Thursday, February 10, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: House Republicans In Revolt

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Nation

House Republicans In Revolt: FoxNation
Holder's DOJ Even Politicizes FOIA Requests: Adams
Jim 'Melon Head' Webb (D-VA) Cuts and Runs: RedState

Lawless Democrats: IBD
The Welfare State of the Union: AT
NAACP: no interest in addressing racism against Thomas: RWN

McCain Wants Line Item Veto for Obama, My Friends: Malkin
Chris Lee (R-Idiot) Quickly Becomes Former Congressman: RSM
How Should We Interpret the Constitution?: AT

Economy

Who’s policing Amtrak Joe Biden’s $53B rail boondoggles?: Malkin
Well, They'd Better: Instapundit
Fired DC teachers must be offered jobs, back wages: WashExam

Government Rail to the Edge of the Abyss: RWN
Obama's Big Lie on Taxes: IBD
More Union Troubles for Rahm: RWN

Climate & Energy

The CAFE Effect: AT
'Green' Lobbyist Who Shaped Energy Policy Hired by Bailed Out Bank.: PJM
Cali's environmental regulations cause economic blackout: WashExam

Media

‘Unlike European Cities, No Bombs Fell on this American City’: Driscoll
Dear mainstream media reporter who wasted my time...: Coulter
Lamestream! US Weekly Presents Satirical Sarah Palin Story As Real: Con4Palin

Rumsfeld on False Newsweek Koran Flushing Story: You Can't Apologize to the Dead: NewsBusters
How's That Hopey-Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?: SDA
Politico Comic Dishes it Against AOL HuffPost: Mediabistro

The New York Times Discovers That Corporate Speech Isn’t A Bad Idea After All: OTB
Converging on Chicago, Again: AT
Pelosi Calls For Ban of the Word 'Hate': RWN

World

I now pronounce the Archbishop of Canterbury officially insane: Bookworm
CAIR scrubs website of award to Muslim who beheaded wife: Creeping
Multiculturalism will fail: Tarek Fatah: Sun

To Hell With Human Rights! A Muslim Authority Speaks Out: JOdysseus
Just How Rich is Hosni Mubarak?: AtlWire
Academic Negligence Masquerades As Academic Freedom At Brooklyn College: Kesler

SciTech

Android outshines Apple in 4th quarter: CNet
Instapaper Releases a Full API: TechCrunch
Exclusive: Andreessen Horowitz invests $80 million in Twitter: CNet

Cornucopia

iOTW Public Service: iOTW (NSFW)
We Need More "Undocumented" Comrades: Cube
No Time For Confession? There’s An App For That: SHN

Image: SadHillNews: Napolitano's Color-Coded Advisory
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Hey, Democrats: We'll Trade You a Clarence Thomas Recusal for an Elena Kagan One

They just don't get it.

Just a few months ago, we levied a massive, historic election defeat upon Democrats that reflected, in large part, the citizens' visceral anger with Obamacare. The individual mandate lynchpin of their health care takeover has been ruled unconstitutional by two federal judges and completely voided to boot. And still the Statist Democrats persist. They just can't stop themselves from destroying the country no matter what the people think.

A group of 73 House Democrats on Wednesday demanded U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any case examining the constitutionality of healthcare reform... Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and 72 other colleagues wrote Thomas on Wednesday to ask him to sit out any Supreme Court review of President Obama's healthcare law, citing the work by Thomas's wife on behalf of efforts opposing that healthcare law.

Let me guess: all 73 are members of the "Progressive Caucus" -- which is a nice term for Democrats who took an oath to uphold a document they believe means whatever they want it to mean.

Consider Elena Kagan, probably the most radical Supreme Court Justice in history (thanks, Lindsey Graham); she believes that the Constitution somehow grants the federal government the right to ban books and compel citizens to eat certain foods. And, no, I'm not kidding though I wish I was.

Kagan is the one justice who should recuse herself, given her work in the Obama administration as solicitor general.

Better still, how about we ask all Marxists progressives to recuse themselves from the Supreme Court and Congress since there's no possible way they could have honestly taken an oath to uphold a document they believe is a joke.


Hat tip: Memeorandum.

Politico's Ben Smith Inciting Violence

Or so it would appear, based upon the ever-morphing standards of the professional left.

Reflecting the bomb-throwing Florida conservative freshman's rock star status in the movement, Allen West tweets:

I've been asked today to have the honor of giving the closing keynote address at CPAC Sat. I'm humbled.


Awesome.

This is one man I would support as a presidential candidate right now.

As for Smith, we could emulate liberals and toss around terms like "incivility" and "racism" in response to his idiotic missive. But we're not like liberals. So we'll call it what it is: idiocy.


Exciting New Addition to San Francisco Restaurant Menus

Chopper Pilot sends us this shot of a menu from a high-end restaurant in SF:

Here's an interesting thought experiment. At what point do the regulations, taxes, surcharges and other Statist intrusions in people's lives become so oppressive that even San Franciscans rebel.

My guess is that the hippies have a very high tolerance for pain.


