This is a follow-up to an earlier story about how unions in Wausau, Wisconsin tried to bar Republicans from the upcoming Labor Day parade. FOX News reports that they have changed their minds late Tuesday after Jim Tipple, mayor of Wausau, threatened to withhold financial support for the parade if everyone could not participate.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Political Refugees in America
Michael Medved at Townhall.com sees the big picture: millions of Americans are fleeing from overtaxed, over-regulated liberal states such as California, New York, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey and flocking to more conservative states such as Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, and Utah. When states such as New York threaten to raise taxes on residents in the highest income bracket, it's enough to make them start thinking about pulling up stakes and moving to where they can hold on to more of their money. In the age of telecommuting, it is not always essential to be physically present in centers of commerce such as New York or Los Angeles. Already this is translating to more electoral votes for states such as Texas and Florida. On the other hand, Medved does not mention the instances where out-migration from blue states have diluted conservative strength in Colorado, New Hampshire, and other states.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway May Owe IRS $1 Billion
You probably won't find this in the liberal media, but NewsBusters reports that "Warren "Raise My Taxes" Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway has been fighting with the IRS for almost a decade over taxes it owes.
"On Tuesday, the organization digging into Berkshire Hathaway's numbers, Americans for Limited Government, estimated the total could be as much as $1 billion:
"Using only publicly-available documents, a certified public accountant (CPA) detailed Berkshire Hathaway’s tax problems to ALG researcher Richard McCarty. Now, the American people have a better idea of how much in back taxes the company could owe Uncle Sam.
"According to page 56 of the company report, 'At December 31, 2010… net unrecognized tax benefits were $1,005 million”, or about $1 billion. McCarty explained, “Unrecognized tax benefits represent the company’s potential future obligation to the IRS and other taxing authorities. They have to be recorded in the company’s financial statements.'”
"On Tuesday, the organization digging into Berkshire Hathaway's numbers, Americans for Limited Government, estimated the total could be as much as $1 billion:
"Using only publicly-available documents, a certified public accountant (CPA) detailed Berkshire Hathaway’s tax problems to ALG researcher Richard McCarty. Now, the American people have a better idea of how much in back taxes the company could owe Uncle Sam.
"According to page 56 of the company report, 'At December 31, 2010… net unrecognized tax benefits were $1,005 million”, or about $1 billion. McCarty explained, “Unrecognized tax benefits represent the company’s potential future obligation to the IRS and other taxing authorities. They have to be recorded in the company’s financial statements.'”
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Ed O'Neill Gets His Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - In Front of a Shoe Store
The Daily News of Los Angeles reports that veteran actor Ed O'Neill, who played Al Bundy the shoe salesman in "Married...With Children" and now has a current TV series, "Modern Family," received the 2,446th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in front of the DSW Shoe Warehouse at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. Co-stars Katey Sagal and Sofia Vergara were also there.
Sofia Vergara of "Modern Family" said she has been a longtime fan of O'Neill.
"When I grew up in Colombia, I would watch the show 'Married... With Children,' and never did I think I would marry Al Bundy," she joked.
O'Neill also poked fun at his increasingly younger TV wives.
"You know, I can't help but think right now that as I'm standing here, it's a bit emotional, that somewhere in the world at this moment, in a hospital, a beautiful little baby girl is being born, and when she grows up she's going to be my next wife on TV and I'm looking forward to that day."
Pundits Prognosticate on the Outcome of Next Year's Presidential Election
US News & World Report has an article about Alan Lichtman, the "never-wrong pundit," who confidently predicts that President Obama will win a second term next year. However, the jury is still out on a number of variables - for instance, "Gunwalker" and other scandals still have the potential to blow up in his face.
In contrast, Andrew Breitbart in STL Today says that Obama's days in the White House are numbered, and that he had better start making plans for his retirement. Breitbart traces the decline of his presidency from August 2009, when widespread opposition to Obamacare started to take shape.
In contrast, Andrew Breitbart in STL Today says that Obama's days in the White House are numbered, and that he had better start making plans for his retirement. Breitbart traces the decline of his presidency from August 2009, when widespread opposition to Obamacare started to take shape.
Joplin, Missouri on the Road to Recovery
One hundred days after a devastating tornado that struck the city on 22 May, Joplin is rising from its wreckage quickly because of a sense of community, according to a USA Today article. The people are willing to help themselves and their neighbors instead of waiting for government to step in and take care of them.
"It would be a lot easier to move back home," says [Eric] Polley, who came to Joplin two years ago from Kentucky. He says he feared more tornadoes and wanted to protect his young daughters, who have become jumpier at hearing thunder.
But Polley, whose house was damaged, decided to stay.
"Too many good things have happened, and I see how people have pulled together to work together," says Polley, who has assisted with disaster recovery in hurricane-stricken towns as a former power company worker.
"There's no comparison," he says. "It's so much different here. There is no whining, no pointing fingers, but people are getting back on their feet...."
Bells for public school classes rang on time on Aug. 17. Two Walgreens stores, one of which was flattened, reopened Aug. 22.
St. Louis-based Mercy Health System will rebuild a hospital by 2014, after its St. John's Regional Medical Center took a direct hit from the twister.
As of Thursday, Joplin had issued 192 residential permits to rebuild and another 2,092 permits for home repair, according to city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot. The city also has issued 73 commercial rebuild permits.
Gerald and Carolyn Keller are rebuilding their Dequesne, Mo., home after it was almost completely destroyed in the May 22 tornado.
Mayor Mike Woolston says he could not be prouder. "Our folks didn't wait for the help to get started," he says, noting governmental assistance was crucial. Yet he credits self-help with the rapid recovery. "It's the way the community responds that sets the tone," Woolston says....
EDITORIAL NOTE: We are careful to say "on the road to recovery," as there is much work left to be done. The city has only recently started to issue permits to replace the many buildings that were destroyed.
"It would be a lot easier to move back home," says [Eric] Polley, who came to Joplin two years ago from Kentucky. He says he feared more tornadoes and wanted to protect his young daughters, who have become jumpier at hearing thunder.
But Polley, whose house was damaged, decided to stay.
"Too many good things have happened, and I see how people have pulled together to work together," says Polley, who has assisted with disaster recovery in hurricane-stricken towns as a former power company worker.
"There's no comparison," he says. "It's so much different here. There is no whining, no pointing fingers, but people are getting back on their feet...."
Bells for public school classes rang on time on Aug. 17. Two Walgreens stores, one of which was flattened, reopened Aug. 22.
St. Louis-based Mercy Health System will rebuild a hospital by 2014, after its St. John's Regional Medical Center took a direct hit from the twister.
As of Thursday, Joplin had issued 192 residential permits to rebuild and another 2,092 permits for home repair, according to city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot. The city also has issued 73 commercial rebuild permits.
Gerald and Carolyn Keller are rebuilding their Dequesne, Mo., home after it was almost completely destroyed in the May 22 tornado.
Mayor Mike Woolston says he could not be prouder. "Our folks didn't wait for the help to get started," he says, noting governmental assistance was crucial. Yet he credits self-help with the rapid recovery. "It's the way the community responds that sets the tone," Woolston says....
EDITORIAL NOTE: We are careful to say "on the road to recovery," as there is much work left to be done. The city has only recently started to issue permits to replace the many buildings that were destroyed.
Wausau Mayor Stands Up to Union Bullies
Breitbart.tv has this delicious video: "WI Unions Try to Ban GOP from Labor Day Parade; Mayor Says Pound Sand."
Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple:
"The banning of a political party from participation at any event co-sponsored by the City is against public policy and not in the best interest of all the citizens of the City of Wausau. And therefore, we encourage the event organizer to invite all interested parties, or reimburse the city for other costs."
Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple:
"The banning of a political party from participation at any event co-sponsored by the City is against public policy and not in the best interest of all the citizens of the City of Wausau. And therefore, we encourage the event organizer to invite all interested parties, or reimburse the city for other costs."
Monday, August 29, 2011
Two of a Kind
In the American Thinker article, "Early Obama Letter Confirms Inability to Write," Jack Cashill dives into the murky depths of Barack and Michelle Obama's college days and early careers to point out that both of them got ahead because of affirmative action rather than their own merits. But you already knew that, didn't you?
Controversy Sells
A Yahoo/AP article describes General and former Secretary of State Colin's Powell's instant reaction to the publication of former Vice President Dick Cheney's book In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir.
"My head isn't exploding. I haven't noticed any other heads exploding in Washington," Powell said. "From what I've read in the newspapers and seen on television it's essentially a rehash of events of seven or eight years ago."
He accused Cheney of taking "cheap shots" at various key officials in the administration of George W. Bush. He had a counter-charge of his own, saying that if the Vice President had been as forthcoming with the FBI as Richard Armitage, Lewis "Scooter" Libby may have been able to avoid a prison sentence.
"My head isn't exploding. I haven't noticed any other heads exploding in Washington," Powell said. "From what I've read in the newspapers and seen on television it's essentially a rehash of events of seven or eight years ago."
He accused Cheney of taking "cheap shots" at various key officials in the administration of George W. Bush. He had a counter-charge of his own, saying that if the Vice President had been as forthcoming with the FBI as Richard Armitage, Lewis "Scooter" Libby may have been able to avoid a prison sentence.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Religion of Peace Strikes Again
Gateway Pundit describes how Paris Dipersico, a Canadian author who had an Islamic upbringing, was waylaid by attackers believed to be Muslim, tied to a tree, and beaten unconscious for publishing a book critical of Islam.
Accused of being gay, they then “called me a Jew in Arabic and said the Jews are paying you to write this against Islam,” the author of Wake Up Call said Thursday.
Dipersico said he also received a “death threat” on his Facebook site, then someone stole files and backup writing discs after breaking into the home he shares with cousin Gabrielle Dipersico — who helped design the book and whose photo is on the cover.
Believing the threat came “from the Middle East,” he said it demanded he remove offensive language.
After treatment for cuts and bruises, Dipersico said on his publisher’s advice, “I’m taking out some of the graphically sexual stuff,” but not the rest.
A Lawsuit Any Lawyer Would Be Ashamed to File
The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story about a frivolous lawsuit on steroids that would make Kimberly Garrity's adult children look like spoiled brats.
CHICAGO • Raised in a $1.5 million Barrington Hills, Ill., home by their attorney father, two grown children have spent the last two years pursuing a unique lawsuit against their mom for "bad mothering" that alleges damages caused when she failed to buy toys for one and sent another a birthday card he didn’t like.
The alleged offenses include failing to take her daughter to a car show, telling her then 7-year-old son to buckle his seat belt or she would contact police, "haggling" over the amount to spend on party dresses and calling her daughter at midnight to ask that she return home from celebrating homecoming.
