Except for the Pinot, the Filet Mignon, the spinach and mushrooms, the Maker's Mark, and pumpkin pie cheesecake. I ate so much, I think I wrenched my spleen.Thursday, November 24, 2011
A Traditional Thanksgiving...
The "All-You-Can-Eat" Thanksgiving dinner at Mike Ditka's, just like the one the Pilgrims enjoyed:
Except for the Pinot, the Filet Mignon, the spinach and mushrooms, the Maker's Mark, and pumpkin pie cheesecake. I ate so much, I think I wrenched my spleen.
Except for the Pinot, the Filet Mignon, the spinach and mushrooms, the Maker's Mark, and pumpkin pie cheesecake. I ate so much, I think I wrenched my spleen.While America Gave Thanks, the Fat Lady Sang in the Eurozone
Contagion continued to rake the Eurozone today, reflected in 10-year bond yields and elsewhere:
Or, in terms even progressives can understand, it's Game Over for the grand European Democrat Social Welfare State™ experiment they desperately tried to make America emulate for lo these many decades.
...we thought we would once again remind readers just what the very simple math behind the entire spectacle is, which Europe tries so hard to ignore with each passing day. Because at the end of the day it is a very simple tension: there is massive demand for fresh cash in the form of 1.7 EUR trillion in maturing debt (ignoring interest payments)...Of this Morgan Stanley says, "Policy makers and investors have consistently underestimated the bank funding roll as a transmission mechanism of sovereign fears into the banks and real economy."
...[The rollover funding crunch] is precisely what Europe is now fighting each and every day with, coming up with crazier and crazier plans to mask the fact that no matter what, there simply is not enough cash......Because while the [above] chart shows cash demand needs, the ... one [below] shows that when it comes to cash 'supply', or said otherwise issuance of unsecured debt, the market is now completely and totally dead. Indeed, November issuance is just laughable as the red-boxed region so vividly demonstrates.
...And that, in two charts is that - everything else is hype, rhetoric, smoke and mirrors.
Or, in terms even progressives can understand, it's Game Over for the grand European Democrat Social Welfare State™ experiment they desperately tried to make America emulate for lo these many decades.
A Love Letter to Ahmedinejad
"Do me a favor. Don't be a good neighbor to her anymore. Or I'll send you a love letter... [shouting] ...straight from my heart, f***er! Do you know what a love letter is? It's a bullet from a f***ing gun, f***er! You receive a love letter from me, and you're f***ed forever! You understand, f***? I'll send you straight to hell, f***er!" --Frank Booth in the motion picture Blue Velvet
From these lips to Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's ear:
Rogue states with nascent nuclear weapon programs (cough, Iran, cough), consider yourselves on notice. The Air Force has started taking delivery of Massive Ordnance Penetrators. Yup, the 30,000-pound bunker busters, known as MOPs, designed to penetrate 30 stories of reinforced concrete (Oh, and the massive bomb’s name is almost as charged as the term, Pre-Dawn Vertical Insertion, if you get what I’m sayin.)The service apparently got its first production MOP in September and has been stockpiling them ever since. That’s a decent turnaround since April when the Air Force gave Boeing a $28 million contract to deliver eight MOPs and their associated loading equipment. The service gave Boeing a follow-on $32 million contract for eight more MOPs in August. No word on why that deal cost an extra $4 million when it appears otherwise identical to the April contract.
The Air Force has modified several B-2 stealth bombers to carry two of the GPS-guided bombs, apiece. This pretty much tells you all you need to know about the type of mission the MOP will be used for; a super bunker-buster carried by our most survivable heavy bomber. It’s meant to threaten nations like Iran and North Korea with the prospect of an air strike that can take out their most hardened targets.
I’ve got to say, this is pretty timely, given the recent flood of publicity surrounding Iran’s alleged progress toward building a nuclear weapon. While the MOP is big and costly, the West may have more subtle ways of putting kinetic pressure on states like Iran.
God Bless Our Troops This Thanksgiving Day and Those Who Support Them*.
*The delusional Ron Paul hardest hit
Larwyn's Linx: The Real Story of Thanksgiving
Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!
The Real Story of Thanksgiving: EIB
Ex-Dem Congressman: Voter ID is the cure for Vote Fraud: BigGov
Bachmann: By Now, Michelle O. Would Have Gotten an Apology: Malkin
Obama’s Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah Black Agenda: ConBlkChk
Interviewing Rick Perry on Immigration: RWN
Wasserman-Schultz flustered by question from Univision: Shark Tank
I’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday For a Tax Increase Today: Coulter
Donald Berwick, Rationing Advocate, Quits Obama Admin Post: LifeNews
Why My Wife and I will not Send Our Kids to L.A. Public Schools: Ricochet
'Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone': 11Alive
U.S. may lose second triple-A rating within months: MarketWatch
Viriginia's Gov. McDonnell could be making a huge mistake: Heartland
Poll: by 48-40 margin, voters want Obamacare repealed: WZ
The Occupiers In Two Sad Photos: Power Line
NYT Says New Climate E-Mails Are A Crime: S&L
Ex-Solyndra Employees Eligible For $14.3M in Federal Aid: NewAm
Hello, President Windmill? The Dutch Have Turned Sour on Wind Power, Because it’s Too Expensive: Marfdrat
Mr. David Palmer Explains the Problem: Watts
The Ghost of Thanksgiving Yet to Come: Feral Irishman
Townhall Exclusive: The Invisible President: Townhall
Why Is JournOlister Ezra Klein Briefing Dem Chiefs Of Staff Behind Closed Doors?: BigJourn
FDU Poll: Fox News Makes You Stupid (Ignore Our Margin Of Error): BigJourn
Exclusive: Sarah Palin's Thankgsiving Message: CBN
CNN: 50% of White Blue-Collar Dems Don’t Want To Renominate Obama: WZ
John Kerry Flat Out Lies on Meet the Press: ATR
Newt Gingrich and the Latino Vote: Bettinainclan
Medvedev: Russian Missiles May 'Take Out' U.S. Missile Defenses: ABC
Romney’s Iran Gaffe: McCarthy
The euro crisis: The screw tightens: Economist
Arabs Like Saddam, Hugo Chavez, More Than Obama : USN&WR
Perry: We should consider a Syrian no-fly zone if we’re serious about stopping Iranian nukes: Hot Air
Iran Training Palestinians with New Missiles: IPT
Irish Prime Minister Begs EU for Debt Relief in Disgraceful Performance: Mish
'A Complete Disaster' - Sovereign Bond Auction Fizzles in Germany: Spiegel
Apple Cult Mocked by Samsung in Galaxy S II Ad: CNet
AT&T/T-Mobile withdraw FCC merger application: Politico
Worst Flight Ever? Passenger Forced to Stand 7 Hours Due to 400lb Seat-Mate: Blaze
Forms are going fast! Sign up today!: C&S
Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: DEMAND an apology from Senators Schumer and Alexander!
Nation
The Real Story of Thanksgiving: EIBEx-Dem Congressman: Voter ID is the cure for Vote Fraud: BigGov
Bachmann: By Now, Michelle O. Would Have Gotten an Apology: Malkin
Obama’s Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah Black Agenda: ConBlkChk
Interviewing Rick Perry on Immigration: RWN
Wasserman-Schultz flustered by question from Univision: Shark Tank
Economy
The CBO Quietly Downgrades Obama's $825 Bil Stimulus : IBDI’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday For a Tax Increase Today: Coulter
Donald Berwick, Rationing Advocate, Quits Obama Admin Post: LifeNews
Why My Wife and I will not Send Our Kids to L.A. Public Schools: Ricochet
'Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone': 11Alive
U.S. may lose second triple-A rating within months: MarketWatch
Viriginia's Gov. McDonnell could be making a huge mistake: Heartland
Poll: by 48-40 margin, voters want Obamacare repealed: WZ
The Occupiers In Two Sad Photos: Power Line
Gunrunner & Energygate
Armed illegals stalked Border Patrol: TimesNYT Says New Climate E-Mails Are A Crime: S&L
Ex-Solyndra Employees Eligible For $14.3M in Federal Aid: NewAm
Climate & Energy
Obama Administration Pressures Contractor To ‘Soften’ Mining Job Losses: EPA AbuseHello, President Windmill? The Dutch Have Turned Sour on Wind Power, Because it’s Too Expensive: Marfdrat
Mr. David Palmer Explains the Problem: Watts
Media
Piers Morgan Trashes Sarah Palin in Interview With Gabby Giffords' Husband: NBThe Ghost of Thanksgiving Yet to Come: Feral Irishman
Townhall Exclusive: The Invisible President: Townhall
Why Is JournOlister Ezra Klein Briefing Dem Chiefs Of Staff Behind Closed Doors?: BigJourn
FDU Poll: Fox News Makes You Stupid (Ignore Our Margin Of Error): BigJourn
Exclusive: Sarah Palin's Thankgsiving Message: CBN
CNN: 50% of White Blue-Collar Dems Don’t Want To Renominate Obama: WZ
John Kerry Flat Out Lies on Meet the Press: ATR
Newt Gingrich and the Latino Vote: Bettinainclan
World
About Barack Obama's Grand Adventure in Libya: AmSpecMedvedev: Russian Missiles May 'Take Out' U.S. Missile Defenses: ABC
Romney’s Iran Gaffe: McCarthy
The euro crisis: The screw tightens: Economist
Arabs Like Saddam, Hugo Chavez, More Than Obama : USN&WR
Perry: We should consider a Syrian no-fly zone if we’re serious about stopping Iranian nukes: Hot Air
Iran Training Palestinians with New Missiles: IPT
Irish Prime Minister Begs EU for Debt Relief in Disgraceful Performance: Mish
'A Complete Disaster' - Sovereign Bond Auction Fizzles in Germany: Spiegel
Sci-Tech
25 "Worst Passwords" of 2011 Revealed: ForbesApple Cult Mocked by Samsung in Galaxy S II Ad: CNet
AT&T/T-Mobile withdraw FCC merger application: Politico
Cornucopia
Happy Thanksgiving From Sea to Shining Sea: MOTUSWorst Flight Ever? Passenger Forced to Stand 7 Hours Due to 400lb Seat-Mate: Blaze
Forms are going fast! Sign up today!: C&S
Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: DEMAND an apology from Senators Schumer and Alexander!
