Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Geniuses Who Think They Can Ban Evil

No sooner had word of the diabolically evil massacre in Aurora reached the airwaves than liberals began to exploit it politically. Waiting not even a day for the families to grieve, the likes of The Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Daily News, The New York Times, mayor Michael Bloomberg and the philandering race-baiter Jesse Jackson leapt into action.

Their mission: to politicize the debate and gain some purchase for their long-discredited argument that preventing the law-abiding from defending themselves with firearms would prevent gun violence.

But consider the irony of residents of New York City and Chicago issuing screeds for more gun control. Both cities enforce draconian (and unconstitutional) bans on the right to keep and bear arms. And both cities are awash in gun violence, despite their myriad gun control measures:

Every week in Chicago, criminals kill, maim and wound the guilty and innocent alike. Last month, over a single weekend, 8 were shot to death and more than 40 wounded.

New York City is likewise awash in "illegal" guns as criminals have no problem acquiring them; this July has seen a 28% rise in city shootings since last year.

And for those liberals who believe that it is only the fact that neighboring areas -- with more lax gun control policies -- are responsible, consider the following attacks:

In Norway, a neo-Nazi slaughtered 92 innocents; Norway is a country that effectively bans guns (as do its neighbors);

• One victim of the Aurora attack, Jessica Ghawi, had narrowly survived a mass shooting in a Canadian mall in which two died and seven others were wounded. Canada greatly restricts access to firearms and, to the best of my knowledge, Eric Holder has not yet attempted to smuggle heavy weapons into that country.

Can you ban guns? Of course not: firearms and gunpowder have been manufactured for centuries and any half-decent machine shop could manufacture semi- or fully-automatic weapons.

Can you ban mass-murder? Of course not: the Aurora murderer -- who I refuse to name -- could have detonated a gasoline bomb in the crowded theater. Islamist terrorists manufacture suicide belts and recommend driving cars into crowds.

Can you ban evil? Of course not.

Cinemark Theaters, in fact, bans guns -- which is one reason why no member of the audience could open fire on the mass murderer.

But in the liberal's Utopian worldview, evil can somehow be stopped. If only society's elite -- the master-planners -- can be given enough control over human activity, they could construct a perfect government and prevent all violence. Notice, however, that society's elite are always protected by arms.

To prevent all violence requires, of course, complete control by the elites over the masses. Which is why North Korea is completely free of gun violence (at least, among the citizenry).

In the book More Guns, Less Crime, economist John Lott conducted the largest statistical analysis of the impact of firearms on safety ever performed in the United States.

He found that the gun control advocates -- who had always predicted that concealed carry permits would result in the streets running red with blood, shootouts in parking lots, and the like -- were completely and utterly wrong. To his great surprise, he found that the more weapons possessed by the law-abiding, the safer society becomes as a whole.

In fact, history has proven that the reverse is true: disarming a population is frequently the precursor to genocide. It occurred in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Cambodia under the Maoist Pol Pot. Millions paid the ultimate price for giving up their firearms -- and their God-given right to protect themselves.

As usual, the idiots in the press -- as well as their Statist sycophants like Bloomberg and Jackson -- must ignore all of history. They must ignore facts, logic and reason to claim that they can ban evil and order society to suppress evildoers -- if only they can be granted total control over you and your God-given right to defend yourself.

Chart: President Obama far more interested in golf than the economy, unemployment or suffering Americans

As of last week, the president had played 102 rounds of golf since taking office. According to White House reporter Keith Koffler, each golf outing takes about five hours. Using arithmetic -- something apparently unfamiliar to Democrats, given their staunch refusal to pass a federal budget -- Obama has spent about 510 hours golfing.

This compares to a total of "412 hours ... in economic meetings or briefings of any kind", according to a time study published by The Government Accountability Insititute (PDF).


Even discounting his callous disregard for the Constitution, this president has no respect for the American people. He has no work ethic and no interest in the economy.

And please note: I'm not even counting the innumerable fundraisers and pickup basketball games, which also do absolutely nothing for Americans suffering in this, the Obama Depression.


Hat tip: Gateway Pundit and Right Scoop: 'I will not rest'.

