How high's the water, mama?

We may see floods that top the record flooding of 1927 on the Mississippi River.
It's rising fast.

Apple Juggernaut

Apple is beating everybody in the tech world.

Fast-food burgers

In case you're interested here's a list of 8 fast-food burgers that won't blow your diet. I personally recommend the Whopper Jr. The White Castle Sliders remind me of the Krystal mini burgers I used to have and loved. I have not see one in years.

What would Machiavelli do?

Michael Barone comments on Walter Russell Mead's recent column.

Running out of money

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are running out of money because of gas prices. Food prices are also rising. Purchases are dropping off dramatically at the end of the month.

An analysis of Obama

Walter Russell Mead:

The President looks like a man who is ridden by events; at just the moment when the nation craves a strong leader, the President looks weak, dodgy, uncertain.  The contrast with the inflated hopes that an untested and inexperienced Senator Obama did so much to build up is crippling.  Obama has fallen so far precisely because he and his supporters so hugely oversold him.

He once despised Bill Clinton for the comprising and triangulating that got him through his eight years.  President Obama was going to do it differently: he was going to fight and win.

Perhaps he will; politics is full of surprises and it is still almost a year and a half until the election.  But at the moment the President seems to be envying Clinton’s talents and attempting to emulate rather than scorn them.  From anti-Clinton to aspiring Clinton is a long fall and it can’t be much fun.

Indians: an example of government aid

John Stossel: "It is intuitive to assume that, when people struggle, government "help" is the answer. The opposite is true. American groups who are helped the most, do the worst."

Seniors for Ryan

The age group that most favors the Ryan budget is seniors. They know this country is bankrupt.

Here we go again!

Questions are being raised by the birth certificate.

Obama's birth certificate

AP: Obama releases his birth certificate. Copy available on the link. Jason Tolbert also has a copy. Donald Trump took credit for forcing Obama to make the document public, noting that Hillary Clinton could not get him to release it during the campaign. But now Trump wants Obama to release his college records.

Here is the full graphic. I am not going to post a copy because of copyright restrictions. Let the verification begin.

Ron Paul for president

Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, will run for president.

Haley Barbour: No.

Haley Barbour will not run for president. I don't believe Huckabee will either.

Defined-benefit pension plans

Michael Barone: Defined-benefit pension plans, as he calls Social Security, Medicare, and other pension plans, were very generous but are now in trouble. As he defines them: "It's when your employer promises to pay you a certain amount of money, pegged to your salary or according to some other formula, when you retire." 

We can't afford them anymore. This means as I see it that the basic premise of the New Deal and Great Society are unsustainable. Finished.

Doctoral overload

This article argues that we have too many doctoral programs and not enough jobs for PhDs to fill. That is no doubt true, and it's been true for 50 years.

Most doctoral-education programmes conform to a model defined in European universities during the Middle Ages, in which education is a process of cloning that trains students to do what their mentors do. The clones now vastly outnumber their mentors. The academic job market collapsed in the 1970s, yet universities have not adjusted their admissions policies, because they need graduate students to work in laboratories and as teaching assistants. But once those students finish their education, there are no academic jobs for them.

Universities face growing financial challenges. Most in the United States, for example, have not recovered from losses incurred on investments during the financial fiasco of 2008, and they probably never will. State and federal support is also collapsing, so institutions cannot afford to support as many programmes. There could be an upside to these unfortunate developments: growing competition for dwindling public and private resources might force universities to change their approach to PhD education, even if they do not want to.

There are two responsible courses of action: either radically reform doctoral programmes or shut them down.

Birtherism

An AP story this morning says that anyone can walk into a vital records office in Honolulu and examine a binder that contains an index of all persons born in Hawaii. This index contains Obama's name and DOB. Also available according to the AP is newspaper birth announcements. Original birth documents are never released, only copies.

I don't know what's in the new book cited earlier in this blog, but if I were looking for birth information for any person, that would be enough to satisfy me. See also here.

The college bubble

JW Pope Center:

Over the last decade, professors and pundits have begun to notice a change in higher education. They have bemoaned falling academic standards, uninterested students, and a campus culture of partying instead of learning. On top of these concerns, parents, students, and taxpayers face mounting college costs.
All these problems are symptoms of  a “college bubble.” Like the nation’s housing bubble, which eventually burst, the college bubble is caused by a number of factors. But the biggest force is, as my colleague George Leef has often pointed out, the overselling of higher education. The housing bubble was created, at least in part, by the conviction that everyone ought to own a home; the college bubble is occurring because so many people believe that everyone ought to attend college.

Talk Business: AG Dustin McDaniel says that desegregation funds in Pulaski County can't be accounted for. We're talking about $70 million a year!

Tea partiers in local school elections

Tea Partyers are getting involved in local school board elections.

Desegregation funding scandal

According to news reports this morning, the Pulaski County, Arkansas, school districts have received $1 billion in the past 27 or so years that was intended to carry out their desegregation plans. But Attorney General Dustin McDaniel cites a recent report that shows they have spent the money on who knows what else. Football? School officials have had no guidelines at all about how to spend these funds.

