Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Look on the Ref's Face #Priceless #Mayweather #Ortiz #Merchant

Controversy, outrage and chaos reigned during and after last night's Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight with veteran commentator Larry Merchant telling the undefeated Mayweather that "I would kick your ass if I was 50 years younger".

The fight was stopped in the fourth after a controversial knockout of Ortiz.

Mayweather was in total control of the fight at the time of the stoppage... The controversy began when Ortiz enjoyed a rare flurry of success, backing Mayweather up against the ropes in the fourth round. However, he then struck Mayweather with a headbutt for which he was punished by referee Joe Cortez.

Ortiz attempted to apologize to Mayweather and hugged him near the center of the ring. However, Cortez had already called for time to be restarted. Mayweather let fly with a left hook that stunned Ortiz, then knocked him to the canvas with a straight hand...

...Merchant, the HBO Pay-Per-View commentator, challenged [Mayweather] over the fairness of his winning blows. Mayweather unloaded with both fists a split-second after the fighters had hugged following a headbutt for which his opponent was deducted a point, and Ortiz was unprotected and unaware when the strikes landed.

Merchant suggested that his tactics may have been either illegal or outside the spirit of the fight game, and then Mayweather vented his ire, referring to the 80-year-old broadcaster by an expletive and barking that he should be fired from his television position.

“You never give me a fair shake, all right, so I am going to do you a favor and let you talk to Victor Ortiz,” Mayweather said. “You never give me a fair shake. You are [expletive] and HBO should fire you. You don’t know [expletive] about boxing. You ain’t [expletive].”

...“I wish I was 50 years younger,” [replied] Merchant. “I would have kicked your [expletive].”

These kinds of antics and Mayweather's refusal to fight Manny Pacquiao -- the acknowledged pound-for-pound best boxer in the world -- have worn much of the luster from the champion's once-pristine image.

And if he continues to avoid Pacquiao, it's likely the history books will place a definitive asterisk on his undefeated record.


Larwyn's Linx: The Solyndra Fraud

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Nation

The Solyndra Fraud: McCarthy
Obama's hostility not confined to women in the White House: Pundette
Opening engagement of the Chainsaw Rebellion: Sipsey

Among Hispanics, strong support for voter ID: York
Michelle Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood: AT
'Day of Rage': Alinsky-ites hold Wall St. slumber party :Malkin

Economy

Lessons For American Health Care From Europe: Mead
Thoughts on Obama's "Buffett Rule": AmSpec
'When school children start paying dues...": iOTW

Business had better enjoy the next 16 months: WSJ
Sarah Palin: Crony Capitalism on Steroids from GE to Solyndra: AnBlkCon
US Taxpayers Could Be on the Hook For European Union Bailout: GWP

Gunrunner & Solyndra

Gun seller who helped ATF had doubts about the sting: TBO
Cloward-Piven: The Ultimate Goal of Gunwalker?: Owens
Gun scandal skipping the big fish: AzCentral

Did Solyndra Actually Get a Second Loan of $469 Million, Bringing the Full Loan Package To Over A Billion?: Ace
Solyndra Round-Up: Adventures in Venture Socialism: Malkin
AP: “Obama admin reworked Solyndra loan to favor donor”: GWP

Climate & Energy

Obama Spends $4,853,000 per Green Energy Job: RWN
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Resigns Over Global Warming: Fox
EPA to Give Itself Powers to Preemptively Deny Natural Resource Development?: RWN

Media

‘Something is Breaking Loose in Terms of the Liberal Lockstep’: Driscoll
Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was the Play?: Commentary
Before Palin, remember those classic Doonesbury strips on Obama and Rezko? No?: Kass

The Media’s Love Affair with a Disastrous President... Now approaching an end, I think: Instapundit
Violent Crimes Drop 12%, Reason Unknown; In Other News, Record Number Carry Concealed Weapons: AllAm
Soundbite For the Day: MSNBC’s Vast Solyndra Coverage: BigJourn

Salvadore Allende, Martyr of the International Left, was a Totalitarian Assmonkey: ¡No PasarĂ¡n!
Han Solo Getting Gay with Chewie?: Jawa
Hitler discovers Attack Watch has become an Internet joke: Sipsey

World

The Man Who Could Trigger a World War: Instapundit
Syrian Anti-Regime Cleric: "Tear Christians Into Pieces And Feed Them To The Dogs": WZ
Bachmann Calls Arab Spring ‘Radical’: National Journal

Such Men Lived: Mudville
Navarra Region of Spain Bankrupt by End of Year... Electricity cut off to Spanish town over unpaid bills: Mish
Perry To Hold Press Conference This Week With Israeli MK Danny Danon Ahead Of UN Statehood Vote: WZ

Sci-Tech

Is Google's CEO nonplussed by Google+?: CNet
Google has designs on your wallet: Guardian
Windows 8 on Intel will be tough to beat: CNet

Cornucopia

ScarletJohanssoning: At Last, An Internet Photo Fad I Can Support: AmDig (NSFW)
Saturday Afternoon War Porn: WZ
Something Wonderful: "The Way the Camera Follows Us in Slow-Mo": AmDig

Image: American Digest, Scarlett Johanssoning (NSFW)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "The American health care debate needs to focus on one inescapable fact: unless we make major, deep changes in the way health care is delivered in this country, there is no way we can pay for the health care we want and need as the population goes up, gets older — and as new, expensive treatments continue to appear." --Walter Russell Mead

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Warning: Do Not Taunt Your Compact Fluorescent Lamp

MSNBC reports that consumers are hoarding incandescent light bulbs before they are banned next year by our beloved, all-powerful, authoritarian central government.

