Sunday, October 30, 2011

ClimateGate Redux: Co-Author of Seminal Climate Change Paper Refutes Its Conclusion: There's No Damn Warming

The scamtabulous theory of warmal colding hardest hit:

It was hailed as the scientific study that ended the global warming debate once and for all – the research that, in the words of its director, ‘proved you should not be a sceptic, at least not any longer’.

Professor Richard Muller, of Berkeley University in California, and his colleagues from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures project team (BEST) claimed to have shown that the planet has warmed by almost a degree centigrade since 1950 and is warming continually... [their] work was cited around the world as irrefutable evidence that only the most stringent measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions can save civilisation as we know it...

...But today ... a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that BEST’s research shows global warming has stopped.

Prof Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America’s prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Prof Muller’s claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a ‘huge mistake’, with no scientific basis... Curry is a distinguished climate researcher with more than 30 years experience and the second named co-author of the BEST project’s four research papers.

...She said this affair had to be compared to the notorious ‘Climategate’ scandal two years ago...

...In fact, Prof Curry said, the project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Mail on Sunday has obtained...

...a report to be published today by the Global Warming Policy Foundation ... drawn from the BEST project’s data and revealed on its website ... shows that the trend of the last decade is absolutely flat, with no increase at all – though the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have carried on rising relentlessly...

...In fact, she added, in the wake of the unexpected global warming standstill, many climate scientists who had previously rejected sceptics’ arguments were now taking them much more seriously... They were finally addressing questions such as the influence of clouds, natural temperature cycles and solar radiation – as they should have done, she said, a long time ago.

Rumor has it that Dr. James Hansen, the infamous, taxpayer-funded climate kook, is on suicide watch.


Salacious background details: Inside the U.N.'s Global Warming Scam. Hat tip: Memeorandum.

How many 22-year old cars still look modern and up-to-date in 2012?

Go back in time 22 years, say to 1989. Which car -- make and model -- could still be sold today without any cosmetic changes whatsoever?* Before you scroll down, take a guess: I think only one vehicle passes muster.

To stir your memory a bit, consider the following vehicles from the 1990 model year.

*Ignoring the massive books of new regulations, of course, which multiply like weeds and govern every aspect of our lives -- from shower-heads to bumper designs, to the size of toilet tanks to the kinds of light bulbs you are allowed to buy.

Well, this is a sweet unit. If you ever wondered how GM melted down, consider the following three words: Fake. Wood. Paneling.

This high-end Audi looks a little more modern than the wagon, but it still doesn't come close to today's sleek designs.

This Cadillac was another victim of a slow-moving company that punched out angular cars that looked boxes, only not as sexy.

The design of this subcompact hatchback was a bit ahead of its time, but certainly couldn't compete against its modern competition: the Toyota Yaris, the Nissan Versa, the Mini Cooper, etc.

People who owned these vehicles hated them. Slightly less reliable than the Hindenberg, these Jettas were mechanical disasters and looked like someone slapped wheels on a refrigerator. Rumor has it the body was made entirely of compressed rust.

So what's the answer? Try this bad boy:



I believe this vehicle -- the 1990 Nissan 300ZX -- would still sell well today.

Which is a real testament to its designers.


Images: Edmunds.com.

Photo: Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader Greet One Another, December 2012

Wouldn't this pair blow a few minds?

With Senator John Kyl vacating his post in 2012 and the Palin family moving to Scottsdale, wouldn't the former governor make an outstanding replacement? I mean, not only for Kyl, but for the anti-charismatic Mitch McConnell as well?

And it goes without saying: Rep. Allen West should be the House Speaker. No one else, save Paul Ryan perhaps, carries the conservative leadership mantle as well.


Sheriff Paul Babeu interviewed on Operation Fast and Furious: U.S. officials are "accessories to murder"; Jonathan Alter hardest hit

This morning the Arizona Daily Star published an exclusive interview with Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County. Babeu's department has been on the front lines of the carnage wrought by open borders, the civil war raging in Mexico and the ATF's bizarre "Gunwalker" program that sent military-style weapons to the drug cartels.

Q: When you says that those officials who carried out Fast & Furious should be considered accomplices or accessories to murder, are you serious, or is that a rhetorical point, that they could be charged? If serious, who in the ATF/DOJ chain of command should be investigated as possible accomplices or accessories to murder and other crimes? The line agents? Their supervisors? The U.S. Attorney's Office or Justice Department officials involved?

A: The American people deserve a thorough, impartial, and independent review of what happened here. Nothing short of that will ever be acceptable. The Justice Department has a serious conflict of interest in policing itself... This is why the Sheriffs of Arizona both Republicans and Democrats are demanding a Special Counsel to investigate Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their roles in Operation Fast and Furious...

...those responsible should be held criminally accountable for allowing 2,000 guns including assault weapons and 50 caliber rifles to be purchased on U.S. Soil and then turned over to the drug cartels of Mexico. As a result of their reckless facilitation and distribution of these weapons, our deputies and American citizens may now face the barrel of a gun that was placed in the hands of criminals by [ATF] and Attorney General Eric Holder. Citizens of the United States and Mexico have already been murdered by cartel members who now posses these weapons. There is no doubt more bloodshed will occur on both sides of the border, since over 1,500 weapons still remain unaccounted for...

Q: You have said repeatedly that you think Operation Fast and Furious was designed to lead to gun-control measures. What evidence of this have you seen? How can I find it?

A: This administration has repeatedly stated in the media that “90% of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.” They have used this argument in their support of tougher gun control measures. If you google search the quoted information, you will see numerous stories about it. Here is one such story link regarding the quote.

At the same time they are stating this, our own Federal government was using taxpayer money from the stimulus to purchase automatic weapons and sell them directly to the most dangerous criminals in North America... The firearm dealers in these cases flagged the purchases and reported them to the Federal government, who then ordered them to make the sale anyway.

Q: You have repeatedly said Operation Fast and Furious is worse than Watergate. In what ways are Fast and Furious and Watergate similar?

A: If you knew that a foreign power had caused over 2,000 guns to arrive in the hands of America's most dangerous criminals, what would you say? What if those weapons had been used to commit more than 200 murders?

Now consider that the Federal government did just that--and to an ally. Nobody died because of Watergate and no treaties were violated. People on both sides of the border will be dealing with the deadly fallout for years to come. But before this is over, we'll know exactly what Barack Obama knew--and when he knew it.

...Fast and Furious quickly proved to be a catastrophe, but the public didn't learn about it until Agent Brian Terry was murdered on American soil. Since then, whistleblowers have been punished, those responsible have been promoted, scapegoats have been offered, and inconsistent testimony provided to Congress. This is a textbook attempt at obstruction by the Federal government.

The family of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry reached out to me after his murder. I have promised them, that I will continue to demand justice...

...On September 20th, 2011 the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, reported to media that the Attorney General in Mexico has said at least 200 murders south of the border happened as a result of Operation Fast and Furious. Eleven crimes in the United States have been linked to [it] up to this point.

...Project Gunrunner received "directly allocated" stimulus funds. It is our understanding that Operation Fast and Furious was tucked under Project Gunrunner, essentially using the same funding...

Issa has also done several interviews where he has stated, “U.S. dollars were used in at least some part to buy weapons.” Below is a link to a Fox News Story on the topic as well. As you will read, ATF Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy weapons and later sell them to known illegal buyers.

Please don't concern yourself with the hundreds of murders and the 1,500 weapons that remain unaccounted for; this is not a scandal according to America's finest journalist, Jonathan Alter.


Larwyn's Linx: How Can Holder Keep Holding On?

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

Nation

How Can Holder Keep Holding On?: AT
Liberal Indulgences: Hanson
Pelosi's pitch to donors: turning point in 2012: Hill

Everything old is old again: ProWis
It took too long to get a Herman Cain: RWN
Obama Uses OWS Language, Rails Against “Top 1%”: WZ

Economy

“If I Lose Custody, I Lose My Check”: Virtuous
The Answer Is a Balanced Budget Amendment: AmSpec
Communist-progressive team fights cuts to budget: AmPower

Adult Babies: Steyn
How Harrisburg Borrowed Itself Into Bankruptcy: WSJ
The mayor's millionaire club-Rahm's inner sanctum: ChiReader

Gunrunner & Solyndra

Did major Gunwalker figure hand over documents?: Examiner
Hillary: DOJ Did Not Seek License to Send Guns to Mexico: CNS
Napolitano queried on lack of ‘Fast and Furious’ probe: Times

