Sunday, May 02, 2010

Larwyn's Linx: Failed Car Bomb In Times Square: 'Act Of Terrorism'

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Nation

Failed Car Bomb In Times Square: 'Act Of Terrorism': Driscoll
Anarchist Killer Unicorns: NiceDeb
Pro-amnesty crowds smaller than expected: AT

Heckuva job, Janny!: GWP
Isn’t this new National I.D. card idea racist, too?: RWN
Left loses its way by abandoning 'third way': Barone

Economy

DemCare Nightmare: the CLASS Act: AT
The Luxury of Conservation: Doc Zero
Your public sector union employees at work: Mish

Dodd's bill creates more wealthy federal workers: BigGovt
Lawyers flock to Gulf Coast for oil spill lawsuits: AP

Climate & Energy

Useful data on the oil spill: Caruba
Spill Won’t Affect the Drill: We Need the Oil (and Jobs): RWN
Has Al Gore given up on global warming?: PJM

Media

Palin in Clarkston: BlogProf
More on the Presidential Failure in the Gulf: Hewitt
Coulter: I can’t believe how much the media’s willing to lie about Arizona’s law: Hot Air

Progessive Death: AT
Pastor Stephen Broden: 'Michael Steele is Wrong': RWN
"Immigration" isn't the problem: Harsanyi

World

Welcome to Montebello High School!: Caruba
The Re-emergence of German Dominance in Europe: AT
Greek protesters firebomb police -- and austerity measures haven't even been implemented yet: Insider

SciTech

Shoppers who can't have secrets: CNet
The Apple Empire Strikes Back: Edgelings
Microsoft's Killing of Courier: a Bad Move: eWeek

Cornucopia

A Dishonorable Holiday: Power Line
Enquirer: there's video of the recent Obama-Vera Baker tryst: TAB
GOP portrait of Charlie Crist to be auctioned on eBay?: Walters

Image: BermanPost
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Powers That Be

QOTD: 'At what point can we start referring to the head of the Department of Homeland Security as an “Obama-caused disaster”?' -- Doug Powers


Saturday, May 01, 2010

Krauthammer versus Levin on Drill, Baby, Drill

The cloistered Beltway pundits -- even those I admire like Charles Krauthammer -- believe that a tragic rig explosion in the Gulf spells the end of the 'Drill, Baby, Drill' mantra espoused by the neo-rationalists.

They are wrong.

As Mark Levin asked Friday night, "What's the alternative? Freeze, baby, freeze?"

Our entire society -- civilization itself! -- revolves around harnessing oil, gas, coal, water, radioactive elements and other resources -- and then transforming them into power and heat. Oil and natural gas, in particular, are the lifeblood of society.

What's the alternative? Should we shut down all trucking and food transport? Stop using natural gas to heat homes? Tell you what: let's let the liberals yapping about the spill actually walk the walk and stop driving, stop eating trucked-in foods and burning natural gas. Until then, they can go stuff themselves.

Here is an interesting map and one that depicts why companies like BP are required to dive thousands of feet underwater so that they can tap rich veins of fuel.

The U.S. federal government owns roughly 650 million acres of land -- or nearly one-third of our entire territory!

These federal lands are used as military bases or testing grounds, nature parks and reserves and Indian reservations, or are leased to the private sector for commercial exploitation (e.g. forestry, mining, agriculture). They are managed by different administrations, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Department of Defense, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Bureau of Reclamation or the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, doesn't believe that energy is needed to run our society. As head of the Department of the Interior (which is responsible for the BP rig mess, by the way), Salazar has banned drilling and exploration not just off-shore but on-shore as well.

Specifically, Salazar placed huge swaths of land in the west and in Alaska off limits to oil and natural gas exploration. This, of course, increases the risk of a "once in a lifetime" deep-water incident like the tragic BP explosion.

Say, I've got an idea: how about we throw these bums out of office and sell roughly 75% of all federal land to private enterprise? At the same time, we could disband the Department of Labor, Interior, Education, Commerce and every other cadre of regulation-happy brigands who are operating outside the Constitution.

Those two projects might just help balance the budget, don'tcha know?


Best. Idea. Ever: 'This way to San Francisco!'

Considering California's prevalent sanctuary cities -- and a proposed boycott of Arizona by San Francisco -- HillBuzz asks a wonderful question: What if conservatives put up billboards in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada pointing the way to San Francisco for illegal aliens?.