This whole situation is a scandal. McDaniel's point is probably that this special funding has to end. The State of Arkansas wants out, but doesn't know how to get out. After almost 30 years, the three school districts are, guess what, desegregated. Other school districts around the state are in need of more funding. But there are interests who want to keep the desegregation money flowing.

Here's an article that contains links to the full reports.

Income distrubution

I like this chart showing income and tax distributions. So when we talk about taxing the rich, who do we mean? Bill Gates? No. A household income above $114,000 places you in the top 10 percent of income earners. That means that a man making $60K married to a woman making $60K find themselves in the top 10 percent. Not hard to do at all. This could be a policeman and a teacher. A small business owner and a social worker. In my view, they may easily be tea partiers.

Where's the Birth Certificate?

Corsi's Where's the Birth Certificate? is now No. 1 in Amazon Books.

NYT loses money

Guess what? The NYT is losing money. How could a newspaper like that make money?

iPhone oops

iPhone keeps a record of everywhere you go.

At least we're first in something

An AP Report says that Arkansas and Mississippi rely on cellphones more than other states. Some 35 percent of adults in these states have cellphones and lack traditional landlines. Just about everybody I see has a cell, including drivers.

Correction: We are second to Mississippi as usual. 

Drudge flash

Drudge points to a new book coming out soon: Jerome R. Corsi, Where's the Birth Certificate?

Trump and Sharpton

Charles Krauthammer: "Trump is the Al Sharpton of the Republican Party, provocateur and clown, unserious. I think he's going to harm the party if he runs for the same reason that Sharpton harmed the Democrats."

Why are you so unpopular in Texas?

Obama runs into a difficult interview while in Texas. Is this the change we're waiting for?

High school vs college

This AP report shows that students don't like high school, but rate college more highly. That's exactly the way I felt many years ago. I couldn't wait to get out of high school, and into something that was more challenging and worthwhile. Of course the college/ university experience had its shortcomings as well. But at least it was productive.

Sarah

This is Sarah Palin's new website. It's an indication that she's decided to make a run for 2012.

Bay of Pigs anniversary

Thoughts on the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs.

Gangster government

Michael Barone raises some interesting questions.

If Obamacare is so great, why are so many trying to get out from under it? And, more specifically, why are so many Democratic groups trying to get out from under it?

Many groups have been granted waivers from Obamacare by the administratioun: labor unions, McDonald's, the state of Maine. [Seriously.]

It looks like these are constituencies that have made contributions, or electoral votes.

If so, what we're looking at is another example of gangster government in this administration. The law in its majesty applies to everyone except those who get special favors.

E-book sales beat paperbacks

For the first time E-book sales have exceeded paperbacks and hardbacks.

Red Flag: University of Texas buys gold

If you looking for signs or clues about the financial future, here is one you need to pay attention to: The University of Texas Endowment has acquired $1 billion in gold bars and stored them in a NY vault. 

The next time they call me asking for a donation, maybe they would prefer a gold bar instead.

Taxes and the rich

AP: Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically. "As Monday's tax filing deadline nears, ponder this: The super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago, and nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all."

Well, I guess that leaves it all up to me. Joking aside, it means that people besides the super rich are getting taxed.

AARP and Obamacare

Why did AARP support Obamacare? What is AARP?

Academic bloggers

NYT provides bios of the top academic bloggers.

Dyess celebration

Recent news items announce that Rosanne Cash, John Carter Cash, and Tommy Cash are promoting a performance at Dyess, Arkansas, on August 4 to raise money to restore Johnny Cash's boyhood home and build a museum. The Cash family moved to what was called Dyess Colony in 1935 when Johnny was 3 years old.

As a Johnny Cash fan, I hope this effort is successful, but as a historian I would say let's keep our perspective. What Johnny Cash wanted to do was leave the place as soon as possible. I've been to Dyess several times; in fact I was there only about 20 years after it was founded as a resettlement project for poor farmers in the Depression. It was a total failure. The government as usual started up a wrong-headed idea. The country did not need more poor, small farmers. We already had too many of them. Some historians tend to get nostalgic about such topics, but if you want to find out the true read the two chapters I wrote on Dyess Colony in Uncle Sam's Farmers.

Medicare as we know it

In an AP report, the budget battle goes on. This quote is interesting:
"We hear a lot about Medicare as we know it," said Rep. Tim Griffith, R-Ark. "Well, unfortunately Medicare as we know it is going bankrupt. If you are for the status quo with regard to Medicare, you are on the side of the elimination of Medicare as we know it."

U.S. History at Bowdoin

How U.S. History is taught at Bowdoin. You want to send you kids into this king of atmosphere, or pay for it? I didn't think so.

Cut spending, don't raise taxes

Hot Air: AP poll finds 6 in 10 Americans want spending cuts, not tax hikes.

How bad does it have to get?

Chronicle of Higher Ed: The Unexamined Veil of Tenure. You've probably been in a class like the one described here.

