Sunday, September 07, 2014

HAPPY YET, DRONES? Early Preview of Obamacare Premiums Show a 40% Spike in 2015

It is my sincere hope that one day conservatives will kick teachers' unions to the curb and retake the nation's educational system. One of the first orders of business then would be to teach not only the genius of the American founding but also the utter, repeated and unbroken failures of collectivism.

Which brings me to Obamacare, a socialistic plan sold on a panoply of lies and doomed from the outset to failure. Failure that even the Obama administration acknowledges, with its serial and unlawful rewrites of the statute, along with delays and modifications to shield a complicit Democrat Party from enraged electorates.

As for what collectivism applied to health care will do to insurance premiums? It's just as we predicted.

On Thursday, the Alaska Division of Insurance announced hefty insurance rate increases in 2015 for Alaskans who purchased individual plans under the Affordable Care Act.

...In 2015, Premera Blue Cross insurance rates will increase between 35 and 40 percent, Wing-Heier said. Those plans cover roughly 7,000 Alaskans. Alaskans who chose a silver plan (the most popular) through Premera will see an increase of 37 percent.

Moda Health plans will increase between 22 and 28.8 percent, according to Wing-Heier. These plans cover roughly 8,000 Alaskans, Moda regional operations director Jason Gootee said.

Why the shocking and unprecedented increases?

Wing-Heier said 2015's greater increase is due to the small number of Alaskans on the individual market: “For insurance to work the way it’s intended ... you pool your risk and spread it across the pool.”

Insurers were facing “some very horrific claims” with “just not enough people” to balance it out, she said... ...“There are not enough healthy members in Alaska’s individual market to offset the cost of members with very high medical costs...”

...Premera expects to lose $3.7 million in 2014 on these plans, the company writes... “We need a 71.5 percent average rate increase to break even in 2015,” the release states. In 2015, Premera is forecasting losses of $5 million, even with the rate increase.

Alaska is but a microcosm of the insanity laced throughout the ill-named "Affordable Care Act."

Thousands of years of human history have proven, if nothing else, that central planning can never replace the efficiency of free markets.

And still the hard left, Marxist-controlled Democrat Party insists on its suicidal vision for America. We, the American people, will pay the price for their insane plans. And they, the oligarchs, won't feel a thing.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama Will Legalize Millions After the Election Because You’re Stupid

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

Nation

Obama Will Legalize Millions After the Election Because You’re Stupid: Sara Noble
Obama: Illegal Immigrants Should Not Have to 'Look Over Their Shoulder': Breitbart
Obama to delay immigration action until voters can’t punish Democrats for it: Hot Air

Fox News, Enemy of State: Kevin D. Williamson
Don’t Blame Obama – History Will: Rick Wilson
Why You Need a Gun: Bob Owens

This Crime Chronicles Our Broken Border Perfectly…: WJ
Eric Holder: A More Dangerous Race-Card Hustler Than Al Sharpton: Larry Elder
Worker Witnesses To Mike Brown Shooting?: Treehouse

The Taste of Government Control: Thomas Purcell
An Open Letter To My Friends In Law Enforcement: Pastor Chuck Baldwin
Pentagon Giving Grenade Launchers to Campus Police: Vice

Economy

24,639,000: Record Number of Foreign-Born Hold Jobs in U.S.: Ali Meyer
The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship: Tim Kane, DailySignal
The EU is on life-support, and the doctors are clueless: Commentator

Scandal Central

A campaign to silence conservative speech: Times
Unbelievable! Fox News reveals the White House attempted to squelch reporting on Benghazi!: Scoop
Could the EPA Chief Really be ‘Worse than Lois Lerner’?: Blaze

Gov. Jerry Brown: Nearly 30% of CA Kids Illegal or 'Don't Speak English': Breitbart
Take a Guess Where The Heroin That's Flooding The Streets of America Comes From?: RightPundit
NY State Police Confiscate Gun Shop Records, Spurring Fears of NY SAFE Act Raids: Bob Owens

Climate & Energy

EPA Fakes Regulatory Cost-Benefit Calculations: Signal
House looking to stop EPA’s overreach on water regulation: Blaze
Hillary: “Climate Change Is The Most Urgent, Consequential Challenge We Face”: DailySurge

Media

Breitbart News to Sponsor 'Federalism Forum' to Empower States Against Federal Overreach: Breitbart
Allen West Just Got A Sweet New Tat: DC
MSNBC Poll: 82% Believe Carrying A Gun Is A Constitutional Right: WZ

NY Times: Say, This Pipeline Of American Jihadi Recruits Is Not Good: RWN
Under Pressure From Democrats, Obama Delays Immigration Action Until After Midterm Elections: Mish
The Sun God Cometh: MOTUS

World

Intelligence Gaps Crippled Mission in Syria to Rescue Hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff: WSJ
Brother Rashid Gives President Obama a Lesson in the REAL Islam: GoV
This Is What Islamophobes Look Like: 90 Miles

