Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Internet -- by the Numbers

Some startling numbers from Pingdom concerning the scope and scale of the Internet.

14% - The growth in total Internet users in 2010.

15.3% - The growth in the number of IIS websites in 2010.

39.1% - The growth in the number of Apache websites in 2010.

89.1% – The percentage of emails that were spam.

2,232 – Average number of videos a U.S. Internet user watches annually.

7.7 million – People following @LadyGaga.

100 million - Twitter accounts added in 2010.

152 million - Total number of blogs on the Internet.

175 million - number of Twitter users worldwide.

250 million - Facebook accounts added in 2010.

255 million - number of websites worldwide.

480 million - number of email users added in 2010.

600 million - number of Facebook users worldwide.

1.9 billion - total number of email users worldwide.

1.97 billion - total number of Internet users worldwide.

2 billion - number of YouTube videos watched per day.

2.9 billion - total number of email accounts worldwide.

5 billion – total number of photos hosted on Flickr.

25 billion - number of tweets sent in 2010.

36 billion – Approximate number of photos uploaded to Facebook annually.

294 billion - number of emails sent per day.

107 trillion - number of emails sent in 2010.


Hat tip: Big Picture.

Aftermath of Tucson Shooting Reveals Big Gaps in the Identification and Treatment of Delusional Children. But Enough About David Gregory.

There are roughly 300 million Americans who don't watch Meet the Press and who wouldn't know its host -- David Gregory -- from Oprah's plumber. Truth be told, Oprah's plumber probably has a higher Q-rating. But I digress.

The ludicrous Mr. Gregory, whose idea of empaneling a 'conservative' on his show involves speed-dialing Davids Frum and Brooks, beclowned himself in spectacular fashion this Sunday past. Let's listen in.

MR. GREGORY: ...out of the madness of Arizona, is this the moment when civility makes a comeback in politics? Is this the game changer in political attitudes that 9/11 was to our attitudes about security? Our special roundtable examines those questions and more, including the pattern of political attack and counterattack in the wake of the shootings... With us this morning, the Reverend Al Sharpton --

Whoa, whoa, whoa -- stop the tape.

Seriously? Al Sharpton? So the man who helped fan the racial tensions that killed eight innocent people in New York is NBC's 'civility expert'? Just wanted to level-set here...

MR. GREGORY: ...I do want to ask about political discourse and where this conversation should go. Ron Brownstein writes in his column in the National Journal this week, a column that's entitled "Apocalypse Always." And here's a point that he makes in conclusion of the piece: "When political arguments are routinely framed as threats to America's fundamental character, the odds rise that the most disturbed among us will be tempted to resist the governing agenda by any means necessary."

Is that the real problem, Senator Coburn? Is a description of political discourse and political disagreement as being apocalyptic, having such huge consequence for the direction of the country?

Okay, it's been a whole week, Mr. Gregory.

Since the attack, we've confirmed that the Jared Loughner was a nut -- stark raving bonkers -- with, if anything, a left-leaning political background. So we know that 'political arguments' -- especially as they unfairly tarred Sarah Palin and the Tea Party -- had absolutely nothing to do with Loughner's delusions.

As for Mr. Gregory's condition one can only speculate.

I reject the premise of this ridiculous man, his ridiculous show and the entire notion of a 'civility expert' named Al Sharpton.

Mr. Gregory, in the words of Don Surber: bite me.

Now you know why NBC's ratings trail the Alfalfa Channel and re-runs of F-Troop.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: Giving the Race Card a Rest on MLK Day

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

Giving the Race Card a Rest on MLK Day: Malkin
Great: RINO Lugar Wants New Assault Weapons Ban: WZ
Pence urged to enter race for president in 2012: WashExam

How the Left Helped Inspire Jarred Loughner: Lid
It's Not About What's True, It's About Who's on Offense: RWN
Fuller gets a psych test; why didn't Loughner?: FA

The Time Has Come: NoisyRoom
To Ayres is lefty: Surber
Today’s Unhinged, Insane, And Over The Top Disclosure: RWN

Economy

The Cost of ObamaCare is a Time Bomb: WashExam
Unemployment In U.S. Actually Worse Than In Pakistan: M'ville
Fed no longer denying its agenda is driving up stocks: Ritholtz

Climate & Energy

It’s MLK, Jr. Day. Obviously, It’s All About Enviro-Wackos: RWN
The EPA just can't help itself: WashExam
Gulf Oil Spill: a Man-Caused Economic Disaster: AT

Media

Palin Was Terrific: AmSpec
56% of Democrats Believe Palin Map Myth: LegalIns
A left-wing blog plays the race card: JRubin

A Tribute To Martin Luther King Jr. From My Son: RWN
Associated Depressed Fabricates Report that 'Opposition' to Obamacare is Easing : WklyStd
WaPo’s ‘On Faith’ Blog Spikes a Regular Contributor When He Writes on Islam: PJM

It's War: Ed 'Pee Wee' Schultz Calls Out Mark Levin: Equalizer
Palin: 'They're Not Going to Shut Me Up': Malkin (Powers)
“National debate”=them lecturing, us (not) listening: Cold Fury

