Friday, January 18, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: Dictatorship by Executive Order

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Nation

Dictatorship by Executive Order: Capitalism
Gun Control and the Paradox of Liberty: Brownell
Push Back: TL in Exile

Where Hope Lies: the Several States: Camp o' the Saints
Gun sales: Obama's bogus 40% background check stat: NRO
Nothing to see here: Molotov Cocktail Edition: DTG

Keep your guns, move to Texas: Ricochet
Obama Ignores Dangers Of Father-Free Zones: IBD
Loathsome nanny-state mayor: I don’t ‘force anybody to do anything’: Hot Air

Economy

How about we ditch food stamps and bring back soup kitchens?: LoneCon
Social Security Cliff in Sight; Retirees Will Outlive Trust Fund: Mish
How Many Central Banks Does It Take To Generate 1% GDP Growth In 5 Years?: ZH

The Best Teacher Evaluation “Plan” is a Free Market in Education: ObjStd
Quaint: domestic terrorist a keynote speaker at education conference: Nice Deb
Stupid California Cost Itself $600 Million Over Facebook IPO: Gizmodo

Scandal Central

Holder Begs Court to Stop Document Release on Fast and Furious: Breitbart
DOJ Seeks to Stall JW Lawsuit Seeking Access to Fast and Furious Records: JW
White House: We don’t know if American hostages in Algeria are alive or dead: ForPol

Climate & Energy

Chinese Air Pollution Pegs-the-Needle as Suffocating Citizens Left Gasping for Air: Reaganite

Media

Surrounded by Children: Hawkins
Obama Picks a Target and Freezes it: Permanent Campaign Re-Election Machine to Target NRA: Nice Deb
Multiple Twitter accounts exposed Manti Te’o fake girlfriend hoax in early December: Twitchy

“Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual”: LI
Andrea Mitchell Depressed – Eric Pratt Explains 1st and 2nd Amendments: It’s Delicious!: MagNote
Judge: News Organizations Improperly Pulled Images From Twitter & Used Commercially: MarketingLand

Second Home Listed On NY Newspaper’s Map Of Gun Owners Broken Into, Two Guns Taken: WZ
Levin to Cavuto: Obama Un-American, Fascistic: Lord
Obama’s Inauguration To Be All About Him: LoneCon

Chris Christie Slams ‘Reprehensible’ NRA For ‘Dragging People’s Children’ Into Gun Control Debate: Mediaite
Levin: Anybody who is sick and tired of Chris Christie's Big Mouth, Raise Your Hand: Scoop
Cruz: Gun Control Fight Will Hand GOP the Senate in 2014: Blaze

World

Obama, Clinton Silent on Hostage Crisis: WS
Al-Qaida Resurgent As Terror Spreads Across N. Africa: IBD
US ex-commander: We can't stop Iran's nuclear program: Hayom

DISH Network & Turkish Airlines Sponsor Islamist Conference in U.S.: WorldThreats
Al Gorezeera Still Promoting “Gun Violence” and Terrorism: AIM
Troops ask SecDef about defense, job cuts: ArmyTimes

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Watch Liquid Bounce Off Amazing New Superomniphobic Material: PopSci
Man-in-the-Middle Attacks Against Browser Encryption: Schneier
TSA to Remove Naked-Image Scanners From US Airports: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

Bob Schieffer compares Obama to Stalin!: Cube
Somebody Picked the Wrong Girl: GLOCK
The Filthy Rotten Party of Corruption, Treason, Fraud, Sodomy and Abortion: RSM

Image: Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT (via Parkway Rest Stop)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Petition for Repeal of NY Gun Ban Gets 40,000 Signatures In One Day

QOTD: "All officials who take an oath to The Constitution are individually responsible for assuring that it not be violated. Further, by said oath they are obligated not to enforce any law or regulation that they believe would cause them to violate their oaths. If someone disagrees, the matter may be settled in a court of law, but oath-taking officials do have this power/responsibility. And they should not fear exercising it. It’s their duty...

...Whatever hope we have of restoring our freedoms and liberties lies in the Several States, much as in the 18th Century it lay in the colonies — this is where the stand against Tyranny must be made." --Bob Belvedere

Thursday, January 17, 2013

BEHOLD THE WISDOM OF DEMOCRATS: Gun Control Explained!

Sooper Mexican reveals all.


Don't know about you, but I feel much safer now.


Counsel for the Surrender Monkeys in the GOP

As Erick Erickson wrote earlier today, the feckless RINO leadership appears prepared to throw in the towel before the debt ceiling fight has even begun.

