Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Men Who Seriously Lack Female Supervision [Bernie]

Bernie:









Related: A Photo Essay: Why Women Live Longer Than Men.

Tehran TV's Iranian Idol: Ron Paul

Kenneth Timmerman pulls back the covers on the Crackpot-In-Chief's campaign, revealing an ugly scene in Tehran. Turns out the Mullahs love Ron Paul (not like they love goats, mind you, but strictly in a platonic way).

The Iranian regime’s English language propaganda channel, PressTV, has discovered a new American idol: presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul.

PressTV has stepped up its coverage of Paul’s campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination in recent weeks, featuring his anti-Israel rants, his claim that sanctions against Iran are “acts of war,” his approval of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and much more.

The Iranian government channel portrays Ron Paul as an American hero, and brings on conspiracy theorists masquerading as political “analysts” to laud him for “challenging the American establishment” and the “corporate neo-conservative Zionist consensus,” that cabal of Jews, banksters, and Reagan Democrats who in Tehran’s eyes (and in the eyes of these Ron Paul supporters) run the world.

It’s a script taken almost word-for-word from the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

...No contemporary U.S. political leader has been so in sync with Tehran as Ron Paul. Here are just a few of the recent Ron Paul sound bites on Iran and U.S. policy toward Iran prominently featured by PressTV:

“Just think of how many nuclear weapons surround Iran. The Chinese are there, the Indians are there, the Pakistanis are there, the Israelis are there, the United States is there. All these countries—China has nuclear weapons! Wouldn’t it be natural that they might want a weapon? Internationally, they’d be given more respect… They have no evidence that they are working on a weapon. “Paul blasts US policy on Iran, Aug. 12, 2011.

“I think we’re looking for trouble because we put these horrendous sanctions on Iran… Sanctions against Iran are definite steps toward a US attack.” “Iran sanctions ‘acts of war’: Ron Paul,” Dec. 31, 2011; “Ron Paul raps US hostility toward Iran,” Jan. 7, 2012.

Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had never mentioned any intention of wiping Israel off the map.” Quick Facts: Ron Paul on US Foreign Policy, Dec. 24, 2011.

“Iran is not a physical threat to us. They do not have capabilities. The stories you might hear about them being on the verge of a nuclear weapon is not true by our CIA and by the United Nations. They are not on the verge of it.” Quick Facts: Ron Paul on US Foreign Policy, Dec. 24, 2011.

“Who are they [Iran] going to bomb? If they had one or two bombs, they are going to bomb Israel? Israel has 300 of them! And our submarines all around there passing and everything else.” Quick Facts: Ron Paul on US Foreign Policy, Dec. 24, 2011...

Of course, Paul -- an unabashed propagandist for the Mullahs -- willfully ignores their well-documented threats, screeds and promises of destruction.

"We have a strategy drawn up for the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization... we must make use of everything we have at hand to strike at this front by means of our suicide operations or by means of our missiles." -- Hassan Abbasi, "strategic adviser" to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

"We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance [the West] and the Islamic world, and this war has been going on for hundreds of years... Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? ...you had best know that this... goal [is] attainable." -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

"We have established a department that will take care of England. England's demise is on our agenda." -- Hassan Abbasi

But maybe the Iranians are just kidding about destroying America and Israel. Kinda like Hitler's satirical work, Mein Kampf.


Genius: Companies being fined by EPA for not using biofuel that hasn't been invented yet

Isn't this the perfect microcosm of the flat-earth, no-growth, eco-Marxists who today are running wild in the Obama administration?

When the companies that supply motor fuel close the books on 2011, they will pay about $6.8 million in penalties to the Treasury because they failed to mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and diesel as required by law.

But there was none to be had. Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist. [Ed: but that never stopped an eco-Marxist, did it?]

In 2012, the oil companies expect to pay even higher penalties for failing to blend in the fuel, which is made from wood chips or the inedible parts of plants like corncobs. Refiners were required to blend 6.6 million gallons into gasoline and diesel in 2011 and face a quota of 8.65 million gallons this year.

“It belies logic,” Charles T. Drevna, the president of the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, said of the 2011 quota. And raising the quota for 2012 when there is no production makes even less sense, he said.

Penalizing the fuel suppliers demonstrates what happens when the federal government really, really wants something that technology is not ready to provide. ...Even advocates of renewable fuel acknowledge that the refiners are at least partly correct in complaining about the penalties... “From a taxpayer/consumer standpoint, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense that we would require blenders to pay fines or fees or whatever for stuff that literally isn’t available,” said Dennis V. McGinn, a retired vice admiral who serves on the American Council on Renewable Energy.

Yes, but don't ya know that a bunch of masterminds in Washington -- who have never produced a drop of oil, or refined a gallon of gasoline, or know jack-squat about anything related to energy -- are fully capable of producing regulations, fees, and fines, all with the force of law, to demand that technological innovation keep pace with their dreams and desires?

These bureaucrats demand -- demand! -- that innovation keep up with their central planning! How else can they organize an entire society?

That was me sighing. If this isn't the prototypical example that illustrates the utter insanity of modern liberalism, I don't know what is.


Hat tip: Vicki.

