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We're Gonna Win, Twins [New Window]
Spring can't come too soon to the Upper Midwest. That's always true, of course, but especially this year, as the Minnesota Twins open their 2010 pennant drive in brand-new Target Field. Baseball fans here are giddy with excitement. The team will be good, despite losing closer Joe Nathan for the season to elbow surgery. And despite not having signed superstar catcher Joe Mauer to the anticipated ten-year deal; not yet, anyway.This preview offers a suitably optimistic assessment of the team's prospects. We've added Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy and Jim Thome to our already-strong lineup. Sure, there are always things that could go wrong. Like Justin Morneau's back. Like the starting pitching, which looks solid; but then, it did at this time last year, too.But even if the Twins don't win their division, which would be an upset, it will be a fun season. Because the Twins are just a fun team. In the gym last night I read a Sports Illustrated article about a phenom catcher named Matt Wieters, who is about to play his first full season in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles. The article was effusive--Wieters' college teammates nicknamed him "God"--and suggested that Wieters is following in Joe Mauer's footsteps. Maybe. But Wieters is 23. Mauer is 26, and he's won three AL batting titles and an MVP award.A lot of the excitement surrounding the Twins centers on Target Field, which will open the regular season on April 12. Target Field has been dubbed "the coolest ballpark in America." High praise, but if you read the linked article from Twin Cities Business magazine, you may be persuaded. One thing is for sure: there will be days when Target Field is the coldest park in MLB. The younger generation, reared on the unlamented HHH Metrodome, doesn't remember the April days when 1,000 brave fans wore down parkas to Twins games at the old Met, occasionally watching the action through flurries of snow. They used to spray-paint the dirt green to make it look as though the grass was up. Night games in September got cold, too.But no one here in Minnesota is thinking about that. The field at the new park is heated, so snow will melt, and a remarkable drainage system will make the grass field playable in all but the heaviest downpours. Plus, the concourses are heated so the fans needn't be cold, even if the players are.From a construction standpoint, the Target Field project was remarkable. It is built on a tiny plot of horrible soil--so bad that the stadium doesn't rest, structurally, on the soil at all:Steel pipes, 10 inches in diameter, were driven 100 feet down to bedrock, then filled with concrete. This isn't wildly unusual, [M. A. Mortenson project manager Dan] Mehls says, except for the number of them, which was 3,300--more than 62 miles of pipe--and the fact that it took six months to drive them all. Target Field actually sits on those columns. You could dig out 100 feet of dirt from beneath the stadium, Mehls says, and it would just stand there.Not only that, the park is squeezed amid highways and railroad tracks, next to the county's garbage burner. Target Field may be the country's most legitimately urban ballpark: Nevertheless, it is a thing of beauty:The season can't begin soon enough. In the meantime, maybe this will tide us over--the Twins' song, one of the best in major league sports, I think. Unfortunately, the original version of the song, dating to 1961, can't be found anywhere on the web. This is the "jazzy" 1980s version, but you can still get the idea: We can also daydream about highlights of Twins seasons past. Rod Carew was one of the Twins' greatest stars; the new park has giant art works, portraits of Carew and Kirby Puckett etched into wood. I think I once saw Carew steal home, but memory is tricky and I can't be sure. Once, he stole home twice in the same game: And, of course, we can reminisce about Game 6, the occasion of the only paranormal experience I've ever had, far away in Munich, Germany. Here in the Upper Midwest, no explanation is necessary. It's just Game 6: Spring can't come soon enough. Despite unseasonably warm temperatures and plenty of rain, the snow pile in the street in front of my house is still six feet high.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:24:11 -0400 Are our allies guilty by association? [New Window]
We've written before about President Obama's willingness to follow only the second half of the Godfather's adage, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Abe Greenwald has described the phenomenon this way: "If you're an enemy we're sorry; if you're a friend you're sorry."In the aftermath of the latest manifestation of this phenomenon -- the fit Obama has thrown against Israel -- Robert Kagan compiles the case histories. Our "sorry" friends include, in addition to Israel, Great Britain, France, several Eastern European countries, Japan, and India. The nations Obama has courted include Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and Burma.Kagan notes that Obama is departing from a 60-year old American grand strategy when it comes to allies. I'm not nearly as learned as Kagan, but I think he's understating the matter. Isn't it fair to say that Obama's counterintuitive approach is unprecedented?Kagan declines to speculate about why Obama curries favor with our enemies while treating our friends with disdain. For my part, I've been unable to move beyond the two tentative explanations I offered last July:Perhaps there is a side of him that harbors contempt for nations that find large amounts of common ground with the U.S., a country for which Obama himself feels the need constantly to apologize. Or perhaps, Obama sees himself as a philosopher king, a "neutral" who stands above the usual politics of favoring particular nations. From this lofty, ahistorical perch, it may be possible to view Britain as "the same as the other 190 countries in the world."
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:04:06 -0400 There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama [New Window]
My clansman... Thanks to Cass...... PJTV: Beyond Immigration: With Hispanics, A Land Of Opportunity For GOP. [New Window]
PJTV: Beyond Immigration: With Hispanics, A Land Of Opportunity For GOP.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:56:17 -0400 BYRON YORK: The GOP health care count: 209 no, 204 yes, 18 undecided. [New Window]
BYRON YORK: The GOP health care count: 209 no, 204 yes, 18 undecided.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:45:59 -0400 GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE: Walgreens will stop taking new Medicaid patients in Washington state as of [New Window]
GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE: Walgreens will stop taking new Medicaid patients in Washington state as of April 16, saying it loses money filling their prescriptions.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:37:11 -0400 OBAMA ON FOX NEWS: Comments from Tunku Varadarajan and Jammie Wearing Fool. Heres some video. [New Window]
OBAMA ON FOX NEWS: Comments from Tunku Varadarajan and Jammie Wearing Fool. Here’s some video.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:17:03 -0400 THE GENDER DEGREE GAP and the Great Mancession. [New Window]
THE GENDER DEGREE GAP and the Great Mancession.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:09:01 -0400 JOSE GUARDIA: Whats up with the White House Twitter avatar? [New Window]
JOSE GUARDIA: What’s up with the White House Twitter avatar?
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:53:55 -0400 O'Donnell: Thou Shalt Not Interrupt The Messiah [New Window]
When did Larry O'Donnell rip the "Question Authority" bumper sticker off his old Volkswagen van?Liberals normally love to celebrate those who "speak truth to power." But Larry O'Donnell is bent out of shape that Fox News' Bret Baier had the chutzpah to challenge and, yes, interrupt, Pres. Obama when interviewing him today about ObamaCare. Larry displayed his sudden deference to high-office on this evening's Countdown, subbing for Keith Olbermann.Amusingly, one of my liberal faves declined to subscribe to Larry's script . . . Sniffed O'Donnell: "most news organizations as I've said tend to defer to the office of the president in matters of conversational decorum." You can view the entire Baier/Obama interview here. Judge for yourself. I'd say that while the Special Report host challenged Barack the man, he never showed disrespect for the office. O'Donnell was presumably expecting Chris Hayes to share his umbrage at Baier's lse majest. But to his credit, The Nation editor demurred: "I actually think that's great. I think that people in power should be pesterd and hectored a little bit and asked to answer uncomfortable questions." Kudos, Chris. Meanwhile, perhaps Pres. Obama should consider O'Donnellhe of the exquisite sensibilitiesto fill Desiree Rogers' old slot as Social Secretary.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:47:26 -0400 Reality takes an unreal shape [New Window]
In a post called "Is Eric Holder a Dope?," we noted a colloquy between Attorney General Holder and Rep. John Culberson in which Holder testifed that Osama bin Laden and Charles Manson are comparable people, at least to the extent that they both have "the right to go before a jury [and] get the acts that [they are] charged with proven beyond a reasonable doubt."Holder went on to downplay the practical consequences of his position, telling Culberson:Let's deal with reality. You're talking about a hypothetical that will never occur. The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom. But, as John noted in an update to the post, General McChrystal says it's the military's goal to capture bin Laden alive. And with good reason. Bin Laden may well remain actively engaged in plotting attacks against the U.S. and others. In all likelihood, he also possesses valuable information about terrorist networks. Thus, killing him, when capturing and interrogating him is an alternative, would be a grossly irresponsible act.But, it is also the natural outgrowth of this administration's policy on dealing with detainees. Obama and Holder view detainees as a problem -- where do we house them; do foreigners like how we treat them -- not as part of the solution -- an invaluable source of information with which to combat terrorism and terrorists. Moreover, the Obama administration's policy on interrogating terrorists reinforces its inability to see detainees as part of the solution. The less harshly we are allowed to question them, the less value they have.Thus, Holder's odd and irreponsible position that, realistically, we will never capture bin Laden isn't just an escape hatch to tough questions from a congressman. It is the logical consequence of administration policy. Unfortunately, as Gen. McChrystal's reaction shows, it is an illogical approach to keeping America safe.If it matters, Holder's gymnastics are also an illogical escape hatch. If Holder wants to kill, rather than capture, bin Laden under all circumstances, then bin Laden can't be comparable to Charles Manson, a criminal we would (and did) capture. Holder appears to be deeming bin Laden entitled to a jury trial that he guarantees we will prevent. And he does so while admonishing us to "deal with reality." The Democrats are giving reality an unreal shape these days.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:41:15 -0400 POWER LINE: These Are The Good Old Days. If Obamacare passes, President Obama and the Democrats w [New Window]
POWER LINE: These Are The Good Old Days. “If Obamacare passes, President Obama and the Democrats will become part of, and perhaps dominate, most of these conversations. Every excessive wait, every missed phone call, every postponed appointment will become Obama’s fault. . . . These complaints won’t be confined to the elderly. [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:16:40 -0400 PJTV: TWO SPEECHES:Kill the Bill 1: Rep Mike Pence (R-IN) Welcomes Freedom Fighters back to Was [New Window]
PJTV: TWO SPEECHES:Kill the Bill 1: Rep Mike Pence (R-IN) Welcomes Freedom Fighters back to Washington, DC.Kill The Bill 2: Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) Tells DC Protesters to Keep Setting Brush Fires of Freedom.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:37:37 -0400 IN A WORD, YES: Does Hayek belong in High School Economics Classes? To hold up the inclusion of Ha [New Window]
IN A WORD, YES: Does Hayek belong in High School Economics Classes? To hold up the inclusion of Hayek as evidence of excessive conservative bias is self-refuting. I mean, if that’s all you’ve got . . . .Of course, Hayek is rapidly becoming so extremely cool that high-school students will be reading [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:23:57 -0400 Competitors See FNC's Baier as 'Contentious' with Obama While ABC Devotes Full Story to Obama's NCAA Picks [New Window]
CBS and NBC, which have delivered very friendly interviews with President Barack Obama (link below the jump to examples), on Wednesday night characterized Bret Baier's sit-down with Obama for the Fox News Channel as contentious, while ABC decided to devote nearly two minutes of World News (1:50) to Obama's college basketball tournament choices. Anchor Diane Sawyer teased at the start of the March 17 newscast, Top picks: Stream of consciousness as the Fan-in-Chief completes his college basketball bracket.On the NBC Nightly News, Kelly O'Donnell referred to the contentious interview with Fox News. Chip Reid, on the CBS Evening News, added a modifier as he saw a very contentious interview.The ABC story on Obama's basketball picks consisted of highlights from corporate cousin ESPN's session with Obama as he filled out a big bracket chart, and World News included Obama's spelling challenge. Should be an R in there, ESPN's Andy Katz corrected Obama upon spotting how the President had misspelled Syracuse as Sycacuse. (Click on screen shot for a larger jpg image of Obama's misspelling.)For five examples from last year of CBS and NBC journalists working to advance Obama's cause, check out the Let Us Fluff Your Pillow Award for Obsequious Obama Interviews in the MRC's Best Notable Quotables of 2009: The 22nd Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting. Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:23:45 -0400 Holder: Osama Has Same Rights As Charles Manson [New Window]
Started From Valerie commenting at BlackFive who mentioned Gateway Pundit I can hear Darth Odious now, "You have learned link-whoring well my young padawan Ronin. PS: Censored31 has videos and articles posted on the interwebulz claiming that pedophilia is awesome.... The New England Jihadis [New Window]
An excellent report by American for Peace and Tolerance on the Boston blogger and would-be jihad Tarek Mehanna. Do we know Tarek? Yes, we do. And yes Tarek knows us. Oh what a small world it is! This guy is... Daily SMACKDOWN 03/17/10 [New Window]
Smack one down for St. Patty! Posted: 16 Mar 2010 10:02 PM PDT Rbg7 a rocket launcher attack on the headquarters of the American enemy in Anbar - by firasALazawy Video already gone? Here are some more islamist videos to... Obama's New Target for Regime Change: Israel [New Window]
It's been just one week since Joe "The Sheriff" Biden went to Israel on a diplomatic visit, and the US-Israeli diplomatic relationship has hit an all-time low-point. It's the Obama touch. Everything he touches turns to sh*t - the Israeli-American... Happy St. Patrick's Day! [New Window]
Aren't you a little drunk for a storm trooper? (pic stolen from the Dweebletter) Since Vinnie is teh ghey, a hearty Erin Go Bragh to our Jawas of Irish descent! Today we remember St. Patrick, who in an odd... Interview With Fiance of Murdered Iranian Protester Neda [New Window]
Der SpiegelJournalist Caspian Makan, 38, was the fiance of Iranian protester Neda Agha Soltan, who became the icon of the protest movement after her murder during a demonstration in Tehran on June 20. He was arrested following the protests... Resisting Jihad: Ana's Playground [New Window]
The young, 19yr old Fartun Ahmed and the older, Abdirizak Bihi, working to stop radicalization of Somali American youth in Minnesota. Star TribuneShe's 19, a college sophomore and a product of the Twin Cities suburbs. He's 45, a father of... MEMRI: PA TV Commemorates Female Terrorist Dalal Al-Mughrabi; Al-Mughrabi's Sister: Dalal Is a Source of Pride for Palestinian Women [New Window]
About: Dalal Mughrabi (Arabic: دلال المغربي‎; ca. 1959 - March 11, 1978) was a Palestinian shooter and bomber affiliated with the Fatah faction who directed the Coastal Road massacre, a 1978 terrorist attack within Israel. Mughrabi and her team of... Awesome!:Al-Qaeda crippled as leaders stay in hiding, CIA chief says [New Window]
While the American media chases its tail.....this tidbit goes unnoticed.Wash PostRelentless attacks against al-Qaeda in the Pakistan tribal region appear to have driven Osama bin Laden and other top leaders deeper into hiding, leaving the organization rudderless and less capable... Turkey threatens to complete Armenian genocide, deport 100k Armenians [New Window]
From the BBC: Turkey's prime minister has threatened to deport 100,000 Armenian migrants, amid renewed tensions over Turkish mass killings of Armenians in World War I. Recent resolutions in the US and Sweden have called the killings "genocide". Recep Tayyip... ATTN YouTube User Jizyya [New Window]
Don't feel sorry for me, I don't heart terrorists. Jizyaa (1 hour ago) @allahakchew Poor Girl .... allahakchew (21 minutes ago) @Jizyaa poor terrorist lover ;-)BTW, your avatar is so yesterday. Click images to enlarge. Also, thanks for the link... Anwar Awlaki Urges Jihad Against US [New Window]
Yemeni-American Anwar Awlaki is the leading English language al Qaeda internet recruiter and propagandist. In a new audio he urges American Muslims to commit jihad against the US and he says the US is withholding Nidal Hassan's emails because the... Top al Qaeda Operative Is Killed in U.S. Drone Attack(killed last week) [New Window]
SCORE!WASHINGTONA drone strike last week in Pakistan apparently killed a top al Qaeda trainer who helped supervise December's suicide bombing at a Central Intelligence Agency post in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The strike on a suspected bomb-making facility in Miram... Male Jihad Jane Types: Pakistani Court Charges Five Americans With Planning Terror Attacks [New Window]
It's about time they were formally charged. The trial begins on March 31st.ISLAMABAD (Reuters) A Pakistani court formally charged Wednesday five young Americans of plotting terrorism in the country, their lawyer said, in a case that has raised... MARKDOWNS ON cellphones and accessories. So should I get a Droid, a Nexus One, or a Palm Pre Plus? [New Window]
MARKDOWNS ON cellphones and accessories. So should I get a Droid, a Nexus One, or a Palm Pre Plus? I like the mobile-hotspot feature in the Palm.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:37 -0400 CITIZEN SURGE: On a special Tea Party TV edition of InstaVision, I talk with Scott Rasmussen about [New Window]
CITIZEN SURGE: On a special Tea Party TV edition of InstaVision, I talk with Scott Rasmussen about Tea Party Politics & The Return Of Self-Governance. Plus, how the American political class is like Detroit auto executives in the 1970s, and what Tea Partiers can learn from Luke Skywalker.And, once again, I recommend his [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:59:46 -0400 SIGN OF THE TIMES: I just got an email from Democrat Roy Herron, whos running for John Tanners se [New Window]
SIGN OF THE TIMES: I just got an email from Democrat Roy Herron, who’s running for John Tanner’s seat in Tennessee. Here’s the key bit:My top three priorities in Washington will be fiscal responsibility, fiscal responsibility, and fiscal responsibility.Washington is mortgaging the future of my sons and your children and our grandchildren. [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:55:15 -0400 OBAMA WILL BE IN FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA FRIDAY, and Tea Partiers are planning to meet him. [New Window]
OBAMA WILL BE IN FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA FRIDAY, and Tea Partiers are planning to meet him.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:39:40 -0400 DAN RIEHL: What is FreedomWorks Problem? [New Window]
DAN RIEHL: What is FreedomWorks’ Problem?
