Hey, you guys wanna see this year’s GoDaddy.com Superbowl ads?
They’re out already. One:
And two:
In a blow to GoDaddy’s annual marketing plan, none of their ads were banned from the Superbowl this year. But I’m sure they’ll do better next time.
By the way: all the commercials are available here. Do yourselves a favor and watch the internet-only version of “the contract.”
…other states are starting to catch on: we can make some headway while they’re concentrating on the cheeseheads!
In another blow to organized labor in the traditionally union heavy Midwest, Indiana is poised to become the first right-to-work state in more than a decade after Republican lawmakers cleared the way on Wednesday to ban unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers.
…
Indiana would mark the first win in 10 years for national right-to-work advocates who have pushed unsuccessfully for the measure in other states following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010. But few right-work states boast Indiana’s union clout, borne of a long manufacturing legacy…
Indiana’s Senate still has to pass it, but that appears to be a shoo-in. Then the Governor has to sign it, and there’s every indication he will.
This, of course, goes far beyond what Governor Walker did in Wisconsin. But that’s okay, unions – you just keep your eyes on us!
Previously:
Today marks the 1,003rd day since the Senate proposed a budget…
…which, I know, all us conservatives are using that fun little fact to try and embarrass the Democrats. As if that were possible.
On the other hand, though, look at it this way: over a thousand days without a federal budget. Are you worse off because of it?
Would you be any better off if they had passed a budget? If they’d passed three of them?
Do I even need to answer that?
So the question is: should we be trying to embarrass the Senate over this “thousand days” thing? Or should we be treating it more like a pilot program? So, okay, we tried the no-budget thing, and that’s worked, so this time let’s see if we can go a thousand days without the Senate proposing anything.
Anything at all.
And if that works, then we envelop the House in our little league of lackadaisicality. And then we could just have the Senate stay home for three years. Three years straight.
See, those “1000 Days” buttons weren’t a complaint. They were a celebration!
Economics is fun! Or…well that’s what I heard on Youtube.
Is that an actual window behind him? Looks like a spaceship’s bridge. I keep expecting the Tardis to appear on the street there behind him.
My favorite part:
“You suppose that the value of a thing consists of the labor it took to make it. That’s the mistake that Karl Marx made. No. You could put as much labor as you like into the thing. Guess what it’s worth if nobody wants it? The answer is: a big fat zero.”
That’s Dr Madsen Pirie, by the way. President of the Adam Smith Institute. He’s doing a whole series of these short videos on economics. I think I might keep posting them as they go up.
Let the “Dr. Madsen Pirie” tag be created!
UPDATE - Wiggy recognized the window!
One Week of 1WTC Construction Progress
Guy named Mike at TheCleverest.com posted this a while back, and I just saw it today:
It’s an animated gif on his blog. Dunno why it’s not working here.
UPDATE - now I know why it won’t work here, but it’s just as well. It’s Mike’s photo, so click over there to see it work.
Mike writes:
Looks like they’re going for two floors every two weeks. Not too shabby.
Pretty cool.
The Political Correctness hierarchy: lepers trump amputees.
Not to make too big a deal out of this, but:
Aardman Animation to Change Scene Featuring Leper Boat in ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’
Outcry by leprosy charities at movie trailer leads to changes by Bristol-based animation powerhouse.
In the trailer the Grant-voiced Pirate Captain lands on a ship demanding gold, but is told by a crew member: “Afraid we don’t have any gold old man, this is a leper boat. See.” After issuing the explanation, the sailor’s arm drops off.
Leprosy groups expressed concern that the scene could increase the stigma and discrimination felt by people suffering from leprosy.
Aardman has said it will change the scene in the wake of the objections.
Well, that’s probably best. You don’t want to face off against those guys. They’ll break their foot off in your ass. Elbow drop, right to the groin.
Amputees, though: them we’ll still make fun of.
Here’s the trailer, by the way, with the blatant leperism still in it:
Wow, that’s just hands down insensitive. Really makes your toes curl.
Oh, fine. I’ll stop.
Uh-oh: Democrats are wondering if the recall election might have been a tactical error after all
It’s just not fair if the Democrats have to spend their money on a recall election before the regular election!
Dems fear union cash drain in Wisconsin
Organized labor’s plans to spend heavily to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has sparked angst on the left that the effort will come at the expense of Democrats in other states…
Labor officials are also looking at investing resources in Indiana, a red-leaning state, to battle controversial right-to-work legislation backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels (R).
But the Wisconsin fight will consume far more resources. This is a stomach-churning prospect for Democrats and their allies because the labor expenditures could come just months before the general election, when money will be needed for more important battlegrounds such as Ohio and Florida.
“Some were asking us whether we could wait until after the election, but we can’t. This is too big a deal,” said one labor official.