Larwyn's Linx: 'Right Now, Not Next Year, But Now'

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Nation

'Right Now, Not Next Year, But Now': RedState
Obama's law prof opines on health care reform: Hot Air
Law Law Law Law Law: WSJ

Are Two Constitutional Crises on the Way?: PJM
Obama's Trap for the GOP: Letting 'em 'fix' Obamacare: Ace
New Biden motto: “Seize the future”: Malkin

More Evidence that Centrist Democrats Are Dead: RWN
Allen West joins the Tea Party Caucus: Cubachi
Affirmative Action for Academia: Hire More Conservatives: Hayride

Economy

Cut the federal budget? Yes we can: Lowry
Nutrition Labeling Mandate Will Cost Jobs: BigGovt
Town in MI going bankrupt; still gives out 3% union raises: BlogProf

Obama's $53B High-Speed Rail Request to Bail Out GE?: SHN
Return of the Small-Biz Killers: Malkin
IBD/TIPP Poll: 70% Oppose Raising Debt Ceiling: IBD

Climate & Energy

Well, in that case, let's definitely NOT drill for oil: WZ
Global Warming Apparently to Blame for Rivers Freezing Solid: RWN
Open Letter to Congress: CO2Sci

Media

I have to take a 3rd shot at Larry Tribe's op-ed: That big word "choice." : Althouse
Obama Must Go: PJM (Solway)
Seven New Ways to Experience CPAC in 2011: Con

Arianna Agrees, New AOL News Director Says PATCH.com Major Part of 2012 Election Plans: Lid
Islamist group helps Hollywood sanitize Islam in movies, television: Creeping
Is the MSM Ready to Acknowledge 'Honor Killings' in America?: NewsReal

A Message To The CPAC Boycotters: Rhymes
Huffington's Heist: Hundreds of millions, on the backs of free help: Blumer
WaPo Reviews Rumsfeld Memoir...Right Next to 110-Page Rumsfeld Torture Fantasy: NewsBusters

Andrea Mitchell - Ronald Reagan Remix: Ace
Olbermann To End Career In Gore-Like Obscurity: RWN
Joe Biden: Conductor of the Train to the Future: Powers

World

Did You Gird Your Loins?: AMB
Newly Translated Muslim Brotherhood Text Reveals True Goal: 'Global Islamic Conquest': WZ
Obama Is Like Totally Prepared. Obviously.: RWN

Egyptian VP Says There Will Be No Regime Change: GWP
Egypt, Israel and a Strategic Reconsideration: Stratfor
Virginia Military Institute Celebrates Muslim Victory Over the West: RWN

SciTech

No Electronic Flaws Found in Toyota Vehicles: BMW
All Your Domain Names Are Belong to Obama: GreenRoom
Study: Facebook replacing Craigslist for prostitutes: CNet

Cornucopia

Old-Timey Music: CanineCanine
Obamacare: the Comic Book: Malkin
Sprout Wings and Fly: Fliefer

Image: Conservatoons
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Give a Couple o' Bucks to the Senate Conservatives Fund

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Sweet Fancy Soros: U.S. Government May Sell 100-Year Bonds In Hope That Buyers Will Be Dead Before Full Payments Are Due

If this isn't evidence of an impending federal default, I don't know what would pass the test.

The U.S. government is now considering selling debt that would stretch out for 40 years, 50 years – or even 100 years, according to minutes from last week's regular Treasury meeting. With interest rates so low, there's a growing belief that the government could benefit from locking in today's borrowing costs by pushing trillions in debt obligations decades into the future.

Best of all, the banksters experts are recommending these long-dated maturities.

On Monday, a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee raised the issue at a regular quarterly meeting with officials from the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York... The group consists of 13 senior executives from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, RBS Securities, Bank of America and investment firms active in Treasury trading, including Soros Fund Management, Moore Capital and Tudor Investment Corp.

The TBAC member, who was not identified in minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday, recommended that the Treasury consider ultra-long bond issuance, defined as securities issued with a tenure of 40, 50 or 100 years... Investors would welcome the sale of such ultra-long debt as it would satisfy the long-term investment needs of banks, pension funds, insurers and retail investors.

"This is a test. For the next sixty seconds, this station will conduct a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test."


Give Me That Old Time Religion

Dan from New York points us to a heart-warming tale of tolerance and -- yes -- civility.

WSJ, Asia News, February 8, 2011

Blasphemy Sentence Sparks Riot in Indonesia


By ERIC BELLMAN

JAKARTA—Hundreds of protesters burned churches and attacked a courthouse in central Indonesia Tuesday after a Christian convicted of blasphemy against Islam was given what they considered a lenient sentence. The rioting was the latest in a string of incidents that's raising fears about the influence of radical Islamic groups in a country aggressively trying to position itself as one of the world's fastest-growing—and most stable—emerging markets.

Antonius Richmond Bawengan, 58, was sentenced to five years in prison for handing out leaflets and books that "spread hatred about Islam." Many of the Islamic hardliners who had gathered near the Temanggung District Court in central Java for the verdict wanted the death penalty, though five years is the maximum sentence.

After angry protesters tried to grab Mr. Bawengan as he was taken from court, the police fired warning shots into the air. The crowd then spread through the neighborhood, setting fire to two churches and a police vehicle and throwing rocks at a third church.

I, for one, blame the militant Quakers.


Unexpectedly: crucial phone conversations between Rahm Emanuel and Blago now "mysteriously missing" from federal prosecutors' evidence

Ain't Chicago politics -- especially at the national level -- grand?

Two seemingly crucial phone conversations between then Governor Rod Blagojevich and then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are "mysteriously missing" from the collection of evidence held by prosecutors, according to Blago's defense team.

The calls were made around December 8, 2008, the day before Blago was arrested by the Feds.

You may recall that Blago appeared to be caught on tape negotiating with various parties for Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. His discussions with White House adviser Rahm Emanuel and SEIU muckety-mucks were taped by the FBI. Only the tapes with Emanuel have -- unexpectedly! -- gone AWOL.

