Saturday, July 02, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: The Philosophies of Illegal Immigration

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Nation

The Philosophies of Illegal Immigration: Hanson
Best places to be an illegal alien: Surber
Southern California Considers Seceding from Golden State: Noisy

TSA: Totally Screwed Up Administration: IBD
Maryland Wins -- O'Malley and the Illegals Lose, For Now: RS
On the Trail With Michele Bachmann: PJM

Economy

Union curbs rescue a Wisconsin school district: York
Imperial HUD: Virtuous
Obama Losing Support Faster Among the Poor: RWN

Obama Continues to Shovel Our Money at ACORN: RWN
Are Credit Markets Getting Unstable?: ZH
Union puts politics over honoring 9/11 firefighters: Troglo

Climate & Energy

Sunstein’s Disingenuous Regulation Claims: ChamberPost
PJM Sues DOD for Climate Conference Info: PJM
Bummer: Globull Warming May Affect California Wine Country: RWN

Media

Bachmann Hitpiece Author Received Socialist Award: Noisy
Hey Stephie, Lincoln Said It Best: the Founders Opposed Slavery: WklyStd
CBS Omits How Obama Broke Campaign Promise on Tax Hikes: NB

This Blogger Stands With Geller: Zilla
Black Pro-Life Group Releases New Video on Abortion’s Racism: LifeNews
Want to File an IRS Complaint Against Media Matters? Click Here: FoxNation

Obama: Tax 'The Rich' -- Again: PJM
FBI Official to Federal Judge: OKC Bombing Videotapes ‘Might Have Been Misfiled, Impossible to Know Where’: BG
If I Ran Fox News: Glob

World

Obama Puts Israel on ‘State Supporters of Terror’ List, Then Opens Relations With Muslim Brotherhood: RWN
Beware of Greeks Demanding Gifts: Cato
India: Muslim Sharia judge misunderstands Islam, forces minor girl into marriage: JihadWatch

Obama Forming an "I Really Love Israel" PR Squad To Try and Rescue Jewish Vote: Lid
U.S. Recognizes Muslim Brotherhood. Will Hamas Be Next?: Commentary
Swiss Political Party Ad Features Jewish Doll With an Arrow in Its Head: Blaze

SciTech

A hands-on look at Google+, using Google+: CNet
RIM responds to open letter: We're fine: CNet
You Are More Likely to Survive a Plane Crash than Click a Banner Ad: Atlantic

Cornucopia

John Lennon, Republican: IowaHawk
Colourized America 1862-1923: How to be a Retronaut
Whose $100 Million ATM Receipt Is This?: Consumerist

Image: Consumerist
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Michele Bachmann for President


Friday, July 01, 2011

Good news: Gunrunner weapons discovered on scene of Phoenix crimes

The Obama administration's, eh, unique strategy of selling weapons to Mexican drug cartels appears to have, uhm, backfired.

Weapons linked to a questionable government strategy are turning up in crimes in Valley neighborhoods... For months the ABC15 Investigators have been searching through police reports and official government documents. We’ve discovered assault weapons linked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ controversial "Fast and Furious" case strategy have turned up at crime scenes in Glendale and Phoenix communities.

...Phoenix ATF agents recently testified during a Congressional hearing that they knowingly allowed weapons to slip into the hands of straw buyers who would then distribute the weapons to known criminals... [Agents] estimated the number could be as many as 1,800 weapons.

...“I believe that these firearms will continue to turn up at crime scenes on both sides of the border for years to come,” testified Phoenix Special Agent Peter Forcelli... Weapons linked to the strategy have been turning up at dangerous and deadly crime scenes near both sides of the border, including the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, who was killed last December.

The ABC15 Investigators uncovered documents showing guns connected to at least two Glendale criminal cases and at least two Phoenix criminal cases also appear in the ATF’s Suspect Gun Database, a sort-of watch list for suspicious gun sales.

This is impeachment-level criminality. Perhaps legacy media could look into this when they finish their investigations of Michele Bachmann.


Today's "Reich Wing"

A favorite pejorative used by the progressive left is 'Reich Wing', designed to tar conservatives as Nazi-like extremists. Notwithstanding its nature as a premature violation of Godwin's Law, the term implies a certain set of characteristics presumably endemic to conservatives.

But let's examine those attributes to see if they have merit.

On the Constitution

While conservatives advocate for fidelity and loyalty to the nation's highest law -- the United States Constitution -- the progressive left tries to evade it. The term they use is "living and breathing", which simply means that the left can morph the law into whatever shape it wishes.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan outlined the progressive's perspective in a 1993 tribute to Justice Thurgood Marshall. She quoted from a 1987 speech Marshall in which he said the Constitution as originally conceived and drafted was "defective" and that the mission of the Supreme Courtwas to “show a special solicitude for the despised and the disadvantaged.”

