Tuesday, August 26, 2014

SHELL GAME: The Real Tactics of the Federal Reserve

By Lee Cary

Janet Yellen’s August 22, 2014 speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming was a verbal shell game with an invisible pea.

The first paragraph in Yellen’s speech began with this sentence: “In the five years since the end of the Great Recession, the economy has made considerable progress in recovering from the largest and most sustained loss of employment in the United States since the Great Depression.”

Then, the first paragraph ended with the admission that “…five years after the end of the recession, the labor market has yet to fully recover.”

Many of the remaining 3,450 words she spoke refuted the claim of “considerable progress” and turned over multiple shells in search of the pea that explains why the labor market has not “fully” recovered.

The pea remains invisible.

In her penultimate paragraph, Yellen stated that, although labor market conditions have “improved more rapidly [rapid after five years?] than the Committee [Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC] had anticipated,” “Of course, if economic performance turns out to be disappointing and progress toward our goals proceeds more slowly than we expect, the future path of interest rates likely would be more accommodative [read “lower”] than we currently anticipate.”

Throughout her speech, Yellen used “if,” “might,” “may,” and “could” a total of 58 times. (The saying, “If my aunt had a moustache, she’d be my uncle” is only disputed by those with aunts who have moustaches.)

CROOKS AND LIARS: Lois Lerner's Emails Exist -- and Always Have

By James Simpson

The Obama administration is now admitting that IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner's emails, and all other "lost" IRS records for that matter, have not been destroyed. They are backed up, as are all other government records. To claim as the Obama administration originally did, that the emails were destroyed, is a bald-faced lie. We all always knew that of course. But there is nothing this administration won't do to change the subject when its shenanigans are uncovered. Now that they have been backed into a corner, they say it is too much trouble to recover the information. Another lie. To suggest that these backup systems are incapable of finding records is ludicrous. If records can't be recovered, why preserve them?

Judicial Watch is the organization that forced the Obama administration's hand. This group has been successfully fighting Obama administration obstruction on many fronts. JW President Tom Fitton stated:

This is a jaw-dropping revelation. The Obama administration had been lying to the American people about Lois Lerner’s missing emails. There are no “missing” Lois Lerner emails – nor missing emails of any of the other top IRS or other government officials whose emails seem to be disappearing at increasingly alarming rate. All the focus on missing hard drives has been a diversion. The Obama administration has known all along where the email records could be – but dishonestly withheld this information. You can bet we are going to ask the court for immediate assistance in cutting through this massive obstruction of justice.

While the records exist and always have, it has now been revealed that Lerner destroyed her cell phone after learning she would be forced to appear before Congress. The IRS has admitted that the phone would have had the same emails that would have been on her computer hard drive that allegedly "crashed" and was later destroyed by the IRS. There needs to be serious criminal charges here.

The elections of 2014 and 2016 will determine the fate of this nation. We can't survive this level of corruption and deceit much longer, and a Hillary Clinton administration would quickly finish the job of destroying America that Obama has started.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Have it His Way, Plus Mexican President Demands U.S. Immigration Reform

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

Nation

Have it His Way: Mark Steyn
Playing the Game Badly: Erick Erickson
Federal Court Crushes California's 10-Day Gun Waiting Period: Ace

10 Acts of Jihad in America That Americans Haven’t Heard About: Spencer
Obama’s Staggering Blindness to Growing Terror Threat: David Limbaugh
If ISIS attacks again, what will U.S. do?: Cal Thomas

Mexican President Demands U.S. Immigration Reform, Amnesty: AP
Time for Libertarians to Put on Their Big Boy Pants: Roger L. Simon
Chicago robberies drop 20% after concealed carry permits are issued: Hot Air

Blacks Must Confront Reality: Walter Williams
Cummings: Obama Should Appoint Police Czar To “Prevent More Fergusons”: WZ
Perry Legal Team Asks Court to Dismiss Indictment: Brian Sikma

Economy

Try Harder: Belmont Club
Her Highness Hillary and our leftist overlords.: Tom Blumer
More School Cafeteria Mayhem: FLOTUS Kills The Pink Cookie: Tammy Bruce

Scandal Central

Darrell Issa: IRS Scandal Is ‘Amazing Sequence’ of Cover-Up, Denial: WFB
WHITE HOUSE CAUGHT IN ANOTHER LIE – Lois Lerner’s Emails Were Not Lost!: ProgsToday
GOP lawmakers: DOJ's IRS probe 'compromised,' special counsel needed: Fox

Climate & Energy

Cut the Costly Climate Chatter: WUWT
Washington Post Psyched To Be “Climate Change” Activists: Cove
Barack Obama Wishes National Park Service Happy Birthday With Picture Of... Barack Obama: WZ

Media

The Problem with Insane, Cloistered, Non-Beheaded Leftist Professors in the New York Times: Matthew Clark
Cowardly Comedy in the Age of Obama: Glob
NBC, CBS Skip Harry Reid's Questionable Asian Joke: It's Hard to Keep 'My Wongs Straight': NB

