Thursday, April 04, 2013

Epic fail by analytics company Sitemeter: forgets to renew domain name

Tens of thousands of websites rely upon Sitemeter to provide tracking capabilities: to find out who's been linking to their sites, to count the number of visitors, and so forth. Well, it would appear that the folks who run the service forgot the first rule of Internets:

Nice home page!


Sure enough:



Larwyn's Linx: Obama mocks gun owner concerns as ‘ginned-up fears’

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

Nation

Obama mocks gun owner concerns as ‘ginned-up fears’: Scoop
Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment: AIM
Levin: This is the Most Irresponsible President Ever: Scoop

As ObamaCare crumbles, Obama returns to--Can you guess?--fundraising: IBD
Carney: If you like your gun, you can keep your gun: WZ
Convicted Terrorist Kathy Boudin Teaches at Columbia University: RWN

Startling Border Discoveries: "Worst Thing I've Ever Seen": Blaze
Shaking the moss off the GOP: Wolf
“Hobby Lobby Granted Full Hearing on HHS Mandate”: Wisdom

Economy

What Sequester? Stars Align at the White House: Breitbart
Good Times still Rolling at the White House: Dossier
City Recruits Minority Lifeguards Even if They Can’t Swim: JW

Medicare Advantage Survives—for Now: Foundry
Fools Never Learn: Mish
Kansas Legislators Take on the Teachers Unions: Foundry

Scandal Central

Obamacare "Navigators": A Criminal Enterprise Waiting to Happen: Marfdrat
Schumer: Senate Gang’s Bill ‘Has Legalization First, Then We’ll Make Sure the Border is Secure’: Tatler
JUST SAY NO: Reid’s Gun Control Bill Allows the Beginnings of a National Gun Registry: Foundry

Climate & Energy

$1.2 Billion in Cash Goes to Energy Projects, Despite Sequestration: Foundry
Time to End Subsidies for the Chevy Volt and Other Electric Cars: Moran
IRS Gives Big Cash to Big Wind: CFP

Media

Guess How Piers Morgan keeps people from trespassing?: Malkin
Obama senior adviser laments Drudge Report effect on the news: Exam
Krauthammer: ObamaCare An Arbitrary System That "Nobody Else Has Devised In The History Of Man": RCP

The Open-Borders “Journalists” Who Banned “Illegal Immigrant”: Malkin
NYT Spreads Obama's Bad '40 Percent' Lie on Background Checks for Gun Buys: MRC
Ted Cruz explains opposition to UN Arms Treaty and universal background checks: Scoop

Stockman Destroys Enron Adviser Paul Krugman: Mish
Progressives: “How Do We Guns?”: Loesch
Amanda Marcotte Feels Need to Weigh In on High-Schooler-Who-Asked-Kate-Upton-to-Prom: Ace

World

Military buildup in China near North Korean border continues as tanks, armored vehicles spotted: WFB
North Korean Threat: Another U.S. Reversal: Foundry
IAF jets strike Gaza: Matzav

"Nuke Up Fast": Gatestone
Hey, Hillary: How did Syria's rebels get this gun?: PatriotUpdate
Pictures: That Chechen skyscraper fire: Commentator

U.S. missile defense shield sent to Guam to counter N. Korea threat: ArmyTimes
W.H. encourages Democrats to rush immigration bill through Congress: Exam
As punishment, Saudi Arabia to paralyse 24-year-old man: Commentator

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

China Deaths Spark Concern About Novel Avian Flu Strain: Science
Vending machines deliver 3D-printed goods designed by the consumer: Springwise
Alan Kay rips into Apple: Fortune

Tor Hidden-Service Passive De-Cloaking: WhiteHatSec
Blocking zero-day application exploits: A new approach for APT prevention: NetSec
The Quiet Revolution in Programming: Dr. Dobbs

Cornucopia

Leftist who calls himself Laurence Walsh on Twitter threatens to shoot and kill Dana Loesch and her family: FAM
The Royal Berk: C&S
Today's Free Stuff: Sondrakistan

Image: Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by:

QOTD: "I had the fortune or misfortune to learn how to read fluently starting at the age of three. So I had read maybe 150 books by the time I hit 1st grade. And I already knew that the teachers were lying to me." --Alan Kay

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

"We mapped the human brain way before Obama's BRAIN Initiative"

The peerless People's Cube mapped the progressive's brain long before President Obama announced his ill-fated, $100 million "BRAIN Initiative" (Sequester? What Sequester?).


