Saturday, February 05, 2011

The letter to Boehner and Reid you never heard about in legacy media

David Freddoso does his usual fine work, highlighting this letter to the titular heads of both chambers of Congress (note to Chuck Schumer: chambers, not branches). The authors urge Congress to pass legislation halting implementation until such time as the constitutionality of Obamacare can be resolved.

Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Reid,

On Monday Florida judge Robert Vinson issued a ruling on the 26-state lawsuit against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and found the law and its individual mandate to buy health insurance unconstitutional. Following after Virginia Judge Henry Hudson’s decision, the Florida ruling becomes the second significant case to deem the law unconstitutional, throwing into serious question whether it will survive judicial scrutiny. While we wait for the Supreme Court’s final ruling, expected to come down in late 2012 to 2013, taxpayers are presently being forced to pay for billions of dollars to implement a law that may soon be void.

At a time when our country faces an unsustainable $14 trillion debt, we hope there can be bi-partisan agreement that it would be fiscally imprudent to unnecessarily waste taxpayer dollars. Therefore, today we are writing to respectfully urge you to pass legislation halting implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until the Supreme Court issues a final verdict.

Sincerely,

Alex Cortes
Chairman
DeFundIt.org

Jim Martin
President
60 Plus Association

Duane Parde
President
National Taxpayers Union

Heather Higgins
President
Independent Women’s Voice

Dean Clancy
Vice President of Health Care Policy
FreedomWorks

Meanwhile the administration says the unconstitutional law will continue to be implemented -- directly contravening the federal court.

Congress must drag Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Holder into a hearing and demand answers as to whether they are complying with the court. And the state attorneys general must petition the judge to hold the administration in contempt.

And that's just for starters.


Memo to House GOP: Obama's Disregard of Court Orders Offers Perfect Covering Fire for Massive Budget Cuts--Starting with Interior and HHS

Word around the Beltway has it that the GOP has drastically scaled back its proposed spending cuts, which have shriveled from $100 to $32 billion.

Republicans controlling the House are promising to wring $32 billion from the 2011 budget in their drive to bring domestic spending back to the levels in place before President Barack Obama took office... House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan announced the move as Republicans gird for their first exercise in cutting domestic agencies' budgets by almost 20 percent over the upcoming year.

The cuts would bring dramatic changes to agencies used to budget boosts during Obama's first two years in office. The White House has vowed to fight them.

Republicans made a campaign promise to cut $100 billion from Obama's request for domestic agencies, such as the Department of Education, for the budget year that began in October. But with the year already under way, they're falling short of that...

I can't believe -- after the massive, Tea Party-led insurrection at the polls -- that establishment Republicans would be this timid.

And for next year, the lawless Obama administration has provided ample rationale for for massive cuts: the out-of-control, unelected bureaucracies are defying court orders and threatening a constitutional crisis.

• First, HHS continues to implement a law which a federal court vaporized after finding it unconstitutional. Experts believe such an action is a felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison

• Second, the Department of the Interior was found in contempt of court on Wednesday by defying a judge's order to lift the oil drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico

The Interior Department and HHS will find it much more difficult to wreak havoc on the American public when they have no money.

Dear House Republicans: grow a few sets and start grabbing the power voters delivered to you last November. The time for action is now. Make your case: the American people are behind you.


As planned: Gas prices poised to keep rising amidst Middle East unrest and Democrat drilling moratoriums

The Baltimore Sun tells us that retail gas prices will keep climbing due to a confluence of events abroad and stupidity here at home.

Retail gasoline prices are likely to creep higher as anti-government protests continue in Egypt and concerns remain about the stability of the Middle East...

Without the uncertainty about the Middle East pushing up oil prices, retail gas prices probably would have fallen between five and 10 cents recently, PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said... Egypt controls the Suez Canal and a nearby pipeline that together carry about 2 million barrels of day from the Middle East to customers in Europe and America. That's a relatively small amount, compared with the 87 million barrels consumed worldwide every day. Petroleum continues to move through the canal and the pipeline, but traders fear protests could spread to nearby OPEC countries and disrupt supplies.

Could some Democrat explain to me why we are the only country on Earth that intentionally restricts our own access to energy?

That's a rhetorical question, of course, because there is no rational explanation. There's only a cure: vote out every Democrat and 'moderate' Republican you can -- in every possible election and at every level of government. It's the only way to be sure.


