Threat of US Government shutdown de-fanged by Wisconsin

Governor Dayton agreed to GOP budget proposal and agreed to end the Wisconsin shutdown.  He seems to have given up on his demand for new taxes (John Hinderaker at Powerline) and the public just wasn't too upset by the closure. (Biggest story may have been artificial beer shortage caused by expired licenses and bureaucrats who were unfortunately still on the job and ordered Coors to pull its beer).

The threat impact of a US government shutdown just got weaker.
h/t Hot Air

Not this.

Scotland Yard's first camera bought to tag suffragettes.

(Click to see faces better)

"In 1912, Scotland Yard detectives bought their first camera to covertly photograph suffragettes. The pictures were compiled into ID sheets for officers on the ground."                         Women who wanted a vote and were being a bother to authorities.

Found at blackandwtf

Update on Libya: Strategy Page

Threat of terrorist attacks in Europe? "Kaddafi appeared to be just talking, and not actually doing any terrorist activity. Many terrorists who have been hiding in Libya for a long time, are reported to be on the move. But these bad boys appear to be seeking new sanctuary, not fresh targets."
"There are still over a thousand casualties a week, most of them among Kaddafi supporters".
"Berber rebels are advancing from the south of Tripoli... The Berbers are talking about demanding recognition of their cultural identity (which Arabs have been trying to suppress for over a thousand years). Various rebel factions have lists of things they want, to add up to far more than what is available. The war won't be over when Kaddafi is defeated".
"The big problem here is not what most people realize, but it is simple. Kaddafi has more effective troops, especially the closer you get to Tripoli. In addition, Kaddafi has no trouble getting determined new recruits. Many individuals, families and tribes that have long been associated with Kaddafi live in and around Tripoli. They know there will be retribution if the rebels win".  More story at Strategy Page.

"An Egyptian court finally agreed to take 14 Libyan TV channels off an Egyptian owned satellite. This cut Kaddafi's main propaganda outlet."

China, the biggest creditor, will reduce US credit rating either a little or a lot

BEIJING - The US' sovereign credit rating is likely to be downgraded regardless of whether the US Congress reaches an agreement on raising its statutory debt limit, Chinese rating agency, Dagong Global Rating Co Ltd, said on Monday. "If the raised limit fails to pass and the US faces default, the rating will be immediately and substantially downgraded," the Dagong CEO said.

   China Daily News
             Debt brinkmanship makes people nervous.

In the Future, People will Tweet their Wheaties

Click to enlarge

h/t Instapundit linking to Transparency Revolution

Country credit ratings: What country has a good one and how are the scales calibrated?

Drudge headline in red is about a downgrade risk from Aaa to Aa1 on the Moody scale. Chart below from Wikipedia.

Credit ratings calibrated.

September 2010 data show Norway at the top and United States in seventeenth place for least economic risk. Chart below from Euromoney.com

Economic risk showing the best twenty countries.

"Today, 43 cents of every dollar spent is borrowed" Veronique de Rugy

"What happened to the $2.6 trillion Social Security Fund?"

Read Merrill Matthews in Forbes:

“I cannot guarantee that those checks [he included veterans and the disabled, in addition to Social Security] go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue.  Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.”

Well, either Obama and Geithner are lying to us now, or they and all defenders of the Social Security status quo have been lying to us for decades.  It must be one or the other.       Here’s why: Social Security has a trust fund, and that trust fund is supposed to have $2.6 trillion in it, according to the Social Security trustees.   If there are real assets in the trust fund, then Social Security can mail the checks, regardless of what Congress does about the debt limit.

President Obama’s budget director, Jack Lew, explained all this last February in USA Today: “Social Security benefits are entirely self-financing.  They are paid for with payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers throughout their careers.  These taxes are placed in a trust fund dedicated to paying benefits owed to current and future beneficiaries. … Even though Social Security began collecting less in taxes than it paid in benefits in 2010, the trust fund will continue to accrue interest and grow until 2025, and will have adequate resources to pay full benefits for the next 26 years.”

Added:  "Guarantee is a lie."  Investors Business Daily.

Stinky sock trap kills malaria mosquitoes

After finding stinky feet attracted biting mosquitos, Kenyan lab team made their own smelly cocktail and used it for bait in traps that can be placed outside homes.  Good idea.   h/t Lucianne

Funds raised: DNC RNC DGA RGA and Presidential hopefuls

DNC raised $45,500,000 first five months, $16,500,000 cash on hand, $13,500,000 in debt.
RNC raised $30,500,000 first five months, $6,100,000 cash on hand, $18,500,000 in debt.
Source Source
Democratic Governors Association raised $11,000,000 first six months, has $8,600,000 cash 
Republican Governors Association raised $22,100,000 first six months, has $16,200,000 cash 
Source

Presidential hopefuls, last 90 days:

Obama                   $47,000,000  (Goal was $60,000,000)

GOP hopefuls         $40,000,000? (data missing).

    Breakdown:  Romney $18,000,000   Pawlenty $4,100,000   Paul  $4,500,000   Huntsman  $4,100,000   Gingrich  $2,000,000   Bachmann $4,200,000    Perry ?     Palin ?   