QOTD: "Let me tell you what I find most terrifying: we’re having this discussion about a risk of recession at a time when unemployment is already too high, at a time when a quarter of homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, at a time when the fiscal deficit is 9%, a time when interest rates are at zero. These are all conditions coming out of a recession, not going into a recession." --Mohamed El-Erian
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Webcam captures photos of airplane crash at Superstition Mountain, AZ
KKTV reports that a plane crash occurred minutes ago in the area of Superstition Mountain. A webcam recorded the crash from afar:






Our thoughts and prayers go out to the crew, passengers and their families.






Our thoughts and prayers go out to the crew, passengers and their families.The Truth About Ron Paul: Delusional, Power-Hungry and Dangerous
Interviewed on Neal Cavuto's Fox News show this afternoon, GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul claimed that "a third of the crowd was with me last night [at the debate] and more than a third of the country is with my ideas."Really?
So a third of the country agrees with:
• A man who claims that bloodthirsty Islamist terrorists are morally equivalent to Americans?
• A man who vocally encourages the despicable 9/11 Truther movement?
• A man who embraces virulent anti-semites and is inspired by those who despise Jews?
• A man whose foreign policy prescriptions are so "far left" that they are outright dangerous?
• A man whose strongest supporters vilify Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ed Meese, Sarah Palin, etc.?
• A man who despises Israel, a beacon of freedom in an otherwise barbaric Middle East?
• A man so power-hungry that he refuses to rule out a third-party run, which would very likely help reelect Barack Obama?
Jeffrey Lord offers the quintessential summary of Ron Paul for conservatives:
The Ron Paul campaign is really about re-educating America to what can only be called Neoliberalism. Which, based on the evidence and writings of its supporters, appears to be a thin gruel of free markets and non-interventionism seasoned heavily with anti-Semitism, morally obtuse Neo-Confederates, and an outspoken contempt for both conservatism and conservative leaders past and present.
Progressivism, Illustrated
These are the geniuses who claim they can run the health care industry, the energy industry, the auto industry, the banking industry, and much, much more.
The fact that some of these people vote is, at the end of the day, somewhat terrifying.
The fact that some of these people vote is, at the end of the day, somewhat terrifying.Name That Party: 12 Indicted in Georgia for ACORN-style Vote Fraud
The late and unlamented community organizing group ACORN became infamous for combining fraudulent voter registrations and absentee ballots to steal elections. Yesterday Georgia WALB reported on yet another case of (*cough* alleged *cough*) vote fraud (which Democrats, of course, continually argue is non-existent).
Since WALB is playing "Name That Party", I think it's safe to assume that these fine, upstanding citizens are Democrats.
12 former Brooks County officials were indicted for voter fraud. The suspects are accused of illegally helping people vote by absentee ballot.State officials launched an investigation after an unusually high number of absentee ballots were cast in the July 2010 primary election. "As a result of their grand jury findings 12 individuals were indicted in that particular matter and we will be trying that case in a court of judicial law instead of a court of public opinion so that will be pending this next year," said District Attorney Joe Mulholland.
The defendants include some workers in the voter registrar's office and some school board members.
Since WALB is playing "Name That Party", I think it's safe to assume that these fine, upstanding citizens are Democrats.
Brother, can you spare $2.1 trillion? Eurozone needs a cash infusion "ten times bigger than TARP"
The head of the Carlyle Group, Oliver Sarkozy, just left CNBC's cheerleaders aghast as he described the scale of the Eurozone crisis.
In other words, the Eurozone needs a cash infusion that is ten times the size of TARP*.
I'll check the couch to see if there's a spare $2.1 trillion that fell under the cushions.
* Pssst: hey, liberals -- Europe's imploding model is one your heroes Barack Obama and Paul Krugman keep trying to emulate. Hint: it don't work.
The math I'm working with is very simple.
In the U.S. banking sector, we had $3 trillion of wholesale funding that needed to be stabilized, got stabilized by the implementation of TARP which saw the U.S. treasury buy $212 billion worth of preferred in the banking sector to stabilize that $3 trillion, give our banks the time to work through their problem their problem assets.
In Europe, that $3 trillion is $30 trillion. So if you multiply the $212 by ten, you get the $2.12 trillion. In my view, the issues on the European banks are bigger than the issues on the books of the US banks. So if you want to stabilize that $30 trillion and in my view it's not that you want to, it's that you have to, you do not have a choice, you're going to have to be at least at $2.1 trillion and I suspect it may need to be more.