Refugees in Minnesota drawn to welfare, jihad: BCF
How a Syrian nuclear facility was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force 7 years ago today: Aviationist
'Sharia controlled zone' in Germany: Group of young Muslims patrolling city streets: RT

Man Crosses Border Carrying ISIS Flag and Fake Severed Head: M.D. Creekmore
Surviving an ISIS Massacre: RWN
Two Satellites Placed in Orbit by Chinese Rocket: Space

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Photographer's 1st Milky Way View an Unforgettable Sight (Photo): Space
Meet One Of The Men Who's Helping Google Employees De-Stress And Get In Shape: Insider
'4chan may be just a sysadmin who knows his way around', claims so-called expert: Register

Cornucopia

Jack the Ripper unmasked: DNA breakthrough identifies Britain's most notorious criminal: Daily Mail
Obama Golf Sauna: Keith Koffler
Interview with an Auschwitz Guard: 'I Do Not Feel Like a Criminal': Spiegel

Image: The Slow Decline of American Entrepreneurship
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: STOP the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "The Left is fixated on Fox News for the same reason that it is fixated on the philanthropic activities of Charles and David Koch: It requires enemies. In the late 20th century, the Left’s theoretical basis — Marxism — collapsed utterly as historical events revealed central-planning-in-arms as the road to misery and massacre that the Right always has insisted it is. Developing a new philosophy takes time, and it is problematic in that the Left’s fundamental antagonism is toward capitalism, but many of its heroes and leaders have discovered that they like money. Class warrior Elizabeth Warren cannot endure living in a home that costs less than a million dollars, while Bill Clinton is a centimillionaire and Al Gore is one twice over. The sight of Occupy Wall Street spastically trying to give birth to a new version of anti-capitalism while cheered on by Manhattan prep-school trust-funders like Katrina vanden Heuvel was comical — and fruitless.

Instead of a philosophy, the Left has an enemies list: investment bankers, except the ones who work in the Obama administration; financiers, except the ones who advise the Obama administration; Christians who want to use government to impose their moral vision on the country, except the ones who work in the Obama administration; the 1 percent, except . . .

...And Bill O’Reilly, a relatively popular domestic talk-show host, commands the attention of the State Department, while Fox News is denounced by the White House. You’d think that these men and women of immense power would be sort of embarrassed by that, but you’d be wrong." --Kevin D. Williamson

Saturday, September 06, 2014

National Labor Relations Board Ruling to Destroy Franchised Businesses... For the Children

Forbes contributor Mark Hendrickson sounds the alarm on another devastating blow to the economy, one inflicted by the most anti-business administration since that of FDR.

The NLRB has issued a ruling that McDonald's Corporation may be considered a joint employer of McDonald’s franchisees’ workers. If allowed to stand, this ruling will redefine the relationship between franchisors and franchisees by declaring both to be joint employers. This is bad law, bad for business, and bad for employment.

It’s bad law because it would unilaterally abrogate long-accepted contractual arrangements between thousands of franchisors and franchisees. It’s also bad law because it is an insult–no, a repudiation–of representative government. A major change in law that affects so many individuals and businesses is properly the province of Congress. By usurping the legislative prerogative, three unelected political appointees (a majority of the five-person NLRB) are presuming to make a decision that rightly should be made by [Congress].

The NLRB ruling will be immensely disruptive to all the franchisors and franchisees in the country. Indeed, it would destroy the harmony between a franchisor and its franchisees.

Currently, franchisors exert no control over hiring, firing, assigning workers to different shifts, determining the length of those shifts, deciding which worker performs which functions, etc. and if franchisors are now to be deemed joint employers of those who work in each local franchise, they would need to hire additional workers to be on site. You can’t manage a workforce in Peoria or Mesa or Tupelo from Chicago (or, in the case of McDonald’s, Oak Park). How would a franchisor cover these additional costs? They would have to receive a larger percentage of the franchisees’ income. They also might find it expedient to enter into a nationwide bargaining agreement with a union that would represent the workers in all the franchises, figuring that it would be more manageable for them to deal with one collective bargaining agent than having to micromanage labor issues in a large number of franchises.

...Clearly, the new NLRB ruling threatens to destroy jobs at a time when the overall job market remains less than robust. As is so often the case, government intervention in the name of helping America’s workers will end up imposing a severe toll on many of those workers.

Why would the NLRB promote a ruling certain to negatively impact small businesses and workers? Because it "is designed to help labor unions, a key element of President Obama’s powerbase."

Little wonder, as Hendrickson notes, that American companies are fleeing overseas.


Hat tip: BadBlue Money.

UNREAL: Muslims in U.S. Openly Wearing ISIS Logo

A Facebook user known only as "Mike" posted several troubling photos recently that depict Muslims in the U.S. wearing the logo of Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, whatever). Apparently these goons are members of, or sympathizers with, the 7th-century throwbacks known for beheading children, crucifying Christians, and other misunderstandings of Islamic teachings.


The photo was taken Wednesday in Houston, Texas at a delicatessen, of all places.

