Monday, March 17, 2014

OH, MERCY: Democrats Retaliate Against Tattooed Cruz Poster!

Note the hashtag:



Related: The Empire Strikes Back

PATHETIC: Rick Perry Endorses Mitch McConnell

This may not be a deal-breaker for conservatives regarding Rick Perry, but it's walking damn close to the edge.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, telling 300 fellow Republicans that the minority leader will win re-election.

McConnell finds himself in a GOP primary fight with wealthy businessman Matt Bevin, who attended the event but wasn’t allowed to speak.

“I love the number six,” Perry told the crowd at the Lincoln Reagan Dinner of West Kentucky. “Sam Houston was 6 foot 6 inches tall. And Mitch McConnell is going to be in his sixth term as United States senator.”

Hey, Rick: isn't 30 freaking years enough?

Isn't 30 years of Beltway banditry including a track record of duplicity, support for Amnesty, and outright hatred of conservatism sufficient?

I've got a better idea.

I say we fire the hapless, feckless, unprincipled, marble-mouthed Mitch McConnell, a man who absolutely loathes Reagan conservatives and who possesses all the charisma and eloquence of a wilted shrub.

It's time for a Kentucky conservative. I support Matt Bevin for Senate. I hope you will too.


RED SCREEN OF DEATH: White House Plans to Turn Over Control of Internet to Totalitarian Regimes

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Error 404: U.S. officials plan to relinquish federal control over the administration of the Internet to something called the "global Internet community," which is full of tyrants to whom the free flow of information is a threat.

In the wake of the NSA surveillance scandal, some might not be inclined to defend federal involvement in anything related to the flow of information between individuals.

But the decision announced Friday by the Commerce Department to give up next year its oversight of Icann, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, to the "global Internet community" is a bad idea.

Under a Commerce Department contract, Icann has issued domain names since 2000. But the Los Angeles-based nonprofit has worked, encouraged by states and groups not necessarily dedicated to free expression, to transform itself into a global organization free of U.S. ties.

Since at least 2004, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has tried repeatedly to wrest power from Icann. During a meeting in Dubai last year, the ITU, the telecom branch of the United Nations, demanded rules governing the Internet be rewritten. It proposed inspection authority that would allow it to monitor and censor otherwise encrypted content on the Internet.

"Most Transparent Administration Ever" Rejected Record Number Of Freedom of Information Requests

Guest post by Tyler Durden

One upon a time everyone got a hearty chuckle when Obama declared, on the very first day of his ascension to the throne, that his administration would be the "most transparent in history." And if they didn't then, they certainly will now following news that it is none other than Obama's own administration - made infamous for spying on everyone who uses electronic communication courtesy of one whistleblower - that it has refused a record number of Freedom of Information (don't laugh) requests on the basis of, drumroll, national security. So between the NSA, whose job is to ensure national security, and all those pesky meddlesome investigators, whose only curiosity is to peek behind the secrecy of the Obama administration, there should be precisely zero acts of terrorism on US soil. Like last year's Boston bombing for example. Oh wait...

From AP:

The Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

The administration cited more legal exceptions it said justified withholding materials and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. Most agencies also took longer to answer records requests, the analysis found.

The government's own figures from 99 federal agencies covering six years show that half way through its second term, the administration has made few meaningful improvements in the way it releases records despite its promises from Day 1 to become the most transparent administration in history...

...Last year, the government denied 6,689 out of 7,818 requests for so-called expedited processing, which moves an urgent request for newsworthy records to the front of the line for a speedy answer, or about 86 percent. It denied only 53 percent of such requests in 2008.

The U.S. spent a record $420 million answering requests plus just over $27 million in legal disputes, and charged people $4.3 million to search and copy documents. The government waived fees about 58 percent of the time that people asked, a 1 percent improvement over the previous year.

Sometimes, the government said it searched and couldn't find what citizens wanted.

And yes, if you were wondering, the government did spend thousands on "How to Google... for Idiots" classes for its employees.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose top official has testified to Congress repeatedly about NSA surveillance programs disclosed by contractor Edward Snowden, told the AP it couldn't find any records or emails in its offices asking other federal agencies to be on the lookout for journalists to whom Snowden provided classified materials. British intelligence authorities had detained one reporter's partner for nine hours at Heathrow airport and questioned him under terrorism laws. DNI James Clapper has at least twice publicly described the reporters as "accomplices" to Snowden, who is charged under the U.S. Espionage Act and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Likewise, Cook, departing as the editor at Gawker, was exasperated when the State Department told him it couldn't find any emails between journalists and Philippe Reines, Hillary Clinton's personal spokesman when Clinton was secretary of state. BuzzFeed published a lengthy and profane email exchange about the 2012 attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi between Reines and its correspondent, Michael Hastings.

