Junior breaks free - From USA Today: "Rampant speculation Wednesday night had Junior set to announce he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his late father and the only team he's ever driven for, to field his own Nextel Cup team."

Extra - NASCAR.com all but confirms the rumors. Goodbye DEI, hello JR.

Geek heaven - From MIT Technology Review, a panel chose the most "iconic pieces of technology" from the first automatic Polaroid camera (1972) to the Atari 2600 (1977) to the NeXT OS (1988) which looks suspiciously like Microsoft's Vista. (Hat tip: Pajamas Media).

Close the borders - That seems to be the majority sentiment among the (sometimes nasty) comments attached to the story: "Six arrested in plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix."

Update (5/9) - From Fox News: "Brothers Charged in Terror Plot Lived Illegally in U.S. for 23 Years": "Three brothers charged in the alleged Fort Dix terror plot have been living illegally in the U.S. for more than 23 years and were accepted as Americans by neighbors and friends who had no idea they would scheme to attack military bases and slaughter GIs."

No time for the pain

Today's must-read is by Michael Barone on "Prioritizing our problems"

Sometimes politicians get things upside down. They ignore problems that are plainly staring them in the face, while they focus on dangers that are at best speculative.

Consider two long-range issues that are not pressing matters this year but pose, or are said to pose, threats a generation or two away. One of them you don't hear much about: Social Security. The other you hear about all the time: global warming. Yet this gets things upside down. We have an unusually precise knowledge of the problems that Social Security will cause in the future. But we don't know with anything like precision what a continuation of the current mild increase in temperatures will mean.

Politicians love to be green because it's an accessible, feel-good religion to so many Americans that doesn't require any real sacrifice. But Social Security reform requires sacrifice now and later, therefore it's best to leave the problem to future legislatures:

The politicians resist fixing Social Security because the short-term costs are well understood by voters and the long-term benefits, while clear to actuaries, are invisible to voters because no one is decrying them with religious intensity. The politicians sprint to address global warming because the short-term costs are unknown to voters and the long-term benefits, while unclear in the extreme to those who rely on science, are portrayed in apocalyptic terms by the prophet Al Gore. Democracy isn't perfect.

That's just pouring salt in the wound, Barone, by mentioning Al Gore and the defects of democracy. Ouch.

The liberal freak-out - John Hawkins has a mini-interview with Angela McGlowen of "Bamboozled."

Not dead enough

Joseph Farah on World Net Daily: "Where's Bin Laden?"

According to my calendar, just four months from now we will be marking the sixth anniversary of the biggest terrorist attack in history and the worst attack of any kind on American soil.

The mastermind of and inspiration for that attack is Osama bin Laden.

Yet, he still has not been captured or killed.

If there is one man in this world I do not want to see die of natural causes, it is bin Laden. And I think most Americans would agree with that.

Our "ally" Pakistan has been useless in the search for Bin Laden, but we dare not upset the only Muslim nation with a nuclear bomb.

Amazing Race finale - Hooray, it's over

This might be the first TAR finale that's only an hour long, a merciful coda to this interminable season. We're down to the final three teams: Dustin & Kandace, Eric & Danielle, and Charla & Mirna; I'll just be happy if Mirna loses. Everybody starts out in Guam and connects through Tokyo on the way to Honolulu, Hawaii. Charla & Mirna snag an earlier connection to Hawaii, arriving 40 minutes earlier than the other two teams, who are greatly disturbed by the fact that the Annoying Armenians are not on their flight. Once in Honolulu, it's a dash to the Kanaka Air Hanger where teams sign up for helicopter rides leaving ten minutes apart. So it's practically a forced bunch-up.

The copters arrive at Lanai and teams grab a jeep for a drive to find a man with a ceremonial costume. It's the Detour: Under or Over. Teams may either take a boat to an underwater cave or paddle a surfboard while standing up. Charla & Mirna do the surfboard while Eric & Danielle scuba-dive into the cave; the former finish first and head to Shipwreck Beach and the next clue. Dustin & Kandace are bringing up the rear.

At Shipwreck Beach, teams must walk over some rocks along the beach and tiny Charla can't navigate very quickly causing Mirna to hyperventilate. Teams must take a two-person kayak out to the WWII shipwreck and get the next clue. The waves are particularly strong and everybody has a lot of trouble paddling against the force. Of course, the young Eric & Danielle get the clue first while the two all-female teams struggle. (Not being sexist, it's just true.) The next clue directs teams to the final destination: San Francisco.

There's only one flight to Oakland so all the nonsense thus far this episode means nothing. Once in San Francisco, teams race to the Old Mint in taxis. Interesting twist: one team member must go into the vault and answer opinion questions about other teams (e.g. "who is the least trustworthy") then the other team member must try to match their partner's answers to open a vault. Danielle matches Eric's answers and grabs the next clue: head to the Botanical Gardens.

This task is limited to ten minutes after which teams are just handed the clue. What? No penalty or anything? The Blondies get their clue only a couple of minutes after Eric & Danielle so there's no point to this other than to manufacture a dramatic finish. Mirna shows her taxi driver a map so he can find the Gardens. Danielle is a wreck.

Here they come: it's Eric & Danielle! The Blondies are next and it's a tearful finish for Dustin & Kandace in true beauty queen fashion. Charla & Mirna arrive to scattered applause. C'est fini.

Final results:

#1 - Eric & Danielle - WINNERS of the Amazing Race All-Stars
#2 - Dustin & Kandace
#3 - Charla & Mirna

Extra - Be sure to head over to Brainster to see Pat's review of tonight's finale.

The hardwood Commodore 64 keyboard


I subscribe to only two magazines - Wired and The Atlantic - because in any given issue there will be a story on (respectively) some technical or socio-political sub-culture. This month's Atlantic has an outstanding article about the world of counter-scammers, guys who "bait" all those "Nigerian oil ministers" and "deposed princes" trying to separate you from your money.

The article focuses mainly on the efforts of 419eater.com and its founder Mike Berry who managed to turn the tables on a scammer by convince him to compete for a fictional art scholarship. The poor sucker carved a magnificent replica of a Commodore 64 keyboard which now sits in the 419 trophy room. Brilliant.

By the way, you must read everything ever written by Atlantic contributor William Langewiesche.

Do the patriotic thing: drive an SUV

From the WSJ: "Fuel-Efficient Cars Dent States' Road Budgets"

Cars and trucks are getting more fuel-efficient, and that's good news for drivers. But it's a headache for state highway officials, who depend on gasoline taxes to build and maintain roads.

The Federal Highway Administration estimates that by 2009 the tax receipts that make up most of the federal highway trust fund will be $21 billion shy of what's needed just to maintain existing roads, much less build new roads or add capacity. Trying to compensate for highway-budget shortfalls, a handful of states are exploring other, potentially more lucrative ways to raise highway money.

George Will has written about how the federal and state governments are so dependent on cigarette tax revenues that the fabric of government would unravel if people suddenly stopped smoking. This is the legacy of a continuous mad-grab for taxes and the unexpected consequences when people change their behavior (unfortunately?) for the better.

But what about all the subpoenas? That's something, the subpoenas

From the WashPost: "Democrats' momentum is stalling"

In the heady opening weeks of the 110th Congress, the Democrats' domestic agenda appeared to be flying through the Capitol: Homeland security upgrades, a higher minimum wage and student loan interest rate cuts all passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

But now that initial progress has foundered as Washington policymakers have been consumed with the debate over the Iraq war. Not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on Republicans last year could come back to haunt them.

Nevertheless, thank heaven they caught Alberto Gonzales mis-stating why he fired eight district attorneys. Remember back when the Attorney General wouldn't survive the week? Good times...good times.

Extra - From Rightwing Nuthouse: "Dems to voters: 'We were only kidding'"

See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet - Americans really love their automobiles, so will they be open to paying an extra $1/gallon of gas to combat global warming?

Uh, no.

Is Paris burning? - Couldn't have happened to a ditzier heiress: "Paris Hilton sentenced to 45 days in jail"

A demographic implosion in Japan

I know I write a lot about the looming problems with entitlement spending in the face of an aging population. But, believe it or not, the crisis in America is going to pale in comparison to Europe and Japan. Europe is going down the tubes because of socialist policies and lavish public benefits that nobody wants to cut. But Japan is facing a demographic challenge because of a low birth rate, which means fewer workers to support an aging population. Now from Japan Today (hat tip to Free Republic) comes this troubling portent of things to come:

The number of children below 15 in the nation came to 17.38 million as of April 1 for the 26th straight year of decline, accounting for a record-low 13.6% of the population, according to an internal affairs ministry population estimate released Friday.

Here's a BBC story from two years ago:

The decline in Japan's birth rate is so severe they have invented a word for it - 'shoshika', meaning a society without children.

Unless women here start having more babies, the population in Japan is expected to shrink more than 20% by the middle of this century. Nearly half would be elderly, placing impossible burdens on the health and pension systems.

Ironically, one of the things that may save America's bacon when it comes to entitlement spending is a large influx of immigrants who are leaving Europe and Asia to escape oppressive tax rates.

It was Elmer's glue - From the Boston Globe "Big Dig job may have used wrong epoxy": "Contractors apparently used the wrong adhesive to install at least some of the bolts in a Big Dig tunnel ceiling that partially collapsed last summer, project records show, prompting criminal investigators to focus on whether the mix-up was a significant factor in the accident that killed a Jamaica Plain woman."

Here's a little reminder of your tax dollars at work: "The Big Dig is the most expensive highway project in America. Although the project was estimated at $2.8 billion in 1985, over $14.6 billion had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006."

Too busy to blog - Work, school, home, chores, the dog wants a walk...how does Glenn Reynolds do it?

Hair today, bomb tomorrow

Iranian president Dinner Jacket just isn't happy unless he can outlaw something every day. Today, it's "Western-style haircuts" whatever that means.

Snazzy - Matt Hoy has had the interior decorators re-do his blog, just in time for May Day: "President Bush will veto the bill shortly and then the Democrats can get back to work. I think it tells you something about what the Democrat Congress is all about that the first and only law they’ve passed in four months of control of Congress is a defeat-and-retreat funding bill." Can that be right? Not even a minimum wage bill? Huh.

Transcript of President Bush's speech - From the White House: "President Bush Rejects Artificial Deadline, Vetoes Iraq War Supplemental" Multiple links from all sides of the political spectrum at (where else?) Memeorandum.

Knowledge gap

Lawrence Kaplan puts it bluntly in the New Republic: "Congressional leaders are illiterate on Iraq"

Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. But, when Nancy Pelosi confessed last year that she felt "sad" about President Bush's claims that Al Qaeda operates in Iraq, she seemed to be disputing what every American soldier in Iraq, every Al Qaeda operative, and anyone who reads a newspaper already knew to be true.

Hat tip and more background from Gateway Pundit.

Oliver Stone, call your office!

Just in time for President Bush's highly visible veto of Congress's Iraq bill comes this good news:

The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has reportedly been killed in a firefight today.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri died in an "internal battle" between militants near a bridge in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi interior ministry said.

If true, the death would represent a huge blow for the Islamic fundamentalist organisation. The United States had regarded al-Masri as the number one threat to the stability of Iraq, and placed a $5 million bounty on his head.

What a coincidence! Rev up those conspiracy machines, kidz.

Extra - From the GMTA dept.: "If al-Masri is dead, how long can it take for Rove-planned-it for a veto-backdrop story theories?"