Civility: Liberal Video Has Loaded Guns Pointed at Palin; Equates GOP to Nazis: PunditPress
Civil Myass: How About We DON’T Tone It Down for a Change?: AmDigest
The Cult of Zeitgeist – Jared Loughner Part 2: MagNote

World

Appeasing China: I Would Rather Have Reagan With Alzheimer’s...: BigPeace
China and Currency Manipulation: P&F
'Germany Abolishes Itself' – the publishing sensation that challenges Europe's diversity consensus: Telegraph

New evidence Minnesota ‘taxpayer funded Islamic school’ broke law: Creeping
A Spoiled Generation?: RWN
Accelerating Deposit Flight In Ireland Forces Irish Central Bank To Print Money Independent Of ECB: ZH

SciTech

Steve Jobs goes on medical leave of absence: Insider
Has Bing Become Better than Google?: BNet
Step Away From the TV/iPad/Laptop Screen: Kedrosky

Richard Lindzen: A Case Against Precipitous Climate Action: WUWT
Scientist says he can clone long-extinct mammoth: CNet
Is Consumer Reports Right In Warning Against The Verizon iPhone?: TechCrunch

Cornucopia

25 Quotes That Can Change Your Life: RWN
First Obama 2012 T-Shirt Released to Adoring Public of Nice People: RightNet
Irony: Planet Fitness bans bodybuilders: BlogProf

Image: iOwnTheWorld --- Rare Photo from Start of Tucson Memorial
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama 2012 - Corrigan Brothers

Monday, January 17, 2011

Scoop: I reveal the 'secret financiers' behind the Tea Party before the shocking exposé by RawStory and John Podesta!

The troubled crackpots at RawStory appear to have quite the journalistic coup. They claim that the progressive media will, at the end of the month, reveal the "secretive billionaire family that finances the so-called Tea party movement."

Gee, and all this time I thought the Tea Party was a grass-roots movement inspired -- in part -- by an on-air diatribe by CNBC's Rick Santelli.

Actually I'm going to scoop the leftists -- who seem to have forgotten about George Soros, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, various former and current Goldman Sachs partners and a myriad other mega-rich Democrat Party backers -- and reveal the real financiers of the Tea Party.

It's all of these guys:

If you needed further proof that the Left is delusional -- and I'm certain you don't -- RawStory's 'scoop' should seal the deal.


Related: Jennifer Rubin exposes the race card lies of ThinkProgress, "owned by the Center for American Progress (run by John Podesta)". But I'm sure that's just another grass-roots organization of patriotic Americans.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin and The Tatler. Thanks!

Good News: Evil Health Insurers Will Be Penalized by All-Powerful Federal Bureaucracy for, And I Quote, 'Unreasonable Rate Increases'

Any resemblance to Venezuela is strictly intentional.

The long-awaited proposed HHS regulations for dealing with "unreasonable rate increases" were released Dec. 21, and health insurers will soon face greater scrutiny than they have ever faced before. Starting July 1, any planned rate hike of 10% or more in the individual or small-group market must undergo extensive review...

...insurers would have to publicly disclose not only the increases and the rationale for them, but lots of other information, including the salaries of their executives...

...HHS would have subjective criteria it could use to determine that a state’s review processes are not effective, and that means HHS would take over the review itself. In addition, states (and perhaps HHS) could bar carriers deemed to be unreasonably raising premiums from participating in the new insurance exchanges...

...Overall, HHS’s new filing requirements are so extensive for planned hikes of 10% or more, and the potential for adverse publicity is so enormous, that some insurers may choose to back off even from hikes that are needed and warranted...

Not only will the Department of Health and Human Services hold the power of life and death over you -- the individual -- but it will also determine which private insurance companies live and die.

The Department of HHS has the power to reward and punish; to enrich its political allies and bankrupt its enemies; to deny health care services or permit them; to play God.

And that is why Democrats jammed through a monstrous bill that purports to be "health care reform". No one read the bill. No one knows exactly what it will do. But they knew enough, namely that it will grant unlimited, God-like power to a select few political hacks.

Like Venezuela. Or the old Soviet Union. That's the 'change' the drones voted for in 2008.


'Civility' -- Just Another Word for Hudna

According to Wikipedia, the word Hudna "(هدنة) is an Arabic term meaning a temporary 'truce' or 'armistice'."

A more pragmatic definition paints a Hudna as not only a temporary truce but also a method of deception used by radical Muslims to install a false sense of security among opponents. All terms and conditions of a Hudna are optional for the radicals, with their duration in effect "only as long as the Muslims need them to be."

When Democrats began promoting 'civility' after their libelous accusations linking a deranged Leftist mass-murderer (who despised George W. Bush) with the Tea Party, I immediately recognized a Hudna.

After a historic shellacking in the midterm elections, Democrats want to promote 'civility' in the form of a truce that will allow them to regroup.

In the words of Don Surber: bite me.

For a decade, from the election of Bush 43 forward, the Left has lied and cheated as it tried to return to power. Al Gore made a mockery out of the American electoral system by being a spoilsport over Florida, which Bush indeed won... Dan Rather forged a document to try to derail Bush’s re-election... After voting to support the war to get by the 2002 election, many Democrats quickly soured on the war. The profane protests were cheered by liberals [and once] in power, liberals were the opposite of gracious.

