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December 2013

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 09, 2013 2 Comments
We previously have highlighted the Ukrainian protest movement seeking to prevent Ukraine from falling back under Russian domination: The protests continue, but as of this writing it appears that police are moving in, although it's unclear if it's an attempt to evict the protesters completely. LIVE VIDEO and Twitter stream at bottom of post. Kyiv Post has live reporting updates. Here is video of yesterday's protest at Independence Square in Kiev:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 09, 2013 4 Comments

You'll need it in 2014. From Raging Conservative, who tweets: https://twitter.com/RagCon/status/409969991476576256 ...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 08, 2013 25 Comments
If you haven't seen this yet, it's packed full of awesome. (Scroll down for video). The USAF Band decided to surprise visitors to the National Air and Space Museum with its first ever 'holiday flash mob.' They documented it on their blog.
Dec. 3, 11:53 a.m. - The Air and Space Museum is buzzing with excitement. The United States Air Force Band members disguised in civilian coats roam the museum, acting as tourists. Observing a sign stating that there will be filming in the area, a group of tourists asks an employee what is being filmed. "Something big is happening in here in seven minutes--stick around!" the employee replies. A group of children speculate what the big surprise could possibly be. "I think they might be launching that rocket!" a young boy chimes. "Maybe we'll get to try on a space suit!" The crowd noise heightens as the clock inches closer to noon.
Minutes later:

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 08, 2013 15 Comments
Protests in Ukraine continued on Sunday, as hundreds of thousands reportedly gathered in the center of the capital of Kiev.  One group of protesters pulled down a statue of Vladimir Lenin. From the LA Times:
Protesters toppled a monument to Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin on Sunday during the biggest march and rally in central Kiev since President Viktor Yanukovich galvanized his opposition by turning down a trade deal with the European Union. The Ukrainian protesters blocked and barricaded government offices and said they were giving Yanukovich 48 hours to disband his government before they would march on his country residence near Kiev. In turning down the trade deal with the EU, Yanukovich was effectively asserting that Russia remained Ukraine's key trade partner. The country is politically and geographically divided, to some extent, between those who favor ties to Russia and those who would like to see Ukraine more aligned with Western Europe. That gave the toppling of the Lenin statue particular significance — despite the fact that most Lenin statues in Russia itself were torn down during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Statues of the Soviet leader were once ubiquitous throughout the East bloc. No police officers could be seen anywhere in the vicinity of Taras Shevchenko boulevard where the granite and marble monument was brought down by a group of young protesters. “It is amazing how the authorities allowed Lenin to go down!” said Sergei Andriyenko, a 51-year-old Kiev businessman who applauded the action. “Where were the police, where were the communists who were always protecting him?”

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 08, 2013 17 Comments

We've gathered a few stories of interest on the latest in Obamacare developments and commentary this weekend. Apparently, some insurance agents are feeling left out of "Obamacare."  As the Associated Press reports Sunday, some frustrated insurers and agents wish they could just bypass healthcare.gov and enroll...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2013 16 Comments
We noted previously the Senior Hezbollah commander assassinated, Hassan Laqqis. Hezbollah immediately blamed Israel. It certainly makes sense when you consider how professionally it was carried out. Unlike the Jihadis who blow up cars or themselves, the Laqquis hit was carried out precisely and using silenced weapons. The hit men (or women?) got into a heavily secured area without notice, and located their target late at night. There must have been precise intelligence not only as to his location, but his movements. Even more impressively, the gunmen escaped without being captured. There must have been help to get them away from the scene, and likely out of the country, before Hezbollah security woke up to what had happened. So we are talking minutes to get out of the area, and hours to get out of the country. While we cannot eliminate that the hit was carried out by Jihadis or some other intelligence service, it seems unlikely. Foreign Policy magazine had an article asserting that Laqqis was on Israel's Kill List:
There'll be a summit conference in the sky," smiled an Israeli intelligence official Wednesday morning when he learned of the assassination of Hassan Lakkis, the Hezbollah commander in charge of weapons development and advanced technological warfare, in a Beirut suburb around midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The killing of Lakkis is yet another in the latest in a long series of assassinations of leading figures in what Israeli intelligence calls the "Radical Front," which comprises two countries -- Syria and Iran -- and three organizations: Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hamas....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 08, 2013 10 Comments

