Showing posts with label MSM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MSM. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Report: Virginia GOP May Have Improperly Excluded Signatures From Perry, Gingrich

Tom White has an exclusive that could be an important development in Virginia's ongoing GOP soap opera:

I know that it is highly improbable that I am the only person in the country that has actually read the Code of Virginia on Presidential Primaries, but the requirement that signatures also include an address IS correct for a statewide election, but not for a Presidential Primary, though the number of signatures are identical.

Anyone know an election attorney available on Christmas?

###

Various reports have stated that the signatures turned in by Newt Gingrich included at least 2,000 that were invalidated because there was no address given with the signature.

If this were a Virginia Statewide office, that would be correct. But this is a Presidential Primary. And while the rules are similar, they are actually addressed in two separate sections of the Virginia Code.

There is a requirement in a Statewide General Election that the address be included, but there is no such requirement for a presidential primary. The number of signatures are the same, 10,000 and 400 per Congressional District. But the address requirements are different.

Tom suggests that Gingrich and Perry request that the signatures excluded for lack of address be reinstated and a recount be initiated.

If this report pans out, it could be another huge story attributed not to legacy media, but to what I like to call the new mainstream media.


Friday, December 23, 2011

Hard-hitting ABC special: Barbawa Wawa asks Obama what super-power he wants

Oh, that cwazy, whacky legacy media. And I do mean legacy, since Barbawa Wawa recently celebrated her 160th birthday (but doesn't look a day over 150).

In one of her hard-hitting, cut-to-the-chase interviews, Barbawa sat down with President Obama and asked not about his record-setting deficit spending, the country's loss of its AAA credit rating, the hundreds killed by Operation 'Fast and Furious', the dozens of Congressional leaders to call for the resignation of his attorney general, the record number of Americans living in poverty and receiving food-stamps, or even his 'Arab Spring' diplomacy, which has seen the rise of Islamists around the Middle East.

No, Barbawa was interested in what super-power Obama would like to have:

WALTERS: What's the trait you most deplore in yourself and the trait you most deplore in others?

BARACK OBAMA: Laziness. [Ed: gee, you'd never know if from his schedule.]

WALTERS: You're lazy?

BARACK OBAMA: You know, it's interesting. There is a deep down, underneath all of the work I do, I think there's a laziness in me. I mean, it's probably from growing up in Hawaii. It's sunny outside, sitting on the beach.

...On Monday's "View," Walters played this clip: "We asked middle school and high school students to throw a few questions. I'd like to read their questions. If you were a super hero and you could have one super power, what would it be?"

The President relayed that he'd like to be able to fly.

Please, no jokes about the president's admitted use of cocaine and reefer.

Oh, and can someone put Barbawa back in formaldehyde to preserve her for the next hard-hitting ABC special?


Cartoon: Ramirez, IBD.

Oh, the Irony, It Burns: Obama Campaign Rips Romney For Failure to Release Records

The official public relations journal of the Democrat National Committee (sometimes referred to as The New York Times) offers this hilarious insight into Leftist logic:

A spokesman for President Obama‘s re-election campaign blasted Mr. Romney and questioned whether he had something to hide in his finances.

“Why does Governor Romney feel like he can play by a different set of rules?” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign. “What is it that he doesn’t want the American people to see? Governor Romney, who has favored secrecy over openness time after time, should live up to the same standard of disclosure his father and others set.”

Meanwhile, seven years after Barack Obama burst onto the national political scene, we still await the disclosure of his background records.

1. Occidental College records and transcripts -- Not released
2. Columbia University records and transcripts -- Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper -- 'not available'
4. Harvard University records and transcripts -- Not released
5. Medical records -- Not released
6. Illinois State Senate schedule -- 'not available'
7. Illinois State Senate records -- 'not available'
8. Law practice client list -- Not released
9. Certified Copy of Original Birth certificate -- Not released
10. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None
11. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None
12. Record of Baptism -- Not released or 'not available'

Of course, there are different standards for legacy media's preferred candidates. Remember how the media unearthed Rick Perry's college transcripts within 48 hours of the announcement of his candidacy?


Related: The secret scrapbook of Barry Soetoro Barack Obama


Hat tip: Brad.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Civility: Ron Paul Storms Out of Interview With "CNN Media Whore"

The aptly named YouTube user RonPaul2012Truth was kind enough to upload and caption the video of his favorite candidate running away from a CNN interviewer ("Ron Paul Walks Out On Interview With CNN Media Whore").

