Friday, June 01, 2012

We're in the very best of hands: Obama's new economic plan is for you to go buy that "thingamajig" you've been putting off for a while

Tammy Bruce elucidates on the Stimulator-In-Chief's latest plan to boost the cluster-economy:

Here’s a bit of today’s disastrous economic news:

Unemployment goes up to 8.2%

Stocks plunge, on Pace for Worst Day in 2012

Government Motors outsources pensions, offers lump-sum buyouts

And what is Obama’s response to the disaster he’s created? Go buy a “Thingamajig.”



"Maybe somebody'll be replacing some... uhm... thingamajig for their... furnace! They been putting that off, but if they got that extra money... they might just go out there and buy that thing... right?"

Holy freaking crap.


Exclusive photo: President Obama unveils official White House portraits of President G. W. Bush and Laura Bush

Biff Spackle snaps another world-exclusive shot:


Unfamiliar with the back-story? "Obama Inserts Himself in White House Bios of Past Presidents."


Another day, another leak of highly classified information designed to benefit Obama 2012: Details of the Stuxnet cyber-attack on Iran revealed

The Sophos Naked Security Blog summarizes another leak of highly classified information published by The New York Times, which -- coincidentally, I'm sure -- is spun to benefit President Obama's reelection campaign.

The report comes from David E. Sanger, the Chief Washington correspondent at The New York Times and author of the upcoming book "Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power"... Here is a quick summary of the claims made in the report:

Feeling threatened by the possibility that Iran would enrich uranium at a nuclear facility at Natanz that could be used to create weapons of mass destruction, US President George W Bush initiated a plan to seize control of computer systems at the plant.


The first part of the plan (dubbed "Olympic Games") was to embed spying code that would send back information about the computer systems' operations and draw up a blueprint of how the computers controlled centrifuges at the plant. After months of waiting for the information to be relayed, the National Security (NSA) and Israeli computer experts created a worm (Stuxnet) that would allow them to attack from within the plant.

According to the report, the USA felt compelled to involve Israel in the plan to prevent the country launching a pre-emptive military strike of their own against the nuclear facility... The USA secretly built a replica of Natanz's computer systems, including centrifuges handed over by Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi in 2003, to test their malware...

Tests were successful, and the worm's orders to slow down and speed up the centrifuge's delicate parts caused them to suffer damage. At one point, it's said that debris from a damaged centrifuge was laid across the conference table at the White House's Situation Room to demonstrate the malware's potential power.

With the malware deemed ready, it was introduced into the Natanz plant via infected USB memory sticks by spies and unwitting workers with physical access to computer systems... As centrifuges failed, Iranian workers would close down the systems looking for signs of sabotage - not realising that their computer systems were compromised.

Days before Barack Obama was inaugurated as US President, George Bush successfully urged him to continue the classified "Olympic Games" program...

The attacks on the nuclear plant's systems continued, but potential disaster struck in mid-2010, when it became clear that "an error in the code" had allowed Stuxnet to spread beyond Natanz's systems and infect computers in the outside world...

As usual, the Times tries to overly emphasize President Obama's involvement when, in fact, Bush 43 initiated the effort and reportedly had to beg his successor to continue the project.

To this day, Stuxnet remains the most amazing virtual ordnance in history.


Related:
The Illustrated Guide to Stuxnet
The 5 Most Amazing Details of the Stuxnet Cyberbomb
Juxtaposed Iranian Headlines o' the Day

Hat tip: BadBlue.com/tech.

