Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The media's new rulebook for reporting on civilian deaths


Last week a U.S. airstrike aimed at Taliban extremists killed as many as 130 civilians. If the figure is confirmed, it would be the most devastating attack on civilians since 2001.

But you didn't read it in your newspaper. And you didn't hear it on the news.

Why is the media silent?

There are two distinct reasons that The New York Times, NBC, The Associated Press and the rest of the Democrat Party's public relations arm have chosen to ignore the story.

• Barack Obama is President

• The Israelis didn't kill anyone.

In either case, civilian deaths are boo-ring.

Don't you get it, peons?

The media-slash-government decides what's newsworthy -- and why. So just keep your mouth shut and go about your business, if you know what's good for you.


Return of the Streets of San Francisco


Papa B sent this one in with a single remark: 'This ain't the show I remember.'






Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Except for the Pelosi and Feinstein part.


Larwyn's 'Lines: "[He] enjoys seeing his critics dehumanized"

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

Nation

SEIU calls the shots in the Obama White House: GWP
Obamanomics: how's it going so far?: Power Line
Hope you can live on 29% of your investment: No Quarter

Call me Donald Emanuel: Surber
Syke! Kidney failure now hilarious!: Say Anything
Luxury housing at Stone Manor (but not for you): NOFP

Next!: Cold Fury
Who's running the White House?: TAB
Blame game is wearing thin: GWP

Laughable: PoliPundit
Resistance is futile: JOM
A “Red Diaper Baby”?: Blue Ridge

Obama’s Hedge Fund ‘Bullying’ May Hurt Rescue Plan: Bloomberg
MoveOn.org to Specter: Be a Democrat or Be Gone in a Primary: USN&WR
Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one: LawHawk

World

Mr. Netanyahu Goes to Washington: Rubin
Three on American Diplomacy: Shayne

Climate & Energy

Nader Slams House Climate Bill!: New Bankrupt Times
Budget risks energy national security: BMW
Global cooling continues down under: TAB

Crime & Law

How you can help push for ACORN investigations: ONN
In defense of marriage: Doctor Zero
Empathy versus Law, part IV: Sowell

Paroled SLA terrorist returning to Illinois: JWF
Lying for the third time: Ace

Health Care

Conservatives for patient rights: Hewitt
Health care push: BMW
Steyn on government rationing of health care: Hewitt

Media

Kraft Cashes In On DijonGate: LegalIns

Science

African tribe populated rest of the world: Telegraph
Secrets of the Deep: New York
What Ever Happened to the Death of Australia's Great Barrier Reef?: MoneyRunner

Best of the Web: Taranto

...lots of left-wing bloggers are cheering Sykes on, and the president of the United States was visibly amused by her joke. So the question is this: Why do liberals find this joke funny when they should find it embarrassing?

The answer, it seems clear, is that this is an example of shock humor: a genre that relies on the frisson of violating taboos. By our count, Sykes runs afoul of five taboos in her Limbaugh joke: She equates dissent with treason. She likens a domestic political opponent to a foreign enemy. She makes fun of the disabled (Limbaugh's past addiction to painkillers would entitle him to protection under the Americans With Disabilities Act). She makes light of a form of interrogation that some people consider torture. And she wishes somebody dead.

Except for the last one, these are all taboos that liberals promote and enforce with especial vigor. If a conservative violated any one of them, he would be on the inside track to be named "Worst Person in the World" by that NBC blowhard (as indeed Feherty was).

What makes Sykes's joke funny to a liberal, then, is the sense of danger that accompanies her risky themes, combined with the secure knowledge that since the joke is at the expense of a liberal hate figure, the usual rules not apply. It's the same reason people on the left evince particular glee when they attack Clarence Thomas or Michael Steele in expressly racist terms, or when they use antigay innuendo against their political opponents (regardless of the latter's sexual orientation).

In Obama's wide grin as Sykes was telling her joke, we saw the smug look of a man who enjoys seeing his critics dehumanized.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Fear and Loathing of the White House


People are scared to the death of the Obama administration, be they once-friendly parties or not. Consider the anonymity theme in the following articles, all of recent vintage and printed in mainstream periodicals.

Hedge Funds Are Piqued by White House (WSJ):
Hedge-fund managers are showing rare public outrage against the Obama administration, saying that it has wrongly rebuked investors necessary to salving the financial crisis.

Fund managers caught in a dispute over Chrysler LLC with the government "generally have been anonymous for fear of going on the record against a powerful president," said one recent letter from Cliff Asness...

