Monday, May 19, 2014

Larwyn's Linx: The Democrat Party’s Brain Damage

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Nation

The Democrat Party’s Brain Damage: Daniel Greenfield
The Obama Coalition is About to Come Apart: William Tucker
Smoking Gun: The Fed's Murder of the Middle Class: Burning Platform

Former Obamacare Navigator, Convicted PLF Terrorist Implicated: WZ
Statements on Lerner Contempt and Special Counsel: Trey Gowdy
The Rundown on the Georgia Runoff: Erick Erickson

Deval Patrick: Hillary 'Inevitability' Is 'Off Putting'; Refuses to Endorse: WS
Sheriff Arpaio Has Raised $4M For Run at Arizona Governor: RWN
Bare-Knuckle Battle to Highlight Michigan GOP Convention: PJM

Eric Holder slams John Roberts for acting color-blind: WZ
NY Educator: Opposing Common Core is Racist: RWN
Feinstein calls Benghazi panel a ‘hunting mission for a lynch mob’: WaPo

Economy

Labor Force Participation Rate Drops to 62.8%: Bankrupting
Feds Pour Millions Into Failing Black Colleges, Breaks Loan Rules: JW
Shocka: Cable TV prices went up 4 times the rate of inflation: Ars Technica

Scandal Central

Emails Show Federal Agency Ignored Conservative Media Inquiries: Instapundit
IRS Stonewalling FOIA Around Collaboration with Democrats in Congress: Katie Pavlich
The Fine Print Everyone is Missing on the New USDA Ballistic Vests Order: SSI

Climate & Energy

EPA to Unveil Carbon Regs Next Month: Rick Moran
Scientists Respond to the Obama Administration’s 2014 National Climate Assessment: WUWT
University of Queensland threatens lawsuit over use of Cook’s ’97% consensus’ data: WUWT

Media

Mega Church Pastor: Obama Legacy Is That He Destroyed The Experiment Called America: DC
CBS’s Schieffer Ignores Geithner’s Claim That White House Directed Him to Spin Negative News: CNS
NY Post Screws Up Big On “Gun Raid” Story: BuzzPo

Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio had less responsibility than Sarah Palin in Wasilla: LI
Major Garrett Takes White House Chief of Staff to Woodshed Over Obama’s Silence on VA Scandal: Scoop
Jill Abramson Claims She Has ‘Balls Like Cast-Iron Cantaloupes’: Ed Driscoll

The Best Quotations From Greg Gutfeld’s “The Joy of Hate.”: John Hawkins
Ben Carson Explains Slavery to David Gregory: MinorityReport
Black Nazi cabbie defends ideology: Times of Israel

World

DNI James Clapper Has Uncomfortably Close Ties To The Chinese Government: NoisyRm
Resource Strategist Warns of New Russian Threat: “Greatest Blackout in American History”: SHTFplan
Illegal Immigrant Held Woman as Sex Slave for 18 Months: RWN

Obama, US embassies fail to recognize Armed Services Day, see what they tweeted instead: BPR
Hillary Connected To ANOTHER Muslim Fundamentalist: Shoebat
Why is Saudi Arabia Threatening Sanctions against the Netherlands over anti-Islam Stickers?: Israpundit

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Microsoft adds Amazon to its hit list: GigaOm
The Solution To Democide Is An Armed Population – Can 3D Printed Guns Fill The Arms Gap?: Extrano's Alley
Intricate 3D Printed Materials Lighter Than Water and as Strong as Steel: SingularityHub

Cornucopia

Finally: a #PhonyResponse to #PhonyScandals: MOTUS
Smart Gun Maker Filed Patent for Remote Kill Switch: Robert Farago
“Why Government Fails So Often”: Overlawyered

Image: 'Game of Thrones' recap: Creepy kiss has deadly consequences
Sponsored by: KENTUCKY: Fight Mitch McConnell's Lies: The Tea Party Backs Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Under the gold standard, a free banking system stands as the protector of an economy’s stability and balanced growth… The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit… In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation." --Alan Greenspan, 1966

Sunday, May 18, 2014

WHEN PROPAGANDA FAILS: The Fall of Mainstream Media

By Jeff Berwick

It doesn't happen often, but The New York Times (NYT) has truthfully reported on something recently.

On what did it report? Well, on itself, and how alarmed it is due to its own increasing irrelevance in the face of new sources of information.

NYT is well-aware of the "New Media," as a 96-page internal report, sent to top executives last month, makes clear. Obtained by Buzzfeed, the report "paints a dark picture of a newsroom struggling more dramatically than is immediately visible to adjust to the digital world, a newsroom that is hampered primarily by its own storied culture."

The report ignores its traditional mainstream (MSM) competitors and takes a closer look at new digital companies like First Look Media, Vox, Huffington Post, Business Insider and Buzzfeed.

“They are ahead of us in building impressive support systems for digital journalists, and that gap will grow unless we quickly improve our capabilities,” the report states. “Meanwhile, our journalism advantage is shrinking as more of these upstarts expand their newsrooms.”

