Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: 'Bizarre Interpretation of Second Amendment' is Obstacle to UN Gun Grab

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Nation

'Bizarre Interpretation of Second Amendment' is Obstacle to UN Gun Grab: NewAm
The Obamacare Nightmare: Dossier
Sequester: your taxes propping up radical Communist groups: GWP

Wake Up America – Or There Won’t Be An America: Loudon
White House Warns Cruz, Paul, Lee Not To Filibuster Anti-Gun Bills: WZ
White House to Sheriffs: Follow Law in Enforcing Gun Control Measures: CNS

Thinking Amnesty Is Winning Issue, Obama Pivots Back To Immigration: RWN
Benghazi's Silenced Witnesses Hidden In Plain Sight?: IBD
Virginia Officially Becomes Voter I.D. State: Cowboy

Economy

Teachers Pensions: Revealing What States Are Hiding: Foundry
More than a Vacation a Month for Obamas in 2013: WS
Uber wars: Monopolist objects to start-up competitor’s political clout: AEI

Say Goodbye to the Purchasing Power of the Dollar: Peak
Why liberals are way, way too obsessed with income inequality: Peth
Most Illegal Immigrant Families Collect Welfare: JW (2011)

Scandal Central

Running The Numbers On DHS’ Ammo Purchases: FreedomPost
Obama’s ‘Fast and Furious’ Body Count Continues Rising in Mexico: Shark Tank
Missouri Subpoenaed On Backdoor Gun Registration With FEMA and DHS: GWP

Climate & Energy

There Are No High Speed Trains And There Won't Ever Be: Ace
New panel to advise EPA on ‘fracking’: Hill
President Obama’s EPA Pick Threatens Market Stability: Townhall

Media

Bringing Down America with The Company You Keep: Cube
The Left’s Thought Tyranny and the Right’s Cowardice: RWN
Mr. Conservative Offers Ms. Conservative $1,000 To Speak Her Mind About Obama: MrCon

Shocking: A Smart Idea From A Republican: Ace
Hundreds Of DHS Armored Trucks Are On The Move. Should You Be Freaking Out?: RWN
White House defends voter registration through ObamaCare: Hill

World

Kerry exposes Iranian family tie — and subjects family to blackmail: DC
White House Cancels Easter Egg Hunt, But Sends 500 Million To The Palestinians: RWN
A declaration of war against the American public?: Winter Soldier

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Report: Yahoo CEO Insists That New Hires ‘Must Hail From Ivy League Schools’: BizzyBlog
Chinese university tied to "APT1" army cyber unit: NetSec
Identifying People from Mobile Phone Location Data: Schneier

Cornucopia

So Let It Be Written: Mazel Tov!: MOTUS
Store Combats Showrooming With $5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee: Consumerist
Meet Forecast, The Web App That Has Web App Developers Drooling: TechCrunch

Image: Little Bo always finds the afikomen first
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ms. Conservative can Win $1,000 To Speak Her Mind About Obama

QOTD: "We’ve got $1 trillion annual deficits locked in for the next decade. We’ve got total credit market debt at 350% of GDP. We’ve got true unemployment exceeding 20%. We’ve had declining real wages for thirty years and no change in that trend. We’ve got an aging, savings poor, debt rich, obese, materialistic, iGadget distracted, proudly ignorant, delusional populace that prefer lies to truth and fantasy to reality. We’ve got 20% of households on food stamps. We’ve got food pantries, thrift stores and payday loan companies doing a booming business. We’ve got millions of people occupying underwater McMansions in picturesque suburban paradises that can’t make their mortgage payments or pay their utility bills, awaiting their imminent eviction notice from one of the Wall Street banks that created this societal catastrophe.

We’ve got a government further enslaving the middle class in student loan debt with the false hope of new jobs that aren’t being created. We’ve got a shadowy unaccountable organization, owned and controlled by the biggest banks in the world, that has run a Ponzi scheme called a fractional reserve lending system for 100 years, and inflated away 96% of the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar.

We’ve got a self-proclaimed Ivy League academic expert on the Great Depression (created by the Federal Reserve) who has tripled the Federal Reserve balance sheet on his way to quadrupling it by year end, who has promised QE to eternity with the sole purpose of enriching his benefactors while impoverishing senior citizens and the middle class. He will ultimately be credited in history books as the creator of the Greater Depression that destroyed the worldwide financial system and resulted in death, destruction, chaos, starvation, mayhem and ultimately war on a grand scale. But in the meantime, he serves the purposes of the financial ruling class as a useful idiot and will continue to spew gibberish and propaganda to obscure their true agenda." --Jim Quinn

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Has the Inflation Genie Escaped? "Every nation is about nine meals away from a revolution"

Really good charts spotted at Market Daily Briefing that reflect the real costs of Ben Bernanke's magical printing press, which is spewing out dollars at an unprecedented clip.

Food is important, especially when you don't have it. The rule of 3s says "3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food" but another saying is, "every nation is about nine meals away from revolution."

It was posited here that the Arab Spring was due in no small part to high food prices for peoples whose food budgets started out at around 40%. For instance, the Egyptian government had a food price support in place, and when global prices rose, it became too expensive for them to run. Down went the Egyptian government, after being in power for 40 years. Check out the "Food" column in the table below and you'll have a sense.


