The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Good News! Work Force Still Shrinking

Posted on | December 7, 2012 | 9 Comments

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air describes the November jobs report:

The economy added 146,000 jobs, better than expected if still a status quo result, and the jobless rate declined to 7.7%. . . .
However, the seasonally-adjusted labor force dropped by 350,000, and the civilian labor force participation rate also dropped two-tenths of a point to 63.6%, almost at the 31-year low hit in August. . . .
In other words, America isn’t going back to work. Americans are still dropping out of the work force.

This statistical illusion — having the unemployment rate decline because the people stop looking for work — cannot be maintained infinitely. Economic reality is like gravity, and is impossible to avoid.

UPDATE: Bill McBride at Calculated Risk has a bunch of charts and stuff, in case you require detailed data to know the economy sucks.

 


Category: Economics

Prof. Lessig: What Are You Saying, Man?

Posted on | December 7, 2012 | 15 Comments

by Smitty

We Americans are not easily inspired. Forty years of reform have left us more cynical, not less — and not just about Congress but also about the very idea of “reform.” Eighty percent of Americans surveyed by Clarus believe that the reforms Congress has passed “have been designed more to help current members of Congress get re-elected [than] to improve the system.” The biggest challenge for the next reform is not just substance but also believability: It must convince America that it, finally, offers real change.

WHAT. REFORM. SIR?

European-style, unaffordable entitlements are up. Are THESE intellectually insulting, Constitutional-rights-crushing vote-buying schemes the “reform” you’re on about?

Respect begins with listening. It is fed by open debate. And it is encouraged by the belief that the hard work of organizing — the work that produced almost 2 million signatures demanding real change — will be at least as important in this process as the favors of insiders.

What makes you think that the likes of Princess “Are you serious? Are you serious?” Pelosi gives a Flying. French. Fornication. what you, I, or any of the peasants think? Sir, we’re simply in the midst of an ersatz aristocracy here, with every grubby implication that entails.

It is time for Democrats finally to steal a move from the Republican’s playbook: Boldness inspires. If there’s going to be a Tea Party for Reform, Democrats must start talking about ideas that give people a real reason to get excited.

Barack “#OccupyResoluteDesk” Obama has been pissing down your back and telling your it’s raining for years. When was the last time Captain Superior signed a budget into law? I know, bad news is always somebody else’s fault, isn’t it?
Prof. Lessig, you’re not a dummy. Stop acting like one.

This is not reform; it’s collapse!

Category: Uncategorized

LIVE AT FIVE: 12.07.12

Posted on | December 7, 2012 | 11 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Egypt Braces For Protests As Morsi Calls For Talks

The Republican Guard battles protesters outside the Presidential Palace in Cairo

Five dead, hundreds hurt in rioting

Senator DeMint Resigns To Head Heritage Foundation
“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight.”


Pearl Harbor Was In Flames, And Utah Pilot Was Alone In The Sky
Colonel Emmett Davis, 93, recalls fear, anger of Japanese attack; saw beginning and end of WW2 in the Pacific



POLITICS
George Zimmerman Sues NBC, Reporters Over Edited 911 Call

George Zimmerman

Claims defamation, seeks undisclosed amount of money

Washington State Potheads Celebrate Legalization At Space Needle As Feds Stand Back

Michigan Legislature Passes Right-To-Work Measures

Christie Vetoes NJ State Health Care Exchange

Illinois State Senator Released On Bail After Arrest For Trying To Board Plane With Gun

Obama Plans Two Swearing-In Ceremonies



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Continues Slide As US, Euro Economies Projected To Continue Contraction: NYMEX $86.44, Brent $107.24
SEC Warns Netflix Over CEO’s Post On Facebook
Did Mario Draghi Just Kill The Euro Rally?
Fiscal Cliff Threatens Wind Industry’s Boom
Initial Jobless Reports Fall Sharply
Diamondback Capital Management Shutting Down
Yum Brands Says PRC Still Loves KFC
Apple Bringing Some Manufacturing Back To The US, But Is It Just A Stunt?
FCC Fast-Tracks Text-To-911 Service
California Sues Delta Over Mobile App Privacy
Google Kills Off Free Google Apps Offering
Congress Passes Resolution Condemning UN “Takeover” Of The Internet – Unanimously
Akamai Partnering With AT&T



