Althouse

Althouse: " This means that 95% of all Americans who have a religious identity are Christians.""

'via Blog this'

Val Southwick paid the LDS church over $202,000 in tithing that will be paid back - Salt Lake City Headlines | Examiner.com

Val Southwick paid the LDS church over $202,000 in tithing that will be paid back - Salt Lake City Headlines | Examiner.com: "Second District Court filings show that Val Southwick paid the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) $202,761.74 between 2001 and 2006, reported the Salt Lake Tribune. "

100-year-old letter to Santa found up chimney | Retronaut

100-year-old letter to Santa found up chimney | Retronaut: " I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee."

'via Blog this'

iPads and the Embarrassment Factor - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

iPads and the Embarrassment Factor - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Last year, a psychological profile of iPad owners described them as “selfish elites.” And earlier this year, a study found that those most likely to buy iPads had incomes of $100,000 or more."

'via Blog this'

How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea - Jordan Weissmann - Business - The Atlantic

How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea - Jordan Weissmann - Business - The Atlantic: "Farm yields plummeted, and the government started a campaign urging citizens to consume less. Its cheery slogan: "Let's eat only two meals a day.""

'via Blog this'

Althouse: 10 things wrong with the Freedom From Religion Foundation's atheist nativity scene.

Althouse: 10 things wrong with the Freedom From Religion Foundation's atheist nativity scene.: "3. The baby in the manger is huge in relation to the Venus figure, who is ostensibly the mother, so that is some scary cephalopelvic disproproportion, and yet naked Venus shows no signs of the C-section she would have needed to avoid death, unless we're to assume that baby got out of her body in some miraculous way, which is inconsistent with the theme of the display."

'via Blog this'

The Sidney Awards, Part I - NYTimes.com

The Sidney Awards, Part I - NYTimes.com: "Every year, thousands of New York City high-school students take a test hoping to get into the superelite Stuyvesant High School. This year, 569 Asian-Americans qualified, along with 179 whites, 13 Hispanics and 12 blacks. Results like that feed the stereotype that Asians are smart, hard-working, repressed and conformist."

'via Blog this'

The Steve Miller Band: The Joker- Bass Line - YouTube

The Steve Miller Band: The Joker- Bass Line - YouTube: "i l l like th th this video , sorry if the rythem of my words is off but i had the right letters"

'via Blog this'

The Steve Miller Band: The Joker- Bass Line - YouTube

The Steve Miller Band: The Joker- Bass Line - YouTube: "nice lightsaber!! oh wait....thats the dislike bar"

'via Blog this'

'We are the 99 percent' chosen as year's top quote - Washington Times

'We are the 99 percent' chosen as year's top quote - Washington Times: "4. “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” — Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican presidential candidate, in an Aug. 18 tweet."

'via Blog this'

Sometimes It’s The Obvious Things That Trip Us Up - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online

Sometimes It’s The Obvious Things That Trip Us Up - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online: " “Damn. I could kick myself for not telling you not to rub hot sauce in your eye.”"

'via Blog this'

Congressman on hunger strike to show solidarity with Occupy | Aubrey Whelan | Capital Land | Washington Examiner

Congressman on hunger strike to show solidarity with Occupy | Aubrey Whelan | Capital Land | Washington Examiner: "Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., embarked on a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with four Occupy DC protesters who have gone without food since Dec. 8 to advocate for D.C. voting rights."

'via Blog this'

Jon Huntsman: The Outsider - Magazine - Vogue

Jon Huntsman: The Outsider - Magazine - Vogue: "Sharp, who is now a doctor in Salt Lake City, says Huntsman was a practical joker who loved to douse an unsuspecting bandmate with a bucket of water or smoke a cigar in the office of someone who couldn’t stand the smell."

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Is Jon Huntsman a Jack Mormon? » GetReligion

Is Jon Huntsman a Jack Mormon? » GetReligion: "Despite Huntsman’s failure to spark interest among actual voters, if the GOP primary were decided by East Coast magazine and newspaper editors the former Utah governor would win in a walk. Huntsman has been quite favorably covered by a number of news organs that are usually either hostile or GOP politicians"

'via Blog this'

Are Jon Huntsman’s Daughters Helping his 2012 Campaign? : The New Yorker

Are Jon Huntsman’s Daughters Helping his 2012 Campaign? : The New Yorker: "Liddy awoke in her hotel room at dawn to find a strange man hovering over her. At first, she pretended to be asleep, and he left. But when he returned with two scantily dressed women she ran out the door and down to her parents’ room. “A pimp and two hookers just broke into my room!” she said. Her dad’s response has become family legend: “Liddy, this is the most important day of my life, and you’ve ruined it!”"

'via Blog this'

Include Me Out - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online

Include Me Out - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online: "As for the assertion of our more hysterical commenters that being reluctant to support a man with an office on K Street and a retainer from Freddie Mac is a sure sign that NRO is full of Beltway cocktail-sippers angling for cosy sinecures in the Romney administration, yeah, sure, whatever: Fellows who try this line of attack on me have failed as spectacularly as it’s possible to fail. But, just for the record, in recent years I’ve visited Washington, D.C., once every 18 months or so, and plan to cut it down to once every 24 months in the next half-decade. And I have no interest in serving as Deputy Assistant Under-Secretary of the Department of Paperwork under Mitt or anyone else. Anyone who thinks that sentient beings require an ulterior motive to be wary of a Newt nomination should have an herbal tea and lie down in a darkened room for half an hour."

'via Blog this'

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "On The O'Reilly Factor last night, Bill O'Reilly asked Donald Trump for, in order of priority, which were the most important butts to kick. Number 1 for Trump was the Chinese government for keeping the value of China's currency artificially low, making Chinese goods cheaper than otherwise to Americans. Number 2 was OPEC for keeping the price of oil too high. So he was more upset at the Chinese government for giving American consumers a low price than at OPEC for charging Americans too high a price. What is one to say?"

'via Blog this'

The Myth of the New Newt - Rich Lowry - National Review Online

The Myth of the New Newt - Rich Lowry - National Review Online: "The New Newt says he’s 68 years old and therefore has mellowed and matured. He was 65 years and a few months old when he opposed TARP and then supported it. He was still just 67 years old when he criticized President Obama for not instituting a no-fly zone over Libya and then criticized him for doing it. He was on the cusp of 68 when he denounced Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform as “right-wing social engineering,” before contorting himself to explain it away.

We should all envy Newt Gingrich’s vitality that he has been capable of such youthful indiscretions in his mid to late 60s."

'via Blog this'

'Brokeback Iceberg' penguin finds female mate - Telegraph

'Brokeback Iceberg' penguin finds female mate - Telegraph: "Toronto's zoo separated a pair of male penguins, Buddy and Pedro, last month to boost numbers of the endangered birds. The birds' unlikely affection for each other drew headlines around the world with cries of "Brokeback iceberg".
The Canadian zoo said on Monday that following the forced separation, one of the penguins, Buddy, had mated with a female. Pedro has yet to get lucky, but officials say it's not for a lack of trying."

'via Blog this'

Occupy Wall Street And The Myth Of The 99% - Forbes

Occupy Wall Street And The Myth Of The 99% - Forbes: "When focused broadly on just income or wealth, the message of Occupy is too radical to represent anything close to 99 percent of Americans. The representative of Occupy in the debate identified himself as a Marxist,claimed that the American dream is dead and buried, and argued the only way to solve our problems is for the government to overturn Citizens United and dramatically regulate political speech. The problem with this, of course, is that 99 percent of Americans do not support any of these assertions, let alone all of them together."

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PJ Lifestyle » The September Issue: The Documentary as Time Capsule

PJ Lifestyle » The September Issue: The Documentary as Time Capsule: " For those unfamiliar with Vogue, it’s one of those first generation pre-Blogosphere e-zines delivered in low-res analog form via flimsy portable tablet computers made from the byproducts of dead trees. Yuck!"

'via Blog this'

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "JonahNRO Romney promises that his butler will "personally deliver" $10,000 check if he loses.
"

'via Blog this'

DRUDGE: OBAMA TO KROFT: 'I didn't overpromise'...

DRUDGE: OBAMA TO KROFT: 'I didn't overpromise'...: "PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I didn't overpromise. And I didn’t-- underestimate how tough this was going to be. I always believed that this was a long-term project…And-- you know, for individual Americans, who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. Reversing structural problems in our economy that have been building up for two decades, that was going to take time. It was going to take more than a year. It was going to take more than two years. It was going to take more than one term. Probably takes more than one president. "

'via Blog this'

In Defense of Kitchen Gadgets - Megan McArdle - Life - The Atlantic

In Defense of Kitchen Gadgets - Megan McArdle - Life - The Atlantic: "After all, the new gadget represents hours, maybe years, of human ingenuity applied to the problem of making repetitive tasks easier, faster, safer, or more convenient. Which basically sums up 90% of human progress since the industrial revolution, so don't give it short shrift. We should enjoy these things--their sleek design, their nifty features. I love machines of all types, from welding robots to 50-foot cranes, and when they are specially designed for my favorite room of the house, I love them even more."