The CPI that a population feels when prices move depends on where it spends. In the US, the food spend is 7% of our income. So if the food price index moves from 125 to 225 (an 80% move) as it did in 2006-2008, we would see a CPI impact of about 6%. For people whose food budgets account for 46% (such as the average Pakistani), they would see a CPI impact of 36%.

Since Barack Obama took office, the real price of food has increased about 40 percent.

Combined with Bernanke's ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate) policy -- which makes it extraordinarily difficult to generate income on savings accounts, CDs and money markets -- lower- and middle-class senior citizens are among the hardest hit by the irresponsible deficit spending instigated by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.


"The Greatest Flood in World History": 100th anniversary of one of the nation's worst natural disasters

By Jeff Satterly and Robert Muhlhauser, HistoricNaturalDisasters.com

The week of March 21st through 26th marks the 100-year anniversary of one of the worst – and least talked-about - natural disasters in US history. During this week in 1913 a series of mighty storms tore through the Midwest, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing hundreds. From Nebraska to New York, and from Iowa to Louisiana, a large swath of the nation was hit by tornados, floods, rain, and snow.

First came the tornados which hit during the three day period of March 21st to the 23rd, 1913. Tearing through Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, and Indiana, these storms killed over 240 people. The worst damage was done to Omaha, which had a tornado cut right through the middle of the city. The category F4 twister threw trees through houses and flung cars miles away. Once the storm had passed through the city, fires started to burn what little was left. In all, 115 people were killed and the city suffered over $8 million in damage ($187 million in today's dollars.


After the tornados had torn through the land, the rains came. Runoff from oversaturated watersheds like the Greater Miami in Ohio led to runoff which filled the rivers and streams of the Midwest until they began to overflow their banks. Levees, dams, and bridges snapped like twigs from the pressure of the raging waters. Cities and towns were swallowed whole by the flood waters.

"No amount of propaganda can cover up the physical, economic, social, and psychological descent afflicting our world"

Jim Quinn, writing at The Burning Platform, has one hell of a wake-up call, the SparkNotes version of which follows:

... the dreadful results of retailers and restaurants even before the Obama tax increases confirms the country has been in recession since the second half of 2012. In 1979 the economy was still driven by domestic investment that accounted for 19% of GDP. Today, it wallows at all-time lows of 13%. In addition, our trade deficits, driven by debt fueled consumption, subtract 3.5% from GDP. These facts are reflected in the depressed outlook of small business owners who are the backbone of growth, hiring and entrepreneurship in this country. Small businesses of 500 employees or less employ half of all the private industry workers in the country and account for 65% of all new jobs created. There are approximately 27 million small businesses versus 18,000 large businesses. The chart below does not paint an improving picture. The small business optimism has dropped from an already low 92.8 in September 2012 to 90.8 in March 2013...


...On paper, my county appears to be thriving and healthy, with white collar professionals living an idyllic suburban existence. One small problem – the visual evidence as you travel along Welsh Road towards Montgomeryville or Germantown Pike towards Plymouth Meeting reveals a decaying infrastructure, dying retail meccas, and miles of empty office complexes.

I don’t think my general observations as I drive around Montgomery County are colored by any predisposition towards negativity. I see a gray winter like pallor has settled upon the land. I see termite pocked wooden fences with broken and missing slats. I see sagging porches. I see leaky roofs with missing tiles. I see vacant dilapidated hovels. I see mold tainted deteriorating siding on occupied houses. I see weed infested overgrown yards. I see collapsing barns and crumbling farm silos. I see houses and office buildings that haven’t been painted in 20 years. I see clock towers in strip malls with the wrong time. I see shuttered gas stations. I see retail stores with lights out in their signs. I see trees which fell during Hurricane Sandy five months ago still sitting in yards untouched. I see potholes not being filled. I see disintegrating highway overpasses and bridges. I constantly see emergency repairs on burst water mains. I see malfunctioning stoplights. I see fading traffic signage. I see regional malls with rust stained walls beneath their massive unlit Macys, JC Penney and Sears logos. I see hundreds of Space Available, For Lease, For Rent, Vacancy, For Sale and Store Closing signs dotting the suburban landscape. These sights are in a relatively affluent suburban county. When I reach West Philly, it looks more like Dresden in 1945...

Stratfor warns: "Any solution [to the European financial crisis] will involve the loss of depositors' money"

By George Friedman, Founder and Chairman, Stratfor Research

The European economic crisis has taken different forms in different places, and Cyprus is the latest country to face the prospect of financial ruin. Overextended banks in Cyprus are teetering on the brink of failure for issuing loans they cannot repay, which has prompted the tiny Mediterranean country, a member of the European Union, to turn to Brussels for help. Late Sunday, the European Union and Cypriot president announced new terms for a bailout that would provide the infusion of cash necessary to prevent bankruptcies in Cyprus' banking sector and, more important, prevent a banking panic from spreading to the rest of Europe.

What makes this crisis different from the previous bailouts for Greece, Ireland or elsewhere are the conditions Brussels has attached for its assistance. Due to circumstances unique to Cyprus, namely the questionable origin of a large chunk of the deposits in its now-stricken banking sector and that sector's small size relative to the overall European economy, the European Union, led by Germany, has taken a harder line with the country. Cyprus has few sources of capital besides its capacity as a banking shelter, so Brussels required that the country raise part of the necessary funds from its own banking sector -- possibly by seizing money from certain bank deposits and putting it toward the bailout fund. The proposal has not yet been approved, but if enacted it would undermine a formerly sacred principle of banking in most industrial nations -- the security of deposits -- setting a new and possibly destabilizing precedent in Europe.

