Month: May 2010

Contributed by: filbert Monday, May 10 2010 @ 01:01 PM CST

Shocker… Far Left Progressives Have Low Levels of Economic Knowledge [*1] — which comes from this story:

Economic Enlightenment in Relation to College-going, Ideology, and Other Variables: A Zogby Survey of Americans [*2] — Haven’t I been saying for a while that a particular trait of leftism/liberalism/”progressivism” is economic illiteracy? The proof is in this Zogby survey analysis.

SDSU beats ORU twice [*3]

Least Successful P.R. Campaign Ever? [*4] — “Notwithstanding relentless negative coverage in the press combined with positive reports on protests against the law, and condemnation by President Obama and many other prominent politicians, Rasmussen finds that nationally, 59% of voters favor a law like Arizona’s.”

Have people begun to totally tune out and discount anything what Obama and the Democrats say? If so, it’s about time . . .

Team Obama Says If There’s a Successful Terror Attack – The US Will Attack Pakistan [*5] — And, related to the immediately above: Does Pakistan take Obama seriously? Does anyone in this world, except hard-core partisan Democrats in the United States? Holder: Taliban Behind Times Square Attack (Won’t Discuss Why Team Obama Took Him Off Terror List) [*6]

Don’t leave it to Cleaver, part 16 [*7] — “McClatchy was certainly there to take the statements of the congressmen on March 20 and turn them into a story within a matter of an hour or two. We have no reason to think that McClatchy reporters heard the alleged racial abuse first-hand. None has stepped forward to testify to it. There is no evidence that in McClatchy’s story that any reporter heard it. (McClatchy Investigative Editor James) Asher’s response appears nothing more than bravado and deception.”

Mostly, government should do nothing [*8]

The free market — “allowing” people to exchange goods and labor voluntarily — has given America the greatest level of wealth known to history. The socialists actually contend that’s bad, complaining that wealth is “unevenly distributed.”

So are energy and talent. Blame God.

Even the “poor” in America are vastly better off than 90 percent of the world, and vastly better off than our grandparents. Whereas in every experiment in which men with guns were allowed to grab the wealth and “redistribute it,” everyone ended up poorer — including the poor.

A limited government, concerning itself primarily with protecting our freedoms, has given us the greatest prosperity, the most effective division of labor, ever seen. Compulsion systems, on the other hand — like those of eastern Europe from 1917 and especially from 1940 to 1990 — have created widespread poverty, desperation, starvation and slavery.

Video: Principal apologizes for disciplining students who wore American-flag clothing on Cinco de Mayo [*9] — The truly appropriate apology from the principal–and now from the superintendent, as well–would include a prompt, immediate resignation. If not forthcoming, they should both be fired, as should any other administrator in the Morgan Hill, California school district who either had a hand in this sorry debacle, or failed to stop it. They have all demonstrated their lack of fitness to lead a school system in the United States, and should not be allowed to do so any more.

Media Narrative of the Day: Governor Palin’s Supporters Capable of Thinking for Themselves [*10] — As long as they’re disagreeing with Palin, anyway . . . sheesh . . .

The contradictions of José Guillen [*11]

R-Utah [*12] — “The game was redefined in a single place and time from “one of Republicans versus Democrats” (Romney’s reference) to that of “Small Government versus Big Government”. In isolation the Bennett defeat is insignificant, but it now raises the wider question of whether the ‘Smaller Government’ idea can catch on. If it does then it has the potential to redefine the political landscape in ways that are both a threat and opportunity to different communities.”

Lessons from the Gulf blowout [*13] — It would be accurate to say that–at least in part–this oil spill happened because special interests are preventing us from exploiting easier-to-reach oil reserves, like in Alaska’s North Slope, for instance . . . of course, saying that isn’t exactly politically correct now, is it?