For two years now, I have been called ignorant, racist, angry and violent by the left. The very foul-mouthed protesters of Bush dare to now label my words as “hate speech.”

...screw [them and their] civil discourse.

I don’t want to hear it.

I have been screamed at for 10 years.

I feel the same way.

But not precisely because I'm angry, although I am angry at their destructive, catatonically stupid policies.

But because this is a hudna, plain as day. And I, for one, refuse to allow them to regroup or claim some sort of moral high ground when it is they who are immoral, dishonest and disrespectful.

It is they who are the cult, far from the mainstream, who have as their stated aim the destruction of the American system. And this 'civility' truce will last only as long as is convenient; for you can rest assured their hysterical, unhinged attacks will resume at the earliest window of political opportunity.


Larwyn's Linx: I do not want civil discourse

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

I do not want civil discourse: Surber
Re: Civil Discourse: Nice Deb
Will media investigate why Fuller targeted Humphries?: LegalIns

Martin Luther King Day: P&F
We now know what drove Loughner to violence: Bush: GWP
Tweet of the Day, and Reagan at 100: Malkin

Border Patrol Agent Hides Illegal Immigrants, Drugs: JW
Family Docs Getting Harder to Recruit in WV: WashExam
Move over MLK Jr Day, CAIR makes it Muslim Capitol Day: Creeping

Economy

Escape to Wisconsin!: RWN
High Drama, Low Comedy in Illinois Tax Follies: Moran
10,000 GMAC Foreclosures Stopped in Maryland: FDL

Crime and Taxes: Cruise Lines Abandon San Diego: RWN
Liberals applaud destruction of Maryland housing market: RSM
NYC solution to school overcrowding: 'Birth Control': BlogProf

Climate & Energy

Obama's Solar Nightmare: AT
Anti-Drilling Policies Costing Federal Government Billions in Lost Revenue: Foundry
Trenberth and Lifting Text Verbatim #2: ClimateAudit

Media

Time to Call Out Black Race Exploiters: AT
The Dishonesty of Paul Krugman: PJM
WaPo Columnist on CNN: 'How Much Time Do We Have...to Talk About How Stupid...Palin Is?': NewsBusters

More Politico: LegalIns
Politico’s persecution of Sarah Palin: Aces
Fairness Doctrine fight goes on: Politico

Jared Loughner’s Zeitgeist Obsession: ‘He Wanted to Watch It All the Time’: RSM
What Obama Has Said about His Own Birth: AT (Cashill)
CNN Panel: Stupid Palin, Reaganomics Caused AZ Shooting Debate Meltdown: GWP

World

Axis of Evil Again (or is it “still”?), And The Specter of Revolution: Ledeen
Israel, U.S. Behind Stuxnet Computer Virus Attack On Iran/ Will Reactor “Melt-Down?”: RWN
Jewish schools and daycare vandalized in Montreal: Atlas

The Region: Revolutions, walk-outs and fatwas : BRubin
Deposed Tunisian President Ben Ali Said To Have Fled Country With 1.5 Tons Of Gold: ZH
Warning to Jihadis: Shooting From Minaret Tower May Be Hazardous to Your Health: WZ

SciTech

With Stuxnet, Did The U.S. And Israel Create a New Cyberwar Era?: Danger Room
Man discovers glasses-free 3D tech in the blink of an eye: Engadget
In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie: Danger Room

Cornucopia

The US Whiffleball League Just Signed Him For About 35 Dollars: iOTW
NASA reveals strange, bomberlike planes of 2025: CNet
The Photograph: PJM

Image: James Eric Fuller's 'Hypnothoughts' Page
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Climate of Hate

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Work for Illinois 5 Years, Pay in Zero, Get $130,000 Pension

The current posse of statist Democrats must have missed math class -- for 80 years in a row.

Work for the State 5 Years, Pay in Zero, Get $130,000 Pension...

Work for Yourself 45 Years, Pay In $260,000 Get $28,000 Social Security


Anybody see a problem here?

This is what happens when you live in a state with no accountability, no transparency and massive political malfeasance. You and I are in effect tax slaves whose purpose in life is to work and pay exorbitant taxes so the elitist politically connected public employees can live in luxury when they retire - on our dime of course.

The person from the first line of the title is Dr. Renee Hartz, a thoracic surgeon hired by the University of Illinois to teach surgery. I am only guessing about what she actually did because records of her activity are very limited. In a Freedom of Information Act request I asked for her contract or offer letter outlining her job responsibilities plus pay and benefits included in her job offer. Despite pay totaling $567,479.10 per annum from 1991 to 1995 there were no records related to her hiring.

Of course, this delightful stewardship of the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars probably has nothing to do with this:

Meredith Whitney: 50 to 100 counties and cities could default in 2011
Financial analyst Meredith Whitney recently warned that a muni bond crisis "is the largest threat to the U.S. economy." She is noted for predicting the 2008 Wall Street meltdown months in advance.

...state and local tax revenues remain well below pre-recession levels, with some cities and counties flirting with bankruptcy. Emergency federal aid to the states runs out this spring. Public employee retiree costs are a fast-growing problem. And the federally subsidized Build America Bonds program expired Dec. 31, making munis a less attractive investment...

