Political Digest May 19, 2010

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. It also doesn’t mean that I don’t agree with them. I have to say all this to give some of my critics the benefit of the doubt, assuming they are thick, rather than deliberately taking things the wrong way.

I’ll be submitting this digest for posting on Tuesday, before the election results are in.

New Super Tuesday may be litmus test for voter anger nationwide
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/98317-voter-anger-litmus-test
Excerpt: Lawmakers may have little time for anything but election news Tuesday.
It’s the new Super Tuesday, with races likely to tell incumbents whether voters are heading toward November thirsty for congressional blood. It is widely agreed that voters are angry with Washington. Now, after the crushing ouster this month of two incumbents —one Democrat and one Republican — two more senators will learn their fates. Both parties fear a whirlwind of public dissatisfaction building toward the 2010 midterms. Early indications are that voters are in an unforgiving mood.

Candidates seeking Murtha seat shun President Obama’s policies
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/98051-candidates-seeking-murtha-seat-shun-obamas-policies
Dem trying to join Party of No? Excerpt: Both candidates seeking to replace the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) are running against President Barack Obama’s top domestic priorities. Tuesday’s special election in the 12th district of Pennsylvania is a far cry from the two special elections in New York last year, where the Democratic candidates touted their connection to Obama and subsequently triumphed in swing districts.

Making jokes about the Vietnam War dead
http://www.breitbart.tv/network-tv-shock-family-guy-joke-makes-light-of-us-soldiers-killed-in-vietnam
Cartoons about Mohammad can’t be published due to “sensitivity” (read: cowardice) in the media. Our dead brothers are fair game.

Must Watch: How GM repaid the money we loaned it
http://media.patriotpost.us/humor/2010-05-18.html
This would be really funny, if not true.

Long but very important: Germany, Greece and Exiting the Eurozone
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100517_germany_greece_and_exiting_eurozone?utm_source=GWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100518&utm_content=readmore&elq=d76a107fc83b4752bc9b55e2757e6d57
I think it is going to get uglier perhaps much sooner than I thought, and may pull us down. Britain must be feeling pretty smart for not having tied their currency to the Euro, which is threatened collapse due to the advanced degree of socialism in southern Europe, based on weak economies and collapsing population bases. Excerpt: Rumors of the imminent collapse of the eurozone continue to swirl despite the Europeans’ best efforts to hold the currency union together. Some accounts in the financial world have even suggested that Germany’s frustration with the crisis could cause Berlin to quit the eurozone — as soon as this past weekend, according to some — while at the most recent gathering of European leaders French President Nicolas Sarkozy apparently threatened to bolt the bloc if Berlin did not help Greece. Meanwhile, many in Germany — including Chancellor Angela Merkel herself at one point — have called for the creation of a mechanism by which Greece — or the eurozone’s other over-indebted, uncompetitive economies — could be kicked out of the eurozone in the future should they not mend their “irresponsible” spending habits. Rumors, hints, threats, suggestions and information “from well-placed sources” all seem to point to the hot topic in Europe at the moment, namely, the reconstitution of the eurozone whether by a German exit or a Greek expulsion. We turn to this topic with the question of whether such an option even exists. As we consider the future of the euro, it is important to remember that the economic underpinnings of paper money are not nearly as important as the political underpinnings. Paper currencies in use throughout the world today hold no value without the underlying political decision to make them the legal tender of commercial activity. This means a government must be willing and capable enough to enforce the currency as a legal form of debt settlement, and refusal to accept paper currency is, within limitations, punishable by law. The trouble with the euro is that it attempts to overlay a monetary dynamic on a geography that does not necessarily lend itself to a single economic or political “space.” The eurozone has a single central bank, the European Central Bank (ECB), and therefore has only one monetary policy, regardless of whether one is located in Northern or Southern Europe. Herein lies the fundamental geographic problem of the euro. Europe is the second-smallest continent on the planet but has the second-largest number of states packed into its territory. This is not a coincidence. Europe’s multitude of peninsulas, large islands and mountain chains create the geographic conditions that often allow even the weakest political authority to persist. Thus, the Montenegrins have held out against the Ottomans, just as the Irish have against the English. Despite this patchwork of political authorities, the Continent’s plentiful navigable rivers, large bays and serrated coastlines enable the easy movement of goods and ideas across Europe. This encourages the accumulation of capital due to the low costs of transport while simultaneously encouraging the rapid spread of technological advances, which has allowed the various European states to become astonishingly rich: Five of the top 10 world economies hail from the Continent despite their relatively small populations.