Larwyn's Linx: Dispatches from the Memory Hole

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Nation

Dispatches from the Memory Hole: Driscoll
No Guns, No School: Liberal Racism In Obama's Chicago: IBD
Bloomberg's bodyguards to carry guns in Bermuda, overriding its laws:

Chief Justice Roberts Meet Obamacare: NoisyRm
NYC Mayor Bloomberg: Government has right to ‘infringe on your freedom’: RWN
More embarrassment for Bloomberg’s anti-gun mayors group: CFP

Mark Kelly’s ‘Assault Weapon’ Purchase Rescinded By Dealer: GraniteGrok
Harry Reid's about to get a letter, and he's not going to like it: Blaze
Obama Calls For “Political Courage” To Ram Amnesty Down Our Throats: WZ

Economy

Obamacare Isn't Forever, But What's Next Is Worse: Power Line
Teachers Unions Panic as Walker Moves to Grow School Vouchers: Greenfield
Slovenia Under Pressure; Risk of Next Cyprus Already at Hand: Mish

Cyprus Border Guards Seizing Money From Suitcases: Ace
Real estate market’s demographic problem: “the most depressing” chart ever: LI
Diversity Commission is Abuse of Taxpayer and Tuition Funds: Caffeinated

Scandal Central

Army Captain Demands DHS Give Up Their Weapons Of War: FreedomOutpost
Justice attorneys wary of Perez’s nomination for Labor, cite ‘most devastating indictment’: Times
Exclusive: Congressional Ethics Probe Adds to Michele Bachmann’s Political Woes: Beast

Climate & Energy

Obama Administration Plans to Spend $150 Million for Green Energy Projects : Foundry

Media

Why Liberals Still Detest Fox News: Commentary
Wayne LaPierre Cleaned Nanny Bloomberg’s Clock on Meet The Press, Yesterday: Nice Deb
Note to press: Barack Obama is HIDING from you.: Moe Lane

Ageism In Strangest Places: Driscoll
Imam plots to block Pamela Geller’s talk on sharia at Long Island synagogue: Creeping
About Rule 5s and Female Bloggers: MagNote

Noted Anti-Semite Believes That Hostility to Bloomberg's Anti-Gun Agitation is Probably Anti-Semitic: Ace
Flashback: Al Sharpton Led Marchers Chanting “Kill The Jews”…: WZ
Sarah Palin Rocks An NBA Game In A Chick-Fil-A T-Shirt: RWN

World

Cyprus, Amazing what you can do to an unarmed populace: DTG
Laiki Bank of Cyprus Closed With Billions in Losses... But Losses on What?: TAB
What to look for in the Cyprus deal: Marginal Revolution

'Syrian army no longer in control of Israel border region': Hayom
Little Outcry as Saudis Bulldoze Islam's Holiest Shrines: IPT
Muslims Pressing for Blasphemy Laws in Europe: Gatestone

€urosclerosis: Cyprus, and Spain: First Street Journal
Another "Euro Is Saved" Moment in Pictures: Mish
An apology to Prime Minister Erdogan: Matzav

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

10 Ways Samsung's Galaxy S4 Is Better Than The iPhone 5 (AAPL): SFGate
A Transaction Tax is Not The Solution To HFT: P&F
Don't make users a security punching bag: DarkReading

Cornucopia

'Soup Commie' Bloomberg Denounces 'Food Freedom' as Bourgeois Oppression: Cube
The Best Quotes From “Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin”: RWN
7 words guaranteed to make you a better writer: The Week

Image: The People's Cube
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BadBlue Gun News

QOTD: "Human beings are social creatures; we form and dissolve bonds as insignificant as marketplace transactions to bonds as formal as constitutions, laws, and treaties between tribes and nations. All people belonging to a group have accepted a social contract to live within the laws of their group, tribe, or nation… but what if the nation’s governors no longer acts within the bonds they has set for the nation? What should a people do, when the government has become irrevocably compromised, or corrupted, or tyrannical?

....The people of Cyprus have the right to revolt against their government for this outright theft. They may protest peacefully. They may protest violently. They may even wage an insurrection if it comes to it, and they would be morally justified in doing so.

The government of Cyprus failed in its stewardship of the nation’s finances, and they failed to be good trustees. When a trust fails, it is right that it be dissolved." --Bob Owens

Monday, March 25, 2013

"Willful Ignorance Is Not an Excuse"

Bloomberg -- the news service, not the idiot mayor -- reports that:

...politicians such as President Barack Obama to House Speaker John Boehner say the U.S. doesn’t face an immediate debt crisis.

Refuting this madness is Karl Denninger, who likens America to a typical, middle-class household.

Let's assume that a few years ago you had $51,000 in annual income, about average.

You also, however, had $180,000 in debt, and most of your debt is in a balloon note mortgage that has to be rolled over every three years. That is, every three years you must find someone who will write you a new mortgage, or you're out of your house...

Now let's step forward a few years to today.

Your income has dropped somewhat to $48,980, which is a bit below average, but not by too much. That's a 4% reduction, incidentally.