The Shape of Things to Come? [*14]

I suspect viewpoint selection in news consumption is self-reinforcing, i.e. as people right of center begin to realize the MSM leans left they increasingly stop utilizing it. Since developing political opinions (there is, apparently, no cure for this condition, only palliative care), I rarely ever watch local Chicago TV news anymore, because it’s always like it was the 5 minutes I watched after last night’s Lakers game: glowing coverage of gun control efforts, a new nanny-state initiative, vague cluck-clucking about how the economy is forcing people to turn to crime, the identity politics crisis du jour, and all with subpar production values, even in a major metro area.

We can only hope.

Video: Tennessee’s under water, and nobody gives a dang? [*15]

Contributed by: filbert Monday, May 10 2010 @ 03:14 AM CST

Oh the Irony: “America is Back!,” Baby, But The Magazine Proclaiming This Just Might Go Out of Business [*1] — Newsweek magazine, circling the drain . . .

Nuance: 31% of Birthers approve of Obama’s job performance [*2] — “Enjoy this now because it’s straight down the memory hole tomorrow.”

The unintended but foreseeable consequences of Obamacare [*3]

Two of the industries that traditionally offer work to members of these groups are leisure/hospitality and retail. As Furchtgott-Roth explains, many of these employers do not provide their employees with health insurance, and both sectors have large percentages of part-time workers. Obamacare threatens to raise costs in these sectors because every employer with more than 50 workers will either have to offer health insurance or pay an annual penalty of $2,000 per worker. For part-timers, employers will pay $2,000 for each “full-time equivalent worker,” a block of 30 weekly hours of part-time work by the same or different employees. Employers thus have a strong incentive not to employ more than 50 workers. By avoiding that threshold, they won’t have to provide health insurance and will gain a cost advantage over competitors.

See? All it takes is a rudimentary, passing acquaintance with the very, very simple-to-comprehend economic law of supply and demand–of the balancing of demand and supply against a price point.

Here’s the basic theory:
If you raise the price of something, people will consume less of it. If you lower the price of something, people will consume more of it.

Now, here’s the leap of logic which seems to escape Democrats:
Business owners are people.

They make decisions based on what is best–financially–for their companies.

Obamacare raises the cost of hiring people. Therefore, businesses will inevitably do less of it.

Too simple and straightforward for those wise and wonderful Ivy-League-educated Democrats in Washington to get their minds around, I guess. APNewsBreak: Series of failures led to rig blast [*4]

Video: Rick Sanchez’s “Anchorman” moment [*5]

Judge’s Ruling a Victory for Hutaree and Free Speech [*6] — “Do not be misled; the Hutaree case is all about the limits of your first amendment right to free speech — specifically, your right to be free from imprisonment for engaging in political speech that others find offensive and dangerous. However, “free speech” is not the only liberty-based value at stake; the age-old right to bail has been attacked by the government, who have sought to keep the Hutaree members incarcerated until trial.”

Steele cleans house: RNC fires finance director and deputy [*7] — It’s about time Steele did something productive and useful, rather than stabbing his political party (and employer) repeatedly in the back, which has been his main activity in recent months . . .

Is Paul Krugman, the Doctor, America’s Most Politicized Economist? [*8] — Wait, what? Krugman is an economist? Like supply-and-demand kind of economist? Or “no, really, governments can borrow and/or print all the money they want, it will all work out because you see we’re smarter than you are, you dim fools!” kind of “economist?”

Why did Newsweek fail? [*9] — Yeah, I have to admit, Ace really, REALLY toasted Newsweek . . . and liberals/leftists, generally. The truth hurts, don’t it?

Brutal: Arizona governor’s ad hammers Obama on immigration [*10] — This is what it looks like when a U.S. President is absolutely, positively schooled by a sitting State Governor:

We observe once again that there is a qualitative difference in experience gained by being the governor of a State of the Union, and being a “community organizer. Would that a majority of American voters in 2008 have realized this before they elected Barack Hussein Mistake.

Hammering Small Business [*11] — Wherein Obama and the Democrats take yet another whack at businesses, large–and especially small (from CNN[*12] via TaxProf[*13] ):

Section 9006 of the health care bill — just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document — mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year.

Emphasis mine. If Democrats didn’t lie (and they do), the “health care” bill would have been titled “We Democrats Are Hell-Bent On Absolutely Killing Any Chance Of Significant Job Or Economy Growth For The Foreseeable Future Because We’re Just Better People Than You Are And Don’t You Forget It Bill.”

