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.


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.

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.


Larwyn's Linx: A Slapdown of Sotomayor

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

Nation

An Invitation for Janeane Garofalo: YouTube
Sotomayor slapped down by High Court: Times
Shoulder high in dung: the Conyers links: BlogProf

Basic Truths Challenge ObamaCare: Kesler
ACORN role in Census challenged: WSJ
Is the President unable to fight Congress -- or unwilling?: TigerHawk

A Close Look at Obama’s New Partners: PJM (Poole)
Cap-and-trade Tea Party at Rep. Mark Kirk's office: Marathon
Charlie Crist: The Republican Barney Frank: WSJ

Client #9 thinks he is all that: Malkin
House Phone System Crashed: NCTPR
The Diversity Delusion: Shrinkwrapped

Searched by the Office of the President?: Coffee Shop

Economy

Carbon Credits: a Scam: Denninger
Energy Myths... and Realities: Rattie
The BOHICA Cycle: AmDig

Bankrupting America, the Video: Joshua
Energy Czar didn't read Cap-and-Tax, Either: Morrissey
Wentzville car dealer sues Chrysler execs: StL Today

World

Refusing to see evil clearly: Ledeen
The face of evil ever renews itself: Sanity
Mumbai: what really happened: Telegraph (UK)

Iran: Basij Carry Out Nighttime Raids On Homes - Mousavi Attacks Khameini: TAB
A Deadly Power Vacuum: Spengler
They will have peace, when...: GM

Creeping Sharia: AT
Obama's Cairo Address: Distortions, Fabrications, Inaccuracies, Exaggerations, and Outright Fallacies.: PJM (Solway)

Media

The Potemkin Presidency meets a moment of sanity in The New York Times: PJM (Kimball)
Video: Press corps now openly laughing at Obama’s backtracking on taxes: Hot Air
Ezra Klein Takes On Ed Morrissey…and Digs Himself In Deeper: Serum

Cornucopia

Kenneth L. Reusser | Marine aviator, 89: Philly

Monday, June 29, 2009

Stimulus FAIL, Chapter 723


Via the excellent Denninger Market-Ticker.

We recently learned that "Hope for Homeowners" made a grand total of..... wait for it..... 51 loans.

FIFTY ONE? No, that is not a misprint:

Senior federal housing officials say that of 51 loans made under the program, 50 were made by Melville, N.Y.-based Lend America, and those 50 loans are being held up pending ongoing federal investigations...

...The officials, who insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the matter, declined to offer specifics except to say anything from inadequate documentation to unethical practices could be the focus of the queries.

Remember, "Hope for Homeowners" was supposed to help four hundred thousand people stay in their homes.

The net closed loan count is fifty one over a period of six months.

Oh, and the reason for that article? The company responsible for 50 of the 51 loans is under investigation by The Department of Justice!

Gee, I'm not real good at math, but if we omit the loans not under investigation, the Hope for Homeowners program is therefore responsible for... uhm... precisely one revised loan.

Well done, bureaucrats! On to health care and climate change!

Oh, and after all of the bad publicity, President Obama recently decided to revise the program.

I emailed in a suggestion that they call it Change the Hope for Homeowners program, but haven't received a reply yet.


Get your Steve Driehaus Blog Widget!


Steve Driehaus is a Democrat from Ohio who ran as a "fiscal conservative" in a very red district (OH-1). Seriously. And yet he voted for every single one of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid economy-killers including Cap-and-Trade. If you have a blog and you want to express your disgust with PelosiCons like Driehaus, please join me in posting a Steve Driehaus blog widget.

I can't guarantee it will lead to an additional 5,000 or 10,000 visitors to your blog, but I can say that you'll feel all warm and gooey inside after you post. While that could be constipation, odds are it's knowing you helped light a bonfire for 2010.


Steve Driehaus votes to steal $4,000 from your family.  Thanks, Steve!



Let me know if you post the widget and I'll reciprocate with a back-link... and gladly pile on if you have a similar Blue Dog or Turncoat you're interested in politically targeting in 2010.

Yes we can!


Hat tip: Frank Kratovil.