...I can only assume that because House Republican leaders and those close to them have been whispering about [wanting] to move on.

They want the next fight. So desperate are they to move on, in January of 2013, House Republicans want their base to know they think they’ll lose the House in November of 2014 unless they cave now so please let them cave.

Idiocy. Sheer, unvarnished idiocy. Speaker Boehner and Skippy Cantor, here are the facts:

a) You'll get blamed by the media no matter what

b) Your last series of surrenders, in the kindest words possible, eh... failed to inspire the electorate

c) The country faces an existential finacial crisis

d) There are great ideas for dealing with Obama (see below)

e) So how about doing what's right, for a change?

Stanford's Keith Hennessey offers the weak-willed RINO leadership a simple strategy for dealing with Barack Obama on the debt ceiling. President Subprime McDowngrade wants a five-year increase on the debt ceiling or, by my calculations, enough to get us to a Grecian-style financial implosion.

To neatly handle the problem, offer the Foodstamp President two choices:

Choice 1: A long-term debt-limit increase along with significant present and future spending cuts

Choice 2: A short-term debt-limit increase if he refuses to cut spending, continued ad infinitum to highlight his fiscal irresponsibility

In other words, act as a responsible creditor. Act in the country's best interest, for a change.

Or should I send this via fax to John Boehner's favorite lobbyist, so I can be sure he gets the message?


Postcards from the Obamaconomy



Hat tip: @Ken24xavier.

LEVIN ABSOLUTELY TORCHES BOB SCHIEFFER: A Very Sick Old Man

Doesn't CBS require employees to retire by age 115?

After CBS reporter Bob Schieffer compared taking on the gun lobby to ending segregation or America defeating the Nazis in World War II and passing civil rights legislation despite a segregationist South, conservative radio host Mark Levin bashed the journalist as a “phony” who is a “propagandist” acting as a “cheerleader” for the Obama administration...

"You should hear the media today. It’s pathetic. If we were talking about the First Amendment as I’ve said repeatedly, they’d be going nuts about a dictator. But because we’re talking about the Second Amendment, they cheer him on. Where’s this jerk from CBS, this Bob Schieffer, this dinosaur?

...This is one of these pretend journalists I talk about, a Potemkin journalist, a phony.

This guy needs to see a doctor in my humble opinion, Mr. Producer. This guy needs to be checked.

...Defeating the Nazis a more formidable task than taking on the gun lobby? You know what, Bob Schieffer, you’re a very sick old man. You really are. Your liberalism often now spews out, spews forth like somebody who’s heaving. You pretend you’re a newsman. You’ve been around for at least a century. How pathetic you are.

...I want to explain something to this phony journalist, to this pretend dinosaur here. We can’t stop murder in federal prisons you idiot. We can’t in state prisons, in county jails, in city jails where people are behind bars, where the government controls their every movement, when they take a crap, when they take a shower, when they eat their meals, when they exercise. Everything is controlled, and we can’t control murder and rape and assaults in our prison system. And suddenly, it’s not the country he remembers if we can’t prevent these things in the future.

The facts don’t matter to Bob Schieffer. Bob Schieffer’s a cheerleader. He’s a clapping seal. Somebody give him a ball so he can balance it on his nose."

Yes, setting the Constitution afire is just like combating the Nazis. That is, if you're a liberal kook disguised as a "journalist".


Larwyn's Linx: Sheriff Won’t Enforce Un-Constitutional Gun Laws

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

Nation

Sheriff Won’t Enforce Un-Constitutional Gun Laws: Cove
Feehery: Achtung! Vernichtung der Patrioten: Kuznicki
Shock the System: Owens

How to crush the Democrats' dumbest gun control arguments: WolfFiles
A Time to Kill: NC Renegade
OR sheriff to Biden: we won’t enforce unconstitutional gun laws: WaPo

The War Between the Amendments: Hanson
Guns Don’t Kill People, The Mentally Ill Do: Coulter
Okay, Now It's Fascism: WyBlog

Economy

California: ‘This is What a Blue Death Spiral Looks Like’: Driscoll
It’s Not The GOP’s Fault It Is Useless But It Is Useless: Ace
The Trillion Dollar Trick: Schiff

Scandal Central

ATTN Gun Owners: McConnell, Reid Cutting Deal on the Filibuster: RS
WH Ordered ICE to Ignore Sen. Menendez' Sex-Criminal Intern: Ace
Gohmert: F&F shows gun control should start with administration: Hill

