PUTINISM: “Another ally-turned-enemy of the Kremlin is offed, this time in Dubai.” Meanwhile, Katrina van den Heuvel runs interference. I guess it’s just a habit at The Nation.

CAPTAIN’S JOURNAL: Baitullah Mehsud Threatens Washington. I seem to remember similar threats from Mullah Omar. Remember him?

DETROIT’S PROBLEM: “A survey of West Executive Drive, where White House staffers park, revealed only five American cars out of 23 . . . .The lot was sprinkled with BMWs, Mercedes, Hondas, Toyotas, Saabs, Audis, Volkswagens and a Volvo.”

UPDATE: Let them drive Ladas.

JOE BIDEN CHARGED WITH drug warrior hypocrisy. “If Bristol Palin’s actions reflect badly on her mom, why don’t Ashley Biden’s actions reflect badly on her dad?”

BRITAIN’S CULTURAL COLLAPSE — A VIGNETTE: “At one time they would have have gone inside themselves to try and rescue them.”

Meanwhile, Mark Steyn comments: “The characteristically moronic behavior of the braindead British coppers transformed it from a family tragedy to a national metaphor. I have written recently in Canada of the disturbing passivity of the ‘citizenry’, but Britain’s nudged it on a stage: Even if you understand the obligation to act in such a situation, the state will forcibly prevent you and (if recent form is anything to go by) ensure that if you disobey them you’ll be prosecuted – pour encourager les autres to remain obedient sheep to the government shepherd. . . . New Hampshire’s great motto, ‘Live free or die’, is not just a bit of bloodcurdling stemwinding but a real choice that Britons, Canadians and, alas, Americans ought to ponder: You can live as free men, with all the rights and responsibilities and vicissitudes of fate that that entails. Or you can watch your society decay and die before your eyes – as England, once the crucible of freedom, dies a little with every day.” Advice to the Brits: Tar, and feathers. At the very least. They’re cowards, after all. Let them fear you.

UPDATE: James Rummel wonders if this story is really true. Well, I’ve seen no evidence to the contrary, but I’d be relieved to know that it’s false. Unfortunately, it’s rather believable in light of other idiocies we’ve seen . . . .

EUROPE FREE RIDES AGAIN. “We pay for their military protection, we pay for the profits that develop the drugs and consumer goods they happily consume, and now we’re supposed to pay for their economic bailout too. Europe could liberalize its markets, let in immigrants, develop a real military, instead of just critiquing the way we do it. We’ll continue to let them free ride, because there’s no way to stop it. But I’m starting to think we should rub it in a bit more.”

FREE HEALTHCARE: Not from Obama, but from Walgreen’s.

AZIZ POONAWALLA IS CRITICAL OF OBAMA over the Afghan “rape bill:”

Let’s not mince words. It’s doubtful that President Obama’s administration was unaware of the rape bill. It’s more likely that they are intent on sticking by Karzai and supportive of whatever he needs to do to get re-elected, Secretary Clinton’s rhetoric about elevating women’s rights in foreign policy during her confirmation hearing aside. This kind of ends-justify-the-means foreign policy is essentially realpolitik revisited – the exact kind of short-term “great game” thinking that created the Taliban itself. It’s a disgrace and an embarassment to Obama’s entire Afghanistan policy, and the domestic economic crisis is no excuse for such a craven failure to stand up for the values we purport to uphold.

Well, the Obama pledge was to replace those idealistic neocons with realists. This is what that looks like.

SMART DIPLOMACY: “Slightly smaller than Oregon.” To me, the striking thing is that most of the press to whom this stuff is addressed probably has a better idea of Britain’s size than Oregon’s anyway . . . .

MY EARLIER POST ABOUT MANLY LAPTOPS produced this email from Will Collier about his MSI Wind:

I can second the Slashdot poster’s observation about the MSI Wind being a chick magnet. I’ve been very surprised about how much attention it gets from women. Not that this bothers me too much (or, er, matters, since I’m happily married. Hi, honey!).

Guys aren’t all that impressed unless they see OS X running on it. Then they get interested…

Vive le difference.

KNOXVILLE WILL BE HAVING A TEA PARTY PROTEST ON APRIL 15, and I’ll be covering it for PJTV. Here’s the website.

GERMAN HOMESCHOOLERS SEEK POLITICAL ASYLUM:

Homeschooling is so important to Uwe Romeike that the classically trained pianist sold his beloved grand pianos to pay for moving his wife and five children from Germany to the Smoky Mountain foothills of Tennessee.

Romeike, his wife, Hannelore, and their children live in a modest duplex about 40 miles northeast of Knoxville while they seek political asylum here. They say they were persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and homeschooling their children in Germany, where school attendance is compulsory. . . . Bernadette Meyler, a Cornell Law School professor who has studied differences in religious liberty between the U.S. and Europe, said she’s never heard of another case like this in the U.S.

