Monday, July 25, 2011

Rally at John Boehner's Hometown Office

A hastily arranged Tea Party rally at John Boehner's hometown office took place earlier today. Karl writes:

...Several Ohio and Kentucky Tea Party groups rallied at Speaker Boehner's office in Ohio today...

...It was a rowdy group of right wing extremism. Grandmas and Grampas, Moms and Dads, and a couple children. Each arrived with a personal letter to the Speaker which was then handed to a gentleman from the Speaker's office. Letters were collected for those who could not attend and handed over in a binder. 350 letters!

There are more pictures at Karl's place.


In which I write the speech John Boehner should give

The Speaker of the House -- a guy reportedly named John Boehner from Ohio who apparently needs to be primaried -- has proposed a short-term spending plan the adjectives for which have yet to be invented.

Republicans insisted if the President wants his debt ceiling increase, the American people will require serious spending cuts and reforms...

--Cuts That Exceed The Debt Hike. The framework would cut and cap discretionary spending immediately, saving $1.2 trillion over 10 years (subject to CBO confirmation), and raise the debt ceiling by less - up to $1 trillion.

--Caps To Control Future Spending. The framework imposes spending caps that would establish clear limits on future spending and serve as a barrier against government expansion while the economy grows. Failure to remain below these caps will trigger automatic across-the-board cuts (otherwise known as sequestration).

Oh. My. Heavens.

$1.2 trillion over 10 years is a joke. A pittance. Since President Obama took office, the government borrows about $1.6 trillion each and every year. In other words, Boehner's ten-year "savings" would be eaten up in around nine months at the current levels of spending.

And "caps to control future spending"? How have those worked out in the past?

If this plan passes, the rating agencies are certain to downgrade the country's credit rating. Standard & Poor's already said as much. And then Republicans get the blame either way!

John Boehner needs to be primaried. He's too weak to fight the existential threat represented by the Democrats' spending; it is the most massive borrowing program in world history.

How hard is it to explain? Here: let me write the damn speech for John Boehner:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

These are the facts related to our difficult budget situation:

• Democrats took a one-time "Stimulus" program and then intentionally refused to pass a budget so that those spending levels would run on "auto-pilot"

• The annual budget requires that we borrow around $1.6 trillion a year, or roughly four times the worst Bush-era deficit.

• At minimum, the entire $800 billion "Stimulus" must be removed from all budgets going forward. That is non-negotiable.

• Why? Because failure to do so will mean certain downgrades and economic calamity.

• The Stimulus was a scam. Only 6% of its funds were used on "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. The rest of the money, borrowed money mind you, was used to fund a Soviet-style grab-bag of failed social programs, welfare, and other wealth redistribution schemes.

For the sake of our children, the "one-time Stimulus" must be removed from the baseline budget. If not, then the Democrats can pass the Cut, Cap and Balance bill. Those are their only choices.

Call us when you Marxist crackpots make up your mind.

See? It's just that simple.


Larwyn's Linx: House Republican Leaders Cave in Less Than 24 Hours

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Nation

House Republican Leaders Cave in Less Than 24 Hours: RS
Reid, Pelosi Push Faux Debt Plan With $2.5T in Cuts: Mish
Allen West Challenges Republican Party to Show Leadership: Shark

The Unanswered Questions for GOP Leaders from Freshmen: RS
A Brief History Of Obama's Fiscal Record: ZH
DNC Head Wasserman Schultz repeatedly assaults black man: Aces

To the Most Arrogant, Petulant President in History: Dewey
Black Tea Partiers to Protest NAACP: Root
Obama fears losing reelection more than default: RS

Economy

Court: NAACP, Unions Can't Trap Kids in Failing Schools: BG
ACORN Groups Join SEIU's Economic Terrorism Campaign: BG
Obama Charm offensive fails to win over business: Hill

Our Ten-Trillion-Dollar Man: Hanson
Bachmann's Right: All Should Pay Taxes: IBD
Surprise! Connecticut to grab more income: NHR

Save Award: Guess Which is the Most Liked Idea So Far?: VR
Boehner's Full Fox News Appearance: ZH
Dick Durbin's Fuzzy Math: JWF

Climate & Energy

Inhibiting an Oil and Gas Boom: AmSpec
End of the Line: Why the EPA Train Wreck Must be Stopped: FreedomWorks
More than 99.6% of stations failed to break records sometime over the past week: HockeySchtick

Media

Rick Santelli Goes on Another Epic Rant!: iOTW
Media Myth Debunked: Almost No Temperature Records Broken in Last Week's 'Record-Breaking Heat': NB
Fallows' Brain Lies Fallow: AmSpec

NY Times: It’s the Democrats Who Are Blocking a Deal: Commentary
That Saucy Memeorandum: RSM
Migraines, Michele, and me: Jacoby

Putting words in Jen Rubin's mouth: Instapundit
Cornel West: Best. Interview. Ever.: Hot Air
CNN Concedes the Auditorium Where the Undefeated Was Shown Near Atlanta “Was Packed” and “Sold Out”: C4P

World

“The Norway Attacks, 2011” — A View From Ireland: GoV
For the Record: Once More With Feeling: GoV
Gunman used hollow-points on rampage; desperate victims barricaded themselves using mattresses: LDM

EU bails out Greece as Greek government spends $15 million to build Athens mosque: Atlas
Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism Is Totalitarian : Mises
Toddler found alive in rubble of China train crash: MyWay

Sci-Tech

Street View cars grabbed locations of phones, PCs: CNet
What the World Needs Now: New Mossberg AR-15: TTAG
Apple laptop batteries could run malware, overheat: SCMag

Cornucopia

Celebutards from 50 of Our 57 States: Part 2 (Multi-Media Edition): MOTUS
72-Year-Old Ex-Marine Runs Down, Kills Armed Man Who Robbed His Business: Blaze
Re-purposing -- it's a lefty thing: iOTW

Don’t listen to the “experts”: Smash Mouth
You might be a liberal if...: AlinskyDefeater
Football Star Chad Ochocinco Angers Fans By Tweeting About Reading Glenn Beck: Mediate

Image: Zero Hedge
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Time For a Tea Party - Make Your Voice Heard!