“We are not moving with enough urgency,” it says.

A central issue for NYT is “a cadre of editors who remain unfamiliar with the web.”

“Many desks lack editors who even know how to evaluate digital work,” the report continues.

A few suggestions NYT is looking into is a TED talks-style event series and an expanded op-ed platform, including location-based local news and information.

But it is too late...

Are you ready for food prices to double over the next 5 years?

By Michael Snyder

Do you think that the price of food is high now? Just wait. If current trends continue, many of the most common food items that Americans buy will cost more than twice as much by the end of this decade. Global demand for food continues to rise steadily as crippling droughts ravage key agricultural regions all over the planet. You see, it isn't just the multi-year California drought that is affecting food prices. Down in Brazil (one of the leading exporters of food in the world), the drought has gotten so bad that 142 cities were rationing water at one point earlier this year. And outbreaks of disease are also having a significant impact on our food supply. A devastating pig virus that has never been seen in the U.S. before has already killed up to 6 million pigs. Even if nothing else bad happens (and that is a very questionable assumption to make), our food prices are going to be moving aggressively upward for the foreseeable future. But what if something does happen? In recent years, global food reserves have dipped to extremely low levels, and a single major global event (war, pandemic, terror attack, planetary natural disaster, etc.) could create an unprecedented global food crisis very rapidly.

A professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University named Timothy Richards has calculated what the drought in California is going to do to produce prices at our supermarkets in the near future. His projections are quite sobering...

Larwyn's Linx: Hillary Clinton's Role in the Release of Criminal Illegal Aliens Inside the U.S.

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Nation

Hillary Clinton's Role in the Release of Criminal Illegal Aliens: Power Line
Head of Justice System Holder: Justice System Rife With Racism: WZ
Electoral College Targeted for Elimination by George Soros: Ed Wood

Good News: Jeb Bush Says He Would Govern Like Lib Icon LBJ: RWN
Walls Closing In for Jews at UCLA -- and in America: Pamela Geller
Dems Fundraising Off Benghazi: RWN

Activists and Immigrants Shout Down Charlie Crist in Little Havana: Scoop
Eric Cantor kills a stealth amnesty bill: RS
Man arrested for sneaking into Cochran's wife's nursing home: Clarion-Ledger

Economy

Why Is There Such High Unemployment In Illinois?: P&F
Remington Moving Two Production Lines From New York to Alabama: LI
Where the World's Unsold Cars Go To Die: ZH

Scandal Central

Vets Die While Pentagon Moves on Manning Sex Change: Patterico
Report: Holder Tells DEA Chief to Get in Line: Michael Warren
More Mexican Voting Fraud, In Texas School Board Election: VDARE

’13 Benghazis That Happened Under Bush’ Meme Destroyed Before Your Very Eyes: IJR
Your ObamaCare subsidies are probably wrong, but don’t worry. We’ll bill you later.: Hot Air
Cruz, Lee Hit HHS Nominee Burwell Over Obamacare Transparency: DC

Climate & Energy

The Next Climate Scandal: Power Line
The Descent of Mann: Mark Steyn
The Real Weapon Of Mass Destruction: ‘Climate Change’ Or Barack Obama?: Personal Liberty

Media

Woman Who Sends Her Kids to Elite Private Schools Whines About Segregation in Schools: JWF
Radio Host: NY Times Fired Abramson For Criticizing Obama: WZ
Poll: 70 percent support voter ID laws: The Hill

Dean Cain: ‘Like Obamacare? Check out the VA hospital scandal’: Twitchy
Obama Reaffirms His Intention to Rule By Dictatorship: Sara Noble
This brutal new poll is devastating for Obama, liberals, and the midterm elections: YC

Feminism: Love as Oppression and Heterosexuality as Subordination: R.S. McCain
Michael Sam Is Not A Hero; Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi Is: RS
White House Reporter Sent To Shed During Obama’s Golf Game: DC

World

Why Can’t We See?: Belmont Club
All Heart: Islamic court says pregnant woman permitted to give birth before she is hanged: BCF
Dempsey Clashes with Chinese General On Pacific: Military

5 Sharia Atrocities for Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres to Protest: Robert Spencer
Obama’s illegal alien aunt receives Muslim burial in Kenya: Creeping
Will Obama Reach Out To His Half-Brother Malik To Save Christian Woman In Sudan?: Nice Deb

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Bones of world's largest dinosaur found in Argentina: SMH
The Ten Fastest Growing IT Job Categories: Baseline
Five of the Internet’s eeriest, unsolved mysteries: WaPo

Cornucopia

Spirit of Ambassador Stevens Doesn't Want Investigation: Cube
If All The #BringBackMyGirls Selfies Were Actually Honest: Sooper
Hitler's Ultra Big Tank Project: Vince Lewis

Image: Scientists discover largest dinosaur ever to have walked the earth
Sponsored by: KENTUCKY: Fight Mitch McConnell's Lies: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The IRS is not just a revenue agency — it is a law-enforcement agency, a police agency with far greater powers of investigation and coercion that any normal police force. Its actions in this matter are not only inappropriate — they are illegal. Using government resources for political ends is a serious crime, as is conspiring to mislead investigators about those crimes. But so far, other than holding Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to comply with the demands of congressional investigators, almost nothing has happened. The characteristic feature of a police state is that those who are entrusted with the power to enforce the law are not themselves bound by it.

Context is again here important. The IRS scandal is not a standalone issue but comes at a time when the Democratic party is seeking to radically expand the power of the federal government to regulate political speech; we can safely assume that the same people who were using the IRS’s political-speech regulations for political ends will have precisely the same motives and precisely the same opportunity to use other political-speech regulations for precisely the same political ends: to benefit their allies and persecute their enemies. So committed are the Democrats to keeping their critics under the thumb of federal police powers that they have introduced an amendment in the Senate that would effectively repeal the free-speech provisions of the First Amendment, those having proved inconvenient to Democrats in Supreme Court rulings such as McCutcheon and Citizens United, the latter case involving a federal attempt to make it a crime to show a film critical of a political figure under unapproved circumstances.

The most important question that must be answered in this matter does not involve the misbehavior of IRS officials and Democratic officeholders, though those are important. Nor is it the question of free speech, vital and fundamental as that is. The question here is nothing less than the legitimacy of the United States government. When law-enforcement agencies and federal regulators with extraordinary coercive powers are subordinated to political interests rather than their official obligations — to the Party rather than to the law — then the law itself becomes meaningless, and the delicate constitutional order we have enjoyed for more than two centuries is reduced to a brutal might-makes-right proposition. Elected officials and public servants of both parties take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. That oath is now being tested. The IRS investigation is no mere partisan scandal, but a moral challenge for the men and women who compose the government of this country. Whether they are sufficient to meet that challenge is far from obvious, but the evidence so far is not encouraging." --Kevin D. Williamson

Saturday, May 17, 2014

The IRS investigation is no mere partisan scandal, but a moral challenge for all those in government

Guest post by Amy Payne

Could the IRS do anything to make itself more unpopular? Apparently, things are far from over with the agency’s targeting of conservative political groups.

Emails obtained by Judicial Watch and released yesterday indicate that the Obama administration lied when it tried to pin the scandal on IRS employees in an Ohio branch office. In fact, the Washington, D.C., office of the IRS was coordinating with the employees to hold up tea party groups’ applications for nonprofit status and subject them to extra scrutiny.

At the heart of the controversy is Lois Lerner, who was head of the division that approved nonprofit applications at the time.

“This latest revelation by Judicial Watch showing that the IRS targeting of conservative organizations was being run by its Washington office demonstrates that the House acted correctly when it held Lois Lerner in contempt,” said Heritage legal expert Hans von Spakovsky.

The House voted last week to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about the IRS scandal. But it’s up to Attorney General Eric Holder to take any action – the first step of which would be forcing her to testify – and that hasn’t happened.

Von Spakovsky said:

Lerner claimed that this problem originated in the Cincinnati office of the IRS, so it is pretty clear she was misleading the public and congressional investigators. The contempt citation needs to be enforced and if the Justice Department refuses to do so, it will be another example of unethical behavior by a law enforcement agency that has repeatedly failed to adhere to its duty to enforce the law on an objective, nonpartisan basis.

In other words, the odds aren’t great that Lerner will face real consequences.

But perhaps the worst news is that the Obama administration has been working behind the scenes to change the rules for political activism – permanently.

FOOD PRICES SURGE AGAIN: Is the Inflation Genie Out of the Bottle?

By Mac Slavo

While government statisticians claim robust growth, recent data points suggest otherwise. Consumers are quickly running out of money, home sales have collapsed and hit their biggest drop in three years, there are more Americans out of the labor force than ever before, and one third of adults under the age of 35 are living with their parents because they can no longer afford to pay their own mortgage.

By all accounts, the reality is that we are now factually in a recession, a point further emphasized by the recent revelation that American companies are experiencing near zero percent earnings growth.

But that’s just the beginning. As we warned earlier this year, food prices would see a steady rise through 2014 because of increased global demand, drought and continued degradation of the U.S. dollar.

The Producer Price Index made available by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics this morning has now confirmed those fears. Consumers are seeing an immediate impact to their wallets in the form of food price inflation and in all likelihood the trend will continue going forward.

These latest numbers are serious. So much so that according to Zero Hedge, “the last time food prices spiked by this much in one month, the resulting Arab Spring wave of revolutions tumbled governments across north Africa and the Middle East.”

CITY OF THE FUTURE: Where the Radical Left is Herding Us

Illustrated and sanitized for your protection by @BiffSpackle.