Last week, at which point the court record stood about a foot tall, an Illinois appeals court dismissed the case, finding that none of the mother’s conduct was "extreme or outrageous." To rule in favor of her children, the court found, "could potentially open the floodgates to subject family child-rearing to ... excessive judicial scrutiny and interference...."
[The father] Steven A. Miner, reached by phone, did not comment. In court papers he said he only filed the lawsuit after much legal research and had tried to dissuade his children from bringing the case....
CHICAGO • Raised in a $1.5 million Barrington Hills, Ill., home by their attorney father, two grown children have spent the last two years pursuing a unique lawsuit against their mom for "bad mothering" that alleges damages caused when she failed to buy toys for one and sent another a birthday card he didn’t like.
The alleged offenses include failing to take her daughter to a car show, telling her then 7-year-old son to buckle his seat belt or she would contact police, "haggling" over the amount to spend on party dresses and calling her daughter at midnight to ask that she return home from celebrating homecoming.
Last week, at which point the court record stood about a foot tall, an Illinois appeals court dismissed the case, finding that none of the mother’s conduct was "extreme or outrageous." To rule in favor of her children, the court found, "could potentially open the floodgates to subject family child-rearing to ... excessive judicial scrutiny and interference...."
[The father] Steven A. Miner, reached by phone, did not comment. In court papers he said he only filed the lawsuit after much legal research and had tried to dissuade his children from bringing the case....
The "Broken Windows Fallacy"
Jeff Jacoby at Boston.com writes about how in the wake of the large but weakening Tropical Storm Irene, economic "experts" will come out from under their rocks and try to reassure the public that natural disasters are a blessing in disguise.
“The result of all the new wealth creation,’’ Gardels concluded, “will be money in the pockets of Japanese.’’
Japanese who survived, that is. The tens of thousands who died won’t be pocketing any new wealth. And all the money in the world won’t make whole the countless Japanese whose minds, bodies, or careers were permanently broken by the mayhem. True, trillions of yen will be spent to repair, rebuild, and restore. But equally true is that all those trillions will no longer be available for everything they would otherwise have been spent on. Whatever Japan may gain from the resources committed to reconstruction will never outweigh the value of everything lost through wanton destruction.
Yet the conviction that devastation is really a boon never seems to go out of fashion....
More than 160 years ago, the French political economist Frederic Bastiat skewered such attitudes in a now-famous parable: A boy breaks a shopkeeper’s window, and everyone who sees it deplores the pointless destruction. Then someone insists that the damage is actually for the good: The six francs it will cost the shopkeeper to replace his window will benefit the glazier, who will then have more money to spend on something else. Those six francs will circulate, and the economy will grow.
The fatal flaw in that thinking, Bastiat wrote, is that it concentrates only on “what is seen’’ - the glazier being paid to make a new window. What it ignores is “what is not seen’’ - that the shopkeeper, forced to spend six francs on that, has lost the opportunity to spend them on better shoes, a new book, or some other addition to his standard of living. The glazier may be better off, but the shopkeeper isn’t - and neither is society as a whole.
Broken windows are not economic stimulus. Hurricanes aren’t either. There is no silver lining in useless destruction. Not even if “experts’’ say otherwise.
“The result of all the new wealth creation,’’ Gardels concluded, “will be money in the pockets of Japanese.’’
Japanese who survived, that is. The tens of thousands who died won’t be pocketing any new wealth. And all the money in the world won’t make whole the countless Japanese whose minds, bodies, or careers were permanently broken by the mayhem. True, trillions of yen will be spent to repair, rebuild, and restore. But equally true is that all those trillions will no longer be available for everything they would otherwise have been spent on. Whatever Japan may gain from the resources committed to reconstruction will never outweigh the value of everything lost through wanton destruction.
Yet the conviction that devastation is really a boon never seems to go out of fashion....
More than 160 years ago, the French political economist Frederic Bastiat skewered such attitudes in a now-famous parable: A boy breaks a shopkeeper’s window, and everyone who sees it deplores the pointless destruction. Then someone insists that the damage is actually for the good: The six francs it will cost the shopkeeper to replace his window will benefit the glazier, who will then have more money to spend on something else. Those six francs will circulate, and the economy will grow.
The fatal flaw in that thinking, Bastiat wrote, is that it concentrates only on “what is seen’’ - the glazier being paid to make a new window. What it ignores is “what is not seen’’ - that the shopkeeper, forced to spend six francs on that, has lost the opportunity to spend them on better shoes, a new book, or some other addition to his standard of living. The glazier may be better off, but the shopkeeper isn’t - and neither is society as a whole.
Broken windows are not economic stimulus. Hurricanes aren’t either. There is no silver lining in useless destruction. Not even if “experts’’ say otherwise.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Gibson Guitar's Real Offense: Not Contributing to Democrats
Landmark Report has a chilling explanation as to why the Department of "Justice" raided the Gibson Guitar Corporation: it's run by a Republican.
On Thursday, the iconic Gibson Guitar Corporation issued a press release stating that government officials raided their Tennessee manufacturing facility over warrants concerning the legality of the importation of wood purchased from India that they use in their world famous guitars. The wood–which is certified and regulated by the Forest Stewardship Council–is not illegal, but rather subject to a domestic law in India frowns upon the processing of this wood by non-Indians. (Gibson uses American labor for the processing.)...
It’s worth pointing out that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s Chief Executive Officer, is a donor to a couple of Republican politicians. According to the Open Secrets database, Juszkiewicz donated $2000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN07) last year, as well as $1500 each to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Juszkiewicz also has donated $10,000 to the Consumer Electronics Association, a PAC that contributed $92.5k to Republican candidates last year, as opposed to $72k to Democrats. (The CEA did, however, contribute more to Democrats in the 2008 election cycle.)
When warrants as ridiculous such as these are issued and executed, there appears no other reason than because the company or individual at hand is being targeted, not because there is any sort of wrongdoing. As a company, Gibson is a legendary. They’ve done nothing wrong, except, apparently, deigning to have a Republican CEO.
The plot thickens, however.
One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars....
On Thursday, the iconic Gibson Guitar Corporation issued a press release stating that government officials raided their Tennessee manufacturing facility over warrants concerning the legality of the importation of wood purchased from India that they use in their world famous guitars. The wood–which is certified and regulated by the Forest Stewardship Council–is not illegal, but rather subject to a domestic law in India frowns upon the processing of this wood by non-Indians. (Gibson uses American labor for the processing.)...
It’s worth pointing out that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s Chief Executive Officer, is a donor to a couple of Republican politicians. According to the Open Secrets database, Juszkiewicz donated $2000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN07) last year, as well as $1500 each to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Juszkiewicz also has donated $10,000 to the Consumer Electronics Association, a PAC that contributed $92.5k to Republican candidates last year, as opposed to $72k to Democrats. (The CEA did, however, contribute more to Democrats in the 2008 election cycle.)
When warrants as ridiculous such as these are issued and executed, there appears no other reason than because the company or individual at hand is being targeted, not because there is any sort of wrongdoing. As a company, Gibson is a legendary. They’ve done nothing wrong, except, apparently, deigning to have a Republican CEO.
The plot thickens, however.
One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars....
MSNBC Calls on an Expert on How to Prepare for a Hurricane
I cannot tell a lie: the headline was designed to be dripping with sarcasm, as the Daily Caller describes how former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is interviewed by Martin Bashir.
...Nagin gave government agencies and their leaders high marks for their preparations. But he said only time will tell if the public follows their instructions.
“[I] think they’re doing an excellent job of alerting the public, which is one of the main things you need to do. One of the problems they’re having on the East Coast is that they have not experienced a storm like this in so long, so there are going to be many people who may not heed the warnings, or may move too late to try and evacuate. And that is when the drama will unfold.”
Nagin didn’t deny that he made some errors with Katrina in 2005. But he put much of the blame on New Orleanians themselves...
EDITORIAL NOTE: This is truly amazing! What will MSNBC come up with next? An interview with Homer Simpson on how to remediate the damage to the nuclear reactors in Japan after the earthquake earlier this year?
Friday, August 26, 2011
No More Mr. Nice Guy
To the surprise of no one in conservative circles, it appears that an increasingly desperate Obama will take the gloves off and run a dirty re-election campaign that will bring the "politics of personal destruction" to new depths. One reliable indicator was reported on in Breitbart's Big Government:
One of the co-conspirators in a White House-approved plot to use federal resources to produce partisan propaganda to advance President Obama’s policy agenda has been chosen to lead an Obama 2012 get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort.
The Obama operative chosen to head the GOTV effort, Buffy Wicks, was deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. In that capacity she participated in a now-infamous 2009 conference call in which Obama officials urged artists to create art that would help advance Obamacare and the rest of the president’s policy objectives.
Wicks will head a GOTV effort named after the branch of ACORN that employed Obama in 1992. Perhaps to honor Obama’s radical roots, the “campaign-within-a-campaign” will be named “Project Vote,” according to Politico’s Mike Allen....
UPDATE: More evidence that Gov. Perry has arrived - Obama team gives signal to Texas Democrats to attack Perry, according to Allahpundit at HotAir.com.
One of the co-conspirators in a White House-approved plot to use federal resources to produce partisan propaganda to advance President Obama’s policy agenda has been chosen to lead an Obama 2012 get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort.
The Obama operative chosen to head the GOTV effort, Buffy Wicks, was deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. In that capacity she participated in a now-infamous 2009 conference call in which Obama officials urged artists to create art that would help advance Obamacare and the rest of the president’s policy objectives.
Wicks will head a GOTV effort named after the branch of ACORN that employed Obama in 1992. Perhaps to honor Obama’s radical roots, the “campaign-within-a-campaign” will be named “Project Vote,” according to Politico’s Mike Allen....
UPDATE: More evidence that Gov. Perry has arrived - Obama team gives signal to Texas Democrats to attack Perry, according to Allahpundit at HotAir.com.
Tripoli to be Libyan Rebels' Seat of Government
A FOX News report says that anti-Gaddafi rebels will be moving their government from the provisional capital of Benghazi to Tripoli.
"We can start rebuilding our country," Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni of the National Transitional Council told a news conference late Thursday. "He (Qaddafi) is the one who is basically in the sewer, moving from one sewer to another."
Even with his regime in tatters, Qaddafi has tried to rally his followers to kill the rebels who waged war for six months to bring down Libya's ruler of 42 years.
"Don't leave Tripoli for the rats. Fight them, and kill them," Qaddafi said in a new audio message broadcast on Al-Ouroba TV, a Syria-based satellite station.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Even if this tyrant is killed or captured, the revolution will be hampered in its progress by: lack of a strong leader, the economic disruption of six months of warfare to date, political and tribal divisions, and their need to be better-organized.
"We can start rebuilding our country," Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni of the National Transitional Council told a news conference late Thursday. "He (Qaddafi) is the one who is basically in the sewer, moving from one sewer to another."
