Saturday, January 24, 2015

Revelations from a Startling Archaeological Expedition

Courtesy of Springer's Blog:


And a reminder: Springer's Blog was a 2014 Fab 50 Award Winner, the ultimate gauge of blogging quality. As far as you know.


TRY AND CONTAIN YOUR SURPRISE: In Vermont, Drivers Licenses are a Magnet for Fraud by Illegal Aliens

By Bruce Parker


WHICH IS WHICH?: Driver’s privilege cards look nearly identical to Real ID-compliant driver’s licenses, but it’s the privilege cards that out-of-state migrants prefer most.

As California battles a flood of immigrants seeking driver’s licenses after enactment of Assembly Bill 60, Vermont’s Department of Motor Vehicles has found issuing driver’s privileges to illegals can be a magnet for benefits fraud.

In the first week after AB 60 went into effect in January, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles issued more than 11,000 driver’s licenses and processed nearly 50,000 applications for people living illegally in the U.S. By the end of week two, the number of issued licenses more than doubled, reaching 25,300.

Over the next three years, Golden State taxpayers can expect to pay as much as $220 million to give licenses to 1.4 million undocumented immigrants.

Across the country in Vermont, a different problem has emerged. A law intended to grant driver’s privilege cards to roughly 3,000 migrants is attracting applications from illegals living outside the state.

“In our Bennington DMV office, we have detected some changes where people are coming from outside of Vermont and trying to get a driver’s privilege card. Our investigation has determined that they’re not residents of the state of Vermont,” Glen Button, director of the Department of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Division, told Vermont Watchdog.

As originally reported in the Brattleboro Reformer, the Department of Motor Vehicles recently discovered 130 invalid applications in its Bennington branch, in the southwest corner of the state bordering New York and Massachusetts.

15 Funniest Skymall Bankruptcy Reactions

With a tip o' the cap to IJReview and @BiffSpackle:

24 Worst Examples of Emperor Obama's Serial Desecration of the United States Constitution

A handy guide you can pass on to progressives, liberals, Marxists, Communists, and other Democrats.

  1. The president’s selective targeting of political opponents for harassment and abuse by the IRS and obstruction and corruption of the resulting investigations
  2. Fraudulent claim that the Benghazi massacre was caused by a film, willfully misleading Congress and the American people, providing false information to Congress, scapegoating an individual instead of taking responsibility for waging a war under false pretenses and inadequately protecting Americans overseas.
  3. Unlawfully granting amnesty to categories of illegal immigrants, pressuring states by expensive litigation and the withholding of federal resources to not enforce laws against illegal immigration
  4. Refusal to enforce border security laws passed by Congress
  5. Denial of equal protection under the law by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) racially discriminatory enforcement of federal civil rights law
  6. Systematic politicization of hiring at Department of Justice
  7. Systematic stonewalling by Department of Justice and other departments and agencies of Congress
  8. Investigation of journalists in violation of free speech and contravention of DOJ guidelines, Attorney General’s (AG) misleading testimony regarding the investigation of journalists
  9. Fast and Furious operation intentionally arming criminals, covered up by the Attorney General’s contemptuous obstruction of a congressional investigation and the President’s specious invocation of executive privilege
  10. Repeated and continued attacks on the first amendment using DOJ to intimidate reporters, stonewalling access to information, prosecuting reporters who do their jobs, and stifling speech through FCC regulations
  11. The politicization of investigation and prosecution by DOJ in order to coerce compliance with administration policy, punish critics, appease political supporters, while funding political allies through sue and settle schemes
  12. Refusal to enforce laws such as DOMA
  13. Coercing state compliance with Obama administration policy by politicizing enforcement actions and encouraging state attorneys general to abdicate their duty to defend valid state law
  14. Unilateral changes to Obamacare
  15. Use of the EPA to regulate into effect legislation that was rejected by the Democratically controlled Congress
  16. Unilateral amendment and maladministration of other environmental policies like the Clean Air Act
  17. Contravention of Congressional and Judicial authority through “sue and settle” lawsuits where the government seeks out advocacy groups to sue on issues that dramatically expand regulatory and enforcement authority, allowing the Executive Branch to settle and increase its power. Unilateral amendment on the eve of 2012 election of law mandating notification of impending layoffs
  18. Unilateral amendment of federal law requiring welfare recipients to work
  19. Defiance of congressional law and court orders in obstruction Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project
  20. Unilateral and illegal release of 4 Gitmo prisoners in exchange for Bo Bergdahl
  21. Making ‘recess appointments’ when Senate was not in recess
  22. Usurpation of Congress’s war powers in instigating an undeclared, unauthorized war in Libya
  23. Contempt tor Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of executive agencies
  24. Picking winners and losers based on politics

Pity the leadership in the Republican Party has -- in the words of Sarah Palin -- a case of "deflated balls": they refuse to employ the very tools the Framers bequeathed them, whether through cowardice or secret collaboration with these tactics.


