Since everybody seems to want to dance on Sarah Palin's political grave right now, it may be wise to read her full statement on why she's stepping down as Alaska's Governor:

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I serve, as your Governor.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.

I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska.

Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America. We’re strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny.

Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”.

And we are doing well! My administration's accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans.

We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to HELP people... and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with our policies.

Here’s some of the things we’ve done:

We created a petroleum integrity office to oversee safe development. We held the line FOR Alaskans on Point Thomson – and finally for the first time in decades – they’re drilling for oil and gas.

We have AGIA, the gasline project – a massive bi-partisan victory (the vote was 58 to 1!) – also succeeding as intended - protecting Alaskans as our clean natural gas will flow to energize us, and America, through a competitive, pro-private sector project. This is the largest private sector energy project, ever. THIS is energy independence.

And ACES – another bipartisan effort – is working as intended and industry is publicly acknowledging its success. Our new oil and gas “clear and equitable formula” is so Alaskans will no longer be taken advantage of. ACES incentivizes NEW exploration and development and JOBS that were previously not going to happen with a monopolized North Slope oil basin.

We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform.

We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes... but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.

We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be.

We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance.

We broke ground on the new prison.

And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets... the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said "no" to our pay raises. So much success in this first term – and with this success I am proud to take credit... for hiring the right people! Our goal was to achieve a gasline project, more fair oil and gas valuation, and ethics reform in four years. We did it in two. It’s because of the people… good public servants surrounding the Governor's office, with servants' hearts and astounding work ethic... THEY are Alaska's success!

We are doing well! I wish you'd hear MORE from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - SPECIAL interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense!

Another accomplishment – our Law Department protected states’ rights – TWO huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in OUR state’s favor over the last two weeks. We’re protectors of our Constitution – federalists protect states’ rights as mandated in 10th amendment.

But you don’t hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year – the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate – I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.

It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but THIS isn’t what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.

If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices!

And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose NOT to tear down and waste precious time; but to build UP this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!

Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.

Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time... to BUILD UP.

And there is such a need to BUILD up and FIGHT for our state and our country. I choose to FIGHT for it! And I'll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and LIFE... I'll work for and campaign for those PROUD to be American, and those who are INSPIRED by our ideals and won't deride them.

I WILL support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the RIGHT reasons, and I don't care what party they're in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska.

But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.

I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to HELP people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor.

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that – I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ? That’s not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old “politics as usual.” I promised that four years ago – and I meant it.

It’s not what is best for Alaska.

I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and not so comfortable.

With this announcement that I am not seeking re-election… I’ve determined it’s best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell; and I am willing to do so, so that this administration – with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future – can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.

My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me – sports… basketball. I use it because you’re naïve if you don’t see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN. And I’m doing that – keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities – smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it’s time to pass the ball – for victory.

I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics.

I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you TRUST me with this decision – but it’s no more “politics as usual”.

Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either. ? Some will question the timing. ? Let’s just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile…

In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?" It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that... I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig - I know he needs me, but I need him even more... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT – that time is precious... the world needs more "Trigs", not fewer.

My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for OUR freedom and security… we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that LIFE is short so they choose to NOT waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than SELF... and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions – those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and NOT this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport.

May we ALL learn from them!

*((Gotta put First Things First))*

First things first: as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska. I’ve explained why… though I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator that says “Don’t explain: your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.”

But I have given my reasons… no more “politics as usual” and I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction.

Now, despite this, I don’t want any Alaskan dissuaded from entering politics after seeing this REAL “climate change” that began in August… no, we NEED hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! And I will support you because we need YOU and YOU can effect change, and I can too on the outside.

We need those who will respect our Constitution where government’s supposed to serve from the BOTTOM UP, not move toward this TOP DOWN big government take-over… but rather, will be protectors of individual rights - who also have enough common sense to acknowledge when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it’s time so the team can win! And that is what I’m doing!

Remember Alaska… America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good. So God bless you, and from me and my family - to ALL Alaska - you have my heart.

And we will be in the capable hands of our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. And Lieutenant General Craig Campbell will assume the role of Lieutenant Governor. And it is my promise to you that I will always be standing by, ready to assist. We have a good, positive agenda for Alaska.

In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

I've always said that I don't trust anyone for President who acts like they want the office. I don't think this is the statement of a person for whom becoming President is the primary objective.