Larwyn's Linx: Batman and Evil

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

Nation

Batman and Evil: Ricochet
The Ultimate Gun Rights Article: CDN
This White House Never Lets a Crisis Go To Waste: Exam

Reckless Disregard: Instapundit
When in Doubt Blame The Tea Party: AmSpec
Tea party familiar with being wrongly blamed after tragedies: DC

Economy

10 pieces of bad economic news the media is hiding from us: Nolte
Don't Die in 2013: Confiscatory 55% Death Tax Set to Take Effect: ATR
Dodd-Frank Financial Regulations Strangling Economy: Foundry

“You Didn’t Build That”—Obama’s Ode to Envy: ObjStd
If you 'didn't build that,' they can take it: OC Register
Report: SEIU workers attempted to harm nursing home patients: DC

Scandal Central

Acting ATF Director Threatens Future Whistleblowers: AT
GOP Rep Yells at Napolitano For Her Ludicrous Claims: Blaze
Chevy Volt Costs Taxpayers $250,000 Per Car: NB

Climate & Energy

Obama Continues to Despise American Energy: AT
EPA reviewing part of controversial power plant rule after complaints: Fox

Media

Blame Righty impulse blows up in media faces…again: Malkin
If Just One Law-Abiding Moviegoer Had Been Armed…: MB
Journo-politico Violence: Deadly Threat or Menacing Trend?: IowaHawk (2010)

Mark Levin: It’s time to call the media out for always blaming the right: Scoop
Mark Levin Fans are the Best: Kuznicki
George Stephanopoulos And ABC News Come Up Short Once Again: Looking Spoon

Shockingly, The NY Times Is Chock Full Of Calls For Gun Control: RWN
Because Darkness Hates the Light: Zilla
Oh, Those “Compassionate” Leftists!: Zilla

World

The Dark Muslim Brotherhood World of Huma Abedin: FPM
The Great Betrayal: Greenfield
In Egypt, Mohammed Morsi's silence speaks volumes: Newsday

Is Iran preparing to close the Straits of Hormuz?: BlackFive
Why is WH Meeting With Iran Apologists?: Commentary
Fort Hood shooting report: FBI didn't heed warnings: Chron

Salman Rushdie: My Safety Is More Important Than Yours: Ace
Report highlights emails from Fort Hood shooter to al Qaeda cleric: LongWarJournal
Obama Marks Ramadan, Vows To Continue Supporting Islamic Uprisings: WZ

Sci-Tech

History Here app is perfect for summer travel: Tuaw
8000 Facebook members die every day. What happens to their profiles?: VentureBeat
Like what you see on TV? Buy it now.: Fortune

Cornucopia

Good Grief: Win A Chance To Have Obama In Your “Holiday Card”: RWN
10 Reasons to Hate Mitt Romney (Liberals Pay Attention): Aces
Jumping On The You Didn’t Build That Graphic Bandwagon: Conservatory

Image: Man still missing after Aurora shooting
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Romney's up a point in a polling sample heavily (but not comically heavily) weighted to Democrats; the sample for registered voters splits 26.5 percent Republican, 32.6 percent Democrat, 40.8 percent independent. That's not as awful as some other samples, but that assumes the Democrats' advantage is only slightly worse than on Election Day 2008." --Jim Geraghty

Friday, July 20, 2012

Your feel-good SEIU story o' the day

The headline says it all: Report: Striking SEIU workers attempted to harm CT nursing home patients.

After the collapse of 17-month-long union negotiations on July 3, unionized health-care workers walked out of five nursing home facilities in Connecticut, but not before placing some elderly patients in dire medical risk through acts of sabotage, according to the company that owns and operates the facilities.

“In the hours leading up to the strike by the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU (the Union) against five HealthBridge Management Health Care Centers in Connecticut, Union members engaged in multiple illegal and dangerous acts against Center residents,” reads a statement released by HealthBridge on Tuesday afternoon.


According to police reports[, ...] union employees in at least three of its facilities intentionally mixed up or removed patient name plates, photos, medical bracelets and dietary advisories as they began their strike. Additionally, the police reports include allegations of both vandalism and larceny.

...The police report states that “prior to the employee labor strike … the name tags on the patient’s doors for the Alzheimer’s ward were mixed up. The photos attached to the medical records for these patients were removed...

...Also, dietary blue stickers affixed to the door name tags were removed,” the report continued. A source with knowledge of HealthBridge’s operations told TheDC that those stickers identify residents that have dysphagia, or trouble swallowing. Those patients have special dietary restrictions to prevent them from choking...

And, as a quick reminder: Barack Obama has stated repeatedly that "the SEIU agenda is my agenda."


Which makes the nursing home story all the more relevant for the entire United States.



Chart: What your social networking usage says about your politics

Spotted at The Big Picture:


I have no idea what to make of this chart, other than the appearance that electronic commerce is powered -- in large part -- by conservatives.



