Monday, December 30, 2013

HILARIOUSLY APPROPOS: Videotape of Burning Log Beats CBS Morning Show in Nielsen Ratings

If this doesn't prove that vintage media is dying, I don't know what will.

But how’d it do in the demo?

Dallas-Fort Worth local CBS affiliate TXA 21 played a loop of burning yule log on Christmas Eve into the morning of the 25th, accompanied by a holiday selection from a local radio station, and it was a (comparative) ratings hit.

According to Nielsen breakdowns, the “roaring fire” beat a Friends rerun and tied an episode of The Office.

Most surprisingly, however, from 8:45 to 9:00 a.m., as the log was “burning out,” it averaged almost 30,000 viewers, enough to tie that morning’s edition of CBS This Morning on Dallas’ CBS 11 in ratings.

No word on how badly MSNBC got pasted in the ratings, although I believe the all-night laundromat on 34th Street may have doubled 'em.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Just how real is the story behind the movie "American Hustle"?

I thought the movie, loosely related to the Abscam scandal of the seventies, was outstanding. That said, I found myself wondering: just how real was the plot?

Many of the names were changed, but some of the key threads were accurate:

1. A con artist was used by the FBI to entrap politicians:

In 1978 the FBI launched a major investigation into federal corruption. In an effort to weasel out the less than ethical politicians working in Washington, the FBI hired convicted con artist Melvin Weinberg, named Irving Rosenfeld and played by Christian Bale in the film, to come up with the ultimate scam.

2. A fake Arab Sheikh's money was used as bait:

The FBI launched a fake corporation called Abdul Enterprises, Ltd. to serve as a front for the investigation, with a number of agents posing as Karim Abdul Rahman, the fictional sheik who owned the company. The agents then held a series of meetings with prominent Senators and Representatives at a Georgetown townhouse located at the 4400 block of W Street. The FBI rented the home from Lee Lescaze, a Washington Post editor. During the filmed meetings, the agent posing as Rahman would offer the politicians money in exchange for political asylum and help in illegally transferring money.

3. Six House Representatives and one U.S. Senator were convicted of bribery and conspiracy:

Of the 31 members of Congress targeted by ABSCAM, one Senator and six Representatives were convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 1981. Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey received three years in federal prison for agreeing on tape to take a share of stock in the FBI's fake company and to use his position in the Senate to steer contracts to the company. He was the first U.S. Senator to be imprisoned in over 80 years. Representatives John Jenrette of South Carolina, Richard Kelly of Florida, Raymond Lederer of Pennsylvania, Michael Myers of Pennsylvania, Frank Thompson of New Jersey and John Murphy of New York were also all found guilty and each served less than three years in jail.

4. A popular mayor really was implicated in the plot:

[Jeremy] Renner's Carmine Polito is Hollywood's version of Angelo Errichetti, the longtime New Jersey pol who died this past spring. Like Polito, Errichetti was the well-liked mayor of Camden, N.J., who got taken down by Abscam. In the movie, Bale's character finagles an 18-month sentence for Polito; in real life, Errichetti was slammed with a six-year stint. (He served two and a half years, per an Associated Press look at Errichetti.)

5. As for the women in the con artist's life?

In the movie, everything mostly works out for Irving Rosenfeld. Irving and Sydney marry, while Irving and Rosalyn come to terms, and she moves on with a mobster friend.

In real life, Marie Weinberg was found hanged to death just weeks after she went to the press claiming Mel Weinberg had profited from Abscam. The 1982 incident was ruled a suicide; she was 50.

And while Mel Weinberg and Evelyn Knight did indeed go on to marry, Weinberg told the Telegraph they subsequently divorced, and that while they still live near each other, "she won't talk to me anymore."

Rotten Tomatoes has American Hustle at 94 percent (critics) and 82 percent (audience). I thought it was excellent, FWIW.


Hat tip: BadBlue Entertainment News.

#Fab50: Announcing the 2013 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners

The moment you've been waiting for is here.

The votes are in. The anxious nominees' fingernails have been chewed down to the quick.