Climate & Energy

China's record-level air pollution, as seen from space: Verge

Media

Petition for Repeal of NY Gun Ban Gets 40,000 Signatures In One Day: MenRec
‘Used Up, Thrown Away’: Obama Campaign Staffers Receiving Shabby Post-Election Treatment: BizzyBlog
Schiff: Congress Can't Fix The Post Office, How Will They The Fix Deficit?: CNBC

Bob Schieffer Goes on Schorr Patrol for CBS: Driscoll
Mark Levin blasts Bob Schieffer as a ‘Potemkin journalist’: Scoop
Mark Levin to Cavuto: There’s no connection between reality and what Obama is proposing: Scoop

60% of Young Americans Plan to Own Firearms: Nice Deb
Map of 10 Vulnerable Democrat Seats for 2014: Sooper
How President Obama’s executive orders on guns might doom a big bill: WaPo

World

Cables Show State Department Disregarded Muslim Brotherhood Threat: IPT
500 Muslim Youth Attack And Destroy Christian Center in Egypt: Sooper
Report: Chemical Weapons Used in Syria: Driscoll

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

New Java exploit sells for $5000 on black web; possible threat to millions of PCs: PC World
Cisco investigates claim of Linksys router remote root vulnerability giving attackers full access: NextWeb
Google's Nexus 7 outsells Apple's iPad in Japan over holidays: Insider

Cornucopia

Balloon Boy’s Dad, “I Fully Support Obama Exploiting Children To Further His Agenda”: SHN
Oh, yeah - we're packin': MOTUS
13-year-old boy swipes dad's Mercedes, drives across Europe: AutoBlog

Image: Conservatoons
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Petition for Repeal of NY Gun Ban Gets 40,000 Signatures In One Day

QOTD: "Of course prosecuting Mr. Gregory would have been sad and — on many levels — absurd, but so is the law under which he would have been prosecuted. In fact, if absurdity were a defense to prosecutions or other adverse legal actions, an enormous swathe of our regulatory state would be swept away. Can we even speak of the rule of law as a meaningful concept when we combine an explosive regulatory state with near-absolute prosecutorial discretion?" --David French

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

YEA, GOVERNOR CUOMO! GUN CONTROL IS WORKING! Tourist, 24, brutally beaten with tire irons, bats in NYC

Thank goodness concealed carry is forbidden in New York City! Otherwise, law-abiding citizens could have come to the aid of a tourist who was being beaten within an inch of his life. And golly gee, isn't it great that a tourist licensed in another state can't be trusted to safely carry in New York?

And thank heavens for the governor's creation of a human hunting preserve in New York, where innocents are easy prey for criminals.

A tourist from Massachusetts was recovering at a New York City hospital after being brutally beaten by a gang of seven young men armed with a tire iron and a baseball bat, police today revealed.

Kevin McCarron, 24, from Andover, was battered and stomped unconscious by the men after an argument in the trendy Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan early Sunday... An onlooker captured horrific cell phone video of the attack, showing several young men kicking the victim on the ground.


...McCarron is seen struggling to stand as the group of thugs pummel hims with kicks and punches. At least one of the men is armed with an aluminum baseball bat, which he raises to batter the helpless victim.

Hatem Farsakh, 24, is charged with gang assault, assault and attempted murder.
Police also arrested Sherif Rizk, 22, also of Brooklyn, in connection with the case.

Militant Quakers are to blame, no doubt.

Yea, Governor Cuomo! I feel safer already!


Hat tip: I Hate the Media.

HOLY HEART ATTACK, BATMAN: Detroit Auto Show Reveals Acura NSX Getting Closer to Reality

Look up carlust in the dictionary and you may see this tight little number:

You could imagine it going on sale looking just like this, when it reaches showrooms in about two years from now. Honda’s people weren’t giving much else away, but we’ll eat our origami swans if it doesn’t have the petrol-electric powertrain and 4WD we speculated on last year. The petrol engine, mostly likely a 3.5-litre V6 with 400bhp, will be correctly placed in the middle of the car and power the rear wheels. Then there are two electric motors up front: one for each wheel, operating independently to sniff out grip and see-off understeer, plus another one in the transmission at the rear to boost engine power when asked. Together, the electric motors will most probably add about 100bhp to the powertrain, bringing the new NSX to 500bhp overall.


This version – probably one or two steps away from the final production model – is also slightly smaller than before, but we’re talking about a few millimeters trimmed here and there. Overall, the proportions are as low and taut as an Audi R8. In fact, standing beside it, with the roofline just above your waist, it’s hard to fathom how they’ve crammed all those motors inside. If it stays like this, you could be looking at one of the most exciting cars we’ll drive this decade.