Update: Contempt of Court: the Obama Interior Department is Blocking 103 Gulf Drilling Permits

Larwyn's Linx: The Interior Department’s culture of contempt

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

The Interior Department’s culture of contempt: Malkin
He "Lied Us Into" The Mandate: LegalIns
I Get Email: C&S

Common Cause, filibuster hypocrites: Surber
Everybody Does It? Really?: Taranto
Obama, Code Pink and Egypt: ‘There Are No Coincidences’: Noisy

Economy

Rand Paul: GOP may not be 'brave enough' to tackle deficit: Cubachi
Calif. Agencies Refuse To Disclose Public Salaries: JW
Labor Force Participation Plunges To Fresh 26 Year Low: ZH

Dems to Lobbyists: Help us fight the taxpayers: Ace
SEIU forces you into Obamacare while seeking waivers for itself: RWN
Property Rights: Key to Generating Wealth and Stability: Foundry

Unions pay for study that shows... unions are underpaid: RWN
Awesome: Egyptian turmoil helping to lift oil, food prices: Caller
ETFs versus Futures: P&F

Climate & Energy

EPA Holds Annual Rachel Carson Contest: S&L
Gore's Unending Blizzard of Lies: IBD
Obama EPA to Shell: Screw You: Malkin

This Never Happened in Dallas When J.R. Ewing Ran the Show: EIB
IRS Gives $33 Mil In Bogus Electric Car Credits: JW
Thousands in New Mexico without natural gas service: MyWay

Media

The Manic-Depressive MSM: Driscoll
ABC’s ‘What Would You Do’ Takes Absurd View of SB 1070: StateBrief
Americans disapprove of individual mandate by scant 19% margin: GWP

Obama Botches Bible Quote; Media Matters Botches Defense: Ace
Liberal to English Translation: FlopAce
Nefarious Conspiracy Uncovered: Republicans Control the Media or Something: JWF

'More Polarized': RWN
Anatomy of a Smear- How Media Matters Exploits Fake Bigotry To Protect George Soros: Lid
NBC Ruins The Fun, Fires Employee Over “What Is Internet” Video: CrunchGear

World

Senate Blasts Military for Timidity Toward Radical Islam; Contributed to Ft. Hood Massacre: Big Peace
US Communists, Socialists & Labor Unions Working With Muslim Brotherhood-Associated Groups: Blaze
Code Pink: Obama, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood Ally Raise (Tax Exempt) Money to Topple Mubarak: Big Peace

Obama Administration Betrays Britain Over Nuclear Secrets For START: RWN
Israel's Never Looked So Good: HuffPo
Unveiling Islam: 14 year old rape victim beaten to death by Sharia mandate: HillBuzz

UK: Muslim Councillors Refuse to Take Part in Ovation for Hero Marine: WZ
U.K.: MI6 warns Britain faces "unstoppable wave of home-grown suicide bombers": JihadWatch
Briefly, What Could the U.S. Government Have Done in Egypt?: BRubin

SciTech

Verizon iPhone Order Shutdown: 24/7 Wall Street
Abusing HTTP Status Codes to Expose Private Information: Cardwell
Twitpay Inks Financing from Tomorrow Ventures: PE Hub

Cornucopia

Ferrari releases new dynamic images of four-seater FF: Autoblog
Teen-Talk Buster: DailyWhat
Family takes in Labrador that stuck by the side of their fallen son: Chron

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support the Senate Conservatives Fund

Friday, February 04, 2011

How dishonest is the 9.0% unemployment number? Let's put it this way: a polygraph would explode into 10,000 pieces of shrapnel

Tyler Durden analyzes the labor force dropout rate and comes up with the real unemployment rate:

12.8%.

Probably the last chart to bury any doubt about just how truly horrible today's employment data was, comes from a little observed data metric: that showing the number of people who are not in the labor force, but who want a job now...

...The number just hit 6,643K, a jump of 431K from December, and the highest number in history. These are people that would send the unemployment rate to about 12.8% if they were in the labor force (and, as indicated, looking for a job). Nothing else needs to be said.

Oh, as an aside, the labor force participation rate just plunged to a 26-year low.

At 64.2%, the labor force participation rate (as a percentage of the total civilian non-institutional population) is now at a fresh 26 year low, the lowest since March 1984, and is the only reason why the unemployment rate dropped to 9% (labor force declined from 153,690 to 153,186)...

Those not in the Labor Force has increased from 83.9 million to 86.2 million, or 2.2 million in one year! As for the numerator in the fraction, the number of unemployed, it has plunged from 15 million to 13.9 million in two months! The only reason for this is due to the increasing disenchantment of those who completely fall off the BLS rolls and no longer even try to look for a job. Lastly, we won't even show what the labor force is as a percentage of total population. It is a vertical plunge.

About two years ago, I described the destruction of the economy as intentional. At that time, folks didn't believe me.

Most have reconsidered.


Update: Underemployment is 19.2%.
Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Awesome: Air Travel Soon to Feature Super-Efficient, Newly Unionized TSA Security Screeners

If there's anything that could make airport travel even more pleasant, it would be unionizing the TSA security screeners. That way they can't be fired no matter how incompetent, rude and under-performing they are.

The government will grant collective bargaining rights to the nation's 40,000 airport screeners, the head of the largest federal workers union said Friday... John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told The Associated Press he was informed of the decision at a meeting with John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA workers have tried for nearly a decade to win the same union protections as other federal employees, but Republican opponents have balked over worries that union demands could jeopardize national security or slow response times in a crisis.

