ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ: AWR Hawkins: Connecticut ‘Does Not Have the Balls’ to Enforce 2013 Gun Ban. Gun owners need to be sure not to dodge jury duty.
Related: Connecticut gun owners revolt: Widely flouted registration law puts legislators in a bind.
Archive for 2014
March 7, 2014
AT AMAZON, the St. Patrick’s Day Sale.
Plus, deals on new Baseball Equipment.
And up to 45% off on Woodworking Essentials.
Plus, help decide which shows will become series with Amazon Pilot. Watch, choose, and influence the culture, all from the comfort of your own home.
I’M SURE IT’S GEORGE W. BUSH’S FAULT, SOMEHOW: Better Use Those Points: The Sad Decay of Frequent Flyer Programs.
If you’re a frequent flyer, you might have noticed that your miles don’t go as far as they used to. Spurred by rising costs–from fuel to flight training–and too many passengers with too many points, airlines are taking the pruning shears to their loyalty programs, cutting everything from the value of a mile to the perks their most elite flyers receive.
Why? The industry never really recovered from the massive downturn in business after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and over the past decade, airlines have been trying to squeeze every last penny out of their operations. First it was baggage fees, then came overpriced snacks and drinks. Frequent flyers were insulated from many of these costs, receiving free checked bags, first class upgrades, and free flights in exchange for loyalty, but now airlines are looking to their most loyal customers to help keep them in the black.
It started with United last fall, which made sweeping changes to the amount of points its Star Alliance members needed to upgrade or book flights. Now its Delta’s turn. The airline, which flies more people more places and has a fervent rewards fan base, rolled out a new policy that makes transcontinental and other upgrades even harder to obtain for its SkyMiles members. In addition, a new pricing scheme set to begin next year will make earning points significantly more difficult.
I’ve always said that frequent-flyer programs are a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie. When I was flying enough to be a Royal Medallion frequent flyer, I wasn’t looking for more chances to get on a plane. Making the experience more pleasant is better — but they don’t seem to be doing that, either. Personally, I’d pay a premium for more comfortable seats — though I’d pay a bigger premium for more reliable flights. That, alas seems the least likely perk of all.
DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Washington state girl, 11, shoots cougar that stalked her brother. “11-year-old Shelby White fired a rifle at an emaciated female cougar estimated to weight a paltry 50 pounds. The animal appeared to be following her 14-year-old brother, Tanner, into their home before she shot the life-saving bullet. It was the third such death of a cougar on the Whites’ property in two weeks. Locals speculate the animals are starving and looking closer to humans for food.”
Love the picture.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE: Allergies Are Everywhere.
BECAUSE THE DMCA IS LARGELY EVIL: Disappointing: DMCA Being Used To Make Feynman Lectures On Physics Less Accessible.
I’M INTERVIEWED IN U.S. NEWS about my book, The New School: How The Information Age Will Save American Education From Itself. Say, did I mention I have a book out?
WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Navy will deploy first ship with laser weapon this summer.
READER BOOK PLUG: From Paul Leone, The Book Of Thoth.
POPULAR SCIENCE USED TO BE MOSTLY ABOUT ROCKETS AND STUFF. NOW: How Men Learn (Or Don’t) About Menstruation. But at least the sample is scientific, right? “In their research, the scientists asked 23 young adult men — a largely white, suburban group of 18 to 24-year-olds who had signed up for a college course on human sexuality — about their experiences learning about menstruation.” Uh huh. Broad and deep.
MARK RIPPETOE: Maybe You Should Gain Weight. “The bottom line: bigger and more muscular looks better than smaller and less muscular. Further, more muscular is healthier, stronger, and more useful than less muscular.”
THE ANSWER IS, NOT PARANOID ENOUGH: How Paranoid Are You About Digital Security?
MY VIEWS ON LIBEL ARE PRETTY RELAXED, BUT THIS SEEMS LIBELOUS TO ME: AP smears Trail Life boys with misleading ‘Nazi’ photo. Made worse by a false caption. And the delay in fixing the error once it was pointed out seems like reckless disregard. But hey, smearing kids in the service of a political agenda is par for the course, these days. #Journalism.
IN THE MAIL: The King’s Marauder: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure.
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 302.
ALL WE NEED IS A PRESIDENT WILLING TO USE IT: America’s Energy Weapon. “The US’s energy power, a product of the shale revolution, is what the Kremlin fears most.”