QOTD: "The Right is represented by Colonel West. The Left is represented by Cornel West. Any questions?" --'Left Cost Right Mind' via Ed Driscoll

Bonus QOTD: "It seems reasonable to conclude from the planlessness and budgetlessness of the Obama/Reid Democrats that their only plan is to carry on spending without limit. Otherwise, someone somewhere would surely have written something down on a piece of paper by now. But no, apparently the Department of Writing Down Plans is the only federal expense the president is willing to cut." --Mark Steyn

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Comment o' the day: American Bar Association faces scrutiny as job prospects, debt burdens of law school grads worsen

Earlier today, the Washington Post sounded the obligatory alarm klaxon for would-be law school students (something that Professor Glenn Reynolds has warned of for years):

Since 2008, a retrenchment at the nation’s law firms has had newly minted attorneys wringing their hands over the rapidly shrinking job market.

Yet enrollment at law schools has continued to climb, with a record 44,004 people earning law degrees last year. The result has been that employment rates for new graduates are at their lowest levels since 1996, a gloomy prospect for students who borrow heavily to attend law school. Recent surveys of graduates show a growing proportion carrying loans of $120,000 or more.

Now, regulators and members of Congress are pressing the agency that accredits law schools — the American Bar Association — to step up efforts to keep student debt levels down and reduce the risk of default.

The article spotlights a Department of Education review that pins much of the blame on the American Bar Assocation (ABA).

“The ABA appears to be doing little to assess student-loan default rates in its law school accreditation process,” [Sen. Dick] Grassley wrote.

The ABA shot back Thursday with a letter to Grassley’s office, saying it does not track student loan default rates for all law schools because most — 181 of the 200 ABA-approved schools — are part of larger universities that do not break out the data for each academic program. The ABA, however, does track default rates for the remaining 19 schools, which operate independently; default rates at those schools range from zero to 7.4 percent.

ABA President Stephen Zack said he shares Grassley’s concerns about making law school financing and postgraduation job prospects transparent, and that the compliance issues raised by the Department of Education “are being dealt with in an expedited manner.”

Commenter 'Terminator_x' offers some rational perspective:

The problem is that there are countless liberal arts majors getting out of college with nothing to do. They are only 21 or 22 years old, and seek out law school as a "defined" career path. They are duped and misinformed by law schools into unrealistic expectations about how many new attorneys actually get big firm jobs. Movies and TV similarly dupe non-lawyers into thinking that the practice of law is a ticket to wealth in a profession where one earns a living merely by arguing cleverly across a table for eight hours a day and, and when the day is over, have flings with hot co-workers.

The reality is that young attorneys spend hours in the library reading boring materials and writing lifeless boilerplate. The business model of most law firms is to convince clients to pay for attorneys' work, one hour at a time. Attorneys don't make money unless they earn it by billing their time to someone who is willing to pay for it, in six minute increments. It is not a sexy job.

There are several simple solutions: (1) Any schools (law schools or otherwise) that offer student loans must be on the hook for 10% of any defaults; (2) No federal loans for any school with defaults beyond a given threshold; (3) Schools must index nominal tuition to inflation if they are to offer federal student loans.

These three suggestions make eminent sense, which means that they are certain to be ignored by the federal government.


Damn the American economy: full speed ahead for the public sector unions!

John Hayward -- you may know him as "Doctor Zero" from Hot Air's Greenroom -- says that "the American presidency has come off the rails."

On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland before a carefully screened, very supportive audience. He said a few interesting things in this relaxed and comfortable environment.

Obama blamed divided government for the debt ceiling crisis. “I’m sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own,” he told a questioner who brought up the theory, fashionable in some liberal circles, that the 14th Amendment gives the President power to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally. The President went on to remark, with a chuckle, that this would give him more time to spend with his daughters.

In addition to recoiling in horror at the thought of America’s chief executive being arrogant enough to even speculate about the joys of dictatorship out loud, a thoughtful town hall attendee might ask why the Democrats didn’t balance the budget when they had total control of Washington from 2009 to 2010, and point out that they have controlled both houses of Congress since 2006. But you’re not supposed to ask questions like that.

Obama also told his audience that “it’s hard to keep up with all the different plans” for handling the debt crisis. No, it isn’t. There’s are only two real plans: the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, which enjoys the support of a huge majority of Americans, or leaving the debt ceiling where it is. There are no other plans. There are only vague outlines… absolutely none of which have come from President Obama, who has made no concrete proposals at all.

Hayward has a memorable phrase that may truly become Obama's nom de guerre: "Architect of the new Depression":

[Obama says that] “we’ve made good choices so far.” (I am not making this up. He really said that.) He also declared, “The United States of America doesn’t run out without paying the tab. We pay our bills. We meet our obligations.”

Um… Mr. President? Running a huge deficit means, by definition, that you are not “paying your bills,” and you are the one who keeps threatening that your government will not “meet its obligations,” by shutting off Social Security checks, veterans benefits, and other essential services.

Hayward asserts that there's absolutely no reason to pay attention to Obama because he has yet to produce a plan. How can Republicans negotiate with... nothing? They can't.