'via Blog this'

The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "“I don’t think government sponsored enterprises are inherently evil,” Gingrich added. “I think these two have been badly run. I favor breaking them up into four or five smaller units each because I think they’re unmanageable at their current size.”"

'via Blog this'

I disagree. I think they are evil.

PJ Media » We ‘Lazy’ and ‘Soft’ Americans Don’t Deserve Obama

PJ Media » We ‘Lazy’ and ‘Soft’ Americans Don’t Deserve Obama: "Look at what Obama did to try and get our economy going. He had this big, hundreds of billions of dollars stimulus that was designed by all the great economists who work in his administration — the top minds. It should have worked. The economy should be roaring right now and unemployment a thing of the past. America should be a utopia. So what was missing from the equation? That the people the stimulus was used on are a bunch of lazy dimwits. Obama did everything he possibly could, but apparently Americans just aren’t very good at running businesses and creating jobs."

'via Blog this'

TheMoneyIllusion » Two anecdotes and a complaint.

TheMoneyIllusion » Two anecdotes and a complaint.: "Suppose I lost my six figure job and was offered a job paying $20,000 a year doing roofing. Would I take it? No, I’m too “lazy.” I’d keep collecting those UI checks and keep looking. Now consider those lucky hotel maids that were offered jobs paying something like $20,000 for the privilege of cleaning toilets and watching naked IMF chiefs parade around. And let’s assume they didn’t need the money because their husband had a job and they were also getting UI checks. And maybe they had kids they wanted to spend time with. How’s their decision any different from mine?"

'via Blog this'

TheMoneyIllusion » Two anecdotes and a complaint.

TheMoneyIllusion » Two anecdotes and a complaint.: "There’s a suggestion that anyone who talks about the disincentive effects of UI is somehow either clueless or cold-hearted. Maybe that’s true of some, but there are all sorts of reasons to take this issue very seriously."

'via Blog this'

Greg Mankiw's Blog

Greg Mankiw's Blog: "Because believe me—and I say this with genuine respect and affection—Mankiw is a nerd’s nerd."

'via Blog this'

Question for Newt - By Jason Lee Steorts - The Corner - National Review Online

Question for Newt - By Jason Lee Steorts - The Corner - National Review Online: "“It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I’m going to be the nominee.” — What are the odds if we are looking at the recent polls plus this quote?"

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In Boston, Mitt Romney ‘evolved’ in Mormon leadership, some churchwomen say - The Washington Post

In Boston, Mitt Romney ‘evolved’ in Mormon leadership, some churchwomen say - The Washington Post: "Animated by a spirit of intellectual freedom and historic scholarship blowing out of Salt Lake City, and a feminist movement sweeping the country, those women started discussing where they came from and where they were going."

'via Blog this'

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MORE ON SKILLED TRADES: In this interview with Andy Grove, he talks about his support for vocationa…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MORE ON SKILLED TRADES: In this interview with Andy Grove, he talks about his support for vocationa…: "Success is a process, not an event. "

Man accidentally gives away life savings hidden away in donated suit | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

Man accidentally gives away life savings hidden away in donated suit | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News: "The 80-year-old man, who didn't trust banks, had kept his life savings of $13,000 sewn inside the lining of one of his suits."

His Life savings is $13,000.00 dollars?

Instapundit

Instapundit: "So move your factories offshore. That’s clearly the signal they’re sending. Jobs for Americans? Not such a priority."

L.A. County Sheriff to reopen Natalie Wood case - latimes.com

L.A. County Sheriff to reopen Natalie Wood case - latimes.com: "Wagner and Walken had an argument. Wagner said in a 2008 interview with The Times that the argument concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career and art."

News from The Associated Press

News from The Associated Press: "In Illinois, government officials stopped working with Catholic Charities on adoptions and foster-care placements after 40 years because the agency refused to recognize a new civil union law. Illinois bishops had sued the state but on Monday said they would stop the legal fight and no longer provide state-funded services."

'via Blog this'

OWS CHUDs - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online

OWS CHUDs - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online: "It’s very rare these commenters actually mount anything like an effort to respond to the actual substance of the posts. We point out dead bodies at OWS camps, and their response boils down to “Hah! Made you look!” I think it’s almost charming in its lameness.
"

The Worst Line in Scriptwriting History - YouTube

The Worst Line in Scriptwriting History - YouTube: "mother i want chinese

too bad

you

get thai!!"

'via Blog this'

Not From The Onion — Marginal Revolution

Not From The Onion — Marginal Revolution: "What astounds me is not that someone could amass $35,000 in student loans pursuing a dream of puppetry, everyone has their dreams and I do not fault Joe for his. What astounds me is that Richard Kim, the executive editor of The Nation and the author of this article, thinks that the failure of a puppeteer to find a job he loves is a good way to illustrate the “national nightmare” of the job market."

CARPE DIEM: Ridley: "I Can't Find One Piece of Data That Shows Unprecedented Change, or Harmful Change."

CARPE DIEM: Ridley: "I Can't Find One Piece of Data That Shows Unprecedented Change, or Harmful Change.": ""Stalagmites, tree lines and ice cores all confirm that it was significantly warmer 7000 years ago. Evidence from Greenland suggests that the Arctic ocean was probably ice free for part of the late summer at that time. Sea level is rising at the unthreatening rate about a foot per century and decelerating.

Greenland is losing ice at the rate of about 150 gigatonnes a year, which is 0.6% per century. There has been no significant warming in Antarctica, with the exception of the peninsula. Methane has largely stopped increasing. Tropical storm intensity and frequency have gone down, not up, in the last 20 years. Your probability of dying as a result of a drought, a flood or a storm is 98% lower globally than it was in the 1920s. Malaria has retreated not expanded as the world has warmed.

And so on. I’ve looked and looked but I cannot find one piece of data – as opposed to a model – that shows either unprecedented change or change is that is anywhere close to causing real harm.""

'via Blog this'

Pundit & Pundette: Herman Cain explains Planned Parenthood to Bob Schieffer

Pundit & Pundette: Herman Cain explains Planned Parenthood to Bob Schieffer: "CAIN: If people go back and look at the history and look at Margaret Sanger's own words that's exactly where that came from. Look up the history. If you go back and look up the history. Secondly, look at where most of them were built. 75 percent of those facilities were built in the black community and Margaret Sanger's own words, she didn't use the word genocide, but she did talk about preventing the increasing number of poor blacks in this country by preventing black babies from being born."

'via Blog this'

Car Talk. Car tips, advice, and troubleshooting. | Car Talk Driving Notes

Car Talk. Car tips, advice, and troubleshooting. | Car Talk Driving Notes: "Styling screams "I peaked in high school""

'via Blog this'

Instapundit » Blog Archive » FRANK J. FLEMING HAS A NEW BOOK COMING OUT: Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everyth…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » FRANK J. FLEMING HAS A NEW BOOK COMING OUT: Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everyth…: "FRANK J. FLEMING HAS A NEW BOOK COMING OUT: Obama: The Greatest President in the History of Everything. I’m pretty sure it’s fiction."

Davy Rothbart interviews Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko about a new documentary on their lives - Grantland

Davy Rothbart interviews Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko about a new documentary on their lives - Grantland: "There's a famous French film director, Claude Lelouch. He was a big boxing fan, and he once said, "Boxing is the cruelest sport, but the one that is most similar to life." In boxing, you need to have a goal and fight for it. Sometimes you deliver punches, sometimes you find yourself on the floor, and that's when you need to find the power to stand up and fight again. In the end, you will be the winner if you have enough heart and enough patience. Life has the same exact rules."

'via Blog this'

FDA Medical Device Approval « Truth on the Market

FDA Medical Device Approval « Truth on the Market: "The New York Times today has an article on approval of medical devices. The take is that venture capitalists want a more efficient process. The tradeoff mentioned is between faster approval for investor returns versus safety of devices if they are approved faster. There is no mention in the article of the benefits to patients and consumers of more rapid availability of medical devices. The entire literature following the Peltzman analysis delays in drug approval is totally ignored."

'via Blog this'

How the 1 percent ‘harm’ us--Frank J. Fleming - NYPOST.com

How the 1 percent ‘harm’ us--Frank J. Fleming - NYPOST.com: "That’s what the wealthiest 1 percent do to us a nation: It’s just impossible to appreciate our affluence while other people are allowed to have so much more than us."

