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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Got a news story to share?

Open Thread, with a few from me.

The list of companies slashing hours to avoid ObamaCare continues. Who suffers the most here? The low paid workers, who still won’t have healthcare, and less money now too.

From WashingtonCBSLocal

“Hundreds of Wendy’s workers are seeing their hours cut back because of President Barack Obama’s health care law.

WOWT-TV reports that nearly 300 employees at 11 Wendy’s locations in the Omaha area will have their hours reduced to 28 hours a week because the franchise owner says he can’t afford to pay his employees health care.

“It has a huge effect on me and pretty much everybody that I work with,” employee T.J. Growbeck told the station. “I’m hoping that I can get some sort of promotion because then I would get my hours, but everybody is shooting for that because of the hours being cut.”

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And here’s a piece touching on some of the things we talked about yesterday.  The tired old tactic of some groups, and the media, looking for people to get outraged and offended for.

Good thing they got all offended for her, because she certainly didn’t.

From HotAir

“A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend: Leave Musburger alone”

“Alternate headline: “Beauty queen accepts compliment.” I feel obliged to follow up on yesterday’s post, partly due to public demand (she’s now over two million Google searches since Monday) and partly because there’s nothing more fun than when a would-be victim kindly declines to serve as the Media-Offense Complex‘s latest hobbyhorse. Her graciousness at old man Musby’s wowee zowee routine makes this a story with a happy ending all around: Brent is exonerated, Webb’s now famous, and McCarron spends the next few months enjoying his new status as the most envied man in America. All’s right with the world.”

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This one? I think this is a trend that will continue. But what do I know, I’m just a scary religious kinda guy.

😉

From USAToday

“What about home schooling?  You know, it’s not just for scary religious people any more.”   That’s a line from  Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and it should strike fear into the hearts, not of vampires, but of public-school administrators everywhere.

The fact is, Americans across the country — but especially in large, urban school systems — are voting with their feet and abandoning traditional public schools, to the point that teachers are facing layoffs. Some are going to charter schools, which are still public but are run more flexibly.  Some are leaving for private schools.  But many others are going another step beyond traditional education, and switching to online school or even pure home schooling.

And, as Buffy so accurately noted, it’s not just “scary religious people.”  In fact, rather than scary, those religious people are looking more like trendsetters.”

Wait, let me fix that. I’m a scary religious trendsetting kinda guy.

😉

You’re welcome.

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What’s interesting in the news today?

Here’s an open thread for you to let us know.

Here’s a couple from me to start off with.

First, while the nation’s economy continues to limp along, Texas has sprinted out way ahead of the pack.  

From Bloomberg

“Legislators in Texas, the biggest energy producer among U.S. states, will begin deliberating its next two-year budget with a surplus forecast today to match an $8.8 billion record set in 2007.

The Texas economy has topped budget projections over the past 15 months, as booming energy output fueled job growth and an 11 percent fiscal first-quarter gain in sales-tax receipts, the biggest source of general-fund revenue. Even after paying off $7 billion in health and school bills, Comptroller Susan Combs said today that the state will be flush heading into 2014.

Lawmakers, who convene tomorrow for a five-month session, in 2011 put off about $4.7 billion in future Medicaid costs and $2 billion for public schools under the current budget, and now must pay those bills. With Combs projecting an $8.8 billion surplus by Aug. 31 and a 12 percent jump in general-purpose receipts for the next two years, Democrats sense an opening.”

Yeah, an opening to spend money, their favorite pastime.

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And this one I submit to you without comment.

From TheWashingtonPost

“President Obama has picked Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights icon Medgar Evers, to deliver the invocation at his public swearing-in later this month. It is believed to be the first time a woman, and a layperson rather than a clergy member, has been chosen to deliver what may be America’s most prominent public prayer.

The inaugural committee Tuesday plans to announce that the benediction will be given by conservative evangelical pastor Louie Giglio, founder of the student-focused Passion Conferences, which draw tens of thousands of people to events around the world.

The contrasting choice of speakers are typical of a president who has walked a sometimes complicated path when it comes to religion — working to be inclusive to the point that critics at times have questioned his faith.”