Excuse me for a second. I think I may have soiled myself.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN NEW YORK LAW ENFORCEMENT: An Unconstitutional Law Ain't a Law

Norton v. Shelby County - 118 U.S. 425 (1886):

"An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as inoperative as though it had never been passed."

To my brothers and sisters serving in New York law enforcement:

Without public input from stakeholders, without any review from voters, and without discussion in a single public forum, the governor of New York and the state legislature slammed into place one of the nation's most restrictive gun laws yesterday.

The new laws classify more semiautomatic rifles as so-called assault weapons [thereby banning them], requires many gun owners to renew their licenses every five years, increases the regularity of background checks and makes it illegal to own ammunition magazines with more than seven rounds... Some gun-control advocates said the legislation gave New York the nation's most stringent firearms laws.

In fact, this law not only violates the Constitution's Second Amendment, the Supreme Court confirmed that fact just a handful of years ago when it ruled the District of Columbia's gun ban was unlawful.

In 2007, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the city's gun ban was unconstitutional. Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman wrote in the majority opinion that "the black market for handguns in the District is so strong that handguns are readily available (probably at little premium) to criminals. It is asserted, therefore that the D.C. gun control laws irrationally prevent only law abiding citizens from owning handguns."

The ruling was affirmed the following year by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller. Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion said that citizens were guaranteed a right to keep firearms that were in common use in their homes for self-defense, but that the government could pass reasonable regulations concerning firearms and ammunition.

...Since the gun ban was struck down, murders in the District have steadily gone down, from 186 in 2008 to 88 in 2012, the lowest number since the law was enacted in 1976. The decline resulted from a variety of factors, but losing the gun ban certainly did not produce the rise in murders that many might have expected.

New York's new law bans guns that are "in common use" and passes unreasonable restrictions on magazines (try to find a seven-round magazine just for grins).

The plain language of the Heller decision renders New York's restrictions unconstitutional.

In Oregon, for instance, multiple sheriffs have told the federal government that any unconstitutional restrictions on guns will not be enforced:

Another Oregon sheriff says he would refuse to enforce any new federal gun law he believes is unconstitutional... Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley said Tuesday he sent the same letter to Vice President Joe Biden that was sent Monday by Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller.

The letter says politicians are attempting to exploit the deaths of innocent victims in the Connecticut school shooting by supporting laws that would harm law-abiding Americans.

Hensley told KTVZ he believes in the Second Amendment, and he says officials should consider other factors that may have a role in mass shootings, such as violent video games.

Cuomo has violated his oath of office. He took an oath to uphold the Constitution and he lied. His flatly unconstitutional gun ban law is proof that he has violated his oath of office.

I encourage you to listen to Cuomo's "State of the State" speech, if only for a minute or two.

The speech was praised as groundbreaking and landmark by progressives who fretted for two years that they were fooled by the son of liberal icon Mario Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo, they thought, had fashioned himself a new kind of Democrat focused on holding the line on spending and taxes.

"We are a community based on progressive principles," Cuomo said in Wednesday's often fiery speech. "We must remain that progressive capital of the nation."

Go ahead and listen. Don't worry, I'll wait here.

At the risk of violating Godwin's law, I want you to close your eyes and transport yourself back to Germany in 1933 and imagine this same speech.

The hysterical rhetoric, the shrieking dialect, the fomenting of panic, the over-the-top lies, and the demonization of a large, law-abiding segment of the population.

The progressive movement is at war with the Constitution.

No self-described "progressive" can honestly take an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. The two philosophies are oil and water.

Cuomo's unconstitutional gun control laws hold no weight and should therefore be given all of the regard they deserve. Which is to say, none.


BUT YOU STILL NEED TO DRIVE A SMART CART, PEON: China's record-level air pollution, as seen from space

Perhaps someone could alert "Richard Windsor" to this breaking story:

NASA's Earth Observatory this week released startling before-and-after photos of northeastern China, where residents in Beijing and other cities have been suffering from suffocating levels of smog and air pollution. The satellite images, embedded below, were taken from the same position in space, 11 days apart; the top photo was captured on January 14th, the bottom on January 3rd.

As the images make clear, Beijing has seen increased haze, cloud, and fog coverage over this period, though these formations are far from typical...