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:30:27 -0400 HEH. THATS FUNNY. Helen and I looked at Toyotas today, too. [New Window]
HEH. THAT’S FUNNY. Helen and I looked at Toyotas today, too.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:22:42 -0400 WILL WE SEE PROTESTS LIKE THIS HERE IF OBAMACARE PASSES? Thai Red Shirts hurl own blood at PMs hou [New Window]
WILL WE SEE PROTESTS LIKE THIS HERE IF OBAMACARE PASSES? Thai Red Shirts hurl own blood at PM’s house.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:19:33 -0400 RETRACTOS VACATION appears to be going well. Come back rested, Retracto your work isnt finishe [New Window]
RETRACTO’S VACATION appears to be going well. Come back rested, Retracto — your work isn’t finished!
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:18:39 -0400 CBS Evening News Distorts Public Sentiment on Embryonic Stem Cell Research [New Window]
The CBS Evening News latest installment of Where America Stands failed to mention that some Americans actually stand opposed to embryonic stem research. Instead, last nights program only featured medical professionals and industry experts who support the controversial research method. Setting the stage for the segment, "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric emphasized the potential promise of embryonic stem cells while neglecting to acknowledge pro-life objections. Its been a year since President Obama loosened restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Couric noted, adding, Those stem cells come from unused human embryos at fertility clinics and they can be transformed into any cell in the body. Dr. Jon LaPook, CBS News medical correspondent, chronicled the progress that researchers have made in recent years, declaring, The report card on stem cells is promising, but incomplete. By ignoring an entire side of the debate, the CBS Evening News offered a tacit endorsement of research many Americans find morally objectionable. That's hardly an accurate portrayal of Where America Stands. A full transcript of the segment can be found below: KATIE COURIC, "Evening News" anchor: Its been a year since President Obama loosened restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Those stem cells come from unused human embryos at fertility clinics and they can be transformed into any type of cell in the body.The hope is scientists will one day be able to replace damaged or defective cells in people suffering from diseases like diabetes, Parkinson`s and Alzheimer`s.So how close are we? Dr. Jon LaPook shows us in our series, "CBS Reports: Where America Stands."Dr. JON LaPOOK, CBS News medical correspondent: Twelve years after the discovery of the human embryonic stem cell, research is finally picking up steam. Over the past seven years, the NIH has more than tripled its investment in stem cell research to over $1 billion.The number of embryonic stem cell lines funded by the government has doubled. More than 200 U.S. companies are researching stem cells. So the report card on stem cells is promising but incomplete.Two years ago, scientists found another way to create stem cells -- from ordinary skin cells. That breakthrough lets researchers study diseases in a dish. For example, skin cells from a patient with ALS have been turned into the kind of nerve cell attacked by the disease.For the first time, those living nerves can be studied outside the body to figure out what goes wrong.LARRY GOLDSTEIN, University of California Stem Cell Program: Its amazing. What can you say?LaPOOK: Stem cell biologist Larry Goldstein says studying disease is like investigating a plane crash.GOLDSTEIN: What you`re really looking for is the black box of diseases. What`s the black box of Alzheimer`s disease? What`s gone wrong when the plane started to go down?LaPOOK: Once researchers figure out what goes wrong in diseases, they can test drugs in the safety of a Petri dish before trying them on patients.GOLDSTEIN: We`re building foundations right now. And so the science is moving along very well.LaPOOK: The problem? How to harness the tantalizing potential of stem cells.Dr. JOHN KESSLER: It takes a lot of work to make this happen.LaPOOK: No one knows that better than John Kessler. Nine years ago, a phone call changed his life forever.KESSLER: And that`s the kind of call nobody ever wants to get.LaPOOK: His 15-year-old daughter Allison was injured in a skiing accident. She was paralyzed from the waist down.KESSLER: There was a moment of despair. It`s a moment of knowing what I faced. Knowing what my daughter faced.LaPOOK: He knew because he`s a neurologist. On the way to the hospital, he had an epiphany.KESSLER: Now I know what I have to work on and it`s spinal cord injury.LaPOOK: Dr. Kessler is now a leader in the field.KESSLER: So these are neural stem cells.LaPOOK: He`s turned stem cells into nerves and helped heal animals with spinal injury.KESSLER: Is this a cure for spinal cord injury? No. Do we think that it`s very likely this will help people? We think so.LaPOOK: Today, Allison is an outgoing 25-year-old. Her father`s greatest wish is that one day his work will help her walk again.ALLISON KESSLER: If there is a cure to find at this day and age with current science, hes the one thats going to push the envelope. I literally had just flipped the page.LaPOOK: Allison has moved on with her life. Shes now in medical school.KESSLER: More than dozens of times shes told me, "Dad, get over it, come on, you know? Just move on." So, I mean, shes handled it remarkably well.LaPOOK: And can you just move on?KESSLER: No. Ill never get over it. Never.LaPOOK: The solution cant come fast enough for patients desperate for help now.Dr. HANS KEIRSTEAD, UC-Irvine's Reeve-Irvine Research Center: Its like were putting a very, very young chunk of spinal cord into an adult.LaPOOK: Later this year, Dr. Hans Kierstead of U.C. Irvine, working with Geron Corporation, will begin the first FDA-approved trial of human embryonic stem cells to treat paralyzed patients within two weeks of injury.KEIRSTEAD: Wow. These are looking really, really nice.LaPOOK: In spinal cord injury, the insulation coating the wires in the cord is destroyed. Electrical messages from the brain cant get past the point of injury and function is lost.KEIRSTEAD Its like youve got a bunch of wires that are short circuiting. The tissue thats left doesnt work because they cant conduct electricity up and down your cord.LaPOOK: Keirstead and his team figured out a way to turn stem cells into this cell. This is actually the insulating material.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thats the insulating material.LaPOOK: It makes insulation for the spinal cord. Millions of these cells will be injected into the damaged area. The hope is by restoring the insulation; the spinal cord will work again.KEIRSTEAD I expect incremental benefits to the humans that receive this. I think theyre going to get better and Im just dying to find out if Im right.DR. CATRIONA JAMIESON, UC-San Diego's Moores Cancer Center: Were trying to make the therapies more effective.LAPOOK: Stem cells have even given scientists a brand new way to think about cancer.JAMIESON: We think that there are these cells at the root cause of cancer called cancer stem cells.LaPOOK: Stem cells are normally present throughout our bodies and help us replace cells that are worn out or damaged. But these normal stem cells can produce cancer stem cells that create regular cancer cells in tumors.While chemotherapy kills regular cancer cells as they divide, cancer stem cells survive by lying dormant, then springing to life and causing relapse.JAMIESON: Getting rid of the most robust cell within the cancer that has the capacity to regenerate the whole cancer is how to really expunge the cancer and make sure that people don`t relapse.LaPOOK: This new approach may have saved Theresa Blandas life. In 2008, blood tests showed she was close to developing leukemia. And a year and a half ago could you have walked like this?THERESA BLANDA, former cancer patient: With a walker or a cane.LaPOOK: Eighteen months ago, she enrolled in a clinical trial using a drug that Dr. Jamieson and her team developed. It attacks cancer stem cells in her blood. Now shes back to a normal life. Did you ever imagine that youd be sitting here like this?BLANDA: No. To be honest with you I dont think I imagined myself sitting here, period.LaPOOK: Even if everything goes right, stem cell based treatments wont be widely available for years. Still, this may be one of those rare instances in medicine when the hype is actually deserved. Katie?COURIC: So fascinating. Some scientists want to destroy stem cells like in cancer and others, obviously, want to create them. --Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:58:23 -0400 Nuns Sign Pro-ObamaCare Letter; AP, Newsweek Fail to Note Left-wing Catholic Group Behind It [New Window]
"Hot on the heels of Kucinich's declaration of support for health-care reform, the Associated Press is reporting that Catholic nuns are urging Democratic lawmakers to support health-care reform," Newsweek's Katie Connolly informed readers of the magazine's The Gaggle blog this morning. "This is a major break with the church's bishops, who have strongly opposed the legislation on the grounds that some federal subsidies may end up funding abortions," Connolly gushed, later closing her blog post with the conclusion that "[a]t the very least, the letter damages the validity of [pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart] Stupak's argument."Both Connolly's post and the underlying AP story failed to delve into this, but the letter in question was not simply cobbled together by apolitical nuns. It was pushed out to the media by a group with a left-wing agenda, reports CatholicCulture.org:A coalition of American nuns, claiming to represent over 50,000 members of women's religious orders, has broken with the country's Catholic bishops by coming out in support of the health-care reform legislation now pending in Congress. In a statement released by the liberal religious lobby Network, the nuns say that the bill already approved by the Senate is "the real pro-life stance." Their statement accuses the US bishops' conference and pro-life groups of making "false claims" that the bill would allow support for abortion and would not protect the consciences of health-care workers who oppose abortion. "This is politics; this isn't a question of faith and morals," said Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of Network. Women religious have a direct interest in health-care reform, she added: "We are the ones who work every day with people who are suffering because they don't have health care." Here's how Network describes their areas of concern when "Lobbying for Justice":Issues on NETWORK's agenda include: Just and fair treatment for immigrants Affordable housing Healthcare for all Retirement security Food security Wage equity Peace in Iraq through economic development Fair and just global trade and responsible investment Fair and just taxation Investment in human needs domestically and globallyYou may notice that sanctity of life of the unborn is missing from the list. Indeed, no mention of abortion is found on the group's "about us" page, which defines Network's mission as:...a progressive voice within the Catholic community that has been influencing Congress in favor of peace and justice for more than 30 years.Through lobbying and legislative advocacy, we strive to close the gap between rich and poor and to dismantle policies rooted in racism, greed and violence.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:49:59 -0400 The Current Tally [New Window]
Byron York's sources say their best estimate is that there are now 204 votes for the government health care takeover bill, 209 votes against it, and 18 undecided. The good news, one could infer, is that the Republicans only have to carry seven of the 18 to block the bill, while the Democrats have to convince 12 of the 18 to vote Yes in order to pass it. The bad news is that all 18 undecided votes are Democrats.It is hard to believe that Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts won't be able to get there, by hook or by crook. Still, we need to keep up the fight to the end--and beyond. If the current bill, whatever it is, becomes law, taxes will rise immediately but the health care "reform" provisions will mostly be put off for several years. I agree with Paul and others that once socialized medicine is actually established, it will be difficult or impossible to undo. But that won't happen under the current bill. Rather, as I understand how the legislation works, there will be a window of several years during which Republicans can try to repeal or amend the legislation. So no matter what happens this week, Obamacare will be a millstone around the Dems' necks for years to come. That's how it looks to me, anyway.This survey, a joint project of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest Advance and Pajamas Media, suggests how deeply unpopular some of the key provisions of the Democrats' legislation are with the public.For reasons that are obviously related, this was a red-letter day, as for the first time, President Obama's approval rating broke into negative territory on the Gallup poll. Among voters, of course, Obama has been under water for a long time.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:42:45 -0400 HOME TAPING: Killing music? And home sleeping is killing hotels! [New Window]
HOME TAPING: Killing music? And home sleeping is killing hotels!
