Monday, January 14, 2013

Sotomayor's Gold Star

So I'm driving home this evening and happened to flip on National Pubic Radio (consider it gathering OSINT on enemy activities). And they're doing a feature on activist Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, the self-described "wise Latina woman".

Sotomayor is hawking an autobiographical book and she briefly describes the incident that led to her becoming an academic overachiever. Until the fifth grade, Sotomayor says she was a C-student. But the nun in her fifth grade class began awarding gold stars for excellent work. And Sotomayor wanted those gold stars. She wanted them desperately.

So she went to the top student in her class and asked for help. How to study, how to do homework, how to excel. Sure enough, with dedication, focus and practice, she became a top-notch student, winning countless gold stars and eventually becoming a valedictorian at Cardinal Spellman High School.

Now I found this story apocryphal. Consider that Sotomayor is a hard-core Leftist who has, throughout her career, supported the redistribution of wealth and the tenets of socialism. In other words, she endorses -- in every way -- taking gold stars from society's achievers and giving them to the undeserving.

In fact, Sotomayor's entire philosophy revolves around master planners -- wise Latina women and other masterminds -- divvying up society's spoils and slathering them around in an ostensible effort to do good.

Decades of these progressive programs -- the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Square Deal, Great Society, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, you name the program -- have failed over and over and over again.

In fact, they have created a massive, corrupt, leviathan of a welfare state that is headed straight for bankruptcy like a 747 that's run out of fuel. The federal government itself estimates fraud for these programs at $125 billion a year; other reliable analysts put the figure closer to a third of a trillion.

Instead of improving society, Sotomayor's intellectual ilk have crushed the will to work, built a permanent underclass unaccustomed to individual responsibility, encouraged corruption in government, and nearly eradicated the two-parent family in the inner city.

If Sotomayor had an ounce of intellectual integrity, she would have penned a more fitting autobiography in which she demanded gold stars from others in order to redistribute them "fairly".

Or red stars, if you know what I mean. But I'm sure the irony escapes her and the other leftists bent on destroying this society.


PURE, UNVARNISHED IDIOCY: In Rush to Ban Guns, Andrew Cuomo Forgets to Exempt Law Enforcement

Yep, this is what you call Presidential Front-runner Material™ for the Democrat Party!

I guess they had to read the legislation eventually to find out what was in it.

These people are dangerously stupid. Not a single person stopped to think about whether any of these meaningless laws would affect the police? F***ing idiots.

It appears someone forgot to exempt police officers from the ban of ammunition clips with more than 7 bullets in New York State’s new gun control law...

...It’s a big oversight that apparently happened in the haste by the Cuomo Administration to get a tough package of gun-control measures signed into law...


A big oversight, huh? Yeah, well, stuff happens when you’re busy trampling the rights of the law-abiding.

On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the sweeping gun measure, the nation’s toughest. It includes a ban on the possession of high-capacity magazines... magazines with more than 7 rounds will be illegal under the new law.

The problem as the statute is currently written does NOT exempt law enforcement officers... The NYPD, the State Police and virtually every law enforcement agency in the state carry 9-milli-meter guns, which have a 15-round capacity.

Unless an exemption is added by the time the law takes effect in March, police would technically be in violation of the new gun measure

.
Abject stupidity, but entirely predictable. We surmise if anyone actually asked Cuomo he’d have no idea what the police carry. And don’t forget, this is the same guy who said he could “overpower the extremists” with “intelligence and with reason and with common sense.”

What else would you expect from Andrew "the Architect of Ruin" Cuomo, the man who touched off the mortgage meltdown?


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Enough--Guns, Active Shooters and Pharma

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

Nation

Enough: Guns, Active Shooters and Pharma: Denninger
The Hipster Facade: Hanson
History Suggests That Entitlement Era Is Winding Down: Barone

Where are my Constitutionally-protected suppressed machine guns?: Owens
The Petty Reign of Harry Reid: WS
Why The 2nd Amendment - An Object Lesson From Mexico: Howling

The View from the Bottom of a Fiscal Abyss: RWN
Gun Control, Bills of Attainder & Ex Post Facto Laws: NoisyRm
Waiting for the Sequel: Reagan

Economy

Why is Black Unemployment So Much Higher Than White?: LibertyNews
Clifftastrophe: How GOP Raised Taxes, Fed Dem Addiction: ConBlkChk
So, you think your Right-To-Work state is safe from unions?: RS

The Sad Irony of Affirmative Action: NatlAffairs
Ugly Choices Loom Over Debt Clash: WSJ
CT gun shop swamped in semi-auto rifle package deal: Scoop

Scandal Central

NYT: Obama To Ram Through Amnesty For 11 Million Illegal Immigrants: WZ
Are Some Liberal Academics Attempting to Normalize Pedophilia?: CI
Mentally challenged girl, 15, 'gang raped under her desk during class as teacher did NOTHING': DailyMail