'via Blog this'

The Volokh Conspiracy » President Nixon on Justice Rehnquist

The Volokh Conspiracy » President Nixon on Justice Rehnquist: "I think that the Supreme Court would be far more interesting if only eunuchs were allowed on it."

'via Blog this'

Financial Lessons From Four Nations - NYTimes.com

Financial Lessons From Four Nations - NYTimes.com: "Those old enough to remember the 1980s will recall that Japan used to be an up-and-coming economic superpower. Many people then worried (too much, in my view) that Japan’s rapid growth was a threat to prosperity in the United States, in much the same way that many people worry today (too much, in my view) about rapid growth in China."

'via Blog this'

Horwitz on the Financial Crisis and Recession

Horwitz on the Financial Crisis and Recession: "MacWilliams refers to Congress deregulating the financial industries but offers no specifics. In fact, since 1980, Congress has passed four new sets of regulations for every one deregulatory act, and between 2001 and 2008, there were nine new sets of regulation and not one bit of deregulation. Those recent regulations included the Basel capital requirements, which created powerful incentives for banks to sell off the mortgages they originated and buy them back as mortgage backed securities, which they otherwise would not have done."

'via Blog this'

JustOneMinute: Sugar Is More Evil Than You Thought

JustOneMinute: Sugar Is More Evil Than You Thought: "'You will take that sugar packet, from my cold dead hands'"

Flashback: Obama’s Failed Stimulus Cost More than 9 Year Iraq War | The Gateway Pundit

Flashback: Obama’s Failed Stimulus Cost More than 9 Year Iraq War | The Gateway Pundit: "The entire cost of the Iraq War was less than Barack Obama’s failed stimulus bill."

Camp4u: "Why cant I get a job in my field ? "

Camp4u: "Why cant I get a job in my field ? ": "It must know a great deal about cosmetics to be able to full us with uncertain gender. Come on people hire that thing ! It's great at parties !"

'via Blog this'

Liberal Alec Baldwin: 'I Think Capitalism is Worthwhile' | CNSnews.com

Liberal Alec Baldwin: 'I Think Capitalism is Worthwhile' | CNSnews.com: ""You cannot not have strong capital markets in this country or the country is going to go down the tubes," he said. "I think most people want change in this country but they don't want the country to go down the tubes. They don't want the country to become England."

Baldwin then gave the example of Apple computer founder Steve Jobs, who studied the large IBM computers and decided to work on making a computer much smaller and that would fit on a person's lap."

How to Be a Failure - Forbes

How to Be a Failure - Forbes: "I fail all the time, so often that I am somewhat mystified when I get emails in which people perceive me as successful. Because most of the time, I think of myself as a failure. Which, I’ve come to think, is part of what makes me successful."

'via Blog this'

Uneven Stevens | Hoover Institution

Uneven Stevens | Hoover Institution: "Justice Scalia’s contorted logic excised the initial clause before the words “free State” and then read the sentence fragment that remained as subject to an implied limitation that the state could regulate guns to the extent necessary to preserve health and safety. I know of no sound originalist principle that allows a justice to cut out some words from the Constitution in order to add in others that are not there in their place. In this case, it is quite dangerous because the reference to the “militia” linked this clause up to the Militia Clause of Article I, which calls for the joint federal/state control of the militia. The Second Amendment was written so that federal regulation (beyond that allowed for in Article I) could not disrupt the remainder of the constitutional scheme."

'via Blog this'

Media said to favor smart, savvy, handsome Romney over GOP nobodies - Investors.com

Media said to favor smart, savvy, handsome Romney over GOP nobodies - Investors.com: "Just because Romney has a strong Oval Office-type jaw and a warm smile, an immense loving family, a beautiful, gracious wife and a growing number of endorsements from experienced, well-informed Republicans who are keenly interested in winning the White House back next year and ending the ominous national drift toward European-style social democracy."

'via Blog this'

Calling His Bluff

Instapundit: "President Obama received a slap from members of his own party Tuesday as the Senate voted 51-48 to block his $447 billion jobs package"

So Obama goes around the country saying how he has this great jobs bill but that Republicans are holding it up, knowing full well that there's no support for the bill. Then Republicans call his bluff and say, lets have a vote on it. Then Reid comes out and chides republicans for playing politics with the bill. Now, a week later we have the vote on the bill and the Democrat controlled senate can't pass it. Love it.

Warren Response

Posted without endorsement.

Warrenresponse2.png (714×499):

'via Blog this'

Elizabeth Warren’s Piffle - Rich Lowry - National Review Online

Elizabeth Warren’s Piffle - Rich Lowry - National Review Online: "Focusing on infrastructure as the crucial support of entrepreneurial activity is like crediting the guy who built young Bill Gates’s garage with the start of Microsoft. Yes, Gates needed a roof over his head, and garages are useful. But it was Gates who had the ambition to do more in his garage than store his car and lawn-care products. Incalculably more important than his physical surroundings were his imagination and business sense."

'via Blog this'

Google Heavily Criticized For Its 'Is My Son Gay?' App For Android « CBS New York

Google Heavily Criticized For Its 'Is My Son Gay?' App For Android « CBS New York: "Does your son like musical comedies, Madonna, or football? Those are just some of the questions posed in a controversial app aimed at mothers who want to know, “Is my son gay?”"

'via Blog this'

Althouse

Althouse: "Why not new Boltage with Voltage? An electric shock when the little plumpsters slow down or stop for too long. That'd give them some incentive to run around."

'via Blog this'

Views: The Myth of College as a Fairy Tale - Inside Higher Ed

Views: The Myth of College as a Fairy Tale - Inside Higher Ed: "The University of Chicago: Where Fun Goes to Die."

'via Blog this'

Everything's Coming Up Romney - WSJ.com

Everything's Coming Up Romney - WSJ.com: "It was like watching Donny Osmond dominate John Wayne."

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The Volokh Conspiracy » Bleg for News We Can Use re the Euro

The Volokh Conspiracy » Bleg for News We Can Use re the Euro: "No one starts just about anything with competence! "

'via Blog this'

$16 Muffins Found at U.S. Meetings - Bloomberg

$16 Muffins Found at U.S. Meetings - Bloomberg: "The inspector general reviewed a sample of 10 Justice Department conferences held between October 2007 and September 2009 at a cost of $4.4 million, a period that included the administrations of Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama. The Justice Department spent $73.3 million on conferences in fiscal 2009, compared with $47.8 million a year earlier, according to the report."

'via Blog this'

The Volokh Conspiracy » Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery, But…

The Volokh Conspiracy » Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery, But…: "Does it violate WSJ.com’s terms of service to repost an article, lightly rewritten? "

'via Blog this'

ahhh. law humor.

Raising a child doesn't take a village, research shows

Raising a child doesn't take a village, research shows: ""In the African villages that I study in Mali, children fare as well in nuclear families as they do in extended families," said U-M researcher Beverly Strassmann, professor of anthropology and faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). "There's a naïve belief that villages raise children communally, when in reality children are raised by their own families and their survival depends critically on the survival of their mothers.""

'via Blog this'

The Manchurian President - Rich Lowry - National Review Online

The Manchurian President - Rich Lowry - National Review Online: "The paranoid interpretation of Barack Obama’s presidency would be that he’s a plant from the libertarian Cato Institute slyly working to discredit government.

Could the Tea Party have devised a more diabolical scheme than a liberal president delivering a passionate speech plugging an enormous jobs program that won’t work and doing it in grandiose terms that identify it with the historic liberal agenda?"

'via Blog this'

Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can : Discovery Channel

Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can : Discovery Channel: "Couldn't cut my Yuengling Lager bottle so I used a Mountain Dew can...
4 days ago, 16:17:24 – Flag – Reply

Luis Estrada
did it work?
3 days ago, 14:40:36 – Flag – Reply

Richard Mcenroe
He only gets the Fox News, Hooters, NRA and NASCAR websites, and all his spam is from the Sportsman's Guide..."

'via Blog this'

Google Details Electricity Usage of Its Data Centers - NYTimes.com

Google Details Electricity Usage of Its Data Centers - NYTimes.com: "Though the electricity figure may seem large, the company asserts that the world is using less energy as a result of the billions of operations carried out in Google data centers. Google says people should consider things like the amount of gasoline saved when someone conducts a Google search rather than, say, driving to the library. “They look big in the small context,” Urs Hoelzle, Google’s senior vice president of technical infrastructure, said in an interview."

'via Blog this'

LearnLiberty's Channel - YouTube

Counterpoint.

LearnLiberty's Channel - YouTube:

'via Blog this'

I thought these videos about socialism were interesting, although ultimately flawed.

The PJ Tatler » Libyan Rebels Round Up Black Africans

The PJ Tatler » Libyan Rebels Round Up Black Africans: "The latest bad news for Obama from Libya where we learned earlier that a leader of the rebels we support is a member of Al Qaeda. Now we learn that the rebels are rounding up Black Africans there. AP says they are being held in makeshift jails, suspected of working for Gaddafi. African leaders have protested this action."

