Saturday, October 29, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea: Heritage
Emailed back to Dick Durbin: ProWis *
Herman Cain Sails Into Uncharted Seas: RSM

Michelle: GOP Would Curb Freedom of Speech, Religion: Dossier
Michelle Obama, Attack Dog?: Power Line
Romney So Far: No Core Beliefs, Many Flip-Flops: IBD

Chump Who Shunned Lobbyists Takes Money From Lobbyists: RWN
Rick Perry in New Hampshire: I’m here to win!: Scoop
The True Threat of Herman Cain: Townhall

Economy

Two disparate yet intimately connected factoids: ProWis *
Union Bosses: Busted!: RS
Swamp-drainer defends HHS waivers: 'they're small companies': GWP

Shredding Kathleen Sebelius: Malkin
Rock Star President Delivers Rock Bottom Results: ConBlkChk
Cheaters Must Not Prosper: Mead

Gunrunner & Solyndra

Holder Agrees to Testify on Operation Fast and Furious: Fox
Fast and Furious: Reaching the Unreachable Man: Hayward
Secretary of State Clinton on ATF Fast and Furious: Who Knew?: Truth About Guns

Occupy

The Right to Poo and Van Jones Skepticism: Just Another Day at OccupySF: Zombie
Occupy Madison Permit Yanked For Public Masturbation: AllAm
Progress: Only 'Three or Four' Incidents of Sexual Assault in Zuccotti Park: JWF

Media

Notes from the Underground #4: Amerikazam
Figures. Oakland P.D. Says Marine-Hater Scott Olsen Likely Hit By Something Thrown By Protesters: GWP
This Makes Perfect Sense to a Racist: iOTW

Obama Rezko problem remains despite Fitzgerald, Holder, USDOJ and media : CitizenWells
The Divider vs. the Thinker: Noonan
Richard Epstein Explains the Inequality Myth on PBS: HyScience

The Washington Post Just Might Favor Obama For Re-Election: Ace
‘Suspended Election Revolution’ by Barry & the Obamunists; Does it Play?: Gulag Bound
Many Obama donors in 2008 race are a no-show [sic]: AP

World

Europe: "You Are Entering a Sharia Controlled Zone" --- Hezbollah Pitches Tent in Denmark: Hudson
Islamic Law Conquering the U.S. : Radical
DHS Gave Secret Clearance to Islamist now Accused of Leaking Classified Data: Creeping

Muslims with automatic weapons attack US Embassy in Bosnia (video): Creeping
Did Libya Rebel Fighter Sodomize Gaddafi?: Spew
Europe Debt Crisis Resolution Critical to Obama Re-Election Bid: BizWk

Obama's Libyan Disaster: FPM
The Tyrant Is Dead, Long Live the Tyrant: Sultan Knish
Libyan 'Crossfire': Krauthammer

Sci-Tech

Look out: Fossil fuels may be out-innovating green tech: CNet
Google Plus Adds Powerful Photo Edit Suite. Free: Wired
Elon Musk: Shooting for the Stars: WSJ

Porsche-Designed BlackBerry Is a Sleek Slab of Steel: Wired
Legal Synthetic Marijuana-like Drug “Spice” Kills 13-Year Old: Spew
Can Open Source Asterisk Find Its Place in the IP PBX Space?: VAR Guy

Cornucopia

Nutshelled Nicely Part II: iOTW
Please Send Ideas. Right Away!: MOTUS
Marketing Genius From Germany: C&S (NSFW)

* Update: Protein Wisdom appears to be back online with its security issues resolved (Earlier note: Protein Wisdom is currently showing up as an "attack page" on certain browsers. I've notified the owner and disabled the links until the situation is resolved).

Image: #OccupyPortland Protesters Vandalize and Dance on War Memorial
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Perry for President

QOTD: [With a major snowstorm predicted for New York City, it] "Looks like some faith in Global Warming™ is about to be tested...

I'm betting it won't be long until #OccupyWallStreet becomes #reOccupyMomsBasement." --Andy

Friday, October 28, 2011

White House orders "investigation" of Solyndra and other "loans" to Obama's political supporters plus other worthy recipients

To be fair, the lead investigator is a former executive at Fannie Mae, so I'm sure the review will be, eh, exhaustive. You know, with the kind of rigor that someone like, say, Jamie Gorelick might muster.

On the defensive over a half-billion-dollar loan to a now-bankrupt solar company, the White House on Friday ordered an independent review of similar loans made by the Energy Department, its latest response to rising criticism over Solyndra Inc.

The announcement came as House Republicans prepared for a possible vote next week to subpoena White House documents related to the defunct California company.

White House officials said the review would assess the health of more than two dozen other renewable energy loans and loan guarantees made by the Energy Department program that supported Solyndra. Congressional Republicans have been investigating the company's bankruptcy amid embarrassing revelations that federal officials were warned it had problems but nonetheless continued to support it, and sent President Barack Obama to visit the company and praise it publicly.

