Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Attention, College Students: Paul Krugman Will Write Your Economics Essay for Cash!

Not that you'll get a good grade, mind you, for reasons that should already be clear to anyone right of Dana Milbank.

Former Enron adviser Paul Krugman delivers the good news that 2010 is "the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died." Needless to say, he thinks this is bad news, but that's not why we're highlighting his column in yesterday's New York Times. Instead, it is for this passage:

You've probably heard about the accusations leveled against climate researchers--allegations of fabricated data, the supposedly damning e-mail messages of "Climategate," and so on. What you may not have heard, because it has received much less publicity, is that every one of these supposed scandals was eventually unmasked as a fraud concocted by opponents of climate action, then bought into by many in the news media.

Now, it would be one thing for Krugman to argue--wrongly, in our opinion--that the "supposedly damning e-mail messages of 'Climategate' " were not actually damning. But no one has denied that they are genuine. Krugman's description of them--and every other accusation "leveled against climate researchers"--as "a fraud concocted by opponents of climate action" is flatly false.

Nor is this the first time such a statement has appeared under Krugman's byline in the pages of the Times. You may dimly recall this passage of his Aug. 17, 2009, column:

In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false.

Again, a categorical statement: not "some of these stories are false" (which is probably true) or "these stories paint a misleading picture; although the British health-care system has its shortcomings, on the whole it is vastly superior to America's" (which, as a statement of opinion, is at least defensible). If even a single scare story about Britain's National Health Service is true, Krugman's assertion is false.

James Taranto is too kind. Krugman is an economic illiterate -- yes, I said it! -- who has all the emotional stability of a prepubescent girl with a crush on Obama.

He's apparently never learned the one common-sense principle every business owner quickly discovers: Government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.


* Do not read Krugman if you take nitrates for chest pain. Don't drink alcohol in excess while reading Krugman. If you find yourself dumbfounded by the sheer partisan tomfoolery of Krugman, contact a medical professional immediately.

Larwyn's Linx: The Post-Racial Sherrod -- 'We Must Stop The White Man And His Uncle Toms'

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

Sherrod: 'We Must Stop The White Man And His Uncle Toms': Riehl
The Calculus of Racism: Doc Zero
Holder's DOJ Stands Firm Against Civil Rights: Caller

The Underfunded Twenty: NRO
Primary Target in Washington: AT
Obama's White House is 'Too White'?: AT

Economy

How to bankrupt a country in three easy steps: Kimball
Indeed, Fascism is Happening in America: RWN
Obama empathizes with the common man: GWP

Governor Christie, Your Country Is Calling: RWN
The Losers' Congress: NRO
You know you're in a depression when...: Insider

Climate & Energy

Who Cooked Paul Krugman's Brain: BlogProf
Left-wing Scientist Bails Out Of Global Warming Movement: Depot
Tell Me Whose Side The Red Estate Is On: CBullitt

Media

Our Phone-Callin', Fact-Checkin' Leftist Media At Work: Ace
Journolist Trig Emails - All About The Story Line: LegalIns
More Racial Healing: Jesse Jackson Wants Black National Anthem: GWP

E.J. Dionne, a flagrantly dishonest left-wing hit-man: AmSpec
Final Report: RightOnLine 2010: RWN
Mr. Kurtz, when did you stop waxing the dolphin?: Blogmocracy

Warning: Do NOT link to these newspapers: RWN
“Objective” News Journalists: Let’s Coordinate For Obama: RWN
Paul Ryan Schools Chris Matthews: NewsBusters

World

Liars: Lockerbie release: So much for 'smart diplomacy.' So much for 'surprised.': Malkin
Man Jailed for 2 years For Ripping Veil From Muslim Woman’s Face…: WZ
Hayden on Deterring Iran: PJM

The Brothel Named Iran: Ledeen
Israel's Pressing Matters: Bussel
Protests of AZ Immigration Law Promised: CSM

Iran - The Existential Race Between Nukes & A Revolution: Wolf
The Web of Socialist "JournoListas": NewZeal
A Wish List for WikiLeaks: Rosett

SciTech

Facebook Friends: Ace
Top Five Advertising Trends: Nielsen
Words and Expressions The Internet Revived, And Shouldn't Have: Ace

Cornucopia

I Write Like... Everybody!: MOTuS
Obama snubs Boy Scouts' 100th Anniversary for... ABC TV's The View: CNS
Dawn of a New Epoch: FSM

Images: Gateway Pundit.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Conservative GOP House Challengers Who Need Your Help

Monday, July 26, 2010

Now that Bell's $800,000 City Manager has resigned, perhaps San Francisco can examine its 10,000 or so six-figure city workers

Bell is one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County and was paying its city manager around $800,000 annually. And that was just the start of the abuse.

A defiant Bell City Council defended the hefty compensation awarded to City Manager Robert Rizzo and two other officials just hours after the three agreed to resign amid a public outcry.

In the city's first formal statement on the salary issue, Bell released a letter from Mayor Oscar Hernandez in which he praised Rizzo's service to the city and said his nearly $800,000 annual salary was justified.

...As part of the resignations, Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia will not receive severance packages. Rizzo will step down at the end of August and Spaccia will leave at the end of September. Adams also will leave at the end of August after completing an evaluation of the Police Department...

Rizzo earns nearly $800,000 a year, believed to make him the highest-paid city manager in California and possibly the nation. Adams makes $457,000 — 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck — and Spaccia makes $376,288, more than the top administrator for Los Angeles County...

...The decision was announced at midnight to a crowd of angry Bell residents that had been waiting anxiously since 4:30 p.m. when the City Council began its meeting. None of the administrators attended the session. The crowd erupted in applause after the announcement but immediately yelled out questions about what would happen to the council members. Four of the five are paid close to $100,000 annually. When residents' questions were not answered, they shouted, "Recall!"

