Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: NY-09 Goes Republican For the First Time Since 1922

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NY-9

NY-09 Goes Republican For the First Time Since 1922: RS
Democrats’ Civil War Against Obama Begins: Breitbart
Turner Upsets Democrat Weprin in New York Special: Roll Call

A bad day for the Democrat Party and Elizabeth Warren: DTG
NY-9 flips Republican: Surber
Republican Victory in New York City: AmSpec

Nation

Every Single One: Politicized Hiring of DOJ Criminal Section: Adams
Obama launches another snitch police squad: Malkin
White House Backs Off From Jobs Ultimatum : WklyStd

Soros and AFSCME-funded group goes after Issa: Nice Deb
ObamaCare: Yet Another Federal Judge Says, 'Unconstitutional': FW
Feinstein, Other Dems, ‘Wiped Out’ by Theft: Malkin

Obama, the Veg-O-Matic President. Act Now!: RCM
Bachmann: Gardasil causes “mental retardation”: Hot Air
Pennsylvania considering Electoral College split: RS

Economy

Two measly arrests in WA longshoremen union mob’s attack: Malkin
Editorial: Gutting Defense Won't Solve Debt Crisis: IBD
Surprising Facts about America’s Poor: Foundry

Obama Now Trying to Intimidate Consultants and PR Firms: RWN
CoreLogic: 11M U.S. Properties with Negative Equity in Q2: CalcRisk
Federal Housing Administration: The Next Bailout Request?: PJM

Germany Is Stonewalling The Eurozone's Rescue: Seeking Alpha
Tiger's Robertson "Europe In State Of Financial Collapse": ZH
Budget Deficit in U.S. Grew to $134.2 Billion in August: Bloomberg

Solyndra

The Solyndra Presidency: Flopping Aces
White House Pressured OMB, Ignored Energy Dept. Concerns to Approve Solyndra Loan: WklyStd
Solyndra, Barack Obama, and Crony Capitalism: Picking a Loser to be a Winner: RS

Climate & Energy

Unchastened, Steven "Gardasil Victim" Chu Hands Out Another $1.2B in Loans To Another Solar Company: Ace
Democrats: Solyndra Touches GOP, Too, Because In '06 They Applied For Loans, Which Got... Rejected: Ace
My Contribution To 24 Hours Of Captain Carbon: Soylent Green

Media

While Unions Storm Businesses and Take Hostages, CNN Calls Tea Party “Angry”: BigJourn
DNC ad makes obvious presidential politicization of jobs crisis, violates House ethics rules: Hot Air
CNN Shows MSNBC How a Debate is Done: Loesch

Dem Strategist: Obama such a liability that candidates may not run next year: Hewitt
New Presidential Watch Site Collects “Smears and Spin”: Loesch
Krugman on Social Security Circa 1996: 'The Ponzi Game Will Soon Be Over': NB

World

Bin Laden’s Final Video Warns of the Dangers of Capitalism: Powers
Saudi prince threatens U.S. in NYT editorial: Support Palestinian statehood or lose Saudis as allies: JihadWatch
British Postal Service Refuses to Deliver “Offensive” Christian CDs: RWN

The Crisis of Europe and European Nationalism: Stratfor
Endgame for Egypt: PJM
International alarm over euro zone crisis grows: Reuters

Sci-Tech

Flying the Police Aircraft of the Future: Wired
New Worry: RFID Tracking Chips in Firearms?: RWN
T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II Processor Revealed: It’s A Qualcomm!: Crunch

Cornucopia

Vice Presidents Gone Wild: Ace
What Does Michelle Mouth to Barack Before She Smirks and Shakes Her Head?: iOTW
Video: Iranian F-5 Crash: DefTech

Image: Investors Business Daily
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "If you want a good measure of how deeply the collective bargaining bill in Wisconsin has disrupted public sector unions, there is no better example than the Wisconsins Education Association Council (WEAC).

Last month WEAC announced that it was laying off 40% of its staff. With little over which to collectively bargain, and with dues no longer withheld from paychecks, the need for and sustainability of a union bureaucracy could not be justified.

Now WEAC is being boycotted by National Staff Organization (NSO), a union representing educational union employees... Isn’t that great, education union employees have their own union?" --William Jacobson

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Open Thread: Name Barack Obama's Next Biography

How a man with minimal accomplishments got to write two biographies is anyone's guess. My question for this (very rare) open thread is: What should the title of Barack Obama's next epic biography be?

Some suggestions to seed some ideas:

• Organizing For Tyranny

• Leading From Behind: the Barack Obama Story

• Putting on Ayers

Best title wins a box of Papa B's finest reloaded ammo, provided his bunker doesn't kerplode before then.


Annenberg School: Obama Jobs Act Really Is Stimulus II, Designed to Funnel Billions to Teachers' Unions and... the Obama Campaign

USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism confirms what we all suspected: President Obama's Jobs Act is yet another money-laundering scheme.

