News of the Week
Election 2012 *************** Nail Polish We Can Believe In? The Obama Campaign Courts The Beauty Vote Catchy slogans and memorable graphic designs are key aspects of any political campaign. You probably remember phrases like "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" and "I Like Ike" from elementary school history classes, and things like Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" image and of course, "Change We Can Believe In," from more recent memory. *************** Va. middle-schoolers assigned opposition research on GOP candidates A Virginia middle school teacher recently forced his students to support President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign by conducting opposition research in class against the Republican presidential candidates. *************** Bam’s angry adviser Back when he agreed to advise the Obama administration on economics, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt told friends that he thought it would be good for GE and good for the country. A life-long Republican, Immelt said he believed he could at the very least moderate the president’s distinctly anti-business instincts. *************** 29 sitting Wisconsin state judges have signed the Scott Walker recall petition Occupy Wall Street *************** NYPD Says OWS Dumped Feces & Urine In ATM Vestibule And Down Stairs The NYPD released surveillance video Wednesday night detailing some stinky business they say is linked to Occupy Wall Street protesters. *************** ‘No Chores’: Occupy’s May Day Strike Targets 1 Percent and…Parents? Occupy Wall Street has been accused by many people of adopting an overly adolescent tone in its attacks on the “99 percent,” and of acting adolescent in its sometimes violent resistance to evictions. But now, after losing union support, it appears to be deliberately targeting adolescents. Buzzfeed has a story about both phenomena, and also, brings the following poster to the public eye Obamacare ************** "Hide The Decline" *************** Australian Mammal Extinctions Tied to Human Hunting, Not Climate Change The disappearance roughly 40,000 years ago of dozens of large mammals in Australia — including rhinoceros-sized wombats and tapir-like marsupials — was caused by human hunting and not by climate change, according to a new study by Australian scientists. *************** Medieval Warm Period In the News Again *************** Scientific American editor: We need a World Government "with heavy-handed, transnational enforcement powers" for "species-wide alteration in basic human behaviors" *************** Eco-Fascists Don Their Jackboots I tend not to traffic too much in the “eco-fascist” theme, preferring to stick more narrowly to the substance of particular aspects of particular issues like climate change or air pollution. But sometimes the jackboot fits, and they should have to wear it. *************** Firm sells solar panels - to itself, taxpayers pay A heavily subsidized solar company received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels to itself. War & Terror *************** Beijing coup rumors U.S. intelligence agencies monitoring China’s Internet say that from March 14 to Wednesday bloggers circulated alarming reports of tanks entering Beijing and shots being fired in the city as part of what is said to have been a high-level political battle among party leaders - and even a possible military coup. *************** How Long Until Obama Bans Troops From Wearing This Awesome "Pork-Eating Crusader" Gear? *************** U.S. War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran WASHINGTON — A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials. *************** Russian special forces arrive in Syrian port *************** Japan Warns of Chinese Threat Tensions are rising between the two largest economies and most powerful military forces in Asia: Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda is using some very un-Japanese language (direct, forceful, naming names) to address what he sees as a growing threat. National *************** A Guided Tour Through Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica Legacies, Part 1 Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 2: A ‘Euphoria of Freedom’ Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 3: What Could it Mean to Be White? For without black people in America, what would it mean to be white? Of what value whiteness, the privilege of preference, the presumption of normality, the reassurance of majority status? Were the advantages of color to disappear, how would whites replace their carefully constructed but ever-fragile self-esteem based on whiteness? Blacks doubted that many whites would ever ask themselves these questions, but the questions were not less real because unacknowledged. Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 4: The Wages of Antisemitism Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 5: Thomas Jefferson, A Symbol of American Racism Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 6: Why Meritocracy Must Die In the first essay featured in Afrolantica Legacies Derrick Bell puts his words in Bill Clinton’s mouth. This excerpt from page 13 of Afrolantica Legacies imagines a speech in 1998 from the president titled “Racial Liberation Day: The Challenge for White Americans” Touring Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 7: Unemployment Creates Crack Dealers Derrick Bell’s Afrolantica, Part 8: We Have a Right to Your Property *************** Dick Cheney receives heart transplant Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant on Saturday, his office announced. *************** White vs. Non-White, or Black vs. Non-Black? I can almost taste the disappointment and perplexity of reporters that the Trayvon Martin shooter, George Zimmerman, isn’t some caricature from Deliverance. The New York Times saw the need to describe his as “a white Hispanic,” a term which a Nexis search shows has only been used five times previously in the entire history of the paper. Robert VerBruggen noted here yesterday, “if a