Chicken overtakes beef as the meat of choice on America's dinner tables

Chicken overtakes beef as the meat of choice on America's dinner tables | Mail Online:
"While the per capita consumption of beef has dropped from a peak of 90lbs per capita in the 1970s to 50 lbs in 2012, chicken consumption has gone the other way rising from under 20 lbs in 1960 to about 55 lbs in 2012. "

The Problems of Women in Combat - From a Female Combat Vet

The Problems of Women in Combat - From a Female Combat Vet:
"Men and women are different, but those pushing women into combat don’t want to admit that truth.
They huff and puff about how women can do whatever men can do, but it just ain’t so.
We’re built differently, and it doesn’t matter that one particular woman could best one particular man.
The best woman is still no match for the best man, and most of the men she’d be fireman-carrying off the battlefield will be at least 100 lbs heavier than her with their gear on."

Here are 89 Life Hacks That Will Make Your New Year So Much Better

Here are 89 Life Hacks That Will Make Your New Year So Much Better:

Outrage at JFK as Customs men smash a musician’s instruments:

Outrage at JFK as Customs men smash a musician’s instruments

December 31, 2013 by Norman Lebrecht 150 Comments

Boujemaa Razgui, a flute virtuoso who lives in New York and works with many US ensembles, was returning to base over the holiday when Customs officials at Kennedy Airport asked to see his instruments.

Bourjemaa carries a variety of flutes of varying ethnicity, each made by himself over years for specific types of ancient and modern performance. He is a regular guest with the diverse and enterprising Boston Camerata.

At JFK, the officials removed and smashed each and every one of his instruments. 
No reason was given.

UPDATE: We have just managed to reach Boudemaa by phone. His ordeal may have been worse than described above. Report here. And in a further email, Boujemaa describes the joy his instruments brought to different communities across North America. Read here.

Industry, not environmentalists, killed traditional bulbs

Industry, not environmentalists, killed traditional bulbs | WashingtonExaminer.com

People often assume green regulations like this represent the triumph of environmental activists trying to save the plant. 

That’s rarely the case, and it wasn't here. 

Light bulb manufacturers whole-heartedly supported the efficiency standards. General Electric, Sylvania and Philips — the three companies that dominated the bulb industry — all backed the 2007 rule, while opposing proposals to explicitly outlaw incandescent technology (thus leaving the door open for high-efficiency incandescents).

This wasn't a case of an industry getting on board with an inevitable regulation in order to tweak it. 
The lighting industry was the main reason the legislation was moving. 

As the New York Times reported in 2011, “Philips formed a coalition with environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council to push for higher standards.”

Industry support for the regulations struck lawmakers and journalists as a ringing endorsement of the regulations. Republican Congressmen Fred Upton, who has since flip-flopped and attacked the regulations, cosponsored the light bulb provision in 2007. His excuse, according to conservatives I spoke to: It couldn't be that bad if the industry supported it.

Liberals used this very argument to ridicule Republicans' 2011 efforts to repeal the law. Democratic congressman Steny Hoyer defended the rule by saying, “The standards are supported by the lightbulb industry.”

Joe Romm at the Center for American Progress pinned repeal efforts on the “extremist Tea Party wing of the party, which opposes all government standards, even ones that the lightbulb industry itself wants.”

That “even” signifies that the industry’s support indicates consensus. 
Instead, it signifies how consumers lose.

What Russian terrorists hope to accomplish ahead of Sochi Olympics

What Russian terrorists hope to accomplish ahead of Sochi Olympics | Fox News

The tactics, the choice of targets, and the size of the bombs (more than 20 pounds of TNT) suggest multiple objectives: to kill as many Russians as possible, to destroy New Year’s cheer, and to disrupt President Vladimir Putin’s flagship project—the Sochi Olympics.

Putin’s reaction has been muted thus far. He flew to the Russian Pacific Far East to celebrate the New Year with the victims of unprecedented floods there. He mentioned the attacks in his New Year address.

He also ordered Russian law enforcement agencies to tighten security measures.  

But he failed to address the nation on national TV immediately after the bombings, nor did he announce national days of mourning.

Volgograd has become a prime terrorist target in Russia. The bombings marked the sixth time Islamists have attacked the city. 

