Saturday, March 23, 2013

Ridding your Chrome browser of Flash

I've been running Chrome for a couple of weeks without Flash and the differences are exhilarating.

• Fewer "disappearing pages"

• Fewer "sick" pages

• Zero "Flash not responding" pages

• Fewer reboots due to memory leaks

Best of all, most video sites no longer require Flash to deliver video streams (using HTML 5, I suppose).

Ready to take the plunge? It's simple. In your Chrome address bar, type about:plugins. You'll see something like this:


Find the Adobe Flash Player section and click any of the Disable links you see. If you have a master Disable link (see arrow), just click that one. Now close your browser and restart it.

My guess is you'll soon be enjoying your surfing experience a great deal more. And, as an added bonus, your security posture will be vastly improved.


Excellent news: US Government to scan more domestic Internet traffic

Because I suppose Homeland Security's acquisition of hundreds of unmanned drones, 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition and thousands of armored vehicles aren't sufficient for a police state.

helix2301 writes with this snippet from NBC News:


The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country's private, civilian-run infrastructure. As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their emails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyber attacks.

Further on, the story notes that "By using DHS as the middleman, the Obama administration hopes to bring the formidable overseas intelligence-gathering of the NSA closer to ordinary U.S. residents without triggering an outcry from privacy advocates who have long been leery of the spy agency's eavesdropping."

But the ends justify the means, right, progressives?


Hat tips: BadBlue Tech News and NSAwatch (image).

Florida Atlantic University Prof Makes Students ‘Stomp On Mohammed’

The cojones on this guy!

Prof Deandre J. Poole, Florida Atlantic Univ Makes Students ‘Stomp On Mohammed


(Fox) – A Florida Atlantic University student said he was punished after he refused a professor’s directive to stomp on a piece of paper with the word “Mohammed” written on it. The university, meanwhile, is defending the assignment as a lesson in debate.

“I’m not going to be sitting in a class having my religious rights desecrated,” student Ryan Rotela told television station WPEC. “I truly see this as I’m being punished.”

Rotela, who is a devout Mormon, said the instructor in his Intercultural Communications class told the students to write the name “Mohammed” on a sheet of paper. Then, they were told to put the paper on the floor.

“He had us all stand up and he said ‘Stomp on it,’” Rotela said. “I picked up the paper from the floor and put it right back on the table.

The young college student told the instructor, Deandre Poole, that the assignment was insulting and offensive.

“I said to the professor, ‘With all due respect to your authority as a professor, I do not believe what you told us to do was appropriate,’” Rotela said. ‘I believe it was unprofessional and I was deeply offended by what you told me to do.’”

Rotela took his concerns to Poole’s supervisor – where he was promptly suspended from the class.

...A university spokesperson told they could not comment about Rotela’s case due to student privacy laws... However, the university is defending the instructor’s assignment to stomp on the name of Mohammed.

CORRECTION:

Oh, wait: did I say "Mohammed"?

Because I meant to say "Jesus". Sorry about that, the dogs were barking.


Larwyn's Linx: Obamacare is Crumbling

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

Nation

Obamacare is Crumbling: Kerpen
Senate Republicans Willfully and Knowingly Lie to Their Constituents: RS
GOP Can't Win Latinos Over Immigration: NatlJrnl

Rubio/McCain Amnesty Plan Could Doom Conservatism: Hawkins
DWS concerned that Sequester may cut into Royal Congressional Perqs: Ace
U.S. Senate Approves First Budget in Four Years: WSJ

Economy

Senate Democrats refuse to commit to balancing the federal budget, ever: WyBlog
Austerity: Biden's One-Night Paris Hotel Tab: $585,000: WS
SNAP! You’re on Food Stamps! How Liberal Policies Create Poverty: Sentinel

Obamacare threatens 3.2 million small business jobs: Exam
IRS boldly spends $60,000 on ‘Star Trek’ training video: Twitchy
Maine to HHS: 10 Years of Medicaid Help & A Global Waiver, Please: Forbes

Vid: Cultural Marxists Screaming At Each Other Like Mental Patients: Ace
It’s Time To Bust Up the Big Banks: Rasmussen
Health Insurers Warn on Premiums: WSJ

Scandal Central

Muslim with ties to 9/11 attacks living in U.S., virtually immune from deportation: JihadWatch
In land of legal abortion, Gosnell case is no big deal: Pundette
‘Jesus Stomping’ Professor is Democrat Party Vice-Chairman in Palm Beach County, FL: Tatler

Climate & Energy

EPA illegally collects personal farm data, then releases it to environmental extremist groups: Scoop
One Year Ago Today, Obama Promised to Expedite Keystone XL: Tatler

Media

Hannity is right, Coulter couldn’t be more wrong: Kuznicki
World's Dumbest Blogger Matt Yglesias Hates Private Property, Buys Million Dollar House: Tatler
#SaveTheStaffers: Twitter serves up delicious mockery of Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s starving staff: Twitchy

World

Palestinians: We Hate You, So Please Pay Us More: Gatestone
Hamas Calls Obama “Jewish Organ Grinder’s Monkey”: Sooper
RIOTS IN CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood & Opposition Face Off in Bloody Clashes: GWP

Obama Looks to Reduce U.S. Nuclear Defenses Without Senate Approval: WZ
Experience Mexico as Mexicans Experience America: MB
Cyprus Approves Capital Controls in Rush to Secure Bailout: Bloomberg

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

US Gov't To Scan More Civilian Infrastructure Traffic: Slashdot
Whois Anchor Panda: CrowdStrike
Naked Human Bodies Jumping Up and Down in 2000FPS Is Not Flattering (NSFW): Gizmodo

Cornucopia

A collection of the World's Largest: CDN
Dreidel Dee, Dreidel Dumb: MOTUS
Our Old Classic Fears Translated Into Modern Technology Nightmares: Gizmodo

Image: Guns Save Lives
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BadBlue Car News

QOTD: "What was widely viewed as an ill-conceived Cyprus deal last weekend renewed fears of a re-escalation of the euro debt crisis. The original proposal to hit insured depositors below €100k caused a bank run and set a new precedent in the course of the Euro area debt crisis, with potential negative consequences for bank deposits not only in Cyprus but also in other peripheral countries. Once again, as it happened with the Greek crisis last May, the Cyprus crisis exposes the fragmentation of the deposit guarantee schemes in the Euro area and its inconsistency with a monetary union.

