Doug Ross @ Journal - 75% snark-free diatribes on politics, technology & security

Monday, July 06, 2009

Larwyn's Linx: Palin versus the Pundits

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Quote o' the day: "We don’t know about you, but we find it creepy that an American President gave a 751-word, Fourth of July address without once mentioning the words “freedom” or “liberty” or even the American Revolution." -- Dinocrat

Not to mention "limited government"... though he did mention "American workers", saving the planet through carbon cap-and-trade and nationalizing health care.

Labels: Linkfest

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

The Sum of All Fears

Radio Equalizer has the exclusive reaction from the CEO of Excellence In Broadcasting.

And that begs the question: which ticket would p**s off the moonbats worse: Limbaugh-Palin or Cheney-Rumsfeld?

Labels: MSM, Protecting America

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Massive storm erupts on surface of sun

Larry Sheldon sent me the following note this morning: "I noticed a bit ago that the little indicator in the upper left corner [of my personal screen, which has a solar activity X-ray indicator,] had changed from green ("Normal") to yellow ("Active") for the first time in a long time (2 years?)."

"The graph at http://www.n3kl.com/sun/images/noaa_xrays.gif? is sort of startling."

Not a solar expert, although I sometimes play one on TV, I asked Larry what he thought it meant. He responded, "With no authority whatever I think that is an artifact of the first (my estimate) really energetic sunspots in a long time."

Sure enough, SpaceWeather describes a massive solar storm that dwarfs anything seen in the last couple of years.

"Sunspot 1024 is crackling with B- and C-class solar flares. The activity is so intense, astronomers can't seem to take a picture of the sunspot without catching a flare in action. Pete Lawrence sends this example from his backyard observatory in Selsey, UK:

'Active region 1024 is putting on a fantastic show,' says Lawrence. 'The center of this region is incredibly bright and fluctuating.'

Solar observers haven't seen an active region like this one in more than two years. It is big, complex, and rapidly growing..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
But not to worry: the Democrats' "Crap-and-Tax" plan will save our climate from the effects of solar storms.

Labels: Climate, Scitech

// posted by directorblue @ 6:15 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

A Brief Interlude in the Oval Office

I'm in some real trouble with Michelle.

What do you mean?

She picked up my trousers off the floor last night
and noticed lipstick marks on the seat of my pants.

Well?? What happened?

I admitted that they were from Jennifer Loven and Gary Trudeau,
but assured her the three of us have a strictly platonic relationship.

Labels: MSM, Water-cooler

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Democrat Health Care, By The Numbers

0: The number of unrehearsed, unscripted questions asked of President Obama during his "Town Hall" on health care reform.

13: The number of teeth that British veteran Ian Boynton pulled out himself with pliers "because he couldn't find an NHS (National Health Service) dentist... [he] could not afford to go private for treatment so instead took the drastic action to remove 13 of his teeth that were giving him severe pain."

14: The percentage of all patients in Britain who wait more than one (1) year to receive treatment after a referral by a general practitioner. Half of all National Health Care patients in Britain wait between 18 and 52 weeks for treatment.

37: The "health care ranking" assigned to the U.S. by the World Health Organization among the world's countries. This oft-quoted number is used to justify an overhaul of the U.S. health care system and lists countries like Italy (2), Andorra (4), Malta (5), Singapore (6), Oman (8), Portugal (12), Greece (14), the United Kingdom (18), Ireland (19), Columbia (22), Cyprus (24), Saudi Arabia (26), the UAE (27), Morocco (29), Canada (30), Chile (33), the Dominican Republic (35) and Costa Rica (36) ahead of the U.S. Considering that no U.S. citizens travel to these countries when experiencing a life-threatening situation, it's worth questioning the methods by which the WHO arrived at these rankings. Their criteria included subjective and political assessments such as "Fairness in financial contribution". Suffice it to say that the WHO's rankings are clearly fraudulent and are designed to influence U.S. policy.

60: Average cancer survival rate (all types) for patients in the United States. Canada's survival rate is significantly lower at 55%, while Europe's is a dismal 48%.

81: Average percentage of those who survive a diagnosis of prostate cancer in the United States versus 43% in Britain under their National Health Service.

90: Number of days, on average, each Canadian patient must wait for an MRI under the Canadian government-run health care system.

750: The estimated number of people waiting in line (in the pouring rain) at Britain's Bury Office attempting to register for dental care.

2050: By this year, "Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (health care for the poor) will consume nearly the entire federal budget." And by 2082, Medicare spending alone will consume the entire federal budget. This trajectory is, quite obviously, unsustainable for our children and our grandchildren. Congress is bequeathing our descendents a bankrupt health care system -- for just the third of the medical system that the government already runs!

10,000: Number of Canadian breast cancer patients to file a class action lawsuit against Quebec's hospitals because, on average, they were forced to wait 60 days to begin post-operative radiation treatments.

280,392: The number of jobs that employers would shed if government levied an employer mandate, requiring them to insure all employees. A 2007 study by Katherine Baicker of Harvard University and Helen Levy of the University of Michigan ("Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment") found that "0.2 percent of all full-time workers and 1.4 percent of uninsured full-time workers would lose their jobs if a health insurance mandate were written into law. Workers who would lose their jobs are disproportionately likely to be high school dropouts, minority, and female."

443,849: The number of British patients of the National Healthcare Service (NHS) who waited four or more weeks for inpatient admittance into a hospital (Excel file) in May of 2009 (more than 75% of all patients).

1,500,000: The number of Canadians who do not have -- and cannot find -- a general practitioner/primary care physician due to shortages in medical staff: "In Norwood, Ontario, 20/20 videotaped a town clerk pulling the names of the lucky winners out of a lottery box. The losers must wait to see a doctor... Shirley Healy, like many sick Canadians, came to America for surgery. Her doctor in British Columbia told her she had only a few weeks to live because a blocked artery kept her from digesting food. Yet Canadian officials called her surgery 'elective.' ...'The only thing elective about this surgery was I elected to live,' she said."

12,000,000: number of illegal immigrants who would qualify for free health care and -- in all likelihood -- additional health care rights for relatives under the Democrats' universal health care plan, according to a reported statement by the office of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and spokespeople for the racial separatist group La Raza.

$311,000,000 ($311 million): The amount of additional funding requested last month by the Obama administration simply to combat Medicare fraud. Medicare fraud is estimated at $60 billion annually.

$3,600,000,000 ($3.6 billion): The amount of added malpractice insurance costs to the current health care system instigated by an out-of-control trial lawyer lobby that donates heavily to Democrat causes.

$10,000,000,000 ($10 billion): The estimated amount of Medicaid fraud, based upon FBI estimates. Criminal practices include billing for nonexistent, overstated, or unnecessary services, kickbacks to patients, inflated costs, etc.

$60,000,000,000 ($60 billion): The estimated annual amount of Medicare fraud, due to widespread criminal operations that victimize taxpayers and specialize in dead doctors, fake patients, non-existent treatments and the like.

$107,000,000,000,000 ($107 trillion): The estimated shortfall of the Medicare and Social Security programs, which are utterly and completely bankrupt; they can be legitimately called an "enormous version of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme".

Canada and England don't pay as high a price for their health care because they freeload on American innovation. If we utilized their systems, Americans might worry less about paying for health care, but we'd get 2009-level care and long lines. Those are the immutable laws of supply and demand. Government monopolies don't innovate. Only the free market innovates.

Furthermore, government bureaucrats already raped the Social Security Trust Fund -- there is no trust fund. They raped the Medicare Trust Fund -- there's nothing left. They raped the Highway Trust Fund -- it's empty. I could go down a long list of things the government said it would do, but hasn't done. Because the big government statists are liars. They even moved these massive expenditures "off the books" to conceal the damage they've done.

And now the Democrat Party, the union bosses and the trial lawyers are launching the most massive attack on the American people in the history of government.

They promise health care for everyone, but they will not -- and they can't possibly -- deliver it. The numbers don't lie.

References: Sick in America: 'Free' Is Good? (ABC News), There's no such thing as free health care (Reason Magazine), Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2009 (National Center for Policy Analysis), Who is Debby Smith?, E.R. P.R., Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2009.
Linked by: Dan Riehl ("Obacare"). Thanks!

Labels: Crime, Democrats, Dodd, Healthcare, Kennedy, Obama

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Curious Obituary Photo o' the Day

Hat tip: LB

Labels: Water-cooler

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Larwyn's Linx: In Dependence Day

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email or reply via Twitter.

Nation

Independence Day: America turns 233: Malkin
Tea Party Photos: Instapundit
A political powerhouse in the making: CS Monitor

CAIR/ISNA Thuggery on July Fourth: Atlas
Sarah Palin is running a marathon: Hewitt
In Dependence Day: AT

Palin, Cloward, Piven and Kafka: AT (Suhadolnik)
Sarah Palin's Independence Day: Anchoress
Obama's future memoirs: AT (Guanipa)

Climate & Energy

Driehaus admits all families will receive 5-10% carbon tax hit: Virtuous Republic
Climate Change Factoid o' the Day: TigerHawk
Some Time to Ponder: AJacksonian

Media

He doesn't get it: Phillips
Krauthammer and Palin: Doc Zero
Palin Derangement Syndrome: Photoshopping Trig: AT (Lifson)

CNN vs. the Tea Parties: Blatt

World

Honduras leaves the OAS: Fausta
Saudis greenlight IDF attack on Iran: TAB
MI6 chief has cover blown through Facebook: Daily Mail (UK)

Hangings continue in Iran; World is silent: Atlas
GOP reaches out to Iranians in weekly address: GWP
Happy Planet: Cuba’s the 7th happiest country in the world: Fausta

Cornucopia

God Bless America: Voices of Glory
@PatrickRuffini One can only imagine how bad unemployment would have been had we not passed that fast-acting stimulus

"Sarah Palin's ability to provoke the left into displaying its inner ugliness alone makes her a national treasure." -- Thomas Lifson

Labels: Linkfest

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Saturday, July 04, 2009

On July Fourth, Hondurans Thirst for Liberty

On July the Fourth, Hondurans are thirsting for independence, a return to the rule of law and their own civil society.

Honduras Abandoned is on the ground in Tegucigalpa.

Labels: World

// posted by directorblue @ 11:07 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

"Palin is running for president, get used to it"

The Internet rumor mill is afire with speculation on the reasons for Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska.

The usual cadre of deranged lefty bloggers hatched dozens of Troofer-esque theories, ranging from impending "embezzlement" charges (alleged ethics accusation #16) to an "Iceberg" scandal (don't ask).

Eh, no one tell the deranged leftist bloggers that all politicians operating under ethical clouds hang relentlessly onto power until it is clawed from them (see exhibits: Conyers, Dodd, Feinstein, Frank, Jefferson, Mollohan, Murtha, Rangel, Reid, Pelosi, Waters, et. al.).

The left's psychoses revolve around one characteristic: fear of Palin. She drives them absolutely nuts. They have hatched feverish story lines, plots, ambitions, conspiracy theories and "damning" evidence of her inability to serve as a credible candidate for high office. Their inordinate attention betrays their fears.

And recall that these are the very same rocket scientists who predicted -- for roughly 72 months running -- that Karl Rove was about to be "frog-marched" out of the White House.

At last count, Mickey Kaus had 14 theories.

Here are the facts on the ground:

• She could not build a campaign organization and a core team of contributors from Alaska;

• She could not relentlessly campaign for conservative candidates in 2012, which would build up her war-chest of owed favors;

• She could not sustain the endless series of ethical accusations, which cost enormous amounts of money both for her personally ($500,000) and the state of Alaska ($2,000,000). Of 15 ethical challenges, she has been cleared in all 15 cases. As an aside, note that these tactics are eerily reminiscent of those used by Barack Obama in having four of his Illinois challengers disqualified from office. It wouldn't be surprising, therefore, to discover that Obama's ACORN shock troops, Rahm Emanuel and/or David Axelrod were operating behind the scenes in these cases.

• She could not easily kick the asses of her many detractors in the mainstream media from Alaska. Consider that all of the major network news anchors were on vacation this week. This timing may have been purposeful; Palin will be old news by the time they return. I believe she's prepared to go on offense against a "media" that provided the most unbalanced coverage of two candidates (Obama versus Palin) in the history of American politics. Simply compare the questions ABC's Charlie Gibson asked of both in his one-on-one interviews to understand the callous disregard the media has for American voters. She reduced David Letterman to a quivering tub of goo; look for that to occur in other venues now.

Ever astute, Mark Levin listed but one reason for her announcement: Palin is running for president, get used to it..

Update: Patriot Room finds similar sentiments.

Update II: "It's On! Palin Counsel Plans to Pursue Liberal Blogs and Statist Media For Slander"

Labels: MSM, Palin, Protecting America

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How does 0-60 in 2.5 seconds feel in a droptop?

Reliapundit points us to Wired's review of Bugatti's Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport.

"Comparing it to any other car is pointless, because there is nothing else in its $2.1-million class."

"Even if there were another 253-mph drop-top with more luxury appointments than a Bond villain's boudoir, you wouldn't want it. You'd want this exact car, because more than being a blast to drive, it is the greatest gasoline-powered vehicle that has ever been, or will ever be, built. Seriously."

"[It] is the most structurally rigid convertible in the world, which, miraculously, weighs no more and goes no slower than the coupe on which it is based. With the transparent roof removed, air resistance limits the Grand Sport to 217 mph, but you'd want that roof on for a top-speed run anyway; the wind could rip your face off at around 245.

By now, the Veyron's stats are legendary: 1,001 horsepower from a mid-mounted, 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder engine that gets air stuffed down its ravenous gullet by four massive turbochargers. All-wheel drive. A seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission that switches gears faster than a state staffer ducking questions about the Appalachian Trail. Depending on how you define "production car," it is the fastest in the world. In the quickest Lamborghini ever produced, the Murcielago LP640, you can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. In the Grand Sport it takes a hair under 2.5. How does it feel to command that pace? Godlike.

The acceleration is so immediate you can feel your eyeballs deform under the G-forces..." >> Read the entire article.

Labels: Autos

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The Hollywood Squares -- Classic Comebacks

'Borrowed' from S, C & A:

Q. If you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You’ve been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A. Don Knotts: That’s what’s been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he’s married?
A. Rose Marie: No- wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say ‘I Love You’?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.

Q. What are ‘Do It,’ ‘I Can Help,’ and ‘I Can’t Get Enough’?
A. George Gobel: I don’t know, but it’s coming from the next apartment.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I’ll give you a gesture you’ll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell’s Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you’ve just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I’m too busy growing strawberries.

Q. In bowling, what’s a perfect score?
A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I’m always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn’t neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
A. Charley Weaver: I’ll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh.

Q. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?
A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!
(The audience laughed so long and so hard it took up almost 15 minutes of the show!)

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 9:21 AM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Larwyn's Linx: The Madness That's Killing Jobs

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email or reply via Twitter.

Nation

Thanking Our Veterans and Troops on July 4th: GOPleader
Stop the madness that's killing jobs!: IBD
The ISNA Conference: AT (Gaubatz)

The costly truth about Canada's health care system: Reason
The Absentee Senator: WSJ
Sotomayor and ACORN: joined at the hip: AT (Moran)

Obama De-Criminalizes Hiring Illegals: S&L
Palin breaks the mold again: AT (Lifson)
It reminds me of Slovenia: PJM (Grabar)

Al Franken -- Democrat from ACORN: Investors
ACORN and the census: 'Systemic Fraud': Vadum
Lawyer responds to Rep. Jackson-Lee's ACORN inquiry: Vadum

Our founders, the realists: Lowry
Boomer Wars: Steynian
Get your Driehaus Blog Widget: Taxman