And the word from Capitol Hill is not encouraging. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is reported to have put together a $2.5 trillion deficit reduction package -- over ten years -- that would lift the debt ceiling until 2013.

This is a joke and the Republicans should not play ball. That figure represents only 18 months of Democrat debt; those minuscule cuts would almost certainly result in a downgrade by Standard & Poor's. They've said as much.

Do you recall what George Bush’s final deficit was? It was loudly decried as a “record-breaking” figure in the mainstream press, and it was indeed far too high. The amount was about $458 billion. Barack Obama racks up that much debt in three months... The angry President who railed against oil companies and corporate jet owners one more time on Friday is a man lost in delusions the rest of us should refuse to entertain. He’s treating an existential fiscal crisis as a political opportunity to grab some more tax money, and goose his re-election numbers a bit.

Actually, he's trying to keep the public sector unions -- which funnel money directly into Obama's campaign coffers -- fully employed and engaged in the 2012 fight. Damn the American economy: full speed ahead for the public sector unions!

That is what this fight is all about. Obama wants to continue borrowing trillions to keep the public sector unions fueled and ready; members' dues will then be laundered back into his 2012 campaign.

This power-mad man is dooming America's fiscal future in order to retain his white-knuckled grip on power.

But 2012 is coming.


President Obama unveils his deficit plan: We can only pay our bills if others will continue to lend us $125 billion a month

I'm paraphrasing of course.

The President has yet to release a spending plan. Senate Democrats have yet to release a spending plan.

The real reason Democrats have refused to publish a budget for 815 days is this: they know that the rating agencies will downgrade the U.S. if they reveal their plans to continue spending like drunken liberals.

A downgrade is likely no matter what comes out of current negotiations. Specifically, Standard and Poor's has indicated a $4 trillion deficit reduction package is necessary by Aug. 2 to avoid a downgrade...That simply is not possible given the president's aversion to genuine spending cuts -- evidenced by his failure to table concrete spending cut proposals -- and the insistence on no new taxes by many members of the Republican House caucus.

Stand strong, Speaker Boehner: the House of Representatives has done its job:

• The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling.

• The Republicans passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Any economic spasms felt as a result of this reckless spending is the fault of three people: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who piled more debt on the backs of the American people than any President and any Congress in history.

And 2012 is coming.


Larwyn's Linx: When Does The Public Get To See The Proposals?

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Nation

When Does The Public Get To See The Proposals?: Hewitt
Planless Dems: Their only plan is to somehow spend more: Steyn
GOP readies new debt ceiling plan; bill set for Sunday: York

Mr. President, Show Some Respect: Dossier
Stunning Boehner-Obama confrontation: Barone
'This would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own': Pundette

If Boehner Hasn’t Passed A Short Term Debt Ceiling Deal Yet…: RWN
President Planless preaches and postures: Pundette
Rep. Allen West Says ‘Marxist,’ Now Who Else Will Tell the Truth?: BG

Economy

Dissecting The Demagoguery About 'Tax Cuts For The Rich': Sowell
U.S. Credit Rating Now Cut As Boehner Fights Back: AmSpec
U.S. Government Sells Chrysler Stake, Losses Higher Than Reported: OTB

Payments to Individuals and the Budget Crisis: Virtuous
Federal Spending in Perspective: Mercatus
Dems Changed Their Tune: Hill

No More Useless Commissions: DeMint
Homeowners In Denial About Value Of Properties: Instapundit
Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Close After 102 Years: Blaze

Climate & Energy

More EPA madness: RadioVice
Bering sea water temperature, headed down: WUWT
Wreck-overy: NASA lays off thousands: BlogProf

Media

Ruh Roh: NYT Liberal David Brooks turns on Obama: ‘There’s a little arrogance and self-superiority there’: DC
Raising the debt ceiling is a sign of leadership failure: Flopping
Cenk: I Wonder if This is the Kind of Thing “People in Washington” Might Not Like: VS

A Quick Lesson for Media on the Definition of “Right Wing”: Loesch
Just Awful: Progressives Ecstatic Over Anders Behring Breivik Alleged Ties to Right-Wing Extremism: AmPower
Media Reacts to News That Norwegian Terror Suspect Isn't Muslim: Atlantic

No, James Fallows, the Washington Post doesn’t owe “the world” an apology: Malkin
Norway's Aftenposten is blaming me, Bat Ye'or and Fjordman for Breivik's mass murder: JihadWatch
UNESCO Edits The Jews Out Of History (Again): LI

World

Al & Mo hate the ladies: Zilla
Why We Can’t Afford A Second Obama Term: Reason #122: The Daqduq Dilemma: McCarthy
Bloomberg sides with al Qaeda in 2nd Amendment attack ad: Creeping

4,500 crimes: What laws have you broken today?: Mises
The Assault Weapons Ban: How Silly Was It?: Owens
Anatomy of a Chinese Reverse Merger Scam: ReformedBroker

Sci-Tech

Google Deletes Last 7 Years Of User's Digital Life, Shrugs: Consumerist
Paywallgate: hacker breaches MIT, downloads millions of papers: WUWT
Facebook: Don't even think about putting Google+ ads here: CNet

Cornucopia

MRI of Bill Clinton's Brain: GM's Place (NSFW)
Gruesome details in beating of Giants fan: NBC
Amy Winehouse Found Dead: LoneCon

Image: Ed Driscoll: 'Amy Winehouse: Dead at 27'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Allen West for Congress

QOTD: "Obama will have to come to an agreement soon, otherwise his trip to Martha's Vineyard the first week in August is in jeopardy and he won't let that happen." --Commenter Russ

Saturday, July 23, 2011

It's come to this: CAIR now tweeting links to LGF

I want you to travel back in time a few years ago to when Little Green Footballs ruled a large swath of the anti-Jihad conservative blogosphere. Charles Johnson, the site's proprietor, was one of the most forthright and talented voices helping expose the post-9/11 tautology of Islam's political agenda.

