I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on.
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Will be irregular from now through the Holidays. But not to worry. For every day you miss, we will extend your subscription two days, at no charge. What a deal.
Well worth reading: Our “Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain” Moment
Excerpt: The result has been a sort of political implosion, the proverbial “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” moment when the omnipotent wizard’s face projected on the screen becomes exposed as a rather frightened Frank Morgan, busy with levers and gears—or, in our morality play, a deer-in-the-headlights Barack Obama relieved to sub out his White House press room to a designated president Bill Clinton at last back on his home turf. In a number of ways, we can see how the Obama administration has been reduced to a sort of virtual administration. The messianic spell of 2008 ended with the largest midterm rebuke since 1938. Whereas in 2009 it was considered racist for a conservative to question the president’s wisdom at a Tea Party rally, by 2010 Democratic congressional representatives were vying with each other to find creative ways of using the F-word to belittle the president. Since his inauguration, the president has lost a point in the polls about every three weeks of his presidency, without much deviation. There is little presidential stature left. When Barack Obama addresses the Sen. minority leader as “Mike” McConnell or claims the U.S. motto is e pluribus unum rather than “In God We Trust,” this is by now a non-news story—not after “57 states” or “corpse-men” or Austrian-speaking Austrians….But I do feel that after only 23 months, the presidency is becoming a caricature of a presidency—and, scarier still, is being recognized as such abroad. Whereas Bill Clinton triangulated to save his administration from descending into Carteresque liberal irrelevancy, the choices of Obama seem much starker—perhaps understandable given the vast lacunae in his resume.
$1.1 trillion spending bill collapses as GOP senators yank support
Excerpt: Senate Democrats have given up on their plan to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill in the face of unified Republican opposition. The bill’s collapse will take with it more than 6,000 earmarks as well as more than $1 billion in funding for implementation of healthcare reform.
The Tea Party is Back
Excerpt: Two hundred and thirty-seven years ago last night, a group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded British merchant ships and dumped an estimated £10,000 worth of tea into Boston Harbor. This Boston Tea Party, which John Adams described as the “grandest event which has ever yet happened since the controversy with Britain opened,” was not just a protest about taxation. Our forefathers did not destroy tea because of a simple tax dispute. The 1773 Tea Party were protesting the process by which the British government taxed them. They were fundamentally rejecting the way the British were governing them. Last night, the spirit of the Tea Party won another major victory when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) was forced to drop his $1.27 trillion, 1,924-page omnibus spending bill. The problem with Reid’s omnibus spending bill was not just its size—although our federal government does spend far too much of other people’s money—but the way it was drafted and forced on the American people. For far too long our Congress has amassed more and more spending power into fewer and fewer legislative acts while waiting until the last possible minute to consider them. Lobbyists have made an entire business model out of identifying must-pass appropriations and tax bills and then getting pliant Members of Congress to insert their special breaks, loopholes, and giveaways. The omnibus collapse was a complete rejection of that way of doing business in Washington
Congress passes extension of Bush-era tax cuts
Excerpt: Congress approved the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade late Thursday, overcoming liberal resistance to continue for two more years tax breaks enacted under president George W. Bush and to provide a fresh boost of federal support to the tepid economic recovery.
UCLA Professor: DREAM Act Will Help Illegals Replace Old White Men in Congress
http://visiontoamerica.org/story/ucla-professor-dream-act-will-help-illegals-replace-old-white-men-in-congress.html
And just who are the racists in our society? ~Bob. Excerpt: UCLA Professor Kent Wong gave an impassioned speech at a rally held at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles
The Red Cross bans Christmas
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-152361/The-Red-Cross-bans-Christmas.html
Excerpt: Christmas has been banned by the Red Cross from its 430 fund-raising shops.
Staff have been ordered to take down decorations and to remove any other signs of the Christian festival because they could offend Moslems. The charity' s politically-correct move triggered an avalanche of criticism and mockery last night - from Christians and Moslems.
Ethics probe of Rep. Waters derailed by infighting, sources say
GOP will need to re-open in January under new direction. If this Demo-corrupt Congress Critter walks, it will be an issue in 2012. ~Bob. Excerpt: A lengthy House investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been derailed by infighting within the politically charged ethics committee over errors in building a case against her, according to congressional sources with direct knowledge of the probe.
