Why Stopping NPR Funding Doesn’t Save One Taxpayer Penny

The government funds the Corporation for Pubic Broadcasting, an entity that decides where the the money goes. If it is prohibited from giving the money NPR, it will go to other producers; but the amount of taxpayer dollars allocated will be the same.  Congressman Justin Amish of Michigan voted “present” for the NPR vote, and he explains why to Greta Van Susteren. (via Think Progress).

The federal government does not subsidize NPR directly. Instead, the government funds the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a government entity, which has discretion to provide funding to whichever private radio producers it chooses. H …

With Fight Over DOMA Looming, A Majority Of Americans Now Support Gay Marriage

By Yashwanth Manjunath

According to a new Washington Post/ABC poll, a majority of Americans now support gay marriage. Five years ago only 36 percent of Americans supported gay marriage; now 53 percent say gay marriage should be legal. This is the first time that a Post-ABC poll has shown a majority on this issue.

Of course, opponents of marriage equality have been quick to discredit the validity of the poll. According to Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage:

The only poll that counts is a free and fair vote on the part of

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Obama Threatens Military Action If Qadhafi’s Attacks Don’t Stop

President Obama said the United States will act military in Libya if necessary, saying if the Libyan dictator isn’t stop he will kill thousands of his own people.

But Obama, speaking in the East Room after meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, said he wouldn’t “deploy ground troops into Libya” or “use force to go beyond a well-defined goal” of protecting Libyans. He added, “The United States did not seek this outcome.”

Obama demanded that Qadhafi stop attacking civilians and call his troops back, while allowing humanitarian assistance to reach all Libyans. “These terms are not negotiable,” Obama …

Americans Don’t Want American Libya Intervention

Americans overwhelmingly want the United States to avoid military conflict in Libya (via Political Wire).

A CNN/Opinion Research poll finds 74% believe the United States should “leave it to others” to resolve the situation in Libya.

A Pew Research survey finds 65% think the United States doesn’t have the responsibility to do something about the fighting in Libya.

A Fox News poll finds 65% oppose the U.S. military getting involved.

 …

Judge Temporarily Blocks Wisconsin Anti-Union Law

Judge Maryann Sumi of Dane County has issued a restraining order blocking the Wisconsin Secretary of State from publishing the union-busting bill rammed through by Republicans.

The complaint, filed by the Dane County district attorney, alleges the GOP lawmakers violated the state’s open meetings laws in the run-up to last week’s vote.

As discussed here previously, Democrats may not have been given required notice to arrive for the vote. And that seemed to be just fine with Republicans.…

Charlie Sheen Outpolls Sarah Palin For President Among Independents

According to Public Policy Polling, Sarah Palin trails Charlie Sheen among independent voters.

We’ve found a lot of brutal poll numbers for Sarah Palin so far in 2011: down in South Dakota, down in South Carolina, down in Arizona, only up by 1 point in Texas, only up by 1 point in Nebraska to name a few. But this has to be the worst- independent voters say they would support Charlie Sheen over Palin for President by a 41/36 margin. Seriously.

Despite her deficit with independents Palin does lead Sheen 49-29 overall. We also tested Barack Obama against Sheen …

Why You Should Have Paid Attention In Statistics Class

by Stuart Shapiro

Well, there are a lot of reasons but here’s one that is particularly relevant today.  After the financial crisis, many analysts of financial risks, talked about how we were insufficiently prepared for “long tail” events.  These are events that are low probability but have huge consequences (think an asteroid hitting the planet and causing huge damage).  Then people stopped talking about it.  Now in the wake of the Japanese tsunami, again the idea of “long tail” events has come back.  Steven Pearlstein connects the dots.

Even those who say they can assess risks and probabilities to the …

Ann Coulter: Radiation Is Good For You

If you’re concerned about the plumes coming over from Japan, fear not. If you have loved ones who live there, fear not. If you are, yourself, exposed because of proximity to a nuclear meltdown, all is well! As Frances Martel puts it:

Nuclear physicist and medical expert Ann Coulter has spoken, and it turns out that a giant radioactive plume floating across the Pacific may be just what the doctor ordered for fretting California residents. On tonight’s O’Reilly Factor, Coulter told host Bill O’Reilly that “radiation is good for you,” and cited a number of articles in the New …

U.S. Military To Create Fake Online Personas To Promote America

The first thought I had upon hearing this was, if America is so wonderful, why do you have to create phony personas to promote it. Can’t you find enough real people who actually love America?

The Guardian reports Thursday that “The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.”

Raw Story first reported last month on a U.S. military contract awarded to a private vendor for the so-called “persona management” software. The Guardian identifies that vendor …

UN Security Council Approves Libyan No-Fly Zone

A no-fly zone has been approved by the UN Security Council for Libya, in a vote that authorized member states to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from attacks by that country’s dictator, Muammar Qaddafi.

Before the vote at U.N. Headquarters in New York, Qaddafi vowed to launch a final assault on the opposition’s capital Benghazi and crush the rebellion as his forces advanced toward the city and warplanes bombed its airport Thursday.

After weeks of hesitancy over imposing a no-fly zone in Libya, the United States made a dramatic about-face, calling for even more expanded action, including strikes …

On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) tells Alan about his new bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

• PBS and NPR host Rick Steves weighs in on the GOP effort to defund public broadcasting.

• On Shaky Ground: Alan examines troubling facts about nuclear plants in the United States.

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