My favorite Twitter sites


Twitter clients

  • HootSuite - Web-based and multi-account Twitter management platform
  • Twhirl - AIR-based client that can manage multiple accounts
  • Tweetdeck - Well-regarded client, which is also AIR-based
  • TweetFunnel - Multiple users can funnel tweets into a single account (with approval workflow)
  • TwitterFeed - Feed your blog posts (e.g., via RSS) into Twitter automatically

News and Search

  • Collecta - #2 Twitter Search site in CNet's rankings
  • Hashtags.org - Top-trending hashtags
  • Monitter - Real-time, multi-channel Twitter news feed
  • Retweetist - Highly re-tweeted news
  • Scoopler - #3 Twitter Search site in CNet's rankings
  • Twazzup - #1 Twitter Search site in CNet's rankings
  • TweetMeme - Hottest links on Twitter (Digg-like)
  • TweetScan - Real-time search with email delivery options
  • TweetPsych - Gauging sentiment on individual feeds
  • Twendz - Hot trends, with sentiment assessments, on Twitter
  • Twitlinks - Tech news from Twitter

Should we keep this mutt?


My daughter likes him, eh, her, eh, whatever.



Hat tip: Amalr.

Larwyn's Linx: How do we fix this?

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

Nation

Surprise: Axelrod hints at tax hike to pay for Obamacare: Hot Air
How do we fix this?: Doc Zero
Good news for Obama!: Crittenden

Obama bluffs on defending Hawaii: Times
Reading ObamaCare Bill Endangers Human Health: Murdock
Obamacare: No, you won't be able to keep your health insurance: WSJ

Who killed the ACORN probe?: Times
Corruption in America: John Conyers: Examiner
House members were front-running banking meltdown: Cleveland

Unions’ Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Proposal: Bloomberg
'I Didn't Fall In Love With Any of Them' : JWF
Fed leadership partnering with ISNA?: Atlas

Anthology of lies: Pundette
For FL Senate seat, it's Rubio, not Crist: Times
Our Louisiana Legislature: SIGIS

Climate bill's passage 'an unrestrained exercise of raw political power, arm-twisting and intimidation': Depot

Economy

Carbongate: IBD
Gerstner: Obama picked wrong advisers for auto overhaul: Bloomberg
Severely Bearish Treasury Development: Denninger

The Debt Tsunami: CBO says its even worse: WaPo
Democrats are the ones politicizing science: Howling
Financial Karate: MYODBP

MI offers GM $900M for 1,200 jobs: BlogProf
Good ol' fashioned socialism: TAB
2010 may be too late: MoneyRunner

World

A Coup in Honduras: Fausta
Real men of terrorist genius: Palestinian leaders: Rubin
Lies of Obama: National Post

The roots of an incoherent policy: Power Line
You mean we still have a reputation problem?: Instapundit
Klinghoffer murderer freed; sent to Syria: Klinghoffer

Media

Michael Jackson autopsy results: 112 lbs, bald, covered with needle marks: Sun (UK)
Wonkette Goes After Trig Palin Again: LegalIns

Reference

Financial disclosure filings for the House: House
Financial disclosure filings for the Senate: LegiSite

Cornucopia

What's it gonna be?: YouTube (Language warning)
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at home: TBO

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Steve Driehaus votes to steal $4,000 from every American family


By voting for the massive Waxman-Markey Energy Tax bill, Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH) voted to steal four thousand dollars from your family, as a pagan tribute to the weird state religion of radical environmentalism. Astoundingly, he represents a very red district and runs as a fiscal conservative (rimshot, please).

Steve Driehaus has now voted for multiple, poisonous, trillion-dollar bills without reading them, much less their last-minute 300-page amendments.

We cannot afford politicians like Steve Driehaus, who vote for economy-crippling legislation, then hope their colleagues in the other house of Congress will kill it before it hardens into a tumor.

This nightmare was unleashed by President Obama, who intends to personally execute the death warrant on their futures. This man thinks you’ve got $4,000 too much in the bank, he intends to take it, and Steve Driehaus stands by his side in doing so.

If you work in the manufacturing sector, Obama and Driehaus think your job belongs in another country.

