Monday, February 27, 2012

It's for the children: Nevada teachers union bosses hit the taxpayer-funded jackpot

Reason number 40 jazillion that collective bargaining must be banned.

In Las Vegas, you don’t have to be a gambling addict to strike it rich. In fact, you only need to become a union boss and the odds are, you too can be a ‘one percenter.’

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal [emphasis added]:

In 2009, the last year for which a required Internal Revenue Service report is available, more than a third of the union’s $4.1 million budget went to pay just nine leaders. Each earned between $139,785 and $208,683 for a total of $1.5 million, according to the Clark County Education Association’s report to the IRS.

John Jasonek, then executive director, got $208,683 for running the union but also received $423,863 from two affiliated organizations — the union’s Community Foundation and Center for Teaching Excellence — making his total pay $632,546.

In addition, union-created Teachers Health Trust CEO Peter Alpert was paid $546,133.

Unfortunately, unlike the one-armed bandits that line the Vegas Strip, becoming rich as a union boss is a little less random. [Hint: Knowing someone helps.]

Hey, the taxpayers, they gots plenty o' dough, right?

They'se never gonna miss it!

And it's for the kids, see?


Cartoon by: A. F. Branco.

Confirmed: Obama Slashes Health Care Funding for Seniors and the Military; Spigot to Public Sector Unions Still Wide Open

Of course, members of the armed forces and senior citizens aren't required to contribute to a proxy for the Democrat Party, but I'm sure that's just coincidental:

Exhibit A - Tricare costs would jump in budget plan:

Pentagon officials will continue pressing in 2013 for significantly higher Tricare fees for military retirees, including older retirees covered by Tricare for Life, as well as higher drug co-pays for all Tricare beneficiaries.

The Defense Department’s proposed 2013 budget calls for annual enrollment fees for retirees in Tricare Prime to rise next year by 30 percent to 78 percent... depending on military retirement income.

Exhibit B - Paul Ryan: Obamacare is Real Medicare Killer:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says contrary to what Democrats are saying, it is Obamacare — not his budget plan — that will kill Medicare... “Obamacare kills Medicare as we know it,” Ryan said. "Obamacare raids $500 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare, puts in place a [15-member] board to ration Medicare."

Exhibit C - Obama’s budget calls for federal pay raises; workforce size stays flat:

President Obama wants to give raises to people collecting federal paychecks... The White House budget plan released Monday would increase federal civilian pay by a modest 0.5 percent... The budget proposal also projects that federal employment levels will remain essentially flat in fiscal 2013, growing by 0.1 percent, or 2,400 employees, to 2.1 million from the 2012 estimated level.

Exhibit D - Obama budget slashes military spending, sends 'savings' to domestic agenda:

President Obama sent an annual budget request to Capitol Hill today that does little to reduce the deficit but dramatically cuts military spending anyway. Even though last year’s debt ceiling deal was supposedly agreed to in order to reduce America’s crushing debt burden, Obama is apparently planning to use half of the cuts in war spending to “help finance a major six-year, 50 percent increase in transportation spending.”

Defense cuts in the name of debt reduction are really for increased domestic spending. This is not a surprise. Last summer, President Obama made his priorities clear: social spending trumps national security...

Executive Summary


Obama's priorities are: (a) stealing redistributing money from seniors, the military and the intelligence community; and (b) spending those funds on public sector union wages from which mandatory union dues are deducted.

Those dues, in turn, end up laundered into Obama's campaign coffers.

Which explains his priorities. Not health care. Not national security. Not seniors. Getting reelected. First, last and everything in between. That is his priority.


Larwyn's Linx: The Community Organizer’s Collectivist Vision

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

Nation

The Community Organizer’s Collectivist Vision: Dossier
Uncivil Rights: Knish
An American ‘Kadi’ in Pennsylvania’s Court: BigPeace

Nancy Pelosi: Vicar of Contraception: BigGovt
Obama Campaign Tries Intimidation to Boost Fundraising: BigGovt
Americans Are Incredibly Pessimistic About The Future: Insider

Koch Bros. Hit Back at Laughably False Obama For America Email: Bizzy
Psycho Occupier Threatens to “Put Down” Cops Like “Dogs”: VS
Denver: Leftist Mob Hurls Pi$$ Bombs at Police: GWP

Economy

Occupiers foreclose on Wells Fargo’s CEO, auction off his home: Zombie
The Brazen Hypocrisy of the Teachers Unions: Publius
Starting an online store in Greece is no easy business: Ekathimerini

Q: What do Bill O’Reilly and Nancy Pelosi have in common?: ProWis
Bill to Destroy California Businesses Introduced in Senate: Mish
Animation: America's Metamorphosis To A Welfare State: ZH

GOP Primary

Santorum: For Minorities in the Middle East, With Friends Like Obama, Who Needs Enemies?: JihadWatch
Romney, Santorum Represent Different White Americas: Barone
Daily Kos Fantasizes About Eliminating GOP Field: WZ

Climate & Energy

Obama prepares to fight gas prices with new bumper sticker: Hot Air
Latest Global Warming Silliness: Humans Could Shrink or Something: JWF
Gas Prices Rising – A good thing for Obama or the GOP?: Blaze

Media

Wikileaks Strikes Again, Dumps Hacked Emails from Global Security Firm Stratfor: Reason
Leaked Email Shows Stratfor CEO George Friedman Resigned Two Hours Ago Over Latest Breach: ZH
Israel, Kurdish fighters destroyed Iran nuclear facility, email released by WikiLeaks claim: Haaretz

Politico: Santorum Offers 'Bitter String' of New Complaints About Pro-Obama Media: NB
'Meet The Press' calls out Romney's absence: Politico
State of the Fractured Union: MB

World

Unbelievable, NATO Agrees to Prosecute “Perpetrators” of Koran Burning?: VS
Christians Stoned by Muslim Mob at Temple Mount, Media Silent: Creeping
No One is Safe under Islamist Regimes -- not even Muslims: AT

Hillary throws fellow Americans under the bus to please Tunisians: Blogmocracy
Seven US troops wounded in grenade attack as Afghan president calls for calm: Post
Clinton: "[Some] question whether Islamist politics can...be compatible with democracy.": JihadWatch

Luttwak: How to Bomb Iran: Mead
Canada: Dad Arrested, Strip-Searched After Daughter Draws a Picture of a Gun in School: Blaze
Demolition of Osama bin Laden compound underway: Telegraph

Amb. John Bolton says we have nothing to apologize for in Quran burning: NoisyRm
North Korea warning as US and S Korea begin joint drill: BBC
Greek banks continue to hemorrhage deposits: ECB data: Reuters

Sci-Tech

Top 5 New Gadgets of the Week: ABC
Facebook's Top Cop: Joe Sullivan: Forbes
Facebook spies on phone users' text messages, report says: Fox

Cornucopia

'The Artist,' Jean Dujardin and Meryl Streep take top honors at Oscars: Fox
The Left Isn’t Racist, Never, No Matter What They Do: iOTW
Michelle Obama and DHS Join Forces: “Snack Watch” Soon to Hit School Lunch Cafeterias: CDN

Image: Weasel Zippers - Obama: The “Toughest Three Years This Country Has Gone Through”
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "This perversion of rights is killing the Western world. First, unlike real rights — to freedom of speech and freedom of religion — these new freedoms come with quite a price tag. All the free stuff is free in the sense of those offers that begin “You pay nothing now!” But you will eventually. No nation is rich enough to give you all this “free” stuff year in, year out. Spain’s government debt works out to $18,000 per person, France’s to $33,000, Greece’s to $39,000. Thank God we’re not Greece, huh? Er, in fact, according to the Senate Budget Committee, U.S. government debt is currently $44,215 per person. Going by the official Obama budget numbers, it will rise over the next ten years to $75,000. As I say, that’s per person: 75 grand in debt for every man, woman, and child, not to mention every one of the ever-swelling ranks of retirees and disabled Social Security recipients — or about $200,000 per household." --Mark Steyn

Sunday, February 26, 2012

To My Friends in Arizona and Michigan: It's Time to Take a Stand

Before I begin this rant, let me make my stance regarding Mitt Romney perfectly clear.

I will walk on broken glass to vote for Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum or a radioactive goat over Barack Obama in the general election.

That said, did the Tea Party go away? Did it disappear into the ether after the GOP's crushing victories in the 2010 midterms? Did it shatter after a million internecine battles?

Or is it merely simmering at a low boil while grassroots groups canvas for its primary favorites?

To my friends in Arizona and Michigan

The time for action is now. The situation our country faces is too dire and the stakes too high to sit on the sidelines. You may, as I do, feel the fatigue of negative attacks, experience anger at the proctological scrutiny of your favorite candidates, or disgust at the blatant bias of the Democrat-media complex.

But you must, like an Olympic athlete, put all of that aside and vote on Tuesday.

If I could vote in one of your states, I would be casting my vote for Rick Santorum. Praised by no less a set of conservative luminaries like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Sarah Palin, Santorum has been a consistent conservative throughout his career.

Architect of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, a proponent of the original Balanced Budget Amendment and an expert at national defense issues, Santorum's appeal is far wider than legacy media would have you believe.

This election will be about the future of America

Do Americans want a nation flooded with food-stamps and welfare payments, a European-style decline, and an out-of-control president who flouts the very Constitution upon which he took an oath to uphold?

Or do they want a return to founding principles, fiscal discipline and respect for the rule of law?