Update: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. "

Heritage Foundation publishes Tea Party Talking Points:

Big Government Getting Bigger

* Spending, Spending, Spending: President Obama spent nearly $800 billion on the stimulus bill and then proposed a budget that would increase spending by another $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Spending in 2009 has increased 25%, which is the largest non-war government expansion since the New Deal.

* Creating or Saving Jobs? The President set a benchmark of a 138.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy by the end of 2010. He is currently 6.4 million jobs short. Yet with rising unemployment, the White House continues to take credit for jobs "saved" without any empirical evidence to suggest this is true. The stimulus bill did create jobs in one sector--the government--by nearly doubling the size of several federal agencies and creating a huge bureaucracy.

* A Second Stimulus? The President stated that the stimulus would start helping the economy within months if not weeks of passage, but his advisors are now saying the real effect won't take place until later this year, maybe. Meanwhile, the White House is now openly considering a second stimulus spending bill. The first stimulus already dumped $9,400 of debt into every American's lap. Why double down?

American Families Paying More, Choosing Less

* The Public Health Care Plan: Independent analysis projects that as many as 119 million Americans could lose the coverage they have today if a government plan is introduced. Employers would be incentivized to drop private coverage, regardless of individual preferences in the matter. The end result would be bureaucrats and politicians, not families, controlling health care choices and decisions. Even the White House says the President's rhetoric shouldn't be taken "literally" when he promises you won't lose your current plan.

* An Economy Killing Energy Tax: The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill in June, which will kill millions of jobs, cost American families over $3,000 a year, cause electricity rates to "skyrocket" according the President, cause gas and heating oil prices to rise, outsource jobs to China and India, hurt senior citizens and the poor the worst, and be highly susceptible to fraud and corruption--all without making any substantive impact on the environment.

Better Priorities for America

* Health Care Reform: Instead of introducing a massive government-run health care plan, Congress should consider alternatives that give families control of their health care by making insurance plans portable, reform the tax system to allow the same tax incentives for all insurance purchasers, and deliver real competition through innovative state-based solutions.

* Budget Reform: Instead of higher taxes and a second stimulus, President Obama should embrace real tax and entitlement reform by lowering business taxes, permanently repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, reducing individual tax rates, and introducing serious Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reform so future generations aren't buried in excessive debt.

* Our Nation's Defense: The world remains a dangerous place, populated with rogue states and terrorist organizations that pose an imminent threat to our nation. Instead of cutting defense spending, the Administration should restore missile defense funding and maintain a minimum defense budget of 4% of GDP for the next 10 years, not including war funding.

Compare and contrast, a history lesson from more than 200 years ago:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris,Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

In an awkward spot of the suit. Via Joe Posnanski's blog.

RollCall.com:

As a result of the markup of carbon costs, a lot of those working families will be out of work and unable to pay their existing bills, let alone new ones. Consider: Burning one ton of coal produces about three tons of CO2. So a tax of $15 per ton of CO2 emitted is equivalent to a tax of $45/ton on coal. The price of Eastern anthracite coal runs in the neighborhood of $45/ton, so under the proposed system, such coal would be taxed at a rate of about 100 percent. The price of Western bituminous coal is currently about $12/ton. This coal would therefore be taxed at a rate of almost 400 percent. Coal provides half of America’s electricity, so such extraordinary imposts could easily double the electric bills paid by consumers and businesses across half the nation. In addition, many businesses, such as the metals and chemical industries, use a great deal of coal directly. By doubling or potentially even quadrupling the cost of their most basic feedstock, the cap-and-trade system’s indulgence fees could make many such businesses uncompetitive and ultimately throw millions of working men and women onto the unemployment lines.

. . .

But all these bad aspects of the Waxman-Markey bill pale before its potential impact on the world’s food supply. America’s agricultural sector is one of the greatest success stories in human history. In 1930, hunger still stalked the entire globe. Not just in Africa, India and China, but even in Europe and America, the struggle to simply get enough food to live on still preoccupied billions of people. Since 1930, the world population has tripled. But instead of going hungrier, people nearly everywhere are now eating much better. This miracle is the work of American farmers, who have not only produced huge surpluses to feed the world, but used the income gained from such good work to pioneer ever more advanced techniques that have enabled farmers everywhere to grow more. . .

If you tax carbon, you tax fertilizer and pesticides. If you tax these things, you tax food, and by no small amount. A $15/ton CO2 tax would increase fertilizer production costs directly by about $60/ton, with the cap-and-trade bill’s increased transport costs inflating the burden still more. That’s enough to make many farmers use less fertilizer, and less fertilizer means less food.

