IT’S OFFICIAL– CROWLEY INTERRUPTED ROMNEY 28 TIMES, OBAMA ONLY 9:  I told you so (see #6).  I’m no math whiz, but that’s more than 3x more interruptions of Romney than Obama.  Crowley a progressive shill?  You decide.

SEPARATE BUT EQUAL? SAME-SEX PUBLIC SCHOOLING:  U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Kay Bailey Hutchison have an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, arguing the merits of same-sex public school classrooms and schools.  True, segregation by gender in public schools seems to be motivated by a desire to improve test scores and minimize hormonal distractions that impede learning.  But is this consistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, or is the concept of “separate but equal” equally pernicious when applied to gender, as it is to race?  In the words of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

It’s an interesting legal question, not yet decided by the Supremes:  Can government segregate based on gender if such segregation is “benign” in purpose?

I’M TOO SEXY FOR MY  . . . DATA?:  The Harvard Business Review declares the Data Scientist to be the “Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.”  What on earth is a data scientist, you may query?  According to the HBR,  “It’s a high-ranking professional with the training and curiosity to make discoveries in the world of big data.”

Uh, er, um . . . okay.  Yeah, sounds real sexy– if you’re a total geek.  LOL.

OBAMACARE–A SLEDGE HAMMER TO KILL A GNAT:  John Goodman’s excellent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today shows why Obamacare’s mulit-trillion dollar transformation of 16% of the US economy is extreme overkill.  One of the chief problems supposedly solved by the law?  Pre-existing condition exclusions, whereby those with prior health conditions can’t get new coverage.  Of course, a 1996 law (HIPAA) had already severely scaled back the ability of group health insurance plans to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions— a point that almost no one ever makes (or realizes?).   That aside, however, Goodman’s point is this:

The Affordable Care Act established a federally funded risk pool—the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan—that allows individuals with such disqualifying conditions to buy a policy for the same premium a healthy person would pay. About 82,000 people have signed up as of July 31, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s statehealthfacts.org.

That is not a misprint. Out of a population of more than 300 million, some 82,000 have the problem that was cited as the principal reason for spending $1.8 trillion over the next 10 years and in the process turning the entire health-care system upside down.

Goodman points out that there are many better ways to take care of these 82,000 people.

This is a perfect example of  how government “solutions” rarely solve anything, and never do so efficiently.

OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DRIVER’S CONVICTION TOSSED OUT:  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has overturned Salim Hamdan’s conviction (by a military commission) for providing “material support” to terrorists, including his boss, Osama bin Laden, for whom Hamdan served as a driver.  The court reasoned that during Hamdan’s tenure as OBL’s driver (1995-2001), providing “material support” to terrorists was not a recognized crime under the Law of War. While Congress passed a statute in 2006 (the Military Commissions Act) that made material support to terrorism a war crime, it could not have retroactive application.

The court made it clear, however, that under existing Supreme Court precedent, Mr. Hamdan and other enemy combatants can be detained indefinitely, until such time as US hostilities with al Qaeda have ended.

POST-DEBATE COMMENTS:  Earlier in the evening, I posted my list of prognostications about the presidential debate.  Now, I’ll comment on whether, or to what extent, they came to fruition:

1.  Candy Crowley hones in on abortion (Roe v. Wade, specifically) and contraception and tries to paint Romney as a threat to lady parts and a “flip flopper”

Surprisingly, there was no talk of Roe v. Wade.  There was, however, a big emphasis on women’s issues generally– an overemphasis, in my opinion.  Who really cares about the Lilly Ledbetter Act?  There were at least three or four Obama references to Planned Parenthood, which is the Democrats’ dog whistle for the “war on women” and protecting our lady parts from the evil Republicans.

2.  Crowley throws Obama a softball on Benghazi and gives him plenty of room to blame the 9/11 events on Hillary and intel

OMG was this correct!  The question actually asked was inane, but Obama couldn’t even answer it, instead avoiding it for many minutes and then finishing with a generic “we’re going to look into this thoroughly” kind of response.  When Romney responded by pointing out that it took many days for Obama to even call the events in Benghazi an act of terror, Obama responded that he did call it an act of terror in the Rose Garden on 9/12. Candy Crowley jumped in, interrupting Romney to support Obama’s statement.  Obama did, ONCE, refer to a generic “act of terror” on 9/12, at the end of his remarks in which he repeatedly referred to the attack being a response to the Mohammed YouTube video.  Specifically, Obama said, “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.”