Apparently, Paul will no longer entertain questions about his newsletters -- edited and published by Paul, according to the masthead -- that market a vicious, throwback form of racism, antisemitism and anti-government conspiracy theories.

Of course, the entire Paul phenomenon in Iowa is built on smoke and mirrors, as ABC News discovered.

...just 37 percent of Republican and Republican leaning independents nationally think Paul has the kind of personality and temperament to serve effectively as president and just 42 percent of Republicans think he would pursue policies that most Americans would find acceptable.

ABC News polling also finds that in a potential matchup, President Obama holds a significant lead over Paul.

...political observers say that Paul’s support is built in large part with the support of non-Republicans.

In other words, the Republican Primary process in Iowa will be polluted -- once again -- with non-Republican voters.

And rather than close the primary (as many other states do), the hapless GOP lets this inane process occur election cycle after election cycle. Which is why kooks like Ron Paul get to crow about how close they are to winning the Iowa Primary.

Because in the real world of Constitutional Conservatism that is beginning to take over the Republican Party, Ron Paul is a fringe nobody wearing an ill-fitting suit.


Related
The Company Ron Paul Keeps
The Truth About Ron Paul: Delusional, Power-Hungry and Dangerous
Ron Paul's Greatest Hits


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Curious Case of 3,000 MSM Stories That All Mention The Same (Completely Wrong) Number of "Workers" Marketed by the DNC

Oh, that Nancy Pelosi, she's such a card:

One claim made by supporters of extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits is that 160 million Americans will have their taxes increased if the legislation does not pass. For example by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: “The payroll tax cut that the president proposed would put $1,500 in the pockets of 160 million Americans.”

Tony writes:

I noticed that Dem pols and most news stories were claiming 160 million workers will be hurt if the Republicans don't extend the payroll tax bill.

They are all using that same exact number.

Now, I'm a numbers guy and the 160 million seemed high to me so I went to the BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] website. They report there were only 140 million people working in the civilian workforce [see attached PDF]. The military would only add another two million at most.

Next I googled "160 million workers" and I got about 3,000 news hits. It seems the MSM must be getting their stats and data from Nancy Pelosi!

Well, truth be told, she is an impeccable source if you're looking for Marxist class-warfare rhetoric.


Hat tip: Tony. Related: The curious case of 200 nearly identical MSM headlines

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Shocking: Gov. Perry Receives Pension Along With Salary (Shhh: No One Discuss Michelle's $200K Raise After Hubby Was Elected to Senate)

Well, this is a stunning revelation (if you're a left-wing hack with a hate on for the U.S. Constitution):

Gov. Rick Perry is double-dipping, drawing retirement income from the state in addition to his salary as governor since late January, newly released records show.

Perry's move to begin drawing from his pension early this year while remaining governor, which his staff says is legal and consistent with state retirement rules, was unknown to the public until federal financial disclosures were made public on Friday.

...The governor's gross annual salary is $150,000; his net salary is $133,000. The net monthly annuity check Perry started receiving Jan. 31 is $7,698. Combined, his net pay from the state is now more than $225,000 annually.

To put this into perspective, the media was curiously silent regarding the timing of a raise of nearly $200,000 that Michelle Obama received after her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Below you'll find a helpful chart and timeline explaining Michelle Obama's ultra-critical position at the University of Chicago Hospital (UCH), a position coincidentally created just after her husband's election to the Senate... and dissolved just minutes after she resigned to move into the White House.

Sandwiched, of course, by Sen. Obama's $1M earmark to UCH.

In 2002, Michelle Obama was hired by the University of Chicago Hospital as its "Executive Director for Community Affairs" at a salary of approximately $120,000.

In January of 2005, Barack Obama was sworn in as a United States Senator. "Coincidentally", in March of 2005, Michelle Obama was promoted to "Vice President for Community and External Affairs" and her salary bumped nearly $200,000 (from $121,910 to $316,962). This position was "newly created" for Mrs. Obama.

In February of 2006, Barack Obama requested a $1 million earmark for a new hospital pavilion at the University of Chicago.

Effective 9 January 2009, Michelle Obama resigned her position at UCH. And just five days later, effective 14 January 2009, Michelle Obama's VP position was eliminated, its functions absorbed into another executive's position. This prompted business writer Don Rose to ask "[If] that work can be folded into another guy’s, why was it separate in the first place?"

