The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.Better but still a bit panty-waist from the Leader of the Free World.
The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter System, or JTEC, has no moving parts. “It uses temperature differences to create pressure gradients,” says Paul Werbos, program director at the National Science Foundation, which has provided funding for JTEC. “Instead of using those pressure gradients to move an axle or wheel, he’s using them to force ions through a membrane. It’s a totally new way of generating electricity from heat.”Somebody invest more into this man!
In the JTEC, hydrogen circulates between two fuel cell–like membrane-electrode assemblies. Unlike a fuel cell, however, the JTEC is a closed system—it doesn’t need new supplies of hydrogen. One assembly is coupled to a heat source (such as concentrated sunlight), and the other to a heat sink (ambient air).
Once the cycle is started by an electrical jolt, the unit starts producing a current. Heat in, electricity out. Johnson’s concept may take years to commercialize—but it has the potential to convert heat to electricity at double the efficiency of today’s best technology. The JTEC “could have widespread impact,” says Karl Littau, a materials chemist at the Palo Alto Research Center. “You look at it and say, ‘Wow, why didn’t someone think of this before?’"
In firing AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin last week, President Obama probably thought he and his wife, Michelle, were the ones "sending the message."That's just the beginning. It goes on from there!
After all, dispensing petty political retribution on behalf of one's crooked friends is the "Chicago way," is it not? And the firing of Mr. Walpin would no doubt have lasting benefits for the Obamas, too, seeing as inspectors general throughout the federal government would get the message that "FOBAMs" - or "Friends of Barack and Michelle" - were not to be touched in the future.
What Mr. and Mrs. "Hope and Change" failed to take into account was that when you circumvent the law to protect political hoodlums, you have a way of becoming political hoodlums yourselves.
My dad would have made that patio dead level even if we'd lived in Florida. To him, doing work precisely and with care is an end in itself. He often told me about the men he grew up with, fellow machinists and mechanics. To them, doing a job well–better than it needed to be done–was a core ethical principal. He took pride in his craftsmanship. "The best thing you could say about a man," my dad often recalls, "is that he was a good mechanic." And that was all you needed to say. But my dad also taught me that craftsmanship isn't just about how you build things. He brought that quality to everything: working in the business world, writing books, raising kids, grilling steaks. Craftsmanship is the respect we pay to ourselves, to the people around us, and to the material world we try to shape and improve.I always mourn the destruction the Protestant Revolution had on Catholic churches and Cathedrals.
MARK TAPSCOTT: Why not just fix Medicare first? “President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors issued a report earlier this month estimating that as much as 30 percent of Medicare spending is unnecessary for improving health outcomes. Given such opportunities for easy savings within government, and Medicare’s weighty influence in the broader system (many private insurers set payments by adding a percentage to Medicare’s rates), it would make sense to reform Medicare first, see what works and what doesn’t, and then apply the lessons of that process later to any system-wide fix. Unfortunately, Obama and Democratic congressional leaders are hell bent on turning the system upside down with radical reforms that are sure to have vast and unexpected consequences.” I’m pretty sure that the drive for a national healthcare program doesn’t have much to do with saving money or improving health.Copied entirely from Instapundit because it was just that good a point made.
Obama’s timidity speaks to a guilty conscience. At some level, he buys the post-colonial critique of the West as the root of the developing world’s troubles, and thinks we lack the moral standing to judge non-Western governments that resent and envy us. Obama is perfectly capable of launching moralistic broadsides — just at his own country, especially under his predecessor. Who are we to condemn the abuse of peaceful demonstrators when we waterboarded three terrorists?
ObamaCare Sticker Shock
A $1.6 trillion deficit boost, and the uninsured will still be with us.
This was supposed to be a red-letter week for national health care, as Democrats started the process of hustling a quarter-baked bill through Congress to reorganize one-sixth of the economy on a partisan vote. Instead it was a fiasco.
Most of the devastation was wreaked by the Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday reported that draft legislation from the Senate Finance Committee would increase the federal deficit by more than $1.6 trillion over the next decade while only partly denting the population of the uninsured. The details haven't been made public, but the short version seems to be that President Obama's health boondoggle prescribes vast new spending without a coherent plan to pay for it even while failing to meet its own standards for social equity.
Finance Chairman Max Baucus postponed the health timeline, probably until after Congress's July 4 vacation. His team will try to scale down the middle-class insurance subsidies and make other cuts to hold the sticker shock under $1 trillion. (Oh, is that all?) Mr. Baucus also claims he's committed to a bipartisan consensus, yet most Republicans have been closed out of the negotiations, and industry lobbyists have been pre-emptively warned that even meeting with the GOP will invite retribution.