Crowley’s intervention to support Obama, in my opinion, was inappropriate, unfair, and lop-sided.  She acted like a cheerleader, and as a result of her unprofessional conduct, she provoked pro-Obama folks in the audience to clap, which further amplified the unprofessional, gang-bang on this important issue.

Fact checker and time will tell the story of this debacle and expose Obama’s outright lie.

3.  Crowley hits Romney on Romneycare and (again) tries to paint Romney as a flipper

Didn’t happen.  Very little talk about health care, though Romney tried on several occasions to talk about how its impending implementation in 2014 is frightening small business owners away from job creation.

4.  Crowley asks both candidates about gay marriage, asking Romney something along the lines of “Governor, do you support the right of two adults of the same gender to obtain equal treatment in marriage?” (or some other sickeningly one-sided phraseology)

This issue didn’t come up at all.  In fact, it hasn’t come up in either debate, and one wonders:  will it ever?  Or are both political camps afraid to touch this third rail?

5.  Crowley pushes Romney to explain his tax reform plan, but doesn’t ask Obama to explain his

This happened, in my opinion.  In response to a question about taxes (“Governor Romney, you have stated that if you’re elected president, you would plan to reduce the tax rates for all the tax brackets and that you would work with the Congress to eliminate some deductions in order to make up for the loss in revenue. Concerning the – these various deductions, the mortgage deductions, the charitable deductions, the child tax credit and also the – oh, what’s that other credit? I forgot. The education credits, which are important to me, because I have children in college. What would be your position on those things, which are important to the middle class?”), Romney laid out his plan in considerable detail.

Obama then responded with general platitudes about Romney’s numbers not adding up (ironic).  Crowley then turned the discussion back to Romney, asking, “If somehow when you get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in. If somehow the numbers don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent…?”   Crowley was thus suggesting that the numbers would not add up, pushing Romney for far greater detail/elaboration than Obama, who was given a free pass on this critically important question of dealing with the budget/taxes.

6.  Crowley interrupts Mitt on several occasions, asks him pointed followup questions, but uses a soft touch with the President, and never interrupts him once.

Undoubtedly happened. At one point, I thought Crowley might get out her Obama pom-poms and do a little cheer: “Give me an ‘O’!”

Full transcript of the debate is available here.

DEBATE PROGNOSTICATION:  Looking into the ol’ crystal ball, I see the following in tonight’s presidential debate:

1.  Candy Crowley hones in on abortion (Roe v. Wade, specifically) and contraception and tries to paint Romney as a threat to lady parts and a “flip flopper”

2.  Crowley throws Obama a softball on Benghazi and gives him plenty of room to blame the 9/11 events on Hillary and intel

3.  Crowley hits Romney on Romneycare and (again) tries to paint Romney as a flipper

4.  Crowley asks both candidates about gay marriage, asking Romney something along the lines of “Governor, do you support the right of two adults of the same gender to obtain equal treatment in marriage?” (or some other sickeningly one-sided phraseology)

5.  Crowley pushes Romney to explain his tax reform plan, but doesn’t ask Obama to explain his

6.  Crowley interrupts Mitt on several occasions, asks him pointed followup questions, but uses a soft touch with the President, and never interrupts him once.

I hope I’m wrong, but I’ll post again after the debate to say either “oops” or “told ya so!”

UPDATE:   Yes, it’s a town hall format, but these questions will come up and Crowley will set the tone.

A TALE OF TWO RECOVERIES:  From John Merline, over at Investor’s Business Daily, a great story and graphic to counter Michelle Obama’s claim that her husband’s policies have ushered in a “huge” economic recovery. 

IT’S A SCIENTIFIC FACT– CONSERVATIVE WOMEN ARE PRETTIER:  Duh.  Wonder how many millions of stimulus dollars it took the UCLA researchers to figure this one out?