What other local governments have abused the taxpayer in California? Remember that there are at least 350,000 members of the massive public sector union -- the SEIU -- alone.

Perhaps taxpayers in San Francisco could take this opportunity to examine the salaries of their city workers. In 2007, 8,000 city employees were making six figures or more. Now that number is close to 10,000, despite the meltdown of the private sector economy.

In 2007, those employees included a $350,000-a-year "special nurse" and a police sergeant ($261,915) who was making more than the chief ($256,617).

Now the situation is even more outrageous.

Leading 2009's ...Club was the Police Department's Charles Keohane, a deputy chief who retired midyear... His total payout was $516,118, city records show, the bulk of which came from cashing out stored-up vacation, sick days and comp time...

The average city worker salary in San Francisco is $93,000 before benefits, according to Deputy City Controller Monique Zmuda. The data take into account everyone from park gardeners and street cleaners to attorneys and technology specialists.

Almost 100 city employees made $200,000 or more in 2009; six bumped past $300,000 when overtime and other cash-outs were included...

...In years past, the $100,000 Club included large numbers of Muni operators, transit supervisors, firefighters, police officers and sheriff's deputies who padded their paychecks with hundreds of hours of overtime, paid out at a rate of time-and-a-half.

San Francisco's budget deficit is roughly half a billion dollars and idiocy like uncontrolled salaries and benefits are a central reason.

Given the unmitigated economic ruin brought about by California's unholy union of Democrat government hacks and public sector unions, a painful reckoning is all but inevitable.


For the love of --- I just ate!

Score that on Hot or Not


Via: New York Daily News.

John 'D-Student' Kerry Handles Reporters' Questions on his $700,000 Yacht Tax Dodge With His Usual Grace and Aplomb: He Runs Away

Boston's WBZ television reports that John Kerry confronted reporters' questions on his $700K tax dodge with his usual courage and composure.









Senator John Kerry found himself answering questions Monday about his new $7 million yacht and the controversy about where he's docking it.

"There's nothing more to say about it," he told reporters at an event at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station Monday... "Let's get this very straight, I've said consistently we will pay our taxes, we have always paid our taxes. It's not an issue period," he said.

...When asked "Did you berth the boat in Massachusetts?" he replied, "That depends on who owns it."

Then, he said to his driver, "Can I get out of here please?"

If you missed the original story, it turns out that Kerry docks his yacht in Rhode Island rather than in his home state of Massachusetts. This interesting gambit saved Kerry $500,000 in MA state taxes and $70,000 annually in excise taxes.

Last week, when the Boston Herald broke the story, Kerry's office released a statement saying, "The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it's based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons."

"It's being worked on. It's under warranty down there. It's being worked on and it will come to Massachusetts and I look forward to that," Kerry said Monday.

Of course, like all elitist Democrats, Kerry lovingly decided not to volunteer the tax payments to his home state.

After all, although he and his wife are worth somewhere around a billion dollars, it's apparently not liquid. Liquid, get it? I guess he can't rustle up the cash to pay the taxes on his 76-foot yacht with two master cabins and a pilot house complete with wet bar and wine cooler.

The Nantucket Boat Basin [in Massachusetts] confirmed to WBZ on Monday that the Isabel has been docked at the marina "numerous" times this summer.

A spokesperson with the Department of Revenue who did not want to comment specifically on Kerry's case said ownership by an out-of-state corporation wouldn't matter. And, the law states if you bring the purchased property into the state within six months of buying it, you would be subject to the sales tax.

Coast Guard registration records show the vessel is owned by Great Point LLC, a limited liability corporation based in Pittsburgh, Heinz's longtime home.

So Kerry appears to have used the vessel repeatedly in Massachusetts, yet keeps it docked in Rhode Island "for maintenance" reasons.

And while he likely owes Massachusetts $700,000 in taxes, he hasn't paid them a dime.

Don't you just love the fact that these Democrat control-freaks never -- never -- voluntarily pay the higher rates they want you to pay? That's because they're hypocritical Statists who hate America -- and I hear that's the phrase they prefer.


Hat tip: Drudge. 'D-Student' Kerry Nickname: Mark Levin.

Stunning photos: Janet Napolitano heralds border drug bust as proof that US-Mexico security is 'as secure now as it has ever been'

This delightful missive appears to have circulated on the inter-tubes for a few weeks and I was struck by two things. First, the fact that Janet Napoli-Reno believes that our border is as secure as it has ever been.

The second thought -- after the intermission.

And here you have an industrious Mexican national, just simply on her way to visit friends and relatives across the international border in Arizona, all the while passing through the port of entry at Nogales, Arizona probably daily.

After all, she's only 94 years old, so what harm could this Mexican do. Well, I'll be dipped. What's all that padded stuff affixed to her body, underneath her dress. Well, after the dress was removed, loooookeeee here at what we have. Why it's only 10.45 pounds of marijuana strapped to her body.

Can we blame her? After all, she's probably just supplementing her Social Security check she gets monthly at her P.O. box on the American side. And one can't help but wonder how many of these such trips has she already made across the border, toting 10.75 pounds of marijuana daily.

Hang it up lady, as it's time for you to retire permanently in Mexico.

Okay, the second thought struck me like a lightning bolt.

Imagine the desperation and/or viciousness that inspires nonagenarian drug smugglers. In either case, sealing the border is the one damn thing the federal government is supposed to do -- and yet, our Democrat leaders can't be bothered with that. They're too busy putting up Stimulus road signs and nationalizing health care.

Oh, and lastly, if these are the kinds of folks our dramatically understaffed and overworked Border Patrol is catching, just who in the hell is getting through? On the other hand, I'm not sure we want to know.


