ELSEWHERE

Wow! Steve Sailer seems to have totally shot down Steven Levitt's claim that legalized abortion was the cause of the drop in the crime rate

IQ tests revived in Britain (but not under that name, of course): "Teenagers face a nationwide examination to test their aptitude for university, in an attempt to identify the brightest students. The generic admissions test, to be piloted in September using 1,500 students across the country, adds to the burden of examinations that schoolchildren face and demonstrates a lack of confidence in A levels. Vice-chancellors have complained that the present admissions system, which relies on predicted grades, is no longer adequate. Half of predicted grades turn out to be wrong and many more A-level students are getting A grades than in the past. Designed and implemented by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate and the Australian Council for Educational Research, the new test is intended to ease the problem of oversubscription and justify selection procedures".

Death tax on way out: "The House voted 272 to 162 yesterday to permanently repeal the estate tax, throwing the issue to the Senate where negotiations have begun on a deep and permanent estate tax cut that can pass this year, even if it falls short of full repeal." [Australia abolished it years ago]

Minutemen success: "There aren't many border-control success stories these days, but Arizona's Minuteman Project is quickly becoming one. ... How ironic that the people who President Bush derided as 'vigilantes' are acting as much-needed extra eyes and ears for law-enforcement officials. The Minutemen have all but sealed the U.S.-Mexico border in the 23-mile stretch they patrol. Their success suggests that, organized in larger scale with a cooperative federal government, groups like Project Minuteman could be a substantial contribution to border security. At the very least, the Minutemen are bringing some much-needed attention to the nation's woefully porous borders. We hope President Bush and others who prefer the status quo are watching."

Euro on the way out? "European Central Bank watchers have begun to speculate on the fate of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) should French voters reject the European constitution next month. "The euro at risk" was the headline of a Deutsche Bank report to its clients on Monday. "Its life expectancy may soon be regarded as finite," Financial Times columnist Wolfgang Munchau wrote the same day. Supporters of the constitution say it is vital for ensuring that the European Union functions properly after the bloc's expansion last year. But opinion polls show a clear majority of French voters plan to reject it in a referendum on May 29. The constitution needs backing from all 25 member states and some analysts say its failure could lead to a reversal of European political integration. "The EU could disintegrate toward a free-trade zone," said WestLB Financial Markets on Tuesday. "Such developments would spell disaster for EMU and the ECB.""

Reliapundit also has a roundup of news suggesting that the EU is in big trouble.

Nathan Tabor notes that the father of the unborn is the third victim of abortion.

My latest quote on MARXWORDS shows that Marx thought the Russians were mainly Asiatics and should be chased out of Russia. Hitler, of course, tried to do put that into practice.

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and LEFTISTS AS ELITISTS. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftist movers and shakers is perfectly shown by the 2004 Kerry campaign. They put up a man whose policies seemed to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though the Left have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

Leftist ideologues are phonies. For most of them all that they want is to sound good. They don't care about doing good. That's why they do so much harm. They don't really care what the results of their policies are as long as they are seen as having good intentions and can con "the masses" into giving them power.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist"

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