Wednesday, July 21. 2010
"Now it is only tactical."
Maybe Leftism really is a mental illness. I have always regarded that claim as hyperbole, while acknowledging the totalitarian impulses implicit in "Progressivism."
"Who are these people?", as a snobby pal often says in his obnoxious way. But really, who do these people think they are? And why do they think they are better or smarter than me? I do not want to control them, so why do they want to control what I do or read or think? It is strange.
He says:
Sean Hannity says that journalism died in 2008, when the mainstream media discarded even the pretense of professionalism and objectivity for the sake of installing an unqualified, ultra-radical community organizer in the White House.
Insty's link says it has some, but I very much doubt it. Internet legs maybe, but does anybody expect the MSM itself to take on an expose of itself?
This is like Climategate - just some silly emails. Isn't it?
Add: What a fine "conversation about race" the country is having. I want people to shut up about race. It's a dumb topic. I see no improvement in the level of political discourse.
Tuesday, July 20. 2010
Congressional intent and judicial interpretation of the first amendment may conflict. Two recent examples:
The US Senate just passed by unanimous consent the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act, HR 2765 (SPEECH Act). It is expected to pass the House. There’s little reason that the president shouldn’t sign off.
My good friend Rachel Ehrenfeld, doughty immigrant that she is, took our Constitution to heart and waged an at first solitary campaign to restrict “libel tourism” when she was its victim for a book she’d written exposing the enemy-funding financial dealings of a wealthy Arab. She acquired powerful allies, across the political spectrum, until New York State passed a law that required judgments in foreign courts where our level of free speech protections do not rule to meet US standards in order to be enforced in the US.
Below the fold is Rachel’s press release. Here are the AP and here the AFP news reports.
In past conversations with Rachel I’ve had some concerns about how US standards of free speech may be interpreted by the courts. Those in positions to know, she says, feel US standards of libel are well-enough defined so there’s confidence in prevailing without undue blockage of the Congressional intent. So be it to see.
Continue reading "Free Speech Limits?: Libel Tourism And Stolen Valor"
The story is being posted all over. This bit at Surber's post:
Nixon had his White House Plumbers.
Obama has his JournoList.
And yes, Obama’s campaign coordinated this. Three-quarters of a billion dollars buys a lot of people, although not all of these schleps had to be bribed.
Hey remember Michael Corleone’s line to Tom Hagen: “Don’t we have some reporters on our payroll?”
Wish I had time to discuss today, but I don't.
 All the docs are passing around this article from the CSM. "In a landmark Idaho case, the Justice Department forced a group of doctors to accept government price controls."
Is it illegal collusion for docs to pass it around?
 Mad Men vs. Breaking Bad
Bad news: Racist USDA Hack Speaks With NAACP
Going after the rich again. Jules
Unions hire nonunion pickets to protest nonunion jobs
Insty: HOW WE GOT A FINANCIAL CRISIS
Kaus interviewed at Reason on unions and immigration
Gateway: Racist Latino Group Harasses Tea Party: “You’re Too White. Go Back to Europe.”
Applebaum: Americans want big government
Laser used to shoot down planes
WSJ: Lost in Taxation - The IRS's vast new ObamaCare powers.
A new luxury mall in Gaza
Government-funded jobs training does no good
Haiti's real problem
Samuelson: As Massachusetts health 'reform' goes, so could go Obamacare
Via Scott at Powerline:
It is extraordinary, and I think unprecedented, that a free press has voluntarily transformed itself into something not very different from the controlled press in an undemocratic country. But that is what has happened. There are, to be sure, alternative sources of information and commentary in the US for anyone who seeks them out. (There are often such sources in undemocratic countries as well: foreign broadcasts, "underground" or samizdat circulation, and so on.) But the mainline, and still collectively very powerful, media are overwhelmingly a One-Party media. It needs to be said plainly.
Monday, July 19. 2010
They may be, but nobody else is.
Off topic, but these are fine smokes. Ashton Lonsdales:
Some Ashton reviews here (including that one, which is not just for breakfast).