Larwyn's Linx: Disgrace--DOJ Fails to Protect Military Voting Rights

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

Disgrace: DOJ Fails to Protect Military Voting Rights: Adams
DISCLOSE Act Assault on First Amendment Continues: Foundry
Clinton Acolytes Undermine Obama in Advance of 2012: HE

Charlie Rangel: Epitome of Most Ethical Congress Ever: RWN
The Chicago Way and 'Save-a-Life': AT
The Most Powerful Voice in Washington Belongs to Us?: RWN

Economy

Putting the tax in tax-and-spend liberalism: Malkin
Single-Payer or Bust: AmSpec
Obama's Soft-Core Socialism: Forbes

The Muni-Bond Debt Bomb: Malanga
The Edge of the Financial Chasm: Mish
Radical Nut Schakowsky: Public Option Saves Money: GWP

Funniest Story of the Week: Betsy's Page
Dealergate: Destroying Jobs in the Name of 'Shared Sacrifice': Malkin
LA suburb residents march over high city salaries: MyWay

Climate & Energy

IG investigating Salazar's drilling ban fabrications: WashExam
Grim Days for Global Warmenists: Ace
Heavy Liability Could Sink Small Oil Drillersf: Times

Media

Correcting the New York Times: AmPower
All you need to know about how Fox News handled the Sherrod story: Toldjah
Leftist Media Responds to False Charges of Racism with... False Charges of Racism: Ace

The 'Jerry Springer' White House Blog: Virtuous Republic
The Party of Despair: AT
Howard Dean: Fox News 'Racist' Because Obama Afraid of Beck or Something: BlogProf

Journolist and Malice: AT
We the Serfs: AT
Oliver Stone Reaches a New Low: PJM

World

Beautiful: Berwick member of Fanatical Anti-Israel Physicians Cadre: Matzav
Life on the Border -- the Ranchers: View from Baja
Gunbattles paralyze Mexican city across from Texas: Las Vegas Sun

Obama backed release of Lockerbie bomber: GWP
WikiLeaks and the Afghanistan War Logs: RWN
Hillary in a Bind: Pakistan Aiding Taliban: RWN

SciTech

Flying Pasties Helps Protect the Nekkid From Full Body Scanners: C&S
Florida's Defamation Law Extends Beyond State Line: CBS4
Glass invisibility cloak shields infrared: EE Times

Cornucopia

The Protection Detail: C&S
The Worst Website of All Time: Yvette's Wedding Dresses Panama City Florida
The Astounding World of the Future: C&S

Images: iOwnTheWorld.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate -- Send McCain Packing

Sunday, July 25, 2010

A Little Reminder to the FEC to Complement Anita MonCrief's Revelations: Barack Obama's 2008 Campaign Website Supported Money-Laundering

Far in advance of the 2010 midterm elections, I would like to remind the Federal Election Commission of the unprecedented steps taken by the Obama administration in 2008 to facilitate electronic money laundering. This summary should nicely complement Anita MonCrief's formal complaint to the FEC, "which both Obama and ACORN will have to respond to – on-the-record."

Imagine a campaign website that intentionally turned off all credit-card security, an unprecedented step that allowed fake names and addresses for donations. Obama's 2008 fundraising website intentionally allowed this to occur.

Imagine a campaign that accepted made-up credit-card numbers, which were probably tried one after another until valid card numbers were found. Obama's 2008 fundraising website intentionally allowed this to occur.

Or a campaign that retained forged computer addresses for its donations instead of the addresses of the real donors. Obama's 2008 fundraising website intentionally allowed this to occur.

Or a campaign that accepted untraceable prepaid cash cards that could easily have been used to evade contribution limits or mask contributor identities. Obama's 2008 fundraising website intentionally allowed this to occur.

Or a campaign that secretly shared donor lists with Project Vote and ACORN, the latter a group reportedly under a RICO investigation for multi-state vote fraud involving hundreds of thousands of fraudulent registrations and other misdeeds. Obama's 2008 fundraising operation allegedly did just that.

Now imagine hundreds of millions of dollars in undisclosed, suspect donations orchestrated by foreign nationals and other persons unknown. Obama's 2008 fundraising website intentionally allowed this sort of activity to occur.

Roughly two-thirds of Barack Obama’s record haul derived from a website that intentionally disabled all security checks that prevent basic fraud. In other words, his website facilitated crooked donations complete with fake names, phony addresses, no donation limits, untraceable cards and bogus computer addresses.

Let me repeat that last point. The Obama campaign's website intentionally allowed the use of fake computer addresses (known in the tech world as IP addresses). In my opinion, there is only one reason a website would allow the submission of a fake IP address: money-laundering. Logging of the true IP address would mean that the real source (including the city and country) of the contribution could be traced. Allowing a fake address to be logged instead would prevent authorities from ascertaining the true origin of the donation.

If I had to guess, I would bet that co-mingling of funds, foreign contributions and/or out-and-out money laundering occurred through this unprecedented combination of "hope and change".


Media blackout continues as Journolist members shriek like scalded cats: our words and intentions were twisted by 'the Right-Wing Hate Machine'

A coordinated news blackout of the Journolist affair continued today with just a handful of exceptions. Most coverage now comes in the form of apologias by Beltway insiders and confessionals from ex-Journolistas who decry the release of their most private thoughts by the right-wing hate machine.

WaPo's Kathleen Parker Pooh-Poohs the Affair


Today's Washington Post column by Kathleen Parker condemns the exposure of known liberals' seemingly private thoughts, which she terms as 'Gotcha Journalism'. She conveniently fails to mention that we know only 107 of the 400 participants' names and that those we do know instantly coordinated a "line" -- a counterattacking viewpoint -- to undermine Sarah Palin. They planned to paint innocent individuals as racists --- uhm, kind of like how Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, the White House and the legacy media have conspired to label innocent Tea Party activists as racists, come to think of it.