But your debt is now $328,660, or very close to double what it was five years ago. The reason your debt has increased is that you spent $70,760 last year, and in fact have been doing this for the last five years -- spending dramatically more than you took in. You had a couple of very bad years for income, but never cut back on your spending -- and in fact you still aren't back to where you were on income five years previous.

You believe there is no "debt crisis" because the cost of borrowing all that money has gone down in interest rate terms. But this is a chimera, because you didn't borrow all the money for 30 years, locking in your cost -- instead, in order to make your spending better than it would otherwise be, you have borrowed a huge percentage of this money on a short-term basis which still must be rolled over every couple of years!

Your debt:income ratio has deteriorated by about a factor of two in the last five years.

"No immediate crisis"? Says who? That's not under your control because you neither control your income nor can you compel anyone to roll that debt over at a favorable cost.

You are currently enjoying this cheap lending because people are scared, in fact, that all of their other options for the use of their capital will result in huge losses, while they believe you are "safer" in this regard.

This is not good, it's bad.

The numbers used above are, in fact, the federal budget and debt figures with some zeroes and such lopped off.

Denninger outlines the results of two scenarios:

a) Status quo - the economy doesn't improve, but people continue to lend you money at low rates primarily due to fear. Eventually confidence is lost in your ability to repay and, one day, the debt can't be rolled over. That is when bankruptcy occurs, suddenly and with absolute certainty.

b) Improvement - the economy improves to the point where interest rates rise; your ability to make payments becomes harder and harder, which causes interest rate demands to increase, and so on. A crisis ensues.


The most basic financial advice ever uttered is TANSTAAFL - "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

Yet there are those who claim that the Fed's endless money-printing is somehow different. Here's a preview of coming attractions for you drones, media clowns and related Obama sycophants: it ain't different this time.


RED ALERT: Harry Reid's Gun Ban Bill to Include Universal Registration and Prohibit Veterans From Owning Firearms

Any day now, Senate Majority Leader Harry "Land Deal" Reid will introduce a bill that erases the Second Amendment from your Bill of Rights.

...the number of the bill we are fighting is S. 649. Harry Reid introduced it on Thursday and brought it directly onto the Senate calendar. This means the bill can now come up at any time — probably soon after the Easter recess is over.

Second, the bill is a lot worse than even we anticipated.

We expected it to contain the Veterans Gun Ban, which would mean that you would sell, gift, or raffle a gun in America at the risk of a 15-year prison sentence because of something you didn't know about the veteran/buyer.


But, surprisingly to us, the Far Left has convinced Reid to include the original Schumer version of the Universal Registry Bill. This would ban private sales of firearms, unless purchasers first get the permission from the government. If Senators can pass this de facto registration bill, they will be well on the way to confiscation (see, for example, Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York, who has a gun owner registry and has called for gun confiscation)... If this bill is passed, Senators will claim that they “broke the back” of gun owners in America.

....as we predicted, anti-gun zealots have begun to use the "ObamaCare Paradigm" to threaten, bribe, and coerce senators into submission on the most far-reaching aspects of gun control, including Feinstein's proposal to ban shotguns, rifles and handguns that millions of Americans legally own. So if the "motion to proceed" to S. 649 is adopted with 60 votes, then Feinstein's ban could be passed in the Senate with only 50 votes (plus Biden).

Already, articles are being published to intimidate any Democratic Senator who votes against any gun control and threatening them with the prospect of facing an anti-gun primary challenger — just like we saw on ObamaCare.

ACTION: The strategy remains: We need to defeat this bill by filibustering and voting down the “motion to proceed” to S. 649. Please contact your senators and distribute this alert far and wide.

Click here to send your Senators a prewritten email message.

Show up at their offices with a delegation during the congressional recess. Rally and conduct demonstrations and call-a-thons and writing campaigns. Know that the anti-gun Left will be doing the same.

As an aside, I wonder whether anyone in the media has the slightest interest in finding out how Harry Reid -- a lifelong "public servant" -- has amassed such a huge fortune, which is likely in excess of $10 million.


Department of Education Quotes Genocidal Maniac on its Website

But there's nothing to cut in the federal government!

The Department of Education has come under fire for showcasing an ‘inspirational quote’ from the Chinese dictator Mao Zedong on its site ‘Kids Zone’ which is produced by it’s auxiliary organization the National Center for Education Statistics.

‘Our attitude towards ourselves should be ‘to be satiable in learning’ and towards others ‘to be tireless in teaching.”


Red State, a conservative blog, took to Twitter to point out that Mao Zedong ‘murdered 65 million people...'

After a ruckus was raised, the quote was quickly expunged.

You may recall that former Obama Communications Director Anita Dunn was also an unabashed admirer of Mao. Whether she found his human rights record or his commitment to religious tolerance most appealing is currently unclear.


Hat tip: BadBlue Uncensored News.