...Pistole had spent months studying the unionization issue since he was confirmed to the post in June. The move comes just days after Pistole said the agency would not hire private contractors to screen airline passengers, despite calls to do so from some Republican lawmakers and frustrated passengers.

...President Barack Obama had pledged to get the screeners collective bargaining rights during his campaign... AFGE already has more than 12,000 dues-paying members among the screeners' ranks, but the union has not been allowed to bargain on behalf of its members.

What could go wrong?

Air travelers will now get to experience the high quality of public sector union workers each and every trip.

This why I'm long companies that sell telepresence and videoconferencing equipment.


Memo to Each HHS Employee Working on Implementing Obamacare: How Would '10 Years in Federal Prison for Violating 18 USC 641' Look On Your Resume?

Now that a federal judge has obliterated Obamacare by ruling it unconstitutional, Alaska's governor is asking the obvious question: would continuing to spend money implementing an unconstitutional law represent fraud against the U.S. taxpayer?

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is asking his attorney general to advise him on whether implementing the federal health care overhaul would put Parnell in violation of his oath of office.

A federal judge in Florida this week struck down the law as unconstitutional in a case joined by 26 states, including Alaska. A major point of contention is a provision requiring citizens to buy health insurance... Parnell says he took an oath to support and defend the constitutions of the United States and Alaska. While the Republican governor concedes the issue is expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, he says he has a duty to uphold the law and wants the attorney general to advise him on what the duty is after the Florida ruling.

Parnell is doing the right thing, according to Mark Levin, president of Landmark Legal Foundation. Levin points to 18 USC 641, which reads as follows:

Whoever embezzles, steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, or without authority, sells, conveys or disposes of any record, voucher, money, or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof, or any property made or being made under contract for the United States or any department or agency thereof...

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; but if the value of such property in the aggregate, combining amounts from all the counts for which the defendant is convicted in a single case, does not exceed the sum of $1,000, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

In other words, anyone caught frittering away the taxpayers' money working on a nonexistent law is guilty of fraud.

Those who excuse the government's behavior by pointing to the fact that Judge Vinson did not issue an injunction would do well to read the actual decision.

Although concluding that PPACA was "void," Judge Vinson did not issue an injunction against enforcement of the act. The Court said that its declaratory judgment was the "functional equivalent of an injunction" because of the presumption that officials of the Executive Branch will adhere to the law as declared by the courts. "Thus, the award of declaratory relief is adequate and separate injunctive relief is not necessary." Id., page 75.

There was no need for an injunction: the entire law is dust. Kaput. Bupkis. Nada. Dead.

And, wonder of wonders, even The New York Times published an erudite letter-to-the-editor describing the malfeasance necessary for the government to claim penultimate power over the individual by ladling non-existent federal powers into the Commerce Clause.

To the Editor:

“Judicial Activism on Health Reform” (editorial, Feb. 2) calls Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional an example of overreach.

True overreach would be to find that within the power to regulate commerce among states is the power to force people to spend their money for a product favored by the federal government. What next, a law forcing people to buy G.M. cars in order to support the economy and protect the employment of federally subsidized workers? If the government can do the former it can surely do the latter.

If the commerce clause is interpreted that broadly, then there are no limits. If the government wants to nationalize the health system and be honest about the costs, present and future, then it should tax and borrow to support it. But please do not applaud the sophistry that forcing people to spend their private resources for a particular product, however attractive, can have anything whatever to do with regulating commerce among the states.

Ron Holdaway
Draper, Utah, Feb. 2, 2011

Well done, Mr. Holdaway. Well done.

Now, Republicans in the House: isn't it time you dragged Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Holder in to testify as to whether they are complying with the court? As for you state Attorneys General, isn't it time you petitioned Judge Vinson to hold the federal government in contempt for continuing to implement a law that doesn't exist?

These Leftists are playing hard-ball. And I'm sick of the McCains and Grahams who pretend that this country isn't at a crossroads. It is. Hell, even Robert Rubin -- Bill Clinton's economic genius -- is warning of an economic collapse. It's time to stop screwing around, Republicans. Get to stepping!