Great Question: Brutally Honest
Medicare Plans to Cut Specialists' Payments: WSJ
Prominent Jewish Democrats Double Down On Obama. Unpersuasively.: Mere Rhetoric

Climate & Energy

The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic: Strassel
House climate bill wouldn't cut oil dependency much: McClatchy
A libertarian for coercive energy policy?: Green Hell

Media

Who wouldn't believe Chris Dodd?: Riehl
CBS omits Obama mention on 9.5% Unemployment Story: NewsBusters
Storm Clouds on the Fourth: PJM (Simon)

Ten Palin Theories: Kaus
Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama: CNS
Colin Powell, the Useful Idiot: Exurban League

Moonbats

Huffington Post celebrates Palin's resignation with "retard" jokes: GWP
Successful terrorist attack on Obama's watch is GOP's only hope: Daily Kos

World

First Impressions Upon Landing in Honduras: Honduras Abandoned
Afghanistan: the WTF? War: Captain's Journal
Bon Jovi stands by Iran's rebels: SIGIS

Cornucopia

Fireworks Safety Video: JWF
Don't look down: Mail Online (UK)
1971 air crash survivor recalls her journey: CNN

How Much is in Karl's Obama Cuss Jar?: ushanka
Two Centuries On, a Cryptologist Cracks a Presidential Code: WSJ
Freight Train vs. Tornado: LiveLeak

Labels: Linkfest

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Friday, July 03, 2009

Deranged progressive bloggers photoshop Trig Palin to mock the disabled

You've probably heard by now that Sarah Palin has resigned as Governor of Alaska. Unexpected, to be sure, but probably not irrational given the rampant Palin Derangement influenza endemic among Democrats and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself).

Exhibit A: Consider the behavior of deranged bloggers like TBogg at FireDogLake, first noticed by Dan Riehl.

TBogg depicts the Palins as the spawn of Satan.

The eyes are especially menacing, reminiscent of the media's treatment of Condi Rice.

Notice that, in the lower lefthand corner, Trig Palin -- the Governor's son afflicted with Down's Syndrome -- has been photoshopped in to enhance the mockery.

Disgusting, despicable and outrageous -- but not surprising from the vicious propagandists of the Left. Next month, expect TBogg to artistically depict Bibi Netanyahu as a rat.

Update: The Huffington Post on mental retardation.

Update II: It Always Has Been About Trig.

Linked by: American Thinker and Fausta. Thanks!

Labels: Democrats, extremism, Palin

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The new grill is here! The new grill is here!

Just in time for the Fourth!

Hat tip: Papa B.

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 4:53 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Jennifer Loven of the AP: Barack Obama's Personal Publicist

I'd call Jennifer Loven of the AP a useless sycophant and a slavish mistress of the Obama administration, but that would understate her remarkable lack of journalistic ethics. She is, to be sure, a publicist disguised as an objective reporter. After all, that's how one gets those cherished one-on-one interviews with President Obama. To put Jennifer Loven in perspective, consider the headlines of her bylined stories over recent months.

07/02/2009: Obama: More work needed to create new jobs
07/02/2009: Obama: too many jobs lost
07/02/2009: Obama cites Michael Jackson as entertainment icon
07/02/2009: Obama troubled by indefinite detention
07/02/2009: Court 'moving ball' on racial hiring, Obama says

06/26/2009: Obama says US, Germany oppose violence in Iran
06/25/2009: Obama touts deal with drug firms
06/25/2009: Obama says he's committed to immigration reform
06/24/2009: Obama condemns violence against Iranian protesters
06/23/2009: Obama talks tougher on Iran violence

06/05/2009: Obama offers America's hand in peace to grateful Muslims
06/04/2009: Obama highlighting ties to Islam
06/04/2009: Obama troubled by Iran election but sees change
06/03/2009: Obama visits Saudi king on eve of key speech
06/04/2009: Obama extends hand to Muslim world in speech

06/05/2009: Obama sees 'serious progress' for Mideast peace
06/06/2009: Obama, Sarkozy, agree on Middle East strategy
06/06/2009: Obama: North Korea must engage in diplomacy
06/06/2009: Obama marks D-Day's solemn 65th anniversary
05/21/2009: Obama fights to take command of Guantanamo debate

05/12/2009: Obama seeks to block release of abuse photos
04/27/2009: From Obama: swine flu action, reassuring words
04/27/2009: Obama team offers calm, experts for swine flu
04/27/2009: Obama administration: Stern border enforcement not yet necessary
04/27/2009: White House asks lawmakers for $1.5b for flu

04/21/2009: Obama open to Hill probe of harsh interrogations
03/19/2009: Obama defends Geithner
03/12/2009: Treasury Secretary says global action needed to combat recession
02/28/2009: Military shaped Obama's Iraq plan
02/28/2009: Obama's balancing act on Iraq withdrawal

Now compare and contrast: Jennifer Loven stories from her years covering the Bush administration.

