Archive for 2014
July 3, 2014
TOM BLUMER: Is the Economy Already in Another Recession? Even if not, a net first-half contraction seems all but certain. I predict that they’ll do whatever it takes to goose the numbers to avoid two negative quarters in a row.
HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WORKING OUT? “It’s going to be a long, long confrontational struggle with Russia that will last at least until Putin is no longer the leader.”
I’M SURE THE DEMS WILL SAY THAT THEY’RE NOT “REAL WOMEN:” Republicans Circulate List of Top Female House Candidates.
On Tuesday morning, a top aide to Rep. Ann Wagner, a Missouri Republican and leading voice in the conference for women, emailed Capitol Hill colleagues and K Street allies to highlight these female candidates, according to an email obtained by CQ Roll Call.
“As many of you know, my boss, Ann Wagner (MO-2), and Congresswoman Diane Black (TN-6) have worked over the last year to recruit, support and promote Republican women candidates for Congress across the country,” wrote Christian Morgan, Wagner’s chief of staff. ”As we are winding down Primary season, I wanted to send you a list of our top candidates.”
Morgan named the following candidates:
Retired Air Force Colonel Martha McSally, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Ron Barber in Arizona’s 2nd District.
State Sen. Mimi Walters, who is facing marginal opposition in the open-seat race for California’s 45th District.
Former Iowa Department of Public Health Director Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the GOP nominee to challenge Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, in the Hawkeye State’s 2nd District.
State Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas, who is in a runoff for the GOP nomination in the open-seat race in Oklahoma’s 5th District.
Former White House staffer Elise Stefanik, who is the GOP nominee in the open-seat race for New York’s 21st District.
Former Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love, the GOP nominee in Utah’s 4th District.
Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock, the GOP nominee in Virginia’s 10th District.
Former Rep. Nan Hayworth, the GOP nominee to take on Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., in the 18th District.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Wendy Rogers, who is in a competitive primary in Arizona’s 9th District, the winner of which will challenge Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
State Rep. Darlene Senger, the GOP nominee to challenge Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in Illinois’ 11th District.Three of those contenders — Love, Walters and Comstock — are favored to win their races, according to the Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call race ratings. If they do, the House GOP conference will gain one female member. Three other female candidates have an even chance of coming to Congress: McSally and Stefanik are running in Tossup races this November, and Douglas faces similar odds in her runoff. If she wins the 5th District nomination, Douglas is all-but-assured to win this November.
I like Mia Love. Here’s my interview from last year.
THE HILL: WH: No change in immigrant surge strategy ‘at this point.’
The White House is not planning to reassess its strategy for handling thousands of unaccompanied minors streaming across the border amid mass protests.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he had not spoken to President Obama about protests in California that blocked buses full of immigrant detainees from reaching a processing station. But Earnest said there was no expectation of changing strategies to deal with the flood of minors “at this point.”
“At this point, what we’re focused on is making sure that we can ramp up the resources that are necessary to meet this growing need,” Earnest said.
On Tuesday, more than 100 protesters blocked three buses with immigrant detainees who had recently crossed the Texas border from entering a processing facility in Murrieta, Calif. The government had planned to process the immigrants before releasing them to family members throughout the country, ahead of a deportation proceeding.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice told the Los Angeles Times the agency was seeking to address concerns raised by the protesters but declined to say whether the Murrieta facility would still be used.
Remember when they called him “no drama Obama?”
HOPEY-CHANGEY: Dawn of the Age of Oligarchy: the Alliance between Government and the 1%. “Thanks to their cozy relationship with the Obama administration, a new class of super-wealthy oligarchs keeps getting more powerful while the country’s middle class shrinks.”
MIKE BLOOMBERG HARDEST HIT: Poll: Majority of Americans Say Owning A Gun Is An “Act of Patriotism.”
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: A 5-year-old boy in Surprise is accused of sexual misconduct for pulling his pants down on the playground. Sending a child — especially a boy — to public school is looking more and more like parental malpractice.
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Despite court rebukes, Obama thinks he’s the only branch that counts. It’s the Imperial Presidency, all over again.
July 2, 2014
PROTEST LEADER DEMANDS: Repatriate Illegal Aliens.
Related: Showdown: California town turns away buses of detained immigrants.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: BREAKING: Much Maligned Law School Cuts Entire First-Year Class, Announces Layoffs. Okay, it’s Cooley, and it’s only one campus at Cooley, but still.
THINGS THAT DON’T SUCK: So I have to once again praise the Bissell Spot Cleaner for money-saving performance. The reclining sofa in the Insta-Bunker — purchased from the Haverty’s Clearance Center for 600 bucks around a decade ago — finally gave out. I moved upscale with a couple of nice recliners, but when the old sofa was hauled out there were some nasty stains: Spills that had trickled down, plus some sort of metallic grease that had leached out of the base or something. I really doubted that the Bissell would do the job, but I should have had faith, as the stains all came out completely. A few had to be treated several times, but in the end you couldn’t tell they’d ever been there. I was afraid I was going to have to call Servicemaster or somebody like that. That gadget has paid for itself several times over.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Why Are All The Cartoon Mothers Dead? “Bambi’s mother, shot. Nemo’s mother, eaten by a barracuda. Lilo’s mother, killed in a car crash. Koda’s mother in Brother Bear, speared. Po’s mother in Kung Fu Panda 2, done in by a power-crazed peacock. Ariel’s mother in the third Little Mermaid, crushed by a pirate ship. Human baby’s mother in Ice Age, chased by a saber-toothed tiger over a waterfall.”
Sarah Boxer comes to a tiresomely predictable point in exploring this phenomenon.
EVOLUTION: Why Humans Are Hard-Wired For Booze.
The earliest archaeological evidence suggests, based on chemical residues from pottery jars, that humans did not start fermenting honey, rice, and fruit to produce alcoholic beverages until 9,000 years ago.
But these fermented beverages were probably not our first exposure to alcohol, according to Dudley. Our preexisting taste for booze likely developed tens of millions of years ago in our primate ancestors, who survived mostly on fruits.
As fruit ripens, more alcohol is created by the yeasts. When a fruit starts to seriously rot, it can contain up to 8% ethanol, although most ripe fruit contains less than 1%.
Dudley’s theory suggests that the alcohol concentration of ripe fruit would have served a purpose for both the fruit-bearing plant and the primate. In tropical forests, fruit can be hard to track down. However, the scent of alcohol from ripe fruits travels long distances, and may have helped primates to find their next meal.
Being attracted to the scent of ethanol from ripe fruits would have been evolutionarily adaptive, enabling the primates to find fruit easier. It was also helpful to the plants, because the primates helped to disperse the seeds in the fruit.
But the gains of eating these alcoholic fruits doesn’t end there. Once digested, the theory goes, the alcohol would have stimulated feeding, encouraging the primates to “gobble up the food before anyone else got to it.” Humans know this feeling today as the aperitif effect, which you may have experienced if you’ve ever had a cocktail before a meal and found yourself hungry. Or craved cheese fries after a night out.
So, basically, the Taco Bell “Fourth Meal” phenomenon predates humanity.
THE HUFFINGTON POST HAS SEEN THE FACE OF EVIL: The Bacon Cheeseburger.
FASTER, PLEASE: IBM: Commercial Nanotube Transistors Are Coming Soon.