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Archive for 2012
June 6, 2012
RAY BRADBURY HAS DIED. People are mostly talking about The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, but I liked Dandelion Wine.
IN THE MAIL: From Joseph Badal, Evil Deeds.
RON BAILEY: Union of Concerned Scientists Cooks the Books, Media Swallow It. Dog bites man.
IT’S CRUCIFIXION FOR YOU: Ex-EPA official of ‘crucify’ fame won’t appear before House.
Al Armendariz, the former regional Environmental Protection Agency official who ignited a firestorm by comparing enforcement of environmental laws to crucifixion, will not be testifying as planned before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday, committee sources told The Hill.
Armendariz, who was administrator of EPA’s Region 6, resigned in late April over the 2010 comments, which surfaced earlier that month. He had been slated to appear before a committee panel for a hearing on EPA’s enforcement priorities.
In 2010, Armendariz compared his strategy for going after companies that run afoul of environmental laws to practices of the ancient Romans.
“It is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer the villages in the Mediterranean — they’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere and they’d find the first five guys they saw and they’d crucify them. Then that town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz said at that meeting.
“You find people who are not complying with the law and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them. There’s a deterrent effect there,” he said.
His 2010 remarks drew widespread attacks from Republicans, who cited them as evidence of an overzealous government agency.
Republicans on the Energy Committee said they are “disappointed” that Armendariz will be a no-show.
So subpoena him.
MICKEY KAUS: “The more Obama was out of the spotlight during the GOP primaries, the better he did. Now he’s energetically campaigning and drawing attention to himself–big mistake!”
UPDATE: Some questions for the President. I like this one:
You called Vladimir Putin with congratulations after he won the Russian presidential election.You called François Hollande after he won the French presidential election. Given the high profile and potential implications of the Wisconsin election, do you plan to call either Governor Scott Walker or Mayor Tom Barrett with any comments? If so, what do you plan to say?
Heh.
WELL, THAT’S COMFORTING: Column: Quit fretting. U.S. is fine in science education.
GREAT: You wouldn’t mind government tracking your car and mileage real-time, would you?
I had some related thoughts here.
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Survival Guide for the 132 Non-elite, Non-flagship Law Schools.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: 7 Life Lessons I Learned From Working At Starbucks.
AT AMAZON, top deals in Cellphones & Accessories.
Also, today only: Chamberlain Whisper Drive Garage Door Opener with Battery Backup, $199.99. Use your garage door when the power’s out. I wish I had one of those.
PROF. JACOBSON: “What a night last night was. It was as good if not better than when Scott Brown won in January 2010.”
SO MUCH FOR THAT “NEW CIVILITY” BULLSHIT: “Kill Scott Walker”: Angry libs flood Twitter with death threats after Wisconsin recall defeat. I’d be interested to know who these people are, and what kind of jobs they hold. If any.
UPDATE: Democrats Threaten Walker Assassination. “The liberals’ rhetorical violence contrasts with Walker’s own restrained and dignified victory speech last night.”
ROGER SIMON: Return of the Bradley Effect: What if ALL the Polls Are Wrong? “So if I were a member of the Democratic Party this morning, if I were David Axelrod and his team of so-called wise men, I would be wondering – what if all the polls are wrong? What if this is true across the entire country?”
BLUE ON BLUE: Senate Democrats blast national security leak on Iran cyberattack. “Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined other senior Senate Democrats in expressing serious concerns about the leak, which detailed a cyberattack intended to hamper Iran’s nuclear program. Some Republicans argue the information was leaked to help President Obama’s reelection campaign.”
SAN DIEGO PASSES PENSION REFORM by a wide margin.
Likewise in San Jose.
UPDATE: David Harsanyi: Not just Wisconsin: California portends bad news for public-sector unions.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Ride Right Through Them, They’re Demoralized as Hell. “I’m watching Morning Joe and I see Chuck Todd making excuses for the democrats and watching Mika go on about the exit polls supporting Obama’s strength in Wisconsin. . . . Watching the exercise of denial reminds me of the very first time I used the phrase: January 20th 2010.”
Further thoughts here: “I can’t help but be pleased to see the Democrats so deep in denial, but I suggest that it has really been the right and conservatives who have been in denial the most over the past year. In our case, however, it’s been denial of our successes.” Don’t get cocky, kid.
On the other hand, a journalist-reader who asks anonymity writes: “Over at memeorandum.com the AP, NYT and WaPo heds all say ‘Walker survives’ … I dunno, 53-46 sounds more like ‘Walker spanks.'”
#CNNFAIL: “I can’t have been the only who noticed Wolf Blitzer talking, as the Wisconsin polls closed, about how shockingly ‘head-to-head’ the race had turned out even as early returns showed Scott Walker’s lead over Tom Barrett grow ever larger. Even as the words ‘fifty-fifty’ were uttered, the actual results were more like 53-46, and then 57-42, and suddenly CNN’s screen was filled with Union Jacks and coverage of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.”
Plus, gloating from Mickey Kaus: “There are some duties a blogger cannot shirk. If I’m going to gloat, though, it would be good to find the most egregiously embarrassing prediction of doom for Walker (and his ‘overreach’ in changing the rules of public employee unionism) in the past year and a half. Please submit your nominations below. Bonus points if they were not written by E.J. Dionne.”
MICHELLE OBAMA applauds Mike Bloomberg’s nannyism. Yeah, I know, dog-bites-man.
ANDREW KLAVAN: Of Human Perversity And Oranges for Heads.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Jackson Browne cools on Obama.
ANDREW BREITBART’S WARNING.