Steven Levitt: The Freakonomics of Inner-City Gangs

Via Classical Values

"Tonight, Tonight, Won't Be Just Any Night"

Tonight is Al Gore's night. Also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, tonight he may win an Oscar for his slide show about global warming. As he flies around the world spewing carbons from his private jet, he has become a rock star to the left and gullible college students. He plans on simultaneous rock concerts on all seven continents with one hundred of the world's most popular musical acts this summer. What do you want to bet that he will not be the one in Antarctica?

Today's Washington Post notes that he

has attended premiers in Edinburgh, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Sydney, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Zurich, Brussels, Berlin and Tokyo. In France, he not only attended the film opening, but presented his 90 minute Apple Keynote lecture to the National Assembly. He did the slide show at the United Nations, the American Geophysical Union, and before conservative activist Grover Norquist's regular Wednesday meeting.

Although none of the stars have yet sold their Malibu mansions to escape the rising ocean, I predict they will honor Mr. Gore tonight with an Oscar.

While I am driving around Denver in my Chevy Metro, one hand on my wallet, I will give thanks for Al Gore. I am especially thankful that he is not President of the United States. Even though he is obnoxiously boorish, he has managed to find a real niche for himself, and has become immensely popular. My prediction is that he will enter the Presidential fray after his rock concerts this summer, and after Hillary and Bill finally self-destruct. If he is elected President, then the world truly will be faced with a nightmarish catastrophe.

Update via Instapundit:
AN INCONVENIENT UTILITY BILL: "Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES). . . . The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359."

Update Two:

The 4,000-square-foot house is a model of environmental rectitude. Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize. A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

No, this is not the home of some eccentrically wealthy eco-freak trying to shame his fellow citizens into following the pristineness of his self-righteous example.... This is President George W. Bush's "Texas White House" outside the small town of Crawford." (Common Dreams)

Who Voted For These People?

Via Blue Star Chronicles

So, Could You Please Repeat Those Instructions?

I identify with the guy in this video, because this is how I feel when I try to learn some new computer technology. What would we do without those help desk guys and gals?
Via Boing Boing

What Would Happen If Hollywood Made A Cartoon Depicting Islamofascists Negatively?

Boing Boing brings us an old Disney cartoon about Hitler and the Nazis. Is Hollywood coming up with similar cartoons for today's Nazis, the Islamofascists? Watch Disney's cartoon here.

Rush and Ann: Too Good To Be True?

Just watching this video gave me a peaceful feeling. Wouldn't it be fantastic if it were really true?

$1.1 Trillion Dollars a Year!

BizzyBlog has today's best quote. According to a recent study conducted for the Small Business Administration, federal regulations are a hidden tax on the American consumers and economy to the tune of $1.1 trillion dollars a year. That is about the same as the federal government collects in income taxes every year.

The Nays Have It

Via Flopping Aces

They Are Getting It!

Via Flopping Aces

This Says It All

Via Flopping Aces

"Wasted Lives?

Senator Barack Obama, the "articulate" Democrat, really blew it on his first day of campaigning after announcing his candidacy for the office of the President of the USA. Saying that the three thousand U.S. soldiers who have died in the cause of freedom had "wasted" their lives, Obama revealed that he is unfit to be considered as a serious candidate. These soldiers who have volunteered to protect us by fighting the terrorists in Iraq have died in the most unselfish manner: giving their lives so that others may live free. Not.Ready.For.Prime.Time.

Forget Corn, Plant Prairie Grass!

The Futurist has an amazing story about how the lowly termite may possess the answer to our dependence on foreign oil, greenhouse gas emissions, and the trade deficit! The post points out that

a termite's ability to digest wood is due to certain microbes in the digestive tract, which contain a gene that can be extracted and harnessed into processes to create cellulostic ethanol out of agricultural waste for a fraction of the current cost.

He's Not As Dumb As He Looks!

ABC is reporting that Al-Sadr has fled Iraq to Tehran! This is fantastic news for the people of Iraq, and for President Bush, and for America! Captain Ed has some wonderful observations about this great news.