...Perhaps most terrifying, though, is the fact that NASA's images weren't even taken at the height of China's smog crisis. When the January 14th photo was captured, Beijing's air quality index (AQI) stood at 341 — well above the 300 AQI threshold at which air is considered to be hazardous to all humans, but far below the city's high point. Conditions reached a nadir, in fact, on January 12th, when the AQI in Beijing reached a staggering 775. According to independent air quality monitors at the US Embassy, PM2.5 particle pollution readings in Beijing over the weekend were literally "beyond index."

Red China has yet to address its catastrophic environmental problems, which dwarf those of the U.S. in every way imaginable. Despite this, the Obama EPA is completely out of control, issuing regulations, shutting down businesses, and violating sunshine laws (as evidenced by the unlawful email scam that led to the resignation of EPA chief Lisa Jackson).


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

Larwyn's Linx: The Purpose of the Second Amendment

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

Nation

The Purpose of the Second Amendment: RS
Sandy Relief and the Destruction of the GOP: HayRide
Prop-a-palooza: The Use and Abuse of Kiddie Human Shields: Malkin

Cuomo signs flatly unconstitutional gun control law: Atlas
New York’s radical gun-control law: Times
State Senator Greg Ball Shreds Cuomo After Gun Control Law Passes: Bruce

White House Press Corps Going Through the Motions: RWN
Democrats Don’t Criticize Their Own, Republicans Can’t Stop! « : Elephant
Manchin on gun control: ‘Everything’s on the table.’: Hot Air

Economy

Obama's Debt Claims Debunked, Line by Line: FW
Call the President's Bluff: Breitbart
The Wolves Are at the Door: Kuznicki

Obamabot college kids shocked to learn about Obamacare premiums: WyBlog
Sticker shock: Obamacare to double some premiums: Mish
It Begins: Bundesbank To Commence Repatriating Gold From NY Fed: ZH

Obama Lies And Bullies Republicans On Debt Ceiling: IBD
Welfare Increases Poverty Instead Of Ending It: IBD
Long Term Unemployment at Highest Level Since WWII: Dossier

Scandal Central

Meese: Obama Risks Impeachment If He Uses Executive Order for Gun Control: NewsMax
Rand Paul: Obama acting ‘like a king’ on guns, vows to fight exec. orders: Hill
EPA's release of documents related to email aliases criticized as 'deeply troubling': Fox

Media

Pro Gun Control Media Asked to Put ‘This Home is Proudly Gun Free’ Signs in their Yards, Hilarity Ensues: Powers
The 50 Most Popular Conservatives According to Google (2013 Edition): RWN
Touré whines that O’Keefe disrespected him by including him in exposé of anti-gun hypocrites: Twitchy

Cohen Yearns for ‘Abolishing’ Right to Own Handguns: NRO
TV anchor who delivered blistering Piers Morgan gun control fact check tells TheBlaze why he did it: Blaze
Sorry, MSNBC, CNN, and CBS: Only 28% of Americans Consider Gun Control a Top Priority: NB

Lib Media Owes Romney an Apology – Chrysler Sends Jeep Jobs to China: GWP
Are The Editors Of The Atlantic Aware Of Scientology’s Position On Homosexuality?: Glob
Mayors against Illegal Guns swindle with latest [Infographic]: LI

Top 5 Movies: 65 Violent Scenes, 185 Victims: MRC
Hannity Recites Litany of Obama Power Grabs: Nice Deb
Martin Luther King: A Life in Pictures: ABC

World

Interview with Cliff Kincaid: Stopping Al-Jazeera America: AIM
Report: Obama says Israel doesn't know own best interests: JPost
Exclusive: Secret State Department cable: Chemical weapons used in Syria: ForPol

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Employee Outsourced Programming Job To China, Spent Days Websurfing: Slashdot
Malware infects US power facilities through USB drives: ComputerWorld

Cornucopia

The Historic First, Last Press Conference of the First Term: MOTUS
Mexclusive: Preview of Joe Biden’s Gun Law Report!! : Sooper
President Gathers Poet Laureates for 19 Executive Orders: Cube

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

QOTD: "The [Republican] party has always rebounded from situations like this. The one mistake they could make is if they tried to be ‘Democrats-lite’ and try to mimic the Democrats. I don’t think that’s either good government or good politics, because I don’t think that’s what the public wants." --Former Attorney General Edwin Meese

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

QOTD: Obama Declares Nothing Is Ever His Fault, Especially the Debt Since 2009

Jim Geraghty, writing at the peerless Morning Jolt:

Breaking: Obama Declares Nothing Is Ever His Fault, Especially the Debt Since 2009

Obama's press conferences, rare as they are, are going to be even more unbearable in the second term.

