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I am almost afraid to ask students (or my in-laws) what they think of President Obama’s State of the Union plea for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00. I will ask my students this week, but not my in-laws (I already know their answer – YES!). The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article on the minimum wage and its impact on employment. While raising the minimum wage sounds “fair,” it is really grossly unfair. University of California at Irvine economist David Neumark has looked at more than 100 major academic studies on the minimum wage, and he...

Or lack thereof. In case today’s previous posts didn’t highlight the failure of Islamic interfaith dialog, Robert Spencer presents his latest personal experience via PJ Lifestyle » Building Bridges Between Christians and Muslims: A Case Study.: Does the diocese and the [Boston] Globe think that if people like me are silenced that no one will ever again “link Islam to terrorism” or depict “Islam as an inherently violent religion”? Unfortunately, jihadists will continue to do both of these things. ~ Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch While Christians face escalating persecution from Muslims in Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and elsewhere, the...

A veteran parking enforcement officer who unsuccessfully used a “sleepwalker’s defence” to explain why he punched a suspect in police custody was sentenced Friday to 100 hours of community service in Old City Hall Court. “I have determined that this is an exceptional case,” Justice Peter Harris said. The judge noted that Devon Henry, 43, has already been fired for the attack at 14 Division on April 24, 2011, and that Keith Ryan, the man he punched twice, didn’t want him sent to jail.

Check at the source.

According to The Full Pint, Minneapolis-based Surly Brewing Company was recently denied permission by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to use the proposed label design for its new West Coast-style IPA, Overrated. According to an exerted newsletter from Surly, the original artwork displayed a pink-colored unicorn with a bright rainbow in the background. If it’s not obvious why an image that leans hard on rainbow and unicorn imagery might get a rejection from the TTB, the newsletter stated: “they [TTB] said it was too appealing to underage drinking, as if adults can’t be into unicorns and...

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius may have beat his girlfriend with a cricket bat before shooting her to death in his South Africa home, according to a new report. -snip- "There was lots of blood on the bat. Forensic tests will show whose blood it was," a source with inside knowledge of the case told City Press. As well as bullet wounds to the head, arm, hand and hip, Steenkamp suffered a “crushed” skull, according to the South African paper.

Todd’s parents, Mary and Rick Todd, raised questions about their son's death that remain unanswered. Todd, an electronics engineer, had just concluded an 18-month employment with Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME). He had been developing, in collaboration with Chinese telecom giant Huawei, sophisticated radar and satellite technology for both civilian and military applications. His mother says that at work, he was “being asked to do things that made him uncomfortable", FT quoted her as saying. His girlfriend knew that he was increasingly stressed about the nature of his research. Todd resigned from IME sometime later. Days before his death, he...

A Rohnert Park man was arrested after tearing apart a Starbucks and assaulting a police officer in Santa Rosa Saturday morning. Officers were called to the Starbucks near the intersection of Stony Point Road and Bellevue Ranch around 7:45 a.m., according to police. Police learned that a man had entered the store a few hours earlier and had been "exhibiting bizarre behavior" before locking himself in the restroom and pounding on the walls and door. At one point, the man allegedly tried to pull a Starbucks employee into the restroom with him. Police said an alert customer and workers evacuated...

Remember Ray's Hell Burgers, the burger joint Obama visited a couple of times early in his first term? Dead. Kaput. The latest victims of the Obama Kiss of Death, in which seemingly every business he personally visits - especially those he touts as New Economy success stories - goes bankrupt. Sometimes this is understandable, as in the case of those green energy losers he keeps picking. But other times it really does seem like a curse.

Day five's list of cardinal electors is as follows: NAPIER Wilfrid Fox, O.F.M. [English, Italian]NICORA Attilio [English, Italian]NJUE John [English, Italian]NYCZ Kazimierz [English, Italian] O’BRIEN Edwin Frederick  [English, Italian]O’BRIEN Keith Michael Patrick [English, Italian] OKOGIE Anthony Olubunmi [English, Italian]O'MALLEY Seán Patrick, O.F.M. Cap. [English, Italian] ONAIYEKAN John Olorunfemi  [English, Italian] ORTEGA Y ALAMINO Jaime Lucas [English, Italian]OUELLET Marc, P.S.S. [English, Italian] PATABANDIGE DON Albert Malcolm Ranjith [English, Italian]PELL George [English, Italian] PENGO Polycarp [English, Italian] PHAM MINH MÂN Jean-Baptiste [English, Italian] Eliminated due to being outside the age of 60-71: NICORA AttilioO’BRIEN Edwin FrederickO’BRIEN Keith Michael PatrickOKOGIE Anthony OlubunmiORTEGA Y ALAMINO Jaime LucasPHAM MINH MÂN Jean-BaptisteSurvivors from day five (9 of 15): NAPIER Wilfrid Fox, O.F.M.NJUE JohnNYCZ KazimierzO'MALLEY Seán Patrick, O.F.M. Cap.ONAIYEKAN John OlorunfemiOUELLET Marc, P.S.S.PATABANDIGE DON Albert Malcolm RanjithPELL GeorgePENGO PolycarpTotal Survivors thus far...