Now fast forward to 2011.

Clicking on the unindicted co-conspirator's shortened link leads, unexpectedly, to this:

Glad to see that Chaz is now marketing the Caliphate.

Of course, anyone interested in truly keeping tabs on extremism can count stats here.


Linked by: The Other McCain. Thanks!

Time for a Tea Party: the most fiscally irresponsible President in history blasts Congress, saying it 'should be responsible and do its job'

In trying to describe President Obama's behavior over the last few weeks, several adjectives spring to mind: "Petulant"; "Condescending"; "Arrogant"; "Un-presidential"... to list but a few.

After a tense 50-minute meeting with congressional leaders at the White House on Saturday, President Obama blasted lawmakers for "reckless political games" and reasserted his refusal to sign a temporary measure to raise the debt ceiling.

In a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney, the White House said that Obama refused again to sign a shot-term deal, saying it "would be irresponsible to put our country at risk again in just a few short months with another battle over raising the debt ceiling."

"Congress should refrain from playing reckless political games with our economy," Carney said. "Instead, it should be responsible and do its job, avoiding default and cutting the deficit."

Hysterical: the most profligate, reckless spender in world history is calling the Republicans "reckless" for passing the most responsible piece of legislation in recent memory.

The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling. The Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

In fact, two-thirds of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

And the Democrats still have no written plan. The President has no written plan. Nothing. Just talk. Because that's all he's capable of doing.

The progressive left represents the outliers, the kooks, the fringe, the cult. We are the American people, fortified by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, our highest law.

Speaker Boehner, it's time for an up-or-down vote in the U.S. Senate on Cut, Cap and Balance. Don't pass anything until the Senate votes on it.

Time for a Tea Party


Sue emails the following for those who live in the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky tri-state region (near John Boehner's district):

Brown County, Liberty Alliance of Cincinnati, Cincinnati East, West Chester, Glendale, Anderson in Ohio and a Northern KY Tea Party group all responded YES to joining in and organizing a rally.

The earliest effective rally would be Monday 7/25, gathering around 4:30 pm and taking letters in around 5 pm, prior to local offices closing at 5:30.

The idea is to get tea party members to bring hand delivered/signed letters to John Boehner.

This would give the weekend for people to compose letters. For anyone who cannot attend the rally, they could email their letters to Tea Party leaders/members attending for hand delivery.

Seems like now we need to rally at John Boehner’s office with the message for him hold firm, he controls the gavel. John Boehner needs to tell Senate that not one bill will be brought to the House floor until the Senate votes up or down on the Cut Cap and Balance, to have the decency to vote on the bill, and not just table it. If the government shuts down, it is because the Senate did not vote for an Amendment that Americans want.

John Boehner holds the power here.

Boehner's West Chester Office
7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B
West Chester, Ohio 45069

If you don't live in the area, Boehner's office numbers are (513) 779-5400 (West Chester, OH), (937) 339-1524 (Miami, OH), and (202) 225-6205 (Washington, DC).

Make your voice heard: according to a CNN poll, 66% of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Tell John Boehner that we want a vote in the Senate on 'Cut, Cap and Balance' and we want it now. We have a would-be dictator in the White House and his agenda of fiscal destruction must be stopped.


Update: Yep, a would-be tyrant all right: 'This would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own'.


Linked by: Protein Wisdom. Thanks!

Your unbiased legacy media at work: Reuters labels Norwegian mass-murderer 'right-wing' 25 times

Gee, I don't detect any bias from Reuters in this reporting, do you?

Remember when MSNBC posed the question ‘Who cares?’ about the religion of the Fort Hood shooter? Or when the media were quick to simply label Nidal Hasan as a lone wolf? The [Reuters] article ("Norway attack: Right-wing extremism emerging?") mentions that the Norway terror suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, is a right-wing extremist – no less than 25 times. The liberal media has been quick to cite right-wing extremism for every horrific event (Tucson shooting, census worker suicide, etc.) for about 10 years now, so they will be quick to score political points off the graves of over 90 innocent people by labeling the suspect as being part of a right-wing Christian group, no doubt. If that is part of his background, then it is vital information to a report. But so is having a history of Islamic extremism.

The media takes careful steps to cover up information when a terror attack is perpetrated by a Muslim, but are willing to point out that a terror attack has been perpetrated by a right-wing Christian ad-nauseum.

This is why legacy media is dying: it is simply a sad joke that couldn't report honestly on events if it tried. The new book Left Turn proves -- statistically -- that the media is irretrievably biased.

Which is why the vast majority of Americans now dismiss it.


Image: BrutallyHonest.

Awesome: Former federal officials believe cartels may attempt to overthrow Mexican government next year... using U.S. weapons

Nothing instills confidence in truth, justice and the American way like Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama:

Former DEA and CIA Operatives: Los Zetas May Attempt to Overthrow Mexican Government in 2012 (Using U.S. Government Weapons)


By Carmen Álvarez (Translated by Mario Andrade from excelsior.com.mx)

Los Zetas use the border crossings of El Paso-Ciudad Juarez and Palomas-Columbus (both locations along the Texas-Chihuahua border) to supply and stockpile military type weapons, which would give them ability to disrupt the 2012 elections, according to the El Paso Times.

“Many of the weapons have been stored in safe houses. I think Los Zetas are storing them for the upcoming elections of 2012,” said Robert Plumlee, a former CIA pilot who has testified before Congress on drugs and weapons trafficking research.