Even if the original deal is eventually revised and the guarantee for depositors with less than €100k is respected, the damage from the original proposal will be difficult to undo, in our view...

...In what we view as another ill-conceived and ill-timed move, the Spanish Minister of Finance & Public Administration announced this week a tax or bank levy (probably 0.2%) to be imposed on bank deposits, without details on which deposits will be affected or timing.

This is adding to the Cypriot crisis in sparking deposit outflow risks." --JPMorgan

Friday, March 22, 2013

Police Departments Scrape for Ammo After DHS Buys 1.6 Billion Rounds

For your consideration: "Police Departments Beg And Barter For Ammo While DHS Buys Up 1.6 Billion Rounds In Past Year"
The nationwide shortage of ammunition has left many police departments scrambling to get their hands on the necessary rounds - with some even bartering among each other ...[Meanwhile] the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to respond to multiple members of Congress asking why DHS bought more than 1.6 billion rounds in the past year. Police Chief Cameron Arthur of Jenks, Oklahoma says, "Ammunition and assault weapons in general have skyrocketed...In addition to the fact, not only is it a lot more expensive, but the time to get it could be six months to a year, or in some cases even longer."
With that as a backdrop, may I present the following news reports?

1. The Department of Homeland Security recently acquired 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, which represents thousands of rounds per DHS employee.

2. Newly released drone records have revealed extensive military flights inside the U.S.; police departments and federal agencies plan to have as many as 30,000 drones monitoring Americans within the next seven years.

3. When Can the U.S. Kill Americans? The White House Won't Say -- and Won't Even Tell Congress; President Obama's successful efforts to renew and strengthen The Patriot Act under the NDAA means, according to the ACLU, American citizens may be subject to "indefinite military detention without charge or trial... for the first time in American history."

4. The FBI director said in March he'd have to check whether the president can assassinate citizens inside the U.S.. When questioned by Congress regarding a speech by Attorney General Holder, who offered his "legal justification for assassination", FBI Director Mueller was unable to say whether the president could unilaterally decide to assassinate U.S. citizens inside the borders of this country.

5. The DHS has specifically listed Americans who believe in "individual liberty" as potential terrorists. These "right-wing extremists" who insist in fidelity to the Constitution are, according to multiple studies funded by DHS, among the country's most dire terrorist threats. Not Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Ansar al-Islam, Hamas, or Iran's Revolutionary Guards -- together responsible for tens of thousands of murders -- but "violent right-wing extremists" who believe in the principles of the nation's founding.

6. The military recently deployed gunships over Miami, executing training exercises with local police departments. A few days later, similar exercises were conducted in Houston. Last year the military deployed ground forces, armored personnel carriers and tanks on the streets of St. Louis for "training exercises". Military exercises in domestic urban environments of this scale are "unprecedented".

7. Police departments throughout the country are receiving tanks, humvees and drones from the Department of Defense, according to a WLS-TV (Chicago) I-Team investigation. "Short of a weapon of mass destruction, you can get any kind of military gear that's out there," the police chief of Benedectine University told WLS. "We chose firearms and a vehicle." WLS also reported rampant theft of military equipment, including body armor and night-vision goggles issued to the Chicago Police Department.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Do these data points offer any context into President Obama's promise to create "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded as our military?"

Conversely, do these news reports offer any insights into the president's efforts to disarm American citizens, a clear violation of the Bill of Rights?

The sources of these news items include such right-wing extremist groups as the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and National Journal. Suffice it to say that even "progressives" appear to be getting antsy with the erosion of individual liberties and the militarization of police forces under this president.

Larwyn's Linx: Iraq War Hero First to be Charged Under Unconstitutional New York Gun Ban

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

Nation

Iraq War Hero First to be Charged Under New York Gun Ban: MenRec
Mitch McConnell Votes to Fund Obamacare: RS
Holder Defrauds Supreme Court: Western

Obama: Israel-Palestine Conflict Like Arguments Between U.S., Canada: WFB
Imbecile Cuomo Seeks to Repeal His Own New Gun Law: JWF
Senate GOP proposals would force Obama into health law exchanges: Hill

Epic Pro-2nd Amendment Testimony In Connecticut: Cove
New York set to pursue gun violations as Nazis pursued Jews in WWII: GSL
Half of First Children Born to Unwed Mothers: CNS

Economy

Cyprus Lifts the Curtain: Schiff
The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By The Numbers: ZH
Denial is Everywhere (About Increasingly Important Things!): Mish

'Cyprus' is already happening in the US: Rick Rule: Mining
Exclusive: Euro zone call notes reveal extent of alarm over Cyprus: Reuters
ECB Threatens to Cut Cyprus Funding on Monday: CNBC

Scandal Central

New 'Fast and Furious' report finds DHS warning signs ignored: LAT
Dianne Feinstein: You Obviously Do Need to be Lectured on the Constitution: AmmoLand
U.S. Aid Arms Mexican Cartels: TAG

Climate & Energy

Nine Pollution Picture Perfect Days In Beijing: ZH
Carbon Tax: Still a Horrible Idea: Foundry
Greenland ice melt overestimated due to satellite data algorithm issue: Watts

