Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Save the birdies!
No nuke, no coal, no windfarms. I'm thinking the enviros are pretty clear:
No people, No factories, No jobs.
Conservationists lose wind farm ruling Houston Chronicle: "The venture that would build the proposed transmission line, in filings with the PUC, said the 'true purpose' of the alliance intervention is to stop the construction of the two wind farms. A preliminary assessment of potential impacts from the wind farms, conducted for the alliance by EDM International of Fort Collins, Colo., found potential threats to local and migrating bird populations in South Texas. The wind industry has said the installation would not harm migrating birds. Blackburn said the transmission lines might not result in daily kills but could prove deadly when bad weather and other factors force birds to fly at lower altitudes. But he said the real danger is from the turbines."
No people, No factories, No jobs.
Conservationists lose wind farm ruling Houston Chronicle: "The venture that would build the proposed transmission line, in filings with the PUC, said the 'true purpose' of the alliance intervention is to stop the construction of the two wind farms. A preliminary assessment of potential impacts from the wind farms, conducted for the alliance by EDM International of Fort Collins, Colo., found potential threats to local and migrating bird populations in South Texas. The wind industry has said the installation would not harm migrating birds. Blackburn said the transmission lines might not result in daily kills but could prove deadly when bad weather and other factors force birds to fly at lower altitudes. But he said the real danger is from the turbines."
No coal!
Dozens of Coal Plant Proposals Scrapped Due to Global Warming Concerns: "At least 16 coal-fired power plant proposals nationwide have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed as utilities face increasing pressure due to concerns over global warming and rising construction costs."
Bush's fault?
Michigan's jobless rate climbs to 7.5%: "Michigan's unemployment rate is up slightly to 7.5 percent. State officials say the seasonally adjusted rate last month rose one-tenth of a percentage point higher than the August rate. The state's unemployment rate continues to lead the national rate, which was 4.7 percent last month. "
Low income kids get a new "benefit"!
Everyone must be so proud!
What new "benefits" are being cooked up by enlightened libs?
Maine school to offer contraceptives - Yahoo! News: "King is the only one of the three schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers."
What new "benefits" are being cooked up by enlightened libs?
Maine school to offer contraceptives - Yahoo! News: "King is the only one of the three schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers."
The truth that none dare speak?
Is there scientific proof that all races have identical intelligence?
Controversial DNA pioneer's talk halted - Yahoo! News
London's Science Museum canceled a Friday talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the co-discoverer of DNA's structure told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.
James Watson provoked widespread outrage with his comments to The Sunday Times, which quoted the 79-year-old American as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really."
He told the paper he hoped that everyone was equal, but added: "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."
The comments drew condemnation from British lawmakers, scientists, and civil rights campaigners. On Wednesday The Independent newspaper put Watson on its front page, against the words: "Africans are less intelligent than Westerners, says DNA pioneer."
Watson, who serves as chancellor of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., was to deliver a sold-out lecture at the Science Museum, but on Wednesday night the institution said Watson's comments had gone too far and the event had been canceled.
Call to Watson's book publisher and his office in New York were not immediately returned.
This is not the first time Watson's speaking engagements have caused a stir.
The Independent catalogued a series of controversial statements from Watson, including one in which he reportedly suggested women should have the right to have abortions if tests could determine their children would be homosexual.
In 2000 Watson shocked an audience at the University of California, Berkeley, when he advanced a theory about a link between skin color and sex drive.
His lecture, complete with slides of bikini-clad women, argued that extracts of melanin — which give skin its color — had been found to boost subjects' sex drive.
"That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."
Telephone and e-mail messages left with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after business hours Wednesday were not immediately returned.
Controversial DNA pioneer's talk halted - Yahoo! News
London's Science Museum canceled a Friday talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the co-discoverer of DNA's structure told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.
James Watson provoked widespread outrage with his comments to The Sunday Times, which quoted the 79-year-old American as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really."
He told the paper he hoped that everyone was equal, but added: "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."
The comments drew condemnation from British lawmakers, scientists, and civil rights campaigners. On Wednesday The Independent newspaper put Watson on its front page, against the words: "Africans are less intelligent than Westerners, says DNA pioneer."
Watson, who serves as chancellor of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., was to deliver a sold-out lecture at the Science Museum, but on Wednesday night the institution said Watson's comments had gone too far and the event had been canceled.
Call to Watson's book publisher and his office in New York were not immediately returned.