Larwyn's Linx: Universal Background Checks: the Liberal Holy Grail

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

Nation

Universal Background Checks: the Liberal Holy Grail: AT
Bloomberg: Lawmakers Who Vote Against Gun Control Will ‘Pay a Price’: Blaze
The Top 7 anti-gun liberals who are heavily armed: Hawkins

Illinois' Obamacare Troubles: "Train Wreck": Reason
Detroit Bracing for Regime Change: Mead
Obama’s favorite gun control lawyer bumped off SCOTUS ‘fast-track’: Exam

Reid Wins Lie of the Week: Absurd Deficit Reduction Claim: LoneCon
Senate Votes To Hammer Americans With New Online Sales Taxes: Hawkins
Without Reform, Medicaid Expansion Will Bankrupt Texas: RWN

Economy

As VP, Biden Has Been Flying To Delaware on the Weekends: Dossier
New Demands Every Half-Hour From IMF; Can Cyprus Be Saved?: Mish
University apologizes for "Stomping Jesus" assignment: Clash

Merkel's Vision: "United States of Germany": Mish
A generation of Cypriots are about to be badly hurt: SpecUK
The Dollar and the Real Inflation Story: Safe Haven

Scandal Central

Bullets and Rumors: Daily Interlake
2700 DHS Assault Vehicles and…2700 More?…And Ammo?…And Trucks With Gun Turrets?: MagNote
Watchdog: Vets Affairs chairman Miller calls for top VA official’s ouster: Instapundit

Climate & Energy

The Engineer Behind the Climate Change Train Wreck: LI
Fracking and Frackers Continue Expanding Oil Production: ObjStd
Unending Winter = Gore mockery gold: ‘Come shovel the global warming off my driveway, Al Gore’: Twitchy

Media

The "Uncle Tom-ing" of Ben Carson Begins: Breitbart
NRA's LaPierre: Why Don't Media Ask Obama Why Chicago Is Last in Enforcing Gun Laws?: NB
Who's Coming For Your Guns?: PennLive

AP Wins Case Limiting Fair Use: OTB
I Got Kicked Out Of An “Independent Media Convention” Today: SAB
Marxist Propagandist and World's Dumbest Blogger Matthew Yglesias Buys $1.2 Million Mansion: MB

Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ Ad Stereotypes Gun Owners: TAG
Where has all the ammo gone?: American Rifleman
Did Gun Friendly Cartoons from the 1970s Influence Who We Are Now?: Heels & Handguns

Al Arabiya Reports That Obama Admin Has Sent $500 Million to Palestinian Authority: NB
Maher Calls Americans 'Morons' Moments Before Referencing Non-Existent Senate Gerrymandering: NB
CBS apologizes for ‘Amazing Race’ commie propaganda; American Legion accepts: Twitchy

World

After $500M to ‘Palestine’, Obama vows $200M to Jordan, $500M to foreign readers: Creeping
Rumor Mill Runs Wild: Assad Shot By Bodyguard – Hospitalized in Damascus: GWP
Militant Muslims Cutting Out Tongues: Ibrahim

Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Works His Magic: Israel Now at War With Syria?: RSM
Pig-flying moment: San Francisco Examiner runs Geller/Spencer rebuttal to hit piece: Atlas
Even though the Marine Corps is getting gutted, the mission isn't: One Marine's View

Morsi issues ominous threat to his opposition in Egypt: Scoop
Report: Assad Confirmed Dead, Iran Attempts To Control Syria Army: INA
Russia Loses Out as Cyprus Reaches Deal: CNBC

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Each family dinner adds up to benefits for adolescents: USA Today
Death by Twitter: RefBrok
Oracle Is Bleeding At The Hands Of Database Rivals: Crunch

Cornucopia

A Jackass in the Desert does not a Messiah Make: MOTUS
Supposedly Dead MMA Fighter Robs Gun Store From Beyond The Grave: DeadSpin
Joe Weider, legendary bodybuilding and fitness icon, dies at 93: LAT

Image: Israeli army retaliates with missile in Golan Heights
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BadBlue Financial News - badblue.com/money

QOTD: "I mean, let me give you the real sad thing though. Let me hold up a mirror right now to the whole national news media and the White House. I just got the track data from Syracuse University of enforcement of federal gun laws. Last time I was here, I brought it from 2011; it just came out from 2012.

Do you know where Chicago ranks in terms of enforcement of the federal gun laws? Out of 90 jurisdictions in the country, they ranked 90th. Why doesn’t NBC News start with, “Shocking news on Chicago. Of all the jurisdictions in the country, Chicago’s dead last on enforcement of the federal gun laws?” Why doesn’t the national press corps, when they’re sitting down there with Jay Carney and the president and the vice president, why don’t they say, “Why is Chicago dead last in enforcement of the gun laws against gangs with guns, felons with guns, drug dealers with guns?" --NRA executive Wayne LaPierre, responding to gun law violator David Gregory

Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Next Phase of the Financial Meltdown in Cyprus: an "Unimaginable" and Vicious Policy is Being Considered

The editor-in-chief of the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini asserts that an "unimaginable" solution is on the table.

The main question surrounds the future of the island’s largest lender, Bank of Cyprus. If unsecured deposits (above 100,000 euros) at all Cypriot banks are taxed then large savings at Bank of Cyprus are likely to be taxed between 20 and 25 percent. If the levy is not imposed on deposits at other lenders, the haircut for Bank of Cyprus customers will be much larger.


The option of a full bail in of Bank of Cyprus depositors is still on the table. As with the Popular Bank of Cyprus (Laiki), which is to go through a resolution process, the full bail in option could lead to deposits above 100,000 euros being lost. The only compensation for unsecured depositors will be shares in the “good” bank that will be created by a possible merger between the "healthy" Laiki and Bank of Cyprus entities.

Just a week ago the entire financial world shuddered when Cypriot banks were to "tax" (i.e., steal) 12 to 15 percent of deposits.

Now the act of total confiscation of these accounts is on the table.