The report is corroborated with an interview with Phil Jordan, former director of the DEA in El Paso, who stated that the stockpiles, which include anti-aircraft missiles, are transported from a Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The consultant added that the criminals set up (phony) companies to buy weapons directly through a State Department program.

...The Border Patrol personnel and U.S. intelligence services have recently learned that Los Zetas have been purchasing properties on both sides of the border to store thousands of high-power weapons that were discovered to be part of five or six shipments that left the same airport where the DEA has its air operations center... ...[Los Zeta wants to] reinforce their troops for battling other cartels and possibly disrupt the 2012 elections in Mexico, El Paso Times reported yesterday.

“I believe Los Zetas are storing weapons for the election season (2012). They probably want to be included as part of the (new) government, “said Plumlee... [they are stockpiling] grenades, grenade launchers, antiaircraft missiles, body armor, radios, GPS devices, and night vision binoculars, among other items.

...the stockpiles of weapons are not only held at real estate properties that Los Zetas have purchased on both sides of the border, but in other locations throughout Mexico because it was found that a private company is taking advantage of the Direct Commercial Sales program under the U.S. State Department, which allows businesses to purchase high-power weapons which the U.S. exports worldwide... The global arms report, Small Arms Survey of 2011, from the Institute for International and Development Studies in Switzerland, said that Mexico was the number one importer in the world of RPG’s, and “under-barrel” grenade launchers, with 1,429 units being imported, followed in second place by Latvia with 250.

Speaking of government programs to route weapons to the Mexican drug cartels, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the latest from Sen. Chuck Grassley. He continues to doggedly pursue "Project Gunrunner" (or, as I like to call it, "KillGate").

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the Obama administration may have launched a failed gun-tracking operation along the Mexican border because “they don’t like the Second Amendment” and want to “restrict guns.”

Grassley is leading the Senate’s investigation into Operation Fast and Furious, in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) knowingly allowed semi-automatic guns such as AK-47s to be straw-purchased in the U.S., then sent to Mexican drug trafficking organizations.

Operation Fast and Furious began in September 2009 but was halted after two of the weapons were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010... The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a second hearing on the matter next week, on Tuesday...

Here's another theory: what if Obama, Clinton and Holder really did want to foment a civil war in Mexico? Their rationale: such a war would spark a "humanitarian crisis" and cause a mass exodus of civilians out of Mexico and into the U.S. The majority of this influx, Obama could legitimately assume, would vote Democrat.

Because when it comes to cynical, diabolical plots to weaken America, this administration appears to take a backseat to no one.


Larwyn's Linx: Rubio calls out Obama and the Dems: Put a plan on paper!

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Nation

Rubio calls out Obama and the Dems: Put a plan on paper!: VS
Raise Taxes Or Obama Will Put A Bullet Into Uncle Sam’s Head!: RWN
Senate Dems Kill Cut, Cap & Balance, Leaving Nation With No Plan: LI

Boehner walks out on Obama debt limit negotiations: TRS
Obama’s Fair Deal: VS
Boehner: It’s Obama who walked away at the last minute: TRS

Gang of Six Proposal Would Increase Taxes by $2.3 trillion: Dossier
Report: Dem David Wu admits sexual encounter with young girl: Malkin
Tea Party Confronts Moveon.org in OR Park: NRtoday

Economy

Dodd-Frank Damage Begins to Unfold: MB
Another Obamacare ‘Glitch’ Will Add Billions to the Deficit: Foundry
$600 Billion Later: Why QE2 Did Not Stop Deflation: ElliottWave

Gunrunner

Ruh Roh: State Dept. May Have Sold Guns to Zetas: Owens
Obama, Holder Busted in Gunwalker Cover-up: Hedgecock
More DOJ Malpractice: When gun control turns deadly: WS

Climate & Energy

House Report: Obama's Gulf Oil Slowdown Costing 230,000 Jobs! : Lid
Remember, When The Weather Is Hot, That’s Proof Of Globull Warming: RWN
UK Minister: Denying Climate (Hoax) Deal Like Denying Hitler: RWN

Media

What Can A Man Of Barack Obama's Experience Accomplish? Part II: ConfYank
Governor Palin’s Record on Jobs Beats the GOP Field: C4P
Mosqueteria Update: As a blogger I admit it's nice to be noticed by the MSM...but Al Jazeera!?!: Blazing Cat Fur

NY Times: Hey, Obama Should Violate The Constitution And Raise The Debt Ceiling: RWN
Maxine Waters’ Ethics Trial Stalls. Again.: PJM
Stuff white people like: Republicans; GOP gaining with young and poor whites: LAT

Obama Is Nearing His Goal: CFIF
Reality Time. “How Can We Not Love Obama?”: SSI
Sen. Ron Johnson on Obama: 'He Is Not the Adult in the Room': GWP

Why Does Media Matters Hate Jews?: Lid
Probe Pigford Fraud: IBD
Cavuto: Stop Blaming the TEA Partiers for the Debt Crisis: WZ

World

80 CHILDREN SLAUGHTERED On Utoya Island Near Oslo: GWP
Death Toll Now Reported at 91 in Norway ‘Christian Fundamentalist’ Terror Attack: RSM
For the Record: GoV

No Jihad Angle -- Or Is There?: GoV
China is working on pulse weapons: TGDaily
Conquest Through Rape In Europe? Latest Victim Raped On Steps Of Parliament: BigPeace

Allen West invites colleagues to Capitol Hill briefing on “infiltration” of Muslim Brotherhood: Creeping
Herman Cain Got It Right on the Right to Ban Mosques: AT
Islam’s Public Enemy #1: Coptic Priest ‘Hates Islam,’ Converts Muslims to Christianity Through His TV Show: Blaze

Sci-Tech

Judge Slashes ‘Appalling’ $1.5 Million File Sharing Verdict to $54,000: Wired
Sony insurer asks court to bow out of paying data breach claims: InfoSecUS
2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series Coupe revealed in all its splendor: AutoBlog

Cornucopia

Babes of Comic-Con 2011: KDVR
The Capture of Ambrose Burnside’s Valet: NYT
Prayers for Lady Liberty: GWP

Image: Babes of Comic-Con 2011, Obama Crisis Management System
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Allen West for Congress

QOTD: "The [reason for Operation Gunrunner] fits a pattern described by then-Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel of never letting a crisis go to waste if it can advance the agenda.

