I have a link on the sidebar to James Taranto's always excellent "Best of the Web Today." Today, Mr. Taranto hit one out of the park, so I thought it a good time to highlight why that link is there.

He has found a report on airline safety, and it turns out there hasn't been a major accident in America for the better part of a decade. For most of us, this would seem to be good news. For people interested in increased regulation, however, it's bad news indeed. Witness this thought process:

That's great news for aviation companies and their passengers--and a complication for rule makers trying to improve flight safety.

The benefits of aviation rules are calculated primarily on how many deaths they may prevent, so the safest decade in modern airline history is making it harder to justify the cost of new requirements.

Now for the money shot. This is absolutely amazing.

If anyone wants to advance safety through regulation, it can't be done without further loss of life.

Oh. My. Goodness. This man believes that safety can't be advanced without killing people! Do they hear themselves? The whole piece is here.

Thomas Sowell has a terrific collection of thoughts today at National Review Online. Here are some samples:

Increasing numbers of people seem to have convinced themselves that they are entitled to a "fair share" of what someone else has earned. Whole nations now seem to think that they should be bailed out from the consequences of their own reckless spending by nations that lived within their means.

Those who favor huge cuts in military spending seem not to understand that our military exists not simply to win wars, but to present such overwhelming superiority to potential enemies as to prevent having to fight a war in the first place.

The visceral hostility of liberals against Sarah Palin is something that liberals themselves ought to be concerned about. After all, she is just someone who has a different opinion about politics and a different social background and style. What I fear the liberals most resent is that, in their view, she is someone who is talking back to her betters.

In most discussions about the problems of American public schools, the low intellectual quality of people who come out of our schools of education is the 800-pound gorilla that keeps getting ignored. Such teachers cannot foster in their students intellectual abilities that they themselves don't have.

Laurel found this on the internets, attributed to John Cleese. Subsequent research indicates he didn't write it, but subsequent readings confirm it's freaking hilarious. So it is reproduced here.

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."

Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Three more escalation levels remain: "Crikey!", "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend", and "The barbie is cancelled."

Let's hope this guy gets a medal rather than an indictment. I probably would have done the same thing:

A Texas father caught a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him, authorities said.

Playing with Fire

You would think the French might have learned the danger of antagonizing the Germans. Victor Davis Hanson notes that apparently they haven't.

Germany, loaded with cash, recently upped its retirement age to 67. Nearby France, almost insolvent, lowered its retirement age from 62 to 60 for certain workers. The former is supposed to lend cash to broke EU members, the latter not only cannot, but needs some itself. The above paradox is not really a financial problem; it is a political disaster in the making. France is sending an ultimatum that its own citizens will work seven fewer years than Germans to enjoy the good life, while Germans — replete with historical baggage — not only will pay for it by giving up their retirement years, but ought to pay for it. Given the other overt and implicit EU member insults to Germany, the greatest German backlash in the last 80 years is not a matter of if, but when. And the longer it is repressed, the more explosively it will erupt.

Glad I Was a Lifeguard

We used to play this song over the P.A. system at the pool I worked at in my youth. It still makes me smile.

Here's New York mayor Michael Bloomberg on his proposed ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces:

Bloomberg said that the proposal was aimed towards the city's poorer residents who may not have a sophisticated understanding of nutrition.

Condescend much, mayor? What's the next aspect of the life of the unsophisticated you will want to control?