Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sims App to offer Facebook flirting: Anthony Weiner hardest hit

Pity this virtual flirtation app didn't arrive in time to save Anthony Weiner's bony butt.

The Sims Social to offer Facebook flirting

Electronic Arts is hoping to convince folks to covet thy neighbor's wife. Or that co-worker you've always lunched with. Or your college sweetheart.

Virtually, of course.

...It's a game, like Zynga's Farmville, that encourages Facebook friends to play alongside one another. But rather than growing crops, EA seems to be encouraging friends to hook up. It's not really clear, though, because EA isn't talking much about the game, hoping teasing the game will create enough buzz.

"Lots of questions, but there's not a lot of information about the game," said Robert Lamvik, who works in the marketing department at EA. All Lamvik would offer is a canned marketing line about being excited that "the world's largest PC franchise is combining with the world's largest social network."

But a video trailer of the game hints at what's in store. It starts with Facebook messages between two women, noting that a certain guy's status has gone from "in a relationship" to "single."

"OMG!! They finally broke up!" one woman notes. And then she invites him to join her in The Sims Social. They dance, virtually. He prepares virtual tapas for her. They even watch a romantic film, holding virtual hands. "DID YOU KISS????" the woman's friend asks over Facebook.

That, and much more. The Sims Social couple moves into a bedroom to neck. Then, they strip down to their skivvies and jump in the shower together. Hearts float up from the shower and a "woohoo" can be heard, presumably from behind the shower curtain... In a press release, the company says that gamers can "engage with every aspect of their Sim's social lives from the intense emotion of a first kiss to the flawless execution of a hilarious prank." They can even "pee on a neighbor's lawn."

Another unintended benefit of the game: it will make visits to the Congressional gym a lot safer.


Great news from the border: cartels kidnapping bus passengers for gladiatorlike fights to the death

As Mexico descends into all all-out civil war between drug cartels, the level of barbarism almost defies belief.

The elderly are killed. Young women are raped. And able-bodied men are given hammers, machetes and sticks and forced to fight to the death.

In one of the most chilling revelations yet about the violence in Mexico, a drug cartel-connected trafficker claims fellow gangsters have kidnapped highway bus passengers and forced them into gladiatorlike fights to groom fresh assassins.

...If what he says is true, gangsters who make commonplace beheadings, hangings and quartering bodies have managed an even crueler twist to their barbarity... Members of the Zetas cartel, he says, have pushed passengers into an ancient Rome-like blood sport with a modern Mexico twist that they call, "Who is going to be the next hit man?"

"They cut guys to pieces," he said... The victims are likely among the hundreds of people found in mass graves in recent months, he said... In the vicinity of the Mexican city of San Fernando, nearly 200 bodies were unearthed from pits, and authorities said most appeared to have died of blunt force head trauma.

Many are believed to have been dragged off buses traveling through Mexico, but little has been said about the circumstances of their deaths... The trafficker said those who survive are taken captive and eventually given suicide missions, such as riding into a town controlled by rivals and shooting up the place.

40,000 people have died in Mexico's ongoing civil war over the past several years.

Just Thursday, authorities in Mexico said they arrested members of the Zetas and seized 201 automatic weapons, 600 camouflage uniforms and 30,000 rounds of ammunition... With the recent killing of the ICE agent and perhaps other attacks, the Zetas also are breaking the golden rule for Mexican traffickers: Don't kill Americans, he said. It brings too much heat.

...the [drug] checkpoints Mexican officials operate along the highways between Central Mexico and the border do not pose much of a problem, Juan said... The trick, he confided, is to send someone in advance to bribe a commander so a drug load won't be bothered.

These incidents, of course, highlight the egregious failure of the federal government to secure the border.

The Tucson Citizen reports that many Arizonans believe illegal aliens are to blame for the massive wildfires now engulfing the state.

The two largest wildfires burning in Southern Arizona originated in rugged, mountainous corridors frequently used by cross-border people and drug smugglers... And the U.S. Forest Service has determined that both fires were human-caused.

So even though the investigations remain open, speculation is ablaze that illegal immigrants or smugglers are responsible for the Horseshoe 2 Fire northeast of Douglas and the Murphy Complex Fire northwest of Nogales.

“It’s definitely not caused by somebody on a picnic whose wiener overcooked,” resident Brad Titcomb said about the Murphy Fire, which came within a mile of his house in the Aliso Springs neighborhood west of Tubac. “This is illegal traffic one way or another.”