Larwyn's Linx: DOJ Not Even Pretending to be Nonpartisan Anymore

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

DOJ Not Even Pretending to be Nonpartisan Anymore: RS
Where Dems Fear to Tread: Beacon
Nocturne in Black and White: Knish

10 Reasons Obama Must Disclose His College Records: IBD
Can You Imagine? On the American "Elites": AmDigest
Adoring Crowd Greets Assistant President Axelrod in Boston: JWF

Economy

AP: Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms Wisconsin job growth: RS
Those With a Job, Want to Quit. Those Wanting One, Can’t Find One. : P&F
Another dose of sickly economic news weakens O's reelection odds: Peth

No Equal Pay for Nancy: Beacon
Public School Teacher Angry Because She Can't Retire at 47: Liberty
Clinton Praises Romney's 'Sterling Business Career': WS

Scandal Central

Threats, deals got drug companies on board with Obama: Times
Far Left Groups Rally Around Holder: Nice Deb
$500K in cash seized from commissioner's home: MyFoxDW

Climate & Energy

Heh: Romney Holds Campaign Event Outside Solyndra HQ: JWF
England Considers Slapping Green Drivers With Fees And Taxes: Cove
The Sierra Club's Eco-Terrorism: C&S

Media

Aaron Walker Court Hearing Confirms Kimberlin-Rauhauser Collaboration: RSM
Dan Rather: Most Journalists Aren't Liberal - 'This Is a Sham': NB
Ex-Justice Stevens: Supreme Court likely has had second thoughts about Citizens United ruling: WaPo

If You’re Going to Play the Game of Politics, Play to Win: RWN
Viewers Flee CNN As Network Ratings Hit a 20-Year Low: AIM
Do You Miss Him Yet? George W. Bush’s White House Portrait Ceremony: Bruce

World

The Patriotism of Palestinianism: Sultan Knish
Questions Facing the Muslim World: Gatestone
IDF soldier, terrorist killed in exchange of fire near Gaza: JPost

Sci-Tech

25 years of HyperCard—the missing link to the Web: Ars Technica
How a trio of hackers brought Google's reCAPTCHA to its knees: Ars Technica
Hold on tight: in 4 billion years, we’re due for a galactic collision!: Discover

Cornucopia

Mayor Bloomberg: The Wizard of 16oz: Cube
Two Pictures: C&S NSFW
EEEEEEvil 1%: Sondrakistan

Image: Official portrait of First Lady Laura Bush, via Tammy Bruce
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Black leaders, individually, wield a great deal of power, but the black community has little power. Their "helplessness" is an excuse for the exercise of power on their behalf. That "helplessness" is what makes men like Obama or Sharpton or the neighborhood fixer and machine politician so powerful. He wields a collective tool of group votes, racial grievance and simmering violence-- but the practical benefit of this is limited. Black communities receive a sizable proportion of taxpayer money directed at services and entitlements which leave them more maladjusted than before.

All those gifts carry a dangerous price with them, creating an addiction to freebies and learned helplessness. And when the latest government giveaway implodes, as the housing market did, they are left stranded with no clue how to get back up without government intervention. The more community centers open up, the fewer businesses remain. The fewer people in the community that have real jobs, the more blighted the neighborhood becomes.

Crack is a minor addiction compared to entitlements." --Sultan Knish

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Who wants to go for a swim with me in the Niger River?

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?



Hat tip: John Jay.

Obama: Some of my best friends are Jews!

Oh, my.

From Haaretz:

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Obama and White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew met about 20 Conservative Jewish community leaders. ...

"I not going to tell you again how I even feel about Israel, but why [are] we still talking about it," Obama said, reminding his guests that all his friends in Chicago were Jewish - and at the beginning of his political career he was accused of being a puppet of the Israel lobby. ...

Obama also stressed he probably knows about Judaism more than any other president, because he read about it - and wondered how come no one asks Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner or Senate minority leader Mitch McConnel [sic] about their support to Israel."


... 1. The reason no one asks John Boehner or Mitch McConnell about their support for Israel is ... because they really do support Israel. The reason people ask Barack Obama about his support for Israel is because his support for Israel has been equivocal. [Ed: at best.]

2. It's truly pathetic that Obama has to reach for the tired (to say the least) trope that some of his best friends were Jewish. Actually, one wishes more of his best friends were pro-Israel Christians. They might have had more luck convincing him, a fellow Christian, that he should be pro-Israel.

3. And the claim that Obama knows more about Judaism than any president? His vanity boggles the mind. One could begin by citing Adams and Madison, who knew Hebrew, or Harry Truman, who knew Jewish history ... but it's silly to dignify this claim with a rebuttal. In thinking about the presidents since Truman, though, I'd guess the president who knew the most about Judaism was Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday school and had a deep interest in religion. So let's stipulate that of the modern presidents, Carter and Obama "know" the most about Judaism. But what is it they know? In Obama's case, one could ask whether what he “knows” is what he learned from Rashid Khalidi and Jeremiah Wright.

In 2008, Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft penned the best summary of Obama's extremist ties I've yet read:

Anyone who believes that Barack Obama, who spent 20 years in a Jew-hating church, with a Jew-hating pastor, and hung around Jew haters, is going to be a friend of Israel is a fool.

The complete roster of Obama's friends and supporters, first published in 2008, is truly eye-opening.


Hat tip: G.M. Roper.

Traveling abroad? You may want to leave the laptop at home

Government Security News reports that international travelers should have absolutely zero confidence in the Internet connections provided by foreign hotels.

The FBI is warning traveling commercial and government laptop users that malicious programs can worm their way onto their machines through hotel connections overseas through bogus software updates.

A May 21 bulletin from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) warns that malware disguised as innocuous software updates awaits unwary travelers as they log onto hotel-hosted Internet connections. The agency said recent analysis from its investigators and other government agencies showed that Cyber criminals are targeting travelers through pop-up windows while they connect to the Internet in their hotel rooms. Apparently, criminals set up bogus hotel connections to intercept traffic before the hotel guest can reach the legitimate hotel connection.

It said recent cases show the malware presents the traveler with a pop-up window telling them to update a widely-used software product.

In these instances, the travelers attempting to set up the hotel room Internet connection and was presented with a pop-up window notifying the user to update a widely used software product, it said. The pop-up window looks like a common software update notice, according to the agency. If the laptop user clicks on “accept” to install the update, they install the malware.

IC3 recommended all government, private industry, and academic personnel traveling abroad be extra cautious before updating software using hotel Internet connections. It also recommended checking the author or digital certificate of any prompted update to see if it corresponds to the software vendor. If it doesn’t, it may reveal an attempted attack, it said.

The only way to even try to mitigate these kinds of threats is to surf immediately to a known SSL proxy site (e.g., your company's SSL VPN). By surfing to a known SSL site first, you can avoid the most common man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

A typical MITM attack delivers a non-SSL web page to your browser, but also includes some very special (and unwelcome) malware. The intent is to exploit your browser's vulnerabilities using specially crafted HTTP/HTML-based attacks. Or, in the case, the MITM attempts a social engineering attack, using the promise of a software update.

Surfing directly to a safe SSL site may help -- but isn't guaranteed -- to mitigate the threat. SSL to a trusted site is, in nearly all cases, impossible to MITM. But I say it isn't guaranteed because a hotel could deliver a landing page (e.g., to prompt you to enter the hotel's Internet pass-phrase) prior to letting you surf SSL. And that landing page could theoretically launch an attack.

The best advice would be to dispense with the laptop on your trip abroad. If you can't do that, travel with a pristine (newly imaged) laptop and then get it re-imaged when you return.


Five Reasons the Economy Remains in the Obama Depression

The funny thing is, President Obama still tries to blame President Bush for the current and ongoing malaise. But everyone knows that Obama had Congressional super-majorities of Democrats for his first two years in office. And they implemented every single progressive wet-dream possible, from Obamacare, to Cash-for-Clunkers, to various mortgage programs, to "Financial Reform", to green energy scams, and heaven knows what else.

And what did we get for that five or six trillion in additional Democrat debt?

1Q GDP was revised down to 1.9% from 2.2%. The previous four GDP quarters of Obama recovery: 0.4%, 1.3%, 1.8%, 3.0%. Keep in mind that research from the Federal Reserve finds that that since 1947, when two-quarter annualized real GDP growth falls below 2 percent, recession follows within a year 48 percent of the time...