"They said there were no records," Cook said of the State Department.

The snide tone in the AP piece is amusing: it is almost as if the AP thinks it is justified in its berating of America's most totalitarian regime. One would almost think the AP had scores of its phone lines tapped directly by the Department of Justice. Oh wait, we did it again.

Larwyn's Linx: The Worst Is Yet to Come

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

Nation

The Worst Is Yet to Come: Ed Lasky
The Mafiaization Of American Politics: Bob Belvedere
Slip Sliding Away...: Derek Hunter

*More* Democratic House retirements this week?: Moe Lane
Obama makes "ideological declaration of war" against private schools: John Lott
US foreign policy and midterm elections: Rich Baehr

Connecticut: We’re Not Winning the War: TTAG
Gun Confiscation: Organized, Sanctioned Terrorism: Christian Mercenary
No Knock Police Raids: NoisyRm

TV Station Exposes Voter Fraud in Florida: RWN
The Chicago Way: Buying the IL-8 Congressional District: Clash
Kaifesh accuses Goel supporters of vote-buying: Illinois Review

Economy

Cali Owes $1 Trillion But Wants to Give Illegals Free Healthcare: Sara Noble
Common Core kindergarten math homework stumps DAD WITH Ph.D.: DC
Groups sue CA Gov. Brown over mortgage settlement funds: LAT

Scandal Central

Does the White House Know How Many People Have Paid Obamacare Premiums?: Peter Suderman
Fast and Furious echoes in CIA-Senate fight: Politico
Democrat’s Nazi salute at meeting causes outrage in FL: media omits party affiliation: BPR

Warrant application shows Ares Armor referenced in wider investigation: David Codrea
NSA’s Phone Data Collection Program May ID Who Owns Firearms: GSL
Gun control supporters turn to new front: Ben Goad

Climate & Energy

U.S. Energy, the Ukraine, and Russia: Alan Caruba
Surprise! Warmist Wants “Denier” Scientists Jailed: Cove
EPA chief criticized for remarks about Interior Alaska: News-Miner

Media

Feminists and Their Vaginas; Also, Guess Who’s Talking About ‘Forced Procreation’?: R.S. McCain
The real reason the Blagojevich tapes won’t be unsealed: IP2P
Clinton White House memo: Doctors irrational for resisting health reform and are greedy: DailyMail

Onward into the Night: Fred on Everything
An Obama Shirt Goes Up in Flames: MB
‘This is brilliant!’ David Limbaugh shares Obama administration ‘scandal brackets’: Twitchy

World

Pro-Russian rioters kill and maim Ukrainians in Donetsk: Cube
Obama Fails To Attend National Security Meeting Over Ukraine…Again: WZ
McCain: ‘Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country’: DC

Russian TV Host: Russia Only Country Cabable of Turning US into “Radioactive Dust”: GWP
Watching the Russians... Off Florida's Coast: Information Dissemination
West: Obama Thinks “Beards, Turbans, and Hijabs” More Important Than Vets: Scoop

Obama Admin. Admits Contact with Terrorists - to ‘Support People of Egypt’: PJM
The Israelis Understand Obama: Keith Koffler
Israeli doctor: Syrian snipers deliberately paralyzing children: Times of Israel

Oberlin College Prof Threatened by Muslim Colleague: CI
Chilling Video - Maduro's Venezuelan National Guard Abduct HS Girls Off The Street: JoshuaPundit
Fidel Obama?: Gorges' Grouse

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Ex-Bush admin official: Internet giveaway weakens cybersecurity, opens door to Web tax: DC
US Navy Strategists Have a Long History of Finding the Lost: Slashdot
Hijacked Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 shadowed other airliners to escape detection?: Aviationist

Cornucopia

REVEALED: The Face(book) Behind The Mysterious Ted Cruz Posters!: Caleb Howe
Mexican Drug Lord home after being raided: imgur
If We Ban Bossy, Will They Take Their HOPE and CHANGE and Go Away?: MOTUS

Image: Lauren Conrad
Sponsored by: Want to fire John Boehner? Support conservative J.D. Winteregg.

