Latest Analysis, Commentary and Opinion*
(The title of each article is linked to the complete article)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Louisiana Legislature Floating Bill Making Obamacare Illegal in State
   States Rights piece by Warner Todd Huston (1/20/10)

Louisiana State Senator A.G. Crowe(1) (R, Slidell) is introducing a bill for the 2010 legislative session in Baton Rouge that would make Obamacare illegal(2) if it violates state laws, effectively making Obamacare null and void in the Pelican State.

An Interesting Discovery - I Have Micrografx Picture Publisher 6
   Software piece by Editor (1/20/10)

Several years ago I bought a copy of ABCGraphicsSuite 9.5 for almost nothing and pretty much forgot about it.

Psalms banned, but witchcraft OK
   Supreme Court piece by Offsite (1/20/10)

A lower court’s “hostility” towards Christianity will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court today refused to intervene in a school district’s censorship of a kindergartener’s choice of literature for a class reading.

Prosecution of Innocent Man Seals Martha Coakley’s Defeat
   Elections piece by Carey Roberts (1/20/10)

Following a breath-taking electoral surge, Scott Brown took the seat formerly held by liberal patron saint Ted Kennedy, handily defeating Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts senate election.

‘Will Massachusetts Ever Be The Same Again?‘
   Elections piece by Aaron Goldstein (1/20/10)

When 2010 rang in residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could be certain of three things.  The sun would rise in the east, there would be snow on the ground and a Democrat would be elected to succeed Ted Kennedy in the Senate.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Graphics Tools On A Windows PC
   Software piece by Editor (1/19/10)

Recently I have embarked on building a toolbox and attempting to learn about graphics and painting on my computers.

Environmentalism Not About the Earth But About Control, Part 1
   GreeenIsm piece by Frederick Meekins (1/19/10)

For decades, American motorists have been subjected to propaganda insisting that they either need to drive less or give up safe, comfortable automobiles in favor of what amount to motorized coffins in order to preserve natural resources and environmental quality.  Now that this policy goal is pretty much on the road to being implemented, the elites running our lives are not content to sit back in the glow of their accomplishment but are rather laying the groundwork for the next phase in their grand dream of limiting the free movement of the American people.

$42 Million Union Embezzlement case, Little Media Coverage
   Unions piece by Warner Todd Huston (1/19/10)

Union operative Melissa King of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) has been arrested for stealing $42 million in union funds to support the lavish lifestyle to which she and her daughter have become accustomed. It is being called the biggest union theft in history. So why haven’t we heard of this union theft? Why hasn’t it been all over the news?

Bankers Are Clueless About Economic Crisis
   Economics piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Bankers’ recent testimony showed a stunning failure, even now, to grasp the nature and extent of the current crisis, says economist Paul Krugman.

White House Keeps Up War on Fox News
   Information Police piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

The White House communications director is lobbing new firebombs at Fox News, saying it is not “a traditional news organization” and won’t be treated as equal to other news networks.

The black hole of Haiti
   Foreign Policy piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

In 2009, the United States gave $290 million to Haiti. That was $28.90 for every single one of the 10 million-plus inhabitants of the island nation. It was also $290 million that the U.S. government neither had nor was constitutionally permitted to give. But then, that $290 million only represented about one-five-thousandths of the $1.42 trillion deficit created by the federal government over the course of 2009. It was also, obviously, financial aid that was provided prior to the earthquake that struck Jan. 12.

‘Is America still making men?‘
   Society piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Every society has to answer a few basic questions in order to succeed and even in order to survive. One of them is: “How do we make good men?“

US accused of ‘occupying’ Haiti as troops flood in
   Politics piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

France accused the US of “occupying” Haiti on Monday as thousands of American troops flooded into the country to take charge of aid efforts and security.

VP: Constitution ‘on its head’
   Senate piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Biden slams filibuster - Vice President Joe Biden said at a Florida fundraiser Sunday that the 60-seat threshold for passing legislation in the Senate put a dangerous new roadblock in the way of American government.

Confirmed: Dems do have ‘voting legislation’ in works
   Elections piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Rep. Barney Frank has confirmed that Sen. John Schumer “is working on legislation regarding voting,“ lending weight to reports that Democrats are planning to implement a federal mandate to automatically register millions of people to vote.

Predators and the Constitution
   States Rights piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Sex offenders are the least sympathetic of legal plaintiffs. Still, we were dismayed last week to see so many Supreme Court Justices during oral arguments apparently willing to let the federal government take over an area of law governing criminals that the Constitution grants to the states.

Why Rating Requirements Don’t Make Sense
   Economics piece by Offsite (1/19/10)

Some very eminent voices, including this newspaper, have called for repealing regulations that directly or indirectly require certain investors to hold debt evaluated by rating agencies. They argue this government mandate interferes with the free market and encourages undue investor reliance on credit ratings.

