Saturday, November 14, 2009

Progressive Groups to Honor KSM with NYC Ticker-Tape Parade


A wide range of progressive groups, including MoveOn.org, the ACLU, Code Pink, Media Matters, the SEIU, ACORN, Families USA, Nation of Islam, the AFT and the NEA, have banded together to welcome accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to the Big Apple. The groups intend to welcome his motorcade, conducted by federal law enforcement officials, with a ticker-tape parade, a staple of New York City celebrations.


"Nothing shows how truly magnanimous the American people are better than welcoming Mr. Mohammed to the U.S. with a ticker-tape parade," said Scott Levenson, spokesman for the community organizing group ACORN. "Not only are we giving him a fair trial, we honor our Constitution and traditions by treating him with dignity and respect."

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the peace activist group Code Pink, believes that a ticker-tape parade and rally will build good will for the United States among the world's nations. "We'll be selling cotton candy and non-pork hot dogs to honor Mr. Mohammed's visit to the city. The respect we show him will be paid back seven-fold by other nations and help remedy the damage done to our reputation by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Bush."

Louis Farrakhan, leader of the religious group Nation of Islam, was equally excited. He likened the event to the election of Barack Obama. "It's a great day for all citizens of the world, so why not celebrate?"

The White House also announced that Air Force One will be dispatched to retrieve Mr. Mohammed from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The plane will also do several "fly-bys" of Ground Zero in order to orient the detainee with the location of his trial.

Liberal Democrats are said to be ecstatic with the move. Senator Chuck Schumer, senior Senator from New York, said that welcoming Mr. Mohammed to the "city that never sleeps" will demonstrate to the world that the Bush era is truly over.


Black Conservatives: the Growing Group the Media Ignores


While I'm not much of a Glenn Beck fan (anyone who believes a third party will help conservatives needs to be tased back to reality), this show is awesome and needs to be widely distributed.

"We have to expose the diabolical agenda of liberalism. I used to think it was well-intentioned, but misguided."

"But when you read that 90% of black children will receive food stamps at some point in their lives, and liberals' platform supports this, but rejects and opposes the idea of giving black kids vouchers to go to a better school... and let themselves out of that cycle... How can you not be a conservative?

"The more we expose the evil and cruelty that liberalism is, then people will start to wake up. This woman [radio show guest who thinks Obama will give her free money] is a slave."

Forward this video on to everyone you know.


Hat tip: Hot Air.

9/11 Families for America are begging citizens to sign their petition


9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried in New York City? Are you freaking kidding me? If you're even a tenth as outraged as I am, please sign the petition sponsored by 9/11 Families for America.

The signatures will be relayed to President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

"If this White House thought Tea Party activists were an 'angry mob,' wait until they see the backlash from 9/11 family members and their supporters nationwide. We’re not going to sit down and shut up about the reckless, security-undermining Obama 9/10 agenda and conflict-of-interest-ridden AG Eric Holder." -- Michelle Malkin

Larwyn's Linx: The KSM Lower Manhattan Reunion Tour

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Nation

KSM in NYC: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Hot Air
Team Obama Unveils Amnesty-Immigration: GWP
Dem Chickens Come Home to Roost: Cold Fury

Immigration 'reform' on Dem agenda for 2010: Times
The 108 Most Competitive House Races: Ace
The Obama Civil Service Purge: STACLU

The Plan: RandR
ACORN and Justice Dept. Plot Thickens: BigGov
Dem 'Cold-Cash' Jefferson Gets 13 Years: GWP

The Politics of Detection: PJM (Belmont)
Hood Attack Has Anti-Christian Backlash: Aces
Court-martial officers who ignored Major Hasan: Kelly

Economy

Not too big to fail: AT
Change! Obama’s Monthly Deficit Tops Bush’s Yearly Deficit: GWP
Study: only 20 years until Dem utopia of Michigan recovers: BlogProf

Dodd -- at it again: IBD
Behold: the Swamp of Chicago Health Care: PJM
Local Man Claims Responsibility For Own Problems: Cube

Media

'Mr. Holder has honored mass murder': Hot Air
Coulter takes on Palin-bashing media on CBS Early Show: NewsBusters
Blogging Rules for Radicals: Chapters Two and Three: PJM

A structural analysis of the Democratic Party today: Dinocrat
Group Sex on 'Gossip Girl': NewsBusters

World

KSM collects his first virgin: Surber
Western Liberal Elites Have Given Us the Iranian Bomb: PJM
The KSM Lower Manhattan Reunion Tour: Crank