I don't thing the left side bumper can handle the right side bumper sticker. Or the truth. From J: A product of the Obama worshipping "education" system, no doubt....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 07, 2013 37 Comments
Nelson Mandela died on Thursday. I have been deliberately deliberative on writing about his death, in this post for the first time. As so many rushed out with statements based on self-proclaimed expertise on Mandela's life, I realized that I knew little of his life other than the big picture -- A fight to end Apartheid and a famous lack of desire for revenge. Maybe that was enough to know. What I've read the past couple of days confirms both the greatness of his accomplishments, yet also the mixed record of his life which does not justify simplification. Mandela embraced totalitarian communist and socialist regimes during his struggle against another form of unjust regime; he embraced the murderous thieving Yasser Arafat, yet also insisted on Israel's right to exist in secure borders. Here are just a few of the more informative pieces, among many dozens I've read: This immediate post-release press conference seems to embody the conflicting aspects of his history and that of South Africa:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 07, 2013 42 Comments
We have highlighted here many times the almost insane “zero tolerance” policies at school wherein students are disciplined, suspended and expelled for biting a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun, bringing Quarter coin-sized gun keychain charms to school, and even pointing a pencil and saying “bang.” Now another case. A fifth grader is suspended and faces expulsion for shooting an imaginary bow and arrow at school mimicking The Hunger Games. Megyn Kelly reports (video at bottom of post):
A fifth grader in Georgia [note: original report has since been corrected to reflect Pennsylvania] has been suspended for shooting an imaginary arrow at a classmate. The 10-year-old also faces possible expulsion. The Rutherford Institute, which is defending Johnny Jones, says he was told he violated the school’s zero tolerance policy on weapons. They’re working to get the suspension reversed and lifted from his permanent record. On Friday night’s The Kelly File, defense attorney Jonna Spilbor reacted to the ordeal. “Here’s how ridiculous it is. If we’re going to punish this poor kid for pretending to shoot a bow and arrow, let’s ticket his parents for parking their unicorn in a fire zone.”
The school is defending its decision:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 07, 2013 6 Comments

So who wants to sponsor an Octopus college scholarship? Yale to hold Non-Human Rights Conference U. Georgia Genetics Prof. Says Humans the Result of Chimpanzees Mating with Pigs And you thought I was joking when I said "Everyone Gets A Trophy": Most Common Grade at Harvard is “A” of...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 07, 2013 15 Comments
One of the issues regarding the technical troubles with the healthcare.gov website that has received some attention in recent weeks, and even more so over the last few days, has been that of errors in 834 files. These are the files transferred to insurance carriers that contain pertinent data on the enrollees.  (For a better understanding of what the 834 form is, the Washington Post has this good backgrounder). Some of the files have reportedly contained data that was incorrect – for instance, the names of children appearing as spouses – while others have contained duplicate data, or there was no file at all.  Without an accurate 834 form for an enrollee, an insurance carrier essentially cannot complete their enrollment. While the numbers regarding the issue have reportedly improved, reporters have recently tried to obtain more specific information about the problem. From BenefitsPro:
Obama administration officials have been getting angry questions from reporters by refusing to even try to estimate how many enrollment forms are going out, or how many of them are right. HealthCare.gov and the enrollment sites for state-based public exchanges are supposed to send out “834 Initial Enrollment Notification” transaction notices when consumers enroll.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 06, 2013 29 Comments
At which Democrats should start freaking out. The polling just keeps getting worse and worse.  A couple of months ago the generic congressional election polling was having Democrats and Establishment Republicans (yes, there is such a thing) ready to wrap the death of the Republican Party around the necks of Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Good times, good times, for Democrats. It was a false prognosis, because Cruz and Lee were trying to stop the disaster known as Obamacare. The legacy will be Democrats going to the mat to protect and preserve Obamacare. If Democrats owned Obamacare before, as a result of the efforts of Cruz, Lee and others, Democrats swallowed Obamacare whole in September. Now everything has changed because Obamacare and Democrats are one and the same. Via Hot Air, this chart which caused Charlie Cook to declare Holy Sh-t! (my paraphrase), should make Democrats want to regurgitate their Obamacare feast:
The Democratic numbers from the generic-ballot test dropped from 45 percent to 37 percent, and Republicans moved up to 40 percent. This 10-point net shift from a Democratic advantage of 7 points to a GOP edge of 3 points in just over a month is breathtaking, perhaps an unprecedented swing in such a short period. Occurring around Election Day, such a shift would probably amount to the difference between Democrats picking up at least 10 House seats, possibly even the 17 needed for a majority, and instead losing a half-dozen or so seats.
Congressional Generic Polling Data Chart 12-6-2013 While many Democrats are desperate for relief from Obamacare, those who are to tied to the law's passage, like Mary Landrieu of Louisiana Purchase fame, are choosing to double down:

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 06, 2013 9 Comments
“Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench” (2013) is the most recent of Dr. John Lott Jr.’s excellent books applying economics to better understand the societal dynamics around controversial issues. Gun owners will be most familiar with his past work on the defensive uses of force by lawfully armed citizens (“More Guns, Less Crime”). In “Dumbing Down the Courts” Dr. Lott examines how political forces are increasingly driving the federal courts to be staffed by judges (and justices) who are less intellectually capable than their predecessors. In short, his hypothesis — supported by data on more than 1,500 federal court nominees — is that the smarter, more respected (by their legal peers), and more academically talented a candidate for a federal court, the longer the confirmation process and the less likely confirmation will be successful. Indeed, this reality has become so widely accepted on an anecdotal level that many of the most promising candidates for federal judgeships simply decline to accept even consideration for such an appointment. Dr. Lott uses rigorously analyzed data to move this discussion beyond mere anecdote.

Growing Stakes, Increased Left-Wing Radicalization

Being nominated and confirmed to a federal judicial appointment was not always the arduous process it is today, nor was it always geared towards rejection of the most talented candidates.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 06, 2013 15 Comments

Obama is losing the youth at many levels, as we have reported this week: Obama approval cliff dives among poor Hispanics and Non-Whites Harvard Survey: Obama and Obamacare push Millennials support off cliff Now comes another survey from National Journal, Young Americans Expect Obamacare to Be Repealed: The...

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