Taranto always has his finger on the pulse....

Nixon went to China. Sadat went to Jerusalem. What next?

A sad day for the most advanced auto racing in the world...

Honda Pulls Out of Formula One Racing:

"The 11 teams on the Formula One circuit spent a reported $1.6 billion during the 2008 season, which ended on Nov. 2. Max Mosley, the president of the International Automobile Federation, which governs Formula One and other racing series, has called that spending figure “unsustainable.”

A statement Friday from the federation reiterated that view, repeating the word “unsustainable” and adding that “the global economic downturn has only exacerbated an already critical situation.”

Even successful, winning teams on the circuit lose money, and the budget for the Honda operation was said to be close to $300 million this season. The team employed more than 700 people at its headquarters in Brackley, England."

Megan McArdle

Doctor, doctor:

"The observation that some people are jerks, and that jerkiness does not enhance performance, is not exactly surprising. What I want to know is whether disruptive doctors actually account for a notable percentage of medical errors. I'm sure if you surveyed doctors, 20% or so could report an error caused by a lazy LPN, incompetent PA, or pigheaded nurse. But I'm skeptical that 'nurse pigheadedness' is actually a major problem that America's healthcare system needs to address."

I don't know. I've sure run into some pretty nasty nurses along the way..... And no offense to some of my closest friends; but I believe that doctors, in general, are a fairly arrogant, self-assured bunch (not that it is always a bad thing when lives hang in the balance). Let's face it, it usually takes a very bright soul to become a physician, and most of them know it and show it. Then, along the way, their medical education teaches them that they are as close to gods as mortals can be. What do you expect? Would you want to be treated by a doctor who wasn't very sure about him/herself?

Shit! I hate these "life is a two way street" scenarios.....

Something we will be chewing on for quite some time....

The Forever War:

"Irregular warfare is now considered to be both a “steady state” as well as a “surge” activity. This means that from a U.S. policy perspective, there are no longer alternating states of “peace” and “war.” There will only be a constant hum of irregular warfare in its various forms and conducted at varying levels of intensity. This will include traditional Phase 2 and 3 conflict, which will be followed by Phase 4 stability operations – more irregular warfare."

Worth reading....

Is Justice Alito harboring a grudge against Joe Biden?

"Change" we may never see..... Heh

'Muted by Reality'

"It is awfully generous of the Times to forgive Obama's supporters for believing what they read in the Times."

Even TNR is caving; and, of course, that's just fine with them. It's amazing that all of the ranting and raving, all of the "change" bullshit was little more than personal animus towards Bush. But none of these fools will ever admit it...

Perhaps we need to educate people on what bankrupcy really is....

Shuttered Meat Plant Edges Back Into Business, but Its Town Is Still Struggling:

"“It was one of the most hostile meetings I’ve ever been to,” Jeff Abbas, manager of KPVL, the local radio station, which has led a community effort to help laid-off plant employees, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “I felt a little sorry for Sarachek, because there were so many questions he couldn’t answer: When will we be paid? When will we go back to work?”

Mr. Sarachek, a bankruptcy expert from New York, was appointed trustee after the plant’s owner, the Rubashkin family, filed for bankruptcy last month. The plant’s kosher certification was threatened after it was fined $10 million for wage violations and faced criminal charges for 9,300 child labor violations."

A sad story, indeed. And yet another unintended consequence of a scattershot immigration policy.

The Perfect Storm....

A Hate-Crime Circus Comes to Patchogue - ‘Are You a Victim?’

"It was a guilt fiesta. Victims were invited to unload tales of abuse — not necessarily to the authorities (that was optional), but to lawyers brought by Mr. Mateo, who roves the New York region, popping up at crime victims’ sides.

In the vestibule, volunteers kept the delivery system flowing, sending a stream of potential clients to Mr. Mateo’s lawyers. “Are you a victim? Are you a victim?” said a woman passing out fliers in Spanish. The fliers explained that testimonies would be recorded, but did not explain that the person doing the recording was a reporter for the public-radio station WSHU who had done a flattering story on Mr. Wolter two days earlier."

