Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: SOTU Preview -- Obama's 5 Pillars Of Deceit

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Nation

SOTU Preview: Obama's 5 Pillars Of Deceit: Wolf Howling
Court throws Rahm 'Dead Fish' Emanuel Off Mayoral Ballot: Ace
Mobilizing the Jobless, by Frances Fox Piven: DailyPundit

America’s real rally to restore hope and sanity: Malkin
Obama’s Radical “Go To” Man Moves to the DNC: Noisy
Why Do Liberals Hate Free And Fair Elections?: Liberty

Economy

Where did the Stimulus go?: Commentary
Investigating Obamacare's Waiver-Mania: Malkin
Three SEIU Locals Receive Obamacare Waivers: CNS

'Told you so' not nearly as satisfying as once thought: Cold Fury
Fannie and Freddie Legal Bills Cost $160M+: S&L
GOP leaders to president: Don't pitch us on new spending: Hill

Micromanagement of health care begins now: Foundry
Economics: The Thomas Sowell Interview: RWN
The worst is yet to come in Illinois: Trib

Climate & Energy

You Should Be Livid About Climate Change If You're Under 25: RWN
Culture of Corruption: Not so fast there, Carol Browner: Malkin
'Environmental justice' undermines Obama's regulatory reform: WashExam

Media

More on Nullification...: Adrienne
The Worst of the Worst: A Look Back at Keith Olbermann's Most Outrageous Quotes: NewsBusters
Draft Keith Olbermann to run for Senate in CT? Heck yeah!: Toldjah

Where Do I Sign Up?: Cold Fury
Obama Continues Grand Liberal Tradition of Praising Republicans, So Long As They're Dead: Ace
Blogger Reaches 1 Million Hits; Celebrates by Linking Entire Freaking Blogosphere: RSM

Sorry Casey Brezik, the Media Doesn’t Cover Your Kind: RWN
Advocate of Violence: Frances Fox Piven and the New York Times's dishonest campaign for 'civility.': Taranto
Newsweek American Assassins Cover Exploits Tucson Massacre: SHN

World

How the Balance of World Power Changed in 21 Seconds in 1999: RWN
China's new world order: Samuelson
Hezbollah poised to take over in Lebanon: GlobalPost

Border War: Gunmen Open Fire At Mexican Soccer Game Killing 7 Including One Player: GWP
Palestine Papers Confirm What Israel Has Said All Along: Commentary
Muslims sue Delaware school district: Creeping

SciTech

TomTom Traffic Stats: Know Your Traffic Patterns (If You’re In Government): CrunchGear
RIM Plans Software to Separate Work, Personal Data on BlackBerries: InsuranceTech
Some pols say Twitter ban for the birds: Herald

Brute-Force Safecracking: Schneier
Why so much fuss about Demand Media's IPO?: CNet
Microsoft's answer to the iPad: attack its enterprise weaknesses--even if nobody cares about them: Engadget

Cornucopia

How to do things faster: Snotr
Deadly Crash Tears BMW M3 In Half: Jalopnik
Semi-truck crash caught on dash cam: Mediaite

Image: iOwnTheWorld, 'From the Library of Keith Olbermann'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Judicial Watch--Ambitious Investigative Agenda for 112th Congress
QOTD: "Give us a bit of credit for getting eight years out of him. That’s the longest he’s been anywhere." -- Unnamed NBC executive, on employing Keith Olbermann

Monday, January 24, 2011

O-toons, Episode 75



The 10 Most Deranged Newsweek Covers of All-Time (Plus: This Week's Entry Breaks Into the Coveted Top Ten!)

Last summer Newsweek Magazine was sold for the tidy sum of precisely one dollar. Moonbattery alerts us to exhibit 9,360 proving that the buyer overpaid.

Check out the Newsweek cover exploiting the Tucson Massacre... (below, top left). Back in reality, Jared Loughner's favorite video features a wacko burning an American flag [and t]here is zero reason to ascribe any patriotic motives to Jared Loughner whatsoever. But Newsweek isn't about to let the truth stand in the way of the media establishment's narrative. Wrapping the killer in an American flag is sure to push the desired impression into the heads of people who aren't really paying attention and don't know what's going on... For the rest of us, the pernicious liars comprising the "mainstream" media no longer pass the laugh test.

Yes, you evil flag-wavers are to blame for the Tucson shootings, dontcha know? You and Sarah Palin, that is.

In the pantheon of derangement, Newsweek's carved out quite a niche for itself. Which is why the Topeka AutoTrader sells more copies each week.


Wow: Non-Partisan Insurance Magazine Demolishes Liberals' Argument That Obamacare 'Isn't a Takeover of the Health Care Industry'

Insurance & Financial Advisor Magazine isn't exactly a venue for political opinion pieces. But the incessant march of the Statist Democrats is changing the status quo. As more areas of the private sector are regulated, constricted and absorbed into the leviathan known as the federal bureaucracy, industries are pushing back through political activism. In that vein, please consider the unassailable logic of "Health reform is takeover, ‘social engineering by federal government’".