Obama drama: Nets take a stand against primetime pre-emptions (Hollywood Reporter):
By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.

But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks are seething behind the scenes that President Obama has cost them about $30 million in cumulative ad revenue this year with his three primetime news conference pre-emptions.

Now top network execs quietly are hoping that Fox's well-publicized rejection of the president's April 29 presser will serve as precedent for denying future White House requests for prime airtime.

"We will continue to make our decisions on White House requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Fox decision gives us cover to reject a request if we feel that there is no urgent breaking news that is going to be discussed," said one network exec, who, like all, would not speak for attribution fearing repercussions from the administration... "If the president wants to make it tough for your network, he can," the exec added.

Another network executive confided, "Nobody wants to take on the White House, so we'll have to tiptoe through this."

SEIU may be linked to ultimatum on withholding stimulus funds (Los Angeles Times):
Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union may have had inappropriate influence over the Obama administration's decision to withhold billions of dollars in federal stimulus money from California if the state does not reverse a scheduled wage cut for the labor group's workers.

The officials say they are particularly troubled that the Service Employees International Union, which lobbied the federal government to step in, was included in a conference call in which state and federal officials reviewed the wage cut and the terms of the stimulus package...

The only folks speaking out publicly are officials at ACORN, the SEIU, and the UAW. After all, they're the ones calling the shots in the White House.

When the UAW needed Chrysler's contracts abrogated, they pulled strings at the White House.

When the SEIU needed to rip off California's taxpayers for the umpteenth time, they pulled strings at the White House.

And people are afraid to speak out, for fear of retribution on the part of the White House. And liberals complained endlessly about Bush's "Imperial Presidency"?

Welcome to Venezuela, drones.


Pelosi called for others to resign for lying, she should too


In April 2007, Nancy Pelosi publicly excoriated then-AG Alberto Gonzales for allegedly fibbing about the administration's firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Let's ignore for the moment the actual issue of the attorneys -- i.e., that Bill Clinton fired all 93 attorneys simultaneously in 1993 and that any such appointee serves at the pleasure of the president. Never mind all that -- those facts are tangential to the political ends Pelosi hoped to achieve by calling Gonzales dishonest.

At the time, she stated, "The nation cannot have a chief law enforcement officer whose candor and judgment are in serious question... The president should restore credibility to the office of the attorney general. Alberto Gonzales must resign."

Gonzales was then under significant pressure over the termination of the eight attorneys in 2006. Many critics, including Pelosi, accused him of dishonesty regarding the reasons for the firings. After months of incessant and blatantly partisan bickering, Gonzales resigned in September, 2007, his career effectively "Borked" by the Democrats and their public relations department at The New York Times.

Fast forward to 2009, when Nancy Pelosi was caught in a far more damaging series of lies related to the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs). In the wake of 9/11, Pelosi, along with dozens of other Congressional representatives and staffers, were briefed on the use of EITs on three high-value terrorists. She didn't complain; she didn't document her concerns; she didn't write to the President.

In fact, some representatives -- perhaps Pelosi among them -- asked CIA officials whether more could be done. More, not less.

I'm calling for the Speaker to resign. That's right, I said it. Resign, you partisan embarrassment! Here's a search-and-replace Politico post so you get the message.

I used your own words (except for the part about plastic surgery). Why should Gonzales be held to a higher standard than you?

Resign, Pelosi, before you're impeached in 2010.


Hat tip: Rusty.

Larwyn's 'Lines: Weakening America for a 'more fair' world

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

Nation

Cheney: Obama is dismantling our national security: Times
Kennedys in squabble for Ted’s Senate seat: Sunday Times
Gates' budget cuts 'chipping away' defenses: Times

NYC overflight wasn't for a photo: Althouse
Pelosi's latest spin: Instapundit
Thoughtful conservatism can win hearts and minds: PJM (Clarendon)

Economy

Hey, let’s throw another $19B down the rat hole!: Malkin
An offer you can't refuse: Economist
WSJ: Treasury’s Stress Test Results ‘Negotiated’ (and corrupt?): Bizzy

Ford workers unafraid of a little competition: BMW
Frightening Fiduciary Follies & Gangster Government: Bizzy
Weakening America to ensure a 'more fair' world: Townhall

Hard truths loom as GM faces bankruptcy: AT (Lifson)

Crime & Law

The Continuing War on Police: Kincaid
Amnesiatics: PJM (Hanson)

World

Swat This: JOM
Taliban-Style Justice Stirs Growing Anger: WaPo
378 civilians killed; MSM ignores it: JO