Climate & Energy

How a FOIA Request Brought Down EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson: Foundry
EPA: Green Gone Wild: Forbes
FrackNation Defends Revolutionary Energy Technology: ObjStd

Media

Colon Powell on MTP: GOP Has ‘A Dark Vein of Intolerance’: BizzyBlog
NRA President Schools Candy Crowley: Obama and Feinstein Are Driving Gun Sales Not Us!: NB
In Defense of a Little Book: DPU (Language Warning)

Newspaper Publishes List of Gun Owners: One of them Promptly Burglarized: Hideout
Peggy Noonan: President Obama should “Leave Gun Control Issues in the Congress": FreeLight
Obama’s nominees are all white, but it’s totally cool because Obama is black: NakedDC

Colin Powell Celebrates Festivus On Meet the Press: Ace
Pretend Gun Control: Fleming
Piers Morgan thinks a tyrannical U.S. government is impossible: DC

World

Chuck Hagel - It's the anti-Americanism, stupid: Glick
The Koranic Sanction of Slavery: Creeping
Why are we pretending?: CFP

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Bus-Size Sea Monster Found, Took On Prey Its Own Size: NatGeo
Who Is To Blame When A Robotic Car Crashes?: PopSci
Tumblr is even more popular with 13- to-25-year-olds than Facebook: Post

Cornucopia

Guns for Me Butt Not for Thee: MOTUS
Gandalf Problem Solving Flowchart: Ritholtz
New Corvette: The Stingray Returns: Jalopnik

Image: Class Act
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: January 19th is Gun Appreciation Day

QOTD: “The inverse relationship between quantity demanded and price is the core proposition in economic science, which embodies the presupposition that human choice behavior is sufficiently rational to allow predictions to be made. Just as no physicist would claim that “water runs uphill,” no self-respecting economist would claim that increases in the minimum wage increase employment. Such a claim, if seriously advanced, becomes equivalent to a denial that there is even minimal scientific content in economics, and that, in consequence, economists can do nothing but write as advocates for ideological interests. Fortunately, only a handful of economists are willing to throw over the teaching of two centuries; we have not yet become a bevy of camp-following whores.” --James M. Buchanan, 1986 Nobel laureate in economics, writing in the Wall Street Journal on April 25, 1996 (via Carpe Diem)

Sunday, January 13, 2013

BRILLIANT: Journal News Gun Map Leads Criminals to a House Where Break-In, Attempted Theft of Firearms Reported

Let the lawsuits begin!

BREAKING NEWS: ATTEMPTED GUN BURGLARY TIED TO JOURNAL NEWS GUN MAPS


...a burglary has been reported on Davis Ave. in White Plains, New York that evidently ties into The Journal News gun maps. It is reported that the burglar used The Journal News’ interactive gun map to target a home included on the map. Luckily the gun was locked up and no one was hurt.

“The Journal News has placed the lives of these folks at risk by creating a virtual shopping list for criminals and nut jobs. If the connection is proven, this is further proof that these maps are not only an invasion of privacy but that they present a clear and present danger to law-abiding, private citizens. Former convicts have already testified to the usefulness of the asinine Journal News ‘gun maps’ yet the reckless editors are evidently willing to roll the dice, gambling with the lives of innocent local homeowners,” said Senator Greg Ball.

...Ball will be publicly unveiling Senate bill (S2132) [that] would protect lawful gun owners, including thousands of retired and active law enforcement and victim of domestic violence survivors, from having their information publicly disclosed.

“The same elitist eggheads who use their editorial page to coddle terrorists and criminals are now treating law abiding citizens like level three sexual predators... Publishing this information on a website, as we have evidently just witnessed in the recent attempted gun burglary, provides criminals with a map of where they can steal firearms from lawful owners for later use in the commission of crimes. This legislation is critical,” said... Ball.

...the Vice President of the Affiliated Police Association of Westchester County, Robert Buckley, said in a letter, publishing these maps online is jeopardizing the safety of residents and is irresponsible.

The Affiliated Police Association of Westchester County Inc. is putting The Journal News on notice that we will hold [them] accountable for any incident where any of our over 25,000 members are involved with an incident where a criminal or ex-con presents themselves at the residence of one of our members as a result of their name being made public by [their] newspaper,” said Buckley.

The Affiliated Police Association of Westchester will be holding a press conference on January 15, 2013 at the Westchester County Courthouse located at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, White Plains, N.Y. at 1:00 p.m.

Oh, but Officer Buckley: the media are facilitating gun crimes for the children!


Hat tip: RF.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT: What can you do? This.