A few years ago, female suicide bombers blew up two passenger planes flying from Moscow to Volgograd. 

This past August, terrorists targeted police headquarters, but failed to execute the attack. On October 21, a female suicide bomber from Dagestan detonated her explosives in a passenger bus, killing five and injuring some 30 more.

Dagestan has become the epicenter of Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. The Russians have been unable to fully identify and neutralize the armed Salafi underground there. The political and religious struggle between traditional Caucasus Sufi Islam and the Wahhabi extremism imported from the Middle East continues, and the local elites and their Russian bosses do not know what to do.

A major player there is the Caucasus Emirate, a Salafi-Wahhabi terrorist organization with connections to al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is headed by Doku Umarov’s, a man with a price on his head, courtesy of the UN and the U.S.  

Earlier this year Umarov declared that his forces would do everything possible to derail the Sochi games. In July, he cancelled the moratorium on strikes on Russian civilian targets he introduced in winter 2012. Now he urges his followers to attack the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which lies close to the North Caucasus.

In the run up to the Olympics, Russian authorities tried to assure the public that their war against terrorism is succeeding. Yesterday’s attacks demonstrate that it is not. The separatists in the North Caucasus understand that they need to strike now, when the world's attention is riveted on Sochi.

The terrorists hope their attacks will serve multiple purposes. They aim to intimidate the Russians, gain support from fellow Moslems in the Caucasus, curry favor with Syrian extremists and their radical sponsors, and scare away tourists and foreign dignitaries.

Russia’s leaders see terrorism as an unavoidable evil. They are collecting saliva from women in North Caucasus, so that the security services can use DNA analysis to identify bombers. It is a tacit admission that future attacks are inevitable.

Meanwhile, the region’s security crisis and inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflict may have irreversibly shattered civic peace in Russia. Slavic and Christian Orthodox extremism has risen in response to expanding Salafi/Wahhabi influence and violence.

Increasingly in Russia, Muslims—especially Muslim youth—are seen and treated as aliens.  The North Caucasus are viewed as a kind of “internal abroad.”  Instead of integrating Muslims into Russian culture and trying to boost tolerance and acceptance of Muslims among ethnic Russians, Moscow has kept pushing Muslims away—and into the hands of terrorist recruiters.

Moscow has never developed, much less implemented a strategy to end the Caucasus insurgency.  Instead, it has delegated responsibility for solving the problem to corrupt and authoritarian leaders like Chechnya President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Dog just caught the car----Pot Opponents Predict 'Hogwild' Colorado Trainwreck

Pot Opponents Predict 'Hogwild' Colorado Trainwreck - US News and World Report:
"Sabet predicts marijuana shops will attempt to create addicts to bolster their bottom line.

"The only way to make money is from addiction," he said, comparing future marijuana sales tactics to casinos luring in gamblers. "They have to produce addiction in order to increase their profits and in order to do that they need to start young.""

After Waging Campaign Of Violence & Terror, Three Union Thugs Plead Guilty To Extortion

After Waging Campaign Of Violence & Terror, Three Union Thugs Plead Guilty To Extortion | RedState:
"While the case is ongoing, the charges against the men who pled guilty included a myriad of criminal acts, including violence, sabotage, threats, intimidation and extortion against their victims–all of whom were non-union contractors or their employees.



BUFFALO, NY—The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that three members of Local 17 of the International Union of Operating Engineers pleaded guilty before United States District Judge William M. Skretny to violations of the federal Hobbs Act Extortion statute and agreed to testify in the upcoming trial of their seven co-defendants."

History for January 2 - Dang me, Damn him, Good Life, Money Life, No gas, No Gas

History for January 2 - On-This-Day.com

Birth anniversary Roger Miller (1936-92).

Happy Birthday! Jim Bakker







1953 - "The Life of Riley" debuted on NBC-TV.

1965 - "Broadway" Joe Namath signed the richest rookie contract ($400,000) in the history of pro football.










1968 - Fidel Castro announced petroleum and sugar rationing in Cuba.







1974 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon signed a bill requiring all states to lower the maximum speed limit to 55 MPH. The law was intended to conserve gasoline supplies during an embargo imposed by Arab oil-producing countries. Federal speed limits were abolished in 1995. 

