Monday, December 13, 2010

Omigosh! State-Run Media Breaks Another Shocking Palin Scandal: Did Sarah Bring Hairdresser Along on Haiti Trip?

By Kristinn

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin traveled to Haiti this weekend as a guest of the Rev. Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse to spotlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the earthquake and cholera-stricken Caribbean (half an) island nation. Instead she has found herself embroiled in a scandal, accused of bringing a hair stylist on the trip to make herself look good for the cameras and "photo-ops.".

The Associated Press transmitted a photo from Haiti of Palin captioned, "Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, has her hair done during a visit to a cholera treatment center set up by the NGO Samaritan's Purse in Cabaret, Haiti, Saturday Dec. 11, 2010. Palin arrived Saturday in Haiti as part of a brief humanitarian mission. Dieu Nalio Chery / AP"

That photo and caption set off rabid attacks on Palin from the Huffington Post, the U.K.'s Daily Mail and, of course, Palingates.

The photo does indeed show Sarah Palin standing with her husband Todd as a woman whose face is obscured uses two hands to fix the hair on the right side of Palin's head.

However, one can observe that the woman is white, with her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a white shirt with a bulky scarf and dark pants.

In other photos from Saturday, Todd and Sarah Palin's white, brunette, eldest daughter Bristol, who accompanied her parents on the trip to Haiti, is wearing the exact same clothing and ponytail as the "hair stylist" in the AP photo.

That's right, what the Palin-hating AP and others fail to report is that the "hair stylist" is Bristol Palin. [The Palins and the Grahams in Haiti ("hair stylist" Bristol second from right) in photo above]

The AP photographer who sent the caption would have known that it was Bristol Palin, but by not mentioning her the AP was able to do a media hit on Palin but still be able to claim they told the "truth" with the caption.

Palin "has her hair done":

Photos via Palingates

The Daily Mail titled their story based on the AP photo and caption, Ready for Her Close Up...Sarah Palin Lands in Haiti (where they don't care what her hair looks like)

The Huffington Post titled their attack on Palin, Reading the Pictures: Palin Does Haiti Cholera: How's My Hair (and did AP lend a curl?). The AP reference in the headline is based on speculation in the article about whether the AP ran "scathing photo op-defying pictures of "the Sarah show?""

The raving lunatics at Palingates titled their hit piece, BREAKING NEWS: Palin Looks Good in Haiti.

To reiterate, a daughter helps fix a loose strand of her mother's hair, and it becomes an international scandal. Amazing.

James Lewis is right: for some reason, the idea of President Sarah Palin terrifies the Left. Which is why I grow more comfortable with the idea by the day.


Remember All Those Banks That TARP Rescued? Looks Like Their Exposure to the European Debt Crisis Is No Prob--RUN AWAY!! RUN AWAY!!

As if U.S. banks didn't have enough troubles, we discover this delightful news out of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

Last night, the BIS released its latest quarterly review, as always chock full of useful information. The one major item that caught our eye was the updated exposure toward the PIIGS [Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain] countries by various foreign banks. And specifically the brand new category that had never been disclosed before by the BIS, namely the "other exposures" category, which per a rather closeted footnote is defined as: "other exposures consist of the positive market value of derivative contracts, guarantees extended and credit commitments." This is exposure that appears for the first time in an official BIS document. And it is sizable: while total foreign claims stood at $2,281 billion, the newly disclosed category accounts for a whopping two thirds of a trillion: $668 billion...

...How generous of the BIS to share this data which as recently as 2 years ago may have been considered as material, and these days is merely dismissed with a laugh. After all who cares unless the potential loss has at least 12 zeroes in it. Yet what is most significant for the US taxpayer... is that US exposure to the P(I)IGS (Italy excluded, for the time being - give it a few months), has just tripled as a result of this revelation. While before it was "common knowledge" that US banks have nothing to lose should Europe go down the drain, it has now been revealed that US banks actually have $353 billion in exposure, of which $233 billion is of this newly revealed "other category."

And now that it is pro forma common knowledge that should the PIGS fails, that at least a few domestic banks would be wiped out, it also should be appreciated why the ECB will do everything to prevent an impairment to bondholders: with just under $2.3 trillion in potential partial or full losses on total exposure, the domino effect would blow up Europe overnight, then promptly wipe out the US and the rest of the world with it.

The country with biggest exposure to the PIGS is not surprisingly Germany with $513 billion, followed by France at $410 billion, Great Britain at $370 billion, and... the US at $353 billion... Here [is a pretty chart] that show[s] just how screwed Europe (and America) is:


Just remember, folks: Tim Geithner is the only man smart enough to get us out of this mess.


Idiot Blogger: No One Took ObamaCare Constitutionality Question Seriously, Except for 20 State Attorneys General and Hundreds of Scholars

Runner-up headline: The Marshall Beclownment Plan... Complete

It never ceases to amaze me what passes for "informed commentary" on the Left. The progressives must continually escalate the level of intellectual dishonesty as their favorite central planners' Utopian schemes fail over and over again. Raising the propaganda bar once more is the pathetic Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo who does his best work as a creative writer -- most frequently in the genre of agit-prop.

