Archive for 2009
June 25, 2009
ERIK SOFGE: 6 Bright Ideas for the Future of Energy.
COLLEGES OFFERING STUDENTS VALET PARKING? Apparently the recession hasn’t hit higher education yet . . ..
CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “The Kent Democratic Town Committee is the perhaps the first in the state to jump off the Chris Dodd bandwagon. The town committee issued a vote of no confidence in the state’s senior senator at its meeting Monday night. The vote is rooted in dissatisfaction with Dodd’s acceptance of campaign contributions from the financial industry, which he oversees as chair of the Senate banking committee.”
IN TENNESSEE: Secretary of State makes unsubstantiated ‘terrorist threat’ claim. The “Battle of Athens” is, in fact, approvingly referenced in the state’s official history (in the Tennessee Blue Book) as being part of an anti-corruption move following World War II.
The Tennessee Blue Book is published by Secretary of State Tre Hargett. Note his picture and signature at the top of the page. Perhaps he should try reading it sometime. History excerpt below.
ONLINE SHOPPING with a virtual dressing room.
OBAMA HEALTHCARE INFOMERCIAL A RATINGS BUST. “President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care delivered a sickly rating Wednesday evening. The one-hour ABC News special “Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America” (4.7 million viewers, 1.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) had the fewest viewers in the 10 p.m. hour. The special tied some 8 p.m. comedy repeats as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network.” (Via Dan Riehl, who thinks the rerun analogy is fair: “Maybe they thought the Oba-Special was just a replay of Hillary-care, or a look back at Jimmy Carter?”)
SORRY, ATLANTA: Large Democratic Donors Help Shut Down July 4 Atlanta Tea Party.
Well, I guess that means they’re afraid.
TESLA ROADSTER SALES “LAGGING.” Well, guys, cut me a deal and I might take one off your hands . . . .
IN THE MAIL: From the folks at Baen, Star Flight, another classic Andre Norton reissue.
MORE ON THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL SCANDALS: Obama Plays Hardball with Watchdogs.
ANDREW KLAVAN: American Nursery. I blame testosterone-antagonists in the water supply, or something. . . .
FIRST, HOW ABOUT FIXING THE GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS WE’VE ALREADY GOT? VA Medical System in Shambles, Veterans Groups Say. “With Veterans Affairs hospitals giving botched radiation treatments to nearly 100 vets and exposing 10,000 to HIV and hepatitis viruses, veterans advocates and lawmakers say the VA health system is in dire need of proper oversight and funding.”
FIGHTING CHINA’S CENSORSHIP through the WTO?
TAXPROF: Obama Proposes Using IRS Data to Simplify Process for Applying for College Financial Aid. What could go wrong?
CHRIS DODD UPDATE: The Secret ‘Friends of Angelo’.
HMM: Senators Worry That Health Overhaul Could Erode Employer Insurance Plans. I believe that’s what the White House intends, isn’t it?
L.A. TIMES: GOP TO PRESS SOTOMAYOR ON GUN RIGHTS. But the story by James Oliphant and David Savage calls it a “divisive issue.” I wonder if they’d use that term for more PC rights? I mean, polls pretty consistently show that about 3/4 of Americans think the Second Amendment gives them a right to own a gun, and the Supreme Court has said so, too. So how “divisive” is that, really?
HMM: MPs ‘snub’ Ahmadinejad poll party. “More than 180 Iranian MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election win, local press reports say. All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night, but only 105 turned up, the reports say. A BBC correspondent says the move is a sign of the deep split at the top of Iran after disputed presidential polls.”
CLAUDIA ROSETT: Where’s The U.N. On Iran? A thundering silence from the would-be defender of human rights.
Iran’s regime is already in gross violation of a series of U.N. sanctions over a nuclear program the U.N. Security Council deems a threat to international peace. The same regime has now loosed its security apparatus of trained thugs and snipers on Iranians who have been, in huge numbers, demanding their basic rights. Surely top U.N. officials such as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon should be leading the charge for liberty and justice, with the strongest possible criticism and measures against the Iranian regime.
But that’s not happening. While Iranian protesters have been risking their necks to try to rid their country of a malignant despotism, the U.N. has hardly even qualified as voting “present.”
Imagine the U.N. as a sort of Thugs’ Protective Association and you will seldom go far wrong.
HEY WAIT, DIDN’T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax.
Why yes, yes he did.
And he also promised no tax increases on people who make less than $250,000 a year.