Yes, but do NYT editors read their own paper? The New York Times reports that between 2006 and 2010 Medicare costs were actually rising as doctors took advantage of electronic medical records to bill for services that often haven’t been performed….

(Oh, and very honored to be part of the instapundit crew once more — the internet should prepare to be assimilated.)

And the greatest coup of all, Bill Maher neglected to say, was convincing this administration to try antiquated and discredited policies in order to make the economy sputter, so they could keep Obama from being reelected!  Fiendish!

The metaphor, it hurts.

Twelve things Obama Sometimes Forgets About (Besides the Economy.)

In the whole DOJ/big six of publishing kerfuffle something has just surfaced that made me lose my temper and go into rant mode.  If you’ve been following and are in the mood for a rant, read on.  This is what set me off, via Joe Konrath:  One Book Is Pretty Much The Same As Any Other.  Lipskar acknowledges, as he must, that the prices of New York Times bestselling books went up following the simultaneous industry-wide imposition of agency pricing …………… But, he claims, these higher prices couldn’t hurt anyone because the prices of other books decreased

Social Media And The Law  How to stay out of trouble when using Twitter and Facebook

Sometimes things are… complicated.  Dr. Tedd Roberts delves into peer research (and in a previous article into funding research with no immediate pay off.)   Dr. Roberts is a friend, but when I read this: So, do I think peer-review is broken?  ………  I do *not* think it should be scrapped, but I think it needs better watchdogs.  Who are those watchdogs?  We all are.  If a scientist witnesses abuse of the system, they should be able to speak out and not get shut out because of political whim.  The public needs to be better educated so that they do not get told what to do by manipulative media politicians and yes, scientists I read an almost touching faith in a system that seems to be as incestuous and stutifying as…  well, publishing.  Dr. Roberts is an honorable man.  Perhaps most scientists are.  But they are still human and anything touched by the government gets twisted by politics.  On the other hand what alternative is there?  What is the equivalent of the kindle revolution?  Well, there is this: Project Force of Duck.  I contributed.  Not out of a marked interest in duck penises, but because I think there must be an alternative and I put my money where my mouth is.  Will this type of system be up to funding the important research soon?  I don’t know.  But I’d like it to be the way of the future.  Meanwhile, we’ll have to hope there are enough honorable scientists.

NOT Safe for Work.  The Management is NOT responsible for any readers who might wish to  carve out their eyes with grapefruit spoons.   And, for what it’s worth, yeah… it’s too much of a mom.  Time to move out and take your Star Trek posters with you.

We’ve spoken before about how awesome medieval bestiary lore is, but I fear I’ve given the impression that it’s all self-castrating beavers and Christ-signification. It is both of those things, of course, but there’s so much more!  Yes, I know this is a Valentine’s post.  So, save it for Valentine’s next year.  It’s medieval!  It’s not like it will go out of style!  (Yes, my name is Sarah A. Hoyt, and I read weird stuff.)

Is that plutonium in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?  (I confess I don’t like that they’re monitoring this.  I understand why it might be needed, but it still gets my hackles up.)

Change!  Robert Grenier, former head of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, said: “As for British Intelligence, I suppose, but do not know, that they must be very unhappy. They are often exasperated, quite reasonably, with their American friends, who are far more leak-prone than they.

“In their place, I would think two and three times before sharing with the Americans, and then only do it if I had to. The problem with that dynamic is that you don’t know what you don’t know, and what opportunities you might be missing when you decide not to share. The Americans are doing a very good job of undermining trust, and the problem starts at the top.”

Worker’s comp gone wild!

Eighty-six percent of women polled say they want a sensitive man who calls his mom regularly and cries during movies.  And they LIE.  EVERY BLESSED WOMAN JILL OF THEM.  Come on guys, your clue was that “the perfect man drives an Audi” thing.  Oh, please!

Dr. Thomas Sowell was once the reason I loved the opinion page of my local newspaper.

Read more at the Daily Caller.

Bill Clinton called Obama an amateur.  (And now I agree with Bill?  It’s the end of the world.)

Atlas ALWAYS shrugs.

In the Obama Administration, mere proof isn’t enough to combat political convenience.

Mayan astronomer geeks didn’t seem to think the world was going to end in 2012.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  Remember that?  Yeah.  Compare and contrast: Islam and Catholicism under Obamacare.  (At this point they should be able to power several states from the energy generated by the Founders turning in their graves.)

Dave Freer on Courage, PC and Power:  Political Correctness is almost never speaking truth to power. Saying a man who opens a door for a woman is a sexist pig is politically correct, but telling the elder women of your Somali clan that ‘cutting’(genital mutilation) is mutilation and a bad thing… is speaking truth to power.  Read the whole thing.

Via Passive Guy, Comments on the British book business from FutureBook:

Those who want bold steps from an industry fixated on a 500-year-old format and locked to the fortunes of those businesses that sell it on their behalf, are looking in the wrong direction. Those publishers who attended the a.g.m made it clear that they would continue to fight the old battles, against piracy, tax, and ‘retailer dominance’.     And this is why you keep seeing things like SOPA and other attempts to get government to outlaw modernity.  And also why Amazon is eating their lunch, their dinner and their mid-afternoon snack.

Suddenly all those “pirate romance” books I see on the shelf seem REALLY scary.

The Truth Is Out There, but what we want to know is: is that legal to hunt, whatever it is?

I’m still working on this, but here is what seems like sensible advice on How To Make Money Online.

The Messenger Shooting Begins.  (And, geeks,  if you read Tyranny of Cliches  I can promise you there is a Princess Bride joke thirty some pages in.  In a book — I’m about halfway through — that’s making me think more deeply than I have in years, THAT is pure bonus goodness.)