Saturday, June 30, 2012
"Lets Give Karen -The bus monitor- H Klein A Vacation!"
The scope of the response here is absolutely astounding.
Just wait until you see the amount...
Indiegogo.com has the video, the story, and the current amount:
"More than 30,000 people have contributed. They involve all 50 states and 82 countries."
"Should Women’s High School Soccer Be Banned To Reduce Knee Injuries?"
But, where do we draw the line?
See what you think about this...
Thomas Dalrymple supports this idea at PJmedia.com:
"The case for banning adolescent female soccer on grounds of health and safety, then, is clear, especially in those countries in which, unlike Sweden, there is no doctor or physiotherapist on call to treat the injured."
"Is the United States Actually Getting Warmer?"
Both sides of the global warming issue claim the other side misrepresents historical data.
This posting demonstrates just how that's being done...
This posting demonstrates just how that's being done...
On the Powerline Blog, John Hinderaker recently demonstrated how the alarmists create the visuals they use to promote their cause, and the apparent flaws:
"What is less well known is that the alarmists do not rely on raw temperature data collected by American weather stations. Rather, the alarmists adjust the data before they publish it."
Friday, June 29, 2012
ObamaCare's Secret History - WSJ.com
In this case, it sure appears that something other than the health and welfare of Americans was paramount.
Politicians and pharmaceutical companies are a poisonous mix...
The Wall Street Journal explains all about it:
"The joint venture was forged in secret in spring 2009 amid an uneasy mix of menace and opportunism. The drug makers worried that health-care reform would revert to the liberal default of price controls and drug re-importation that Mr. Obama campaigned on, but they also understood that a new entitlement could be a windfall as taxpayers bought more of their products. The White House wanted industry financial help and knew that determined business opposition could tank the bill. Initially, the Obamateers and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus asked for $100 billion, 90% of it from mandatory 'rebates' through the Medicare prescription drug benefit like those that are imposed in Medicaid. The drug makers wheedled them down to $80 billion by offsetting cost-sharing for seniors on Medicare, in an explicit quid pro quo for protection against such rebates and re-importation. As Pfizer's then-CEO Jeff Kindler put it, 'our key deal points . . . are, to some extent, as important as the total dollars.' Mr. Kindler played a more influential role than we understood before, as the emails show."
In Our World - "Book flap at U Texas Middle Eastern Center"
Stories like this should make it clear that "blending in" is NEVER a consideration for certain groups of people...
Joe Sterling recently wrote about this on CNN's blog site:
"Arab authors pulled out of a planned short-story anthology honoring a late professor because it included Israeli writers, and that stance eventually led to the cancellation of the project. Called the 'Memory of a Promise: Short Stories by Middle Eastern Women,' the book was dedicated to the late Elizabeth B.J. Warnock Fernea, a professor of comparative literature and Middle East Studies at the Austin campus. It contained fiction from 29 female authors, from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and Israel, a fitting honor to Fernea who wrote 'In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman's Global Journey' and 'Guests of the Sheik' about Iraq."
Thursday, June 28, 2012
"Swedish party wants sit-down urination"
UPI.com recently posted about this:
"Left Party members of a Swedish county council said they want to encourage men using the council's toilets to sit during urination."
"The Unteachables: A Generation that Cannot Learn"
It does not serve us well now, and it doesn't serve our future well...
Recently, at PJmedia.com, Janice Fiamengo did a really great job of writing about how today's generation is proceeding:
"Meetings about bad grades are uncomfortable not merely because it is unpleasant to wound feelings unaccustomed to the sting. Too often, such meetings are exercises in futility. I have spent hours explaining an essay’s grammatical, stylistic, and logical weaknesses in the wearying certainty that the student was unable, both intellectually and emotionally, to comprehend what I was saying or to act on my advice. It is rare for such students to be genuinely desirous and capable of learning how to improve. Most of them simply hope that I will come around. Their belief that nothing requires improvement except the grade is one of the biggest obstacles that teachers face in the modern university. And that is perhaps the real tragedy of our education system: not only that so many students enter university lacking the basic skills and knowledge to succeed in their courses — terrible in itself — but also that they often arrive essentially unteachable, lacking the personal qualities necessary to respond to criticism."
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
"ATF leader's email could be Fast and Furious smoking gun"
But, they got it from a whistleblower, and a judge has sealed it from legally being viewed.
We sure do live in a murky world when it comes to holding elected officials accountable...
At DailyCaller.com, Matthew Boyle tells us about what's going on:
"'ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson described reading those same wiretap affidavits in March of last year,' Grassley told Holder during the Senate hearing. 'He said he was alarmed that the information in the affidavits contradicted the public denial to Congress.' It appears Republican congressional investigators first learned of the Melson email’s existence on July 4, 2011, when Melson chose to give a lengthy deposition on Fast and Furious without DOJ and ATF lawyers present. Grassley told Holder during the Senate hearing that congressional investigators first requested that the DOJ provide Congress with that email during July 2011, shortly after Melson made his then-secret trip across town to Capitol Hill. The wiretap documents themselves are under federal court seal, leaving Grassley and Issa to tussle with Holder and Cumming about what they might show. Issa has said a whistleblower provided copies to his committee. Holder has declined to ask the federal judge who sealed them to unseal them. "
..."Under Obama, Fed’s Holdings of U.S. Debt Have Jumped 452%"
Somewhere, in elementary school perhaps, we've all learned that spending too much, financed by borrowing too much, has no possible successful outcome...
