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:: MAX BLACK ::

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis

"The Swiss pocket knife of conservative thought on the web..." - Eli Kardrakian

"Bookmark Max and dump your subscription to the newspaper; if you don't have a birdcage you really don't need it anyway..." - Shirley St. James

:: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 ::

Bitching about taxes is a national pass-time in America because, by and large, people grasp the basic concept that one cannot tax oneself into prosperity. The Europeans on the other hand harbor no such misconception.

:: Max 7:12 PM [+] ::
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Conservative pundit and overachiever Michelle Malkin introduces Hot Air, with this streaming video report on internet censorship by tech titans Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

:: Max 7:21 AM [+] ::
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The evil [but whacky] Dr. Henry Kissenger weighs in on the doctrine of preemption. It's an important essay Don't miss it.

:: Max 11:45 PM [+] ::
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The intrepid Michael Totten has an amazing two-part post on a breakneck road-trip through Turkey to Iraq. Don't miss it.

:: Max 3:05 PM [+] ::
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SUPRISE! It's the Religious Policeman!

:: Max 4:30 PM [+] ::
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Now Playing: The Easter Bunny Hates You via Florida Cracker.

[He always freaked me out anyway. Ya, I bought the whole flying reindeer thing with Santa Claus but conflating Rabbits, hard-boiled eggs and resurection is just plain wierd.]

:: Max 4:13 PM [+] ::
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Ed Driscoll has the Flight 93 movie trailer posted. It looks very good and no, it's not "too soon."

:: Max 9:24 PM [+] ::
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Arch Texan and astute political observer Lou Minatti speculates on Tom Delay's successor. I wouldn't bet against him.

[Oh. And run Kinky run!]

:: Max 12:28 AM [+] ::
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Thursday morning coffee pick: Ann Coulter's on a roll.

:: Max 12:15 AM [+] ::
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Uh oh. Apparently Kate McMillin has maligned lawyers [and "used car dealers, whorehouse piano players, pickpockets, dog catchers, meter readers, proctologists, and tax collectors..."]

:: Max 11:14 PM [+] ::
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Q&O's Dale Franks on Charlie Sheen:

"Wow. There's so much stupidity here, it's hard to know where to begin."

BDS takes yet another victim. And everybody is so worried about avian flu!? Maybe one of the big pharmaceutical companies should be looking into, you know, a BDS vaccine. They'd do a land office business in Hollywierd.

Technical Note: Anybody who thinks you can fly a commercial airliner with a full load of jet fuel into a 100+ story skyscraper WITHOUT a catastophic structural failure is smokin' crack. Any -- and I mean any -- credible structural engineer will tell you that the type of failure experienced at the WTC on 9-11 was imminently predictable. The floors above the crash area pancaked onto the floors below leading to a logical chain reaction. It was an entirely predictable catastrophic failure. Iron framed superstructures do not like massive fireballs - no matter what Mr. Sheen and his deranged ilk claim. That anyone would take Sheen's ridiculous claim seriously is testament to the intellectual capacity of way too many undereducated Americans - including, apparently, Mr. Sheen. Frighteningly, had the original attack on the WTC been more effective, the structure might have very well toppled rather than pancaked leading to a much greater loss of life. OBL has extensive experience with heavy construction [and high explosives] and was probably able to calculate - with great precision - that it was simply not practical to insert enough explosive into the garage area of the WTC to cause "toppling" failure so he opted for plan B - pancake - and it worked with chilling efficiency. OBL might be insane but he's certainly not stupid.

:: Max 10:15 PM [+] ::
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Roger L. Simon on Katie Couric:

Determined somehow to prove that an anchorman (or woman) is still a relevant profession in 2006, CBS has named Katie Couric, in the words of their press release, "Anchor and Managing Editor of The CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC." Note the nearly (or actually) pathological narcissism of the title, undoubtedly negotiated to death by a team of lawyers, which elevates Couric to equal billing to the news itself. It's almost as if CBS were acknowledging that this was not going to be the truth, but only the "world according to Couric," a field day for deconstructionists. The desperation in this choice and in the need to preserve the role of "Anchor" itself is palpable.

Amen. They so don't get it...

Update: New Media observer Jeff Jarvis weighs-in on the Couric switch. He jumps out of the gate with fire in his nostrils but quickly loses steam as Couric's fans respond. I guess some people still get their "news" the old-fashioned way: from the top-down, pre-masticated and over-packaged. Can't remember the last time I actually suffered a broadcast news segment; it's way too painfull - like watching the last Stegosaurus die.

Don't cave Jeff. As usual you're right on the money - just ahead of the curve maybe.

:: Max 10:01 PM [+] ::
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*Update: Hammorabi - in an April 4th post - is losing all faith. Assuming his negative assesment is generally accurate, the situation over there looks dire. Could it be the Americans are pulling back to test the determination of the Iraqi people? Hmmmm...

If you haven't checked in with Iraq The Model lately, now would probably be a good time. I've got a feeling the Iraqis are at a pivotal point in the construction of their new Government and centuries-old animosities appear to be coming to a head. Oh, and the mujahideen have apparently shut down the Iraqi free press. Sheesh...

[Hope somebody at the State Department is reading ITM.]

:: Max 6:12 PM [+] ::
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Yes, some idiot hijacked my blog but Blogger support has apparently restored it. Wow, that was wierd. Max is back.

:: Max 5:59 PM [+] ::
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