The end of collectivism: PJM (Yates)

Media

Sally Quinn on Michelle O's "burnished and beautiful" yet "threatening" arms: P&P
A new low for Olbermann: ripping Reagan: GWP
UAW, ACORN, now newspapers: Obama preps taxpayers for another bailout: GWP

Was Reagan a better friend to gays than Obama is?: Irish Spy

Tech

Google I/O Developer Conference 2009: Google

Culture

Cadillac SRX 4.6 Review: London Times (Clarkson)
Motherlovers: TigerHawk (SNL Video)
The 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition: IowaHawk (Video)

Deutsche Bank's Socialization Of Risk Culture Redux: ZeroHedge:

I joined Deutsche Bank in 2006 to build an investment business within its commercial real estate lending operation, and I was generally surprised by the aggressive sales culture within our firm. While many people consider the banking sector’s problems to be caused by residential lending, I witnessed multibillion-dollar loan proposals for commercial property... these loans were “priced to perfection” and assumed that property prices and rental rates would continue to rise. For perspective, a single billion-dollar commercial real estate loan is equivalent to 2,000 residential loans of $500,000.

In general, my colleagues are hard-working, decent people, but the system of incentives encourages people to take risks. I have seen honest, high-integrity people lose themselves in this cowboy culture, because more risk-taking generally means better pay. Bizarrely, this risk comes with virtually no liability, and this system of O.P.M. (Other People’s Money) insures that the firm absorbs any losses from bad trades.

As these losses have grown, taxpayers are being forced to absorb these losses. As an example, my firm recently received nearly $12 billion from American International Group (which has effectively been nationalized with $180 billion in taxpayer funds). Essentially, every American household sent my firm a check for $105. The reason for this payment: my firm bought credit default swaps from A.I.G. In plain-speak, we bought unregulated “insurance” from A.I.G. to cover losses from bad trades. What did taxpayers get in return?

Nothing. Taxpayers simply paid an I.O.U. triggered by our gambling losses. (Note: This $12 billion payment was more than 50 percent of our market capitalization at the time of its disclosure).

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Which party promotes racism?


Flanked by AP President Tom Curley and reporter Jennifer Loven at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, President Barack Obama snickered as emcee Wanda Sykes pilloried Rush Limbaugh.

"Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails... So you're saying, 'I hope America fails', you're, like, 'I don't care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq'."

"He just wants the country to fail. To me, that's treason He's not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying. You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight."

"Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that's what he needs."

Writing in The London Telegraph, US editor Toby Harnden was a bit stunned at the President's reaction: "Obama seemed to think this bit was pretty hilarious, grinning and chuckling and turning to share the 'joke' with the person sitting on his right. There's not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. She called Limbaugh a terrorist and a traitor, suggested that he be tortured and wished him dead. What was his crime? Hoping that Obama's policies - which he views as socialist - will fail. That's way, way beyond reasoned debate or comedy and Obama's reaction to it was astonishing...Obama laughing when someone wishes Limbaugh dead? Hard to take from the man who promised a new era of civility and elevated debate in Washington."

* * * * * * * * *

Painting Limbaugh as an out-of-touch white man is easy. It's trivially simple. But when it comes to a more careful analysis, which party's leadership promotes racism -- and which party actually fights it?

Democrats and single-parent families

Of 23 peer-reviewed U.S. studies since 2000, 20 found that family structure directly affects crime and/or delinquency. Most research "strongly suggests both that young adults and teens raised in single-parent homes are more likely to commit crimes, and that communities with high rates of family fragmentation (especially unwed childbearing) suffer higher crime rates as a result."

One study that ran more than two decades found that nearly 90% of the change in violent crime rates can be attributed to the change in percentages of out-of-wedlock births. Conversely, divorce rates had no relationship with crime.

In The Atlantic Monthly, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead noted that the "relationship [between single-parent families and crime] is so strong that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime. This conclusion shows up time and again in the literature. The nation's mayors, as well as police officers, social workers, probation officers, and court officials, consistently point to family break up as the most important source of rising rates of crime."

Let me repeat: Control for single-parent families and there are no differences between the races when it comes to crime.

In addition, the statistical link between the availability of welfare and out-of-wedlock births is conclusive. There have been dozens of studies that link the availability of welfare benefits to out-of-wedlock birth.

One study found that a 50 percent increase in the value of AFDC and foodstamp payments led to a 43 percent increase in the number of out-of-wedlock births.

Research for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed that a 50 percent increase in the monthly value of combined AFDC and food stamp benefits led to a 117 percent increase in the crime rate among young black men.

Despite reams of studies that prove welfare not only doesn't reduce poverty, but actually increases it, Democrat leaders incessantly push for more. Put simply, the party bosses demand a culture of dependency and encourage single-parent families and, therefore, higher crime rates. This is a fact. Curious observers would ask, "why?"

Democrats and school choice

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently received an email from a Harvard economist. One powerful sentence read, "The attached study has changed my life as a scientist."

The Harvard Study (conducted by Roland Fryer and Will Dobbie) analyzed charter schools in Harlem. They compared students in the charter schools (called "Harlem Children's Zone") to all New York City public schools. What they discovered was nothing short of startling.

In a nutshell, they found that the Harlem Children’s Zone schools produced “enormous” gains: "[The study] makes a rigorous case, using two different methodologies, that the charter school investigated in this area (Promise Academy I, 6-8 grade) had a huge effect on children’s academic performance as measured by standardized tests. The effect size was particularly large in math - enough to close the black-white achievement gap, something that no previous (rigorously demonstrated) effect has come close to.

Let me repeat the key finding: in mathematics, the charter school approach completely eliminated the black-white achievement gap.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that charter schools level the educational playing field for both white and black students, Obama and the Democrat Party leadership are crushing school choice programs like that in Washington, DC.

The Wall Street Journal points out the hypocrisy in stark terms: "President Obama and his Education Secretary have repeatedly promised to support "what works," regardless of ideology. The teachers unions adamantly oppose school vouchers, whether or not they work. Ergo, Messrs. Obama and Duncan decide to end a D.C. school voucher program that works and force poor kids back into schools where Messrs. Obama and Duncan would never send their own children. What a disgrace."

* * * * * * * * *

And so I ask the Democrat Party chieftains: who are the racists here? Which party embraces failed policies, year after year and decade after decade?

And which party wants to fight the tyranny of Statism, dependency and racism?

The answers are obvious. All who favor liberty -- whether they are black, white, rich or poor -- should vote Republican.


Linked by: Jules Crittenden and The Anchoress. Thanks!


Why men don't write personal advice columns


Dave W. sent this one in:

Dear Angelo,

I hope you can help me. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV. I hadn't driven more than a mile down the road when the engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbor's daughter. I am 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbor's daughter is 19. We have been married for ten years.

When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was laid off six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless.

I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. He won't go to counseling and I'm afraid I can't get through to him anymore. Can you please help?

Sincerely,

Laura



Dear Laura,

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

I hope this helps,

Angelo

Electric Fence


Bernie writes, 'This is Hysterical. Obviously written by a guy, so forgive the explicit expressions... A bit gross, but flat-out funny.'

Thought y'all should read this in case you're thinking of installing an electric fence! We have the standard 6 foot fence in the backyard, and a few months ago, I heard about burglaries increasing dramatically in the entire city. To make sure this never happened to me, I got an electric fence and ran a single wire along the top of the fence. Actually, I got the biggest cattle charger Tractor Supply had, made for 26 miles of fence.

I then used an 8 foot long ground rod, and drove it 7.5 feet into the ground. The ground rod is the key, with the more you have in the ground, the better the fence works.

One day I'm mowing the back yard with my El Cheapo Wal-Mart 6HP big-wheel push mower. The hot wire for the fence is broken and laying out in the yard. I knew for a fact that I unplugged the charger. I pushed the mower around the wire and reached down to grab it, to throw it out of the way. It seems as though I hadn't remembered to unplug it after all.

Now I'm standing there, I've got the running lawn mower in my right hand and the 1.7 gigavolt fence wire in the other hand. Keep in mind the charger is about the size of a marine battery and has a picture of an upside down cow on fire on the cover. Time stood still. The first thing I notice is my gonads trying to climb up the front side of my body. My ears curled downwards and I could feel the lawnmower ignition firing in the backside of my brain. Every time that Briggs & Stratton rolled over, I could feel the spark in my head. I was literally at one with the engine.

It seems as though the fence charger and the POS lawn mower were fighting over who would control my electrical impulses.

Science says you cannot crap, pee, and discharge at the same time. I beg to differ. Not only did I do all three at once, but my bowels emptied three different times in less than half of a second. It was a Matrix kind of bowel movement, where time is creeping along and you're all leaned back and BAM-BAM-BAM you just crap your pants three times. It seemed like there were minutes in between but in reality it was so close together it was like exhaust pulses from a big block Chevy turning 8 grand.

At this point I'm about 30 minutes (maybe 2 seconds) into holding onto the fence wire. My hand is wrapped around the wire palm down so I can't let go. I grew up on a farm so I know all about electric fences... but Dad always had those POS chargers made by International or whoever that were like 9 volts and just kinda tickled. This I could not let go of. The 8-foot long ground rod is now accepting signals from me through the permadamp Ark-La-Tex river bottom soil. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to just man up and take it, until the lawnmower runs out of gas.

'Damn!’ I think, as I remember I just filled the tank!

Now the lawnmower is starting to run rough. It has settled into a loping run pattern as if it had some kind of big lawnmower race cam in it. Covered in poop, pee, sweat, and other substances, I think 'Oh God, please die... pleeeeze die'. But nooooo, it settles into the rough lumpy cam idle nicely and remains there, like a big bore roller cam EFI motor waiting for the go command from its owner's right foot.

So here I am in the middle of July, 104 degrees, 80% humidity, standing in my own backyard, begging God to kill me. God did not take me that day... he left me there covered in my own fluids to writhe in the misery my own stupidity had created...

I honestly don't know how I got loose from the wire... I woke up laying on the ground hours later. The lawnmower was beside me, out of gas. It was later on in the day and I was sunburned. There were two large dead grass spots where I had been standing, and then another long skinny dead spot were the wire had laid while I was on the ground still holding on to it. I assume I finally had a seizure and in the resulting thrashing had somehow let go of the wire. Upon waking from my electrically induced sleep I realized a few things:

1- Three of my teeth seem to have melted.

2- I now have cramps in the bottoms of my feet and my right butt cheek (not the left, just the right).

3- Poop, pee, and semen when all mixed together, do not smell as bad as you might think.

4- My left eye will not open.

5- My right eye will not close.

6- The lawnmower runs like a sumnabitch now. Seriously! I think our little session cleared out some carbon fouling or something, because it was better than new after that.

7- I can turn on the TV in the game room by farting while thinking of the number 4 (still don't understand this?)

That day changed my life. I now have a new-found respect for things. I appreciate the little things more, and now I always triple check to make sure the fence is unplugged before I mow.

The good news is that if a burglar does try to come over the fence, I can clearly visualize what my security system will do to him, and THAT gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over, which also reminds me to triple check before I mow.

Author unknown


Actual White House Threats to Chrysler's Creditors Alleged


Econo-blogger Finem Respice:

One of the great pleasures of writing [my blog] relates to the wide variety of surprises that one finds in one's inbox as a consequence of having an audience of any size at all. Write about finance long enough with the same electronic mail address and a number of interesting anecdotes will flutter your way...

Write just a little bit longer and a shocking tale will pass under your eyes once or twice. Stick it out for two and half a hundred weeks and one is like to hear something quite disturbing. Hang in for more than a pair of years and a truly horrifying, bone chilling narrative will eventually confront you...

Today, I have the distinctly unpleasant distinction of being on the receiving end of exactly this sort of recollection. That is, a bit of dialogue so genuinely awful that- were it not from a source I consider impeccable, and unimpeachable- I would not dare to credit at all. Unfortunately, I must do precisely this, and personally believe it to be totally, frightfully accurate...

...I take no pleasure in relaying it, instead hoping that someone more directly in the business of running such matters down and printing them will carefully document it and- if true- expose it, or- if not- discredit it quickly and finally. This (as yet unproven) yarn goes exactly like this:

Confronting the head of a non-TARP fund holding Chrysler debt and unwilling to release it for any sum less than that to which it was legally entitled without compelling cause, this country's "Car Czar" berated the manager of said fund with an outburst of prose substantially resembling this:

Who the f*** do you think you're dealing with?

We'll have the IRS audit your fund.

Every one of your employees. Your investors.

Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with.

It is a tale literally so outlandish and difficult to picture that, in these circumstances and given the source, it rings absolutely true. Consider all this in a larger context where... You see Non-TARP entities claiming that:

...we have been systematically precluded from engaging in direct discussions or negotiations with the government; instead, we have been forced to communicate through an obviously conflicted intermediary: a group of banks that have received billions of TARP funds.

...not to mention the fact that the salary, bonus and "stress test" results for TARP banks are all within Treasury's control...

I'm definitely no attorney, but if these allegations are true, might the administration be guilty of "Tortious Interference", the purposeful abrogation of a contract?

Gadfly sums up thusly:

We have senior government officials apparently ordering, or at least strong-arming, the Chief Executive of a publicly-held firm to make or avoid certain disclosures and to close a merger, "or else."

We watch the White House fire the Chief Executive of General Motors after he makes the most generous settlement offer to bondholders (to whom he owes fiduciary duties) up to that point, and smile gently when Wagoner's successor [Fritz Henderson] puts the screws to financial creditors and eases up on the UAW.

If corroborated, no one should really be surprised. It's the Chicago Way.


Larwyn's 'Lines: Treasury Auction Undermines Hopenchange

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

Nation

Conservatives must defend their convictions: Steyn
Borking Machine Gets Early Tune-up: Times
Top Pelosi Aide Knew of Waterboarding: GWP

Warrior's Code: Petraeus' Words: This Ain't Hell
Pelosi Surrounds Herself With Herself: LegalIns
Romney vs. Palin: another fake controversy: RRR

Specter's very bad week: PJM (Driscoll)
SEIU influence seen on Cali's 'Stimulus': Marathon
Climate not changing for Globo-Warmers: Prairie

Crime & Law

Criminal misconduct in Justice Dept.: Power Line
More ACORN vote fraud comes to light: WSJ (Fund)
Investigating ACORN: Fox (Beck)

Zappala charges ACORN workers: Pitt Live
ACORN under fire for alleged voter fraud: OneNewsNow

Economy

California had most subprime loans: SFGate
Bankruptcy and the Chicago Way: Gad-fly
Silver Leads Gold As Dollar Teeters: Freebuck

Enough corrosion and corruption!: Kudlow
Root Cause of Public Pension Fund Problems?: Riehl
The hidden tax, visualized: TigerHawk

World

Busting Israel's Chops: Behind Blue Lines
What does America want?: International News of Pakistan (Saleem)
Nazis planned a Fourth Reich in the EU: Daily Mail (UK)

Karma happens, Mr. President: Morrissey
'Hamas will never accept Israel': TAB

Media

Background briefings irk White House press: Calderone
FCC attack on talk radio begins: WND
Showing Pelosi Some Love: JWF

Love affair between media and Obama continues: Times
“I’m Barack Obama. Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.”: New Bankrupt Times
Beck interviews former ACORN employees: Ace

Culture

Bollywood's Best: Economic Times of India
Priceless 2: Fausta

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

“Terrible” Treasury Auction Undermines Obama's Economic Plans: Heritage:

The U.S. Treasury auction of long-term bonds on Thursday was “terrible”, in the words of one Wall Street economist, with the rate on the 30 year bond jumping from 4.1 to 4.3 percent. This is just the first sign that the debt-based Obama economic stimulus plan is about to become a major drag on the recovery...

...There are two critical consequences to the economy stabilizing. The first is that the massive liquidity injected into credit markets by the Federal Reserve and central banks around the world transforms from economic medicine to inflationary heroin. Central banks are going to face a difficult task of extracting the excess liquidity before inflation soars and without causing another recession. Doubt about the fight against soaring inflation means higher inflation premiums in interest rates.

The second dangerous consequence is that President Obama is on course to double the national debt in just four years. After years of complaining about annual deficits of $300 billion or $400 billion and their effects on interest rates, liberal commentators are suddenly silent now that the deficit is heading toward $2 trillion under a liberal administration. But now the vaunted “crowding out” effect from government borrowing is almost a certainty, as are the resulting higher interest rates...

Saturday, May 09, 2009

The Roomba Republicans


Bob McCarty analogizes the Republicans' sputtering efforts to formulate a coherent message.

The long-exposure photo [below], captured by Signaltheorist, shows the 30-minutes-long path of a Roomba® robotic vacuum cleaner.

Appearing to have chaos and disorganization at the core of its effort, it reminds this blogger of the recently-announced effort to rebrand the Republican Party which threaten to leave conservative-first party members in a political vacuum.

I'm not as down on the spasmodic efforts of the GOP.

Thanks to Mark Levin, conservatives have a basis for repelling Statism and the soft tyranny of the Obamacrats:

Call it Liberty.


BMW driver misinterprets the term "carpooling"


Let's do some laps.

Jalopnik has the back-story.


Waterboarding Pelosi


Waterboarding -- as a field interrogation technique -- has been used by American troops since the Spanish-American War.

According to National Public Radio, U.S. troops in the Philippines employed it over a period of decades.

Contrary to President Obama's assertions, the British used it extensively.

The U.S. also used enhanced interrogation in Vietnam.


As part of their training, American special forces and naval aviators are waterboarded as a matter of course during SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) school.


As ABC reports, Nancy Pelosi and dozens of other members and staffers of Congress were briefed repeatedly on the use of waterboarding on three high-value suspects shortly after the 9/11 attacks.


