Here's an icon for undecided voters from LGF, last month. (My apologies if you've already seen it.) Also, LGF has a photo of Kerry pestering a group of Marines in a Wendy's in New York state.

But I wanted a guilt-free abortion...
This story is unbelievable:

In a move that pro-life activists say is clearly "anti-child," an Australian abortion center has objected to the opening of a child care center in its neighborhood.

Marie Stopes International Australia, which operates the Perth abortion business, says it's wrong to establish a day care center near the abortion facility because the sight of children might upset patients.

In a complaint filed with the city of Swan, the abortion center's operators said that the sight and sound of children playing on nearby property might cause emotional strain for women undergoing abortions.

The city's mayor, Charlie Gregorini, told the Australian press, "The main reason (for the objection) was that their clients would be hopping out of their car to enter the back door of the clinic and would hear the voices of children and I guess they felt that was going to emotionally upset them."

I'm gonna have to check into this... This is so crazy it can't be true.

A look at the Iowa Electronic Markets courtesy of Pejman Yousefzadeh.

What planet am I on? Next month Alfred A. Knopf will publish a book by Nicholson Baker that is, according to James Glassman, "a long conversation between two men about assassinating President Bush."

Let that sink in for a minute.

Again, from Glassman:

A statement from Knopf says that "Baker wrote Checkpoint in response to the powerless seething fury many Americans felt when President Bush decided to take the nation to war." (Never mind that the October 2002 votes on authorizing the president to use force in Iraq were 77-23 in the Senate and 296-133 in the House.)

"I wanted to capture the specificity of that rage," said Baker. "How do you react to something that you think is hideously wrong? How do you keep it from driving you nuts?"

To which the only answer is, "Too late!!"

Update: I've added a link to Glassman's column. Sorry for my earlier oversight.

Still Around: I've been a bit light on the posting lately (much to many folks' relief, I'm sure), but dealing with a new baby tends to limit blogging time. We're all doing well, if a bit sleepy. Just a few observations about babies that I'd forgotten:

1. I'm glad we have a washing machine in the house. That tyke goes through more outfits than a supermodel in a Paris runway. If it's not one end, it's the other making a mess.

2. Whoever designs baby outfits cannot have children. Why else would they put thirty five snaps (a small exaggeration) on a piece of clothing that's about 21 inches long? And then you have this great mystery as to which snap goes with which. All while the kid is whining, crying, and squirming. And don't get me started on babies' clothes that have buttons.

3. Speaking of clothes, who buys these things? Um, $82 for a baby blanket, destined to be the receptacle for, well, you know... There's probably buttons, too.

4. How is it that any of us survived? Hit any baby consumer guide and on just about every other page, you'll find this warning about "SAFETY! SAFETY!" Growing up, I used to travel in the back of dad's pickup truck, ride on his front handlebars, and get in trouble when I stood up in the car. Of course, this reckless disregard might explain quite a bit. Nonetheless, it's amazing so many of us made it to adulthood, given all the hazards out there.

5. Nothing's cuter than a sleeping baby. Especially at night.

Kerry on Iraq's WMDs: Stuart Buck's got the goods.

New election law web site sponsored by the law school at Ohio State. Includes a reference guide.

More on Pryor v. Kennedy: Cybercast News has this article "Legal Group Files Brief to Defend Pryor Recess Appointment," and Business Wire has this report: "ACLJ Urging Federal Appeals Court to Reject Senator Kennedy's Legal Challenge to Recess Appointment of Judge William Pryor to U.S. Court of Appeals for Eleventh Circuit." And here's the ACLJ press release, and its amicus brief.

Hey Plainsman, remember when I asked whether the political question doctrine might make Pryor's recess appointment a nonjusticiable issue? Well, check out the ACLJ's amicus brief.

Judge Pryor ends up in witness chair: Pryor "testified during a hearing on the federal government's attempt to disqualify former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones of Birmingham from representing former Gov. Don Siegelman on bid-rigging charges."

I thought the most interesting aspect of the story was this snippet:

U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, who presided at the hearing, said it was one of the few times in American history where a federal district judge got to question a federal appellate judge.

Happy birthday, Milton Friedman! The Nobel laureate and tireless defender of freedom turns 92 today. His Hoover Institution homepage is here.

Two must-reads on NRO, from Victor Davis Hanson ("If the Dead Could Talk") and Michael Novak ("Why the Dems Will Lose").