Bomb attack on NATO convoy kills 18 in Kabul
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051800428.html
Excerpt: A powerful car bomb exploded early Tuesday within a few feet of a passing military convoy in central Kabul, killing at least six soldiers from the international security force along with numerous civilians, military and Afghan officials said. The blast, apparently triggered by a suicide bomber, overturned a heavy military truck and gouged an enormous crater in a street near the city's historic royal palace, witnesses said. Five vehicles in the convoy were heavily damaged, along with more than a dozen civilian cars and a bus. It was the first major bombing in the Afghan capital since February, and one of the deadliest in recent memory for the troops of International Security Assistance Force. Spokespeople for the multinational force declined to release details about the nationalities of the dead and injured, but wire reports quoted unnamed officials as saying that all but one were American.

Cheer up: life only gets better
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article7127536.ece
Excerpt: If, on the other hand, you say catastrophe is imminent, you can expect a MacArthur Foundation genius award. In my own adult life I have listened to solemn predictions of growing poverty, coming famines, expanding deserts, imminent plagues, impending water wars, inevitable oil exhaustion, mineral shortages, falling sperm counts, thinning ozone, acidifying rain, nuclear winters, mad cow epidemics, Y2K computer bugs, killer bees, sex-change fish, global warming, ocean acidification and even asteroid impacts that would soon bring our happy interlude to a terrible end. Let me make a square concession at the start: the pessimists are right when they say that if the world continues as it is it will end in disaster. If all transport depends on oil, and the oil runs out, then transport will cease. If agriculture continues to depend on irrigation and water stocks are depleted, then starvation will ensue. Notice the “if”. The world will not continue as it is. That is the whole point of human progress, the pressing message of cultural evolution. It is my (rational, optimistic) proposition that the human race has become a collective problem-solving machine which solves problems by changing its ways. It does so through invention driven often by the market: scarcity drives up price and that in turn encourages the development of alternatives and efficiencies. History confirms this. When whales grew scarce, for example, petroleum was used instead as a source of oil. The pessimists’ mistake is extrapolationism: in other words, assuming that the future is just a bigger version of the past. So, for example, the environmentalist Lester Brown, writing in 2008, was pessimistic about what would happen if the Chinese were as rich by 2030 as the Americans are now. If, for example, each person in China consumes paper at the current American rate, then China’s 1.46 billion people will need twice as much paper in 2030 as is produced worldwide today. There go the world’s forests. In fact, Brown is dead right with his extrapolations, but so was the man who (probably apocryphally) predicted that the streets of London would be buried under 10ft of horse manure by 1950. So was IBM’s founder Thomas Watson when he said in 1943 that there was a world market for just five computers and Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, when he said in 1977: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Both remarks were true enough when computers weighed a ton and cost a fortune. However, these eminently sensible people were right only at that precise moment in time. (If they don’t put market innovation in a socialist or Shari’s lockbox.)

Obama's Aunt Granted Asylum, Stopping Her Deportation to Kenya
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/17/obamas-aunt-granted-asylum-prevent-return-kenya/#/politics/2010/05/17/obamas-aunt-granted-asylum-prevent-return-kenya/print
Solving the immigration problem one illegal relative at a time. But, truthfully, I couldn’t care less. Excerpt: A U.S. immigration court granted asylum to President Barack Obama's African aunt, allowing her to stay in the country, her attorneys said Monday. The decision was mailed Friday and comes three months after Kenya native Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, testified at a closed hearing in Boston, where she arrived in a wheelchair and two doctors testified in support of her case. The basis for her asylum request hadn't been made public. People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.

