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The global elite, dining on Norwegian lobster and reindeer at the end of the World Economic Forum on Saturday, felt pretty chipper despite growing concerns about the inequality of the economic recovery.

The single best column out of Davos this year has to be Anya Schiffrin’s piece titled “Jealous Davos Mistresses.” Schiffrin, who is the wife of Joseph Stiglitz, describes the caste system created by the nametags handed out to attendees at the Davos World Economic Forum. Here is how it works: everyone at Davos has to wear a name tag and these are color coded by status/occupation (speaker, organizer, journalist etc). Usually these name tags include some kind of affiliation, such as the company or organization you work for. But wives’ name tags state only their name. This means there is...

LAS VEGAS - When Rep. Shelley Berkley decided to hold a "Congress on Your Corner" event here Friday, her plan was to prove that fear hadn't changed the way Congress works. She wound up proving the opposite. [snip] Historically, the most dangerous part of a lawmaker's job has been not violence, but travel. At least 29 members of Congress have died in accidents involving planes, automobiles and ships. One, Rep. Larry McDonald (D-Ga.), was killed when a Soviet fighter jet shot down his airliner in 1983. Historians count six lawmakers who have been killed by strangers. They include a Republican...

<p>Political Clout: The Kennedys no longer have a family member in Congress, but their undue influence can still pressure a high-profile cable channel to suppress an unflattering $25 million biopic.</p> <p>Since 2007, A&E's History Channel has lured younger viewers and a bigger audience with reality series like "UFO Hunters." Sadly, the channel has axed a miniseries that was a cinch to give the History Channel its highest ratings ever.</p>

With the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” looking imminent, the next question on America’s mind is what a military with openly gay soldiers will look like. Most experts, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, believe that a repeal of the discriminatory law won’t at all endanger the military’s stability. And a large majority of enlisted troops agree with them. But what if a military that welcomes gays and lesbians with open arms doesn’t just not fall part, but actually shows remarkable improvement? For decades now, scientists seeking to understand why people...

This is perhaps the most realistic depiction of liberals and their fallacious arguments that I've watched. In conversations I've had with liberals, they say pretty much the exact same things as in this video... So it's quite enjoyable to watch them get swatted down one after the other! Liberalism Explained

The recent attacks on Sarah Palin by establishment conservatives make her Democratic opponents seem like wusses. The prospect of a Palin presidential candidacy in 2012 has obviously spooked the GOP elite. But do they have to be so mean? [snip -- he goes on at length, reciting nasty talking head comments about Sarah Palin] I wouldn't want to see Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House, let alone in the Oval Office with a nuclear arsenal at her disposal. That's not a likely scenario anyway, given her low standing among independents and Democrats. But the notion of a phalanx of...

Three crucial points underlie our crisis of culture in the Western world: 1) There is no culture, at least as we know it in the West, without the bourgeoisie. 2) The notion of egalitarianism, which in the last few hundred years has come to dominate our thinking, is wreaking havoc on Western culture. 3) By embracing the concept of egalitarianism, the bourgeoisie is precipitating the dissolution of our culture and the self-destruction of the middle class.[i] 1) Culture and the Middle Class The middle class has supplied most of the innovators in Western culture, science, and economics. The philosopher David...

As millions of hardworking Americans struggle to make ends meet, Senate staffers will participate next week in a two-day orgy of back massages, organic food tastings and milk mustache photos. It's all part of a health fair for the staffers, who enjoy some of the best health care in the country. Not only will they get health screenings, they'll also find out if their iPods are too loud. Neither the Senate's Education and Training Office nor the Senate sergeant-at-arms, which oversees the office, would say which vendors are providing the services or how much the health fair will cost taxpayers....

"From the price of arugula to vacations in Marbella, the Obamas are the perfect yuppie couple..."

Here’s a new entry into the GOP 2012 presidential field (and by new I mean so old he’s new again): Jeb Bush. On his show this morning Chris Matthews pondering “who might beat Barack Obama in 2012?” This of course is the question plaguing the Republican Party. For all the attention and hoopla surrounding Sarah Palin no one is really convinced that even if she could snag the Republican nomination she has any shot at beating President Obama in the general. Matthews points out that what Jeb — the Bush brother the family had originally intended for the White House...