QOTD: "If you hate the sexism that comes with women fielding the sorts of questions that men simply don’t even have to confront, then this gif is for you.

Lauren Conrad of past “Laguna Beach” fame (but has since totally made it on her own as a clothing designer and editor of the ever-informative self-named website) totally takes a big step forward for females who are so over society’s inclination towards treating women like sexualized objects, incapable of any additional value.

When asked the question, “What’s your favorite position?” during a radio interview, Conrad barely bats an eye (and certainly doesn’t take the opportunity to treat the Q&A sesh as some ongoing Cosmopolitan quiz).

Instead, she responds: CEO." --Acculturated

Sunday, March 16, 2014

RAMIREZ: Nixon vs. Obama

The brilliant Michael Ramirez:


Who deserves impeachment more?


Crowd-sourcing website Tomnod.com lets users search for missing flight

Writing at eWeek, Chris Preimesberger describes the latest crowd-sourcing approach to finding MH370

In the unusual case of the missing Flight 370, [mapping firm] DigitalGlobe is gathering as much human-created data as possible through the crowdsourcing model.

"On Tomnod.com, any person can go and just look at photos in the grid, and you're supposed to flag anything that looks interesting," Hardman said. "The problem is, humans can see lots of things, but they might not always be the right things. For example, someone may see something they think is unusual, but it's really just some floating garbage or a whitecap wave that may look a little suspicious.

"So what [DigitalGlobe] does is get the input of many thousands of people, run it through big data filters on the back end that say things like: 'Are there areas of the Indian Ocean where a lot of people have flagged an item of interest?' They then do cluster analysis on that. Then, experts in search-and-rescue may say, 'There's a hot spot, go fly over this.'"

As of 2 p.m. Pacific time March 15, the free-to-use Tomnod.com site indicated that 421,338 photos -- each showing an area about 1,000 to 2,000 feet wide of the Indian Ocean -- have been produced and entered into the analytics engine... "I don't know what size grid that ends up being, but it's a wide, wide area of the western side of the search," Hardman said.

As of March 15, the search was still on, with many thousands of human eyes -- and a very high-powered photo/data analytics engine -- trying to solve the mystery of the missing airliner.

Rather than using brute force crowd-sourcing, the U.S. Navy has an excellent track record of employing a diverse team of experts to find the lost:

...naval strategists have been unraveling lost-at-sea mysteries as far back as the U-boat battles of World War II, and perhaps most dramatically in 1968, when an intelligence team found the submarine Scorpion, which sank in the North Atlantic after losing contact under equally baffling circumstances. "The same approach we used with Scorpion could be applied in this case and should be," says John P. Craven who helped pioneer the use of Bayesian search techniques to locate objects lost at sea.

... forecasters draw on expertise from diverse but relevant areas — in the case of finding a submarine, say, submarine command, ocean salvage, and oceanography experts, as well as physicists and engineers. Each would make an educated guess as to where the ship is, based on different scenarios: the sub was attacked; a torpedo activated onboard; a battery exploded. Craven's work was instrumental in the Navy's search for the missing hydrogen bomb that had been lost in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain in 1966 and this is how Craven located the Scorpion. "I knew these guys and I gave probability scores to each scenario they came up with," says Craven. The men bet bottles of Chivas Regal to keep matters interesting, and after some statistical analysis, Craven zeroed in on a point about 400 miles from the Azores, near the Sargasso Sea. The sub was found about 200 yards away.

One can only hope and pray that the plane is found and that the passengers are safe.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

As Obama fine-tunes his NCAA brackets, Russian state television is showing mushroom clouds

Reagan won the Cold War and now Obama is losing it.


To repeat: "Obama Did Not Attend The Meeting."


