Michael Bellisiles is at it again and Eugene Volokh finds Bellisiles' view of "history" interesting to say the least.

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Matt Drudge is reporting that Rep. Dick Gephardt (D) may have gotten some sweetheart loans from DNC bagman Terry McAuliffe.

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Does CNN know something about Pasadena, CA, where I grew up, that I don't? Like the presence of OIL REFINERIES?!?

There's yet another unsubstantiated, vague threat warning issued by the Feds of a possible terrorist strike on the oil refineries of Pasadena TEXAS. But CNN just now had a reporterette going off about the refineries in my old home town. And it wasn't simply a case of her getting confused and substituting the name of the well-known home of the Rose Parade; the chiron at the bottom of the screen also said "Pasadena, Calif." as she spoke. In other words, a copy writer and then an editor blew it. But, it's the poor reporterette who is now probably going to be the butt of a Texas-sized crop of jokes.

An Update: CNN seems to have caught on to the rest of the story. That being the part where Federal and local officials in Pasadena, realizing that there aren't a whole lotta oil refineries in town, call Pasadena, Texas to warn them.

Spin City...

Compare these three headlines and lead-ins. Notice anything strange?
Would you believe that all three are for the same story?

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align="center">

face="Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif"> Davis ekes out 7-point lead over Simon Field Poll shows voters against hopeful rather than for governor href="mailto:lgledhill@sfchronicle.com">Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau	src="http://www.sfgate.com/templates/types/gatemainpages/images/clear.gif" width="10" height="1">	face="geneva,arial,sans-serif" size="1" color="#990000"> Thursday, July 11, 2002 href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/11/MN184694.DTL#sections"> src="http://www.sfgate.com/templates/brands/chronicle/images/chronicle.gif" width="150" height="36" border="0">
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object.cgi?object=/chronicle/pictures/2002/07/11/mn_pollgraph.jpg&paper=chronicle&file=MN184694.DTL&directory=/c/a/2002/07/11&type=news" target=""> src="http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2002/07/11_t/mn_pollgraph_t.gif" alt="Click to View" vspace="1"> src="http://www.sfgate.com/graphics/homepage/blackdot5x7.gif"> href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/11/MN184694.DTL&type=chart">chart attached Sacramento -- Despite Gov. Gray Davis' problems with a state contracting scandal, a budget deficit and criticism over his fund-raising tactics, California voters reluctantly give him a 7-point lead over Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, a Field Poll released today shows.

href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/11/MN184694.DTL"
target="_blank">Link

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Davis keeps lead on Simon

Despite unfavorable ratings, the governor edges his GOP rival.

By Amy Chance -- Bee Political Editor

Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, July 11, 2002

Buffeted by budget struggles, critics' focus on his fund raising and
lingering concerns over his leadership on energy issues, Gov. Gray Davis
nevertheless maintains a lead over Republican challenger Bill Simon as he
seeks re-election in November, according to a Field Poll released Wednesday.



The Democratic incumbent remains unpopular with voters, however, and his
advantage over Simon has slipped since a post-primary survey taken in April.

href="http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/3528410p-4554552c.html"
target="_blank">Link

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Posted on Thu, Jul. 11, 2002	src="http://www.bayarea.com/images/component/topstory_fromthe_txt.gif" width="46" height="13" border="0"> src="http://www.bayarea.com/images/logos/site/bayarea/mercurynews/archives_title.gif" alt="story:PUB_DESC" border="0">	src="http://www.bayarea.com/images/common/spacer.gif" width="15" height="1">
src="http://www.bayarea.com/images/common/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10">
Simon cuts Davis' lead in half By Laura Kurtzman Mercury News align="right"> class="body-content"> Republican Bill Simon has cut Democratic Gov. Gray Davis' lead in half -- to 7 percentage points -- but voters are becoming disenchanted with both candidates, according to a new Field Poll. Half the electorate disapproves of Davis, and a growing number of voters views Simon in negative terms. Some are turning to third-party candidates, whose support has reached 9 percent, the highest level in 10 years.

href="http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/3641463.htm"
target="_blank">Link

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Yup... All three are covering the same Field  Poll. This is what's meant
by "spin". Two writers make bad news for Davis look good, while the third
takes bad news and makes it look worse. (Yes, this poll really is bad news
for Davis. He should be doing  much better at this point in the game.)

