HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? Obama condemns violence in Syria, can’t secure UN … (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:53:29 +0000)
HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? Obama condemns violence in Syria, can’t secure UN Security Council resolution.
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: ‘The Army asked that the letter not be read from the pulpit.’… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:28:23 +0000)
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: ‘The Army asked that the letter not be read from the pulpit.’
TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: CHUCK SCHUMER GOT THE MOST ENRON MONEY OF ANY DEMOCRAT: This story fr… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:08:43 +0000)
TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: CHUCK SCHUMER GOT THE MOST ENRON MONEY OF ANY DEMOCRAT: This story from the New York Daily News talks about why he got it. “Two months after Kenneth Lay, then the boss of Enron, held a Texas fund-raiser for Chuck Schumer, the senator-elect asked for a review of federal power contracts that eat into utility company profits. A Schumer spokesman denied any quid pro quo, but Enron officials praised the senator’s action in 1998 and said his letter asking for the review was a signal he was keeping a campaign promise to push for energy deregulation.”
ROMNEY wins Nevada. (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:45:04 +0000)
ROMNEY wins Nevada.
MARK LEVIN EMAILS that his book, Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America, will be #1 on the New York Ti… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:35:40 +0000)
MARK LEVIN EMAILS that his book, Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America, will be #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for another week.
RICK SANTELLI: What’s wrong with the jobs number: The labor-force participation rate. Obama is su… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:31:24 +0000)
RICK SANTELLI: What’s wrong with the jobs number: The labor-force participation rate. Obama is suffering “shrinkage.” Explained by Leo Cullum.
I’VE BEEN GETTING ILLITERATE AND ANTISEMITIC EMAILS in response to this link. Without even looking,… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:29:36 +0000)
I’VE BEEN GETTING ILLITERATE AND ANTISEMITIC EMAILS in response to this link. Without even looking, I knew that Glenn Greenwald had written something about it. And I was right!
UPDATE: I can just add that if George W. Bush had listened to me instead of being a weenie, we’d be a lot better off. Instead, we had to wait until Barack Obama was President to start killing Iranian nuclear-weapons scientists and mullahs. If only Obama had appointed a tough-talking Secretary of State Atrios!
ROSS DOUTHAT: The Media’s Abortion Blinders. “In many newsrooms and television studios across the … (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:25:28 +0000)
ROSS DOUTHAT: The Media’s Abortion Blinders. “In many newsrooms and television studios across the country, Planned Parenthood is regarded as the equivalent of, well, the Komen foundation: an apolitical, high-minded and humanitarian institution whose work no rational person — and certainly no self-respecting woman — could possibly question or oppose. . . . Three truths, in particular, should be obvious to everyone reporting on the Komen-Planned Parenthood controversy. First, that the fight against breast cancer is unifying and completely uncontroversial, while the provision of abortion may be the most polarizing issue in the United States today. Second, that it’s no more ‘political’ to disassociate oneself from the nation’s largest abortion provider than it is to associate with it in the first place. Third, that for every American who greeted Komen’s shift with ‘anger and outrage’ (as Andrea Mitchell put it), there was probably an American who was relieved and gratified. Indeed, that sense of relief was quantifiable: the day after the controversy broke, Komen reported that its daily donations had risen dramatically. But of course, you wouldn’t know that from most of the media coverage. After all, the people making those donations don’t exist.”
UPDATE; Reader Tagore Smith writes:
I’m going to stay out of the argument about abortion, because I think other people are going to cover any point I might make. But I’d like to point out that advocacy for breast cancer research is not entirely (or should not be entirely) uncontroversial. It’s not that I want women to die of cancer- my mother died of a non-sex-specific cancer this year, and all I can say is that I wish she hadn’t. I’m still single, and I’m not ashamed to say that I loved my Mom more than I loved anyone else. Someone else very close to me had a breast cancer scare last year- a biopsy revealed that the growth was benign. So I am certainly not against saving women’s lives through research.
But I am male, and I seem to recall that men die of cancer quite a lot more than women do (I’m not an expert on this subject, so I could be wrong about this.) It seems to me that there is a limited pie available for cancer research, and that quite a lot of that pie is already going to breast cancer research. I think that advocating that more dollars ought to go to breast cancer research _should_ be controversial. The message sent, otherwise, is that men are expendable. I don’t see big blue-ribbon prostate cancer campaigns all that often. Maybe it’s just that the prostate is not as sexy as the boob….
Good point, and one that’s been made here before.