In other words, the Constitution could be "adjusted" to benefit certain parties at the expense of others -- certainly a far cry from the image of justice as a blindfolded seer weighing the merits of two arguments.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler subverted Germany's Weimar Constitution using subterfuge and pretext to eradicate civil rights.

Less than a month after Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, suspending several constitutional protections on civil rights. The articles affected were 114 (habeas corpus), 115 (inviolability of residence), 117 (correspondence privacy), 118 (freedom of expression /censorship), 123 (assembly), 124 (associations), and 153 (expropriation).

On Free Speech

Conservatives believe in free political speech, in each and every situation. But that is not the case with today's leftists.

Put together the left's advocacy of "the Fairness Doctrine", its insistence on "Community Standards" for media, its hatred of the "Citizens United" decision, its efforts to "sabotage" certain news outlets, and one can come to no other conclusion but that it appears terrified of free speech.

No less an eminence grise than then-SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan asserted that the United States government can ban political books and movies if necessary.

Elena Kagan argued on behalf of Citizens United essentially stating it would not be a violation of the First Amendment to have movies or even books banned. Of course, she only meant certain movies/books for specific times, but even so, I believe the point remains... all tyrants find a pretext for their tyranny. That tyranny may even begin with a humble, caring act, but one day we awake to find we have lost all freedom.

In Nazi Germany, officials banned at least 4,100 different publications. Censorship of media was a regular occurrence and all political messaging emanated from government bureaucrats.

On Intimidation by Uniformed Civilian Forces

Tea Party protests by conservative activists were uniformly civil and represented a true "rainbow coalition" of people with every background, race, religion, and culture.


In Wisconsin and other states, the Left used uniformed civilian enforcers -- including purple-clad SEIU thugs -- to threaten, intimidate and coerce lawmakers and taxpayers.

In Nazi Germany, the term Sturmabteilung (also known as 'Brown-shirts') was used to describe a para-military force deployed by Hitler prior to 1934. They were employed as street thugs and enforcers to attack the Nazis' political rivals in order to secure more power for Hitler's ring of leaders.

Leader Cult

From chants of 'Yes We Can' to a curious iconography that lives on even today, the rise of Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign was orchestrated using a marketing approach that could be considered the construction of a "cult of personality."

Obama was deified in the mainstream press, highlighted in scores of photos using a "halo effect", and lobbed softball questions during television appearances that seemed more like infomercials than serious journalistic affairs.

Such was the case with the rise of the Third Reich. Hitler's power "transcended his official title, reaching into the depths of Germans and German society [and] Hitler became a seemingly flawless revolutionary figure for the German people [and he took] specific measures [designed] to promote the view of himself as larger than life."

Who Is The Real 'Reich Wing'?

Who abuses the Constitution for crass partisan purposes? Who despises free speech and attempts to censor legitimate public opinion? Who rallies around a figure portrayed as some sort of messianic savior? Who uses uniformed thugs to intimidate lawmakers and taxpayers?

We all know who the "Reich Wing" is: it is today's far left Democrats that are now so radicalized even Communists are surprised.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama's New ACORN Grant; Did He Violate Federal Law?

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

Obama's New ACORN Grant; Did He Violate Federal Law?: AmSpec
Obama: "I Got Five-And-A-Half Years More To Go": RCP
Illegal Aliens Step Out Boldly at DREAM Hearing: HE

Time For Congress to Lead on the Debt Ceiling: Foundry
How to Destroy a Culture in 5 Easy Steps : FirstThings
Obama the Imaginary Leader: Commentary

Liberalspeak: 'living and breathing' equals 'cadaver': Troglopundit
Beck assaulted by open-minded, tolerant, Leftist thugs: Cold Fury
Obama's Appalling Press Conference Unplugged: MB

Economy

Stimulus: It's Never Enough For The Democrats: IBD
Medicaid annual spending: $1B in 1965; $450B in 2011: Mish
NLRB fight is land mine in reelection: Hill

Obamacare Death Star will strike soon: DeMint
Obama's Right: We Need More Tax Revenues: PJM
Fed's Massive Stimulus Had Little Impact: Greenspan: CNBC

Rand Paul: I’m here today Mr. President. Where are you?: TRS
Report: Geithner on Way Out?: Malkin
3 Simple Rules for the GOP on Orwellian Word Games: ATR

Media

CNN’s new White House correspondent mocks Obama, implies he’s a liar: IHTM
Media's Blind Eye: IBD
Mark Halperin apologizes for Obama gaffe: Politico

Harvard Study: 4th of July Parades Favor Republicans: Powers
Yesterday Iowa with Palin, today Pennsylvania with Romney: Hot Air
Ya think? Obama may be losing the faith of Jewish Democrats: Politico

Obama Flake: MB
Mika: Palin and Paris Hilton have a lot in common: Hot Air
Roger Ailes’ Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News: Gawker

World

TheDC Exclusive: Rep. Kucinich praises Syrian dictator on Syrian television: TheDC
U.S. Recognizes Muslim Brotherhood. Will Hamas Be Next?: Commentary
Cummings’ Gunwalker Report Neglects To Mention … Gunwalker: Owens

Hamas is Behind the Jihad Warship "Flotilla": Atlas
Postcard from London: Wisconsin on the Thames: Malkin
NY: Misunderstanderers of Islam get 25 years in synagogue bomb plot: Creeping

Caliphate Convention Set to Take the Netherlands by Storm: NoisyRoom
Holder: DOJ to Drop 'Torture' Investigations of CIA Officials: NJ
Obama’s Joke of a Counterterrorism Strategery: Ledeen

SciTech

Anonymous RIM Employee Condemns "Soviet-Era Government" Atmosphere and Other Horrors: Gizmodo
Chrome OS has security flaws, claims researcher: CNet
FBI Raids Home of Ohio Man Linked to Hacker Group: WSJ

Cornucopia

Diet Soda: not all it's cracked up to be: Instapundit
The Gaffe-Masters: BlogProf
Marines Get New Infantry Automatic Rifle, Ditch M249 SAW In Favor Of M27: WZ

Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Cut Cap Balance Pledge

QOTD: "The most newsworthy bit of President Obama’s press conference certainly had nothing to do with economics or America’s precarious fiscal position. Recall: The president’s most recent budget plan would add $9.5 trillion in cumulative new debt over the next decade. Eliminating a tax break for the purchase of corporate jets – it’s called “accelerated depreciation” and Obama has endorsed the deduction twice before to boost growth and create jobs – would save $3 billion, or 0.03 percent of that total...

Who knows, maybe the president just has something against jet airplanes, akin to his apparent dislike of those job-killing ATMs. But this seems certain: Obamanomics took flight in 2009 as a purist Keynesian experiment in economic management from high above. The ultimate Dreamliner for Democrats. Now, two-and-a-half-year later, it’s begun its sputtering descent." --James Pethokoukis

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The genius of Democrat governance: 'Massive error' in new California tax code causes triple taxation on small businesses

When you've lost the San Francisco Chronicle...

California and Governor Jerry Brown made a massive error in the formation of a California Online Tax, that amounts to triple taxation in the state for online S-corporations. Amazon and Overstock aren't the only ones hurt by the new tax, and it should be challenged in court...

Unfortunately, Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011...

...Frankly, while the law itself has many affiliates hoping mad, it was bound to happen. But the law's got a nasty bug in it that must be cleared up. I'll use my online sports game company as an example.

The State Of California has already taxed my Internet company for income earned. All of our sales are online. Plus, they get me for a personal income tax!

Under the new law, an online company like mine could be taxed three times: for total income tax, corporate, tax and then for sales tax. That's too much.

There's nothing in the law preventing such a scenario from happening, because there's to language to restrict the State Of California from such an action. If you're an online legal California Corporation, you're going to get taxed three times. It's that simple.

...It sets up a massive incentive for thousands of California Corporations to just quit the state and find other homes... One day next year, Governor Brown's going to wake up to the reality of no new taxes collected, and a massive exodus of Internet vendors. By then, any retro action would be too little, too late.

That's okay.

Send the businesses our way. We need smart, talented entrepreneurs who want to live in a free state. I mean, a Red State.


How's this for a deal: contribute $193K to your pension over your entire career, receive $130K pension salary for life. Welcome to Illinois!

When it comes to Illinois teachers' pensions, does the term ludicrous ring a bell?

...how can a 54 year-old Music teacher retire on a pension of $130,000 after working only 33 years and contributing only $193,000? Since he retired in 2009 he has already received more than he contributed ($225,000). That does not seem reasonable to the 95% of IL workers who are not in the state pension system. The cash value of his pension is 8 times what Social Security would be for the same salary and years worked. Why does any public employee deserve more than 8 times Social Security?

In fact, when you see the union hacks protesting, please consider the following:

Pensions four to seven times Social Security are not “modest”.

Here are the stats for the “average” retired teacher:
1. Average TRS [Teachers' Retirement System] pension – $46,000.
2. Average age at retirement – 58.
3. Average years worked – 25.
4. Average salary final year $61,000.

Mark Levin has a funny and uncannily accurate catch-phrase: "Liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid."

And every day we seem to gather more confirming evidence.


Want Jobs and Higher Salaries? Move to a Right-to-Work State

Do you prefer slavery or freedom? I ask that question because the modern-day version of slavery in this country is being forced to join a union -- and pay union dues -- against your will. And, as it turns out, in "union/slave states" there are provably fewer jobs and lower wages.

The business world is abuzz over the National Labor Relations Board's complaint vs. Boeing's new South Carolina production line. For NLRB critics, the case boils down to one thing: "right-to-work" laws.

Right-to-work states have generally lower unemployment, higher job growth, lower taxes and better business climates. They have growing populations and have been attracting businesses from other states.

In most states, once a workplace is unionized, employees are required to join the union or they can't work there. But 22 states, including South Carolina, have passed laws that give employees the right not to join. Hence the term "right-to-work."

Unions dislike these laws for the obvious reason: It reduces their membership.

Critics like the Chamber of Commerce say a union-friendly NLRB is simply punishing Boeing for choosing a right-to-work state, a charge the agency has rejected.

But if the complaint stands, it could stop firms in heavily unionized states from expanding or moving to right-to-work states. [And these states seem] to be a good deal for the workers, too. The U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1%. In right-to-work states the average is 7.9% — 8.6% adjusted for population.

Between 1977-08, employment grew 100% in right-to-work states vs. the national average of 71% and 56.5% in non-right-to-work states. That's according to a January study that Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder did for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

In this period, real per capita income in the right-to-work states grew 62.3% vs. the national average of 54.7% and 52.8% for non-right-to-work states... Between 2000-09, about 5 million people moved to right-to-work states from other states. The population of 25- to 34-year-olds in right-to-work states has grown 16%, according to an American Legislative Exchange Council study, indicating that they "attract the most productive members of society."

Union members: it's time to throw off your shackles. The Democrat-Union Boss alliance -- and their oppressive regulations from the EPA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, and dozens of other useless bureaucracies -- are funding your destruction.

Fight back.


Best Line Ever?

The tragedy -- one of open borders and cop-killers -- is no laughing matter. But the line is a keeper

An illegal alien, in Polk County , Florida , who got pulled over in a routine traffic stop, ended up "executing" the deputy who stopped him. The deputy was shot eight times, including once behind his right ear at close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed. A state-wide manhunt ensued. The murderer was found hiding in a wooded area. As soon as he took a shot at the SWAT team, officers opened fire on him. They hit the guy 68 times.

Naturally, the liberal media went nuts and asked why they had to shoot the poor, undocumented immigrant 68 times. Sheriff Grady Judd told the Orlando Sentinel: "Because that's all the bullets we had." Now, is that just about the all-time greatest answer or what!

The Coroner also reported that the illegal alien died of natural causes. When asked by a reporter how that could be, since there were 68 bullet wounds in his body, he simply replied: ... "When you are shot 68 times you are naturally gonna die."

Snopes confirms the story, which was was too good to check anyway.


Hat tip: CBullitt.

Alaska to EPA: Suck It

The anti-energy policies of the Obama administration range from illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to revoking properly issued coal mining permits in West Virginia -- and everything in between.

Thankfully, states are starting to fight back, Alaska serving as only the latest example.

Big energy news was broken at today's press conference at the Chamber. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell... and Alaska Commissioner of Natural Resources Dan Sullivan announced the state would allow drilling off a strip of state-owned land, expanding energy production:

It would allow the state to start allowing drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, up to three miles off the federally protected regions of ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, bypassing the need for federal permission...

While the state has no control over drilling in ANWR, it does own the three miles of Arctic Ocean just off the coast—after those three miles, the federal government owns the waters. Officials say it stands to reason that that three-mile ribbon likely cuts through the vast oil deposits believed to lie beneath ANWR and the Arctic Ocean. Alaskan officials and oil companies hope that by drilling in that strip, they can tap into up to a dozen giant oil pools that would otherwise be off-limits.

HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA (***cough*** ***wheeze***) HHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH AHHAHA (***erp***) HAHHAHA AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA (***owww***)

I think I just wrenched my clavicle, I was laughing so hard.

Well, this is certainly going to piss off the Obama administration.

To which I say: too damn bad. Maybe the entire bureaucracy could move to another country... one that enjoys restricting access to its own vast energy reserves.

Oh.

You say there aren't any?


Larwyn's Linx: Why the GOP shouldn’t go wobbly on taxes

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Nation

Why the GOP shouldn’t go wobbly on taxes: Pethokoukis
Sixth Circuit sets Constitution afire: Hot Air
A Propaganda Press Conference: TRS

AmeriCorps scandal: Friend of the Obamas, Kevin Johnson: Malkin
Interstate Compacts and Do-It-Yourself Federalism: Cato
Two-faced RINOs: JPA

Justice Justice: Zombie
God Bless Our Military! Just not in Houston Natl. Cemetery: NJ-TX
FBI investigating Dallas Dem John Wiley Price?: Tatler

Economy

President Quixote’s Legacy: Pelerin
California, a State that Has Gone Stark Raving Mad: Ricochet
Report: Treasury must cut spending 44 percent in default: Hill

$2 Trillion in Cuts in Perspective: Cato
Idiot Mayor: Fight Al Qaeda by Restricting Gun Sales: RWN
MI Public School Sneakily Converted To Islamic Center: Creeping

Climate & Energy

Pollute for the Planet: CBullitt
With its oil treasure, Israel gets a shield from tyranny : Globe & Mail
White House: Smart Cars and Leafs for Thee: BG