Easy steps to protect your Second Amendment rights:

1. Join the National Rifle Assocation - by no means perfect, the NRA is the most influential gun rights group in the world. The easiest step to help fund basic protections for the Second Amendment is to join the NRA.


2. Gun Owners of America - a no-nonsense gun rights organization with a strong lobbying presence in Washington.

3. Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership - welcomes all law-abiding citizens and offers some of the best educational material about the Constitution and the Second Amendment you'll find anywhere.

4. The Second Amendment Foundation - provides legal action, education, and an attorney referral service for law-abiding gun owners.

No organization is perfect and each group has its strengths and weaknesses. If you can afford to, join all of them. Each one of us, working with these groups, can make a difference.


THE OBAMA ECONOMIC RECOVERY: In One Chart

Did I say "recovery"? Because I meant to say "The Obama Depression".

Long Term Unemployment at Highest Level Since WWII

When America reelected Barack Obama they voted for higher unemployment, lower incomes, record government spending, and a stagnant under-performing economy. Barack Obama promises to bring even more pain his second term.

In the US today:

• 12 million Americans remain unemployed.
• In December 22.6 million Americans were unemployed or underemployed.
• The average unemployed American is out of work for nearly 40 weeks.

To understand just how bad things are, and just what a failure Obama’s first term has been, you have to see it graphically.

Americans voted to reelect Barack Obama because of the malfeasance of the progressive media machine. Had the media reported the truth, this failed president would have lost in a landslide.

Therefore, Americans would do well to anticipate more pain. Much more pain.


WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT TELL THOMAS FRIEDMAN: "Air Pollution From Cars Is Killing Everyone In Beijing"

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has, on numerous occasions, praised the governmental structure and leadership of the People's Republic of China. To do so, he studiously must ignore Red China's "re-education" camps, its slave laborers, its systematic persecution of religious practitioners, and its controlled economy. The latter requires government approval and intervention for virtually every business in the country and has spurred the growth of a corrupt and dangerous form of crony capitalism.

And then there's the PRC's destruction of the environment:

No one would ever go to Beijing for its crisp air and clear skies, but smog problem in China's capital has, evidently, gotten way out of control.

NPR reported Saturday that the smog in the second-most populous Chinese city was thick and causing people's eyes to burn, with residents being urged to stay indoors...


...It's so severe that the level of pollution was, according to NPR, "literally off the charts," because the U.S. Embassy's smog index stops at 500 and the projected index in Beijing was closer to 800. Things in the 300 or higher range are usually pretty bad to begin with.


The contributing factors to heavy smog? Cars, of course, which have exploded in popularity in the last decade in China, and in Beijing in particular. There have been measures to slow the car congestion, but things like limiting the amount of new vehicle registrations have just made people stand in long lines. And talk offering rebates on electric vehicles sounds like a great idea, until you remember that it's coal producing most of the city's electricity.

Perhaps we should require Thomas Friedman to run the Beijing Marathon before publishing future advertisements for Communism.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

MEMO TO HOUSE REPUBLICANS: Start drafting Articles of Impeachment in case of lawless debt ceiling hike

The primary tenet at the heart of the United States Constitution is a concept known as Separation of Powers. It allocates the various responsibilities of government between branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The Framers of the Constitution, James Madison primary among them, studied the writings of many great legal philosophers in dividing responsibilities such that each branch of government could check the corrupting ambitions of the others.

According to Madison, no philosopher was more critical to the design of Constitutional separations than the French nobleman and legal expert Charles-Louis de Secondat, the Baron de Montesquieu.

Montesquieu had studied the rise and fall of the Roman Republic. He believed that a properly designed government, in order to prevent tyranny, would require three branches of government. He wrote, "If it is to provide its citizens with the greatest possible liberty, a government must have certain features. First, since 'constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it … it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power' . This is achieved through the separation of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of government... [to prevent any one] from acting tyrannically."

THE POWER OF THE PURSE

The Constitution bestows upon Congress "the Power of the Purse". Indiana University's Center on Congress describes congressional power as:

...its ability to set the spending and taxing policies of the nation. Not one dime can be spent from the federal Treasury without the approval of Congress. The determination of the budget by Congress is usually the most important political process of any year, partly because of its size (approaching $2 trillion) and partly because it is the principal means by which government establishes its priorities.

No serious constitutional scholar would ever claim that Congress did not possess complete control over the country's taxing and spending policies.

Of course, this paragraph was written before the Harry Reid- and Nancy Pelosi-led Democrats took control of Congress and have steadfastly refused to pass budgets since the election of Barack Obama.

DEMOCRATS LOBBY FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

The unofficial public relations agency for the Democrat Party is a website called Politico. A few days ago, it printed a letter from Democrat Congressional leaders that called for the president to unilaterally and unlawfully raise the debt ceiling, thereby precipitating a full-blown constitutional crisis.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats are putting new pressure on the White House to circumvent Congress to boost the nation’s debt ceiling if no bipartisan agreement can be reached.