Larwyn's Linx: Palin, Limbaugh: Democrats want to run against Romney

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

Nation

Palin, Limbaugh: Democrats want to run against Romney: GWP
Romney, the weak frontrunner: NRO
Huntsman, Gingrich, Perry all go Occupier; Santorum declines: Malkin

No hope that Obama changed: ConCom
You will love this GOP candidate for Utah-4: Lid
Gov. Haley Barbour Pardons FOUR Convicted Murderers: Bruce

Romney slides 10 points in 5 days in the NH Suffolk poll: Hot Air
Youth Vote: Our Future Laughed Off Stage: Alexa
Why is Ron Paul allowed to Continue Participating in Debates?: RS

Is Mitt This Election Cycle’s Linda McMahon?: RWN
Crime without punishment: AT
Incredibly, Pelosi Continues to Blame Bush: MB

Constitutional Crisis

No you don't, Sparky: Flopping Aces
There Was No Nomination of Cordray before the Senate: Cato
Santorum: Obama Reelection means America Will Be Gone: Tatler

Economy

National Debt Now Equals Entire US Economy: S&L
Obama’s Medical Records Requirements Already Causing Job Loss: Publius
Mitt Romney's RINO Austerity Economics Make Him Least Electable: Forbes

UAW Fund, Underfunded By $20 Billion, To Cut Retiree Benefits: LUR
DHS Program Completely Wasted $45 Million in Illinois: PubInt
Incoming Chief of Staff Jack Lew’s Past Statements: Bizarre: BG

Climate & Energy

Sackett v. EPA: Supreme Court Takes Up Property Rights Case: Foundry
Carbon Dioxide, The Wonder Gas -- Will It Save Us From The Next Ice Age?: Wolf Howling
Supreme Court to hear case of dream home quashed by EPA: CSM

Media

How Media’s Malpractice With Obamas’ Halloween Bash Hurts Conservatives: Loesch
MSNBC Puts Two and Two Together and Comes Up with Zilch: Truth About Guns
Krugman: Redefining “Equal Opportunity”: Q&O

Michelle Obama "distressed" that "white Irish Catholic[s] ...locked up" power in Illinois.: Sun-Times
Conservative Bloggers Should Moderate GOP Debates: Glob
Occupy the Quakers: Marathon

Homeland Security monitors journalists: RT
NYT's Bill Keller Endorses Obama-Clinton Ticket In 2012: NB
GA School Uses Slavery In Math Questions: S&L

RedState's Defense Makes No Sense: Riehl
Rick Santorum does NOT support SOPA: Scoop
Religious Player Hating: Tebow and Suggs: Alexa

This Week’s MSM Bias Award Goes to George Stephanopoulos: DLim
Former Olby Staffer: A "Walking Hostile Work Environment": Ace
Who is Paul Mulshine?: Riehl

World

Iran's ayatollahs are again testing US resolve: Bolton
Florida Muslim Arrested in Plot to Bomb Crowded Tampa Mall: GWP
China Slams U.S.' New 'Asian Focused' Defense Strategy: Fox

WaPo: Obama Foreign Policy an Abject Failure: Big Peace
Obama To Betray Missile Defense Secrets To Moscow: IBD
Feds: Man planned terrorism attacks in Tampa: Tampa Bay

The Shocking List of Gitmo Detainees Obama Plans to Release in Deal with Taliban: Blaze
Obama Finally Boots Venezuelan Diplomat Who Planned U.S. Attack: JW
Ahmadinejad’s “Hate America” tour to Latin America, threatens U.S. National Security: Babalu

Sci-Tech

India Reports Completely Drug-Resistant TB: Wired
Hell on Earth: NASA’s Toxic Venus Test Chamber: Wired
Google Intensifies Its Guerrilla War Against The TV Business: Insider

Cornucopia

Are we... living in a sports movie?: Moe Lane
'Second rate': What the Nobel Prize jury thought about Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: Daily Mail
The Theme of Obama's Second Inaugural (defaced by some capitalist pig enemies of the state).: SSI

Images: Buzzfeed: 50 Unexplainable B&W Photos: and Ace o' Spades
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "According to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke (and I believe he is correct on this point) it currently takes about 125,000 jobs a month to hold the unemployment rate steady, down from about 150,000 in 2000. I expect that number to drop for a few more years due to boomer demographics, but the key point is the number is positive not negative.

The only reason unemployment rate has dropped recently is because [Ed: the highly politicized] BLS surveys say the number is negative (a shrinking labor force).

Based on historical data and Bernanke's estimates, one would have expected the unemployment rate to have risen during 2010... Instead, the unemployment rate fell from 10 to 8.5. " --Mike Shedlock

Monday, January 09, 2012

12 Freakiest Electron Microscope Photos














Maybe I ought to increase the zoom on that last one.


Pictures: Boston Globe, Amazing Data, IO9, SI Live, Natural History Museum, Telegraph (UK).

Rick Santorum: How are those Romney-style "moderate" candidates like McCain and Dole working out for ya?

Mitt Romney, contrary to popular belief, would be the easiest of the Republican candidates for Barack Obama to defeat. Not to say I wouldn't support Romney if he were the nominee (after all, he's not a radical Alinsky-ite bent on destroying "transforming" the country). Hell, I'd vote for a Golden Retriever over Barack Obama... it would certainly do less damage.

But Romney's so-called "electability" is an ill-disguised myth. He can't attack Obama on the Democrats' biggest Achilles' Heel: Obamacare. His Wall Street background, as we have seen in recent days, is ripe for an attack from the populist angle, whether it's warranted or not. And, as Rick Santorum pointed out this evening, "moderate" GOP establishment candidates have a horrible track record in presidential elections.

