Playahata.com has a good discussion on J-Lo's previous use of the n-word. It is kind of old but still relevant and important in the little racial problems that our left in our country.

A friend in France reports that France TV claims the United States is killing large numbers of civilian women and children. I guess this is what the Iraqi government had to suggest the French show on TV.

Virginia Postrel writes in the New York Times that war is not necessarily good for the economy. Postrel says war may be more of a "Generator of Expenses."

China Cuts Oil Supply After Nuclear Rhetoric From North Korea

According to Rantburg, China has stopped the flow of oil to North Korea in reaction to North Korea's nuclear rhetoric. In some ways hegemony for China may ease the international burden put upon the United States.

Phil Carter discusses the dangers of urban combat.

USA Today reports French's Mustard is losing bussiness due to it's name connection with France. French's Mustard is owned by a British company and made in America. Is it me or is this just a little bit silly?
link via The Command Post

Joe Katzman addresses the bio-chemichal threats of nation-states in today's TechCentralStation.com

Megan McArdle celebrates the life of Senator Moynihan in today's TechCentralStation.com.

UPDATE: On The Other Hand, Al Barger says Moynihan was nothing more than a political hack. You be the judge.

UPDATE2: Buckley lays praise to Moynihan in National Review.

Jacob Sullum argues that the the United States can not afford to pay for the war on drugs while we are involved in real wars.

BBC: Darwin on Evolution The linked site is a bio of Charles Darwin. Short but educational.

StrategyPage.com addresses the 10 myths about the U.S. war against Iraq.
link via InstaPundit

Bush Is Not A Moron
Bush is not an idiot. Bush is not stupid. Bush is not a moron. If you want to convince me that his policies are wrong or mistaken, give me reasons not ad hominems.

The French and Tobacco
While I was watching the coverage of the war on France 2 the banner ran a bit about Chirac declaring a war on tobacco. Hmm? So Saddam is not enough trouble to go to war over but the real danger lies with plants?

The Greatness of Frozen Foods
Newsday.com has an article giving the history of frozen foods in America. The only downside to this article is it reads and probably is a press release from the frozen food industry.

Link via Jane Galt

Could The Sandstorms Be Helpful For U.S.?
Joe Katzman speculates that the sandstorms may not be completely bad for the U.S. efforts in the war. The sandstorm may be preventing Saddam from being able to gas our troops and has already put some fires in the south of Iraq.

Baggage Inspection and Civil Rights
After traveling back to the United States and opening my luggage I noticed on the top of my bag a "notificication of baggage inspection" left by the TSA. My bag contained the following note from the TSA:

"To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law to inspect all baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.

During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag, which was resealed with a tamper-evident seal."

For me I don't feel any safer knowing that the government is randomly going through people's luggage for "prohibited items." The TSA should be able to search for bags that have the potential of causing a problem such as those that are found by bomb and drug sniffing dogs. The idea that the government is randomly searching through passengers belongings somehow seems a violation of our civil rights. Baggage inspection may just be a minor inconvenience but our freedoms are the very lack of inconveniences imposed upon the population by the government.

Robin Williams Live Sucked
I am glad to find out that Jesse Walker thinks Robin Williams live on broadway was a bad idea. He doesn't say it was a bad idea, just that it was the worst thing he had watched on tv all year. It was pretty bad. Maybe I'm strange but when Robin Williams was making Bush jokes I didn't think it was funny.

I am back in the United States. My travels to the west indies has made me appreciate things America take for granted. Water is a scarcity in the west indies and in many other places of the world. In the carribean water is too scarce to be used on washing machines, dishwashers and constant flushing of toilets. Some Americans may complain of the "era of prosperity" being over but America is still full of cheap consumer products. Before Americans complain about the economy they should appreciate the neccesities that they have in life.

Carnival in St. Barth's was cool. There seemed to be a large mix of people varying from family's with children to large numbers of drunk Americans. Carnival started out with a parade of about 7 floats of cars with varying cardboard decorations and soundsystems tied on. Behind the float drunken followers staggered on in costume. Most of the people at carnival had sometime of costume. The parade moved around town until 8PM when the masses headed over to where a variety of "jump-up" caribbean music was being played. A good time was had by all. The carnival parade had some people with no war signs on but they were dressed as pirates. Please. Who takes political advice from pirates. Is this the level the anti-war movement has lowered itself towards?

Wednesday was "the death of Carnival." Starting at 9PM a group of drummers dressed in black and white follow a fan carrying a huge puppet tied to a stick. The band followed the van with the puppet for about half an hour. The puppet attatched to the telephone poll is then posted in the ground as part of a bonfire and burned. It's a pretty cool tradition based in slave uprisings.

The current hatred between Americans and the French can only be described as a bunch of crap. My guess is that most people in both France and the U.S. do not feel strongly about the war. Most French and Americans probably are just supporting the beliefs of their country's respected leaders. It is highly irrational for the Americans to hate the French and boycott their products. Yet the French hatred of Americans is just as irrational.

The Americans are mad at the French because the French choose to dissagree with the Americans in the U.N. By going to the UN, the Americans are asking for the opinions of the respective members of the Security Council and can not be surprised when things don't turn out perfectly.

The arguments made by the French aren't more clear. They start by saying Saddam has no weapons or there is no proof Saddam has no weapons. The French supporters then go on to argue the inspectors are doing their job. What will war solve they ask? It's pretty clear war could change a lot of things. The French seem to be scared of mass casualties on the scale of European cities during World War II which does not seem likely after the relatively small number of deaths in the war in Afghanistan. The French also make the argument that Bush is too excited about war, which Bush may be, but the ability of a leader to make a decision should be made with complete confidence. Too many stupid arguments on both sides.

Haven't killed any more chickens. I've been busy though carrying telephone poles and moving rocks. The chickens need fresh grass and weeds to eat about every other day. They say the Indians only worked for 4 hours a day but what the people who say this forget was that the work was tough physical labor. Americans take so much for granted that does not neccessarily exist in other societies. People in other socities may not have the ample running water, electricity and other things Americans take for granted.