In a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama obtained by POLITICO, Reid and his leadership team argue that failing to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States. Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray asserted that Obama “must make clear that you will never allow our nation’s economy and reputation to be held hostage.”

Of course, as anyone with an iota of common sense knows, the full faith and credit of the United States is not at risk should the debt ceiling remain at its current level.

THE MYTH OF GOVERNMENT DEFAULT

Writing at Friday's Wall Street Journal, David B. Rivkin and Lee A. Casey explain "The Myth of Government Default".

Contrary to White House claims, Congress's refusal to permit new borrowing by raising the debt ceiling limit will not trigger a default on America's outstanding public debt, with calamitous consequences for our credit rating and the world's financial system...

[...Section 4 of the 14th Amendment] means that a failure to raise the debt ceiling—to prevent new borrowing—does not and cannot put America's current creditors at risk. So long as this government exists, and barring a further constitutional amendment, those creditors must be paid.

Nor are they at risk in practice, since the federal government's roughly $200 billion in tax revenue per month is more than sufficient to service existing debts. If the executive chose to act irresponsibly and unconstitutionally and failed to make any debt payments when they come due, debt-holders would be able to go to the Court of Federal Claims and promptly obtain a money judgment.

These basic facts should inform any credible decisions by credit-rating agencies in establishing the government's creditworthiness. Significantly, these agencies have traditionally acted favorably when heavily indebted countries have not defaulted on their debt but cut deeply their public spending.

In short, the Constitution does not authorize the president to borrow or spend a single dime without congressional approval and it requires the executive to service its debt first. And each month many times the amount needed for that purpose arrives in the federal government's coffers.

WHY PREPARE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT?

On many occasions over the past four years, the President Obama has demonstrated a callous disregard for the Constitution.

The publication of a Democrat press release by Politico indicates that a full court public relations campaign is underway to market the idea that the president's unilateral action to raise the debt ceiling would be lawful.

It is not.

In fact, such an act would -- in one instant -- strip Congress of its primary power while simultaneously gutting a huge swath of the Constitution. It would eradicate the separation of powers and precipitate the most significant constitutional crisis in American history.

In 2006, the very same Democrat leaders who now advocate unlawful borrowing and spending by the President all voted against raising the debt ceiling just seven years ago.

On March 16, 2006, the Senate held a vote on a measure to raise the debt ceiling by $781 billion — the fourth such vote of George W. Bush’s presidency. Republicans controlled the Senate, and Democrats spent much of the debate railing against Bush’s spending. “When it comes to deficits, this president owns all the records,” said Reid. “The three largest deficits in our nation’s history have all occurred under this administration’s watch.”

Declaring themselves outraged by such spending, Reid, Durbin, Schumer, and Murray all voted against raising the debt limit. So did every other Democrat — including Sen. Barack Obama.

One can only imagine what would have happened had George W. Bush attempted to raise the debt ceiling without Congressional approval.

Should Barack Obama attempt such an unlawful act, the House of Representatives must act. It must protect its power of the purse, it must protect the Constitution, and it must put an end to this president's long train of abuses and usurpations.


Larwyn's Linx: Note to progressive lawbreakers: 14th Amendment confers no power to borrow

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

Nation

14th Amendment confers no power to borrow: RWN
A “social media militia” can preserve our liberties today: LI
Rubio’s Immigration Plan is Bold, Pragmatic, and Comprehensive: Sooper

More Murders in Chicago in 2012 Than Allied Losses in Afghanistan: GWP
Chicago Police Chief: We’ll Shoot Licensed Civilians With Guns: GWP
Like President Obama, Rahm Emanuel pivots on gun control: Hill

Economy

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Deception Deepens: RWN
#WhyIsMyPaycheckLessThisWeek makes lead Drudge story: Twitchy
Taxpayers Unwittingly Hand Over $137 Million to Unions: FreeEnt

Future FHA buyers to subsidize yesterday's poor choices: DHB
Dems urging Obama to raise debt ceiling voted against hike in ’06: Exam
France, the hidden zombie in Europe: Mish

Study: Dodd-Frank could cause financial crisis: Watchdog
Biden's faulty lifeguard logic: AEI
The Social Security System is Already Broke: ZH

Scandal Central

Senate Democrats Encourage Obama to Violate the Constitution: Sentinel
Benghazi Suspect Released; 4 Americans Still Dead: IBD
Bungled October Surprise: Benghazi Ambassador Kidnapping Planned to Exchange for Blind Sheik?: MagNote

Climate & Energy

Oh How I Wish This Were Satire: IMAO
Air pollution in Beijing goes off the index: Exam
Oh Noes: Hotcoldwetdry Changing US Daily Life: STACLU

Media

Not News in U.S.: 60,000 on NHS’s ‘Liverpool Care Pathway’ (to Death) in UK Never Told: BizzyBlog
NBC Sports Network to sponsor nation’s largest gun show: Beacon
Nobody Really Likes @LenaDunham, and Deep Down Inside She Knows It, Too: RSM

Love It: Jeanine Pirro Sends Producer to Journal News Publisher and Editor’s Homes: Nice Deb
Michael Moore’s Politics of Prejudice: RSM
Commemorating the Platinum Idea: Keiser

White House Does Damage Control on NYT Gun-Control Report: Corner
Precedent Teaches Us The Left Really Wants ALL Our Guns: Daniels
What Depression Is, and Isn't: RSM

World

The State of the Jewish Brotherhood: Kedar
War Preparation Indicator: Beijing hardens subways for nuclear, gas attacks: Beacon
Rand Paul: Building in J'lem none of US's business: JPost

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Aaron Swartz commits suicide: MIT
Lucra LC470 is the wildest car you've never heard of: AutoBlog
The 7 Most Amazing Robots Of 2012: PopSci

Cornucopia

Countering the White House Arguments Against Building a Death Star: ConTeach
Crank: iOTW
Groundhog Day and the State of the Union: Kuznicki

Image: Welcome to Israel
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: ‘Gun Appreciation Day’ to be held 48 hours before inauguration

QOTD: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." --Article IV of the 14th Amendment

FRIGHTENINGLY UP-TO-DATE NEWS: For Regular Americans Only

Washington, DC - Citing a growing need for accurate news sources, spokesman Biff Spackle announced the addition of several channels to the BadBlue family of news sites.

"Regular Americans deserve better sources for timely and accurate news," Spackle said in a prepared statement, "And BadBlue's unique technology monitors social networks 24 hours a day, every day, to find out what's really happening, without the spin and bias that the alphabet channels promote."

In that vein, Spackle and a scantily clad spokes-model unveiled a new automotive channel (BadBlue.com/cars) as well as an entertainment channel (BadBlue.com/cars). The complete BadBlue lineup includes:






Check 'em out. If you have any complaints, feel free to call Spackle on his direct line: 1-800-555-1212.


Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Brewing Storm [Lee Cary]

Guest post by Lee Cary

Section 8 housing voucher distribution canceled after thousands waiting in line get out of control


WXYZ - A chaotic scene erupted at the Taylor Human Services Center when the crowd waiting for a Section 8 housing voucher distribution got out of control... Police say thousands of people from all over the area were at the center. Many were homeless, single moms, or disabled. They were hoping to get help paying for their housing from the government.

7 Action News is being told there were 1,000 vouchers available and 5,000 people showed up trying to get one. The crowd had grown overnight as more and more people arrived. Witnesses say the line stretched for a mile down Lange Road.

Police say, when the time came for the vouchers to be distributed, there was a mad rush for the door. Officers tried to control the crowd, but couldn't. Officers had to shut down several lanes of Eureka Road until the situation could be brought under control...

America's urban centers are powder kegs waiting to explode during some especially hot summer during the next few years.

Ironically, most of the people there, who wholeheartedly embraced the promises of both the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns, are the very ones most negatively impacted by economic policies that are moving the nation closer, daily, toward defaulting on the government’s ability to just service the mounting debt (pay the interest on the principal) - paying it off is virtually impossible. Their expectations were manipulated to an unrealistic level and cannot, and will not, be met. In short, their ignorance was used and abused to advance the progressive agenda.

Inflation (currency devaluation) is the only option in the short run to enable government spending to continue at its insane pace. It’s a trend that cannot continue indefinitely, and is only making the inevitable reckoning worse.

Meanwhile, as the old media pushes the myth that an economic recovery is underway, the plight of those in America’s inner cities worsens. Once the entitlement monies begin to taper off (just as Social Security checks are gradually shrinking as many of you know), there will be reactions more violent than just angry crowds. It will, sooner or later, spill over into more affluent, adjoining neighborhoods and communities when the true-believers in Obamanomics realize they've bought a lie. Sadly, people on all sides will suffer.

And the ruling elite in D.C. see this coming.


HOLY CRAP: Inventor builds tiny, super-accurate mechanical crossbow you can wear on your... wrist

A mechanical crossbow with the "accuracy of a laser"? Daddy like.

Last October, after hurting his knee playing hockey, Patrick Priebe was holed up in his apartment near Cologne, Germany, with nothing to do. He was sitting at his computer, staring at his keyboard, when the “Y” key caught his eye. Priebe didn’t see a letter. To him, it looked like a crossbow. Immediately he knew what his next project would be.