President Barack Obama's new jobs act may be the remedy for California's ailing education system.

California could receive more than $3 billion from the president's American Jobs Act, preventing the layoffs of roughly 30,000 people employed in education across the state, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said Monday.

...Obama announced his plan to send the new jobs proposal to Congress late Monday. His $447 billion jobs proposal allocates $35 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers nationwide.

For Obama, it's all about the unions. Remember: the public sector unions are funded by you, the American taxpayer. The unions take their members' dues and funnel them back into Democrat politicians' campaigns.

To complete the nefarious circle, the Democrats then use class warfare rhetoric and giveaways to convince enough weak-minded drones that more wealth redistribution -- stealing from the makers to give to the takers -- is both moral and warranted.

It is neither.

We must defeat the Democrat leeches in 2012, before the number of takers overwhelm the makers.


Photo: Productivity, Trumka-Style

Papa B:

This financial crisis is forcing State and local agencies to make some tough decisions. If things continue for much longer, there's a real risk that we may have to lay off Jose.



Oh, my: Emails show White House knew Solyndra was a disaster before it issued $535M crony loan

Can we call it "Solargate" yet?

We already knew that Solyndra investor George Kaiser personally gave more than $50,000 to the Obama Presidential campaign in 2008. And that Solyndra executives visited the White House 20 times since Obama took office.

Now ABC News has evidence that the White House knew what everyone else did: that Solyndra's products were ummarketable from day one.

Newly uncovered emails show the White House closely monitored the Energy Department's deliberations over a $535 million government loan to Solyndra, the politically-connected solar energy firm that recently went bankrupt and is now the subject of a criminal investigation.

The company's solar panel factory was heralded as a centerpiece of the president's green energy plan -- billed as a way to jump start a promising new industry. And internal emails uncovered by investigators for the House Energy and Commerce Committee that were shared exclusively with ABC News show the Obama administration was keenly monitoring the progress of the loan, even as analysts were voicing serious concerns about the risk involved. "This deal is NOT ready for prime time," one White House budget analyst wrote in a March 10, 2009 email, nine days before the administration formally announced the loan.

"If you guys think this is a bad idea, I need to unwind the W[est] W[ing] QUICKLY," wrote Ronald A. Klain, who was chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, in another email sent March 7, 2009. The "West Wing" is the portion of the White House complex that holds the offices of the president and his top staffers. Klain declined comment to ABC News.

Worse still, Solargate hasn't slowed the Department of Energy's efforts to redistribute taxpayer funds to other "green" companies (which just happen to be backed by Obama's top contributors).

On September 7, the DOE announced its plan to guarantee 80 percent — or $275 million — of a $344 million private loan taken out by the firm SolarCity. The company installs rooftop solar systems that harvests electricity SolarCity then sells... The guarantee means that if SolarCity’s project [fails, taxpayers must] pay back 80 percent of the company’s private loans...

...The Chairman of SolarCity, Elon Musk, is a major financial supporter of the president. On April 15 of this year, Musk donated $35,800 to the Obama Victory Fund. He also gave an additional $5,000 to the Obama campaign... Like Solyndra officials White House visitor logs show Musk has visited the Administration at least four times since 2009.

The second company is Solexel. On September 2, the solar energy company announced a $13 million award from the DOE as part of a program to make solar energy systems more affordable for homeowners... Solexel is financially backed by venture capitalist Steve Westly. In 2008, Westly bundled for Obama’s presidential campaign, bringing in more than $500,000. Westly also served as a California co-chair and was a member of the National Finance Committee for the Obama for American campaign.

He’s at it again for the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. So far, Westly has bundled between $100,000 and $200,000... [and] Westly’s companies have received millions in stimulus dollars from the Obama administration. The Westly Group’s portfolio includes Tesla Motors, which received a $465 million loan in 2009; Amyris Biotechnologies, which got more than $24 million; and Logos Technologies, which received $20 million in DOE loans.

This is an immense scandal. The Obama administration appears to have laundered billions of taxpayer dollars through green companies using its political backers as front-men.

As Mark Levin said last night, "We need a special prosecutor."


Related: Solyndra employee: from day one, everyone knew that our solar panels were uncompetitive... including President Obama.

Larwyn's Linx: Watch Out for Voter Fraud in the New York Ninth

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Nation

Watch Out for Voter Fraud in the New York Ninth: NRO
Flight 93 Memorial: Muslim consultants LIED: NiceDeb
TSA Creator Says Dismantle, Privatize the Agency: HE

Look who makes RomneyCare/MassCare’s waiver decisions: Malkin
How Sustainable Do You Think This Is?: RWN
Pawlenty Shows Why He’s Out Of The 2012 GOP Race: HayRide

GOP Debate

Flash mob: GOP candidates gang up on Perry: York
Round Two: Rick Perry and the Seven Dwarfs: Simon
Disgraceful Republican Debate: Kesler

