Archive for 2011
October 3, 2011
POSH ECONOMY: Lexus reveals $37,995 2012 CT 200h F Sport Special Edition.
Here’s my review of the regular CT 200h.
HEH: “Washington Post editor goes hunting up at ‘Redskinsrock.'” I like the “hypocrisy” tag.
WHAT IF THE NCAA adopted Dodd-Frank?
NEAL STEPHENSON: INNOVATION STARVATION:
I worry that our inability to match the achievements of the 1960s space program might be symptomatic of a general failure of our society to get big things done. My parents and grandparents witnessed the creation of the airplane, the automobile, nuclear energy, and the computer to name only a few. Scientists and engineers who came of age during the first half of the 20th century could look forward to building things that would solve age-old problems, transform the landscape, build the economy, and provide jobs for the burgeoning middle class that was the basis for our stable democracy. . . . In early 2011, I participated in a conference called Future Tense, where I lamented the decline of the manned space program, then pivoted to energy, indicating that the real issue isn’t about rockets. It’s our far broader inability as a society to execute on the big stuff. I had, through some kind of blind luck, struck a nerve. The audience at Future Tense was more confident than I that science fiction [SF] had relevance—even utility—in addressing the problem.
Read the whole thing. I’ve started reading Stephenson’s new book in my — at present extremely limited — spare time. So far it’s quite good.
UPDATE: Reader Drew Kelley blames politics:
I would remind Mr. Stephenson of this bon mot from the early career (Governorship) of Ronald Reagan:
“You grew up in a different world,” the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers. …”
Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, Reagan said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young. We invented them.”
It is that “student” who is today unable to deal with the “big stuff” in life. That “Free Speech Movement” that Mario Savio started sure has made things better for us.
Funny, I’d never heard that story.
IN THE MAIL: From J. Christian Adams, Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department.
Just when we had Rick Perry on the ropes, WaPo has to go and give his candidacy new life by creating a Perry vs. Liberal MSM controversy. GOP primary voters don’t like being told they have “no heart”–but they don’t like the press trying to take a Republican out with a second-order racial-insensitivity scandal either. … If I had to guess which candidate’s camp leaked this story, I might guess Perry’s. Who benefits?
Not sure, but Herman Cain hurt himself.
UPDATE: Will the Washington Post headline this report? Shock Photos: Candidate Obama Appeared And Marched With New Black Panther Party in 2007. Unlike the WaPo Perry story there are actual photos. . . .
ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader emails: “It will be sad and ironic if by shooting at Perry the WAPO hit piece’s only lasting result is damage to Herman Cain’s image as a post racial candidate.” Well, Cain’s wound is self-inflicted. It’s true he didn’t have a lot of time to prepare a response. But as with Pawlenty, it speaks badly of his instincts.
HOW TO TAKE DOWN AN ECONOMIC RIVAL: Export Socialists To China. The Chinese don’t want ’em there. They want ’em here.
TRADE POLITICS: Senate Dems look to gain political edge with China currency vote. “Senate Democrats now believe a measure targeting China’s currency practices will win broad support, leading some to question whether that undercuts the issue’s ability to rally voters for next year’s elections. Generally speaking, targeting China on trade has garnered support from members of both parties, especially in Rust Belt states that have lost manufacturing jobs.”
Related: Protectionism beckons as leaders push world into Depression.
UPDATE: Reader William Graves writes: “Great. It wasn’t enough to duplicate Hoover’s spending splurge. Now we are going to reinvent the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?”
GREEN FAIL (CONT’D): A U.S.-Backed Geothermal Plant in Nevada Struggles.
In a remote desert spot in northern Nevada, there is a geothermal plant run by a politically connected clean energy start-up that has relied heavily on an Obama administration loan guarantee and is now facing financial turmoil.
The company is Nevada Geothermal Power, which like Solyndra, the now-famous California solar company, is struggling with debt after encountering problems at its only operating plant. After a series of technical missteps that are draining Nevada Geothermal’s cash reserves, its own auditor concluded in a filing released last week that there was “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
It’s as if political connections matter more than having a viable business plan.
UPDATE: Reader Jose Hill writes:
Regarding your comment, “It’s as if political connections matter more than having a viable business plan,” I was reminded of the following, particularly incisive dialogue from Atlas Shrugged:
(James Taggart speaking) “We will liberate our culture from the stranglehold of the profit-chasers. We will build a society dedicated to higher ideals, and we will replace the aristocracy of money by -”
“-the aristocracy of pull,” said a voice behind the group.
Indeed.
Yes. Atlas Shrugged was meant to be a cautionary tale, but for this gang it’s a how-to manual.
FASTER, PLEASE: London To Sydney In Two Hours Claims Space Tycoon. I’ve flown to Sydney subsonic, and it’s a damn long flight. I flew back in company with the New Zealand national rugby team. That was an even longer flight.