For years, the German lab technician had built laser weapons, including a working Iron Man–style palm-fired blue-diode laser. After all those futuristic gadgets, he wanted to make a completely mechanical contraption. Priebe doesn’t draw up designs for his projects; he just starts tinkering. In his home shop, he cut some bars from an aluminum sheet and fastened together a Y-shaped frame that fit perfectly over the back of his hand.


Next he gathered more aluminum, copper, and brass sheeting. He ordered steel wire usually used in model planes, carbon-fiber tubing for the arrow shafts, and a few cylinders of low-friction Teflon plastic. He cut out two pieces of flexible spring-steel to act as the bow and stretched the steel wire between them for the string. Using a lathe, he shaped pieces of brass for the arrowheads, glued them to the carbon-fiber tubes, cut a groove down the center of one of the Teflon bars, and placed it in the center of the crossbow.

...To fire, he pulls back the wire, hooks it around a brass block, and places an arrow in the groove. When he flicks the thumb trigger, the brass block drops, the wire pops forward, and the arrow flies.

Priebe can use the crossbow to pierce soda cans, smash lightbulbs, and tag apples. And although his creation isn’t the smallest crossbow in the DIY world, none match its mix of power and accuracy, quick reload and ability to fire one-handed. Still, he has no plans to use it, not even for home security...

The video demonstrates that the bow is not, at present, a high-powered weapon, but you can see the possibilities.

Countdown to Democrats trying to outlaw such devices in 3... 2...


PROJECT WAYBACK: Democrats Unveil Master Plan for Gun Control

Foolproof.


Step 1: Construct time machine.


Note: Constructing such a time machine will only add $10 to $12 trillion to the national deficit.


Step 2: Hire deadly assassin who can blend in perfectly in the 19th century.


Step 3: Using the time machine, send deadly assassin back to 1880.


Step 4: Have deadly assassin kill Richard Gatling and Hiram Maxim, thereby "un-inventing" automatic and semi-automatic firearms


*Voila!* Gun problem solved!

Don't laugh. Knowing Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the brain trust of the Democrat Party, this plan is bound to get wide support from the Left.


I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH JOE BIDEN: We really do need a national gun violence database

Joe Biden -- once the dumbest Senator in American history and now the dumbest Vice President in American history -- has been given the task of offering gun control recommendations to the President. Reports indicate that Biden will:

...likely include universal background checks, new regulations on high-capacity magazines, and using a federal agency to compile data about gun-related deaths, he said Thursday.

I actually agree with the last recommendation. If the Left possessed even a single neuron's worth of intellectual integrity, it would demand that the government track:

• The number of lives saved by defensive gun usage, including each situation in which violence was avoided by simply brandishing a defensive weapon;

• The types of pharmaceutical or illegal drugs used by each criminal involved in a violent crime;

• The criminal's family background (i.e., was the criminal raised in a single-parent family or a two-parent family?);

• The number of violent crimes perpetrated by illegal aliens;

• The number of violent crimes occurring in "gun-free zones", including "gun-free cities" like Chicago and Washington, D.C.;

Of course, these numbers would lead to some obvious conclusions, namely that every one of the Democrat Party's policy positions is an utter, violent, bankrupt, stuttering clustersuck of a miserable failure.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: Pravda, Guns, Red Terror & America

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

Nation

Pravda, Guns, Red Terror & America: Cube
Annie, get your gun... permit: Zilla
Allen West: The only gun control is your index finger: Scoop

Obama Opposed Gun Ban Exception to Defend One’s Home: Dossier
Sheriffs CAN Block Federal Gun Control: CFP
Wyoming Lawmakers: Take Your Gun-Control Law and Shove It: Marfdrat

Biden Unleashed: “No Silver Bullet To Stop Gun Violence”: RWN
Ending Birth Right Citizenship Should be a Top Priority for Congress: RWN
Democrats are at least noticing the Constitution now...: Troglo

We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here: Sultan Knish
Over 1,000 Educators Apply for Armed Teacher Training: RS
Hannity foresees states leaving union after radical abuses: DC

Economy

A Particularly Weird Week: Motley
Reynolds: Home Schooling to Increasingly Threaten Public Education: ObjStd
Enron McKrugputz Poops In His Depends... Again: Patterico

AR-15 Saleswoman of the Year?: RSM
Bloomberg: Restrict Painkillers In... Hospitals: RedAlert
NYT Has Bum Strapped To Column, Plus, Introducing: ‘The Krugmanerrand’: RSM

Scandal Central

David Gregory and wife knew D.C. Attorney General: LI
The Scandal That Will Bring Obama Down: Western
Kentucky Sheriff Vows to Uphold Constitution, Not New Gun Control Laws: LibertyNews

Climate & Energy

Obama EPA Forces Company to Cut Jobs, Spend $6 million on Green Agenda: RS
Global Warming Alarmists Pick and Choose Data to Support Theory: Foundry
GE Ditches Plans For 25,000 EVS And Hybrids By 2015: Gas2

Media

Tabloid Carnival Barker Piers Morgan Slapped Down By Ben Shapiro on Gun Rights: Ace
An End to Twitter's Gulag?: RS
MSNBC: The Racist Network: Glob

The Gun Fight continues…What Would Breitbart Do?: MOTUS
My Conversation With a Douchenozzle: iOTW
Cincy TV News Destroys Piers Morgan’s Anti-Gun Lies: Wizbang

Happy Friday! Media Rattled By Coming Layoffs at the NYT: Ace
Shall Not Be Infringed. What Does It Really Mean?: BlurBrain
Bill O’Reilly Gets Lib Rep to Admit She Got Her Crappy Talking Points From Media Matters: GWP

World

Depardieu is Right: Social Democrats Spit on Success: Capitalism
France launches air strike on al-Qaeda in Mali: Telegraph
Chinese complex raises eyebrows in Mexico: BusinessReport South Africa

$6 Billion a Year for Mexican “Anchor Babies?”: AIM
Gun Confiscation After Katrina: Military
Fuzzy little Norweigian politiican wants you to pee in the shower for the environment: AWD

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Electrowetting displays: Brighter than LCD, lower-power, and daylight readable: ExtremeTech
Alleged ZeuS Botmaster Arrested for Stealing $100 Million from U.S. Banks: ThreatPost
Does Google Play Fair?: The Week

Cornucopia

10 Awesome Pro-Gun Graphics: RWN
In Praise of Big Bang Theory: Ace
Father of the Year: Cube

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: January 19th is Gun Appreciation Day

QOTD: "If we need fear anything gun-related in this country, leaving aside those wicked people who would presume to do us or our family and friends harm, it is the vocal, entitled, and demonstratively ignorant anti-gun zealot who seeks to substitute ostentatious indignation for knowledge and cartoonish scapegoating for reasoned discourse. They are experts at rousing emotions and fear mongering, but that tends to be where the “expertise” on gun issues ends.

And we should fear them because they aren’t just after our guns. They are after our liberties." --Jeff Goldstein

Friday, January 11, 2013

DUDE.

I wonder what the EPA thinks of these particular vehicles?

Yes, they're fitted with Mercedes' now well-proven 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 sending power to the rear wheels - we won't get the four-wheel-drive versions in the UK - producing 557bhp in the ‘standard' E63 AMG (interestingly, 5bhp more than an M5).


But in the E63 AMG ‘S' version, that power rises to a whopping 585bhp - that's 28bhp more than the standard car and also 28bhp more than the old ‘Performance pack' previously optionable. Not only that, the ‘S' gets a differential lock on the rear axle that Mercedes claims helps increase traction, "especially on the race track". There's a gauntlet if Top Gear ever heard one...


The difference it makes is actually quite astonishing. 0-62mph in the standard E63 takes 4.2s (0.1s quicker than before). In the E63 AMG ‘S', 0-62mph takes 3.6s, which is 0.1s faster than a Ferrari FF. Faster than a four-wheel-drive Ferrari!

You'll find the AMG seven speed ‘Speedshift' sports auto ‘box as standard, complete with four modes (manual, sport, sport + and controlled efficiency). Both E63 versions get steel springs up front, and three-way adjustable air suspension at the back, with components built from aluminium. As expected, cycle through the ‘Comfort', ‘Sport', and ‘Sport+' modes, and you increase the likelihood of spontaneously combusting your passenger's mid-afternoon snack.


Merc has fitted ventilated and perforated 360mm discs all round (six pistons up front, four pistons on the rear) for the standard E63 AMG, finished in silver with white AMG lettering. The ‘S' gets the same, only with red calipers.


But, if you buy the E63 AMG ‘S', you can option ceramic high-performance composite brakes. They're 402mm in diameter, 40 per cent lighter than the standard ones and get a special paint finish. Press down too hard on these and you'll create a black hole in the Milky Way. 402mm. Sheesh.

Three letters: A. M. G.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

GEE, YOU MEAN IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY FINANCIAL SENSE? GE Abandons Plans to Buy 25,000 Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Forrest Gump could have predicted this frickin' mess.

While General Electric has a vested interest in see electric and plug-in hybrid cars storm the car market, GE has apparently had a change of heart. The electronics and aviation giant announced that it was no longer seeking to replace much of its fleet with 25,000 hybrid and electric vehicles. Instead, GE will pursue other alt-fuel options, including CNG and propane.

That isn’t to say GE is completely abandoning its plans to buy electrified vehicles; just a few months ago GE announced that it would be buying 2,000 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids to bolster its fleet. Add to that the thousands of Chevy Volts GE has already purchased, and it is fair to say that GE put its money where its mouth is.

Unfortunately, as GE soon found out, hybrids and electric vehicles don’t make financial sense for every job or situation. With many GE employees logging an average of 100 miles or more a day, the hybrids face diminishing returns when it comes to fuel savings, and a Chevy Volt is a poor replacement for a work truck or van.

Electric and hybrid vehicles don't make any financial sense? I'll alert the media.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

Jon Stewart Leibowitz and a Million Sandy Hooks

Is it a job requirement for hosting a television show that you have to be a complete nebbish? It would seem so, based upon Jon Leibowitz's intellectually stunted attacks on the Second Amendment earlier this week:

When that Constitution was written, people had muskets... So okay, you can have all the muskets you want.

Hey, dips***: when the Constitution was written, the musket was a state-of-the-art "assault weapon". Using your logic, Americans should be able to purchase select-fire/fully automatic M-16s and Heckler & Koch MP-5s.

Oh, and then there's Leibowitz's utterly bizarre assertion that the entire 20th century never happened.

Their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present. We can’t even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually in reality happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of imaginary Hitler.
Within the last seven decades alone, Leftist governments -- National Socialists (Nazis), Communists, Maoists, and other Leftists -- slaughtered more than 250 million of their citizens.

Two hundred and fifty million. Two hundred and fifty million men, women and children. Rounded up by their own governments and shot, stabbed, gassed, starved and otherwise slaughtered.

250 million dead in the last century alone.

These mass-murders were carried out -- in every case -- by the ideological ancestors of the Left.

Not Tea Partiers. Not Constitutional Conservatives. But by the ideological ancestors of the Left.

Couldn't happen here, you say? Barack Obama's political mentor begs to differ.

I [an FBI informant who had infiltrated Bill Ayers' Weather Underground] asked, “Well what is going to happen to those people we can’t reeducate, that are diehard capitalists?” And the reply was that they’d have to be eliminated.

And when I pursued this further, they estimated they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers.

And when I say “eliminate,” I mean “kill.”

Twenty-five million people.

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees, from Columbia and other well-known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people.

And they were dead serious.

Jon Leibowitz wants to talk about an "imaginary Hitler"?

Is Bill Ayers imaginary? You know, the man who launched Barack Obama's political career and wanted to kill 25 million Americans?

25 million Americans represents roughly a million Sandy Hooks.

Their paranoid fear of a possible dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present. We can’t even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually in reality happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of imaginary Hitler.

I wonder what Germany's Jews or Mao's victims would tell us about disarmament, if they could offer us counsel from the afterlife?


WYOMING TO DEMOCRATS: Take your unconstitutional gun ban and stick it where the sun don't shine

In so many words:

Wyoming lawmakers have proposed a new bill that, if passed, would nullify any federal restrictions on guns, threatening to jail federal agents attempting to confiscate guns, ammunition magazines or ammunition.

The bill – HB0104 – states that “any federal law which attempts to ban a semi-automatic firearm or to limit the size of a magazine of a firearm or other limitation on firearms in this state shall be unenforceable in Wyoming.”

The bill is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives ad two state senators. If passed, the bill would declare any federal gun regulation created on or after January 1, 2013 to be unenforceable within the state.

In addition, the bill states would charge federal officials attempting to enforce a federal gun law within the state with a felony – “subject to imprisonment for not more less than one (1) year and one (1) day or more than five (5) years, a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or both.”

The bill also allows the Attorney General of Wyoming to defend a state citizen from any prosecution by the United States Government...

Remember when then-candidate Barack Obama said, "There's not a blue America or a Red America, there is the United States of America"?

Yeah.

That was funny.


Hat tip: Mardrat.

A PUBLIC SERVICE ADVISORY MESSAGE: From Mayor Bloomberg

This:


And speaking of the pint-sized, would-be dictator with a Napoleonic Complex, please consider:

Bloomberg: Restrict Painkillers in Hospitals


Some of the most common and most powerful prescription painkillers on the market will be restricted sharply in the emergency rooms at New York City’s 11 public hospitals, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday in an effort to crack down on what he called a citywide and national epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

Under the new city policy, most public hospital patients will no longer be able to get more than three days’ worth of narcotic painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet. Long-acting painkillers, including OxyContin, a familiar remedy for chronic backache and arthritis, as well as Fentanyl patches and methadone, will not be dispensed at all. And lost, stolen or destroyed prescriptions will not be refilled.

Yes, Mayor Bloomberg is one of the smartest men on the planet: he knows better than medical professionals how painkillers should be dispensed. He knows better than you how much salt you should consume. He even knows how large a soda you should drink

And, it goes without saying that he knows you should not be permitted to defend your family or yourself with a firearm.

Bloomberg is precisely the type of power-mad authoritarian that our Founders despised.


Hat tip: RF.