Posts Tagged ‘New York City’

When Looking for Primary School Qualifications, “Founded by Mimes” Should Not Be a Plus

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

“Parents are yanking their kids out of the ‘progressive,’ $32,000 per-year private school founded by the Blue Man Group—which has no books and no tests—because their kids are barely learning to read.”

You mean that “progressive” education doesn’t work, even in a school founded by mimes? Who knew?

Well, guess I’ll have to cancel my graduate school application for The Marcel Marceau School of Advanced Particle Physics…

(Hat tip: The Daily Caller via Jim Treacher’s twitter feed.)

LinkSwarm for March 27, 2012

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

News! in tiny, bite-sized portions!

  • Kay Bailey Hutchison tries to walk back her comments, unsuccessfully. She says she opposes abortion, but supports taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. That’s like saying you support the Second Amendment, but also support the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. You can believe one or the other, but not both at the same time.
  • Hey, how about sending some of that military surplus to the Mexican border?
  • Even The New York Times has noticed the absurdity of the Obama Administration’s position on ObamaCare: “The Justice Department is essentially arguing that the penalty is not a tax, except when the government says it is one.”
  • “Europe will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.” The new Europe will be Judenfrei.
  • Escape from North Korea.
  • Thanks to Muslim pressure, SUNY Stony Brook will no longer celebrate Good Friday, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, or Passover.
  • Speaking of New York, here’s another case of insider looting at a Brooklyn hospital. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • Still no signs of Global Warming.
  • LinkSwarm for March 20, 2012

    Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

    Had a busy day working and keeping track of contractors laying sod in my back yard, so here’s another LinkSwarm:

  • Two ads, one saying people should reject Catholicism, one saying they should reject Islam. Guess which one The New York Times refused to run.
  • “General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, the head of President Obama’s Jobs Board, plans to vote for Mitt Romney.”
  • The decline in culture at Goldman Sachs: “Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.”
  • “It appears that when he’s not busy killing un-born babies, he might like to jerk off while watching little boys play baseball”.
  • Sarah Hoyt on the myth of the war against women: “War is where the enemy decimates your numbers – like, say in China where abortion is killing mostly females. War is where you are kept from learning – like in most Arab countries, where women have restrictions placed on their education…If this is war it is war on men…If you truly believe refusing to force employers to pay for birth control is a war on women, then you are fragile little flowers who deserve to experience life practically anywhere else in the world.”
  • As Matt Dowling notes, it’s not a war on women, it’s a war on big government.
  • From Ace comes word that Nurse Bloomberg has outlawed food donations to the homeless that’s too high in fat and salt. If you put this in a Saturday Night Live parody, people would criticize it as too unbelievable…
  • In shocking news, liberal writer Froma Harrop, who appears to have spent all her life in and around New York City, isn’t worried about high gas prices. Imagine my shock. And if that name sounds familiar, there’s a reason:
  • Up Real Soon Now: Hopefully an interview with another major Texas Senate candidate…

    Ground Zero Mosque May Not Get Built Because Owner is a Deadbeat Slumlord

    Saturday, November 19th, 2011

    Well, this is some interesting news:

    Con Edison wants a judge to green-light the eviction of the would-be developer of the controversial mosque near Ground Zero — because, the utility claims, he doesn’t have a prayer of paying the $1.7 million that he owes in back rent.

    At a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, Con Ed lawyer Scott Mollen yesterday portrayed Sharif el-Gamal as a deadbeat slumlord and far too cash-strapped to pay back what he owes.

    “They’re $1.7 million in arrears, and they have not come close to demonstrating they have the ability” to pay up on the rent at 51 Park Place, Mollen told Justice Richard Braun.

    It would be deeply ironic that after all the sturm-und-drang if the ground zero mosque were killed by the one thing almost all New Yorkers hold in contempt: landlords.

