The (Sort of) Sacking of Stanley O'Neal

Clarence Page hits all the right notes. I'm waiting to hear from Jesse and Al.

Do You Believe in Redemption?

Vivian Paige would like to know. I'm for yes. I hope that Alphonso Albert will get a chance prove himself in his new job.

The Evidence Mounts

I know that some people will always refuse to believe it, but another study points to sexual orientation as "genetically wired." I hear that there's gambling at Rick's, too.

Moment of Silence

Illinois's law faces a court challenge. It makes for an interesting case. I don't think that a moment of silence is likely to fail against a Constitutional challenge, but the idea that it is not meant to promote prayer is nonsense. It just takes a wink and a nod.

Hillary vs. Ronnie P.

Well, this revelation is interesting. It's good news for Republicans, and further proof of Sen. Clinton's high negatives. She has a year to work on those, however....

Update: look at these numbers, too.

I'm back.

I know you're excited. I'd further regale you with tales of 3 days off, but I know better. More posting shortly.

Does Church Make You Poor?

Looks like it. The U.S. and Kuwait are outliers. I wonder how strong the causal relationship really is. Sleeping in on Sunday looks like an even better idea than I already thought it was.

The Fabled Bypass

The News & Advance has an article about the state of the proposed Rt. 29 bypass. I'm happy to see that Senator Newman has gotten an opinion from Attorney General McDonnell on payback by the Culpeper District, for what it's worth. That's pretty much nothing right now. Gov. Kaine owes too many favors to donors in the C'ville area to allow the bypass plans to go forward. Hard to imagine that it would be different under any Democratic Governor. Score one for McDonnell '09.

I see that I'm not the only one.

Stephen Green (Vodkapundit) writes about his libertarian backsliding. I have to say that I've followed a remarkably similar path in the last few years. I would have voted for Ron Paul without much hesitation in 2000 (it took me a little longer to get into freefall). 2008? Not a chance. Let me further say that Rep. Paul's overeager followers are nearly as annoying as those idiotic 9/11 "truthers." God, what a plague those losers are.

Gov. Kaine acts on MRSA

Here's an excerpt from the Governor's press release:

Governor Timothy M. Kaine today approved an emergency
regulation by the State Health Commissioner that requires laboratories
to report Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection
to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).  The regulation is effective
today, and will assist public health authorities in the effort to
compile data on the prevalence of MRSA for surveillance and
investigation.

Today's action was prompted by concerns among citizens and health care
professionals following the recent death of a Virginia teenager due to
invasive MRSA, as well as the recent release of a study by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control identifying MRSA as a major public health
problem in the United States.

This kind of stuff makes me a little uneasy, but it's hard to imagine that he was going to do anything else. MRSA may well be dangerous enough to justify this action. I suppose that we'll find out in time.

We can only hope.

I hope that Eli Lake is right.

Al Sharpton, call your agent.

Craig Franklin is the Assistant Editor of the Jena Times. He has an interesting piece in the Christian Science Monitor called Media Myths of the Jena 6. It's rather eye-opening. I'll give you the first myth: the whites-only tree. Good work, CNN, et. al..

The Greatest Story Never Told

Dean Barnett is exactly right. This practice of the media is exceptionally galling. I know that bad news is bigger news, but still....

So Lame

I'm no Instapundit so far. I'll try to do better.

A couple of columns worth reading

Ralph Peters takes a critical look at Turkey in USA Today. With the exception of his last point, I think that this is right (Woo-hoo, what an endorsement!).

In the NY Times, Peter Galbraith opines on the idea of partitioning Iraq. This seems like a very tough decision (?) to me. I find myself vacillating on it maddeningly. I'm starting to think that breaking up of Iraq might be better for the region than for Iraq itself. When I say that, I understand that the result could be regional instability. The Kurds might well become more of problem for Turkey (as well as Iran and Syria) if they start to see hope for Kurdish homeland. It's certainly an idea worth considering.

So here I go.

I hope to post a few observations daily. We'll see. It's not like anyone is reading this, right?