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000. Claims have now risen in seven of the past eight weeks. The four-week moving average for new claims increased 3,750 to 374,500.


ADP said 133,000 private-sector jobs were created in May vs. analyst expectations of 150,000.

Job cuts jumped by 53% in May from April... according to a report by consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. CNBC also notes that “employers announced plans to cut 61,887 staff from their payrolls in May, 67 percent more than in the same month of last year. The figure represents the most job cuts since last September.”

• The Rasmussen Consumer Index find that 59% think the U.S. is currently in a recession.

James Pethokoukis includes the accompanying chart in his piece, which tracks President Obama's Intrade reelection odds. While they're dropping, they remain over 50 percent.

Which means all of us have much more work to do: educating our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family members.

We have a society to save.


New York City's Official Acceptable Behavior Guidebook, by Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Hi, I'm Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City. And here's the first chapter of our Official Acceptable Behavior Guide for visitors to the Big Apple!


Crapping on official city vehicles, including police cars? A-okay!

Possessing soft drinks larger than 16 ounces in size? Sorry, you'll have to visit some other city for that!


Stay tuned for our next chapter, where we'll discuss heroin use versus salt consumption.


Hat tip: Aaron.

Kewl Map: 56 Years of Tornadoes Tracked

Now this is a great use of mapping historical data to a geospatial representation.

John Nelson used 56 years worth of NOAA data to create a beautiful map of the most powerful tornadoes of the past five-plus decades.

Got this data from NOAA via the spectacular Data.gov. It tracks 56 years of tornado paths along with a host of attribute information. Here, the tracks are categorized by their F-Scale (which isn't the latest and greatest means but good enough for a hack like me), where brighter strokes represent more violent storms.


This is yet another example of the power of data visualization.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/tech.

Larwyn's Linx: Why Is Trump Bigger News Than, Say, Jon Corzine?

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Why Is Trump Bigger News Than, Say, Jon Corzine?: Geraghty
GOP Whistling Past the End of America: Coulter
American Indian group forms to challenge Elizabeth Warren: LI

Obama campaign warns of ‘shadowy conservative groups’: Twitchy
Culture Still Matters: Hanson
Obama Will Not Win Re-election: Pelerin

The Fog of Litigation: Volokh
Why Jeremiah Wright Matters: Elder
Ted Cruz Underdog Victory in Texas Primary: CDN

Economy

CBO: Obama stimulus may have cost $4.1MM per job: Peth
New Yorkers Leave Like East Germans Fled Communism: IBD
Why do people move? It's not a mystery: Elephant

Barrett unable to name any schools 'harmed' by Walker's reforms: Ace
9/11 Fund Raided to Cover California Deficit: Beacon
Feds consider granting special rights to Arab-Americans: Times

Orrin Hatch Opponent Dan Liljenquist Supports Raising Taxes: C4P
One of Obama's Earliest Supporters Defects: Power Line
Chris Christie imposes "Amazon Tax" on New Jersey by fiat: WyBlog

Scandal Central

Why Is Holder Briefing Black Pastors on Campaign 2012?: Nice Deb
Another failed DOE backed company: Abound Solar: Watchdog
The White House Defends Public Equity: Foundry

Climate & Energy

New Report Hammers Obama Administration For Regulatory Mess On Gulf Drilling: HayRide
As Promised, Electricity Rates Skyrocket Under the Obama Plan: GWP
Armed EPA Agents, Police Officer Interrogate Asheville Emailer: Carolina

Media

Yes, Michelle Obama is fair game: Malkin
Fox News Channel’s Brit Hume weighs in on arrest of Brett Kimberlin target Aaron Walker: Twitchy
Statisticians Investigate Political Bias On Wikipedia: Slashdot

Kimberlin v Walker: 74 Year-Old Judge C.J. Vaughey Commits Injustice: Riehl
Name that Party, Episode #8,451: The Case Of The Site-Hacking Mayor: Ace
Megyn Kelly exposes ‘swatting’ against conservative bloggers and commentators: Scoop