I will make one prediction: if 'Helicopter' Ben Bernanke tries to monetize municipal debt, all hell is going to break loose.


Understanding Leftism In One Photograph

The accompanying photograph illustrates a theme that Mark Levin articulated on the eve of the 2008 presidential election and which Michelle Malkin highlighted in 'The Allure of the Charismatic Demagogue'.

There is a cult-like atmosphere around Barack Obama, which his campaign has carefully and successfully fabricated, which concerns me. The messiah complex. Fainting audience members at rallies. Special Obama flags and an Obama presidential seal. A graphic with the portrayal of the globe and Obama’s name on it, which adorns everything from Obama’s plane to his street literature. Young school children singing songs praising Obama. Teenagers wearing camouflage outfits and marching in military order chanting Obama’s name and the professions he is going to open to them. An Obama world tour, culminating in a speech in Berlin where Obama proclaims we are all citizens of the world. I dare say, this is ominous stuff...

...Obama’s entire campaign is built on class warfare and human envy. The “change” he peddles is not new. We’ve seen it before. It is change that diminishes individual liberty for the soft authoritarianism of socialism. It is a populist appeal that disguises government mandated wealth redistribution as tax cuts for the middle class, falsely blames capitalism for the social policies and government corruption (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that led to the current turmoil in our financial markets, fuels contempt for commerce and trade by stigmatizing those who run successful small and large businesses, and exploits human imperfection as a justification for a massive expansion of centralized government...

How prescient he was.

Fortunately, the majority of Americans are decidedly un-drone-like, as opposed to the nincompoop pictured above (the one on the right). The 2010 elections demonstrated that legacy media's agenda can be defeated. We must continue to block the socialist agenda in 2012 if we are to save this Republic from the strangling embrace of a charismatic demagogue.


Hat tip: Brad.

Another Democrat and Public Sector Union Success Story: Detroit May Have to Abandon Half of Its Schools to Pay Union Benefits

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

Detroit was once America's fourth largest city, though today large sections of its inner core are abandoned to the elements, and monuments like Michigan Central Station are returning to dust. Another emblem of civic decline is a plan to desert nearly half of Detroit's public schools so that it can afford to fulfill its teachers union contract.

The school district is facing a $327 million deficit and has already closed 59 schools over the last two years to [save operating funds]... the district [could have to] close another 70 of its remaining 142 schools to save $31.3 million through 2013.

Under the emergency plan, ... high-school class sizes would increase to 62 by 2014 [and under union contracts] the district must pay [teacher] bonuses for class enrollment over 35, thus imposing some $11.1 million in new costs through 2014... Note that this dispensation carries about the same price tag as the school abandonment windfall: In other words, Detroit may end up destroying serviceable capital assets so it can pay its public workers more over the short term.

...The budget gap is partly due to the property tax revenue collapse as the Motor City crumbles, as well as financial mismanagement and a surge in pay and benefits for public employees. The Mackinac Center, a state think tank, reports that average Michigan teacher salaries outpaced those of all other states from 2003 to 2009, when adjusted for state per capita income as a proxy for the local ability to pay.

When schools are shuttered in Detroit, they are also permanently ruined because scavengers routinely break in and steal copper pipes, wiring and other materials for resale.

Detroit represents the Democrat Party's Utopian endgame in microcosm. Decades of one-party rule... wealth redistribution through unchecked social engineering programs... government decisions dictated not in the interest of the taxpayers, but by the public sector union bosses instead... and incessant streaks of corruption, theft and abuse of the taxpayers.

The modern Democrat Party spreads not wealth... but misery. And Detroit is the perfect illustration of their agenda.


Images: Flickr: Pile of unused textbooks, Detroit Public Schools Book Depository.

Figures: Bird Die-Offs Have Perfectly Logical Explanations (Note to Eco-nuts: Global Warming Isn't One of Them)

The media is breathlessly reporting occurrences of birds falling out of the sky in various locations around the world. But at least one batch of birds falling from the sky was recently explained: in Romania, the fowl got drunk and died of alcohol poisoning.

On Saturday residents of Constanta, Romania found dozens of dead starlings. Fearing that the birds died from avian flu, they alerted authorities. After veterinary evaluation, it was determined that they actually died from drunkenness... Officials decided after analyzing their gizzards that the birds had ate grape “marc,” which are leftovers from the wine-making process, and had died from alcohol poisoning.

I hate to ruin another global warming scare story, but bird die-offs are surprisingly commonplace and generally have perfectly reasonable explanations.

The mystery of the deaths of thousands of blackbirds in Arkansas this month has been solved.

They died of blunt-force trauma, according to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison... The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said tests for evidence of pesticide poisoning were negative.

...The mass kill spawned speculation that their demise was caused by a chemical pollutant - a fear heightened by the arrival in Beebe of workers combing neighborhoods in hazmat suits. As the story spread, other theories ranged from biblical apocalypse to proof of the presence of UFOs...

At least 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died on New Year's Eve near Beebe, Ark. Fireworks probably sent them flying from their roost sites... "It's believed that the noise startled them - they are poor night fliers - and they were in close proximity to neighborhoods, and they flew into homes and cars (and other objects)," Wright said.

