Jul 31 2011
Lawmakers close to deal to avoid default
Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, told CNN: “Default is far less of a possibility now than it was even a day ago because the leaders are talking, and talking in a constructive way.”
Oh no.
We’re doomed.
If Schumer calls it constructive, that generally means the Republicans are busy caving in…. again.
UPDATE: This summarizes nicely why Schumer, et. al., are so willing to call the agreement “constructive.”
Jul 31 2011
The PJ Tatler » Poll: Most Voters Believe the Media is Unethical, Biased
Likely voters hold a dismal view of the news media, generally regarding reporters as biased, unethical and too close to the politicians they purport to cover, according to a new poll for The Hill.
A full 68 percent of voters consider the news media biased, the poll found. Most, 46 percent, believe the media generally favor Democrats, while 22 percent said they believe Republicans are favored, with 28 percent saying the media is reasonably balanced.
Well, duhhhh….
For more, check this out. It’s a solid piece of social science, not just someone’s anecdotally based opinion. The author, Professor Tim Groseclose, is the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics at UCLA.
Jul 30 2011
Well… passing the terabuck is more like it.
Here is another of the great entries to the Powerline Prize contest to create media that dramatizes or illustrates the enormous danger of the 14 trillion and growing national debt. We really have to stop deficit spending. Right away.
Jul 29 2011
Another of the Powerline Prize entries, this one a music video called “Shovel Ready, Not Shovel Ready Enough”. Very funny, and very effective… and very sad. A TRILLION dollars for essentially nothing very helpful….
Somebody was shoveling something, alright.
Jul 28 2011
Bachmann criticized for silence on suicides in her district |
An article in the liberal magazine Mother Jones criticizes Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) for her silence on a tragic string of nine suicides over the past two years in her district. The writer argues that Bachmann’s refusal to support antibullying legislation in the state in 2006 and the agenda favored by some of her anti-gay allies in Minnesota may have contributed to a harmful environment. And that climate, Mother Jones reporter Stephanie Mencimer suggests, could have played a role in the teen deaths in the troubled Anoka-Hennepin school district where Bachmann herself had once attended high school.
So now it’s actually news when the Mother Jones magazine criticizes a conservative candidate for not embracing leftist legislation?
Note how hard the reporter worked to find out whether OTHER districts around the country have had similar events, whether any are comparable to Bachmann’s district, whether any of them have Democrat representatives instead of Republican, etc., etc., etc. In other words context that allows a reader to make some kind of judgment about whether this is even unusual.
But no, nothing like that.
Extra, extra, read all about it!
Dog bites man.
UPDATE: *************************
It looks more and more like the main stream media intend to Palinize Michelle Bachmann. She is getting very similar news treatement.
Bachmann says she, not husband, running for office
Rep. Michele Bachmann steadfastly refused Thursday to answer questions about her family’s business and finances, saying that she, not her husband, was the one seeking the White House.
The Minnesota Republican faced queries about Marcus Bachmann’s Christian counseling clinic that attempts to convert gay patients as well as her own beliefs on sexuality during a luncheon at the National Press Club. With her husband sitting nearby, Bachmann said she expected scrutiny as a candidate but questions about her family were off-limits.
Look behind the question that Bachmann was asked, and you’ll see that the real question is, “Should gay patients be allowed to have access to treatment that might help them move to a straight lifestyle?” The questioner makes it sound like the Bachmann clinic kidnaps gays, holds them hostage, and tries to brainwash them. But of course, if Bachmann had said ANYTHING in response other than “no comment”, she’d have heard a distorted snippet on the evening news suggesting that she hates gays.
Jul 28 2011
New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism
NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.
Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.
The science is “settled,” is it? I wonder if any of the prominent politicians, religious leaders, et. al., who climbed on the anthropogenic-global-warming bandwagon, because it seemed the popular and publicly respectable thing to do, will now recant. Maybe ask to have their signatures withdrawn from documents like this?
Probably not. Better to just airbrush it out of existence by pretending it never happened.