Operating with this kind of blatant double standard, you simply have to wonder how legacy media stays in business.

Although given their declining subscriber base, that question may be strictly rhetorical.


Friday, December 16, 2011

Obama: I'm only the 4th most awesome president in history (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Truman, JFK, Reagan hardest hit)

Humility:

60 Minutes Broadcast Edits Out Laughable Obama Claim as 4th Best President


George Washington was the father of our country.

Eh! No big deal. Barack Obama is better...at least in his own mind. Such was the laughably absurd claim of President Obama on 60 Minutes last Sunday. What? You didn't see it? That was because 60 Minutes conveniently left it out of its broadcast...

KROFT: Tell me, what do you consider your major accomplishments? If this is your last speech. What have you accomplished?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, we're not done yet. I've got five more years of stuff to do. But not only saving this country from a great depression. Not only saving the auto industry. But putting in place a system in which we're gonna start lowering health care costs and you're never gonna go bankrupt because you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick. Making sure that we have reformed the financial system, so we never again have taxpayer-funded bailouts, and the system is more stable and secure. Making sure that we've got millions of kids out here who are able to go to college because we've expanded student loans and made college more affordable. Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Decimating al Qaeda, including Bin Laden being taken off the field. Restoring America's respect around the world.

The issue here is not gonna be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. And we're gonna keep on at it.


...One can only guess just how extensive the trademark Kroft look of bemused skepticism would have covered his face if, say, George W. Bush had made the same claim of presidential greatness. When Obama makes it, the laughable claim just gets edited out of the broadcast even though it was by far the highlight of the interview.

I think this nicely summarizes the bizarre worldview of the radical Left and legacy media. But I repeat myself.


Outrage over West's Goebbels remark (Obama likening the U.S. to Nazi Germany on NPR remains in memory hole, however)

Please consider this report from The Hill:

Dems call on Rep. West to apologize for Joseph Goebbels comparison


Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) landed in hot water on Friday for his remarks the previous day comparing the Democrats’ proficiency in getting out their message to the notorious head of the Nazi Party’s propaganda department under Hitler.

“If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat Party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine,” West said Thursday... “Shame on him,” tweeted Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.). “Rep. West needs to apologize now for insulting the memories of the millions who lost their lives during the Holocaust.”

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) also called on West to apologize.

Curiously, these Democrat hacks were utterly silent when then-candidate Barack Obama was revealed to have compared the United States to Nazi Germany during an NPR interview.

None other than Charles (or the "Chuckster", as he prefers to be known) Johnson of LGF -- then in the patriotic phase of his career -- discovered Obama tarring America as a fascist regime.

The audio recording of Barack Obama espousing his socialist philosophy of “redistribution of wealth” is all over the internet and Fox News today (although the other media outlets are ignoring it), but there’s another disturbing section on that tape that has so far escaped notice.

The link to the audio is here: Chicago Public Radio - Audio Library: Odyssey.

At about 15:30, Obama compares what was going on in the United States during the time of Brown vs. the Board of Education to ... Nazi Germany. Yes, really. Here’s the quote:

“...just to take a, sort of a realist perspective...there’s a lot of change going on outside of the Court, um, that, that judges essentially have to take judicial notice of. I mean you’ve got World War II, you’ve got uh, uh, uh, the doctrines of Nazism, that, that we are fighting against, that start looking uncomfortably similar to what we have going on, back here at home.”

There you have it. America is close to electing a President that compares his own country to Nazi Germany.

Countdown to media analysis of Obama's egregious statements in: 3... 2... never.


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Faux Journalist Steve Kroft Interviews Obama, Forgets to Ask About Calls to Impeach Holder, Kagan Recusal, Corzine, Solyndra, etc.

President Obama received another in-kind donation from CBS News tonight in the form of a fawning 60 Minutes interview by "journalist" Steve Kroft. If that is his real name.

Kroft apparently had a brief case of amnesia and forgot about a few mildly important issues:

• The increasing calls for Eric Holder's resignation and/or impeachment for Operation Fast and Furious, etc.