This election will be about founding principles, the most important of which are faith, family, private property rights and individual liberty. Those tenets were foundational to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Our rights are God-given, not offered in a bill by some bureaucrat in Washington. How can someone articulate the nature of American exceptionalism without a grounding in our founding document and our highest law?

The "Great Society" proved the defective nature of the Democrats' philosophy. Even if they were inspired by altruistic desires, Democrats have utterly destroyed the two-parent family, especially in the urban core.

Dozens of studies have proven that easy access to food stamps and welfare payments inflate the percentage of single-parent families. And single-parent families are linked directly to violent crime: in fact, no matter what race you are, you have the same chance of going to prison if you are raised in a single-parent household.

As for private property rights and the rule of law: the Constitution means what it says. To the extent that temporary politicians dismiss the genius of the Framers; strip away the bonds on the federal government placed explicitly upon it; and confiscate more and more private property in pursuit of a Utopian, benificent state that can't be and never was; they are corrupt and lawless. A government that takes your private property for purposes other than those specifically enunciated in the Constitution is operating outside of the law.

These lines are crystal clear and it will take an articulate conservative grounded in the founding principles to draw the sharpest contrast between the European nanny state that Obama seeks and the kind of government our Framers created.

You can cherry-pick the man's record all you want, but Santorum's record is one of consistency.

Santorum has a legislative record...

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted YES on $40B in reduced federal overall spending. (Dec 2005)
Voted YES on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (Apr 2000)
Voted YES on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997)
Voted YES on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997)

Rated 25% by CURE, indicating anti-rehabilitation crime votes. (Dec 2000)
Rated 27% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 0% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by CATO, indicating a pro-free trade voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 0% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 0% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 81% by NTU, indicating a “Taxpayer’s Friend” on tax votes. (Dec 2003)

--Source: Issues 2000 Legislation Tracker

Rick Santorum is a true, God-fearing, Constitutional conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan. If we are to begin repairing this country, we need him or someone like him as President.

This election won't be about access to condoms. It's going to be about freedom. What it means to be an American. And Rick Santorum would be an outstanding choice as president.

So, to my friends in Arizona and Michigan: I urge you to consider supporting Rick Santorum for president. Send a message to Washington: the era of big government is over. The time for action is now.

We have a country to save.


Photo Sequence: Ryan Seacrest Gets Doused in Ashes by the Dictator

Think what you want about Sacha Baron Cohen, but the man knows how to market himself. Initially banned from attending the Academy Awards in costume, Cohen was later granted permission to stroll down the Red Carpet.

Interviewed while portraying the character from his forthcoming movie The Dictator, Cohen "accidentally" spilled the ashes of Kim Jong-Il all over Ryan Seacrest.

Turns out that that Kim had always wanted to visit the Red Carpet.

Cohen closed the sequence with a prepared punchline to Seacrest, delivered in a stilted accent: "Now, Brian, when someone asks what you're wearing, you can tell them Kim Jong-Il!"


Democrats dismiss importance of elections: Obama, Hillary see absolute certainty of SCOAMF reelection

Apparently, your voice means very little to those with dictatorial sensibilities.

President Barack Obama promised five more years of SCOAMF leadership.

President Barack Obama, expressing confidence he will win re-election in November, told a Hispanic audience he would use a second term to seek comprehensive immigration reform.

'My presidency is not over,' Obama said in an interview with Univision Radio when asked about his failure so far to push through an immigration bill.

'I've got another five years coming up. We're going to get this done.'

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience in Tunisia to ignore the rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential primary process and assured them that Obama's reelection was certain.

"...a lot of things are said in political campaigns that should not bear a lot of attention...

...There are comments made that certainly don't reflect the United States, don't reflect our foreign policy, don't reflect who we are as a people. I mean, if you go to the United States, you see mosques everywhere, you see Muslim-Americans everywhere. That's the fact. So I would not pay attention to the rhetoric...

...watch what President Obama says and does... He's our president. He represents all of the United States, and he will be reelected president, so I think that that will be a very clear signal to the entire world..."

As Nancy Pelosi once said, "the fact is that elections shouldn’t matter as much as they do."

If Democrats had their way, elections wouldn't matter at all.

Which seems a curiously similar attitude to other hard left, totalitarian Statists humanity has suffered with over the last century, from the Leninists, to the Nazis, to the Stalinists and Maoists, Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin.


Apology accepted: Iran says White House should be burned down, officers hung over Koran-burning incident

This appeasement strategy is working out beautifully, eh?

JPOST.COM, 2/26/2012

'US officers should be hung over Koran incident'


Al Arabiya: Iranian commander says White House should be burned; Afghan ministry worker suspected of killing US officers.