Winner - 2013 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards And at least one blogger just excused himself to go to the bathroom (number two, apparently, based upon the length of time he's been gone).

So we're more than pleased to announce the winners of the 2013 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards, the most prestigious new media awards in the conservative blogosphere.

Or, at the very least, in the 993 area code.

These awards recognize a variety of blogs and websites operating in the conservative hemisphere of the Internet, all of which have worked tirelessly to promote conservatism, free market capitalism, fiscal sanity, the sovereignty of the individual, and otherwise protect America from the cockroach-like Statists -- some in very unique ways.

So, without further ado, may I have the envelopes, please?


Larwyn's Linx: The Rehabilitation of Hillary Clinton

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

Nation

The Rehabilitation of Hillary Clinton: MOTUS
A Brave Heroine Speaking Truth To Power...: 90 Miles
Free Exercise Thereof: Christian Mercenary

Father Do Not Forgive Them. They Know Damn Well What They Do.: AmDigest
The Year in Stupid: Derek Hunter
DNC Sees Impeachment For Obama On Horizon: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Help Wanted: Principled, Conservative Leaders: Star Parker
CNN Teams With White House to Promote Obamacare Sign-ups: GWP
How political correctness took down Navy SEALs: Kyle Smith

Media has not interest in 'Terrorist Dry Run' on power station: Reaganite
Racist? Chattanooga Cops Say 32 Drug Dealers "Worst of The Worst": WZ
Pro-Crime Liberal Politician Beaten Up by 2 Black Women over iPhone: FPM

Economy

Peter Schiff Teaches Econ To Unions, Gets Death Threats: HayRide
Would You Buy a Used Macroeconomic Policy From This Man?: Popehat
Toxic Smoke Cloud Engulfs Greece; Six Years of Relentless Recession: Mish

Scandal Central

New York Crimes: Hopenchange Cartoons
Benghazi Witnesses Outraged By NYT’s Times Story: Nice Deb
DOJ Will Only Prosecute White-on-Black Hate Crimes: Sara Noble

Clinton State Department Whistle Blower Has Computer Hacked: Lid
The NSA's 50-Page Catalog Of Back Door Penetration Techniques Revealed: ZH
The NSA Has A Way To Intercept Computers Mid-Shipment And Install Spyware On Them: Steve Kovach

Climate & Energy

Mystery Ice Traps Global Warmists: Ricochet
‘Mystery Ice Traps Global Warmists’: Ed Driscoll

Media

New York Times' Benghazi Fairy Tale Written For Hillary 2016?: Lid
The Unusual Courage of Mark Steyn: MoneyRunner
2016 CNN Poll: Clinton deadlocked with Christie: Paul Steinhauser

Winning Quotes in MRC’s Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting: Brent Baker
“it’s all about neutralization of maleness”: William A. Jacobson
They Did Build That — Twice: Tom Blumer

World

Our Delusion: Bubba
Kill and Cry, Kill Some More, Cry Some More: Atlas
Americans Favor Not Isolationism But Restraint: Cato

The Plan: Let's keep it simple...: III Percent
Only One Solution for Our Corrupt System: Popehat
Ezra Pound and His Brother: Winter Soldier

Report: Obama Wants Israel to Hand Over Holy Sites to Palestinian Thugs: GWP
Reagan on States’ Rights: iOTW
2 suicide bombings hit Russian city, 31 dead: USA Today

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Brain function 'boosted for days after reading a novel': Tomas Jivanda
My Spike Hawk: Knuckledraggin My Life Away
Digital = Compromised: III Percent

Cornucopia

Around the Internet: Zion's Trumpet
The Dark Truths Behind Rudolph: Cube
Michael Schumacher in critical condition after skiing accident: Jonathan Noble

Image: The Anti-American Is The New American
Sponsored by: Let's Pink-slip Mitch McConnell -- Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Mr. President, Mrs. Obama. There is a photograph of you [hugging] that went viral, became the most shared photograph in the history of Twitter. How do you keep the fire going?" — Barbara Walters to the Obamas in an interview excerpt shown on ABC’s World News and Nightline, December 26, 2012.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: Rise of the Mediacracy