• The newly revealed Obamacare emails that appear to show Elena Kagan lied under oath

• The catastrophic failure of MF Global, headed by none other than one of Obama's leading fundraisers, John Corzine

• The billions in "green energy" funds that went to Obama's fundraisers and political cronies, Solyndra being only the most visible example

• The "historic" $4.2+ trillion budget deficits thanks to Obama's disastrous stimulus debacle and the Democrats' failure to pass a budget for 1,000+ days

Obama has blamed the weather, earthquakes, ATMs, and the Internet -- among other things -- for the bad economy. In the Kroft interview, he said, "I'm being judged against the ideal. And, you know, Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, 'Don't judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.' "

There he goes again, comparing himself with God.

No, Mr. President. Our ideal is Ronald Reagan who, having inherited a far worse recession than you, had the economy rockin' and rollin' at the exact same point in his presidency.


Hat tip: BP.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Telegraph: 'Eurozone banking system on the edge of collapse'

But no amount of facts, history, logic and reason can convince the Democrat Party that their Utopia, the European social welfare state, is dead.

The eurozone banking system is on the edge of collapse as major lenders begin to run out of the assets they need to keep vital funding lines open.

10:01PM GMT 09 Dec 2011

Senior analysts and traders warned of impending bank failures as a summit intended to solve the European crisis failed to deliver a solution that eased concerns over bank funding.

The European Central Bank admitted it had held meetings about providing emergency funding to the region's struggling banks, however City figures said a "collateral crunch" was looming.

"If anyone thinks things are getting better then they simply don't understand how severe the problems are. I think a major bank could fail within weeks," said one London-based executive at a major global bank.

Many banks, including some French, Italian and Spanish lenders, have already run out of many of the acceptable forms of collateral such as US Treasuries and other liquid securities used to finance short-term loans and have been forced to resort to lending out their gold reserves to maintain access to dollar funding. [And] lenders are increasingly distrustful about funding one another.

... [Some] think the eurozone banks are heading for a catastrophe and the worry is growing that a major bank could collapse within weeks... Moody's on Friday downgraded France's three largest banks, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale in light of what the US rating agency said were "liquidity and funding constraints"... Two weeks ago, rumours abounded that it was the near failure of a major French lender that had been the trigger for a massive co-ordinated intervention by the world's largest central banks to shore up the banking system.

The delusional politiconomist Paul Krugman hardest hit.


Friday, December 09, 2011

Totalitarian Wing of Democrat Party Proposes Constitutional Amendment to Censor Newspapers

Somewhere north of Pjongyang, Kim Jong-Il is chortling.

UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh runs down the free speech-crushing consequences of HJR 90, a proposed constitutional amendment backed by House Democrats including Reps. Theodore Deutch (Fla.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), and Alcee Hastings (Fla.), which would forbid “for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes” from “making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.” As Volokh explains, this would be bad news indeed at places like the New York Times Company:

Nearly all newspapers, TV stations, cable networks, and rations (except of course for nonprofits such as NPR) are organized as corporations or other entities established for business purposes.
Under section 3, they “shall be prohibited” from making expenditures “in any election of any candidate ... or the vote upon any ballot measure.” Since to write or print or broadcast anything, newspapers, networks, and broadcasters must spend money, this would ban — not just authorize Congress to ban, but itself ban —
editorials supporting or opposing a candidate or a ballot measure.

This proposed amendment is obviously just the latest feverish response to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C. (2010). That's sort of funny, because despite all the doom-and-gloom commentary about
Citizens United, it's the decision's critics who are now basically calling for the repeal of the First Amendment.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise. These are the same radical Leftists who re-proposed the ill-named "Fairness Doctrine" and, that having received a royal flushing, are now marketing "local community standards" for broadcasters.

It's just new branding for a very old idea: silence those who oppose an all-powerful, centralized, authoritarian government of the sort our nation's founders despised.


Hat tip: Reason.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

The Two Funniest Quotes From Climategate 2.0

HAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH... HAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA... HAHAHAHAHHAHAH *cough* HAHHAHAH *gasp* (need oxygen... can't breathe...)

Oh, my:

Tim Osborne 4007

Also we have applied a completely artificial adjustment to the data after 1960, so they look closer to observed temperatures than the tree-ring data actually were


Tim Osborne #2347

Also, we set all post-1960 values to missing in the MXD data set (due to decline), and the method will infill these, estimating them from the real temperatures – another way of “correcting” for the decline, though may be not defensible!


After these revelations, any member of the Leftist media that refers to a climate "denier" needs to do a mandatory, eight-hour documentary on the science of Alchemy.


