If Obama plays it right, a defeat for his health-care reform effort could actually move him closer to reelection — giving him another four years to make major advances in health-care coverage, quality and cost.And, he has two broad options in responding. He can make it 1936 all over again or he can focus on "helping the people achieve their goals".
Romanticizing suicide. [AND: Murder!]In Germany it was two decades between the publication of Life Unworthy of Life in 1920 and the first deaths of Germans under Action T4, in September 1939. The T4 Program wasn't about Jews and Gypsies and Slavs. It was about those Germans who needed help to exist, due to physical or mental handicaps. Two decades. Then the Asylums and the homes were emptied, because (1) they were too expensive and (2) space was needed for wounded warriors (It was WWII and also some of the wounded were also euthanized) and (3) because such crippledness was not worthy of a great Aryan nation.
In the NYT.
Expect more propaganda of this kind, my friends, because in the future, it is hoped, you will be your own death panel.
His defenders don’t even try to make him sound likable. Instead, they emphasize his operational talents, encyclopedic understanding of the enemy and tireless work ethic.And, he gets results.
Finally, when it comes to Vietnam, my one-volume bias is for Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam over The Best and the Brightest by journalist David Halberstam. The first account is the "war" book, the second is a "how did we get into the war" book.I think he should have mentioned Richard Betts The System Worked and some other recent historical research about how we got there and failed to get out. Let's face it, few since FDR got Viet-nam right and he passed away on top. When I say everyone, I include Ho Chi Minh, who expended a lot of treasure and people achieving an aim he could have achieved for less, with a little insight. He lived here, it should have had a better idea about us.
Such ceremonies are unusual but not unheard of in France, where the law allows posthumous marriages in cases where a fiance dies before the wedding. The law states that such weddings can only be approved by the French president "in grave circumstances".I link to the Althouse blog so you can see the comments. As an aside, something I see on the Althouse blog is a degree of self-censorshiop by the commenters, who sometimes remove their comments. I assume they do it for reasons of grammar or spelling, or they decided that a subsequent comment made them look stupid.
There is a potentially dangerous implication of this, namely that the federal government has the right and, possibly, obligation to emesh itself into the administration of private, not for profit universities including the potential to dictate curricula whether or not the universities agree. Personally, I believe that that is an extremely dangerous precedent.That is my underlining. I would note that neither of the commenters come across to me as "Tea Party" members. Both are thoughtful academics.Good thinking and I agree. Curriculum was not something I was considering at all for any kind of university, but rather annual rates of increase in tuition driven by expenditures on things not directly related to a university's primary mission of teaching and research - notably capital investment projects, rather than in classrooms, libraries and labs, and expansion of administrative bureaucracy.
Agree the government intruding on university curriculum (which I expect soon anyway under the guise of "accountability") would be generally pernicious.
If a man have a stufforne or rebellious sonne of sufficyent yeeres of understanding, viz., 16, wch will not obey ye voyce of his father or ye voyce of his mother, & yt when they have chastned him will not harken vnto them, then shall his fahter & mother, being his naturall parents, lay hold on him, & bring him to ye majestrates assembled in Courte, & testify to them by sufficyent evidence yt this their sonne is stubborne & rebellious, & will not obey their voyce & chasticement, but lives in sundry notorious crimes, such a sonne shall be put to deathThe citation is Massachusetts Records, 3:101.
These low standards of proof, together with the appeals provisions, reflect the tendency of victim advocates, including Obama Administration officials, to err on the side of presuming guilt in sexual misconduct cases. Some have unabashed contempt for the rights of the accused: Boston attorney Wendy Murphy writes disdainfully of "lawyers for men accused of rape (who) injected themselves into college disciplinary proceedings demanding 'due process' and arguing that accused students have a constitutional liberty interest at stake." The accused have no constitutional claim to due process, she writes approvingly, but "student victims of sexual assault" do, "because sexual assault is a form of gender discrimination."The way Ms Kraminer presents Attorney Wendy Murphy makes Ms Muphy sound incoherent, and opposed to the "Rights of Englishmen", which we have retained and refined over the centuries.
Attached to this e-mail is a press release from the Office of Mayor Patrick Murphy regarding the traditional Office Hours that he will hold in the Office of the Mayor at City Hall, as well as the Virtual Office Hours he will offer via Facebook.Then follows the Press Release:
Lowell, MA, March 20, 2012 – Mayor Patrick Murphy has formally announced that he will hold Office Hours in the Office of the Mayor in City Hall. During two designated time periods each week – 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays – Lowellians will be able to meet with the Mayor on a drop-in basis to discuss whatever issues, concerns, or ideas are on their minds. No appointments are necessary.There you have it.