If you’ve been worried about the economy since last fall, Obama and Driehaus think it should be three-percent smaller every year, stretching decades into the future.

Spread the word.

Steve Driehaus must go.


Hat tips: Doc Zero, for his excellent Blue Dog Decloaking template which I encourage everyone to copy, Virtuous Republic and COAST-USA. Linked by: TigerHawk, One Big Dog (hat tip: Frank Kratovil), Legal Insurrection, Grouchy Denny, Marathon Pundit, Taxman Blog, Throw the Bums Out!, Conservatism Today, Country Store, Norwood Township, Tri-County and Shooter Ready. Thanks!

What was in the Waxman-Markey 'Manager's Amendment'? The Green Gestapo, for starters

Once again, Barack Obama reads bald-face lies to the American people from his teleprompter

Yesterday, President Obama gushed over the Democrat Energy Tax bill that passed the House and glossed over the economic impact of the legislation: "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth... It's just not true. ...We cannot be afraid of the future... And we must not be prisoners of the past... [the bill was] written carefully to address the concerns that many have expressed in the past."

He is a bald-faced liar.

A 300-page "Manager's Amendment to the 1,000-page Energy Tax bill" was delivered Friday at 3:00 in the morning. Not a single person had read the amendment when it was voted upon later that same evening.

So much for Obama's vaunted transparency and his promise of "five days" for Americans to review each bill. Just as they did with the outrageous "Stimulus" package, Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the corruption-riddled Democrat Party jammed the most intrusive and un-Constitutional piece of legislation since the New Deal down the throats of the American taxpayer.

The climate bill's passage was facilitated by a wild orgy that some called "an unrestrained exercise of raw political power, arm-twisting and intimidation."

These tactics were necessary because if the American public had time to read and digest the bill, they would have marched on Washington with torches and pitchforks.

Consider some of the insane, Constitution-eradicating "features" of just the Waxman-Markey Energy Tax Manager's Amendment, gleefully applauded by Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama upon its razor-thin passage Friday.

• It creates massive new regulatory structures for all power generation and power transmission systems.

• It creates hundreds of new bureaucracies that benefit Obama's contributors; for example, it creates a "Development Corporation for Renewable Power Borrowing Authority" that issues "Community Building Code Administration Grants" under a "Low Income Community Sustainable Development Capacity Grant Program". This scam serves two purposes: it rewards failed housing programs like those run by Presidential Adviser Valerie Jarrett; it also provides yet another spigot of funds -- in blocks of $1,000,000 -- for groups like ACORN.

• It creates and regulates every building code in the country and will purposefully overrule any "city, county, parish, city and county authority, or city and parish authority having local authority to enforce building codes and regulations and to collect fees for building permits."

• It reaches into every neighborhood by eradicating "any private covenant, contract provision, lease provision, homeowners' association rule or bylaw, or similar restriction" to force localities to accept "green technologies" whether it fits in the neighorhood or not.

• It touches every aspect of water and sewer systems by regulating every "residential water efficient product or service"; ensuring those offerings are rated and forcing state government, local or county government, tribal government, wastewater or sewerage utility, municipal water authority, energy utility, water utility, or nonprofit organization to comply.

• It creates revolving loan facilities for "Certified manufacturing clean energy facilities", which provide $500 million blocks of taxpayer dough to promote green manufacturing. Of course, it does so using wages dictated by the Secretary of Labor under the Davis-Bacon Act, a New Deal-era payoff to the unions.

• It funds propaganda to ensure that generations of students are brainwashed to believe that carbon dioxide is a toxin. It directs the Secretary of Energy to issue grants to colleges and universities to "study consumer actions to conserve energy", rate effectiveness of consumer education, determine how best to regulate consumers, etc.

• It impacts civil aviation with new restrictions and regulations.

• It controls construction of all buildings, residential and non-residential alike, ensuring that every structure "complies with... energy efficiency requirements, standards, checklists or ratings systems..."

• It mandates "Energy audits" to ensure that a "Green Gestapo" checks to ensure that homeowners and businesses aren't bypassing regulations.