The crisis was the civil war between the Mexican government and the drug cartels, with violence spilling over into American cities. Obama, Janet Napolitano , and even Hillary Clinton, blamed this border violence on the easy availability of guns in U.S. gun shops and gun shows along the border. The agenda was gun control. Gun control laws needed to be strengthened to protect the lives of innocent Mexicans and Americans.

When statistics designed to show the cartels were armed primarily from American sources were proven false, the crisis had to be goosed a little. Operation Fast and Furious became the funnel for a self-fulfilling prophecy." --Roger Hedgecock

Friday, July 22, 2011

Time to reach 20 million users...

Google+ reaches 20 million users in only three weeks?

"I've never seen anything grow this quickly," said Andrew Lipsman, vice president of industry analysis at comScore. The only other site that has accumulated as many new visitors in a short period of time is Twitter in 2009, he said, "but that happened over several months."

...Of course, Google has a long way to go to reach the scale of Facebook Inc., which has more than 750 million users, and Twitter Inc., which has more than 200 million registered accounts...

...Google+ also has unique technology, such as a "hangouts" feature, that lets people do "video chats" using their computer webcams, speaking to numerous friends simultaneously. The company plans to include Google+ in its suite of online software for businesses...

Google's ability to group users is a decided advantage over Facebook. Whether it has legs, however, is an open question.


Zodiac Killer's Code Cracked?

Who was the "Zodiac Killer"?

The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. He coined the name "Zodiac" in a series of taunting letters sent to the local Bay Area press. These letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers). Of the four he sent, only one has been solved.[1] The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Numerous suspects have been named by law enforcement and amateur investigators but no conclusive evidence has surfaced...

...On August 1, 1969, three letters prepared by the killer were received at the Vallejo Times-Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner. The nearly identical letters took credit for the shootings at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. Each letter also included one-third of a 408-symbol cryptogram which the killer claimed contained his identity...

...On November 8, 1969, the Zodiac mailed a card with another cryptogram consisting of 340 characters. The 340-character cipher has never been decoded. Numerous possible "solutions" have been suggested, but none can be claimed as definitive...

Corey Starliper, a native of Tewksbury, Massachusetts claims that he has, in fact, cracked the code.

The first coded communication was a three-part cipher sent in portions to the Vallejo Times-Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner on July 31, 1969, according to “Most Evil," written by Steve Hodel. The complete cipher contained 408 characters and was published on August 2 and 3, 1969 in accordance to Zodiac’s demands. It took just a few days for the code to be deciphered.

“The first one was cracked by a history teacher and his wife,” said Starliper. “What I’m driving at was the first code was cracked by amateurs. So they figure that any communication after that would be able to be cracked by amateurs.”

After the decryption of the first code, Zodiac sent many more communications to law enforcement and the media, including his most famous: a 340-character cipher, mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, according to zodiackillerfacts.com. To this day, the cipher has not been completely cracked... Starliper, however, believes he has found the solution to that code.

...According to Robert Graysmith, in “Zodiac,” tips received by police after Darlene Ferrin’s murder indicated that the killing was connected to the U.S Virgin Islands. Starliper believed that the “340” of the 340 cipher was significant, and had some tie-in with the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was then that he found out that 340 is the area code for a portion of the U.S Virgin Islands — not an insignificant connection.

“So that’s what I started with,” said Starliper. “I thought, there’s no way ... that Zodiac is going to be prosaic enough not to mention the U.S. Virgin Islands in this code. This is where it gets even creepier. 3+4+0=7. Right. So you get 7+0=7. 707...707 are the area codes for Vallejo, Napa, and Solano. So I figured, why not start this with [letter substitution] code using 3,4.”

Starliper split his work into two sessions of six hours and three hours. When he was done, he had decoded the following text:

      KILL/SLF/DR/HELP/ME/KILL/MYSELF/GAS/CHAMBER
      /AEIOUR/DAYS/QUESTIONSABLE/EVERYY/WAKING
      /MOMENT/IM/ALIVE/MY/PRIDE/LOST/I/CANT/GO
      /ON/LIVING/IN/THIS/WAY/KILLING/PEOPLE/I/HAV/KILLD
      /SO/MANY/PEOPLE/CANT/HELP/MYSELF/IM/SO/ANGRY
      /I/COULD/DO/MY/THING/IM/ALONE/IN/THIS/WORLD
      /MY/WHOLE/LIFE/FUL/O/LIES/IM/UNABLE/TO/STOP
      /BY/THE/TIME/YOU/SOLVE/THIS/I/WILL/HAV/KILLD
      /ELEVEN/PEOPLE/PLEASE/HELP/ME/STOP/KILLING/PEOPLE
      /PLEASE/MY/NAME/IS/LEIGH/ALLEN/

Arthur Leigh Allen was a prime suspect during the Zodiac investigation... [But] Allen died in 1992 at age 58.

