Doug Ross @ Journal

Sunday, January 20, 2013

President Obama to again skip American Legion's Medal of Honor Inaugural Ball, remains only commander-in-chief to do so

Four years ago, Barack Obama became the first president in history to skip the American Legion's Salute to Heroes ball. And this time around, he plans on missing the event again.

For the second time President Barack Obama will not attend an Inaugural event ball held to recognize Medal of Honor recipients.

...Obama was criticized by some four years ago when he became the first President to skip the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes ball since it was first held in 1953.

Also noticeably absent from the planned list of attendees for the Jan. 21 event is former Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, one of only three living MoH recipients from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and the only one who will not be present.

“As I understand it, invitations were sent to all living MOH recipients. 25 of them decided to attend our banquet,” Legion spokesman Marty Callaghan said in an email Friday. Meyer, who received the nation’s highest award for valor for going to the rescue of U.S. and Afghan troops caught in an ambush in 2009, could not be reached for comment.

Those scheduled to attend include Salvatore Giunta and Leroy Petry, former Army staff sergeants who, like Meyer, received the Medal for actions in Afghanistan. The Medal of Honor has been awarded seven other times since 2001 – three for actions in Afghanistan and four in Iraq. In all those cases the award was presented posthumously.

Also scheduled to attend the Salute to Heroes ball are World War II veterans Walter Ehlers and Hershel Williams; Korean War vets Thomas Hudner and Ronald Rosser; and 19 Medal of Honor recipients from the Vietnam War: John Baca, Donald Ballard, Gary Beikirch, Patrick Brady, Sammy Davis, Roger Donlon, Harold Fritz, Joe Jackson, Jack Jacobs, Walter Marm, Jr.; Thomas Norris, Robert O’Malley, Robert Patterson, Alfred Rascon, Ronald Ray, Gordon Roberts, James Sprayberry, Kenneth Stumpf and Brian Thacker.

In all, the 25 veterans slated to attend the ball represent about a third of the living Medal of Honor recipients, according to the Legion... The Legion began holding the Salute to Heroes Ball in 1953 as part of the Inauguration Day events surrounding the swearing in of Dwight Eisenhower as the 34th President of the United States.

Every president since then made an appearance at the ball until Obama four years ago.

This president doesn't much care for the American military, as evidenced by his efforts to dismantle it and instead redirect those monies to making the welfare state even more pervasive.

Image: Walter Ehlers and Hershel Williams, 2003, Photo by Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo.

INFOGRAPHIC: Gun facts you'll never see in laughingstock media

Via TheGunMag:

Read more »

ON A ROLL: Bill Clinton's Sticky Situation

The geniuses at Hope n' Change Cartoons have been on a roll of late. If you haven't visited over the last few days, you've missed out on gems like these.

I'd recommend making H&C one of your regular bookmarks.

Larwyn's Linx: Thousands of 2nd Amendment Supporters Rally in Albany

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

QOTD: "Every GOP guest on Face The Nation should ask Bob Schieffer if he agrees with his political director that the GOP needs to be destroyed." (Hot Air commenter 'Commodore' via Ed Driscoll)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

SOUNDS SUSTAINABLE: Using GAAP accounting principles, annual federal deficit increased 30 percent in 2012

The term Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (or GAAP) refers to the standard framework for financial reporting that most U.S. corporations employ. The act of intentionally producing false GAAP statements is a crime.

John Williams, writing at ShadowStats.com (subscription required), used the Treasury Department's latest financial statements and calculates the true 2012 federal deficit, which includes the net present value of unfunded liabilities like Social Security and Medicare) at:

$6.9 trillion

In 2011, using GAAP accounting, the federal deficit was:

$5.0 trillion

Which means the annual deficit grew at a rate of nearly:

30 percent in one year

Anyone who thinks this level of fiscal irresponsibility can last much longer, raise your hand.

As for you Democrats: history will not treat kindly your support of the people who are quite literally stealing our children's futures.

And why the feckless, cowardly, and pathetic Republican "leaders" aren't shouting these numbers from the rooftops at every opportunity remains a mystery for the ages.

HOW COOL IS THIS? First Grader Becomes Youngest Person Ever to Develop a Mobile Game

What were you doing in the first grade?

Remember the name Zora Ball. At seven years old, she's the youngest person to ever create a mobile game app, which was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania's Bootstrap Expo last month.

Zora used the Bootstrap programming language, and lest you think her older brother Trace, who was a STEM scholar of the year at Zora's charter school, did the work for her, she reconfigured her app on the fly when asked, according to the Pittsburgh Courier.

This could be the beginning of a long career as a programmer and developer for Ball. But first she has to get through first grade.

Isn't it startling to consider that -- like Zora -- humanity remains in the infancy stage when it comes to computers? What will the next five or so decades bring? Or, for that matter, the next five years?

Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

NY STATE ASSEMBLYMAN SOUNDS THE ALARM: Democrats' First Gun Bill Ordered Confiscation of Firearms!