Clean, green and expensive as hell [*14] — Because Democrats, “Progressives,” and leftists in general are utterly illiterate when it comes to basic economics . . .

Men of Iron and Steel [*15] — “Iron Man is the most perfectly American superhero, next to Captain America, whose own movie is on the way. The armored avatar of resourcefulness and ingenuity, Tony Stark does what capitalists always do, in the long run: create incredible possibilities, far beyond the narrow vision of politicians with constituencies to appease. He understands that no one else can lift the burden of responsibility from his shoulders, and he’ll be damned before he lets anyone take it by force.”

Interesting Idea: On May 11th, everyone demand free admittance and free food at the Arizona Suns game [*16] — Ooh. I like it.

Obama touts healthcare in new bid to ease doubts [*17] — Still out there, tossing the same old, tired, broken, failed, discredited bag of “progressive” New Deal crap onto the front porches of America. Heckofa job, Barry.

Jackrabbits rally past Oral Roberts [*18] — Friday, baseball.

The Trouble With Tulips [*19] — “It was an income transfer from the half of American society that paid taxes to the other half that didn’t. Except that it didn’t take the form of a tax. It was nothing so overt. Instead it assumed the guise of a guarantee that allowed Fannie and Freddie access to cheap money, putting the taxpayer on the hook in case things went bad. It was hidden contingent tax. And what do you know? Despite Barney Frank’s assurances that “houses ain’t tulips”, history proved not for the first time, that housing bubbles can in fact exist. And now the taxpayers are on the hook, in part from his misjudgment.”

Gallup: No one really cares about SCOTUS pick’s gender, ethnicity, or religion [*20] — My only criterion is: Do you, Potential Supreme Court Justice, think that the plain words of the Constitution mean exactly what they say–as any citizen who has been well-grounded in the founding principles of this country would understand those words–or not? Yes, or no?” An unambiguous and unqualified “yes” answer means that person is an acceptable Supreme Court candidate. Any other answer, including any kind of qualification, vacillation, or “interpretation” of those words means that person is utterly, completely, totally unqualified for any judgeship at any level, from municipal traffic court on up all the way to the Supreme Court. No exceptions. The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. The Constitution does not belong to the Supreme Court. It belongs to the People. We, the People have always reserved the right to enforce the Constitution directly, or through the several States, if the various branches of the Federal Government are not equal to that task.

Venus Envy [*21] — “Venus has long been the CO2 bogeyman of climate science. In my last piece about Venus I laid out arguments against the claim that it is a runaway greenhouse which makes Venus hot. This generated a lot of discussion. I’m not going to review that discussion, but instead will pose a few ideas which should make the concepts clear to almost everybody.”

Rights Double-Talk [*22] — The word, “rights,” does not mean what the leftist/”progressives” want it to mean. But then, “progressive” does not mean what the “progressives” want it to mean. “Progressive” means an obsolete, late 19th-Century, top-down, command-economy approach to economic planning. It is utterly incapable of dealing with the modern complexities of today’s economy. But the “progressives” have a hammer called “government,” and to them everything looks like a nail.

Confirmed: Barney Frank Played Major Role in Financial Collapse & Is Still Pushing His Dangerous Agenda on America [*23] — If you want to blame one person for the current finanacial mess, that person would likely be Barney Frank. If you want to blame two, you could throw in Bill Clinton. But a lot of people contributed to this current mess.

Contributed by: filbert Sunday, May 09 2010 @ 03:41 PM CST

Kendall has plugged club’s leaks behind the plate [*1]

Big 12 athletic directors meet with Pac-10 counterparts [*2]

College buzz | NCAA getting tough on tough guys [*3]

Revisions — Dialogue [*4]

Grape-loving moth invades Calif.’s wine country [*5]

Blue Scales & Spaghetti Noses: Writing the Other [*6]

Your Current Project Should Always Be the Focus of Your Query [*7]

Marketing Advice For Mad Scientists[*8]

Is Greece ‘Too Big to Fail’? [*9]

Sizzling in their own Greece (update) [*10]

Morning Bell: A Recovery Only Washington Could Love [*11] — “It is encouraging to see the American economy beginning to recover, but these numbers again indicate that the Obama administration’s heavy government hand has retarded and deformed what otherwise would have been a more robust recovery.”