A year ago, no one took seriously the idea that a federal health care mandate was unconstitutional. And the idea that buying health care coverage does not amount to "economic activity" seems preposterous on its face. But the decision that just came down from the federal judgment in Virginia -- that the federal health care mandate is unconstitutional -- is an example that decades of Republicans packing the federal judiciary with activist judges has finally paid off.

You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more despicably dishonest paragraph than that one.

Let's pick this apart one point at a time. Believe me, it's like shooting fish in a frickin' barrel with this neuron-challenged crackpot.

• "No one took seriously" the fact that Obamacare is unconstitutional? Really, schmuck? No one but about two dozen state attorneys general and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, for starters.

• As for scholars, the brilliant constitutional attorney Mark R. Levin, president of Landmark Legal Foundation, led the development of a stunningly clear Amicus brief to solidify the Virginia Attorney General's position. Levin and numerous other Constitutional conservatives made it crystal clear why Obamacare was so directly at odds with the Constitution. As Levin himself wrote tonight:

1. Individuals who do not actively participate in commerce -- that is, who do not voluntarily purchase health insurance -- cannot be said to be participating in commerce under the United States Constitution's Commerce Clause, and there is no Supreme Court precedent providing otherwise;

2. The Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution cannot be used as a backdoor means to enforce a statute that is not otherwise constitutional under Congress's enumerated powers;

and 3. There is a difference between a tax and a penalty, there is much Supreme Court precedent in this regard, and the penalty provision in Obamacare is not a tax but a penalty and, therefore, is unconstitutional for it is applied to individuals who choose not to purchase health care.

• As for Marshall's egregiously dishonest claim that Hudson is some sort of "activist judge"? If applying the Constitution as it was written means anything -- and considering every other law is supposed to be interpreted as it was written -- the only activists on the bench are the Leftist-slash-crypto-socialists who claim our nation's highest law is "living and breathing" so they can confiscate more private property and amass more personal power.

Tools like Marshall see no limits on the state whatsoever, as if we live in Zimbabwe or Cuba. In fact, Marshall would have fit in beautifully in the old Soviet Union.

As for the decision: anyone remotely familiar with this nation's founding -- which rules out the feeble-minded Marshall -- knows that a federal government (not a national government) with limited, enumerated powers was the intent of the Framers. This is crystal clear to anyone with an IQ over 75 who has bothered to read the Federalist Papers.

And as a backdrop to his ludicrous position, Marshall's Utopian welfare state is collapsing -- not just here but all around the world. That's what makes his propaganda so outrageous; but it's not unexpected coming from the Statist Left that must continually invent new lies to cover up failure after failure after failure.

Come to think of it, with a few more excretions like this one, Marshall might displace the ludicrous Matthew Yglesias as a front-runner for the World's Dumbest Blogger Award.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and American Power. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Concern Over Stimulus II Grows

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Nation

Concern Over Stimulus II Grows: Hewitt
Now What?: Hanson
Market alarm as US fails to control biggest debt in history: Telegraph

The Pledge To America and Primary Rhetoric: Hewitt
Breyer: Your Constitutional Rights Vary by Zipcode: RWN
Next Week in Politics: Ace

Economy

Bernie Sanders Asks the Rich: ‘When is Enough Enough?’: Malkin
The Tragedy of the Unemployed Democrat: AmSpec
More Cornhusker Kickbacks and Louisiana Purchases: LegalIns

Will NLRB's Craig Becker explain his conflicts of interest?: WashExam
Delta says no to unions and Obama: WklyStd
Saving or creating jobs -- overseas: Zilla

Polling Data: Spending Restraint vs. Deficit Reduction: BigGovt
Lesson of the Tax Deal: Teach Your Kids Chinese: AT (Baehr)
Detroit has been bankrupt for years--It just refuses to admit it.: Mish

Climate & Energy

Selling Global Warming: Timing is Everything: Malkin (Powers)
Storm of the Century?: Hot Air
Countries Agree To Redistribute Wealth For Climate Change, As Snow Collapses Metrodome (Again): RWN

Media

Enemies of the Constitution: Former SEIU Exec Joins Center for American Progress Action Fund: BigGovt
The Man Who Never Held a Job: Anthony Weiner's Class Warfare: Parker
The Left sees history's fist coming. Again.: AT (Lewis)

PDS: AP dings Palin for wearing designer glasses to Haiti: Cubachi
AP's Ohlemacher Continues Press's Persistent Promotion of Social Security Falsehoods: NewsBusters
Nihilism and Progressivism: AmPower

Republicans Plan to Make the P in NPR 'Private': Verum Serum
The Theft of Ground Zero: AT (Geller)
Krugman's Revisionism: Patterico

World

Like it or Not: Mexico is America’s Next Afghanistan: RedState
Venezuela acquired 1,800 antiaircraft missiles from Russia last year: Greenroom
Spain: Catalonian city bans the burqa: JihadWatch

All Swedes Are Malmö Jews Now: LegalIns
Israel Slammed For Rejecting Non-Existent Obama ‘Offer’ On Building Freeze!?!: Big Peace
WikiLeaks: Secret Cables Show Growing U.S. Concern Over China: PJM

