Link blag

Remember Michael Brown, of Katrina infame? He has a blog. Really. And he's been posting about FEMA...

The time has finally arrived for President Obama to make a decision about FEMA. Either announce it will stay in the Department of Homeland Security or pull it out. Too many conflicting signals are being sent and too many conflicting policies are being implemented. Again, FEMA is doomed to fail until the President settles the issue of FEMA's location within the vast and often conflicting bureaucracy of DHS.

Washington Post: Politics is driving the destruction of the District's school voucher program...

[Obama's Secretary of Education] Arne Duncan has decided not to admit any new students to the D.C. voucher program, which allows low-income children to attend private schools. The abrupt decision -- made a week after 200 families had been told that their children were being awarded scholarships for the coming fall -- comes despite a new study showing some initial good results for students in the program and before the Senate has had a chance to hold promised hearings. For all the talk about putting children first, it's clear that the special interests that have long opposed vouchers are getting their way.

Washington Post: Listen to the Dot-Commenters...

I am writing in defense of the anonymous, unmoderated, often appallingly inaccurate, sometimes profane, frequently off point and occasionally racist reader comments that washingtonpost.com allows to be published at the end of articles and blogs.

An Associate Deputy Attorney General* for Ronald Reagan, Bruce Fein, called for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. But he thinks the new president's incredibly imperialist wielding of executive power is even worse...

President Obama pledged to restore the rule of law. But the state-secrets-privilege wars with that promise. It encourages torture, kidnappings, inhumane treatment, and similar abuses, all carried out in the name of fighting international terrorism. That encouragement is compounded by the president's adamant opposition to criminal prosecution of former or current government officials for open and notorious abuses—for example, water-boarding or illegal surveillance. His stances on habeas corpus and state secrets flout twin verities of Justice Louis D. Brandeis: Sunshine is the best disinfectant; and, when the government becomes a lawbreaker, it invites every man to become a law unto himself.

(*The longer your title in US government, the less important you are)

Andrew reader: Deciphering the tea tantrums...history repeats itself?

Contra Yglesias, Conor Clarke explains why greed does not make you a bad person.

Obsidian Wings: publius wonders what the big deal is with American courts looking to foreign laws for guidance.

Washington Post: In California, Medical Marijuana Laws are Moving Pot Into the Mainstream

Dr. James Dobson admits his side lost the culture war. Yeah, It's kind of like that. Progress happens. Although Kyle at RightWingWatch thinks he hasn't quite thrown in the towel.

MIT is developing virus-powered batteries suitable for electric cars.

The US ambassador to the Holy See can't be pro-choice? What, would they refuse to have diplomatic relations with a nation where almost everyone is pro-choice? Hurray for theocratic fanaticism. TMV comments further.

Update: The Vatican denies this report

Lady can SING!