Monday, March 07, 2011

Legacy Media Continues to Hide the Real Economic News: Unemployment at 10.3% and Rising; February Budget Deficit Worst Ever for One Month

It shouldn't come as any surprise that during the last half of 2010, newspaper circulation hemorrhaged five entire percentage points.

After all, the real economic news is quite dire, though to read the daily fish-wrap you'd never know it.

Consider if you will "Gallup: Real Unemployment Rate is 10.3% -- and Rising."

Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, hit 10.3% in February -- up from 9.8% at the end of January. The U.S. unemployment rate is now essentially the same as the 10.4% at the end of February 2010...

...The percentage of part-time workers who want full-time work worsened considerably in February, increasing to 9.6% of the workforce from 9.1% at the end of January. A larger percentage of the U.S. workforce is working part time and wanting full-time work now than was the case a year ago (9.3%).

...Underemployment, a measure that combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with those who are unemployed, surged in February to 19.9%. This resulted from the combination of a sharp 0.5-point increase since the end of January in the percentage unemployed and a 0.5-point increase in the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work. Underemployment is now higher than it was at this point a year ago (19.7%).


That's not all.

Please review, if you'd be so kind, "February $223 Billion Budget Deficit Largest Ever":

Well, it's one way to start a deficit cutting scramble. Washington Times reports that the preliminary number for the February deficit, which will formally be released by the FMS shortly, is $223 billion: this is the largest single month deficit in history! So much for prudent budgets and all that. At least the number can only get better from here. Unless, of course, it gets much, much worse, and rates continue creeping higher, resulting in 30% of total revenues being dedicated to paying gross interest, as was previously discussed on Zero Hedge. Then 40%. Then 50%... One gets the picture.

Yes, it's another Obama record as the country heads straight into the financial abyss, aided and abetted by the progressive Left and their useful idiots in legacy media.


Could Someone Ask The New York Times to Tone Down Its Violent Rhetoric?

One would think that the self-proclaimed "newspaper of record" could do better than resorting to the hysterical, shrill and uncivil hyperbole laced throughout its op-ed "Holding Firm on the Budget."

After all, weren't these the very same kooks that lectured the Right about "civility" and "tone" after the horrific Tucson attacks?

After letting a highly destructive budget fight fester far too long, the White House finally stepped in late last week to negotiate with the House, which wants to eviscerate nondefense spending. Senate leaders still seem shell-shocked by that breathtaking ruthlessness, and have pleaded with the administration for help in pushing back. The White House needs to do so, and firmly.

Last year the administration acted as referee in a similar situation and got mixed results. It allowed Republicans their cherished goal of keeping taxes low on the richest 2 percent of Americans, and even gave multimillionaires and billionaires new estate tax benefits. President Obama won an extension of jobless benefits and a cut in payroll taxes that could boost the economy.

...But this is not a moment for another difference-splitting deal. The House wants to carve $61 billion out of the government for just the next seven months, which would throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work and kill off scores of vital functions.

The Times' intellectual dishonesty is legendary due, in no small part, to secretions like this one.

And its spendaholic hubris is highlighted by Mary Meeker's recent report that, without a hint of political enmity, paints a picture of impending fiscal calamity for the United States. That, of course, the Times chooses to ignore -- just as it ignored the most important book in a generation, a monumental bestseller focused on American history, law, philosophy, jurisprudence and economics.

This era's editions of The New York Times are useful only as curiosities: museum pieces that serve to warn future generations against journalists joining with the government to promote lawlessness, theft and oppression.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: The Powers of This President

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 Powers of This President: AT
What we mean when we say 'Big Government': PJM
The most robust deficit ever. Deal with it.: Dewey

The Point of the Dagger: AT
Farrakhan promises Islamic uprising in the US: FA
W.H. rejects stereotyping Islam: Politico

The End of the Beginning: Bill Whittle
Flatter, Horizontal, Localized: P&F
Brilliant: Drive-Thru Recall Petition Drive in WI: GWP

Economy

Union-controlled NLRB yanks 'How to start a union' ads: BigGovt
California's Triple Whammy: OCR
Public sector unions bankroll Wisconsin's Fleabaggers: Exam

Bachmann: $105B secretly appropriated to Obamacare: Cubachi
If Only Jerry Brown Had Andrew Cuomo’s Courage: BigGovt
Romney, novice no more, focuses on Obama, economy: Exam

Kerry accidentally explains why we are financially doomed: RWN
Grim Milestone: Obamacare Waivers Top 1,000: GWP
Unemployed Need Not Apply: TPC