Media

National Journal: White House Very Worried About Reelection: Ace
Obama's Absolutely Unbelievable Press Conference : Ace
Michele Bachmann has not yet clinched the GOP nomination, as best we can tell for now: LAT

Jon Stewart Under Fire: Steven Crowder & Herman Cain Rip Off the Clown Nose: BigHollywood
What if Newsweek still had readers?: Driscoll
Today’s Bachmann Hit Piece: Her Husband’s Practice Received Medicare Money!: RWN

Glenn Beck vs. the Mob: Coulter
AP Joins Bloomberg in Predictable Purge of 'Unexpectedly' in Consumer Confidence Report: NB
Dare to DREAM: Dick Durbin Says Maybe Someday an Illegal Alien Will Be Elected President: Malkin

Why Can’t Old Media Learn That Obama Has Contempt for Them?: RWN
Mainstream Media Find New Female Target in Bachmann: NB
Remember when Obama claimed that the Constitution was written 2000 years ago?: BlogProf

World

Great News: Obama Administration Puts Israel On List Of Countries That Support Terrorism: Lid
U.S Ignores Hillary Clinton's Powerful Aide Huma Abedin at Its Own Risk: HE
Not the Greeks, But Their Creditors Are Bailed Out: Ritholtz

Missile Defense Malpractice: IBD
Britain accuses Iran of secret nuclear-missile tests: GlobalPost
Reuters: Obama to Establish Formal Contacts with Muslim Brotherhood: Atlas

SciTech

Amazon Ends Affiliate Program in California: AmPow
Microsoft Takes to Cloud to Ward Off Competition: NYT
Google+ steers clear of privacy missteps: CNet

Cornucopia

"What’s going to happen to the children when there aren’t any more grown-ups?": AmDig
Ronald Reagan Trail: Peoria Heights: Marathon
The Org Charts Of All The Major Tech Companies (Humor): Insider

Image: Epic Too Big To Fail Infographic!
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Have an extra $5 to save your country? Support Michele Bachmann

QOTD: "The [Sixth Circuit] majority [decision upholding Obamacare's individual mandate] is ludicrous. It stated, "Virtually everyone will need health care services at some point, including, in the aggregate, those without health insurance."

All of us will need shelter. Should government control the residential housing market and compel individuals to buy approved housing?

All of us will need clothes. Should government control the clothing market and compel individuals to buy approved clothing?

All of us will need food. Should government control the food supply and compel individuals to buy only approved foods?

All of us will need transportation. Should government control all modes of transportation and compel individuals to buy only approved transportation services?

And, now that the Constitution has been shredded, where does this control over the individual end?

I'll tell you where it ends: with the destruction of this Republic, by a fifth column called the cadaver of the Democrat Party, a once-proud and patriotic group that has been utterly subsumed by the maggots known as Marxists." --Me, just now.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Discouraged Texas rancher [Papa B]

Papa B:

While riding down along the border this morning,

I saw a Muslim extremist fall into the Rio Grande River.

He was struggling to stay afloat because of all the guns and bombs he was carrying.

Along with him was a Mexican who was also struggling to stay afloat because of the large backpack of drugs that was strapped to his back.

If they didn't get help, they'd surely drown.

Being a responsible citizen and abiding by the law to help those in distress, I informed both the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security.

It is now 4pm, both have drowned, and neither authority has responded.

I'm starting to think I wasted two stamps.


Graphic: gas taxes by state -- take a wild guess which states are the worst for gas taxes?

You don't have to be Kreskin to figure it out: the failed blue states of Illinois, New York and California take the prize.

The oppressive tax burdens of these destructive, Democrat-controlled states help explain why people and businesses are fleeing for greener pastures.


Rubes [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

If you still get your news from the trained seals of the left-leaning lamestream media then you’re to be excused if you haven’t heard about the first "World Without Terrorism Conference" in – wait for it – Tehran over the weekend.

Curiouser still is the guest list, which included a number of prominent “US allies” who have been mega beneficiaries of American blood and treasure. As MEMRI reports, “the conferees included Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif 'Ali Zardari, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.” Andrew McCarthy also has details and commentary at National Review Online.

I guess this “conference” wasn’t a big story because it creates a nasty case of dissonance in the pea-size brains of our newsmen. When everyone’s ox is gored it’s hard to find the liberal slant. First and foremost, the event highlights the utter failure of Obama’s “engagement” policy, and what a pitiful sucker the President has willfully chosen to be at America’s expense. It also turns the spotlight on the ungrateful Muslim basterds and the neocons who love them. To think, our very own spawn are betraying us even before the last American has died on their behalf. Then there are the rosy cheeks and white shoes that make up our corps of sophisticated diplomats and spooks. Portraying them as nothing more than bewildered tourists on a tour of the Kasbah is hard when your job is protecting the White House.


Hat tips: Ruthfully Yours. Original image (pre-GINC): Xinhuanet.

Where to put Obama's picture? [Papa B]

Papa B:

George Washington, our nation's first president and leader of the American Revolution!


