Friday, August 27, 2010

Anyone know of a good outplacement service for Harry Reid?

Professor Jacobson is understandably concerned with outplacement services for soon-to-be-ex-Senator Harry Reid.

The latest Mason-Dixon Poll released by the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows Reid up 1 point, 45-44... [but] Reid still is only polling at 45%, an abysmal number this late in the game for a multi-term incumbent [and d]espite two months of pummelling Angle, Reid still has higher negative numbers...

...Reid is in trouble, and his team knows it.  Expect even more over-the-top attacks on Angle, but it will not help.  Reid is a fully known quantity, and people know they don't like him.  That will not change. 

...[Also,] the NRA will not be endorsing Reid, with Reid's support of Elena Kagan as one of the motivation factors.

I don't think Nevadan voters will be fooled by Reid's hyperbole. Since he and his liberal colleagues have taken control of the Senate, they have given us:

• Three straight years of job losses with an unemployment rate that has more than doubled to nearly 10%;

• A national debt that has ballooned to over $13 trillion, an astronomic increase of 60%;

• A $787 billion pork- and boondoggle-laden "stimulus" bill in 2009, which did no stimulating of the economy and has only prolonged economic recovery;

• Record high home foreclosures that the American taxpayer is on the hook for because of misguided economic policies;

• Another "jobs bill" that cost taxpayers $18 billion, yet created no "jobs";

• The $700 billion TARP bill to bailout banks that couldn't balance their books; and

• The 2,000+ page health care takeover bill, which leaves the American taxpayer on the hook for another $2.6 trillion to pay for this new "entitlement."

Stimulus. TARP. ObamaCare. These three words will be written into the political obituaries of politicians who voted for these programs – and should definitely be branded onto the political epitaph of Harry Reid.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Gates of Vienna. Thanks!

Sacrilege: The Obama-Holder 'Justice' Department Won't Pursue Trial of USS Cole Bomber, Plus: a Memo to Ace Regarding the NRSC

The Washington Post's Peter Finn reports that the Obama administration has decided not to prosecute the apparent terrorist mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing in 2000. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri had been accused of orchestrating the attack that killed 17 American sailors aboard the Cole ten years ago.

The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that "no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future."

..."It's politics at this point," said one military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss policy. He said he thinks the administration does not want to proceed against a high-value detainee without some prospect of civilian trials for other major figures at Guantanamo Bay...

...With the 10th anniversary of the Cole bombing approaching on Oct. 12, relatives of those killed in the attack expressed deep frustration with the delay... "After 10 years, it seems like nobody really cares," said Gloria Clodfelter, whose 21-year-old son, Kenneth, was killed on the Cole.

A Memo to Ace


Much as I enjoy the verbal stylings of Ace, he is dead wrong when he claims a "third party is the only way" because a particular funding arm of the Republican Party (in this case, the NRSC) went off the reservation.

Bull***.

If you want to defend the memories of those who served -- and protect those who serve today, you'll vote for every Republican you can in November.

A third party represents a fit of petulance that throws our warriors, our law enforcement personnel, our first responders, our children and our grandchildren to the wolves of Statism.

Who could advocate for such a thing, when the only tactic available to us is to overthrow the Beltway GOP? We've won some (Angle, Bennett, ...) and lost some (McCain), but we've battled hard to send more conservative Republicans to Washington.

A third party? Ace, have you been smoking crack?

Do you want Darrell Issa, bless his heart, to investigate the raw criminality that has infected the Democrat leadership? If not, vote for a third party.

Do you want to de-fund socialized medicine, the EPA, the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, et. al.? If not, vote for a third party.

I don't give a crap what the NRSC did in the Alaskan primary.

They are clueless little Beltway hacks -- and we can dispense with them after we crush the people destroying our Republic.


Hat tips: Michelle Malkin, Jim Hoft and Free Republic (images).

