THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Turning back the tide of information overload with a digest of the latest developments in news conservatives need to pay attention to:

† Every bubble bursts eventually: According to Nielsen, 37.8 million television viewers watched the last State of the Union address in President Barack Hussein Obama’s only term in office™ Tuesday night – down from 42.8 million last year, 48 million in 2010, and 52.3 million for the president’s address to Congress during his first year in office in 2009, The New York Times reports.

† Finally, a language even liberals can understand: An analysis by the University of Minnesota of President Barack Hussein Obama's 2012 State of the Union address finds that it was written at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test – the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934, Politico reports:

President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude.

† Shoe suit shooed: Christian Louboutin took the next step in trying to claim red-soled shoes as his trademark by asking the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to reverse a lower-court ruling that denied Louboutin's lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent Yves Saint Laurent from selling a line of shoes with red soles, The Wall Street Journal reports:  

In front of a large and conspicuously well-dressed audience – more than a few women present wore red-soled shoes— lawyers for both sides made their arguments.

"Christian Louboutin has created one of the more iconic trademarks of the 21st century," argued attorney Harley Lewin, before a three-judge panel. "Louboutin turned a pedestrian item into a thing of beauty." …

"Artists of this type need the full palette of colors available. In order to compete and compete fairly, we need red," said Mr. Bernstein. "We don't want to find out that we can make green, blue, purple shoes ... but we are enjoined from making red."

† The TSA emperor wears no clothes: Part II: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) describes being detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)  for refusing to be groped at a security checkpoint after an alarm went off when he walked through the scanner (related article, fourth item on the page), which caused him to miss a flight to Washington, D.C., where he had been scheduled to deliver a speech to participants in the March for Life:

I showed them the potentially offending part of my body, my leg. They were not interested. They wanted to touch me and to pat me down. I requested to be rescanned. They refused and detained me in a 10-foot-by-10-foot area reserved for potential terrorists.

I told them that I was a frequent flier and that just days ago I was allowed to be rescanned when the scanner made an error. At no time did I ask for special treatment, but I did insist that all travelers be awarded some decency and leniency in accommodating the screening process.

My detention was real and I was repeatedly instructed not to leave the holding area. When I used my phone to inform my office that I would miss my flight, and thus miss my speech to the March for Life, I was told that now I would be subjected to a full body patdown.

I asked if I could simply restart the screening process to show that the machine had made an error. I was denied and informed that since I used my phone, to call for help, I must now submit or not fly. …

This blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unwarranted search and seizure, has insulted many citizens, and rightfully so. I, along with many other travelers, do not view traveling as a crime that warrants government search and seizure. In fact, I view traveling as a basic right, for Americans are free to travel from state to state as they please.

For its part, the TSA insists they were “holding” and not “detaining” Paul – but the difference (if there is one) is immaterial as he was not allowed to board his scheduled flight. In addition, a police incident report describes Paul as an “irate” passenger but surveillance footage does not back up the police report.

Paul vows to propose legislation to allow adults to be rescreened as an alternative to being manhandled by the TSA.

† When environmental values collide: Heather Patron of Studio City, CA, couldn’t figure out why the side view mirrors on her car and those of the car parked next to hers in the carport of her condo complex were melting – and neither could her dealer. Then she happened to notice a concentrated beam of light reflected from the energy efficient window installed in a neighbor’s condo was shining over the carport, CBSLosAngeles.com reports:

CBS2’s Randy Paige placed a thermometer in the pathway of the beam on a partially cloudy day. The temperature registered over 120 degrees in less than five minutes.

“I’m positive that this window is what is causing the damage to my car,” says Patron.

Patron is not alone. Reports across the country have alleged damages brought on by concentrated sunlight reflected off of energy efficient windows. The National Association of Home Builders is now conducting a study on the matter.

† R-E-S-P-E-C-T: You get as you give (click here and here for related articles): The Christian Science Monitor poses a question that never came up during George W. Bush’s eight years in office: “Can you respect the presidency, but insult the president?” and makes the astonishing claim that compared to the vitriolic treatment his predecessor received right up until his final minutes as president, “Obama – the nation’s first African American president – seems to have endured more of that.”

† Has Obama been humbled?: Bad news for the narcissistic Barack Hussein Obama (and the grandiose Newt Gingrich): Men who are narcissistic are likely to have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, a new study finds, according to University of Michigan researchers. CNN reports:

"The more narcissistic, the more cortisol that men have in mundane situations," said author Sara Konrath, who is the director of the Interdisciplinary Program on Empathy and Altruism Research at the University of Michigan.

Narcissism is a trait that exhibits "grandiosity, an inflated sense of self-importance, and over-estimations of uniqueness." If severe, it can also be a personality disorder recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

The trait has some positive qualities, such as abundance of self-esteem and positive sense of self. Narcissistic people characteristically tend to overestimate their intellectual abilities, attractiveness and positive personality traits, wrote Konrath.

But they don't enjoy healthy relationships with others because they're generally low on empathy and high in hostility – especially when their positive self-image is threatened.