Even with his regime in tatters, Qaddafi has tried to rally his followers to kill the rebels who waged war for six months to bring down Libya's ruler of 42 years.
"Don't leave Tripoli for the rats. Fight them, and kill them," Qaddafi said in a new audio message broadcast on Al-Ouroba TV, a Syria-based satellite station.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Even if this tyrant is killed or captured, the revolution will be hampered in its progress by: lack of a strong leader, the economic disruption of six months of warfare to date, political and tribal divisions, and their need to be better-organized.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
East Coast Braces for Hurricane Irene
Map courtesy of Drudge Report
FOX News reports that Irene has become a Category 3 hurricane that injured 8 people in Florida and killed 3 in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, North Carolina and 6 other states have declared a state of emergency, and people in the expected path of the storm are either planning to evacuate coastal areas or stock up on food, water, and other necessary items. Expect delays in traveling by air to places such as North Carolina, New York, Boston, or New Jersey, as many flights have been cancelled. The Navy has ordered ships based in the Hampton Roads area to leave port and sail out of the path of the hurricane. The storm has also forced a postponement of the dedication ceremony for the recently-completed Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington, DC.
Democrats Get Rewarded for Sucking Up to Big Labor
Actually, this Politico article describes how White House insider and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka threatens to scale back union support of the Democratic Party and set up their own super-PAC.
“We’re going to use a lot of our money to build structures that work for working people” Trumka said. “You’re going to see us give less money to build structures for others, and more of our money will be used to build our own structure.”
Obama's union backers are disappointed at the failure to pass a card-check bill, and oppose free-trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, and Panama.
“We’re going to use a lot of our money to build structures that work for working people” Trumka said. “You’re going to see us give less money to build structures for others, and more of our money will be used to build our own structure.”
Obama's union backers are disappointed at the failure to pass a card-check bill, and oppose free-trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, and Panama.
A Rousing Endorsement of San Francisco Justice
The San Francisco Examiner has an article, "Veteran Car Thief Lauds Lax San Francisco Justice," in which a career criminal sings the praises of a city that makes it so easy to ply his trade.
A veteran car thief who bragged about stealing nine cars in one day at age 14 told authorities he likes living in San Francisco because “nothing happens to him when caught there,” according to prosecutors in San Mateo County, where he’s facing new charges.
Dustin James Barnett, 38, was arrested in Daly City earlier this year on suspicion of swiping a Chrysler just one month after being placed on felony probation for car theft.
Barnett had four prior car theft convictions when he was pulled over on Feb. 9. Knowing the Daly City cop had learned he had stolen the car, Barnett stepped on the gas and fled, running over the cop’s foot, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said....
NOTE: Barnett is trying to establish an insanity defense.
A veteran car thief who bragged about stealing nine cars in one day at age 14 told authorities he likes living in San Francisco because “nothing happens to him when caught there,” according to prosecutors in San Mateo County, where he’s facing new charges.
Dustin James Barnett, 38, was arrested in Daly City earlier this year on suspicion of swiping a Chrysler just one month after being placed on felony probation for car theft.
Barnett had four prior car theft convictions when he was pulled over on Feb. 9. Knowing the Daly City cop had learned he had stolen the car, Barnett stepped on the gas and fled, running over the cop’s foot, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said....
NOTE: Barnett is trying to establish an insanity defense.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sen. Marco Rubio to the Rescue
It's good to report some positive news. Glenn Beck's The Blaze covered the story of how Nancy Reagan, widow of President Ronald Reagan, attended an event at the Reagan Presidential Library. Suddenly she stumbled and nearly fell, but fortunately Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida caught her in the nick of time, and she was able to proceed to her seat with no apparent injury.
Aftershock of the Great Washington Earthquake of 2011
BREAKING NEWS: The President has just confirmed that the DC earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line, apparently known as "Bush's Fault". The President also announced that the Secret Service and Maxine Waters continues an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party. Conservatives however have proven that it was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves. (Source: Government Gone Wild!/Facebook)
iQuit, Says Steve Jobs
Reuters that Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who has beaten the odds in his struggle against pancreatic cancer and other illnesses, has decided to resign from his leadership position at Apple and is turning over the office to Tim Cook. Predictably, the value of Apple shares slid to 376.18 when he made the announcement.
High-Maintenance Woman
Why is it that American news sources dare not mention this phenomenon? The Daily Mail (U.K.) isn't afraid of running the following story:
The Obamas' summer break on Martha's Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets.
But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances.
White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10 million of U.S. taxpayers' money on vacations alone in the past year....
While the President and his wife do pay for some of their personal expenses from their own pocket, the website whitehousedossier.com says that the amount paid by the couple is 'dwarfed by the overall cost to the public'.
The magazine also reported that Mrs Obama, whose fashion choices are widely followed, had been going on 'wild shopping sprees', much to the distress of her husband, who, its sources reveal, is 'absolutely furious' at his wife's 'out-of-control spending'....
The Obamas' summer break on Martha's Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets.
But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances.
White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10 million of U.S. taxpayers' money on vacations alone in the past year....
While the President and his wife do pay for some of their personal expenses from their own pocket, the website whitehousedossier.com says that the amount paid by the couple is 'dwarfed by the overall cost to the public'.
The magazine also reported that Mrs Obama, whose fashion choices are widely followed, had been going on 'wild shopping sprees', much to the distress of her husband, who, its sources reveal, is 'absolutely furious' at his wife's 'out-of-control spending'....
A Scientific Explanation for - Beer Goggles!
io9 has the article:
It's a fairly well-known idea that people start looking better and better the more one drinks alcohol. But is there actually a scientific reasoning behind this? It might all have to do with a little something called bilateral symmetry....
...There are many different forms of symmetry, including radial, spherical, and bilateral, which is the one that humans possess. All this means is that it is possible to cut an organism in half so that one side is identical or the mirror image of the other. The different types of symmetry are determined by how many different possible ways one could create these symmetric counterparts. In humans and other organisms with bilateral symmetry, there's only one possible line of symmetry, which is known as the sagittal plane, which runs right down the vertical center of our bodies. (Obviously, we're only talking about external appearances here - our insides aren't symmetric.)
Right, so that's the quick and dirty version of what biological symmetry is. But what does that have to do with booze? Well, it's thought that we and other organisms have a strong evolutionary preference for the appearance of symmetry, and this means people who are considered attractive are often those who display a high degree of bilateral symmetry. And, as NCBI ROFL reports, researchers at London's Roehampton University hypothesized that a reduced ability to judge this symmetry brought on by the general visual impairment of alcohol might well account for the phenomenon that people seem more attractive when one is drunk. It's really that they simply seem more symmetrical - or, perhaps more accurately, less asymmetrical....
It's a fairly well-known idea that people start looking better and better the more one drinks alcohol. But is there actually a scientific reasoning behind this? It might all have to do with a little something called bilateral symmetry....
...There are many different forms of symmetry, including radial, spherical, and bilateral, which is the one that humans possess. All this means is that it is possible to cut an organism in half so that one side is identical or the mirror image of the other. The different types of symmetry are determined by how many different possible ways one could create these symmetric counterparts. In humans and other organisms with bilateral symmetry, there's only one possible line of symmetry, which is known as the sagittal plane, which runs right down the vertical center of our bodies. (Obviously, we're only talking about external appearances here - our insides aren't symmetric.)
Right, so that's the quick and dirty version of what biological symmetry is. But what does that have to do with booze? Well, it's thought that we and other organisms have a strong evolutionary preference for the appearance of symmetry, and this means people who are considered attractive are often those who display a high degree of bilateral symmetry. And, as NCBI ROFL reports, researchers at London's Roehampton University hypothesized that a reduced ability to judge this symmetry brought on by the general visual impairment of alcohol might well account for the phenomenon that people seem more attractive when one is drunk. It's really that they simply seem more symmetrical - or, perhaps more accurately, less asymmetrical....
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Hooray! FCC Sweeps Away "Fairness Doctrine"
An Investors Business Daily editorial reports and comments on the Federal Communications Commission's decision to do away with the "Fairness Doctrine" once and for all.
...While the Supreme Court upheld the doctrine in 1969, it concluded in 1974 that it "inescapably dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate."
Later, in 1987, the FCC itself said the doctrine "had the net effect of reducing, rather than enhancing," the discussion of controversial topics. It voted that year to overturn the rule, and hasn't enforced it since.
A later FCC chairman said that "the Fairness Doctrine doesn't belong in a country that's dedicated to freedom of the press and freedom of speech."
The result of the 1987 decision was an explosion of political speech, most notably on AM radio, but also across cable networks and the Internet.
So guess who's spent the past 24 years trying to revive this free-speech-killing rule? Self-proclaimed open-minded liberals.
In 1987, Democrats approved a bill that would have codified the Fairness Doctrine into law. Reagan vetoed it, despite the fact that doing so gave the existing TV networks even more freedom to trash his administration....
...While the Supreme Court upheld the doctrine in 1969, it concluded in 1974 that it "inescapably dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate."
Later, in 1987, the FCC itself said the doctrine "had the net effect of reducing, rather than enhancing," the discussion of controversial topics. It voted that year to overturn the rule, and hasn't enforced it since.
A later FCC chairman said that "the Fairness Doctrine doesn't belong in a country that's dedicated to freedom of the press and freedom of speech."
The result of the 1987 decision was an explosion of political speech, most notably on AM radio, but also across cable networks and the Internet.
So guess who's spent the past 24 years trying to revive this free-speech-killing rule? Self-proclaimed open-minded liberals.
In 1987, Democrats approved a bill that would have codified the Fairness Doctrine into law. Reagan vetoed it, despite the fact that doing so gave the existing TV networks even more freedom to trash his administration....
Paul Ryan Decides Not to Run
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has made it perfectly clear that he has no plans to run for President at this time, according to Human Events.
"I sincerely appreciate the support from those eager to chart a brighter future for the next generation. While humbled by the encouragement, I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party’s nomination for President.
"I remain hopeful that our party will nominate a candidate committed to a pro-growth agenda of reform that restores the promise and prosperity of our exceptional nation. I remain grateful to those I serve in Southern Wisconsin for the unique opportunity to advance this effort in Congress."
An article by Robert Costa in National Review gives five reasons why Paul Ryan bowed out.
"I sincerely appreciate the support from those eager to chart a brighter future for the next generation. While humbled by the encouragement, I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party’s nomination for President.
"I remain hopeful that our party will nominate a candidate committed to a pro-growth agenda of reform that restores the promise and prosperity of our exceptional nation. I remain grateful to those I serve in Southern Wisconsin for the unique opportunity to advance this effort in Congress."
An article by Robert Costa in National Review gives five reasons why Paul Ryan bowed out.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Son of Gaddafi Says He Wasn't Captured, Gives Rebels One-Finger Salute
FOX News says that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of embattled dictator Muammar, told reporters at a Libyan hotel that he was still a free man, and that his father is alive and would "crush" the rebels who claim to occupy 95% of Tripoli.