BAH, BAH BLACKBERRY, HAVE YOU ANY WORTH?  No sir, no sir, three apps full.  The New York Times reports that Blackberry users are embarrassed by their handhelds:

BlackBerry outcasts say that, increasingly, they suffer from shame and public humiliation as they watch their counterparts mingle on social networking apps that are not available to them, take higher-resolution photos, and effortlessly navigate streets — and the Internet — with better GPS and faster browsing. More indignity comes in having to outsource tasks like getting directions, booking travel, making restaurant reservations and looking up sports scores to their exasperated iPhone and Android-carting partners, friends and colleagues.

I confess to being a BB user for many years, initially because of its security and email capability.  I can’t wait for my contract to be up (January!), however, so that I can switch to iPhone.  My Blackberry Torch is maddeningly slow, clunky, and has horrible apps.  ‘Nuff said.

OBAMA URGES DISMISSAL OF FAST & FURIOUS LAWSUIT:  The Department of Justice is asking a federal trial court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, seeking turnover of documents relating to the Fast & Furious gun running program.  The White House has asserted executive privilege for the materials, and urges the court to throw out the lawsuit based on the “political question” doctrine.

GUTTING MEDICARE, OBAMACARE STYLE:  An excellent new analysis by Bob Moffit at the Heritage Foundation details how the $716 billion in Medicare cuts will occur, and where all that money will go.   Hint: think subsidization of the costs of health insurance for younger folks under Obamacare.  Seniors, are you listening?????

OBAMA GETS READY TO RUMBLE:

HONEY BOO BOO THROWS SUPPORT TO OBAMA:  Yep, it’s official.  The nation’s favorite little redneck pageant queen supports Obama (if she could vote, of course– but then again, why discriminate against her just because she’s young– how ageist).

This is ever-so-slightly ironic:  Rednecks for Obama.  Guess they didn’t hear Obama’s nasty, condescending comment about clinging to guns, religion and harboring “antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.”   Oh, silly  me:  They probably missed this because they get their news from NBC/MSNBC or other lamestream media outlets.

RICE THROWS INTEL UNDER THE BUS:  UN Ambassador Susan Rice is now backwalking her inane insistence that the Libyan/Egyptian and other attacks on 9/11 were spontaneous outbursts of anger about a stupid YouTube video.  Apparently, the official line is now that “Intel made me do it”:

In an interview Monday with The Washington Post, Rice said she relied on daily updates from intelligence agencies in the days before her television appearances and on a set of talking points prepared for senior members of the administration by intelligence officials. She said there was no attempt to pick and choose among possible explanations for the attack.

“Absolutely not,” Rice said. “It was purely a function of what was provided to us” and had been given to Congress the day before.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . .

WHY OBAMACARE = RATIONING FOR SENIORS:  Dr. Mark Neerhof explains why Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) will ineluctably lead to rationing of health care for seniors enrolled in Medicare.  In a nutshell:  severely ratcheting down payment for certain health care services will lead to a decreased supply of those services. Decreased supply will lead to waiting lists.  For example, pacemakers may still technically be “covered” under Medicare, but if there aren’t enough physicians and hospitals willing to implant them (because of unprofitable levels of reimbursement), seniors will be forced to wait, as they are under the UK’s National Health Service.  The queue for access may be too long for many.

IT’S BIG BROTHER, SISTERS:  Helen Alvare’s op-ed in the Washington Examiner exposes Obamacare’s draconian, intolerant pro-abortion position and its not-so-subtle desire to force women into specific types of contraceptives such as injections, implants and IUDs, and away from birth control pills, rings, and more easily reversible methods.  Talk about a War on Women.

EDUCATION REFORM, PROGRESSIVE STYLE:  Ban homework.  I kid you not. Progressive French President François Hollande has proposed banning all homework in his quest to achieve the ever-elusive “social justice.”  According to the Wall Street Journal:

As Education Minister Vincent Peillon told Le Monde, the state needs to “support all students in their personal work, rather than abandon them to their private resources, including financial, as is too often the case today.” The problem, in other words, isn’t with homework per se. It’s that some homes are more conducive to homework than others.

Kinda like a French “No Child Gets Ahead,” I suppose.  We wouldn’t want to “abandon” kids to “private resources” like support, love, and a culture of hard work.  Better to let the government take over all that stuff.  Now that’s “progress”!