Rest assured that -- despite these explanations -- the United Nations will attempt to leverage the Left's ignorance and hysteria to orchestrate another multi-billion dollar bunko scam.


Early Contenders for Barack Obama's 2012 Campaign Slogan

Word broke last month that President Obama will try to be the first candidate to raise $1 billion for his 2012 reelection bid. It may not be quite as easy this time, however, after all of the attacks on "millionaires and billionaires" as well as a long list of once-vibrant industries reduced to begging for scraps from regulators.

In the bi-partisan spirit of civility, I figured we could save the president several hundred thousand dollars by coming up with his '12 campaign slogan before he had to pay some public relations agency to do so. Without further ado, here are my suggestions -- and I'm looking for your contributions in the comments!

• "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask How You Can Illegally Contribute To My Campaign"

"Your long national nightmare is not over"

• "It's Mourning Again in America"

• "Keep America Strong through Surrender & High Taxes"

• "Vote for Barack: Satan compels you"

• "Building a bridge to September 10th"

• "I'm with Worf!"

• "Vote Obama. It’s Easier Than Thinking"

• "Don't Ask What He's Done: Ask What He Says He's Done!"

• "Isn't It Time You Were Disappointed Again?"

• "Read My Lips: No New Tax Cuts"

• "Why Work If You Can Just Vote Democrat Instead?"

• "Change you can be fooled by -- again!"

• "Your friends at the SEIU say: Vote Obama and No One Gets Hurt"

• "Keep Racial Tensions Alive!"

• "Help Wipe Out Capitalism in Our Time"

• "I can't believe it's not Socialism!"


Linked by: iOwnTheWorld. Thanks!

Hat tips: Anvari, IMAO, PlanetMike, Top Five, Anvari, Planet Mike, Satirical Political, Those Shirts, Emmett Tyrrell and Jon Stewart.

Larwyn's Linx: Democrats Cringe as Russian Immigrants Compare Communism to... Democrats

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

Dems cringe as immigrants compare Communism to--them: RedState
Even the Dye Jobs are Staged: GWP
To Unite the Country, Unite Congress: JOM

Tucson Shooting Victim Charged With Death Threat: Malkin
Clarice's Pieces: Another Memo from Leni Riefenstahl: AT
The Tucson Massacre's Hall of Shame: Newsreal

Tucson Theme was Recycled Obama Campaign Slogan: EIB
Rethinking Obama's political performance in Tucson: York
The Post-Tucson Era: Hanson

Economy

How the House GOP can Win a Showdown: Hewitt
Radicals in Planning Stages of Massive U.S. Protests: TH
Did George Soros threaten to kill Glenn Beck?: Dollard

The State Of The Economy: Wolf Howling
Deficit-Inspired National Strategy: AT
Nanny State Shuts Down Homeless Outreach Center: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

The Next Obama Disaster: Power Line
Oh, Noes! Climate Change Could Have Helped The Roman Empire Fall!: RWN
Anti-Energy Left Comes Unglued as ‘Green Economy’ Claims Collapse: BigGovt

Media

Kudos to NYT's Charles Blow: blasts Left for insane 'witch hunt' after Tucson shooting: Hot Air
Curiously, media didn't notice that it uses the term 'blood libel' all the time: NRO
A Letter to Sheriff Dupnik (WARNING Reichwing Hatespeach): Cube

I Guess Bill Ayers Turned the WaPo Down, Huh?: Driscoll
The Times Loses It: O'Rourke
Chris Van Hollen is a Hypocrite and the Media Has Given Him a Complete Pass: Verum Serum

The Violent Fantasies of the Progressive Left: RWN
Politico.com In The Left Ditch, Wheels Spinning: Hewitt
NARAL Hearts Janet Napolitano: Malkin (Powers)

World

The Roster of the Silenced: GoV
Fidel Castro on the ‘Fascist’ Tea Party and Obama: BigPeace
Irony: Extreme Ground Zero Mosque Imam coming to Detroit to “battle religious extremism”: RWN

SciTech

The future Nemesis from space: Behind The Black
Quadrocopters learn to build things, when will humans learn to fear them?: Engadget
Stuxnet: It's Bush's Fault!: AT

Cornucopia

The Zodiac Killer Strikes Again: MOTUS
TSA [eh, the Taxpayer] Pays Off In Breast Exposure Suit: TSG
Sledding Police Debut In Raynham, MA: Support Your Local Gunfighter

True Grit and the Law: Volokh
Top 10 video games of December and full year 2010: LAT
What Car Did You Spend the Most Time in Growing Up?: Jalopnik

Image: Adapted from 'On America’s oldest residential streets, the foreclosure crisis hits home'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Maggie's Notebook

QOTD: "Every time you fill up your car this winter you are participating in the biggest taxpayer swindle in history. Forcing consumers to use domestically produced ethanol is one of the single biggest boondoggles ever committed by the corrupt brainless twits in Washington DC. Ethanol prices have soared 30% in the last year as the supplies of corn have plunged. Only a policy created in Washington DC could drive up the prices of gasoline and food, with the added benefits of costing the American taxpayer billions in tax subsidies and killing people in 3rd world countries." -- Jim Quinn

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Texas Attorney General: President Obama's Failure to Secure Border Has Emboldened Drug Cartels and Will End Up Killing Innocent Americans

I'm amazed that this letter (PDF) from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith, and the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, hasn't received more attention.

