Like a prayer

The Supreme Court allowed prayers before governmental meetings on Monday.
The appeals ruling didn't have a prayer.

The bang is big

A nice analysis of why "Big Bang Theory" thrives.
A chance to catch up on the past seasons helps.
After TBS started airing episodes in syndication in 2011, Big Bang “just exploded even more,” says Vebber. In the first 12 weeks of syndication, the show’s broadcast ratings rose 21 percent. This is likely due to TBS’s relentless promotion and generous scheduling—the cable network airs Big Bang in blocks five days a week.

I'll have a steak

The Wall Street Journal has new diet advice - eat steak and use butter.
Our half-century effort to cut back on the consumption of meat, eggs and whole-fat dairy has a tragic quality. More than a billion dollars have been spent trying to prove Ancel Keys's hypothesis, but evidence of its benefits has never been produced. It is time to put the saturated-fat hypothesis to bed and to move on to test other possible culprits for our nation's health woes.

Fox Butterfield, is that you?

Best of the Web has an almost daily feature - a liberal contradiction that's not really a contradiction.
CNN's David Gergen approaches the territory.
But it has now become equally puzzling why he has not become more sure-footed in foreign affairs. He is one of the brightest men ever to occupy the office, and yet his learning curve has been among the flattest.
Maybe he's not as bright as you think he is.
You say he's bright, but do his actions match?

May the Fourth be with you

Bob Newhart as Obi-Wan?
The force was definitely with Big Bang Theory last week.

Shell game

Obamacare supporters love to tout that it was passed by the House and Senate, and approved by the Supreme Court.
How it was passed by the House and Senate may doom it.
In October 2009, the House passed a bill that would have modified a tax credit for members of the armed forces and some other federal employees who were first-time home buyers — a bill that had nothing to do with health care. Two months later the Senate “amended” this bill by obliterating it. The Senate renamed it and completely erased its contents, replacing them with the ACA’s contents.
Case law establishes that for a Senate action to qualify as a genuine “amendment” to a House-passed revenue bill, it must be “germane to the subject matter of the [House] bill.” The Senate’s shell game — gutting and replacing the House bill — created the ACA from scratch. The ACA obviously flunks the germaneness test, without which the House’s constitutional power of originating revenue bills would be nullified.
If the Senate didn't follow the law, will the Court put them back on track?

Saturday Derby song

Dan Fogelberg's anthem to the day.

First Saturday in May

Taking the dog for her morning walk, I caught the hint of a scent of charcoal burning.
Fishersville's Boy Scouts were preparing chicken for their monthly fundraiser.
Driving around, there are tons of yard sales.
Is everybody paying taxes on their outside earnings today?

Facebook quote of the week

*****News Flash*****
The search for Flight 370 has been declared "The most difficult in human history."
Amelia Earhart could not be reached for comment...

You lied to win re-election

The focus on Benghazi drives liberals crazy.
It's nothing.
It's a distratction.
What difference, at this point, does it make?
The difference is distilled into five words -

• You lied to win re-election.

You spent time deflecting blame instead of chasing the bad guys who killed four Americans.
You deny the inquiry as partisan, while your defense is purely partisan.
You fuss that Bush lied before going into Iraq - and don't get bothered that the Obama team lied for days.
It's why the focus remains - waiting for the real truth.
No matter how long it takes, dude.

It's Apathetic

Peggy Noonan tries to figure out President Obama's leadership style.
If you're apathetic like him, that's as far as you'll get.