The announcement of formal Office Hours fits with one of Mayor Murphy’s primary objectives during his tenure as Lowell’s Mayor – increasing citizens’ direct access to government.
“Too often, citizens feel disengaged from government, even at the municipal level, because of a distance they perceive between themselves and the people making the decisions,” Murphy said. “By announcing regular blocks of time during which I can be accessible, I hope to break down that perceived barrier. There are people in this city who have lived and worked here for years, but have never been inside this office, which is really their office,” he added.
Mayor Murphy will also hold “Virtual Office Hours” the first Monday of each month from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. During that time period, Mayor Murphy will be signed on to his Facebook page, available to chat, respond to Wall Posts, or Facebook messages in real time. Mayor Murphy’s first Virtual Office Hours will be held on Monday, April 2nd.
Direct meetings with the Mayor are not limited to the Office Hour blocks of time of Wednesdays and Fridays. Any resident who would like to meet with Mayor Murphy, but cannot do so during those times because of work, family, or other commitments, can reach out to directly to the Office of the Mayor to schedule a more convenient time. To schedule a meeting with Mayor Murphy, please contact Greg Page at (978) 674-1551 or e-mail gpage@lowellma.gov.
Magnitude 7.6 - OAXACA, MEXICOAnd a possible tragedy for thousands. Over ten miles deep and yet it impacts many lives on the surface. Fortunately, at this point, no reported deaths.
2012 March 20 18:02:48 UTC
Earthquake Details
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 7.6
Date-Time
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 18:02:48 UTC
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 12:02:48 PM at epicenter
Location 16.662°N, 98.188°W
Depth 17.5 km (10.9 miles)
Region OAXACA, MEXICO
Distances
25 km (15 miles) E (95°) from Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
42 km (26 miles) NNW (335°) from Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico
87 km (54 miles) SW (219°) from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico
162 km (101 miles) WSW (255°) from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
186 km (115 miles) E (96°) from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 15.8 km (9.8 miles); depth +/- 6.5 km (4.0 miles)
Parameters NST=438, Nph=440, Dmin=312.8 km, Rmss=0.88 sec, Gp= 79°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=9
Source
Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID usc0008m6h
To my knowledge, there’s no evidence. I just don’t believe it.This does not mean that he wouldn't like to know all about Student Obama's time at Columbia or other details about the candidate's background.
"We need an army of citizen journalists,” Shapiro explained. “The media is not going to do its jobs. The media is simply going to continue its pattern of protecting President Obama. If you have a tip send it to us.”But let us not waste time trying to find some alternative birth certificate.
A second-generation Muslim immigrant in Austria has authored a provocative new book in which he argues that Europe's future is Turkish, whether Europeans like it or not.An interesting view and one sure to upset several constituencies.
The book's short, sharp and confrontational title says it all: "We are Coming."
The thesis is: "Regardless of whether or not you [Europeans] like us [Turks], whether or not you integrate us, whether or not you want us in the European Union, our influence in Europe is growing. We are more numerous. We are younger. We are more ambitious. Our economy is growing faster. We are stronger."
Led by a small cadre of practical game theoreticians, most notoriously the brilliantly dour Roissy, more and more men are taking the red pill and rejecting the pretty lies they have been told throughout the entire course of their education and upbringing. Some are choosing to go their own way. Others are improving the quality of their marriages, and still others are using their new-found knowledge to plow through the opposite sex like Visigoths and Vandals sacking Rome. What Peggy Noonan does not realize is that whereas men once assumed that a woman was a lady until proven otherwise, increasing numbers of them assume women are shallow and superficial until they are provided with credible evidence to the contrary.Ouch!
No wonder so many Californians have migrated there.The piece, itself, "Feds to Texas: You defunded Planned Parenthood, now we’re defunding you", talks about Texas walking away from Federal Funding for Women's Health over the issue of funding Planned Parenthood.
Regards — Cliff
♠ Of course it is really deficit spending, which is, in the long run, like Pixe Dust. So how long can we go forward on Pixie Dust? It is fiat money, so as long as everyone says it is money it is. Let just one person break the circle and it begins to collapse.