...Daley said the review would be conducted by former Treasury official Herb Allison, who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program, part of the 2008 Wall Street bailout. The review would not look at the Solyndra case but would evaluate other loans worth tens of billions of dollars and recommend steps to stabilize them if they appear to have problems like the loan to Solyndra.

...The White House has already refused a request by the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee for all its internal communications about Solyndra, which closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, costing 1,100 jobs.

GOP Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan and Cliff Stearns of Florida said Friday a subpoena was necessary because the White House has denied its requests for documents. Upton chairs the Energy and Commerce panel, while Stearns leads a subcommittee on investigations. Recently released emails and other documents show that White House officials participated in decisions regarding the Solyndra loan.

"What is the White House trying to hide from the American public?" Stearns and Upton asked in a joint statement. "It is alarming for the Obama White House to cast aside its vows of transparency and block Congress from learning more about the roles that those in the White House and other members of the administration played in the Solyndra mess."

...The Obama administration has released thousands of emails — but withheld thousands more — concerning the $528 million loan... The White House also has said it would not release Obama's BlackBerry messages — which if released would be a presidential first.

Any subpoena of White House records could trigger a claim of executive privilege by the Obama administration and elevate the political stakes, although the issue could also be resolved through negotiations.

Gee. A constitutional crisis? Involving the Obama administration?

Over a few billion of the taxpayers' dough that ended up in Democrat backers' pockets?

The White House may claim "executive privilege", but as Chief Justice Warren Burger aptly put it, executive privilege would most effectively apply when the oversight of the executive would impair that branch's national security concern.

And last I checked, Solyndra wasn't exactly a national security concern.


Related: Your Handy Dandy EnergyGate Cheat Sheet.

Great news: EPA chief Lisa Jackson agitating college activists to shut down power stations

I wonder how these climatards plan to survive winter?

College environmental activists met Thursday with Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to tell her what they're doing at their schools to try to shut down campus coal-fired heating plants.

"It's so important that your voices are heard, that campuses that are supposed to be teaching people aren't meanwhile polluting the surrounding community with mercury and costing the children a few IQ points because of the need to generate power. It's simply not fair," Jackson said.

The three dozen student activists from coal-consuming states such as Georgia, Kentucky and Indiana included leaders of Sierra Club campus groups that have been pushing to switch from coal to cleaner forms of energy.

"Make sure we don't lose what we have already in trying to keep stretching forward," Jackson told them. "Because it would be tragic if we take one step forward and then we end up taking five or six steps back."

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have held 168 roll-call votes so far this year on measures that would reduce the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, waste-disposal laws and other national laws.

"None of them are safe right now," Jackson said of those environmental-protection statutes. "It was my generation and a generation before who advocated in the '60s until 1970, and finally they created the EPA in 1970. You would think all that's behind us? We're talking about losing all that."

..."In Indiana we get more than 90 percent of our electricity from coal. This means that fish in our lakes and streams are polluted with mercury and other pollutants from coal ash and combustion," [one student] said.

Johnson said he faced a lot of opposition on campus in Kentucky, a leading coal-producing state. He said the school's two coal plants, both around 50 years old, were close to the university's two hospitals and classrooms. "It's a serious public health issue," he said.

Really?

Really?

Lacking only evidence, logic, and reason, these gullible crackpots are perfectly willing to follow Marxists like Lisa Jackson on their malevolent mission to transform this society into North Korea.


Remembering al-Awlaki

The invaluable Jawa Report solicited remembrances of the late terrorists Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Kahn who each passed away from a massive overdose of lead poisoning. Two of the best:


Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of scumbags.


Too Good to Check: Parade Floats From the Dusseldorf Carnival [Papa B]

Papa B:

These floats were part of the annual Carnival Parade in Germany watched by an estimated three million people. With our liberal press, it is interesting to see that German citizens seem to learn more truth about the U.S. political system and environment than the majority of citizens on the streets of America.





It's not just folks overseas.

Even the Associated Press is reporting the uncomfortable truth: "Many Obama donors in 2008 race are a no-show" [sic].


Laughter heard throughout the 57 states

Remember the era when hopenchange was shiny and new, like a virgin?

In this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another, to make us afraid of one another.

The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe.

What's happened since then? Well, to paraphrase a bumper-sticker, s*** happened. S*** like failed "Stimulus" programs, HAMP, HARP, Cash-for-Clunkers, Obamacare, "Financial Reform", permanent 9% unemployment and 20% underemployment, the unlawful takeovers of GM and Chrysler, "Quantitative Easing", a couple of new wars, $5.2 trillion in new Obama debt and a Presidential approval rating of -22.

Perhaps that explains the bold new rhetoric of our beloved Organizer-in-Chief:

October 25, 2010: "If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us...'"

March 12, 2011: "In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. And I refuse to renew them again."

April 13, 2011: "[The GOP] vision... says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. Who are these 50 million Americans? Many are somebody’s grandparents — may be one of yours — who wouldn’t be able to afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Some of these kids with disabilities are — the disabilities are so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves."

July 1, 2011: "You go talk to your constituents and ask them, ‘Are you willing to compromise your kids' safety so some corporate-jet owner can get a tax break?"

September 19, 2011: "Middle-class families shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. That’s pretty straightforward. It’s hard to argue against that."

October 18, 2011: "I believe America should be... a place where every child, no matter what they look like, where they come from, should have a chance to succeed... none of this matters to Republicans..."

Pop quiz, worth a cool 50 points: who is the most divisive President in American history?


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: Dems' hot new talking point: it’s the 'Republican Congress'

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Dems' Hot New Talking Point: It’s The 'Republican Congress': Hot Air
Shut Up, Part II: iOTW
Obama Rips America Again: Tatler

Obama Truly Is The First Un-American President: Riehl
How To Speak Liberal: 20 Words And Phrases Translated: RWN
Shredding Kathleen Sebelius: RWN

Do not Ignore the Most Dangerous Story of the Week: John Galt
Is the POTUS Stirring Up a Revolution?: AT
Bravo, Richmond Tea Party: Tatler

Economy

Is it true that the poor ye always have with you?: Bookworm
Michelle to hold fund-raiser at Enron trader’s mansion: Surber
Obama's Student Loan Fraud: EIB

EU's Debt Deal Doesn't End The Crisis: IBD
FLOTUS Attending Fundraiser At Home of Ex-Enron Executive: WZ
MetLife: Fed Blocks Dividend Increase, Buyback Plans: InsJrnl

Gunrunner & Energygate

BREAKING: PJ Media Finds Gunwalker’s ‘Unreachable’ Man in the White House: PJM
Holder's 'Right To Lie': IBD
Clinton: DOJ didn't give State a ‘heads up’ about Fast and Furious : Hill

Climate & Energy

Occupy EPA, Not Wall Street: IBD
Romney silent as his ‘green quarterback’ pushes coal regulations inside Obama’s EPA: DC
Climate scientists and their excuses: WUWT

Occupy Idiocy

David Duke Endorses #OWS!: Moe Lane
Andy Thayer, under investigation by the FBI for possible terror ties, speaks at OccupyChicago: Marathon
Grand Wizard of KKK Endorses #OWS, Neo-Nazis Patrol #OccupyPhoenix With AR-15s, Media Silent: GWP

Media

James O'Keefe Scores Another Hit: Ace
Carney: Obama Exercising His Executive Authority To Help Americans: RCP
NBC's Matt Lauer Urges Obama to Prevent Unfair 'Income Distribution': NB

Fareed Zakaria : You Know, We Are Being Way Too Hard On Iran: Ace
CNN’s John King Defends Joe Biden’s Honor; Demands Satisfaction: Malkin
Did Obama appointee access confidential database in effort to smear Perry as an “Islamophobe”?: NRO

A New Level of Hypocrisy: Ace
My Challenge to Paul Krugman: Cafe Hayek
Jennifer Rubin is Not a Conservative and Erick Erickson is Not an Anti-Semite: Lid

World

Did the Libyan Leadership Deceive the West?: JCPA
Grave New World: Camp of the Saints
Israel’s Energy Discovery: Game-Changer?: Spyer

WAAAAAAAAAH!!! CAIR Says Allen West “Fueling Bigotry And Intolerance”: WZ
Unreal. Muslims File Suit – Say Crosses at Catholic University Are Offensive: GWP
Learning from Hamas: using human shields: Pollak

Boxing Brothers on the Soviets' Communist Propaganda: Instapundit
Rescuing Europe: A Solution or a Stopgap?: RCP
Our Libyan Adventure: NRO

Sci-Tech

Who Else Was Hit by the RSA Attackers?: Krebs
Rep. Lofgren: Copyright bill is the 'end of the Internet': CNet
Six Deadly Security Blunders Businesses Make: Dark Reading

Cornucopia

The 10 Funniest Occupy Wall Street “I Am The 99%” Parody Pics: RWN
Hornady Manufacturing Has You Covered For All Your Needs: iOTW
Moshe Rabbeinu and NASA: Rabbi Lazer Brody

Rice, Beans and Candy: Thank You Dear Leader!: MOTUS
The Last, Hard, Line: CivilLibert
Flogging Tribal Wisdom: SHN

Image: The real 99% - a slum in Jakarta
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Herman Cain for President

QOTD: "In the good old days, Greece would simply default on its debt: the drachma would hit the floor, and everyone would go there for a cheap holiday – helping export its way to recovery. That’s how economies are supposed to work. But now, Greece is trapped within the eurozone, and being treated with German fiscal medicine. To rub salt in the wound, the bail-out has little to do with saving Greece, and far more with saving the foreign banks that foolishly loaned its government 130 billion euros.

This has, entirely understandably, reawakened old concerns about German strength. In 1997, Martin Feldstein, a Harvard academic, predicted precisely this: that the contradictions within the euro would not just lead to its collapse, but to the return of nationalism. His analysis, dismissed as fantasy at the time, looks dangerously plausible now." --Fraser Nelson

Thursday, October 27, 2011

RED ALERT: Just in time for 2012 election, FCC preparing to launch stealth 'Fairness Doctrine'

Yesterday, our broadcast industry tipster alerted us to a bizarre, FCC-directed national broadcast test (see "Exactly one year before the 2012 election, Obama FCC schedules first-ever nationwide test of emergency broadcast system").

Today, Ten Mile Island gives us more ominous information:

The FCC is expected to issue a proposal tomorrow (today) which will, if adopted, require broadcasters to provide much more detailed information and reports on the programming they air.

Instead of quarterly 'Issues/Program Lists' (which already viewed as an unduly burdensome requirement and seldom if ever used by the public) the FCC is looking to have stations fill out a new and more complicated form which would be posted on the stations’ websites.

The program reporting requirement would require a station to glean programming information based on two composite weeks per quarter (presumably selected by the FCC) and insert the results of their analysis into a form which would then be posted on the station website. In addition to the new programming information, all of the required data maintained in the station’s political file would also have to be posted on the website.

Not only will the web site posting requirement be labor intensive (particularly for small market stations) but they will reveal any required programming postings and other filings which fail to meet the various filing deadlines for required information. The newly proposed rules would also provide easy access to opponents and protest groups to gather information for petitions to deny and complaints to challenge license renewals and any other applications filed by the stations.

Our government masters will require us to be suitably engaged in social justice.

In other words, just in time for the 2012 elections, the FCC will help accelerate license challenges against "uncooperative" radio stations: namely, those stations that feature conservative talk radio.

Just before Barack Obama took his oath of office, Jim Boulet Jr. warned us that efforts like these are designed to supplant the Orwellian "Fairness Doctrine". It's not that progressives gave up trying to censor free speech when they dropped their push for "Fairness", it's that they're using more underhanded tactics to do so. Tactics like "localism":

Remember that an FCC license is required for any radio or television station to legally operate in the United States. A single complaint from anyone can significantly hinder a station's license renewal process or even cost the station its FCC license entirely...

These random efforts could be far more effective at silencing conservatives if they could only be systematized and institutionalized. That is exactly what the FCC proposed on January 24th. Every radio and television station would be required to create:

[P]ermanent advisory boards comprised of local officials and other community leaders, to periodically advise them of local needs and issues, and seek comment on the matter. ...

To ensure that these discussions include representatives of all community elements, these boards would be made up of leaders of various segments of the community, including underserved groups.


The "community advisory board as permanent complaint department" model may well be based upon the 1995 revisions of the Community Reinvestment Act [that helped touch off the mortgage meltdown].

If you think this administration is simply going to let conservative pundits like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh exercise their First Amendment rights without an ACORN-style fight, well, I've got a nice condo in Vegas I'd like to sell you.


Hoosiers: it's time to give Dick Lugar a well-deserved pink slip

Indiana is a conservative state. So how Dick Lugar -- a mushy, big government RINO -- has survived this long is anyone's guess. With your help, however, Hoosiers will elect a true conservative to join the likes of Mike Lee, Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey.

On October 21st, FreedomWorks PAC officially endorsed Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s primary challenge against six-term incumbent Senator Dick Lugar.

A Republican primary endorsement against an incumbent Senator is not a proposition we take lightly. Our endorsement was made only after careful deliberation over the characteristics we look for in every candidate we evaluate:

  1. Will Mourdock stand and fight for limited government, free markets, and individual liberty? Yes.
  2. Is Mourdock a viable candidate with the campaign and fundraising prowess to win? Yes.
  3. Most importantly, do our Indiana members support Mourdock’s campaign? A resounding Yes.

On Mourdock’s candidacy and conservative credentials, the Washington Post  wrote:

“Richard Mourdock is businessman who won the race for treasurer in 2006, a tough year for Republicans, and [led] the GOP ticket with more than 60 percent of the vote in 2010. He navigated the state through the financial crash and drew the attention of conservatives when he filed suit to try to block the auto bailoutMourdock is a rock-ribbed Republican who lists Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) among those with whom he identifies. He cites Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for the proposition that what Republicans need is 'quality, not quantity.' They could use both actually, and the opportunity to replace Lugar with Mourdock, who stands a good chance to win in a state the Obama camp has reportedly written off, has conservatives excited.”


If the Washington Post is quivering in fear, he must be good.

Lugar, however, is a disgrace:

...at age 79—after nearly 36 years in the Senate—Sen. Lugar has developed a knack for being routinely reckless with the causes to which he lends his name. That’s how he earned the title of “fourth most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate.”

  • Lugar voted for the Wall Street Bailout (TARP).
  • Lugar voted to bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  • Lugar voted to bailout and nationalize auto manufacturers.
  • Lugar voted for the notorious 2008 stimulus bill.
  • Lugar voted against banning earmarks.
  • Lugar voted to mandate greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Read more of Sen. Lugar’s record here.

If you have a few bucks to spare, visit Mourdock's site and kick in a fin or three.


State treasurer of MA absolutely shreds RomneyCare, which "has nearly bankrupted the state" and is surviving solely because of federal aid

The level of economic illiteracy required to believe that a one-sized-fits-all, individually-mandated, government-controlled health care system could somehow succeed is really quite stunning. Which says a lot about Mitt Romney's belief in free enterprise and the market system.

“If President Obama and the Democrats repeat the mistake of the health insurance reform here in Massachusetts on a national level, they will threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years,” Cahill said in a press conference in his office.

...[T]he state’s health insurance law…Cahill said, “has nearly bankrupted the state.”

Cahill said the law is being sustained only with the help of federal aid, which he suggested that the Obama administration is funneling to Massachusetts to help the president make the case for a similar plan in Congress... "...I would argue that we’re being propped up so that the federal government and the Obama administration can drive it through” Congress.

Commonwealth Connector, the independent state agency established to help residents find the health insurance, has “totally failed,” to create competition and connect people with affordable insurance, Cahill said, pointing out that 68 percent of the residents it serves receive subsidized care.

“We haven’t done anything about driving down costs,” Cahill said. “We haven’t helped small business. We haven’t changed the way we pay for health care and the way we deliver it.”…

Look, if Romney somehow wins the nomination, I'll support him without question against Barack Obama.

But we need to elect a conservative in 2012 who is 100% committed to the eradication of Obamacare. For if it isn't wiped from the books, I fear this country may not survive.


Related: Oh, Super: Romney Consulted With Obama Mass Sterilization Expert and Science Czar John Holdren


Hat tip: Easy Opinions.

Larwyn's Linx: If I were a liberal ...

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

If I were a liberal ...: Coulter
President Saul Alinksy Obama: AmSpec
Can This Presidential Candidate Be Trusted?: Spew

Is Education The Common Thread To Our Political Dramas?: Ace
It's Official: VIPR formally debuts in first U.S. State: Hodges
Scumbag: FBI Saw Dark Side of Dem John Murtha: Roll Call

Economy

“Club for Growth Raves Over Perry Plan”: ProWis
Little Student Loan Relief, and Never for Taxpayers: Cato
Run on the Banks starts in Greece: Mish

CLASS-less Democrats: Wolf
Stunner: ACORN helping orchestrate Occupy movement: WZ
President Cloward-Piven’s Latest Move Adds Billions to Debt: GWP

FreedomWorks reacts to the Flat Tax debate: FW
Video: Wisconsin reforms? Yes, they’re working!: Scoop
AFL-CIO head Trumka says police are "dishonoring America": WZ

Gunrunner & Solyndra

Rep. Joe Walsh to Eric Holder: You better resign immediately, buddy: Hot Air
Video: Big Sis On The Hot Seat For Fast and Furious: Nice Deb
Global Warming -- RIP?: Hanson

Occupy Idiocy

Progressives Gone Wild!: Malkin
Shocker: ACORN Paying OWS Protesters: JWF
Occupy Chicago organizers under investigation by FBI: GWP

Occupy Wall Street Demands Life Without Hardship: RWN
Haftin' To Be Uproared - Occupy Atlanta: Ace
Tea Party Demands Reimbursement of Park Fees, Notes Occupy Isn’t Paying Any: VS

Bring It On: Wall Street Responds With Leaflet Bomb On #OccupyChicago: Dollard
I Am Radically Repeating What I Was Told: Thompson
The Occupy Oakland Riots: A Timeline: Exam

Media

Attention GOP Establishment: Herman Cain Is The Frontrunner, Now – Not Romney: Nice Deb
My Take On Joe Biden’s “Rape” Comment: DPU (Language Warning)
An Anti-Semite?: Erickson

CNN Suggests Obama Should Bypass Congress on Economy, Rule by Executive Fiat: Pollak
Ultra-Lib Daily Beast Rips Leno's Obama Interview: 'Scripted by David Axelrod': NB
It fell to earth I know not where: JPA

Thursday is radical movie screening day at Eric Holder’s DOJ: Tatler
Cain and Perry are targets because they advance conservatism: EIB
Is Romney Melting Down?: RSM

World

The Left's Worst Crime in the Middle East: Greenfield
New Obama Slogan Taken from Swedish Socialist Party?: PunditPress
Thank you Germany: Evans-Pritchard

Jordan’s King Abdallah on how no one trusts Obama’s government: DC
Top Muslim cleric offers $100,000 to anyone who kidnaps Israeli soldiers...: ynet
Greece Pension Plans Insolvent; Can Spain and Portugal be Far Behind?: Mish

Sci-Tech

Modern Algorithms Crack 18th Century Secret Code: Wired
BlackBerry Bold 9900, Curve 9360 Earn MasterCard PayPass Cert, First SIM-Based Devices To Do So: Crunch
Wahoo Fitness Pack Turns iPhone Into Personal Trainer: Wired

Cornucopia

Ronald Reagan on 'What's My Line?': HillBuzz
NY Fed's $40 Billion Iraqi Money Trail: CNBC
Speed Thrills: Nearly-Naked Chick Leads Cops On 128 MPH Chase: Ace

Image: iOwnTheWorld - Underwater Wal-Mart shopping?
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Perry for President

QOTD: "The mind-boggling complexity of the current tax code helps large corporations with lawyers and accountants devise the best tax-avoidance strategies money can buy. That is why Cut, Balance and Grow also phases out corporate loopholes and special-interest tax breaks to provide a level playing field for employers of all sizes.

To help older Americans, we will eliminate the tax on Social Security benefits, boosting the incomes of 17 million current beneficiaries who see their benefits taxed if they continue to work and earn income in addition to Social Security earnings.

We will eliminate the tax on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains to free up the billions of dollars Americans are sitting on to avoid taxes on the gain." --Rick Perry, "My Tax and Spending Reform Plan "

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rep. Joe Walsh becomes fourth Congressman to demand Eric Holder resign over 'Fast and Furious' Murder Weapons

David Axelrod hardest hit.

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) today became the fourth Congressman to explicitly call for Holder to take responsibility for the lethally reckless Operation Fast and Furious and to voluntarily leave his post because of his presumed authorization of the program...

...Walsh today sent a harshly-worded letter to Holder, in which he asked Holder to “resign immediately and issue an apology to the American people [he has] failed to serve.” Walsh also took Holder to task for his stonewalling of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Fast and Furious.

But the most memorable portion of the letter came ... when Walsh delved into the seemingly-obvious-but-not-yet-confirmed motivation for the program.

Your Department ... instructed federally-licensed firearms dealers to illegally sell at least 2,000 guns that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) intended to be trafficked to drug cartels in Mexico. The results of this [operation] have implicated the United States in well over one hundred deadly crimes and the deaths of two federal agents.

This not only raises serious questions about your ability to serve as the head of the Justice Department, but also begs the question of why an anti-gun Administration would knowingly force licensed firearms dealers to sell guns to violent criminals. I raise this because Operation Fast and Furious — if the facts of this case had not come to light — would have been used by this Administration as another false argument to attack law-abiding American gun owners.

The American people deserve to know if your Department had any intent to link the legal purchase of firearms here in the U.S. to crimes committed near our southern border. Operation Fast and Furious funneled firearms legally purchased at gun shops in the U.S. to known criminal syndicates to prove these syndicates have access to legal purchased weapons. This is a deliberate attempt to vilify and attack the millions of gun owners in America who value our Second Amendment and have never broken the law.


Walsh’s posited explanation appears to be the only plausible one. Why else would the administration authorize the program — then fail to follow up to catch the criminals the program was purportedly designed to catch? Had ATF made any kind of legitimate attempt to track the weapons ... it might have been believable that the administration sought to use the program to disrupt the power of Mexican drug cartels.

Yet, Walsh’s explanation is not a fun one to believe. It’s sickening to think anyone in the administration would really be so rash and so ideologically driven as to risk the nearly inevitable results of this program — the deaths that did, in fact, result — just to prove the point that legally purchased weapons show up at violent crime scenes, just to suggest the government ought to make it harder to legally purchase guns in the first place. It’s even more terrifying to think someone as high up as Holder would be.

The Fail is strong with this one.

As is the stench of corruption, death and destruction.


161 years ago this fall [Juandos]

Juandos:

DO you know what happened 161 years ago this fall... back in 1850, in California?

• California became a state.

• The people had no electricity.

• The state had no money.

• Almost everyone spoke Spanish.

• There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically nothing has changed except back then the women had real boobs and the men didn't hold hands.

And, that is the history lesson for today...

Juandos appears to have inherited the same un-P.C. gene that Papa B possesses.


#OWS "just like the Tea Party" (except for the riots, cop-killer worship, and battles with law enforcement)

Yes, it's exactly like the Tea Party.

That is, if the Tea Party routinely battled cops, destroyed private property, defecated and had sex in public, and falsely accused law enforcement of malfeasance.

Oh, and if the Tea Party staged riots and espoused antisemitism and hatred of certain segments of American society.

Oh, and if the Tea Party's leaders included a fat, thuggish, oaf-like Marxist who despises the police.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka responded to the recent mass arrests of Occupy Wall Street protestors Thursday, calling them a “tremendous dishonor to America.”

Protestors at an Occupy Oakland demonstration clashed with police Wednesday as did protestors in Atlanta. More than 100 people were arrested in Oakland and 53 in Atlanta.

“The Occupy Wall Street movement has elevated the national conversation by shining overdue attention on the struggles of the 99% for whom the economy is broken,” Trumka said in a statement. “When people can’t raise their voices around pervasive inequality, there is a fundamental problem with how we’re functioning as a nation.”

