September 25, 2006

Rising to a Boyle

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 7:21 PM

In a brief story urging the Senate to act soon on the president's judicial nominees, National Review gives North Carolina's Terrence Boyle a prominent mention.

He's second on NR's list behind a nominee for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals:

The eminently qualified, badly mistreated district-court judge Terrence Boyle, whose nomination has been pending for five years, deserves a floor vote as a matter of simple fairness.

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Clinton's Interview on Fox

Posted by Michael Moore at 4:46 PM

Here is President Clinton with Chris Wallace:

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Bank of America Has No Shame

Posted by Jeff A. Taylor at 4:15 PM

Michael, I had to make sure that the BoA connection to that mess did not go down the memory-hole.

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Arizona Democrats Have No Shame

Posted by Dr. Michael Sanera at 3:37 PM

Michelle Malkin is highlighting the disgraceful Arizona 9/11 memorial here.  

 Here is her conclusion:
"Five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, we must remain as vigilant as ever against those who would exploit jihadi acts of war and mass murder as opportunities to erect literal Guilt Complexes on American soil. They tried it at Ground Zero. They tried it at Shanksville. They succeeded in Arizona."

Visit her site for the full effect. 

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Abortion, affirmative action, global warming ... Oh, my!

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 3:31 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court will tackle each of those topics in its new term.

Duke's Walter Dellinger is quoted in this U.S. News discussion of the likely constitutional battles.

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Unions and Unemployment

Posted by Joseph Coletti at 2:59 PM

Jeffrey Kling at Brookings suggests replacing the typical unemployment insurance "temporary earnings replacement accuounts (TERAs)" to help those who lose a job and take one that pays less. The Economist gives a good account of this idea in an issue that is generally critical of economic ideas from the American Left, particularly their romatic notion of unions and other bits of "empty symbolism" over "effective policies."

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Kos Sports

Posted by Joseph Coletti at 2:07 PM

Markos Moulitsas is profiled by Ana Marie Cox in the current Wired (not online yet). He is trying to replicate the success of Daily Kos with Sports Blogs Nation -- a network of blogs by team fanatics. His next idea will be "a chain of secular megachurches for liberals." Not surprisingly, the best line in the article belongs to Glenn Reynolds:

It [Kos] works because the secret to getting ahead in the 21st century is capitalizing on people doing what they want to do, rather than trying to get them to do what you want to do.

If only the "libertarian Democrat" had been so articulate, I might believe the "libertarian" part of his self description. 

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Speaking of Mike Adams

Posted by Jon Sanders at 1:37 PM

As for the denial of full professorship, Adams said in a telephone interview he had not been given a reason for the decision and would not speculate on possible reasons.

"I'm stunned," he said.

Adams read from a memorandum from his department chairman saying that "his record does not merit" promotion at this time.

The chairman of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice referred questions to campus spokeswoman Cindy Lawson. "It is a personnel matter," Lawson said, "and UNCW does not comment on personnel issues."

UNC-Wilmington is not, however, elaborating on that, even to Mike. They are giving every impression that they don't want to say what, exactly, in Adams' record doesn't qualify.

Background: UNCW's criteria for promotion.

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The Mousetrap

Posted by Jenna Ashley Robinson at 1:32 PM

My favorite play, Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" will be performed at the Raleigh Little Theatre Oct. 6-22.

Anyone who loves a good who-done-it should definitely check it out. It was the best play I saw in London and that included "My Fair Lady."

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An Uncivil Report on Civil Society

Posted by John Hood at 11:59 AM

The Boston Globe celebrates today the creation of an innovative new $20 million program of foundation grants to nurture individual American artists. But it can’t help taking a swipe at conservatives for “political disputes over controversial art” and at Congress for “federal spending cuts” at the National Endowment for the Arts. Oddly, the Globe describes the new grants program — funded by the Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential, and Rasmuson foundations — as “armed with private money that frees it from congressional budget axes.”

I’m not saying that it’s odd to see private funding for the arts as liberating. That’s always been the best consequentialist argument for eliminating government largesse for artists — that private funding protects them from oversight by politicians. Forcing taxpayers to fund obscenity and stupidity is bad enough, but more common is that government funding distorts the arts by favoring some trends, subjects, and personalities over others. That’s obscene and stupid enough.

