THE SOCIAL SECURITY “TRUST FUND” MAY NOT JUST BE WORTHLESS, but actually worth less than zero.
Archive for 2011
February 25, 2011
SO I GOT A MESSAGE ANNOUNCING markdowns on the new Apple Macbook Pros, and, well, technically they’re marked down, but come on . . . .
THOUGHTS ON politicians and attractiveness.
HALF MACGYVER, HALF STEPHEN GREEN: How To Make A Laser From A Gin and Tonic.
UNION PROTESTERS IN TRENTON explain why Chris Christie is exactly the same as Khadafy.
“SMART DIPLOMACY:” State Dept. Chartered Boat Too Small To Evacuate Citizens Stranded In Libya. “The U.S. needed to charter a bigger boat like the Greeks’.”
So our State Department isn’t up to Greek civil-service standards? . . .
UPDATE: Reader Anthony Williams isn’t so sure:
Regarding that rescue boat: I’ve not been a fan of our State Department either, but there’s a lot less fire to that story than might appear. The boat was big enough to carry the Americans (all 167) of them, plus various other foreign nationals. The “too small” comment was made by the editor of a shipping magazine. He wondered why the ship did not leave Tripoli earlier and speculated that the captain didn’t think it could handle the rough seas. But his comment also makes it sound like the Maria Dolores should have been able to handle the seas, even if they were rough (and thus the captain was being overly cautious). Bottom line is, he doesn’t know.
There’s not enough information to say that the State Department mishandled the evacuation; maybe they did, or maybe they made the best of a bad situation. Given the usual levels of government competence, I’m just happy that we got our people out safely.
Hmm. Well, I’d rather believe we’re not inept, so . . . .
AT AMAZON, it’s the Friday Sale.
BILL WHITTLE: Take A Movie To Work.
ED DRISCOLL: Useful Idiots, Then And Now. Some of them are idiots. Some of them know exactly what they’re about.
WHEN THE STATE radicalizes people.
ANN ALTHOUSE: SHOW ME THE VIDEO OR SHUT UP: “If you don’t know the ‘exact wording,’ why do you have some words in quotes? This non-quote has gone viral in the leftosphere, the leftosphere where no one seems to mind all the violent and over-the-top language and imagery at the week-long Wisconsin protests. If you don’t have that quote, why are you spewing it out there? Maybe what hasn’t changed post-Tucson is you?”
The other thing that’s gone viral in the leftosphere is putting quotation marks around things that aren’t quotes.
UPDATE: No video, but the Secret Service interviewed the guy, matter now closed.
JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Why A U.S. Government Shutdown Is Worth It. All of a sudden, the conventional wisdom on this seems to be shifting.
A LOOK AT Volvo’s V60 Plug-In Hybrid.
MITSUBISHI’S ELECTRIC CAR gets 4-star crash rating.
NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: DNA molecular robots learn to walk in any direction along a branched track.
POLITICAL COVERAGE: Networks Skip Democratic Congressman’s Call for Union Protesters to ‘Get a Little Bloody.’ Doesn’t fit the narrative.
ANNOUNCING THE 2010 Nebula Award Finalists.
IN THE MAIL: Torch of Freedom 
BYRON YORK: Why The GOP Shouldn’t Fear A Government Shutdown.
Related thoughts from Bill Quick. “As I’ve said before – keep the major entitlement checks coming – SS, Medic-blah, Unemployment, and close Health, Education, Energy, BATF, and a host of other warrens of parasites, and I think the real horror will come when Democrats understand just how little the public in general cares about that stuff. They’ll be begging to surrender inside of two weeks. Hide and watch.”
JASON KUZNICKI ON THE NON-DEFENSE OF DOMA:
Liberals: If you think declining to defend DOMA is the right decision, how will you feel when a Republican administration declines to defend in a school prayer case? Or an abortion case? Or on Obamacare itself?
There are two very, very distinct issues here. One concerns gays and lesbians. The other concerns the proper relationship among the three branches of the federal government. One is about policy; the other is about procedure. Deciding a procedural question based on what it means for a one-time policy outcome is just bad governance. The questions we should be asking are — How much power would this really give the president? Is this a particularly new power? (Arguably it’s not.) And in any case, are we comfortable with the president having it, even if he or she has radically different views about policy?
When we look at it that way, there’s a near-perfect parallel to the perennial debate over the filibuster. Everyone hates it when they’re in the majority. Everyone loves it when they’re in the minority. Politics really is the mind-killer.
Well, it’s not quite the same thing, but Thomas Jefferson pardoned everyone convicted under the Sedition Acts and refunded their fines because he believed them unconstitutional, though the Supreme Court had never so held. But, as I say, this isn’t quite the same thing.
UP AND RUNNING: An earthquake early-warning system in California. Now all we need is one for the New Madrid area. . . .
TODAY ONLY: Half-price on H&R Block tax software.
WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY UPDATE: Police in Weare, NH arrest man for recording traffic stop. My message to the Weare police: What are you afraid of? Do you have something to hide? If you’re innocent, you should have nothing to fear . . . .