Friday, March 02, 2012

Get Ready For Our Third Annual 'Summer of Recovery'

Tyler Durden asks, "If this is such a strong economy, why does this chart look recessionary?"

One way to gauge the real economy is to look at charts of the GDP, wages, household debt and the price of oil; another way is to correlate all of these on one chart. The [above] chart (courtesy of frequent contributor B.C.) plots these four metrics thusly: GDP/(wages/household debt)/price of oil.

Wait. Just. A second. I zoomed the right side of the graph, like, a thousand times.

I marked the green shoot with a nice, pretty arrow!


Larwyn's Linx: Andrew Breitbart: R.I.P. Happy Warrior

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

Nation

Andrew Breitbart: R.I.P. Happy Warrior: MelissaBlogs
Senate GOP Leader Does Not Want to Anger Harry Reid: RS
Obama steps up anti-Koch campaign with online petition: DC

Obama's numbers: Vacations 16, golf 90, fundraisers 100: Exam
If You Disagree With Obama, He Wants to Know...: Geraghty
Debbie's Date With Radicalism: Beacon

Huge Rally set for Washington DC on Tax Day 2012: CDN
Breitbart tapes of young Obama to be released: WZ
Breitbart's CPAC Speech: Ace

Economy

Auto bailout helped Obama’s friends, at taxpayers’ expense: Exam
Unions Behaving (Very) Badly: MenRec
Bernanke warns lawmakers country headed for 'massive fiscal cliff': Hill

The TSA Is Coming To A Highway Near You: Forbes
Water, Water, Everywhere—But None for California’s Crops: ConCom
Government eyes popular malt liquor Four Loko: AP

GOP Primary

After the Fact, Romney’s Supporters in Michigan Seemingly Rewrite the Delegate Rules: RS
While Campaign Roars, Ameritopia Still Soars: Lord
Piers Morgan To Ron Paul: ‘Are You And Mitt Romney In Bed Together?’: Mediaite

Scandal Central

Stimulus-Backed Solar Company Lays Off 70 Percent of Workforce: Foundry
Surprise! Another DOE Solar 'Bet' Produces Green Job Losses: NPLC
Inspector Barack Clouseau Investigates: Power Line

Climate & Energy

Dying to be Green: Sultan Knish
CNN Opinion: America, quit whining about gas: Greenroom
Day of reckoning draws nearer for IPCC: Watts

Media

Breitbart's death leaves talk radio in a state of shock today: Radio Equalizer
Andrew Breitbart Talked Politics in L.A. Bar an Hour Before Dying (Exclusive): Hollywood Reporter
2007 Interview With Andrew Breitbart: RSM

Andrew Breitbart Loves Today: Riehl
DEVASTATING: Andrew Breitbart, R.I.P.: Malkin
Breitbart 'had a history of heart problems and is believed to have suffered a heart attack': Reuters

Liberals celebrate death of Andrew Breitbart: Exam
That About Wraps It Up for David Frum: Ace
Slate Columnist Cheers Breitbart's Death: Beacon

AP Misrepresents Breitbart, Even In Death: S&L
A Supernova Now Dark: Erickson
Matt Taibbi’s Wikipedia Defaced After Writing He “Couldn’t Be Happier” Breitbart Died: The Jane Dough

CBS Bemoans Retirement of Senate 'Moderates' Who are Actually Liberals: NB
Andrew Breitbart, Conservative Gladiator, RIP: Lifeline
Report: Money transfer at MF Global took place in minutes: ChiBiz

World

Kentucky: Refugee from Iraq misunderstood Islam, plotted to ship weapons and money to al-Qaeda: JihadWatch
Obama’s Hypocritical Praise of Iraq War Veterans: Kesler
Newt: Bibles Burnt, Churches Torched, Christians Murdered--Nobody In Middle East Apologizes: Viral

What Our Moonbat Rulers Are Doing to the Marines: MB
American Troops Gunned Day After Obama Claims His Koran Burning Apology Succeeded: WZ
Hoeven: Haag, American NGO Workers on Their Way Back To U.S.: Right Planet

British Freedom Party’s Warning to America: Creeping
Why No Coverage of This Odd Obama Remark about Religion?: AT
Israel told U.S. Iran must halt enrichment ahead of nuclear talks, sources say: Haaretz

Sci-Tech

The Scale of the Universe: An Interactive Infographic: Wired
A Lawyer Who Is Also A Photographer Just Deleted All Her Pinterest Boards Out Of Fear: Insider
For Impatient Web Users, an Eye Blink Is Just Too Long to Wait: NYT

AT&T Caps Unlimited Data Plans: WSJ
Anonymous Knocks Interpol Offline With DDoS: DarkReading
Guess who'd like to 'throttle' AT&T now?: CNet

Cornucopia

Warrior: Franklin Center
Sheriff Arpaio: Obama birth certificate a ‘forgery’: Times
‘Sopranos’ cast members discuss feuds, flaws and confusing finale: Post

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

QOTD: "If there is a media in heaven and it's biased, Andrew Breitbart is fighting it - and he's probably already making headlines and having fun while doing it." --Dan Riehl

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Think Big, America [Chris Muir]

Chris Muir of Day By Day:


Hat tip: Fausta's Blog.

7 Obamanomics Charts That Legacy Media Won't Show You

Earlier today, James Pethokoukis, the nation's premier economic reporter, published "The economic case against Obamanomics in 13 charts."