Barney Frank (Video): Tip-Toeing Through the Tulips While the Housing Bubble Burst [*12] — “Rep. Frank, of course, has a distinguished history of ineptitude when it comes to regulation of the housing industry, and his role in the financial market collapse. But when it comes to avoiding culpability, he is second to no one in his ability to spin a web of deceipt and reinvent history.”

The wages of bipartisanship [*13] — Bipartisanship is not the highest political value. It is the vigorous, uncompromising defense of individual freedom and liberty. Period.

CRS Confirms: People Will Avoid the Individual Mandate [*14] — CRS, as was memorably told to me one night by one patron of a local Kansas City gambling “boat”, also stands for “Can’t Remember Shit.” Such as: Members of Congress and the current sitting President can’t remember that people will change their behavior in response to things like taxes and fees and fines and other stupid things that Congressmen and current sitting Presidents get it into their silly little heads to try to impose on the people.

We Are Out Of Money [*15]

10th Amendment Task Force [*16] – The amusing thing is that there were those, during the original debate of the Constitution in the 1700’s, who thought that the Bill of Rights was superfluous.

“The decrease in upper ocean heat content from March to April was 1C – largest since 1979″ [*17]

Send this reporter to jail: An update [*18]

When the American Cancer Society Calls You Out … [*19] — “…It’s pretty good evidence that you’re a scaremongering regulatory shill. As I noted yesterday, the President’s Cancer Panel released a alarmist report asserting that the burden of cancers caused by environmental exposures to carcinogens was “grossly underestimated.””

School District: Actually We Should Not Be Disciplining Students For Wearing Patriotic Clothes [*20] — No . . . you need to be disciplining the school administrators, instead . . . preferably with a pink slip, for cause . . .

The American Promise-Our First Principles [*21]

Spencer: strong negative feedback found in radiation budget [*22]

Andrew Breitbart: “The Left Is, in Essence, The Media” [*23] — ““I aim everything at attacking the media for its biases and holding them accountable for their biases, and the things that they report incorrectly, or the things they fail to report,” he said. “By aiming everything at the media I’ve pretty much done the one thing they ask you not to do. ‘Please accept the premise that we’re fair, and let’s move on.’ No. I’m not going to accept that premise.”

People who want to be left alone are racists! And Jacobins! [*24]

Contributed by: filbert Sunday, May 09 2010 @ 06:20 AM CST

Hyperventilating on Venus [*1] — “I bought off on the “runaway greenhouse” idea on Venus for several decades (without smoking pot) and only very recently have come to understand that the theory is beyond absurd.”

New Nerve Cells, Even in Old Age [*2] — In mice, anyway . . .

Politics and Economics: A Deadly Mixture [*3] — Separation of church and state has worked fairly well . . . how about a separation of wallet and state?

Used Car Prices Rise as Administration Declares Victory on Cash for Clunkers [*4] — As I recall, pretty much everybody who understood the first thing about economics predicted that this would be the exact result of “Cash for Clunkers:” higher car prices for the people who can least afford to pay higher prices for cars–those who can’t afford new cars but must rely on the used-car market. Your all-knowing government bureaucrats at work as usual–chopping the little guy off at the knees while simultaneously promising him the ability to run faster. It’s sweet for the bureaucrats and the power-lusters when the rubes fall for it. Dow Plunges 1,000 Points in 15 Minutes- Loses 347 On the Day …Update: Brian Williams Video Added [*5] — And only partly because some Wall Street trader fat-fingered a trade deal . . . the market’s overvalued, folks. It’s due for a big correction. Strap yourselves in for the ride . . .

FCC chief promises light broadband touch [*6] — In other news, shameless womanizing rake promises naive pretty young woman that he’ll respect her in the morning . . .