Drawing an implicit contrast with Mitt Romney on the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary, Rick Santorum [reminded the crowd of] a centrist, establishment candidate... the 2008 Republican nominee, [and] the people of this small New Hampshire town bordering Maine wanted none of it.

“Let’s put up Bob Dole, because it’s his turn,” Santorum said ironically of the 1996 GOP nominee. “Let’s put up John McCain, because it’s his turn.”

Some in the crowd started booing, while others cried out “No!”

...“Give us an opportunity to be that conservative alternative, not just in this primary, but the conservative alternative that will draw clear contrast,” he said, “and be able to attract the votes and voters we need to win this election.”

I urge you to support a true Constitutional conservative for President.

I urge you to support Rick Santorum.


A Letter to My Former Employees [Papa B]

Papa B writes, "This is a real letter (see Snopes) written by a businessman to his former employees, who he was forced to lay off during the ongoing economic downturn."

October 5, 2011

To All My Former Valued Employees:

You are the best of the best.

It took me years to attract a talented group of engineers like you and build this company into what it was. Like other small businesses that have struggled through this economic plague, we were forced to trim our workforce. Now it’s just me. I hope you are all well and I sincerely miss the good days when we were working together.

My goal as an employer was to give you a great place to work, a good salary, benefits, and good projects to work on that would challenge you intellectually. I think we accomplished this. We built a very comfortable office with a full kitchen where we would take turns cooking on Fridays, we went deep sea fishing twice a year, the company treated employees and wives or girlfriends to dinner once a month, and we all even went on a cruise together one year. Some business owners would not have done most of these things, but my goal was to have the best employees and to provide a great place to work. And, it paid off well. Together we were a great company, we were profitable, and I thank you for your efforts.

When the economy started to decline I held on to you guys. I probably held on for too long, but finding great employees was difficult. Back in 2008 we kept saying things would get better "after the election". Ironically, we are saying the same thing in 2011

because the country is no better off now than we were then. In fact, things have gotten worse. I know where each of you has landed, and I am happy that you are all well.

Unfortunately, the regulatory climate in this country simply isn’t conducive to anyone starting or growing a business. That means I won’t be hiring you back, or anyone like you, anytime soon. Simply stated, business hates uncertainty. The regulatory climate in this country and the attitude of our lawmakers breeds uncertainty. I have no idea what hiring an employee is going to cost me in taxes and medical insurance.

I have no idea what my personal tax situation is going to be. The banking system has crawled into its shell in fear of additional regulations. They aren’t lending any money to anyone — despite the money — our tax dollars — that the government gave them. There is just too much uncertainty, and there is absolutely no incentive for guys like me to try to break out and grow. That is precisely the wrong attitude that we should have in times like these when unemployment is so high. I employed 15 people a few years ago. A drop in the bucket? Maybe. But I had 15 great employees that earned good wages. A couple of you got married, bought a house, and started a family during the time you worked for me. Certainly that helped the economy. If hundreds or thousands of small business across the country had enough confidence to hire and expand, think of the immediate and beneficial effect that would have on you, me, and the country.

I started my first company 17 years ago. I worked from home, and my wife supported us, took care of the family, and paid off my student loans while I worked on the business. Any small business owner will tell you that it takes hard work and dedication to make a company succeed. This one was no different. My office was in my house, making working long nights and weekends the norm. We seldom went on vacations because with me out of town the company stopped operating. I didn’t leave the office for fear of missing a phone call. When we made enough money to get cell phones we were able to "relax" as the office was now extended to the car, or wherever I happened to be. Days were spent in meetings while evenings were spent drafting, doing design work, and scrambling to meet the next days’ deadlines.

Any small business owner will tell you that you never leave work. They are right. Everything depended on my ability to produce. You never leave your work "at the office". Employees have the luxury of walking away at 5:00, but the owner is still working late into the night, and then stays awake at night worrying about the next day. Family life suffers. Sometimes your health suffers, but you can’t afford to be sick. One day, God willing, you get successful enough to add employees. My first employee worked in my house. That worked for a little while but you just can’t have employees working in the same small house that you and your family live in. Luckily we were able to rent a small office and move out of the house. That simple move changed a lot of things. Suddenly you go from just doing the work to being a property manager, office manager, and payroll manager, along with all of the other tasks you were already doing. Those long nights you put in working from home are now a long lost luxury since you are now putting in long nights away from home.

Why do we do this? Because someday it will all pay off, or so we keep telling ourselves. My finest moments were hiring a staff of good engineers like you. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I was responsible for the livelihood of 10 engineers, being able to offer up to 15 of us a good salary, good benefits, and being able to give bonus checks at the end of a banner month or year. It felt good to be able to share what I had built with you guys, and to see genuine appreciation in your faces and in the way you worked hard every day.

So what went wrong? For my part, I should have let you go years earlier than I did. If I had, I might have made it through the storm a little better. I’ve already told you why that wasn’t possible for me. My worst day was when I had to invite you into the conference room to tell you that your employment with me was over.

The government says we are in this mess because Americans went on a spending spree they couldn’t afford. People bought houses they shouldn’t have and brokers packaged up all the risky loans into cool and lucrative new investment vehicles. If you listen to the government, what went wrong is totally our fault.