So I took a crack at illustrating the idea and added free shuttle buses to boot.

Come to think of it, we could do some signs for New York City as well. That idiot Bloomberg (the dopey Mayor, not the news service) is on record as decrying borders and enforcement of federal immigration law, stating, "This is not good for the country. I don't agree with it... We love immigrants here."

We love legal immigrants in Arizona and the rest of the U.S. But we can't selectively enforce some laws and not others -- lest we find most Americans ignoring other laws, like the feds' takeover of medicine, for instance.

HillBuzz has the scoop.


Hat tip: Larwyn.

Well, this is certainly non-P.C.

Papa B sent this in with the following missive:

'Current front-runner for toon o' the year.
'

'Obama's Katrina': an Illustrated Timeline

20 April 2010: An oil rig rented and operated by BP in the Gulf of Mexico explodes, killing 11 workers.

21 April 2010: All 115 workers are evacuated from the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig.

22 April 2010: The Deepwater Horizon collapses into the sea and sinks.

22 April 2010: President Obama delivers a speech on Wall Street to advocate more government intervention in the country's financial sector, but offers no reforms for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which helped precipitate the 2008 meltdown. He also delivers a speech regarding the contributions of Earth Day to environmental awareness.

Meanwhile, 200,000 gallons of oil are spilling daily.

23 April 2010: President Obama blasts the Arizona governor, state legislators, police officers and residents for backing federal laws that prohibit illegal immigration.

23 April 2010: The oil continues to flow.

24 April 2010: The president delivers his weekly radio address, which focuses on further regulation of Wall Street. He also calls upon certain segments of his original supporters -- African-Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, and women -- and asks them to mobilize for political action.

24 April 2010: Efforts to contain the spill are hampered by lack of resources and difficult weather.

25 April 2010: President Obama interrupts a weekend getaway to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham in North Carolina.

25 April 2010: Oil spreads across the gulf and heads toward the Louisiana shoreline.

26 April 2010: President Obama appears in a "Vote 2010" video, distributed by his political action wing Organizing for America, which serves as a stark appeal to blacks and Latinos -- specifically -- for their votes in November.

26 April 2010: The Coast Guard warns that the spill could become one of the worst in United States history.

28 April 2010: The President holds a rare, impromptu press conference on Air Force One, addressing "questions on the Arizona immigration law, the financial regulation bill and other issues." Obama also prepared to make his second nomination to the Supreme Court and warns of a "'conservative' brand of judicial activism in which the courts are often not showing appropriate deference to the decisions of lawmakers."

28 April 2010: large pools of oil are spotted close to the Louisiana shore line.

29 April 2010: the White House Flickr Feed is updated with a photo of the President meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and senior administration officials, including National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, which indicates that they are urgently working the issue of the oil spill.

29 April 2010: Meanwhile, local officials, the Coast Guard and private citizens continue their efforts to prevent damage to the Louisiana coastline.

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

Perhaps if the oil breached the Louisiana levees, then caught on fire, and then turned New Orleans into a Dresden-like inferno, the President would stop campaigning for a couple of days and actually pay attention to his own, personal Katrina. Even The New York Times has noticed, decrying the President's lackadaisical response. But I'm guessing that somehow, someway, it's all President Bush's fault.



Hat tips: The EIB Network and The Big Picture. Related: 'Who's Responsible'? and 'Eight Days in April.' Linked by: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, the Washington Examiner, Jammie Wearing Fool and Cold Fury. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: The Government-Created Dustbowl and Depression

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Nation

The Government-Created Dustbowl and Depression: Ace
May Day/Che Day: Reconquista returns: Malkin
The DOJ used as a political weapon... again: AT

A Report from Cochise County, Arizona: AT
AZ Deupty shot by suspected illegal with AK-47: GWP
Free Speech 1, CAIR 0: RefugeFromIslam Ads Return: Geller

Economy

Congress: Unions need more power over corporations: RWN
ObamaCare: an Unmitigated Disaster: AT
GM 'dangeously close to committing fraud' -- Issa: BlogProf

'Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card': ProWis
Treasury redeems a Gargantuan $643B in Treasuries in April: ZH
Shredding Driehaus on his claims of 'Stimulus' success: Virtuous

Climate & Energy

Oil Spill from NASA Earth Observatory: RWN
Presidential Lassitude in Louisiana: Hewitt
Cute, Fuzzy Animals Doom America to Energy Dependence: Ace