Media

"Illegal immigrants are to immigration what shoplifters are to shopping": Five Feet of Fury
Nice. Obama Flips Off NBC's Chuck Todd in Israel for Asking Tough Question: GWP
Kaus: Where are the anti-Amnesty Democrats?: Instapundit

11 Gifs That Take Us Through Josh Marshall's Day Yesterday: Ace
Beyonce's "Bow Down" as Quoted by the UK Telegraph: Rush
What the hell is the Department of Homeland Security up to?: Florida Today

Prof Deandre J. Poole, Florida Atlantic Univ Makes Students ‘Stomp On Jesus’: BlurBrain
Why Is Vitter’s Anti-Perez Bandwagon Empty?: HayRide
Interesting Interview With Duane Liptak Of Magpul: OG&M

World

Barack Obama Needs a Geography Lesson: PJM
Revealed: New Iranian nuclear sites and further evidence of North Korea collaboration: Commentator
The Saudis oppress their people and expect visitors to look the other way: Spectator

As Obama Continues Israel Visit, His Themes Are Reinforced: BRubin
Obama gives speech under Arafat's Black September Terror Banner: WS
Obama Quotes Saul Alinksy In Speech To Young Israelis: WZ

Texas Mom Outraged Over Insane Questions about 9/11 on Son's 5th Grade Test: Blaze
High school students asked to compare Lenin/Stalin transformation of Russia to Obama and America: Scoop
Was Colorado Prison Chief Murdered for Refusing to Free Saudi Rapist?: FPM

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

When Technology Overtakes Security: Schneier
DOD Reportedly Planning To Buy 650,000 iOS Devices After Nixing BB10 To Cut Costs: TechCrunch
U.S. Bank Rolls Out Mobile Photo Bill Pay: BankTech

Cornucopia

Obama Visits Israel, Avoids Hamas Rockets: Cube
Happy 7th Birthday, Twitter: Engadget
Younger buyers leaving Japanese for South Korean, American brands: AutoBlog

Image: Leno Takes Pot Shots at Obama and NBC on the Way Out the Door
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Illegal Aliens Could elect your next Congressman, Senator or President‏

QOTD: "This is the third day I’ve taken off of work to come here to, like so many of the rest of us, to plead with you for us to keep our guns because of some wing-nut in Newtown, Connecticut. If that isn’t inherently wrong, I don’t know what is. That these bills are even in proposed form is scary enough. That any of you could possibly be undecided is scary enough. What are you looking at?

I can’t for the life of me understand how this state can have as many gun laws on the books as it does and have members of its Legislature need to take firearms 101. And as far as what I felt were potshots taken at the NRA, they’ve done more for gun safety– they’ll do more for gun safety this weekend than this committee will do in your careers...

Adam Lanza commits a crime, and I’m here to grovel and plead for my rights and explain to you that my firearms are kept safely? I keep hearing the word “solution”… you’re not going to find a solution, it doesn’t exist. You can’t find a broad brush solution to evil...

The reason that your jobs are becoming so difficult is because you’re coloring outside the lines of constitutional parameters. That’s the bottom line. You are trying to marriage up public safety with constitutional rights. The Constitution did not guarantee public safety, it guaranteed liberty." --Robert Steed

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The inevitable result of amoral, secular progressivism: Half of all first children born out of wedlock

This story is flat out shocking.

...for the first time in history the median age of American women having babies is lower than the median age of marriage – 25.7 and 26.5, respectively ... 48 percent of first births are by unwed mothers, and by age 30 two-thirds of American women have had a child, typically out of wedlock.

What legacy media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) won't tell you is this shocking fact: easy access to welfare is helping spur the record number of out-of-wedlock births. The more the welfare state provides, the more kids are born out of wedlock.

There have been dozens of studies that link the availability of welfare benefits to out-of-wedlock births. One study found that a 50 percent increase in the value of AFDC and foodstamp payments led to a 43 percent increase in the number of out-of-wedlock births.

Worse still, children raised in single-parent households are far more likely to commit crimes and end up incarcerated than their peers raised by both a Mother and a Father.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study showed that a 50 percent increase in the monthly value of combined AFDC and food stamp benefits led to a 117 percent increase in the crime rate among young black men.

In 1995, Dr. Patrick Fagan wrote a seminal summary of the situation: "Over the past thirty years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers... High-crime neighborhoods are characterized by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers... The rate of violent teenage crime corresponds with the number of families abandoned by fathers... Neighborhoods with a high degree of religious practice are not high-crime neighborhoods... Even in high-crime inner-city neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe, stable homes do not become delinquents. By contrast only 10 percent of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these neighborhoods avoid crime... Criminals capable of sustaining marriage gradually move away from a life of crime after they get married."

Obama and his Democrat sycophants are creating a lost generation of children -- heavily tilted toward Black and Hispanic kids -- needlessly condemning them to a culture of dependency, crime and violence.

With Obama in charge, these poor kids never had a chance.


Related: How We Lost the War on Poverty.

eHealth Survey: Average Monthly Obamacare Premiums for a Family Will Jump from $400 to... $600 a month

Like a kidney-stone, we had to pass the bill to find out what was in it.

Individual and family insurance plans with comprehensive benefits could see major price spikes in the coming months as more measures of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act come into place.


A new report found plan premiums that cover benefits like prescription drugs and maternity care, among others, will increase by nearly half this year. The “Cost of Comprehensive Health Benefits” report from eHealth, Inc. found the average monthly premiums for individual and family health insurance plans are 47% higher than average when they cover a comprehensive list of eight health benefits compared to2012. Deductibles are on average for plans that cover these benefits are 27% lower than the average for all plans.