Attorneys for former governor Rod Blagojevich have asked a federal judge to order prosecutors to produce two phone calls his lawyers say are mysteriously missing from evidence... it appears at least one of the alleged conversations was between then Chief of Staff John Harris and then congressman Rahm Emanuel, who had just taken the post as president-elect Obama's chief of staff...

They argue that the government has only tendered three of those conversations... "The fourth and final phone call is the call that is mysteriously missing," writes defense attorney Lauren Kaesberg. "The government never turned over this pivotal recording, nor a transcript of this call."

...During a Tuesday morning campaign appearance, Emanuel made his most extensive comments yet on his involvement in the Senate transactions, noting that the transition team report on the matter noted that “nothing inappropriate” had taken place.

Whether or not Emanuel was caught on tape bartering with Blago, he's a decidedly shady character.

Is there anything wrong with mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel making $18.5 million dollars as an investment banker in the 2 ½ years after he got out of the Clinton White House – much of it from Clinton donors?

“I defy you to tell me anybody you know who jumped out of government into a business for which he had no credentials or background, made $18.5 million in two years and then jumped back into government,” said Gery Chico, Emanuel’s rival for the mayor’s office.

...What credentials did Emanuel present to go to work in investment banking after a career raising campaign funds for Mayor Daley and President Clinton, then advising Clinton on policy issues?

...Chico, del Valle and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun have also hit Emanuel for taking $360,000 as a board member for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Make that "bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac, which helped touch off the financial meltdown."

Yes, Rahm Emanuel appears to be a perfect choice to lead Chicago into the next decade. Above reproach, with no ethical issues whatsoever, and a pristine track record of honesty and fair dealings.


Obama's "tough budget cuts" in pictures

President Obama's 2012 budget will be roughly $3,800,000 million ($3.8 trillion).

The anticipated 2012 budget deficit will be $1,500,000 million ($1.5 trillion). This means we are borrowing that amount from our children to fund all of the Democrats' Utopian spending programs.

Finally, the president has proposed "tough budget cuts" that total $775 million. No, that's not a joke.

Let's illustrate the magnitude of Obama's cuts.

Obama's cuts aren't even visible in this chart. Let's zoom in.

Blowing it up about ten times allows us to see a tiny little sliver: those are the cuts.

Blowing the chart up a further ten times still barely exposes Obama's proposed cuts.

President Obama's budget director Jack Lew in a Sunday opinion piece outlined some off the "tough choices" Obama is willing to make to cut spending in his 2012 budget request due out on Feb. 14... The cuts are relatively small, however, in the larger scheme of things. In total, the $775 million in detailed cuts fall far short of demands by congressional Republicans and will do little toward tackling the deficit, which is estimated to be $1.5 trillion this year by the Congressional Budget Office...

...Lew said that the Valentine's Day budget will proposed cutting in half community service block grants to grassroots groups in poor communities... He said "this cut is not easy for" Obama.

Not easy.

Our country's going bankrupt and he can't find anything to cut.

These Democrats are so far off the reservation that there's really no hope left for them as a political party. You need to expose this irresponsible President and his sycophants to everyone you know. We must begin laying the groundwork for 2012.

If we are to salvage this Republic, we must eradicate every Democrat -- for there are no moderate Democrats left -- at the ballot box in 2012. At every level of government. Because this degree of dishonesty and wanton fiscal destruction must be rewarded with political obliteration.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Small Dead Animals, The Blaze, Moonbattery, and Weasel Zippers. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: The TSA Two-Step; Lindsey Grahamnesty Rides Again

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Nation

The TSA Two-Step: Hayride
Oops. Children Face Less Coverage Under Obamacare: Foundry
Democrats switch to GOP across the Deep South: LAT

Lindsey Grahamnesty rides yet again: Malkin
Please do not adjust your set, Obamavision is now active: WyBlog
Is individual mandate first step in taking of freedoms?: IFA

Economy

NYT: Conservatives Want States To Go Bankrupt So...: RWN
Chicken Little and the national debt ceiling: Thomas
First They Came for the Teachers: Reason

No longer masked--Obama: workers must share in profits: LP
When States Go Bust: WklyStd
California RFP seeks free IT security services: ZDnet

Look who makes RomneyCare/MassCare’s waiver decisions: Malkin
Obama offers $775M in cuts for $1.5T deficit: Hill
Florida Gov. Rick Scott: Slash taxes by $4 billion: CNN

Climate & Energy

Will California Legal Action Give “Cap and Trade” New Life at National Level?: RWN
‘Big Oil’ Rescues ‘Big Moonbat’: Malkin
New Climate Alarmist Movies About To Hit As Animals Freeze To Death And Barry Eats Well: RWN

Natural resources hold the key to economy, creating jobs: WashExam
Soaring Oil Price Threatens U.S. Economy: PJM
CARB Before Horse: IBD

Media

Dick Armey: Tingles is “Slipping Out of Touch With Reality”: WZ
A New Right: Denny
Olbermann Rumored to be Joining Gore's Struggling TV Network: NewsBusters

My Mopar Wants to Kill Your Mama: Driscoll
Hypocrisy Alert: NAACP Declines To Condemn Left-Wing Racist Attacks On Justice Thomas: NiceDeb
NewsBusters Publisher Bozell: 'AOL News Has Lost Its Mind' with HuffPo Buyout: NewsBusters

