The Summer of Blog

Government and Its Rivals - NYTimes.com

2012-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

Government and Its Rivals - NYTimes.com: "This is exactly the choice that the White House has decided to offer a host of religious institutions — hospitals, schools and charities — in the era of Obamacare. The new health care law requires that all employer-provided insurance plans cover contraception, sterilization and the morning-after (or week-after) pill known as ella, which can work as an abortifacient. A number of religious groups, led by the American Catholic bishops, had requested an exemption for plans purchased by their institutions. Instead, the White House has settled on an exemption that only covers religious institutions that primarily serve members of their own faith. A parish would be exempt from the mandate, in other words, but a Catholic hospital would not."

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Mitt Romney Is Coming for Your Kosher Food, Old Florida Jews -- Daily Intel

2012-01-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney Is Coming for Your Kosher Food, Old Florida Jews -- Daily Intel: "Gingrich is referring to Friday's New York Post report that Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, vetoed $600,000 in funding "for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to get kosher meals." Certainly, it's safe to assume that preventing old Jewish people from eating Kosher meals will be one of Romney's priorities as president, as well. "

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Why is Newt the tea party candidate? And he gets upset about Romney's dishonest attacks?

The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "I’m sorry but, on purely tactical grounds, what a bonehead move by the Romney campaign. Negative attacks, especially in a primary, have to be run on a careful cost-benefit analysis, and what exactly is the upside here? That at least Tom Brokaw isn’t Dan Rather? Romney is comfortably up in the Florida polls in large part because his campaign (with the unwitting collusion of NBC News!) managed to turn Gingrich’s flank on the wealth issue and cut him off from reinforcement via a Newt-versus-the-establishment-media moment. He now affords Gingrich such a moment with juuuuust enough time before the polls close to be impactful.

I’m not saying this is going to cause Romney the primary or anything, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s hard to see what at all this could have done to help him win it."

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This could be the case. But the other way of looking at it is, this is an attack on Newt's elect-ability, that could be effective if there's no backlash.

The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "When Marxists are complaining that your party’s candidates are disconnected from today’s global realities, it’s generally not a good sign.

Aside from the minor detail that Marxists have been complaining about the disconnect between pro-market political parties and “global reality” since the original Marxist sat in the Reading Room of the British Library riffing on the internal contradictions of capitalism, I was struck by Mr Friedman’s sparkling way with words. I’m not a credentialed Professor of Prose Style at Columbia School of Journalism or anything, but, for the “it’s generally not a good sign”/”you know you’ve got a problem” cliche to work, doesn’t the bit before it have to be something unexpected or unwanted?"

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NattO, Maggot Cheese and Other Food That May Repel - WSJ.com

2012-01-29T21:52:00.000-08:00

NattO, Maggot Cheese and Other Food That May Repel - WSJ.com: "Aside from its alien texture, nattō suffers from another problem, at least for Westerners—odor. Nattō smells like the marriage of ammonia and a tire fire."

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Althouse: Actress Cynthia Nixon in trouble for saying her "gayness" is "a choice."

2012-01-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

Althouse: Actress Cynthia Nixon in trouble for saying her "gayness" is "a choice.": "By the way, I vividly remember back around 1990, the progressive gay-rights-type people I knew were intent upon portraying sexual orientation as a choice. I won't name the famous lefty who snapped at me for entertaining the notion that homosexuality might have a biological basis: If it exists at the biological level, it will be perceived as a disease and people will try to cure it. That was really the same point as Besen's, oddly enough, in that it was about acceptance as opposed to treatment."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "I don’t take Cain’s retraction of his original endorsement personally — I’ve always known I’m unelectable — but I wonder how the rest of you feel?"

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Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.

2012-01-28T18:10:00.000-08:00

Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.: "Chess is a relative meritocracy, with clear standards for performance and achievement, but I am not sure that chess players as a whole are happier for this. Some ambiguity in one’s level of achievement can be socially useful and somewhat of a relief at the personal level. Life in a sheer meritocracy would be psychologically oppressive."

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Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.

2012-01-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Marginal Revolution — Small steps toward a much better world.: " The real question about our fiscal future is not Republicans vs. Democrats but rather whether any coalition can limit benefits to older people. It is already unlikely that the Republicans will gut Medicare or Social Security or get very far in trying. "

Depressing.