Big 12, other conferences form consortium for refs [*7]

Video: Strangely enough, Gibbs doesn’t want to talk about Obama’s “teabagger” quote [*8] — Because, you know, Presidents refer to between one quarter and one third of the American electorate with vulgar slang term for a homosexual sex act featuring oral stimulation of genitalia every day . . . don’t they?

Midnight Express [*9] — “The concern rippling through the financial markets is only incidentally to do with Greece. The Greek economy is very small relative to the global economy. A commenter called it “a rounding error”. The significance of the Greek debt crisis is the light it sheds on a bigger problem of European debt . . .”

And the problem isn’t European debt, it’s government debt. And then, consider that in the past year, the Federal Government in the U.S. incurred more debt than it had in the entire previous history of the United States of America–COMBINED. We have a big problem, and it’s sitting in Washington, in State capital cities around the country, and in many City Halls across the land. That problem is utterly out-of-control government spending. It will stop. We can choose to stop it, and come to a “soft landing,” or it will stop because of the laws of economics, in which case there will be unrest, anarchy, violence, bloodshed, and death. We still have a choice. For now.

Police Hold Driver’s License Checkpoint to Catch Suspended Drivers [*10] — “Your papers, please?” “Driving is not a right, it’s a privilege.” Where are the protesters of the Arizona immigration law on this one? Hmm? What’s the difference between stopping people and having them prove citizenship, and stopping them to have them prove license and proof of insurance? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

PA-12: Democrats Panicking Over Impending Onslaught of AOSHQ Morons [*11] — Just because Ace of Spades HQ[*12] is one of my favorite irreverent political Internet blog sites . . .

Engineers move chamber toward Gulf seabed oil leak [*13]

Waitress, could I have a side of humor with my science fiction romance, please? [*14]

DeVore Spokesman Attacks Palin as “Sheepdog” [*15] — Oh, this could get fun!

Condescension [*16] — Which is, of course, Doonsbury’s REAL title . . .

Mystery Solved [*17]

As information about Faisal Shahzad accumulates, a number of misconceptions are being dispelled. It turns out that the Times Square would-be bomber was not, Mayor Bloomberg’s speculation notwithstanding, someone who was unhappy about Obamacare. Nor was the bomber the random “white man” who was filmed by a security camera removing his shirt a block away from Shahzad’s Pathfinder. Nor was he, to Contessa Brewer’s deep regret, one of those dreaded Tea Partiers. Nor was his “motivation” a mystery, as suggested by the Associated Press. No, to the surprise of some–but not us–Faisal Shahzad was a jihadist.

Hoekstra: “We’re just a couple of smart people away from having 300, 400, 500 Americans killed…” [*18] — You know, it’s kinda weird. We elected Obama, and they still want to kill us . . .

What is Mangling the Goats at a Lee’s Summit Farm? [*19] — “Is it a bobcat? Is it a coyote? Is it “El Chupacabra?”” Cue the spooky X-Files music . . .

“The current government debt bubble is the last of all possible bubbles.” [*20] — Germany’s Der Spiegel: “Today, the world is no longer threatened by the debts of banks but by the debts of governments, including debts which were run up rescuing banks just a year ago.” Yup. Quit Spending Money, You Government Morons!!!

Hotness is in the eye of the beholder [*21] — Sadly, not an article about human physical attractiveness . . .

Contributed by: filbert Saturday, May 08 2010 @ 06:38 PM CST

Democratic Leader Al Sharpton: “The Dream Is to Make Everything Equal in Everybody’s House” (Video) [*1]

Royals notebook: Ka’aihue says improved mind-set fueled surge [*2]

The long and the short of it [*3] — writing . . .

Re-Write Wednesday: I Had to Do This [*4]

Fake It Til You Make It [*5] — writing . . .

Flag semiotics and the First Amendment at school [*6] — “Yes, the school administrators who made this decision should be fired, and replaced by people who understand their job.” My thoughts exactly. Blacklisting Ideas: Hollywood’s Red (State) Scare [*7] — “Ladies and Gentlemen, let me turn your attention to a worse case of rampant bigotry, phobia and persecution. I am referring of course to the New Red Scare… Hollywood’s rampant hate mongering of the Red States and Middle America.”