Michelle Obama totally did not read her husband’s book: NakedDC
USA Today: Astrologers Predict Obama Victory; Unable to Choose Super Bowl Winner, However: Glob
Will Ozzie deFaria’s Past Arrest and Domestic Violence Issue Hamper His Campaign?: Shark Tank

They Came to Destroy Civilization: Elephant
Fox News Covers Erickson and Patterico SWATting Incidents: Patterico
Ace of Spades goes bizarro: Twitchy

World

With Friends like Obama: President Undercuts U.S. Allies to Media Silence: MRC
Caliphate conference coming to Chicago area: JihadWatch
Proof That Military Chips From China Are Infected?: DefTech

Picture Bolsters Fear of Concealment at Iranian Base: NTI
Obama’s Absurd Claim About Judaism: Commentary
The Glories of Socialized Medicine: Doctors Defend Strike in the U.K.: BBC

Sci-Tech

Facebook, LinkedIn Used by Employers for Monitoring: Gartner: eWeek
The numbers behind RIM's impending collapse: CNet
Tiny chip inserted in the sole of a shoe can charge the wearer’s cell phone: Springwise

Cornucopia

Hope For the Future: Ace
Alternative Newsweek Cover: Cube
Sharpton And Alleged Trafficker Peddled TV Show: TSG

Image: Lars Larson
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Perhaps support for BHO among veterans can be attributed to head injuries." --Smitty

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Civility: Progressive kook pushes World War II vet while screeching "f*** you" to him at Allen West town-hall

The word disgusting doesn't begin to describe the actions of these progressive loons -- especially seeing as how we're just hours after Memorial Day.

The scene: a town-hall event for Rep. Allen West. At the behest of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz or her ilk, progressives make a make a habit of targeting West because they hate the Constitution and they despise America*. They know that West stands for both -- and, unlike these punks, he's put his life on the line protecting their right to protest him.

In what appears to be the aftermath of a town-hall, several World War II vets stand up for West as a couple of the moonbats try to insult him.

Instead of honoring their service, the liberals go after these heroes, to the point of putting hands on one while dropping the f-bomb on him.

Because that's the way liberals roll, don't ya know?

These progressives disgust me. They ought to hang their heads in shame, but that would require the capability of actually feeling shame.

Take heart, patriots, because November is coming.


* Sorry, drones, but you can't love America and support a presidential candidate who repeatedly promises to 'fundamentally transform' it, as Barack Obama did.

Chart: Major Leaguer vs. Rookie Leaguer

I wasn't blessed to know Ronald Reagan, but Mr. Obama -- you are definitely no Ronald Reagan. In fact, you're not even in the same league.

Forget the Reagan recovery. What if the Obama recovery was just, you know, average? Maybe in some alternate reality Obama’s stimulus plan involved cutting taxes for investors and entrepreneurs. And maybe Earth-Two Obama took a pass on government-centered healthcare reform.

Here is what the economy might look like today:


...Investors Business Daily has the rest of the chart.

As I've mentioned before, Mr. Obama is historic, but not in any way that can be construed as good for America.


Just a Reminder... Defeat Obama in November

Dan from New York:

In case you’ve forgotten, or lost your focus, here’s another reason why we should send Obama back to Chicago first chance we get.

Morning Bell: The White House Defends Public Equity

By Mike Brownfield

Up is down, left is right, good is bad, and day is night. If you wander inside the Washington, D.C., beltway, you’ll enter a bizarro world where, at times, commonsense is replaced by a localized logic that is completely divorced from the reality.

The latest example of political gobbledygook comes courtesy of White House press secretary Jay Carney, who yesterday lapsed into rambling rhetoric when asked to explain how President Obama can defend the failed Solyndra solar boondoggle, yet attack private sector investments that sometimes fail but oftentimes succeed. Here’s his response:

Look…there, there, there is the…the…difference in that, your overall view of what…huh, your responsibilities are as president and what your view of the economic future is.

