Lisa De Pasquale

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Articles by Lisa De Pasquale

End the Ed

A new study finds that administrative spending at public schools has increased 700 percent over the last 50 years.  From The Daily Caller: In the last 20 years, the number of K-12 administrators has increased 2.3 times faster than the

Three Cheers for the Nanny State!

This is the non-ironic title of an op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times.  Sarah Conly, author of a book with an even dumber title, “Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism” wrote: The crucial point is that in some situations it’s just

Online Petitions

In response to Daily Kos Seeks to Prevent LA Times Sale to ‘Right-Wing Super Villains’: Just curious, fellow Conversationalists: Can anyone point to a recent incident in which an internet petition changed some company’s decision or policy?  I suspect starting a

Another Designer Not Impressed with FLOTUS

A few weeks ago I posted about English designer Vivienne Westwood saying that she was not a fan of the First Lady.  Westwood is a liberal, but her criticism of the First Lady’s fashion choices made her a target by ugly

This is the true story of seven strangers…

This weekend MTV has been showing past Real World seasons.  I never watched religiously, but would catch up on marathon weekends.  Right now Real World: San Francisco is on.  It’s great to see Rachel Campos-Duffy.  It’s great to see a

Rainn Wilson and Michael Moore Cite The Onion to Bash NRA

Seriously, who doesn’t know The Onion is satire?  When blinded by your ideology, I guess anything is possible.  From NewsBusters: Wealthy filmmaker Michael Moore and Rainn Wilson, an actor best known for his role in the American version of “The

Whole Foods' Founder John Mackey on 'Conscious Capitalism'

My favorite libertarian Nick Gillespie of Reason.tv has an interesting interview with Whole Foods’ co-founder John Mackey about “life beyond the profit motive.”  Mackey says “I think the critics of capitalism have got it in this very small box – that

Feminist Lily Tomlin Knocks 'Girls'

I’ve never seen “Girls” because I’m too cheap to pay for HBO or any other premium channels.  There have been some interesting discussion of it on Breitbart (see here and here).  Given that “Girls” is held up by women on Left as

Still Looking for My Ron Swanson

Interesting article from Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller about two successful shows that mock progressives. For all the talk about Hollywood’s liberal bias, they still produce the best artistic critique of liberal culture. This is both sad and encouraging. Sad

Feminists' War on Women (and Children)

This may be blasphemy, but I love exploring the non-A sections of the New York Times.  I came across this piece today, “As Men Lose Economic Ground, Clues in the Family“: The decline of two-parent households may be a significant

Party Nightmares

In response to Gordon Ramsay’s Party Nightmares: I remember reading that after Gordon Ramsay leaves, the restaurants bounce back because of the publicity, but many still end up closing.  Found this article that says out of the 32 restaurants featured in

The Feminists' Mistake

This New York magazine article is making its way around.  There has been a lot of talk lately about the work-family balance and how women are opting to stay at home.  Women have more choices than ever before, so have a

Why the LA Times Matters: Location, Location, Location

In response to Koch Bros. to Buy LA Times?: I think this is a fantastic idea.  If the Koch Brothers were to buy the Los Angeles Times I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for conservatives to get their

Does Sex Still Sell?

When I first read the Entertainment Weekly headline “Where’s the Love? The Sudden Death of the Hollywood Sex Scene,” I was skeptical.  All we hear is that Hollywood is a cesspool of sex, drugs an violence.  Then I tried to think

Fight or Flight for the Brain

A new study shows how the brain is able to hone in on the speaker it wants to hear in a noisy environment, like a cocktail party.  From NBC News (via Instapundit): Studying the infamous “cocktail party problem,” researchers found that

Stunts and Hoaxes

In response to If Mark Kelly Was Attempting a Media Stunt…: All good points, Ace.  This reminds me of when a hate crime is revealed as a hoax those on the Left are quick to claim that the fact that

The Best Thing About the Conclave

I’ve really enjoyed seeing more Father Jonathan Morris on Fox News over the last few weeks during the coverage of Pope Benedict’s resignation and the conclave.  Boyish good looks aside, I like him because he’s a great example to follow for talking to

Homework Assignment for John Nolte

In response to 20th Century-Fox Archive Releases ‘Wilson’ (1944): With every movie post you do it occurs to me that there are some good movies that I have never seen.  Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to

Primary Challenger for Lindsey Graham?