Weekend watchdog

It's been 35 years without a Triple Crown winner.
By nightfall Saturday, we'll know which horse has a chance in 2014.
NBC's coverage of the Kentucky Derby starts at 4 p.m. and twenty horses hope to be in the lead when "down the stretch they come."
NBC Sports network has the early races and Derby prep starting Saturday at noon.
The fillies race in the Kentucky Oaks Friday at 3 p.m. on NBC Sports network.
Ice hockey hits its conference semifinals this weekend. The Rangers visit Pittsburgh Friday at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports network, followed by Wild-Blackhawks. The Canadiens and Bruins take the ice for Game 2 Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on NBC, and the Ducks and Kings meet at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports network.
NBC has the second game between the Blackhawks and Wild Sunday at 3 p.m., with the Rangers and Penguins at 7:30 p.m. on NBC Sports network.
The Heat and Wizards have already advanced to the second round, and await the completion of other first round action.
Friday starts on ESPN2 with the Raptors and Nets at 7:30 p.m. The Mavericks try to stay alive against the Spurs on ESPN at 8 p.m., then the Rockets and TrailBlazers battle.
TNT has three Game 7s on Saturday, starting at 5:30 p.m. with the top-seeded Pacers meeting the Hawks. Oklahoma City tries to oust Memphis at 8 p.m., and the Clippers and Warriors battle at 10:30 p.m.
Friday's action will determine Sunday's schedule.
MASN has the Nationals facing the Phillies this weekend, while the Orioles head to Minnesota for the weekend on MASN2.
The Cubs host the Cardinals Saturday at 1 p.m. on FoxSports1, then it's Royals-Tigers at 7 p.m. ESPN brings the Cubs and Cardinals Sunday at 8 p.m.
On the college diamond, East Carolina hosts Florida International Saturday at 7 p.m. on MASN2. Comcast has Florida meeting Alabama Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Virginia Tech plays Georgia Tech Saturday at 1 p.m. It's back to the SEC Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when Arkansas hosts Mississippi.
ESPN2 has LSU facing Texas A&M Saturday at 1 p.m.
It's Talladega weekend in NASCAR, with the Sprint Cup racers hitting the track Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox. The Nationwide racers go Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN.
The PGA tour visits Charlotte this weekend, with CBS covering the Wells Fargo Championships Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Columbus clashes with Kansas City in MLS play Sunday at 4 p.m. on NBC Sports network. D.C. United travels to Portland Saturday at 10 p.m. on Comcast.
West Ham United faces Tottenham Hotspur Saturday at 7:45 a.m. on NBC Sports network, followed by Manchester United against Sunderland. Sunday's contests begin at 8:30 a.m. with Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion, and Chelsea meets Norwich City at 11 a.m.
ESPN offers college softball this weekend as Florida travels to Arkansas Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Stanford meets UCLA at 3 p.m.
Spokane plays the LA Kiss in Arena Football Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Big East crowns its lacrosse champion Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on FoxSports1.
 Comcast has the women's lacrosse final from the Atlantic Sun Sunday at noon.
In Major League Lacrosse, Chesapeake takes on New York Saturday at 7 p.m. on Comcast.
The college rugby Varsity Cup will be Saturday at 4 p.m. on NBC Sports network.

Baby, the rain must fall

The big news of Wednesday was the collapse of a retaining wall in Baltimore, sending several cars into the main cargo rail line going through downtown Baltimore.
Thursday brings the finger pointing.
City and railroad officials offered few answers Thursday about what happened, why complaints went unaddressed and who was responsible for the integrity of the retaining wall that collapsed.
Maybe you can use tax money to hold up century-old walls, instead of hoping they hold.

Hot and cold

Powerline provides the good and bad about climate skepticism.
Read the whole thing.
That's good science.

It's okay that we were unprepared

How does Blue Virginia attack the Benghazi news?
Highlighting "there was nothing more the military could have done."
Which shows they weren't prepared for what happened.
If they had been prepared, more could have been done.
The statement makes the Obama team look worse, not better.

New girl in town

SWACgirl has a new gig, and friends helping make her new blog entry welcoming.

Mike Rowe works

CNN tells of Mike Rowe's visit to Capitol Hill.
Did you know he will have a show on CNN soon?
Maybe he can teach CNN reporters to work, instead of following Democratic talking points.

Starve, shiver to make Chris Hayes happy

Megan McArdle looks at what Chris Hayes missed - the good things that come from fossil fuel use.
So when we say that we want to leave all that fossil fuel in the ground, what we are saying is that we want everyone on the planet to be much, much poorer. Perhaps there is some metaphysical ledger where you could prove that this is the right thing to do. But here on Earth, who will volunteer to move the spouse and kids into a studio apartment and subsist on gruel?
Let Hayes live on gruel.
And see if he sticks with his opinions.

It's a gas

Iowahawk has crowned an annual champion - the best at burning carbon.
Many cool cars were entered, but earning the trophy was EPA's Gina McCarthy - for cruising around the country touting ways not to waste energy.
Private jet travel is carbon neutral, right?