Occupy

Occupy Denver Turns Violent: JWF
#OccupyWallStreet: The Rap Sheet, So Far: BigJ
Never Ending Supply - Howard Stern Exposes More Idiots at Occupy Wall Street. #OWS: Sharp Elbows

Climate & Energy

Gore Effect Hits Occupiers: Sunday Is Climate Justice Day: RWN
Best Confirms Global Temperature Standstill : GWPF
Central Park in NYC Sets October Record for Snow: CNS

Media

Levin: Boehner Has ‘Poisoned’ Two-Thirds Of Tea Party-Elected Congressmen: CNS
Inevitable: Jersey Shore for politicos coming soon: Hot Air
Des Moines Register Iowa Poll- Cain And Romney Basically Tied: Ace

The Best Summary Of The Politics I've Seen Thus Far: Denninger
Video: Steven Crowder on Occupy Wall Street Racism: MB
George Will column on Mitt Romney: 'Has conservatism come so far ... for THIS?': Politico

NBC and ABC Tout Injured Protester as 'Rallying Cry' for Occupy Wall Street: NB
Compare and Contrast: WZ
Texas Gun Store Bans Socialists, Obama Supporters in Radio Ad: GWP

World

Islam or Islamist?: McCarthy
Just moments after Hillary urges talks with Taliban, they kill more than a dozen U.S. soldiers: TAB
Herman Cain Channels John Bolton: Odysseus

Portugal Is Next: Improverished PIIG Demands US Assistance, Debt "Haircut" To Come Next: ZH
The Euro Bailout is Illegal: NRO
Why the latest eurozone bail-out is destined to fail within weeks: Telegraph

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Bombards Southern Israel With Grad Rockets, One Dead, Four Injured: WZ
British MP Forced to Hide After Muslim Extremists Storm Mosque During His Visit in North London: GWP
Libya: Al-Qaeda Flag Planted On Benghazi Courthouse: WZ

Sci-Tech

Escaping the Zombie Apocalypse By Air: Al Fin
16-foot python found in Florida had eaten a deer: MSNBC
Blue Coat confirms Syria used its Web filtering devices: CNet

Cornucopia

Study Shows That Spending Time as a Hippie Leads to Heart Attacks in Later Life: AmDig
Book 'em, Mondo!: MOTUS
Ohio University’s Creepy ‘Anti-Racism’ Halloween Campaign Goes Horribly Wrong: SHN

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Adam Hasner for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Long time government and political workers are blind to opportunities outside government. Being immersed in the process of the bureaucracy and extremely inexperienced in the real world, they fail to understand when change is needed or a dangerous line has been crossed. With well intentioned ignorance they slavishly follow the established process – sometimes to horrible results." --A.J. Strata

Saturday, October 29, 2011

James O'Keefe Strips The New York Times Bare Naked, and It Ain't a Pretty Site

Even a casual news consumer knows the long and ugly history of The New York Times. Its wanton dismissal of the Holocaust, for instance, was among the most despicable actions of a free press in American history.

...at the end of [World War II] and for decades afterward, Americans claimed they did not know about the Holocaust as it was happening. How was it possible for so much information to be available in the mass media and yet simultaneously for the public to be ignorant?

The reason is that the American media in general and the New York Times in particular never treated the Holocaust as an important news story. From the start of the war in Europe to its end nearly six years later, the story of the Holocaust made the Times front page only 26 times out of 24,000 front-page stories, and most of those stories referred to the victims as “refugees” or “persecuted minorities.” In only six of those stories were Jews identified on page one as the primary victims.

One of the more vexing questions of recent vintage relates to the treatment of Barack Obama by journalists during the run-up to the 2008 election. How did an unknown community organizer -- with minimal experience and documented connections to Marxists, virulent racists, domestic terrorists and antisemites -- rise to the presidency?

Investigative journalist James O'Keefe -- who helped take down ACORN with a stunning expose of its support of criminal activity -- decided to find out. He secretly recorded a class led by NYU Journalism professors and New York Times consultants Jay Rosen and Clay Shirky.

What he discovered was a complete disregard for journalistic ethics and a primer on how to disguise a political agenda as news coverage.

How, for example, could the Times help market the viability of an unknown like Barack Obama as a presidential canddiate?

...even if the Times says, OK, secretly we’re liberals and now publicly, we’re liberals, and there it is, they still have the dilemma of not wanting to create the news they cover. And it’s a difficult problem...