How Not to Make A Good Impression

Today we had a visitor come to the house...someone on whom we needed to make a good impression. The teenagers have been sharing their favorite tunes with the younger children, who, of course, immediately memorize all the words to the raunchier songs!

Five-year-old to the rather large guest: "My favorite song is the Big Butts song!" I guess he thought since she had a big butt, she would appreciate his choice of a favorite song. The smile on her face quickly vanished, and the blood appeared to drain from her face. She looked at me, and was suddenly at a loss for words.

Sometimes as a parent, you just need to go with the flow.

What is Happening to China's Girls?

While orphanages in China have as many as two million children, only about ten thousand are being adopted annually. China has put forward stringent new rules for adoptive parents. These rules go into effect May 1, 2007. Many American prospective adoptive parents, who adopt 80% of the children who are adopted from China, are upset about the new rules. Is it better for a child to grow up in an orphanage or with a loving adult or adults in a family?

Can we now focus on the thousands of children available for adoption right here in America? We have two in our house! There are myths that must be confronted. People think it is more expensive. Not true! People think that there is more bureaucratic red tape. That may no longer be true either. Come on people, let's take care of our own orphans!

Ever Hear a Baby Panda Sneeze?

via The Anchoress

The Best Super Bowl Commercials from 2006

One blogger who can be counted on to bring us great videos is Texas Rainmaker. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Would The New York Times Purposely Keep Us in the Dark?

From Michael Fumento:

Scientifically, all embryonic stem cells tend to become cancerous; they require permanent, dangerous, immunosuppressive drugs because the body rejects them as foreign; and they are difficult to differentiate into the needed type of mature cells. Non-embryonic stem cells, however, do not become cancerous; they are far less likely to cause rejection (especially the youngest, including umbilical cord and amniotic/placenta); and they have been used therapeutically since the late 1950s (originally for leukemia) because they have the amazing ability to form the right type of mature cell merely upon being injected into a body that needs that type of cell.

And...

Given the growing number of state initiatives that fund embryonic stem cell, but not non-embryonic stem cell, research and given that overall National Institutes of Health funding increases are unlikely anytime soon, is it truly moral to take away funds from a technology that's been saving lives for half a century in favor of another technology that promises nothing but "promise"?

And finally,

It's part of an ongoing effort at the Grey Lady to keep readers in the dark about the wonders of non-embryonic stem cells and the diseases they cure and treat while exaggerating any advance (or non-advance) in the embryonic variety.

Read the whole thing!
via Instapundit

Are We Fighting "Insurgents" or Al Qaeda in Iraq?

Nibras Kazimi writes today in the New York Sun that "the Sunni insurgency is being whittled down to Al Qaeda's activity in Iraq. It's that simple."

Then why is the press not telling us about that? Because they realize that Americans would respond far differently if we knew we were fighting Al Qaeda than "insurgents." Al Qaeda refers to itself in Iraq as The Islamic State of Iraq. They do not use the name Al Qaeda. Their leader is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. Read the whole article here. Via Instapundit

Update: Dr. Rusty Shackleford has more at the Jawa Report. He points out that six Al Qaeda leaders and dozens of Al Qaeda members have been killed in the last 48 hours in Iraq. One of those captured is a key aide to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who Dr. Shackleford asserts is the real leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, replacing Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Remember, though, read about it here, because the print media has the agenda referred to above.

Also via Instapundit

"Our Goal is To Manage the Transition from Print to Internet"

New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger makes the above statement in a conversation with Haaretz.com at the Davos summit. He also says,

"I really don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don't care either."

Drudge links to Haaretz here.

A Lot to Forgive

Columbine High School killers Harris and Klebold left fellow student Mark Taylor with bullet wounds in his chest, thigh, side and leg. Filmmaker Michael Moore, in town to film Bowling For Columbine used him, lied to him, promised him the moon, and discarded him. Taylor has written about it in a new book entitled I asked, God Answered: A Columbine Miracle. Alan Prendergast has written more about Taylor here.

Just In Time For Valentines Day

How about this one for a Valentines Day story. Drudge brings us this story from the Daily Mail. Two lovers have been locked in an embrace for 5000 years. Archaeologists digging in northern Italy announced the find yesterday.