2008 GM document warned engineers to avoid "widow-maker", "deathtrap", "decapitate", "Hindenburg" and other inflammatory words

You may recall that GM has suffered from a series of embarrassing product defects and recalls including one that the company "didn't fix until 13 people had died."

Patrick George at Jalopnik discovered a GM Powerpoint that illustrates how the automobile manufacturer went so far off the rails related to a whole host of catastrophic product defects.

George calls the presentation a "smoking gun" intended to dissuade employees from candidly discussing safety issues. In fact, one panel goes so far as to request that engineers avoid the use of the words "defect" or "safety" and instead focus on "issue, condition or matter."


One panel offers a laundry list of words to avoid including "disemboweling", "impaling", "maiming", and "mangling" even if, presumably, victims were in fact disemboweled, impaled, maimed and mangled by said vehicles.

Larwyn's Linx: WH in CYA mode: VA scandal potentially bigger than IRS and Benghazi

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

Nation

WH in CYA mode: VA scandal potentially bigger than IRS, Benghazi: ConIntel
WaPo: 1 million people may be getting incorrect Obamacare subsidies: Moe Lane
Jake Tapper blows up at WH: ‘How many dead veterans do you need?’: BPR

Is It True, Mr. Speaker?: George Rasley
Establishment Republicans Break Their Own Rules in Opposing Amash: FW
John Boehner Says GOP Wants to Deal With Immigration Reform: Roll Call

Favoring Teachers’ Unions Over Students: RWN
A New Level of Illegal Immigration Chaos: FPM
After Court Backs Gun Laws, D.C. Delegate Tells GOP to Kill Gun Bills: PJM

Jeb Bush Admires LBJ; Baffled by Opposition to Cheap Foreign Labor: GayPatriot
‘Undocumented Immigrant’ Viciously Beats Female Park Employee: Pat Dollard
Yo, Rand: 7 in 10 Favor Voter ID Laws: Hot Air

Economy

Weimar America: inflation is taking off, with no end in sight: WyBlog
White House says taxpayer-funded schools must enroll illegal aliens: Allen West
New Bill Makes States Repay Funds for Busted Obamacare Exchanges: Breitbart

Scandal Central

VA Spends $500 Million on Conference Room, Office Makeovers Under Obama: WFB
Shinseki: IG Investigation Prevents Me From Providing Info: DC
Memos Show VA Staffers Have Been 'Gaming System' for Six Years: NBC

“The Emerging Junta”: Protein Wisdom
Whistleblower Doctors Who Reported VA Abuses Suffered Retaliation: WZ
IRS Stonewalling FOIA Request of Correspondence With Democratic Members of Congress.: Instapundit

Climate & Energy

Greens Are Reds: Stephen Moore
Someone Tell the Record Polar Ice Cap It Should Be Melting: BarbWire
Emanuel's power pact could zap Chicago homeowners: ChicagoBusiness

Media

CBS's Steve Kroft in Iran: 'We Didn't Talk to Anybody Who Believes They're Building a Bomb': MRC
Scars and Stripes: Mark Steyn
Students Shout Down Speaker at Portland State: CI

NYT reporter: Clinton supporters “flailing” on naming her biggest accomplishment as Secretary of State: Scoop
The firebomb attack (you never heard about) on a bus of Jewish schoolgirls: LI
How to Successfully Troll MSNBC’s Ed Schultz: Mediaite

New Yorker Piece Features Alleged, Actual Numbers for Abramson Pay Gap: Mediaite
Limbaugh: Hillary Clinton’s Greatest Achievement Is ‘Her Gender’: Josh Feldman
Election Expert Predicts "Tidal Wave" Landslide for GOP in 2014: ConTrib

World

Karl Rove, Style Substance and Success: DTG
David Axelrod Now a Laughingstock on Two Continents: JWF
Communists to convene in Chicago: People's World

White House Envoy Indyk Caught Bashing Israel at Hotel Bar: WFB
Say, Where’s The Hashtag For Pregnant Christian Woman Sentenced To Death In Sudan?: RWN
International outrage grows for Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy: Fox

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The Mathematics Of Murder: Should A Robot Sacrifice Your Life To Save Two?: PopSci
The proven way to add value: Seth Godin
LifeLock Wallet pulled from app stores and all user data deleted amid security concerns: NextWeb

Cornucopia

How Dems Stole The 2012 Election: Western
The Myth of Prejudice: Gavin McInnes
Hidden Camera Exposes Sinister Anti-American 'Progressive' Agenda: BarbWire

Image: This Is the Pregnant Woman Sudan Wants to Hang for Marrying a Christian
Sponsored by: KENTUCKY: Fight Mitch McConnell's Lies: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "[Obama] Middle East envoy Martin Indyk was overheard at an upscale Washington, D.C., bar bashing Israel and fully blaming it for the recent failure of peace talks with the Palestinians, according to an individual who overheard the conversation and described it as a surprising and “nasty” 30-minute-long tirade against the Jewish state...