What’s odd is that the Globe finally gets this. It predicts that the results of the new initiative could include “a great play or a new building” but “also a sound, unapologetic investment in the nation’s artist soul.” Yes, made privately and voluntarily.

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Book title: "Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank"

Posted by Jon Sanders at 11:59 AM

Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank. Well, I guess I have to plug at least one Democrat before I sign off. Celia Rivenbark is a funny lady. She used to teach Sunday school with my wife. But that’s not the funny part. The funny part is Celia’s writing. There’s a reason she won SEBA Book of the Year with her last book “We’re just like you, only prettier.” This one may win as much acclaim as her last. Celia’s one of the funniest writers in America. Read this book. I’m sure you’ll agree.

I am appalled at the way some parents let their children be dressed — pre-teens in "Future Porn Star" T-shirts, seven-year-olds in Abercrombie & Fitch's "cute and sweet" cherry-emblazoned thongs, or six-year-olds in "breast-enhancing padded bras," or any other outward sign of a parent who doesn't seem to care about the overt sexualization of children, not even their own.

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Political Correctness: “In Mountain Terms.”

Posted by Michael Moore at 10:25 AM

I was corrected this weekend by another hillbilly (oops), there I go again. I said, “There sure are a lot Hillbillies in Raleigh.” I was corrected, come to find out its “Appalachian American!”

Words of Wisdom from a Mountain Scholar...

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A little less elbow room

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 09:34 AM

The U.S. will soon add its 300 millionth resident, and U.S. News discusses in this week's cover story the factors that contribute to American growth.

The article features Wilmington as an example of a city that's growing because of retirees.

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Reading First

Posted by Dr. Terry Stoops at 09:07 AM

An audit of the federal Reading First program revealed that it unlawfully favored some reading programs over others. The audit found that officials favored Direct Instruction (DI), a proven way to increase reading performance. A July, 2006 evaluation of Reading First found that it produced positive results. North Carolina received close to $18 million in Reading First grants last year.

Everyone is talking about an email from the director of the program, Chris Doherty, to a member of his staff, which directs the staff member to criticize a company that Doherty did not endorse.

"They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the (expletive deleted) out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirtbags."

Doherty has already resigned, and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has announced that she will follow the recommendations of the audit.

What do we learn from this? Reading First was an administrative nightmare but an academic success. And now, Reading First will allow public schools to waste their time with Whole Language and other unproven reading programs.

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Did you feel the earth move?

Posted by Chad Adams at 09:02 AM

No, I'm not referring to the shock that corruption might actually be teased out of the current Geddings trial, but that there was an actual 3.5 earthquake this morning at around 7:22 A.M.   Yes, nearby!

There was also one last Friday.   

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Sweden: A Deep South State

Posted by John Hood at 08:28 AM

Voters in Sweden have, as previously discussed here, rejected the Social Democrats that set up and ran the country's welfare state for decades. Heritage's Dan Mitchell explains part of the reason why here:

Sweden is no longer one of the world's 10 richest jurisdictions. It now ranks as the 18th most prosperous nation according to the World Bank, which uses per capita gross national income. Using statistics that more accurately measure living standards, such as per-capita disposable income, Sweden falls even further in the rankings. According to calculations by the OECD, Swedes now have less disposable income than the average resident of Western Europe. Even Spaniards now rank above Swedes in terms of per-capita disposable income.

Americans, meanwhile, have almost twice as much per capita disposable income as Swedes, according to the OECD study. Even if the comparison is made using pre-tax economic output, America remains far ahead. Indeed, a Swedish think tank issued a report noting that if Sweden were part of America, it would be the sixth poorest state

So the next time you get in an argument with someone who praises the Swedish model for day care, welfare, etc., you might respond this way, "Do you mean the Louisiana model?”

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College has been oversold

Posted by George Leef at 08:19 AM

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- this time in today's Christian Science Monitor. You can read my article here.

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Government bloat

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 08:13 AM

I suspect other major newspapers mirror the N&O by printing each Monday an Associated Press list of items scheduled during the upcoming week.

This week's list struck me as a good example of the disturbing level to which government dabbles in running our lives.

Congressional committees will tackle this week: insider trading; human trafficking; making Hollywood movies "family friendly"; the economy; and the Hewlett-Packard scandal.

How many of these meetings will lead to an outcome that's beneficial to our society? 

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