Saturday, March 08, 2014

SNOWDEN TESTIMONY TO EU: Suspicionless Surveillance Actually Makes Us Less Safe

Excerpt from Edward Snowden's written testimony to the European Union [PDF]

Looking at the US government's reports here is valuable. The most recent of these investigations, performed by the White House's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, determined that the mass surveillance program investigated was not only ineffective -- they found it had never stopped even a single imminent terrorist attack -- but that it had no basis in law. In less diplomatic language, they discovered the United States was operating an unlawful mass surveillance program, and the greatest success the program had ever produced was discovering a taxi driver in the United States transferring $8,500 dollars to Somalia in 2007.

After noting that even this unimpressive success – uncovering evidence of a single unlawful bank transfer -- would have been achieved without bulk collection, the Board recommended that the unlawful mass surveillance program be ended. Unfortunately, we know from press reports that this program is still operating today.

I believe that suspicionless surveillance not only fails to make us safe, but it actually makes us less safe. By squandering precious, limited resources on "collecting it all," we end up with more analysts trying to make sense of harmless political dissent and fewer investigators running down real leads. I believe investing in mass surveillance at the expense of traditional, proven methods can cost lives, and history has shown my concerns are justified.

Despite the extraordinary intrusions of the NSA and EU national governments into private communications world-wide, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "Underwear Bomber," was allowed to board an airplane traveling from Europe to the United States in 2009. The 290 persons on board were not saved by mass surveillance, but by his own incompetence, when he failed to detonate the device. While even Mutallab's own father warned the US government he was dangerous in November 2009, our resources were tied up monitoring online games and tapping German ministers...

...Nor did the US government's comprehensive monitoring of Americans at home stop the Boston Bombers. Despite the Russians specifically warning us about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the FBI couldn't do more than a cursory investigation -- although they did plenty of worthless computer-based searching - and failed to discover the plot. 264 people were injured, and 3 died. The resources that could have paid for a real investigation had been spent on monitoring the call records of everyone in America.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Ted Cruz calls for abolition of the IRS

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

Nation

Ted Cruz calls for abolition of the IRS: Outcast
Three cheers for Darrell Issa: Herman Cain
Profs to Congress: Stop Allowing Obama's Abuses of Power: CI

Oops, despite all the Obamacare hoopla the uninsured remain uninsured: WyBlog
Valerie Jarrett Office Promotes ObamaCare to Muslims: Daniel Greenfield
Trailing in several polls, #MISen Dem shakes up his campaign: David Freddoso

Petrie Dish of Liberty: Christian Mercenary
Connecticut’s Gun Ban Is Worse Than Hitler’s Gun Ban: DC Clothesline
From a Reader: Western Rifles

Economy

The Job Market’s February Crumble: Tom Blumer
Another Mediocre Jobs Report: Keith Koffler
Employment: +175k: Karl Denninger

Not Paying Union Dues, in Michigan: NRO
Another vacation for Obama, this time in midst of Ukraine crisis: TR
More Racebaiting from the AFL-CIO: Marathon

Scandal Central

Obama IRS Hires Al-Qaida Spy: IBD
Did IRS just snub Issa?: Gretawire
Henry Waxman Threatened to Physically Remove Darrell Issa From Hearing: MagNote

Phyllis Schlafly: Republicans are ‘fools’ to back ‘any kind of amnesty’: DC
Understanding Why ‘Who George Zimmerman Is” Was Irrelevant To The Objective: Treehouse
IRS caves on Lois Lerner documents, will provide Congress with ALL of her emails: Daily Mail

Climate & Energy

EPA chief says new U.S. energy rules won't hobble business: Ernest Scheyder

Media

Criminalizing Blogging About NSA Leaks?: VictoryGirls
The “best argument for abortion” was just completely demolished by Matt Walsh: YoungCons
What the F****?: IBA (NSFW)