This is not the first time Watson's speaking engagements have caused a stir.
The Independent catalogued a series of controversial statements from Watson, including one in which he reportedly suggested women should have the right to have abortions if tests could determine their children would be homosexual.
In 2000 Watson shocked an audience at the University of California, Berkeley, when he advanced a theory about a link between skin color and sex drive.
His lecture, complete with slides of bikini-clad women, argued that extracts of melanin — which give skin its color — had been found to boost subjects' sex drive.
"That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."
Telephone and e-mail messages left with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after business hours Wednesday were not immediately returned.
The lies of omission
Not a major surprise, but nowhere in this article do the unbiased CNN folks mention that the US economy is in marvelous health. By every traditional measure, GDP growth, productivity, total employment, unemployment, deficit % of GDP, stock market, inflation, consumer spending, etc. Most at record positives.
I guess those are not important enough to report to the unwashed.
Sophistry!
CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker Poll: Nearly half think U.S. in recession «: "Nearly half of Americans think the U.S. economy is in a recession — close to 46 percent of those surveyed in a new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation Poll out Thursday morning say the country’s economy is in a recession while 51 percent of those questioned say no."
I guess those are not important enough to report to the unwashed.
Sophistry!
CNN.com - CNN Political Ticker Poll: Nearly half think U.S. in recession «: "Nearly half of Americans think the U.S. economy is in a recession — close to 46 percent of those surveyed in a new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation Poll out Thursday morning say the country’s economy is in a recession while 51 percent of those questioned say no."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Water for oil?
If the Senate's new "renewable fuels" mandate becomes law, get ready for a giant slurping sound as Midwest water supplies are siphoned off to slake Big Ethanol. House and Senate negotiators are preparing for an energy-bill conference, and if the Senate's language prevails, America's economy will be forced to consume more than five times current ethanol production.
Heavily subsidized and absurdly inefficient, corn-based ethanol has already driven up food prices. But the Senate's plan to increase production to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from less than seven billion today, will place even greater pressure on farm-belt aquifers.
Ethanol plants consume roughly four gallons of water to produce each gallon of fuel, but that's only a fraction of ethanol's total water habit. Cornell ecology professor David Pimentel says that when you count the water needed to grow the corn, one gallon of ethanol requires a staggering 1,700 gallons of H2O. Backers of the Senate bill say that less-thirsty technologies are just around the corner, which is what we've been hearing for years.
Some corn-producing regions are already scrapping over dwindling supply. The Journal's Joe Barrett recently reported that Kansas is threatening to sue neighboring Nebraska for consuming more than its share of the Republican River. The Grand Forks Herald reports local opposition to a proposed ethanol plant in Erskine, Minnesota, with anti-refinery yard signs sprouting up and residents concerned about well water. Backers of a proposed plant in Jamestown, North Dakota, recently withdrew their application when it became clear that the plant's million-gallon-a-day appetite would drain too much from a local aquifer. In Wisconsin, new ethanol plants are encountering opposition in Sparta and Milton.
"There are going to be conflicts," says Iowa State hydrogeologist Bill Simpkins, "and there are going to be lawsuits." Even in Iowa, which enjoys abundant rainfall, there are no guarantees that supply can meet the new demand. "The problem is we don't know enough about some of these areas to say whether people can pump out a lot more water," Mr. Simpkins says.
The political fights could get ugly, because plants tend to pop up near cities, not necessarily near the biggest water supplies. Ethanol needs a rail system to be distributed, and ethanol factories save money on boiler maintenance when they get the same kind of high-quality water that humans prefer. In states like Iowa, where ethanol plants are considered agricultural projects deserving of preferential treatment, ethanol can also muscle out other business uses.
Ethanol's big environmental footprint is not limited to water, because biofuels like ethanol are highly inefficient. In September, the Chairman of the OECD's Roundtable on Sustainable Development released a report entitled, "Biofuels: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?" Authors Richard Doornbosch and Ronald Steenblik compared the power density of different energy sources, measured in energy production per unit of the earth's area. Oil -- because it requires only a narrow hole in the earth and is extracted as a highly concentrated form of energy -- is up to 1,000 times more efficient than solar energy, which requires large panels collecting a less-concentrated form of energy known as the midday sun.