Listen to the doctor

Wall Street Journal gives space to a 58-year-old doctor who's tired of being bossed around.
I don't know about other physicians but I am tired—tired of the mandates, tired of outside interference, tired of anything that unnecessarily interferes with the way I practice medicine. No other profession would put up with this kind of scrutiny and coercion from outside forces. The legal profession would not. The labor unions would not. We as physicians continue to plod along and take care of our patients while those on the outside continue to intrude and interfere with the practice of medicine.

Looking at the Benghazi emails

Roger L. Simon knows what should be done after reading newly released emails on Benghazi.
The levels of criminality involved in this are mind-boggling.  Everyone from Ben Rhodes to Hillary Clinton to Jay Carney to Susan Rice to Mike Morell to Barack Obama and on and on must explain themselves minute-by-minute. American “liberals” and their media consorts should search their souls. People died here.
You can't cover up the truth.
That's the difference that it makes.

Stories of the NRA convention

Bob Owens tells what he saw at the NRA convention - more than a few speeches.
Definitely not what you read in the major papers, where they seem to follow a script.
You listen to a speech, or just as likely, get the pre-printed transcript. You cherry-pick the most provocative quotes that will help confirm the article you had decided to write before you stepped through the door for your press credentials.  You file a story from your hotel room, and catch your flight home. If you’re lucky, you can do all of this without having to spend time with any of the people actually attending the show.
I happen to think that this sort of “helicopter journalism”—bouncing in, bouncing out—entirely misses the point of these large consumer shows, where triumphant capitalism, possible dreams, spur-of-the-moment quips, and most importantly, individual connections, are the order of the day.

The doctor will help you now

Enjoy the background on Dr. Monica Wehby's ad for Senate in Oregon.

Fly me to the moon

A fine job by nerds - restoring and making digital photos taken from the first unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon.
The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project has since 2007 brought some 2,000 pictures back from 1,500 analog data tapes. They contain the first high-resolution photographs ever taken from behind the lunar horizon, including the first photo of an earthrise.

Throw your children into the volcano

Matt Walsh isn't impressed with one reason not to homeschool - the public schools need your help.
Would the school system be helped if my family ‘participated’ in it? Maybe, and I’m sure the circus would be helped if you went on stage and stuck your head in a lion’s mouth. But you won’t sacrifice your scalp to the Ringling Brothers, and I won’t sacrifice my kids’ brains to public school. I guess we’re even.
Parents want what's best for their kids.
Make the schools better for their kids is the first, not second step.

Time to make the schedule

Peter King gives the insight on how the NFL schedule is made.
After plugging in restriction after restriction, the magic schedule emerged from one of those 40 computers April 16, at precisely 4:20 p.m. In the six days that followed, 175 other schedules were analyzed as competitors, and 24 emerged as serious contenders, but none could beat the April 16 winner. 
At least you know who to fuss at if you don't like your team's schedule.

One doctor, no future

Via Drudge Report, the story of a California doctor wanting to continue practicing - but being squeezed by new laws.
In a slow-motion version of the problems that crippled online insurance “exchanges” for months, doctors who see patients under Medicare and Medi-Cal programs have been forced by the phase-in of a 2009 federal "stimulus" law to install expensive, complex software systems that sharply reduce time for patients.
For many doctors, it’s the final straw. Surveys suggest that older physicians are retiring in high numbers. Younger ones are closing practices and taking jobs with integrated health systems.
If you like your doctor, you can keep him.
If he can survive the other changes.

Gas and drive liberals crazy

Wyblog found a reason to support Wawa - an article fussing about a small donation they made to the New Jersey Republican State Committee.
I always stop at Wawa before heading to the Outer Banks.
Another reason to stop there next time.

Sterling's lifetime achievement

A poor guy can't say bad things to his mistress without getting into trouble.
But Donald Douglas has the rest of the story - Donald Sterling's record of donating to Democrats.
And it's three weeks until he was scheduled to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP.
Remember these facts you probably won't get from ESPN's wall-to-wall coverage this week.

Poor Bird

The pie in the face in the post-game interview has stormed through baseball.
But Saturday in Baltimore, the mascot got hit instead of the star player.