#GREENFAIL: 100 Tories revolt over wind farms. “Critics say wind farms are inefficient because the… (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:17:33 +0000)
#GREENFAIL: 100 Tories revolt over wind farms. “Critics say wind farms are inefficient because the wind cannot be guaranteed to blow at times of greatest energy demand. They are also said to be unsightly, blighting the landscape. Wind farms are also accused of forcing up energy bills while swallowing disproportionate amounts of taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
A CLEAN-BURNING COOKSTOVE THAT’S specially designed for use in the developing world: “These stoves … (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:00:20 +0000)
A CLEAN-BURNING COOKSTOVE THAT’S specially designed for use in the developing world: “These stoves reduce smoke and harmful gases by up to 80 percent, reduce fuel use by up to 60 percent and reduce cooking time by up to 50 percent compared to traditional cooking fires and stoves.”
UPDATE: Reader Perry Beeson points out that you can get it on Amazon. Might be good for disaster-prep.
ANOTHER UPDATE: here’s the spec sheet. (PDF).
JASON PYE: Obama Goes Christianist on Tax Policy…. (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:08:51 +0000)
JASON PYE: Obama Goes Christianist on Tax Policy.
AT AMAZON, $100 off Rosetta Stone Level 1-5 language sets…. (Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:09 +0000)
AT AMAZON, $100 off Rosetta Stone Level 1-5 language sets.
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Law Schools Shrink Part-Time Programs After U.S. News Closed Rankings Looph… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:43:48 +0000)
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Law Schools Shrink Part-Time Programs After U.S. News Closed Rankings Loophole.
ANONYMOUS SPIES ON, RECORDS FBI-Scotland Yard conference call.The online vigilante group has rel… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:05:56 +0000)
ANONYMOUS SPIES ON, RECORDS FBI-Scotland Yard conference call.
The online vigilante group has released a 17-minute clip of a Jan. 17 conference call between investigators discussing evidence gathered against members of the group as well as upcoming plans for arrests. The group also released an e-mail sent out by an FBI agent to law enforcement agents around the world with a phone number and password for accessing the conference call.
The FBI has confirmed to the Associated Press that the recording is authentic.
AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account purporting to be connected to the group, sent out a tweet on Friday with a link to an audio recording of the call, followed later by a message that read, “The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”
My guess is, a mole.
UPDATE: When is a hack not a hack?
ZILLA OF THE RESISTANCE HAS MOVED. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:30:36 +0000)
ZILLA OF THE RESISTANCE HAS MOVED.
CHANGE: Bill Maher Turns on Occupiers, Denounces Them as D-bags That Should ‘Get a Job.’ Wait,… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:17:37 +0000)
CHANGE: Bill Maher Turns on Occupiers, Denounces Them as D-bags That Should ‘Get a Job.’ Wait, I thought they embodied hope-and-change?
YET ANOTHER COLLEGIATE RACIAL THREAT HOAX.Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth had told TODAY’S TMJ… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:09:50 +0000)
YET ANOTHER COLLEGIATE RACIAL THREAT HOAX.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth had told TODAY’S TMJ4 the threats made towards African-American students at UW-Parkside were a hoax.
The sheriff stressed that there was absolutely no danger to the students at UW-Parkside due to this threat. Through the investigation detectives were able to determine that there never was a threat of harm to students at UW-Parkside.
An investigation led authorities to question a female student about the threats. The student allegedly told authorities she had made the hit list because she was not satisfied with the initial response from a resident assistant when that resident assistant was shown the rubber bands that were said to look like a noose. The suspect wanted greater attention to that issue.
Authorities have not arrested anyone in this case. UW-Parkside police said they are trying to protect the perpetrator Friday evening. The name of the woman involved is being withheld in order to provide the opportunity to remove her from campus.
Why are they trying to “protect the perpetrator?”
BLOOMBERG CEMENTS PLACE as Nanny State King.Meanwhile, a reminder: “A recent study found that m… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:36:38 +0000)
BLOOMBERG CEMENTS PLACE as Nanny State King.
THIS WEEK IN THE FUTURE…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:05:58 +0000)
THIS WEEK IN THE FUTURE.
AT AMAZON, the new laptop releases for 2012…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:00:39 +0000)
AT AMAZON, the new laptop releases for 2012.
LAWSUIT: Defendant Breached a Duty Not to Shoot Bottle Rockets Out of His Anus…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:27:11 +0000)
LAWSUIT: Defendant Breached a Duty Not to Shoot Bottle Rockets Out of His Anus.
PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION: Milwaukee man with a concealed-carry permit shoots a robber in a store…… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:19:00 +0000)
PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION: Milwaukee man with a concealed-carry permit shoots a robber in a store… but the store had a sign prohibiting weapons. The prosecutor made the right call. In Tennessee the signs have to be quite specific to have legal effect, but I don’t know about Wisconsin. The FAQ makes it seem that any language is okay so long as the sign is prominent.
Plus, from the comments: “Interesting that the shop with a ‘No Guns’ sign is the one getting robbed.”
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: How Deleting My Facebook Profile Saved My Love Life…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:00:56 +0000)
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: How Deleting My Facebook Profile Saved My Love Life.
