The Daily Top Five: Jan. 29, 2007

1. The graffitti on the Capitol is a big story in Washington. My thoughts are here. Interestingly, the Hill is also reporting that 9 anti-war protesters have been arrested for an "unlawful assembly."

2. A lot of talk is going on in education circles about the possibility of a set of national standards for education, an idea I have endorsed. However, Brett Pawlowski reminds us all that having standards, a what, is not nearly as important as asking what is the purpose of education. Brett argues that you can't have proper standards without a properly defined goal. An important point.

3. Affirmative action still haunts this country. Despite decades of work trying to unite the races by literally thousands of no-name workers, all it takes is one flaming idiot to set all the work back. Tom Bevan has a link to a screed by Lafe Tolliver who does just that. Why is it that even educated blacks like Tolliver see conspiracies behind any race based case at the Court?

4. Mark Steyn is a genius and it is confirmed by this poll. If demographics drives historical events, the people of Britain need to wake up and read America Alone. RIGHT NOW!!!

David Cameron will respond today by urging everyone living in Britain to show loyalty to its laws and customs and, by initiating an attack on multiculturalism, calling for "proper integration".

The startling poll by Populus for Policy Exchange, the think-tank with close links to the Tory leader, reveals how younger Muslims hold aggressively more extreme views than their parents.

The poll of 1,003 Muslims found that more than a third of 16 to 24-year-olds wanted to live under Islamic law, compared with 17 per cent of the over-55s.

Meanwhile, 31 per cent of young Muslims said that they believed that if a Muslim converted to another religion they should be punished by death, compared with 19 per cent of the over-55s.

The deep divisions between the generations are most starkly illustrated over attitudes to the hijab, with 74 per cent of young people preferring Muslim women to wear them compared with 28 per cent of the over-55s. Thirteen per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds said that they admired organisations such as al-Qaeda, compared with 3 per cent of their parents’ generation.

Scary results to say the least.

5. Marty Lederman has a great post on SCOTUSblog about the Davenport v. WEA case dealing with Washington state's union dues for political purposes case. Lederman sees much more at stake in the campaign finance world than most commentators onthe cas, who typically see a labor law case. While I disagree with some of Lederman's assertions and conclusions, I do think the case is broader than just a labor law case.