We Are More Likely To Lie In the Afternoon: Scientific American Podcast: "As the day wears on, we tend to get weary. Now a study finds that as a result we may be more likely to cheat or lie in the afternoon than in the morning. But only if we’re usually ethical to begin with."
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Saturday, November 30, 2013
Venezuela’s Maduro accuses 99 percent of businesses of “price gouging,” vows to punish more “capitalist parasites” « Hot Air
Venezuela’s Maduro accuses 99 percent of businesses of “price gouging,” vows to punish more “capitalist parasites” « Hot Air: "Venezuela’s nationwide municipal elections are just over a week away, and Nicolas Maduro — Hugo Chavez’s personally selected successor, as Maduro is excessively fond of vehemently reminding people — is putting his new ‘emergency’ decree powers to work to continue to fight against the “economic war” that his political opponents and imperial foreign powers are waging in concert against him. Or, at least, the economic war Maduro is pretending that these shady forces are waging against him, the better to contrive an outside enemy responsible for Venezuela’s deep-seated economic troubles rather than naming the country’s socialist system of price controls and top-down intervention as the true culprit."
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'Brotox': Number of men having Botox has increased by 25% this year | Mail Online
'Brotox': Number of men having Botox has increased by 25% this year | Mail Online: "The demand for non-surgical treatments showed peaks at certain times during the year, with an influx pre-Christmas and during February bonus season.
This is reportedly down to workers aiming to look 'calm and de-stressed'.
'Workers are under tremendous pressure to achieve, and my male patients want lasting results that look natural. "
Now, this is beyond retarded.
'via Blog this'
This is reportedly down to workers aiming to look 'calm and de-stressed'.
'Workers are under tremendous pressure to achieve, and my male patients want lasting results that look natural. "
Now, this is beyond retarded.
'via Blog this'
'Preferred' pronouns gain traction at US colleges - Yahoo News
'Preferred' pronouns gain traction at US colleges - Yahoo News: "The weekly meetings of Mouthing Off!, a group for students at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, always start the same way. Members take turns going around the room saying their names and the personal pronouns they want others to use when referring to them — she, he or something else.
It's an exercise that might seem superfluous given that Mills, a small and leafy liberal arts school historically referred to as the Vassar of the West, only admits women as undergraduates. Yet increasingly, the "shes" and "hers" that dominate the introductions are keeping third-person company with "they," ''ze" and other neutral alternatives meant to convey a more generous notion of gender.
"Because I go to an all-women's college, a lot of people are like, 'If you don't identify as a woman, how did you get in?'" said sophomore Skylar Crownover, 19, who is president of Mouthing Off! and prefers to be mentioned as a singular they, but also answers to he. "I just tell them the application asks you to mark your sex and I did. It didn't ask me for my gender.""
This is beyond retarded.
'via Blog this'
It's an exercise that might seem superfluous given that Mills, a small and leafy liberal arts school historically referred to as the Vassar of the West, only admits women as undergraduates. Yet increasingly, the "shes" and "hers" that dominate the introductions are keeping third-person company with "they," ''ze" and other neutral alternatives meant to convey a more generous notion of gender.
"Because I go to an all-women's college, a lot of people are like, 'If you don't identify as a woman, how did you get in?'" said sophomore Skylar Crownover, 19, who is president of Mouthing Off! and prefers to be mentioned as a singular they, but also answers to he. "I just tell them the application asks you to mark your sex and I did. It didn't ask me for my gender.""
This is beyond retarded.
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An Academic Cartel? | Science Careers
An Academic Cartel? | Science Careers: "How is a tenured professor like a drug lord? How is a new Ph.D. researcher like a street-level drug dealer?
These are not riddles intended to amuse. Rather, they present the gist of an essay by Alexandre Afonso, who teaches political economy at King's College London where he holds the rank of lecturer. Taking off from a chapter entitled "Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?" in the bestselling-book Freakonomics, by economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner, Afonso argues that academic departments have a lot in common with drug cartels: A few highly paid, permanent top dogs enjoy power and comfort while farming out the dirty work to large numbers of low-paid, mostly temporary underlings."
'via Blog this'
These are not riddles intended to amuse. Rather, they present the gist of an essay by Alexandre Afonso, who teaches political economy at King's College London where he holds the rank of lecturer. Taking off from a chapter entitled "Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?" in the bestselling-book Freakonomics, by economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner, Afonso argues that academic departments have a lot in common with drug cartels: A few highly paid, permanent top dogs enjoy power and comfort while farming out the dirty work to large numbers of low-paid, mostly temporary underlings."
'via Blog this'
Video: American detainee in North Korea “apologizes” for “war crimes” « Hot Air
Video: American detainee in North Korea “apologizes” for “war crimes” « Hot Air: "I use the scare quotes in the headlines for a good reason. Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old Korean War veteran, flew a month ago to North Korea to visit some of the scenes of his service — and was unexpectedly arrested by authorities after he boarded his flight to leave. For three weeks, no one heard from Newman or Pyongyang about his case, but yesterday Newman appeared on North Korean television reading an “apology” for his supposed “war crimes,” which Pyongyang says includes the deliberate murder of civilians and espionage."
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'via Blog this'
Obama to Netanyahu: Can you chill out on complaining about my Iran deal? « Hot Air
Obama to Netanyahu: Can you chill out on complaining about my Iran deal? « Hot Air: "It’s been clear ever since the deal was struck that Israel was no fan of the six month “temporary arrangement” being cooked up with Iran. Bibi Netanyahu was out in front of the press calling it an historic mistake and refusing to have his nation bound by any such agreement. His criticism – along with that of many of Israel’s supporters – hasn’t tapered off since then, even though the White House seems to have bought itself six months to come up with something more palatable. But the President isn’t one to just ignore the concerns of a valued ally like Israel, so he placed a call to suggest to Netanyahu a new plan for moving things forward. Hey… how about you just shut up?"
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News from The Associated Press
News from The Associated Press: "The Chinese government has declared victory in cleaning up what it considers rumors, negativity and unruliness from online discourse, while critics say the moves have suppressed criticism of the government and ruling Communist Party."
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San Francisco 'Values' Pricing Poor Out of the City - Reason.com
San Francisco 'Values' Pricing Poor Out of the City - Reason.com: "Yet landlords ask whether further regulating and even prosecuting them in some instances, as the tenant groups propose, is the best way to encourage more people to get into the rental-housing business, which is what’s needed to increase supply and reduce rents. It’s an old economic rule that you get less of whatever you punish."
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Best of the Web Today: No Uncertain Terms - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: No Uncertain Terms - WSJ.com: "As for Zimmerman's fear that Obama may ignore the will of the voters, all we can say is he must've been out of the country in 2010 when ObamaCare was passed. It is preposterous to suggest that so willful a president would be more responsive if only he had the legal possibility of being president for life. Further, it is difficult to deny that the requirements of re-election in 2012 were behind the administration's abuse of the Internal Revenue Service, the Benghazi coverup, and the fraudulent claim that "if you like your plan you can keep it." Does anyone think the prospect of a third Nixon term in 1976 would have averted Watergate?"
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The war on women drags on « Hot Air
The war on women drags on « Hot Air: "Apparently, if you happen to be an attractive woman and want to serve in elected office, you should expect to be attacked by a bunch of grumpy old men. Those gosh darned Republicans just can’t seem to help themselves, can they? Particularly in New Hampshire, where it happened to Marilinda Garcia. Wait… you mean it was the Democrats?"
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Video: Health insurance company advertises by goofing on Obamacare « Hot Air
Video: Health insurance company advertises by goofing on Obamacare « Hot Air: "Say you’re a health insurer who decided not to jump into the exchanges fearing that the colossal Charlie Foxtrot about to visit itself upon the U.S. might not jibe with your branding as a company with the ability to offer a service with a modicum of competence. Say your decision turned out to be quite prescient as the federal exchange (and, to a lesser extent, state exchanges) began to implode before your eyes. Then, say you wanted to produce an ad to attract customers with a nod to your own prescience and competence as compared with the federal exchange."
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Online gambling facing a lot of opposition « Hot Air
Online gambling facing a lot of opposition « Hot Air: "Sheldon Adelson gained a lot of national attention during the 2012 election for his massive financial support of Newt Gingrich. The source of Adelson’s wealth was also a prominent topic of discussion in the media, given that he runs a number of casinos around the world. Now Adelson is back in the news, this time leading the charge to stop online gambling from taking hold in the United States."
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New plan on Healthcare.gov: Declare victory … and fix it later « Hot Air
New plan on Healthcare.gov: Declare victory … and fix it later « Hot Air: "In other words, we’re about to see the second beta release of Healthcare.gov. Don’t you just love it when software companies use a release as testing for failure thresholds? I guess you can’t find out what’s in Healthcare.gov until you release it … just like a couple of months ago, it seems."
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Thursday, November 28, 2013
Kanye: Obama Failing Because 'He Ain't Got Those Connections' Like Jews
Kanye: Obama Failing Because 'He Ain't Got Those Connections' Like Jews: "There is no question that President Obama has high-level connections regardless of race – and there is also no question that Obama has high-level connections within the black community. For West to suggest that Jews have some sort of connection advantage is purely insane."
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Man Swapped At Birth Regrets Lost Life
Man Swapped At Birth Regrets Lost Life: "A 60-year-old Japanese man switched at birth in a Toyko hospital has told of his shock at learning the truth of how different his life could have been.