This image was posted openly on Facebook Wednesday by a man whose Facebook profile says is from Chicago:

Father of Young Man Killed by Illegal Alien Has a Message for Obama

By Investor's Business Daily

Human Cost: The point above, made to President Obama by a grieving father whose 25-year-old son was run over by an illegal alien who won't be deported, underscores the high price of open borders for U.S. citizens.

That grieving father, Donald Rosenberg, has put another human face on the growing problem of importing crime through the Obama administration's tolerance of illegal immigration.

His plea also highlights the White House's refusal to deport those who shouldn't be here after they do grievous harm to Americans, sometimes even killing them.

In a letter sent to Obama last month, Rosenberg, a self-described "lifelong, very liberal Democrat," said his son Drew, run over and killed by an illegal alien in 2010, would still be alive if Washington consistently deported illegals who have conflicts with law enforcement.

Open-border advocates would argue that his son could have just as easily been killed by a U.S. citizen. True enough, except that he wasn't, and the fact is the odds of American citizens being victims of any crime would be reduced if our borders were secure and alien criminals were being deported.

Rosenberg's son was killed when Robert Galo, an illegal alien who had been here since 1998, made a left turn and crashed into Drew, who was riding his motorcycle home from law school.

It was a slow-speed crash and nothing serious might have happened had not Galo, who was driving without a license, "drove over (Drew's) body a third time," Rosenberg said in his letter, "in an attempt to flee."

One Question Quiz on the Ever-Growing Federal Behemoth

Courtesy of 90 Miles From Tyranny:


John Fund calls the result of these troubling developments "The United States of SWAT."


Hat tip: III Percent Patriots.

TEXAS SHERIFF CONFIRMS: ISIS Cells Operating in Juarez, Mexico

Thank heavens leaders in both political parties have pressed the administration to secure the border. Oh wait. They haven't?

My mistake.

A Local Sheriff Leaves a Strong Message for ISIS


The terrorist group, ISIS, continues to terrorize the Middle East and threatens Americans -- as ISIS members have now murdered two American journalists. These terrible acts of violence have local law enforcement on standby.

"These people have said they're going to takeover, they're going to strike, they're going to hit, and we're going to be ready," said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter... "We do have plans in place, we have an operational plan that'll work," said Painter.

Sheriff Painter says he's armed with specific ISIS information from an online intelligence briefing.

"There are ISIS cells that are operating in Juarez, Mexico," said Sheriff Painter.

While Sheriff Painter doesn't believe West Texans are in immediate danger, his staff preps for the worst.

"We practice things, we have tag teams that are ready to go," said Painter... "If it happens, we're going to handle it, I can promise you that," said Painter.

ISIS claims it's sending a message to the United States with the ruthless murders of two American journalists, but Sheriff Painter has a message of his own.

"I have no doubt, that if any of these fools show up we'll be glad to take care of them," said Sheriff Painter.

On Thursday, Judicial Watch reported that a "key Army base" near the Mexican border city of Juarez -- a hotbed of gang activity -- has beefed up its security dramatically because of the ISIS threat.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Virginia Taxpayers to Pay $20,000 for Each One of Obama's Undocumented Students

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

Nation

Virginia Taxpayers to Pay $20,000 Per Undocumented Student: Signal
White House Doesn’t Care about American Workers: RWN
Obama Invents “Immigration Rights” in Milwaukee Labor Speech: NewAm

The Conservative Moment: Neal Freeman
What the Generic Ballot Tells Us About a GOP Wave: Sean Trende
Levin: You Got What You Wanted, GOPe, Your Base is ‘Furious’: Jen Kuznicki

The 25 Most Influential People On The Right For 2014: John Hawkins
Mark Begich: one of the 97%. Also, poised to lose in Alaska.: Moe Lane
Former Republican presidential hopeful plans pro-Israel rally in DC: Hayom

Economy

US Inks Deal with Mexico to Protect Mexican Workers--Including Illegals: CNS
Obamacare Claims Its Latest Victim: The August Jobs Report: IJR
NYT: Say, Good Paying Jobs Are Missing In The Obameconomy: RWN

Scandal Central

Shocking Emails Reveal Lois Lerner's 'Secret Research Project': JW
Odd: Five More Scandal Related IRS Employees With Lost Emails: Lid
US: Sonia Sotomayor Speaks to Immigrant Justice Corps: BCF

U.S. jet carrying 100 military contractors forced to land inside Iran: Hot Air
Here’s the ENTIRE ’13 Hours’ Fox News special with eyewitness accounts of Benghazi: Scoop
A Man Made A Shocking Discovery About ISIS In America, But What Happened Next Is Unbelievable: WJ

Media

Networks Skip Bombshell Benghazi Claim: Rescue Was Delayed By CIA Official: MRC
In Defense of Bare Naked Islam: Zilla
EXCLUSIVE: Here Are #MichaelBrown Anti-Women, Violent Tweets: GotNews

