Obama Organizing in High School

Details at Atlas Shrugged:

"Organizing for America (Ed - Obama's ongoing campaign organization) is (and I quote) recruiting in our high schools to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda". 

Coming soon - boob bombs

Al Qaeda Now Planning Breast Implant Bombs?

Obama’s Proposed Budget Will Increase Spending by 6% Over Last Year

President Obama is to unveil tomorrow a $3.8 trillion budget proposal — a 6 percent increase over last year, according to a published report.

via Gateway Pundit.

Treasury “watchdog”: bailouts made things worse

The problems that led to the last crisis have not yet been addressed, and in some cases have grown worse, says Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the trouble asset relief program, or TARP.

The Scale of the Universe

Excellent.

Class War - How public servants became our masters

Wow - Check out the numbers:

The United States had 2.3 state and local government employees per 100 citizens in 1946 and has 6.5 state and local government employees per 100 citizens now. In 1947, Hodges writes, 78 percent of the national income went to the private sector, 16 percent to the federal sector, and 6 percent to the state and local government sector. Now 54 percent of the economy is private, 28 percent goes to the feds, and 18 percent goes to state and local governments. The trend lines are ominous.

Bigger government means more government employees. Those employees then become a permanent lobby for continual government growth.

Jury Duty

IMAO brings the giggles.

Obama tries to get out of Jury Duty...

OBAMA: I’m the president. I’m doing important stuff.

COURT: No you’re not. You’re just screwing around.

OBAMA: I have a State of the Union address to deliver Wednesday.

COURT: You’re on TV talking all the friggin’ time. No one cares anymore.

OBAMA: Jury duty sounds boring! You go away! I’m the president!

COURT: I know it sounds hard, but you’re actually qualified for this job. You just have to sit and listen to the arguments and–

OBAMA: I can’t listen to other people. It’s a medical condition. I have a doctor’s note. I can only talk myself. If you try to make me sit in a room and not speak, my brain will explode.

COURT: That sounds made up.

OBAMA: You sound made up!

COURT: You’re not getting out of this.

OBAMA: Yes I am! I don’t every do anything I don’t want to! Like all my campaign promises!

Pro-life superbowl ad.

The gutsiest QB in the Super Bowl may be...

"He’s not even in the NFL yet, but former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is making a starring appearance at the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.

While the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning and the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees will be the quarterbacks on the field, the Heisman Trophy-winning college star will appear with his mother, Pam, on TV in an ad for the pro-life Christian group Focus on the Family that will air during the game.

The 30-second ad’s theme is “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” and a Focus on the Family press release said the Tebows agreed to the ad because “the issue of life is one they feel strongly about.” As a result, the ad is widely expected to focus on Mrs. Tebow’s pregnancy with Tim, when she was encouraged by doctors to abort him."

Keynes and Hayek rap about economics

Brilliant.

Obama donor gets $25 million no-bid contract

"The legality of the arrangement as a "sole source," or no-bid, contract was made possible by virtue of a waiver signed by the USAID administrator. "They cancelled the open bid on this when they came to power earlier this year," a source familiar with the federal contracting process told Fox News."

via Daily Caller.

Glacier scientist: I knew Himalayan data was bogus

The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders.

Dr. Zero - Victory Against Despair

Dr. Zero (who's up there, imho, with Goldberg and Steyn as a writer) on the March for Life.

FT on the rise and fall of the big three

In a book review of "Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry’s Road from Glory to Disaster", Financial Times has a good nutshell history of the big three.

 

"Detroit was not always a basket case. It was the Silicon Valley of the early 20th century, a crucible of US product innovation and flair. All good things, however, come to an end."

via Drudge.

UK - Terrorist threat level raised to 'severe'

"Britain's terrorist threat level was raised tonight from “substantial” to “severe” - meaning that counter-terrorism agencies believe an attack is “highly likely”.

The Times understands that the decision to raise the threat level is connected to the conference on Afghanistan taking place at Lancaster Gate, London, next Thursday."

Foreign businesses might be the real winners in SCOTUS ruling

Per Newsweek, anyway.  I tend to believe in unrestricted free speech.

Friday stuff

Will Vegetarian Humans One Day 'Emit' More Carbon Dioxide & Methane Than Cows?

 

Videos from jitterbug movies.

 

Punching holes in steel with EMPs.

 

Simpsons stained glass artworks.

 

The World's 10 Worst Invasive Species.  Vaguely related: Anaconda breeding ball.