The report compared 30,000 individual plans purchased across 32 states on eHealthInsurance.com. eHealth has released this report since 2005...

Just for grins, let's recall how the President "sold" Obamacare to a reluctant American public (before the Democrats rammed it down our throats without a single representative bothering to read the bill before voting on it).

• Obamacare will "cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year." - Lie.

• "If you like your healthcare plan, you'll be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what." - Lie.

• "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase." - Lie.

• "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits - either now or in the future." - Lie.

• It's not a government takeover: "I don't believe that government can or should run healthcare." - Lie.

• The new healthcare law will improve, not hurt, the quality of American healthcare. - Lie.

Those are just off the top of my head. There are probably more. My prediction: 2014 will be a banner year for the Republican Party, in spite of the idiocy of John Boehner and Karl Rove. Because our very survival will be at stake with the madness that is this stuttering clusterf*** of a miserable failure of a bill.


Hat tip: BadBlue Financial News.

CHART: Despite federal government, oil production booming in ND

In spite of a radicalized, lawless EPA, North Dakota's oil production is fracking booming:

It's no secret that North Dakota has been in the middle of an oil boom since about 2008, but a new chart from the North Dakota Industrial Commission, Department of Mineral Resources, shows just how steep the increase has been...


...As of 2006, the state was only producing about 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, putting it on par with other mid-tier oil producing states like Kansas, Colorado and Montana. But new hydraulic fracturing techniques and the opening of the massive Bakken formation to drilling changed all that, and as of January 2013 the state was producing an average of 770,000 barrels of crude per day, for a total of 23,834,000 barrels per month. That's double the amount the state was producing just two years ago.

It is a lot of oil, to be sure, but even with this recent explosion in production North Dakota is in just third place nationally. Texas produces a staggering 2,220,000 barrels per day, and the rigs that operate in the U.S. Federal Offshore region account for another 1,389,000 barrels per day. North Dakota currently accounts for about 10% of all U.S. crude production.

And virtually all of this production is occurring in spite of the federal government. In fact, in 2012 alone, "oil production on federal land decreased by 11 percent."

It would appear that the EPA is -- now that the election is over -- bound and determined to stop fracking at all costs.


Hat tip: BadBlue Financial News Network.

A Muslim, an Illegal Immigrant and a Communist Walk Into a Bar...

...and the bartender says, "What'll you have, Mr. President?"

Rimshot!

Oh, for cryin' out loud, it's a joke.

Myself, I don't think the president is any more than one of those three.


Hat tip: Ray

Larwyn's Linx: How About Fighting, Schmucks?

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

Nation

How About Fighting, Schmucks?: NRO
'Curtis Is Our Guy': RSM
Harry Reid is a despicable human being: BlackFive

The Blob That Ate Chidlren: RWN
All Good Soviets New Yorkers Inform: Pagun
OFA's Latest Totally Non-Partisan Blog Post: WZ

Oops; Cuomo's Gun Ban Law Mandates Non-Existent Products: WZ
Reid kills Feinstein AW ban, making it even more dangerous: Owens
Perry to Announce Possible 2016 Presidential Run: Shark Tank

Economy

‘Not One Dime’: Health Care Law Projected to Add $6.2T to Deficit: AEI
Actual Good News: Teachers Union Lost 70,000 Members Last Year: WZ
Magpul to Colorado: We’re Outta Here: Tatler

America' Big, Fat Advantage: Hanson
Chief Actuary for Social Security: Raid the Retirement Fund!: ZH
Fed's $4 Trillion Question: Where's the Exit Door?: CNBC

Scandal Central

Politico: Menendez donor flew Reid on his private jet, too: Hot Air
Beware of A Trojan Horse Surrender on MSR Ban: AmmoLand
JPMorgan Chase, MF Global trustee reach $546M settlement: Hill

Climate & Energy

Climategate 3.0: More Mike Mann Emails Hit the Internet: Tatler
Spring global warming prayer: No más, Lord, no más: JPA
Republicans take aim at another EPA administrator over using a private email account: DC

Media

Benghazi-gate Cover-up: Fox News’ Catherine Herridge Receives AIM’s Reed Irvine Award: AIM
Too bad the budget isn’t an NCAA bracket: President Priorities makes Final Four picks: Twitchy
Stimulus Package: $384,949 on Duck Genitalia Study: CNS

ABC, CBS and NBC Avoid Obama Administration’s Dereliction on Missile Defense: MRC
When Dave Weigel Says The Tea Party Is Dead That Means JournoList Still Lives: Glob
PETA killed more than 1,600 cats and dogs at its Virginia headquarters last year: Daily Mail

Big Three Networks Ignore Abortion Doc Who Snipped Babies’ Necks: LifeNews
He kept severed feet in jars but escaped mainstream media coverage: Gosnell trial continues: Twitchy
Actor Nick Searcy blasts race card playing grievance-mongers: ‘Punch back’ at ‘race hustling bullies’: Twitchy

World

This One I dread: GoV
Narcissus In The Promised Land: Joshua
Saudi Arabia Gets "Trusted Traveler" Status from Janet Napolitano: Elephant

Seven Myths About ‘Women in Combat’: FPM
How Stalin Fooled the World and Why It Matters Today: FPM
Bank run expert: Cyprus' plan was 'absurd': Fortune

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Did Microsoft bribe foreign governments for software deals?: The Week
Gender gap? In tech salaries, it's all gone, Dice reports: PC World
AT&T 'hacker' a victim of over-zealous legal system: ITnews Australia

Cornucopia

Through the teeth and over the gums, Look out Bibi here he comes!: MOTUS
Things you see on the way to the office: PredatorBDU
The Audacity of Notes: Love Letters from Obama Campaign: Cube

Josie goes to #CPAC2013: Quinton Report
An Abrupt Transition: Quinton Report
Oldest undergraduate tenaciously pursues his bachelor's: Purdue Exponent

Image: Urlacher, Bears Part Ways
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: "Curtis is our guy"

QOTD: "You’re sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door. Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers.