• Somehow, it also provides grants (welfare) for tenants in multi-family buildings.

• It defines "energy-efficient mortgages" (with our favorite GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so what could possibly go wrong?) that artificially boosts the income of the borrower based upon how much "green technology" is employed. In other words, the Democrats are socially engineering mortgage underwriting standards again, just as they did in the nineties, which will lead to yet another financial disaster.

• It also artificially raises maximum mortgage loan amounts based upon green improvements and can reduce down payment requirements.

• It will fund "tree planting organizations" (can't you just smell the ACORN-scented fraud?), landscapers and others with taxpayer funds.

• It creates new real estate appraisal processes, new training mandates for appraisers and, through an "Appraisal Subcommittee", describes new standards for all real estate valuations based upon green considerations.

• It creates an "Alternative Energy Sources State Loan Fund", controlled by another presidential appointee (HUD), to loan money to states for alternative energy projects. Each state or Indian tribe is eligible to receive up to $500,000,000 of taxpayer dough.

• It creates "Green Banking Centers", which mandates federal financial agencies and regulatory bodies to provide "green housing information" to anyone seeking a mortgage, a home improvement loan, a home equity loan, or similar products. A new, federal job role called "energy rater" will exist; and will be used to provide guidance and ensure compliance around energy efficiency.

• It will also require reporting by the GAO on "affordable mortgages".

• It creates a "secondary market for residential renewable energy lease instruments" that will "encourage private investment in the green economy." HUD will determine the residual value all "all renewable energy assets" in order to facilitate a secondary market.

• HUD will also "guarantee" the "green portion" of all mortgages issued under the guidelines, which will consist of as much as 10% of each mortgage.

• It empowers the Secretary of Agriculture to interfere with farming markets and processes to promote "green technologies".

• It defines trading systems of carbon offset credits, term offset credits, emission allowances, compensatory allowances, and similar "currencies" operated by new government-sponsored entities. These "carbon derivative markets" will support the taxation and monetization of all entities required to conform to the new rules.

• It affects every industry in America using "tonnage of production" measures; requiring each industry to calculate its "trade intensity" and "greenhouse gas intensity". The administrators of the program will compare other countries emissions by industry (how those numbers are achieved aren't spelled out) to U.S. industries in order to punish or reward companies on an industry basis.

• It will guide all treaty law with other countries, using measures such as "competitive imbalances that lead to carbon leakage" as trade levers.

• It will create -- with the U.S. Customs Department -- an "International Reserve Allowance Program" (IRAP) that will facilitate the trade, sale, purchase, exchange, transfer and banking of international reserve allowances. All material leaving and entering the country will engage with IRAP to ensure the equitable international balance of carbon leakage.

• It will create a "USDA Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction and Sequestration Advisory Committee" to oversee new regulation of farmlands.

• It will spend $150,000,000 on an "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Fund", which will involve the Secretaries of Education, Housing and Labor, and appears to be a funnel of money flowing directly to union bosses.

• It will spend millions on a "Green Construction Careers Demonstration Project", a boondoggle of the first order and another payoff to union bosses.

• It modifies the Earned Income Credit portion of the tax code, providing massive new welfare payments to the poor; and which adjusts for inflation.

• It moves these billions in new expenses into programs that govern every aspect of human life including, but not limited to, farming; fertilizers; animal husbandry and animal diets; feedstock; soil; land use (forested, cleared, wetlands, etc); "manure management"; and creates gigantic new government bureaucracies (unionized, of course) to regulate, monitor and control American citizens.

This bill was jammed through Congress by Democrats, sight unseen, using threats, favors, pork and payoffs without a whit of analysis as to what any of it might mean for the American economy or the citizenry.

We know it is anti-job, anti-business, anti-taxpayer and anti-prosperity. The only question is: just how much damage will it do?


Update: Buffett on Tax and Trade: "It's a Huge, Regressive Tax". Gee, I wonder what gave it away?

Lane painting FAIL


I suspect drinking, drugs and/or a disgruntled city worker.







Hat tip: IZI.