Pope warns feminists--Bishops told to take hard line on issue of gender: :)

Today winds up my first year on Southern Appeal, and this is my 1200th post. (Woo-hoo!) I'm taking this opportunity to thank Steve for letting me be a part of this, and to thank the vast SA audience for reading what we write. This has been and will continue to be a blast for me.

Michael Moore, fearless teller of "truths": Read this story from the Bloomington, Illinois Pantagraph.

Virginia Postrel's conclusion: "Better a tongue-tied president than a demagogue."

"The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It" is Phyllis Schlafly's new book for Spence Publishing. They're promoting the heck out of it on NRO; I just thought I'd mention it for the two or three SA readers who don't also read NRO at least daily. (BTW, Spence is offering it at a 50% discount, through the link above.)

The Washington Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief earlier this month in Stephens v. Evans, the challenge to Judge Pryor's recess appointment to the 11th Circuit. The brief is available as a PDF file through the WLF's website, by clicking through a box at the upper right corner of the home page (as of this afternoon, anyway).

Southern websites of the day: The "special projects" site maintained by Ole Miss's Center for the Study of Southern Culture includes several neat exhibits -- photos mostly, but some audio and multimedia, too. Western Kentucky U.'s Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies maintains an extensive site devoted to the hugely influential critic and writer.

"Kerry -- as seen by Europe" as seen by the Christian Science Monitor. Most of the article is pretty unsurprising (e.g., "'In Paris they are praying for a Kerry presidency.'"), but I did find this passage interesting and (mostly) reassuring:

One hope dangled by the Kerry camp is that improved international ties could help "tear down the walls" that separate intelligence agencies both domestically and internationally. Intelligence experts are skeptical. They say international cooperation has improved immeasurably since Sept. 11, that information sharing is routine and enthusiastic, given that every major country in Europe is concerned that it might be next on the terror hit list.

"Cooperation is at a higher level than it has been ever before in the history of terrorism and that's a very good sign," says Paul Wilkinson, head of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. "It exists even where there have been important policy differences. France and Germany were deeply opposed to the invasion of Iraq, but have continued to give close cooperation on terrorism."

SA hits the 200,000 visits mark: Thanks to NRO for helping us reach this mark a tad early.

And thanks to all of SA's loyal readers for helping us make July 2004 SA's best month ever.

Arnold Kling reviews Richard Vedder's Going Broke by Degree, for TechCentralStation. (Hat tip: Divison of Labour.)

"Ten Consequences of Economic Freedom" A new paper by James Gwartney & Robert Lawson (of Division of Labour) is available online through NCPA. (For a summary, click here.) Also from NCPA, a description of a related July 29 Wall Street Journal editorial on Europe's growing underground economy (available only to subscribers on the Journal website), and a summary of an NBER study of the German pension system and attempts to reform it.

Which reminds me of something I've been meaning to post for weeks. Back in June, the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial, Europe vs. America, that summarzied a study done on the economic performance of American and European economies by two economists associated with Timbro, a Swedish free-market think tank. Oddly, though, the Journal didn't link to the study itself. You can read it, here. From the abstract:

If the European Union were a state in the USA it would belong to the poorest group of states. France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany have lower GDP per capita than all but four of the states in the United States. In fact, GDP per capita is lower in the vast majority of the EU-countries (EU 15) than in most of the individual American states. This puts Europeans at a level of prosperity on par with states such as Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia. Only the miniscule country of Luxembourg has higher per capita GDP than the average state in the USA. The results of the new study represent a grave critique of European economic policy.

"Four Surprises in Global Demography" from AEI's Nicholas Eberstadt:

1) The rapid spread of "sub-replacement fertility"
2) Unnatural gender imbalances
3) Sustained increases in mortality
4) American "demographic exceptionalism"

Fascinating.

The April 2004 issue of Engage: The Journal of the Federalist Society's Practice Groups is finally available online (as a 160-page PDF file). Lotsa good stuff here.

Rush on the O'Reilly/Moore "interview": Rush is right.

John Kerry’s Convention Speech: My man James at OTB has an excellent post on the blogosphere's reaction to Senator John "Hey, did I mention I spent 4 months in Vietnam?" Kerry's speech.

Say it ain't so, Jared: Subway has introduced tray-liners in its European stores featuring the movie "Super-Size Me," a risible (of course) quote from Michael Moore, a cartoon drawing of a fat Statute of Liberty, and the question, "Why are Americans so fat?" (More on this here (including the German-langugage version of the tray-liner) .)