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:37:25 -0400 Landmark Legal Foundation to Slaughter House butchers: Not without a fight [New Window]
Photoshop exclusive: Big Fur Hat at iowntheworld.com and Applecross Media(Get your Constitution Butchers poster here.)Not without a fight, Deem-o-crats:Mark R. Levin, president of Landmark Legal Foundation, today issued a warning to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives about the possible use of the so-called deem and pass, self-executing, or Slaughter Rule to enact [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:29:43 -0400 BOINGBOING: DID PEREZ HILTON violate federal obscenity law? From the comments: So wait, Perez Hi [New Window]
BOINGBOING: DID PEREZ HILTON violate federal obscenity law? From the comments: “So wait, Perez Hilton’s very existence isn’t offensive, but dwarf porn is? I’d rather see the dwarf porn than anything Perez has to say about it.”
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:18:48 -0400 THE DRAFT COMPLAINT IS ALREADY ONLINE: Landmark Legal Foundation to File Suit to Stop Presidents [New Window]
THE DRAFT COMPLAINT IS ALREADY ONLINE: Landmark Legal Foundation to File Suit to Stop Presidents Health Plan if Slaughter Rule is Used.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:52:24 -0400 Double Standard: Networks Hyped GOP E-mailer Mark Foley, Minimized Democratic Groper Eric Massa [New Window]
With a disparity of five-to-one, the same network morning and evening news programs that displayed an eager interest in Republican Mark Foley's E-mail scandal minimized the groping and tickling of Democrat Eric Massa. In 2010, these shows offered a scant 30 stories to Democrat Eric Massa and details of how he engaged in naked shower fights. Over a 12 day period in 2006, 152 segments were devoted to Foley. Additionally, this number of 30 is a generous one. From March 5 through March 16, the networks conducted only 13 full reports on Massa and eight anchor briefs. The remaining nine exampleswere mere mentions where Massa's name was simply highlighted. NBC's Nightly News showed the least interest in the Democratic Congressman. Anchor Brian Williams featured Massa in a quick 25 second anchor brief on March 5 and, briefly, the next day, during a Mike Viqueira piece on health care. The ex-Representative's story, which certainly didn't lack for salacious details, only appeared again when Congressman Patrick Kennedy, in a speech to the House, decried journalists for "talking about Eric Massa 24/7." Williams' March 10 anchor brief and a clip of Kennedy accounted for one minute and 26 seconds. Nightly News' coverage for the actual Massa scandal totaled just 35 seconds. In other words, more time for the Rhode Island Representative's critique of the media than to Massa's alleged misdeeds. In fact, Kennedy's use of Massa's name inflated the number of times the Congressman was highlighted. Good Morning America, the Early Show and Today all covered Kennedy and his condemnation of journalists for over-covering Massa, something that, in reality, they clearly did not do. On the March 11 Early Show, Nancy Cordes parroted that "Kennedy was referring to the recent wave of media coverage surrounding Democratic Congressman Eric Massa." The Early Show featured Massa in just two anchor briefs, hardly a wave. An October 11, 2006 Media Reality Check by the MRC's Tim Graham found that these same shows showed no such hesitation for Foley: To measure the aggression of TV assignment editors on the Foley story, MRC analysts counted the number of stories devoted to the scandal and the repetitive insistence that Republicans are in deep political danger and may need GOP leaders to resign. On the ABC, CBS, and NBC morning and evening news programs, from the storys emergence on Friday night, September 29, through Wednesday morning, October 11, the Big Three networks have aired 152 stories. (A fraction of the stories were brief anchor updates.) The breakdown: ABC: 50 (World News, 20; Good Morning America, 30.) CBS: 46 (CBS Evening News, 15; The Early Show, 31.) NBC: 56 (NBC Nightly News, 20; Today, 36.) And keep in mind the differences between the two stories. Foley's acts, while certainly creepy, amounted to inappropriate instant messages to House pages. Massa admitted to groping and tickling staffers and claimed his exit was forced as part of a grand conspiracy by the White House. Yet, NBC's Nightly News, Today, ABC's World News, Good Morning America, CBS's Evening News and the Early Show all showed little interest.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:45:54 -0400 Wednesday Afternoon Metheny [New Window]
Here’s a midday music break with the Pat Metheny Group, from a 1992 performance at Japan’s “Live Under the Sky” music festival.[Video]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:30:02 -0400 QUIZ: Whats your DIY IQ? [New Window]
QUIZ: What’s your DIY IQ?
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:23:31 -0400 Radio Host Mike Malloy Rips Clarence and Ginni Thomas and Says Their Marriage Will Inflame Racist 'Teabaggers' [New Window]
Media outlets from CNN to NPR to the Washington Post have picked up on the Los Angeles Times story suggesting there could be conflicts of interest for Virginia Thomas to start her group Liberty Central while she's married to Justice Clarence Thomas. But none have attacked the couple like leftist talk-show host Mike Malloy did on his syndicated radio show Monday night. Malloy called Justice Thomas a "Nazi" anda "house negro" who slavishly imitates Antonin Scalia andhis wife was "an ignorant son of a bitch." At his strangest, Malloy claimed Justice Thomas has never authored a majority opinion for the high court. (In truth, he's written at least 140.)He seemed race-obsessed as he claimed the "teabaggers" were racist, that they would object once they discovered "Shes a very, very, very, very, very white Omaha, Nebraska woman married to a very, very, very, very black South Georgia man." He began: The latest from the crazy people in the tea bag movement is, uh, a story about, um, Virginia Thomas, she is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; and shes setting up a teabagger nonprofit group. Now this will be interesting because the teabaggers are essentially racist; and how are they're going to deal with a very dark Clarence Thomas and a very white Virginia Thomas setting up subdivision of their crazed tea bagger party; how they're going to deal with that will be great fun to watch. Now Clarence Thomas has always adopted the attitude of the House Negro, so perhaps he'll do it this time also. Clarence Thomas, in all the years he's been on the United States Supreme Court, I don't think has ever, ever written an opinion that became the rule of the court; he has never been the lead author. He has - I don't think he's even spoken for the past six years! He just looks at fat Tony Scalia; and if Fat Tony farts, Uncle Clarence farts; if Fat Tony burps, Uncle Clarence burps! This is the guy who George Herbert Walker Bush said was the most qualified man in America to be on the Supreme Court.Malloy read from the Los Angeles Times that Mrs. Thomas aims to stop Obama's "hard-left agenda," which set him off: "You ignorant son of a bitch! Hard-left agenda! Oh my God."He added her new groupwould"accept donations from various sources, for new Liberty Central, including corporations, as allowed under the campaign finance rules recently decided by the Supreme Court, her husband being one of the right-wing Nazis who made the decision. See how quickly this works? The wife of a goddamn filthy Supreme Court Nazi justice of the United States, taking advantage of her husbands decision well, not his decision, he just sucks along with whatever Tony Scalia tells him to do, he does." He added: "This has never happened before, of course, where the wife of a Supreme Court justice, and I say 'wife' because most of them have been males, has decided to something this insane."After a commercial break, he picked up where he left off: Shes in for a big surprise, when the inherently racist nature of the teabagger movement slams her in the face. Shes a very, very, very, very, very white Omaha, Nebraska woman married to a very, very, very, very black South Georgia man. And when the pictures of the two of them together get out, you can almost hear the squealing right now from the real teabaggers." He went into a second commercial break asking "Isnt it time maybe to begin thinking about impeaching Clarence Long Dong Silver Thomas?" (For rookies, this is a reference to a porn movie Thomas was alleged to have discussed with Anita Hill as part of her never-proven sexual-harassment allegations.)There was some anti-Catholic hatred tossed in later in the hour, as he noted a listener informed him Virginia is Justice Thomas's second wife, and his first marriage was annulled by the Catholic Church. Malloy first wondered if this made Thomas's son Jamal (from his first marriage) a "bastard."He then called the Catholic Church "A sick nest of son of a bitches."He started talking about the "Nazi pope" and the "pedophilia he allowed, if not encouraged. Isnt it time for the Nazi Pope to resign? I hope he stays right where he is. I mean, this whole thing is such a goddamn farce, its just insane. Im sure Uncle Clarence and Sammy the Fish Alito and the rest of the good practicing Catholics on the Supreme Court will figure out a way to defend or ignore what is developing into the worst church scandal in a least a millennia, a millennium and a half, dont you think?"
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:13:55 -0400 Shocking AP Fact Check: Premiums Will Rise Under ObamaCare [New Window]
It's no shock to rational, thinking people that healthcare legislation currently before Congress will do nothing to halt rising insurance premiums, but that the folks at the Associated Press would come to such a conclusion AND write about it is quite surprising.There it was in a piece published Wednesday called, "FACT CHECK: Premiums would rise under Obama plan."Readers are strongly encouraged to fasten seatbelts tightly, for they're about to enter what has to be an alternate universe (h/t Ed Morrissey):Buyers, beware: President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul will lower premiums by double digits, but check the fine print.Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. Shhh. Wait. It got better: Listening to Obama pitch his plan, you might not realize that's how it works. [...]An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of earlier Senate legislation suggested savings could be fairly modest.It found that large employers would see premium savings of at most 3 percent compared with what their costs would have been without the legislation. That would be more like a few hundred dollars instead of several thousand.The claim that people buying coverage individually would save 14 percent to 20 percent comes from the same budget office report, prepared in November for Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. But the presidential sound bite fails to convey the full picture.The budget office concluded that premiums for people buying their own coverage would go up by an average of 10 percent to 13 percent, compared with the levels they'd reach without the legislation. Imagine that. Real facts about ObamaCare from the AP as the Democrats try to garner enough votes to get it passed.Who'd have thunk it?Unfortunately, this piece still didn't accurately reflect the entire truth as Ed Morrissey noted Wednesday: The insurance policies of the future under ObamaCare would provide more comprehensive benefits, but thats because ObamaCare would outlaw more modest plans. The federal mandates of ObamaCare would mean that healthy people would no longer have the choice of low-cost, high-deductible plans that encourage direct spending on routine medical issues, the exact kind of policies that real reform would emphasize. Obama and the Democrats want to force young, healthy people into committing more money into risk pools in order to keep premium increases down for others in essence, subsidizing medical care for older, higher-risk pool members. Despite this oversight, the AP did a pretty good job, especially as it referred to a speech Obama just made this week in a Cleveland suburb:"You'll be able to buy in, or a small business will be able to buy into this pool," Obama said. "And that will lower rates, it's estimated, by up to 14 to 20 percent over what you're currently getting. That's money out of pocket." [...]"Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent," said the president, "which means they could give you a raise."A White House press spokesman later said the president misspoke; he had meant to say annual premiums would drop by $3,000.It could be a long wait.Makes you wonder what might have happened during the presidential campaign in 2008 if the AP had spent its time fact-checking Obama's stump speeches rather than gushing and fawning over them.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:04:48 -0400 CBS Charged Anti-ObamaCare Protesters Acted in 'Ugly' Manner, But Politico Found Them 'Polite' and 'Boring' [New Window]
Based on some mild and indiscernible shouts by people in a hallway outside the office of a House member, NewsBusters noted Tuesday night, CBS's Chip Reid tried to discredit anti-ObamaCare protesters, claiming the Tea Party activists tried to lobby undecided Democrats. At times, it got ugly. (Watch the video to assess the commotion Reid characterized as ugly.)But in today's Politico newspaper, Marin Cogan relayed how staff members for Democrats reported orderly, even polite conversations with protesters. In her article, Dems play nice with tea partiers, Marin not only did not cite any ugliness, she discovered the protesters were so calm that they were actually bored by them: 'It was like a high school classroom,' an aide to one lawmaker who hosted tea partiers noted glumly. 'It was so boring.' Hat tip to my MRC colleague Tim Graham.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:34:24 -0400 CS Monitor: Public Needs Hollywood's Help to Understand Climate Change [New Window]
