IMMORTALITY: Andrew Breitbart’s 5 Gifts to Generation Y Conservatism. “If this slacker beach bum from Brentwood can change political history through midwifing a new species of capitalist activism, then what venture can you create if you tried hard enough?”
Archive for 2012
March 5, 2012
BUT IT’S BEEN AWESOME FOR THE POLITICALLY CONNECTED ONE PERCENT: For 99% of Americans, the Obama recovery has been no recovery at all.
THAT’S HOW IT IS WHEN YOU DON’T BEHEAD PEOPLE OCCASIONALLY: Christianity Not A Religion?
CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS: Supreme Court Rules Against Gun Ban. “The Colorado Supreme Court has sided with opponents of a campus gun ban at the University of Colorado who claimed the ban is illegal because it was not approved by the Legislature. The court ruled Monday that lawmakers intended to take away the authority of the Board of Regents to regulate concealed handgun possession on campus.”
WELL, THERE GOES THE MAIN REASON I VISIT THE ATLANTIC SITE: Megan McArdle taking a “blog break.”
FARHAD MANJOO: I Love You, Killer Robots: Quadrotor drones are amazing and cute and will probably destroy us all.
Stare at this long enough and you could mistake the scene for something adorable—birds building a nest. But by this time you’ve stopped staring. Instead, you’ve opened another browser tab to look for good deals on bomb shelters and MREs.
Over the last couple years, videos like these ones from UPenn have become a mainstay of science and tech blogs. Every few weeks, there’s a new one showing drones swarming, mapping, surveilling, building, and generally wowing us with ever greater powers. Many of these flying objects are built by grad students at robotics labs, often in preparation for the International Aerial Robotics Competition. (That tournament will take place in North Dakota this summer.) The mission of this year’s competition: build a drone that can silently enter a heavily guarded, Osama Bin Laden-like compound and remove a USB flash drive from the top of an officer’s desk.
Read the whole thing.
GORGEOUS IMAGES of the Earth from space.
ACCOUNTABILITY, LIKE TAXES, IS FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: New Mexico Cop on Paid Leave While Being Investigated for Raping Sex Workers.
SHRINK-WRAPPING A BRIDGE to make it stronger.
SAYING A MASS FOR HUGO CHAVEZ’S HEALTH?
Best comment: “Shouldn’t they have tried an exorcism first?”
CHANGE: Biggest drop in factory orders, shipments in more than a year. “So much for a fast start to the recovery in 2012. A week after announcing the worst durable-goods orders report in three years, the Commerce Department’s report on factory orders and shipments in January show the worst outcome in sixteen months. . . . Inventories, on the other hand, continued to increase — a bad sign as demand drops.” This is why the Obama Administration is trying so hard to silence its critics. They know they’re going to have problems enough between now and November. They’d rather talk about birth control.
So don’t cooperate in the distraction efforts.
THIS WEEK IN THE FUTURE.
VOLOKH CONSPIRATOR DALE CARPENTER’S new book on Lawrence gets a very positive review in the New Yorker.
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Victory in Woollard, MD Case Against Justifiable Need Requirement for Concealed Carry. “’A law that burdens the exercise of an enumerated constitutional right by simply making that right more difficult to exercise cannot be considered –reasonably adapted’ to a government interest, no matter how substantial that interest may be.”
Related: Maryland Ruling a ‘Huge Victory’ for Second Amendment, Says SAF. “A federal court ruling in Maryland, that the Second Amendment right to bear arms extends beyond the home and that citizens may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ for obtaining a concealed carry permit, is a huge victory, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.”
UPDATE: More from Dave Kopel.
THE RISE (OR IS IT RETURN?) OF DIY DISTILLING.
WHO NEEDS CHEAPER GAS? Energy secretary says more alt-fuel options are better than gas-price drop. I certainly noticed the increase in gas prices filling up on the way to DC and back over the weekend. I paid between $3.89 and $3.99. That made the round trip cost about $140 to $150, about twice what it was not too long ago. Given that I drive a hybrid, and that I can afford higher gas prices better than most, I predict that these prices are going to hurt tourist destinations if they persist into the summer.
UPDATE: I just mentioned to a colleague that we made unusually good time on the drive because there wasn’t much traffic, and he pointed out that this is probably because gas has gotten so expensive. “I love $4 gas!” he exclaimed, because he can afford it and it keeps the roads empty. So there’s a slogan for you: The Obama Energy Policy: Clearing The Roads For Fatcats!
HMM: Did the Saudi Goverment Know About the 9/11 Plot? Two Former Senators Seem to Think So. “Graham and Kerrey are not nutjobs. Both were hip-deep in government investigations of the 9/11 attacks, which were largely carried out almost exclusively by Saudi nationals.”
ANN ALTHOUSE is liveblogging Limbaugh.
MORE ATTENTION FOR MY COLLEAGUE BEN BARTON’S EMPIRICAL WORK ON SUPREME COURT JUSTICES’ BACKGROUNDS: How is the Roberts Court unusual? A law professor counts the ways. “Roberts Court justices have spent more pre-appointment time in legal academia, appellate judging, and living in Washington, D.C. than any previous Supreme Court. . . . They also spent the most time in elite undergraduate and law school settings.”
Here’s the actual paper.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: European Clown Car Continues Wobbly Trajectory. “The European Union is what a complex political organization looks like when its founders don’t understand constitution making. Even simple decisions are hard; when life gets complex and truly difficult problems like monetary union come along, the European political system is unable to cope.”
CONTRACEPTION MANDATE: Actually a payoff to Big Pharma? “Completely ignored is the more fundamental problem: this mandate is not only about the bedroom, it’s about the boardroom. You’ve heard of crony capitalism? Well this is America’s first example of crony contraceptives. Forget for a minute the religious question and look at who wins big here: Big Pharma. This mandate is not really about condoms or generic versions of ‘the pill,’ which are available free or cheap in lots of places. This is about brand-name birth control drugs and other devices that some consumers swear off because they are too expensive. The Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requires health-insurance companies provide contraceptive coverage for all ‘FDA approved contraceptive methods.’ It does not insist on generics. And it does not offer any cost containment. . . . It’s important to point out that among President Obama’s biggest financial backers are precisely the Big Pharma companies who benefit from the mandate.”
PROF. JACOBSON: Welome to Total Political War.
UPDATE: Rallying for Rush? I used Carbonite for a while. If I’d known the founder was a MoveOn backer I think I would have been hesitant to trust them with my data.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Dave Dorsey writes: “I have used IDrive (idrive.com) for a couple of years now and have been very satisfied. I lost a hard drive a couple of months ago and restoring my files was very easy. They are free for something up to 5 GB, then $5/mo for something like 150 GB of storage.” Lots of people like Mozy, too.
BREITBART MEMORIAL GET-TOGETHER IN NEW YORK: Tonight, 7pm at Sanctuary Bar, 314 West 39th St (between 8/9). Here’s the Facebook page. Lift a glass on my behalf.