SOMETHING I'D LOVE TO SEE

Mark "Foamer" Levin has challenged David Gregory to invite him on MTP, something Foamer knows will never happen. If Levin had any balls, he'd go on Rachel Maddow's show.

DAVID BROOKS IS STILL BABBLING

I caught a few minutes of his appearance on the 5/20/2010 Huge Ego Hewitt Show and he came out with these statistics:

Fifty years ago, Swedes on average lived 2.7 years longer than Americans. So the Swedes built a big welfare state, big, national health care service. We didn’t. We went a different direction. And what was the result after fifty years? Swedes lived 2.7 years longer than the average American. No difference at all.

I found this a hard to believe so I went to the UNDATA site and found the historical life expectancies for Sweden and the U.S. Here's a chart from that database:

The dates on the X-axis refer to 5 year groupings, so 1950 really refers to 1950-55, 1955 refers to 1955-1960 and 1960 refers to 1960-65.

First note that Brooks was wrong about the gap in 1960, no matter which grouping we use. For the 1955-60 group, Swedish LE is exactly 3 years greater than the U.S. For the 1960-65 group, the difference is 3.5 years. This is a minor point but it's good to be a stickler with these aholes.

The real important point is that Sweden didn't begin universal health beginning in 1960 (50 years ago), it began about 1900. What did change since 1965 was America's system: Medicare and Medicaid, both socialized approaches to health care. In time, these two programs seem to have led a marked decrease in Sweden's LE advantage.

SOMETHING ELSE I DIDN'T KNOW

Paul Krugman points out that Austrian libertarians prefer tort actions to government regulation:

Why Libertarianism Doesn’t Work, Part N
May 14, 2010, 1:40 pm

Thinking about BP and the Gulf: in this old interview, Milton Friedman says that there’s no need for product safety regulation, because corporations know that if they do harm they’ll be sued.

Interviewer: So tort law takes care of a lot of this ..

Friedman: Absolutely, absolutely.

This is the same solution that Walter Lippmann offered in The Good Society (originally published in 1937). I'm not claiming that Lippmann is a libertarian, I'm only pointing out that he seems to be quite a bit different from Glenn Beck's description: "He is just evil stuff. "

AND I THOUGHT FATS LIMBAUGH LOOKED SILLY

(From Wonkette)

RAND PAUL IS A WHINY COWARD

He first whined about the coverage he was given for his outrageous remarks on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and now chickens out of appearing on Meet the Press.

(h/ts Atrios & Raw Story)

YES, PA-12 WAS A BIG FAIL FOR THE GOP

Despite all the spinning, the GOP suffered a portentous loss in Pennsylvania and the Dems can stop getting hysterical about November.

WHAT HANNITY & THE OTHER GASBAGS WON'T TELL YOU

They are quick to point out any non-military government failing but are mum when it comes to the military-industrial complex. I suspect we won't hear anything about these two stories.

Texas Man Faked Way Into Army

by The Associated Press
May 21, 2010

A Texas man with no military experience tricked the Army into letting him enter a reserve unit as a noncommissioned officer earlier this year, a deception that placed an untrained soldier in a leadership position in a time of war, an Associated Press investigation has found.

While the soldier never deployed overseas, some say the case demonstrates how easily someone could pose as a member of the U.S. military.

I would say this is a more important breach of security than Mexicans sneaking into America looking for work.

US rifles not suited to warfare in Afghan hills
By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press Writer – Fri May 21, 4:41 am ET

KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. military's workhorse rifle — used in battle for the last 40 years — is proving less effective in Afghanistan against the Taliban's more primitive but longer range weapons.

As a result, the U.S. is reevaluating the performance of its standard M-4 rifle and considering a switch to weapons that fire a larger round largely discarded in the 1960s.

But a U.S. Army study found that the 5.56 mm bullets fired from M-4s don't retain enough velocity at distances greater than 1,000 feet (300 meters) to kill an adversary. In hilly regions of Afghanistan, NATO and insurgent forces are often 2,000 to 2,500 feet (600-800 meters) apart.

We've been in Afghanistan for almost 9 years and it's just now that the geniuses in the military are finding this out???

OK, I'M STARTING TO GET IT

The Glibertarians, the Baggers and the Tenthers DO want to overturn the 1964 Civil Rights Act but they don't want to admit it.

I DON'T GET THE FUSS

Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul said what a true libertarian should say about the 1964 Civil Rights Act:

Paul believes, as many conservatives believe, that the government should ban bias in all of its institutions but cannot intervene in the policies of private businesses. Those businesses, as Paul argues, take a risk by maintaining, in this example, racist policies. Patrons can decide whether or not to give them their money, or whether or not to make a fuss about their policies. That, not government regulation and intervention, is how bias should be eliminated in the private sector. And in this belief Paul is joined by some conservatives who resent that liberals seek government intervention for every unequal outcome.