Pics From the Front: WZ
Further Evidence of Far Left Dissemination of “9/11″ Disinformation: Loudon
Rumsfeld says Powell never uttered objections to President Bush about the Iraq War: Cubachi

World

Friend of Shariah: Gaffney
GOP seeks return of tens of millions in overpayments to... United Nations: USR
Afghan Red Cross worker with one leg set to be hanged for conversion to Christianity: AT

Egypt: Christian Leaders Says Main Engine Fueling Uprising Is the Muslim Brotherhood: WZ
Clinton welcomes Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood overlords: Creeping
Democracy or Jew-Hatred? More Evidence of Anti-Semitism at the Egypt Protests: PJM

Women in Cairo Street Scenes: a Troubling Photo Essay : INN
American Foreign Aid Is Making Things Worse: SAB
Sexual Prey in the Saudi Jungle: Eurasia

SciTech

INFOGRAPHIC: Apple iPad, Motorola Xoom, and Other Tablets Compared: Minyanville
NFL teams may replace playbooks with iPads: CNet
Sprint's Kyocera Echo dual-screen Android phone announced, we go hands-on: Engadget

Cornucopia

Things That Get Passed Around: Denny (Must Watch)
Buzzkill: Detroit mayor shoots down idea for Robocop statue: Jalopnik
The Diamonds -- "Little Darlin'": Parkway

Image: Maktoob
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The U.S. Report

QOTD: "Hillary Clinton is welcoming the Muslim Brotherhood in discussions about a new Egyptian government. The Mubarak government is reaching out to it as well. I wonder what those who invoke the American Revolution and other disconnected historical events to justify their blind support for events in Egypt -- which they can neither accurately define or explain -- think about this. Actually, my guess is they're unmoved by this knowledge as they are motivated by doctrine and ideology, not reason and experience. They'll downplay it and the Muslim Brotherhood's effectiveness. But for the rest of us, it is important to pay attention to history, experience, and facts. To support these events as a democracy movement is to miscomprehend the words democracy and movement.

We all hope this turns out well. Who among us would not? And there's no doubt that democracy is preferred to tyranny and that an untold number of Egyptians seek democracy. But now is not the time to throw prudence and caution overboard but, rather, to embrace them more firmly. The tyranny of totalitarianism, of the sort that took power in Iran and Gaza during the last "democracy movements," demands it. While the situations are not identical, they're close enough. Moreover, it is hard to imagine the Obama administration competently handling this extremely difficult matter when it has demonstrated incompetence in matters of far less complexity and import. Indeed, the president's amateurism has already revealed itself in his public statements." --Mark Levin

Monday, February 07, 2011

How to save $500,000,000 in Medicare [Dr. Jay]

Dr. Jay writes:

I believe I've come up with a way to save a crap-load (a medical term meaning "a lot") of money in the health care system.

I have been pondering one of the great mysteries of medical practice. I spent four years of college, four years of medical school and three years of post-praduate training in order to understand medical terminology and diseases. But once in practice, armed with all of that knowledge and training, I must learn a new and even more esoteric code that serves as a substitute for all of medical accomplishments. This code does not directly correspond to accepted medical practice. It is not even internally consistent. But learn it I must or perish from the inability to be paid.

I speak of course about the CPT and the ICD codes.

In medicine every medical condition is reduced to a numerical code. That is because 40 years ago computer systems were primitive and limited in memory. They could typically use numbers as shorthand -- and not long numbers at that. So two great classes of codes were established of procedures and diseases (CPT and ICD respectively). These were things you could do and the conditions you were doing it for. English could not be used because the computers were insufficiently advanced. So every medical interaction that required a payment from an insurance company required numerical identifiers, plus all of the other correct data elements (insurance policy number, employer, address, etc.)

And since physicians are fairly smart, they learned the codes and got paid, so the modifiers were invented. You could not just use codes to represent what had happened, you had to modify them in a variety of circumstances. And then the codes were changed, and then again, now annually.

So a huge industry of coders developed, working for doctors, insurance companies, government agencies, billing companies, educators and all manner of other parties. Costs escalated constantly for books, classes, correspondence, employees, records, follow-ups and delays; all of which serve to simply gum up the system.

For example: can anyone explain why it is reasonable to have a different code for the same examination in an office, the hospital, the nursing home and the emergency room? Wouldn't it be easier to simply use the examination and say it was in the office, the hospital, and so on? Easier, faster, no complicated interpretation, much less likely to make a mistake and delay payment. We would reduce the costs of all medical care by a conservative 15% to perhaps as much as 30%. And it would serve to make the system more efficient and faster.

Yes, it's a radical idea: we use English instead of numerical codes.

Why must there be an additional code if two procedures are done on the same day? Why not just list the two procedures? And why use a different additional code for an examination and a procedure on the same day?

Put a single medical dictionary into practice and then simply use that very precise medical terminology. It is what [gasp] doctors are taught in the first lace and upon which the whole medical system is based. There is a big difference between pancreatitis, esophagitis and tonsillitis; there is no need for three completely different codes. Imagine how many people would be free to more productive work than pushing paper.

Of course, there is one practical problem with this suggestion. If we used English instead of the CPT and ICD coding system, the delays in payments to patients would be reduced. Indeed, that is the reason for the whole thing in the first place; to reduce the outflow of money to patients and doctors. But the costs incurred by the rapid payment of claims would be more than offset by the reduced costs of less man hours, postage, coding books, training and communications requirements. How much money is being saved by Medicare and the insurance companies by delaying justified payments to patients and Doctors? Could it really be 15% to 35% of the costs? And if it is, isn't that a flagrant example of almost criminal inefficiency?