Media

At some point you have grabbed enough power: Power Line
The Origins of the Lapdog Media: AT
Palin: Drill, Baby, Drill -- No Matter What: RWN

World

The Mohammed Image Archive: Where Every Day Is 'Draw Mohammed Day'!: Zombie
More on Malmö: GoV
Sun-tanned women to be arrested in Iran: S&L

Stoning As a Religious Value: GoV
Bigotry label for thee, not me: Steyn

SciTech

Adobe fires back at Steve Jobs' 'smokescreen': Fox
The Case of the $18,000 Phone Bill (WSJ)
Palin hacker convicted on two charges: GWP

Cornucopia

Citizen Gore: IowaHawk
The Narcissist in Chief Joins the Cheater in Chief Club?: Feed Your ADHD
Butterfly Effect: MOTUS

Image: Zero Hedge
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Rare Ask


Friday, April 30, 2010

Public Sector Unions in Greece Write the Epitaph of the European Union

When did it become acceptable to put your children and grandchildren into hock? I think it was about the time public sector unions came into vogue, thanks to the Democrat Party.

Travel east to Greece and witness the beginning of the end -- not due to the free market, but due solely to union-organized socialism.

Papandreou says Greek survival at stake


George Papandreou, Greek prime minister, told parliament on Friday that adoption of a rigorous three-year austerity programme being drawn up by the European Union and International Monetary Fund was “necessary . . . for the country’s survival.”

Mr Papandreou was defending his socialist government’s decision to seek a multibillion-euro rescue package from its eurozone partners and the IMF against strong opposition from leftwing parties and trade unions.

“What matters most is the survival of the nation – that is a red line (that cannot be crossed),” he said.

Despite the dire circumstances, Greece's version of the SEIU isn't playing ball. On Wednesday, a general strike is planned, which will shut down all flights into and out of Athens International Airport.

There are some knowledgeable observers who think that Greece is the tripwire ready to bring the whole house of cards down.

There is a notable breakout in the financials index — which represents the cost of insuring the senior debt of 25 European financial companies against default — at the beginning of April. From the chart we can tell it’s the first such break since at least January 2008.

Financials were only stabilised thanks to the massive intervention of sovereign states. They took much of the ‘insolvency’ out of the financial system by transferring the bad loans of banks directly onto their own state balance sheets — sometimes directly, sometimes through guarantees.

But now that sovereigns are under pressure, due to their own deteriorating budgets, those financial guarantees might be standing on shaky ground.

...whereas the US banks will only have to recognise 20% of the write-downs anymore this year, the additional need for write-downs among Eurozone banks is higher...

According to the IMF, banks are facing refinancing needs of USD 5,000bn [five trillion dollars] in the next three years.

The bank debt rollover challenge is a major obstacle to prosperity, which even neo-Statist Paul Krugman grudgingly admits.

[A]ny move to leave the euro would require time and preparation, and during the transition period there would be devastating bank runs. So the idea of a euro breakup was a non-starter.

...[B]ut what if the bank runs and financial crisis happen anyway? In that case the marginal cost of leaving falls dramatically, and in fact the decision may effectively be taken out of policymakers’ hands.

...Think of it this way: the Greek government cannot announce a policy of leaving the euro — and I’m sure it has no intention of doing that. But at this point it’s all too easy to imagine a default on debt, triggering a crisis of confidence, which forces the government to impose a banking holiday — and at that point the logic of hanging on to the common currency come hell or high water becomes a lot less compelling.

And if Greece is in effect forced out of the euro, what happens to other shaky members?

What indeed.

The tenuous ties of currency, investments and politics will be tested in the weeks to come like never before.


Free Speech: a Photo Essay

Condoleeza Rice: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Ann Coulter: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Sarah Palin: threatened with attack to prevent free speech.

David Horowitz: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren...

...physically threatened...

...then attacked, to prevent free speech.

Bill Kristol: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Dick Cheney: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Karl Rove: physically threatened, then attacked to prevent free speech.

Free speech. Constitutionally protected. Legally permissible. Desirable in a free society.

But intolerable to Democrats and Islamic extremists.


'Is It Time to Re-institute Slavery?'

By Kelcy Allen

In the midst of the recent haranguing cries by liberals of 'racism' each time a conservative disagrees with one of President Obama’s policies, I'm hearing backroom rumblings that a small, entrenched political cabal may actually be discussing the re-institution of slavery. One wonders, is this insanity, or has the country destabilized to the point where this could actually be possible?