07/26/2005: White House: Judge Roberts writings out of bounds
06/08/2005: Bush, Blair agree to forgive Africa debt, at odds over aid
05/01/2005: Bush to keep pushing Social Security changes
02/11/2005: Bush threatens to veto Medicare changes
10/03/2004: Bush assails his foe on outsourcing security

09/01/2004: Troops got the message, but no one told Bush
04/14/2004: Bush, Cheney taxed less in '03
04/02/2004: Bush signs measure giving more legal rights to fetuses
03/06/2004: Bush Says He'll Relax Security Checks on Mexicans
02/21/2004: Bush defends decision for War in Iraq

12/15/2003: White House soft-pedals Baker's mission
12/14/2003: Bush sounds like candidate in radio talk
12/03/2003: Steel tariff decision dogs Bush
02/16/2002: Bush tells nation to relax a bit
12/03/2001: Affordable housing crunch persists for poorest

10/03/2001: Report Growing gap between wages, cost of renting
08/27/2001: 1 in 32 people in corrections system
08/03/2001: Democrats thwart Bush's consumer products nominee
12/07/2000: Pentagon: Project Falsely Justified
11/02/2000: LaHood continues effort to abolish Electoral College

The Loven agenda -- and by extension, the mission of the AP -- is as clear as glass.

Update: "State-Run Media Smears GOP for Pushing Family Values".

Update II: In 2006, Tom Blumer offered valuable background on Loven:

Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press is one of AP's regular reporters covering Mr. Bush and The White House... She also has an obvious conflict of interest, as her husband, Roger Ballentine, was a senior adviser to John Kerry on energy and environmental issues during the 2004 presidential campaign. Ballentine is currently president of Green Strategies, Inc., an environmental consulting and government relations (read: lobbying) firm. He also continues to be actively involved in the politics of energy and the environment, as this appearance at a renewable energy conference in December 2004 and the promotion for his October appearance on "E&E TV" show.

It has apparently never occurred to AP that her husband's point of view could affect the objectivity of Ms. Loven's reporting, though, as this post at Powerline supplied by me back in September 2004 shows, she went so far as to ridicule a 2002-2003 Bush Administration environmental initiative in one of her "objective" reports using language that parroted her husband's environmental advocacy statements.

Whether it's Iraq, the Joe Wilson charade (a report that led Powerline to call her a "Democrat Operative"), or the economy, Ms. Loven's reports on day-to-day happenings in the administration have been consistently negative and sometimes even hostile.

Labels: Democrats, MSM, Obama

// posted by directorblue @ 3:03 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Holy Crap: Audi 4-Door Coupe and Convertible Due Next Year

A four-door convertible in S7 trim?

Motor Authority has the details.

Labels: Autos

// posted by directorblue @ 2:46 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Carbon Crap-and-Trade Kids Propaganda Website o' the Day

Can you believe this load of monkey manure? It's a screen-cap of a website which advertises a book for kids. The book -- The Adventures of Jimmy Carbon -- describes all of the dangers inherent to the deadly toxin called carbon dioxide.

I will not provide a link to the propaganda website, but you can read about the Green Gestapo in the insane piece of legislation called Waxman-Markey. Although here's a fair warning: you may need blood-pressure meds by the time you finish.

Labels: Climate, Democrats, Education, Obama

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Inside the White House Panic Room

Sad, ain't it?

Labels: Democrats, MSM, Obama

// posted by directorblue @ 9:54 AM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Larwyn's Linx: A Single-Prayer Health Care System

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! or reply via Twitter.

Nation

Dust Bowl 2009: Priestap
Cali: cash for pols; IOUs for the blind: Surber
Barney Frank: Spend TARP income before taxpayers get it!: Coach P

Obama II vs. Obama I: Hanson
Dems to Remove Reagan's Name From Airport? : JWF
Senate bill fines people refusing health coverage: AP

Canada's Single-Prayer Health System: IBD
Get ready to lose your private insurance: Examiner
FairTax: IBD (PDF)

'Why do they hate Sarah Palin?': Anchoress
America losing hope in Obama's change: STACLU
'We're in the middle of a crash' -- Black Swan: CNBC

Free July 4th Protest Posters: Cube
Missing our moment in Iran: Hanson
A biblical look at the Declaration of Independence: Salt and Light

Climate

50 reasons to oppose Waxman-Markey: NRO
Waxman-Markey flunks basic math: PJM (Karlgaard)
Arctic temp above 80N parallel still below freezing – trend flat: Watts

World

Not a coup!: Sun-Times
Honduran protesters bash Obama and CNN: GWP
Let them come to Tegucigalpa: LegalIns

Honduras and Iran: Obama Betrays Freedom Again: AT (Geller)
Honduras: EU withdraws ambassadors: Fausta
Time for Israel to crush Iran: Matzav

Media

Mr. Pecksniff Meets the Press: AmDig
Administration, Lobbyist, Journalist: Who Can Tell the Difference?: Power Line
Gray Lady Ignores Times Square Tea Party: JWF

Cornucopia

Ant mega-colony takes over world: BBC

Labels: Linkfest

// posted by directorblue @ 8:46 AM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Just go ahead and set your wallet on fire

A couple of months ago, global citizen Barack Obama promised the world a bold new strategy for dealing with global warming. The plan can be summarized with a single phrase: Wreck the Economy at the Worst Possible Time.

...cumulative GDP losses for 2010 to 2029 approach $7 trillion. Single-year losses exceed $600 billion in 2029, more than $5,000 per house¬hold. Job losses are expected to exceed 800,000 in some years, and exceed at least 500,000 from 2015 through 2026.

Well, that should help pay off the country-killing deficit caused by the Obama Depression Budget.