...“In the 30 minute conversation, no one at the table mentioned a single wrong thing the Palestinians had done,” according to the source who overheard the conversation. “There was no self-criticism whatsoever.”...

...“The staff relished how critical Indyk was of Israel in public speech,” the source said. “They laughed about it”..." --Adam Kredo

Friday, May 16, 2014

POLL: Pretty Much Everyone in America Wants an Investigation into Benghazi Except... the Media

Noah Rothman deserves our thanks. He is doing yeoman's work at Mediaite as but one of a handful of reporters willing to speak truth to power.

The journalistic establishment is convinced that the investigation into the attacks on Benghazi is a partisan sideshow that is unlikely to unearth any new information, the fact that new information was unearthed just weeks ago as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request notwithstanding. 

Nevertheless, reporters are quite sure that any investigation into the preparation for and response to the Benghazi attack is purely political. CNN’s Erin Burnett summed it up best when she declared on Wednesday night that even the word Benghazi has “become like abortion.” Meaning, the issue has grown so polarizing that there are few people left who can be persuaded to change their already settled opinion on the matter. 

Outside of the newsroom, however, opinions about Benghazi seem to be far less set in stone. On Thursday, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace revealed that, according to the crosstabs on the latest Fox News poll, Democrats are just as eager for a definitive investigation into Benghazi as are Republicans in Congress

...That comes as a surprise only to those who refuse to acknowledge that there are outstanding questions relating to that attack. Writing in National Review, Jim Geraghty critiques MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, who recently insisted that “all the questions” relating to Benghazi “have been answered.” In a thorough post, Geraghty outlines just how many questions relating to the attack and its aftermath have not been answered and why the slow drip of information coming out of the White House begs for a stronger response from congressional investigators.

But while the country clearly believes there is more to the Benghazi story, and it is perfectly appropriate to investigate the White House’s handling of that attack, the latest Fox poll has its share of red flags for the GOP, too. ... When asked if Republicans in Congress are investigating the Benghazi attacks out of a desire to get to the truth or to secure “political gain” for themselves, 63 percent said that the GOP’s motives were not entirely pure... For now, however, this survey indicates that voters want to see a full accounting of events of what happened before and after the Benghazi attacks. The GOP has a mandate to pursue those answers, but voters have little patience left for the GOP and that mandate could quickly evaporate.
I must also mention that Rothman was one of 2013's Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners, which recognizes a select group of elites in the world of online media.


THE SCAM IS SETTLED: Climate Extremists Threaten, Intimidate Scientists Who Expose Global Warming Scam

By Investor's Business Daily

Global Warming: A noted researcher who questioned the climate's sensitivity to greenhouse gases says his paper is not being published for ideological reasons and because it might fuel doubt in the climate change story.

First the climate change zealots tried to manipulate the data. Now they are trying to control the debate they claim is over.

It's not over, though, and the science is not settled as true science never is. But those, such as Swedish climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson, who dare to challenge the climate change orthodoxy are being silenced in an organized campaign.

In an echo of the infamous Climategate scandal at Britain's University of East Anglia, one of the world's top academic journals has rejected the work of five experts, including Bengtsson. One peer reviewer said the paper "is harmful as it opens the door for oversimplified claims of 'errors' and worse from the climate skeptics media side."

The Climategate scandal was a direct result of scientists at Britain's Climate Research Unit and others, such as Michael Mann, conspiring to manipulate "unhelpful" data and to "hide the decline" in global temperatures.

The Climategate emails leaked in 2009 made it abundantly clear that the suppression of skeptical papers in learned journals and conflicting data from the alarmist establishment has long been widespread and organized within the field of climate science.

On the Road to Tyranny in my Driverless Car

Google -- and perhaps others -- have been making great progress in perfecting a "driverless" car.


This development gives me great pause, but not for the rather esoteric hypotheticals described in Wired's "The Robot Car of Tomorrow May Just Be Programmed to Hit You."


The conundrum is rather simple: should a robot driving your car sacrifice your life to save two others?

MIND-BLOWING iPHONE APP: Word Lens

Dude.

Shortly after the iOS translation app "Word Lens" was featured in a prominent iPhone commercial from Apple, the developer behind the app has been snapped up by rival Google.


Quest Visual, the startup responsible for Word Lens translator available for iOS as well as Android and Google Glass, is now owned by Google, the developer announced on its website. There it revealed that Google plans to integrate Word Lens functionality into its own translation services.

Quest Visual said the change will allow its technology to provide "broad language coverage and translation capabilities in the future..."

Now imagine Word Lens operating using a pair of Google Glass. You're traveling abroad and simply look at a foreign language newspaper. The translated article appears on your heads-up display.

