Saturday, May 31, 2008
Taxes - Lessons not learned
Go ahead. Raise my taxes and make my day...
This is from a Wall Street Journal editorial:
"The tax hikes have done nothing but accelerate the departures of families and businesses. Michigan ranks fourth of the 50 states in declining home values, and these days about two families leave for every family that moves in. Making matters worse is that property taxes are continuing to rise by the rate of overall inflation, while home values fall. Michigan natives grumble that the only reason more people aren't blazing a path out of the state is they can't sell their homes. Research by former Comerica economist David Littmann finds that about the only industry still growing in Michigan is government. Ms. Granholm's $44.8 billion budget this year further fattened agency payrolls."
Iraq - in the L.A. Times
This doesn't seem like the kind of story I'm used to reading in the Times.
Hopefully, it's a sign of some sort.
Even if it's not, it sure sounds like progress is being made...
Hopefully, it's a sign of some sort.
Even if it's not, it sure sounds like progress is being made...
In an L.A. Times report by Tina Susman and Usama Redha is this quote:
"'After March 25 was the first time I had anyone tell us, 'Go in and wipe them out,' " said Sgt. Erik Olson, who spends most of his time visiting residents of Sadr City's Jamila neighborhood gathering 'atmospherics,' the military's word for figuring out what locals are thinking."
Friday, May 30, 2008
Politicians - Pork has NOT gone away
It has just been hidden from view.
Not only that, the reform of this issue was used to gain votes in the last election.
Calling this disingenuous would be much too kind. It is a deliberate misrepresentation...
Not only that, the reform of this issue was used to gain votes in the last election.
Calling this disingenuous would be much too kind. It is a deliberate misrepresentation...
At Bloomberg.com, Kevin Hassett reports that the pork beat goes on:
"May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Politicians have two ways of responding when they are caught doing something that outrages voters: They can stop the behavior or they can find a way to continue it in a manner that's difficult for voters to observe.
On wasteful spending, the Democrats have chosen the latter course, and in so doing, have revealed indefensible and fundamental biases in the methods Congress asks the Congressional Budget Office to employ."
Politiciians - Even among themselves
These people are just not my type.
Apparently, you can't trust ANYTHING they say.
And don't miss how long these judicial appointments have been stuck in limbo...
Apparently, you can't trust ANYTHING they say.
And don't miss how long these judicial appointments have been stuck in limbo...
At HumanEvents.com, Jeb Babbin describes how they handle promises:
"Given the current Democrat-dominated Senate’s snail’s pace on circuit court confirmations (only eight circuit court nominees have been confirmed so far in this Congress), Reid promised McConnell that at least three nominations would be brought to a vote before the Memorial Day recess began.
Reid broke that promise. Only one circuit court nomination has been brought to a vote. In an interview last Friday, Sen. McConnell told me the deal was that, 'We would get three, maybe even more, circuit judges in this past work period which lasted eight weeks. It’s clear now not only was that commitment not kept, but it’s pretty clear to me they didn’t intend to keep it.'"
Global War on Terror - Hmmmm...
Let's hope this is a trend, and that it continues...
This is from an Investors Business Daily opinion column:
"Has there ever been such an epidemic of terrorist surrender? And the trend is growing. For the first time, the possibility of a world without major terror organizations is real. The world has shrunk for them, while the nations that fight back are getting stronger.
Significantly, those doing much of the winning are U.S. allies — the ones we supposedly don't have."
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Cookies - and Internet Behavioral Tracking
Cookies.
When it comes to marketing, nothing is sacred; certainly NOT your privacy...
When it comes to marketing, nothing is sacred; certainly NOT your privacy...
At DailyTech.com, Tom Corelis elaborates:
"At the root of the problem lies the invasive nature of behavioral advertising: by assigning websurfers a tracking cookie unique to the advertising network, marketing firms can track and analyze a user’s activities whenever he or she enters a site that carries an advertiser’s ads. As such, the cookie will follow a user around the internet, silently collecting information on his or her surfing habits in order to serve ever more relevant, targeted advertisements when the opportunity presents itself: in one example, The Washington Post illustrates how advertisers might find a bride by looking for people who 'read about weddings in the news, entered ‘bridesmaid dresses’ into a search engine or surfed fashion pages for wedding styles.'"
Our Health - Drinking wine
Sounds good to me. [smile]...
Here's the scoop from ScienceDaily.com:
"'The results of this study present a paradigm shift, suggesting that modest wine consumption may not only be safe for the liver but may actually decrease the prevalence of NAFLD. The odds of having suspected NAFLD based upon abnormal liver blood tests was reduced by 50 percent in individuals who drank one glass of wine a day,' said Jeffrey Schwimmer, M.D., associate professor of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, UC San Diego School of Medicine and Director, Fatty Liver Clinic at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego. The result remained constant, even after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, income, diet, physical activity, body mass index, and other markers of health status."
Climate Change - is driven by Solar Activity!
Care to play science games with this guy?
Dr. Gerhard Löbert - Conveyor of a super-Einsteinian theory of gravitation that explains, among many other post-Einstein-effects, the Sun-Earth-Connection and the true cause of the global climate changes.
Whoa!...
Dr. Gerhard Löbert - Conveyor of a super-Einsteinian theory of gravitation that explains, among many other post-Einstein-effects, the Sun-Earth-Connection and the true cause of the global climate changes.
Whoa!...
At CanadaFreePress.com, Dr. Gerhard Löbert makes six arguments, starting with this:
"1. In the temperature trace of the past 10 000 years based on glaciological evidence, the recent decades have not displayed any anomalous behaviour. In two-thirds of these 10 000 years, the mean temperature was even higher than today. Shortly before the last ice age the temperature in Greenland even increased by 15 degrees C in only 20 years. All of this without any man-made CO2 emission!"
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Politicans - Congressman Paul Kanjorski
This pretty much confirms the "say anything" to get elected theory.
Why are we so stupid when it comes to politicians?...
Why are we so stupid when it comes to politicians?...
Jeff Emanuel has the congressman quoted on his blog:
"'I'll tell you my impression. We really in this last election, when I say we...the Democrats, I think pushed it as far as we can to the end of the fleet, didn't say it, but we implied it. That if we won the Congressional elections, we could stop the war. Now anybody was a good student of Government would know that wasn't true. But you know, the temptation to want to win back the Congress, we sort of stretched the facts...and people ate it up.'"
Politicians - well-informed? NOT!
Anti-immigrant hysteria. Well, I think it's just reporting the facts...
At GOPUSA.com, Bobby Eberle reports:
"In another case of politicians not having a clue what's really going on in this country, an interesting exchange took place in Washington this week. Three Democrat legislators spoke to reporters about what they claim is "anti-immigrant coverage" by conservative media outlets. Apparently, they think floods of illegal aliens crossing into America and the crime and violence at the border are just overblown incidents developed by conservatives to attack our neighbor to the South.
After they spoke, the Democrats were asked if they realized that the State Department had issued a "travel alert warning Americans about military-like 'combat' along the southern U.S. border in Mexico, where Americans are being kidnapped and murdered." None of the legislators knew about it."
The Price of a Gallon
For what it's worth. Perspective mostly, I guess...
47 liquids listed at CockEyed.com:
"black ink from an ink cartridge - price per gallon - $2,701.52"
The Price of Gas
I'm sure there are some who are taking advantage; however, the biggest factor is not all that complicated...
John Porretto and John Wilen tell about it in the Washington Post:
"It all starts with oil.
The biggest factor in the skyrocketing price of gasoline is the historic ascent of crude oil, which has surged from $45 per barrel in 2004 to more than $135 this past week, setting new record highs all the while.
In the first quarter of this year, based on a retail price of gas that now seems like a steal _ $3.11 a gallon _ crude oil accounted for all but about a dollar, or 70 percent, of the cost, according to the federal government."
Oil - Placing the Blame
I'm pretty much in agreement with this article.
My exception is that BOTH political parties have had control of Congress over the years; and, NEITHER one has been willing to do the "right thing" for American interests...
My exception is that BOTH political parties have had control of Congress over the years; and, NEITHER one has been willing to do the "right thing" for American interests...
Bob Webster reports at RightSideNews.com:
"A CNBC poll asks, 'Who's to Blame for America's Oil Crisis?' After more than 10,000 votes, the U.S. Congress is given the lion's share of blame at 36%, more than twice those who thought President Bush is to blame. Speculators came in a strong second at 25%. Maybe there is still hope for the American electorate. Too bad the GOP is making no discernible effort to take advantage of the historic low esteem Americans have for this wacky Democrat-controlled Congress.
The breakdown of CNBC's poll results as of Memorial Day morning:"
Oil - and the Democrats
Try to come to terms with this behavior...
At NorthStarWriters.com, Hermain Cain picks on the Democrats:
"During the week of May 15, 2008, the Senate had three opportunities to increase the domestic production of oil and help ease our economy’s dependence on foreign oil. All three times the Democrats voted as a block to deny passage of critical oil liberating legislation.
The American Energy Protection Act of 2008 (Senate Bill 2958) would remove restrictions on oil exploration and drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This would have opened access to about 24 billion barrels of oil, which is enough to keep America running for five years with no foreign imports, while other energy technologies are being developed.
Senate Bill 2958 was offered as an amendment to another bill on the floor of the Senate and the Democrats promptly voted it down. Only one Democrat, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, voted yes with the Republicans on increased production.
Sen. Landrieu is running for re-election this year."
"Oil Is Up Due to Fundamentals, Not Speculation"
If you can do numbers, I think you'll have to agree with this analysis...
At SeekingAlpha.com, James Hamilton explains:
"The developed economies consume a disproportionate share of the world's energy, with North America and Europe accounting for about half of the total oil use in 2006. However, it is the newly industrialized countries and oil producers that account for the recent rapid growth in demand, with Asia and the Middle East accounting for 60% of the increase in petroleum use between 2003 and 2006. North America and Europe contributed only 1/5 of the growth."
Oil - Who to blame
No surprise here.
Same old, same old...
Same old, same old...
Tom Glennon tells us at NewMediaJournal.com:
"It is popular to blame the oil companies, oil cartels, or greedy speculators. But in truth, we are in a bed of our own making. It is not the usual suspects who have passed laws based on bad science, radical environmental lobbies, self interest, political agendas or ignorance of technological advances and free enterprise economics. It is the result of our own government, mainly through the ineptness of Congress. At the risk of sounding glib, the following old saw comes to mind. If the opposite of Pro is Con, what is the opposite of Progress?
One need only look at the energy bill recently passed to confirm my opinion. While this 86.3 billion dollar legislation (including 3.8 billion in pork that has nothing to do with energy) does tell the auto makers how to build cars, tell us that we can’t buy incandescent light bulbs after 2012, and demand that we continue to use 1.25 gallons of gasoline to produce 1 gallon of ethanol (subsidized by us of course); it does not result in one new gallon of gasoline, or one watt of new electricity.
So who is to blame for the 'new' energy crisis we face? Look no further than Washington DC."
Oil - Left in the Ground
Even though, oil now has everyone's attention, I see it as only a piece of a bigger problem.
That problem, is that the world seems to have evolved into "governing by crises". In my opinion, that means that politicians hold out on everything until they can see a benefit for themselves.
That benefit is likely to be "quid pro quo" of some kind. It may be financial, public recognition, or perhaps just an ego trip of holding such power.
Whatever it is, or whatever you call it, it's obviously not benefitting mankind; and, that's why it's so very bad...
That problem, is that the world seems to have evolved into "governing by crises". In my opinion, that means that politicians hold out on everything until they can see a benefit for themselves.
That benefit is likely to be "quid pro quo" of some kind. It may be financial, public recognition, or perhaps just an ego trip of holding such power.
Whatever it is, or whatever you call it, it's obviously not benefitting mankind; and, that's why it's so very bad...
Kevin Bullis reports at TechnologyReview.com:
"Even with record-high oil prices, about two-thirds of the oil in known oil fields is being left in the ground. That's because existing technologies that could extract far more oil--as much as about 75 percent of the oil in some oil fields--aren't being widely used, according to experts in the petroleum industry."