And the president believes as he’s made clear that a president’s responsibility is not just to, ah, those who win but those who, for example in a company where ah, there have been layoffs or a company that has gone bankrupt, that we have to ah make sure that those folks have the means to find other employment, that they have the ability to train for other kinds of work and that’s part of the overall responsibility a president has.


Got all that?

For the duration of his Administration, President Obama has dished out billions of dollars to politically favored companies in pursuit of job creation and a new “green” economy. It’s taxpayer-funded crony capitalism that has neither created new jobs nor produced the green-energy payout that the president was looking for. In fact, it’s a policy that has failed miserably, leading to bankruptcy after bankruptcy. Yet despite all the failures — and zero successes — the president and his Administration are defending the indefensible and standing by a policy that has squandered taxpayer money.

In one instance, President Obama committed $465 million of taxpayer money to Tesla, which was founded by a campaign mega-donor and the 63rd richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to build a $130,000 battery-powered sports car that becomes permanently inoperable if left uncharged for 30 days...

It’s gotten so bad that Congress is launching probes of federal green energy programs, including the Energy Department loan program... In one program, of the $20.5 billion in loans granted, $16.4 billion went to companies linked to donors who contributed to Obama and the Democratic Party.

At the same time the president is defending his taxpayer-funded failures, he’s attacking free enterprise, including in private equity and venture capitalism — enterprises in which investors voluntarily put up their own money to invest in new ideas and rescue existing companies. Sometimes those ventures fail, sometimes their inevitable failure is delayed but temporarily saves jobs amid restructuring, but many times they succeed — generating profits and producing new jobs.

When Carney was asked to justify the president’s defense of one, but criticism of the other, he just couldn’t do it. That’s no surprise, in that the two positions are logically inconsistent.

This episode calls to mind a quote from George Orwell, a frequent and pointed critic of modern political discourse:

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible… Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness… the great enemy of clear language is insincerity. Where there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms …

...In Washington, the Obama Administration is hard at work defending the crony capitalist machine while lambasting the free market system — and it shows no signs of letting up.

November is coming.


Interested in tech news? Check out BadBlue.com/tech

BadBlue.com -- the fifth most popular political news aggregator in the 997 area code -- now has a sister site. BadBlue.com/tech tracks the top technology blogs and news sites in real-time.


If you're a tech news junkie, check it out.


Not treasonous at all: New Jersey company exploits federal loophole to assist Iran with nuclear research -- Report

If this report is accurate, Lawrenceville Plasma Physics (LLP) has some serious explaining to do.

[LLP] announced they've already "signed a contract on May 20 with the Plasma Physics Research Center (PPRC) of I. Azad University in Tehran, Iran." ... A quick Internet search of this Iranian institution — consisting of a chain of colleges — shows that its full name is "Islamic Azad University." It's a small detail, but a little strange of the LLP official press release to diminish their new partner's name to a mere I. It just looked like someone wanted to dust that fact under the rug.

But how is this partnership even possible given U.S.-Iran relations? Well, there's a loop-hole:

The agreement falls within an exemption to the otherwise broad sanctions of the US against Iran. The US Department of Treasury’s regulations include a general license which “authorizes collaborating with “academics and research institutions” of sanctioned countries on the… creation and enhancement of written publications.”

The two research teams will collaborate on writing scientific publications about their joint discoveries on aneutronic fusion. The LLP [site] explains:

In the past three years, Iran has become a major player in the small but growing global effort to achieve aneutronic fusion power—controlled nuclear fusion using fuels that produce no neutrons. Controlled fusion harnesses the power that heats the sun--nuclear fusion--as a source of energy for peaceful purposes. Fuels that don’t produce neutrons are important because neutrons can be extremely destructive, damaging the structure of a fusion generator and inducing radioactivity.