BLUE ON BLUE: Cuomo Tacitly Endorses De Blasio Rival in Charter Schools Fight.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo are both Democrats, but they couldn’t stand further apart when it comes to charters. On the stump de Blasio promised to end the city’s practice of allowing charter schools free co-location in empty space in public schools, and to restrict the creation of new schools. Cuomo, on the other hand, has joined Democrats like Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel to champion charters as a common-sense education reform.
The two appeared at competing rallies in Albany on Tuesday. De Blasio’s rally in support of a higher tax on wealthy New Yorkers was not specifically targeted at education, but across town, Andrew Cuomo joined Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz at a different rally promoting charter schools. Although de Blasio downplayed the significance of the charter rally, it’s a big deal. Moskowitz is his chief opponent in the charter school co-location fight. Indeed, de Blasio specifically mentioned the need to reduce Moskowitz’s influence as a reson for the policy shift, and Moskowitz has responded with plenty of harsh words of her own. By appearing at the rally, Cuomo effectively endorsed de Blasio’s biggest rival. And he’s not just a silent partner; he spoke forcefully about the need to protect charter schools. . . .
New York is quickly becoming the chief battleground between the Democratic Party’s liberal and moderate wings. The competition between these two men can tell us a good deal about whether the far-left wing of the Democratic party can successfully pull the moderates in their direction and influence the party’s agenda. If they succeed, it could be good news for the GOP come 2016.
Yeah, the GOP should probably be cheering de Blasio on, as he leaves a trail of blue wreckage. The worse it gets in New York, the starker the message.
THEY SAID THAT ABOUT MITT ROMNEY ON RUSSIA, TOO: Radio Shack: Still Stuck In The ’80s.
NO, THEY DON’T CARRY OBAMACARE THERE. At Amazon, the April Fool’s Day Sale.
Also, new deals on Men’s Watches. And on Women’s Watches.
Plus, today only: 40% Off or More Rosetta Stone Level 1.
NOT FLATTERING: How Iran’s Rulers See Obama. “Iran’s rulers are watching Obama lurch from crisis to crisis, and they’re not impressed. Indeed, if this cartoon is a window into their thinking, it’s a safe bet that Tehran is already planning to walk away from the ‘interim’ deal now that it has loosened the global sanctions that had been crimping Iran’s economy.”
Related: Russia Blows Past Obama’s ‘Off Ramp.’
Plus: Charles Krauthammer: The Wages Of Weakness. Obama cares about consolidating Democratic power domestically. He’s not interested in what happens abroad, except to the extent it impacts that. And now that he’s been re-elected, he has more flexibility.
UPDATE: 2012 Is Calling to Get Its Naive Belief That Russia Is Not a Threat Back.
JAMES TARANTO: Nuclear Fallout: Democrats filibuster an Obama nominee.
The 47-52 procedural vote that blocked the nomination of Debo Adegbile as assistant attorney general for civil rights was actually bipartisan, with “no” votes coming from all 44 Republicans who were present. But because of a recent Senate rule change, pushed through by Majority Leader Harry Reid, the GOP can’t block a nominee without Democratic help.
It was in November that Reid and the Democrats invoked the so-called nuclear option, depriving the Republicans of their ability to block nominations on what is called a cloture vote–a vote to end debate and bring the nomination to the floor. Before the change, it took 60 “yes” votes to invoke cloture, so that a unified minority party with at least 41 seats could prevent nominations from coming to the floor. Democrats have held the majority throughout Obama’s presidency, but they’ve been below the 60-vote threshold for most of that time. Under the new practice, a simple majority is enough to break a filibuster, so that cloture is tantamount to confirmation.
That means that if the Democratic majority stays unified (or has few enough defections–currently five–to leave a majority in support), it can confirm any Obama nominee. The flip side, as we noted in November, is that one day Senate Democrats will find themselves in the minority, unable to block a Republican president’s nominees. But a smaller unintended consequence came into view yesterday. As the Hill’s Meredith Shiner notes, an effect of the majority rule is “squarely putting the burden of confirmation on the majority and politically exposing the most vulnerable members of that majority.”
Oft evil will shall evil mar.
THEATRICS: Rep. Issa on IRS hearing: I followed the rules, Rep. Cummings threw a ‘hissy fit.’ Cumming’s hissy fit was intended to give the press something to report on besides the fact that Lois Lerner took the Fifth again, undermining the White House’s “phony scandal” claims. Cummings was going to do that no matter what happened — that’s basically his job on the Committee, as the White House’s water boy — and the press was going to pick up on whatever he did because they’re water boys too.
By ignoring the absurd theatrics of the Congressional Black Caucus, Boehner and Issa are making clear that they’re serious, and won’t be rolled here. I think that’s good.