Three Articles on Bias

First from Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek.

Second from Megan McCardle.

Third is more a case study.

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge: "Don’t think of it as the federal government but as your “federal family.”"

Could this be more Orwellian?

Intellectual Crack - By John Derbyshire - The Corner - National Review Online

Intellectual Crack - By John Derbyshire - The Corner - National Review Online: " College is primarily a credentialing rite, a prolonged and fantastically expensive mental bris."

Althouse: "Labor Day parade organizers confirm that no Republicans will be allowed to participate in this year's Labor Day Parade."

Althouse: "Labor Day parade organizers confirm that no Republicans will be allowed to participate in this year's Labor Day Parade.": ""[Marathon County Labor Council] president Randy Radtke says they choose not to invite elected officials who have 'openly attacked worker's rights' or did nothing when state public workers lost most of their right to collectively bargain."

Pretty sure this is viewpoint discrimination, making this a violation of the First Amendment.

'via Blog this'

Andy Warhol Quotes (page 2 of 2)

Andy Warhol Quotes (page 2 of 2): ""Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, "So what."
"My mother didn't love me." So what.
"My husband won't ball me. So what.
"I'm a success but I'm still alone." So what.
I don't know how I made it through all the years before I learned how to do that trick. It took a long time for me to learn it, but once you do, you never forget." "

'via Blog this'

Andy Warhol Quotes

Andy Warhol Quotes: "What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good."

'via Blog this'

Buchanan: Collected Works, Buchanan and Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, Front Matter | Library of Economics and Liberty

Buchanan: Collected Works, Buchanan and Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, Front Matter | Library of Economics and Liberty: "Constitutional "choice" in the Calculus is unique in that such choice presupposes a type of generational uncertainty that prevents the decision maker from predicting how the choice will influence his or her welfare in the future. Thus, constitutional choice differs from ordinary political decision making in that it is devoid of direct self-interest."

'via Blog this'

The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth - Mark Steyn - National Review Online: " President Obama has further incentivized statism as a career through his education “reforms,” under which anyone who goes into “public service” will have their college loans forgiven after ten years.

Why?

As I point out in my book, in the last six decades the size of America’s state and local government workforce has increased over three times faster than the general population. Yet Obama says it’s still not enough: The bureaucracy needs even more of our manpower."

The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

The Desperation-of-Deprivation Myth - Mark Steyn - National Review Online: "Any tourist in London quickly accepts that, unless he hails a cab or gets mugged, he will never be served by a native Londoner: Polish baristas, Balkan waitresses, but, until the mob shows up to torch his hotel, not a lot of Cockneys. A genial Member of Parliament argued that the real issue underlying the riots is “education and jobs,” but large numbers of employers seem to have concluded that, if you’ve got a job to offer, the best person to give it to is someone with the least exposure to a British education."

'via Blog this'

Instapundit » Blog Archive » “I WANTED THE PRETTY GIRLS COMING UP TO ME AND SAYING ‘Hi, I see that you’re good at Centipede.’”…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » “I WANTED THE PRETTY GIRLS COMING UP TO ME AND SAYING ‘Hi, I see that you’re good at Centipede.’""

'via Blog this'

Liberals’ Wisconsin Waterloo - The Washington Post

Liberals’ Wisconsin Waterloo - The Washington Post: "And teachers unions may no longer automatically deduct dues from members’ paychecks. After Colorado in 2001 required public employees unions to have annual votes reauthorizing collection of dues, membership in the Colorado Association of Public Employees declined 70 percent. In 2005, Indiana stopped collecting dues from unionized public employees; in 2011, there are 90 percent fewer dues-paying members. In Utah, the end of automatic dues deductions for political activities in 2001 caused teachers’ payments to fall 90 percent. After a similar law passed in 1992 in Washington state, the percentage of teachers making such contributions declined from 82 to 11."

Robert Barro: Keynesian Economics vs. Regular Economics - WSJ.com

Robert Barro: Keynesian Economics vs. Regular Economics - WSJ.com: Ironically, the administration created one informative data point by dramatically raising unemployment insurance eligibility to 99 weeks in 2009—a much bigger expansion than in previous recessions. Interestingly, the fraction of the unemployed who are long term (more than 26 weeks) has jumped since 2009—to over 44% today, whereas the previous peak had been only 26% during the 1982-83 recession. This pattern suggests that the dramatically longer unemployment-insurance eligibility period adversely affected the labor market. All we need now to get reliable estimates are a hundred more of these experiments.

Robert Barro: Keynesian Economics vs. Regular Economics - WSJ.com

Robert Barro: Keynesian Economics vs. Regular Economics - WSJ.com: If valid, this result would be truly miraculous. The recipients of food stamps get, say, $1 billion but they are not the only ones who benefit. Another $1 billion appears that can make the rest of society better off. Unlike the trade-off in regular economics, that extra $1 billion is the ultimate free lunch.

How can it be right? Where was the market failure that allowed the government to improve things just by borrowing money and giving it to people? Keynes, in his "General Theory" (1936), was not so good at explaining why this worked, and subsequent generations of Keynesian economists (including my own youthful efforts) have not been more successful.

Gov't Paying Farmers, Ranchers $112M to Protect Bird Too Numerous to be Threatened | CNSnews.com

Gov't Paying Farmers, Ranchers $112M to Protect Bird Too Numerous to be Threatened | CNSnews.com: “In the past two years, we’ve committed $112 million to this Sage Grouse Initiative in 11 states, using five separate programs.”

Global warming runs out of gas

Global warming runs out of gas: Mr. Gore is not a happy Jeremiah. You hear him on the tape near rage, repeatedly shouting "bulls--t" over the arguments of his critics. He raves about conspiracy - a rebirth of the tactics of the dreaded tobacco industry of a few decades back. He blames "media manipulation" for the refusal of people to take up his gloomy summons. He hisses at "volcanoes and sunspots" as having much or anything to do with climate. "Bulls--!" he cries over and over - perhaps it's the methane content that has him mesmerized with the word. Listen to this aria: "They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: 'This climate thing, it's nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn't trap heat. It may be volcanoes.' Bulls-t! 'It may be sun spots.' Bulls--t! 'It's not getting warmer.' Bulls--t!"

Can a person win the Nobel Peace prize twice? I surely hope so, for this is the E=mc² moment of our green time.

Interview: Samantha Bee, author of I Know I Am, But What Are You? | Memoirville

Interview: Samantha Bee, author of I Know I Am, But What Are You? | Memoirville: The website Cake Wrecks makes me laugh every time I visit it, without fail. Other peoples’ spelling errors thrill me more than I should probably ever admit (see: answer number three. I told you I was a nerd!). But spelling errors on a hideously decorated celebratory cake? I mean, that’s like heroin to me.

Bad luck? Bad faith? - The Washington Post

Bad luck? Bad faith? - The Washington Post: All but five Republican members of the House — moderate, establishment, Tea Party, freshmen alike — voted for a budget containing radical Medicare reform knowing it could very well end many of their careers. Democrats launched gleefully into Mediscare attacks, hardly believing their luck that Republicans should have proposed something so politically risky in pursuit of fiscal solvency. Yet Obama accuses Republicans of acting for nothing but partisan advantage.

That’s Government Stimulus Alright « The Enterprise Blog

That’s Government Stimulus Alright « The Enterprise Blog: So back in 2009 Fisker Automotive received half a billion dollars in government subsidized loans to develop and sell their luxury electric cars.

Courtesy of Business Insider, here’s a sneak peak at your government tax dollars at work:

High-end electric car maker Fisker is using a comically oversexed brochure to get people interested in its $100,000 car.

The tag line reads, “Designed to get you hot, not the planet.”

Government subsidizes a $100,000.00 car. Awesome.

California unemployment rises in July to 12% - latimes.com

California unemployment rises in July to 12% - latimes.com: "It was the second straight monthly increase in joblessness as measured by a federal survey of households.

California's unemployment rate was the second-highest in the nation, exceeded only by Nevada at 12.9%.

The state's employers added a modest 4,500 new jobs to payrolls, according to a separate monthly check of businesses. Last month, there were a revised 30,500 new jobs."

Here are some ideas to help California:

1. Elect all democrats

2. Pass more job-creating taxes

3. Pass more job-creating regulations

4. Pass more job-creating entitlements

Anything I'm missing?