After winning a lawsuit against the hospital that mistakenly cast him from a wealthy family into a life of poverty, the man said: "I've wondered how on earth could this happen.
"I couldn't believe it. To be honest, I didn't want to accept it.
"I might have had a different life. I want (the hospital) to roll back the clock to the day I was born," he told Japanese media.
A Tokyo district court this week ordered the hospital to pay 38 million yen (£227,600) in damages over its 1953 blunder which saw the man switched with another baby boy who was delivered 13 minutes later."
'via Blog this'
After winning a lawsuit against the hospital that mistakenly cast him from a wealthy family into a life of poverty, the man said: "I've wondered how on earth could this happen.
"I couldn't believe it. To be honest, I didn't want to accept it.
"I might have had a different life. I want (the hospital) to roll back the clock to the day I was born," he told Japanese media.
A Tokyo district court this week ordered the hospital to pay 38 million yen (£227,600) in damages over its 1953 blunder which saw the man switched with another baby boy who was delivered 13 minutes later."
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Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Quentin Tarantino Is Making Another Western, FYI
Quentin Tarantino Is Making Another Western, FYI: "My sources tell me Quentin Tarantino's next film will be another Western. How good are my sources? Pretty damn good. In fact, I heard this from QT himself. Unfortunately, he was telling it to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.
"I had so much fun making 'Django' and I love westerns so much, that after I taught myself how to make one I thought, it's like, wow OK, let me make another one now that I know what I'm doing," Tarantino said.
The director gave no clues about the plot or who might star in the film, but he did give some interesting insights into his writing process, assuming you find millionaires lounging about in their swimming pools while thinking up stories interesting."
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"I had so much fun making 'Django' and I love westerns so much, that after I taught myself how to make one I thought, it's like, wow OK, let me make another one now that I know what I'm doing," Tarantino said.
The director gave no clues about the plot or who might star in the film, but he did give some interesting insights into his writing process, assuming you find millionaires lounging about in their swimming pools while thinking up stories interesting."
'via Blog this'
Pattern: Obama admin again releases regulatory agenda right before a holiday « Hot Air
Pattern: Obama admin again releases regulatory agenda right before a holiday « Hot Air: "And completely shutting down existing coal plants next year, while perhaps one of the most noticeable, is only one of the many super-exciting, hyper-progressive regulatory plans the Obama administration has in the works. Obama can complain all day long about the many ways in which Republicans are spitefully thwarting his economic agenda at every turn as the underlying reason behind our practically nonexistent economic recovery, but in reality, it’s precisely the many economically soul-crushing regulations Obama has implemented on his own that are contributing so heavily to our current state of virtual stagnation."
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Obama letter to conservative: I’ve been quite respectful of you tea-baggers « Hot Air
Obama letter to conservative: I’ve been quite respectful of you tea-baggers « Hot Air: "The President of the United States, allegedly one of the smartest people to grace our country, sat down to write a hand-written letter to a political dissenter and used the most charged, rude, dirty term possible while claiming he’d never do anything but treat this “tea-bagger” with the utmost respect. His own lofty self-concept survives contact with all conflicting facts, even when they come from his own pen."
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The Thanksgiving guide to making conservative arguments liberals can understand | WashingtonExaminer.com
The Thanksgiving guide to making conservative arguments liberals can understand | WashingtonExaminer.com: "So let me offer my conservative and libertarian readers the first annual Thanksgiving Guide to Making Conservative Arguments in Liberals’ Language.
Regulators will ban your organic kale.
Your liberal relatives generally trust government regulations to solve problems. They don’t sweat the costs to the economy as much as you do. Throw in a healthy distrust of Corporate America — often even an unhealthy disdain for it — and progressives (this is what they call themselves these days) end up regarding regulation as a force for good.
You can plant a seed of skepticism about regulators’ ability to do good, though, by pointing to the salad course Trevor brought. The organic, local, sustainable kale in it might be impossible to get after the Obama administration’s food safety rules go into effect."
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Regulators will ban your organic kale.
Your liberal relatives generally trust government regulations to solve problems. They don’t sweat the costs to the economy as much as you do. Throw in a healthy distrust of Corporate America — often even an unhealthy disdain for it — and progressives (this is what they call themselves these days) end up regarding regulation as a force for good.
You can plant a seed of skepticism about regulators’ ability to do good, though, by pointing to the salad course Trevor brought. The organic, local, sustainable kale in it might be impossible to get after the Obama administration’s food safety rules go into effect."
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The Bad-Faith Presidency - Rich Lowry - POLITICO Magazine
The Bad-Faith Presidency - Rich Lowry - POLITICO Magazine: "Forthrightness was the enemy. It served no useful purpose and could only bring peril, and potentially defeat. It had to be banished. Instead of candor, Obama made the sale on the basis of dubious blandishments and outright deceptions.
If this is the only way to pass your signature initiative—and a decades-long goal of your party—it ought to give you pause. But Obama was a natural at delivering sweeping and sincere-seeming assurances that weren’t true. This kind of thing is his métier."
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If this is the only way to pass your signature initiative—and a decades-long goal of your party—it ought to give you pause. But Obama was a natural at delivering sweeping and sincere-seeming assurances that weren’t true. This kind of thing is his métier."
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Best of the Web Today: Susan Rice for HHS - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: Susan Rice for HHS - WSJ.com: ""We're probably heading for a turning point in the health reform discussion," writes former Enron adviser Paul Krugman. No, he doesn't see congressional Democrats as revolting imminently against ObamaCare. Quite the opposite: "The facts on the ground are getting better by the day, and Obamacare will turn into a Benghazi-type affair where Republicans are screaming about a scandal nobody else cares about."
One is tempted to observe that if Benghazi is the standard of success, ObamaCare must be an even worse disaster than its harshest critics imagine. But that's not Krugman's meaning. His analogy has nothing to do with "the facts on the ground," and it reveals more about Krugman's values than about either Benghazi or ObamaCare."
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One is tempted to observe that if Benghazi is the standard of success, ObamaCare must be an even worse disaster than its harshest critics imagine. But that's not Krugman's meaning. His analogy has nothing to do with "the facts on the ground," and it reveals more about Krugman's values than about either Benghazi or ObamaCare."
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Zombie » SF Protesters to Obama: Please Be a Dictator!
Zombie » SF Protesters to Obama: Please Be a Dictator!: "I rarely report on spoken words or conversations which I can’t document with an accompanying video, but in this case I’ll make an exception. As I was standing next to this guy, I overheard him say the following sentence: “I spent a year following Romney around, writing libelous articles about him and Photoshopping pictures to make him look like an idiot.” You ever wonder what hardcore political “operatives” look like? Behold."
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Obama to Hollywood: Stop glorifying guns | The Daily Caller
Obama to Hollywood: Stop glorifying guns | The Daily Caller: "President Obama expressed his interest in continuing the dialogue to reduce the amount of violence in movies and video games.
“Those conversations need to continue,” Obama said. “The stories we tell matter and you tell stories more powerfully than anyone else on the Earth.”
President Obama’s lecture on gun violence comes a day after a 48-page report from the Connecticut state attorney’s office finding no links between the gaming activities of Adam Lanza and his violent motive. While the shooter owned some violent games, he was mainly obsessed with playing non-violent games Super Mario Brothers and Dance Dance Revolution."
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“Those conversations need to continue,” Obama said. “The stories we tell matter and you tell stories more powerfully than anyone else on the Earth.”
President Obama’s lecture on gun violence comes a day after a 48-page report from the Connecticut state attorney’s office finding no links between the gaming activities of Adam Lanza and his violent motive. While the shooter owned some violent games, he was mainly obsessed with playing non-violent games Super Mario Brothers and Dance Dance Revolution."
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U.S. move of Vatican embassy draws fire - The Washington Post
U.S. move of Vatican embassy draws fire - The Washington Post: "The United States will move its freestanding Vatican embassy into the larger American Embassy to Italy, a shift that has drawn criticism from former U.S. envoys.
Security and cost savings were behind the move, as the State Department estimates it will save $1.4 million a year by moving from the current building."
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Security and cost savings were behind the move, as the State Department estimates it will save $1.4 million a year by moving from the current building."
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Holiday news dump: WH to delay online ObamaCare exchange for small businesses for one year « Hot Air
Holiday news dump: WH to delay online ObamaCare exchange for small businesses for one year « Hot Air: "Question: Is there any reason apart from the political one flagged by Gabe to delay SHOP for a full year? At first I thought maybe they’d concluded that they can’t possibly build the small-business exchange before the March 31st deadline for enrollment, in which case why bother trying? But that logic doesn’t work. Enrollment on the small-business exchange is year-round; there’s no March 31st deadline, so even if the site wasn’t ready until June or July, it’d still be useful to some businesses. Something like 80 million employees are going to find their plans canceled sooner rather than later and it’d be nice to have SHOP available when they do, since they’re not all headed to the individual exchange. Or are they?"
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Colorado Women for the Recall: 'This Is a Women’s Issue' | National Review Online
Colorado Women for the Recall: 'This Is a Women’s Issue' | National Review Online: "Distressingly, Weeks’s experience with legislators was similar to that of another rape victim, Amanda Collins. Collins’s testimony was dismissed so callously by Senator Hudak that the exchange made national news. “Actually,” Hudak said, “statistics are not on your side, even if you had a gun.” “Respectfully senator, you weren’t there,” Collins shot back. “Had I been carrying concealed, he wouldn’t have known I had my weapon; and I was there. I know without a doubt in my mind at some point I would’ve been able to stop my attack by using my firearm.”"
