I HAVE A COLUMN IN TODAY’S NEW YORK POST on why it’s the little guy, not fatcats, who really needs the protection of strong property rights.
Archive for 2010
December 17, 2010
L.A. TIMES: Royal snub for the Obamas: No wedding invite from Prince William and Kate Middleton. Well, they’ve already got an iPod loaded with his speeches, so there was no point inviting him just for the gift.
UPDATE: Related: Obama’s Bad Numbers Are The Real Headline.
ED MORRISSEY: The 50:1 Advantage: Republicans Now Better Than Democrats on Pork. Which is a nice change. “Both parties still need to improve, but at least one party shows that they’re willing to try. As long as the Tea Party activists keep pressure on them, we’ll continue to see improvement, or we’ll continue to see new faces on Capitol Hill.”
THIS IS INTERESTING: Spacecraft Saw ULF Radio Emissions over Haiti before January Quake. “A French satellite observed a dramatic increase in ultra low frequency radio waves over Haiti in the month before the M7.0 earthquake earlier this year.” Earthquake prediction would be extremely useful.
CORRECTING OUR NEWSPAPERS: “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is not ‘the military’s policy.’ It is a federal law, 10 U.S.C. Sec. 654. DADT was imposed on the military by Congress. This mistake is made by reporters frequently, but that does not excuse it.”
SUNDAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR free Super Saver shipping from Amazon. For Amazon Prime members, the deadline for free two-day shipping isn’t until next Wednesday.
UPDATE: Michael Greenspan writes: “That’s the last day in time for Christmas, right? Not the last day ever?” Er, the last day to get stuff in time for Christmas, I mean. They’re not doing away with the free shipping or anything.
Of course, if you run out of time there’s always the Gift Card option. You can even email ’em.
NO SEX, PLEASE: We’re American soldiers.
GPS UNITS keep offering more for less.
CHANGE: Bill preventing big tax hikes heads to Obama. “The president is expected to sign the bill this afternoon.”
Related: Obama’s comeback has just begun. Well, possibly. I really think Krauthammer’s missing the point on this one. If Obama had embraced this deal, he might have something, but instead he said it stinks. That’s lousy triangulation.
Related: A good sales job, but whose policy was Obama selling? “The Democrats voted for Obama’s deal, but Obama’s deal consisted of endorsing the tax rates proposed by George W. Bush in toto. Not just the income tax rates, either, but also the capital-gains tax rates that Obama insisted on raising during the 2008 campaign to either 20% or 28%. In the end, those tax rates got more votes last night in a Democratic-controlled House (277) than they did in the GOP-controlled House in 2001 (230), and more Democrats voted to extend them than Republicans, 139-138. If that’s a victory for Obama, may the next two years be filled with such victories.”
Even Politico calls it “capitulation.”
LOOKING FOR WAR ON TERROR NEWS? Check out Fred Pruitt’s Rantburg. You can hit his tipjar if you like, too. I have.
THE GUYS WHOSE UNIFORM IS A STAR TREK T-SHIRT say the same thing about women: “The men who really get repelled by what you’re wearing are a little shallow, and you probably don’t want to date them anyway.”
SQUEEZE PLAY: L.A. Times: A Clinton takes over Obama’s White House briefing again; this time it’s Hillary. “This time, however, the official transcript ended after Obama stopped talking. We probably shouldn’t read anything into that, though.”
I MENTIONED THIS IN PASSING BEFORE, BUT: First HIV ‘cure’ comes with a very big catch.
REGULATION by prosecution.
AT LEAST HE DIDN’T SAY “I’VE GOT A BIG PROBLEM WITH YOU PEOPLE:” Fareed Zakaria to the American People: You Are The Big Problem. Okay, well, he kinda did. Is it just me, or is the Gentry Class starting to sound kinda . . . frustrated? But hey, it is almost Festivus. So I guess the Airing Of Grievances makes sense.
UPDATE: A reader emails: “Fareed Zakaria stated, on CNN, that Americans should consume less. He has a point – I could get along without cable TV quite nicely.” More and more people feel that way.
CAROLINE GLICK: “The deception at the heart of the feminist movement is nowhere more apparent than in the silence with which self-professed feminists and feminist movements ignore the inhumane treatment of women who live under Islamic law.” As someone wrote in a review of Germaine Greer that I read back when I was in law school, no act is too unspeakable for them so long as the hand that commits it is suitably brown and weathered. I wish I could find that review now, but here are some related thoughts from 2001.
December 16, 2010
A GOOD IDEA: Reader Benjamin Tucker emails: “At your suggestion, I wrote to my senator, Mitch McConnell, urging him to oppose the Omni Spending Bill. He did and it has failed. I thought it appropriate to write to him again tonight, this time expressing my thanks. Perhaps, you could suggest that other readers also thank their representatives who opposed the bill. I understand they like that kinda thing.”
Related: The Death Of The Omnibus: “The tea-party movement should take a little bow tonight. Some in Washington really heard you — and a bunch of you are coming in as reinforcements in a few week. It may really be a new day. And, Nevadans who wanted to see Harry Reid leave got a victory party they were not able to celebrate in November tonight — a not-insignificant win.” I’ve had emails from Tea Party leaders who talked at great length with their Senators and brought them around — and, in at least one case, got them to bring a colleague around. Good work, and a nice warmup for next year . . . .
PRISON INMATES IN GEORGIA organize a strike via cellphone.
KEITH OLBERMANN TURNS CHICKEN. Well, not turns, exactly . . . .
UNVEILING THE SECRETS: First Phase Of The Final Solution.