Ben Rhodes: Obama hasn’t watched the beheading videos…: Scoop
Twice as Many Americans Conservative as Liberal: James Joyner
NATO Photo Of Leaders…And The Narcissist And Chief Strikes Again! Look At Me!: Daily Smug

World

U.S. State Department Actively Promoting Islam in Europe: Soeren Kern
The dilemma of the Jewish leftist : Caroline Glick
A History Lesson for Barack Obama: What Really Happened in Estonia During World War II?: BCF

The rapes in Rotherham were possible because of The Left: ProWis
‘Typing through tears': Bret Baier’s ’13 Hours at Benghazi’ special moves, angers: Twitchy
'At least 10 Israeli Arabs have joined ISIS in Syria': Hayom

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The new Moto X could be the best Android phone ever made: TheVerge
Sony shows off latest SmartEyeglasses prototype: PC World
Now That We Know Coffee's Genome, Your Morning Buzz Will Be Genetically Modified: Motherboard

Cornucopia

Peace Elusive in Strife-Torn Midwest: IowaHawk
Hash Tag Game: Q&O
World War II vet selling his amazing house of cars: Fox

Image: Where the f*** is Eric Holder now?
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "Obama and ilk cannot let the word “Islam” pass their lips while making noises about “managing the problem” of ISIS. The next step can be found in a startling and bizarre column from the National Post in which the author seriously offers that way to “save your life” is to know how to recite the shahadah.

Sure, and we can wear burqas, close churches and temples and pay jizyah.

Why not just submit and be done with it?

In the struggle between the West and barbarism, the Left chooses barbarism. For them, The Other is only reactive to the evil of Western Civilization’s imperialism, colonialism, sexism and heteronormitivity. The Other is the perpetual victim and we are the perpetual oppressors.

We cannot and should not fight only against the barbarism of Islamism, but also the anti-Western dogma of the Left that enables it." --Jeff Goldstein

Friday, September 05, 2014

TELEGRAPH: The spread of Ebola has accelerated

A startling graph relayed by The Telegraph:

The spread of the world's worst-ever Ebola epidemic has accelerated rapidly with close to 1,000 deaths in the last month alone, World Health Organisation (WHO) figures show... With the overall West Africa death toll since March reaching 1,850, the new statistics show deaths from Ebola have more than doubled in just four weeks...



...Scientists from Johnson & Johnson this week said they would fast-track tests on an Ebola vaccine into human testing by early 2015... "Because of the emergency we decided to focus on the Ebola Zaire strain, which is the one in the West Africa outbreak, and that's why we can accelerate the programme significantly," chief scientific officer Paul Stoffels told Reuters...

...Guinea warned on Thursday that the spread of Ebola had penetrated a new part of the country.

An official statement by the World Health Organization should send a few shivers down your spine. It reads, "Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak."


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

THE GOP MADE THEIR BED: Now They're Going to Have to Lie In It

Writing at National Review, Neal Freeman offers what may be the most incisive summary of the GOP's recent, suicidal antics yet written.

Imagine if you would a prayer breakfast in Washington attended by the leadership of the GOP — Messrs. Boehner, McConnell, Priebus, and their associates. They drop to their knees, bow their heads, and invoke divine intercession in the country’s troubled affairs, and in the party’s parlous condition. Would it be too much to ask Him to deliver unto them a mass political movement, self-financed and benignly led, God-fearing and well-mannered, almost all of whose members believed in the literal version of the Republican platform and almost none of whose members wanted anything from the federal government but constitutional restraint?

Yes, it would have been too much to ask, but, yes, it has been given unto them, anyway. The Tea Party arrived in vast, friendly numbers and said to the GOP, “We’re not from the federal government and we’re here to help.”

What happened next was not pretty. Or smart. The GOP brass responded with insults, attack ads, collaborative media trashing, and, finally, over the past six months, the charge of McConnell’s geezer brigade seeking to “crush” the Tea Party. And here we thought congressional Republicans were too prone to compromise, too quick to split the difference.

Our colleague M. Stanton Evans once said of the two-party system: “One is the evil party and the other is the stupid party. I’m proud to be a member of the stupid party.” I am as well, but sometimes party stupidity asks too much. Here we have before us an epochal opportunity to revive the national enterprise, and we are woefully (and smugly) ill prepared to realize it. As we look forward to 2016, where do we find ourselves? We find ourselves, in my estimate, with no candidate, no message, no coalitional unity, and a thoroughly rusted party machine. Only this question remains: Can we rally in time to save the country from a terminal identity politics that could over the next few cycles bring us not principled and experienced leaders, but (regardless of their qualifications) the first woman president, the first Hispanic president, the first gay president?

HILLARY, BENGHAZI, OBAMA AND ISIS: A Möbius Strip of Terror

By Richard Larsen

It is not uncommon to find inconsistencies and even contradictions in U.S. foreign policy. Usually a few years of separation are required to reveal our inconsistency, as in the case of Iran. Rarely do we see such striking contradictions in real time as we do today in the Middle East policies of the Obama administration.