Please read the following statements below and decide for yourself whether or not the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act is a federal takeover of our healthcare system.

• The McCarran-Ferguson Act passed in the 1940s said that states regulate insurance. Now the federal government regulates health insurance or tells the states how they will regulate health insurance.
• The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) now gets to review any health insurance price increase more than 10%, according to its Dec. 21, 2010, statement, something formally reserved for the state insurance departments.
• Any health insurance plan that is not grandfathered (in place before March 23, 2010, without any reductions in benefits) must provide first-dollar payment by an insurance company for preventive care services as defined by an HHS committee.
• The states used to have the power to decide what minimum benefits a plan would have. By 2014, HHS will decide what coverage is included for all plans.
• Until faced with tremendous public pressure and forced to reverse itself, HHS even said that a business which did not reduce benefits and simply changed insurance companies to get a better deal would lose its grandfather status and have to include all the new benefits and resulting increases in premiums.
• The new law dictates how much an insurance company can have to pay its bills, pay for marketing, employee salaries, utilities, investments, etc. Although the goal is to have the lion’s share go toward medical claims, its consequence will be to drive smaller companies out of the market altogether because they may not be able to make this government-dictated arbitrary level. If the federal government dictates what a private sector insurance company spends premiums on, is that not control?
• A federal requirement that everyone have health insurance or pay a fine sounds like a takeover. A federal requirement that businesses over a certain size have to offer health insurance or pay a minimal fine sounds like the government wants businesses to stop offering health insurance to employees and instead put them into the new government-sanctioned health insurance exchanges, where people can compare prices and buy coverage. The nice tax credits to help individuals purchase insurance is only available if the insurance is in the exchange and private-sector companies outside of the exchange are frozen out of offering the subsidies.
• A good example of this slippery slope toward government taking over health care is found with the much-touted small business health insurance premium tax credits, which will only be eligible for businesses giving up the private sector for the government-run exchanges in 2014.

In this legislation of over 2,000 pages, there are numerous other examples of the federal government showing a bias against the private sector and for its own control over health care but these examples of health insurance takeover/control serve to get the point across.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is social engineering by a federal government that believes that it must control health care and health insurance.

Which is a more, ahem, civil way of saying that the PPACA is a ginormous cluster***.


Larwyn's Linx: Top 10 Things to Worry About

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

Top 10 Things to Worry About: HE
Theme Of SOTU: Jobs, Jobs, And…Look, A Shiny Quarter: RWN
Second Amendment Challenge: CJ

Iowa GOP left impressed by Michele Bachmann: Cubachi
Sarah Palin and the Legacy of Republican 'Idiocy': AT
‘SOTU Prom Night 2011′ Update and Quote of the Day: Malkin

Economy

Durbin Admits the Obvious: Obama's SOTU Plan==Stimulus: WZ
No, Paul Krugman, Texas Is Not Broke: NRO
Why is a green front group hosted on the AFT's servers?: Ameristroika

America the Broke: PJM
A Natural Born Job Killer: AmSpec
Jerry Brown's big gamble: Politico

Organized Labor, Organized Crime: NRO
Oversight subpanel to scrutinize health reform waivers: Hill
Add NFL Team With Tenure, Seniority: BigGovt

Climate & Energy

Texas Battles EPA Over Carbon Dioxide Rules: HE
The Oil Spill Commissioner’s Anti-Oil Bias: RedState
Globalist Totalitarian Dictatorship Invading a Town near You: BigGovt

Media

A Case of Possession?: PJM (Solway)
Keith Olbermann Made A Colleague Cry, And Other Reasons He Won’t Be At ESPN: Mediaite
Rush Limbaugh talking about Governor Sarah Palin mopping the floor with Obama in 2012: HillBuzz

Krugman Shocker: 1990s Economic Boom 'Had Nothing Much To Do With Bill Clinton': NewsBusters
9/11 Memorial Staffers Cash In: $170,000-$350,000+ Salaries: SHN
Seahawks fall to climate of hate in Chicago : Sense

'Skins'? Make That 'Sins'.: GWP
David Shuster Says Keith Olbermann Was ‘Mesmerized’ By His Fan Base: Mediaite
Rudd repents, now wants peaceful destruction of America: Zeal

GWU Political Scientist Falsely Attacks Glenn Beck Over Alleged Threats to Frances Fox Piven: AmPower
In Search Of... People of Color: Black & Right
Video: Hitler Reacts To Olbermann’s firing: NiceDeb

World

Coming to America: Legacy of Latin Violence: BigPeace
Chinese Pianist Plays Propaganda Tune at White House: Epoch
The Song That Should Have Been Played At The White House: Kesler

SciTech

80% Of AOL's Revenue Is Subscribers, 75% Of Whom Don't Need It: Consumerist
NSFW: On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re A Journalist: TechCrunch
The Blueberries In Your Food Could Be Fake: Consumerist

Cornucopia

This Week in Automotivators: RWN
This Sign Says They Don't Serve Women: Jawa
Ook And Mook Invent Money, Wealth And Taoism: ZH

Image: Robert Kaindl Chandeliers.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Right Wing News Fundraiser

Sunday, January 23, 2011

This Week With Christiane Amanpour -- in 90 Seconds

Don't have the time or masochistic tendencies required to watch Christiane's "news" show? Not to worry, dear reader. Biff Spackle's high-speed transcription skills allow you to read the synopsis in a little under 90 seconds.

