Miller-McCune ran an article, "The Real Science Gap," that is sure to stir up a hornet's nest of controversy.
It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career....
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Obama Receives Transparency Award in Secret Meeting
Life is full of ironies, and here's one more example: Politico reports that President Obama finally and quietly accepted his “transparency” award from the open government community this week — in a closed, undisclosed meeting at the White House on Monday.
“This president has demonstrated a commitment to transparency and openness that is greater than any administration has shown in the past, and he’s been committed to that since he ran for President and he’s taken a significant number of measures to demonstrate that,” presidential shill Jay Carney said in a testy exchange with Fox News reporter Wendell Goler on March 16.
Washington Post Publisher Hauls Off the Bread; Employees Get Crumbs
For a paper that faithfully covers corporate excess in other organizations, it comes as a SHOCK to us that the venerable Washington Post should pay its publisher $2 million in pay and benefits while its workers are forced to make sacrifices. Read more about it in Accuracy in Media.
Almost 2,600 Years Behind the Times
Roger Kimball of Pajamas Media provides us with this food for thought:
Calling things by their right names: a lesson from Confucius
March 27th, 2011
Writing yesterday about what Obama’s minions are calling our “kinetic military activity” in Libya, I noted that the folks presiding over Orwell’s Newspeak would have liked the phrase “kinetic military activity.” As a mendacious and evasive euphemism for “war” it is hard to beat. But Orwell is not the only important thinker the Obama administration’s assault on the English language brings to mind. There is also Confucius.
I read Confucius a zillion years ago in a comparative religion class. I remember almost nothing of the Analects, however, so I am grateful to a reader for supplying this bit from Book 13, Chapter 3.
Asked by a disciple how to rule a state properly, Confucius replies that it begins with rectifying the names:
“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be conducted successfully. When affairs cannot be conducted successfully, propriety will not flourish. When propriety does not flourish, punishments will not be properly meted out. When punishments are not properly meted out, the people will not know how to conduct themselves.”
That was written about 475 B.C. When will we catch up with its wisdom?
Calling things by their right names: a lesson from Confucius
March 27th, 2011
Writing yesterday about what Obama’s minions are calling our “kinetic military activity” in Libya, I noted that the folks presiding over Orwell’s Newspeak would have liked the phrase “kinetic military activity.” As a mendacious and evasive euphemism for “war” it is hard to beat. But Orwell is not the only important thinker the Obama administration’s assault on the English language brings to mind. There is also Confucius.
I read Confucius a zillion years ago in a comparative religion class. I remember almost nothing of the Analects, however, so I am grateful to a reader for supplying this bit from Book 13, Chapter 3.
Asked by a disciple how to rule a state properly, Confucius replies that it begins with rectifying the names:
“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be conducted successfully. When affairs cannot be conducted successfully, propriety will not flourish. When propriety does not flourish, punishments will not be properly meted out. When punishments are not properly meted out, the people will not know how to conduct themselves.”
That was written about 475 B.C. When will we catch up with its wisdom?
Seventy Small Books, Inscribed on Lead Plates, Found in Jordanian Cave
The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports that five years ago a Jordanian Bedouin found these tiny books, whose pages are about the size of a credit card. Scientists believe that the corrosion occurred naturally and was not chemically induced to make the plates look older than they actually are. They are believed to have been left by Christian refugees who fled from Jerusalem after the revolt of 70 A.D. was ruthlessly crushed by the Romans. The books are in Israeli hands at this time, although the government of Jordan wants them back.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
There's More Than One Way to Give Someone the Finger
A USA Today article, "Foreign Etiquette for Americans: A Guide to Do's and Dont's Abroad," says, "Inexperienced North American business travelers commit etiquette blunders more than 70% of the time when doing business abroad, says Ann Marie Sabath, author of Business Etiquette: 101 Ways to Conduct Business with Charm and Savvy."
Here's a list of gestures that are considered offensive in other countries:
1. In Brazil you do not make an okay gesture with your thumb and index finger — it's a gesture akin to extending a middle finger in the USA.
2. In the United Kingdom, don't stick up an index finger and a middle finger with the palm of your hand facing you. "It's the equivalent of giving someone the finger," Lonely Planet says.