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

Nation

Rise of the Mediacracy: Daniel Greenfield
Who Will Speak For The Long-Neglected Middle Class?: Victor Davis Hanson
16,000 Iowans won’t have health care because of Bruce Braley: Moe Lane

The Anti-American is the New American: Christian Mercenary
DNC sends email defending Obama from impeachment possibility: DC
DNC website talks impeachment and debt, but ready to win in 2014: BPR

If He’s Lost Lawrence O’Donnell …: R.S. McCain
Californians rush to buy long guns before gun registry becomes law: Bob Owens
Liberals Are Going To Freak Out Over This New School Regulation: RWN

Obama’s Tedious Act Grown Old and Stale: Peter Wehner
Obamacare Supporters Really Psyched Over 1 Million Picking A Plan: RWN
Clintons to Boost Radical Communist’s Swearing-In Ceremony: Colin Campbell

Economy

Will Insurers Ever Say Enough’s Enough To Obamacare?: Greg Scandlen
Does the Bell Toll for Excessive Public Pay?: Steven Greenhut
IRS could face blame for Obamacare’s unexpected tax bite: Rachel Bade

Scandal Central

Mad King Barack: The Repeated Injuries and Ursurpations: Reagan Girl
ATF Agent Sends Shockwaves Across Internet With Explosive Fast and Furious Allegations: Blaze
Union Leader Tweet: Wishes Disabled Vets Had Died, Lost All Limbs: Rick Wells

Feds charge white man with hate crime in first ‘knockout’ prosecution: Stephen Dinan, Times
Wait!? How Long Has This Guy Been Trying To Enroll In Obamacare?: RWN
As Predicted, ObamaCare Plunges Into 'Utter Chaos': Michael F. Cannon

Climate & Energy

2013 Saw a ‘Tsunami of Regulatory Actions’ on Environment, Senate GOPs Charge: PJM
Team Obama Refuses To Allow Small, Critical Road Through Wildlife Refuge: Cove
Brave Warmist Tells Us That Turning Off The Lights Can Make A Difference: Cove

Media

Torpedo Los! Another Toys for Totalitarians shipment delivered, this time to Andrew Cuomo.: SSI
"Why hasn't this terrorist been arrested?" Kosmies Notice Toys for Totalitarians campaign: SSI
I’m one of the #GunBullies. Why aren’t you?: An NC Gun Blog

New York Times Tries to Revive the Benghazi “YouTube Anger” Hoax: TPNN
Rep. Peter King, Fox News’ Herridge Shred NY Times’ “Misleading” Benghazi Report: Nice Deb
These People Are The Undisputed Masters Of Firearms Sales: RWN

Pinkwashing Norman Rockwell: Ed Driscoll
Life of Julia: Chris Muir
Toby Keith restaurant hypocrisy leaves bad taste in gun owners’ mouths: David Codrea

World

Krauthammer: Obama Siding With Mullahs Over Congress: Scoop
Menendez: The “Iranians are showing their true intentions” with this little centrifuge surprise: Hot Air
Obama to IDF: Stop worrying about Israel's security and sign the damned deal already: Matzav

Alarming video: Al Qaeda growing and taking “a new approach to death”: Allen West
Muslim Brotherhood signs pact with al-Qaeda: JihadWatch
Al-Qaeda Is On the Run… And Looking to Annex One-Third of Iraq: GWP

'Military-Style' Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.: Shane Harris
Relating To Christ Through His Humanity: David Limbaugh
Think Again: Can the Reform Movement staunch the bleeding?: Jonathan Rosenblum

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Stunning GoPro video of what passengers don’t see when flying an Airbus 340: Aviationist
Five tips to avoid being a crime victim: Survivalist
Six Top Tech Trends to Watch in 2014: Samuel Greengard

Cornucopia

Obama Claus: IBA
Saturday Sweaterday: Celebrating Lady M’s Half-Century Mark In Style: MOTUS
I Have Nothing to Say...: Adrienne

Image: Photographer Continues to Follow His Girlfriend Around The World
Sponsored by: Let's Pink-slip Mitch McConnell -- Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The point is not what you think about the merits of the DREAM Act. Or of mandatory drug sentences. Or of subsidizing health-care premiums for $175,000-a-year members of Congress. Or even whether you think governors should be allowed to weaken the work requirements for welfare recipients — an authority the administration granted last year in clear violation of section 407 of the landmark Clinton-Gingrich welfare reform of 1996.