So, here we have the most famous victim-finder on the planet, The New York Times editor, complaining about a group of people (and lawyers, and publicity seekers) attempting to flush out as many "victims" as possible. Gee, I wonder where they got the idea that they could get away with it?

The Kleptocracy in action..

California Focus: Political class looks out for No. 1:

"If Abraham Lincoln were delivering his Gettysburg Address today, he might feel compelled to conclude, 'that government for the government shall not perish from this earth.' He was 'Honest Abe' after all."

How appropriate....

The Barack Obama Day

Perry County, Alabama, voted over 70% for Barack Obama in the November election and now its Commissioners have voted to honor him with The Barack Obama Day:

“The Perry County Commission voted 4 to 1 to observe the second Monday in November as “The Barack Obama Day.” County offices will close and its roughly 40 workers will get a paid holiday.”

How appropriate to honor the “spread the wealth” candidate by giving county workers a day off with pay - at taxpayers’ expense - in recognition of a man who hasn’t even taken office yet.

GM goes nuclear...

Megan McArdle:

"So GM wants $18 billion just for itself. Words fail. Or rather, I don't think I can print the words that immediately come to mind. This is a family blog."

LGF and others are on the case...

CAIR's Make or Break Moment

Now that the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial has resulted in convictions, will the unindicted co-conspirators in the case still be treated by the media as legitimate “civil rights organizations?” Steven Emerson says this is CAIR’s Make or Break Moment.

Quote of the Day (via Patterico)

Some Obama supporters will undoubtedly be disappointed by this cave-in to Big Oil. As Tom Maguire says (channeling Democrats’ advice to Republicans after Obama’s victory): “Obama is your President - suck it up.”

I'll take the over/under on this one...

Tom Friedman:

"Who in the Muslim world, who in Pakistan, is ready to take to the streets to protest the mass murders of real people, not cartoon characters, right next door in Mumbai?"

Do we have to ask?

If this Isn't Terrorism, What Is?

"So why are so many prominent Western media reluctant to call the perpetrators terrorists? Why did Jon Snow, one of Britain's most respected TV journalists, use the word 'practitioners' when referring to the Mumbai terrorists? Was he perhaps confusing them with doctors?"

Plaxico might have some extra time on his hands to read this...

Six Months Under the Gun: A Weapon-Carrying Experiment

Won't Get Fooled Again

Ed Driscoll:

Evidently, New York Times economics reporter Peter Goodman (or perhaps his editor, depending upon who wrote the headline) fancies himself as the next Picasso. So who are the Nazis in his mind? The management at Wal-Mart who, somewhat like Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium 30 years ago failed to have adequate security and preparations for the onslaught of a crowd, or the shoppers who crushed the unfortunate sales clerk? The article, found via Newsbusters doesn't say.

I'd excuse a high school or sophomoric college newspaper journalist making such an overwrought analogy. But if the New York Times and its writers and editors can't see the difference between an unfortunate shopping incident and the Spanish Civil War, one wonders what what value the newspaper has as an information source to be trusted by their readers.

Actual people are never responsible for bad things - that is how institutions like the Times keep their nonsense going.... Read the whole piece.

Let's (not) move to Europe...

The Agitator:

Two steps forward, one step back. Swiss voters vote to continue giving taxpayer-bought heroin to addicts, but reject a measure that would legalize marijuana.

No kidding...

Media and Retailers Both Built Black Friday

"This weekend, news reports were full of finger-wagging over the death by trampling of a temporary worker, Jdimypai Damour, at a Wal-Mart store in Long Island on Friday. His death, the coverage suggested, was a symbol of a broken culture of consumerism in which people would do anything for a bargain.

The willingness of people to walk over another human being to get at the right price tag raises the question of how they got that way in the first place. But in the search for the usual suspects and parceling of blame, the news media should include themselves.

Just a few days ago, the same newspaper writers and television anchors who are now wearily shaking their heads at the collective bankruptcy of our mass consumer culture were cheering all of it on."

So where's the shift?

A Handpicked Obama Team for a Shift in Foreign Policy

"When President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team on Monday, it will include two veteran cold warriors and a political rival whose records are all more hawkish than that of the new president who will face them in the White House Situation Room."