Abe Lincoln, an honorable leader who pulled our nation through its darkest hour!


Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father, first Secretary of the Treasury and leader of the Constitutional Convention!


Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory", who fought the British in New Orleans!


Ulysses Grant, Union army general, who led the North to victor over slavery during the Civil War!


Ben Franklin, a genius, inventor, statesman, political theorist and leading author of the Constitution!


And, at long last, we have someone to put on the food stamp!

Obama's put more people on food stamps than any other president, so this placement is most appropriate. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he did nothing, this is an "honor" he truly deserves.

Violent, urban flash mobs: the delightful product of the Democrats' unbounded welfare state and gun control

"Flash mob crimes" are a growing problem in large cities around the country. The phrase refers to a large crowd of individuals -- usually teens -- that use social networks to coordinate riots, assaults and robberies. And they occur almost exclusively in cities where the concealed carry of firearms is either banned altogether (unconstitutionally, as in Chicago) or permit holders are simply harassed to discourage them from packing.

The inevitable result: law-abiding citizens are unable to protect themselves from swarms of attackers. Consider the following sampling of incidents that have occurred in Philadelphia over the last few months.

Teens in a mob assault and rob Center City patrons


The two young women were sitting at a window table inside the Max Brenner restaurant on 15th Street, near Walnut, sharing chocolate fondue after some shopping... But their night on the town was about to become frightening.

...Heading their way was a pack of teens roving through Center City after leaving a North Philadelphia music festival... They were part of about 100 or more young people who had left Saturday night's event, police said, committing a series of violent assaults and robberies, including one against Maria, 25, of North Philadelphia, and her cousin Cecilia, 29, of Havertown.

Woman's leg broken, others hurt in Spring Garden mob attack


A WOMAN'S leg was broken and several other people were injured Saturday night when a large group of teens accosted pedestrians in Spring Garden, police and witnesses said... Philadelphia police responded to two reports of pedestrians being assaulted by a large group of young people along Broad Street about 9:30 p.m... the mob ranged from 50 to 100 people and that participants not only assaulted people but also threw trash cans and lit fireworks...

Hearing for Flash Mob Looters


Police are seeking a joint hearing for the juveniles arrested and linked to the flash mob that filed into a 69th Street department store last week and stole sneakers, socks, watches and other merchandise... The group, all West Philadelphia residents, boarded SEPTA’s Elevated train in the city and got off at the 69th Street Terminal at approximately 7 p.m. on June 23... “They proceeded up the hill to the Sears store and entered together,” police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said, estimating 30 to 40 teens engaged in the planned flash mob...

West Philly man pleads guilty to 'flash mob' assault


A West Philadelphia man - charged in one of the first "flash mob" incidents in Center City, during which a bicyclist was beaten unconscious - pleaded guilty Monday in an agreement that will keep him in prison for five to 20 years... Stephen Lyde, 23, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, conspiracy, and riot in the May 30, 2009, assault on Thomas Fitzgerald, who was yanked from his bicycle and beaten during the melee at Broad and South Streets...

Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message


[Philadelphia] flash mobs have taken a more aggressive and raucous turn here as hundreds of teenagers have been converging downtown for a ritual that is part bullying, part running of the bulls: sprinting down the block, the teenagers sometimes pause to brawl with one another, assault pedestrians or vandalize property... ...In a Feb. 16 melee, 150 teenagers spilled out of the Gallery shopping mall east of City Hall during rush hour and rampaged through Macy’s, knocking down customers and damaging displays...

Pennsylvania has a law on the books that permits concealed carry, but Philadelphia's city officials have done their best to block and harass permit holders. The result: defenseless citizens at the mercy of mobs.

Economist John Lott explains how it's done:

In the last two years, Philadelphia police have confiscated guns from at least nine men - including four security guards - who were carrying them legally, and only one of the guns has been returned, according to interviews with the men... Philadelphia has unusually strict criteria for obtaining a concealed-carry permit. Philadelphia, according to police and gun owners, relies heavily on a clause that allows denial of a permit based on "character and reputation" alone...

Flash mob crimes represent the confluence of two failed Democrat social engineering policies:

• A massively expanded welfare state, which -- as study after study after study has shown -- encourages single-parent families and breeds criminals;

• And onerous gun control laws, which only impact the law-abiding citizens who follow cities' unconstitutional dictates

You know what would stop 'flash mob crimes'? Shooting about a dozen criminals in the kneecaps.

That sounds cruel, but now that Democrats have begun to unravel the civil society, I don't see many good alternatives.