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

2012-01-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "Third, the rule is missing an important characteristic: indexation to inflation. Part of a capital gain is not real income at all, but an inflationary return."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

2012-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "So, a Buffett Rule would not simply mark a return to a time when tax burdens were higher on people with high incomes. It would entail enacting a new form of tax policy not used in other major countries and not used for any sustained period in the United States. It is very cavalier to contend that such a policy would not discourage investment."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

2012-01-28T17:58:00.001-08:00

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "Second, the rule would also make the United States a significant outlier. Preferential treatment for capital gains isn’t an idea that the Republican congress invented in the 1990s. It has been a feature of the United States tax code for more than eight decades and is also present in substantially every other advanced country’s tax code."

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What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes

2012-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

What's Wrong With the Buffett Rule - Forbes: "A corporation deducts interest payments before calculating its taxable income, and then an individual owner of corporate debt pays tax on interest payments at ordinary income rates. On the other hand, a corporation pays tax on profits after interest expense. These after-tax profits are either distributed to shareholders, who pay tax on the dividends; or they are retained, in which case the stock price rises and shareholders pay tax on capital gains.

Because interest is taxed only once and profits are taxed twice, corporations take on more debt than they would in absence of the tax distortion. The distortion is mitigated by the fact that dividends and capital gains are taxed at lower rates than interest income. Because the Buffett Rule would raise capital gains and dividend tax rates and, in many cases, lower the effective tax rate on interest, corporations would face even more incentive to overleverage themselves."

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Very good sentences — Marginal Revolution

2012-01-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

Very good sentences — Marginal Revolution: "There is an irony here: one of the criticisms of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is that private equity firms put unhealthy amounts of leverage on the firms they acquire in order to exploit the favorable tax treatment of debt. The Buffett Rule would make that strategy even more attractive."

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Review & Outlook: Professor Gingrich's Ethics - WSJ.com

2012-01-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Review & Outlook: Professor Gingrich's Ethics - WSJ.com: "The fairer rap on Mr. Gingrich is that his management style was chaotic and eventually lost the confidence of his deputies and backbenchers, which is true."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "I’m learning, more and more, that political perceptions have a great deal to do with style. If you slash and shout, many people think of you as “conservative” or “right-wing.” If you say right-wing things in a calm, polite way, you may be seen as a moderate."

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Fading Gingrich attacks Romney in ad - Yahoo! News

2012-01-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

Fading Gingrich attacks Romney in ad - Yahoo! News: "MIAMI (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary."

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Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com

2012-01-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com: "In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?""

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Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com

2012-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Sixteen Concerned Scientists: No Need to Panic About Global Warming - WSJ.com: "The fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant. CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled at high concentrations by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere's life cycle. "

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-27T13:49:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "What is relevant is Gingrich’s repeated the claim: “I worked with Ronald Reagan in the ’80s to do x, y, and z, including to bring down the communist empire.”

Well, that is preposterous. First of all, foreign policy is presidential. The Congress has almost no say. If it has any, it’s the Senate. It’s not the House. If it’s in the House, which has almost no say, it would be the majority party. Gingrich was a member of the minority party in the House all through the Reagan years, which has nothing to say about almost anything. He wasn’t even in the leadership. He had no role whatsoever in the destruction of the Soviet Union. That was done by Reagan, Jeane Kirkpatrick, George Schultz, Margaret Thatcher, the Pope, Helmut Kohl, Andrei Sakharov, and others. Newt is not on the list. And the fact he keeps saying this is a… delusional sign, a sign of grandiosity."

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Gingrich Campaign: Debate Audience Stacked For Romney - Andrew Joseph - NationalJournal.com

2012-01-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

Gingrich Campaign: Debate Audience Stacked For Romney - Andrew Joseph - NationalJournal.com: "Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich rode a strong performance and crowd enthusiasm at a debate in South Carolina to victory in that state’s primary, but the crowds at two debates in Florida this week haven’t been as wild for Gingrich. Now his campaign is claiming that rival Mitt Romney’s campaign stacked the audience at Thursday’s debate with its supporters to shift the energy toward Romney, the Huffington Post reported."

