Saturday, March 31, 2012

MSM--Selected Editing of Zimmerman



Not distorting, it's advancing a falsehood. From The Blaze


NBC has revealed that it is launching an internal investigation into the “editing process” surrounding the conversation between George Zimmerman and a police dispatcher (shortly before Trayvon Martin was shot), where Zimmerman appears to volunteer racial information.

Exposed by Fox News and Newsbusters, NBC played the conversation on the “Today Show” as: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”

The unabridged version is:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?
Zimmerman: He looks black.
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post noted:

The difference between what ‘Today’ put on its air and the actual tape? Complete: In the ‘Today’ version, Zimmerman volunteered that this person ‘looks black,’ a sequence of events that would more readily paint Zimmerman as a racial profiler. In reality’s version, Zimmerman simply answered a question about the race of the person whom he was reporting to the police. Nothing prejudicial at all in responding to such an inquiry.
[...]
And it’s a falsehood with repercussions. Much of the public discussion over the past week has settled on how conflicting facts and interpretations call into question whether Zimmerman acted justifiably or criminally. That’s a process that’ll continue. But one set of facts in the is ironclad, and that’s the back-and-forth between Zimmerman and the dispatcher. To portray that exchange in a way that wrongs Zimmerman is high editorial malpractice well worthy of the investigation that NBC is now mounting.
Watch Sean Hannity discuss NBC’s decision, and the ramifications, above video:

Arthur C. Clarke Predicts Internet & PC

Friday, March 30, 2012

New Education Model


It is an inescapable fact of contemporary life that the idea of a liberal education, an education that aims primarily at the cultivation of the intellect and sensibility rather than at preparation for a particular vocation, is widely under attack all over the world. In country after country, the idea of learning for its own sake is being swept aside, as institutions of higher education are pressured to devote themselves primarily to preparing students for careers in practical areas. This quote is from US Intellectual History

I am a huge fan of Khan Academy. If I wish to learn chemistry, physics, geometry, I just go there, watch a video and then take a test to prove my skills. No muss, no fuss. I'm not receiving a diploma, but I'd venture to say, after I study at Khan, I'm more proficient than students studying the traditional way. Oh and one other thing--Cost=$0. (Of all the friggin algebraic equations I've learned at Khan, this is my favorite--(Cost=$0;-).

Here's an article about a for-profit college that charges a grand total of $199/month.

Students are flocking to Western Governors University, driving growth of 30 to 40 percent each year. You might expect that competitors would be clamoring to copy the nonprofit online institution’s model, which focuses on whether students can show “competencies” rather than on counting how much time they’ve spent in class.

So why haven’t they?

Two reasons, says the education entrepreneur Gene Wade. One, financial-aid regulatory problems that arise with self-paced models that aren’t based on seat time. And two, opposition to how Western Governors changes the role of professor, chopping it into “course mentors” who help students master material, and graders who evaluate homework but do no teaching.

Worst President Ever

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Obama's Father Served in WWII




The true facts:
1. Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (Obama's father)
2. Born: 4/4/36 Died: 11/24/82 at the age of 46.
3. He was 5 years old when WW II started, and less than 9-1/2 yrs old when it ended.
4. Lolo Soetoro (Obama's step father)
5. Born: 1935 Died: 3/2/87 at the age of 52.
6. He was 6 years old when WW II started, and 10 years old when it ended.. He must have been the youngest Veteran in the war.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Solicitor General Before Supreme Court



Imagine: This is the top advocate for the United States government attempting to explain Obama Care to the Supreme Court. How messy, costly, uncaring would be a national healthcare system mandated upon a people who don't want it?

One Example-Leftists, Media, Hypocrisy

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Entitled USA--Fiscal Times

But Clayton’s use of taxpayer assistance after buying a new home and car with her winnings was not unusual. Another Michigan resident continued receiving food assistance after he won $2 million in the 2010 state lottery. That’s what prompted congressman Dale Zorn (R-MI) to pass legislation in his state’s House earlier this year that would remove large-sum lottery winners from welfare rolls. (Legislation is pending in the Michigan Senate.)

Whole article

No New Coal Plants

Obama has no interest in an “all of the above” policy on energy. He wants to drive up energy costs in order to make his favored alternatives somewhat competitive, even though none of them can match the production scope of hydrocarbon sources that are found in abundance in the US. Obama has less interest in producing power than in exercising it, and Congress needs to put shackles on this EPA before working-class families have to start lighting candles rather than flipping on the light switch.