Read more at Judicial Watch.

Larwyn's Linx: The Swastika and the Crescent

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

Nation

The Swastika and the Crescent: David Motadel
Will Obama ever stop lying about Citizens United?: Hans A. von Spakovsky
White House aide says Obama will 'steamroll' Democrats in Congress: DailyMail

WH Outraged at Israel: “He Spat In Our Face, There Will Be A Price": WZ
Number One With a Bullet: Bill Whittle
Marco Rubio moves to 2016 Presidential bid: Jonathan Karl

Jew-hating activists caused car crashes on San Mateo Bridge: LI
Anti-Gun Group Confessions: Pagun
People Need to See This Judge’s Face and Call Her Out: ProgsToday

Mitt Romney Executes the Rarely Seen Political Triple Flip Flop: Wizbang
How Greek Default May Still Unravel the EU: Frank Hollenbeck
2 star's 'treason' comments spark call for an investigation: AirForceTimes

Economy

Whistleblower: Pelosi Covered Up Role In Crisis: IBD
$10,000 Tax Credit To Hire Ex Cons: ProgsToday
Union Membership Rate Falls to 100-Year Low: Melissa Quinn

Scandal Central

An Iranian nuclear weapons program in what used to be ‘Syria’: J.E. Dyer
Republicans Surrender To Infanticide: David Harsanyi
Looking Away from Europe’s Muslim Problem: Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal

Climate & Energy

Al Gore: Spend $90 Trillion To Ban Cars From Every Major City In The World: DC
States Should Force Federal Gas Tax Cut: Phil Kerpen
Climate Reporting’s Hot Mess: Holman W. Jenkins

Media

Sundance: because the world needs more deviant movies: MOTUS
After “State of Delusion Speech,” Mark Levin Is Upset With GOP: WJ
7 People Obama Has Agreed to Meet With (Not Named Netanyahu): Erin Dooley

Chris Kyle’s Widow Appeared at SHOT Show...: Blaze
President Tee-Time in a No-Go World: Mark Steyn
Does Islam Have Anything to do With Islam?: Donald Sensing

World

The Fate of Ukraine: 20 Committee
Abdullah is Dead. ISIS has an opportunity to flip the Kingdom. Here's how.: John Robb
Wilders: Paralyze the Dutch Government: GoV

Election Envy: The Europeans and the Jews: Spengler
Boko Haram Leader: “Allah Commanded Us” In The Koran To Slaughter Civilians: WZ
Islamic State Deepens Grip in Future Palestine: Khaled Abu Toameh

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

TrueCar says more than half of its web traffic now is mobile: Automnews
Teenage Engineer's Gorgeous, '80s-esque Pocket Synths Cost Just $59: John Wenz
Alfa Romeo sedan – A 3 Series fighting sedan: BMWblog

Cornucopia

History Repeats Itself: Springer
Ultimate Archery: TR
Denial and Deflategate: A Patriots Fan’s Stages of Grief: Ian Crouch

Image: White House aide says Obama will 'steamroll' Democrats in Congress
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BadBlue Gun News

QOTD: "The White House’s outrage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to speak before Congress in March — a move he failed to coordinate with the administration — began to seep through the diplomatic cracks on Friday, with officials telling Haaretz the Israeli leader had “spat” in President Barack Obama’s face.

“We thought we’ve seen everything,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior US official as saying. “But Bibi managed to surprise even us.

“There are things you simply don’t do. He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price,” he said.

Officials in Washington said that the “chickenshit” epithet — with which an anonymous administration official branded Netanyahu several months ago — was mild compared to the language used in the White House when news of Netanyahu’s planned speech came in." --Times of Israel

Friday, January 23, 2015

ANOTHER KEY WEAPON SYSTEM KILLED: A-10 Warthog ISIS-Killer Axed by Uber-Competent Commander-In-Chief

By Investor's Business Daily

Defense Spending: The venerable A-10 Warthog, designed to stop Soviet tanks, and the perfect weapon to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State, as President Obama promised, faces a budgetary chopping block.

We have noted the irony of how Obama was going to war against the Islamic State with weapons systems he had scrapped, ending the production runs of the F-22 Raptor and Tomahawk cruise missiles. They were dismissed by the administration as relics of the Cold War even as Russia was rearming and trying to reassemble the old Soviet Union.

We've also mentioned the phasing out of the A-10 Thunderbolt, a close-support aircraft that entered service in 1972 and was designed to combat Soviet tank formations on a European battlefield.

Dubbed the "Warthog" because of its decidedly un-sleek profile, the A-10 has been found to be useful in another capacity in Iraq — attacking IS forces that don't want to be on the business end of the Warthog's 30 mm cannon as it flies low and slow over the battlefield.