UPDATE! Chicken Trial Moves To Final Round January 26th
   Nanny State piece by Rev. Miles (1/19/10)

The Great Chicken Trial of Brentwood is nearing its final hearing in what has been described as the REAL ‘Trial of the Century’ (not OJs in his Brentwood, but the one here in the East Bay of Northern California). The incident started over a young woman who kept two hens in her backyard, which outraged a neighbor who charged the hens with poop-bombing HER yard which would bring fatal diseases into her house and throughout the neighborhood…

Governors Blast Health Care Debacle
   Health Care piece by Guest: Nathan Tabor (1/19/10)

With the immoral and intrusive Obama health care plan on the verge of passing both houses of the U.S. Congress, twenty Republican governors and governors-elect sent a letter to the House and Senate leaders urging them to pass “meaningful health care reform, not hastily prepared partisan legislation which omits reform and saddles American taxpayers for generations to come.“

‘Abusegate: Mother of All Scandals?‘
   AbuseGate piece by Carey Roberts (1/19/10)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what’s the most colossal scandal of them all? Watergate? Climategate? Tigergate? If you said ‘yes’ to any of these, you’re not even close!

Marijuana Much Riskier than Alcohol
   Drugs piece by Kevin Roeten (1/19/10)

How many have called for the decriminalization of marijuana? Supposedly it doesn’t harm anyone else. Even President Obama repeatedly promised to stop federal interference with state laws that allow the medical use of marijuana. The writer is reminded of a comment by Connecticut editorialist Joe Bell saying that the legalization of drugs was reminiscent of how the subject can make otherwise solid thinkers turn into intellectual oatmeal.

Why I Stand with Geert Wilders
   Europe piece by Daniel Pipes (1/19/10)

Who is the most important European alive today? I nominate the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. I do so because he is best placed to deal with the Islamic challenge facing the continent. He has the potential to emerge as a world-historical figure.

Monday, January 18, 2010

‘Is Massachusetts Senate Race a Health Care Referendum?‘
   Elections piece by Kevin Price (1/18/10)

Who would have guessed that a seat held by the Kennedys since the 1950s may find itself in the Republican column?  A state wide seat in which registered Democrats out number Republicans 3 to 1?  The news media is attributing these amazing turn of events—with the Republican challenger leading in some polls—to the general discontentment towards the party in power in both the White House and the Congress.  Maybe, but I do not think so.  I think it is much more personal than that.

‘Safer Streets 2010: Why the second amendment emphasis in a 2010 liberty platform?‘
   Elections piece by John Longenecker (1/18/10)

The success of the plan to retake Congress, America’s states and our major cities will rest on two important things: 1) does the crop of candidates read the American people right? Being out of touch is not only a designed insulation, it is a cheat of the officials in service to the electorate. Do the candidates understand what we want in freedom, sovereignty and independence from our very own public servants, and; 2) are the new candidates even of the mettle to bring personal and professional integrity to office in order to succeed the way we need them to succeed on not their way? Will they last without some stupid scandal surfacing? Will they keep their word and be a no-compromise servant? Will they insist on eliminating the double-standard for the good of the country?

Let’s Talk [Or Not]
   Domestic Violence piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

One day I sat thinking, almost in despair; a hand fell on my shoulder and a voice said reassuringly: cheer up, things could be worse. So I cheered up and things got worse. -(James Hagerty) - Most researchers and interveners agree that intimate partner violence (IPV) does not mysteriously or suddenly appear the day heterosexual intimate partners reach adulthood nor is IPV limited to heterosexuals. Many interveners believe that teen dating relationships are the primary gateways to adult IPV.

Mike howls at school fools
   EdukShun piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

ALBANY—A furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted a charter-school overhaul plan proposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, calling it a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” that would victimize children and cost taxpayers as much as $700 million in federal aid.

Pay slows down for public university presidents
   EdukShun piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

The recession has caught up with public university presidents, whose lucrative pay packages grew only slightly in the 2008-09 school year after years of soaring increases.

Moody’s Warns Portugal, Greece Face a Slow Death
   Socialism piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

The exploding debt burden and weak economic competitiveness of Portugal and Greece put their economies in grave danger, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

China Bubble Will Pop and U.S. Is Doomed
   Economics piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

The United States is “doomed” because it faces a large debt crisis, says Marc Faber, the editor of The Gloom Boom and Doom Report.

Pinera wins Chiles’s presidential run-off
   Elections piece by Offsite (1/18/10)

Sebastian Pinera won Chile’s presidential election yesterday, ending two decades of centre-Left rule since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. -  The ruling coalition’s candidate Eduardo Frei conceded defeat to the billionaire after 60 per cent of polling stations reported a 52 per cent to 48 per cent advantage for Mr Pinera.