Several years ago, the EPA mandated that "environmentally friendly" light bulbs -- namely, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (or CFLs) -- replace incandescents, which were cheap and easy to dispose of.

Just in time for the ban, China has decided to close and nationalize its rare earth metal producers. The resulting shortage of key CFL components spiking the price of the new bulbs here in the U.S.

Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann has been among the most vocal opponents of the phase-out, arguing that "the government has no business telling an individual what kind of lightbulb to buy."

The reported price hikes won't quell protests. The average price for a CFL is up 37 percent this year, the Times reports, attributing the figure to the National Electrical Manufacturer's Association (NEMA)... The higher prices are prompting sticker shock at places like Walmart, where the bulbs are sold.

Several years ago, Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker reported his own issues with CFLs. They are designed to replace normal incandescent lamps but require less energy: roughly $30 worth over the lamp's lifetime.


Modern CFLs are supposed to last between 8,000 and 15,000 hours, as opposed to incandescent lamps that typically last around 1,000 hours. Thomas' experience, though, hasn't quite lived up to the hype:

* Four or five of his CFL bulbs have lasted less than a year (four hours a day for 365 days a year is less than 1,500 hours)
* Each CFL bulb contains 4-5 milligrams of mercury, not a huge amount, but sufficient to warrant special handling and disposal methods
* Thomas' hometown of Berkeley requires that CFL's not be disposed of in the trash, but must instead be taken to a community recycling center
* Ed Waage points out that over 15,000,000 fluorescent lamps were sold in California in 2001. Survey results indicate less than half a percent were recycled. This means that almost all fifteen million mercury missiles (as I like to call them) were probably disposed of in the trash... and are now leeching mercury into the ground or atmosphere.


Not to worry, though. If you happen to break a CFL, the U.S. Government has published a handy CFL recycling fact sheet (in PDF format, so you can presumably tape it to your refrigerator) that includes the following sage advice:

What precautions should I take when using CFLs in my home?
CFLs are made of glass and can break if dropped or roughly handled ..

How should I clean up a broken fluorescent bulb?
EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:

1. Open a window and leave the room (restrict access) for at least 15 minutes.
2. Remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner.
* Wear disposable rubber gloves, if available (do not use your bare hands).
* Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard.
* Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipe.
* Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.
3. Place all cleanup materials in a plastic bag and seal it.
* If your state permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the garbage, seal the CFL in two plastic bags and put into the outside trash (if no other disposal or recycling options are available).
* Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.
4. The first time you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag once done cleaning the area (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag and/or vacuum debris, as well as the cleaning materials, in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

Roughly translated, cleanup after a CFL bulb breaks is: (a) evacuate the house for a while, and then (b) clean up while wearing a traditional hazmat suit. Yes, it's... just... that... simple.

It reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live ad for the curious kids' toy called Super Happy Fun Ball:

Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.

Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.

Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which if exposed due to rupture should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.


Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete. Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:

* Itching
* Vertigo
* Dizziness
* Tingling in extremities
* Loss of balance or coordination
* Slurred speech
* Temporary blindness
* Profuse Sweating --or--
* Heart palpitations

If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head. Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin. When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration.

Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability...

Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

Remember: Do not taunt your Compact Fluorescent Lamp.


Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.

Photos: That Moment Before the Pain Begins















Hat tips: Sean E. and Papa B.

A Robot Stole My Job!

Echoing President Obama's recent assertion that ATMs cause unemployment, MSNBC's Chris Matthews cut loose on the economic devastation caused by "robots". In a Wednesday interview with the self-described Socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Matthews attacked technological prowess with his usual, spittle-drenched grace.

I don't want to skip to your left on this but.... [W]hen I see automation, when I go to a CVS that used to employ a lot of people just above the poverty level, above the minimum wage. And you walk in there now, it's all machines... And by the way, I used to have about seven or eight cameramen. I don't have them anymore. It's all automated, it's all robots.

Everywhere we go is robots!

You used to go to a gas station, you'd have somebody would check your tires, check your oil. There ain't anybody there, there's nobody working at a gas station!

Last month the President also claimed that the Internet is behind the nation's rampant unemployment.

One of the challenges in terms of rebuilding our economy is – businesses have gotten so efficient, that, uh, when was the last time somebody went to a bank teller? Instead of using an ATM. Or, used a travel agent instead of going online. A lot of jobs out that that used to require people now have become automated.