Emphasis mine.

First, call your U.S. Senators and tell them to stop this madness. Then, make sure by every legal means necessary that every single Representative who voted for this abomination is retired with extreme prejudice in the 2010 election.

HT: Instapundit

At StrategyPage via Instapundit:

The (U.S.) Marines have a different attitude towards this. As they put it, "every marine a rifleman." In practice, this means that the majority of marines, who have combat support jobs, continue to get infantry training. So the marines in Iraq called these all-female teams (3-5 women) Lionesses. Again, no shortage of volunteers, as female marines, even more than their sisters in the army, were eager to get into the fight. But that's not what the lioness teams were created for. What the marines had also noticed was that the female marines tended to get useful information out of the women they searched. Iraqi women were surprised, and often awed, when they encountered these female soldiers and marines. The awe often turned into cooperation. Most Iraqi women are much less enthusiastic about fighting the Americans than their men folk (who die in large numbers when they do so.) Being a widow is much harder in the Arab world than it is in the West.

The marines also noticed that the female troops were better at picking up useful information in general. This is something Western police forces noted, in the last few decades, as women were allowed to work in all areas of police work, including detectives and crime scene investigators. Iraqi men were also intimidated by female soldiers and marines. In the macho Arab world, an assertive female with an assault rifle is sort of a man's worst nightmare. So many otherwise reticent Iraqi men, opened up to the female troops, and provided information. Women also had an easier time detecting a lie (something husbands often learn the hard way.)

Me. Proud. Our girls got game. Lionesses of the Desert. Where's the movie?

Snookums wants me to go to the library more. I'm not so sure that's a good idea.

So in answer to some questions: No, the books on this blog are not necessarily “awful”, its just that “books-that-should- be- reconsidered- under-interpretation-of-current-collection developement-policies-and-retired” is not a fun name for a blog that is just trying to instigate a discussion on quality library collections!

Also, none of the books on this blog are the property of Holly and Mary. We wander through library catalogs and ILL our choices. We aren’t selling any books, but if you are serious about collecting some of these titles, I suggest you head to your nearest public library’s book sale room. ( I am sure they would be happy to relieve you of some money!)

Via BoingBoing.

OK, maybe it's library book sales I should stay away from.

I've been way to dark lately. Er, oops, didn't mean "dark." Wouldn't want to be racist, you know. I meant . . . um . . . well, not exactly depressed . . . what's the word, what's the word . . . terrified? Yeah, that's close.

Well, anyway, I'm going to try to lighten it up a bit. So, at the link, via Tigerhawk, the Top 10 Manly Movie Deaths.

OK, that maybe doesn't help the mood all that much. But the good news is I think I've only seen five of the 10 movies. Is that good news? I are so confused.

The parenthesis mean negative numbers, folks. This economy is flat-lining. It's a building that's burning, and all the Democrats seem to want to do is pour gasoline on the fire.

From the blog Where are my Keys. via Instapundit.

Personally, Al Franken couldn't happen to a nicer party than the Democrats.

After all, they all seem to think they're smarter and funnier than they actually are.

No, wait . . . Democrats are funny, in a watching-a-plane-crash-and-knowing-that-innocent-people-are-going-to-die sort of ha-ha way.

This is the dawning of the Stuart Smalley Age. Doggonit, people like us!

At Reason Hit and Run:

And in a post about the report on his blog, the CBO's director, Douglas Elmendorf, writes that "under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path."

That would be the OBAMA budget, for those of you still bitterly clinging to your Bush Derangement Syndrome. The Obama budget BEFORE the Democrats pass their imminent Health Care System Destruction Act of 2009. We'll be broke, but we'll have access to health care, yup, yup, yup, but we'll have to wait twelve months to see someone about that ingrown toenail.

From our West Coast Simian Correspondent Bill: Where Is Michael Jackson's Beloved Pet Chimp?

Bubbles is alive and thriving at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, according to the center's Web site.

The center reports that Bubbles was born in 1983 in a biomedical laboratory, and purchased as a young chimp by an entertainment trainer. The chimp was later acquired by Jackson and accompanied the superstar on his world travels.

That's certainly a load off of my mind.

The Apostrophe Abuse Blog.

OK, the headline probably is a bit tasteless. But it appears to be true.