IT MUST BE THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!!

BARBARA BOXER SAID SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE!!

An Update: The House has passed the bill to allow trained pilots to carry firearms. Let's hope that Sen. Boxer can help find enough votes to get this through.

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Is Daniel Pipes making a " target="_blank" title="Earth to FBI...">rush to judgement"? I think
not.

Blame it on bin Laden?

There's still more info suggesting a link between the LAX terrorist and Al Qaeda. I wonder if the FBI is reading any of these stories.

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Jonah Goldberg goes after the PoMo Virus. More specifically, he takes the Postmodernists to task for their contribution to the truly stupid and obnoxious things that some people have said since 9-11. The effects of that non-value system are, of course, broader than that. Thanks to the PoMo virus, we have millions who cannot seem to tell right from wrong. And we wonder why we get behavior like at Enron or Worldcom? If there is no distinct right or wrong, then who's to say that shredding documents or faking financial records is really bad? Perhaps the corporate values at Worldcom were merely "different", but not wrong. There's a saying: "As you sow, so shall you reap." We've taught several generations that there is no objective right and wrong. They seem to have learned their lessons well.

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Eugene Volokh is wondering about those City of LA recycling cans.

This makes me wonder: Has anyone tried to figure out whether the recycling program requires more trucks and more truck trips? It's possible that it doesn't, but it seems possible that it might -- I just don't know. And if it does require extra trucks and extra trips, then I wonder how one would balance the supposed environmental benefits of the recycling program stack up against the costs -- the financial costs, the environmental costs of the extra fuel consumed, the environmental costs of the extra exhaust produced, and the traffic burdens caused by the extra trucks.

He goes on to speculate as to the efficacy of government sponsored (read: politically motivated) environmental programs in general. He points out that, while he's not really an expert on environmental matters, there's something fishy about the whole thing. He has good reason to be skeptical of the "blue cans". The last I heard, the City of LA wasn't selling any of the collected recyclables. The reason? The price they'd get for the material doesn't cover the cost of collecting it. They're holding onto it in hopes that the price will rise one day.

And speaking of the FBI, when will they get around to admitting the obvious? They are currently the lead investigators in the LAX case because, as they said at the outset, this could be terrorism. But they've since all but ruled that out. The LAPD is now asking why the FBI is still claiming to be the lead agency if it wasn't terrorism. A good question.

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More curious behavior from the FBI vis-s-vis leads to terrorists.

So has this been a fun weekend or what?!?

First, we get the Egyptian terrorist shooting up the El Al counter at LAX. Then we get the FBI trying to paint this as anything but a terrorist incident. ("Maybe it was a Mexican.") Then we get the FBI admitting that, surprise surprise, the gunman killing Jews at LAX is indeed an Arab. ("OK... so he's not some Vato who left his lowered Impala double parked outside the terminal.") But of course, that doesn't mean that he's a terrorist. He got in a tiff with a neighbor about that neighbor's American flag flown post 9-11. But he's not a terrorist. FReeper Auntie Mame reports from Irvine that the terrorist troubled limo driver is alleged by neighbors to have spent hours watching PA propaganda via satellite TV. But he's not a terrorist. And the Egyptians point out that this sort of thing "happens all the time in the US", so he's not a terrorist. An employee (?), who also happens to be Arabic, reported in TV interview that the terrorist troubled limo driver would fly into a rage at every report of IDF incursions into PA territory. But he's not a terrorist. He'd narrowly escaped deportation a few years back. But after having been in the US for ~10 years and raising a family, he looked like just another immigrant. Hey... Just because he sent that American family back to Egypt, that doesn't meant that he was planning a terrorist strike incident at LAX. What? Do you think that he's a terrorist?!? I mean c'mon... it's not like he was meeting with Ayman Al-Zawahiri of Al Qeada or anything.