AMANPOUR: Can you guess the president's new theme for 2011? Hint: it's the same as his old theme. With us to discuss the new theme are three senators who have decided not to run for reelection because of their principles and the fact that they'd get their asses kicked, but mostly because they'd have gotten their asses kicked.

But first, let's find out what's driving Obama's dramatically improved poll numbers.

AXELROD: We promised that the economy would recover and we delivered. Check out the unemployment numbers, chumps!

GERGEN: He benefited from the Tucson shootings and his magnificent speech in the tragic aftermath. I believe he needs more shootings on a regular basis to keep the momentum going on his poll numbers.

TAPPER: This is the new, business-friendly Obama, who believes in capitalism so long as it's centrally managed in Washington.

GIBBS: A polygraph? Why would you want me to take a polygraph?

AMANPOUR: Now, three senators who chose not to run for reelection in 2012. What do you think about the claims of a renewed bipartisanship and how it relates to President Obama's State of the Union address?

LIEBERMAN: Well, he's proved he's a centrist now and his speech will showcase his new, grayer hair. He looks far more distinguished and moderate. And civil.

HUTCHISON: If I had a dime for every regulation this president has proposed, I'd be a billionaire. If he's a centrist, I'm a lock to win against a truly conservative GOP candidate.

CONRAD: Look, it's all about jobs. Just like 2010 and 2009. Jobs. J-O-B-S. Christiane, look -- over there -- it's a greenhouse gas!

AMANPOUR: Everywhere I go around this country, whether it's the Upper East Side or the Upper West Side, people want moderation and civility. You three are all about to get booted, I mean you're all retiring, yet you have a reputation for being so moderate and, some would say, wishy-washy. What's really motivating your departure?

LIEBERMAN: People no longer trust the Ouija board that I use to make my decisions. Every decision is grounded in what the Ouija demon spirits tell me -- and for the voter, that's just not good enough any more.

CONRAD: Everyone's mad about government spending, TARP in particular. But, look, TARP was Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fa--

AMANPOUR: But Democrats all supported TARP too...

CONRAD: I have to use the bathroom, may I be excused?

AMANPOUR: Certainly. Now, Senator Hutchison, you're super, super conservative, yet the Tea Party opposes you. How can these right-wing lunatics have achieved this popular support?

HUTCHISON: Two words: Sarah Palin. She's evil. Perhaps even the spawn of Satan. She must be stopped. And the Tea Party must be stopped. She's their leader. Did you ever see V? Can you imagine? Sarah Palin beating Barack Obama? What would happen to our country then? How could we ever return to the insane levels of spending and cronyism if someone like her were elec--

AMANPOUR: That's all the time we have, Senators -- thank you very much -- and best of luck in your new professions serving fast food or checking oil at JiffyLube.


Idea: Moonbat Patriot.

Stellar: Trial Lawyers Seeking Damages for Global Warming are 'Off the Leash'

Just when you thought the global warming scam couldn't do any more damage to the American economy comes news that the trial lawyers are warming up in the bullpen.

...climate-change litigation is fast emerging as a new frontier of law where some believe hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake... Compensation for losses inflicted by man-made global warming would be jaw-dropping, a payout that would make tobacco and asbestos damages look like pocket money.

Imagine: a country or an individual could get redress for a drought that destroyed farmland, for floods and storms that created an army of refugees, for rising seas that wiped a small island state off the map... In the past three years, the number of climate-related lawsuits has ballooned, filling the void of political efforts in tackling greenhouse-gas emissions.

Climate lawsuits in the U.S. tripled in 2010 and have the potential to cripple coal, gas and oil producers as well as large manufacturers.

The legal community is waiting for an important ruling by the Supreme Court in late June regarding the state of Connecticut's injunction attempt against major power companies for... excessive greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, Mother Nature never got Al Gore's memo: we remain in the throes of what may be the onset of a new Ice Age.

An arctic blast from Canada is bringing brutally frigid air and wind chills expected to dip to 50 below zero to northern New England, prompting officials to warn residents to take precautions against the cold ... Emergency management agencies were urging residents to bundle up and heat their homes safely during the cold snap....