In other words, the Eurozone needs a cash infusion that is ten times the size of TARP*.
I'll check the couch to see if there's a spare $2.1 trillion that fell under the cushions.
* Pssst: hey, liberals -- Europe's imploding model is one your heroes Barack Obama and Paul Krugman keep trying to emulate. Hint: it don't work.
Neurosurgeon reports back on HHS meeting: yep, there are death panels that will prevent us from treating the elderly
The indispensable Right Scoop:
The ludicrous "Politifact" website hardest hit.
Tonight, a brain surgeon [Ed: vetted by Levin's staff] called into Mark Levin's radio show and said that he had just recently visited Washington DC to review Obama’s new health care plan for advanced neurosurgical care for patients over 70 years old, issued by HHS. The plan, that included "ethics panels", stated that if you are over 70 years old and on government supported healthcare and you visited an emergency room, you get “comfort care” [Ed: that is, no aggressive treatment].Caller: Basically what the document stated was that if you were over 70 and you’d come into an emergency room and you’re on government supported health care, that you’d get “comfort care”.
Mark Levin: Wait a minute... what’s the source for this?
Caller: This is Obama’s new health care plan for advanced neurosurgical care.
Mark Levin: And who issued this? HHS?
Caller: Yes. And basically they don’t call them patients, they call them units. And instead of, they call it “ethics panels” or “ethics committees”, would get together and meet and decide where the money would go for hospitals, and basically for patients over 70 years of age, that advanced neurosurgical care was not generally indicated.
Mark Levin: So it’s generally going to be denied?
Caller: Yes, absolutely... If someone comes in at 70 years of age with a bleed in their brain, I can promise you I’m not going to get a bunch of administrators together on an ethics panel at 2 in the morning to decide that I’m OK to do surgery.
The ludicrous "Politifact" website hardest hit.
Barack Obama, Emperor of Insolvency
The lede in today's coverage of the U.S. deficit struggle ("Obama reopens debate on US stimulus") at the Financial Times is troubling on two fronts.
Consider:
• Fact: the "payroll tax cuts" simply accelerate the collapse of the Social Security system
• And what kind of president talks about operating "without Congress"?
Our beloved Dictator-in-Chief knows that America is insolvent, that Social Security is headed for collapse, and that Obamacare simply hastens the implosion.
But, some believe that was the plan all along.
Barack Obama sought to reignite the debate over an economic stimulus package on Tuesday, demanding that a bitterly divided Congress pass an extension of payroll tax cuts before the end of the year.
“We still have to give the economy the jolt that it needs,” the US president said on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, a day after a bipartisan committee failed to agree on a $1,200bn deficit reduction package. He added he would do “everything in his power, with or without Congress”.
Consider:
• Fact: the "payroll tax cuts" simply accelerate the collapse of the Social Security system
• And what kind of president talks about operating "without Congress"?
Our beloved Dictator-in-Chief knows that America is insolvent, that Social Security is headed for collapse, and that Obamacare simply hastens the implosion.
But, some believe that was the plan all along.Larwyn's Linx: Perry Op-Ed: Eric Holder Must Resign
Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!
Perry Op-Ed: Eric Holder Must Resign: Ace
An Historic Failure of Presidential Leadership: Dossier
The Occupiers: Curry
Surgeon confirms ObamaCare rationing, death panels: Scoop
Should the Rich Be Condemned?: Williams
Tony Rezko Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison: Malkin
CBO Confirms Obama-Pelosi Stimulus Damaged Economy: GWP
The way out of our financial mess is transparency: AT
We’ve Had Enough Government ‘Stimulation’: Cato
Occupy's Latest Plan: Refuse to Repay Student Loan Debt: NewAm
Shocker: Chicks Don't Dig Camping Out With Smelly Losers: RSM
Patriotic Millionaires Demand Higher Taxes... for Others: DC
Fears US Banks Will Need To Raise Billions In New Capital: ZH
Banks Make Plans for Euro-Zone Split: Mish
Holy crap, Eric Holder truly is toast: even Jon Huntsman demands his resignation: DC
U.S. And Europe threaten their own energy independence: RWN
Climategate 2.0 emails – They’re real and they’re spectacular!: Watts
Climategate II, 5,000 New Emails Released Detailing Climate Change Hoax: Lid
CNN Anchor Mocks Bachmann’s Faith: Do You ‘Regret’ Listening to God?: BigJourn
How Bad Is It for the Obamas? Booed, Flipped Off and Told to Quit: Bruce
Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries: LATL
No, Congress did not declare pizza a vegetable: WaPo
AP: Occupy Protests Have Now Cost Local U.S. Cities a Total of $13 Million: Blaze
Reaction Roundup: GOP Presidential Debate on Foreign Policy: Foundry
Analysis Of The CNN Republican National Security Debate: RWN
The faces of #OWS cluelessness as exemplified by #UCDavis: Toldjah
How the US Nat’l Security Apparatus is Imposing Islamic Law of Slander on Americans: Creeping
Fatwa Permits Raping Infidel Women: Jawa
Three Doomsday Scenarios: What Happens If the Eurozone Breaks Up?: MoneyMorning
Fitch Pours A-98 Gasoline On The European Fire, Threatens AAA Rating Of Parent France: ZH
Tiffany Trusts Botswana Gold over US!: ResourcefulEarthNews
48% of Job Seekers Have Used Facebook to Look for Work: Datamation
How long will AT&T fight for T-Mobile?: CNet
We Play Chicken with Country AND Western Civilization: MOTUS
Richmond Occupiers to Receive Free Aerosolized Vegetable Spray: Doswell
Image: Shorpy.com
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Search for Marizela: A Thanksgiving note
Nation
Perry Op-Ed: Eric Holder Must Resign: AceAn Historic Failure of Presidential Leadership: Dossier
The Occupiers: Curry
Surgeon confirms ObamaCare rationing, death panels: Scoop
Should the Rich Be Condemned?: Williams
Tony Rezko Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison: Malkin
Economy
Did the SuperCommittee see these two horrible debt graphics?: PethCBO Confirms Obama-Pelosi Stimulus Damaged Economy: GWP
The way out of our financial mess is transparency: AT
We’ve Had Enough Government ‘Stimulation’: Cato
Occupy's Latest Plan: Refuse to Repay Student Loan Debt: NewAm
Shocker: Chicks Don't Dig Camping Out With Smelly Losers: RSM
Patriotic Millionaires Demand Higher Taxes... for Others: DC
Fears US Banks Will Need To Raise Billions In New Capital: ZH
Banks Make Plans for Euro-Zone Split: Mish
Gunrunner & Energygate
Getting things straight about Operation Fast & Furious: WorkmanHoly crap, Eric Holder truly is toast: even Jon Huntsman demands his resignation: DC
U.S. And Europe threaten their own energy independence: RWN
Climate & Energy
ClimateGate 2.0 Emails Reveal "Scientists" Quite Interested In "The Cause," Public Relations: AceClimategate 2.0 emails – They’re real and they’re spectacular!: Watts
Climategate II, 5,000 New Emails Released Detailing Climate Change Hoax: Lid
Media
National Treasure James O’Keefe III Catches Corrupt Rutgers Profs in Play for Pay Scheme: GWPCNN Anchor Mocks Bachmann’s Faith: Do You ‘Regret’ Listening to God?: BigJourn
How Bad Is It for the Obamas? Booed, Flipped Off and Told to Quit: Bruce
Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries: LATL
No, Congress did not declare pizza a vegetable: WaPo
AP: Occupy Protests Have Now Cost Local U.S. Cities a Total of $13 Million: Blaze
Reaction Roundup: GOP Presidential Debate on Foreign Policy: Foundry
Analysis Of The CNN Republican National Security Debate: RWN
The faces of #OWS cluelessness as exemplified by #UCDavis: Toldjah
World
Our World: America’s descent into strategic dementia: GlickHow the US Nat’l Security Apparatus is Imposing Islamic Law of Slander on Americans: Creeping
Fatwa Permits Raping Infidel Women: Jawa
Three Doomsday Scenarios: What Happens If the Eurozone Breaks Up?: MoneyMorning
Fitch Pours A-98 Gasoline On The European Fire, Threatens AAA Rating Of Parent France: ZH
Tiffany Trusts Botswana Gold over US!: ResourcefulEarthNews
Sci-Tech
Has Google made Wintel and Satellite Cable Terminal Shorts?: ZH48% of Job Seekers Have Used Facebook to Look for Work: Datamation
How long will AT&T fight for T-Mobile?: CNet
Cornucopia
Driving While Blonde: Polish Edition: AceWe Play Chicken with Country AND Western Civilization: MOTUS
Richmond Occupiers to Receive Free Aerosolized Vegetable Spray: Doswell
Image: Shorpy.com
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Search for Marizela: A Thanksgiving note
QOTD: "These students, their generation and all Americans are facing an uncertain, perilous future.In large part, it is because we have a nice-talking, but unprepared man in charge.
Listen to President Obama today and he will lay blame on everyone but himself. His only plan will be to spend more money that we don’t have.
Four years ago, primary voters here tried to tell the nation that this wet-behind-the-ears socialist wannabe was the wrong man. (They picked Hillary Clinton in the primary.)
Here is hoping that seven weeks from today, primary voters here will put the nation on a path to unseating this glib, clueless disaster of a President. " --New Hampshire Union Leader Editorial, "Primary voters rejected Obama"
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Hair Products Have Come a Long Way, Baby
This lovely dance troupe -- photographed in 1923 -- appears to have suffered from a collective "bad hair day":
For Americana, there's really nothing better than Shorpy.
