NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Rice University researchers build microbatteries with nanowire hearts.
Archive for 2010
December 10, 2010
A ONE-DAY ONLY SALE on this Makita 18-volt drill/impact driver set.
UPDATE: Alex Nunez emails:
The actual drill in that drill/driver kit you linked to the Amazon deal for is the Makita BDF452HW. It happens to be the best-reviewed pro-grade cordless drill overall, based on feedback by both owners posting reviews at retail websites and experts writing in magazines like Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, etc.
The drill by itself usually retails for about $185 alone, so the today-only $189 pricing for the combo drill/driver kit at Amazon is a genuinely fantastic deal.
The gateway to our full cordless drill report (which includes the cordless impact drivers as well) is here.
We also have a standalone summary with links to all the reviews for the BDF452HW drill itself.
Anyway, if you think any of this is helpful – super. Regardless, that deal is pretty kickass.
It looked good to me, but with this additional info I’m bumping this up the page.
MICHAEL WALSH: When Gods Bleed.
BOB OWENS: When Entitlement Socialism Fails.
WHAT’S THIS, SOME KIND OF BIZARRE GOP DEATH WISH? Earmark Insanity Resurging Among House GOP? An update has Eric Cantor saying no earmarks, but if you’re opposed you might want to give your Representative’s local office a call and tell them that earmarks are not what the new Congress needs to restore the faith of the American people. . . .
WALTER OLSON: Rise Of An Imperial City, Cont’d. “Even as most of the country remains mired in serious housing recession, the capital has bounced back smartly . . . . The rise has been so dramatic that for the first time in five years, the average asking rent in D.C. is higher than in New York City, according to CoStar and a new report of third-quarter activity by commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley.” Plus this: “Even as veteran reporters elsewhere scrounge for work, talent and money continue to pour into Washington’s specialized news-gathering business, most particularly the sorts of newsletters that (for a subscription price in the thousands of dollars) will bring you fresh and fine-grained news of the doings of federal regulatory agencies in fields like energy, pharmaceuticals, securities and telecommunications.”
JOHN FUND TO NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATIC INTEREST GROUPS: Standing up to you isn’t bullying. “A frank and candid exchange, yes. A little theatrical? Perhaps. But equating the governor’s ‘I calls it as I sees it’ style with encouraging hate speech is nonsense. The voters of New Jersey would appear to agree. . . . I hope Mr. Christie continues to confront his critics; in the end, I doubt most New Jerseyeans will mind. They’ve had too many governors who hid behind smoke screens of vague rhetoric while the state’s budget problems festered. Besides, by Garden State standards of confrontation, Mr. Christie is a Boy Scout.”
SENATE DEMS MOVE AHEAD WITH TAX RELIEF despite House Dems’ objections.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE REALLY WORRIED ABOUT THE ECONOMY: A year’s supply of dehydrated food.
Related: The Best Zombie Apocalypse Kit EVER. For those who are really worried about zombies. And who isn’t?
REASON TV: Britain’s Burgeoning Tax Revolt. About time.
PAUL RAHE: Economic Storm Clouds On The Horizon.
TAXPROF ROUNDS UP THE Legislative Documents for the Obama Tax Compromise Bill.
RICHARD VEDDER: The Great College Degree Scam.
The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) has unearthed what I think is the single most scandalous statistic in higher education. It reveals many current problems and ones that will grow enormously as policymakers mindlessly push enrollment expansion amidst what must become greater public-sector resource limits.
Here it is: approximately 60 percent of the increase in the number of college graduates from 1992 to 2008 worked in jobs that the BLS considers relatively low skilled—occupations where many participants have only high school diplomas and often even less. Only a minority of the increment in our nation’s stock of college graduates is filling jobs historically considered as requiring a bachelor’s degree or more.