The seven most shocking, in my opinion, are the following:

...The actual share of the the population with a job has collapsed and remains low.


... The size of the U.S. labor force has also collapsed, partly due to discouraged Americans giving up looking for a job...


...Those without a job have been without a job for a long, long, long time...


This recovery has lagged others in terms of economic output or GDP growth (via the Minneapolis Fed)...


The result of the weak recovery is a huge gap between where the economy should be, in terms of growth, and where it is...


The slow, anemic recovery has contributed to keeping the housing market in a depressed state...


The White House itself admits that its new budget plan would keep the national debt on a dangerous and unsustainable trajectory (source: The White House)...


The next time I get a "Stimulus Package", I want the Democrats to buy me flowers first.


I'm switching insurance agents [Doctor Jay]

Doctor Jay writes, "I think I'll make this into a bumper sticker."



Andrew Breitbart's Legacy Codified at CPAC: "I will march behind who ever our candidate is"

If there is one thing that we can take from the shocking, tragic, and premature passing of Andrew Breitbart, it is that we must put aside our petty differences to defeat the Marxist Left.

Just a few weeks ago, Breitbart delivered a rousing speech at CPAC, the transcript of which was produced by none other than Biff Spackle.

Right now, my Twitter feed is already calling me a big fat homosexual. Hello, children at home. No, your Dad's not gay. That's how the Left rolls.

Everybody asks me: why do you retweet? Why do you do that? ...In fact, there's probably no one in the world I respect more than Professor Hugh Hewitt and the other day he took me aside. He said, "I don't think you should do that, Andrew." Well, Professor Hewitt, on this issue I disagree.

Because they've held over our heads -- with contempt -- the false narrative of their innate tolerance. The least tolerant people you'll ever meet in your entire lives -- I know it, I live it every day. And I retweet it to remind them that I know exactly who they are.

...This is my war cry for 2012. You need to join me in my war against the institutional left.

This is not your mother's Democratic Party... duh! John Podesta and George Soros? This is not your mother's Democratic Party You know whose party it is? ...I have a thesis about who we're fighting against on the hard left... [In college] I had no idea these [left-wing academics] people were actually serious about the malarkey they were teaching. The post-structuralist, politically correct garbage.

Unfortunately in 2004, the radical Left [executed] a coup d'etat of the Democratic Party. And basically kicked a person -- that four years was called 'the standard-bearer of decency in the Democratic Party'. And that person was Joe Lieberman.

That was the end of the Democratic Party. And in 2010, the DLC went under.

There's no such thing as a moderate Democrat. And so what do we get now, in Barack Obama?

In this election we're going to vet him


I've got videos, by the way, and in this election we're going to vet him. I've got videos. This election we're going to vet him. From his college days, to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what 'hope and change' was sold in 2008.

The videos are going to come out. The narrative is going to come out: that Barack Obama met a bunch of silver pony-tails [left wing academics] back in the 1980s, like Bill [Ayers] and Bernadine Dohrn who said "one day, we're going to have the presidency.'

And the rest of us slept while they plotted and they plotted and they plotted. And they oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in the Annenberg Challenge, from real capitalists, who gave it to their children and their children's children [who] then became communists. We've got to work on that...

Barack Obama is a radical and we should not be afraid to say it. And Barack Obama was launched from Bill and Bernadine's salon... it became self-evident to me that [Obama enjoyed] many a meal there... And don't tell me, ABC, CBS and NBC that I can't posit that theory, because it is a self-evident truth. Just like it was a self-evident truth that he was with Jeremiah Wright. And just as it was a self-evident truth that when he was at Harvard, he was advocating for the worst of the worst to join the faculty. Radicals. Radicals at "Beirut on the Charles".

And that who's in the White House. And that's who's outside right now [the Occupy movement] telling you that you don't have a right to be here. They would squelch your free speech just as easily as they do at Harvard, Vassar, Yale, Wesleyan - they're a bunch of totalitarian freaks.

The media can no longer be called objective journalists


And they pal around with our friends in the mainstream media. I always thought the media leaned to the left... but when they act like a Provost at a politically correct university and tell people to shut up, [then] no longer can they be called objective journalists. They're playing for the other side.

They've been part of demonizing good and decent people. They tried to defeat the Tea Party and when they failed, just like when they tried to create a [leftist] Rush Limbaugh and they failed with Air America, they want what they can't have. They wanted what they could not have and what did they create?

They created the "Occupy Movement". What is the Occupy Movement, you may ask? It's a natural, organic group of people -- you've never seen before in your life. Wait a sec-- these exact people protested against you at the GOP Welcoming Committee in 2008-- and two of them were arrested for planting Molotov cocktails. [These] are radicals against the police, radicals against you, exactly like Occupy, the same exact people, the same people who organized "Camp Casey" in Crawford, these are the same exact people who went down the highway at the end of the summer when Katrina happened, created Occupy New Orleans.

It's the same radicals, they've been in your life since 'Senator Obama' became part of your vocabulary. They are at war with you. They attack you. They throw eggs at you. And -- guess what? -- the media looks the other way. You're domestic terrorists, you know. Janet Napolitano warned me about that.

Yet when this group emerged, what happened? ...This is my thesis: the anti-war movement was never about anti-war. It was a Saul Alinsky community-organizing tool to get Barack Obama and the Left elected. It went away immediately.