PHIL BOWERMASTER: Human beings are capable of amazing things. Don’t make excuses. Do something am… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:30:32 +0000)
PHIL BOWERMASTER: Human beings are capable of amazing things. Don’t make excuses. Do something amazing.
GREEN NEWS: Civic Hybrid driver Heather Peters wins $9,800 judgment from Honda in small claims cour… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:00:46 +0000)
GREEN NEWS: Civic Hybrid driver Heather Peters wins $9,800 judgment from Honda in small claims court.
IN THE MAIL: From Eric Maisel, Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create P… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:45 +0000)
IN THE MAIL: From Eric Maisel, Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create Personal Meaning
WEAK: Obama job approval among uncommitted voters at 20%; Update: Obama 44, Santorum … 45?… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:55:19 +0000)
WEAK: Obama job approval among uncommitted voters at 20%; Update: Obama 44, Santorum … 45?
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: New York Times Romney-Bashing Continues. “First he was a robot programmed to … (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:48:55 +0000)
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: New York Times Romney-Bashing Continues. “First he was a robot programmed to accomplish the dark and devious theocratic schemes of the Mormon Church. Now they say Mitt Romney isn’t Mormon enough. . . . A modicum of self-awareness or fairness in the editing process would have caught and redressed the obvious bias of this piece, but apparently that’s not how the Times approaches political stories these days: any stick will do to beat the man who increasingly looks like the next Republican nominee.”
Any weapon to hand.
FRIDAY NIGHT DOCUMENT DUMP: White House gives up more Solyndra docs. “Amid threats by a top House … (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:29:03 +0000)
FRIDAY NIGHT DOCUMENT DUMP: White House gives up more Solyndra docs. “Amid threats by a top House Republican to pursue contempt charges, the White House on Friday sent lawmakers more internal documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra. The White House, in providing the 313 pages of documents, again denied that approval of the loan guarantee in 2009 was influenced by politics, an allegation that Republicans have repeated for months.”
JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Why the official 8.3 percent unemployment rate is a phony number—and what it m… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:21:16 +0000)
JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Why the official 8.3 percent unemployment rate is a phony number—and what it means for Obama’s reelection.
MARK STEYN: So Obama wants to be his “brother’s keeper”? I have an idea for him! “For a st… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:00:02 +0000)
MARK STEYN: So Obama wants to be his “brother’s keeper”? I have an idea for him! “For a start, when he says, ‘I am my brother’s keeper,’ his brother is back in Kenya living on $12 a year. That’s what he was living on at the time of the 2008 election. So all the president has to do in terms of shared responsibility is put a $10 bill in an envelope and mail it to Nairobi or Mombasa or wherever and he will double his brother’s salary.”
LIST: Home Improvement How-To Books…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:47 +0000)
LIST: Home Improvement How-To Books.
REAL ESTATE UPDATE: New super-Earth detected, ‘best candidate’ for supporting life…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:37:06 +0000)
REAL ESTATE UPDATE: New super-Earth detected, ‘best candidate’ for supporting life.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How Did Stainless-Steel Appliances Get So Popular?… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:10:55 +0000)
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How Did Stainless-Steel Appliances Get So Popular?
PETER BERKOWITZ: Sex Smears And The Rule of Law at Yale. More of the former than the latter, alas…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:06:43 +0000)
PETER BERKOWITZ: Sex Smears And The Rule of Law at Yale. More of the former than the latter, alas. “If Yale and other institutions across the country were fulfilling their promise to educate students, then their faculties would teach that riding roughshod over due process shows ignorance of or contempt for the rule of law. Professors would be teaching that the presumption of innocence is rooted in a commitment to treating individuals as ends in themselves and not as a means to advancing some social goal or another, even if that goal is given the name of equality or justice. And students would be learning that our established and legitimate justice system does not presume guilt, because to do so is to fail to appreciate the limits of human knowledge and the propensity of those who wield power to abuse it. The need to restore due process on campus—and in the directives of the federal government—is urgent.”
UPDATE: Reader John Lucas writes: “A red light violator facing a $50 fine gets more due process than a student at Yale (or most other universities) now.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Dave Ivers writes: “I’ve wondered what would happen if every male athlete at Yale looked around a classroom and noticed a young woman looking at them and than filed an ‘informal’ complaint. Under the Yale rules that ‘looking’ at well-built athletes could be a sexual crime. Since the athletes don’t know for sure, shouldn’t they file to protect themselves and then get victim status?”
IS THE SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION the Left’s latest Wisconsin?Related: James Taranto: Big Siste… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:02:07 +0000)
IS THE SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION the Left’s latest Wisconsin?
