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California's combination of business, sales, income and other taxes ranks it close to the bottom of the 50 states for being business-friendly, according to an index put out by a conservative Washington think tank. California placed 48th, ahead of only New York at 49th place and New Jersey at 50th, said a report released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation. According to the foundation, the top 10 states with business-friendly taxes were Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Washington, Montana, Texas and Utah, the report said.

If America's top hockey mom decides to make an endorsement in the Republican presidential primary, it doesn't sound like Mitt Romney will win that sweepstakes. (As Katie notes below, Palin's husband has decided to back Newt). Via Fox News: Her logic is certainly worth considering. The Democrat/MSM playbook against Romney isn't an especially well kept secret. Cast him as an out of touch, greedy one-percenter who "likes being able to fire people." That would be the formula: craven blame shift and nuclear class warfare. If Republican voters believe that dual strategy will eclipse Obama's woeful record as president -- and...

...The trouble for Gingrich is that Cain isn’t doing what Perry is and hanging on. Cain maintained his Real Clear Politics Average high-point of 26 percent, essentially tied with Mitt Romney, for only two weeks. And he may go front frontrunner to hash mark in less than a month. Gingrich would have been better off if Cain’s candidacy would have slowly withered. Gingrich wants to be in a two-way race with Romney and to have only to appear more conservative and more consistent than Romney. Gingrich might survive daily releases of new skeletons from his past...[snip]....But only if juxtaposed as...

At a town hall meeting at the Institute of Politics at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm’s College Tuesday, Rick Perry asked that all of the college students in the crowd who will be 21 by Nov. 12 support his bid for the presidency. Say what? The voting age in the United States is, of course, 18. And the 2012 election will be held on Nov. 6, 2012. (The New Hampshire Republican primary, which brought Perry to the state, will take place on Jan. 10). “Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support,” Perry...

Here’s the latest on who makes what from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (whose workers, we’ll point out here, happen to be public employees): Workers in the private sector made an average of $28.13 per hour in total compensation in June (wages contributed $19.81 to that, and benefits added $8.32)While state and local government workers made an average of $40.40 per hour (wages were $26.41, and benefits, $13.99). Of course, the amount one earns is a function of the skills and education one possesses. Our colleague Jan Norman tells you a bit more about the breakdown by job type here.It is often argued that many state and local government workers...

After wasting three years and more than a trillion dollars of "stimulus" money, the President has announced he has a new plan for creating jobs. The problem is: Government doesn't create jobs that add value to the economy; companies and entrepreneurs do. Through taxes, mandates and regulation the government typically discourages hiring and destroys jobs. What Washington should do right now is step aside. To show how serious he is, the President has enlisted noted labor economist Alan Krueger of Princeton University to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Unfortunately, one thing Krueger is known for is his...

People do stupid things all the time and they do them in all geographic regions, but as any regular viewer of Comedy Central’s "Tosh 2.0" can tell you, there does seem to be an uncanny correlation between certain regions of the country and the kind of risk-taking behavior that could get you seriously hurt or even killed. That’s the premise of a new study out today in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. The three authors, all from the University of Oklahoma, found that states with a “culture of honor” –- in the South, and the West, mainly --...

President Obama took to the podium today to talk to Americans about the White House’s initiatives to help veterans get back into the work force and what the government is doing to encourage a health economy. But before he dove into the details, the President stood at his podium for a good minute or so in silence, interrupting only to let the audience know that he was “just waiting, here.” The President didn’t quite specify what he was waiting for as he stared out into the audience for the minute, though a number of things could have been delaying his...

[snip] "In addition, the incidence for schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals who are born and brought up in cities. "These values are a cause for concern and determining the biology behind this is the first step to remedy the trend." He and colleagues studied a series of brain scans from healthy volunteers from rural and urban areas to reach their conclusion. Dr Pruessner said: "These findings suggest that different brain regions are sensitive to the experience of city living during different times across the lifespan. "Future studies need to clarify the link between psychopathology and these affects in individuals...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I read today a piece written by a friend of mine named Michael Ledeen. I've quoted Michael Ledeen on this program before. He's a noted scholar and think tank thinker, and he's done a lot of thinking for a lot of different think tanks. He's been associated with I think Heritage and a number of them. Now, what he's primarily known for in recent years has been championing the cause of the Iranian people against the oppression that they face each and every day. He's always been a staunch supporter of the United States military, keen observer,...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- A Florida judge says red light tickets issued by police officers are unconstitutional because they impose more severe penalties than red light camera citations. Broward County Judge Fred Berman noted last week police write tickets for $260 when they observe a motorist blowing through a red light while $158 citations are issued to motorists caught by the red light cameras, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Berman said the police-issued tickets, which also impose points on driver's licenses, violate equal protection provisions in the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The ruling eliminated a ticket issued to a motorist...