ISIS occupies the center stage of our current iteration of contradictory policy. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which subsequently changed their name to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), apparently now wants to be known simply as The Islamic State (IS). This is the militaristic group that has emerged out of Syria, Al-Nusra, and merged with Al Qaeda of Iraq, to take over significant portions of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.

Threatening to violently take over all of Iraq and Syria, establishing an Islamic caliphate that would eventually cover the world, they have mercilessly spread their destruction from city to city. They behead or conduct mass executions against whoever opposes them (including American journalists), kidnap for ransoms to fund their operations, and have vowed to raise the ISIS flag over the White House. They are well funded from bank robberies, selling oil on the black market, and from kidnap ransoms. They are well trained, militant, and are well armed, predominantly with U.S. equipment.

This is the Al Qaeda-linked group of terrorists that Obama referred to as “JV” (junior varsity) just a few months ago. In an interview with New Yorker magazine in January, the president applied a metaphor, saying of ISIS, that putting on a “Laker’s uniform doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.” That “JV” group of militants, now figured to be 10,000 strong (including some westerners and as many as 300 Americans) is now perceived to be the greatest terrorist threat in the world.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, more than 32 times the president claimed Al Qaeda was “decimated” or “defeated.” To acknowledge their resurgence just two years later would not fit with his narrative as slayer of Osama bin Laden and vanquisher of his terrorist group. Consequently, their emerging threat had to be minimized.

But that’s just the tip of the ISIS iceberg for the administration. We have to realize that for the past few years the president has been actively engaged in toppling Middle Eastern regimes; Khadafy in Libya, Mubarak in Egypt, and Assad in Syria. In fact, just over a year ago the president was requesting $500 million to help the “freedom fighters” in Syria topple the Assad regime. The majority of those “freedom fighters” now go by the name ISIS, and the president was poised to fund them.

Larwyn's Linx: ISIS threatens America's electric grid: blackout could kill 9 of 10 in United States

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

Nation

ISIS threatens America's electric grid: blackout could kill 9 of 10: Exam
Marie Harf Must Apologize for Her Remarks: Keith Koffler
No More Affirmative Action Presidents: Thomas Sowell

Obama at 38% in Gallup Daily: Ace
Suddenly Obama finds out he needs Congressional approval for stuff: Scoop
Has ISIL Killed Right's Move to Skepticism Of Military Interventions?: Ace

Where in the World Is Jihad Pilot Adnan Shukrijumah?: Michelle Malkin
Muslim Brotherhood front group, CAIR, attacks Oklahoma lawmaker: BNI
Exclusive: What We Found On #MichaelBrown’s Instagram Account: GotNews

Kay Hagan: Look, I didn’t realize people would lose their health plans: Hot Air
Bombshell Quote Mark Udall Wants You to Forget: MinorityReport
Nobody’s Buzzing About Alison Lundergan Grimes Anymore: Jim Geraghty

Economy

Health Care Spending To Hit $5.2T By 2023: WFB
The US Housing 'Recovery' In 1 Chart: ZH
Markets Climb as World Faces Crisis: RWN

Scandal Central

Shocking IRS Abuse, the Case You Haven’t Heard About: Sara Noble
US Security Team Members Say Top CIA officer in Benghazi delayed response to terror attack: RWN
Mohamed Elibiary resigns from Obama DHS: FAM

White House Policies That Jihadists Are Using To Legally Immigrate To America: Michael Snyder
Tijuana´s Border Administrator lives in luxurious neighborhood in Houston: Borderland
How Does a Democrat Governor Accidentally Tweet a Pic of a Dominatrix!??!: Sooper

Climate & Energy

Global Temperature Update – No global warming for 17 years 11 months: WUWT
Top EPA official accused of assault denies charges: Jim McElhatton, Times
Costco to cut greenhouse gas emissions in deal with EPA: The Hill

Media

In Lieu of Coherent ISIS Strategy, Team Obama Opens New Front in War on Fox News: JWF
A foreign legion for losers: Jonah Goldberg
Hiding In His Lair: Nuking Politics

State Deplt starts Twitter war with Fox, immediately regrets decision, then gets dominated: YoungCons
Networks Ignore Gallup Poll Showing Obama Approval Rating at an All-Time Low: NB
AG Candidate Happ Suddenly Wants Her Record Off Limits: Brian Sikma

World

Hamas TV broadcasts call to "exterminate" all the Jews: Commentator
"War Has Been Declared against Us": A Speech in the Netherlands Parliament: Geert Wilders
NATO, Then and Now: Stephen Green

To hell with “pragmatism”: Cold Fury
Megyn Kelly just shared a 2007 George Bush Iraq speech, and it’s going VIRAL: YoungCons
American Man Suspected of Working With ISIS As Social Media Guru: FNI

Do The Rapes of Rotherham Tell a Tale of Conquest?: The Anchoress
Silencing The Other: Erick Erickson
World Shudders as Israel Declares 988 Acres of the West Bank State Land: Rich Baehr