Larwyn's Linx: Obama Ignores Ruling Against ObamaCare

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Nation

Obama Admin Ignores Ruling Against ObamaCare: Dakota
Mr. President, You're In Contempt: Foundry
Muslim Brotherhood Penetrates the Obama Administration: FPM

DeMint: Those blocking repeal will be repealed in '12: Cubachi
Stop the symbolic votes (like the ones I used to hold)!: JWF
Imitation Is The Sincerest Admission Of Failure: Glob

PC Insanity Prevented Takedown of Maj. Hasan: HotAir
No sharia in US, but ‘honor killing’ trials ongoing: Creeping
Another day, another round of anti-conservative threats: Malkin

Economy

Pigford Pigout Is Illegal: RWN
Detroit’s City Council Still Raking It In: RWN
Dem academic with no experience explains 'startups': Malkin

Late News: Tea Party Candidate Won NY Governorship: Ace
Why They'd Rather Talk About Palin and Beck: Instapundit
California Budget Poker: Mish

Climate & Energy

Document drop: Judge kicks Obama Interior Department ass — again: Malkin
‘Waiver-Mania’ Expands from Obamacare to EPA Regs: Malkin
EPA Issues Dramatic New Regulations for ... Spilt Milk: BlogProf

Media

In Brewing ObamaCare Contempt Showdown, Mark Levin Rips Into Press for Double Standard: NewsBusters
RedEye, Gateway Drug: Ace
Meet the Kennedys, Finally: iOTW

The Best Quotes From Ann Coulter’s 2010 Columns: RWN
The Reuters Photo You Will Never See: iOTW
What if this had been the Tea Party?: Toldjah

Hoist By His Own Petard: Aces
Brownshirts And Jackboots - Updated: R&R (2008)
Jimmy Carter Sued for ‘Inaccurate’ Anti-Israel Book: Commentary

World

Lipstick On A Pig - Whitewashing The Muslim Brotherhood: JoshuaPundit
It's All Israel's Fault, Always Has Been, Always Will Be: LegalIns
The People of Egypt Were Abandoned By the U.N. For 30 Years: Bayefsky

Egypt: The American Debate Has Gone Stark, Raving Crazy: BRubin
2011: Year of the Islamic Rage Boy©: Surber
The Middle East and the Multicultural Nightmare: Hanson

ElBaradei’s Unsavory Associates: NoisyRoom
Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Egypt’s Secular Protesters vs Shariah Law: MagNote
Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story: TPM

SciTech

Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down: PC World
Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code: Wired
Social media as a tool for protest: Stratfor

Cornucopia

Patton and the 'Modern World': AmDig
The United States of Surnames: Ace
AFA alum campaigns for return of — and reverence for — U.S. Constitution: Gazette

Image: Me from 2008. Things are so bad I'm growing nostalgic for a Hillary administration.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Leather Penguin
QOTD: “No. We fired him once; we don’t believe in firing people twice.”

Rupert Murdoch on whether or not Fox would rehire Keith Olbermann

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Thought Experiment: What Would Have Happened if President George W. Bush Had Blatantly Failed to Comply With Two Federal Court Orders

Imagine if President George W. Bush has defied not one -- but two -- distinct federal court orders. For example, say that a federal court ordered all terrorist wiretaps halted and Gitmo closed. And -- further -- imagine Bush openly defied the courts and continued the wiretaps and Gitmo interrogations anyhow.

Try to imagine the indignant screeds, the raw outpouring of leftist hatred and the immense pressure brought to bear against the White House by legacy media and their complicit drones on the left. Imagine the calls for impeachment, the comparisons to Nixon, the Bush-as-Nazi posters, the high-pitched shrieks by Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich, the hatred and vitriol, the burn-him-in-effigy marches and protests, and other unspeakable acts of, uhm, incivility.

In that light, please consider the following news stories.

Obama Invites Crisis If He Ignores Ruling:
The decision by federal judge Roger Vinson striking down President Obama's signature health care law effectively ends ObamaCare unless some higher court overturns it... Failure of the Obama administration to stop all activity related to the law that the federal court held to be unconstitutional would create a potential constitutional showdown between the two branches rarely seen in our nation's history. When coupled with the state's refusal to submit to federal regulations implementing a law that has been stripped from the books, our nation is looking at a potentially historic fight not only between branches of government but between the states and the federal government.

Back in the 1970s, it was openly asked what would happen if President Nixon simply refused to hand over the taped conversations from the Oval Office in spite of the demands of the federal courts. Of course, that speculation proved unnecessary as Nixon did turn over the tapes, and resigned from office.

...Ultimately, the rule of law must prevail in this instance. Unless and until Judge Vinson's decision is overturned by a higher court, the federal government must follow it... Failure to do so would unnecessarily throw our nation into its worst constitutional crisis since the Nixon impeachment.

There's the 'I-word' again. I'm hearing it more and more these days.

Judge holds Interior Dept. in contempt over ban:

The federal judge who struck down the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling after the Gulf oil spill held the Interior Department in contempt Wednesday, and ordered the federal agency to pay attorneys' fees for several offshore oil companies... U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman chided the department for its 'dismissive conduct' after he overturned the agency's decision to halt any new permits for deepwater projects and suspend drilling on 33 exploratory wells after the Deepwater Horizon blast...

Gee, I wonder whose money the Interior Department will use to pay those fines? And whether they care?

Put simply, Barack Obama is playing with fire: he is flirting with a true, Nixonian constitutional crisis in which the executive openly defies court orders by the judicial branch.

Contact your Representative in Congress now and demand that HHS Secretary Sebelius and Interior Secretary Salazar be subpoenaed post haste. Have Congress ask them whether they are complying with the courts and, if they are not, take every available legal action possible against them.