For whole article--Hot Air

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Depressing--But Should Read

Mark Stein:

And if you're thinking, wow, all these percentages are making my head hurt, forget 'em: When you're spending on the scale Washington does, what matters is the hard dollar numbers. Greece's total debt is a few rinky-dink billions, a rounding error in the average Obama budget. Only America is spending trillions. The 2011 budget deficit, for example, is about the size of the entire Russian economy. By 2010, the Obama administration was issuing about a hundred billion dollars of Treasury bonds every month – or, to put it another way, Washington is dependent on the bond markets being willing to absorb an increase of U.S. debt equivalent to the GDP of Canada or India – every year. And those numbers don't take into account the huge levels of personal debt run up by Americans. College debt alone is over a trillion dollars, or the equivalent of the entire South Korean economy – tied up just in one small boutique niche market of debt which barely exists in most other developed nations.

For whole article

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Khan Academy



I've written before about the Khan Academy. Watch the video above and see how thankful this young man is to Khan Academy and how it's changed his life. And no doubt, he will be changing others' lives too.

I'm studying Khan's videos myself and I'm hoping to become a coach for some of my neighbor's children, and also I'd like to learn chemistry, physics, and higher math.

This sounds crazy, buy I'm enjoying learning this. This is what brings me joy.

Here's the founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan, speaking at a TED conference.

Man Made Global Warming (MMGW)?

Whether one believes in MMGW or not, please view this article. It speaks to me on why I am suspect of MMGW.

If you OTOH, do believe in MMGW, and you faithfully read this article and the MMGW community gives you no pause, I must say, I just can't figure out where you're coming from.

Creative Destruction-George Will

By the middle of the 20th century, Sears, Roebuck had come to town as the nation's largest retailer, with stores that defined many towns' downtowns. But in Bentonville, Ark., Sam Walton had an idea for bigger stores on the outskirts of towns. Sears has become a casualty of Wal-Mart's retailing revolution.

Today new mothers sign up at Amazon Mom for regular deliveries of diapers. This is a 21st-century permutation of an innovation in long-distance commerce that began in 19th-century Chicago.

Creative destruction continues in the digital age. After 244 years - it began publication five years before the 1773 Boston Tea Party - the Encyclopaedia Britannica will henceforth be available only in digital form as it tries to catch up to reference Web sites such as Google and Wikipedia. Another digital casualty forgot it was selling the preservation of memories, a.k.a. "Kodak moments," not film.

For more

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Dinesh D'Souza-Obama & 2016



An extremely important movie is coming this summer - Dinesh D'Souza - Obama & 2016

Dinesh D'Souza is author of many New York Times best sellers. The movie is from Gerald R. Molen, producer of Academy Award Winning Schindler's List.

It explains in plain language who Barack Obama really is, what he stands for, and the dangers of him being reelected for another four years.

Watch this 14 minute video preview of this movie and share it with others.

Main Stream Media

Many on the Left think it's ridiculous that media, that is the major newsmedia, LA Times, New York Times etc., and TV news, ABC, NBC, PBS and CBS is Left.

Here's just one small sample.

Yesterday Obama gave a talk about why not to give subsidies to oil companies. He said when you can sell oil at $3.75/gallon and pay only $1-$1.25 per barrel, there's already enough profit built in.

The fact is, oil sells for over $100/barrel. Surely it was only a mistake by Obama. In fact for most, this story will never be heard. But here's the point of this post: What if Bush had said this? You and I damn well know what would have happened. Bush would be the laughing stock all over printed and network news. Please be honest and ask yourself if that's not true.

The following day I'd be on the golf course with my liberal golf buddies laughing at how stupid Bush is. I might even try and discuss the issues he tried to expose. But it wouldn't matter. I'm SIXHERB (sexist, intolerant, xenophobic...), not worthy of serious discussion.

Much like the issue of the Catholic Church and birth control. The issue isn't about a woman taking birth control, it's about freedom of religion. The Left knows that, but in their dishonesty, want to frame it as a woman and use of birth control.

Those of you reading this that are on the Left ask yourselves this: Why does the Left so often revert to name calling instead of actually thinking of what actually the other person said and responding to that issue? Why, when someone on the Right, a conservative, is labeled as Far Right? Please notice how language shapes the narrative.