When you consider the hard-fought moral and spiritual battles Americans have waged to secure freedom and you measure the sacrificial carnage strewn along the way, we must be predisposed to disbelief. But we Americans take freedom for granted. Our newest generations have grown up in a society basically free from onerous human constraints and have no first-hand knowledge of repression or bondage. But saying what you want, dressing any way you desire, going anyplace you please, pursuing any job or interest, or worshiping any God, has never been accepted anywhere on Earth as a societal norm until recent times.

If we follow the thread of history backwards we find people have never really been free. A leisurely camp-out wasn’t advisable in the time of Genghis Khan. Wearing a thong during The Middle Ages was more than a little dicey. Demonstrating for non-violence in the era of Aztecan human sacrifice could jeopardize your health. And, selling assorted religious idols in downtown 10th-century Mecca wasn't a recipe for longevity.

So, why would any group in the first decade of the 21st century advocate for the abrogation of established liberties or for the segregation of powerfully entrenched segments of society? How could the subjugation of multitudes into a slave-and-master relationship be possible in today’s world? What unspeakable criteria would have to be present for it to occur?

Is the reinstatement of slavery plausible? The answer is unequivocally, yes! That is, because the backroom murmurs aren’t about 19th century black-American plantation slavery, they concern 'political' slavery and, in particular, Marxism. Marxism has been the most toxic, horrific and deadly slavery on the face of the planet. Under the banner of Marxism in the 1900’s, Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung and Russian leader Josef Stalin killed tens of millions of people collectively, dwarfing the number of exterminations by Hitler.

Marxism is socialism on steroids. Socialism exists when government controls the so-called equal redistribution of money or goods and services across society. Marxism exists when a centralized authoritarian government, fueled by class envy and fulfilled by force, determines who, what, when, how, and why anyone gets that money or goods and services. Marxism is the mortal enemy of free-market capitalism, of freedom of individual thought and of... Liberty.

At least seven conditions would be necessary for Marxist political slavery to prevail in America today:

1. Dismantle our capitalist system and replace it with socialism
2. Enlarge and centralize government for 'nationalization'
3. Create class envy
4. Develop a dependency culture
5. Eradicate the family
6. (Strictly) Enforce government policies
7. Depend on a complacent populace

Prior to the 2008 presidential election, many Americans were warning that candidate Obama had a socialist ideology, a history of socialist ties, and a socialist voting record. They were chastised and denigrated for their opinions. However, within the magical 100-day presidential window, in February 2009, the cover of Newsweek excitedly proclaimed, 'We are all socialists now!' Obama‘s particular disinterest in job creation bespeaks his insouciant view of capitalism and is one reason why the only 'shovel-ready job' we’ve seen is his attempted burial of free enterprise.

Obama is an admitted social progressive. Ideological cousins, Marxists and Progressives want larger government, greater involvement, increased oversight, tighter control, suppressed religion, and both will use force to accomplish their goal. The name Saul Alinsky should finally take on heightened importance. Obama studied and revered this mid-century fellow Chicago community organizer who was arguably America’s most destructive Marxist. Alinsky wrote a book, a political bible of sorts, for young violent radical Marxist protesters who wanted to overthrow free enterprise. Those protesters have grown up, and many have retained their radical views and have joined the Obama administration as advisers or 'Czars'.

In progressive-speak, Obama’s 'Transformation of America' means the nationalization of America. This translates to takeovers (not bailouts) of the banks, the auto industry, insurance companies, health-care, student loans, and higher education. What's next? Oil companies, communications, the airlines... perhaps even Hooters and espresso stands, the latter to regulate caffeine intake along with salt.

Do you wonder why Obama has been called the Great Divider and America is so politically polarized? Without fail, each time he gives a speech he pits one segment of society against the other: Main Street against Wall Street, haves against have-nots, Grandma against the chiropractor, and fat-cats against anyone who breathes. Whatever happened to 'United We Stand?'

Now his blatant, divisive rhetoric pitting the health industry, banks, and ‘special interests’ against ‘whomever is listening’ -- as well as his tacit separation of young-people, African-Americans, Latinos and women from white Americans -- is not only beneath the dignity of the President, it engenders animosity and creates hostility. Thank Alinsky-the-Marxist for this polished technique: divided we fall.