Terence P. Jeffreys recently called attention to this at CNSnews.com:
"On Jan. 28, 2009, a week after Obama’s nomination, the Fed owned $302 billion in U.S. Treasury securities. On April 25, 2012, the latest date reported, the Fed owned five and a half time that much in U.S. Treasury securities--$1.668 trillion. That is an increase from January 2009 of $1.366 trillion—or 452 percent. Under Obama, the Federal Reserve has become the single largest owner of U.S. government debt. When Obama entered office, entities in the People’s Republic of China were the largest holders, followed by entities in Japan. At the end of January 2009, China owned $739.6 billion in U.S. government debt and Japan owned $634.8 billion."
Global Warming
Perhaps, it's the horrible economy or the coming election.
Or maybe, it's articles like these...
The U.K.'s theRegister.com is reporting this:
"1930s photos show Greenland glaciers retreating faster than today"
Australia's JoanneNova.com comments on sea levels rising:
"The excuses for the upwards adjustments stretch credulity. One of the sea-level adjustments that increases the trend is a 'correction' for rising land (globally) – Seriously: 10% of recorded sea level rise is conmpensation for the land apparently rising too. In any case, even if sea-levels are rising still (could be), they started rising long before we started using coal to produce electricity, see It wasn’t CO2: Global sea levels started rising before 1800. And in the case of Australia, Australian sea level rises exaggerated by 8 fold (or maybe ten) ."
And Peter Ferrara writes to support this headline at Forbes.com:
"Sorry Global Warming Alarmists, The Earth Is Cooling"
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Government at Work - 330 illegal crossings in one night
Geez! Is this a joke, or what?
I wonder how that fence is progressing?...
I wonder how that fence is progressing?...
At SantanaValleyToday.com, Chase Kamp recently posted this:
"During the night of March 23, 2012, a researcher with the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington immigration think tank, observed significant illegal activity in the Vekol Valley area that included 330 illegal entries, drug mules and an ultra-light plane performing a drug drop. The observation came along 12-mile stretch of border in the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation in Arizona and extending into the United States northwest about 80 miles to the Sonoran Desert National Monument's Vekol Valley on I-8 and about another 20 miles north of the interstate. The area of observation is owned and operated by the federal government with the exception of the Tohono O'odham Nation's border property."
The Media - the New York Times
When they make corrections (after being caught) without announcement, my respect goes under water.
Welcome to the current world of the New York Times...
At DailyCaller.com, Matthew Boyle seems to have caught the New York Times in a fabrication. He explains:
"Charlie Savage, a reporter for The New York Times, violated the newspaper’s own code of ethics by printing a false story about the ongoing congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious on Tuesday evening.
For the Times, Savage reported late on Tuesday that House Speaker John Boehner had 'opened direct negotiations with the Department of Justice aimed at resolving a dispute over subpoenaed information related to the botched gun-trafficking investigation dubbed Operation Fast and Furious.' The story ran under the headline 'Boehner in talks with Justice Dept. on gun-running inquiry,' implying that the speaker was directly participating in talks.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel, however, said the report was not true, and in a blog post attacking the Times, Boehner’s office wrote that neither the newspaper nor Savage reached out to Boehner’s team before publishing the story.
Savage has since 'updated' the post, as opposed to issuing a correction for the implication that Boehner was directly negotiating with the Justice Department."
"Judge Halts Union Release Time"
In a private equity company it's probably a business expense.
In the public arena, the taxpayer pays...
In Arizona, the Goldwater Institute seems to have discovered something and a judge agrees:
"A 2011 Goldwater Institute exposé discovered that Phoenix spends nearly $4 million dollars annually to pay for 73,000 hours of release time for city workers to conduct union business at taxpayers’ expense. These union payments are standard in the city’s contracts. The Goldwater Institute’s legal challenge contends that release time violates the gift clause of the Arizona state constitution. The gift clause prohibits gifts of public money to private individuals or corporations, requiring the government to prove it receives direct, tangible benefits from a subsidy it gives to a private entity."
Monday, June 25, 2012
In Our Schools - Modernizing Traditions
And what if, in the future, bungee cords are replaced?
Do they change the rhyme again?...
Lawrence Conway posted this story on the U.K. Daily Mail website:
"A new campaign has been launched to save traditional British rhymes and songs amid fears they are dying out. The push follows sanitised, more upbeat versions of classic nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty, being taught to children. In one updated version the hero didn't get bumped or bruised at all, but instead 'bungee jumped'. In another instead of being unable to 'put Humpty together again', the new version claimed all the King's horses and all the King's men 'made Humpty happy again'."
"Iron Dome intercepts five Grad rockets fired from Gaza"
America's media, and the world's media in general are silent.
I guess I really don't understand how callous people are when it comes to the Jews...
Yaakov Katz and Yaakov Lappin posted the most recent on the Jerusalem Post website:
"Latest launches follow Hamas announcement of ceasefire; IDF says quiet will be answered with quiet, fire with fire; 150 rockets fired into Israel in six days: 1 Israeli injured, 14 Palestinians killed."
It's a Single-Issue Election - WSJ.com
Well, at least one media person sees the real issue...
In the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger reviews Obama's recent speech and discusses thiese points:
"One word appears nowhere in the 53-minute Obama speech on economic growth: 'capital.' Human, financial, whatever. Capital dare not speak its name. Most revealing is that the phrases 'my plan' and 'I have a plan' appear 13 times. A central role for planning often appears in emerging, underdeveloped economies, not in an advanced economy like ours in which the discovery and diffusion of productive new ideas is spontaneous, rapid and unpredictable."
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2012-06-24 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, June 23, 2012
"Debt Up $1.59T Under GOP House—More in 15 Months Than First 97 Congresses Combined"
The Republicans are no exception.
Regardless of political affiliation, we should be very careful about who we vote to re-elect...