Perfect: one of Obama's unconstitutional recess appointments to labor board has ties to organized crime

The good news? At least the illegal appointee never chopped off the pinkies of debtors with a rusty axe (to my knowledge):

Richard Griffin, whom President Obama illegally appointed to the National Labor Relations Board, never had to answer a single question from U.S. senators – or even file the standard paperwork for nominees – prior to assuming his post in January.

Because of Obama’s unconstitutional non-recess appointment, Griffin’s connections to numerous International Union of Operating Engineers locals with extensive criminal rap sheets were never explored. In January, Scribe documented how Griffin blocked efforts to reform corrupt chapters of the IUOE as its general counsel.

Now, seven months after the non-recess appointment, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is looking for answers to those questions. In a letter to Griffin sent on Wednesday, Hatch asks for information about his relationship with the numerous IUOE workers who have either been tied to mob activity or were convicted of crimes during Griffin’s tenure at the union.

While Griffin did not personally represent any of those criminals, he did, as we noted in January, advance policies that made it more difficult for rank-and-file union members to challenge corrupt leaders in local elections. Those policies “make it difficult for a lot of guys to speak up,” explained Mike Quigley, who failed to unseat a boss of IUOE Local 150 who three years later was indicted for violations of federal labor law.

Sounds to me like Griffin is the Obama administration in microcosm.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

My Sincere and Heartfelt Apology to ABC's Brian Ross

An earlier Doug Ross @ Journal article referred to ABC News correspondent Brian Ross as the Westonville man by the same name arrested today and accused of: operation of a rolling methamphetamine lab; lighting kittens on fire; trafficking in child pornography; using a rusty axe to amputate the pinkies of debtors; performing necrophilia with roadkill; pushing a nun in front of the E train; arranging and betting on dog fights; gross abuse of squirrels; decapitation of baby seals during devil worship; and placement of non-recyclable material in the recycle-only container.


My bad.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama’s Remorseless Attacks Having Little Effect

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

Nation

Obama’s Remorseless Attacks Having Little Effect: Dossier
Trashing Achievement: Sowell
The Art of Building Things: Sultan Knish

TSA: Training Sky-bound Aliens: Malkin
What’s in Romney’s Unreleased Tax Returns: He Overpaid His Taxes: RS
Scalia: No 'falling out' with Roberts after Obamacare ruling: USA Today

Transparency czars Reid, Pelosi refuse to release tax returns: Riehl
Pelosi Changes Mind About Romney's Taxes: Lid
Congress to America: Shut Your Yap: Aces

Economy

Thank you Elizabeth Warren (for possibly costing Obama the election): LI
Elizabeth Warren backs President on business success: Herald
Fair Share: The Top 20% Paid 94.1% of Income Taxes in 2009: Carpe

'He's talking about outsourcing? He killed NASA!': Beacon
GM ‘turnaround’ reports rely on ‘overbuilding,’ jam-packed dealer lots: DC
The silent job killer: Our unemployment system: Easton

Scandal Central

Unlawful Use of $8.3 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars?: Foundry
IDs, egos, superegos: ProWis
Cronyism Built That: Dem donors rake in billions under Obama administration: Beacon

Obama's $25,000-a-head fundraiser at "ruthless fundraiser"'s place: Riehl
Report Confirms Obama Spends More Time Golfing Than In Economic Meetings: GWP
The Chevy Volt: Not Only a Bad Investment but Now a Tool for Fraud!: NakedDC

Climate & Energy

What else did the ’97% of scientists’ say?: Watts
Global Warming Proven! Hottest Summer Ever!… in 1936: IMAO
Plan to Slow Global Warming By Dumping Iron Sulphate into Oceans: Slashdot

Media

Latest poll numbers grim for Obama: Power Line
It's being called the best political ad in the last 30 years -- "These hands": GWP
Evidence Obama campaign planted questions at speech: Sooper

The Ultimate Takedown of Obama’s ‘You didn’t build that’ Speech: Zombie
NYT says Obama distraction campaign may not be working: Q&O
Reuters Thinks Big Unemployment Claims Jump Is a ‘Rebound’: BizzyBlog

Has Obama Awakened Mitt’s Inner Sleeping Giant?: DLim
CNN Four Days Late to Obama's Infamous 'You Didn't Build That' Remark: NB
Guest Post: Where Is The Line For Revolution?: ZH

World

Middle East in Flames: Greenrroom
Blogger noted Bulgarian bus bomber Mehdi Ghezali in 2009: Riehl
WATCH: Footage of suspected suicide bomber in attack on Israelis in Bulgaria: Haaretz