SciTech

Video Games Are Not Art, They Are... Cars: Jalopnik
NIST Announces SHA-3 Finalists (Skein is One of Them): Schneier
Uh oh. RFID hustlers stealing credit card numbers!: RightScoop

Cornucopia

The Boyz Are Back in Town -- You Dawg!: MOTUS
What item of sports memorabilia sold for $4.3 million — a sports memorabilia record?: Althouse
Banks, Clearing and Over the Counter Derivatives: P&F

Image: Serr8d's Cutting Edge
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Winner of Tuesday's Ground Zero Mosque Sign Contest

QOTD: "Sarah Palin freaks out the media -- especially the feminists -- like a combined Ronald Reagan and Clarence Thomas. She is their 9/11.

One of the promises of Palin for president is all the laughs we'll get for eight whole years if she gets elected and Obama goes down.

Just think of it: eight years of belly laughs. Guaranteed.

The Secret Service will have to triple its POTUS detail, because ranting lefties are dangerous. All the would-be assassins of the 20th century came from the ranting left -- shooting JFK, Robert Kennedy, Reagan, and Ford. Not a single conservative. Not a single normal person. " -- James Lewis, "The Charisma of Sarah Palin"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Federal Housing Agency Looking for an Associate Director of Minority Inclusion--But Only Willing to Pay $255K of Your Money In Salary

Should you need additional proof that the Democrat-controlled federal government is completely and utterly out of control, may I present Exhibit 9 Bazillion?

...Through subordinate staff, you will assess and analyze the diversity policies and practices of FHFA and the regulated entities and the Office of Finance. Other responsibilities include: Directing the development and implementation of standards and procedures to ensure the fair inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, the disabled, veterans and minority-owned and women-owned businesses in all business and activities of FHFA at all levels, including in procurement and all types of contracts;

...The person selected as the Associate Director for Women and Minority Inclusion will lead this new office. Additional vacancies will be advertised in the near future...

That last paragraph is important: after all their regulations failed to avert the mortgage crisis (thanks especially to Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Maxine Waters), the Democrats are busy building up new agencies and new offices to oversee the same losers that failed the last time.

Democrats don't mind that the country is bankrupt. They've emptied the Treasury with trillions in failed spending programs. And still they spend, hiring new bureaucrats as greedily as Michael Moore hordes french fries at Johnny Rocket's.

By the way, if you want to apply for the job, please contact Marisa Harper, a Human Resources Specialist at Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington, DC. Please be polite and tell her I sent you. Maybe I'll get a referral fee.


Hat tip: Brad.

Congratulations, Sweden: you've just had your first suicide bombing! Now, where are you going to celebrate multi-culturalism?

With last night's news that Sweden had experienced its first Islamist suicide bombing, the Leftist crackpots were out in force. One such commenter took umbrage with my remark that the terrorist(s) had specifically targeted women and children in Stockholm's busiest Christmas shopping district:

"Curious that you mention women and children as the targets. Is this street especially frequented by them or do Swedish men not shop for Christmas?"

Well, let's roll the videotape and capture some screen-shots (video courtesy of Atlas Shrugs).

Now, genius: did you see the baby stroller?

And, in the next to last shot, the kid wearing a blue jacket who looks like he's no more than 10 years old?

In September, one of Sweden's most powerful political parties warned of an "imminent Islamic revolution."

When asked to clarify whether he thought an Islamic revolution was possible in Sweden and other western countries, [Sweden Democrat party secretary Björn] Söder answered in the affirmative... “Yes, Sweden is being Islamified right now. We’ve taken up countless examples of how Sweden is adapting to Muslim demands and we’re seeing how mosques are popping up like mushrooms from the ground in Sweden and all over Europe. It’s not necessarily the case that we’ll all become Muslims, but that we will have to obey Sharia..."

As for the United States: in 2006 Time Magazine described the "The New Muslim-Liberal Coalition", an alliance of convenience that has few of America's best interests in mind.

The Left's incessant push for multiculturalism and Balkanization will have severely negative impacts for this country. The alarm klaxons are sounding now in Sweden. We would do well to heed them.


Update: 'Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, Stockholm Suicide Bomber, Was Living in Britain'

Brilliant: Legacy Media Still Asking Whether California Should Raise Taxes--While Average State Worker's Total Compensation is 107K

Quick quiz: see if you can spot the complete detachment from reality exhibited by the Bakersfield Whatever:

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has an enormous burden on his shoulders -- a $25 billion state budget deficit -- and seriously limited options in his quest to eliminate it. His best potential allies: California voters.

Brown appears to be leaning strongly toward proposing a special election next year in which voters will be asked to either approve new taxes to help close the gap, or accept a state government that offers far less in the way of services -- many we take for granted...

...The problem is startlingly vast: The budget gap, Brown says, outstrips combined annual spending on public assistance, corrections and the state's two public college systems.

Here's a really cool idea. It's one I borrowed from the real world. Spend less than you take in. To put it in terms California's Democrats can understand: it's, like, what the rest of us have to do. Dude.

