Baidu Inc.’s settlement with record companies this year was rewarded by the U.S. government’s decision to remove it from a list of “notorious markets” that help sustain piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property. (more)
FreedomWorks launched a video today suggesting the libertarianish “Atlas Shrugged” film is Ripped Straight From the Headlines. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Tuesday it is negotiating a possible reduction in U.S. intelligence operatives and special operations officers in Pakistan as the two countries try to mend relations badly strained by the arrest and detention of a CIA security contractor for killing two Pakistanis. (more)
It may be helpful, at a time like this — when Congress is threatening to shut down the U.S. government in a dispute over a tiny fraction of the federal budget — to think of legislators like a lost forest tribe. (more)
Work is quietly underway in the South Bay on a massive 22-story rocket whose power is rivaled in the U.S. only by the mighty Saturn V rocket, which took man to the moon, in a risky private venture that could herald a new era in space flight. (more)
The other day, I read an article in the Washington Post entitled “I didn’t deserve my combat pay.” The author, Michael G. Cummings, is right that some deployed servicemen have tougher lives than others. In fact, I readily admit that I had an easier life in Iraq than many other servicemen, especially the ones who deployed during the initial invasion. (more)
The U.S. government is so concerned about China’s military and intelligence goals that it monitors and at times restricts Chinese investments in the U.S. down to even very small transactions. Yet nobody in Washington seems to be asking if selling our debt to China in amounts totaling hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars poses any long-term risk to the United States. (more)
The media has done it again. They’ve presented the wrong message to the American people about the Egyptian crisis, and it’s not just because of the liberal bias of the U.S. media. It’s also because liberal and conservative media outlets have the same agenda: to sensationalize stories in order to raise ratings. They’re interested in creating the story that sells best. Facts come second. (more)
Mass protests demanding democratic reform and freedom on the streets of Egypt — the Arab world’s most populous nation and one that holds tremendous political and cultural influence throughout the Middle East — left Washington unsure whether it should continue its support of an oppressive regime or stand for the values Americans cherish most. The U.S. government has an unprecedented opportunity to offer Reagan-esque support to an indigenous popular movement in the heart of the Arab world that could fundamentally change the political fabric of the region and secure America’s long-term goal of a free and democratic Middle East. The Obama administration’s response to the protests was shockingly slow and apprehensive, as was the response from other U.S. leaders on both sides of the aisle. The U.S. government must now act swiftly to embrace this unique opportunity and not let an exaggerated fear that militant Islamists might fill a void left by an ousted President Hosni Mubarak inhibit it from voicing support for the very principles on which America was founded. (more)
1.) Everybody wants something from Obama’s SOTU — For two weeks now, yammer-faces and pols have rattled off what they’d like from tonight’s State of the Union address. The only thing they haven’t asked for is the moon. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner added his own demands to the growing list of things Obama must pay lip service to during his address. “What I hope he says – and I think this will make some folks on my side upset – even if he has an innovation and growth agenda … just growth alone isn’t going to get us out of this problem,” Warner said. “We’re going to have to take on the size and role of government” and “the stuff that’s popular” like entitlement and defense spending. “You’ve got to earn good faith by showing willingness to do spending cuts,” Warner said. “There is some value in short term cuts that will at least show that we’re serious about doing something.” Obama’s more likely to promise the moon. (more)
The government is considering allowing women to serve in combat. That would be a huge mistake. (more)
The WikiLeaks drama launched a re-evaluation of how the United States manages classified information, but it also raises important questions about the role of the Internet in international affairs. This little-discussed second issue may have long-term implications for the cyber world. (more)
What happened in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday was a national tragedy. It was not, however, the work of inflammatory rhetoric from the right, left, or anywhere else. Nor would it have been prevented if Arizona had harsher gun laws. Drawing on these false sources of blame, two congressmen have proposed separate pieces of legislation—one against speech, the other against guns—that will curtail constitutionally protected freedoms without deterring future attacks. (more)
Listening to the local news on the radio recently, I heard a report about how newly elected Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz plans to save $8 million by, among other things, merging the “Office of Sustainability” with the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management. (more)
1.) House Republicans have not announced what they would cut from budget if they had power to cut budget — “House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans,” reports the New York Times. “The reductions that would be required in the remaining federal programs, including education and transportation, would be so deep — roughly 20 percent on average — that Senate Republicans have not joined the $100 billion pledge that House Republicans, led by the incoming speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, made to voters before November’s midterm elections.” Even with security/defense/old people/catfood cuts off the table, there are still a few agencies that could stand to lose some weight: FCC, both DoE’s, FDA, IRS, NASA, &c. We could go on, but why bother? “Even if adopted by the House, the Republicans’ budget is unlikely to be enacted in anything like the scale they envision, since Democrats retain a majority in the Senate and President Obama could veto annual appropriations bills making the reductions.” (more)
There’s been much contentious debate and public-relations jockeying over the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, just passed in Congress and soon to be signed by President Obama. It provides compensation for the “first responders” of the September 11th terrorist attacks, which includes EMTs (emergency medical technicians), police and fire professionals and construction workers who worked in the rubble of the World Trade Center to aid survivors and assist with forensic duties. (more)
In August of this year, Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised Congress that “The National debt is the biggest threat to our national security.” In November, voter sentiment against the debt and deficit led to an historic rebuke of Congressional incumbents. In December, the president’s debt commission laid out in stark terms the imminent economic impact of continued deficit spending. Apparently rejecting these clarion calls, the president and Congress acted in the lame-duck session to cut not one dime of federal spending, while increasing the national debt by nearly $1 trillion. They are ignoring a glaring problem that, if not addressed soon, will cause a panoply of other problems. (more)
As pundits and bloggers over the coming months celebrate, deprecate, or otherwise pontificate about the secession of Southern states from the Union 150 years ago, it would be well to remember Alexander Hamilton’s claim that the “national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing; it will be a powerful cement of our union” because both of those claims have been proven correct time and again. (more)
1.) Joe Biden doesn’t know how to feel about Wikileaks, chooses to feel everything — As the human face of the Obama Administration–we will never forget his honesty during the great swine flue crisis of 2010–Vice Pres. Joe Biden can be expected to accidentally tell something resembling the truth whenever he appears alone in public. Occasionally, Biden feels torn apart by his dual roles as National Billy the Largemouth Bass (singing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”) and his desire to be treated like a grownup human being. Wikileaks has only exacerbated his angst. Last Thursday, Biden told Andrea Mitchell on the air that “leaked cables created no substantive damage — only embarrassment,” and “nothing that I’m aware of that goes to the essence of the relationship that would allow another nation to say: ‘They lied to me, we don’t trust them, they really are not dealing fairly with us.’” A day later, Biden taped an interview with David Gregory for Meet the Press in which he told the MSNBC host, “[Assange] has made it more difficult for us to conduct our business with our allies and our friends,” and “In my meetings — you know I meet with most of these world leaders — there is a desire to meet with me alone, rather than have staff in the room: It makes things more cumbersome — so it has done damage.” Can you now show us on the doll where Hillary Clinton touched you, Joe? You are not going to get in trouble! (more)
At Christmastime we give presents to those we love. So, if you love America, what are you giving her this year? (more)