Starliper's decryption has been challenged by experts. That said, it makes for an entertaining tale.


Hat tip: JTT.

Podhoretz blisters Obama: "Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is [trying] to create a financial panic"

Writing at Commentary Magazine, John Podhoretz is shocked and appalled at the President's press conference this evening.

The President Is Actually Trying to Talk the Markets Into a Panic.


An enraged Barack Obama just took to the nation’s airwaves to announce his effort to strike a deal with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has fallen apart. Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is literally using this press conference to create a financial panic over the weekend about the opening of the markets on Monday. He is warning of disaster on Monday. Clearly, he wants to use this as leverage to frighten the GOP into passing the plan proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which will push the debt ceiling problem into 2013, but it’s still an entirely new and astonishingly reckless gambit.

...He says Republicans said they would accept a dollar in higher taxes (or “revenue”) for every four dollars in cuts, which isn’t exactly saying “no’” to everything. For their part, Republicans in the House passed their cut, cap and balance bill on Wednesday, and it included an increase in the debt ceiling, so even by his own account his criticisms of the GOP are not accurate.

In other words, he lied. As usual.

Other reactions to Obama's careless, irresponsible demagoguery:

A New York Times reporter, of all people, says Obama sounds "impotent and frustrated".

Bryan Preston live-blogs, "...he’s getting angrier and angrier. Are we about to see the President of the United States crack up before our eyes? All I can say is, thank goodness the markets are closed. This rant might rock them."

• Oh, and Preston adds this gem: "Funniest line of the presser: Obama said 'Sometimes if you wanna be a leader, you have to lead.' And then in typical Obama fashion, he walked out of the room... Some leader. We’re seeing what happens when someone with zero executive experience gets elected to the most difficult job in the world. Barack Obama is in over his head."

Who could have predicted such a thing?

As an aside, you can keep tabs on reactions to President Petulant's press conference at Memeorandum and TrendingRight.


Stating that "We've run out of time" to avert a debt crisis, workaholic president summons peasants to White House... at 11am tomorrow

Citing a growing concern that his direct line to the taxpayers' wallet may be shut off, a petulant and narcissistic President Obama demanded that Congressional leaders show up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to bang out a deal. Or at least sometime around 11am. Let me guess: he's got an early tee time Saturday.

President Obama unleashed a tirade of frustration, anger and disappointment toward Republicans Friday after House Speaker John Boehner announced he was withdrawing from negotiations with Obama.

The president, in possibly his most emotional and stern appearance to date, said in no uncertain terms that he is summoning congressional leaders to the White House on Saturday morning.

“I want them here at 11 o'clock tomorrow,” Obama said. “We have run out of time, and they are going to have to explain to me how it is we are going to default.”

Obama’s fury toward Boehner was on full display as he several times accused the Speaker of walking away from the talks... “I think one of the questions the Republican Party is gonna have to ask itself is can they say yes to anything,” Obama said.

...The president repeatedly used words like “inexcusable” and “irresponsible” to blast House Republicans, saying Democrats had stepped up and been willing to sacrifice on entitlements.

...To that end, Obama asked Republicans “how serious are you” about wanting to address debts and deficits.

Uhm, Mr. President, the Republicans have passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Mr. President, the Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Hell, by a 2-to-1 margin, adult Americans support a Balanced Budget Amendment!

Democrats have proposed nothing. Nothing at all. For an inexcusable 813 days, unprecedented in American history.

Where's the budget, Democrats?

Hold firm, Republicans. Any default, any economic catastrophe, any fiscal constipation -- beyond that which Obama has already levied upon us -- will be the Democrats' responsibility alone.


Larwyn's Linx: The Worst Steward of the Economy in American History

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Nation

The Worst Steward of the Economy in American History: AT
An Intransigent President: AmSpec
The Most Dangerous Man in America: AT

‘President Bachmann’ Promises To Build Border Fence: Blaze
Obama's DOJ pursues another critical case: Hot Air
Barack Obama's 2008 bundlers flee political 'machine': Politiho

Gang of Six Deal: Bad as you thought it would be: RWN
New docs: Pelosi used military aircraft for family travel: JW
'South California' secession backer seeks statewide summit: LAT

Economy

Home Depot Co-Founder: Obama Is Choking Recovery: IBD
In federal agencies, death more common than firings: Foundry
Getting Specific on Spending: McArdle

Obama Pens Empty Op-Ed on Debt; Still Has No Plan: GWP
Reducing the Federal Payroll: Wizbang
Yes, the Higher Ed bubble will pop this decade: Tatler

Gunrunner

DOJ Inspector General opens investigation: Owens
House to question ATF officials on guns to Mexico -- Meddling by Justice a key issue: Times
Grassley Sees DOJ Cover Up in ‘Fast and Furious’ Investigation: CNS

Climate & Energy

Is “Man-made Global Warming” about to take another hit?: Greenroom
How many congressmen does it take to screw up our light bulbs?: JPA
EPA Joins in Obama’s Social Justice Looting Spree: RWN

Media

Ronald Reagan's View on Default: Pink Flamingo
With Debt Negotiations Stalled And Default Looming, Obama Finds Time To See New Harry Potter Movie: WZ
Cut, Cap, And Balance Gets 2-1 Approval Among Adults in CNN Poll: Instapundit

Allen West: “Not a chance” I will apologize to Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Hot Air
Morning Joe crew disgusted by Bachmann-migraine story: TRS
NYTimes: Consumer pay wall response 'positive': CNet

Idiot O'Reilly Trashes Tea Party Again: TRS
Mainstreaming Wild-Ass Liberalism: PJM
Video: 20 Democratic Senators Supporting A Balanced Budget Amendment: WZ

Rahm Emanuel sends his kids to private schools, walks out in interview when questioned about it: BlogProf
CNN Ignores Poll Results Showing Strong Support for 'Cut, Cap, and Balance': NB
Black Activists Slam Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s Targeted Attack on Black Colleague: RWN

World

“Violent extremists have, in fact, obtained insider positions” in nuclear industry: Malkin
Actually, Thomas Friedman, China's an Economic Mess: PJM
Latest DHS Video: White Middle Class Americans Are Most Likely Terrorists: GWP

Sci-Tech

Exclusive: Inside Darpa’s Secret Afghan Spy Machine: Wired
Twitter poised to close $800M funding round: CNet
The Trouble with Nathan Myhrvold’s Pro-Patent Arguments: Kedrosky

Cornucopia

PHOTOS: Inside The Cube, A Restaurant Perched On A Monument In Brussels: Insider
Hitpost’s New iPhone App Turns You Into A Sports Reporter: TechCrunch
The Space Shuttle Program’s Ignominious Conclusion: Driscoll

Did You Love America?: NoisyRoom
FDA: Walnuts are drugs and must be regulated: NewAm
Liberals Want To Ban Styrofoam 3 Years After Worshipping Obama In A Fake Temple Made Of Styrofoam: Glob

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

QOTD: "Civil service rules make it prohibitively difficult to fire federal employees for bad performance once they pass their probationary period—one year on the job. Most federal employees who perform poorly never get fired. They keep their jobs unless their supervisor works through an arduous process of exhaustively documenting their performance and working through a complex appeal process." --James Sherk

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The only 3 conditions under which Republicans should support raising the debt ceiling

Under what conditions should conservatives support raising the debt ceiling?

That's a question I've been asking myself for a while.

Here's my take.

The 111th Congress and President Obama put in place the largest deficit spending package in world history. They created a "stimulus" program -- only six percent of which was spent on infrastructure, by the way -- and then refused to pass a budget for 812 days (and counting). That was their way of institutionalizing the "stimulus" package as part of the baseline budget -- putting that huge, unconscionable loan from our children on autopilot.

It is this insanity that led rating agencies the world over to either downgrade -- or threaten to downgrade -- America's credit rating.

Never before, in all of American history, has a political party set the nation on such a course. It is literally economic suicide. And yet that is precisely what the modern Democrat Party has done.

It's been 812 days since the Democrats have even proposed a budget. And now President Obama claims he wants "balance". Balance? Balance? You mean balance like Obamacare, which was stuffed down the American people's throats -- replete with secret negotiations, thousands of pages no one bothered to read, passed at midnight, and that slashed half-a-trillion dollars from Medicare? You mean balance like that?

In that spirit, here are my "balanced" conditions for raising the debt ceiling. Pick one, Marxists:

• The Senate ratifies the Cut, Cap & Balance Act already passed by the House; the President signs it; and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

• The Senate passes the Ryan plan; the President signs it; and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

• The House and Senate cut annual, discretionary, non-defense spending by $1 trillion -- and that, by the way, is basically the amount of the failed "stimulus" program -- the President then signs it; and and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

Those are the only conditions under which the House should yield on the debt ceiling.

Here's the political reality:

• Where is President Obama's budget?

• Where is the Democrats' budget?

This crisis is entirely of Obama's making. The deficit spending. The failure to produce a budget. The failure to lead.

It's all in Obama's hands. And he is, as usual, "leading from behind".


While Tucker Carlson Is Busy Investigating Michele Bachmann's Medicine Cabinet, Check Out This Scrapbook Biff Spackle Found

Yoo hoo, Tucker, look what our enterprising cub reporter Biff Spackle found in the dumpster behind ACORN headquarters:

The Secret Scrapbook of Barry Soetero Barack Obama

My early mentor "Frank" in Hawaii. Pity the neocons found out who it really was!

Here's my original registration at my first school in Jakarta, Indonesia. It has my old name (Barry Soetoro) with my religion listed as Islam. Go figure.

My grass roots organizing days, training ACORN (note: I don't condone trading crack cocaine for votes - "aggressive" voter registration: yes, crack: no).

At the beginning of my political career. I was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America's New Party and got a great endorsement from them. Stepping stones, baby, stepping stones! Of course, I still believe in wealth redistribution!

My first sugar daddy -- Tony Rezko -- in the early years. And to think I used to consider 250 grand a lot of dough!

The education guru, Bill Ayers! Thank goodness no one ever figured out that he named me the Chairman of the Annenberg Challenge before the political "coming out party" at his and Bernadine's house!

Here's me and Jimmy Hoffa (the son, silly, I was only 9 when his Dad disappeared!)

My spiritual mentor, Jeremiah, who always gets the crowd riled up! (Of course, I never heard any of it -- tee hee!)

Me and Michie at the Arab-American Action Network dinner with Ed Said (hey, he's no longer a member of the PLO, 'cause he's dead!)

Boy, this church newsletter caused me some problems! Jeremiah published this Hamas editorial and I heard no end of grief. Of course, no one in the real world knows I read it and empathize!

My buddy the Rev. James Meeks (I know he's a gay-basher, but he mixes a great martini!)

This is from my trip to Kenya in '96 where I supported my cousin Raila Odinga. He was also running for office. He's a great guy who wants to bring order back to the country (I know so because he signed this "Memorandum of Understanding" to bring Taliban-style Sharia law to Kenya)!

Two community organizers make good!

Back in the motherland!

Here's ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- he's in a bit of legal trouble, but I included this photo 'cuz it shows my favorite teleprompter.

I hate that b***h!

I LOVE THIS GUY!