There's been some fuss about this but there shouldn't be if the news media had let us know what glibertarians believe.

THE WINGERS WON'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO THIS

But more or less normal people should be aware that our most prestigious science organization has concluded that there IS man-made global warming and we have to do something about it.

Academy of Sciences defends climate-change research, conclusions
By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific body, issued a strong defense of the science of climate change Wednesday and called for a long-lasting national policy to limit its effects.

"These reports show that the state of climate change science is strong," Ralph J. Cicerone, the president of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a statement.

The report that summarizes the scientific understanding of climate change says that there's a "strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing, and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities." It goes on to say that the "core phenomenon, scientific questions and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious scientific debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations."

The scientists reviewed information from research over the past five years that was too recent to have been included in the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A NEW WINGNUT DVD

This one is called "Invisible Empire" and describes how "the global elite are imposing a dictatorial world government." Alex Jones is convinced that "we are living in a world controlled by a small group of elite men and women whose goals do not align with the goals of the common man."

BECK MAY HAVE HURT HIMSELF

His announcement that he's partnering with Freedom Works will upset the Baggers who correctly grasp that FW is nothing but a corporate shill movement, like this guy:

Who is John Galt Member Since: May. 14, 2010 Party: NA	#9 May. 19, 2010 - 3:55 PM EST Beck, what the he11 are you doing? You lost me on this one. FreedomWorks is in the TEA Party movement only for the money.
	Reply Quote Report Abuse

ANOTHER WIN FOR BIG GOVERNMENT

This is a small but very important step.

New Transistor Bridges Human-Machine Gap
Stephanie Pappas
TechNewsDaily Contributor
LiveScience.com Stephanie Pappas
technewsdaily Contributor
livescience.com – 42 mins ago

Humans and machines could be one step closer to merging thanks to a new transistor controlled by the molecule that powers biological cells.

The nano-sized device could be used in medical devices or prosthetics wired directly into the human body.

"Our devices make a bridge between the biological world and the electronic world," said Aleksandr Noy, who developed the transistor along with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in California. "In effect, we made a biological protein talk directly with a nanoelectronic circuit."

Livermore gets its funding mostly from the Feds:

Laboratory Sponsors. As a national security laboratory, Livermore’s funding largely comes from the NNSA Office of Defense Programs for nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship activities. Support for national security and homeland security work also comes from the NNSA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, the Department of Homeland Security, various Department of Defense sponsors, and other federal agencies.

Livermore also applies its special capabilities to meet other important national needs. Activities sponsored by non-NNSA elements of DOE include work for the Office of Environmental Management as well as research and development projects for the Office of Science and many other DOE program offices. Non-DOE sponsors include federal agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Institutes of Health, and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as State of California agencies and industry.

HANNITY REALLY IS A TARD

He just said Gary Pierce of Arizona was on the "Cooperation Commission" when it's really the Corporation Commission.

A RED STATE VOTES TO RAISE TAXES

It's the regressive state sales tax but the margin of victory is VERY impressive. With 98.7% of the polls reporting, the increase was approved by 64.1%, the party of No only got 35.9%. This should be a BIG setback to the Tea Baggers.

BECK'S GETTING WEIRDER

He's VERY upset that people are exposing his scams and insists he always tells the truth.

THE FRAUD IS SEAMLESS

UPDATE: POLITICO also has an article about this scam.

(h/t Atrios)

You may have noticed how the radio gasbags preach doom and gloom just before leading into an ad for Goldline. This makes them very useful idiots for the gold scam artists who need people who can reach out to the rubes. Will Bunch (ATTYTOOD) points out that buying gold coins is a huge ripoff:

Weiner's staff investigated Goldline and found that the coins it sells are not the good investment that its salesmen -- who are not licensed investment advisers -- claim that it is to consumers, because the price of gold would essentially have to double beyond its current high to begin seeing any gains. Specially, the investigators found Goldline coins selling for 90 percent above the melt value of the coin, that is, its value by weight. The largest markup seen on a coin, Weiner said, was 208 percent above the melt value.

I noted below that LifeLock, another major advertiser on the gasbag shows, has run into some legal problems because of its unjustified claims, something the gasbags don't seem to have mentioned. You may recall the LifeLock ad in which the CEO gives out his SS number to show how great LifeLock is. Bunch found that this was more BS:

In fact, the New Times reports there have been at least 13 episodes since 2007 of people using Davis' Social Security number -- as revealed in the LifeLock commercials -- to open bogus accounts.

