Massachusetts is losing people at a rate exceeded only by New York. As a member of the Bay State diaspora, I think I know why (and it is not because it is cold there, people are moving to New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont). People are leaving Massachusetts because it is cheaper to live elsewhere. Combine high taxes with high housing costs, then throw in energy costs, and you get a recipe for emigration. The northern New England states either have lower taxes (New Hampshire) or relatively cheaper home prices (Vermont and Maine). All three states have a lower crime rate, as well and a more rural lifestyle (especially compared to Eastern Massachusetts).

Deroy Murdock urges folks to see United 93, which is the new movie about the hijacking of that ill-fated airliner and the heroic efforts of the passengers to defeat the terrorists, which they did at the cost of their lives. I'm not sure I want to see it in a theater, I prefer to do my weeping in private.

Paul Kane, a Marine veteran of the Iraq War, has an interesting new argument for why we should re-instate the draft.

THE American public needs to be prepared for what is shaping up to be a clash of colossal proportions between the West and Iran.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt masterfully prepared Americans before the United States entered World War II by initiating a peacetime draft under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940.

Now, President Bush and Congress should reinstitute selective service under a lottery without any deferments.

This single action will send a strong message to three constituencies in the crisis over Iran's nuclear intentions — Iran, outside powers like China and Russia and Americans at home — and perhaps lead to a peaceful resolution.

Iran's leaders and public will see that the United States is serious about ensuring that they never possess a nuclear weapon. The Chinese and Russian governments will see that their diplomatic influence should be exercised sooner rather than later and stop hanging back. But most important, America's elites and ordinary citizens alike will know that they may be called upon for wartime service and sacrifice.

Read the whole thing.

While we are struggling with the Iraq War, and facing the possibility of an Iran War, and still trying to put an end to the Afghanistan War, Bill Gertz writes about how the Pentagon is preparing for the Great China War.

The Pentagon is engaged in an extensive buildup of military forces in Asia as part of a covert strategy to strengthen and position U.S. and allied forces to deter -- or defeat -- China. The buildup includes changes in deployments of aircraft-carrier battle groups, the conversion of nuclear-missile submarines and the regular dispatch of bombers to areas close to targets in China, according to senior Bush administration officials and a three-month investigation by The Washington Times.

Other less-visible activities that are part of what is being called a "hedge" strategy include large-scale military maneuvers, increased military alliances and training with Asian allies, the transfer of special-operations commando forces to Asia and new requirements for military personnel to learn Chinese.

Read the whole thing. It makes me wonder how long we can keep these kind of military commitments going before we finally collapse from the financial strain, as other empires have done in the past.