Apparently you have to be an economic illiterate to be a Democrat.

Since the dawn of recorded history, scientific and industrial advances have raised the average standard of living, not lowered it.

• In 1712, the invention of the steam engine touched off the Industrial Revolution, providing an inexpensive mechanical power source to replace manual and animal labor.

• In 1733, the invention of the flying shuttle allowed a weaver to produce a wider band of cloth. This facilitated faster production of textiles for fabric, clothing and other uses.

• In 1769, James Watt added a crank and flywheel to other steam engine improvements, providing efficient rotary motion for a wide variety of industrial uses.

• In the early nineteenth century, the invention of the power loom -- a steam-powered, mechanical cloth-making machine -- allowed women to replace men in many textile manufacturing facilities.

• In 1830, the invention of the sewing machine facilitated the "ready-made clothing" industry.

All of these advances created brand new industries and began to free mankind from routine, manual labor. The sewing machine, for example, required hundreds of parts. These parts, made of many different materials, had to be manufactured and machined, often by dozens of suppliers. New companies arose to source these parts, new industries -- like repair services -- were created, and massive economic value was achieved through the creation of end products.

Such is also the case -- multiplied by orders of magnitude -- with ATMs and the Internet.

It's truly a shame and an outrage that we have leaders in Washington who no more understand general economic principles than they do quantum physics.

Fortunately, the American people know what's going on: a new low of only 26% approve of Obama's handling of the economy.


Related: "The Progressive and the Pencil".

Image hat tips: The Corliss Engine.

Larwyn's Linx: WH Can’t Say Why OMB Felt Pressured on Solyndra

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Solyndra

WH Can’t Say Why OMB Felt Pressured on Solyndra: Dossier
Bankruptcy didn’t keep Solyndra from paying lobbyists: Hot Air
Obama's Solyndra scandal reeks of the Chicago Way: Kass

Obama admin reworked Solyndra loan to favor donor: AJC
Lawmakers question WHouse role in wireless project :AFP
Emails show wireless firm's communications with White House: CPI

Nation

What's New on Planet Obama: Pundette
Obama Shreds the Constitution: Knight
Big Brutha IS Watching: Sword

Lib Assaults GOP Lawmaker in Wisconsin, Media Silent :RWN
US Constitution: Happy Birthday…Or R.I.P.: NMJ
Gary Ackerman Can't Take a Joke: HayRide

Economy

Obama to Tout Jobs Project that isn’t Shovel-Ready: Dossier
5 Reasons Government Should Be Run Like a Business: USNWR
Petty Jealousy of the Rich: AT

Regulations Are Burying the Open Road Trucking Industry: RWN
Judge Holds Washington Longshoremen in Contempt: LUR
Harvard’s Miron: Blame Anti-Business Democrats for Lack of Jobs: DailyTicker

Climate & Energy

China price squeeze on rare earth metals spikes CFL bulb prices: GWP
The Spreading Green Jobs Scam: IBD
Global Warming Will…Wait... Improve Our Lives?: RWN

Media

Wow: New Ford ad blasts bailouts — and perhaps more: Hot Air
Solyndra – Crony Capitalism? WORSE – It’s More Like Soviet Fascism: Sword
State-run NPR compares Obama to Jesus: BlogProf

Obama plagued by Democrats' ingratitude: York
Conservative blogger ejcted from Ohio Black Caucus meeting: Madison Project
Obama's Favorability Rating Upside-Down for First Time: NatlJrnl

World

The Wages of Terror: Knish
Our Newly Jewish President, Boaz Hyman Goldstein Obama: BigPeace
In Praise of NYC's Muscular Counterterrorism: Pipes

War Drums Beating: Anti-American George Soros Promoting Anti-Americanism in Central Asia: RWN
Understanding Turkey’s Policy of Confrontation with Israel: PJM
Perry: Palestinians Must Recognize Israel as a Jewish State: AmSpec

Sci-Tech

Made in America: See the 10 Coolest Weapons Found Only in Uncle Sam’s Arsenal: Insider
Track your family with a new app: CNet
World's largest sperm bank turns down redheads : Telegraph

Cornucopia

Putting the “Quo” Back in Quid pro Quo : MOTUS
Rogue trader costs US $14 trillion: LaughingCon
At least 3 dead, dozens critical after plane crashes at air race in Reno: Post

Image: Simon Cowell's New Face (hat tip: Drudge)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "...the U.S. Department of Energy employee who helped monitor the Solyndra loan guarantee was one of Obama's top fundraisers.

Fundraising? Contracts? Imagine that.

Steve Spinner was the Obama administration official in charge of handing out billions and billions of tax dollars to "green" energy deals. According to the Tribune story, Spinner the other day invited Obama's national political finance committee to a meeting in Chicago." --John Kass

Friday, September 16, 2011

Good news: ATF's Gunwalker may have helped Mexican cartels buy rocket launchers

Reports surfaced Wednesday that the U.S. Border Patrol had seized six assault rifles, one rocket launcher, a grenade launcher, and three packages of what appeared to be C-4 explosives near the Rio Grande River.