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Cities scramble to upgrade “stingray” tracking as end of 2G network looms: Ars Technica
Data: Nearly All U.S. Home Depot Stores Hit: Brian Krebs
A Stunning New Map Reveals For The First Time Where Our Galaxy Fits Into The Universe: Insider

Cornucopia

7 moments that show how funny Joan Rivers was: Vox
Islamic State Zombies: 3 Strategies Revealed: MOTUS
D.C. WHISPERS: Obama “Out Of It” During “Bizarre” Conversation With Prime Minister: Ulsterman

Image: Your Tax Dollars at Work: 8 Christians Crucified in Syria
Sponsored by: Don’t Miss: ‘Fox News Reporting: 13 Hours at Benghazi’ Friday at 10p ET

QOTD: "We know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISIL’s sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem." --Pres. Barack Obama

Thursday, September 04, 2014

SUPER-SIZED INFLATION: What a $15 Minimum Wage Would Do to Fast Food Prices

By Melissa Quinn and Kelsey Harris


Thousands of fast-food workers across 150 cities nationwide gathered today to call for a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

However, a report released today by James Sherk, senior policy analyst in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation, found that fast-food restaurants would have to boost their prices 38 percent to make up for the increased labor costs.

Such an increase, Sherk said, would drive away about one-third of these restaurants’ customers.

If fast food’s biggest restaurants decide to raise their wages to $15 an hour, here’s how some of your favorite meals would fare.

NO GLOBAL WARMING FOR 17 YEARS, 11 MONTHS: Crazed Sex Poodle* Hardest Hit

So reports Christopher Monckton:

The Great Pause has now persisted for 17 years 11 months. Indeed, to three decimal places on a per-decade basis, there has been no global warming for 18 full years. Professor Ross McKitrick, however, has upped the ante with a new statistical paper to say there has been no global warming for 19 years.

Whichever value one adopts, it is becoming harder and harder to maintain that we face a “climate crisis” caused by our past and present sins of emission...

...This is the longest continuous period without any warming in the global instrumental temperature record since the satellites first watched in 1979. It has endured for half the satellite temperature record. Yet the Great Pause coincides with a continuing, rapid increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration.

The RSS satellite records shows no global warming at all for the 215 months from October 1996 to August 2014. That is more than half the entire 428-month satellite record.

* The term "crazed sex poodle" was first used to describe Al Gore by a Denver masseuse who alleged the infamous climate grifter had "fondled and groped her".

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Incapacitated by Narcissistic Rage

By Lawrence Sellin

For those perplexed by Barack Obama's often inexplicable behavior, wonder no more.

An individual with narcissistic personality disorder exhibits extreme self-importance, has a constant need for attention and admiration, is secretive and controlling, cannot empathize with others, and has a heightened sensitivity to criticism. To get the attention he craves, a narcissist may try to create crises or diversions that return the focus to him. The narcissist feels entitled, that the world owes him, regardless of whether he makes a contribution.

Narcissists are selfish and self-centered people, who are capable only of thinking about their own issues regarding power, prestige, and personal adequacy. They cannot understand the problems of people around them, and are not aware of other peoples' feelings. Although they act superior and confident, this actually hides the fact that they have very fragile egos. They live with the illusion that they are perfectionists and that people revere them. The slightest disrespect or challenge can quickly lead to the development of "Narcissistic Rage," a term coined by Heinz Kohut in his 1972 book "The Analysis of the Self." The fuming rage the narcissist exhibits is different from the anger that people usually feel; it is either irrational or severely blown out of proportion from an insignificant remark or action. According to Kohut, this rage impairs a narcissist's cognition, therefore impairing his judgment.

A narcissist needs to sustain the illusion of being bigger, larger, smarter and more successful than everyone else in order to feel stable. Narcissists need constant admiration, attention and compliments, not to increase their self-esteem, but to prevent a feeling of instability that could lead to dysfunction or breakdown. Narcissistic rage occurs when that core instability is heightened. In essence, the reason narcissists are so self-centered is that their grandiosity-based personality needs to be constantly reinforced to remain stable.

HEH: On Her Voter Registration, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Lists Home Address as... Washington, DC

Oligarchs: John Binder at The Hayride just opened up a can on Mary "Landfill" Landrieu, Senator from Louisiana and Godmother of Obamacare.

When it comes to running for public office and actually voting on voting day, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) uses two different addresses.

In order to qualify for the Louisiana Senate race against Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) this November, Landrieu is claiming that she lives with her parents Moon and Verna Landrieu at their large-scale New Orleans bungalow on South Prieur Street. Landrieu has a $2.5 million home in Washington DC with her husband Frank Snellings that the two built together.

But, on her voter registration card, Landrieu lists Washington DC as her primary residence...


Landrieu asserts that she still lives with her parents though, saying “I have lived at my home on Prieur Street most of my life and I live there now, when not fulfilling my duties in Washington or serving constituents across the state.”

In a report by the Washington Post, the Moon and Verna’s neighbors say they haven’t seen Mary in years...