A top Iranian military commander said Saturday that nothing but burning the White House and hanging US commanders could remedy the pain caused to Muslims by the burning of Korans at a US military base in Afghanistan, pan-Arab Al Arabiya news channel reported Sunday.

"The US has committed such an ugly act and burned Korans because of the heavy slap it has been given by Islam," Basij (volunteer forces) Commander Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Reza Naqdi [said] ... “Their apology can be accepted only by hanging their commanders; hanging their commanders means an apology." ...

US President Barack Obama sent a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday apologizing for the incident, which occurred last week, and saying that it wasn't intentional.

In a continuation of events, two American officers were killed as rage gripped the country for a fifth straight day over the burning of the Muslim holy book, despite Obama's apology.

Afghanistan's interior ministry said on Sunday it suspects one of its employees may have killed the two US officers inside the ministry a day earlier...

Hey, if you liked the Iranians during the Carter hostage crisis, orchestrating the Beirut Marine bombing, and fomenting Iraq's civil war, you'll love 'em when they have nukes!

Thanks, President Obama!


Way cool: new smartphone has built-in projector, throws 50" display

Daddy like:

The concept is simple: take a full-powered 4-inch Galaxy smartphone and add a 15-Lumens LED-powered, nHD projector. The result is a yellow and black phone that at first glance looks like a slightly fatter version (it’s 12.5mm thick and weighs 145.3 grams) of any of today’s top 3G phones.

Samsung didn’t skimp much to squeeze in the projector or, potentially, keep the price down. The Beam has a 5 MP camera (a tad less than the 8 MP we’re now used to), 8 GB of storage (upgradeable via micro-SD card to 32 GB) and 768 MB of RAM. It’s also running Android 2.3. The 480×800 screen looked clear and bright, but those specs and the screen are not the real story here. It’s reasonable to assume that the only reason someone would buy the Galaxy Beam is if you desperately wanted a dual phone/projector.

In operation, the Galaxy beam appeared flawless. It’ll play virtually anything you run on the small screen, and had no trouble shining a roughly 3-ft image onto an 8- or 9-ft ceiling. Images in a fully darkened room were very sharp and bright, but since it relies on the smartphone speakers for sound, you’ll want to hook up external speakers. Samsung execs told us that they’re working on a variety of docks and accessories.

The phone also worked well in presentation mode. Samsung execs projected a presentation on a nearby screen and changed slides by touching the Galaxy Beam’s screen.

The Telegraph asserts that the Beam "can show films and pictures at up to 50"."

You can easily envision salespeople clamoring for this type of device.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

The nauseating employment chart that President Obama and the Democrats don't want you to see

Via MetricMash comes this stunning chart that depicts just how dire the employment situation has become under the SCOAMF.

As this chart illustrates:

• Over the last 30 years, we have never seen the kind of sustained decline in the labor-force participation rate we're experiencing under Obama. More people are dropping out of the labor force at a faster clip than during any recent stretch and, worse, there's absolutely no sign of recovery.

• The unparalleled success of the Reagan tax cuts is on full display: not only did unemployment drop, but the labor-force participation rate increased at a phenomenal angle. All Americans benefited from these tax cuts and the job creation spurred by Reagan went well into the Clinton years.

Which is why Democrats and the media -- but I repeat myself -- shield you from information like this. There is only one way out of this economic mess: unleashing the private sector by slashing taxes, minimizing the size of government, and obliterating the out-of-control regulatory state. But Democrats prefer failure, so long as they get to control you, the individual. Because they're power-hungry statists, trying to maintain a white-knuckled death grip on the reins of government.


Larwyn's Linx: The Perversion of Rights

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

Nation

The Perversion of Rights: Steyn
More than 2,500 religious leaders oppose Obamacare: Foundry
The Sharia Court of Pennsylvania — the Transcript: McCarthy

The Obama White House Is Campaign Central: BigGovt
Pay No Attention to the Mandate Behind the Curtain: Foundry
FBI Turns Off Thousands of GPS Devices After Ruling: WSJ

Koch Bros Respond to Obama’s Smears: Nice Deb
Anti-Semitic stalking horses in NJ-09 Democratic primary?: Lane
Obama World Apology Tour – Year 3.1: ProWis

GOP Primary

Santorum hits hard: Romney’s on the left’s team: Scoop
Mitt Romney Attacks Santorum At AFP Forum in Troy: Kuznicki
Santorum Blasts Obama: “He wants to remake you in his image”: VS

Economy

'Unions v. NY': The Battle Over Mixed Martial Arts: BigGovt
War on School Lunch: CDN
Who’s Offering Economic Solutions?: RWN

The Socialist Transfer of Wealth: Who are the real 1%?: Solway
Chicago Schools Aren’t Broken, They Need More Money: ConCom
FLOTUS asks rich to share wealth while wearing $2,400 outfit: NakedDC

Scandal Central

'Taxpayer-funded Clean Energy Company Laying Off Workers While Execs Get Raises' Story o' the Day: Malkin
Obama Sics IRS After TEA Parties: ConCom
Holder, DOJ continue to drag out Fast & Furious probe, say lawmakers: Kouri

Climate & Energy

Democrats to Obama: Tap strategic oil reserve: Politico
President Obama Blames You for High Gas Prices: Foundry (4/7/2011)
Flashback: Obama and Democrats Blast Bush for High Gas Prices in 2008: GWP

Media

The War On Women, By Women: Loesch
L.A. Times to Charge for Content: Patterico
Charles Blow apologizes for religious insult, NYT ready to ‘move on’: Greenroom

Media Skewers Santorum, Romney On Faith, What About Obama?: Stranahan
Letter: Preserve our republic: George Roy
Your Right to the Pursuit of Happiness: XCV

AP Nonsense on Santorum: 'Misidentified' As Evangelical -- By Time Magazine: Blumer
“I can’t help noticing that if you take the 1 in 1969...": Troglopundit
Congress Tried to Change Natural Born Citizen Clause Over and Over: MagNote (7/6/11)

World

Why Apologize to Afghanistan?: McCarthy
Iran and Obama Share a Common Goal: Stopping Israel: Tobin
Santorum Was Right About Iran—When It Was Unpopular: WSJ (Ledeen)

Prompt American Apologies Forestall Deadly Violence in Afghanistan Over Accidental Koran Burning: VS
What would one big nuke do to Israel? This …: Peth
Soldiers nearly lynched by Arabs in Haifa: ynet

Syria’s (Literal) Information Warfare: Foundry
UN: Iran is enriching uranium at secret site: Telegraph
22 tourists robbed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico bus assault: Fox

Harvard's Kennedy School of Government to Host Conference On the Extermination of Israel: AmPower
Desecration of Holy Quran widely condemned: News of Pakistan
Progress on plans for Galway Che Guevara monument: Advertiser/IE

Sci-Tech

How to Take Down a Corporation's Facebook Page with a Fake Email Account: AtlWire
Is Israel losing Temple Mount war?: ynet
New Samsung Galaxy Beam phone includes projector that can show films and pictures at up to 50”: Telegraph

Cornucopia

Millennium Falcon lands in Roswell? Footage takes Internet by storm: DC
Ebony and Irony: MOTUS
With No Apologies, Try This One: ASWI

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

QOTD: "We have officially lost our minds.

The New York Times reports that President Obama has sent a formal letter of apology to Afghanistan’s ingrate president, Hamid Karzai, for the burning of Korans at a U.S. military base. The only upside of the apology is that it appears (based on the Times account) to be couched as coming personally from our blindly Islamophilic president — “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident. . . . I extend to you and the Afghani people my sincere apologies.” It is not couched as an apology from the American people, whose frame of mind will be outrage, not contrition, as the facts become more widely known.

The facts are that the Korans were seized at a jail because jihadists imprisoned there were using them not for prayer but to communicate incendiary messages... Also understand this: In sharia societies, non-Muslim religious articles are confiscated and destroyed every single day as a matter of policy. In Saudi Arabia, where sharia is the law of the land, where Mecca and Medina are closed to non-Muslims, government guidelines prohibit Jews and Christians from bringing Bibles, crucifixes, Stars of David, and similar artifacts emblematic of their faith into the country. When that prohibition is violated, the offending items are seized and burned or otherwise destroyed. " --Andrew C. McCarthy

Saturday, February 25, 2012

No spin at all: how the AP reports Obama's hostage crisis in Egypt

My, doesn't the Associated Press bring an even hand to this story?

Official: US seeks end to Egypt NGO case in days


By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press


RABAT, Morocco (AP) -- A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration is in "intense discussions" with Egypt to resolve the legal case against 16 American democracy advocates that has badly damaged ties between the countries "in the coming days"

The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter, said Saturday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had raised the matter twice in person with Egypt's foreign minister - once in London and once in Tunis - in the past three days and that other senior U.S. officials are actively involved.

The administration has been calling for the case to be resolved for weeks in a manner that allows seven of the implicated Americans who have been barred from leaving to leave the country.

Please note that the words "hostages", "crisis", "Carter", and "SCOAMF" were carefully omitted from the AP's crack reportage.

Which is why Americans regard the Associated Press with roughly the same level of disdain as they had for Pravda during the Nikita Khrushchev era.


Hat tips: BadBlue.com. Image: via Asian Conservatives.

Congratulations, President Obama and the No-Drill Democrats: Gas Prices Top $5 In L.A.!

Take a guess who the leftists and their idiot cousins in media will blame for skyrocketing gas prices: (a) "speculators", (b) "greedy oil companies", (c) "the rich", or (d) Bush. Not President Obama. Not his EPA. Not his Department of Interior. Not the brutal amount of taxes on each gallon of gas (about a dollar a gallon in total taxes versus two cents a gallon in profit for the "greedy oil companies").

Prices rise above $5 for a gallon of premium gas at a Shell station at Olympic Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California...


Let's take a look at the price of gas and crude oil since Barack Obama took office in 2009.

Looks to me like Obama's done exactly what he said he'd do.

He's shut down drilling on public lands, slow-rolled permit approvals, continued his de facto (and illegal) drilling moratorium in the gulf, and wasted billions on crony "green energy programs".

I guess it's "for the children", though, so it's okay, right?


Hat tip: Drudge.

Excellent News: Pennsylvania Judge Uses Sharia Law to Dismiss Assault Charges Against Muslim Who Attacked Atheist

Well, this is certainly disturbing.

A district judge dismissed a harassment charge against a man accused of attacking a man dressed as "Zombie Muhammad" during a Halloween parade last year in Mechanicsburg.

Judge Mark Martin said there wasn't enough evidence to convict 46-year-old Talaag Elbayomy of the summary offense. It was basically one man's word against another's, the judge said.

Elbayomy was accused of attacking Ernest Perce V, of the Parading Atheists of Central PA, during the Oct. 11 parade. Perce claimed Elbayomy tried to take his "Muhammad of Islam" sign and choked him.

Martin received testimony from Elbayomy, Perce and Mechanicsburg Police Sgt. Brian Curtis who received the complaint from Perce. Curtis did not witness the alleged attack, Martin said.

A video of the incident was uploaded to YouTube and it's been viewed over 55,000 times. It clearly demonstrates that the attack was not "one man's word against another's".

Furthermore, as Eugene Volokh notes, a police officer reported that Elbayomy admitted that'd he'd grabbed Perce and attempted to steal his sign.

But the worrying thing is what the judge (Mark Martin) seems to have said at the trial, based on what appears to be a recording of the hearing: The judge — who stated that he (the judge) was himself a Muslim and found the speech to be offensive — spent a good deal of time berating the victim for what the judge saw as the victim’s offensive and blasphemous speech, which seems to raise a serious question about whether the judge’s acquittal of the defendant was actually partly caused by the judge’s disapproval of the victim.

Andrew McCarthy has posted the entire transcript of the judge's statement. Among the more egregious comments:

Well, having had the benefit of having spent over two-and-a-half years in a predominantly Muslim country, I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact, I have a copy of the Koran here, and I would challenge you, sir, to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammed arose and walked among the dead... [Ed: And what does that have to do with an assault?]

...Before you start mocking someone else’s religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it. That makes you look like a doofus... In their society, in fact, it could be punishable by death, and it frequently is, in their society...

...I think our forefathers intended that we use the First Amendment so that we can speak our mind, not to piss off other people and other cultures, which is what you did... what you have done is you’ve completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very, very, very offensive... there is not, it is not proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant is guilty of harassment. Therefore I am going to dismiss the charge.

Really. He said all of this tripe, and more.

McCarthy summarizes the decision with a powerful conclusion.

...a judge who is an adherent of current American government policy toward Islam — who, for example, sees no conflict between sharia and the federal Constitution, or who thinks fear of Muslim reactionary violence is a good reason to curb the First Amendment — should not have sat on this case, regardless of whether he happened to be a Muslim.

Call Judge Martin and voice your dissatisfaction with his blatant dismissal of the First Amendment. Be polite, but firm. Remind him that this is America, not some third-world hell-hole.


Hat tip: Brad M. at 720 The Rock

And now, a word on energy from President Obama

Afghanistan? Unemployment? Iran? Forget about that!

I'm focused on other things. Namely, free energy! Yes, I said it. Free energy!

Can't be distracted, what's with Afghanistan? What's with the economy?

Stop worrying about that, I got that s*** under control!

Focus on free energy, the United States of Free Energy, bitches. The United States of Free Energy, 'cause I ain't stoppin' at free energy.

Write this down. A. L. G. A. E. That's right! Algae, bitches!

Yeea, Yeaa!!!


Photos: Just how the heck did this happen? [Papa B]

Papa B:

Have you ever slapped your forehead and asked yourself...
"Just how the heck did this happen?"





Gotcha!


Recovery Shart of the Day. I mean Chart.

Are we really in a recovery? Even ignoring gas prices, the deteriorating situation in Europe, and the can-kicking going on here in the U.S., the raw data from the Bureau of Labor Propaganda Statistics refutes any notion that things are on the upswing.

Earlier today, ...a Democratic pollster [warned] about trying to use an “America is Back” slogan for Barack Obama’s re-election, commenter TopDog linked to a chart that explains very clearly why that strategy won’t work. Stanley Greenberg (PDF) wants Obama to argue instead for a less-specific declaration that America is now headed in the right direction, and that Obama has gotten job creation kick-started already:

In 2009, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. Our biggest banks and auto companies were on the brink of pulling down the whole economy. But we righted the ship. We did not tip into a Great Depression. And over the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs, the most since 2005 and more manufacturing jobs than since the 1990s. We still have a long way to go but we have restored hope and possibility to the economy.

This chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics utterly destroys that argument. The BLS measures the percentage of working-age adults currently employed in the population — and as can easily be seen, three years of Barack Obama has not made any dent in the trough created by the recession:

That is not recovery. It’s not even a start to a recovery. By cherry-picking 22 months, the best Greenberg can claim is job growth of 136,370 jobs per month, which would barely exceed the needed job growth per month to keep up with population growth.

Why cherry-picking? I explained the issue when Obama tried using this claim during his Google+ hangout at the beginning of the month:

But why 22 months? Obama began his term in January 2009, and the recession ended in June 2009. What’s so special about March 2010? Well, not so surprisingly, that’s almost the nadir of employment during Obama’s presidency, which actually took place in February 2010, two years ago this month. Even if he’d picked the right month, it would still only have been 2.654 million, not 3 million.

Calculating from the end of the recession, the net job creation from those 31 months is only 1.407 million, a wan 45,390 net jobs a month, far below the pace needed to keep up with population growth. Calculating for the entirety of his presidency, we’re actually in the hole 937,000 jobs. Obama tried to cherry-pick the worst month in order to claim the most credit he could possible for job growth, and managed to get both the month and the math wrong anyway.

Obama and his strategists can cherry-pick all they like. This chart tells the real story of Obamanomics and job creation during his term.

I had this discussion with a colleague at lunch the other day. He was worried that the headline unemployment number would give Americans comfort that Obama's strategies are working. I said the reality on the street would be obvious to Americans eveywhere. Are housing prices going up? Are foreclosures dropping rapidly? Are more jobs really available? Does this feel like a recovery?

No, no, no and no.

Americans understand what's happening, along with the urgency of flushing this administration -- and the entire Democrat Party -- from office in 2012.


Larwyn's Linx: Mark Levin’s no more gotchas interview with Rick Santorum

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

GOP Primary

Mark Levin’s no more gotchas interview with Rick Santorum: Scoop
Poll: Romney may now be leading in Michigan: Rasmussen
Obama Mocks GOP in Miami, More Class Warfare Served Up: Shark Tank

Nation

Today's Reckless Spenders Enslave Future Generations: IBD
Richard Lugar Calls TEA Party Voters Morons: RS
Obama meets with Dem governors; decide he should act more like dictator: WZ

Obama’s Rhetoric is Like Junk Food for the Mind: LoneCon
US Judge: Muslims have right to assault people who offend them: Hayward
Rick Perry blasts Obama, backs contraception lawsuit against HHS: Chron

Surprise: Per-person cost of ObamaCare high-risk pools doubles: Hot Air
Time for Obama to go: Marietta Times
White supremacist guilty in Arizona bombing: USA Today

Economy

The economic illiteracy of Timothy Geithner: Peth
Baltimore Has Decided Some Neighborhoods Just Aren’t Worth Saving: Insider
Stockton, CA takes steps toward bankruptcy: Mish

Obama can be blamed for 50 percent of the weak recovery: Peth
SEIU Organizing Tactics Include Intimidation and Lying to Workers, Company Alleges: BigGovt
Michelle Obama wears $2400 outfit, asks rich people to share their wealth: NakedDC

Scandal Central

Obama's Imaginary Solutions To Real Problems: Ace
FakeGate: Heartland Institute
Heartland Institute Releases Peter Gleick Emails Detailing Fraud, Identity Theft: Watts

Climate & Energy

A Rebuke to our Rudderless President: Power Line
Krauthammer Ridicules Obama’s Algae Energy Plan: HayRide
Pelosi 2008: Bush to blame for high gas prices. Pelosi 2012: Wall Street to blame for high gas prices.: JWF

Media

Report: Mainstream media ignores stories about Hollywood ties to Obama administration: Fox
Testimony: Georgetown Student Can't Afford Contraception-While Surrounded by Planned Parenthood Clinics: CNS
Pelosi 2008: Bush to Blame for High Gas Prices; Pelosi 2012: Wall Street to Blame for High Gas Prices: JWF

'Right Wing Lice' - Bigoted and hateful rhetoric from a New York Times columnist.: Taranto
Ameritopia Lays Out the Logic Behind Mark Levin’s Rants: Sago
Should Santorum's Talk About Satan's Influence In The World Hurt His Credibility?: Looking Spoon

Time Cover Features Latinos Who'll Decide Next Election, Includes Guy Who's Half-White, Half-Chinese: Ace
Obama Hires Academy Award Winning Filmmaker To Direct A Movie About . . . Barack Obama...: WZ
Lamestream Media Wears Egg on Their Face via the Huffington Post: C4P

World

Two Americans killed by Muslim in Afghanistan as Obama apologizes over Korans: Creeping
Odierno: Army could drop to 32 brigades: Army Times
Juncker: "Greece May Need A Third Bailout": ZH

Obama Gives Diplomat Job to Fundraiser, Disaster Ensues: BigPeace
Saddam’s Mustard Gas in Syria? Israel Warned Us – Iraq Warned Us: MagNote
Afghanistan: Death Toll From Koran Burning Temper Tantrum Hits 20: WZ

By restraining Israel, Obama is helping Iran get the bomb: Haaretz
Krauthammer: When Will Islamic Nations Apologize To Us For Persecuting And Killing Christians?: Mediaite
Verdict due in Berlusconi bribery trial: BBC

Sci-Tech

Scorned Attorney Threatens to Take Down Lawyer-Review Site: Wired
What Science Fiction Books Does A Futurist Read?: NPR
Flickr Is Fighting Copyright Theft On Pinterest: Insider

Cornucopia

Why wasn’t Obama slapped with contempt of court?: Diana West
Sheriff Joe Arpaio To Announce Results Of His Obama Birth Certificate "Investigation": AZ Progress
Famed Street Artist Who Created Obama "Hope" Poster Pleads Guilty To Federal Contempt Charge: TSG

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

QOTD: "That’s the kind of balance you need. Why is that the case? Because if you don’t try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don’t ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to — the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security." --Tim Geithner

Friday, February 24, 2012

Top 10 Signs That the Obama Administration is Finally Embracing Transparency

10. Ubiquitous circular Obama logo replaced by artist's rendering of Nancy Pelosi's face without plastic surgery
9. John Boehner's phone no longer tapped
8. Live spy-cam catches Michelle slamming down sliders
7. Death Panel Bingo
6. Sign-up sheets posted for White House pickup basketball games
5. Unemployment statistics now distributed directly to media by David Axelrod
8. Parking validated for Republicans who visit White House
4. HBO documentary: "The Body Man and the Jacuzzi"
3. SEIU goons instructed to only taze Kenny Gladney, not break his legs
2. Gas Price Wheel of Fortune
1. ATF operation offers free Tek-9's to all DC-area crack dealers


Grass roots: Romney gives economic speech in front of 65,000 empty seats

But, Melvin, he's the only one who can win!

Mitt Romney's economic speech falls flat at near-empty stadium


Romney fails to elaborate on his 20% tax cut in awkward speech setting where he let slip another gaffe about his wealth

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney's much-heralded economic speech flopped Friday, overshadowed by a gaffe over luxury Cadillacs and his choice of an over-ambitious venue, the Detroit Lions' football field.

Romney opened himself up to derision for choosing a 70,000-seat stadium which attracted just over 1,000 people, many of them school children bussed in to help fill out the crowd, tucked into a corner of the astro-turf pitch.

The small crowd underlined again his inability to draw large numbers of supporters and to excite the conservative base.

The speech too turned out to be a flop. Having been hyped by his campaign staff all week, Romney had little new to say... ...Political opponents quickly waded in. Obama's campaign adviser, David Axelrod, in a tweet, wrote: "Judging from pictures, looks like Mitt pinned himself in inside the 20."

After delivering his speech, Romney made a throwaway remark about cars that will be replayed when the speech itself will have been long forgotten.

In an attempt to ingratiate himself in the motor capital of America and undo some of the damage caused by a call in 2008 to let the car industry go bankrupt rather than be bailed out by the federal government, he listed cars owned by himself and his wife Ann.

He would be a president who loves cars, he said. "I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pick-up truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually. And I used to have a Dodge truck, so I used to have all three covered."

Look, I think it's great Romney's rich. I love the fact that he's successful. But, hell, don't give the opposition easy soundbites!

Speaking of which, Rick Santorum was interviewed by Mark Levin tonight; the Right Scoop has the audio of the complete interview.

Have I mentioned that I support Rick Santorum for President?


Now that the Ron Paul-Mitt Romney alliance is out in the open, the new Ron Paul banner ads are here!

Ron Paul's campaign has admitted that it is directly supporting Mitt Romney. The Paul campaign is spending its contributors' money, for instance, by running anti-Santorum attack ads in Michigan even though Paul himself isn't actively campaigning in the state!

With that in mind, I would like to present the latest Ron Paul banner ads:




Word has it that Paul's faux campaign is all about getting his son Rand on the ticket as a V.P.

News flash: Mitt Romney has a long tradition of, eh, changing his mind, so I would take that kind of promise with a huge grain of salt.