NYT article on bird study relates to childhood bullying?

"Bird Study Suggests Effects of Childhood Bullying Don't Last". Huh? I've linked to the mobile version here (which is all the time you should waste on this). Maybe birds have a little different response to parental bullying than humans, and less memory. Who knows?

I hate to be critical, but I really can't see generalizing a bird study just to capitalize on the current buzzword "bullying". The whole bullying thing is probably bogus to start with, but to stretch so far for an article is amazing.

FBI knows where moon dust belongs, why aren't we getting a shuttle?

Seems that someone was trying to sell some Apollo 11 moon dust online.

Look where they returned it to: JSC in HOUSTON. Not much slips by the G-men these days. Houston must be the home of the space program or something.

Students struggle with basic history

WSJ reports that students these days struggle to understand the basics of American history and this country's role in the world.

I'm not surprised with the findings, but I'd argue that they have little need to understand, and that's most of the problem. When dissent or reflection on events and policies is openly punished, why do we need to learn about anything other than the "party line" of the moment?

People with different viewpoints, even those based on historical facts, are discouraged at every turn in modern life. Some of us are used to it - we have become the Lieutenant Columbos of our world. "Just one more thing..." Another classic: at the Dean Martin Roast.

Asking uncomfortable but simple questions is our job in the Socratic classroom, so it comes naturally to other aspects of university and public life. The problem is when the folks responsible can't answer those questions.

Media witch hunt, Part Two

[Part One began, I think, when the guy moved in next door to Sarah Palin to research his book. Creepy.]

I'm no fan of Sarah Palin - I'm sure she's a nice person and I think she's honest. She seems like a real person and not some political creation. I'll give her a fair shake if she runs for national office. I think it's telling, though, that a bunch of her opponents are terrified of her by looking at the level of scrutiny she's receiving after being the governor a few years ago.

There's news out today discussing the emails that MSNBC and others finally obtained under court order from Palin's governors job. Something like 24,000 printed emails are being combed through to find political dirt.

Now you'd think that MSNBC and others would have their hands full writing about all of the corruption and incompetence in state and federal government, or, heck, even writing about some moron who sends naughty pictures through Twitter (dumb). But instead of telling us about the economy, trends, etc. they're focused on sifting through the detritus of Palin's governance.

Don't they have anything BETTER to write about? How about the Libya situation, or Yemen (as of a few days ago)? What about the situation with Israel? Or they could even find more pressing matters domestically if they looked, I'm sure.

The irony is that the mainstream has refused to sift through the minutia of stuff such as the Chrysler or GM bailouts, assuring us that there was "nothing to see here, go back to business as usual." Stuff that may actually have historical repercussions in bankruptcy cases. How about looking at the connection between state governments and public worker unions - you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours and we'll screw the taxpayers at the same time. Reporters should be busy with this kind of stuff. Corruption is everywhere.

Another irony: during the election, they couldn't sift through the years and years of public service history for our sitting president, because there wasn't "years and years" to go through. It's more like "poof," you're a Senator, surprise! Hey, run for president. "Poof." Just pure political magicalness.

The current media furor over Palin illustrates that those who oppose her (and control the media) fear her greatly. I'm not sure why. They must know (or think they know) something that the rest of us don't know.

UN's strong arm position on small arms should scare you

Regardless of your stand on the 2nd Amendment, the UN's most recent attack on our sovereignty should bother you. There's a Forbes piece about it that's interesting.

The "Small Arms Treaty" appears to be heading us toward confiscation at the international level. The last time I checked, Somalian drug lords didn't ask the UN before cracking that case of AKs from China. So this new round of international scrutiny must be aimed, as is all modern gun control legislation, at law-abiding citizens.

The idea that the United Nations' positions have any validity within the US is ludicrous, but this is just another example of the dilution of our laws and rights at the hands of those who call themselves "progressive."

According to snopes.com, nothing has been signed, so take this Forbes thing with a grain of salt. Given the track record of our govt in DC, though, there's no telling what HAS BEEN agreed to behind closed doors. Something to keep our eyes on.

Auto Bailout was a bust: WashPo

Phony accounting indeed! As I've said before, the auto bailout hasn't been repaid, and hasn't been a success (especially when you include all the wealth destroyed at the dealer level - but they probably had it coming in a way).

Washington Post today has an article on the "phony accounting" of the auto bailout by the current administration. With Chrysler, the UAW still owns 46% of the company. How that's supposed to fix anything I'm not sure.

The WSJ has an article about this as well (linked in the main piece).

The real cost of the bailout? You've read it here before: government's perversion of the bankruptcy laws will have long-term ripple effects that may collapse certain parts of the capital market. That should sound like a big deal!

Companies respond to incentives. Who could have predicted THAT?

Up to 30% of firms that currently provide health insurance plan to stop doing so when ObamaCare kicks in over the next three years according to a McKinsey Quarterly survey released yesterday.

Does that include ones that already have a waiver, like McDonalds? That number is growing weekly too, you know.

That shouldn't surprise anyone; that's just good economic behavior. Poor for everyone overall, but good for the individual companies in the short-term. And it was predicted.


The other thing to consider: 30% is probably a low number. The number will likely climb once things get rolling, plus, some folks may have LIED on the survey. Surveys can be like that.

I'm not sure how anyone expected anything different, unless they were 1) living in Fantasyland, or 2) politicians. Just because someone "wants" something to happen doesn't mean that it WILL happen.

World Bank proposes CO2 tax on jet & shipping fuel

Seems that the global warming wealth transfer fest still isn't over yet.

Reuter's is reporting that the World Bank plans to ask for a tax on shipping and air fuels at the G20 later this year, to help cope with increased costs of drought management.

What the World Bank has to do with managing the environment is anybody's guess.

Net Neutrality has sponsorship! Who knew?

Judicial Watch has found a link between the FCC and a Left-Wing media control group, the "Free Press," as reported in the Washington Examiner.

The bewilderment of many in the Net intelligentsia has been as to why neutrality continued to move ahead in the face of so much popular (and rightward-thinking) opposition. This may explain part of it.

By the way, the "Free Press" seems to believe in anything but. Too much to go into here, but I sure like the name. Sounds catchy, even if it is opposite of how they behave.