The point is whether a president, charged with faithfully executing the laws that Congress enacts, may create, ignore, suspend, and/or amend the law at will...

Such gross executive usurpation disdains the Constitution. It mocks the separation of powers. And, most consequentially, it introduces a fatal instability into law itself. If the law is not what is plainly written, but is whatever the president and his agents decide, what’s left of the law?" --Charles Krauthammer

OWWW: Anderson Silva Leg Break Screencap #ufc [GRAPHIC]

Not for the faint of heart:


Anderson needs to retire.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

A REAL CHRISTMAS MIRACLE: Two People Survived This Wreck

Via the BBC:


A driver had an "incredible escape" from serious injury when a car was "sliced" in two as it hit a sign on the M11, Essex Fire Service has said.

The vehicle left the road and collided with a large motorway sign at junction 9a near Great Chesterford at about 14:00 GMT on Tuesday... No-one was trapped in the vehicle when fire crews from Cambridge, Newport and Saffron Walden arrived... Firefighters gave first aid to two people at the scene.

Nigel Webb, Saffron Walden incident commander, said the impact had "effectively sliced the vehicle in half sending the front of the vehicle into the nearside bushes and the rear half onto the hard shoulder"... He added that it was "simply an incredible escape for the driver".

An East of England Ambulance Service Trust spokesperson there were two patients involved in the crash, one believed to be a man in his 20s, both of whom escaped with minor injuries.

Unexplained Photo o' the Day

I have no idea, so don't ask.



Via @Nick_Pants.


NSA Data Collection Program Called "Orwellian" by Federal Judge Stopped a Total of... Zero Terror Attacks

Last week Federal Judge Richard Leon had some harsh words for the NSA's massive data collection programs, including the one that collects all telephone calls in America:

I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval. Surely such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment...

[It uses] almost-Orwellian technology.

The irony is rich. As Roger Aranoff observes, "...had [this] happened on George Bush’s watch, they could have been calling our government fascist, expressing hyper-outrage, and demanding impeachment."

An investigation by Michael Isikoff of NBC News found that the NSA's unconstitutional domestic data collection programs helped to stop the following number of terror attacks: none.

A member of the White House review panel on NSA surveillance said he was “absolutely” surprised when he discovered the agency’s lack of evidence that the bulk collection of telephone call records had thwarted any terrorist attacks.

...Under the NSA program, first revealed by ex-contractor Edward Snowden, the agency collects in bulk the records of the time and duration of phone calls made by persons inside the United States.

...The conclusions of the panel’s reports were at direct odds with public statements by President Barack Obama and U.S. intelligence officials. “Lives have been saved,” Obama told reporters last June, referring to the bulk collection program and another program that intercepts communications overseas. “We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information.”

...But in one little-noticed footnote in its report, ... Section 215, based on the provision of the U.S. Patriot Act that provided the legal basis for it – had made “only a modest contribution to the nation’s security.” The report said that “there has been no instance in which NSA could say with confidence that the outcome [of a terror investigation] would have been any different” without the program.

The panel’s findings echoed that of U.S. Judge Richard Leon, who in a ruling this week found the bulk collection program to be unconstitutional. Leon said that government officials were unable to cite “a single instance in which analysis of the NSA’s bulk collection metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the Government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature.”

...The comparison between [the] 702 overseas interceptions and 215 bulk metadata collection was “night and day,” said Stone. “With 702, the record is very impressive. It’s no doubt the nation is safer and spared potential attacks because of 702. There was nothing like that for 215. We asked the question and they [the NSA] gave us the data. They were very straight about it.”