Syria's Chemical Weapons Came From Saddam's Iraq: IBD
Eyes peeled to the north, on alert for a casus belli: Hayom
U.S. officials: Hezbollah attacked Israelis in Bulgaria to retaliate for killing of Iran nuclear scientists: Haaretz

Sci-Tech

Is Wi-Fi the answer to mobile operators' woes?: Fortune
Apple's Share of Verizon Smartphone Sales Slips to 45%: MacRumors
Facebook to introduce sponsored results in search typeahead: Inside Facebook

Cornucopia

Obama, Once Again, Narcissistically Insinuates Himself Into Another Personal Moment: iOTW
48 Tons of Silver Recovered From World War II Shipwreck: ABC
As many as 14 killed in 'Dark Knight Rises' theater shooting: Post

Image: Aaron Sorkin Fires Almost All the Writers on 'The Newsroom'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The high cost of firing teachers helps explain why the Los Angeles Unified School District simply paid Berndt a $40,000 severance rather than undertake the formal dismissal process, even though he’s accused of the most despicable crimes against children. If the indicted ex-teacher had decided to pursue his legal options under current state law, odds are that the district would have paid a great deal more than the five-figure sum that bought Berndt’s resignation. That’s what makes the union’s claim that SB 1530 would “kill due process” so outrageous—what California has now is effectively “undue process.”" --Larry Sand

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Skin in the game: top 20 percent of wage-earners paid about 95 percent of all income taxes

Fairness:

The [accompanying] chart ... is based on data in the recently-released CBO report "Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2008 and 2009," [PDF] showing the share of federal income taxes paid by income group in 2009.  In 2009, almost all (94.1%) federal income taxes collected were paid by just one-fifth of Americans (top quintile) and the top 1% paid almost 39% of all taxes collected.  In contrast, the lowest and second quintiles were net "tax collectors" because that 40% of Americans received more in refundable tax credits than they paid in income taxes.


But all we hear about is how the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes, and proposals for increasing taxes on "the rich," like the one from Warren Buffett discussed here

Joe Biden calls this having "skin in the game".

"We see a system where everybody pays their fair share. Where the middle-class tax cut is maintained, and where no one making a million dollars a year or more pays a lower percentage in income than middle-class and working-class families. Where everyone, and I mean everyone, has skin in the game and no one gets played for a sucker.

Skin in the game? Yes, I agree with that. What about the bottom 60 percent putting some skin in the game?

No one gets played for a sucker? Yes, I agree with that. How about taxpayers recoup the billions Obama sent to his campaign bundlers for their phony "green companies"?

What Biden said actually makes sense, though not in the way he'd intended.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Money.

Sweet: USDA partnering with government of Mexico to dramatically boost the distribution of food stamps

This administration just keeps getting better and better:

The Mexican government has been working with the United States Department of Agriculture to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.


USDA has an agreement with Mexico to promote American food assistance programs, including food stamps, among Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals and migrant communities in America.

“USDA and the government of Mexico have entered into a partnership to help educate eligible Mexican nationals living in the United States about available nutrition assistance,” the USDA explains in a brief paragraph on their “Reaching Low-Income Hispanics With Nutrition Assistance” web page. “Mexico will help disseminate this information through its embassy and network of approximately 50 consular offices.”

...The goal, for USDA, is to get rid of what they see as enrollment obstacles and increase access among potentially eligible populations by working with arms of the Mexican government in America. Benefits are not guaranteed or provided under the program — the purpose is outreach and education.

Some of the materials the USDA encourages the Mexican government to use to educate and promote the benefit programs are available free online for order and download. A partial list of materials include English and Spanish brochures titled “Five Easy Steps To Snap Benefits,” “How To Get Food Help — A Consumer’s Guide to FNCS Programs,” “Ending Hunger Improving Nutrition Combating Obesity,” and posters with slogans like “Food Stamps Make America Stronger.”

Oh, and if that's not enough, the USDA also provides food-stamp brochures in... wait for it... Arabic.


You can't make this s*** up.


Hat tip: Wanda.

QOTD: Zombie Göering was unavailable

The inimitable VodkaPundit:


The GOP could have raised Hitler from the dead, stuck Zombie Hitler on the top of the ticket, run him on a platform of “BRAAAAAAAAAINS!” and still taken IN and NC away from Obama.


Hat tip: JTT.

Did Eric Holder Help Spring the Suicide Bomber Mehdi Ghezali From Guantanamo Bay?