I wonder how many Ruby Ridge incidents this blatant attack on the Constitution would have touched off? New York State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin explains:

Here it is. This is the video where I was asked to keep the Democrat proposals for the NY SAFE Act away from the public. This list was given to me by a colleague and it is not confidential.

This bill was an attack on the 2nd amendment and the Democrats clearly wanted to dismantle the work of the Founding Fathers. None of these amendments were included in the final bill thanks to us fighting back. I will not stand silent while these unpatriotic proposals are pathetically thrown at us a 11 o’clock at night:

1. Confiscation of "assault weapons"
2. Confiscation [of] ten round clips
3. Statewide database for ALL Guns
4. Continue to allow pistol permit holder's information to be [revealed] to the public
5. Label semiautomatic shotguns with more than 5 rounds or pistol grips as "assault weapons”
6. Limit the number of rounds in a magazine to 5 and confiscation and forfeiture of banned magazines
7. Limit possession to no more than two (2) magazines
8. Limit purchase of guns to one gun per person per month
9. Require re-licensing of all pistol permit owners
10. Require renewal of all pistol permits every five years
11. State issued pistol permits
12. Micro-stamping of all guns in New York State
13. Require licensing of all gun ammo dealers
14. Mandatory locking of guns at home
15. Fee for licensing, registering weapons

We know precisely what Democrats want: they seek to confiscate all firearms from law-abiding citizens, leaving only the state (and criminals) with a monopoly on force. These people are precisely the would-be tyrants our Founders feared, and on whom they placed explicit constraints as they designed the Constitution.

These Democrats are your prototypical, power-hungry elitists who despise the very citizenry they purport to serve.

They want to label certain things "assault weapons"?

Well, here it is: I'm labeling every current member of the Democrat Party an assault weapon on the Constitution.

Hat tips: The Mental Recession and BadBlue News Service.

Larwyn's Linx: The Country’s Going Straight to Hell, But at Least We’ve Got a "Likeable" President

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

Nation

Country’s Going Straight to Hell, But at Least We've Got a 'Likeable' Pres.: RSM
The Road to Detroit: Sitkiewicz
Obama Playing Chicken with American Men: Daren Jonescu

Obama's No. 1 Second-Term Goal—Win Back The House: IBD
The War Against Black Men: Habeeb
Mr. President, Chicago's Gun Victims Need You Now: RCP

Obama to Create Mass Organization Devoted to Obama: Dossier
Weather Terrorist Bernadine Dohrn Lectures America About Guns: Glob
John Lott Demolishes Democrats' Scary-Looking Weapon Ban Fables: WSJ

Questions that should be asked of NY lawmakers: ProWis
House GOP Will Pass Three Month Debt-Ceiling Hike: Ace
An interesting, if mildly depressing, exchange on Obamacare.: Lane

Economy

Outgoing Marxist Labor Secretary Blames Unemployment on... Tea Party: GWP
7th Circuit upholds Walker's collective bargaining legislation: Althouse
America Should Declare Bankruptcy: Doug Casey: Daily Ticker

Scandal Central

Democrat: Please Don't Release Our Gun Confiscation Plans: MenRec
Obama bypasses Congress, attempts to force companies to reveal political donations through SEC: DC
DOJ Seeks to Stall JW’s Lawsuit Seeking Access to Fast and Furious Records: JW

Climate & Energy

Cost of Obama’s 2012 Regulations: $236 Billion: Wizbang
Great Moments in Failed Predictions: Watts
Flashback Friday: The 80-mile Detroit Electric Car From 105 Years Ago: Gas2

Media

Good Point!: Loudon
Anti-American Asians Don’t Speak for Me: Malkin
Why Must BuzzFeed Turn The Internet Into A House Of Lies?: Glob

Whoops: PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' Turns Out to Be True: WS
Tolerance: Liberals Threaten Whole Foods Boycott After CEO Calls ObamaCare Fascism: JWF
Newsweek revels in Obama cultism with creepy ‘second coming’ Inauguration cover: Twitchy

Obama Exec Order Quietly Lifts Ban On Using Federal Funds To Advocate For Gun Confiscation: WZ
Daily Caller's Jim Treacher pwns Politifact for its Completely True "Lie of the Year": Twitchy
Newspaper removes controversial online database of gun permit holders: CNN

ABC, CBS and NBC All Refuse to Identify Indicted Nagin as Democrat: NB
MO Sheriffs to all U.S. Sheriffs: Defend all Americans Against Attacks on 2nd Amendment: Nice Deb
Chicago Thugs Celebrate Obama’s New Gun Laws By Shooting Woman on Bus: JWF

World

Shocker: Media/Liberal Internationalist Conventional Wisdom Wrong on Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood: Ace
Romney’s Comment About Mali Doesn’t Seem So Silly Or Off-Topic Now: LoneCon
Algerian Hostage Situation Provides More Embarrassment for an Inept American President: CDN

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

How to encrypt (almost) anything: PC World
First Grader Becomes Youngest Person to Ever Develop a Mobile Game: Mashable
The Ultra HD battle preview: Time Warner, Netflix fight over high-quality streaming: ExtremeTech

Cornucopia

In-Vested: StraightForward
Bang the Dumb Slowly: MOTUS
Polite Revenge: Rants & Other Refinements

Image: Newsweek revels in Obama cultism with creepy ‘second coming’ Inauguration cover
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Remember: Today is National Gun Appreciation Day

QOTD: "The Obama administration's current warpath against so-called "gun violence" -- which is Newspeak for non-violence committed by non-criminals with their non-illegal private property -- is a brazen challenge to America's manhood. The progressives have apparently decided that this is the moment when they can play their ultimate authoritarian hand, and let the chips fall where they may. They believe, in other words, that this is the moment when they may be able to break America at last, one way or another.