Which makes the failure of the Obama administration to secure the border all the more outrageous.


Hat tips: TrendingRight.com and Borderland Beat.

Narcissistic rage, envy and revenge at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Narcissistic rage and envy: The narcissistic individual ... is prone to intense anger, an irrational rage, which may take the form of acute explosions or be chronic and vengeful. This narcissistic rage is provoked by the slightest—real or imagined—narcissistic insult, such as not being seen, understood, or appreciated, in the way one feels he deserves. Narcissistic envy may arise; one hates anyone who has (or seems to have) ... external acclaim and feels pain about not having what the other has. (The Point of Existence)


On May 20th of this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "publicly lectured" Barack Obama over the president's call for the tiny Jewish state to return to its pre-1967 borders. Netanyahu called the borders "indefensible" and flatly rejected the president's demands. Observers in legacy media were "stunned" that anyone had dared stand up to the president:

ABC's Christiane Amanpour declared she was "stunned" by his "public lecture" of the President and NBC's Andrea Mitchell hissed, "it was really rude," and charged he treated Obama "like a school boy."

Mitchell didn't reserve her criticism to Netanyahu as she even went after Republicans who dared to take his side, accusing them of "piling on the President."

During Netanyahu's statement, Obama's body language was imperious and withdrawn. According to an unverified report, once Netanyahu had departed, Obama flew into a rage over the perceived insult:

Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that saw President Obama openly chastised by the Prime Minister for Obama’s earlier public comments regarding wanting to see Israel return to its 1967 borders, the president verbally “went off” on Richard Daley in the private study area that adjoins the Oval Office. President Obama’s verbal attack was clearly heard by numerous staff up and down the West Wing hallways.

The essence of the president’s rage and embarrassment can best be summed up with him yelling out very loudly, “What the f*** was that!?” That phrase was apparently repeated a number of times in the span of about five minutes, a time period in which Obama’s voice became “louder and louder” and culminating in Obama exclaiming, “Never again! Do you understand me? Never again!” Any response by Bill Daley back to the president, if given, was not overheard.

In today's Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin ("Obama bullies Israel; so much for promises at AIPAC") describes how the president may be exacting his revenge for Netanyahu's perceived rebuke.

Since the president’s Arab Spring speech, friends of Israel have been nervous about at least two issues: the promise Israel would not have to sit down with those who seek its destruction and the negotiations based on the “1967 borders with land swaps.” This weekend it became apparent that there is much to worry about and that the Obama administration has been playing a game usually practiced by the Palestinians, namely telling its domestic audience one thing and the negotiating parties something different...

The White House is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly adopt President Obama’s view that Israel’s pre-1967 border should be the basis for future peace talks [stating it] was part of an effort to head off Palestinian plans to declare an independent state at the United Nations in September.

Is the U.S. president pressuring Israel to adopt a position that is not its own and diminishes its bargaining position? And what happened to the statements in President Obama’s speech to AIPAC that Israel could not be expected to sit down with those who want to destroy it? After all Hamas has not yet agreed to the Quartet principles (recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and abide by past agreements), nor has Mahmoud Abbas separated himself from the unity government.

...Is the administration now asking Israel to sit down with Abbas absent a commitment by Hamas or a break-up of the unity government? By gosh, that should be an easy answer (“No!”) , yet the administration won’t say.

...This is a very, very big deal. Former deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams explained to me Friday evening: “I hope news reports of what the Obama White House is privately demanding of Israel are wrong. If the reports are right, the U.S. is now abandoning the Quartet Principles — and asking Israel to negotiate with a Palestinian side that includes Hamas without Hamas taking one single step away from terror.

...[And] what about the 1967 borders? Democratic defenders of the president have insisted that “1967 borders with land swaps” is nothing new. But it appears it certainly is. As the insider noted, “Yes, they are pressing for ’67 with swaps, not exactly ’67. But that’s not really the point — they’ve already adopted what was a Palestinian ‘goal’ as U.S. policy."

...And it is actually worse than that... Israel is being pressured to give up prior understandings that the Western Wall and the Jerusalem suburbs, for example, would never be part of a Palestinian state.

Rubin also spoke with Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), "who plainly was angry over the continued effort to bully Israel ... 'President Obama never learns. His real instinct is to weaken Israel. You don’t treat an ally this way.' He said he has never seen this sort of behavior from any U.S. president [and] the current posture is 'shameful.'"

Shameful. Unprecedented. Destructive.

Just like the President's domestic policies.

I urge you to file this report under "Remember in 2012".


Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Flopping Aces. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Obama's Road to Nowhere

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Nation

Obama's Road to Nowhere: Steyn
TSA: Toy Stealers of America: Surber
Rick Perry's ready-made campaign issue: Exam

Lesser Men: TL in Exile
Verum Serum: Randiest Tweet About a Different Boy: Ace
Bachmann doesn't seem to understand Rollins' damage: LegalIns

Alabama Passes Toughest Illegal Immigration Law: RWN
Ryan 2012?: Nice Deb
Great News: SEIU Trying to Infiltrate GOP: Glob

Economy

Immigration policy means unemployment will remain high: Guzzardi
Tim Pawlenty’s 5% Growth Vision: BG
Obama recovery now two years old: IBD

Why America Needs School Choice: Cato
New Hampshire Lives Up to Its Billings: Surber
Deficits: Spending, Not Revenue, Is to Blame: Foundry

Climate & Energy

The hidden cost of ethanol subsidies: PJM
As Promised, Obama Is Destroying Coal Industry: MB
The Self Fulfilling Prophecy Called Environmentalism: HyScience

Attention, Team Romney!: Ace
Global Warming Panic Inducer: 2012 Olympic Torch Not Low Carbon: Malkin
Craziest carbon credit scheme yet – shooting camels in Australia: WUWT

Media

We Need Your Help Tracking Down Governor Palin’s Emails: C4P
Scrutinize the president, not Palin: CNN (Welch)
Liberal Politico Admits: These Palin E-Mails Make Her Look Pretty Damn Good: WZ

The Pathetic Last Children of Nietzsche's Pitiable Last Men: OneCosmos
Bringing New Meaning to the Phrase ‘High School with Money’: Driscoll
Release Of Palin E-Mails Show She Was Barraged With Death Threats: WZ

Flashback Weiner/Imus: on Massa, Paterson, and Rangel Scandals – and Weiner’s Favorite Songs: VS
Weinergate: Barbara Walters Loses Reporter Cred: Anchoress
Bill Maher And Jane Lynch Give A Dramatic Reading Of Anthony Weiner’s Sexts: Mediaite

Will Celebrity Rehab Move Allow Democrats to Go Back to Slurring Ryan?: Commentary
Dark Days at MSNBC: IHTM
New York Times columnists hate government transparency? Must be a Democrat in the White House: Exam

World

Somalia: Africa’s Top al-Qaeda Operative Who Carried Out 1998 US Embassy Bombings Reportedly Killed: WZ
At Yemen's request, FBI arrives to investigate attack on president: GlobPost
Egypt: Prominent Salafi Cleric Urges All Egyptians To Grow Beards... Including Women: WZ

Pics From the Front: WZ
Obama Regime Stabs Britain in the Back on Falkland Islands: RWN
Fear Factor 2012: LegalIns

Allen West: We need to get ready to support Israel: TRS
Fed's $600B Stealth Bailout Of Foreign Banks Continues At The Expense Of U.S. Economy: ZH
Dubai cancelled over 200 property projects: prospectus: Trib

SciTech

Reports: International Monetary Fund suffers network break-in: CNet
DHS Wants to Scan You For Mal-Intent: DefTech
UFC's use of social media expands fan base: WashExam

Cornucopia

Why Am I Not a Feminist?: Day By Day
This is How Michael Caine Speaks: The Trip
Amazing: First photos of Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot released: Post

Image: Edwin Barahona, R.I.P.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help us find Lauren Spierer

QOTD: "The American Dream, 2011: You pay four bucks a gallon to commute between your McJob and your underwater housing to prop up a spendaholic, grabafeelic, paramilitarized bureaucracy-without-end bankrupting your future at the rate of a fifth of a billion dollars every hour." --Mark Steyn

Saturday, June 11, 2011

It's a Spending Problem, Not a Revenue Problem

The Foundry speaks truth to power:

The main driver behind long-term deficits is government spending'not low revenues.

While revenue will surpass its historical average of 18.0 percent of GDP by 2021, spending will shoot past its historical average of 20.3 percent, reaching 26.4 percent in the same year.

Shhh... no one tell the Democrat Party, which has come up with an original plan for America to regain its fiscal health.

More spending and higher taxes.


Good News: China's Military Showing Off Drones That Target U.S. Aircraft Carriers in Demonstration Videos

Attention, Democrats and Ron Paul kooks: consider this reason #4,305 not to slash defense spending.