Northern New England is used to cold winters. A remote site in northern Maine recorded a minus 50 reading on Jan. 16, 2009, that tied a 1933 record set in Vermont for the coldest temperature recorded in New England.

Al Gore's career counselor could not be reached for comment at press time.


Civility, Saudi Arabian-style: Storekeeper sentenced to 25 lashes for insulting a customer

Here's how 'civility' is handled in Saudi Arabia:

A local Arabic newspaper reported on Sunday that an Asian shopkeeper observed a Saudi customer casually reading a newspaper he had plucked from the newsstand with no intention of buying it. Upset that the man was "stealing" the news of the day, the shopkeeper called him a hayawan - "beast" in Arabic.

Upset about the shopkeeper's slander, the Saudi man filed a complaint with the local court and a judge meted out the lashing sentence. Maybe the next time this happens the shopkeeper should consider a more accurate description for a person who reads a newspaper with no intention of buying it: Bakheel, aka "stingy person.

Is this endgame any different than Al Sharpton's efforts to regulate speech with which he disagrees by having it labeled 'hateful'?


The Atlantic asks the question no one else is stupid enough to ask: Will the coal-powered Chevy Volt help reduce global warming?

How many epic fails can you count in this hilarious snippet by The Atlantic's Christine Russell?

Transportation accounts for a big chunk of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions today -- more than one-fourth of the total... [A Pew] report notes that "electricity has recently reappeared as a strong contender, thanks to the development of lithium-ion batteries and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles" with electric ranges of up to 40 miles that can then shift to gasoline operation when the battery runs out...

...[Electric cars like the Chevy Volt] are on the cutting edge of several promising new clean car and truck technologies with the potential to substantially reduce oil consumption, drive down air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and help curb climate change in the decades to come

Really? Really? Let's ignore -- for a moment -- the fact that "global warming" is a bonafide scam that is collapsing as we speak... to the point that even editorial boards in California are demanding federal investigations. Let's ignore all that.

Let's instead just consider where electric power comes from:

Coal, natural gas and nuclear are -- by far -- the dominant sources of electricity in this country and will be for decades. For all intents and purposes, the Volt is powered by... coal.

Sounds... green.

And consider some of the minor inconveniences you'll encounter if you have the coin to pony up for the $41,000 Obamamobile:

• It takes ten (10) hours to charge

• It can travel a whopping 35 miles on a charge (at which point the, uhm, gas engine kicks in)

• And you're paying for the Volt's production through a $7,500 "tax credit" for each car sold that is offered by the Obama administration

Now when Chevy Volt sales fail to materialize -- except as a novelty item and a must-have fashion accoutrement for wealthy moonbats -- the Obama administration will blame everyone and everything up to and including Sarah Palin and Fox News.

But it will simply be another in a series of predictable disasters orchestrated by the Democrats' infernal, Soviet-style central planning mentality.


Great News: Feds Will Open Billion-Dollar Drug Development Center Because Pharma Companies Are Under-Regulated or Something

Having thrown bibles of regulation at the pharmaceutical industry, the Obama administration is upset that new drug development has slowed. It has therefore decided to create a -- wait for it... -- government-run drug development center.

The Obama administration has become so concerned about the slowing pace of new drugs coming out of the pharmaceutical industry that officials have decided to start a billion-dollar government drug development center to help create medicines.

The new effort comes as many large drugmakers, unable to find enough new drugs, are paring back research. Promising discoveries in such illnesses as depression and Parkinson's that once would have led to clinical trials are instead going unexplored because companies have neither the will nor the resources to undertake the effort. Drug companies have typically spent twice as much on marketing as on research, a business model that is increasingly suspect.

The initial financing of the government's new drug center is small compared with the $45.8 billion that the industry estimates it invested in research in 2009. The cost of bringing a single drug to market can exceed $1 billion, according to some estimates...

Gee, I wonder why "companies have neither the will nor the resources to undertake the effort" to explore new drugs?

Could it be because the FDA, which is busy regulating everything from toothbrushes to advertisements to aspirin, created one of the most complex approval processes imaginable? Or, as Health Affairs Magazine describes it:

[The] U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug review bears a structural similarity to many decisions made by other regulatory agencies: high uncertainty, low reversibility, avoidance of observable error, and high political stakes that induce lobbying by interested parties...

...The marketplace for pharmaceuticals is one of the most highly regulated industries in the U.S. economy... The agency’s drug review decisions are essentially final (contesting them is extremely difficult and costly) and immensely consequential (regulators in other nations frequently cue off of the FDA’s decisions). If the FDA so chooses, it can materially impede the flow of new products to the pharmaceutical marketplace, or it can help accelerate that flow.

Which tells you why the feds are now trying to nationalize pharmaceutical R&D: having strangled drugmakers with regulations, they complain the drugmakers aren't innovating fast enough. And, therefore, the taxpayers must fund a Politburo-style research center to create new drugs faster.