Has WaPo Awakened from Its Obama Fantasy?: David Gerstman
MSNBC mocks Greg Abbott: ‘matchstick-thin legs dangling in front of him…’: Unyielding
White House: Obama Had a Busy Week: Keith Koffler

Watch: Russia Today Anchor Liz Wahl quits Live on Air: Politisite
Juan Williams: Treatment of Condi Rice by Rutgers a hateful liberal double standard: Hot Air
Mark Levin calls Alan Grayson “A Circus Clown”: Scoop

World

‘Obama’: Leader Of The Brie World: Camp o' the Saints
The Ukraine Folk Dance And What It Really Means: JoshuaPundit
Is George Soros a Communist Agent?: Trevor Loudon (2011)

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Google, Microsoft Challenge Service Providers: Mitch Wagner
Magazine System Designed to Freak Out the Gun-Grabbers: Kevin Lake
The 12 Most Amazing Machines at the Geneva Motor Show: Wired

Cornucopia

Live! From Key Largo! Johnny Rocco! We’ll be here all weekend.: MOTUS
The Case to Impeach President Obama: Eagle Rising
That’s George Washington Lying Bleeding on the Battlefield...: Blaze

Image: Wing cracks lead to Dreamliner production delay
Sponsored by: Fire Mitch McConnell: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Oh, Western freedom-loving “left-wing” thinkers! Oh, left-wing labourists! Oh, American, German and French progressive students! All of this is still not enough for you. The whole book has been useless for you. You will understand everything immediately, when you yourself — “hands behind the back” — toddle into our Archipelago." --Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Friday, March 07, 2014

PHOTO: Another Success Story for Socialism!

Fausta translates for us:

This in NOT a demonstration, this is a line to buy food in Venezuela. The result of 15 years of Chavismo.

How sick, ignorant or -- yes, I said it -- evil do you have to be to support the radical left's agenda of centralized government, price/wage controls, and totalitarianism?

That's a rhetorical question. I've concluded that the leaders of today's Democrat Party are both ignorant and evil.


Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time News

COLOR ME SHOCKED: Obama Surgeon General Nominee is a Radical, Gun-Grabbing Kook

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Second Amendment: The administration's choice to be the nation's doctor in chief views gun ownership as a public health issue and not a constitutional right, and wants doctors to query patients about guns in their homes.

Cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal's champion, Debo Adegbile, President Obama's defeated pick to be assistant attorney general for the civil rights division at the Department of Justice, is not the only radical on President Obama's wish list.

That list includes gun-grabbing advocate Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, Obama's nominee to be U.S. Surgeon General.

Murthy is the 36-year-old president and co-founder of the anti-gun group Doctors for America, which advocates ObamaCare and gun control laws.

His group, which has been dubbed "Docs vs. Glocks," has pushed Congress to ban "assault" weapons and "high-capacity" magazines.

He also wants to spend more tax dollars on more research to prove that fewer guns mean a lower crime rate, despite the fact that a number of reputable studies prove the opposite.

At a recent hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Lamar Alexander inquired about Murthy's social media comments on firearms, such as this tweet before the 2012 presidential election: "Tired of politicians playing politics w/ guns, putting lives at risk b/c they're scared of NRA. Guns are a health care issue."

Murthy's Twitter timeline is chock-full of his anti-firearms screeds.

Fundamentally Transforming America, Illustrated

Another @BiffSpackle instant classic:


Dialogue by Josef Stalin.


Related: CLASSIC: Fundamentally Transforming America


Larwyn's Linx: On The Revolution In America

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

Nation

On The Revolution In America: Camp o' the Saints
Eat Your Own Words, Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Michelle Malkin
Obama's approval hits new low: Dana Blanton

2015 Budgeting battle lines being drawn around military: AmMerc
Obama’s Gun Control Obsession Causes Corporate White Flight: Paul Kersey
Finally, One Obama Radical Bites the Dust: David Limbaugh

Lets Bring In 20 Million More!: ANTTG
President Obama: I'm ‘champion-in-chief’ on immigration: Politico
Pelosi Cuts Lights, Mikes In Oil ‘Debate’: S&L (2008)