Larwyn's Linx: "Obama Did Not Attend The Meeting"

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

Nation

"Obama Did Not Attend The Meeting": Tyler Durden
Schumer to GOP: Pass Amnesty or Dictator Obama Will do it Anyway: TPNN
Dems Panicked About 2014: William Bigelow, Breitbart

Events Are Coming To A Head: Federale
The 2016 Candidate the Media Has Forgotten About: Rick Jensen
Rand Paul Gets It: Michael Reagan

Looking at the current 2014 Senate map.: Moe Lane
Dumbass CT Governor unaware Constitution isn't up for a vote: Intellihub
Mike Lee Endorses Dan Bongino In MD 6 Congressional Race: CHQ

Economy

Dependency Uber Alles: Tom Blumer
UAW’s King Responds To VW Employees’ Federal Lawsuit: LUR
Every Chart You Should Be Tracking But Were Too Afraid To Find: ZH

Scandal Central

Issa to Cummings: You’re wrong. We can hold Lois Lerner in contempt: DC
Issa: Cummings an ‘Obstacle to Congressional Oversight’ in IRS Probe: TPNN
DOJ Now Actively Promoting Vote Fraud in Florida: WZ

BREAKING: Ares Armor Raided by ATF: TTAG
Former NSA Official: We Are in a Police State: VictoryGirls
HHS: Insurers’ Coverage For Same-Sex Couples Must Match Traditional Marriages: WaPo

Media

AP Writes Dishonestly of Pro-Choice Rally; Stealth Corrects Later: Ace
Obama: The Selective Promise Keeper: MOTUS
"Hide Your Schools, Hide Your Homes, Hide Your Children, Cause He's Wrecking it All": HySci

NY Times: Democrats Worried About Obama Factor: RWN
Ms. Magazine Runs Mock Cover Highlighting Child Brides in Islam: DC Clothesline
A Furious Chris Matthews Calls on Dems to 'Scare,' 'Anger' Liberal Base: 'Time to Attack': NB

World

Malaysia Jet Reminder: Terrorism Is not Dead: Walter Russell Mead
Pilots become focus of Malaysia Airlines investigation: Fox
Al-Qaeda Calls for Car Bomb Attacks on American Cities, Targets Abroad: Breitbart

Frightened by Kerry "Ultimatum," Russian Troops Move out of Crimea... into Ukraine: DiploMad
Dumbest John Kerry Statement Ever: Paul Mirengoff
Israeli officials slam Kerry for remarks on Jewish state recognition: JPost

Ukraine or Russia? Crimea votes in controversial referendum on its future: EuroNews
Vote to join Russia could leave Crimea without water, electricity: Fox
Because There Is Absolutely Nothing Else We Need To Be Concerned With at the Moment: Ricochet

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

This Will Be The Only Chair You’ll Ever Need To Stay Fit At Work: Hello Beautiful
Glassholes: at least you know who they are: Stephen Shankland
US Surrenders Control of the Internet to the Global Community: Sara Noble

Cornucopia

Sunday morning feel good story: This Ain't Hell
AOSHQ Food Pyramid: Ace
"Asian-American Backlash" Over Affirmative Action In California: Steve Sailer

Image: Photo says it all about US-Russia relations. Amb. Samantha Power at UN
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Happy with John Boehner? Support conservative J.D. Winteregg.

QOTD: "Silly talk and posturing, the making of grand-sounding statements, and drawing erasable "red lines" all have consequences. One, of course, is that Russia is not likely to undo its actions in Crimea. The Russians, furthermore, have sanction-like weapons of their own such as the messing about with US banks and debt noted above, but not limited only to that. They are major suppliers of gas to Europe and in the past have shown a willingness to interrupt supplies for political purposes.

So while we gut our military, refuse to buy Canadian oil, or become energy independent and a major supplier of energy to Europe, we prattle on and on about sanctions and international law and solidarity with the Syrian opposition Ukraine. As noted before, we could neutralize Russia's leverage in the world very swiftly, without ever mentioning the word "sanctions." That, however, requires something we do not have, to wit, patriotic, committed, focused, and decisive leadership.

We have Obama." --W. Lewis Amselem

Saturday, March 15, 2014

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, ILLUSTRATED: The EPA and DDT

Another @BiffSpackle exclusive:


References:
• DDT: Genocide in Green
• DDT: Rachel Carson's Deadly Fantasies

19 Signs That the American Consumer is Tapped Out

Guest post by Michael Snyder

You can't get blood out of a rock. Traditionally the United States has had a consumer-driven economy, but now years of declining incomes and rising debts are really starting to catch up with us. In order to have an economy that is dependent on consumer spending, you need to have a large middle class. Unfortunately, the U.S. middle class is steadily shrinking, and unless that trend is reversed we are going to see massive economic changes in this country. For example, in poor neighborhoods all over America we are seeing bank branches, car dealerships and retail stores close down at an alarming rate. If you didn't know better, you might be tempted to think that "Space Available" was the hottest new retailer in some areas of the nation. On the other hand, if you live in San Francisco, New York City or Washington D.C., things are pretty good for the moment. But as a whole, the condition of the U.S. consumer continues to decline. Incomes are going down, the cost of living is going up, and debts are skyrocketing. The following are 19 signs that the U.S. consumer is tapped out...