Meaning that the — inflated — tuition they’re paying is basically wasted. Remember this when you hear for-profit schools singled out for overpromising. I think the traditional higher-education sector has a lot of explaining to do, too. More:
The data suggest a horrible decline in the productivity of American education in that the “inputs” used to achieve any given human capital (occupational) outcome have expanded enormously. More simply, it takes 18 years of schooling (including kindergarten and the typical fifth year of college to get a bachelor’s degree) for persons to get an education to do jobs that a generation or two ago people did with 12-13 years of education (graduating more often from college in four years and sometimes skipping kindergarten). . . . All of this supports the notion that credential inflation arises from a perceived need by individuals to demonstrate potential employment competence through a piece of paper, i.e. a college diploma. Employers are using education as a screening and signaling device, at a low cost directly to them (although not costless because of the taxes they pay to sustain much of this), but at a high cost to the perspective employees and to society as a whole.
Read the whole thing. Some further background is here and here.
SARAH PALIN: Why I Support Paul Ryan’s Roadmap. “Put simply: Our country is on the path toward bankruptcy. We must turn around before it’s too late, and the Roadmap offers a clear plan for doing so. But it does more than just fend off disaster. CBO calculations show that the Roadmap would also help create a ‘much more favorable macroeconomic outlook”‘for the next half-century. The CBO estimates that under the Roadmap, by 2058 per-person GDP would be around 70% higher than the current trend.” This is big.
CANCUN CLIMATE CONFEREES fall for the old “dihydrogen monoxide” petition. Science!
VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL BACKS RANDY BARNETT’S “REPEAL AMENDMENT:” “Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has contacted the Attorney Generals of every U.S. State with an endorsement of the Repeal Amendment, which was first championed by Virginia Speaker Bill Howell and Professor Randy Barnett in a September Wall Street Journal opinion piece.”
Related: Cuccinelli on the Repeal Amendment on Hardball. It’s interesting to hear Chris Matthews randomly throwing out historical references that he obviously doesn’t understand.
A BUNCH OF LITTLE GREECES: National Conference of State Legislators gathers over ‘dire’ numbers. “According to an NCSL report released in conjunction with the meeting, 15 states now have operating budget gaps for the current fiscal year totaling more than $26 billion. Next year they project shortfalls totaling more than $82 billion in 35 states. California alone is facing a projected operating deficit of $25 billion over the next 18 months. llinois is facing a shortfall of almost 50 percent in the current year alone.” Drastic spending cuts are called for, but politicians are reluctant to do what’s needed.
THE EDUCATION BUBBLE in pictures.
APPRECIATING DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES. I think Rumsfeld is unfairly tarred, but Gates has been excellent.
UPDATE: Reader Dave Parmly writes:
Like anyone in the job, he’s done some things I like, some things I don’t. However, my strongest impression of him came when he spoke to the many Scouts and adult volunteers at the National Jamboree this summer.
Gates is an Eagle Scout and, as a youth, attained many levels of recognition that fill his Scouting resume as what we call a “true believer” in Scouting. (Example: gates is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, a distinction he attained as a youth. You have to be a hard worker and great leader to gain this honor as a youngster.) He didn’t get his Eagle because it would look good on a college app, or because his parents made him do it, but because Scouting meant a whole lot to him. Part of his speech at the Jamboree quoted words from a fairly obscure Scout ceremony, a part of the induction into a Scouting honor society. And he didn’t look at his notes (there was no teleprompter) as he said it. After all those years, it was still in his memory.
Some were “offended” that the President didn’t come speak to us. Frankly, I was relieved. Any speech from Obama to the Scouts would have been fluff. His awareness of, and empathy with, Scouting’s ideals is non-existent. Gates was a wonderful stand-in and even the kids paid close attention, based on the in-camp discussions afterward.
Whether he is a great SECDEF is for history to decide. But he’s a good man, in my opinion. Personally, I want to better known as a “good man” over any external recognition. I hope Gates feels the same way.
Indeed.
CHUCK SCHUMER vs. Barack Obama. “The relationship between Schumer and Obama, arguably the Democratic Party’s two most influential message strategists, has become so strained both sides are working to patch things up for fear it could hinder Democrats in the face of a strengthened and determined GOP opposition.” Plus, a report that White House staff “have long viewed Schumer as a talented but essentially self-promotional operator with no abiding loyalty to Obama.” Pretty much. Or to anyone else.
UPDATE: L.A. Times: Is the Obama tax cut deal with Republicans fraying out of control already?
TOM BLUMER: Washington’s Stimulus-Based Life Forms.