But even solar power is roughly 10 times as efficient as biomass-derived fuels like ethanol. In other words, growing the corn to produce ethanol means clearing land and killing animals on a massive scale, or converting land from food production to fuel production. Peter Huber of the Manhattan Institute says that the best-case scenario promoted by ethanol cheerleaders will actually cause the greatest environmental disaster. If people can actually refine cheap, low-maintenance production techniques that don't require huge water supplies, Mr. Huber predicts a world-wide leveling of forestland as farmers turn vegetation into fuel.
Writing in Science magazine, Renton Righelato and Dominick Spracklen estimate that in order to replace just 10% of gasoline and diesel consumption, the U.S. would need to convert a full 43% of its cropland to ethanol production. The alternative approach -- clearing wilderness -- would mean more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than simply sticking with gasoline, because the CO2-munching trees cut down to make way for King Ethanol absorb more emissions than ethanol saves.
Slowly but surely, these problems are beginning to alert public opinion to the huge costs of force-feeding corn ethanol as an energy savior. The ethanol lobby is still hoping it can keep all of this under wraps long enough to shove one more big mandate through Congress, but the Members need to know the problems they'll be creating. We hope that House conferees, who did not include a new mandate in their energy bill, insist that any final bill is ethanol-free.
Heavily subsidized and absurdly inefficient, corn-based ethanol has already driven up food prices. But the Senate's plan to increase production to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from less than seven billion today, will place even greater pressure on farm-belt aquifers.
Ethanol plants consume roughly four gallons of water to produce each gallon of fuel, but that's only a fraction of ethanol's total water habit. Cornell ecology professor David Pimentel says that when you count the water needed to grow the corn, one gallon of ethanol requires a staggering 1,700 gallons of H2O. Backers of the Senate bill say that less-thirsty technologies are just around the corner, which is what we've been hearing for years.
Some corn-producing regions are already scrapping over dwindling supply. The Journal's Joe Barrett recently reported that Kansas is threatening to sue neighboring Nebraska for consuming more than its share of the Republican River. The Grand Forks Herald reports local opposition to a proposed ethanol plant in Erskine, Minnesota, with anti-refinery yard signs sprouting up and residents concerned about well water. Backers of a proposed plant in Jamestown, North Dakota, recently withdrew their application when it became clear that the plant's million-gallon-a-day appetite would drain too much from a local aquifer. In Wisconsin, new ethanol plants are encountering opposition in Sparta and Milton.
"There are going to be conflicts," says Iowa State hydrogeologist Bill Simpkins, "and there are going to be lawsuits." Even in Iowa, which enjoys abundant rainfall, there are no guarantees that supply can meet the new demand. "The problem is we don't know enough about some of these areas to say whether people can pump out a lot more water," Mr. Simpkins says.
The political fights could get ugly, because plants tend to pop up near cities, not necessarily near the biggest water supplies. Ethanol needs a rail system to be distributed, and ethanol factories save money on boiler maintenance when they get the same kind of high-quality water that humans prefer. In states like Iowa, where ethanol plants are considered agricultural projects deserving of preferential treatment, ethanol can also muscle out other business uses.
Ethanol's big environmental footprint is not limited to water, because biofuels like ethanol are highly inefficient. In September, the Chairman of the OECD's Roundtable on Sustainable Development released a report entitled, "Biofuels: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?" Authors Richard Doornbosch and Ronald Steenblik compared the power density of different energy sources, measured in energy production per unit of the earth's area. Oil -- because it requires only a narrow hole in the earth and is extracted as a highly concentrated form of energy -- is up to 1,000 times more efficient than solar energy, which requires large panels collecting a less-concentrated form of energy known as the midday sun.
But even solar power is roughly 10 times as efficient as biomass-derived fuels like ethanol. In other words, growing the corn to produce ethanol means clearing land and killing animals on a massive scale, or converting land from food production to fuel production. Peter Huber of the Manhattan Institute says that the best-case scenario promoted by ethanol cheerleaders will actually cause the greatest environmental disaster. If people can actually refine cheap, low-maintenance production techniques that don't require huge water supplies, Mr. Huber predicts a world-wide leveling of forestland as farmers turn vegetation into fuel.
Writing in Science magazine, Renton Righelato and Dominick Spracklen estimate that in order to replace just 10% of gasoline and diesel consumption, the U.S. would need to convert a full 43% of its cropland to ethanol production. The alternative approach -- clearing wilderness -- would mean more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than simply sticking with gasoline, because the CO2-munching trees cut down to make way for King Ethanol absorb more emissions than ethanol saves.