California's attempts to switch to green energy have inadvertently put the survival of the state’s golden eagles at risk. Scores of the protected birds have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines. Now the drive for renewable power sources, such as wind and the sun, being promoted by President Obama and state Governor Jerry Brown has raised fears that the number of newborn golden eagles may not be able to keep pace with the number of turbine fatalities. The death count along the ridgelines of the Bay Area’s Altamount Pass Wind Resource Area...

For the seventh year in a row, a survey of chief executives has ranked California as the nation's worst state in which to do business. More than 500 U.S. CEOs polled by Greenwich, Conn.-based Chief Executive magazine based their opinions on numerous factors, including regulations, tax policies, work force quality, education resources, quality of living and infrastructure.

A Government Accountability Office report to be released on Tuesday concludes the federal government "could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually" by "reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation" in federal government programs. The report was mandated by a provision included by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in a bill passed last year raising the federal debt ceiling. And Coburn said on Monday evening that the findings bolster his long-standing attempts to consolidate or eliminate duplicative programs. "It makes us all look like jackasses," Coburn told reporters, arguing both the legislative and executive branches can barely track federal programs. "Anybody...

The United Nations nuclear watchdog has received new information regarding allegations of possible military aspects to Iran's disputed nuclear program, the agency said in a report. The confidential report, obtained by Reuters on Friday, listed several areas of questions the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has about Iran's atomic activities and called on Tehran to cooperate with its investigation.

...and he filled tanks feeding the boat’s 200 horsepower Mercury engine with gas that had been blended with 10 percent ethanol. “I heard a station in Greenville had straight gas, but I just took it to the next one I could find. Within 10 minutes, my engine started failing,” Gray said. “(The ethanol) had crystallized and crumbled and had clogged my fuel line, and I had to tear out all of the fuel system.” Gray saved hundreds of dollars by repairing it himself, but his troubles with the motor are nothing new to marine shop owners, lawn mower mechanics and...

So, what was really up with the televised feed of Rep. Bachmann's State of the Union response? Our sources tell us that CNN had originally agreed to use the live feed set up by Tea Party Express, which had a teleprompter running on the lens in which Rep. Bachmann was delivering her speech. But, when Rep. Bachmann left the camera set-up and sat in the House chamber to hear Pres. Obama's speech, CNN set up a camera of their own, just off to the side of the main, tele-prompter/camera. Thus, when CNN provided their network feed it ended up skewed...

Longtime readers of WUWT may remember this story from 2008:Nutty Story of the Day: “Global Warming” is Killing the Penguins in AntarcticaThe root of this goes back as far as 2006, such as this MSNBC story:click image for the story at MSNBC.com Now it appears that assertion of a link between global warming and penguin deaths is dying  faster than the penguins themselves. In what appears to be a manifestation of the observer effect problem in science (the act of observing changes the outcome) we have this article from the science journal Nature that says the act of tagging penguins so...

Terry and Linda Jamison, the Psychic Twins and author of "Psychic Intelligence", who correctly predicted the events of September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, are predicting more events for 2011. In "Wings of Love Radio" recorded on November 20, 2010, the Psychic Twins predicted that Barrack Obama will be a one term president and that he will not be re-elected. Policies of President Obama will be challenged and he will have a difficult time pushing his agenda through. Do not underestimate the power of Sarah Palin, and that more women will come into power in politics and the corporate...

I did a search at Google today for “cars� and was shocked. Rather than list links allowing me to search for “cars� on Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Voila, Naver and Yandex, Google instead favored its own search results. I’m glad the EU will be investigating whether this favoritism violates anti-trust laws. Consider the evidence. Here’s a search on Google for cars:As you can clearly see, none of the competing search engines I’ve named are listed in the top results. Rather than show them, Google instead shows pages about cars that it has collected across the web using its own technology.Google’s behavior...

10% unemployment = 50% top tax rate corporate = 85% individual top tax rate for more than $250k/year 4% unemployment = 20% top tax rate corporate = 25% individual top tax rate for more than $250k/year 1% unemployment = 0% top tax rate corporate = 10% individual top tax rate for more than $250k/year

The starting pay of certain liberal arts majors generally clocks in well below that of graduates in engineering fields, according to a Wall Street Journal study. Graduates with engineering degrees earned average starting pay of $56,000 in their first full-time jobs out of college, topping other majors. Communications and English majors only earned $34,000 in their first jobs. The survey, which was conducted by PayScale.com between April and June of this year, was answered by about 11,000 people who graduated between 1999 and 2010. The reported starting pay was adjusted for inflation to make the salaries of graduates from different...

Liberal groups are constantly talking about “tolerance” and diversity. It’s discussed so much that one might be led to believe that liberal groups believe in these ideals. Hardly. Liberal outlets expect you to tolerate their opinion, yet, they have no problem not tolerating others. Witness Juan Williams recent firing at NPR, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar’s exit stage left, and the latest NAACP hit piece on the tea party. It’s been one hell of a week for “tolerance” in liberal precincts. Now comes word that union stage hand was fired for wearing a cap and sweatshirt from the aircraft carrier...

Jewish Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein was reconfirmed this week as Vice President of Italy’s Foreign Affairs Committee. In addition, she was also appointed an official consultant on Israel and the international Jewish communities by Italian Foreign Minister Frattini. Earlier this week, Nirenstein commented on Christian leaders who criticize Israel yet ignore violence by Arabs. She pointed out that “Islam does not like Eastern Christians: it has forced them to flee and now they account for only 6% of the population in the Mideast”, and added that the only country where the number of Christians has grown is Israel, where 163,000...

Many people have heard the curious claim that women who live together menstruate together. The idea dates at least to 1971, when Dr. Martha K. McClintock, an experimental psychologist, published a study showing that the menstrual cycles of women living in a college dormitory tended to synchronize over time. Dr. McClintock and other scientists suggested it might have something to do with pheromones, chemicals that send messages by smell.

Democratic National Committee gets new logo, slogan By: James Hohmann September 15, 2010 03:27 PM EDT Eager to bridge a daunting enthusiasm gap, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine recited a list of President Barack Obama’s accomplishments Wednesday to an auditorium packed with George Washington University College Democrats. It came as he unveiled a new web site, a new logo and a new slogan for his party: “Change That Matters.” As he went down a longer list, Kaine spoke passionately of how Democrats delivered an economic stimulus (he would only call it “the Recovery Act”) and “the Affordable Care Act”...

<p>DOVER, N.H. — A New Hampshire high school student shocked so severely in shop class that his heart stopped beating is suing his teacher, the school district and the city of Dover.</p> <p>Kyle Dubois and his parents claim teacher Thomas Kelley did not warn Dubois and other students of the dangers of the electrical demonstration cords in their electrical trades class.</p>

The federal government would have an additional $10 billion a year to spend on crucial highways if it stopped diverting federal fuel tax money to projects with no national benefits... The federal gas tax was supposed to be used to build and maintain the Interstate Highway System. Today auto and truck drivers pay federal gas taxes that are diverted to ferryboats, trails and mass transit programs... The 18.4 cents a gallon federal fuel tax should be refocused on rebuilding and modernizing vitally important Interstates... It is time to rethink and refocus the federal transportation role more on core federal purposes...

During the debate on Obamacare, Republicans relentlessly tried to explain that offering a government subsidized healthcare plan would eventually lead to employers dropping private healthcare coverage for their employees because, well...they can just sign up for the federally subsidized plan. Democrats in Congress denied this, of course, and the White House charged that this scenario was just another Republican scare tactic. Well, it appears that very scenario is playing out in Massachusetts-the great American experiment in government-provided healthcare. The Boston Globe explains:The relentlessly rising cost of health insurance is prompting some small Massachusetts companies to drop coverage for their workers...