Linked by: Ed Driscoll and Marathon Pundit. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Tom Coburn’s Bizarre, Unworkable Tax Hike Plans

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

Tom Coburn’s Bizarre, Unworkable Tax Hike Plans: RWN
DOJ sued for documents: why did it not prosecute CAIR?: JW
The Gaffe King: From the Cul De Sac

Stealing the Election of 2012: Hedgecock
Vote Fraud Paradise in Maryland: RWN
Gunrunner whistleblower says ATF fired him: Fox

Obama's 'Unseemly But Perfectly Legal' WH Fundraisers: Ace
Ganging Up on Justices Thomas, Scalia, and Alito: AmSpec
Sarah Palin’s Unlikely Supporter: ABC

Economy

Who To Blame For the Economic Meltdown of 2008?: RWN
Criminal probe requested for far left Laura Richardson (D-CA): FAM
Redistribution via Price Discrimination: AmSpec

Pimco cries wolf on US debt ceiling: Mish
The Unions' Real Enemy: Themselves: RWN
Obama Will Vacation on Martha's Vineyard: PolWire

Climate & Energy

The New York Times’ natural gas fiasco: Hot Air
Hilarious: Obama’s Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein Tells Congress That Regulations Were Worse Under Bush: WZ
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release Now Been Fully Priced In: Crude, Gasoline Prices Surge: WZ

Media

Obamalitico: Bachmann Has a Thin Legislative Record or Something: JWF
Stephanopoulos Tries Savaging Bachmann: FoxNation
Tearful Glenn Beck Describes How He And His Family Were Attacked In New York Park: Mediaite

Time Like Totally Explains the Constitution To You Wingnutz (and Commits 13 Factual Errors In Doing So): Ace
George Stephanopolous: Flake: Levin
Levin: Stephanopoulos Is Foolish in Lecturing Bachmann: AmSpec

Akin Refuses to Apologize For Saying, ‘At the Heart of Liberalism…Is a Hatred For God’ (Video): GWP
Why the ‘Unexpected’ Keeps Happening: PJM
The Obamas lead by (bad) example: Hernando Today

Greece

Greece Refuses To Heed Reality: IBD
Breakdown of Greek Austerity Measures: ZH
Violence Erupts At Greece Austerity Rally: Sky

World

Palin, the Flotilla, and the L.A. Times Khalidi/Obama Tape: Simon
Uh oh: White House caught lying about Petraeus’s withdrawal recommendations?: Hot Air
Islamic Attack, Suicide Bombers Storm Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul: Atlas

Israeli Defense Force: Flotilla groups "serve as a cover for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood": JihadWatch
Greetings from London: A taste of Wisconsin as public unions prepare to strike: Malkin
The real face of Hizb ut Tehrir: Creeping

EPA Gives Millions In Foreign Handouts: JW
Pawlenty Argues On Obama’s Behalf, Says War Powers Act “Does Not Apply” To War In Libya…: WZ
More Jewish Donor Trouble for Obama: Commentary

SciTech

This iPhone App Scans Skin For Melanoma: Insider
Tag Heuer outs $6,700 Link Phone for those who like alligator skin with their Froyo: Engadget
Microsoft puts Office in the cloud, confronts Google: Reuters

Cornucopia

Bumper Sticker o' the Day: RWN
22-Year-Old Brit Buys $150M Spelling Manor: Zillow
HATE-TORN MARIA SHRIVER’s REVENGE: National Enquirer

New Fee Is Your Chance To Break Verizon Contract Without Paying Early Termination Fee: Consumerist
For $15,800, is the V for Victory?: Jalopnik
The new forbidden cartoons: Muslim Minnie and Mickey Mouse: Malkin

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Astute Bloggers --- Redesigned and Rarin' to Go

QOTD: "Even if you did the defense cut, defense cut is $50 billion. You could do that for 30 years, that $50 billion. You could collect all of that money. It wouldn't recover one year of Obama deficit spending. That is not where the money is. The money isn't in that or the oil, or the tax breaks the oil companies are getting, which is $2 billion a year. The money is in entitlements.

And unless Democrats are willing to do something important on entitlements, we won't get anywhere on this. That, I think, is the ultimate redline. I think Obama decided he doesn't want to touch entitlements in a significant way, because demagoguing entitlements and Medicare is the way he gets re-elected.” --Charles Krauthammer

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hey, Chris Wallace: do you know how many people called Michele Bachmann a 'flake' before you slandered her on Sunday? None, dimwit.

Through the magic of a cool new research tool called Google (you may have heard of it, Chris), I decided to find out who had called GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann a "flake" prior to Chris Wallace's interview.

After all, Wallace had asserted that was "the rap" on Bachmann.

To test this assertion, I constructed a fairly complex query (here) that found all pages that mentioned:

• 'Michelle Bachmann' and the word 'flake'

Omitting the following pages:

• Those referencing the last name 'Wallace' or his show 'Fox News Sunday'
• Posted On 6/26 through 6/28 2011

Here are the complete results:

Er, Chris, no one had called Bachmann a 'flake'.

'Cepting you, of course.

Which means one of two things: you're an agenda journalist trying to demean a conservative female... or... you were showing off for Jon Stewart.

In either case, you're a decidedly unserious choice for any job at Fox News.

