OUCH:

“INADVERTENTLY” IS THE NEW “UNEXPECTEDLY!” The Immigration Act That Inadvertently Changed America: Fifty years after its passage, it’s clear that the law’s ultimate effects are at odds with its original intent. “Seven out of every eight immigrants in 1960 were from Europe; by 2010, nine out of ten were coming from other parts of the world. The 1965 Immigration Act was largely responsible for that shift. No law passed in the 20th century altered the country’s demographic character quite so thoroughly.”

In academia, we say that personnel is policy. Does that hold for nations, too?

EVEN POLITIFACT ISN’T BUYING OBAMA’S GUN-SPEECH CLAIM: “Mostly False.”

I’LL BELIEVE IT WHEN IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Congress will impeach IRS’ John Koskinen:

This Congress will impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the House Oversight Committee, told a group of students from the Young America’s Foundation Saturday.

“It is something that has to be done,” said the Ohio Republican. “If we don’t hold some people accountable in the executive branch for the executive overreach we’ve seen in [the Obama] administration, then they’ll never get the message.”

The audience applauded his call for removing Koskinen, the IRS chief presiding over the aftermath of the tax agency’s conservative targeting scandal.

The House is going to pursue impeachment because there needs to be consequences for the egregious behavior of the IRS and “we think it’s critical to preserving fundamental freedom, fundamental rights,” said Jordan.

As Glenn asked last month in USA Today (in an article focusing on Gina McCarthy of the EPA, the head of yet another out-of-control punitive federal bureaucracy), “Is impeachment the answer to lack of accountability in the executive branch? If it isn’t, what is?”

WELL, THIS IS DISTURBING: Legionnaires’ Bacteria Regrew in Bronx Cooling Towers That Were Disinfected.

NEW ENGLAND TO SHIVER FROM THE LACK OF THOSE NATURAL GAS PIPELINES THE DEMOCRATS SO HATE:

Political stances have consequences: “Natural gas is so abundant and cheap in much of the U.S. that producers want to export it overseas. Except in New England, where gas is so hard to get that companies are importing it from as far away as Yemen.” In this particular case, the stance was we do not want any of those dirty, dirty fossil fuel pipelines in our backyards; and the consequences are soaring natural gas prices (2/3rds higher than the rest of the country) according to the WSJ, with the price probably continuing to skyrocket because of increased demand from consumers and what may be a really, really cold winter*. There’s also apparently the consequence that New England air pollution levels have been rising in the last year due to the need to burn stuff that’s less efficient than natural gas, but that’s a whole different issue**.

…Well. Loathe as I am to see a bunch of Americans pay through the nose for electric – and more importantly, heat – many, many people are going to not-really-nicely note that New Englanders have largely brought this fate down upon themselves by voting in Democrats.  And it’s true! New Englanders did, and they have.

But who could have seen this coming? Actually lots of people – including Nick Schulz, my editor back in the day at Tech Central Station, who warned:

For example, energy market analysts predict this winter will see steep rises in home heating bills as the demand for natural gas grows and supply remains tight. And yet, for years politicians have known of the need to bolster supply and yet obstructed efforts to help do so.

Consider the Bay State, where politicians are considering energy price controls. Massachusetts Sens. Kerry and Kennedy have opposed siting LNG terminals in their region. They also recently voted against an energy bill that would help get more natural gas to market. The Bay State political class has been blocking the surest way to decrease energy costs for their constituents by opposing measures to ease supply. And now it wants price controls? This makes no sense.

In the past 30 years, most people have learned critical lessons. The knee-jerk reaction of capping prices is seen as deeply imprudent by nearly every serious economist and by most political leaders. The basics of free-market dynamics are now pretty well engrained in the culture… but there are holdouts in bell bottoms.

Nick wrote that a decade ago – but then, time always stands still on the “Progressive” left.

SO GOD MADE A FARMER — AND HIS WIFE: To The Woman Riding In My Husband’s Combine:

I know when you set foot on the farm you’ll be nervous about the farmers taking you seriously.  I know you’ll struggle with being able to connect on a personal level, while not getting too personal.  You aren’t as free to joke and laugh with customers as the male competition is.

I know when you climb into the cab with my husband you are going to be nervous about getting your sales pitch right – about showing that you understand the farm and the industry.

I also know that you probably understand it better than the men in your role. I know you already had to prove yourself beyond them, to the men that you work for.

I know you are working your tail off, in an industry you love, that generally views you as less competent.  I know you face challenges every single day and I want you to know – as a fellow woman I will not be another challenge for you.

I want to say thank you.   Thank you for being audacious enough to get into the cab of a combine!

Read the whole thing.

(Via SDA)

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Nanotechnology carries gene editing package into cells.

COPYRIGHT IDIOCY: Pokémon copyright lawyers demand $4,000 from party planner.

OR IT COULD DESTROY US ALL WITH AN UNSTOPPABLE EXTRATERRRESTRIAL PLAGUE: Martian Life Could Be a Biotech Bonanza.

Related: Why I Hope There’s No Life On Mars.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How Not To Be an Absolute Jerk in an Online Multi-Player Roleplaying Game.

IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE IF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON YOUR OPPONENTS POSSESS IS AN RPG: This Hybrid Tank-Boat Is Either Pure Genius or Pure Folly: The X-18 Fire Support Vessel has a massive gun, can carry 20 troops—and has virtually no armor plating.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 877.