I do believe I have outlined a fairly simple way to save the entire health care system a lot of money. In fact, it saves money for all concerned: government, regulators, insurance companies, providers and patients.

When do we start?

Because this idea is so simple and so elegant, it is certain that we will have to wait until after we have excised Democrats from control of the Senate and the White House.

Remember, Jay: the modern Left that now controls the Democrat Party wants the system to collapse. It's called the Cloward-Piven Strategy and it has been documented copiously throughout the Inter-tubes.

So, to answer your question, we can start in 2012 provided we can eradicate these locusts at the ballot box.


It would appear that the NAACP is cool with blacks getting lynched, so long as the blacks getting lynched are conservatives

The horrifying, racist and violent threats repeated ad nauseum at a progressive rally in Palm Springs, California have laid bare the rank hypocrisy of legacy media.

Participants in the [Common Cause] rally were captured on video advocating the assassination of Scalia, Thomas, Thomas's wife and Chief Justice John Roberts. Two of them explicitly called for Justice Thomas, the court's only black member, to be lynched. One man also asserted that Fox News president Roger Ailes "should be strung up," adding: "Kill the bastard."

A statement from Common Cause made clear that what it called these "hateful, narrow-minded sentiments"--rather a delicate way of describing lurid calls for murder--were contrary to the corporate position of the self-styled "grassroots organization." But the [New York] Times editorial [board] expresses no disapproval of the Common Cause supporters' racist and eliminationist statements.

Of course not. While the Tea Party can be tarred as racist, violent extremists with absolutely no evidence, similarly the truly racist, violent extremists on the Left are absolved of any sins because... well, just because.

Furthermore, once proud groups like the NAACP have sacrificed their mission to advance the Democrats' agenda of racial divisiveness and class warfare. For though the progressive Left has threatened to string up Thomas, the NAACP has uttered nary a word of criticism in response. They are silent.

How far the NAACP has fallen...

In one of the greatest speeches in American history -- many historians believe it is second only to The Gettysburg Address -- King dreamed of a day when skin color was as meaningless as eye color. He said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

King supported the NAACP of his era. The group's proud tradition included fighting against the diabolical practice of lynching, supporting the civil rights struggle, and driving legislation that advanced the cause of equal rights and individual liberties.

Fast forward a few decades and we find that the NAACP has become the antithesis of King's vision. It has, in the words of the National Black Republican Association, a "racist agenda."

Today's NAACP unapologetically welcomes Louis Farrakhan, a virulent racist who preaches hatred of whites, Jews and Catholics.

Today's NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond, is a spiteful, bitter racist who despises anyone that opposes his radical Statist agenda. If you believe in the Constitution, if you believe in individual liberty and private property, then Bond's bizarre ideology brands you a racist.

At an NAACP gathering, FDA executive Shirley Sherrod "twice decried present-day racism, as if it was 400 years ago. That suggests a person whose views on race have not truly changed at all. But she doesn't stop there. [Referring to Tea Party activists,] Sherrod says, 'I haven't seen such mean-spirited people as I have seen lately over this issue, healthcare. Some of the racism we thought was buried, didn't it surface.' ...In Sherrod's world, no one is allowed to object to a significant Obama-supported policy change impacting the healthcare of all Americans without being labeled a racist."

Today, when it comes to the violent rhetoric of the progressive left -- Common Cause and similar groups -- the NAACP is silent. It is so partisan, so far afield from its original mission, that it can't bring itself to criticize threats to lynch black conservatives.

Martin Luther King wouldn't even recognize today's NAACP. It's a disgrace -- and its leaders aren't fit to be mentioned in the same breath as King.


Related: When did the NAACP join the Klan?

Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

AOL's Death Spiral--Confirmed

Arianna Huffington signed a deal earlier today that hands ownership of The Huffington Post to AOL in exchange for $315 million in cash and stock. Arianna's a smart businesswoman: she demanded most of the deal in cash, eschewing the stock of a company that almost certainly overpaid for the progressive news portal.

The sale is said to give Ms. Huffington significant editorial control of AOL's news content, which means that it will lurch hard left.

I can therefore draw only one conclusion: AOL is circling the drain.

AOL is collecting $250 million a year from people who don't know it's free -- "For five years, AOL has been cashing in on users who don’t know they can cancel the paid service and still get all the benefits." -- Not exactly a sustainable business model.

HuffPo's huge cadre of bloggers who work for free are unlikely to continue doing so now that Arianna's had her massive payday -- "It always amazed me that HuffPo bloggers (not the handful of well paid staffers, but the great unwashed) thought they were so special by being allowed to blog at HuffPo, when in fact they were being treated as unindentured servants.  They were able leave, but they were working for free to help Arianna build a business." -- Methinks many of the site's bloggers will resent the fact that they were paid nary a cent.

Moving to the left as the country moves right is a recipe for disaster -- the U.S. as a whole is far more conservative than liberal and Gallup's polling indicates the trend is accelerating. AOL could very well be in the process of transforming itself into Air America.

Now that AOL is in overpayment mode in a bid to stay relevant, may I suggest some other strategic acquisitions?

• Daily Kos for $95 million
• Democrat Underground for $25 million
• Rosie O'Donnell's blog for $7.5 million
• Media Matters for a bottle of A-1 Steak Sauce and two snow tires


Hat tip: Memeorandum.

