THE DEMAND FOR CONCEALED WEAPONS IN MICHIGAN is being driven by women.
Archive for 2011
July 4, 2011
MARKDOWNS IN Tools & Home Improvement.
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: DSK’s French Accuser to File Attempted Rape Complaint. “The lawyer for French writer Tristane Banon announced today that his client intends to file attempted rape charges against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Paris. ‘I will send the complaint to the public prosecutor’s office tomorrow,’ lawyer David Koubbi told the French weekly L’Express, ‘and they will receive it on Wednesday.’ The move comes only days after prosecutors in New York conceded that their case against Strauss-Kahn had been weakened by questions surrounding the credibility of a maid who has accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in May at the Sofitel Hotel in New York.”
THE FIVE BEST INVENTIONS of the Founding Fathers.
SUGAR DADDY: “My mind raced. Is this thinly-veiled prostitution? Were there really men out there who wanted to buy me shoes? I like shoes! Was this going to affect how I identified myself as an intelligent, independent woman? PRESENTS! I caved.”
Related item here.
HANDLING FLEXIBLE PARTS in RNA nanotechnology.
INDEPENDENCE DAY THOUGHTS from Jeff Jacoby.
If Nature and Nature’s God intended human beings to be free and equal, then the only legitimate government must be self-government. For if none of us is naturally subordinate or superior to anyone else, no one has the right to rule us without first obtaining our approval. Political power, Locke had written, stems “only from compact and agreement, and the mutual consent of those who make up the community.’’
The Declaration of Independence emphasized the point. Not only are all persons endowed by nature with the unalienable rights of equality and freedom, it avowed, but “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.’’
No lawful government without consent and self-rule: It was an extraordinary doctrine for its time. . . . July 4 marks more than American independence. It commemorates the great political ideals, rooted in faith and philosophy, that vindicated that independence – and that thereby transformed the world.
Read the whole thing.
STIMULUS! “In comparison to how things would otherwise have been, the ‘stimulus’ has been working in reverse over the past six months, causing the economy to shed jobs.”
J.D. JOHANNES: Where No U.S. Forces Have Gone Before. “Everyone wants to do intelligence driven missions, but someone has to do the missions that generate intelligence.”
IN THE MAIL: From Bill & Janet Liebsch, IT’S A DISASTER! …and what are YOU gonna do about it?
FOOD INFLATION bites July 4th BBQs.
THEY TOLD ME IF WE ELECTED BARACK OBAMA. . . .
Actual background here.
UPDATE: Reader Steve Eimers sends this link. He writes: “Were you at the parade today? Unfortunately we didn’t see Congressman Duncan I was hoping to tell him not to raise the debt ceiling. I’m attaching a picture of the parade. Just above the yellow light in the distance you can see a little red dot. That dot is the flag box.”
No, I took that picture a couple of years back. I don’t live in Lenoir City. But if I did, here’s what I would have seen today. Thanks, Steve!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT YESTERDAY: Three Things You Can Do To Promote Liberty.
Also, my thoughts on constitutional reform.
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey comments. Thanks, Ed!
OBAMA TO REPLACE JOE BIDEN with Andrew Cuomo? Well, that might be enough to get Cuomo not to launch a primary challenge next year, which I think some people were starting to worry about. Plus this: “It’s probably a given the media will ignore the buildup of the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac fiasco while Cuomo was HUD Secretary under Bill Clinton. He doesn’t need the messy reminders.”
ANN ALTHOUSE WOULD NOT APPROVE: A sale on Men’s Shorts.
GEORGE WILL ASKS THIS WEEK: Can Congress Require Obese People to Sign Up for Weight Watchers?
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
DO “BICYCLE FRIENDLY” URBAN POLICIES discriminate against women?
TOM BLUMER: Revisionomics: Under Obama, “unexpectedly bad” ends up being “much worse.”
From 2007 to 2010, initial reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) told us that the economy lost 4.201 million jobs. BLS revisions have thus far ramped up the number of jobs lost by 2.43 million. The four-year total is now 6.631 million — a stunning 58% increase. As seen above, the bureau’s revisions to the 12 months of the real recession (July 2008 through June 2009) have shot reported job losses up by almost 1.9 million, a jaw-dropping average of 158,000 per month.
They’re not done yet. Every February, BLS performs a comprehensive “benchmark revision.” The next one will affect the period from March 2010 through December 2011. Considering the results of the past four years showing average additional job losses of 415,000, the next benchmark revision seems destined to push the figures even higher.
By contrast, from 2003 to 2006, initial BLS reports told us that the economy added 5.103 million jobs. After all revisions, the four-year total rose by 1.605 million to 6.708 million — a 31% increase. The sum of all benchmark revisions during that time was a positive 675,000.
Why did the revised data largely improve (or at least decline very little) from 2003 through 2006, while decaying horribly since 2007?
Read the whole thing.
DISNEY EPIC MICKEY: Well, maybe this is better than it sounds.
WELL, GOOD: Huge Rare-Earth Deposits Found In Pacific: “Vast deposits of rare earth minerals have been discovered on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean amounting to 1,000 times those on land, media reported on Monday citing a study by Japanese researchers. . . . China, which produces 97 percent of global rare earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metal, which is used in high-tech electronics, magnets and batteries, causing concerns globally about supply and triggering jumps in prices.” Well, this should help with that.
THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, GOVERNMENT SPYING WOULD PROCEED UNCHECKED: And they were right!
At the Office 365 launch, Gordon Frazer, managing director of Microsoft UK, gave the first admission that cloud data — regardless of where it is in the world — is not protected against the USA PATRIOT Act. . . . Frazer explained that, as Microsoft is a U.S.-headquartered company, it has to comply with local laws (the United States, as well as any other location where one of its subsidiary companies is based).
Though he said that “customers would be informed wherever possible”, he could not provide a guarantee that they would be informed — if a gagging order, injunction or U.S. National Security Letter permits it.
He said: “Microsoft cannot provide those guarantees. Neither can any other company“.
While it has been suspected for some time, this is the first time Microsoft, or any other company, has given this answer.
You know, maybe I shouldn’t have voted for John McCain. It was just hard to believe all the dire warnings . . . .
JONATHAN ADLER: Is the Debt Limit Constitutional? — Part Deux. I think if Obama ignores the debt limit, what the courts will say about it is the least of his worries. But this issue is just being floated as pre-deal FUD, I think.
At any rate, whenever the agree on a debt deal, the deal needs to include language that will address this. Say, the death penalty for issuance or purchase of any U.S. debt instrument issued after the ceiling is exceeded. That wouldn’t question the validity of the debt, but it would certainly undermine its market . . . .
PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE: “I don’t get why Americans get gaga over the British royalty. Especially as we are about to celebrate having won our independence from the British monarchy. But we’re about to get a disgusting dose when Will & Kate come to town next week.”
UPDATE: Is it all about the optics?