Space Aliens Are Probably Progressive Liberals - By Daniel Foster - The Corner - National Review Online

Space Aliens Are Probably Progressive Liberals - By Daniel Foster - The Corner - National Review Online: By now you’ve probably read about the paper — authored by a NASA scientist along with two professors from Penn “Hockey Stick Graph” University — laying out various scenarios that might play out in the aftermath of first contact with an alien intelligence. The paper, published in Acta Astronautica, hilariously suggests that an otherwise benevolent alien race might nevertheless destroy us in a “preemptive” strike designed to stop us from global-warming our way to galactic domination. You read that right. Shall we call this manner of preemptive strike the Gore Doctrine?"

I know some scientists do real science every now and then. But, I pretty much resent scientists attempts to affect shape public policy in any way.

For first time, more corn used for ethanol than livestock | TheGazette

For first time, more corn used for ethanol than livestock | TheGazette: For the first time ever, more of the corn crop may go into gas tanks than into the stomachs of cattle and poultry destined for kitchen tables.

Depressing.

Bachmann Pledges Gas Will Be Less Than $2 a Gallon - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online

Bachmann Pledges Gas Will Be Less Than $2 a Gallon - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online: “Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 per gallon again. That will happen,” Bachmann said

That's crazy talk.

Hard-Wired Envy, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Hard-Wired Envy, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "If people envy people richer than themselves, I say we should fight envy, not inequality. A number of people have objected that 'Envy is 'hard-wired.'' They're right - but it doesn't matter."

Are Taxes on Corporations Taxes on People?, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Are Taxes on Corporations Taxes on People?, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "I remember that in addressing the issue in the 1980s, the late Herb Stein said that it's as if people think that if the government imposed a tax on cows, the tax would be paid by the cows."

Paul Simms: “God’s Blog” : The New Yorker

Paul Simms: “God’s Blog” : The New Yorker: "Unfocussed. Seems like a mishmash at best. You’ve got creatures that can speak but aren’t smart (parrots). Then, You’ve got creatures that are smart but can’t speak (dolphins, dogs, houseflies). Then, You’ve got man, who is smart and can speak but who can’t fly, breathe underwater, or unhinge his jaws to swallow large prey in one gulp. If it’s supposed to be chaos, then mission accomplished. But it seems more like laziness and bad planning."

The Volokh Conspiracy » Eugene Volokh

The Volokh Conspiracy » Eugene Volokh: "Even given the normal latitude for hyperbole and imprecision in such a context, it seems to me that Michael Moore’s recommendation calls for (and reflects) more ignorance of the Constitution — or willful disregard for the Constitution — than “guts.”"

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JAMES TARANTO: The Great Deflation: Barack Obama Keeps Getting Smaller And Smaller: Like a leak…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JAMES TARANTO: The Great Deflation: Barack Obama Keeps Getting Smaller And Smaller: Like a leak…: "You deserve better than you’ve been getting out of Washington over the last 2½ months–for that matter, for the last 2½ years.”

For the last 2½ years. Is that not as explicit an acknowledgment of failure as has ever been heard from a sitting president?"

11th Circuit Rejects Mandate in Health Law - NYTimes.com

11th Circuit Rejects Mandate in Health Law - NYTimes.com: "The Cincinnati court ruled that the mandate was constitutional. The Atlanta court disagreed, in a majority opinion written by Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina, who was appointed by the first President George Bush, and Judge Frank M. Hull, who was named by President Bill Clinton. Judge Stanley Marcus, another Clinton appointee, wrote a dissent."

Breaking: 11th Circuit Rules Individual Mandate in ObamaCare Unconstitutional (Updates)

The PJ Tatler » Breaking: 11th Circuit Rules Individual Mandate in ObamaCare Unconstitutional (Updates): "Breaking: 11th Circuit Rules Individual Mandate in ObamaCare Unconstitutional (Updates)"

Wow.

Obama plan: Destroy Romney - Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com

Obama plan: Destroy Romney - Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com: "“Unless things change and Obama can run on accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney,” said a prominent Democratic strategist aligned with the White House."

Give a man a fish, and he’ll riot for free fish | The Daily Caller

Give a man a fish, and he’ll riot for free fish | The Daily Caller: "Give a man a fish, and he’ll riot for free fish"

Why Do Russians Hate Ice? - NYTimes.com

Why Do Russians Hate Ice? - NYTimes.com: "Later, I asked one of the waitresses, why the no-ice policy.

“Over in Ukraine, they put ice in their drinks,” she explained. “But not in Russia.”

“Really? My family’s from Ukraine, and they don’t use ice.”

“Well then I guess we all don’t use ice.”

“Yes,” I persevered, “but why?”

“That’s just how it’s always been,” she shrugged."

Matt Damon’s got a lot to learn - BostonHerald.com

Matt Damon’s got a lot to learn - BostonHerald.com: "Sorry, Matt, but if I were your math teacher back at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, I’d have to give you an F. Wrong on theory and fact.

First the data — starting with Matt’s myth that teachers work for a shi— . . .  er, “less-than-adequate” salary.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the average Boston teacher earned around $80,000 last year. That was the average. And that doesn’t include the generous health care or pension benefits, which would equal $100,000 in the private sector. All for just 180 days of work."

The Mathematics of Basketball - ScienceNOW

The Mathematics of Basketball - ScienceNOW: "To shoot, or not to shoot, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to try to score right away or wait for a better chance.

Professional basketball players face that quandary multiple times in every game. And in an article posted at arXiv.org on 29 July, Brian Skinner, a graduate student in theoretical physics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, provides some mathematical guidance for the best time to take aim."

A break from automated blogging.

Here's a thought inspired by the Wu thing. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a law that says, every time a political office holder resigns, the largest opposing political party gets to choose his replacement. An alternative: the person who received the second most votes in the last election should automatically take office.

I think that would encourage the party to look harder at a candidate's behavior earlier, but it would also likely encourage politicians to try and wait out any controversy.

Fabulous picture, but…

Fabulous picture, but…: "Suppose you take a loan and buy a Lexus. You decide to buy a car for your wife. You keep the Lexus and take out a second loan to buy her a Ferrari. Your wife loses her job, so you’re struggling to make the payments on both cars and your teenaged daughter asks for a car and you buy her an Acura. So what’s the source of your impending bankruptcy? It can’t be the Acura, right? That’s only a small part of your debt!"

The Volokh Conspiracy - John McCain as Gandalf?

The Volokh Conspiracy - John McCain as Gandalf?: "To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: I served with Gandalf in numerous D&D campaigns; I knew Gandalf from reading the Lord of the Rings umpteen times; Gandalf was a friend of mine. And John McCain is no Gandalf."

Greg Mankiw's Blog

Greg Mankiw's Blog: "Lacy, Will you marry me? Kyle.

My first thought: How charming!

My second thought: I hope there is not another couple named Lacy and Kyle sitting on the beach this afternoon."

Althouse: "We all remember that classic scene from The Godfather where the movie producer Jack Woltz wakes up with a horse's head in his bed."

Althouse: "We all remember that classic scene from The Godfather where the movie producer Jack Woltz wakes up with a horse's head in his bed.": "The cinematic trick is: You're so preoccupied with the startling thing you've actually seen as you discover the horse head along with Woltz that you have no mental space remaining in which to ask how'd they get that thing in there? You might ask: What sort of people would do a thing like that? — which is the aspect of the scene that TPM invokes in its absurd analogy. But you're not supposed to think: No way could they do that. In fact, if you're inclined to ask questions like that, you probably don't enjoy movies too much."

‪What We Saw at the Save Our Schools Rally in Washington D.C.‬‏ - YouTube

‪What We Saw at the Save Our Schools Rally in Washington D.C.‬‏ - YouTube: ""

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves: "Without college loan program, America loses an entire generation of Marxist Dance Theorists."

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves: "Chaos reigns at Goldman Sachs, who no longer knows who to bribe with political donations."

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves

iowahawk: Default, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves: "Cowboy poetry utterly lacking in metre."

Althouse: The global warming "consensus" is cracking up.

Althouse: The global warming "consensus" is cracking up.: "Just five years ago, Charles Monnett was one of the scientists whose observation that several polar bears had drowned in the Arctic Ocean helped galvanize the global warming movement.

Now, the wildlife biologist is on administrative leave and facing accusations of scientific misconduct."

Ice age threat should freeze EPA global warming regs | The Examiner | Op Eds | Washington Examiner

Ice age threat should freeze EPA global warming regs | The Examiner | Op Eds | Washington Examiner: "The U.S. National Solar Observatory, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and astrophysicists across the planet report that the nearly all-time low sunspot activity may result in a sustained cooling period on Earth.

The news has sent global warming theory advocates scrambling to discount and explain away the impact on global temperatures. However, the 'news' is not really that new."

Local Man Jumps From Boat, Rides Shark - Boston News Story - WCVB Boston

Local Man Jumps From Boat, Rides Shark - Boston News Story - WCVB Boston: "'We circled around it a couple times, realized it was a basking shark, got comfortable, came up next to it and thought, 'You know? I need to feel this fish,'' Jacobs said. 'I need to swim with him and be part of this.'"

