Archive for May, 2009

ANN ALTHOUSE ON THE LATEST ORGASM DISCUSSIONS: “I would have thought that the fact that fetuses masturbate supports the pro-life side of the abortion debate.”

FASTER, PLEASE: “Scientists at Oxford University have tamed a virus so that it attacks and destroys cancer cells but does not harm healthy cells.”

HOW TO MAKE healthier pizzas. Two words: “Less cheese.” As I’ve noted before, the modern trend of omitting sauce in favor of an inch of cheese is both bad for you, and bad pizza. If I wanted cheese toast, I’d order cheese toast.

RICHARD EPSTEIN on the Sotomayor pick.

UPDATE: Heh: “I can’t even work up any outrage at this kind of tokenism. It’s expected, like her being a Princeton/Yale Law alumna. Just once in my life I’d like to see a president nominate to the court a graduate of, say, University of Tennessee Law School. That would be diversity. Instead, she’s just another Ivy Leaguer. Yawn.” Hey, don’t expect me to disagree . . . .

Plus, from Dave Kopel: “Judge Sotomayor’s record suggests hostility, rather than empathy, for the tens of millions of Americans who exercise their right to keep and bear arms.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: On the other hand, Kopel debunks a “highly dubious” charge against Sotomayor. “There is no reason to believe this is true. The purported source is ‘American News Inc.’ The link to this alleged news source is dead. In a quick Internet search, I found no such organization.”

BRINGING air-powered cars to the United States?

MATT WELCH: The California Scare Campaign. “California lawmakers, and the unions who put them into office, will do everything in their power to cut services first, employees last. That is indeed a crucial reason why we got here in the first place. Any analysis that doesn’t explore how a higher-than-inflation-plus-immigration budget has failed to deliver on any increase in services, is not an analysis worth taking more seriously than common propaganda.” Plus, a reference to California’s “political-journalist class.”

MICKEY KAUS: “Is there a campaign to tarnish poor Anderson Cooper?” If so, Cooper seems to be at its head.

HOUSE OF MURTHA: “The smell here isn’t one of fine perfume.”

GETTING READY FOR INFLATION:

The government is spending trillions of dollars using a broad swathe of initiatives to fight deflation, which is the opposite of inflation. And therein lies the rub. Should the government’s efforts succeed, and there are some signs that they may, the huge new debt issuance that’s supporting them could lead to a spike in inflation that we have not experienced since the 1970s.

The deftness and agility that will be required in the pivot from fighting deflation to fighting inflation is tremendous. In essence, the government has to provide enough monetary stimuli to get the economy firmly on the growth path, while standing ready to reverse course without stepping on the recovery. At USAA, our view is that the government will err on the side of letting inflation run a while, rather than risk a double-dip recession.

Reader Meghan Hammond, who sent the link, comments: “I’ve also never heard ‘deftness and agility’ in reference to any government entity.”