What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread.

President Obama received some sharp criticism from conservative Justices yesterday.

From TheHill

“Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder decided in 2011 that the federal  Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. They quit defending it in the  courts, but directed federal agencies to continue to comply with the law.

Conservatives on the Supreme Court criticized that approach Wednesday during  oral arguments over whether DOMA is constitutional.”

““I don’t see why he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions,” Chief Justice  John Roberts said of Obama’s decision to continue following the law, even though  he believes it is unconstitutional.

Justice Antonin Scalia said the legal system appears to be “living in this  brave new world” in which the Justice Department can simply opt out of its  traditional responsibility to defend federal laws in the courts.”

Just like with gun laws. They cry for more restrictions on guns, yet at the same time complain that enforcing existing ones is racist and harder on minorities. Enforce the laws, it’s not rocket science.

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And speaking of refusing to enforce existing laws…….

From HotAir

“Janet Napolitano: We shouldn’t wait until the border is secure to legalize illegals”

“No worries. She says the border’s already “as secure as it’s ever been,” even though her department has given up trying to measure that. Marco Rubio recently claimed that 10 million new illegals would cross the border over the next decade if there’s no new guest-worker program in place. Maybe Napolitano could quantify border control that way. Are things secure enough now to ensure that only nine million of them would make it? Eight million?”

Of course they don’t want to have to secure it first. They’re not even trying. And they’re releasing criminal illegals already, which is another example of them chosing not to enforce the law.

We also had another example of our not so secure borders yesterday. She was apprehended, but you know she’ll be released. The only question is on which side of the border will she be released on?

“John McCain        ✔@SenJohnMcCain

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This one is disturbing, but sadly not surprising. Given our anything goes culture, consequences like this will continue to worsen. Just like abortion. Meanwhile groups like Planned Parenthood that promote and encourage this free love/if it feels good lifestyle are also the ones who benefit financially from the real life consequences of both.

From CNSNews

“According to new data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control  and Prevention, there were 19.7 million new venereal infections in the  United States in 2008, bringing the total number of existing sexually  transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. at that time to 110,197,000.”

“The STI study referenced by the CDC estimated that 50 percent of the new infections in 2008  occurred among people in the 15-to-24 age bracket. In fact, of the  19,738,800 total new STIs in the United States in 2008, 9,782,650 were  among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket.”

““CDC’s new estimates show that there are about 20 million new infections in the United  States each year, costing the American  healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs alone,”  said a CDC fact sheet.”

20 million new infections a year. Obviously what these groups are teaching in schools isn’t working. I can’t help but think that’s by design.

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Here’s an interesting read from RealClearPolitics.

“The University Utopia”

“Just after November’s election, I posed  three paradoxes of American politics, asking why certain demographic groups make  up reliable voting blocs for the left, even though the pro-free-market ideas of  the right have so much to offer them.

I have begun to revisit these paradoxes. In part  one of this series, I laid out the case for why the pro-free-market right  needs to reclaim these key demographic groups—young people, racial minorities,  and city dwellers—and why I regard these as natural constituencies for  the free market whose lockstep voting for the left is a paradox.

In this installment, I take up the first of the paradoxes: Why do the young  vote for dependency—when the essence of youth is a quest for independence?  My purpose for now is mostly just to solve the paradox, to explain the reason  for the apparent contradiction, and to indicate what this implies for how the  right should change its message and its sales tactics. When I am done looking at  all three paradoxes, I will look in greater depth at an agenda of reform for the  political strategy of the right.”

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And we have a couple new ideas for wasteful things govt funds that should be cut, unlike White House tours.

From FoxNews

“A prime example of how slowly the federal government moves is a piece of prime  real estate in Washington’s tony Georgetown neighborhood — an old  steam-generating plant with a spectacular view of the Potomac  waterfront.

The government-owned building was finally sold to a private developer for  $19.5 million this month. But it sat there for 10 years — off the  market  and vacant — while taxpayers footed the bill for its upkeep.

A for-sale sign only went up the day before the House Committee on Oversight  and Government Reform dragged General Services Administration officials into the  musty structure for a hearing last summer. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., berated a  bewildered GSA official at that hearing, saying: “You can’t get your job done! I  don’t care if it’s a Republican or Democratic administration, the job is not  getting done!””

But that’s not even the worst we have today. For that, we go to CNSNews

” The National Science Foundation awarded a grant for $876,752 to the University of Iowa to study whether there is any benefit to sex among New Zealand mud snails and whether that explains why any organism has sex.

The study, first funded in 2011 and continuing until 2015, will study the New Zealand snails to see if it is better that they reproduce sexually or asexually – the snail can do both – hoping to gain insight on why so many organisms practice sexual reproduction.

“Sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction, yet nearly all organisms reproduce sexually at least some of the time. Why is sexual reproduction so common despite its costs,” the study’s abstract asks.”

A better question to ask is why is govt. waste like this so common despite it’s costs?

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