Some observations on the Tea Party/CNN debate: Barone
Tea Party Debate Analysis: Who Won? Who Lost?: RWN
Notes on the CNN/Tea Party Express GOP debate: Malkin

Economy

Lessons on Government Largesse From the New Frontier: Hanson
Obama's Stimulus: $312,500 Per Job (Vote) Created Or Saved: ZH
Jobs plan paid for exclusively by tax increases: Times

Obama's Jobs Plan is a Laughingstock: Nice Deb
Paul Samuelson on Social Security: Mankiw
The Great Obama Welfare State: AT

Europe Slips As Greece Falls: Mead
Germany Plans for Possible Greek Default: Spiegel
Massive Default Is Best Way to Fix the Economy: Arends

Climate & Energy

Greenmail: "Green" Companies Hotbed For Graft and Insider-Dealing: Ace
Gore’s 24 Hours of Fantasy About To Begin: PJM
Al Gore And The Lakes Of Molten Lava: RWN

Media

Obama Selects a Curious Psalm at Ground Zero :CFP
Headline of the Decade: Snapped Shot
Anatomy of an Instalanche (What It Looks Like, How I Got One and How You Can Too!): AllAm

Greg Gutfeld: 'Go To Hell, Paul Krugman, You Bearded, Bitter Buffoon': NB
9/11 and My Generation: LFAYA
Florida: Liberal Rag Outraged Allen West Used Phrase “Radical Islamic Enemy” Instead Of Al-Qaeda: WZ

Crickets Chirp As White House Spams & Sends Out Union Press Releases: LUR
Union Members Take Hostages, Destroy Property: But Remember, Tea Party is ‘Dangerous’: RWN
The Separation of Blackness and State: AT

World

Rare glimpse into Israel's doomsday weapon -- the submarine fleet: ynet
Connecting Nuclear 9/11 Dots That Aren’t in the Headlines . . . or Ever Have Been.: ConAlley
F-16 pilot was ready to ram hijacked plane on 9/11: AFP

Bad Idea: Turkey Sending Three Warships To To Protect Gaza-Bound Ships From Israeli Navy: WZ
The ‘War on Terror’ Is All About God: Klavan
CBS Outdoor/NYC Transit to Run Antisemitic Ads: Atlas

Cuba to drill six oil wells off Florida coast: Tapscott
Obama Has Aggravated Muslim Extremism: Lewis
Ten Years of War: Sultan Knish

Sci-Tech

What's the deal with daily deals?: CNet
'Super-Earth,' 1 of 50 Newfound Alien Planets, Could Potentially Support Life: Yahoo!
Comodohacker: I can issue fake Windows updates: CNet

Cornucopia

Buttons and Bows: MOTUS
Operation Feeding Freedom: Flopping Aces
Pic of the Day: John Conyers (D-Detroit) takes nap at 911 10th anniversary vigil: BlogProf

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Allen West for Congress

QOTD: "What is worrying investors worldwide is the evident intellectual and political bankruptcy of Europe. The Europeans are not stupider than other people, but they face deep structural economic and political problems that their institutions are hopelessly inadequate to solve. Creating a monetary union without a true federal government is looking more and more like the biggest European policy mistake since Britain and France let Hitler have the Sudetenland." --Walter Russell Mead

Monday, September 12, 2011

'Headline o' the Century'

That's what Brian at SnappedShot calls this gem:

Corpse Found in Tub with TV Weatherman


Police are trying to figure out what happened to an Arkansas man who was discovered dead in a bathtub with a sleeping television meteorologist.

Homeowner Christopher Barbour, who says he is a friend of 33-year-old KARK weatherman Brett Cummins, told police that he woke up Monday morning and found his friend asleep in his bathtub with a dead man wearing a dog collar lying next to him.

Barbour told investigators Cummins had brought a friend that Barbour knew only as "Dexter" over the night before and the three were drinking and snorting drugs.

Barbour said he later went to sleep on his couch, and woke up around 8 a.m. the next morning.

He heard snoring from the bathroom and saw the two men in the tub, which had no water in it. He shook Cummins awake, and the two tried to wake "Dexter."

Barbour told police that Cummins screamed when he saw the discolored face of the man later identified as 24-year-old Dexter Paul Williams, then bolted from the bathroom and vomited in the living room.

Cummins then left the house and promised to return later, Barbour told police. Officers are investigating the death and the medical examiner is awaiting toxicology results to see how Williams died... In a brief story reporting the death on Monday, KARK reported, "[Cummins] will not be on the air, as he is mourning the loss of his friend."

I can think of only a few less probable headlines:

• Homeless man discovers gold mine in New York subway

• John Madden fitness video is #1 rental on Netflix

• Arabs embrace concept of Israel's right to exist


Anthony Weiner's District Can Make History Tomorrow

Dan from New York on how you can help right now:

There’s a special election tomorrow to fill Anthony Weiner’s vacant seat. Please forward this to anyone you know who lives in the district (NY-9) and urge them to turn out and vote for the Republican, Bob Turner. The latest polls show it’s a tight race with Turner maintaining a slight lead...