As Iraqi News reported last week after an A-10 sortie against IS forces near Mosul: "The aircraft sparked panic in the ranks of ISIS and bombing its elements in spaces close to the ground." Such strikes also prove the value of such a low-maintenance aircraft built to take the punishment expected in close air support.

"Elements of the terrorist organization targeted the aircraft with 4 Strella missiles, but that did not cause it any damage, prompting the remaining elements of the organization to leave the bodies of the dead and carry the wounded to escape," according to the Iraqi report.

This is not surprising, since the A-10 can almost hover over a battlefield as it picks out targets for its 20-foot-long, 2.5 ton, seven-barrel Gatling gun that can fire 1,100 of those 30 mm shells. The titanium shell that wraps around the bottom of its cockpit makes it difficult to shoot down.

HOW TO RETIRE FROM A LIFETIME IN CONGRESS WITH $100 MILLION OR MORE: Dianne Feinstein Teaches Us How

By Judicial Watch

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, vice chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, is demonstrating how lowlypaid lawmakers leave office filthy rich, according to a newspaper columnist that writes about the senior Democrat’s most recent scandal.

Like many of Feinstein’s past scandals, this one involves her enormous influence as a veteran federal lawmaker translating into big bucks for her husband, real estate mogul and investment banker Richard Blum. The U.S. Postal Service is selling 56 buildings and Blum’s commercial real estate company, CBRE, stands to make about $1 billion in commissions, the news report says. A few years ago CBRE was selected as the sole real estate agent for the huge deal, most likely with the help of his powerful wife.

Here’s a line from the article, which appears in a New York paper this month: “This feat of federal spousal support was ignored by the media after Feinstein’s office said the senator, whose wealth is pegged at $70 million, had nothing to do with the USPS decisions.” It’s not surprising that the mainstream media swallowed the unbelievable denial since Feinstein is the prototype of the liberal politician that seldom receives any real scrutiny. We’ve seen evidence of this in the mainstream media’s ongoing love fest with President Obama.

Judicial Watch has helped pick up the slack and in fact has exposed many of Feinstein’s transgressions over the years, mostly involving abuse of power to enrich her family assets. The atrocities were so rampant that in 2007 the San Francisco lawmaker was forced to resign as chair of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, where she annually supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars. As chair Feinstein supervised her own staff of military construction experts and she lobbied Pentagon officials to support her favorite projects. During her tenure her husband’s companies got billions of dollars in government contracts.

NUCLEAR INSANITY: As Obama begins $12B payout to Iran, spy shots reveal terror state has new, long-range ICBM

No, this isn't from The Onion. Unfortunately, it's reality.

Shot:

Since 1979, the most aggressive enemy of the USA has been Iran under the control of an ambitious Islamist regime that has used terrorist cat’s paws to kill Americans throughout the Middle East and that is sworn to our national destruction. When it looked like this regime would finally be overthrown by the people it oppresses, Obama conspicuously had not a word of support for the rebellion, which was soon crushed. In jarring contrast, he enthusiastically supported “Arab spring” rebellions that took down friendly (Egypt) or effectively neutral (Libya) governments, creating opportunities for the sort of hostile Islamists who run Iran. Now he has been helping Iran to acquire nuclear weapons by moving obstacles out of its way. In case it was not yet obvious whose side Obama is on, this should clear things up:

The Obama administration on Wednesday paid $490 million in cash assets to Iran and will have released a total of $11.9 billion to the Islamic Republic by the time nuclear talks are scheduled to end in June, according to figures provided by the State Department... Today’s $490 million release, the third such payment of this amount since Dec. 10, was agreed to by the Obama administration under the parameters of another extension in negotiations over Tehran’s contested nuclear program that was inked in November.

Money is the only reason the mullahs are willing to go through the charade of negotiating with Obama, whom they openly despise. Only a total fool would imagine they have any intention of foregoing the continued development of nuclear weapons with which to kill American civilians.

These cash payments by the United States have been made with no strings attached, prompting concerns that Iran could use the funds to finance its worldwide terror operations, which include the financial backing of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other rogue entities.

These operations have already been used to kill Americans (e.g., the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, direct assistance to terrorist insurgents in Iraq).

Not all of the money Obama is sending the mullahs will go toward terrorism. Some will finance the continued development of ballistic missiles. Iran doesn’t need these for a nuclear attack on Israel, but the USA is farther away.

Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said the ongoing release of these assets has provided Iran with a critical “financial lifeline.”


Chaser:

Iran has built a 27-meter-long missile, capable of delivering a warhead “far beyond Europe,” and placed it on a launch pad at a site close to Tehran, an Israeli television report said Wednesday, showing what it said were the first satellite images of the missile ever seen in the West... It stressed that the missile could be used to launch spacecraft or satellites, but also to carry warheads.

