Archive for 2016
January 21, 2016
HYPERBOLE MUCH, DUDE? Lindsey Graham: Choosing Trump or Cruz ‘Like Being Shot or Poisoned.’
Related: Republican senators start to unite: Anyone but Cruz.
FASTER, PLEASE: A Microrobotics Army to Defend Your Health.
WHITHER THE Aston-Martin DB9? “Honestly, regardless of how much power resided under its long hood, this car wouldn’t have lasted this long if it weren’t so damn pretty.”
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON on the Enigma that is Germany:
That German displeasure is so much greater than found in other nations might suggest some special antipathy for the United States’ preeminent superpower role. Is it pique over losing two wars to the U.S., or a sense of moral triumphalism that, while it learned lessons about the futility of war, the interventionist United States so far has apparently not — and thus endangers those who have? Or is it more realpolitik and the growing realization that the vanishing American expeditionary force is not so important to Germany, financially or militarily, as in the past? Why woo a superpower in decline? In any case, Germans are certainly confident of their own moral superiority. In an Economist poll they are the only Europeans to rate their own nation as the EU’s most trustworthy, least arrogant, and most compassionate — a positive view not shared in the same poll by the majority of its neighbors.
Read the whole thing.
ISN’T IT OBVIOUS, SHEEPLE? ‘The Lion King’ exposed as sexist, racist, homophobic, and pro-capitalist propaganda.
Nobody mention all the animated chemtrails in the background…
HILLARY EATS PUPPIES!: Okay, maybe not, but her private email server contained SAP (special access program) material, highly classified information that could have put the lives of Americans at risk. Which do you think would be worse for a former Secretary of State and presidential candidate–eating puppies or endangering American lives? (If you are a hard-core progressive/liberal, presumably it’s the former.)
When Team Clinton warns of a vast right-wing conspiracy, it’s a sure sign of political distress. Hillary Clinton’s accusation that even an independent federal watchdog is conspiring against her is another sign that her email problems are escalating.
The Clinton attack is a response to a Jan. 14 letter from the intelligence community’s inspector general, Charles McCullough, to Congress’s intelligence committees. Mr. McCullough said he has received sworn declarations from the intelligence community that former Secretary of State Clinton’s private email server contained intelligence about the government’s most important secrets. Reviewers have found “several dozen emails” containing information deemed to be at “confidential, secret, and top secret/sap” levels.
The SAP—special access program—reference in particular is ringing Washington alarms. A SAP usually refers to a highly covert technology program, often weaponry. Knowledge of these programs is usually restricted to small groups of people on a need-to-know basis.
NBC News first reported that the SAP reference on Mrs. Clinton’s server is so sensitive that Mr. McCullough had to get special clearance before he could even view the intelligence-community declarations. Later on Wednesday NBC quoted “senior U.S. officials” as saying that the information was “innocuous” chatter about U.S. military drone strikes.
This quote looks like an attempt at political damage control because the SAP news undermines Mrs. Clinton’s previous claim that the emails on her server weren’t classified “at the time.” The fact of drone strikes may have generally been known to the public, but classification levels often involve specific details—such as targets and timing. Mrs. Clinton would surely have recognized the sensitive nature of such a program—the details of which were sitting on her unsecured email server, affording “special access” to any quality Chinese hacker. . . .
All of this is relevant to the FBI probe into Mrs. Clinton’s intentions and negligence in handling classified information. Mrs. Clinton put U.S. secrets at risk for the selfish political purpose of hiding her correspondence from public view. She should be held accountable.
But will she be held accountable? Will the present DOJ, headed by Loretta Lynch, do what’s best for the country and the rule of law? I won’t hold my breath. Besides, what difference does it make that our Secretary of State had “beyond top secret” national security information on her unsecured private email server?
If the American people elect this woman President, we will get what we deserve. But then again, I said the same thing back in 2008.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE: Social Media Tips for Students, and *Other* Other People!
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How Much Firepower Does Your State Have?
NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Laser-Driven “Bubble Pen” Patterns Nanoparticles.
HMM: Hydrogen deal between GM, Honda getting factory real.
I drove a GM hydrogen car for Popular Mechanics a while back.
COVERING THE IMPORTANT NEWS: I Attended a Swanky Wedding for Instagram-Famous Dogs—It Got Weird:
“Man, Newsweek is covering this?” he asked in disbelief. “Our society is so fucked, man. We’re gonna look back years later and be like, ‘Dog weddings? That was the end.'”
Analysis: True.
Or perhaps not!, considering that SMOD is more than willing to take the end of society to the nth degree.
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LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: The US Military Wants a Chip to Translate Your Brain Activity Into Binary Code.
HOME RECORDING: Add a Dash of Nectar To Your Lead Vocals.
I have a product review of Izotope’s Nectar 2 vocal plugin suite over at the PJ Lifestyle section.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Certain Foods May Lower the Risk of Erectile Dysfunction. “A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, tea and wine may help reduce the risk for erectile dysfunction, a new study found. Previous studies have suggested that flavonoids, the antioxidants in these foods, produce anti-inflammatory effects that reduce the risk for heart disease and some cancers.”
NEW YORK TIMES: America’s Best Days May Be Behind It.
Curiously though, CTL-F+”Obama” equals zero results. Unexpectedly!
AND IN OTHER NEWS FROM YOUR NATION’S CAPITAL: Federal civil service managers aren’t supposed to use “administrative leave” – aka paying bureaucrats not to come to work – as a tool for inducing poor performers to quit. But the Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group’s Luke Rosiak finds solid evidence that agreeing to administrative leave for as much as two years in return for the letter of resignation is common in the federal bureaucracy. Why? Because such informal settlements are far easier than enduring the endless paperwork required to fire a bureaucrat and federal employee unions are sure to appeal, appeal, appeal.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Bar Exam Carnage Likely Will Worsen In 2016, 2017, And 2018. Law schools are admitting students with lower LSAT scores because they need warm bodies; people with lower LSAT scores do worse on the bar.
BEING AN OBAMACARE BOSS MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY: Andy Slavitt, President Obama’s choice to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which manages Obamacare and its struggling co-ops, is testifying before the Senate today. Half of those co-ops have gone belly-up, costing taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.6 billion. But don’t expect Slavitt to say he’s sorry, even though he’s been the acting CMS administrator and the deputy before that. The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group’s Richard Pollock, who has covered the co-ops from their inception, is on the story today.
IN THE MAIL: The Errol Morris DVD Collection (Gates of Heaven/The Thin Blue Line/Vernon, Florida).
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