Yahoo! News

Yahoo! News: "NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed."

HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Weird Wu Moments : Roll Call News

HOH’s One-Minute Recess: Weird Wu Moments : Roll Call News: "In 2007, Wu gave a speech on the floor urging Americans not to “let faux Klingons send real Americans to war.”"

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MICHAEL BARONE: The Damning Contradictions Of Obama’s Attack on Libya. I’ve got no problem with ta…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MICHAEL BARONE: The Damning Contradictions Of Obama’s Attack on Libya. I’ve got no problem with ta…: "Waging war halfheartedly, on the cheap, and by committee is not a formula for success."

Instapundit

Instapundit: "THE IMPACT OF STIFFER BAR PASSAGE REQUIREMENTS on law school diversity. Bar passage, it turns out, correlates pretty closely with LSAT scores — not surprisingly, as they’re both big tests with a lot of multiple-choice questions — and affirmative action students, by definition, tend to have lower LSAT scores. My prediction is that the ultimate result will be intense pressure from law schools for the dumbing-down of bar exams."

Fresh Whole Rabbit: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

Fresh Whole Rabbit: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food: "How many weekends have I spent, in the loincloth, knife clenched in my teeth, running through the fields trying to find a rabbit? (A bunch, trust me on this, a bunch.) All so I can have something to sacrifice on the altar once I get to the cave.

Now, with this, home, fix a cocktail, go through the day's mail, finish my drink and drive over to the cave, yank this carcass out of the box and offer this at the feet of my dark lord and master, boom, done. I'm happy, my dark lord and master is happy, everybody wins.

What a time saver."

Netflix: Mega Python vs. Gatoroid

Netflix: Mega Python vs. Gatoroid: "Gargantuan reptiles team up with 1980s pop icons Tiffany and Debbie Gibson in this Syfy Channel original movie that pits a mammoth python on the loose against an army of genetically enhanced alligators."

Instapundit » Blog Archive » UM, ISN’T THIS A CASE OF CALLING YOUR OWN BLUFF? The Hill: Obama warns Cantor: ‘Don’t call my bluf…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » UM, ISN’T THIS A CASE OF CALLING YOUR OWN BLUFF? The Hill: Obama warns Cantor: ‘Don’t call my bluf…: "I mean, I’m not a big poker player, but I thought the point of a bluff is not to admit it’s a bluff . . . ."

Krugman: ‘I Didn’t Mean That Stimulus!’ | The Daily Caller

Krugman: ‘I Didn’t Mean That Stimulus!’ | The Daily Caller: "I can’t find the part where he says “but in two years if it doesn’t work I’ll say it just wasn’t the right kind.” …"

Greece’s Choices in Debt Crisis Are All Daunting - Economic View - NYTimes.com

Greece’s Choices in Debt Crisis Are All Daunting - Economic View - NYTimes.com: "In an even bleaker scenario, bank recapitalization won’t be realized anytime soon and those same economies will show few signs of growing out of their debts. A broader financial crash will result, and it won’t be contained by an easily affordable bailout.

Those are the choices playing out now, in the streets of Athens and in the halls of power centers like Washington, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin. Stay tuned. There’s a lot of news on the way, but probably very little of it will be good."

Does Greece portend the U.S.'s future?

When dogmas collide

When dogmas collide: "those who fail to learn from history are, um, i forget.."

Who Among Us Does Not Love an Al Gore Joke? | Blogs | NCRegister.com

Who Among Us Does Not Love an Al Gore Joke? | Blogs | NCRegister.com: "Then the CFL bulbs came out, and I discovered that I am the snob to end all snobs . . . when it comes to light. Fluorescent lighting makes me feel like I’m dead, and am just haunting whatever room I happen to be in. It makes me feel like the top of my head has been replaced with something clammy and toxic. It makes me feel like filling up my 15-passenger van with overpriced gas and barreling nonstop to Al Gore’s house and smacking his silly, fat face around until he admits that his main goal is and always has been to make each and every day for the entire human race a little less bearable."

iowahawk: Questions, So Many Questions

iowahawk: Questions, So Many Questions: "Are you smart enough to create a problem so big that even you could not solve it?"

iowahawk: Questions, So Many Questions

iowahawk: Questions, So Many Questions: "An $8 billion high speed train leaves Chicago for Iowa City at 8:15am at 40mph. Why?

If shovel-ready projects create jobs, wouldn't spoon-ready projects create even more jobs?

How come you haven't made unemployment illegal? #duh

Instead of making cars get 62 mpg, why not 62 million mpg? Also, do something about the gravitational constant."

Ethics, Politics and the New York Times - By Ed Whelan - Bench Memos - National Review Online

Ethics, Politics and the New York Times - By Ed Whelan - Bench Memos - National Review Online: "I’ve had ample occasion to expose the mendacity, inanity, and confusion that have pervaded recent New York Times house editorials on the Supreme Court and ethics, and I’ll confess that it’s rather tedious to do so yet again, but I gather that there are some people who still take NYT house editorials seriously"

No sense waiting

No sense waiting: "The National Education Association has endorsed President Obama for re-election before he even has an opponent. Tells you all you need to know about the NEA."

Titanic II sinks on maiden voyage | The Sun |News

Titanic II sinks on maiden voyage | The Sun |News: "The 16ft cabin cruiser sprung a leak on her maiden voyage, like her famous namesake 99 years ago."

The Tragedy of the Risk-Perception Commons: Culture Conflict, Rationality Conflict, and Climate Change by Dan Kahan, Maggie Wittlin, Ellen Peters, Paul Slovic, Lisa Ouellette, Donald Braman, Gregory Mandel :: SSRN

The Tragedy of the Risk-Perception Commons: Culture Conflict, Rationality Conflict, and Climate Change by Dan Kahan, Maggie Wittlin, Ellen Peters, Paul Slovic, Lisa Ouellette, Donald Braman, Gregory Mandel :: SSRN: "On the whole, the most scientifically literate and numerate subjects were slightly less likely, not more, to see climate change as a serious threat than the least scientifically literate and numerate ones."

Obama’s Economists: ‘Stimulus’ Has Cost $278,000 per Job | The Weekly Standard

Obama’s Economists: ‘Stimulus’ Has Cost $278,000 per Job | The Weekly Standard: ", the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job. "

A Quote by Grant Gilmore on hell, laws, observation, and society | The Gaiam Blog

A Quote by Grant Gilmore on hell, laws, observation, and society | The Gaiam Blog: "The worse the society, the more law there will be. In Hell there will be nothing but law, and due process will be meticulously observed."

YouTube - ‪Scalia: Get Over It! (CBS News)‬‏

YouTube - ‪Scalia: Get Over It! (CBS News)‬‏: "The supreme court should get term limits like everyone else."

Althouse

Althouse: "The message is clear. The liberal media want Ruth Bader Ginsburg out now."

I wonder how it feels to be a living, ostensibly healthy person and have you fellow ideologues speculating about your death.

This is kind of amazing

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NATIONAL REVIEW: FEATURE ARTICLE JAY NORDLINGER ON THE RISE TO POWER OF AL SHARPTON March 20, 2000

NATIONAL REVIEW: FEATURE ARTICLE JAY NORDLINGER ON THE RISE TO POWER OF AL SHARPTON March 20, 2000: "Liberal journalists — white — patiently explain that, for a black leader, an apology is a complicated matter: a question of politics and tactics, not of right and wrong. As Sharpton himself has said, to apologize would be “all about submission.”"

NATIONAL REVIEW: FEATURE ARTICLE JAY NORDLINGER ON THE RISE TO POWER OF AL SHARPTON March 20, 2000

NATIONAL REVIEW: FEATURE ARTICLE JAY NORDLINGER ON THE RISE TO POWER OF AL SHARPTON March 20, 2000: "Acting as the Brawley family’s adviser, he urged them not to cooperate with the authorities, including the state attorney general, Robert Abrams. To cooperate with Abrams, he said, would be “to sit down with Mr. Hitler.”"

Minimum Wage

Althouse: Under the new Wisconsin budget repair, one school district goes from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus.

Althouse: Under the new Wisconsin budget repair, one school district goes from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus.: "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
Cost savings from worker contributions to health care and retirement, taking effect today as part of the new collective bargaining laws, will swing the Kaukauna School District from a $400,000 budget deficit to an estimated $1.5 million surplus.... The district... plans to hire teachers and reduce class size.
Let's stop and think of all the protesters who carried signs asserting that their opposition to Scott Walker was for the children."

Obama and manufacturing

Obama and manufacturing: "The manufacturing does not play a particularly critical role in the US economy. Employment in manufacturing as a percentage of total employment has been falling steadily since the end of World War II. But a lot of people think there is something special about manufacturing so the title strikes a resonant chord for many people even outside manufacturing."

