Archive for January, 2010
Are U.S. Fat People At Maxed Capacity?
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Fausta doesn’t know quite what to make of the research that obesity rates in America have leveled off.
I’m just wondering if it’s a function of aging. For example, people tend to lose bone density and weight as they age. The Baby Boomers, the largest generation, are aging and would be changing the statistics rather dramatically. Think about it. When you visit an old folks home, how many people are super overweight? Is it because the morbidly obese people have already died, or is it because they slim down because they eat less, absorb less, or whatever.
I don’t really think that awareness campaigns have anything to do with the dwindling numbers. Everyone knows, and has known, that being grossly overweight is unhealthy. When it comes to smoking, people didn’t realize the health risks for a very long time. The statistics and evidence demonstrated how bad it is and reversed the smoking trend.
People have always known that candy and fast food and excessive this or that is bad for you–they did, and do, it anyway.
So are people changing or are they just aging? I couldn’t tell from the research. It’s good news that people aren’t getting fatter, but I don’t know that the information says much about changed American behavior.
Google Might Pull From China, China’s Cyber-War With The U.S.
Thursday, January 14th, 2010A new front exists in a war for international dominance: the internet. China has been up to some very bad behavior. From the Washington Post:
Computer attacks on Google that the search giant said originated in China were part of a concerted political and corporate espionage effort that exploited security flaws in e-mail attachments to sneak into the networks of major financial, defense and technology companies and research institutions in the United States, security experts said.
At least 34 companies — including Yahoo, Symantec, Adobe, Northrop Grumman and Dow Chemical — were attacked, according to congressional and industry sources. Google, which disclosed on Tuesday that hackers had penetrated the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights advocates in the United States, Europe and China, threatened to shutter its operations in the country as a result.
So Google is saying that it wants free searches in China. Finally. This is what they should have done to begin with and Google needs to have teams of people fighting this sort of war–for your protection and mine.
And what can the government do about this?
The government, it seems, is worried about 8 year olds. And Tea Partiers.
With the government’s priorities so out of whack, with their inability to see the real enemies, Americans are not only left undefended, they’re also harassed by the very ones who should protect them.
Podcast: Andrew Malcolm On President Obama & Chicago In D.C. And More…
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Andrew Malcolm, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, joined me to discuss the blend of “old” and “new” media and how the news landscape is changing. He also talks about his time reporting in Chicago and how the machine works and how Barack Obama is a product of that machine and now runs the machine in Washington, D.C. Great stuff!
30 minutes of goodness!
Melissa talks to the founding author of the Los Angeles Times “Top of the Ticket” blog Andrew Malcolm about how he got his start in journalism and his love of blogging and new media.
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
News You Need To Know
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Code Pink is asking the Muslim Brotherhood to “cleanse America” and to kidnap George Bush and his family. No, this is not made up.
A perspective on Pat Robertson’s Haiti comments.
Misery loves company. Miserable people don’t create miserable company. That is, water seeks it’s own level.
Senator Reid is a liar about the health care bill’s cost:
What was not reported is that when a Reid was asked about the cuts to Medicare on which the CBO’s estimates of savings were based, he denied any such cuts exist in his bill and added, “The doctors endorsed our bill because they know that we’re going to do something to take care of them. The AMA endorsed our bill.”
Reid’s statement Thursday night seems to contradict page 18 of the CBO analysis of the Senate health care reform bill which states, “Under current law and under the proposal, payment rates for physicians’ services in Medicare would be reduced by about 21 percent in 2010 and then decline further in subsequent years.”
Health care reform is less popular than ever, but don’t tell Harry. Not that he’s listening anyway.
The mortgage crisis created by ARMs and other sly forms of financing is NOT over.
Don’t blame capitalism for America’s mess, blame Crony Capitalism.
These are some of the stories I wanted to pass along. More posts to follow.
Podcast: Erick Erickson And Dan Riehl Talk About Tea Party Nation and Sarah Palin
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010Dan Riehl of Riehl World View and Erick Erickson of Redstate join me to discuss the Tea Party Nation, Tea Party groups and Sarah Palin. What’s happening here?
Melissa talks about CPAC and Sarah Palin’s choices with Dan Riehl of riehlworldview.com and Erick Erickson of redstate.com
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To subscribe on iTunes, just click here!
When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Glenn Beck Keynoting At CPAC
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010So, Rush keynoted last year and this year, there will be Glenn Beck at CPAC.
What do you think?
It seems like a good, rousing choice. He has risen in prominence this year and has connected with activists everywhere. The left will go nuts, but anyone to the Right of Joe Lieberman, heck Joe Lieberman himself, would get a crazed response.