If nothing else, a Turner victory will shine the national spotlight on this dependable Democratic stronghold and send shivers up the spines (if they have any) in the Obama-occupied White House.

I'll edit Dan's suggestion: forward this info to anyone you know in New York, irrespective of district, and ask them to pass it on to their lists.


Roll-out of the Obama Jobs Plan Continues Apace: EPA Forces Texas Energy Company To Announce 500 Layoffs

While President Obama reads from his twin teleprompters, trying to convince Americans that he cares about jobs, his out-of-control EPA continues to lay waste to the private sector.

It was sadly ironic that Texas energy company Luminant announced it would lay off 500 employees on the same morning that President Obama unveiled legislation designed to promote job growth. The company said that a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency will force it to cease operations at two electricity generating plants, and close three coal mines...

...The company cited the EPA’s new cross-state pollution rule as the impetus for the decision, and noted that it had worked to identify other means of reducing emissions, but that “meeting this unrealistic deadline also forces us to take steps that will idle facilities and result in the loss of jobs,” Campbell said.

Campbell also announced that the company has filed a lawsuit against the EPA in an effort “to achieve [EPA emissions] goals without harming critically important Texas jobs and electric reliability.” The suit seeks to block the cross-state pollution rule for Texas companies, and to grant a stay to Texas companies to prevent them from having to comply with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions standards by the existing January 1, 2012 deadline.

...Even groups generally on the political left have spoken out against those regulations while still noting the importance of environmental concerns. The president of the St. Louis chapter of the AFL-CIO, a member of the Missouri clean coal group, called on the EPA to “consider a balanced approach that gives us cleaner air without sacrificing jobs and increasing energy prices.”

Last month, an official of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce predicted that the EPA's lawless, unscientific and arbitrary regulations would kill thousands of jobs. That prediction is coming true as we speak.

The unelected and unaccountable fourth branch of government is endangering national security and critically wounding America's economy.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.

Obama proposes to pay for his jobs plan with $400B in spending cuts. Just kidding--it's paid for with $400B in tax increases

Apparently, America's job creators are under-taxed. At least that's the word from Uncle Ben, who relays this note from his Beltway corporate tax guru.

The White House today is proposing to pay for its new jobs bill entirely with tax increases.

It proposes these tax increases:

--Limiting itemized deductions for incomes above $200,000 and family incomes above $250,000. Total: $400 billion over 10 years;

--Treat carried interest as ordinary income rather than as capital gains. Total: $18 billion;

--Raises taxes on oil and gas. Total: $40 billion

--Increase taxes on corporate jets. Total: $3 billion

Gee, those new taxes should really jump-start hiring!

The Tatler adds several crucial details:

White House Office of Management and BudgetDirector Jack Lew outlined President Barack Obama’s plan to pay for his $447 billion jobs plan... The new tax rules would not take effect until January 2013, Lew said. Obama is not offering any spending cuts to pay for the jobs plan.

Last week, James Lileks wrote the quintessential retort to this sort of insane logic.

A half-century experiment in draping steam­ship anchors around the necks of the productive class and expecting them to run a four-minute mile has ended in failure. The confiscation of rights and property, the moral impoverishment of generations caused by the state’s usurpation of parental obligations, the elevation of a credentialed elite that believes academia’s fashions are a worthy substitute for knowledge of history and human nature, and above all the faith in a weightless cipher whose oratorical panache now consists of looking from one teleprompter screen to the other with the enthusiasm of a man watching someone else’s kids play tennis–it’s over, whether you believe in it or not. It cannot be sustained without reducing everyone to penurious equality, crippling the power of the United States, and subsuming the economy to a no-growth future that rations energy.

The modern Democrat Party is simply a shell, a lifeless husk that was subsumed by the radical Left thanks to tens of millions of dollars from George Soros and other one-world Marxists.

If we don't vote the entire Democrat Party apparatus out of office -- at every level of government -- in 2012, America deserves its fate.


Update: The Cost Of Obama's Stimulus Plan: $312,500 Per Job (Vote) Created Or Saved (And Guess Who Is Paying It)

Related: Mission Accomplished! Did Obama intentionally nuke the economy? (March, 2009)

Larwyn's Linx: Let's Roll Over

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Nation

Let's Roll Over: Steyn
Too Much Lamb, Not Enough Lion: JPA
Ground Ego: Primordial Slack

Turning Red – Shedding the White and Blue: NoisyRm
Final PPP Poll for NY-9: Turner (R) 47% Weprin (D) 41%: Ace
Obama buys the drinks other guys pay for: Barone

US colleges to receive warning letters on anti-Semitism: JPost
The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States: Sabato
C-SPAN Obama “Jobs” Plan Call In FAIL!: RWN