...They got around it in a really interesting way with Obama, their obvious second favorite candidate after Clinton. Clinton, the liberal consensus candidate, would have been their, I think probably was their candidate on the inside for a while. But the Obama story was the huge dilemma for horse race political coverage because no one would have given you even hundred-to-one odds in 2006, no one would have given you hundred-to-one odds on an African-American president...

...But they ended up covering Obama because of the newsworthy things that were happening around the Obama campaign. So you could not say, “Oh my goodness, for the first time there’s a viable African American candidate.” Because by the act of saying that, you would be creating the story you were nominally covering. So they, they hung up on it. But they could say: “Oh my goodness, Obama Girl, isn’t this funny? This funny video that this young woman did about now our future president, or about now our current president. Or Will.I.Am did a video, a huge breakout video on YouTube. And so they covered it, they covered Obama from the Internet culture angle. And, a bit at a time, it became acceptable to consider that he might be president. But they needed someone else to make the first move.

Rosen and Shirky also discuss how the Times helped the Occupy Wall Street movement and how the media could help defeat Perry and Bachmann, who they specifically tarred as "crazy".

Having been stripped bare by O'Keefe, the defenders of legacy media have circled the wagons, claiming Shirky was not a consultant to the Times (Rosen is a regular contributor).

Whether Shirky is a paid consultant or not, he is clearly influential by dint of the heavy references and links to his work in the Times. According to Google's search engine, he has been referenced by the Times more than 5,300 times with a copious numbers of links to his work.

On his blog, Rosen offers a rambling set of explanations for his obvious and dishonest bias masquerading as "journalism".

And how did Rosen publicly react to this particular instance of classic investigative journalism? As you might have expected: he called O'Keefe a terrorist.

Which is about how you'd figure someone who writes for the Times to spin being caught red-handed. And I do mean red.

Whatever these pencil-necked twits are teaching, it ain't journalism.


BREAKING: Pitched Battle Raging Between Hamas and Israel

Dan from New York

We interrupt this Arab Spring to bring you an important message:

Rocket fire rocks south; injuries reported


Ynet , 10.29.11,

South under fire again in wake of IAF attack in Gaza: Alarm sounds in various southern communities. Man hit by shrapnel in Gan Yavne; rocket hits school courtyard in Ashdod. Second barrage targets residential building, one injured. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility

Read the rest here.

And mark this well. An unprovoked terror attack from Gaza was the triggering event.

Occupy Wall Street's useful idiots could not be reached for comment at press time.

Depressed

DC sent this one in.

I was so depressed last night so I called Lifeline.

Got a freakin' call center in Pakistan.

I told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

Change I can support

From John S. Wright's Twitter feed:



Your Handy Dandy EnergyGate Cheat Sheet #solyndra [Updated]

Trying to keep track of all of the government-authorized theft of taxpayer dollars in the name of "green energy"? I know: it's difficult, given that new disclosures seem to occur daily.

For that reason, I've assembled a running cheat sheet to help keep all of the Democrat politicians, the crony capitalists, the conflicts-of-interest, and the outright criminality straight. I know, I know -- it's a difficult job, but someone's got to do it.

James Johnson, erstwhile Fannie Mae chairman during the height of its subprime lending, was a bundler for Obama in 2008 and is listed as raising as much as $500,000 for the 2012 race
• Johnson also heads Washington-based Perseus Group
• Johnson's Perseus investments include the Vehicle Production Group, which received $50 million in "clean energy" loans

Patrick Murphy, a confidant of Harry Reid, was paid at least $290,000 by "clean energy" company SunPower
• Murphy wasn't the only beneficiary; SunPower's political action committee also gave more than $16K to Democrat Congressional candidates in 2010
• The son of Rep. George Miller (D-CA) is SunPower's top lobbyist and Miller visited SunPower last October with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
• Miller and Murphy appear to have helped SunPower get $1.2 billion in loan guarantees from the DOE

Harry Reid, according to The New York Times, "was instrumental in securing" DOE financing for "clean energy projects on government-owned land"
• Reid, in particular, helped secure $145 million for a company called "Nevada Geothermal Power"
• Reid has not publicly commented on a recent audit by Deloitte & Touche that expressed doubt that the company would survive
• Reid also hasn't called for investigations of where the taxpayers' money went; he's apparently too busy

Anthony Podesta raised over $350,000 for Democratic campaign committees this year
• Podesta's lobbying company has received roughly $670,000 in the last two years lobbying on behalf of a "green energy company" called SolarReserve
• Podesta's lobbying apparently helped get SolarReserve a $737 million DOE loan last week

Ronald Pelosi is the brother-in-law of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
• Pelosi is an executive with Pacific Corporate Group, a private equity group
• Pelosi's firm invested in SolarReserve
• Pelosi's firm benefited directly when the DOE approved a $737 million loan last week

Billionaire George Kaiser raised at least $50,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Kaiser's company, Solyndra, received a $535 million loan guarantee from DOE.
• Kaiser's company received the loan before DOE received final copies of outside reviews of the deal.
• Kaiser is also listed as a board adviser with SolarReserve, the Pelosi-linked firm that received a a $737 million DOE loan last week

Steven Spinner raised $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Spinner then became one of Energy Secretary Steven Chu's key loan advisers.
• Spinner later wrote that he "helped oversee the more than $100 billion" in loans and guarantees.
• Spinner executed 29 stock trades in energy companeis while serving as a DOE adviser
• Spinner held shares in at least four companies that received DOE loans
• Spinner's wife's law firm collected around $2.5 million while representing Solyndra
• Spinner's wife's law firm also represented two other companies that received $34 million from DOE

Steve Westly raised $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Westly then became one of Energy Secretary Steven Chu's key advisers.
• Westly was an investor in five firms that received half a billion dollars in energy grants and loans from DOE.

John V. Roos raised $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Roos' law firm (the same firm Spinner's wife worked for) collected "millions" from DOE-funded companies.

Call it "Crony Marxism", call it outright theft, call it an egregious breach of trust. It's the inevitable result of government tampering in areas forbidden to it by the Constitution.

And please consider: if the Climatards are willing to waste billions enriching themselves in the name of green energy, they really can't take the global warming scam seriously.

In other words, the green tech movement no more believes in global warming than you or I.

And, once again, where's the special prosecutor?


Related:
The Bush administration rejected Solyndra's requests for loans for two years citing incomplete documentation
Solyndra employee: from day one, everyone knew that our solar panels were uncompetitive... including President Obama
Bruce Krasting Blows Obama's Solyndra Scandal Sky High
Oh, my: Emails show White House knew Solyndra was a disaster before it issued $535M crony loan


Hat tip: Laughing Conservative.

Exclusive: Obama Department of Energy Loan Application [Biff Spackle]

Biff Spackle has uncovered another world exclusive from the dumpsters at the Department of Energy. It seems that an application like this one helped secure billions of taxpayer dollars for companies like Solyndra, SolarReserve, etc.

As George Kaiser is reported to have said, "Hey, nuttin's stopping you from filling out your own loan application and sending it in, chumps!"

1. Full name:
Please enter your real name, you will have an opportunity to list your front company later

2. What will your company manufacture?
Solar panels that are outlandishly overpriced
Solar panels made of millions of tiny windmills
Windmills that are outlandishly overpriced
Windmills that have solar panels on their propeller blades
Unicorn methane collection catheters
Magic Solar Energy Beans
Invention to be named later

3. What are your qualifications for a loan? (please check all that apply)
I'm related to a Democrat politician
I was a qualified bundler for the Obama 2008 campaign
(Enter amount bundled in 2008)
I am a qualified bundler for the Obama 2012 campaign
(Enter amount bundled in 2012)
I am a qualified fundraiser for the Democrat Party
(Enter amount raised in the last calendar year)
I am a billionaire who is not a crony capitalist but I am willing to learn

4. How much money do you want?
(Please round amount off to the nearest $50,000,000)

5. What other considerations should we be aware of when adjudicating your loan application? (please check all that apply)
I belong to the Augusta Country Club
I have a lifetime membership to the Pebble Beach Golf Course
I am a haute couture women's fashion designer
I own a beach-side mansion on Martha's Vineyard
I possess sensitive photographs of Democrat politicians in incriminating and highly embarrassing situations (even for Democrats)

6. Would you like to make an online contribution to the Democrat National Committee today?
Yes


(Note: submitting this application will take you to an online contribution form)

Related: Your Handy Dandy EnergyGate Cheat Sheet.

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.