Oh, and here's one place you can start.

[With retirement, health care, extra vacation and paid time off, you can] apply a 56% overhead rate to an average [public sector] base salary of $68,500, you arrive at a total compensation estimate for the average state or local government worker in California of $106,860 per year. As also explored in the earlier post, “Public Employee Compensation,” the average private sector worker’s total compensation in California is estimated at $57,000 per year – probably well under that, since the data sets used did not include self-employed individuals...

...There are solutions that would go a long way towards solving these problems, such as implementing pay and benefit cuts that target the most highly compensated, most overpaid strata of the public workforce, or streamlining top-heavy bureaucracies and cutting costs from the top down instead of from the bottom up, or, gasp, making pay-cuts more palatable to public employees by reinventing the regulatory environment to actually lower the cost of living in California.

Dare to dream, folks. Dare to dream.


Warmal Colding Maps o' the Day

As of about 9:00am ET, these are the temperatures around the continental United States.

I'd like you to consider the following assertion:

No matter how many temperature stations they position to get extra heat, no matter how many manatees die of hypothermia, no matter how many respected scientists tell them that global warming is no more caused by humans than is the sun's heat, and no matter how many record low temperatures the U.S. experiences, you won't change the global warmists' opinions.

Because it has nothing to do with science. It has to do with money. Wealth redistribution, to be more precise.

The environmental movement is a crypto-Marxist movement. And everyone knows it now. Science is the last thing on their minds. Confiscating your wealth is their highest priority, and the EPA is their preferred mechanism to do so: an unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy setting industrial policy without any checks or balances.

Some might call that kind of system a dictatorship. Whatever it is, it's certainly not the form of government our founders created.


Larwyn's Linx: The Top 10 Economic Myths of 2010

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Nation

Two Prominent Black Democrats Flee to GOP: GWP
Mitch McConnell's Make or Break Week: LegalIns
The WikiLeaks Vindication of George W. Bush: Elder

Pigford's Fraud on the American Taxpayer: RWN
After The Snark: Fallout From Obama's Abdication To Clinton : JWF
Maxine Waters: Another Democrat with Ethics Problems: PJM

Redistricting Pennsylvania (with Maps!): RedState
Education Worth Watching: AmSpec
Rep. Ellison thinks Democrats should create a 'crisis': USR

Economy

The Top 10 Economic Myths of 2010: MRC
When Words Lose Their Meaning: ProWis
Three 20-somethings do what the GAO says is impossible: P&F

Obama Wants To End All Tax Deductions: S&L
Decision on VA ObamaCare Lawsuit Expected Monday: AmSpec
The Obama Effect: First Guns, Now Food Stamps: Moonbattery

Climate & Energy

Blockbuster: More Than 1000 Scientists Agree: No Man-Caused Global Warming: RWN
NASA: Greenouse Gases Won't Be a Problem for Centuries. Wait, What?: NewsReal
Does Big Green really care about wind and solar energy?: WashExam

Media

The Unmaking of the President: Driscoll
Reclaiming Conservatism And The Constitution From Wurtzel And Others: Riehl
Vieira to Michele Bachmann: Why Won't You 'Mean Spirited' Republicans Extend Unemployment Benefits? : MRC

Filibuster Filibuster: Surber
Andrew Sullivan Tagged for Rampant Falsehoods About Catholic Church, Pope: NewsBusters
The Audacity of Animosity: Noonan

Now We Know ABC stands for ‘Always Be Cutting’: Driscoll
Barbara Walters Edits Mark Levin's Book From Palin's Reading List Answer: NewsBusters
NYT Scoop: Nixon was not a nice person: Surber

World

Of Dignity and Want: AT
New Wikileaks Release Reveals Saudi Arabian Royal Debauchery: YWL
Obama: Freedom from Want is a Human Right: Cube

Jihadists Collect Names Of All U.S. Interests Worldwide From Documents Released By WikiLeaks: MEMRI
Egypt’s Rigged Elections: Mubarak shows contempt for the ‘Cairo Effect.’: WklyStd
Islamists Take Over the Streets of Paris: Atlas

More Wikileaks Damage: Pope Wanted Muslim Turkey Kept Out of EU: GWP
Six Pipe Bombs — How Many Exploded?: GoV
What is Mayor Bloomberg hiding?: Judicial Watch

SciTech

NASA Sold Computers Containing Secrets: S&L
Google DoubleClick Caught Serving Malicious Ad: ThreatLevel
Apple engineer re-creates ancient computer with Legos: CNet

Cornucopia

A Flowchart to Determine What Religion You Should Follow: P&F
Sources: S*** Talk Really Flying at Dem-Obama Unity Meeting, But You Didn't Hear That From Sources: IowaHawk
Hen-pecked Husbands in the White House: Bookworm Room

Toys in the Attic: C&S
Little Marines Say Goodbye To Their Father: WHAM
Watch an 11-year old dunk: SportsGrid

Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Islam 101

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Car- and Suicide-Bombings in Stockholm, Sweden Target Christmas Shoppers, Especially Women and Children

The invaluable Islam In Europe reports:

A man blew himself up in a suicide attack in central Stockholm this evening surrounded by Christmas shoppers (SE, SE). A car exploded just minutes earlier on a nearby street, injuring two people... The man carried six pipe-bombs, but only one exploded. In addition he had a backpack filled with nails, and a possible additional bomb...