Given that President Obama in his State of the Union address threatened to veto proposed bi-partisan legislation that would impose sanctions on Iran should the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 fail to come to a successful conclusion by June of this year, a clear weapons program is a newsworthy political development as well. But, the mainstream media is silent.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said, “Iran is clearly taking steps that can only be interpreted as provocative. Yet the Administration appears willing to excuse-away any connection between these developments and signs of Iran’s bad faith in negotiations... The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran. And it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization, when they are the ones with original sin: An illicit nuclear weapons program going back over the course of 20 years that they are unwilling to come clean on."

Certainly Iran’s production and implementation of a missile system capable of carrying a nuclear warhead is a development worthy of reporting. It is a national security story. And when a senior Senator takes a President from his own party to task, it is a major political story as well. And yet… Where’s the coverage?

Moonbattery summarizes these startling developments perfectly: "There is a line between incompetence and treason. Whether Jimmy Carter crossed it by withdrawing support for our ally the Shah and thereby helping the current Iranian government to power is debatable. With Obama [and the media], it is an easier call."


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Mossad Chief: Not opposed to Iran sanctions, contrary to liberal media reports

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

Nation

Mossad Chief: Not opposed to Iran sanctions, contrary to reports: LI
White House miffed that Israel’s PM was invited to address Congress: RS
Breaking: Full statement from Mossad head on Iran: Matzav

Obama’s shtick is getting tired, even with some Democrats: Noah Rothman
Obama Still Reading From The Same Old Script: Jonah Goldberg
SOTU: Obama Boasts of Fundamentally Transforming America: Sara Noble

So, Renee Ellmers: Ace
Ted Cruz Says GOP Will Lose With ‘A Milquetoast Alternative’ In 2016: DC
Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate: Richard Arenberg

Team Obama Has No Idea What to Do With ISIS Prisoners: JWF
Civil Rights Group Blasts Obama for Anti-Semitic Comments: GWP
Remington Wins Opening Move In Bizarre Sandy Hook Lawsuit: Bob Owens

Economy

This Popular Restaurant Has a Maddening New ‘Charge’ : YC
Obama’s Taxes Trap Hillary: Dick Morris
Obama’s Attempt to Turn the Page Undermined By Policy Failures: Michael Barone

Scandal Central

Obama Regime: Our Goal Is Not To Eliminate Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program: WFB
Obama’s Yemen model is a roaring success: RS
Federal Agencies Stonewall House Committee’s Benghazi Investigation: Sharyl Attkisson

Media

Mark Levin: Republicans won’t stop amnesty, Obamacare: Times
Finally Obtained: David Gregory Arrest Warrant Affidavit: LI
Will Media Show Berserk Pro-Abortion Protestors Blocking Pro-Life March?: MRC

Magazine Now Known For Fake Rape Stories Trashes American Sniper Film: Glob
Fox’s Kurtz: Obama YouTube Interview Was ‘Beneath the Dignity of the Office’: Mediaite
A Billionaire Lectures Serfs In Davos: "America's Lifestyle Expectations Are Far Too High": ZH

World

Where's the Coverage? Satellite Shows Iran's Long Range Nuke-Capable Missile: CAMERA
Iran's New Terror Base against Israel: Gatestone
Obama awards Iran $11.9 BILLION through end of nuke talks: Atlas

Obama’s Bloody Yemen Disaster: Michelle Malkin
Ex-teacher battling CAIR critics in Texas speaks out: I’m not afraid of savages: BPR
Watchdog: Belgian public schools becoming ‘Jew-free’ zones: Times of Israel

Three Female Lawyers have Been Executed by ISIS for being Educated: GJWHG
Egyptian Leader El-Sisi at Davos: Islam Is in Need of “Religious Revolution”: GWP
Dutch ex-minister: World peace if Israeli Jews move to US: Times of Israel

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Twitter 'recap' helps you catch up with missed tweets: CIO
Google to reportedly enter cellular service industry as MVNO running on Sprint, T-Mobile networks: AppleInsider
This Drone Crashed While Trying to Deliver 6lbs of Meth: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think: Johann Hari
World’s Largest Animated GIF Created with Ground Paintings and a Satellite Camera: PetaPixel
Joey Bada$$ Claims His Phone Got Tapped After Leaked Malia Obama Selfie: Mediaite

Image: Ex-teacher battling CAIR critics in Texas speaks out: I’m not afraid of savages
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BadBlue Gun News

QOTD: "Academic research indicates that QE in the US contracted rather than expanded economic activity, just as it did in Japan. Thus, Steen could have made the even stronger case that since it didn’t work in the US or Japan, it will not work in for the ECB." --Lacy Hunt

Thursday, January 22, 2015

OH, MY: Flight Logs Confirm Clinton and Dershowitz Flew on Pedophile Billionaire’s Sex Jet

Clinton 2016: This Time With Pants!

