Monday, September 19, 2011

Top Five Reasons To Abolish the Department of Education

Obliterating the Department of Education isn't a radical idea. Consider the top five reasons to get the federal government out of the school business:

5. Spending by the Department of Education has skyrocketed with absolutely no effect on test scores. While spending at the federal level has increased at a frightening rate, "student test scores in math, reading and science have remained flat or declined over the past four decades."

4. Why? Because under this administration the Department of Education isn't interested in proven programs to help students like school choice and vouchers. In fact, it battles school choice on every front imaginable.

3. Why? Because the 2009 Stimulus was -- and the latest "Jobs" bill is -- nothing but a payoff to the teachers' unions to fuel Democrats' campaign coffers. By keeping teachers employed, even if a school district can't afford them, the Democrats ensure that union dues keep flowing, which are laundered into campaign contributions.

2. Because it's been an abysmal failure that we can't afford: the Department of Education’s 2011 budget is nearly six times its original budget. It has increased from $13.1 billion (in 2007 dollars) in 1980 to $77.8 billion in 2011. And, by every measure, it's been a horrific waste of money, which the United States simply can't tolerate in its current fiscal situation.

1. Finally, there is absolutely no Constitutional authority for the Department of Education. The 1996 GOP platform read, “the Federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to control jobs in the market place. This is why we will abolish the Department of Education, end federal meddling in our schools, and promote family choice at all levels of learning.”

So I urge you to support the eradication of this useless, unconstitutional appendage of the teachers' unions.

In fact, do it for the children.


Linked by: White House Dossier. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: In Focus -- A Constitution

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

In Focus: A Constitution: BasicsProject
The Politicized Hiring of Eric Holder’s Appellate Section: PJM
Class Warfare: Former Clinton Adviser Calls Out Obama: NB

The challenge of Constitution Day: Times
A Tree Party Rebellion: Townhall
Socialist Congressmen Compromise US Security?: Loudon (2007)

Day of FAIL: Nationwide anti-capitalist revolution flops: Zombie
Day of Rage: Occupy Wall Street: UrbInf
Anarchist Theater – Days of Stage: NoisyRm

Economy

'Pass This Jobs Bill!': Steyn
Snail Mail Spam Subsidies Stuttering Towards A Stop: Mead
Is September 20 Greek Default Day?: ZH

Obama to Seek $1.5 Trillion in Tax Hikes on Monday: GWP
Supermarket Union Striking Over... $9/week: RWN
Californians: Do not get sick later this week: Bookworm

Gunrunner & Solyndra

Obama an ‘Early Investor’ in LightSquared: LoneCon
The tale of two Obama scandals traverse risky tech, politics & money: GigaOm
Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program: SacBee

Rahm Emanuel on Solyndra: ‘I don’t remember’: DC
LightSquared: Another Solyndra?: The State
Obama's 'enterprise': Serious questions: TribLive

Media

The media’s love affair with a disastrous president: Rex Murphy
What do Tom Friedman and Hamas have in common?: Elder
Visitors “profoundly shaken” by “evil” at academic pro-pedophilia conference: BeliefNet

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on Making Our Democracy Work: Hewitt
Leading US Atheist Calls for "Eradication" of Christians: BlogProf
The Wonk Who Wasn't There: Driscoll

Holy Freaking Crap: RSM
Emanuel Cleaver: CBC Would Probably Be Marching on the White House if Obama Wasn’t President: Malkin
Breitbart: Fire the First Shot: iOTW

World

The Wages of Multiculturalism in the Democratic West: PJM
Erdogan Has Good Reason To Be Crazy: PJM
Greece Seeks Further Cuts: WSJ

Islamic Sexuality: A Survey of Evil: Barnhardt
New Saudi Fatwa Defends Pedophilia as 'Marriage': Ibrahim
Islamic Sharia Law comes to Antwerp: Creeping

Ground Zero Victory Mosque Opens “Community Space”: Creeping
Mahmoud Abbas: We Will Never Recognize Israel as a Jewish State -Are You Listening Obama?: Lid
Of course, Tom Friedman blames Bibi and his coalition government: TAB

Sci-Tech

1 Million Dead in 30 Seconds: CityJrnl
DoD’s ‘Ace In the Hole’ for Space Warfare: DefTech
Netflix CEO: 'I slid into arrogance': CNet

Cornucopia

18 lessons from 5 years around the world: Nomadic Matt
This Week in Automotivators, September 12-18: RWN
Michelle Obama: All Dada All the Time: MOTUS

Image: X-37B (DefTech)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help! America’s Job Creators Are About To Be Sucker Punched!

QOTD: "...the press gave the great American republic an untried, unknown and, it is becoming more and more frighteningly clear, incompetent figure as President. Under Obama, America’s foreign policies are a mixture of confusion and costly impotence. It is increasingly bypassed or derided; the great approach to the Muslim world, symbolized by the Cairo speech, is in tatters. Its debt and deficits are a weight on the entire global economy. And the office of presidency is less and less a symbol of strength.