#1 Real disposable income per capita continues to fall. In the fourth quarter of 2012, it was sitting at $37,265. By the time that the fourth quarter of 2013 had come around, it had dropped to $36,941. That means that average Americans have less money to go shopping with than they did previously.

#2 In January, real disposable income in the U.S. experienced the largest year over year decline that we have seen since 1974.

#3 As disposable income decreases, major retailers are closing thousands of stores all over the country. Some are even calling this "a retail apocalypse".

#4 From September 2013 to January 2014, the personal saving rate in the United States dropped by a staggering 16 percent.

Two-Faced Feinstein

Via Curmudgeonly & Skeptical:


Related: SEN. FEINSTEIN (D-CA): Obama White House Ordered CIA to Spy on Congress, an Impeachable Offense.


Larwyn's Linx: Top Obamacare Official Quits, Rips Sebelius On Way Out

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

Nation

Top HHS Official Resigns, Rips Sebelius On His Way Out: Tatler
Brutal 1-Minute Video Destroys the Lies: YoungCons
Small-business employees locked out of Covered California: Ed Morrissey

Obama’s Math Game – Fudging The Numbers On Deportations: Realities
Uncomfortable Obama Admits: You Can't Keep Your Doctor: IJR
Obama: Hey, There's Enough Enrollments To Ensure Obamacare Survives!: RWN

My Wife's Last Days -- And the Coming ObamaCare Death Panel: AT
IRS Scandal: Nothing to See Here…: RWN
Awesome: Sarah Palin backs 3 candidates for US Senate: Scoop

Second Amendment Group to Burn SAFE Act Gun Registration Cards: MenRec
The Democrats and Senator Reid area Koch Whores: Publius
Steve Israel’s 2014 smoke signals hint that the building’s on fire: David Freddoso

Economy

The Evil of Welfare: Mark Steyn
Warning to WH: 500 economists oppose Obama’s minimum wage hike: BPR
Obama overtime plan already stirring controversy: WaPo

Scandal Central

Legal, Political Problems Embroil Harry Reid: MinorityReport
Apparent illegal may file $500K lawsuit against rescuers who saved him: BPR
Wyoming welder faces $75,000 a day in EPA fines for building pond on his property: Fox

Climate & Energy

US energy security threatened by prairie chicken and sage grouse: Allen West
Pruitt Eyes New Legal Discovery To Bolster 'Sue And Settle' Attack On EPA: William Yeatman
The Continuing Hoax of Global Warming!: CFP

Media

WaPo: Four Pinocchios for Dems’ Koch habit: Hot Air
Trevor Loudon’s Interesting “Dream Team” For 2016: Trevor Loudon
My Message to Girls: Be Bossy!: Michelle Malkin

Jay Carney leaving the White House?: Hot Air
More on Sharyl Attkisson's resignation from CBS: John Lott
6 Horribly Racist Comments from Obama Administration Officials, Top Democrats: MediaTrackers (2013)

World

Neville Kerry Admits That Nothing Will Stop The Russian Annexation Of Crimea: Insider
Carney: Obama ‘Very Concerned About the Whereabouts of the Plane’: PJM
Iranian Deputy Commander Warns They Are Ready to Annihilate Israel: Breitbart

Investigators Conclude Missing Jet Hijacked, Steered Off Course: Tammy Bruce
Kerry Draws Red Line: Russia Has 'Til Monday: S&L
Minnesota: Another Somali gym attack, followed by violent home invasion: Creeping

Islam and the Rest of Us: Mark Steyn
As Obama, McCain, and Hillary welcomed al-Jazeera, Saudi Arabia joins Egypt in kicking them out: BNI
TX: Muslim kills daughter and lover, leaves Qur’an open to page condemning homosexuality: JihadWatch

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Obama Admin to Give Control of Internet to…: TPNN
Standing Up In The Milky Way Facts: NatGeo
U.S. To Give Up Key Internet Governance Role: Recode

Cornucopia

9 Year Old NJ Girl Explains Restrictive Guns Law Idiocy: RWN
Here's welcoming Maryland to the B1G: C&S
Obama Social Security Number Fraud Case Awaits Judge’s Decision: Outpost

Image: Tragedy: @DanRiehl
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Happy with John Boehner? Support conservative J.D. Winteregg.