If Romney did this, then I'm impressed. What a brilliant move.

Romney Should Be Proud - Mona Charen - National Review Online

2012-01-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Romney Should Be Proud - Mona Charen - National Review Online: "It’s as predictable as vultures at a carcass — when a wealthy Republican is running for office, the press will make his wealth a handicap. Recall that when George H. W. Bush was running in 1988, he was derided as “preppy.” George W. Bush was the undeserving scion of the ruling class, we were told, never mind that he had succeeded in business on his own. Though John McCain had been a fixture on the national stage since 1980, no one had paid much attention to his wealth until he was the Republican nominee, at which point his many houses suddenly became a matter of profound national importance.

Democrats, of course, are permitted to be rich without fear of undue scrutiny. John F. Kennedy was wealthier than Mitt Romney, or he would have been had he lived to collect his inheritance. Lyndon B. Johnson was born poor and died very rich. He didn’t earn his money in the private sector. He used political influence to first purchase and then maintain monopolistic radio licenses in his wife’s name."

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Jaltcoh: Live-blogging the last Republican presidential debate before the Florida primary

2012-01-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

Jaltcoh: Live-blogging the last Republican presidential debate before the Florida primary: "8:58 - Romney says that if he were still working in business and someone made a proposal like Gingrich's space program, he'd say: "You're fired." "

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "Meanwhile Newt clearly came in winging it without a plan to turn things around. I think when his attempt to turn the tables on Wolf fizzled it hurt him politically and drained him psychologically. He finished well, but sagged for a long time."

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Hmmmm. Trick didn't work twice.

The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-26T23:04:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "The final “debate” (which wasn’t) before next Tuesday’s Florida primary was an argument for why these circuses should be totally restructured and Republican candidates no longer do them in their current format. The big media care only about diminishing Republicans and anything that would prevent President Obama from being reelected"

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Newt’s Worst Night - By Rich Lowry - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

Newt’s Worst Night - By Rich Lowry - The Corner - National Review Online: " For the first time perhaps ever, Romney effectively showed righteous indignation (unfortunately for me, since I have a column tomorrow saying he isn’t quite capable of it)."

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Instapundit

2012-01-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

Instapundit: "That’s right; Reuters wrote that Rubio voted against Obamacare, but, as with Sotomayer’s nomination, he wasn’t in the Senate yet. This kind of journalistic incompetence is stunning. How can any reporter–here, David Adams of Reuters–write that Rubio voted a certain way, without even checking to make sure he was in office at the time?"

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Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream - HUMAN EVENTS

2012-01-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream - HUMAN EVENTS: "It is beyond journalistic malpractice for media outlets showcasing the bitter and lying Johnson to neglect to mention that he was the union president who led the strike that forced Ampad to close the plant.

And yet The New York Times, MSNBC and others who have publicized Johnson's sob story regularly refuse to convey that crucial fact. This would be as if a judge excluded the fact that the defense's principal witness is the defendant's mother."

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Althouse

2012-01-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

Althouse: "ALSO: Amazingly unbelievable assertion: "I'm a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: The government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves and no more.""

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Newt Gingrich Judges You

2012-01-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich Judges You: "“And that is why the Waffle Fry is in every way superior to the socialist ‘French’ Fry.”"

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Opinion: Mitt Romney is the Not-Bad Candidate in a Sea of Terrible Ones - WNYC

2012-01-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Opinion: Mitt Romney is the Not-Bad Candidate in a Sea of Terrible Ones - WNYC: "In a perfect world, we'd have a perfect candidate. Or a good candidate. Or a not-terrible candidate. But it is not a perfect world so we are left with Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul."

I pretty much agree with everything in this article.

Romney’s time to rally himself against Gingrich - The Washington Post

2012-01-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

Romney’s time to rally himself against Gingrich - The Washington Post: "And many “values voters” who consider Mormonism somehow suspect seem to regard it as not very important, no more important than Gingrich’s serial monogamy, and less important than Romney’s largest problem, which is, remarkably, his resume."