And, for future reference, people. The next time someone approaches you to ask you to sign a petition that basically boils down to a demand that government restrict freedom and redistribute more economic resources, just say no. Whatever the reason you’re given, however wonderful and well meant it sounds, don’t do it. If your knees get wobbly, find out who ELSE is for it, and ask yourself if you really want to be in that company, or associated with those people.
Jul 27 2011
L’Oreal ads of Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington banned for airbrushing
Retouched advertisements are certainly nothing new, but The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been cracking down on companies they believe have been heavy handed with the airbrushing wand. According to BBC News, Member of Parliament Jo Swinson has been lobbying against digitally altered images and she raised the red flag on two L’Oreal advertisements she claimed were “not representative of the results the products could achieve.” One ad features actress Julia Roberts for Lancome Teint Miracle foundation, while the other shows supermodel Christy Turlington for a Maybelline foundation called The Eraser. As evidenced by the ads, the results of these products, both owned by parent company L’Oreal, are just a little too flawless.
In Roberts’ foundation ad, the text claims it is the “1st foundation that recreates the aura of perfect skin.” MP Jo Swinson felt the real magic was done digitally. L’Oreal admitted they retouched the photos, but stood true to their claim that the products could potentially yield these results. The French company said Teint Miracle took 10 years to develop and that their research proved it makes skin “more radiant and luminous.” According to the ASA Adjudication, L’Oreal insisted Julia Roberts’ “naturally healthy and glowing skin” was the perfect palette to show the effects of their product, and that acclaimed photographer Mario Testino used lighting that reduced imperfections. The ASA requested a before shot to illustrate just how much the ad was digitally manipulated, but unfortunately Roberts’ contract stipulates that no un-airbrushed shots can be released. L’Oreal supplied red carpet photos of the actress to illustrate her nice complexion, but that was not enough.
“Advertisers must be able to provide appropriate material to us to demonstrate what retouching they’ve done in the event we question them, and they mustn’t mislead,” Guy Parker, Advertising Standards Authority chief executive, told BBC News. “In this event, L’Oreal didn’t provide us with that evidence so we were left with no choice but to uphold the complaint.” In other words, Roberts’ ad must be pulled in the UK.
Hmmmmmmmnnnnn. It seems to me that Harry Reid has been airbrushing his economic proposals (to the extent that he actually makes any, instead of just saying NO to the House) to hide the flaws. I’ll bet he stays up nights doing it. I’m sure Obama would airbrush his economic proposals if he actually made any. But as it is, he hasn’t listed a single item of federal spending he actually plans to cut…. so there’s nothing to airbrush out of visibility for the moment.
Since the US also has laws against false advertising, when is someone going to apply them to the claims made by politicians when they’re trying to sell us the latest tax, borrow and spend boondoggle? Lies like this:
The stimulus is going to lift us out of recession and create jobs.
Government managed healthcare will make healthcare more affordable, more available, make you healthier, and cost less money nationally, too.
You can improve the economy by taking money from productive people and spending it on who knows what.
Cash for clunkers will stimulate the economy.
Regulations on businesses help to create jobs.
Minimum wage laws and rent control help poor people.
Taxing “the rich” EVEN MORE (they already pay hugely disproportionate taxes) doesn’t reduce the number of jobs available for normal people, doesn’t hurt the economy overall, and (maybe the biggest whopper of them all) brings more money into the government. (See Laffer curve for more.)
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Jul 27 2011
Another entry in the Powerline Prize contest for a media product illustrating the severity of the debt crisis.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Jul 26 2011
14 trillion and a few hundred billion change is what the federal government owes, right now. It’ll be more like 15 billion by the end of 2011.
Guess who gets to pay it back? Not me. Maybe not you, if you’re middle aged or so. Here’s who will be paying it back, in cash, in kind, in trade, or in economic disaster and unemployment.
Another entry in the Powerline Prize contest.
Jul 26 2011
Another high placing (but not quite winning) entry in the Powerline Prize competition for a media product to illustrate the danger of our national debt.