INDEED: Why Conservatives Mistrust Even Modest Efforts at Gun Control: Liberals tend to blame the gun lobby for blocking new regulations, but they dismiss firearm owners’ fear of government at their own political peril.

While Obama has repeatedly called for new gun controls, those attempts have hit a wall in Congress. Furthermore, of the gun laws enacted at the state level since the Newtown massacre, more have actually loosened restrictions than tightened them. Firearm production and sales have also increased since Obama took office.

The common liberal explanation for why this has happened is the entrenched power of the gun lobby—the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers. This isn’t wrong. The NRA’s power is considerable and it is carefully and effectively wielded. But focusing exclusively on the lobbying angle overlooks the very real fear and distrust with which many gun owners regard the government that drives much of the opposition to gun laws. Many of them simply don’t believe that enhanced background checks—or whatever other modest changes are proposed—are what they appear to be.

Well, that’s because gun control has always been sold on lies, and enforced based on broken promises. People do catch on after a while.

THIS IS SOMETHING LESS THAN A SURPRISE: Clinton Runs on Obamacare Benefits, Not Costs.

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USA TODAY: Calculated killing of Christians in Roseburg?

WHY OBAMA WANTS US TALKING ABOUT GUNS, CONT’D: CIA pulls staff from Beijing following a cyber attack on government employees.

Related: OPM Says Way More Fingerprint Data Stolen than Reported.

WHY OBAMA WANTS US TALKING ABOUT GUNS, CONT’D: Record 94,610,000 Americans Not In Labor Force; Participation Rate Lowest In 38 Years.

HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Top Obama Cyber Security Adviser Quietly Leaves Post at White House.

One of President Obama’s top cyber security advisers has left the White House after two years, a move that the administration has barely acknowledged.

The Federal Times reported that Ari Schwartz, who served as the National Security Council’s senior director for cybersecurity, left his post Wednesday after working in the Obama administration for a two-year term.

The White House has been quiet about his exit, but an Obama official said that Schwartz had planned on leaving after two years. The administration also confirmed Schwartz’s exit to The Hill.

Schwartz first served as Obama’s director for cybersecurity privacy, civil liberties, and policy when he joined the administration in 2013. In March of the following year, he ascended to his latest role.

The move comes as the United States endures increased cyber security risks, especially from attacks originating in China and Russia.

Chinese sources were responsible for the large cyber attack on the Office of Personnel Management computer systems that compromised personal data of about 22 million Americans. Russia recently launched a sophisticated cyber attack on the Pentagon’s unclassified email system used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sources in both countries have also waged cyber attacks on commercial targets.

While the Obama administration has hinted at sanctioning entities for the cyber attacks, no sanctions have been announced.

But wait, there’s more: Over the last 10 days, Obama’s top advisers on cyber-security, ISIS, and Russia have all resigned. Luckily for them, there are so many failures that that no single debacle really stands out.

MEDIA NARRATIVE: HALF-BLACK OREGON KILLER IS A “WHITE SUPREMACIST:” “One slight problem. Mercer identified as multi-racial. His mother was black. He doesn’t seem to have even known his father. He identified with black TV killer Vester Lee Flanagan. This doesn’t seem to have stopped the media with George Zimmerman who was labeled a white Hispanic, so maybe Chris Harper Mercer was a white Black? Was he a Half-White Supremacist?”

EUGENE VOLOKH: Guns And Alcohol.

After various highly publicized shootings, those of us who are skeptical about gun controls are often asked: So what are we suggesting should be done about the shootings? If we’re not suggesting gun controls (as opposed to proposals such as letting teachers or professors be armed, increasing concealed carry rights outside schools, providing school guards or trying to figure out, maintain and extend the remarkable fall in violent crime since the early 1990s) — the argument goes, we’re not taking gun tragedies seriously.

Now I generally don’t support the “don’t just stand there, do something” school of criminal law. When all the proposals seem likely not to work, or do more harm than good, implementing one of them for the sake of “doing something” strikes me as a mistake.

But let me offer a concrete analogy (recognizing that, as with all analogies, it’s analogous and not identical).

Every day, about 30 people are killed in the U.S. in gun homicides or gun accidents (not counting gun suicides or self-inflicted accidental shootings). And every day, likely about 30 people are killed in homicides where the killer was under the influence of alcohol, plus alcohol-related drunk driving accidents and alcohol-related accidents where the driver wasn’t drunk but the alcohol was likely a factor (again not including those who died in accidents caused by their own alcohol consumption). If you added in gun suicides on one side and those people whose alcohol consumption killed themselves on the other, the deaths would tilt much more on the side of alcohol use, but I generally like to segregate deaths of the user from deaths of others.

So what are we going to do about it? When are we going to ban alcohol? When are we going to institute more common-sense alcohol-control measures?

Well, we tried, and the conventional wisdom is that the cure was worse than the disease — which is why we went back to a system where alcohol is pretty freely available, despite the harm it causes (of which the deaths are only part). We now prohibit various kinds of reckless behavior while using alcohol. But we try to minimize the burden on responsible alcohol users by generally allowing alcohol purchase and possession, subject to fairly light regulations.

Read the whole thing.