The labor official told The Hil [sic] that Democrats have questioned the timing of a massive spending campaign in Wisconsin.
Sure, it could have waited until after the 2012 election. But the Walker-haters weren’t about to do that, and maybe with good reason. To have a chance at ousting Walker, they need their anger to be as fresh as possible.
And anger spoils quickly.
Couple quick thoughts about this:
- Conservative groups (and other liberal groups) will also be spending money on the recall election.
Fundraising on both sides will be massive, both for the recall election and the regular 2012 election.
So why doesn’t the story include any angst about that money? The non-union money?
For one thing, the union money can’t be replenished. Contributions to political campaigns can’t be, either, but money to third-party groups – both Left and Right – can.
- No matter what liberals try to tell you, liberal groups have just as much money on their side as conservative groups, if not more.
We’ve established that, for every Koch brother out there, there’s at least one George Soros. Which brings me to:
- There’s always more money out there. If you need more, go get more.
But Democrats are still worried, and why? Could it be that they can’t compete without the union money squeezed – willingly or unwillingly – out of middle-class union members?
Yeah, that’s believable. Without the captive audience, so to speak – the indentured servants, paying what amounts to a job tax collected on behalf of the Democratic Party – they lose an advantage they’ve had for decades.
Which is, of course, why they’re trying to recall Walker in the first place. Because he did away with the automatic union dues.
Hat tip Boots and Sabers.
Are we sure he wasn’t just quoting Jackie Gleason?
How do I rate Rand Paul?
I never did trust that Diana Ross.
Although why anybody’s polling people about a 1970s Motown trio, I’ll never know:
Didn’t get an iPad for Christmas? You must be the only one.
These figures are a little hard to believe, but what the hell. Here at The Trog, we specialize in hard-to-believe!
Despite the hard economic times, it appears it was a bumper Christmas for sellers of handheld gadgets. The number of Americans owning tablet computers and e-readers appears to have almost doubled in the space of a few weeks.
According to the latest figures from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the proportion of US adults owning a tablet computer rose from 10% in mid-December to 19% in early January. The figures for e-readers were exactly the same.
Nearly one in five U.S. adults. Holy crap. Not to mention:
In December, when tablets and e-books were each at 10%, the proportion of people who owned both types was 18%, suggesting the vast majority were owned by major tech lovers.
For the January figures, with each category at 19%, the proportion owning both was 29%. That certainly ties in with a lot of people getting one of the gadgets for the first time.
So one in five adults owns a tablet; one in five owns an e-reader; and nearly one in three owns both.
Apple now sells more iPhones than the number of babies being born
They’re like mold!
Just released global sales figures for the last quarter show that during that period, Apple sold more new iPhones that the total number of babies born worldwide.
No, that doesn’t mean that we should just hand baby their new iPhone in the maternity room, but it’s still pretty stunning news. Specifically, during fiscal Q1 of 2012 (October-December 2011) an average of 377,900 new iPhones were sold each day, while just 371,000 babies were born during the typical 24 hour period. That adds up to a grand total of 37,040,000 iPhones in just three months.
And that’s just the iPhones. It doesn’t include Blackberries and Androids and whatever else is out there.
I, for one, intend to embrace our new wi-fi-capable overlords. And you people had better do the same, if you know what’s good for you.
Won’t it? I mean, come on… that’s a big f-in’ deal. Half a million people, marching to support babies. To support helping young mothers avoid putting those babies to death.
Who can be against babies? Who can be against helping young mothers, who might feel fear and despair? Half a million people. The media’s gonna be all over this.
Quite possibly the best political ad of the year…so far.
Via The Other McCain, some guy running for Congress in Florida:
It was the War on Children…and the grown-ups won.
Except…well, they didn’t really act like grown-ups, did they? They kind of acted like spoiled teenagers who think money grows on trees. So I guess the children won. But, y’know. Not the real children.
Only thing that would’ve made that commercial better: if one of the “adults” had asked “say, where’s the kids?” And somebody else had said “oh, they’re playing below deck.” And then they switched to the slaver/rower scene.
More expensive, more dangerous, more environmentally unsound: the Barack Obama way!
So President Obama gave the final No to the Keystone Pipeline, which would’ve shipped that sweet, sweet crude not only from Canada, but from other places like North Dakota.
North Dakota isn’t going to stop pumping oil, just because the president single-handedly shut down the Keystone pipeline. No, they’ll keep producing, and they’ll keep sending their oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast. But to do that, they’ll need more trains.
Trains, of course, are more expensive than the pipeline would be. They’re less safe than the pipeline would be. And trains cause pollution, too. In fact, they pollute all the time, as opposed to potentially, which is exactly how often the pipeline would have polluted.
And if that’s not enough, there’s at least the appearance of quid-pro-quo in Obama’s decision:
As it happens, 75 percent of the oil currently shipped by rail out of North Dakota is handled by Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC… which just happens to be a unit of Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. What a coincidence!
