Archive for 2016
October 3, 2016
NOT JUST THE CHICAGO WAY ANYMORE: Young Virginia Democrat Admits to Registering 19 Dead People to Vote.
LASERS — IS THERE ANYTHING THEY CAN’T DO? Lasers plus ‘mini’ craniotomy can remove larger brain tumors.
EUGENE VOLOKH WRITES ABOUT our amicus brief in Teixeira v. County of Alameda, the Second Amendment gun-store zoning case.
FASTER, PLEASE: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Could Run in the U.K. by 2030: U.K. government urged to swiftly get behind a safer form of carbon-free power.
If you don’t support nuclear power, you don’t care about carbon emissions.
SURPRISE! Turkey Extending State of Emergency Another 3 Months.
The Turkish government says the state of emergency that went into effect following the failed coup on July 15 will be extended another three months, beginning October 19. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus spoke to reporters Monday following a Cabinet meeting.
The main opposition CHP has condemned the move.
It wasn’t a failed coup; it’s a successful purge — CHP needs to watch its back.
BOONE, I’M ANTICIPATING A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE: Having more sex makes men more likely to believe in God.
TODAY’S OCTOBER SURPRISE: NY attorney general orders Trump Foundation to stop fundraising.
WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Google Science Fair: A 3D-Printed Exoskeleton That Can Train a Paralyzed Hand to Move Again.
MERGER: Bass Pro Shops acquiring Cabela’s for $5.5B.
I hope they don’t change much about Cabela’s, which has become my home away from home.
COME TO THE DARK SIDE — WE HAVE COOKIES AND 20-SIDED DICE: How to Bring a New Player Into Your Roleplaying Campaign.
BAD LUCK: Obama Says Obamacare Has ‘Real Problems’ Congress Refuses to Fix.
If only the GOP Congress had gotten ObamaCare right the first time around.
GANGSTER GOVERNMENT: Inside the Chicago Police Department’s secret budget: Every year, police take millions of dollars from ordinary Chicagoans and spend it behind closed doors. The single biggest reform here would be to require that all money seized go to the general fund, not remain under control of the people who seize it. I’d be prepared to argue, actually, that due process of law requires that the people seizing the money have no pecuniary interest in doing so.
MOLON LABE: NPR Reporter Has No Idea What ‘Come And Take It’ Means.
Sunday marked the 181st anniversary of the Battle of Gonzales, the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution, when Texian militiamen, responding to Mexican soldiers demanding the surrender of a small brass cannon, coined the now-famous battle cry, “Come and Take It!”
An NPR reporter decided to mark this anniversary with a story about how the phrase has been stolen by Second Amendment activists, “with no appreciation of its origins.” Some local residents of modern-day Gonzales, we’re told, “think it’s been cheapened—and they want it back.”
But neither the hapless NPR reporter nor the several anti-gun residents of Gonzales interviewed for the story know the actual origin of the phrase, or why its application to the ongoing national debate about gun control and the Second Amendment is entirely appropriate—and historically accurate.
They are blissfully unaware that “Come and take it” is a quote from King Leonidas I of Thermopylae.
“Blissfully unaware” is too kind. There’s scant evidence that there’s anyone in the field of journalism with a deep understanding of guns or gun rights, or with any willingness to learn.
LOOKING FOR THE ANAMORPHIC KEY: Is it possible to unravel the many mysteries of this supremely odd election?, Roger Kimball asks.
REMEMBER, SHE’S SUPPOSED TO BE THE COOL, CONTROLLED, QUALIFIED ONE: Hillary on Julian Assange: “Can’t we just drone this guy?” I like how people laugh at first, but she just goes on. . . .
2016, MAN. . . .
Honestly, I don’t find the resemblance overwhelming, or even especially strong, though that proves nothing, I suppose.
UPDATE: In the comments, readers say he looks more like Leo DiCaprio’s illegitimate son. I see that resemblance.
REGULATORY CAPTURE: Half of ex-insurance commissioners went to work for industry.
That’s according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation, which tracked career moves between 2006 and 2016. Of 109 commissioners who left their posts, 55 of them ended up working for the insurance industry.
The investigation also details some of the cozy relationships between the regulators and the companies they worked to regulate — from sharing fancy dinners and drinks to commissioners receiving industry campaign contributions.
“A lot of commissioners don’t want to alienate the industry,” says Sally McCarty, an ex-Indiana commissioner. “Many people consider the job an audition for a better-paying job.”
Here’s yet another area where Glenn’s revolving door surtax would do us some good.
CRASHING BY DESIGN. This Just In: Obamacare Collapsing, Michael Walsh writes.
(Headline inspired by Pete Townshend, by way of that legendary musical duo, Cloward-Piven.)