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The Gun-Control Movement's Thug Tactics in Colorado | National Review Online
The Gun-Control Movement's Thug Tactics in Colorado | National Review Online: "“As we speak, we have multiple cars monitoring us at our offices and filming us from the parking lot,” Mike McAlpine, who headed up the recall effort, told me yesterday. “This is not a one-off event. We hold sign-and-drive events on the sidewalks near to busy intersections, and we hold signs inviting people to pull over and sign the petition. Our opponents have taken to blocking us: as cars pull in, they run up to the driver’s side door and physically stand next to the door so that the person inside cannot open the door and come outside.”
Elsewhere, opponents have formed human chains in order to block anyone who wants to sign. “They yell at the person while they’re at the table trying to sign, or blow an airhorn in their ear,” McAlpine added. “There have been a half-dozen examples of that. In addition, when we go out to knock on doors and present the petition, they will follow us down the sidewalk and scream and yell.” Recently, McAlpine told me, protesters encircled a young black man who was collecting signatures. “They yelled at him, ‘you killed Trayvon! You killed Trayvon!’”"
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Elsewhere, opponents have formed human chains in order to block anyone who wants to sign. “They yell at the person while they’re at the table trying to sign, or blow an airhorn in their ear,” McAlpine added. “There have been a half-dozen examples of that. In addition, when we go out to knock on doors and present the petition, they will follow us down the sidewalk and scream and yell.” Recently, McAlpine told me, protesters encircled a young black man who was collecting signatures. “They yelled at him, ‘you killed Trayvon! You killed Trayvon!’”"
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President admits ObamaCare not the ‘smart political thing’ in letter | Page Six
President admits ObamaCare not the ‘smart political thing’ in letter | Page Six: "Obama responded: “I . . . appreciate your concern about the toxic political environment right now. I do have to challenge you, though, on the notion that any citizen that disagrees with me has been ‘targeted and ridiculed’ or that I have ‘made fun’ of tea baggers . . . [I] defend strongly the right of everyone to speak their mind — including those who call me ‘socialist’ or worse.
“I believe that health care reform will be the right thing for the country . . . It certainly wasn’t the smart ‘political’ thing! And I hope that in the months to come, you will keep an open mind and evaluate it based not on the political attacks but on what it does or doesn’t do to improve people’s lives. Sincerely, Barack Obama.”"
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“I believe that health care reform will be the right thing for the country . . . It certainly wasn’t the smart ‘political’ thing! And I hope that in the months to come, you will keep an open mind and evaluate it based not on the political attacks but on what it does or doesn’t do to improve people’s lives. Sincerely, Barack Obama.”"
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Knockdown games, bigoted receipts, and self-inflicted HIV | Human Events
Knockdown games, bigoted receipts, and self-inflicted HIV | Human Events: "In both cases, social media firestorms erupted over stories that inflamed certain passions and fulfilled certain expectations. The narratives were too good to check. But the press is suddenly very interested in “debunking” the Knockdown Game, building off a hysterical piece in Slate that alleges – based on nothing more than the deep-seated ideological convictions of the author – that the rash of random, racially-charged attacks can’t possibly be happening.
This Knockdown Game knockdown has to be one of the most bizarre media obsessions ever. It’s an objective fact that the game is happening – even the “debunking” pieces admit it! – but they’re trying to literally wish it out of existence, presumably because they don’t like the commentary it’s attracting from conservatives."
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This Knockdown Game knockdown has to be one of the most bizarre media obsessions ever. It’s an objective fact that the game is happening – even the “debunking” pieces admit it! – but they’re trying to literally wish it out of existence, presumably because they don’t like the commentary it’s attracting from conservatives."
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013
HuffPost’s Absolutely Ridiculous Proposals for America | NewsBusters
HuffPost’s Absolutely Ridiculous Proposals for America | NewsBusters: "The Huffington Post has promoted absurd left wing proposals before, but they outdid themselves this time. A Nov. 25 article advocated fourteen preposterous notions, which they called “genius.” Far from genius, these schemes range from utterly ridiculous to simply dangerous.
Some of these ideas simply parrot typical liberal taking points. The Nov. 25 article proposed eviscerating the Second Amendment with an “assault weapon” ban and raising the minimum wage to $14.50, ignoring the disastrous results of such a wage hike."
'via Blog this'
Some of these ideas simply parrot typical liberal taking points. The Nov. 25 article proposed eviscerating the Second Amendment with an “assault weapon” ban and raising the minimum wage to $14.50, ignoring the disastrous results of such a wage hike."
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LOL: Forget Obamacare, Tina Brown Says Obama's Legacy Will Be His 'Smart' Handling of Iran and Syria | NewsBusters
LOL: Forget Obamacare, Tina Brown Says Obama's Legacy Will Be His 'Smart' Handling of Iran and Syria | NewsBusters: "How shambolic of a smoking ruin is the Obama presidency? When Tina Brown surveys the wreckage, the best—the best!—thing she sees, the thing she believes will be Barack Obama's shining legacy, is his handling of Iran and Syria, which she declares to be "smart," and of course, "nuanced."
The Obamacare catastrophe? Not to worry. On today's Morning Joe, Brown assured us that those problems are "transient." No, look over here, at President Obama's masterful handling of foreign policy! Yes, years from now, when the minor hiccups of the Obamacare rollout will be long forgotten, people will still be marvelling at how well Barack Obama dealt with Iran and Syria. "
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The Obamacare catastrophe? Not to worry. On today's Morning Joe, Brown assured us that those problems are "transient." No, look over here, at President Obama's masterful handling of foreign policy! Yes, years from now, when the minor hiccups of the Obamacare rollout will be long forgotten, people will still be marvelling at how well Barack Obama dealt with Iran and Syria. "
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Good news: Bloomberg’s gun-control group offering printable placemats for Thanksgiving dinner « Hot Air
Good news: Bloomberg’s gun-control group offering printable placemats for Thanksgiving dinner « Hot Air: "More or less annoying than the Thanksgiving ObamaCare talking points from OFA? I’m going to say “more,” not because of the subject matter but because the thought of sitting down to eat after a lecture about health insurance only to find more leftist propaganda staring back at me might make me flip the table. Simple request for America’s O-bots this week: Choose. You can either encourage me to throw my money away on an ObamaCare plan I can’t afford or convince me to give up my gun because that’ll reduce the odds of another mass shooting by one one-hundred-millionth or whatever. Thanksgiving is a day for indulgence, but only within reason."
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Ted Cruz, Iran hawk: This Geneva deal on the Iranian nuclear program is a disaster « Hot Air
Ted Cruz, Iran hawk: This Geneva deal on the Iranian nuclear program is a disaster « Hot Air: "I wanted to write something contrasting his views on the deal with Rand Paul’s to explore how “tea party” foreign policy, such as it is, differs from libertarian foreign policy. But unless I missed it, Paul hasn’t uttered a word about Geneva since the terms were announced Saturday night. Nothing on his Twitter feed as of this writing, nothing from his Senate press shop. He’s been conspicuously silent while Cruz, just as conspicuously, has rushed to get out in front on it. Which, come to think of it, is a meaningful contrast."
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Obama: “When it comes to Congress, there is no such thing as an offer they can’t refuse” « Hot Air
Obama: “When it comes to Congress, there is no such thing as an offer they can’t refuse” « Hot Air: "The White House is currently engaged in their umpteenth iteration of their emergency go-to Economic Pivot: The Anything But ObamaCare Edition, and the tactic has gotten so full of predictable clichés that it’s long since surpassed laughable. Case in point: At a DreamWorks Animation studio in California this afternoon, President Obama turned to that old, faithful political standby of “Republican obstruction” and “Congressional dysfunction” to try and remind Americans of exactly who deserves the full blast of their ire right now: The party that had absolutely nothing to do with passing the disastrously bungled healthcare law currently being foisted upon the most personal aspects of their lives, duh."
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Obama responds to IRS abuse scandal by adding more regulations to abuse « Hot Air
Obama responds to IRS abuse scandal by adding more regulations to abuse « Hot Air: "The problem with the IRS abuse scandal, in which the government agency was found to be systematically discriminating against conservative non-profits, is that a complex and vague campaign finance law system gives the government powers it shouldn’t have to decide which citizens are worthy of organizing for political speech and which are not. Lois Lerner, whose boss is an ideological president who was constantly saying Tea Party groups were doing shady things with their money, was in a position to make value judgments about what kind of political speech should be allowed the favor of the federal government. That’s a bad idea."
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A Better Obamacare Won’t Save Obama - NationalJournal.com
A Better Obamacare Won’t Save Obama - NationalJournal.com: "And that's what's going to make any sort of renewed national sales pitch by Obama so difficult. Among the politically active, the damage is done, and no amount of rebranding or reselling is going to change their perception of the product—nor likely, the president."
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Men and women have different regrets after sex, study suggests - NBC News.com
Men and women have different regrets after sex, study suggests - NBC News.com: "Men most often regret not having sex with more people while women frequently regret having sex with the wrong partner, according to a recently released study."
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'via Blog this'
Placenta frame developed by British artist
Placenta frame developed by British artist: "Some moms have buried it, some have painted with it, while others have made smoothies or capsules to ingest it.
Now, a British artist has created picture frames from placentas."
'via Blog this'
Now, a British artist has created picture frames from placentas."