Another 2nd Amendment win in California: Toldjah
Blacks' views on concealed handgun permits in Illinois: John Lott
Gary Peters (D CAND, Michigan Senate) is now officially In Trouble.: Moe Lane

Economy

How the president’s health reform will harm the working poor: Joel Zinberg
The Obamacare Disaster Is Now Undeniable: John Podhoretz
HHS Seeks $600 Million For Health Law Enrollment Efforts: KHN

Scandal Central

(EXCLUSIVE) IRS Currently Employing Convicted Terrorist Associate: Patrick Poole
Senate staffers slipped secret CIA documents from agency’s headquarters: McClatchy
No ‘smidgen of corruption’? Lois Lerner still silent on damning Tea Party email: Twitchy

Climate & Energy

Gazprom Threatens to Disrupt Gas Supplies to Europe: John Daly
Offshore Wind Turbines for "Taming Hurricanes": Michael Gersh
Police release details on how Greenpeace pulled off P&G protest: WLWT

Media

Would Salon enjoy an article called, ‘Why I can’t stand Asian musicians who play Beethoven’?: Volokh
Mark Levin accepts “Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment” award: Scoop
Alleged Bitcoin inventor says Newsweek story is dead wrong: Joe Mullin

The anti-Southern bigotry of @NPR: Sister Toldjah
As the White House Turns: John Hayward
Mark Levin won’t watch Chris Christie’s CPAC speech: Blaze

ABC, CBS Exclude Scientists Critical of Global Warming for More Than 1,300 Days: MRC
Nick Searcy keeps me entertained: This Ain't Hell
‘Like old days!’: Garry Kasparov zings ‘socialist’ MSNBC: Twitchy

World

Iran: Obama Threats "A Joke"; Won't Dismantle Anything -"That's Our Red Line": Breitbart
Kerry didn't like Obama's Jeffrey Goldberg interview either: Matzav
Obama signs Executive Order on Ukraine, imposes asset freeze and restricts U.S. travel: JC Finley

Numerous Points on Putin, Ukraine and Watching the Unthinkable Unfold: Ann Barnhardt
A Must Read From An Elder Statesman - Common Sense On Ukraine: JoshuaPundit
30 Russian Nuclear Bombers Amass - Who Is Russia Preparing To Bomb?: WakeUp

Obama in denial on Russia: Jonah Goldberg
“Russia Has Reportedly Halted All Exports To The US Of Russian Made Ammunition”: SHTFplan
Nigerian Bishop: 180 Christians Killed In Less Than Two Weeks, 20 Churches Destroyed: WZ

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Judge rules that flying commercial drones is legal, for now: Engdaget
HP quietly launches an 8-inch Android tablet for $170: Engadget
Meet K-Glass: 30x faster & more 3-12x more efficient than Google Glass: VB

Cornucopia

How Common Core Killed the Cop Killer Counselor: MOTUS
Beady Eyed: Hopenchange Cartoons
Putin alleges Tea Partiers in Ukraine, wins over US media: Cube

Image: Rep. Issa on IRS hearing: I followed the rules, Rep. Cummings threw a 'hissy fit'
Sponsored by: Had Enough of Mitch McConnell? Let's Fire Him: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "President Obama’s job approval rating hits a record low this week, as a majority of Americans say his administration has mostly failed at growing the economy, creating jobs, improving health care and the country’s image.

For the first time..., fewer than four voters in ten -- 38 percent -- approve of President Obama’s job performance. Fifty-four percent disapprove. Before now Obama’s worst job rating was 40-55 percent in November 2013. Last month 42 percent approved and 53 percent disapproved (February 2014).

Approval of Obama among Democrats stands at 71 percent, near its 69 percent record low (September 2013). For independents, 28 percent approve, which is also near the 25 percent all-time low among this group (July 2013). And approval of Obama among Republicans hits a new low of five percent.