Advance to the Rear!: Crittenden
Winning the War in Afghanistan: Patterico
Obama Supports the Military...'If Necessary': CFB

Iran and Syria Are Up; Egypt and Saudi Arabia Are Down. And this is Israel’s Fault?: Rubin
State Department uses Islamist Anti-American Propaganda to Criticize Turkish Army Kicking Out Islamists: Rubin

Sci-Tech

AT&T: Verizon Ads Are 'Blatantly False': CNet
Google: Firms can get rid of Office in a year: ZDnet
Android in the Enterprise?: NetComputing

Cornucopia

Aussie Warrier, MIA in Afghanistan for a year, found safe: STACLU
The 'Hell yeah, Shut Gitmo and ship 'em to my neighborhood' Gift Shoppe: Cube
The Zombie Survival Guide: AmDig

Two, count' em, Two Quotes o' the Day:

"If this White House thought Tea Party activists were an 'angry mob,' wait until they see the backlash from 9/11 family members and their supporters nationwide. We’re not going to sit down and shut up about the reckless, security-undermining Obama 9/10 agenda and conflict-of-interest-ridden AG Eric Holder." -- Michelle Malkin

"The Army says individual troop morale remains constant but unit morale is down in Afghanistan, in part because there aren’t enough mental health workers like the ones scheduled to deploy from Fort Hood." -- DRJ


Friday, November 13, 2009

The Six Million Dollar Man -- of Auto Wrecks


Wrecked Exotics has the tale of a 73-year old with a serious driving disability. This goof has wrecked more than ten exotic cars in less than three years.

We proudly present to you: The "King of Wrecked Exotics", a 73 year old Florida businessman who has managed to destroy at least 10 exotic cars in the last 3 years... We of course would be honored to shake the hand of the man who, despite being involved in some horrible wrecks, has managed to walk away from each one AND still have the [cojones] to keep driving like an insane bat out of hell. And did we mention he's 73 friggin years old?

He crashed this Ferrari 360 Spyder into a water fountain near the entrance of his mansion.

This Ferrari 360 Spyder was destroyed when he crashed it into a palm tree at 60 mph.

He was racing a Lamborghini Gallardo when he rear-ended a Ford F-350 Superduty in this Ferrari F355.

When I grow up, I want to be him.

And Wrecked Exotics has the entire album of this jamoke's egregious frackups.


They Came To Destroy America


Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the chief planner of the 9/11 attacks, was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1, 2003. KSM was shipped to a U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where other terrorists, enemy combatants and prisoners-of-war -- most captured on the battlefield -- were detained.

Jose Padilla, a convicted felon and former Chicago gang member, was arrested in May 2002 at O'Hare International Airport. Padilla had been under surveillance for months, since he'd arrived at the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan asking for a replacement passport.

The State Department asked other agencies to investigate why a man named Padilla was hanging around in Karachi. U.S. officials investigated and found that he had met with al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There, he'd learned to wire explosive devices and disperse radiological material. Padilla's planned acts of sabotage were independently verified by Abu Zubaydah, the most senior al-Qaida figure captured by U.S. authorities.

KSM and Padilla could be held indefinitely as enemy combatants without being charged, according to John McGinnis, professor of constitutional law at Northwestern Law School. Enemy combatants, even if U.S. citizens, are no more subject to criminal law than were Wehrmacht troops on the beaches of Normandy.

The history of "enemy combatant" status lies in the tale of seven Nazi agents who came ashore in 1942. Their mission: sabotage the war effort through acts of terror. One agent, a man named Haupt, was also a U.S. citizen.

The Nazis were captured before they could launch their terrorist attacks against rail lines, waterways and factories. President Roosevelt ordered them tried by military commission, but the detainees filed a petition of habeus corpus to challenge their military detention using the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Could the president arrest and detain such persons in the United States without involving the judiciary?

Unanimously, the Supreme Court ruled that he could. Saboteurs without uniforms were "enemy combatants" and therefore subject to military jurisdiction. Even Haupt, the U.S. citizen, could be so held. The Supreme Court stated: "Citizens who ... enter this country bent on hostile acts are enemy belligerents within the meaning of the Hague Convention ..."

Thus, as far back as 1942, the Supreme Court clearly described the legal status of enemy combatants.

No President -- not Lincoln, not Wilson, not Roosevelt, not Kennedy -- no President has ever granted POWs and enemy combatants the rights of U.S. citizens and the comforts of the federal criminal justice system.

But this President permits the radical left trial bar -- the ACLU and other avowed enemies of the Constitution -- to pervert American law and tradition. Risking an acquittal on American soil. Risking disclosure of highly classified information that helps protect the U.S. homeland.