QOTD: "For the average person, many folks who don't have health insurance initially, they're going to have to make some choices. And they might end up having to switch doctors, in part because they're saving money." --Barack Obama

Friday, March 14, 2014

SWEET FANCY MOSES: Ted Cruz Posters Appearing In... Beverly Hills

Dude.

Mysterious posters of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with his face photoshopped onto a tattooed body were plastered around various locations in Los Angeles, like the Beverly Hilton Hotel, late Thursday night.


The title above the image of the Texas Republican gives a March 15 date. The poster goes on to say, "TED CRUZ'S SO - CAL BLACKLISTED & LOVING IT TOUR."


Although the location of the poster says the Hilton, Senator Cruz is expected to be the keynote speaker at the Claremont Institute's annual Winton Churchill dinner on Saturday night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

The black-and-white images have appeared in front of popular L.A. clubs: the Viper Room, the Seventh Veil, Whiskey-a-Go-Go, as well as on car windshields and utility poles among other places.

Ted Cruz. Ronald Reagan.

It's about to get real.


Hat tip: Twitchy

THE NITWIT CHRONICLES: Starring Sean Penn

Hollywood's most useful idiot celebrates yet another success story of Statism (without redistribution of his own cash, of course):



As for what's really happening in Penn's "Utopia"? 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.

Oh. And:


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

OUTRAGE: Obama's Roman Orgy of Wealth Redistribution Funded on the Backs of America's Veterans

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

ObamaCare: The administration plans to cut the military pensions of those who served their country while giving public employees a break by exempting their ObamaCare subsidies from sequestration.

On the heels of announcing that Army troop levels will be cut below pre-World War II levels, the Military Times has reported that the Obama administration is planning to reduce military pension costs by 10% by converting part of their retirement to 401(k)-like defined-contribution plans from defined-benefit plans.

What makes this interesting is that it affects military retirees and members of the military who are non-union and therefore can't strike or engage in collective bargaining. Public-sector union employees will retain their defined-benefit plans.

So, those who defend this country will be cut while those who feed at the public trough and whose union dues provide a ready supply of campaign cash will not.

To cut the retirement benefits of the military after these genuine heroes have fought with honor and distinction for 13 years in Iraq and Afghanistan is unconscionable. It's particularly despicable to treat American military retirees worse than other public employees.

President Obama has long defended defined-benefit plans, which, yes, do cost the government more and have pushed some cities and states toward bankruptcy. In a defense of public-sector unions and their benefits, Obama spoke forcefully to the National Governors Association at the White House on Feb. 28, 2011:

"I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon."

That cost-saving measures are to be applied only to the military and not to politically favored groups and programs

O'S PARTNERS IN PEACE: Iranian Military General Swears on His Religion That They Will Annihilate Israel

When it comes to Barack Obama, there are -- best I can tell -- three possible reasons for his catastrophic track record.

Imagine a Venn diagram with three interlocking circles. One is labeled Marxism, the other is marked Hatred, and the last one is captioned Ignorance. All three circles overlap with different ratios depending upon the actual policy.

Take Obama's Middle East policy. Please. He has, in just five short years, isolated our strongest ally Israel; attempted to prop up the Nazi-aligned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; toppled a strongman in Libya leaving Al Qaeda in charge; permitted a U.S. ambassador and other diplomatic personnel to be slaughtered during a seven hour gunfight without lifting a finger to help; failed to pursue said terrorists despite multiple promises to do so; and attempted to interfere in Syria by drawing bogus "red lines" failing only after Congress refused to empower evil bastards of one stripe or another.

But the worst element of all of Obama's miserable foreign policies failures relate to Iran. During the Green Revolution that threatened to topple the Islamofascist Mullahs, Obama refused to speak out during the critical first week of riots and protests. Eventually the resistance movement was crushed thanks to Obama's inaction and -- seemingly -- tacit endorsement of the Mullah's actions.