The Elite Turn Against ObamaJuly 14,2010 by Lloyd Grove You’d think the well-heeled and enlightened eggheads at the Aspen Ideas Festival—which is running all week in this fashionable resort town with heady panel discussions and earnest disquisitions involving all manner of deep thinkers and do-gooders—would be receptive to an intellectually ambitious president with big ideas of his own. In a way, the folks attending this cerebral conclave pairing the Aspen Institute think tank with the Atlantic Monthly magazine might even be seen as President Obama’s natural base. Apparently not so much. “The real problem we have,” Mort Zuckerman said, “are...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan National Army Commandos chosen to be a part of Afghanistan’s first Special Forces team graduated during a ceremony at Camp Moorehead May 12, 2010. The students were hand-selected from the ranks of the Commandos, soldiers trained to handle any combat situation and represent the ANA’s most highly skilled and versatile fighters. “This begins a new chapter in the history of the ANA as they are the first and will serve as the model for the future of the ANA Special Forces,” said Afghan Brig. Gen. Dadon Lawang, brigade commander for the new team. As Commandos, the...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Leaders from the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs and NATO Training Command – Afghanistan were on hand to give a hero’s welcome to more than 300 Afghan National Civil Order Police officers at the ANCOP headquarters following a three-month deployment. The MoI held the ceremony to show their appreciation for the service and sacrifices of the ANCOP who deployed to Marjah in February. The event opened with the beat of a drum as several police officers fell out of formation to begin dancing a traditional Afghan dance. Lt. Gen. Mangal, Deputy Minister of MoI, arrived soon after...

COB ADDER, Iraq – Culminating three weeks of training with U.S. Special Forces and the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Iraqi Commandos and the 5th Iraqi Tactical Security Unit Battalion conducted a simulated air assault raid here, April 22. The raid, the final event of the training, tested the knowledge the students had gained during the course. Using skills instilled in them by their trainers, these Iraqi Soldiers will return to their units able to train their fellow Soldiers. The day started with a helicopter ride to the training area, where the students dismounted the helicopter and headed into the compound....

The CEOs of some of the country's biggest companies are being summoned to Washington to defend claims that the health care reform law would cost them millions -- a move Republicans say amounts to intimidation. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Friday fired off letters to the heads of Caterpillar, Verizon, AT&T and Deere after they and other firms reported that the health care overhaul would dig deep into their bottom lines. Caterpillar claimed it would raise costs by $100 million in the first year and imperil coverage for its 150,000 employees and...

"...the implosion of what Stephen Kotkin terms the “uncivil society” — the bureaucrats, ideologues, political police, managers and other members of the Communist elite who ran the states of the Soviet bloc in partnership with the Kremlin. “It was the establishment — the ‘uncivil society’ — that brought down its own system,” Kotkin explains. “Each establishment did so by misruling and then, when Mikhail Gorbachev’s Kremlin radically shifted the geopolitical rules, by capitulating — or by refusing to capitulate and thus making themselves susceptible to political bank runs..... More of 'Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment...

In , 2002, Bishop walked into an International House of Pancakes in Peabody with her family, asked for a booster seat for one of her children, and learned the last seat had gone to another mother. Bishop, according to a police report, strode over to the other woman, demanded the seat and launched into a profanity-laced rant. When the woman would not give the seat up, Bishop punched her in the head, all the while yelling "I am Dr. Amy Bishop." Bishop received probation and prosecutors recommended that she be sent to anger management classes, though it is unclear from...

Author Kurt Andersen came out swinging this week in New York Magazine against democracy in action! He hates the Tea Party Movement in particular. Andersen, a novelist who at one time was New York Magazine’s chief editor, prefers when “a calm club of like-minded wise men (and women) in Washington” is calling the shots, not the people. Andersen agrees with Elitist-in-Chief President Barack Obama who believes the opponents of his far-left policies should just sit down and shut up. Andersen liked the good old days when: the elite media really did control the national political discourse…Until fifteen years ago, presidents...

While the old media talking heads continue talking to themselves; still believing they're the center of the universe and while progressive academics continue to condescend to those who disagree with their science, historical perspectives, or outdated educational methods, the rest of us are moving on. It's quite interesting to observe. It has been an incredible 12 months . . .