According to witnesses, the man shouted something in Arabic before he detonated the bombs.

The bomber was the only one killed in the attack. Several people nearby went into shock and suffered hearing loss.

The bombs detonated at Bryggargatan street. According to one source, if he would have blown up on the nearby Drottninggatan street, it would have been a massacre...

Approximately ten minutes before the explosions occurred, Swedish news agency TT received an email, also addressed to Säpo, in which a reached out to “Sweden and the Swedish people”.

He cites Sweden’s silence surrounding the cartoons by Swedish Lars Vilks which portray the prophet Mohammed as a dog, the Swedish troops in Afghanistan, saying in audio files attached to the email that “now your children, daughters and sisters die like our brothers’ and sisters’ children die”.

“Our actions will speak for themselves. As long as you don’t stop your ward against Islam and degrading the prophet and your stupid support of that pig Vilks,” the man said.

The man also urges all Muslims in Sweden to “stop sucking up to and degrading”. He concludes the message with yet another call to “all the mujahedeen in Europe and Sweden”.

“Now it’s time to act, don’t wait any longer. Fear no one, don’t fear prison, don’t fear death.”

The message contained audio files in both Swedish and Arabic. The audio files do not link the man to any organization. The man also says that he's been to the Middle East and asks his family to forgive him for lying to them. "I never went to the Middle East to work or earn money. I went there for Jihad."

In the midst of the Christmas shopping district, the jihadist's aims were simple and obvious: kill more innocents, women and children especially.

I contacted CAIR to see if they would issue a statement, but have thus far received no response.


Alan Grayson Explains the Democrat Position on Estate Taxes

So you've worked hard your whole life, paid your taxes and accumulated some sort of estate. And you want to pass that on to your heirs, your church, your favorite charities and schools.

Well, Democrats don't want you to. They want to steal what little they haven't confiscated from you over your entire working life. And, as usual, the legacy media is working its propaganda magic to back their efforts.


The Photos Legacy Media Won't Show You: Hezbollah in Venezuela and The Most Heavily Guarded 'Tractor Factory' in the World

Complementing the ominous report that Iran is equipping Venezuela's socialist dictatorship with medium-range missiles, Erick Stakelbeck's exclusive story at Big Peace describes a bizarre facility on Venezuelan soil.

"This is the most heavily guarded 'tractor factory' in the hemisphere... basically it is a military-style compound... it is a high-security facility that is accessible only to Iranians... we've had Venezuelan officials who've said they've ... been denied access.

...it's in the middle of nowhere, but not far from that uranium deposit... absolutely [true that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has visited this 'tractor factory' in recent years]..."

"Hezbollah has a very established presence in Venezuela... there's a lot of fear that because... Hezbollah has room to stretch that it will adversely impact American security...

[We have pictures of Venezuelan officials meeting with Hezbollah... in Beirut... this is Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, in the room...]

[Venezuela isn't trying to hide it, they're openly meeting with one of the world's most notorious Islamic terror groups, which has actually killed many Americans.] "Well, these are actually 'family photos' that we've been able to acquire from some of our sources, so they're not shouting it from the rooftops,.. our government should be asking the question, 'what is the Venezuelan ambassador to Lebanon and Syria... doing meeting with the head of Hezbollah's intelligence apparatus?' You have a lot of radicals in the Venezuelan government with ties to the Middle East -- and that's another disturbing fact...

[Gassan Uteb... Abu-Ali] is a Venezuelan citizen as of about ten years ago, he arrived there from Lebanon, he is now the [Deputy Chief of Mission] of the Venezuelan governement in Syria. We heave a photo of him meeting with [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad... this fellow is a designated terrorist by the U.S. government for supporting Hezbollah -- and he's a Venezuelan diplomat... [Yes, it's correct that a globally designated, high-ranking terrorist is a Venezuelan diplomat]... he's one of several, as a matter of fact, he has a network back in Venezuela that he works with in terms of coordinating relationships with Hezbollah... not only in Venezuela, but elsewhere in Latin America.

Where is the State Department on this story? Where is the President? And where is legacy media?

The same group of murderous thugs who killed 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut is roaming freely throughout Latin America?

And Venezuela is assisted by Iran's missile-guidance and nuclear scientists in a secret facility near a uranium deposit?

The description in The Atomic Mahdi still stands:

According to 'Twelver' Shi'a Mulims, Imam Hujjat al-Mahdī ( المهدى) is the twelfth Imam and the Mahdi, the ultimate savior of mankind. Twelver Shi'as believe that Muhammad was born in 868 and has been hidden by God (referred to as occultation) to later emerge to fulfill his mission... Shi'as believe that Muhammad al-Mahdi will reappear when the world has fallen into chaos and civil war...