UPDATE1: As if to underscore the fact that Gaddafi has not surrendered yet, fresh fighting broke out in Tripoli between his supporters & rebel forces, according to a FOX News update.
UPDATE2: MSNBC reports that the Gaddafi compound, Bab al-Aziziya, has fallen, but that Muammar Gaddafi himself has gone into hiding.
UPDATE1: As if to underscore the fact that Gaddafi has not surrendered yet, fresh fighting broke out in Tripoli between his supporters & rebel forces, according to a FOX News update.
UPDATE2: MSNBC reports that the Gaddafi compound, Bab al-Aziziya, has fallen, but that Muammar Gaddafi himself has gone into hiding.
Will She, or Won't She?
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been acting like a presidential candidate without officially declaring that she is interested in running. Tony Lee in Human Events sums up the atmosphere of suspense among her supporters and opponents. No doubt she has already given much thought to the possibility of becoming the first woman president in our history, but she is no fool, and is also aware of enemies lurking nearby, like sharks looking for their next meal, ready to throw everything they have at Gov. Palin and her family. And we're only describing how some Republicans feel about her! From the Democrats we can expect no slack. Whatever happens, many people agree that time is rapidly running out for her to declare her candidacy.
Martin Luther King Memorial to Be Dedicated Sunday
USA Today reports that the $120 million Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial is now open to the public, and that the dedication ceremony will take place at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, 48 years after his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Why Gov. Perry's Republican Enemies Have Done More Research on Him in the Past 4 Weeks Than They Have on Obama in the Past 4 Years
Erick Erickson at RedState.com has made the call: sour grapes.
Rick Perry once tried to get out of a speeding ticket.
Rick Perry once owned stock in a chain of video stores competing against Blockbuster, some of which also rented adult movies.
Rick Perry once was a Democrat.
The attacks have come fast and furious against him. But most of the attacks take on a peculiar and very telling strain....
It sounds so serious. As Alex Castellanos said on CNN the other night on John King USA, some fear Rick Perry might have “Mad Cowboy Disease.”
Let me sum this all up for you into what Rick Perry’s biggest problem is.
Whether you are talking about Alex (Team Carole Strayhorn 2006) or Karl Rove (Team Kay Bailey Hutchison 2010) or a host of other national Republican consultants, Rick Perry and his Texas team have beaten a significant portion of them.
But they did not just beat them. In many cases, Team Perry then shut the consultants who opposed him out of future business with him.
So there are scores and scores of Republican consultants who have scores to settle with Rick Perry and his team. And for guys like Karl Rove, if Perry were to win the White House, Karl and a few others would see themselves shut out of White House business for at least four years.
Rick Perry may be the only guy in America to have beaten both Karl Rove and also Obama’s own consultant, David Axelrod....
UPDATE: For an article about Perry's enemies on the Democratic side, see the HotAir.com's, "Trial Lawyers Prepare for War Against Perry."
Rebels Receive Warm Welcome in Tripoli, Capture Son of Gaddafi
ABC News ran an article relating how rebel forces entered a suburb of Tripoli and were greeted by civilians waving rebel flags. In a related development, Seif al Islam Gaddafi, a son of Muammar, was captured, and the rebels have advanced as far as Green Square, in the heart of the capital.
The Next Generation of Hard Drives Could Be Made of Glass
The Telegraph (U.K.) has an intriguing article about research being done by British scientists on a technology similar to the "memory crystals" featured in the Superman movies.
Researchers at Southampton University used lasers to rearrange the atoms in pieces of glass, turning it into new type of computer memory.
They claim the glass memory is far more stable and resilient than current types of hard-drive memory, which have a limited lifespan of a couple of decades and are vulnerable to damage from high temperatures and moisture.
The glass memory can withstand temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees F, is unaffected by water and can last for thousands of years without losing information.
Information can be written, wiped and rewritten into the molecular structure of the glass using a laser, the scientists claim.
The process changes the way light travels through the glass, creating whirlpools of polarised light that can then be read in much the same way as data in optical fibres....
Martynas Beresna, lead researcher for the project at Southampton University's optoelectronics research centre, said they can currently store the equivalent of a whole Blu-ray Disc – up to 50GB of data – on a piece of glass no bigger than a mobile phone screen....
The recording process, which is done by focusing a laser to imprint tiny dots called "voxels" into the pure silica glass. the process makes the glass slightly opaque and polarises the light as it passes through. This can then be read using a optical detector.
The scientists, whose research is published in the scientific journal of Applied Physics Letters, are now working with a Lithuanian company Altechna to take the technology to market.
Researchers at Southampton University used lasers to rearrange the atoms in pieces of glass, turning it into new type of computer memory.
They claim the glass memory is far more stable and resilient than current types of hard-drive memory, which have a limited lifespan of a couple of decades and are vulnerable to damage from high temperatures and moisture.
The glass memory can withstand temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees F, is unaffected by water and can last for thousands of years without losing information.
Information can be written, wiped and rewritten into the molecular structure of the glass using a laser, the scientists claim.
The process changes the way light travels through the glass, creating whirlpools of polarised light that can then be read in much the same way as data in optical fibres....
Martynas Beresna, lead researcher for the project at Southampton University's optoelectronics research centre, said they can currently store the equivalent of a whole Blu-ray Disc – up to 50GB of data – on a piece of glass no bigger than a mobile phone screen....
The recording process, which is done by focusing a laser to imprint tiny dots called "voxels" into the pure silica glass. the process makes the glass slightly opaque and polarises the light as it passes through. This can then be read using a optical detector.
The scientists, whose research is published in the scientific journal of Applied Physics Letters, are now working with a Lithuanian company Altechna to take the technology to market.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
After an Ugly Two-Week Strike, Thousands of Verizon Employees to Return to Work Without a Contract
Glenn Beck's The Blaze has this report:
Thousands of striking Verizon workers will return to work starting Monday night, though their contract dispute isn’t over yet.
Both the company and the union say they have agreed to narrow the issues in dispute and have set up a process to negotiate a new contract. But the talks are likely to be contentious. The two sides still disagree on touchy subjects such as health care benefits, pensions, and work rules.
About 45,000 employees went on strike on Aug. 7, after their previous contract expired. They work in the company’s landline division in nine states from Massachusetts to Virginia....
Thousands of striking Verizon workers will return to work starting Monday night, though their contract dispute isn’t over yet.
Both the company and the union say they have agreed to narrow the issues in dispute and have set up a process to negotiate a new contract. But the talks are likely to be contentious. The two sides still disagree on touchy subjects such as health care benefits, pensions, and work rules.
About 45,000 employees went on strike on Aug. 7, after their previous contract expired. They work in the company’s landline division in nine states from Massachusetts to Virginia....
Environmental Moonbat Study Not Sponsored or Endorsed by NASA
Glenn Beck's The Blaze sets things straight about a rumor in the Guardian (U.K.) that a NASA study claims that aliens could wipe out the human race to stop global warming.
“Aliens Could Attack to End Global Warming, NASA Says”; “NASA Warns of Alien Attack Scenario”; “Global Warming Could Prompt Alien Attack: NASA” — such was a sample of Friday morning headlines after it was first reported by the Guardian.
NASA quickly took to its Twitter account, writing two posts to clarify that the report was not an official NASA study:
In an online post, author Shawn Domagal-Goldman of NASA’s Planetary Science Division said the report was not funded or supported by NASA in any way, and in fact was “just a fun paper written by a few friends, one of whom happens to have a NASA affiliation....”
“Aliens Could Attack to End Global Warming, NASA Says”; “NASA Warns of Alien Attack Scenario”; “Global Warming Could Prompt Alien Attack: NASA” — such was a sample of Friday morning headlines after it was first reported by the Guardian.
NASA quickly took to its Twitter account, writing two posts to clarify that the report was not an official NASA study:
In an online post, author Shawn Domagal-Goldman of NASA’s Planetary Science Division said the report was not funded or supported by NASA in any way, and in fact was “just a fun paper written by a few friends, one of whom happens to have a NASA affiliation....”
Friday, August 19, 2011
Fallacies About "Arab Spring" Exposed
Forbes.com refers to the "Arab Spring" as a "Jedi mind trick," and points the finger at Iran as being behind many of the intrigues that sparked the epidemic of revolts in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Arab Spring,” as it has been portrayed by the Western media, is an illusion.
Virtually every element of the media narrative — it is a spontaneous revolt, that it is Internet-driven, that it seeks democracy or income equality — is wrong or misleading.
After extensive interviews across the region and two visits to North Africa in July, it is clear that Western media and intelligence services have played a “Jedi Mind Trick” on themselves and us....
“Arab Spring,” as it has been portrayed by the Western media, is an illusion.
Virtually every element of the media narrative — it is a spontaneous revolt, that it is Internet-driven, that it seeks democracy or income equality — is wrong or misleading.
After extensive interviews across the region and two visits to North Africa in July, it is clear that Western media and intelligence services have played a “Jedi Mind Trick” on themselves and us....
"I Knew Fred When We Went to High School Together, and Buddy, You're No Fred Flintstone!"
Glenn Beck's The Blaze ran an amusing Associated Press story (with video) about a man in Roseville, Michigan who tried to stop a runaway pickup truck with his foot. He ran a red light, striking 4 vehicles, and was arrested for driving on a suspended license and reckless driving.
Muammar Gaddafi Makes Plans to Flee Libya as Rebels Close in on Tripoli
FOX News reports that Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi is making plans to leave the country. Rebel forces are advancing on the capital from the west and south and are now fighting for the strategic city of Zawiyah, only 30 miles from the capital.
UPDATE: CNN reports that contrary to rebel claims, Gaddafi has no plans to move himself or his family out of Libya. It is possible that he intends to make a last stand in Tripoli.
UPDATE: CNN reports that contrary to rebel claims, Gaddafi has no plans to move himself or his family out of Libya. It is possible that he intends to make a last stand in Tripoli.
Eye Candy: Bolivian Salt Flats
To make up for the depressing stories we had to report on this blog lately, The Daily Mail (U.K.) comes to the rescue with an amazing series of photos taken at the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, which is larger than Lake Titicaca and source of half of the world's lithium supply.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Next Credit Bubble: Student Loans
The Atlantic has a blood-pressure raising story about how American universities and colleges live high off the hog while students and their families groan under the burden of indebtedness.
How do colleges manage it? Kenyon has erected a $70 million sports palace featuring a 20-lane olympic pool. Stanford's professors now get paid sabbaticals every fourth year, handing them $115,000 for not teaching. Vanderbilt pays its president $2.4 million. Alumni gifts and endowment earnings help with the costs. But a major source is tuition payments, which at private schools are breaking the $40,000 barrier, more than many families earn. Sadly, there's more to the story. Most students have to take out loans to remit what colleges demand. At colleges lacking rich endowments, budgeting is based on turning a generation of young people into debtors.