Overall, a 59-percent majority thinks the White House has mostly failed at creating jobs, up from 52 percent who said the same in October 2012. Likewise, 56 percent feel it has failed on growing the economy. That’s also up from 52 percent." --Dana Blanton

Thursday, March 06, 2014

PIC: How to get state-run media to cover the Benghazi scandal

Via our summer intern @BiffSpackle:



Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time News

The Ukraine Situation in 90 Seconds

The Commentator drops some science on the Beltway media nincompoops.

1. Crimea has existential-level historic resonance for Russia. In the context of the political-psychological loss of the Soviet Union for Russians, it is inconceivable that Vladimir Putin can now back down over Crimea. The referendum will (must, by fair means or foul) agree to Crimea becoming part of the Russian Federation.

2. The West is led by Barack Obama -- the most incompetent American president in all American history; and a "leader" who does not believe in the Free World, let alone American leadership of it.

3. The European Union is a foreign policy disaster, led, foreign policy wise, by Catherine Ashton someone who supported the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

4. Crimea is now part of Russia. End of story. Putin would have to quit politics to allow any other outcome.

5. The only question is whether Russia's annexation of Crimea leads to other parts of Ukraine in the east following suit.


As China flexes it muscles and Russia amps up its defense budget to #3 in the world, what is Barack Obama doing?

You've got it: he's hollowing out the U.S. military, leaving it incapable of fighting even one major war.

These are dangerous times, my friends. Dangerous times.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

12 Signs the U.S. is Sinking Into a Deeper, Nastier Recession

Guest post by Michael Snyder

Is the U.S. economy steamrolling toward another recession? Will 2014 turn out to be a major "turning point" when we look back on it? Before we get to the evidence, it is important to note that there are many economists that believe that the United States never actually got out of the last recession. For example, data compiled by John Williams of shadowstats.com show that the U.S. economy has continually been in recession since 2005. So if anyone out there would like to argue that America is experiencing a recession right now, I certainly would not have a problem with that. In fact, that would fit with the daily reality of tens of millions of Americans that are deeply suffering in this harsh economic environment. But no matter whether we are in a "recession" at the moment or not, there are an increasing number of indications that we are rapidly plunging into another major economic slowdown. The following are the top 12 signs that the U.S. economy is heading toward another recession...

#1 We recently learned that the number of new mortgage applications in the United States had fallen to the lowest level that we have seen in nearly 20 years.

#2 Radio Shack has announced that it is going to close more than 1,000 stores. This is just another sign that we are in the midst of a "retail apocalypse".

#3 The ISM Services index just fell to its lowest level in 4 years, and ISM Services Employment just experienced its largest decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

#4 Obamacare is really starting to hammer the U.S. health care industry...

YES, WE CAN: Abolish the IRS

Quite a while back, I'm guessing 10 years ago, Papa B recommended I read a book about taxes called The Fair Tax Book. I remember thinking, "Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna read a book on taxes."

Cutting to the chase, I ended up reading it. And it was fantastic.

It outlined a whole new way of thinking about taxes that is guaranteed to improve the productivity of the economy, increase employment, capture revenues that today are lost to black marketeers, and dramatically improve the fairness of the tax code.

Best of all, it allows the United States to completely dismantle the IRS.

There's no need for the IRS with the Fair Tax.

And the IRS, for its part, deserves to be dismantled.

Consider the latest news regarding Lois Lerner, the Obama administration and the IRS. The entire system is politicized, with the tax collectors now acting as Democrat Party enforcers and thugs.

The IRS has proven itself unworthy of serving the American people. It is rife with corruption, having played a significant role in Barack Obama's 2012 election victory by unlawfully suppressing the conservative vote.

As the graph below demonstrates, the Democrat Party and the IRS are one and the same.


The IRS is now completely politicized and utterly corrupt.

It needs to go.

We need The Fair Tax. Electing conservatives who support the Fair Tax like J.D. Winteregg -- Johnny Boehner's primary opponent in OH-8 -- is a great first step.