Will She Be Held Accountable For These Remarks?

Third Wave Dave has video of Hillary Clinton making a proposal to the Democratic National Committee. It is not actually an original idea. Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Castro and Chavez have actually beat her to the punch on this one.

How To Fix MSM reporting From Iraq

Daniel Holt writes a very thoughtful piece here in Publius Pundit. It is about the mainstream media, what is wrong with it, and a suggestion as to how it could be fixed, especially as regards reportage from places like Iraq.

The New Cuba

While we are talking about dictators, let us not forget the man who has become dictator of formerly free Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Publius Pundit wonders why the West, including the United States, has been so timid about this thug's takeover of Venezuela. Gateway Pundit notes that the takeover by Chavez missed by one day the anniversary of Hitler's takeover in Germany.

Only Bill Clinton Gave Longer Speeches

Fidel Castro, Cuba's ailing leader, has begun speaking his final 750,000 words. The Onion has the exclusive story here.

Two Americas

Democratic presidential candidate, former Senator John Edwards, he of "Two Americas" rhetoric, has built a new house on 102 acres near Chapel Hill North Carolina for his family. The main living area is only a little more than ten thousand square feet! That is connected by a heated walkway to another six thousand square feet area that includes a basketball court, a racquetball court, and a pool. There are twenty-nine thousand square feet altogether. Edwards sold his home in Raleigh in a development called "Country Club Estates" for 1.4 million dollars. He also recently sold his mansion in the Georgetown area of Washington D.C. for just a little more than five million dollars. Of course he also owns an oceanside vacation home in a gated community. The gate, presumably, is to keep out us "other Americans."

The Democrats: Combatting AIDS, Or Cowtowing To Left Wing Pressure Groups?

The Democrats have just killed a $30 million dollar grant program to fund universal AIDS testing for newborns. That reminds me of the unsuccessful requests we made to have our adopted daughter tested prior to our adoption. We were told that we could not do that, even though her birthmother was a prostitute, because it would violate the "privacy rights" of the birthmother.

The editors of the National Review say this. "The real reason Democrats killed the program is that an assortment of left-wing groups oppose "violating the privacy" of mothers by encouraging them to get tested and mandating testing for their newborns — even though such efforts in New York and elsewhere have dramatically reduced the number of infants born with AIDS. That the Democrats would defund this program is disgraceful; that they would defend their action as part of the fight against earmarks is even more so."

Fortunately for our beautiful daughter, though she was born with illegal drugs in her system, AIDS does not appear to be one of her problems.

Can It Be? Liberals, Insensitive?

This week has been notable for two liberal presidential wannabees who made insensitive, possibly bigoted comments. Senator Joe Biden was amazed that Barack Obama is both black AND clean! Now we have Wesley Clark saying that rich Jews are going to force our politicians to go to war with Iran.

It's True! They Do Get Better As They Age!

Instapundit links to this article about how the Dove soap company is going to be featuring the fact that women just get better as they get older. It's about time. I have proof right here in my own home!

Here Colleen is nursing a baby goat owned by a rancher who left the doeling out in freezing weather. This baby is the only triplet who survived the series of snowstorms we have had for the past seven weeks. Colleen got up early in the mornings to drive to the ranch, and again late at night to make sure the baby got the supplements she needed, because the doe rejected her.

Also pictured is our two-year-old foster child, who absolutely loves being outside with the animals (and hates being cooped up inside, as he has had to be during this frigid winter). The good news is that the weather forecast is for temperatures in the forties and fifties this week, so we will see the snow melt everywhere except the north side of properties.

Who is Winning the Battle of the Sexes?

Instapundit links today to an article in the Guardian by Boris Johnson. I found these facts interesting:
In the early 1990s females made up 29% of medical students in Britain. Now they make up 66%!
If a man's I.Q. raises by 16 points, the likelihood that he will marry increases by 35%. If a woman's I.Q. raises by 16%, the likelihood that she will marry decreases by 35%!

Anybody care to speculate on why either of these facts are true, or what this all means for men and women?