Washington, D.C., July 1923. "Sunshine Girls." Also known as the Tiller Girls, a dance troupe originated by the British musical-theater impresario John Tiller.
For Americana, there's really nothing better than Shorpy.
Good news: Feds now investigating closures of elementary schools
But, according to President Obama, there's nothing to cut!
Now that the Department of Education has a SWAT Team, I fully expect an armed response against the faculty and staff of the Red Cedar school.
The U.S. Department of Education will investigate the closing of East Lansing's Red Cedar Elementary following a complaint it will have a negative effect on minority students at the school.The East Lansing school district has until Thursday to provide information to the Department of Education's Cleveland-based Office for Civil Rights regarding the ethnic makeup of its elementary schools, emails, meeting minutes and information used by the school board in approving a recommendation to close Red Cedar in 2016.
...A portion of Red Cedar's 266 students are children of international families at Michigan State University, and the school celebrates its global perspective. The complaint alleges closing the school will discriminate against its students based on race, color or national origin...
Now that the Department of Education has a SWAT Team, I fully expect an armed response against the faculty and staff of the Red Cedar school.
Weird coincidence: Obama bundler Corzine got a range of regulatory "gifts" before his firm collapsed
Losses from the collapse of MF Global, John Corzine's trading firm, may be double the original estimate -- totaling a cool $1.2 billion.
In the wake of this disclosure, Janet Tavakoli, president of Tavakoli Structured Finance, offers some fascinating forensic details that implicate not only Corzine, but Washington's culture of crony capitalism.
John Corzine is one of Barack Obama's top 2012 fundraisers, having raised over $500,000.
In short:
• FINRA waived licensing requirements for Corzine
• No one is saying how MFG received a lucrative primary dealer designation
• And, despite numerous red flags, the CFTC didn't act in time to prevent an implosion
All right-thinking Americans, irrespective of party, should reject this kind of lawless crony capitalism. The time has come to throw out all of these bums and to replace them with Constitutional conservatives.
And then we prosecute.
In the wake of this disclosure, Janet Tavakoli, president of Tavakoli Structured Finance, offers some fascinating forensic details that implicate not only Corzine, but Washington's culture of crony capitalism.
When MF Global collapsed on October 21, it was the biggest financial firm to collapse since Lehman in September 2008. Then Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine is connected to the head of one of his key regulators, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), through his former protégé at Goldman Sachs, Gary Gensler. He also knows the Fed’s William Dudley, a key member of the Fed’s Open Market Committee, from their days at Goldman Sachs. The Fed approved MF Global’s status as a primary dealer, a participant in the Fed’s Open Market Operations, just before Jon Corzine took its helm and beached it on a reef called leveraged credit risk......MF Global’s officers admitted to federal regulators that before the collapse, the firm diverted cash from customers’ accounts that were supposed to be segregated...
...MF Global reportedly employed 35:1 leverage—some reports are 40:1—against a portfolio comprised around 20% of European Sovereign risks including Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland... MF Global was so thinly capitalized that this trade alone could eat up half of its capital... From a risk management point of view, examiners have to consider the very strong possibility that MF Global had several negative equity days throughout 2011... How did MF Global meet margin calls throughout 2011? It seems an investigation into money flows throughout 2011 is in order.
...[Obama supporter] Jon Corzine resigned as Chairman and CEO of MF Global on November 4, just days after the October 31 bankruptcy announcement... The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) [had given] Jon Corzine a waiver from his Series 7 and Series 24 exams when he took the helm of MF Global in March 2010...
...The test waiver by regulators seems to be blatant cronyism, because Corzine not only hadn’t been involved in the day-to-day markets for more than a decade, his responsibilities at MF Global included active decision making. The waiver wasn’t justified. Corzine reportedly authored the strategy for the MF Global killing trades,
and he also had authority on the trading floor...
...MF Global’s financials were shaky ever since Man Group spun it off in 2005 and saddled it with a lot of debt. Yet MF Global was added to the Fed’s list of 22 primary dealers in February 2011, just before former Goldman CEO Jon Corzine officially came on board. Primary dealers buy and sell U.S. treasuries at auction and are a counterparty to the Fed’s Open Market operations...
...Why did the Fed award prestigious primary dealer status to a shaky operation like MF Global, an entity it does not regulate?
...In August, customers started pulling billions of dollars out of their segregated accounts with MF Global. It was the biggest outflow of funds since January 2009 [and] it is likely that employees within MF Global were well aware of the problems and tipped off key customers.
Yet Gary Gensler, head of the CFTC, did not investigate or begin transferring accounts out of MF Global before the bankruptcy, and that is unprecedented for the CFTC. Given that Gary Gensler was a protégé of Jon Corzine at Goldman Sachs, one should question why Gary Gensler didn’t act...