PIC: How to get legacy media to focus on the IRS scandal

Via our summer intern @BiffSpackle:


Hat tip: BadBlue News


Larwyn's Linx: First time in history Pentagon plan rejected

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

Nation

First time in history Pentagon plan rejected: BPR
To Uphold and Defend: Christian Mercenary
DNC Attendees Can't Name a Single Hillary Accomplishment: CNS

Mary Landrieu and Kay Hagan Call It Quits: Erick Erickson
Sen. Mark Pryor (D, Arkansas) takes a long step towards DOOM: Moe Lane
Wendy Davis Will Cause Democrats to Divert Resources to GA: Erick Erickson

Black Gun History Month and the NRA: Blasted Fools
The RNC Shows Contempt For Sarah Palin: Outcast
Pro-impeachment, anti-Obamacare Democrat pulls primary shocker: BPR

Dem Sen.: Obama knew CIA secretly monitored intel committee: John Hawkins
Only Americans Fear Obama: William L. Gensert
Pryor: Military service makes Tom Cotton feel “entitlement,” or something: Hot Air

Economy

ObamaCare May Cause 10,000 Union Members To Strike: LUR
Dems Differ on Whether Obamacare Insurance Extension Is Political: WFB
Why Britain is f*****: Commentator

Scandal Central

Obama Lashes Out at Senate as DOJ Nominee Rejected: PJM
Obama charged with blocking IRS probe, breaking promises to help: Paul Bedard
Emails Suggest Possible White House Tie to Sebelius Fundraising: Dossier

More Details Revealed Concerning CIA's Spying On Senate Intelligence Committee: TechDirt
Trey Gowdy: Trust me, I’ve been doing this for 16 years; we can get Lois Lerner to talk: Scoop
Lois Lerner, Trey Gowdy, and millions in pension benefits: Unyielding

Climate & Energy

Science and reason vs. political correctness: Victor Davis Hanson
Obama Advisor Attacks AGW Believing Scientist: TR
Great Lakes reaches second highest ice cover on record: WUWT

Media

I Have the Smoking Gun in Obama’s IRS Scandal: Wayne Root
Lessons Of The Ukrainian Revolution For American Dystopia: Herschel Smith
New NRA Ad Targets Obama, Clinton Gun Comments With Fiery Civics Reminder: Blaze

World

Guess What’s Going On While Obama Is Pushing for One-Sided Treaties: Sara Noble
Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza : Algemeiner
Pressuring the Wrong Country: Cal Thomas

Military’s top general offers grim outlook on nation’s defense: James Rosen, McClatchyDC
Crimea River: Ann Coulter
While Obama Disarms America, China Raises Defense Spending 12.2% for 2014: WSJ

Congress United on Punishing Russia, Divided on How We Got to This Point: Bridget Johnson
When Progressives, Communists And Radical Theocrats Start To Beat The Drums Of War: NoisyRm
US to Send Fighter Jets to Poland: Tatler

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

No Internet? Facebook Could Fix That with Drones: Zach Miner, CIO
Dyson's bladeless desk fan is very cool but oh so costly: CNet
'Wello' iPhone case can track your blood pressure, temperature and more: Emily Price

Cornucopia

Real Smart: iOTW
Entire NBA Game Movements, Visualized: Gizmodo
5-year-old, dad replicate Dutch masters images: Andrea Shea King

Image: Military’s top general offers grim outlook on nation’s defense
Sponsored by: Had Enough of Mitch McConnell? Let's Fire Him: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "In 2004, nearly 100 soldiers, mostly Marines, died in the battle to take Fallujah from al-Qaida. Today, al-Qaida’s black flag flies above Fallujah.

Bush won the war, and Obama gave it back.

Obama couldn’t be bothered with preserving America’s victory in Iraq. He was busy helping to topple a strong American ally in Egypt and a slavish American minion in Libya — in order to install the Muslim Brotherhood in those countries instead. (That didn’t work out so well for U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans murdered in Benghazi.)