Post script from some guy:

Each day in my blog, SnyderTalk, I include a segment listing the top 5 political news items from the previous day according to diggtm. Diggtm is a social network that allows readers to share with the world what they think are the most important news items of the day. Reading the articles' titles alone reveals a sad truth. The most active and vociferous readers today, or at least the ones who frequent diggtm, are what I refer to as Obamanistas. I coined that term to identify people who see themselves as liberal to the core, think that working people owe sluggards a living without regard for circumstances, believe that an abortion (partial birth or otherwise) is just a harmless procedure that women can use if they accidentally get pregnant, have no problem with same-sex marriage or transgender "equality" under our laws, are convinced that Israel is the problem in the Middle East, blame the U.S. for most of the world's problems, and know deep down in their hearts that Barack Hussein Obama is the savior of mankind.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of Obamanistas in the U.S.-maybe enough of them to win the president a second term in office. If all of them vote in November or if they have a good turnout, the GOP nominee will have a difficult time unless GOP voters get behind their nominee enthusiastically. And it doesn't matter who the nominee is. If GOP voters sit on their hands and let the Obamanistas rule the day, we can look forward to four more years of "Obama money" flowing to friends of Obama and people who are satisfied living off the real working class. We can't afford to let that happen.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Sarah Palin


With the death of Breitbart, the conservative movement didn’t just lose a General – we lost an entire Special Forces Division. But he didn’t leave us without the tools and the knowledge we need to fight. This website – Breitbart 2.0 – is the culmination of his study of the technology and aesthetics of new media. The team Breitbart assembled under the leadership of Steve Bannon, Larry Solov, and Joel Pollak will advance his mission with courage and integrity.

Breitbart’s most immediate mission was the belated vetting of Barack Obama. This obviously is an issue very near and dear to my heart.

Sarah Palin, The rest

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Early Man




When man began 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, surely we must have had our Einsteins and Edisons even then. Why is it today these men are looked upon as our heroes while in early times they may have been shunned? It's because today we have the capacity to incorporate their ideas into our lives.

That is why I get so frustrated when Luddites refuse to take advantage of the internet. It's another technology to make our lives so much more easier and wonderful. It's no different than using a flush toilet or turning a switch for light.

Today I visited the Apple store in the mall. Busy as it always is. Most likely the busiest store in the mall. Tomorrow is the roll out for the next generation iPad. Don't want to sound like a Luddite myself, but I was not impressed. I used to go in the Apple store and the "Wow" factor was there, but not anymore. As a caveat, my wife uses her iPhone everyday as I use the iPad daily too. No doubt, I'm spoiled. For phones, I'm now liking The Note. Can't wait for Verizon to get it.

Karyn Asked About My Diet


A friend asked me about my diet and actually asked for suggestions. In all the years I've been following my diet, I've never been asked for help, so I'm flattered. So as you might imagine Karyn's letter to me, while thorough, was probably not as thorough as my response;-) What follows is my response to Karyn:

Karyn, I never get asked for advice about my diet. You're the first one ever, so it pleases me.

I was thinking about the Bell curve recently. And it seems that no matter what, even though we have the best of intentions, we regress to the mean. Culture and of course our life long habits and likes have a great pull. We certainly don't need to beat ourselves up about it.

I had a steak the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Karyn, first I'd recommend 2 books you can get from the library, and they are truly mind-blowing books--The China Study and The Pleasure Trap.

I find that simplicity works best for me. Enjoy a few things and eat them over and over--like I make a killer oatmeal for breakfast--oatmeal, grape nuts, strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Bean burritos for lunch. Lots of soups.

Even though I had the steak the other day, I'm 99.9% animal free. Sometimes I question why I did this, when no else I know comes even close. My cholesterol is under 150, normal blood sugar A1c, normal CRP and blood pressure.

And it seems most who follow this path are on the Left, which makes it even more difficult, because where the Right used to be considered the reactionaries, it's now the Left who wants to stop progress. Man, it's weird.

But Ray Kurzweil says that in the next few years, we'll have the knowledge to greatly extend our lives. I believe this is true, and I want to be in the best health I can when the time comes.

The more I do this Karyn, I realize it's not only about not eating animals. Animals are one thing that is bad for our health, but I've come to realize other things are just as deleterious--such as oils, salt, breads/cookies, alcohol and of course dairy. And of course restaurants don't care about nutrition, so I'm trying to eat more and more at home.

Kayrn, two doctors I'd follow on the internet are Drs McDougall and Fuhrman. They have lots of stuff on the internet (McDougall has very good forums, and Fuhrman a good blog) they freely share and their books are in the library. They both have there own way of doing things, but if you remove the minor differences, they are both great men that I trust (not that I disregard other studies). And the people who follow them are most serious about their health, it's quite motivating.

Good luck Karyn and thanks for your kind words. And BTW, I think I really do have some good posts on my blog about nutrition. I have one on there about a 5 day fast I did while blogging about it (type in "fasting" on my blog search and it will help you find it. It's one of my best posts).