As this semester begins, college loans are nearing the $1 trillion mark, more than what all households owe on their credit cards. Fully two-thirds of our undergraduates have gone into debt, many from middle class families, who in the past paid for much of college from savings. The College Board likes to say that the average debt is "only" $27,650. What the Board doesn't say is that when personal circumstances go wrong, as can happen in a recession, interest, late payment penalties, and other charges can bring the tab up to $100,000. Those going on to graduate school, as upwards of half will, can end up facing twice that....
How do colleges manage it? Kenyon has erected a $70 million sports palace featuring a 20-lane olympic pool. Stanford's professors now get paid sabbaticals every fourth year, handing them $115,000 for not teaching. Vanderbilt pays its president $2.4 million. Alumni gifts and endowment earnings help with the costs. But a major source is tuition payments, which at private schools are breaking the $40,000 barrier, more than many families earn. Sadly, there's more to the story. Most students have to take out loans to remit what colleges demand. At colleges lacking rich endowments, budgeting is based on turning a generation of young people into debtors.
As this semester begins, college loans are nearing the $1 trillion mark, more than what all households owe on their credit cards. Fully two-thirds of our undergraduates have gone into debt, many from middle class families, who in the past paid for much of college from savings. The College Board likes to say that the average debt is "only" $27,650. What the Board doesn't say is that when personal circumstances go wrong, as can happen in a recession, interest, late payment penalties, and other charges can bring the tab up to $100,000. Those going on to graduate school, as upwards of half will, can end up facing twice that....
Reporter Follows Obama's Advice, Gets Run-Around
You knew this would happen, didn't you? Politico has a sad tale of a reporter who took up Obama's advice to call USDA for answers to an Illinois farmer's burning question:
...Obama’s advice was simple: “Contact USDA.”
“Talk to them directly. Find out what it is that you’re concerned about,” Obama told the man. “My suspicion is a lot of times they’re going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded.”
Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.
When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president's advice and call USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee's question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato -- getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.
Here's a rundown of what happened when I started by calling USDA's general hotline to inquire about information related to the effects of noise and dust pollution rules on Illinois farmers:
Wednesday, 2:40 p.m. ET: After calling the USDA’s main line, I am told to call the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Here, I am patched through to a man who is identified as being in charge of "support services." I leave a message.
3:53 p.m.: The man calls me back and recommends in a voicemail message that I call the Illinois Farm Bureau -- a non-governmental organization.
4:02 p.m.: A woman at the Illinois Farm Bureau connects me to someone in the organization’s government affairs department. That person tells me they "don't quite know who to refer you to."
4:06 p.m.: I call the Illinois Department of Agriculture again, letting the person I spoke with earlier know that calling the Illinois Farm Bureau had not been fruitful. He says "those are the kinds of groups that are kind of on top of this or kind of follow things like this. We deal with pesticide here in our bureau."
"You only deal with pesticides?" I ask.
"We deal with other things … but we mainly deal with pesticides here," he said, and gives me the phone number for the office of the department’s director, where he says there are "policy people" as well as the director's staff.
4:10 p.m.: Someone at the director's office transfers me to the agriculture products inspection department, where a woman says their branch deals with things like animal feed, seed and fertilizer.
"I'm going to transfer you to one of the guys at environmental programs."
4:15 p.m.: I reach the answering machine at the environmental programs department, and leave a message.
4:57 p.m.: A man from the environmental programs department gets back to me: "I hate to be the regular state worker that's always accused of passing the buck, but noise and dust regulation would be under our environmental protection agency, rather than the Agriculture Department," he says, adding that he has forwarded my name and number to the agriculture adviser at IEPA.
On Thursday morning, POLITICO started the hunt for an answer again, this time calling the USDA's local office in Henry County, Ill., where the town hall took place.
9:42 a.m.: Asked if someone at the office might be able to provide me with the information I requested, the woman on the phone responds, “Not right now. We may have to actually look that up -- did you Google this or anything?”
When I say that I’m a reporter and would like to discuss my experience with someone who handles media relations there, I am referred to the USDA’s state office in Champaign. I leave a message there.
10:40 a.m.: A spokeswoman for the Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service calls me, to whom I explain my multiple attempts on Wednesday and Thursday to retrieve the information I was looking for.
“What I can tell you is our particular agency does not deal with regulations,” she tells me. “We deal with volunteers who voluntarily want to do things. I think the reason you got that response from the Cambridge office is because in regard to noise and dust regulation, we don’t have anything to do with that.”
She adds that the EPA would be more capable of answering questions regarding regulations.
Finally, I call the USDA’s main media relations department, based here in Washington, where I explain to a spokesperson about my failed attempts to obtain an answer to the Illinois farmer’s question. This was their response, via email:
“Secretary Vilsack continues to work closely with members of the Cabinet to help them engage with the agricultural community to ensure that we are separating fact from fiction on regulations because the Administration is committed to providing greater certainty for farmers and ranchers. Because the question that was posed did not fall within USDA jurisdiction, it does not provide a fair representation of USDA’s robust efforts to get the right information to our producers throughout the country.”
So, still no answer to the farmer’s question.
...Obama’s advice was simple: “Contact USDA.”
“Talk to them directly. Find out what it is that you’re concerned about,” Obama told the man. “My suspicion is a lot of times they’re going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded.”
Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.
When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president's advice and call USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee's question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato -- getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.
Here's a rundown of what happened when I started by calling USDA's general hotline to inquire about information related to the effects of noise and dust pollution rules on Illinois farmers:
Wednesday, 2:40 p.m. ET: After calling the USDA’s main line, I am told to call the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Here, I am patched through to a man who is identified as being in charge of "support services." I leave a message.
3:53 p.m.: The man calls me back and recommends in a voicemail message that I call the Illinois Farm Bureau -- a non-governmental organization.
4:02 p.m.: A woman at the Illinois Farm Bureau connects me to someone in the organization’s government affairs department. That person tells me they "don't quite know who to refer you to."
4:06 p.m.: I call the Illinois Department of Agriculture again, letting the person I spoke with earlier know that calling the Illinois Farm Bureau had not been fruitful. He says "those are the kinds of groups that are kind of on top of this or kind of follow things like this. We deal with pesticide here in our bureau."
"You only deal with pesticides?" I ask.
"We deal with other things … but we mainly deal with pesticides here," he said, and gives me the phone number for the office of the department’s director, where he says there are "policy people" as well as the director's staff.
4:10 p.m.: Someone at the director's office transfers me to the agriculture products inspection department, where a woman says their branch deals with things like animal feed, seed and fertilizer.
"I'm going to transfer you to one of the guys at environmental programs."
4:15 p.m.: I reach the answering machine at the environmental programs department, and leave a message.
4:57 p.m.: A man from the environmental programs department gets back to me: "I hate to be the regular state worker that's always accused of passing the buck, but noise and dust regulation would be under our environmental protection agency, rather than the Agriculture Department," he says, adding that he has forwarded my name and number to the agriculture adviser at IEPA.
On Thursday morning, POLITICO started the hunt for an answer again, this time calling the USDA's local office in Henry County, Ill., where the town hall took place.
9:42 a.m.: Asked if someone at the office might be able to provide me with the information I requested, the woman on the phone responds, “Not right now. We may have to actually look that up -- did you Google this or anything?”
When I say that I’m a reporter and would like to discuss my experience with someone who handles media relations there, I am referred to the USDA’s state office in Champaign. I leave a message there.
10:40 a.m.: A spokeswoman for the Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service calls me, to whom I explain my multiple attempts on Wednesday and Thursday to retrieve the information I was looking for.
“What I can tell you is our particular agency does not deal with regulations,” she tells me. “We deal with volunteers who voluntarily want to do things. I think the reason you got that response from the Cambridge office is because in regard to noise and dust regulation, we don’t have anything to do with that.”
She adds that the EPA would be more capable of answering questions regarding regulations.
Finally, I call the USDA’s main media relations department, based here in Washington, where I explain to a spokesperson about my failed attempts to obtain an answer to the Illinois farmer’s question. This was their response, via email:
“Secretary Vilsack continues to work closely with members of the Cabinet to help them engage with the agricultural community to ensure that we are separating fact from fiction on regulations because the Administration is committed to providing greater certainty for farmers and ranchers. Because the question that was posed did not fall within USDA jurisdiction, it does not provide a fair representation of USDA’s robust efforts to get the right information to our producers throughout the country.”
So, still no answer to the farmer’s question.
Jihadist Calls for Assassin to Kill David Letterman, Cut Out His Tongue
Breitbart.com has the story:
A jihadist has called on Muslims to murder David Letterman, saying the US talk show host deserved to have his tongue cut out after he joked about an Al-Qaeda leader killed in Pakistan, a US monitoring group said.
SITE Monitoring Service said the death threat was posted Tuesday on a website used by militants, after the jihadist became enraged seeing Letterman make a joke about militant Ilyas Kashmiri who is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in Pakistan in early June.
According to a translation by SITE released Wednesday, the writer to the web forum asked Muslims in America: "Is there not amongst you a Sayyid Nosair al-Masri to cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever?"
Nosair was convicted of assassinating radical right-wing Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York in 1990. Letterman is not Jewish....
A jihadist has called on Muslims to murder David Letterman, saying the US talk show host deserved to have his tongue cut out after he joked about an Al-Qaeda leader killed in Pakistan, a US monitoring group said.
SITE Monitoring Service said the death threat was posted Tuesday on a website used by militants, after the jihadist became enraged seeing Letterman make a joke about militant Ilyas Kashmiri who is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in Pakistan in early June.
According to a translation by SITE released Wednesday, the writer to the web forum asked Muslims in America: "Is there not amongst you a Sayyid Nosair al-Masri to cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever?"
Nosair was convicted of assassinating radical right-wing Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York in 1990. Letterman is not Jewish....
So You Thought Your Bank Was Putting Pressure on You to Pay Up!
FOX News describes the harrowing tale about Irzen Octa, an Indonesian businessman who was allegedly tortured to death during a "harsh interrogation" because he owed $5700 on his Citibank credit card.
Small Comfort to Those Who Have to Swallow Their Pride to Apply for Food Stamps
CNS News has the startling revelation that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack reported the White House claim that food stamps are an economic stimulus in disguise and is actually creating jobs.
“But I should point out that when you talk about the SNAP program or the food stamp program, you have to recognize that it’s also an economic stimulus,” Vilsack said Tuesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program. (SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.)
“If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, then someone has to stock it, shelve it, process it, package it, ship it,” he said. “All of those are jobs. It’s the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times....”
“But I should point out that when you talk about the SNAP program or the food stamp program, you have to recognize that it’s also an economic stimulus,” Vilsack said Tuesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program. (SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.)
