How much is a life worth? Tough issues to consider in this debate. How much would you pay for another year of life?

Interesting bit of Missouri history, looking at the duel between Thomas Hart Benton (one of Missouri's first Senators) and Charles Lucas.

$100 million plus in stimulus funds for a Carnahan sibling's green business? That sounds perfectly ethical!

With all the focus on Tea Partiers versus Republican leadership, is there a widening rift in the Democratic party being overlooked? Michael Barone looks at the divide caused by public sector unions in recent Democratic primaries in New York and Washington DC, with the union supported candidates coming out ahead.

Beware the perils of the Community Redevelopment Agency in LA: The CRA’s affinity for corrupt reverends, dubious community activists, and outright crooks is legendary:

That developer with “legal and financial problems” in the Marlton Square debacle is the serial check bouncer and tax cheat Christopher Hammond, whose only visible skill is an ability to game the local political class. The agency’s partner in the two-decade-old Slauson Central Retail Center project is the highly questionable community group Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, which has a long history of taking public money for projects that never get built.

Oh, but they sound like they have good intentions, so they keep getting showered with public money, while controlling over $1 billion of real estate that never seems to get developed. And a potential partnership on a development project with Magic Johnson fell through because apparently he has a reputation for, you know, getting things done.

Violent crime continues to plummet as gun ownership skyrockets. Who would have thought? Of course the intelligentsia will tell you there is no correlation between the two, but they can't seem to come up with an alternate explanation...

Reexamining study habits, from the NYT. And the methods frequently go against the conventional wisdom, but there seems to be no interest in changing the outdated methods. Sounds like a recurring problem for many aspects of our educational system...

You may wonder what China's energy policy consists of. Basically, it is mostly forced rolling blackouts of cities and factories, all to meet arbitrary cut targets. Ah, dictatorships! Also, another good reason to not invest in the Chinese economy. You never know what random directive will be issued next that puts someone out of business.

Best headline of the day: School bearing Al Gore's name built on contaminated site.

Are repressed memories a hoax? New research seems to indicate this...

Always remember who George Soros is while he is out trying to change the world with his billions. He got his start selling out Jews to the Nazis. Then he sold out whoever else he could to make a profit. But he never let any of this bother him. Sickening.

Iraq Through the Looking Glass, from Victor Davis Hanson. An excerpt:

The truth about Iraq is that, for all the tragedy and the loss, the U.S. military performed a miracle. After nearly seven years, a constitutional government endures in that country. It is too often forgotten that all 23 of the writs for war passed by the Congress in 2002 — from enforcing the Gulf I resolutions and stopping the destruction of the Kurds and Marsh Arabs, to preventing the Iraqi state promotion of terrorism, ending suicide bounties on the West Bank, and stopping Iraq from invading or attacking neighbors or trying to acquire WMD — were met and satisfied by the U.S. military. It is also too often forgotten that, as a result, Libya gave up its WMD program; Dr. Khan’s nuclear franchise was shut down; Syria left Lebanon; and American troops in Saudi Arabia, put there as protection against Saddam, were withdrawn.

Interesting too that everything undesirable is Bush's fault, but Bush's Iraq withdrawal plan goes forward and the Obama Administration has no problem taking credit for it.

A bailout for Obama's friends at Shorebank in Chicago? But of course!! This is the way the system operates now.

How many illegal scholarships can one Congresswoman give out? Apparently about 23, by last count. And this is taking scholarships away from legitimately deserving kids. Will this cost her in the fall election in her predominantly Democratic Dallas district? Probably not. Which is sad. This woman should be facing charges right now. The level of corruption right now is just brazen and in your face, with no signs of abating.

So was cash for clunkers a complete wash? Looks like it, from this recent study.

A new list of the fifty wealthiest law makers. Any surprise John Kerry tops the list? The methodology of the list creation also gives lie to the inanity of the Congressional financial disclosure rules, which only require declarations in broad ranges, none of which go over $50 million. Because of this, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and owner of the Milwaukee Bucs, doesn't make the list even though his NBA team is estimated to be worth over $250 million. Yet another area of Congress screaming for reform. I won't hold my breath waiting for it.