 

Best use of Post-It notes for an video project ever: Deadline

 

Dark Roasted Blend: Female Androids' Shapes & Anatomy.

 

The midwest is turning into a zombie movie.

 

Ice formations on dead wood.

 

How to survive a nuclear attack.  Related.

 

Wine storage tips - don't use the microwave.

 

Sonic Cannon.

 

Low cost solar shingles.

 

Survey: Brits think bacon comes from sheep.

Great Quote

I came across this quote this morning, and it made me giggle. Hopefully, it will do the same for you. Not only do I appreciate the sentiment, but the oddly placed capital letters made me think of Winnie the Pooh. :)

"Politicians are merely Opportunists, looking for a big parade that's marching somewhere. As Opportunists, they can't pass up the chance to jump in front of a parade and declare themselves to be the leader. We need to build a parade so large that Political Opportunists 'lead us' to smaller government." - Jim Babka

Jonah Goldberg - Feeling the Heat, Obama Pours Kool-Aid

"The only way the White House communications shop could cram more Obama down our throats would be if it required, as part of the health-care bill, that we have Obama-message receivers installed in our fillings."

Heh

Frank J.: "The left seems to think the reason the American people didn't like getting kicked in the groin is that they were doing it wrong."

via IMAO on Twitter.

ACORN Filmmakers Giles, O’Keefe Sued in Philadelphia Federal Court

"The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that the Giles and O’Keefe “purportedly sought information regarding housing and mortgage opportunities in Philadelphia, but were in reality imposters who deliberately and surreptitiously created video and audio recordings in an attempt to discredit plaintiff Conway-Russell and ACORN Housing Corporation,” and that they subsequently “disseminated the illegally obtained recordings in a manner calculated to harm and injure” Katherine Conway-Russell."

via James O'Keefe.

Petition: Stop all federal funding for ACORN!

Stop all federal funding for ACORN!

via Conservative Outpost.

Brown’s Victory: The Declaration of Independents

So what do independents want?  Limited government. 

At Pajamas Media, by Paul Hsieh.  I'm a fan of his GeekPress and FIRM blogs.

Obama: Daddy of the United States of America

Interesting perspective.  via Kottke.

Hands Off Our Slush Fund!

"TARP's metamorphosis into all-purpose political slush fund, which started when the previous administration used it to bail out the automakers, continues unabated."

Revolutionary Holocaust - tomorrow on Fox

At Reason.com: "Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie will appear in a special, hour-long Glenn Beck Show documentary called "The Revolutionary Holocaust: Live Free...Or Die," which examines the historical atrocities of communist and socialist governments in the 20th century."

via The Corner.

Dr. Zero - The Context Of Middle-Class Frustration

"when all virtue resides in the State, those who oppose the growth of the State become villains by definition"

"It’s clear that the middle class is the great enemy of collectivism. Only they have the combination of voting power, money, and economic self-interest to see the growth of government as undesirable, and provide effective resistance. They generally view their interactions with government in a negative light – they’ve all spent time in the Department of Motor Vehicles mausoleum, spent hours wrestling with tax forms, or been slapped with a traffic citation they don’t think they deserved. They understand the inefficiency and emotional instability of government, and instinctively resent its intrusion into their lives"

Supreme Court rolls back campaign cash limits

By a 5-4 vote, the court on Thursday overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for their own campaign ads. The decision, which almost certainly will also allow labor unions to participate more freely in campaigns, threatens similar limits imposed by 24 states. 

It leaves in place a prohibition on direct contributions to candidates from corporations and unions.

Where Scott Brown stands on the other issues — besides health care

Where Scott Brown stands on the other issues — besides health care.

Home Shopping Network for guns

GalleryofGuns.com looks to combine home shopping and firearms with the new Gallery of Guns TV.

On an unrelated matter, I like this.

Message from America

IMAO: "It’s like Massachusetts just abandoned Ted Kennedy in a car at the bottom of a river."

"So the clear message from America to Obama is, “You suck at everything you do. Please stop doing things. We’re sorry we ever met you. You are a weirdo.”

Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won Massachusetts Senate

Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won Massachusetts Senate.

via The Corner.

How the world was misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown

More detail than in previous articles:

Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was the world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, published eight years before the IPCC's 2007 report. 

It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. 

Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was "speculation" and was not supported by any formal research.

via Daily Caller.