Of all the claims made in the ongoing debates over environmental issues and global warming, the assertion that the public hasn't been told or told enough about climate change is laughable at best. But that's what Gregory Lamb wrote in The Christian Science Monitor March 15. What had Lamb troubled was that the American public's concern for global warming is at its lowest level years. According to a new Rasmussen poll, just 28 percent of Americans think it's a serious problem. To Lamb and the scientists he interviewed, that means the message isn't getting through, and scientists must look to new means of publicizing their work. "The importance of getting the word out has science organizations scrambling to explore news channels, from souped up websites to asking Hollywood for help," he wrote. "One effort ... will recruit Hollywood to help scientists tell their stories. NAS (National Academy of Sciences) and the University of Southern California will team up to draw on USC's expertise in film, TV, websites, and video games. The partnership will be the first between a federal agency and a film school." Lamb was reporting from the annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he apparently found that scientists are apparently the only people in the world who haven't been bombarded with green messages from the media, corporations and academia. Science, he lamented, is getting short shrift in news organizations. CNN "dismantled its entire science reporting staff," And the climate change propaganda that does trickle out just isn't sexy enough. "Today's climate story is often framed as a sober warning, not as an exciting adventure," Lamb wrote. Lamb attributed the rising skepticism of anthropogenic global-warming (AGW) to a "communications gap," and forwarded usual talking-points about the phantom consensus in the science community: "The current climate-change furor has become the poster child for what happens when there's a communications gap between scientists and the public," Lamb wrote. "The vast majority of scientists see compelling evidence that the world's climate is about to change significantly, and that the change is largely driven by human activity." "Contributing to that swing have been efforts by skeptics to point out flaws in specific portions of the landmark 2007 report from the IPCC and question whether other findings have been manipulated," he wrote. Apparently the Christian Science Monitor hasn't heard there's actual proof of manipulation, in the guise of ClimateGate (not to mention ChinaGate, SternGate, PeerReviewGate, HimilayaGate, AmazonGate ... ). Lamb also noted how the education system and universities like MIT concurrently stepped up their "communication efforts" as well. "Even the U.S. government has joined in with a new site called climate.gov, aimed at being a reliable source of data and facts on climate change," he noted. The government is going to get involved? That should solve everything.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:21:15 -0400 GOING GREEN: Some recipes for St. Patricks Day cocktails. [New Window]
GOING GREEN: Some recipes for St. Patrick’s Day cocktails.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:00:30 -0400 FROM PAULA SCHAEFER, Harming Business Clients with Zealous Advocacy: Rethinking the Attorney Advisor [New Window]
FROM PAULA SCHAEFER, Harming Business Clients with Zealous Advocacy: Rethinking the Attorney Advisor’s Touchstone.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:59:59 -0400 Networks Barely Mention FCC Plan to Spend Up to $350 Billion for Broadband Internet [New Window]
The problem with the liberal mindset is that it sees government solutions, even when there isn't really a problem. Case in point: broadband internet. Roughly 200 million Americans have broadband internet at home. Millions of others have access to it at work, school, the public library or on smart phones. Only about 5 percent of Americans lack broadband internet access according to The Wall Street Journal. Yet in the eyes of bureaucrats at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this is an enormous problem to tackle with up to $350 billion taxpayer dollars - so far they have requested roughly $25 billion. On March 16, FCC released a national broadband plan "to bring broadband Internet connections to every home and businesses in the United States," according to the Washington Post. That night not one of the network evening shows mentioned the enormous government proposal - instead all three reported Tiger Woods' return to golf at the Masters Tournament, ABC and CBS covered Michael Jackson's posthumous record contract and NBC warned against kids going to Mexico for spring break. "Good Morning America" called the plan "ambitious" and print outlets including Time magazine accepted the idea that there is in fact a broadband problem. A number of print outlets repeated cost figures billions too low without challenge and glossed over serious concerns about the possible seizure of bandwidth and loss of privacy. One Reuters headline spun the plan positively, saying: "Some broadcasters like spectrum plan." A New York Times headline provided only the perspective of the FCC on the "vital" plan. USA Today led its front-page March 16 story with the FCC's misleading assessment of the "problem." The story said the FCC plans "to bring high-speed Internet service to millions of Americans who can't get it today." It wasn't until the sixth paragraph USA Today mentioned that 95 percent of American households already have access (only 65 percent have subscribed) "leaving 14 million largely rural Americans with no on-ramp." Many reports failed to remind readers about the prevalence of places that offer access (libraries, bookstores, Starbucks) and rarely admitted that some consumers may not want broadband access for whatever reason. Also, since broadband isn't the only type of Internet access, it is reasonable to assume very few people are actually unable to get online if they want to. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski claims broadband must become more available and "affordable" or it threatens "American's global competitiveness." The FCC was ordered in the 2009 stimulus package to come up with a plan to increase broadband access and affordability. According to the NY Times, the plan is 376 pages long. It would mandate the expansion of broadband infrastructure and cellular towers. The stimulus package "earmarked" $7.2 billion for broadband deployment, but an FCC task force found that costs would "range between $20 billion and $350 billion," according to Information Week. A Costly Solution The FCC broadband plan wants to not only extend service and somehow lower its cost; it is calling for 100-megabits-per-second speed broadband to 100 million homes by 2020. The current average for access speed is 3 to 4 megabits per second. AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications were "irked" by that goal, according to Reuters. Qwest called it "a dream." Increasing the speed of all broadband access by 24 to 33 times what it is now will carry enormous costs. The FCC's $350 billion estimate was specifically for 100 megabits-per-second speed broadband. But surrounding the FCC announcement of its plan the news media downplayed that possibility by repeating low estimates and mostly ignoring the $350 billion high-end estimate. All three networks ignored the FCC announcement on their evening shows March 16. While ABC's George Stephanopoulos cited an even lower estimate of "at least $15.5 billion" that morning. The only mention of cost in Brian Stelter's New York Times story was the FCC's desire to change the Universal Service Fund, which already spends $8 billion a year to help rural and poor households get phone lines." The Washington Post mentioned tapping that $8 billion fund and seeking up to $16 billion from lawmakers - but did not add those together to come up with $24 billion. CNN's chief business correspondent and Newsroom anchor Ali Velshi agreed that the Internet needs a "big boost" and discussed the broadband plan with former FCC chairman Michael Powell on March 16, but did not mention ANY price tag in that segment. Meanwhile liberal blogs and think tanks including Huffington Post and Brookings Institution have mentioned the $350 billion estimate. Genachowski says those much higher speeds are necessary for national competitiveness, but ABC accidentally undermined that claim on March 16. After mentioning the broadband plan, Becky Worley went on to discuss how people can spend less money on the internet. Stephanopoulos suggested to Worley that "not everyone needs the real premium [broadband Internet] service." Worley agreed and suggested that people ask for only the basic tier service in order to cut costs. David Burstein, editor of industry newsletter DSL Prime, told The New York Times, "They [FCC] talk, talk, talk about affordability, but when you look at the plan, most peoples' prices are going to go up." Broadcaster and Other Concerns One obstacle currently in the FCC's way are broadcasting companies that hold more bandwidth (or spectrum) than they currently use. Time magazine described the financial value of this bandwidth accurately calling it "the new black gold." The FCC wants broadcasters to surrender this extra bandwidth, but have not provided all the details. Reuters reported that TV broadcasters "will be asked to give up spectrum to wireless carriers" and that the FCC plans to "let them share" in the profits from auctioning off the bandwidth. Those profits typically go the U.S. Treasury so there is no way of knowing if broadcasters would receive reasonable compensation. Although "Good Morning America" and CNN Newsroom didn't mention it, there is both opposition and concern about FCC proposal. Associated Press reported on March 15 that broadcasters oppose returning some of their bandwidth. On March 15 BusinessWeek quoted Dennis Wharton, National Association of Broadcasters spokesman, who said "We're hopeful that doesn't suddenly become voluntary' with a gun to our heads." One day later Wharton told the Wall Street Journal, "We are concerned by reports today that suggest many aspects of the plan may in fact not be as voluntary as originally promised." An editorial in the Journal called the plan a "Trojan Horse," and said that the FCC wants to reclassify broadband services so it can impose more regulation. Other intrusions into the free market were mentioned in that editorial, including the potential for "forcing major broadband providers like Time Warner Cable and Qwest to share their high-speed networks with smaller competitors at federally set rates." PCMag.com also found downsides to the plan that were ignored by TV broadcasts and many print stories. David Murphy asked "Who Hates the National Broadband Plan?" In answering that question, he mentioned government agencies like Department of Defense, TV broadcasters, mobile carriers, lawmakers and individuals. Free market think tank The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a statement expressing concern the national broadband plan's call to create many new federal programs. "[T]he Universal Service Fund has illustrated, government-centric efforts to expand telecommunications networks suffer from inefficiencies, waste, and fraud." Taxpayers should also be concerned about the plan because it calls for a "digital goods tax" and expansion of the Universal Service Fund so that the tax is expanded to all types of telecom service in order to subsidize some users, according to American's for Tax Reform.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:59:04 -0400 POLITICAL WIRE: OBAMA UPSIDE DOWN: For the first time, the Gallup daily tracking poll shows more p [New Window]
POLITICAL WIRE: OBAMA UPSIDE DOWN: “For the first time, the Gallup daily tracking poll shows more people disapproving of President Obama’s job performance than approving, 47% to 46%.”Related: Record-breaker: Obama runs up $2 trillion in debt in 421 days.UPDATE: Rasmussen: GOP opens a ten-point lead on generic Congressional ballot.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:56:01 -0400 MEGAN MCARDLE RESPONDS TO talking points on polls and Medicare: Now, Medicare popularity did impro [New Window]
MEGAN MCARDLE RESPONDS TO talking points on polls and Medicare: “Now, Medicare popularity did improve after it passed. On the other hand, it wasn’t passed despite terrible polling, with a controversial process, by a political party that was tanking in popularity thanks to a grinding recession.”
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:36:31 -0400 WANT AN ELECTRIC CAR? Home electrical upgrades for fast recharging can cost thousands. And its no [New Window]
WANT AN ELECTRIC CAR? Home electrical upgrades for fast recharging can cost thousands. And it’s not just at home: “Many people will want to recharge their car while at work due to longer commutes that use up most of a battery’s capacity in just one direction from home to work. So affordable [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:27:29 -0400 ADVERTISING FROM THE SPACE AGE: Madison Avenues Moon Shot. [New Window]
ADVERTISING FROM THE SPACE AGE: Madison Avenue’s Moon Shot.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:07:33 -0400 ANN ALTHOUSE ON ERIC HOLDERS POSTURING: If bin Laden openly surrendered or he was trapped and utt [New Window]
ANN ALTHOUSE ON ERIC HOLDER’S POSTURING: “If bin Laden openly surrendered or he was trapped and utterly defenseless, we couldn’t gun him down. And then what would Holder do? Read Miranda rights to bin Laden’s not-yet-a-corpse? Try him like a Manson? Ah, but Holder doesn’t want you to think about that. He suddenly wants [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:02:19 -0400 Holder: 'Reading Miranda Rights to a Corpse' [New Window]
Attorney General Eric Holder is turning into quite a rambunctious cowboy: If bin Laden is found, he’ll be killed, Holder says.Osama bin Laden “will never appear in an American courtroom,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told House members at a hearing Tuesday.“Let’s deal with the reality here,” Holder said in response to questions from Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.). “The reality is, we will be reading Miranda rights to a corpse.”
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:00:43 -0400 RADLEY BALKO ON Pre-Crime Policing. [New Window]
RADLEY BALKO ON Pre-Crime Policing.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:59:04 -0400 C-SPAN LAUNCHES ITS online video library. [New Window]
C-SPAN LAUNCHES ITS online video library.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:57:51 -0400 SHOCKER: New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Do Not Want ObamaCare.UPDATE: Bryan Preston e [New Window]
SHOCKER: New Poll Finds Americans Really, Really Do Not Want ObamaCare.UPDATE: Bryan Preston emails from Texas:Hey Glenn, here’s my take on how things look on ObamaCare this afternoon. First, the Kucinich gambit this morning shows where Pelosi thinks she can make up votes – on the left. The Dem leadership is [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:53:48 -0400 UNEARTHING a vigorous forest of phallic symbols. [New Window]
UNEARTHING “a vigorous forest of phallic symbols.”
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:52:11 -0400 A CHINA SUPERBUBBLE GOING TO BURST? Chinas defiance of the global recession is not a miracle [New Window]
A CHINA SUPERBUBBLE GOING TO BURST? “Chinas defiance of the global recession is not a miracle its a superbubble. When it deflates, it will spell big trouble for all of us.”
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:51:57 -0400 In response to amnesty stooge Dick Armey [New Window]
I have wonderful, grass-roots friends at Freedomworks. Dick Armey is not one of them.He’s a clueless promoter of bailout-happy, big government Republican Sen. John McCain. And Armey’s a blowhard-y Beltway dinosaur who can’t resist shooting off his mouth and alienating the Tea Party base while criticizing other conservatives of alienation. At the National Press Club [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:43:03 -0400 WHY INDIA loves Facebook. [New Window]
WHY INDIA loves Facebook.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:37:14 -0400 IN CANADA, a credit bubble? [New Window]
IN CANADA, a credit bubble?
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:25:18 -0400 IS IT WRONG TO make speeding-Prius jokes? One of my colleagues thinks the whole Prius thing will ac [New Window]
IS IT WRONG TO make speeding-Prius jokes? One of my colleagues thinks the whole Prius thing will actually be good for Toyota — before, Priuses were associated with smug hipsters, but now they’ll be associated with death-defying daredevils!