Jill Stewart also writes about Hahn's "Tin-ear-itis".

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Jill Stewart from NewTimesLA.com writes this feature piece on Li'l Jimmy Hahn's attempts to keep the Valley part of LA. I suppose that I can understand why he doesn't want us to leave. Most vampires object to dinner getting up and leaving.

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Sleazier things have happened in Sacramento, but not much sleazier. The Democrats pulled a fast one in the dead of night. One of the loonier bills in the hopper this year was AB1058; the so-called SUV tax. This bill would allow faceless bureaucrats to impose taxes "as necessary" to curb CO₂ emissions. (Never mind that there's really no proof the CO₂ does any of the harm listed in the bill!) AB1058 ignited a storm of protests from the "rabble". (Most politicians would refer to this group as their constituents, but this is California!) So AB1058 went down in CO₂ -laden flames. So do the whackos in the Democrat Party back down? Of course not! They gutted an unrelated bill, AB1493, and transplanted the guts of AB1058 into it. This legislative Frankenstein then passed the State Senate. On the Assembly side, a hearing was required to pass the bill. So to meet this requirement, the Assembly Dems held the hearing in a broomcloset of an office. The Creature passed and is on its way to Gray-out Davis' desk. Perhaps if we all pitch in for a large enough bribe donation, he'll veto it for us.

Link to the FreeRepublic.com thread.

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Instapundit has a link to an interview with the founders of a cool website. Go check out the Capitalist Chicks.

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BREAKING NEWS: Justices on 9th Circuit Court contract Athlete's Tongue, a common ailment among those who attempt to injest their own feet.

An Update: It's now being reported that the Supremes have ruled that school vouchers are not unconstitutional; even if those vouchers wind up at parochial schools. Some are saying that the 9th will, en banc, overturn the Pledge ruling. This voucher ruling from the Supremes may be the shot-across-the-bow that they'll need to muster the courage to do so.

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More than a few people are beginning to take a serious look at what we've been doing with our National Forests over the last century. It's been the policy of the government to suppress forest fires. The idea seems to be to make the forests look like something out of a Disney film. Of course, the trees aren't on celluloid, the animals aren't cute nor do they sing and dance, and Man has a larger role in the wild than as the antagonist for the cute, furry, anthropomorphized critters.

Before Man arrived in the New World, forest fires burned without Smokey putting them out. The wildlife and the plantlife were designed with periodic fires in mind. When the Indians arrived, they tool advantage of this living system. Part of what they did was to set fires. Of course, they subtly changed that environment, but what they brought into being has existed here for ~15,000 years. European colonists continued the practice of burning for over 400 years. It is only in the last 100 years that we stopped the practice. And it is the last 100 years that we've seen these super fires as we see now in Arizona and Colorado.

In trying to maintain a mythical forest, we've ignored the reality of what's really there. These are ecosystems that require periodic burn-offs. When those burns don't occur, the undergrowth accumulates until a superfire results. Why is this bad? Because these fires are often way too hot. Seed pods that are supposed to be cracked by low temperature fires are incinerated by these hot fires. What's left behind isn't seeds ready to germinate in renewed soil; what's left is barren, lifeless ash. It's time to get back to managing the forests as they have been for thousands of years. We should not be putting out fires. We should be setting them in the springtime when the fuel is still a bit moist. This will result in low temperature burns that renew the forest.

A related issue is hunting. The same Disney-fied bunny huggers who abhore fires also abhor hunting. But what they fail to see is that Homo Sapiens has been a predator in the New World for thousands of years. The prey species have come to depend on them just as they do the mountain lion or the wolf. Removing Man from the food chain is as devastating as removing any other predator is. Man and his hunting are as natural as Man and his fires are. The environment need Man's influence to maintain its balance. The feel good policies of the bunny huggers are destroying that balance.

Is there something you boys want to tell us in D.C.??

(Maybe someone had the bean burrito.)

"The Tammy" has some thoughts on the importance of the words we choose when we describe things. As El Rushbo says: "Words mean things".