British Islamist Anjem Choudary: Freedom and Democracy Are Idols That Must Be Destroyed and Replaced with Obedience to Allah
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2388.htm
The problem with multiculturalism—okay, one of the problems—is that once the cherished Islamic Shari’a theocracy gains power, it becomes the ONLY culture. At sword point.

Health reform threatens to cram already overwhelmed emergency rooms
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/98025-health-reform-threatens-to-overwhelm-already-crammed-emergency-rooms
The destruction of the best healthcare system in the world goes forward. Excerpt: The new healthcare law will pack 32 million newly insured people into emergency rooms already crammed beyond capacity, according to experts on healthcare facilities. A chief aim of the new healthcare law was to take the pressure off emergency rooms by mandating that people either have insurance coverage. The idea was that if people have insurance, they will go to a doctor rather than putting off care until they faced an emergency. People who build hospitals, however, say newly insured people will still go to emergency rooms for primary care because they don’t have a doctor. “Everybody expected that one of the initial impacts of reform would be less pressure on emergency departments; it’s going to be exactly the opposite over the next four to eight years,” said Rich Dallam, a healthcare partner at the architectural firm NBBJ, which designs healthcare facilities. “We don’t have the primary care infrastructure in place in America to cover the need. Our clients are looking at and preparing for more emergency department volume, not less,” he said. Some Democrats agree with this assessment. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) suspects the fallout that occurred in Massachusetts’ emergency rooms could happen nationwide after health reform kicks in.

Richard Blumenthal, Conn. Senate Hopeful, Never Served in Vietnam, Despite Claims
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/17/richard-blumenthal-conn-senate-hopeful-never-served-in-vietna/?icid=mainmaindl1link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F05%2F17%2Frichard-blumenthal-conn-senate-hopeful-never-served-in-vietna%2F&sms_ss=email
Another phony. Will fit right in with Sen. Tom Harkin, who claimed to be a fighter pilot flying missions over the north until exposed by Barry Goldwater. Excerpt: Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general and presumed favorite to replace retiring Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), never served in Vietnam, despite frequent campaign trail references to his days serving in-country during the Vietnam War. The revelation comes from an exposé in The New York Times, which details Blumenthal's 1970 enlistment in the Marine Reserve after receiving five previous deferments to attend Harvard College, attend graduate school in England, work for the Nixon administration and briefly work for The Washington Post. According to the Times, Blumenthal's Washington-based Marine unit performed local projects during the war, such as a Toys for Tots drive. But Blumenthal, a Democrat, has spoken about his time in Vietnam during multiple campaign appearances around the state of Connecticut, including to a veterans group in Norwalk in 2008, when he said, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." He also once lamented the treatment Vietnam veterans received when they returned from service. "I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse," he told a Bridgeport rally that same year. At a rally in 2003 where family members gathered to express support for American troops overseas, Blumenthal said, "When we returned, we saw nothing like this. Let us do better by this generation of men and women."

Vietnam allegations threaten frontrunning Blumenthal in CT-Senate
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/vietnam-allegations-threaten-f.html?wprss=thefix
Strategy—say the NYT is smearing Democrats o behalf of Republicans. There’s a winner. Excerpt: The New York Times' story detailing Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal's (D) misstatements about his service in Vietnam -- he received five deferments and never served in the country, according to the paper -- has the potential to fundamentally reshape the Nutmeg State Senate race. Writes Raymond Hernandez: "What is striking about Mr. Blumenthal's record is the contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now, especially when he is speaking at veterans' ceremonies or other patriotic events." Oomph. Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers released a statement late Monday night describing the Times story as "an outrageous distortion" although she did not deny the fact that the candidate had misled people about the nature of his service. Myers noted that Blumenthal will appear at a press conference tomorrow with Connecticut veterans.