January 14, 2011


The Honorable Lamar Smith
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20215

The Honorable Peter King
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20215
Dear Chairman Smith and Chairman King,

Six months ago, I warned President Obama about the life-threatening danger of bullets flying across the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas. At that time, El Paso's City Hall had just been struck by gunfire from the Mexican side of the border. In August of last year, more stray bullets from inside Mexico struck school buildings at the University of Texas at EI Paso. And in November of last year, the University of Texas at Brownsville-where bullets from Mexico have struck school buildings-was forced to cancel classes due to a bloody gang battle that raged for hours only steps across the border in Matamoros.

I want to draw your attention to yet another dangerous incident involving cartel-related gunfire on the border near EI Paso. Yesterday, gunmen in Mexico fired across the border at American road workers in rural West Texas. Law enforcement has indicated the shooting may have been an attempt by cartel operatives to scare the workers away from the cartels' drug smuggling operations in our country.

Fortunately, no Americans were injured or killed in these incidents. But clearly, American lives are gravely threatened by the increasingly volatile situation on the border. As yesterday's incident demonstrates, the threat is not limited to stray bullets that miss their intended targets inside Mexico. The Obama Administration's continued failure to secure our borders appears to have emboldened the drug cartels to the point that they are willing to intentionally fire across the border at innocent Americans who unwittingly interfere with their smuggling operations.

Early reports indicate that the U.S. Border Patrol may not be investigating yesterday's incident. If this is true, it is yet another shameful example of the federal government's failure to take all available action to urgently and aggressively fend otf the growing threat posed by drug-related violence along our porous border with Mexico.

Because the Obama Administration has failed to adequately respond to this serious problem, I write to urge Congress to take action. I urge the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee to hold hearings to review the Administration's response to this incident and others like it. The committees should consider whether federal authorities properly responded to this week's shooting, examine how cross-border violence is threatening border communities, and determine what the federal government can do to protect border residents. As Attorney General of Texas, I am prepared to appear before your committees to brief you on the problems affecting our state. We must work together to pursue all available means to protect Americans from the violence plaguing our border with Mexico.

The time for talk has passed. The time for action is now. Each day that passes increases the likelihood that American life will be lost because of the federal government's failure to secure the border.

Sincerely,

Greg Abbott
Attorney General of Texas

Frankly, I think the A.G. is overreacting. After all, a failed narco-state, replete with heavily armed militias, isn't really all that different from several neighborhoods in California.


Liberals: Democrat Party will split if Obama tries to prevent the collapse of the entitlement Ponzi schemes

The Soros-controlled, far left wing of the Democrat Party is warning President Obama against trying to save Social Security.

The battle lines are forming within the Democratic Party over the charged question of reforming Social Security in the days leading up to President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Liberals, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and labor unions, such as the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and SEIU, have taken a firm stand against cutting Social Security benefits... They are still reeling over the deal Obama struck with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in December to extend almost all of the Bush tax cuts and chop the Social Security payroll tax for one year by 2 percentage points.

Back in the little land we like to call Reality, a Mish reader created several sobering graphs that represent the impending collapse of the Social Democrat schemes that would make Bernard Madoff blush.

Here is a chart I created using budget projections from the CBO. The main point is from now until 2020, we could eliminate 100% of all federal non-defense discretionary expenditures and still run a deficit.

US Federal Revenues and Expenditures 2000-2020

I went back to the data after getting into one too many arguments with people who claim that we can solve our budgetary problems by eliminating government "waste" - the programs that study the sex lives of jellyfish and that sort of thing - without real cuts in entitlement programs.

Entitlement Spending Growth

Unless the Budget Fairy waves her magic wand, it's not going to happen.

The Democrats' Utopian schemes are imploding as we speak -- in California, Illinois and New York. And, soon, coming to a Social Security and Medicare recipient near you.

All over the world, the Fabian Socialist welfare states are collapsing.

And despite all this, despite history, facts, logic and reason all aligned against their agenda, the Obama Democrats press on, hastening the collapse of an economic system they view as 'unfair'.

Bernie Sanders has nothing to worry about.


White House: we were shocked that Tucson memorial crowd hooted and hollered throughout because our APPLAUSE signs were actually quite discrete

I don't know what you thought while watching the memorial service in Tucson, but the raucous crowd's cheers, shrieks and crowing struck me as wildly inappropriate and -- at worst -- borderline disrespectful. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he was surprised at the crowd's behavior as well.

I will say that I read the speech several times and thought that there wouldn't be a lot of applause if any. I think many of us thought that. But I think there was a celebration, again, of the lives of those who had been impacted. Not just at that grocery store but throughout the country. And I think that, if that is part of the healing process, then that's a good thing.

Really?

I, for one, feel certain that the White House had no earthly idea the quad Jumbotrons were telling the audience to applaud every six or seven words.


Update: Charles Johnson: 'Shut up, wingnuts! Everyone knows that the respectful crowd could distinguish closed captioning from commands to applaud... because all memorial services use Jumbotrons, free T-shirts and $3 drafts!'