Terence P. Jeffrey recently used these paragraphs to begin his article at CNSnews.com:
"(CNSNews.com) - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which took office in January 2011, has enacted federal spending bills under which the national debt has increased more in less than one term of Congress than in the first 97 Congresses combined. In the fifteen months that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives--led by Speaker John Boehner--has effectively enjoyed a constitutional veto over federal spending, the federal government’s debt has increased by about $1.59 trillion. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution says: 'No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.' A law appropriating money cannot be enacted unless it is approved by the House."
This adoption is definitely non-standard
I think it qualifies for "you can't make this stuff up"....
This story appeared on the U.K.'s Daily Mail website:
"The secret sister of Olympic star Dominique Moceanu, given up for adoption because she had no legs, grew up as a gymnast unaware of who her famous sibling was. Brought up by an adoptive family in Oblong, Illinois, Jen Bricker won state titles, competed in the Junior Olympics and her idol when she was growing up was the sister she never knew she had. Now a professional aerial gymnast living in Studio City, California, Ms Bricker, 24, has enjoyed a close relationship with her sister since meeting her for the first time over four years ago."
Friday, June 22, 2012
The Media - "The breathtaking dishonesty of Andrea Mitchell"
The Daily Caller's David Cohen is highly critical, and tells us why:
"Andrea Mitchell’s recent attempt to further the Democratic Party’s narrative about Mitt Romney — that the former Massachusetts governor is “out of touch” — has now been widely exposed as dishonest reporting. Mitchell used a deceptively edited clip to suggest Romney was completely unfamiliar with what average Americans encounter in convenience stores. Bowing to pressure, Mitchell later ran a longer version of the clip that supplied slightly more context. But Mitchell has refused to acknowledge what was so offensively misleading about the original clip — and her gratuitously snarky narration of it. This refusal is as infuriating as her original transgression."
Health News - "Fish fatty acid protects vision in seniors"
UPI.com Posted this at the end of May:
"'This discovery could result in a very broad therapeutic use,' Sauve said in a statement. 'In normal aging, this toxin increases two-fold as we age. But in lab tests, there was no increase in this toxin whatsoever. This has never been demonstrated before -- that supplementing the diet with DHA could make this kind of difference.'"
Thursday, June 21, 2012
"Estonia and Austerity: Another Exploding Cigar for Paul Krugman"
Selective use of charting and statistics can tell whatever is wanted.
Here's an example...
Here's an example...
At Townhall.com, Daniel J. Mitchell takes issue with the reporting of the New York Times, specifically, financial columnist Paul Krugman, and his cherry picking:
"Sixteen months after it joined the struggling currency bloc, Estonia is booming. The economy grew 7.6 percent last year, five times the euro-zone average. Estonia is the only euro-zone country with a budget surplus. National debt is just 6 percent of GDP, compared to 81 percent in virtuous Germany, or 165 percent in Greece. Shoppers throng Nordic design shops and cool new restaurants in Tallinn, the medieval capital, and cutting-edge tech firms complain they can’t find people to fill their job vacancies. It all seems a long way from the gloom elsewhere in Europe. Estonia’s achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider that it was one of the countries hardest hit by the global financial crisis. …How did they bounce back? 'I can answer in one word: austerity. Austerity, austerity, austerity,' says Peeter Koppel, investment strategist at the SEB Bank. …that’s not exactly the message that Europeans further south want to hear. …Estonia has also paid close attention to the fundamentals of establishing a favorable business environment: reducing and simplifying taxes, and making it easy and cheap to build companies."
"The Big Picture: Our Curiously Failing Civilization"
Oh, and firearm sales in America are through the roof...
Recently, at AmericanThinker.com, Jack Curtis writes about what's going on and it doesn't look to be a happy ending:
"The U.S. and the EU can't stop borrowing and spending, though no one can expect their stultified economies to bear the debt they've run up. Arab riots and civil wars reflect those countries' corrupt dictators' inability to sufficiently subsidize the citizens. Armed insurrections and massive demonstrations plague Russia, India, China, and Latin America; Africa has more than its share of failed and failing states. The Global Incident Map shows worldwide terrorism and both underlines instability and helps explain the migrations. Predictable civil order seems lost.
For 'rich' Europe and North America, it's the famous doom of all democracies: the citizens have learned to vote others' wealth to themselves via a devil's compact with demagogues. Once in place, such deals can't be controlled (Who's re-elected for shutting off the goodies?) until they outrun available resources and impoverish the economy. 'Kick the can down the road' (meaning past the next election) is the U.S. mantra for postponing the end-game; in the EU, it's quasi-austerity. It's the same game in both places: Save the Banks. The people? Let them eat cake..."
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
"Gaza terrorists fire 31 rockets at Israel since midnight"
This is how life is in Israel.
Can you just imagine what it's like?
And can you imagine that the world's media could care less?...
Can you just imagine what it's like?
And can you imagine that the world's media could care less?...
Yaakov Lappin reported this yesterday in the Jerusalem Post:
"Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired eight additional rockets into Israeli territory on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of rockets fired since midnight to 31. Meanwhile, Hamas claimed responsibility for at least 10 of the launches in the past 24 hours."
"Germany’s Green Energy Policy Hit Households Hard"
BUT, until it works better than this, we have to be smarter about it...
Jack Dini begins his story at CanadaFreePress.com with this, and goes on to explain what's causing the problem:
"Many people in Germany are no longer able to pay their electricity bills. Skyrocketing electricity prices are making electricity unaffordable for a large number of Germans. The past year over 600,000 households had their power switched off in Germany because they can’t afford the skyrocketing electric bills.(1) It’s one way of reducing carbon emissions—just catapult your population back to the Stone Age. "
"Craven and Pusillanimous at the Chronicle"
Political correctness stifles legitimate debate.