According to this, the problem with Israel’s PR is that it focuses on explaining and, when supported by facts, apologizing. For some, it may come off as whining. And, it is less effective than should be.
It fails to impress, convince or, even, penetrate many educated people, whose antagonism or skepticism toward Israel is entrenched.
The problem: Most believe they are well-informed about Israel, even when not, and are poorly informed about Israel’s enemies. When exposed, however, not to Israel’s side of the story but to the foes’ own words and actions, Eureka! Most of these Western antagonists or skeptics are shocked, enlightened and wonder how Israel can deal with such rigidly violent anti-Western forces so far from our norms of thinking and conduct except by Israel itself being resolute and willing to take the measures necessary in defense, including preemptively.
There’s much truth in this analysis.
Continue reading "Jewish Man Bites Dog"
Video: Eagle throws goat off cliff (h/t, Linkiest)
The horror of the DC earthquake
'Socially Judicious’ Art Ed?
Shopping centre bosses approve 'Asian squat toilets' following cultural awareness course
It's the same old Russia: In ruling on artistic expression, some Russians see signs of broader crackdown
VDH and Pralph Peters on immigration: America's Fight
VDH on the wealthy Lib elite. It's noblesse oblige.
Times Glad 'Wide-Eyed Admiration' for Wall Street Is Over
WSJ: Angling for Harry Reid - Why the tea party favorite thinks voters will reject the attacks on her views and help her topple the Senate majority leader.
Carpe: Increased Worker Productivity Has Destroyed Millions of Jobs, and We Should Be Grateful
NYT finally admits trickle-down works
Double Dip Discussion
Rights and responsibilities: England has forgotten the latter
Administration concedes that HCR insurance mandate is a tax
Powerline:
Scott Rasmussen finds that only 23 percent of voters believe that "the federal government today has the consent of the governed." A remarkable 62 percent of voters say that our government does not enjoy that consent.
How can this be...?
Fernadez on the Codavilla essay
Bollinger is crazy. And at Pajamas:
Wrong, Mr. Bollinger: academic freedom has in fact been drastically compromised by government funding. The same would, of course, happen with media.
More Millennials Need to Work at McDonalds
Death of the European Dream:
In Spain, almost everyone is ‘not in education or employment.’ It’s the end of the job for life.
VAT Attack! Will business go for it?
Coyote at Forbes:
ObamaCare creates a powerful incentive for the government to interfere in key decisions about our bodies and health.
Nap time and public employee unions
Sunday, July 18. 2010
Penn and Teller interviewed. They are not friends.
AVI begins:
Why is it the folks who are most suspicious of nationalism want to nationalise everything?
From Kristol's Yes, A Period of Consequences - The time for evasion is over.
We’ve allowed—nay, in many cases encouraged—our government to become unlimited in its goals, bloated in its size, and arbitrary in its action. In this respect Obama-care is more the culmination of decades of policy-making than a deviation from them. We’ve indulged in the fatal conceit that we can ask the state to attend to all our cares and invite the government to correct all our perceived problems, without considering either the counterproductive practical consequences ...
Via Thompson's It Pays To Be Unobvious:
In many arts subjects, especially those tethered only loosely to evidence, logic or practical verification, there’s often pressure to avoid the obvious and prosaic, even when the obvious and prosaic is true.
Noonan: Youth Has Outlived Its Usefulness
American politics is desperately in need of adult supervision.
Libs feel we have too much freedom and too many choices. Self-anointed elites want to chose for us. That is not, in my opinion, an American view of life. See Waiting for the Revolution:
Angelo M. Codevilla wonders how long two-thirds of America can possibly be ruled by a well-entrenched elitist third.
One quote from Codevilla:
The polls tell us that only about a fifth of Americans trust the government to do the right thing. The rest expect that it will do more harm than good and are no longer afraid to say so.
While Europeans are accustomed to being ruled by presumed betters whom they distrust, the American people's realization of being ruled like Europeans shocked this country into well nigh revolutionary attitudes.