...[Because of the collapse of MF Global, c]onfidence in the futures market has been shaken. No one knows if their money is safe, but what is more disturbing is the appearance of crony capitalism once again giving favored treatment, lax regulation, and absent oversight to a crony capitalist that abused all of these perks to blow up a large financial firm and damage a key global market.
John Corzine is one of Barack Obama's top 2012 fundraisers, having raised over $500,000.
In short:
• FINRA waived licensing requirements for Corzine
• No one is saying how MFG received a lucrative primary dealer designation
• And, despite numerous red flags, the CFTC didn't act in time to prevent an implosion
All right-thinking Americans, irrespective of party, should reject this kind of lawless crony capitalism. The time has come to throw out all of these bums and to replace them with Constitutional conservatives.
And then we prosecute.
Contagion
Today's 10-year yields for the sovereign debt of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) confirm that Europe's debt crisis has spiraled out of control.
The can-kicking appears to have come to an end:
The Eurozone is dead, whether or not the coroner has been called.
The can-kicking appears to have come to an end:The time has come to confront an ugly truth: The possibility that the Eurozone will break up, or rather fall apart, is growing increasingly likely.
In fact, I'd say given recent developments in Italy the probability of a breakup is as high as 40%... [and] a Eurozone split would be bad news - no matter which way it happened.
Germany would survive an orderly breakup and do well in a tight-money default, but fare poorly in a period of hyperinflation. Conversely non-Eurozone Eastern Europe would do well in an orderly breakup and survive hyperinflation, but it would be battered by a tight-money default.
At the end of the day there are no easy answers on this one. The best you can do is to find markets with little economic connection to Europe - and even that's not easy.
The Eurozone is dead, whether or not the coroner has been called.
Larwyn's Linx: Presence of Malice and the Conservative Portrait of the President
Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!
Presence of Malice and a Conservative Portrait of the President: Digest
Congress is a criminal enterprise: Chicago Boyz
Obama: I will veto any effort to stop defense cuts: NatlJrnl
Doomed by Design: the SuperFail Committee: Malkin
Soros helped craft stimulus, then profited from it: BigGov
Searching for the perfect candidate: Thomas
The Constitution: nice while it lasted: Cold Fury
New Law Cuts Ties Between FBI and Terror-Tied Groups: PJM
The Private Life of Governor Rick Perry: RedState
Fannie and Freddie University: Hanson
Congress Must Still Do Its Job, Supercommittee or Not: Foundry
EuroCrisis 2011: What you missed while you slept (11-22-2011): Peth
MF Global: Company Shortfall Could Be Double Estimate: Malkin
Occupy Protesters Crapping Inside St. Paul's Cathedral: GWP
U. S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns: BigGov
Solyndra Price Tag Rises Another $14.3 Million: Malkin
Smart meters blamed for Wi-Fi router traffic jam: CNet
Is solar the new ethanol?: Exam
Obama crony Rezko sentenced Tuesday; Chicago Trib article about it doesn't mention president: Marathon
The Left's Pathetic Attempt to Re-brand Obama: Glob
The 20 Most Influential Conservative Women In Politics: RWN
MSNBC Contributor Suggests It's Immoral to Lay Off Govt. Workers: NB
Not Gridlock, but Democracy: Morris
CIA agents spying on Hizballah and Iran caught, feared dead: JihadWatch
What Preserves Israel?: INN
Obama’s Muslim Advisers Block Middle Eastern Christians’ Access to White House: Creeping
Lech Walesa Unveils Reagan Statue in Warsaw: “Without Reagan There Would Be No Poland”: GWP
New DHS Counterterrorism Czar Refuses to Use Terms Radicalization, Jihadist, Islamist: Creeping
German press irked by US, pushes WH on debt: Exam
2 Texas Mayors View Differs On Using War-Zone Equipment Along Border: Borderland
Video: Saudi Prince Fahd Bin Sultan lashes his companions for money: LeadersTube
Siri Hacked to Control a Thermostat — What’s Next?: Wired
GAO Audit Of IRS Highlights Common Database And Access Control Woes: DarkReading
The Top Five Reasons To Be a Commie Pinko: PJM
LOL! OWSers Get Creative!: Morning Spew
Image: The Looking Spoon, via Moonbattery
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund
Nation
Presence of Malice and a Conservative Portrait of the President: DigestCongress is a criminal enterprise: Chicago Boyz
Obama: I will veto any effort to stop defense cuts: NatlJrnl
Doomed by Design: the SuperFail Committee: Malkin
Soros helped craft stimulus, then profited from it: BigGov
Searching for the perfect candidate: Thomas
The Constitution: nice while it lasted: Cold Fury
New Law Cuts Ties Between FBI and Terror-Tied Groups: PJM
The Private Life of Governor Rick Perry: RedState
Economy
Goldman CEO leads in White House visits, Obama fundraising: ExamFannie and Freddie University: Hanson
Congress Must Still Do Its Job, Supercommittee or Not: Foundry
EuroCrisis 2011: What you missed while you slept (11-22-2011): Peth
MF Global: Company Shortfall Could Be Double Estimate: Malkin
Occupy Protesters Crapping Inside St. Paul's Cathedral: GWP