Dear Millennials: Hollywood, Your Favorite Bands, and Your Professors Are Lying To You: John Hawkins
Facts vs. Visions: Thomas Sowell
Awesome: Mark Levin mocks Harry Reid: Scoop

World

The long march: Libya’s capital falls to Islamists: Noah Rothman
State Department Barbie: She’s Come Undone: MOTUS
Hamas Training Manual Tells Civilians to Store Bombs: IPT

Tripoli Falls to Islamist Militias: Ace
Democrats at War: Andrew Klavan, Zero Base Thinking
‘Muslims against ISIS’ gather in Dearborn, Mich., to ‘condemn inhumane crimes’: Twtichy

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The Surveillance Engine: How the NSA Built Its Own Secret Google: Ryan Gallagher
Comcast Really Does Hate Its Customers: Rob Enderle
LG G3 Stylus is an Android phone, not an accessory, coming next week: Phandroid

Cornucopia

The best lesson from Fantasy Football's success: Seth Godin
Bumper Sticker O' The Day: Treehouse
Zero to Stupid: Clash

Image: Captured Russian troops 'in Ukraine by accident'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "While Obama golfed: Over the weekend, Tripoli Airport fell to the jihad boys. I was there some years ago, and thought it compared favorably with, say, Logan. Now it's a smoking ruin - part of the blowback from Obama's leading with his behind, or whatever he calls it. As things stand, this guy will end his presidency with a chain of failed states for al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, ISIS and the Taliban to gambol and frolic in stretching from West Africa to the Hindu Kush. But you can't see them from Martha's Vineyard, so who cares?" --Mark Steyn

Monday, August 25, 2014

THE TRIFECTA OF BUSTED: Obama IRS caught lying to the Courts, Congress and the American People

Judicial Watch does it again, acting as an advocate for the American citizen when neither party appears willing to uphold the law.

Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner’s emails, indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe. The Obama administration attorneys said that this back-up system would be too onerous to search. The DOJ attorneys also acknowledged that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is investigating this back-up system.

We obviously disagree that disclosing the emails as required would be onerous, and plan to raise this new development with Judge Sullivan.

This is a jaw-dropping revelation. The Obama administration had been lying to the American people about Lois Lerner’s missing emails. There are no “missing” Lois Lerner emails – nor missing emails of any of the other top IRS or other government officials whose emails seem to be disappearing at increasingly alarming rate. All the focus on missing hard drives has been a diversion. The Obama administration has known all along where the email records could be – but dishonestly withheld this information. You can bet we are going to ask the court for immediate assistance in cutting through this massive obstruction of justice.

Would it be too much to ask to see John Koskinen, Lois Lerner and Steven Miller frog-marched into the federal pen?

Or for the pathetic John Boehner to name a Select Investigative Committee on the IRS?


Hat tips: BadBlue News and ProgressivesToday.

THE TREASON OF OPEN BORDERS: ISIS says "we are in your state, we are in your cities, we are in your streets..."

By Investor's Business Daily

Jihad In America: Terroristic tweets underscore the Islamic State's global reach. It has an army of Western passport holders, and an open southern border to cross. It's not only coming to the U.S.; it's already here.

Slain journalist James Foley studied his craft in the Chicago area, earning a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. For a time he was a teacher in the Cook County Jail boot camp program. He was familiar with the streets of Chicago. So, apparently, is the Islamic State that beheaded him.

An anonymous tweet has an attached photo showing a message written in Arabic. The note is dated June 20 and is being held up in front of the Old Republic building on Chicago's Michigan Avenue. Dubbed the Magnificent Mile, a shopping mecca, Michigan Avenue is another symbol of what, from a radical Islamist perspective, is wrong with Western culture and civilization.

The text reads: "We are in your state, we are in your cities, we are in your streets, you are our goals anywhere." It adds the hashtag #AmessagefromISIStoUS.

Certainly Islamic State has proved adept at using social media to threaten its future targets and recruit sympathizers and members.

It would be easy to dismiss this as a stunt with no real significance, except that it echoes promises that Islamic State and its sympathizers have already made, including to fly their black flag over the White House, currently occupied by another former Chicago resident, President Obama. Also attached to this tweet is a photo of the White House.

"Many terror organizations refer to Chicago as Obama Town," according to CBS Chicago security expert Ross Rice, a former FBI agent assigned to the Windy City. Islamists remember that Osama bin Laden was killed on Obama's watch as drone strikes disrupted and decapitated their terrorist networks, he notes.

In a joint bulletin issued with the FBI on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security warned local, county and state law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for signs of activity by the IS and its sympathizers. We are reminded of the Tsarnaev brothers and Tamerlan Tsarnaev's time spent in the terrorist-infested Russian republic of Dagestan before returning to bomb the Boston Marathon last year.p>

There is apparently is no shortage of American recruits for terrorism. American suicide bomber Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, who grew up in Florida, returned to the U.S. undetected after receiving terrorist training in Syria. He later journeyed back to Syria, where he allegedly drove a truck packed with explosives into a crowded restaurant.

