Bookworm Room

An Iranian woman who was blinded by a suitor who threw acid on her face has pardoned her attacker at the last minute, sparing him from being blinded by acid as retribution. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/iranian-woman-blinded-disfigured-by-acid-spares-attacker-the-same-fate/ Sadie here: The attack occurred in 2004 after she rejected his marriage proposal. Bahrami had demanded qisas, or “eye for an eye”-style [...]

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The latest CBO figures show that under current law—i.e., assuming that everything works as planned under the new healthcare law—the share of GDP devoted to federal spending on mandatory health programs (Medicare and Medicaid) will be 68 percent higher in 2035 compared to 2011. But the CBO recognizes that certain components of the law intended [...]

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There are a few pleasant melodies still hitting the charts:        

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As you all know, Sadie has been helping out while Bookworm is away by sending links to all kinds of sites that interest her.  Here is your chance to play Sadie for a day.  Treat this as a special kind of open thread in which you post links to things you’ve found on the Internet that you [...]

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Do you know Mike over at Castra Praetoria? (He is a Marine E-8. He calls himself America’s First Sergeant.) He and I are having a friendly war. Would you consider linking it: http://themellowjihadi.com/?p=1293 It is for a good cause. I am giving away Marine gear to a future Marine if I get him to come [...]

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I think I’m getting done with Europe, since I’m less charmed with every passing port, explaining TODAY’S POST: We spent the morning in Portofino, which is a seaside resort town.  It’s charming, hot and humid. Nothing there piqued my interest, which allowed me to think about other things. One thought is that, although Europeans smoke [...]

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“A handful’’ of top managers will move to the Chinese capital and there won’t be any job cuts, said Anne LeGrand, general manager of X-ray for GE Healthcare. The headquarters will move from Wisconsin amid a broader plan to invest about $2 billion across China, including opening six “customer innovation’’ and development centers. GE moving [...]

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Mark Steyn is always a good read, so I recommend this link from Sadie (who else): A Post-American Planet Decline starts with the money, but it doesn’t stop there. -snip from the beginning- That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the “debt ceiling” negotiations the other day: “What we’re trying [...]

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We ditched the kids today and headed off into Rome ourselves. It’s amazing how effortless sightseeing is without two whining, squabbling kids in tow. I’d forgotten! Our first stop was the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, a private home that’s been in the same princely family since the 1640s. For someone like me, who prefers simplicity and [...]

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The headline in my morning papers made me think of an idea for a post.  The headline, from the Fremont, California Argus read: “Debt crisis seen as fault of GOP’s tea party faction.”  Subheading:  “Movement’s resolute stance laying siege to Republican unity.” Why don’t all you readers who still read papers find your favorite headline and share it [...]

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Sadie sends along a link the what Harry Reid was saying years ago.  Surprise — he was against raising the debt ceiling. Now, I know that Zach makes the argument that raising the debt ceiling is the responsibility of the majority and the minority is free to cynically take pot shots for doing so.  But [...]

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Received a magazine today from the Association of Mature American Citizens.  Was a bit disappointed that the article suggesting repeal of taxation on Social Security made no serious effort to say how the lost tax revenue would be replaced (the one suggestion, get it from trial lawyers, while a good idea, wouldn’t begin to make [...]

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…don’t know the difference between peace makers and a pace maker. Good work by the authorities-they stopped him. The LEFT crowned him the Prince of Peace. Kimber Heinz, a writer for the far-left website Truthout, unluckily chose to profile Abdo in a 2010 article entitled, “One Year After Fort Hood: The Missing Story of Muslim [...]

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I heard this on the radio today and Sadie sent it along as well, with her comment:   Nomen est numan (doesn’t that translate to your name is what you are?) Steve JOBS ; ) According to the latest daily statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion [...]

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I know this has been making the rounds for some time because this is the second time my Dad has sent it to me and the first was some time ago.  The link to Fox News, at least, is legitimate.  Does anyone know anything about the underlying story?   IBM offered to help reduce Medicare [...]

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We spent the morning in (or, more accurately, near) Messina,Sicily. Rather than spending the day in the town itself, we took a tour to two tiny medieval hillside villages that gained local fame because Francis Ford Coppola shot scenes from Godfather II and III there. Since I haven’t seen either movie, I was unaffected by [...]

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No-no not the ‘fashion’ type the other type…the one that makes flying less terrifying.   I CAN ALMOST HEAR CAIR SCREAMING … Another Zionist plot! Can you say Entebbe and Never Again in the same breath.   And no, Jews and Israelis do not get special treatment from El Al, either. Just ask me and [...]

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Sadie suggests an interesting issue that I haven’t seen discussed much.  What do you think?   Posse Comitatus Good idea?  Bad idea? The author of the article calls it: imposing Martial Law. Would you use it? When? http://www.infowars.com/busting-posse-comitatus-military-cops-arrest-civilians-in-florida-city/

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From Sadie, who is filling my inbox with good ideas, comes this rant.  Like Sadie, I’m troubled by the lack of actual ideas, but it’s a good watch and does express a lot of people’s frustrations, so what the heck, I’ll post it:   Here is a video rant with no answers from a self-proclaimed [...]

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Sadie sent me a link to a post about the various budget plans, all of which turn out to be hogwash.  The link is below, but it’s really an excuse for me to ask a question I wanted to ask anyway.  Is anyone in Washington pushing a realistic plan?  Is there, for example, a “Tea Party” plan [...]

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Hat tip to (who else) Sadie:    

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I’m somewhat baffled by the fact that I didn’t like our Grecian stops more. Corfu, of course, was nullified by my daughter’s appendix operation. (She’s back on the ship in perfect shape, by the way, after an unpleasant four day sojourn in the functional equivalent of a third world private hospital, setup solely to “serve” [...]

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I just ran across this item on Drudge, a Forbes report on some bad news for AGW hoaxsters. Here is the lede: “NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study [...]

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Sadie sent along the following which got me to thinking.  Is McCain right that it is the Republicans, not the president who will get the blame if things fall apart completely?  I saw a recent poll in which the public put the blame on both sides equally, but I’m afraid the president has positioned himself pretty [...]

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Sadie points us to one anyway:   as if Durban 1 and 2 were not disgusting enough. (4 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Mupoo1At8&feature=player_embedded

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