Federal judge slams Obama lawyers in immigration case. “A federal judge has issued a scathing rebuke to lawyers for the Obama administration in a case involving the president’s unilateral immigration action. In an order issued Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who had put a temporary hold on the action, not only refused to lift the hold — he also came very near to accusing administration lawyers of flat-out lying to him.”

Maya Angelou’s new stamp features quote that wasn’t hers.

AUSTIN BAY: Obama’s Iran Understanding: The Verifiable Facts. “Obama’s “historic understanding” has the sad woof and warp of so many of his administration’s domestic and international policy efforts: glowing, inspirational, dramatic rhetoric disguising episodic, hodge-podge, ill-considered, poorly planned and often hastily organized operations. . . . Obama has an enormous trust problem; the man does not keep his word. But his obedient, word-mongering national media corps consistently fails to call him on this grand malfeasance. So what can be verified regarding Iran? Here is a verifiable fact: Iran already possesses long-range ballistic missiles.”

Biden: Make community college ‘free’ like high school.

THE INSTAWIFE: If “Facts Are Conservative,” Then Are Lies Liberal?

Well, that seems to be the gist of this Elizabeth Bruenig piece at TNR. Excerpt:

The right, on the other hand, tends to understand politics on the individual level, which fits in neatly with a general obsession with the capital-i Individual. Thus, the right tends to pore over the specific details of high-profile cases like those of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, concluding that if those particular situations were embattled by complications or mitigating factors, then the phenomena they’re meant to represent must not be real either. And if a few highly publicized rapes turn out to be murkier than first represented, then rape itself is not a crisis, just a regrettable and rare anomaly. The positive version of this approach is the elevation of people like Joe the Plumber, individual cases that purportedly show the value and effectiveness of conservative politics. It isn’t great reasoning, but it is very appealing on a sub-intellectual level.

So to Breunig, it works like this: Left: Here’s a really, really important fact that totally proves my general point! Right: Your “fact” is a lie, and thus doesn’t support your argument at all. Left: That isn’t great reasoning, but it is very appealing on a sub-intellectual level.

They think this is a GOOD thing: How to Research Like a Journalist When the Internet Doesn't Deliver

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY ON THE ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY DEBACLE:

Last Monday afternoon, Entertainment Weekly posted a story in its Books section with the ominous headline: “Hugo Award nominations fall victim to misogynistic, racist voting campaign.”

Within a few hours, the headline changed to: “Correction: Hugo Awards voting campaign sparks controversy.”

That’s some correction. So what happened?

Both versions of the EW story were about the annual Hugo Awards given out to science fiction and fantasy writers. In the original version, EW’s Isabella Biedenharn claimed that “misogynist groups lobbied to nominate only white males for the science fiction book awards,” urging their followers to “cast votes against female writers and writers of color.”

Turns out that the slate of authors recommended by one of the groups, at least, did include women and minorities. Several of them, in fact.

she's even more fair game than she was yesterday!

Investor’s Business Daily: Hillary Clinton’s Private Server A Foreign Spy Magnet. Yes, you can be pretty sure that foreign governments know all her secrets, and will use them at the appropriate time.

"The significance test is the detective, not the judge."

"A statistically significant finding [only] gives you a clue, suggesting a promising place to focus your research energy. The significance test is the detective, not the judge."         [page 161, emphasis in original]

"Peer review is like the police deciding there's enough evidence to lay charges. Post-publication debate is like two lawyers arguing the case before a jury."

"Statistical significance is the detective confirming a connection between the suspect and the crime. Peer review is the district attorney deciding there's enough evidence to lay charges.  Post-publication debate is the two lawyers arguing the case before a jury."

"Consider 'access to breathable oxygen'. If you crunched the numbers, you would likely find that access to breathable oxygen accounts for very little – if any – of the variation in students' tests scores. This is because all students have roughly similar access to breathable oxygen. If all students have the same access to breathable oxygen, then access to breathable oxygen cannot 'explain' or 'account for' the differences in their test scores.

"Does this mean that access to breathable oxygen is unimportant for test scores? Obviously not. On the contrary: access to breathable oxygen is very important for kids’ test scores, and this is true even though access to breathable oxygen explains ≈ 0% of their variation."

when they get the easy stuff wrong

Oops! CNN places Tanzania in Uganda.

Rolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Report. It’s still devastating for Rolling Stone. And why not identify “Jackie” for the public, now that it’s clear she’s not a rape victim, and that there never was the described “rape on campus?”

And here’s the big takeaway:

The same media machine that lied about the UVa. rape story will report on the 2016 campaign.

and TWEET OF THE DAY: We still know more about a rape that never happened at UVA than Obama’s college years.

They Were Hiding From an Armed Jihadist When Reporters Revealed Their Hiding Spot on Live TV. Now They’re Hitting Back at the Station. Punch back twice as hard. Journalists need more accountability.

Facts matter: Left sticks to ‘narratives,’ evidence be damned. That does seem to be the theme lately, from Zimmerman to Ferguson to UVA to Memories Pizza to the Hugo Awards. Of course, all of those “narratives” have blown up on them. . . .

on a different note: IT’S NOBLE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC TO celebrate a Republican victory over a Democrat-controlled regime. “150 years ago this week, Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union. Let’s celebrate it—every year.”

THE YORKSHIRE POST:

Prince Charles delivered another of his finger-wagging lectures last week instructing people to switch off all their lights and sit in the dark in order to save the planet from global warming.

A few days later he made the 80-mile journey from his home to Ascot racecourse by private helicopter – burning 200 gallons of aviation fuel and releasing 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Matthew Hancock was in Aberdeen to sign a new climate change deal with the Mexican president – before chartering a private jet for the trip back to London, despite there being 16 scheduled flights for the same journey available that day.

No Such Thing As A Black Hole? New theories question just about everything we thought we knew about nature’s bottomless pits.

Brontosaurus Is Back: New Study Says the Dino Is Real After All.

More scientists doubt salt is as bad for you as the government says.

BUT THEY COVER FOR HILLARY INSTEAD: Mark Tapscott: Feds should have told national archivist of Clinton’s private email abuse.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Report: Hillary changed stance on trade deal after donations to Clinton Foundation.

Traveled to Rhinecliff NY this week.  Pretty little place on the Hudson.  Took the Amtrak Empire.  Electrical outlets, comfortable (compared to most airplanes) seats, and free (as in beer) wi-fi.  But some sites were blocked.  Aweful sights that one shouldn't be reading in public.

Like Libertarian.org.

Going to Latham NY Monday on the same train.  Might try a few others just for giggles.