America does not do the "betters" thing.
Saturday, July 17. 2010
My a/c is turned off. Who is inspired during these dog days? Let's see...
Slow down and think when you read. Whenever I do that, I fall asleep. It's my ADD.
S'fumato? That's Italian.
Villainous: Narcissism and the Counterfeit Life
Financial "reform" - Yet another exercise in stimulating the Washington, DC economy.
The monotony of the ruling class:
Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind. Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government's agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to. Sen. Orrin Hatch continued dreaming of being Ted Kennedy, while Lindsey Graham set aside what is true or false about "global warming" for the sake of getting on the right side of history. No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class's continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.
Never has there been so little diversity within America's upper crust.
NYC vs. London: New York is missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to seize a competitive advantage.
AGW isn't killing Polar Bears, but the heat is killing illegals. Pathetic. Why can't Mexico create jobs?
Megan: Does Regulatory Risk Matter? Of course it does.
Small businesses are going to have lots of fun figuring out this bs
The descent of the NAACP. Typical of what happens to non-profits when their work is done. They try to stay alive.
More on kids without summer jobs
Pat Condell is not pleased by the ground zero mosque. It is, indeed, triumphalist - and intended to be.
Your lunch today, h/t Theo:
Don't let your kids join a 4-H club
Montana update: Which Sex Position Will Your Kid Learn? Start 'em young. The front seats of a Ram pick-up with the big stick shift present all sorts of gymnastic challenges.
Oops. NAACP Forgot to Scrub Their Rally Video With Farrakhan Before They Started Pointing Fingers at Tea Party Patriots (VIDEO) …Update: Rev. Wright Too. That Farrakhan is so silly.
Related, Chantrill is sick of Liberal racist politics
Fed's turn-around sends the dollar tumbling. There is a problem. I tend to agree with Ace about the 2012 GOP nominee
Obama analyzed and integrated Einstein's theory of relativity, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, as well as the concept of curved space as an alternative to gravity, for a Law Review article that Tribe wrote titled,"The Curvature of Constitutional Space."
Amateurs should never play with curved space-time.
Next thing, they'll make us license our gardens. Authoritarians Target Our Bellies
Friday, July 16. 2010
 Here's proof: I, the world-famous Founder and Editor of this here popular knuckledragger website, am not on the speaker list for the November post-midterm cruise.
I double-checked, just to make sure my picture wasn't there. Nope, wasn't there.
Oh well, no matter. That's poachin' season anyway, so I'll be busy.
If by any chance I decide to show up on my own nickel at the last moment, say hello. I'll be the big fellow in the camo with the plastic turkey superglued to my right hand by Mrs. BD last month, to slow down my drinkin.
Centrist as we are, would they invite me to speak if I added a bow tie to my November cruise attire I am wearing in my photo? I have the outline of my talk all ready to go.
Or should I go totally macho, and wear my Lily trousers? Country club camo. Only a real man can wear their cool stuff, but I doubt they have my waist size at the shop at Sea Island.
 VDH nails it, from our link last night to The Psychology of Recession. It is what I am hearing from everybody on Main St. around here. One quote to encourage reading of his post:
Obama, past and present, seems always to talk of how someone else’s money should be spent, dispersed, and redistributed, but never to worry about how it can be made in the first place.
So, fairly or not, when the president talks, business people do not gain confidence that he knows, or cares, much about them or what they do. If he thinks even surgeons are greedy profiteers, who then escapes presidential disdain?
Rainbow ponies do not create jobs or careers. Politicians can create temporary make-work - with our money and our kids' money - but that's all.
A fake tea party video is making the rounds. Totally manufactured. Politics at its most despicable.
Expect it to be widely distributed, since the political meme for July is "Dissidents = Racists." Boob bait for the bubbas is what I call this crap. Call me "offended."
Cracked: The 6 Most Misguided Causes Ever Made Famous by Celebrities. Only six?
Dumb and dumber. You've probably seen this already somewhere: When Did John Edwards Become President of Vietnam?