In other words, the Obama administration (yawn) lied to the American people yet again.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Please Congratulate Thomas Friedman of the New York Times for His Dumbest Quote o' the Year Award

The Media Research Center calls the award "The Audacity of Dopes" for the year's most misguided, inane and intellectually bankrupt "analysis".


MRC recognized Melissa ("Tampon Earrings") Harris-Perry as the winner, but it's clear in our view that Friedman was the true winner.


Hat tip: JTT

Insidious backdoor gun control: EPA mandates "green ammo"

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Gun Control: Thanks to government regulations, the closing of the last U.S. lead smelter and a push for "green" lead-free ammunition, ammo prices will skyrocket. Does the Second Amendment threaten the environment?

Having been stymied by court defeats such as the Supreme Court's deciding that the Second Amendment does indeed confer a right to keep and bear arms on individuals throughout the United States, advocates of a gun-free America and a disarmed citizenry are taking a different approach: Go after the ammunition through regulations that stifle domestic production and force the use of more expensive and eco-friendly substitutes.

Expanded regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency have forced the closing as of Dec. 31 of the country's last bullet-producing lead smelter — a facility operated by Doe Run Co. in Herculaneum, Mo., that first opened its doors in 1892. As a result of the closure, a company press release notes, 145 Doe Run employees and some 73 contractors will lose their jobs.

The Herculaneum smelter, according to the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, is the only one in the U.S. that can produce lead bullion from raw lead ore and the components for traditional lead ammunition.

The only alternatives, the institute says, will be to import the ammo components or use EPA-approved "green" ammunition.

COMING SOON: The Fifth Annual Fabulous 50 Blog Awards... #fab50

Forget the Pulitzers! Flush those stinking Nobel Prizes! There's only one award ceremony worth watching and let's all admit it.

Every year at this time we are pleased to announce the winners of the Fabulous 50 Blog Awards™, recognizing the year's 50 most important blogs and websites in the conservative world. No debates. No voting. No nominations. Just facts. Immutable truths, chiseled in stone and then forged on Zeus' anvil for all of human history. No prize carries more panache, more prestige, or more sex appeal than a Fab 50 Award, save something you might find in a Crackerjacks box.

If you are a winner, click the award badge that you would like to use, then copy the text in the HTML block below to paste into your template. Losing blogs are free, of course, to utilize the bold fresh LOSER badge.

300 x 400 Deluxe200 x 267 Midsize
180 x 241 Intermediate160 x 185 Mini160 x 185 LOSER

HTML to use in your template:

Related:
2012 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
2011 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
2010 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners
2009 Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners.

And be sure to press your browser's Reload button continuously from now until New Year's Eve to make sure you don't miss this epic event, which is definitely slated to be televised on ESPN 8 ("The Ocho"), as far as you know.

Larwyn's Linx: Boehner, Rove, and Chamber Wage Big-Moneyed Assault Against Tea Party

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

Nation

Boehner, Rove, Chamber Wage Big-Moneyed Assault Against Tea Party: TPNN
Karl Rove's Crossroads Reloading Against the Tea Party: Tony Lee
The 15 Most Idiotic Things Liberals Said in 2013: Publius

Ted Cruz: 2013 Person of the Year: TPNN
It Sucks to Be Mary Landrieu: AmPower
Nullification vs. Article V Constitutional Convention: Michael Lotfi

Veteran’s scathing letter to Ryan over budget, ‘stolen’ benefits goes viral: BPR
Cowards! Shirkers! Sycophantic Bootlicking Slaves!: Plucking the Yew
Obamacare Contraception Mandate Loses In Federal Court: RWN

Economy

Uh oh: Worst Christmas Retail Numbers Since 2009: TAB
Surprise! Bronze plans may cost a lot more than you expect: Hot Air
Data Firms Hold Files on Millions of Americans: Income, Disease, etc.: PJM

Heh: Obamacare cancels Americorps workers' health insurance: TAB
$26B in tax-hikes later, Deadbeat State is deadbeatier than ever: David Freddoso
Wash. judge strikes part of minimum wage hike measure: USA Today

