Always Right

Dick Morris and the undecided vote

Dick Morris analyzes new tracking polls and percentages of undecided voters, concluding that Kerry will will in the November by a couple point margin (based on 85% of the undecided ballots going to the challenger historically). This is really scary stuff from a man who's notable for being right most of the time. You may find the article here...

"Rudy to the U.N."

Oh yeah, baby. Rudy'd kick some serious butt over at the U.N...

I like school and all, but...

This guy takes the phrase "spending all of my time in the library" to a whole new level...

"Justices Won't Hear Military-College Appeal on Dinner Prayer"

Pity.

The Supreme Court refused on Monday to consider an appeal by the State of Virginia to permit the state-sponsored Virginia Military Institute to return to the practice of dinner-hour prayers. Two lower federal courts had declared the cadet-led prayers unconstitutional.

This could've been the courts big chance to make amends for its awful decisions in Engle, Weisman, and Santa Fe Ind. School v. Doe.

Alas, we're still stuck with those horrendous precedents (much to the consternation of Scalia and Rehnquist)...

Estee Lauder's Obit in the Telegraph

The Telegraph has a very interesting obituary for uber-businesswoman and cosmetics queen Estee Lauder...

Data out on new homes sales

The WSJ reports that new homes sales "surged 8.9% in March, the largest monthly increase in nine months." The statistic that really caught my eye was that new homes sales rose an amazing 19.3% in the South. Wow!

Aha!

Every red-blooded American has to love this report from the National Center for Policy Analysis: French workers are 10 percent less productive than Americans, say researchers. Maybe we wouldn't have had to save their butts in WWI and WWII if they'd spent a little more time working and a little less time eating cheese, drinking wine, and surrendering...

"Emory University has no plans to rescind an invitation for former Ireland President and United Nations official Mary Robinson to be keynote speaker at its May 10th graduation ceremony, despite a petition by those who claim she failed to show sensitivity to anti-Semitism. Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland, held the high commissioner [of human rights] post from 1997 to 2002. But her tenure was marred, in the eyes of critics, by a 2001 U.N.-organized meeting in Tehran, Iran, that preceded a racism conference in Durban, South Africa." I honestly have no clue what position to take on this issue. On the one hand are the forces of political correctness at the most soft and liberal of academic institutions. On the other is the most soft and liberal of political institutions. A story on the subject may be found here...

More on Northern Ireland talks

The Irish Times reports that "[t]he British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, is to stay on in Dublin for Northern Ireland talks with the Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, following next weekend's European Union enlargement celebrations. The encounter will mark the latest attempt by the two leaders to spur progress in efforts to get the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive back in operation." A spokesman from Mr. Ahern's office was quoted in the article as saying: "The North is not going to go back to war but it is going into a very dangerous period of time." Let's hope these latest rounds of talks are fruitful.

What the crap?!?!

I found this exchange in the NYT Magazine:

My partner and I have discussed marriage -- one of us wants to marry; the other has issues with the institution, specifically the fight over homosexual marriage (we are heterosexual). We believe that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as heterosexuals. Why should we be privileged with the rights and protections of marriage when others are being denied?

Is it ethical for us to walk down the aisle? C.K. and D.C., New York

You have to worry about the sanity of these people. The better question for the rest of us is this: Should these two morons be allowed to procreate? Simple answer - no way. However, the "Ethicist's" answer is nearly as banal.

I share your opinion of the marriage laws but not your conclusion that you must defer your wedding until utopia arrives. Many who sincerely denounce the inequities of our society inevitably profit from them. If you're a man who works at a job where the lack of flex time or on-site day care disadvantages women who do the bulk of child care, you benefit from sexism. If you're a middle-class white person who attended a decent high school and then applied to college, you had a huge advantage over a poor kid or an African-American from an inferior high school. It is impossible to lead an immaculate life in an imperfect world. The task is not merely to insulate yourself from being a beneficiary of injustice -- even if that were possible -- but to combat injustice.

Were there an organized boycott of marriage as a way to reform the law, you should observe it. But without that, I see no point in your becoming refuseniks. Doing so would not influence the marriage laws. You would do better to lobby your state and federal representatives and contribute money to freedomtomarry.org or similar organizations. You should seek ways to bring about change, not just to make self-comforting gestures.

There are many reasons not to get liquored up in Vegas and marry Britney Spears, or not to marry at all, but yours isn't one of them.

Where do these people come from?