Best responses in the comments to Parker's misleading trope:

• ...let me know who the cabal (they called themselves that, by the way) chooses to have elected in 2012 and 2016 so we can watch them at work in the press. We dullards outside the elite 400 of Journolist apparently can't be trusted with information of all views to read and analyze on our own... and we, unlike you, do value a free, independent press!

• ..."gotcha" journalism is sophomoric, sleazy, unprofessional and intellectually dishonest... unless, of course, Sarah Palin is the subject.

• ...Parker, please feel free to continue to undermine what little credibility the Post may still have left... "Friends" making a case to get Obama elected by any and all means possible... Oh, heck, I'll just use a Journolist method...Parker, you are a racist!

Tribune Media's Cox: Journalists Shoulda Known Better


Ana Marie Cox of Tribune Media Services goes right to the heart of the matter -- any journalist worth their salt would know these sorts of innocent, private conversations could someday be exposed.

Joe Klein's Mealy-Mouthed Defense of the Indefensible


Time Magazine's Joe Klein, one of the 107 Journolists, claimed that the cabal was simply an innocent gathering of media personalities no different than, say, the conversation that takes place in a normal media junket. The unintended hilarity of his message appears to have escaped Klein.

...the Daily Caller has printed one of my Journolist emails, in which I share my latest published thinking about the just-announced Republican vice presidential candidate and thank the group--in an ironic, overblown tone--for the conversation we'd been having on the subject. When seen through the lens of witless right-wing conspiracy mongering, this seems embarrassing. But there was no conspiracy afoot. I didn't need the folks on Journolist to figure out how to react to Sarah Palin: her lack of qualifications for the vice presidency--and her spectacular abilities as a stand-up politician--represented a fecund gusher of material that made even the most mediocre of columnists seem like geniuses. Writing about Palin was not hard work; it still isn't; it will never be.

The phrase vicious, twisted hack comes to mind.

Another Journolist -- Kevin Carey -- Screeches Like a Wounded Feline


The immortal Kevin Carey (heh) at the Chronicle of Higher Education whines like a little girl in his epic "Inside (Or At Least, Uncomfortably Near) The Right-Wing Hate Machine".

[The Daily Caller's revelations were] more than enough to set the gears of the right-wing outrage machine in motion. Soon Daily Caller folks were being interview [sic] by Fox News' Megyn Kelly, a woman whose reporting technique consists primarily of modulating the degree to which her eyeballs bulge with rage and incredulity. Glenn Beck weighed in, and Rush Limbaugh, and the guy who posted that fake video that led to Tom Vilsack railroading an innocent woman out of her job at the USDA, and so on. Right-wing radio host Mark Levin published a McCarthyite list of known Journolist members on his Facebook page...

...People in academia are often accused of hiding in the ivory tower. These people were doing the opposite, engaging with people in other spheres and fields. For that, they've been branded as thugs, traitors, and other words I can't reprint here. All so the owners of various cable news outlets and web sites can make money by lying to their audience and fanning the flames of resentment.

Irony, thy name is Kevin "Dumbass" Carey.

What else are they hiding?


And what other juicy stories are today's journolists keeping under wraps? I mean, besides the blockbuster revelations we already know they're hiding.

Remember, folks: for these budding Marxists the ends always justify the means, no matter how badly they maul the foundations of this country.


The Level Zero Leader

In his bestselling business book Good to Great, author Jim Collins distilled tens of thousands of hours of research in order to reveal a few basic characteristics that distinguish great companies from merely good ones.

How, for example, did Walgreens outperform the market by a factor of fifteen times, while its competitor Eckerd became an industry laggard? How did Kimberly-Clark meet and defeat P&G's master marketers? And how could Nucor take on US Steel? Simple: each exhibited certain traits in its leadership that allowed it to prevail.

To illustrate the point: had you invested $1,000 in Walgreens in 1975, that stake would have been worth over $560,000 by the year 2000. Contrast that performance with the great names of corporate America: Intel ($309,000), GE ($119,000), Coke ($73,000), Merck ($64,000), and the general market ($37,000).

Leadership is certainly the most important attribute of a "great" organization. And Collins defines a set of criteria called "Level Five Leadership" -- the key characteristics of a chief executive that allow a company to perform at the very highest level.

How does President Obama measure up to Collins' definition of Level Five Leadership? Answering this question might help us understand the nature and impact of Obama's tenure as commander-in-chief.

How does Collins define a Level Five Leader -- and how does Obama measure up?


1) Drive for sustained results: The difference between the Level 5 and other leaders is that they are driven to produce sustainable results for their organizations. The idea is that level five leaders create long term sustainable change.

The change that Obama seeks is anything but sustainable. Current entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security are trillions in the hole. Obama's own deficit commission called the entitlements and related deficits "a cancer" that would eat away our society from within.

Rather than addressing sustainable reform, Obama chose instead to engage in the most egregious accounting skulduggery even seen in Washington, which he used to make the claim that "health care reform" would reduce the budget deficit. Anyone smarter than Rosie O'Donnell -- which is, by my estimation, roughly 99.3% of the population -- realizes that adding 47 million new bodies to the rolls of the insured could never result in lower costs. Further, the Democrats' numerical shenanigans included using six years of spending against ten years of revenue.

No, the change Obama seeks is anything but sustainable. The Congressional Budget Office has warned for years that the current spending trajectory is -- precisely the opposite -- and, in their words, "unsustainable". So the President utterly fails on this count.