SPORTS
Manning Leads Broncos Past Raiders, 26-13

Broncos TE Joel Dreessen (81) reacts after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter

Broncos now half a game ahead of the Ravens, Patriots in battle for second in the AFC

Short-Handed Knicks Bomb Heat Into Submission, 112-92

NHL Labor Talks Collapse

Good Night: Te’o Wins Big On Awards Night

Baseball’s Winter Meeting Ends Without Fireworks

This Is How The Yankees Retool?

Cherington: “Not Our Intent” To Trade Ellsbury

Josh Hamilton, Zack Greinke Still On The Market As Winter Meeting Ends

Nationals Lose Four Players In Rule 5 Draft



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Kate Upton Makes Debut As UK Vogue Cover Girl

Kate Upton

Determined to move from swimsuits to the catwalk

Lindsay Lohan Shows Up At The Wanted Concert; Her History Of Acting Like A Groupie

Demi Moore Lets Loose In Miami

An Oral History Of “Freaks & Geeks”

Kate Leaves The Hospital After 4-Day Stay

Jessica Biel: Fantastic Voyage

Inside The Fight To Bring “Les Mis” To The Screen

Martha Stewart Gets Salmonella From Thanksgiving Turkeys

Nicole: I’ll Quit “X Factor”



FOREIGNERS
Japan Poised To Shoot Down Nork Missile
Sex Video Fells PRC Official In Latest Internet Takedown
Morsi Offers Nothing To Defuse Crisis
Gazans Hope For End To Blockade
Freak Tornado Kills Three In Auckland, NZ
Indonesian Sports Minister Resigns; First Cabinet Member Named As Corruption Suspect
Censorship Is A Must, Says PRC’s Nobel Winner
Turkey Committed To Stamping Out Corruption
Russian Diplomats Denounce US Visa, Banking Bans For Corrupt Officials



BLOGS & STUFF
Valley Of The Shadow: Escaping No Man’s Land – Reforming The 2016 GOP Presidential Campaign
Charles Krauthammer: It’s Nothing But A Power Play
Riehl World View: Jennifer Rubin’s Moronic Blathering Smears Heritage, DeMint
Weasel Zippers: Jim DeMint Wants Gov. Nikki Haley To Appoint Rep. Tim Scott As His Replacement
Jawa Report: Social Security Bomber Was Rejected For Citizenship By DHS Last Year For “Terror-Related Activity”
Ed Morrissey: Darden Restaurants Sticking With Full-Time Employment
WSJ: The Opening For A Fresh Obamacare Challenge
NRO: Oklahoma Versus Obamacare
James Pethokoukis: Ten Charts Showing America’s Stunning Entitlements Explosion
Vodkapundit: It’s The Spending, Stupid
Lawrence Lessig: Why A Democratic Tea Party Is The Best Hope For Fixing Corrupt Government
James Taranto: “Voter Suppression” Debunked

Category: Live at Five

$118.9 Million

Posted on | December 6, 2012 | 11 Comments

In the final weeks of the 2012 election season, Mitt Romney’s campaign collected $85.9 million in contributions.

During the same time period, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife donated $33 million to two Republican “super-PACs.”

They lost.

Maybe you noticed.

Suggestions of more helpful uses for that money are hereby solicited.

Sheldon Adelson never hit my tip jar. Just sayin’ . . .





 

Category: Election 2012

Due To Budget Cuts, The Band Has Been Reduced To A Lone Guitar

Posted on | December 6, 2012 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

The proceeds were given as tribute to the Imperial Executive:

Read more

Category: Uncategorized

Unexpectedly, Crowder Finds That Random Dems Espouse Conservative Ideas

Posted on | December 6, 2012 | 3 Comments

by Smitty


We’ll have plenty of time to rap with these people in the bread line.

Category: Uncategorized

Gigantic 50-Year-Old Transsexual College Women’s Basketball Player Is Not Crazy

Posted on | December 6, 2012 | 39 Comments

Sports news or the Rocky Horror Picture Show?