This should sound familiar if you grew up in the old Soviet Union.


Obama's State of the Union: If There's Anything We Learned From the Last 2 Years, It's That We Know How to Spend Your Money Better Than You Do

Well, this certainly seems so... centrist and... civil:

President Barack Obama will call for new government spending on infrastructure, education and research in his State of the Union address Tuesday, sharpening his response to Republicans in Congress who are demanding deep budget cuts, people familiar with the speech said.

Mr. Obama will argue that the U.S., even while trying to reduce its budget deficit, must make targeted investments to foster job growth and boost U.S. competitiveness in the world economy. The new spending could include initiatives aimed at building the renewable-energy sector—which received billions of dollars in stimulus funding—and rebuilding roads to improve transportation, people familiar with the matter said.

It should be apparent to everyone -- from the hard-to-educate Frums and Noonans of the world to legacy media -- that the Emperor truly has no clothes.

After all, the President and his sycophants in Congress have a perfect track record when it comes to centrally planning the economy.

 FAIL: The "Cash-for-Clunkers" program cost taxpayers between $20,000 and $45,000 per vehicle purchased.

 FAIL: The "Stimulus" program, which cost $787 billion and was rammed through Congress using the premise that, without it, unemployment would not pass 8%, has resulted in persistent 10% unemployment and 17% "under-employment" (U-6). And the tab will be paid for by your children and grandchildren.

 FAIL: The $60 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler -- abrogating bankruptcy law with payoffs to various union bosses -- is an utter and complete failure. The businesses are unsustainable without a massive restructuring, including dramatically retooling union contracts.

 FAIL: HAMP and other centrally planned "housing recovery" programs have worsened the housing market to the point that the current downturn represents the worst in all of American history -- even worse than the Great Depression.

 FAIL: "Green jobs" in the form of weatherization programs that have been utter, cash-burning frauds and failures. A series of spot-check audits of the $5 billion program indicates that fraud is rampant -- easily 20% can be chalked up to phantom services, blatant overspending on simple items, and unverifiable expenses. But not to worry -- it's only a billion dollars of wasted money, a pittance for this administration.

 FAIL: The bailout of AIG, orchestrated by the then-head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) Timothy F. Geithner, "wasted billions" of taxpayer money according to the inspector generator of the TARP program. The initial $85 billion rescue failed, forcing the Fed to pay above-market for the swaps it acquired. The result? "There is no question that the effect of the FRBNY's decision - indeed, the very design of the federal assistance to AIG - was that tens of billions of dollars of government money was funneled inexorably and directly to AIG's counterparties," according to the inspector general. In fact, the terms of the plan were so flawed that the Treasury Department had to dole out an additional $40 billion to AIG just weeks later. For his part in the debacle, FRBNY chairman Geithner was rewarded with a Secretary of the Treasury role by President Obama.

These are the economic qualifications of the very same masterminds who are in the process of nationalizing the health care sector.

It's time to turn the bums out -- and let's be quite uncivil about it.


Larwyn's Linx: 'Charter Schools Like Hitler, Tyrents'

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

'Charter Schools Like Hitler, Tyrents Trying to Take': JWF
Gun Control Wouldn't Have Stopped Loughner: Reason
Police State: Using Your BlackBerry in IL Could be a Felony: TC

Border Patrol Reduced to Picking Up Trash: MB
What pro-choicers need to grok: Lane
The Decline of Obama's DOJ: Power Line

Economy

'I used to believe in single-payer health care': Smoke
How the States Can Help Repeal Obamacare: Foundry
Wal-Mart In Unions' Cross Hairs: IBD

Time to Phase Out All Student Loans: Mish
Comparing apples and oranges: federal projects old and new: BWR
Repealing the MI Business Tax -- in a 12 Word Bill: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

Dem Pols Obstruct Investigation of Global Warming Fraud: MB
OCR Demands GOP Investigate Global Warming Fraud: RWN
Yes, Virginia, A Climate Cover-Up: IBD

Will Obama Push Climate Alarmism During State Of The Union?: RWN
New Record Low Temperatures In Northern Minnesota… -46°: GWP
Eco-Nuts Torture California Businesses -- a Butterfly May Stop Power Plant Construction: RWN

Media

The Advocate For A Guaranteed Income Wants Glenn Beck Silenced: iOTW
Bwahahahahaha!: MB
New York Times Whitewashes Marxist Revolutionary Frances Fox Piven: AmPower

Where Does MSNBC Go From Here?: Driscoll
The Left's Tucson Strategy: Stage Two: Power Line
Far Left Activist Tries to Slash Governor's Throat: Media Silent: GWP

The Decline and Fall of Lizardopolis: RSM
Washington Post Promotes Sarah Palin Boycott Campaign Via Twitter: SHN
Violent Imagery in America, Part XI: Climate of Hate