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The Jewish Press » » The Peerless Cluelessness of Thomas Friedman
The Jewish Press » » The Peerless Cluelessness of Thomas Friedman: "The real Arab world is a place where antisemitism is mainstream and where rejectionism of Israel is absolute even in countries that have “peace treaties” with Israel. It is the Arabs who have announced boycotts of Jews since the 1920s, Arabs who stated the “three no’s” of Khartoum, Arabs who accuse even Hamas terrorists of being too pro-Israel.
Even in Friedman’s wonderful, tolerant Beirut, we see absolute rejection of anything that tastes remotely Zionist.
It is the Arabs who utterly reject normalization with Israel, and those hardheaded European Jews who want to be accepted in the Middle East. (The Jews from the Arab world tend to be more hawkish, because they understand the mentality of the Arabs a lot better than Friedman does.)"
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Even in Friedman’s wonderful, tolerant Beirut, we see absolute rejection of anything that tastes remotely Zionist.
It is the Arabs who utterly reject normalization with Israel, and those hardheaded European Jews who want to be accepted in the Middle East. (The Jews from the Arab world tend to be more hawkish, because they understand the mentality of the Arabs a lot better than Friedman does.)"
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White House now trolling local media for positive ObamaCare coverage « Hot Air
White House now trolling local media for positive ObamaCare coverage « Hot Air: "What happens when a previously-adoring national media starts reporting on your failures and rejects your spin? If you’re the Barack Obama White House, you start looking for media you can spin — even with transparently risible stunts like barely-attended protests staged by Obama’s former presidential campaign."
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Report: Sixth- or seventh-most obnoxious MSNBC host fired for being obnoxious « Hot Air
Report: Sixth- or seventh-most obnoxious MSNBC host fired for being obnoxious « Hot Air: "So that explains why Baldwin’s confrontation with the photographer earned him a pink slip even though half the MSNBC line-up routinely says nastier things about Republicans, albeit in more delicate terms. It’s not about the photographer; they wanted him out because, as the entire world already knew, the guy seemingly can’t control his anger and wasn’t delivering big enough numbers to make the production team willing to grudgingly tolerate him. That’s the difference between him and Olby."
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Payoff: Feds to increase “risk payments” to insurers in return for un-canceling plans « Hot Air
Payoff: Feds to increase “risk payments” to insurers in return for un-canceling plans « Hot Air: "A day after Obama announced his “fix” that doesn’t actually fix anything, CMS sent a letter to insurers reassuring them that the agency would “explore ways to modify the risk corridor program final rules to provide additional assistance.” Translation: The feds are going to shovel a little extra taxpayer money their way to cover the extra cost imposed by O’s buck-passing, ass-covering, eleventh-hour attempt to keep his “if you like your plan” promise after all."
'via Blog this'
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Colorado underperforming on even their worst-case ObamaCare enrollment projections « Hot Air
Colorado underperforming on even their worst-case ObamaCare enrollment projections « Hot Air: "In perhaps the worst news for ObamaCare, however, Colorado’s exchange had a few ‘glitches’ to deal with but has been working relatively smoothly — and yet, their exchange has enrolled enough participants to cover just about half of their worst-case scenario projections, which is raising concerns about financing just the cost of the exchange in and of itself."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Florida GOP demands Radel’s resignation « Hot Air
Florida GOP demands Radel’s resignation « Hot Air: "Looks like an apology and a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of possession didn’t do the trick for Congressman Trey Radel. Three officials from the Florida Republican Party demanded Radel’s resignation rather than just a leave of absence after getting caught with more than three grams of cocaine."
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'via Blog this'
French Socialists: We should probably reform this convoluted tax code of ours, huh? « Hot Air
French Socialists: We should probably reform this convoluted tax code of ours, huh? « Hot Air: "I missed this last week, but in light of France’s third-quarter return to economic contraction and the anti-tax riots breaking out all over the country, it sounds like a few of the ruling French Socialists were finally moved to definite, growth-oriented action — or at least, to paying lip service to definite, growth-oriented action.
President Francois Hollande’s regime has been marked by back-and-forths on a bunch of new, grandiose taxation schemes, but none of them have done much to accomplish the deficit reductions for which the government has been aiming, and meanwhile, the French economy is struggling under a historically high tax burden. The economy and the employment rate, as you might very well guess, have only yo-yoed around stagnation levels, and the French are getting increasingly displeased with their indecisive and ineffective president as well as their prohibitively high tax rates."
'via Blog this'
President Francois Hollande’s regime has been marked by back-and-forths on a bunch of new, grandiose taxation schemes, but none of them have done much to accomplish the deficit reductions for which the government has been aiming, and meanwhile, the French economy is struggling under a historically high tax burden. The economy and the employment rate, as you might very well guess, have only yo-yoed around stagnation levels, and the French are getting increasingly displeased with their indecisive and ineffective president as well as their prohibitively high tax rates."
'via Blog this'
Uh oh: Another ObamaCare “success” story turns sour for White House « Hot Air
Uh oh: Another ObamaCare “success” story turns sour for White House « Hot Air: "Nancy Clark had high hopes when the federal insurance marketplace opened for business Oct. 1. A member of the NH Health Exchange Advisory Board and a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, Clark owns Glen Group, a small advertising agency in North Conway. She’s always offered health insurance to employees and their families, even as premiums increased by double digits every year.
“We’ve turned down the heat, the lights,” she says. “But we never, ever took health care off the table.
Until now."
'via Blog this'
“We’ve turned down the heat, the lights,” she says. “But we never, ever took health care off the table.
Until now."
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Band of brothers: We wanted to show Danny that we love him « The Greenroom
Band of brothers: We wanted to show Danny that we love him « The Greenroom: "Now this is how you deal with bullying. Right on, boys."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Best of the Web Today: Excuses, Excuses - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: Excuses, Excuses - WSJ.com: "So we are supposed to believe that Obama was "privately skeptical" of ObamaCare but bullied it through anyway because he lacked "the confidence in his own judgment to override the experts he was surrounded by," as a result of which he was "blindsided." Not only is that implausible, but it makes Obama look even more pathetic than he is. An act of willful destruction at least commands a certain grudging respect.
Nocera concludes by invoking the Cuban Missile Crisis, another Kennedy-era encounter with the island of superior health care. Once again, Kennedy received bad judgment from the Pentagon, but this time he rejected it. "He had applied the lessons he had learned from the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban missile crisis. As President Obama tries to turn Obamacare around, that is the looming question: Can he learn?"
No."
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Nocera concludes by invoking the Cuban Missile Crisis, another Kennedy-era encounter with the island of superior health care. Once again, Kennedy received bad judgment from the Pentagon, but this time he rejected it. "He had applied the lessons he had learned from the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban missile crisis. As President Obama tries to turn Obamacare around, that is the looming question: Can he learn?"
No."
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The Front Man | National Review Online
The Front Man | National Review Online: "Unlike Ronald Reagan, to whom he likes to be compared, President Obama shows no signs of having expended any effort on big thinkers or big ideas. President Reagan’s guiding lights were theorists such as F. A. Hayek and Thomas Paine; Obama’s most important influences have been tacticians such as Abner Mikva, bush-league propagandists like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his beloved community organizers. Far from being the intellectual hostage of far-left ideologues, President Obama does not appear to have the intellectual energy even to digest their ideas, much less to implement them. This is not to say that he is an unintelligent man. He is a man with a first-class education and a business-class mind, a sort of inverse autodidact whose intellectual pedigree is an order of magnitude more impressive than his intellect."
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'via Blog this'
Monday, November 25, 2013
Parents audition actresses — for their eggs | New York Post
Parents audition actresses — for their eggs | New York Post: "The hottest role these days for a young actress? Egg donor.
Egg “agents” are aggressively recruiting city models and actresses, whose looks are coveted by couples turning to in-vitro fertilization."
'via Blog this'
Egg “agents” are aggressively recruiting city models and actresses, whose looks are coveted by couples turning to in-vitro fertilization."
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Your Crazy Uncle's 5 Most Insane Obamacare Talking Points
Your Crazy Uncle's 5 Most Insane Obamacare Talking Points: "Did you catch that? “In fact, almost 6 in 10 uninsured Americans may be able to get coverage for $100 a month or less.”
May? May? You could drive the 1st Armored Division through the hole blown in that sentence by the use of that qualifier. You may survive a jump out of a plane 30,000 feet above the Alps wearing a wingsuit. You may finally throw caution to the wind, take a few lessons and win a ballroom dancing competition. That profile you’ve been eyeing on Match.com may be understating how attractive and accomplished they are. But after you promise people — without any conditional statements — that they can keep their insurance if they want to (spoiler: they can’t) and can keep their doctor if they want to (spoiler: they can’t), only crazy uncles would buy crazy conditional statements such as these."
'via Blog this'
May? May? You could drive the 1st Armored Division through the hole blown in that sentence by the use of that qualifier. You may survive a jump out of a plane 30,000 feet above the Alps wearing a wingsuit. You may finally throw caution to the wind, take a few lessons and win a ballroom dancing competition. That profile you’ve been eyeing on Match.com may be understating how attractive and accomplished they are. But after you promise people — without any conditional statements — that they can keep their insurance if they want to (spoiler: they can’t) and can keep their doctor if they want to (spoiler: they can’t), only crazy uncles would buy crazy conditional statements such as these."