...Western defense officials and experts were surprised to see more than 25 different Chinese models of the unmanned aircraft, known as UAVs, on display at this week's Zhuhai air show in this southern Chinese city. It was a record number for a country that unveiled its first concept UAVs at the same air show only four years ago, and put a handful on display at the last one in 2008.

The apparent progress in UAVs is a stark sign of China's ambition to upgrade its massive military as its global political and economic clout grows.

...The U.S. and Israel are currently the world leaders in developing such pilotless drones, which have played a major role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and which analysts say could one day replace the fighter jet.

This year's models in Zhuhai included several designed to fire missiles, and one powered by a jet engine, meaning it could—in theory—fly faster than the propeller-powered Predator and Reaper drones that the U.S. has used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

...U.S. anxiety about China's UAVs were highlighted in a report released Wednesday by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was formed by Congress in 2000 to assess the national security implications of trade and economic relations with China.

...The Chinese drone of greatest potential concern to the U.S. is the one with several missiles and a jet engine—called the WJ600—which was displayed by China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp., or Casic, one of China's top weapons makers.

Casic officials declined to comment, but a video and a two-dimensional display by the company showed Chinese forces using the WJ600 to help attack what appeared to be a U.S. aircraft carrier steaming toward an island off China's coast that many visitors assumed to be Taiwan...

And all this time I thought the most important Constitutional duty of the federal government was to protect America and its borders.

Apparently, based upon the actions of President Obama and Democrats in Congress, I was mistaken.


Hat tip: @AdamSBaldwin.

Don't look for legacy media outlets to add features like this one...

Don't look for legacy media outlets like The New York Times to allow features like this one -- where the readers get to have an actual say in what reporters are working on.

Which is but one reason why the Times hemorrhaged 35,000 subscribers -- or nearly 4% of their total -- in just 12 months.


The Obama Recovery... By the Numbers


3: The annual percentage growth in employment for foreign-born workers (illegal immigrants included) versus a 2.5 percent drop in employment for native-born Americans.

12: The percentage of newly minted lawyers who are unable to find employment, the highest since the 1990s.

14: The percentage of home loans in Florida that are being foreclosed upon.

23: The percentage of homes with "underwater" mortgages (more is owed in loans than the home is worth), despite HAMP, the first-time buyer tax credit, and dozens of other dubious, federal central-planning programs.

30: The percentage of people who have taken a loan out against their 401(k), a new record.

40: The median number of weeks of unemployment (i.e., the time it takes to get a job) -- an all-time high.

41: The average number of weeks it takes each unemployed American 55 or older to get a job, "the longest stretch on record."

43: The percentage of African-American males aged 18-29 who have full-time employment.

45: The percentage of unemployed Americans who have been jobless for six months or longer, the highest since the Great Depression.

63: The percentage of Nevada homes with "underwater" mortgages, a testament to the fine leadership of Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).

111: The number of years since the United States experienced a housing price decline greater than that which has occurred since 2008, despite a variety of federal housing programs designed to assuage the crisis.

2002: The year that home prices have retreated to -- a post-crash low. Nationally, home prices have returned to 2002 levels; "Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas are ... markets where average home prices are now below their January 2000 level."

44 million: The number of Amerians who receive food stamps, a record high, representing 15 out of every 100 people living in the U.S.

$888 billion: the total amount of U.S. spending on welfare in a single year (2010), $266 billion more than the U.S. "spent on war in Iraq from the first 'shock and awe' attack in 2003 until Bush left office in January [2009]."

$6.4 trillion: The amount of debt President Obama will have added to America's tab in four years in office: "Obama inherited a national debt of $10.6-trillion. He will end his term with a national debt, give or take, of $17-trillion – a debt equal to 115 per cent of GDP."

Say, I've been out of town for a while. How are those Stimulus, HAMP, Cash-for-Clunkers, Weatherization, Green Jobs, Obamacare, "Banking Reform", drilling moratorium, First-Time Home-Buyer Credit, auto company takeovers and QE2 programs working out?