The Koch brothers have got to be involved somehow, right? Did Buffett at least gift some of the stock to his secretary?
Hat tip Hot Air.
Nice polling, kid. Don’t get cocky.
Caution: polls suck.
What makes me say this today? Ann Althouse, who parses a new statewide poll:
70% of the respondents think the country is on the wrong track (24% say “right direction”), but when the same question is asked about Wisconsin, 50% say “right direction,” and 46% say “wrong track.”
A solid majority think the country’s off the rails, but a near-majority (or bare majority, depending on the rounding) think the state is on the right track.
Ann goes on:
Check out question 30: “In general, which of the following statements do you agree with more? I’d rather pay higher taxes and have a state government that provides more services, or I’d rather pay lower taxes and have a state government that provides fewer services?” 50% prefer the lower taxes approach, compared to 41% who want more services.
And question 38: “Thinking about all the changes in state government over the past year, do you think Wisconsin is better off in the long run because of these changes or worse off in the long run?” 54% say “better off,” over 40% that say “worse off.”
Given all that, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Gov. Scott Walker leads several different potential Democrats in head-to-head recall matchups.
What might surprise you: so does President Obama over Mitt Romney.
Weird.
Hey, if those companies had planned ahead a little better, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
How can they complain about paying a fine when they should have anticipated needing that unavailable but federally required ingredient for their product? It’s their own damn fault!
Oil companies will pay $6.8 million in fines for not meeting federal quotas for blending in cellulosic biofuels – those produced from grasses, wood and plants – even though there weren’t enough of those biofuels available for use, the New York Times reported. Those fines are likely to rise in 2012 because the cellulosic biofuel quotas that refiners have to meet will rise more than 30 percent to 8.65 million gallons.
Or maybe…they should have known better than to try and do business during a Democrat’s administration. Maybe that’s what it is.
You know what would be really funny? If the feds are also paying farmers not to produce those crops in order to prop up the market.
Learn English…for your own good!
I think it’s great that Megan Fox is doing this kind of public service announcement:
Really, people, if you don’t already speak English…learn. It’s for your own good.
UPDATE - that one was almost as good as her last public service announcement.
UPDATE II - the video should be working now.
On the extremely remote chance you’re checking in here before watching tonight’s State of the Union Address…
…Americans for Tax Reform has the official “State of the Union Bingo” cards. Here’s one:
I think you can just mark that lower left-hand corner right off. I mean, come on. That’s a gimme.
Also, make sure you’re following the odds on the first cliché the president will use tonight. “We have more work to do” is the current favorite at 8-1, although, “as I stand here today” and “deepest gratitude” sure seem like better bets to me.
- Event #1: the 1,000th day since the U.S. Senate proposed a budget.
- Event #2: President Obama’s State of the Union address.
I mean…what an amazingly fortuitous/regrettable juxtaposition of events! You know, depending on your point of view. President Obama is going to get up on stage tonight and tell us what an amazing job he’s doing, while the Democrat-controlled Senate hasn’t proposed a budget in exactly 1,000 days!
And Republicans aren’t gonna let this go unnoticed:
Some congressional Republicans today will wear red buttons Tuesday that read “1000 days” in white lettering as a reminder that today marks 1,000 days since the Senate last passed a budget.
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said on the House floor Tuesday morning that the button is meant to remind people that the Senate has been “acting irresponsibly” by not passing a budget resolution since April 2009.
Odds that any of those buttons show up on camera tonight? Whaddaya say? 10-1? 15-1? More?
Hat tip Insty, who has another suggestion as well.
If a penny, dropped from the Empire State Building, has achieved enough velocity by the time it hits the ground to destroy a car…
…what can a photon going 93 million miles an hour do?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.
The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times…
…Radiation from Sunday’s flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation on NOAA’s storm scale — severe and extreme — Biesecker said. Still, this storm is the strongest for radiation since May 2005.
The radiation — in the form of protons — came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.
Yes, I know, my question is nonsensical. A proton’s mass is 1.00727638 atomic mass units. Let’s just round that down to 1, for the sake of those of us with IQs of me or lower. A post-1982 penny weighs about 2.5 grams, or 1.505534163e+24 amu. Whatever that means. I’m pretty sure it’s a lot bigger.
Still, the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall (not counting the antenna). According to this, a penny would only reach about 100 miles an hour on the way down, and according to this, it wouldn’t destroy a car, anyway.
But what if you could get a penny going 93 million miles an hour? What then? And what if you could get a penny going 9.3 million miles an hour? 930,000 miles an hour?
What then? Better stay inside for the next few days. That’s what then.
Yeah, fine, I see all you math and physics geeks out there shaking your heads at me in your rarely-felt superiority.
