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Why the Health Care Bill Will Destroy the Conservative Movement
Yeah, the filibuster and the Senate structure sucks– but some of us knew that and had low expectations. Ignoring what we didn’t get, expanding coverage to thirty million folks, including 15 million more in Medicaid, plus restrictions on insurance companies…


Medicaid – Health care – United States Senate – Insurance – Filibuster

Google Monopoly
I have come to the conclusion that Google has evolved into what economists call a “natural monopoly”. When this situation occurs it is always cheaper for one large firm to supply the market than multiple smaller firms, In fact, absent…


Google – Monopoly – Search – Search Engines – Market

Hoekstra tries to raise money off failed terrorist attack.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking member on the House intelligence committee and a candidate for governor of Michigan, is continuing his efforts to score political points off the attempted Christmas day airline bombing. In a fundraising letter acquired by the Grand Rapids Press, Hoekstra writes, “Barack Obama’s policies may impress the ‘Blame America First’ […]

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking member on the House intelligence committee and a candidate for governor of Michigan, is continuing his efforts to score political points off the attempted Christmas day airline bombing. In a fundraising letter acquired by the Grand Rapids Press, Hoekstra writes, “Barack Obama’s policies may impress the ‘Blame America First’ crowd at home and his thousands of fans overseas, but they sure don’t do anything to protect our families in Michigan or the rest of America.” To justify this attack of treasonous presidential behavior, Hoekstra claimed Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano said “the system worked”:

They just don’t get it. The system didn’t “work” here. Far from it! It is insulting that The Obama administration would make such a claim, but then again, these are the same weak-kneed liberals who have recently tried to bring Guantanamo Bay terrorists right here to Michigan!

In fact, Napolitano said that “the system” worked “once the incident occurred” — referring only to the post-incident response — a comment similar to ones made by the Bush administration. She has since made clear that the system of preventing such attacks “did not work.” “If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security,” Hoekstra writes, “please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign.”

Most frequent ?Meet the Press? guest in 2009: Newt Gingrich.
On Sunday, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on NBC’s “Meet the Press” where he said he suspected that “every Republican running in ‘10 and again in ‘12 will run on an absolute pledge to repeal” the health care reform legislation. The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen points out that Gingrich has been the […]

On Sunday, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on NBC’s “Meet the Press” where he said he suspected that “every Republican running in ‘10 and again in ‘12 will run on an absolute pledge to repeal” the health care reform legislation. The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen points out that Gingrich has been the show’s most frequent guest in the past year:

[Sunday]was Gingrich’s fifth appearance on “MTP” just this year. In fact, Newt Gingrich, despite not having held any position in government for over a decade, was the single most frequent guest on “Meet the Press” in 2009 of any political figure in the United States. Literally.

From March to December, Gingrich appeared on “MTP,” on average, every other month. No one else in American politics was on the show this often. […]

Keep in mind, “Meet the Press” didn’t have the actual Speaker of the House on at all this year. It also featured zero appearances from all of the other living former House Speakers (Hastert, Wright, Foley) combined.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has also appeared on more than a dozen Sunday talk shows this year even though he “is not president, he chairs no Senate committees, he represents two percent of the U.S. population, he lacks a strong constituency even among his own party.”

Obama vows to repair intelligence gaps behind Detroit airplane incident
President Obama said Tuesday that a “mix of human and systemic failures” allowed a Nigerian student allegedly carrying explosives to board an airplane en route to Detroit on Christmas Day, and he vowed to quickly fix flaws that could have doomed a flight carrying nearly 300 passengers and crew…

As standoff with Iran continues, U.S. prepares targeted sanctions
The Obama administration is readying sanctions against discrete elements of the Iranian government, including those involved in the deadly crackdown on Iranian protesters, marking a shift to a more aggressive U.S. posture toward the Islamic republic, U.S. officials said.

As defense agencies hire, other government workers get incentives to retire
Uncle Sam may be hiring, but he’s also trimming staff in some corners of the government, as agencies suffer through a budget squeeze or shift their focus.