The climate change scam was birthed by the United Nations. A bunch of bureaucrats, losers and scam-artists formed businesses designed to profit from the very recommendation they made: to start forcing countries to cap-and-trade carbon emissions using "credits" or "offsets".

The grift was originally called "The Kyoto Protocol". But the scam has since undergone a name change reminiscent of the re-branding global warming has undergone -- to "Climate Change" (which should fool the media because of phenomena known as "seasons"). It's now known as "The Bali Action Plan" and you can read it online.

It is called AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON LONG-TERM COOPERATIVE ACTION UNDER THE CONVENTION (Part 1 and Part 2, both in PDF format), dated 18 March 2009. It demands the following (emphases mine):

(a) An assessed contribution from developed country Parties as a percentage of gross national product or gross domestic product; (Taxes)

(b) An assessed contribution from all Parties, except LDCs, based on a predefined set of criteria, including GHG emissions, respective capacity and population; (More taxes)

(c) Auctioning of assigned amounts or emission allowances at the international and/or domestic level; (More taxes)

(d) A uniform global levy on CO2 emissions, with exemption for LDCs; (More taxes)

(e) Levies on emissions from international aviation and maritime transport; (More taxes)

(f) A tax on air travel; (More taxes)

(g) A share of proceeds from market-based mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. (More taxes)

(h) A global levy on international monetary transactions. (More taxes)

Gee, I detect a pattern.

Investors Business Daily calls the EPA's finding -- that carbon dioxide is toxic, and therefore should be regulated -- "The Anti-Stimulus."

Carbon dioxide, which comprises an infinitesimally tiny fraction of Earth's greenhouse gases, is no more dangerous than oxygen or water.

Regulation of carbon dioxide is a scam designed to accomplish two things: (a) increase the power of the state over the individual and (b) impoverish our society.

But it's not about economics with Enviro-Statists like Obama. It's about ideology.

Welcome to intellectual -- and actual -- bankruptcy.

Labels: Climate, Democrats, Economy, Obama, Waxman

// posted by directorblue @ 10:53 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Do you feel stimulated yet?

The new crap is available at Cafepress.

Coffee mugs? We got 'em. Bumper stickers? Got them, too. Glock 30's? Eh, Cafepress turned down my request to carry them.

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 9:36 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

2009 Contractor Award Nominees for June

Cory sent these in. There are a couple of sure-fire winners in the category of best barbecue hack.

Related: 2008 Contractor Awards.

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 7:20 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Larwyn's Linx: Another Tea-Bagging Racist

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! or reply via Twitter.

Nation

President Obama's Unemployment Promises: Wizbang
Times Square Tea Party Report: Instapundit
Clinton urged Obama to talk tough on Iran: Times

Slashing the Military to Pre-9/11 Levels: Tank
Obama's true colors shine: AT (Shiver)
Follow the Money: the John Murtha Story: Burns (Video)

Health Care

Rationing Health Care the Canadian Way: Stossel

Economy

No climate debate? Yes, there is: Jacoby
Video: Pelosi’s national energy tax: Morrissey
Cap-and-Tax requires home renovations before sale: GWP

World

Afghanistan Operations: Hatless
Falun Gong help students break Iranian regime's censorship: TAB
It begins: Israel drops purchase of US weapon systems: NeoX

Hands Off Honduras: LegalIns
China News: Obama's Economic Reform Is In Conformity With Marxist Doctrine: GWP
Maybe these are the moderate Taliban Obama told us about: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers: Times

Media

Fox News surges to record primetime ratings: JWF
Blue on Blue: Helen Thomas hammers Gibbs: Hot Air
Ziegler shreds Politico reporter on Palin: Hot Air

Cornucopia

ARVN Nights, IA Days: Crittenden
Don't Trust Your Brain: Rubicon3

Today's Podcast

Mark Levin, 30 June 2009: Mark Levin Show

Headline: "U.S. 'ready' for N. Korean missile" (Washington Times)

So a Democrat commander-in-chief is going to deploy the same weapon system for which he's slashed funding, which his party has mocked for decades, which his party has ruthlessly tried to kill, and which their partners in the media derided as "Star Wars" and claimed "would never work".

Do I have that about right? -- Me. Just now.

Labels: Linkfest

// posted by directorblue @ 6:30 AM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

The Club

Hat tip: Papa B -- one of my favorite paintings. Linked by: Patriot Room and Common Sense Junction. Thanks!

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 9:30 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Wondering who's behind all of these Obamacare ads?

Have you noticed all of the pro-Obamacare ads running in primetime?

Ever wondered who's behind them?

I'll give you one guess.

That's right: the SEIU -- a.k.a. ACORN -- a.k.a. Socialists -- a.k.a...

Your George Soros-controlled, far left Democrat Party.

Related:
• RED ALERT -- La Raza: "If the American people found out..."
• Top 10 Questions ABC's Infomercial 'Forgot' to Ask
• Cold Chills and Assisted Suicide: Why Every Senior Must Oppose Democrats' Health Care Plans
• The curious case of 200 nearly identical MSM headlines

Linked by: Double Plus Undead. Thanks!

Labels: Democrats, Healthcare, Obama

// posted by directorblue @ 9:12 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Best. Idea. Ever. Cap-and-Trade for Congress.

You know the Cap-and-Trade bill that Democrats narrowly passed late last week? The bill -- the ill-named "American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454") -- consists of well over a thousand pages of government intrusions into every aspect of our lives.