So . . . Quiznos, anyone?

Update: Thanks to John Derbyshire for linking to us on this story.

Meet Senator John Kerry, CINO.

John Frankenheimer's 1962 masterpiece, The Manchurian Candidate, should never have been re-made.  That's my opinion, anyway.  And Frederica Mathewes-Green agrees, on NRO today: "Every alteration in the new version is a change for the worse."  (WARNING: Her column gives away the plot(s).)  Mathewes-Green suggests that, instead of paying good money to see the new version, you should rent the just-released DVD of the original.  Having done just that earlier this week, I heartily concur.

Hugh Hewitt's interview with Kate Michelman, now the chairperson of the DNC's "Save the Courts" operation, is online here. 

As an aside, I am happy to note that Hewitt's show has been picked up by a station in Florence, Alabama.  That's too far away to do me any good, though.  I don't know why some savvy Birmingham radio executive hasn't already snapped up the show.  And yes, I know I can listen to it online, but I'd rather hear it over the air.  I'm old fashioned that way.

Res ipsa loquitur:  Hugh Hewitt has posted the text of a Michael Moore speech (and I use that term loosely) in Boston this week.  Actually, I couldn't get all the way though it; maybe you can.

Understanding trial lawyers:  William Tucker gives it a go, after interviewing John O'Quinn.  Father Sirico makes the case that our litigation climate is undermining personal responsibility.

James Lileks was not impressed by Kerry's speech.  Diana West has an interesting column on the "oddly defensive uncertainty" of conservative voters on Opinion Journal.  OJ also offers up a compilation of celebrity one-liners from the convention.  (My favorite?  Richard Dreyfuss!)

Whoa!  Jeff Jacoby really didn't like the speech.

Kerry's one big idea is discerned by John Podhoretz.  (Hat tip for the last two items to The Corner.)

John Derbyshire sums up the convention: "WHAT THESE FOLK WANT IS SOCIALISM AND PACIFISM."  Amen, brother.

From George Neumayr (American Spectator): " It was a nice hypocritical Democratic touch to have notorious tax-dodging multimillionaire Willie Nelson sing before the class-warfare commenced."  Also on AmSpec: an entertaining report from Shawn Macomber.

Ten Recurring Economic Fallacies

Scott Trask over at the Mises Institute has a good essay up on economic fallacies that will not die.   From the broken window to the costs of war, Trask offers a historian's perspective.

Inconsequential Blather
Last night I pulled duty here at Parris Island.  Consequently, when I was not touring the Depot I was at the duty hut manning the phone.  Since there was a television in the duty hut I decided to watch Sen Kerry's acceptance speech.  What I heard was a seemingly endless string of mind-numbing platitudes.  A lot of twinky, no filling.  For instance, there were many statements like "America is optimistic," "We need to be unified," and references to strength at home and respect abroad.  Are these issues really in debate?  And how is he going to make these cheery thoughts a reality?  I felt as though I was watching an infomercial advertising soundbites and bumpersticker slogans.

Nevertheless, there were a few things I found noteworthy.  first of all, if there was any doubt as to whether Sen Kerry served in Vietnam he conclusively cleared that up.  After the bizzillionth reference to Vietnam one would have thought he spent 40 years there instead of four months.  In fact, he over did it so much that he actually came across as a man with something to hide, like his voting record on defense.  I also found it odd that after accusing President Bush of deceptively misleading the nation into war, squandering the lives of our servicemen, "kicking kids out of after school programs," and "taking cops off the street" he had the temerity to ask President Bush to engage in a substantive and positive campaign.  After his litany of accusations was he serious?

I do have to admit that I liked his statement that "Principles with out action are slogans."  However, in light of his entire performance, I would remind Sen Kerry that banal statements delivered in a boring fashion are platitudes.   

You can take the dems out of the gutter, but you can't take the gutter out of the dems.

"There's only one other thing like it, and that's inauguration day." Oh no, Peter Jennings isn't rooting for anyone.

Race?!? When did this election begin to turn on issues of race? Is it not enough that the Bush Administration is ACTUALLY diverse? Judge the Republicans by their actions, not the words of Democrats grabbing for straws.

OK, Now Kerry is Sliding. He just told Bush to stop abusing the Constitution, claimed the Republicans seek to divide the nation along racial and cultural lines, and that the Democrats are the party "on God's side".