Trumka urged officials to follow in New York Mayor Bloomberg’s footsteps and refrain from disbanding peaceful protests...

Yes, these are "peaceful riots." Kinda like the "Moderate Islamists" that have quietly assumed control of the Obama Caliphate.


Exactly one year before the 2012 election, Obama FCC schedules first-ever nationwide test of emergency broadcast system

Nothing to see here, please go about your business

Last night, just before midnight, C&S commenter "Ten Mile Island" described the FCC's bizarre demands to enact the country's first-ever nationwide test of the emergency broadcasting system.

Tonight, broadcasters across the country found out about a new, federal requirement.

On November 9th, the broadcasters and cable operators of this nation, will be airing the first national test of the Emergency Activation System. The message will be aired as an "EAN," the code for an Emergency Activation Notification.

Tonight, within hours of this post, broadcasters and cable operators learned, for the first time, that the requirements for those federally licensed operators, are required to have a new "EAS Handbook" at their individual control points. So, for more than 15,000 operations, we will be required to have, on-hand, a new document, that none of us has ever heard of before tonight.

Additionally, unknown before this evening, all broadcasters and cable operators are required to list information about their operations;

None of this was known to any of us before this evening. There was no process.

I've gone through the registration process. But there are literally thousands upon thousands of broadcasters and cable operators who will learn of this tomorrow. There will be thousands of broadcasters and cable operators who will never see this requirement pass their desks before the test, November 9th.

Why?

Because the process was entirely avoided. Is it legal? As a broadcaster, duh, yes. We live on the string pulled by Uncle Sam. Broadcasters have no rights. Only responsibilities. Is it fair? Who said anything in life is fair. Is it gentlemanly?

Are you kidding? Democrats and their stooges gentlemanly? Are you taking drugs?

Not to worry: it's just coincidental that this date is almost precisely one year to the day before the 2012 presidential election.

As an aside, can you imagine the hue and cry had Bush 43 tried this sort of thing?

If you're not just a wee bit concerned with the timing of this test, you're not paying attention.


Larwyn's Linx: Romney Chickens Out On Ohio Public Union Ballot Question

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Romney Chickens Out On Ohio Public Union Ballot Question: Ace
No Photos, Please, of Obama’s L.A. Fundraisers: Dossier
DOJ Proposes Lying, Hiding Info From FOIA Requests: STACLU

Obama Spokesman: Ignore Constitution, Act Like Dictator: WZ
Battleground: Ohio; Update: Romney waffles: Malkin
Time to Cut Off NPR: Bozell

Jeb's lame ultimatum: Are you with the sane GOP or Not?: Riehl
Joe Biden, Beltway Bubble Boy: Malkin
Failed Democrat Pol Sues Critics Over Election Loss: USN&WR

Economy

Ryan declares war on Obama’s class-warfare: Pethokoukis
California's Economic Suicide: IBD
Work One Day, Qualify for IL Pension of Over $100K/Year: AllAm

It's Not Class Warfare, It's Math: Ace
The global debt apocalypse approaches: WklyStd
Inflation Up Globally: Sinclair

Occupy

Rioting in downtown Oakland as Occupiers clash with police: Zombie
Is Occupy Oakland as bad as they say?: Zombie
They're Heeeerrrrrreeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: Zilla

Media

Herman Cain tops Mitt Romney in latest CBS/NYT poll: MoneyRunner
Actor Orlando Jones: Liberals Need to Kill Sarah Palin: NB
Why Herman Cain Electrifies the Grassroots: Five Voters Speak Out: PJM

Sniveling Biden Still Whining About Jason Mattera Asking Tough Questions; Update: Mattera Responds: JWF
Confirmed: Dirty, Corrupt Congressman Who We Suspected Was Dirty, Corrupt Was In Fact Dirty, Corrupt: Ace
Terrorist Ayers Teaches Revolutionary Theory to Young Leftists at Occupy Chicago: GWP

WaPo Puts a Romney Blogger on the Payroll to Attack Romney’s Opponents: RS
Perry and the Birth Certificate: Well Played, Mainstream Media: Tatler
Networks and Cable Still Mostly Silent on Anti-Semitism at Occupy Wall Street Protests: NB

World

Welcome to the Islamist Middle East and It’s Not Going to Be Moderate: BRubin
Who Lost the World?: Gaffney
“Whom the gods would destroy, they first render mad”: Western Rifle

Ah, Democracy: Arctic Patriot
Report: Obama’s Muslim Advisers Block Middle Eastern Christians’ Access to the White House: BigPeace
Mexican ID Becomes Valid ID in Sonoma County: NBC Bay Area

Sci-Tech

Confessions Of An iPhone User Who Recently Switched To Android: Insider
Anonymous threatens Fox News Web site over Occupy coverage: CNet
IBM names Virginia Rometty president and CEO: NetworkWorld

Cornucopia

Won’t You Please Consider Sponsoring A Protester, Today?: Morning Spew
Save Economy -- Impeach Bush Now!: NB (2008)
State Department Buys $70,000 Worth of Obama’s Memoir To Hand Out As Gifts: WZ

Image: BarkingCrayon.com
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Herman Cain for President

QOTD: "On the morning of July 23, 1952, the Middle East entered a new era. The Free Officers Movement took over Egypt and there followed more than a half-century of war, anti-Western hysteria, terrorism, repression, social stagnation, and the basic Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse type stuff in the Middle East. That was the Era of Arab Nationalism.