Climate & Energy


In Pictures: Bush Vs. Obama On Gas Prices: Foundry
The Global Warming Gravy Train: Secondhand Smoke
The reverse of UN’s disastrous “oil for food” program: Ethanol uses 40% of US Corn Crop: WUWT

Media

Two Papers in One: Driscoll
Irony: Obama rationing czar Donald Berwick taken off life support by political death panel: BlogProf
Michael Moore: Big Fat Union Hypocrite: Publius

Far Left Nut Arrested for Bomb Threat Against Scott Walker: Story Completely Ignored by State-Run Media: GWP
Sharia of the Airwaves: Did CAIR Silence Another On-Air Critic of Islam?: RWN
A Mountain of Words: NoisyRoom

Islamo-phobia and Palin-phobia: AT (Lewis)
Marc Schenker: Palin tells Obama to stop kowtowing to the Mexican President: Con4Palin
Obama National Security Advisor: 'Individuals From Many Different Faiths Succumb to Terrorist Ideologies': EOF

World

Prepping for a Worldwide Caliphate: NoisyRoom
Some Very Bad American Habits: Hanson
Florida, Alabama, Missouri propose bills to prevent sharia law in U.S. courts: Creeping

So, If This Can Happen In Britain, Why Can’t It Happen Here?: RWN
Obama asks Saudis to send weapons to Libyan rebels: JihadWatch
Angry reactions to message of gay imam: Radio Netherlands

'Israel Apartheid Week': Language as Weapon: AT
Russell Simmons pimps for Islam in Times Square – where Muslim tried to kill Americans: Creeping
Gold Surges, Hits New All Time High Of $1,437: ZH

SciTech

Sprint announcing Nexus S 4G, EVO 3D, and EVO View tablet at CTIA?: Engadget
Day Made Of Glass: Corning’s Vision For The Future With Specialty Glass: Corning
Why Sun Microsystems Failed: Information Week

Cornucopia

Obama Martian Chronicles #10 – “Word Association”: Mastersen
Mrs. O’s Thank You Note. Winning!: MOTUS
SNL’s ‘Duh! Winning!’ Talk Show With Charlie Sheen: Mediaite

Wow, What a Pair: LegalIns
Some Skippy Peanut Butter Recalled Over Possible Salmonella Contamination: Consumerist
Accused Meth Dealer Faces Loss Of His Beloved 18,753 Comic Books: TSG

Image: Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Missing: Marizela Perez

QOTD: "There is no means of avoiding a final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.” --Ludwig von Mises

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Great news: gas prices hit $5 a gallon in various parts of the U.S.

Well, this certainly comes as a surprise.

Gas prices in southern California and parts of Florida have topped $5 a gallon.

Meaning the prices of everything shipped by trucks -- which, last time I checked, aren't powered by wind or solar -- will rise. Food. Drink. Building supplies. You name it.

The Obama administration's refusal to lift its drilling moratorium has resulted in the Interior Department being found in Contempt of Court by a federal judge.

Its hatred of America's abundant fossil fuels isn't just a tax on every man, woman and child in the country.

It's an abrogation of a President's primary constitutional duty as commander-in-chief.

America could be largely energy independent. But Democrats, since the era of Jimmy Carter, believe that government can invent new "green" energy sources.

Which seems to be working out as well as their efforts to make housing more affordable.


Image: MSuei.

Top 15 Photos From the Old West

Now this is what I call Americana: "Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life – hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native Americans. Most of his work is centered on Deadwood in the late 1880s and 1890s. He is most often sited for his photographs in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.."
















You can see the entire, stunning album here.


The new civility: Democrat rep screeches that Tennessee governor must end GOP 'terrorism' against teachers

Yes, it doesn't get any more civil than this.

On a day when 3,000 or more unionized Tennessee teachers and their supporters marched on Legislative Plaza in the rain, Gov. Bill Haslam refused Saturday night to get into the fray over a bill to end collective bargaining between teachers’ unions and local school districts...

...Tennessee’s issues, for the moment at least, are limited mostly to teachers, but Rep. Mike Turner, D-Old Hickory, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said the GOP will likely target other quarry if they’re successful now.

“If they get the teachers, they’re coming after the firefighters. If they get the firefighters, they’re coming after the police officers. If they get the police officers, they’re coming after the construction workers, service workers and everybody,” Turner said.

“I’ve been preaching for years that if you let the Republicans get in charge this is what you’re going to get, and this is what we’ve got.”

Turner publicly urged Haslam to “please stop this terrorism against our teachers.”

Countdown to legacy media calling out Turner for his violent rhetoric in 3... 2... never.


Hat tip: George Scoville.