Eric Holder, prior to assuming the position of attorney general, was a partner at the law firm of Covington and Burling. The firm is infamous for its pro bono defense of Al Qaeda terrorists caught on the battlefield:

Guantanamo Bay Detainees
 

  • ...we are challenging the legality of our clients’ detentions in habeas proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  Of the seven cases that have gone to merits hearings thus far, Covington has won four, lost two, and is awaiting a decision in one other.  Two prior clients were released without a hearing.
  • The firm has been involved in the Guantánamo related litigation for the last six years.  In addition to the on-going habeas corpus proceedings, our efforts have included: bringing cases for review of enemy combatant classification decisions...; ... filing amicus briefs and coordinating the amicus effort in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld...; filing amicus briefs in support of Supreme Court review in Moussaoui v. United States..., cert denied...; challenging the government’s practice of redacting information from documents given to security-cleared habeas counsel; and challenging the abusive medical and living conditions that the detainees experience at Guantánamo.
In fact, no less than nine attorneys in the Holder Justice Department have been involved with defending Islamist terrorists from prosecution.


And, as expected, it would appear that Israeli civilians have paid the ultimate price for this kind of treasonous madness.
According to a report by The Times of Israel, Bulgarian media named Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizen and former detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2004, as the suicide bomber responsible for an attack in Burgas, Bulgaria, on Wednesday... On Wednesday, eight people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. According to The Long War Journal, Mehdi Ghezali was arrested in Pakistan in December 2001. His lawyers claim he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, The Weekly Standard reports.
Attorneys at Covington and Burley (and other firms at which current DOJ attorneys worked) are reported to have counseled prisoners at Gitmo to allege mental and/or physical abuse:
With a black baseball cap pulled tight over a mop of stringy long hair and a patchy, close-cropped beard, Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali looked more like a Metallica roadie than a disciple of Ayman al-Zawahiri. He addressed the scrum of reporters in a clipped, heavily accented Swedish and accused the American government of wrongly detaining him for three years and "physically and mentally" torturing him. A book about his experiences was in the works; a documentary crew, cobbling together a film about American human rights abuses, had requested an audience; and his legal team was plotting a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld. It was 2004, and Ghezali was a free man. Sweden's The Local reports that documents released by WikiLeaks show Ghezali was held at Guantanamo to "give general and specific information of the cultural, religious and ethnic recruitment of foreign nationals participating in the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia."
According to documents released by Wikileaks, Mehdi was considered an extremely dangerous character and "posed a threat to the United States, its interests, and its allies."
Consider this New York Post article from 26 February 2009:
ATTORNEY General Eric Holder toured Guantanamo Bay this week, a “fact finding” visit prompted by President Obama’s “close Gitmo” order... Holder’s previous job, after all, was as a senior partner with Covington and Burling – a white-shoe DC law firm that devotes considerable pro bono time to defending the Gitmo detainees. The job paid $2 million a year, and he expects to collect a like amount this year as part of his separation package. As a senior partner, he undoubtedly had significant input on what kind of charity cases his firm picked up. He surely knew that dozens of lawyers from from his firm were among the 500-plus civilian lawyers representing the 244 or so remaining detainees (on top of military-court-appointed defenders). Even now, his Covington colleagues continue to allege rampant torture at Gitmo. They’re fighting hard to have detainees tried through the US court system – essentially given the same rights as US citizens. And their arguments and plans hinge largely on having Holder issue a bad report card.
In part, thanks to the efforts of U.S. attorneys -- very likely including Eric Holder himself, his law firm, and/or other DOJ radicals hired by Holder -- Ghezali was released from Guantanamo and arrived in Sweden in 2004. My only question: how much more skulduggery will Eric Holder have to commit before the House leadership gathers the courage to impeach this disgraceful human being?


Larwyn's Linx: 1,001 reasons to vote for Barack Obama

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

Nation

1,001 reasons to vote for Barack Obama: Hot Air
Hey ... Obama. We Built That Stuff Too: Boortz
Dems Push Law That Obama Must Release His College Transcripts: Ace

Reid, Pelosi, DWS all refuse to release tax returns: Breitbart
Lautenberg: Boycott My Constituents!: Power Line
E&Y: Obama tax hike will kill 710,000 more jobs: Foundry

Pelosi to House Democrats: Skip the convention: Malkin
127 Congressman Sign Pledge to Defund Obamacare: RS
Could a single word undo ObamaCare?: Hot Air

Economy

All of the businesses that DIDN'T happen thanks to government: Carpe
Unemployment problem solved!: Pundette
Re: Don't fear the fiscal cliff -- fear the welfare cliff: HySci

