STEVE DEACE: Dear Washington, thanks for my new tax increase. “Contrary to the rant in response you’re anticipating, I’m not upset. I’m actually honored to do my part in that whole ‘shared sacrifice’ thing we keep hearing about from our benevolent ruling class. After all, who’s more qualified to talk about shared sacrifice than those who can vote themselves pay raises whenever they want, pass laws they don’t have to subject themselves to and take vacations all over the world that are bought and paid for by others.”
Archive for 2013
January 18, 2013
I’M EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Space agency to smash 660-pound spacecraft into near-Earth asteroid. “The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to tackle a seemingly impossible task, the deflection of a near-Earth asteroid in 2022. The ESA will conduct a live test run on 65803 Didymos, which is 800 meters across. Unlike asteroid Apophis, 65803 Didymos is not an asteroid that’s likely to impact Earth, meaning that the ESA’s test run will not be an Armageddon-like effort to save mankind from impending doom. As DVICE points out, the ESA is simply going to attempt to alter the trajectory of a near-Earth asteroid to determine that if it had been on deadly collision course with Earth, the impact would have made it miss.”
ASTRONAUT SOCKS: In Space, No One Will Do Your Laundry.
JOURNALISM: BuzzFeed Staffer to GOProud: SUCK MY D***
BODY LANGUAGE: When did we start rolling our eyes to express contempt?
AT AMAZON, markdowns in Camera, Photo & Video.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Blue Civil War. “The different power blocks that make up the Democratic base are trampling each other in a rush to grab the last rents of the dying blue system. . . . Twentieth-century liberalism is a victim of its own success: it gave us longer and more prosperous lives, in turn putting tremendous pressure on social services and pensions. The result is the fragmenting coalition Edsall points to. Though he places part of the blame for the blue civil war on Republican-backed austerity measures, Edsall admits that demographic shifts and outmoded ways of delivering social services also played a role. The reality of blue model decline is so obvious that nobody can ignore it any longer.” Well, if Edsall is paying attention, that must be true.
MOMMY WARS: Moms of Only Children Not “Really” Moms at All? Here We Go Again. Women seem to spend a lot of time one-uppping each other.
This sort of female competitiveness has raised the costs and aggravation of parenting to the point that people are having fewer children. It’s socially destructive.
THE ALLURE OF EXPENSIVE HEADPHONES: How Dr. Dre Made $300 Headphones a Must-Have Accessory. “Just a few years ago, spending $300 on headphones was something only a handful of artists, music producers, and audiophiles would even consider. But that was before a hip-hop legend got involved. These days, headphones — specifically ones that cost hundreds of dollars — are one of the fastest growing categories in the consumer electronics industry. And musicians who aren’t sticking their name on a pair are starting to seem tone deaf.”
MICHELE CATALANO: The Fickle Fame of Twitter.
COMBINING SPINNING AND YOGA for a hot workout. “Pairing indoor cycling’s intense, calorie-busting cardio workout with yoga, the mind-body practice of stretching into inner peace, may seem like a mismatch but fitness experts say it works.”
GOP TO SENATE: Want A Long-Term Debt-Limit Deal? Try Passing A Budget.
NOW WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY WOULD BE A CAN’T-PUT-DOWN — IF IT WERE HONEST. If Sonia Sotomayor’s autobiography has nothing at all about law or even politics… … why would anyone read it?
Actually, even the cleaned-up version is a pretty good read.
AARON SWARTZ UPDATE: Top Senator Scolds Holder Over Reddit Founder’s Suicide. “Was the prosecution of Mr. Swartz in any way retaliation for his exercise of his rights as a citizen under the Freedom of Information Act?”
GALLUP: NRA More Popular Than Obama. Plus, the post-Sandy Hook poll “showed that only 38 percent of those surveyed have an unfavorable opinion of the NRA, while Obama’s disapproval rating is three points higher at 41 percent.”
MICKEY KAUS: “The Education of Ezra Klein (and Barack Obama) continues.” Mostly at our expense, alas.
A WHITE HOUSE PETITION TO REPEAL THE HOLLYWOOD TAX CUTS!
THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY, WASHINGTON WOULD LOOK LIKE MAD MEN — AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Second-Term Exodus Leaves Zero Hispanics in Cabinet, Few on Dems’ Bench. “Forget all the caterwauling about women (a bit of which, admittedly, came from me). The impending departures of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leave President Obama’s Cabinet with zero Hispanics, setting off nervous tremors among Latinos and underscoring the inch-deep Democratic bench in that demographic. . . . The political irony of Obama’s situation has got to tickle Republicans. They may be having trouble winning the votes of minorities and women, but they are doing noticeably better than Democrats when it comes to diversity in the jobs that typically lead to bigger things. High on the GOP roster are two Hispanic senators (Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas) and two Hispanic governors (Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico).”
Maybe the Dems should ask if they can borrow some binders from the GOP.
RACE AND FACULTY HIRING. “There are, I’m sure, colleges and universities that don’t insist on using race and ethnicity in such a heavy-handed fashion, although I’m not aware of any.”