At that time, of course, there were widespread fears of biological, chemical and/or nuclear attacks on American cities among various leaders in government.


Waterboarding revealed much, as was admitted by four current and former heads of national intelligence agencies.


Put simply, the Democrat members of Congress briefed on this topic, who claim now to object to the practice, are liars -- plain and simple. They have politicized, in every way possible, the defense of this country.

My wife says we should waterboard Pelosi to get to the bottom of this.

There's a good reason for not waterboarding Pelosi, however. Any one of a number of surgical enhancements might rupture, causing severe emotional distress for the interrogators.



Linked by: Gateway Pundit. Thanks!

Larwyn's 'Lines: 'Americans are not human beings'

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

Nation

Obama budget cuts target military funding: Times
Petraeus may indeed be "the one": TAB
Obama and the 9/11 Families: WSJ

The Chicago Catastrophe: TAB
Who do Democrats blame?: Kinghoffer
Enhanced lying: IBD

How free is your state?: Surber
Benedict Arlen: traitors never prosper: PJM (Meister)
Pelosi folds, admits she lied: GWP

World

The Hamas 'Peace' Gambit: RCP
HuffPo: A Magnet for Hate: CAMERA
Seven existential threats: Commentary

When Obama meets Netanyahu: WSJ
Iran's Ayatollah Khatami: "Americans Are Not Human Beings":GWP
Ho-hum: ACORN manufactures 38,000 more fraudulent voter regs: JWF

Economy

Investment Roadmap For Yasi: Yelnick
'It's Really a Bad Idea To Speak Out. Angering the President Is a Mistake': JWF
What do Goldman Sachs and Al Gore have in common?: Varones

Battered Hedge Fund Managers' Syndrome: Malkin
The new Chrysler, by Government Fiat: PJM (Malone)
How to save on health care, Obama-style: CBG

Education

The Harlem Miracle: Brooks

Media

Let's play 'Did you know?': Lead & Gold
McClatchy's largest shareholder unloads 15M shares: McClatchy Watch
Thanks, Hugh: Exurban League

Culture

The Emperor's New Clubs: Mr. Snitch
Stormy Weather: YouTube
Artist creates invisible car: Telegraph

The dark side of Pete Seeger: Examiner
Instruction manual for the USS Enterprise: Cracked
Robert Gibbs: the PC Guy?: CSM

Fast & Furious: Romania: Spark

Friday, May 08, 2009

Top 12 nausea-inducing names


Check out the official Presidential succession plan, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Let's review:

#1: Bumbling idiot: Check.
#2: Lying sack of crap: Check.
#3: Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan: Check.
#4: Former First Lady and Cattle Futures Trader Extraordinaire: Check.
#5: Squirrely creeper and serial tax cheat: Check.
#6: Conscience-less Bureaucrat: Check.
#7: Political hack who approved the most egregious presidential pardons in American history: Check.

I'll stop there.

You could make a frickin' horror movie out of that list.


It's easy to find hate speech on the web: visit the lefty blogs


A search for hate speech on the Internet finds the following liberal progressive Statist diatribes against Israel, the Jews and/or evil Zionists. This is a quick sampling, by no means exhaustive, of the last few days worth of hate-mongering drivel:

Israel's bad faith (Truthdig)
Ignore AIPAC at America's Peril (Antiwar)
Who's afraid of the big, bad Israel lobby? (HuffPo)

America's shame: Israel (OpEdNews)
Obama takes on the Israel Lobby (Antiwar)
American Street is upset about Israel (Mondoweiss)

The Smearjob On the Durban World Conference Against Racism (Creative-i)
How Israel avoids the obvious Palestinian solution (Antiwar)
Criminalizing Criticism of Israel (Progressive Mind)

So to think like a "progressive", you have to support every oppressed minority on the face of the Earth (except one), even illegal aliens who commit felonies against American citizens. For example, President Obama just eradicated $400 million in funding for a well-regarded program that compensates states and cities for jailing illegals who've commited multiple crimes.

But supporting a tiny Democratic country -- a diverse beacon of hope in a Middle East rife with tyrants and oppressive governments; a staunch ally of the U.S.; and a last refuge for a people victimized by genocidal regimes for two millenia -- is intolerable!

Trying to follow the logic of the "progressive" mind seems to me to be similar to untangling a dozen extension cords while eating super-cheesy thick-crust pizza. Come to think of it, that may have been what Michael Moore was doing last night.