The lunacy of the Eco-nuts: Oil? No. Natural gas? No. Nuclear? No. Coal? No. Clear-cutting pristine mountaintops for wind-farms: Hell, yes!

The pristine views from several New Hampshire peaks will be inaccessible to hikers and snowmobilers thanks to a delightful wind-farm project that will clear-cut a set of mountaintops.

A couple of us rode over the peak yesterday and the very top was closed due to logging. We stopped to inquire and were told they were clearing the top, down to the 2700 ft elevation for the installation of Wind Towers. 2700 feet is roughly where the "T" intersection (134/110) is on the South side of the peak.

They said they were clearing it all by April 1st, and that 30 Wind Towers were being installed in the area (maybe 30 including those at this location)...



• 33 Turbines in total. 8 at Dixville Peak, 13 on Mt Kelsey & Owlhead, and 12 on Fishbrook.

• 410 Feet high, rotor of 295 ft diameter

• Each requires 1.6 acre total clearing around them.

• Will be lit at night per FAA regulations.



I'm a fan of finding and using other sources of energy, but this is not the place. These towers are being installed in one of the FEW locations in the state where there is no evidence the area has EVER been logged. Now there will be 30 concrete platforms and a 30' wide gravel road across the top of these ridges. Why don't we install the towers, 1 on top of each of those skyscrapers in the cities? Those are already an eye sore, can't make them any worse. This project is turning 'God's Country' into disaster. How many of you that are in favor of these windmills AND their current locations (NIMBY) would favor installing windmills on top of Mt. Washington? Plenty of wind up there...

The project, approved in 2009 presumably at the behest of the Obama administration, is the very height of hypocrisy.

Can you imagine the outcry from the eco-Marxists had a coal company leveled the foliage on these beautiful mountaintops?


Thousands of Angry Egyptians Attack Coptic Christians and Burn Church While Screaming 'Democracy Akbar'

While mainstream media is busy promoting the notion that Egypt's revolution is a peaceful and democratic one (e.g., here, here and here), the stubborn facts keep getting in the way. The latest exhibit: this troubling report from the Assyrian International News Agency.

A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes this evening in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George. There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the Church pastor ... and three deacons who were at church; some say they died in the fire and some say they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church.

Witnesses report the mob prevented the fire brigade from entering the village. The army, which has been stationed for the last two days in the village of Bromil, 7 kilometers from Soul, initially refused to go into Soul, according to the officer in charge. When the army finally sent three tanks to the village, Muslim elders sent them away, saying that everything was "in order now."

A curfew has been imposed on the 12,000 Christians in the village.

This incident was triggered by a relationship between 40-year-old Copt Ashraf Iskander and a Muslim woman. Yesterday a "reconciliation" meeting was arranged between the relevant Coptic and Muslim families and together with the Muslim elders it was decided that Ashraf Iskander would have to leave the village because Muslims torched his house.

The father of the Muslim woman was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family's honor, which led the woman's brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians.

The Muslim mob attacked the church, exploding 5-6 gas cylinders inside the church, pulled down the cross and the domes and burnt everything inside... the mob has [reportedly] broken into Coptic homes and has called on Copts to leave the village. "Terrorized Copts have fled and some hid in homes of Muslim neighbors," he added.

Witnesses said the mob chanted "Allahu Akbar" and vowed to conduct their morning prayers on the church plot after razing it.

The observers must be mistaken: I feel quite confident that, based upon reporting by the unerring Washington Post and other legacy media outlets, that the mob must have been chanting Democracy Akbar.


Hat tip: Bones. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Elmo's Fire


Don Ayers, I want to thank you for helping me organize this -- meeting here today.

And also the other heads of the Five Families -- the SEIU, the NEA, the AFL-CIO and the Democrat Party.

Representing the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Paula Kerger. And the SEIU, Andy Stern. And the NEA, Dennis Van Roekel.

The AFL-CIO, of course, Dick Trumka.

And the Democrat Party, Barbara Boxer.

And all the other associates that came as far as from California, and Kansas City, and all the other territories of the country -- thank you.

How did things ever get so far? I don't know. It was so -- unfortunate -- so unnecessary.

They're attacking our source of taxpayer money: government unions. And it's not just Walker in Wisconsin. It's Cuomo in New York, who we thought was an ally. It's happening everywhere.

How do we -- how do we get back to where things go on the way they were before... ?

Let's prioritize, dammit! I'm the one under attack right now! They're trying to defund NPR. And I'm making less than three-quarters of a million a year -- how am I supposed to get by?

Hey, you spoiled little witch, the entire Democrat Party's main funding source -- government unions -- is at risk. Stop worrying about your little half-assed operation! Think of the big picture!

Hey, hey, hey... I hoped that we would come here and reason together. And as a reasonable man I'm willing to do whatever's necessary to -- find a peaceful solution to these problems...

I think it may be time to pull out all the stops.

To take special action against our enemies.

Finally. Do I gets to unleash the dogs of war?

No need, my friend, no need.

We have just the thing for the task.

Something no one would ever expect.

Something to take care of our little... situation. May I introduce... Monster?

Elmo's right. Psychotic... but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out.

I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!

Larwyn's Linx: 'The patience of the American people is wearing thin'

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 patience of the American people is wearing thin': Cubachi
Deadly Incompetence: Strata
Weak GOP Field For '12? Tell It To Carter: IBD

A ‘Flawed’ GOP Field vs. A Flawed President: PJM
Tea Partiers To Clean Up Mess Left By Unionistas In Madison: Deb
CAIR Targets Tea Party in California with (Edited) Video: RWN

Don't Sweat a Dip in the Poll--The Michigan Experience: WS
Romney seeks to address health care woes: Caller
Bradley Manning Jailed Naked: OTB

Economy

Obama's Rationer-In-Chief On His Way Out--Eventually: Ace
Bill Gates should demand Truth in Accounting: Watchdog
Insider Trading at the Department of Education?: Bainbridge

Why we need a balanced-budget amendment: Mike Lee
Double Dip: Not Fuzzy, But Hair-Raising Math: Babalu
Left-Wing Union H8ters Update: RWN

Climate & Energy

ND Top Officials Tell the EPA to Leave the State Alone: PlainsDaily
WSJ: Whirlpool Parlays Green Credits Into Zero Tax Liability: TaxProf
Globull Warming Has Created 'Surprising Snowpack' In California: RWN

Media

Beautiful Arizona, Again: Mastersen
Unions have no place in the public sector: EVT
What Did Former Providence Mayor David Cicilline (D-RI) Know, And When Did He Know It?: LegalIns

NY Times Editorial Board Wants To Reign In Public Unions In... New York!: RWN
'Fair And Balanced' And Dominant: Why Fox News Crushes The Cable News Competition: NewsReal
Wisconsin Protests: It's an Occupation, Not a Sleepover: AmPower

George Will Rips Gingrich, Huckabee and Malzberg: NewsBusters
Predictable: Obama administration replaces controversial ‘conscience’ regulation for health-care workers: BlogProf
When the polls showed Americans in hard opposition to Obamacare, it meant they were misinformed: RWN

Obama, ‘We Need A Government That Lives Within Its Means’: SHN
Forget the Thin Mints: Now Girl Scouts Learning to Be ‘Healthy, Happy and Hot’: RSM
China Debt Threat: Times

World

The New Middle East: Glick
Barack Obama and the Cavalcade of Naivete: BRubin
Egyptian Cleric: Textbooks Should Militarize Students; Teach Jihad and Hatred of Jews: MEMRI

Mexico Lost: Even the tourist spots are now drug cartel country: AmSpec
Harvard Profs: No to ROTC, Yes to Gaddafi's Money: MoneyRunner
Why does US ignore human rights violations in Saudi Arabia?: Lankaweb

Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, and Hugo Chavez to the rescue!: Fausta
Obama’s Contradictions on the ‘Will of the People’: PJM
Help Libya: Send in the drones: Pupista

SciTech

Is Facebook Worth $65 Billion?: Woorkup
Judge Allows Sony’s Request to I.D. Anyone Who Visited Hacker’s Sites: CrunchGear
Solid Rocket Booster video of Shuttle Discovery launch: BrutHon

Cornucopia

3-D Printing Machines. WTF? Obama’s Birth Certificate No Longer “Off the Rack.”: MOTUS
Man Finds Nancy Pelosi’s Face on Bacon Strip: HeadMuscle
My Health Secret, Revealed!: RSM

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Cold Fury

Saturday, March 05, 2011

In pictures: Obama's devastating cuts to the federal budget

According to the Washington Post, President Obama has offered $6.5 billion in cuts on a total budget of $3.73 trillion, $1.6 trillion of which must be borrowed from foreign investors and the Federal Reserve.

Let's illustrate the magnitude of these devastating cuts.

Hmm, hard to see the cuts. Let's zoom in...

There they are!

Magnified about 100 times, the cuts aren't exactly stunning in their scale and scope.

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) just stated that between $100 and $200 billion in federal spending is wasted on redundant, duplicative functions. Yet all the Otrumka administration can find to cut is $6 and a half billion, which is probably what it spends on three-ring binders.

'Moving to the center' my you-know-what.