But, folks, please don't be concerned. Nothing says competence like the crackerjack combination of Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano:

...reports in the El Paso Times detailing “an alleged gun smuggling operation in which Obama administration officials were selling military grade weapons to drug cartel members in Mexico.”

...Let’s review: When we first learned about Fast and Furious, the news was that a number of assault rifles had been sold to straw purchasers. Soon, we learned that the number was approximately 2,500 and that some of those were .50 caliber sniper rifles. Then we learned that somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 of the weapons were unaccounted for, and that the ATF had allowed another upstanding gentleman to walk grenade components into Mexico (I guess he ended up in Mexico: no one knows because the ATF lost him). And finally, we’re learning that just a few days ago, on our side of the border, U.S. Border Patrol Agents found rocket and grenade launchers, assault rifles, and C4 explosives.

We’ve got to get to the bottom of this mess. But until we do, everyone who’s interested ought to head down to their local Fast and Furious dealer and get a rocket launcher while supplies last.

Just mention that Eric Holder sent you.

And those airplanes that could be brought down by RPGs? Not to worry, they could be corporate jets owned by millionaires and billionaires.


NY-9 victor Bob Turner orders complete hose-down, scrubbing and sanitizing of Weiner's offices before taking occupancy

And who could blame him? After all, the Weiner stench is known to be ruinous, sort of like a carpet that's been damaged by floodwaters.

Newly sworn-in Republican Rep. Bob Turner’s family ordered a thorough cleaning of the House office space he inherited from his disgraced predecessor, Anthony Weiner, after finding an old “Anthony’’ toothbrush in the bathroom.

The discovery of Weiner toiletries grossed out the newcomers, who requested that the congressman’s bathroom in Office 2104 of the Rayburn building be sanitized, sources said.

Weiner resigned in June amid a sexting scandal in which he tweeted crotch shots and naked photos to young women, including from an office chair... “Weiner left his toothbrush behind! It literally says ‘Anthony’ on it,” an insider said...

Turner’s wife, Peggy, a registered nurse, personally requested that congressional cleaners be brought in to scrub the bathroom, the insider said... There also was talk of replacing the carpeting and Weiner’s office chair...

I hear that, given all of the negative publicity plaguing him, Weiner now becomes very stiff in social situations.


Trinity College Boots Professor for Being a Politically Incorrect 'Barbarian'

Marfdrat alerts us to a professor at Ireland's Trinity College who has been terminated -- it would seem -- for political incorrectness. The professor's bio on the college website, which has since been removed, is epic:

Long Room Hub Associate Professor in Hyborian Studies and Tyrant Slaying.

Dr Conan T. Barbarian was ripped from his mother's womb on the corpse-strewn battlefields of his war-torn homeland, Cimmeria, and has been preparing for academic life ever since. A firm believer in the dictum that "that which does not kill us makes us stronger," he took time out to avenge the death of his parents following a sojourn pursuing his strong interest in Post-Colonial theory at the Sorbonne. In between, he spent several years tethered to the fearsome "Wheel of Pain", time which he now feels helped provide him with the mental discipline and sado-masochistic proclivities necessary to sucessfully tackle contemporary critical theory. He completed his PhD, entitled "To Hear The Lamentation of Their Women: Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Zamoran Literature" at UCD and was appointed to the School of English in 2006, after sucessfully decapitating his predecessor during a bloody battle which will long be remembered in legend and song. In 2011/12, he will be teaching on the following courses: "The Relevance of Crom in the Modern World", "Theories of Literature", "Vengeance for Beginners", "Deciphering the Riddle of Steel" and "D.H. Lawrence". He strongly objects to the terms of the Croke Park agreement and the current trend for remaking 1980s films that he believes were perfectly good enough in the first place.

He is happy to hear from potential research students with an interest of any of these topics, but applicants should note that anyone found guilty of academic misconduct or weakness in the face of the enemy will be crucified as an example to the others.

Email: conanb@tcd.ie

The Irish Times reports that Professor Conan's bio was an "inside job", not an external hack.


Larwyn's Linx: LightSquared: The next Obama pay-for-play morass?

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

LightSquared: The next Obama pay-for-play morass?: Malkin
Obama, ‘I’d Like To Work My Way Around Congress’: SHN
Special Election Panic Attack: Vodkapundit

Obama Renews Call for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens: CNS
Obama DOJ moves to protect Teachers with poor English skills: GWP
Lawsuit Challenging Houston’s Sanctuary City Policy Will Continue: JW

Deep Corruption at the Obama Justice Department: AmSpec
MI moves to ban teachers' unions from auto-deducting dues: RWN
It's Circular Firing Squad Season on Capitol Hill: Mother Jones

Economy

Billions in Improper Unemployment Insurance: Hot Air
All 14 Tax Hikes in Obama's "Stimulus 2.0" Plan: ATR
Why are gold prices so high?: Mises

5 Myths Behind Obama's Infrastructure Spending Push: IBD
Why Did Seven House Republicans Vote With the NLRB Today?: Tatler
Will school choice in IN shatter the government's education monopoly?: PJM