Gunrunner & Energygate
Issa: If Eric Holder is not ‘doomed,’ the Obama administration is: DCU. S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns: BigGov
Solyndra Price Tag Rises Another $14.3 Million: Malkin
Climate & Energy
We don’t need no steenkin’ energy!: Cold FurySmart meters blamed for Wi-Fi router traffic jam: CNet
Is solar the new ethanol?: Exam
Media
All Three Networks Hype 'Ugly' Pepper Spray 'Outrage,' Played Down Occupy Crimes: NBObama crony Rezko sentenced Tuesday; Chicago Trib article about it doesn't mention president: Marathon
The Left's Pathetic Attempt to Re-brand Obama: Glob
The 20 Most Influential Conservative Women In Politics: RWN
MSNBC Contributor Suggests It's Immoral to Lay Off Govt. Workers: NB
Not Gridlock, but Democracy: Morris
World
Fear of a German Europe: Foreign PolicyCIA agents spying on Hizballah and Iran caught, feared dead: JihadWatch
What Preserves Israel?: INN
Obama’s Muslim Advisers Block Middle Eastern Christians’ Access to White House: Creeping
Lech Walesa Unveils Reagan Statue in Warsaw: “Without Reagan There Would Be No Poland”: GWP
New DHS Counterterrorism Czar Refuses to Use Terms Radicalization, Jihadist, Islamist: Creeping
German press irked by US, pushes WH on debt: Exam
2 Texas Mayors View Differs On Using War-Zone Equipment Along Border: Borderland
Video: Saudi Prince Fahd Bin Sultan lashes his companions for money: LeadersTube
Sci-Tech
The Facebook Phone: It’s Finally Real and Its Name Is Buffy: AllThingsDSiri Hacked to Control a Thermostat — What’s Next?: Wired
GAO Audit Of IRS Highlights Common Database And Access Control Woes: DarkReading
Cornucopia
Bizarre classroom posters from the '70s, Part 2: WestwordThe Top Five Reasons To Be a Commie Pinko: PJM
LOL! OWSers Get Creative!: Morning Spew
Image: The Looking Spoon, via Moonbattery
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund
QOTD: "As of this week, the state [of Illinois] has 162,934 unpaid vouchers totaling $3.525 billion, dating back to July 8, 2011." --Brad Hahn, spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, confirming the state is months behind in payments to schools, Medicaid providers and state vendors
Monday, November 21, 2011
The very best 2012 campaign poster [Papa B]
Papa B:
Indeed they do.
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.""Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." --Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
Indeed they do.
Hilarity in the White House Press Room: European Reporter Rips Obamaconomy for "Worse than Eurozone" Debt Levels
Today, as the Eurozone melted down in a debt-fueled replay of the 2008 Lehman crisis, a curious scene unfolded in the White House press room.
The debt ceiling debacle. The "debt commission", ignored by the very man who created it. The continuing resolution collapse. The bogus balanced-budget amendment.
Every single effort to contain the devastating federal spending addiction has been opposed not only by the Marxist left, but by John Boehner, Eric Cantor and the rest of the big government RINOs.
As Michelle Malkin puts it, "The disease [is e]ntrenched incumbency. The cure? Fresh fiscal conservative blood. Remember in November."
In an apparent suggestion of United States hypocrisy on debt issues, a journalist in the German media challenged White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on the role of the United States in responding to the European debt crisis."The U.S., as far as I know, has a worse debt-to-GDP ratio than the whole eurozone, and we are talking about the eurozone, not about the United States and that Congress can't get its act together," said a member of the German press during the briefing. "So from the European perspective, it seems that this country is in a bigger mess than Europe. We are not proud where we are. We know that it's slow and not bold, and so on, but at least they are doing something; they are deciding something, they're trying to pull that through. And here, nothing is happening -- third time this year," he added, referring to the Supercommittee failure.
..."I don't think it's helpful to get into which side of the Atlantic handles its problems better or worse," Carney responded. "I think each side needs to -- we need to act and the Congress needs to act, this country needs to act. And obviously, as I just discussed in answer to a question earlier, the Europeans need to move forward with rapid implementation of their plans."
That answer, with its recommendation regarding European action, did not seem to satisfy Carney's interlocutor, who began to ask "do you have [any] understanding -- the feeling in the eurozone, I said, it’s not really a time where the U.S. is in a position to give advice to Europe."
The debt ceiling debacle. The "debt commission", ignored by the very man who created it. The continuing resolution collapse. The bogus balanced-budget amendment.
Every single effort to contain the devastating federal spending addiction has been opposed not only by the Marxist left, but by John Boehner, Eric Cantor and the rest of the big government RINOs.
As Michelle Malkin puts it, "The disease [is e]ntrenched incumbency. The cure? Fresh fiscal conservative blood. Remember in November."
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