Carnival of the Vanities #151

Welcome, all, to the 151st edition of Carnival of the Vanities, hosted this week by Generic Confusion. 151 may not be a round number, but I'll call it the 150th blogiversary of the original Carnival. That makes it sound more special.

This week, we have 56 posts from all around the blogosphere, representing many different interests and perspectives, and all deemed worthy of exposure to a broader audience. Click on the links. If you like what you read, read more by the author, and come back again.

And away we go!

Politics

Kevin, at Straightfromthedoc, provides a physician's-eye view and gives a thorough review of President Bush's recent physical examination.

A free speech issue? A radio personality is suspended for a political comment, and Nikita Demosthenes says Michael Graham was right: "Islam is a terrorist organization."

Ironman at Political Calculations presents The Financing of Air America Radio, providing some background into the financing historyof the scandal-ridden radio network, and the personal connections that made it possible.

Skippy-san at Far East Cynic brings us The Maid's Day Off, where he laments on the conditions that drive so many Filipinos to other nations to work.

The World at Setting The World To Rights says that To Link Once To A Holocaust-Denying Web Site May Be Regarded As A Misfortune. To Do It Twice Looks Like Carelessness.

Blue at DSS Hubris looks at Hiroshima 60 Years Later. He looks at Christian just war theory, and points out it's possible to fight a just war with any weapons, even nuclear weapons.

Rick Moran at Rightwing Nuthouse looks back at history and gives us Robert Oppenheimer and the Politics of the Atomic Bomb.

Alan K. Henderson's Weblog looks back at the bombing of Nagasaki--The Day That Saved Japan?-- and wonders if Japan could have survived without it.

Jack Cluth at The People's Republic of Seabrook states Yes, it's true: "IRAQ" really is Arabic for "VIETNAM". The death of fourteen Marines from a roadside bomb in Iraq drove his response.

The MaryHunter at TMH's Bacon Bits says that instead of Social Security, we should be looking at the looming problems with Medicare. Check out Bad Medicine: The Mess That Is Medicare. Personally, I see that fixing Social Security will provide insight into fixing Medicare, but both really need to be addressed, and the sooner the better.

Will Franklin at WILLisms.com gives us his Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 128 -- America's Ridiculously Big Economy. Yes, America is that big. And think, we only use 25% of the world's energy!

Across the pond, Andrew Ian Dodge at Dodgeblogium identifies a Tory Shadow Cabinet member who made a complete arse of himself right before the Prime Minister came out with a lot of sense. Read Sack Him Now.

Kirkpatrick at Case in Point does the world a great service, by highlighting the danger to society from 62 year old women. See Why We Should Profile Grandma.

Opinionated Bastard at The Opinionated Bastard spends some time Going Beyond Brookings (so you don't have to). There's more to the story of military deaths in Iraq than mere numbers; the key question is, how are our soldiers dying?

Podcaster Charlie Quidnunc at Rip & Read Blogger Podcast presents State of Shouting Match Debate Shows. His podcast compares and contrasts last week's Robert Novak vs. James Carville dustup on "Inside Politics" on CNN, with one between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. in a 1968 debate at the Democratic National Convention.

The editors of the American Federalist Journal, blogging at The Unalienable Right, show us Another Liberal for Religion in Politics. As they’ve noted several times before, liberals aren’t against religion in politics, they’re only against any beliefs that disagree with their own.

Ferdy at Conservative Cat brings us Alan Dershowitz and the Wrath of God. Another famous person opines on a subject he has no experience in, with predictable results. Ferdy provides an alternative, but acknowledges that "it is definitely not going to make Alan Dershowitz feel superior." He also presents Grief, asking just what will bring meaning to the death of a soldier in Iraq.

John Roberts argued more than 30 cases before the Supreme Court. Matt Barr at New World Man looks at the voting and opinion authorship breakdowns of 20 of them, to see who on the current Court voted for "Roberts'" position most often. See How Roberts fared before the Court.
And just as the Catholic Roberts is being considered for the Supreme Court, Steven Couch at BlueStateRed highlights an appearance by the Catholic former New York Governor Cuomo on "Meet the Press": Religion and American Politics.

The Warden at Cliffs of Insanity says that libertarians are missing the point with regards to the whole Intelligent Design/Evolution debate. Take a look at Libertarian Ideology vs Conservative Pragmatism.

Chris Hallquist at The Uncredible Hallq adds to the debate on Intelligent Design with his Response to Kathleen Parker.

Ellison at Blog d'Ellison has A Modest Proposal.

Giacomo at Joust the Facts is particularly impressed that the New York Times downplays good economic news, even when it means contradicting the position taken in their business section. Take a peek at All the Liberal Spin that's Fit to Print.

Delving from politics into philosophy and business, Dan Melson at Searchlight Crusade presents some interesting thoughts in On Liberty and Regulation; Theory and Practicality. To remove the power of money in politics, or the benefit of poor business practice, remove the incentives. Simple in thought, but can it ever be practical.

Business and Advice

Free Money Finance has advice everyone needs on how to choose a financial advisor.

Meanwhile, Melinama says "you may need this how-to guide some day." At Pratie Place, find this advice you hopefully won't need on how to deal with Bats. Pictures are included!

Barry Welford at BPWrap - A Different Point Of View presents The Internet Explorer 6 Peekaboo Bug, which affects websites using CSS style sheets. If you have a problem with text disappearing from your web page, this bug could be the culprit. The Holly Hack is a solution.