I think they, being the politicians, forget that it was government programs that encouraged people to get into homes they couldn’t afford. It was government ignorance of many publicly stated warnings against mortgage backed securities that allowed these vehicles flourish. I guess if you consider that it was us that elected these guys then they are right: it’s our fault.

In 2008 this country needed the best President in history. The country needed leadership. We bought "hope and change" believing that the new administration would bring an end to politics as we knew it and focus on America to bring the economy out of the worst decline in recent history. What we got was more of the same. It amazes me that the administration blames the other party for not being able to get any legislation passed when that same administration had control of the House and Senate for two years and still couldn’t get anything passed. We need leadership. The needs of the country demand it...

...Since the 2008 election we have spent ... billions of dollars in failed stimulus efforts, and put legislation into place that has scared the business community from expanding or hiring additional staff. Where is this money coming from? The Republican leadership is criticized for asking that same simple question, and then demonized for simply asking the government to match additional spending with cuts elsewhere. Small business owners understand budgets, being frugal, and controlled spending. We know that we can’t spend more than we make. The result is called bankruptcy. Why can’t the government understand this? What is so wrong with expecting the Government to spend within its means? What is wrong with demanding that the government clean up the wasteful spending that is both inherent and chronic in Washington?

I have always said that if every American had to write a check on April 15th to pay their taxes, this country would have a drastically different tax code. Instead of actually writing a check, most Americans have taxes withdrawn at every paycheck and they simply lose track, or get immune to the deduction. The biggest joke is the "refund". Wow! Bonus money in April. Can people really be that immune to what they are actually paying that they are tricked into thinking they are getting something free? I can assure you that I have never received a “refund” from the government.

I am one of the 50% of Americans that actually pay taxes. You heard that right: 50% of Americans don’t even pay taxes. As a small business owner, tax season is generally a bloodbath. It is amazing what I have paid in taxes. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that every American should pay for the privilege of living here and should share the cost of running this government. But when you actually see the amount you pay, you really start to wonder what you received in benefit for the money you paid.

Did I get any benefit at all from the stimulus package that I contributed to? Absolutely not. Am I going to benefit from Obamacare, which will eventually cost me a pile of money if I ever intend to hire employees again? Absolutely not. Do I get even a fraction of that money back in government services? No way. Since I am not a user of (or eligible for) government programs where I could get free stuff, I am simply forced to pay for others that are. A more fair way to would be for the government to charge for the services you use. That will never happen. But what is so wrong with a flat rate tax code? Everyone pays the same rate regardless of what you use. While the imbalance will still be there between those addicted to government handouts and those of us that aren’t, at least all Americans would pay something and everyone would have the same obligation.

The current focus on taxing the rich really cracks me up. Who defines rich? The current administration keeps sliding that number around. One day its people who earn $1 million per year, the next it falls to $250,000, and I’ve even heard numbers as low as $100,000. Some 70% of tax revenues in this country come from the top 20% of wage earners. So the current administration wants them to pay more? Wants them to "pay their fair share"? Are we to now believe that they aren’t paying a fair share of the burden? That’s crazy. It’s these people that have struggled like I have to build a good life and a good company. We’ve put in our time and we actually share the rewards with our employees and through the taxes we already pay. How about the other 50% that pays nothing? Should the top wage earners — and job creators — continue to pay for those who have managed to pay nothing?

So what went wrong? We bought hope and change and got despair and continued partisan bickering. We wanted leadership and we got none. We wanted a savior but we didn’t get one. So what went wrong? We did, and we had better get it right in 2012. The country simply can’t survive another 4 years of incredible spending and lack of leadership.

So what can we do? Vote, and pray. We need to vote for lawmakers that will stand up for the ideals that will bring this country back to the place of prominence it once was. America has lost the moral high ground, its place of prominence technically, and the strength of a thriving economy. We need to vote for lawmakers that will solve our problems today, and not pass them along to our children and grandchildren in the form of astronomical debts. We need a government that will live within its means just as we are expected to live within ours. We need a President that will rise above politics to lead different groups of interests to a solution that is best for the country. Most of all we need to unite as Americans and demand that our government fix the mess they have helped to create.

And then, we should pray. I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross to take the punishment for sin so that we wouldn’t have to. Because of sin, we couldn’t enter Heaven unless a sacrifice was made on our behalf, and Jesus made that sacrifice for us. The Bible tells us that in order to get to Heaven we must believe. And we must pray. We must pray that God helps us through these hard times and that this great country can be great once again. Whatever your faith, whatever your beliefs, we must pray.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Crowley, PE
Crowley & Associates, Inc.
Professional Engineers
Wake Forest, NC 27587


Malkin: Should the Secret Service be at all concerned that those Hollywood stars never showed up in the White House visitor logs?

You've probably heard by now that President and Mrs. Obama threw a crazily over-the-top, Hollywood-style Halloween Party in 2009, during the depths of the ongoing national recession. Alice in Wonderland director Tim Burton transformed the White House into a reproduction of the movie set; and stars Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska appeared in costume.

Of course, a compliant and docile legacy media reported none of this for fear of a political backlash.

But America's best independent investigative reporter, Michelle Malkin, noticed something interesting: none of the big Hollywood stars appeared in the White House visitor logs. The logs, of course, are all part of the administration's "commitment to government transparency."

Well, I’ve just finished scouring the White House visitor logs.

Regular readers know I seem to be one of the few in the media who actually does such a thing.

