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Blog Time
Readers write and, thanking me for the sources in the
Political Digest, often ask, “How do you find the time to work, do the blog and
still read all the books you recommend—do you ever sleep?” I get some links
from Twitter, but most days don’t have time to look at it, and I subscribe to
news feeds. Thanks to many contributors, the blog doesn’t take near as much
time as people think. I usually spend two to (rarely) three hours an evening,
then e-mail it to myself. During the day at work, items cross my desk as I’m
scanning healthcare and economic news to keep the board of the non-profit I
manage informed, and I often pop them into the digest as well as send them to
my bosses. Plus people send me pre-formatted items, which I can cut and paste
right in, which takes about three seconds. Those who send formatted usually get
their submissions in, as they take almost no time. People who send me items
with just links that need to be formatted only get in if I think worth saving
to the evening to take the time. Stuff that says only something like, “Must See,”
that the sender didn’t have the time to tell me anything about I don’t have the
time to look at. Rarely do I have the time to search for things without links.
I get about 300 e-mails a day (less on the weekends), between work and two
personal accounts. As to reading, I try to save an hour a night to read
history, economics, politics or other serious subjects. I watch almost zero TV,
except the local news, military history when on the rowing machine at 6:00 am,
or a football game with a book in my hand. I try to get through two to four non-fiction
books a month, both in print and audio books in the car, but I recommend only
those I think worth reading and that some of the blog readers may find of
interest.
Format for the blog:
1. Article title as
it appears, in bold, with the writer’s name if it’s commentary
2. www.url.link.com
(live link to the full news/opinion article on line)
3. Excerpt: No more than three sentences, less from short
items, to stay within fair use rules.
4. (Your comments, if any, for publication.)
Left on a Bar
Good picture. ~Bob
Want to help with
research into moral values?
I recommended the book The
Righteous Mind by Jonathon Haidt. At this site, you can take a number of
interesting surveys on the foundations of your moral beliefs, then compare them
to both liberals and conservatives on the same surveys. It helps Dr. Haidt and
his colleagues on their research. You can also provide feedback. (I thought the
one on ethnicity and culture was bad, because it assumes that race and culture
are the same thing, clearly wrong IMHO. I think many of our problems are based
on culture, not race. I’d prefer to hang out with black Marines over white
Greek socialists any day. Or white German Nazis or white Russian Communists.
But I found most of them quite interesting. ~Bob
We Can Cut
Government: Canada
Excerpt: Two decades ago Canada suffered a deep recession
and teetered on the brink of a debt crisis caused by rising government
spending. Since then, the country has undergone a remarkable recovery,
reclaiming financial strength and harnessing a powerful economic boom. The United States would do well to learn what it can
from Canada 's
experience and adopt its pro-growth policies, says Chris Edwards, director of
tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. The origins of Canada 's
problem lie within an incredible spending binge that began in the late 1960s
and lasted for 16 years.
Plastic Bag Ban
Will Put Los Angeles In Landfill: Proposal would provide no
environmental benefits and deepen city’s economic depression. By Jay Beeber
Excerpt: There’s a crisis in Los Angeles . Is it the city’s projected $250
million budget deficit? The city’s $10 billion shortfall in pension
obligations? Its crumbling infrastructure? A public school dropout rate
approaching 50 percent? No, the City of Angels
is facing catastrophe in the form of grocery bags. (Silly boy. The point
of these things is not to help the environment. The point, as with so much of
the Green Movement, is to make liberals feel good about themselves, regardless
of the impact on average folks. Of course, they are always willing to get rich
by "saving the environment." See Gore, Al. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: Iranian
officials have acknowledged that a sophisticated virus has infected computers
across the country and, echoing the conclusions of security researchers,
suggested that the malicious code is related to the virus that damaged
centrifuges in an Iranian nuclear facility two years ago.
It's Time To End The
Job-Killing U.S.
Excerpt: Bitter about paying artificially high prices for
the non-artificial sweetener everyone uses just so a politically connected
family can enjoy the sweet life? It's time lawmakers put a lid on the honey
pot. An Iowa State
University study has found that the
federal sugar program costs U.S.
consumers roughly $3.5 billion a year and deprives the workforce of 20,000
jobs. This New Deal-era framework of barriers on sugar imports and of price
supports for domestic sugar is a racket that benefits only a few, in particular
the Fanjul family of Florida .
