Friday, July 12, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: Ted Cruz Proposes Bill to Fully Defund Obamacare

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Nation

Ted Cruz Proposes Bill to Fully Defund Obamacare: Nice Deb
Obama Suspends Obamacare — and the Constitution Too: Tammy Bruce
NAACP Blackballs Black Conservatives: Jeffrey Lord

House declares Senate Immigration Bill "Unconstitutional": GWP
Why the Zimmerman Prosecutors Should Be Disbarred: Jack Cashill
Former Sanford, FL police chief Bill Lee: Fired for Integrity: MB

Religious Institutions Compelled to Pay for Birth Control, Abortions: Ace
Senator Ted Cruz Gets It. Will Others?: Erick Erickson
Reid Defends Going ‘Nuclear’ on Filibusters: Niels Lesniewski, Roll Call

Economy

IG: IRS Made ‘Policy Decision’ to ‘Legalize Illegal Aliens’: CNS
Bill Would Add IRS to Agencies Forbidden from Joining Unions: Tatler
Hillary, At a Certain Point, You’ve Made Enough Money: Dossier

"Win-Win" for Employers to Not Offer Healthcare to Part-Timers: Mish
Why Obama’s smart-government initiative is so dumb: Jonah Goldberg
Sheila Jackson Lee’s Food-Stamp Tirade: HayRide

Scandal Central

NSA May Have Illegally Created A National Gun Registry: RWN
Justice for Trayvon’: Audio released of DOJ member urging action against George Zimmerman: Times
CLINTON COVERED UP AMBASSADOR’S PEDOPHILIA: Watchdog Wire

Media

Border Security, Period! Michelle Malkin Blasts Senate Republicans: FNI
Washington Post: Paul Ryan called illegal aliens ‘exploited Americans’: Twitchy
Obama Voters Support Repealing the Bill of Rights: Power Line

Krauthammer: ‘Unbelievably stupid’ DC law drives out Wal-Mart: BizPac
“The Crisis in American Journalism and the Conservative Response” National Conference: Loudon
Billboard has eye-popping message for Lindsey Graham: Joe Kovacs

World

The Foreign Policy Mess, and Yes, Obama Built It: Diplomad
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in Its Own, Original Words: CAMERA
World’s Worst Abusers Running for 2014-16 UN Human Rights Council Seats: UN Watch

Pentagon report says Iran may develop nukes that could reach the US by 2015: JPost
Misrepresenting American Jewry: Caroline Glick
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament "denigrates" Holocaust: Commentator

Egypt Punishes the Palestinians: Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone
Dominicans Freak Out Over Obama's Gay Ambassador Pick: John Hudson, FP
Husband severs wife’s fingers to prevent her from studying: Rare

Sci-Tech

Report: Microsoft Helped NSA Circumvent its Own Encryption: Grant Gross, CIO
DEF CON Hacking Conference Organizer Asks Feds to Stay Home This Year: LI
Archie Comics makes digital comics available for free through new ad model: VentureBeat

Cornucopia

Mark Levin, Constitution Article V, and the “Liberty Amendments”: David Leeper, Western Free Press
Zimmerman Riots - Our Prediction: Ushanka
Sharknado Pre-Thread: Ace

Image: Saudi Princess Arrested on Suspicion of Holding Maids Captive in Irvine
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Stopping Amnesty is Up to You

QOTD: "We believe it is time that members of Congress act to preserve economic opportunity for American workers – and pass immigration legislation that protects and supports the nearly 22 million American citizens who do not have jobs, or cannot find adequate employment to support their families. Economists report that labor participation in the U.S. is at its lowest rate in over 30 years.

Despite sluggish economic conditions, some in Congress have put forth immigration proposals to increase legal immigration levels by 50% and provide amnesty to over 11 million people who have entered the country illegally. We stand against these proposals, as they will result in adding millions more to the U.S. labor force, putting millions of American citizens out of work." --DC March for Jobs

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Ominous Facts Regarding Korean Airline Pilots by a Former Instructor

Guest post by retired 747 pilot "Tom" via W.M.


After I retired from [Carrier redacted] as a Standards Captain on the –400, I got a job as a simulator instructor working for Alteon (a Boeing subsidiary) at Asiana. When I first got there, I was shocked and surprised by the lack of basic piloting skills shown by most of the pilots. It is not a normal situation with normal progression from new hire, right seat, left seat taking a decade or two. One big difference is that ex-Military pilots are given super-seniority and progress to the left seat much faster. Compared to the US, they also upgrade fairly rapidly because of the phenomenal growth by all Asian air carriers. By the way, after about six months at Asiana, I was moved over to KAL and found them to be identical. The only difference was the color of the uniforms and airplanes. I worked in Korea for five long years and although I found most of the people to be very pleasant, it’s a minefield of a work environment ... for them and for us expats.

One of the first things I learned was that the pilots kept a web-site and reported on every training session. I don’t think this was officially sanctioned by the company, but after one or two simulator periods, a database was building on me (and everyone else) that told them exactly how I ran the sessions, what to expect on checks, and what to look out for. For example; I used to open an aft cargo door at 100 knots to get them to initiate an RTO and I would brief them on it during the briefing. This was on the B-737 NG and many of the captains were coming off the 777 or B744 and they were used to the Master Caution System being inhibited at 80 kts. Well, for the first few days after I started that, EVERYONE rejected the takeoff. Then, all of a sudden they all “got it” and continued the takeoff (in accordance with their manuals). The word had gotten out...

We expat instructors were forced upon them after the amount of fatal accidents (most of the them totally avoidable) over a decade began to be noticed by the outside world. They were basically given an ultimatum by the FAA, Transport Canada, and the EU to totally rebuild and rethink their training program or face being banned from the skies all over the world. They hired Boeing and Airbus to staff the training centers. KAL has one center and Asiana has another. When I was there (2003-2008) we had about 60 expats conducting training KAL and about 40 at Asiana. Most instructors were from the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand with a few stuffed in from Europe and Asia. Boeing also operated training centers in Singapore and China so they did hire some instructors from there.