Economy

Jobs Plan Ruse? Teamsters’ Hoffa Predicts Jobs Plan Failure: LUR
Unintended Consequences of Labor Sec. Solis' Witch Hunt: LUR
The president's notion of "fairness" is anything but fair: PJM

Climate & Energy

The Obama energy crisis as you've never before seen it: Tapscott
Judge dismisses EPA suit over pollution at Michigan DTE plant: BizWk
G.M. Aims the Volt at China, but Chinese Want Its Secrets: NYT

Media

Paul Krugman's Shame: Captain's Journal
As It Might Have Been: Theo Spark
Progressives Shame the Country on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11: AmPower

A few more words about Koward Krugman: Malkin
Another Thing We Can Thank The First Amendment For: NiceDeb
Detroit local MSM come out swinging for more Obama spending: RWN

Does Thomas Friedman Write All of President Obama’s Speeches?: Driscoll
NY Times: Governor Palin “Pointed Toward a Way of Transcending the Presently Unbridgeable Political Divide”: C4P
The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George W. Bush on 9/11: Time

Ten Years On: Mullings
“Saved by the Militia”: My NRO Column After 9/11: Barnett
'Middle' America indeed: Salena Zito

World

Iran and the EMP Threat: Kahlili
Egypt's Botched Revolution: Totten
The War America Fights: Caroline Glick

Photos: Israel's 9/11 Memorial: BermanPost
Cameron's dismissal of Israel: Melanie Phillips
Ten Years On: Wizbang

Netanyahu on 9/11: “It will be indescribably disastrous if the radical Islami[sts] acquire the ultimate weapon": WZ
Ahmadinejad : 9-11 Was Planned As a Pretext For US Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan: GWP
Saudi Grand mufti cautions public against dream interpreters on TV: MENAFN

Sci-Tech

Galaxy S II graphics fastest among Android phones--report: CNet
Cisco Starts Totally Ragging on Juniper: LightReading
Amazon eyes Netflix-style service for e-books: CNet

Cornucopia

“No Substitute for Victory” -- The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism: Lewis (2006)
Unmitigated Evil -- a Photo Essay Commemorating 9/11: GM's Place
The Falling Man: Ace

This Week in Automotivators, September 5-11: RWN
Pop, Soda or Coke?: Ace
White Castle sued for violating civil rights of man too fat to fit into booth: Greenroom

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

QOTD: "History is clear: All-out force against fanatical killers is both practical and moral. It led us to our two most important foreign policy successes—the defeats of Germany and Japan in 1945—and to the permanent peace with those nations that we take for granted today. Such a course was practical and moral then, and it is practical and moral now—an affirmation, and a defense, of life and civilization." --John David Lewis, "No Substitute for Victory"

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Connect the Dots: F-16s Scrambled for Two Separate Flights Today; Three Detroit Passengers Detained

If these similarly themed incidents don't smack of dry runs, I'm not sure what might qualify.

F-16 fighter jets were scrambled in two separate incidents Sunday, trailing a New York-bound American Airlines jetliner and a Frontier Airlines flight to Detroit after reports of passengers acting suspiciously...

...The incident aboard American Airlines Flight 34 to New York from Los Angeles began at 3 p.m. EDT when the plane's crew notified homeland-security officials of passengers allegedly behaving suspiciously. Two military jets shadowed the plane until it landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4:10 p.m. EDT... Police greeted the plane at the gate and interviewed some of the passengers after they landed. It wasn't clear whether any charges would be filed...

...A similar incident played out aboard Frontier Flight 623, which originated in San Diego with a stop in Denver before arriving at Detroit Metro Airport... Two passengers were observed "spending an extraordinarily long time in the lavatory," Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuk said... the plane was swept for explosives, and was cleared. Three passengers were removed from the plane and taken into custody, authorities said.

In both cases, multiple passengers locked themselves in lavatories for an extended period of time, alarming crew-members.

Police detained three passengers at Detroit's Metropolitan Airport on Sunday after the crew of the Frontier Airlines flight from Denver reported suspicious activity on board and NORAD officials sent F-16 jets to shadow the flight until it landed safely... Flight 623, with 116 passengers on board, landed without incident in Detroit after the crew reported that two people were spending an unusual amount of time in a bathroom...

The Airbus 318 taxied to a pad away from the terminal and police took three passengers into custody... Authorities cleared the aircraft after it was search [sic], the Transportation Security Administration said... Luggage had been removed from the aircraft to be inspected by K-9 police sniffer dogs.

The crew had reported that at least two individuals were spending "an extraordinarily long time" in the bathrooms. The three removed from the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman.

In the case of American Airlines Flight 34, odd behavior in the area of the plane's lavatories was also observed.

Sources told CBS News, the three passengers on Flight 34 were disruptive, moving in and out of lavatories, even at one point locking themselves inside.

American Airlines spokesman confirmed that the incident began with "suspicious behavior" observed in the area of the jetliner's lavatory... three passengers refused to come out of a bathroom on a flight originating in Los Angeles.

I, for one, suspect Militant Quakers.