(When government picks winners and losers instead of the market, you can bet that
the average guy will be on the loser list. ~Bob.)
Romney app misspells
‘Amercia’
Excerpt: Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign misspelled the
word “America ”
on its new iPhone app, and it’s already paying a price for it. In the app, the
phrase “A Better America” is misspelled “A Better Amercia.” (What a bad typo.
The Romney campaign must have a graphic artist so dumb he thinks there are 57
states. ~Bob.)
Dewhurst and Cruz
headed for runoff in Texas
Excerpt: Dewhurst will face former state solicitor general
Ted Cruz, a favorite of the tea party, in the July 31 runoff. The winner of
that runoff will be a heavy favorite to succeed retiring Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R-Texas), after Democrats failed to land a top-tier recruit. With 57 percent of precincts reporting, Dewhurst led Cruz 46
percent to 33 percent. Seven other candidates split the vote enough, though, to
push the two into a runoff, according to AP.
Dems face debt-limit
dilemma
Excerpt: Democrats are grappling with how to approach
another standoff with Republicans over raising the debt limit after abandoning
demands for a “clean” increase last time around. In talks last year, Democrats
campaigned vigorously for a debt-ceiling increase that was not paired with
spending cuts or deficit reduction, only to drop the demand when the deadline
for default approached in early August.
The Hill's 50 Most
Beautiful — Nominations now open!
The Hill is now taking nominations for its 2012 50 Most
Beautiful People list. Send nominations to 50MB@thehill.com. Please include
the person's name, place of employment, contact information and a photo. Those
eligible include members of Congress, congressional staffers, lobbyists and
anyone else who works regularly on Capitol Hill. All nominations are kept
confidential. (Best to use my full name, Robert A.
Hall , not just “Bob,” when nominating, to avoid confusion….
Seriously, I nominated Cpl. Todd Nicely: US
Wounded Warrior Overcomes Loss of Arms & Legs to Pass Driving Test http://www.theblaze.com/stories/wounded-warrior-overcomes-loss-of-arms-and-legs-video/ Hard to find a more beautiful
American. ~Bob.)
The White House
Defends Public Equity
Excerpt: Up is down, left is right, good is bad, and day is
night. If you wander inside the Washington ,
D.C.
Excerpt: Attorney General Eric Holder, the IRS, and the
liberal lawyers at the ACLU will brief several hundred pastors in the African
American community on how to participate in the presidential election -- which
the Congressional Black Caucus chair expects will help President Obama's
campaign. (And if the Romney held a briefing for “white pastors”? Of course, in
Holder’s own words, these are “my people.” Not folks of other colors. For a
racist, black, white, red or yellow, race is everything. ~Bob.)
Election fraud in
D.C.? By Jonetta Rose Barras
Excerpt: It's too bad U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.
can't indict (DC Mayor) Vincent C. Gray and his 2010 mayoral campaign team
under the RICO Act. It certainly seemed as if they were running an organized
criminal enterprise. Two people from Gray's inner circle essentially have
admitted to obstructing justice, offering a bribe and money laundering.
Judge halts
construction on nearly completed, widely-hated monster mosque in Murfreesboro , Tennessee
Excerpt: A judge has ruled that construction of a controversial
Murfreesboro
mosque must cease immediately. Chancellor Robert Corlew III ruled that
construction must cease because not enough notice was given about May 2010
public meeting. Muslim pressure group CAIR is already demanding that Eric
Holder bring in the big guns.
Excerpt: Poland
has demanded an apology from Washington
after President Barack Obama spoke of a "Polish death camp" while
announcing an award to a resistance fighter for alerting the world to the Nazi
Holocaust, largely perpetrated on Polish soil. The matter is a delicate one in Poland , which
suffered a brutal Nazi occupation during World War Two and has long campaigned
against suggestions it bore any responsibility for the slaughter of some 6
million European Jews.
Gun beats knife
Excerpt: Being a retired cop made all the difference for Kio
Ebrahimzadeh when he and his date were threatened with a knife earlier this
month. The majority of California
residents would have been helpless in the face of the imminent assault
Excerpt: The defection of a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat
to the Republican Party is raising some eyebrows. Jo Ann Nardelli, a state
committeewoman and founding president of the Blair County Federation of
Democratic Women, has switched her political affiliation to the GOP, citing her
Catholic faith and President Obama’s embrace of gay marriage as reasons.