So now, another Russian leader is playing cat-and-mouse with an American president — and guess who’s the mouse? Putin has taunted Obama in Iran, in Syria and with Edward Snowden. By now, Obama has become such an object for Putin’s amusement that the fastest way to get the Russians out of Crimea would be for Obama to call on Putin to invade Ukraine." --Ann Coulter

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

With Obama's evisceration of NASA, America reduced to hitching rides into space from... Putin

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Leadership: Putting an economic and political squeeze on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis could bring another Obama chicken home to roost — our president killed the U.S. space program and made us dependent on Putin.

Since 2011, when America's space shuttle fleet was retired and our space program was dispersed to various museums, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which proudly put the first human beings, Americans, on the moon some 45 years ago, has largely been fixated on things like monitoring nonexistent climate change and Muslim outreach.

There have been the occasional Mars rover and plans to conduct unmanned chases of comets and asteroids, but our manned presence in space has been limited to hitching rides on Russian spacecraft to fix toilets on the International Space Station (ISS). With the crisis in Ukraine, that might be in jeopardy.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin, currently impaling Ukraine, hasn't indicated he might do this in response to the Obama administration suddenly developing a foreign policy backbone, the unfortunate fact is we've made ourselves dependent on the Russians for manned access to space for the next two or three years.

America's final space shuttle mission ended July 21, 2011, when Atlantis landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Since then NASA has relied on the Russian Federal Space Agency and its Soyuz spacecraft to get astronauts to and from the ISS.

The Atlantis is there still, on display and out of commission. A prototype shuttle Enterprise is on display in New York at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum after having been towed there on a barge up the Hudson River.

"We don't have the capability today to put a human being in space of any kind, shape or form, which is absolutely, totally unacceptable when we got the greatest flying machine in the world sitting down at Kennedy in a garage there with nothing to do," said Eugene Cerban, the last man and last American to walk on the moon.

ALLEN WEST: Latest Obama budget is a fiscal death sentence

Guest post by Allen West

I remember being on Capitol Hill and receiving President Obama’s budget resolutions. I don’t think his budget received one vote in my two years there. And it seems that streak will continue with yesterday’s release of the next Obama budget.

Recently the Washington Post described Obama’s foreign policy as being based on fantasy — same for his budget resolution, ridiculous fantasy. Obama has proposed $3.9 trillion in his new budget, which reflects where his spending priorities lie. Obviously he doesn’t believe in fiscal discipline or responsibility and his budget proves it.

As reported by FoxNews.com, “President Obama unveiled a $3.9 trillion budget plan on Tuesday that drops earlier proposals to cut future Social Security benefits and seeks new money for infrastructure, education and jobs training — handing Democrats running for re-election a political playbook but angering Republicans who called the blueprint “irresponsible.”

There is no doubt this is nothing more than a campaign document to try and give Democrats a boost in this election year. It will be used to demonize Republicans once again – Saul-Alinsky style — as mean, rude, nasty, and uncaring. But how can anyone believe that Obama and the Democrats care about the fiscal future of our Republic?

GREAT NEWS: St. Paul, MN Police Dept approves police-issued hijab

Just wondering: how long will it be until the niqab is approved (artist's conception, provided by Biff Spackle below)?

In Somali culture, women don’t strive to become police officers, Kadra Mohamed said.

On Saturday morning, Mohamed was recognized as the first Somali-American woman to join the St. Paul Police Department, a move made possible by the department’s announcement that it has approved an option for employees to wear a police-issued hijab.

“It’s nerve-wracking in a way,” Mohamed, 21, said of being the first woman of Somali descent in the department. “I want to be a good role model for others, especially Somali women.”

Mohamed was recognized at the police’s Western District building during a graduation ceremony for youth who recently completed the East African Junior Police Academy.

Police Chief Thomas Smith said St. Paul joins at least one other department — in Washington, D.C. — as the only departments in the U.S. to allow the hijab, a head scarf worn in public by some Muslim women.