In some ways, thanks to the silicon transistor and Moore's Law, the current state of technology makes Star Trek look positively medieval.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

Larwyn's Linx: Valerie Jarrett: 'We Have a Commitment' from Boehner on Amnesty This Year

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

Nation

Valerie Jarrett: 'We Have a Commitment' from Boehner on Amnesty: Breitbart
Obamacare Worker: We Were Told To 'Act Like We Were Working': TR
The Corruption of the Eric Cantor Crowd: PJM

Our Oppressed Oppressors: Daniel Greenfield
Chilling: Reid would back Constitutional amendment limiting free speech: Toldjah
Ben Carson: If God Calls Me to Run for President, I'm Going to Run: Ace

TPM replays "Resistance Is Futile" tune on collectivist gramophone.: SSI
Tuesday's Election Results Torpedo The Dominant GOP Narrative ... Again: TPM
GOP establishment eats the party's young to save its corporate welfare: Exam

Economy

As vets die awaiting care, Pentagon backs Manning sex change: Unyielding
The VA’s Deadly Bureaucratic Drones: Michelle Malkin
Obama Sends in the Cleaner: Keith Koffler

Bankrupt Illinois Spent $12 Million on Medicaid for Dead People: Publius
Rep. Huelskamp: ‘Replace Common Core with Rush Limbaugh’s book’: Twitchy
Obama Golf: MB

Scandal Central

VA Officials Won’t Commit to Firing Employees Who Cooked the Books: PJM
Time To Give Up Opposition To Amnesty Everyone. Pro Amnesty Side Has...A Poll.: Ace
CRUZ: New emails escalate need for Special Prosecutor: YourHouston

Climate & Energy

Now It’s “Climate Disruption”: Richard Larsen
Abuse from Climate Scientists Forces Resignation from Skeptic Group after a Week: NRO
Rep. Keith Ellison says ‘communities of color’ hardest hit by climate change: Twitchy

Media

Abramson Firing: Did NYTimes Forget To Read Its 90 pieces On Equal Pay?: MRC
Lt. Col. Oliver North: “Any Other President Would Have Been Impeached: ConTrib
Karl Rove forces Bill Clinton to provide relevant health information about Hillary Clinton.: Moe Lane

This is my homophobic rant against Michael Sam: Matt Walsh
CNN Hounds Bernie Sanders on V.A. Scandal: 'You Sound Like a Lawyer Defending the Hospital': NB
Review: The Black Book of the American Left, Volume II: PJM

Democrats Mock Candidate and Iraq War Veteran As A Coward: MenRec
What’s In Your Wallet? Hope it’s not a Tea Party Membership Card.: MOTUS
Rape Culture is a ‘Panic Where Paranoia, Censorship, and False Accusations Flourish’: Christina Hoff Sommers

World

Moral compass points toward retribution in Nigeria: Jonah Goldberg
Obama Administration Threatened Nigeria With Sanctions In 2013 For Fighting Boko Haram: WZ
Hillary Didn't Label Boko Haram Terrorists Because It Would Have Hurt Obama Reelection Message: Lid

Obama Does Not Mention – Islam, Al-Qaeda, Muslims – Not Once in Today’s 9/11 Memorial: GWP
A Deal to Let Iran Cheat More Efficiently: Commentary
Levin: When are we going to talk honestly about the Islamo-Nazis who kidnapped Christian girls?: Scoop

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Apple Awarded Patent for Contact Aware User Interface in Messaging Applications: MacRumors
Comcast vs. Netflix: Is this really about Net neutrality?: CNet
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Shrinks to Smallest Size Ever Seen (Video, Photos): Space

Cornucopia

A Nation Reborn: Christian Mercenary
Brazil unveils ‘Robocop’ suit to protect super-elite police unit during World Cup: NatlPost
Deputies: Radio legend Casey Kasem found in Western Wash.: KOMO

Image: Brazil unveils ‘Robocop’ suit to protect super-elite police unit during World Cup
Sponsored by: KENTUCKY: Fight Mitch McConnell's Lies: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "I think the historic forces are on the side of the opposition. You go back and you know, this Bill, you go back to 1953, with the single exception, every single time one party has held a White House for two terms, they get thrown out on their ear. The only exception, of course, is Reagan being given what's essentially a third term with Bush because he was so successful. The country is already tired of Obama. The country is already in semi-depressed mood. They’re high numbers [on] wrong track. They are not going to be in a mood to reelect a Democrat. And I think the Democrats grossly overestimate how popular Hillary is. She may be popular with some of them. She may be popular with a lot of them. But they assume it's going to apply to the country. I think not." --Charles Krauthammer

Thursday, May 15, 2014

THE LAW, ILLUSTRATED: By Frédéric Bastiat

From Frédéric Bastiat:


WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The USDA wants... submachine guns

By James Simpson

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just submitted an acquisition request for .40 caliber submachine guns. Who will be using them? The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service? The Federal Crop Insurance Agency? The Food Safety and Inspection Service? Will they use them to shoot rats in food warehouses and grain elevators?