Social assistance and a dependency culture eventually destroy self-sufficiency, a sense of responsibility, and personal dignity —- a Marxist must. Don’t tell me Obama doesn’t understand Marxism 101. He absorbed this propaganda, by choice, at uber-liberal Occidental College and later at Columbia University. He understands these concepts better than he understands a jump shot. It's unfortunate that the general public doesn't -- yet.

Marxism thrives only at the expense of traditional values. Very little of Obama’s stimulus money went to manufacturing, construction, the trades, or small private businesses, and it has negatively impacted the family. Most of the money went to the service industries and there’s a reason. In 1969, two young Marxist bombers formed a violent radical group called the Weathermen. They declared war on the United States and bombed upwards of 25 buildings, police facilities, and government installations. You know one of the two radicals as Bill Ayers, 'the unrepentant bomber'.

The other one helped write Obama’s Stimulus Bill! If you wonder why rabid Marxist Jeffrey Jones, Director of the New York Chapter of the Apollo Alliance, was permitted to help craft legislation intended to directly influence capitalism and our economy, you’ll have to ask Obama. It certainly looks intentional. And, considering the Midwest Academy trained SEIU President Andy Stern, who is head of the 'service industries' largest union (and Obama’s most frequent White House guest), you can understand why the bulk of the $787 billion stimulus money went Stern's direction and not to job creation.

Obama was a virtual unknown prior to his presidency, but his year in office has been all the time needed to research, scrutinize, and expose his opprobrious political past. Hundreds of pages (The Obama Files 1-101) which accurately document scores of his radical affiliations with socialists, Communists, and Marxists, place Obama’s words and deeds in his first fourteen months in office into an extremely troubling context.

Further, Obama’s seemingly benign hiring of 16,500 new IRS Healthcare agents offers an ominous portent considering his remarks during a 2008 campaign speech regarding a powerful civilian security force. When these IRS enforcers visit your home to insure you’ve flossed or avoided trans-fats, or to interrogate you because you haven’t paid the fine for the insurance you can’t afford because Obama gave the stimulus money to the service industries, will they be wearing uniforms and carrying side arms?

It’s obvious the small cabal of which I speak is Obama, Emanuel, Axelrod, Pelosi, Reid, et.al. Since they have shown an arrogant disdain for the desires of the electorate by putting our future —- our freedom —- in peril, it would be wise to err on the side of caution and not simply dismiss the worst-case scenario agenda. The sleeping giant of Liberty must awaken soon. It would be naïve and irresponsible to assume that this administration's intentions are benign.

Is it time to re-institute slavery? In November, we must mobilize and vote to ensure that any form of slavery -- economic or otherwise -- is destined for the dustbin of history.


Kelcy Allen is a freelance writer. He resides in the Pacific Northwest.

Larwyn's Linx: 'I Think You've Made Enough Money'

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

'I Think You've Made Enough Money': Villainous
Obama's Politicized Justice Department: AT
Is Obama fomenting a race war?: Times

Crashers, Palinphobes & Communists at Boston's Tea Party: LATL
Illegal Immigrants Really Are Abused — In Mexico: RWN
How Obama could lose Arizona immigration battle: York

Economy

Fun with Numbers: GM ‘Payback’ of Taxpayer Loans: Blumer
5 Terrifying Parallels Between Now And Great Depression: McArdle
Treat the Cause: Welfare State Is Draw for Illegals: PJM

Obama's Union Thugs to Tie Up Lower Manhattan : JWF
Seven States Contemplate Anti-Illegal Immigrant Legislation: LB1901
University Students Stage Protests Against Arizona Bill: SIGIS

Climate & Energy

Obama to send swat teams to inspect oil rigs and platforms: Brutally
Clean Air Causes Global Warming: RWN
Cancer to increase because of 'green tech'?: BlogProf

Media

The Death of Everyman: Villainous
Violent Leftists Raid NYC Bank... Media Silent: GWP
Transforming America, One B*#%h at a Time: MOTUS

Obama Helped Kill Immigration Reform In 2007 - Will Media Remember?: NewsBusters
When will they take us seriously?: AT
Democrat Opposition to Phoenix Law: R&R

Righteous Liberal Hypocrisy: Dewey
Diminutive Jocksniffer Wants MLB to Blackmail Arizona : JWF
I’m Arlen Specter and I Approve This Message: iOTW

World

Enough Already — Just Move the UN to Iran: Rosett
Barack Obama’s Top Ten Insults Against Israel: Telegraph (UK)
Spain's troubles mount: Mish