The U.S. military recently adopted similar headdress rules "celebrating" "diversity". In truth, such outrageous rules destroy unit cohesion through Balkanization.

The P.C. virus will lead to the breakdown of the civil society, just as it has in Yugoslavia and Ukraine.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Gripping photo from inside the President's strategy meeting on Ukraine

Courtesy of @CalebHowe's spy-cam:


But don't worry, folks: "Obama Says He’s Spending Plenty Of Time On Ukraine Crisis – At Fundraiser".


BOOM: California State Senator Sues State Exchange for Cancellation of 1 Million Policies

Guest post by Tori Richards

A California senator has sued his state’s Obamacare exchange for causing the cancellation of more than a million policies and spending tax dollars in an “irrational, unreasonable and abusive” way, such as a lurid Richard Simmons video.

The lawsuit against Covered California and its director, Peter Lee, was filed late Tuesday by Sen. Ted Gaines, the Legislature’s most vocal critic of Obamacare. Gaines has sparred recently with Lee by demanding an accounting of $1.37 million spent to promote a campaign featuring a gyrating dance-off with Simmons.

“We saw a million people impacted who had insurance and then saw those plans canceled based on a decision of Covered California,” Gaines told Watchdog. “We want to stop that in its tracks to take a look as to whether this is the right path for insurance coverage in California and across the nation.”

Gaines said he has run into red tape trying to get a remedy in the Legislature and hopes the courts will have an effect. He filed the lawsuit as a private citizen and as the owner of a family insurance agency.

According to the lawsuit, insurance companies that wanted to participate in the exchange were required to sign the Qualified Health Plan Contract for 2014, which called for the cancellations of policies that did not meet its requirements. And even though President Obama declared that grandfathered plans could remain intact, Lee and Covered California continue to “exceed their authority by preventing health plans from renewing California’s grandfathered plans” and by barring plans from the exchange that don’t enact cancellations.

“Lee and Covered California will continue to enforce and administer state and federal law in a haphazard manner and in excess of their statutory jurisdiction, denying all Californians … the benefits and rights provided for under state and federal law,” the lawsuit says.

Larwyn's Linx: Ted Cruz Wins Big in Texas

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

Nation

Ted Cruz Wins Big in Texas: Erick Erickson
Lois Lerner Returns To Congress: Nice Deb
Obama reportedly planning Obamacare plan cancellation delay: Moe Lane

Putin Doesn't Threaten Our National Security, Obama Does: Don Feder
The Peruta Case: A Massive Gun Rights Victory in CA: PJM
A Nation With No Options: Allen West

The Great State Shakedown: Ace
The Real Story Behind What Harry Reid Calls ‘Lies’: Betsy McCaughey
Cornyn crushes Stockman in Texas primary: Hot Air

Economy

The Inevitability of Obamacare for Illegal Aliens: Michelle Malkin
Dem Boxer: No way we will cut spending: TPNN
Budget Baloney: John Stossel

Obama mocks GOP: When I try to “fix” ObamaCare, they call me a tyrant: Hot Air
Obama Budget Will Add $8.3 Trillion to Debt: WFB
No country for free men: Cold Fury

Scandal Central

Ted Cruz Takes Stand Against Outrageous Obama Nominee: Blaze
CONFIRMED: Gun Confiscation Has Begun In Connecticut: John Hawkins
Top Democrat And OFA Fundraiser Caught Trying To Sell Access To Obama Officials: WZ

Climate & Energy

THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: No global warming for 17 years, 6 months: WUWT
Free speech: use it or lose it: John Hayward
District Judge: Chevron the Victim of a $16 Billion Fraud Scheme Directed By US Attorneys: Ace

Media

Crystal Wright: 'My Brother's Keeper' Ignores the Collapse of the Black Family: TruthRevolt
REMINDER: Obama and Democrats LIED to the Entire Country About ObamaCare: Glob
Bachmann Says US Jews are Selling Out Israel: Israpundit

