Titled:    Hitlery Hillary, The Germans and the Mad Mullahs

Quite clearly this is a week for forgetting where you are going. Hillary Clinton, Carpet-bagger-in-chief, has finally forgotten all the well-meaning advice that her party gave to the administration over Iraq. Namely, pre-emption and unilateral = BAD, multilateral = GOOD.

"I believe we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and to outsource the negotiations,"Clinton said. "I don't believe you face threats like Iran or North Korea by outsourcing it to others and standing on the sidelines."

Then suddenly, in an effort to pander to her Jewish constituents, Hillary becomes an honary Jew and accepts a degree from Yeshiva University. How quickly they forgot about her kissing Arafat's wife in 1999 in the West Bank.

And the Germans? Mark Steyn points to Donald Rumsfeld's metting with Speigel to discuss Iran and other matters. This amusing conversation shows that the Germans have clearly lost the plot with Iran too:

SPIEGEL: How concerned are you about Iran?

Rumsfeld: All of us have to be concerned when a country that important, large and wealthy is disconnected from the normal interactions with the rest of the world. They obviously have certain ambitions, powers and military capabilities ...

SPIEGEL: ...and nuclear ambitions...

Rumsfeld: That's apparently what France, Germany, the UK and the International Atomic Energy Agency have concluded. Everyone wants to have the Iranians as part of the world community, but they aren't yet. Therefore there's less predictability and more danger.

SPIEGEL: The US is trying to make the case in the United Nations Security Council.

Rumsfeld: I would not say that. I thought France, Germany and the UK were working on that problem.

SPIEGEL: What kind of sanctions are we talking about?

Rumsfeld: I'm not talking about sanctions. I thought you, and the U.K. and France were.

SPIEGEL: You aren't?

Rumsfeld: I'm not talking about sanctions. You've got the lead. Well, lead!

SPIEGEL: You mean the Europeans.

Rumsfeld: Sure. My Goodness, Iran is your neighbour. We don't have to do everything!

SPIEGEL: We are in the middle of regime change in Germany...

Rumsfeld: ... that's hardly the phrase I would have selected.

Meanwhile the Mullahs continue their evil plots against us:

‘Iran will resume uranium enrichment if the European Union does not recognise its right to do so, two Iranian nuclear negotiators said in an interview published Tuesday.’

So they will if we don't let them. And if we let them, they will. Hmm.

Titled:    Study: College Grads Are Dumb

Rob at SayAnything brings us news of a recent study into the abilities of the nation's brightest:

Nearing a diploma, most college students cannot handle many complex but common tasks, from understanding credit card offers to comparing the cost per ounce of food.

Those are the sobering findings of a study of literacy on college campuses, the first to target the skills of students as they approach the start of their careers.

More than 50 percent of students at four-year schools and more than 75 percent at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks.

That means they could not interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.

Almost 20 percent of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the service station.

They have a point here. If you see a stranded motorist, they always seem to have alumni stickers in their rear windows.

Titled:      Study finds fire retardant in Great Lakes

Yup - that would be that water stuff - absolutely full of it, they are...

Titled:     Gun Rights Group Criticizes Illinois Gov's 'Boondoggle'

Blagojevich urged the Illinois General Assembly to pass House Bill 2414, which would ban the manufacture, possession, and delivery of semi-automatic firearms, certain attachments, and the .50 caliber rifle. He is working closely with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on the bill.

"These weapons fire bullets rapidly and can fire at multiple targets. In addition, the military-style features make these guns even more dangerous," according to Blagojevich.

It is becoming so obvious that gun-grabbers aren't even thinking about what they are saying - they're too busy concentrating on the regurgitation of lies and stale sound-bites.

Look at this: "These weapons fire bullets rapidly and can fire at multiple targets."

I've yet to find a reasonable weapon that fires bullets slowly. Or a weapon that fires bullets on its own, without someone firing it. It's hard to even conceive of a weapon that can only fire at one target. Maybe a one-use Stinger-type missile might just fit that description. Hardly common street weaponry.

As to the old "Military-style features" argument - I would love to hear them explain how a bayonet lug, on its own, can make any weapon more dangerous. Why not just ban the bayonet itself if they fear a rise in drive-by bayonetting? All the lug does is make the barrel a little heavier, making it incrementally more difficult to carry and maneuver.

Hopefully he won't get enough votes to pass these new restrictions, but it is Chicago.

Titled:      This is the end...?

Ravenwood is considering throwing in the blogging towel:

That's why, after more than 44 months of official "weblogging", it is with great regret that I must walk away. I must take a vacation, at least for now. I know what you're thinking. He'll be back. It's too hard to stay away. Just like those that have quit before him, Ravenwood will eventually return. That may happen. But for now, I'm looking forward to the time off...
To all my loyal readers and friends, I say goodbye at least for now. I may be back eventually, but for now I really need a vacation.