Republican Men, Gird Yer Loins
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
A woman’s hormonal cycle will start to mesh with other women when in proximity. A man’s hormones also seemed to be linked to other men. Via Allahpundit on Twitter comes this research gem from Scientific American:
With its winners and losers, politics is a lot like sports. Now biologists have the testosterone—or lack thereof—to prove it. Specifically, they have found that male voters who back a losing candidate experience a drop in the hormone.
Immediately before and after the 2008 U.S. presidential election result, neuroscientists from Duke University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor collected the saliva of 163 college-age participants to determine the amount of testosterone in their systems. Male voters for winner Barack Obama had stable levels of testosterone, but the hormone rapidly declined in males who cast ballots for losers John McCain and Robert Barr. Female voters showed no significant testosterone changes after victory or defeat of their candidate.
Past research has shown that winning and losing in sports matches and other competitions affect testosterone levels in men. The new findings, published online October 21 by PLoS ONE, reveal that politics can influence testosterone in men “just as if they directly engaged head to head in a contest for dominance,” says Kevin LaBar of Duke, the study’s senior researcher.
So the solution, then, is to have winning GOP candidates. I expect Republican men to experience a testosterone surge in the coming year. Something to look forward to.
On Whether Harry Reid & The Liberals Should Pay
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
I am so sick of the left’s double standards. Disgusted. So, I wrote my frustration:
If Harry Reid is forced to retire, do conservatives and Republicans actually end up the biggest losers?
This morning I read a quote from Ilya Somin of the Volokh Conspiracy and laughed out loud. Here’s what was said:
If the GOP wins this particular fight and Reid is forced to resign, there will be a new norm in public discourse under which no prominent person can openly say the same kinds of things as Reid without being labeled a racist.
We’ve been there for a long time — if you’re anything but a liberal Democrat. Republicans, conservatives … regular Americans can’t say what Harry Reid said without censure.
Noting that President Obama turns the jive on and off is no different than noting that Hillary Clinton does it. It’s no different than noting that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do it. It’s no different than noting that major sports and music celebrities (white and black) do it. That is not racist. That’s a fact. Now, whether or not this verbal nuance is a good or bad thing is another argument entirely, but I don’t think anyone can honestly argue that it doesn’t happen.
If I said these things and I was a Democrat, though, I wouldn’t be presumed racist — just a little edgy and maybe somewhat insensitive. But since I’m a conservative, that last paragraph just confirms what is self-evident to someone from the left: I’m a racist — else would I be a conservative?
Never mind that there are plenty of black people who would make the same observation. Never mind that there are black conservatives who would say the same thing. The conservative blacks, though, are illegitimate. They betray their race for refusing to do things like sliding into jive in front of certain audiences. They are trying to be “too white.” They aren’t proud of their black heritage, evidently.
Of course, the whole “black enough” argument is deeply offensive and ridiculous and actually very racist. But these notions are put forth by the very leaders who insist that they are for changing the black culture to respect education, erudition, and intelligent discourse.
So while Ilya Somin is correct in decrying the constriction of speech for all people, I’m saying it’s already happened for some people. Now, I wrote those words because I have already given up. Being labeled racist bothers me less than restricting my speech. And by virtue of being conservative, I am already labeled racist.
What makes me inherently racist is my conservatism. It’s axiomatic. So screw it. The label has lost it’s sting.
Go read the whole thing.
The Examiner’s Star Parker believes the Republicans are making a big mistake, but I find her reasoning less than compelling. She says:
Perhaps worst of all, Republicans insult blacks to think that they do not see the obvious. That alleged Republican outrage about Reid’s remarks is simply a political game.
Or that blacks do not appreciate the transparent hypocrisy when a black RNC chairman, who is in his job because of his race, expresses outrage that a white Democrat expresses the truth that we are not in post-racial America – yet.
By continuing to do business as usual, Republican hurt their party and our nation.
They need to wake up that our country is in trouble, that the conservative agenda that is supposed to define their party is the answer, but that they will never sell it by continuing with political games.
First, some Republicans feel that what Reid said was racist. And sincerely have a problem with what he said. Some liberal blacks do, too. Second, Republicans need work on their messaging, especially to minority communities, there can be no doubt. Like a black activist friend in Houston told me the “bootstrap talk” doesn’t work well. And yes, the black community needs the core conservative message and it should resonate considering their social values are in line with Republican values.
However, the black community like the Jewish community still hasn’t quite come to grips with the racist and anti-semitic nature of the Democrat party. Republicans can reach out and should reach out. They should concede nothing and go into every community and find common ground. The market also has to be ready for the message.
I have felt that after Barack Obama got elected, blacks would be able to “come out of the closet” and vote their values. The peer pressure and group think has been overwhelming to vote Democrat. A threshold has been crossed now. The first black man has been elected. Now, maybe, a new candidate can be looked at for what he stands for and not for what he or she, looks like. And until race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and as it turns out, Harry Reid and Barack Obama, move along, the only message that blacks will hear will be of victimhood and misery.