At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun... You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows.

One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire.

The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside.

As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you’re in trouble. In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless..

Yours was never registered." --Jaz McKay, "How They Disarmed Our British Cousins"

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Drug Cartels Now Control the Southern Border So Thoroughly That U.S. Media is Too Scared to Report on Border Crime

JudicialWatch reports that the U.S. southern border is so porous -- and violent illegals so prevalent here -- that American media has been frightened into submission.

Mexican, U.S. Media Too Scared To Cover Border Crime


Violence along the southern border has gotten so out of control that both Mexican and American journalists have stopped reporting it out of fear that drug cartels will retaliate against them and their families.

This means Americans will be kept in the dark about the crisis along the porous and increasingly dangerous Mexican border. We certainly can’t expect the truth from the government. Remember that the nation’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, insists that the region is “as secure as it has ever been.” This delusional assessment has been repeated by Napolitano over and over again in a seemingly desperate effort to make people believe it.

...First Mexican journalists dropped like flies, either as victims of drug-cartel violence or out of fear, and stopped reporting crime in the region. U.S. journalists located in American border cities soon followed and have stopped reporting on drug-related violence.

“Mexican journalists, because of fear for their own lives and the safety of their families, are increasingly reluctant to cover drug cartels’ violence and mayhem,” according to Lee Maril, the director of the Center for Diversity and Inequality Research (CDIR)... "What has occurred in recent months is that American reporters located in American border cities also have stopped reporting on drug-related violence across the border for the same reasons as their Mexican counterparts.”

That means no one really knows the true magnitude of the violence, though it’s apparent that the U.S. government is downplaying it. “It would seem that drug violence only stops at the Mexican border in the imaginations of Washington politicians,” Maril says, offering a recent example in Reynosa, the twin border city of McAllen in south Texas. A small local newspaper reporter dared to publish this: “Fear and panic filled the streets as rival gunmen battled during a three-hour firefight that saw automatic weapons and grenades used.”

Judicial Watch has for years reported on the discrepancy between reality and the administration’s line that the Mexican border is secure. The truth is that overwhelmed federal agents are increasingly attacked by heavily armed drug smugglers and the U.S. Border Patrol has ordered officers to avoid the most crime-infested stretches because they’re “too dangerous” and patrolling them could result in an “international incident” of cross border shooting.

The violence has inevitably spilled into U.S. communities near the southern border, forcing local law enforcement agencies to create special units dedicated to combating criminal activity related to illegal immigration and Mexican drug cartels. In the absence of federal action, border crime has risen sharply in the last decade and will only get worse, according to statistics provided to congressional leaders by frustrated Arizona authorities.

To sum things up:

• The Obama administration is preventing states like Arizona from enforcing immigration laws and reducing attendant violent crime.

• It is also trying to prevent states like Arizona from enforcing voter ID laws to ensure only legal citizens are able to cast ballots.

• And now that millions of illegal aliens are here -- including tens or hundreds of thousands of violent gang members -- the White House is letting them loose on our streets and insisting we put them on a path to citizenship (while keeping the border wide open).

Is it okay to question the Democrats' patriotism yet?


Image hat tip: PoliceMag.com.

White House Approves Program Allowing Saudi Citizens To Bypass Normal Airport Security, Wounded Marines Not So Much

As Weasel Zippers observes, "Because only 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came from the Wahhabi kingdom:"

Special Travel Benefit for Saudis a "Slap in the Face"


Saudi Arabia, the nation which produced 15 of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks, is about to become one of a handful of countries whose travelers can bypass normal passport controls at major U.S. airports. Sources tell the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) that this will mark the first time that the Saudi government will have a direct role in vetting who is eligible for getting fast-tracked for entry into the United States.

An agreement to accept Saudi Arabian applicants into the Global Entry trusted traveler program drew little notice when it was announced in January. Now, some officials question why the country merits such a benefit – which is similar to a theme park “fast pass” to avoid long lines – when other allies like Germany and France are not yet included...

Travelers approved for the program can skip the normal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lines starting next year and enter the country after providing their passports and fingerprints at a kiosk. Only Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands currently enjoy the benefit...

Would that the White House have as much concern for our military personnel:

TSA agents 'humiliated' wounded Marine with aggressive inspection: report


Transportation Security Administration inspectors forced a wounded Marine who lost both of his legs in an IED blast and who was in a wheelchair to remove his prosthetic legs at one point, and at another point to stand painfully on his legs while his wheelchair was examined, according to a complaint a congressman has registered with the TSA.

Rep. Duncan Hunter said in his letter Monday that the Marine, who is still on active duty and showed TSA agents his military identification, was still forced to undergo that scrutiny.

“A TSA office asked the Marine to stand and walk to an alternate area, despite the fact that he physically could not stand or walk on his own. With numerous TSA officers sitting and unwilling to assist, an officer then made him remove his legs, then put them back on, only to advance to a secondary screening location where he was asked again to stand, with extraordinary difficult, while his wheelchair was examined for explosives,” Mr. Hunter said.

He also said TSA officers initially directed the Marine to the wrong line, then made him move lines but made no effort to help him. The incident occurred at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport last week, as a group of Marines was returning to San Diego.

Mr. Hunter included two photos of the inspection in his letter that appear to show a TSA agent patting down the Marine’s arm and examining the prosthetic leg.