The 9/11 monument in New Jersey you never heard about

Gee, our crack mainstream media must have accidentally dropped this story behind the vending machine.

Politics or Poppycock has a series of photos depicting a monument to the victims of 9/11 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He writes, "I'm stunned. I have never heard, seen or read anything about this. Isn't it wonderful to live in a country where the media controls what we should know?"

The monument is a gift to the people of America from the citizens of Russia signifying the importance of the war against global terrorism.

Oops. That face may be one of the reasons our beloved mainstream media "forgot" to report the story.

The impressive teardrop monument is truly striking.

The names of the victims of 9/11 are inscribed on a memorial wall.

Perhaps some enterprising reporter could let us know exactly what year this monument was installed.

They'll just have to remember not to call the hijackers "Islamists" or "terrorists", because I don't think President Obama approves of those terms.


Hat tip: Contrairimairi.

I got mad babysitting skillz

So I was taking care of my eight- and five-year old nephews last night.

I find a Sharpie permanent marker works best.

Yes, those are barbed-wire tats on their arms; P-A-I-N and F-I-R-E emblems on their fists; and the obligatory tear-drops.

I haven't heard from my sister since then, though. Maybe her cell phone is broken.


IDF General: "Arab Spring" Poised to Turn Into "Radical Islamist Winter"

Consider the so-called "Arab Spring" a reprise of the Carter Doctrine, as it were. To wit: show weakness, stall as long as possible before making decisions, and tacitly condone the Middle East's most radical elements.

IDF Major General Eyal Eisenberg warned last week that the so-called “Arab Spring” may ultimately turn into a “radical Islamic winter.” Recent events in Egypt and elsewhere in the region indicate that this grim assessment is materializing at a rapid pace right before our eyes.

...the growing Mideastern chaos has shattered any semblance of regional stability, allowing the darkest, most radical forces to erupt and increasingly set the tone. What we saw in Egypt [Ed: the storming of the Israeli embassy] over the weekend was merely the beginning. Much worse is yet to come.

Arab affairs expert Guy Bechor notes that the siege and near-lynch at Israel’s Cairo embassy is first and foremost a domestic affair, reflecting the great deterioration on Egypt’s streets. The orgy of violence and lawlessness we witnessed marks the rise of Islamists and street thugs and the State’s declining ability to impose law and order.

...In Libya, rebels are dusting off what’s left of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, under the leadership of none other than “former Jihadist” Abdel Hakim Belhaj... post-revolution Tripoli has already become a menace to regional stability. Last week, Israeli officials warned that Palestinians in Gaza have acquired anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets from Libya. Meanwhile, the European Union’s counter-terrorism’s chief warned that al-Qaeda may have also secured arms looted in the Libyan conflict, including surface-to-air missiles that could threaten commercial airliners.

On the tenth anniversary of the horrific attacks of 9/11, it is worth asking the question:

How did President Obama arrive at his decisions to: (a) actively support the overthrow of a U.S. ally (Hosni Mubarak); (b) fail to support Iran's Green Revolution; (c) support Libya's rebels, whose leaders represent the most radical Islamists imaginable; and (d) fail to support Syria's attempted overthrow of the Iranian puppet dictator Bashar as-Assad?

For you drones: that's a rhetorical question.


Hat tips: Dan from New York and The Telegraph (photo of Neda).

Photos: London Islamists commemorate 9/11 by burning U.S. flags, breaking moment of silence with megaphones, celebrating mass murder

Un-indicted co-conspirator CAIR hardest hit:

Islamic supremacism, triumphalism, and hurling insults against the soldiers who defend the rights they have chosen to mock and abuse...

"9/11 anniversary: Muslim protesters burn US flag outside embassy in London," by Andy Bloxam for the Telegraph, September 11:

A number of radical Islamic groups including Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) gathered outside the embassy on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The group of around 100 men shouted "USA terrorists", brandished anti-American placards and chanted through a loudhailer.

Several members of the Muslim groups made anti-American speeches following the flag burning.

One said: "You will always face suffering, you will always face humiliation, unless you withdraw your troops from Muslim lands."

Another declared that America had been "defeated in Iraq and defeated in Afghanistan".

Members of the group publicly burned a poppy on Armistice Day in a similar stunt.

True to form, legacy U.S. media completely ignored the death-worshipers' celebration in London.


Update: Report: Two EDL members stabbed by Islamists.