Greg Mankiw's Blog

Greg Mankiw's Blog: "As any university fund-raiser can tell you, a 'naming opportunity' is a valuable resource. People are willing to pay big bucks to have buildings and other things named after them. In light of this fact, isn't it fair to say that Senator Reid received some nonpecuniary compensation from this recipient of government funding? Why should this transaction be legal when more explicit pecuniary kick-backs are not?"

Ethanol Production Wastes Corn - NYTimes.com

Ethanol Production Wastes Corn - NYTimes.com: "Here is perhaps the most incredible part: Because of the subsidy, ethanol became cheaper than gasoline, and so we sent 397 million gallons of ethanol overseas last year. America is simultaneously importing costly foreign oil and subsidizing the export of its equivalent."

Greg Mankiw's Blog: How To Waste $600 Million

Greg Mankiw's Blog: How To Waste $600 Million: "On today's Planet Money, we visit an underground vault that's full of money nobody wants.
The money — bags and bags of dollar coins — is the result of a 2005 law that requires the U.S. Mint to print a series of coins bearing the likeness of each U.S. president.
The problem is, people don't really like dollar coins. And there aren't enough people who are fired up about, say, Rutherford B. Hayes, to make much of a difference.
So more than 1 billion dollar coins are now sitting, unwanted, in Federal Reserve vaults around the country. By the time the program wraps up in 2016, the Fed will be sitting on 2 billion unwanted coins, according to the Fed's own estimates.
The total cost to manufacture those unwanted coins: $600 million."

Greg Mankiw's Blog

Greg Mankiw's Blog: "The Hamilton Project, a research group in Washington, has just finished a comparison of college with other investments. It found that college tuition in recent decades has delivered an inflation-adjusted annual return of more than 15 percent. For stocks, the historical return is 7 percent. For real estate, it’s less than 1 percent."

Waiting for Superman :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews

Waiting for Superman :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews: "Consider this: Those lotteries are truly random, as by law they must be. Yet most of the winners will succeed, and half the losers (from the same human pool) will fail. This is an indictment: Our schools do not work."

The Volokh Conspiracy » The Dangerous Effort to Delegitimate Supreme Court Justices

The Volokh Conspiracy » The Dangerous Effort to Delegitimate Supreme Court Justices: "No one is so virtuous as to be above false attacks."

Quotation of the Day…

Quotation of the Day…: "“[N]atural resources are not finite in any meaningful economic sense, mind-boggling though this assertion may be. The stocks of them are not fixed but rather are expanding through human ingenuity.”"

What ‘Inside Job’ got wrong - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

What ‘Inside Job’ got wrong - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post: "I finally watched “Inside Job” this weekend. It was an excellent documentary for people who don’t want to understand the financial crisis but want to believe they would’ve seen it coming. Watching it, you’d think that the only people who missed the meltdown were corrupt fools, and the way to spot the next one is to have fewer corrupt fools."

Two Takes on Guns

Top cop Garry McCarthy likens federal gun laws to ‘racism’ - Chicago Sun-Times: "“I want you to connect one more dot on that chain of African-American history in this country, aTwnd tell me if I’m crazy: Federal gun laws that facilitate the flow of illegal firearms into our urban centers, across this country, that are killing black and brown children,” he said according to an WMAQ-Channel 5 story that aired Thursday."

"18.362 Exemption for firearms. Every citizen of this state above the age of 16 years shall be entitled to have, hold and keep, for the own use and defense of the citizen and shall have exempt from execution one rifle or shotgun and one pistol. The combined value of all firearms claimed as exempt under this section may not exceed $1,000."

Violence erupts as U2 rocks Glastonbury

Violence erupts as U2 rocks Glastonbury: "'I love U2 but I think everyone should pay their taxes. The campaigners have a right to voice their opinion,' he said."

Online Library of Liberty - The Market Economy and the Distribution of Wealth - Capital, Expectations, and the Market Process

Online Library of Liberty - The Market Economy and the Distribution of Wealth - Capital, Expectations, and the Market Process: "Who can now doubt that, as Professor Mises pointed out thirty years ago, every intervention by a political authority entails a further intervention to prevent the inevitable economic repercussions of the first step from taking place?"

Interviewing Ann Coulter About Her New Book, “Demonic” | Right Wing News

Interviewing Ann Coulter About Her New Book, “Demonic” | Right Wing News: "Chris Christie could eat Rick Perry for breakfast — so to speak."

Q&A: Jon Huntsman | Swampland

Q&A: Jon Huntsman | Swampland: "And let me say, I’m a very spiritual person; I can’t walk into a church or synagogue without getting a little emotional…"

2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate - NYTimes.com

2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities.” Under that view, Mr. Obama needed no permission from Congress to continue the mission unchanged."

Althouse: "We men just make bad decisions. We can't help it. We’re men."

Althouse: "We men just make bad decisions. We can't help it. We’re men.": "Remember it's okay to say one sex is superior to the other as long as you're saying women are better."

Can Heterosexuality Be Cured? - WSJ.com

Can Heterosexuality Be Cured? - WSJ.com: "Can Heterosexuality Be Cured?"

The Online Looking Glass - NYTimes.com

The Online Looking Glass - NYTimes.com: "In every time and place, people have associated new technologies with moral decline. “Men think that it is essential that the Nation have commerce,” Henry David Thoreau griped in 1854, “and export ice, and talk through a telegraph, and ride thirty miles an hour ... but whether we should live like baboons or like men, is a little uncertain.” Similar anxieties have greeted most subsequent inventions, from the automobile to the iPhone: We’re always teetering on the brink of baboondom, always one technological leap away from forfeiting our humanity."

Can't Feminists Be Hypocrites? - WSJ.com

Can't Feminists Be Hypocrites? - WSJ.com: "One suspects this is merely an attempt to rationalize away the bad behavior of their political allies while reserving the right to condemn similar misbehavior in their foes. Hey, Walsh and Marcotte are only human. But what a rationalization it is! What they are claiming is that their side has no moral standards, and therefore there is no basis on which they may be held to account."

YouTube - Cara and Kara!

YouTube - Cara and Kara!: "some on[e] actually thought it was necessary to point out this is a fake??? really??"

Woman shows incredible mercy as her son's killer moves in next door | Mail Online

Woman shows incredible mercy as her son's killer moves in next door | Mail Online: "A mother whose only child was shot dead has shown the ultimate forgiveness - by inviting her son's killer to live next door.

Mary Johnson, 59, now lives in the apartment adjoining the home of 34-year-old Oshea Israel and they share a porch."

'Kill a camel' to cut pollution concept in Australia

'Kill a camel' to cut pollution concept in Australia: "Australia is considering awarding carbon credits for killing feral camels as a way to tackle climate change.

The suggestion is included in Canberra's 'Carbon Farming Initiative', a consultation paper by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, seen Thursday.

Adelaide-based Northwest Carbon, a commercial company, proposed culling some 1.2 million wild camels that roam the Outback, the legacy of herds introduced to help early settlers in the 19th century.

Considered a pest due to the damage they do to vegetation, a camel produces, on average, a methane equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide a year, making them collectively one of Australia's major emitters of greenhouse gases."

Behold the Face of the Modern Left - By Michael Walsh - The Corner - National Review Online

Behold the Face of the Modern Left - By Michael Walsh - The Corner - National Review Online: "In his combination of unctuousness, mendacity, mock-reasonableness, petulance, bullying, hypocrisy, overweening arrogance, brazen aggression, self-pity, victimhood, and bogus moral preening, it’s hard to beat Congressman Anthony Weiner. He’s the perfect face of the modern American Left in all its glorious pathology; why anyone takes these people seriously is utterly beyond me, so transparent are they. And yet for some, their sweet nothings continue to resonate."

Let Tweeting Dogs Lie? - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online

Let Tweeting Dogs Lie? - By Mark Steyn - The Corner - National Review Online: "Whatever one feels about the pants on fire, the liar ought to be an issue. Why would any sentient being believe a word the right honorable Weiner says about anything ever again? The debt ceiling, Libya, Medicare, anything? Look at what this thuggish narcissist grotesque was prepared to do over the last week, and ask yourself. If Weiner is fit for “public life”, who isn’t?"

'Saint Bono' facing huge Glastonbury protest ¿ for avoiding tax | Mail Online

'Saint Bono' facing huge Glastonbury protest ¿ for avoiding tax | Mail Online: "Bono has been reluctant to explain the tax strategy, but the band's guitarist The Edge has admitted: 'Of course we want to be tax-efficient – who doesn't?'"