Regular readers also know that I’ve pointed out time and again that the logs are incomplete, misleading, obtuse, and designed to make it as difficult as possible to figure out who has visited and when.

So, it is no surprise that neither director Tim Burton nor actor Johnny Depp — hosts of the big 2009 Hollywood Halloween bash at the White House — show up in the visitor logs.


Perhaps the spokes-idiot Jay Carney will blame the Cheshire Cat; you know, that it used its cloak of invisibility to render Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska invisible to the Secret Service.

So much for even the last shred of credibility the White House had regarding "transparency".

The accuracy of the White House Visitor Logs appear to be roughly equivalent to that of the rest of President Obama's promises. Which is to say, every one of this administration's pledges are backed by the full faith and credit of a Greek 20-year note.


Pictures: Big Journalism.

Larwyn's Linx: Is there not one ethical, courageous Democrat?

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

Constitutional Crisis

Is there not one ethical, courageous Democrat?: RedState
Accelerating Toward Totalitarianism: Pelerin
The Top 5 Reasons Obama Must Be Removed as CINC: AT

Nation

Debate Night in the Titanic Ballroom: Steyn
Thoughts on the Meet the Press/NBC/Facebook debate: Barone
Nader: W.H. pressured Democrats not to challenge Obama: Hill

Romney's Fatal Flaw: How Conservatives Can Still Win: Riehl
Romney Mediocre, Santorum Strong, Gingrich Mixed: WS
How Marxists Wrote Ron Paul’s Defense Cuts Plan: NoisyRm

Noted Congressman calls for defeat of do-nothing Congress: Hot Air
Gingrich implies Romney is buying the election: DC
Candidates Reject Gay Marriage at GOP Debate in NH: AmPow

Economy

How To Win Power by Selling Out Your Own Union: Feldman
Detroit Feeling Greek As the Technocrats Close In: Mead
Why Your College Grad Can't Find a Job: Fox

What Worked in 2011... and What Didn't: ZH
The case for structurally high unemployment for a decade: Mish
UC salary criticisms fuel student protests: OCR

Gunrunner & Energygate

Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Killed in Shootout by 'High-Powered Rifle': Tucson
Arpaio Unjustly In Justice Department Crosshairs: IBD
What Financial Meltdowns Teach Us About the IPCC: Climate Realists

Media

Lefties Wet Their Pants Thinking about Post-Obama America or, I Want What They Fear.: Ace
Final Implementation of Obama Dictatorship in Progress on All Levels: NoisyRm
Shame on ABC for their pathetically moderated GOP debate in New Hampshire: FAM

HalloweenGate: White House Covered Up Massive 2009 Halloween Party (With Near-Exclusive Photos): VS
Tapper Acknowledges in 2008 the Media ‘Tilted on the Scales a Little Bit’ for Obama: NB
Kiss of Death: Pelosi Praises Ron Paul: WZ

Obama's Delusional Dog-Washer: Boortz
Everyone Must Sacrifice: Obamas Hid Extravagant “Alice in Wonderland” Bash From Public: GWP
Marco Rubio & Allen West Forging Political Alliance?: Shark Tank

Are Republicans Too Stupid...: ConSoul
Obama's Political Ploys Could Backfire: AT
A Special 2012 Campaign Reminder To America From The Democratic Party: Looking Spoon

World

Rogue's Gallery: Creeping Sharia
After the Fall: Tablet
Hamas TV: “Killing Jews An Act Of Worship” – With Allah’s Teachings “We Harvest The Skulls Of The Jews”: WZ

45 Beautiful Photos Of The U.S. Military From The Last Year: Insider
ECB Overnight Deposit Level Hits Another High: WSJ
Report: Iran Now Enriching Uranium: STACLU

Sci-Tech

World's largest passenger plane may be unsafe, some say: CNet
New kinds of dark forces are being unleashed online: smh
Toshiba Just Built The Thinnest 10-Inch Tablet Ever, And It's A Real Stunner: Insider

Cornucopia

Michelle Obama's Behind: The Scenes: MOTUS
I'd Really Like to Buy This Man a Drink: Wizbang
Daily scoreboard: Debates and football: Surber

Image: Zerohedge - There is no hope
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "The then-press secretary Robert Gibbs was apparently often dispatched to placate Mrs Obama when limits were put on the amount she could spend on clothes or White House redecoration, as well as to explain why she could not take private holiday while on state visits." --Raf Sanchez

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Remember the good old days when we had a real media?

Granted, they were always a bunch of left-wing kooks, but when push came to shove, they would actually report scandals, even if they involved a Democrat president. Remember these golden oldies?

But maybe there aren't any good, modern scandals to choose from. No 200 dead Mexicans and a couple of dead U.S. law enforcement officials thanks to a bungled Eric Holder operation to promote gun control.

No ongoing Constitutional crisis because of a would-be tyrant declaring that the Senate is in recess, when it clearly is not, to ram through appointees without confirmation.

No public outcry because a president signed into law a bill that allows him to detain American citizens indefinitely, without trial or charges.

No ongoing litany of egregious offenses against the Constitution, any single one of which would have had media screeching for the impeachment of, say, a George W. Bush.

Which, come to think of it, perhaps explains legacy media's ongoing meltdown.

Wait. Just. A. Minute. I don't know how in the name of Inigo Montoya that last cover got in there. Someone from Moonbattery must have hacked into the site.


