Archive for 2012

ABC NEWS: In Memoriam: The Old Obama, Who Wanted to Bring People Together. “The 2004 version of Barack Obama, who captured the nation with a dazzling speech about unity and went on to win the presidency on a message of hope, died on Monday. He was 8 years old.” I don’t actually think he’s been a uniter since 2004. That was just schtick.

PROF. JACOBSON: How do Zimmerman prosecutors prove case when key witnesses now have reasonable doubts? You know it’s a problem when MSNBC goes silent . . .

UPDATE: Reader Jerry Davis writes: “There never were any ‘key witnesses’ who supported the MSNBC version of events. Following aggressive ‘re-interviewing’ by the prosecution, some of the key witnesses have now stated they’re uncertain about some aspects of what they saw. On balance, though, their testimony hasn’t changed. The fact that’s being characterized as a weakening of the prosecution case makes it clear MSNBC’S narrative was a figment of their imagination and they’re now trying to find an excuse for their decision to distance themselves from it.”

#NANNYFAIL: Why Johnny Can’t Ride. “Childhood obesity rates are soaring, youth participation in sports and other active pursuits is plummeting, and a generation is coming of age with little understanding of the joy and freedom of unsupervised play. There’s a simple solution—but all across the nation our schools earn a failing grade when it comes to letting kids ride their bikes.”

Related: “Could you be arrested for allowing your 5’th grade child to ride her bike one mile to school?”

Tar. Feathers.

TEN OF THE biggest-bore weapons ever. I’ll settle for a .75 recoilless like “Slippery Jim” DiGriz.

SHOCKINGLY, A PLACE THAT SEEMS TO BE TURNING INTO AN ISLAMIST PESTHOLE HAS A TOURISM SHORTAGE:

Egypt has a problem with foreigners. More accurately, Egypt has a problem because there aren’t enough foreigners investing or traveling in Egypt anymore.

After the revolution began last year, foreign investment dried up, fast. Tourists disappeared and haven’t really come back. The two groups—investors and travelers—are extremely important sources of money for the Egyptian government and the entire economy itself. With elections this week, investors are waiting to see what kind of government begins to take shape in Cairo. All presidential candidates have said they favor free market-focused economic policies, and all of them understand the importance of foreign investors and tourists to the Egyptian economy.

Well, they’re going to have to do a lot better than they’ve done over the past year. Lara Logan was unavailable for comment. . . .

BATTERY TEST: EV Pioneer Plans to Recreate Lindbergh’s Flight in Electric Airplane. “Electric vehicle pioneer Chip Yates is upping the ante in the world of electric airplanes. Today, the world-record holder for electric motorcycles announced plans for an all-electric recreation of Charles Lindbergh’s famous trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. And Yates isn’t content with just retracing the path across the Atlantic. He’s betting that like Lindbergh’s, his airplane will fly non-stop to Paris. Yates plans on flying at least as fast as Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and for added challenge and recreation authenticity, he’ll fly relatively low to avoid getting an extra push from the jet stream.” I wish him luck.

FEED A FEVER, STARVE A CANCER? “The idea that lower infectious disease incidence is associated with higher rates of cancer is not new.”

AFRICA: The Next Asia? I have family in Nigeria, and it’s light-years beyond where it was in the ’90s. “The new mall culture in Zambia’s capital, which I’ve watched expand almost exponentially in visits over the last three years, is booming all over Africa, in places like Accra and Dakar, Windhoek and Gaborone, Nairobi and Maputo. Driving it are young people like Joshua and his friends, a generation that is growing up like none that preceded it: a bulging new cohort of young people with disposable income, however modest, a keen and up-to-the-minute sense of youth trends and of consumerism around the world, and, most importantly, the expectation that life that will continue to get better and richer and fuller of choices.”

But will they bring back Zam-rock? More here.