One of the articles that caught my eye was one about military spending & size when taking wealth and population into account.

It doesn’t seem fair to not factor in the wealth of a country when assessing its military budget.

So, if you take military budgets as a proportion of each country’s GDP, a very different picture emerges.

The US is knocked down into 8th place by such nations as Jordan, Burundi and Georgia. The UK plunges to 29th.

Arguing that this law will lead to unlawful racial profiling is not what it is really about.  If it were, there would be more talk about proposed solutions from those opposed to the bill.  They would be saying:

“This law will lead to racial profiling.  We can think of better ways to solve the issue of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in our state without possible profiling, and here it is: [ ENTER PROPOSED SOLUTION HERE ].”

I’m not holding my breath though because in their view, there is no issue to solve.  My impression is that opponents of the law simply have no desire to allow the United States to assert its sovereignty and treat unlawful residents like, well, unlawful residents.

Even if you’re a relative of one of the 9/11 hijackers, that man was an out-and-out terrorist, and nothing you can say will change that. And if your great-great-great-granddaddy was a Confederate who stood up for Southern ideals, he too was a terrorist.

They are the same.

First, Reid’s allies plan to distribute the NAACP vote ratings of Republican senators who have scolded him. The data will be made available to editorial boards, cable programs and the blogosphere — including votes on minimum wage, community-oriented policing, education funding and HIV/AIDS programs.

Separately, the Congressional Black Caucus plans to issue a new statement Monday, defending Reid and brushing back Republicans.

“Senator Reid’s record provides a stark contrast to actions of Republicans to block legislation that would benefit poor and minority communities — most recently reflected in Republican opposition to the health bill now under consideration,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. “I look forward to Senator Reid continuing to serve as Majority Leader to guide this important agenda through the Senate.”

Classic.  Attack the messenger.

Ad Hominem:

–adjective :

attacking an opponent’s character rather than answering his argument.

If only Democrats could stay consistent on principle…

I’d heard about scrubbing ideas before, but I had never heard about them being close to production.

If you were to install 10 million of them, you would pull back on the order of 3.6 gigatons of C02 a year. The world right now produces 30 gigatons of C02 a year. In 2006, the world made 73 million cars. They are comparable in size, and ultimately comparable in cost.

Sure,there were bailouts this year, but why is the deficit expected to remain the same next year?  Anyone realize how bizarre it is that Obama was championing a halving of the deficit by the end of his first term?

Hate tip: Ed Morrissey

Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to “uncover” the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

My email response to flag@whitehouse.gov:

from    Ryan Farnes
to    flag@whitehouse.gov
date    Fri, Aug 7, 2009

subject    Really?

The White House is asking citizens to report on chain emails and word of mouth?

My opinion of fishy?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

Ryan Farnes

Hat tip: Townhall.com’s Greg Hengler

Former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich says it’s difficult watching his wife, Patti, fill in for him on a reality show, but he appreciated the former Illinois first lady’s televised exercise in tarantula-eating as an “act of love.”

The CNN article doesn’t once mention any sort of religious affiliation, desire to avenge muslim deaths, nor the desire to, “do jihad.”  I suppose it was not an important detail.