NY Drugstores in Half-Billion Dollar Medicaid Scam: Post
Fighting Fire with Retards: iOTW
Wait, people actually trusted Barack Obama on medical pot?: Moe Lane

Scandal Central

Reward offered for White House Fast & Furious info: Exam
Stimulus-Backed Solar Facility Touted By Harry Reid Shuts Down: Foundry
Surprise: Obama's "Jobs Council" Hasn't Met in Six Months: Times

Climate & Energy

Energy Revolution 3: The New American Century: Mead
We Don't Need No Stinking Sparky Cars: SDA

Media

Exclusive: L.A. Times Turns Editorial Control Over to Obama Campaign: Patterico
The Great Demotivator: Tatler
Boom! Jon Lovitz to Obama: Nobel Peace Prize? You didn’t earn that.: Twitchy

AP's Peoples Tells Readers What Obama 'Intended' in 'You Didn't Build That' Remark: Blumer
Was Barack Obama Lying Then or Now?: RS
Zimmerman takes to TV to tell his story: USA Today

Trump Piles On: Demands Obama Release College Transcripts – Passport Records: GWP
Democrats’ Ideal Voter: Illegal Alien, Single Mother, Convicted Felon: Coulter
Rep. Connie Mack to Liberal journalist: Get back to me when you become a real reporter: Riehl
How the Democratic Media Spin the News: Power Line

World

Dick Cheney For The Defense: Stop Dangerous Cuts: IBD
Blowing Up History: Hanson
Lessons from Spain; A Caution for China: Al Fin

Obama Didn’t Kill Bin Laden, Somebody Else Did That: Glob
UN Chief refuses to call Islamist slaughter of women and children "terrorism": Atlas
Does Obama Actually Care About Israel’s Struggle to Survive?: PJM

Sci-Tech

Office 2013: What We Still Don't Know: PC World
Microsoft ignored tip that it botched browser choice in Windows 7 SP1: ComputerWorld
The secret to the Windows 8 keyboard design: common sense: VenBeat

Cornucopia

Conservative Bloggers Select The Most Popular And Unpopular People On The Right: Hawkins
Has TOTUS been put on administrative leave?: MOTUS
This Just In: C&S

Image: Barack Obama: the Great Demotivator
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Maybe it’s just me, but I’m of the opinion that when our elected leaders become so enamored of themselves, and of the government we have hired them to manage, they become a grave danger to those unalienable rights set forth in The Declaration – you know, the rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration says we may “pursue” happiness. It does not guarantee it. You and the party you represent seem to think that happiness is a right, and have created a government that has now become destructive of the very ends it was designed to support.

There’s more than one way to alter or abolish at government, Ruler Obama. We’ll give one of them a good old college try in November.

Again .. thanks for your incursion into extemporaneous speech. We’ve learned a lot from and about you in the last week." --Neal Boortz

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Allen West Ties Today's Terror Attack to Another Iranian-Sponsored Attack in Buenos Aires, 18 Years Ago to the Day

Regarding yet another Iranian-sponsored terror attack targeting innocents, Rep. Allen West writes:

Blood has been spilled today once again in the senseless death of Israeli citizens killed in a terrorist attack on a tour bus in a Bulgarian resort town.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the Israelis who lost their lives and those who were injured.

It is no coincidence this attack comes on the 18th Anniversary of the attack on a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. On this date two decades ago, 85 people lost their lives.

The terrorists behind today’s suicide bombing, and others in the past, have one goal in mind; to invoke terror and fear in the hearts and minds of the Israeli people. This enemy, the same enemy that seeks to destroy the United States, will stop at nothing to destroy Israel and to kill its sons and daughters.

America must stand behind our strongest and most steadfast ally in the Middle East, Israel, to find the perpetrators behind today’s attack and ensure the protection of the nation and people of Israel.

It is essential freedom-loving people do not allow these acts of terrorism to prevent them from defending the principles of liberty, freedom and democracy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated:

All signs point towards Iran. Over the last few months we have seen Iran’s attempts to attack Israelis in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and other countries. Exactly 18 years to the day after the horrendous attack on the Jewish Community Center in Argentina, deadly Iranian terrorism continues to strike at innocent people. This is a global Iranian terror onslaught and Israel will react firmly to it.

Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Dan Oren, spoke in no uncertain terms:

Well, we will surely choose the time and place and we will react firmly. The Israeli people, the state, the army of Israel will defend itself. And Iranians will know that they cannot shed Israeli blood with impunity.

Of course, the Obama administration's outrageous leaks regarding Israel have made the job considerably more difficult.