This solution has only been partially successful but still faces ingrained resistance from the Koreans. I lost track of the number of highly qualified instructors I worked with who were fired because they tried to enforce “normal” standards of performance. By normal standards, I would include being able to master basic tasks like successfully shoot a visual approach with 10 kt crosswind and the weather CAVOK. I am not kidding when I tell you that requiring them to shoot a visual approach struck fear in their hearts ... with good reason. Like this Asiana crew, it didnt’ compute that you needed to be a 1000’ AGL at 3 miles and your sink rate should be 600-800 Ft/Min. But, after 5 years, they finally nailed me. I still had to sign my name to their training and sometimes if I just couldn’t pass someone on a check, I had no choice but to fail them. I usually busted about 3-5 crews a year and the resistance against me built. I finally failed an extremely incompetent crew and it turned out he was the a high-ranking captain who was the Chief Line Check pilot on the fleet I was teaching on. I found out on my next monthly trip home that KAL was not going to renew my Visa. The crew I failed was given another check and continued a fly while talking about how unfair Captain [redacted] was.

READER POLL: What are some of Mark Levin's "Liberty Amendments"?

Thoughts appreciated.



For background information, please see: TRANSCRIPT: Mark Levin Introduces His New Book "The Liberty Amendments: Restoring The American Republic".


Larwyn's Linx: Trayvongate: Newest Obama Scandal Is 17 Months Old

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Nation

Trayvongate: Newest Obama Scandal Is 17 Months Old: Lee Stranahan
This Year's Duke Lacrosse Case: Ann Coulter
President Obama vs. George Zimmerman: America Loses: Karin McQuillan

Senate Immigration Bill Not Yet Sent to House?: MagNote
Guess who spent July 4th at the White House?: Matzav
IL legislator requests National Guard for Chicago's war-zones: WZ

Economy

Late-Night Farm Bill Shenanigans in the House: Foundry
‘Smart’ city shuts off great-grandma’s water: Watchdog
NLRB and DOJ Announce Information Sharing Agreement: MainJustice

Gold Jumps Nearly $50 as Market Digests Non-News From Fed: Mish
Bernanke Sends Stocks To New All-Time Highs: ZH
Tony Rezko's 62 Acres of Land--and Me: ChicagoNow

Scandal Central

What 3 years of ObamaCare incompetence tells us about the White House: Ed Morrissey
Ex-Sanford Police Chief Fired For Refusing To Arrest Zimmerman Without Probable Cause: GWP
REPORT: Death Toll From Fast & Furious Weapons Rises To Over 200: Breitbart

Climate & Energy

Professor Murry Salby, critical of AGW theory, is being exiled from academia in Australia: Watts
In this Wisconsin town, you get the smart meter or they shut you down: Watchdog
Nevada's Epic Green Energy Fail: Q&O

Media

Gosh, Kind of a Tough Call Here: Robert Stacy McCain
Why Elisabeth Hasselbeck just owned Joy Behar: Rare
MUST LISTEN: Mark Levin explains how we can rescue America from Tyranny: Scoop

World

Obama Commits to Signing UN Arms Trade Treaty While Congress at Summer Recess: Outcast
Time to wise up to the Muslim Brotherhood: Commentator
UNRWA and the United Nations are Training Terrorists: Algemeiner

Sci-Tech

Yahoo Says Release of Secret FISA Court Order Will Prove it Resisted Directives: CIO
STUDY: What does it look like when a Facebook photo goes viral?: InsideFacebook
The shale gas revolution: We have not yet begun to boom: Erika Johnsen

Cornucopia

The 20 Hottest Conservative Men in The New Media For 2013: RWN
Out of Broccoli. Loccoli!: MOTUS
Did secret CIA prison spawn top-secret vacuum cleaner from hands of a terrorist?: WaPo

Image: Maggie Thurber
Sponsored by: Call Eric Cantor at 804-747-4073 and Paul Ryan at 202-225-3031; tell them NO AMNESTY!

QOTD: "Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? It is feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... [T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." ~Tench Coxe

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT: Mark Levin Introduces His New Book "The Liberty Amendments: Restoring The American Republic"

Unlike the statists who defy, ignore and rewrite the Constitution for purpose of evasion -- as they push their big government rules and regulations -- I propose that we, the people, take a closer look at the Constitution itself for our preservation. The Constitution provides the means for restoring self-government and averting societal catastrophe. Or, in the case of societal collapse, resurrecting the civil society in Article V.

Article V sets forth the two processes for amending the Constitution, the second of which we're going to focus on. Article V says, in part:

Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress

Importantly, and I want to emphasize this, in neither case of amending the Constiiution does Article V provide for a Constitutional Convention. This is important, because you'll hear critics say, "We don't need a Constitutional Convention! We'll never get anyone better than the Framers!"

And they're right! This isn't a Constitutional Convention. This is a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution.

In other words, Congress can propose amendments to the Constitution -- and has in 27 cases that have been ratified -- and the states can too, through the convention process. The first method, where two-thirds of Congress passes a proposed amendment and then forwards it to the state legislatures for possible ratification by three-fourths vote. And that has occurred 27 times.

The second method, involving the direct application of two-thirds of the state legislatures, for a convention of proposing amendments -- not a Constitutional Convention, a convention for proposing amendments, which would thereafter require three-fourths of the states to ratify -- has been tried in the past without success. And today it sits dormant.

The fact is: Article V expressly grants state legislatures significant authority to re-balance the Constitutional structure for the purposes of restoring our founding principles should the federal government shed its limitations, abandon its original purpose, and grow too powerful as many delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention feared.

Which is exactly why they provided for two methods of amending the Constitution. On June 11, 1787 -- at the Constitutional Convention -- George Mason of Virginia, one of the most underrated of the Founding Fathers and one of the greatest men in American history, who had drafted Virginia's "Declaration of Rights", the precursor to the Declaration of Independence... he responded to some of the delegates who didn't see the necessity of having the states propose amendments. Which Mason strongly advocated for!