3. In Greece, don't wave to anyone with an open palm — even when greeting a friend. And don't show your palm, though you might think to do so when gesturing for someone to wait or hold on, or showing the number five. "It is essentially the way one flips someone the bird in Greece, but more than that, it states, 'I reject you,'" according to Lonely Planet.
4. In Asia, It's bad etiquette to point at objects or people with your feet, and don't prop your feet on chairs or tables while sitting. Never touch any part of someone's body with your foot, "which is considered the lowest part of the body," the guidebook publisher says. "If you accidentally do this, apologize by touching your hand to the person's arm and then touching your own head." [An additional note: in some Asian cultures it's considered extremely rude to cross your legs and expose the soles of your feet to the person facing you.]
This is just a small sample of the rules of etiquette that one must be aware of when traveling abroad.
Here's a list of gestures that are considered offensive in other countries:
1. In Brazil you do not make an okay gesture with your thumb and index finger — it's a gesture akin to extending a middle finger in the USA.
2. In the United Kingdom, don't stick up an index finger and a middle finger with the palm of your hand facing you. "It's the equivalent of giving someone the finger," Lonely Planet says.
3. In Greece, don't wave to anyone with an open palm — even when greeting a friend. And don't show your palm, though you might think to do so when gesturing for someone to wait or hold on, or showing the number five. "It is essentially the way one flips someone the bird in Greece, but more than that, it states, 'I reject you,'" according to Lonely Planet.
4. In Asia, It's bad etiquette to point at objects or people with your feet, and don't prop your feet on chairs or tables while sitting. Never touch any part of someone's body with your foot, "which is considered the lowest part of the body," the guidebook publisher says. "If you accidentally do this, apologize by touching your hand to the person's arm and then touching your own head." [An additional note: in some Asian cultures it's considered extremely rude to cross your legs and expose the soles of your feet to the person facing you.]
This is just a small sample of the rules of etiquette that one must be aware of when traveling abroad.
Man Who Served in Marine Corps Walks Barefoot Across USA to Raise Awareness of PTSD
Ron Zaleski, according to a FOX News video, has started a cross-country walk/petition drive in behalf of veterans who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). In addition to being barefoot, he is wearing a sandwich sign that reads: "18 vets a day commit suicide! thelongwalkhome.org" According to his Web site, Ron is winding up his long walk in Santa Monica, CA. WARNING: You may have to endure a tasteless commercial for Priceline.com with William Shatner.
What If You Build It and They Don't Come?
Glenn Beck's The Blaze reports a strange phenomenon: the Chinese have been building cities that appear to be deserted. The one above, of Dantu, has no cars anywhere except around the government center building. This seems to be a curious use of resources for a country that needs to catch up to the advanced industrial nations by building more highways, housing units, and other infrastructure.
Not Bad for a 94-Year-Old Man
Bob Brewin describes an occasion for camaraderie and for honoring the Americans who suffered and died during the Bataan Death March:
White Sands Missile Range, N.M. -- Benjamin Skardon, a Charleston, S.C., native and a 94-year-old survivor of the April, 1942, forced march of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, showed up here yesterday for the 22nd annual Bataan Memorial Death March. He walked nine of the route's 26.2 miles.
Skardon joined 15 other survivors of that epic struggle through the jungle, shaking the hands of the 6,050 participants at the finish line - an electric touch that spanned generations.
Participants included 90-year-old Harold Bergbower of Phoenix, who shook my hand, and 87-year-old Bataan survivor Glenn Frazier.
This year's Memorial March attracted individual and team participants from all 50 states and Canada, France, Denmark, Germany and the Philippines.
The winning team in the military heavy route -- 26.2 miles with a 35 pound pack -- was (naturally) an Army Ranger team from Ft. Benning, Ga., with a time of 5:08:17. John Felker, a West Point Cadet, won the military heavy individual title with a blistering time of 4:05:18....
White Sands Missile Range, N.M. -- Benjamin Skardon, a Charleston, S.C., native and a 94-year-old survivor of the April, 1942, forced march of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, showed up here yesterday for the 22nd annual Bataan Memorial Death March. He walked nine of the route's 26.2 miles.
Skardon joined 15 other survivors of that epic struggle through the jungle, shaking the hands of the 6,050 participants at the finish line - an electric touch that spanned generations.
Participants included 90-year-old Harold Bergbower of Phoenix, who shook my hand, and 87-year-old Bataan survivor Glenn Frazier.