2) Set up successors for success: Level 5 leaders are generally more interested in the success of the organization than there own personal success. They want to leave a lasting legacy of an organization that continues to prosper. They are self confident enough to hire competent people (get the right people on the bus) and then delegate.

Obama has surrounded himself with people of minimal real world accomplishment. The American Enterprise Institute examined the backgrounds of cabinet members starting with Teddy Roosevelt and discovered "the makeup of the current cabinet—over 90 percent of its prior experience was in the public sector—is remarkable."

Furthermore, Obama's advisers and "czars" were picked for ideological purity -- not accomplishment. The Maoist Anita Dunn, "9/11 Truther" Van Jones, Ken Salazar, self-acknowledged socialist Carol Browner, and the political crony Eric Holder were chosen not based upon competence, but because they fervently belief in the Statist philosophy that "government knows best". And they persist in this belief system even though history, facts, logic and reason offer compelling evidence otherwise.

3) Modesty: Should demonstrate compelling humility. They act with quite, calm determination; and rely on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.

Even his most ardent supporters would admit that Obama is baldly immodest. Author Charles Krauthammer wrote earlier this month that Obama's vanity has reached heights never before seen in American politics.

It began with the almost comical self-inflation of his presidential campaign, from the still inexplicable mass rally in Berlin in front of a Prussian victory column to the Greek columns framing him at the Democratic convention. And it carried into his presidency, from his posture of philosopher-king adjudicating between America’s sins and the world’s to his speeches marked by a spectacularly promiscuous use of the first-person pronoun “I.”

...It’s a stylistic detail, but quite revealing of Obama’s exalted view of himself. Not surprising, perhaps, in a man whose major achievement before acceding to the presidency was writing two biographies — both about himself.

In fact, the only time Barack Obama expresses humility is when describing his country to foreigners.

4) Take responsibility: Level 5 leaders stand out because they take responsibility when things go wrong. They do not look to blame others when things do not work out as expected. In addition, they rarely seek to take credit for things that go right, generally seeking to attribute the success to other factors.

Blaming others is the singular, constant theme of the Obama White House. When it comes to the economic meltdown, "the previous administration" is the favored scapegoat. Health insurers, doctors and nurses, Fox News, banks, oil companies, the 'rich' and every other segment of the private sector are used to divide Americans into racial, religious or economic combatants.

These are Alinsky's tactics of dividing the world into angels and demons; they demonstrate anything but a healthy ability to take personal responsibility.

5) Organization focus: The ambition of the Level 5 leader is first and foremost on the organization. Their desire for success for the organization that they lead far outweighs their drive for personal rewards.

Obama's focus is on himself -- first, last and always. The infamous video "I will not rest" (produced by RightScoop) depicts Obama's repeated claims that he "will not rest" until [fill in the blank with the oil spill cleanup, unemployment, health care reform, etc.] while vacationing, golfing, partying and otherwise living like a French Monarch circa the 17th century.

Perhaps the most iconic instance of Obama's personal selfishness came amidst the presidential campaign in 2008. During the same trip to Germany that included the bizarre "Ich Bin Ein Obama" speech in Berlin, Obama "cancelled plans to visit two U.S. military bases while in Germany, ...despite having all kinds of time to speak to gushing Berliners as well as getting in a workout at the Ritz Carlton. ...One of the bases, The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, 'is an overseas military hospital operated by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense...[that] serves as the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.'"

Obama's drive is solely for personal rewards -- his new laws, his accomplishments, his legacy. As for the United States? The private sector, to be sure, comes in at a very distant third or fourth.

Executive Summary

Unfortunately for all of us, Collins' definition would seem to indicate that our nation's chief executive is a "Level Zero Leader". The only open question is the amount of damage he will inflict upon the economic and cultural fabric tying us together -- and whether this damage can be undone.

His Presidency is certainly historic, just not for the reason his acolytes once believed.


I'll refrain from noting that Obama's next book should be titled Good to God Awful.

Filing a Zoning Permit for the Building Next to the Ground Zero Mosque

Bumped & Updated: bRight & Early comes up with an elegant solution, below.

Dear ACLU: If the Ground Zero Mosque represents a simple First Amendment issue, then so do these buildings we will develop on either side of it. On the left side of the Ground Zero mosque, I suggest we open this fine establishment.

And on the right side, I propose this worthwhile retailer.

Now, you ACLU communist crackpots -- it's our freedom of speech to put these businesses there, right?

Update: bRight & Early writes, "Doug -- There's no need for two buildings. You can just build one."


Inspired by: Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: The OFA Peril -- Ignore at our own risk

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

The OFA Peril: Ignore at our own risk: Emerging
Diversity Consultant Throws The K-Bomb: LegalIns
Blago Trial: Winners and Losers: Kass

Reminder: Nikki Haley is a Secret Muslim Whore: RWN
Clarice's Pieces: Know When to Hold 'Em: AT
Bleeding Blue -- the Obama Gambit: Black Sphere

Economy

The Doctor Will See You Now -- Or Else: Doc Is In
Reid to Netroots: 'We're Going To Have a Public Option': AmSpec
Taleb's 10 Principles for a Black Swan-robust Society: AmDigest

Gender & Class Warfare--The Paycheck Fairness Act: Wolf
It’s the Uncertainty, Stupid: Blumer
Health Refom Already Hurting Consumers: Times

Climate & Energy

The CLEAR Act of Another Federal Land Grab: MorphCity
China questions review of controversial carbon program: CNet
A Dispatch from the Front Lines of the Great Green Push to Rule the World: CBullitt

Media

Breitbart: Why No Politico, Or Bloomberg Firings?: Riehl
Checking in with the mother ship -- The real lesson of the 'JournoList' leaks: Post
Still Waiting for Apologies: LegalIns