Source  Source  (Bachmann added August 2nd)

Petraeus brings local Rule of Law initiative to Afghanistan (bio-gas too)

Michel Yon's latest dispatch includes quotes from General Petraeus:
"As in any counter-insurgency, helping the host nation provide adequate resolution of local disputes is critical;  indeed, this is an area in which the insurgents can compete if strong governmental systems are not in place."  (The hated Taliban courts)
"A 'hub and spoke' approach to rule of law is slowly gaining traction as we support the Afghan-led  efforts to provide dispute resolution for the Afghan people."   (The hub includes a forensic lab).

BG Mark Martins

Yon explains that the man in charge, Brigadier General Mark Martins, is tasked also with implementing the biogas program converting domestic poop to cooking gas.  This local program uses the same community ties as Rule of Law.

General Petraeus has two good ears and a clear mind.

In California, 13 county secession summit is on the agenda

"The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution today calling for a summit of 13 counties in southern California to discuss forming a 51st state. The vote was 4-0, with one supervisor absent."
h/t The PJ Tatler linking to The GOP Net

And an earlier reflection on the benefits from Walter Russell Mead
"The only hope I can see is to break it up.   California’s core problem is that it has outgrown the constitutional model we have for it. "

Geek Prehistory

Thank you Ace of Spades 

"Why Small Business Isn't Hiring"

1 The real estate bubble over-priced and over-valued commercial real estate. (Rents for small business got out of line).
2 Financing is cheap to global Corporate America and costly to nonexistent to startups and expanding small businesses.
3. Crony capitalism doesn't like competition.

Tyler Durden, a pseudonym.
"Efficient markets a possibility and a necessity."

   

Part two of an interesting article at Zero Hedge posted under the pseudonym of Tyler Durden.

Bin Laden emails: Rebranding Al Qaeda

"The U.S. believes that al Qaeda is badly hurt, and close to extinction. This became clear recently when Osama bin Laden's captured email was examined and revealed an effort to rename al Qaeda as part of an effort to revive the battered terrorist organization."
Strategy Page.   


(Also, US negotiations with Pakistan are about how much aid they can steal).

"Lots of new jobs, your enemies losing influence, independence": What's not to like about more oil at home?

Two oil industry groups spell it out:  190,000 jobs will be created simply by restoring pre-spill levels of drilling and another 400,000 created just by clearing up backlogged requests.  No government money required.  Just stop stopping things.  Turn on the green light and see that things are done decently and in order.  Article at Daily Caller, h/t Hot Air.

Abundance is an option.
Remember "All of the Above".

Positronium: Anti-matter turning up at the lab

Positronium is formed when an electron pairs up with a positron, its antimatter twin.
First observed 2007.  Lasts a few billionths of a second.
Now released in low temperature process from silicon, lasting 200 times longer than bound ones, 2011.
Related: 300 atoms of anti-hydrogen trapped for quarter hour at CERN, 2011.
Related:  Anti-matter trapped in Van Allen belts.

Michelle Obama likes fries and a burger. Sounds normal.

The news cycle mocked and defended the President's wife for bingeing at the Shake Shack while lecturing America on eating right.   I prefer some hypocrisy to joyless correctness.
1556 calories
1700 calories

Looks okay to me.

US Ambassador to Syria is a Hero in Hama

Ambassador Robert Ford

Ambassador Ford travelled to Hama to show solidarity with the protestors while Syrian security forces circled the town. (Reuters July 7th).  A few seconds from Wired's embedded video gives you the message:  "Roses and olive branches".


                           

Ambassador Ford also spoke out on Facebook, saying the obvious, that the Syrian government helped orchestrate the attack on the US Embassy while stomping on citizens who protest against Assad.   Over 1500 Syrians have added comment and "Likes" to his Arabic posting.  See for yourself.   The White House isn't in the lead on this one.
 Hat tip: Instapundit

Israel used Facebook to block staged fly-in

Intelligence gathered from an open-access Facebook page run by anti-Israel activists was collected. The list of names that would not be allowed entry to Israel was sent to European countries.  The fly-in flopped and those who came were detained or denied entry.   (Fitsanakis at Intelligence News)
An earlier story:  "China wants big stake in Facebook"?  A downer
And another:  "Twitter militia ratted on the rowdies"?  An upper

Expect more stories about social networks changing the rules, some for better and some for worse.  You read about a flash mob spreading terror in Peoria and you watched the videos of a flash mob singing the Hallelujah chorus.

Battle for the soul of the West: Manifesto

“I wish this need not have happened in my time.”

"As Frodo told Gandalf, when he found out he had this ring of immense import: “I wish this need not have happened in my time.” I’m sure the guys who waded ashore at Guadalcanal or Normandy felt the same way. But we are here, and the battle for not only the soul of the West, but I believe its very life, hangs in the balance. As C.S. Lewis said, we need to endeavour to go where the lines are the thinnest, and the battle is the fiercest. Right now, IMHO, the battle is not with M-16s, tanks and drones, but with ideas, education, and information dissemination. I, for one, am never, ever, ever giving up."

Personal communication

from Jim Vanne.