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Anonymity Experiment | Popular Science
So, you think your daily life is private.
Well, that will surely change after you read this...
Well, that will surely change after you read this...
On the Popular Science website, Catherine Price reports:
"One company, VeriChip, has implanted 500 people in the U.S. with RFID chips and it has proposed replacing military dog tags by implanting the chips into American soldiers. It sounds far-fetched, but this is a real enough possibility that last October, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill forbidding employers to force employees to have RFID chips implanted under their skin."
"Environmentalism vs. Conservation"
I think my lifestyle qualifies as "conservationist".
For me, that seems like a reasonable and balanced behavior in a world that we share with other creatures.
I don't think I'm alone...
For me, that seems like a reasonable and balanced behavior in a world that we share with other creatures.
I don't think I'm alone...
At the National Review website, Jonah Goldberg discusses the subject:
"Environmentalism’s most renewable resources are fear, guilt, and moral bullying. Its worldview casts man as a sinful creature who, through the pursuit of forbidden knowledge, abandoned our Edenic past. John Muir, who laid the philosophical foundations of modern environmentalism, described humans as 'selfish, conceited creatures.' Salvation comes from shedding our sins, rejecting our addictions (to oil, consumerism, etc.) and demonstrating an all-encompassing love of Mother Earth. Quoth Al Gore: 'The climate crisis is not a political issue; it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.'"
Meanwhile in Switzerland - Animal Rights
I can't get inside the heads of animals, so I'm reluctant to comment on this.
That being said, I wonder how the Swiss lawmakers know what they think they know...
That being said, I wonder how the Swiss lawmakers know what they think they know...
At LifeNews.com, Laura Echevarria comments on this:
"Under a new Swiss law enshrining rights for animals, dog owners will require a qualification, anglers will take lessons in compassion and horses will go only in twos.
From guinea-pigs to budgerigars, any animal classified as a 'social species' will be a victim of abuse if it does not cohabit, or at least have contact, with others of its own kind.
The new regulation stipulates that aquariums for pet fish should not be transparent on all sides and that owners must make sure that the natural cycle of day and night is maintained in terms of light. Goldfish are considered social animals, or Gruppentiere in German."
The Media - raising money, but for who?
It looks like the Brits have some problems here...
I found this on the thisislondon.com website:
"Megan Pacey, of the Institute of Fund-Raising, said: "The BBC has risked damaging the trust and confidence that the public have in charitable appeals. 'Sadly, it is the beneficiaries of these BBC appeals that are likely to suffer in the event that donations decrease.' The BBC has run into trouble over charity shows before.
Comic Relief, Children in Need and Sport Relief all faked competitions, leaving viewers with no chance of winning."
Meanwhile - in a Gaza schoolyard
The scenario is played over and over again.
Terrorists initiate attacks from within areas populated by civilians, especially children.
Then, when those who were attacked retaliate, there are always civilians and children as casualties.
If not, said casualties are often "manufactured".
Enter the media.
They invariably criticize those who retaliated, perhaps rightfully so; however, the root cause is what you already know...
Terrorists initiate attacks from within areas populated by civilians, especially children.
Then, when those who were attacked retaliate, there are always civilians and children as casualties.
If not, said casualties are often "manufactured".
Enter the media.
They invariably criticize those who retaliated, perhaps rightfully so; however, the root cause is what you already know...
Hana Levi Julian reports in the Israeli National News:
"(IsraelNN.com) IDF soldiers uncovered missiles and anti-tank rocket launchers in a Gaza schoolyard in late Thursday. The anti-tank missile launcher and a stack of missiles were found at a school in Sajaiya, in northern Gaza, during routine counter-terrorism operations."
Facts tell a story
Actually, facts should be the ONLY story.
But, no one wants to listen beyond the biased headlines and out-of-context sound bites.
America is truly a manipulated society and most of us don't seem to care or even want to know...
But, no one wants to listen beyond the biased headlines and out-of-context sound bites.
America is truly a manipulated society and most of us don't seem to care or even want to know...
Investors Business Daily reviews seven years of President Bush and asks:
"How about a dose of reality?"
The Media - The N.Y. Times (again!)
It IS kind of hard to imagine that President Bush would do anything that would be unfavorable when it comes to the troops...
At MediaBistro.com, "Patrick" begins his post with:
"First, the White House spoke out against NBC News and its editing of Richard Engel's interview with President George Bush.
And, today, the White House takes on the New York Times editorial page for its editorial, 'Mr. Bush and the GI Bill.'
From the White House statement:
Once again, the New York Times Editorial Board doesn't let the facts get in the way of expressing its vitriolic opinions - no matter how misleading they may be.
In today's editorial, "Mr. Bush and the GI Bill", the New York Times irresponsibly distorts President Bush's strong commitment to strengthening and expanding support for America's service members and their families.
This editorial could not be farther from the truth about the President's record of leadership on this issue."
The Media - Jodi Kantor and the New York Times
I'm inclined to believe that this article is true.
After all, it's the New York Times he's writing about;
and their history of biased reporting has been frequently exposed...
After all, it's the New York Times he's writing about;
and their history of biased reporting has been frequently exposed...
At CanadaFreePress.com, Yomin Postelnik expresses outrage at their falsehoods:
"In my previous column, 'Rarely Do I Agree With the Rev. Jeremiah Wright - An Open Letter to the New York Times,' I sought to expose how a New York Times article by Jodi Kantor had used fraud and deception to portray those hesitant about voting for Barack Obama as racists. Unfortunately, I had no idea of just how far and dishonest she and the Times had been, something I found out only upon further investigation. "
The Media - "The Recount" vs. the Truth
This time it's a movie that "seems" to depict historical events.
Unfortunately, the media themselves has proven what the "real facts" were.
They never let the truth get in the way of a good (biased) story...
Unfortunately, the media themselves has proven what the "real facts" were.
They never let the truth get in the way of a good (biased) story...
At NewsBusters.com, Brent Baker reminds us:
"The lead of an April 4, 2001 USA Today story headlined, “Newspapers' recount shows Bush prevailed,” by reporter Dennis Cauchon:
George W. Bush would have won a hand count of Florida's disputed ballots if the standard advocated by Al Gore had been used, the first full study of the ballots reveals. Bush would have won by 1,665 votes -- more than triple his official 537-vote margin -- if every dimple, hanging chad and mark on the ballots had been counted as votes, a USA TODAY/Miami Herald/Knight Ridder study shows. The study is the first comprehensive review of the 61,195 "undervote" ballots that were at the center of Florida's disputed presidential election...."
Monday, May 26, 2008
Camera "bugs"
Sci-Fi: coming soon to the battlefield...
On the Daily Mail's Science & Technology page, Daniel Cochlin writes:
"Despite the high-tech gadgetry involved, BAE Systems insists once production is in full swing, each bug will cost no more than £100 to produce.
The Ministry of Defence declined to comment."
In Our Schools - Redefining failure?
Hasn't anyone yet figured out that these "creative" grading schemes aren't working?
Is it possible that our educators are too dumb to figure that out?
How about teaching the material, testing, grading the results, and passing or failing based on the result? Is that too "old-fashioned"?...
Is it possible that our educators are too dumb to figure that out?
How about teaching the material, testing, grading the results, and passing or failing based on the result? Is that too "old-fashioned"?...
Recently, Steve Friess wrote this for USA Today:
"But opponents say the larger gap between D and F exists because passing requires a minimum competency of understanding at least 60% of the material. Handing out more credit than a student has earned is grade inflation, says Ed Fields, founder of HotChalk.com, a site for teachers and parents: "I certainly don't want to teach my children that no effort is going to get them half the way there.""
Government Services - More or Less?
Hello! Hello! Is anybody listening?...
This is from Rasmussen Reports:
"The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 62% of voters would prefer fewer government services with lower taxes. Nearly a third (29%) disagrees and would rather have a bigger government with higher taxes. Ten percent (10%) are not sure."
Eastwood rejects Lee's criticism
As I have probably implied before, if we would only study history, we could learn so much, and not repeat our mistakes; or in this case, not embarass oneself by broadcasting a lack of knowledge...
At Reuters.com, Erik Kirschbaum quotes Clint Eastwood:
"'Does he know anything about American history?' Eastwood told Focus when asked about Lee's criticism. 'The U.S. military was segregated til the Korean War, and the blacks in World War Two were totally segregated. The only black battalion on Iwo Jima was a small munitions supply unit that came to the beach.'
'The story was about the men who raised the flag and we can't make them black if they were not there. So tell him: Why don't you go back and study your history and stop mouthing off!'"
The Government Man
When you stop and THINK for just a moment, this post says it all.
If you think differently, you're probably more liberal than I am...
If you think differently, you're probably more liberal than I am...
In a post by "joelt" at mykidsdeservebetter.com, he asks:
"Why do we need you?"
The Supreme Court - and Voter-ID
This case is really interesting.
It was apparently based on NO facts; but, even so, it got all the way to the Supreme Court, burning taxpayer dollars every step of the way.
On the positive side, it seems to put to rest a long standing misconception about the disenfranchisement of certain voters...
It was apparently based on NO facts; but, even so, it got all the way to the Supreme Court, burning taxpayer dollars every step of the way.
On the positive side, it seems to put to rest a long standing misconception about the disenfranchisement of certain voters...
At the NationalReview.com, Hans A. von Spakovsky writes:
"Justice Stevens, who came of age professionally in Chicago, where voter fraud has been endemic for decades, held that requiring voters to show ID is justified by the interest in deterring and detecting voter fraud and preserving public confidence in the election process. However, the critical editorials have repeated the same specious arguments made in both the Indiana and Georgia voter-ID cases — there are supposedly hundreds of thousands of voters who don’t have a photo ID (and can’t obtain one), and thus the turnout of voters (particularly minorities) will be diminished.
Unfortunately for the naysayers, the facts, as opposed to paranoid fantasies conjured up by lawyers and editorial writers, don’t support those claims. Both trial judges in the Indiana and Georgia cases rejected as incredible and utterly unreliable the claim that there were hundreds of thousands of voters without photo ID. In two years of litigation, lawyers were unable, as the Indiana judge noted, to introduce “evidence of a single, individual Indiana resident who will be unable to vote” as a result of the photo-ID law. In Georgia, the ACLU sent out a desperate e-mail asking their contacts to find an individual who could not vote because of the voter-ID requirement — but they could not find one. And none of the organizations like the NAACP that sued could produce a single member unable to vote. The Georgia court found that the failure to identify any such individuals was “particularly acute in light of Plaintiffs’ contention that a large number of Georgia voters lack acceptable Photo ID.”"
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Meanwhile - in Winnipeg
This is pretty ugly...
This is from an article by Tamara King of the Canadian Press:
"'These kids don't have a shot in hell,' says Liz Wolff, a clinical therapist who works with five of Winnipeg's most chronic young car thieves. 'Their lives have no hope. They don't have a lot of expectations about their life.'
Most young car thieves lack education, supervision and financial resources, says Sgt. Doug Safioles, head of the Winnipeg police stolen auto unit.
'They don't have anything else to do with their time,' he says. 'They're not in school. That's really the root of the problem.'"
In Our Schools - Scary statistics
If this is true, our future could be pretty bleak...
I found this on the FlunkedTheMovie.com website:
"The United States is living on its past. Among the oldest group in the study (those aged 56–65), U.S. prose skills rose to second place. For those attending school in the 1950s, SAT scores reached an all-time high.
As the years go by, the United States slips down the list. Americans educated in the sixties captured a Bronze Medal in literacy, those schooled in the seventies got 5th place in the race. But those schooled in the nineties ranked 14th…
All signs point to a deterioration in the quality of American schools. Europeans and Asians alike have rapidly expanded their educational systems over the last 50 years. In the United States stagnation if not decline has been apparent at least since the 1970s. Even our high school graduation rates are lower today than they were a decade ago."
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Hillary Clinton - "sissy"
She doesn't even come close to these woman...