In [James] Madison's Notes from the Constitutional Convention, he writes about Mason's comments:

Colonel Mason urged the necessity of such a provision : "The plan now to be formed will certainly be defective, as the Confederation has been found on trial to be. Amendments, therefore, will be necessary ; and it will be better to provide for them in an easy, regular and constitutional way, than to trust to chance and violence. It would be improper to require the consent of the national legislature, because they may abuse their power, and refuse their assent on that very account. The opportunity for such an abuse may be the fault of the Constitution calling for amendment."

And so there was some debate. And two days before the end of the Constitutional Convention -- on September 15th -- Mason was back at it. Mason, concerned that Congress would have the sole power to propose amendments, continued to insist on state authority to call for conventions. George Mason explained that an oppressive Congress would never agree to propose amendments curtailing its own tyranny.

Back to Madison's Notes, citing Mason, "thought the plan of amending the Constitution 'exceptionable and dangerous. As the proposing of amendments is in both the modes to depend, in the first immediately, and in the second ultimately, on Congress, no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people, if the government should become oppressive, as he verily believed would be the case.'"

Quote, unquote, Madison's Notes, September 15th, 1787.

Mr. Governeur Morris, Mr. Eldridge Jerry of Massachusetts moved as to amend the article as to require a convention on application of two-thirds of the states.

And there you have it.

Under both amendment procedures, the Constitution requires at least three-fourths of the states ratify the amendment -- either by their state legislatures or by the state conventions. So again, rather than Congress proposing amendments, what's suggested here is that the states can and should convene to do the same thing.

Now: I was originally very skeptical of amending the Constitution by the state convention process. I, like many of you, was concerned that it could turn into a runawy caucus, And, as an ardent defender of the Constitution who reveres the brilliance of the Framers, I presumed this would play disastrously into the hands of the Statists.

But today but I am a confident and enthusiastic advocate for the process. The text of Article V makes it abundantly clear that there is a serious check in place, whether the product of Congress or the state convention, A proposed amendment has no effect at all unless ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or by the conventions in three-fourths thereof.

This, ladies and gentlemen, should extinguish concerns that the convention process could hijack the Constitution. It is impossible. And after more research and reflection, the issue crystallized further for me. If the Framers were alarmed that states calling for "a convention proposing for amendments to the Constitution" could undo the entire undertaking of the Constitutional Convention, then why did they craft, adopt and endorse the language?

And it was strongly endorsed in the Federalist Papers -- by Madison and Hamilton in Federalist 43 and Federalist 85.

And here's the beauty of the process: Congress' role in the state application process is minimal and ministerial. And it couldn't be otherwise, because the Framers and Ratifiers adopted the state convention process for the purpose of establishing an alternative to the Congressionally-initiated amendment process. That was the point.

Now you can see why the ruling class and their little mouthpieces are going to hate me: because this removes power from them.

It gives power to the state delegates and state senators, who you will have an effect on one day. And this is what my new book is about: The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic.


Click here to pre-order a copy.

15 Photos and Text Messages From the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman Court Case

A REMINDER: Based upon the photos and messages retrieved from Trayvon Martin's phone as reported by CNN, the young man appears to have been involved with guns, weed and street-fighting.

Items taken from Trayvon Martin's cell phone -- including a text-message discussion of drug use and pictures of a gun and marijuana plants -- are among new details released Thursday by attorneys for the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of killing him...

In other messages, text message exchanges appear to be discussing guns.
"U wanna share a .380 w/ (blacked out)," one text message sent from Martin's phone reads.
The text messaging logs are also peppered with references to marijuana use.
"I got weed nd I get money Friday," a message sent from his phone reads.
"I hid m weed," another text sent from Martin's phone reads. "its wrapped."
The text messages include a conversation from November 2011 in which he appears to say his mother has kicked him out of the house after:
"da police caught me outta skool."
"So you just turning into a lil hoodlum," the person with whom he is texting says.
"Naw, I'm a gangsta," the text message read.
And here are the original police photos of Zimmerman taking immediately after the incident.


I ask you to consider whether immediate publication of these photos might have defused much of the controversy surrounding this case.


Via: CNN and The Hollywood Gossip.


SUPER: Holder DOJ helped organize threat of race riots to prevent Zimmerman acquittal

I can only interpret this report as follows: the Obama-Holder Justice Department helped to foment race riots ahead of the prosecution (and probable acquittal) of an innocent man. And for the race-obsessed Leftists reading along, that man just happens to be part Hispanic, part White and part Black.

Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained documents in response to local, state, and federal records requests revealing that a little-known unit of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Community Relations Service (CRS), was deployed to Sanford, FL, following the Trayvon Martin shooting to help organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman...

...Set up under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the DOJ’s CRS, the employees of which are required by law to “conduct their activities in confidence,” reportedly has greatly expanded its role under President Barack Obama. Though the agency claims to use “impartial mediation practices and conflict resolution procedures,” press reports along with the documents obtained by Judicial Watch suggest that the unit deployed to Sanford, FL, took an active role in working with those demanding the prosecution of Zimmerman.


Recall that President Obama also weighed in on the case on the side of Martin well before any guilt or innocence could have been established.

That murder charges were filed anyway is probably at least in part due to the incalculably irresponsible decision by Obama to involve himself in a local murder case. After the local police chief said there was no reason to doubt Zimmerman’s version of events and murder charges weren’t filed, protests erupted, the Justice Department decided to launch its own investigation, and Obama testily asserted, ”If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

Soon after, a special prosecutor charged Zimmerman with second degree murder.

Obama, supposed Constitutional scholar, is apparently not aware that justice must be color blind. The moment Zimmerman is declared innocent, Obama must be ready to take to the same Rose Garden where he made his earlier Trayvon and me statement and recommit himself to the notion that we live in a nation where due process, and not lynch mobs, are the rule. He should ask for calm, declare that justice has been done, and be prepared to back up local efforts to stem riots in Sanford – and, God forbid, around the country – with a forceful federal law enforcement response.