He's slinging it now.

A question for Senator Kerry: Do "we value families" by aborting babies?

Kerry's doing quite well. Seems like he KNOWS everything, though.

Kennedy vs. Pryor: Personally, I like number four. :)

John Kerry's idea for replacing the Electoral College?:



Rock, paper, scissors.

And you know my boy Dubya has got the paper angle covered. Sorry dems. Four more years in the wilderness.

Welcome!: I am pleased to announce that Frank Beckwith (Texas) and Reid McKee (Mississippi), both of the excellent blog Moteworthy, will be guest blogging here at SA for a spell. Welcome gents! It's nice to have y'all here.

Happy birthday, Alexis de Tocqueville:  The author of what Harvey Mansfield has called "the best book ever written on democracy and the best book ever written on America," was born this date, 1805, in Paris.  UVA maintains a great website on Tocqueville, including a searchable webbed version of Democracy in America, here.  Professor Mansfield's appearance on C-SPAN's "Booknotes" program to discuss his 2000 translation of Democracy in America is available online.   C-SPAN also maintains a Tocqueville website, here.

Francis Crick, R.I.P.:  The scientist who, with James Watson, discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, died yesterday at age 88.  The Salk Institute's press release is here.  The lengthy NY Times obit is here (requires registration).  Information on his 1962 Nobel Prize in medicine is here.

Fetal Stem Cell Research: Don't Do It for the Gipper: Mark Shea, a brilliant Catholic author and prolific blogger (he is on hiatus right now), has an excellent opinion piece up over at Catholic Exchange on fetal stem cell research. Here's a taste:

And it is not medically necessary. Stem cells have other sources besides artificially-created fetuses. For instance, they can be harvested from umbilical cord blood without taking innocent life. Those who push for stem cells which involve the taking of innocent human life do so not because of some sort of medical necessity, but because there is gold in them thar hills to be had from the creation of an immense, wealth-generating industry dedicated to the manufacture and destruction of innocent human life for profit. It is ironic that those most critical of Reagan and his "Decade of Greed" are those most staunchly in favor of the creation of a system that is entirely (and needlessly) about the exploitation of innocent human life for the sake of Mammon.

Exactly.

San Francisco affirmative action plan ruled illegal
 
A Superior Court judge has ruled that a two-decade-old affirmative action program in San Francisco violates the sweeping ban on race and gender preferences California voters approved in 1996 with Prop 209.   The case was argued by the Pacific Legal Foundation and its press release on the opinion can be found here.

"The Sound and Fury of John Edwards"  In his column on NRO today, Michael Knox Beran says Edwards is an amalgam of Benjamin Disraeli, William Jennings Bryan, and Huey Long.  BTW, I'd venture to say that the answers to the questions posed in his final paragraph are 1) Probably not; and, 2) This is a rhetorical question, right?

Moore's Next Victim: Florida. Michael Moore is going to have his fat lying carcass airlifted to various polling places in Florida this November, presumably haggling Republican voters with idiotic questions like "Would you send your child to Iraq, Senator?" as they try to enter the polls and elect the next President of the United States.

My question: if I'm sufficiently repulsed by Jabba the filmmaker outside my polling place, is that disenfranchisement? Can *I* use one of Moore's hired-gun attorneys to sue the DNC?

Florida was a sideshow in 2000. Moore will make it a full-blown circus in 2004.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

A sizeable group of Vietnam vets, some with experience alongside Senator Kerry or in command of him, have come together to oppose Kerry's bid for the White House. Interesting stuff.

Update: Looks like there's a book, too.

Alabama's statutory ban on the sale of sex toys upheld by a divided panel of the 11th Circuit (Birch (writing) and Hill in the majority; Barkett dissenting.)  From the majority:

"If the people of Alabama in time decide that a prohibition on sex toys is misguided, or ineffective, or just plain silly, they can repeal the law and be finished with the matter," the court said. "On the other hand, if we today craft a new fundamental right by which to invalidate the law, we would be bound to give that right full force and effect in all future cases including, for example, those involving adult incest, prostitution, obscenity, and the like."

You can read the full text here (PDF file).

Barack Obama
I haven't watched a lot of the Democratic convention, but I did watch Obama's speech on Tuesday. He was darn good, too. I have often thought that in politics, it's really not what you say, but how you say it. For example, I have met many people who lean to the left, or even who are outright liberal who have told me that they love Alan Keyes.