Bill Clinton took repeated trips on the "Lolita Express"—the private passenger jet owned by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—with an actress in softcore porn movies whose name appears in Epstein's address book under an entry for "massages," according to flight logbooks obtained by Gawker and published today for the first time. The logs also show that Clinton shared more than a dozen flights with a woman who federal prosecutors believe procured underage girls to sexually service Epstein and his friends and acted as a "potential co-conspirator" in his crimes.

Hillary's got to be livid.


A clear path to the 2016 nomination and now her philandering hubby finds himself entangled in a pedophilia scandal?

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to one count of soliciting underage girls for sex (and one count of adult solicitation), for which he served just over a year in county jail. But sprawling local, state, and federal investigations into the eccentric investor's habit of paying teen girls for "massages"—sessions during which he would allegedly penetrate girls with sex toys, demand to be masturbated, and have intercourse—turned up a massive network of victims, including 35 female minors whom federal prosecutors believed he'd sexually abused. He has reportedly settled lawsuits from more than 30 "Jane Doe" victims since 2008; the youngest alleged victim was 12 years old at the time of her abuse.

This is one sick dude. And it begs credulity to believe that Clinton knew nothing about the sex club Epstein is said to have operated for the rich, powerful and connected.

HEROES, NOT ZEROES: American Sniper vs. the State of Obama's Disunion

By Investor's Business Daily

Valor: When Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood talked to an empty chair at the 2012 GOP convention, many thought he'd lost it. Now more Americans are watching his story of hero Chris Kyle than saw the State of the Union.

There was a sense of irony in President Obama praising himself for a "persistent, steady resolve" in fighting an Islamic terrorism he refuses to call by name.

He delivered his State of the Union speech just as the U.S. military was moving the assault ships Iwo Jima and Fort McHenry into the Red Sea to evacuate American personnel, if necessary, from another of his success stories imploding into chaos.

Yemen is on the verge of following Libya's slide into a failed state dominated by Islamic radicals. The Islamic State that Obama silently watched grow remains in control of wide swaths of Syrian territory where many red lines were drawn in crayon.

It's also in control of Iraqi towns where Americans expended great blood and treasure before he threw their sacrifice away with a precipitate withdrawal.

Rather than a persistent, steady resolve, Americans see a callous cluelessness. After four Americans were murdered in a terrorist attack in Benghazi, they saw their commander in chief fly to Las Vegas for a fundraiser. Rather than march with a world protesting the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, they saw their president stay home to meet and greet the San Antonio Spurs.

Obama touts success where there are no successes, which is perhaps one of the reasons the ratings for his State of the Union addresses have steadily declined and why his policies, which he said were on the ballot in November, were soundly rejected by voters.

Obama's absence from the Paris march is reminiscent of the empty chair that Eastwood talked to at the 2012 Republican National Convention. It was meant to be a metaphor for Obama's all-style-and-no-substance presidency.

How to get an A in journalism professor DeWayne Wickham's class

A noteworthy observation about the First Amendment from our tireless free speech advocate, Mark Steyn:

~This is an American journalism professor in the 21st century:

The First Amendment ends at insulting Mohammed.

His argument is the classic Heckler's Veto. Because a not insignificant proportion of young Muslim men are bananas, they killed a bunch of people in Niger over the last Charlie Hebdo cover. Whether they even saw the magazine is unclear, but at any rate we should rein in free speech just in case the crazies are minded to kill any more people.

If you're in DeWayne Wickham's class at Morgan State and you'd like to get an A, why not threaten to kill him?

Indeed, it would be heartening if his entire class were to issue a mass death threat unless they're instantly upgraded to magna cum laude.

That's what Wickham's concessions on free speech do: Incentivize violence.


In addition to serving as a columnist and occasional television commentator, Wickham is a professor at Morgan State. Which tells you all you need to know about the state of higher education.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: New GOP "Border Security" Bill Removes Border Fences

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Nation

New GOP "Border Security" Bill Removes Border Fences: Neil Munro
Black Activists in Chicago Slam Obama's Illegal Amnesty: RebelPundit
House immigration plan slammed, spends $10b and deports no illegals: Exam

Obama Croons: I Did It My Way: Debra Saunders
Obama’s State of the Union: “Death is a tax loophole”: PW
Why Obama Fails: W. James Antle III

Young Lives Matter: RS
Renee Ellmers: Worse Than a Democrat: Leon Wolf
ERLC’s Russell Moore ‘Disgusted’ by GOP’s Decision to Drop Pro-Life Bill: ERLC