Larwyn's Linx: The report the EPA tried to suppress

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

Nation

The report the EPA tried to suppress: Malkin
Boehner's Filibuster: YouTube
Don't give me any damn facts: Kesler

Obama plays hardball with watchdogs: McCain
Cap-and-trade would nuke the steel industry: Seeking Alpha
Changing the vote on Cap-and-Trade?: TPP

Manure: Crittenden
Where are the 'Stimulus' jobs?: Hot Air
Democrats' FOIA problems: Times

The new building codes mandated by Cap-and-Trade: Riehl
Health care reform dangers highlighted in video: BMW

Economy

The Eight Republicans Who Gave America the Finger: Levin
More front-running: where are the cops?: Denninger
Big Tourism Depends on K Street PR Whiz: Kesler

Obama peddles climate bill to Senate: Times
Voting for Economic Suicide: Hewitt
Waters vs. Obey: TigerHawk

World

Why Iran's dictatorship is bleeding out: FreePlow
What do these first six months mean?: Hanson
'We will knock on the doors of paradise...': Ziyon

North Korea's Nukes are No Joke: PJM (Rosett)
The Mumbai Terrorist Recordings: Atlas (Caution: Very Graphic)

Media

Conservatives always face uphill climb: Steyn
Milbank blasts the Obama show: Wizbang
Even Der Spiegel turning on Dear Leader: GWP

Breakthrough on the Authorship of Obama's 'Dreams': AT (Cashill)
“We Go Live To Somewhere Tangentially Related…”: Driscoll

Cornucopia

Rickles roasts Reagan: YouTube
Shotgun made from iron bedposts: AmerDig
Aide's tale of John Edwards Sex Tape: Daily News

The Ten Cannots

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

-- Rev. William John Henry Boetcker, 1873


Saturday, June 27, 2009

Wanted: Sellouts and Turncoats


The eight turncoats are (via Michelle Malkin):



Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385
Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765

Robert Stacy McCain has it right when he pins this on the National Republican Congressional Commitee: "Not one red cent."

Contribute to individual, conservative Republicans and organizations. Those are the men and women who can win and make a difference.

Another interesting case is first-term Democrat Steve Driehaus who represents one of the most conservative districts in the country (the southwestern corner of Ohio). He ran as a fiscal and social conservative, reportedly omitting the very fact that he was a Democrat.

Driehaus (D-OH) (202) 225-2216

His constituents need to be made completely aware of what a sickening, San Francisco-style sycophant he really is.

We're coming after every Republican and every red-district Democrat who voted for this totalitarian bill that shreds the Constitution; that injects the federal government into every city, town, community and home owners' assocation; and that harms rich and poor, union and non-union, Democrat and Republican alike.

We're coming after you and we will defeat you in 2010.


The price of gold charted... into the future


When it comes to investments, it's easy to find charts. But a graph that maps out the price of a commodity into the future appears to be rare. A contributor at GoldTent produced this prediction of gold prices extending out several months (the orange arrow in August represents a price of $1,050; the two red arrows in October depict $1,285 and $1,520).


Given the possibility of dramatic inflation in commodity prices, the scenario does not seem far-fetched.


An open letter to Dick Durbin from a constituent


Mike M. points us to a well-written letter posted by 'Serkit'.

Dear Senator Durbin:

You were kind enough to send me your views on global warming, climate change, and cap-and-trade.

After the very close vote in the House yesterday on cap-and-trade, several documents were revealed that need to be considered prior to any action on your part in the Senate. It seems that when any of these things are discussed, the argument deteriorates to name-calling, especially the term "flat earther". Well, call me what you will, but the scientific facts simply do not support the Al Gore/Leonardo DiCaprio populist theories based on non-scientific "consensus". The legislation passed in the House does not even address nuclear power, a clean resource that needs to be part of our energy independence.

Three documents came out VERY late in the game on this debate:

1) A 300+ page "manager's amendment" that was added to the bill at 3:09am the day of the House vote. Not only was this a voluminous add-on, it is a scary document. If you support it, and I hope you do not, please let me know how local governments will be able to afford the extra staff to enforce the new and very confusing laws. The bill also radically modifies international trade rules.