2013 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year

2013 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year | Zero Hedge

The fifth anniversary of Zero Hedge is just around the corner, and so, for the fifth year in a row we continue our tradition of summarizing what you, our readers, found to be the most relevant, exciting, and actionable news of the year, determined objectively by the number of page views. 

Those eager for a brief stroll down memory lane of prior years can do so at their leisure, by going back in time to our top articles of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. 

For everyone else, without further ado, these are the articles that readers found to be the most popular posts of the past 365 days.

• In 25th place, with just over 100k reads, was the extended profile of the puppetmaster of the biggest geopolitical event of 2013, the false flag-driven Syran conflict which nearly escalated into the world's first YouTube "justified" world war pitching the US-led west against the Russia-led east, the Saudi intelligence chief: Prince Bandar, exposed in "Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War." The war was avoided with a last minute gambit by Putin, which lead to a historic detente between the US and Iran, as well as an unprecedented breakdown in US relations with its long-time middle east allies Saudi Arabia and Israel. Look for the Middle East to make geopolitical headlines in the new year since the underlying issue - Europe's dependence on Gazprom - remains entirely unresolved.

Kick off

Your Favorites: Our Top 10 Stories of 2013 [Michigan Capitol Confidential]

Your Favorites: Our Top 10 Stories of 2013

By MICHIGAN CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL STAFF REPORTS | Jan. 1, 2014

The bankruptcy of the city of Detroit reignited interest in a story from 2012 about the Detroit Water Department employing a horseshoer thanks to a union contract — despite the department having no horses. That was the No. 1 story viewed on the Michigan Capitol Confidential website in 2013.

Among our Top 10 stories viewed by readers online, coverage included a commentary article about why Michigan should cut subsidies for higher education, two stories about state teacher compensation and an article about educators from across Michigan suing the MEA and their local unions to protect right-to-work rights.

In the past year, Michigan Capitol Confidential stories have been featured on virtually every major news source in Michigan while appearing nationally in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, the Huffington Post, Instapundit, National Review, Reason, Carpe Diem, Hot Air and many other websites, TV stations and radio programs.

Below are the Top 10 items for views between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.

1. No Horses, But Detroit Water Department Employs 'Horseshoer'
2. Five Reasons The Government Shouldn't Subsidize Higher Education
3. Huffington Post Gets Charter Study Wrong
4. Michigan Teachers Rank No. 2 For Salary
5. Bill Would Prohibit Asset Forfeiture In Michigan Without Criminal Conviction
6. Charter School Superintendent Makes Over $339K a Year
7. Minimum Wage Increase: A Serious Effort or Just Rhetoric?
8. Average Michigan Teacher Salaries Climb
9. Teachers Sue MEA To Escape Union
10. MSU English Professor Threatens Students In Anti-Republican Rant

They don't even "give you everything". They just "take everything"-----L.A. starts 2014 with its new plastic-bag ban

L.A. starts 2014 with its new plastic-bag ban - latimes.com:
"For Los Angeles residents, the perfect holiday gift this year might have been a reusable grocery bag.
On Wednesday, large grocery stores will be prohibited by law from providing free plastic bags.
Shoppers will be required to bring their own bags when stocking up on food and goods, or pay 10 cents per paper bag provided by the grocery store. 
...Nearly 90 cities and counties in the state — including unincorporated Los Angeles County — have passed similar legislation. "

When the press is a poodle

GAFFNEY: When the press is a poodle - Washington Times

This nation’s Founders had a special role in mind for the media in the constitutional arrangements they carefully constructed. It was to provide a fourth source of checks and balances on the potential abuse of power by the three branches of government, by virtue of journalists’ independence and, if assured freedom of the press, their ability to expose and, thereby, to counter overreaching presidents, legislators or courts.

The Framers of our Constitution didn’t reckon on the American media in the age of Obama, however. 

....Finally, as Matt Continetti of The Washington Free Beacon recently observed, the press “pool reporter” selected to cover Vice President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with Chinese leaders was not even a journalist. 
He was Steve Clemons, a Democratic foreign-policy activist.
And it showed in the slanted reporting he provided to the “working press” along for the trip and, through them, to the rest of us.

