ELECTRONIC ARMAGEDDON? “The electric grid as it’s currently constituted is vulnerable to EMP; the further down the road we go towards a smart grid, the more vulnerable it will become.”
Archive for 2009
July 26, 2009
THE HILL: White House eases stimulus lobbyist restrictions. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?
Related: Health care push relying increasingly on lobbyists.
IT’S AN OBAMACAREPALOOZA on the latest PJM Political.
IN THE MAIL: From J.R. Parrish, You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way: Making It in the Real World: A Guide for Graduates.
MICKEY KAUS: Orszagism Reeling: “Orszagism–the idea that health care reform will be able to dramatically ‘bend the cost curve’ and solve the long-term budget crisis, without compromising care– suffered a couple of blows in the past 24 hours.” Read the whole thing.
UPDATE: A reader — shockingly, a man of the cloth, so I’m leaving him unnamed — writes: “Glenn, I find it deeply disappointing that you have a headline like ‘Orszagism Reeling’, and then follow it with budget and health care issues. C’mon! With a lead-in like that, can’t we have something on porn, or at least prostitution? :-)”
Blame Kaus for the tease, not me. But I’m scheduling a post on “maintenance sex” for later, so maybe that will meet the day’s need for prurience.
IT’S LOOKING EASIER ALL THE TIME: Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man.
I say: Don’t rage against the machine. Embrace the machine.
A little bit of background here.
A REPORT ON THE RICHMOND TEA PARTY from the Times-Dispatch.
And here’s a report on the Asheville Tea Party organization, which Heath Shuler treated rather ungraciously last week.
UPDATE: More from Richmond: Tea For 2000.
ROGER SIMON: Thomas Friedman — Keeping Up With The Saudis.
BISCUITS CONQUER ALL? All except bacon, maybe. Because nothing beats bacon!
A BUNCH OF interesting food links.
RASMUSSEN: OBAMA DROPS AGAIN: “The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory. . . . Today is the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the President’s prime time televised press conference.”
And a reminder: “It is important to remember that the Rasmussen Reports job approval ratings are based upon a sample of likely voters. Some other firms base their approval ratings on samples of all adults.”
UPDATE: Have people figured him out?
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Chris Breisch emails: “4 out of 5 of the people who disapprove of Obama, strongly disapprove. Did even GWB ever have such skewed disapproval numbers?” I don’t know. Clearly, Obama is a polarizing figure, not the post-partisan he was presented as during the campaign.
THE NEW ECONOMY: Trouble Ahead As Politics Replaces Market Forces.
SO WHO HALF-KILLED the “half-dead” American Dream?
CHICAGO’S MAYOR DALEY WEIGHS IN ON GATES CONTROVERSY: “President Obama should have gathered the facts first before commenting on Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s encounter with Cambridge, Mass. police, Mayor Daley said Saturday, wading into the controversy.”
CHINA: One big bubble?
CALIFORNIA’S IOUs and their Depression-era predecessors.
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT TARP COST. And lack of transparency on where the money’s going. Ed Morrissey writes:
I seem to recall when Barack Obama promised the most open and transparent administration ever. Since his inauguration, Obama has fired one IG for daring to oppose a sweetheart settlement with a political ally, allowed another to get dumped by the agency she oversaw, and now have publicly feuded with Barofsky. Earlier, they tried to limit his authority by claiming that Barofsky didn’t work independently of Treasury, which got a stern letter from Senator Charles Grassley. It looks as though the White House has declared war on transparency, and especially the IGs who exist to provide it.
Yeah, they’re transparent, all right.
July 25, 2009
Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has suffered a major setback in her legal battle with American ‘shock jock’ Michael Savage after her officials were accused of banning him from the country on racial grounds.
Emails written by Home Office officials privately acknowledged the ban on Mr Savage would provide ‘balance’ to a list dominated by Muslims – and linked the decision to Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
The officials admitted their action could look ‘duplicitous’ and cited his ‘homophobia’ as a reason the move would receive public support.
So to avoid looking “racist” and suffering bad PR, they chose to be “duplicitous” and hope that gay rights would provide a smokescreen. So how’s that avoiding-the-bad-PR thing working out for you, guys? . . .
ADMINISTRATION ECONOMIC PLAN explained.
PAPER TIGER? Another report of ACORN marchers outnumbered 10-1.
PROF. JACOBSON: Thank God the CBO Works on Saturdays. CBO letter at the link.
A BIG sale in Health and Personal care.
UPDATE: Reader Debbie Eberts writes: “It’s not safe for surfing while children are nearby. At about page 3 and following, some, um, explicit sexual health things show up in the list. FYI.” I hadn’t noticed those, but I looked and — well, yes, but I don’t think it’s anything a kid would just notice if you were surfing the list. But anyway, consider yourself warned.