“If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, then someone has to stock it, shelve it, process it, package it, ship it,” he said. “All of those are jobs. It’s the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times....”
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Coming Soon to a Market Near You!
Remember when there was only one kind of Oreo cookie? Now we have double stuf, mint cream, and peanut butter variants, and they will be joined by the "Triple Double Oreo" according to a New York Daily News article
Not All Show Business Celebrities Are in the Democratic Fold!
Zimbio.com has a gallery of 30 stars (click to enlarge). This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it's a start. The picture on the right is Chuck Norris. Ranker.com has an even longer list, including people (such as John Wayne and Ronald Reagan) who are now deceased.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
MSNBC Edits Gov. Perry's Remarks to Make Him Sound Like a Racist
Newsbusters and Breitbart report that Ed Schultz ran a heavily-edited video clip of Gov. Rick Perry designed to make him sound as though he were making racist remarks about President Obama. This is ominous in light of the fact that this is only the beginning of the presidential campaign season, and that their sleaze can only get worse from this point on.
Now that Gov. Perry has emerged as a leading contender for the Republican nomination, the Pesky Truth blog has a detailed explanation of "Seventeen (17) things that critics are saying about Rick Perry."
Now that Gov. Perry has emerged as a leading contender for the Republican nomination, the Pesky Truth blog has a detailed explanation of "Seventeen (17) things that critics are saying about Rick Perry."
Obama Displays His Ignorance of History
The Daily Caller (Yahoo News) has the latest complaint from President Obama:
President Barack Obama said yesterday in Decorah, Iowa, that he absorbs more political criticism than Abraham Lincoln, the assassinated 16th U.S. president, attracted from his Civil War critics....
The comparison “is hysterical … that is really laughable in many respects,” said Alvin Felzenberg, the author of a book on American presidents. “You couldn’t print things today they said about Lincoln.” Felzenberg teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and was the chief spokesman for the 9/11 Comission.
Criticism of Lincoln in his day “was even more vitriolic than what you see about Obama,” said Eric Foner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian at Columbia University. “Obama is a guy who has a thin skin and does not take criticism well.” Foner’s Pulitzer-winning volume was titled ”The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.”
President Barack Obama said yesterday in Decorah, Iowa, that he absorbs more political criticism than Abraham Lincoln, the assassinated 16th U.S. president, attracted from his Civil War critics....
The comparison “is hysterical … that is really laughable in many respects,” said Alvin Felzenberg, the author of a book on American presidents. “You couldn’t print things today they said about Lincoln.” Felzenberg teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and was the chief spokesman for the 9/11 Comission.
Criticism of Lincoln in his day “was even more vitriolic than what you see about Obama,” said Eric Foner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian at Columbia University. “Obama is a guy who has a thin skin and does not take criticism well.” Foner’s Pulitzer-winning volume was titled ”The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.”
President Obama Embarks on "Magical Misery Tour"
While Barack Obama is taking his bus tour of mid-western states that helped put him over the top in 2008 and which he must hold on to in next year's election, NewsBusters provides information on the origin of "Magical Misery Tour," which presidential candidates such as Mitt Romney have eagerly taken up.
The first person known to have so coined the bus tour was my DUmmie FUnnies co-author Charles Henrickson as you can see documented in his August 9 Free Republic post:#57 (same number as the number of states in the Obama States of America). Charles also posted a DUmmie FUnnies edition on August 14 by that same name which included a parody song about the "Magical Misery Tour" sung to the tune of "Magical Mystery Tour":
Barack, Barack and the Magical Misery Tour! Step right this way!
Barack, Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, rolling across the nation
Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, but this is no vacation
Barack and his Misery Tour
The Magical Misery Tour is wanting to make you all pay
Wanting to make you all pay
Barack, Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, he's got everything you need
Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, even though it's all wee-weed
Barack and his Misery Tour
The Magical Misery Tour is hoping to make you all pay
Hoping to make you all pay
The misery trip . . .
The Magical Misery Tour
Barack, Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, rolling across the nation
Barack and his Misery Tour
Barack, but this is no vacation
Barack and his Misery Tour
The Magical Misery Tour is coming to make you all pay
Coming to make you all pay
The Magical Misery Tour is trying to make you all pay
Trying to make you all pay, take it away . . .
Starbucks CEO Calls for Boycott on Political Contributions
If a known supporter of Democratic candidates says something wise or remarkable, we will give proper credit. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, has called on business executives to withhold the money they would donate to politicians, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.
...In his letter Monday, Schultz invited executives to join him in a "pledge to withhold any further campaign contributions to the president and all members of Congress until a fair, bipartisan deal is reached that sets our nation on stronger long-term fiscal footing."
Schultz also urged fellow CEOs to invest in projects or new products that will perk up the economy at a time when fear and uncertainty have made businesses unwilling to invest, consumers unwilling to spend and banks unwilling to lend.
"Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling," he said. "The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it."
From January through August of this year, Starbucks has hired 36,000 employees in the United States and Canada, 15 percent more than a year earlier.
...In his letter Monday, Schultz invited executives to join him in a "pledge to withhold any further campaign contributions to the president and all members of Congress until a fair, bipartisan deal is reached that sets our nation on stronger long-term fiscal footing."
Schultz also urged fellow CEOs to invest in projects or new products that will perk up the economy at a time when fear and uncertainty have made businesses unwilling to invest, consumers unwilling to spend and banks unwilling to lend.
"Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling," he said. "The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it."
From January through August of this year, Starbucks has hired 36,000 employees in the United States and Canada, 15 percent more than a year earlier.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Bataan Death March Survivor Lives to Age 105
The Washington Post has an article about Dr. Albert Brown, a dentist who survived the inhuman rigors of being a POW of the Japanese in the Philippines and was told by one physician that he wouldn't live to be 50. The abuse he endured caused him to lose 80 pounds and to be unable to resume the practice of dentistry.
...Brown survived and secretly documented it all, using a nub of a pencil to scrawl details into a tiny tablet he concealed in the lining of his canvas bag. He often wondered why captives so much younger and stronger perished, while he went on.
By the time he died Sunday at a nursing home in southern Illinois’ Nashville, Brown’s story was well-chronicled, by one author’s account offering an encouraging road map for veterans recovering from their own wounds in many wars.
“Doc’s story had as much relevance for today’s wounded warriors as it did for the veterans of his own era,” said Kevin Moore, co-author of the recently released “Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man’s True Story,” which details Brown’s experience.
“The underlying message for today’s returning veterans is that there’s hope, not to give in no matter how bleak the moment may seem,” added Moore, whose nephew just returned from military duty in Afghanistan. “You will persevere and can find the promise of a new tomorrow, much like Doc had found....”
...Brown survived and secretly documented it all, using a nub of a pencil to scrawl details into a tiny tablet he concealed in the lining of his canvas bag. He often wondered why captives so much younger and stronger perished, while he went on.
By the time he died Sunday at a nursing home in southern Illinois’ Nashville, Brown’s story was well-chronicled, by one author’s account offering an encouraging road map for veterans recovering from their own wounds in many wars.
“Doc’s story had as much relevance for today’s wounded warriors as it did for the veterans of his own era,” said Kevin Moore, co-author of the recently released “Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man’s True Story,” which details Brown’s experience.
“The underlying message for today’s returning veterans is that there’s hope, not to give in no matter how bleak the moment may seem,” added Moore, whose nephew just returned from military duty in Afghanistan. “You will persevere and can find the promise of a new tomorrow, much like Doc had found....”
After Running Out of People to Blame, Obama Blames Bad Luck
We award the World's Smallest Violin to President Obama, as the Power Line blog chronicles his "run of bad luck."
Poor Barack Obama! He keeps doing the right thing, but–like Jimmy Carter before him–he can’t seem to catch a break. That is the revisionist line that Obama fed to an audience in Iowa today, as reported by Byron York:
“We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again,” Obama told a crowd in Decorah, Iowa.
Now, when was that, exactly? The unemployment rate stood at 7.6% when Obama was inaugurated. Six months later, in July 2009, it was 9.4%. It rose as high as 10.2% and stayed over 9% until the end of 2010...
Will blaming his failure on bad luck help Obama? I doubt it. Once again, he is following in the footsteps of Jimmy Carter. Encyclopedia.com begins its entry on Carter with the words: “Jimmy Carter was an unlucky president.” Sure, that’s how I remember it too. But the American people didn’t take any chances: they limited Carter’s “bad luck” to a single term. If the best Obama can say for himself is that he is jinxed, voters will do the same with him.
Google Gobbles Motorola Mobility
Bloomberg.com announced that Google has just purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. This is widely seen as a challenge to smartphone makers such as Apple, Samsung, and HTC Corp. To sweeten the deal for Motorola shareholders, they offered a 73% premium.
Motorola Mobility was spun off from Motorola Inc., which became Motorola Solutions Inc., specializing in radio equipment to emergency workers and scanning devices for retailers. Since then it has been struggling, with value of shares dropping by 20%.
Chuck Norris Hears Angels Singing
President Barack Obama's pride-and-joy health-care reform law (aka the Affordable Care Act of 2010) suffered a super setback Friday when an appeals court ruled that it was unconstitutional to force all Americans to purchase medical insurance or pay penalties.
Reuters reported, "The U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, ruled 2 to 1 that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring Americans to buy coverage, but it unanimously reversed a lower court decision that threw out the entire law."
Do you hear angels singing, too?
Read the rest of the column at WorldNetDaily.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
If Tea Partiers Are Hobbits, then...
Pajamas Media's PJ Lifestyle has a column that completes the "Lord of the Rings" analogy. The reader comments make for interesting reading, as it brings LOTR fans out of the woodwork.
An article in the Christian Science Monitor claims that "hobbit" is a positive label that doesn't apply to Tea Party members.
“A reference to hobbits who vanquish Mordor, such as Senator McCain made, should be complimentary instead of disparaging,” says Wayne Hammond, recent author of “The Art of the Hobbit” and librarian at the rare books library at Williams College. “Frodo volunteers to take the Ring out of a sense of duty, not only to his own folk but to all of the free peoples of Middle-earth, while Sam, Merry, and Pippin follow him out of love and friendship as well as their own sense of obligation to humanity. Members of the Tea Party seem to share none of these values.”
An article in the Christian Science Monitor claims that "hobbit" is a positive label that doesn't apply to Tea Party members.
“A reference to hobbits who vanquish Mordor, such as Senator McCain made, should be complimentary instead of disparaging,” says Wayne Hammond, recent author of “The Art of the Hobbit” and librarian at the rare books library at Williams College. “Frodo volunteers to take the Ring out of a sense of duty, not only to his own folk but to all of the free peoples of Middle-earth, while Sam, Merry, and Pippin follow him out of love and friendship as well as their own sense of obligation to humanity. Members of the Tea Party seem to share none of these values.”