El fabricante de componentes austriaco-canadiense Magna International va en camino de conseguir un triunfo después de todo, y no quedarse con el mal sabor que le dejó la fallida adquisición de Opel. Se trata de la puja de su filial Car Top Systems por la compra de Karmann, el constructuor de carrocerías alemán que se declaró insolvente en abril de este año y cuyas acciones fueron adquiridas en parte por Volkswagen.

Un representante de Karmann informó al diario Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung de que CTS está ganando votos en la sede del constructor en Osnabrück, en Alemania, y supera a las otras tres empresas que también han mostrado interés, entre ellas la española CIE Automotive. No obstante, hay que destacar que Karmann aún no ha tenido más negociaciones con las rivales de Car Top Systems.

Por desgracia para esta filial de Magna, tiene por delante un obstáculo importante en esta pugna, y es que la Oficina federal para la Competencia consideraría negativo que Karmann formara parte de CTS puesto que ya de por sí hay muy pocos fabricantes de capotas y techos para coches en Europa.

Esto contrasta con el hecho de que las autoridades antimonopolio en Alemania permitieron que Webasto adquiriese a otro constructor de sistemas de techos, Edscha, en este mes. Sin embargo, aseguran que una nueva fusión eliminaría demasiada competencia, por lo que CTS vería perjudicada su candidatura.

Vía | IberCaja Motor

The Tipping Point in Iran
Abbas Milani, Wall Street Journal
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Many Question ‘System Worked’ Comment
Jennifer Loven, Assoc. Press
The Obama administration claim that “the system worked” after a failed aircraft bombing wasn't quite as jolting as President George W. Bush's “Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job” when New Orleans was sinking under deadly Hurricane Katrina. But both raised disturbing questions about presidential response in a time of crisis.Bush's praise for his beleaguered FEMA director, Michael Brown, came while starving storm evacuees remained trapped in the Louisiana Superdome and victims' bodies bloated in the flooded streets. It became a clarion call for all…

TSA Must Get More Anti-Terrorist Tools

Iran’s War on Its People

Can Crist Survive Conservative Uprising in Florida?
Tim Padgett, Time

The Queen of Pop has been blamed for a downturn in donations to the Malawi orphanage where she adopted daughter Mercy James.

Organizers at the Kondanani Orphanage claim the facility is struggling to raise funds because people wrongly assume pop philanthropist Madonna has donated thousands of dollars, according to The Daily Mirror. Orphanage officials insist potential benefactors are failing to offer their help because of The Material Girl. They insist the singer has not offered a huge donation, but has given the impression that she has. That impression, they say, is scaring off dollars.

“We find it a day-to-day struggle to survive. Some days we don’t even know if there will be enough food to feed the babies. Donors are not giving because they are under the impression Madonna paid us vast amounts of money…..”

These top-performing enzymes provide yield increases for starch bioethanol production. Novozymes launched Liquozyme SC 4X for liquefaction. This top-performing enzyme provides yield increases for starch bioethanol production. …

This top-performing enzyme provides yield increases for starch bioethanol production. In early 2009, Novozymes broke ground on a new USD 200 million production facility in Blair, Nebraska, to meet demand for enzymes for the production …

Last week it emerged that China intended to start a second wave of its ferocious dollars-for-hard-assets campaign that went into full gear in the first half of the year.

It looks as though Canada will continue to be a major beneficiary of China’s plans.

MineWeb: Canadian mining stocks jumped on Tuesday after Corriente Resources Inc (CTQ.TO), which has a copper-gold project in Ecuador, agreed to be taken over by Chinese suitors in their country’s latest bid for an international resource developer.

The C$679 million ($653 million) bid from Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co Ltd and China Railway Construction Corp Ltd (601186.SS), announced on Monday, comes more than a year after Corriente started talks to sell the company.

…

Other active miners on Tuesday included Guyana Goldfields Inc (GUY.TO), up 11 Canadian cents at C$7.85, and Stornaway Diamond Corp (SWY.TO), up 8 Canadian cents at 64 Canadian cents.

The bid for Corriente follows a slew of takeovers of Canadian-based firms by Chinese state companies that are flush with cash and hungry for resources.

