SWINE FLU VACCINE TRIALS: No side effects so far.
Archive for 2009
August 22, 2009
SEARCHING FOR gravitational waves.
SO THE KNOXVILLE TEA PARTY CROWD HAD A RECESS RALLY at the Federal Courthouse, where Rep. Jimmy Duncan and Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker have offices. They had 100-150 people (I heard that about half that many counterprotesters were there at the beginning, but they were marching off and beating drums as I arrived, so I can’t attest to precise numbers.) A fairly impressive turnout, though, considering that I believe that Duncan, Corker, and Alexander are all opposed to ObamaCare. Local media — and alt-media, as I was joined by Michelle from KnoxViews, who I was happy to catch up with as we hadn’t seen each other in a while — were covering it. (An earlier interview with Knox Tea Party folks is here.)
UPDATE: John Casey sends this via iPhone from Chicago: “Chanting ‘no more Dick’ outside of Dick Durbin’s office.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Joe Scott sends this from Asheville, where Heath Shuler (D-NC) was the target: “Glenn, there were about 150 people at Rep. Shuler’s office today. People directed their questions to an empty podium since Mr. Shuler apparently had more pressing business today.” Plus a cellphone pic:
To be fair, Shuler already told the Asheville Tea Party folks that he’d vote against the bill.
Plus, over 1,000 in Birmingham, Michigan. Pics and video at the link, but here’s one.
And reader John Marcoux sends this from Charleston.
MORE STILL: Another report from Birmingham, Michigan.
PROGRESS TOWARD EQUALITY: “Women are responsible for an increasing number of drunk-driving arrests, according to data released today by the NHTSA. FBI statistics (PDF) show that DUI arrests of men fell 7.5 percent between 1998 and 2007, while the arrest rate for women climbed by nearly 29 percent in the same period.”
THE VICIOUS TRUTH about sunflowers.
IN THE MAIL: David Pogue’s The World According to Twitter.
MARK STEYN: Stimulus Hits A Pothole. “Meanwhile, in Brazil, India, China, Japan and much of Continental Europe the recession has ended. In the second quarter this year, both the French and German economies grew by 0.3 percent, while the U.S. economy shrank by 1 percent. How can that be? Unlike America, France and Germany had no government stimulus worth speaking of, the Germans declining to go the Obama route on the quaint grounds that they couldn’t afford it. . . . And yet their recession has gone away. Of the world’s biggest economies, only the U.S., Britain and Italy are still contracting. All three are big stimulators, though Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi can’t compete with Obama’s $800 billion porkapalooza. The president has borrowed more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet.”
MATT WELCH ON THE WHOLE FOODS BOYCOTT: “I’ll just make one observation: The liberal commentariat keeps telling us that we need to have a ‘serious debate’ about reforming our dysfunctional health care system. Well, love ’em or hate ’em, Mackey came up with eight tangible ideas to do just that, and this is the reaction he gets.”
DECLAN MCCULLAGH: Sorry, Mandatory Gun Registration Is Constitutional. Though I disagree with that as policy, that’s probably right. I could certainly construct a chilling-effect sort of argument that would be no more unfounded than many other constitutional doctrines that are “good law” today, but I’m not sure that such is really compelled by the Constitution. On the other hand, that the 1792 Militia Act required people to prove that they owned at least one qualifying gun is not necessarily support for the notion that you must account to the government for every gun you own.
ILLEGAL HEALTH REFORM: Is ObamaCare’s health-insurance mandate unconstitutional?
A CONVERSATION WITH BUZZ ALDRIN. He’s got a new autobiography out, called Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon.
MARC DANZIGER ON OBAMA’S SLIPPAGE AMONG INDEPENDENTS: “Looking at why Obama seems to be having such a popularity collapse suggests that models of the polity that were bipolar – i.e. D’s and R’s – probably don’t represent reality as models that are tripolar – D’s, R’s, and I’s. And while the I’s may be largely ideologically rooted in one side or the other, their “brand attachment” is weak, meaning that they can be flipped easily or else that they aren’t necessarily going to come out and vote unless they are engaged.”
HEH: New From The Times – When We Said “False”, We Meant “Kinda True”.
Plus, from Mickey Kaus: “Next thing you know, the NYTers will be grabbing the mike at town halls. … At least when voters are having notentirelyirrationalfears that Obama would have the state play god by exercising yes/no power over life-ending medical decsions, he didn’t go and say something creepily extravagant and provocative like ‘we are God’s partners in matters of life and death.’ … Whew!” Also, some amusing annotation.
THE TESLA MODEL S SEDAN in action.
ALL 435 DISTRICTS: ‘Tea Party’ Organizers Plan Anti-‘Obamacare’ Rallies Across the Country.
UPDATE: Tucson’s was yesterday, and Robert Mayer reports: “The Recess Rally was great everyone! About 700 at our peak, with probably 1000 total. Keep it up everyone! Gabby [Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ] has now announced that she will hold three townhalls, including one in Tucson on Sept 1. Can’t wait to be at that manufactured mess! Also, don’t forget about our townhall on Aug 28!”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Blue Dog: Hey, this town-hall anger seems pretty real to me. “Why are people scared? The government is about to take over one-sixth of the nation’s economy, even though soaring deficits make it clear that it can’t properly handle what’s on the plate now. It just fumbled a stimulus package and a program to kill old cars, and somehow people have the notion that this competence will continue with something more vital — their health care. They don’t want the government in charge of those decisions and invading their personal lives. The only surprise here is that elected officials didn’t see this coming, although clearly the White House had an inkling — which is why they tried to rush the bill through to a vote.”
GROWTH OF THE FEMINIST HAWKS: “Consider the feminist-hawk position — the one that advocates the use of force to liberate Muslim women from persecution and burkas. This position has become an integral part of the ideological Web. Feminist-hawk arguments may even be considered an artifact of the Web, just the way the revolutionary arguments of 18th-century America can be seen as an artifact of pamphlets.”