ANDREW IAN DODGE: GOP Fails to Hijack Maine Tea Parties.
Archive for 2009
April 18, 2009
NIKON INTRODUCES the new D5000 SLR.
JOURNALIST, heal thyself.
MICHAEL S. MALONE: Twitter Stays Calm. ” I’m accustomed to superstar start-up companies to be a combination of Scrooge McDuck and Animal House, with a touch of Lord of the Flies. That’s part of the fun. Twitter, by comparison, was so calm and focused that I almost felt like kicking over some chairs just for old time’s sake, like an aging rocker at a New Age music concert.”
TAXPROF: Why Your Tax Bill May Double.
ROGER SIMON will be reporting from Durban II.
ISRAELI ARMY GIRLS.
REPORTING FROM THE 2009 Robotics World Championship.
IN THE MAIL: From Andre Norton, The Game of Stars and Comets, another classic SF reissue from the folks at Baen.
WELL, WHEN THE MOB GETS MORE POWERFUL, PROTECTION MONEY GOES UP: Campaign Contributions Up, Despite Economic Downturn. “As the nation’s economy mires in recession, most Americans are anticipating lower earnings by making do with less – but not those who call Capitol Hill home. Fundraising by 10 House incumbents in the chamber’s most perennially competitive districts topped $2.56 million during the first three months of this year, according to a Washington Independent analysis of campaign-finance reports filed this week to the Federal Election Commission. That total represents an 18 percent increase from the 10 House districts’ incumbent fundraising during the similar post-election period in 2007. The Senate money chase is also hitting dizzying heights despite the dismal economy. Total fundraising for the five closest races in the upper chamber, as rated by the independent Cook Political Report, hit $8.3 million during the first three months of 2009, an increase of 39 percent compared with five similarly competitive races during the same period in 2007.”
JOHN GALT, M.D.? When Doctors Opt Out. “Here’s something that has gotten lost in the drive to institute universal health insurance: Health insurance doesn’t automatically lead to health care. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have.”
THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY: Sexy, Immortal Billionaires with Super Powers.
MARK LEVIN’S LIBERTY AND TYRANNY: Amazingly, still #1 on Amazon.
L.A. TIMES: Barack Obama way wrong on U.S. guns in Mexico:
On his recently-concluded first visit to Mexico, a week after telling Europeans that his country was at times arrogant, President Barack Obama blamed his own country for providing 90% of Mexico’s recovered crime guns.
According to a report by the independent FactCheck.org this afternoon, that’s incorrect. By a, uh, long shot.
The president’s assertion and the reported inaccuracy seems likely to fuel the eternal American gun control debate, especially as it relates to the U.S. role in Mexico’s deadly drug world.
The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. We can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually “recovered in Mexico,” but U.S. and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns that it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns “recovered” and traced to U.S. sources necessarily is less than 90 percent.
Furthermore, the 90 percent figure is based on a badly biased sample of all Mexican crime guns. Law enforcement officials say Mexico asks the U.S. to trace only those guns with serial numbers or other markings that indicate they are likely to have come though the U.S.
Bogus numbers? And I thought this Administration was going to end the war on science.
JACOB SULLUM: Obama on Warrantless Surveillance: As Bad As Bush? Worse?
Meet the new boss, yada yada. You were expecting a Chicago machine politician to show an enthusiasm for civil liberties?
STILL MORE ON saline rinses for sinus problems. Lots of readers have written that this helps.
FREE SPEECH IN THE AGE OF OBAMA: Conservative speakers now have bodyguards when they visit universities.
April 17, 2009
THE NOW-VACATIONING Susan Roesgen. Well, she did act like someone overdue for a vacation. A long one.
CELEBRATE DIVERSITY! “Except veterans, small-business owners, practicing Catholics, gun owners, talk-radio listeners, tea-party attendees, Texans, smokers, limited-government proponents, pro-lifers, taxpayers, NASCAR fans, Boy Scouts, oil-company employees, secure-border advocates, capitalists, global-warming agnostics, Cuban refugees, school-choicers . . .”
HOPE AND CHANGE: Jobless Rate Climbs in 46 States, With California at 11.2% “Only North Dakota and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates decline for the month.” Well, it’s obvious why DC is prospering! But what’s with North Dakota?
SOCIALIZED MEDICINE AT WORK: Mother who died giving birth in hospital toilet never saw twins. “A woman died in labour in a hospital lavatory after her induction was delayed because of a lack of specialist staff, an inquest was told yesterday.”
JIM GERAGHTY: I Wonder If Obama Will Cite Kudlow to Combat Krugman.
CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Moran Campaign Contributors Have Business Before Brother.
More than a dozen defense contractors with business before U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the powerful House Appropriations defense subcommittee, have donated thousands of dollars to Moran’s younger brother Brian, a candidate for governor of Virginia. Brian Moran filed a campaign finance report this week that shows he collected $80,000 during the first three months of 2009 from 18 contractors that have been longtime backers of the congressman. Seven of the firms are awaiting approval of Moran-backed earmarks totaling $14.5 million.
Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
BUSTING OBAMA FOR gun/drug falsehoods.