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Gingrich Account of First Divorce Disputed by Aides, Documents - Bloomberg

2012-01-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

Gingrich Account of First Divorce Disputed by Aides, Documents - Bloomberg: "Crews, now living in Jonesboro, Georgia, said she was stunned to see recent media accounts in which the Gingrich campaign claimed it was his first wife who sought the divorce.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she said. “It’s just about the biggest mistake they could make to say these things because they are so easy to check up on.”
As for whether she’ll vote for her former boss, Crews said: “I would prefer that the Republicans nominate someone else.”"

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "One other reason I’m inclined to root for Newt is that he just makes for such a great villain. His narcissism, grandiosity and megalomania have all the makings of a bombastic antagonist, perhaps in the mold of someone like Drax from Moonraker. Even his name, “Newt” lends itself to this narrative (a salamander?) I could easily see him as one of the Alien leaders from V — the original miniseries (1983 version, not the crappy remake.)"

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Mitt Romney releases tax returns - The Washington Post

2012-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney releases tax returns - The Washington Post: "The couple gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney’s family has for generations been among the Mormon Church’s most prominent members."

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No ‘Sachs Appeal’ | Hoover Institution

2012-01-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

No ‘Sachs Appeal’ | Hoover Institution: "In this essay, I do not want to defend the Paul candidacy. Candidates all take many positions, and I have little sympathy for what I regard as the dangerous isolationism of Paul’s foreign policy, for his relative silence on the vital issue of free trade, and for his quixotic effort to abolish the Federal Reserve (which stands in need of extensive reform) in favor of a return to a gold standard."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: ". His Al Gore like inability to break through his android shell is really grating on me. It’s unfair, of course. I think Romney’s an honest, smart and decent man who would probably make a fine president. As I’ve been writing for a very long time, Romney has an authentic inauthenticity problem. In other words, he seems like he’s faking things even when he’s not. He may take positions he doesn’t hold in his heart, but all politicians do that. The problem is that the vast majority of the time he’s no more passionate or convincing about the positions he almost surely does hold in his heart. "

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Essay;Blizzard of Lies - Page 2 - New York Times

2012-01-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

Essay;Blizzard of Lies - Page 2 - New York Times: "By concealing the Madison billing records two days beyond the statute of limitations, Hillary evaded a civil suit by bamboozled bank regulators."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "South Carolina, where Fort Sumter stands as an enduring monument to not quite thinking things through, has gone and done something hot-headed again. Let’s hope this time it won’t result in four more years of a destructive presidency. But it could. "

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Drudge Screwed Up ABC's Plans for the Marianne Gingrich Interview - The Rush Limbaugh Show

2012-01-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

Drudge Screwed Up ABC's Plans for the Marianne Gingrich Interview - The Rush Limbaugh Show: "Now, if Newt can hold onto enough of the Republican base, he might take 20% of the Democrat vote with this."

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Scandalous Photos Reveal Grover Norquist Carried On Secret Affair With Taxes For Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

2012-01-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

Scandalous Photos Reveal Grover Norquist Carried On Secret Affair With Taxes For Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "WASHINGTON—In a scandal that strikes at the very heart of the American anti-tax movement, a series of incriminating photos surfaced online Thursday, revealing that, for decades, leading Republican power broker Grover Norquist has secretly engaged in a romantic affair with taxes."

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uExpress.com: Maggie Gallagher by Maggie Gallagher -- (11/30/2011) MITT ROMNEY NEVER FLIP-FLOPPED ON MARRIAGE

2012-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

uExpress.com: Maggie Gallagher by Maggie Gallagher -- (11/30/2011) MITT ROMNEY NEVER FLIP-FLOPPED ON MARRIAGE: "I'm not going to defend Romney from the charge that he has changed his mind -- on abortion he clearly has.

But I do want to take up the one issue I know the most about: same-sex marriage.

Let's compare Romney's and Obama's records of constancy on this one issue, the hot button of all button issues in American politics today."

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College Majors That Are Useless - Yahoo! Education

2012-01-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

College Majors That Are Useless - Yahoo! Education: ""It's true that farms are becoming more efficient now and so there is less of a need for farm managers," he says. That means less jobs. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor projects 64,000 fewer jobs in this field over the next seven years."