Important: No, You Can’t
Excerpt: For years now, climate activists from Al Gore to Leonardo DiCaprio have argued that individual actions like driving more economical cars and using more efficient light bulbs are a crucial element in the effort to address global warming. The United Nations’ climate panel and the International Energy Agency both echo this sentiment, insisting that higher energy efficiency could reduce energy consumption by up to 30% – making improved efficiency an effective remedy for climate change. But is this really true? Here’s something to think about. Back in the early 1970’s, the average American expended roughly 70 million British thermal units per year to heat, cool, and power his or her home. Since then, of course, we have made great strides in energy efficiency. As The Washington Post recently reported, dishwashers now use 45% less power than they did two decades ago, and refrigerators 51% less. So how much energy do Americans use in their homes today? On a per capita basis, the figure is roughly what it was 40 years ago: 70 million BTUs. This surprising lack of change is the result of something economists call the “rebound effect.” It’s a phenomenon familiar to urban planners, who long ago discovered that building more roads doesn’t ease traffic jams – it merely encourages more people to get in their cars and drive. The underlying principle is a decidedly counterintuitive fact of life. You might think that learning to use something more efficiently will result in your using less of it, but the opposite is true: the more efficient we get at using something, the more of it we are likely to use…..The conclusion that Saunders and his co-authors draw from this is both surprising and hard to dispute: rather than shrinking our electricity use, the introduction of ever more efficient lighting technologies is much more likely to lead to “massive…growth in the consumption of light.” It’s difficult to overstate what these findings mean for climate policy. In a nutshell, they tell us that, while increasing energy efficiency is undoubtedly a good thing, it is most assuredly not a remedy for global warming. Efficiency doesn’t reduce consumption; it increases it. (It occurs to me that Al Gore should be endorsing serial killers, because every death reduces the over-all human carbon foot print. ~Bob.)
From Wall Street To Wal-Mart: Why College
Executive Summary: Colleges and universities are turning out graduates faster than America
Obama's GM Numbers Are Not Adding Up
Figures don’t lie—but liars figure! ~Bob. Excerpt: Since mid-November debut of the IPO, prominent news outlets have erroneously reported that Chrysler and GM have added 75,000 jobs since the bailout. National Public Radio’s Mara Liasson reported that Obama “said that since GM and Chrysler have emerged from bankruptcy, they’ve created more than 75,000 new jobs.” A story on CNN.com similarly states, “GM — with fellow Michigan-based auto giants Ford and Chrysler — have created more than 75,000 jobs in recent months.” But if you listen closely, this is not exactly what the president says, even though he probably doesn’t mind being misquoted in this instance. In fact, his statement almost lures readers into making this error. In one sentence he speaks of rescuing GM and Chrysler, yet in the same breath cites job growth figures for the entire automotive sector. Obama said Thursday, “Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the industry has created more than 75,000 new jobs.” Just what did the president mean by “the industry?”
Snub For Obamas As Royal Sources Say They Will Not Be Invited To Prince William's Wedding
Don’t think this is really a snub for Obama, unless they invite other heads of state. I probably won’t even be invited, doubtless because of my well-known Jacobite sympathies. ~Bob. Excerpt: President Obama and his wife Michelle will not be invited to Prince William's wedding next year. Because Prince William is not yet heir to the throne, his wedding to Kate Middleton is not classed as a ‘state occasion’ – and the couple feel under no pressure to fill the 2,000-strong guest list with heads of state, the Mail understands. They are more eager to ask ordinary citizens and charity workers than foreign dignitaries and VIPs to what will be the first royal ‘people’s wedding’, courtiers suggested. A handful of heads of state are likely to be invited in line with previous royal weddings, possibly including France
That Pesky Constitution
Excerpt: The original intent of the crafters of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause undoubtedly drew its original meaning from colonial mercantilist tradition, primarily restrictions on international trade, giving subsidy or protection to favored domestic merchants, or punishing imports or foreign producers. From that humble beginning the Commerce Clause has been inflated, expanded, and twisted like a pretzel to meet the desires of an ever-expanding federal government thirsty for control and power. It is far and away the most important tool used by judicial activists, and its interpretation was at the epicenter of Franklin Roosevelt’s socialist New Deal agenda. For many years this clause was conservatively and strictly interpreted. It served as the sentinel and guardian against the onslaught of Progressivism in the 1920s, allowing the Supreme Court to strike down one big government, socialist measure after another. In the 1930s the clause also held back government expansion and huge programs like the National Recovery Act which would have given the federal government massive control over the economy. Using the limiting nature of the commerce clause, the Supreme Court struck down big-government initiatives with machine-gun like efficiency. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis is said to have told a Roosevelt aide, “This is the end of this business of centralization, and I want you to go back and tell the president that we’re not going to let this government centralize everything.” (An excellent article that lays out the argument against use of the “Commerce Clause” to justify the forced purchase of healthcare insurance. Well worth reading, though the Supreme Court may not rule on this for years—and who knows what its composition will look like by then. Ron P. If the Commerce Clause can be used to require citizens to purchase health insurance, could not a conservative Congress require them to purchase guns? Guns are regulated by interstate commerce. ~Bob.)