Dr. Zero - A Suggestion For The White House And Coakley Campaign

In addition to the uniformly excellent substance of his columns, relative newcomer Dr. Zero demonstrates a grasp of the art of the metaphor usually only seen in the writing of Steyn and Goldberg.  I really like this guy! 

"Conservatives, meanwhile, have passionately supported the generally moderate Brown, because he can kill the health-care bill before it escapes the bloody ruin of its birth in the mess hall, and finds a nice hiding place in the cargo bay, where it can grow into an unstoppable acid-blooded monster that could devour us all."

Great sentiment from MA today

Via the Bay State Report on NRO:

— “I attended the Scott Brown rally this morning in Quincy. I saw a great sign: "For the first time in my life, I am proud to be from Massachusetts.” I know the sentiment exactly.

I love it. :) Go Brown!!!

Political correctness and the 21st century battlefield

Interesting column at PowerLine.

Reason to homeschool #6,478

At BoingBoing:  Candy-ass vice-principal calls the bomb squad over an 11-year-old's science project, recommends counselling for the student.

"A San Diego school vice-principal saw an 11-year-old's home science project (a motion detector made out of an empty Gatorade bottle and some electronics), decided it was a bomb, wet himself, put the school on lockdown, had the bomb-squad come out to destroy X-ray the student's invention and search his parents' home, and then magnanimously decided not to discipline the kid (though he did recommend that the child and his parents get counselling to help them overcome their anti-social science behavior)."

via Instapundit.

Fort Hood Report 'Gutless and Shameful'

NY Post: "Rarely in the course of human events has a report issued by any government agency been so cowardly and delusional. It's so inept, it doesn't even rise to cover-up level.

Hasan was a protected-species minority. Under the PC tyranny of today's armed services, no non-minority officer was going to take him on.

This is a military that imposes rules of engagement that protect our enemies and kill our own troops and that court-martials heroic SEALs to appease a terrorist."

via JWF.

History in a hurry: the first book about Climategate is published

Details at Watts Up With That?

Deal of the day

32% off Space Shuttles at NASA.

"Massachusetts Miracle" video goes viral as Brown surges in Senate race

Here's the video.  I don't know that 75K viewers makes it viral, but it's certainly well made. 

via Washington Examiner.

Men Like Smell Of Ovulating Women

"Results revealed that men who smelled tee shirts of ovulating women subsequently had higher levels of testosterone than men who smelled tee shirts worn by non-ovulating women or men who smelled the control shirts." 

via Instapundit.

Why some women remain single

Why some women remain single.

The Last Decade Of Liberalism In 40 Quotes

At Right Wing News.

Via IMAO.

Heh - I guess they should have met in the basement

The floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of 20 members who were gathered for a meeting.

Harsh punishment.

Deputy head struck off for being drunk.

Japanese Navy, pre-WWII and present

TheDonovan has a post, From Iron Will To Pooftery, which includes video from the pre-WWII Japanese contrasted to a current Navy recruitment video.

Is there a word that means both hilarious and depressing at the same time?

Krauthammer - One Year Out: The Fall

"The health-care drive is the most important reason Obama has sunk to 46 percent. But this reflects something larger. In the end, what matters is not the persona but the agenda. In a country where politics is fought between the 40-yard lines, Obama has insisted on pushing hard for the 30."

Interestingly enough, my daughter and I had a conversation this morning using this same football field analogy, although we concluded that The One is pushing for the 20 yard line, not the 30 as suggested by CK.

Jonah Goldberg on the Coakley - Brown race

Read the whole thing.

"This is like a Democrat successfully running in Texas on tax hikes, gay marriage, and funding the Pentagon solely through bake sales."

America's Top 100 conservatives 40 - 21

Here's the latest list - numbers 20 - 1.

Links to numbers 100 - 81, 80 - 61, 60 - 41, 40 - 21.

Dr. Zero - Welcome to Subsidy Nation

"Welcome to Subsidy Nation, the midway point between a free-market democracy and a total command economy. The middle class has grown restless over endlessly rising tax rates, so the current statist strategy of choice involves using mandates on business, regulatory burdens, and special exemptions to pay off their favored constituencies. It’s not a new idea, but it’s exploded during the first year of this administration, and if the ObamaCare monstrosity is signed into law, it will become the fundamental organizing principle of our culture and economy."

If Star Wars were made in France

Video - If Star Wars were made in France.

America's Top 100 conservatives 40 - 21

Here's the latest list - numbers 40 - 21.

Includes Breitbart and Lowry.

Links to numbers 100 - 81, 80 - 61, 60 - 41.