Larwyn's Linx: I See Dead Donkeys

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Nation

I See Dead Donkeys: HayRide
Dude, Where's My Freedom?: PJM
Once Again, Weiner Proves, Size Matters: PJM

More on the police investigation in Delaware: Patterico
Weinergate: Police Talk To 17 Year Old: RWN
Anthony Weiner admits contact with girl, 17: Politico

Obamacare has another rough day in court: AmSpec
Totalitarianism Gets a Foothold in Tennessee: MB
West Makes It Official, Will Run for Reelection: Shark

Economy

The Obama Job-Training Juggernaut: Malkin
Census Bureau: 'We Do Not Ask About Legal Status': BlogProf
Christie: NJ on precipice of disaster: RS

Dems fall back to default position on debt fight: LoneCon
Food Stamp Entrepreneur Gets Cuffed: MB
DOE loan program wastes billions on 'assessments': USR

Climate & Energy

Obama’s New EPA Rules Would Destroy Our Energy Sector: RWN
Huge Arizona Fires Due To Environmentalists: S&L
Ten Years And Counting: Where’s The Global Warming?: Forbes

Media

Behold The Mainstream Media Eating Its Own Anti-Palin Bile - A Running List of Headlines: LegalIns
SitOn.org: Tatler
Palin Docu “The Undefeated” at AMC Theatres July 15: Bruce

"The Undefeated" Is Our Story, Not Simply Sarah Palin's: Riehl
LA Times Won’t Release Obama-Khalidi Tape But Posts 24,000 Sarah Palin Emails: GWP
Hey, Jeff Toobin! About that Andrew Breitbart #Weinergate thing: RS

Charles Johnson Intentionally Leads People Astray With His Bogus Weinergate Coverage: NiceDeb
Thatcher Foundation Responds to 'Thatcher Snubbed Palin' Report: "The Guardian Has Minimal Credibility": GWP
Vetting: bRight & Early

World

The Coming Crisis in the Middle East: BRubin
FBI confirms suicide bomber was Minnesota Muslim (pic): Creeping
Obama’s knack for handcuffing peace: JPost

Obama hosts a kindred spirit: RWN
Ahmadinejad Channels Gore: Blames Capitalism For Destroying The Environment: WZ
Somali Interior Minister Killed By Teenage Niece After She Joins al-Shabaab, Turns Herself Into a Human Bomb: WZ

SciTech

Booming Apple Is World's Largest Semiconductor Buyer: NewsFactor
The Sims Social to offer Facebook flirting: CNet
Blackbeard's Booty a Treasure Trove for Archaeologists: Fox

Cornucopia

In the “Twilight” of Our Reign? WTF : MOTUS
DC Politicians Are Their Own Reality TV: ConBlkChk
Police Arrest A Bunch Of Folks In Europe For Linking To Infringing Content: C&S

Image: The People's Cube
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: SitOn.org

Friday, June 10, 2011

The national debt: 1797-2010

The Wall Street Journal offers a unique, graphical perspective on the national debt since 1797.

Save World War II -- an existential, global struggle against Nazism and Military Shintoism -- no federal bureaucracy has run up the national debt like the 111th Congress and President Obama.

Of course, he's done so for an equally important cause: promoting a counter-revolution to America's founding. Of that, there can be no doubt.


Pass the popcorn, Nahanni: Governor Cuomo to slash 10,000 state workers in New York, Dick Trumka hardest hit

I love the smell of blue-on-blue violence in the morning:

As state labor unions continue to negotiate with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration on expired contracts, the governor is moving forward on plans to lay off 9,800 workers beginning July 15.

Cuomo promised months ago to trim the workforce if he couldn't get $450 million in concessions from the workforce. None of the contracts have been settled, but union leaders claimed Thursday that the governor is negotiating in bad faith by moving forward with layoffs...

...the Public Employees Federation, which represents 56,000 ... employees, said in a statement that it is "appalled" at what the governor is doing...

The Civil Service Employees Association, the state's largest union, has been negotiating in good faith and trying to find alternatives to layoffs, said Danny Donohue, union president. The news that the governor's administration is preparing for layoffs is not helping the process, he said.

Cuomo's draconian plans?

He called for state employees to contribute more to their pension plans, which would save $93 billion over the next 30 years (New York City excluded). And to increase the retirement age from 62 to 65. Oh, the humanity.

Nahanni - please make mine natural: no butter or salt, if you would. Thanks, hon.


Larwyn's Linx: Are Your Second Amendment Rights at Stake?