This continues and it can be found in toto here.NATIONAL DAY OF HONOR
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Nine years ago, members of the United States Armed Forces crossed the sands of the Iraq-Kuwait border and began one of the most challenging missions our military has ever known. They left the comforts of home and family, volunteering in service to a cause greater than themselves. They braved insurgency and sectarian strife, knowing too well the danger of combat and the cost of conflict. Yet, through the dust and din and the fog of war, they never lost their resolve. Demonstrating unshakable fortitude and unwavering commitment to duty, our men and women in uniform served tour after tour, fighting block by block to help the Iraqi people seize the chance for a better future. And on December 18, 2011, their mission came to an end.
Today, we honor their success, their service, and their sacrifice. In one of our Nation's longest wars, veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn wrote one of the most extraordinary chapters in American military history. When highways became mine fields and uncertainty waited behind every corner, service members rose to meet the task at hand with unmatched courage and determination. They learned languages and cultures, taking on new roles as diplomats and development experts to improve the communities where they served. Their strength toppled a tyrant, and their valor helped build opportunity in oppression's place. Across nearly 9 years of conflict, the glory of their service—as well as the contributions of other members of the U.S. Government and our coalition partners—always shone through.
A delegation of the Afghan parliament members who visited Kandahar province said at least 15 US troops were behind the assassination of 16 Afghan villagers at Panjwai district in this province.
Sheriff investigators pored over the burnt remains of a car that burst in to flames on Old Highway 80 near Sunrise Highway early Thursday morning after it was disabled by spike strips that the were deployed by Border Patrol officers during a pursuit. The driver of the car was killed and a Border patrol agent was injured in the incident.This seems a little over the top for someone involved in smuggling.
The former four-star general, who as the son of a Dutch father Frisian roots has received his decorations hung in the presence of Dutch (old) and his military colleagues Frisian relatives. General Petraeus son of a Dutch father. The Commissioner of the Province of Friesland, John Jorritsma handed the General's family tree dating back to the year 1599. Petraeus responded enthusiastically to his award, he praised the good cooperation with the Netherlands and the quality of the Dutch soldiers. He shut off applicable in Dutch: "The Netherlands, for ever!".Of course, Director Patraeus will have to comply with Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution and the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. I got that from a lawyer.
In fact, Card noted, Hayes was not only the first president to have a telephone in the White House, but he was also the first to use the typewriter, and he had Thomas Edison come to the White House to demonstrate the phonograph. "So I think he was pretty much cutting edge," Card insisted, "maybe just the opposite of what President Obama had to say there."But, the real question should be about Governments picking technology. While the predecessor to the US Department of Energy gave us the fusion weapon (H-bomb) within a few years of the TRINITY shot, DoE, created in 1977, hasn't yet given us clean, safe, cheap fusion power, or even dirty, unsafe and expensive fusion power, or anything else, really.
A total of 85,343 people died "due to malnutrition" in Mexico between 2001 and 2010, a period during which another 49,804 victims were slain by organized crime gangs, according to official figures released [last week].On the other hand, in the same period we killed about 400,000 in auto accidents—granted we have a population of 313 million, to Mexico's 112 million.
The classic work should be removed from school curricula, according to Gherush 92, a human rights organisation which acts as a consultant to UN bodies on racism and discrimination.I would say that if the UN, or one of its agencies, moves forward with this foolishness, we let them stay in Turtle Bay as long as they wish, but we excuse ourselves and use those then excess diplomats elsewhere.
Dante's epic is "offensive and discriminatory" and has no place in a modern classroom, said Valentina Sereni, the group's president.
It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.This is where he puts it all together:
Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.Integrity is important. People will follow someone with integrity. People will engage in pillage with someone who lacks integrity but has an eye for available assets. But, they won't "follow" that person very far.
In some quarters, the latest boost in Beijing's defense spending is already being blamed on the United States. The U.S. announced a "pivot to Asia" in January, so China promptly increased its defense budget. This line of thinking underscores the truth in the old adage that, for every problem, there is a solution that is neat, plausible - and wrong.It isn't always about us.
Allred's Law: As feigned Leftist outrage grows louder, the probability of Gloria Allred using it to be-clown herself approaches 1.Gee, I sure hope the Corollary is correct.
Corollary to Allred's Law: When Allred be-clowns herself, the feigned Leftist outrage has run its course.
Clark announced, “It’s time for Congress to stand for the rights of student loan borrowers. It’s time to forgive these student loan debts.”There it is. While ignoring the hard work of all those students who have paid back their college loans, we are going to help those who haven't.
The bill provides that if a student loan borrower makes payments equal to 10% of their discretionary income for a period of 10 yrs, the balance of their federal student loan debt will be forgiven.