...In a speech several years ago, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated, "Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi." [And] Princeton professor Bernard Lewis observes, "There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This difference is expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of Iran’s present rulers..."

...The most dangerous leaders in history are those like Hitler, Hirohito and Ahmadinejad, fueled by a totalitarian ideology and a mystical belief system. Ahmadinejad accepts that the return of the 12th Imam is imminent. Furthermore, he is certain of his own duty to hasten the Mahdi's return. This explains the many years of hidden preparation as Iran built its nuclear weapons, which are designed to both mete out punishment to the non-believers and pave the way for the apocalypse.

These are very treacherous times.

And they're compounded by the fact that our government and legacy media are controlled by incompetent ideologues. You may know them as Democrats.

Hezbollah appears to have free rein in Latin America, yet Democrats can't stop pandering to various ethnic front groups by protecting the American people through effective border control. I hate to say this because it sounds far too morbid, but people will die -- innocent Americans will die -- because of this lunacy.


What the...? Up to 84MM Mexicans To Be Designated 'Trusted Travelers', Allowing Them to Bypass Airport Security Checks

Worried that foreign travelers -- especially those entering the U.S. from Mexico -- will be insulted by intrusive security pat-downs in airports? Well, rest easy: Janet Napolitano is on the job.

As violent drug cartels take over Mexico and expand their criminal enterprises north, the United States has signed a “trusted traveler” agreement that allows pre-screened Mexican airline passengers to bypass lengthy airport security checkpoints... Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano claims it’s a way to enhance information sharing and mutual security in the face of “ever-evolving, multinational threats.”

About 84 million Mexicans are expected to qualify for the trusted traveler program [who] will get the perk through the U.S. government’s Global Entry Program... Applying is easy. Candidates fill out an online application, provide valid identification and answer a few questions from a Customs and Border Protection officer.

While Napolitano was in Mexico finalizing the trusted traveler agreement this week, she also took the opportunity to sign a “letter of intent” to develop a plan for protecting immigrants from criminal attacks as they cross the border—illegally—into the U.S. Mexican officials have long complained that American law enforcement officers stand by as illegal immigrants are robbed, killed or violently beaten. Napolitano has committed to reducing the risk to life and security of migrants, according to the Mexican minister.

You couldn't even make this s*** up.

Perhaps Napolitano will refer to this program as "Skipping the Airport Screenings Americans Won't Skip."


Larwyn's Linx: Why Jim DeMint Opposes the Tax Compromise

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

Nation

Senator Jim DeMint on why he opposes the tax compromise: Cubachi
Rage Inside the Machine: Driscoll
Homegrown hate crimes against our troops: Malkin

Obama Claims Power Over All Medicines: RWN
Another Reason for a Flat Tax: Freedom of Speech: AT
Senate Dems Walk the Plank on Taxes: Baehr

Economy

Pay Up, Obama: Surber
IL School Raises Taxes While Using Stimulus for Raises, Bonuses: RWN
Obama Chooses Badly: Recovery Thwarted: AT

Needed Reforms for Public Higher Education: PJM
Far Left Nut Harkin Attacks Career Colleges: Marathon
New Fast Food Restaurants Banned in South LA: WZ

Another Obama Record! November Deficit Is Highest Ever: GWP
Viral Nonsense About Silver: Mish
Investors in gold, silver grow cautious over rising rates: Minyanville

Climate & Energy

Death of the Global Warming Myth: AT
Ethanol Subsidies Show Why Washington Is Broken: RWN
UN Report Says Global Warming Will Give You Cancer: WZ

Media

Something very, very weird is going on in Washington: Bookworm Room
Great News: Bill Clinton Apparently Now President Again: Hot Air
This Photo Will Sting Bush-Haters Like a Bee: Powers

Van Jones: We are coming for the media and that’s not all: Greenroom
Palin Does The One Thing She Could Have Done To Get Me On Board With Her Candidacy: Ace
The GOP: a Post-Election Disappointment: Clarion

The Slippery Slope of Liberalism: Potluck
Hostage-takers: Tax focus group descends into shouting: BlogProf
Ron Radosh's Blogging Hat Trick: RWN

World

Friends Like These: The Razor
India Outraged Over TSA Pat Down of Indian Ambassador: LCR
Nice: Sharia in Toronto: Atlas

Thanks to International Aid, Gaza Is Going To Be A Well-Off Islamist Republic: BRubin
Obama and Arab Imperialism: AT
This is Not so Good: Iranian Missiles in Venezuela: Big Feed

SciTech

10 Wireless Predictions for 2011: Seeking Alpha
Stuxnet Worm Still Out of Control at Iran's Nuclear Sites, Experts Say: Fox
Jesus' Great-Grandmother Identified: Discovery

Cornucopia

Handing off the political football: SHN
Navy Man Auctions His Watch for $9.95, Gets $66,100: Minyanville
50 Highest Paying Jobs: BusinessPundit

Image: Adapted from photograph at Weasel Zippers.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support the Senate Conservatives Fund for Constitutional Conservatives