In the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan discusses some previous female world leaders and Hillary Clinton:
"Hillary Clinton complained again this week that sexism has been a major dynamic in her unsuccessful bid for political dominance. She is quoted by the Washington Post's Lois Romano decrying the 'sexist' treatment she received during the campaign, and the "incredible vitriol that has been engendered" by those who are 'nothing but misogynists.' The New York Times reported she told sympathetic bloggers in a conference call that she is saddened by the 'mean-spiritedness and terrible insults' that have been thrown "at you, for supporting me, and at women in general."
Where to begin? One wants to be sympathetic to Mrs. Clinton at this point, if for no other reason than to show one's range. But her last weeks have been, and her next weeks will likely be, one long exercise in summoning further denunciations. It is something new in politics, the How Else Can I Offend You Tour. And I suppose it is aimed not at voters -- you don't persuade anyone by complaining in this way, you only reinforce what your supporters already think -- but at history, at the way history will tell the story of the reasons for her loss."
Hillary Clinton - "colossal blunder"?
It's all about a ruthles desire for power...
In the New York Daily News, Michael Goodwin shows no mercy:
"We have seen an X-ray of a very dark soul. One consumed by raw ambition to where the possible assassination of an opponent is something to ponder in a strategic way. Otherwise, why is murder on her mind?"
Oil - Iraq definitely has it
Now, let's see what their politicians do...
At the U.K.'s TimesOnline website, Sonia Verma in Sharm el-Sheikh writes:
"Iraq dramatically increased the official size of its oil reserves yesterday after new data suggested that they could exceed Saudi Arabia’s and be the largest in the world.
The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister told The Times that new exploration showed that his country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, with as much as 350 billion barrels. The figure is triple the country’s present proven reserves and exceeds that of Saudi Arabia’s estimated 264 billion barrels of oil. Barham Salih said that the new estimate had been based on recent geological surveys and seismic data compiled by 'reputable, international oil companies . . . This is a serious figure from credible sources.'"
Iraq - in Kurdistan
This sounds somewhat optimistic; and certainly appreciative...
In the Wall Street Journal, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of Kurdistan writes:
"We Kurds understand and share America's frustration with the pace of political progress in Iraq. We are doing all we can to create security, stability and prosperity. While progress has not come fast enough, Iraq remains a worthy cause.
As Americans debate the future of the U.S. role in Iraq, allow me to say that America's mission remains vital to the stability and security of our region. A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces could be calamitous. We welcome a U.S. presence in the Kurdistan Region as part of any redeployment of forces.
The Kurdish people of Iraq suffered under Saddam Hussein. And we fought and died alongside Americans to liberate our country. There is no ambiguity about the depth of gratitude that Kurds feel for America's sacrifices in Iraq. Americans who have been killed or wounded in Iraq are heroes to me and to all of Iraq's Kurds. We will never forget what you have done for us."
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Media - at War?
It sure sounds that way.
What else would you call it?...
What else would you call it?...
Howard Kurtz reports at WashingtonPost.com:
"Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News star, is mounting an extraordinary televised assault on the chief executive of General Electric, calling him a "pinhead" and a "despicable human being" who bears responsibility for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq.
On the surface, O'Reilly's charges revolve around GE's history of doing business with Iran. But the attacks grow out of an increasingly bitter feud between O'Reilly and the company's high-profile subsidiary, NBC, one that has triggered back-channel discussions involving News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker and General Electric's CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.
Ailes called Zucker on his cellphone last summer, clearly agitated over a slam against him by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. According to sources familiar with the conversation, Ailes warned that if Olbermann didn't stop such attacks against Fox, he would unleash O'Reilly against NBC and would use the New York Post as well."
The Media - vs. the White House
I know what my opinion is. You can decide for yourself...
At theHill.com, Klaus Marre reports:
"The White House on Monday sent a scathing letter to NBC News, accusing the news network of 'deceptively' editing an interview with President Bush on the issue of appeasement and Iran.
At issue were remarks Bush made in front of Israel's parliament earlier this week.
Specifically, White House counselor Ed Gillespie laments that the network edited the interview in a way that 'is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that [Bush] agreed with [correspondent Richard Engel's] characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it.'"
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The United Nations - A bad joke?
I know that the United Nations is probably a necessary institution; however, more often than not, it appears that the "inmates" are in charge [if you get my drift]...
Mia Farrow and Eric Reeves criticize them in the Wall Street Journal:
"Last December, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the ICC, issued a devastating report to the Security Council. 'We are witnessing a calculated, organized campaign by Sudanese officials to attack individuals and further destroy the social fabric of entire communities,' he declared. 'All information points not to chaotic and isolated acts, but to a pattern of attacks.'
The Council failed to provide any support for Mr. Moreno-Ocampo and his terrifying indictment."
The Media - "Endangering the Public"?
This is quite an interesting premise.
I strongly believe that media outlets AND advertisers endanger the public by disseminating fear.
The damage is covert and insidious; hence, it is hard to measure. It is often disingenuous. It is relentless. This touches every corner of society. If you are unable or unwilling to think independently, or your guard is down, you are likely to find yourself believing something that's not true, buying something that you don't need, worrying about something that has little chance of affecting you, or spreading fear to those you interact with...
That being said,
I strongly believe that media outlets AND advertisers endanger the public by disseminating fear.
The damage is covert and insidious; hence, it is hard to measure. It is often disingenuous. It is relentless. This touches every corner of society. If you are unable or unwilling to think independently, or your guard is down, you are likely to find yourself believing something that's not true, buying something that you don't need, worrying about something that has little chance of affecting you, or spreading fear to those you interact with...
That being said,
At AmericanThinker.com, Bill Tate writes:
"When Maine officials tried to warn residents of the dangers of this winter's near-record snowpack, Big Media slanted the story, hampering efforts to warn folks of the danger. 'This winters [sic] near-record snowfall has created a flood potential that is above normal,' began a news advisory released by the Maine River Flow Advisor Commission on March 6th."
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
An alternative to silicon chips
And it looks like it paid off...
I assume the author is Gabrielle DeMarco. Here's part of it:
"Despite obvious difficulties, his parents worked tirelessly to give Huang the best possible educational opportunities according to Huang. And when school wasn’t enough, Huang’s father woke him up early every morning to practice mathematical calculations without a calculator, instilling in Huang a lifelong appreciation for basic, theoretical mathematics and sciences."
"The Dumbest Generation"
I don't think I'm going to worry about this.
I figure we only hear about the "dummies" because bad news sells. I bet there are far more quietly successful young people around that we'll never hear about...
I figure we only hear about the "dummies" because bad news sells. I bet there are far more quietly successful young people around that we'll never hear about...
The Wall Street Journal's David Robinson discusses a book:
"To Mark Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University, the present is a good time to be young only if you don't mind a tendency toward empty-headedness. In 'The Dumbest Generation,' he argues that cultural and technological forces, far from opening up an exciting new world of learning and thinking, have conspired to create a level of public ignorance so high as to threaten our democracy."
In Our Schools - in Dallas, TX
I wonder how much longer it will be before Americans "get smart" about education and stop doing what obviously isn't working?...
I found this in an article by Cynthia Izaguirre at WFAA.com:
"DALLAS — It's May, which means thousands of high school seniors across North Texas can almost taste it: their diploma. This month 7,500 Dallas ISD seniors are expected to walk across the stage and make their families proud.
But what if we told you that 75 percent of the seniors headed to Dallas community colleges can't read above an 8th grade level, and others can't add or subtract?"
"America is weary of black resentment"
I couldn't agree more...
In Arizona's "Ahwatukee Foothills", Linda Turley-Hansen writes and asks:
"They are those who relish the pain suffered by their slave forefathers and mothers. They revisit, over and over, what was; hurts, carefully protected and harbored as badges of honor.
None of us on this land are responsible for what happened to their kin, but they don't care. They marinate in crippling history.
Why?"
Global Warming - 32,000 deniers
Interesting!.
Some people think this is all "settled" science.
Obviously, quite a few others disagree...
Some people think this is all "settled" science.
Obviously, quite a few others disagree...
This is from Lawrence Solomon in Canada's National Post:
"That's the number of scientists who are outraged by the Kyoto Protocol's corruption of science"
Global Warming - 30,000 Scientists Rejecting?
Sounds pretty convincing; wouldn't you say?...
Here's part of the press release about Dr. Arthur Robinson of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine:
"It is evident that 31,072 Americans with university degrees in science - including 9,021 PhDs, are not 'a few.' Moreover, from the clear and strong petition statement that they have signed, it is evident that these 31,072 American scientists are not "skeptics.""
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
For Sale - Hot Chocolate in California
I could easily unleash my entire repertoire of cynicism, sarcasm, humor, and disgust over this; however, I just can't decide where to start.
So, in the interest of getting it posted, I think I'll just say that I don't think our Founding Fathers could have anticipated this in their wildest imaginations...
The Boston Tea Party seems to have been a response to something like this...
So, in the interest of getting it posted, I think I'll just say that I don't think our Founding Fathers could have anticipated this in their wildest imaginations...
The Boston Tea Party seems to have been a response to something like this...
This letter Anita Grandrath Gore, Deputy Director, External Affairs Department is the answer to:
"Why Is Buying Hot Chocolate So Confusing?"
Government at Work - with another government?
What is this all about?
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse...
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse...
It's described in this Wall Street Journal editorial:
"The swindle works like this: A state overpays state-run health-care providers, such as county hospitals or nursing homes, for Medicaid benefits far in excess of its typical rates. Then the federal government reimburses the state for 'half' of the inflated bills. Once the state bags the extra matching funds, the hospital is required to rebate the extra money it received at the scam's outset. Cash thus makes a round trip from states to providers and back to the states – all to dupe Washington.
The Government Accountability Office and other federal inspectors have copiously documented these 'creative financing schemes' going back to the Clinton Administration. New York deposited its proceeds in a Medicaid account, recycling federal dollars to decrease its overall contribution. So did Michigan. States like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania fattened their political priorities. Oregon funded K-12 education during a budget shortfall.
The right word for this is fraud."
Vitamin D
It's pretty important...
You can read why in this article by the Baltimore Sun's Meredith Cohn posted at KnoxNews.com:
"For years, Americans have been taught that as summer approaches, they should reach for sunscreen to protect themselves from a scorching burn - and the skin cancer it might trigger. But new research shows that by covering up, they may be sacrificing important vitamin D, which is made by the skin when it's exposed to sunlight.
So, ahead of the beach season, here's some guidance about the sunshine vitamin from Dr. Elizabeth A. Streeten, assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition at the University of Maryland School of Medicine."
Politicians - Smart Investors?
It sure looks that way.
After all, what else could it be?...
After all, what else could it be?...
The McClatchey Newspapers' Greg Gordon recently wrote this:
"Many members of Congress have added significantly to their wealth while in office, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy's jump from an average net worth of $7.1 million in 1995 to $102.8 million in 2006. But because lawmakers are allowed to list their assets in wide ranges and exclude homes that can be worth millions of dollars, the foundation acknowledged that the data may create misimpressions."
There's gold in Capital Hill
Funny how politicians are so above average, isn't it?...
You can learn all about it at the Sunlight Projects website. They highlight a different politician every day, but you can also:
"Select a State..."
or
"Select a lawmaker..."
Barack Obama - and Michelle Obama
It sure does seem that way...
In his article at NorthStarWriters.com, Paul Ibrahim uses the "H" word:
"Barack Obama has painted himself as someone new, as a 'change' in U.S. politics, and as a Washington outsider who is uncorrupted by politicians’ ethical deficiencies, divisiveness and hypocrisy.
Yet in the period since the launch of his presidential campaign (which today is more than half as old as his entire Senate career up to that point), Obama and his wife have managed a larger magnitude of hypocrisy than a dozen Washington politicians combined. And the power couple has not even reached the general election yet."
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Media - In Burma
It's state controlled, so we know what that means. Their media spews biased, inaccurate information to their own population and the rest of the world.
Here in the U.S. we have "freedom of the press".
It's often hard to notice a difference...
Here in the U.S. we have "freedom of the press".
It's often hard to notice a difference...
In her Wall Street Journal article, Emma Larkin writes:
"Welcome to the Orwellian world of life in Burma today, where the media portrays a reality unknown to most residents. The real story is far more horrifying."