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Bloomberg Group Wants You To Start Fights About Gun Control at Thanksgiving - Hit & Run : Reason.com
Bloomberg Group Wants You To Start Fights About Gun Control at Thanksgiving - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Cuz what everybody needs in the midst of what's likely to be family chatter, or maybe a heated argument about Obamacare for those who delve into politics over the good china, is a chipper grad student spouting five non sequitur factoids about firearms, with no larger knowledge about the subject, or even links to other information."
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Ace of Spades HQ
Ace of Spades HQ--If There's One Thing I'm Certain Of, It's That There Was Absolutely No Coordination On This "Berate Your Family" Thanksgiving Initiative: "He's actually encouraging people to print up these lying points and to, I don't know, recite them at Thanksgiving dinner? This sort of flies in the face of his reassuring back-patting and confidence in you being your family's healthcare policy expert if you have to rely on pathetic propaganda you printed up. It's got pretty colors and paint-by-number instructions, so maybe this shit will fly over at the kids' table, but I wouldn't be so quick to try this in front of adults. Hungry and varying degrees of intoxicated adults who just want to watch football and be left alone."
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Ace of Spades' Talking Points for Talking With Your Obnoxious Progressive Family Members About Obamacare This Thanksgiving
Ace of Spades' Talking Points for Talking With Your Obnoxious Progressive Family Members About Obamacare This Thanksgiving: "Hey remember when you said that Obamacare was going to work great, and then, when people asked you how it actually worked, you sort of implied they were stupid for not knowing, and yet you never provided any evidence that you had any idea of how it was supposed to work yourself? Yeah, you were wrong to do that."
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Of course: Big-money Democrats applaud idea of “nullifying Congress” « Hot Air
Of course: Big-money Democrats applaud idea of “nullifying Congress” « Hot Air: "There’s still a place in this nation where rooms full of people pay $15,000 a head to listen to President Obama. That place is San Francisco. And, in that place, there are faithful Democrats who agree with Obama’s vision of a nation that can do big things, make great progress, create all the hope and change, and come together forever and ever amen. As long as there’s no one in that country who disagrees with them."
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OFA: Be sure to use Thanksgiving dinner to convince relatives to buy a plan on the ObamaCare exchange « Hot Air
OFA: Be sure to use Thanksgiving dinner to convince relatives to buy a plan on the ObamaCare exchange « Hot Air: "Believe it or not, these soulless robots have prepared an actual talking-points memo for the occasion replete with tips on how to plan your “talk.” My favorite: “Integrate the talk into family time.” Good advice — and for my money, the more dramatic the integration, the better. When your cousin pulls out baby pictures of her newborn and tries to pass them around, grab her arm gently but firmly and say, “Hey — isn’t there something more important we should be discussing?”"
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'via Blog this'
About that failed Fisker loan costing U.S. taxpayer $130+ million? Scratch that. It might be way more. « Hot Air
About that failed Fisker loan costing U.S. taxpayer $130+ million? Scratch that. It might be way more. « Hot Air: "According to its bankruptcy filing on Friday, Fisker owns tax breaks worth $320 million.
Fisker’s bankruptcy papers said the Southern California-based company plans to sell its automotive operations to a business affiliated with Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, but it will hold on to the tax breaks after it emerges from bankruptcy."
'via Blog this'
Fisker’s bankruptcy papers said the Southern California-based company plans to sell its automotive operations to a business affiliated with Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, but it will hold on to the tax breaks after it emerges from bankruptcy."
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“Walking Dead” grumble thread: All of America now rooting for the Governor to liquidate the main characters « Hot Air
“Walking Dead” grumble thread: All of America now rooting for the Governor to liquidate the main characters « Hot Air: "Not that curious. The Governor’s a monster but he has some depth of character, unlike the stiffs in the core group. A day later, I still can’t decide whether last night’s cliffhanger is proof that the writers recognize that or whether they’re oblivious to it. I hope he pulls the trigger and blows Michonne and Hershel away, just because … why not? What’ll be lost if they’re gone? A few new cut-out “good guys” will be written in and added to the core group and life will go on. The fact that you’ve got people in the audience rooting for a one-eyed psychotic who machine-gunned a bunch of innocents last year to kill two of the heroes should be evidence of excellent writing. How many shows could pull that off?"
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9 things conservatives need to know about ObamaCare | The Daily Caller
9 things conservatives need to know about ObamaCare | The Daily Caller: "Health Care has always been a Democratic issue because they had the great sob stories. But for the first time, we are beginning to see sob stories about people who’ve been screwed by government. If Republicans play their cards right, they have the potential to seize this issue in much the same way as — post-Iraq war — Democrats stole national security and foreign policy back from Republicans. Opportunities to change the natural political skew of an issue don’t come around very often, so it’s vital for Republicans to be ready."
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Obama the Non-Ideologue, Again | National Review Online
Obama the Non-Ideologue, Again | National Review Online: "Saying he only cares about “what works” at this point in his presidency is more of a problem given that his signature achievement, you know, doesn’t."
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Collateral Damage in a GOP Civil War | National Review Online
Collateral Damage in a GOP Civil War | National Review Online: "On Tuesday, November 12, Nebraska Senate candidate Ben Sasse walked into Mitch McConnell’s office to clear the air. Contrary to the rumors, Sasse wanted to say, he hadn’t secretly vowed to oppose McConnell’s leadership if elected. In fact, he hadn’t been asked to make such a pledge and would never have even considered it."
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Iowa Gov. Branstad: The EPA is totally waging a “war on corn” « Hot Air
Iowa Gov. Branstad: The EPA is totally waging a “war on corn” « Hot Air: "Well, perhaps the EPA’s reduction proposal had a little something to do with them finally relenting on their misguided, market-distorting, price-spiking, not-”green” quest to give the ethanol industry a leg up through the Renewable Fuel Standard, and ergo give a cheap and cronyish boost to their own political discussions of their magnanimous climate-change plans, because they finally came to grips with reality? Maybe?"
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'via Blog this'
CNN: Is there really a “knockout game”? « Hot Air
CNN: Is there really a “knockout game”? « Hot Air: "I’ve been skeptical about the “knockout game” story, perhaps because I’ve seen too many “rainbow bracelet” and other such reality-disconnected hysterias over the years. Moral panics have been with us for as long as … humans have organized themselves into civilizations, probably. I can still recall the urban legend from well before my blogging days that driving with headlights on during the day in Los Angeles would have gang members targeting people for random attacks. I never did that anyway, as I’d forget to turn them off and end up needing a jump start."
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Video: Karzai double-crosses US on pact? « Hot Air
Video: Karzai double-crosses US on pact? « Hot Air: "The Obama administration has more trouble with its diplomacy than just regarding Iran. Last week, the White House let it be known that they had all but concluded a pact with Afghanistan to keep as many as 15,000 troops, mostly American, in place until 2024, a decade longer than Barack Obama promised when he launched his own surge strategy in late 2009. Almost immediately after going out on that political limb, Hamid Karzai began to saw it off, insisting that the issue had to be brought before tribal elders and that Karzai himself wouldn’t sign it either way, a direct rebuke to the Obama administration. Karzai insists that the next elected president of Afghanistan should make that decision himself, throwing a wrench into the gears of Pentagon planning and putting the entire agreement at risk. NBC now reports that even with the Loya Jirga endorsing the pact, Karzai is still refusing to cooperate, demanding more concessions from the White House."
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Chicago Tribune: Man, the number of ObamaCare losers really seems to be piling up, doesn’t it? « Hot Air
Chicago Tribune: Man, the number of ObamaCare losers really seems to be piling up, doesn’t it? « Hot Air: "Much love has evidently been lost between the Obama administration and the editors of President Obama’s hometown paper, particularly since the Chicago Tribune came out swinging against the administration’s incompetence in rolling out ObamaCare and its inherent big-government intrusion not too long ago. They’ve been getting a lot more critical of the president’s crowning legislative achievement, and their latest editorial takes issue with the “small” qualifier getting tacked on to so many of the very forced explanations coming from ObamaCare’s advocates and apologists."
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Democrats set to turn on Obama if Healthcare.gov isn’t ready next week « Hot Air
Democrats set to turn on Obama if Healthcare.gov isn’t ready next week « Hot Air: "Pure, sweet, schadenfreudean goodness from Politico. See now why I think there’s a chance that those new Iran sanctions pass with veto-proof majorities?
Turns out, after three years and a half years of development plus two months of frantic triage to Healthcare.gov, Democrats are finally ready to hold the White House accountable for its giant O-Care fark-up. A little."
'via Blog this'
Turns out, after three years and a half years of development plus two months of frantic triage to Healthcare.gov, Democrats are finally ready to hold the White House accountable for its giant O-Care fark-up. A little."
'via Blog this'
Uh oh: Many younger consumers won’t get subsidies in ObamaCare exchanges « Hot Air
Uh oh: Many younger consumers won’t get subsidies in ObamaCare exchanges « Hot Air: "If the subsidies don’t show up, neither will these consumers. They’d be better off paying retail, which thanks to the enormous deductibles in these comprehensive plans they’d have to do anyway, rather than premiums and retail for provider services. And this is yet another point on which the administration has been less than honest with the very people who backed them through two successive presidential elections."
