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......

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."

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. "

Jena Six: Law Bloggers Cite Confusing Facts - TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime

Jena Six: Law Bloggers Cite Confusing Facts - TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime

Allyson Pollock on what Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, doesn't tell you ... | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics

Allyson Pollock on what Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, doesn't tell you ... Special Reports Guardian Unlimited Politics

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

Local News | Son is busted for drugs, but it's mom and dad who lose the cars | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News Son is busted for drugs, but it's mom and dad who lose the cars Seattle Times Newspaper

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:"

Monday, September 03, 2007

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

Your Moment Of Schadenfreude For Today: Bush-Mocking Journalist Piers Morgan Gets His - Say Anything

Your Moment Of Schadenfreude For Today: Bush-Mocking Journalist Piers Morgan Gets His - Say Anything

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. "

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."