Starting off with The Gettysburg Address. With Johnny Cash option.
Next to Memorial Day-related poems.
And, finally, to an examination of the brilliant show 24. I sometimes wonder while watching it if people uinderstand what it's principally about.

I may be the only one who finds this interesting, but here are Alex and Tyler from Marginal Revolution on what a free-market version of The Day After Tomorrow would like and on the economics of sex. Ok, probably other people will be interested in the second one. But will they read about problems with fingerprints?
Onto the administration. Just read the headline. Pretty scary when you think about it.
The final link is safe for work, if you're unemployed. Scroll down to the pic of W, and watch the edited State of the Union. (No, I don't think Bush is that evil [a little evil yes, but not that evil], but it is funny).

I wonder if Bush even knows what full sovereignty means. As does Charley Reese.
Also from Reese, check out this 1910 8th-grade test.
Ha.

Arthur Silber nicely summarizes some conservative viewpoints. It seems harsh at first, but check the originals he works from, he's pretty accurate.
I don't have a strong position on guns. I'm suspicious of government controlling our ability to defend ourselves, but also suspicious of anyone with a gun. That said, it seems to me that most pro-gun control arguments are just like the one this column dissects.
Harry Browne on the price of removing Hussein. He asks a most pertinent question that would, I think, clarify a lot of people's thoughts if they heard it.
Sobran looks at the reasons why we continue to stay in Iraq. Key quote: Now the pictures from Abu Ghraib...threaten to undo all the good will we’ve so painstakingly built up by bombing Arab cities and starving Arab children.

That wacky Mr. Rogers!
A nice quote on leadership.

Bleh about sums it up.

From The Agitator, the latest news on David Hasselhoff, and a brilliant car ad. The ad is deceptively simple at first, but watch closely and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
This post talks about the different meanings of Zionism, and why because of the multiple interpretations, we should all be Zionists. While in theory he's right, in practice the word just isn't used in most of the ways that he mentions. I support the right of Jews to live peacefully in every country, as I do for everyone. I don't support explicitly religious or ethnic governments. Theoretically I could call myself a Zionist, but the term just isn't used in a way that I can use.

Yeah me! Master Maestro!
Ever wondered about the fact that computers become more powerful all the time, but the power source is pretty shitty? Here you go.
I recently linked to a censorship story. It might not be entirely true. I guess we'll find out more in time.
Tyler Cowen from Marginal Revolution recently wrote about how the behavior of confuses him. He's wicked smaht, so I sent him my preliminary hypothesis with a bit of trepidation:
Wouldn't the Hotelling rule only apply when the end is in sight for oil supplies? Currently, there is far more oil in the metaphorical pipeline than we can use, even if provable reserves aren't immense. As such, oil prices pretty much just follow from cost of drilling, processing, etc. When we do reach the point where we can reasonably foresee an end to oil supplies, then we will see price behave more or less according to the model.
Does this have any merit?

Without really commenting on my hypothesis, he recommended the following link at Cafe Hayek. I think he's basically agreeing with me, but I'm not really sure. I also found this post there that's germane, and also seems to support my hypothesis.

Back to the NBA playoffs. In the second round I predicted 3 out of 4 series correctly. The only one I got right for the number of games I picked the Lakers to lose, so that doesn't count. Onto the conference finals.
#1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. #2 Los Angeles Lakers. 'Sota has home-court advantage, and Garnett really shut up people who were questioning his credentials as league MVP. So, I'm really torn on this series. Will the Lakers crush them in 5 games, or have a letdown and it'll go 6? I'll take the safe position. Lakers 4, Timberwolves 2.
#1 Indiana Pacers vs #3 Detroit Pistons. This will be an extremely ugly series. I'd be shocked if either team reaches 100 points in any of the games, and surprised if 90 points is reached more than once. If Rasheed Wallace were at full strength I'd probably take Detroit in 6, but he's clearly hampered by his injury. The Pacers have spent a little more time together and home-court will prevail. Pacers 4, Pistons 3.

What an ass.
Same line, different meaning.

The 50th anniversary of Brown vs Board of Education was a few days ago. Paul Craig Roberts and Eugene Volokh are having an ongoing debate as to the merits of it. Volokh is pretty much winning it hands down, if only because he's arguing and Roberts is asserting. And here's Zora Neale Hurston's take, which you might find surprising.
The top 1% is...

Glen Whitman on creeping nannyism in the US. I particularly liked the last paragraph. And you can trust me on it, because this site is more good than evil, 61% to 39%.

Ok, I'm testing my new comments section. So here's a cool article to comment on, people.

Here's some good stuff on the prisoner abuse/torture situation and how it relates to domestic concerns. And more on why it was pretty predictable.
Last night I watched the video of the beheading of Nick Berg. Well, I watched it as much as I could. Here's a link to follow if you feel you need to see it too. Be warned, it's the most gruesome thing I have ever seen in my life, by far. I'm not sure if I've seen something this bad in a movie. I felt like throwing up, and I don't think I can really talk about it coherently at this point. So I'll leave it at that.

Another excellent post on Wal-Mart from Catallarchy.
Learn something about recycling. Trust me, it's a good read.
There's a new definition of middle-age, and I don't think anyone is going to like it.
Good thoughts on the torture embarassment/scandal/stupidity from The Volokh Conspiracy.

Back to the NBA playoffs. First a first round review:
7 of the 8 series are over. As predicted, no upsets, and in three of the series I picked the right number of games. All that remains is Miami against New Orleans. My sweep prediction was of course wrong, but it seems likely that Miami will prevail like I said. I'm making second round predictions before this series finishes because another series will start today.
West:
#1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #4 Sacramento Kings. Sacramento has more playoff experience as a unit, but they're banged up and not playing particularly well. Minnesota will handle them relatively easily. 4-2 Timberwolves.
#3 San Antonio Spurs vs #2 Los Angeles. Due to their superior record, San Antonio has home-court advantage, but I doubt this will be much of an issue. LA has more firepower, but San Antonio actually is a team, rather than a collection of talent. And it's not like their talent is bad, either. 4-2 Spurs.
East:
#3 Detroit Pistons vs #2 New Jersey Nets. Again #3 has home-court due to record. Again it's not the reason they will win. NJ has won the East the last two years and their big 3 are looking pretty good, but they have very little after that. Detroit is a deeper, tougher team, and won't let the Nets run nearly as much as they need to. While they've had some roster turnover to hurt continuity, Sheed's reluctance to be the man actually helps them here. 4-2 Pistons.
#1 Indiana Pacers vs (#4 Miami Heat or #5 New Orleans Hornets). Indiana is much better than either one of those teams. If Miami finishes off the series today, they will lose in 6 games. If New Orleans forces a game 7, whoever wins it will lose even sooner, with only the Pacers' being over rested helping them. So, provisionally, 4-1 Pacers.