This year's Memorial March attracted individual and team participants from all 50 states and Canada, France, Denmark, Germany and the Philippines.
The winning team in the military heavy route -- 26.2 miles with a 35 pound pack -- was (naturally) an Army Ranger team from Ft. Benning, Ga., with a time of 5:08:17. John Felker, a West Point Cadet, won the military heavy individual title with a blistering time of 4:05:18....
Founder of Burt's Bees Cosmetics Donates Land to National Park Service
A Yahoo/AP article describes how Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees cosmetics (now owned by Clorox), is offering 70,000 acres to be made into a new national park in Maine, and an additional 30,000 acres to be managed as a state park. She had the foresight to buy the land cheap, before developers could get their hands on it.
Monday, March 28, 2011
"Come With Me to the Dark Side of the Force"
The Hill reports this incredible news item:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ditch members of the Tea Party and cut a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
Reid insisted it is those GOP internal divisions that are threatening to shut down the government after April 8, in less than two weeks.
“For the sake of our economy, it’s time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs," he said....
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ditch members of the Tea Party and cut a deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
Reid insisted it is those GOP internal divisions that are threatening to shut down the government after April 8, in less than two weeks.
“For the sake of our economy, it’s time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs," he said....
Rebels Advancing to Muammar Gaddafi's Hometown
Latest reports from FOX News indicate that rebel forces are approaching Gaddafi's hometown, Sirte (Surt), located about halfway between Benghazi and Tripoli, while multi-national air strikes have been directed at this city. It appears likely that the forces under Gaddafi's command will make a stand there.
UPDATE: A Reuters article says that the better-trained and organized troops defending the Gaddafi regime have started pushing back the rebel forces.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Now It's Official: The Left at War with FOX News
Ben Smith's blog on Politico.com announced:
Media Matters has quietly transformed itself in preparation for what its founder, David Brock, described in an interview as an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel.
The group, launched as a more traditional media critic, is narrowing its focus to Fox and a handful of conservative websites, which its leaders view as political organizations and the “nerve center” of the conservative movement. The shift reflects the centrality of the cable channel to the contemporary conservative movement, as well as the loathing it inspires among liberals — not least among the donors who fund Media Matters’ staff of about 90, who are arrayed in neat rows in a giant war room above Massachusetts Avenue.
“The strategy that we had had toward Fox was basically a strategy of containment,” said Brock, Media Matters’ chairman and founder and a former conservative journalist, adding that the group’s main aim had been to challenge the factual claims of the channel and to attempt to prevent them from reaching the mainstream media.
The new strategy, he said, is a “war on Fox.”
In an interview and a 2010 planning memo shared with POLITICO, Brock listed the fronts on which Media Matters — which he said is operating on a $10 million-plus annual budget — is working to chip away at Fox and its parent company, News Corp. They include its bread-and-butter distribution of embarrassing clips and attempts to rebut Fox points, as well as a series of under-the-radar tactics.
Obama Even Fails at Picking Basketball Teams
Free Republic is having a field day with the fact that Obama's brackets went down in flames.
In what can be called the greatest political risk of his brief career, President Obama went way out on a limb of a very weak tree and picked all Number 1 seeds to reach the Final 4. Well, a very tenacious VCU Rams team, representing the hopes and dreams of Middle America, knocked off Obama's last hope, the Kansas Jayhawks, to reach the Final 4, rendering Obama's bracket as worthless as Hope and Change itself.
When reached for a comment, the President's spokesman, Jay Karney, blamed former President Bush for swapping the seeding numbers, and that the ESPN bracketologist acted "studidly" in recording and broadcasting the President's picks.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Geraldine Ferraro, Former Vice Presidential Candidate, Dead at 75
Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice presidential candidate from a major party, died after a long struggle with cancer, according to an AFP/Breitbart article. She was paired up with Sen. Walter Mondale, in his ill-fated attempt to challenge Ronald Reagan in 1984. She may go down in history as paving the way for other women, such as Sarah Palin, to run for Vice President in 2008 and be considered a major contender for their party's nomination next year.
Aren't You Glad that a Just God, Not Sen. Lautenberg, Gave Us Our Constitutional Rights?