Hat tip: Soylent Green (NSFW)

Tragedy for Legacy Media: 'Income Inequality' Straw-man Transformed Into Smoldering Pile of Ashes By Cato's Alan Reynolds

Over the past few months, you've probably read a series of propaganda pieces articles describing America's increased 'income inequality'. You know the template: the rich keep getting richer at the expense of everyone else; America has a static class structure in which no one moves up or down; and zero-sum economics idiocy promoted by the likes of the execrable Paul Krugman. A series of propagandists, including Krugman, have used this chart to illustrate how the top 1% are ripping everyone off.

But the Cato Institute's Alan Reynolds wondered, "Why did the report stop at 2007?"

A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office says, "The share of income received by the top 1% grew from about 8% in 1979 to over 17% in 2007."

This news caused quite a stir, feeding the left's obsession with inequality. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, for example, said this "jaw-dropping report" shows "why the Occupy Wall Street protests have struck such a nerve." The New York Times opined that the study is "likely to have a major impact on the debate in Congress over the fairness of federal tax and spending policies."

But here's a question: Why did the report stop at 2007? The CBO didn't say, although its report briefly acknowledged—in a footnote—that "high income taxpayers had especially large declines in adjusted gross income between 2007 and 2009."

No kidding. Once these two years are brought into the picture, the share of after-tax income of the top 1% by my estimate fell to 11.3% in 2009 from the 17.3% that the CBO reported for 2007.

The larger truth is that recessions always destroy wealth and small business incomes at the top. Perhaps those who obsess over income shares should welcome stock market crashes and deep recessions because such calamities invariably reduce "inequality." Of course, the same recessions also increase poverty and unemployment.

The only thing I can conclude is that crackpots like Paul Krugman want more stock market crashes and deep recessions. Which perhaps explains his affection for Barack Obama.

And why he must believe that countries with the least income inequality -- like North Korea -- are just swell.


Hat tips: TaxProf and Mark Levin.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

It begins: bank runs break out in Greece, following the contours of the sovereign debt crisis

Following the path of the sovereign debt crisis, the Eurozone's bank runs have begun.

Anxious Greeks Emptying Their Bank Accounts


Many Greeks are draining their savings accounts because they are out of work, face rising taxes or are afraid the country will be forced to leave the euro zone. By withdrawing money, they are forcing banks to scale back their lending -- and are inadvertently making the recession even worse.

Georgios Provopoulos, the governor of the central bank of Greece, is a man of statistics, and they speak a clear language. "In September and October, savings and time deposits fell by a further 13 to 14 billion euros. In the first 10 days of November the decline continued on a large scale," he recently told the economic affairs committee of the Greek parliament... the outflow of funds from Greek bank accounts has been accelerating rapidly. At the start of 2010, savings and time deposits held by private households in Greece totalled €237.7 billion ... [but] the Greeks today only have €170 billion in savings -- almost 30 percent less than at the start of 2010.

...Nikoloudis has detected a further trend. At first, it was just a few people trying to withdraw large sums of money. Now it's large numbers of people moving small sums. Ypatia K., a 55-year-old bank worker from Athens, can confirm that. "The customers, especially small savers, have recently been withdrawing sums of €3,000, €4,000 or €5,000. That was panic," she said.

For those who insist it couldn't happen here, a word of caution: it can and it has, as recently as 2008.

The 2008 financial crisis displayed characteristics of a classic bank run, but people holding bank accounts weren't the ones scrambling to get their cash. It was lenders demanding their money from other financial institutions.

Indeed, today's panics are more likely to involve major financial institutions and are largely hidden from plain sight until they are severe enough to trigger plunging stock prices, bankruptcies, layoffs and rising unemployment. And the current European crisis is a reminder that some of the vulnerabilities exposed in 2008 still exist.

These panics often originate in the shadows of the banking system, where major financial institutions do business with one another... [and] the size of shadow-banking activities [are] roughly $60 trillion as of 2010—a sum that represents 25% to 30% of the total global financial system.

At best, shadow banking offers financial institutions a source of funding and liquidity on a day-to-day basis. At worst, it allows the buildup of leverage and systemic risk, as the 2008 financial crisis revealed. Gary Gorton, a Yale University professor and leading researcher in this field, has documented that the crisis was effectively "a run by banks and firms on other banks."