And day-ahm . . . I'm about to turn 50. Michael Jackson was 50. Day-ahm. Where's that exercise bike?

Richard Fernandez, writing about George Orwell:

The most frightening thing about Orwell’s life is that it took a man as inquiring and perceptive as he was so long to understand his world. It took years for him to grasp that power was only interested in itself. He had reached the middle of his life before understanding that outwardly commonplace things like the Party were devoted only to their own ends. Once he recognized this he spent the rest of his life warning of the great danger which was upon us. Yet the miracle was that he understood it at all. The “obvious” idea that freedom is a meme that must daily struggle for its existence was not so evident after all. Some — the countless numbers who went to their deaths still praising Stalin or thinking that the “Revolution had been betrayed” — never realized the truth at all. They never realized that they were experiencing the Revolution: the revolution in which Power ruled forever. But to understand that concept would have been to know too much. Only O’Brien and finally Winston Smith understood the truth. For the rest, there is Victory Gin. Hitler once remarked that the bulk of humanity is easily mislead and any leader worthy of the name would take advantage of the fact.

The ability to recognize the face of tyranny is a fragile skill which cannot really be passed on, except as a critical attitude. As the twentieth century recedes into the past, a kind of antiquity has descended over the prophets of the past, who speak to us now only through old, cloth-covered books from second-hand bookshops or lying in corners at garage sales or lending libraries. Even 1984 is set in a time so long ago that it can only be portrayed in film as steampunk. We can no longer imagine “a boot in a human face forever” in a world where the Croc sandal may be the preferred footwear of militants. ‘A Croc sandal stamping on a human face forever?’ Who could credit such a tyranny, even if it were true? But the face of evil ever renews itself. When Moses returned from Mount Sinai he discovered that it had taken a new shape.

I'm surrounded by people, and by an entire culture, who not only think "it can't happen here" but are actively engaged in the soft and gentle (and sometimes not so soft or gentle), mocking, condescending suppression anyone who thinks "you know, human nature hasn't fundamentally changed in the past 100 years, let alone the past 10,000."

So, I'm afraid. I'm afraid that Jefferson was right when he said that liberty was a tree that required the watering of the blood of tyrants and patriots. I don't want to live through a civil war. I don't want to live through Kristallnacht, either, but I have the feeling that that's what is quietly happening, while everybody distractedly obsesses about everything else, from Michael Jackson to global warming. I'm not afraid for myself, but for everybody else who have no clue what's coming. And I think it is coming.

The looters are in power, and they're doing what comes naturally to human beings who have power without check or responsibility. They loot.

Exhibit 1: Mark Sanford, Governor, South Carolina. Skips out on his job, his wife, his family for a junket to Argentina to bang his lover.

Fire his ass. Now.

Exhibit 2: The 219 cretins who laughingly call themselves "United States Representatives" who passed--sight-unseen--a 1,200-page bill to outlaw basically the entire economy of the United States, while most of you were out mourning over Michael frickin' Jackson. Nice.

They did not read the bill. They couldn't have. At the time they voted on it, the bill didn't actually exist in its final form. Who knows, it might never. But that's OK, isn't it? Isn't it?

These 219 pinheads, having proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are a danger to themselves and--especially--others, should be detained by lawful authority, given a fair trial, and institutionalized in a mental institution for the remainder of their intellectually impotent lives.

These people don't give a rat's ass about you, your household budget, your job, or basically anything about your life. Because they know better than you how you should spend your money. They know this because you keep foolishly wanting to do things like heat your house in the winter, and cool it in the summer.

They know this because you insist on exhaling that dangerous pollutant--carbon dioxide, instead of just going and dying like a good little prole.

To you people who voted for anyone who voted for or advocated this bill--from Obama on down--I hope you're *censored*ing happy today.

Why would you want to put a dagger in the heart of the national economy, when unemployment figures continue to come in "over economists' estimates?" Because you're a Democrat (or one of the eight even more idiotic Republican), of course!

Politicians, in general, are people with little to no contact with reality. It is our obligation as citizens of this country to re-acquaint them.

Vote against an incumbent--regardless of party. Do it while you still can--assuming Obama and ACORN won't make it too late already in 2010.

Next up, an intricate, hard-to-understand, and utterly un-read bill intended to destroy the American health care system. I'm so PROUD to be an American.

HOPE! CHANGE!

Oh, I forgot:

Exhibit 3: Barney Frank. Special lifetime achievement Disgusting Turd of Politics award, for destroying the entire housing and banking industries with ill-conceived regulations, then blaming the victim afterwards.