Will you Fire on American Citizens if the Commander in Chief gives the order? This is the question being asked of America’s top generals by the Obama administration. “I have just been informed by a former senior military leader that Obama is using a new litmus test in determining who will stay and who must go [among] his military leaders,” begins the post of Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Jim Garrow, originator of the Pink Pagoda project that rescues baby girls from “gendercide” shortly after their birth in China. (1) Garrow goes on to say, “The new litmus test of leadership...

"On Bolton: You know that we had a committee meeting to vote him out [i.e. to the full Senate]. You know that we decided to take three additional weeks to investigate the new allegations and charges that have come in. I said, at the time, on the record, in the committee, and many times publicly: these are very serious allegations, and they deserve serious attention. And we should not move forward until we address these allegations....I have always taken the approach, and I think in the nine years I have been in the Senate I have only voted against one...

Police searching for two men behind fatal shootingA Miami man who tried to protect his wife and daughter from a pair of home invaders was shot and killed early Wednesday, family members said. Miami Police say they're looking for two heavily armed suspects who ambushed the family inside their home in the area of Northwest 16th Avenue and 44th Street. "We call these two men beasts," Miami Police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes said. Family members said 36-year-old Maurice Harris and his wife and 11-year-old daughter were inside the home when the two men broke in around midnight. Rash of Break-Ins in...

An increasing number of blacks appear to finally be getting angry with Obama. It’s just too bad it took four years and voting for Obama a second time for blacks to realize the president doesn’t care about their interests. Immigration and the president’s determination to get legislation passed granting amnesty to an estimated 11-20 million illegal aliens seems to be the straw that broke black liberals’ backs. Recently some Black Americans have been calling into black talk radio shows like “Keeping it Real with Al Sharpton, complaining immigration is not an important issue to them. This is despite Al Sharpton’s...

I've damaged my hearing from unprotected shooting. Now, everything I've read insists I wear both earplugs and muffs while shooting. I also read that people are using electronic muffs for hunting so they can hear game movement. If muffs and plugs are necessary to protect our hearing, how is it that electronic muffs, alone, are sufficient? Thanks. Also, I have a pair of Howard Leight Impact Sports muffs and wore them yesterday for coyote hunting. I discharged my 223 and must not have had a good "weld" on my left ear because there was a slight "ringing" after the shot...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) characterized the limitations on Congressional pay in the looming sequester as “the cruelest cut in the entire package.” “Considering all the money we have appropriated for those making dubious or even negative contributions to our society it is unconscionable that we should be treated so shabbily,” Pelosi contended. “We are key players in ruling this country. We ought to have salaries commensurate with the significance of our role.” “Corporate executives presiding over budgets a tiny fraction of what we dispose of in a year take down salaries and bonuses in the millions of dollars,”...

President Obama is golfing in Florida Sunday with Tiger Woods, according to a press report. The news was first reported by Tim Rosaforte, a writer for Golf World. "The President is arriving at The Floridian range. Awaiting is Tiger Woods and club owner Jim Crane. Historic day in golf. Their first round," Rosaforte said on Twitter. Read

Professor George Lakoff describes himself as a cognitive scientist. In his book, Moral Politics How Liberals and Conservatives Think, Professor Lakoff illustrates the problem of accurately describing the dichotomy between contemporary liberalism and contemporary conservatism in America. From the section, The Worldview Problem for Cognitive Science in chapter two:~The job of the cognitive scientist in this instance is to characterize the largely unconscious liberal and conservative worldviews accurately enough so that an analyst can see just why the puzzles for liberals are not puzzles for conservatives, and conversely. Any cognitive scientist who seeks to describe the conservative and liberal worldviews...

YPSILANTI, Mich. — More than 21 years after she went to prison, Barbara Hernandez enters the cinderblock visitation chamber at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in the turquoise blouse with applique flowers she keeps for special occasions. Her makeup is carefully applied but cannot hide the age lines that spread, thin but unmistakable, from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you for coming," the 38-year-old inmate says softly. Her eyes, chestnut and brooding, are offset by a gentle smile. She holds out a hand in welcome.