Useful to emphasize amid the mayhem is that CBO's number-crunching is almost always off -- predicting too much spending for market-based policies and far too little for new public programs, especially on health care. The CBO score for a new entitlement is only the teaser rate, given that the costs will inevitably balloon as the years pass and more people mob "free" or subsidized insurance.
"I'm not sure he really understands what we face in primary care," Scheiner says.OUCH.
Scheiner takes a few other shots too. Looking at Obama's team of health advisors, Scheiner doesn't see anyone who's actually in the trenches. "I have a suspicion they pick people from the top echelon of medicine, people who write about it but haven't been struggling in it," he says.
Scheiner is critical of Obama's pick for Health and Human Services secretary--Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who used to work as the chief lobbyist for her state's trial lawyers association.
"He doesn't see all the pain, it's so tragic out here," he says. "Obama's wonderful, but on this one I'm not sure if he's getting the right input."
MORE SCANDAL: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Demands Answers on Voter Intimidation Case Dismissal. “As was commented upon here at CONTENTIONS, and widely reported and remarked upon elsewhere, the Obama Justice Department took the unusual action last month of dismissing a default judgment against the New Black Panther Party in connection with a case of voter intimidation on Election Day on November 4, 2008. Members of the NBPP were caught on film blocking access to the polls and physically and verbally intimidating voters, even going so far as to wield a nightstick in front of voters and poll watchers. The Justice Department’s lawyers gathered evidence, obtained the affidavit of former civil rights advocate Bartle Bull, and filed a complaint. When the defendants did not respond and the court invited the Justice Department to file a default judgment, the case was inexplicably withdrawn.” Oh, I think it’s explicable.Also from Instapundit because I liked it
IN THE TANK? HECK, THEY’RE DRIVING THE TANK: ABC’s Troubling Political Donations.
When BayNewser heard that someone from the State Department had emailed Twitter to ask them to delay maintenance to allow Iranians to continue tweeting, we pictured some fusty old guy at Foggy Bottom in a rumpled Brooks Brothers suit and wayward spectacles.Iran update here.
Imagine our surprise, then, when we learned that, instead, it was a 27-year-old whiz kid whose job is to advise the State Department on how to use social media to promote U.S. interests the Middle East.
And imagine our further surprise when we learned this young gentleman wasn't one of Barack Obama's social media geniuses, but instead was a Condi Rice pick hired specifically to advise the State Department on young people in the Middle East and how to "counter-radicalize" them.
According to the New York Times, it was Jared Cohen, a member of the Policy Planning Staff, who contacted Twitter on Monday, inquiring about their plan to perform maintenance in what would be the middle of the day, Iran time. Following that contact, Twitter decided to postpone their maintenance so that it would take place in the middle of the night Iran-time, even though that meant it would be the middle of the day U.S. time.
Norman Eisen, the White House Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, met with investigators on the staff of Republican Sen. Charles Grassley at Grassley's offices Wednesday morning. The investigators wanted to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. According to Grassley, Eisen revealed very, very little, refusing to answer many questions of fact put to him. And now Grassley has written a letter to the White House counsel asking for answers.Check out the above link for the list of questions Sen. Grassley has sent Eisen.
The whole financial-regulation debate has moved dangerously away from some central principles of free markets. At root, the financial system amounts to nothing more than voluntary exchanges among human beings who don’t have a right to obligate others that they didn’t contract with. Proper rules of the game (the real meaning of regulation) would ensure people pay for their own mistakes — or their private compatriots who assume the risk — and not ensure that government assumes anybody’s risk. Financial institutions have been regulated, artificially promoted and capitalized and indemnified for decades, which is the entire source of the so-called systemic risk.He also wrote a very details post on Over-Regulation here. Well worth your time.
Think of it this way. As the great Arthur Seldon said, "Risks which cannot be removed or shifted profitably must be born by the entrepreneur. He will generally do so only as long as his expectation of profit outweighs the chance of loss." Systemic risk can therefore exist only when there is systemic removal of that chance of loss. Government (or organized thievery = same thing, essentially) is the only thing that can do that. Systemic risk cannot therefore exist without a government distorting the market.
We have reached a position, however, where regulation gets a pass, no government agency is eliminated or reprimanded for even disastrous interference in the market (eg Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and we are now taking indemnification to a new level. What we will end up with is basically a system of commerce whose resemblance to capitalism is remote. That is something the American people need to appreciate in this debate
Finally, a Republican congressional project worth getting behind:While I completely agree with Mr. Williamson and the Congressional Representatives involved, I would like to point out that I had mentioned this in one of my earliest posts "25 Things I Would If I Ran The Country". Numbers 7, 8, and 11 to be specific although I'd love numbers 24 and 25 included as well.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price, Congressman Kevin Brady, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, and other members of the RSC will unveil the Sunset Caucus, a permanent new initiative to shrink the size of government by eliminating federal programs, offices, and agencies. Each member of the Sunset Caucus will adopt a part of the federal government that has outlived its use or never should have been created and offer an amendment to strike it during the appropriations process, as well as introduce a stand alone bill to do the same.