Barack Obama - An October surprise?
I've read a lot of things like this over the years. They ALWAYS sound plausible.
But, ONLY occasionally, NOT usually, do they come to fruition as advertised; so, this one must be categorized "wait and see"...
But, ONLY occasionally, NOT usually, do they come to fruition as advertised; so, this one must be categorized "wait and see"...
This and more is posted at The Husaria website:
"The Democratic Party’s superdelegates, even those who have endorsed Barack Obama, need to do some serious reconsideration between now and the convention. Should Obama become the nominee, the Democrats are likely to find themselves in the same situation as they did with Robert Toricelli (D-NJ) in 2002."
Michelle Obama - per Mark Steyn
Considering the opportunities that she has had, her gratefulness is sure well-hidden.
Or, just maybe, she's not grateful? You know, the "you owed me" type...
Or, just maybe, she's not grateful? You know, the "you owed me" type...
On his website, Mark Steyn calls her "Mrs. Grievance":
"I’m willing to cut presidential spouses a lot of slack. When Senator Obama said Jeremiah Wright was like a goofy uncle, it was pointed out that your relatives are a given but you get to choose your pastor. It’s true that you also get to choose your wife, but, unless you’re particularly far-sighted, you don’t always choose them with a presidential run in mind. I found Teresa Heinz’s tone-deafness to the rhythms of democratic politics one of the more charmingly genuine features of John Kerry’s phony-baloney populist campaign. Who wouldn’t love a woman who, shanghaied into lunching at Wendy’s with Mr and Mrs John Edwards, demands to know what 'chili' is and has to have it explained to her by the clerk that it’s a meat-based food dish widely consumed around the United States. Oddly enough, despite being a couple of decades younger and several gazillion dollars poorer, Mrs Obama has a tin ear even Mrs Kerry must marvel at."
Michelle Obama - per Michelle Malkin
The "comments" following this blog post are quite astute...
In her posting, Michelle Malkin writes:
"Looking for an easy way to wriggle out of a tough spot with your boss?
Never fear. Michelle Obama is here with her new patented subject-changer:
'You know, this conversation doesn’t help my kids.'"
Michelle Obama - per Michael Reagan
Let me just say that so far, I just don't like her attitude...
At FrontPageMag.com, Michael Reagan thinks she reflects her husband:
"... Michelle Obama, who far from being above it all is down there in the trenches acting like the flame-throwing liberal activist she is. To know her is to know what her husband really believes.
As I have told my listeners of my radio show, if you want to understand how Barack Obama uncomplainingly sat through all those fire-breathing sermons without so much as stirring uncomfortably you need to understand the way husbands and wives practice their religion these days."
Political Correctness - Who will care?
So, here's my take on this: This will be "much ado about nothing". My reasoning is that the "fraternity" that is our Congress is too "politically correct" to take action against anyone who is probably doing the same thing as they are doing (or will soon do).
Hopefully, they will surprise me...
Hopefully, they will surprise me...
At HumanEvents.com, Jed Babbin reports:
"... last October Republicans reacted with outrage at the maneuvers apparently pulled by Hoyer, acting as House leader and McNulty, who was presiding over House proceedings at the time. Republicans had made a motion to deny illegal aliens welfare benefits. When McNulty gaveled the vote to a close, the Republicans had won 214-213. Then, apparently at Hoyer’s direction, the vote was reopened so that Speaker Pelosi could vote, producing a tie that defeated the Republican motion. "
Government at Work - The right whales
I don't have anything against the whales; however, there seem to be some inadequacies in this law as it is proposed.
See what you think...
See what you think...
MIKE SECCOMBE reports in the (Martha's) Vineyard Gazette:
"Under draft rules attached to the legislation, any sighting of a right whale would trigger the imposition of a strict, 10-knot speed limit on ships more than 65 feet long, operating within a so-called 'dynamic management area' with a 36-mile radius, for 15 days from the time of the sighting.
A single sighting could lead to the cancellation of high-speed ferry services around the Islands, and play havoc with the schedules of even conventional ferries — which usually run at 12 or 13 knots — for weeks at a time, SSA general manager Wayne Lamson said."
Government at Work - A tortoise tale
Government has shown a remarkable ability to mess up human lives.
Now, they're "helping" the desert tortoises...
Now, they're "helping" the desert tortoises...
You can read about it at ReviewJournal.com:
""They said the (desert) tortoise was threatened, so they had to fence off these huge areas and shut out all the cattle, which means no one is out there shooting the coyotes and the raven or trapping the lions anymore, so of course that wrecked the hunting," Mr. Pappas recalled, back in 2001. 'They said anyone who found a tortoise had to turn it in" to Clark County authorities.'
'So what happened? They got so overrun with tortoises being turned in that they told us they were going to have to start euthanizing them. I said, 'Hold on a minute, here. Euthanize them? Why don't you just drop them out in the desert?' They said, 'Oh no, they'll fight with the native tortoises that already live out there and they'll kill each other, because all these lands are already at saturation levels.' I said, 'Wait a minute, now: Which is it? How can they be 'threatened,' or 'endangered' ... but now you tell us all these lands are at 'saturation levels' for tortoises?'"
Sunday, May 18, 2008
HIV/AIDS: Send strong signal
Interesting; especially since it gives credit to President Bush...
This is from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board:
"President Bush's great achievements in fighting the HIV pandemic need an early, decisive extension by Congress. That would send a strong signal to world leaders to join more decisively in their own efforts."
Meanwhile - in Arizona
Arizona is clearly on the front line of illegal immigration issues...
At YumaSun.com, Howard Fisher discusses what's going on. He begins with the latest:
"Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed legislation Monday to require police departments and sheriff's deputies to do more to crack down on illegal immigration despite its bipartisan support."
Immigration - Tightening Up?
This looks like proof that the government IS trying to make the country more secure...
This is from an article by John Lantigua at PalmBeachPost.com:
"MIAMI — A UPS envelope destined for South Florida is sitting in a warehouse in Louisville, Ky., instead threatening to set off an international dispute that touches on both immigration and national security.
Cristina Bustos, 33, of Bonita Springs said relatives in Monterrey, Mexico, shipped her the envelope in late March. It contains the birth certificates of two relatives living in Florida who want to apply for their Mexican passports at the consulate in South Miami, she said.
The envelope never arrived. Bustos said she received a voice-mail message from a UPS employee in Louisville telling her that it was being detained there. The reason: It contains official identification documents from another country, and she needs to identify herself further before receiving them."
Only in America - the word "Weed"
For some reason, I find myself amused by this...
Jim Stingl writes for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal:
"In 2004, Dillmann opened the Mt. Shasta Brewing Co. and started producing Weed ales and lagers from mountain spring water. He topped each beer bottle with a cap that reads: 'Try legal Weed.'
'It's a play on words,' he said, and a bit of innocent fun. Same with the brewery T-shirt that says: '100% pure Weed.'
The feds, not known for liking fun, recently ordered him to stop using the caps."
In Our Schools - Pay for performance? NOT!
Education vs. the Unions...
It's the second item posted here at Washington State's DailyNewsOnline:
"Thumbs down: That $13.2 million grant Washington state won last year to enhance the teaching of Advanced Placement courses in math and science is history. It’s lost because of the financial incentives it would have provided for teachers who improve test scores. The Washington Education Association didn’t much like the idea of tying teacher pay to student performance on exams. Neither did the teachers union like the involvement of an outside party, the grant provider, in teacher-pay decisions."
Polar Bear Wars
As we all know, there are special interest groups for everything. They have well-intended "causes", raise money, make political contributions, and can influence voting, which allows them to influence politicians.
Some say, that some "causes" mask their true intentions, which usually is to prevent or hinder development.
Frequently, the end result of their activism is that some animal species receives favored status over a human endeaver. Drilling for oil is a good example.
We certainly do live in interesting times...
Some say, that some "causes" mask their true intentions, which usually is to prevent or hinder development.
Frequently, the end result of their activism is that some animal species receives favored status over a human endeaver. Drilling for oil is a good example.
We certainly do live in interesting times...
The is from a press release by Senate Committee in Environment and Public Works:
"Lost in the debate is the fact that polar bear numbers have dramatically increased over the past forty years – a fact even liberal environmental activists are forced to concede. According to Canadian scientists, 11 of the 13 bear populations are stable, with some increasing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now estimates that there are currently 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears. These numbers are substantially up from lows estimates in the range of 5,000-10,000 in the 1950s and 1960s."
Off Topic
In case you didn't know, I also have a lighter side...
"Rick was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really angry. She told him “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less than 10 seconds, AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!”
The next morning Rick got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale."
An interesting part-time job?
High risk, though...
In North Carolina, McClatchy Regional News reports:
"Ruth Davis banked on looking like just another granny in the slow lane.
But the 65-year-old Floridian was on business. A high-dollar delivery — 33 pounds of premium pot — was locked up in the trunk of her rented Chevy Impala. She set her cruise on 74 as she headed north on Interstate 95 through Johnston County, bound for New York.
A North Carolina trooper got in her way that morning last December and, by chance, stumbled across a new type of drug mule.
'I'm not someone you'd think would be doing this,' Davis said this week during an interview at the Johnston County jail. 'I guess that's why it was such a brilliant plan.'"
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Real America
Well, at least someone knows what's going on when the going is tough...
In the Australian, Janet Albrechtson stands up for America:
"THERE is a certain familiarity to the concomitant series of actions and reactions when disaster strikes in the world. The US stands ready, willing and able to offer assistance. It is often the first country to send in millions of dollars, navy strike groups loaded with food and medical supplies, and transport planes, helicopters and floating hospitals to help those devastated by natural disaster.
Then, just as swift and with equal predictability, those wedded to the Great Satan view of the US begin to carp, drawing on a potent mixture of cynicism and conspiracy theories to criticise the last remaining superpower. When the US keeps doing so much of the heavy lifting to alleviate suffering, you'd figure that the anti-Americans might eventually revise their view of the US. But they never do. And coming under constant attack even when helping others, you'd figure that Americans would eventually draw the curtains on world crises. But they haven't. At least not yet.
So it was last week. The US stood ready to help the cyclone-ravaged Burmese people. It did not matter that Burma's ruling junta was no friend of the Americans. With more than 100,000 people feared dead and many more hundreds of thousands left destitute, US Air Force cargo planes loaded with supplies and personnel started arriving in nearby Thailand to begin humanitarian operations in Burma.
A US Navy strike group in the Gulf of Thailand sent helicopters ashore, ready to arrive in Burma within hours. Alas, Burma's military leaders left their people to die for 10 days before finally accepting help from the evil empire. Even if the Yanks are allowed to boost their assistance to Burma, they can expect a groundswell of criticism."
"Meet the children dubbed 'baby losers' "
I suspect this is also going on here in the U.S.
I don't like the "baby loser" label...
I don't like the "baby loser" label...
In The Observer on the U.K's Guardian website, Graham Keeley has this story to tell:
"Across Spain, France and Italy, young middle-class professionals with good degrees and diplomas are facing a lifetime on low salaries with unrewarding jobs, forever poorer than their parents. "
From 8,000 miles away
Regardless of your position on certain things, I think you have to appreciate the technologies represented here...
This is from Brian M. Carney's article in the Wall Street Journal:
"The Marines patrolling the street below were taking fire, but did not have a clear shot at the third-story window that the sniper was shooting from. They were pinned down and called for reinforcements.
Help came from a Predator drone circling the skies 20 miles away. As the unmanned plane closed in, the infrared camera underneath its nose picked up the muzzle flashes from the window. The sniper was still firing when the Predator's 100-pound Hellfire missile came through the window and eliminated the threat.
The airman who fired that missile was 8,000 miles away,"
Meanwhile - in Minnesota
This politician is over-the-top.
I will be surprised if the reporter's peers ever write any nice about Rep. Greiling in the future...
I will be surprised if the reporter's peers ever write any nice about Rep. Greiling in the future...