To our friend Sissy: Take a chill pill, or a Cape Cod Marguerita. You will never have a pol in MA who will agree with you all the time about everything. Ideological purism does not work in politics, most places - and especially in the Northeast. If Brown is not re-elected, it will be a loss of all of us. More right than wrong is all one can hope for.
Poll: Obama tied with Palin for 2012. Interesting. She's really something - a celeb pol like the O was - but she is not my candidate. Not yet, anyway, because I have not had the chance to discuss the Federalist Papers with her yet. Our wise but truant poster Roger de Hauteville said that candidates are just figureheads on political ships, and no doubt Sarah makes a good one of those. In a funny kind of way, I think the O knows that he is a figurehead, and not a leader. Which is all for the best.
Thursday, July 15. 2010
 Ancient Buried Ship Found at Ground Zero Site. Not sure I would have used the word "ancient."
Politico: Why President Obama loses by winning
At AVI:
Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball took exception to a Tea Partier's comment "We're not racist, we're anticommunist." He claimed that this is exactly what the John Birch Society used to say, and went on to add "this is the old Dixie crowd."
Hello, Chris. That old Dixie crowd died with Dem Robert Byrd and the rest of the Dixiecrats
Bush's book: Decision Points
VDH: The Psychology of Recession - Obama and his team speak the language of redistribution and entitlements — not the language of opportunity and prosperity. And Main Street is listening.
They sure are. Nobody is hiring.
Berwick the Magnificent. Sheesh. Hypocritical Lefty putz.
NYT: When Did Cheating Become an Epidemic?
Being Traditionalists at Maggie's, we are opposed to cheating in many if not most circumstances.
Slate: Death of a Salesman- A slew of new polls suggest Obama is not a great pitchman for his policies.
Let the cracker cops die. What is this, a new race war?
Politico: On being labeled as 'racist'
Rove: My Biggest Mistake in the White House - Failing to refute charges that Bush lied us into war has hurt our country.
Krauthammer: Al Qaida not using affirmative action
Two terribly immature offerings from our Obama fans:
 Washington is talking about raising the "retirement" age, whatever that means. Since when did the US have a "retirement age"? Most Americans like to work hard: it's part of being an American.
In fact, most (non-unionized) Americans are willing to work harder and longer if their compensation is commensurate with their time, effort, and skills.
Still, re Social Security, that might be a good idea, since people live longer and healthier, and the golf courses around here are getting too crowded with totally functional codgers while other guys their age are still making a useful contribution to society and to themselves.
Plus they are talking about income-adjusting, ie means-testing, Social Security. Should be done. What bugs me about the notion of government income-based entitlements is that they disregard wealth. Why should I be working to pay the Social Security payments for people with a paid-off condo in Vero Beach and a house in Granby, CT - and a state government pension or a hefty IRA or an old-time corporate pension, just because their retirement fixed-income is relatively low in retirement?
Go ahead, argue this with me if you wish (but I can anticipate all of the historical arguments).
Boxing gloves increased morbidity and mortality in boxing
Stossel: Parasitic Tort Lawyers
New Massachusetts law extends censorship to IM, e-mail, Web
Via Newsreal:
Attorneys for the leftist American Civil Liberties Union are busying themselves with a campaign that would make Saul Alinsky proud. Their target? Catholic hospitals exercising their religious freedom to refuse to perform abortions.
A different kind of Gated Community in China
Subsidize journalism with public funds? The bad idea that won’t go away
Driscoll: NAACP Brilliantly Alerts MSM of Tea Party’s Post-Racial Platform. But the race-mongers are on the job: Al Sharpton on Tea Party: “There Clearly Are Some Racial Leaves In Their Tea Bag”. That is a total malevolent lie. He tries to link States' Rights with racism. Well, Federalism is good. You might just as well try to link Individual Rights with racism too, in which case their logic comes around and bites them in the behind.
(Ed. comment: So what? It's about politics, not a logical exercise.)