WaPo finds waste in goverment: but only where it concerns national security!: WashExam
Young Voters Slowly Abandoning Hope & Change: Malkin
West Virginia: Drop Out Rate a Crisis? Or Not?: Gormogons

James Rainey: Breitbart Was Irresponsible for Doing What I Do All the Time: Patterico
Considering Elizabeth Warren, the Scholar: McArdle
Big Peace Exclusive Interview: Col. Allen West: BigPeace

World

The Man Who Would Stop the Ground Zero Mosque: AT
Rauf’s Dawa from the World Trade Center Rubble: McCarthy
Burka Bans Spreading, Though Shamefully Not in Britain: PJM

The 'unravelling relationship' between Russia and Iran: BBC
Canada Must End Affirmative Action: National Post
Morocco harassing Christians: Is our man up to the job?: Star-Tribune

SciTech

Al Franken at Netroots: Bloated and Boring: On My Watch
Canadian CF18 Pilot Ejects Moments Before Crash at Alberta International Airshow: RWN
Chrome 6: What made the cut--and what missed it: CNet

Cornucopia

Sarah Palin Does Not and Never Did Suck Toes, Thank You: On My Watch
Sunday Book Thread: Ace
Lawyer Says Saudi Man Who Boasted About His Sex Life On TV Wins Appeal: ABM

Special thanks to: W.
Image Hat Tip: Rants and other Refinements
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Donate a couple of bucks to Sharron Angle in Nevada -- and fire Harry Reid


Saturday, July 24, 2010

Journolist: All 107 (Known) Members With Their 'News' Affiliations

Via Buckeye Texan:

1. Spencer Ackerman – Wired, FireDogLake, Washington Independent, Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect
2. Ben Adler – Newsweek, POLITICO
3. Mike Allen - POLITICO
4. Eric Alterman – The Nation, Media Matters for America
5. Marc Ambinder - The Atlantic
6. Greg Anrig – The Century Foundation
7. Ryan Avent – Economist
8. Dean Baker - The American Prospect
9. Nick Baumann – Mother Jones
10. Josh Bearman – LA Weekly
11. Steven Benen - The Carpetbagger Report
12. Jared Bernstein – Economic Policy Institute
13. Michael Berube - Crooked Timber (blog), Pennsylvania State University
14. Lindsay Beyerstein - (blogger)
15. Joel Bleifuss - In These Times

16. John Blevins – South Texas College of Law
17. Sam Boyd - The American Prospect
18. Rich Byrne - Playwright and freelancer
19. Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
20. Jonathan Chait – The New Republic
21. Lakshmi Chaudry - In These Times
22. Isaac Chotiner – The New Republic
23. Michael Cohen – New America Foundation
24. Jonathan Cohn – The New Republic
25. Joe Conason – The New York Observer
26. David Corn – Mother Jones
27. Daniel Davies – The Guardian
28. David Dayen - FireDogLake
29. Brad DeLong – The Economists’ Voice, University of California at Berkley
30. Ryan Donmoyer - Bloomberg

31. Kevin Drum – Washington Monthly
32. Matt Duss – Center for American Progress
33. Eve Fairbanks – The New Republic
34. Henry Farrell – George Washington University

35. Tim Fernholz – American Prospect
36. James Galbraith - University of Texas at Austin (professor)
37. Todd Gitlin – Columbia University
38. Ilan Goldenberg - National Security Network
39. Dana Goldstein – The Daily Beast

40. Merrill Goozner - Chicago Tribune
41. David Greenberg - Slate
42. Robert Greenwald - Brave New Films
43. Chris Hayes – The Nation
44. Don Hazen - Alternet
45. Michael Hirsh - Newsweek
46. John Judis – The New Republic, The American Prospect
47. Michael Kazin - Georgetown University (law professor)
48. Ed Kilgore – Democratic Stategist
49. Richard Kim – The Nation
50. Mark Kleiman - The Reality Based Community
51. Ezra Klein - Washington Post, Newsweek, The American Prospect
52. Joe Klein - TIME
53. Paul Krugman – The New York Times, Princeton University
54. Lisa Lerer - POLITICO
55. Daniel Levy – Century Foundation
56. Alec McGillis – Washington Post
57. Scott McLemee - Inside Higher Ed
58. Ari Melber - The Nation
59. Seth Michaels – MyDD.com
60. Luke Mitchell – Harper’s Magazine
61. Gautham Nagesh – The Hill, Daily Caller
62. Suzanne Nossel – Human Rights Watch
63. Michael O’Hare - University of California, Berkeley
64. Rick Perlstein – Author, Campaign for America’s Future
65. Harold Pollack – University of Chicago
66. Foster Kamer – The Village Voice
67. Katha Pollitt – The Nation

68. Ari Rabin-Havt - Media Matters
69. David Roberts - Grist
70. Alyssa Rosenberg – Washingtonian, The Atlantic, Government Executive
71. Alex Rossmiller – National Security Network
72. Laura Rozen – Politico, Mother Jones