NEWT ALSO GOES OFF MEME

Newt Gingrich always promotes the Free Market Fairy and the need for a smaller Federal government but when Think Progress asked him about BP's Deepwater Horizon blowout, he seemed to forget his principles.

TP: So given the scale of the oil spill in the gulf, do you still think that it represents an acceptable risk to continue offshore drilling?

GINGRICH: Yes. … One oil spill since 1969 with 4,000 wells. If the Coast Guard had a reasonable research program, we’d be much further down the road to solving this kind of thing.

NEW WINGNUT RADIO AD

Steve Forbes, speaking for Freedom Works, has done a radio ad that states Glenn Beck has joined with FW to help "take back America."

GIULIANI'S BOY

This is the fellow Rudy "9-11" Giuliani recommended to be the head of Homeland Security. Will this prevent the news media from considering him some sort of national security expert?

Ex-NYPD Commissioner Kerik Begins Prison Term

by NPR Staff and Wires
May 17, 2010

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has begun a four-year prison sentence, reporting Monday to a federal prison in Maryland.

Kerik pleaded guilty last year to tax fraud, lying to the White House and six other felony charges.

Kerik achieved fame and respect after the 2001 terrorist attacks and was nominated by President George W. Bush to head the Department of Homeland Security. Questions were raised during the vetting process about his associations and his finances.

He dropped out, and later admitted he lied about some of his financial dealings.

At his sentencing, Judge Stephen Robinson said Kerik had used the events of Sept. 11 for "personal gain and aggrandizement."

BILLY GOES OFF MEME

Last night, Billy Cunningham had S. E. Cupp on to push her new book about how liberals are so intolerant they want to destroy Christianity in America. Billy mentioned that the Fundies didn't like Mitt Romney because he was a Mormon but that didn't faze Cupp in the least as she kept on bashing liberals.

IF YOU ARE GOP, YOU'RE NEVER A HAS-BEEN

Both Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani are given a platform by the news media despite the fact that neither is any longer a force in national politics. Gingrich has been out of Congress since 1999 and Giuliani's only claim to fame is that he was mayor of NYC on 9/11.

THIS IS NOT FROM THE ONION

(h/t Gawker)
But it may be used by a future Gibbon to help explain the fall of the American Empire.

Trading firms put their money on poker experts

A new breed of Wall Street recruit gets ahead not through connections or business experience, but through demonstrating a head for numbers, quick thinking and risk-taking – skills from the card table.

By Nathaniel Popper, Los Angeles Times

May 16, 2010

SEN. SESSIONS LIES ABOUT ELENA KAGAN, ABC DOESN'T QUESTION HIM

On ABC's "This Week," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-GA) made a stink about Kagan's tenure as Dean of Harvard Law School, falsely claiming that Kagan "violated the law" by not allowing military recruiting on the Harvard Law School campus. This is incorrect. In 2003, Kagan let military recruiters back on campus because of the threat of Harvard losing 100s of millions in Federal funding due to the Solomon amendment. This reversed a 25 year ban. When a Federal Appeals court struck down the amendment, Kagan re-instated the ban. In 2004, the Supreme Court overturned the Appellate court and Kagan dutifully annulled the ban on recruiters.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

U.S. Special forces have been killing civilians in Afghanistan for years and nothing is done about it.

Civilian Casualties Raise Afghan Ire at U.S.

Observers, however, point to a concurrent rise in night raids by Special Forces units. According to United Nations and Afghan government estimates, night raids accounted for more than half of the 600 civilian deaths inflicted coalition forces last year.

NOW THIS IS EPISTEMIC CLOSURE

Ben Armbruster in Think Progress provides a terrific example of how close-minded wingnuts can be.

Notably, one NRA member found news of the “terror gap” so incredulous that he did not believe the fact that potential terrorists are allowed to purchase firearms. He called news of the GAO report “false information,” and when ThinkProgress tried to show him a Washington Post article reporting it, he remained unconvinced:

NRA MEMBER: The Washington Post, I think that’s part of like the Communist News Broadcasting and everything. … The Washington Post lies on everything. … I don’t know how I can believe the Post. You need to find better facts than the Washington Post. … I wouldn’t believe a word I read in the Washington Post. It’s one of the worst papers in the whole country, from what I’ve heard.

TP: Oh, then which newspaper would you believe?

NRA MEMBER: Which newspaper? I don’t know I would stick to Fox News over everything.