The U.N. Is A Drag On The Body Politic: GM's Place
Moody's: Multi-Notch Downgrade Of Greece Imminent: ZH
Clash at Brandeis U. over Israeli speaker: Times

SciTech

Thoughts on Flash: Steve Jobs
An iPad Road Test: PJM
I still want whoever is making the HALO ads for Bungie and Microsoft to remake Starship Troopers: DPU

Cornucopia

Caboodle Jeans: Workplace Alert: MOTUS
No, Not Airbrushed!: SondraK
Women Celebrate at Free Stones Concert: C&S

Image: Norman Rockwell.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fat in Indiana


Thursday, April 29, 2010

I'm floored: under DemCare, whistleblower lawsuits set to explode as lifetime employment act for ambulance-chasing, slip-and-fall lawyers enacted

Writing at Maggie's Farm, Bruce Kesler observes that the new health care takeover is poised to create an explosion in lawsuits. Put simply, the new law promotes whistle-blower suits -- especially of the unprovable, frivolous malpractice variety -- that drive good doctors out of business.

As if the US didn’t already have enough lawsuits, and as if excess litigation isn’t one of the prime drivers of medical costs, and as if the Democrats didn’t garner 90% of tort lawyers’ contributions, ObamaCare will create a new boom in lawsuits.

A Qui Tam action is brought by a private citizen against a company for fraudulent claims on a federal agency in violation of the False Claims Act. If triumphant, the claimant gets part of the court award.

Qui tam (Black's Law Dictionary pronunciation: kwày tæm) "is a writ whereby a private individual who assists a prosecution can receive all or part of any penalty imposed."

[Until] now, it was necessary for the claimant to be the provider or original source of otherwise unknown information. If not, the claim was denied court jurisdiction.

Now, the failure to be the provider or original source will not deny jurisdiction, and should there be such dismissal the government can oppose the dismissal and allow the court case to proceed.

Consider this the Who Wants to be a Billionaire? act for the trial bar -- a nice, juicy reward for the tens of millions that the slip-and-fall attorneys have donated to Democrats.

The equation is simple: more money for lawyers and Democrats; fewer doctors; more misery for patients and the American taxpayer.

But, remember, they're doing it for the children.


Climatards Who Should Lead by Example: the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

In the spirit of true progressive delirium, consider the website VHEMT.org, home of "The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement."

Its mission, in two sentences, is Al Gore's wet dream: Phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health. Crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense.

Never mind that the Ijakiedjjijdejsiaj volcano (okay, I admit it: I just hit a bunch of random letters rather than look up the real name) spewed out more ash and carbon dioxide than humanity over the entire span of recorded history.

Humanity's brief sojourn on Earth has, in a nutshell, been largely a force for good. Our quest for scientific discovery, civilization, and exploration has improved the human condition and, in many cases, the planet itself. We are part of nature's God and nature itself is part of us. VHEMT defies God and nature by vilifying the human spirit.

George Carlin was right when he said, "The planet isn't going anywhere... WE ARE."

Now, I would never encourage anyone to commit suicide, though in the case of VHEMT, they'd probably consider it a compliment.

But if you someday come across a VHEMT member who is, say, drowning, I would urge you to try to save that person, but not if doing so is in any way inconvenient for you.


Hat tip: J.W.

Congressional Research Service: One-quarter of all illegal immigrants in the U.S. call California 'casa'

A Congressional Research Service report on illegal immigrants in the U.S. was released two days ago, though to read the funny papers you'd never know it.

A couple of numbers are startling: most estimates put the total number of illegals living in the U.S. at 12 million. Between three and four million of the illegals here aren't working: i.e., they're absorbing benefits from taxpayers in the form of welfare, food stamps, free education, etc.

As for those who are employed, a full 5% of the U.S. labor force consists of illegal aliens. This is a disheartening finding when you consider that the U-6 unemployment/under-employment measure for U.S. citizens is nearly 20%.

Thanks to "Sanctuary Cities" like San Francisco and Los Angeles, California's downtrodden taxpayers suffer the most.

Nearly one-quarter of all illegal aliens in the U.S. call California home.

Say, I wonder if all of the welfare, benefits, prison expenses and other infrastructure costs of millions of illegals have anything to do with California's $23 billion annual budget deficit? Or New York's catastrophic fiscal problems?

Nah, that's got to be a coincidence.


Hat tip: Clarice Feldman.