These acts desecrate the memories of 3,000 American souls who died at the hands of the most vicious terrorists in history. I don't care if you're a Democrat, a Republican or Independent. It's sickening.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Chart: Dow Priced in Gold


Paul Kedrosky offers one of the best charts I've seen in recent days: the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced in gold.

Look, I'm no quant guy, but doesn't it look like we can anticipate either a serious drop in the Dow or a spike in the price of gold? Or... maybe both?


Larwyn's Linx: Something Special in the Air

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Nation

The Audacity of Extremism: AT (Lewis)
Feds Seize Iranian Mosques: PJM
Oops! Obama forgets to do something, again: GWP

Gov. Perry: Obama taking U.S. toward socialism: Statesman
Obama tanks in Ohio; paging Gov. Strickland: Riehl
GOP: ACORN near bankruptcy: Politico

Who to kill first: Grandma or convicted murderers?: GrandRants
Tea Party Express in Orlando: Carolyn
Jailtime fair; constitutionality irrelevant: Pundette

Administration announces purge of GOP civil servants: GWP
Put Chris Dodd on 'Most Endangered Incumbent' List: AT
Guns or Butter: DocZero

Economy

The Income Tax and Government Spending: AT
PelosiCare "Openly Hostile" to Innovation: Yahoo! Finance
Blatant Insider Trading, Chapter One Million: Denninger

The Poverty Trap: Mankiw
Lieberman: Public Option is "Camel's Nose" for Single-Payer: Verum
This Should Wake You Up: LegalIns

Media

The Road to Bali: JOM
What Happens Next?: Dinocrat
A Sneak Peak at Palin's 'Going Rogue': Sister Toldjah

Something Special in the Air: TigerHawk
Bang, Zoom! And other questions: Anchoress
Ask a Stupid Rhetorical Question...: JOM

Climate & Energy

NHTSA: Hybrid Drivers More Likely to Have Accidents With Pedestrians, Bicyclists: DailyTech
Don't tread on my television!: Examiner
UK Scientist: CO2 is not causing global warming: Telegraph

World

Afghanistan: the Failure to Plan is the Plan: AmDig
Taliban: Fort Hood Killer a "Hero", Warn of Further Attacks: Jawa
Netanyahu gets the cold shoulder in DC: PJM

European arrogance in alphabetical order: AmPat
Mexico: Amlo's pretend government: Fausta
Chavez Circles the Drain: TAB

Militant extremism alert in Minnesota: Power Line

Sci-Tech

Mint makes Twitter an Investor Hub: CNet
MSFT probes Windows 7 zero-day hole: ZDNet
3D Rendering of US Airways Flight 1549 Ditching in the Hudson: Ace

Cornucopia

Part 1: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism: BigHollywood
Part 2: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism: BigHollywood

Thursday, November 12, 2009

American Companies Abandon Ship


Bloomberg reports that Emerson Electric, the massive $21 billion manufacturing conglomerate, is raising the white flag and moving offshore.

Emerson Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer David Farr said the U.S. government is hurting manufacturers with regulation and taxes and his company will continue to focus on growth overseas.

“Washington is doing everything in their manpower, capability, to destroy U.S. manufacturing,” Farr said today in Chicago at a Baird Industrial Outlook conference. “Cap and trade, medical reform, labor rules.”

Emerson, the maker of electrical equipment and InSinkErator garbage disposals with $20.9 billion in sales for the year ended September, will keep expanding in emerging markets, which represented 32 percent of revenue in 2009. About 36 percent of manufacturing is now in “best-cost countries” up from 21 percent in 2003, according to slides accompanying his speech.

Companies will create jobs in India and China, “places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something,” Farr said... “We as a company today are putting our best people, our best technology and our best investment in these marketplaces to grow,” he said. “My job is to grow that top line, grow my earnings, grow my cash flow and grow my returns to the shareholders. My job is not to shrink and roll over for the U.S. government."

Farr's complaints echo a private missive I received in July from a veteran M&A specialist.

My clients are all entrepreneurs having built successful businesses with sales of $5 million to $50 million. My prospective buyers are typically companies with sales of $50 million to $200 million. Every one of these companies (buyers and sellers) today shares these common denominators:

1. Their businesses are down 10, 20% or more.

2. They have either laid off staff or have reduced hours to 4-day weeks trying to keep key staff.

3. They have reduced their own salaries and in many cases have implemented “cross the board” salary reductions.

4. They (for the first time in their lives) have no ability to forecast beyond 4 weeks.

5. They see nothing good on the horizon that would benefit them re: sales, cost reduction, efficiency, etc.

...My hope is to at the very least to try to sell these 5 businesses [information redacted]... Prospects are slim. M & A deals are down (depending on the source) anywhere from 60% – 80%. I used to receive 20 – 40 inquiries from buyers every week. I now receive a handful a week.