There is also no shortage of Western passport holders who have joined Islamic State.

"They are one plane ticket away from U.S. shores, and that's why we're concerned about it," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday.

Hollywood's Secret Love Affair with Islamofascism

By Randall Stevens

Is it Inquisition time in Hollywood, or is it something else?

In the midst of the Hamas siege of Israel, while the IDF was courageously protecting Israeli citizens from rockets hurled by the barbarians in Gaza, some Spanish personalities in supposedly Jewish-run Hollywood caused quite a ruckus. In an open letter, the Latin trio of Penelope Cruz, husband Javier Bardem, and director Pedro Almodovar condemned Israel for daring to cripple the terrorist organization. (Note: for the record, the letter was signed by many other Spaniards in Hollywood.)

The signatories of the letter, “condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip… Gaza is living through horror these days, besieged and attacked by land, sea and air. Palestinians’ homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity [and] free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing.”

Moreover, the letter had the audacity to call the IDF operation “genocide.”

These words, which infer that Israel is culpable of a Holocaust of their own making, has, expectedly, led to a backlash by some producers and stars. Cruz and Bardem have come under fire by Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media, who stated to The Hollywood Reporter, “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, I know that anyone calling what’s going on in Israel ‘genocide’ vs. self-defense is either ignorant and shouldn’t be commenting or is truly anti-Semitic.” In his own open letter, the outspoken and conservative Jon Voight admonished Cruz and Bardem to “hang their heads in shame.”

Yet the wrath of Hollywood seems to have conspicuously missed the other Spaniard, director Pedro Almodovar. Who is Almodovar, and what makes him the most curious of the three?

Larwyn's Linx: Obama’s America Is September 10th America

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

Nation

Obama’s America Is September 10th America: Andrew C. McCarthy
Report: ISIS ‘Coming Through the Mexican Border’: Breitbart
We have never been at war with Eastasia: RS

Do you know bulls*** when you see it?: Cold Fury
Ferguson Postmortem: Victor Davis Hanson
Is Santa Muerte Cult Randomly Killing in San Fernando Valley?: BCF

Fraud: Ficticious Unaccompanied Alien Children and their Housing: Treehouse
Obama Made Sure He Widened the Racial Divide at Brown Funeral: Sara Noble
Obama tees off as criticism mounts: Keith Laing, The Hill

America: The Ostrich Years: Derek Hunter
Rick Perry Takes Mugshot to Next Level: LI
Napa Earthquake: Earthquake hits Napa Valley, CA: Twitchy

Economy

With Disaster Imminent, Fed Unwilling to Stop Printing Money: David Stockman
Ford worker files for UAW dues refund, stirs right-to-work debate: AutoBlog
Obamacare To Complicate Tax Refunds, Add ‘Hefty Repayment Liabilities’: CBS DC

Scandal Central

Sunday Contemplation: Market Ticker
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Bilks Taxpayers out of Millions: Ben Howe
Obama Admin defies SCOTUS, new HHS Mandate rules are a distinction without a difference: WyBlog

Ted Cruz: 'We need to padlock and shut down' the IRS: Steve Contorno
When ‘Anti-Government’ Violence Erupts, Who Is Really At Fault?: Brandon Smith
Maryland Colleges' Campus Police Also Getting Military Surplus Gear: WZ

Climate & Energy

Surpise! Glaciers appearing in Scotland: WUWT
EPA Employee Won’t Stop Pooping In Hallways: ProgsToday
Good Grief: Climate Change To Ruin Your Breakfast And Drown Atlanta From Sea Rise: Cove

Media

What Cops Really Do: Fred on Everything
Born Liar -- 'It's in (her) DNA': Obiter Dictum
ACLU and National Media Intervene in Mann v Steyn et al: Steve McIntyre

The Golf Address: Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd, Straight-Up Racist: Ed Driscoll
Suge Knight -- Shot Multiple Times After VMA Party Turns Violent: TMZ

The Logic of Illogic: John C. Wright
Meet the Press Gives Al Sharpton Platform To Promote Involvement In Ferguson: CNS
Lt. General Calls for DEFCON 1 Over ISIS 9/11 Threat: Aaron Gardner

World

Iraqi Archbishop: ‘I Have Lost My Diocese to Islam; You in the West' Are Next: Creeping
The Caliphate Brings Trauma: Daniel Pipes
Just a Bit More Beheading than We Are Used To: Douglas Murray

Bashar al-Assad: Obama’s new ally: RS
Egyptian Female Activist Poses Nude and Defecates On ISIS Flag. Yes, Really.: RWN
ISIS Member Who Beheaded Foley Is British Ex-Rapper: “Jihadi John”: Hideout