Heber Grant--Polygamy

Heber was determined to achieve all the goals he had set for himself. He determined that he had weak social skills and set out to improve himself. Dancing was a challenge, but eventually became one of his favorite activities. He even helped organized dances and used these opportunities to search for a wife. As he dated, he became interested in Emily Wells, the daughter of Daniel H. Wells, a prominent leader in the Church. They had much in common and it appeared that they might marry. They discovered, however, that they disagreed about the practice of plural marriage. Heber had come from a family that had practiced it and was surprised at some of the sarcastic comments Emily made about it. He asked the Lord in prayer about continuing to pursue Emily’s affections and was surprised by the negative answer he strongly received. He shed some very bitter tears because he had admired her so deeply. But then his attentions were drawn to Lucy Stringham. (See Gibbons, Heber J. Grant, 29–31.)

“Heber’s first overtures to Lucy were met with a response that could hardly be called enthusiastic. He started by walking her home from Sunday evening meetings, a frequently used courting device of the day. It was customary, however, for the young lady to invite her escort to join her in the family sitting room, where they could engage in serious or flirtatious talk and perhaps enjoy some refreshments, all under the careful scrutiny of the girl’s parents. Sunday after Sunday, however, instead of receiving a hoped-for invitation into the Stringham sitting room, Heber received a somewhat indifferent, even chilly, ‘good night’ at Stringham’s gate. That he was not deterred by this unencouraging treatment is still another evidence of Heber J. Grant’s characteristic perseverance.

“The turning point in this tepid courtship occurred one Sunday evening when Rodney C. Badger walked past the Stringham’s gate just as Heber received his customary ‘good night’ from Lucy. As these two friends walked together to the corner, Heber, instead of turning south toward his home, told Rodney, ‘I’m going down to Wells corner and visit with some of the girls there.’

“Whether Rodney planted a seed in Lucy’s mind or mere chance intervened, the very next Sunday Heber received an invitation into the Stringham sitting room, where he became almost a fixture until the time of his marriage to Lucy a few months later. It turned out that Lucy’s initial reluctance came not from a lack of feeling for the great man she was later to marry, but from the false notion that she was merely a temporary substitute for Emily Wells.“Shocked at what he interpreted as fickleness, Rodney chided Heber for leaving one girl only to go in search of other female companionship. Rodney appeared satisfied, however, when Heber explained Lucy’s distant attitude toward him.

“Once the ice was broken and Lucy realized that Heber had matrimony in view, their courtship sped toward its inevitable culmination. They were married in the St. George Temple on November 1, 1877, three weeks prior to Heber’s twenty-first birthday” (Gibbons, Heber J. Grant, 32–33).

Later, in 1884, with Lucy’s full approval, Heber married Hulda Augusta Winters and Emily Wells.

Me: 1884 is 6 years before the Manfesto on Plural Marriage

Heber J. Grant

A story. From here:

http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/pres-sm/pres-ch-07-09.htm

“At the lunch table after my first short speech which lasted seven and a half minutes, President Smith said: ‘Heber, you said you believe the gospel with all your heart, and propose to live it, but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Don’t you know absolutely that this gospel is true?’

“I answered: ‘I do not.’

“‘What, you! a president of a stake?’ said President Joseph F. Smith.

“‘That is what I said.’

“‘President [John] Taylor, I am in favor of undoing this afternoon what we did this morning. I do not think any man should preside over a stake who has not a perfect and abiding knowledge of the divinity of this work.’

“I said: ‘I am not going to complain.’

“Brother Taylor had a habit, when something pleased him excessively, of shaking his body and laughing. He said, ‘Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, he knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it. It will be but a short time until he does know it. He leans over backwards. You do not need to worry.’

Romney’s Second Primary Act - Interview - National Review Online

Romney’s Second Primary Act - Interview - National Review Online: "I love the way Governor Palin lives inside the head of the MSM 24/7. Long may she buzz in the vacant space between their collective ears."

The PJ Tatler » Liberal or conservative: Do you vote what you eat?

The PJ Tatler » Liberal or conservative: Do you vote what you eat?: "Every sane person who eats bacon knows that bacon makes everything better. And bacon cheeseburgers, whether from McDonald’s or Five Guys or wherever, are the modern food of the gods."

The PJ Tatler » Liberal or conservative: Do you vote what you eat?

The PJ Tatler » Liberal or conservative: Do you vote what you eat?: "Every sane person who eats bacon knows that bacon makes everything better. And bacon cheeseburgers, whether from McDonald’s or Five Guys or wherever, are the modern food of the gods."

Romney’s Second Primary Act - Interview - National Review Online

Romney’s Second Primary Act - Interview - National Review Online: "LOPEZ: Why did the Heritage Foundation and Governor Romney consider an individual mandate conservative or otherwise acceptable?

HEWITT: Because “mandates” at the state level have never been unacceptable and still aren’t unacceptable except to a handful of libertarian purists. We accept the mandate that children must be educated, if not in public schools then in private schools or at home. We accept vaccine mandates. We accept car-insurance mandates. We accept smog-emission mandates. States have the “police power” that the Constitution withheld from the federal government."

This is right on the constitutional question. But there's a principled distinction between mandating vaccines, smog emissions and car insurance (and arguable education). These things are mandated to eliminate negative externalities--costs imposed by an actor that he does not have to bear. In the case of health insurance (ed. note: not liability insurance), its the uninsured who suffers for his lack of coverage, unless you count costs imposed on the rest of us because of laws requiring hospitals to provide services. But the point is health insurance is not, in an of itself, a public good.

NOTE: I edited my commentary slightly for clarity.

YouTube - Top 5 Goals Didier Drogba

YouTube - Top 5 Goals Didier Drogba: "go to 480p for sharper blurry squares"

Althouse

Althouse: "At the Flea Street Café... you can talk about Jesse Cool. You can talk about Zuckerberg Nerd."

The Volokh Conspiracy » An Inauspicious Start to Herman Cain’s Presidential Campaign

The Volokh Conspiracy » An Inauspicious Start to Herman Cain’s Presidential Campaign: "Cain, 65, who lives in suburban Atlanta, made his announcement at Atlanta’s Centennial Park, urging Americans frustrated by the country’s direction to read the Constitution.

“Keep reading,” he said. “Don’t stop at life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”

Or stop reading the Constitution, and just read the Declaration of Independence instead."

English Peas Recipe : Review : Paula Deen : Food Network

English Peas Recipe : Review : Paula Deen : Food Network: "This was outstanding! I did make a couple modifications. I eliminated the butter, and in place of the peas I substituted one can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs."

The Volokh Conspiracy » No Right to Assault Police Officer Entering Home Even if Entrance is Unlawful, Indiana Supreme Court Holds

The Volokh Conspiracy » No Right to Assault Police Officer Entering Home Even if Entrance is Unlawful, Indiana Supreme Court Holds: "The officer threatened to arrest the defendant if he didn’t calm down, and the defendant threatened to have the officer arrested if he arrested him."

First They Came For the Cowboy Poets - By Andrew Stiles - The Corner - National Review Online

First They Came For the Cowboy Poets - By Andrew Stiles - The Corner - National Review Online: "Flake questioned NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman over a number of grants, including those to an international accordion festival and to the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Making grants like these “feeds the cynicism out there about everything we do,” Flake said.

Landesman responded that many of the programs that win NEA support could not exist without the help.

“The marketplace shouldn’t be the sole determinant of what is allowed to flourish,” Landesman said, adding that the renowned San Francisco Mime Troupe would likely not be able to survive solely on ticket sales."

On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns - NYTimes.com

On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns - NYTimes.com: "Ox don’t need spare parts, and they don’t run on fossil fuels,"

Pajamas Media » Don’t Worry: Osama Was Shot in Accordance with Islamic Tradition

Pajamas Media » Don’t Worry: Osama Was Shot in Accordance with Islamic Tradition: "Still, I know some of you are concerned about when the Navy SEALs raided Osama’s compound, whether he was then shot in the face in accordance with Islamic tradition. Well, don’t worry; he absolutely was. The very last thing anyone wanted was for Osama to think while he was being killed, “They’re doing this to me because I’m Muslim!” Because, again, that would definitely not be true. So great care was taken, and he was shot in the face in a religiously respectful way."

Why I miss that old meanie Simon Cowell - Telegraph

Why I miss that old meanie Simon Cowell - Telegraph: "Is it true, though? Have fans of such programmes had enough of cruelty? I wouldn’t count on it. Let’s at least wait until September, when Cowell launches the show he left Idol for: the US version of The X Factor.
I hope X Factor wins. Of course I would say this, because I work in journalism, a trade for which the main qualification is a heart the size and colour of a raisin, but I like a bit of nastiness. Not when it’s directed at me, obviously – that’s horrible and should ideally be prohibited by law – but when directed at others it can be a revivifying joy."