Steve Pavlina at Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog presents How NOT to Build a Successful Online Business. He identifies lessons from a failed blogger that can be applied to any online business.

Big Picture Guy at Big Picture, Small Office eats an apple. The result is Gravitas, where he links the laws of physics to the world of business.

Need to save for college? All you need to do is estimate future college costs and put aside the money to meet these costs. JLP at AllThingsFinancial runs the numbers for us at College Funding Math.

Wayne Hurlbert at BlogBusinessWorld advises business people to Seek the facts: The truth shall set you free. Honesty is the best policy!

Kevin at technogypsy finds the secret to getting good at anything: two hours every day. His thoughts are at Dancing in the Dark.

Current Events

From Kingston, Jamaica, Shaggy's Girl at The Former Jamaican shows that rumors about celebrities are not just non-news in the United States. The former Miss Jamaica is pregnant, and the press and public are saying very different things.

It's cloning cats and dogs at Wordlab! Abnu discusses the recent cloning of a puppy by a South Korean lab.

John Ray at Dissecting Leftism has a post with links to stories about cooling in the Antarctic, homeschooling in Germany, the IQ of leftists, and much more.

Bussorah Merchant at Strange Justice has a petition that is desperately in need of signatures. Help right a most grievous wrongful conviction!

Thankfully, Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely, and hopefully, many more successful flights will follow. That will take preparation. J. Random American at Ideas In Progress looks at shuttle repair technology, past and present, in Shuttle Tile Repair Technology Described in AW&ST.

Don Surber shows a picture of a puddle at How Dry I Am, and shows the DNR lives up to the government's reputation for quality work.

Chris Jenkins at DubiousProfundity addresses the current worries about violence and sex in video games by looking to history, when children were exposed to very real violence. Watch the Flash animation Strange Fruit - A Dubious Trip Down Memory Lane.

At The Idiom, Kid Various suggests "Sign Kid Various Up For The Super Soldier Serum, Please." He looks at technologies that could radically reshape man, and those in the world who fear them (and much more). That leads to the currently fought WWIV by way of Captain America, "because everything, sooner or later, comes down to comic books."

Mike Pechar at Interested Participant has collected over 100 cases of adult women implicated in inappropriate sexual behavior with minors, in just the last nine months, and without searching hard. It's all collected at More Women With Boys. With further analysis, he hopes to see if female predatory behavior is treated differently by the judicial system than male predatory behavior.

Culture and Life

Dr. Charles, at the Examining Room of Dr. Charles, delves into the most powerful symbol of Hinduism, after seeing a patient's necklace.

Mr. Snitch asks the question we've all been asking: When a Roller Derby Queen from Jersey City skates into battle for her Brooklyn team, who should accompany her?

David St. Lawrence at Ripples: Post-Corporate Adventures reminds us If you think corporate life is bad.... Yes, he sees the top of the corporate heap populated by Elaine Liner's Brads and Ashleys. He hopes for a good future for the always-funny blogger, whose writing attracted the unfavorable attention of her university employer.

Chicken Little at Chicken Fried Life really enjoys phoning her parents.

Josh Cohen at Multiple Mentality takes a look at Family Programming, and concludes that the "family programming" at ABC Family doesn't deserve the name.

Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah at Koranteng's Toli asks the important questions, so you don't have to. What is the difference between "Unscented" and "Unscented Moisture?" What does the price of soybean oil have to do with hoarding body wash? Why do they want to mess with one's shower? It's all at The New Formula.

Blogging

Stephen Den Beste famously classified bloggers as thinkers or linkers. Brian J. Noggle at his eponymous Musings says that's a false dichotomy, as some bloggers are listers, too.

Humor doesn't always translate over the Internet. Eric Scheie at Classical Values had to defend his dog's honor from a vindictive teacher due to a misunderstood picture. Check out Hard core misrepresention.

And speaking of humor....

Humor

America has brought terrorist attacks on itself? In response, Ubu at Houblog has a funny question, and an even funnier answer.

Mr. Satire at satire.myblogsite.com/blog comments on a race for the U.S. House of Representatives, noteworthy because it was the only one over the past month. He surmises the loser isn't happy with the results. Take a peek into his thoughts at Leftist Blog Exit Poll Winner Paul Hackett (Hawk-OH) Demands A Refund Of Kos Kidz' Allowance. (Not safe for work)

Buckley F. Williams at The Nose On Your Face brings us his list of the Top 9 Alternate Names For The Global War On Terror.

Harvey at Bad Example continues his weekly series of fun and informative facts about our 50 states. This week, it's Georgia's turn. Take a gander at FUN FACTS ABOUT GEORGIA: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT.

Mad Kane at Mad Kane's Notables presents three political limericks at Bolton, and Novak, and Bush, Oh My! Also available as a podcast!

Mr. Right at The Right Place reveals that Democrats Give up on Winning, Push for More "Spectacular" Losses.

Mark A. Rayner at The Skwib gives us a satirical look at the latest bizarre political firefight in the European Union by reporting on the Failed EU putsch of the dirndl industry.

And that's all for this week. Next week's Carnival will be hosted by WILLisms. If you want to host the Carnival in the future, just contact Bigwig at Silflay Hraka.

Thank you for visiting, and come again soon!
And as long as you're here, why not take a look at some of my favorite posts?