It's all about priorities with this administration.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

RESET: White House Map of Israel Uses Pre-1967 "Holocaust Borders"

How many wars have been fought and tens of thousands of Israeli lives lost fighting for the tiny strip of land that is the last bastion of Western Civilization in the Middle East? Not enough, it would seem, for the Obama administration that has decided to travel back in time to the early 20th century.

The map of the Middle East displayed in an Obama administration video released days before President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel shows the Jewish state dispossessed of substantial parts of its current territory, including its capital.

The map of Israel, displayed repeatedly during the video, shows the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, northern Israel, and areas surrounding what is currently the West Bank as non-Israeli territory...

The Golan Heights is shown as part of Syria; Jerusalem is shown as part of the West Bank; and northern Israel is shown as part of Lebanon... The itinerary on the White House website also implies that Jerusalem is neither Israel’s capital nor even part of Israel.

The president’s schedule lists two stops in “Tel Aviv, Israel” and one in “Amman, Jordan” but his activities in Israel’s capital city are identified as taking place only in “Jerusalem” — with no country name attached.

If the Obama administration wants to return the Middle East borders to those of the early 20th century, I say: let's start with Saudi Arabia!


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Transcript: Mark Levin on the Republican Party's disintegration

The brilliant Mark Levin is one of the few pundits offering blunt and honest criticism of the feckless Republican Establishment that is now in the throes of "re-branding itself".

The autopsy report. They don't even know how to name a report. The autopsy report. Here's the deal, folks: Reince Priebus was ahead of the Republican National Committee when Romney lost. Why hasn't he been fired? Why hasn't he been fired? Karl Rove ran the biggest independent PAC in America, or one of them. He won 1.3% of his races. Why do people keep promoting him? On TV, donors, and so forth. These losers are not going to save the Republican party...

...A year ago, a poll was done, it's not every year, except this year so far, and I believe it's Gallup, the political ideology of the American people. 'While 47% of Americans continue to describe their views as conservative, 35% moderate, 21% liberal. For the third straight year, conservatives outnumber moderates, after more than a decade in which moderates mainly tied or outnumbered conservatives. I'm giving you this information for a reason.

February, 1, 2013, Gallup did another poll of the individual states. Which ideology outnumbers which ideology in the states? Conservatives outnumber liberals in 47 out of the 50 states. So what's the problem here? Well, the word conservative can be a little ambiguous. But what's the real problem here? If you're going into elections and your political party, where every survey and poll shows that Americans identify themselves more as conservatives than liberals, and you can't beat Barack Obama, what's the problem here?

The problem is execution. The problem is your being outworked, you're being outsmarted. The problem is you're not standing on "conservative principles." You're not believable. You're not an alternative to Obama. You're not an alternative to Pelosi and Reid. Less and less people view you that way. I mean, I'm amazed by this. When we look at the last thirty years, who was the most successful Republican president electorally? Ronald Reagan. Of course the times have changed, but the principles haven't. Just apply them, wisely.

That's like saying, 'the times have changed, so our Constitution needs to be living and breathing.' No it doesn't! These principles are invaluable. These rights are inalienable. The fact that the modern politician in the Republican party is incapable of articulating them and applying them to modern society is the problem with that politician. The fact that the chairman of the Republican National Committee can't do it and the Speaker can't do is a problem with the Republican party and it's leadership. And damn it, if it's not changed, if these people aren't thrown out, we're going to lose. And the Republican party is going to split, and there's going to be two parties.

I liken President Obama to the Captain of the Titanic. And First Mate John Boehner, instead of sounding the alarm, is helpfully steering the mighty ship right into the iceberg.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Republican National Committee devises new plan to continue losering

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

Nation

Republican National Committee devises new plan to continue losering: AWD
The Real Reasons The Liberty Movement Is Preparing To Fight: Alt-Market
Harry Reid concurs with Ted Cruz: Dianne Feinstein is a blithering idiot: Moe Lane

Is Kerry's U.N. Weapons Treaty a Backdoor Gun Control Ploy?: RWN
CO sheriffs: we will not enforce the legislature's new gun control laws: Moe Lane
340 Sheriffs Refuse To Enforce Unconstitutional Gun Control Laws: CNS

Levin to Boehner: It’s our damn country--we want to see your amnesty plan: Scoop
GOP senators warn “Gang of Eight” on Amnesty scam: Hot Air
Feinstein Seeing Writing on the Wall?: Pagun

Economy

Food Stamps for Mexican Illegals Survive Obama Sequester: JWF
Obamacare at Three Years: Failing Small Businesses: Foundry
Saving seniors and our most vulnerable citizens from an entitlement crisis: AEI

The Labor Nominee’s Other Lies: AmSpec
Stating the obvious, once again: Ticker
The NLRB Fight Heats Up: FreeEnt

House To Hold Hearings On Sequester ‘Cuts’: S&L
$2.7M Federal Study: Lesbians Have High 'Risk for Hazardous Drinking'?: CNS
Illinois judge deals blow to retiree health care challenge: ChiBiz

Scandal Central

Congressman Trey Gowdy Presses DHS on Release of Aggravated Felons to Cut Costs: Nice Deb
ICE Chief Admits that He Didn’t Really Have to Release All Those Illegal Aliens: Tatler
The Dept. of Defense to Women: Use “Humor” and “Dialogue” to Stop a Rape: IJ Review

Media

Seven Marines Die In Nevada… Commander-In-Chief Tweets Picture Of “Snack Time”: WZ
Cyprus Quote Of The Day – Andrew Ross Sorkin – And Why He’s Wrong: Kid Dynamite
Jay-Z promotes Obama in new remix of “B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe”: RedAlert

Philadelphia Mayor Suggests Magazine Article on Race Relations Isn’t Protected by the First Amendment: Volokh
Missing Word in RNC Report: ‘Blog’: RSM
Mexican, U.S. Media Too Scared To Cover Border Crime: JW