plain-vanilla white guy shot Zimmerman, he’d be considered just ‘Hispanic.’” But that’s an artifact of elite media prejudices and government race laws, not social reality. *************** The 'Inequality' Movement--A Campus Product The sharp political focus on inequality, driven into the public mind by the Occupy movement and endorsed by President Obama in his State of the Union message, was born, not on the street, but on the campus. It thrives there, mostly under the aegis of elite universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia and Johns Hopkins. Those universities have free-standing inequality centers bearing such titles such as Multidisciplinary Program on Inequality and Social Policy (Harvard), Global Network on Inequality (Princeton), and the Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality (Stanford). *************** Eric Holder Federalizing Transvestite Student Issues Nobody wants any child threatened in school. But even people opposed to assaults in schools can rightfully question what constitutional role the federal government has over matters relating to transvestites in public schools. Naturally, the Obama administration won’t be bothered with Constitutional silence and has launched a effort to federalize the issue of the treatment of transgender students in American schools. *************** 'Stand Your Ground': Prosecutors Do Not Like a Law That Makes It Harder to Prosecute People *************** FOIA data suggests FCC more secretive than CIA Recent data suggests that the FCC, not the nation’s intelligence leading agency, has been in at least one particular case the most secretive agency of the Obama Administration. *************** Parents Attracting Name Allies in Dispute with Union Some of the community’s most prominent personalities are signing on to the parents’ side of the burgeoning battle with the School District non-teachers union, the Assn. of Classified Employees over the union status of certain teaching aides at El Marino Language School. *************** Video: College ‘Student’ Goes Wild, Threatens to Kill Professor and Classmates Good times at Florida Atlantic University. So nice to be living in a post-racial era. *************** Las Vegas police agree to pay $100,000 to beaten videographer The Metropolitan Police Department has agreed to pay $100,000 to a Las Vegas man who said he was beaten by an officer as he shot video from his driveway. *************** WI unions not terribly keen on high school’s “Stand With Walker” chant This just seems so unsporting. After all, these high-school students didn’t make threatening calls to the unions that were singing their silly “Solidarity Song” in the capitol rotunda in Madison, to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic *************** WH: Ryan 'aggressively and deliberately ignorant' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney didn't pull any punches in his attack on Paul Ryan's budget, as he declared that supporters of the budget -- and by extension, Ryan himself -- are "aggressively and deliberately ignorant" about the need for green energy and other programs slated for cuts. *************** 'Booze control' for future cars Not satisfied with putting federal restrictions on driver distractions like cellular phones, the federal government is pursuing technology to prevent cars from starting if drivers are legally drunk--even if they don’t have a DUI record. *************** City Council Warns ‘Crack Ho’ Comments ‘Intolerable’, Calls For Diversity In Talk Radio LOS ANGELES (CBS) — City Council members took a step closer on Wednesday to becoming the first in the nation to adopt a resolution condemning certain types of speech on public airwaves. *************** Congressman Keith Ellison Says The Nazis Bombed Pearl Harbor *************** Court Sides With Property Owners Over EPA The Supreme Court has sided with an Idaho couple in a property rights case, ruling they can go to court to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency order that blocked construction of their new home and threatened fines of more than $30,000 a day. *************** The New York Times Endorses the ‘One-Drop’ Rule An appalling op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times, entitled “As Black As We Wish to Be” and written by someone named Thomas Chatterton Williams, instructs us that *************** Welcome To The Predatory State of California--Even If You Don't Live There Every once in a while an event crystallizes the stark reality behind the lacy curtain of propaganda and artifice. Here is one such event. What is entirely believable is that the state of California, desperate for revenue, is churning out dubious income tax claims stretching back years and collecting the money without due process. *************** The Predatory State of California, Part 2 Due process and rule of law have been replaced with "legalized" looting and harrassment by government in America. Yesterday's entry Welcome to the Predatory State of California--Even If You Don't Live There generated dozens of emails recounting similar stories of "we don't need no stinkin' due process" looting and "fishing expeditions" by California and other state/local governments. *************** Challenging California open-carry ban *************** South Carolina Teacher Suspended For Reading 'Ender's Game' To Middle School Students In South Carolina a teacher has been placed on administrative leave for reading excerpts of Orson Scott Card’s science fiction classic Ender’s Game to his middle school students. *************** Tom Hanks, Glenn Frey in 2004: ‘Blackface,’ race jokes at fundraising auction [VIDEO] Video footage obtained by The Daily Caller shows Hollywood screen legend Tom Hanks and Eagles musician Glenn Frey at a 2004 fundraising auction, playfully interacting with a white man dressed as an African native, complete with blackface makeup and a giant Afro wig. *************** Helium stocks run low – and party balloons are to blame The world supply of helium, which is essential in research and medicine, is being squandered, say scientists *************** Pacific Education Group and Critical Race Theory: Taxpayer-Funded Division Across the Nation Glenn Singleton’s Pacific Education Group (PEG), which bases its school programs on “Systemic Racism” on Derrick Bell’s radical Critical Race Theory, has caused controversy in school districts across the country—at taxpayer expense. *************** Evanston Mom Sees Critical Race Theory Up Close in K-12 Schools She has seen elements of Critical Race Theory introduced into teacher and staff training at Evanston Township High School by the Pacific Educational Group (PEG) in recent several years. *************** Nuking Asteroids: It's a Megaton Of Fun! Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, scientists using the awesome power of 32,000 processors inside the Cielo supercomputer have simulated the impact of a 1-megaton nuclear explosion on the surface of a 500-meter wide asteroid. *************** Michael Bloomberg bans food donations to help the homeless *************** Sperm Discovered Doing Basic Calculus Our male readers will be happy to learn that their sperm is even smarter than they thought. It’s been known that the egg releases chemicals that alter the concentration of calcium inside the sperm, which in turn changes how fast the sperm wag their tails. *************** Gun-tracking operation caught top suspect, then let him go Federal agents stopped the main target of the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious in May 2010. After they questioned him, he disappeared back into Mexico, and the program went on to spiral out of control. Economy
& Taxes *************** JP Morgan Finds Obama, And US Central Planning, Has Broken The Economic "Virtuous Cycle" In the last few months we have presented various analyses, both ours and those of Goldman and even Jon Hilsenrath, on why one of the core economic empirical relationships: Okun's law, is now broken. *************** Tungsten-Filled 1 Kilo Gold Bar Found In The UK The last time a story of Tungsten-filled gold appeared on the scene was just two years ago, and involved a 500 gram bar of gold full of tungsten, at the W.C. Heraeus foundry, the world's largest metal refiner and fabricator. *************** MF’s Corzine Ordered Funds Moved to JP Morgan, Memo Says Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in a brokerage account with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), according to a memo written by congressional investigators. *************** China factories falter, euro zone business wilts Chinese manufacturing activity shrank for a fifth straight month in March and the euro zone economy is showing new signs of wilting, according to surveys on Thursday that pointed to weakening global demand. *************** The One Chart That Says It All Depending on debt to fuel nominal growth leads to an economic death spiral. *************** The U.S. Cruises Toward a 2013 Fiscal Cliff As tax cuts expire and spending falls, the economy will be hit with a 3.5% decline in gross domestic demand. *************** Ryan budget shoots for lower deficit, flatter tax Senate Democrats say they’ll defend higher spending levels *************** Sweden moving towards cashless economy Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them. *************** Greece on the breadline: cashless currency takes off A determination to 'move beyond anger to creativity' is driving a strong barter economy in some places *************** How To Cripple The Real Estate Market In Five Easy Steps *************** Voter gloom over Obama’s jobs, gas, debt policies Half of likely voters expect the Supreme Court to strike down President Obama’s signature healthcare law, and strong majorities see other major policies coming from the White House making life more difficult for themselves and the country, according to this week’s The Hill Poll. *************** International Council worker faces sack for flag tribute to soldiers... just weeks after it flies the rainbow banner for gay rights *************** A council worker could face the sack after he lowered the town hall flag in memory of six British soldiers who died in Afghanistan - despite it proudly flying a rainbow banner in support of gay rights just weeks before. *************** 'Communism isn't working here': Pope's outspoken warning days before he is due to land in Cuba Pope Benedict XVI has said that Marxism has no place in the modern world and urged Cubans to find 'new models'. He said: 'Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality. In this way we can no longer respond and build a society. new models must be found with patience and in a constructive way.' *************** China's monopoly on rare earths may soon be broken It's a rare fight. The US, Europe and Japan have lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's export of rare earths – or lack of it. *************** Opinion *************** Bubble Babies Dream of Unicorns and Rainbows Over at Forbes, Susannah Breslin threw out a Twitter question asking twenty-somethings what they want out of life and a career. Their responses were . . . amusing. *************** Democrats Discriminate by Relegating People to Niches And I mean that in the most pejorative sense of the word. Not in the sense that one has discriminating tastes — prefers the symphony to heavy metal. I mean Democrats herd people into niches and classify and identify and make assumptions about people, not by their level of discernment and powers of rational thought and deduction, but by their skin color, age, gender and ethnicity. *************** Obama’s Broken Window Company — And His Larger, More Serious Damage An intimidating message to business which still resonates *************** Adam Carolla: Unions, Democrats Have Bankrupted California Comedian and former host of "Loveline" Adam Carolla explained to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly why Republicans have such a hard time in California, noting the cultural presuppositions about the Democrat Party and labor unions, which he cites as culpable for the state's bankruptcy. *************** |
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