At a time when Mr. Obama is increasingly engaged in extraconstitutional and unconstitutional behavior, a free press performing the function envisioned for it by the Framers is more necessary than ever.
In its absence, there’s every reason to think that not only will the mainstream media be poodled, but the country will go to the dogs.

Two powerful sentences--Here Comes the ObamaCare Tax Avalanche

Here Comes the ObamaCare Tax Avalanche - AMAC, Inc.:
"Because it is politically vital to hide tax increases from the Sainted Middle Class, much of this burden is hidden as pass-through taxation – you think your premiums are increasing, but it’s really an income redistribution scheme with the tax burden laid on insurance providers, who pass it along to you.

This has the enormous political benefit of diverting public anger over increased premiums against the insurance providers, rather than the government, which is something the former should have considered more carefully before hopping into bed with the latter, visions of mandatory commerce dancing in their heads."

Imagine if we had a Muslim Brotherhood member as president----Obama Admin Asks Judge To Release Radical Leftist Lawyer Lynne Stewart Who Conspired With Jihadist Cleric…

Obama Admin Asks Judge To Release Radical Leftist Lawyer Lynne Stewart Who Conspired With Jihadist Cleric… | Weasel Zippers: "
Lynne “Whiskers” Stewart was convicted of helping the Omar Abdel-Rahman aka “Blind Sheik” communicate with his jihadist followers in Egypt while he was locked up in a U.S. prison."

Pilot captures stunning, bird's-eye photos of icy Lake Michigan shoreline

Pilot captures stunning, bird's-eye photos of icy Lake Michigan shoreline | MLive.com:
"Holland resident Jeff Pett captured two shots of the frozen Lake Michigan shoreline with his iPhone on Saturday, calling it "a beautifully sunny day" that was hard to resist."

"Hope and Change" achieved neither if these.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order. -Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher (1861-1947) 

These 13 Tax Increases Hit in 2013

These 13 Tax Increases Hit in 2013:
"Before you review the list below, put these two on your watch list for 2014:
Obamacare’s individual mandate.
Beginning in 2014, it’s mandatory to purchase health insurance.
If you don’t, you’ll pay a penalty that dramatically increases over time.
It starts at $95 or 1 percent of your income (whichever is greater).
It rises to $325 or 2 percent of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.
Obamacare tax on insurance companies.
If you liked seeing your premiums go up, you’ll love this new tax on health insurers—which they are most likely to pass on to you."

WATCH REPLAY: 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena

WATCH LIVE   REPLAY 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena - latimes.com
The 125th Tournament of Roses Parade kicks off Wednesday at 8 a.m. as Pasadena (PST) celebrates 2014.

Canada’s Top Ten List of America’s Stupidity

PatriotsBillboard | Canada’s Top Ten List of America’s Stupidity:

* The Canadians Appear Smarter Than Some People Give Them Credit For. Lord Help Us Recover From The Damage Done By Our Despot President and His Hatchetmen.                                                                                     

10. Only in America … Could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a plate campaign fund-raising event.

9. Only in America … Could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black. 40+% ofall federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanics!

8. Only in America … Could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

7. Only in America … Can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

6. Only in America … Would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just ‘magically’ become American citizens.

5. Only in America … Could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as “extremists.”

4. Only in America … Could you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

3. Only in America … Could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes(Nike).

2. Only in America … Could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year – for total spending of $7Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money.

1. Only in America … Could the rich people – who pay 86% of all income taxes – be accused of not paying their “fair share” by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all.

Mostly spending money they don't have, restricting businesses they don't own and creating criminals out of law abiding citizens-----40,000 new laws take effect in 2014

And exempting themselves from those laws they prefer not to apply to them, their families or their friends (read: those who've bought an "indulgence").
40,000 new laws take effect in 2014 – The Lead with Jake Tapper - CNN.com Blogs:

"It may have been the least productive year for Congress in history, at least in terms of passing laws – fewer than 60 of which made it through the House and Senate and were signed by President Barack Obama.

Across the country, however, state lawmakers were busy getting more than 40,000 bills passed, ones that tackle everything from drones to food stamp benefits.

In Illinois for example, teenagers will no longer get to use tanning beds without a doctor's note.
If you live in Delaware, visit the shark fin buffet while you can, a new law will make it illegal to own, sale, or distribute the controversial delicacy.
And in California, new laws take effect that will let students take part in school sports, or use bathrooms based on their gender identity, regardless of the gender noted in their birth certificates."