Larwyn's Linx: What to Say to the Totalitarian Left on 9/11/11

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9/11/11

What to Say to the Totalitarian Left on 9/11/11: Chesler
10 years ago: My generation’s bloody wake-up call: Malkin
Ten Years Later: Who’s Really Winning the War On Terror: BRubin

Eyewitness to History: Recalling Bush’s Leadership on 9/11: PJM
George W. Bush’s Flight 93 Memorial Speech: Malkin
9/11 Is Not A Day of Service!: Creeping

Nation

Democrats facing electoral disasters in NV-02, NY-09?: RS
"Not Every Human Problem Deserves a Law": Reason
Democrats Fret Aloud Over Obama’s Chances: NYT

Who is the bitter clinger now?: Exam
Blood on the Streets? US Communists Prepare for Conflict: NoisyRm
Wasserman Schultz’ 'New Tone of Civility' Already Over: Shark

Economy

Obama Buys Votes from Unions at Huge Cost to U.S.: Mish
Trumka: 9/11 Was a Great Moment for Unions: Publius
BofA Cutbacks May Hit 40,000: WSJ

"The Incredible Shrinking Federal Workforce"?: ConAlley
Job Creators: Ready for 5,000 new regulations?: ATR
Valerie Jarrett: No Jobs Bill Yet; President Will Draft It: RCP

Where's The Confidence?: MarketTicker
More on Washington State Union Thuggery: Police Attacked: Tatler
Obama’s Army/Union Thugs Launch Terror Attack: Sword

Gunrunner

Eric Holder, Another Day Another Denial: AT
Congress expands Fast and Furious probe to include White House: Herald
2nd Arizona crime scene yields guns from ATF sting: KPHO

Climate & Energy

Obama lied, Solyndra died: Power Line
Go Green--Natural Law: CFP
Energy Alliance: Oil, Gas In Western U.S. Provide Employment and Millions in Revenue: CNS

Frustrated Al Gore Goes Violent: Gore's new ad depicts climate skeptic being killed: Motls
‘Drilling = Jobs’: Congressman’s Simple Message Falls on Deaf Ears: Foundry
‘Green’ industry is going nowhere: Las Vegas Sun

Media

When Hollywood Hit Rock Bottom: Klavan
State-run meda outlet PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe: AT
Profiles in Objectivity: NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent Gets His Own ‘Lean Forward’ Ad: Powers

Does Thomas Friedman Write All of President Obama’s Speeches?: Driscoll
Former Democrat Reflects on Governor Palin’s Iowa Speech: C4P
Sarah Palin may be the one liberals have been waiting for: LI

World

The Next 9/11 — A Nuclear One?: IBD
Beyond Cairo, Israel Sensing a Wider Siege: New York Daily Fishwrap
Will The Run On Greek Banks Spread Across Europe?: ProblemBank

Sci-Tech

Infographic: Social media is growing at an astonishing rate: PR Daily
Netflix suddenly works on most Android devices: CNet
How to Make a Clock Run for 10,000 Years: Wired

Cornucopia

Never Forget: Fuzzy Logic
Have You Seen This Fugitive?: LaughingCon
Google Street View Camera Captures Naked Miami Woman On Her Front Doorstep: TSG

Some Won is Smarter than the Other Won: MOTUS
Woman bit by rat in rare attack while waiting for train at MTA station: NYDN
Obama sticker in urinal draws criticism and laughs: NBC News 17

Image: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images/September 10, 2011
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "Presidential addresses to Congress are often dramatic moments. This one felt like a sideshow. Usually, the press gallery is standing-room-only; this time, only 26 of 90 seats were claimed by the deadline. Usually, some members arrive in the chamber hours early to score a center-aisle seat; 90 minutes before Thursday’s speech, only one Democrat was so situated." --Dana Milbank

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Contagion in Europe: Greece Poised to Shatter the Global Financial System

Over the past several years, the phrase "trouble in Greece" was routinely used to explain the occasional market tumble here in the U.S. Lately, though, the broader "European contagion" description is heard more frequently as banks in central Europe try to avoid a seemingly inevitable series of sovereign defaults.

Why should you care?

Put it this way: if immense global banks seize up, even if they are headquartered in Europe, the reverberations will be felt here in America.

...markets are saying that default by Greece is inevitable. Greece is expected to run out of cash within weeks and massive civil unrest may slide into anarchy as protests become increasingly violent. The bailout by the European Union that was supposed to save Greece appears to be on the verge of collapse according to The Wall Street Journal... "Europe’s failure so far to rescue its first patient has had immense consequences for the 17-nation euro zone, despite the fact that Greece’s economy is but a tiny fraction of it."

...Greek citizens have responded to the looming default of their government by withdrawing their money from Greek banks at a record pace. Greek banks have reportedly run out of safety deposit boxes as Greeks withdraw their life savings to put into bank vaults... "In May alone, almost €5bn (£4.4bn) was pulled out of Greek deposits, as part of what analysts describe as a 'silent bank run'... Bags of money in garages, frightened savers fleeing banks and even the country: these aren’t the sort of stories you associate with a comparatively-prosperous European country, but with a developing one facing a life-or-death economic crash.

The problem with a Greek default involves the subsequent and inevitable chain reaction. The troubled country's debt is owned in great part by banks throughout Europe -- especially in France and Germany -- and panicked depositors are unlikely to weigh the solvency of their own personal bank. If hysteria and fear spread, much of Europe could suffer bank runs.