The following are the IRS official record retention requirements. Please remember to follow them explicitly when you file a fraudulent tax return; or if you forget to file a tax return, remember to file your records indefinitely. "Note: Keep copies of your filed tax returns. They help in preparing future tax returns and making computations if you file an amended return. 1. You owe additional tax and situations (2), (3), and (4), below, do not apply to you; keep records for 3 years. 2. You do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of...

Before the Senate Judiciary Committee a short time ago, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan appeared reluctant to admit that she wrote a 1996 Clinton White House memo aimed at altering a key medical group’s opinion of whether partial birth abortion is medically necessary. The memo, reported yesterday by National Review, has caused a stir in conservative circles because it appeared that Kagan, then a White House policy aide, put words in the medical group’s mouth in order to soften its position on the controversial procedure. But when Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch brought the subject up with Kagan, he had a...

The Illinois State Police has revoked the appointment of its first Muslim chaplain. The State Police claim that "information revealed during the background investigation" led to their decision but they haven't elaborated on what information that might have been. Chicago imam Kifah Mustapha was appointed by the ISP in December of 2009. Mustapha has been linked to the radical Muslim Brotherhood by The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a Washington DC-based think tank founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, fresh from his victory with the passage of Proposition 14, spent Thursday hopping from one Washington, D.C., media outlet to another touting his success and his final year’s agenda. The governor played coy with multiple media outlets about whether he would endorse GOP standard-bearer Meg Whitman to succeed him. He told the Washington Post that the person he will support "most likely will be Republican but not necessarily." In an interview with NPR, Schwarzenegger spoke about the importance of the new two-top primary, which, like the recall election that vaulted him into the governorship, has all candidates,...

From the CNN transcript of 6/03/10, some 40+ days after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and subsequent oil spill....... KING: Have the scientists discussed, what about a hurricane? OBAMA: You know, Wolf, I did -- I had a Situation Room meeting about a week-and-a-half ago where we got the report that this could be a more severe than normal hurricane season. And I asked, well, how does a potential oil spill interact with a hurricane?

It appears that it wasn't only media types such as MSNBC's Contessa Brewer who were disappointed that the Times Square bombing suspect turned out to be a Muslim. They were joined by virtually the entire leftwing blogosphere in their frustration that the suspect wasn't a tea party activist or a member of a "rightwing" militia group. Before the identity of the bombing suspect was made known, Kossack "waterboard sean" conducted a poll on who the perpetrator could be. And here are the hilarious results of that poll (I am using Kossack terminology here): An al Qaeda terrorist ---4%An American sympathetic...

A study conducted at the University of Granada and the University of Cambridge reveals that police officers and criminals are more consistent in their judgements than ordinary people. However, police officers’ reasoning is more similar to that of ordinary people than to that of thieves. This conclusion might have significant implications on criminal jurisdiction. For the purpose of this study, a 120-people sample was taken. The sample consisted of 40 expert criminals, 40 expert policemen and 40 students unrelated to criminal activitiesA study conducted by the University of Granada, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, revealed that policemen and...

he provincial government bit off more than it could chew by dooming pit bulls as Ontario's worst people-biters, the Toronto Humane Society says. Results of a survey of municipalities, released Wednesday, show no significant drop in dog bite cases since the government passed Breed Specific Legislation in 2005 that resulted in "countless" pit bulls and related Staffordshire Terriers being destroyed."This survey shows that the pit bull ban has not resulted in a reduction in the number of dog bites in Ontario," said the THS, which opposes breed-specific legislation. In the THS release, spokesman Ian McConachie quoted then-Attorney General Michael Bryant...

The Situation In Iceland is rather scary as a volcano under a glacier erupted for the second time in less than a month melting ice and sending rushing flood waters from around the Eyjafjallajokull glacier and down the mountainside. Scientists said the eruption under the ice cap was 10 to 20 times more powerful than one last month, and carried a much greater risk of widespread flooding. This eruption sent ash miles into the atmosphere shutting down air traffic all across Europe. With all of the worry and danger there is some comic relief. I am talking, of course, about...

A breakfast to tout the importance of passing an earthquake-safety bond measure on the June ballot wound up sending shock waves through San Francisco's Arab American community after Police Chief George Gascón made controversial remarks about terrorism. Gascón reportedly said the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. is susceptible not just to an earthquake, but also to members of the city's Middle Eastern community parking a van in front of it and blowing it up.

