Archive for 2012
October 28, 2012
“ROMNEY HAS PRETTY MUCH NAILED DOWN FLORIDA,” says Mason-Dixon’s pollster.
So long, Florida: twitter.com/BarackObama/st…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 25, 2012
ROGER KIMBALL: Weather Worries. “We live about 150 feet from Long Island Sound. My worry is that, over the next couple of days, that distance is going to shrink to zero.”
UPDATE: Latest Sandy update from Brendan Loy. “If you’re in an impacted region, today is your last day to prepare. By tonight, weather conditions will already be deteriorating. So, as the weather service always says at times like these, ‘Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.’ (Preparedness links can be found at the bottom of this post.) . . . DO NOT STAY PUT, IGNORING EVACUATION ORDERS, SIMPLY BECAUSE YOUR HOME WAS FINE IN SOME PREVIOUS STORM.”
‘RACINE TEA PARTY FIRES UP THE FAITHFUL:’ That’s nice, but underneath that dull-as-dishwater headline is this detail, buried four paragraphs into the article:
Before the event could get under way, though, organizers say a truck affixed with “Obama” stickers drove through the parking lot and dumped quantities of nails.
“We went outside and picked up what we could,” said Lou D’Abbraccio, holding a cup filled with nails. “But this was just wrong.”
Lora Halberstadt, a Tea party member, said the group did call the Racine Police Department to file a report.
Patch asked two RPD officers outside the venue if they could confirm the report, but they only said they couldn’t comment about a truck. We have a message into the RPD and we will update this story when we hear back from them.
So why does it take Matt Drudge to highlight that aspect – “Large Amounts Of Nails Dumped In Parking Lot At Tea Party Rally…” – as he blurbs at the Drudge Report, rather than the paper that originated the story?
RELATED: So, let’s talk about how this over-enthusiastic Obama vandal messed up his message.
A UNION SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN:
As election season heads into the home stretch, all eyes are on the presidential race. But while Obama and Romney are hogging the spotlight, another very important fight over labor unions is brewing in Michigan. We reported last month that Michigan’s unions scored an important victory when a measure enshrining collective-bargaining rights and outlawing right-to-work legislation was allowed on the ballot. . . .
If the bill passes, this would indeed be a major victory for a union movement that has seen precious few of them in the past few years. Midwestern states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan were once the heart of America’s labor movement, but many of these states have been leading the charge against collective bargaining since 2010.
But the unions’ hope that a victory in Michigan will breathe new life into their movement may be misplaced. Michigan’s large manufacturing and union history make it perhaps the most favorable environment for union-friendly legislation in the country. If unions can barely eke out a victory there, it does not bode well for their chances elsewhere. And with state and local finances in dismal shape in union-heavy blue states, desperate politicians are unlikely to have much sympathy for union demands as they try to put their house in order.
With the national climate turning against them, the battle in Michigan is looking more like a last-ditch stand than a turning point for public-sector unions.
It won’t do much for Michigan’s economy if it passes.
DOES I.R.S. STAND FOR Income Redistribution Service?
AT AMAZON, new out on DVD and Blu-Ray.
CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: VA chief in Las Vegas questioned in Berkley ethics probe. “The top official for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Southern Nevada has been questioned by the House Ethics Committee in its investigation of allegations that Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., used her office to boost her husband’s medical practice.”
What explains the fact that “access to the good life” has increased so significantly over time for low-income Americans? One main reason is the “miracle of the marketplace,” especially the miracle in the manufacturing sector. Thanks to significant advances in technology and gains in worker productivity, the costs of most manufactured goods have consistently declined year after year, making goods produced in our factories ever more affordable relative to our income, especially for low-income households. Greater global access to consumer products like low-cost clothing from abroad has also contributed to the increased affordability of manufactured goods for Americans.
The chart above illustrates the increasing affordability of manufactured goods over time. As a share of disposable personal income, spending on life’s “basics”: food, motor vehicles, clothing and footwear, and household furnishing and equipment, has declined from more than 40% of disposable income in 1950 to about only 15% in recent years. Whereas almost 40 out of every 100 dollars of disposable income were spent on household “basics” from the manufacturing sector in 1950, only about $15 of every $100 of income is spent for those “basics” today. The increased affordability of “food, clothing, transportation, and household items” means that even low-income households now have greater access to the “good life” than at any time in history, an often-overlooked achievement in all of the discussions on income inequality, stagnating income, and the supposed decline of the middle class.
That’s fine, until we encounter a run of “bad luck.”
WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: Gut Bacteria Cocktail May End Need for Fecal Transplants.
ANOTHER LENA DUNHAM PARODY AD.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Benghazi attack: Urgent call for military help ‘was denied by chain of command.’
BYRON YORK: How Team Romney Sees The Polls.
FORWARD: It’s our only hope! It’s 3 a.m. Do you know where your government is?
October 27, 2012
AND THE BEST WAY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE IS TO DRINK CYANIDE: Meet the fiscal cliff-divers, who think jumping off could be our best bet. (I don’t think “best” means what you think it means.)
SAY NO: Will Obama’s Benghazi Cover-up Succeed?
It might be time for folk to call or write their local news outlets with questions about “what happened in Benghazi September 11?” and “why aren’t you more fully reporting the September 11 events in Benghazi?” — that way we can help ensure the cover-up does not succeed.
Remember, no one died in Watergate.
PIN PRICK TO THE EDUCATION BUBBLE: Florida Tries Higher Ed Experiment. Well, at least they are aware of it now. However, as the mother of two college students, something must be done about the tuition.
#BENGHAZI: “The stunning part of the story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking force. Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.” Just think how much could have been accomplished if they’d had the support of their Commander-in-Chief.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: 8 Women Who Auctioned Off Their Virginity.
LOW INFORMATION VOTERS: Question for Obama supporters: What do you think of Mitt Romney’s “kill list?”
AT AMAZON, the Fall Outerwear sale. Winter is coming. (Bumped).
HEH! *AM I ALLOWED TO DO HEH?*: Snake on a plane! Glasgow airport gets a surprise.