Category: Uncategorized

I’ve been scratching my head over how to interpret some of the poll results at Real Clear Politics. President Obama Job Approval RCP Average Approve 60.0 Disapprove 33.0 But consider this poll, which reveals a majority of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction: Direction of Country RCP Average Right Direction 42.2…

Talk is cheap, and there’s not much I can say that would help the Iranian protesters. What I’d really like to do is something — anything — that goes beyond talk. In that regard, Glenn Reynolds linked a post by Eric S. Raymond which asked for help: I’ve spent the last seventeen hours living inside…

I was browsing Amazon and came across a book, Government Failure, which seems tailor made for current economic and political conditions. So, how about some reviews? This one gives the book 5 stars. The general thrust of the text is that, however well-intentioned, no government can sustain a vibrant and diverse welfare-state over the long-term.…

I’m glad to see that the once-timid media are finally showing real spine, and they are daring to demand answers to tough questions about pressing issues. At least, the most important pressing issues. Like whether the president smokes: “You just think it’s neat to ask me about my smoking,” he told the reporter, before conceding…

Depending on your point of view, it might or might not be a good thing that President Obama’s words should not be taken literally. First (via Glenn Reynolds), I read that the White House has gone on record as saying that Obama Health Care Promises Should Not Be Taken Literally: Less than 24 hours after…

I’m sorry to see that Ed McMahon has died. McMahon, 86, was a household name for 30 years as the announcer and sidekick to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. His trademark opening “Heeeeeere’s Johnny!” became part of the cultural lexicon, echoed most memorably by Jack Nicholson in 1980’s The Shining. He was one of…

Power Magazine whose mission is to cover Business and Technology for the Global Generation Industry reports on what Green Energy is doing to Spain. It is pretty ugly. Gabriel Calzada Álvarez, PhD, an economics professor at King Juan Carlos University in Madrid, completed Spain’s first comprehensive review of the long-term effects of Spain’s renewable energy…

I’m still fairly new to the Detroit area, and it’s easy to forget that Canada is just across the river — the nearest city being Windsor, Ontario. While I hate to think that my mind has been programmed by big media and political pundits, the fact is that when I hear about “illegal immigrants” and…

In an article discussing Mexico’s probable decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal use, the US Drug Enforcement Agency made its unhappiness known. Michele Leonhart, acting director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, however, said in April that legalization “would be a failed law enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico.” How true.…

Rumors that the Iranian elections had crooked election results in 150 or more Iranian cities is totally false. Nothing of the sort happened. According to Iranian government sources. Quoted by Press TV, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for the authoritative Guardian Council — a 12-member panel of clerics charged with certifying the vote — denied…

In an incident which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called “embarrassing” last year, bumbling bureaucrats (if that isn’t too much of a redundancy) placed the elderly and venerated South African leader Nelson Mandela on the infamous “terrorist watch list”: WASHINGTON — Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on…

You don’t get that much around here. But when he does something right he should be encouraged. This is from the 16th of June so I’m a little late. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it had contacted the social networking service Twitter to urge it to delay a planned upgrade…

Of course, I’m not a father, nor do I have one, as my dad died decades ago. But I’m sure there are plenty of readers who are dads or are married to one, so I found something which might be of interest. Dr. Helen reflects on a Spectator article about today’s neutered dads, and offers…

The story of the Revolution is being written by the women. I don’t know where this uprising is leading. I do know some police units are wavering. That commander talking about his family was not alone. There were other policemen complaining about the unruly Basijis. Some security forces just stood and watched. “All together, all…

I loved this typewriter sculpture, which I thought I’d share. Nothing like new uses for old things.

Woman Shot By Iranian Regime Gateway Pundit has the story. Gateway also has this picture gleaned from Facebook. The next few days will tell the story. Will there be enough blood in the streets to end the demonstrations? Or have things already gone beyond control? Update: 21 June 2009, 0152z The woman who died was…

Barack Obama finally weighs in on the Iranian protests with these weightless words: “The world is watching.” And apparently watching is all the world is going to do, if Obama has anything to say about it. “The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those…

A few days ago, M. Simon wrote a post (“Brain Dead Republican Enhances Party Image“) that just stuck in my craw. A Republican congressman in Illinois (he’s co-blogger TallDave’s rep) has sponsored a new anti-marijuana bill to toughen penalties for with penalties of up to 25 years in prison for first-time offenses involving sales of…

Scientists are all the time trying to figure out how the world works (it is their job after all). So they think about things that interest them and imagine how they work. Then they develop a rule, called a hypothesis, to match their imaginings. Then they test the rule against the real world. Some times…

It seems that the Obama Government is loosing the support of its own members. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is unfair to the ethanol industry with its proposals on greenhouse gas reduction, the House Agriculture Committee chairman said on Wednesday, and he will not support any climate-change bills. “You’re going to kill off the…