Slowly but surely, these problems are beginning to alert public opinion to the huge costs of force-feeding corn ethanol as an energy savior. The ethanol lobby is still hoping it can keep all of this under wraps long enough to shove one more big mandate through Congress, but the Members need to know the problems they'll be creating. We hope that House conferees, who did not include a new mandate in their energy bill, insist that any final bill is ethanol-free.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Kiwi women are the world's most promiscuous-UK-World-The Times of India
Kiwi women are the world's most promiscuous-UK-World-The Times of India: "A new survey has shown that Kiwi women are the most promiscuous in the world, with an average of 20.4 sexual partners. "
Politics | $4.5 million for a boat that nobody wanted | Seattle Times Newspaper
Politics $4.5 million for a boat that nobody wanted Seattle Times Newspaper: "Why would the Navy waste taxpayer dollars on a boat that nobody wanted? Blame it on Sen. Patty Murray and Congressmen Norm Dicks and Brian Baird. All three exercised their political muscle to slip language into a 2002 spending bill to force the Navy to buy the boat from Edmonds shipbuilder Guardian Marine International."
Friday, October 12, 2007
John Edwards walks into a bar ... - By Mickey Kaus - Slate Magazine
John Edwards walks into a bar ... - By Mickey Kaus - Slate Magazine: "Crops Rotting in the Fields! ... Oh wait. That's last year's crops-rot-in-fields story. Sorry. Here's this year's. They haven't rotted yet... [Thanks to reader C.B.] .. Update: Is the Bush administration rushing to declare a crisis and use it as an excuse to open the door to more illegals? I don't know the answer. But the LAT reports the administration is 'quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers can legally be brought into the country' under the existing H-2A and H-2B programs for temporary workers. ... I can see why it might be useful to simplify applications. But if it's seasonal work, why would it be necessary to 'extend the definition of 'temporary' beyond 10 months'? Do all these legal workers actually return when their 'temporary' work is over? ... The Bushies are also considering expanding 'the definition of 'agricultural' workers to include such industries as meatpacking and poultry processing. Is it really impossible to get American citizens (or existing legal immigrants) to do meatpacking jobs? ... If an unlimited number of non-temporary 'temporary' workers in can be allowed in under existing law, then why did the Administration feel it needed an explicit new guest-worker program as part of 'comprehensive' reform? ... Krikorian? ... "
Friday, October 05, 2007
Mae West would have loved this story
"Is that an iPod in your pocket or are you really, really happy to see me?"
iPod Sets Man's Pants On Fire - News Story - WSB Atlanta: "The new iPod Nano is hot. But one Douglasville man said his old Nano got even hotter -- hot enough to burst into flames. “So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest,” said Danny Williams. Williams said the burn hole from the pocket of his pants marks the spot of his 15 seconds of flame. He said he had an iPod Nano and an glossy piece of paper in his pocket. He believes the paper shielded him from being burned."
iPod Sets Man's Pants On Fire - News Story - WSB Atlanta: "The new iPod Nano is hot. But one Douglasville man said his old Nano got even hotter -- hot enough to burst into flames. “So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest,” said Danny Williams. Williams said the burn hole from the pocket of his pants marks the spot of his 15 seconds of flame. He said he had an iPod Nano and an glossy piece of paper in his pocket. He believes the paper shielded him from being burned."
Monday, October 01, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
NC cops AGAIN?
newsobserver.com Nasty cough, nasty run-in with the law: "When Morrisville police officer Chris Gill handed him a ticket, Kent Kauffman coughed. Next thing Kauffman knew, Gill was charging him with assault on a government official."
Monday, September 24, 2007
Go Al Go...re....
WTOL-TV Toledo, OH: Petition drive launched to put Al Gore on Michigan ballot: "Michigan supporters of Al Gore are launching a petition drive to make sure his name can be on the January 15 presidential primary ballot if he decides to enter the race. They are required to submit more than 12,000 valid signatures to the secretary of state's office by October 23 to get the job done."
Men are smartest and dumbest, say scientists - Times Online
Men are smartest and dumbest, say scientists - Times Online: "However, individuals often defy the patterns. Carol Vorderman, the broadcaster – who has a reported IQ of more than 150 – has made a career out of her mathematical skills."
Imagine that! "Individuals often defy the patterns". Imagine that......
Imagine that! "Individuals often defy the patterns". Imagine that......
9/11 coalition set to 'Swift-boat' Rudy Giuliani today
9/11 coalition set to 'Swift-boat' Rudy Giuliani today: "'We intend to Swift-boat Rudy the way they Swift-boated Kerry,' said Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches, the group's leader, whose firefighter son Jimmy was killed in the terror attack."
