Legalize It

Steve Chapman has some ideas on what to do about immigration.

Should We Outlaw Minority Scholarships?

Barrton Hinkle asks Rand Paul's critics how far they are willing to go to ban discrimination.

Cat Defies Laws of Gravity

Rand Paul and the Civil Rights Act

Sheldon Richman says he was right the first time.

Immigration and Crime

Dan Griswold looks at the numbers.

We Choose Our Allies Well

Do South Koreans really see the United States as a bigger problem that=n North Korea?

8-Month-Old Boy Has Cochlear Implant Activated

16 Items Walmart Sells Only in China

What? You can't buy crocodiles in the United States?

Immigrants Save Cities

But do the cities ever thank them.

Our Friends

We choose them well.

This Can't Continue

Private pay shrinks to a record low, while government handouts grow to a record high.

Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill

Japan's Problem Is Supply, Not Demand

If you account for its rapidly aging population, Japan has pretty decent economic growth. And would likely have even better growth if it hadn't been following Keynesian policies.

Nicholas Kristoff Must Be Popular in the Newsroom Now

I can't believe the New York Times published this.

American Idol and the Mega Churches

The Los Angeles Times reports:

With many contestants having honed their vocal skills at black churches and suburban megachurches, "Idol" has been embraced by Christian communities across the nation. Congregations have launched enthusiastic viewing parties and vote drives for favorites. Perhaps more important, the contestants' church training has deeply influenced the songs and musical styles viewers hear on "Idol" and helped launch the careers of faith-based singers, such as George Huff and Mandisa, as well as secular pop artists. The show has projected to an audience of tens of millions an image of heartland youth driven by faith and strong family values. That's an important source of appeal for a nation that according to a 2007 Pew Research Center survey identifies itself as 78% Christian.

Indeed, all of the winners from the previous eight seasons have hailed from Bible Belt states, except for Arizona native Jordin Sparks, who went to the top during Season 6. And perhaps not surprisingly, "Idol" ratings are highest in such Southern cities as Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; and Winston-Salem, N.C., according to the Nielsen Co. Birmingham alone has produced two "Idol" winners: Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks. (The trend may not hold up this year: Two much-talked-about finalists, Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, are both Midwesterners.)

The New Culture War

Arthur Brooks says it's free enterprise versus government control, and, while Republicans may not like it, he's right when he notes that:

The George W. Bush administration began the huge Wall Street and Detroit bailouts, and for years before the economic crisis, the GOP talked about free enterprise while simultaneously expanding the government with borrowed money and increasing the percentage of citizens with no income tax liability. The 30 percent coalition did not start governing this country with the advent of Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It has been in charge for years.

Libertarianism and Jim Crow

The Rand Paul controversy has stirred some interesting discussion over at The Volokh Conspiracy.

Privatize MARTA

Here's the latest column from Dalton's own Kyle Wingfield.

Faking Your Way Into Havard

One young man did it.

Today Is Draw Muhammad Day

Reason will be revealing the winners of its draw Muhammad contest on its Web site.

UPDATE: The winners.

Why I'm Not a Conservative

NBC recently cancelled the original Law & Order after 20 years on the air. The show tied Gunsmoke as the longest-running weekly prime time drama in U.S. history. It produced six spinoffs, two of which are still on the air, three affiliated series set in the same fictional universe. And a new spinoff is set to debut this fall.

Obviously, like the original series had a tremendous run, one that any producer would envy, but has simply seen its time go. Well, unless you read the Republican echo chamber. There you'll find that the public simply got tired of all the liberal messages in the show. You know after two decades. Presumably, it would still be on their air if it had depicted its murders as anti-war protestors and environmental activists.

The Jack Bauer Republicans

The Daily Beast has a good story on a couple of Republican congressional candidates running on their records of having abused prisoners in Iraq. They've become conservative superstars, which tells you a lot about modern conservatism.

Tear-Stained Letter

Jo-el Sonnier, Richard Thompson and David Sanborn. Thompson once said that Sonnier's cover of this song paid for the first extension on his house and Del McCoury's cover of "1952 Vincent Black Lighning" paid for the second.

High School Athletics

Tennessee punishes high achievers.

An Open Letter to Buzz Franklin

William Anderson answers Franklin's whiny statement on the Tonya Craft case.

Askers vs. Guessers

Which one are you?

Associated Press: Drug War Has Met None of Its Goals

But the feds will spend more than $15 billion this year alone fighting it.

National Review Debunks Supply Side Economics

I'm glad to see a conservative publication finally run an article like this.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Top 10 Craziest Moments

How do you narrow down so many choices into just 10. And frankly, I don't see how this one didn't make the cut.

Don't Ask. Don't Tell, Part 2

Another soldiers' video. This one from iraq.

