July 21st, 2010
Nov. 3: (more)
July 20th, 2010
A textbook tactic of statist radicals in America is the systematic character assassination of their enemies as racists. Loathe to engage their intellectual opponents in a real discussion of the issues, lest the radicals should be perceived for what they are and lose the fight to bring America under their heel, they prefer instead to slander their opponents, to intimidate and shout them down, and to destroy their credibility with whatever lies or twisted propaganda they can muster in a never-ending witch-hunt. (more)
July 20th, 2010
David Cameron today responded to mounting US pressure for a full UK government inquiry into the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi by revealing that he has asked the cabinet secretary to decide whether further relevant papers should be published. (more)
July 20th, 2010
Progressive ‘journalists’ coordinated smear against critics of Rev. Wright — Reporters harangue a sweaty Robert Gibbs after Obama mischaracterizes fight over unemployment benefits — Dueling Tea Party leaders channel Hamilton and Burr (sort of!) — Congressman points out that signs heralding stimulus are not a good use of the stimulus — How is Obamacare helping FLOTUS? Oh right, it’s not — Cops don’t want to be filmed doing anything ever again (more)
July 13th, 2010
BP began a series of critical tests on a new cap placed over its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico today, expressing hope that it may finally bring the disaster under control. But the company warned that the process was “not simple stuff.” (more)
July 13th, 2010
In 1984, Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month. Although this may not be Reagan’s crowning achievement in most Americans’ minds, ice cream fans might argue that founding National Ice Cream Month was among his most important endeavors. In fact, he also named the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day, which means that Sunday, July 18 deserves a special celebration. (more)
July 12th, 2010
Six months after the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti, the recovery effort has been stalled by a combination of political, social and economic factors. (more)
June 19th, 2010
To the usual journalistic armoury (famously, ratlike cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability), Wang Keqin has added an extra element: the small, red-smudged, battered metal tin that he carries to each interview. (more)
June 17th, 2010
One should hold deeply mitigated expectations for a senator who, as lead author of a cap-and-trade bill, admits he doesn’t know what cap-and-trade means. But Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is tempting me to think that, if he is merely uninformed, it must be willfully so. Or else he’s got an uncomfortable relationship with the truth and, it would seem particularly given the absence of specifics or examples, is making stuff up. (more)
May 25th, 2010
My erstwhile boss, the legendary crisis-management guru Linda Robinson, used to say, “Good PR can’t fix bad facts.” (more)
April 17th, 2010
As a supermodel, pop star, Bond girl, artistic muse and artwork in herself, Jones is a one-off. Photographers and artists love working with her. Andy Warhol’s Grace Jones – all red lipstick, fierce flat-top and pink backdrop – is one of his last great portraits. Helmut Newton wrapped her in the arms of Dolf Lundgren to recreate Adam and Eve as a modern-day designer muscle couple. (more)
April 15th, 2010
| —Dairy Queen will hand out free ice cream today in front of the IRS building in Washington, D.C., from noon-1 p.m. The menu probably won’t have Berry Cherry Smoothies, a dish DQ retired some time around 2003 despite evidence that the smoothie craze was just getting started. Chinese glam food chain P.F. Chang’s will cut 15% from your bill today, Dunkin Donuts will give you a free donut, and Starbucks will have free refills. All of these things, if consumed one after the other, supposedly will make you feel better about the interest-free loan you made to Uncle Sam, the poor odds for passage of a smart, job-creating tax reform bill, and the increasing likelihood that your chronic sloppiness led you to make the kind of filing mistake that will result in you being audited for omitting an IKEA receipt. Also, you forgot to turn on the crockpot before you left for work and that chicken is probably going to spoil in this heat. |
| —”More than 85 percent of the construction industry is not unionized,” writes The Daily Caller’s Aleksandra Kulczuga, and the industry as a whole suffers from 25 percent unemployment. Now, thanks to a new White House contracting policy, that second number may get bigger, as non-union construction workers are considered by Pres. Obama to be unfit to work on large government contracts. This is not because non-union workers get less competent as the numbers get bigger–though wouldn’t that be something!–but because a new White House policy “encourages” agencies “to require union labor” on any government contract valued at more than $25 million. This despite the aforementioned unemployment, hard times for everyone but unions, and the fact that the move signals an end to competitive bidding for government contracts. |