Interesting.

TAXES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE. And people named to the Cabinet. “Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding ‘unintentional errors’ _ the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee.” I notice that H&R Block has been claiming that when they review people’s tax forms they typically find a lot of missed deductions. I can only conclude that they’re not checking Obama Administration nominees’.

UPDATE: A reminder from the L.A. Times:

Sebelius was actually a replacement Obama nominee for ex-Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle, who admitted paying about $140,000 in back taxes and penalties from recent years. Others, including Treasury Secy. Timothy Geithner, performance officer Nancy Kelleher and ex-Democratic Rep. and now Labor Secy. Hilda Solis, also had back tax problems, which were paid up and disclosed after their nominations.

Kelleher, like Daschle, withdrew her name. The others were confirmed anyway.

Read the whole thing. More here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Rand Keller writes:

According to the article:

Sebelius said she sold her home in Topeka, Kan., for an amount less than the outstanding balance on the mortgage. She continued paying off the loan and the interest for which they continued to claim a deduction.

Did the bank(s) know that they were holding loans with no collateral? Inquiring minds, you know.

Good question. Meanwhile, TigerHawk has thoughts.

MORE: Reader Tom Getchell writes:

Whatever else one makes of the serial tax dodgers nominated by this administration, the message comes through loud and clear that we have a federal tax system that is either so unjust that it invites cheating, or so complex that even the smartest among us can’t figure it out. Neither alternative is a good one. And I say that as an estate planning lawyer.

Indeed.

ANOTHER COOL NETBOOK COMPUTER: I’ve been using the HP Mini 1035 for about a week now. It’s extremely slick-looking, and has a great keyboard. How does it compare to the 10″ Asus Netbook? Interestingly. The HP is considerably thinner and lighter. It has a better keyboard — the best I’ve seen on a netbook so far. On the other hand, its battery life is less — 2-3 hours instead of 4-5 in my usage — and it’s so light that it’s actually a bit unsteady on your lap. Or at least mine. On the other hand, it’s really small and pretty. My review of the 10″ Asus is here, and some reader comments on netbooks can be found here and here.

UPDATE: Reader Andrew Murphy writes:

Bought a HP 1035 for my wife – and she loves it. The battery issue aside, the 60G hard drive has plenty of room for most normal work.

Overall, she rates it highly. I offered to get her a HP pavilion like mine but she deferred. At nearly 6 pounds and even worse battery life she decided smaller was better – and when this one dies my next road computer will definitely be the 1035.

Wish it had a 6-cell battery, but it’s a great machine.

GOOD QUESTION: With GM’s Wagoner Ousted, Should Union Head Have Met the Same Fate?

In forcing the resignation of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, President Obama said he was seeking a fresh start, a “new vision and new direction,” for the beleaguered automaker.

But some critics are questioning why the president of the United Auto Workers union didn’t meet the same fate, to signal a fresh start on the other side of the bargaining table.

Even though UAW President Ron Gettelfinger argues that his workers have made significant concessions in recent years, critics say Gettelfinger should have gone the way of Wagoner — whose ouster could be seen as the final judgment for GM’s pursuit of gas-guzzling SUVs at a time when foreign manufacturers were winning over their customers with fuel-efficient cars.

Read the whole thing.

EMOTIONAL RESCUE BAILOUT. It’s a lot harder to find words that rhyme with bailout, though.

RON BAILEY: Congressional Democrats Unveil Energy Rationing, Uh, I Mean, Climate Change Bill.

NETANYAHU TO OBAMA: Stop Iran — Or I Will.

JOHN TIERNEY: The God-Einstein-Oppenheimer Dice Puzzle.

THE HILL: TARP taxpayer commitment $2.9 trillion.

The country’s in the very best of hands.

UPDATE: Financial Rescue Nears GDP as Pledges Top $12.8 Trillion.

TOM MAGUIRE NOTES A PAUL KRUGMAN BELLYFLOP on the PBGC story. With a huge supporting cast! “My free advice to my friends on the left – sometimes reporters exaggerate and hype their story a bit (really!), so critical reading skills should be applied even if the reporter is bashing Bush. In the Globe story, to pick an example almost at random, the reporter explained breathlessly that the PBGC had decided to invest in equities but waffled on whether the decision had actually been implemented. Looks like April Fool’s came early for some people.”

BIAS AT THE BAR: I was going to try to work in a “we don’t serve their kind here” joke, but I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

PJTV: ANDREW KLAVAN on the culture and the argument to “shut up.”

FROST / NIXON comes out on DVD. Plus, staying in character.

HOW WE FELL.