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Nation

Are Your Second Amendment Rights at Stake?: Boortz
Apparently 75% of Americans want return to Jim Crow era: AT
Sources: Rick Perry is Running: DC

Concerns Over Illegal Immigration Going Mainstream: RWN
Shootout On Rio Grande – Gun Runners Fire on Texas Rangers: GWP
Wow: Romney to skip Iowa straw poll; Iowa GOP not pleased: HotAir

Feckless feminists wimp out: Malkin
Healthcare: Let The States Decide: RWN
Hey, how’s that Maxine Waters ethics trial going?: Malkin

Economy

Death Without Dignity in Socialist Hospital: RWN
The Coming Crash of 2013: Spectator
Lack of buyers may force Treasury to boost rates: Times

Cut, Cap, and Balance: The GOP Debt Ceiling Strategy: PJM
Unapologetic Public School Officials Use Communist Indoctrination: RS
Another Obama nominee that wants to redistribute wealth: Scoop

Weinergate

Evidence Weiner talked dirty to underage girls? Part II: Patterico
Evidence Weiner talked dirty to underage girls? Part III: Patterico
Face of Democrat Party Will Not Step Down: GWP

Climate & Energy

Here Come Obama’s ‘Necessarily Skyrocketing’ Electricity Rates: Foundry
Going Green May Be Unhealthy Says Report: NewAm
The Energy Disaster Continues: Power Line

Media

In Which One Ujala Sehgal is Fisked as an Idiot: Just Barking Mad
Poetic Justice for Elizabeth Edwards?: Patterico
A Twitter Group Warned About Weiner: NYT

The WaPo, Then: Two Crack Reporters Could Bring Down Nixon: Driscoll
In Wake Of Weiner, Fewer Congressional Tweets: OTB
George Stephanopoulos defends the Terrorist Wing of the Democratic Party: Grand Old

Exhibit E: Where we now retire the Canard that the left thinks Palin can’t win: DTG
The Intellectually Desperate George Soros Steals a Leaf from Noam Chomsky: PJM
Retraction Request: Politico Fabricates Palin Quote in New Hit Piece: BigJourn

World

Iran to Test First Nuclear Bomb by 2012?: Kahlili
Muslim Scholar Who Led Sufi Revival to Counter Jihad is Assassinated: Creeping
SecDef Gates: Hey, Europe, You're Depending Too Much on Washington: Politico

Israel: Hizballah has 50,000 rockets in its arsenal: JihadWatch
Napolitano: Concentrating Terrorist Screening Efforts on Muslim Men Under 35 is Not Good Logic: GWP
Head of Saudi Electric Company Says "Oil Runs Out in 2030 if Current Consumption Maintained": Mish

SciTech

Some Thoughts on RSA SecurID Risk: Gartner
10 Things that suck about Java: BetaNews
In Latest Attack, Hackers Steal Citibank Card Data: ABC

Cornucopia

Facebook Parenting Hilarity (Language Warning): iOTW
UPDATE – Stockton SWAT Raid: Sondrakistan
Hot Wheels Video Racer gets tested, allows for nausea-inducing fun: AutoBlog

Image: Sondrakistan
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Us Find Lauren Spierer

QOTD: "Sadly, the Internet is the predator’s venue of choice today. We need to update our strategies and our laws to stop these offenders who are a mere click away from our children." --Anthony Weiner

Thursday, June 09, 2011

It's called... therapy

Papa B:

To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity:

1. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write 'For Marijuana."

2. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

3. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.

4. Sing Along At The Opera.

5. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend their Party Because You have a headache.

6. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling ' Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

7. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Obama Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity:

8. Pick up a box of condoms at the pharmacy, go to the counter and ask where the fitting room is.

Dude - my last name's not Weiner!


Good luck charging your Chevy Volts, losers: EPA shutting down five coal plants for reasons that can best be described as... bulls***

It's going to be hard to charge your golf cart-sized electric auto what with those rolling brownouts and all.

Utility giant American Electric Power said Thursday that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

The company’s dramatic plan to comply with the regulations could give Republicans and moderate Democrats ammunition in their ongoing fight against EPA's efforts to impose new regulations aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants including mercury and arsenic...

The agency also stressed that the regulations are essential for protecting public health... “These reasonable steps taken under the Clean Air Act will reduce harmful air pollution, including mercury, arsenic and other toxic pollution, and as a result protect our families, particularly children,” EPA said in a statement.

Mercury? Mercury? Mercury???

These are the same crackpots who have outlawed conventional lighting and mandated "Compact Fluorescent Lamps" (or CFLs). These are the curly bulbs, each of which contains 4 to 5 milligrams of mercury, which is a sufficient amount to warrant special handling and disposal methods in the event you break one. Which you most assuredly will.

Consider this reason #3,405 to completely de-fund the EPA, which is nothing less than a Marxist front group.

The costs of complying with these specious EPA regulations will spike electricity prices by between 10 to 35 percent and cost 600 jobs. Well done, EPA.


Update: Here Come Obama’s ‘Necessarily Skyrocketing’ Electricity Rates


Hat tip: TrendingRight.

The Department of Education has a SWAT Team: Who Knew?

Let this be a warning to you student loan scofflaws. The next front door that comes crashing down, followed by a flash-bang and a 15-member tactical assault team, may be your own.

In Clinton’s tradition of Ruby Ridge and Waco, Obama’s Department of Education issued a search warrant [and executed a SWAT team raid] over a woman’s defaulted student loans... Like Tucson’s Jose Guerena, Kenneth Wright of Stockton, California was wearing only boxer shorts:

Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts as a S.W.A.T team barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn... “He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there,” Wright said.

Police kept Wright and his three young children in a patrol car for over six hours as they searched his house.

DOE was looking for Wright’s estranged wife, who wasn’t there.

Perhaps Obama is simply trying to refrain from increasing our $14 trillion debt? He just pledged our non-existent capital to help bail out Greece, so the money has to come from somewhere.

Using deadly force for collections?

Consider this reason #4,305 to completely de-fund the utterly useless Department of Education, which has yet to educate a single student.

Oh -- and I've been out of town for a while. How's that unlawful federal takeover of the student loan business working out?


Larwyn's Linx: Reuters/Ipsos - Palin leads Romney in GOP 2012 Primary

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Nation

Reuters/Ipsos: Palin leads Romney in GOP 2012 Primary Race: C4P
How a Teachers’ Rally Made Me Anti-Education: Zombie
Panetta linked to spies through Communist Party figure?: Loudon

Fanniegate: Gamechanger For The GOP?: Mead
Oh my, Appeals Court Skeptical of Individual Mandate: HotAir
‘Comedian’ Calls for Assassination of Sarah Palin: RWN

Dude, Like, What’s the Constitution, Anyway?: Foundry
I, Weiner: HE
Self-Mutilating Inmate Demands Sex Change From Taxpayers: RWN

Economy

American Economy Quickly Nearing Perfection: Driscoll
Obama’s egghead economic saboteurs: Malkin
DOJ, Diversity, and Low Expectations: PJM

Obama Wants Taxpayers to Bail Out Greek Politicians: BG
Wisconsin Union Disrupts Special Olympics Ceremony: PunditPress
CME threatens to bolt from Illinois over taxes: ChiBiz

Climate & Energy

Obama Admin. Spending over $17 Million Exploring Market for Carbon Credits: Malkin
Exxon makes major oil discovery in Gulf: Hill
The Earth Is Full, And We Need A Happiness-Driven Growth Model….DERP?: RWN

Media

Why Isn’t the National Debt a Sexy Story?: Foundry
Can't Feminists Be Hypocrites? : Taranto
Flashback: Weiner's Web of Lies: ABC

WeinerGate’s Collateral Damage: Howard Kurtz: BigJourn
Bachmann consultant Ed Rollins still trying to alienate Palin fans for some reason: HotAir
CNN: Nearly Half of Americans Expect Another ‘Great Depression’ in Next 12 Months: Blaze

World

The Rise of the Post-American Empires: Knish
UN Treaty Looks To Gut Americans’ Second Amendment Rights: WZ
Is the US deliberately harming Israeli covert ops in Iran?: Glick

Surprise! Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood And Salafists To Form Electoral Coalition; Goal Is Islamic State: Atlas
The Real Reason for the European Bailout: Mitchell
Debunking the Democrats' Israel Counter-Offensive: Tobin

Female Muslim activist: Legalize purchase of non-Muslim POW’s as sex slaves: Creeping
An Injustice In Pakistan: RWN
Former Diplomat, Admiral See U.S. Strike Against Iran as Unlikely: NTI

SciTech

‘fhxGH5h’ Ain’t Close To Being A Safe Password Anymore: C&S
iOS 5 beta jailbroken in less than 24 hours: CNet
FarmVille, Angry Birds Set New Course For Games: IBD

Cornucopia

The 20 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media (2011 Edition): RWN
Social media driving a new kind of scandal: DC
Anthony Weiner is a lot like Bill Clinton, only funnier: C&S

Image: How a Teachers’ Rally Made Me Anti-Education (Zombie)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: TrendingRight.com - the first real-time conservative headline service

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Median period of unemployment hits 40 weeks, an all-time high, as President Obama focuses on job creation... overseas

ABC News reports that in addition to persistently high unemployment, "[the] Time It Takes to Find a Job is Off the Charts."