73. Greg Sargent – Washington Post
74. Thomas Schaller – Baltimore Sun
75. Noam Scheiber – The New Republic
76. Michael Scherer - TIME
77. Mark Schmitt – American Prospect
78. Adam Serwer – American Prospect
79. Thomas Schaller - Baltimore Sun (columnist), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (professor), FiveThirtyEight.com (contributing writer)
80. Julie Bergman Sender - Balcony Films
81. Walter Shapiro – PoliticsDaily.com
82. Nate Silver - FiveThirtyEight.com
83. Jesse Singal – The Boston Globe, Washington Monthly
84. Ben Smith - POLITICO
85. Sarah Spitz – NPR
86. Adele Stan – The Media Consortium
87. Kate Steadman – Kaiser Health News
88. Jonathan Stein – Mother Jones
89. Sam Stein - The Huffington Post
90. Jesse Taylor – Pandagon.net
91. Steven Teles – Yale University
92. Thoma - The Economist's View (blog), University of Oregon (professor)
93. Michael Tomasky – The Guardian
94. Jeffrey Toobin – CNN, The New Yorker
95. Rebecca Traister - Salon (columnist)
96. Cenk Uygur - The Young Turks
97. Tracy Van Slyke - The Media Consortium
98. Dave Weigel - Washington Post, MSNBC, The Washington Independent
99. Moira Whelan – National Security Network
100. Scott Winship – Pew Economic Mobility Project
101. Kai Wright - The Root
102. Holly Yeager – Columbia Journalism Review
103. Rich Yeselson – Change to Win
104. Matthew Yglesias – Center for American Progress, The Atlantic Monthly
105. Jonathan Zasloff – UCLA
106. Julian Zelizer - Princeton professor and CNN contributor
107. Avi Zenilman – POLITICO

O, Joy! British Health System, the Model for DemCare, Begins Rationing Routine Procedures Including Breast Cancer Treatments; Donald Berwick Applauds

The United Kingdom's National Health Service is now -- officially -- collapsing under its own weight.

NHS bosses have drawn up secret plans for sweeping cuts to services, with restrictions on the most basic treatments for the sick and injured.

Some of the most common operations — including hip replacements and cataract surgery — will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected...

* Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures.

* Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, with dying cancer patients to be told to manage their own symptoms if their condition worsens at evenings or weekends.

* The closure of nursing homes for the elderly.

* A reduction in acute hospital beds, including those for the mentally ill, with targets to discourage GPs from sending patients to hospitals and reduce the number of people using accident and emergency departments.

* Tighter rationing of NHS funding for IVF treatment, and for surgery for obesity.

* Thousands of job losses at NHS hospitals, including 500 staff to go at a trust where cancer patients recently suffered delays in diagnosis and treatment because of staff shortages.

* Cost-cutting programmes in paediatric and maternity services, care of the elderly and services that provide respite breaks to long-term carers.

...Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said the cuts were “astonishingly brutal” and expressed particular concern at moves to ration operations such as hip and knee operations... “These are not unusual procedures, this is a really blatant attempt to save money by leaving people in pain,” she said.

...‘‘We cannot return to the days of people waiting in pain for years for a hip operation or having to pay for operations privately..." She added that it was “incredibly cruel” to draw up savings plans based on denying care to the dying.

...This week, Hertfordshire PCT plans to discuss attempts to reduce spending by rationing more than 50 common procedures, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic treatment.

Doctors across the county have already been told that their patients can have the operations only if they are given “prior approval” by the PCT, with each authorisation made on a “case by case” basis... staff shortages [are] already causing delays for patients being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.

Every Republican who voted against the takeover of the health care industry should be thanked. This government-run catastrophe can't work -- won't work -- has never worked -- and it will fail as surely as night follows day.

Could someone call that punk Donald Berwick and get his reaction?

Maybe one of our beloved pro journolists, perhaps?

Oh, sorry. I forgot -- they have to caucus before they actually write stuff up.

The only solution to this garbage is: the free market. The system that Obama and his Congressional sycophants reject. Remember November, baby.


The Good Old Days: When Protesters Weren't Racists

So let me get this straight...










...it's Breitbart that's supposed to apologize?

Fight back against vote fraud with Operation Infiltration

Anita MonCrief earlier revealed the apparent collusion between the Obama presidential campaign, ACORN and Project Vote.

Based on the testimony, Project Vote, ACORN and other ACORN affiliated entities illegally coordinated activities with the Obama presidential campaign, converting the expenditures by Project Vote, ACORN and ACORN affiliated entities to illegal, excessive corporate contributions to the Obama presidential campaign, in violation of federal law.

MonCrief has established a new website -- EmergingCorruption.com -- to help publicize the diabolical activities related to voter registration fraud, ballot-stuffing, absentee ballot abuse, and other criminal activities that undermine the very notion of democratic government.

Here's another way to fight it. Do what some on MonCrief's site have done: infiltrate their operations and observe every activity you can. You can email me for details on how to set up a secure channel for electronic communication so that the information you glean can be relayed without exposing your identity.

To get started in your area, search "organizing for america volunteer" and sign up. You'll be notified of organizing events and other activities.

In order to blend in, I suggest you adopt a cover persona who should behave as follows:

• When ever someone criticizes a Democrat, blame Bush or refer to "the last eight years"
• When someone mentions how bad the economy is, simply reply, "Well, President Obama did save us from the second Great Depression"
• If someone refers to broken promises like closing Gitmo, blame the military for interfering with the closure

In only a few hours a week, you can pretend to be a drone while absorbing as much internal info as you can. Certainly you should do nothing unlawful -- like setting up a key-logger on a key PC, or copying campaign databases and lists onto thumb drives, or hacking the email system to make a copy of the archive. All of those things are illegal and you would never, ever want to break the law in order to expose a leftist plot to undermine America's democratic elections.