Further Update: Why, yes, I have been reading quite a lot of Ace of Spades HQ and Protein Wisdom lately. How did you know?

that Farah Fawcett or Michael Jackson are dead. Sorry. Neither one impacted my life overmuch (although I was indeed an impressionable young boy when Farah was HOT!!!)

People really need to get a grip. Go talk to your FAMILIES for crying out loud, rather than pining over the demise of celebrity actors and entertainers who never, ever even knew you existed.

Will henceforth be known as the Suckage Channel . . . er . . . SyFy.

Styupyd.

Here's an idea that I've been bouncing around in my head:

It's a variation on the theme of "medical spending accounts."

The idea is that people can put as much money as they want into the account, and all of that money (less some small amount for administration) is available to them for health care. Anything over can be used for other people's health care--and the "donor" gets a tax deduction or some other economic incentive for donating.

The clearinghouse organization doesn't make decisions regarding health care--the doctor and the patient do.

Doctors, as part of the moral obligation of "informed consent," will have to reveal to their patients the cost of the procedures the doctor is ordering. The clearinghouse organization can help with that, keeping track of what's being charged for those services over time.

As I mentioned before, if a person doesn't have enough in his or her account to afford the service, then there are choices to be made. First, the doctor (or other health care provider) can lower their price. The patient can decide that the service is too expensive. OR, the other people who have put money into the program can decide to help the patient out, financially.

This used to be called "charity" and was generally considered to be a Good Thing For People To Do.

The thing is, that this charity would be voluntary. Nobody would force you to do a good thing. But since it's human nature to need the occasional prod towards doing that right thing, there needs to be some kind of additional economic incentive for people to do this.

What I would do is take every dollar volunteered for charity straight off the top--make it a 1-for-1 deduction on taxes owed. So, basically, people could choose to fund the government, or to fund other people's health care expenses.

This seems to me to be much more straightforward and honest than anything being talked about in Washington right now.

Simple. Doctor. Patient. Bare-bones clearinghouse to track prices, and to match needy patients with people who have the money to help them.

No guns, no coercion.

Voluntary. (Except for passing the laws that would make this system legal, of course.)

The condensed version:

1. Target a relatively free industry;

2. Enact onerous regulations to “fix” trumped-up “problems” in the industry;

3. Criticize the industry constantly as it struggles unsuccessfully to deal with the onerous regulations;

4. Cluck knowingly about the “market failure” that explains the difficulties of the industry, and pass even more draconian regulations.

5. Repeat process until total economic collapse.

That’s the game plan. Over and over again. Unfortunately, it works.

UFO's over Kansas City?

In March a UFO was spotted by several college professors in St. Joseph, Missouri, who viewed the object through a telescope. Two of the witnesses made drawings of the object, which were large orange fireballs in a tear-drop shape. The UFO moved away and disappeared. In late May a large oval object was spotted traveling from South to North from the UMKC campus in Kansas City, and in June a large cigar-shaped silver UFO was witnessed in Sedalia by 20 people standing in an Applebee’s parking lot. On June 17 a large bright craft was viewed for over an hour, then multiple planes and helicopters searched the area in Lenexa.

I haven't seen any. But I haven't been looking, either. The Truth Is Out There. (Cue X-Files music . . .)

someone who agrees with me about a movie--in this case, Crash:

My opinion: I hate this movie. Crash was an unrealistic, melodramatic depiction of racism in this country. Of course racism exists, but it’s not as black and white cut and dry as Crash would have you believe. The film suffers from finding itself quite clever, linking together its characters (a technique that was executed properly and brilliantly in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia) in an unbelievable, far-fetched manner. Plus, presenting the scenes in slow motion coupled with an overly dramatic score doesn’t make the movie good. It makes it pretentious, and the social message about racism is delivered with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Man, I hated that movie. Not quite as much as "Million Dollar Baby" which I don't just hate, I loathe, but "Crash" sucked. Hard.

Via Michael Totten writing at Commentary cites a Huffington Post entry, citing an e-mail from an Iranian (is that trail tenuous or what?):

Nico Pitney published an email at the Huffington Post that indicates at least some of the demonstrators are willing to take casualties.

I spoke with my father last night who is [in Iran]… [He] told me the common sentiment among the protestors is that of incredible resolve. He said that from what he’s heard, this will not stop until the Ayatollah himself is overthrown. As he put it, “Even if a million people (Moussavi supporters) die, they will not back down”.