Arnold Kling digs up this Paul Krugman chestnut from 2002:To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.
Oy. Might want to remeber that sentence next time you consider any of Krugman's economic advice.
(via Moynihan via McArdle)
WASHINGTON – The insurance lobby won't be able to block a public health plan because most Americans realize they would be better off if the industry had competition, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday as congressional committees worked to shape legislation.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Sebelius said that President Barack Obama does not want to drive health insurers out of business, but make them more competitive by offering working families and small businesses the option of a public plan without the high overhead costs of marketing, administration and profits.
"I think there is a lot of understanding that the private market has really failed to provide affordable coverage to Americans," Sebelius said. The industry has had "a lot of opportunities" to get rid of coverage restrictions and other unpopular policies, Sebelius said, and really "hasn't served Americans very well."
At 12 or 13 -- he is unsure of the year in which he was born -- he was forced to watch the executions of his mother, who was hanged, and his brother, who was shot. They had attempted to escape. Hoping to pry information out of him -- Mr. Shin had none -- camp officials bound the boy's hands and feet, embedded a hook in his groin and dangled him over a fire. In the Journal's conference room, Mr. Shin pulled up a leg of his trousers to show me the scars.I'd like the Left to have a moment of clarity after reading that passage. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are suffering that misery. Hundreds of millions of human beings around the world are in equally miserable and horrific conditions at the hands of merciless tyrants and war lords.
ANOTHER NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM THAT DOESN’T WORK: PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet.Yet again, why destroy an entire healthcare industry that millions upon millions of Americans pay for and depend upon when you can start by fixing the messes the government currently runs - Medicare, Medicaid, and American Indian Medical care?CROW AGENCY, Mont. – Ta’Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.This is what Obama wants for your family — or, at least, it’s what he’ll deliver in the end. Fix this — and Medicare — first!
When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.
Ta’Shon’s pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members. . . . On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is “don’t get sick after June,” when the federal dollars run out.
UPDATE: Reader Col. Douglas Mortimer writes: “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, everything on an Indian reservation is run by a government - either tribal or federal. And everything there is pretty much always a f*cking disaster.”
Prophetic words from a brave man. Like the song says, They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.
ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET
On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!
Highlights on the agenda:
ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.
The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.
MORE
Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:
Dear Mr. Westin:
As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.
Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.
In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.
Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff
Developing...
The boos erupted when Obama told the doctors in Chicago he wouldn't try to help them win their top legislative priority—limits on jury damages in medical malpractice cases.That was from this report here about Obama's speech in Chicago today to the AMA.
I've spent much of today transfixed by the ability to watch a revolution seemingly begin in Iran without the intermediation of journalists or politicians. Twitter particularly is coming into its own, and what one person can use to show people a picture of their lunch has become another person's way of telling the world about tyranny when the cameras are turned off. There's a great guide to how Twitter and other social media are spreading word of what is going on in Iran here and a guide for activism here. The tech-savvy may be interested in this. And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do so here or search for @ismurray.
President Barack Obama is ready to roll out an overhaul of the intricate rules and systems that govern America's troubled financial institutions, proposing the most ambitious revision since the Great Depression.While I am not sure if the permenant aspect of this regulatory change is allowable under the Constitution - I'm sure a lawyer will correct me - I am certain that believing any monetary system (especially a capitalist one) is immune from "economic crisis" displays a naive fascination with false utopian ideals.
The goal is to prevent a recurrence of the economic crisis that erupted in the United States and exploded last fall with devastating consequences still reverberating around the world.
Unlike the government's temporary ownership stake in automakers and major financial companies, the regulatory changes set to be announced Wednesday are designed to be permanent[emphasis mine]. They could result in a major realignment of power and authority among government agencies that set the rules for banking, lending and investing and touch American lives through daily transactions, from credit cards to mortgages and mutual funds.
Republicans prefer that companies be restructured or liquidated in bankruptcy court.Rep. Bachus is correct and Summers is wrong.
Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, urged lawmakers to reject a regulatory system "that depends on the infallibility of the government regulators, who have so far shown themselves unable to anticipate crisis, let alone prevent them."
In a speech Friday to the Council on Foreign Relations, Summers offered the administration's counterpoint: "Any financial institution that is big enough, interconnected enough or risky enough that its distress necessitates government writing substantial checks, is big enough, risky enough or interconnected enough that it should be some part of the government's responsibility to supervise it on a comprehensive basis."
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