QOTD: "Saudi money has spread the Wahabi brand of religious intolerance to all parts of the globe. It has built mosques throughout the world, bringing Wahabism to places that it had never been before including Pakistan, Indonesia, and sub-Saharan Africa – areas with more tolerant, indigenous Islamic traditions. As the Saudis became wealthier after the oil shocks of the 1970s, their funding of Wahabist causes grew. The United States, locked in an ideological battle with the Soviet Union, even welcomed the Wahabist influence as a tool to undermine Soviets in South Asia, and as a potential firewall against the spread of Shiite radicalism that Iran began exporting after the Ayatollah Khomeini took power in 1979. Less than two decades later the United States would come to regret their support and encouragement of these Wahabist elements." -- The Razor, "Friends Like These"

Friday, December 10, 2010

Warmal Colding News Roundup: Hypothermia Killed Record Number of Ultra-Cute Manatees in 2010 and Al Gore Doesn't Give a Crap

Curiously, this headline isn't getting much play in legacy media:

Cold caused record manatee deaths in 2010


Florida's record number of manatee deaths in 2010 — 699 — were largely blamed on the severe cold last winter. And that count could rise with more cold temperatures expected next week...

...Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said Friday that 2010 saw an unprecedented die-off for the endangered mammals...

...Last winter's freezing temperatures gave many manatees an acute cold shock, like severe hypothermia, that killed them faster than in previous winters [and] the cold weather spread as far south as the Everglades and Florida Keys, areas where manatees usually don't see many cold-related deaths...

Oh. And yesterday Syracuse, New York experienced its single-day snowfall record of 14.9 inches, six inches greater than the previous record set in '61.

And:

Cancun hosts warming conference amid record cold temps


As negotiators from nearly 200 countries met in Cancun to strategize ways to keep the planet from getting hotter, the temperature in the seaside Mexican city plunged to a 100-year record low of 54° F. Climate-change skeptics are gleefully calling Cancun's weather the latest example of the "Gore Effect"...

...ClimateGate was "bad enough," says Duncan Davidson in Wall Street Pit, but Cancun's weather is particularly "inconvenient" for global-warming alarmists. It's a reminder that global temperatures have "flatlined" despite rising carbon dioxide levels, "which is decidedly chilling against the concept of hampering economic growth to limit Co2 emissions."

While the EPA prepares to implement cap-and-trade by edict, the world appears to be entering a new Ice Age. But, now that I think about it, that's the kind of epic fail we've come to expect from Democrats.


Update:
Long Island hits record-low 13 degrees
Athens [Georgia] Morning Cold May Be Record
Frigid South Florida Seeing Record Lows
Record-breaking cold blows into Austin [Texas]
Cold spell breaks 169-year record in Fort Lauderdale

Stark Naked Proof: Unemployment Benefits Must Be Time-Boxed. At Least, That's the Claim of the Teabaggers at The New York Times

Even the Gray Lady can't hide the fact that 2 + 2 equals 4. At least, not yet. Nan G, a commenter at Flopping Aces, observes:

Have you ever seen a chart [illustrating] when people find work in comparison to when their benefits run out? Here’s one such chart:

The chart displays the fraction of persons (in Pittsburgh) receiving unemployment benefits who began working again, as a function of the number of weeks until their unemployment benefits were scheduled to be exhausted.

For example, a “hazard” value of “0.04″ for week “-14″ means that, among unemployed persons with 14 weeks remaining until their benefit exhaustion date, 4 percent of them either began working a new job or returned to their previous job.

Notice the VAST majority of unemployed persons got employed during their last week of benefits and the 1st week AFTER benefits ran out.

The rest of the NYTimes story (from [March] 2010) about this chart is here: http://tinyurl.com/TheNewYorkTimesSucks*. And it is worth a read.

Indeed it is.

Because it isn't often you see the Leftist crackpots at the Times printing the truth.


Time-Traveling Blue Dog Democrats Finally Arrive in the Year 2007

The Hill reports that the "fiscally conservative" Blue Dog Democrats (try not to chuckle) finally arrived in the year 2007. By that I mean the few "moderate Dems" who survived the 2010 Midterm beatdown at last organized themselves sufficiently to create a Twitter account.

The Blue Dog Democrats now have their own Twitter account under the handle @BlueDogPress.

Blue Dog Coalition is now on Twitter! reads the feed's first tweet. Follow this account for the latest info on the Blue Dogs in the House of Representatives.

The coalition's membership of centrist and conservative Democrats was slashed by at least half during the midterm elections. Two of its four leaders — Reps. Baron Hill (Ind.) and Stephanie Herseth (S.D.) — did not secure reelection.

So far, the account has 12 followers.

Which is about the same number of Americans who believe a modern Democrat can be fiscally conservative.


