Monthly Archives: May 2015
May 29, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
Michael Gerson wrote today about “the rhetoric of mobility” — in other words, the way liberals and conservatives talk about the issue of economic mobility. He finds the rhetoric of both sides, as the well views behind it, wanting. Gerson’s piece is thoughtful, as usual. But it should be of concern to conservatives who worry that “reform conservatism,” a movement with which Gerson is associated, may to some extent represent
»
May 29, 2015 — John Hinderaker
As you probably have already seen, the Commerce Department announced today that GDP contracted by an annual rate of 0.7% in the first quarter of 2015, a downward revision from the previously estimated 0.2% growth. This continues a pattern that many observers find puzzling and disappointing. This graphic shows quarterly GDP growth from the first quarter of 2009 to the present; the last bar would need to be changed to
»
May 29, 2015 — Steven Hayward
I decided to take a pass on the story that Bernie Sanders misfired with some kind of rape fantasy essay way back in his college years (though since it was fair game to jump on Mitt Romney for giving some kid an atomic wedgie 50 years ago in prep school was fair game, then Sanders deserves the full proctology treatment), but his attempt at a folk song ambum is truly
»
May 29, 2015 — John Hinderaker
The Minneapolis Star Tribune cites a report by the American Civil Liberties Union on race and law enforcement in Minneapolis: People of color are more likely to be arrested for low-level crimes in Minneapolis compared to their white counterparts, according to a detailed study released Thursday of thousands of arrests made by city police. … Picking up the Pieces: Policing in America, a Minneapolis Case Study shows that blacks were
»
May 29, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
As John has explained, Hillary Clinton doesn’t just have a Benghazi problem; she has a Libya problem. More than anyone else, Hillary Clinton pushed for, and helped effectuate, the overthrow of Moammar Qaddafi. As a result of his overthrow, Libya became a playground for terrorists, a haven for ISIS, and a failed state. Clinton’s recently released Benghazi emails confirm her leading role in creating the Libya fiasco. They confirm that,
»
May 29, 2015 — John Hinderaker
On Wednesday June 3, at 5 Pacific, 7 Central, 8 Eastern, all Power Line VIP members are invited to participate in a live YouTube event featuring the PL crew. We will email a private link to all VIP members, and you can follow the link to watch the live discussion on YouTube, as well as submit questions or comments to which we will respond–all live! At least that’s what we
»
May 29, 2015 — Steven Hayward
Did any readers take note of the recent stories appearing in the news media that eating chocolate is actually good for weight loss, such as the June issue of Shape magazine which ran an article entitled “Why You Must Eat Chocolate Daily”? Yesterday on the science website io9.com, German molecular biologist Johannes Bohannon explained how he pulled it off with a statistically weak study that several science journals accepted with
»
May 29, 2015 — Scott Johnson
City life has not improved in Baltimore since the indictment of six Baltimore police officers. Some residents have gone on a murder spree targeting other residents. Innocent bystanders have the reasonable fear of getting caught in the crossfire. Drudge has compiled stories
»
May 29, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll stands and delivers Psychotic Ninnies, Circa 1975. She writes: Last Friday I referred to the Psychotic Ninny Wing of the feminist movement. In the beginning they were a relatively small part of the legitimate push for equality and expanded opportunities for women. But they always existed. In a meeting I attended in 1970, a certifiably insane woman waxed rhapsodic about how “when we hang all the men they
»
May 28, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
John has flagged Rand Paul’s ISIS whopper — the claim that Republicans are to blame for the rise of ISIS. When Republicans controlled the White House, ISIS was, as John says, little more than a dream in the minds of a few fanatics. The dream was realized not because of Republicans, but mostly because President Obama reversed President Bush’s policies and prematurely withdrew American forces from Iraq. But Rand Paul’s
»
May 28, 2015 — Steven Hayward
I’ll defer to Paul at Power Line’s sports desk for the definitive understanding of the FIFA scandal, but it is worth noting that “The Simpsons” was on to the matter a while ago (just over 1 minute):
»
May 28, 2015 — Steven Hayward
This one is a stunner out of nowhere. News is breaking this afternoon of a federal indictment of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL), for the crime of making “structured withdrawals” to avoid banking laws requiring reporting of transactions over $10,000—a law chiefly intended to hinder narcotics and other illegal activities. The seven-page indictment (PDF file) suggests a significant personal scandal, involving Hastert agreeing to make regular $50,000
»
May 28, 2015 — Steven Hayward
We began this new occasional series with the story of the Science magazine study about how people changed their mind on gay marriage based on a short conversations with a real live gay people, but in which the data was faked by the graduate student co-author, Michael LaCour. It now appears that LaCour, whose pending appointment at Princeton based on his work is in doubt, made up more than just
»
May 28, 2015 — John Hinderaker
The Washington Post’s fact checker, Glenn Kessler, undertook yesterday to assess the truth or falsity of these remarks by Jeb Bush about ISIS: ISIS didn’t exist when my brother was president. Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out when my brother was president. Those statements are, by any normal standard, true. But this is what Kessler had to say: Islamic State, also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and
»
May 28, 2015 — Scott Johnson
In his Wall Street Journal column this past Tuesday, Bret Stephens took up “The rational ayatollah hypothesis” (accessible via Google here). That hypothesis — asserted, I would say, as a thesis if not a fact by our Supreme Leader about Iran’s Supreme Leader — holds that economics and other such considerations constrain the anti-Semitic behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran. So about those nuclear weapons that Iran is developing
»
May 28, 2015 — Steven Hayward
I’m starting to think Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign is going to supply a great deal of high quality entertainment in this presidential cycle. His economic ignorance—too many choices of deodorant!—is right out of the 1950s (but then, as Glenn Reynolds noted his morning, the whole Democratic field has a Lawrence Welk feel to it). Leave it to Remy to offer Bernie some fundraising help: Of course, Sanders is known to
»
May 28, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Baltimore City state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby is prosecuting the six Baltimore police officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray. She seems to bring a certain animus to the task. I questioned Mosby’s professional behavior in the post “Mosby so far,” commenting on Mosby’s press conference announcing the charges she had brought. Evidence of Mosby’s animus may also be evident in two tweets written by third parties that
»