...Given the speed that Europe's debt crisis is unfolding, however, any measures that could help fend off future shadow-banking panics risk coming too late.

The propagand-conomist Paul Krugman -- a proponent of the debt-ridden European social welfare state -- hardest hit.


Monday, December 05, 2011

Dear Abby [Papa B]

Papa B:

DEAR ABBY:

I have always wanted to have my family history traced but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Do you have any suggestions?

Sam in California.

DEAR SAM:

Register as a Republican and run for public office.

Abby

Deranged Propaganda Cartoonist Pat Oliphant Has a Simple Message for America: Republicans Are Pedophiles

Thank goodness we're in the post-Gabbi Giffords era, where political discourse is rational, reasoned and based strictly upon policy differences:

Progressives, the vultures of tragedy, aren’t above exploiting it for a political purpose. (See the funeral of Paul Wellstone, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, the Tucson shooting.) Cartoonist Pat Oliphant is no exception: his latest attention-seeking panel compares Republicans to child rapists.

Factually, the only two lawmakers have been making news with child abuse scandal headlines and they’re both Democrats: David Wu and Dale Kildee.

People complain about polarization in politics -- well, let this putz serve as Exhibit A.

Rather than discuss the Democrats' failed 'War on Poverty, their complete disregard for the nation's highest law or their rampant support of election fraud, this pencil-necked kook enjoys creating Julius Streicher-like agit-prop.

Hey, miscreant: next time, why not just depict Republicans as rats who need to be thrown into concentration camps, like your hero Streicher used to do?

You're scum, Oliphant. You. Are. Scum.


Hat tip: JTT

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Media Struggle To Keep Their 'Narrative' Alive [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

Here’s a rather factual news story from the UK's Telegraph reporting the rise of the Islamist bloc in the wake of Egyptian elections. It's headlined Egypt elections: Islamists seize two-thirds of votes.

But let's review the last paragraph and the Muslim Brotherhood line spoon-fed and eagerly swallowed by the Telegraph’s reporter. See if you can stop yourself from laughing.

###

Seeking to allay the fears of Egyptian liberals, Essam el-Erian, the deputy leader of the Freedom and Justice party, said: “We represent a moderate and fair party. We want to apply the basics of Sharia law in a fair way that respects human rights and personal rights.”

The ludicrous Bill Kristol hardest hit.


Can you guess what the 'worst-run states in America' award-winners have in common?

The financial website 24/7 Wall St. analyzed the worst-run states in America. Can you guess what the worst three states have in common?

48. Michigan
> State debt per capita: $2,963 (21st lowest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 12.4% (18th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 15.7% (15th highest)
> Unemployment: 11.1% (3rd highest)

Michigan has arguably suffered more than any state in post-industrial America. The state is one of just four with a credit rating of AA-, although its debt per capita is actually below average. The state ranks among the worst in the country for violent crime, unemployment, foreclosures and home price decline.
Source: (September, 2011): From the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2010, the percentage of residents 25 or older with a high school diploma

49. Illinois
> State debt per capita: $4,424 (13th highest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 13.8% (23rd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 13.1% (25th lowest)
> Unemployment: 10% (10th highest)

Illinois has fallen from 43rd last year to the overall second-worst run state in the country. The state performs poorly in most categories, but is worst when it comes to its credit rating. Illinois has a credit rating of A+, the second worst given to any state, behind only California. The state has been on credit watch since 2008 because of budget shortfalls and legal challenges against then-governor Rod Blagojevich.

50. California
> State debt per capita: $3,660 (21st highest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 18.5% (8th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 14.5% (tied for 21st highest)
> Unemployment: 11.9% (2nd highest)

California has moved down one slot on from last year to earn the title of the worst-run state in the country. In the fiscal year 2009, the state spent $430 billion, roughly 14% of all the money spent by states in that year. Compared to its revenue, the state spent too much — California had the 10th lowest revenue per person, and spent the 15th most per person. California is the only state in the country to be rated A-, the lowest rating ever given to a state by S&P. Despite the huge amount the state spends each year, conditions remain poor. California has the second-lowest percentage of adults with a high school diploma in the country, the second-highest foreclosure rate and is tied for the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S.