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From the Yearbook to the White House: The 2012 Republicans in High School - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic

2012-01-19T10:12:00.000-08:00

From the Yearbook to the White House: The 2012 Republicans in High School - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic: "Awards/Activities: Cross Country, Hockey, Glee Club, Pre-med Club, Church Cabinet, The Forum, Pep Club, Blue Key Club, American Field Service, World Affairs Seminar, Speculator’s Club, Homecoming Committee Chairmen, Assistant Editor of the yearbook, Inter-house council representative"

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Mitt Romney Sent Millions to Mormon Church - ABC News

2012-01-18T23:21:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney Sent Millions to Mormon Church - ABC News: "Romney has always been a major donor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which requires that members "tithe," or give 10 percent of their income to the church. His family charity, called the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past five years, including $1.8 million in 2008 and $600,000 in 2009. But because Romney, whose fortune has been estimated at $250 million, has never released his personal tax returns, the full extent of his giving has never been public."

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Dating Disaster: My Date With A (Former) Suicide Girl | YourTango

2012-01-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

Dating Disaster: My Date With A (Former) Suicide Girl | YourTango: "Despite being able to hold down perfectly normal interactions for weeks online and over the phone, she was now more inaccessible than an unwed Mormon's privates (thanks, I'll be here all week)."

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Find Result - 141 P.3d 589

2012-01-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

Find Result - 141 P.3d 589:
“There is commercial utility to allowing persons to hug before they marry.”

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Questions Republican Candidates Need to Answer: Ramesh Ponnuru - Bloomberg

2012-01-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Questions Republican Candidates Need to Answer: Ramesh Ponnuru - Bloomberg: "9. Congressman Paul, you’ve said that the U.S. has undergone a coup and that the Central Intelligence Agency (0112917D) now “runs everything.” If that’s true, is there any way that the CIA will allow you to win the presidency?
10. A follow-up: How can we be sure that you, Congressman Paul, are not a CIA agent under deep cover?"

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Presidential Campaigning, Huntsman Style - By Andrew Cline - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Presidential Campaigning, Huntsman Style - By Andrew Cline - The Corner - National Review Online: "Jon Huntsman ended his presidential campaign exactly as he began it: as a pompous, sermonizing mannequin.

To say that Huntsman was Mitt Romney without the flair would be unfair — to Mitt Romney. Despite their surface similarities, Romney and Huntsman were enormously different candidates. Huntsman lacked all of Romney’s great strengths — a reason for running, a coherent message for the voters, a plan for winning, and the discipline, organization, and killer instinct necessary to defeat his opponents. Huntsman brought two visible attributes to the table: condescension and the need for adulation."

Is a Second Language a Liability? - By John J. Pitney, Jr. - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Is a Second Language a Liability? - By John J. Pitney, Jr. - The Corner - National Review Online: "It’s good for candidates to know other languages. Because so many issues involve statistics, it’s also good for them to know calculus. But it would be strange if a candidate routinely interrupted speeches to solve differential equations. People would think that the candidate was just showing off."

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Huntsman’s (Not So Distant) Past Attacks on Romney - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

Huntsman’s (Not So Distant) Past Attacks on Romney - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online: "Jon Huntsman is about to endorse Mitt Romney. But he hasn’t always been so warm-and-fuzzy toward Romney. Huntsman, who endorsed John McCain in 2008, waged a relentless campaign against Romney for most of this cycle."

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Congress logs most futile legislative year on record - Washington Times

2012-01-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

Congress logs most futile legislative year on record - Washington Times: "It’s official: Congress ended its least-productive year in modern history after passing 80 bills — fewer than during any other session since year-end records began being kept in 1947."

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A mere 80!

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

2012-01-15T00:08:00.000-08:00

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "Someone with business experience would never announce a mortgage loan modification program and expect it to be implemented in a matter of weeks (remember, a mortgage is a legal document that is somewhat antiquated with procedures that differ by state and local jurisdiction; remember that, prior to 2008, mortgage servicers had very few staff with any experience at all in loan modification; remember that when you introduce entirely new parameters into a highly computerized business process, somebody has to determine which systems are impacted, gather requirements, redesign databases, develop logic to protect against data input errors, develop a test plan,...). Someone with business experience would not enact a program that fines companies for failing to use a fuel that does not yet exist. Someone with business experience, I dare say, would understand that chaotic organization has consequences.