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'via Blog this'
Obama: Let’s face it, I’m not particularly ideological « Hot Air
Obama: Let’s face it, I’m not particularly ideological « Hot Air: "This is longstanding Obama shtick but feels more anachronistic by the day. Being seen as post-partisan and “pragmatic” was key to his 2008 Hopenchange message, reassuring centrists and libertarians that their fears of electing a liberal were overblown. Then he got elected, rammed through a giant stimulus, passed a landmark redistributionist health-care boondoggle, ran trillion-dollar deficits, demanded tax hikes on the rich, blocked Keystone as a favor to environmentalists, inevitably “evolved” on gay marriage, and of course remained a stalwart defender of the right to abortion. He didn’t even bother, really, with the “pragmatist” crap last year, concluding that he was better off turning out his base and trying to hold centrists by demonizing Romney than pushing more post-partisanship BS that no one would believe. Good call, as it turned out. He got reelected — and then began his second term with a big gun-control campaign followed by a call for action from Congress on legalizing illegals. Right down the middle, our Barry."
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Surprise: Officials confirm security breach on Vermont’s Obamacare exchange « The Greenroom
Surprise: Officials confirm security breach on Vermont’s Obamacare exchange « The Greenroom: "Vermont’s Obamacare chief has assured citizens that this error was isolated and has been “responded to appropriately.” So we’re all good. Thus far, news stories on Obamacare data security breaches have involved honest citizens and IT specialists probing for weaknesses. Might there be other characters out there exploiting unknown vulnerabilities for more nefarious purposes? Not to worry; Kathleen Sebelius “feels like” the websites are secure, even as security experts urge the administration to take Healthcare.gov off-line until safeguards are enhanced. And why wouldn’t people trust her casual assessment over the urgent warnings of people whose expertise lies in the realm of online security? Suck it up and carry on, folks. It’s not like the navigators handling your private data might be convicted felons, or anything."
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'via Blog this'
Best of the Web Today: California Dreamin' - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: California Dreamin' - WSJ.com: "Further, merely signing up young people isn't sufficient to avoid adverse selection. You have to sign up young healthy people (healthy for obvious reasons, young because age is directly correlated with the likelihood of soon becoming sick).
A representative sample of young people will be healthy and likely to stay that way for some time. But there is no reason to expect that the self-selected sample of young people who've undertaken the effort and expense of signing up for ObamaCare is representative. Sick people of any age have the greatest incentive to sign up. And the smaller the sample, the likelier it is to be skewed by selection bias."
'via Blog this'
A representative sample of young people will be healthy and likely to stay that way for some time. But there is no reason to expect that the self-selected sample of young people who've undertaken the effort and expense of signing up for ObamaCare is representative. Sick people of any age have the greatest incentive to sign up. And the smaller the sample, the likelier it is to be skewed by selection bias."
'via Blog this'
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Media pens letter of protest over lack of White House photo access « Hot Air
Media pens letter of protest over lack of White House photo access « Hot Air: "I’m not sure which is the more surprising aspect of this story… that it took so long to happen or that it happened at all. In any event, with very little fanfare or coverage on cable news, a significant portion of the national news outlets got together on Thursday and sent a letter to Press Secretary Jay Carney. In it, they assembled a list of complaints about the squelching of access to behind the scenes events at the White House for photographers in the press corps."
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'via Blog this'
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Of course: Keystone XL opponents now turning to blocking rail transport in earnest « Hot Air
Of course: Keystone XL opponents now turning to blocking rail transport in earnest « Hot Air: "I must say, I almost have to give them credit for finally, practically coming to grips with the fact that Canada’s energy companies have the will, and ergo, will find a way to develop, transport, and sell the products from their oil sands, with our without the still-pending northern extension of the already-completed Keystone pipeline — a market reality they have stubbornly neglected in many of their campaigns, op-eds, studies, and protests touting the prevention of Keystone XL as a means to thwart said oil-sands development."
'via Blog this'
'via Blog this'
Charles Krauthammer: ‘Sucker’s deal’ - The Washington Post
Charles Krauthammer: ‘Sucker’s deal’ - The Washington Post: "A president desperate to change the subject and a secretary of state desperate to make a name for himself are reportedly on the verge of an “interim” nuclear agreement with Iran. France called it a “sucker’s deal.” France was being charitable."
'via Blog this'
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George Will: Obama’s presidency unravels through chaos and crisis - The Washington Post
George Will: Obama’s presidency unravels through chaos and crisis - The Washington Post: "Carter’s presidency crumbled when people decided they still liked his character but had no confidence in his competence. Obamacare’s misadventures, and Obama’s response to them, have caused people to doubt both his character and his competence."
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'via Blog this'
MSNBC Hosts Claim GOP Blocking Obama’s Nominees Due to Bigotry, Contradict Selves Within Minutes | Mediaite
MSNBC Hosts Claim GOP Blocking Obama’s Nominees Due to Bigotry, Contradict Selves Within Minutes | Mediaite: "It has always been an intellectually bankrupt, lazy tactic, but it appears the MSNBC’s hosts are not even trying anymore when they attempt to tar Republicans as bigots and suggest this catchall explains all GOP behavior.
During a relatively dry segment on congressional Republicans blocking President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees, the hosts of The Cycle claimed that reason for this strategic decision was only skin deep. A handful of the president’s recently blocked nominees are either African-American or women. This fact having been established, the MSNBC hosts drew what they apparently believe to be the obvious conclusion. Within minutes, however, they apparently forgot that they issued this charge and contradicted themselves."
'via Blog this'
During a relatively dry segment on congressional Republicans blocking President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees, the hosts of The Cycle claimed that reason for this strategic decision was only skin deep. A handful of the president’s recently blocked nominees are either African-American or women. This fact having been established, the MSNBC hosts drew what they apparently believe to be the obvious conclusion. Within minutes, however, they apparently forgot that they issued this charge and contradicted themselves."
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Harry Reid Railed Against Nuclear Option in 2005 He Embraces in 2013 | Mediaite
Harry Reid Railed Against Nuclear Option in 2005 He Embraces in 2013 | Mediaite: "After canvassing Senate Democrats for a week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is preparing to go nuclear. According to reports, the Democratic leader in the Senate has asked members to come to the floor of the upper chamber to vote on a rules change in the Senate which would prevent minority members from filibustering with the intention of blocking President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees. It is precisely the same tactic he tore into as an assault on democracy when Democrats were in the minority and practicing precisely the same tactic in 2005."
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Photojournalists Protest White House’s Aggressive, Stalinist Image-Making of Obama | Mediaite
Photojournalists Protest White House’s Aggressive, Stalinist Image-Making of Obama | Mediaite: "According to a damning report from National Journal Editorial Director Ron Fournier, photojournalists are mounting an effort to push back against President Barack Obama’s heavy-handed effort to safeguard the president’s image by blocking independent photographers from taking pictures of him. One reporter even compared this White House to the old Soviet style of providing approved photographers with the best images of the president. "
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Rothman: In Their Panic, Democrats Become Reckless Gamblers | Mediaite
Rothman: In Their Panic, Democrats Become Reckless Gamblers | Mediaite: "Prospect theory, a predictive model of economic behavior, stipulates that when a person begins to come to terms with increasingly likely losses, they become risk-takers. Losses sting, the theory asserts, more than gains reward. Thus, risk-seeking behavior increases as the acute pain of an imminent loss comes clearly into focus.
Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto astutely cited prospect theory on Thursday in the wake of the unprecedented maneuver by Senate Democrats to change the rules of the Senate by a simple majority vote along party lines."
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Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto astutely cited prospect theory on Thursday in the wake of the unprecedented maneuver by Senate Democrats to change the rules of the Senate by a simple majority vote along party lines."
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HuffPost Reporter: Nuclear Option Clears Way for Obama Nominees He Maybe Never Wanted Confirmed | Mediaite
HuffPost Reporter: Nuclear Option Clears Way for Obama Nominees He Maybe Never Wanted Confirmed | Mediaite: "Huffington Post reporter Ryan Grim offered an interesting observation on MSNBC’s Now on Friday. Senate Democrats invoking the “nuclear option” and reforming Senate rules to prevent Republicans from filibustering President Barack Obama’s nominees has already possibly resulted in some unforeseen consequences. For example, at least one judicial nominee that is so unfriendly to the investor community that he would cause the White House more headaches than anything else is now likely to be confirmed. "
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Time to Pull the Plug on MSNBC? | RealClearPolitics
Time to Pull the Plug on MSNBC? | RealClearPolitics: "He seemed sincere, but this is the latest in a string of such conduct at MSNBC, and it’s not an accident. It’s almost an occupational hazard. It’s difficult to vilify people 24 hours a day because their priorities for federal spending differ from yours or because they’d be happier if we called gay marriages “civil unions.” So Republicans have to be demonized.
On MSNBC, conservatives are racist, sexist, homophobic, and moronic. That would be dubious enough, except that it turns out that if you view so many of your fellow human beings this way it spills out at the edges. You make sexist comments of your own, homophobic comments, dumb comments. You race-bait in the editing room."
'via Blog this'
On MSNBC, conservatives are racist, sexist, homophobic, and moronic. That would be dubious enough, except that it turns out that if you view so many of your fellow human beings this way it spills out at the edges. You make sexist comments of your own, homophobic comments, dumb comments. You race-bait in the editing room."
'via Blog this'
Dem House candidate dodging her single payer past « Hot Air
Dem House candidate dodging her single payer past « Hot Air: "Ms. Robertson is turning out to be yet another of those political hopefuls who apparently wasn’t aware that we had cameras way back in 2009 and methods of storing the images and sounds they record. As Professor Jacobson reports at Legal Insurrection, Martha was caught on camera just a few years back supporting something different than Obamacare… she was ready to go all in on a national single payer plan."