Scandal Central

Busted Lying Again: NSA Can Decode Your Phone Call and Listen In: Victory Girls
ATF Agent Sends Shockwaves Across Internet With Explosive Fast and Furious Allegations: Blaze
New Jersey Cops Suspended for Serving Their Country?: FNI

Climate & Energy

Last Night, I Hit Rand Simberg’s Tip Jar for $10, Because … Science!: R.S. McCain
Warmists Really Hate Allowing “Skeptics” To Give Their Views: Cove
Stock Up Now: January 1 Is Lightbulb Ban: Cowboy Byte

Media

The 10 Best Conservative Columnists of 2013: Dave Swindle
Normalization of Pedophilia Proceeds: Moonbattery
MSNBC's Klein: How ObamaCare Could Make Insurance Unaffordable for Elderly and Sick: Brad Wilmouth

Top 10 Nice Deb Posts for 2013: Nice Deb
2013 Ratings: Fox News Number One for 12th Straight Year: Don Irvine
Revealing Gaffe on MSNBC About Obama Coverage: Roger Aronoff

Year-End Awards: The Tea Party Terrorists Award: Rich Noyes
Media Matters' Boehlert: Democrats Don't Have Money: Elisha Krauss
GLAAD issues statement on Phil Robertson’s return to ‘Duck Dynasty’: Twitchy

World

The Chinese Dragon Flexes Its Military Muscle: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Sharia's Protector: Mark Steyn
The End of Erdogan’s Cave of Wonders: An I-Told-You-So: Spengler

Superpowers Making Strategic Moves In Africa: RWN
Obama’s Vacation Unleashed (Cartoon): RWN
John Kerry meets Snoop Dogg -- Beclownment Occurs: DC

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The Digital Enterprise: Frank Diana
Project of the Month: An Autonomous Lawn Mower: Ian Chant, PopSci
Infographic: The pros and cons of working at a startup: VenBeat

Cornucopia

If You Duck This Holiday Season, Please Duck Responsibility.: MOTUS
M11 Christmas Eve crash driver has 'incredible escape': BBC
Little Red Phony: iOTW

Image: Sign at butcher shop - @SaintRPH
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval. Surely such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.” --Judge Richard Leon on the NSA's Sweeping Data Collection Program

Friday, December 27, 2013

VENN DIAGRAM: All You Need to Know About Obamacare

Courtesy of The Looking Spoon:


What If a Typical Family Spent Money Like the Federal Government?

Via The Foundry:



Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels

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

Nation

What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels: John H. Cochrane
Karl Rove: from GOP mastermind to the right's punching bag: Jon Terbush
The TSA’s Truth In Parody: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Obamacare Whac-A-Mole: Mona Charen
Democrats on Losing Side of 13-Point Polling Swing Since October: AmPower
Finding The Right Balance Between Washington And America: Scott Rasmussen

$50M Obamacare-Fix: 'Literally a Life-or-Death Situation': Jeryl Bier
6,171,890 Americans have lost health care because of Obamacare: FAM
Estimates Show Double The Obamacare Enrollments Into Medicaid/SCHIP: RWN

Economy

Wall Street advisor: get guns, ammo in case of collapse: Paul Bedard
A Tale of Two Millennials: Pajama Boy and Me: R.J. Moeller
FEDGOV Cognitive Dissonance: Perspective

Get Ready For Your New ObamaCare Taxes in 2014!: Tammy Bruce
Breaking Down Illinois' Pension Crisis: Eileen Norcross
The Probability Of A Stock Market Crash Is Soaring: ZH

Scandal Central

Oh...NOW It's a Hate Crime?: Diogenes
President Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations Of 2013: Ilya Shapiro
Lone transvestite defeats Newark Airport's $300 million perimeter security system: WyBlog

Media

Cruising the Web: Betsy's Page
Greenwald Slams MSNBC: I Defend Snowden Like You Defend Obama '24 Hours a Day': Breitbart
No Election Coming Up: Obama Skips Church on Christmas: Keith Koffler