ELIZABETH WARREN’S LEGAL TROUBLES MOUNT:  A former Republican-appointed U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts is calling for a formal investigation into the legality of Elizabeth Warren’s law practice conducted for years from her Harvard Law School office, without a valid license to practice law in Massachusetts.

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS (SORT OF):  Liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens tells an anti-gun audience at the Brady Center that the Second Amendment “right of the people to keep and bear arms” may indeed be infringed, so long as the “arms” being borne aren’t weapons typically possessed for unlawful purposes, such as fully automatic weapons or short-barreled shotguns.  In a shockingly snarky moment, Justice Stevens demeaned the recognition of a right to bear arms for self-defense purposes (the essence of the right recognized by a majority of the Court in District of Columbia v. Heller), to the progressive crowd’s approving laughter:

Maybe you have some kind of constitutional right to have a cell phone with a pre-dialed 911 in the number at your bedside and that might provide you with a little better protection than a gun which you’re not used to using.

Ironically, it would be the “living” constitutionalists on the Court–such as Stevens–who would feel free to interpret the word “arms” in the Second Amendment to encompass “cell phones.”  Because after all, words–even constitutional words–are infinitely capacious.

SUPREME COURT AGREES TO REVIEW ARIZONA “CITIZEN VOTER” LAW:  The law requires proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (a very liberal court) ruled Arizona’s law unconstitutional, reasoning that a federal law–the National Voter Registration Act of 1993–preempted state laws such as Arizona’s.  The AZ law is stayed pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision.  Oral arguments are expected in early 2013.

The chutzpah of Arizona, requiring voters to prove citizenship–how discriminatory!

HILLARY FALLS ON HER SWORD:  She tells CNN tonight, in an interview from Lima, Peru, “I take responsibility” for the confusion and misstatements after the 9/11 attacks on American installations in the Middle East, including Benghazi.  She insists the President and Vice President are not involved in security decisions.  Seriously????????

UPDATE (from Glenn): David Kirkham emails: “I think Hillary just zeroed out her campaign debt.”

Amazing how cynical they become once they’ve been exposed to politicians.

ANOTHER UPDATE: (From Glenn again): Reader Yolanda McVicker writes: “Well played by Hillary – the President and Vice President are not involved in security decisions. She fell on her sword and impaled them in the same blow. I’m sorry – this is just too funny. She and her husband have the art of politics down – Obama thought he was safe by putting her in a position of power. She showed him that he is a mere babe in the woods. But, this one isn’t over yet.”

BACKING UP DATA . . . TO A GERBIL????:  Yep, that’s right.  Scientists have discovered a way to store data, any type of data, in DNA.  As Wired reporter Lore Sjöberg puts it:

The ability to store data in DNA molecules is an important breakthrough, not because of the reasons given, but because it allows you to back your data up to a gerbil. Who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t want to say, “I’ve got my presentation right here, in this gerbil”? Who doesn’t want to stride into a FedEx Office place and ask where they keep their gerbil readers?

There are other obvious advantages to gerbil-based data storage. To begin with, having multiple copies of your backed-up data is no problem — just stick another gerbil in there, and boom! Put the data on the Y chromosome and you can be sure that every male gerbil born is a fresh, probably unaltered copy of your data.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to have to clean up poop in order to store or retrieve data.  I’d rather have one of those cute little plastic flash drives that’s shaped like a gerbil.  Much cleaner.

MOUTH SHAPED URINALS:  A restaurant in Sydney, Australia removes urinals shaped like women’s mouths, after receiving complaints from feminist groups.  I would think they’d be counterproductive, to boot, as arousal and urination seem to be incompatible. But what do I know–I’m a girl.  :)

UPDATE: (From Glenn): If you click through, you’ll see that they were designed by a woman, for whatever that’s worth.

THAT ANNOYING CONSTITUTION:  Keeps getting in Obama’s way. But that hasn’t stopped him.  A great article in the Washington Free Beacon discusses all the ways in which the Obama Administration is evincing hostility toward, and disregard of, the Constitution’s Article II limitations on executive power.