Do the citizens of Louisiana really want or need a Senator who doesn't even bother to maintain a pretense of living in their state?


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Wonderful: Dead ISIS Jihadi Worked For Delta Airlines at Minneapolis Airport

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

Nation

Wonderful: Dead ISIS Jihadi Worked For Delta at Minneapolis Airport: JWF
Bachmann: What FBI told me about ISIS terrorists returning to U.S.: Blaze
Moderate Islam is the Left's New Religion: Daniel Greenfield

Will Obama Throw Republicans Into the Briar Patch on Amnesty?: Leon Wolf
‘Bonjour, Malaise’: Ed Driscoll
Eric Holder: A More Dangerous Race-Card Hustler Than Al Sharpton: Larry Elder

War — past, present and future: Victor Davis Hanson
The President Is Not Checked Out: Erick Erickson
It's the Democrats' Foreign Policy, Too: Jonah Goldberg

Are Progressives The Real Authoritarians?: Ace
DUDE. Federal judge upholds Louisiana gay marriage ban: Scoop
Law Proposed in New Jersey: “Shaneen’s Law”: Pagun

Economy

Why Are Governments Afraid of Ridesharing like Uber and Lyft?: Jeff Carter
Colossal waste: Chicago public high school has just 12 students: Marathon
Speed Kills Racial Profiling Study: Ann Coulter

Scandal Central

58,000 Foreign Students Overstayed Visas Last Year & ICE Can’t Find Them: Creeping
22 Jihad Training Camps in the US – FBI Refuses to Take Action: MadWorld
Obama Hides Steady Inflow Of Central American Migrants: DC

Liberal Dem Blasts Obama Amnesty: “Illegal Immigration Is Not a Victimless Crime”: JW
Illegal Immigrant Convicted of Deadly Hit-and-Run Gets More Leniency Than American Citizens: MadWorld
Illegal Immigrant Kills Two Kids in Hit-and-Run, Yet Avoids Deportation and Prison: RWN

Climate & Energy

John Kerry: Bible Commands America To Protect Islamic Countries From Global Warming: WZ
Laughable new paper claims 99.999% certainty global warming over past 25 years is man-made: WUWT
Climate Crusader George Clooney Takes Private Jet To Germany For Medical Treatment: WZ

Media

Univision Reporter Gets Owned: MB
Big Media Ignores Hamas's "Ugliest Crimes": Gatestone
Mike Lupica Urges Obama to Do Something About ISIS By Ranting Against Bush and Cheney: JWF

James Rosen Corners Jen Psaki: Keith Koffler
"Unarmed" Suspects and Un-brained Media: Greg Meyer, PoliceOne
Milwaukee Concealed Carrier Killed Arms Robber, Leads To Arrest Of Robbery Ring: Bob Owens

Brit Hume: Obama 2006, “Wouldn’t it be great for the world if I were president?”: Hot Air
HILARIOUS — Al Sharpton vs the Teleprompter – Volume 3: Scoop
Back By Political Necessity: The Stupid-Or-Evil Trilogy: Liberty's Torch (2012)

World

Reagan vs Obama, from "we win, they lose" to "shrink them to a manageable problem": WyBlog
Obama signals no major action against ISIS: RS
WaPo gives Obama 4 Pinocchio for denying he called ISIS JV: FAM

The world is dry tinder, and Obama is playing with matches: JihadWatch
Muslims Behead 6-Year-Old: MB
ISIS Justifies Brutality By Citing Mohammed Having Traitors Eyes Gouged Out With Hot Irons: WZ

Palestinian poll finds Hamas leader twice as popular as Abbas: Hayom
Kerry has ‘constructive’ talks with Palestinians: Times of Israel
Another Day in Immigration Court: 71 Juvenile Cases and a Judge ‘Just Trying to Make You Smile’: Daily Signal

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Milky Way's Home Supercluster Found: Clara Moskowitz, SciAm
Making of Maps: Reaching a milestone: GoogleBlog
​Intel's $1,000 Wearable Is a Luxury Smart Bracelet For Women: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

Obama’s ISIS Strategy Revealed: MB
Duffel Blog Writers Launch Surprise Air Assault On Onion News Network: DuffelBlog
Dr. Pangloss, I Presume?: MOTUS

Image: Another Day in Immigration Court: 71 Juvenile Cases and a Judge ‘Just Trying to Make You Smile’
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Defeat the Obamacare Six

QOTD: "Two years after the Benghazi attack, Islamists are doing cannonballs in our embassy’s pool in Libya. Just this week, the Islamic State beheaded a second American journalist. The Russian “reset” was more like a starter’s pistol for Putin’s race to reclaim lost Soviet territory. The Chinese are testing us more every day and the Iranians laugh at our so-called resolve. The Taliban is simply running out the clock on America’s withdrawal before it takes over Afghanistan, the location of what Obama frequently described as the necessary war. As Bret Stephens recently noted in the Wall Street Journal, Obama has expressed personal rage at only one nation: Israel. Why? Because the Israelis don’t sufficiently hide their contempt for Obama’s incompetence and his secretary of state’s haplessness." --Jonah Goldberg

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Scott Walker is Almost as Bad a Misogynist as Bill Clinton

By The Masked Avenger

In the pantheon of dimwitted Democrats, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has ascended to a plane once occupied only by Joe Biden and Hank "Guam" Johnson.