I thought the left use the term "Swift-boat" was an unfair attack.
As from Wikipedia:
"Swiftboating is American political jargon that is used (primarily) as a strong pejorative description of some kind of attack that the speaker considers unfair—for example, an ad hominem attack or a smear campaign."
I thought the left use the term "Swift-boat" was an unfair attack.
As from Wikipedia:
"Swiftboating is American political jargon that is used (primarily) as a strong pejorative description of some kind of attack that the speaker considers unfair—for example, an ad hominem attack or a smear campaign."
Opinion: Mark Steyn: Nurse Hillary knows best | health, million, uninsured, insurance, people - OCRegister.com
Opinion: Mark Steyn: Nurse Hillary knows best health, million, uninsured, insurance, people - OCRegister.com: "So, out of 45 million uninsured Americans, 9 million aren’t American, 9 million are insured, 18 million are young and healthy. And the rest of these poor helpless waifs trapped in Uninsured Hell waiting for Hillary to rescue them are, in fact, wealthier than the general population. According to the Census Bureau’s August 2006 report on “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage,” 37 percent of those without health insurance – that’s 17 million people – come from households earning more than $50,000. Nineteen percent – 8.7 million people – of those downtrodden paupers crushed by the brutal inequities of capitalism come from households earning more than $75,000. "
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Free healthcare don't work if ya don't use it.
Who needs toothpaste? Certain ideas of Europe Economist.com: "Who needs toothpaste? Posted by: The Economist BRUSSELS Categories: France ONE OF the tired cliches about Europe is that its inhabitants all have mossy teeth, and have limited enthusiasm for matters of personal hygiene. This is a deporable generalisation, and not a serious subject for discussion. That said... crikey there is a jaw-dropping piece in today's Le Figaro, tucked away in the health pages (alas, not seemingly available on the internet). The article quotes a pair of dentists, one from a Paris teaching hospital and one from the French dentistry association, and offers the following statistics (without citing sources). - one million French citizens never brush their teeth - half of all French do not brush their teeth in the evening - 57% of French children under five have never brushed their teeth"
Smart?
- Financial planner accused of $2 million scam: "GRAND RAPIDS - A financial planner accused of scamming clients out of $2 million stood mute at his arraignment in federal court Tuesday. Robert Smart allegedly used bogus documents to show he was investing his clients' money in prominent West Michigan companies. Instead, he's accused of pocketing the money."
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Senate nixes tour-of-duty bill - Politics - MSNBC.com
Senate nixes tour-of-duty bill - Politics - MSNBC.com: "WASHINGTON - The Senate blocked legislation Wednesday that would have regulated the amount of time troops spent in combat, a blow for Democrats struggling to challenge President Bush’s Iraq policies. The 56-44 vote was four votes short of reaching the 60 needed to cut off debate. It was the second time in as many months that the bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., was sidetracked. In July, a similar measure fell four votes short of advancing. Failure of the bill was a sound defeat for Democrats, who have been unable to pass significant anti-war legislation by a veto-proof majority since taking control of Congress in January. Webb’s measure was seen as having the best chance at attracting the 60 votes needed to pass because of its pro-military premise."
Jesse Jackson accuses Obama of 'acting white' in presidential race - Independent Online Edition > Americas
Jesse Jackson accuses Obama of 'acting white' in presidential race - Independent Online Edition > Americas: "The US civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson set off a racial firestorm yesterday after he accused his fellow Democrat and fellow African American, Barack Obama, of 'acting like he's white' in his campaign for the White House."