Scott Johnson posted this on the PowerLine Blog:
"JOHN (John Hinderaker) adds: There is a major 1st Amendment issue here. Greiling, a public official, has demanded that the Star Tribune fire Kersten for writing two columns with which Greiling disagrees. Can one imagine the furor if a member of the Bush administration demanded that a columnist be fired for writing something--about the Iraq war, say--of which the administration official disapproves? Or to take an example closer to home, what would have been the reaction (from the Star Tribune and elsewhere) if Governor Tim Pawlenty had demanded that Strib columnist Nick Coleman be fired for absurdly claiming that it was Pawlenty's fault the 35W bridge collapsed? In either instance, the howls of outrage cannot be imagined. Yet Greiling's call for Kersten's firing has been met with an odd silence from all liberal precincts, including the paper itself."
Meanwhile - in New York
Well, I'm not a lawyer; but, somehow, this just doesn't seem right to me.
You can't hide the fact that there is a constitution, can you?...
You can't hide the fact that there is a constitution, can you?...
The New York Sun's Joseph Goldstein reports:
"City lawyers, in a motion filed Tuesday, asked the judge, Jack Weinstein of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, to preclude the store’s lawyers from arguing that the suit infringed on any Second Amendment rights belonging to the gun store or its customers. In the motion, the lawyer for the city, Eric Proshansky, is also seeking a ban on “any references” to the amendment.
'Any references by counsel to the Second Amendment or analogous state constitutional provisions are likewise irrelevant,' the brief states."
Meanwhile - in the U.K.
This looks ominous...
In the U.K.'s Daily Mail, Steve Doughty reports:
"Now every family in Britain could be forced to pay an 'age tax' to fund elderly care crisis"
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Einstein wrote:
Some may find what he wrote controversial; however, everyone is entitled to their opinion...
This is from an article at Breitbart.com:
"'The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.'
'No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this,' he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper."
The Price of Gas
Taxes! Wow!...
At MSNBC.com, John W. Schoen reports:
"The Dutch have the dubious distinction of paying the most to fill 'er up, according to the U.S. Deptatment of Energy. (There are various agencies that track gasoline prices, but these are among the most recent figures available.) As of April 10, drivers in the Netherlands were paying the equivalent of about $6.73 a gallon at the pump. The gas itself cost $2.61; the rest — $4.12 — represented tax. That’s a 158 percent tax. By comparison, the U.S. h"
Oil - and our perceptions
Sounds pretty right to me.
And is it "too complex" to think food might be next?...
And is it "too complex" to think food might be next?...
At RealClearPolitics.com, Thomas Sowell says the issue is NOT "too complex":
"Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries-- India and China-- having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply?
The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains."
Oil - "No shortage" and "Can't find buyers"
This should get you to scratch your head...
This, from OPEC, is reported at www.rigzone.com:
"There is clearly no shortage of oil in the market. OECD commercial oil stocks remain above the five-year average, with days of forward cover at a comfortable level of more than 53 days. US crude inventories, meanwhile, rose by almost six million barrels last week, which is a further indication that oil supplies are plentiful. OPEC Member Countries continue to produce at more than 32 million barrels a day (mb/d). In addition, a number of new OPEC crude oil projects have started to come on-stream and OPEC spare capacity continues to increase, with the figure currently standing above 3 mb/d. At the same time, crude oil movements indicate that some Member Countries are unable to find buyers for their additional supply."
Oil - Who done it?
Can you dispute any of this?
Are you surprised?
Is your name Rip Van Winkle?...
Are you surprised?
Is your name Rip Van Winkle?...
Here's some wake-up info from Investors Business Daily:
"For the last 28 years, Democrats in Congress and a few Republicans have again and again opposed our drilling for oil in Alaska's ANWR area when we knew it contained at least 10 billion barrels of oil we could be using now."
Wrong track? - It could easily get worse
Polling has become an integral part of our society and decision-making.
Unfortunately, "headline only readers", "sound-bite only listeners", and "sheep" often don't think beyond what the media chooses to present...
Unfortunately, "headline only readers", "sound-bite only listeners", and "sheep" often don't think beyond what the media chooses to present...
At TownHall.com, Dennis Prager elaborates on this thought:
"I count myself as one of the 81 percent who believes America is headed in the wrong direction, and that is precisely why I am voting Republican. Moreover, I suspect I am not alone among the 81 percent in ascribing the wrong track to the leftist, not the conservative, influence on American life.
But if "headed in the wrong direction" really does mean for most Americans that voting Democrat will put our country on the right track, it is hard not to conclude that America has begun the decline that has ended all great civilizations. For if the Democratic Party -- given how far left it has become -- comes to control Congress and the presidency, America's values will soon stray so far from what they have been since its founding that it is difficult to imagine ever being able to undo the change."
The Clintons - Who Knew?
Some people knew, however, the biased "non-reporting" by the media, made it impossible for most of us to know.
Perhaps, as we listen to the media reporting on their "favorite" of today, we should be on our guard...
Perhaps, as we listen to the media reporting on their "favorite" of today, we should be on our guard...
Here's part of a critique from deathby1000papercuts.com:
"The Clinton scandals, both Bill’s and Hillary’s, have never been reported to the American people. Or were reported in such a way as to convey the impression they were fantasies motivated by hate filled members of the right wing conspiracy. They were one or two day stories which were then swept down the old memory hole. Despite iron-clad evidence of malfeasance, perjury, cover-up, blackmail and conspiracy."
Purple Hearts - Is it time for a change?
I'm not sure I like this idea; however, I wouldn't want to be dismissive of anyone's mental problems, no matter what the cause.
That being said, I'm really curious how veterans will feel about this...
That being said, I'm really curious how veterans will feel about this...
This is from a Wall Street Journal article by Yochi J. Dreazen:
"... with an increasing number of troops being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the modern military is debating an idea Gen. Washington never considered -- awarding one of the nation's top military citations to veterans with psychological wounds, not just physical ones."
Earmarks - One down, a million to go
Well, it's about time.
But, don't miss the "I don't recall" bit. That's politics for sure...
But, don't miss the "I don't recall" bit. That's politics for sure...
Susan Crabtree reports at thehill.com:
"Democrats and Republicans joined together to strip a pet project of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) from the 2009 intelligence authorization bill — the same project Democrats defended last year.
The Murtha earmark, $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), was one of a handful of pet projects eliminated from the bill in a lopsided 17-4 vote. Several Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee joined with Republicans to support the amendment, which was sponsored by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the panel’s ranking Republican.
Hoekstra said he did not recall who voted against his amendment, although he said it included Republicans as well as Democrats. He noted that Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) voted against it."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Meanwhile - in France
I don't know where to start.
Should I be hitting on lawyers, the government, human insanity, who knows?...
Should I be hitting on lawyers, the government, human insanity, who knows?...
Adam Sage reports at TimesOnline.com:
"Amid mounting anger and destruction on a scale unknown for 30 years, cereal farmers are being advised to sue neighbours who allow wild rabbits to proliferate. In one case that sparked controversy this month, a hunter was ordered to pay €1,439 (�1,134) in damages to two farmers after a court ruled that he had not shot enough rabbits in his woods."
Is everything dangerous?
Noooo.
But there ARE a lot of tough calls to make for a parent...
But there ARE a lot of tough calls to make for a parent...
In the New York Sun, Lenore Skenazy explains one she makes:
"'Parents are in the grip of anxiety and when you’re anxious, you’re totally warped,' the author of 'A Nation of Wimps,' Hara Estroff Marano, said. We become so bent out of shape over something as simple as letting your children out of sight on the playground that it starts seeming on par with letting them play on the railroad tracks at night. In the rain. In dark non-reflective coats.
The problem with this everything-is-dangerous outlook is that over-protectiveness is a danger in and of itself. A child who thinks he can’t do anything on his own eventually can’t."
Going Up?
The tallest building in the world.
For now!...
For now!...
This is from the U.K. Daily Mail:
"When complete next year the Burj Dubai will stretch half a mile into the sky over the United Arab Emirates, taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other.
Already 2,200 ft tall, and the result of 22 million man hours of labour, the Burj is the pinnacle of skyscraper engineering. "
ABC - Lying About Guns?
I've always been skeptical of Brian Ross since his 1993 involvement in Dateline NBC's investigative report about General Motors pickup trucks, for which many records have since been purged...
I found this post at Confederate Yankee, who is obviously no fan of Brian Ross, who now works at ABC:
"Today, Ross and accomplice Richard Esposito continue that fine ABC News tradition of making up the news, in a story claiming that the U.S. Second Amendment is to blame for Mexico's drug cartel problems.
The deception starts with the picture at the beginning of the article.
The focus of the story, according to ABC News, is that U.S. dealers of civilian firearms are to blame for Mexico's drug cartels and their violence problems... so why do they highlight an M60 general purpose machine gun, a weapons still in use in Mexico's military, but impossible to find in the open U.S. civilian market? "
Race - Time to move past the past
I think this writer has it right...
At AmericanThinker.com, James Lewis closes his article about race with:
"It is high time to move beyond racial games. You don't do that by running a race-based candidate for president with the promise of soothing the wounds. We have heard those promises before. Even if Obama were elected, the Al Sharptons and Jeremiah Wrights will be happy to keep those old wounds bleeding. They don't score any points by telling people that we have finally solved the conflict. And they and their allies are the beneficiaries of the ineffective programs of liberalism offered in to assuage the anger being constantly revisited.
The racial establishment hasn't done black Americans any favors by obsessively rubbing more salt into old wounds. The traumas of the past don't have to be constantly picked over. Instead, like Condi Rice, people need to acknowledge the past and still move beyond it. Every successful black person in the country has found a way to do that. So has every other ethnic and racial group.
If political parties could be sued for malpractice the Democrats would be in court for a long time to come. The fact that Senator Obama is steeped in the grievance culture of the Left (as his twenty years being the mentee of mentor Jeremiah Wright attests) is the biggest problem with his candidacy."
Gun Owners are more ...
Are we to be surprised by this?...
Arthur C. Brooks writes in the Wall Street Journal:
"A bit of evidence that self-reliance is at work among gun owners comes from the General Social Survey. It asked whether one agrees with the statement, 'Those in need have to take care of themselves.' In 2004, gun owners were 10 percentage points more likely than nonowners to agree (60% to 50%).
That response is not evidence that gun owners only care about themselves, however. In 2002, they were more likely to give money to charity than people without guns (83% to 75%). This charity gap doesn't reflect their somewhat higher incomes. Gun owners were also more likely to give in other ways, such as donating blood. Are gun owners unsentimental? In 2004, they were more likely than those without guns to strongly agree that they would 'endure all things' for the one they loved (45% to 37%)."
Food Crisis Worries?
What's wrong with this picture?
Did you notice the word "government"?...
Did you notice the word "government"?...
In the New York Sun, Josh Gerstein reports:
"One factor being blamed for the price hikes is the use of government subsidies to promote the use of corn for ethanol production. An estimated 30% of America’s corn crop now goes to fuel, not food.
'I don’t think anybody knows precisely how much ethanol contributes to the run-up in food prices, but the contribution is clearly substantial,' a professor of applied economics and law at the University of Minnesota, C. Ford Runge, said. A study by a Washington think tank, the International Food Policy Research Institute, indicated that between a quarter and a third of the recent hike in commodities prices is attributable to biofuels."
General Motors - and the "Volt"
Technology makes huge jumps at times, so I guess we'll have to wait and see...
In his Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. wonders:
"America's biggest near-dead car company called in reporters this month to boast – boast! – about its willingness to lose money on its forthcoming electric car. That includes betting the farm on whether batteries can be developed with the necessary power-to-weight ratio and life expectancy to give the car its needed usability. 'Whatever it takes to do, we will do' to deliver the plug-in Volt by a 2010 deadline, project leader Frank Weber told journalists."
A Greenpeace switcheroo
Could this be a case of common sense prevailing?...
At the Politico.com, Erika Lovley writes about Patrick Moore:
"When Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore first began second-guessing his opposition to nuclear power, he did what any good environmentalist would do: He buried it.
The activist had already helped spearhead Greenpeace’s fight against nuclear testing and had gained international recognition after being arrested for shielding a baby seal from a hunter’s club.
'I had always been afraid of nuclear waste,' he said in an interview. 'I thought if I got anywhere near it, it would kill me. But deep down, intellectually, I knew it could work.'