The Stiletto has a continuing series devoted to all the presidents to which Obama has been likened, or has compared himself – which Commentary’s Alana Goodman thinks is “a particularly annoying habit” that “coupled with [his] thin resume and lack of substance … played into the narrative that he had an inflated self-image” and became “a running joke with conservatives.” Which brings us back to Gingrich:

[W]hy are Newt Gingrich’s even more outlandish personal assessments – that he’s just like Thomas Edison, the Duke of Wellington, or Henry Clay – not treated as equally ridiculous? …

Gingrich’s capacity for humility is only slightly below Donald Trump’s. But for some reason, that hasn’t seemed to bother conservative voters. Despite all the attacks on Obama’s egotism, they actually seem to like this trait in Newt. It’s not completely incomprehensible – when somebody’s on your side, arguing for the same things you believe in, a little over-confidence doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

But if we’ve learned anything from the last three years, it’s that delusions of grandeur don’t translate well into governing.

It is doubtful that Gingrich will heed Goodman’s warning that the more he compares himself to great leaders the bigger the risk of diminishing himself, seeing as how he revels in his grandiosity.

† Only the little people pay taxes: According to the Internal Revenue Service, active and retired federal employees and military personnel owed $3.42 billion in unpaid taxes for 2010, an increase of more than 3 percent over the previous year, WTOP.com reports:

As has been the case in past years, the agency with employees who owe the most in unpaid taxes is the U.S. Postal Service, where 25,640 employees owe nearly $270 million. Employees in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives owe more the $10 million. Active duty military owe more than $100 million. …

Currently, only IRS employees can be fired for failing to pay their taxes, however, legislation has been introduced that would require federal agencies to fire employees who are seriously delinquent in their taxes.

† Always remember and don’t ever forget (second item): The French Senate has approved a law that criminalizes Armenian Genocide denial (click here for related article). As is already the case with Holocaust deniers, Genocide deniers could face a fine of €45,000 ($58,995) and a year in jail, The Guardian of London reports:

The vote came after an entire afternoon and evening of debate in the Sénat. Defending the bill, government minister Patrick Ollier told senators that legislation was justified in the "fight against the negationist poison". He added: "This proposed legislation is part of a general movement to repress racist and xenophobic statements." …

President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to ratify the bill before the presidential elections in April. Turkey has accused Sarkozy of pandering to the estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France to win votes in the presidential vote in April and May, in which he is expected to see re-election.

It should come as no surprise that Turkey became bellicose – rather, more so than usual – over this development, Reuters reports:

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attacked the French parliament on Tuesday for passing a “discriminatory and racist” bill which makes it illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

However, Erdogan said there was still hope that NATO ally France “would correct its mistake” and that any retaliatory measures would be held back, depending on French actions. …

Some Turkish newspapers listed possible measures that Ankara might take against France.

These included the recall of its ambassador from Paris and telling the French ambassador to go home, reducing diplomatic ties to charge d’affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French military aircraft and vessels.

Speaking shortly before Monday’s Senate vote, Erdogan said the issue of future official visits to France would be thrown into uncertainty if it passed the bill.

French firms stand to lose out in bids for defense contracts and other mega-projects such as nuclear power stations.

Turkey could also seek to trumpet allegations that French actions in Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s were also tantamount to a genocide.

† Rearranging the deck chairs: Johnson & Johnson prides itself on its environmental “sustainability” but can’t seem to stop running afoul of regulators over serious quality control issues involving a broad range of its products (related article, penultimate item on the page). Now, “yet another J&J business - at least the seventh - has come under scrutiny, The Associated Press reports:

This time it's the unit that makes insulin pumps for diabetics, Animas Corp., that's being investigated. …

The FDA ordered Animas to explain by Jan. 20 why it kept selling pumps known to fail and also to submit a plan to rectify its failure to promptly report cases where its device might have caused or contributed to death or serious injury.

In a Dec. 27 warning letter posted online by the FDA Tuesday, the agency wrote to Animas and J&J CEO Bill Weldon that inspectors found Animas, based in West Chester, Pa., never reported on one complaint about serious patient injury and delayed reporting on two others. Those patients were hospitalized with dangerously high blood sugar, respiratory failure and coma, and a life-threatening complication called diabetic ketoacidosis caused by lack of insulin to break down blood sugar.

The problems follow a string of nearly 30 product recalls announced by New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson since September 2009, with the latest just three weeks ago. The recalls have included millions of bottles of Tylenol, Motrin and other nonprescription medicines for children and adults, prescription drugs for seizures and HIV, faulty hip implants and contact lenses that stung the eyes. Reasons ranged from contamination with metal shards and glass particles to nauseating odors and inaccurate levels of active drug ingredients.

As a result of these pervasive and persistent quality control failures, the pharmaceutical and medical device company saw its fourth-quarter profit plummet 89 percent “due to legal settlements and product-liability costs,” reports The Wall Street Journal:

J&J, whose marketing practices and manufacturing-quality lapses have landed it in a thicket of legal woes, recorded pretax charges and special items totaling $3.3 billion for the fourth quarter.

They included $1.1 billion in pretax charges for litigation settlements, primarily related to a government probe of allegations that J&J promoted the antipsychotic Risperdal for unauthorized uses; and about $1.5 billion in product-liability expenses, which include payments for surgeries to repair defective DePuy ASR hip-replacement systems.