I WISH I’D DONE THIS BEFORE MY GRANDMOTHER DIED: Oral Histories Save Family Memories Forever. It’s not just veterans’ recollections that are worth saving.
Archive for 2012
December 10, 2012
BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Road To Serfdom, in cartoons.
ANDREW KLAVAN: How Ben Affleck’s Argo Screws History.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is Casual Sex Right For You?
ADVICE FOR LAWPROFS FROM MICHAEL HIGDON: Serving on Appointments While Retaining Your Sanity.
CARLA OLSON AND MICK TAYLOR: Sway. I have their live album, Too Hot For Snakes, and it’s a real gem, though largely unknown.
Also, Olson’s band The Textones, Standing In Line. I saw them somewhere — not sure if it was 12th & Porter or the Exit/In, but it was a great show. But then, what’s not to like about a great band featuring a 6′ Swedish woman who plays a Rick?
MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR SALARIES FOR EXECUTIVES OF THE FAILING FANNIE MAE.
AT AMAZON, it’s the Kindle Deal Of The Day.
THE WHITE ANIMALS: Gloria.
YES: Marc Thiessen: Republicans Should Stand And Fight. “Pass your plans. If the president refuses to negotiate and no progress is made by February, inform him that you will attach all or part of your plan to legislation raising the debt limit and pass it in the House. Then do so. Obama will sign it. Here is why.”
Related: Politico Poll: 76 Percent Favor ‘Cutting Government Spending Across the Board.’
PAUL RAHE: Michigan Seems Like A Dream To Me Now. “In November, Barack Obama won the state handily, and Debbie Stabenow was re-elected to the Senate without any difficulty at all. In the same election, two conservative justices on the Michigan Supreme Court were re-elected, and a third conservative very nearly won a seat on the court that was being vacated by a liberal Democrat. Moreover, the left made a valiant attempt to secure the passage of a series of referenda designed to entrench union privilege in the state constitution, and they lost on each and every measure. What is one to make of this? . . . The unions and the Democratic machine associated with them have also destroyed Detroit. it was once the fourth largest city in the United States; it was once the nation’s wealthiest city per capita. Now the median price of a house is $10,000, and, where there were once two million residents, there are now fewer than seven hundred thousand. The state is changing character. In the last decade, it has lost 10-15% of its population. . . . It could also be the case that — with Washington deadlocked — the real action over the next four years will be at the state level. In 2012, the Republicans lost the national election. But, at the same time, they garnered in 2010 and 2012 a strength at the state and local level that they have not seen as a party since the 1920s. The fact that the Republicans in Michigan have just passed right-to-work legislation is proof that the Tea-Party impulse is by no means dead. The year 2012 may be remembered not as the year in which the latest wave of Progressivism triumphed. It may be remembered as a year in which the Republican resurgence hit a minor bump in the road. Stay tuned.”
#WARONQUADRUPEDS: Ohio Democrat Makes Bestiality Jokes; Humane Society Official Not Amused. On the other hand, the Humane Society is obviously a bunch of zoophobic bigots.
ROGER SIMON AND SHERYL LONGIN’S Walter Duranty play, The Party Line, is finally shipping from Amazon in paperback.
It’s also available on Kindle.
CHARLIE MARTIN: 13 Weeks: Week Five — In Which We Slog.
IN THE MAIL: From Adrian Murray, Common Ground America.
THE NARRATIVE CHANGES AS POLITICS REQUIRE: Opponents of the Bush tax cuts have done a silent flip-flop on whether those cuts helped the middle class. “Why a silent flip-flop, instead of overt? Because the explanation is a bit uncomfortable: calling the Bush cuts ‘tax cuts for the rich’ was a rhetorical goldmine in support of a political message. It was a terse, persuasive slogan, pithier than the truth that the Bush policy was actually progressive tax cuts for all taxpayers; recasting it as ‘tax cuts for the rich’ was therefore more effective at helping the Left win elections. Fair enough; that’s politics. The Left outfoxed its tax-cutting opponents by employing better rhetoric. But now, in late 2012, the political message must shift, because the looming expiration of the Bush tax policy is a real financial threat to the middle class — and therefore a political threat to any politician who fails to defend the middle class.”
ED DRISCOLL: Back and to the Left: Springtime for Oliver Stone. “You know, not many people knew about it, but the Fuhrer vas a terrific dancer.”
STOCKING STUFFERS FOR BIG LABOR.
THE ULTIMATE REASON TO SWITCH TO E-BOOKS: Bedbugs!
So buy a Kindle!
Say, did I mention you can get $50 off on a Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ today?
UPDATE: Reader Frank McDonough has kind words for Amazon’s customer service:
I bought an 8.9″ Kindle through Amazon yesterday morning, and saw your post this morning about the sale today. I contacted Amazon and, although they don’t have a post-buy price guarantee, they agreed to make an exception because of how soon it went on sale after my purchase and they gave me a $50 refund on my purchase!
Good for them!
STUDY: Beer May Have Anti-Viral Properties. I don’t know how good the science is here — but why take chances?
THEY’RE ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: Space-time waves may be hiding in dead star pulses.