Excerpt: While
much attention lately has rightly been focused on Iran 's
nuclear weapons program, the mullahs have also been busy elsewhere—especially
in America 's
own backyard. During Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two-term presidency, Iran has expanded its activity in the Western Hemisphere to an alarming degree.
Lawmakers seek legislation to combat labor
union sabotage
Excerpt: With incidents of labor union officials and members
advocating—and sometimes committing—acts of violence against businesses and
non-profit organizations becoming so prevalent in the U.S., especially during
disputes with management over benefits and pensions, the U.S. Senate and the
House of Representatives are considering specific legislation. (Zero chance in
the Democrat Senate. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: The next act of Greece ’s financial tragedy looks
like it’s coming. Whether or not Greece exits the euro zone
immediately after its June 17 elections, most analysts now predict it’s only a
matter of time until it does so. Recriminations are being hurled in all
directions with Greeks blaming the European Union for abandoning them while more
and more EU officials say the Greeks should look in the mirror.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: In every economic crisis there comes a moment of
clarity. In Europe soon, millions of people
will wake up to realize that the euro-as-we-know-it is gone. Economic chaos
awaits them. … A disorderly break-up of the euro area will be far more damaging
to global financial markets than the crisis of 2008.
Quote from NRO’s Morning
Jolt with Jim Geraghty
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Democrats, who fled the state to avoid
voting on Walker's reforms, who let protesters take over the state capitol for
several days, who compared the governor to Hitler, and who forced recalls of
state legislators and the governor (putting state voters through seven
elections in one year), have coalesced behind one final closing argument: Scott
Walker has divided the state. Really.
Traitorous Ft Hood
Bomb Plotter Cites Islam as Motivation
Excerpt: “A Muslim U.S. soldier accused of planning to bomb Fort Hood
troops says he wasn’t seeking vengeance but justice for people in Iraq and Afghanistan , according to a
recording played at his federal trial Wednesday.
Michelle Obama's
"Civilian" Act Is Hard To Swallow. By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: My prediction? As soon as the fawning media frenzy
dies down and Mrs. Obama's book rises to the top of The New York Times best-seller
list, POTUS will go back to claiming that FLOTUS is a "private
citizen" who should be left alone. The Obamas' Chicago strategists have long enjoyed
invoking selective immunity for the first lady without challenge. Lapdog
reporters have assisted in creating an impenetrable bubble of political
protection around the profligate, policy-meddling first lady.
A Case For Governor
Scott Walker. By Susan Brown
http://townhall.com/columnists/susanbrown/2012/05/30/a_case_for_governor_scott_walker
http://townhall.com/columnists/susanbrown/2012/05/30/a_case_for_governor_scott_walker
Excerpt: Name-calling is the coward’s way to avoid
intelligent discourse. Liberals are notorious for responding to just about
anything or anyone with whom they disagree using ad hominem rebuttals to
discredit their opponents.
Spending? What spending? Obama’s laughable denials. By Rich Lowry
Excerpt: Franklin
Delano Roosevelt never denied that he created Social Security. Lyndon Baines
Johnson didn’t forswear any responsibility for Medicaid. Ronald Reagan never
argued that his defense buildup didn’t happen. The Obama White House, in
contrast, wants to wish away the historic federal spending that is one of its
signature accomplishments.
New Report Exposes
Leftwing Professors http://www.eagleforum.org/publications/educate/may12/leftwing-professors.html
Excerpt: A new report by the California division of the National
Association of Scholars (NAS) found that left-wing political activism has had a
corrupting effect on the University of California (UC). The report, entitled A
Crisis of Competence, found that left-wing political activism in the
University’s classrooms has caused four basic problems: (A lot of this has been
discussed for some time, but an official report with actual numbers is the kind
of factual input needed to remove any doubt about what goes on in the
universities. And as the article says, it doesn't matter how many courses are
still taught appropriately, what matters is how many are taught
inappropriately. Clearly way too many, from what we see of activities on and
off campus by students. A student can take 5-6 classes per semester, but it
only takes one of them, in history or polisci or psychology, etc, where the
leftist vision of America is presented as factual, to have a serious and very
unfortunate affect on that student's thinking. If in the 40 or so courses that
make up his/her years in college, only 3-6 of them are badly taught, that's
still way too many, with way too much effect on that student's mindset. –Del.