This is lawlessness. And Statist cheerleaders like Henry Blodget and Paul Krugman support the policies that will bring Cyprus to our shores.


WARMAL COLDING: United Kingdom suffers longest winter in 50 years, deep freeze said responsible for 5,000 deaths

The chubby grifter Al "Gorezeera" Gore hardest hit.

[England] is on track to suffer its coldest March in more than 50 years as conservationists warned that the prolonged winter weather was damaging wildlife... The unrelenting cold weather is showing no signs of slowing this week as snow continues to fall across the North.


...Friday will see a return of heavier snow storms, which will spread further south to the Midlands. The Central England Temperature – covering an area bounded by Lancashire, Bristol and London – shows temperatures have been 2.8C lower than normal for the month.

The last time March was so cold was in 1962, when the average temperature was 2.4C (36F) – or 4.1C below the norm...

Every prediction made by the climate crooks has been wrong. They can't tell us what the weather will be on Wednesday, but they can predict what will happen to temperatures decades from now?


Free speech rights? What free speech rights?

A township in Michigan thinks it can restrict certain kinds of signs.

Farmer, township at odds over M-6 signs


Signs on semi trailers criticize Obama, socialism

A cattle farmer is fighting a Gaines Township zoning ordinance to keep a couple of trailer-sized political signs on his property.

A crowd is expected in 63rd District Court Friday as Vern Verduin takes on Township officials who are trying to force him to remove his signs[, which] are visible from M-6, are posted on two semi-truck trailers parked in Verduin's pasture.


One reads "Marxism/Socialism = Poverty & hunger." The other reads "Obama's 'mission accomplished.' 8% unemployment. 16 trillion debt."

"I felt that things were going in the wrong direction," he said... [and] as a farmer, he's concerned especially about hunger and poverty... But the signs have put him at odds with the leaders of Gaines Township, for whom he has worked as a volunteer firefighter for years.

The Township cited him for violating its sign ordinance, which restricts the size of political signs to 20 square feet... But under the ordinance, you can have a bigger sign to sell a product than to sell an idea.

"You can have a 32-foot advertising sign. I don't get that," said Verduin... That commercial element is why Verduin's lawyer thinks his client will win in court. The US Constitution, he says, gives political speech more protection than it does commercial speech.

...Verduin said he could have avoided the fight but has been encouraged by the response he said he has received from people who have driven by and seen his signs- -- especially those from countries where free speech is limited... "One guy gives me a big ol' bear hug. You know, used broken English. So that helped me continue on," he said.

I'd like to think Verduin would win the case in a default judgment, but since we're living in a post-Constitutional Republic (thanks, Chief Justice Roberts!), one never knows.


Hat tip: BB.

PICS: "I don't know why I can't get a good job"

From the invaluable Chicago Tribune Mugshot Gallery (remember, "defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty and convicted"):


In related news from the magnificent gun-free city of Chicago:

7 shot in nightclub

Man shot in head over double-parked car

9-year-old charged in McDonald's armed robbery also arrested in carjacking

Thanks to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and longstanding Democrat policies, Chicago is slowly but surely morphing into a larger version of Detroit.


Larwyn's Linx: A Once Great Nation

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

Nation

A Once Great Nation: TL In Exile
Walter E. Williams On Nullification: Brilliant!: Roanoke Tea Party
15 Members of Congress Demand Explanation of DHS Ammo Buys: WZ

Obama uses radio address to push anti-gun oppression: LibertyZone
Senate Dems Vote To Provide Obamacare To Illegal Aliens: WZ
CT Gov. Malloy plotting to ram through “emergency” gun control bill: Owens

Economy

Higher Ed bubble in two charts: LI
No Money for Air Traffic Control, But $500 million for Hamas: WyBlog
The Green Jobs Fraud: Foundry

Reality bites: French scrap 75% tax on the rich: Mead
Illegal Immigrants film TV ad lobbying to be covered by Obamacare : MRC
Perry, lawmakers want state’s gold back in Texas: San Marcos

Obama administration unblocks $500 million for Palestinians: Breitbart
Pint-sized, would-be dictator to launch $12M anti Bill of Rights campaign: Blaze
How To Protect Your Retirement Assets From The Coming Crash: Forbes

Scandal Central

DHS Fast and Furious OIG report fed to Los Angeles Times, not to public: Exam
Jeanine Pirro and Chairman of House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte Discuss ICE Chief’s Testimony: Nice Deb
DHS buys 1.6 billion rounds "for practice"? But they're hollow-points.: MagNote

Climate & Energy

The EPA spiraling out of control: Foster's
Hooray! It’s Earth Hour Today! Which Is Worse For The Climate!: Cove
Warmist: We Need A New Democracy Where Gov’t Tells You How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Cove

Media

The 1% Progressive Bloggers Club and the Bourgeois Dialectic of Comrade Yglesias: RSM
Ma'am, We're Here to Help: Day by Day
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg eyes political push on immigration: Politico

Krauthammer: Senate Democrats Budget 'Marches Us Off a Cliff Into Greece and Perhaps Cyprus': NB
Terrorist Bill Ayers is now a feted ‘visiting scholar’ at Minnesota State University Moorhead: DC
The 2012 Primaries Could Have Been Worse: Ace

World

E*Trade is a top advertiser on Al Jazeera America: Creeping
Iran's Shahab Family of Missiles: Cryptome
Senate votes 53-46 to stop US from joining UN Arms Trade Treaty: Hill