AT AMAZON, warehouse deals in DVD and Blu-Ray.
ALL THAT POST-LOUGHNER “NEW CIVILITY” STUFF SURE LOOKS SILLY NOW: Great new idea from the Hollywood Left: Behead the bankers. “Imagine if anyone had said anything remotely like this at a Tea Party rally about socialism and socialists, even in jest. And this isn’t just some unknown provocateur — Barr is one of the most successful entertainers and producers in Hollywood, or at least she was at one point in time. If this was humor, the only part that was funny was the economics.”
THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED OVER THE WEEKEND, if you were out having a life or something:
Busting Obama’s “Anti-Gay” Demagoguery.
Thoughts on amending the Constitution in my Sunday Washington Examiner column.
Ken Anderson on the legality of the Al-Awlaki killing. Plus thoughts from Walter Russell Mead, Stephen L. Carter, and Richard Miniter. And Professor Bainbridge mocks some hypocrites.
John Hinderaker: Peppered In NYC. “One can only assume that this kind of police abuse has been going on for a long time, but was not often revealed–at least, not this starkly–before the era of ubiquitous digital photography and video. But the days are gone when a policeman can wantonly assault protesters, no matter how obnoxious they may be–let alone photographers. That’s a good thing.”
How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya? The Forever Recession.
What do you call people who are obsessed with Chris Christie’s weight as a disqualification for the Presidency? Why, “girthers,” of course!
The latest crime wave: Sending your child to a better school. Plus, a tree grows in Scottsdale. [I see what you did there — ed. Of course you do.]
Poll: Obama Cratering In Swing States.
DARPA’S 100-year starship.
A Sicilian explains what’s really behind the Wall Street protests.
I’m guessing not: Will Morgan Freeman answer Ali Akbar?
Plus, for all the “pass the bill” talk, Obama’s Jobs Bill Still Has No Cosponsors, in either the House or the Senate. Perhaps some enterprising journalist should call House and Senate Democrats and ask them why they’re not cosponsoring the President’s bill!
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Coming Post-Obama Renaissance. “The spell has now passed; and we are stronger for its passing. There is going to be soon a sense of relief that we have not experienced in decades. In short, sadder but wiser Americans will soon be turned loose with a vigor unseen in decades.”
THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: You’re just too stupid to live.
This is the National Academy of Sciences, of course, so they’ve got scientific evidence of our stupidity. Like, for example, the Center for Disease Control gave more than four thousand people in St. Louis special antibiotic medkits to hold for an emergency. Months later, they went back and collected them. They counted the people who had engaged in “inappropriate use in routine settings.” And they found, uh, four. Not four percent, four people. That’s one-tenth of one percent, last time I looked.
Apparently we weren’t as dumb as the National Academy of Sciences would like to think, so they declared that this science wasn’t settled, in fact it wasn’t even worth thinking about. Why? Because participants were promised a $25 gift certificate if they completed the study. According to the National Academy’s report, this promise of a gift card so tantalized the unwashed masses that they pretended to be less stupid than the scientists know we really are. So the study didn’t count.
Once all that nasty unpredictable science was out of the way, the National Academy of Sciences was free to say what it wanted to say all along: No antibiotics for you.
Read the whole thing. Including this cruel twist of the knife: “Of course you’re supposed to persuade your doctor that you’d ‘lack access to antibiotics via other timely dispensing mechanisms.’ I suggest reading him the part about how the Postal Service will carry out the distribution. If that doesn’t convince him, maybe you need a smarter doctor.”
WELL, THAT WOULD BE BIG: Cop’s Book Says Sean Combs, Suge Knight Ordered Tupac and Biggie Killings.
The book’s customer reviews are all strong, though they’re also all pseudonymous. . . .
TIM CARNEY: Thank Wal-Mart For Your New Bank Fee.
Related: Bank of America, CARD Act, Dodd-Frank, and soaking the poor. “And before anybody says that this is unexpected… no. No, it was not. I was telling people back in JANUARY that this was going to happen, and I even explained why.”
RICHARD MINITER: Pakistan, Our “Friend,” Uses Proxy Groups To Attack The U.S.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Call Girl On How Business Has Suffered In The Recession.
TIGHT RACE: UMass-Lowell/Herald poll: Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown in dead heat. One question is whether Scott Brown will attract as much Tea Party support this time around. He’s done a certain amount of distancing.
JERRY POURNELLE: Proscription and Reasons of State.
HERE’S THAT Bloomberg story on the Koch brothers. Is it unfair? Read it and judge for yourself. The subheds give a hint of the narrative angle . . ..
FROM LOGITECH, the Anywhere Mouse. I’m happy with a trackpad myself, but some people aren’t.