Hilllary Clinton's State Department Unmasked: Separation of Church and State, but not Separation of Sharia and State

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." [U.S. Constitution: First Amendment]

In his farewell address to the nation, President George Washington noted the strong affinity of faith to the American republic, stating, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."

As evidenced in their writings and statements, the nation's founders believed inherently in the role of faith as the underpinning of a moral system of government. Government could only be moral if it recognized that human rights were granted by God, not man, and were therefore irrevocable by temporary politicians or potentates.

The Declaration of Independence proudly trumpeted the bond between God and the founding of the Republic, as the nation's fate hinged upon "...a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence."

And, for many older Americans, the Pledge of Allegiance -- "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" -- served as a daily affirmation of the role of faith in the nation's founding.

Judicial Activism and the 'Separation of Church and State'


Despite all evidence to the contrary, judicial activists have dismissed the founders' bedrock principles related to faith. To do so, they have invented the notion of 'Separation of Church and State' from whole cloth. The First Amendment was, of course, intended to prevent the establishment of a state religion -- like the Church of England. But it was never intended to remove the role of Judeo-Christian beliefs from the halls of government; the motto "In God We Trust" on our currency serves as the most tangible reminder of this fact.

Nevertheless, using the canard of church-state separation, judicial activists -- led by atheists and Statists -- have banned nativity scenes on public property, prohibited the display of the Ten Commandments, and removed crosses that memorialized fallen state troopers.

In other words, the very Judeo-Christian traditions upon which our founders relied have been capriciously excised from the public square. If given the chance, activist judges would likely censor the Declaration of Independence and rewrite American history to achieve their vision of a barren and secular society.

Which makes the State Department's recent activities so very bizarre.

The State Department's Curious Book on Being Muslim in America


An anonymous commenter points us to the Obama-Clinton State Department's bookshelf. Its "Diversity" section features a book entitled Being Muslim in America (PDF) which, "[i]llustrates in word and image that practicing the Muslim faith is fully compatible with being American, and that Muslim Americans are endowed by right with the same freedoms, privileges, and responsibilities as other Americans."

Did anyone ever say otherwise? What would be the reason for this publication?

The State Department has chosen precisely one religion for which it offers its support: Islam.

Try as I might, I could find no similar publications entitled:

• Being Buddhist in America
• Being Christian in America
• Being Hindu in America
• Being Jewish in America
• Being Sikh in America
• Being an Atheist in America

And yet, within weeks of Barack Obama taking office, the State Department had created a guide to being Muslim in America.

An Homage to Sharia Law and More Apologies for America


From its cover photograph featuring a (presumably) Sharia-compliant basketball uniform to its opening graph -- an apologia for America's imperfections -- the guide is as disturbing as it is un-American.

I love America not because I am under the illusion that it is perfect, but because it allows me — the child of Muslim immigrants from India — to participate in its progress, to carve a place in its promise, to play a role in its possibility.

In other words, America has a long way to go. Which is why so many people are trying to get here from the largely third-world hellholes their own failed governments have created.

Another photograph features a woman -- covered head-to-toe in Sharia-compliant garb -- walking behind her husband while shopping, as many Islamic countries require.

Furthermore, the State Department insists that Americans are irrational and intolerant people, especially when it comes to Muslims.

A new, truly American Islam is emerging, shaped by American freedoms, but also by the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Even as surveys by the Pew Research Center and others show that Muslim Americans are better educated and more prosperous than the average, the terrorist attacks — planned and executed by non-Americans — raised suspicions among other Americans whose immediate responses, racial profiling among them, triggered in turn a measure of Muslim-American alienation. Sadly, suspicions of this kind are not uncommon — in the United States or in other nations — during wartime or when outside attack is feared. But 2008 is not 2002, when fears and suspicions were at their height. Context is also important: Every significant immigrant group has in the United States faced, and overcome, a degree of discrimination and resentment.