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:02:07 -0400 Obama, Pelosi on a money-grubbing mission [New Window]
Demcare is not a done deal. They haven’t even released the House version to the public yet, but plan to ram it through on Saturday. Those pesky little details aren’t getting in the way of what’s really important, though. Within 30 minutes of each other, two money-grubbing solicitations in President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s names [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:48:23 -0400 The 11 Senate Republicans who voted for the $17 billion Porkulus II jobs bill [New Window]
The tax breaks and projected jobs in the Senate jobs bill are illusory. The $17 billion package circumvents pay-go rules. But no matter. The Senate passed the Porkulus II today by 68-29 — with support from 11 Republicans.Here’s the roll call vote:The Republicans who sided with the endless spending-spree Democrats:AlexanderBondScott BrownBurrCochranCollinsInhofeLeMieuxMurkowskiSnoweVoinovich***GOP Sen. Gregg wondered on [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:48:39 -0400 IN THE MAIL: From Zane Lamprey, Three Sheets: Drinking Made Easy! 6 Continents, 15 Countries, 190 D [New Window]
IN THE MAIL: From Zane Lamprey, Three Sheets: Drinking Made Easy! 6 Continents, 15 Countries, 190 Drinks, and 1 Mean Hangover! I’m a fan of his TV show.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:00:26 -0400 Is breathing room anything like Lebensraum? [New Window]
The AEI Irantracker's most recent news roundup provides excerpts from remarks by Iran's Presdient Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressing a seminar on job creation: * "The Islamic revolution of Iran is a humane revolution reaching beyond the geographic boundaries of Iran..." * "Our second duty is an efficient presence in the international arena..." * "How can we work outside the international relations? International relations impact all nations..." * "The Iranian nation will never submit to the pressure of the hegemonic powers..." * "Wherever we want to travel, the imperialists approach the authorities of that country and pressure them not to invite Iran. Wherever we desire to sign contracts, they go and pressure that country and ask why they want to engage with Iran. They think they can restrict Iran. In the beginning, they said that they had to change the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but after a time they understood that their statements were futile. Afterward they said that the Islamic revolution of Iran had to be contained within a certain geographic region..." * "Our existence and our breathing room require that we expand our borders of conflict even closer to the command centers of the enemy. One who sits and waits for the enemy approaching the borders and pressure him will be forced to dress in the robe of misery. We see that they say 'we are concerned about Iran's presence in Latin America, Asia and Africa,' since they have seen that wherever Iran goes, search for justice, dignity, humanitarianism and humane culture rise against their culture of materialism and rebelling against God. They don't want us to be present in international relations and we see that they choose silence in the face of great victories of the Iranian nation..." Ahmadinejad appears to have been made progress in his historical studies. In addition, his gibe about the silence of those he deems his adversaries is more or less well deserved. One can only hope that someone is paying attention.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:35:51 -0400 REASON TV: Saving Cleveland With Drew Carey: Taking Care Of Business. [New Window]
REASON TV: Saving Cleveland With Drew Carey: Taking Care Of Business.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:51:29 -0400 The Krazy Kucinich Kickback Contest [New Window]
Krazy Denny Kucinich (D-Outer Space) basked in the spotlight this morning upon announcing his switch from “no” to “yes” on Demcare. He still doesn’t think it goes far enough and says he didn’t like the process, but he’s signing on, anyway. Selling out his progressive principles is worth the 15 minutes of fame. Plus, ooh, [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:44:21 -0400 MICHAEL YON: Man Dogs. [New Window]
MICHAEL YON: Man Dogs.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:43:26 -0400 Is Eric Holder a dope? [New Window]
Attorney General Eric Holder testified yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee. As you mght expect, members took the opportunity to press Holder on his views regarding terrorists' rights. And Holder appears to have given the subject some thought! Fox News reports:Republicans pressed Holder over recent decisions to prosecute terrorism suspects in civilian courts, and they suggested he intends to treat terrorism suspects as "common criminals."Holder said such suggestions tend to "get my blood boiling," calling them "anything but the truth."He said the "apt" comparison is to mass murderers like Charles Manson, who is currently serving a life sentence for orchestrating a killing spree in the 1960s.Trying to explain the analogy, Holder said mass murderers like Manson still reserve the right to go before a jury and have the charges against them proved beyond a reasonable doubt.Holder was asked whether that means Usama bin Laden, if captured, would be tried in a civilian court and afforded the same rights as Charles Manson."In some ways I think they're comparable people, in some ways," Holder said.More coverage of Holders' testimony is accessible here, but I haven't found a transcript of it. In the news reports, Holder appears unwilling or unable to address the legal distinctions among criminal defendants, prisoners of war and unlawful enemy combatants. Here is one key distinction: Only criminal defendants have a right to trial by jury.Invoking Charles Manson may make for brilliant argument in a college bull session, but are we supposed to take this seriously from the Attorney General of the United States in the midst of a war against an enemy that does not observe any legal norms? The more Holder talks, the more he sounds like a dope.JOHN adds: Scott's wish is my command. Here is the colloquy from yesterday's hearing:MOLLOHAN: Yes. Finally, Attorney General Holder, there is the concern, or the argument at least, made that holding trials in civilian courts somehow afford detainees too many rights. As a lawyer, I always wondered about those arguments with the -- would like very much to hear you speak to that concern.HOLDER: Well, I'm really glad you asked me that question because that's one that tends to get my blood boiling. The notion that a defendant in an Article III court is somehow being treated in an inappropriate special way that he's being coddled is anything but the truth. A person charged with murder, and many of these defendants are, these defendants charged with murder are treated just like any other murder defendant would be.The comparison to are they getting more rights than the average American citizen is not an apt one. The question is are they being treated as murderers would be treated. And the answer to that question is yes, they have the same rights that a Charles Manson would have, any other kind of mass murderer. Those are the comparisons that people should be making in trying to make the determination about how terrorists are being treated and not compare them to average citizens who create no harm, who have committed no crimes.***CULBERSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Attorney General for appearing before us. In response a moment ago to a question from the chairman, you said that terrorists have the same rights as Charles Manson, correct?HOLDER: I said that murderers have the same rights as Charles Manson. And if these people are charged with murder in essence that's -- those are the kinds of rights that they would get.CULBERSON: And terrorists who have murdered U.S. citizens and the approach of your Department of Justice is they have the same rights as Charles Manson?HOLDER: In the sense that a murder has the right to go before a jury, get the acts that he's charged with proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Yes.CULBERSON: So therefore, Osama bin Laden in your opinion has the same rights as Charles Manson?HOLDER: In some ways I think they're -- they're comparable people. In some ways...CULBERSON: That's incredible. This is where the disconnect between this administration and your mindset is so completely opposite that of where the vast majority of the American people are, where my constituents and I just have a deep seated and profound philosophical difference with the Obama administration, the Department of Justice, the leadership of this Congress. This is war. And in time of war we as a nation have never given constitutional rights to foreign nationals -- enemy soldiers certainly captured overseas.And Senator Lindsey Graham asked you this question. And I know you've got time to think about it. At the time he asked the question you couldn't provide him with example. Could you provide us with an example of when in time of war the United States has ever granted a foreign national captured on a foreign battlefield U.S. constitutional rights? Has that ever happened?HOLDER: You're dealing with a situation that is different from anything that we have ever seen before. Different from anything that we've ever seen before. We try to analogize this to wars where there were people in uniform, where you had signing ceremonies that ended declarations on that -- on -- on battleships in -- in, you know Tokyo Harbor. That is not the kind of war that we are facing.And though we try to, you know, analogize the tools, and analogize the rules, they don't necessarily apply in the same way. What Osama bin Laden is responsible for are both, as I said -- and I've consistently said -- both acts of war, and also criminal acts. And when I was referring to the Charles Manson analogy, that was just to talk about the rights that he had within a courtroom.I understand we are at war with Al Qaida, and that's why we have 30,000 additional troops in Afghanistan...CULBERSON: Right. But...(CROSSTALK)HOLDER: ... is why we have taken all kinds of other measures -- some of which I can't talk about -- in Pakistan. We -- we're not fighting this from a law enforcement preventive mode. We are using law enforcement as one of the tools, but...CULBERSON: Right.HOLDER: ... we are also using military means to defeat this enemy.CULBERSON: Which is -- which is why you support the Second Circuit Court's decision on Padilla that the president lacks the authority to detain a U.S. citizen as an enemy combatant on U.S. soil?HOLDER: I think the courts -- that is -- that is not clear at this point, that the United States has the ability to, as the president tried to do in that case, hold incommunicado and without a lawyer an American citizen on American soil.What that brief said was that there are other tools that the executive branch has and that it should make use of in order to effectuate the neutralization, the incapacitation of that person, as opposed to simply locking them away and not giving them a lawyer.CULBERSON: Right.HOLDER: Again, we're talking about American citizens on American soil.CULBERSON: Right. The key is, you said the president has other tools. The president is the commander in chief. And this is where the profound disconnect comes between where America is and where you are in this administration and where this leadership of the Congress is.HOLDER: I would disagree with the characterization...(CROSSTALK)HOLDER: ... there is a split between America and the leadership of this administration.CULBERSON: There -- there really is, because you saw it, I think, in the Massachusetts election. This was one of the key issues in the election of Scott Brown is even the voters of Massachusetts, as liberal and different in their philosophical views as they are from my constituents in Texas, even the voters of Massachusetts understand that Osama bin Laden does not have the same rights as Charles Manson, as you have just stated.Is your -- your opinion that they...HOLDER: I said that they only have the same rights within a courtroom.CULBERSON: Right. Well granting Osama bin Laden the right to appear in a U.S. courtroom, you are clothing Osama bin Laden with the protections of the U.S. Constitution. That's unavoidable, and something that you've skipped right past.HOLDER: Let's deal with reality...(CROSSTALK)CULBERSON: And it's giving constitutional rights to enemy soldiers that is the profound problem, sir.HOLDER: Let me -- you're talking about a hypothetical that will never occur. The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom.CULBERSON: But it is...(CROSSTALK)HOLDER: That's a reality. That's a reality.CULBERSON: But it's clearly your position and the position of this administration that on a -- that you believe, on a case-by-case basis, that -- and your tendency would be to grant constitutional rights to enemy soldiers captured on foreign battlefields.Has that ever been done before in U.S. history?HOLDER: Well...CULBERSON: At a time of war?HOLDER: Well, I assume that you are a supporter of military commissions. Is that correct?CULBERSON: Absolutely. In a time of war, yes, sir, I support what the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed when those German terrorists were captured, as Mr. Wolf said, on U.S. soil -- they were let off on the beaches of Florida and Long Island.HOLDER: Well, even in those military commissions, those people are given constitutional rights, are they not?CULBERSON: Well, they are in a military commission not clothed with all of the protections of the U.S. Constitution. They are treated by the military as enemy combatants, captured at time of war.And the question is, as...HOLDER: But they're not put up against the wall and shot. They have the ability to confront those who accuse them. They have the rights to lawyers.(CROSSTALK)HOLDER: They have many of the same constitutional rights...(CROSSTALK)CULBERSON: ... severely restricted rights in the military tribunal. Is the problem, we're at war, and you don't seem to recognize that we are at war, just as though we were at war with the Germans in World War II, but the -- the people we're fighting are such cowards, they clothe themselves as women and hide behind children and hide in mosques, as they did in -- in the Gaza Strip, as they do in attacking us.And it is the president's responsibility, as commander in chief, to protect the country. And the president's granted great discretion by the U.S. Supreme Court in -- as commander in chief deciding when and where to try these people.It was President Roosevelt's decision that the German terrorists be tried in a military tribunal. It was President Bush -- and not given the full protection of the Constitution. It was President Bush's decision that foreign nationals captured on foreign battlefields not be tried in civilian court and given the full protection of the Constitution.Because we're at war. And time lost in interrogating these people means lives lost. And it is the -- it is one of the principal reasons, actually, when you look at why Scott Brown won his race, it's not only because the people of Massachusetts opposed the president's health care plan but because this administration consistently -- and here, once again, today, we now learn that you think Osama bin Laden is -- should be given the same rights as Charles Manson in a court of law.And that's just not acceptable to the people that I represent, to the people of America. And it represents a just profoundly different approach that's never been done before in the history of the country.(CROSSTALK)HOLDER: What I have -- what we have said and what I have said is that on a case-by-case basis you make the determination of where you can bring the strongest case -- where will I have the greatest chance of success?There are things that you can do in Article III courts that you cannot do in military commissions. You cannot have, for instance, cooperation agreements. You don't -- that does not exist in a military commission.We have the ability to incarcerate people for extended periods of time.CULBERSON: Right.HOLDER: And one only has to look at what has happened through the use of the Article III courts over the course of the past year and to see the plots that we've broken up, the intelligence that we have gathered...CULBERSON: Yes, sir.HOLDER: ... and that has allowed our military to be more effective in the field.Is Holder a dope? We report, you decide.UPDATE: Gen. Stanley McChrystal, taken aback by Holder's assurance that bin Laden will be shot on sight, told reporters that our goal is still to capture him alive:When McChrystal was asked whether the U.S. had given up on capturing bin Laden alive, he said, "Wow, no."If bin Laden enters Afghanistan, "we would certainly go after trying to capture him alive and bring him to justice," McChrystal told Pentagon reporters from Kabul. "I think that is something that is understood by everyone," he said.Almost everyone, I guess.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:41:46 -0400 IS BARACK OBAMA too big to fail? [New Window]
IS BARACK OBAMA too big to fail?
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:41:12 -0400 These are the good old days [New Window]
As they got older, my parents noticed to their dismay that their friends talked more and more about their doctors. According to my parents, nearly all of their friends liked their doctors. However, there was always something to complain about -- a personality quirk, a failure to return a call, a long stint in the waiting room, a grouchy billing administrator. Grievances like these tended to dominate the conversations that so annoyed my parents.If Obamacare passes, President Obama and the Democrats will become part of, and perhaps dominate, most of these conversations. Every excessive wait, every missed phone call, every postponed appointment will become Obama's fault. This will be true even if the quality of the doctor-patient relationship does not deteriorate under Obamacare. It is human nature when something goes wrong to romanticize the past, forgetting that the same thing probably went wrong just as often back in the day. And, since most Americans, including the elderly, are reasonably satisfied overall with their health care, it will be easy to romanticize the past. Thus, blaming Obamacare will be the natural response to the ordinary frustrations that, in reality, are part-and-parcel of any doctor-patient relationship.It is obvious, moreover, that the quality of the doctor-patient relationship for those who now have insurance will decline under Obamacare, and probably sharply. For one thing, Medicare funding is being slashed. The Democrats say that these cuts will be offset entirely by ending fraud, waste, and abuse. In reality, they will be "offset" by a vast increase in irritating events -- long waits, inability to see the doctor of one's choice in a timely manner, etc. Medicare cuts aside, Obamacare would provide increased medical services for tens of millions of people who presently are uninsured (these people get medical services now, but not to the extent they would under Obamacare). At the same time, the number of providers would not increase. To the contrary, studies purport to show that perhaps one-third, or even more, of all doctors would leave the profession. Frankly, I don't believe these numbers; when doctors threaten to quit practicing, I think they are mostly just talking. My guess is that perhaps 5 percent, and no more than 10, will actually exit. But even if there is no attrition, it will still be impossible to maintain current service levels for those who now have insurance in the context of a vast increase in total service. Rather, it is inevitable that, if Obamacare becomes law, the medical service level for virtually all Americans will reside somewhere between what it is now for the insured and what it is now for the uninsured. This, of course, is what left-liberals want; indeed, many of them see such equality as morally imperative. But it is a recipe for endless complaints by those Americans who presently are insured, i.e., the vast majority of Americans.These complaints won't be confined to the elderly. Old people complain more about their dealings with doctors primarily because they spend so much more time with them. But I've never met a person who likes being blown off by a doctor or sitting for 40 minutes in the waiting room, plus an extra 15 in the examining room before the doctor arrives. Nor have I ever met a person who enjoys hearing his or her aging parents complain about their medical service, especially when the complaint is justified.In some ways the Democrats' stubborn quest for Obamacare resembles Republicans perseverance with the war in Iraq. At some point, it became clear that the Iraq war was ruining congressional Republicans politically. Yet, they continued to support the effort because they thought it was the right thing to do. Most congressional Democrats, similarly, are supporting Obamacare because they strongly believe in it (some, though, are simply yielding to intense pressure from their leaders).But there is this key political difference between the Iraq war and Obamacare: the Iraq war eventually wound down and will soon end entirely. Obamacare (unless repealed, which strikes me as something of a pipe dream) is forever. It promises to annoy, if not enrage, millions of people for as long as anyone is around to remember, however imperfectly, what things were like before the Democrats overhauled the health care system. Maybe the House can adopt a rule deeming these memories forgotten.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:37:49 -0400 MORE PROBLEMS with the Slaughter Solution? The biggest problem, of course, is that two weeks ago Ob [New Window]
MORE PROBLEMS with the Slaughter Solution? The biggest problem, of course, is that two weeks ago Obama was calling for an up-or-down vote, and now the House is doing its best to avoid just that . . . .