Godspeed, IDF. Godspeed.


Obama proposes more stimulus for his reelection campaign, I mean, teachers unions, I mean, teachers

Of course, it's not positioned that way in this laughable article from the Dissociative Press, which was authored by someone named "Josh Lederman" (if that is his real name).

The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students' achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.

The program to reward high-performing teachers with salary stipends is part of a long-term effort by President Barack Obama to encourage education in high-demand areas that hold the key to future economic growth - and to close the achievement gap between American students and their international peers.


Teachers selected for the Master Teacher Corps will be paid an additional $20,000 a year and must commit to participate multiple years. The goal is to create a multiplier effect in which expert educators share their knowledge and skills with other teachers, improving the quality of education for all students.

Speaking at a rally for his re-election campaign in San Antonio on Tuesday, Obama framed his emphasis on expanded education funding as a point of contrast with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, whom he accused of prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over reinvestment in the nation.

...The administration will make $100 million available immediately out of an existing fund to incentivize top-performing teachers. Over the longer term, the White House said it plans to launch the program with $1 billion included in Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2013.

Of course, the real way to solve the education problem is to ban collective bargaining and to support school choice, especially in urban areas. Charter schools are proven to work because they foster competition, innovation and merit-based achievement.

Collective bargaining pits unions against students and it has failed repeatedly, decade after decade, as perfectly depicted in the accompanying chart.

How many more failed stimulus programs -- which serve only to stimulate Democrat campaign coffers through mandatory union dues -- must America's children pay for?

That's a rhetorical question: because if Democrats have their way, they'll continue spending borrowed money until the economy collapses under the weight of national insolvency.


Related: Top Five Reasons To Abolish the Department of Education


Hasn't he done enough for us already? Non-partisan Ernst & Young accounting firm estimates Obama tax hike will kill 710,000 more jobs

And it seems like only a few months ago the president was claiming that tax hikes would kill the economy. Oh, you say it was only a few months ago?

Oh.

Perhaps the president simply changed his mind.

A new study conducted by Ernst and Young proves conclusively that the President’s tax increase would be devastating to the economy and jobs.


The study finds that, if Congress misguidedly adopted President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on job creators by allowing the Bush-era tax policies to expire for incomes over $200,000 ($250,000 for married filers), the economy and jobs would suffer terribly:

  • Output in the long run would fall by 1.3 percent, or $200 billion, in today’s economy;
  • Employment in the long run would fall by 0.5 percent or, roughly 710,000 fewer jobs, in today’s economy;
  • Capital stock and investment in the long run would fall by 1.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively; and
  • Real after-tax wages would fall by 1.8 percent.

There are almost 13 million Americans out of work today. President Obama’s tax increase would needlessly add almost three-quarters of a million people to that already much too large number. Even those with jobs wouldn’t escape the pain of President Obama’s tax increase, as they would see their wages suffer.

Look, folks: just do whatever the president tells us to do. Ours is not to ask questions, no matter how many failed policies and edicts he may issue. He has far more experience with businesses of every variety and size than all of us, so I'm certain his decisions will work out. Someday.


Image hat tip: Moonbattery.

What could go wrong? Washington State Partners With Facebook To Help Register Voters

Because the state of Washington has such a wonderful record when it comes to the integrity of the ballot box (***cough*** ***cough*** ***cough***), certainly nothing could possibly go wrong with this:

If you live in Washington state a new way to register to vote will soon by available. A Facebook app will reside on the Secretary of state’s page that will exist directly within Facebook. The AP reports that the app will be the results of collective efforts of Facebook, Microsoft and the state.


Washington will be the first state to offer voter registrations on Facebook. Users will have to click on the app and allow Facebook to access their information and will be required to also provide an ID card or drivers licence. The app will not have access to the state records, rather will overlay to simply add to the database. A “My Vote” site will also existe to help inform registrants about candidates and the issues. Washington’s co-director of elections, Shane Hamlin, stated:

"In this age of social media and more people going online for services, this is a natural way to introduce people to online registration and leverage the power of friends on Facebook to get more people registered..."

Our friends at what used to be called ACORN and the rest of the Democrat vote-fraud front groups are probably throwing parties as we speak.

My guess is that this app will be used as an avenue for rampant vote fraud. Imagine easy voter registration combined with copious numbers of bogus absentee ballots (which was the old ACORN modus operandi). No muss, no fuss, and Democrats just happen to "find" ballots whenever there is a close election.