World

Is the Leftist Media ‘Fair and Balanced’ on Christian Persecution?: PJM
Why Does The U.S. Still Give China Aid?: IBD
Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution: Timmerman

Saudis Gave Obamas $300,000 in Gifts in 2009: Rosett
A Schoolgirl's Testimony: 'Asians' Threaten Kids With Violence and Rape Outside School: Atlas
Like A Foolish Man Who Built His House On Sand: Dubai World Is Sinking: SHN

Pakistan: Christians converting to Islam out of fear for their safety: JihadWatch
'Strong Case' to Break Up U.K. Banks: WSJ
Ireland’s Titanic Bailout at Risk, Iceland looms ahead: ZH

SciTech

Apple’s First Verizon iPhone Commercial Also Touts AT&T: 'Two Is Better Than One': TC
Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads: CNet
After Failing To Buy Groupon, Google To Launch A Competing Service: Consumerist

Cornucopia

Wounded Marine, 1st Lieutenant Clebe McClary, ‘Too Evangelical’ For Air Force Academy PRAYER Luncheon: SHN
Beatle McCartney Arrested for Murder: iOTW
What Should Brett Favre Do?: iOTW

Step Away From the Doritos, Fatty!: MOTUS
Breaking: FOX News Hires Olbermann: GWP
Fake JFK Ambulance Sells For $120,000: Jalopnik

Image: Moonbattery
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: New Must Read Thriller: St. Peter’s Bones

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Snooki Pelosi: Before Having Her Nose, Chin and Cheeks Done, Nancy Pelosi Once Partied with JFK [Photo]

Is it just me, or does the young Nancy Pelosi -- prior to having all of her new components added -- resemble Jersey Shore's Snooki?

Somehow she manages to keep her eyes on the camera, even as the handsome new President John F Kennedy beams a megawatt smile down at her... This image shows House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a blushing young girl with the man whose presidency - and horrifying assassination - would fascinate America for the next 50 years.

Mrs Pelosi posted the image, which she did not date or describe, on her Facebook wall yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration...

She captioned it: "50 years ago today, I was a young Trinity College student standing outside in the sunlit cold, listening to a young President’s inaugural call to 'the energy, the faith, the devotion...that will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."

'The leadership of President John F. Kennedy is not just a memory, but a living force that still asks every citizen to lead—and perhaps that is the most precious gift of all.'

Sorry, hon -- JFK was a defense hawk and tax-cutter. He wouldn't even recognize the modern Democrat Party, which is in the process of bankrupting America using a game-plan designed by Professors Cloward and Piven.


Hat tip: Jammie's Twitter Feed.

Map o' the Day: Matching U.S. States to Countries Based on GDP

Jeff Carter, writing at Points and Figures.

A bit of a tangent. For those of you that are depressed because you feel China is going to take the US over by pure economic force, have a look at the map from The Economist below.

The American economy is still the most robust and energetic economy in the world. If we support and create entrepreneurs, we will stay there. China eventually may have a bigger economy simply by virtue of more population. The critical thing is that America needs to be the place where innovation happens. Generation Y can do that with the correct support.

In summary, we have to create smaller more efficient government. Government has to do more with less. We need to invest in smart infrastructure and rethink how we retool our existing metropolitan areas. We need to invest in better, less government controlled, educational systems for our kids, and support entrepreneurship to grow.

If we don’t, in no time we will look like the quasi-socialist societies of Western Europe. Stagnant, with only memories of what it once was, and visions of what it could be.

Liberalism is Immoral [Mark Levin]

Cub Reporter Biff Spackle transcribed this soliloquy by one of our national treasures, Mark Levin.

My proposition is that liberalism -- or Statism -- is inherently immoral.

It is inherently immoral. Any philosophy that has, at its core, the belief that thievery is a virtue -- is immoral.

If you steal from a bank, that is, you rob a bank but you intend to use that money to feed the homeless -- the act of robbing is still immoral. You've taken somebody else's money. Perhaps taken it from people of modest means to advance a belief that you have.

A liberal may be moral in his or her own life, of course. They may be honorable and ethical in all they do personally, of course.

But then to support a political philosophy that seeks to do that which is immoral when done outside the realm of government -- that is, stealing -- then what is that?

How can that be moral?

To vote to put people in office who campaign on stealing -- who campaign on stealing -- to oversee such an agenda, which promotes a fundamental power-grab, to confiscate somebody else's property and to assign to some other use, is that not an immoral act? Whatever that use may be?

I'm not done: Liberalism is inherently immoral.

When you run up deficits -- and I don't just mean Democrats, liberal Republicans too -- when you run up deficits that are so massive, that you create a crisis and that crisis gets worse and worse and could destabilize our society someday soon... and could destroy the opportunities for our children and our grandchildren one day, is that moral?

No, that's immoral.

