This ability of people who talk completely out of their ass to land gigs advising people on subjects about which they know nothing is astounding. A generation ago, it was ritual child abuse. Now it’s terrorism.
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While I think Radley Balko has a point that the harsh (but not torturous) treatment of Bradley Manning is because he exposed public officials as petty and crude, I suspect the larger factor is that Manning is in military confinement. They tend to take a much harsher view of those who betray trust. And they act accordingly.
Yet more on why free trade is awesome. The telling fact: ipad’s supposedly add to our trade deficit by being manufactured overseas. But that $6.50 of trade “deficit” enables $178 of prosperity in this country.
The New York Times twists itself into pretzels trying to sustain their liberal ideology.
I don’t think the rise in minimum wage is the reason low-wage jobs have disappeared. But it hasn’t helped.
Barack Obama, Defender of Science, is forbidding research into whether medical marijuana works. For the children!
Ken Jennings on his defeat at the hands of Watson.
I wish I’d known these things when I was single. It’s amazing how much of our habits, preference and lives are defined by evolution and our animal nature.
With research budgets hurting, UCSF decides to spend $37 million on … bullshit.
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When your a libertarian, everyone hates you. It’s the price paid for being right all the time.
WTF? Sarah Palin, being one of the few Republicans to outright dismiss the “Obama is a muslim Kenyan” bullshit, has to get back with the crazy by bashing Michele Obama over … breastfeeding. Why? Opining on social issues is something I’m fine with first ladies doing.
The racial smears against black conservatives continue.
To be fair, Mrs. Clinton is not the only one to engage in this sort of rank hypocrisy. Bush did it too with his “free speech zones”.
Another dispatch from Lenore Skenazy on the over-protection of kids.
A UVA study says drunk driving fatalities among college kids are off by a factor of 10. Guess which figure will be cited by the media?
An interesting look at how X-rated became synonymous with porn. Our inability to find a workable “adult” movie rating is shameful. Eyes Wide Shut, to cite one example, should not have been edited to get an R. It should have been released as NC-17.
Cracked has your movie prequels and your bad logos. The latter reminds me of one of the fundamental indicators of a pending recession: when businesses are changing names and logos, a recession is nigh. Because, apparently, they don’t have anything else to spend their money on. This was primary harbinger of the 2001 recession.
This post argues that forcing people to buy car insurance the way we do is like refusing to let people by pizza by the slice. Of course, with healthcare, we just passed a bill forcing people to buy pizza by the hogshead.
Residual casualties of the 80’s/90’s sex abuse hysteria. I defy anyone to read it and not get enraged. Somehow I doubt that Kasich will find the courage to end his absurdity. I can think of very few governors — John Slaton comes to mind — who have that kind of courage.
Andrew Breitbart is getting sued over his sliming of Shirley Sherrod. Good for her.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ancient people were much more clever than they are given credit for. This is why “aliens built the pyramids” and similar conspiracy theories enrage me. It’s insulting to the clever people who lived in the past and arrogant by the people who live in the present.
Just some facts about how effective civilian trials of terrorists are.
You’re Full of It Watch: Neal Boortz. In one blog post, he rants that the deficit commission does not cut spending and then blasts them for controlling Medicare spending, even claiming Palin’s “death panels” comments is now justified.
El Paso, sisters city of the most violent city in Mexico, is the safest city in America. The reason? El Paso’s cops aren’t wholly-owned subsidiaries of the drug cartels.
McArdle makes the case for eliminating the corporate income tax. She’s right, but there’s no chance it would happen while Democrats (and some Republicans) still exist. Too easy to demagogue.
View of a real estate market. The Big Picture is such a wonderful website.
Volcano power. I do worry, however, about the potential for a man-made natural disaster.
The net worth of our Presidents. I find the historical trends fascinating. Basically, they were all rich until the mid-19th century, then became rich again in the mid-20th.
Great news. The Maryland cyclist who recorded a cop has been vindicated. Photography is not a crime.
Once again, Neal Boortz proves he can’t do the math on the Fair Tax. If wages go up, so do prices, Neal. And that is the most likely outcome of implementing the Fair Tax.
You’re Full of Shit Watch: Dahlia Lithwick. This one particularly gets my goat because all branches of government are supposed to defend our rights. Congress can not pass, the President can not execute and the Courts must not convict on laws that violate the Constitution. Pretty simple, no? No? I guess not.
More on Elizabeth Warren’s research. Just to be clear: I don’t think her studies are deliberately misleading; I just think they’re flawed. But that doesn’t matter because she’s very popular among Democrats. And her research reinforces their views.
I love the idea of Dan Savage’s it gets better project to encourage gay teens to survive their teenage years. But I agree with McArdle; this should be a universal meme. Teenage years are tough for everyone (although obviously worse for gay teens in oppressive environments). They should all be told it gets better. I was about as miserable as a well-off white kid can get as a teenager. But I’m happy now.
I’ve been sitting on this for a while, trying to think of something profound to say. But there really isn’t anything to add. By any standard, the last decade was the best in human history. But no one can believe this because we have a media and a populace always focused on the negative.
A wonderful review of the iphone … from a blind man.
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Great. Dim-bulb legislators in my state want to ban research on synthetic cannaboids. Nice. Better dead than high, I guess.
I’m not going to mince words: Richard Blumenthal is scum. His record is that of an attention-grabbing attorney who sees no limit to the power of the state and has tried to leverage his legal career into a political one. Earlier this year, like most moral crusaders, he was caught lying about his past. Now he has managed to bully Craiglist into sending adult services back underground beneath the reach of the law. Thanks goodness the Village Voice won’t be bullied. I never thought I’d be pulling for one of the founders of WWF to win an election; but that’s what I’m doing. This man can not be given any more power.
While this is about politics, I mainly link to it for the inspiring story of Sam Meas, running for Congress three decades after his family was butcher by the Khmer Rouge.
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Why do I like Anne Applebaum, apart from her amazing book Gulag? Because she’s admitting she was wrong on Iraq. I think half the problems in this country would go away if people could admit when they’re wrong.
Daily Kos has a fit because the deficit commission is likely to recommend “cuts” to Social Security (see previous postings on the nature of these “cuts”). The idea, here, however, is supposed to be compromise. If we get spending cuts, I’ll acquiesce to tax hikes.
How can illegal immigration be going down? Obama is turning this place into a welfare state and not enforcing the border, right? Shouldn’t that be drawing more of them in, complete with anchor babies?
I wonder if the people who hate big time CEO’s will go after big time law firms.
In defense of dating coaches. I could have used one back in college.
This is why I sometimes think Neal Boortz has a point: that every year, we should execute at least one HOA board.
America’s Got Talent is not as good as the British version. But holy crap!
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Whoda thunk it? Politicians don’t like being called out on their lies. Case in point? The stimulus.
So is the Right Wing going to go after this Ground Zero hate-monger?
The Democratic Congress forces us to include FM tech on our phones so that the NAB can make a few hundred million. And people wonder why our economy is stalled. It’s a thousand thing just like this.
