Free Legal Advice for a Certain Small Media Company

Suing Google and Microsoft at the same time (let alone with some already discredited legal theories regarding the liability of search engines) is not normally a strategy for litigation success. Unless, of course, you define “litigation success” as driving your company into bankruptcy via legal fees.

The NEA is an independent organization that wants nothing to do with politics, and anyone who says different is a right-wing neo-Nazi troglodyte.

With the recent accusations that the new leadership of the National Endowment for the Arts is merely an arm of the Obama political machine, maybe this isn’t the best time for its website to be featuring a highly flattering recommendation of ultra-leftist radical Saul Alinski’s works.  Or a hit piece on political advertisements that criticize union excesses.

(Hat tip to The Corner for the Alinski review link.)

Baucus Health Care Bill Dead

It may have passed the finance committee and garnered the support of Olympia Snowe today, but the Baucus health care reform plan might as well be off to the embalmers.  The rebellion of the health insurers yesterday hurt, but the coup de grace came today with the announcement that AFSCME, the AFL-CIO, and the CWA will oppose final passage in the Senate.  Given how terrified Democrats are of those unions the question how isn’t whether the measure will pass but whether the Dems will put it up for a final vote at all.

I gotta admit: After years of smacking my head over the occasional incompetence of the Bush Administration, it’s terrific to have opponents in power who match or exceed any degree of ineptitude the GOP ever put forth.

Happy Columbus Day

In recognition of our great and brutal European explorer/conqueror ancestors, I present 10 minutes of super-slow motion clips of bullets striking various and sundry surfaces:

(Hat tip: AV Club)

Don’t Normally Link To Things That I Know Won’t Stay Up For Long, But…

Some kind soul has posted the all of the recently released remasters from The Beatles over at YouTube.  The sound is absolutely terrific, even with YouTube’s less-than-optimal audio quality.  Check the tracks out before they inevitably get pulled.

Nice Guy

William Donahue,  who you’ll recall is the head of the Catholic League, recently gave an interview to an editor for National Review, on the occasion of the release of his new book.  Among the bits of discussion:

EDITOR: Do you ever worry about tone?
DONOHUE: I worry that some of the people on my side are such cowards. They adore dialogue. I don’t.

In Case You Missed It: Krauthammer on Death Counseling

Charles Krauthammer has written the definitive column on the alleged “death panels” created by a (now deprecated) version of the one of the healthcare reform bills before Congress.  His perfectly sane take: they aren’t death panels at all, and calling them such is absurd, but they are (or would be, if they had any chance of being enacted) a slight nudge from government for people to consider non-extraordinary, less expensive end-of-life care for their final days.

Your Reading for the Weekend: Government “Stimulation” Doesn’t Shorten Recessions

Economist Alan Reynolds has a nice op-ed up today addressing the question of whether governmental efforts to prevent or shorten recessions actually work.  Upon a review of the historical evidence, he concludes (prepared to be shocked) that they don’t.

Reynolds goes further, arguing that the inverse is in fact true: recessions last longer and are more severe where governments intervene more.  Reynolds evidence for this latter point (at least that which he presents in the piece) is weaker and not terribly persuasive, but the article is still a good read for exploding the myth that governmental stimulus efforts have had great success in combating economic downturns.

If I Had a Hammer, I’d Hammer in Primetime

From the file of News Items That Common Understanding Suggests Cannot Possibly Be True But Apparently Are, former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay (you can call him “The Hammer”) will be a contestant on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars on ABC.