There are rays of hope, however. School vouchers and the liberals loving embrace of teachers unions strike a chord with parents who desire an education for their children. The collapse of cities like Detroit are evidence of the decay and rot inherent in liberal philosophy. The expense and exclusivity of liberal cities like San Francisco demonstrate their hypocrisy.
Democrat voters need to get fed up with the product they’re buying before they’ll even consider buying something else. The consumer is king after all. Yes, I’m fed up with Republicans mismanaging their relationships with minorities. I also hold voters themselves responsible. Like one black man on Beck said, he votes for Democrats in primaries because only Democrats get elected in his district and he wants his vote to count.
I still say that libs need to pay for their political incorrectness. Turn the rules on them. It works. Over the last year, since the egregious treatment of Sarah Palin by the press, I’ve seen feminists wake up to the misogyny against conservative women. Much of that came from pointing out the rank hypocrisy. It is not okay for liberals to be sexist and racist to achieve political ends. It’s also not okay to make politically incorrect language seem like racist language.
And to the main point: Do American people feel more comfortable about light skinned blacks? Really? I call b.s. The best character out of the latest Star Wars movies was Samuel L. Jackson. Everyone wanted more of him and he’s pretty dark. I personally feel way more comfortable with Clarence Thomas than Barack Obama. But see, it’s ideologically driven not whether I’d feel okay having a burger and fries or, heaven forbid, a beer summit with him.
Reid’s problem is that he thinks he’s better than the American people. He thinks the American people see through the racial lens like he does. Some do. In fact, many liberals do. No one is going to contend that race isn’t still an issue in modern America. What they will contend and rightly contend, is that leftist policies are not making the issue go away. Liberals still have too much to gain by calling “racist!” at ever slight. Conversely, conservatives always lose when the issue of race comes up. The left and the liberal press make sure of that.
Scott Brown And The Republican Big Tent
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Word on the street is that Christianists have taken over the Republican party. That seems to be undermined a wee bit by all the donors to Scott Brown’s campaign. I would like to note that I myself am pro-life and I support Scott Brown. Why? Good grief. You have to ask? Did you see the debate last night? If not, I did and Martha Coakley is a nightmare of Kennedy’esque proportions.
Coakley is big government. Pro-health care life invasion. Against fighting terrorists…if she’ll admit they even exist. Gah!
Scott Brown is from Massachusetts. I do not expect the man to talk like or even make decisions like A Texas Republican. He will be better on a host of issues than Coakley. He is actually making a run at the seat–something I thought was impossible even two weeks ago.
Do you know how thrilling it is to see the Democrats have to spend loads of money on what they consider a “safe seat”? Already, the irony is so delicious it tastes like a Corona after a hot day of yard work. The Democrats are “desperate” and doing desperate things. Good.
You know, this race is all about elitism yet again. The best line of the debate was when Scott Brown said that the seat didn’t belong to Democrats or the Kennedy’s but to the people. See here:
Conservatives don’t want to concede ground in places like Massachusetts and Maine. They just want the Republicans there to at least adhere to fiscal conservatism. The social issues don’t play as well there. People get it. Conservative people get it to the tune of $1.3 million dollars in 24 hours. That’s how much average citizens want health care reform to die. They are putting their time and treasure on the line to get Brown elected.
The Republican party still has a big tent. Big enough even for Ted Kennedy’s old seat.
No, I Don’t Want To Be Like Europe, Paul Krugman
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010No, I don’t want to learn from Europe. And this is why:
5. Although Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark are among Europe’s wealthiest countries, as U.S. states they would be between 14.5% and 18% below the U.S. average.
Go read the whole thing. Also this.
These are just financial, quality of life reasons I don’t want to learn from Europe. There are also cultural reasons I don’t want to learn from Europe.
When I visited Washington, D.C. and saw the mind of Thomas Jefferson writ large in the Library of Congress, I knew that I would never be embarrassed about American culture ever again. The Library, along with the D.C. architecture holds knowledge and learning and ideas that vestiges of European monarchies can only dream about.
Go to any major American city and take in the opera or the orchestra. Hell, go to any church in America. You’ll hear the sounds that make up the music of a free life.
Visit New York City and see what upward mobility means. Travel through the rolling, vast plains of the midwest and see the neat farmers fields that feed the world.
I’m not knocking Europe. Paris is the most romantic city in the world, bar none. Britain has history going back thousands of years. I get it.
Still, America’s elites need to stop foisting this b.s. about what America can learn from Europe. The only thing America should be learning is what happens when socialism comes knocking at the door. Europe should be a warning about what NOT to do when you have wealth and prosperity.
Are you sick of being lectured by these guys yet?