Thursday stuff

Gallery of baby animals.

 

Ron Jeremy at the CES.

 

Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time.

 

Food science - The Importance of Resting Meat.

 

A Decade of SNL Musical Sketches.

 

Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Shelters

 

Trainee hypnotist accidentally puts himself in trance using mirror.

 

Explainer's 2009 question of the year.

 

Kung Fu Movie Script Generator

 

Caterpillar Water Skiing.

 

Gallery - the most recent Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.

 

Great grandmother has plastic surgery to look like Jessica Rabbit.

 

Math Geek Comes Up With Equation to Explain His Lack of a Girlfriend.

 

The dubious science behind the "wind chill".

 

China's Empty City

 

Russian bank robber hypnotizes tellers.

 

Excellent gallery - Vintage Future.  Keep clicking "next page".

Dr. Zero - Our Duty To Mankind

Make no mistake: it is wealth that feeds the hungry, cures the sick, and mends the broken. Capitalism is the practical expression of freedom, and wealth allows the tangible expression of compassion."

"If we allow selfish politicians to mortgage the future, to feed their hunger for power, we’re doing more than just saddling our children with a mountain of debt. We’re draining the strength they will need to help the victims of tsunamis, earthquakes, and famines to come. We’re sentencing them to watch the disasters of the future in helpless frustration. We are not just mortgaging their comforts… we’re devouring the economic bone and muscle they need to fulfill the destiny that was left for them by the heroes of our past, and telling them they can’t be heroes, because we weren’t strong and proud enough to be free.

Thank God we still have the wealth and will to help the people of Haiti today. If we let the architects of the socialist state build a hospice where we can die quietly, we won’t be able to help the people of tomorrow, either domestically or abroad. It’s about time we remembered our duty to mankind, and accept the truth that only the industry of free men can defeat hunger, poverty, and disease."

Read the whole thing.

America's Top 100 conservatives 60 - 41

Here's today's list - numbers 60 - 41.

The Governator is #55?  The Telegraph seems to succumb to the common fallacy that Republican = Conservative. Yesterday they had Olympia Snowe at #69.

Links to numbers 100 - 81, 80 - 61.

Economic Stimulus Funds Went to Climategate Scientist

Washington, DC - In the face of rising unemployment and record-breaking deficits, policy experts at the National Center for Public Policy Research are criticizing the Obama Administration for awarding a half million dollar grant from the economic stimulus package to Penn State Professor Michael Mann, a key figure in the Climategate controversy.
 
"It's outrageous that economic stimulus money is being used to support research conducted by Michael Mann at the very time he’s under investigation by Penn State and is one of the key figures in the international Climategate scandal."  

via Gateway Pundit, who has commentary and links.

Jonah Goldberg: The New Goldberg File has returned

He's been threatening to do this for years, so we'll see.  The post includes a link to sign up for email delivery.

Which Way Do You Wipe?

http://www.blogadilla.com/2010/01/06/paperwork-which-way-do-you-wipe/

Why those fat thighs may help you live longer

Good News.

This made me laugh

At Gateway Pundit: The African-Americans for Harry Reid Facebook Page lists 5 fans… 4 are white.

America's Top 100 conservatives 80 - 61

Check out #69 - Olympia Snowe is a conservative?  As Fezzik would say, I do no think that word means what you think it means.

See earlier post for link to numbers 100 - 81.

America’s 100 most influential conservatives: #100-81.

"Telegraph.co.uk is presenting its second list of the 100 most influential conservatives and 100 most influential liberals in America a year after Barack Obama took the oath on the steps of the Capitol to become the 44th President of the United States.

The lists are divided into five with 20 people in each 'installment' and published over five successive days."

via Hot Air.

What Harry Reid Really Meant to Say...

An old school SNL skit that remains strangely relevant... 

Black Perspective with Garrett Morris

Garrett Morris: Good evening, and welcome to "Black Perspective". I'm your host, Garrett Morris. Tonight our guest is Mr. Julian Bond, and we'll be talking about the myths surrounding black I.Q. Specifically, the myth that whites are inherently more intelligent than blacks.

Julian Bond: Good evening, Garrett.

Garrett Morris: Now, Julian, perhaps you could explain something to me. In all these studies comparing black I.Q. to white I.Q., what kind of test is used to measure I.Q.'s in the first place?

Julian Bond: Well, this is the major problem with these studies. The measurements of I.Q. which form the basis of comparison come from tests composed by whites for whites. The tests are culturally biased; it's not surprising that whites would score better than blacks.