Air Force Solving Problems [Papa B]

Papa B:

Air Force General: Mr. President, we've just invented an invisibility cloak for Air Force One.

Obama: No Way?

Air Force General: That's right, sir, the plane will be invisible. Will you be going along on its maiden flight?

Obama: Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Air Force General: Have a good trip, sir.

The Air Force: Solving Problems Since 1947!


Who's Lying to Who? [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

Only two days ago I sent around this story: US: Brotherhood says it won't break Israel treaty.

It had this subhead: State Department says America received private assurances from Islamist party contradicting its public statements on peace.

Today I’m sending around this story: Muslim Brotherhood says will not honor peace treaty with Israel.

It has this subhead: Deputy head of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party denies comments by U.S. State Department that Brotherhood made guarantees to honor peace deal with Israel.

Frankly, if I had to chose who to believe, Obama’s State Dept. or the Muslim Brotherhood, I’d put my money on the Brotherhood.


White House threw secret Halloween recession bash -- and I'll refrain from the obligatory Chewbacca jokes

Here wookie, wookie, wookie... c'mon, good wookie...*

A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.

“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.

The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole.

“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,” the book says.

However, the White House made certain that more humble Halloween festivities earlier that day — for thousands of Washington-area schoolkids — were well reported by the press corps... ...Unbeknownst to reporters, the State Dining Room had also been transformed into a secretive White House Wonderland.

Tim Burton decorated it “in his signature creepy-comic style. His film version was about to be released, and he had turned the room into the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with a long table set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies,” reports the book, which The Post purchased at a Manhattan bookstore.

“Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar. Burton’s own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character.”

With all the vacations and golf the Obamas enjoy, it's a wonder they have any time for parties.


* As long as you keep your hands away from the wookie's mouth while it's eating, you should be okay.


I am so f-ing sick of these left-wing, old media hacks running GOP debates. I want a conservative bloggers' debate!

So the chief political operative for a disgraced, impeached ex-president is the right guy to moderate a Republican debate?

And with America's debt surpassing 100% of GDP -- which makes us, officially, a debtor nation; with Iran threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz; with China gearing up for war; with Islamists rising throughout the Middle East; with rating agencies threatening to further downgrade the United States; George Stephanapolous wants to discuss banning contraception? Really?

No, that's the perverted worldview of a manic progressive, attempting to tar Republicans as religious throwbacks through his interrogatories.

Here's a solution: we need a conservative bloggers' debate.

I nominate Ace of Spades, Andrew Breitbart, Ed Morrissey, Erick Erickson, Jim Hoft, John Hawkins, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds.

I can guaran-damn-tee that their combined audiences dwarf Stephanapolous' ratings.

So who do we have to sue to pull this off?


Erick Erickson: Mark Levin and Sarah Palin unable to gauge true conservatism

I usually resist the urge to engage in internecine warfare, but RedState's Erick Erickson's attacks on Rick Santorum have moved me to action. As Rick Perry has faded in the polls after some disastrous debate performances, Erickson has likewise thrashed about trying to pump up the candidate. And similarly with Newt Gingrich, who -- after a brief surge in the polls -- has faded. Believe me, I'll happily support either, but right now Rick Santorum appears to be the most conservative candidate with momentum.

Erickson has been left with the proverbial dead parrot returned to his store, and must resort to arguing that it's still alive.

Owner: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.

Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

Dear Erick,

So you're saying Mark Levin, who is a personal friend of Santorum's and knows him as well as anyone (Santorum was an early campaigner for Reagan in 1980 in Pennsylvania with Levin) is wrong?

That Mark Freaking Levin is supporting a big-government Statist?

That Santorum's leadership work on the 1996 Welfare Reform Act -- arguably the most successful re-engineering of an existing entitlement program ever -- is not worth discussing, especially now?

That Santorum's obvious knowledge and support of national security is to be dismissed as China prepares for war and the Middle East boils over?

That Santorum's brave battle for a Balanced Budget Amendment was all a sham?

That cherry-picking a couple dozen from thousands upon thousands of votes that Santorum cast -- many of which were thrust upon the GOP caucus by the big-spending Bush 43 administration -- are somehow representative of his personal interests?

That because he lost an election in a disastrous year for Republicans nationally, a year that swept the Democrats into power, as the most conservative Senator from Pennsylvania in the last half-century?

Why, didn't Barack Obama lose a Democrat Primary to Bobby Rush just a decade ago by 31 points? Uhm, yes. Yes, he did.

No. I don't get it. So Mark Levin and Sarah Palin don't know that Santorum is really a big-government guy, that he's fooled them for all of these years.

All candidates are imperfect, some more so than others.

But tearing down good conservative candidates like Rick Santorum to me makes no sense, especially when other good candidates like Gingrich and Perry appear to be losing momentum.

Some introspection, I believe, is necessary.