Recall that during the time the Holder DOJ was fomenting unrest on your dime, the professional cadre of rabble-rousing race hustlers were also doing their own damage.

“We live in the middle of an American paradox,” Rev. Al Sharpton, attending the rally, told the crowd. “We can put a black man in the White House but we cannot walk a black child through a gated neighborhood. We are not selling out, bowing out or backing down until there is justice for Trayvon.” ... Sharpton has vowed to call for an escalation of civil disobedience of Zimmerman is not arrested.

The Obama-Holder Justice Department is a disgrace. And the Republicans who helped confirm Holder, who now call for his resignation after a series of epic scandals, are doubly disgraceful.

3 CHARTS: The astonishing collapse of employment in America

At Real Clear Politics, Nicholas Eberstadt cuts through the media nonsense and politicians' fables and describes an economy that is still reeling from the mortgage meltdown.

...There is no way to sugarcoat it: the [employment] situation here is basically a disaster, a crisis far worse than most commentators and policymakers seem to recognize, and with no clear prospects for appreciable improvement over the near-term horizon. Simply put, work in America has in large measure collapsed-and a recovery worthy of the name is nowhere in sight.

...The official yardstick almost always used in assessing joblessness in America is the civilian unemployment rate, which tracks the overall percentage of workers and job-seekers without work. This may sound like a reasonable way to gauge joblessness, and the official unemployment rate does indeed have its uses. But as a practical matter this statistical tool seriously disguises and understates the magnitude of the ongoing jobs crisis.

According to the conventional unemployment rate, 7.6 percent of the country's civilian labor force was out of work last month (June 2013). While this is hardly a ‘good' number, these official figures suggest the jobs market is on a slow but steady rebound, gradually improving since early 2010, when the national rate was nearly 10%. According to those same numbers, current levels of joblessness are bad but by no means unprecedented: the official unemployment rate, after all, was above 7.6 percent at times in the 1970s, the 1980s, and (briefly) even in the 1990s...


...[But a] more basic and intuitively meaningful sense of how the jobs market is performing in this respect comes from the employment-to-population ratio (or simply the "employment ratio") for adult men and women.

When we look at these numbers, we get a very different picture of labor market conditions in America. By these numbers, there has been no "recovery" whatever in the jobs market since the Great Recession. Quite the contrary: the employment ratio today appears to be stuck at the same awful level recorded in early 2010-the worst level for more than a generation...


...And bad as all of this sounds, the true situation is if possible even worse-for the civilian employment ratio conflate trends for men and women. Broadly speaking, paid employment has been on the rise for women ever since Washington started keeping detailed numbers on the phenomenon back in the late 1940s-a reflection, and in turn a driver, of the big changes in the status of women underway in the postwar era...

...[But] the male employment ratio reached its peak in the early 1950s-and then commenced an almost relentless descent... How is this collapse of work to be explained? ... Over the past 60 years, the labor force participation rate for adult men has fallen by about 16 percentage points. In 1953, about 14 percent of adult men were out of the labor force-around one in seven. Today 30 percent are neither working nor seeking work-nearly one in three.

...The plain fact is that men in what are generally regarded as conventional working ages have been increasingly opting out of the workforce altogether. This arresting fact is brought home in Figure 4, which tracks employment ratios and labor force participation ratios for men 25 to 54-prime years of working life...


...it is apparent that there has been a major behavioral change in America, wherein a growing proportion of working-age Americans are checking out of paid labor altogether. Suffice it to say that not working at all is neither unthinkable nor unaffordable these days, even for adults in the prime of life. This too is a problem-a huge problem, one that has been gathering for decades, and one must unlikely to be undone by recourse to standard-issue Keynesian tools.

More than three years ago, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed Obamacare was a "jobs bill" and that it would create four million new jobs.

Just like every other pledge related to Obamacare, Pelosi's statement was a blatant lie.

Under the current administration, the entire federal government appears devoted to encouraging dependence on government. Reversing course on the Democrats' failed "War on Poverty" will happen, one way or another, once the money runs out.


Larwyn's Linx: Everyone Agrees: This Term Stinks

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

Nation

Everyone Agrees: This Term Stinks: Tony Katz
GOP: We Have Questions About This ObamaCare Employer Mandate Delay: Ace
Drawing the Battle Lines: Erick Erickson

Kill the Bill: Kristol, Lowry
Levin slams 'insider threat program', calls it totalitarian, police-state: Scoop
Finally, Silda takes a stand and sits this out: Andrea Peyser, Post

Rand Paul, the Southern Avenger: Commentary
FBI Is a No-Show at Boston Bombing Hearings: NatlJrnl
Smoke 'em if you got 'em: Moe Lane

Economy

The Obamacare Exchange Singularity: John Hayward
Teh Krugman just used the dreaded D-word, albeit with only a lower case "d": Ace
NY School Dumps Michelle Obama Food Plan As Kids Complain of Hunger: JWF

Dodd-Frank Expected to Strain Community Banking: PJM
The Golden Backwardation Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper: ZH
Sorry, Agendized Academics: The Recession Began in June 2008: PJM

Scandal Central

DNI Clapper won’t resign over lying to Congress on NSA surveillance: WFB
IRS dumps up to 100,000 Social Security numbers on the Internet: John Hayward
White House Has Known For Months Obamacare Implementation Wouldn't Work: Margot Sanger-Katz, NatlJrnl

Democrat scandal brewing in CA52 race: RS
Experts: Obama’s plan to predict future leakers unproven, unlikely to work: McClatchy
Obama Suspends the Law: WSJ

Climate & Energy

Good news! Your enormous carbon footprint is the only thing saving the world!: Protein Wisdom
Appliance Alert: Your Refrigerator May Be Watching You!: Tammy Bruce
Twitter user schools NYT columnist Nick Kristof on Lake Chad and ‘climate change’: Twitchy

Media

Wrong Side of the Street: Sultan Knish
The Drone Ranger: SHN
Free Hat Offer - 40 Days for Name Calling: Ushanka