The Occupy Movement is the Definition of Un-American


And the mainstream media created a narrative... Time Magazine's "Person of the Year... this is the anti-war movement! How do I know this? Because if I told this to ABC, CBS and NBC, they'd tell me it's a conspiracy theory -- that it's just a bunch of organic people. There's no organization going on, even though we have the emails to prove it. Or the undercover videos of Natasha Leonard of The New York Times organizing with the radicals. No, that didn't mean anything!

Bernadine Dohrn pointed out to me when I was snarkily asking 'What ever happened to the anti-war movement?', she let loose an affirmation of everything I know to be true. She said, "Well, that's not true... it's more or less what Occupy Wall Street is." And the mainstream media refuses to tell you that these are the same shock troops that have been ... instigating [against] us, instigating riots against the police, these people are the definition of un-American.

I don't care who our candidate is


You want a unity speech? I'll give you a unity speech. I don't care who our candidate is.

I haven't since the beginning of this... ask not what the candidate can do for you, ask what you can do for the candidate!

And that's what the Tea Party is.

We are there to confront [the radical left] on behalf of our candidate!

I will march behind who ever our candidate is. Because if we don't, we lose.

There are two paths! There are two paths! One is America, the other is Occupy! One is America, the other is Occupy! And I don't care, and along the way... I've realized over the last three years that the Republican Party and the conservative movement is not what ABC, CBS and NBC put on the screen.

They try to portray you in the worst possible light... and when I travel around the United States meeting people in the Tea Party who care -- black, white, gay, straight -- anyone that's willing to stand next to me to fight the progressive left, I will be in that bunker, and if you're not in that bunker 'cause you're not satisfied with this candidate, more than shame on you. You're on the other side.

Rest In Peace, Andrew Breitbart. You will be missed.


Larwyn's Linx: ‘Super Tuesday’

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

GOP Primary

‘Super Tuesday’: Sowell
Rick Santorum on the ‘How’ and ‘Why’ of America: WS
Creating chaos within the Democratic ranks: Mattera

Michigan Delegate Count Tied At 11, As GOP Establishment Whines: Riehl
Imagine Obama unrestrained by another election: LI
Pennsylvania is the Key to Getting the White House: RS

Nation

Obama team fires back at Koch brothers: WaPo
Obama Slashes Soldiers’ Benefits to Pay Back Donors : BigPeace
Bombshell: Olympia Snowe to retire; the plot thickens: Hot Air

Economy

Obamas Hidden $18B Gift to GM: MagNote
Obama: I’ll veto bill that will provide water to California’s Central Valley: Hot Air
Teachers Unions Opt for Plastic Sugery on Taxpayers’ Dime: BigGovt

Welfare Cards Used At Casinos, Strip Clubs, Disneyland, ...: SHN
Almost Funny: iOTW
America’s missing $800 billion: Peth

Obama Slashes Soldiers’ Benefits to Pay Back Healthcare Industry Donors: BigPeace
Democrat Environmental Official Forced To Resign Over Menacing Phone Call: iOTW
China's Share of Reserves in U.S. Dollar Dives: WSJ

Scandal Central

Eric Holder explains why he should be fired over Operation Fast & Furious.: Lane
Fast and Furious: Another Straw-Purchaser, Another Federal Agent Dead (and Still Holder won’t Comply): BigGovt
Holder's Gun Walking Operation Caused Death of ICE Agent Zapata: AT

Some 'Splainin' to do in Chicago: AT
If You Use Georgia Pacific Paper Products, Barack Obama Wants You To Turn Yourself In: RS
Hard to put a price on Solyndra probe: Politico

Climate & Energy

Schumer, Who Opposed Keystone XL, Calls for More Saudi Oil Production: Foundry
It's Official: White House Wants to Keep Gas Prices High: Foundry
WH denies knowledge of Chu statement on gas prices: Exam

EPA won’t finish refinery rules in 2012: Hill
The Obama Administration’s Lies On Offshore Drilling Are Too Much Even For Mary Landrieu: HayRide
Sen. Sessions: Obama to Eliminate Oil and Gas at Any Cost: CDN

Media

Representatives Walsh, Gosar, Labrador Discuss Media Bias In Fast and Furious: BigJourn
‘Honest’ PBS Clinton Documentary Lies About the Economy: Elder
American Glob Corrects A Headline For The Boston Globe: Glob

O’Keefe Files Suit Against Al Gore’s Current TV, Keith Olbermann, David Shuster: BigJourn
'African-Americans for Obama' Revived; Media Double Standard Obvious: Blumer
The 2012 National Security & New Media Conference and Mightier Pen Award: Urban Infidel

Why Liberals Like Taxing the Wealthy: Barone
Confessions of a Con-Man, Part One: XCV
Why It’s Great To Be a Psychotic A-Hole: RWN

World

Nancy Pelosi Pushes Agenda 21 On House Floor: NoisyRm
Santorum Rips Keller's Claim 'He's Creeping Up On Christian Version Of Sharia Law': NB
Allen West: When tolerance is a one way street, it will lead to cultural suicide: Scoop

President Transparency: Obama's Apology to Karzai ‘Not Appropriate’ for Reporters to See: Atlas
Washington and Cairo – America’s bitter awakening: JPost
Report: Israel's security situation worst in decades: JPost

UC Davis: Tacit Support of Muslim Fascism: Atlas
Mosques in America nearly double since 9/11: Exam
Norway: 'Mullah Krekar has right to defend his religion', says his lawyer: IIE

Sci-Tech

Amazon Appears To Be Inflating The List Prices Of Some Discounted Items: SFgate
The Lytro camera: focus your photos after you’ve taken them: Wired
Hands On With One X, HTC’s Newest Flagship Android Phone: Wired

Cornucopia

The Mating Dance: BO’s UAW Speech, Deconstructed: MOTUS
Sheriff Joe Arpaio To Hold News Conference Concerning Obama’s Citizenship Questions: Wizbang
Feds Seize Cocaine Jesus: TSG

Image: Wall Street Journal
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "President Obama apologized this week for the U.S. military’s accidental burning of Qurans in Afghanistan. “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident,” said Obama. “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies. … We will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible.”

The Quran burnings prompted massive riots in Afghanistan, as per the Islamist handbook, page 248, which, incidentally, may be the only book other than the Quran published in most Arabic-speaking countries. U.S. servicemen were murdered. The Qurans were only burned in the first place because terrorists were writing messages in them to their friends. None of that stopped Obama from making his apology.

Obama sure taught those Afghani terrorists a lesson. He taught them to keep on being psychotic a-holes." --Ben Shapiro

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Shhh... no one tell the idiot legislators in California: job growth 52% higher in states with low business taxes

Governor Moonbeam hardest hit.

An executive looking for a place to locate his company might do well to consider Wyoming. That state is the most business-friendly in the country, at least when it comes to taxes, according to a new study.

The study, released by the Tax Foundation on Wednesday, found that when all the taxes businesses pay are factored in, Wyoming's rate is less than half the national average. The state is one of three — Nevada and South Dakota are the others — that doesn't have a corporate income tax.

Pennsylvania, meanwhile, wins the dubious distinction of imposing the heaviest tax burden on its businesses, with an overall effective rate that's 45% above the national average.

The study, titled "Location Matters," looked at a range of business taxes — corporate income, sales, property, unemployment, gross receipts and others. The accounting firm KPMG collaborated on the report with the Tax Foundation.

Among the most-populated states, California ranked 34th, Texas 12th, New York 42nd, Florida 19th, and Illinois came in 45th. Ohio, which came in 5th, imposes a low-rate gross receipts tax instead of a corporate income tax...

...A separate analysis by IBD found that states imposing the lowest tax rates on both new and existing businesses produced more jobs during the economic recovery than those states with the highest tax burdens.

You mean stealing more money from businesses -- to fund a bloated, unaccountable public sector -- leaves companies with less money to hire workers?

Gee, that logic is sooo difficult to comprehend. That is, if you're a Democrat or an idiot. But I repeat myself.


The University of California at Davis: Upholding a Proud Tradition of Racism, Bigotry and Intolerance

What's the definition of 'fascism' again?

University of California-Davis has a disruptive group of Muslim brownshirts who take every chance they can to act in a disgusting manner to enforce the blasphemy laws under the sharia (restriction of free speech)... The campus police did nothing to stop their disruptions...

Dear Police Chief Spicuzza,

I am writing to complain about UCD Police behavior at an event at 7:00 pm in Room 106 of Wellman Hall last night (Monday, Feb 27, 2012). That event was a program featuring two Israelis talking about what they do in Israel (one was a soldier, one not).

From the outset of the program, hecklers interrupted the program making it impossible for the program to proceed. One particular heckler hurled epithets at the speakers preventing their exercise of free speech--and the ability of the audience to listen. I am including a link to a video made at the event so that you can hear for yourself what he said and how he said it...

After this had gone on for some time, I approached a police officer who was standing idly by and asked why he was there if not to ensure order--and why the heckler was not being removed. He specifically and absurdly responded to me: “We have been instructed by our superior not to stop hecklers, and if you try to stop the hecklers, we have been instructed to close down the program.”

Eventually, after some 15 or 20 minutes the heckler left and the program continued. Heckling to a lesser degree continued all the way through the question and answer period. That the police did nothing was frankly infuriating. I would appreciate your response.

George Rooks
Retired faculty UCD

Can you imagine a branch of the KKK behaving like this during a presentation celebrating Black History Month? No, only Christians and Jews can be targeted this way while a radical, leftist university administration and its police force look on.

Spread the news far and wide.

U.C. Davis is no friend to free speech. Or American values, for that matter.


P.S., Here are some official Twitter handles for the Davis and California university systems. Feel free to contact them -- politely, of course -- and ask them why they endorse racism, bigotry and intolerance.

@UCDavis
@UCDavis_Morain
@UCDavisDateline
@UCNewsroom

Hashtag #GreatPR !


Now Egypt wants a prisoner swap: will legacy media finally report that we have a HOSTAGE FREAKING CRISIS?

Did someone say Jimmy Carter, Part Deux? Dan from NY writes:

Shades of Jimmy Carter. For 30 years. while Mubarak was running things, Egypt considered us an ally. Now, almost overnight, the new Muslim Brotherhood regime sees us as infidels. How can we ever thank you, Mr. Obama?

Egypt Demands Prisoner Swap: Terrorist Detainees for NGO Civilians


Are the bitter fruits of Senator John McCain’s “diligent diplomacy” a humiliating prisoner “exchange”—innocent US NGO workers, for hardened jihadists, including the notorious “Blind Sheikh” Umar ‘Abd-al-Rahman, who orchestrated the murderous 1993 World Trade Center bombing?

My colleague at Translating Jihad has fully translated an Arabic Al-Arabiya story entitled (pathognomonically), “ ‘Umar ‘Abd-al-Rahman at Forefront of Egyptian-American Prisoner Exchange Deal.”

The Egyptian government began taking steps to respond with the American offer to release 50 Egyptians being held in American prisons–including Shaykh ‘Umar ‘Abd-al-Rahman—in exchange for the release of 19 Americans accused in the case of foreign funding of civil society organizations. This is according to what was confirmed by Major General Muhammad Hani Zahir, an expert in military studies and international counterterrorism.

Zahir in comments to the newspaper ‘al-Masriyun’ said it was necessary for Egypt to exploit America’s weak position, especially after condemning its citizens in cases affecting Egyptian sovereignty over its territory. He added that Egypt should not permit this exchange to take place unless the American administration agrees to release more than 500 Egyptians being held in American prisons, of whom the Egyptian foreign ministry knows nothing.


If the crux of this story is accurate, it will represent a modern variant of capitulation to the anti-modern dictates of jihad warfare. Jihad, this ancient, but vibrant Islamic institution grounded upon hatred of the non-Muslim infidel, has long used captured infidels—including, prominently, non-combatants seized as “booty” during endless, unprovoked incursions into the lands of the infidel—to ransom in exchange for captured murderous jihadists.

I wonder how bad business has to get for legacy media to start actually reporting the news?

Or is that now the responsibility of the blogosphere?


Report: Obama kept Air Force One aloft an extra half hour to watch Knicks-Heat game

Do as I say, not as I do: but peons like you and I are supposed to live a more spartan life to ensure we don't emit any extra carbon dioxide.

President Obama flew to Florida this past week to explain high gas prices. According to the Washington Post, on his way to Florida this past Thursday, reporters were "perplexed" at the President's 41 minute flight from Washington, DC to Orlando, Florida taking 1 hour and 15 minutes. The flight was in the air an extra 30 minutes, burning precious fossil fuels.

It does not seem a coincidence that the President landed right at half time of an NBA basketball game between the star studded Miami Heat and New York Knicks. Some theorized that the President delayed his flight in the air to watch more of the basketball game.

I could drive my convertible for 100 years straight and not emit as much CO2 into the atmosphere as President Obama did watching the Lebron/Lin-sanity matchup.

To his credit, the president did have a constructive couple of weeks.

• As part of the 'In Performance at the White House' PBS series, Obama hosted B.B. King, Mick Jagger and a host of other music luminaries for another of his posh, weekly soirees.

• He also held an 'NBA fundraiser', which raised $2.1 million by charging $30,000 a head.

This follows a luxury ski vacation in Aspen, just a few weeks after a 17-day Hawaiian vacation that reportedly cost $4 million (up from $2.5 million in 2010).

So you peons keep doing what you're doing. We have a president and a demanding first lady to support.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

The curious case of the missing $800 billion

James Pethokoukis points us to an astounding observation by economist Mike Darda of MKM Partners:

Wages and salaries advanced at a 5.4% annualized rate after rising at a 6.5% rate in Q3. After adjusting for prices, real wage and salary income rose 4.5% A.R. in Q4 after a 3.9% annualized rise in Q3. Real wages and salaries are up 3% y/y, the fastest annual rate of increase since 3Q07...

Unfortunately, due to the depth of the 2007-2009 recession, wage and salary income is still 11% below its pre-crisis trend. This fact is reflected in the still-low employment/population ratio for prime age adults (25-54) and the still-high level of underemployment and near-record level of long-term unemployment. So, while the recent data are encouraging, there is a long way to go.

Pethokoukis adds: "Fun coincidence: The missing wage and salary income, $800 billion, is about the same as the cost of the Obama stimulus."


Larwyn's Linx: Romney Sweeps to Double Republican Primary Victory

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

GOP Primary

Romney Sweeps to Double Republican Primary Victory: RCP
Governor Palin Talks To The NY Times About Michigan: C4P
Romney Regains Frontrunner Status: Barnes

Romney whining about Santorum robocalls to Dems: Scoop
Santorum appealing to some unlikely voters: Democrats: DC
Ann Althouse Poll Makes Strong Case For Romney: Glob

Nation

Health Care Law Hurting Obama in Swing States: Malkin
McConnell Blocks Conservative Effort Against Obamacare: RS
Media Partners in Crime with WikiLeaks?: NoisyRm

JW Sues Justice Department for More Kagan Docs: BigGovt
DHS: Tea Party extremists; Occupiers are peaceful activists: GWP
I did not have this much sex in law school.: NakedDC

Chicago's Cardinal Warns Of An ObamaCare Gulag: IBD
Obama Pulls TX Medicaid Over Planned Parenthood Dispute: LifeNews
Flaming Maine RINO Olympia Snowe will not run for re-election: FAM

Economy

The Autoworkers Obama Left Behind: Malkin
Not One Penny More For America's Welfare State: IBD
Change: Home Prices Plunge to 2006 Levels: Times

Scandal Central

Holder loses cool during House hearing when asked about Fast and Furious: DC
Using .Gov Domain & Obama’s Mother, DNC Propaganda Targets Women: RS
LightSquared CEO resigns amid revelations of company’s proximity to Obama White House: DC

Climate & Energy

Keystone XL: OK to TX gets OK: Bayonet
Will the EPA’s new climate rules get killed in court?: WaPo
Mount Everest becoming unclimbable due to climate change: GlobPost

Media

Blurred Line Between Espionage and Truth: NYT
Dershowitz: ‘Media Matters’ spews hate speech against Jews: J4S
NYT's Bill Keller: Santorum Wants "Christian Version Of Sharia Law": RCP

Joan Walsh’s Bigoted Attack On Romney’s Faith; Obama Former Speechwriter Joins In: Loesch
Media Matters: Hey, Let’s Investigate the Private Lives of Fox News Reporters!: Patterico
Straight Talk From Ted Nugent: Moonbattery

World

The Obama Domino Doctrine: Pro-Iran/Anti-Saudi: Langfan
WikiLeaks: Russia gave Israel codes for defense system sold to Iran: ynet
George Osborne: UK has run out of money: Telegraph

Report: Israel won't warn U.S. before striking Iran: Times
Obama To Iran Green Revolution Dissidents: Drop Dead: IBD
Illegal immigrant runs for student body president at Texas A&M: Chron

Christian Soldiers Banned from The Quran in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan: BlackFive
Saving Muslims From Themselves: Sultan Knish
Egyptian judges withdraw from Americans' trial: USA Today

Sci-Tech

Big asteroid could pose threat to Earth in 2040: Fox
Video: Navy Fires Off Its New, Weaponized Railgun: Wired
25 Alleged Anons Arrested in International Crackdown: Wired

Cornucopia

America Built to be Last: the NEA Edition: MOTUS
Sad Hill News Featured On Michael Savage’s Website Today: SHN
Extreme Marathon in the Amazon Jungle: ABC

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

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A lawsuit you'd only find in West Virginia [Uncle Ben]

Uncle Ben:

This is a real lawsuit, one that if you read the newspaper articles about it, doesn't seem to be that big a deal.

Some articles are here and here, but you don't really need to read those.

Basically, a frat boy at Marshall U. shot off a bottle rocket, startling another guy who fell off a deck that had no railing, and hurt his arm.

Since it was fraternity property, and the fraternity was letting people drink underage, and do dangerous things like shoot off bottle rockets, he's suing.

BUT. Read the details of exactly how foolish the behavior was:


West Virginia: it's all relative.


Taranto obliterates the "Santorum as unelectable extremist" meme

James Taranto pounds the final nail into the coffin off the ludicrous contention that Rick Santorum is "unelectable". The last major Republican candidate to receive that kind of label was the "too old", "too crazy", "too stupid", "too conservative", and "too warlike" man named Ronald Reagan.

This column has recently become skeptical of the view--nearly universal on the liberal left but common as well among conservative elites--that Rick Santorum is "unelectable" or far less likely than Mitt Romney to defeat President Obama in November. A new USA Today poll reinforces our skepticism.

The survey, conducted by Gallup, included two samples of registered voters: 1,137 from a dozen "swing states," all of which Obama carried in 2008, and another 881 nationwide. The swing states included six that George W. Bush carried twice (Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia), three that Bush carried once (Iowa, New Hampshire and New Mexico), and three that last went Republican in 1988 or earlier (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).

The findings: Santorum leads Obama in the swing states, 50% to 45%, and nationwide 49% to 46%. This gives him an edge of three percentage points over Romney, whose swing-state lead is 48% to 46% and who ties the president nationally at 47%.

To be sure, this is only one poll, and the election is still more than eight months off. One possible explanation is that voters are less unfavorably disposed toward Santorum because they don't know him as well as they know Romney, and that once they learn how hard-core the former senator is on social issues, they'd bolt for Obama if Santorum becomes the nominee.

Writing in BusinessWeek, Bloomberg columnist Clive Crook offers another explanation for Santorum's appeal, while also arguing that it is limited by social issues:

Santorum combines this proletarian stance--unusual in a hard-right conservative--with more familiar elements of GOP populism: patriotism, reverence for family, hard work and self-reliance, hostility to big government, and proud religiosity (to a fault, in his case). If not for the extremism on sexual politics, it would be a potent blend even beyond the Republican Party's social-conservative core.

The trouble with this is that, as we've noted, "the extremism on sexual politics" is in substantial part mythical--and the propagation of the myth doesn't seem to be hurting Santorum. The timing of USA Today's survey (Feb. 14-21 in the swing states and Feb. 20-21 nationwide) coincides with a media hysteria in which the former senator's critics have frequently exaggerated or distorted his views to make him appear more extreme than he is. If he wins the nomination, he will have several months to explain himself to an electorate in which extreme social liberals constitute a small minority. And by that point, conservatives and Republicans who are now joining in on the "extremist" attacks would have an interest in setting the record straight.

Say, I've been out of the country for a while. How'd that Bob Dole and John McCain as "electable moderates" thing work out for the GOP?


Related: Time to Take a Stand

Google offers $1 million reward to hackers who exploit Chrome

There's security and then there's security.

Google has pledged cash prizes totaling $1 million to people who successfully hack its Chrome browser at next week's CanSecWest security conference.

Google will reward winning contestants with prizes of $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 depending on the severity of the exploits they demonstrate on Windows 7 machines running the browser. Members of the company's security team announced the Pwnium contest on their blog on Monday. There is no splitting of winnings, and prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis until the $1 million threshold is reached.

...At last year's competition, Internet Explorer and Safari were both toppled but no one even attempted an exploit against Chrome (despite Google offering an additional $20,000 beyond the $15,000 provided by contest organizer Tipping Point).

Chrome is currently the only browser eligible for Pwn2Own never to be brought down. One reason repeatedly cited by contestants for its lack of attention is the difficulty of bypassing Google's security sandbox.

If you're still surfing with Internet Explorer, I would recommend giving Chrome a try. It's fast, secure and free. You can download it here.


Hat tip: @KimZetter.

Breaking: Democrats urge more dependence on foreign oil. Seriously.

Is there a more malevolent Statist hack in Congress than Chuck "Schmucky" Schumer (which is the nickname he prefers, I hear)?

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) urged Saudi Arabia to pump more oil yesterday. This comes after his party has repeatedly stifled energy production here at home...

Senate Republicans are bashing Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) call for increased Saudi Arabian oil production to help ease prices, alleging it shows that Democrats are weak when it comes to boosting North American energy supplies and jobs.

Schumer on Sunday urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to press Saudi officials to expand production, noting that the kingdom is producing well below its capacity of 12.5 million barrels per day.

Republicans are hopeful that the letter provides a political opening to undercut Democratic and White House energy policies.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office on Monday circulated a press release headlined “Top Democrat Senator Demands Increased Energy Production, Jobs In Saudi Arabia Rather Than Increasing American Energy And American Jobs.” ... Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also doesn’t want Schumer’s letter to go unnoticed.

Rather than approve the Keystone pipeline, the Democrats’ energy plan now calls for the most powerful nation in the free world to politely ask other countries for more oil and cross our fingers,” he said in a statement.

Not only did President Obama block the monstrous Keystone XL pipeline -- which would have helped reduce America's dependence on foreign oil -- but Schumer himself has helped block drilling throughout the United States.

Consider this blast from the past. Mr. Peabody, set the Wayback Machine to April of 2008:

Now, yesterday ... [President Bush] made a presentation on energy and said much of the same thing you just said here; and Senator Schumer from New York went out and responded to it and said, "If we started drilling in ANWR today we wouldn't have a drop of oil for ten years." Well, of course, Bill Clinton vetoed the first time this came up in 1994. We could have been at this four years according to his ten-year plan. He also said something that mathematically doesn't make sense. He said that this million barrels a day that ANWR would produce would reduce the price of gasoline or oil -- I forget which one he specified -- by a penny. Well, that's absurd, because when the price of oil... When we lose a million barrels in the supply, does the price only go up a penny? They're using scare tactics, here. We need resources. We need our oil, and you got Schumer out there saying, "No, it wouldn't matter," and they're misleading people thinking that there's a substitute for it right around the corner when there's not.

They've been saying that drilling doesn't matter for over 20 years now. They're lying. They've been saying it would take 10 years to develop a new oil field. They're lying.

Democrats are provably wounding America's economy -- and its national security posture -- through their defective, Utopian schemes.


Larwyn's Linx: The First Amendment, Explained Well

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

GOP Primary

The First Amendment, Explained Well: Sundries
USA Today: Obama trails Romney, Santorum in swing states: HotAir
Romney’s (Bumpy) Road to Victory: ABC

Santorum in Lansing: Romney's Attack Ad Campaign Is a 'Joke': RSM
Santorum Retakes Lead in Michigan: PolWire
Santorum seeks Democrat support in Michigan robocalls: WaPo

Nation

The Jew-bashing, race-hustling friends of Obama are back: Malkin
Michelle Lets Governors Gorge on 2,000 Calorie Dinner: Dossier
Cardinal George: The End of Catholic Hospitals In U.S.: Ace

Our Endowed Rights: XCV
Former Rezko partner says he gave Tony $400K for Obama: ILP2P
Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Tea Party Movement: Meckler

Gibson Guitars: Six Months Later: Blogmocracy
Issues that unite: the repeal of Obamacare: Q&O
Poll Shows Swing States Oppose Obamacare: Beacon

Economy

The Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Democrats on the Public Dole: Ace
Poll: Vast Majority of Likely Voters Think Rich Already Pay Their Fair Share: Beacon
China will be world's largest economy before 2030: Reuters

The Fed's Anti-Recession Effort May Unleash 15% Inflation: IBD
Obama to cut healthcare benefits for Military: Beacon
More bad news: U.S. water bills to triple: Exam

Did Obama actually embrace Bowles-Simpson? Please: Peth
President Obama Kept Air Force One In The Air An Extra 30 Minutes To Watch A Knicks Game?: SAB
"Progressive" Reporting on Scott Walker’s Recall Election: RWN

Scandal Central

Obama's Energy Lie Exposed: Power Line
Holder could be jailed for Fast and Furious coverup: NewAm
After Cutting Pay For Soldiers in Harm's Way, Obama to Cut Healthcare For Active Duty Soldiers, Too: GWP

Climate & Energy

Shameless: Dems Urge Saudi Arabia to Pump More Oil But Won’t Open Drilling Up in U.S.: GWP
7 Gas Facts Obama Cannot Escape: BigGovt
Calm Opposition to the Storm of Climate Change: Wizbang