From Bruce Carroll, aka GayPatriot: Last week, speculation grew in South Carolina and on social media outlets about my interest in challenging incumbent US Senator Lindsey Graham who has been in Congress for 18 years. In the spirit of transparency

For once, I agree with Javier

In response to Jeb Bush Won’t Run for President in 2016: Ok, maybe we’ve agreed before.  Anyway, I think Jeb-apalooza is just a book tour.  I think he preserves his popularity (and, yes, he is popular) as a could-have-ran than

Wacko Birds

In response to Elusive “Wacko Bird” Ted Cruz Responds to McCain : Perhaps someone has already made this point, but I’d be willing to bet that Sen. McCain was trying to be hip and maverick-y and meant to say “Angry Birds”

Conservative Writers: Pit Bulls v. Show Dogs

Please disregard the headline of this article by Mark Judge of Real Clear Books.  In between the jabs against various friends, he makes some good points. Reconnecting with Buckley’s wonderful prose revealed something quite clearly: conservative journalism has plenty of pit bulls,

Who does not like the First Lady?!?!?!

My criticism of the First Lady has little to do with her fashion sense (which is hit or miss, I think), but this exchange between the New York Times and famous designer Vivienne Westwood is revealing: Q. You must love

Teasing Tigers

In response to Maybe We Just Need to Tease Large Predators More: We’re supposed to be rooting for the tigers, right? 

No. No. NO!

From The Washington Times: There is already a bumper sticker out there that says “Barack 2012, Michelle 2016,” spotted in the nation’s capital in the last month. In that mindset, consider new numbers just released: a Harris Poll gauging first lady

Thad McCotter on Castro-Chavez Relationship

Only McCotter could make this brilliant point: Yet, such are the perils of a derivative existence: in betting the “over” on the laws of nature, Hugo crapped out and wound up not Castro’s successor but Castro’s submissive; and Hugo’s earthly

I don't want to burst everyone's bubble…

In response to Best.Presidential.Campaign.Kickoff.Ever: But… as awesome as Sen. Paul and others are on the Senate floor are right now, I can’t help but think this is one of the moments when all of us conservatives and libertarians are in our

To Expand or Not to Expand

In response to Is Obamacare Really All That Bad?: State governors and legislatures are facing a tough decision on whether to participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.  There’s a good piece by Chuck Blahous, public trustee for Social Security and Medicare over at

Jedediah Bila's Top Five Smartest Decisions

In response to Top Five Smartest Decisions of My Life (Thanks, John!): The wonderful Jedediah Bila saw our Conversation posts and sent along her own list! So, I saw Lisa’s Top Five Smartest Decisions of My Life and, well, couldn’t resist. 5.

Top Five Smartest Decisions of My Life (Thanks, John!)

In response to Top Five Smartest Decisions of My Life: I liked John’s idea, so I thought I’d copy it.  It would be interesting to hear from other Conversation writers. 1. Working 30 hours a week in college, getting BA

We've Done Worse Than a Bush

In response to Are you ready for… Jeb Bush 2016?: Being from Florida, I never understood the negative knee-jerk reaction to Jeb Bush.  He was the first person I ever voted for when he ran for governor the second time. 

Confessions of a Queen Bee

In response to Lady Bosses: Reading the WSJ article in Liz’s post and this sentence jumped out at me, “The female boss who not only has zero interest in fostering the careers of women who aim to follow in her

Young Voters Talking, Will GOP Listen?

In a recent NPR article/broadcast, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus says he’s meeting with groups of voters, including Hispanics, Asians, and youth, who have voted Democratic in the past.  After several years of the GOP telling young voters that they will

Breitbart on How Being Adopted Shaped His Views on Abortion

One of my favorite speeches given by Andrew Breitbart was about an issue he had never previously talked about — how his adoption shaped his pro-life views.  He addressed a group from Students for Life: Certainly, in Hollywood I lived in

'Sure': The Andrew We Knew

Like many in the Breitbart.com family, I was shocked when I heard the news.  As I suspect others did, I furiously looked through my phone and email for my last communication with Andrew.  It was as if seeing his words meant

Food Freedom

I just attended an event at the American Enterprise Institute on “Big government and big food vs. food trucks, foodies, and farmers markets.”  One of the speakers is the founder of the Food Truck Association and one of the most

We All Scream for Fennel!

In response to Fennel, It’s What’s for Lunch: I think I could come up with a reality TV reference for anything.  In this case, I’m reminded of the challenges in Top Chef when they’ve had to feed kids.  One episode

Fear of Missing Out

In response to Does America Love or Lust Big Government?: Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man and the new book on Coolidge, talked about this subject at an e21 event last week called “How You Can Say No on

The Future of Feminism

  I don’t know about you, but this photo gives me hope. Hat tip to Teri Christoph at Smart Girl Politics for sharing this.

My only chance to brag to Iowahawk

In response to I’m a People Person, Dammit: From my 2011 article at The Daily Caller, “America Needs the Bobs”: We need executioners of government spending. A good place to start is D.C.  Every bureaucrat needs to answer the question