As global warming grew from scientific theory to public concern in the late 1980s, Moore left Greenpeace in 1986, aiming to prove to the environmental community that pro-nuclear environmentalism was not an oxymoron.
Today, he co-chairs the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and is a harsh critic of what he calls an 'extremist' anti-nuclear environmental movement — his former Greenpeace colleagues and others who are unwilling to consider nuclear energy as a solution to global warming."
Monday, May 12, 2008
Meanwhile - in Portland, Oregon
I saw this a while back.
It's just here for a change of pace...
It's just here for a change of pace...
From the CanadianPress:
" A lawyer who watched a police officer park illegally in front of a restaurant, then wait around while his meal was prepared, issued the officer a series of citizen-initiated violations.
Eric Bryant said he was sitting at the restaurant March 7 when Officer Chad Stensgaard parked his patrol car next to a no-parking sign and walked inside to wait for his food, ..."
Politicians - John McCain
I'd like to disagree, but I can't.
I don't want presidential candidates giving credence to any person whose character is or was questionable...
I don't want presidential candidates giving credence to any person whose character is or was questionable...
At TownHall.com, Steve Chapman finda a Johhn McCain "skeleton":
"How close are McCain and Liddy? At least as close as Obama and Ayers appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns -- including $1,000 this year.
Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. 'I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family,'" he gushed. 'It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.'"
Meanwhile - in Japan
Surprised; or appalled.
Maybe they could sell advertising space, too!
Or, am I too old-fashioned?...
Maybe they could sell advertising space, too!
Or, am I too old-fashioned?...
This is from an article in the Mainichi Daily News:
"'Tombstones change with the ages,' said Ishinokoe president Yoshitsugu Fukazawa. 'If my grandfather who started the company could see this, he'd probably be really surprised.'"
In Our Schools - 3rd grade in Pennsylvania
I don't like this.
Is this day and age of controversial subjects, I think items like this deserve full debate before they are implemented.
And that debate should certainly be well in advance..
Is this day and age of controversial subjects, I think items like this deserve full debate before they are implemented.
And that debate should certainly be well in advance..
I found this posted by "Mondoreb" at DeathBy1000Papercuts.com:
"A Pennsylvania elementary school has confirmed its membership in the 'Brave New Liberal Schools' club by holding counseling sessions with 100 3rd-grade students to announce that one of the boys would soon start showing up at school in girls’ clothing and taking a female name.
Counselors will ask the 3rd-graders to accept the boy as a girl and not to make childish remarks that may be unkind."
Al Sharpton - "Agent of Hate"
Considering his record, it would be hard to disagree...
That's what Michelle Malkin calls him:
"Shame on every enabler who has aided and abetted Al Sharpton’s campaign to mainstream, enrich, and advance himself as a “civil rights leader” for decades despite his lying, poisonous, police-hating, crime-coddling, race-hustling agenda."
Politicians - Barack Obama
It's amazing to me how often this "rewriting" happens; and, even more amazing that they rarely, or, at best, very mildly, get called on it...
I found this review of history at HotAir.com:
"Everyone in the building, his opponents first and foremost, understood him to mean that he was willing to chat with Ahmadinejad et al. in person and without demands and His Holiness conspicuously failed to correct that impression. He’s tacking towards the center now that the nomination’s locked up by trying to sound a bit more hawkish and the media’s naturally happy to let him do it by not reminding him of old promises."
Politicians - Hillary Clinton
It's pretty convincing when you see them all listed...
In the New York Daily News, Michael Goodwin has been following her actions:
"...Clinton's cringe-inducing performance is doing what her harshest critics never could. It has ripped away any pretense that she actually stands for something.
The conventional portrait of her as an unflinching, devoted partisan has been proven wrong. Partisanship, it turns out, was just another fig leaf hiding a singular allegiance.
Politics has been a male narcissists' playpen, but Hillary is showing she doesn't take a backseat to any of the boys, including her hubby. Consider a few of her recent zig-zags in an incoherent bid to outflank Obama."
Barbara Walters - criticized here
How about a real rip of Barbara Walters to start the day?...
Debbie Schlussel provides it for us:
"In this case, the female dog who was sleeping around and won't stop talking about with whom she allegedly slept, has the surname of Walters, the first name of Barbara. And she has the very sad, insatiable need at her twilight age of 78 to get more attention.
Walters, in a bid to sell her new 612-page book, 'Audition,' is pimping out former U.S. Senator Ed Brooke . . . telling the world that she had a long-term sexual affair with him, while he was married to another woman."
Sunday, May 11, 2008
On Our Borders
Isn't this "cute"?...
This is from Chad Groening at OneNewsNow.com:
"Zack Taylor is a member of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Agents. 'It would prevent the building or maintenance of a fence. It would restrict law enforcement access to those lands. And it would facilitate drug smuggling and alien smuggling in those areas,' he laments."
Lawyers - to be "snared"?
This looks likely to get quite interesting...
At www.law.com, Joel Stashenko reports:
"New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo predicted Thursday that "hundreds and hundreds" of attorneys will ultimately be implicated in his office's investigation of government entities improperly enrolling non-employees in public pension funds.
While his investigators have only exposed the "tip of the iceberg" so far, Cuomo said the problem is not limited to a few school districts on Long Island which were initially exposed for having put attorneys doing work for the districts on the public pension rolls.
Cuomo said the problem is also evident at BOCES school districts, "special" districts like sewer or water districts and towns and villages.
"In many ways, this situation is the public integrity version of death by a thousand cuts," Cuomo said. "Ten thousand governments. Little scams. Chronic widespread corruption and fraud. And in the end, the taxpayers bleed millions of dollars."
While "there will be people beyond lawyers" found to be receiving improper public pension benefits, "the predominant class will be lawyers," Cuomo said."
Getting stung by a charity
So, if this is "one of the worst", that implies that a lot of donated money is not getting to where it was intended...
In the New York Post, Isabel Vincent discusses Sting's "Rainforest Foundation":
"The watchdog - which rates 5,000 charities nationally based on management and fund-raising-to-giving ratios - has slapped Rainforest Foundation Inc. with a zero rating for each of the last four years.
Another problem is the charity's apparent hoarding of donations. In 2006, it reported $10 million in net assets - including nearly $5 million in cash - to the IRS."
Fighting Climate Change
Sounds pretty unlikely, doesn't it?...
This article, by Steven F. Hayward is from the Wall Street Journal:
"According to the Department of Energy's most recent data on greenhouse gas emissions, in 2006 the U.S. emitted 5.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, or just under 20 tons per capita. An 80% reduction in these emissions from 1990 levels means that the U.S. cannot emit more than about one billion metric tons of CO2 in 2050.
Were man-made carbon dioxide emissions in this country ever that low? The answer is probably yes – from historical energy data it is possible to estimate that the U.S. last emitted one billion metric tons around 1910. But in 1910, the U.S. had 92 million people, and per capita income, in current dollars, was about $6,000.
By the year 2050, the Census Bureau projects that our population will be around 420 million. This means per capita emissions will have to fall to about 2.5 tons in order to meet the goal of 80% reduction.
It is likely that U.S. per capita emissions were never that low – even back in colonial days when the only fuel we burned was wood. The only nations in the world today that emit at this low level are all poor developing nations, such as Belize, Mauritius, Jordan, Haiti and Somalia."
Global Warming - Artic vs. Antartic
Interesting.
Maybe we shouldn't talk about one, unless we also include the other...
Maybe we shouldn't talk about one, unless we also include the other...
I found this tidbit at TerraDaily.com:
"At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest sea-ice extent on record."
Measuring and Interpreting (and Contradicting?)
Duh!...
At the U.K.'s theRegister.com, Steven Goddard writes about the global warming issue:
"In science, as with any other endeavour, it is always a good idea to have some separation between the people generating the data and the people interpreting it."
Climate change - Maybe not?
"Mixed verdict", "sometimes incompletely", and "may be unreliable" are phrases found in this article...
Some people interpret that as established science.
I don't...
Some people interpret that as established science.
I don't...
At Science Daily climate model methodology is scrutinized:
"'We can now compare computer simulations with observations of actual climate trends in Antarctica,' says NCAR scientist Andrew Monaghan, the lead author of the study. 'This is showing us that, over the past century, most of Antarctica has not undergone the fairly dramatic warming that has affected the rest of the globe. The challenges of studying climate in this remote environment make it difficult to say what the future holds for Antarctica's climate.'"
Polar Bear - "Research Critically Flawed"
Ugh Oh. This seems politically incorrect.
Now, let's see what our "helpful" and "concerned" politicians do...
Now, let's see what our "helpful" and "concerned" politicians do...
According to informs.online:
"Research done by the U.S. Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a study being published later this year in Interfaces, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®)."
Climate Summary - April 2008 was cooler
For what it's worth...
From the N.O.A.A. Satellite and Information Service:
"The average temperature in April 2008 was 51.0 F. This was -1.0 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 29th coolest April in 114 years."
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Environment - and the "hippy-crites"!
Once again, I'm sure their intentions are good; but their actions are just so, very, very bad for the environment!...
In the U.K. Daily Mail, Tom Sykes identifies some "hippy-crites":
"Is the hot air emitted by celebrities when they spout ecological platitudes a greenhouse gas?
If so, then the melting of the polar ice caps just moved a step closer, following calls by Trudie Styler, a leading celebrity ecological hypocrite - call them hippy-crites for short - for the general public to eat more locally grown vegetables. "
Celebrities - and the environment
I'm sure Cindy is well-intended.
I just found the author's quote to be "telling"...
I just found the author's quote to be "telling"...
This is by Jeff Poor at BusinessAndMedia.org:
"According to 'Good Morning America' host Diane Sawyer, Crawford was studying to be a chemical engineer at Northwestern before New York beckoned, but she might have missed a math class or two when they were teach percentages.
According to Crawford and the 'Thirsty for Change' Web site, Americans use 50 billion water bottles a year.
'Fifty billion in America and only 50 percent are recycled,' Crawford said. 'So that’s like 38 billion that aren’t recycled.'"
Barack Obama - vs. History
I think a lot of people need history lessons.
After all: "One who cannot remember the past, is doomed to repeat it", or something like that.
I wonder if they still teach history in our schools...
After all: "One who cannot remember the past, is doomed to repeat it", or something like that.
I wonder if they still teach history in our schools...
At RealClearPolitics.com, Jack Kelly begins:
"In his victory speech after the North Carolina primary, Sen. Barack Obama said something that is all the more remarkable for how little it has been remarked upon.
In defending his stated intent to meet with America's enemies without preconditions, Sen. Obama said: 'I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did.'
That he made this statement, and that it passed without comment by the journalists covering his speech indicates either breathtaking ignorance of history on the part of both, or deceit."
Hillary Clinton - vs. History
Manure, optimists, and pessimists.
Read all about it...
Read all about it...
At FrontPageMag.com, Dr. Paul Kengor writes about it:
"Mrs. Clinton’s use of that anecdote is the first time I’ve heard it from a public figure since Ronald Reagan. Yet, the way in which the two figures apply the anecdote could not be more different, and is quite revealing."
Friday, May 09, 2008
Britons throw away third of all food: study
This sounds bad; but I'd like to see a comparison with other high standard of living countries before criticizing...
This story is at Breitbart.com:
"British consumers throw out a third of all food bought, worth some 10 billion pounds (12.7 million euros, 19.5 million dollars), a study showed Thursday.
The average household throws food worth 420 pounds each year into the waste bin, rising to 610 pounds for those with children, said the study by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap)."
Meanwhile - in Daisetta, Texas
Big Gulp!...
I found this Associated Press story by Juan A. Lozano posted at Breitbart.com:
"The 900-foot-long sinkhole, with crumbling dirt around its edges resembling sharp teeth, has swallowed up oil tanks and barrels, tires, telephone poles and several vehicles in Daisetta, a once-booming oil town of about 1,000 residents about 60 miles northeast of Houston."
In Our World - in Switzerland
Personally, I can't see this lasting very long; but, then again?...