Pakistan's BFF [Best Friend Forever] Is Not the USA
This is hardly Top Secret intelligence material, but Pakistan, home to the world's most outrageously rogue intelligence agency, has given the Chinese a chance to see the crashed stealth helicopter that was part of the successful Navy SEAL operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, according to Reuters.
And that's not all! Asian Defence News has a story about how the Chinese government will give Pakistan their J-20/FC-20 5th Generation Stealth Fighter, the most advanced fighter plane in their inventory.
And that's not all! Asian Defence News has a story about how the Chinese government will give Pakistan their J-20/FC-20 5th Generation Stealth Fighter, the most advanced fighter plane in their inventory.
Gov. Pawlenty Throws In the Towel
Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has decided to drop out of the Republican presidential race after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa straw poll, according to an Associated Press article. Rep. Michele Bachmann, taking full advantage of her Iowa roots, came in first.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
How Low Can a Thief Go?
The Johnson City Press in Tennessee reports the loss of three prosthetic hands.
Dr. Daniel McConnell’s friends say he’s the unluckiest lucky person they’ve ever met. Now that three of his prosthetic hands have been stolen, the first-year medical resident and Afghanistan veteran has decided to accept his fate.
“I’ve survived stuff that I shouldn’t have,” he said. “But it would be nice to catch a break at this point.”
McConnell lost his right hand in April 2008 during his deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and has since returned to the states and completed his studies at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine. Now working as a resident, he keeps several electronic terminal devices, or prosthetics, that help him complete precise tasks.
“Most people don’t need backups, but if I’m in a position where I’m seeing patients and it breaks, I’ve got to have other ones ready to go,” McConnell said....
A PERSONAL NOTE: To the lowlife who stole Dr. McConnell's bag, TURN YOURSELF IN, or at least return the prosthetic hands, which have been custom-fitted for its owner and are of no use to anyone else!
President Obama Defends Attorney General Holder Against Calls for His Resignation
Politico records that Barack Obama has firmly rejected calls for Holder's resignation over the "Gunwalker" scandal.
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) and the National Rifle Association have called for Holder's resignation over "Operation Fast and Furious," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives investigation that monitored suspicious gun sales. Several of the weapons have been recovered from drug gangs in Mexico and two guns were found at the scene of the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent last December.
However, when asked at a roundtable with Spanish-language print media on Monday whether Holder should quit, Obama said flatly, "No...."
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) and the National Rifle Association have called for Holder's resignation over "Operation Fast and Furious," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives investigation that monitored suspicious gun sales. Several of the weapons have been recovered from drug gangs in Mexico and two guns were found at the scene of the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent last December.
However, when asked at a roundtable with Spanish-language print media on Monday whether Holder should quit, Obama said flatly, "No...."
Today Is International Left-Handers' Day
Being left-handed myself, I can relate to this Telegraph (U.K.) article:
The Left-Handers Club is urging Barack Obama, David Cameron and others to create left-handed zones in their homes and workplaces and organise left handed games.
"Left-handers everywhere can celebrate their sinistrality and increase public awareness of the advantages and disadvantages," the site says.
International Left-Handers Day was started by a US group in 1976 and is marked with informal events around the world.
Participants can download posters, songs and quizzes aimed at celebration their unique abilities.
Left-handers often complain that household gadgets such as scissors, tin-openers and even fountain pens are designed for use with the right hand and leave them at a disadvantage.
Related Articles
International Left-Handed Day: Left facts 13 Aug 2010
International Left-Handers Day: right-handers offered 'conversion' 13 Aug 2010
They claim that their physical preference for one side of the body also marks out unique mental abilities, citing studies that suggest left handers may be more intelligent.
Research this week suggested that right-handed politicians have a disadvantage in television debates because their hand gestures are interpreted more negatively by audiences.
Around 13 per cent of the world's population is thought to be left handed, although there are wide geographical variations. The proportion is much lower in Asia, which has been linked to forms of cultural discrimination.
In India, for example, the left hand is taboo for eating, and some in some Muslim countries the hand used to deal with anything dirty.
The Left-Handers Club is urging Barack Obama, David Cameron and others to create left-handed zones in their homes and workplaces and organise left handed games.
"Left-handers everywhere can celebrate their sinistrality and increase public awareness of the advantages and disadvantages," the site says.
International Left-Handers Day was started by a US group in 1976 and is marked with informal events around the world.
Participants can download posters, songs and quizzes aimed at celebration their unique abilities.
Left-handers often complain that household gadgets such as scissors, tin-openers and even fountain pens are designed for use with the right hand and leave them at a disadvantage.
Related Articles
International Left-Handed Day: Left facts 13 Aug 2010
International Left-Handers Day: right-handers offered 'conversion' 13 Aug 2010
They claim that their physical preference for one side of the body also marks out unique mental abilities, citing studies that suggest left handers may be more intelligent.
Research this week suggested that right-handed politicians have a disadvantage in television debates because their hand gestures are interpreted more negatively by audiences.
Around 13 per cent of the world's population is thought to be left handed, although there are wide geographical variations. The proportion is much lower in Asia, which has been linked to forms of cultural discrimination.
In India, for example, the left hand is taboo for eating, and some in some Muslim countries the hand used to deal with anything dirty.
Washington, DC Not the Land of Opportunity for Teens
CNS News provides the shocking statistic that 50% of teens in the nation's capital are unemployed.
An analysis based on U.S. Census Bureau data by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) shows that the average unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 in the District of Columbia was 50.1 percent as of June 2011. This corresponds with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing that for D.C. the annual average unemployment rate for teens in 2010 was 49.8 percent.
Michael Saltsman, research fellow at EPI, provided the 50.1 percent figure to CNSNews.com as an update of an analysis he compiled based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
The 50.1 percent figure is almost double the average teen unemployment rate in June 2007 in the District, when it was 26.2 percent, according to Saltsman....
An analysis based on U.S. Census Bureau data by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) shows that the average unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 in the District of Columbia was 50.1 percent as of June 2011. This corresponds with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing that for D.C. the annual average unemployment rate for teens in 2010 was 49.8 percent.
Michael Saltsman, research fellow at EPI, provided the 50.1 percent figure to CNSNews.com as an update of an analysis he compiled based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
The 50.1 percent figure is almost double the average teen unemployment rate in June 2007 in the District, when it was 26.2 percent, according to Saltsman....
Friday, August 12, 2011
Gov. Perry to Announce He Will Run for President Tomorrow
An aide to Texas Governor Rick Perry told FOX News that he will announce his candidacy on Saturday. This is not surprising in light of the fact that he noticed a groundswell of public opinion in favor of his tossing his hat in the ring.
Likely to Stir Up Labor Unrest at USPS
The Washington Post reports:
The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.
The layoffs would be achieved in part by breaking labor agreements, a proposal that drew swift fire from postal unions. The plan would require congressional approval but, if successful, could be precedent-setting, with possible ripple effects throughout government. It would also deliver a major blow to the nation’s labor movement.
In a notice informing employees of its proposals — with the headline “Financial crisis calls for significant actions” — the Postal Service said, “We will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit pre-funding costs imposed by Congress.”
During the past four years, the service lost $20 billion, including $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010. Over that period, mail volume dropped by 20 percent....
The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.
The layoffs would be achieved in part by breaking labor agreements, a proposal that drew swift fire from postal unions. The plan would require congressional approval but, if successful, could be precedent-setting, with possible ripple effects throughout government. It would also deliver a major blow to the nation’s labor movement.
In a notice informing employees of its proposals — with the headline “Financial crisis calls for significant actions” — the Postal Service said, “We will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit pre-funding costs imposed by Congress.”
During the past four years, the service lost $20 billion, including $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010. Over that period, mail volume dropped by 20 percent....
Gaddafi and Assad Must Be Laughing at the Brits by Now
In the Sunday Telegraph last weekend we learned that plans to improve London’s systematically useless police force the Metropolitan Police by appointing US supercop Bill Bratton to take it over and revamp it had been blocked by a woman called Theresa May.
By spooky coincidence, a woman also called Theresa May hit the headlines again more recently when she refused to give permission for young, unarmed, outnumbered policemen struggling – and mostly failing – to contain some of the worst riots in British history to use water cannon.
Is this Theresa May person really Home Secretary of one of the world’s leading economies? And if so, please can we have a new one, sharpish?...
To read the rest of this op-ed piece by James Delingpole, visit the Telegraph (U.K.).
By spooky coincidence, a woman also called Theresa May hit the headlines again more recently when she refused to give permission for young, unarmed, outnumbered policemen struggling – and mostly failing – to contain some of the worst riots in British history to use water cannon.
Is this Theresa May person really Home Secretary of one of the world’s leading economies? And if so, please can we have a new one, sharpish?...
To read the rest of this op-ed piece by James Delingpole, visit the Telegraph (U.K.).
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Murdoch's News Corp.'s Profits Up 45%
Accuracy in Media has a story that is sure to drive his rivals into an apoplectic state:
Rupert Murdoch, who has been pilloried in the media for his company’s involvement in a phone hacking scandal in Britain, is laughing all the way to the bank after News Corp reported yesterday that fourth quarter profits rose 45% compared to the year-ago period.
News Corp’s operations were hitting on all cylinders but were particularly strong in the cable network programming segment, which includes the bane of liberals, Fox News....
The company ended the quarter with $12 billion in cash, meaning that they have plenty of money to expand their business, unlike many of their cash-strapped competitors.
It looks like Media Matters is going to need a lot more than $1 million to bring down Fox News.
Rupert Murdoch, who has been pilloried in the media for his company’s involvement in a phone hacking scandal in Britain, is laughing all the way to the bank after News Corp reported yesterday that fourth quarter profits rose 45% compared to the year-ago period.
News Corp’s operations were hitting on all cylinders but were particularly strong in the cable network programming segment, which includes the bane of liberals, Fox News....
The company ended the quarter with $12 billion in cash, meaning that they have plenty of money to expand their business, unlike many of their cash-strapped competitors.
It looks like Media Matters is going to need a lot more than $1 million to bring down Fox News.
An "Unexpected" Consequence of Michelle Obama's Anti-Obesity Campaign
CNS News describes an unintended consequence of the First Lady's anti-obesity campaign:
A group calling itself the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) says that when First Lady Michelle Obama created her anti-obesity "Let’s Move!" initiative, she unfairly singled out fat kids, turning them into targets.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Monday, NAAFA public relations director Peggy Howell said the First Lady “essentially gave permission to everyone to condemn the children with higher body weights....”
Howell said being targets -- whether intended or not -- causes heavy children “pain and suffering” – even depression and suicide....
She added: “I believe that it was not the intention of the First Lady to cause more pain and suffering for these children, but I also believe that this is one of the consequences of focusing on reducing body size as opposed to improving health. Other consequences include: poor body image, body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, bullying, disordered eating, depression, lower expectations for future success, and sometimes even suicide....”