There is only one agency within the USDA that could justify the need for such weapons, the U.S. Forest Service. This is because much illegal activity goes on in national forests, over which the Forest Service has jurisdiction. This includes illegal poaching, marijuana cultivation, and other crimes. Some of those people are armed and dangerous. One might expect this to be a DEA or FBI responsibility, because of the drug nexus, but forest rangers know the terrain best. If it is for the Forest Service, then there at least is a rationale. Calls to the USDA to confirm this, however, have been so far unanswered.

There is another, more pernicious possible explanation however. Agencies tend to jealously guard their turf, and use it as an excuse to grow and expand all kinds of functions one would not normally consider under their purview. So rather than call in the DEA, the Forest Service instead jumped in enthusiastically to get its share of the drug enforcement money pie. A lot of this kind of expansion occurred following the 1989 creation of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (i.e. the Drug Czar). There was all kinds of "drug enforcement" money being proffered for agencies that became involved in President H.W. Bush's War on Drugs. I know that because as a budget examiner for the Office of Management and Budget I was directly involved in formulating budgets for a number of law enforcement agencies.

Since then the federal law enforcement function has metastasized. Most Americans are unaware that there are over 91 federal law enforcement agencies in existence today. When I was working there in the 1990s, there were about 72, so that is yet another growth industry for government, and a very dangerous one. And this growth has occurred despite the fact that creation of the Department of Homeland Security was supposed to consolidate agencies, not grow new ones.

This occurs everywhere governments are created however, and is why the founders specifically sought a federal government that was supposed to be limited. We can see today how the government has managed to get around that, but it has taken a long time. Don't let anyone tell you the Constitution is irrelevant. It is more important today than it ever has been.


Read more at Examiner.com.

HALL OF SHAME: GOP House Chairmen Actively Fought Select Committee for Fear of Getting Shown Up

Eli Lake at The Daily Beast is one of the true superstars of modern investigative reporting. Legacy media, namely the likes of 60 Minutes, long ago abandoned their charter of speaking truth to power and instead feature gauzy interviews with FLOTUS in the White House vegetable garden.

Lake has broken a series of fascinating stories on the scandals engulfing the Obama administration, most recently deconstructing the Benghazi cover-up that implicates both Obama and ostensible 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.


But yesterday's scoop also reveals something about the feckless House Republican leadership. Namely that various House committee chairmen fought tooth-and-nail against a Select Investigative Committee for reasons, well, you be the judge.

There is deep unease within the Republican leadership that the select committee, which has yet to announce a schedule of hearings, could backfire, and badly. Investigate and find nothing new, and the committee looks like a bunch of tin-hatted obsessives. Investigate and uncover previously-hidden secrets, and it makes all of the other Republican led panels that dug into Benghazi seem like Keystone Kops.

Based upon the performance of Judicial Watch, which routinely out-investigated the Keystone Kops House, the latter fear is well-founded.

Three Republican sources tell The Daily Beast that the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Armed Services, and Government Reform committees—Reps. Rogers, Buck McKeon, and Darrell Issa, respectively—all opposed the formation of a select committee on Benghazi. All three men have led their own investigations into the matter.

Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I certainly called that one last year. Here's what I published then:

BUT THEY'RE DOING IT FOR LOVE: 350,000 Illegal Aliens Incarcerated in U.S. at Cost of $11 Billion Annually

You may be suffering from scandal fatigue with the most lawless administration in modern American history (given the President's impressive official list of historic "firsts"), but the recent news about illegal aliens is truly stunning.

In 2013 alone, President Obama released 40,000 illegal aliens slated for deportation for serious crimes into the United States.

They include nearly 500 rapists and 200 murderers.

I wonder what the female victims of sexual assault and rape think of this development.

Hashtag WarOnWomen.

But this report made me wonder how many illegal aliens are incarcerated in the U.S.


A little research led me to a fairly startling number. In 2012 alone, it was estimated that 350,000 illegal aliens are imprisoned in the United States, having been convicted of major crimes.

I repeat: 350,000 illegal aliens are residing in our prisons.

And how much does each illegal cost the taxpayer? The New York Times states that "the annual average taxpayer cost in these states was $31,286 per inmate."

The total cost to the American taxpayer? $11 billion.

The American citizen is the victim of this open borders madness. Our health, welfare, and prison systems -- to name but a few -- are melting down.

But they're doing it for love, right, Jeb Bush?


Larwyn's Linx: Bombshell Email Proves Weaponization of the IRS Came From Washington

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

Nation

Bombshell Email Proves Weaponization of IRS Came From DC: Bryan Preston
CRACK! McConnell’s Metal Strap of Control Breaks: Jen Kuznicki
Is the White House producing campaign ads for Biden?: Dossier

Congressman: White House led 'Worst Prison Break in American History': TR
New IRS e-mails: Yep, direction came from D.C. and yep, it was political: Hot Air
Bill Clinton Says Hillary Took 6 Months To Get Over Concussion: Instapundit

Mark Levin on IRS: Carl Levin should be dragged in front of a grand jury: Scoop
Death Penalty Opponents, Have I Got A Deal For You!: Ann Coulter
USDA buying. 40-cal submachine guns: Scoop