If you keep telling people that pay into Social Security that they're paying into a non-existent trust fund, and if you keep voting time and time again to use the money that's supposed to be put aside for Social Security to pay for every-expanding programs and spending for other things... then is not the act of lying -- not just lying once, but lying repeatedly, lying as a matter of philosophy, is that not immoral?

Yes, it's immoral.

Liberalism is inherently immoral. And there's no getting around it.

You can hear this debate around Obamacare. Look at the statistics that have been knowingly used to promote a lie: that adding 30 million more people to health care, massively increasing the federal government's role, massively increasing subsidies, will cut the deficit?

That's a lie. And it's immoral. And it's immoral to keep saying it.

Yet that's what liberals are doing.


Bears-Packers Civility: Best of the Anti-Packers Photochops

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but the photoshop contest hosted at ChicagoNow is pretty entertaining.






The whole gallery is here.


Illinois: Still Circling the Drain Despite Massive Tax Hikes

The deep blue state of Illinois looks to get bluer over the coming months. Business owners are facing a 30 percent increase in corporate tax rates while individuals get socked with a 66% hike. Yet even those hefty increases aren't enough.

The Illinois Statehouse News reports that "the state's stack of unpaid bills will soon double despite an income tax increase." The state comptroller is now working on paying last August's bills and says that the current $6 billion backlog will probably double in four years.

The Chicago Tribune notes that the state corporate income tax hikes will slam firms headquartered in the state hardest. An Illinois medical device firm is typical of many small businesses: it only became profitable in 2008 and its tax bill will go from zero to nearly $100,000 -- forcing it to defer the hiring of two R&D employees. Caterpillar says that it will pay an additional $42 million to the state, which will prevent it from aggressive hiring as well.

The Belleville News Democrat relays the rage of the owner of a 100-year old Illinois trucking company who says, "...'it's ridculous. We will try to move whatever business we can out of this state. It's one of the worst states there is to do business."

Sunday's Trib will also report just how well the pols take care of the taxpayers' funds. In the midst of the worst budget crisis in history, the newspaper discovered that a state program helped deliver $8 million to a Chicago meat-packing company -- which promptly went bankrupt, leaving $9.5 million in unpaid bills.

After finding out about the massive new tax hikes in Illinois, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels quipped, "You guys are nothing if not entertaining over there. It’s like living next door to 'the Simpsons' – the dysfunctional family down the block."

An Illinois Manufacturers’ Association executive said, "... the only businesses that will benefit are the moving companies that will be helping many of my members move out of this particular state."

* * * * * * * * *

The only way Illinois can begin to repair the damage inflicted upon its taxpayers is to decertify all public sector unions, renegotiate labor contracts and slash pension payments.

But don't hold your breath. The nefarious alliance of Democrat pols and union bosses remains in power. Until the good people of Illinois realize just how much trouble they're in (hint: 'Iceberg, dead ahead!'), the state will continue to unravel. Just how far it will unwind is anyone's guess. But if history is a guide, the end will come quickly and catch many innocents by surprise.


Larwyn's Linx: Murkowski sides with Dems on Obamacare repeal

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

Murkowski sides with Dems on Obamacare repeal: WZ
Are we headed to an unrecoverable fighter jet gap?: WashExam
Rep. Giffords Transferred To Rehab After 12 Days In Hospital: OTB

Ryan's SOTU Rebuttal: Easiest Speech Ever?: RWN
Bachmann to deliver Tea Party response to State of Union: Caller
Gosnell; Baby Feet Kick the Nation: Anchoress

Economy

What's Good for Jeffrey Immelt Is Good for America: AmSpec
States look to bankruptcy to avoid crushing debt: Pirate
What do you call $2.5T in spending cuts? A good start: Foundry

Water, Water Everywhere but Hardly a Drop for Farmers: MB
Awesome: Gov. Haley Tells AFL-CIO to 'Bring It': GWP
IL: Unpaid Bills Will Soon Double Despite Tax Hike: Mish

Give me $1B to cut the budget deficit: Mankiw
Great: 2nd Graders Now Having Sex in Cali Classrooms: JWF
Government Health Care in 1798: Cato

Climate & Energy

EPA is a no-show in Texas fracking case: WashExam
Alarming Trends: WUWT
Noam Chomsky: GOP election victory amounts to 'death knell for the human species': Climate Depot

Media

Did Olbermann Quit -- or Was He Pushed?: Tatler
Bizarre Media Campaign to Link Sarah Palin to Tucson Shootings Actually Worked: RWN
Pop goes the WaPo: Driscoll

Introducing Robert Gibbs’ Replacement: The New York Times: Malkin (Powers)
Gov. Who Promised To Shut Birthers Up By Releasing Birth Certificate, Now Says--Um, I Can't Find the Original: Ace
Jurassic Park: Dingell, Conyers to Run for 30th, 25th Terms: RWN

If 'She Can't Win,' Then Neither Can We: LegalIns
Gosnell’s House of Horrors: NiceDeb
Professor on Aborted Babies: ‘I Look at Them Unflinchingly and See Meat’: RSM