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Guess who is trying to regulate e-cigarettes? « Hot Air
Guess who is trying to regulate e-cigarettes? « Hot Air: "Have you seen the e-cigarettes? Smokers have been using them increasingly of late, either to be able to get a fix in places where they are not allowed to light up or as a tool to cut down and hopefully quit the tobacco habit. I’ve seen conflicting stories on how much serious scientific study has gone into the products at this point, but anything generating that much interest (read: money) was bound to attract the attention of the government. The push is on to get the gears in motion and start regulating them. But who is the driving force behind this? I had a couple of guesses, but as this article by Tim Carney points out, it may not be who you’d suspect."
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Why Kennedy May Not Have Achieved Higher Office Under Today’s Media Microscope | Mediaite
Why Kennedy May Not Have Achieved Higher Office Under Today’s Media Microscope | Mediaite: "1963 was a different world, a different political landscape…no question. Some argue—and it’s a solid point—that between the tax-cutting policy for all income earners (See: not targeted cuts) at home and the hard line taken with the Soviets both verbally (he called them “evil”) and through action (Cuban Missile Crisis), the Democratic Kennedy was arguably much more Ronald Reagan than Barack Obama."
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Obama’s Bay of Pigs - NYTimes.com
Obama’s Bay of Pigs - NYTimes.com: "Thus the second reason the Obamacare rollout has been so awful. “They put amateurs in charge,” says Marmor. Obama would have been much better served if, for instance, he had called upon his friend Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, to choose a team of specialists to lead the effort.
To even think that thought, however, requires management skills that this president has never shown. Nor has his initial reaction done much to instill faith. Calling on insurance companies to allow people to keep their old insurance plans — even after they’ve been canceled — is untenable. Even if state boards of insurance would allow such a move, it still wreaks havoc with the calculations upon which premiums are set."
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To even think that thought, however, requires management skills that this president has never shown. Nor has his initial reaction done much to instill faith. Calling on insurance companies to allow people to keep their old insurance plans — even after they’ve been canceled — is untenable. Even if state boards of insurance would allow such a move, it still wreaks havoc with the calculations upon which premiums are set."
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Friday, November 22, 2013
Mediaite's Tommy Christopher Asks Single Worst Question Ever at WH Press Briefing
Mediaite's Tommy Christopher Asks Single Worst Question Ever at WH Press Briefing: "On Tuesday, some numbskull in the White House press department gave a credential to Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher, who proceeded to disprove the axiom that there are no dumb questions. Pushing Obamacare and ripping Republicans like a good media plant, Christopher relied on his history of heart attacks to promote the president’s agenda in his question to press secretary Jay Carney."
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Scott Walker on the difference between him and Christie: “I’m not going to call you an idiot” « Hot Air
Scott Walker on the difference between him and Christie: “I’m not going to call you an idiot” « Hot Air: "I keep imagining the 2016 field as splitting between a centrist, a tea partier, and some hybrid candidate who can pull dissatisfied voters from both groups. If Jeb Bush doesn’t run (and Christie’s doing what he can to make sure that he doesn’t), he’ll be the centrist guy. Rand Paul or Ted Cruz, in all likelihood, will be the tea-party guy. Walker’s well positioned to be the hybrid. (So was Rubio before he torched his conservative credibility for amnesty.) A few days ago Phil Klein dubbed him Christie’s worst nightmare potentially because he, maybe uniquely among the field, can counter Christie’s big electability argument. Not only would Walker, like Christie, have won reelection in a reliably blue state, he would have done it despite ferocious left-wing attempts to oust him for his collective bargaining reforms a few years ago. He might not pile up Christie’s numbers with blacks and Latinos but he can point to the recall as proof that he knows how to win even when Democrats are throwing everything they’ve got at him."
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Oh, good: Energy Department finally sells of Fisker auto loan, and at only a $139 loss « Hot Air
Oh, good: Energy Department finally sells off Fisker auto loan, and at only a $139 million loss « Hot Air: "It looks like the grossly inept saga of Fisker Automotive, one of the Obama administration’s many stimulus-backed, politically-selected pet “investments” and the vehicular cousin of failed solar manufacturer Solyndra, is finally nearing its inevitable conclusion. The relevant portion of the tale began with the Obama Department of Energy dishing out $190 million or so on what was originally a more than $500 million loan guarantee back in 2011; then, somewhere along the way, it turned out that the two thousand or so promised domestic green-energy jobs actually went to workers at their Karma model’s production facility when it was relocated to Finland; and now, after selling the company off to Chinese investors, the DOE has only managed to recover a net $53 million of their loaned funds, putting taxpayers at an almost $140 million loss. Awesome."
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Best of the Web Today: The Senate Gets MAD - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: The Senate Gets MAD - WSJ.com: "Majority rule is always in the immediate interest of the majority party. But there are three countervailing incentives that have stopped majority senators from supporting a change in the rules: ideological moderation, concern for the institutional power of the Senate, and long-term self-interest. The first two of those incentives have gradually weakened for political reasons. The third suddenly broke down for perverse psychological reasons."
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Today’s other 50th anniversary: the passing of C. S. Lewis « The Greenroom
Today’s other 50th anniversary: the passing of C. S. Lewis « The Greenroom: "Actually, this is not the only literary connection to this particular date. Both C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died on November 22nd, 1963, and both deaths were understandably overshadowed by the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Huxley is most remembered for Brave New World, arguably the best of the dystopian novels expressing the dangers of science combined with totalitarianism in the vain pursuit of human/social perfection."
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United Nations still pushing prosperous countries to pay more for climate change « Hot Air
United Nations still pushing prosperous countries to pay more for climate change « Hot Air: "Not that anything would ever be enough to satisfy the august bureaucrats of the United Nations and their globalist, redistributive wishes, never mind that richer countries themselves are up to their eyeballs in debt, deficits, and green-energy failures — but hey, I’m sure the next conference will produce something more lasting, meaningful, and effective. Next time."
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Dana Milbank: The Democrats’ naked power grab - The Washington Post
Dana Milbank: The Democrats’ naked power grab - The Washington Post: "“If a Senate majority demonstrates it can make such a change once, there are no rules which binds a majority, and all future majorities will feel free to exercise the same power, not just on judges and executive appointments but on legislation,” Levin said Thursday. Quoting one of the Senate’s giants, Arthur Vandenberg, Levin said his fellow Democrats had sacrificed “vital principle for the sake of momentary convenience.”
If it was possible to make things even worse in Washington, Reid just did it."
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If it was possible to make things even worse in Washington, Reid just did it."
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Thursday, November 21, 2013
The Minimum-Wage Myths | National Review Online
The Minimum-Wage Myths | National Review Online: "The purpose of this fight is not to hash out economic questions related to low-income people. The purpose of the fight is the fight: There is no minimum wage high enough to keep the Democrats from introducing an increase next year, because the point of bills hiking the minimum wage is to force Republicans to vote against them, which provides Democrats with a moment of cherished political theater. They do not give a fig about poor people — as everybody knows, the real minimum wage is $0.00, and more Americans today are making that than at any time in recent memory, which is what is meant by “record low workforce-participation rates.”"
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Halperin: There’s no doubt press failed to scrutinize Obamacare until now « Hot Air
Halperin: There’s no doubt press failed to scrutinize Obamacare until now « Hot Air: "Forgive me, but I don’t think Time Magazine was doing cover stories on a lot of concerns that were raised back then that were routinely dismissed by many in the media, ideological, as just mean-spirited, turns out most of the Republican concerns about Obamacare were right."
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Best of the Web Today: War on What? - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: War on What? - WSJ.com: "It's ironic that Shesol brings up the 1988 election in the service of a partisan argument about competence. We'll never know if Dukakis would have been a competent president, but no one much denies that George H.W. Bush was. Indeed, it's probably fair to characterize the common view as follows: The five presidential terms of which Bush's was at the center represented something of a golden age of competence. To put it another way, on the whole America was considerably better governed during the Reagan, Bush and Clinton years than during either the 20 years before or the 13 years since."
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Daniel Henninger: Worse Than ObamaCare - WSJ.com
Daniel Henninger: Worse Than ObamaCare - WSJ.com: "Barack Obama has the U.S. economy on lockdown. It's the worst thing this president has done. American resilience, and elections, mean it won't stay this way forever. But for a lot of poor and middle-class folks, living with mom in the basement is getting old."
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Oprah, Obama, and the Racism Dodge | National Review Online
Oprah, Obama, and the Racism Dodge | National Review Online: "However, a lack of evidence hasn’t stopped countless liberals, editorial boards, pundits, and stand-up comics, not to mention administration officials, from propagating the idea that Obama’s problems boil down to the irrational bigotry of his opponents."
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Best of the Web Today: They're Desperate Now - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: They're Desperate Now - WSJ.com: "Sometimes it's obvious when somebody states the obvious, and we've seen a lot of examples of late as America's left-liberals have struggled to come to grips with the disaster of ObamaCare. Example: "The mismanagement of the website HealthCare.gov and the cancellation of millions of policies pushes an underlying question out into the open: Is the federal government capable of managing the provision of a fundamental service through an extraordinarily complex system?" Arguably the answer is no less obvious than the question."
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Obamacare flopped, but at least fracking works: Column
Obamacare flopped, but at least fracking works: Column: "But while the biggest big-government project in a generation was stinking up the place last week, the America that works was doing considerably better. Although "energy independence" has been an official government policy for four decades, we're on the way to achieve that more in spite of, than because of, the federal government."