Palin: If anyone else said what Obama said in Israel, they'd have been skewered and pilloried forever: Scoop
Erdogan: We are elevating Turkey to a position of power, as it was in the past: Scoop
Cyprus endgame: What happens if its banks collapse?: CNN

Syrian troops fire on Israelis in the Golan: Matzav
Meet the Left’s Founding Fathers (2012): CDN
Ultra-Rich Russians Hire Fake Ambulances To Drive Them Through Traffic: Jalopnik

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Hacker maps web because YOU have a default router password: Commentator
The 20 most fascinating accidental inventions: CSM
Starting A Business Using Twitter: P&F

Cornucopia

Preserve Your Dictator! (An Infomercial): Cube
10 Awesome Pro-Gun Graphics: RWN
Classic Maserati Found in Barn: CarBuzz

Image: Senate Dems Vote To Provide Obamacare To Illegal Aliens
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Issues An Appeal For Help

QOTD: "Try to imagine for a moment what would happen if Prime Minister Netanyahu would speak before American students at Columbia University and call on them to rise up and demand that their politicians block any gun control legislation or encourage the students to act determinedly against President Obama's health care law. What an uproar such an act would have caused in the US and the world over – and justifiably so. The prime minister of Israel, the headlines would say, is intervening in the most sensitive issues of American politics.

Obama took off his gloves during his speech in Jerusalem. In front of a captive and adoring audience, he called on young Israelis to wake up, stop being indifferent and take their future into their own hands. He urged them to prod their politicians into action and push them toward achieving peace with the Palestinians while not ignoring the facts related to demographics, security and the occupation. The call was perfectly packaged in thousands of beautiful words that evoked a sense of security and calm in every Israeli – mainly because they were spoken by the president of the United States.

But the truth cannot be ignored: In his speech, Barack Obama encouraged the Israeli public to rebel... Despite the expressions of fondness toward Netanyahu, the American president does not believe the Israeli leader. He does not believe his statements and does not trust his intentions vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue." --Attila Somfalvi

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Thomas Perez, Obama Nominee for Secretary of Labor, Said to Have Lied Under Oath

Thomas "New Black Panthers" Perez is Eric Holder's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and President Obama's current nominee for Secretary of Labor.  The President of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, has been on Perez like white on rice.

Of Perez, Fitton says, "[He] has shown a glaring inability to follow his sworn duties to tell the truth and dispassionately apply the basic constitutional tenet of equal justice under law."

“Time and again in recent years, Judicial Watch has exposed Mr. Perez’s repeated attempts to undermine those seeking to assure that the laws of the land are applied equally to those of all races.  Mr. Perez’s attacks on election integrity measures such as voter ID were so far off base that he helped the DOJ earn a reputation as a partisan campaign arm for the Obama reelection campaign.

“As Secretary of Labor, Mr. Perez would be in a position to push policies broadly discriminate against American workers who failed to meet his own, thoroughly racialist worldview. Furthermore, based upon his relentless record both in and out of government, there can be little doubt that he would continue to put his personal preference for illegal immigrants above the rights of all workers of any race to equal employment opportunity.

“Mr. Perez is a terrible, hyper-partisan choice for Labor Secretary.  Honest Democrats and Republicans who want the Labor Department to be run well should look skeptically at his nomination.”

...Documents obtained from the Obama Department of Justice in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit directly contradicted sworn testimony by Perez before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political leadership was involved in the DOJ decision to abandon its own voter intimidation lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The Black Panther Party had been charged with threatening and intimidating white voters outside a Philadelphia polling station on Election day 2008.

In July 2012, Judicial Watch obtained a ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Perez had, indeed, lied under oath about the involvement of “political leadership” in the DOJ decision. In the ruling, Judge Reggie B. Walton declared:

“The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case, which would appear to contradict Assistant Attorney General Perez’s testimony that political leadership was not involved in that decision.”

The DOJ’s Office of Inspector General recently released a report entitled “A Review of the Operations of the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division,” which confirms the court’s ruling: “We believe that these facts evidence ‘involvement’ in the decision by political appointees within the ordinary meaning of that word,” and that Perez’s statements, “did not capture the full extent of that involvement.”  The report also documents that Perez does not believe in the race-neutral application of certain civil rights laws.

Also in 2012, Judicial Watch discovered that Perez may have colluded with St. Paul, Minnesota, officials to persuade the city to take the extraordinary step of withdrawing its cert petition from the Supreme Court docket in a case involving “disparate impact” discrimination. Documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Minnesota Data Practices Act showed that St. Paul City Attorney Sara Grewing arranged a meeting between Perez, and Mayor Chris Coleman a week before the city’s withdrawal from the case, captioned Magner v. Gallagher. Following Perez’s visit, the city withdrew its case and thanked DOJ and officials at HUD for their involvement.

Documents and a staff briefing with the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform revealed in September 2012 that, in exchange for St. Paul dropping its case before the high court, DOJ stopped two whistleblower claims against the city with the power to restore $180 million in violated HUD grants to the U.S. taxpayer.  The Wall Street Journal confirmed Judicial Watch’s concerns an investigation of its own and noted that the issues is “likely to get high billing” at Perez’s confirmation proceedings.