White House Scandals

Bombshell: General accused WH of pressuring him to change testimony for Democratic donor: Hot Air
Gunwalker Linked to Three More Murders: Owens
LightSquared: Another Solyndra?: PJM

Climate & Energy

Solyndra CEO Said Obama and Steven Chu Were Personally "Instrumental" In Securing Half-Billion In Loans: Ace
It Begins… Obama EPA Starts Tracking “Greenhouse Gases” in Florida: GWP
Chevy Volt is Automotive Version of Solyndra: NLPC

Media

NY Times review: Yeah, Joe McGinniss is a sleaze: LI
Waah! Republicans may do something legal and constitutional: Surber
Gallup: Four out of 10 Jewish voters now disapprove of Obama: Hot Air

Connecting the Dots: How the Left Works: Power Line
Barnhardt: Solyndra, Solyndra, Solyndra: Western Rifle Shooters
Obama’s ‘Jobs Bill’ Makes ACORN Eligible for $15 Billion in Taxpayer Money: Vadum

Disband the Black Caucus: IBD
The Top 10 Funniest #AttackWatch Tweets: RWN
Jon Stewart Blasts Obama Administration For Solyndra Scandal: Mediate

World

Comment: The Palestinians’ illegitimate UN gambit: JPost (Rick Perry)
PLO official: I never called for a Jew-free Palestine: Foreign Policy
Rethinking 9/11 Ten Years On: Denninger

Libya's Rebel Rupture: Foreign Policy
Note to Erdogan: Nobody Likes the Turks: Commentary
"Sorry, we thought you were a Jew”: Atlas

Sci-Tech

Emily Worstell on Gen-Y and Social Media: LPK
Adobe: Flash will flourish despite Windows 8: CNet
How 9/11 Completely Changed Surveillance in U.S.: Wired

Cornucopia

Repeatedly Sending A “Bag Of Painted Rocks” To Cash4Gold Yields Letter Of Awesome: Soylent Green
Under The Rainbow: Primordial Slack
I need a miracle: rogue trader Kweku Adoboli who lost UBS £1.3bn: Telegraph

Image: House Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing on Solyndra Scandal
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Allen West for Congress

QOTD: "Whenever liberals start loftily insisting on our obligation to our fellow man with these tear-jerk[er stories], you know some heinous public policy is coming. As soon as the dust settles, you won't see any innocent victims being helped, only trial lawyers, government employees and other Democratic constituencies." --Ann Coulter

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Deep Corruption at Justice: Eric Holder is an 'Abomination', a 'Menace' and 'Worse Than John Mitchell'

A must-read by Quin Hillyer at American Spectator:

Start rattling the chains. Start ratcheting up the hue and cry. Fire up the masses. It's long past time to force mass resignations at, and possible prosecutions of members of, the Obama Justice Department -- and, more broadly, of the West Wing itself... The reality is that these Obama/Holder minions at DoJ are dangerous to the very heart of constitutional, republican (small 'r') government.

...the Black Panther case, the dismissal of which I (on the Washington Times editorial page) and the Times' ace reporter Jerry Seper on the news side were the first to report in print (I later discovered that the fabulous Michelle Malkin wrote on it online a day or two earlier), still hasn't been adequately handled...

...And the outrageous DoJ blocking of non-partisan elections in Kinston, N.C., solely to benefit the Democratic Party , is now being examined in the courts, with the administration having lost, big, in the latest round...

...More recently, the burgeoning scandal of the "Fast and Furious" gun-running blow-up, already a huge embarrassment for the Justice Department, keeps moving closer to the White House. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, for her part, denied direct knowledge of this dangerous idiocy but as Dexter Duggan reports at the Wanderer (sign-in required), the U.S. Attorney who ran the moronic program, Dennis Burke, has been sponsored throughout his entire career by Napolitano...

...This week, meanwhile, Christian Adams continued Pajamas Media's mind-boggling series of stories on blatantly illegal hiring practices at DoJ... This is amazingly disturbing stuff. Of 106 supposedly apolitical hires by the Obama/Holder Civil Rights Division, all 106 are demonstrably, irrefutably leftist activists. Again, these are for "career" slots for which no political bias is supposed to be used to hire them. Simple random distribution would assure than in a center-right country, at least a couple of dozen of these hires would be either right of center or at least apolitical -- but not a single one has been anything but a hard-left radical...

...As I noted a few weeks ago when writing about this scandal, "These people were members of groups like 'Queer Resistance Front,' 'Intersex Society of North America,' and of course People for the American Way. Their published essays focused on issues such as 'Genital Normalizing Surgery on Intersexed Infants' and on arguing that providing material support for terrorism isn't a war crime...

...Buried in Christian Adams' latest story on this scandal comes what should be an incredibly explosive allegation: "Worse, Loretta King, while serving as the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights at the outset of the Obama administration, ordered the resumes of highly qualified applicants to be rejected
only because they didn't have political or left-wing civil rights experience. Multiple DOJ sources with direct knowledge of hiring committee practices have confirmed this to me."

