† Faster Internet For Islamofascists: A 25-year-old Pakistani man has launched a Facebook-ish Islamic social networking Website, Millat Facebook - “Millat” is a British Empire-vintage catchall term for “Muslim” - where young, hip Muslims can share ideas on how best to destroy Israel, kill infidels (that is to say, Christians and Jews) and restore the Caliphate. 
 

The site’s owner, Omer Zaheer Meer told, describes the site as “a platform to decent people of different faiths to come in harmony,” adding that “[p]eople from all faiths are welcome to come and interact with one another and understand Muslims.” A sampling of user posts published by The New York Daily News (“All Muslims must get to gather [sic] and we easily can remove Bloody Israel from the map of the World !”) demonstrate neither harmony or decency, but do add to The Stiletto’s understanding of the audience the site caters to.  

† So Easy, A Conservative Can Do It: Part III: “The left flunks Econ 101,” according to a study published by the American Institute for Economic Research’s Econ Journal Watch by Daniel Klein, a professor of economics at George Mason University, and Zeljka Buturovic, an associate researcher with polling firm Zogby International.

In the study, 4,835 American adults spanning the political spectrum – self identifying as progressive/very liberal, liberal, moderate, conservative, very conservative or libertarian – were presented with eight statements and asked whether they strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree or  are not sure. The statements:

1. Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable.
2. Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services.
3. Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago
4. Rent control leads to housing shortages.
5. A company with the largest market share is a monopoly.
6. Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited.
7. Free trade leads to unemployment.
8. Minimum wage laws raise unemployment.

The average number of incorrect responses by ideological identification and party affiliation:

Very conservative, 1.30;

Libertarian, 1.38 (ideology) and 1.26 (party);

Republican, 1.61;

Conservative, 1.67;

Moderate, 3.67;

Democrat, 4.59;

Liberal, 4.69; and

Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Klein concludes, “the left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals and aesthetics.” In what can only be regarded as the epitome of understatement, he adds: “Realizing that many of our leaders and their constituents are economically unenlightened sheds light on the troubles that surround us.” 

Unaccustomed to studies finding their intellect wanting – especially compared to conservatives – libs are howling, reports The Washington Times:

Polling analyst Nate Silver wrote on his political blog FiveThirtyEight that the Klein-Buturovic study was "so obviously flawed that it wasn't really worth commenting on."

He said the questions were slanted to reflect conservative beliefs, that the answers to some of the questions were ambiguous or debatable, and that the authors focused on only some of the questions answered by the respondents to reach their conclusions. …

Mr. Klein and Ms. Buturovic said they focused on eight of the 21 questions in the survey to test economic literacy because they felt those questions provided the least ambiguous data for determining an understanding of economics. …

Ms. Buturovic said she does not intend to blame a lack of economic enlightenment on political ideology.

"I think the reason is that [people] have these primitive intuitions about how economy works, and they have for some reason either failed to acquire relevant cultural knowledge or are unable to apply it in the policy context. It took many centuries for basic economic concepts and principles to be discovered so, in a sense, it is not that surprising that some people are having trouble grasping them."

By “some people” she means, um, libs and Dems.

Editorial Note: As regards the economics of rent regulation – at least (perhaps only) in NYC - The Stiletto is inclined to agree with Silver that it the "right" answer is not as cut and dry as Klein and Buturovic would like.

† Clash Of The Titans: Attorney Allegedly Beats Up Financial Analyst: Monroe County (FL) prosecutors have dropped criminal assault and battery charges against Diaz Reus & Targ founder Michael Diaz Jr. stemming from a road rage incident because the two victims, James Bracco, 30, and Nancie Grace George, 24, were unwilling to testify after reaching a civil settlement with Diaz.

† Warning: Dining Out Is More Fattening Than You Think: Following NYC’s lead, the healthcare “reform” bill requires chain restaurants with 20+ locations to put calorie counts on their menus in 2011, emboldening Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to seek to “apply New York solutions to national issues,” reports The Wall Street Journal:

Ms. Gillibrand, a mother of two, is also pushing for public schools across the country to ban trans-fats in food, just as New York City banned them in 2008. And she's advocating legislation that would spur grocery stores to open in underserved areas. …

The senator is pushing a national program for so-called "graduated drivers licenses," in which teenagers would only get a completely unrestricted license at age 18, after first having a learner's permit and intermediate stage with restrictions on night driving and the passengers allowed in their vehicles. New York State already has similar standards, though her bill would expand them a bit.

She also supports legislation that would allow city governments to set emission standards for taxi fleets, something current law doesn't allow.

Edward Glaeser, a Harvard University professor who studies metropolitan areas, said it is generally a good idea for cities to learn from each other, but that doesn't mean the lessons apply to the entire country.

† Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Never Mind Marxism. Will An Obama Administration Be Totalitarian?: Part II): The New York Times reports that “[j]ournalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials”:  

To some critics of the response effort by BP and the government, instances of news media being kept at bay are just another example of a broader problem of officials’ filtering what images of the spill the public sees.

Scientists, too, have complained about the trickle of information that has emerged from BP and government sources. Three weeks passed, for instance, from the time the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20 and the first images of oil gushing from an underwater pipe were released by BP. …

Last week, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, tried to bring a small group of journalists with him on a trip he was taking through the gulf on a Coast Guard vessel. Mr. Nelson’s office said the Coast Guard agreed to accommodate the reporters and camera operators. But at about 10 p.m. on the evening before the trip, someone from the Department of Homeland Security’s legislative affairs office called the senator’s office to tell them that no journalists would be allowed.

“They said it was the Department of Homeland Security’s response-wide policy not to allow elected officials and media on the same ‘federal asset,’ ” said Bryan Gulley, a spokesman for the senator. “No further elaboration” was given, Mr. Gulley added.

† Updates To Previous Posts (fifth item, How Did We Get From A Knowledge Economy To An Unskilled And Illiterate Economy?): The Center for Immigration Studies has released a new report, “A State Transformed: Immigration and the New California,” that makes the case that “as a result of immigration, California now has the least-educated labor force of any state.” Key findings include:

‡ In 1970 California had the 7th most educated work force of the 50 states in terms of the share of its workers who had completed high school. By 2008, it ranked 50th, making it the least-educated state. One in six workers in the state has not graduated high school. …

‡ The large relative decline in education in California is a direct result of immigration. Without immigrants, the share of California’s labor force that has completed high school would be above the national average. …

‡ [O]ne-third of the adult immigrants who settled in the state in 2007 and 2008 had not completed high school, adding 91,000 new unskilled adults to the state.

‡ In 1970, California was right at the national average in terms of income inequality, ranking 25th in the nation. …

‡ California’s income distribution in 2008 was more unequal than was Mississippi’s in 1970.

‡ The large share of California’s adults who have very little education is likely to strain social services and make it challenging for the state to generate sufficient tax revenue to cover the demands for services made by its large unskilled population.

Noting that, “some employers argue that a continuing stream of unskilled immigrant workers is desirable,” study authors, Steven Camarota and Karen Jensenius sum up the consequences: “Productivity, standard of living, welfare use, health insurance coverage, and the tax base are heavily impacted by education levels. The low level of educational attainment in the state is likely to create significant challenges for California in the foreseeable future.”

† Updates To Previous Posts (fourth item, Life Imitates “A Law Abiding Citizen”): The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 to advance the nomination of Judge Robert Chatigny for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Except for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who voted "pass," the other Dems voted for the nomination and all Republicans voted against it.