Economy

Rahm Emanuel Announces He Will Give Illegal Aliens City Jobs, Internships: RWN
Record-high debt not the only bad number for new college grads: Melissa Quinn
Chicago principal says Emanuel administration stifles dissent: Trib

Scandal Central

GOP Overturns Obama: Victims Of Ft. Hood Will Get Honors, Benefits: RWN
Obama: If ‘Million Excess Votes’ in NYC Moved to Midwest...: Tatler
New Documents Show IRS HQ Control of Tea Party Targeting: JW

Climate & Energy

Bengtsson Burners: Mark Steyn
Village Idiot: Mark Steyn
Finally, backpedaling on crazy talk about Antarctica, Glacier Ice Sheet Melt, Sea Level Rise, LAX: WUWT

Media

The Holocaust Revisited—An Open Thank You Note to Ed Schultz: Roger L. Simon
Daily Show DESTROYS Harry Reid over Koch brothers hypocrisy: Scoop
Karl Rove’s boneheaded swipe at Hillary Clinton: John Kass

Did Scott Brown’s 2010 Win Spark The IRS War On The Tea Party?: Glob
‘War on women is coming from inside the house!’ NYT pay equity sanctimony: Twitchy
Liberal Tolerance (Caution: Graphic Language): John Hawkins

Obama Advisor David Plouffe is a Lying Scumbag And Here’s Proof: Glob
Fox News Poll: 50% Believe Hillary Clinton Deceived Public on Benghazi: FNI
Funny video: Hillary’s lack of accomplishments shows why Hillary could be president: Hot Air


World

The real Benghazi scandal was Obama's drive-by war in Libya: Exam
Modern world is still premodern in many ways: Victor Davis Hanson
Russia Wants to Limit U.S. Access to Space Station: DefenseOne

I though Obama said Al Qaeda is on the run?: Tatler
What a shock: Newsweek reporter who accused Israel of 'unprecedented spying' 'has a history': Matzav
Vassar condemns “racist, anti-Semitic graphic” posted by Students for Justice in Palestine: LI

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Anyone in the U.S. Can Buy Google Glass Now: Gizmodo
Facial transplants are safe, viable, and help patients thrive after a decade of success: SingularityHub
US reports third case of potential MERS virus: Yahoo!

Cornucopia

“All of your wallets are belong to us, comrade.”: MOTUS
Congratulations to Rush Limbaugh: Erick Erickson
Operation American Spring to hit D.C. to oust Obama, Biden, Boehner, Holder: Times

Image: Selfie of the Day: The Most Epic Selfie Ever
Sponsored by: Fight Mitch McConnell's Lies: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "When the party leader in the Senate thinks he has to influence, through negative attacks, a Senatorial primary in Nebraska which, by all accounts was going to be a Republican win in the general election anyway, it’s a sign he knows he’s losing his grip. And if McConnell knows it, they all do.

Notice McConnell helped attack a man who made Obamacare his major focus. Shouldn’t that tell us just where his priorities lie?

On every front, the establishment and its mouthpieces are seriously misreading, or ignoring national sentiment, and the campaigns waged by the NRSC are childish, dishonest, delusive, and sometimes downright mean and nasty. This is their idea of “disagreement” within the “family.” And all at a time when the American public want positive, uplifting messages from people they think they can trust to stop the left from ruining the country.

Make no mistake, this Sasse win sounds like a metal strap snapping under tension, letting loose the minds and thoughts and free will of the electorate. Let that sound echo throughout the nation." --Jen Kuznicki

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Institutionalized Corruption on Wall Street

By Jim Quinn

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair – I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked

“The U.S. financial markets had always been either corrupt or about to be corrupted.” - Michael Lewis, Flash Boys

I finished reading Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys take-down of Wall Street banks, hedge funds, government regulators and high frequency traders last week when I had spare time created by a weeklong denial of service attack on my website. It appears to me technology is being utilized more frequently as a mechanism for malevolence rather than a mechanism for good. The smartest guys in the room are figuring out ways to steal you blind in the financial markets, pilfer your personal information, spy on your electronic communications, and censor your right to free speech by taking away your ability to communicate freely on the internet. After reading Lewis’ maddening tome and experiencing the frustration of an attack that reached 50 million hits per day on my website, I’m reminded of two quotes from the brilliant dystopian visionary Aldous Huxley.

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” ― Aldous Huxley – Ends and Means

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.” Aldous Huxley

Technology has been pushed on the masses like a drug by the mega-corporation and mega-media dealers. Just walk down any city street and observe the technologically entranced zombies shuffling along the sidewalks staring blankly at a tiny screen, tapping away on an itsy bitsy keypad as if whatever they are conveying is of vital importance to the future of mankind. # Give me a break. God forbid if we had to go out in public without our iGadget attached to an appendage. We might actually have to use our brain to think. We might be able to look someone in the eye and smile. We might be able to say hello to a stranger. We might have to act like a human being.