Then there's Iran's nuclear program, which no credible observer believes is destined for anything except for the manufacture of atomic bombs. Instead of choking the Islamofascists through sanctions, Obama instead argued for relaxing the economic noose.

And his reward is the entirely predictable set of statements coming out of Tehran.

Iranian Deputy Commander Warns They Are Ready to Annihilate Israel


MEMRI. Org: Speaking at a conference held in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said: “We, here, can muster all our energies in order to annihilate the Zionist entity, more than 1,400 kilometers away. We are ready for that moment in the future.”

Following are excerpts from the speech, which aired on Al-Alam TV on March 11, 2014.

Brigadier-General Hossein Salami: Despite the geographical distance, we are attached to the hearts of the Palestinians. How is it that our slogans and goals are identical to the slogans and causes of the Palestinians? Why do we strive to become martyrs and risk our lives for the Palestinian cause?

The answer is that the religion of Islam has designated this for us – this goal, this motivation, this belief, this energy – so that we, here, can muster all our energies in order to annihilate the Zionist entity, more than 1,400 kilometers away. We are ready for that moment in the future.

These Islamonazis are Obama's "partners in peace". His negotiating partners. His pals.

Can it be any more clear what Barack Hussein Obama's true agenda is?


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: House Passes Act Intended to Reign in Obama’s Extra-Legal, Imperial Presidency

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

Nation

House Passes Act Intended to Reign in Obama’s Imperial Presidency: MB
The President’s Grab for Dictatorial Power: Phyllis Schlafly
Obama, in His Sole Discretion: David Limbaugh

Pelosi Says Dems will ‘Absolutely Not’ Retreat from Obamacare in '14: TPNN
Rand Paul Has a Major Problem. His Name Is Ron Paul.: Tatler
The Great Debate – Article V – Arizona Leaders Offer Opening Statements: WFP

Illinois Democrat Introduces Bill to Register All Firearms: John Hawkins
Larry Sabato: Obama “is Going to have Another Bad Midterm” in 2014: FreeLight
Ted Cruz smacks down Harry Reid for attacks on Koch brothers: Scoop

A Waste - For Everyone But Obama's Donors: Carol Platt Liebau
How far we’ve come…: LI
Hot Mic: Lindsey Graham Offers His RINO Services To John Kerry: WZ

Economy

Work is Hard: Cold Fury
Money in Politics: Zuckerberg Calls Obama to Complain About NSA: Kruiser
Lobster-Eating Food Stamp Recipient Refuses Hannity's Job Help: FNI

Scandal Central

Voter Fraud Exposed if Florida, DOJ Sues to Keep it Going: Hideout
CIA Benghazi vets ‘OUTRAGED’ after learning CIA I.G. never conducted investigation: Scoop
Obama withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe, despite vows of help: McClatchy

Climate & Energy

Report: U.S. Electric Grid ‘Inherently Vulnerable’ to Sabotage: WFB
The Environmentalist Eugenics of the Left: Daniel Greenfield
Dennis Miller on Barbara Boxer: 'She Is an Idiot. She Is Bat Guano Crazy': Breitbart

Media

AP, Dallas News, WashPo, etc., Lie About Ted Cruz’ Abortion Statement: MRC
Mark Levin goes on Cavuto to explain how Republicans went after David Jolly (R-FL): Scoop
Political Cartoon Sums Up Problem With Obamacare: TR

Breaking News Sourced by Social Media: Thomas Lifson
DUDE! Rep. Renee Ellmers gets into a heated debate with Laura Ingraham over immigration reform: Scoop
Why Does Ezra Klein Hate Gays?: R.S. McCain

Andrew Napolitano Punks Jon Stewart and His Panel of So-Called “Experts”: Patterico
NY Times admits Obamacare causes middle class suffering -- a year after the election: Thomas Lifson
Is This What Post-Partisanship Looks Like?: Molly Ball

World

Educating Conservatives About Modern ‘Shi’ite Quietists’: Andrew G. Boston
Putin Is Poised to Invade Central Ukraine: Sara Noble
Was missing jet HIJACKED? US officials fear it was captured and flown to mystery location: Daily Mail

Stolen F-35 Secrets Now Showing Up in China’s Stealth Fighter: WFB
$3 Billion for Ukraine to Go Straight to…Russia: Blaze
Israel Ranked Best Middle Eastern Country to Live in as a Woman: Algemeiner

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Nine unopened Dead Sea Scrolls found: Fox
Microsoft poised to fight back as iPad generation shuns Office: Reuters
U.S. Military Given Secret “Execute Order” on Cyber Operations: FAS

Cornucopia

Obamacare Art Appreciation Lesson #1: What's Art?: Cube
Obamacare: America Moves Into a New Dimension of Sound and Shadow: MOTUS
'Ban Bossy' campaign started by Hillary Clinton donor -- ahead of 2016 run: Ashe Schow

Sponsored by: Are you as sick and tired of Mitch McConnell as I am? Click here.

