Archive for February 2015
Blistering dissent by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai
Below are excerpts from the scathing dissent of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai to the 3-2 vote of the FCC on Thursday on Obama’s plan to regulate the internet: ORAL DISSENTING STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI Americans love the free and open Internet. We relish our freedom to speak, to post, to rally, to learn, to listen, to…
Read MoreRuling against the will of the people
November 13, 2014 Ramussen poll: 61% Oppose Federal Regulation of the Internet. Americans really like the online service they currently have and strongly oppose so-called “net neutrality” efforts that would allow the federal government to regulate the Internet. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of American Adults agree the Federal…
Read MoreNet neutrality, millennials, and Comcast
Millennials hate Comcast and love net neutrality [a clever misnomer, that one]. What are they going to think when they find out Comcast loves net neutrality? “Net Neutrality” is a term coined by law professor Tim Wu of the University of Virginia in 2003. Before I go further, do you remember that William F. Buckley…
Read MoreSan Juan Sunrise
Details of the making of this photo by Klaus Priebe here.
Read MoreHow much does a musician make on an iTunes download?
From the figures and graphs at tech dirt I calculate that for a musician to make the same as what you pay for an iTunes store music download, it takes about 55 downloads of the song. In other words, if the song downloads for $1.29 then 55 people have to download it for the musician(s)…
Read MoreWhy do governments fund climate research that feeds alarmism?
Steven Hayward gives this answer, in his Powerline blog post, The Smearing of Willie Soon: Governments fund climate research–but only climate research that feeds alarmism–because they are the main parties in interest in the climate debate. Governments stand to gain trillions of dollars in revenue and unprecedented power if voters in the U.S. and other…
Read MoreThis is the Dark Ages of America — Will There Be An American Renaissance?
From An American Renaissance by Colonel Lawrence Sellin: The Obama years will be forever known as the Dark Ages of US history, a time of political, cultural and economic deterioration. We have yet to see if they will lead to the fall of the American republic. In the Obama years, the lie became not only…
Read MoreCelebrating George Washington’s Birthday
Today is George Washington’s birthday. I commemorate it by reproducing the following letter, from the National Archives. From George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, 18 August 1790 Gentlemen: While I receive, with much satisfaction, your Address replete with expressions of affection and esteem; I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you,…
Read MoreA quote for our time, on academic admissions in the U.S.
Asians must score 140 points higher on the SAT than their white peers to gain admission to the top universities. This is because Blacks are given a bonus of 230 points, Hispanics 185 points, and Asians are penalized 50 points. A Chinese mother asked, “How can this be possible?” Steven Hayward has this answer: It’s…
Read MoreThe combined wisdom of Margaret Thatcher and Robert Conquest
Margaret Thatcher: “If you create a government bureaucracy in order to deal with a problem you’ll never be rid of the problem.” Example: U.S. Department of Education was created by Jimma Carter in 1979 with the official mission is promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence. Public schools in America have…
Read MoreParadoxes and oxymorons
Paradox In a war it is necessary to kill a lot of people in order to stop people from killing each other. If a nation wants peace the only way to get it is to be well prepared for war. Obliquity may enable one to attain a goal he could not accomplish directly. Neanderthals became extinct because of their extensive…
Read MoreComputer models of climate change are wrong — Here’s why
Experience has shown that the climate stubbornly refuses to conform to what has been predicted by computer climate models. I thought it was because the climate change alarmists were fudging the data, so its explained by the usual garbage in-garbage out formula. It turns out because computers have their idiosyncrasies and because there are several…
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