...Then there is the continuing failure of systems that are supposed to ensure that military personnel abroad can get ballots cast and counted, which is part of a seemingly deliberate pattern of obstruction by the Obama/Holder Justice Department.

...And, of course, their ranks have been filled with an unusually high number of lawyers who considered it pro bono (literally, for the public good!) to represent terrorist detainees held in
Guantanamo
...

...In the weeks before Eric Holder was confirmed as Attorney General, Jennifer Rubin kept up a steady drumbeat of blog posts warning us all what a dishonest, radically leftist problem he would turn out to be. Rubin was absolutely right. Somehow, though, Holder's dastardliness has outstripped even the stern warnings Rubin issued...

...Under Richard Nixon, John Mitchell was as corrupt as they come. But that was all for protecting political power. The Holder Justice Department is equally as corrupt, but in worse ways even than Mitchell. Holder's team is out for raw political power unmoored from the law, of course -- but also for hard-leftist ideological ends that undermine the entire tradition of American jurisprudence and legal practice. They are a menace, and they must be stopped.

Read the whole thing... and send the link far and wide.

Eric Holder is a danger to America. The House must act now.


A Proposed Bumper Sticker for the Obama 2012 Campaign (We're Here to Help)



Idea: One of Neal Boortz's Twitter Followers. Hat tip: TrendingRight.com.

Gee, I wonder why SAT scores keep dropping, federal education spending keeps increasing, and teachers' union bosses keep buying bigger BMWs?

It's not just an unemployment crisis, or a foreclosure crisis, or a deficit crisis... it's also a stupidity crisis: 2011 SAT Reading scores just hit an all-time low.

And please consider these pathetic scores in context.

Over the decades, Americans have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars on failed "Department of Education" programs.

They haven't worked and, in fact, have provably made things worse.

Whether measured in aggregate or by pupil, spending on education has increased year after year, decade after decade, while test scores continue to decline.

And all of us know why:

Democrats hate school choice

Several years ago, the New York Times columnist David Brooks recently received an email from a Harvard economist. One powerful sentence read, "The attached study has changed my life as a scientist."

The Harvard Study (conducted by Roland Fryer and Will Dobbie) analyzed charter schools in Harlem. They compared students in the charter schools (called "Harlem Children's Zone") to all New York City public schools. What they discovered was nothing short of startling.

In a nutshell, they found that the Harlem Children’s Zone schools produced “enormous” gains: "[The study] makes a rigorous case, using two different methodologies, that the charter school investigated in this area (Promise Academy I, 6-8 grade) had a huge effect on children’s academic performance as measured by standardized tests. The effect size was particularly large in math - enough to close the black-white achievement gap, something that no previous (rigorously demonstrated) effect has come close to.

Let me repeat the key finding: in mathematics, the charter school approach completely eliminated the black-white achievement gap.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that charter schools level the educational playing field for both white and black students, Obama and the Democrat Party leadership have crushed and suppressed school choice programs like that in Washington, DC. Thanks to the all-powerful Democrat constituency -- teachers' unions like the AFT and the NEA -- freeing kids from the slavery of failed public school systems is forbidden.

The Wall Street Journal points out the hypocrisy in stark terms: "President Obama and his Education Secretary have repeatedly promised to support "what works," regardless of ideology. But the teachers' unions adamantly oppose school vouchers, which provably work and work well. Ergo, Messrs. Obama and Duncan decided to kill a D.C. school voucher program that worked fabulously. Instead, they have forced poor kids back into the failed public schools that Messrs. Obama and Duncan would never deign to send their own children. What a disgrace."

* * * * * * * * *

And so I ask you reasonable Democrats: who are the racists here? Which party embraces failed policies, year after year and decade after decade?

And which party wants to fight the tyranny of Statism, dependency and racism?

The answers are obvious. All who favor liberty -- whether they are black, white, rich or poor -- should vote Republican.


Obama’s Demagoguery Another Loser in NY-9 [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Overlooked, or at least given short shrift, in the analysis of the Democrat’s stunning defeat in NY 9 has been the age of the average voter. It’s relatively high and the elderly make up an usually large percentage of the electorate in the district.

The losing Democrat, David Weprin, tried to turn that to his advantage by incessantly “warning” that Republican ogres wanted to gut Social Security/Medicare benefits.

Judging by the results, the tactic "flopped in spectacular fashion." And if it won’t work there, it won’t work anywhere. That’s is more bad news for a floundering president who is using “Mediscare” as one pillar of his reelection strategy. It should also send a message to Republicans that there is a lot to be gained by doing what’s right, as long as they take the time to explain their policies to the American people.


Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) reveals her inner Marxist: Taxpayers "don't deserve" to keep their money because it rightfully belongs to the government

It's long past time that Americans began demanding that Congressional representatives honor their oaths of office. So when lawless, progressive kooks like Jan Schakowsky inadvertently reveal their true agenda, we can no longer sit idly by hoping for the best.