Also featured in the book is Imam Khalid Latif, who serves on "the Board of Directors of CAIR-NY, where Latif’s sister is also a key player. CAIR, is the unindicted co-conspirator to the largest terror-financing conviction in U.S. history, and currently shunned by the FBI and both Democrats and Republicans alike for its connection to, and support of, Hamas."

Latif also strongly objected to NYU's publication of the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed, to the point that the school caved into his demands. In this case, the First Amendment was dismissed so blatantly that the decision was roundly criticized by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education [FIRE], which asked NYU "to reverse course and stand up for freedom of speech."

Finally, Latif also sits on the board of the Muslim Consultative Network [MCN] which is reportedly run by Adem Carroll of the Islamic Circle of North America. ICNA is said to support a variety of terror groups including al-Qaeda, Hamas and Jamaat-e-Islamia.

The State Department's 'Guide': Balkanization and Intolerance


In its choice of wording, photographs and representatives, the State Department appears to implicitly support both Sharia and a subtle form of extremism.

After all, Sharia is a political system consisting of its own laws; and it is completely antithetical to the United States Constitution.

How is it that a Nativity Scene on a town square is somehow 'unconstitutional', but the State Department's affirmative endorsement of Balkanization and the intolerance of Sharia is somehow acceptable?

Where is the ACLU?

Where are the atheists?

Where are the liberal activists who complain endlessly about separation of church and state, at least when it concerns Christians and Jews?

These are rhetorical questions, of course, because the agenda -- while hidden from plain sight -- is obvious.


Hat tips: The Stafford Voice, Michelle Malkin and Anon.

Larwyn's Linx: Arizona's Appeal; Schumer's Attack on Free Speech

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

Arizona Files Appeal: Ace
Union Brothers and Sisters, Join Our Commonsense Cause!: Palin
Betrayal: AK GOP HQ Phone Banked For Murkowski?: Riehl

Schumer's attempt to silence political speech: BigGovt
The Right-Wing Hate Machine: Malkin
Hisham Elzanaty and the Ground Zero Mosque: iOTW

Economy

Obama jobs death toll watch: More health care layoffs: Malkin
California Rejects Even Modest Pension Reform: WashExam
Palin Responds to AFL-CIO Head Trumka: Con4Palin

Thanks to Obamanomics, You Too Can Be a Double Victim!: RWN
The fishermen’s flotilla: Showdown at Martha’s Vineyard: Malkin
Ireland's Vicious Circle Leaves Banks Facing Higher Debt: Bloomberg

Ask Unemployed How Stimulus Is Working: RCM
Initial mortgage delinquencies rising again: Hot Air
Illinois' first day of school pension blues: Marathon

Climate & Energy

The Folly of Punishing Oil Companies: Tapscott
Red Flag Warning EPA Ammunition Ban: NoisyRoom
Speaking of Lead: iOTW

Media

Obama’s Electioneers: Documentary to Reveal the Extent of 2008 Voter Fraud: PJM
A Relativist, Wrapped in a Muslim, Inside an Agnostic: AmSpec
Why Jews are Deserting Obama and the Democrats: AT

Investigating America: BigPeace
Heads Explode as Malkin Slams Progressives on Muslim Cabbie Attack: AmPower
Unhinged Ed Shultz threatens to burn down MSNBC studios! Then breaks down crying!: BlogProf

MFM Narrative: Success Of Conservatives Is A Sign Of Their Doom: Ace
CNN Readers Offer Up 10 Ideas For Obama And The GOP: RWN
Does 'Barely True' Mean True?: AT (Hoven)

World

Oh, the Mosque is at Ground Zero: BigPeace
Terror Cell Broken Up In Canada: Ace
Obama administration indicts America: Times

The Terror Imams and Their Mosques & Schools: Ledeen
President Obama's Compulsive Appeasement Disorder: AT
Top Ten things America has done for Muslims: AT

SciTech

Bad flash drive caused worst U.S. military breach: CNet
iPhone as Cash Register: CNBC
Sound familiar? DC police to use technology to predict who will commit murder in the future: BlogProf