Dingy Harry’s Long, Sordid History of Verbal Diarrhea: Nice Deb
Sarah Brady Admits Gun Ban Group Not Interested In Prosecuting Criminals: AmmoLand
Jim DeMint says Senate tipping point is “a few more Ted Cruzs”: RedAlert

World

What Reagan Knew About Missile Defense: SDI Speech 30 Years Later: Foundry
Obama Chief Of Staff: “We’re Going To Find The Votes” To Pass Assault Weapons Ban: WZ
Where Are the Benghazi Survivors?: Foundry

Obama in Israel: American Backing is Strong: Mead
President Obama’s Map of Israel Looks Like 1967: Sentinel
A New "Most Dangerous" Man in America?: TCL

Watch Out... Bipartisan Calls For Military Invovement In Syria: Ace
After Cyprus, now the eurozone is just silly: Commentator
Fraudulent Guarantees; Fictional Reserve Lending; Comparison of US to Cyprus; What About New Zealand: Mish

Why You and I Would Be Arrested in Iran: Norris
PACOM contractor arrested for sharing nuclear secrets with China: DefTech
Top US defense designer bought pirated software from Russians, Chinese: TechWorld

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Samsung Exec Confirms Upcoming Smart Watc: Gizmodo
Your Complete Guide To The SimCity Disaster: Kotaku
Twitter Patents Twitter: Mashable

Cornucopia

More on White Man Math: Ace
Hunter: TSA ‘humiliated’ Marine in wheelchair: ArmyTimes
Army’s first iPad e-book ready for download: ArmyTimes

Image: REPUBLIK of KOLORADO Shirt from IWC
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Don’t Make it Easy for the Colorado Governor

QOTD: "It does look like the decision to release [violent illegal alien] detainees was a political determination [by ICE] and not a monetary determination. It appears to me that the release of the detainees was part of a sequester campaign that included the fictional firing of teachers, the closing of the White House for student tours, the displacement of meat inspectors and now we are going to release aggravated felons—some aggravated felons onto the street." --Rep. Trey Gowdy

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

A YOUNGER, HIPPER MESSAGE: Karl Rove, John Boehner and Jeb Bush Announce Exciting Republican Re-branding!

What could go wrong having a guy like Karl Rove -- who won a neat 1.3 percent of his elections last time around -- running a GOP "re-branding" effort?


These nitwits need to go. Boehner and Rove may have hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal, but they don't have us.

They're losers. Failures.

They were swept into power in 2010 on a tidal wave of Constitutional Conservatism.

And instead of embracing it, they spit on it.

The dinosaurs in the GOP need to go. Don't give the RNC a penny. Don't give American Crossroads a cent. Donate only to candidates who embrace First Principles, who adore the Constitution, and who readily admit our dire predicament.

Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul wouldn't be in the Senate if it weren't for us. We hold the power in this country. The government serves us, not the other way around. And Boehner, Rove, and the rest of the losers are anachronisms who can and should be ignored.

As Mark Levin says, "If you’re selling a bag full of dog crap, you’re still gonna go broke."


A New Reality in U.S.-Israeli Relations [Stratfor Research]

Guest post by George Friedman, Founder and Chairman of Stratfor Research

U.S. President Barack Obama is making his first visit to Israel as president. The visit comes in the wake of his re-election and inauguration to a second term and the formation of a new Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Normally, summits between Israel and the United States are filled with foreign policy issues on both sides, and there will be many discussed at this meeting, including Iran, Syria and Egypt. But this summit takes place in an interesting climate, because both the Americans and Israelis are less interested in foreign and security matters than they are in their respective domestic issues.

In the United States, the political crisis over the federal budget and the struggle to grow the economy and reduce unemployment has dominated the president's and the country's attention. The Israeli elections turned on domestic issues, ranging from whether the ultra-Orthodox would be required to serve in Israel Defense Forces, as other citizens are, to a growing controversy over economic inequality in Israel.

Inwardness is a cyclic norm in most countries. Foreign policy does not always dominate the agenda and periodically it becomes less important. What is interesting is at this point, while Israelis continue to express concern about foreign policy, they are most passionate on divisive internal social issues. Similarly, although there continues to be a war in Afghanistan, the American public is heavily focused on economic issues. Under these circumstances the interesting question is not what Obama and Netanyahu will talk about but whether what they discuss will matter much.

GULP: Nigel Farage to Europeans: "Get Your Money Out While You Can"

Nigel Farage is a conservative British politician and an elected member of the European Parliament. Farage has been a longstanding critic of the EU and its fragile monetary structure, but even he was taken aback at the announcement that they would seize Cypriots' bank deposits.

What's really happening here is that we have an irreconcilable split between the north and south of Europe. In particular I'm thinking about Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland and there are very strong political voices saying, 'We do not want to go on bailing out southern European countries.' And bear in mind that Cyprus is now the fifth country out of 17 that's needed to be bailed out. And that is why the Germans extracted the terms that they did...

Even in my direst predictions of this parliament over the years -- about the way the EU bosses were behaving -- never did I think that they would resort, in an unprecedent manner, to stealing money from people's bank accounts...


[The EU] can't afford Cyprus to fail, it can't afford Greece to fail, Portugal, Spain, or Ireland. They know that if one country goes, the whole house of cards will come tumbling down. And countries like Germany will realize vast losses, possibly as much as one trillion Euros. So they are prepared now to do anything -- literally anything -- to try and keep the Euro afloat and that is why they've now resorted to, as I say, as what can only be described as theft.

And now they've done it one country, they're quite capable of doing it in Italy, Spain, Portugal, or anywhere else. And the message that sends to people with savings in banks in those countries is, certainly if I was them, get your money out while you can...