The Carter Doctrine

Please consider 'Barack Obama’s Egypt Failure: He’s Becoming Carter Faster Than Carter Became Carter':

The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government.

The organization must reject violence and recognize democratic goals if the U.S. is to be comfortable with it taking part in the government, the White House said ... by saying the Muslim Brotherhood “must reject violence and recognize democratic goals”, the White House is presupposing that the Muslim Brotherhood accepts violence and does not recognize democratic goals.

Notwithstanding that, the White House is perfectly happy to give them a seat at the table.

It’s 1979 all over again. I hope the Embassy has been fully evacuated.

I truly fear for the future of our country.

2012 can't get here fast enough.

Storm of the Decade: 15 Freaky Photos and Bizarre Facts

Several fun facts and exciting photos from the storm of the decade, which -- if you hadn't heard -- was caused by warmal colding.

Man's abuse of the planet is getting out of hand if this spastic episode of global warming climate change catastrophic climate variance is any indication.

Some interesting facts from the 'storm of the decade':

NASA called the storm "one of the largest winter storms since the 1950s."

The 13.2" measured in Tulsa breaks the 1-day record. Oh, and it also broke the record for most snow during the month of February, all in one day.



In 90 minutes, five inches of snow fell in Miami, OK.

At the height of the storm, two to three inches of snow fell per hour in Chicago.

Wind chills as low as -36 were recorded at Boise City, OK -- the lowest wind chill recorded by the Oklahoma mesonet.

The storm was blamed for more than a dozen deaths before Thursday.

Wind chills dipped to nearly 30 below zero in areas throughout the Midwest.

In northeastern South Dakota, passengers in more than 150 vehicles were rescued by officials after becoming trapped by snow driven by high winds.

Ice was blamed for a 15-vehicle chain-reaction crash in southeastern Louisiana that -- fortunately -- resulted in few minor injuries.


Freezing temperatures delayed the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, AZ, and led to school closures in parts of New Mexico.

Chicago's O'Hare Airport canceled more than 1,000 flights.

It's still stunning to me how cold all of this global warming is. I thought when they said 'global warming' that meant I could go buy a convertible for my jaunts on Cape Cod. I guess I didn't read the articles closely enough.


Hat tip: Photos from Times-Union Gallery, miscellaneous facts from Washington Post.

What Barack Obama Hid From His Readers

During his campaign, Barack Obama liked to talk about something he called "economic justice."

And "restoring fairness to the economy" by, as he admitted to Joe the Plumber, "spreading the wealth around". *

Why does Obama continually promote divisiveness and class warfare? Why does he insist on defining devils as various classes of people, "the rich", "the insurance companies", "the doctors", "big oil", etc.?

In his book "Dreams From My Father", Obama reveals his childhood mentor was a man he cryptically refers to only as "Frank."

"Frank" was infamous communist Frank Marshall Davis, who fled Chicago after the FBI and Congress began investigating him.

Obama followed in Davis' footsteps, becoming a "community organizer" in Chicago... with disastrous results.

His boss was a man named Gerald Kellman, whose identity Obama also tries to disguise in his book. Kellman and Saul "The Red" Alinsky were infamous Chicago socialists; Alinsky authored "Rules for Radicals" and advocated the overthrow of the U.S. government.

And though his own book is dedicated to his memory, Obama also omits his father's feverish communist leanings.

Barack Hussein Obama Sr. challenged Kenya's pro-Western government for being insufficiently socialist. "Theoretically, there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100% of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed," Obama Sr. wrote.

Among Obama's first campaign sponsors were William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn; both are unrepentant terrorists and self-admitted communists who believe that the U.S. government must be toppled.

Though he's written two books about his life, Obama hid his father's background and his own career-long affiliations with radical socialists and communists. All were striving together for "economic justice" and class warfare as unreconstructed Communists.

And legacy media knew all of this -- it was common knowledge -- but refused to report it.

Are current events starting to make sense now?


* Perhaps Obama learned these falsehoods from Jeremiah Wright, his racist spiritual adviser who also believes the economy is a "zero sum" proposition.

Larwyn's Linx: Democrats really love Obamacare and the 1099 provision

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

Democrats really love Obamacare and the 1099 provision: Malkin
New Mexico: No Longer a Sanctuary State: WZ
Obama Renominates Man Known for Racial Double Standards: PJM

Judge Holds Lawless Obama Interior Dept. in Contempt: Ace
About as activist as a roof that protects you from weather: JSOnline
Unhinged Lefty Arrested For Threatening Republican Rep.: NiceDeb

There's no such thing as a moderate Democrat: RWN
What Liberals Don't Know About Guns, Chapter #408: Coulter
Rubio: 'Obamacare can not be repaired': Cubachi

