Pepperdine was 17th by Princeton Review, 52 highest by US News & World Report, the highest increase by any top ranked school. GO Waves.

2011 Princeton Review Rankings v. U.S. News Rankings

Yesterday, I blogged the Princeton Review's Top 50 Law Schools, based on data I extracted from the individual profiles of the 172 law schools in the 2011 edition of Best 172 Law Schools (with the University of Cincinnati College of Law again on the cover).  The rankings are based on the Princeton Review's survey of 18,000 students at the 172 law schools, along with school statistics provided by administrators.  The rankings based on the scores (ranging from 60-99) in five categories: 

http://taxprof.typepad.com/

• Academic Experience
• Admissions Selectivity
• Career Preparation
• Professors:  Accessible and Interesting

Here are the 50 law schools whose Princeton Review ranking most outperformed their U.S. News ranking (assigning a ranking of 103 to schools in the U.S. News 3rd Tier (103-144) and a ranking of 145 to schools in the U,S, News 4th Tier (145-188):

Christmas in the public schools

PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE OUR FUTURE: “They said the candy canes are weapons because you can sharpen them with your mouth and stab people with them.”

So true.

Our Islamophobic Political Class.

But incredibly, in neither the 1,000-word writeup nor the four-minute video report on the Holder interview is there a single mention of Islam. Not only are the “radicals” not described as Islamic radicals or radical Islamists, but Awlaki is described as a “cleric”–oh so generic!–rather than an imam.

We surmise that this omission is willful. The media and the Obama administration give the impression that they are extremely careful to avoid mentioning the religion in whose name al Qaeda and similar groups commit terrorist attacks. We have a distinct sense that this is driven by fear–that they are suffering from, if we may coin a word, Islamphobia.

How Much Commuting Actually Costs in 90 Cities

TheStreet and financial data site Bundle ranked 90 metropolitan areas by their commuters' monthly time and spending on commutes. See how your city fared, along with the potential savings if you figure out another way to work.

This map, along with a related bar-style chart, drew in part from the latest Census data release that included figures on how many people drive alone, carpool, and otherwise get to work. When taking into account both fuel and long-term maintenance inevitabilities, you arrive at a figure that isn't usually factored into the "affordability" analysis and rankings you'll see around this time.

How does your city fare? What do you do to curtail the cost of commuting?

America's best and worst commutes [Bundle]

This is what they believe: the United States should cease. We are not special. We owe everyone else.

Dem Rep: 'God Willing ... Border Will Become an Irrelevancy'

 

CBS Airs Hoax Cover of Bush Memoir

YouTube Screengrab

CBS News aired a fake cover of former President George W. Bush's memoir over the weekend, after a staffer apparently got duped by a hoax image floating around the Internet

Perhaps we are saved by their stupidity

Bad news from freed detainee: The Jews used witchcraft on me at Gitmo

 

Scary

The Three Security Stooges

Just how inept are the plodding politically correct bureaucratsObama has seen fit to entrust with our security? An interview with Homeland Security Secretary Janet "Big Sis" Napolitano, chief counterterrorism advisor John Brennan, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper makes it clear:

US President Barack Obama's top aide on intelligence appeared to be completely unaware in a television interview of the arrests this week of 12 men accused of plotting an Al-Qaeda-inspired attack.

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was asked about the attacks, with ABC News interviewer Diane Sawyer posing the questions: "First of all, London. How serious is it? Any implication that it was coming here?"

After a long pause, Clapper replied, "London?"

Far Side Of The Moon? I'm Only Seeing A Medini Proust Chair ...From Paris

'Ungovernable' ...From Paris

Jennifer Rubin's excellent article:  "Are We Really 'Ungovernable'?

"Our political system -- messy, contentious, divisive and wondrously democratic -- is to be celebrated. Conservatives didn't say America was "ungovernable" when Barack Obama was elected; they got to work challenging their opponents' philosophy and finding excellent, electable candidates. Maybe liberals should do the same and lay off the Constitution and their fellow citizens."

O and Dems to bankrupt your state

And the stark numbers:

CMS projects that state and local spending on Medicaid will increase 41.4 percent between 2010 and 2011. No, that is not a typo.

Medicaid spending now represents on average about 21 percent of the typical state budget.

More of the Media in the tank for the Dems

Comeback Kid?

The press is touting the Democrats' lame duck Congressional session as a big victory for President Obama. The Hill's report is typical: "After election 'shellacking,' Obama racks up string of legislative wins."

The Senate's ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia caps a run of victories for a president who in November suffered what he called "a shellacking" of historic proportions in the midterm elections.

Obama has seen a massive tax package approved by Congress, as well as the historic repeal of the law banning openly gay and lesbian military members.

Let's pause there. How, exactly, is the extension of the Bush tax cuts, against which Obama has been railing for years, a "victory" for the President? It was a victory for Congressional Republicans and perhaps President Bush; certainly not for President Obama.

He's also had a string of victories on smaller pieces of legislation, including a food-safety bill, which initially had been tripped up by a clerical error, and a child-nutrition bill backed by first lady Michelle Obama.

This is just another way of saying that the Democrats were still in control of Congress up until today. If the day ever comes when a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate can't pass a purported food safety bill and a penny-ante child nutrition bill, we will know the apocalypse is near.

Very interesting. It is almost binary.

Eating Healthier Means Living Longer

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2010) — The leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. These illnesses may be affected by diet. In a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers investigated empirical data regarding the associations of dietary patterns with mortality through analysis of the eating patterns of over 2500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 over a ten-year period. They found that diets favoring certain foods were associated with reduced mortality.

• "Healthy foods" (374 participants)
• "High-fat dairy products" (332)
• "Meat, fried foods, and alcohol" (693)
• "Breakfast cereal" (386)
• "Refined grains" (458)
• "Sweets and desserts" (339)

The "Healthy foods" cluster was characterized by relatively higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and lower consumption of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks, and added fat. The "High fat dairy products" cluster had higher intake of foods such as ice cream, cheese, and 2% and whole milk and yogurt, and lower intake of poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice, and pasta.

The study was unique in that it evaluated participants' quality of life and nutritional status, through detailed biochemical measures, according to their dietary patterns. After controlling for gender, age, race, clinical site, education, physical activity, smoking, and total calorie intake, the "High-fat dairy products" cluster had a 40% higher risk of mortality than the "Healthy foods" cluster. The "Sweets and desserts" cluster had a 37% higher risk. No significant differences in risk of mortality were seen between the "Healthy foods" cluster and the "Breakfast cereal" or "Refined grains" clusters.

Interesting, but be careful of vast scientific theories based on small evidence

scientificbreakthrough

Another humanoid species co-existed with early humans and Neanderthals

A single finger bone found in this Siberian cave led to an amazing discovery. Early humans and Neanderthals co-existed with another humanoid species called Denisovans. And many present-day humans carry genes that prove our ancestors had children with Denisovans, too

Excavation works inside the East Gallery of the Denisova cave where archaeologists found part of a finger bone in 2008

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222131119.htm

Interesting. The French tried this about 15 years ago and had to beat a silent retreat

China bars English words in all publications...

Pattern?

REPORT: Michelle's separate departure to Hawaii cost extra $63,000...

All talk, all the time

TODAY: Obama pledges 'singular focus' on economy...

ONE YEAR AGO: 'Obama to focus hard on economy'...

TWO YEARS AGO: Obama to put 'renewed focus' on economy...

UN brought the Cholera to Haiti and has done little to correct it.

HORROR: 40 people lynched amid Haiti cholera fears...

Barone: Census: Fast growth in states with no income tax

The resident population of the United States, he told us in a webcast, was 308,745,538. That's an increase of 9.7 percent from the 281,421,906 in the 2000 census -- the smallest proportional increase than in any decade other than the Depression 1930s

First, the great engine of growth in America is not the Northeast Megalopolis, which was growing faster than average in the mid-20th century, or California, which grew lustily in the succeeding half-century. It is Texas.

Its population grew 21 percent in the past decade, from nearly 21 million to more than 25 million. That was more rapid growth than in any states except for four much smaller ones (Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho).

Texas' diversified economy, business-friendly regulations and low taxes have attracted not only immigrants but substantial inflow from the other 49 states. As a result, the 2010 reapportionment gives Texas four additional House seats

This leads to a second point, which is that growth tends to be stronger where taxes are lower. Seven of the nine states that do not levy an income tax grew faster than the national average. The other two, South Dakota and New Hampshire, had the fastest growth in their regions, the Midwest and New England.

My third observation is that immigration is slowing down

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/census-fast-growth-states-no-income-tax#ixzz18tHFwAK1

Niagara Falls ... when it was dry?

In 1969, the US Corps of Engineers created a dam to divert water from the iconic waterway so they could conduct some work on the falls.

Here is a shot of the falls when it was dry:

For more shots, go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338793/Niagara-Falls-ran-dry-Photos-moment-iconic-waterfall-came-standstilll.html

Cleveland lighthouse on Lake Erie t r a n s f o r m e d

This is how it looks in the summer ...

And this is how it looks now after a winter shellacking this week...

New images of the far side of the moon

These images show a topographical application to the most intricate pictures yet of the moon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1339743/Pictured-Incredible-lunar-images-reveal-moon-craters-unparalleled-detail.html