The Muslim Brotherhood
Long study.
Quote
It is easier to appear worthy of a position one does not hold, than of the office which one fills. -- Francois De La Rochefoucauld
New Theory: Stuxnet Was Created By China
Excerpt: Darned compelling, and darned depressing. Not only because it snatches away our vicarious pride in U.S./Israeli ingenuity, but it feeds into western jitters about Chinese omnicompetence. Why, I’ll bet it was those Shanghai China China has an intimate knowledge of Iran China ’s Customs ministry started an audit at Vacon’s Suzhou
Excerpt: No matter how soothing the White House overtures to business leaders sounded this week, an inconvenient fact remains: Washington America Washington
Demo-corrupt. When women’s suffrage passed the US House by one vote, a Republican left his dying wife’s bedside to vote for it, returning after she died. This is rather different. ~Bob. Excerpt: Meet Jeff Wood, alleged serial drinker. He’s a Wisconsin “independent” lawmaker who (allegedly) has a drinking problem and, right now, he’s sitting in jail…Sort of. Being one vote short in their lame-duck session, Wisconsin Democrats were apparently so desperate to shove stalled union contracts down the throats of Wisconsin taxpayers before incoming-Governor Scott Walker can take office that they busted inmate Wood out of jail to vote with them.
Two Brit Muslim converts killed in drone attacks in Pakistan
Allah Akbar! ~Bob. Excerpt: Two British Muslim converts working for al Qaeda have been killed in a drone attack in Pakistan Datta Khel
Video: World's Biggest Rock Star
Excerpt: He’s like Bono, Jesus, and that creepy guy in the computer room at the public library all rolled into one. The word today is that the DOJ is trying to indict him on a conspiracy charge rather than under the Espionage Act, which would be a lot safer from a First Amendment perspective insofar as it would target the initial act of stealing classified documents rather than the later publication. Wikileaks defenders will presumably howl about that, just as they howl about any attempt to prosecute Assange. One thing I don’t understand, though: Most of his supporters, I take it, would agree that there are some types of classified government information that shouldn’t be public knowledge. What falls into that category will vary according to one’s individual judgment — maybe it’s as exacting as the nuclear launch codes, maybe it’s as inexacting as “anything that harms the public interest” — but in theory there’s some class of documents that should be off-limits. At the same time, my sense is that Assange’s strongest supporters will defend anything he publishes on First Amendment grounds, reasoning that if harm comes from the revelation, it’s the government’s fault entirely for not protecting that information better. (On my “Would shoot him if I could list. It’s a long list. ~Bob.)
Bank Forced to Take Down Religious Signs, Symbols On Display
Happy Festivus
When Malcolm Alarmo King became a resident of the Theo Lacy jail in Orange County , California Liberia
The New Comeback Kid
Excerpt: If Barack Obama wins re-election in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010. Obama had a bad November. Self-confessedly shellacked in the midterm election, he fled the scene to Asia and various unsuccessful meetings, only to return to a sad-sack lame-duck Congress with ghostly dozens of defeated Democrats wandering the halls. Now, with his stunning tax deal, Obama is back. Holding no high cards, he nonetheless managed to resurface suddenly not just as a player but as orchestrator, dealmaker and central actor in a high $1 trillion drama.
Common Ground With Progressives At Berkeley
Excerpt: Just recently, I had a couple of astonishing conversations with random strangers. And in Berkeley , no less...I was in downtown Berkeley
Mexican unmanned drone crashes in backyard of El Paso
WTF? ~bob. Excerpt: National Transportation Safety Board officials said that an unmanned drone similar to the one in the photo crash landed in the backyard of a home in the Lower Valley El Paso 's Lower Valley United States U.S.