Hamas Funeral Attendee Forgets To Remove Suicide Belt, Goes Boom!: Tammy Bruce
Boko Haram Declares Town Under Their Control An Islamic Caliphate: WZ
Iran Says It Downs Israeli Drone Near Nuclear Site: ABC

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

"The computer used to guide the Apollo 11 moon mission was less powerful than a modern calculator.": Reason
K&M M17S Bullpup First Shots: Bearing Arms
11 Things to do Before (and After) an Earthquake Strikes: PopMech

Cornucopia

White House Tells Bloggers To Stand Down: WNB
On Aug. 24, 1814, the British started a fire — and ultimately kindled a capital’s future.: Joel Achenbach, WaPo
Wrecked Bugatti Veyron Up For Auction, Current Bid Is $250k: AutomNews

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "In the formulation used by Obama and [State Department spokeswoman Marie] Harf, it doesn’t matter what ISIS/ISIL says, never mind that they have something approaching 20,000 active fighters in the field, have routed the Iraqi Army and announced a caliphate that extinguishes the national boundaries set by the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Never mind that they’ve announced the intention to bring their violence to America. They can’t be at war with us because we won’t let them. Harf, in particular, gives hardworking and diligent imbeciles everywhere a bad name. Just because they have declared war on all manner of other people doesn’t mean they can’t declare war on us, too. I mean the Japanese and Germans did that in 1939-41.

The correct action for Obama is to take these people at their word and act accordingly. At this point they are weak and without the organizational structure to present a terribly credible threat. The AUMF that Obama wishes to have terminated is a good vehicle to do what needs to be done. The problem is that, at his core, Obama doesn’t like American power or influence. He won’t respond decisively to crush this threat and will ensure a future attack on America." --streiff

Sunday, August 24, 2014

SUNDAY CARTOON: The Difference Between an Artist, a Photographer, and a Photoshopper

Via What the Duck:


Spotted at BadBlue Tech News.


GRAPHIC: 3-D Representation of SF Quake Near Napa

In case you don't live on the Left Coast or hadn't heard the news today, California suffered a significant earthquake early Sunday. It was the strongest quake in the region in 25 years.

The quake was the strongest to hit the Bay Area since 1989, when a 6.9-magnitude one struck during the World Series. The Loma Prieta earthquake caused 63 deaths, 3,757 injuries and an estimated $6 billion in property damage...


The 1994 Northridge earthquake in Southern California was nearly as deadly -- 60 people were killed and more than 7,000 were injured. The USGS says 20,000 people were left homeless in its aftermath...


While not nearly as damaging, this morning's quake is said to have injured up to 120 with three in critical condition.



More photos and updates here.


The mugshot that launched a presidential campaign

Amy Miller relays news sure to disappoint the criminal front group known as the Texas Democrat Party:

If you were one of (I’m assuming) thousands who saw Texas Governor Rick Perry’s mugshot and thought, “that oughta be on a t-shirt,” then today is your lucky day.

Perry’s “RickPAC” has that mugshot on a t-shirt, along with that of embattled Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg, whose mishandling of the state’s Public Integrity Unit is the source of the current legal action against the Governor. Perry hasn’t let the lawsuit slow his momentum, however, and since his booking has maintained his travel schedule, sending him to key events in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa, and Washington D.C.


Perry’s approach to his legal troubles has done a good job highlighting the weakness of the special prosecutor’s legal arguments against the Governor’s decision to veto funding for Texas’ Public Integrity Unit, and even liberals admit being shocked at the decision to indict.

Miller notes that Perry still has a long road ahead if he hopes to repair the damage to his "brand" from the 2012 campaign, but I for one could easily support him in 2016.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

THE TENTACLES OF QATAR: From ISIS to the White House

By Randall Stevens

Why Israel? Why now?

Though few Americans paid any attention at the time, in November of last year, Secretary of State John Kerry announced to the world that this summer would be defined by violence against the Jewish state. Almost as he had been tipped off, the Secretary of State warned Israel to make a deal with the likes of Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian parties who do not acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, Kerry said, “Does Israel want a third intifada? … “I believe that if we do not resolve the issues between Palestinians and Israelis; if we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel. There will be an increasing campaign of delegitimization of Israel that’s taking place on an international basis.” Kerry’s November comments were followed up in May by other, albeit anonymous, officials… one who stated, “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.”

These were thuggish words, even for an administration that has aided, abetted, encouraged, and armed the anti-Semitic, genocidal Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda rebels in Syria. Yet the Obama administration spoke with more than words. In June, the administration had the State Department approve $500 million of funding to a unity government between Hamas and Fatah. This, despite the fact that according to U.S. law, it is illegal to fund any Palestinian entity in which Hamas is a member. Repetitively calling the Palestinian government “technocratic,” as (opposed to what, “terrorist?”), State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki brazenly lied to the press, stating, “[There is] no evidence that Hamas plays any role in the interim technocratic government.” One month later, that “no evidence” is technocraticly launching rockets into Israel.