It's not like his rhetorical sleight-of-hand is all that complicated, and at this point, it feels like watching a magician perform very predictable and boring tricks. He insists that whatever he wants at that moment is "sensible" and insists that any cuts, of any program, be they discretionary spending or entitlement programs, fail to represent a "balanced approach" and "balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable." The spending he wants is always characterized as "investments we need to make."



He says he's open to "making modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to protect them for future generations" without going into much detail about what they are; usually they amount to declaring the federal government will pay doctors less and hoping those doctors don't stop seeing Medicare patients, the way the Mayo Clinic did. Less than a month after getting the income-tax increases he started demanding the moment the GOP took over the House of Representatives, he's at it again, declaring, "We need more revenue, through tax reform, by closing loopholes in our tax code for the wealthiest Americans." He still complains that "a multimillionaire investor can pay less in tax rates than a secretary" and "tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans" as if nothing had changed on January 1.

Four years into his presidency, the problem is not of his making; he spoke about "spending that Congress has already committed to" and "debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they've already racked up" as if he had nothing to do with the rate of federal spending since January 20, 2009.

Asking for statesmanship from a charismatic demagogue is somewhat akin to asking for diet tips from Rosie O'Donnell.


Image hat tip: Moonbattery.

ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF OWNING A SUPERCAR: Spit Flames Out of Your Exhaust on Demand

Dude.

Better take some TUMS.

There are many benefits to owning a super car: breakneck acceleration, eye-catching design, unreal handling, superb braking, the list goes on and on. Some super car owners, like those that own the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, can add “shooting flames out of the exhaust” to that list.


Imagine just sitting in your driveway with your Aventador running, a camera behind you recording the rear of the car, and just stepping on the throttle to hear that special “pop”, knowing that the fires of 690 horses is erupting out of your exhaust in a brilliant display of power, consuming anything dares to get in its path of rage.

Yet another reason not to drive an electric car.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

CHEESY: Why is THE BLAZE hotlinking images from ZERO HEDGE?

I just happened upon a very neat infographic at The Blaze (via BadBlue) that depicts the amount of gold that exists in the world.

I wanted to grab a copy of the image for myself and just happened to look at the source of The Blaze image to see where they were hosting it. I was shocked to find that a monstrous, well-funded news site like The Blaze was hotlinking the image from Zero Hedge!


In this case, "Hotlinking" basically means that The Blaze is using the bandwidth, storage and servers of Zero Hedge to host its content. This practice could be excused if, for instance, it was simply a n00b blogger who didn't know what the heck he was doing.

In the case of The Blaze, however, it seems to be just another in a series of somewhat cheesy practices.

I've heard from fellow bloggers -- big bloggers, in fact -- that their content has been, uhm, appropriated by The Blaze without attribution on several occasions.

In fact, I've seen a bit of this kind of behavior myself, where an entire post was copied with as minor an attribution as can be imagined.

Look, I like and frequently link to The Blaze.

But I suspect Mr. Beck has enough extra pocket change to avoid hotlinking images and otherwise engaging in practices that are considered, at best, poor form. Here's a plea to the folks at The Blaze for more responsible attribution and hosting practices.


RATING AGENCY WARNS OBAMA: U.S. downgrade likely "even if another debt ceiling crisis is averted"

For the rating agency Fitch, the debt ceiling debate doesn't represent the major financial hurdle facing the United States. As anyone with a third grade education in arithmetic knows, America's real issue is its unsustainable debt. The federal government's deficits have surpassed one trillion dollars a year, every year since Barack Obama took office.

In the absence of an agreed and credible medium-term deficit reduction plan that would be consistent with sustaining the economic recovery and restoring confidence in the long-run sustainability of U.S. public finances, the current Negative Outlook on the 'AAA' rating is likely to be resolved with a downgrade later this year even if another debt ceiling crisis is averted.

Fitch's warning highlights the urgency of the moment: Republicans must refuse to raise the debt ceiling without immense spending cuts and entitlement reforms.

From all appearances, President Obama wants the country to default. He has layered on so much debt, so fast, that the U.S. simply can't honor its obligations. In fact, it's questionable whether the current debt can be repaid, never mind adding in the next four years of budget-free operations.

Worse still, the administration's cascade of new regulations (like "Boiler MACT") are explicitly designed to prevent the economy from growing fast enough to help make up the difference.

The real question we should be asking is whether tough cuts now are preferential to a true default later.