Hint: Commenter Jack P. suggests expanding search criteria "to also include 'Catholic' and 'Pope' [and] the list of lefty blogs eschewing hatred will explode exponentially."

Update: CAMERA asks, "Has the Huffington Post Become a Magnet for Israel Haters?" It's a rhetorical question.


Pin the tail on the donkey!


Wikio's Top 100 Blog List Released


Wikio sent me another advance look at its new Top 100 list. I think my name is holding me back -- it's boring. Hey! What if I changed my last name to Malkin?

1The Huffington Post
2TechCrunch
3The Corner
4Think Progress
5Gizmodo
6Boing Boing
7Political Ticker - CNN
8Michelle Malkin
9Political Punch
10The Daily Dish
11Gawker
12Engadget
13The Conscience of a Liberal
14Talking Points Memo
15Firedoglake
16Instapundit.com
17NewsBusters
18fivethirtyeight
19Daily Kos
20The Caucus - New York Times blog
21Gateway Pundit
22Crooks and Liars
23Power Line
24The Official Google Blog
25ReadWriteWeb
26Mashable!
27White House.gov Blog Feed
28The Consumerist
29Kotaku
30Threat Level
31Deadspin
32Lifehacker
33Political Animal
34The Plank
35Washington Wire - WSJ.com
36Bits - New York Times blog
37CrunchGear
38Reason Magazine - Hit & Run
39Michael Goldfarb - The Blog - The Weekly Standard
40AMERICAblog
41Calculated Risk
42Marginal Revolution
43Jezebel
44Chicago Breaking News
45Greg Mankiw's Blog
46Neatorama
47Wired Science - Wired Blog
48GigaOM
49Gadget Lab - Wired Blog
50VentureBeat
51io9
52Swampland
53In The Faith - A Chronicle of the Christian Faith
54The Big Picture
55The Boy Genius Report
56Kottke
57Atlas Shrugs
58xkcd.com
59Wonkette
60Official Gmail Blog
61Grasping Reality with Both Hands: Brad DeLong's Se
62Eschaton
63Valleywag
64naked capitalism
65Full Comment
66Real Time Economics
67Pam's House Blend - Front Page
68Political Radar - ABC Blog
69Freakonomics - New York Times Blog
70DealBook - New York Times blog
71SimpleBits
72Doug Ross @ Journal
73Pharyngula
74Jihad Watch
75PerezHilton.com
76Deadline Hollywood Daily
77Lynn Sweet
78The Jawa Report
79Balloon Juice
80I Can Has Cheezburger?
81Political Wire
82Hullabaloo
83Seth Godin's Blog
84Geekologie
85The Next Right
86TorrentFreak
87SlashGear
88Althouse
89core77.com
90Just Jared
91Glenn Greenwald
92Cato-at-liberty
93Trading Goddess Stock Blog!
94Towleroad
95MyDD
96Inhabitat
97?bergizmo
98Techdirt
99George's Bottom Line
100Obsidian Wings

Ranking by Wikio.

Larwyn's Headlines: Taking Dictation

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

Nation

Generational theft hearings: PJTV
Was President Obama a subprime borrower?: Scrivener
2002 DNI report proves Pelosi a shameless liar: Allahpundit

Obsessive housing disorder: City Journal
Gov. Schweitzer's radical new gun law in Montana: Greenroom
CIA: Pelosi is a bald-faced liar: WaPo

Complete list of EIT briefings: HE (PDF)
Interrogator challenges Biden, Pelosi & Obama: Aces
The 'Keep Terrorists Out of America' Bill: Ace

World

Israel today. The world tomorrow: Steyn
Neutering an ally: IBD
Lily-livered Europe has surrendered: First Post (UK)

A method to Obama's madness: Taranto
Billboards of hate: AT (Levy)
Taliban: suicide bombings justified since Prophet's days: GWP

Economy

Luntz to GOP: Health reform is popular: Politico
The 'free choice' act is anything but: McGovern
Another expensive corporate boondoggle?: BMW

A card check Twitter scam: Instapundit
Obama's Promise To Go Through Budget Line By Line Yields "Cuts" Of 17 Billion Dollars, Lots Of It From...Wait For It...Defense: Ace

Media

MSM merging with Left Wing Blogs: GWP
Beck throws ACORN rep out of studio: Examiner
Not content with suck-ups, Obama now instructing MSM: JWF

Science & Medicine

Vaccinations: Why is Oprah promoting vaccine skeptic Jenny McCarthy?: Slate
Schakowsky: blatant lies to Fox Business: GWP

Culture

Hunting Ground: Moore