We can tune into ABC, CBS or NBC for this type of horsecrap.


Update: Chris Wallace's Greatest Interview Questions


Related: Michele Bachmann 2012. Linked by: Gateway Pundit. Thanks!

All Americans Shoulds Receive ObamaCare Waivers [Michele Bachmann]

By Michele Bachmann

Since its passage last year, over 1,300 ObamaCare waivers have been rewarded, exempting nearly 3.1 million Americans out of the monstrous health care overhaul. With several hundred more waivers pending, the Obama Administration has decided it will no longer accept waiver applications after September 22nd of this year. These waivers are extremely telling; if ObamaCare was truly the reform our healthcare system needs, why is the Administration allowing so many to opt out of the program?

It comes as no surprise that hundreds of companies are applying for waivers from ObamaCare. Business owners across the country continue to voice concern over how to implement the new ObamaCare rules without paying fines, laying off workers or even going bankrupt. As the book Why ObamaCare is Wrong for America points out, “ObamaCare will lead to slower wage growth, fewer job opportunities, and more businesses going under.”

Yet, the waiver-granting process became increasingly questionable as companies applied for exemptions. It seemed that ObamaCare regulators were passing out waivers mostly to friends of the Administration. For instance, of the 204 waivers granted by the Administration in April, nearly twenty percent went to some of the finest restaurants and businesses within House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district. Even more jaw-dropping, of those 3.1 million individuals exempted from ObamaCare through waivers, over half – 1.55 million – are union members.

President Obama’s health care reform grows the size of government and increases its impact on our lives. According to Why ObamaCare is Wrong for America, ObamaCare sets in motion a massive federal bureaucracy with at least 159 new federal agencies, creates more than $500 billion in new taxes and will take $575 billion away from Medicare. In my view, it is time that every American, regardless of their relationship with the Administration, receives a permanent waiver from ObamaCare. I remain committed to working towards the complete repeal of this legislation.

You can support Michele Bachmann for President by clicking here.


The Obama 2012 Campaign: Nothing says 'I feel your pain' like $36,000-a-plate fundraisers with Wall Street executives

John Edwards was right. There really are two Americas. One for Democrat-slash-Wall Street royalty and one for the rest of us.

While many of the biggest name financiers feel that they can’t publicly support Mr. Obama through campaign contributions the way they did in 2008 — “it would be bad for business,” one brand-name chief executive of a major bank acknowledged — some still plan to vote for him. And some begrudgingly acknowledged that they don’t yet see a viable alternative to Mr. Obama among the Republican field.

It also turns out that Wall Street is not the only one concerned about optics. The president’s re-election campaign has not been actively courting Wall Street’s biggest C.E.O.’s to appear at such fund-raisers out of fear that their support could offend his most liberal backers, two people involved in planning his fund-raiser at Daniel said.

A picture of [Goldman Sachs CEO] Lloyd [Blankfein] and Obama together probably isn’t helpful,” one of these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting his role in the campaign... While Wall Street executives still complain about the president’s name-calling and pressure for a regulatory overhaul, many say privately that his bark has been worse than his bite.

Obama hasn’t been too bad to banks. He could have been worse,” said a top executive at one of the nation’s largest banks, a big supporter in the past who decided against attending the dinner because he did not want his colleagues and clients to see him supporting the president... “His rhetoric was obnoxious,” he added, referring to the “fat cat” comments, “but since the midterms, he’s turned it off.”

He pointed to the appointment of William Daley, a former senior executive at JPMorgan Chase, as the president’s chief of staff as a sign of Mr. Obama’s shifting approach toward big business... Mr. Obama’s dinner last week raised $2.3 million, outpacing an original projection of $1.5 million. And the Democratic National Committee raised $10.5 million in May, surpassing the Republican National Committee, which raised $6.2 million...

Of course, if you've lost the readers of The New York Times...


Chris Wallace's Greatest Interview Questions

The bizarre interview of GOP front-runner Michele Bachmann ("Are you a flake?") by Fox News analyst Chris Wallace wasn't his first encounter with controversy.

Although I wonder if he'd have the cojones to ask the following questions.

"Are you a Marxist? I mean, that's what the rap on you is?"

"Are you a bit too ample in the derriere to be lecturing people on their diets? I mean, that's what the rap on you is -- too much 'junk in the trunk', if you will."

"Are you as stupid as you sound? Let's face it, that's what the rap on you is?"

"Are you a pathological liar? I'm sure you know that's what the rap on you is?"

"Are you a mentally unbalanced, barely coherent dimwit? I mean, that's what the rap on you is?"

"Are you a perverted wanker? That's what the rap on you is?"

* * * * * * * * *

Hey, Wallace: go drink a big tall glass of shut-up juice, you freaking dweeb.


Update: Hey, Chris Wallace: do you know how many people called Michele Bachmann a 'flake' before you slandered her on Sunday? None, dimwit.


Linked by: The Tatler. Thanks!