It is clear that the House of Representatives should deal with an intransigent president by refusing to raise the debt ceiling without large, immediate cuts to discretionary spending combined with sensible entitlement reforms (e.g., raising the eligibility age for Social Security benefits).

It is provably better to cut now than to suffer a complete economic collapse later.

And we know that President Obama has set the country on a course for a total collapse.




That much is clear based upon the accompanying chart, which comes to us directly from the White House.

President Obama needs a collapse to occur in order to -- in his words -- "fundamentally transform" America.

So let's stop this madness now, before things get immeasurably worse.


Larwyn's Linx: “A conspiracy so immense” -- Ideological commitment and the timidity of pragmatic politics

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

Nation

Ideological commitment and the timidity of pragmatic politics: ProWis
Dems' Next Push: Amnesty, Fast Track Citizenship For Illegals: Joshua
Obama Blames Congress For His $5 Trillion Debt: IBD

Disarming America: Loudon
Deadly Quiet Conversations: TL in Exile
These are the times that try men's souls: AWD

Liberalism vs. Blacks: Sowell
Colon Powell Plays the Race Card: Wehner
The Increasingly Execrable Colon Powell: AmSpec

Economy

Weapon of Mass Distraction: DLim
Now We Know… Closet Communists Destroyed Detroit: GWP
Debt up 60% since Obama took office. This can't go on forever: Reynolds

House to Vote on Sandy Pork: Ace
NJ Senate Excludes Non-Union Sandy Reconstruction Workers: LUR
Bernanke: Get rid of debt ceiling: it has no practical value: Exam

Scandal Central

Cuomo proposes immediate ban on assault rifles: Twitchy
Obama: Some Gun Control Measures 'I Can Accomplish Through Executive Action': WS
GOP Rep. Threatens Impeachment If Obama Goes Around Congress to Enact Gun Control: Blaze

Climate & Energy

EPA Email Release “Gravely Compounded Unlawful Activity We Have Exposed”: CEI

Media

HuffPost Parrots Communist Propaganda: Loudon
Mark Levin Reacts To Obama Presser: "We Have An Imperial President": RCP
Rasmussen: Republican Establishment Declares War on GOP Voters : NB

I’m all for this Gun Appreciation Day on January 19: ProWis
Levin: Background Check Needed for Barack Obama: Western
Reid Downplays Chances for Assault Gun Ban, Filibuster Changes: Roll Call

NBC: 'Big Differences' Between Obama's 2006 Vote Against Debt Ceiling And Today: NB
Like David Gregory, Jimmy Saville Was Given Free Pass by Law Enforcement and Media Colleagues: Ace
Hollywood Hypocrisy on Full Display at Golden Globes: CFP

World

Chuck Hagel Linked to Institute for Policy Studies, Anti-Military Marxists: Loudon
NYT Calls US Anti-Terror Strategy in North Africa a Catastrophe: Mead
Report: Assad on warship with Russian security: ynet

It’s a date: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi Jan. 23: Twitchy
Report: Hamas test fires improved long-range missiles: Hayom
72% of US casualties in Aghan War under Obama's watch: CNS

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Gartner: PC sales continue to slide as tablets eat their lunch: Engadget
Apple Slashes iPhone 5 Part Orders Due to Weak Demand: MacRumors
Yes, you can eat your cake and diet too: Ace

Cornucopia

Angry White Dude confesses to taking blog-enhancing drugs: AWD
@Liberty_Chick Needs Our Help: Camp o' the Saints
Biden Identifies 19 Different Executive Orders Obama Should Take On Gun Control: WZ

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Petition for Transparency

QOTD: "Since Obama took office the US spent almost $600 million to combat Islamic militancy across North Africa. In countries like Mali and Niger US forces trained local soldiers in counterterrorism skills. Arms and equipment were bought so local governments could protect their territories. This strategy, in theory, would protect North Africa from falling into the hands of Islamist militants—who would impose strict Sharia rule on unwilling locals and use lawless territory to launch attacks on Western targets—without involving a heavy deployment of American troops like in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That was the theory. But as heavily armed Islamist militants battle French forces in the Battle for Mali, it’s clear Obama’s strategy to help weak North African states protect themselves from terrorists has failed catastrophically...

...The [New York] Times story underlines the point Via Meadia has been making for some time: the intervention in Libya set off consequences the administration neither understood nor prepared for. " --Walter Russell Mead, "NYT Calls US Anti-Terror Strategy in North Africa a Catastrophe"

Monday, January 14, 2013

PHOTO: Cheney Knew

Joe Kidd writes, "Remember 'the look' that Cheney gave Obama on Inauguration Day? It said everything..."


