketchikan to an airport on Gravina Island, whose population is 50; a $200 million bridge connecting Anchorage to a rural port so insignificant even the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce tried to block the project; and $15 million in seed money for a 68-mile, $284 million access road to Juneau. (This last one is opposed by not only the Environmental Protection Agency but a majority of the area’s residents.)
New And Improved
Clark Lindsey was usefully busy over the weekend. He has moved and renamed RLV News. It’s also now a full-blown blog, with permalinks. Last, but not least, he has several interesting new items up on it.
The Past Ain’t What It Used To Be
Another childhood myth demolished. Dinosaurs had feathers. This lends even more credence to the theory that they still walk (or, rather, for the most part, fly) among us. But unlike the case that would be if their ancestors still lived, we’re above them in the food chain.
[Via Alan Boyle]
The Past Ain’t What It Used To Be
Another childhood myth demolished. Dinosaurs had feathers. This lends even more credence to the theory that they still walk (or, rather, for the most part, fly) among us. But unlike the case that would be if their ancestors still lived, we’re above them in the food chain.
[Via Alan Boyle]
The Past Ain’t What It Used To Be
Another childhood myth demolished. Dinosaurs had feathers. This lends even more credence to the theory that they still walk (or, rather, for the most part, fly) among us. But unlike the case that would be if their ancestors still lived, we’re above them in the food chain.
[Via Alan Boyle]
Civics 101
A retired Marine major explains that FEMA is not a first responder.
I’ll have more thoughts on this later. But briefly, to the degree that this has been a PR disaster for the administration, it (unlike all of the other things, like Global Warming, and Racism in Amerikkka, and lousy movies out of Hollywood, and French disdain for us, and the hurricane itself) really is Bush’s fault.
Why? Because he’s not only done nothing to discourage the notion that the federal government should see every sparrow that falls, and immediately call in an air strike of a soft net upon which it can plummet, nurses at the ready, and grief counselors for the potentially bereaved sparrow family, even before it hits the ground, he’s actively encouraged it. As such, criticism of him as a “conservative” shows just how meaningless that word has become, a situation to which, for better or worse, he has been a major contributor.
[Update at 9:30 AM PDT]
Hugh Hewitt has related thoughts, and questions for Terry Neal and Brendan Loy:
What is the “police power?”
Where does it reside?
Is there a federal “police power?”
Can the federal government order the evacuation of a city when state and local officials have not done so?
Who has first call on a state’s national guard?
Who controls a city’s police department?
Can a federal official order a police department to deploy in strength to specific points within a city such as the Supredome or the Convention Center?
Can a federal official commandeer a city’s supply of school busses, city busses, and city personnel?
[Update mid afternoon on Tuesday]
Here’s another little bit from Bill Whittle’s piece from yesterday that’s pertinent:
A person of some modest education might have remembered that the worship and adulation fostered after 9/11 was for the NYPD and the FDNY. No one was buying FEMA hats after 9/11, because FEMA is essentially a mop-up agency. It’s the first responders, the local governments, that will determine if a city will live or die. The State — that means, the “governor”– has the sole authority to mobilize the National Guard, and the governor of the state of Louisana was not only slow to do that, she turned down NG assistance from several OTHER states as well. The President does not have the authority to drop precious egg salad sandwiches from Michael Moore’s missing helicopters. We do this ON PURPOSE. We limit the power of the federal government, as those of us fortunate enough to have spent time in Civics, rather than Self Esteem classes, are aware. This is so that we do not develop a central power so strong that eventually we end up with idiot inbred royals, or Presidentes for life, on the face of OUR money.
How Much Can We Believe?
…all of the horror stories out of New Orleans for the past week? Michelle Malkin has some questions about the validity of much of the reporting, with links.
Tribes
It’s been a while since Bill Whittle wrote a new essay, but it was worth the wait. Apparently momentous events bring out great thoughts. And let’s face it, Sean Penn (among others) was an irresistible target:
What kind of money could Barbra and Martin and Tim and Susan and Gwenneth and George and Steven and Viggo and Linda and Harvey and Brad and Angelina and Ben and all the rest
Dead Man Bailing
After the Tom Cruise thing, I don’t know if this is true, but if it is (or even if it isn’t) it’s pretty funny.
[Update late Sunday evening]
It seems to be real. Here’s another story with a picture of him bailing. It also has a moronic quote from Celine Dion (who despite this should be thanked for her generous contribution).