When America goes bankrupt

5 Things that will  happen to you when America goes bankrupt.

Alcohol and Synaptic Plasticity

Science Daily: Alcohol helps the brain learn and remember better. Yeah, I learned that at the University of Texas student union.

Ann Althouse

Ann Althouse will write about anything at all. And she's more amusing than WSJ op-eds.

Nanny State

Ron Paul: The Nanny state can't last.

What male-female wage gap?

WSJ: Despite what you hear, there is no male-female wage gap. Instead women earn 8 percent more than men.

Yellowstone volcanic plume

Scientists say that the volcanic plume beneath Yellowstone is larger than previously thought.

Kennedys miniseries

Roger Simon has some thoughts on The Kennedys miniseries, killed by the History Channel but resurrected. My revised perspective on the Kennedy presidency is far more positive than it once was in the light of later Democrat presidents. But Kennedy got into the Cuban Missile Crisis because he looked weak at the Vienna meeting with Khrushchev.

Winning streak

Politico: The GOP is on a winning streak.

Happy Little Rock

According to a Gallup poll, we are here in Little Rock are among the happiest metro areas in the U.S.

Predicting 2012

Well, since Obama has already thrown his hat in the 2012 ring, let's go with a prediction: He will lose.

Star Trek is coming

Star Trek, all episodes, is coming to Netflix.

Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet is dead. He directed this scene which still says so much.

Ryan’s Leap - Charles Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer on Ryan's Leap. That is, Paul Ryan's proposed budget.

A deal?

We seem to have a budget deal that avoids a government shutdown.
But see the "Top 10 Government Shutdown Pick-up lines."

Psst! I'm watching you.

Don't let your iPhone see you naked.

Student financial aid

J.W. Pope Center: Who do student loans really favor? Students or Colleges/Universities? Take a guess.

We should phase out federal student aid programs. They do not make higher education more affordable, but fuel an academic “arms race” where spending is mostly for jockeying in the college ratings beauty pageant. And federal loans induce students to myopically borrow for college degrees that are apt to do them no good, a phenomenon one student wrote about for the Pope Center.
Government subsidies always have unintended consequences, usually overwhelming whatever benefits they were supposed to produce.

Wisconsin Supreme Court election

The controversies in Wisconsin just seem to go on and on.

The Masters: A course set up for left-handers - San Jose Mercury News

This AP article argues that the Augusta National golf course has been changed to favor left-handed golfers. In the past eight years lefties have won four times, Phil Mickelson three of the four. The course favors hitting the ball from right to left, which is easier for left-handed golfers than right-handers. Several pivotal holes have a right-to-left shape. You might want to watch for this on the 13th, 10th and 9th, as well as the 2nd and 4th, perhaps others.

I Googled this topic and found other articles that made the same point.

Crunch time

We are facing another big budget crunch.

The 100 Most Desirable Women in Sports | Bleacher Report

The 100 Most Desirable Women in Sports | Bleacher Report

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is predicted to be a big topic this year, and so far it has been. This is a development that will shake up the computer world and especially the music industry. One interesting quote: "Throughout the history of technology the slowest industry to keep up has always been the music industry... We all recall the debacle of a response when peer-to-peer sharing first began with Napster in 2001. Eventually file sharing junkies moved on to Torrents where there was no central server for the music industry to attack and still the music industry tried to fight against the current. See this article by Mike Swift.

Cloud computing will also affect other kinds of sharing like file space and who knows what else.

Amazon's Cloud Player

The music industry does not like the Amazon Cloud Player at all. Amazon encourages users to upload their music libraries, arguing that no license is required. This is a coming battle, it appears.

Gov. Beebe Accuses the House of Partisanship

Jason Tolbert comments on Gov. Beebe's comparison of partisanship in the 2011 Arkansas House and Senate. You should know that more Republicans were elected to the Arkansan legislature than anyone can remember. Beebe's statement is very amusing. He bragged on the Senate but was critical of those bad House Republicans. Year ago I recall hearing administrators really brag on subordinates (department heads or deans) who did not give them any trouble and just went along quietly. But if you stood up and made demands, well, that didn't earn you any brownie points.

AARP Tax Exemption Report at Center of Contentious Capitol Hill Hearing - FoxNews.com

A Congressional investigation claims that AARP violated its tax exempt status by selling insurance and lobbying for Obamacare. This is the first time I've read that AAPR has tax exempt status. But I've always believed that AARP was an insurance company in the business of selling insurance while posing as an advocate for seniors.

Obamacare a year later

Bill Kristol on Obamacare:

I think March 21, 2010 [the day the bill was passed], will be the high watermark, historically, of big government liberalism and of the entitlement state. This is sort of the overreach that shows how insane the modern entitlement state has become. And they expected their support to build, because in previous entitlements, when they got passed, people liked them once they were passed.
That has not happened in this case. The polls haven't changed. They're not changing. And I think it's going to be a burden for the president and his re-election effort. And as I said, I think this will be repealed.