Local Media and the Tonya Craft Case

Bill Anderson rates the coverage. I personally thought The Chattanoogan had the most in-depth stuff.

Plagiarism in Japan

Ron mentioned this case to me in a recent conversation. You have to give the man credit for creativity.

Not Guilty

Tonya Craft acquitted after less than two days of deliberation by the jury. Now, where does she go to get her reputation, and the half million dollars she and her family spent on her defense, back.

Harry Thornton and Bobby Eaton

According to the Internet expersts, this is from Harry's next-to-last appearance on the Saturday wrestling show.

Jim Bovard Sues Bob Barr

He still hasn't been paid for ghostwriting Barr's book a couple of years ago.

The Tonya Craft Trial: What Next?

Bill Anderson tells us what he expects the prosecution's next steps will be.

Happy Mother's Day, George Bush

This one is tough to read.

"Corrective" Rape in South Africa

ESPN will look at the rape culture of the country that will host the next soccer World Cup.

Tonya Craft: Prosecutors Play the Race Card

Georgia justice at work.

Bouncer (And Kickboxing Champion) vs. Loudmouth

It doesn't end the way you'd think it would.

A Death in Kurdistan

While the Republican echo chamber insists that all is going well (the better to blame this fiasco on President Obama when things really blow up), Michael Rubin at National Review's The Corner has been doing his best to remind us just how bad things are over there. Here's his latest.

Your World Frightens and Confuses Me

Comparison of DNA shows that modern humans interbred with Neandertals. It looks like pretty much all populations outside Africa have Neandertal DNA. Razib Khan has a whole lot of posts on this over at Gene Expression.

Tonya Craft Update

Bill Anderson has the latest. To the extent that this has become a nationa story, I think Bill's blogging has played a big role. Heck, there might even be a story in that for someone.

Prom Season Is Here

Don't be like these people. Maybe NSFW.

This Is, Reportedly, Not a Joke

Libertarians for Obama

Bryan Caplan looks at how it has worked out so far.

The War on Drugs Revealed

HT: Radley Balko

Tonya Craft Update

Jacob Sullum has the latest. From every account I've read, the past two days have gone horribly for the prosecution. The only question is whether jurors paid attention to expert testimony that was often very technical. But if they did, the defense shredded the state's case.

Ugly Koreans, Ugly Japanese

Anthropologist Min Byoung-chul has spent years trying to teach Asians and Westerners about each other. Now, he is trying to help East Asians understand each other a bit better.

Four Dead in Ohio

Rod Long reminds us that this is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre.

Swedes

David Brooks has some thoughts on the limits of government policies:

Roughly a century ago, many Swedes immigrated to America. They’ve done very well here. Only about 6.7 percent of Swedish-Americans live in poverty. Also a century ago, many Swedes decided to remain in Sweden. They’ve done well there, too. When two economists calculated Swedish poverty rates according to the American standard, they found that 6.7 percent of the Swedes in Sweden were living in poverty.

In other words, you had two groups with similar historical backgrounds living in entirely different political systems, and the poverty outcomes were the same.

A similar pattern applies to health care. In 1950, Swedes lived an average of 2.6 years longer than Americans. Over the next half-century, Sweden and the U.S. diverged politically. Sweden built a large welfare state with a national health service, while the U.S. did not. The result? There was basically no change in the life expectancy gap. Swedes now live 2.7 years longer.

Again, huge policy differences. Not huge outcome differences.

This is not to say that policy choices are meaningless. But we should be realistic about them. The influence of politics and policy is usually swamped by the influence of culture, ethnicity, psychology and a dozen other factors.

Cat Attacks Babysitter

Who Knew Masa Saito Was So Funny?

Here's a bit of tape of him from Alabama. (Sorry, it isn't embeddable.) Catch the line at about 2:25.

Idris Elba is a Hell of an Actor

But Heimdall?

Dynasty to Bankruptcy

The Orange County register looks at the faded fortunes of its parent company, Freedom Communications, and its owners, the Hoiles Familes.

Who Makes Enough Money

Dalton's own Kyle Wingfield asks whom Barack Obama was talking about.

Don't Ask. Don't Tell

Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Afghanistan recreate a Lady GaGa video.

Conservative Thinking

Rod Long looks at a couple of examples.

Clay Bennett on the Tonya Craft Case

The cartoonist for the Chattanooga Times Free-Press has a couple of cartoons on the trial.

Some Mexican Traditions Just Don't Export Well

The Tonya Craft Railroading Continues

Bill Anderson has the latest.

Georgia's Next Governor?

Not likely. But this guy will be on the ballot.

OK, What Would you Call It?

Star Wars Car Wash

Maybe NSFW.