It was the debut of Gabrielle Ludwig, and at 6 feet 8, 220 pounds, with tattoos on her arms and legs, she stands out in the Contra Costa College gym. At 50, the Fremont resident is about three decades older than her Santa Clara community college teammates and opponents — and much taller.
What many at the 19th annual Comet Classic did not know was Ludwig had only been a woman since July, when she had a sex change operation. They didn’t know the long path traveled by the father and Desert Storm veteran, and how she may be the first transsexual athlete to play college sports as both genders.
While her coach, athletic director and supporters applaud Ludwig’s addition to the team, opponents and their followers question whether it’s fair.
As a young man, Ludwig briefly played at an East Coast community college and in pregame warm-ups before the Dec. 1 tournament championship game, she displayed a natural shooting touch.
“In time,” said Corey Cafferata, her coach, “she will be the most dangerous player in the state.”

Middle-aged trannies playing college basketball? No one would dare to disapprove in the 21st century where — I’m sure you’ll be glad to know — progressives are celebrating the news that “the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has ratified the DSM-5 . . . so as of Dec. 1, trans persons are no longer classified by the medical community as mentally ill.”

Therefore, 6-foot-8 Gabrielle Ludwig is completely normal, and if you don’t think so, it must be because you’re crazy. Don’t worry. I’m sure ObamaCare will pay for treatment of “transphobia.”

UPDATE: Yeah, I’m sure you want to see the video:

Imagine you’re the parent of an 18-year-old community college basketball player and this sideshow freak just got a court order requiring that She-Hulk be permitted to play on your daughter’s team — and share the locker room with your daughter. Ain’t “equality” wonderful?

Category: Gays, Sports

David Welch, Snake for Hire

Posted on | December 6, 2012 | 19 Comments

In May 2010, during Michael Steele’s chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, research director Jeff Berkowitz resigned and was replaced by David Welch, a 30-something operative who had previously worked on John McCain’s presidential campaigns and for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Welch lasted about a year at the RNC gig and used his “former research director” status earlier this week to get himself published by the New York Times denouncing the Tea Party movement:

By loudly espousing extreme rhetoric, yet holding untenable beliefs, they have run virtually unchallenged by the Republican leadership, aided by irresponsible radio talk-show hosts and right-wing pundits. While the Tea Party grew, respected moderate voices in the party were further pushed toward extinction. Republicans need a Buckley to bring us back.

A familiar sort of lament, by someone whose view of Buckley was almost certainly cribbed from books about Buckley rather than from books by Buckley. You meet a lot of these “Cliff Notes Buckley” types nowadays, and it is to be doubted that any of them have ever read Up From Liberalism. much less McCarthy and His Enemies.

The Cliff Noters know Buckley the Historic Icon more than anything else. The one thing they all know about him is that Buckley purged the Birchers, so that whenever any of them wishes to purge those noxious espousers of “extreme rhetoric” — by which they mean Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Mark Levin and any other conservative with a syndicated column, a successful radio show, a best-selling book and/or a Fox News contract — you can be sure they’ll invoke Buckley’s Bircher purge as their historic authority.

So the details of David Welch’s critique are less important than the overall theme, and then there is the matter of tone:

It basically comes down to respect. Do you respect the people with whom you have disagreements? If you respect them, you may disagree with a particular position [or] idea, but you do not disapprove of them personally.
Once you cross that line — showing disrespect for the right, and disapproval verging on loathing for the right — I cannot credit you as being “a maverick within the conservative movement” or whatever other crap title you might want in your CNN chyron. . . . Once you cross that line, you’re not a reformer or internal critic; you’re simply on the other side. . . .
I support no-fault divorces. But what I can’t support is what I’m guessing comes next . . . His claim to not be divorced at all, but a loving and devoted spouse, who just happens to keep stabbing the conservative movement in the face and neck.

That’s Ace of Spades and you should read the whole thing. If we need a Buckley-type figure to purge extremists, I hereby nominate Ace for the duty, so long as he promises never to purge me.

 

Category: Republicans, Tea Party
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