YA THINK? Obama Promised Unity, Delivered Spectacular Factionalism.

THE BLASPHEMY WE NEED:

We are in a situation where my third point applies, because the kind of blasphemy that Charlie Hebdo engaged in had deadly consequences, as everyone knew it could … and that kind of blasphemy is precisely the kind that needs to be defended, because it’s the kind that clearly serves a free society’s greater good. If a large enough group of someones is willing to kill you for saying something, then it’s something that almost certainly needs to be said, because otherwise the violent have veto power over liberal civilization, and when that scenario obtains it isn’t really a liberal civilization any more. Again, liberalism doesn’t depend on everyone offending everyone else all the time, and it’s okay to prefer a society where offense for its own sake is limited rather than pervasive. But when offenses are policed by murder, that’s when we need more of them, not less, because the murderers cannot be allowed for a single moment to think that their strategy can succeed.

Indeed.

HATE FLYING? It’s Your Fault.

INSERT WINDOWS 8 JOKE HERE: Bill Gates’ New Machine Turns Human Waste Into Drinkable Water.

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SPACE: Is Moon Mining Economically Feasible?

SPENGLER: What Can France Do Now?

RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Canadian Anti-Piracy Company Caught Using Unattributed And Paywalled Articles To Fill Its Blog.

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BUSTED: Jay Leno Pulled Over Driving a 2015 Chevy Corvette Z06.

MORE OLD PEOPLE MEANS a “dementia plague.”

TECHNOLOGY: Broadband, Airline Industries Are Incredible Innovators — When It Comes To Giving You Less But Claiming It’s More.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Computational framework for structural DNA nanotechnology.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 610.

IT’S ON: ‘Hacktivist’ group Anonymous says it will avenge Charlie Hebdo attacks by shutting down jihadist websites.

LIVE BLOG — PARIS UNDER SIEGE: Charlie Hebdo Attackers Cornered, Hostage Situation in Kosher Store in East Paris.

ADMIT IT, YOU’RE RICH:

Why is the 1 percent suffering from this peculiar mass delusion? Well, actually, it’s not that hard to understand. Because if you’re reading this article, chances are that you are in the top 1 percent of global income. And chances are also that you really don’t feel like a tycoon.

The cutoff for the global 1 percent starts quite a bit lower than the parochial American version preferred by pundits. I’m on it. So is David Sirota. And if your personal income is higher than $32,500, so are you. The global elite to which you and I belong enjoys fantastic wealth compared to the rest of the world: We have more food, clothes, comfortable housing, electronic gadgets, health care, travel and leisure than almost every other living person, not to mention virtually every human being who has ever lived. We are also mostly privileged to live in societies that offer quite a lot in the way of public amenities, from well-policed streets and clean water, to museums and libraries, to public officials who do their jobs without requiring a hefty bribe. And I haven’t even mentioned the social safety nets our governments provide.

So why don’t we feel like Scrooge McDuck, rolling around in all of our glorious riches? Why do we feel kinda, y’know, middle class?

Because we don’t compare our personal experiences to a Tanzanian subsistence farmer who labors in the hot sun for 12 hours before repairing to his one-room abode for a meal of cornmeal porridge and cabbage. We compare ourselves to other Americans, many of whom, darn them, seem to have much more money than we do.

Traditionally, envy was regarded as a sin.

TOM MAGUIRE ON The Sisi Speech, Islam, and the New York Times.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO LIE ABOUT RAPE! (CONT’D): False Rape Accusation Leads To Alaska Man’s Beating Death. “A man was beaten to death by the boyfriend of a woman who falsely claimed he raped her in a Fairbanks, Alaska motel room on Wednesday. The woman, 31-year-old Dominique Vasquez, reportedly did not want to admit to her boyfriend, 39-year-old Abraham Stine, that she had cheated on him and so lied about the rape, according to Alaska Dispatch News.”

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, master psychologist.

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SHOCKER: Romney More Open to 2016 Run Than Ever Before.

FREE SPEECH: FIRE Endorses University of Chicago’s New Free Speech Statement. “The University of Chicago and its faculty, students, administration, and alumni should be proud of the university’s new free speech statement and the ideas it puts forth.”

SO I’VE BEEN USING THE RIPPETOE BOOKS, but while I was in LA this week I took the opportunity to visit InstaPundit reader Paul Horn, who’s a Rippetoe-certified Starting Strength coach and who has his own gym near LAX airport. I dropped by on the way back from the TV studio and emerged, a couple of hours later, and much tireder.

I found it very helpful. The books are nice, but there’s a lot to learn from hands-on training. Although my deadlift form was “perfect” — amusing, since I hadn’t done those in a while — my squat form and overhead press required some adjustment. Nothing drastic, but I could certainly feel the difference. Sadly, Rippetoe himself will be there tomorrow doing a clinic, but I’ll be home in Knoxville by then.