...Fars News Agency reports that LLP's work could be a game-changer, if things go to plan: it's "one of several small companies that believe they can crack fusion far sooner than can ITER or the National Ignition Facility (NIF), another international behemoth, based in Livermore, California. "

Methinks that LLP's head of public relations is fielding some calls as we speak. If this report is accurate, LLP should consider relocating to Tehran to get all of the true benefits of their partnership.


Hat tip: RF.

Larwyn's Linx: Confirmed by Medicare Actuaries -- Obamacare Requires Massive Cuts in Medicare

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

CMS: Obamacare Requires Massive Cuts in Medicare: IBD
Top Five Ways Obamacare Crushes the Middle Class: Foundry
Tragedy: MoveOn.org claims to be facing financial disaster: Pundit

Cruz, Dewhurst Will Face Off Runoff 7/31; Romney Clinches: Malkin
Trayvon:Did a year of drug abuse result in predictable violence?: Treehouse
Obama Exposes Seal Team 6 for... a Self-Promoting Movie?: NoisyRm

Shocker: "Birthers" Doing Failed Media's Job?: Riehl
Three of Mitt Romney's emerging strengths: Malcolm
Allen West Rips Progs: 'Lets Talk About Obama Doing Blow':

Economy

Consumer Confidence Flatlines Under Obama: IBD
More federal control has made things much better, right?: BDT
A Tale of Two Campaign Ads: the Economy vs. a Distraction: Bruce

Barrett Can't Name One Policy He'd Pursue to Create Jobs in WI: WS
Obama awards Medal of Freedom to radical socalist: Dollard
Silicon Valley donations to Obama reach record levels: ArsTech

Media

Travesty: Aaron Walker Arrested for Blogging? Clearing Some of the Fog Surrounding Today’s Litigation: Patterico
IBD At Kimberlin Hearing: Walker Handcuffed, 1st Amendment Muzzled: IBD
Charles Krauthammer Calls Hypocrisy On Obama’s 'Kill List': Glob

Aaron Walker Arrested After Maryland Hearing on Kimberlin Case: RSM
And you thought justice was blind…: ProWis
J. Christian Adams Talks To Tony Katz How Citizens Can End “SWATting”: NoisyRm

Mark Levin Calls for Sharpton to be Fired for 'Accusing Republicans of Genocide': NB
"Born in Kenya": Slate
Are American Jews Beginning To Rebel Against Pulpit Progressive-ism?: Lid

World

Muslim Brotherhood Plotting To Take Over Jordan?: Gatestone
While all eyes look to the skies, Israel's navy prepares its own surprises: Hayom
Exclusive Pictures: Inside the Navy’s Newest Spy Sub: Wired

Did the State Department just create 5 million Palestinian refugees?: ForPol
Great News: Backdoor Found in Chinese-Made Military Silicon Chips: Schneier
Christians Should "Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave," Says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Candidate?: Gatestone

Sci-Tech

How much exercise it takes to burn off snack calories: KABC-7
10 Glorious Social Networks that Failed Miserably: PTI
This new Facebook phone: Why would anyone want one?: CNet

Cornucopia

Recovered Memories: MOTUS
Why Do You Create?: Sundries
So You Want to Be a Programmer: Coding Horror

Image: (Looking Spoon)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Scott Walker In Wisconsin

QOTD: "We conservatives in talk radio, we come under blistering attack from the Left, from phony reporters, even from executives in this business or in that business. And really when you think about what most of us say and how most of us behave and how and many of us have passion and so forth. It’s the way nature, it’s the way people operate and work normally. You know, you’re not a talking head. You’re a human being with emotions and moods and interests, and some things rile you and some things make you happy, some things get you excited. You know?…But there are lines. And the lines for conservative talkers are much tighter, much harsher than they are for the others.

Al Sharpton is a disgrace. And yet everybody’s afraid of him. He’s on the radio. NBC News hires him over at MSNBC, or MSLSD as I call it. He brings nothing to the table. Nothing. He can barely speak in complete sentences. No, it’s true. He’s a race-baiter in my humble opinion. You saw what he did in Florida, first one on the scene if not the early ones in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case. And that’s certainly not the first. And yet, he’s not considered that controversial.