Garrett Morris: Could you give us an example of what you're talking about?

Julian Bond: Certainly. Here are some questions that have appeared on recent I.Q. tests. Number one: "You have been invited over for cocktails by the officer of your trust fund. Cocktails begin at 4:30, but you must make an appearance at a 6:00 formal dinner at the Yacht Club. What do you do about dress?
A. Wear your blue-striped seersucker suit to cocktails and change into your tuxedo in the bathroom, apologizing to your host for the inconvenience.
B. Wear your tuxedo to cocktails, apologizing to your host for wearing a dinner jacket before 6:00 PM.
C. Walk to the subway at Columbus Circle and take the "A" Train uptown."

Garrett Morris: Uh.. I guess I'd choose the last one.

Julian Bond: I'm sorry, that's incorrect.

Garrett Morris: Damn.

Julian Bond: Here's another: "When waxing your skis for a cross-country run, you should..."

Garrett Morris: [ interrupting ] Well, I think I understand the problem with the tests. But the fact is that people have been saying that white people are smarter than black for hundreds of years. We've only had I.Q. tests for 20 or 30 years. How did the idea of white intellectual superiority originate?

Julian Bond: That's an interesting point. My theory is that it's based on the fact that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: [ not sure he heard that right ] Say what?

Julian Bond: I said I think it might have grown out of the observation that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: I don't get it.

Julian Bond: It's got nothing to do with having white blood. It's just that descendants of the lighter-skinned African tribes are more intelligent than the descendants of the darker-skinned tribes. Everybody knows that.

Garrett Morris: This is the first time I've heard of it.

Julian Bond: Seriously? It was proven a long time ago.

Garrett Morris: Well, I still don't quite understand. We're out of time right now, but perhaps you could come back on the show again and explain it further.

Julian Bond: There's very little to explain - it's just like I told you.

Garrett Morris: Well, we are out of time. Good night. [ to Julian ] If you could repeat it just once more... 

The science is settled, as they say... :)

The Ultimate Shell Game: The Federal Reserve Funds The US Deficit

At Zero Hedge: In the current hodge podge of abstract finance, it is easy to get lost in the numbers and lose sight of the forest for the trees. Which is why we provide the ultimate simplification: In calendar (not fiscal) 2009, the US grew its budget deficit by $1.47 trillion. In the same time, the Federal Reserve grew its securities holdings from $500 billion to $1.85 trillion, a $1.34 trillion increase. Keeping it simple: 91% of the budget deficit increase in 2009, under the authority of President Obama, was funded by the... United States.

Those Old Racist Democrats

IMAO has a great roundup of the Harry Reid "negro dialect" drama. It's funny because it's true. :)


So is the Democratic Party full of creepy old racists? That’s what the evidence points to. Already creepy Harry Reid apparently approved of Barack Obama because he’s “light-skinned” and doesn’t speak “Negro dialect”; you know, he’s not one of “those” black people. In the Democrats’ minds, there are certain groups of minorities who the Democrats think should just be thankful they have Democrats giving lip-service to them, but they shouldn’t ever try to lead. It seems pretty condescending, but it is how Democrats have firmed up their base for some time now.

Of course, the Democrats have all rallied behind Harry Reid because without condescending racism, there really isn’t a Democratic Party. Obama even defended Reid, saying, “I know exactly what black people Reid was talking about, and we certainly would never run one of them as a candidate for president. Senator Byrd would have a heart attack.” And Nancy Pelosi added, “This controversy is ridiculous. And, frankly, I think Obama is too dark-skinned, but whatcha gonna do.” The DNC also stated that their black members were okay with it, “though it’s hard to know exactly what they’re saying with their slang and the loud rap music they’re always playing.”

According to Ted Kennedy (who murdered a woman), Bill Clinton also apparently said about Obama: “A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.” I’ll give Clinton the benefit of the doubt, though, and assume he was talking about Obama’s inexperience and not his race. And no one he’s raped ever mentioned him saying anything racist.

Murders, rapists, and racists — the Democratic leadership could use some work. But the Republicans tend to allow a lot of spending on pork, and that’s bad too.

Venezuelans filled shopping malls this weekend after Chávez devalued currency.

WSJ:  "President Hugo Chávez's decision to devalue Venezuela's bolivar and impose a complicated new currency regime may paper over some growing cracks in the economy, but it is also setting the stage for bigger problems down the road for the country's oil-rich nation and its populist leader.