Economy

After ruling, is the Obamacare nightmare just beginning?: IFA
$1.9M Contribution to Obama == Obamacare Waiver: CNS
The Left's World Food Crisis: MagNote

'Sue Me' Over Pension Cuts?: ZH
Legerdmath: Boston Review
Democrats’ Convention Choice Showcases Tension: RollCall

Climate & Energy

The Death of Global Warming: Mead
I Think I Just Found A New Amdment For the Debt-Ceiling Bill: Ace
Fears Of Radiation From Electric Utility "Smart Meters." You Have Just Entered The Twilight Zone: Nostrums

Blizzard 2011 photos, Morton Grove, Illinois: Marathon
EPA now to regulate spilled milk -- really: WashExam
Boxer Says She’s Going to Hold Hearings on Global-Warming Skepticism: WZ

Media

Gosnell Headlines? Gone, Baby, Gone!: First Things
Oh, those cwazy uniforms; or, no wonder Valerie Jarrett was confused: Bookworm
More Fingerboard Follies: Penguin

Tough to Keep This News to Themselves: Driscoll
Cairo Exclusive: Interview with ‘Sandmonkey’: PJM
Buried under 12 inches of liberal BS: CBS Blames Global Warming for Snowmaggedon: BlogProf

Stupid Liberal Argument #642: GOP Shouldn’t Take Free Health Care If They Oppose Obamacare: RWN
Like Death and Taxes: Michael Scheuer Blames Israel: GWP
Hell in a Handbasket: babalu

World

Obama's Brotherhood Moment: AINA
Egypt’s Military: Savior?: Kesler
Egypt Protests: Will the Real Mohammed ElBaradei Please Stand Up?: Bayefsky

House Republicans Schedule Vote For Next Week on Bill Demanding UN Refund American Money: WZ
Christians fear for their lives… in AUSTRALIA: West
The Meaning of Sharia in Five Simple Lines: AYWAS

Soros blames Israel, encouraged by Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt: AT
White House Reminds Staff Egypt is NOT a Muslim Country: MagNote
Does the White House Think Mubarak Is a Coptic Christian?: NRO

Egypt Gets Violent, Obama Gets Angry, Networks Get Ratings, I’ll Pop the Popcorn: RSM
Camels? WTF? Camels?: AmDig
British Police Afraid of Local Kids, Soon to Come to the USA?: RWN
By 59% to 27% Margin Egyptians Would Rather be Ruled by Islamic Fundamentalists Over Modernizers: WZ

SciTech

U.S. seizes 10 sports streaming websites: CNN
iPhone 4 to get AT&T mobile hotspot capabilities on February 13th?: Engadget
Verizon loses early skirmish in Net neutrality litigation: CNet

Cornucopia

Proof That Obama Was Behind Egyptian Uprising: iOTW
Senate Votes Down Health Care Repeal: SHN
Inspired by Mubarak, Obama Promises Not to Run in 2016: Cube

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: West for West Wing 2012
QOTD: "America has endured an administration that has attempted to seize and impose a new system of health care and health insurance against the will of the American people, while it has virtually ignored the need to responsibly address a growing deficit and debt, and the ever-growing number of unemployed Americans and businesses that are struggling to survive these difficult economic times.

In much the same way that President George W. Bush took his eye off the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and instead foolishly took us to war in Iraq, so President Obama has taken American on a flight from reality, and instead of dealing with the economic crisis at hand, has used his political might to attempt to change the very fabric of individualism and individual responsibility that make our country great." -- Tony Ondrusek

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Obama's Caliphate: Administration Says 'Muslim Brotherhood Could Play Role in Egypt' If It Plays Nice With Others

With Egypt's government on the brink of collapse, the Obama administration is calling for the magical imposition of a Democratic process while admitting that the Muslim Brotherhood has a role to play.

The United States is acknowledging that the hardline Muslim Brotherhood may play a role in Egypt's transition from autocracy if it agrees to a peaceful, democratic process...

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says the U.S. isn't dictating Egypt's shift from President Hosni Mubarak's three decades in power. He says it is up to Egyptians to determine the process, but he called on the Muslim Brotherhood - which is a banned group - to respect democratic processes...

Crowley said U.S. officials haven't met with members of the Muslim Brotherhood though they've spoken to other opposition groups... He acknowledged Wednesday the hardline Islamist movement is "a fact of life in Egypt."

The Muslim Brotherhood is the world's oldest and largest Islamofascist movement. It aligned with Nazi Germany in World War II and has spawned terror groups and affiliates throughout the world.

The Brotherhood's single, overarching goal is to establish a worldwide Caliphate.

What is a Caliphate?


A Caliphate is a Muslim state ruled by a civil and religous leader who is "considered to be a representative of Allah on earth; 'many radical Muslims believe a [caliphate] will unite all Islamic lands and people and subjugate the rest of the world'."

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most influential groups bent on establishing a worldwide Caliphate.