Of all places, in the academic world, political correctness rules over the truth.
I see that as seriously wrong...
Of all places, in the academic world, political correctness rules over the truth.
I see that as seriously wrong...
PJmedia.com's Roger Kimball recently wrote about that issue:
"When I say that there was nothing new in Ms. Riley’s column, I do not mean to disparage it. No: it is a splendid piece, a public service, really. It performs exactly the same service as the child in Hans Christian Andersen’s tale 'The Emperor’s New Clothes.' Everyone knows, though few have the temerity to say, that 'Black Studies' is an awful confidence game: an exercise in racial grievance mongering utterly without scholarly merit. In this, I hasten to add, it resembles many other pseudo-disciplines invented since the late 1960s to provide a home for intellectually challenged but politically fermenting denizens of our universities: Women’s Studies, Gay and Lesbian Studies, Transgender Studies, etc. etc. Kingsley Amis once observed that much that was wrong with twentieth century academia could be summed up in the word 'workshop.' 'Studies' is the new 'workshop.' Take a look at the “dissertations” Ms. Riley describes. They are cringe-making in their awfulness. Consider:"
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
"'New Party' Literature Suggests Obama Paid Dues to Join"
This seems to put to rest any claims to the contrary.
Of course, in spite of these facts, supporters continue to claim the president is NOT a Socialist.
As usual, the liberal media is silent...
Of course, in spite of these facts, supporters continue to claim the president is NOT a Socialist.
As usual, the liberal media is silent...
Fortunately, John Sexton keeps us informed at Breitbart.com:
"The problem with this is that the New Party website--earlier drafts of which still exist in the internet archive--mention membership repeatedly and, as we'll see, even define what membership meant.
Here's the 1999 version of the New Party website, specifically the 'Join the New Party' page.
Let me pull a few quotes that seem pertinent:
Transforming the face of American politics is a long, hard task. Your membership dollars can help us make each step of this process a reality
[T]he New Party's work depends on our members.
Most New Party members join as a monthly sustainer.
Sustainer pledges are automatically deducted from members' credit cards
All New Party members receive a free subscription to our quarterly newsletter
If you have any questions about the New Party that weren't answered on our site, or if you want to know if your membership is current, please contact our membership coordinator"
Government at Work - "...spends $2.8M on free internet for residents"
So, I wonder what you, who pay on your own, think...
Michael George begins his ABC News Tampa sorty with this:
"TAMPA - Millions of federal and local tax dollars have been paying for free internet access and computers for thousands of Tampa residents. It’s a federal stimulus program unique to Tampa that some people are calling government waste. The program is called AccessALL Tampa. The idea is to help low-income families get access to the Internet. But after one year and $2.8 million in local and federal dollars spent, some say the program isn’t worth it."
"Rule of Law � Holder Defends Foreigners Voting in Florida Elections"
Go ahead. Try to come to terms with this.
The U.S. Justice Department doesn't want the voting lists purged of ILLEGALS...
The U.S. Justice Department doesn't want the voting lists purged of ILLEGALS...
J. Christian Adams writes about it at PJmedia.com:
"The Justice Department lawsuit against Florida will stop Florida from removing non-citizen voters from the rolls by freezing the entire purge process. Justice claims that immediate removal of foreigners falls within time limits that restrict Florida’s ability to remove legitimately registered voters.
But a citizen of Guatemala isn’t a legitimately registered voter in Florida in the first place. They committed a crime when they registered to vote. Florida and the Justice Department should be indicting and prosecuting these voters who falsely registered. But maybe they made a simple mistake when the registered to vote? Nonsense."
Monday, June 18, 2012
"National security expert warns of Law of the Sea treaty"
Unfortunately, it keeps rearing it's ugly head, and the equally ugly consequences are shown in this article.
Let's hope for another rejection...
At DailyCaller.com, Paul Conner is reporting this:
"National security analyst Frank Gaffney warns that signing the treaty would cede a significant portion of American sovereignty to an international body that is not electorally accountable to U.S. citizens. 'Suddenly, there isn’t a part of our society, our economy, our industrial capacity that isn’t going to be at the mercy of people who are completely unaccountable to us,' Gaffney told The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas. 'This is a question of sovereignty.' 'It’s a question of America as we have known it, and I believe President Obama is determined to try and jam this through, because he recognizes it will be the perfect complement to the other wrecking operations that he’s been running against the rest of our country,' he continued."
In Our World - Say Something, Go to Jail?
This, at face value, is hard to believe.
When you stop to really think about it, it's frightening...
When you stop to really think about it, it's frightening...
This story can be found at EndOfTheAmericanDream.com in it's entirety:
"A minister named Philip Caminiti was sentenced to 2 years in prison for simply teaching that parents should spank their children when they misbehave. Please note that Caminiti was not accused of spanking anyone or of physically hurting anyone. He was put in prison simply for his speech. He was put in prison simply for what he was teaching others to do. Whether you agree with spanking or not, this should be incredibly sobering for all of us."
Mr. Obama - as seen from Israel
In an opinion column, Ari Shavit writes about this at haaretz.com:
"The international community and international public opinion are preoccupied with King Netanyahu these days - will he or won't he attack? But instead of focusing on a statesman who isn't supposed to save the world from Iran's nuclear program, it would be better to focus on the leader whose historic role is just that. In the past 40 months Barack Obama has been betraying his office. Will he wake up in the next four months, come to his senses and change his ways?"
Sunday, June 17, 2012
2012-06-17 - Fathers Day
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Meanwhile - in Congress - Freshman Votes Studied
Say anything to get elected?