T found this at the Chattanoogan.com:
"The new legislation states that fish caught should be killed immediately following their capture, with a sharp blow to the head from a blunt instrument. Under the new regulations, the use of livebait and barbed hooks is also prohibited except in certain situations.
The laws come into effect in 2009 but while the Swiss government does not mention Catch and Release specifically, it does say that "it is not permitted to go fishing with the 'intention' to release the fish.""
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Our "waste" line seems to be showing
When it comes to consumption, we ARE the bad guys.
There's no other way to spin it...
There's no other way to spin it...
The Times of India wants everyone to know:
"Due to their huge populations, countries like India and China may appear to consume gigantic amounts of food. But the real elephant in the room that nobody is willing to talk about is how much each person gets to eat. And the answer will shock many.
Total foodgrain consumption — wheat, rice, and all coarse grains like rye, barley etc — by each person in the US is over five times that of an Indian, according to figures released by the US Department of Agriculture for 2007.
Each Indian gets to eat about 178 kg of grain in a year, while a US citizen consumes 1,046 kg.
In per capita terms, US grain consumption is twice that of the European Union and thrice that of China. Grain consumption includes flour and by conversion to alcohol.
In fact, per capita grain consumption has increased in the US — so actually the Americans are eating more. In 2003, US per capita grain consumption was 946 kg per year which increased to 1046 kg last year."
Power Line: The Truth Laces Up Its Shoes
In line with the closing thought, I think "most readers" of the news, and most viewers of TV news, get a faulty biased version of many things.
Perhaps, I've said that before [tongue in cheek]...
Perhaps, I've said that before [tongue in cheek]...
This was posted by John Hinderaker on the Powerline Blog:
"On its web site, B'Tselem 'called on the IDF Spokesperson’s office to publish all the material in IDF hands that documents the incident, especially the UAV photos, which could prove or refute this claim.' Two days later, the IDF did just that: it released not just photos, but its video of the incident.
So B'Tselem's questioning of the IDF account, to which AFP gave the last word on Saturday, did not contradict the evidence of the video. On the contrary, it predated the IDF's release of the video on Friday. Moreover, B'Tselem wrote that the IDF was guilty because it fired at a terrorist who was 'about one meter from the gate of the Abu Me'tiq family’s house.' So the initial AFP story told us that the Israelis must have targeted the Maateq home because it was 'more than a kilometre from the scene of the clashes,' while the second AFP report adopted B'Tselem's claim that the IDF's account was incredible because Israeli aircraft fired at a terrorist who was only 'one meter' from the Maateqs' gate. Which is it?
It is hard to escape the conclusion that, as far as AFP is concerned, any facts will do as long as they put Israel in the wrong. Meanwhile, what of the IDF's video? It appears, to my eyes, to support the conclusion that the Maateq children's deaths resulted from a secondary explosion of munitions carried by a terrorist who was in the act of trying to kill Israelis. If there is some reason why that interpretation is incorrect, what is it? AFP offers no meaningful rebuttal. Yet most readers will take away only the message of AFP's headline: 'Four children among victims of Israeli strikes on Gaza.'"
Revving it up
Here are the places to go...
I found this at theNewspaper.com:
"Speed limits set to rise in Utah and Dallas, Texas."
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
"Willful Blindness" - by Andrew McCarthy
I don't usually post Rush Limbaugh's stuff (he can take care of himself); but, this interview with Andrew McCarthy caused me to make an exception...
This is from Rush Limbaugh's website:
"RUSH: It's great to have you here. Now, let's get started with this, because there's a lot to discuss with you. There are three themes in Andy's book, folks. The first theme is that a foreign threat to national security is fundamentally a political issue of self-defense that would involve military. It's not a legal issue involving lawyers and criminal law. The second theme is that we have been at war with these people -- declared by them -- since the late eighties, early nineties, and it wasn't taken seriously until 9/11. The third one is what's fascinating to me. I can't wait 'til we get to that portion. It's "You Can't Take the Islam Out of Islamic terrorism." Andy tried the blind sheik, and I'll let him tell you the story when we get there about preparing to cross-examine the blind sheik. He expected to find that this guy was just a fringe nut, making things up -- and nothing he said was made up about Islam. So let's start where you think we need to start for people to understand the threat that we still face, and maybe you want to do that by starting at the beginning and how you became aware of it."
Former Presidents
Here's an interesting article that seems to have our former Presidents labeled correctly...
David R. Stokes writes at Townhall.com:
"We currently have three former presidents roaming the land. There is the first President Bush, who has clearly managed to conduct himself with the kind of self-effacing dignity that characterized his personal style during his Oval Office tenure. Except for the occasional jump out of an airplane to mark a birthday, he doesn’t make the news much, and it’s probably because he prefers it that way. Will his famous son approach his exile similarly?
Then there are Jimmy and Bill – two men who seem to be determined to magnify the weaknesses of their previous service in ways that make the news on a near-daily basis. "
Government at Work - Counting People
Like I might have said before: some want the government to handle our health care.
Just think about that!...
Just think about that!...
This is from the May 1st, 2008 Wall Street Journal editorial page:
"The Census Bureau decided as long ago as 2000 that handheld computers were the future, and spent four years trying to develop one in-house, with little to show for it. That earlier failure led to the contract with Harris in 2006. As usual in government, no one in particular seems to be taking responsibility for the serial failures – which of course is part of the problem. There is little incentive for getting it right, because no one below the level of a political appointee ever loses a job for getting it wrong. You can even lose your job for getting it right if it means more efficiency.
In the case of the botched handhelds, the result is that the Census will now have to deploy some 600,000 temporary workers to go door to door and get the forms filled out by hand."
Meanwhile - in New York State
I wonder what the court costs will be when someone fights back on this.
Of course, the taxpayer pays for that, too...
Of course, the taxpayer pays for that, too...
This is from a recent Wall Street Journal editorial:
"By signing the state's budget, Mr. Paterson is now attempting to do what Mr. Spitzer only threatened: Force out-of-state retailers such as Amazon.com to collect New York's sales taxes, which approach 9%, including local levies. A 1992 Supreme Court decision called Quill bars exactly this type of money grab. The Supremes ruled that forcing such obligations on companies with no employees or buildings in a state could cripple interstate commerce. Without Quill, small Web merchants would have to answer to 7,500 state and local tax collectors."
Ice - Read all about it
This is pretty interesting.
It's a website where climate changes are discussed.
The comments are plentiful, and for the most part well thought out.
I guess that's what real scientific people do...
It's a website where climate changes are discussed.
The comments are plentiful, and for the most part well thought out.
I guess that's what real scientific people do...
Steve McIntyre starts it by reporting 'unprecedented' increases in Southern Hemisphere sea ice:
"On a global basis, world sea ice in April 2008 reached levels that were “unprecedented” for the month of April in over 25 years. Levels are the third highest (for April) since the commencement of records in 1979, exceeded only by levels in 1979 and 1982. This continues a pattern established earlier in 2008, as global sea ice in March 2008 was also the third highest March on record, while January 2008 sea ice was the second highest January on record. It was also the second highest single month in the past 20 years (second only to Sept 1996)."
Ice - It's in the news
Remember when ice was only important in that you didn't want to run out of it during summer picnics?...
Not too long ago, Lawrence Solomon wrote this in Canada's National Post:
"'Ice sheets do not melt from the surface down -- only at the edges,' Prof. Ollier explains. The modellers' mechanism that has 'meltwater lakes on the surface finding their way down through cracks in the ice and lubricating the bottom of the glacier is not compatible with accumulation of undisturbed snow layers.'
In truth, the rate of ice flow now seen in the polar regions does not depend on the present climate, but on the accumulation of ice that occurred in the distant past. Neither is today's warming extraordinary: 'Arctic explorers used to get their ships a lot closer to northern Green-land than you could now,' he explains."
Oil - Are our politicians against us?
Well, as the saying goes, "If you're not with us, then...
It's all explained in this Wall Street Journal editorial:
"Exxon is now under attack for buying back $2 billion of its own stock rather than adding to the more than $21 billion it is likely to invest in energy research and exploration this year. But hold on. If oil companies believe their earnings from exploring for new oil will be expropriated by government – and an excise tax on profits is pure expropriation – they will surely invest less, not more. A profits tax is a sure formula to keep the future price of gas higher.
Exxon's profits are soaring with the recent oil price spike, but the energy industry's earnings aren't as outsized as the politicians seem to think. Thomson Financial calculates that profits from the oil and natural gas industry over the past year were 8.3% of investment, while the all-industry average is 7.8%. And this was a boom year for oil. An analysis by the Cato Institute's Jerry Taylor finds that between 1970 and 2003 (which includes peak and valley years for earnings) the oil and gas business was 'less profitable than the rest of the U.S. economy.' These are hardly robber barons.
This tiff over gas and oil taxes only highlights the intellectual policy confusion – or perhaps we should say cynicism – of our politicians. They want lower prices but don't want more production to increase supply. They want oil 'independence' but they've declared off limits most of the big sources of domestic oil that could replace foreign imports. They want Americans to use less oil to reduce greenhouse gases but they protest higher oil prices that reduce demand. They want more oil company investment but they want to confiscate the profits from that investment. And these folks want to be President?"
Oil Profits - There are taxes paid, too
You would think the media would report this also.
I guess my naïveté is showing...
I guess my naïveté is showing...
Mark J. Perry posted this on his blog:
"The breakdown, according to Perry, is $9.3 billion in income taxes, $8.4 billion in sales-based taxes and $11.6 billion in other taxes.
Thus, Exxon-Mobil paid nearly $3 in taxes for every $1 in income. Exxon-Mobil’s income taxes of $9.3 billion in Q1 2008 also set a new all-time record for the highest amount of income taxes ever paid by a U.S. corporation in a single quarter."
Oil Profits - Be careful what you wish for
If politicians succeed in taking the profit incentive away, what in the world do they think is going to happen?...
Here's one of those Investors Business Daily editorials that's too logical for average understandng:
"Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of 'Big Oil.'
By signaling that supply is scarce, higher profits encourage more production. Except, that is, when Congress through its inept lawmaking stands in the way. And that's the case now with the oil industry.
Congress seems almost constantly at war with the oil companies — slapping them with taxes and pillorying their CEOs while ignoring the fact that higher profits lead to more exploration, drilling and development.
If anyone is to blame for our current energy mess, it's Congress. At least 20 billion barrels of oil sit untapped in Alaska and another 30 billion lie offshore. Such sources that could help satisfy U.S. demand for years to come. Yet, Congress has put them out of bounds."
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
This is no fish story
When you really think about it, our food supply is a bit shaky, to say the least...
The A.P.'s Bill Lambrecht writes at STLtoday.com:
"In March, inspectors checking Chinese seafood arriving at U.S. ports made some unsettling discoveries: fish infected with salmonella in Baltimore and Seattle, and shrimp with banned veterinary drugs in Florida.
Meanwhile, a shipment intercepted in Los Angeles on March 19 and labeled 'channel catfish' wasn't catfish at all, though records don't say what it was.
'A lot of those products coming in from overseas, you have no clue as to what is in them,' said Paul Hitchens, an aquaculture specialist in Southern Illinois, where cut-rate Chinese catfish are threatening the livelihood of fish farmers."
Hillary Clinton - Her policy on illegal aliens is ?
Say anything to get elected?
There's no doubt in my mind...
There's no doubt in my mind...
Here are some examples by Jim Kouri in Canada's Free Press:
"Then a mere few weeks later, Senator Hillary Clinton displayed how she can talk out of both sides of her mouth depending on whom she’s addressing. Recently in New York, Senator Clinton, as part of her attempt to re-invent herself, told a cheering crowd that the United States had to protect our borders and deal with illegal immigration.
But, according to the Washington Times, Clinton and her fellow New York Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer, turned thumbs down on two amendments to a Department of Homeland Security spending bill, which would have funded 2,000 new Border Patrol agents and more than 5,000 new detention beds to house illegal aliens.
On another occasion, according to NewsMax, the former first lady blasted President Bush on border security in a statement posted on her official Senate Web site. NewMax quoted Madam Hillary as saying, 'This administration has failed to provide the resources to protect our borders, or a better system to keep track of entrants to this country,' she complained, adding, 'I welcome the addition of more border security.' In the past she has claimed to be “adamantly against illegal immigrants.”