I saw a little bit of the same thing Tuesday night. Some of the things that Obama said would have gotten him booed off the stage if he were a Republican, but the crowd responded very favorably when he said them. For example, at one point he implied that the Republicans were dividing the country, saying:

[T]here's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

I wholeheartedly agree; I just didn't know the Democrats did, too. Surely they would have booed someone like George W. Bush or Trent Lott saying this, but they wildly applauded the line. Despite this, the very next day, their schedule included the following caucus meetings from 10-11:50 a.m.:

African American Caucus: Grand Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Latino Caucus: Constitution A&B Ballrooms, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Asian Pacific Islander Caucus: Republic Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Native American Caucus: Back Bay D Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Ethnic American Caucus: Back Bay B Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel

From 12:00 -1:50 p.m. they had the following caucus meetings:

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus: Constitution B Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Disabled Caucus: Republic Ballroom, Sheraton Boston Hotel
Veterans Caucus: Room TDB, Sheraton Boston Hotel

Moreover, from 1-3:00 p.m. was the "People of Faith Caucus Luncheon," and from 2-4:00 p.m. was the "Rural Caucus." Today is the "Women's Caucus Meeting," as well as the "Youth Caucus" and the "Seniors Caucus." Sounds like a lot of different Americas to me.

He also stated the following, again to wild applause and a standing ovation:

Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. (wild applause) No people don't expect government to solve all their problems.

Again, I agree. So does Bill Cosby. And apparently so did the delegates to the Democratic convention.

I think this is due to two reasons: (1) it's true, and when you speak the truth most people recognize it; and (2) it's all in the delivery.

Obama's delivery was very smooth, and out of the speeches I have watched he by far got the best reception. He had the people on their feet applauding most of the time, and in contrast to many of the other speakers, you could see that the crowd was actually listening to every word he said, rather than just waiting for a pause to do the obligatory cheer.

However, one line which got possibly the biggest applause has left me puzzled:

If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

The crowd came to its feet, cheering. But when did this happen? Have I missed something? Is the Bush Administration rounding up "Arab American families"?

This guy scares me a lot more than the total loons on the left -- he comes across very well, and could get a lot of people on both sides to vote for him. But I also hope against hope that he and others like him could actually bring the Democrats back to reality. He did say at one point:

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated.

The Democrats cheered. Unbelievable. Like I said, it's all in the delivery.

The ever changing Kerry

Jim Geraghty over at NRO has assembled an interesting collection of Kerry flip flops.  Check it out here.   My favorite has to be a statement he made on The O'Reilly Factor on Dec. 11, 2001:

"I think we ought to put the heat on Saddam Hussein. I've said that for a number of years, Bill. I criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no matter what the evidence is about September 11."

9/11 evidence not an issue?  I would love to hear him explain that one.

Sentencing Guidelines
A few days ago, William noted that the Fourth Circuit has scheduled en banc arguments next month on the sentencing guidelines. he also noted that Judge William W. Wilkins of the Fourth Circuit was the principal author of the guidelines and his opinion would carry a lot of weight. Now Ken at CrimLaw asks whether Wilkins should recuse himself from hearing the case. He also asks whether Justice Breyer should recuse himself if (and when) this reaches the Supreme Court.

Should Conventions be Canned?
 
Yes they should, argues Robert "KC" Johnson in his essay Are Political Conventions Obsolete? which appears on the History News Network.  And I believe he is correct.  All Conventions are today is an opportunity for grandstanding and a chance to tell fibs about how Candidate X will govern.  Here is a taste of Johnson's views on the matter:

Conventions once were the high point of drama in the political world. The Democratic convention of 1960 opened with the nominee's identity uncertain; at previous conventions, delegates, voting their conscience, often went through many ballots before choosing a nominee. They thrashed out other important issues as well. In 1964, Democrats debated the seating of segregated state delegations. In 1968 at Chicago, the Democrats battled over the party's stance on the Vietnam War. And in 1980, the Republicans, for the first time, inserted an anti-abortion plank into their party platform.
 
Procedural changes designed to allow the voters rather than the party bosses to select presidential nominees changed the character of conventions. Now, all important issues relating to procedures and the platform are decided well in advance. By 1976, the rules of both parties ensured that the rank and file chose the vast majority of convention delegates, through either primaries or caucuses. In practice, the current primary system has maximized the role of money and momentum.