Related: How do I prove I am not a racist?
Semi-related: Slavery, Democrat-style
Willie Brown On "Out of Control" Civil Servants
Thanks to ACORN, Felons Put Franken Over the Top
Jonah: Dems' Lament: It Wasn't Supposed to Be Like This
Analysis: Dems show signs of battle fatigue
Carpe: Double-Dippers Are All Wet: Towel Off Already
"Choose Death!" billboard advertises assisted suicide service
Even The Atlantic, Lefty as they are, gets on climategate
Speaking Up for American Capitalism - Business has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House and for the most part has remained silent. It's time to make our case.
I am certain that the O will carefully study VDH's Ten-Step Reset Regimen for the President
Praying for Hitchins. He doesn't mind if you do, but it sounds like he's a goner anyway. That is a nasty cancer.
Wednesday, July 14. 2010
For those (most Americans) who don’t follow the annual Eurovision song contest, won by Israel in 1979 for Hallelujah, it is closely watched in our house (on Internet). We enjoy “world music.” It is becoming a smaller world, sometimes not for the better, as this year’s winner, from Germany, sang a number in English! My Germany-born wife was aghast at this loss of diversity.
The music world is also losing other diverse sense.
Some Western musicians are canceling their scheduled performances in Israel, caving to leftist memes and pro-Palestinian veiled threats.
Then there are the attempts to boycott Israeli performers as well. The Eurovision song contest was held in Norway this year. The Norwegian pro-Palestine Committee demonstrated outside the arena holding the event since Israel had reached the finals. A statement from the organisation said: “We want to close Euro Song for Israel. They are not welcome. We will request the European Euro Song TV-consortium to boycott nations that indulge in occupation and apartheid.”
Oppression, despotism, suicidal hatred, terrorism, that’s OK with them? Far from the Summer of Love, huh!
Here’s the Israeli performance at this year’s Eurovision, a lovely love song.
Yeah, we can’t have love where hate triumphs.
Here's Israel's 1979 winner. (This taping has helpful lyrics.)
Some's idea of Praise God (Hallelujah) doesn't include to "hold each other's hands, and sing from one heart."
That includes some Western musicians.
h/t, Theo
The US Chamber of Commerce says (more here) that the term capitalism is misunderstood, as just 57% in its poll support capitalism.
“We need to do a better job of explaining the economic system in the United States and how it is working,” Anderson said in an interview. “We have been looking at anecdotal information that there was a misunderstanding of capitalism.”
Au contraire says the survey’s results of the peasants. Seventy percent support free enterprise and free markets.
Americans know the difference between the two as capitalism has increasingly come to be practiced.
Charles Derber, a sociologist at Boston College, says the results show the public’s unhappiness with the ties between “big business and big government,” exemplified by the multi- billion dollar bailout of banks in 2008.
“When people say they are down on capitalism, they mean they are down on corporate capitalism,” Derber, author of books including, “People Before Profit,” said in an interview. “They see capitalism as it exists here as anything but a free market.”
With bigger and bigger Big Government comes those, pardon the expression, capitalizing on getting their way or piece of the pelf, whether business, union, tax-exempts, state and local governments, etc.
Free enterprise and free markets, in contrast, indeed may we remind freedom itself, work best with a more limited government.
Now, that isn’t to say complete laissez faire, as there is sometimes some need for enforcement of rules of play to encourage competition, not stifle it.
In addition to the findings on capitalism, the Chamber’s poll found that 43 percent of those surveyed said the Obama administration’s policies are making the economy worse compared with 23 percent believing it is making it better.
“There is a major trust deficit,” Lombardo [the pollster] said.
The US Chamber knows the difference between free enterprise and capitalism as it has too often come to be practiced. Increasingly, Americans do. It’s the difference between freedom and fascism.
Perhaps some corporate, union, tax-exempts, state and local governments, etc. HQs need visits from a Tea Party, not just the federal government and its minions of bigger. It takes two to tango.
Homework: Michael Barone, Goldberg.
|