Trey Gowdy Has a Little Reminder for President Obama : IJR
Does Obama Believe What He Says Anymore?: Ron Fournier
Clinton plans to intimidate with fundraising ‘like nothing you’ve seen’: Hill

Economy

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea: Steve Berman
States Continue War Over Obamacare: Sharyl Attkisson
Teacher Tearfully Opts Out of Common Core: ‘Cruel and Harmful’: MenRec

Scandal Central

Facebook: Your Papers, Please!: Liberty Speaks
NYS Bombshell: Powerful Democrat Sheldon Silver to be arrested on corruption charges: RWN
DOJ Officials Say They Will Not Charge Ferguson Cop Darren Wilson With Civil Rights Violations: WZ

Media

Historic! 300 Million Americans Avoid Obama’s State of the Union as Ratings Plummet: JWF
Major Newspapers Blast President Obama’s Opposition to Bipartisan Iran Legislation: Tower
Chris Kyle Himself Had the Best Comeback to ‘American Sniper’ Critics in a 2012 Conan Interview: IJR

The New Yorker — Yes, the New Yorker — Finally Gets It About Islam: Michael Walsh
An important message for Bill Maher: Personal Liberty
Choke on it, Michael Moore: WZ

World

U.S. to Award Iran $11.9 Billion Through End of Nuke Talks: Adam Kredo
Democrat Senator Slams Obama on Iran: Ace
Obama uses SOTU to announce surrender to Iran: RS

'Islamization' Of Paris A Warning To The West: CBN
The Muslim population of America is expanding at warp speed: Carol Brown
Rick Santorum Again Questioning Legal Immigration: VDARE

Man Stabs 9 On Tel Aviv Bus; Mental State Preliminarily Diagnosed As "Palestinian": Ace
Election Envy: The Europeans and the Jews: Spengler
10 Israeli tourists hurt in anti-Semitic attack in Argentina: JPost

Netanyahu Accepts Invitation to Speak Before U.S. Congress Next Month: Tower
German anti-Muslim leader quits after photo of him posing as Hitler surfaces: The Week
Eric Pickles' letter to Muslim leaders: the text in full: Independent

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Progressive Insurance Dongle Hacked: Jeff Goldman
The Most Effective Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: MarketingProfs
Apple's Time Machine, Cover Flow, and Safari for iOS Targeted in New Lawsuit: MacRumors

Cornucopia

Remembering the last lion: Victor Davis Hanson
NH Lottery launches $1 bacon-scented scratch ticket: WCVB
Crazy Alec Baldwin demands to know Dean Cain’s military credentials: Twitchy

Image: Obama Greeted By “Obama Sucks” Signs In Boise
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Get the Latest in Tech News at BadBlue Tech

QOTD: "There is no assimilating invaders who wish to replace your society with theirs, whether they call themselves ‘immigrants,’ ‘refugees’ or ‘asylum-seekers’…When it comes to the soul of a country, there really can be only one." --Michael Walsh

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Democrat Senator Slams Obama's Pro-Iranian Propaganda

I think I have to rip off     just a bit     a bunch     oh, hell, almost all of Ace's bit on Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) trashing President Obama's pro-Iranian nuclear rhetoric.

"I have to be honest with you, the more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran. And it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin," Menendez said during a Congressional hearing.

...Archliberals Brian Williams and Richard Engel also take Obama to task for his brazenly dishonest claims about national security.

Williams began by asking about Obama's claims about the state of the world, which seem to be entirely fantasized:

"Richard, we woke up here in the States this morning – new ISIS video. Two Japanese hostages," Brian Williams began. "They’re asking for $200 million, or they're going to assassinate both of them. Video of a Russian intelligence ship cruising into the harbor in Havana; it might as well have been 1962. And then this on-again, off-again possible coup in Yemen, a U.S. ally."

...Richard Engel delivered the coup de grace: "It sounds like the president was outlining a world that he wishes we were all living in, but which is very different than the world you just described with terror raids taking place across Europe, ISIS very much on the move."

...Obama is doing the same thing as a Soviet dictator claiming the sugar crop hit record levels when in fact it was a catastrophe. He is simply doing it with foreign policy -- an area in which American media have severely cut back on personnel, and so aren't as in strong a position to rebut him.


The folks over at The Tower have more on the first American president in history who seems hellbent on handing nukes to terrorists.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

OBAMA'S PARTNERS IN PEACE: Our Latest Bloody Terror Attack on Civilians Was "Brave and Heroic"

By IPT News

A Palestinian terrorist stabbed and injured nine Israelis, four of whom remain under serious condition, on Wednesday morning after boarding a Tel Aviv bus. Security camera footage obtained by Israel's Channel 10 shows the terrorist chasing after civilians running from the bus following the initial attack, stabbing a woman in the back, reports the Jerusalem Post.

Click here to watch the security footage.