In related news, Debbie Wasserman-Schlitz (who was apparently asked to lay low after the DNC got her Q-scores) is whining that "a spare $250 million is a little tough these days."

This is, of course, one of the central nincompoops responsible for $3.2 trillion in "Stimulus" spending (and counting, since the original $800 trillion Stimulus is now baked into the baseline budget).

Washerman-Schlutt has it tough: President Obama, in comparison, is still handing out billions of our money in "green energy" scams, deficits and Sequester notwithstanding.


Shock, Consternation: Chevy Volt Sales Plummet

The much ballyhooed "green" automobile -- ostensibly one of Barack Obama's success stories -- is, as any 16-year old male could have predicted, an abysmal and catastrophic failure.

The Chevy Volt has inarguably been the poster child for President Obama's push to electrify America's auto fleet. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to produce and subsidize the plug-in electric car. For years we have heard about the supposedly amazing technology for the Volt which would lead America to energy independence, be a "game-changer" for General Motors and provide a multitude of new green jobs. Proclamations were made that supply for the wonder-car could not keep up with the demand. Well, March's sales figures are in and give further confirmation that the lofty claims were all lies.

March's sales for the Chevy Volt plunged over 35% from last year to a paltry 1,478 units. To put that in perspective, that's about one Volt sold every two months per dealership. The number is also down from an only slightly less paltry 1,626 sales in February. GM's excuses for the poor performance seem to be drying up as quickly as the demand for the Volt. During GM's sales conference call, management claimed that sales are "stable" and that they are "feeling good about the trend." Such dishonesty brings into question GM's credibility.

In the past, GM claimed that lack of supply was the reason for low Volt sales. In addition, GM indignantly blamed a Republican conspiracy to hurt Volt sales as a contributing factor to the dismal sales figures for the car. Regarding supply, a recent search on cars.com showed that 6,804 new Chevy Volts are available nationwide. That's about a five months supply...

GM and the Obama Administration have done what they can to prop up sales of the Volt and give the false appearance of success. Lease terms were manipulated to manufacture demand, as GM even admitted. Crony Corporation General Electric (supplier of charging stations) agreed to purchase 15,000 of the vehicles. Localities, and even the military, used taxpayer dollars to purchase Volts. And worst of all, wealthy buyers of the Volt receive a federal tax credit of $7,500 each to purchase (or lease) the vehicles.

So, now we have one more indicator that the Chevy Volt hype has all been a farce. Yet there is still no admission nor is there any accountability for the hoax that cost taxpayers billions of dollars. The lie lives on as few will criticize the politically-sensitive green failure. The Congressional Budget Office reported that electric vehicle subsidies will cost taxpayers about $7.5 billion over a few years for little benefit...

As the nation faces imminent bankruptcy, will anyone in legacy media report on this idiotic and utterly predictable failure? That's a rhetorical question: we don't have a real media any longer; we have an established Beltway pundit class, more interested in getting invited to the right cocktail parties than actually doing their job.

Which also describes the RINO establishment.


THE CAUSE OF NORTH KOREA'S BELLICOSITY? Two of Kim Jong-un's Attack Submarines are Missing

Wondering why North Korea, after decades of low-level trouble-making, has escalated its rhetoric to "Condition Red"?


Perhaps two missing attack subs might explain it.

Chosun TV is reporting that South Korean military have lost contact with two North Korean submarines that left their naval base in Hwanghae Province a few days ago.


There has obviously been a lot of changes between last week and now and South Korean military officials suggested that while maneuvers in February were nothing meaningful, now it is provocation.

The two 'torpedo' subs are small 130-ton, 30-meter, 10-man machines that can stay submerged for three-to-four days.

If the situation wasn't so dicey, it would be hilarious. The same Democrats who condemned missile defense for decades -- beginning with ridiculing Reagan's SDI as "Star Wars" -- are now scurrying around trying to find Patriot-style systems to keep their own skins safe.