What they have in common is this:

• Decades of unchecked Democrat control at every level of government

• Massive, bloated, public sector unions that are intertwined with the Democrat Party and demand increasing percentages of the economy; they have but one aim: to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer

• Sanctuary cities that attract illegals, programs that offer easy access to welfare payments and government subsistence programs, high rates of single-parent families, and therefore high levels of urban crime

You would think that someone in legacy media would actually analyze this data and report on it, but then again, I've always been a dreamer.


Saturday, December 03, 2011

Holder DOJ Releases its List of the 10 Most Wanted Right-wing Extremists

Civilian Internal Security Force * * * CONFIDENTIAL BULLETIN


[10] Neal Boortz: Prolific promoter of dangerous ideas such as the "FairTax" and "Tea Parties". Boortz commands an immense radio audience and frequently appears on television while shamelessly preaching heretical, extremist views such as changing the tax code and reducing the size of government bureaucracies.

[9] Hugh Hewitt: The former child star ("A Christmas Story") has grown up to become the reported leader of the far right-wing Northern Alliance, host of a syndicated radio program and television commentator. Do not approach without electronic warfare support as Hewitt is known to use social media at the drop of a hat.

[8] Andrew Breitbart: Internet savant who controls a powerful digital media empire, he should be considered armed (with an iPad) and dangerous.

[7] Glenn Reynolds: (AKA "Instapundit") mass purveyor of right-wing propaganda and linkage; performs "blogging" at rates that can only be called dangerous. His family members are also "bloggers" and may be considered equally radicalized.

[6] Sean Hannity: one of the few rightwing extremists who is fluent in all types of mass media; from radio to television to the Internets. He has become even more radicalized since his partner of many years quit (Alan Colmes). Colmes was reportedly a calming force and tempered Hannity's extremism. Without that balancing influence, Hannity is said to have become a cheerleader for extremist views like flat taxes and "smaller government".

[5] Rush Limbaugh: Said to command an army of right-wingers approaching 40 million. Do not approach without RPGs and other heavy weapons.

[4] Michelle Malkin: Right-wing extremist who is not easily pigeon-holed or stereotyped; appears on television and radio; in newspapers and on the Internet. Despises corruption and, unlike Joe Biden, does not utilize a comb-over as a disguise. Evangelizes radical concepts such as "secure borders", "strong national defense" and "fiscal responsibility for government." Therefore, do not approach without overwhelming superior force.

[3] Mark Levin: Highly dangerous and said to be the intellectual leader of many right-wing extremists. Known to openly flaunt radical documents such as the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and Bastiat's "The Law". Skilled in multiple forms of martial arts and once registered his feet as lethal weapons.

[2] All Veterans: Veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists. President Obama's Civilian National Security Force is concerned that right-wing extremists (hereafter referred to as "wingnuts") either are veterans or will attempt to recruit veterans.

[1] Larwyn: no details are available regarding this shadowy figure, who is said to be a hidden force behind right-wing extremism. A national task force has been assigned to determine the identity of this individual.




Remember, CONTACT the Civilian Internal Security Force (or NBC if the line is busy) should you identify any of these individuals. DO NOT ATTEMPT to engage in a political debate yourself as you WILL lose and will likely suffer severe psychological damage.


Friday, December 02, 2011

The only unemployment chart you need to see today

Courtesy of Calculated Risk -- via Business Insider -- comes a chart that helps illustrate the real unemployment situation.

This is why the situation seems so dire. Why people are walking around in a daze. Why your neighbors are worried and glum.

Forbes editor Vahan Janjigian explains

...the unemployment rate has been very high for quite some time. If you look at the U6 figure [Ed: now 15.6%], which includes people who are working part-time, the underemployed because they can’t find a full-time job, or people who have simply given up looking for work; that figure is always extremely high.

But there is another figure I like to focus on. It is called the participation rate. That figure has really been plummeting... Now this figure is never 100%, because, of course, there are some people who are capable of working who aren’t working. An 18-year-old who is in school, for example, is not going to be working. Someone who chooses to be a stay-at-home mom or dad is not going to be working, or somebody who is 65 years old and retired but is capable of working is not going to be working.

So in a healthy economy, we would expect this figure to be somewhere above 70%. It is currently down at 64%, which means that there are a lot of people who cannot find jobs—they want to be working, they can’t find jobs.

With that context in mind, please consider these headlines:

No matter how the dying, legacy media tries to spin it, no matter how the administration twists arms at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to make things look rosier, the facts are clear:

The American economy is dying under this President.