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Archive for 2014
August 24, 2014
OBAMA HAS NOW REACHED THE STAGE IN HIS PRESIDENCY where he’s consistently mocked by Maureen Dowd. For Republicans in the White House, this happens in January of their first year in office, but for Democrats it indicates a significant phase-change. This is because Dowd wants to be cool, which means that when she starts mocking a Dem President, it has become okay to do so even within the bubble occupied by Democratic pundits.
But “So how can you blame me for wanting to unwind on the course or for five hours at dinner with my former assistant chef? He’s a great organic cook, and he’s got a gluten-free backyard putting green.” Oh, my.
UPDATE: Judging from the comments, while Dowd might be regarded as a lagging indicator by people who are paying attention to politics, for the typical New York Times reader she’s actually a leading indicator. . . .
THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: In effort to shield Obama from criticism on ISIS, White House makes everything worse.
CHANGE: Obama orders review of U.S. arming of police.
President Obama has directed a review of the federal programs that send surplus military and other supplies and equipment to local law enforcement agencies, a White House spokesman confirmed Saturday.
The review, which will be led by the Office of Management and Budget and other White House offices, sprang from widespread concern about the military-style body armor and vehicles police in Ferguson, Mo., used in their early confrontations with protesters rioting over the the police shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown. . . .
It will weigh whether the programs should continue and whether police and local law enforcement have the right training and guidance to use the equipment.
The White House will coordinate its review with Congressional oversight hearings and possible legislation. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., announced hearings on the programs when Congress returns in September, and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has written a bill that would place restrictions on the program and try to ensure that police have the right training to use the equipment.
Republicans should get behind this — and add language that would limit misconduct where civilian arms are concerned, too.
And while it’s nice to see the Obama Administration catching up to where I was in 2006, I note that the equipment is only part of the problem: A doctrine of SWAT overuse that sends guys dressed like Imperial Stormtroopers to serve ordinary drug warrants is a bad idea no matter where the equipment comes from, as is an “if you don’t want to get shot, do what I tell you” sense of superiority.
IDLE, BROWSE, OR CHAT? Academics And The Social Network.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Sherman In Gaza. “Sherman was an attritionist, not an annihilationist — a strategist who believed in attacking the sources that fuel and field an army rather than butting heads against the army itself. To review his career is to shed light on why the Israeli Defense Forces were both effective in Gaza and hated even more for being so effective.”
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: She Accused Her Husband of Downloading Child Porn. Now She’s the One with a Felony Conviction. “Investigators found that the images Woods claimed her husband sought out were date-stamped between Aug. 11 and 14, 2013, which meant they were downloaded after Woods’ husband had been forced out of the house by a protection-from-abuse order.” Want to bet that the protective order was bogus, too?
Mr. Gore likes to say ‘our democracy has been hacked by big money,’ but he has done some hacking himself in his many rent-seeking activities. His Current TV payday, partly at the expense of the Qataris, partly at the expense of U.S. cable subscribers and shareholders, must be especially piquant to Americans exhausted by Mr. Gore’s incessant moralizing. What would be nice to know, and what a full airing of the legal record might show, and is at what point Current stopped being a sincere experiment in liberal news and entertainment. At what point did it morph into a scheme to shake down TV distributors and flip the carriage rights for what BusinessWeek estimates was $450 million in profit to Mr. Gore and partners.
The more people talk about equality, the more they’re involved in a system that promotes special deals for insiders. The more people talk about money in politics, the more they’re involved in crooked insider deals.
IT’S HARD TO WIN WITHOUT FAITH IN YOURSELF: Slip of the Tongue in South Dakota Senate Debate.
August 23, 2014
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Gun-rights group persuading dozens of towns to repeal firearms regs in legal blitz.
HIPSTERS RUIN EVERYTHING, AND NOW THEY’RE COMING TO YOUR CITY: Moving Out of Brooklyn Because of High Prices.
YA GOTTA BLOW A FEW UP TO GET ANYWHERE: SpaceX Reusable Rocket Prototype Explodes Over Texas.
AT PRAWFSBLAWG, A CRY FOR HELP: Expertise on property stolen from luggage by airport/airline while in transit?
NARRATIVE: “Daniel Greenfield is a reliable journalist, and he writes an article to spell out that Foley held the United States in contempt and had gone to Syria to associate with the Sunni rebels and help them overthrow Bashar Assad. The obituaries that I have seen make no mention of this.”
DON’T ELECT DEMOCRATS? How 21st-Century Cities Can Avoid the Fate of 20th-Century Detroit.
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CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Martha Coakley owns up to lobbyist-held fundraiser. “A politically wired Beacon Hill lobbying firm let off with a light penalty by Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Martha Coakley for a possible violation of state law hosted a fundraiser for Coakley’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2009, the Herald has learned. The fundraiser calls into question the attorney general’s repeated attempts to distance herself from the lobbying powerhouse, which negotiated a controversial settlement with Coakley’s office for allegedly charging illegal contingency fees to the Franciscan Hospital for Children.”
IT’S COME TO THIS: ISIS the Rock Band Mistaken for the Terrorist Group.
“It blows my mind that people can’t see the difference,” a representative of the band told ABC News. “I know they receive threats constantly via Facebook.”
ISIS, a band originating from Boston, Massachusetts, began playing in 1997, releasing nine albums with titles like “Panopticon” and “In the Absence of Truth.” The group moved to California before officially splitting up in 2010.
Though the band is no longer together, the ex-members are being flooded with threats from individuals who believe them to be associated with the Islamic terrorist group, which recently claimed responsibility for beheading American journalist James Foley. The group has also slaughtered Christians, Yazidis and other Muslims who aren’t members of the Sunni Islamic sect.
“It certainly caught us off guard,” Aaron Harris, the band’s drummer, told ABC News.
Related: Are People Becoming Dumber?
HYBRID ALTERNATIVE: 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI Diesel Manual-Shift.
A “SCREAMING DEAL?” The 650-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette Z06 will cost you $78,995. It will also murder everything within three tax brackets. Gotta say, I much prefer the look of the previous generation, though.
I’M SKEPTICAL THAT THIS WILL DO MUCH, EXCEPT MAKE LIFE TOUGHER FOR NON-ABUSERS WITH PAIN PROBLEMS: In Move to Curb Drug Abuse, D.E.A. Tightens Rule on Widely Prescribed Painkiller.