A group calling itself the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) says that when First Lady Michelle Obama created her anti-obesity "Let’s Move!" initiative, she unfairly singled out fat kids, turning them into targets.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Monday, NAAFA public relations director Peggy Howell said the First Lady “essentially gave permission to everyone to condemn the children with higher body weights....”
Howell said being targets -- whether intended or not -- causes heavy children “pain and suffering” – even depression and suicide....
She added: “I believe that it was not the intention of the First Lady to cause more pain and suffering for these children, but I also believe that this is one of the consequences of focusing on reducing body size as opposed to improving health. Other consequences include: poor body image, body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, bullying, disordered eating, depression, lower expectations for future success, and sometimes even suicide....”
Gov. Brewer Petitions Arizona Immigration Law to Supreme Court
Politico describes an action that could decide the fate of legislation passed by Arizona and other states to control illegal immigration.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced late Wednesday she has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to consider her state’s appeal to a lower court ruling that put on hold key parts of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law.
“I am hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will choose to take this case and issue much-needed clarity for states, such as Arizona, that are grappling with the significant human and financial costs of illegal immigration,” Brewer said in a statement released by her office. “For too long the Federal government has turned a blind eye as this problem has manifested itself in the form of drop houses in our neighborhoods and crime in our communities. SB1070 was Arizona’s way of saying that we won’t wait patiently for federal action any longer. If the federal government won’t enforce its immigration laws, we will....”
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced late Wednesday she has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to consider her state’s appeal to a lower court ruling that put on hold key parts of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law.
“I am hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will choose to take this case and issue much-needed clarity for states, such as Arizona, that are grappling with the significant human and financial costs of illegal immigration,” Brewer said in a statement released by her office. “For too long the Federal government has turned a blind eye as this problem has manifested itself in the form of drop houses in our neighborhoods and crime in our communities. SB1070 was Arizona’s way of saying that we won’t wait patiently for federal action any longer. If the federal government won’t enforce its immigration laws, we will....”
Throwing Away Good Money After Bad
Where's the outrage, as union bosses in Wisconsin spend $35 million of their members' money, only to lose 4 out of 6 recall elections? Newsmax is one of the few news sources to ask this question. Shaming the unions on this and other matters (such as when they trashed the state capitol building) seems fruitless, as these people have no shame.
UPDATE: In a fit of blind rage after failing to gain a majority in the state senate, Wisconsin Democrats are now formulating plans to recall Gov. Walker next year, according to a Townhall.com article.
UPDATE: In a fit of blind rage after failing to gain a majority in the state senate, Wisconsin Democrats are now formulating plans to recall Gov. Walker next year, according to a Townhall.com article.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
London Shopkeepers Band Together to Defend Their Neighborhoods
The Guardian (U.K.) describes Kurdish, Turkish, and other businessmen, unable to get any help from London metropolitan police, are left with no choice but to drive rioters away all by themselves. Sales of baseball bats and nightsticks are brisk.
UPDATE: An AOL Travel article describes how the staff at The Ledbury Restaurant in London protected their customers and drove off rioters with rolling pins and other kitchen utensils.
UPDATE: An AOL Travel article describes how the staff at The Ledbury Restaurant in London protected their customers and drove off rioters with rolling pins and other kitchen utensils.
Six Hoaxes Exposed
Count on Cracked.com to educate us on one pillar of critical thinking: not falling for obviously fake stories because they appeal to something we want to believe in. That's why, for instance, we did not take the recent news that "Internet Explorer users have lower IQs than those who use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox" seriously.
Dougherty Trio Spotted in Colorado Springs!
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that brother-and-sister fugitives 21-year-old Ryan Edward Dougherty, 26-year-old Dylan Dougherty Stanley and 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty were seen buying a tent at the REI store near the intersection of Woodmen Road and Academy Boulevard. The FBI considers this sighting "credible" and sent agents to interview store employees.
Authorities have warned anyone who spots the Doughertys, who have been on the lam since 2 August, not to approach them.
“It’s real simple, these folks are armed and dangerous, Valdosta, Ga., police Cmdr. Brian Childress said Monday. “It sure seems like they have a death wish. We’re just hoping they surrender and they do it peacefully so no one gets hurt....” Whether they follow their mother's request to turn themselves in remains to be seen.
UPDATE: The Denver Post has breaking news about the Dougherty family gang being captured after a high-speed chase on Interstate 25 near Walsenburg.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Wall Street Journal Columnist Dares Criticize Obama!
Bret Stephens gives us a set of observations that flies in the face of what we've been hearing from the army of flatterers President Obama surrounds himself with. For example, here's a quote from The One:
"I think I'm a better speech writer than my speech writers," he reportedly told an aide in 2008. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm . . . a better political director than my political director."
Here's part of the stinging summary:
Mr. Obama, by contrast, appears to consider himself immune from error. Perhaps this explains why he has now doubled down on Heckuva Job Geithner. It also explains his insulting and politically inept habit of suggesting—whether the issue is health care, or Arab-Israeli peace, or change we can believe in at some point in God's good time—that the fault always lies in the failure of his audiences to listen attentively. It doesn't. In politics, a failure of communication is always the fault of the communicator....
But it takes actual smarts to understand that glibness and self-belief are not sufficient proof of genuine intelligence. Stupid is as stupid does, said the great philosopher Forrest Gump. The presidency of Barack Obama is a case study in stupid does.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Rioting Continues in London, Spreads to Other Cities
A Breitbart/AP article describes the widespread terror caused by rioters in London, which has led to copycat riots in Birmingham, Bristol. and Liverpool. It started as a protest in Tottenham [north London] against the fatal police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, then escalated as long-standing frustrations surfaced in multi-ethnic working-class neighborhoods. The rioters have been using social media and smartphones to assemble flash mobs, coordinate their actions, and warn each other of police activity.
After Running the Economy into the Ground, Left Wants to Punish the Messenger
While desperate Democrats frantically seek to pin the blame for Standard & Poor's demotion of our credit rating on the Tea Party, the Dow fell another 635 points after President Obama's latest speech today. But wait - there's more! Wall Street Journal reports that the Senate Banking Committee has started to lay the groundwork for an investigation of S&P, while economics "expert" Michael Moore wants Obama to arrest the head of S&P. That should fix the stock-market's free-fall.
Dripping with Sarcasm: L.A. Times Column About Obama's Decision Not to Fire Tim Geithner
Written by Andrew Malcolm:
Finally, some promising economic news in what has been a steady recent stream of dismal data and developments:
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner has agreed to stay in the Obama administration.
The master of finance who has so successfully assisted President Obama in boosting the national debt by more than $3 trillion, driving unemployment back north of 9% by spending only $787 billion in stimulus funds, corroding consumer confidence and presiding over the first federal credit downgrading in history has agreed to stick around to continue his impressive work for this Democratic administration.
Geithner is the sole survivor of President Obama's opening economic team. Obama is reported pleased.
So are Republicans....
Finally, some promising economic news in what has been a steady recent stream of dismal data and developments:
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner has agreed to stay in the Obama administration.
The master of finance who has so successfully assisted President Obama in boosting the national debt by more than $3 trillion, driving unemployment back north of 9% by spending only $787 billion in stimulus funds, corroding consumer confidence and presiding over the first federal credit downgrading in history has agreed to stick around to continue his impressive work for this Democratic administration.
Geithner is the sole survivor of President Obama's opening economic team. Obama is reported pleased.
So are Republicans....
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Greenspan's Arcane Language Conceals a Total Lack of Intelligence
This article and video from Real Clear Politics has to be seen to be believed:
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan explains how the United States can pay down the debt. By printing money.
Transcript:
David Gregory, moderator of "Meet The Press" on NBC: "Are U.S. treasury bonds still safe to invest in?"
Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve: "Very much so. This is not an issue of credit rating, the United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So, there is zero probability of default."
Greenspan says the S&P downgrade was just meant to hit a "nerve" and hurt the "self-esteem of the United States."
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan explains how the United States can pay down the debt. By printing money.
Transcript:
David Gregory, moderator of "Meet The Press" on NBC: "Are U.S. treasury bonds still safe to invest in?"
Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve: "Very much so. This is not an issue of credit rating, the United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So, there is zero probability of default."
Greenspan says the S&P downgrade was just meant to hit a "nerve" and hurt the "self-esteem of the United States."
A Bizarre Use for Dead Babies
IBTimes describes how a South Korean SBS documentary team uncovered a Chinese pharmaceutical operation that makes stamina pills out of dead babies. This still sounds quite unbelievable. One Gizmodo reader commented: "Be interested to see the report in a couple days withdrawing this claim, and making clear it was part of South Korean anti-China propaganda."
The team reveals that the truth behind the dead baby pill is horrific and disturbing.
Chinese hospitals and abortion clinics that are connected to the business immediately notify pharmaceutical companies when a baby dies, mostly because of a still birth or an abortion.
The companies purchase the baby corpses and store them in some family’s refrigerator to avoid suspicion. The next step in this highly secretive process is putting the corpses in a medical drying microwave and grinding them into pills. The ground baby powder is then put in a capsule, ready to be sold as a stamina enhancer, according to the SBS team.
The Korean team acquired the dead baby capsules and ran DNA tests on it. The test results reportedly indicated the pills were 99.7 percent human. The test also found hair and nail remnants, and even the gender of the baby could be identified....
Out of the hundreds of Web sites & blogs running this strange news item, there is one, Skeptic Reddit, that questions the validity of this report in "I've Never Wanted a Story to Be a Hoax More in My Entire Life." On the other hand, it's a well-known fact that Chinese will pay good money for exotic folk-medicine ingredients such as rhinoceros horn, praying mantis egg cases, dried seahorses, and bear bile.
The team reveals that the truth behind the dead baby pill is horrific and disturbing.
Chinese hospitals and abortion clinics that are connected to the business immediately notify pharmaceutical companies when a baby dies, mostly because of a still birth or an abortion.
The companies purchase the baby corpses and store them in some family’s refrigerator to avoid suspicion. The next step in this highly secretive process is putting the corpses in a medical drying microwave and grinding them into pills. The ground baby powder is then put in a capsule, ready to be sold as a stamina enhancer, according to the SBS team.
The Korean team acquired the dead baby capsules and ran DNA tests on it. The test results reportedly indicated the pills were 99.7 percent human. The test also found hair and nail remnants, and even the gender of the baby could be identified....
Out of the hundreds of Web sites & blogs running this strange news item, there is one, Skeptic Reddit, that questions the validity of this report in "I've Never Wanted a Story to Be a Hoax More in My Entire Life." On the other hand, it's a well-known fact that Chinese will pay good money for exotic folk-medicine ingredients such as rhinoceros horn, praying mantis egg cases, dried seahorses, and bear bile.
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