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:35:36 -0400 FROM THE ANNALS OF POOR TASTE: Aw, how cute, its Baby Hitler. [New Window]
FROM THE ANNALS OF POOR TASTE: Aw, how cute, it’s Baby Hitler.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:30:00 -0400 FASTER, PLEASE: Winning the war on cancer? US death rates show broad decline. [New Window]
FASTER, PLEASE: Winning the war on cancer? US death rates show broad decline.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:29:36 -0400 SETTLED SCIENCE. [New Window]
SETTLED SCIENCE.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:29:10 -0400 MICHAEL BARONE: Whats good for House leaders is bad for members. [New Window]
MICHAEL BARONE: What’s good for House leaders is bad for members.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:20:21 -0400 The slaughter on the southern border [New Window]
My column this morning looks at the continuing chaos on our southern border. Displaying her fabulous sense of timing, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano chose to announce amid all the bloodshed that she’s scrapping the doomed Fence to Nowhere project.The system is not working.***The slaughter on the southern borderby Michelle MalkinCreators SyndicateCopyright 2010At a joint press [...]
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:18:25 -0400 WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Obamas New Partner: Al Sharpton. Kinda like if Bush had brought in David Du [New Window]
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Obama’s New Partner: Al Sharpton. Kinda like if Bush had brought in David Duke to solidify things in the South . . . .
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:04 -0400 SUSANNAH BRESLIN: Warner Bros. wants you to torture a woman to death. [New Window]
SUSANNAH BRESLIN: Warner Bros. wants you to torture a woman to death.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:38:34 -0400 Civility for thee... [New Window]
We've followed the speeches given by Obama administration NEH chairman Jim Leach here (commenting on Leach's "The tension between speaking and listening") and here (commenting on Leach's "Bridging cultures: NEH and the Muslim world"). One finds in both speeches Leach's praise of Lawrence Durrell's highly literary Alexandria Quartet. Would someone who has actually read all four novels of the Alexandria Quartet really say, as Leach did in his "tension" speech, that "Certain frameworks of thought define rival ideas," or instruct his audience that "The choice for leaders is whether to opt for unifying statesmanship or opportunistic partisanship"? I would like not to think so.Leach deduces a serious relativism from the Quartet's experiment with point of view. For a relativistic kind of guy, however, Leach seems awfully sure of himself. One must wonder about Leach's relativistic point of view. Is it exempt from the Leach uncertainty principle? How can he be so sure that he is right, and the point of view of other Americans wrong? Or is the Leach uncertainty principle the final revelation?When it comes to passing judgment on his fellow Americans, we find that Leach quickly sheds his advocacy of respect for differing perspectives. The Daily Caller reports that Leach kicked off his "civility tour" in New York on March 4 with "Civility in a fractured society," a speech condemning "divisive tendencies." Among those Leach singled out for special treatment were Tea Partiers:This afternoon I visited the New York Historical Society. At its wondrous, NEH-supported exhibition on "Lincoln in New York" I was mesmerized by a portrayal of several citizen movements. Pictured was a 30,000 strong rally of New Yorkers calling themselves "Brooklyn Soporifics" who objected to Lincoln and his anti-slavery stance. Next to it was a picture of a group of like-dressed, brown-suited torch bearers called "Wide Awakes" who were marching the streets of the city in support of Lincoln during the same 1860 campaign."It would be unfair to make philosophical analogies to the tea and coffee parties a century and a half later," Leach said, essentially making the analogy (as the Daily Caller observes).One can observe the paradox of the "respect" advocated by Leach toward the end of his speech: "The national interest is not served by a dysfunctional, rules-hamstrung Legislature, a corporatist Court, an irreconcilable face-off between the Legislature and the Executive, and most of all, a citizenry in which individuals have an increasingly difficult time respecting those with whom they differ." Why? "Nihilism is not the American way." Ouch!Where is the Alexandria Quartet when you need it? For a guy who badly needs a course in remedial writing, Leach communicates his point (and he does have one) when he wants to: those who disagree with him are un-American.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:35:56 -0400 PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE CANNING BACKLASH.UPDATE: Thoughts on Foodie warfare. [New Window]
PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE CANNING BACKLASH.UPDATE: Thoughts on Foodie warfare.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:57 -0400 Cool Cole [New Window]
Today is the anniversary of the birth of the great Nat "King" Cole. Cole was born on St. Patricks's Day, though until Daniel Mark Epstein did the research for his biography of Cole, we weren't entirely sure that the year was 1919. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama and grew up in Chicago after his father moved the family there in 1923 to pursue a career in the ministry. Cole first made his name as a jazz pianist. He developed an intensely loyal jazz audience with the King Cole Trio (Oscar Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on bass), the outfit that established the piano/guitar/bass format as a formidable jazz vehicle. It is almost unbelievable, given Cole's talent as a vocalist, that the Trio in fact began as an instrumental combo. You can see a little of Cole's grace on the piano in the video of "Route 66" below with the Trio (plus one):Cole was a child prodigy on the piano. He took it up at age 4 and played by ear until he was 12, when he began taking lessons. By age 15 he had dropped out of high school to become a full-time professional musician. William Ruhlmann tells the rest of the story here.Earl Hines was Cole's original inspiration: "Everything I am I owe to that man, because I copied him." Like Louis Armstrong, Cole must have been a man of incredible inner strength to withstand the racial indignities of the era and convey nothing but ease and joy in his music. "Sweet Lorraine" was one of Cole's favorite songs. Indeed, Cole recorded it with the Trio in 1941 at the group's first Decca session. I don't know whether Cole's version of "Sweet Lorraine" charted, but 118 of his recordings did, placing him in the company of Crosby (368), Sinatra (209), Elvis (149), Glenn Miller (129) and Louis Armstrong (85) in the empyrean of American popular music. In the video below, Cole performs "Sweet Lorraine" with Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Herb Ellis on guitar. Coleman Hawkins joins in for a solo on the instrumental break.Cole's career with the Trio was sufficient to allow England's Proper Records to compile the wonderful four-disc set Cool Cole, which ends in 1950 and consists entirely of Trio recordings. It comes with an informative booklet and costs all of about $25. (First posted in 2007.)
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:59:12 -0400 VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Reflections On The Revolution In America. [New Window]
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Reflections On The Revolution In America.
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:53:48 -0400 REASON TV: Saving Cleveland with Drew Carey: Privatize It! [New Window]
REASON TV: Saving Cleveland with Drew Carey: Privatize It!
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:41:05 -0400 Hitchens: The Great Catholic Cover-Up [New Window]
The investigations into child abuse in Germany’s Catholic schools are continuing to widen, now getting close to Pope Benedict himself, as his brother Georg Ratzinger has been implicated in covering up the systemic child abuse (with the now well-known Catholic Church practice of moving priests around to different parishes) — and he is also accused of physically battering children himself.Christopher Hitchens has a scathing piece on this true outrage at Slate: The Great Catholic Cover-Up.There are two separate but related matters here: First, the individual responsibility of the pope in one instance of this moral nightmare and, second, his more general and institutional responsibility for the wider lawbreaking and for the shame and disgrace that goes with it. The first story is easily told, and it is not denied by anybody. In 1979, an 11-year-old German boy identified as Wilfried F. was taken on a vacation trip to the mountains by a priest. After that, he was administered alcohol, locked in his bedroom, stripped naked, and forced to suck the penis of his confessor. (Why do we limit ourselves to calling this sort of thing “abuse”?) The offending cleric was transferred from Essen to Munich for “therapy” by a decision of then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, and assurances were given that he would no longer have children in his care. But it took no time for Ratzinger’s deputy, Vicar General Gerhard Gruber, to return him to “pastoral” work, where he soon enough resumed his career of sexual assault.It is, of course, claimed, and it will no doubt later be partially un-claimed, that Ratzinger himself knew nothing of this second outrage. I quote, here, from the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a former employee of the Vatican Embassy in Washington and an early critic of the Catholic Church’s sloth in responding to child-rape allegations. “Nonsense,” he says. “Pope Benedict is a micromanager. He’s the old style. Anything like that would necessarily have been brought to his attention. Tell the vicar general to find a better line. What he’s trying to do, obviously, is protect the pope.”This is common or garden stuff, very familiar to American and Australian and Irish Catholics whose children’s rape and torture, and the cover-up of same by the tactic of moving rapists and torturers from parish to parish, has been painstakingly and comprehensively exposed. It’s on a level with the recent belated admission by the pope’s brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, that while he knew nothing about sexual assault at the choir school he ran between 1964 and 1994, now that he remembers it, he is sorry for his practice of slapping the boys around.Very much more serious is the role of Joseph Ratzinger, before the church decided to make him supreme leader, in obstructing justice on a global scale. After his promotion to cardinal, he was put in charge of the so-called “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” (formerly known as the Inquisition). In 2001, Pope John Paul II placed this department in charge of the investigation of child rape and torture by Catholic priests. In May of that year, Ratzinger issued a confidential letter to every bishop. In it, he reminded them of the extreme gravity of a certain crime. But that crime was the reporting of the rape and torture. The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church’s own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated “in the most secretive way … restrained by a perpetual silence … and everyone … is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office … under the penalty of excommunication.” (My italics).Read the whole thing…
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:50:32 -0400 Doing the health care anecdote-vetting the Left wont do [New Window]
Here is Larry Scary O’Donnell — who can usually be seen frothing at the mouth with bulging neck veins as he melts down on MSNBC — sloooowly reading a teleprompter as he chastises me, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck for “attacking” 11-year-old Marcelas Owens. Nice to see your Valium working, Larry:As usual, he gets basic [...]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:27:44 -0400 Why Be Like Sweden? [New Window]
Our Europhile President and many Congressional Democrats aspire to make the United States more like Sweden. More like our outdated image of Sweden, anyway; the real Sweden is undergoing something of a free market renaissance. In this video from the Center For Freedom and Prosperity, a Swedish economics student--OK, some stereotypes are still valid--explains the lessons we can learn from that country's economic history:The Democrats seem to be the last ones to realize that the ideology they are trying to impose on us has been thoroughly discredited.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:16:38 -0400 What are Pelosi and the House Democrat women up to now?; Update: Dems aim for Saturday vote, but wheres the damned bill? [New Window]
Scroll for updates…The gender card is the first and last refuge of House Scoundrel Nancy Pelosi. She’s played it since Day One of her reign of error. She wielded it last week when she surrounded herself with kiddie human shields. And it appears she may be plotting it to use it in the Demcare end [...]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:55:20 -0400 Obama's self-defeating crusade against Israel [New Window]
President Obama is attempting to use a mistimed announcement by Israel of its intention to build housing units in East Jerusulem as a means of pressuring Israel into making major concessions to the Palestinian Authority. Israel has apologized for the timing of its announcement, but the White House is demanding much more in the way of atonement.Obama's ploy has drawn strong criticism from mainstream American Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC -- outfits that certainly don't make it a habit to speak harshly about the American government. And now, the White House's approach has been criticized by the editors of the Washington Post. The Post comes at the issue based not on the equities, but on its standard for assessing nearly all matters pertaining to Israel -- whether Obama's conduct is advancing or retarding the "peace process." To me this is a warped perspective because the peace process is an illusion. But the Post's perspective is an important one because it purports to reject what Obama is doing even on its own terms (the Post assumes that Obama is trying to advance the cause of peace, not simply letting off steam after a tough year by venting against a country he can't stand; I'm not so sure). If Obama's actions fail to garner support even from those who would like Israel to do at least some of what Obama is demanding -- and from an institution like the Post that is more than willing to criticize Israel -- then the administration has little hope of winning over mainstream Israelis and Americans for its crusade against the Netanyahu government. And without such support, that crusade is likely to be as unsuccessful this year as it was early last year when Obama and Hillary Clinton attempted to browbeat Israel into making concessions.In fact, it is the lesson from last year that forms the basis for the Post's criticism of the administration. The editors write:Mr. Obama risks repeating his previous error. American chastising of Israel invariably prompts still harsher rhetoric, and elevated demands, from Palestinian and other Arab leaders. Rather than join peace talks, Palestinians will now wait to see what unilateral Israeli steps Washington forces. Mr. Netanyahu already has made a couple of concessions in the past year, including declaring a partial moratorium on settlements. But on the question of Jerusalem, he is likely to dig in his heels -- as would any other Israeli government. If the White House insists on a reversal of the settlement decision, or allows Palestinians to do so, it might land in the same corner from which it just extricated itself. Only this time, Netanyahu may not be quite as willing to bail Obama out as he was before.The Post continues:A larger question concerns Mr. Obama's quickness to bludgeon the Israeli government. He is not the first president to do so; in fact, he is not even the first to be hard on Mr. Netanyahu. But tough tactics don't always work: Last year Israelis rallied behind Mr. Netanyahu, while Mr. Obama's poll ratings in Israel plunged to the single digits. The president is perceived by many Israelis as making unprecedented demands on their government while overlooking the intransigence of Palestinian and Arab leaders. If this episode reinforces that image, Mr. Obama will accomplish the opposite of what he intends. It's impossible to see how Obama's petulent, opportunistic conduct is consistent with any other image.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:46:43 -0400 Is That A Threat Or A Promise? [New Window]
Barack Obama says he won't campaign for any Democrats who vote against the government medicine bill. Somehow, I don't think that's going to have the intended effect.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:55:31 -0400 Throw the Bums Out [New Window]
Voters seem to be paying attention to the corrupt processes the Democrats are using to try to take control of the health care industries, and they don't like them. I'm pretty sure that's the explanation for Scott Rasmussen finding Republicans with a ten-point lead in the generic Congressional ballot, 45-35%. That's the biggest lead Rasmussen has found for the Republicans in the three years he has been measuring generic ballot preference. No wonder Nancy Pelosi is having a hard time convincing Democrats from swing districts to walk the plank for Obamacare.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:25:03 -0400 Wreckonciliation Tweet of the Day; Update: Bobby Gibbs squirms; Capitol switchboard meltdown [New Window]