Among other things, the bill regulates farming; fertilizers; animal husbandry and animal diets; feedstock; soil; light bulbs; home mortgages; banking; power generation and transmission; water and sewer systems; manufacturing; building codes; land use (forested, cleared, wetlands, etc); "manure management"; and creates gigantic new government bureaucracies (unionized, of course) to regulate, control, monitor and audit American citizens. It even reaches into your neighborhood and overrides Home Owners Assocation agreements.

Most importantly for companies, it specifies "emission allowances" for carbon dioxide. You know, the stuff that plants breathe and we exhale. Somehow, the environmental, flat-Earth, no-growth Marxists were able to have it categorized as a pollutant. Worked out well for California, didn't it? But I digress. The bill assigns companies the right to emit carbon dioxide. Industry can trade those rights, but each year the amount of CO2 they emit is ratcheted down. Thirty years from now, the amount of CO2 is supposed to be roughly one-fifth of what it is today. The goal would appear to be to transform the U.S. into Somalia (their CO2 emissions are very low).

The emission allowance schedule looks like this (Sec. 721):


2012      4,627 
2013      4,544 
2014      5,099 
2015      5,003 
2016      5,482 
2017      5,375 
2018      5,269 
2019      5,162 
2020      5,056 
2021      4,903 
2022      4,751 
2023      4,599 
2024      4,446


2025      4,294 
2026      4,142 
2027      3,990 
2028      3,837 
2029      3,685 
2030      3,533 
2031      3,408 
2032      3,283 
2033      3,158 
2034      3,033 
2035      2,908 
2036      2,784 
2037      2,659


2038      2,534 
2039      2,409 
2040      2,284 
2041      2,159 
2042      2,034 
2043      1,910 
2044      1,785 
2045      1,660 
2046      1,535 
2047      1,410 
2048      1,285 
2049      1,160

An epiphany struck me after seeing this schedule: what if we slapped a similar cap-and-trade on Congress, only it would be their spending they'd have to reduce?

Let's take the defense and intelligence communities out of the mix. They seem to be good stewards of our money and, hell, they're protecting our country from harm, which is more than we can say for Congress.

No, the truly outrageous offenders are the government bureaucracies that endlessly grow, never improving taxpayers' lives while formulating new regulations and rules to further empower themselves.

So here's how my Cap-and-Trade plan works.

We start with the most useless government agencies we can find. The Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, The Department of Health and Human Services, The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, the FCC and Amtrak. For the sake of argument, let's say that together, they consume $250 billion a year.

Congress' job? They would be required to cut spending for these ridiculous bureaucracies according to the following schedule (which I had a lot of fun creating -- all numbers in billions).


2012      250 
2013      210 
2014      190 
2015      160 
2016      140 
2017      120 
2018      110 
2019      100 
2020       90 
2021       75 
2022       60 
2023       50

Pay-cuts? Layoffs? Closing unnecessary facilities? Who gives a crap? That's for them to figure out.

How do you like Cap-and-trade now, Democrats?

Linked by: Boker Tov, Boulder, Cheat Seeking Missiles and Wolf Howling. Thanks!

Labels: Democrats, Energy, Obama

// posted by directorblue @ 8:10 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Larwyn's Linx: Everything Inside the State

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! or reply via Twitter.

Nation

Everything inside the state: Doc Zero
EPA suppressed report skeptical of warming: CNet
Video: EPA dissenter Alan Carlin speaks: Malkin

What will she do for an encore?: Power Line
More Dem Scandals: Stabenow, Conyers Linked: GWP
The Conyers Corruption Probe Deepens: BlogProf

Franken Wins: Power Line
Franken ruled winner, thanks to 2,812 dead voters: Red State
Democrats refuse to stand for Pledge of Allegiance: Hot Air

The $3.5 billion climate bill payoff for Kaptur: Times
NOW conference infiltrated by NOW members: ReclLeft
Obama and the 'Noble Lie': Hanson

Judge: go after ACORN!: Blogster

Health Care

Pelosi won't let public review Obamacare bill: CNS
Where Will Canada Send its Preemies?: AIP
Because Universal Healthcare is so 'wonderful': Toldjah

Economy

Where's Krugman? Times' retirement plan hit by $154M loss: BJ
May San Diego Home Sales Increase Revised From 89% to 6.5%: Zero Hedge
Starve the Beast: Denninger

Climatologist slams RealClimate.org: Depot
Does the GOP have a shot at attracting black voters?: PJM (Farrow)
GOP to 6 Dems Who Voted for Energy Tax: Say Hello to My Little Friend: PatRoom

World

Banana Democrats: IBD
Neda Never Strapped On A Bomb: LegalIns
United By Hate: The uses of anti-Semitism in Chávez’s Venezuela: S, C & A

Al Qaeda threatens France over burqa: PJM (Chesler)
Okay, concedo; the world is nuts: Anchoress
The Ugly Face of Liberalism: AT (Duke)

Media

Purdum's Hit Piece Example of 'Palin Derangement Syndrome': NewsBusters
Another reason to throw McCain under the bus: Riehl
What media bias? Newspaper Columnists Give Palin 'Sitting Duck' Award: E&P

MSM ignores Germany, Hungary tax cuts: NewsBusters

Cornucopia

Hyundai Ad Pulls Out All the Stops: Denny (Graphic language)

Labels: Linkfest

// posted by directorblue @ 6:24 AM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Was His Birth Foretold?