I am not saying that business experien"

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A Democrat Reaches Across the Aisle - Michael Barone - National Review Online

2012-01-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

A Democrat Reaches Across the Aisle - Michael Barone - National Review Online: "Ryan-Wyden differs from the Medicare plan Ryan presented last spring by offering the option of keeping the current Medicare system. That is also a feature of the Medicare proposals of candidates Romney and Gingrich.

Wyden, with a solidly liberal voting record, may seem to be an unlikely partner in this enterprise. But he has consistently favored adding elements of market competition to our health-care system."

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It Isn’t Just the Mandate - Mona Charen - National Review Online

2012-01-14T20:26:00.000-08:00

It Isn’t Just the Mandate - Mona Charen - National Review Online: "IPAB is a new thing in American government. Unlike most other boards and commissions, the panel’s 15 members (appointed by the president and approved by the Senate) need not be bipartisan. Also unlike other boards, commissions, and federal agencies, the IPAB’s decisions are virtually unreviewable. IPAB doesn’t have to adhere to the notice and comment rules of federal agencies, which permit citizens to respond to proposed rule-makings. IPAB dictates automatically become law unless Congress itself intervenes. Ah, but they’ve thought of that and made it virtually impossible. The law prescribes that Congress has a limited period of time in which it can modify IPAB rulings and then it must do so by a three-fifths majority. Even ratifying treaties and proposing amendments to the Constitution require only two-thirds majorities. As for the courts, forget it. The judiciary is forbidden to review IPAB decisions."

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The Volokh Conspiracy » The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal

2012-01-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Volokh Conspiracy » The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal: "Currently, there are six major departments and agencies that focus primarily on business and trade in the federal government. The six are: U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency."

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Why won’t Romney show his money trail? - The Washington Post

2012-01-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Why won’t Romney show his money trail? - The Washington Post: "Tax returns offer information not available on the financial disclosure forms that are legally required of candidates, including their charitable deductions and use of tax shelters."

I wonder if he doesn't want either 1. Mormon's to see that he's not a full tithe payer (or pays on net!) or, more likely, 2. Non-Mormons to see that he is a full tithe payer.

Are You There Reader?

2012-01-12T13:23:00.001-08:00

Kind of weird that two articles, posted on the same day at Slate, both discuss one particular book.

Cannon Street All Stars, reminding America how far we’ve come - The Washington Post

2012-01-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Cannon Street All Stars, reminding America how far we’ve come - The Washington Post: "It speaks well of the nation that, without gentle reminders by people like the men in the blue blazers, it has difficulty remembering the way things were."

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Red wine-heart research slammed with fraud charges

2012-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Red wine-heart research slammed with fraud charges: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A University of Connecticut researcher who studied the link between aging and a substance found in red wine has committed more than 100 acts of data fabrication and falsification, the university said Wednesday, throwing much of his work into doubt."

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Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com

2012-01-12T00:18:00.000-08:00

Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com: "Sen. McConnell says that Washington should be smaller, rather than taxes getting bigger. And since some, like President Obama and Mr. Buffett, want to pay higher taxes, Congress made it possible for them to call their own bluff and send in a check. So I look forward to Mr. Buffett matching a healthy batch of checks from those who actually want to pay higher taxes, including Congressional Democrats, the President and the DNC."

Exactly the right response.

'via Blog this'

Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com

2012-01-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com: "Warren Buffett is ready to call Republicans’ tax bluff."

Huh? This sentence is so revealing.

Oregon Supreme Court

2012-01-11T23:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had a very cool and rare opportunity: I got to argue an --admittedly technical--question to the Oregon Supreme Court. You can watch the video here.

Does anyone know a good way I can download this video?

The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "Meanwhile, the single person most responsible for ensuring a Romney primary victory is probably Ron Paul, who has refused to attack Romney in any serious way and who has prevented an alternative to Romney to emerge. Ron Paul is not a member of the conservative establishment, I don’t think. And if he is, I still seriously doubt he’s on any conference calls with Bill Kristol coordinating strategy. But that’s just a hunch."

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Unsolicited Advice: What Would You Tell the Governor?