Larwyn's Linx: Obamacare and unintended consequences

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

Nation

Obamacare and unintended consequences: Hoystory
Widening the Margin of Voter Fraud: PJM
Why Mike Pence catches conservatives' eyes: Will

Dems push rule change to jam agenda through in lame duck: RWN
Obama's 'Missing Link': AT (Kengor)
Hillary Would Like a Do-Over: Post

Economy

Pro-Socialist Union Fights Right’s 'Lies' About Government Workers: Loudon
Secret GOP plan: States declare bankruptcy, smash unions: Pethokoukis
Stimulus Impact: Zero: Fausta

'House Democrats Demand Changes to Tax Deal': ProWis
Medicare Grew? Who Knew?: Reason
Obama sets the tax trap: P&F

Rigging Federal Transportation Awards So Waste Is Assured: Patterico
Deportation Distortions: AmSpec
Chinese Firm Could Get $450 Million In Stimulus Money: RWN

Climate & Energy

Vitter Takes A Shot At A Nominee Hold To Force End To Obamoratorium: Hayride
Global Warming Hoax Roundup: Bayonet
Green idiocy, Green racism, Green genocide: Ace

Enviro-Nuts: We Can’t Drill For Oil Because Of Global Warming!: RWN
Green Eco-Tards Fall For the Old “Dihydrogen Monoxide” Petition Prank at Cancun Global Warming Summit: GWP
Small Complicated Climate Building Codes: AT

Media

Democratic Hate/Racism/Incivility/Undermining Democracy Watch: Frustrated Dem Rep Says 'F*** the President': Ace
Islamophobia-obsessed Media Silent on Anti-Semitic 'Hate Crimes' at Indiana U.: NewsBusters
Who Are The Real Hostage Takers?: Rhymes With Right

House Democrats Defy Obama on Tax Cut Bill: Driscoll
Berkeley City Council Decides It Hasn't Gotten Any Attention In A Year; Sets Out To Fix That: Ace
This Week in Quotes: RWN

Why Constitutional Conservatism Is Ascending: AT
The Eerily Prescient Mr. Brooks: JOM
Palin to Walters: The Media Have Made People Think I'm Scary, Uninformed and Polarizing: NewsBusters

World

Netherlands: Al-Qaeda mouthpiece run by Dutch extremists: IIE
NY Times spotlights Palestinian 'despair,' ignores it's completely self-inflicted: AT
CanadaCare: Woman dies in ER--"She was crying--Nobody attended to my daughter": BlogProf

Bernanke to China: Stop Hurting Us or You'll Hurt Us: AT
Prince Charles' Car Attacked by Rioting Yutes in London: GWP
Nice: Islamic Radicals Are Training the TSA: RWN

SciTech

WikiLeaks: Schneier
DDoS Free-For-All: MasterCard, Visa, Other Major Websites Hit In WikiLeaks Fallout: Dark Reading
The Tesco Clubcard crisis: supermarket giant's rewards campaign descends into chaos.: Yahoo UK

Cornucopia

A Yuletide Gift of Kindness: iOTW
O’s Outfielder Luke Scott Questions Obama’s Birthplace: CBS Baltimore
Rahm Emanuel Answers the Tough Questions: Hope for America

Image: Lee Harvey Oswald --- Kaching! (a production of American Digest)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Nice Deb

QOTD: "The MSM spent weeks hammering Breitbart for the incomplete Shirley Sherrod video he posted last summer. So far, their silence has been deafening on this growing scandal —just like they ignored Obama’s strange and sketchy background in 2008, just like they ignored Big Government’s ACORN sting operations in the fall of 2009, and just like they ignored Climategate in November/December 2009, until enough time had elapsed that they could poo-poo the story." -- Caroline May, "Will Pigford vindicate Andrew Breitbart?", Daily Caller

Thursday, December 09, 2010

I don't want to imply that our beloved Fed Chairman is an incoherent boob, but...

...this is definitely not good:

Bernanke on 60 Minutes two days ago: "We're not printing money." Bernanke on 60 Minutes 21 months ago: "We're printing money."

Perhaps that incoherence can help explain this headline in today's Financial Times:

US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off in two years


US Treasuries suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, following a torrid month that has seen borrowing costs for western governments soar...

...The yield on 10-year US Treasuries hit a six-month high of 3.33 per cent on Wednesday, up 0.39 percentage points from Monday and 1 percentage point higher than its October low. Japanese five-year yields also rose the most in two years, while Germany’s benchmark borrowing costs hit 3 per cent. “People are getting out of the market and moving to the sidelines, feeling shellshocked at the speed of the rise in yields,” said David Ader, strategist at CRT Capital... “Yields at this level are clearly unsustainable,” said Paul Marson, chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, the Swiss private bank.

There's that word again.

"Unsustainable".

It's used to describe everything the modern Democrat Party touches, from Social Security, to Medicare, to Medicaid, public sector union pensions, unemployment insurance, the Post Office and MSNBC's ratings.

In fact, the Democrats' track record of economic destruction is so egregious that their "base" has been whittled down to union bosses, illegal aliens, felons, the deceased in Cook County, and the editorial board of The New York Times.


Twittersphere nonplussed over CRM vendor's non-customer-friendly ad campaign

Poking fun at competitor Salesforce.com at its yearly confab, Microsoft Corporation used taxis emblazoned with marketing messages to trumpet its customer relationship management (CRM) software.

But things did not go quite as planned, however, as evidenced by the reaction on Twitter.

Lesson learned for next year, perhaps.