Related: James Taranto: Big Sister Is Watching You: Totalitarian feminism and the smearing of Susan G. Komen. “In truth, Komen was under no obligation to fund Planned Parenthood. Its decision not to do so was not punitive and did not even appear to be. The episode is reminiscent of George Orwell far more than Joe McCarthy. Komen’s actual aim was to extricate itself from the divisive national battle over abortion by severing its connection with a leading combatant.”
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: As Obama Crows, Real Story Is 10.5 Mil Jobs Deficit.Obama likes to b… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:00:51 +0000)
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: As Obama Crows, Real Story Is 10.5 Mil Jobs Deficit.
Obama likes to blame his predecessor for this. And true enough, 4.4 million jobs disappeared during the 2007-08 panic. But after Obama took office, an additional 4.3 million jobs disappeared. So when Obama says “we’ve added 3.7 million new jobs,” he’s not giving you the full story.
We are still 5.6 million jobs below where we were at the peak in 2007. Add to that the 4.9 million new jobs that would have had to be created just to soak up new entrants into the workforce, and all told we have a jobs deficit of 10.5 million.
Read the whole thing.
WELL, WHY CHANGE NOW? “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he would not bring a budget to th… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:34:01 +0000)
WELL, WHY CHANGE NOW? “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he would not bring a budget to the floor for a vote this year, the Hill reports, which would make this the third straight year without such a resolution.”
SCIENCE: Study: Sex with Your Ex Can Be a Good Thing. “Researchers at the University of Arizona lo… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:18:17 +0000)
SCIENCE: Study: Sex with Your Ex Can Be a Good Thing. “Researchers at the University of Arizona looked at post-breakup psychological adjustment and ongoing contact among 137 married adults who had recently separated. As you’d expect, people who accepted the breakup were generally better adjusted while those who still pined for it weren’t. But that’s not all: for those who didn’t accept the breakup, making a clean break (the advice everyone gives after a breakup) didn’t leave them any happier than trying to keep up a friendship. And if they stayed in touch with their exes, they were actually doing better if they kept having sex with their partner.”
So in your pre-nup, be sure to provide for post-separation sex. Which I think is the punchline from an old New Yorker cartoon.
ARTIST SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER: Controversial Artist Depicts Obama Trampling The Constitution…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:17:14 +0000)
ARTIST SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER: Controversial Artist Depicts Obama Trampling The Constitution.
SPENGLER: Lessons About Iran From Hitler…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:00:59 +0000)
SPENGLER: Lessons About Iran From Hitler.
CLIMATE-CHANGE CHANGE: Global Warming Engine Unexpectedly Slows…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:51:58 +0000)
CLIMATE-CHANGE CHANGE: Global Warming Engine Unexpectedly Slows.
TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: “Blatant violations of international human rights where terrorists a… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:11:35 +0000)
TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: “Blatant violations of international human rights where terrorists are concerned — only it’s Sweden, not the United States, that’s involved.”
AT AMAZON, 30% off on Kindle accessories.Also, Spotlight Deals on Blu-Ray…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:00:00 +0000)
AT AMAZON, 30% off on Kindle accessories.
Also, Spotlight Deals on Blu-Ray.
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Monsanto lobbyist uses power as FDA food czar to target Amish…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:21:14 +0000)
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Monsanto lobbyist uses power as FDA food czar to target Amish.
ZEROHEDGE ON THE WARPATH: Implied Unemployment Rate Rises To 11.5%, Spread To Propaganda Number Sur… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:05:22 +0000)
ZEROHEDGE ON THE WARPATH: Implied Unemployment Rate Rises To 11.5%, Spread To Propaganda Number Surges To 30 Year High.
OBVIOUSLY RACIST: “White Parties” in Davos…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:37:27 +0000)
OBVIOUSLY RACIST: “White Parties” in Davos.
A DEVIOUS NOTION! Scott Walker supporters advocate writing in Scott Walker’s name in the primary th… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:54:03 +0000)
A DEVIOUS NOTION! Scott Walker supporters advocate writing in Scott Walker’s name in the primary that will determine who will be his recall opponent. “Wisconsin’s system of open primaries means voters do not have to share a political party’s affiliation to vote in its primary. So, there’s nothing to stop Republicans from voting in a Democratic recall primary — and from writing in Walker’s name.” Then Walker can run against himself!
IDENTICAL TWIN STUDIES reveal mechanisms behind aging. “In a recent study led by Uppsala University… (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:16:53 +0000)
IDENTICAL TWIN STUDIES reveal mechanisms behind aging. “In a recent study led by Uppsala University, the researchers compared the DNA of identical (monozygotic) twins of different age. They could show that structural modifications of the DNA, where large or small DNA segments change direction, are duplicated or completely lost are more common in older people. The results may in part explain why the immune system is impaired with age.”
AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Grills & Smokers…. (Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:52 +0000)
AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Grills & Smokers.
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