To the degree the press neglected its function as watchdog and turned cupbearer to a styrofoam demigod, it is a partner in the flaws and failures of what is turning out to be one of the most miserable performances in the modern history of the American presidency." --Rex Murphy

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Gift Ideas for Democrats and Americans

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I've included a gift idea for Democrats on the left and one for Americans on the right.

Unicorn Meat is available here and Bacon Balm here.


Readers' Views: Objection from a former sailor


Hat tip: Jack is Back!.

Attention AFL-CIO, IBEW, Teamsters and UMW Members: Your Christmas Gift From the White House is Here... 116,000 Layoffs

CleanTechnica gleefully reports that effective January 2012, the EPA is scheduled to shut down 20 percent of all coal plants in America.

The EPA will shut down an estimated 20% of the nation’s coal plants through the ground-level ozone rule (the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) ) through cap and trade that is about to be implemented in January 2012. Opponents of the Obama administration’s “over-reaching” EPA say these are costly regulations. Financial analysts estimate that the cost of this rule will be $130 billion by 2015. But if that figure is correct, that’s good news for the US economy.

...Because there is another way of looking at that $130 billion “expense”. One industry’s expense is another industry’s sales bonanza. For the coal industry’s balance sheet, it is an expense, but think about who is going to perform this $130 billion cleanup – fairies? Hardly. This is a job for real American industries...

Consider the raw idiocy behind this line of "reasoning":

• America's coal industry employs 126,000 workers directly and another 455,000 workers whose jobs are indirectly dependent upon the coal industry.

• Closing 20% of America's coal factories will result in the immediate layoffs of about 116,000 workers, many of them union members in the mining, electrical, transportation and service industries.

Blackouts and brownouts will become commonplace: there is no way to shutter roughly 10% of America's electric generation capacity without causing shortages and rationing.

• And simple supply-and-demand will cause skyrocketing prices for electricity, which will be paid for directly by retail customers (you and I) as well as businesses, which will also pass those costs on to consumers like -- yes -- you and I.

The executive summary for you hard-working, dues-paying members of the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Teamsters and the United Mine Workers: the Democrat Party is now aligned with the hard-left Eco-Marxist movement and it is using your money to destroy your jobs.

Remember in 2012.


Europe has its own SCOAMF and it's called the Eurozone: Ex-PM Gordon Brown admits that "it's an hour to midnight"

Last week's band-aids and bailing wire are wearing away as Europe's debt problems continue to multiply.

Without another infusion of cash from the EU, the European Central Bank and the IMF, Greece is slated to run out of money by mid-October. And U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner rushed to Poland last week -- to urge a resolution to the crisis -- only to be openly mocked and humiliated.

Europe is digging an ever-deeper hole as it vows to resolve the eurozone crisis, experts said Sunday as Greece prepares for a pivotal week of international debt diplomacy... Plagued by "parochialism, pettiness and procrastination," according to Sony Kapoor, head of the Re-define think tank, "kill the messenger seems to be the new strategy," he told AFP en route to New York and a frantic week at International Monetary Fund, World Bank and G20 gatherings...

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet was more upbeat of the 17-nation eurozone's debt situation, insisting that "taken as a whole, it is probably better than other major advanced economies... The United States is in a far worse position, both in terms of its annual deficit and its runaway national debts."

...Trichet's remark was seen as a pointed rebuttal to implied criticism by Geithner, who warned during talks with EU counterparts in Wroclaw, Poland that "governments and central banks need to take out the catastrophic risk to markets."

In an eloquent put-down, Trichet said he didn't quite understand precisely, a tack echoed by former French foreign minister Michel Barnier who quipped that the EU could perhaps invite China's finance minister next time out... The European Union adopted its defiant stand towards Geithner after delaying a decision on when to release blocked bailout loans for Greece.

The price to insure one-year debt issued by Greece (i.e., the one-year CDS) is currently 110 as of this writing, which means the market is still pricing in a complete default by the socialist government.

Over the last 16 hours, the price of gold has soared $50/oz., bringing it back above the $1,800 benchmark.

Yesterday the Prime Minister of Greece canceled a planned trip to the United States "because of the gravity of his country's financial crisis."

And former Prime Minister of England Gordon Brown has as much as admitted that the entire Eurozone is a SCOAMF.

...The euro cannot survive in its present form, it’s going to have to be reformed dramatically. We are I think at an hour to midnight in the way that we look at this issue...

European banks as a whole are grossly under-capitalized... In 2008, governments could intervene to sort out the problems of banks. In 2011, banks have problems, but so too do governments... We’ve now got the interplay between banks that are not properly capitalized and sovereign debt problems that have arisen partly because we’ve socialized or accepted responsibility for the banks’ liabilities.

At some point in the very near future, the world will be forced to acknowledge the failed progressive-socialist policies of centrally-planned "fairness", unlimited welfare, open immigration policies and heavy unionization.

It's unfortunate that the lesson will be learned -- once again -- by the world's poorest souls who were led down the same catastrophic, Statist path by liberals, who have never gotten a single policy right, ever.


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 Pasarán!
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

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

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.