2) A suppressed and censored report from our own EPA exposes many problems with the theories and "consensus" of the populist (and now debunked) theory of global warming, and the true (and minimal) affect of human activity on the climate. The suppressed EPA report is linked here:

http://cei.org/news-release/2009/06/25/cei-releases-global-warming-study-censored-epa

3) A report from the Chicago-based Heartland Institute summarized the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) that attempts to use scientific and rational arguments to identify exactly what is going on in the climate and the true impact of human activity. The recently released NIPCC report is found here:

http://www.sepp.org/publications/NIPCC_final.pdf

The previous letter you sent me contains seemingly factual statements that now appear to be patently false regarding wild temperature increases in the next ten years.

Although these "facts" are wrong, the underlying research found in the suppressed EPA report, and the NIPCC report will help you politically. Why? Because the laws you are about to impose on us, if passed, will do NOTHING to improve the climate or greenhouse gases and will not change the global average temperatures, but, you WILL be able to show "progress" because the falsely increasing temperatures will NOT happen anyway - allowing you to take the credit for keeping the planet cool. It is a perfectly contrived crisis so that radical redistribution of wealth can occur on a global scale.

Now, I realize as a leader in the Senate, you will probably not be able to back off for even one second to look at the facts, and I understand that. But I felt I owed it to myself, my children, and my future grandchildren, that I did not sit idly by while, during the great recession of 2009, with the highest unemployment in my lifetime, I sat silent while this legislation was passed.

This law, and the concept of cap-and-trade, is not going to work, is not needed, and will do more harm to our already crippled economy.

All I ask is that you take an honest look at the three documents above, keep an open mind to the facts, and consider what you are doing to this and future generations.

We need a change in energy policy, but this is not one of them.

Sincerely and respectfully,

[Name redacted]

RED ALERT -- La Raza: "If the American people found out..."


"Suzanne", a female caller to Mark Levin's show on June 25th, revealed the ominous secret of the Democrat health care reform effort.

I want to tell you that last week I attended a conference on health care reform sponsored by La Raza. And I will tell you that what they had to say, Mark, is scarier than anything that's been said so far on the health care plan.

The kind of comments that were made and the notes that I took... they started the conference out by saying "America does not need health care reform, but Latino immigrants need health care reform."

And someone from Menendez' office [Ed.: Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ] promised that he would make sure that "the useless barriers of citizenship would not be in this bill" and that he would make sure that they would use keywords like "streamline"...

It was La Raza, the Childrens Defense Fund and Senator Menendez from New Jersey, a representative from his office...

...Yes [they said they would get free health care for illegal aliens], these are my notes, Mark. They actually got up and said "Latino children need health care more than whites". And then they would say things like "you must go out into your communities, use words like 'streamline', use phrases like 'all workers' and 'all families'," because they said -- and I quote -- "If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it."

...One of the quotes they said was, "We want to make sure we take care of barriers like verification, but we can streamline programs to the more affluent" and, quote, "Useless treatments for the elderly can be gone because we don't need to spend money for people who are going to die anyway."

That's a direct quote from that meeting. They also said, "We are very concerned there will be an effort to include" the illegal immigrants in this argument, so "we must make sure that we focus this" to the American people that it's looking like we want "health care for everyone".

And they also said that 75% of the children who will be picked up in this will be non-citizens and that 44% of the uninsured are non-citizens and they can't possibly allow the American people to know this." [Ed: Oops!]

Menendez' office said that he's going to make sure that "a family of four that makes $66,000 a year or less will pay nothing at all for the new health care. And he was the one who said he was going to get rid of specifics like "citizenship status" and focus on, quote, "equity for all workers".

And he said he's going to make sure that the Latino immigrants are the focus of the health care reform.

And La Raza said if they get this, they don't even care about amnesty, because they've fixed it so that one family member can apply for all extended family members. And... Mark, if you think we have a problem with illegal immigration now, wait 'til you see the borders when this thing gets passed.

"If the American people found out?"

Gee, what a surprise. A group that preaches racial superiority and divisiveness wants to enact a stealth illegal immigration bill -- not dissimilar to chain migration. The bill will reward illegal immigration to the direct detriment of all American taxpayers and especially the elderly.

