Archive for 2012
June 15, 2012
HOMELESS MAN FINDS $77,000, may get to keep it.
SCIENCE: Science May Soon Give Us Pills That Make Us Exercise. “Swiss researchers have discovered that elevating the amount of erythropoietin, a hormone more commonly known as epo, in the brains of mice led them to be more active. What’s more, it did so without causing the erythropoiesis, or elevated red blood cell counts, that typically occurs when epo is used to boost performance. . . . The discovery raises the possibility of creating a drug that would help people achieve healthier lifestyles and chip away at an epidemic of obesity caused in part by the fact we get half as much exercise as we should. Beyond that, any drugs derived from the research could be used to treat mental illnesses where physical activity is known to improve mood and behavior.”
MAJOR OBAMA DONOR RAJAT GUPTA convicted of insider trading. Gupta’s donations are here. Will the Dem connection make the news?
AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Math & Science.
THE SUDDENLY-LESS-DEFERENTIAL PRESS: Daily Caller’s Neil Munro interrupts President Obama; ‘is this right thing to do for American workers?’ I like this: “POTUS interruptus.” We are all Sam Donaldson now!
UPDATE: Video: Obama Angry At Being Questioned.
ANOTHER UPDATE: “Amnesty” Is A Spanish Word That Means “Desperate.”
MORE: “Actually, Mr. President, you did ask for an argument.”
And reader Jeff Johnson writes: “So Obama is pushing for Amnesty at that same time that Eric Holder is trying to stop Florida from purging its voter rolls of non-citizens. Coincidence? I think not!”
MORE STILL: Tucker Carlson: “I don’t remember Diane Sawyer scolding her colleague Sam Donaldson for heckling President Reagan. And she shouldn’t have. A reporter’s job is to ask questions and get answers. Our job is to find out what the federal government is up to. Politicians often don’t want to tell us. A good reporter gets the story. We’re proud of Neil Munro.”
You should be. He’s not a lapdog. And it’s rather late for the White House to try to stand on Presidential dignity.
Plus, Prof. Jacobson points out that it really is news when Obama gets a tough question from the press.
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Kimberlin Case Against Aaron Walker Dismissed!
UPDATE: More from Prof. Jacobson. Note that Judge Vaughey’s “peace order,” which purports to forbid Walker from blogging about Brett Kimberlin, remains in force.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Smartphones For All Freshmen At Seton Hall.
READER PLUG: Reader Pat Reeder asks me to plug an album by his wife, Laura Ainsworth.
POPULAR MECHANICS: Tapping The Riches Of Space. “We’re not going to be able to reach beyond the International Space Station and sustain human explorers on the moon or Mars unless we start “living off the land” in space. If we can’t shoulder the risk of developing off-planet energy, water, and structural materials, high costs will forever chain us to Earth. The risks of tapping space resources are real, but the payoff is huge—nothing less than an economic boom between Earth and moon, and the means to put robot and astronaut explorers to work unraveling the mysteries of our solar system.”
Faster, please.
ASSUMING, OF COURSE, THAT ANYONE IS USING EUROS BY THEN: BMW i8 plug-in hybrid will cost over 100,000 euros.
DAVID MARANISS IN THE WASHINGTON POST: How Obama Became Black.
An excerpt from Maraniss’s new book, which has already gotten a lot of buzz.
“REMINDER: OBAMA ATE A DOG.” Romney Campaign Bus Has Own Twitter Account, Taunts Obama.
IN THE MAIL: Jeremy Lin: The Reason for the Linsanity.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: America’s Weapons of World Domination: Sex and Kim Kardashian.
HOUSE TO EXAMINE FUTURE OF VIDEO:
Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who announced the hearing on Thursday, said the panel “will examine how advances in consumer electronics, broadcasting, cable, satellite, the Internet and other platforms are changing how consumers access video content, how those changes are impacted by existing regulations, and what type of regimes should apply going forward.”
The hearing is scheduled for June 27.
Lawmakers and regulators have begun to question whether cable companies are trying to stifle competition from online video. The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation of cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner, according to media reports.
Cable companies provide both television and broadband Internet service for many customers. The question is whether the cable companies have illegally used their control over Internet access to prevent people from dumping their television service in favor of online video providers, such as Netflix and Hulu.
Personally, I favor people dumping cable.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Grieving Father Struggles to Pay Dead Son’s Student Loans.
Someone should really write a book about this phenomenon.
VIRGINIA POSTREL: 3D Copying Makes Michelangelos of the Masses.
Video here.
AT AMAZON, markdowns on Patio, Lawn & Garden.
Also, today only: Denon AVR3312CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver, $549.99.
“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Obama, Russia, and Syria.
WELL, NO, IT DOESN’T: Tim Carney: Libertarian does not mean ‘pro-corporate.’
So, why is Lambert confused? Probably because he buys the Jane Mayer/Thomas Frank definition of the libertarian movement: a “pro-corporate movement,” as Mayer puts it.
Who opposed TARP? Who opposed the Export-Import Bank reauthorization recently? Who stood against the Chamber of Commerce when the Chamber supported the stimulus? Libertarians.
A final note:
The MPR article mentions that AFP is knocking three lawmakers for supporting the stadium susbidies, and notes, “In an unusual twist, two of those targets are Republicans….” What’s supposed to be “unusual”? That Republican politicians support corporate welfare? Or that AFP, often called a “Tea Party” group would target Republicans for bad votes? Neither surprises people who actually follow the GOP or the Tea Party.
Nope. But they don’t fit the narrative.
A NEW ANTI-OBAMA AD: “Wah Wahhh.” With a Peanuts theme.
And even Dana Milbank is sounding the same theme: “Despite his claim that ‘both parties have laid out their policies on the table,’ Obama has made no serious proposal to fix the runaway entitlement programs that threaten to swamp the government’s finances. . . . Instead, Obama’s speech was a rehash of earlier proposals.”
UPDATE: Obama’s “Reset” Speech Is Just A Summer Rerun. “Nothing but recycled lines, cliches, dreary policy details and a campaign message that didn’t sell before.”
And reader James Randolph writes: “It’s like hyping the worst movie sequel ever. With nothing else new, he might as well stick the ‘in 3D!’ label on it.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: New Romney Ad: “Looks like a one-term proposition.”