What’s news today?

There’s a bunch of stuff to choose from.

Let’s start with the coming gun restriction attempts. VP Biden says they should release their “plan” to the President on Tuesday.

From the WallStJournal

“Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday he would recommend the White House push for broad measures to stem gun violence, citing growing support for tighter background checks on gun purchasers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other moves.

But the National Rifle Association delivered a swift rebuke following a meeting with Mr. Biden, saying the administration was gearing up for an attack on gun ownership.”

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It looks like some states may plan a pre-emptive approach to such talk.

From TheWashingtonExaminer

“Wyoming lawmakers have proposed a new bill that, if passed, would nullify any federal restrictions on guns, threatening to jail federal agents attempting to confiscate guns, ammunition magazines or ammunition.

The bill – HB0104 – states that “any federal law which attempts to ban a semi-automatic firearm or to limit the size of a magazine of a firearm or other limitation on firearms in this state shall be unenforceable in Wyoming.”

The bill is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives and two state senators. If passed, the bill would declare any federal gun regulation created on or after January 1, 2013 to be unenforceable within the state.”

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If we’re going to have this conversation, it needs to be fact, not emotion based. So let’s look at some stats, and obvious examples of the mis-information employed by one side. The facts show that they have little to back their claims.

Here’s more from HotAir

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Here’s a nice piece that exposes the charade. Or we could title it “Piers Morgan is a hack.”

From Fox, via NewsBusters

“CNN’s Piers Morgan has for days cited U.S. and British gun homicide  statistics in an attempt to get stricter controls on firearms here in America.

On Tuesday, Cincinnati Fox affiliate WXIX thoroughly debunked many of  Morgan’s claims (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):”

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Last week I linked to a story on the American Freshman Survey, a survey of incoming college students. The authors said we have a severe problem with narcissistic younger adults and their unrealistic assumptions about themselves and the world. Here’s more from the lead author of the analysis.

From FoxNews

“A new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has accumulated data  for the past 47 years from 9 million young adults, reveals that college students  are more likely than ever to call themselves gifted and driven to succeed, even  though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing.

Psychologist Jean Twenge, the lead author of the analysis, is also the author  of a study showing that the tendency toward narcissism in students is up 30  percent in the last thirty-odd years. This data is not unexpected.  I  have been writing a great deal over the past few years about the toxic  psychological impact of media and technology on children, adolescents and young  adults, particularly as it regards turning them into faux celebrities—the  equivalent of lead actors in their own fictionalized life stories.

On Facebook, young people can fool themselves into thinking they have  hundreds or thousands of “friends.” They can delete unflattering comments. They  can block anyone who disagrees with them or pokes holes in their inflated  self-esteem. They can choose to show the world only flattering, sexy or funny  photographs of themselves (dozens of albums full, by the way), “speak” in pithy  short posts and publicly connect to movie stars and professional athletes and  musicians they “like.””

Let’s not kid ourselves. This is also yet another indictment of the public education system.

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And a final one. It’s nice when the govt occasionally get’s it right. Too bad we had to nearly melt down the housing market before they did, but hey, at least they finally seem to be getting it.

From HotAir

“Of all the provisions of Dodd-Frank conservatives disliked, the Consumer Financial Protection Board may have been the one least liked of all.  Its proponent, Elizabeth Warren, ended up in the US Senate when Republicans refused to support her nomination to run the CFPB, perhaps a bit of karma in the long run.  Now the CFPB has released its first set of mortgage rules, ostensibly to protect consumers — and conservatives may like what they see, at least conceptually if not organizationally:

The government is establishing new rules for mortgages that will make it harder for some borrowers to qualify but that are designed to prevent the kind of risky lending that nearly caused the housing market to collapse during the financial crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday will roll out the first of several far-reaching changes to the nation’s mortgage market, limiting upfront fees and curtailing practices such as interest-only payments that can leave homeowners stuck with unsustainable loans. The agency also will set standards for how much income a consumer must have to obtain a mortgage.

This marks the first time the government has spelled out what constitutes a “qualified mortgage,” an effort to prevent the widespread toxic loans that hurt millions of Americans during the housing crisis.”

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