Ostensibly, the aerial assault and now ground invasion of Gaza was the direct result of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June. This triggered what appears to be a revenge crime by three Jewish Israelis, who kidnapped and murdered a 16 year old Palestinian boy. This escalation was soon followed by rockets aimed into Israeli territory from Gaza, and now both sides are at war. Or, one could say, predictably at war. Did not Kerry mention something about this last year?

One cannot consider these events in a vacuum. The Middle East at the present time is in chaos, and there are good reasons why. Although never known for political stability, the Middle East today is in the midst of anarchy due to the Arab Spring. From the beginning, the Obama administration embraced this movement, and the United States remains an important source of support for transnational, Islamic, revolutionary groups. Understanding broadly who the United States has chosen to back in this struggle is especially relevant now that two countries in particular, Egypt and Qatar, have stepped forward to negotiate a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

Larwyn's Linx: James Foley executioner said identified as British rapper

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

Nation

James Foley executioner said identified as British rapper: Times of Israel
Eric Holder, Racial Profiler: Andrew C. McCarthy
Obama Hopes Illegal Immigration Is Out of Sight Out of Mind: CHQ

Republican Voters Split Over Mr Electable: Ace
Is the Tea Party Dead?: Lloyd Marcus
A 'very lonely man' about to get even lonelier: Silvio Canto, Jr.

No Reply From America?: WS
U.S. Marine's Warning to ISIS Goes Viral: BPR
Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies Get Unwanted Military Equipment: CBS Denver

Rick Perry in New Hampshire, Opens Up: NH Journal
Jesse Left Speechless By Ferguson Protester Who Calls Him Out: RWN
Texas Police Chief Shot, Killed on Traffic Stop: Police Mag

Economy

Profiles in American Labor Heroism: Ace
The Fed’s Outrageous Gift To Foreign Banks—- Risk Free Aribitrage: Stockman
The Real Value of $100 in Each State: Tax Foundation

Scandal Central

Paradigms Lost: Richard Fernandez
Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke: Eric Holder “Owes Every Officer In America An Apology”: Jerome Hudson
Did anybody from the WH attend funerals of Gen. Harold Greene or Ambassador Chris Stevens?: Doug Powers

TSA Admits Lying About Illegal Aliens Flying Without Proper ID: Kristin Tate
New York: Friday prayer at mosque preaches jihad: Creeping
Vermont: Restaurant ad for bacon removed after Muslim claimed it offended her: JihadWatch

Climate & Energy

Cold summer: US daily record minimums outnumbering record maximums 3 to 1 in the last 30 days: WUWT
HUH? Global Warming Causes Global Cooling?: Lid
Link between climate change and Ferguson found: Breitbart

Media

Take No Prisoners! by David Horowitz Provides Modern Battleplan for Conservatives: J. Christian Adams
Toure Has The Real Questions On Ferguson, Black Kids And The Police: RWN
Mark Levin: Why isn’t Al Sharpton in federal prison?: Scoop

How Dumb are NY Times Headline Writers?: CAMERA
Moral Idiocy on Parade: Roger Kimball
‘BRILLIANT!’ Fox viewers cheer Jonathan Hoenig’s devastating point on race talk. We agree: Twitchy

World

The Long Arm of Qatar: Mister Chambers
Hamas displays “humanitarian side” with public execution of 21 suspected informers: Allen West
Terrorist Who Claimed White House Would Fly ISIS Flag Gets Killed In Syria: Clash

It’s hard to engage in interfaith dialogue when your head has been cut off: Benedict Kiely
China Conducts Provocative Aerial Buzz On American Military Aircraft: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
U.S. Sends Second Carrier to Asia Amid Tensions with China: WFB

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

2015 Corvette Z06: Price Is Low, Weight Is Up, Stakes Is High: Jack Baruth
The Ultra-Laborious Way the FBI Matched Fingerprints to Paper Files: Gizmodo
2014 Women in IT Security: Kristin Lovejoy: Karen Epper Hoffman

Cornucopia

North Korea Furious Over Kim Jong Un Parody Dance Video: C&S
Mommy, my meat smells rotten: C&S
Man pays $400K for storage shed with baseball cards inside. Says it wasn't worth it: Courthouse News

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "Tens of millions of Americans are on welfare, unemployment, and public assistance. Yet the White House and their Senate Majority seem more concerned about the economic demands of large corporations, or the citizens of other countries, than about getting our own citizens back to work into stable jobs that can support a family and uplift a community." --Sen. Jeff Sessions

Saturday, August 23, 2014

WHO FUNDED THE HAMAS TERROR TUNNELS? Eh, That Would be Hillary Clinton

There's a reason that the greatest Secretary of State ever is trying to distance herself from Barack Obama. She's hoping no one remembers that she led the freaking State Department from 2009 to 2013.

Dennis Ross, the senior Mideast policy adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 2009 to 2011, has admitted that it was he who was assigned the task of pressuring Israel to ease up on its military blockade of Gaza.