World

Human Rights Imperialism: Leftist Satire or Moral Collapse?: Zombie
How GE Is Arming China to Compete With Boeing -- and America: DailyFinance
Gov. Christie's Strange Relationship with Radical Islam: IPT

J-20: The Threat We Think it Is?: DefenseTech
Why Outreach to the Muslim World Is Always Doomed to Failure: NewsReal
China Fires the Warning Shot on US Debt: ZH

Newsday editor trains Muslims to influence media: Creeping
JW Files Taxpayer Lawsuit against MD College--Unlawfully Giving Illegal Aliens In-State Tuition Benefits: JW
J Street Backs Effort to Condemn Israel at the UN: Tobin

SciTech

Google readies Groupon competitor: CNet
Google: Spam Really Has Increased Lately. We’re Fixing That, And Content Farms Are Next: TechCrunch
Microsoft VP creates perfume that smells of money: CNet

Cornucopia

Obama Robber At Large – Hunted In Austria: SHN
Calling All Conservatives! Help iOTW Celebrate “All Palin February”!!!!!!!: iOTW
We Report; You Decide: C&S

Image: Moe Lane
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sheriff Dupnik Recall Effort Begins in Pima County

Friday, January 21, 2011

Oh, the Humanity: Media Matters Narrator Keith Olbermann Departs MSNBC--George Soros, John Podesta Hardest Hit

That didn't take long. As our enterprising cub reporter Biff Spackle predicted a few days ago, Keith Olbermann got a pink slip from MSNBC's new owner. The termination notice reads, in part, "Don't let the door hit you on the...":

Cable host Keith Olbermann and news channel MSNBC abruptly parted ways on Friday night, as the network announced it had agreed to end his contract and the last installment of his show would air that evening.

The surprise announcement strips MSNBC of its most-watched evening anchor after an increasingly tempestuous relationship, coming less than three months after the network briefly suspended the fiery host.

"MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," the network said in an emailed statement just before the end of Mr. Olbermann's Friday program. Commentator Keith Olbermann signed off his msnbc cable television show Friday night after nearly eight years... "Msnbc and Keith Olbermann have ended our contract," Phil Griffin, president of msnbc, said Friday... "Msnbc thanks Keith for his integral role in msnbc's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," Griffin said.

The network reports that the 8pm slot will be filled with reruns of Top Chef -- alternating with airport radar -- until further notice.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Illinois: It's the New Detroit

Runner-up headline: Oops! Economist Says That Massive Tax Hikes in Illinois Aren't Enough to Close Deficit, But Will Cause People, Businesses to Flee

Illinois. It's the new Detroit.

...Illinois has a $15 billion budget deficit that analysts suggest is leading the state into insolvency. In addition, the state owes $8 billion to vendors and has $78 billion in underfunded pension liabilities.

This is a problem, says David Merriman, a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago and coauthor of a 2011 study examining Illinois’ budget crisis.

He says Illinois is in a precarious situation because the current tax rates are not enough to lower its deficit in a significant way, and the package approved Wednesday does not include enough safeguards to ensure that spending caps have integrity.

The founder of Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches says he and his family are leaving -- and his company may be following closely on their heels.

The founder of Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches is considering moving the chain's headquarters out of Illinois... Jimmy John Liautaud told the News-Gazette newspaper in Champaign, where the company is headquartered, that he's angry the corporate tax rate is being increased to 9.5% from 7.3% and individual taxes to 5% from 3%.

...Jimmy John's has more than 1,000 sandwich shops nationwide, many of them franchise operations, and employs 100 workers at its headquarters... "All they do is stick it to us," he told the paper, adding that the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn showed "a clear lack of understanding."

Chicago Now asks an intriguing question:

Did Governor Pat Quinn trade an $86,000.00 job for a "yes" vote on the tax increase?

It's good to see old school Democratic party politics back at work in Springfield... [as] Governor Quinn appointed Carenne Gordon a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Carenne Gordon was a Democratic state representative from Morris, who lost her November re-election bid. After her term ended Wednesday, Governor Quinn appointed Gordon to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, earning $86,000.00 annually.

Gordon was given this job after she was one of the 60 legislators who voted for the 66% tax increase [in the lame duck session] demanded by her new employer, Governor Quinn. It took 60 votes to pass the measure; without Gordon's vote, the tax hike would not have passed.

Of course there is no connection, the Governor's office claims. It just seems like the same old tricks that everyone accused Rod Blagojevich of doing are still being done by another governor. Pay to play politics is still alive and well in Illinois. We pay- $1,000.00 more in taxes for a household earning $50,000.00 annually- while they play. An $86,000.00 job given to a representative who lost re-election. But on her way out the door, she is the last yes vote for Governor Quinn's income tax increase.

A few years from now, when Illinois resembles Detroit, let's remember to thank the Democrat Party for another success story.