Over the weekend, there were signs that Mr. Chávez's slashing of the "strong bolivar" currency could create as many problems as it solves in Venezuela's economy, provoking a wave of anxiety that sent Venezuelans scurrying to spend cash they feared could soon be worthless."

Headline of the day

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo. 

The Harms of Homeschooling

Robin L. West, of the University of MD, has written a piece viciously critical of homeschooling. I don't mind a free-ranging discussion, but this woman is out of her mind. It really is unbelievable. She argues that homeschooling is completely outside the mainstream, and I'm sure that it seems so to her. If you read the whole thing, you'll see that her ideas are so far out there, normal people must seem to be from another galaxy. Such is the kind of thing we can expect from the liberal denizens of "tolerence". Read the whole thing.

A small excerpt:


The explosion in homeschooling of the last quarter
century, however, is a different phenomenon altogether.
The majority of homeschoolers today, and by
quite a margin, are devout, fundamentalist Protestants.
And, of the hundreds of thousands of fundamentalist
Protestant parents who in the past two decades have
pulled their children from public schooling, the majority
have done so not because their kids have special
needs, or because they live too far from a schoolhouse,
but rather because they do not approve of the public
schools’ secularity, their liberalism, their humanism,
their feminist modes of socialization, and in some cases,
of the schools’ very existence. Because they disapprove,
they choose to educate their children at home, in accordance
with their own traditions and by their own religious
lights.

First, the idea that most homeschoolers are fundamentalist Protestants is laughable. As a homeschool parent myself, most of the homeschool families I know aren't all that religious at all. This is a straw man argument to which homeschooling critics resort time and again. The early homeschool movement (which the author is unable to mention without using scare quotes) was certainly heavily fundamentalist Christian, but many studies have shown this to no longer be the case. My homeschool groups run the gamut from strict Catholics to far-left hippie non-conformists. The only thing most of the moms have in common is a desire to help our children become the best they can be, something unlikely to happen in today's over-burdened public school system. And God forbid that parents be able to educate their children as they see fit if they disagree with the politically liberal, militantly secular worldview pushed on their kids in the public system. The horror!

There are many other examples of West's insanity throughout the paper, including an assertion that education is the most important responsibility of the federal government. If that doesn't make your skin crawl, it should at least offend your sense of basic civics. Does this kook really think that education, which isn't mentioned in the constitution and didn't become compulsory until the last century, is the core thing our government should be doing? How about providing for the common defense and regulating interstate commerce? Ringing a bell? She also laments that there isn't any politically viable way to recriminilize homeschooling. This woman's ideas are dangerous and completely risable. It scares me that in this day and age, when homeschooling has proven a legitimate and exceedingly successful method of education, that people still hold these kinds of ideas. Sheesh.

Is helicopter parenting going out of style?

Important issue.

"But the parenting pendulum has already begun to swing the other way.

The tipping point, I believe, occurred in 2008, when syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy wrote a piece about letting her 9-year-old son navigate the New York City subway alone.

The column initially set off a firestorm of criticism, and she was dubbed “America’s worst mom.” But 20 months later, Skenazy now heads up a movement that is the antithesis to helicopter parenting"

Ant Has Given Up Sex Completely, Researchers Confirm

The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers.

via Science Daily.

JWF - Neanderthals: The Original Metrosexuals

British archaeologists have unearthed evidence that Neanderthals wore makeup 50,000 years ago.

Headline of the day

"Midwest City man uses buttocks to smash ex's 72-inch TV."

Explanation for record cold - catastrophic puncturing of our planet’s thermosphere

Russian scientists are reporting to Prime Minister Putin today that the high-energy beam fired into the upper heavens from the United States High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) radar facility in Ramfjordmoen, Norway this past month has resulted in a “catastrophic puncturing” of our Plant’s thermosphere thus allowing into the troposphere an “unimpeded thermal  inversion” of the exosphere, which is the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere.

Cultural differences

British woman arrested in Dubai after reporting rape is told to admit being drunk and marry her fiancé if she wants to be freed.

Steyn - But We’re Still Gonna Kill You

A must-read, as always.  

"For two weeks, the government of the United States has made itself a global laughingstock. Don’t worry, “the system worked,” said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Incompetano. Don’t worry, he was an “isolated extremist,” said the president. Don’t worry, we’re banning bathroom breaks for the last hour of the flight, said the TSA. Don’t worry, “U.S. border-security officials” told the Los Angeles Times, we knew he was on the plane and we “had decided to question him when he landed.” Don’t worry, Obama’s chief counterterrorism John Brennan assured the Sunday talk shows, sure, we read him his rights and he’s lawyered up but he’ll soon see that “there is advantage to talking to us in terms of plea agreements.”