“I argued with Israeli leaders and security officials, telling them they needed to allow more construction materials, including cement, into Gaza so that housing, schools and basic infrastructure could be built,” Ross revealed in the Washington Post on August 10. “They countered that Hamas would misuse it, and they were right.”

Not that Hillary’s State Department had been acting independently of the White House on the issue of cement. For example, Vice President Joe Biden told interviewer Charlie Rose on Bloomberg TV in 2010: “We have put as much pressure and as much cajoling on Israel as we can to allow them to get building materials” and other forbidden items into Gaza.

But now that Mrs. Clinton is attempting to distance herself from the president’s debacles in foreign affairs, Ross’ admission shows that it was she who sent her personal envoy to push for a policy that ultimately enabled Hamas to build the terror tunnels.

...Instead of lethal purposes, the materials used for each tunnel could have built 86 homes, or 19 medical clinics, or seven mosques, or six schools. But Hamas had other priorities.

And Secretary Clinton consciously turned a blind eye. Just as she turned a blind eye to other aggressive and anti-peace behavior by the Palestinians, such as the Palestinian Authority’s sheltering of known terrorists, its payments to imprisoned terrorists, the anti-Israel and anti-America propaganda that fills the PA-controlled media, and the anti-Semitic hatred in the textbooks used in the PA’s schools.

What are the real-life consequences of ignoring such Palestinian actions? An entire generation of young Palestinians have grown up incited to hatred of Jews and Israel, and glorifying terrorists as heroes and martyrs.

I'm sure all Democrats approve of Hillary's actions, since none have spoken out against this nefarious evil.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

FLASHBACK: Here's What’s Happened Since President Obama Freed the Leader of ISIS 5 Years Ago

By Jennifer Van Laar

In June, we learned that the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, had been in US custody but was released in 2009 when President Obama closed down Camp Bucca in preparation for the US withdrawal of troops (yes, the withdrawal he repeatedly denies having anything to do with) from Iraq.

The Daily Mail reported then:

“[A]l Baghdadi, who also goes by the alias Abu Duaa, was an Islamic fundamentalist before the U.S. invaded Iraq and he became a leader in al Qaeda’s network before he was arrested and detained by American forces in 2005.

‘Abu Duaa was connected to the intimidation, torture and murder of local civilians in Qaim,’ according to a 2005 U.S. intelligence report.

‘He would kidnap individuals or entire families, accuse them, pronounce sentence and then publicly execute them.’”

His modus operandi has not changed since that time. His group has pronounced sentence and publicly executed individuals or groups of people, be they Sunni, Christian, Yazidi, or American.

MY ENTRY SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL: The Spectator's Running a Contest for the Best Fake Health Advice Column

The Spectator is running a contest: "Your next challenge is to submit an imaginary feature from a newspaper’s health pages extolling the benefits to well-being of something traditionally thought to be bad for you."

Debunking 3 Persistent Nutritional Myths

The last few decades have seen tremendous advances in our understanding of human nutrition. Despite these breakthroughs, several myths regarding nutrition persist, probably as "Old wives' tales" or due to the prevalence of disreputable Internet sites.

Here are three of the most pernicious myths along with the the science that debunks these falsehoods:

I hear that I should cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables

MYTH! This common fable is easily debunked using simple logic. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. Therefore steak is nothing more than a highly efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to the digestive system. An excellent substitute for grain is chicken; beef is also considered an excellent source of leafy green vegetables due to cows' tendency to eat grass. A modestly-sized pork chop, say 24 ounces, also provides 100% of the recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

People say that I should reduce my alcohol intake

MYTH! Wine is made from a very healthy fruit called the grape. Brandy is distilled wine, which means that water is removed from the fruity portions of the beverage and is even more beneficial to the human body. Remember that beer is made from grain and is therefore an excellent substitute for chicken.

Aren't fried foods bad for you?

MYTH! Fried foods are cooked in vegetable oil, effectively "baking in" many of the health benefits of common vegetables.

In next week's column, we'll address 3 of the most nefarious myths regarding exercise.

PRIORITIES: ISIS? No, "domestic terrorists" are the current focus of the Obama Department of Injustice

ISIS has issued a series of threats against the United States homeland, promising devastating terror attacks and stating "We will drown all of you in blood."

Sen. Jim Inhofe reports that ISIS is also developing a bomb to lay waste to an American city, experts say that "ISIS could easily cross the porous US-Mexico border," and Arabic documents have been found at the Texas border.

Yet President Obama has taken every possible action to ensure that the border remains unsecured and open to anyone willing to pay the Coyotes.

So ISIS isn't a priority for the Obama administration; what are their counter-terror targets?

As the Federation of American Scientists reported this week, "Domestic terrorism [is] again a priorty at [the] DOJ."

NSA whistleblower Bill Binney has an ominous warning about the behavior of the current White House; he likens Obama's new power (under the NDAA) to label citizens 'terrorists' the same rule the Nazis used in 1933.