Tolerance: Owens
5 Uncomfortable Truths About Liberals: John Hawkins
Creepy Jim Messina warns Republicans against possible Sarah Palin Senate run: Twitchy

Sanford Police Prepare for Zimmerman Riots: RWN
On The Elusive Details of Michael Hastings' Death: ZH
How the Post Office sells your new address to anyone who pays: MinorityReport

World

Argentina blocks prosecutor from testifying on Iranian presence in South America: Fausta
Within A Decade Of The UK Banning And Confiscating Handguns, Crimes Involving Handguns Doubled: WZ
Egypt orders arrest of Muslim Brotherhood members as group rejects cabinet offer: Fox

Sci-Tech

Fire Island Erupts Over Verizon's Post-Sandy Actions: NY AG Claims Verizon Violated Agreement: Bruce Kushnick
Largest building in the world opens in China – complete with indoor seaside: Guardian
Preparing For Possible Future Crypto Attacks: Robert Lemos, Dark Reading

Cornucopia

Spitzer to Run Against His Madam for New York Comptroller: Cube
Mama’s, don’t let your babies grow up to be narcissists.: MOTUS
Immaturity is the one constant: Sondrakistan

Image: America’s National Parks: Come for the trees, stay for the tyranny!
Sponsored by: Call Eric Cantor at 804-747-4073 and Paul Ryan at 202-225-3031; tell them NO AMNESTY!

QOTD: "Remember: Obama’s terror-coddling lawyers have dragged their feet on prosecuting suspected U.S.S. Cole bombing suspect and former Persian Gulf Operations Chief for al-Qaida Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Gitmo detainee since 2006.

Remember: As Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder spearhead renewed efforts to close Gitmo, intelligence officials report that 27.9 percent of the 599 former detainees released from Guantanamo were either confirmed or suspected of later engaging in jihadist attacks. That’s a 2.9 percent rise over the 25 percent aggregate recidivism rate reported in 2010.

Remember, as Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan warned his military superiors: The soldiers of Allah “love death more (than) you love life.”

The enemy combatants at Gitmo are playing bleeding-heart Westerners for fools. Their eternal goal is the destruction and subjugation of infidels. Why do we continue to enable them? Let them starve." --Michelle Malkin

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Facebook shuts down conservative page with over 600,000 likes

Facebook has directly targeted a set of pages devoted to, of all things, the Bill of Rights:

Over the past month or so, Facebook, at the direction of their owner and administration, have been systematically targeting, attacking, discriminating against, and flat out shutting down conservative pages on Facebook, as well as individual accounts... Mark Zuckerberg is an open Obama supporter and Liberal. He and Facebook are engaged in the same type of behavior as the IRS when it comes to harassing and targeting conservative, Christian, Tea Party, and Patriot groups. It is the same behavior that we have seen from the Department of Justice targeting and harassing the free press and reporters in this country...


In a separate, but ominously related bit of news, watch as Obama supporters sign away the Bill of Rights.

You don't have to be Kreskin to predict that nothing good will come of these developments.


Hat tip: Stacy.

Today's Top 10 News Nuggets: Enraging Legacy Media While Enlightening High-Information Voters

10. Osama Bin Ladin Wanted Joe Biden Alive, because he knew that Biden was more dangerous to Americans if he remained in power.

Bin Laden ordered his militants to look out for opportunities to assassinate President Obama or David Petraeus during any of their visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr Petraeus, now CIA director, formerly commanded international forces in Afghanistan... But Bin Laden warned them not to bother targeting Vice-President Joe Biden because "Biden is totally unprepared for that post [of president], which will lead the US into a crisis."

9. Senator Ted Cruz likes this license plate, and who can blame him?


8. Politico, Media Matters, and HuffPo (but I repeat myself) were caught lying again, this time claiming that Rush Limbaugh instructed his vast audience not to watch Fox News.

A caller named Tony from Tampa dialed Limbaugh and vented about a comment Fox News Channel contributor Julie Roginsky had made regarding coal on a show hosted by Neil Cavuto. Tony lumped Roginsky, a former aide to the late Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg, in with several other liberal contributors who appear regularly on various Fox News shows... That prompted this response from Limbaugh, "You need to stop watching these people, because they’re not gonna change, Tony,” Limbaugh said. “Your blood pressure’s going to suffer if you keep watching these people. I mean, they’re designed to get you ticked off." At no point did Limbaugh advise his vast audience not to watch Fox News in general[, just the liberal kooks who sometimes get a forum there].

7. Even the GOP Cocktail Circuit wants the Rubio-Schumer Amnesty Bill Dead; which, it would seem, means that Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry are now officially at war with Marco Rubio and Karl Rove.

The bill’s first fatal deficiency is that it doesn’t solve the illegal-immigration problem. The enforcement provisions are riddled with exceptions, loopholes, and waivers. Every indication is that they are for show and will be disregarded, just as prior notional requirements to build a fence or an entry/exit visa system have been – and just as President Obama has recently announced he’s ignoring aspects of Obamacare that are inconvenient to enforce on schedule...

6. The Guys Who Want to Enforce Obamacare Just Exposed 100,000 Social Security Numbers on the Internet. Of course, I refer to the IRS, whose mistakes somehow seem to always benefit the Democrat-slash-Federal Government Party.

We’re in the very best of hands, aren’t we? Just wait until the people who slipped up and posted up to 100,000 Social Security numbers onto a website are in charge of your health care information... Our good friends at the Tax Exempt Organizations unit are once again under fire, as a watchdog group called Public.Resource.org investigates a data management snafu and discovers the IRS has been inadvertently dropping files that contain Social Security numbers onto a public website.

5. Egyptian Protesters Prove Better Informed Than America's Low-Information Crowd.


4. An Oklahoma City Hospital is doing its part to drive down health care costs: it's posting prices of common surgeries online and creating "a bidding war".

An Oklahoma City surgery center is offering a new kind of price transparency, posting guaranteed all-inclusive surgery prices online. The move is revolutionizing medical billing in Oklahoma and around the world. Dr. Keith Smith and Dr. Steven Lantier launched Surgery Center of Oklahoma 15 years ago, founded on the simple principle of price honesty... The prices are all-inclusive quotes and they are guaranteed.