Gaping Holes in Airline Security: Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screeners
I’ve long suspected that what we have is the illusion of security. I had a folding knife go through undetected, that I forgot about. I’ve always thought I could figure out a way to get a gun on. I don’t care if they see my naked body—let them envy! But I don’t think the hassle’s do much good. Screening have never caught one terrorist. And having this stuff in the news doesn’t help, but ABC doesn’t care if your family dies if they get a story. ~Bob. Excerpt: Last fall, as he had done hundreds of times, Iranian-American businessman Farid Seif passed through security at a Houston Houston
Latino museum panel shovels tax dollars to political patrons
Excerpt: When Congress established a "commission to study the potential creation of a national museum of the American Latino," it did so with an obscure provision tucked away in the Consolidated National Resources Act in 2008. The commission was given $3.2 million to consider creating a museum to showcase the way "Latinos have been an integral part of the history and culture of this country." The panel will submit its official report next year. It's budget may appear modest, but Washington
Obamacare will hurt low-skill workers
I walked into my local CVS drugstore at
5550 Connecticut Avenue
in Washington America
The Congressional Research Service's dirty little Big Green secrets
Excerpt: The 900 CRS lawyers, economists, librarians, and scientists (2010 budget: $112 million) produce reports, memoranda, briefings, seminars and confidential consultations to all congressional members and committees that request them. CRS secretly helps lawmakers prepare for debate by providing data to support their positions. CRS is so secretive that one member of Congress can't find out what it told another. Conversely, if it suits a member's political agenda, he'll get the New York Times to plaster a "confidential" CRS report all over the front page, as Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden did in 2000 with a four-page memo by CRS analyst Ross W. Gorte to bolster his position in a logging controversy. Gorte, a respected CRS analyst since 1983, has become known in Congress as the "go-to guy" for Big Green's no-development brand of "objective, balanced, nonpartisan" reports. Critics even call Gorte "the Wilderness Society lobbyist" -- his wife Julie was the society's vice president in the 1990s. Gorte himself admitted, "We use the Wilderness Society's report on public funding and find it very informative." Gorte and his wife are also officers of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, an anti-development advocate "for preservation of the natural resources."
A Democratic Congress that Even Obama Can't Trust
Excerpt: The most comical happening of the dizzying last few weeks was when Obama brought Bill Clinton into the White House press room with him and then exited to attend a White House Christmas party. For the next half-hour or so, Clinton America
Al-Jazeera's World Cup
Are they building stadiums…or targets and killing zones? Couldn’t pay me to go. ~Bob. Excerpt: Now that the 2022 World Cup has been given to Qatar Persian Gulf with the world’s third largest reserves of natural gas paid more than $6 billion just to win the bid, some of it over the table and much of it not. In any case, the Qataris will spend billions more in preparation for the event, building hotels and restaurants as well as soccer facilities, like nine new air-conditioned stadiums to accommodate the players and fans who will overwhelm a tiny peninsula of around 1.5 million people where the temperature regularly reaches 130 degrees in the summer months.
Should the Clowns at the United Nations be Given Power to Regulate the Internet?
Excerpt: Some ideas are so horrible that I’m almost at a loss for words. The United Nations is a grotesquely wasteful and corrupt international bureaucracy with a long track record of failure and incompetence. Yet some people think this collection of looters, moochers, and kleptocrats should have authority over the Internet. I’m not kidding. Here are some of the details from an Australian newspaper. The United Nations is considering whether to set up an inter-governmental working group to harmonise global efforts by policy makers to regulate the internet. Establishment of such a group has the backing of several countries, spearheaded by Brazil. At a meeting in New York on Wednesday, representatives from Brazil called for an international body made up of Government representatives that would to attempt to create global standards for policing the internet… India, South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia appeared to favour a new possible over-arching inter-government body. However, Australia, US, UK, Belgium and Canada and attending business and community representatives argued there were risks in forming yet another working group that might isolate itself from the industry, community users and the general public. For what it’s worth, this proposal is so crazy that it appears that even the Obama Administration is opposed. I certainly hope so, because this proposal inevitably would lead to many bad results, including restrictions on freedom of speech.
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