Larwyn's Linx: Rand Paul--'The American People Have Had Enough'

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

Rand Paul: 'The American People Have Had Enough': Corner
Conservative Cannibalism: A Winning Strategy for Failure in 2012: Uncov
The Demoralization of Palin Supporters: Con4Palin

Ronald Reagan: Father of the Tea Party: RWN
Christie's Islamist Problem: PJM
Rubio: US and World Owe a Great Debt to Reagan: Cubachi

Obama: I'm not moving to the center: Hill
Ronald Reagan at 100: Ace
Egypt Protests Turn Into Pro-Hamas, Anti-Israel Rallies: Atlas

Economy

Why do Democrats Hate School Choice So Much?: JWF
Obama & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Bad romance: Malkin
Chrysler workers caught using drugs during lunch--again: DetNews

Congress’ power at heart of fight over health law: Lantigua
Former Treasury Secretary is A-Scared; Should You Be?: Reason
Palin says Obama's policies have US on road to ruin: Reuters

Hey, Remember Beck's Crazy Conspiracy Theory?: RSM
Citizen may be charged with creating better traffic plan: BlogProf
California Group Seeks to End Collective Bargaining: Mish

Climate & Energy

Judge Holds Interior Department in Contempt for ‘Dismissive Conduct’: ABA Journal
A contemptuous administration: Times
EPA to Regulate Dairy Milk Spills as per Oil Spills: Hot Air

Sen Mark Kirk (IL): Cap-and-trade died in the Senate because… Al Gore got divorced: RWN
For the first time ever, we can image the sun in 360°: WUWT
Israel jittery about gas supply from Egypt: MyWay

Media

Obama Administration Found in Contempt of Court, Media Silent: NewsBusters
Over-Rated Beltway Welfare Queen Bill Kristol Is Wrong On Egypt: Riehl
Obama's Prayer Breakfast Knuckleball: Cashill

AOL buys Huffington Post for $315 million: CNet
Figures. Amanpour Says Muslim Moslem Brotherhood Group Is Not Fundamentalist: GWP
James Baker to David Gregory: Financial Deregulation Happened on Clinton's Watch Not Reagan's: NewsBusters

The "E" Word: GrandRants
Palin vs. Reagan: MoneyRunner
Top 10 Ways to School Your Leftist Friends on Facebook: NewsReal

Left wing tolerance/civility watch: Bush, Palin speeches cancelled due to threats, harassment: Toldjah
Reagan's defense of life: "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation": Pundette
ThinkProgress Attacks Ronald Reagan On His 100th Birthday: RWN

World

Winning the future. One forehead smack at a time.: JOM
Israel Working Toward Energy Independence: Hot Air
Indonesia: Muslim on Christian attacks spiked in 2010: Creeping

Clueless on Cairo: Hanson
Obama's Role in Empowering the Muslim Brotherhood: AT
Egyptian Pound Plummets As Egyptians Get Their First Taste Of A Bank Run: ZH

Barack Obama: Only Certain Strains of the Muslim Brotherhood Are Against the US: GWP
Muslims demand sharia law at London embassy protests (pics): Creeping
The real threat to the U.S. border is their own incompetence: NatPost

SciTech

Bill Gates on the Vaccines/Autism Hoax: Instapundit
Google's new tablet OS: Honeycomb (FAQ): CNet
Canon 200-400mm lens leads supertele charge: CNet

Cornucopia

Kate Betts, Donald Rumsfeld - Everyday Icon v Everyman Icon; Take Rummy, Give the Points: MOTUS
10 things you might not know about TV commercials: Trib
Exotic car tour provides vroom with a view: Contra Costa

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Report from Tampico, Illinois on Reagan's 100th birthday
QOTD: "Al Gore's explanation is a lie. The same lie was offered last year. It's basically "well of course it's snowy because all this extra warm air coming up from the equator is loading the air with moisture and so it snows."

Except it's not just snowy. It's also cold. Al Gore's hot-air-causes-precipitation explanation can be used to explain precipitation -- but heat cannot be so used to explain cold.

And it is cold. Colder than the global warmistas predicted, of course, but who cares, that's Old School Science where you make predictions which are then either proven true or false, which in turn either provides or removes confidence from your working model. The New Science is It just is; we have said so; now shut up." --Ace o' Spades

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Warmal Colding Photo o' the Day

Lake Shore Drive in Chicago last week:

Dumbass of the day abandons his car in Chicago.

Doesn’t he realize it could be stolen?

This must be a mirage. Al Gore told us, after all, that snow is a thing of the past.


Dear Democrats: 'The Mayans were right–your world is coming to an end in 2012'

'Hey World, What A Steel Fist in a Velvet Glove Looks Like':

Liberals, Islamists and Globalists take note: She’ll always look this good, even when ruining your plans.


Meanwhile, Palin Derangement Syndrome -- even when it harms military families in need -- continues apace.


Top 10 Democrats Who Have No Business Calling Sarah Palin 'Dumb'

For those pundits who claim that Sarah Palin is 'dumb', Dan from New York presents the following list for your consideration:

There’s a real glut, but these were first 10 that came to mind:

1. Harry Reid
2. Barney Frank/Andrew Sullivan (tie)
3. Joe Biden
4. Al Franken
5. John Conyers
6. Nancy Pelosi
7. Sheriff Dupnik
8. Jimmy Carter
9. Patty Murray
10. Howard Dean

I was pretty sure Maxine Brown-Reed and Matthew Yglesias would crack this elite list, but like he says there's a real glut.


ThinkProgress Celebrates Ronald Reagan's Birthday By Marketing Its Top Ten Lies Intended to Smear the 20th Century's Greatest President

That was quick--ThinkProgress attacks Ronald Reagan with their usual slate of laughably fraudulent fabrications

It didn't take long for the loons at ThinkRegress to begin attacking the memory of the 20th century's greatest president. The culmination of their effort -- '10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan' -- is a list of Reagan's policies that conservatives supposedly want to hide from the general public.

Reagan was not the man conservatives claim he was. This image of Reagan as a conservative superhero is myth, created to untie the various factions of the right behind a common leader. In reality, Reagan was no conservative ideologue or flawless commander-in-chief. Reagan regularly strayed from conservative dogma — he raised taxes eleven times as president while tripling the deficit — and he often ended up on the wrong side of history, like when he vetoed an Anti-Apartheid bill.

ThinkProgress' "top 10 things conservatives rarely mention when talking about President Reagan" are as follows:

" 1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser" - Reagan suffered from overwhelming Democrat majorities in Congress when he took office. While he desperately wanted to strip away huge swaths of government (including eliminating the then newly created Department of Education), he had no choice but to compromise with the Democrats who controlled the budgetary purse-strings. When Reagan left office, the top marginal tax rate was 28% (today's it's 35% and under Bill Clinton it was nearly 40%).

"2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit by enacting a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously" - Another flat-out lie. Before his 25 percent across-the-board cut in individual income-tax rates went into effect, government receipts from individual income taxes trickled in at $244.1 billion. The year Reagan left office, they totaled $445.7 billion -- an 82 percent jump. As for the deficits, Democrats outspent every one of the nine budgets Reagan proposed but one. Further, Democrats refused to make corresponding cuts in wasteful domestic programs to offset the defense appropriations Reagan needed to combat the Soviet Union after the Carter administration's foreign policy disasters (e.g., Iran, Afghanistan, et. al.).

"3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts" - Before the full tax-relief package was passed -- against the wishes of many Democrats, by the way -- the jobless rate hit 9.6 percent. But as the cuts rippled through the economy, unemployment dropped every year after 1983, reaching a low of 5.3 percent in 1989. And tax cuts benefited minorities, too. The jobless rate among blacks plunged from 19.5 percent in 1983 to 11.4 percent in 1989.

"4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously" - this again omits the role of Congressional Democrats who controlled the purse-strings and refused to axe the programs and agencies that Reagan requested. In fact, the media portrayed Reagan as "heartless" and depicted him as "laughable and malevolent" for his attempts to strip away the federal bureaucracy. But the only way the Democrat Congress would accept a defense buildup and tax cuts was for Reagan to agree to their domestic spending agenda. In fact, the budget deficits of the 1980s made the surpluses in the 1990s possible; the balanced budget was aided by surging tax revenues from a healthy, low-tax economy and immense defense savings made possible by the fall of the Soviet Union.

"5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to chose [sic]" - Reagan was adamant about ending the practice of 'abortion on demand' and proposed that legislation be drafted to do so (you can hear Reagan's 1983 address on this subject); but he "had little success in gaining its acceptance by Congress."

" 6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.”" - this is sheer revisionist idiocy; Reagan believed, first and foremost, in peace through strength. He gave dozens of speeches on this topic, rebuilt the U.S. military after Carter had stripped it bare, and created the impetus for the oft-derided SDI ("Star Wars") program that has since become an essential part of U.S. national security strategy. His famous slogans on this topic were "peace through strength" and "trust but verify".

" 7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants" - The Democrat leadership in Congress promised to enact strict enforcement measures as a trade for a one-time amnesty deal. In an effort to control the border, Reagan went along with the deal. At the time (1986), the measures were marketed by Democrats as as being able to stop illegal immigration. Ted Kennedy himself sold the enforcement clauses of the law as strong enough to ensure that only a one-time amnesty would be needed. But, as is their standard practice, Democrats lied about sealing the border.

Reagan himself said, "This country has lost control of its borders. And no country can sustain that kind of position."

" 8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran" -Democrats launched a six-year, $40 million investigation of Reagan in a politically inspired witch-hunt. Reagan was, in fact, found guilty of absolutely nothing. Furthermore, indictments were intentionally handed down mere days before the 1992 election that pitted George H. W. Bush against Bill Clinton -- presumably to levy the maximum amount of political damage on the GOP candidate. Near the end of the investigations, The Baltimore Sun reported that a "federal trial judge in Washington dismissed Oliver North's conviction" and that "[c]riticism of Mr. Walsh's prosecution and of the law that authorized it will become more intense [because the] public has gotten precious little from his [at the time] $30 million, four-year effort".

"9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act" - Reagan vehemently opposed apartheid ("Apartheid is morally wrong and politically unacceptable [... the] United States cannot maintain cordial relations with [such] a government") but he did not support the approach advocated by Congress. He issued an executive order restricting trade with the Pretoria government and virtually ended inter-bank dealings. But he believed that Congress' unilateral sanctions would harm blacks most of all and eradicate all of the leverage he wanted to bring to bear on South Africa. He wanted a timetable for the elimination of apartheid laws, the release of all political prisoners (especially Nelson Mandela) and a removal of the ban on black political movements. He felt he could not negotiate with the South African government if he had nothing to trade. His 1986 speech -- "Ending Apartheid in South Africa" -- comprehensively described his plans and approach.

" 10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden" - Gee, next they'll be complaining that we had to side with the Soviets to defeat the Nazis. This sort of leftist lunacy simply rewrites history. We needed to sabotage the Soviets' efforts in Afghanistan to prevent a dramatic power-shift in the Middle East. Blaming Reagan for the Taliban and Bin Laden is like blaming Henry Ford for the problem of too many scrap tires.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Happy Birthday, Mr. President. Rest assured that the Left is just as stupid, dishonest and disingenuous as they were when you were in office.


Larwyn's Linx: Reagan centennial: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

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

Reagan centennial: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness: Malkin
A Day In the Life of the Obama White House: GWP
What Guns Would the Founders Ban?: PJM

He "Lied Us Into" The Mandate: LegalIns
The Progressive Disdain for the Rule of Law: AT
Give me liberty or give me health care: PostPartisan

The Obamacare Assault on the Rule of Law: Foundry
Obamacare on the Ropes: WklyStd
Reagan's Values Can Stop 'Bullet Train to Bankruptcy': Cubachi

Economy

Does America have a lawyer problem, or a law problem?: Reynolds
How You Get a 9% Unemployment Rate: Virtuous
Obama pushes for a more litigious society: BH

Tennessee County School Board Fires Teachers Union: RWN
Big Labor Upset at Choice of Charlotte for DNC: Malkin
'Illinois did it, so, y’know, it must be a good idea.': RWN

Climate & Energy

White House's Contemptible Drilling Ban: IBD
Fury builds over blackouts caused by de-industrialization of America: RWN
With Energy Policy, President Schlemiel Tries the Same Thing Again: PJM

Global Warming Induced Blizzards: The Bitter Clinger Down the Road: Powers
We Spent Billions on Wind Power… and All I Got Was a Rolling Blackout: WUWT

Media

Everybody’s doing it. And if everybody’s doing it, that’s a lot of people doing it.: ProWis
Fish Wrap: Damned You Evil Republicans Who Want Dirty Air!: RWN
Before Obama Was Elected, Chris Matthews Gushed Over the 'Genius' Who Is a 'Miraculous Gift': NewsBusters

MSM Circles the Wagons Around Obama Admin Over Middle East: BigJourn
John Hinckley Jr -- Pride of the Progressive American Penal System: AmDig
Figures. NY Times Compares Muslim Brotherhood Terror Group to Catholic Church: GWP

Santelli Slams CNBC Panelists for Spinning Jobs Report: MRC
Rasmussen: Bounce gone, strong disapproval back to 40%: Hot Air
The Most Coherent Liberal Argument Against Glenn Beck Made To Date: Looking Spoon (NSFW)

World

Reagan’s Foreign Policy Legacy: PJM
Got Some Skin In the Game?: Near Distant
We need to rethink blasphemy law: UK scholar: Tribune of Pakistan

It is (I hope) not futile to resist the Islamic Borg: RWN
Wikileaks: Obama Gave The Russians Britain’s Nuke Secrets!: NiceDeb
Obama Donor Brought U.S. Embassy To 'State Of Dysfunction': JW

The Obama Administration and the Middle East: A Half-Time Assessment: AT
Public Ed: UK getting ready for 'gay math,' 'gay geography' in primary schools: BlogProf
Canada: Muslims don’t want children in infidel music, mixed phys-ed classes: Creeping

SciTech

Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq Computers: WSJ
$20,000 and a laptop if you can find an exploit in Google Chrome: WikiNoticia
Teens Arrested For Facebook Death Threats: TSG

Cornucopia

Winging It With a Prayer: MOTUS
Red Square Takes Pennsylvania By Storm!: Cube
Party On, Garth: Dana Carvey And Mike Myers Revisit “Wayne’s World” On SNL: Mediaite

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The President Who Stood By Our Side
QOTD: "The left went ballistic [after the ruling]. They immediately accused Judge Vinson of judicial activism, which translated from the original liberal language means they disagreed with him and lost.

Conservatives have long complained about activist liberal judges, but being an activist judge is about expanding a ruling beyond the limits of the Constitution. Roe v. Wade is often cited as an example of judicial activism. Conservatives claim that those justices in 1973 created a new law out of thin air. Liberals claim that the "right to privacy" merely resulted from a new interpretation of existing law. The matter remains unsettled 38 years later, and judicial activism is still used as a pejorative to describe judges who legislate from the bench.

...those who remove their partisan blinders would see that Judge Vinson was engaging in the exact opposite of judicial activism. His ruling was the epitome of judicial restraint. Strict constructionists adhere to such restraint, while those believing in the unprovable notion of an evolving Constitution are exactly what judicial activism is all about. " --Eric Golub

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Barack Obama: As American as Apple Pie and Ronald Reagan

Or so he and legacy media would have you believe.

Liberal pundits have recently found a new epithet for President Obama: "Reaganesque." But for that to fit, our current president would have to do a dramatic about-face, especially when it comes to policy... As America celebrates the 40th president's 100th birthday, the current White House occupant should think about his predecessor's bedrock philosophy and actual accomplishments that led to his success.

...our president would be wise to delve a bit deeper into his subject. He would find Reagan was successful not because of his personality — his well-known optimism, his ability to communicate — but because he had powerful conservative beliefs that resonated with Americans' own deeply held ideas of right and wrong...

Reagan emanated optimism. He did so because he believed — indeed, he knew — that his principles were the right ones. He believed in individual rights and responsibility, small but effective government, a strong defense and the rule of law.

Comparing how Reagan brought the economy roaring back with Obama's lack of success is instructive...

As they say, read the whole thing.