American Universities celebrate every kind of diversity except diversity of
thought—the only kind that matters. ~Bob.)
The Week That Was:
2012-05-26 (May 26, 2012)
Excerpt: On Thursday, the EPA held the only public hearings
on its proposed new rules, “Carbon Pollution Standards on New Power Plants.”
One hearing was in Chicago and one was in Washington . The Washington hearing was
packed with environmental groups, all claiming that coal-fired power plants
should be closed down for reasons of public health. (The excerpt is from Ken
Haapala’s summary of the week’s news, but the most important thing to read may
be the third numbered article (reprinted in full at the end of the post),
“Scientific Method and Climate Change” by Vincent Gray. Dr. Gray published it
privately in printed format only, so it has no online link. Dr. Gray was one of
the IPCC’s “expert reviewers” and frequently testifies for NZ police
departments as an “expert witness.” This brief, powerful article shows the
holes through which the climate scams are being driven in truckload quantities.
Ron P. )
Obama regime again
tells media to scrub story about Michelle Obama’s Beyonce concert junket
Excerpt: Just as I expected. Obama instructed his lapdogs in
the media to scrub the story about Michelle Obama and their kids going to Atlantic City to see a
Beyonce concert on the tax payer’s dime. Like good lapdogs, the media obligated
and scrubbed the story just like they did when Malia Obama went to Mexico with 12
friends and 25 Secret Service agents back in March. Oh, and then a day after
Malia Obama returned from the tax payer funded trip to Mexico, the two Obama
daughters went with Michelle Obama to Las Vegas on the tax payer’s dime. Must
be nice. 9Look over there! Anne Romney bought an expensive blouse with her own
money! ~Bob.)
Excerpt: In the wake of Chen Guangcheng arriving safely in
the United States, after years of persecution in China for his
anti-abortion activism, The House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on
H.R.
3541 (also known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act – PRENDA), a
bill to ban sex-selection abortions in the United States. Although the US has strongly condemned China for their
sex-selection abortion practices, only four states (AZ, OK, PA and IL)
currently have laws banning the procedure.
AP Exclusive: Calif.
Excerpt: But a review by The Associated Press of the $15
million collected since lawmakers approved the "California Memorial
Scholarship Program" shows only a small fraction of the money went to
scholarships. While 40 percent has funded anti-terror training programs, $3
million was raided by Gov. Jerry Brown and his predecessor, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, to plug the state's budget deficit.
Sentenced to death
for singing and dancing at wedding
Didn’t get the memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: Four women and two men
have been sentenced to death in northern Pakistan for singing and dancing at
a wedding, police say.
Somali Islamists fire
on foreign warships
Excerpt: Somalia 's
Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents said Tuesday they had fired on two foreign
warships that came in close to the key rebel port of Kismayo
Catholic Church --
Socialism vs Democracy
Excerpt: Fr. Andrew was invited to lead the opening prayer
at the 2012 Colorado Republican State Assembly and Convention in the Magness
Arena at the University
of Denver
'Trayvon Martin Day'
Indoctrination in D.C.; Priming the next generation of race rioters. By Arnold
Excerpt: In an event that illuminates the ongoing
politicization of the nation's public schools, Malcolm
X Elementary
school in Washington
D.C.
Our Nation's Future.
By Walter E. Williams
Excerpt: Our nation is rapidly approaching a point from
which there's little chance to avoid a financial collapse. The heart of our
problem can be seen as a tragedy of the commons. That's a set of circumstances
when something is commonly owned and individuals acting rationally in their own
self-interest produce a set of results that's inimical to everyone's long-term
interest.
EDITORIAL: Giving the
Internet to the U.N.
Excerpt: That Beijing and Moscow are backing the
idea is enough to know it’s a bad one. The free flow of information has always
been an enemy of thuggish regimes. To them, individual expression and the
unlimited exchange of ideas - which the Internet has made possible for some
oppressed people for the first time in history - must be stamped out.
