Links and Minifeatures 03 20 Monday

Carnivals:



Carnival of The Capitalists Recommended: Slow Leadership, Ask Uncle Bill



RINO Sightings Recommended: Techography, Strata-Sphere, Dean's World



Carnival of Personal Finance Recommended: Roth and Company (It's good to see I'm not the only one pounding my head against the "I need the deduction!" stone wall)

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Stuff like this are part of why I think the Iranian government is doomed. Freed Iranian Journalist Remains Defiant. This guy is really speaking truth to power - and that power can and will do horrible things to him. Here in the US, few of them are anything but poseurs - they do it to bond with their peers, safe in the knowledge that nothing will happen, in fact they will be praised for their "daring". Akbar Ganji has no such knowledge, none of the protections of our professional dissidents, none of their advantages, and he speaks out anyway.



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Mr. Completely has a solution to those folks who are complaining about the treatment of enemy combatant detainees.



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Armies of Liberation notes that the man who alerted Yemeni authorities to the incipient jailbreak of 23 Al-Qaeda prisoners is still in jail himself. And no, he wasn't in jail until he made the report.



Do I need to connect the dots for anyone?



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Belmont Club, on the other hand, offers an evidence based refutation of the idea that civil war exists or in imminent in Iraq. Actually, Wretchard is very restrained in calling "Bull****!', but I suppose it's a case of where you draw the line.



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HT to Hugh Hewitt for a pointer to this Middlebrow article on the long view of George Bush.



Shakespeare had it right:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember with advantages

What feats he did that day: then shall our names.

Familiar in his mouth as household words

Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,

Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

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Volokh Conspiracy has the missing South Park episode.



I'll admit that my opinion of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard have always been colored by the legend among sf fans that he got mad one day and said, "I"ll show all of you. I'll found a religion!"



On the other hand, with a biography that reads like this, I don't need a lot of external coloration.



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I've had a busy few days. Trying to push-start the sister site (there is no way not to have to push start a new business. I'm informed that large amounts of start up capital make grease the skids, but increase the mass at least enough to compensate). Mellon, the sweet one of my two dachshunds, is having trouble with her back legs (The vet says he's hopeful that steroids will help), and of course, Hilda's birthday (We got her officially sixth birthday'd). I don't want to split up my two posts on the Good Faith Estimate anyway, and I think I'll have something for you by Wednesday morning. It's more an embarrassment of riches than anything else. I've got about forty articles started, I just need to decide which one to finish..