Yet Senator Clinton and her comrades voted against border security enhancements, once again displaying her propensity for double-speak."
Lawyers in Charge - and the results
So, are there grounds for lawsuits here? [sarcasm OFF]...
In the Wall Street Journal, Gail Heriot writes about the results:
"GMU responded by further lowering minority admissions standards. It also increased spending on outreach, appointed an assistant dean to serve as minority coordinator, and established an outside 'Minority Recruitment Council.' As a result, 17.3% of its entering students were minority members in 2003 and 19% in 2004.
Not good enough. 'Of the 99 minority students in 2003,' the ABA complained, 'only 23 were African American; of 111 minority students in 2004, the number of African Americans held at 23.' It didn't seem to matter that 63 African Americans had been offered admission, or that many students admitted with lower academic credentials would end up incurring heavy debt but never graduate and pass the bar.
GMU's case is not unique. In a study conducted several years ago, 31% of law school respondents admitted to political scientists Susan Welch and John Gruhl that they 'felt pressure' 'to take race into account in making admissions decisions' from 'accreditation agencies.' Several schools, like GMU, have been put through the diversity wringer."
Lawyers - "Parasite Circus"?
I know they are a "check and balance" when used properly.
It's the damage extremes that bother me...
It's the damage extremes that bother me...
John Stossel writes in the Wall Street Journal:
"Foes of lawsuit abuse have been writing gleefully about the fall of Dickie Scruggs, Bill Lerach and Melvyn Weiss. All three lawyers are likely to spend time in jail for plotting to bribe a judge (Scruggs) or paying kickbacks (Lerach and Weiss).
Good riddance.
Locking them up will stop them from further damaging America – at least for a few years. But it's a small victory for reformers.
New members of the parasite circus will just step forward to take their place. And what these aggressive class-action and securities lawyers do legally is more damaging to America than the crimes that Scruggs, Lerach and Weiss committed. "
Monday, May 05, 2008
Meanwhile - at Smith College in Massachusetts
We all should now by now that colleges are generally liberal; however, that seems to change when opposing views are trying to be heard...
This article WorldNetDaily.com describes recent Smith College activities:
"Shouts of 'We're here, we're queer, Get used to it!' combined with various shrieks and screams punctuate the protests.
With police officers standing idly by, a homosexual protest leader takes the microphone and orders, 'They have told us to leave, so everyone needs to stay.'
While security officers are shown doing nothing to eject the mob, Sorba is told to leave the room."
In the Washington Post:
Believe it or not...
I found this in a Washington Post editorial:
"Somalia is a cautionary example for those who, like Barack Obama, favor rapidly withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq and managing any threat from al-Qaeda with an 'over the horizon' strike force. Such forces indeed have the ability to target and kill leaders. They do nothing, however, to change the conditions under which al-Qaeda finds refuge and recruits. As Gen. David H. Petraeus is demonstrating in Iraq, successful counterterrorism requires providing security for the civilian population, economic reconstruction and the brokering of political accords -- in other words, nation-building. That's as true in Somalia as it is in Iraq."
"Counterfeit Spirituality"?
I believe Mr. Adamo has some worthy points here...
Here's just a part of Christopher G. Adamo at GOPUSA.com:
"With the help of the ever present liberal clergy, who studiously avoid and actively discourage 'political involvement' on those prickly issues of abortion and sexual immorality, a new direction and rationale for 'Christianity' has been established in the past few years. The two main pillars of this counterfeit spirituality are environmentalism and socialism. Not surprisingly, in regards to these issues those same liberal clerics are only too willing to lend a hand.
Concurrently, 'Christian' populists, such as California megachurch pastor Rick Warren have done their best to open the floodgates of this modern 'leaven,' by supplanting stodgy old religionists and their narrow perspective of sin and redemption with the delightfully more flexible concept of 'purpose.' Under its auspices, saving an ostensibly endangered species might rate comparable spiritual glory with saving souls, while clearly representing far less of an affront to 'old scratch.' It is therefore liable to incur far less of a backlash from his leftist minions in the political arena or on the nightly news.
So, what are the real consequences facing a society that embraces these false premises of 'spirituality' while abandoning the truth? The same as they have always been throughout history: decline and eventual ruin. And the evidence is mounting before our eyes."
"Worst" in history
I've noticed this, too.
It sure has a lot of people thinking we are on the brink of calamity.
Then again, those people probably aren't "thinking" at all...
It sure has a lot of people thinking we are on the brink of calamity.
Then again, those people probably aren't "thinking" at all...
At the OregonLive.com blog, Elena Ives observes:
"You can't turn on your radio or television without hearing some form of shrill grammatical extremism: Usually 'never/always/most/worst' frequently followed by 'in history.'"
Don't panic
We might all learn something here...
I found this at Canada's National Post website:
"The trouble with doom-and-gloom predictions -- whether they be about oil shortages, food scarcity, water wars or population explosions --is that most are based on the linear extrapolation of short-term trends. If, say, rice prices rise, alarmists assume they will keep rising indefinitely at the same rate -- and then produce scary-looking graphs that show trend lines veering up into the wild-eyed blue yonder.
But history shows that human adaptation invariably intervenes --especially in parts of the world that have the benefit of a market economy. Scarcity drives innovations that pull the world back from the brink. Consumers take high prices as their cue to consume less; producers take the same cue to produce more. A new equilibrium is reached, just as college microeconomics textbooks would predict."
The Media - Newspapers are having tough times
A sign of the times...
At EditorAndPublisher.com, Jennifer Saba leads with:
"Print circulation continues on its steep downward slide, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed this morning in releasing the latest numbers for some of the country's largest dailies in the six-month period ending March 31, 2008. When a full analysis appears it is expected to find, according to sources, the biggest dip yet, about 3.5% daily and 4.5 for Sunday."
The Media - pushing a bad economy?
Obviously, everything is not perfect and running at full speed.
But, MANY things ARE going well (historically high), while the media pounds us daily with negaitve stories about those things that are currently slower...
But, MANY things ARE going well (historically high), while the media pounds us daily with negaitve stories about those things that are currently slower...
At RealClearPolitics.com, Lawrence Kudlow thinks so:
"The bad news bears always focus on areas of economic weakness. But parts of the economy are doing splendidly. This includes agriculture, energy, export firms operating in the global boom, and all manner of private-sector business, professional, health, and education services. Incidentally, these are the exact sectors producing the highest-paying jobs. What's more, at 154 million employed, the civilian labor force just hit a new all-time high.
Another significant data point: Corporate profits are outperforming all expectations. With three quarters of the S&P 500 companies reporting, profits outside the banking system have increased 10 percent over a year ago."
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Meanwhile - in Japan
The Japanese are often innovative, but this is much too much...
At mlive.com, Shino Yuasa of the Associated Press, reports:
"TOKYO (AP) — About 350 people fled their homes in northern Japan on Thursday to escape poisonous fumes released by a neighbor who killed himself by mixing detergent and other chemicals — the latest in a series of such suicides.
The panic in Otaru came just hours after national police urged Internet providers to crack down on Web sites spurring a wave of detergent-related suicides in which 50 people have reportedly died in the past month.
The rash of such suicides in Japan — which already has one of the world's highest suicide rates — has triggered widespread concern because the powerful fumes can seriously harm bystanders and rescuers."
Only in America - in Texas
I guess in the land of opportunity and free enterprise, we can expect things like this to happen...
I found this tidbit at the Republican-American website:
"The seemingly innocuous policy change is intended to make it harder for telemarketers to drum up business for their clients, who include trial lawyers, chiropractors and auto-body shops. Telemarketers line up daily at police stations to buy crash reports from the previous day. Then often pretending to represent victims' insurers, they call the injured who were not at fault and tell them they must get medical treatment or risk having their claim denied. The telemarketers also steer the injured to specific trial lawyers and body shops."
"Hard lemonade, hard price"
This is the middle of the story.
The beginning is different, to say the least,; but, it could probably happen to any of us...
The beginning is different, to say the least,; but, it could probably happen to any of us...
At the WZZM13 News website, Brian Dickerson tells all about it:
"Chris Ratte's sisters, Catherine Miller and Felicity Ratte, left Massachusetts at 10:30 the night of the fateful lemonade purchase after the police officer who'd reluctantly requested a removal order told Ratte the state would likely jump at the chance to place Leo with responsible relatives. But when the two women arrived at the CPS office early Sunday, a caseworker explained they would not be allowed to see Leo until they had secured a hotel room.
The sisters quickly complied. But by the time they returned to CPS around 10:30 a.m., their nephew had been taken to an undisclosed foster home, where he would remain until a preliminary court hearing the following afternoon.
By that Monday, April 7, when Ratte and his wife returned for a meeting with Latricia Jones, the CPS caseworker assigned to their case, no one in the family had been able to talk to Leo for a day and a half."
About rising fuel prices
Duh! This didn't exactly happen overnight...
Jim Brown writes for OneNewsNow.com:
"John Shadegg, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, believes Congress is mostly to blame for record high fuel prices in the U.S because it has been reducing and restricting access to oil and natural gas supplies."
Biofuels - Feast or Famine?
Isn't it ironic that we seem to be faced with a choice between food or fuel?
Here's a thought: why don't we drill for oil in the U.S.?...
Here's a thought: why don't we drill for oil in the U.S.?...
This is from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson's editorial in Investors Business Daily:
"The best way to lower energy prices, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, is to accelerate production of all forms of domestic energy.
Expanding biofuels while refusing to take other measures, such as lifting the ban on oil and natural gas production in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf, is counterproductive. We should be tapping into a broad portfolio of energy options, including clean coal, nuclear power and wave energy.
The key is increasing energy supply. By taking these measures, we can enable biofuels to be part of the energy solution, instead of contributing to the energy problem."
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Laser Speed Gun Readings
Just in case you need to know...
This is from theNewspaper.com:
"The basic operation problem is that handheld laser speed guns must take two separate measurements of distance to generate a speed estimate. If, while taking a speed reading, an officer's hand twitches slightly, the laser beam can 'slip' from one portion of a vehicle to another. The extra distance measured in the second reading is then added to the calculation that determines the speed readout. For example, if the speed gun's aim point slips from the windshield to the grill, the speed reading will read 8 MPH too high. London's Daily Mail newspaper, the BBC, and ITV network have each run stories exposing fundamental flaws in the way laser guns estimate speed."
Afghanistan - 29 Down; 5 to go?
This doesn't sound so bad...
In the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens describes the current situation:
"But after a week spent shuttling between Kabul, Kandahar and Nangarhar province (in sight of Tora Bora), I found the notion of 'losing Afghanistan' to be, at a minimum, overblown. Afghanistan has 34 provinces. Twenty-nine of them are more or less at peace, more or less better off than they were six years ago, and more or less governed by someone their own people can live with.
That leaves five provinces that are the country's belt of real insecurity. Together with the adjacent provinces in Pakistan, these form what is sometimes called Pashtunistan, in reference to the ethnic group from which the Taliban sprang. In many ways it's another country. But even here the evidence that it is being 'lost' is slight."
Syria - Hiding it in the desert?
We probably owe the Israelis a favor; but, I think the real story is the confusion over intelligence reports...
It's described here at WorldTribune.com:
"The U.S. intelligence community, in an about-face from an assessment of less than a year ago, has concluded that Syria was close to becoming a nuclear power."
In Our Schools - Votes don't match desires
This is both sad and puzzling...
I found this in an article by William McGurn in the Wall Street Journal:
"First, though polls show that African Americans generally favor school choice, they tend not to vote for pro-school-choice candidates who are mainly Republican. Second, suburban voters of both parties are not enthusiastic about school choice. Many of these voters see increasing options for inner city kids as enabling blacks and Latinos to find their way into their children's schools. And of course, the teachers unions devote their considerable resources to fighting any measure that increases accountability or gives parents more options.
So when politicians have to choose between a teachers union and some African-American mom who would like to take her son out of a failing public school, guess who usually wins?"