The married businessman, referred to as Mr X, was pictured in an embrace with 24 year old Ernesta Rutkauskaite, after she lured him to the flat she shared in King's Lynn with her friend Digana Grabauskyte, 24, in what was described as a “honeytrap,” Norwich Crown Court heard. Lindsay Cox, for Rutkauskaite, said she had also been fully co-operative and had given evidence. He said as “honey traps” go this was “relatively mild. He said she was looking forward to going home to Lithuania.

WASHINGTON — The longer people use cannabis or marijuana, the more likely they are to experience hallucinations or delusions or to suffer psychosis, according to a study released Saturday. The study found that people who first used cannabis when they were aged 15 or younger were twice as likely to develop a "non-affective psychosis" -- which can include schizophrenia -- than those who had never used the drug. The research led by John McGrath from the University of Queensland in Australia was based on a survey of 3,801 people with an average age of 20.1 years, the US-based Archives of...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney came out in favor of repealing "Don't ask, don't tell," (DADT) today. Cheney said that the support of military leaders had convinced him that it was time for a change. "Twenty years ago the military were strong advocates of 'Don't ask, don't tell.' I think things have change significantly since then," Cheney said on ABC's "This Week." I think that society has moved on. It's partly a generational question," he continued. "When the [Joint] Chiefs come forward and say 'we think we can do it,' is strikes me that it's time to reconsider the policy."

Yes, this is real: "More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of "socialism," while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives." All I have to say is: The U.S.S.R., or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was the cause of millions of deaths caused by their economic system. Cuba's economic system has millions, and more importantly, a very high percent of people, living in abject poverty. North Korea, Vietnam, and China...

On Tuesday Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Michael Mullen will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and changing the law that prevents gay people from serving openly in the military. But polls show a majority of service members are still against allowing gays to serve openly. Originally passed in 1993 under President Clinton, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been the target of much criticism; in his State of the Union on Wednesday President Obama repeated his campaign promise to work with Congress to repeal it....

President Obama to speak about national security: Watch live

HONOLULU -- President Barack Obama drew a direct link Saturday between an al Qaeda group and a foiled attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day. In his Saturday morning radio address, Mr. Obama went further than he has in previous statements on the attack to connect the extremist group with the Dec. 25 attack. He pledged to work with officials in other nations to combat terrorism, including Yemen, where officials believe Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to destroy Northwest Flight 253, was schooled in terrorist techniques. "We know that he traveled to Yemen, a...

One day after a judge denied wife-killer Eric Grant's request for early release from state prison, Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn yesterday changed the policy that allowed him to petition the court in the first place. Wrenn signed a revised policy that prohibits murderers and all violent offenders from seeking early release by petitioning the sentence-modification review board to be able to apply to the court to get out early.

If you check Obama's last trip overseas, his wife left just after their visit to France as stated below. She has yet to accompany him to any Arab country. Think about it.. This was sent to me from a very good and reliable friend. The pieces of the puzzle just keep on coming together! Interesting... "I did not write this... someone forwarded it to me,... but my wife lived in Saudi Arabia for two years, and from what she tells me, it makes sense! Travel for Obama: I was at a Blockbusters on Saturday renting videos, and as I was...

...This 2009 e-mail exhortation urges Americans to consider the suggestion that they vote all incumbents out of the House of Representatives during the upcoming elections in November 2010, as well as voting all incumbents out of the Senate over the next three elections (i.e., 2010, 2012, 2014). Whether voters should take up such a suggestion is a matter of opinion that has no "true" or "false" value to it, so the aspect we'll address here is one which a number of our readers have questioned, namely the basic premise that all the seats in the House will be up for...

A poll released today shows Americans' belief in the current health-care system has risen dramatically in the last year, and support for a socialized solution to a health-care "crisis" has nearly evaporated. The latest results from Rasmussen Reports show 49 percent of Americans now rate the quality of the U.S. health-care system as good or excellent, to only 27 percent that still argue it's poor. The favorable numbers reflect a 20-point jump from prior to the presidential election, when a June 2008 Rasmussen poll showed only 29 percent rated the health-care system so well and 37 percent rated it poor....