NEWS FROM THE AMERICA THAT CARES ABOUT THE CHILDREN: More Than 150 Utah Teachers, School Workers Go To Gun Class.
UPDATE: Not just Utah. Columbus Dispatch: Scores of school workers want gun training. “We’re pleasantly surprised, but it’s not shocking.”
HEH: Rockland County Times: What You Don’t Know About the Agenda-Driven Journalists in Your Neighborhood.
The Rockland County Times shares in the community’s frustration with the tactics of the Journal News, particularly the seeming attempt to draw a moral link between law abiding gun owners and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The only remedy for this is for the editorial board of the Journal News as well as executives at Gannett to receive a taste of their own medicine.
We are publishing the home addresses of Journal News editors, publishers and the Gannet CEO to make a point; what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. We wish no ill will upon them.
This is why media competition is good. It would be interesting to run a background check on them, too, and look for DUI’s, unpaid support, etc. All in the public interest, of course . . . Especially since the Journal News is doubling down.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Teenagers Flee The Bursting Higher-Education Bubble For Brown Jobs.
The real significance of the story is that brown jobs are making it possible for Americans to make a decent living without a college degree. It’s a heartening sign of a new reality that some teens are finding ways to launch a middle class life directly out of high school. As the energy boom continues, we may be seeing a lot more of this. New developments in oil and gas extraction are already helping to point us towards energy independence. If they can also help build up the middle class, that’s even more reason to celebrate them.
My question. The New York Times seems upset that teenagers might skip college — which could lead to an, er, white-collar job — in favor of going straight into a “brown job” out of high school. So, according to the NYT, white=good, and brown=bad. Uh huh. Got it.
CHINESE EXPAND INTERNET CENSORSHIP: “We wait breathlessly for Thomas Friedman to either explain why this abridgment of personal liberties means that the Chinese are awesome.”
SACRE BLEU! French Court Says 75% Tax Rate on Rich Is Unconstitutional.
President Francois Hollande’s 75 percent millionaire-tax is unconstitutional because it doesn’t guarantee equality for taxpayers, France’s top court ruled.
Hollande’s plan add extra levies of 18 percent on individuals’ incomes of more than 1 million euros ($1.32 million), while regular income taxes and a 4 percent exceptional contribution for high earners are based on tax households, the court said today in an e-mailed statement. As a result, two households with the same total revenue could end up paying different rates depending on how earnings are divided among members of those households, which runs counter to a rule of equal tax treatment, the Paris-based court said. . . . The decision could be positive for France’s bond market because it shows there is a limit to the government’s ability to raise taxes on the wealthy and may decrease the flight risk of more rich French citizens, Barbet said.
The constitutional court lowered a series of other tax increases, calling them excessive or saying they also violated equality of treatment for taxpayers.
Maybe Gerard Depardieu can come back. . . .
It’s an interview with Craig Whitney, whose new book is Living with Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment.
TOM MAGUIRE ON The Renewal of Warrantless Eavesdropping: “People who want reform of our FISA laws need to work for the election of a Republican President so the NY Times and the rest of the liberal media can become enraged again. The next renewal is in five years; if it happens under President Hillary it will be perfunctory, but if it is President Rubio, well, the media will discover FISA problems by the bushel.”
MEGAN MCARDLE: Should People Be Forced to Buy Liability Insurance for their Guns?
No. It’s just an effort to raise the cost of gun ownership, and to accomplish back-door gun registration so that antigun newspapers can run lists of gun-liability-insurance policyholders. But proposals like this do serve to underscore the bad faith of the anti-gun crowd, who are willing to try anything to get their way.
What’s going on is explained here:
The gambit is to get a victory, a win, and push the face of the losers into shit if you can, in order to gain momentum for the next victory, so that you can again humiliate and degrade any winger gun owners and intimidate any good folks who happen to have hunted in the past.
You start the process in motion with a win, and you aren’t sure which win will be the one win to start it, but you keep trying for it.
As I say, bad faith. By bad people.
JUST REMEMBER, YOU’LL HAVE TO LIVE UNDER IT WHEN YOU’RE IN THE MINORITY. AND YOU WILL BE. Leading proponent of filibuster “reform” claims he has 51 votes. Remember how unAmerican this was supposed to be back when a Republican-majority Senate was considering this approach? The publicity made them think twice. That won’t happen next time.
NOW I UNDERSTAND OBAMA’S POSITION: Will ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Cause More Millionaires to Die by Dec. 31?
MARC THIESSEN: Why Not Let Taxes Rise On The Middle Class?
During Obama’s first term, federal spending grew to more than 24 percent of GDP — the highest it has been since 1946. Yet almost no one in the country (except smokers and those who frequent indoor tanning salons) saw their taxes rise. Quite the opposite: 160 million Americans saw their payroll taxes reduced from 6.2 to 4.2 percent.
How can we expect people to care about the growth of government if it doesn’t cost them anything? . . .
So let’s do it. Let’s all of us experience the true cost of big government in the form of a bigger tax bill.
It might well be that the biggest mistake Republicans made during Obama’s first term was forcing the president to extend the Bush tax cuts. At the time, it seemed like a major victory by the newly elected GOP House. But in truth, it was a victory for Obama. Extending the tax cuts shielded the economy from the full brunt of Obama’s economic failures and allowed him to put off job-killing tax increases till his second term. It’s ironic. Obama never passed up an opportunity to blame President Bush for his economic woes, yet he rode the Bush tax cuts to reelection.