Witnesses and police said the terrorist repeatedly stabbed the bus driver before attacking other passengers. Three Israel Prison Service officers driving behind the bus chased the terrorist through parking lots and alleyways before shooting him in the leg and arresting him.

The Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, revealed that the 23-year old terrorist, Hamza Muhammad Hassan Matrouk from Tulkarem, admitted that he was motivated by this past summer's war in Gaza, recent Temple Mount unrest, and radical Islamic propaganda that glorifies "the reaching of heaven."

Hamas leaders quickly praised the attack and called for others to conduct similar attacks.

"A morning of resistance, a morning for the nation," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum wrote on his Facebook page, the Times of Israel reports. His post featured a photo of a combat knife on the ground surrounded by police tape.

Hamas official Husam Badran referred to the terrorist attack as "extraordinary" on Facebook and called for further "acts of resistance" by groups and individuals.

Hamas and Palestinian Authority officials and media frequently incite their populations to commit violence against Israeli civilians. Palestinian institutions systematically glorify terrorist attacks and praise the attackers, advocating for other Palestinians to emulate their violent actions.

Only an hour after the terrorist attack ended, Palestinian media glorified the Tel Aviv stabbing with numerous cartoons.

One of the cartoons, posted within 90 minutes after the attack, features a smiling terrorist with a bloody knife, praising the attack. The cartoon bus includes a Jewish star and the number of the bus line where the attack occurred with blood pouring out of the doors onto the street.

The images later were removed from Twitter, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Palestinian media often boasts of terrorist attacks shortly after they have occurred. Numerous social media posts, for example, called for a "Knife Intifada," an uprising that entailed widespread stabbing of Israeli civilians.

 

Click here for an Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) comprehensive report on recent Palestinian terrorist attacks and incitement to violence.

REPORT: Progressive Insurance Driving Tracker Lacks Basic Security, Allows Attacker "Full Control" of Vehicles

Well, this seems rather disturbing.

Corey Thuen, a senior researcher with Digital Bond Labs, reverse engineered Progressive Insurance's SnapShot device -- used in 2 million US vehicles -- and tested it on his 2013 Toyota Tundra truck. After picking apart the hardware and testing its wireless communications while plugged into the vehicle's ODP-II diagnostic port on the car's local network, Thuen found the Progressive dongle doesn't authenticate to the cellular network or encrypt its traffic. The firmware isn't signed or validated, and there's no secure boot function. Also, the device uses the notoriously unsecure FTP protocol.

The device runs on CANbus, the very same network where key vehicle functions -- including braking, park assist steering, and ECU -- are housed. It sends messages over the CAN to request information from the vehicle's computer systems, such as revolutions per minute, to calculate the driver's ultimate insurance policy rate.

"Anything on the bus can talk to anything [else] on the bus," he says "You could do a cellular man-in-the-middle attack" on the device's communications to Progressive, because there's no authentication or encryption. But a MITM would require spoofing a cell tower to capture the traffic, which Thuen did not test.

It would be easy for data to be leaked wirelessly. "What happens if Progressive's servers are compromised?" he says. "An attacker who controls that dongle has full control of the vehicle."

The official response from Xirgo, the manufacturer of the dongle device, and Progressive isn't exactly reassuring.

Xirgo had not responded to Forbes requests for comment. Thuen said he’d tried to disclose his findings to Xirgo but got no response. Progressive said it hadn’t heard from Thuen, but handed this comment via email to Forbes: “The safety of our customers is paramount to us. We are confident in the performance of our Snapshot device – used in more than two million vehicles since 2008 – and routinely monitor the security of our device to help ensure customer safety.

“However, if an individual has credible evidence of a potential vulnerability related to our device, we would prefer that the person would first disclose that potential vulnerability to us so that we could evaluate it and, if necessary, correct it before the vulnerability could be exploited. While it’s unfortunate that Mr. Thuen didn’t share his findings with us privately in advance, we would welcome his confidential and detailed input so that we can properly evaluate his claims.”

One could easily imagine an information warfare operation executed by an adversary of the U.S. that targeted automobiles; said actor could literally paralyze the economy by shutting down traffic across the country.


Hat tip: Real-Time Science & Technology News at BadBlue Tech.

STUNNER: Even Thoroughly Politicized DOJ Reluctantly Admits it Can't Find Reason to Charge Darren Wilson

It would seem that even the most corrupt Attorney General in modern American history (surpassing John Mitchell, in my view) couldn't find a reason to charge Officer Darren Wilson of the beleaguered Ferguson P.D.

Say, maybe it was the videotape of the "Gentle Giant" ripping off a convenience store and roughing up the owner. And all of the physical evidence at the scene. And the witnesses of every race that backed up Wilson's story. Et cetera.

The Justice Department is taking the final steps toward closing the politically charged investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., and clearing the white police officer involved of civil rights charges.