How to Stop a Daybreakers-Style Vampire Epidemic

Popular Mechanics takes on the problem.

via Instapundit.

Reid: Obama is "Light skinned... with no Negro dialect."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) apologized today for referring to President Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect" in private conversations during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama Musical Debuts In Germany

ONE!  Singular sensation...  Check out the promo video.

Obama gets serious about terrorism - adds 2 more teleprompters

via IBD.

Soda Fountains Squirt Fecal Bacteria, Study Finds

Small study, but still icky.

Video: How banks got strongarmed into TARP

Via Captain Ed at Hot Air.

"John Allison, CEO of BB&T, not only didn’t want TARP money but openly opposed the program altogether, lobbying Congress against it.  After all, BB&T had made wiser decisions and by normal standards was overcapitalized even after the financial collapse. Allison tells how Ben Bernanke became Time’s Person of the Year by pressuring healthy banks to take TARP money in order to hide which banks were actually in trouble."

Feeling safe after Obama's speech?

via Atlas Shrugged.

Government Surrenders on Second Mortgages

The Second Lien Modification Program, announced in April 2009, may be on the way out.

Loch Ness monster death rumours dismissed

Good to know.

Cell phones, cancer and Alzheimer's

A couple of weeks ago a report came out indicating the cancer seems to deselect for Alzheimer's disease, and vice versa.  Now the report on cell phones possibly providing some Alzheimer's protection.  What's all that mean?  No idea.

Remember, correlation is not causation.

Romance isn't dead

It just smells that way.

Hey, that's not 'cho cheese!

A fight over nachos resulted in the arrest of two roommates at their South Side apartment late Tuesday, according to San Antonio police.

Totally awsome commercial

A 60-second Second Amendment tale of terror.

Video du jour - Christmas Tree Rocketry

This is hilarious.  These guys launched their Christmas tree on 32 model rocket engines.

Remember the Pan Am bomber with 3 months to live?

"Never mind the Underpants Bomber, who failed to blow up a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas Day and will now feel the full force of the American criminal justice system. The Lockerbie Bomber, who was successful, is alive and living quietly at home in Libya—nearly five months after his so-called “compassionate release” from a Scottish prison."

Not a health care crisis; a culture crisis.

Interesting viewpoint from a ER doc in MS.

Well said, sir.


Please meet Dr Starner Jones from Jackson, Mississippi.

His short 2-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis". Its worth a quick read:

Starner Jones, MD
I am a seventh generation Mississippian and wanted to come back here after going somewhere else for college and medical school.. My extracurricular interests are golf, hunting, fishing and college football.


Dear Sirs:

"During my last night's shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with an expensive shiny gold tooth, multiple elaborate expensive tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone.. Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid. She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer.

And our Congress expects me to pay for this woman's health care? Our nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. A culture that thinks "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow. Don't you agree?

STARNER JONES, MD
Jackson : 12/08/09 23:32:00

Welcome to the Fight: We Are All Spartacus Now

Big Journalism launches:

"The revolt against the MSM empire is well and truly begun – and we are Spartacus...

We stand foursquare with the Founders.  We believe in the First Amendment, not just for we, but also for thee.  We believe the phrase, “Congress shall make no law…” could not possibly be clearer.  We despise “political correctness” and everything it represents.  We will not be told, “you can’t say that,” because to accept that stricture means we cannot think it, either.  We believe that freedom of inquiry, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression are the fundamental liberties upon which this country was founded.  And we will fight to defend them."

14 terrorists mistakenly kill themselves

Am I going to hell for laughing at this?

Better Late than Never

OK, so I know this is slightly belated. I just saw it, and it cracked me up. Courtesy of JibJab:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Awesome, awesome rumor: Chris Dodd for Treasury Secretary?

At Hot Air.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the G-spot

And then some.

2010 Weird Science Awards

Read the whole thing.

Female toads inflate to avoid sex

Wow.  How perfect an analogy is that for weight gain?

Why Books Remain Unread

From Abe Books :

A list of reasons why we read some of the books in our piles, but leave other to gather dust. I'm going to use some of these the next time my husband complains about my stack. :) I've excerpted my favorite, but as they say, read the whole thing.