We’ve seen the headline numbers from the monthly jobs report; losing a job means a long stint without employment these days. The median period of unemployment is now at a historic high; 39.7 weeks according to the May Report. That’s the highest it has ever been in the history of the survey.

A new research report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics dug into this trend to offer new details on how long it takes to make the transition from unemployed to employed and found that 11 percent of job seekers took a year or longer to land a new job. Another off-the-chart reading.

As America sinks deeper and deeper into debt -- each U.S. household is now more than $500,000 in hock -- President Obama is laser-focused on jobs. The only problem is that those jobs are overseas.

Jobs in Greece: "CNBC is reporting that President Obama is putting American taxpayers on the chopping block to bail out Greece’s corrupt politicians... What makes this development so unpleasant is that this new bailout (Greece already has been bailed out several times, with both direct and indirect handouts) will make things worse. Another bailout will be a case of throwing good money after bad. And it will exacerbate the economic damage by delaying the economic reforms that are needed to put Greece’s economy in better shape."

Jobs in Brazil: "The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil’s Tupi oil field... The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a “preliminary commitment” letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount."

Jobs in China: "Senate Democrats lashed out at the Obama administration on Wednesday, saying its stimulus wind energy program creates jobs overseas instead of in the U.S.... "Today, we are demanding the Obama administration suspend this program immediately," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y... The program has already spent $2 billion, funding enough projects to power 2.4 million homes... An investigation by ABC News and the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that 79 percent of the program's money has gone to foreign companies... in China."

Jobs in Spain, Portugal and the U.K.: "Although Barack Obama and other Democrats touted the $787 billion stimulus package as a way to create green jobs that would put Americans back to work, new reports show the spending package has mostly created green jobs for foreign workers... The Spanish company Iberdrola has received $443 million; the Portuguese company EDP has received $229 million; and the British company Terra Firma, which bought a large wind farm in western Pennsylvania, received $42 million."

As Michelle Malkin points out, Obama "has stopped receiving daily economic briefings that were once treated with the same emergency status as national security briefings."

Daily economic briefings have apparently lost out to a record number of rounds of golf (71 in only two-and-a-half years), pick-up basketball, fund-raising (Obama's handlers hope to raise a billion dollars in propaganda money) and gourmet dinners.

What, me worry?


Weiner shrinks from view as Dems, staffers abandon ship

Now that the X-rated photo of Anthony's Weiner has hit the inter-tubes, the writing is on the Facebook wall.

Democrat leadership -- including the powerful head of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee -- has finally had its fill of Weiner and are calling on him to resign immediately.

Furthermore, Weiner's staff (heh) has reportedly begun expedited job-hunting.

To top things off, the Congressman's wife Huma is reportedly pregnant.

And if you happen to be feeling a bit sympathetic for the Weiner's plight, don't. He was a sleazebag from the very beginning of his political career.


Hat tips: Ame, Memeorandum and CityRoom.

Photo: About a decade after Bill Clinton left the DC area...

A class photo at Beltway Elementary School.

The conundrum is, as The Lid observes, that Anthony Weiner must go, but Bill Clinton is 'one of our greatest presidents evah'".


Opie and Anthony release Weiner's X-rated wiener photo #weinergate

It was bound to happen.

The X-rated photograph of Anthony's Weiner that Andrew Breitbart obtained from one of the esteemed Congressman's sexting partners has made its way to the Internets.

Apparently, in the process of showing various Weiner shots to news producers, radio hosts Opie and Anthony obtained a photo of Breitbart's iPhone screen.

Breitbart was unaware of this until earlier today. Anthony Cumia confirms that "Andrew Breitbart had no knowledge that this photo was being made public."

If you're feeling masochistic, the pic (little p) is over at Pat Dollard's website.

Me, I try to run a family-friendly blog here. That, and the fact that I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.


Related (in reverse chronological order):
Weiner squeezed from all sides
The Daily Weiner, June 6th 2011
We got a bleeder! Weiner trapped by TweetCongress.org
Short-fused Weiner visibly stiffens when confronted by local CBS reporter, calls police
Kudos to CNN's Dana Bash: Absolutely Shreds Anthony's Weiner
Weiner stiffens defenses against #Weinergate "distraction", lawyers up, and insists that we all "move on"
Weinergate Timeline
Now that @GennetteNicole has broken her #Weinergate silence, I have just a couple of questions
Photos: Anthony Weiner's Self-Proclaimed Girlfriend
Anthony Weiner makes underwhelming Twitter debut