Brave words. Ominous words. God help and protect the freedom-loving Iranians.

I have joined Facebook. Here.

I have also become a Twit. Here.

Goody. Two MORE web sites for me to very infrequently post to, monitor, or otherwise waste my time with. Yee. Hah.

And no, I don't know what, if anything, I will do with those sites. I barely know what to do with THIS one most days.

I keep thinking of this simple concept when everybody comes down from On High (i.e. Washington, D.C.) telling us all how the health care system is f**ked up, and needs to be fixed RIGHT THE HELL NOW!!!!!

Maybe so. Don't make it worse, Washington.

And, given the housing industry, the car industry, etc., etc., in fact every single government intervention into our economy all the way back to the New Deal and beyond, the politican's track record for "fixing problems" doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

In short, my default position is that anything you try to do will make things worse than they are now. But you're welcome to convince me otherwise.

Postscript: I saw This over at National Review Online which appears to be on point:

As the great Arthur Seldon said, "Risks which cannot be removed or shifted profitably must be born by the entrepreneur. He will generally do so only as long as his expectation of profit outweighs the chance of loss." Systemic risk can therefore exist only when there is systemic removal of that chance of loss. Government (or organized thievery = same thing, essentially) is the only thing that can do that. Systemic risk cannot therefore exist without a government distorting the market.

So, what kind of additional "systemic risk" will be introduced by a much larger intervention of the government into the health care system? Or do you even care that the likely result will be, as in England, waiting periods measured in months for even routine surgeries?

First, do no harm.

Michael J. Totten, one of the better independent journalists around, is calling what's happening in Iran a revolution now. He's blogging it here.

US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive

The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.

The radical experiment is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.

Actually, there's a germ of a good idea here. Unfortunately, considering the general economic illiteracy of those currently in power, they can be trusted to implement the idea in the worst possible way, resulting in a situation in "Rust Belt" cities that's even more miserable than what we have now.

Any of the Progressive Insurance "Flo" commercials.

Any pharmaceutical commercial.

Any commercial that includes a phone number.

There are probably more, but those would be a good start . . .

June 7th, a deranged psychotic assassinates notorious abortion doctor.

June 8th: a deranged psychotic assassinates one soldier, and wounds another in Little Rock.

Next, a deranged psychotic kills a guard at the Holocaust Museum.

In all cases, everybody EXCEPT the deranged psychotic is blamed, mainly to score some kind of political point. As you see at the last link, the Holocaust suspect apparently belonged to just about every wacko fringe movement, without regard to "left" or "right."

Sometimes, a deranged psychotic killer is just a deranged psychotic killer. The one in Wichita was an anti-abortion fanatic. The one in Little Rock was an Islamic fanatic. The one in Washington, DC. was just plain nuts. I'm not sure how much more analysis of them is necessary or prudent.

The title says it all. Forever more the CBS late night show host should be referred to as:

“Statutory rape fantasist David Letterman”

You said what you said, Davey boy. It can not be unsaid. You, and any writer or producer who participated in the writing of—or knew the contents of—that “joke,” and still allowed it to be broadcast, should resign. If you don’t resign, you should be fired.

That would be the beginning of an acceptable “apology.”

Thought for the day: the desire to be a politician is itself a sign of mental illness.

I was thinking about this on the way home from breakfast. So what do I find, linked at Instapundit? This Esquire article:

On January 20, Barack Obama became president of a deranged nation. He did so apparently taking no notice of the fact that a good portion of the country, a country that otherwise repeatedly voiced its support for him in poll after poll after poll, continued to be completely out of its mind. He was calm and reasoned, and he spoke in measured tones about the challenges he and the nation were facing. And then he seemed to go manic on us.

I wonder though, if the impulse which sends individuals to seek political power of any kind might not be some kind of mental disorder.

A cheerful though, is it not? This might be why I have the general opinion that anybody who wants to be President probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Washington, D.C., let alone the Oval Office.

Update: Dr. Helen (the wife of Instapundit, linked above) graciously and quickly answered an e-mail I sent her on this subject, and I think the thrust of her reply was that "insane" is probably too strong. She notes that (many but perhaps not all) politicians are prone to narcissism--and for whatever reason, the rest of us are prone to vote for narcissists. So perhaps I should be asking "Are politicians, as a group, mentally ill" instead, as narcissism is a recognized mental illness.