Even tea-party politicians appear to have done it...
Even tea-party politicians appear to have done it...
The Club for Growth has the facts to support this statement:
"While the rhetoric of the freshmen may be loud, the Club for Growth strives to hold lawmakers accountable by examining how they actually voted once they got to Congress. In many cases, the rhetoric of the so-called 'Tea Party' freshmen simply didn’t match their records."
"About Equal to Entire World’s Proven Oil Reserves"
Even so, technology is always getting better, and having it here is a whole lot better than having it elsewhere...
Terence P. Jeffrey recently (May 11th) called attention to this on the CNSnews website:
"The Green River Formation, a largely vacant area of mostly federal land that covers the territory where Colorado, Utah and Wyoming come together, contains about as much recoverable oil as all the rest the world’s proven reserves combined, an auditor from the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Thursday."
Friday, June 15, 2012
Meanwhile - in a Philadelphia courtroom
There may be more to this story, but, somehow, I doubt it.
A reporter isn't likely to risk being too far wrong.
We could only wish that this judge didn't risk being too far wrong...
A reporter isn't likely to risk being too far wrong.
We could only wish that this judge didn't risk being too far wrong...
Paul Carpenter recently wrote about it in Allentown's Morning Call newspaper:
"In the Lowe case, news stories said, a thug named Loren Manning Jr., accompanied by two other thugs, jumped Lowe on a city street last October. Lowe, 57, is a disabled and retired Marine, who has had two strokes and two heart surgeries and wears a pacemaker.
Manning and his sidekicks attacked Lowe and witnesses said Manning chased him and tried to clobber him with a metal pole before catching him and pinning him to the ground, where Lowe managed to retrieve a small pocket knife and used it to stick Manning, who, tragically, died.
This is Philadelphia, mind you, so Lowe was charged with various crimes — the Castle Doctrine law be damned — because he did not wait for the police to come and handle things. He then agreed to a non-jury trial before Lerner, and you can decide for yourself whether that was a good idea."
"Jo Nova chronicles the snapping of the Gergis hockey stick"
And then...
Well, don't expect the biased media to say much about "and then"...
On his website, Anthony Watts points to Australian Jo Nova's reporting on a recent (now withdrawn) headline story:
"“1000 years of climate data confirms Australia’s warming” said the press release from University of Melbourne. It was picked up by The Guardian: “Australasia has hottest 60 years in a millennium, scientists find”; The Age and The Australian led with “Warming since 1950 ‘unprecedented’. The story was on ABC 24 and ABC news where Gergis proclaimed:” there are no other warm periods in the last 1000 years that match the warming experienced in Australasia since 1950.” It was all over the ABC including ABC Radio National, and they were “95% certain“! On ABC AM, “the last five decades years in Australia have been the warmest. ” Plus there were pages in Science Alert, Campus Daily Eco news, The Conversation, Real Climate and Think Progress. Blog review is where the real science gets tested Skeptics have been looking through the paper, and three weeks after it was published a team at Climate Audit uncovered a problem so significant that the authors announced that this paper is “on hold”. It has been withdrawn from the American Meteorological Society website. Bishop Hill has probably the best summary of what this means, and how it unfolded."
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Meanwhile - in the U.K. - Goodbye to "Dad"
Sophie Borland recently reported in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"NHS remove word 'Dad' from pregnancy handbook in case it offends same sex couples"
Health News - "Trial of Alzheimer’s Vaccine is Successful"
It would most certainly be more than welcome...
At PsychCentral.com, Rick Nauert PHD, recently reported on this:
"Swedish researchers report the successful trial of a vaccine that helps individuals develop protective antibodies that can prevent progression of Alzheimer’s disease."
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Holder's Racial Incitement - WSJ.com
The Attorney General and liberal media aren't telling the full story about voter-ID.
They surely don't let these facts get in their way...
They surely don't let these facts get in their way...
The Wall Street Journal recently posted on that subject:
"It's demeaning to have to dignify this argument with facts, but here goes. Voter ID laws have been found by the courts not to be an undue burden under the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. The landmark Supreme Court opinion, upholding an Indiana law in 2008, was written for a six-member majority by that noted right-winger, John Paul Stevens.
Black voter turnout increased in Georgia and Indiana after voter ID laws passed. Georgia began implementing its law requiring one of six forms of voter ID in 2007. According to data from Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the black vote increased by 42%, or 366,000 votes, in 2008 over 2004. The Latino vote grew by 140% or 25,000 votes in 2008, while the white vote increased by only 8% from four years earlier.
No doubt Mr. Obama's presence on the ballot helped drive that turnout surge in 2008, but then the black vote in Georgia also increased by 44.2% during the midterm Congressional races of 2010 from 2006. The Hispanic vote grew by 66.5% in 2010 from four years earlier. Those vote totals certainly don't suggest that requiring an ID is a barrier to the ballot box."
Government at Work - in California
Actually, this doesn't surprise me.
As we know, politicians are rated lower than used car salesmen.
In broke and broken California, if money is involved, anything and everything goes...
As we know, politicians are rated lower than used car salesmen.
In broke and broken California, if money is involved, anything and everything goes...
This Associated Press article was posted on the U.K. Daily Mail website:
"$15 million collected since plates began being offered after 9/11 terrorist attacks - meant to help victim's families and law enforcement.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger borrowed $2 million to close a budget gap; last year, Gov. Brown borrowed another $1 million. Neither has repaid what they borrowed. AP investigation reveals fund has been used for general budget costs."
Wellesley High grads told: “You’re not special”
This is one of them...