During an interview on Chicago's WLS AM radio with Don Wade and Roma, Schakowsky positioned the massive, bloated, federal government as the rightful owner of your property.

Schakowsky said that Americans don't deserve to keep all of their money because we need taxes to support our society.

"I’ll put it this way. You don’t deserve to keep all of it and it’s not a question of deserving because what government is, is those things that we decide to do together. And there are many things that we decide to do together like have our national security. Like have police and fire. What about the people that work at the National Institute of Health who are looking for a cure for cancer,” Schakowsky said.

Schakowsky also says one reason the 2009 stimulus bill did not succeed was because it was not large enough.

Schakowsky also admitted there are questions about the Obama administration's connection to the now bankrupt Solyndra solar panel company... The administration approved nearly $528 million in federal loans to the company, before Solyndra filed for bankruptcy... "You know, it certainly doesn't sound good. The Democrats are not going to shrink from actually, you know, from any kind of full investigation of that. If there is a problem we're certainly going to support the efforts to get to the bottom of this," Schakowsky said...

I won't hold my breath.

I call on the House of Representatives to censure Schakowsky for her gross violation of her oath of office.

Progressivism is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. I sincerely hope that, in the not too distant future, any self-admitted "progressive" will be ineligible to hold public office. Because you can't be a progressive and honestly take an oath to uphold the Constitution.


Hat tip: D&S.

Larwyn's Linx: New report cites 'regulatory tsunami' under Obama

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

New report cites 'regulatory tsunami' under Obama: York
Obama to Tout Jobs Act at Company that Outsources: Dossier
Using Twitter Can Get You Murdered In Mexico: RWN

Obama's in Trouble: FreedomWorks
Free Kinde Durkee!: Hayride
Ron Paul and the Neoliberal Reeducation Campaign: Lord

Economy

Food Stamps: A Microcosm of Out-of-Control Government: Blumer
Social Security Ponzi Scheme Nearing Point of Collapse: RWN
Obama's Jobs Bill Should Get The Pink Slip: IBD

Card Check: It's Baaack!: Daifallah
Another Obama Record!… Poverty Rate Soars to 18 Year High: GWP
Obama's Brain Jarrett: Pass Jobs Plan 'Right This Minute': AT

‘A Labor Secretary As Clueless as the President’: Driscoll
‘Fear Is Coursing through the Corridors of Brussels’: Belmont Club
U.S. Postal Service could shut down by winter: UPI

Solargate and Gunrunner

Solargate Unraveled: IBD
Fast and Furious update: 3 more murders tied to Gunwalker: Malkin
Obama says he "did not learn about Fast and Furious until the operation went badly wrong": Sipsey

Climate & Energy

Mann Acts: AmSpec
Nobel Laureate Resigns From American Physical Society, Citing Global Warming Nonsense As Reason: Ace
EPA Regulations Still Killing Jobs: IBD

Media

Freedom of Speech? No Thanks, We Prefer to Censor Ourselves.: Dewey
Fight the Truth!: Cold Fury
Obama on the Ropes? Two GOP Polls Say He's At His Lowest Point (So Far...): Ace

Actual Surprise: ABC News Covers Solyndra, Top of the Show: Ace
GOP upset win in NY portends challenge for Obama: C&S
The Objectivity of Paul Krugman: Economic Noise

Barack's Fear Factor: Driscoll
Did Michele Bachmann See This Before She Blew Up The Gardasil Controversy?: Hayride
Liberal Radio Talks of Killing Rumsfeld, 'Prehistoric Reptiles' of Tea Party: NB

Goon Squad TV: Hilarious ‘Attack Watch’ Commercial Goes Viral: GWP
What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?: RWN
Take Your Quisling "Attack Watch" Snitch Site and Shove It: Zilla

World

The Original September 11: President Franklin Roosevelt Announces the Pearl Harbor Unpleasantness :BRubin
Our Canine Heroes and Islamic Dogophobia: Knish
Grifters of 'Al Saud, Inc.': How Saudi royals get their wealth: Wikileaks

Islamic Spring… Netanyahu Orders Evacuation of Israeli Embassy in Jordan Ahead of Protests: GWP
Exposed: Ron Paul’s Foreign Policy Ignorance and Naivete: Ibrahim
Jewish Civil Rights Group Warns Columbia About Entertaining Ahmadinejad… Again!: Simon

Canadian Judges Expand Abortion Rights Into 4th Trimester: BlogProf
SIGINT: Drug cartels using encrypted commo network: Kit Up!
Slaves found living in filth: SMH

Sci-Tech

Facebook IPO Likely Delayed Until Late 2012: CNBC
The best lesson from Disrupt: Simplify: CNet
Over 1 Billion People Use Social Networks Today, And Other Stats: Crunch

Cornucopia

Five Bucks a Pop: iOTW
What Designing Women Want: a Mop to Clean up this Mess?: MOTUS
Drive Recklessly: Feral Irishman

When the Amish go rogue, the mug shots are epic: We don't need your stinking orange safety triangles: TSG
One Million Hits: JPA
Machine Gun Preacher: C&S

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Karen Harrington Money Bomb: Fire Debbie Wasserman-Schultz!