Kind of puts Judge Sotomayor's membership in La Raza in a new light, doesn't it?

Groups like La Raza encourage the Balkanization of America. They promote mutually hostile political groups that do not form a "melting pot", that do not utilize a common language, and that do not share the principles of America's founding.

Fifty years from now, if La Raza gets its way, America will look more like Yugoslavia in 1993 than America.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Action: Contact Senator Robert Menendez at 202 224-4744, 973 645-3030 and 856 757-5353 and politely tell him we know what he's up to with this health care bill, that illegal immigration is not tolerated by the citizens of New Jersey, and that we will expose him -- as the anti-American traitor that he is -- to the public.

As for those who belong to or support either La Raza or The Children's Defense Fund, I would strongly encourage you to drop your membership and support. The racial divisiveness promoted by these outrageous groups is antithetical to America's civil society.

It's time to politically punish these cretins who are out to dismantle our country.



Update: A press release issued by La Raza on 6/15 mirrors the caller's report (hat tip: Oil for Immigration):

As our nation’s leaders consider health care reform in the coming weeks, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, strongly urges President Obama and Congress to make every effort to ensure that health care reform reaches all communities. No single community stands to gain as much from this important debate as Latinos. In the U.S., one out of every three uninsured persons and roughly 40% of all uninsured children are Latino. NCLR stands for health care reform that makes coverage affordable and accessible for everyone—all families and all children.

..."This debate should be about health care for all, and setting the nation on a pathway to future health and well-being. Adding layers of immigrant verification and bureaucratic red tape to a new health care system would guarantee that millions of citizen children are effectively barred from accessing preventive care and would raise the cost of health care... we are extremely concerned that some view health reform as a way to scapegoat immigrants... Making health care easier to use and accessible for all workers and children is simple common sense."




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Illustrated Results of Barack Obama's Community Organizing
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The Bidens: Hedge Funds, Hair Plugs and Ponzi Schemes
Unintended Consequences

Your Michael Jackson Update


In our continuing coverage of Deathapalooza, Michael Jackson is alleged to have been taking a wide variety of prescription drugs.

You stay here while I alert the media.


Via: Matt.

Larwyn's Linx: Massive Energy Tax Squeaks Through House

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

Nation

Specter's Favorability Craters 30 Points in 3 Months: PatRoom
Corrupt Democrat Alert: Monica Conyers Pleads Guilty: JWF
Surreal day in the House: Provocateur

Our health care system isn't broken: NOFP
Energy tax squeaks through house: Power Line
Obama's project to destroy economy almost complete: Cold Fury

Ignominious Eight: the GOP-ers for Tax-and-Kill: Green Hell
Conyers abandons plan to probe ACORN: Times
Gaffe-tastic Biden strikes again: JWF

Economy

Man-made disaster: IBD
The Climate Change Climate Change: WSJ
Pelosi's Democrats pass Cap-and-Trade Tax Bill: Times

The SEC needs your feedback: Zero Hedge
Fun with numbers: PJM (Blumer)
Ford Pinto School of Cost Analysis: AIP (Priestap)

America sold out -- in an unread bill: Surber

World

Shocker: Obama to ignore NK Terror Ship: Ace
On the wrong side of history: Phillips
How to stand up to Iran: Morris

The Stoning of Soraya M.: An Unflinching Look at the Unconscionable: PJM (Toto)
UK Jewish School Held "Racist" For Preferring Jews: LegalIns
Morales buying Russian weapons on credit: Fausta

Media

Jackson was an IDOL, not an ICON: Anchoress
Beck explains the winners of cap-and-trade: MsUnderestimated

Cornucopia

Neatorama
Doctors Baffled, Intrigued by Girl Who Doesn't Age: ABC

Mark Steyn: "What's striking about the Bystander-in-Chief is that the more he does nothing, the more credit he gets for everything. In the New York Times, Helene Cooper attributes events in Iran to the Obama "stealth effect." The fellows in the street shouting "Death to the dictator!" were apparently inspired to rise up by Obama's outreach to the, er, dictator.'