| —”If Crist were to file as an independent for the general election, he would get 32 percent of the vote, compared to [Republican candidate Marco] Rubio’s 30 percent and [Democratic candidate Kendrik] Meek’s 24 percent,” report the polling gurus at Quinnipiac. Running as an independent would require Crist to file as one by the end of the month, wear a flak jacket to work for the rest of his term as governor, and find a way to win back the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, because it’s likely that splitting Rubio’s vote would get Crist kicked out of the Tallahassee old boy’s club. |
| —”Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class,” reports the New York Times. While that fact doesn’t seem to distinguish the movement all that much from the GOP, this nugget certainly does: “While most Republicans say they are ‘dissatisfied’ with Washington, Tea Party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as ‘angry.’” It’s like, “Oh, I am very unhappy because now that Democrats are in control I can find no one to hand-feed me peeled grapes,” versus “I am gonna choke you if you don’t stop screwing things up.” How serious are Tea Partiers about bucking the establishment? According to The Hill, “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) were not asked to speak at the April 15 rally in front of the Washington Monument.” SPEAKING OF! If you’re heading to today’s rallies, |
| “—Ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R) spent more money to de-ice her private jets than she did donating money to candidates during the first 3 months of the year, according to new filings made with the FEC,” reports Hot Line On Call. “The filings show Palin’s political wing, Sarah PAC, paid a FL-based airplane service company $14K to de-ice a private jet. The PAC spent more than $16K — twice as much as it donated to individual candidates — on hotels from New Orleans to New York City to Richland, WA.” The filings show lots of other things, all of which suggest that the answer to, “Who will give the GOP that little push over the wall in 2010?” is not “Sarah.” |
| —Earlier this week UK clothing store Primark removed padded children’s bikinis from its shelves in response to pressure from parents and other Concerned Citizens. While most reasonable people seem to agree that dressing up an 7-year-old look like a consenting adult could have serious psychological repercussions, the Guardian’s Laurie Penny says otherwise. “In countries where children are routinely well fed, a significant minority of seven-year-old girls have already started puberty, and most foster a natural curiosity about bodies and intimacy. Rather than encouraging healthy sexual exploration or promoting education, campaigns to protect girls from ‘sexualisation’ assume that sexuality itself is a corrupting influence on young women.” in other news, scientists believe they have discovered why normal people hate journalists. |
March 29th, 2010
Google is stepping up a campaign to get other companies and the U.S. government to join it in putting pressure on China’s government over alleged human-rights violations. The Web search company may make limited headway. (more)
March 29th, 2010
The Guardian interviewed environmental scientist James Lovelock about the politics of climate change post-East Anglia. The quotes are equal parts harrowing: (more)
March 16th, 2010
People who own more than one hemp shopping bag and flush only after going number two are actually worse human beings than the rest of us, the Guardian reports. (more)
March 9th, 2010
The former US president George Bush has made a direct plea to David Cameron to support the Northern Ireland peace process, amid widespread concern in the US about the Tories’ new electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists. (more)
February 24th, 2010
Every time tech is used to fight crime, the “bad” guys just get better gear. The only crime-fighter that manages to always have the better gadget is Batman. Now car thieves are using GPS jammers to confuse the cars they steal, blotting out the satellite signals that the car needs to report its position to LoJack services. (more)
January 27th, 2010
1.) Dems: We’ll pass health care as soon as we finish watching this show — Dems said yesterday that “they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them,” the NYT reports. As Sen. Harry Reid pointed out to the paper, “there is no rush;” both health care and the swaying tower of empty takeout boxes in Reid’s office will still be there when Congressional Dems finish covering their rears on the jobs front. Reid says that he is working with Rep. Nancy Pelosi toward a procedural workaround for the long-lost bill, as well as schematics for a time-travel device, tentatively titled the Massachusetts Way-Back Machine. Other Dems sound even more hopeless about everything in the entire world, like Steny H. Hoyer, who told the NYT that he doubts Pres. Barack Obama will say “specifically exactly how he hopes to get health care done.” (more)
January 26th, 2010
The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned. (more)
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