Fast food CEO: How govt regulation is driving us aboard

Fast food CEO: How govt regulation is driving us aboard:
""Under the current U.S. business climate, regulatory and tax restrictions tend to curb otherwise dynamic entrepreneurial energy," Puzder said. "We'd love to see more growth in domestic markets.
Unfortunately, it's easier for our franchisees to open a restaurant in Siberia than in California.""

WeMOG today 1:00-All Welcomed!

Anyone who wants to get the cobwebs off, come ski, hike, or snowshoe.

N. Ottawa Dunes at 1:00, Jan. 1,  2014

Ski conditions are great.  

I checked them out today.

Meet at Coast Guard Park in Ferrysburg, off N. Shore Dr.  at 12:55. 

Hit the trails promptly at 1:00.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, outdoor, 2014!

RealClearPolicy - The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

RealClearPolicy - The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

The 10 Most Read RealClearPolicy Articles of 2013

By RCP Staff

A list, based purely on pageviews:

10. Can We Afford Obamacare? by Christopher Holt

9. Driving Toward Failure, by Rich Tucker

8. How to Survive the Higher-Ed Meltdown, by Thomas K. Lindsay

7. What Progressives Must Do to End U.S. Malaise, by Will Marshall

6. How Common Are Child Gun Accidents? by Robert VerBruggen

5. When Is College Worth It? by Robert VerBruggen

4. How the States Committed Suicide, by Paul Moreno

3. University-Assisted Suicide, by Thomas K. Lindsay

2. The Stigma of Racism, by Robert VerBruggen

1. Detroit and the Special-Interest State, by James V. DeLong

The worst of 2013

The worst of 2013:

The worst of 2013

By Tracy K. Lorenz

December 31, 2013 - This time of year everyone has a best and worst list but when I read those lists I tend to only read the “worst” part anyway so why not just cut out the middle man…

.....“Obamacare” – Gee, who could have seen that one coming? You’ve got a president who promised every government contract over $25,000 would go out for bids then he gave the contract to a Canadian company without taking bids on it.

The website didn’t work, the Lions won more games than the amount of people who were able to sign up for it, no one was able to keep what they had, prices went through the roof, the Doctors weren’t happy, the patients weren’t happy, the Democrats pointed fingers, and in the end no one has a clue what’s going on. Maybe we should have elected an insurance organizer instead of a neighborhood organizer.

Obama in general – Even his staunchest followers are jumping ship like hairy rats, he fooled a lot of people for five years but eventually reality bubbled to the surface and it was pretty evident the king had no clothes. On the plus side I hear his golf game is better than ever, I just wish someone would tell the guy that taxpayer dollars aren’t his families personal ATM. It seems like everything he’s doing is exactly what he accused the auto executives of doing before he illegally fired them.

Happy New Year...she votes--------Woman Who Breaks Toilets With 7’ Butt Hopes To Inspire Larger Ladies

Woman Who Breaks Toilets With 7’ Butt Hopes To Inspire Larger Ladies // Mr. Conservative:
"A woman who has a 7 foot wide butt is speaking out publicly in effort to inspire larger ladies.
Sarah Massey, 33 has potentially the largest butt in the world and after many years of teasing and insensitive comments, she is trying to help ladies that may be going through a similar situation.

Saying that her body is the result of a genetic condition, she says she has trouble with ordinary things such as buckling her seat belt, fitting through doors and has even broken a toilet just by sitting on it."

History for January 1 - Moved for Bowl games, Didn't work out, Republican Emancipation, 1st Rose, "Island Paradise"?, Clinton's scam, Even worse, Better them than US.

History for January 1 - On-This-Day.com:
1622 - The Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the New Year (instead of March 25th). 










1804 - Haiti gained its independence. 









1863 - U.S. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the rebel states were free. 









1902 - The first Tournament of Roses (later the Rose Bowl) collegiate football game was played in Pasadena, CA. 










1959 - Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and seized power in Cuba.





1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. 






1995 - The World Trade Organization came into existence. The group of 125 nations monitors global trade. 






1999 - The euro became currency for 11 Member States of the European Union. Coins and notes were not available until January 1, 2002.