But today I’m calling for the, for the firing of Al Sharpton. I don’t believe I’ve ever done this before…But enough is enough. It’s not a bad word here or a bad thought, bad comment here over a long record. No, this man is loathsome." --Mark Levin

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Microsoft patents asking your friends 'does my butt look big in this?' on a social network

And now you know the patent system is officially broken.

Microsoft has patented an online personal appearance adviser for those of us without a hotline straight through to Put This On's Jesse Thorn...


...Simply upload a pair of pictures of yourself in different hair, makeup and clothing choices and let the denizens of the internet vote on which one makes you look the best. Sounding similar to HotorNot and FaceMash, this patent purports to shift the emphasis to help the style-challenged choose a suitable wardrobe.

Not to be overly morbid, but you can just envision the lawsuits after the first angst-ridden teen commits suicide post-"appearance adviser".


Sah-weet: Computer Hardware Made In China Includes Anti-Global Warming Features Plus Backdoors for Chinese Military, But Mostly Backdoors for Chinese Military

Rejected backup headline: "Say, I've got an idea: let's buy more crap from China!"

If this doesn't make you leery of every single piece of hardware made in the PRC, I don't know what will:

Backdoor Found in Chinese-Made Military Silicon Chips

We all knew this was possible, but researchers have found the exploit in the wild:

"Claims were made by the intelligence agencies around the world, from MI5, NSA and IARPA, that silicon chips could be infected. We developed breakthrough silicon chip scanning technology to investigate these claims. We chose an American military chip that is highly secure with sophisticated encryption standard, manufactured in China. Our aim was to perform advanced code breaking and to see if there were any unexpected features on the chip. We scanned the silicon chip in an affordable time and found a previously unknown backdoor inserted by the manufacturer. This backdoor has a key, which we were able to extract. If you use this key you can disable the chip or reprogram it at will, even if locked by the user with their own key. This particular chip is prevalent in many systems from weapons, nuclear power plants to public transport. In other words, this backdoor access could be turned into an advanced Stuxnet weapon to attack potentially millions of systems. The scale and range of possible attacks has huge implications for National Security and public infrastructure."

...The chip in question was designed in the U.S. by a U.S. company, but manufactured in China.

Anything (and I do mean anything) manufactured in the PRC could well have some very special -- and undocumented -- functionality courtesy of the PLA (People's Liberation Army).

I am hopeful that most sophisticated buyers were already aware of this possibility.


Hat tip: badblue.com/tech.

Cutting Through the Crap: Which President Was the Biggest Spender in Recent American History?

The Cato Institute helps refute the laughable administration claims that President Obama is some sort of deficit hawk. That could be true, but -- if so -- it's only in some sort of alternate universe, like the one where Mr. Spock wears a Fu Manchu mustache.

...the main debate is about which president was the biggest overall spender. So I’ve run through the numbers... and here’s a new table looking at the rankings based on average annual changes in inflation-adjusted primary spending, minus the distorting impact of deposit insurance and TARP.

Obama is still in the second-to-last position, but spending is increasing by “only” 5.5 percent per year rather than 7.0 percent annually. This is obviously because defense spending is not growing as fast as domestic spending.

Reagan remains in first place, though his score drops now that his defense buildup is part of the calculations. Clinton, conversely, stays in second place but his score jumps because he benefited from the peace dividend after Reagan’s policies led to the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

Let’s now look at these numbers from a policy perspective. Rahn Curve research shows that government is far too big today, so the goal of fiscal policy should be to restrain the burden of government spending relative to economic output.

This means that policy moves in the right direction when government grows more slowly than the private sector, as it did under Reagan and Clinton.

But if government spending is growing faster than the productive sector of the economy, as has been the case during the Bush-Obama years, then a nation eventually will become Greece.

Hey, Axelrod -- here's a helpful hint: when even the Associated Press shreds your propaganda, you may want to switch your line of attack. Cause it's definitely not working.