“Look at the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] Section 1021, that gave President Obama the ability to define someone as a terrorist threat and have the military incarcerate them indefinitely without due process,” Binney said in a recent interview with DW while expanding on his testimony about NSA in Germany earlier this year.

“That’s the same as the special order 48 issued in 1933 by the Nazis [the so-called Reichstag Fire Decree]. Read that — it says exactly the same thing.”

Binney said such totalitarianism begins with governments expanding population surveillance and gathering intelligence on people and their various activities, before eventually transitioning to using that power and knowledge against them.

“That’s what’s happening — in terms of newspaper reporters, in terms of crimes,” Binney said. “That’s a direct violation of our constitution.”

Binney pointed to examples like New York Times reporter James Risen, who is fighting a Justice Department order to reveal a source, and former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is serving a 30-month prison sentence for exposing torture and leaking the name of an undercover operative.


Obama and his apparatchiks like Eric Holder believe their political opponents are the terrorists, not ISIS.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: White House: Obama expresses his deeply emotional grief by golfing, or something

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

Nation

White House: Obama expresses his grief by golfing, or something: John Hayward
Obama's Golf Did Not Reflect Depth of His Grief Over Foley Beheading: Ace
Mystery Solved: Obama Came Back to Washington for a Bachelor Party: Rush

Was James Foley’s murderer released from Guantanamo Bay?: Twitchy
Leftist Meme Dies In A Hail Of Non-Violence: Bob Owens
Chinese Top Gun 'Barrel Rolled' Over US Plane: Sky

1,461 Days of Summer: Matthew Continetti
Ferguson: Introducing Mike Brown Friend “Tyrone” aka “Ty da shooter”: Treehouse
The Tea Party Is Abandoning Paul Ryan: Danny Vinik

Ex-CIA Officer: 'There Are ISIS Sleeper Cells In This Country': Cathy Burke
They Want Our Guns While Giving Submachine Guns to the USDA: Sara Noble
SICK: IL Governor Quinn proclaims today ICHV Day in Illinois: GSL

Economy

Are Republicans Abandoning the Obamacare Issue? Doubtful: David Harsanyi
Don’t be a Dick’s: Anti-Gun Gun Store’s Income Sinks: WeaponsMan
Semi-Retired President Uses Weekly Address To Deal With Ex-Im Bank: RWN

Scandal Central

Violation in Terrorist Swap Punishable By Jail, Suspension, Removal of Office: JW
NSA Whistle-Blower: Obama’s Authority To Label ‘Terrorists’ Is The Same Rule The Nazis Issued In 1933: DC
Domestic Terrorism Again a Priority at DOJ: FAS

Obama Uses Jihad Beheading of American Journalist to Proselytize for Islam: Pamela Geller
Our Chief Law Enforcement Officer Doesn’t Trust Police: Sara Noble
Asian Chamber of Commerce Laughed at Harry Reid’s Racial Jokes, But Then Backed Republican: Sooper

Media

Sanitizing terror: Has the press distorted Islamic radical’s crusade against gay men?: Noah Rothman
How to Be Fired: Gavin McInnes
Mark Levin: Why isn’t Al Sharpton in federal prison?: Scoop

Our Bien Pensant American Historians: The New Friends of Hamas: Ron Radosh
Give Obama a Break About Vacations: Presidenting is Hard: Frank J. Fleming
The Return Of The Post Turtle ~ You got what you voted for America!: Norman Hooben

CBS: Ferguson residents will loot and destroy businesses until they're given jobs: Scoop
Grantland: Fox News Essentially a ‘Conservative Daily Show’ That ‘Won’t Admit It’s a Joke’: NB
This Should Get Obama's Attention: The Razor

World

The fat lady is practicing her scales: Burt Prelutsky
Report: 3 Hamas commanders were in a tunnel 30 meters underground when they were killed: Matzav
It's not 1933, but Europe is in for a heck of a bumpy ride: Commentator

The Fiddler Putts And Putts Away: William Pollack
Fed up with Muslim violence in Crimea, Russian government strikes back: BNI
Dutch Official Calls ISIS "A Zionist Plot": Gatestone

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Sea plankton 'found living outside International Space Station': Sarah Knapton
Top Ten Guns To Shoot Before You Die: TFB
Antarctic sea ice has been above average for 1000 straight days: WUWT

Cornucopia

Global Unrest: Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s send #MelonHead: MOTUS
West Virginia Highway Shuts Down For Chicken And Ammo Wreck: Bob Owens
Jessica Alba's Smokin' 'Sin City' Character is the 'Opposite of Who I Am': AmPower

Image: Global Unrest: Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s send #MelonHead
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "The internal newsletter of the Democrat Party, which makes itself available to outsiders under the name “The New York Times,” field-tests the most pitiful spin ever attempted. We know you’re in the bag for this failing Administration, guys, but you can still exercise some discretion over which emailed White House talking points you build into “news” stories...