Yet another reason why I have spent zero time following the goings-on in Boston. 

Most Perfect Pop/Rock Song: This is not the same thing as one's favorite song, though it is hard not to love something very perfect.

At age 18, honestly, I would have championed Steely Dan's "Peg." Done up in blueprint blue / It sure looks good on you. Exquisite down to the name of the object of affection. (I never tire of the Irish and American variations rung on the modest "Margaret": Meg, Maggie, Peg, Molly, all fetching.)

But for a while now I've been convinced it's Marshall Crenshaw, "Monday Morning Rock." What a smart, affable pop persona Crenshaw crafted. And this song could not be better wrought. It booms, peals, and rings with perfect chords. It's a weary complaint about NY nightlife that folds itself into a slyly intimate come-on. Crenshaw sidles into each chorus with the best change I've ever heard. There's more sweetness and light in that one bar of "Monday Morning Rock" than in a whole chapter of Matthew Arnold. I have been known to play this song six times in a row and then hum it all evening.

The essential Crenshaw is to be found on his first three albums. The debut (1982) and Field Day (1983), are in print. No. 3, Downtown (1985), is not, which is madness. It's possible to find a copy; failing that, his Rhino best-of does a fairly good job of culling his career -- which, since it's Crenshaw's songbook we're talking about here, means the resulting record is a trove of jewels.

Religious belief and economic growth (again):  A study by two economists at the St. Louis Fed argues that

all else constant, the more religious a country, the less corruption it will have, and the higher its per capita income will be. Of course, [our] charts are only suggestive. However, they are nonetheless consistent with Weber’s argument and the Barro and McCleary result that religious beliefs can influence economic outcomes.

Hat tip to MSNBC, via The Corner.  (But my link is better.) 

Washington and Lee, #1 Where it Counts...
I attended law school at Washington and Lee, usually ranked in the Top 20 law schools in America. It was a great place to go to law school, and if I had it to do over again, I'd go to the same place. Now I know why. (And yes, I know it's ranking the university, but the law school, particularly my class was very conservative as well.)

We're number one, we're number one.... :)

Some pretty wild allegations popping up on Drudge today about Kerry's Vietnam war footage, supposedly spliced into his introduction film for the DNC. Again, I'd take this with a grain (or perhaps a brick) of salt, but if it pans out I think it's bad news for the Kerry Camp.

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? Perusing "The Corner" a few days back, I came across a post from Jonah Goldberg in which he laid out his "agenda" for the coming weeks. While mine is in by no means as interesting, or even as important, as Mr. Goldberg's, I thought I'd divulge the reasons why my contributions to this most wonderful page will be sparse for the coming weeks. Humor me please.

Next Monday will mark one year of being married to my lovely and wonderful wife. Therefore, we are heading to Washington, D.C. to celebrate our anniversary. Well, not exactly. Perhaps that's not the dream trip that a woman has in mind when thinking of celebrating her first wedding anniversary. So, I must compromise (isn't that what we men always do?). We are going to D.C. to visit some wonderful friends of ours, who have so graciously extended an invitation to come visit and have an itinerary packed full of all the tourist attractions, plus some that only an insider can provide, for us. All that's left for me to do is pack this evening, get a good night's rest and prepare for the long drive tomorrow.

Now, the compromise involves celebration of our anniversary. We leave D.C. Sunday morning and head back South (can I get a witness?!?) to Asheville, NC. In all of my 24, now almost 25, years I have never been to the Biltmore Estate, something which I've always wanted to do (so, I guess I'm not making too much of a concession by going there, huh?). Following our stay in NC, we'll make our way back to Hotlanta on Tuesday.

However, things are just beginning to get busy. My brother has, against my best advice ;), decided to get married. Thus, I have wedding activities occupying my time through next Saturday, in addition to planning to move for law school, which I'll be doing in the days following his wedding. So, if you think I've fallen of the face of the earth, or at least off of this page, well, I'll be pretty close (and maybe wishing that I had).

Fun with Captions.

I couldn't resist.  This picture is too funny and is screaming out for the right caption.

 

Do not miss today's Bleat, wherein Mr. Lileks explains a few things to a couple of Frenchmen.  Doesn't get much better than this.

"LOVING" your country.
You have to admire the zeal of these gals, if not their morals.

UPDATE.  I have been told that this may be a hoax.  If so, I apologize if any of my fellow servicemen got their hopes up.