CTV.ca | Stronach went to U.S. for cancer treatment: report
CTV.ca Stronach went to U.S. for cancer treatment: report: "Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, who is battling breast cancer, travelled to California last June for an operation that was recommended as part of her treatment, says a report. "
ABC7Chicago.com: Cook County sales tax increase proposed
ABC7Chicago.com: Cook County sales tax increase proposed: "One Cook County commissioner wants to increase the county's portion of the sales tax, and if approved, the sales tax in Cook County would go up to 11 percent. That tax increase would also apply to restaurant and hotel bills. "
Political Radar: Richardson: Obese Americans Need Federal Protection
Political Radar: Richardson: Obese Americans Need Federal Protection: "'This is an issue of basic civil rights,' said Richardson. 'There are no federal laws that protect obese Americans from discrimination in the workplace, school, or anywhere else. This must change.' "
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Optimism and War - September 18, 2007 - The New York Sun
Optimism and War - September 18, 2007 - The New York Sun: "A military sage once said that if you think you are going to lose, you are going to lose. In the daunting business of war, a country does far better with a military commander who thinks he can win and finds ways to get tasks done than with a commander from the Harry Reid School of Leadership who only finds reasons why tasks can't be done"
Liberal Democrats to outlaw petrol-driven cars by 2040 - Independent Online Edition > UK Politics
Liberal Democrats to outlaw petrol-driven cars by 2040 - Independent Online Edition > UK Politics: "Far-reaching proposals to transform Britain into a carbon-neutral economy within 40 years won overwhelming backing from the Liberal Democrat rank and file yesterday. Delegates at the party's annual conference in Brighton approved a series of measures, including plans to remove petrol-driven cars from the roads by 2040, invest billions in the railways and pour resources into renewable power to give Britain a network of non-carbon emitting electricity generators. But an attempt by some delegates to lift the party's historic antipathy to new nuclear power stations was rejected, despite claims that the nuclear option was needed to prevent a greater reliance on gas and coal-fired plants. Chris Huhne, the party's environment spokesman, declared: 'Do we want a world where the wind whips the tiles from our roofs, fells trees that have grown for generations, where it rains four inches in a day, the same as a normal month; rain that fills up the gutters and drains and sewers? We are tearing up nature by the roots.'"
Monday, September 17, 2007
Things You Might Not Know About The Duke Case (Forum)
Things You Might Not Know About The Duke Case (Forum): " Duke administrators were outraged that the lacrosse team had held a stripper party, but no such outrage greeted the more than 20 such parties held at Duke during the 2005-2006 academic year. Duke's famous basketball team held one two weeks before, drawing no apparent criticism."
mediabistro.com: FishbowlDC
mediabistro.com: FishbowlDC: "While the USA Today story is overwhelmingly positive, it's also a case study in fuzzy math and the newspaper industry's measurement system. You see, USA Today doesn't get bought by 2.3 million people -- at least not in the traditional sense of the word 'bought.' Instead, they carpet the hallways of America's hotels, making 'The Nation's Newspaper' more like The Nation's Doormat."
Rocky Mountain News - Denver and Colorado's reliable source for breaking news, sports and entertainment: Editorials
Rocky Mountain News - Denver and Colorado's reliable source for breaking news, sports and entertainment: Editorials: "Of the four original proposals submitted to the Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform, only one would reportedly cost less than the system we now have: the single-payer plan. An economic forecast by The Lewin Group, a consulting firm hired by the commission, concluded that had the single-payer proposal been in effect, Coloradans would have spent about 4.7 percent less for medical services this year. At a legislative briefing Wednesday, Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, suggested that this finding all but settled the matter - the single-payer program is the best way to both expand coverage to the estimated 770,000 Coloradans who are uninsured and control costs. "
Rigging a study to make conservatives look stupid. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
Rigging a study to make conservatives look stupid. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine: "Are liberals smarter than conservatives? It looks that way, according to a study published this week in Nature Neuroscience. In a rapid response test—you press a button if you're given one signal, but not if you're given a different signal—the authors found that conservatives were 'more likely to make errors of commission,' whereas 'stronger liberalism was correlated with greater accuracy.' They concluded that 'a more conservative orientation is related to greater persistence in a habitual response pattern, despite signals that this response pattern should change.' Does this mean liberal brains are fitter? Apparently. 'Liberals are more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty,' the authors wrote. New York University, which helped fund the study, "
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Chafee no longer a Republican - The Crypt's Blog - Politico.com
Chafee no longer a Republican - The Crypt's Blog - Politico.com: "Former Repubican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who lost his seat in last year’s Democratic congressional wave, announced that he has left the Republican Party, according to the Providence Journal"
Friday, September 07, 2007
Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Living Wages for Thee...
Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Living Wages for Thee...: "The workers who clean Baltimore's Camden Yards baseball stadium are planning a hunger strike to protest their $7 per hour wages. The stadium is the largest employer of the city's homeless day laborers. The kicker, though, is that the Maryland legislature recently passed a 'living wage' bill, setting the minimum at $11.30 per hour. But while the bill covers any business with state contracts in the Baltimore area, the state government is exempt, and Camden is owned by the state of Maryland. "
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
JS Online: Is Wi-Fi a losing strategy?