...Any private business owner would be insane to sell his business now. He will be hit with excess taxes and so many unknown consequences. Do you know that part of the “Cap and Trade” bill includes a provision that if you sell your house, it must conform to new “green standards” which reportedly could cost a seller many thousands of dollars? How many unknown consequences are built into a 1,300 page bill that no one has read?

Any future seller prospects that I encounter, I will urge them to continue operating their business and take from the business everything that they can legally do for as long as they can. They are far better off. It is quite likely that I will have to revisit some of my existing clients and tell them the same thing... something that I dread.

I am so outraged as to what is happening to our country. This is no longer a political issue [because] we will all lose. We are all casualties of the new paradigm. There will be many more as we continue into a morass that will take generations to recover, if we can. Be it “Cap and Trade”; government-run health care; TARP; bailouts; “stimulus”; business takeovers, etc.; our future is being controlled by bureaucrats and politicians who never, ever, ever ran a business and knew the “gut-check” of filling out and paying their “941’s”.

How could they know how to create a job? Throwing billions at states and municipalities with payoffs to unions, lobbyists and partisan sectors? Sadly, the worst is yet to come with job losses, cost increases, inflation, etc. Just look at the job numbers released today.

Forgive my blathering. I went through the 50’s, the 60’s, the price restrictions and gas shortages of the 70’s, the 22% interest rates into the 80’s, the many frustrations of the 90’s, etc. They all pale in comparison to what we face now. Whether it’s “tea parties”, a realization by the silent majority of what is happening, or some miracle that stops this ongoing disaster, I hope and pray for an awakening. I think we can make it and I only hope that my children and grandchildren are as fortunate as we were to continue to have opportunities.

The Democrats' plans are succeeding. They want to reduce our 'carbon footprint', presumably to stop the current spate of warmal colding. They want to eradicate private industry and private employment. As for proof, consider their serial attacks on doctors, the health care industry, the coal companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the oil companies, the refiners, you name it.

Who could possibly hire in this environment? The economy is flat on its back because Obama and the Democrats put it there; and their policies continue to suck the life out of the most productive members of society. And those members will continue to abandon ship.

If you're looking for relief in the unemployment numbers, don't hold your breath.


Hat tips: InstaPundit and Mark Levin.

Waffle House Wedding


The Gwinnett Daily Post reports on a "Waffle House Wedding" (via Visual Consumer):

As the famous twang of Hank Williams Jr. blasted from an SUV stereo Friday afternoon, about 30 folks socialized, sipped soda and puffed on cigarettes... No, this wasn't a Fourth of July backyard barbecue. It was the run-up to a wedding... In a Waffle House parking lot.

The lucky couple, George "Bubba" Mathis and Pamela Christian - both 23 and employees at the Dacula diner located at the Ga. Highway 316/U.S. Highway 29 interchange - wouldn't have it any other way.











Check out the whole slide show at the Daily Post. I was moved to tears by the sheer beauty of the event.

Vote for your favorite FairTax ad


Yep, they're looking for contributions, too, but you can also give them feedback on their ads.

The FairTax Plan is a worthy cause indeed, especially with the country in its current, dire financial situation.

The U.S. isn't alone in failed stimulus packages: witness China's ghost city


A transcontinental flight west will transport you to the site of another Keynesian disaster. China's $585 billion stimulus binge is intended to meet only one goal: achieving the government's mandated 8% growth in GDP. Which means building cities that no one actually lives in.

The city of Ordos was built in five years and was intended to house 1,000,000 residents. Today it stands empty -- its gleaming towers and sparkling condos a testament to a stimulus package that created only temporary jobs -- but no real economy to speak of.

Ordos is a hyper modern city, full of brand new glass walled residential and commercial buildings, yet devoid of inhabitants. In its attempt to present a "growing" economy, and to "invest" its $585 billion stimulus into anything and everything, courtesy of comparable idiocy on the other side of the Pacific, China's communist party is now ruling over ghost towns. One wonders just how many such "efficient" projects sustain China's magical 8% growth.















Keynesian spending programs like these only delay the inevitable reckoning a bit; perhaps to be supplanted with a bigger, more spectacular crash when the bills all come due.