Cornucopia

The ObamaBuck-U: A New Bill to Inspire Confident Recovery: AmDigest
Despondex: iOTW
Most Evil Tweet Ever: Daily Wh.at

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Joe Miller Needs a Little Help in Alaska


Thursday, August 26, 2010

Exclusive Photo: Limousine Liberal Encounters Problems With Ultra-Sticky, Axelrod-Quality Adhesive



E-Z to follow instructions: get out of any traffic violation without a ticket, points on your driver's license, or other legal hassles

Stopped for a traffic violation and don't want to get hit with an expensive ticket? Just follow these simple instructions:

1. When the police officer asks for your driver's license and registration, state: "No habla ingles."

2. As the police officer figures out how to react, recite the following sentence (preferably using a exaggerated accent): "I am an illegal alien to the United States."

3. Before the police officer can react to your second statement, close the deal with: "You are not allowed to ask for my papers. Eric Holder said so."

4. After the police officer shrugs, closes his traffic investigation pad and sends you on your way, put the car in D (not R, heh) and slowly drive away from the scene. Try not to unleash an evil cackle.

Note: If you are hassled at all, contact La Raza or some other separatist front group for the government of Mexico and figure out how to sue the city, town or county in question.

After all, according to the Obama administration and the Holder DOJ, no one has a right to ask you for your papers. And anyone who does so must be profiling.

By the way: if I were better at making money, I'd turn this into a 30-minute infomercial and charge four installments of $19.95 for all of this valuable information.


'Islamophobia' In Theaters Now


Via: Sad Hill News.

Perfect Timing: Construction Costs Set to Skyrocket in California as Democrat Eco-Nuts' New 'CALGreen' Standards Kick In

In the teeth of the most vicious housing downturn in decades, the liberal masterminds running California have decided to kill the state's economy once and for all. Their weapon: a massive new encyclopedia of "environmentally friendly" regulations called "CALGreen".

The bureaucrats inside California's massive state government just published a 90-Page Introduction to CALGreen (PDF), which makes for excellent bathroom reading. Among the interlocking agencies that must be satisfied in order to build: the State Department of Housing and Community Development, the Division of the State Architect, the California Building Standards Commission, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, CALBO (California Building Officials), local chapters of the International Code Council, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Building Industry Association. Each has a stake in the new regulations and will defend their turf until the state finally goes bankrupt once and for all.

Oh, and one other thing: construction costs are going to skyrocket for every type of building.

January 1st is coming - are you ready for the new CALGreen Building Code?


On January 1, 2011 the California Building Standards Commission will require compliance with the new CalGreen building code. CalGreen requires residential and commercial building department permit submittals to comply with a wide range of sustainability measures in planning, design, energy & water efficiency, materials and resources, commissioning and environmental air quality.

Better still, cities and countries are permitted to enact local ordinances with even more restrictive green building standards.

The new requirements are mandatory for for all new residential and nonresidential buildings (including buildings for retail, office, public schools and hospitals) throughout the state, starting on January 1, 2011.

The level of detail specified by CALGreen is shocking. The new laws regulate every aspect of construction, far beyond what you might have thought possible. Mandates stipulate how builders handle storm water pollution prevention, bicycle parking, changing rooms, the paint used for marking parking stalls, "light pollution", grading and paving, all water use (including "multiple showerheads serving one shower" and all plumbing fixtures), irrigation design standards, handling of construction waste material, handling of excavated soil, fireplace design and testing, indoor moisture control, CO2 monitoring systems (not carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, which humans exhale), all HVAC standards (including required "ozone depletion and greenhouse gas reductions") and everything in between... including the kitchen sink.

To monitor compliance, CALGreen requires that builders fill out worksheets (23 pages of forms and templates), pay for inspections, verify business partners' conformance, and a whole bunch of other fun tasks wholly unrelated to, uhm, construction.