"...Cheney recognized Obama for who he really is."


NECK BRACE REQUIRED: The Fastest Ferrari Ever

Top Gear got a hold of the F12 Berlinetta and lists a few of the stunning metrics...

Let’s not get carried away, because we need to put this car into context first. And the best way to do that is to put some facts at your fingertips. So, open brain and absorb the following: it has 730bhp and 509lb ft of torque, stats which give it a 211mph maximum and a 0-62mph of 3.1secs. 0-124mph is dealt with in 8.5secs, so 0-100mph must be around the 6.5 second mark. That makes this an astonishingly fast car – Ferrari’s fastest ever road car, in fact. Quicker than the Enzo, quicker than the 599 GTO. And not just in a straight line. It gets round Ferrari’s own Fiorano track faster than both of them, too.


...It has the sharpest steering rack of any Ferrari, carbon ceramic brakes that now have more top end bite, and bodyroll has been reduced by 30 per cent from the 599. Turn in is 20 per cent faster, and you’ll use 15 per cent less steering angle, the engineers claim.

But it’s been so well honed. The brakes, steering, throttle, gearbox, all do exactly what you expect. There’s no slack or slop at all, so you always know where you are with it. It sounds ridiculous to say that a car with 730bhp (the same as a Pagani Huayra, let’s not forget) is a doddle to drive, but this one really is. It drives cleanly and precisely...

And speaking of the Pagani Huayra...


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

NOW THIS IS SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: Mark Levin shreds Obama Presser and "Pretend Media"

Earlier today, attorney Mark Levin appeared on FOX News Channel's America Live with Megyn Kelly and offered a blunt assessment of President Obama's press conference.

I'm not into imperial presidents who act imperial and speak imperial and Obama forgets there's a Constitution. Yes, he keeps telling us he won reelection. Congratulations, but guess what?

The Constitution wasn't up for election, it's not up for a referendum or a plebiscite. He has to comply with it, too.

He was sent back to Washington, but he's got a strict list of rules that he has to follow as president.

When he gets up there and starts saying, if Congress doesn't do this, I'm going to do this unilaterally, it violates separation of power a lot of the times. And this is a man pushing the edge of the envelope as far as i'm concerned, whether it's the appointment clause, whether it's his unilateral action on immigration, whether it's trashing the commerce clause and the tax clauses under Obamacare.

Now they're talking about executive orders on the Second Amendment. They've issued regulations on First Amendment attacking religious liberty. This notion that he might be able to lift the debt ceiling, you know, unilaterally under the Fourteenth Amendment.

What the hell is this? He was elected president. Congratulations. This guy makes Richard Nixon look like a man who followed the law all the time. I think we have an imperial president, he sounds imperial, he's arrogant as hell and I'm furious about this and I'm going to tell you why.

We are a magnificent country. We don't need to be turned upside down. We don't need to run from crisis to crisis to crisis. He's bankrupting this country.

He said we've had a discussion about the debt. When did we have a discussion about the debt? We've had a debate about taxes. The man's never around to have a discussion about anything. So, yes, he causes me to be furious when I watch and listen to him.

Kelly also asked Levin about the gun debate and the debt ceiling discussion; what are "the big lies" that he so frequently speaks of and how is the media intertwined with the president's fabrications?

There are a lot of big lies with this president. First of all, I call [the mainstream media] the "pretend media". I mean, what do they do? When they talk about the 14th Amendment and the debt ceiling, do they say, "Mr. President, that's not the point of it, and that's never been done before, could you explain that being the constitutional genius that you are?"

No.

Can we actually talk about the debt?

No. It's all Bush's fault.

And let's talk about guns. There's not a single idea being leaked out of this White House that would have prevented this horrific mass murder.

They're dusting off all their wants and demands like they always do. We have a Second Amendment. The Second Amendment matters. It's not up for grabs. It's not up to Biden, and Obama, and the goofball governor from Maryland and all the rest of them. And yet, you would think the Constitution is just some other statute that these guys can play with.

This is why I'm furious. Because once we lose the Constitution -- and we're losing it, big -- what's left? How do we keep these people in check?

Let me just say for the record that Mark Levin is a national treasure. Download his free podcast every night and get a free, college-level course in American history as an added bonus.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

QOTD: Norton v. Shelby County

A reminder for the elites in Washington:

Norton v. Shelby County - 118 U.S. 425 (1886)


"An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as inoperative as though it had never been passed."