Is a Giant Mosque at Ground Zero Justified?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/is-a-giant-mosque-at-grou_b_578195.html?ref=email_share
Excerpt: I have a simple, elegant, and deeply moral solution. Let the Islamic Cultural Center be built. Let the mosque be included. But, the Muslim organizations building it should commit right now to making the principal focus of the building a museum depicting the rise of Islamic extremism, its hate-based agenda, and how it is an abomination to Islam. The museum would feature exhibits showing the major fomenters of Islamic hatred worldwide and the cultural and religious factors that have gained them so wide a following. It would have exhibitions on some of the terrible atrocities committed by these Islamic fundamentalists, focusing specifically on the slaughter at Ground Zero on 9/11. The Islamic Center would have a major exhibition on the evil of Osama bin Laden, detailing his crimes against humanity and the number of innocent people he has killed. Most importantly, the museum would repudiate these haters by showing how their actions are an abomination to authentic Islamic teaching and how every G-d-fearing Muslim has a responsibility to spit them out. (Like that might happen. Howard Dean would endorse Sarah Palin first.)

Rep. Souder to resign from House
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/98333-souder-expected-to-resign-from-congress
There but for the grace of a fawning media goes Bill. Excerpt: Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) will resign for having an affair with a female member of his staff. "It is with great regret I announce that I am resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as resigning as the Republican nominee for Congress in this fall's election," Souder said in a statement. The resignation will be effective Friday. "I sinned against God, my wife and family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff," he added. Souder also criticized the "poisonous environment" of Washington. "In the poisonous environment of Washington DC, any personal failing is seized upon, often twisted, for political gain. I am resigning rather than to put my family through that painful, drawn-out process."

Calif. Dem Richardson again in primary trouble
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/98269-calif-dem-richardson-again-in-primary-trouble
Excerpt: Rep. Laura Richardson's (D-Calif.) personal financial problems didn't trouble voters in 2008 when she first won reelection to the House. But in a year when ethical issues are compounded by anti-incumbent sentiment, she may be in trouble. And it doesn't help that the Democrat is embroiled in another ethics controversy. Richardson's decision earlier this year to take her 19 staff members on a helicopter tour of Long Beach is now being crititicized, according to the Contra Costa Times. Richardson's party took off in two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopters at a cost of over $20,000 to taxpayers. The controversy is giving hope to her three primary challengers -- two of which she faced in 2008. College professor Peter Mathews and writer Lee Davis are again trying to unseat Richardson, while attorney Terrance Ponchak is making his first go at the congresswoman.

Clinton: Draft agreement reached to impose new U.N. sanctions on Iran
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051801988.html
Praise be to Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, who has weakened the Great Satan by making Obama their President. We can safely spit in their eye again.

Democrats prepare to pass war funding bill without Republican support
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/98305-dems-prepare-to-pass-war-spending-measure-without-gop-support
Since it’s in the “war spending” bill, can the troops shoot teachers under the ROE? One of the desperately-needed reforms in DC is a provision preventing non-germane amendments from being attached to bills, especially spending bills. Even the Massachusetts Senate had that rule. Excerpt: House Democrats are preparing to pass an Afghanistan war-spending bill on a party-line vote as Republicans balk at extra provisions the White House wants in the measure. Passing such a spending bill through the lower chamber will be difficult because some anti-war Democrats routinely vote no on war bills. Moreover, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed not to lean on her caucus on this year’s war supplemental after whipping the measure in 2009. House Democratic leaders are planning to take up the package funding President Barack Obama’s troop increase in Afghanistan after it passes the Senate. Senior Democrats in the upper chamber and the Obama administration are looking to attach to the war bill a $23 billion fund to help state and local governments stave off teacher layoffs. House Republicans have strongly criticized the effort to tack on the education funding, suggesting that they could oppose a war-spending bill for the second year in a row. Some Republicans have called the education funding another “bailout” that will add to the country’s $13 trillion debt. “Giving states another $23 billion in federal education money simply throws more money into taxpayer-funded bailouts when we should be discussing why we aren’t seeing the results we need from the billions in federal dollars that are already being spent,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a statement. Boehner and other Republicans have called for a “clean” war-spending bill.

Chinese nationals, tech company convicted for violating military embargo
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/98235-chinese-nationals-tech-company-convicted-for-violating-military-embargo
Excerpt: Two Chinese nationals and a Chinese technology company were found guilty by a Massachusetts jury on Monday of illegally conspiring to export military electronic systems to several Chinese military entities. Zhen Zhou Wu, Yufeng Wei and Chitron Electronics Incorporated were convicted of violating a U.S. arms embargo against China from 2004 to 2006 by sending electronic equipment commonly used for military radar, electronic warfare, military guidance systems and military satellite communications systems.