A number of Islamist political parties and Jihadist guerrilla groups have called for the restoration of the caliphate by uniting Muslim nations, either through political action (e.g., Hizb ut-Tahrir), or through force (e.g., al-Qaeda)...

The Muslim Brotherhood advocates pan-Islamic unity and implementing Islamic law, it is the largest and most influential Islamic group in the world, and its offshoots form the largest opposition parties in most Arab governments. Founder Hassan al-Banna wrote about the restoration of the Caliphate.

A document that was entered into evidence in the 2008 United States v. Holy Land Foundation terrorist finance trial was titled "An Explanatory Memorandum On the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America. It was written in 1991 by Mohamed Akram, a senior Hamas leader in the U.S. and a member of the Board of Directors for the Muslim Brotherhood in North America (also known as the Ikhwan). Strategic goals number 6 was: "supporting the establishment of the global Islamic State wherever it is". The memorandum explains "settlement process" as a "grand jihad" eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated…." Author Robert Spencer has characterized this process as “stealth jihad.”

We saw what happened in Gaza; Hamas won 'democratic' elections and now operates a totalitarian regime. Oh, and as an aside, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood by another name.

For the administration to state that a group like the Muslim Brotherhood has a role to play so long as it respects the democratic process is a bit like asserting that an elephant has a role to play in the wild as long as it doesn't step on anything.

Is there some kind of an award for naivete?


Update: Obama's Brotherhood Moment.

Update II: Another Muslim Brotherhood Leader Calls For “Preparing For War With Israel,” Claims Mubarak Being Protected by Zionists

Map: Adapted from WorldAtlas.

Colossal Warmal Colding Event Strengthens Al Gore's Hand

This is a vehicle stranded on I-43 early this morning in Grafton, Wisconsin.

This is Chicago's main thoroughfare, Lake Shore Drive, which was shut for 12 hours after a series of wrecks. Stranded drivers waited up to 12 hours in blizzard conditions with 70mph wind gusts. Some had to be hospitalized after being rescued.

All of these record-setting storms and low temperatures have apparently strengthened the hand of famed global warming expert Al Gore.

Gore has been joined by many proponents of man-made global warming in now claiming that record cold and snow is either “consistent with” or caused by global warming. The problem for Gore and others who make these claims, is they are on record claiming decreasing snow and cold are caused by global warming.

Oops. That's why the Internets are so awesome!

See: Flashback: Top Democrats Warn Low Snow Levels Prove Global Warming - 'Watch Democrats Jay Inslee, Barbara Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Robert Byrd and Dianne Feinstein express deep concern and alarm during years when winters were mild and snow was light, contending that global warming was the cause.'

Even more bad news for Al Gore is the fact that his claim that heavy snows being “completely consistent” with “man-made global warming” is being ridiculed by scientists and the claims are at odds with the UN climate panel that Gore shared a 2007 Nobel Prize with... the IPCC in 2007 'told us that winters would be WARMER and LESS extreme' -- UN IPCC 2007: 'More warm and fewer cold nights...fewer frost days...fewer cold outbreaks; fewer, shorter, less intense cold spells/cold extremes in winter'...

...Gore's claim of snow being "consistent" with global warming is also at odds with is Oscar Winning 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth.” Gore never once warned of record cold and increasing snowfalls as a consequence of man-made global warming in that film. But Gore has hyped the lack of snow as "evidence" for man-made global warming.

I full expect that some day in the very near future, the term Gore will be roughly equivalent to the words Ponzi and Madoff.


Officials in Egypt: SmartPower™ administration is issuing contradictory edicts and we don't know what to do

I think you'll agree that this story in the Washington Post represents the Obama administration in microcosm.

An Egyptian official says his government believes that White House demands for President Hosni Mubarak to step down immediately are in "clear contradiction" with Obama administration calls for an orderly transition to a new government.

...The official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying his government would not allow him to associate his name with the statement... [he] said in the statement: "There is a clear contradiction between an orderly process of transition and the insistence that this process be rushed."

There's only one word for an administration this competent: SmartPower™!


Hat tip: Stratfor Research. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Undoing Obamacare--The Latest

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

Undoing Obamacare: The Latest: Malkin
ObamaCare Held Unconstitutional: The Brilliant Decision: PJM
Romney digs in, won't apologize for RomneyCare: AnBlkCon

Undercover: Planned Parenthood Fires Worker: BigGovt
NYC Mayor Invades Arizona: RWN
Valerie Jarrett to uniformed general: More wine, garçon!: Caller

Economy

Obama’s Detroit Report Card: ‘F’: SHN
Obamacare Waived for 28 of Obama's Big Donors: RWN
Top Union Boss Calls for Violence in the Streets: GWP

Judge Vinson Also Smacks Down Crony Capitalists: AT
Stop the hate campaigns against U.S. businesses: Malkin
GM's Surge? Or 510,000 Cars Parked in Dealers' Lots?: ZH