Perez is a former president of the board of Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland, CASA de Maryland, a group whose recent filings with the IRS describe its chief goals as  helping all people “participate and benefit fully” in American society, “regardless of their immigration status.” In opposing the Perez nomination, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeff Sessions (D-AL), described CASA, which was supported by Hugo Chavez, as “a fringe advocacy group that has instructed illegal immigrants on how to escape detection, and also promoted illegal labor sites and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.”

Perez helped spearhead the DOJ’s attack on SB 1070, Arizona’s illegal immigration enforcement law, also the DOJ’s legal attacks against states that attempted to implement voter integrity measures in 2012, including Voter ID laws.

In other words, Thomas Perez is a radical, lawless hack wearing the costume of a government official.  His oath of office was a joke, a prank on all Americans.

He must be refused the consent of the Senate.  His employment must be terminated with extreme prejudice.



TYRANNY: New Yorker faces three years in jail for drawing 'unlicensed gun' on home invader

How much more of this lawless insanity will New Yorkers tolerate?

There’s no Jessica’s Law in New York. Child pedophiles get shorter sentences than this...

But if you are George Bardwil and you are trying to protect yourself and your home, you face three years in jail because [your] gun was ‘unlicensed.’ George Bardwil allegedly pulled a .40-cal. Sig Sauer on the burglar. Without firing any shots, the burglar ran away like a little coward and Bardwil saved his home and himself. So what’s his reward? Possibly three years in jail.

###

Man faces 3 years in jail for pulling ‘unlicensed’ gun on burglar inside his home

A Manhattan millionaire faces three years in jail for drawing an unlicensed gun on a burglar inside his home.

George Bardwil, who owns linen company Bardwil Home, was in his E Street apartment when an intruder came into his home in January... Bardwil, 60, threatened the intruder with a loaded .40 cal Sig Sauer. The man fled and Mr. Bardwil called the police.

After showing the cops footage from his home surveillance cameras, they arrested him under suspicions of owning an illegal firearm... “There’s no dispute that George was being burglarized,” [his lawyer] said. “George had been the victim of multiple burglaries, and the DA’s office concedes that it was used in self defense.”

How many lawyers, politicians, judges and media hacks does it take to understand the Second Amendment?

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."


"Damn, fellas, I got some Dominican hookers waitin' for me."

Which is, I hear, the full quote from this story.

In the last batch of amendment votes to the budget, the Senate voted on several foreign policy proposals... Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment that would prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty in order to uphold the Second Amendment. His amendment passed on a 53-46 vote...


Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said he thought it was irresponsible to be considering major foreign policy decisions at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Candy Crowley was unavailable for comment.


LIST: Here are the 20 Obamacare Turncoats in the U.S. Senate

From the invaluable Senate Conservatives Fund:
Fellow Conservatives:

As you know, U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) forced a vote on an amendment last week to defund Obamacare. The Democrats defeated the amendment, but all 45 Republicans voted in favor of it even though some in the party don't want to fight the issue anymore.

But the real test for Republicans came this week when the Senate held the final vote on the bill that funds Obamacare. 

As we expected, a large group of Republicans flip-flopped and helped the Democrats pass the legislation.

Here are the 20 Republicans who voted to give the Obama Administration the funding it needs to implement Obamacare. The highlighted senators are running for re-election in 2014.

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)

Hatch (R-UT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Wicker (R-MS)

These senators want voters to know they oppose Obamacare, but they aren't willing to do what is necessary to actually stop it. They give lip service to conservative principles, but won't make real sacrifices to deliver for the American people.

Senator Mitch McConnell's vote for the Obamacare funding bill was especially disappointing. He not only supported the Cruz-Lee amendment to defund Obamacare, he also gave a speech at CPAC last week where he stood next to thousands of pages of Obamacare regulations and vowed to fight them. If he were serious, he would have opposed the bill that funds the implementation of those very same regulations.

Republicans like Senator McConnell won't oppose spending bills like this one because they're afraid of being blamed for a government shutdown. This fear is crippling the Republican Party. Until its leaders face the ghosts of 1995 and stand up to President Obama, there is little hope that things in Washington will change.

You will be pleased to know that all eight of the Senators SCF helped elect over the past two elections opposed the Obamacare funding bill, along with a majority of Republicans in the Senate. 

NEW ARKANSAS POLL

Our efforts to expose U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) are beginning to pay off in a very big way. 

We released the results of joint SCF-Club for Growth Action poll this week showing a significant decline in Senator Pryor's image over the past two months. This is a direct result of the advertising our two organizations have funded this year to highlight his record.

Senator Pryor has gone from a +28 Favorable/Unfavorable spread among likely voters (53/25) to even (36/36), a 28-point drop. In addition, the number of Arkansans who now view Mark Pryor as a "liberal" has nearly doubled, going from 26% in a January survey to 47% now, a strong plurality of respondents. 

We must continue and expand this effort so voters in Arkansas know the truth about Senator Pryor. The Democrats are not going to give up on him and will probably spend money to help him soon.

Please make a contribution to the Senate Conservatives Fund today so we can continue our efforts to expose Mark Pryor's liberal record.

Thank you for supporting the principles of freedom that make this country great. We'll keep fighting.

Best regards,

Matt Hoskins
Executive Director
Senate Conservatives Fund

Please consider donating to the Senate Conservatives Fund. If these the RINO mush-mouthes won't fight, they need to be fired.


Black Smoke [Papa B]

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