From @johnthune2012, a perfect summation of the last year in the Age of Obama/Pelosi/Reid:***As noted below in comments by Dan, our Texas blogger friend Kathleen McKinley said it first last week: “We’ve Moved From Passing Bills Without Reading Them to Passing Bills Without Voting On Them.”***Related: Via Allahpundit, Bobby Gibbs discovers it’s not just the [...]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:47:52 -0400 Tuesday Afternoon Music: Bruce Hornsby, 'In The Low Country' [New Window]
Here’s Bruce Hornsby with an excellent solo version of “In the Low Country,” from his latest album Levitate.[Video]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:24:02 -0400 Obamacare through the prism of Romneycare [New Window]
Tim Cahill is the state treasurer of Massachusetts. He recently bolted the Democratic Party to run for governor. The Boston Globe reports Cahill's pointed comments on Obamacare as with a local twist:State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, an independent candidate for governor, today offered a wide-ranging and scathing criticism of the state's universal health care law, saying it is bankrupting Massachusetts and will do the same nationally, if a similar plan is passed in Congress."If President Obama and the Democrats repeat the mistake of the health insurance reform here in Massachusetts on a national level, they will threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years," Cahill said in a press conference in his office.Echoing criticism leveled by Congressional Republicans in recent weeks, Cahill said, "It is time for the president, the Democratic leadership, to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that does not threaten to bankrupt this country."Cahill, who bolted the Democratic Party in July, has been a long-time critic of the state's health insurance law. He said he was calling today's press conference to respond to Governor Deval Patrick's accusation last week that he and other gubernatorial candidates have been "missing in action" in tackling health care concerns.Cahill said it is the governor who has not done enough to lower costs imposed by the state's health insurance law, which Cahill said "has nearly bankrupted the state."Cahill said the law is being sustained only with the help of federal aid, which he suggested that the Obama administration is funneling to Massachusetts to help the president make the case for a similar plan in Congress."The real problem is the sucking sound of money that has been going in to pay for this health care reform," Cahill said. "And I would argue that we're being propped up so that the federal government and the Obama administration can drive it through" Congress.Commonwealth Connector, the independent state agency established to help residents find the health insurance, has "totally failed," to create competition and connect people with affordable insurance, Cahill said, pointing out that 68 percent of the residents it serves receive subsidized care."We haven't done anything about driving down costs," Cahill said. "We haven't helped small business. We haven't changed the way we pay for health care and the way we deliver it."More here.Could Cahill's remarks provide an omen? Aaron Blake construes what I would deem a message of hope from Cahill's remarks: "This doesn't bode well for the Democrats' health care bill." Via reader Dan O'Brien in Holyoke.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:10:28 -0400 Onion: New Initiative by US Bigots [New Window]
The Onion reports on an initiative among the nation’s bigots to develop new state of the art slurs to keep pace with rising numbers of multi-racial births.WASHINGTON—A coalition of the nation’s most fervent bigots convened in Washington Monday to address growing concerns that the production of hateful new racial slurs has failed to keep pace with the rise in mixed-race births.According to representatives from the American Racists and Bigots Council (ARBC), the growing number of children born to parents of different ethnicities has posed a real challenge to the nation’s hate-speech developers—a challenge they say threatens their way of life.“The world is changing, and we, the hateful and ignorant of America, need to change with it,” ARBC chairman Tom Branson said at a rally Monday. “The time has come for our ugly, intolerant rhetoric to step into the 21st century. Our disgusting, dehumanizing slurs simply must reflect the terrifying new global society we now live in.”Added Branson, “In order to continue going backward, we first have to move forward.”According to statistics provided by the coalition, a rise in the birthrate of mixed-race Americans has left millions of confused racists with absolutely nothing prejudiced to say when confronted by a person of indeterminate or complex background. What frightens the coalition most is data suggesting that by 2015, ignorant bigots everywhere could be powerless when it comes to reducing mixed-raced individuals to profoundly uninformed cultural stereotypes.Heh.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:03:52 -0400 Get the cameras into the House Rules Committee hearing room Updated [New Window]
Open the door.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:27:43 -0400 3,000 percent! [New Window]
Stumping for Obamacare yesterday in Ohio, Obama touted its manifold virtues like the patent remedy salesmen of old. For whatever ails us, this legislation is the cure. Here Obama touts the legislation's magical reduction of expenses for employers with an incidental benefit to employees:Now, so let me talk about the third thing, which is my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for families, for businesses, and for the federal government.So Americans buying comparable coverage to what they have today -- I already said this -- would see premiums fall by 14 to 20 percent -- that's not my numbers, that's what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says -- for Americans who get their insurance through the workplace.How many people are getting insurance through their jobs right now?Raise your hands.All right. Well, a lot of those folks, your employer it's estimated would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent, which means they could give you a raise. Even conceding that Obama misspoke -- what number did he mean to cite? -- the more appropriate question would have been: "Do you believe in magic?"One wonders at what point embarrassment, let alone respect for the intelligence of the audience, might set in.Via Rush Limbaugh.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:19:02 -0400 Clinton Pledges 'Unshakeable Bond' with Israel [New Window]
Hillary Clinton dialed down the diplomatic confrontation with Israel this morning, pledging that the US has “an unshakeable bond” with Israel, and dismissing suggestions that the relationship between the US and Israel was at its worst point in decades.“We have an absolute commitment to Israel’s security. We have a close, unshakeable bond between the United States and Israel,” Clinton told a news briefing.Her comments marked a turn after days of tough U.S. talk following Israel’s announcement last week that it would approve construction of a housing project in East Jerusalem, a move which infuriated the Palestinians and put hopes for resumption of Middle East peace talks on hold. …“We share common values and a commitment to a democratic future for the world, and we are both committed to a two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians, she said. “But that doesn’t mean that we are going to agree. We don’t agree with any of our international partners on everything.”
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:36:30 -0400 House Republicans to force vote on Pelosis Slaughter House solution; Update: Democrat condemns deem and pass [New Window]
Deem this.
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:23:10 -0400 When youve lost MSM newspaper editorial boards [New Window]
Pull the plug!
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:25:25 -0400 Making their voices heard: Protesting Demcare on Capitol Hill [New Window]
They only had a few days to mobilize, but bus loads of Tea Party protesters from across the country have descended on Washington today to make their voices heard on the Demcare cramdown.Time: March 16, 2010 from 9am to 6pmLocation: Cannon House Office BuildingStreet: Independence Avenue SE and New Jersey SECity/Town: Washington, DCMore info.As of [...]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:58:49 -0400 Onion: Kentucky Violated NCAA Rules [New Window]
[Video]
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:13:51 -0400 Video: Flogging the Scientists [New Window]
Environmentalist Peter Sinclair fires off some pretty good snark at the climate change denial community in his new video, “Flogging the Scientists.” The title comes from denial mob leader Marc Morano, who said about climate scientists, “They deserve to be publicly flogged.”(Morano’s extreme punishment fantasy sounds oddly similar to what shrieking harpy Pamela Geller said last year about yours truly. What is it with wingnuts and sadistic fantasies?)It’s not all snark, though. Sinclair also points out some especially outrageous cases of the distortions and lies for which deniers are infamous. And it’s in 720p too.[Video]
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:42:22 -0400 Nanny Nancy lines up the kiddie human shields [New Window]
Cradle to grave.
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:07:32 -0400 Monday Afternoon Music: Gorillaz, 'Stylo' [New Window]
[Video]
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:18:24 -0400 Liveblogging the House Budget Committee wreckonciliation mark-up [New Window]
Photoshop: Leo AlbertiThe hearing is just underway. I’ll blog the shell game. Stay tuned for updates…3:13pm Eastern. Democrat Rep./House Budget Cmte Chairman John Pratt opens up the hearing. Says they will be there until midnight to finish the mark-up or “turn into pumpkins.” If only…He admits the shell game: Whatever they end up with today [...]
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:09:17 -0400 Fox News vs. Glenn Beck [New Window]
There is growing tension within the ranks at Fox News over the Glenn Beck Clown Show: Howard Kurtz - The Beck Factor at Fox: Staffers say comments taint their work. (Ya think?)Fox staffers note that veteran producer Gresham Striegel left the network after clashing with Beck and say the host has surrounded himself with loyalists from Mercury, some of whom remain on that company’s payroll. (Striegel did not respond to a request for comment.) When Fox covers breaking news during Beck’s hour, some journalists say, they are flooded with angry e-mail from viewers about the preemption.Friction between opinionated cable personalities and journalists has also flared occasionally at MSNBC. But Beck has caused such anguish at Fox that some of its journalists celebrated the failure of last week’s interview with embattled ex-congressman Eric Massa, which Beck pronounced a waste of time.Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style. Yet even that has caused grousing. Some staffers say they have watched rehearsals, on internal monitors, in which Beck has teared up or paused at the same moments as he later did during the show. Asked about this, Balfe responded sharply: “Glenn reacts the same way to issues whether he knows people are watching or not, and is proud to show his emotions, unlike the cowardly, two-faced critics who hide behind anonymity.”
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:18:28 -0400 J. D. Hayworth: I Am Schtoopid [New Window]
May I be blunt? The idea that legalizing same sex marriage will lead to bestiality is one of the most stone-dumb reactionary talking points of the religious right. Do these people really think the only reason humans don’t “marry” animals is because it’s against the law? Good grief.Maybe this says more about them than they’d like to admit.The latest Neanderthal to pull out this scaaary boogeybeast is John McCain’s Republican opponent in Arizona, tea party Birther candidate J.D. Hayworth: ‘You could marry your horse’. He might as well be wearing a badge that says “I AM SCHTOOPID.”Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that the expansion of state laws allowing gay marriage could lead to people marrying horses.Hayworth, during an interview with an Orlando, Fla., radio station explained: “You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same-sex marriage, actually defined marriage - now get this - it defined marriage as simply, ‘the establishment of intimacy.’”“Now how dangerous is that?” asked Hayworth, who is challenging Sen. John McCain from the right in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary.“I mean, I don’t mean to be absurd about it, but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point,” he continued. “I guess that would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse.”The former Republican congressman then insisted that the “only way” to prevent men from marrying horses is to create a federal marriage amendment. Hayworth noted that he supports such an amendment.
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:33:08 -0400 Pew Research: Outlook Grim for Pay Walls [New Window]
As mainstream news organizations increasingly find it difficult to turn a profit in the Internet Age, Pew Research has been studying the attitudes of news consumers toward some of the proposed solutions; and the prospects are pretty grim for news organizations to convince consumers to pay for something that they now get for free: Online economics and consumer attitudes.The biggest question facing online journalism today is how to pay for it. With revenue declining both online and in legacy platforms news organizations say they are intensifying the search for new models. What kind of new advertising options are out there? How will users respond? And would consumers in the marketplace accept pay walls?To learn more, PEJ and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project collaborated on a national phone survey in January 2010 to explore consumers’ willingness to pay for news online and their attitudes and behavior in response to online advertising.Over all, the evidence suggests the outlook is difficult both for paywalls and for online display advertising. While most people have not been asked to pay for content, even among the most avid news consumers online, only about one in five at this point say they would be willing to pay, and this does not include less voracious news consumers. At the same time, the vast majority of those online, 8 out of 10, say they basically ignore online ads.
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:46:25 -0400 Sunday Night Music: Steely Dan, 'Gaslighting Abbie' [New Window]
I like this version of Steely Dan’s “Gaslighting Abbie” even better than the one on Two Against Nature. Ricky Lawson is an ultrafunky metronome in this one, Walter Becker squeezes out some nicely twisted licks, and the arrangement is more fully developed.[Video]One plush summer you come to me ripe and readyAnd bad through and throughWith that deep mystical soul synergy pumping steadyBetween me and youLovin all the beautiful work weve done, cara miaAnd its barely julyIf we keep on boppin until labor dayLil miz abbie - bye byeWhat will it be - some soothing herb tea? That might be just the thingLets say we spike it with deludinOr else - maybe tonight a hand of solitaireChorus:Flame is the gameThe game we call gaslighting abbieIts a luscious invention for threeOne summer by the seaWith the long weekend thats comin up fastLets get busyTheres just too much to doThat black mini looks just like the one shes been missinFeels good on youTheres a few items we need in town - allez-vous girlTheres no time to wasteSuch as fresh cable and fifteen watt bulbsCouple dozen - its a big old placeLets keep it light - well do a fright nightWith blood and everythingSome punky laughter from the kitchenAnd then - a nice relaxing hand of solitaireChorusYou can choose the musicIll set up my gearLater on well chill and watch the fireworks from hereHow can you knock this mighty spitelockCheck out the work itselfA mix of elegance and functionThats right - a tweak or two and then shes out of hereChorus
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:45:39 -0400 Record-Shattering Warm Winter Stuns Canadian Climate Scientists [New Window]
Even as the right wing screams louder than ever that anthropogenic global warming is a “hoax,” climate scientists in Canada are appalled at the warmest winter on record: Wacky winter a signal of years to come: Climatologist.Of course, you already know what the climate change deniers are going to say — these tricksy Canadian scientists are obviously in on the plot.From the balmy Arctic, to the open water of the St. Lawrence and snowless western fields, this winter has been the warmest and driest in Canadian record books.Environment Canada scientists report that winter 2009/10 was 4 C above normal, making it the warmest since nationwide records were first kept in 1948. It was also the driest winter on the 63-year record, with precipitation 22 per cent below normal nationally, and down 60 per cent in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.“It’s beyond shocking,” David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada, told Canwest News Tuesday. Records have been shattered from “coast to coast to coast.”“It is truly a remarkable situation,” says Phillips, noting that he’s seen nothing like it in his 40 years of weather watching. He also warns that “the winter than wasn’t” may have set the stage for potentially “horrific” water shortages, insect infestations and wildfires this summer.As much of Asia, Europe and the U.S. shivered through and shovelled out of freak winter storms, Phillips says Canada was left on the sidelines.“It’s like winter was cancelled in this country,” he says.