You can read it all at BBrown's post at the WellesleyReport.com:
"We’d been hearing good things over the weekend about Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr.’s faculty speech to the Class of 2012 last Friday. Here it is, in its entirety, courtesy of Mr. McCullough:"
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
"The EU: Steady on Its Course from Tragedy to Farce"
I actually had a post ready about the chocolate bunny issue.
It wouldn't be true to say that everything there is bad; BUT, why in the world would America want to adopt what has been proven to fail?
The answer is likely ominously scary...
Roger Kimball writes at PJmedia.com and has very similar thoughts:
"It was several years ago now that my friend David Pryce-Jones told me about the European Union’s fruit police. Fruit was just the tip of the orchard, so to speak, but the fact that those preposterous bureaucrats in Europe had outlawed curvy bananas made a deep impression on me. It was V. Lenin who said that 'Communism means keeping track of everything,' and here were the non-elected busybodies of the EU deciding what sorts of bananas were legal — legal. And not just bananas, of course. They were also deciding what you could and could not say, whom you could criticize, what sort of potatoes you could grow and . . . it took them nearly 100,000 pages to spell out all the things their wards (i.e., the persons formerly know as citizens) could and couldn’t do, say, buy, accumulate, spend, hire, fire, worship, play, read, draw, look at, and commune with. It was all part of what I have called elsewhere “The New Gleichschaltung.”"
In Our Schools - No Patriotism Allowed?
Hopefully, the parents rise up, and a new principal is installed...
Susan Edelman recently reported on this in the New York Post:
"A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism. Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants. Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony. Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90 Five classes spent months learning the patriotic song, which skyrocketed in popularity after the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the June 20 commencement. The kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny American flags — which, as the lyrics proclaim, “still stand for freedom.” But Hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a CD playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said. She told the teachers to drop the song from the program. “We don’t want to offend other cultures,” they quoted her as explaining. The curt edict stunned both staff and parents."
"Three Key ‘Fast and Furious’ Questions Still Unanswered"
A fair amount of people have been killed because of it.
Somebody in our government authorized it.
No one is admitting much of anything, and no one is providing investigators with legitimately requested information...
At PJmedia.com, Bob Owens writes about what the liberal media seems to be purposefully ignoring:
"The congressional investigations into the gunwalking plot known as Operation Fast and Furious largely faded from the public eye over the past month, yet there is a growing conviction among legislators of both parties that a grueling political battle is ahead. Those determined to uncover the truth behind Fast and Furious are being opposed by Democratic congressmen and Obama administration officials such as Deputy Attorney General James Cole."
Monday, June 11, 2012
"Democrats filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act"
June 10, 1964.
So, do YOU know who was for Civil Rights and who was not?
Here's one of those historical FACTS that the liberal media isn't likely to report on...
So, do YOU know who was for Civil Rights and who was not?
Here's one of those historical FACTS that the liberal media isn't likely to report on...
On the GrandOldPartisan blog, Michael Zak reminds us:
"On this day in 1964, Everett Dirksen (R-IL), the Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate, condemned the Democrats' 57-day filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Leading the Democrats in their opposition to civil rights for African-Americans was Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). Byrd, who got into politics as a recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan, spoke against the bill for fourteen straight hours. Democrats still call Robert Byrd 'the conscience of the Senate.'"
Politicians - New Jersey Mayor Felix Roque
That makes you wonder about skill and competence, doesn't it?...
Tim Mak reported on this at Politico.com:
"A New Jersey mayor and his son were arrested Thursday by the FBI for allegedly hacking into an email account and website tied to a recall effort — and then intimidating those associated with the site."
Government at Work - Funding Ghost Students
I wonder if it will get fixed?...
Elizabeth MacDonald writes about it at FoxBusiness.com:
"Taxpayers in Arizona spend $125 million each school year funding more than 13,000 students who don’t exist at public schools. That’s because the state school system uses an antique budget approach that causes taxpayers to overpay, says a new report, 'Ghost Busters: How to Save $125 Million a Year in Arizona’s Education Budget,' by Goldwater Institute education director Jonathan Butcher. The system pays for some students twice, Butcher says. Here’s how it happens"
Sunday, June 10, 2012
2012-06-10 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, June 09, 2012
Winning the Triple Crown - Not Easy
You have to be a really good horse to even get to the Belmont Stakes with a chance for the Triple Crown.
And the mile and a half Belmont is a VERY substanstial obstacle...
And the mile and a half Belmont is a VERY substanstial obstacle...
Here's the Associated Press review of some recent outcomes:
"Triple Crown dreams often dashed at Belmont, Since Affirmed last won horse racing's Triple Crown in 1978, 11 3-year-olds have won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness - but fallen short in the Belmont Stakes. I'll Have Another will try to snap that streak on June 9. A look at how the last 11 thoroughbreds with a chance to win the Triple Crown ran at Belmont:"
"Europe finally awakes from its utopian dream"
Unless you've been in a coma for the past few years, you know the European concept (socialism) is failing, and failing badly.
Even so, some elected leaders continue to embrace it, and those that do NOT are belittled in the liberal world for taking that stand...
Even so, some elected leaders continue to embrace it, and those that do NOT are belittled in the liberal world for taking that stand...
In the U.K. Daily Telegraph, Janet Daley includes these paragraphs in her article on that subject:
"This is not just a story of bureaucratic grandiosity, or of German insistence on domination. Certainly it is true that there is an irreconcilable cultural clash between the more puritanical North and the, shall we say, more indulgent South. It turns out that Marx was wrong about economic conditions determining political behaviour: a nation’s religion and geography are much more likely to affect its economic attitudes than the other way round. But it is not the dream of European co-operation that was doomed from the start: given the ancient hatreds and unforgivable sins of the past, that was difficult, but it was not impossible. What has made the project unworkable is the insistence that the EU be a vehicle for democratic socialism: the impossible dream was not European unity but universal 'social solidarity' stretching across a continent, for which the single market was simply a milch cow to produce the funds. Unfeasibly enormous social security and entitlement promises were made on the basis that the free market would always provide. Nobody bothered to ask what would happen when the market faltered or fluctuated (as genuinely free markets do) or when the sense of entitlement outgrew the wealth that could be created. The problem is not unique to Europe."