Aetna Exits Colorado’s Individual Market: Cato
1099 Hell: Stabenow cries for repeal of bill she voted for: BlogProf
Cuomo calls NY 'functionally bankrupt': Mish

Climate & Energy

Giant Snow Storm To Hit US: Guess What’s To Blame?: RWN
Al Gore Has Impeccable Comedic Timing: Malkin
Would We Drill For $200 Oil? Obama's Damaging Energy Policy Exposed by Middle East Unrest: IBD

Media

New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn Redefines Judicial Restraint, Seriously Beclowning Himself in Process: IBD
We Need To Stop Glorifying Single Mothers: RWN
The Never-Before-Revealed Details of Why John Edwards Finally Confessed to His Affair: HuffPo

Crazed Man Sends Poison Powder To Government Offices Throughout California; Media Takes No Interest: Ace
"I Smell Mustard...": SondraK
Al Smith's 1936 Speech That Could Be Given Today: Virtuous

World

Yes, Islamists Are Coming Through Mexico: PJM
Food and Failed Arab States: ATimes
1.6 Billion Muslims: Mullings

The Story of the Egyptian Revolution: AT
EU Foreign Minister Just Can't Quite Bring Herself to Admit that Christians Were Attacked: Ace
Flashback: Hoyer Seeks Moderates Amongst Terrorists: AJacksonian

Radical Islam or Mainstream Islam?: AT
Egypt, The United States And The Ghost Of Khomeini: AT
Israel shocked by Obama's "betrayal" of Mubarak: Reuters

Bernanke and Ethanol Sink Egypt: Kudlow
Obama & Muslim Brotherhood Agree: Mubarak Must Begin To Transition Power Now: GWP
Three Muslims Charged for Distributing “Death to Gays” Leaflets: Creeping

SciTech

Exclusive: An Early Look At News.me, The New York Times’ Answer To The Daily: TechCrunch
Security: Stuxnet: Hunting for the Malware's Origins: eWeek
Google calls out Bing for copying its search results: DigitalTrends

Cornucopia

Tonight's Special Guest: Leonard Nimoy: Ace
Lawless: C&S
Gov. Palin and the Israeli Fighter Pilot: iOTW

Image: Scooby Doo -- Reloaded: C&S
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support the Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "So right now federal officials are not allowed to enforce Obamacare. Though, I am torn, because on one hand the law is clearly unconstitutional. On the other hand, I just got my White House waiver…

I must say, there are two court opinions on each side. Obviously, I find the two that find the two that call it unconstitutional more compelling for logical reasons. There’s no point in having any limits on Congress’s authority if they can force all citizens to buy a product. And, by the way, if this is constitutional then Republicans should turn around and mandate that all citizens be force to purchase a gun and a Bible. And, there’s a lot more evidence that owning a gun and a Bible is better for society than everyone having to buy health insurance..." -- Ann Coulter

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Bing Search Engine: I'm putting half a million dollars on Lucky Dan to win, third race at Riverside Park

More understandable headline: Google Claims Bing Is Cheating By Copying Its Search Results and Claiming Them As Its Own

It would appear that Google ran a little sting operation on Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Google has run a sting operation that it says proves Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they select from Google’s results, then uses that information to improve Bing’s own search listings. Bing doesn’t deny this.

As a result of the apparent monitoring, Bing’s relevancy is potentially improving (or getting worse) on the back of Google’s own work. Google likens it to the digital equivalent of Bing leaning over during an exam and copying off of Google’s test...

...Around late May of last year, Google told me it began noticing that Bing seemed to be doing exceptionally well at returning the same sites that Google would list, when someone would enter unusual misspellings...

...Google began to strongly suspect that Bing might be somehow copying its results, in particular by watching what people were searching for at Google. There didn’t seem to be any other way it could be coming up with such similar matches to Google, especially in cases where spelling corrections were happening.

Google thought Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser was part of the equation. Somehow, IE users might have been sending back data of what they were doing on Google to Bing. In particular, Google told me it suspected either the Suggested Sites feature in IE or the Bing toolbar might be doing this...

...When the [sting] was ready, about 20 Google engineers were told to run the test queries from laptops at home, using Internet Explorer, with Suggested Sites and the Bing Toolbar both enabled. They were also told to click on the top results. They started on December 17. By December 31, some of the results started appearing on Bing...

...before the test began, the [test] queries found either nothing or a few poor quality results on Google or Bing. Then Google made a manual change, so that a specific page would appear at the top of these searches, even though the site had nothing to do with the search. Two weeks after that, some of these pages began to appear on Bing for these searches.

It strongly suggests that Bing was copying Google’s results, by watching what some people do at Google via Internet Explorer...

While Google isn't ecstatic at Microsoft's tactics, it's not clear that what they're doing is illegal or in violation of the software end-user agreements. That said, it just... smells funny.

It would seem the right thing to do, the ethical thing for Microsoft to do, is to adjust its misspelling strategy -- using its own algorithms and not piggybacking on Google.