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Uh oh: Carney won’t say specifically whether Obama knew about Healthcare.gov’s problems back in March « Hot Air
Uh oh: Carney won’t say specifically whether Obama knew about Healthcare.gov’s problems back in March « Hot Air: "One of the interesting things to me about the “what did Obama know and when” subplot to the Healthcare.gov Chernobyl is how little anyone on either side seems to care whether he’s telling the truth. He’s sworn up and down, as recently as last week during his big White House presser, that he had no idea how profound the site’s troubles were, which is almost impossible to believe. Either he’s lying his ass off again, hot on the heels of his Big Lie about people keeping their plans having been exposed, or he really is so far out to lunch even on his highest domestic priorities that he was blissfully clueless about the state of the health-care Manhattan Project for more than three years. That should be a big story — “Obama: Liar or Grossly Incompetent?” — but it’s more of a curio. Why?"
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George W. Bush on Keystone XL: Just “build the damn thing” already « Hot Air
George W. Bush on Keystone XL: Just “build the damn thing” already « Hot Air: "At the last update, I think we were somewhere in “earlyish 2014″ territory (who can even keep up?) for the time frame in which the northern extension of the Keystone pipeline will be either approved or denied by President Obama, but by determinedly delaying on what should have/could have been a simple and bygone decision of his first term, the issue is now a ticking time bomb of highly publicized, faux-environmentalist outrageous outrage. I suppose that the dollars the president has been fundraising from well-monied, self-fancied “green” Democratic donors may have made the delay, delay, delay tactic worth it in the run-up to his reelection, but the inevitable blowup (no matter which way he chooses) is going to be all the huger because of it."
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Great news: In an alternate universe where the 2012 election is being held today, Romney wins « Hot Air
Great news: In an alternate universe where the 2012 election is being held today, Romney wins « Hot Air: "Even more intriguing, though, is watching the lower middle class peel away. It’s easy to see why the young might turn on O-Care: Gradually, they’re waking up to the fact that the new health-care regime is built on their premiums specifically, in the hope/expectation that they’ll rarely use the coverage they’re now paying for. They’re the cash cows of ObamaCare, forced to kick in a chunk of their monthly income when decent-paying jobs are already hard enough to come by for a twentysomething."
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Supreme Court refuses to block new Texas restrictions on abortion « Hot Air
Supreme Court refuses to block new Texas restrictions on abortion « Hot Air: "Here’s gubernatorial candidate and pro-abortion superstar Wendy Davis reassuring Texas voters that her goal is zero abortions, even though the percentage of time her side spends on this subject devoted to protecting the right to abortion versus discouraging women from exercising it is roughly 100/0."
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It begins: White House edging away from “keep your doctor” promise « Hot Air
It begins: White House edging away from “keep your doctor” promise « Hot Air: "You think people are mad about losing their plans? Even losing one’s doctor is not always the hugest deal to a healthy adult. You don’t see them that often anyway. But this thing really starts to spiral out of control when people’s children start losing their doctors. Pediatricians are dang near family members to many parents. Parents who vote."
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Oops: Republican freshman Congressman picked up for cocaine possession « Hot Air
Oops: Republican freshman Congressman picked up for cocaine possession « Hot Air: "I wish him the best in his personal battle while stipulating sympathy for his condition doesn’t entitle him to a Congressional seat. Isn’t he the second politician in a month to blame alcohol for making him do a form of cocaine?"
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Best of the Web Today: Snake Eyes - WSJ.com
Best of the Web Today: Snake Eyes - WSJ.com: "The most interesting opinion survey we've seen about the ObamaCare cataclysm is one that's only indirectly about ObamaCare. Gallup asked Americans: "Do you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage, or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?" Only 42% of those surveyed said it is the federal government's responsibility, vs. 56% who said it isn't.
More telling is the trend. Gallup has been asking the question since 2000. "Prior to 2009, a clear majority of Americans consistently had said the government should take responsibility for ensuring that all Americans have healthcare," the firm reports. The proportion answering "yes" peaked in 2006 at 69%--27 points higher than today's number. Then it began declining, to 64% in 2007 and 54% in 2008.
The current 42% is the lowest figure ever recorded, but the percentage answering in the affirmative hasn't risen above 50% since 2009. Remember what happened in 2009?"
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More telling is the trend. Gallup has been asking the question since 2000. "Prior to 2009, a clear majority of Americans consistently had said the government should take responsibility for ensuring that all Americans have healthcare," the firm reports. The proportion answering "yes" peaked in 2006 at 69%--27 points higher than today's number. Then it began declining, to 64% in 2007 and 54% in 2008.
The current 42% is the lowest figure ever recorded, but the percentage answering in the affirmative hasn't risen above 50% since 2009. Remember what happened in 2009?"
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Video: WH argued in court that majority of group plans would end despite grandfathering « Hot Air
Video: WH argued in court that majority of group plans would end despite grandfathering « Hot Air: "As I wrote at the time, this shows that the real damage from the ObamaCare rollout has yet to arrive. Thanks to the delay in the employer mandate, those plans won’t change until 2015 — but that means insurers have to force people out of their existing plans by the time open enrollment for 2015 starts, which is October 2014. That will just be a few weeks before the midterm elections, and the resultant outrage over the disruption of existing coverage will make the last few weeks look like a minor kerfuffle."
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White House knew in March that Healthcare.gov site was running off the rails « Hot Air
White House knew in March that Healthcare.gov site was running off the rails « Hot Air: "Despite assurances all year long that the development of the central web portal of ObamaCare was proceeding as planned, the Obama administration knew full well that the opposite was true — and had their own independent analysts warning of disaster. The Washington Post reports this morning that the White House brought in outside consultants for a risk assessment months before HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius assured Congress that all was well, and they specifically warned the White House in March of the eventual disasters that the October 1 rollout produced."
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Duncan: Sorry if anyone was offended by my playing the race card on Common Core opposition « Hot Air
Duncan: Sorry if anyone was offended by my playing the race card on Common Core opposition « Hot Air: "Honestly, I had to read this a couple of times before I could believe it. Did Education Secretary Arne Duncan really say that opposition to his Common Core program was mainly from “white suburban moms” unhappy with test score declines from their children? Could anyone be that clumsy and still keep his Cabinet position? That’s a rhetorical question, of course, considering that Kathleen Sebelius is still on the job, but still."
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Woman cited by Obama as ObamaCare success story … can’t afford her new insurance « Hot Air
Woman cited by Obama as ObamaCare success story … can’t afford her new insurance « Hot Air: "Her problem is both simple and complicated. Read this Washington State Wire post for the complicated part. The first erroneous premium quote was due to — surprise — the feds and the state not having their act together in calculating subsidies. The feds were expecting each applicant’s annual income; the state gave them each applicant’s monthly income. That led to a massive overestimate of how much taxpayer money each applicant was entitled to. The second bad quote came from poor advice given by the state itself: They encouraged her to enroll her son, who has ADHD, in the state Medicaid program, but they didn’t tell her that that meant he couldn’t be counted towards her federal subsidies for her ObamaCare plan. After the second adjustment, she was entitled to no subsidy at all. The Kafkaesque result, per CNN: “Now I have been priced out and will not be able to afford the plans you offer. But, I get to pay $95 and up for not having health insurance.”"
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WH adviser: Obama too busy for 150th anniversary of Gettysburg because of ObamaCare, or something « Hot Air
WH adviser: Obama too busy for 150th anniversary of Gettysburg because of ObamaCare, or something « Hot Air: "Forget for the moment the “flippant” attitude the White House is taking with both the Gettysburg commemoration and the ObamaCare disaster. What strategist in his right mind would be advising Obama to skip this opportunity to repair his standing with voters? This administration has run completely off the rails."
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CMS tech officer: Roughly 30-40% of the ObamaCare exchange system still needs to be built — including the payment system « Hot Air
CMS tech officer: Roughly 30-40% of the ObamaCare exchange system still needs to be built — including the payment system « Hot Air: "Two things as you watch. First, note that Chao’s talking about the entire online exchange apparatus here, not the front end of Healthcare.gov where people sign up. The front end is in place and being repaired, he says. It’s the back end that … hasn’t completely been built yet. Second, it sounds initially like he says 60-70 percent of that back end is missing, but then he appears to correct that in the last minute or so. I’ll be conservative and assume it’s the later number that’s accurate. Regardless: How does the enrollment process work if the payment system hasn’t been finished yet? Remember, even if you’re one of the chosen few who managed to complete the sign-up process, your coverage doesn’t take effect on January 1 unless you make your first premium payment by December 15."
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The DOJ drops its suit against Louisiana’s school-voucher program, kind of. Not really. « Hot Air
The DOJ drops its suit against Louisiana’s school-voucher program, kind of. Not really. « Hot Air: "Earlier this year, the Department of Justice sued the state of Louisiana and thus began an egregiously counterproductive crusade against the state’s school-voucher program, which was itself designed to provide alternate opportunities to low- and middle-income families whose children would otherwise be stuck in failing public schools. The Obama administration claimed that the program was somehow walking back the progress of a federal desegregation order of yore (1975, to be exact) — which seemed strange, because the overwhelming majority of the program’s beneficiaries have in fact been minorities. Even the Washington Post’s editors came out swinging against the DOJ’s embarrassment of a lawsuit, and pointed out the situation smacks much more of a reinforcement of the Obama administration’s pro-union, anti-school choice leanings than a legitimate effort to put a stop to an ostensibly discriminatory voucher program."
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