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VIRGINIA POSTREL: How Spock Became A Sex Symbol.
ASHE SCHOW: Mia Love discusses 2016 presidential field.
Utah Congresswoman Mia Love won’t say who she’s currently supporting for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, but she did say whoever it is should be “inspirational.”
When asked by the Washington Examiner how Republicans can combat the “war on women” narrative in 2016 against a possible Hillary Clinton candidacy, the freshman congresswoman said Republicans should be more focused on who they nominate than who they’ll be running against.
“We can’t think about — Hillary, as far as I’m concerned, is not even in the picture. I don’t even like mentioning the name,” Love told the Examiner after her Thursday panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I think that we need to focus on who is going to be inspirational, who is going to talk about upward mobility and move Americans forward.” . . .
“Who is going to be the one that says ‘You know what? I don’t know it all, I trust the American people to make decisions. Give them the reins. Let them decide what healthcare they want. Let them control their lands. Let them educate their children. Let them be able to keep a little bit of their funds to take care of their families and their communities.'”
When asked if there was anyone she was currently leaning toward supported, Love punted.
It’s early yet.
HE WAS AT THE BLS FROM 2008-2012. Republicans Name Keith Hall CBO Director, Replacing Doug Elmendorf.
ROBERT MCDOWELL: Overturn The FCC’s Power Grab.
Thursday marked the largest government intervention into the Internet ecosphere in American history. By equating the dynamic 21st century Internet to the telephone system of 1934, the Federal Communications Commission has thrust powerful but antiquated utility-style regulations onto the U.S. tech economy. . . .
The FCC’s power grab discards the bipartisan light-touch regulatory framework laid out during the Clinton administration. That hands-off approach made the Net the greatest deregulatory success story of all time.
History teaches us that utility-style regulation raises costs to consumers, reduces investment and innovation, and creates uncertainty due to the politics-driven nature of “mother may I innovate” government mandates. Regulation only grows. Now the Internet cannot escape that fate.
The ultimate result of more government encroachment will be something akin to the sagging European Internet market, where investment in broadband infrastructure is only one-fourth of America’s due to heavy-handed regulations. Even worse, this new power grab could trigger expanded intergovernmental powers over the Web through existing telecom treaties, jeopardizing Internet freedom.
What many in Silicon Valley don’t understand is that, according to the Supreme Court’s 2005 Brand X decision, nearly any “tech” company that builds a telecom-style network to deliver its content and apps has the potential to be captured by the FCC’s new rules. If the agency tries to exempt some companies but not others, it will be choosing the politically favored over everyone else.
Well, that’s the whole point of this exercise, one suspects. I mean, isn’t it always?
BLUE COLLAPSE: Chicago nears fiscal free fall with latest downgrade. “Chicago drew closer to a fiscal free fall on Friday with a rating downgrade from Moody’s Investors Service that could trigger the immediate termination of four interest-rate swap agreements, costing the city about $58 million and raising the prospect of more broken swaps contracts. The downgrade to Baa2, just two steps above junk, and a warning the rating could fall further still, means the third-biggest U.S. city could face even higher costs in the future.”
And remember, it’s run by one of Obama’s more-competent former minions. . . .
MEH. THEY ONLY GOT IN BEFORE VIA COMPLICIT DEMOCRATIC STAFFERS: Code Pink Feeling Stifled by Capitol Police Crackdown.
Forced into handcuffs before and after congressional hearings over the past two days, protesters organizing with Code Pink are fuming about the beefed-up presence of Capitol Police when contentious, high-profile officials testify on Capitol Hill.
On Thursday, officers arrested Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, when he rose from his seat to challenge Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. after the conclusion of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on worldwide threats.
And a right-leaning group would never get the degree of forbearance that Code Pink has enjoyed for over a decade.
THE HILL: NRA chief presses Congress on concealed-carry bill.
The head of the nation’s biggest gun rights group urged Congress Friday to pass legislation to allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines.
During the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre said it’s time for Congress to act and pass the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
“It’s time for Congress to pass national right-to-carry reciprocity for the entire United States,” LaPierre declared to cheers from the crowd of thousands of conservatives gathered at the Maryland event.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is the chief sponsor of the concealed-carry bill in the upper chamber, while Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) is spearheading the push in the House.
Supporters of the legislation — expected to be a top priority for gun rights activists in the current Congress, — believe they can secure enough Democratic votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster and get the legislation to President Obama’s desk.
Good.
NANCY PELOSI: Congress Is Living Paycheck To Paycheck. “So you think you’ve got it bad? Try being in Congress. Those poor bastards are practically homeless. . . . Hell, Pelosi is so down on her luck these days, she had to burn the Constitution just to keep warm. Also, because she hates it.”
MARCH MADNESS IN NIGERIA. “President Goodluck Jonathan does now admit that he underestimated Boko Haram and implied that there will be nothing but successful actions against the Islamic terrorists between now and election day (March 28). Boko Haram has announced their intention to disrupt the elections, at least in the three northeastern states where they have thousands of gunmen. All Boko Haram has to do is inflict some major defeats that the government and army cannot hide to wreck Jonathan’s plan. This looks to be a particularly grim form of March Madness.”
WELL, IT’S CERTAINLY TIME FOR ONE: Gen. Jim Mattis: A New American Grand Strategy.
SCIENCE: Athletes May Benefit From A High-Fat Diet. “Early humans, the hunter-gatherers, who were quite physically active, primarily ate fat. It’s been the main fuel for active humans far longer than carbohydrates have been.”
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ANDREW KLAVAN: Good News, Beheaded Christians! “Well, about that whole ‘Never Again’ thing: Remember ‘Hope And Change?’ That’s what changed.”
THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE: “We don’t know whether being married causes you to have more sex or having more sex causes you to stay married longer.” I say, why take chances?
JEZEBEL ISN’T EXACTLY RELIABLE: Boy, Blowing Up A DNC Media Hit Job On Scott Walker In Realtime Sure Is Fun! The Latest Attempt To Launch A New Walker Smear Crashes & Burns On The Launch Pad. “As it so happens, this Jezebel writer, Natasha Vargas-Cooper, either didn’t do any research at all on this piece or she deliberately left out the whole story.”
IT’LL BE RULED A SUICIDE: Russian Opposition Leader Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead In Moscow.
SEEMS LIKE AN EVOLUTIONARY DEAD END: Study: Richest women have the most sex, most abortions, lowest births.
SEXY OR NOT, HIS SUPERPOWER IS, BASICALLY, TALKING TO FISH: Khal Drogo Gives Aquaman Sex Appeal.
It’s not easy to be Aquaman. Hey, even the Elongated Man gets more dates. Though I suppose that’s understandable.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: The First Two Law Schools to Drop the LSAT Could Be Just the Beginning. Maybe I’m cynical, but I wonder if this isn’t somehow aimed at manipulating the U.S. News rankings.
CATHOLIC PAGAN: 10 Questions For Camille Paglia. “I have very little contact with American academics, who are pitifully trapped in a sterile career system that has become paralyzed by political correctness. University faculties nationwide have lost power to an ever-expanding bureaucracy of administrators, whose primary concern is the institution’s contractual relationship with tuition-paying parents. You can cut the demoralized faculty atmosphere with a knife when you step foot on any elite campus.” Huh. Somebody should look into that.
DRIVING THE BMW I8 on the Angeles Crest Highway.
MICHAEL TOTTEN: Isis’ Next Target.
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