Pathetic, unpatriotic pond-scum. Which is why the Democrat Party is not-so-fondly known as the Party of Weakness.

Ironically Juxtaposed Headlines o' the Day

Hat tip: me.

ING Fights Euro-Zone Woes With Data

April 3, 2013, 7:44 AM ET
Dutch banking giant ING hopes to right its own ship in the middle of this storm by using data to improve not only its understanding of who its customers are, but how they want to be treated. It is using traditional and next-generation data analytics to improve its execution of even the simplest transactions, such as sending out new bank cards, or contacting customers who have forgotten to take their cash out of the ATM using their preferred mode of communication.

If we need to work on consumer trust, then we need to know what influences trust,” ING’s CIO, Ron van Kemenade, tells CIO Journal...

###

Dutch bank ING's online customers find wrong balance in accounts

April 03, 2013 / Reuters
Dutch bank ING was inundated with complaints from retail and business customers in the Netherlands on Wednesday because their online accounts showed incorrect balances.

ING said that it had a problem with processing payments on Tuesday night and that balances online appeared incorrect even though the actual balances in the accounts were not affected. It said the problem was not caused by computer hacking.

Angry customers complained by phone, on social media and in person at bank branches. ING said that it did not know how many customers had been affected.

Reports: ING Bank Accounts Suffering From Catastrophic Errors

Twitter was ablaze earlier today with reports that global super-bank ING was suffering from catastrophic accounting errors, with some Dutch accounts incorrectly showing negative balances and others registering millions of Euros.


Several of the comments (translated by Google):

• "Problem solved. Before you look through - €1.3M"

• "Say # ING, where the f * ck is my money now gone?"

• "Balance for the third time changed today # ING"

• "Thanks ING from € 500, - to € 2,317,650 in the bank. - on the couch! Hope it also remains after jam! # ing # error "


Unconfirmed reports claim that the errors -- along with banking problems at the Netherlands' Rabobank -- are the result of a cyber-attack:

From top level sources I can confirm to you what you are seeing is an emerging pattern of various beta-tests using Stuxnet like algorithms to affect the banking networks the world over.

Although unsubstantiated, the reports have some level of credibility as the global banking system has been under a concerted series of attacks for the last several weeks.


Larwyn's Linx: Beware the Gun Tax

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

Nation

Beware the Gun Tax: Hayward
You are among the last weeds in the Marxist Garden: III Percent
United Nations Adopts Arms Trade Treaty: NRAILA

Schumer: 'People Will Be Legalized,' Border Security Comes... Never: Breitbart
Communists in the Thick of the Immigration “Reform” Movement: Loudon
‘This Is Your House, Too’: Driscoll

"Treaties do not trump constitutional liberties.": Tatler
Convicted Terrorist Hired by Columbia: RWN
Murder in Ohio church during Easter services "the will of Allah": Buckeye

Economy

Math doesn't care what political party or persuasion you might follow: Ticker
“Traditional Grading” vs “Esteem Grading” in Atlanta: DTG
The Obamacare middle class tax credit trap: Hayward

Medicaid Expansion in Ohio Would "Save Money" by Spending More: RS
Perry Smartly Resists ObamaCare's Medicaid Seduction: IBD
FL looks to ban EBT cards at strip clubs, casinos: Breitbart

Scandal Central

Busted: Hillary Snagged in Benghazi Cover-Up: Clash
CT: Join Us at the State Capitol Wednesday to Fight Illegal Gun Control Laws: NSSF
Straw Gun Purchaser Mark Kelly Attacks GOP for Protecting Bill of Rights: LibertyZone

Climate & Energy

Green Tyranny: Stossel

Media

Who Wins the Joey Award for Outstanding Government Propaganda?: Cube
Mark Levin rips Dana Perino for suggesting he doesn’t have Ben Carson’s best interests in mind: Scoop
Ben Carson blasts 'vicious,' white liberal critics as ‘the most racist out there’: Hill

O’Reilly is Dancing with the Destroyers of America: Kuznicki
The 8PMer gets angry at Laura Ingraham for suggesting his comment wasn’t helpful: Scoop
Leno: AP Replaces 'Illegal Immigrant' With 'Undocumented Democrat': NB

Pediatric Neurosurgeon with No Criminal Record is a "Monster": Ace
Violent Crime in Picture: Days of our Trailers
"Jesus Stomp" Professor on Leave, Because You Monsters Threatened Him: Ace

World

If North Korea Starts a War the United States Will Lose: JohnGaltFla
Hackers promise to "erase Israel" from web in "huge" cyber offensive: Commentator
Assad may be critically injured or dead: Commentator

AP: Obama An Appeaser On Iran?: Mead
GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz On Arizona Border With Mexico: No Fence, But There Are Stairs And Handrails: WZ
Cypriots in the Streets: Schiff

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

DDoS strike on Spamhaus highlights need to close DNS open resolvers: TechRepublic
Air Force Wants New Energy Weapons to Cause Non-Lethal 'Bioeffects': Wired
Falling Windows RT Tablet Prices Signify Slow Adoption: Slashdot

Cornucopia

Obama Bricking Basketball's: The NBC Edit: Ace
Cocky Burglar Has Gun Put To His Head By Naked Man: “If You Move, I Will Shoot You.”: RWN
Jewel or Junk? How to Buy a Used Handgun: GunDigest

Image: Straw Gun Purchaser Mark Kelly Attacks GOP for Protecting Bill of Rights
Sponsored by: Vote in Connecticut Tomorrow on Draconian Gun Control Package

QOTD: "President Obama is playing Russian Roulette with the nation's future. And every year that goes by without addressing our debt, he loads another round into the chamber." --Me, just now.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Dr. Ben Carson: 'vicious,' white liberals are ‘the most racist out there’

Coming from the party that as recently as a few years ago installed a Klu Klux Klan Wizard as one of its most powerful Senators, this really can't come as much of a surprise:

Dr. Ben Carson on Tuesday blasted his critics for heat he’s taken recently over controversial remarks on gay marriage, calling his white liberal detractors “the most racist out there.”

“They want to shut us up completely, and that’s why the attacks against me have been so vicious,” Carson said on the Mark Levin radio show. “I represent an existential threat to them. They need to shut me up, they need to get rid of me, they can’t find anything else to delegitimize me, so they take my words, misinterpret them, and try to make it seem that I’m a bigot.”

..."They’re the most racist people there are because they put you in a little category, a box,” Carson responded. “How could you dare come off the plantation?”

Black conservatives like Dr. Carson, Allen West, Tim Scott, Herman Cain, Deneen Borelli, and many others are among the most courageous heroes of the Tea Party movement. Not only must they fight the run-of-the-mill liberal fascists, but they must also combat outright racists like Janeane Garafalo, Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, and the rest of the Media Klanners.

God Bless Dr. Carson. Say a little prayer along with me that he decides to run for President.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Oh, Just Peachy: DHS Demands "Obedience" in Official Message to Agents

And what could possibly go wrong with this?

The Obama administration and its controversial Department of Homeland Security are under fire for sending what is being described as a “chilling” message to U.S. Border Patrol agents demanding “obedience"...


...Reliable sources inside the agency confirmed to Ramirez, who also serves as president of the Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council (LEOAC), that the controversial message demanding “obedience” was displayed for agents on TV monitors in the San Diego and Tucson sectors last week. In his explosive video for LNN exposing the scheme, Ramirez also provided a picture of the “propaganda” graphic that he obtained from a source within Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who requested anonymity (see photo above)...

With that as context, please consider the following news reports from such right-wing extremist groups as the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and National Journal:

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?

But don't worry, folks: at least our President has a really cool logo. Perhaps he'll issue armbands with his personal imprint on them, too!


Democrats Want to Tax Your Constitutional Rights

Word tonight that a New York legislator is pushing a bill in Congress to require gun owners to buy liability insurance or face a $10,000 fine. That's right: Democrats want you to pay a tax in order to exercise a God-given mandate that is codified in plain English in our Bill of Rights.

Dr. John Lott, the world's foremost expert on gun laws, offers the following astute observation:

With the cost of insurance at up to $2,000, Democrats put the fine for not having insurance at $10,000.

Compare that to Obamacare where the fines for not having insurance are less than a quarter of the costs for people whose income is at $50,000.

My interpretation is that Democrats are not serious about people getting health insurance, but they are serious [in] stopping people from owning guns.