Massachusetts town bans bottled water [*8] — “More nanny state fascism in the name of the environment, this time at a local level:”

The Problem with Title II Reclassification of the Internet in a Picture [*9] — “If the agency rolls back the regulatory clock in this fashion, it will be a huge step backwards for innovation, investment, and quality . . .”

SecDef To Navy: We Need To Have The

Rep. Andre Carson: Tea Party Protesters Are ‘One of the Largest Threats to our Internal Security’ [*10] — And by “our” he means ‘we arrogant, know-nothing authoritarian redistributionist collectivist neo-socialist betters and masters, but don’t dare call us any of that because if you do you’re a racist.’

Mosquito repellant no longer repels mosquitos [*11] — DEET not repelling mosquitos that carry yellow fever. This is not good news.

Everything Man-Made (Except Cell Phones) Gives You Cancer, Says Presidential Cancer Panel — The answer is obvious: blow everything up, except the cell phone towers. And the iPhones, of course. How power will get to the cell phone towers is not known at this time, but presumably the boffins at MIT or Stanford will suss that out in due time. Odd, however, that life expectancy continues to increase, isn’t it?

The one-sided war against Wall Street [*12] — “Does Wall Street have come culpability in the financial meltdown we suffered? Of course they do. But so far, Democrats have chosen to focus only on that and ignore the culpability shared to an even larger degree by government.” People should be lining up to tar and feather Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, and hooting Bill Clinton down at every public appearance he makes, if they really want to get at who’s responsible. But first, they need to take a long, serious look at the person in their morning bathroom mirror to complete the list of culprits in this sorry episode. Everbody’s greed and power lust made this happen. We are all responsible. Ripping our financial system apart will just exacerbate the mistakes we’ve already made.

The Neanderthal in Us — Neanderthal Genome Sequenced [*13] — “It turns out that many of us whose ancestors hail from Europe or Asia carry genes from Neanderthals.” Grog Want Bacon!

The Secret History of Anything You’d Like [*14] — Humans are exceptionally skilled at identifying patterns out of the things that they observe. Some of these patterns actually represent reality. Many of them, to our lasting sorrow and frustration, do not. It is a special gift to be able to tell the difference between the two–that fine edge separating skepticism from cynicism from paranoia.

Failed States: After a long spending binge, governors go begging for a handout. It won’t be their last. [*15] — A Reason Magazine hit from 2009.

Let’s Shake It Up In California — Palin endorses Carly Fiorina for California U.S. Senator, using a possibly unfortunate turn of phrase.

Handle these numbers with care [*16] — Glimmers of hope at the Kansas City Royals’ AA minor league affiliate . . .

Breaking: Obama Administration Removed Faisal Shahzad From Terror Surveillance List Before Attack …Update: Faisal Had Contact with Awlaki, the Taliban Chief, and Mumbai Massacre Mastermind [*17] — If true, the question is: How does the government decide who to take off of the no-fly list?

Contributed by: filbert Saturday, May 08 2010 @ 11:38 AM CST

Simon Cowell Endorses Britain’s Conservative Party [*1]

As ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ Chuckles Along, Seth MacFarlane Crudely Trashes Sarah Palin [*2]

I Like Socialism. Also Capitalism. Also Family Values. [*3]

A Greek Tragedy in the Making [*4]

CBO: Doc fix will cost more than anyone thought [*5] — What was the rush to pass Obamacare about? Was it, as it certainly seems, a desperate effort to get it rammed through before everybody understood just how bloody expensive and wrong-headed it was? Was it just to collect a political “win” for the Democrats at the expense of the American people as a whole? Is that what it was all about? It certainly looks that way. A dozen employees cut from Star payroll [*6] — Sadly, Jason Whitlock not among the dozen . . .