Update II: Ed Driscoll: "...the excuse du jour will be that these weren’t stage directions, just merely the assumption that the president would have to pause while the expected hosannas rained down upon him. But presumably, if you put 'APPLAUSE' into the text on a Jumbotron, a sufficient number of people in the audience will do just that."

Update III: iOwnTheWorld: "Many on the left were quick to point out that the “applause” that appears on the screen are not prompts but closed-captioning. Really? ... I think it’s WORSE that it’s closed-captioning. ... Had some ass prompted the people to cheer, boo, applaud, act like morons and completely inappropriately, I would still have a scintilla of hope that maybe the left could be rehabilitated. Nope. Sadly the screen was merely reporting the goings-on. Scary, huh?."

Hat tips: Gateway Pundit and Larwyn. Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Best Idea Ever: Debt Ceiling Cap-and-Trade

Bumped & Updated!

America is about to hit its $14 trillion debt ceiling at which point the country's credit card is maxed out. Republicans need to do two things: they must brand their efforts to cut government spending and they must also force radical cuts upon an out-of-control federal government. We have no choice if we are to save this country -- and rest assured Democrats aren't going to play nice.

So we'll negotiate a compromise of sorts, which I believe is my awesomest idea ever. I call it Debt Ceiling Cap-and-Trade. We'll negotiate a deal wherein Republicans will agree to raise the ceiling as long as a set of future cuts are signed into law.

The Branding Is Simple: No More Blank Checks


The branding is as simple as it gets. For too long, the taxpayers have been robbed blind by politicians willing to borrow from generations yet unborn to fund their various entitlement schemes, pork and pet projects.

Those days are over.

Whenever a Democrat tries to tar a Republican as cruel or heartless, the response is concise and honest: No more blank checks.

Let the Democrats Pick the Spending Cuts


I call this part of the plan 'Debt Ceiling Cap-and-Trade'. We conservatives are nothing if not tolerant, so we'll let the Democrats pick their spending cuts. But they must choose from our list.

And since Democrats love Cap-and-Trade, we'll let them determine which of their delightful programs get slashed and which survive. Here are their choices:

Since Nancy Pelosi's House of Representatives added more than $5 trillion in new deficits, we'll use that figure as our minimum (we'll call it the 'cap', just for fun). Each trillion will be represented by a "point".

Democrats are free to pick any combination of programs that total up to 5 points. They get to choose. If they want the debt ceiling raised, they have to get to 5.

And the country benefits all around.

Seriously -- this is my bestest idea ever. Pass it on to your friends and family members. If we don't lay down the law now, when will we?

And the branding is simple enough even for a RINO to understand. No more blank checks!


Business as Usual: the Administration's Economic Sabotage of the Private Sector Continues Apace

So much for 'civility'.

Data-point #1: Fearing that the outcome of secret-ballot elections in the workplace would overwhelmingly reject unionization, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a threat to sue four states. Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah all have state constitutional amendments that force unions to use secret-ballot elections to reduce the possibility of voter intimidation by -- who'da thunk it? -- union thugs. And the NLRB objects to the use of the secret-ballot.

Of course, only 86.2% of South Carolina voters approved the secret-ballot amendment last November, which means it's perfectly reasonable that the Obama administration's hand-picked union hacks should be able to overrule the people.

Data-point #2: In an effort to commit energycide (a self-inflicted strangulation of the economy by restricting access to energy), the Environmental Protection Agency just shut down the largest mountaintop mining project in the history of West Virginia. Logan County's 2,300-acre Spruce No. 1 mine had its permit revoked by the federal agency.

The administration's unelected, unaccountable and largely unknown anti-energy 'masterminds' have effectively crushed a large swath of the state's economy in one fell swoop.

Data-point #3: The most powerful agency in the history of the United States government -- by dint of its control over one-sixth of the economy and its power of life and death over every American -- has begun to issue its hundreds of thousands of pages of rules and regulations. The Department of Health and Human Services is in the process of defining how every health insurer will operate down to the tiniest level of detail.

The long-awaited proposed HHS regulations for dealing with “unreasonable rate increases” were released Dec. 21, and health insurers will soon face greater scrutiny than they have ever faced before. Starting July 1, any planned rate hike of 10% or more in the individual or small-group market must undergo extensive review, either by the state involved or by HHS itself. And insurers would have to publicly disclose not only the increases and the rationale for them, but lots of other information, including the salaries of their executives...

...In what could be one of the most far-reaching effects the health reform law will have on insurers, HHS in late December unveiled proposed regulations for dealing with “unreasonable rate increases.” On first glance, it may appear that HHS is deferring to the states. But a deeper look reveals HHS would have subjective criteria it could use to determine that a state’s review processes are not effective, and that means HHS would take over the review itself... HHS’s new filing requirements are so extensive for planned hikes of 10% or more, and the potential for adverse publicity is so enormous, that some insurers may choose to back off even from hikes that are needed and warranted.

We used to call these kinds of things "Soviet-style price controls."

Price controls led to the seventies oil shock, the collapse of the Soviet Union, food shortages in Venezuela, and hyperinflation in Argentina, to name but a few.

And these controls are certain -- certain! -- to lead to the death of health insurers and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. That much we can predict without a shadow of a doubt.