...the Times tries to help out by suggesting a fresh spin for Obama defenders: he’s golfing and partying as a gesture of defiance to both terrorists and his domestic critics. I invite you to try – I mean, really try, sit there quietly for a few minutes and let your mind slip fully into the clouds of conjecture – and imagine media outlets even suggesting that a Republican president’s irresponsible, self-indulgent behavior was such a gesture of defiance. You can’t do it. Even if J. K. Rowling is reading this, she can’t do it. There are limits to even the most bountiful imagination." --John Hayward

Friday, August 22, 2014

MARK LEVIN: Former pot- and coke-head is hooked on golf like drug addicts are hooked on drugs.

By Mark Levin


They're at war with us and our pathetic president is playing golf. He's playing golf again today. He's hooked on golf like drug addicts are hooked on drugs. He used to do pot, he used to do coke, now he does golf. Unbelievable. And these pictures are sent all over the world. Every hellhole where these cockroaches live and function and rape and destroy they see it! They see him laughing five minutes after he gives that pathetic commentary. On the golf course. And he's supposed to represent us.

He pretends he's Lincoln. Lincoln! What do you think Lincoln would do under these circumstances? You think he would tolerate it? He thinks he's FDR Do you think FDR would tolerate this? He's a nobody when the history books are written. This isn't about firsts. The presidency doesn't exist for him, the presidency exists for us.

When a fellow American is so horribly abused and the other captors, it is said they used to beat the hell out of him because he was an American and his brother was in the Air Force. This poor guy. And this family. And have your son decapitated when you want to reach into that television screen and put your hand around that piece of crap's neck who is doing it to him and squeeze the freaking life out of him and we can't reach him? Bullcrap! And the Brits, to their credit, they think they know who he is. And when they know who he is our pathetic president should put a $25 million bond on his head. Cockroaches have been known to turn on cockroaches. Because that's what they do.

Good lord, I tell you what. Two bad elections and look it's happened to us as a people. Look what's happened to us. Look what's happened in the country. Look what's been done to the presidency. Look what's been done to our government. Look what's been done to our military. Look what's been done to our border. Look what's been done to our economy. Two freaking elections.


Via Mark Levin. Cartoon by @BiffSpackle.

Kansas Democrat Senate candidate Dave Domina got rich — very, very rich — while "looking out for the little guy"

By Deena Winter

LINCOLN, Nebraska – Democratic Senate nominee Dave Domina bills himself as a champion of the little guy, but his financial disclosure shows he is fabulously wealthy.

Domina is one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the state and worth between $20 million and $82 million, according to the financial disclosure forms he submitted to the secretary of the U.S. Senate.

His net worth could be much higher, since he valued two farms owned by his spouse or dependent at “over $1 million,” and candidates aren’t required to report the value of their personal residences. It’s difficult to pinpoint his precise net worth, since candidates report their assets, salary and liabilities in broad ranges, such as $250,000 to $500,000. Or “over $50 million.”

But clearly, Domina is a wealthy man. He would rank 19th on Roll Call’s list of the 50 richest members of Congress.

His wealth easily overshadows his Republican opponent: The Republican nominee, Ben Sasse, reported assets of between $873,000 and $2.4 million. Sasse was president of Midland University in Fremont before resigning to focus on his campaign.

Domina has built a reputation by representing people who take on large, multi-national corporations, insurance companies and banks. In one of his high-profile cases, he won a $1.3 billion jury verdict for cattlemen against the nation’s largest slaughterhouse, which was accused of manipulating prices, although the verdict was overturned on appeal.

He criticizes the notion that corporations are people, and he has lamented the fact that the billionaire class keeps growing while the middle class shrinks. He may not be a billionaire, but he’s certainly a multi-millionaire.

CALIFORNIA ACTION ALERT: Stop SB53, the Ammo Registration and Eventual Gun Confiscation Bill

By NRA-ILA

Your calls, e-mails and faxes are working! Senate Bill 53 has been stalled on the Assembly floor for days awaiting a vote. State legislators have admitted receiving tens of thousands of e-mails OPPOSING SB 53.

The war over SB 53 is heating up in Sacramento and now anti-gun advocates are attempting to split gun owners by trying to buy the support of hunters. The newest amended version of SB 53 will continue to BAN the mail and internet sales of ammunition to firearms owners in California, unless you have a hunting license. Supporters of SB 53 think that they can pretend to be "pro- hunting" while they are still violating the rights of firearms owners statewide.

Because of your efforts to OPPOSE SB 53, the supporters of SB 53 are desperately trying to SAVE AND PASS SB 53 by watering it down to benefit of select group of gun owners. You can be sure that if SB 53 is enacted this year, they will be back in 2015 to pass the full agenda of restricting ammunition sales to the rest of the law-abiding firearms owners in California.

Call AND e-mail the state Assembly NOW and tell them that hunters ARE firearms owners AND we stand UNITED in OPPOSING SB 53. Contact information for the state Assembly can be found here.


Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News.