E.U. faces tough questions as euro continues to slide
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/16/AR2010051603653.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Whose bright idea was it to have a common currency, but let its value be determined by the actions of many different governments, with different needs, cultures, histories, problems and populations? Excerpt: The once-mighty euro, which briefly plunged to a four-year low against the dollar on Monday, may be doomed to keep falling whether or not European leaders can contain the region's roiling debt crisis. The euro clawed back from a deep spiral in Asian trading Monday, closing down 0.2 percent at 1.239 against the dollar. But after its slide of almost 4 percent against the greenback over the past week, analysts say the euro's continued fall over the coming months may be inevitable given the economic turmoil gripping the region. Assuming there is no full-blown run, the decline may not be all that bad for Europe -- a weaker currency, after all, would make German BMWs and Spanish wines cheaper overseas, heightening demand. By the same token, a surging dollar would make U.S. products less competitive.

Increase in health tests, procedures is raising costs in frugal Utah
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051703822.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Are they now getting better care or too much care in Utah? And who decides? I’ve said for years that as long as you have an aging population, great increases in healthcare technology, techniques and pharmaceuticals and trial lawyers milking the system, costs are going up. There are only partial, painful solutions: 1.You can have people die earlier or deny the best care to seniors. 2. You can deny advanced technology, drugs and technology to the general population (see Canada and Britain) and/or 3. You can get the lawyers out of government. Democrats favor one and two, Republicans three. Excerpt: If there is any place that should have medical spending under control, this is it. Residents of Provo, many of them Mormons who don't smoke or drink, are among the healthiest in the country. The city's biggest hospital is run by Intermountain Healthcare, which President Obama has lauded for providing high-quality care while restraining costs. Until recently, Provo seemed to be a model for the nation. But spending on Medicare patients here has accelerated rapidly, as it has in many other areas of the country that are known for cost-efficient care. The culprit: a swift increase in the number of procedures and tests being performed -- a trend that has coincided with the additions of new surgical and cancer treatment suites and diagnostic machines at hospitals and clinics throughout the growing region.

Global Warming: How to approach the science.
http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/lindzen_heartland_2010.pdf
Excerpt: Here are two statements that are completely agreed on by the IPCC. It is crucial to be aware of these facts and of their implications. 1. A doubling of CO2, by itself, contributes only about 1C to greenhouse warming. All models project more warming, because, within models, there are positive feedbacks from water vapor and clouds, and these feedbacks are considered by the IPCC to be uncertain. 2. If one assumes all warming over the past century is due to anthropogenic greenhouse forcing, then the derived sensitivity of the climate to a doubling of CO2is less than 1C. The higher sensitivity of existing models is made consistent with observed warming by invoking unknown additional negative forcings from aerosols and solar variability as arbitrary adjustments. Given the above, the notion that alarming warming is ‘settled science’ should be offensive to any sentient individual, though to be sure, the above is hardly emphasized by the IPCC.

Language lessons for Democrats, from the political brain of Drew Westen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051703823.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
The Party of Obfuscation. Could it be the bad policies? Nah, must be the words. Excerpt: Democrats should not talk about "the environment," "the unemployed" or "the uninsured." Instead, they should replace those phrases with ones that have more appeal to voters, such as "the air we breathe and the water we drink," "people who've lost their jobs" and "people who used to have insurance." That's the advice of one of the party's newest and more unusual gurus, Drew Westen. Westen is a psychologist and neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta who, unlike most political advisers, has never worked full time on Capitol Hill or for a political campaign.

Obama's Tax On Job Creation
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php
Article_ID=19348&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
Excerpt: The landmark health reform law signed by President Obama (ObamaCare) will require small businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. This burden will be offset by a tax credit for each employee covered. However, the credit is arbitrarily reduced as firms grow, penalizing employers that hire more workers or increase their salaries. Thus, the credit may discourage firms from hiring more workers or higher-paid workers, say Devon Herrick, a senior fellow, and Pamela Villarreal, a senior policy analyst, at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

No, You Can't Keep Your Health Plan: Insurers and doctors are already consolidating their businesses in the wake of ObamaCare's passage.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575250264210294510.html
Excerpt: President Obama guaranteed Americans that after health reform became law they could keep their insurance plans and their doctors. It's clear that this promise cannot be kept. Insurers and physicians are already reshaping their businesses as a result of Mr. Obama's plan. The health-reform law caps how much insurers can spend on expenses and take for profits. Starting next year, health plans will have a regulated "floor" on their medical-loss ratios, which is the amount of revenue they spend on medical claims. Insurers can only spend 20% of their premiums on running their plans if they offer policies directly to consumers or to small employers. The spending cap is 15% for policies sold to large employers. This regulation is going to have its biggest impact on insurance sold directly to consumers—what's referred to as the "individual market." These policies cost more to market. They also have higher medical costs, owing partly to selection by less healthy consumers. Finally, individual policies have high start-up costs. If insurers cannot spend more of their revenue getting plans on track, fewer new policies will be offered. This will hit Wellpoint, one of the biggest players in the individual market, particularly hard. The insurance company already has a strained relationship with the White House: Earlier this month Mr. Obama accused Wellpoint of systemically denying coverage to breast cancer patients, though the facts don't bear that out.

Enough Money by Thomas Sowell
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/05/18/enough_money
Excerpt: One of the many shallow statements that sound good-- if you don't stop and think about it-- is that "at some point, you have made enough money." The key word in this statement, made by President Barack Obama recently, is "you." There is nothing wrong with my deciding how much money is enough for me or your deciding how much money is enough for you, but when politicians think that they should be deciding how much money is enough for other people, that is starting down a very slippery slope. Politicians with the power to determine each citizen's income are no longer public servants. They are public masters. Are we really so eaten up with envy, or so mesmerized by rhetoric, that we are willing to sacrifice our own freedom by giving politicians the power to decide how much money anybody can make or keep? Of course, that will start only with "the rich," but surely history tells us that it will not end there. The French Revolution began arbitrary executions among the hereditary aristocracy, but ended up arbitrarily executing all sorts of other people, including eventually even leaders of the Revolution itself, such as Robespierre.

S. Korea: North responsible for torpedo attack on warship
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051803094.html?hpid=topnews
Call me a war monger if you want, but I think President Obama should send them one of his strongly worded notes! Excerpt: South Korea will formally blame North Korea on Thursday for launching a torpedo at one of its warships in March, causing an explosion that killed 46 sailors and heightened tensions in one of the world's most perilous regions, U.S. and East Asian officials said. South Korea reached its conclusion that North Korea was responsible for the attack after investigators from Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States pieced together portions of the ship at the port of Pyongtaek, 40 miles southwest of Seoul. The Cheonan sank on March 26, following an explosion that rocked the vessel as it sailed in the Yellow Sea off South Korea's west coast. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because South Korea has yet to disclose the findings of the investigation, said that subsequent analysis determined that the torpedo was identical to a North Korean torpedo that had previously been obtained by South Korea.

Uncovered Audio: Obama's Regulatory Czar Pushes Plan for Legally Controlling Information
http://visiontoamerica.org/articles/uncovered-audio-obamas-regulatory-czar-pushes-plan-for-legally-controlling-information.html
Well, Kagan said that free speech must be balanced against what the government thinks the social costs are. So if your blog opposes genocide, you must link to a neo-Nazi site? Excerpt: Disturbing audio has emerged of White House information czar Cass Sunstein, who in a previous white paper called for banning “conspiracy theories,” demanding that websites be mandated by law to link to opposing information or that pop ups containing government propaganda be forcibly included on political blogs. In an audio excerpt of an interview, Sunstein discusses how conservative websites should provide links to liberal websites and vice versa or even how political blogs should be made to include pop ups that show “a quick argument for a competing view”. Sunstein said that if this system couldn’t be implemented voluntarily, “Congress should hold hearings about mandates,” which would legally force people to dilute their own free speech. The Harvard Professor also said that blogs should be forced to list a random draw of 25 popular websites, such as CNN.com.

The ash cloud that never was
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279221/The-ash-cloud-Inaccurate-Met-Office-forecast-causes-airport-chaos-50-000.html
From the folks who know what the temperature will be a hundred years from now. Excerpt: The airport chaos that hit tens of thousands of travellers yesterday was based on a faulty ash cloud prediction. Officials closed south-eastern airspace for ten hours following a Met Office alert about dangerous levels of ‘black’ ash. Yet when the forecasters took fresh soundings, and sent up a plane to check, they found their assessment was flawed: there was no such ash.

You Think China’s Gulags Are Bad? Let Me Tell You About Arizona.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/05/17/you-think-chinas-gulags-are-bad-let-me-tell-you-about-arizona/
Apologizing to the Butchers of Tibet, who outlaw all opposing political parties, freedom of the press, religious worship, freedom of speech, Internet access…. Excerpt: You cannot parody the Obama Administration. China forcibly hauls women into vans to forcibly perform abortions, sends people to gulags, kills dissidents, etc., etc., etc. All of that apparently pales in comparison to Arizona. Yes, the Obama Administration is apologizing to China for Arizona’s existence. (Say, since it’s so much better there, why don’t we do the illegals a favor and ship them to China?)

FL Sen Poll: Rubio Tops Crist, Meek
http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2010/05/17/fl-sen-poll-rubio-tops-crist-meek/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Freal_clear_politics+%28TIME%3A+Real+Clear+Politics%29&utm_content=Twitter
Excerpt: Republican Marco Rubio has pulled ahead in the three-way contest for Florida's open Senate seat, a new Rasmussen survey finds (May 16, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%).
Crist led in the previous Rasmussen poll taken two weeks ago, as well as a Mason-Dixon survey out around the same time. Meek's numbers stayed about even since the last poll, as the Democrat -- who's now facing a wealthy primary challenger -- remains below 20% in the general election.

Trevor Kelway on the EDL Website Shutdown
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/05/atlas-exclusive-trevor-kelway-on-the-edl-website-shutdown.html
Excerpt: Today the English Defence League Website has been suspended, apparently because of an article that describes, using suras from the Koran, how Islam looks on the Kuffar (non-Muslims). This latest act of censorship is reminiscent of the way Geert Wilders’ short film, Fitna, has been demonised for revealing truth. Wilders juxtaposed Quranic quotes with acts of terror, the article in question did not even go that far. It seems that the thought police are about their work again, suppressing debate, denying reality, and bolstering established interests. Apparently the reason provided for this blatant act of censorship was that the article ‘contravenes UK racism laws’. If this is the case then it means one of two things, that the Quran itself contravenes UK racism laws or Islam has an exemption from UK racism laws, and is treated as a special case. Since the Quran is still available for sale on the shelves of UK bookshops it must mean that the latter is true.

Autistic Boy Accused of Terroristic Threats
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/13/autistic-boy-accused-terrorism/
Keeping America safe. Excerpt: A 14-year-old autistic boy was suspended and charged with a felony over a picture he drew in school, MyFoxAtlanta reports. The boy's mother said he was in a special needs class when he drew a picture of two stick figures, one of which was holding a gun. The eighth grader's picture depicted a stick figure with a gun that was labeled "me." The figure was shooting another figure that had his teacher's name above it.

Napolitano Admits She Hasn't Read Arizona Law But Says She Wouldn't Sign It
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/17/napolitano_admits_she_hasnt_read_arizona_law_but_says_she_wouldnt_sign_it.html
Excerpt: Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano admits she hasn't read the Arizona immigration law, but passed judgment on it anyway. "That's not the kind of law I would have signed," she declared. "I believe it's a bad law enforcement law. I believe it mandates and requires local enforcement and puts them in a position many do not want to be placed in," Napolitano said. "When I was dealing with laws of that ilk, most of the law enforcement agencies in Arizona at that time were opposed to such legislation," she claimed.

Recent Pictures of Our Beautiful Sonoran Desert
http://thereaganwing.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/recent-pictures-of-our-beautiful-sonoran-desert/
Excerpt: Cultural differences as well as legal conflicts permeate the whole illegal immigration issue. These pictures from the immigration border crossing area shows what people in that area put up with, but which those farther away cannot quite comprehend unless they see it. Those making laws to accommodate such influxes do NOT live in areas where they encounter the proof of the reasons why objections to massive influxes of illegals are growing.

Obamacare: Paperwork You Can Believe In
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37003
Excerpt: President Barack Obama promised Americans “health care reform.” So far, “health care form” is more like it. ObamaCare is devolving into the Paper Industry Salvation Act of 2010. This new law spans 2,562 tree-killing pages. Far worse, it will force Americans to spend countless, irritating hours completing, transmitting, and filing endless reams of federal paperwork. The scariest news for America’s forests may be a brand-new mandate that will compel each business — from General Electric to the neighborhood handyman — to file an IRS Form 1099 for every business on which it spends at least $600. Form 1099 today applies only to independent contractors, e.g. a graphic artist who earns $1,000 for designing a sales brochure. Come 2012, ObamaCare vastly will expand 1099s to sellers of goods as well as services, and not just the self-employed, but also businesses — large and small.

Dear Tories, sorry we spent all the money: Labour's farewell letter as it's revealed public debt could DOUBLE to £1,790bn
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279043/George-Osborne-deliver-emergency-Budget-June-22.html
Coming in January, 2013, to the USA. Excerpt: Labour's gross mismanagement of the economy was laid bare today after it was revealed a former minister left his successor a note that said 'there was no money left'. In a stark message left in a Treasury desk, outgoing chief secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne wrote simply: 'I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left.' His astonishing admission came as George Osborne announced that he will deliver his first emergency Budget on June 22, exactly six weeks after the new coalition Government took office. Mr Osborne said that he would also be setting out next week details of the £6 billion of spending cuts to be made this year as latest figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated for the Guardian suggested public debt could double from £890bn to £1,790bn.

Guess What Greece Has To Jettison?
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=534021
Excerpt: Greece was told that if it wanted a bailout, it needed to consider privatizing its government health care system. So tell us again why the U.S. is following Europe's welfare state model. The requirement, part of a deal arranged by the IMF, the European Union and the European Central bank, is a tacit admission that national health care programs are unsustainable. Along with transportation and energy, the bailout group, according to the New York Times, wants the Greek government to remove "the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors." This is not some cranky or politically motivated demand. It is a condition based on the ugly reality of government medicine. The Times reports that economists — not right-wingers opposed to health care who want to blow up Times Square — say liberalizing "the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe."

Texas doctors opting out of Medicare at alarming rate
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7009807.html
Coming soon to a healthcare system formerly treating you. Excerpt: Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable. Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren't taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year. “This new data shows the Medicare system is beginning to implode,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association. “If Congress doesn't fix Medicare soon, there'll be more and more doctors dropping out and Congress' promise to provide medical care to seniors will be broken.” More than 300 doctors have dropped the program in the last two years, including 50 in the first three months of 2010, according to data compiled by the Houston Chronicle. Texas Medical Association officials, who conducted the 2008 survey, said the numbers far exceeded their assumptions.

Feel Good Story of the Day
Saudi woman beats up virtue cop
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=175779
Excerpt: It was a scene Saudi women’s rights activists have dreamt of for years. When a Saudi religious policeman sauntered about an amusement park in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Al-Mubarraz looking for unmarried couples illegally socializing, he probably wasn’t expecting much opposition. But when he approached a young, 20-something couple meandering through the park together, he received an unprecedented whooping. A member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Saudi religious police known locally as the Hai’a, asked the couple to confirm their identities and relationship to one another, as it is a crime in Saudi Arabia for unmarried men and women to mix. For unknown reasons, the young man collapsed upon being questioned by the cop. According to the Saudi daily Okaz, the woman then allegedly laid into the religious policeman, punching him repeatedly, and leaving him to be taken to the hospital with bruises across his body and face.