    Maybe Sharif el-Gamal should wander down to wherever Occupy Wall Street is hanging out and pass the hat…

    Some Analysis of the Republican Victory in the New York Ninth Congressional District Special Election

    Thursday, September 15th, 2011

    I’m a sucker for wonkish political analysis of voting results, so here are some of the more notable results-scrying for Bob Turner’s win over David Weprin in New York’s Ninth Congressional District after Rep. Anthony “look at my bulge” Weiner resigned in disgrace. A race Weprin lost despite $485,000 of DCCC ad buys and having Bill Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Coumo campaign for him. I’m going to ignore the usual “weak candidate, ran a bad race” blather liberals always trot out when a Democrat loses, because it’s become a tautology that doesn’t explain anything. He lost? Bad candidate that ran a bad campaign. He won? A good candidate who ran a good campaign.

    Speaking of incompetence, let’s also dismiss DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz laughable assertion that a district where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 3-1 “is difficult for Democrats.” Even more risible is Wasserman Schultz’s claim that Obama has an “incredibly strong record on Israel.” She truly is the gift that keeps giving to Republicans.

    So why did Weprin lose? Some theories:

  • Much has been made of former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch’s support for Turner and Obama’s abysmal record on Israel turning off the districts heavy Jewish population.
  • Over at Real Clear Politics, Sean Trende suggests that the win might be seen in light of Obamas slipping popularity with white voters.
  • Over at National Review Online, Kathryn Jean Lopez thinks Weprin’s support of gay marriage may have done him in. Her theory gets support from, of all places, The Village Voice.
  • Finally, there’s the theory that Obama is so unpopular that he’s dragging down all Democratic candidates with him, no matter where they run. And who’s floating this particular theory? That would be Weprin himself.
  • Democratic strategist James Carville says it’s time for Obama to panic, but his advice is on the lines of firing people, find some scapegoats, and return to Ye Olde Big Government Religion. (He also seems to regard a $1.25 trillion budget deficit as “austerity.”) Walter Russell Mead isn’t impressed with the advice: “This President doesn’t do ‘tough’ very well….he isn’t convincing as a Chuck Norris impersonator. Often when he tries to sound tough he comes out tinny. Also, teleprompters don’t work when the goal is to project spontaneous, righteous and passionate rage.”

    If NY9 is indeed a bellwether for 2012 (a big if), Democrats are in for some pretty rough storms over the next 14 months…

    This Week in Jihad for February 3, 2011

    Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

    All eyes are still on Egypt, but that’s not the only hotspot for jihad:

  • Suicide bomber prematurely detonates thanks to spam text message. (Via Slashdot)
  • “Barack Obama has endorsed a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in a new, post-Mubarak government for Egypt.”
  • The current unrest in Egypt makes makes things look pretty grim for the Copts: “I’ve pored over every news report I can find, and have seen no sign that local Christians are involved in this uprising against Mubarak. This tells me all I need to know about the calls for ‘democracy’ and ‘reform’ in Egypt. They know that Mubarak’s fall would mean to them what Hussein’s fall meant to Iraqi Christians: the end.”
  • More from JihadWatch’s indefatigable Robert Spencer on the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement in the unrest in Egypt. The amount of writing and analysis keeps up on the topic of jihad is positively dizzying. It’s hard to keep up just summarizing him…

    Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey (whom I linked to a few days ago), has been arrested and then released by the Egyptian government. “I am ok. I got out. I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated , my car ripped apar& supplies taken”

  • While everyone was paying attention to Egypt, Hamas fires rockets into Egypt.
  • Fifteen-year old Bangladeshi girl whipped to death in Koranic punishment for fornication.
  • Tell a Muslim their food smells bad and lose your house in Canada. This decision was overturned, but it proves Mark Steyn’s point that all Canadian “Human Rights Tribunals” need to be eliminated as threats to free speech…
  • Add New York City building code to the list of rules that are no longer applicable to Muslims.
  • A white Vietnam Veteran jihadi?
  • More reports of an al Qaeda dirty bomb.