JS Online: Is Wi-Fi a losing strategy?: "Wi-Fi, once hyped as the technology that could provide wireless Internet access to personal and business computers across urban America, is in deep trouble here and around the country. In many cities, Wi-Fi projects are dead or faltering, saddled with growing equipment expenses, reception problems and little interest by governments in pumping tax money into them. Unreliable business plans of prospective Wi-Fi firms, mounting expenses and undependable technology have delayed some projects or led wireless providers to walk away from others. Some experts are advising local governments to drop their involvement with Wi-Fi and leave the venture of wireless Internet solely in the hands of private industry."
Labor Day Lament: Where Have You Gone, Samuel Gompers, Dennis Kearney, Cesar Chavez, A. Philip Randolph?
VDARE.com: 09/02/07 - The Fulford File: Labor Day Lament: Where Have You Gone, Samuel Gompers, Dennis Kearney, Cesar Chavez, A. Philip Randolph?: "The AFL-CIO is suing the Justice Department on behalf of illegal aliens. It has succeeded in getting a Clinton-appointed judge to put a stop to a recent attempt to prevent employers from hiring illegals with fraudulent social security numbers. [Judge puts hold on immigration penalty letters to employers, AP, August 31, 2007] Why is the AFL-CIO doing this? you might ask. After all, whoever the employer hires will be a new union member, and the majority of AFL-CIO members are Americans. But around the year 2000, the AFL-CIO reversed its position on mass immigration, in favor of embracing, not the American worker, but any worker in America as a potential new member. "
Bring Back IQ Tests!
VDARE.com: 04/17/05 - End The April Agony—Bring Back IQ Tests!: "In reality, of course, universities are ranked primarily on the grades and SAT or ACT scores that their students achieved in high school. The fame of their grad schools and even the successes of their hired football and basketball gladiators seem to matter more to their reputations than documented evidence, assuming any exists, of the effectiveness of their undergraduate teaching. So, why do employers care about which college applicants attended? Mostly because it’s evidence of an applicant’s SAT score—along with high school grades—which in turn is correlated with his IQ. What college you go to permanently signifies your position in the IQ strata. This is why high school students and their parents are so frenzied over college admissions: it really does go on your Permanent Record. One consequence is that many kids strive to get into colleges where the average IQ is a little higher than their own. In his NYT article, Frank points out: 'Thus, according to one study, applicants typically seek an institution whose average combined SAT score is roughly 100 points higher than their own.' In other words, high school seniors would like their resumes to suggest they are about a half standard deviation smarter than they really are."
GOP not popular in LATimes
Is it global warming or smog that clouds the minds of the left coasties?
National Review Online: "Republican Ideas Are Very Unpopular... In the L.A. Times Newsroom
The Los Angeles Times is shocked that Republicans aren't running a campaign designed to appeal to the editors of the Los Angeles Times, and are instead attempting to appeal to, you know, Republicans:"
National Review Online: "Republican Ideas Are Very Unpopular... In the L.A. Times Newsroom
The Los Angeles Times is shocked that Republicans aren't running a campaign designed to appeal to the editors of the Los Angeles Times, and are instead attempting to appeal to, you know, Republicans:"
Monday, September 03, 2007
Frederick W. Kagan on Bush in Iraq on National Review Online
Frederick W. Kagan on Bush in Iraq on National Review Online: "President Bush’s Labor Day visit to Iraq should have surprised no one who was paying attention. At such a critical point in the debate over Iraq policy, it was almost inconceivable that he would fly to and from Australia without stopping in Iraq. What was surprising was the precise location and nature of the visit. Instead of flying into Baghdad and surrounding himself with his generals and the Iraqi government, Bush flew to al Asad airfield, west of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province. He brought with him his secretaries of State and Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the commander of U.S. Central Command. He was met at al Asad by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kemal al Maliki, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Vice Presidents Adel Abdul Mehdi and Tariq al Hashemi. In other words, Bush called together all of the leading political and military figures in his administration and the Iraqi government in the heart of Anbar Province. If ever there was a sign that we have turned a corner in the fight against both al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sunni insurgency, this was it."
Single payer "free" healthcare
Threat to take new-born over emotional abuse - Telegraph: "A pregnant woman has been told that her baby will be taken from her at birth because she is deemed capable of 'emotional abuse', even though psychiatrists treating her say there is no evidence to suggest that she will harm her child in any way. Leader: Unnatural justice of secret courts More use of a vague reason to remove children Social services' recommendation that the baby should be taken from Fran Lyon, a 22-year-old charity worker who has five A-levels and a degree in neuroscience, was based in part on a letter from a paediatrician she has never met."