The development of the CALGreen Code is intended to (1) cause a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings; (2) promote environmentally responsible, cost-effective, healthier places to live and work; (3) reduce energy and water consumption; and (4) respond to the directives by the Governor. The reduction in greenhouse gases has been mandated in recent years by the Governor through executive orders and the passage of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32, Chapter 488 of the 2006 Statutes) adding Division 25.5 to the California Health and Safety Code. The provisions of AB 32 require a cap on greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, mandatory emissions reporting, and an ongoing market-based compliance program. Establishing the CALGreen Code is an important step towards more efficient and responsible building designs. The California Air Resources Board estimates that the mandatory provisions in this new code will reduce green house gases by 3 million metric tons by the year 2020.

As an aside, a single, large volcanic eruption can expel 120 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

With a massive new set of regulations like these, California's liberals really are trying to kill the state.

Here's a thought: maybe they're called "green jobs" because California's economy is turning gangrenous.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Three Keys To Removing Pelosi From the Speakership

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

Three Keys To Removing Pelosi From the Speakership: Hewitt
News to Make Your Blood Boil: RWN
Democrats Opposing Obama and Pelosi: Betsy's Page

Stealth Jihad Behind Ground Zero Mosque: LATL
Ground Zero Imam Eyes Another Target: Cashill
Liberals Attack Holocaust Survivor: Surber

Economy

Obama's Beltway Chainsaw Massacre: Malkin
Why Small Businesses Aren’t Hiring: American
'For One County There Is No 'Race To The Top': JWF

UCLA Law Offers Most Depressing Job to Law Student: ATL
'Fair to see yet bound to die': Belmont
Cooking the Books on Job Claims: Times

Dem Senator: Trillions in Debt With Nothing to Show: BlogProf
SEC backs labor on corporate board votes: Times
Where Are Those New Jobs?: Stossel

Climate & Energy

EPA Finds a Way to Ban Guns: iOTW

Media

Apparently, MSM now stands for ‘Manufacturing Societal Dissent’: Driscoll
The Left’s Newfound Respect for Freedom of Religion: GWP
Police Piece Together Clues in Obama’s Post-Racial America: RWN

End of Combative Operations: Crittenden
Defending memory of 9/11 victims isn't 'un-American': Tapscott
Photo: Any Questions As To How Kagan Will Vote?: HAP

World

Equality Before the Law: Doc Zero
Sharia By Sleight of Hand: GoV
Don't Ask, Don't Tell at Ground Zero: AT

The Perfect Iranian Storm on the Horizon: Totten
Liberals Spend Your Money Promoting Islam Overseas: RWN
Soros Has a Pastor Close to Obama On His Payroll: AT

SciTech

US military's top secret X-37B shuttle 'disappears' for two weeks, changes orbit: News.com.au
Full Body Scan Vans Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?: Ace
Discovered beyond the sun: Solar system with seven planets: Daily Mail (UK)

Cornucopia

The Enquirer: Michelle Is Angry At Barack For Going On A 'Secret Date' With Oprah: RWN
Michelle Obama's Expanding Role: JWF
The Pursuit: iOTW

Images: Hot Air Pundit.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Allen West for Congress (West's new ad rocks)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Candid photo captures the haunting beauty of the federal postal service, which is only losing $1 billion a month

The United States Postal Service recently announced that it lost more than $3.5 billion in one quarter. Competition from email, UPS and FedEx -- along with outrageous costs associated with union benefits -- were the major culprits.

A recent photo captured the efficiency of the federal bureaucracy as it relates to its "management" of the postal service:

Is that a Corona someone squirreled away in the mailbox?

But don't worry, rubes: even though the feds can't seem to manage mail delivery, rest assured they can orchestrate the entire health care system. After all, it's only one-sixth of the whole frickin' economy.

True, Democrats may be incompetent... but you've got to give them this: they're exciting!


Via: FailBlog and Instapundit.