Awesome: MFM Changes Its Spin on Shahzad [*7]

Give Us The Money [*8] — The sad reality is most of the dupes of the Democratic Party have absolutely no idea where money comes from in the first place. They think it’s “Obama money” and it comes from Obama. It’s magic fairy unicorn dust. Money happens. That is, when the evil, greedy rich people aren’t meanly hoarding it so that the good folk can’t have a decent life. That’s the warped, perverted, evil worldview promoted daily by almost every single Democrat (and a depressing number of Republicans) in political America today. Their economic illiteracy is extremely dangerous. It has to change.

MFM: Picking Sides In Illinois Senate Race [*9]

“Most ethical congress ever” to keep allowing members to do “insider trading” [*10]

Growling sea lion pup captured after hiding under San Diego police car for 4 hours [*11]

The Country’s in the Best of Hands [*12]

How Dark Chocolate May Guard Against Brain Injury from Stroke [*13]

Heckuva Job, Strickie: Chief-of-Staff to Sec. of Interior, Tasked with Coordinating Response to Petroleum Katrina, Instead Spent Week Rafting In Grand Canyon With Wife [*14]

NCAA proposes tighter restrictions on elbows [*15]

Contributed by: filbert Saturday, May 08 2010 @ 03:37 AM CST

European Markets Respond to Uncertainty With Additional Uncertainty, Concern, and Extremely Pissy Uncertainty [*1]

Hey, let’s put an atheist on the Supreme Court [*2]

Was Times Square Bomber An “Unhinged Liberal”? [*3]

The Best Spaceships in Written Science Fiction [*4]

Sports briefs: SDSU baseball adds four [*5] The Newspaper of the Mysteries [*6]

Given this language an historian from the future, seeking to reconstruct the great upheavals of the 21st century might reasonably conclude that the evil “they” the President refers to are the heartless managers who foreclosed the mortgage on this ordinary American, and that somehow this Faisal Shahzad was driven to an irrational deed by an intense pang of loneliness or perhaps alienation. A minority interpretation among future historians would probably argue that “they” refers to some other entity because the whole narrative is written in code. But the proposition that newspapers were written in code is so preposterous that only a few crackbrains will believe it. The entire saga of the catastrophe of the early 21st century will probably remain an unsolved mystery to those who pick over the ruins of a mysteriously vanished civilization.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Rich farmers get most cash [*7]

Total Relaxation: The Spa At Silversea [*8]

Not Just Another Funny Forehead: Creating Alien Characters [*9]

Where’s “the Future” for Science Fiction? [*10]

How They Do It: Guest Blogger Lydia Sharp on The Long and the Short of it [*11]

The Series Bible [*12] — Writing . . .

The writer’s toolkit: Eavesdropping for dialogue [*13]

Bad night’s sleep can hamper body’s insulin use [*14]

FAA Receives Tentative Order for Cranky Jackass Award After US Airways/Delta Slot Swap Ruling [*15]

3 Reasons YouTube Shouldn’t Censor Downfall Parodies [*16]

Libertarians – More popular than Socialism and Militias … and Indies love us [*17]

Is President Obama Using Executive Powers To Organize Angry Anti-Capitalist Protests On The Streets Of America?[*18]

NPA, which is organizing angry mobs to protest against capitalism, is very tight with the Prez, and the Prez is very tight with them.

The fix is in.

Change is coming.

The Real Reason Obama Revealed Nuke Numbers [*19] — “President Obama appears fixated on the idea that U.S. unilateralism in arms control will lead to improved security based increased personal popularity around the world. In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that President Obama is on a unilateral treadmill that he cannot get off and U.S. security will be undermined as a result. He is finding that each unilateral concession he makes to meet foreign expectations that the U.S. lead by example in nuclear disarmament only results in more demands for U.S. unilateralism. It is only a matter of time before President Obama and the American people discover that his personal popularity is not as great a national security asset as he expects.”

NYT discovers record number of black Republicans running for Congress [*20] — “There was more violence at May Day rallies this past weekend than there have been in over a year of Tea Party rallies. Did the New York Times cover those and assign them to the entire liberal politisphere in the manner they do here with conservatives? Did they link that violence to the immigration-reform movement in the same way they have with no violence at all at Tea Parties with its attendees?”