Through Obama's forceful, smug insistence on taking action in defiance of Congress, along with the aggressive urging to do so from his sycophants in the progressive elite -- from the vice president and the senate majority leader on down -- the leftists are engaging in a game of chicken with the American spirit that is disturbing both for its immediate intentions and for its revelation of their thought process and game plan.

In light of the well-known fact that their proposals and trial balloons will be judged by millions of Americans to be an outright violation of constitutionally protected liberties -- and liberties of the most emotionally trenchant nature, namely those related to the very foundations of limited government -- the progressives' deliberate projection of haste and intransigence on gun control must not merely be taken at face value, and judged on its "merits." It must also be interpreted -- in other words, one must ask precisely what they are hoping to achieve by attacking the most deeply held principles of so many Americans in such a heavy-handed fashion." --Daren Jonescu

Eric Holder announces nationwide effort to find people like himself

Hey, that's the way I read this story:

Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the government will consider “imposing tough penalties on gun traffickers who help funnel weapons to dangerous criminals” while talking about gun control to U.S. mayors.

ERIC HOLDER: [We will] consider a series of new federal laws imposing tough penalties on gun traffickers who help funnel weapons to dangerous criminals.

Criminals like the murderous drug cartels that Holder equipped in Operation Fast and Furious?

You know, the brilliant brainchild of Mr. Holder and the President, which was intended to send high-capacity assault magazines and other weapons of murderous, military-style war to the Mexican drug cartels? For which Americans have never received a complete explanation?

In short, Mr. Holder seems to be preparing an indictment against himself, which should be enlightening... and entertaining.

Friday, January 18, 2013

The 10 Stats You Should Never Show a Baby Boomer

ECB has 35 stats you may want to hide from any baby boomers you know. You may ask: Doug, of those 35, which are... the... 10... most... ~~terrifying~~ entertaining?

10. Right now, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million.

9. 25 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no retirement savings at all.

8. 46 percent of them have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

7. Elderly Americans tend to carry much higher balances on their credit cards than younger Americans do.

6. Americans that are 55 years of age or older now account for 20 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States.

5. In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits. Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.

4. Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

3. Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

2. State and local government bodies in the state of California have 325 billion dollars in combined unfunded pension liabilities.

1. The total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for retirees that state and local governments across the United States have accumulated is 4.4 trillion dollars.

Bottoms up!

WHAT EVERY AMERICAN NEEDS: A DeLorean Hovercraft

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

Great Scott! It's only a blimmin' DeLorean Hovercraft! Is this Dr. Emmett Brown's latest invention? A symbiotic hybrid of two of Back To The Future's greatest props: the Hoverboard and The DeLorean DMC-12? We're not sure, and don't really care. We're just glad it exists...

...Check the vid... to see a DMC-12 waft along San Fransico Bay on a cushion of air (potentially at 88mph), do a beach landing, followed by a pirouette, and then continue on its way like nothing happened.

We don't know who's driving (maybe the Libyans?), but we're just glad that someone had their camera phone unholstered and got this on digital tape. Meanwhile, we're also trying to get confirmation it runs on a hybrid nuclear / petrol motor requiring 1.21 jigawatts to charge...

No word on a "Mr. Fusion" power-plant option.

Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

QOTD: Can't see the forest for the trees

Wall Street Journal Commenter Marth Brunner offers an important -- and heretofore ignored -- point regarding "gun violence".

Nowhere in the discussion ... is the idea of 'Sanctuary Cities' for illegal immigrants mentioned.

But a policeman in LA who sees a person who he knows is a violent gang member, who has illegally come back into the U.S. after being deported (a felony) can't do anything about it without being disciplined.

Liberal politicians who protect violent gang members with 'sanctuary cities' rules want to pretend that they want to reduce gun violence? Baloney.

If you hadn't guessed, "gun violence" is the progressive's favorite new code word for gun control. And since they're into code words, I say the phrase "gun violence" is racist.

BOOM TIMES: Obama Perma-Campaign Releases Motivational Poster to Strike Fear Into Running-Dog Capitalistic Lackeys

Did I say the Messina campaign? Because I meant The People's Cube.

Which reminds me: it's been an entire year since the president's "Jobs Council" last met. But he did find time for dozens of rounds of golf, numerous pickup basketball games, scores of appearances on comedy and women's shows, and demonizing the Bill of Rights.

So much for his "laser focus" on America's lingering, worst-since-World War II unemployment problem.