Today DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, "Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand. I know that is stark. I know that is direct. But that is reality." Wasserman Schultz added: "What Republican tea party extremists like Scott Walker are doing is they are grabbing us by the hair and pulling us back. It is not going to happen on our watch."

Well beyond being offensive and insensitive these quotes stand in direct contradiction of what she said after the Gabby Giffords shooting. Check out some of these quotes which show Debbie telling Americans and politicians how they must be careful about the words they choose and how they need to use more civil discourse. It’s just like a Democrat to not practice what they preach.

"I think all of us need to be more careful about the words that we choose to use."

And who could forget this DWS greatest hit?

"It is absolutely critical that we ... stop treating our opponents like the enemy. And try to push the reset button on a more civil discourse because that's what Gabby was a leader on. That's what -- that's what her hopes were for the future."

Hypocritical, duplicitous, or lying: which adjective best precedes the word "weasels" when describing today's leaders of the Democrat Party?


THE MYSTERY DEEPENS: Who is Erecting "Interceptor" Cell Towers Across the United States?

Mysterious "interceptor" cell towers have been discovered scattered throughout the United States and it's unclear who is behind them.

Mysterious “interceptor” cell towers in the USA are grabbing phone calls — but they’re not part of the phone networks... The towers were revealed by Les Goldsmith to Popular Science last week. He’s CEO of ESD America, which builds the super-secure Cryptophone 500 for clients that need the military-grade security and can handle the phone’s estimated $3,500 price tag.

In the course of testing the phone, Goldsmith’s team discovered the existence of phone cell towers that intercept a call and hand it off to the real network — allowing the tower to listen in or load spyware to the mobile device... In July, ESD America identified 17 of the towers, but now it has increased that outed inventory to 19...


...Who is installing and managing these interceptors? ... Not the NSA, cloud security firm SilverSky CTO/SVP Andrew Jaquith told us. “The NSA doesn’t need a fake tower,” he said. “They can just go to the carrier” to tap your line.

...They could be from perhaps law enforcement agencies or the military, he suggested. A number of these towers are around military bases, although they’re also found in other locations, including the vicinity of the South Point Casino in Las Vegas...

...The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced last month that it is launching an investigation into the use of cell network interceptors by criminal gangs and foreign intelligence...

Andrew Rosenblum, writing at Popular Science, offers additional detail.

BILL OF RIGHTS BANNED IN NEW YORK: State Troopers Demand Gun Shop Customer List, Threaten With Warrant-less SWAT Team Raid

By Ammoland

Joseph Palumbo, co-owner of the Albion Gun Shop, released information today that New York State Police officers from the Narcotics Enforcement Unit demanded the shop’s release of all customers who purchased New York SAFE Act compliant rifles under threat of a warrantless SWAT Team Raid.

Since the passing of the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (S.A.F.E.) Act, the New York State Troopers Narcotics Enforcement Unit has been delegated to enforce the S.A.F.E. Act and to handle all matters pertaining to the S.A.F.E. Act.

This unit has visited Mr. Palumbo on several occasions, disrupting his business, to see that Mr. Palumbo is compliant with the S.A.F.E. act provisions for licensed gun shops owners.

“The New York State Police told me that my guns were NY S.A.F.E. compliant. The chief of the Medina police told me my rifles were NY S.A.F.E. compliant and in fact purchased one of the guns from my shop.” James D. Tresmond, attorney for the Albion Gun Shop, raised the possibility of entrapment. “My client disclosed to me that he would not have sold these rifles to the general public had they not been approved by the New York Division of State Police”

Meanwhile, a confidential informant from within the state police released an email from New York State Police Division Counsel Kevin Bruen which insinuates that police department itself cannot understand the S.A.F.E. Act itself. The email, which was a response to a state trooper’s inquiry as to whether modified rifles were New York S.A.F.E. compliant. Division Counsel ordered that “a court would have to rule on the legality of these rifles”.

“The New York S.A.F.E. Act is being enforced arbitrarily on a case by case basis,” Tresmond said. “That amounts to unconstitutional vagueness under the Supreme Court’s Morales standard, and the law should be enjoined for that reason alone.”

Mr. Palumbo, concerned that his license to sell firearms in New York may be affected by recent solicitation by the New York State Trooper Narcotics Enforcement Unit, has retained Tresmond Law to represent him in all legal matters concerning any possible investigation or litigation made by the New York State Narcotics Enforcement Unit regarding his business. Mr. Palumbo opened up the Albion Gun Shop in 2012 and it is through this business that he makes his livelihood.

The Albion Gun Shop intends to take immediate legal action tomorrow morning to remedy this problem.

We will post updates as they become available.


Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News and WHEC News (image).