SEC. 7. OFFSET.Overseas Contingency Operations are "Off Budget". Now, if this gets to the US Senate, the Majority Leader, Harry Reid, won't understand the concept of Off Budget, since the US Senate hasn't acted on a budget in over one thousands days, but that is a different issue.Funds appropriated or otherwise made available for a fiscal year to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall be made available from the funds available for Overseas Contingency Operations.
... since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.It is the representatives of Athens talking to the leadership of the neutral island nation of Melos. The words come to us via Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. It is part of the "Melian Dialogue".
We would first have to pretend there is such a thing as an "impartial judge" to make this an issue, so I understand Ann's "so?"Ouch!
As I understand the theory, it's that showing a picture ID is an unreasonably burdensome obstacle in the way of exercising a constitutional right.OK, so maybe it is a bit over the top, but it is questions like this that put the issue into some context.
I reflected on that this past weekend when I purchased a pistol at a gunshow. Not only did I need to show a picture ID, but I had to fill out a lengthy questionnaire and wait for the feds to clear me over the phone.
There are people who may not lawfully own firearms. There are people who may not lawfully vote. Why are there different standards for exercising the two rights? Let's hear it for instant background checks for voters.
Media pundits have been beating up on Rick Santorum for saying that the assertion of an absolute separation of church and state makes him want to throw up, for attacking John F. Kennedy’s pledge to be “a president whose religious views are his own private affair” and for declaring that “the idea that the church can have no influence in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and visions of our country.”And on it goes from there. The law seems to meander over the field and there is no "wall of separation", as such.
In response, commentators have advised Santorum to read the Constitution, urged him to become familiar with the pronouncements of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and chastised him for “bashing … the Constitution’s mandate that there should be separation between church and state.”
Well, if that’s the Constitution’s mandate, I guess a number of Supreme Court justices and A-list legal academics have somehow missed the message. In Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), Justice William Rehnquist called the “wall of separation” a “metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging” and “should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.” Justice Potter Stewart frequently complained that decisions based on a doctrine of strict separation display a hostility to religion and threaten to establish a “religion of secularism.” Stewart was fond of citing Justice William O. Douglas’s pronouncement in Zorach v. Clauson (1952) that “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a supreme being.” Similar sentiments have been expressed by Justices Warren E. Burger, Byron White, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.It would seem that Democrats are having a hay day with this birth control issue. First we had George Stephanopoulos ask Candidate Mitt Romney about birth control, which Gov Romney told him was a non-issue. That answer made sense to me. My Faith says use of artificial birth control is a sin. That said, it has been decades since SCOTUS has ruled that it is legal to purchase such items and they have come out from under the counter.
"The fact of the matter is, the ultimate resolution to this problem is where it should have been in the first place," the vice president said. "I was the one that was tasked to meet with the National Conference of Bishops, and others and Cardinal [Tim] Dolan, to talk about this."But, even so, some pressed on, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Birth control is too expensive and too complicated for individuals to purchase, so we'll make health insurers cover it, free of charge. And for those of you concerned about this increasing the cost of your insurance, don't worry. Birth control is cheap and simple, so this won't increase premiums at all.As for Ms Fluke, unless she has special problems, $3,000 for three years of birth control is way over the top. The number is closer to $9 per month, or $324 for three years. If Ms Fluke is normal and if no one tells my wife, I will cover Ms Fluke's birth control expenses for the three years.
The current debate on whether or not to bomb Iran is being framed as a false choice. Proponents state we must bomb Iran to keep it from developing a nuclear weapon. Yet in the same statement they often admit that even an effective bombing campaign will delay the program only a few years. Thus, the real choice being offered is not to bomb Iran or face an Iran with nuclear weapons. The real choice is facing an Iran with nuclear weapons or facing an Iran with nuclear weapons after you have bombed it.I am sure there are some who think we can just bomb Iran until all 75 million Iranians are no more, but frankly that is a non-starter. Besides, we need to keep in mind that the agent of Iran, Hezbollah, is already imbedded deep in Latin America. We are not totally safe behind our ocean barriers.
Barely a week after the Osirak raid, [Israeli Prime Minister] Begin told CBS News that the attack “will be a precedent for every future government in Israel.” Yet, if history repeats itself, an Israeli attack would result in a wounded adversary more determined than ever to get a nuclear bomb. And then the world would face the same terrible choices it ultimately faced with Iraq: decades of containment to stall nuclear rebuilding efforts, invasion and occupation — or acquiescence to an implacable nuclear-armed foe.There are no easy choices out there. I think that now is the time to talk and wait, looking for an opening. Now is the time for both the US and Israel to wait.