3. Cleveland Kidnap Victims Post a Moving Video Thank You

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight are the three women held for ten years by a monster in Cleveland (will not dignify him with a name) where they were abused, raped and faced untold horrors. Last night they released a video where we got to see the three brave women for the first time... The video of these three brave survivors will move you to tears.

2. The White House has known for months that Obamacare simply could not be implemented as it was "designed".

As far back as March, a top IT official at the Department of Health and Human Services said the department's current ambition for the law's new online insurance marketplaces was that they not be "a Third-World experience." To get a sense of what the Obama administration is up against, take a look at this chart [designed to help] states build exchanges. (Bear in mind, this chart is supposed to simplify and explain.)


1. On the Heels of Obamacare's Latest Meltdown, the White House Convened a Secret Meeting

For those interested in the president’s meeting tonight with health care innovators, as described by Jay Carney at the top of the briefing, your POOL could not ascertain from aides the time of the session, location or expected attendees at the CLOSED PRESS meeting.

Repeat after me: Most. Transparent. Administration. Evah!


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

SHELL GAME: GOP immigration plan devised by Communist Party to build "permanent progressive majority"

Guest post by James Simpson.

The U.S. Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration-reform plan, as well as a strikingly similar plan now being backed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and a bi-partisan House “Gang,” both offer the “roadmap to citizenship” originally conceived and carefully developed by members of the Communist Party USA working within the Democratic Party and the radical left activist network for the purpose of using amnestied illegals to build a “permanent progressive majority.”

That is the inescapable conclusion readers will draw after reading the forthcoming book by acclaimed researcher and blogger Trevor Loudon, titled "The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress" Although not yet published, Loudon agreed to allow our readers to preview one chapter, titled "Latino Immigrants: Tools to Ensure a ‘Governing Coalition’ for the Left."

In the book, Loudon exhaustively documents the Left’s longtime agenda regarding illegal aliens and how its activists have gone about implementing it. He provides irrefutable proof that the entire immigration-reform movement was the brainchild of American communists and that their goal has long been to establish unchallengeable political supremacy.

According to Loudon, the Communist Party USA has influenced U.S. policy toward illegals since at least the 1960s. He traces the history, showing how communists and communist-founded organizations slowly built the movement from the ground up. While other groups certainly joined the effort, the communists were always at the center.

For example, he tells the story of CPUSA member Bert Corona, the “Communist Father of the ‘Immigrants Rights’ movement.” In 1964, Corona, Cesar Chavez and future Democratic Socialists of America member Dolores Huerta forced Congress to end the guest worker “Bracero” program. Later, Corona sought ways to address “problems confronting Mexicans in the United States who had no visas or citizenship documents” – in other words, illegal aliens – including “how to defend persons detained by immigration authorities and how to help immigrants acquire disability and unemployment insurance and welfare.”

Along the way, Corona founded and/or led numerous organizations, such as the Mexican American Political Association, or MAPA, Centro de Action Social Autonoma, or CASA, and La Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (the National Mexican Brotherhood), all influential in the “immigrant rights” movement. The Communist Party still has strong influence in MAPA, which acts as a king-maker for Democratic Party candidates in the Los Angeles area.

Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor and 2012 chairman of the Democratic National Convention, got his start with CASA. He was also a former member of the Communist Venceremos Brigades and worked with the Brigades in Cuba. As mayor of Los Angeles, he was “the most pro-illegal immigrant mayor the city has ever seen.”

Larwyn's Linx: Has the Obama administration gone “full Watergate?”

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

Nation

Has the Obama administration gone “full Watergate?”: Sister Toldjah
Dump people into exchanges, make Obamacare impossible to repeal: Nice Deb
Who is racist?: Thomas Sowell

Labrador: A Bad Immigration Bill Could Kill the Republican Party: RWN
With Dems on defensive, GOP has chance to recapture senate: Barone
NC Sheriff Chipp Bailey Subverts 'Shall Issue' Concealed Carry Law: NCGB

Economy

101 Million: Food Aid Recipients Now Outnumber Private Sector Workers: CDN
Paul Ryan Asks CBO to Re-Score Obamacare: WFB
Obamanomics: Feds lower economic growth projections, again: Rare

Obama to Cabinet: Find ‘Smarter’ Ways to Run Government: JWF
Cost of complying with Michelle Obama’s school lunch overhaul? $3.2B!: EAG
Report: $1B to be spent on Obamacare ads: Rare

Rick Perry, Texas accounts for 50% of Obama’s net job growth: Scoop
Video of Tenn. DUI checkpoint confrontation goes viral: PoliceOne
Concealed Carry for Chicago: Karen Bartuch

Scandal Central

Obamacare Subsidies: Just Lie, It's Ok: Market Ticker
The IRS Mistakenly Exposed Thousands of Social Security Numbers: Brian Fung, NatlJrnl
It’s Not Just Thomson Reuters – Elite Investors Get Tons of Unfair Advantages: Yahoo!

Climate & Energy

Marshall University's Aaron Kidd: How Unions Are Harming The Economy: Leslie Eastman, CI
Quebec Train Crash Explains Why Greens Should Back Keystone: Walter Russell Mead

Media

Layoffs Rise but Reuters says Economy is Improving: AIM
Durbin to Bloggers; SHUT UP: Lady Liberty
In Reversal, Florida Judge Okays Testimony About Trayvon Martin’s Marijuana Usage: TSG

Mass resignations at Al Jazeera over "biased" Egypt coverage: Commentator
Top 10 Democrat Party Slogans: The Black Sphere
#Hillary2016 Record as Secretary of State: “a rather irrelevant subject”: Da Tech Guy

The Conservative Call For Capital One to Fire Alec Baldwin Is Getting Massive Attention: RWN
Three Weeks Later: Reporter Michael Hastings’ Mysterious Death in Fiery Car Crash: The Blaze
You thought that the Weiner-Spitzer thing couldn’t get any funnier, didn’t you?: Moe Lane

World

Obama Demands Peaceful Surrender to Brotherhood: Daren Jonescu
Islamic Misogyny vs. Islamophobia: Atlas
Secret move keeps bin Laden records in the shadows: Richard Lardner

Obama to Israel: Do as we say, not as we do: Michael Freund
TURKEY: Erdogan Insults Blacks as State Media Continues Anti-Semitic Campaign: Algemeiner
At last, The Secret of President Barack Obama’s Middle East Policy Revealed, No Kidding: Barry Rubin

The New Hotness: Libs Keep Comparing Conservatives To Islamofascists: Nice Deb
21st century slavery: What you need to know about human trafficking: John Vanek, PoliceOne
Ironclad: Egypt Involved in Benghazi Attacks: Walid Shoebat

Sci-Tech

How Self-Driving Cars Could Lead US Citizens to Revolt: TNW
Another Perspective on the Value of Privacy: Schneier
Protecting E-Mail from Eavesdropping: Schneier

Cornucopia

10 things more likely to succeed than Obamacare: RedAlert
Obamacare Income Verification: We Just-a Waived it!: MOTUS
An Instalanche More Miraculous than Stacy McCain Realizes: DaTechGuy

Image: GM may be alive, but Detroit is on life support
Sponsored by: Call Eric Cantor at 804-747-4073 and Paul Ryan at 202-225-3031; tell them NO AMNESTY!

QOTD: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." --Edmund Burke

Monday, July 08, 2013

The Secret of President Barack Obama’s Middle East Policy Revealed

Guest post by Barry Rubin


A statement by two National Security Council senior staff members has revealed the inner thinking of President Barack Obama. It is of incredible importance and I plead with you to read it. If you do you will comprehend fully what's going on with U.S. foreign policy.

Egypt, Egypt, Egypt... There are more words written about this event than demonstrators in Tahrir Square. But, to quote a recent Secretary of State on Benghazi, what difference does it make? A great deal indeed.

First, let’s remember that in the face of advancing totalitarianism in the Middle East, U.S. policy completely failed. Imagine what could have opposed the Nazis without Winston Churchill and Great Britain in the 1940s. The Obama government was not only ready to leave Middle Easterners to their fate; it even sided with their actual or potential oppressors.

So who has been waging the battle meanwhile? The people of Iran and Turkey, who have not won because in part the United States failed to encourage the former and did not encourage the Turkish army to do what the Egyptian army did do; the embattled Tunisian and Lebanese anti-Islamists; the Saudis (at times) and the Persian Gulf Arabs (except for Qatar) and Jordan. Oh yes, and also Israel -- the most slandered and falsely reviled country on earth.

Second, the Benghazi affair was the model of the Obama Administration worldview: If you allow a video insulting Muslims, four American officials will be killed. If you support the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, thousands of Americans might die.

And this leads us to Barack Obama’s Big Decision

Is President Obama going to come down on the side of the Islamist ex-regime -- which includes the Salafists in objective terms -- or the new regime? What a remarkable irony that Obama endlessly apologized for past U.S. support for dictators and ended up adding a new chapter to that history and heightened anti-Americanism! Remember that, during one of his last conversations with ex-President Muhammad al-Mursi, Obama told him that he still regarded him as the democratically elected president of Egypt.

Thank the Eco-tards' rejection of Keystone XL for environmental catastrophes like Lac Mégantic

Next time you see one of the climate kooks opposed to Keystone XL, be sure to thank them for the train derailment and explosion in Quebec that has resulted in an environmental disaster.

Five bodies have been found and about 40 people are still unaccounted for in the Saturday morning derailment of a runaway train that may have reached speed of up to 90 kilometres an hour.

Hampered by heat from the charred tankers, search crews hoped to expand their small safety zone over the course of the day and begin what could be a long process of examination and identification that could finally bring anguished families some closure.


A few of the nearly 2,000 people evacuated have been allowed back home but the entire town remains under a “boil water” order from the Quebec environment ministry...

...Booms on the Chaudière were installed to hold back some of the ocean of oil that gushed from exploding tankers. Each tanker on the 72-car freight train was carrying 100 tons of crude oil, the ministry said.

Yes: the train was carrying oil. Walter Russell Mead explains the ramifications of the Obama administration's refusal to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

...crashes like this are why greens should be supporting the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Canada has a lot of oil. Much of that is trapped in Alberta’s oil sands, and it is of a particularly heavy and dirty-burning variety. But Canada does not have a lot of oil infrastructure. It lacks the pipelines and the refineries needed to take advantage of its bounty.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would solve this problem by bringing Canadian oil down to American refineries along the Gulf Coast. Prominent greens like James Hanson and Bill McKibben see the approval of this pipeline as “game over” for the climate, due to the amount of greenhouse gas this oil would emit when burned.

Here’s why they’re wrong: that oil is coming out of the ground whether the pipeline is built or not... lacking any proper pipeline infrastructure, companies are shipping oil by train. And not in trickles, either: Canada’s rail shipments of oil have increased by 28,000 percent since 2009.

...If greens had any sense, they would be clamoring for the Obama administration to approve [Keystone XL]. The oil is coming out whether the pipeline is built or not. At this point, it’s about minimizing the risk of events like the Lac Megantic accident.

Let me repeat for the slow-to-learn Democrat readers among us: that oil is coming out of the ground whether the pipeline is built or not. Which would make refusal to approve said pipeline not only economically suicidal but also environmentally irresponsible.


WEINER-SPITZER: Suddenly the Republican brand looks a lot more appealing to female voters

What was that about a "war on women"?

  • Anthony Weiner is running for NYC Mayor.
  • Anthony Weiner has an excellent chance of getting the Democratic nomination for NYC Mayor.
  • Anthony Weiner thus has a very good chance of becoming the next NYC Mayor.
  • Eliot Spitzer heard this and said Hey, maybe I can get in on this action.
  • Eliot Spitzer is thus running for office in NYC.
  • Eliot Spitzer is running for NYC Comptroller, which I believe keeps an eye out for oh, say, money laundering done to hide a government official’s payments to hookers. Just to pick a scenario at random.
  • Eliot Spitzer might still win.

But that’s not the truly funny part. Here’s the truly funny part: meet Eliot Spitzer’s Libertarian opponent.

Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former New York governor running for New York City comptroller, is going to have a hard time getting past the prostitution scandal that brought him down five years ago.

In a twist of irony, Kristin Davis, the “Manhattan Madam” who admits she supplied Spitzer with escorts, is running as the libertarian candidate for the office Spitzer announced Sunday night he’s running for.

Oh, that’s just beautiful.


Now everyone knows the Republican brand is tarnished badly. In a brilliantly suicidal maneuver, feckless leaders like John Boehner and political prostitutes such as Karl Rove have essentially waged war on their own base.

It's gotten so bad, even Republicans won't call themselves Republicans.

This week, The Frontier Lab published the results of months of research into why some Republicans are refusing to go by the label “Republican,” choosing to identify as anything but... No matter what outreach the RNC recommends to various segmented groups, if they do not address the four insights revealed by “Switching Behavior,” their cause will be a hopeless one.

The results were fascinating; after combining the flowcharts from individuals who share conservative or moderate views and no longer will use the label “Republican” to describe themselves, we ascertained four core patterns that they had in common:

• Rejection of the “Lesser of Two Evils” argument;
• Articulation of “Loss of Hope” in the GOP;
• Affiliation with a new community, and
• Incident of perceived betrayal by the GOP establishment.

[Importantly,] patterns stemming from the realization that a “lesser of two evils” argument, put forth by the GOP to encourage support of a candidate, is no longer acceptable, is a strong indicator of future disaffiliation.

In short, if the Republican leadership ever decides to actually embrace Constitutional conservatism and Tea Party activists -- and highlights the Democrats' real war on women as represented by Obama's policies and the likes of Weiner-Spitzer -- there could be a sea-change in the electorate.

But that would require brains and energy on the part of the GOP leadership, so we know it has virtually no chance of happening.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.


Larwyn's Linx: Attention All Chiselers, Cheats, and Fraudsters: Obamacare Wants You!

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

Nation

Attention Chiselers, Cheats, and Fraudsters: Obamacare Wants You: PJM
White House Down: Obama Version: Clarice Feldman
Percy Sutton: Pro-Communist Obama Enabler, Holder Mentor: Trevor Loudon

Sarah Palin Tears Into The State Department For Lying About John Kerry: RWN
NTSB tweets from inside crashed Boeing 777: Twitchy
Feds to use ‘honor system’ in determining Obamacare benefit eligibility: PRB

Security Cameras Catch Break-In at Whistleblower’s Law Firm: GWP
Chicago: 67 People Shot, 11 Killed Over July 4th Long Weekend: WZ
GOP’s Beef with Census Goes Beyond Obama’s Chicago Nominee: Straub

Economy

Old and Sick Swamp Obamacare Rolls: Walter Russell Mead
How you will know when #obamacare is doomed.: Moe Lane
Wounded warrior treated ‘shamefully’ by TSA screeners: BizPac

Obamacare Job Double Counting and Other Economic Distortions: Mish
Obamacare’s Dirty Dozen Implementation Failures: Foundry
House Republicans Draft Their Debt-Ceiling Playbook: Tim Alberta

Scandal Central

Obama Scandal Machine's Own Amateurish Break-In?: Bryan Preston
Are Democrat Mobs Planning SWAT Tactics Against Republicans in Texas?: Bryan Preston
California Prisons Were Illegally Sterilizing Female Inmates: Abby Ohlheiser, Atlantic

Climate & Energy

A tectonic shift is taking place in the global energy market: Israpundit

Media

Two Gray Ladies In One!: Ed Driscoll
More Useful Idiots Self Identify: DaTechGuy
Megyn Kelly’s goodbye: Fox News’ prime time shake-up: BizPac

'CNN Shame On You' Signs Appear in Cairo: Noel Sheppard, NB
A First for My Fourth: DiploMad
Bush Grants Interview to ABC's This Week to Remind Us He's Still an Idiot: AWD

Interviewing James O’Keefe About His New Book, “Breakthrough”: RWN
Before James Rosen, There Was James O'Keefe: Jack Cashill
Nemesis, After All: Victor Davis Hanson

World

The Brothers won't take this lying down: Reuven Berko
Arafat's Physician Confirms He Died of AIDS: TAB
Moammar Khadafy sex slave reveals nightmare of rape, fear and captivity: Post

Hezbollah to Iran: We can't support Assad by ourselves, send more fighters: Israel Hayom
Tinker, Tailor, Snowden, Spy: Gordon G. Chang, Gatestone
Violence in Egypt leaves at least 40 dead, chills negotiations: WaPo

Sci-Tech

Security barrier work uncovers ancient cave complex: Times of Israel
SolePower charges smartphones by harnessing walking power: CNet
Garmin's $130 smartphone HUD limits distractions with line-of-sight directions: Engadget

Cornucopia

Ten Bad Ideas That Seemed Good At The Time: Jalopnik
The 10 Cars With the Most Obnoxious Drivers: Ross
The Uncompromising, Legendary Lancia Stratos: Petrolicious

Image: Garmin's $130 smartphone HUD limits distractions with line-of-sight directions
Sponsored by: Call Eric Cantor at 804-747-4073 and Paul Ryan at 202-225-3031; tell them NO AMNESTY!

QOTD: "Thanks to Obamacare, someone who used to work 35 hours a week for Olive Garden now works 22 hours for Olive Garden and 12 for Applebees. And Someone who worked 35 hours for Applebees now works 22 for Applebees and 12 for Olive Garden. The establishment survey sees two additional jobs created when precisely zero jobs were created.

Since this is happening en masse, I expect downward revisions in the future over Obamacare Double Counting.

The Obamcare effect is real. The distortions are complicated, numerous, and not widely understood." --Michael Shedlock