So, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is arresting illegal immigrants trying to leave the country. Let the mockery begin? Tempting as that may be, the sweeps of departing travellers make sense, which explains why all the right people are upset about them.

California's Democrat-dominated legislature on Monday killed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed universal health care plan. Killed it dead. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday conducts an inquest and finds that cost is a serial killer:

Regulators in California have slipped a rule into proposed new building standards that would give state officials the power to override home and business thermostats "in case of emergency." This is a phenomenally bad idea.

Mickey Kaus offers four theories to explain the conventional-wisdom crushing outcome of the New Hampshire primary. The first is "the Bradley effect." L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley ran for California governor in 1982 against Republican George Deukmejian. Bradley was black and Deukmejian is white.

I tend not to be a member of the sky-is-falling crowd when it comes to fun stuff being mixed in with the news -- but this seems misguided:

***

Memo from Associated Press' Los Angeles assistant bureau chief

From: Baker, Frank S.
Sent: Tue 1/8/2008 11:58 AM
To: News - Southern California Editorial Staff
Subject: Britney

All: