The Washington Post: The President's Power Grab

Obama's decision [to force Catholic and other religious institutions to provide birth control and early abortion drugs or else drop insurance for their employees altogether] also reflects a certain view of liberalism. Classical liberalism was concerned with the freedom to hold and practice beliefs at odds with a public consensus. Modern liberalism uses the power of the state to impose liberal values on institutions it regards as backward. 

The President's Power Grab, by Michael Gerson

Clark Judge: 21 Points

Thoughts On the State of the Union

Trickle down control over everything.

15 Questions

John Hawkins lists 15 Questions the Press would ask the President if he were a Republican, covering Fast and Furious, Solyndra, Union money, Health Cost 'miscalculations,' the Price of Gas vs Jobs vs the Keystone Pipeline decision, etc.

And regarding the questions being asked of Republicans in the recent debates, there was a great comment on Instapundit about that:

Reader John Williams writes regarding why the moderators are asking such pointless questions: "Because a serious moderator asking intelligent questions would make the candidates seem serious and intelligent. Add to that, it would connote that the presidential election is important and who we choose is a serious, if not vital, decision that must be carefully considered. As long as they can make the Republican debates look like a circus and the candidate chosen seem irrelevant, the better chance theircandidate has of squeaking out a second term."

Exactly.

Michael O'Leary at the Innovation Convention 2011 - Brussels

Large Areas of Mars could Sustain Life

Scientists from the Australian National University modeled conditions on Mars on a global scale and found that large regions could be capable of sustaining life – three percent of the planet actually, albeit mostly underground. By comparison, just one percent of Earth's volume, from the central core to the upper atmosphere, is inhabited by some kind of life.

We need some global cooperation to open up this new frontier.  Are there any countries in a cooperative mood these days?

Khan!

A very nice article on the Khan Academy and how it is a revolution for students and online education.

Note:  If you have a Roku box, it has a Khan Channel.

An Open Letter to Dr. Phil Jones

Willis Eschenbach (a statistician), writes an open letter to Dr. Phil Jones (a climatologist).  No matter what you think of Eschenbach or the case for Man-Made Global Warming, the hiding and lying of the scientists involved, revealed in ClimateGate email releases I and II give a black eye to the scientific method we all learned in school:

"But in any case, only scientists with something to hide need privacy to have a "free and frank discussion" about science. Honest scientists have no reason to hide their views. Honest scientists discuss these scientific issues on the web in the full light of day. Why on earth would someone need privacy to discuss the intricacies of the climate models? Do you really have to go into a closet with your best friend to speak your true mind about atmospheric physics? Is it true that you guys actually need some kind of 'private space' to expose your secret inner ideas about the factors affecting the formation of clouds? From my perspective, these kinds of private discussions are not only not what is needed. This two-faced nature of you guys' statements on the science are a large part of the problem itself."

It is a long, revealing and fascinating letter and you don't need to understand the science to understand what's been going on.

Safe Money

Bruce Krasting's, "On Capital Flight and Forced Repatriation" is an interesting read about the European Commission working with Greece to get the money people have moved out of Greece over to Switzerland Banks for safety, back into the banks in Greece... and how that move will affect the world.

via Instapundant

Rest, Joe.

Joe Frazier, 1944 - 2011

Coyote-Wolf Hybrids

Coyotes and wolves have mated in the great lakes region and the hybrid is heading east and south.  The animal is larger than a coyote, with more wolf-like skulls, jaws and teeth.  Like coyotes, they can eat almost anything, but unlike coyotes, it is thought they may be powerful enough to bring down deer.

China's Ghost Cities and Malls

Virgin Galactic: Not your Grandfather's NASA