As bond yields spike in Portugal, Spain and Italy, it becomes increasingly clear that the market anticipates a series of defaults on sovereign debt that no one on Earth can backstop.

And, as it turns out, Germany is already preparing for the inevitable Greek default.

Germany's Finance Ministry is studying the potential impact of a Greek debt default, working through scenarios which include Greece abandoning the euro to reintroduce the drachma, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday.

Put simply, Germany's preparations involve bulking up banks. An emergency plan discussed within Germany anticipates a 50% haircut (loss) on Greek debt. Some experts believe that's an optimistic estimate.

Greece is “on a knife’s edge,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told lawmakers at a closed-door meeting in Berlin on Sept. 7, a report in parliament’s bulletin showed Thursday. If the government can’t meet the aid terms, “it’s up to Greece to figure out how to get financing without the euro zone’s help,” he later said in a speech to parliament.

Greece has vowed to avoid default, no matter the consequences for its government.

George Papandreou has vowed to fully implement reforms demanded by international lenders so that Greece will be able to avoid default and remain a member of the eurozone.

...Thousands of protesters shouting anti-austerity slogans gathered outside a conference centre in the northern city of Thessaloniki where the premier was making his annual economic policy speech on Saturday... Riot police fired teargas to disperse protesters as a dozen separate groups, including public sector trade unions, university students and supporters of a local football club, staged marches around the city centre.

Mr Papandreou said he was committed to carrying out this week’s cabinet decisions: immediate cuts in civil service salaries and the planned dismissal of 20,000 public sector in the next few weeks – a condition for Greece to receive the next €8bn tranche of its current bail-out loan...

But Greece will default; the markets are predicting that outcome with essentially 100% certitude:

Greece’s historic record bond yields have forced the markets to recognize and read the proverbial financial writing on the wall... Greece ... is set to default.

...The fact that Merkel, and by extension Germany (the final stop between the Greek economy and default), is now prepping the nation’s banks for Greece’s default could not be a clearer economic and political signal to the market that “bad times are coming” for not only Greece, but the entire European Union.

What’s most interesting, however, is the future of the European Union, post -Greece’s-seemingly-inevitable default. For while Greece is today’s “problem Economic child,” its soon-to-be-failed brethren (i.e Italy, Spain, etc.) are close behind, busy elbowing for a place at the default table.

Let’s see what happens once Germany officially steps out of the way of the cliff.

My prediction is that within a month (three at the very outer, outer limit), a default by Greece will touch off the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

2008 will look like a cakewalk in comparison.

An economist interviewed Friday on Bloomberg Radio -- not exactly a hotbed of doom-and-gloom talk -- predicted that gold would hit $7,000/oz. as investors flee to the world's one true reserve currency: a yellow-toned metal.


"The Urgency of Now", a Poem by Barack Hussein Obama

"The Urgency of Now", a Poem by Barack Hussein Obama:

Pass the plan

Pass the bill now

The jobs bill must be passed now

Pass the bill

Pass the jobs bill with no delay

The jobs bill must be passed now so we can read it later

Pass the plan now

The jobs bill must be passed intact now

Pass the jobs bill now

The jobs bill must be passed immediately

The jobs bill must be passed immediately and we will read it later and figure out if we will pay for it some time in the future.

The jobs bill must be rammed through, without delay intact

I need another blank check to spend half a trillion for votes for the election, so pass the jobs bill intact now.

I don't know poetry, but my feet sure are Longfellers.


Hat tip: A commenter at "Obama dragging down Democratic candidates in House special elections."

Tragic, Yet Somehow Hilarious, SmartCar ™ Story o' the Day

Comox Valley News reports on the inevitable, yet tragic, hilarity that results from driving around a SmartCar outside the perimeter of a Six Flags bumper car ride.

Experts say we should prepare for aftershocks after the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that rocked Vancouver Island... The quake was originally thought to have measured 6.7 on the Richter Scale, but has since been downgraded by the US Geological Survey...

... "I was just walking outside the Walmart here in Powell River and a car flipped because of the earthquake," one caller told HQComoxValley.com, "Someone was driving and they hit a speed bump and when they did the car basically tipped."

The small Smart Car then rolled right over when it was hit by another car.

The mileage of the golf cart on wheels known as the "Smart fortwo" is a reported 33 city, 41 highway.

Yet President Obama has issued an edict that cars, on average, attain 54 miles-per-gallon in little more than a dozen years. The cost of downsizing cars to meet the authoritarian demands of central planners will be thousands of more fatalities on America's roads.

How can we be sure?

Because back in 2002, a study by the National Academy of Science found that auto downsizing due to CAFE standards cost 2,000 lives a year. In 1999, a comprehensive study commissioned by USA Today found that "7,700 people died for every one additional mpg attributable to CAFE regulation".

Requiring people to drive clown cars and golf carts -- rather than letting the free market dictate mileage, safety and vehicle form factors -- will end badly, as central planning by a small collection of "masterminds" always does.