Remaining Unread: The Top Ten Reasons We Don’t Get to Certain Books

7. The siren call of the bargain bin.When we're standing right there, and a book costs $2, and it has a UKRAINIAN SPY with an OMINOUS MOUSTACHE, and a TORRID LOVE RHOMBUS and a SUSPICIOUS DASCHUND in it, it's difficult to not grab it on the spot - after all, it's cheaper than a fancy coffee. And oh man - suspicious daschund. Good times guaranteed. Even the covers tempt me. A woman in a silver leotard, draped unconscious in the arms of a swarthy astronaut, while the rings of Saturn loom behind? How can it NOT be good? And such a steal! But when you do this a lot - and Lord, I do this a lot - it's amazing how quickly they build up, and sit there, judging you, accusing you, when you walk down the hall.

Filling another quota

From Frank J.

"President Obama recently named a Transgendered-American (I thought the PC term was “person of cross-sexualism” but I guess I’m behind the times) to be a Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department.

Personally, I think we need more transgenders in government.

For example, I’d gladly support using taxpayer money to get Obama a set of balls."

Running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles

Running shoes may damage knees, hips, ankles more than barefeet or high heels? More support for my position that exercise is dangerous.

Burj Khalifa opening ceremony

You've probably already seen this, although maybe not the whole thing. The Burj Khalifa is the giant skyscraper (twice as tall as the Empire State Building) in Dubai. The three-minute clip is the opening ceremony - lots of fireworks.

Interesting article on the background and construction (and ongoing structural) problems.

Google Blocking "Negative" Searches Related to Islam

Check out the screen shots at Atlas Shrugged.

Underwear Bomber’s Visa Revoked.

That'll teach him. No, it's not The Onion.

Underfunded public pensions - $2 trillion worth

At Volokh: The Financial Times runs a story today by Francesco Guerrera and Nicole Bullock on the looming problems of underfunded public pensions at the state and local level in the United States. The news story cites a new study by Orin Kramer, chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund:

The estimate by Orin Kramer will fuel investors’ concerns over the deteriorating financial health of US states after the recession. “State and local governments are correctly perceived to be in serious difficulty,” Mr Kramer told the Financial Times.

“If you factor in the reality of these unfunded promises, their deficits will rise exponentially.”

Estimates of aggregate funding requirement of the US pension system have ranged between $400bn and $500bn, but Mr Kramer’s analysis concluded that public funds would need to find more than $2,000bn to meet future pension obligations.

Dr. Zero - The Carnivorous Government

The Obama Administration answers every question with a demand for more power, to implement nebulous plans no one is allowed to review. It’s striking that, over a year after the subprime mortgage crisis caused by activist government legislation, there is absolutely no area in which the Democrat Party thinks government should be made smaller… no problem they believe American citizens should be given greater liberty to solve. Their menu for the future of America consists of nothing but pork-fried government spending, sauteed in reckless deficit sauce and coated with greasy regulations… and just wait until you see the tax-hike surprise they’ve got under glass for the second course.

Tuesday stuff

Vintage Ad Browser.

15 Insane Wedding Themes.

The 5 Phases of Caffeine Intake.

All about slings.

Grow-your-own to replace false teeth.

Correlation does not imply causation.

Sex and shopping – it's a guy thing.

Train your cat to use a human toilet in 8 weeks or less.

The Secret Lives of Amazon's Elves.

Toenail offered for charity auction.

Darwin Awards 2009 winners.

10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist.

Go Go (Inspector) Gadget Facts!

Study: Spanked Children May Grow Up to Be Happier, More Successful

Per Fox News:

"According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined."

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Stimulus Funds Went to Nonexistent Zip Code Areas

"First it was phantom Congressional districts. Now it is phantom zip codes.

Closer examination of the latest recovery.gov report for New Mexico shows hundreds of thousands of dollars sent to and credited with creating jobs in zip codes that do not exist in New Mexico or anywhere else."

Via Instapundit.

Steyn: The Pantybomber wasn’t the big joke. We are.

Must read.

The real laugh was the United States government. The global hyperpower spent the next week making itself a laughingstock to the entire planet.

Jihadi Art Class

New York Post: "A cushy Saudi Arabian "rehab" center where terrorists are encouraged to express themselves through crayon drawings, water sports and video games is under scrutiny after one of its graduates re-emerged as a leader in the al Qaeda branch claiming responsibility for trying to blow up an airliner on Christmas."

via JWF.