Larwyn's Linx: Oops! The Senate Conducted Business During Its ‘Recess’

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

Constitutional Crisis

Oops: The Senate Conducted Business During Its ‘Recess’: Tatler
Only one Senate Democrat supports Obama’s recess claim: DC
What Is the Separation of Powers?: Foundry

Nation

Dear Voters, Vote For Romney, You Idiots.: Publius
Rick Santorum, Conservative Stalwart: Hillyer
36 Senators File Brief Challenging Obamacare: INN

The Tucson massacre: One year later: Malkin
No, Santorum Never Supported an Individual Mandate: Riehl
Newt slams media for ignoring anti-Christian bigotry: Scoop

A Movement With No Followers: Pagun
Santorum Surge Hits Hollis, N.H.: RS
Gingrich: Obama the ‘best food-stamp President': Union-Leader

Must See: No Class Act: Moonbattery
21 Percent of Dems Have Left Party: Morris
Santorum: Election Is About Obamacare: WS

Economy

Obama's Lost Labor Force: ProWis
Those New Jobless Numbers: NRO
Being There — the Obama Sequel: Hanson

Obama jobs plan for youth is great if you like not getting paid: NakedDC
Union President: Time to Make Charter Schools ‘Ours’: BG
What Liberals Don’t Understand About Business and Profit: Foundry

Gunrunner & Energygate

Fast and Furious Defense Strategy: Keep Them Quiet: Owens
ATF Heads Starting To Roll Over Fast and Furious But the Cover-up Continues: Nice Deb
Drug Trafficker /Fast and Furious Links to Cartel: LE Examiner

Climate & Energy

Looks like “global warming” is off the hook for honeybee deaths: Watts
“Climate Change Castaways” Have Long Years To Wait: RWN
GM tweaks Volt's battery pack, fiery death now less likely: DVice

Media

LFM Review: Page One, The New York Times & Modern Media Bias: Libertas
The Media Blasts Republicans While Obama Destroys Nation: BigJourn
The most ridiculous charge of racism ever?: Lifson

Confirmed: Anti-Semitism at Think Progress: VS
Obama Media Sycophants Renew Their Race Cards Just In Time For 2012 Election: Nice Deb
On MSNBC, Journalist Asks About Bachmann: 'We Will Be Rid of This Woman for Good?': NB

Did Obama Start Blogging at the Daily Kos?: Powers
Report: Mooch Ripped Into Obama After Scott Brown Won Mass Senate Race: WZ
Gibbs Peeved at Jarrett: DC

How Glenn Beck Got His Groove Back: Productive Class
Sunlight Down the Spider Hole: NoisyRm
Eugene Robinson Apoplectic About a Conservative in the White House: RWN

World

The Decapitation of Hope in Cuba: Babalu
Red Flag on the Red Planet: China's Great Leap Marsward?: AT
Inside David's Tower: A tour of Venezuela's skyscraper squatter city.: ForPol

Arab Spring: Egyptians Chant “One Nation for a New Holocaust” at Soccer Game: GWP
It took just a week for 2012 to become a very dangerous year: AT
Hamas-linked CAIR in Your Kid’s Classroom: Geller

Is America Prepared for Total War?: Loudon
Obamalateral Disarmament Dooms Arsenal Of Democracy: IBD
ICE – Deporting American Citizens and Displaying Massive Incompetence: NoisyRm

Sci-Tech

Discrimination Against Straight People At Google?: GayPatriot
Nigerian government hosts Halifax phishing site: Netcraft
NASA Questions Astronaut's Right to Sell Apollo 13 Memorabilia: Fox

Cornucopia

Matt's Do It Yourself: Make Your Own Biased Liberal News Network! At Home!: Morlock Revolt
Help Wanted: Adult monitors for recess: MOTUS
Welcome to the First Annual Zilla Awards for Awesomeness in the Dextrosphere!: Zilla

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "Given the total distortions of reality with respect to not counting people who allegedly dropped out of the work force, it is easy to misrepresent the headline numbers. Digging under the surface, the drop in the unemployment rate is nothing but a statistical mirage.

The official unemployment rate is 8.5%. However, if you start counting all the people that want a job but gave up, all the people with part-time jobs that want a full-time job, all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls because their unemployment benefits ran out, etc., you get a closer picture of what the unemployment rate is. That number is in the last row labeled U-6.

While the "official" unemployment rate is an unacceptable 8.6%, U-6 is much higher at 15.6%. Both numbers would be way higher were it not for millions dropping out of the labor force over the past few years." --Mike Shedlock

Saturday, January 07, 2012

'Sir, Blogs Aren't Objective Reporters!' [Chris Muir]

The brilliant Chris Muir at Day by Day Cartoon combines President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts with some horrific newspaper stats at Newsosaur to create this great riff:

Remember to bookmark Day by Day for your regular dosage of teh artzw0rk, right-style.

Oh, and for the first time in my life, I'm proud of my country!


Will You be Allowed to Read This in 2016? [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

There are many ways a determined president can undermine our freedoms and still go virtually unchallenged, especially when he has the conventional media in his back pocket. For example, I doubt you’ll see a mainstream news outlet follow-up on this important story. Bottom line: If we repeat the mistake we made in 2008 and give a man with hidden agendas four more years in the White House, I hate to think what this great country (and the world) will look like in 2016.

###

Stonegate Institute, January 6, 2012, by Soeren Kern

U.S., E.U. Spearhead Islamic Bid To Criminalize Free Speech


The European Union has offered to host the next meeting of the so-called Istanbul Process, an aggressive effort by Muslim countries to make it an international crime to criticize Islam... The announcement comes less than one month after the United States hosted its own Istanbul Process conference in Washington, DC.

The Istanbul Process – its explicit aim is to enshrine in international law a global ban on all critical scrutiny of Islam and/or Islamic Sharia law – is being spearheaded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc of 57 Muslim countries.

Based in Saudi Arabia, the OIC has long pressed the European Union and the United States to impose limits on free speech and expression about Islam.

