A WORD TO THE WISE: "Institutions do not always seek to find the truth. More often than not they seek to find the approved solution.”

HAVE WE NOW placed our survival in the hands of Tinkerbell? Carolyn Glick writes on Obama's foreign policy.

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: a reflection on the Bush presidency.

Bush talked about the "purpose of public office" in a democracy. It's "not to fulfill personal ambition." He said: "Elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves. The political winds blow left and right. Polls rise and fall. Supporters come and go. But in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold."

And then he talked about freedom and how our country should expand its reach. Freedom, the former president said, is a "gift from God and the hope of every human heart. Freedom inspired our founders and preserved our union through civil war and secured the promise of civil rights. Freedom sustains dissidents bound by chains, believers huddled in underground churches and voters who risk their lives to cast their ballots. Freedom unleashes creativity, rewards innovation and replaces poverty with prosperity. And ultimately, freedom lights the path to peace."

And he talked about the responsibilities we have for one another as well. "Freedom brings responsibility. Independence from the state does not mean isolation from each other. A free society thrives when neighbors help neighbors and the strong protect the weak and public policies promote private compassion. As president, I tried to act on these principles every day. It wasn't always easy, and it certainly wasn't always popular."

'Nuff said.

PAUL GREENBERG: The Trainwreck Called ObamaCare.

Instead of a clear, simple reform, Americans are getting a vast bureaucracy that would make one of Rube Goldberg's machines look like a model of efficiency. Ol' Rube specialized in contraptions designed to accomplish some simple chore in the most complicated way, all for comic effect. Only there's nothing funny about this one.

Only a few years ago I would never have believed the government could screw something up so badly. I was wrong.

OBAMA'S WORLD. Be sure and read the comments.

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE to start piece-by-piece approach to immigration reform. This is a much more comfortable approach than the Senate's comprehensive 'ObamaCare' approach.

NASA ENDORSES Anthony Weiner for NYC Mayor. Courtesy of Instapundit.

IMMIGRATION REFORM: The Left has a history of breaking immigration promises.

FROM HUNTERS AND FISHERMEN TO ENVIRONMENTALISTS: "You're Welcome."

For the last couple of decades hunters and fishermen have contributed over $1.5 billion per year towards environmental protection in the most genuine sense.... A study by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that for every taxpayer dollar invested in wildlife conservation, American hunters and fishermen contribute nine.

The Pittman-Robertson Act (1937), you see, imposed an excise tax of 10 per cent on all hunting gear. Then the Dingell-Johnson act (1950) did the same for fishing gear. The Wallop-Breaux amendment (1984) extended the tax to the fuel for boats. All of this lucre goes to “protect the environment” in the form of buying and maintaining National Wildlife Refuges, along with state programs for buying and maintaining various forms of wildlife habitat.

So please note: to "preserve nature," they don’t tax Birkenstock hiking boots and Ying-Yang pendants – but do tax my shotgun. They don’t tax Yoga manuals and Tofu tid-bits wrapped in recycled paper – but do tax my 30.06 deer rifle. They don’t tax binoculars or birding Field Guides with cutesy photos of the red-cockaded woodpecker and spotted Owl – but do tax the shotgun shells I blast....

Going further, they don’t tax Kayaks and rock climbing picks and ropes – but do tax my compound bow and rifle scope. They don’t tax the plastic water bottles on Mountain bikes (or the mountain bike itself, come to think of it) or the cutesy spandex shorts these yo-yos wear – but do tax my duck decoys and camo pants. They don’t tax Yanni and Enya CDs – but do tax the arrows I fling....

Read it all.

LOOK, A SQUIRREL! Jonathan Chait calls President Bush stupid. Five years into the administration of the worst president in American history and it's 'blame Bush' time again.

CONGRESS WORKING to strip presidential land grab power -- before he uses it to designate the United States as his own 'national monument'. (Don't give him any ideas. -Ed.)

SPACE FISHING: Nets, harpoons could be used to haul in space junk.

JOHN C. GOODMAN: Guns, Bombs and Government.

"'COMPREHENSIVE' IMMIGRATION REFORM suggests that importing more potential voters for the Democrats has a higher priority ... than safeguarding the country."

IS OBAMACARE turning health care into a luxury? I don't know that there's anything 'luxurious' about lousy care.

The closer I get to government-mandated healthcare (i.e., Medicare), the more scared I become.

IS THE MEDIA BIASED? Or just plain stupid?

REAL SCIENCE, or just another 'global warming' attack? Earliest satellite maps of Antarctic and Arctic sea-ice assembled from 1964 Nimbus-1 spacecraft images.

One can hope for real science, but I wouldn't bet my hat on it....

HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS: bending the medical costs curve. But they're not available in government-sponsored 'healthcare' (ObamaCare, Medicare, TriCare) because they permit the patient to control his/her/its (in deference to other genders) own medical care.

MICHELLE MALKIN: America’s Insane Asylum for Jihadists, Hustlers and Frauds.

CALIFORNIA'S LATEST SUICIDE ATTEMPT: The California state legislature is poised to pass a “Homeless Bill of Rights” which (hopefully) will encourage vagrants from all across the United States to move there.