QOTD: "The brilliant Rara Avis with the All-Ivy education seems to have never heard the first lesson of politics: Vox Populi, Vox Dei. For three miserable, arrogant years he has governed directly against the wishes of the public, gambling that he knew everything, and we knew nothing, and so, at the end of his three year Rogue Regime, the fruits of his wisdom would fatten on the tree, and we would see how wrong we were, and drink the nectar of his successes.

But that's not what happened. He repeatedly ignored the wishes of the public and the loyal opposition in the GOP.

Therefore, he owns this situation. Him and the Democrats, entirely. They did not share decision-making, so they cannot now demand we all share in the blame.

He bet on himself, and more importantly, he bet against the American people, and the longstanding traditions of America.

He lost. He lost big. He lost it all.

And he has no one to blame but his ego. And maybe his early mentors who filled his head with radical socialist twaddle." --Ace

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

More Great News From the Obama Depression: Nearly a Quarter of All Residential Mortgages Are Underwater

Despite HAMP, HEMP, HARP and every other exercise in central planning, the housing market is horrific.

CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today released Q2 negative equity data showing that 10.9 million, or 22.5 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the second quarter of 2011...

• Nevada had the highest negative equity percentage with 60 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (49 percent), Florida (45 percent), Michigan (36 percent) and California (30 percent)...

• Negative equity significantly limits the ability of borrowers to capture the benefit of the low-rate environment... More than 40 percent of borrowers with 125 percent or higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratios have mortgages with rates at 6 percent or above, compared to only 17 percent for borrowers with positive equity.

I blame racist Tea Party extremists.


Related: Compulsive Intervention Disorder

Solyndra Execs Delay Their Testimony (Shredder Sale at Office Depot!) While DOE Loan Chief Throws Everyone On His Staff Under the Bus

Solargate, also known as the Solyndra Scandal, involves a bizarre $535 million loan by the Obama administration to a doomed "green energy" company. Oh, and did I mention that said "green energy" company was headed by major Obama campaign contributors?

And did I mention that Solyndra received said loan even though everyone knew that said company was doomed from the start?

Jonathan Silver is "Executive Director of the Loans Programs Office for the Energy Department". He was called to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today and, under intense questioning, he threw his staff under the bus.

Silver said private investors who loaned $1.1 billion for the Fremont facility were also taken by surprise. He pinned blame for the bankruptcy on more than $20 billion in direct investment by the Chinese government in solar manufacturers who now dominate the industry...

...Republicans also charged that the administration broke the law under the Energy Policy Act, which prohibits the government from subordinating a taxpayer-backed loan to loans by private investors. The administration agreed last fall to restructure the loan and to put taxpayers in line behind an additional $75 million ponied up by private investors...

It turns out that Solyndra's corporate executives have, eh, delayed their testimony before Congress.

Solyndra LLC Chief Executive Officer Brian Harrison and Chief Financial Officer Bill Stover have postponed their previously scheduled congressional testimony until sometime next week. Harrison and Stover were scheduled to testify tomorrow after the company filed for bankruptcy protection following a $535 million U.S. loan guarantee.

Emails obtained by ABC News prove that the White House knew Solyndra was a failed business before it rammed the loan through the approval process. But I'm sure that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Solyndra's backers were huge Obama campaign contributors.

Jimmy Carter wasted billions on solar programs. Apparently Washington hasn't gotten the message: Stop spending our children's money on bulls*** green energy programs. Schmucks.


Image: GigaOm.

Collector's Edition Newspaper Front Pages From the Historic NY-9 Race

I don't know what the esteemed publishers at iOwnTheWorld charge for their original newspaper cover, but these are keepers:

Chuck Schumer -- whose held this seat long before Weiner -- hardest hit.


These are the wistful moments when even the most addled drones realize that Obama's shark has been, like, totally jumped

What do you call it when someone has, like, jumped the shark so thoroughly that the shark actually died and the President Fonz grilled it on the beach? I mean, besides woefully pathetic?

• Obama: "If you love me, ask Congress to pass my jobs bill!"

• Obama campaign sends creeper email with subject "Sometime soon, can we meet for dinner?"

• Bloomberg: Americans Overwhelmingly Reject Obama's So-Called 'Jobs' Plan

• Obama campaign reinstates its snitch squad with AttackWatch.com and instantly becomes the laughingstock of the Internet

• Conservative Congressman nabs 'American Jobs Act' with his own legislation after Dems forget to file it

Say, drones, don't you wistfully look back and wonder what might have been?

Like, if the hope and change and changey-hope and hopey-change had actually come true? I mean, ignoring the fact that progressivism, or whatever you call your brand of Statism, has never worked, in all of world history. You know, if -- despite that -- that Obama's bizarre, job-killing agenda could have actually made America a better country?

Which is kinda like believing in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, but still?

Oh, and a word of advice for you Democrat politicians:

RUN AWAY!!!