Read the whole story — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Next Wave Of Chinese Binge Commodity Buying Begins
• CEO Of Goldman Sachs-Owned Molycorp Is Psyched About Treasury’s Protectionist Attitude Towards China And Gold Mining
• CIBC: There Is No Gold Bubble, Diversification And A Mining Shortage Will Push It To $1400

While the forty percent of all men who are likely to experience some hair loss in their lives constitute an enormous potential market for an effective hair loss remedy, and research to supply them with one is ongoing, only minoxidil has proven somewhat effective in cases of male pattern baldness. Another drug, originally created as a treatment for prostate problems, and now marketed as the pill Propecia, also shows some promise as a hair loss remedy.

But there has yet to be discovered a substance which will function as a universal hair loss remedy. No product currently used as a hair loss remedy can be effective in all instances of hair loss, because there are many underlying causes of baldness. Those people who educate themselves both about the way in which healthy hair grows, and the reasons it stops growing, will be much less likely to be hooked by the exaggerated claims of effectiveness which often accompany the latest hair loss remedy.

Research has indicated that the hormone dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, may be one of the major factors in male pattern baldness. Enzymes which can inhibit the body’s production of DHT from testosterone are credited with preventing hair loss; minoxidil and finasteride, the active ingredients in Rogaine and Propecia, have each been given FDA approval for use as a hair loss remedy.

Even though a hair loss panacea has yet to be discovered, those suffering from hair loss will benefit from determining why they are experiencing it so they can either search for an appropriate hair loss remedy, or choose not to use one at all.

Some of the conditions leading to hair loss are curable; if its underlying cause is eliminated, the hair loss will take care of itself. Both lupus and diabetes, for instance, may contribute to hair loss in their sufferers, and only by talking with your physician will you know if either of them is a contributing factor in yours.

Stress, both physical and emotional, has been linked to hair loss, which was reversed as soon as the stress-inducing situations were eliminated. In cases of stress, time may be the only hair loss remedy necessary.

Hormone imbalances may lead to hair loss, and if the hormonal balance is restored, hair growth may be as well. If someone is not genetically pre-disposed to hair loss and begins experiencing it, however, he or she should not use any kind of hair loss remedy without first seeing a doctor to determine if there is an organic reason for the condition.

The herb Gotu Kola has been used by Chinese herbalists for centuries s one of the most effective natural hair loss treatments; it has been researched and found to restore the hair and thicken the skin of rats suffering from alopecia. Gotu Kola may have the added benefit of thickening skin in humans as well as restoring hair loss, as thinning of the skin is another common sign of aging.

Another one of the natural hair loss treatments which is claimed to thicken the skin, and relieve some of the pressure on the very tiny blood vessels which transport nutrients to the hair follicles is emu oil.

This Unique 5 Part Program Teaches Hair Loss Sufferers How To Stop And Regrow Their Lost Hair Using Natural Remedies.

How To Stop Hair Loss And Regrow It The Natural Way.

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I didn’t love “David After Dentist“, the YouTube clip of a doped-up 7-year-old talking to his dad after surgery. Kinda creepy, IMHO. But that’s just me: It was one of most popular things on Google’s (GOOG) video site this year, and has logged 42 million views to date.

But here’s where one of YouTube’s most interesting conventions comes in — the “response” video.

If you’re a cynic, you’d argue that creating a “response” video to a popular clip is just a crude attempt to piggyback your way to exposure. And sure enough, “David’s” clip has 26 responses, and most of them aren’t terribly interesting.

Except for this one, from the reliably funny guys behind Chad Vader. Which is why it has nearly 9 million views of its own:

Bonus parody, which hasn’t actually been labeled a “response”, from the excellent people at the Upright Citizens Brigade (if you live in New York and haven’t been to one of their Sunday night Assscat shows, you’re doing something wrong):

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Joel from J2i.net has published this comparison video of the various voice command implementations on Windows Mobile and Android.  While Joel prefers the easy access on Windows Mobile, the lack of an API for 3rd party developers to access the software means it remains a closed system, while the Android system is fully extensible by developers.

Hopefully this is something Microsoft can revise in future versions of Windows Mobile, especially with their purchase of Tellme, which brings all the technology in-house.

Heritage Key (Owen Jarus)

A massive one ton granite statue of the pharaoh Taharqa has been found in Dangeil, deep inside Sudan. Taharqa was a pharaoh of the 25th dynasty of Egypt. This was a period of Kushite rule, which means that Taharqa and his fellow rulers were from Nubia and drew their power-base from there.

The site is located approximately 350 km northeast of the modern Sudanese capital of Khartoum – in the general vicinity of the fifth Nile cataract.

In addition to Taharqa, archaeologists have found statues of two other Napatan kings at the site – Senkamanisken and Aspelta. Neither of these rulers controlled Egypt.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

We all know that the holidays are supposed to make us better, more understanding persons. But still, there’s a limit to the good deeds one can perform. According to What Car? leaving your car in a public parking spot can be a lot more dangerous than you can imagine.

A survey performed on the website revealed that only 37 percent of the drivers who took part in the research would definitely report damaging a parked car. Of the remaining, 18 percent would surely drive away just like… (read more)

Sorry, Film Fans: Mr. T has turned down an opportunity to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming A-Team movie.

The 57-year-old actor – who became a pop culture star for his portrayal of BA Baracus on NBC’s crime-fighting ’80s series – has confirmed he won’t appear in the film adaptation when it opens in theaters this summer because it “just wouldn’t be right” to appear in the movie unless he has a major role.

….If that makes sense. (Shrugs…..)

“He said it wasn’t about money, because he turned down the chance to appear in the film before that was even discussed. He said it just wouldn’t be right for him to be in it. If his character BA Baracus isn’t the main guy, then why do it? What’s wrong with the film that they need him to make a cameo?” says Latino Review columnist George “El Guapo” Roush.

The star was also concerned the filmmakers would overuse his name to promote the movie.

“They would market the film with him being in it, and he didn’t want his friends and family to think he would have some big role when he wouldn’t,” Roush added. “He told me he has nothing against the cast or even the fact that they’re doing a remake. But a cameo is just something he wasn’t interested in. He said he’s very happy with his life right now and enjoys giving back to the community.”

The A-Team Movie — featuring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Patrick Wilson, and Jessica Biel — is scheduled for release in July 2010.

GM has announced that it is prepared to wait before determining the fate of Saab, however, it will continue winding down the brand in the mean time. Saab board member Paul Aakerlund has said if that there is a bid that GM finds sufficient, it would be willing to ignore the December 31st date that it set for itself.

Spyker CEO Victor Muller, whose company has been involved in talks to acquire Saab, remains hopeful that he still has a chance. Muller expects to be contacted soon, as GM has set the deadline for the 31st of this month.

Spyker’s first bid on the possibly-doomed Swedish carmaker was rejected by GM, only to be followed by a second offer two days later; the offer that Muller is waiting to hear back on. A Wyoming based group, Merbanco Inc., is also rumored to be involved in some sort of offer.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

We’re still on holiday. See you soon.

Book sales, just like almost all existing businesses, are being disrupted by the Internet. Amazon started out as an online book retailer and built an e-commerce empire from that. Brick-and-mortar books sellers weren’t thrilled, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. In Germany a rather interesting, albeit protectionist, law demands that all sellers have the same prices for the same books supposedly to help smaller retailers keep up with the large chains which can afford to make massive discounts, even if at a loss. Amazon.de, though, apparently doesn’t adhere to this rule and is selling books at a lower price leading to one small book shop suing the company.

The Buchhandlung Schopf bookstore from the town of Brunsbüttel, Germany is suing Amazon for the price irregularities, citing the aforementioned law. Its owners claim that many customers were demanding that the online retailer’s prices were lower than those of the bookstore and that some were choosing to buy at Amazon.

In a capitalist economy, this is what is called “competition” and, it’s safe to assume, than many would do away with the whole concept. Fortunately for them, Germany believes that competition is a bad thing when it comes to books and has a government-mandated price-fixing law to ensure that everyone sells at the … (read more)