2012-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Unsolicited Advice: What Would You Tell the Governor?: "Ann Althouse, blogger and UW–Madison law professor: “It must be hard for you going to parties where everybody’s always cornering you telling you what you need to understand.”"

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Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge

2012-01-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge: "Imagine people become more egalitarian, to the point where they heap scorn on the rich and successful. What is the effect on inequality? By the previous logic, the effect is directly counter-productive. The more you scorn rich people, the more people you scare away from high-income professions. The more you scare away, the lower their supply. And the lower their supply, the higher their income!

Lesson: If you really want a materially more equal society, stop beating up on the 1%. Do a complete 180. Smile upon them. Admire them. Praise them. Sing songs about how much good they do for the world. The direct result will be to raise their status. But the indirect result will be to pique the envy of status-conscious people, increasing the competition among the top 1%, and thereby moderating income inequality."

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Ron Paul goes on the attack, steps back into the spotlight at debate - The Hill's Ballot Box

2012-01-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul goes on the attack, steps back into the spotlight at debate - The Hill's Ballot Box: "Those two snapped back, leading to one of the most testy exchanges in the debate, and all frontrunner Mitt Romney had to do was sit back and watch his rivals tear each other down.

Paul, who is second in New Hampshire polls, got plenty of air time to make his attacks and all of the candidates involved in the exchanges found themselves playing defense against each other."

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Hunstman’s New Tactic - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

Hunstman’s New Tactic - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online: "Tell Republicans they’re not sane."

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Bastiat's Insight on Government Inaction, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

2012-01-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

Bastiat's Insight on Government Inaction, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "But, by an inference as false as it is unjust, do you know what the economists are now accused of? When we oppose subsidies, we are charged with opposing the very thing that it was proposed to subsidize and of being the enemies of all kinds of activity, because we want these activities to be voluntary and to seek their proper reward in themselves. Thus, if we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in religious matters, we are atheists. If we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in education, then we hate enlightenment. If we say that the state should not give, by taxation, an artificial value to land or to some branch of industry, then we are the enemies of property and of labor. If we think that the state should not subsidize artists, we are barbarians who judge the arts useless."

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An Imperial Sham - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online

2012-01-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

An Imperial Sham - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online: "In 2007, the Democrats controlling the Senate were fed up with George W. Bush’s recess appointments. Majority Leader Reid, feigning great sadness over the sorry state of our republic, resorted to the extraordinary tactic of keeping the Senate in pro-forma session so as to prevent the imperial Bush from doing an end-run around the confirmation process. The move was celebrated by liberal commentators as a brave and necessary assertion of congressional power and was supported by then-senator Barack Obama."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

The Corner - National Review Online: "Also, I find her rather hot, which is more than I can say about Ron Paul or Newt, or even Jon Huntsman when he does that open-necked shirt thing."

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EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

2012-01-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "What about the "losers"? Bite your tongue. When you call lower-income people "losers," you're falsely assuming that we're all racing for the same finish line: material success. But to a large extent, lower-income people are just racing for other finish lines. Leftist outrage over income inequality is therefore deeply misguided. To a large extent, incomes differ because priorities differ. And if the poor don't consider their lack of riches a big deal, why should anyone else?"

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Introduction

2012-01-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

Introduction : " The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians."

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Althouse

2011-12-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

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

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

2011-12-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

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."

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

2011-12-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

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."

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

2011-12-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

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.""

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

2011-12-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

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."

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The Sidney Awards, Part I - NYTimes.com

2011-12-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

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."

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

2011-12-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

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"

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

2011-12-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

'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."

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

2011-12-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

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.”"

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

2011-12-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

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."

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Jon Huntsman: The Outsider - Magazine - Vogue

2011-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

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"

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

2011-12-15T17:32:00.000-08:00

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!”"

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

2011-12-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

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."

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EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

2011-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

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?"

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

2011-12-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

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."

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'Brokeback Iceberg' penguin finds female mate - Telegraph

2011-12-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

'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."

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

2011-12-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

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!"

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The Corner - National Review Online

2011-12-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

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

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

2011-12-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

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. "

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

2011-12-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

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."

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The Corner - National Review Online

2011-12-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

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."

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TheMoneyIllusion » Two anecdotes and a complaint.

2011-12-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

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?"

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