It works for Luke Skywalker... and Neo... and Barack Obama...

A paradigm some teachers use for wrestling literature into submission is a checklist for heroes. Students may not see many of the different strata of a great story. They might miss the symbolism or the message or how the story applies to their own lives or the lives of others. Now I'm not necessarily endorsing the checklist (often called the Monomyth as laid out by Joseph Campbell), and I'm certainly not saying it's the only way to get the most out of the layers of stories that twang something deep inside us but we can't quite articulate why they do so. Generally, though, stories of heroes which last from generation to generation tend to deal with many of the issues in this list:

• Oracle of conflict
• Significant birth (often miraculous)
• Hiding of the child/exposure
• Rescue and rustic rearing
• Preparation and Meditation, withdrawal
• Call to adventure
• Departure on Quest
• Road of Trials/Tests/Tribulations
• Ritualized (often) death or scapegoating
• Descent into the underworld
• Rebirth
• Atonement with Father/God (apotheosis)

Think about it in terms of significant figures from history, and it after a while you begin to say, "Yeah, yeah... I see that. Yeah, it's just like Jesus, or King Arthur, or..."

Read the rest at Denny's place.

Labels: Obama, Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 9:54 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

The new bumper stickers are here! The new bumper stickers are here!

Papa B sent these in. And my usual caveat applies: no one ever said Papa B was politically correct.

Labels: Water-cooler

// posted by directorblue @ 9:36 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |

Obama's Stim-u-Loss Package: Get Your Blood Pressure Meds

On CNBC today (hat tip: Tyler Durden), Merrill Lynch Economist David Rosenberg had some discomfiting news for those betting on a quick recovery.

"...Although jobless claims have peaked, they've been over 600,000 for what, about 20 weeks in a row... consistent with job losses and a higher unemployment rate...and what's very interesting about this particular cycle is that companies have let go 8,000,000 workers... and we have the work-week at a record low of 33 hours. So what's gonna happen is, even if these 'green shoots' turn out to be something more significant and we get a recovery, companies are going to take their part-time workers... and raise people's hours, so the traditional 100 to 150 thousand workers that come into the labor force every month, well I've got bad news: There's not going to be any jobs for them...

This is going to be the 'Mother of All Jobless Recoveries', it's going to last a couple of years... the unemployment rate is still going to make new post-World War II highs."

Rosenberg's track record for predictions is a good one, with the only criticism coming from those who say he got paranoid about the equity markets two years too soon.

The job loss is further evidence that the Obama "Stimulus" Package was an utter and complete disaster. Even the New York Times (if it really can be considered a news source these days), reports that the "Stimulus Package discourages hiring."

It's hard to have a recovery when hiring is impaired and unemployment can't recover due to an egregiously flawed "Stimulus" package.

As for those who believe that the credit markets have essentially healed and that the toxic vehicles are working their way out of the system, I have only two words. See below.

Doctor Housing Bubble has followed the mortgage crisis more closely than most and calls attention to the impending tidal wave of bizarre mortgage product "resets".

First a little nomenclature: Subprime loans -- the toxic mortgages we've heard so much about of late -- are those issued to borrowers with credit scores below 620. Alt-A loans are a notch above subprime, say, where borrowers' credit scores ranged from 620 to 660. And Option ARMs are weird variants of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, which give borrowers the option of various payments (called "pick-a-pay"). To put it bluntly, Alt-A and Option ARMs appear to be almost as poisonous as sub-prime.

What many analysts fear are the waves of "resets", when the teaser interest rates for these products expire. That means Freddie Flipper, who bought that $1 million McMansion in 2006 as an "investment property", will see his monthly payment double on a house that's now worth $600,000. And he will, like so many others, walk away after dropping the keys in an envelope and mailing them to his mortgage company (i.e., "jinglemail").

The Alt-A and Option ARM tsunami still looms large casting a dark shadow over the state of California housing. This is on top of the reality that we are now talking about issuing IOUs for only the second time since the Great Depression.

...As you can tell, much of what is occurring is status quo. It will remain that way until the end of the year, when we shift from less than $2 billion in option ARM recasts per month to close to $4 billion at the end of Q4 of 2009. Most of these loans are in California. Of the over 2 million in Alt-A loans 643,000 are in California. If you think we are doing much to address this look at these facts:

...Much of the losses are occurring because these loans are defaulting left and right and we have yet to hit the major recast wave as the above chart shows. Alt-A and option ARMs are toxic waste and will be hitting California at a time where the state is financially vulnerable...

Credit Suisse says that the tidal wave of Option Arm resets will begin in earnest around March of next year.

If you think that the Democrat Utopia of California is in bad shape now, plenty of folks believe next year will be worse. And a recovery won't be coming until 2011, if this chart has any merit.

The inevitable results of the Obama-Democratic economic plan can be seen today in California. Count 'em: bankruptcy; insane spending on socialized medicine; unchecked government growth; union control of major institutions; rampant illegal immigration; punishing taxes, adherence to the religion of environmentalism; and an unaccountable Democrat leadership.

I can just taste the change. Or maybe I just vomited a little inside my mouth.

Labels: Democrats, Economy, Obama

// posted by directorblue @ 9:21 PM Permalink | Follow on Twitter | |