But the OIC has now redoubled its efforts and is engaged in a determined diplomatic offensive to persuade Western democracies to implement United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 16/18, which calls on all countries to combat "intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of … religion and belief." (Analysis of the OIC's war on free speech can be found here and here.)

Resolution 16/18, which was adopted at HRC headquarters in Geneva in March 2011, is widely viewed as a significant step forward in OIC efforts to advance the international legal concept of defaming Islam.

However, the HRC resolution – as well as the OIC-sponsored Resolution 66/167, which was quietly approved by the 193-member UN General Assembly on December 19, 2011 – remains ineffectual as long as it lacks strong support in the West.

The OIC therefore scored a diplomatic coup when the Obama Administration agreed to host a three-day Istanbul Process conference in Washington, DC on December 12-14, 2011. In doing so, the United States gave the OIC the political legitimacy it has been seeking to globalize its initiative to ban criticism of Islam.

If there's any pillar of this republic that the Obama administration isn't feverishly undermining, I have yet to hear of it.


Hat tip: Israpundit.

America's Most Hypocritical Earmark King Is... Ron "The Representative From Stormfront" Paul

Only a true Beltway insider -- and a cynical one at that -- can claim to be a "fiscal conservative" while loading up his district with pure pork.

One of the odd things I hear about from time to time from many of my libertarian colleagues and friends is their perception that Texas Republican Ron Paul is a rare model of purity in a political pigsty...

I have many issues of agreement with Paul, particularly on health policy, and I've defended him publicly in the past on many of his calls for government reform. But this perception of Paul as a principled crusader who serves only the Constitution is at odds with his wholehearted embrace of typical pork-barrel politics - a difference which is all the more stark in the wake of House Republicans' voluntary ban on earmarks last year. The record on this is available to the public, but it attracts scant attention...

...Paul made over $157 million in earmark requests for FY 2011, one of only four House Republicans to request any earmarks. Additionally, he made over $398 million in earmark requests for FY 2010, again one of the leading Republican House members...

Among Paul's earmarks are boondoggles like $38 million to "encourage parents to read aloud to their children", $18 million for a light rail study, $4 million for a "Trails and Sidewalks Connectivity Initiative", $11 million for an ACORN-like "Community-Based Job Training Program", $2 million for a "clean energy" pilot project, and many, many more.

All of the above earmarks can be found on Paul's own congressional website... Paul typically will make the earmark request, but then votes against or abstains from voting on final passage, so he can maintain his claim to have "never voted for an earmark", even the earmark requests he himself made.

So not only does Paul embrace the suicidal national security views of Dennis Kucinich, but his claims to be a fiscal hawk are as plainly fraudulent as his assertions that he never read his own newsletter.

How stupid does Ron Paul think Americans are? Uhm, for you Paul drones, that's a rhetorical question.


Update: The Mental Derangement of Ron Paul’s Campaign

500,000 Military Layoffs Planned As Obama Argues for Federal Pay Hikes and Need for $103K/year "Invitations Coordinators"

"The then-press secretary Robert Gibbs was apparently often dispatched to placate Mrs Obama when limits were put on the amount she could spend on clothes or White House redecoration, as well as to explain why she could not take private holiday while on state visits." --Raf Sanchez

The Washington Post reported yesterday that President Obama has proposed pay increases for federal employees.

The White House effort comes despite reports in USA Today and other media outlets that the federal workforce -- which has grown substantially under the Obama administration -- is already grossly overpaid compared to the private sector. Please consider the following snippets of articles from USA Today:

Federal workers earning double their private counterparts: "At a time when workers' pay and benefits have stagnated, federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn... Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis... The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year."

Federal workers starting at much higher pay than in past: "Newly hired federal workers are starting at much higher salaries than those who did the same jobs in the past, a lift that has elevated the salaries of scientists and custodians alike... A 20- to 24-year-old auto mechanic started at an average of $46,427 this year, up from $36,750 five years ago... A 30- to 34-year-old lawyer started at an average of $101,045 this year, up from $79,177 five years ago... And a mechanical engineer, age 25 to 29, started at $63,675, up from $51,746 in 2006..."

This sort of waste, fraud and abuse is exemplified by jobs like a $103,000-a-year Invitations Coordinator for the so-called "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau". The compensation package includes 10 paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and [up to] 26 days of vacation time each year (i.e., more than five weeks).

Furthermore, the Obama administration plans to lay off 500,000 military personnel.

The mighty American military machine that has for so long secured the country’s status as the world’s only superpower will have to be drastically reduced, Barack Obama warned yesterday as he set out a radical but more modest new set of priorities for the Pentagon over the next decade...

...Mr Obama’s blueprint for the military’s future acknowledged that America will no longer have the resources to conduct two such major operations simultaneously.

Instead, the US military will lose up to half a million troops and will focus on countering terrorism and meeting the new challenges of an emergent Asia dominated by China. America, the President said, was “turning the page on a decade of war” and now faced “a moment of transition”.

Why the egregious disconnect?

Why the abdication of the Commander-in-Chief's most important duty -- protecting the United States of America?

Because, my friends, federal bureaucrats pay union dues, which end up recycled into Obama's campaign coffers. Our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen don't pay union dues, which helps explain why our critical national defense assets are being slashed as federal paper-pushers continue expanding their already ridiculous compensation packages and their unconstitutional control over every aspect of our lives.


Infographic: The Independent [UK].