John Hawkins of Right Wing News delivered this hot item:
One of the Left’s favorite tricks is to completely sidestep arguments that are made by attacking motivations.... It’s no different with the budget. On the one hand, Democrats will agree that the size of the deficit is unsustainable. But, when it’s time to do something, we hear nonsense like this from Frank Lautenberg instead:
… The Republicans in Congress claim they’re concerned about the budget balance, but it’s a disguise! It’s not true! It’s a lie! That’s not what they want. They want — they want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. They don’t deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution! But we’ll give it to them anyway.
One of the Left’s favorite tricks is to completely sidestep arguments that are made by attacking motivations.... It’s no different with the budget. On the one hand, Democrats will agree that the size of the deficit is unsustainable. But, when it’s time to do something, we hear nonsense like this from Frank Lautenberg instead:
… The Republicans in Congress claim they’re concerned about the budget balance, but it’s a disguise! It’s not true! It’s a lie! That’s not what they want. They want — they want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. They don’t deserve the freedoms that are in the Constitution! But we’ll give it to them anyway.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Fleming Health Care Repeal Update
The New Health Care Reform Law One Year Later and Getting Worse by the Day
Today, on the one year anniversary since government-approved health care was signed into law, a look at the implementation of the new health care reform reveals how the legislation has failed to deliver on costs, premiums, spending, and preserving Americans’ existing coverage:
19 — States where parents can no longer buy child-only insurance policies as a result of the law
30 — States suing to block the law from taking effect, or requesting waivers from its requirements
51 — Percentage of American workers who will lose their current health coverage by 2013, according to the Administration’s own estimates
1,270 — New bureaucrats requested by the Internal Revenue Service to implement the law this year
$2,100 — Increase in individual insurance premiums due to Obamacare, according to the Congressional Budget Office
$2,500 — Premium reduction promised by candidate Obama “by the end of my first term as President”
6,578 — Pages of new regulations issued implementing Obamacare through March 14, 2011
800,000 — Reduction in the American labor force due to Obamacare provisions that “will effectively increase marginal tax rates, which will also discourage work,” according to the CBO
2,624,720 — Total individuals in 1,040 plans granted waivers thus far exempting them from the law’s insurance mandates; nearly half of whom participate in union plans
7,400,000 — Reduction in Medicare Advantage enrollment as a result of Obamacare, resulting in a loss of choice for seniors and millions of beneficiaries losing their current health plan
40,000,000 — Firms subject to the health law’s new 1099 reporting requirements, which the National Federation of Independent Business called a “tremendous new paperwork compliance burden”
$118,000,000,000 — New costs imposed on states to implement Obamacare—budgetary costs that will lead to reduced services for other state programs like education or to higher state taxes
$310,800,000,000 — Projected increase in health costs due to Obamacare, according to the independent Medicare actuary, who called its promise of lower costs “false, more so than true”
$552,200,000,000 — Amount of higher taxes Americans will pay if Obamacare remains in place
$1,390,000,000,000 — Federal spending on new entitlements during fiscal years 2012-2021 according to the CBO, a 48 percent increase from an earlier estimate
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: Even though we have seen only a few of the law’s initial provisions take effect, American families and businesses are already facing higher costs, economic uncertainty, and loss of their current coverage.
THE DOCTOR'S DIAGNOSIS: The new health care reform law is the prime example of how the Democrats’ tax hikes, spending spree, and heavy-handed government policies are hurting our economy and making it harder for small businesses to create jobs. Removing these barriers will provide the businesses that create new jobs with the certainty they need to hire new employees and get our economy back on track.
I remain committed to reducing healthcare costs by provihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifding access and choices for every American, protecting the patient-doctor relationship, and keeping the government out of thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe exam room. I will work aggressively in Congress to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional hehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifalth care reform law and support market-based solutions to our health care needs.