UAW's New Complaint to NRLB: Senators Should Not Be Permitted to Opine on Unionization: Ace
Does Obama Still Think The Cold War Is Over?: LoneCon
Alan Grayson Accused of Beating Wife and Kids: Lid

World

Hillary Clinton Mocked Romney on Russia, Then Goes To Hitler Comparisons: Erick Erickson
The Gag Order Heard Round The World: Mark Steyn
Tense Exchange Between Russians and Unarmed Ukrainians Caught on Tape: Breitbart

Palin stunned by Obama’s attack on Israel: Israpundit
The End of the ‘Wrong Side of History’: PJM
Ralph Peters: Im starting to wonder if Obama has some crazy agreement with Putin: Scoop

In 2005 Obama Pushed To Disarm Ukraine: LoneCon
The New USA? Secession Movement Gains Steam: David Brody
As Ukraine tension flares, Russia test-fires ballistic missile: smh

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Giant Virus, Awakened From 30,000-Year Slumber, Is Still Infectious: Discover
Bitcoin Incentive for Fraud; Two More Exchanges Hacked: Mish
19 Epic Pictures Of The Monster Thunderstorm That Shook Sydney: BuzzFeed

Cornucopia

Full Lotus: American Digest
Dems Defend Video of Them Ogling Young Girls – We Were Teaching How to Flirt: MenRec
Uncontested Arrivals: Dim Sum Won, all day long.: MOTUS

Image: 19 Epic Pictures Of The Monster Thunderstorm That Shook Sydney
Sponsored by: READY TO FIRE JOHN BOEHNER? Support J.D. Winteregg for Congress

QOTD: "President Obama and I want to make it clear to Russia and to everybody in the world, that we are not seeking confrontation." --Sec. of State John Kerry

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Ukraine and the 'Little Cold War'

Guest post by George Friedman

This column is derived from two chapters of Friedman's 2009 book, The Next 100 Years; this abstract of the chapters that focused on Eastern Europe and Russia because the forecast -- written in 2008 -- is prescient in its anticipation of events unfolding today in Russia, Ukraine and Crimea.


We must consider the future of Eurasia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Since 1991, the region has fragmented and decayed. The successor state to the Soviet Union, Russia, is emerging from this period with renewed self-confidence. Yet Russia is also in an untenable geopolitical position. Unless Russia exerts itself to create a sphere of influence, the Russian Federation could itself fragment.

For most of the second half of the 20th century, the Soviet Union controlled Eurasia -- from central Germany to the Pacific, as far south as the Caucasus and the Hindu Kush. When the Soviet Union collapsed, its western frontier moved east nearly 1,000 miles, from the West German border to the Russian border with Belarus. Russian power has now retreated farther east than it has been in centuries. During the Cold War it had moved farther west than ever before. In the coming decades, Russian power will settle somewhere between those two lines.

After the Soviet Union dissolved at the end of the 20th century, foreign powers moved in to take advantage of Russia's economy, creating an era of chaos and poverty. Most significantly, Ukraine moved into an alignment with the United States and away from Russia -- this was a breaking point in Russian history.

The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, from December 2004 to January 2005, was the moment when the post-Cold War world genuinely ended for Russia. The Russians saw the events in Ukraine as an attempt by the United States to draw Ukraine into NATO and thereby set the stage for Russian disintegration. Quite frankly, there was some truth to the Russian perception.

If the West had succeeded in dominating Ukraine, Russia would have become indefensible. The southern border with Belarus, as well as the southwestern frontier of Russia, would have been wide open.

Which Economy Car First Manufactured 25 Years Ago Could Be Sold Today as a New Model?

Care to take a guess which economy car could still be sold as a new model today? I'm talking looks alone, not CAFE standards, airbags, and all of the other regulatory crap.

To whet your appetite, consider some similar cars manufactured in 1989 that wouldn't make the cut:

1989 Ford Escort:


1989 Buick Electra Park Avenue:


1989 Dodge Colt: