Links and Minifeatures 02 24 Friday

Cool! Jurassic beaver

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Interesting times in the Phillipines: Philippines President Declares Emergency



You've gotta wonder where they'd be if they had just applied for statehood instead of independence.



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Not certain if this is good or bad. Arab firm to delay U.S. port takeover



It buys more time to allow emotions to cool down, but it could be a fig leaf for DPW withdrawing. On the other hand, the article does state that the shareholders of the british company it's buying "will be paid".



If there is a reason beyond fear to deny them the contract, I want to hear about it. Failing such a reason, however, I think we need to allow them to proceed, as I said in this article



Don Surber has more.



So does Dean at Dean's World, and although Mary Madigan disagrees, the accusations are too general to carry any weight with me. Am I immune to deception? No. Do I want to see actual specific evidence of DPW terrorist affiliations before I reject them? Yes.



Big Lizards has more logic.



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Here we go again with speculation driving the price up: Oil Prices Jump $2 After Saudi Explosion



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Mixed Emotions Department: Mayor suspended in Nazi jibe row. On one side of the fence, this is "Red Ken" we're talking about, one of Saddam Hussein's chief apologists and general hater of western democracy. On the other side, this is a freedom of speech issue and even though Britain doesn't have a First Amendment like we do, it's always a Bad Thing when the ability to communicate your observations is compromised. So I'm mostly unhappy.



LATER: Done With Mirrors has an actual transcript of the incident. Yes, Red Ken was gratuitously verbally abusing a journalist ("and this is a Bad Thing how?"), but said journalist needs to Grow Up.



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Restless Mania notes that President Bush has called for doubling NATOs troops in Darfur. That's good news!



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Below the Beltway notes that the state of Texas is now requiring a lawyer endorsement for their hunting licenses.



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This bothers me. This really bothers me. Ogre finds a reference to a California government employee who was fired for being Christian. Reading the article, okay, I can see if she was pestering her coworkers, but the usual tack for that is counseling and then a warning letter. Mayhaps she was probationary. Somehow I can't see them firing a jewish or muslim probationer for the same offense.



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If you read Iraq the Model, you know that Zarqawi may have finally found a winning strategy, although the curfew appears to have quieted things down.



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HT to LGF for a link to a Ben Stein column about losing the war on terror.



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Volokh Conspiracy wonders if Pell Grants are unconstitutional, and also, how they could be used to leverage against the religious beliefs of private colleges.



RULE: (and warning to censors, especially leftists everywhere) If you allow a power to be used to silence your opponents, it will one day be used against you.



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Finally, Victor Davis Hanson has a column worth reading about the situation in Iraq and what it takes to win.