What the British government needs to do is to say to the hundreds of thousands of pensioners living in Spain is, for goodness sake, get your money out of that country and have a monthly transfer to pay your bills...

[The message is] Don't invest in the Eurozone. Do. Not. Invest. In the Eurozone. You've got to be mad to do so, because it's now run by people who don't respect democracy, don't respect the rule of law, don't respect the basic principles upon which Western Civilization is supposed to be based.

They are propping up a Eurozone that is, in the end, going to collapse in a disastrous failure and they're prepared to do anything to do so. I think this decision... the German-dominated nature of this decision... is the worst decision we've seen so far in this whole Eurozone crisis.

In what is perhaps a simple coincidence, Germany's Commerzbank has helpfully suggested a 15 percent wealth tax in Italy to drive government debt down to "acceptable" levels.


Larwyn's Linx: Justice Whistleblower Warns Senate on Labor Pick Perez

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

Nation

Justice Whistleblower Warns Senate on Labor Pick Perez: WFB
America's March Toward Cyprus Status: Ticker
Levin rips GOP "rebranding": Boehner, Priebus need to be ejected: Scoop

Tom Perez: The Most Radical Cabinet Nominee Ever: Adams
NASA’s Chinese Spy Problem: NoisyRm
Is Biden Making False Excuses for Obama?: Dossier

McCain and Graham, Irrelevant or Dangerous: RWN
The ammo shortage is not a conspiracy: Gun Nuts
Surprise: Campus Gun Ban Didn't Stop Shooter With IED: Sooper

Economy

Free Healthcare for Illegal Aliens: MB
Elizabeth Warren: why isn't minimum wage $22 an hour?: Malkin
Five reasons gold will hit an all-time record this year: Mining

Now they tell us: Obamacare debut will be 'messy': Exam
The first step in truly balancing the budget: Commentary
Health premiums may rise 149% to 189% in 2014: CaliHealth

Cyprus offers a scary economic lesson for America: Peth
Cyprus deal is a dangerous game: FX Street
3 Reasons Why Direct Ramifications From Cyprus Will Be Contained - Goldman Sachs: EFX News

Scandal Central

GLORY KILLER: Sandy Hook shooter wanted a new “high score”: GSL
Sandy Hook murderer had planned strike for years. Armed guards would have stopped attack.: Owens
Hellish Personal Experience With Heterosexual Marriage Drives Hillary to Endorse Gay Unions: Powers

Fed Preserves US-Mexico Food Stamp ‘Partnership,’ While USDA Prepares for Meat Inspector Furloughs: Bruce
Obama’s Middle East Map Erases Israeli Territory: WFB
GOP Should Subpoena Benghazi's Silenced Witnesses: IBD

Climate & Energy

Final ClimateGate Email Download; All 220,000 Emails Released to Selected Reviewers: Ace
The Hockey Stick, Broken Again: Power Line
A Green Politician Sees Black Gold In A Blue State: IBD

Media

Study: MSNBC Coverage Almost 100% Opinion, Fox News Includes More Factual Reporting: Mediaite
Pew 'State of the Media' Study Bemoans Weakening 'Filter,' 'Shrinking Reporting Power': NB
History Channel: Hey, sorry about that whole Obama/Satan thing.: BuzzFeed

Cavuto: What’s Happening in Cyprus Is Just Like Obamacare’s 3.8% Home Sales Tax: GWP
The CPAC 2013 Experience In Pictures: RWN
CNN Reporter Labeled 'Rape Apologist' After Steubenville Comments: Mashable

World

Speaking truth to impotence in the Middle East: Spengler
North Korean Video Propaganda: Foundry
Measuring Freedom Around the World: American

The Secret Document That Set Obama’s Middle East Policy: BRubin
An Early Morning Response To A Gun Control Advocate: Extrano's Alley
Why President Obama’s Concept of the Middle East Will Fail: Just Listen to It: BRubin

Deep Respect for the Oval Office: WZ
FrackNation: ObjStd
Hacker Begins Distributing Confidential Memos Sent To Hillary Clinton On Libya, Benghazi Attack: TSG

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Good crowdfunding: Kiva hits $400m in micro-loans, reaching 1 million borrowers: NextWeb
3D-Printed Gun Maker Gets Federal License to Sell Firearms: Mashable
Kaifu Lee Tracks How Many Of His Weibo Posts Have Been Deleted: Crunch

Cornucopia

Walter Weyl (1873-1919): The state has a “primordial, intrinsic, underlying right to all property”: Cary
Cold Comfort: Hopenchange Cartoons
Learning with Git-Some: An Approach to Poverty: Fred on Everything

Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: American Digest

QOTD: "The extraordinary Eurogroup meeting on Friday evening ended with a deal on a EUR10bn rescue package for Cyprus after lengthy discussions. From a market point of view, the most important element of the deal is that depositors in Cypriot banks will have to take a haircut. The haircut, or “upfront one-off stability levy” as it is called, is 9.99% for deposits above EUR100,000 and 6.75% for deposits below this threshold. Cypriot banks are closed for holidays today...

...The levy is being introduced despite promises that such a haircut would not take place. On 11 January, Olli Rehn said that “a haircut is not an option for us”. In the same way it was said that there would be no defaults on euro area government bonds until the Greek PSI was introduced. It is clear that such measures cannot be announced beforehand, but it certainly does not increase the credibility of promises from e.g. the European Commission.

The purpose of having deposit guarantee schemes is to avoid bank runs. Deposits up to EUR100,000 are protected under these schemes, so that depositors are fully reimbursed if a bank fails. Given that the deal on Cyprus introduces a new kind of loss for which depositors are not protected, the likelihood of bank runs has just gone up." --Frank Øland Hansen