Media

David Brock Paid Former Boyfriend $850,000 To Settle Alleged "Blackmail" Threat: Ace
Shorter WaPo Columnist: How Dare You Criticize Obama During Black History Month: BigJ
S.E. Cupp Smacks Down Margaret Carlson for Calling Santorum a Zealot: NB

It's Now or Never?: Patterico
Obama Camp Sending Creepy, Intimidating Email To Former Donors Who Failed to Donate in 2012: Nice Deb
Andrea Mitchell Frets: Voters May Punish Obama Over War, Gas Prices Though He Has 'So Little Control': NB

Allen Dershowitz declares war on Media Matters: Blogmocracy
No Time Left For You: Muir
A Movie about Muhammad: An Idea whose Time Has Come: Geller

World

Slashing Defense Budget Puts Nation at Increased Risk: Foundry
Report: Millions of White House dollars helped pay for NYPD Muslim surveillance: Fox
‘Greece in death spiral’: RT

"from viewers like you" ... a lesson in combined armor & infantry warfare ...: Winter Soldier
Army IDs remains of last missing GI in Iraq: ArmyTimes
You’re Not a Boiling Frog, But You Might As Well Be.: Sundries

AP Reports: Israel Will Not Warn The US About Iran Strike--Why is This Surprising?: Lid
Exclusive Interview: Infidel Victim of Pennsylvania Sharia Judge Reveals Inside Details of Case: Geller
Syrian activists: 64 bodies found near Homs in one of the worst mass killings: WaPo

Sci-Tech

Medical tattoos offer important health information: ABQJournal
It's Not Easy Predicting the End of the iPhone: AtlWire
Get more from your mobile with the Asus Padfone: CNet

Prosthetics Breakthrough Might Fuse Nerves With Fake Limbs: Wired
Site Was Attacked by Hackers–WordPress Vulnerability –”31.184.242.102?–Clean Now: Virtuous Republic
Facebook: We're Not Reading Your Texts But We Can If We Wanna: Consumerist

Cornucopia

The Very Last Picture Show: Sultan Knish
1 dead, 4 wounded in shooting at Ohio school; student described as outcast is arrested: WaPo
‘Buy a Gun’ & ‘Keep Your Powder Dry’: Economists Warn of Looming ‘Economic 9/11′: Blaze

Image: No Encore, Please - i Own The World
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "Thanks to Mitt Romney, politicians will never again assume that feigning interest in NASCAR is a surefire way to show the common touch:

Two days away from a critical primary in Michigan, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney detoured to Daytona International Speedway on Sunday....Does he follow the sport?

"Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans," he said. "But I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners."
" --Jesse Walker

Monday, February 27, 2012

Holy crap: Asus demos smartphone that transforms into tablet, notebook

This, in my humble opinion, is the future of personal computing platforms. Tiny, powerful, transportable, and usable in the context of multiple form factors.

Summary: Asus showed up at Mobile World Congress with the Padfone, its latest head-scratching device that lets you take a phone and turn it into a tablet and a notebook...

...At its most basic level, the Padfone is a candy bar Android smartphone with high-end, though hardly revolutionary, specs. You'll find a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, a Qualcomm dual-core processor, messaging and e-mail, Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, an 8-megapixel camera, a second VGA shooter around front, and a media player...

...The Padfone's story, however, isn't about what the phone can do, but about what you can do with the phone. Building where Motorola's laptop dock left off, the Padfone can slide into the Asus Padstation to become a 10.1-inch tablet...

...Everything that you can do on the phone, from browsing the Web, to playing media, to using apps, you now can do in tablet form. You can even make calls using the integrated speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset (you'd look pretty silly carrying a tablet next to your ear)...

...But the Padfone doesn't stop there. You can also turn the tablet into a small notebook by attaching the Asus Station Dock keyboard. Like with the Transfomer Prime, the keyboard will snap onto the bottom of the tablet for your typing needs...

CNet Asia's Aloysius Low has a more comprehensive first look.

I seriously think this is the future of personal computing.


Good News: DHS Spending $11 Million Scouring Web for Criticism of Its Policies

I'd have loved to have heard the shrieks of indignation coming from The New York Times and the rest of the leftist infrastructure had John Ashcroft and other Bush administration officials engaged in this kind of egregious behavior.

No double standards here, folks.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been paying a defense contractor $11.4 million to monitor social media websites and other Internet communications to find criticisms of the department’s policies and actions.

A government watchdog organization, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), obtained hundreds of documents from DHS through the Freedom of Information Act and found details of the arrangement with General Dynamics. The company was contracted to monitor the Web for “reports that reflect adversely on DHS,” including sub-agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In testimony submitted to the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Ginger McCall, director of EPIC’s Open Government Project, stated that “the agency is monitoring constantly, under very broad search terms, and is not limiting that monitoring to events or activities related to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or manmade disasters…. The DHS has no legal authority to engage in this monitoring.”

McCall added: “This has a profound effect on free speech online if you feel like a government law enforcement agency—particularly the Department of Homeland Security, which is supposed to look for terrorists—is monitoring your criticism, your dissent, of the government.”

Rest assured that our beloved, baritone DHS secretary -- and her ostensible boss, Eric "Fast 'n' Furious" Holder -- would never, ever use this kind of information to go after private citizens. They're just doing research.

As far as you know.

Consider this reason number 43,263 to kick this administration's ample rear out of office in November.


Update: PrairiePundit writes: "This may explain my jump in hits."


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.