Two GEs in One!: Ed Driscoll
World Exclusive: Obama Marriage Explodes: National Enquirer
Jesse Jackson attacks Duck Dynasty star for “white privilege”: LI

WashPost Zaps Jonathan Karl for Questioning White House: Keith Koffler
Steyn: Why does Obama get a pass for sending a stuntman to sign him up for Obamacare?: Scoop
Twitter Apologizes for Blocking “IStandWithPhil.com”: Duane Lester

World

Obama reduces 2014 troop pay raise to 1%: BPR
Messiah Obama Turns 2014 Winter Olympics into Sexuality Games: Conservative Black Chick
Smart Diplomacy: Boeing's Super Hornet Banned From Brazil Over NSA Scandal: No Pasarán!

Was Kim Jong Un wasted when he started that bloody purge of executions?: Hot Air
London Church Creates Wall in Support of Terrorism: Commentator
**GRAPHIC FOOTAGE** Christmas Bombing Aftermath in Iraqi Market: GWP

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Google dethrones Apple to become most talked-about company of 2013: Zach Epstein
Lessons From 5 Advanced Attacks Of 2013 : Robert Lemos
NASA's next robot rover squishes like a child's toy: Sean Hollister

Cornucopia

General Mattis Crosses Potomac With 100,000 Troops; President, Senate Flee City: DuffelBlog
Andrea Bocelli stuns Florida congregation; sings at Christmas mass: BPR
I Knew Pope Francis Was Good, But After Seeing His 2013, I Was Blown Away: Distractify

Image: KPBS
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Bellroy Wallets: slim your wallet

QOTD: "Is the ruling class bound by the laws it imposes on you? Because if it’s not then it’s not any kind of Republic except for the Banana kind." --Mark Steyn

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Obamacare Comix - Real Numbers Edition

Idea courtesy of Liberal Logic 101:


Speaking of which, Mark Steyn has an interesting question: "Why does Obama get a pass for sending a stuntman to sign him up for Obamacare?"


Where is Your Spine, America? 6 Truths to Remember

Guest post by Professor Laura Hollis

The unveiling of the dictatorial debacle that is Obamacare absolutely flabbergasts me. It is stunning on so many levels, but the most shocking aspect of it for me is watching millions of free Americans stand idly by while this man, his minions in Congress and his cheerleaders in the press systematically dismantle our Constitution, steal our money, and crush our freedoms.

The President, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid (with no small help from Justice John Roberts) take away our health care, and we allow it. They take away our insurance, and we allow it. They take away our doctors, and we allow it. They charge us thousands of dollars more a year, and we allow it. They make legal products illegal, and we allow it. They cripple our businesses, and we allow it. They announce by fiat that we must ignore our most deeply held beliefs – and we allow it.

Where is your spine, America?

Yes, I know people are complaining. I read the news on the internet. I read blogs. I have a Twitter feed. So what? People in the Soviet Union complained. People in Cuba complain. People in China complain (quietly). Complaining isn’t the same thing as doing anything about it. In fact, much of the complaining that we hear sounds like resignation: Wow. This sucks. Oh well, this is the way things are. Too bad.

Perhaps you need reminding of a few important facts. Here goes:

1. The President is not a king

Barack Obama does not behave like a President, an elected official, someone who realizes that he works for us. He behaves like a king, a dictator – someone who believes that his own pronouncements have the force of law, and who thinks he can dispense with the law’s enforcement when he deigns to do so. And those of us who object? How dare we? Racists!

And while he moves steadily “forward” with his plans to “fundamentally transform” the greatest country in human history, he distracts people with cheap, meaningless trivialities, like “free birth control pills”! (In fact, let’s face it: this administration’s odd obsession with sex in general - Birth control! Abortion! Sterilization! Gay guys who play basketball! -- is just plain weird. Since when did the leader of the free world care so much about how people have sex, who they have it with, and what meds they use when they have it? Does he have nothing more important to concern himself with?)