I urge you, my friends, to wipe out the Democrat Party at the ballot box in November. Republicans aren't perfect -- to be sure -- but we fight one battle at a time. Last time I checked, Republicans don't embrace hard-core Communists (see: Van Jones, Anita Dunn, etc.) and avowed Socialists (see: Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson) in the party. Democrats do -- with pride.

So this modern, virulently radical, and flatly anti-American version of the Democrat Party needs to be wiped out -- politically -- like the infestation they are.


Hat tip: http://BadBlue.com/tech.

Demotivational Photo o' the Day


The president likes to compare himself to Reagan and Lincoln, but I'm just not seeing it.



Larwyn's Linx: The Truth Behind President Obama’s Attack on Success

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

Nation

The Truth Behind President Obama’s Attack on Success: Sundries
Legalized Looting on the Rise: ObjStd
Tyrants and Human Nature: Williams

Levin: Romney's speech today was superb: Scoop
Democrats gladly accept big bucks from Bain: Lid
Romney Campaign Disses Palin: Throws Party Unity Overboard: Lord

Obama campaign: Screw military voters; sues Ohio: Riehl
Schumer wants limits on free speech (yours): Hot Air
DNC Head Gets Heckled At Synagogue Rally: Lawrence

Economy

The “Central Banks’ Central Bank” Slams the Federal Reserve: BigPic
Teachers Union Kills Bill to Remove Criminals From Classroom: CityJrnl
Cartoon: the Logic (or lack thereof) of Keynesian Economics: Cato

Your Guide to Sleazy Democratic Party-Backed Banks: Malkin
Millionaire taxes hurt the masses, from Newark to Paris: Fortune
Saturday night flash mob takes over Jacksonville Walmart: Jacksonville

Scandal Central

Exclusive: Brian Terry's Killers Let Go: Pavlich
Obama Ends Welfare Reform as We Know It, Calls for $12.7 Trillion in New Welfare Spending: Foundry
"Green" Stimulus Money Was Like “A Hooker Dropped Into A Prison Exercise Yard”: Sooper

Climate & Energy

New paper blames about half of global warming on weather station data homogenization: Watts
Obama Energy Policies Are Working: Patriot Coal Goes Bankrupt: CFP
Plunge In CO2 Output Due To Natural Gas Fracking: IBD

Media

A Serious Suggestion for the Romney Campaign: Hawkins
Krauthammer: Romney shouldn’t release past tax returns: Scoop
Obama switches off his teleprompter: Hill

NRO caves on Romney over tax return issue, stabs him in the back: Riehl
Star of Pro-Obama Super PAC Ad Unleashed: 'Obama Is a Jerk, a Pantywaist, a Lightweight, a Blowhard': WS
Brides Not A Big Fan of Obama's Wedding Registry Fund-Raising Strategy: HyScience

Reason to Hate: AIM
Media Fail: Chevy Volt Makes NO Money, Costs Taxpayers Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Per Car: NB
DNC rebrands Bank of America Stadium as ‘Panthers Stadium’: Twitchy

World

Congress Rightly Seeks Details on Defense-Devastating Sequestration: Foundry
Our Non-Entity U.N. Ambassador Perfect For Obama: IBD
22 NATO supply trucks destroyed in Afghanistan: AP

Awesome: The Samuel Williams Gun Control Video You Have To See: Riehl
Dept of State – General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World: MagNote
Chapo Now Controls Juarez and Western Texas: Borderland

Sci-Tech

AT&T to Restrict or Charge for FaceTime Over 3G/4G in iOS 6? [Updated With AT&T Statement]: MacRumors
No-Lose Situations: Reformed Broker
Women Beat Men on IQ Tests For First Time: ABC

Cornucopia

I'm a Sowell Man!: Sooper Mexican
That game was the pits. Next time we’re getting a real Brazilian: MOTUS
Arpaio Reveals Findings from Hawaiian Investigation: Nice Deb

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Make Sure the LOST Treaty Stays Dead

QOTD: "Does anyone know who [U.S.] Ambassador [to the United Nations] Susan Rice is? Certainly no one remembers anything she has ever said during her more than 3-1/2 years as America's voice within that corrupt nest of vipers in the Turtle Bay section of New York City...

...Susan Rice is a non-entity who says nothing even when she speaks. No surprise since she represents a foreign policy built on President Obama's supposedly irresistible charisma, approved by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and accompanied by a guarantee that "Any Change Is Change You Should Believe In."" --Investors Business Daily

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Slight Difference of Economic Opinion

I'm not sure I see any patterns here, but perhaps you're better at econ than I am.


Is it true that facts, logic, reason and human experience all tell us that Obama's vision of collectivism works?