Larwyn's Linx: Dark at the End of the Tunnel; Obama's Donor List

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

The Dark at the End of the Tunnel: Vodkapundit
'Journolist' Affair Worse Than Clinton Conspiracy: USN&WR
GOP spoiling for a fight over Berwick: WashExam

Revealed - the Obama Donor List: MonCrief
The Democrats' War on the West: Malkin
Obama: The Agriculture Secretary Acted Stupidly: Ace

Economy

Taxation or Totalitarianism: AT
The Lottery Makes a Strong Statement About Charter Schools: PJM
Van Jones, Professional Dumb F***: Caller

Ruh roh: 'Racial Equality Pay' On the Way?: CNS
MonCrief to File FEC Charges Against Obama Administration: GWP
Sen. John Kerry skips town on MA sales tax: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

Obama throws billions at a solar energy fantasy: PJM
AGW Today: Kerry And ABC News Use FAIL Tag: RWN
Cook County Board to Extort Suburban Drivers: RWN

Media

Angry Whites Penned Screeds on Journolist: LegalIns
Hey, We’re A Jokey Blog.. and RACIST Too!: iOTW
CNN Host Calls for Crackdown on 'Bloggers': 'Something’s Going to Have to be Done Legally': NewsBusters

Jim Webb’s spectacular flame-out: Moe Lane
Netroots Nation 2010: Pushing Communism & Praising Some Antichrist Crackpot: GWP
Coulter: Media Make Sherrod a Saint But Still Smear Tea Party: Breitbart

Palin Lashes Out at Media for Proven Coordinated Attacks On Her During 2008 Election: GWP
CBS Reports Obama’s Unemployment Benefits Flip-Flop: Malkin

World

Rauf’s Dawa from the World Trade Center Rubble: NRO
Iran and the Plot to Blow Up JFK Airport: Ledeen
China Building Africa's Economic Infrastructure: SEZs and Railroads: Jamestown

PeBO Admin Finds Out That Dealing With North Korea ‘Taint That Easy: RWN
Mexican Border: Route 66 for Terrorists?: AT
New Report: U.S. Vulnerable to a Nuclear Attack: RWN

SciTech

Innovation: Internet Vs ObamaCare: Kesler
Raytheon's killer laser--4, UAVs--0: CNet
Thomas Edison and Bill Gates, Rejoice! You're in the Company of Great Inventors From the World of Islam!: NewsReal

Cornucopia

Taiwanese animators take on Sarah Palin: Ace
Progressives and the Declaration of Independence: AT
Letting the Days Go By: Ace

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate


Friday, July 23, 2010

I'm still waiting for my apology from 538.com's Nate Silver re: DealerGate, as prison sentences for Obama's lackeys seem, oh, like a frickin' lock

I spent quite a bit of time in the spring of 2009 exploring the bizarre pattern of dealership closures orchestrated by the Obama administration as it nationalized GM and Chrysler. On June 3, 2009, for instance, the post 'Dealergate: Some minorities more equal than others' presaged revelations that racial preferences decided which dealers were closed.

Yesterday, the American Thinker did its usual yeoman's work describing the "unprecedented allegations of racial bias by the administration's own inspectors general."

Decisions on which car dealerships to close as part of the auto industry bailout -- closures the Obama administration forced on General Motors and Chrysler -- were based in part on race and gender, according to a report by Troubled Asset Relief Program Special Inspector General Neal M. Barofsky.

[D]ealerships were retained because they were recently appointed, were key wholesale parts dealers, or were minority- or woman-owned dealerships. [Emphasis added.]

Thus, to meet numbers forced on them by the Obama administration, General Motors and Chrysler were forced to shutter other, potentially more viable, dealerships. The livelihood of potentially tens of thousands of families was thus eliminated simply because their dealerships were not minority- or woman-owned...


...the Inspector General's study skewered the Obama Gang for strong-arming the companies into closing 2,000 dealerships, costing an estimated 100,000 people their jobs...

..."ultimately close to half of all of the GM dealerships identified for termination were in rural areas."

That is where raw, hard, sewage-filled Chicago politics came into play... Records indicate that in 2008, Obama lost the vote totals in the nation's 1,300 rural counties by nearly 80%.

The Obama administration's insistence on radical numbers of closures ended up shuttering dealerships in those rural areas disproportionately, while dealerships and jobs in metro areas -- Obama's geographical base -- were left open.

...Additionally, it has been widely theorized that dealers targeted for closure as a result of Obama's interference were predominantly those who donated campaign contributions to Republicans. Although evidence to date is largely anecdotal, given what we've already reported about the Obama administration's handling of the auto bailout, such speculation does have considerable grounds for support...

...among [the] undisputed facts [reported by the I.G.]:

-"[D]ealerships were retained because they were ... minority- or woman-owned dealerships";

-Thousands of jobs were lost, unnecessarily, due specifically to Obama's "mandate for shared sacrifice";

-A disproportionate number of Obama-forced closings were of rural dealerships, in areas unfriendly to Obama, even though such closures could "jeopardize the return to profitability" for GM and Chrysler.


The media, of course, remain mute about these serious allegations in the Barofsky report. They have limited their coverage to the job loss numbers and tried to place the blame on Treasury Secretary Turbo-Tax Tim Geithner.

For now.

Before long, we'll be reading that it was somehow Bush's fault.

I hate to say I toldja so, Mr. Silver, but...

Oh, forget it. You and your pathetic claque of Democrat sycophants couldn't see the truth if it got squirted all over your blue dresses.

Your 538.com website is a joke and you -- well, you're a frickin' laughingstock.


• 05/27/2009: Dealergate: Stats demonstrate that Chrysler Dealers likely shuttered on a partisan basis
• 05/29/2009: Dealergate: 40 Democrat-friendly Dealerships Become 42 After The Dust Settles
• 05-29-2009: Olbermann, 538.com accidentally confirm bias in dealership closings
• 05/31/2009: RED ALERT: Dealergate--Quantitative Analysis Indicates Donors Rewarded By Selective Closings
• 05-31-2009: Dealergate Maps: Zero Hedge understated 'The Clinton Effect'
• 06-01-2009: Stillborn Motors
• 06/03/2009: Dealergate: Some minorities more equal than others