Remember, folks, a penalty is a tax, except when it's just a tax, other than when it is a penalty or simply a penalty and a tax. Ain't that right, Chief Justice Roberts?


The Sublime Genius of Dr. Paul R. Krugman

Oh, my.


Krugman's resume -- including his work with Enron, Fannie Mae, subprime mortgages, the Fed's preternaturally low interest rates, and his Cypriot-style deficit lunacy -- is one only fellow Democrat hack Jamie Gorelick could envy.


Hat tip: Amalaur.

Larwyn's Linx: Why Obamacare Offers Voter Registration

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

Nation

Why Obamacare Offers Voter Registration: AmSpec
Harry Reid Wants to Tax Your Guns: Foundry
The Second Amendment: in memoriam: Wisdom

Beating Thy Enemy II: the Media (conclusion; operating within the tent): Dewey
Malkin: Self-Deluded GOP Thinks Immigration is a Winning Issue: Scoop
Pending Obamacare lawsuit threatens to wipe out entire law in one stroke: Scoop

Good News: GOP "Gang of Eight" Ready to Commit Party Suicide: Ace
As country slides into liberal fascism, conservatives will be scapegoated: Wisdom
The New Chicago Mob: P&F

Economy

Gray Lady = Great Timing: Driscoll
Salvation Through Extinction: Should San Bernardino cease to exist?: City Journal
Broke: Stockton Goes Bankrupt: “Precedent-Setting Implications”: SHTFplan

Another Gun-Parts Manufacturer Bolts Colorado: WZ
Should You Work From Home?: P&F
Spain's Deficit Set to Soar, Job Losses Skyrocket: Mish

Scandal Central

Even Climate Hoaxers Admit It Isn’t Getting Any Warmer: RWN
Florida Professor Who Demanded Student Stomp On Jesus Gets Just Deserts: Hawkins
DOD memo outlines authority for sale or destruction of expended cartridge brass: Codrea

Climate & Energy

New EPA Regulations Mean Higher Gas Prices: Foundry
Peak Oil Cult Is Proved Spectacularly Wrong: IBD
IMF Proposes $1.40 A Gallon Gas Tax On US Drivers: Western

Media

Ben Carson Joins Allen West’s Elite “Uncle Tom” Fraternity: Shark Tank
Grab the popcorn: James O’Keefe teases hidden camera footage of Piers Morgan : Twitchy
Is Piers Morgan For The Children Or For Ratings? : Loesch

Obama Support Dives After Sequester Flop: IBD
Obama Goes 2 for 22 on Court at Easter Egg Roll: Corner
Obama's Low-Information Pastor: Sentinel

McClatchy: Civil war on the left: Ace
White House Refuses To Denounce Obama Pastor’s Rev. Wright-Style Easter Rant: Nice Deb
Chris Matthews Gushes: Hillary in 2016 Will Have the Most Impressive Bio Since General Eisenhower!: NB

World

Exclusive: Illegal Border Crossings Double as Beltway Gets Close to Deal on Immigration Reform : Pavlich
Another Open Borders Fiasco: Drug Cartels dispatch agents deep inside US: AP
Obama congratulates Kenya’s new president in midst of riots, killings: CFP

This Is What Air War Over North Korea Would Look Like: PopMech
56 days and 90,000 troops: The US plan to confront North Korea: Commentator
How America Lost Its Four Great Generals: Boot

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

What I've Been Thinking About: Schneier
CNN's Website: Down for the Count: Driscoll
Is the new Kindle Zero the sign of things to come?: Godin

Cornucopia

April 1: The People Cube is Eight Years Old!: Cube
Our MO Makes Plans to MOOve on Up. Peeps Approve.: MOTUS
Seriously Google? This Time You’ve Gone Too Far: Sooper

Image: @Julie_Flory - Chicago Skyline from Indiana
Sponsored by: Your Second Amendment Rights Are Under Attack: Read BadBlue Gun News

QOTD: "These [wilding] attacks would instantly stop if the people of Chicago could carry concealed weapons using only the 2nd Amendment as their "carry permit." The first time a group of a dozen teens tried to roll some "hapless" person and got ventilated for their trouble these attacks would instantly stop.

I never worry about such things around here, nor for that matter do you see such reports in general in cities and towns were must-issue concealed carry, or even better, Constitutional carry, is respected as the law that it is.

But in places like Rahm's utopia where there are no guns (except for all the gang-bangers who [murdered] over 500 people last year) groups of thugs are free to coordinate mass attacks on law-abiding citizens and yet get charged with either nothing or petty misdemeanors, despite demonstrated intent and mass, coordinated action.

If you're a tourist or looking to do business stay away from these liberal "Utopias" if you value your life and possessions.

The fundamental reality is that one gay man .vs. six homophobic rednecks with a pickup truck and rope always loses, unless he possesses a Smith & Wesson. Then he wins and the six homophobes run. I want every gay man to be able to possess that Smith & Wesson, his God-given right to self-defense, unmolested and at all times that he, in his sole judgement, believes he might need it." --Karl Denninger

Monday, April 01, 2013

The 6 Economic Charts That Vintage Media is Hiding From You

Business Insider offers 66 charts that are said to worry Wall Street insiders, but these are the six I found most troubling.





THE UTTER BRUTALITY OF THE SEQUESTER: EPA Outlawing Sales of Wood-Burning Stoves by Private Citizens

Because there's nothing to cut, don'tcha know?

Our ever so helpful government has decided that your wood burning stove is now a danger to the world. In another attempt to outlaw the off grid lifestyle, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the same agency that was recently caught using drones to spy on Americans, is now going after home owners who use Wood Burning Stoves to heat their homes.

Shortly after the re-election of President Obama, the agency announced new radical environmental regulations that threaten to effect people who live off the grid. The EPA’s new environmental regulations reduce the amount of airborne fine-particle matter from 15 micrograms to 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

This means that most wood burning stoves would now fall into a class that would deemed unacceptable under these new draconian measures. The EPA has even launched a nifty new website called "burn wise" to try to sway public opinion.

On their site, while trying to convince people to get rid of their old stoves and buy the new EPA-certified stoves, they state that these older stove must be scraped and cannot be resold...

The local air pollution agency says I can’t sell my old wood stove to help pay for an EPA-certified wood stove. Why is that?

Replacing an older stove with a cleaner-burning stove will not improve air quality if the older stove is reused somewhere else. For this reason, wood stove changeout programs usually require older stoves to be destroyed and recycled as scrap metal, or rendered inoperable.

Let’s hope this doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the newly created Department of Homeland Security Environmental Justice Units? The next thing you know we might all be getting a knock at the door….. Your Neighbor reported that you might be burning some wood, do you mind if we take a look around?

The federal government bureaucracies are completely out of control. You can't buy light bulbs, or shower heads, or toilet tanks, or automobiles, or baby strollers, or insecticide, or anything else without the unelected fourth branch of government having its say so.

Cutting 80 percent of the non-defense and intelligence bureaucracy would go a long way to healing some of our economic woes in this country.


Hat tip: BadBlue Prep.

The Horrifying Chart I Recommend You Forward to Every Democrat Voter You Know

Along with a polite thank you note. You see, a picture -- along with the appropriate captions -- really is worth 1,000 words:

A. President Obama is inaugurated.

B. President Obama signs Obamacare into law. Thousands of pages of law and tens of thousands of pages of regulations (which have yet to be completed) have thrown large regulatory roadblocks at small businesses and either prevented hiring, forced layoffs or compelled the move of workers from full-time to part-time.

C. President Obama signs the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill into law, which prosecutes not a single banker and also fails to address the cause of the mortage meltdown, Fannie Mae. Just this month, the federal government itself admitted that "no one has any idea what compliance with financial regulations, including the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, actually costs."

D. President Obama signs an Executive Order creating a de facto "DREAM Act" amnesty for illegal aliens in the United States, bypassing a Congress that was unwilling to pass legislation to do so.

And a postscript: Obamacare really doesn't even fully kick in until January 1st 2014. Combined with "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" and untold new EPA regulations headed at energy companies, this administration appears bound and determined to crush entrepreneurship in the U.S.

Gird your loins.


NOT AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE: Most Irresponsible Spender in World History Urges Kids to Learn to Budget

The only man who makes George W. Bush look thrifty by comparison has proclaimed April the month of the year during which we should teach young people "how to budget responsibly". Seriously.

“I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices,” [President] Obama said in an official proclamation released Friday... “My Administration is dedicated to helping people make sound decisions in the marketplace,” he said.

...The proclamation on the White House website links to two other government websites: the site for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and MyMoney.gov, which includes materials from 21 federal agencies.

Listed among the “popular topics” on MyMoney.gov is “Managing Debt and Credit,” which includes a link to a page on the Federal Reserve’s website called “Getting the most from your credit card.” Tip 2 on that page is: “Stay Below Your Credit Limit.”

When Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009 [the debt of the United States has increased about 60 percent or] $6,140,111,383,879.54... That means that under Obama the federal debt has increased $53,377 for each one of the 115,031,000 households the Census Bureau says there are now in the United States...

As an aside, the President is required by law to submit a proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year during the first week of February. He is two months late in doing so... and counting.

"Sound decisions" indeed. If you're of the Cloward-Piven School, that is.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Immigration ‘Compromise,’ A Catastrophic Deal

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

Nation

Immigration ‘Compromise,’ A Catastrophic Deal In Any Economy: RS
Shock: Obama's Pastor Launches Race-Baiting Easter Attacks: WS
A First Amendment challenge to gun control laws?: Lott

California Democrat Wants to Take Your Guns, Land and Liberty: Loudon
This nation is closer to a Civil War than it has been since 1861: Clothesline
Wilding Downtown: SCC

U.S. Reverses Position on U.N. Arms Treaty: TAG
Democrats Abandon Obamacare, Piece by Piece: LoneCon
St. Louis Anti-Gun Rally Becomes Rally To Cede US Sovereignty: Loesch

Economy

Unions, Insiders Ink Secret Immigration Deal With Schumer: NewsMax
15 Year Old Wisconsin Conservative Meets Bullying From Teachers: FW
Not the Devil, But Silver-Tongued: RWN

David Stockman: We've Been Lied To, Robbed, And Misled: Peak
America at an "End Stage Metastatis"?: Instapundit
Cut Golf? No Way! Obama Heads Out to Play, Despite Sequester: Dossier

Scandal Central

Illinois to the Federal courts: bugger off: A&L
Do You Qualify as a Domestic Terrorist?: SHTFplan
At the U.N., Iran Is a Powerhouse, Not a Pariah: AIM

Climate & Energy

Global Climate Watchdogs Bark In Britain Too: WZ
EPA’s Tier 3 proposal latest in tsunami of regulations that could raise gasoline manufacturing costs: ELP
China's losing battle against state-backed polluters: Reuters

Media

Google Celebrates Easter in Their Own Special Way: Driscoll
Equality, justice, fairness, morality vs. liberty and faith (and a Happy Easter, or Pascha, to all): Spellchek
Miss Quisling, I presume: LI

Coloring the News: Driscoll
Chris Wallace to Gabby Giffords' Husband: Background Check Didn't Prevent Wife's Shooting: NB
ISRA: One Rampage Too Many - Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy Has To Go: IB Times

On David Stockman's Out-Rage: Krasting
WaPo op-ed blames whites for mass shootings; contra facts: Owens
This still makes me laugh every time: @TRScoop

History Lesson: Racist Democrats and the Big Lie: Walsh
AP Scrubs Racist 'Captains of the Religious Right' Easter Sermon Remark from Obama Service: NB
Alex Jones: 'MSNBC Is Like the Ku Klux Klan Channel' - 'Just Race, Everything Race': NB

World

Psst! Cesar Chavez Opposed Illegal Immigrants!: DC
UK: Why are the left so angry about today’s welfare reform? Because its popular – and right.: Spectator
2000-year old Damascus synagogue looted and destroyed: Times of Israel

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

BitCon: Don't: Denninger
Internet Hit by Largest Cyber Attack Yet: Foundry
Police said to use Facebook to stop punk rock house parties: CNet

Cornucopia

5 Mind-Blowing Facts Nobody Told You About Guns: Cracked
Introducing Gmail Blue: Google
My Butt Hurts: @JayCaruso

Image: The single saddest photo at the 2013 NCAA tournament
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support KeyWiki: Tracking the Radical Communist Movement

QOTD: "There is no crisis of rifle violence in this state, only a crisis of fear driven by opportunistic legislators." --Ed Pietruszka

Sunday, March 31, 2013

North Korean Deklaration of Konflict Kaption Kontest

North Korea announced Saturday that it has entered a state of war against South Korea. In a special statement, the North said it will deal with every inter-Korean issue in a wartime manner.

Therefore Zero Hedge is running the obligatory caption contest with this gem:


The best captions thus far?

• "...and the last nuke is for Florida Gulf Coast University for busting my NCAA bracket."
• "Why would I want billions, when I can have millions? How do you spell 'War'?"
• "For the love of God, where's Rodman?"

• "Anyone notice the iMac on his desk!? Long live Jobs!"
• "...and clam chowder, and a large bowl of chili con carne, and a side order of bacon, with sour cream, and cream-filled doughnuts, ice cream with marshmallow topping, and chocolate syrup, and..."
• "Wasn't he the guy that made that Gangnam Style video?"

• "Dear Un, if you are going to take a shot, aim at the District of Criminals."
• "Hory shit! According to my carcurations, I rost f---ing errything in Cyprus! Damn you, Deeser-broom!!! Damn you straight to herr!!!"
• Is that a Bic pen he is using to plot the overthrow of western civilization?

• "Dear Pen Pal, I was so happy to get your letter. I have just returned home from a trip to threaten the world powers. I am 30 years old and have worked really hard to destabilize the region. It has been very difficult to carry on ever since my father died..."
• "Dear Steve, My dogs and I were working on this new nuke project plan, but every time I try the save on iCloud, I get 'Server not found - check your internet connection'. What is going on? Also what is this yellow cable for? Un"

• "Hmmm... So I can save money if I use FedEx"
• "It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done."
• "Let's see ... they have three longbowmen to my two horse archers. They get additional strength for city defense. I'm going to need the war elephants."


Related: Don't miss The 15 Funniest Staged Kim Jong-un Military Photos.


The Hegemony of the U.S. Dollar as the World's Reserve Currency Coming to a Quick and Untimely End [Cary]

Guest post by Lee Cary:

It’s happening incrementally – the unwinding of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. We're seeing trading countries strike reciprocal alignments to exchange each others currencies and not deal in the USD. And it’s picking up speed. Not overnight – but the end of the USD’s dominance is coming faster than we’re prepared for as a nation. And the media is largely silent on the topic. Go figure.

Thanks, World Reserve Currency, But No Thanks: Australia And China To Enable Direct Currency Convertibility

Over the weekend, Australia appears to have come to the same conclusion, with the Australian reporting that the land down under is set to say goodbye to the world's "reserve currency" in its trade dealings with the world's biggest marginal economic power, China, and will enable the direct convertibility of the Australian dollar into Chinese yuan, without US Dollar intermediation, in the process "slashing costs for thousands of business" and also confirming speculation that China is fully intent on, little by little, chipping away at the dollar's reserve currency status until one day it no longer is.

That said, this latest development in global currency relations should come as no surprise to those who have followed our series on China's slow but certain  internationalization of its currency over the past two years. To wit: "World's Second (China) And Third Largest (Japan) Economies To Bypass Dollar, Engage In Direct Currency Trade", "China, Russia Drop Dollar In Bilateral Trade", "China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System", "India and Japan sign new $15bn currency swap agreement", "Iran, Russia Replace Dollar With Rial, Ruble in Trade, Fars Says", "India Joins Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, Will Transact With Iran In Rupees", and "The USD Trap Is Closing: Dollar Exclusion Zone Crosses The Pacific As Brazil Signs China Currency Swap."


Last week, it was China and Brazil.

China and Brazil agree currency trade deal

China and Brazil have agreed to trade the equivalent of up to $30 billion per year in their own currencies, moving to take almost half of their exchanges out of the dollar zone.

The three-year swap line agreement, signed before the start of a BRICS nations summit in South Africa, marked a step by the two largest economies in the group to change global trade flows long dominated by the US and Europe.


It was suggested as a goal early in the first Obama term when Tim Geithner let it slip (then backed off) that it wouldn’t be a bad thing to happen.