For that is the intent of the Obama administration: a complete collapse of the free-market economy and a resulting takeover of every industrial sector by an all-powerful central government, which Democrats will control.

And if you doubt me, please answer the following question: where is an iota of evidence that President Obama is concerned with jobs?


Larwyn's Linx: Blame Righty--A condensed history

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

Blame Righty--A condensed history: Malkin
GOP Push To Repeal ObamaCare Will Resume Next Week: RWN
'Together We Thrive' Slogan Recycled from Obama Campaign: WZ

GOP Men and Selling out Sarah: TrueNorth
GOP gears up again to strip NPR of federal funds: York
Rev. Obama's Revival Meeting: AT

Democrat Diversion Strategy Succeeds Again: AT
Priebus's First Presser a Stark Contrast With Steele's: AmSpec
Cartoon of the Day: Surber

Economy

Economic Freedom Is Foundation Of All Other Freedoms: Foundry
Comprehensive List of Tax Hikes in Obamacare: ATR
Report: Near Failure of Citigroup in 2008: CalcRisk

Obama's War on For-Profit Schools: Shady Dealings: BigGovt
CBS Poll: 77% of Americans are Extremist Teabaggers: JWF
Not Like They Needed the Money or Anything: Malkin (Powers)

Climate & Energy

Obama's oil commission report: "about ideology and politics as much as it about facts": Wizbang
How Much of Your Money Is Wasted on ‘Climate Change’? Try $10.6 Million a Day: PJM
Fish Wrap: Military Needs to Go Green To Save Lives: RWN

Media

Patterico Calls For #Unity After Obama Speech: Riehl
Slate Plays Fast and Loose With the Facts: RWN
If it's not Palin's freedom fetish...: ProWis

Harvard's Jill Lepore Ties Jared Loughner to Tea Party 'Constitution Worship': AmPower
And The Award For Most Hypocritical "Blood Libel" Critic Goes To ...: LegalIns
Civility: Operation First Casualty--Anti-war protest and street theater: Zombie (2008)

Loughner Dream Media Demands GOP Apologize For Its Horrible Invective: Ace
Retraction Request: ‘Extremist Rhetoric’ Foe David Frum Caught in Lie Smearing Breitbart: BigJourn
Bill Maher: Because We Don't Have Government Healthcare Is Why a Crazy Person Gets a Gun: NewsBusters

Genius Filmmaker Spike Lee: America Most Violent Country in History: RWN
Joe Scarborough: Sarah Palin’s Political Career Is Over: OTB
Ron Reagan Hits Rock Bottom: Ace

World

Pakistani Muslims protest, burn effigy of Pope, after he called out their anti-Christian actions: Cubachi
Vatican to America: ‘Social Justice’ is About Relationships, Not Socialism: NewsReal
Muslims from Canada training in Pakistan for jihad: JihadWatch

Why Russia Is No Friend of America: AT
Afghan education minister says Taliban drops opposition to girls' education: JihadWatch
Japan's Finances "Approach Edge of Cliff", Prime Minister Calls For Sales Tax Hike: Mish

SciTech

Curation is the New Search is the New Curation: Kedrosky
Ask Maggie: On Verizon iPhone vs. Droids: CNet
Report: Future iPad, iPhone to have Qualcomm chips: CNet

Cornucopia

Employee: Borders Making Us Push Gift Cards That May Be Worthless If Company Goes Under: Consumerist
3 Minutes: Wired
A professor that would never be hired at contemporary American universities: ProWis

Image: Adapted from AP via CTV Canada.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Adrienne's Catholic Corner
QOTD: "...downstate businesses are expected to pay for "the Chicago political machine" that is "destroying not only Chicago and Cook County, but the economy of the entire state of Illinois. The machine carefully takes care of their political cronies at the expense of the Illinois taxpayer. Their arrogance, greed and corruption leave the people of Illinois with high income taxes, high property taxes and high unemployment.'" -- Quincy News

Friday, January 14, 2011

'Listen, we f***ed up. We lost the economy.'

Gee, this seems surprising:

Home foreclosures in 2010 top 1 million for first time


Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose...

First time jobless claims rise in week


The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday first-time claims for jobless benefits rose by 35,000 last week, pushing back above 400,000 claims...

S&P, Moody's Warn On U.S. Credit Rating


With attention focused on sovereign-debt worries in Europe, two major credit-rating firms reminded investors again that the U.S. has debt problems of its own...

..."The warning on the U.S. rating is well-founded," said Brian Yelvington, chief fixed-income strategist at Knight Capital. "However, it will probably fall on deaf ears until the peripheral Europe story plays out."

Moody's Investors Service said in a report on Thursday that the U.S. will need to reverse the expansion of its debt if it hopes to keep its "Aaa" rating.

Illinois hikes taxes 67% and the fastest lie in history


Tax insanity in Illinois is now official. Governor Pat Quinn signed off on a 67% hike in personal income taxes and a 46% hike in corporate taxes the moment the bill hit his desk... ...The Daily Herald notes that On the campaign trail, Gov. Pat Quinn told voters he'd veto any income tax hike that would raise Illinois' rate over 4 percent.

I believe this is one of the fastest proven lies political history.

Aren't Democrat-controlled social Utopias kewl?