Extending the tax cuts also shielded Americans from the costs of Obama’s spending spree. Shopping on a credit card is fun until the bill comes due. But if the bill never arrives, what incentive do people have to stop the spending?
Absolutely. No representation without taxation.
VIOLATING THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE: “The BBC offers this advice for anyone in Britain who is attacked on the street: You are permitted to protect yourself with a briefcase, a handbag, or keys. You should shout ‘Call the Police’ rather than ‘Help.’ Bystanders are not to help. They have been taught to leave such matters to the professionals. If you manage to knock your attacker down, you must not hit him again or you risk being charged with assault.”
This is not “civilized” behavior, though it is peddled as such. Nor is it a sign of a civilization that is in good health.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Americans Buying Out Ammo Stocks. Ammunition inventories are down 93% since the election, reportedly.
UPDATE: New York State Pensions Invest In Firearms Manufacturers. Some want to pull out, but given the performance of firearms companies as compared to the market in general, that would seem to be a breach of fiduciary duty. . . .
COMMENT OF THE DAY: “For ten years we have been told that the Bush tax cuts applied mostly to the rich. Now it is imperative that we extend them further or the middle class is going to take a big hit.”
TODAY ONLY: 35 Clint Eastwood Films For $57.99.
TINSLEY ELLIS: The Milky Way. From his forthcoming album. He says it was recorded with an actual, vintage Echoplex rather than modern digital wizardry.
I used to see him at the late, lamented Ella Guru’s. He was a very nice guy, and — as he remains — a tremendous guitarist. Check out The Heartfixers’ Cool On It for some of his excellent early work.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: IT’S NOT JUST LEGAL EDUCATION. Job Meltdown and Debt Crisis Among Veterinary School Graduates. “From my position in the industry, in the economy in which we all work, the demand for veterinary services appears smaller than the supply of veterinarians. I routinely look at the financial statements of over 50 veterinary practices; equine, mixed and companion animal. Those financial statements demonstrate that practices do not generate enough profit to pay Veterinarians sufficiently to repay student loans under the repayment terms commonly available.”
Meanwhile, some data on how legal education is doing.
Related: Medical Schools Make Reforms While Law Schools Make Excuses.
UPDATE: Dr. Peter Grout writes:
Thanks for the post. Many of us have been trying to point out basic facts to our colleagues, but most ears are deaf. Sadly, our professional organization, the AVMA is politically correct and useless.
They accredit new schools, and fund new “diversity” chairs. Meanwhile, last week 17,000 veterinarians (about 1/4 of total!) were informed last week that AVMA’s health insurance program (through NY Life) will be dropping ALL of us at the end of 2013. Including dependents, about 36,000 people are losing their coverage. We will be forced onto the OCare exchanges. And the loss of our coverage is certainly not deemed newsworthy.
Senator Landrieu’s health care rep, Peter said we were losing our choice since others did not have the same choice. I guess it wasn’t “fair” that we have all worked hard to have this choice. And AVMA has done diddley to prevent this.
People only care about you if you can be characterized as a victim of something other than the federal government. . .
ANOTHER UPDATE: Jason Van Steenwyk writes: “Quick point of order on the Veterinarian’s email to you… NY Life is not in the health insurance business. That was some other company dropping them, or more likely, Association themselves. A NYLIC agent may also contract and sell other company’s health policies on the side, but NY Life had nothing to do with this.”
MORE: Dr. Grout responds: “I assure you, it was NY Life who is dropping us. They have underwritten AVMA-GHLIT for 20 years. I am on duty until Monday morning, but will be happy to fax or email a copy of the letter after that. Or, should you be interested, you can probably confirm at AVMA-GHLIT’s website. Also Peter at Sen. Landrieu’s office confirmed this. Perhaps Mr Van Steenwyk is correct in the fact that, due to OCare they are leaving the major medical business for groups.”
Beats me.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Senate Approves Warrantless Phone Tapping for Next Five Years. “The bill now goes to Obama for his signature, which it wil almost surely get—he’s a vocal supporter of the legislation. Domestic spying will be a reality for the rest of his administration, and beyond.”
HYSTERIA: LOL: Media Plays Up LA Gun Buyback that Turned up (OMG!) Rocket Launchers. “That’s just crazy! You know what’s crazier? You can buy that stuff online. Here’s a page selling some. Here’s more. And try not to faint, but here’s a military rocket. And a rocket-propelled grenade. It’s crazy, just any old person can buy those things. Scary, right? The word that appears on all of those pages — inert — means quite a bit. Let’s see if anyone in the media looks it up.”
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Online Learning and Upheavals in Social Networks. “For all the attention lavished on the Web’s growth on mobile devices this year, one of the most interesting Internet trends is still best experienced on a desktop computer: online education. The rising cost of higher education (the average bachelor’s degree now costs more than $100,000), combined with increasing access to high-speed Internet service and a desire for more efficient and flexible learning methods, brought new prominence to websites offering free or low-priced courses in everything from programming to literature.”
SAVE UP TO 56%: Year-End Deals In Movies & TV.
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