On February 11, or October 23, or November 28, 2011, the Middle East entered a new era. Whether you date it to the fall of Mubarak, the Tunisian election, or the Egyptian election, what do you think is going to happen in the next half-century in the region? This is now — I call it officially — the Era of Revolutionary Islamism." --Barry Rubin

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Perfect: Obama DOJ wants to respond to Freedom of Information requests as if certain records "do not exist"

Say, this sounds a bit -- how you say? -- Orwellian? But don't trust me. I'm just a run-of-the-mill centrist blogger. Let's pop on over to London's Telegraph:

Barack Obama accused of breaking transparency pledge


President Barack Obama has been accused of breaking his promise to make the US government transparent, after it emerged public bodies may soon be allowed to lie about what records they hold.

Mr Obama's justice department has proposed that if documents requested by the public are exempt from freedom of information laws, federal agencies should be able to "respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist."

Transparency campaigners described the move as a "stunning" reversal of Mr Obama's pledge to run "the most transparent administration in history" during his campaign for the presidency.

In a joint statement, the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and OpenTheGovernment.org said the plan threatens to "destroy integrity in government".

"It is very problematic," said Patrice McDermott, the director of OpenTheGovernment.org. "There are options open to them other than this nuclear option of lying to requesters".

The plan is the latest in a string of controversial moves by Mr Obama, who earlier this year even insisted on collecting an award for his commitment to transparency behind closed doors at the White House...

...Mr Obama also promised to release logs of visitors to the White House. Yet only one per cent of meetings have been listed and officials reportedly hold meetings in nearby coffee shops to deliberately avoid being subject to official logs.

"The administration has an official commitment to transparency, but it has been very disappointing," said Ms McDermott. "There is widespread distress among openness and civil liberties campaigners."

Gee. This is as surprising as the fact that unemployment didn't drop after the Stimulus package passed. Or that health care premiums didn't go down by an average of $2,500 a year after Obamacare was rammed through.

And all of the other failed promises/predictions made by the charismatic demagogue that the drones voted into office in 2008.


The Real Wealth Gap

Joan:

And then the fight started [Papa B]

Papa B:

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?'

I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started.



My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds..'

I bought her a scale.

And then the fight started.



When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive.

So, I took her to a gas station.

And then the fight started.



After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home.

I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.

The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair.

She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office.

She said, 'you should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.'

And then the fight started.



My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'

'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'

'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started.



I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny?

Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... he was a DWARF!!!

He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!'

So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?'

And then the fight started.

Welcome to the New Middle East, or What I Like to Call "The Obama Caliphate"

Perhaps some Democrat foreign policy expert -- if there is such a thing -- can explain "The Obama Doctrine" to me. Let's review, shall we?

Tunisia - democratic elections in this once-peaceful Mediterranean state have installed an Islamist party. Curiously, the aptly named State Department blog ("DipNote") congratulated the country's new extremist overlords.

Libya - a NATO-supported rebel force helped defeat the terrorist dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but also left the country in control of one Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, who has declared his government's "fealty to Shariah, Islam's brutally repressive, totalitarian political-military-legal doctrine."

Egypt - once the peaceful ally of both Israel and the United States, the overthrow of President Mubarak was quickly and publicly supported by President Obama. In Mubarak's place, a hard-core Islamist leadership has arisen under the direction of the feared Muslim Brotherhood. The country's downtrodden Coptic Christian community is also being systematically eliminated, the hallmark of religous governments in majority Islamic countries.

Syria - a similar anti-government rebellion in Syria was curiously ignored by the administration, leading to the slaughter of at least 3,000 civilians by Iran's puppet dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Iran - Likewise, a liberal, democratic revolt in Iran against the country's extremist leaders -- the so-called "Green Revolution" -- was brutally repressed with nary a word from President Obama. The country's thinly veiled pursuit of nuclear warheads therefore continues apace.

Iraq - is slated for abandonment by the end of the year to the tender mercies of Iran's Mullahs (coincidentally, just in time for the 2012 campaign)

Israel - our most steadfast ally in the entire world was told in no uncertain terms by President Obama to unilaterally withdraw to its 1967 borders, otherwise known as the "Holocaust lines".

We are witnessing something historic. But not-in-a-good-way historic. The die has been cast for a new and even more hyper-violent Middle East.