Ravenwood is one of the blogs that became a daily staple for me and inspired me to give this blogging lark a go.

Have a good vacation Ravenwood, and come back refreshed. Please.

Titled:    Ted K's secret love child a secret no more

The National Enquirer splashes this week with a shocking story about Sen. Ted Kennedy’s secret love child with a Cape Cod woman whom the mag says he dated during his days as a swinging single.

According to the tabloid’s source, the boy, named Christopher, just celebrated his 21st birthday and is “mature enough to make his own choices about his background and biological father.”

A Kennedy family confidante told the Enquirer, “This is one of the biggest secrets in the Kennedy family and known to only a few people including Ted’s ex-wife, Joan.”

Titled:      Michigan officials view anti-terror driver's license law as costly to taxpayers

 DETROIT - Newly obtained documents reveal that Michigan state officials are concerned that federal legislation called the Real ID Act will require extensive changes to existing practices at the Secretary of State Office, will be extremely difficult to implement by the Act's deadline and will carry heavy expenses that will have to be absorbed by Michigan taxpayers and license applicants. 

The Act, passed by Congress last spring, imposes federal regulations on the design, issuance and management of state driver's licenses - turning them, for all practical purposes, into federal identity papers. 

“Civil liberties groups, conservative groups, immigration groups - we've all been saying that Real ID will be a real disaster and needs to be revisited by Congress,” said Kary Moss, ACLU of Michigan executive director. 

“These documents indicate that Michigan officials - the people actually responsible for carrying out this ill-conceived law - also have serious problems with Real ID.”

The documents are part of a national survey of state motor vehicle officials' views and preparation for complying with Real ID that was conducted by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

What does Real ID mean for you?

Nothing at all unless you want to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service.

Is this a national ID card? News.com answers:

It depends on whom you ask. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program, says: "It's going to result in everyone, from the 7-Eleven store to the bank and airlines, demanding to see the ID card. They're going to scan it in. They're going to have all the data on it from the front of the card...It's going to be not just a national ID card but a national database."

At the moment, state driver's licenses aren't easy for bars, banks, airlines and so on to swipe through card readers because they're not uniform; some may have barcodes but no magnetic stripes, for instance, and some may lack both. Steinhardt predicts the federalized IDs will be a gold mine for government agencies and marketers. Also, he notes that the Supreme Court ruled last year that police can demand to see ID from law-abiding U.S. citizens.

Entertainmentwise.com carries a story on 50 Cent's new movie ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.

50 Cent has defended his film ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ saying that it condones gun crime and violence. The flick has received a lot of criticism for its apparent violent themes and the advertising poster which featured Fiddy holding two guns. But speaking to BBC six o’clock news, the rapper said: “No way was it in my head to capture a film that glorifies violence."

Meanwhile Ireland Online and most other media reports carry a different slant:

50 Cent says his film 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin' does not condone violence and gun crime. Speaking at the UK premiere of the film he said: "No way was it in my head to capture a film that glorifies violence."

Either Entertainmentwise.com senior editor Scott Colothan doesn't know what "condone" means or else 50 Cent accidently revealed his true feelings about gun crime and violence.

Titled:      Winchester Rifle Plant Prepares to Close

U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday it will close its Winchester firearm factory, threatening the future of a rifle that was once called "The Gun that Won the West."

"It's part of who we are as a nation just like it's part of who we are as a city," Mayor John DeStefano said.

The announcement touched off a lobbying effort by city officials and union leaders who hoped to find a buyer for the plant before it closes March 31. If no buyer comes forward, it could spell the end for nearly all commercially produced Winchesters, said Everett Corey, a representative of the International Association of Machinists District 26.

John Wayne would not be pleased.

Titled:   Oh, what a dilemma...

Wizbang brings us an example of the nature of taxes and government. They're a little like hydrogen and water - when added togther you just get a lot of noise and steam. And once they're together, they're very hard to get apart:

Massachusetts finds itself on the horns of a rather tricky dilemma. Last September, the legislature voted to earmark $25 million to help house, feed, and take care of Hurricane Katrina refugees. It was a great gesture, showing that the Commonwealth can, occasionally, do the right thing.

But now they've found themselves in a slightly embarassing position. The refugees are pretty much all gone (I suspect that New Orleaners weren't capable of handling a New England winter on top of everything else), and the state finds itself having only spent about $6 million on their care. What should they do with the remaining $19 million?

Read the rest and lay your bets.