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:43:09 -0400 A Big Defeat for the Anti-Vax Crowd [New Window]
This week, Jenny McCarthy and the anti-vaccination “movement” were definitively shut down by a special branch of the US Court of Federal claims: Court says thimerosal did not cause autism.WASHINGTON – The vaccine additive thimerosal is not to blame for autism, a special federal court ruled Friday in a long-running battle by parents convinced there is a connection.While expressing sympathy for the parents involved in the emotionally charged cases, the court concluded they had failed to show a connection between the mercury-containing preservative and autism. “Such families must cope every day with tremendous challenges in caring for their autistic children, and all are deserving of sympathy and admiration,” special master George Hastings Jr., wrote.But, he added, Congress designed the victim compensation program only for families whose injuries or deaths can be shown to be linked to a vaccine and that has not been done in this case. …Friday’s decision that autism is not caused by thimerosal alone follows a parallel ruling in 2009 that autism is not caused by the combination of vaccines with thimerosal and other vaccines.The cases had been divided into three theories about a vaccine-autism relationship for the court to consider. The 2009 ruling covered one theory, and a second was dropped after that. Friday’s decision covers the last of the three theories. …The new ruling was welcomed by Dr. Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who said the autism theory had “already had its day in science court and failed to hold up.” But the controversy has cast a pall over vaccines, causing some parents to avoid them, he noted, “it’s very hard to unscare people after you have scared them.”
Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:37:17 -0400 What Right Wing Racism? [New Window]
White nationalist Richard Spencer has launched a new site to promote his “academic” brand of racism: Alternative Right - An Online Magazine of Radical Traditionalism.We’re not talking Stormfront here, with neo-Nazi troglodytes tossing around the ‘N’ word with abandon. Spencer and his cohorts are slicker than that. Their twisted breed of white supremacism masquerades as intellectualism. These “racialists” (as they sometimes call themselves) use the scientific-sounding phrase “human biological diversity” to make their argument: that whites (and Asians) are inherently, genetically superior to other races.It’s the same age-old racism with a pseudo-scientific rationale.Also participating in this shiny happy-faced hate site: the National Review’s John Derbyshire and Steve Sailer of VDARE.com (a site that has also featured Michelle Malkin for years). And they don’t appear to lack funding — the site is very professionally designed, and obviously not done on the cheap.Erik Kain has a piece at True/Slant about “Alternative Right,” and he links to this article at Frum Forum by Alex Knepper, describing an encounter between Knepper and Richard Spencer at last year’s CPAC circus:“Show me one black nation that’s ever been run competently,” he [Richard Spencer] challenged me.“That’s a ridiculous methodology. I’ll accept that claim for argument’s sake and still say that it’s bogus: African nations have not failed because the skin color of the people is black. The skin color is just a coincidence. It’s the culture that’s the problem.”“Not true,” he said. “You look at Liberia, where ex-slaves went back to Africa, tried to bring American ideals to the country, and failed, because the blacks wouldn’t accept them.”“This is not Western,” I said. “How can you possibly claim to stand for Western civilization? What’s brilliant about our values is that they stand for the individual, not the supremacy of the group. You come to America, you’re judged by your merits — not by what you look like.”After a few more back-and-forths, we arrived at our destination, and as our car-mates went ahead, he told me to stay with him for a minute so he could talk to me. As the others faded into the background, he moved just inches away from my face, gave me a menacing look and yelled: “You little child. How dare you talk to me — me! — about the West! You don’t know the first thing about the West! You’re a little twelve-year-old who thinks he knows shit. Don’t you ever talk to me like that again or I will beat your face into the fucking ground!”As with my infamous argument with gay-basher Ryan Sorba, my confrontations with collectivists always tend to end up degenerating into threats of physical force. Richard Spencer is a fairly tough guy, and I’m, well, kind of scrawny. So I kept my mouth shut. But I was frightened.I let him walk ahead of me, and it ended there. But that is the real Richard Spencer: a white nationalist, a bully, and an intellectual coward.These “racialists” know how to clean up when the cameras are on them, but when it’s one-on-one it doesn’t take much to make the mask drop.But perhaps even more disturbing are the comments posted at Frum Forum underneath Knepper’s article — because it’s quite clear that even at FF, a site that’s trying to define a moderate style of conservatism, there’s quite a bit of support for the ugly racism of people like Spencer.
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:12:26 -0500 Video: Attack of the Boxer Blimp [New Window]
California Senate candidate Carly “Demon Sheep” Fiorina is back with another bizarre video, this time attacking Barbara Boxer. It’s still amusing, but the new video feels self-conscious; her campaign is trying to manufacture another web sensation by being deliberately weird.[Video]
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:38:31 -0500 Why I Left the Right, Exhibit R for Dan Riehl [New Window]
Dim bulb wingnut blogger Dan Riehl is increasingly specializing in some of the most vile, ugly commentary on the right; it’s a crowded field, but with posts like this one he manages to stand out: Riehl World View: Isn’t It Time To Euthanize Reid’s Wife?The excuse will be that it’s “satire,” of course, and I suppose you could argue that it is. Rotten, mean-spirited “satire” that lays bare Riehl’s shriveled soul. What a disgusting creep.I’m not sure I quite understand this, given that cost is so important as a burden to taxpayers when it comes to health care. If Democrats want so badly to abort babies because of it, why are we bothering with someone who has a broken neck and back at 69? It sounds to me like she’s pretty well used up and has probably been living off the taxpayers for plenty of years to begin with. Aren’t we at least going to get a vote on it?Sen. Reid’s daughter Lana Reid Barringer, 48, who was driving the mini-van, and his wife, Landra G. Reid, 69, a passenger, were both injured. Landra suffered a broken back and a broken neck in the crash; Barringer suffered minor injuries, Sen. Reid’s office said Thursday.I realize her crook of a husband and his pals in Congress have excluded themselves from the mess they’re going to compel everyone else to join, but we’re still paying the bills, are we not? I don’t see that she’s worth it at this point, frankly. I can’t recall her ever doing anything for me.Come on, Harry - do your civic duty. The nation’s broke and counting on you guy. Pull the plug and get back to work. And don’t bill us for a full day today, either. This is no time to be sloughing off. Air freight her home, you can bury her during recess on your own time and dime. Or are you going to bill us for that, too?Reid has stayed at his wife’s bedside throughout the day Friday and returned to the Capitol in the late afternoon.And of course, he’s getting a lot of “atta boy!” comments from the other basement-dwelling throwbacks at his site.Anyone still wondering why I want nothing to do with the right wing blogosphere any more?
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:46:22 -0500 Israel Apologizes for Settlement Announcement [New Window]
During Vice President Biden’s visit, Israel’s right wing Interior Minister suddenly issued a statement that the Ministry had approved a plan for new settlement building in East Jerusalem. This led to a minor diplomatic crisis, with Hillary Clinton saying that she considered it a direct insult. Which it obviously was — but it was also clearly intended to embarrass Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politically.Netanyahu’s office has now apologized for the incident:Vice President Joe Biden left Israel with an apology from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the diplomatic uproar that overshadowed his visit and further encumbered a U.S. peace initiative.Near the beginning of his visit on Tuesday, Israel’s Interior Ministry publicized its approval of a plan to build 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem—territory claimed by Palestinians.A statement from the prime minister’s office Thursday expressed “regret over the unfortunate timing” and declared that ground wouldn’t be broken on the project for several years. It also pledged to ensure similar “incidents” wouldn’t recur.Meanwhile, here’s one of three hate mails I received this morning about the story, from people who seem incredibly eager for me to abandon my support for Israel (which isn’t going to happen):Moment of truth, bitch. Now we’ll see just how far left you have sunk. Israel makes unilateral concessions, the Palestinians respond by murdering Jews, and your hero Obama identifies Israel as being the impediment to peace. Live down to expectations, just ignore it, and focus on the diabolical Creationists. So, were you always a fraud, or has there been some severe head trauma that corrupted you?Unfortunately for this admirer (and his raging case of Obama Derangement Syndrome), there’s absolutely nothing unusual about Hillary Clinton’s condemnation of new Israeli settlements. It’s been the position of the US government that Israel should stop building new settlements since Ronald Reagan was president, and George W. Bush was no different from Barack Obama on this issue, either.
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:37:02 -0500 Video: ZOMGItsCriss on the Big Bang [New Window]
If you can resist ZOMGItsCriss when she gets serious about science, then mister, you’re a better man than I.[Video]
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:46:19 -0500 White Dog (Art Becomes Reality) [New Window]
Wow, the things you learn by looking at #tcot (Top Conservatives On Twitter).Did you know there’s a whole genre of YouTube videos dedicated to showing dogs who hate President Obama?Dog hates Obama.Check out the related videos.Apparently, this kind of thing is highly amusing to the modern conservative.And this insanity is not new.[Video]
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:47:19 -0500 A Closer Look at the 'Climategate' Computer Code [New Window]
An excellent post at Deep Climate looks into the exaggerated and false claims being made about the computer code released along with those stolen “Climategate” emails: McClimategate continues: Yet another false accusation from McIntyre and McKitrick.How do they get away with it? That’s the inevitable question as I examine one of the most specious – and despicable – “climategate” allegations from contrarians, namely the oft-repeated claim that climate scientists at East Anglia University’s Climate Research Unit inappropriately adjusted certain tree-ring temperature proxy data to provide a better match with instrumental temperature record.In an extraordinary interview with FoxNews in December of last year, economist Ross McKitrick alleged that scientists were “faking the match” between proxy and temperature data. McKitrick averred this was “not being honest with the reader” and even invoked a comparison to falsified experimental medical research. Stephen McIntyre of ClimateAudit recently claimed that the “artificial correction” seemed “to have entered the CRU toolkit” (in his submission to the U.K. parliamentary committee examining allegations arising from stolen CRU emails, no less).Yet a close examination of the computer code and ensuing research bears out the key contention of the firm rebuttals from East Anglia University, as well as CRU scientist Tim Osborn, namely that the specific adjustments in question were for private exploration only and never incorporated into CRU scientists’ subsequent published temperature reconstructions. So, once again, McIntyre and McKitrick have made odious and unfounded accusations, based on non-existent evidence. They should withdraw these specious allegations immediately. [Don’t hold your breath. --ed.]And here’s a quote from the submission to the UK Parliament by CRU paleoclimatologist Tim Osborn, that makes the deceptive nature of the claims about the computer code even clearer: 8. CRU’s Computer Code is Fit For Purpose and Does Not Reveal Secret Manipulation of DataA small sample of my computer programming code was included in the disclosed files. It has been argued that comments within the code such as “Fudge factor” and “shouldn’t usually plot past 1960 because these will be artificially adjusted to look closer to the real temperatures” demonstrate that data have been manipulated in an inappropriate and undisclosed manner. My programs that were highlighted on BBC Newsnight that contained comments such as these were not the basis for any published article or dataset, and thus are not a valid indication of inappropriate data manipulation. If we do need to make adjustments to data that are scientifically justified, then we state clearly both the justification and the adjustment when we publish the article or dataset. In relation to the second of the two highlighted comments, it was simply a note that should have read “…because these will have been artificially adjusted…” to remind myself that I had applied an adjustment to this particular set of data (for the purposes of exploring the consequences of recent trends for the calibration of tree-ring temperature proxies) and that if I did plot them it would give a false impression of the agreement between tree-rings and temperature because of the adjustment. Thus, rather than indicating that an undisclosed adjustment would be made, it was a warning to avoid using adjusted data without realising it. To re-iterate: I have made no adjustments to data except those that are scientifically justified and stated in published papers. [Emphasis added].
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:37:04 -0500 Massa: 'They Will Stop at Nothing' [New Window]
Report: American Traitor Adam Gadahn Arrested in Pakistan - Update: Not Gadahn? [New Window]
Zero to Douche in Eight Seconds [New Window]
'Quid Pro Quo' [New Window]
Another Day, Another NY Gubernatorial Clown Incident [New Window]
Rare Caribbean Whale Beaching [New Window]
Islamist Cancer Metastasizing in UK's Labour Party [New Window]
Oh well, a touch of ghey... [New Window]
Queef Obamaman Pwned By Dallas Tea Party [New Window]
Heroes [New Window]
Utah, Currently the Sanest State in the Union [New Window]
Murtha Dead At 77 [New Window]
MSM Preparing to Treat NY Guv Paterson Like a Republican [New Window]
Kos' Supposed 'Non-Partisan' Pollster a Barking Moonbat [New Window]
Climategate's Phil Jones Faces Fresh Charges From an Unexpected Source [New Window]
Leaked: Highlights of the State of the Union Addess [New Window]
James Cameron Gets Kicked Square in the Nuts [New Window]
Save the Manatees! Stop Global Cooling! [New Window]
'Unusually High Number' on No-Fly List Trying to Board Planes [New Window]
Time's Joe Klein: Americans Too Stupid to Understand Obama's Genius [New Window]
Warmist Scammers Continue to Cite False Claims to Grab Research Money [New Window]
Bin Laden Tape Claims Credit For Crispy Genitalia [New Window]
So That's It, The Lizard is Gay [New Window]
What's That Smell? [New Window]
She's Once, Twice, Three Times... [New Window]
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