Our strength is our diversity!
I'm thinking that Willie the C wanted to expand this to the USA.....
King inspects virgins: Africa: News: News24: "Tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins have lined up for inspection by King Mswati III on Sunday in Swaziland's annual reed dance, which is always riven with speculation over whether the king will choose a new bride. "
King inspects virgins: Africa: News: News24: "Tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins have lined up for inspection by King Mswati III on Sunday in Swaziland's annual reed dance, which is always riven with speculation over whether the king will choose a new bride. "
Human-animal embryo study wins approval | Science | The Guardian
Human-animal embryo study wins approval Science The Guardian: "Plans to allow British scientists to create human-animal embryos are expected to be approved tomorrow by the government's fertility regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority published its long-awaited public consultation on the controversial research yesterday, revealing that a majority of people were 'at ease' with scientists creating the hybrid embryos."
Thursday, August 30, 2007
IMAO: Dog Quizzing Ring Broken Up
IMAO: Dog Quizzing Ring Broken Up: "Yesterday, the police came to my house to break up a dog quizzing ring I've been running, alleging I've been cruelly pitting dogs against each other in categories such as math, science, history, and pop culture."
Jews for Obama: Show your support in style with "Obama-kahs" -- Obama Yarmulkes
Jews for Obama: Show your support in style with "Obama-kahs" -- Obama Yarmulkes: "Be sure to order by September 6 if you want to guarantee that you will receive your yarmulkes before Rosh Hashanah. Thanks!"
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Why I watch FOX News
You'd never see "the rest of the story" on any of the liberal MSM outlets.
--8/28/2007-- Media Research Center:
"5. Saunders Discredits Media-Hyped Slam on Conservative Intellect
FNC's Brit Hume on Monday night picked up on a column by the San Francisco Chronicle's Debra Saunders which discredited the media spin on an AP/Ipsos poll that found liberals read one more book a year than conservatives, a finding Pat Schroeder, President of the American Association of Publishers claimed illustrated how conservatives can't think beyond slogans. The AP and CNN's Jack Cafferty both jumped on Schroeder's slam. Hume noted that Saunders 'says Ipsos told her the one book difference between liberals and conservatives is within the poll's margin of error and not statistically significant. The company also said that since the poll did not ask respondents if they read newspapers or magazines, it does not, therefore, say anything about their general level of knowledge or information.'
6. AccuWeather's Bastardi: Intense Hurricanes Part of Natural Cycle
On the Tuesday, August 21 The O'Reilly Factor on FNC, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Joe Bastardi poured cold water on claims that a global warming trend has been the cause of hurricanes of increased intensity as he contended that the Northern Hemisphere similarly saw periods of increased hurricane activity in past decades, going back to the 1890s: 'We're back in the '30's, '40's and 50's. This back and forth cycle that occurs, we saw it in the 1890s to 1910....And people are just getting carried away and fascinated when, if they go back and look at what happened before, you can see the similarities.' "
--8/28/2007-- Media Research Center:
"5. Saunders Discredits Media-Hyped Slam on Conservative Intellect
FNC's Brit Hume on Monday night picked up on a column by the San Francisco Chronicle's Debra Saunders which discredited the media spin on an AP/Ipsos poll that found liberals read one more book a year than conservatives, a finding Pat Schroeder, President of the American Association of Publishers claimed illustrated how conservatives can't think beyond slogans. The AP and CNN's Jack Cafferty both jumped on Schroeder's slam. Hume noted that Saunders 'says Ipsos told her the one book difference between liberals and conservatives is within the poll's margin of error and not statistically significant. The company also said that since the poll did not ask respondents if they read newspapers or magazines, it does not, therefore, say anything about their general level of knowledge or information.'
6. AccuWeather's Bastardi: Intense Hurricanes Part of Natural Cycle
On the Tuesday, August 21 The O'Reilly Factor on FNC, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Joe Bastardi poured cold water on claims that a global warming trend has been the cause of hurricanes of increased intensity as he contended that the Northern Hemisphere similarly saw periods of increased hurricane activity in past decades, going back to the 1890s: 'We're back in the '30's, '40's and 50's. This back and forth cycle that occurs, we saw it in the 1890s to 1910....And people are just getting carried away and fascinated when, if they go back and look at what happened before, you can see the similarities.' "
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)