Friday, June 08, 2012
In Our Schools - Making passing easier
Oh, not by teaching better; but, by lowering the bar.
I'm sure this will serve the students well (_NOT!_)...
I'm sure this will serve the students well (_NOT!_)...
At clickOrlando.com, Kala Rama reported this:
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida's standardized test after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in student passing scores."
"From Russia with Love (of Oil and Gas)"
Oh Boy.
Just what we need to hear...
Just what we need to hear...
Jeffrey Folks begins his article at AmericanThinker.com with this gem:
"Imagine a president who gets behind drilling, welcomes the cutting-edge technology of companies such as ExxonMobil, and offers generous 15-year tax breaks to ensure that new drilling projects move forward. That's the kind of energy policy America needs in order to achieve energy-independence. Unfortunately, it's not Barack Obama who's behind those positive energy policies; it's Vladimir Putin."
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Obama Caught Lying Again: He Was Member of 'New Party,' Says Kurtz
Why are there so many stories like this?
It's extremely hard to believe that every one of them is untrue...
It's extremely hard to believe that every one of them is untrue...
Joel B. Pollack is reporting this at Breitbart.com:
"Kurtz writes: Minutes of the meeting on January 11, 1996, of the New Party’s Chicago chapter read as follows:Barack Obama, candidate for State Senate in the 13th Legislative District, gave a statement to the membership and answered questions. He signed the New Party “Candidate Contract” and requested an endorsement from the New Party. He also joined the New Party.Consistent with this, a roster of the Chicago chapter of the New Party from early 1997 lists Obama as a member, with January 11, 1996, indicated as the date he joined..."
PressTV - Bin Laden died of natural causes: Former CIA agent
The PressTV website reported this recently:
"A former agent of the CIA has revealed that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has died of natural causes five years before the US announced his death. In an interview with Russia’s Channel One, Berkan Yashar, who is also a Turkish politician, said the US has not killed the al-Qaeda leader."
"Canada quits UN agency over Mugabe appointment"
CBCnews.com is the originator of this NewsDay story:
"Canada is withdrawing from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) over the appointment of President Robert Mugabe as a special tourism ambassador. Canada’s Foreign Affairs minister John Baird said Mugabe’s appointment as international tourism ambassador symbolised what was wrong with the UN. Mugabe is currently under a European Union travel ban because of human rights abuses in his own country."
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Financial Advice - from the White House?
I don't know what to say.
You can't make this stuff up...
You can't make this stuff up...
AllahPundit found this stuff and posted it at HotAir.com:
"Via the office of GOP Rep. Tim Griffin, who’s having no end of fun with this on his Twitter account, go take a peek at some of the valuable insights about thrift that the Five Trillion Dollar Man is now passing on to America’s youth. I held it together for most of the presentation but here’s where the giggles began:"
In Our World - A Male in the Ladies Room
The admirable trait known as courage seems to be missing here.
On the other hand, perhaps the law needs some tweaking.
This just doesn't seem right...
On the other hand, perhaps the law needs some tweaking.
This just doesn't seem right...
Kevin McCullough has the story at Townhall.com:
"Hence is the battle before the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. To be specific, the Department of Justice issued an 'advisement' to the university earlier this month. And after having their attorneys review it the university acted on the 'advice of counsel' and are following the advisement.
What was the great injustice that the University of Arkansas Fort Smith was committing? They had refused to allow a 38-year-old male student to use any and all female facilities on campus. So per the communication from the administration, Eric Holder, Barack Obama and company, and acting on the hopes the DOJ would play nice, they caved.
And now the 38-year-old anatomically male student, who goes by the name Jennifer Braly, and refers to himself as a 'transgender' (instead of transvestite) has been given campus wide permission to enter any and all female facilities."
To Reduce Concussions, Ban Football Helmets - Forbes
BUT, if the real fix is harsh, would we be willing to do it?...
John Tammy writes about it at Forbes.com. He begins with this:
"Though he’s perhaps best known for his groundbreaking work in the area of public choice economic theory, economist Gordon Tullock once famously observed that mechanical innovations meant to promote greater automobile safety essentially achieve the opposite. If driver safety is the goal, then it would be wisest to mandate spears on car steering wheels that would impale the driver in the event of an accident. Reduced to the absurd, if death were the near certain result of unsafe driving, then it’s safe to say that the latter would disappear as its consequences became more real. Seatbelts, anti-lock brakes and airbags are great, but is it possible that a greater frequency of unsafe driving has been an unintended result of advances that have softened the negative results of car accidents?"
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
"25 Horrible Statistics About The U.S. Economy"
Oh my. These are NOT pretty...
The American Dream website lists these 25 statistics, and then adds this gem:
"But the horrible economic statistics only tell part of the story."
"Chicago's murder rate mirrors war zone, federal data shows"
I have a significant affinity for comparisons like this.
People protest wars, and so many other things, but not this.
For various reasons, we are prone to be appalled to certain things, while many more worse things deserve our attention.
Go figure...
People protest wars, and so many other things, but not this.
For various reasons, we are prone to be appalled to certain things, while many more worse things deserve our attention.
Go figure...