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Our Doggies



It's funny when you think back when you were a kid and what you remember.

My parents would go bowling and leave my brother and I in the alley nursery. I remember to this day the fear I had that my parents would forget about us and not return. The handle on the door of the nursery was too high for us to reach, so what I'd do is put my brother on my shoulders. We were able to make our escape to freedom.

With our older dog "Lady" we knew she suffered separation anxiety when we'd leave her. After coming home from and evening out, her joy of seeing us was in a way sad for us. You could hear her cry with happiness upon our arrival (if that makes sense).

So now we have Dulce to be with Lady. Dulce can be La Diabla (the devil) but we love her dearly. Now Lady has a sister.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Being Green--Never Saying Sorry

James Delingpole

Anyway, watching Channel 4's What The Green Movement Got Wrong last night I felt very much like the Other Son. The documentary was a celebration of the fact that two notable green campaigners – Mark Lynas and Stewart Brand (creator of the Whole Earth Catalog) had finally come round to appreciating that some of the key tenets of their Green religion were flawed and had in fact done more harm than good.

GM crops such as "golden rice" and vitamin-enhanced millet, they cheerily conceded, were not evil "Frankenfoods" after all but a vital way of averting malnutrition in the Third World.

Nuclear power, they agreed, was way more efficient at producing clean energy than the coal alternative. Furthermore, the fuss about Chernobyl had been horribly overdone.

The near global ban on DDT – inspired by Rachel Carson's junk science bestseller Silent Spring – had caused millions to die of malaria.

And so on.

for whole article

Rush Breitbart

Hold The Mayo

I couldn't care less about Sandra Fluke and I couldn't possibly care less that Limbaugh called her a prostitute and a slut. I understand the use of absurdity and hyperbole in trying to make a point. In the post below, I suggested that if Ms. Fluke's recreational pleasures were going to be paid for by someone else through the provision of free contraception, then my choice of recreational pleasure should be paid for by someone else as well. I tried to frame it as a mental health issue, but I think my chances are rather slim!

"Rush blew it" was Monday's conclusion.

By midweek that conclusion was beginning to soften. I still thought that it was stupid for Limbaugh to walk into such an obvious trap but conservative efforts to use the Left's faux outrage to shine a little sunlight on Liberal hypocrisy were starting to become effective. What at first sounded like a five-year-old's justification for calling his sister names had begun to change the focus of the issue. And it was the President's turn take the bait and give the other side a quote to use as a weapon.

The reason I called Ms. Fluke is because I thought about Malia and Sasha. One of the things I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on. I want them to be able to speak their mind in a civil and thoughtful way. I don’t want them attacked and called horrible names because they are being good citizens.

Given the propensity of many on the left to do just that, Obama helped conservatives transform the issue into one about Liberal double standards. I'm not going to bother with yet another recounting of what an Obama SuperPac million dollar donor has said about Sarah Palin, you can google that for yourself if you haven't read it already, but Obama accepting a million dollars of support from someone famous for calling people horrible names because they spoke their mind on issues, effectively removed the focus from Limbaugh and put it on Bill Maher.

For whole article

Self Sufficiency=Poverty



This is a post from Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist. Mr Ridley makes the point that self sufficiency leads to poverty, where specialization creates wealth.

Matt Ridley:

Paul Krugman writes that trade does not equal jobs and concludes that trade restrictions cannot even in principle trigger a depression. After all, restricting trade means restricting exports (less jobs!) but it also means restricting imports (more jobs!) so everything washes out.

Well, let’s try an extreme example. Suppose I prevent everyone in America from trading with anyone outside their own households. We’d eat only what we could raise in our own gardens, burn only the fuel we could gather from our own backyards, and wear only the clothes we could make for ourselves. In other words, we’d all be living pretty much at the subsistence level. Would you be willing to call that a Depression? I would. Krugman, apparently, would not.

The rest

Here's another post by Mr Ridley

Friday, March 9, 2012

Limbaugh Attack Boomerangs

By Jennifer Rubin
Perhaps the left carried on a little too long and a little too loudly regarding Rush Limbaugh’s nasty language about Sandra Fluke. Conservative activist Penny Nance, executive director of Concerned Women for America, has sent a letter to the White House chief of staff demanding President Obama’s super PAC live up to the same standard Democrats have articulated for Republicans and Rush Limbaugh. ABC News reports:

After making a point of standing up for women during the Rush Limbaugh controversy, President Obama is taking flak from one corner for not speaking out against “vile misogynist” and liberal Obama supporter Bill Maher.
Maher, a comedian who specializes in politics, is also a $1 million contributor to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that supports Obama’s reelection.
Penny Nance, president of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, said in a letter to White House chief of staff Jack Lew that Obama “needs to publicly disassociate himself from Priorities USA” until it returns Maher’s money.
“President Obama cannot put forth the eloquent position he announced on Tuesday, while sending administration officials out to raise money for an organization that not only counts a vile misogynist as its largest single donor, but whose executives actively boast about that vile misogynist’s support,” Nance wrote in her letter to Lew.
Last month, in an about face, Obama approved support for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing his campaign, allowing senior White House officials to appear at Priorities fundraisers. . . .
A spokesperson for Maher declined to comment when reached by ABC News.
“It’s never appropriate to degrade women, no matter whose side you’re on,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt in an e-mail.
I would have reiterated the examples Nance used of Maher’s language, but I was informed that such language doesn’t meet with The Post’s standards (not even for illustrative purposes). So you can use your imagination, or go look for yourself, or run a Google search. You’ll be appalled, I imagine.

So why not give the money back? White House press secretary Jay Carney lamely tried to argue that Obama “has no direct ties to Priorities USA and cannot tell the group what to do with respect to Maher.”Oh no, it’s not that easy, Mr. Carney. Didn’t Obama just announce he would help the group with fundraising? I bet if he made a rule that he wouldn’t appear before or assist groups that don’t abide by his “Sasha and Malia” standard they’d snap to. The White House and its allies set the standard — condemn, distance, disassociate — with misogynistic entertainers. Now the president is stuck with it.

And by the way, why have all the lefty bloggers crying foul about Limbaugh fallen silent on this subject? I must admit, I got quite a laugh when Carney, sounding a great deal like Right Turn, intoned: “We are not and cannot be the arbitrator of every statement that everybody makes in the policy and political arena.” Ummm, has anyone checked with David Axelrod and his blogospheric pals who’ve been trying to goad Mitt Romney into wading in on this issue?

This is one issue on which the mainstream media is offering the White House no cover. As National Journal put it: “[E]ven the most ardent Obama supporter would have to admit that if Limbaugh crossed the line on acceptable discourse, then Maher obliterated that line, even acknowledging the difference between a political talkmeister and a comedian.” As for the argument that you can’t compare Maher and Limbaugh, there is something to that: Maher is a lot worse. “Direct quotes of Maher’s most nasty comments about Palin would make the point well. But his colorful descriptions of various parts of the female anatomy are not words easily used in National Journal stories. Perhaps the mildest was when he call Palin ‘a bully who sells patriotism like a pimp, and the leader of a strange family of inbred weirdos.’”

The White House, I am quite certain, never expected this issue to come back to bite the president and his campaign. But in the New Media era with energetic grassroots conservative activists, it is not as easy as it once was to apply civility rules only to the right. Call it the legacy of Andrew Breitbart: The left needs to abide by the same rules it sets for its opponents.


-------------------------------------------

What is the best of this whole article is the last paragraph. You can't get away with this bullshit anymore. The MSM is not about uncovering the truth and presenting the news, it's a shrill for the Leftest/Democratic/More Government party. Thank God for the real Newmedia, and down with the Newsmedia.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012

Breitbart's Last Post





Prior to his passing, Andrew Breitbart said that the mission of the Breitbart empire was to exemplify the free and fearless press that our Constitution protects--but which, increasingly, the mainstream media denies us.
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” – “Who guards the guardians?” Andrew saw himself in that role—as a guardian protecting Americans from the left’s “objective” loyal scribes.

For the rest of Andrew's last missive

Thursday, March 1, 2012

We Lost Our Thomas Paine




Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.

We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.

Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:
I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies.

Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.

Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.

------------------------------------------------------

God bless you Andrew. I will pick up the torch.

--------------------------------------------------------------

From Jonah Goldberg:

One thing that he [Breitbart] and Bill [Buckley] shared was this basic contempt for the premise that the mainstream liberal elite institutions in the United States are in a position to judge and adjudicate the worth of conservatives. That they are in a position to judge our souls. That if we disagree with liberals, that proves that we are somehow wanting or lacking in compassion; lacking in humanity. That is a fundamental thing that enraged Andrew, this idea that if you disagreed about public policy, if you disagreed about how to organize society, that proved you were a racist. That proved you were a fascist. That proved you were a homophobe. It was the fundamental bad faith of the leading liberal institutions that controlled the commanding heights of this culture that infuriated him. And he refused, at the most basic level, to give them that authority over him or his ideas, and that is was fueled his Righteous Indignation, as his book title called it.