Links and Minifeatures 2008 07 10 Thursday

Iran test-fires missiles in war games in Persian Gulf, says it can retaliate if attacked

"Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday.

Do they have nuclear weapons yet to put on those missiles? Only Iran knows for sure, but the smart way to play it is "yes." Being unwilling to confront problems early has quite a steep price. A 1 ton conventional warhead is bad enough, but that's plenty of payload for a nuclear warhead.

Next day: Iran test-fires more missiles in Persian Gulf

via LGF, it appears that Iran photoshopped their missile launch

News rippled from tomorrow's headlines: Obama: Iran Needs to Know We Mean Talk

I wouldn't say that "no Bush" is a difference that makes no difference, though, because there is a difference. Exactly the opposite of the difference going from Carter to Reagan made.

Why SEIU wants "card check"

Do Congressional Democrats fear free speech?

I'd say it has more the look of trying to censor the opposition. Majority (Democratic) messages get approval easily, minority (Republican) ones are censored by the majority. In other words, an incumbent party protection rule.

via Instapundit, more at ChicagoBoyz

One more reason China needs a new government

I am very sorry for the sparse output this week, especially after last week's vacation. I'm sitting here on Percocet and my jaw still feels like someone is stabbing it with an icepick. While this is an improvement, it's still very difficult to think, work, or drive. I do not think I'll be able to do anything more than reprints until we get clearance to extract that tooth. That moment cannot come too soon for me. I've already lost three full days of work over this, and the pain isn't any fun, either.