QOTD: "I’ve always said leftists are about not compassion or treating people with sensitivity and respect, much less equally, but control and bullying, all with an arrogant, mean-spirited air of superiority.

For Obama, there are at least two aspects to his control-freakishness. He not only pushes policies that give the federal government vastly more control over our lives but also is inordinately dictatorial in the manner in which he ramrods his agenda through, displaying utter contempt for what anyone else thinks, what he might damage with his unilateral actions and, most of all, the Constitution and the rule of law." --David Limbaugh

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Minimum Wage Deception

Guest post by Richard Larsen

Sleight of hand and illusion have their role in the entertainment world; but when the same tactics are employed in the real world, the stakes are much greater, and the intent more dubious. David Copperfield has met his match in fabricated magic and illusionary tactics. For as any illusionist knows, in order to avoid letting the spectator see what’s really going on, you distract the spectator’s attention. And none are better at that than those leading the country today.

With the spectacular flop of the Unaffordable Care Act rollout, the moribund economy, disappointing jobs growth, dramatic widening of the income gap, higher poverty rates than the country has seen in 50 years, and an impotence with world leaders on the global scene, the Magician In Chief reached for his magician’s hat. And what did he pull out in an attempt to distract the nation from his colossal failures? A minimum wage increase! Voila! And now on cue, let us all be impressed! On second thought, let’s not be.

Let’s look at the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on who is affected by the minimum wage. According to the BLS, 3.6 million of our total civilian workforce of 155 million workers are at or below the minimum wage compensation level. That is 2.5% of all workers in the U.S. Comprising that group of minimum wage earners, 31% are teenagers, and 55% are 25 years old or younger. That means that just slightly more than 1% of the total workforce over the age of 25 is earning minimum wage.

FOURTH TURNING: The People vs. Big Brother

Guest post by Jim Quinn

“The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war. Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of destruction, and in mankind’s willingness to use it.” – Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning

“In the need to develop a capacity to know what potential enemies are doing, the United States government has perfected a technological capability that enables us to monitor the messages that go through the air. Now, that is necessary and important to the United States as we look abroad at enemies or potential enemies. We must know, at the same time, that capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left such is the capability to monitor everything—telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn’t matter. There would be no place to hide.

If this government ever became a tyrant, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is the capability of this technology.

I don’t want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.”Frank Church on Meet the Press regarding the NSA – 1975

Ever since Edward Snowden burst onto the worldwide stage in June 2013, I’ve been wondering how he fits into the fabric of this ongoing Fourth Turning. This period of Crisis that arrives like clockwork, 60 to 70 years after the end of the previous Fourth Turning (Civil War – 66 years after American Revolution, Great Depression/World War II – 64 years after Civil War, Global Financial Crisis – 62 years after World War II), arrived in September 2008 with the Federal Reserve created collapse of the global financial system. We are now five and a half years into this Fourth Turning, with its climax not likely until the late-2020’s. At this point in previous Fourth Turnings a regeneracy had unified sides in their cause and a grey champion or champions (Ben Franklin/Samuel Adams, Lincoln/Davis, FDR) had stepped forward to lead. Thus far, no one from the Prophet generation has been able to unify the nation and create a sense of common civic purpose. Societal trust continues to implode, as faith in political, financial, corporate, and religious institutions spirals downward. There is no sign of a unifying regeneracy on the horizon.

The core elements of this Fourth Turning continue to propel this Crisis: debt, civic decay, global disorder. Central bankers, politicians, and government bureaucrats have been able to fashion the illusion of recovery and return to normalcy, but their “solutions” are nothing more than smoke and mirrors exacerbating the next bloodier violent stage of this Fourth Turning. The emergencies will become increasingly dire, triggering unforeseen reactions and unintended consequences. The civic fabric of our society will be torn asunder.