2. It isn’t just a failed software program; it is a failed philosophy

People are marveling that Healthcare.gov was such a spectacular failure. Well, if one is only interested in it as a product launch, I’ve explained some of the reasons for that here. But the larger point is that it isn’t a software failure, or even a product failure; it is a philosophy failure.

The Coolest Hacks of 2013, Illustrated

Based upon Dark Reading's Coolest Hacks Of 2013:


You can see the complete list here.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech

Larwyn's Linx: 2017 and the End of Ethics

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

Nation

2017 and the End of Ethics: Victor Davis Hanson
Predictable: Obamacare Website Crashes on Deadline Day: Publius
Cover Oregon – Take two aspirin, and wait to hear from us: Leslie Eastman

Over 50% of counties in exchanges lack affordable health plans: RWN
Destroying healthcare, one form at a time: William A. Jacobson
2014 will be even worse for our president.: Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Into Year Six, Obama Admits He's Clueless: Joseph Curl
NYC considers ban on e-cigarettes just because they can: Douglas Ernst
Muslims at NYU mock Jesus, Christianity posing in iconic painting: LibRep

Economy

The Orphaned Middle Class: Victor Davis Hanson
Northwestern Hosts “Marxist Conference” With Teachers Union: Leslie Eastman
Santa Obama Drops a Lump of Coal on America: JWF

Age of Intolerance: Mark Steyn
Ducks, Gays and Steyn: Paul Mirengoff
Postal Service Loses M1 Carbine, Declares It A ‘Prohibited’ Item: Joe Grine

Scandal Central

Do Democrats really need to promote religious persecution?: Karin McQuillan
Your One Hour Guide To GOP Scandal #StafferGate: Lee Stranahan
Canadian Experts: Pedophilia Is A Sexual Orientation: WZ

Climate & Energy

Time to Stock Up on Incandescent Bulbs Before They Go Out Permanently: Foundry
EPA Appeals District Court Ruling to Exempt Farmyard Runoff From Discharge Permits: BNA
End of an Era as Smelter Closes in Missouri Town: Jim Salter

Media

Capitalism Rocks!: Becca Lower
Seasoned MSM Journalist Asks: 'Time to Pull the Plug on MSNBC?': Tim Graham
Paul Harvey – Freedom to chains: M.D. Creekmore

Another Grim Milestone for LGF: 16000+ Banned: The Diary of Daedalus
Obviously, a Satire: R.S. McCain
7 Examples of Discrimination Against Christians in America: John Hawkins

World

Clinton Aide Was Meeting With Iran in July 2012: Lid
Obama Gives Iran the Bomb: Jed Babbin
Rank hypocrisy of European Union position on “occupation”: William A. Jacobson

Allahu Akbar and Ho Ho Ho: Daniel Greenfield
String of Palestinian Attacks Has Israel Jittery: Aron Heller
Cairo bomb blast hits bus near university: Amro Hassan, LAT

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Your Range Report for a Christmas Eve: Daley Gator
Birth of a Concealed Carry Star — Glock 42: Day at the Range
Planes Going to 'Boneyard' Cited in Waste Report: Dayton Daily News/Military.com

Cornucopia

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day: Innocent Bystanders
Merry Christmas, Mr. Harrison: Ace o' Spades
The Biggest Overlooked Trends of 2013: Politico

Image: Cairo bomb blast hits bus near university
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "If in 2017 the chief executive urges his supporters to “punish our enemies,” what will be the media reaction?

Will the Los Angeles Times object should the next president borrow $6 trillion in his first term? If we have four more years of zero interest, will that policy be deemed reckless and inflationary?

The predictable answer, of course, to all these questions is, again, “It depends.” If a liberal like Hillary Clinton wins, then the same exemptions will almost surely continue, even in the absence of the race card. But if a conservative should be elected, then the old hypocrisy will reappear and we will be treated to the damnation of a Christie, Paul, Rubio, or Cruz as “the worst president ever” or an “amiable dunce” or one of the other sorts of boilerplate disparagement accorded Reagan and the two Bushes." --Victor Davis Hanson