Archive for 2014
December 11, 2014
EUGENE KONTOROVICH: “Isolation” And The Israeli Elections.
HOUSE PASSES CROMNIBUS. Senate to pass short-term funding bill until it can do the same.
WILL “CROMNIBUS” CROAK? White House Preps Feds For Shutdown. Wonder if they’ll engage in Obama’s patented pain-maximizing park-and-monument closures this time, when Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge?
Related: Ed Driscoll: Shutdowns Then and Now: Tanks for the Memories, TNR! “As always, for the left, the motto is, ‘It’s Different When We Do It.'”
Well, on the one hand it’s a transparently partisan flipflop. On the other hand, I’m kind of amazed to discover that there’s anyone left at TNR.
THE WASHINGTON POST’S ERIK WEMPLE: The full demise of Rolling Stone’s rape story. “[T]he shoddiest piece of journalism in recent memory. . . . Erdely’s mission appears to have been to present as sensational and damaging an account of fraternity excesses as she could gather.”
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Is the Bar Exam Broken? Or Are Law Students Dumber? Not mutually exclusive, of course.
SHUTDOWN FLASHBACK: Elizabeth Warren slams House GOP’s “anarchy gang” — The Massachusetts senator delivers a rousing defense of government against “anarchists.”
UPDATE: You know, it’s cynical but I wonder if part of Warren’s trouble with Cromnibus is the campaign-finance provision that would give the party apparat a lot more power. That would be of great advantage to Hillary . . . .
BEN BARTON ON WORKING OUT IN SLOVENIA: “The gym is nice, but plays deafening EDM on a loop and often has a long line of ripped and surly guys blocking the squat rack. In short, not ok for me.”
A PORSCHE SO RARE, even Google hadn’t heard of it.
MY FAVORITE TWEET THIS WEEK: Made @instapundit s lamb and guiness stew again. Perfect meal for cold nights. I cooked bacon with the onion. Here’s the recipe. Bacon couldn’t hurt!
AT AMAZON, Kindle Daily Deals.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How To Survive A Helicopter Crash. According to my friends Bill and Stevie Ray, the best way is to avoid helicopters.
ASHE SCHOW: Due process for everyone but those accused of rape. “‘[B]ecause essentially burden of proof is a defense of the perpetrator,’ said Stanford University activist Elisabeth Dee.” Due process weakens the state vis-a-vis the individual, so when lefties control the state, they’re against it. When they don’t, they’re all for it.
ATTACKING YOUR CUSTOMERS IS EXPENSIVE: Anti-GamerGate Campaign Cost Gawker Over A Million Dollars. “The cost to Gawker Media of its ridicule and viciousness toward video gamers was ‘seven figures’ in lost advertising revenue, according to the company’s head of advertising, Andrew Gorenstein. In addition, founder Nick Denton has stepped down as president and editorial director Joel Johnson has been removed from his post and will probably leave the company, reports Capital New York. . . . Gawker, together with Vox Media, represent the ‘worst offenders’ in the media, according to GamerGate forums: they have both, through properties such as Kotaku and Polygon, respectively, repeatedly mocked video gamers and uncritically reported claims of threats and harassment from feminist campaigners which are falling apart under closer scrutiny.”
Other media outlets may want to take note, as may their critics.
I THINK WE MAY WIND UP NEEDING SOMETHING LIKE THIS SOONER, RATHER THAN LATER: Navy Laser Blasts Targets In Air, On Sea | Raw Video.
SOME PEOPLE ARE READY FOR A ONE-WAY TRIP TO MARS. I’ve got a little list, they never will be missed . . . oh, wait, what? Never mind.
PUBLIC RESTROOMS: Not actually especially dirty.
IN THE MAIL: Think and Grow Digital: What the Net Generation Needs to Know to Survive and Thrive in Any Organization.
Plus, today only at Amazon: Up to 78% Off a Scotch Laminator and Pouches.
And, also today only: Save 40% or More on Select Espresso Makers & Contigo Mugs. Mmm. Espresso.
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 581.
TRANSPARENCY: Party fundraising provision, crafted in secret, could shift money flow in politics. “A massive expansion of party fundraising slipped into a congressional budget deal this week would fundamentally alter how money flows into political campaigns, providing parties with new muscle to try to wrest power back from independent groups. The provision — one of the most significant changes to the campaign finance system since the landmark McCain-Feingold measure — was written behind closed doors with no public debate.”
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Health Care to Suppress Wages Even More.
Forget the raise: health care will cut even more into the paychecks of many American workers next year. . . .
When Sen. Chuck Schumer sought to distance himself from the ACA he said that the timing for the law was wrong because “and if health care costs were going up, it really did not affect them.” That continues to be untrue. Even if you get insurance from your employer, the lost wages are significant. Anyone who tries to downplay the seriousness of the health care problem is missing the reality of costs that eat more and more into American incomes. In 2009, for example, David Goldhill calculated that even on conservative estimates, a company would put a little under $2 million towards an employee’s health care plan over the course of an employee’s career. If you are concerned about wage stagnation, you have to be concerned about health care.
Related: Gruber Took The Measure Of The ACA:
Gruber’s attempt to downplay his role in the ACA is unconvincing, for reasons we suggested here. But the most damning comments by Gruber were not his “glib” words about the American public but his accurate analysis of the Affordable Care Act. For instance, in one of the videos that became controversial, Gruber is taped saying “What the American public cares about is costs. And that’s why even though the bill that they made is 90% health insurance coverage and 10% about cost control, all you ever hear people talk about is cost control.” That is not glib; regardless of whether you think the law was sold deceptively in the way Gruber suggests, his understanding of the law’s focus on coverage over cost is correct. Whether or not Gruber was “the architect” of the law, whether or not his more noxious comment can fairly be associated with the law, he understands the law—and that is damning enough.
It’s damning stuff all the way down.
ANNALS OF “SMART DIPLOMACY:” Obama’s foreign policy plans collide with wars abroad and politics at home. This says it all: “For the White House, the focus these days is on ‘sustainability,’ not victory.”
SCIENCE: “Nice people” more likely to follow Nazi orders. “Does that mean the Nazis were just nice people trying to follow orders and be polite? You probably wouldn’t want to go that far, but suffice to say, it turns out nice people just want to appease authorities, while rebels stick to their guns.” Stick to, bitterly cling to, whatever.