Nolan Peterson has the story at AustinWeeklyNews.com:
"According to FBI and Department of Defense data, 5,056 people have been murdered in Chicago since 2001, compared with 1,976 total U.S. deaths in Afghanistan since 2001. Chicago's murder rate even outpaces total NATO coalition fatalities in Afghanistan since 2001 by a difference of more than 2,500 killed."
Vampire Capitalism? Please - WSJ.com
The Obama campaign presented theirs in a political ad; and, it appears to be a bit incomplete...
In the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly A. Strassel tells the WHOLE story:
"To hear the Obama campaign, this is a tale of greed: GST was a healthy, happy, quality steelmaker until Bain plundered its worth and stripped its 750 workers of their due. 'It was like a vampire,' laments one former employee in the ad. "They came in and sucked the life out of us." Related Video Columnist Kim Strassel on President Obama hitting up Blackstone private equity investors for money at the same time he trashes Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record and Blackstone donors. Photo: Getty Images GST is a tragic tale, though in a different way. The real story of GST is that of a private-equity firm trying to spark some life into a uncompetitive, over-unionized industry. Bain's crime here—if that's what you call it—was giving a dying steel plant an unexpected eight-year lease on life."
Monday, June 04, 2012
An Economy Built to Stall - WSJ.com
Regardless of what political party you support, you must realize that together they are NOT making things better.
The uncertainty of political short term fixes gives no one the confidence to take a risk, whether it be business or investment...
The uncertainty of political short term fixes gives no one the confidence to take a risk, whether it be business or investment...
The Wall Street Journal discusses the economy and elected officials failed monetary policies:
"Mr. Obama has had the freest run of policy of any President since LBJ. So maybe the problem is the policies. Maybe Milton Friedman was right that 'temporary, targeted' tax cuts don't change the incentives to invest or hire because people aren't stupid. Maybe each $1 of new federal spending doesn't produce a 'multiplier' of 1.5 times that in added output. Maybe the historic burst of regulation of the last three years has harmed business confidence and job creation. And maybe the uncertainty that comes from helter-skelter fiscal and monetary policy has dampened the animal spirits needed for a durable expansion. On Friday, the same architects who designed this economy built to stall were calling for one more rescue by the Fed. And gold jumped more than $60 an ounce..."
Government at Work - in Tombstone, AZ
It seems a little common sense might be useful here...
At Townhall.com, Katie Pavlich recently reported on what's going on:
"Nearly a year ago, Tombstone's water supply lines were heavily damaged in a flood after a heavy rain due to a massive wildfire leaving loose soil in the area. (Read this article to find out why we can thank the Forest Service for catastrophic wildfires)
Since the damage, Tombstone residents have been fighting to repair the water lines, but because they run through a wilderness area, the feds are saying the only option they have is to literally dig up miles and miles of water lines by hand. Why? Machine use in wilderness areas is prohibited by federal law."
"Shard of light: London's 1,000ft tower"
Looks like the Brits have some building ideas of their own...
Nick Enoch writes about it in the U.K. Daily Mail and provides some great photos:
"Towering over London's houses like a scene from a sci-fi film, the Shard dazzled today as beams of light reflected off its surface. Europe's tallest building stands at 310 metres (1,016ft) and is fully clad in glass - so the sun's rays on a cloudless day give it the appearance of a shining beacon. The Shard, which is due to be completed by July, will have 95 floors and be tipped with a gleaming spire."
Sunday, June 03, 2012
2012-06-03 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, June 02, 2012
"'Forward!' with Obama, Axelrod, Jarrett and Frank Marshall Davis"
Should we be concerned about this?...
Paul Kengor thinks we should, and makes his case at AmericanThinker.com:
"Being that this is my area of research, I naturally paused to consider this bizarre spectacle. I contacted Ion Mihai Pacepa, a goldmine of information on this sort of thing. Pacepa, now in his 80s, was the highest-ranking intelligence official to defect the Soviet bloc. He had been the right-hand man to Romanian dictator Nicolai Ceausescu. When he defected in 1978, Pacepa's positions included being head of Romania's so-called 'Presidential House,' which was equivalent to being White House chief of staff and director of the CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security. Pacepa knows the communist world better than just about anyone on the planet. Here's what he told me about the 'Forward!' slogan:"
"Booming oil discoveries level West's playing field"
This Washington Post story by Juan Forero recently showed up in the Portland Press Herald:
"Oil and gas fields that were unknown or inaccessible a decade ago – in Argentina, North Dakota, Colombia – now offer the U.S. a glimmer of hope for self-sufficiency."
Friday, June 01, 2012
A No Confidence Vote For Obamanomics - Investors.com
This article also touches on one of my pet peeve subjects.
The liberal media describes every bad economic statistic as "unexpected", or a "surprise".
That's really getting old...
The liberal media describes every bad economic statistic as "unexpected", or a "surprise".
That's really getting old...
Investors.com has some devastating comparisons on this measurement:
"First, it's worth noting the index has fallen for three months. Even if it had hit forecasts, it would still be well below 90, which signals a healthy economy. The current reading is worse when you realize that under President Bush — you know, the guy who Obama says ruined the economy — confidence averaged 88. That's despite two recessions, a terrorist massacre and two long wars. Throughout Obama's 'recovery,' the index has averaged 57. To really get a sense of how dismal Obama's confidence ratings have been, you need to compare them to those during the Reagan recovery (for a visual display, see chart)."
Meanwhile - in Buffalo, NY - Plastic surgery with tax payer's money?
That being said, my current observation is that there is now a culture of entitlement pervading the teaching profession...
On the U.K. Daily Mail website, Laura Cox recently reported:
"Last year Buffalo schools paid $5.9 million for its teachers to have plastic surgery. In 2010 the figure was up at $9 million. "