Sincerely,
JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress
P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming
Today, on the one year anniversary since government-approved health care was signed into law, a look at the implementation of the new health care reform reveals how the legislation has failed to deliver on costs, premiums, spending, and preserving Americans’ existing coverage:
19 — States where parents can no longer buy child-only insurance policies as a result of the law
30 — States suing to block the law from taking effect, or requesting waivers from its requirements
51 — Percentage of American workers who will lose their current health coverage by 2013, according to the Administration’s own estimates
1,270 — New bureaucrats requested by the Internal Revenue Service to implement the law this year
$2,100 — Increase in individual insurance premiums due to Obamacare, according to the Congressional Budget Office
$2,500 — Premium reduction promised by candidate Obama “by the end of my first term as President”
6,578 — Pages of new regulations issued implementing Obamacare through March 14, 2011
800,000 — Reduction in the American labor force due to Obamacare provisions that “will effectively increase marginal tax rates, which will also discourage work,” according to the CBO
2,624,720 — Total individuals in 1,040 plans granted waivers thus far exempting them from the law’s insurance mandates; nearly half of whom participate in union plans
7,400,000 — Reduction in Medicare Advantage enrollment as a result of Obamacare, resulting in a loss of choice for seniors and millions of beneficiaries losing their current health plan
40,000,000 — Firms subject to the health law’s new 1099 reporting requirements, which the National Federation of Independent Business called a “tremendous new paperwork compliance burden”
$118,000,000,000 — New costs imposed on states to implement Obamacare—budgetary costs that will lead to reduced services for other state programs like education or to higher state taxes
$310,800,000,000 — Projected increase in health costs due to Obamacare, according to the independent Medicare actuary, who called its promise of lower costs “false, more so than true”
$552,200,000,000 — Amount of higher taxes Americans will pay if Obamacare remains in place
$1,390,000,000,000 — Federal spending on new entitlements during fiscal years 2012-2021 according to the CBO, a 48 percent increase from an earlier estimate
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: Even though we have seen only a few of the law’s initial provisions take effect, American families and businesses are already facing higher costs, economic uncertainty, and loss of their current coverage.
THE DOCTOR'S DIAGNOSIS: The new health care reform law is the prime example of how the Democrats’ tax hikes, spending spree, and heavy-handed government policies are hurting our economy and making it harder for small businesses to create jobs. Removing these barriers will provide the businesses that create new jobs with the certainty they need to hire new employees and get our economy back on track.
I remain committed to reducing healthcare costs by provihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifding access and choices for every American, protecting the patient-doctor relationship, and keeping the government out of thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe exam room. I will work aggressively in Congress to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional hehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifalth care reform law and support market-based solutions to our health care needs.
Sincerely,
JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress
P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming
Caterpillar Gets Restless After Illinois Raises Taxes
Gateway Pundit spotlights a hot story that the MSM will not:
The chairman and CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is raising the specter of moving the heavy equipment maker out of Illinois.
In a letter sent March 21 to Gov. Pat Quinn, Caterpillar chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said officials in at least four other states have approached the company about relocating since Illinois raised its income tax in January.
“I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what’s right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest,” Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield bureau. “The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business and I’d like to work with you to change that....”
The chairman and CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is raising the specter of moving the heavy equipment maker out of Illinois.
In a letter sent March 21 to Gov. Pat Quinn, Caterpillar chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said officials in at least four other states have approached the company about relocating since Illinois raised its income tax in January.
“I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what’s right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest,” Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield bureau. “The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business and I’d like to work with you to change that....”
Telltale Sign of a Spending Junkie, or a Way to Pay for an Unfunded Mandate?
Is nothing sacred? Omaha.com reports that their mayor proposed a 10-cent-per-roll toilet paper tax to help pay for federally mandated sewer improvements.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Welfare for the Poor? Small Potatoes!!
John Stossel at Human Events declares that the true welfare junkies are big corporations such as General Electric. Here's a snippet from the article:
The problem is that government has no wealth of its own. All it can do is move wealth from where the market would have channeled it to where politicians want it. Who knows what would have happened if free people had the money that goes to high-speed rail? Maybe cancer would have been cured.
"The private sector isn't going to cure cancer by itself," Draut says.
Greedy drug companies aren't going to cure cancer? I asked.
"They would have by now, if they could."
People with a central planner's mentality have what F.A. Hayek called "the fatal conceit."
The problem is that government has no wealth of its own. All it can do is move wealth from where the market would have channeled it to where politicians want it. Who knows what would have happened if free people had the money that goes to high-speed rail? Maybe cancer would have been cured.
"The private sector isn't going to cure cancer by itself," Draut says.
Greedy drug companies aren't going to cure cancer? I asked.
"They would have by now, if they could."
People with a central planner's mentality have what F.A. Hayek called "the fatal conceit."
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