Cherokees to
Elizabeth Warren: ‘We don’t claim you!’
Excerpt: More than 150 Cherokee Indians have joined a group
online demanding more information from Massachusetts
senate candidate Elizabeth Warren about her claims of Native American heritage.
(…) Warren has
been embroiled in a controversy for weeks after it was revealed that the
Harvard law professor once touted herself as an American Indian minority. She
has since struggled to prove those claims as critics argue she claimed that
heritage to further her career. (Liberal diversity-whore speak with forked
tongue. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: Allowing Iran to retain uranium enrichment
technology and materials is a deadly concession, one that ultimately will lead
us to war. The reason is very simple: The very same centrifuges that spin
uranium gas to 3% enrichment to make fuel for nuclear power plants can spin a
bit longer to enrich the gas to 90% to make nuclear weapons material. Same
centrifuges, same process, same materials. The only added ingredient is time. Guess
what the Iranians have been buying over the past three years? Time.
Excerpt: The May 2012 issue of “California
Educator,” published by the California Teachers Association – that’s
“teachers union” in plain English – has a two page political ad on pages 20 and
21 that urges teachers to fight a state initiative that will be on California ’s November
ballot. The text of this ad, which can be removed and used as a poster,
includes these nuggets: (Another serious whack at union power in California . --Del )
What Happens to the
Supreme Court if Obama Gets Re-Elected?
Excerpt: So for anybody who is thinking of not voting
because your favorite didn’t get nominated, or writing in a candidate who can’t
win. . . . Imagine this: Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder or Hillary Clinton.
(Or both! ~Bob.)
Bain, Solyndra now
center stage in Romney, Obama economic fight
Excerpt: Solyndra and Bain Capital have become the
battleground on which President Obama and Mitt Romney are warring over who
would best lead the U.S.
economy.
Obama's top aides on Wednesday, for a second day in a row,
sought to prevent Romney's attacks on the bankrupt, taxpayer-backed solar
company Solyndra from overshadowing the Obama campaign's criticism of Romney's
private-equity background.
Excerpt: With six days to go until the recall election of
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a new poll indicates that the Republican governor
holds a seven point advantage over his Democratic challenger. According to a Marquette Law
School poll released Wednesday, 52% of
people likely to vote in Wisconsin 's June 5
election say they back Walker ,
with 45% saying they support Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic
challenger. (Saw an e-mail from the Barrett campaign, claiming it was tied. We
shall see. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: Serious question, greenies: is a nation justified
in completely running its economy into the ground, with all of the hardship and
heartache that ensues, if it’s all for the sake of instilling the populace with
what the government deems necessary environmental
virtue?
Moveon.Org: We May
Have To Pull The Plug On Elizabeth Warren
Excerpt: MoveOn, a giant in the progressive political world
and an early endorser of Barack Obama in 2008, warns
that it might have to “pull the plug” on key campaigns to help Obama and Senate
Democrats if its five million members don’t pony up with at least $5.
Without a rush of new cash, MoveOn says it will have to give up efforts to
elect Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts , help
the recall fight against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and energize younger voters
who’ve soured on Washington .
(Just a political fund-raising scare tactic. Both sides use them. Sigh. ~Bob.)
Are the Bush Wars to blame for deficits?
Interesting chart. ~Bob
Subpar Obama Recovery: 6.5 Million Jobs Below Average.
By John Merline
Excerpt: But the economic recovery that Obama has presided
over has been far from extraordinary. It hasn't even been ordinary. In fact,
it's come in well below average on several key indicators compared with the
previous 10 economic recoveries, dating back to 1949, according to an IBD
analysis of various economic data.
New Yorkers Leave
Like East Germans Fled Communism
Excerpt From 1949 to 1961, more than 2.6 million of East
Germany's 17 million population escaped to West Berlin or West Germany, a
hemorrhage of humanity that led the Communists to construct the infamous Berlin
Wall in 1961. The state of New York ,
with about 19.5 million people, has no known plans to erect concrete barriers
or barbed wire fences. But from 2000 to 2010 it suffered an exodus of some 3.4
million New Yorkers (17%) — nearly a million more people than in Germany's
post-war experience and more than that of any other state. (California will catch them--I have faith.
~Bob.)