Federal prosecutors have begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, law enforcement officials said.

That would close the case in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. An investigation by the F.B.I., which is complete, found no evidence to support the charges against the officer, the officials said.

Of course, facts, logic, reason and evidence won't sway the Leftist race-baiters bent on fomenting division and violence. But enough about MSNBC.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: The 112 broken promises Mr. Obama made in previous SOTU speeches

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

Nation

The 112 broken promises Mr. Obama made in previous SOTU speeches: Jason Pye
In His Last State of the Union, Obama Disastrously Boasted of an End of War: Ace
Obama boasts he's "stopping" the "advance" of ISIS: WZ

Forever Determined To Let Us Know He Won: Erick Erickson
The Top Five Takeaways From The #SOTU: Caleb Howe
While Obama bashes constant fundraising...: WZ

WTH: Islamic Opening Prayer to Allah in the House of Reps: Clash
Congressman Confirms Obama Likely Blackmailing Petraeus: ConTrib
Early Presidential Prospects: Thomas Sowell

Economy

A Tale of Two Very Different Cities: Heather Mac Donald
Cadillac Tax: Clunker for Labor, Opportunity for GOP: Betsy McCaughey
Citigroup’s $150 Million in Currency Losses Deserve a Closer Look: WSOP

56% of Americans Think Obama Has Done Nothing To Help The Economy: Erick Erickson
Switzerland Wins As Its Central Bank Surrenders: Peter Schiff
Obamacare's Slow Death?: Richard A. Epstein

Scandal Central

McCaul Border Bill a Trojan Horse for Amnesty: Daniel Horowitz
TSA Whistleblower Confirms Illegal Aliens May Board Planes With CA Licenses: GotNews
The “NAACP Bombing” … or The Barbershop Bang?: Michelle Malkin

Climate & Energy

A 290% increase in the gasoline tax would be good for consumers: RS
Y2Kyoto: Horse, Barn: SDA
Obama: Greatest Danger Not Terrorism or Debt: It's "Climate Change": Treehouse

Media

Clint Eastwood Just Sent Michael Moore A Wake Up Call He’ll Never Forget: Qpolitical
CAIR Joins Lib Hate-Fest for American Sniper, Calls Chris Kyle ‘Hate-Filled Killer’: GWP
Shocker: MSNBC Guest Who Made Racist Remarks About Bobby Jindal is an Obama Donor: JWF

When Krugman Sneezes, Kausfiles Catches Cold!: Mickey Kaus
Rupert Murdoch Quietly Ditches Longtime Institution of the Page 3 Girl as "Old-Fashioned": Ace
MSNBC Hosts Lead Chorus of Vile Misogynist Tweets Against Republican Joni Ernst: Sooper

World

More on Islamic State, the God-damned* death cult now running large sections of Iraq and Syria: Moe Lane
Islamic State executing ‘educated women,’ UN says: Times of Israel
Report: ISIS Trying To Shoot Down U.S. A-10 Warthogs With MANPADS In Iraq: WZ

The Valerie Jarrett Comedy Hour: “We Do Think Our Strategy Is Working” Against ISIS: WZ
Israel Moves Tanks to Northern Border Following Hezbollah-Iranian Invasion Threats: GWP
Home Depot Just Made a Decision That Will Likely Alienate At Least Half their Customers: Steve Straub

Does Europe Have No-go Zones?: Daniel Pipes
Jews, outnumbered by Muslims, suffer under mob rule: Jonah Goldberg
NBC’s Richard Engel Blasts Obama’s Foreign Policy Claims as Wishful Thinking: WFB

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Hubble takes “largest picture ever” and it’s stunning: RedOrbit
Microsoft Research wants to use lasers to recharge phones: Slashgear
Dish found not to infringe Fox's copyright by letting users stream programs: IT World

Cornucopia

Film Study: Auburn most capable of replicating Ohio State’s success: Murf Baldwin
SOTU Preview: Dress to Kill and Soak the Rich: MOTUS
Obamacare Site Quietly Relays Personal Data To 3rd Party Advertising Companies: WZ

Image: The Top Five Takeaways From The #SOTU
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Get the Latest in Car News at BadBlue Cars

QOTD: "Barack Obama, commentators on both sides of the aisle have noted, often seems insecure. In an impromptu moment last night, he again had to point out he won twice. The left loved it. It was not in the prepared remarks, but in a speech entirely catering to the left, there was probably some planning.

It did, however, undermine all the bipartisan overtones of his speech. He may have won twice, but thanks to him, the GOP has won Congress, Governors Mansions, and State Legislatures galore in both 2010 and 2014. In fact, Barack Obama last night spoke to the fewest Democrats in Congress in 90 years.

...As you are reading this, Barack Obama’s tenure ends in less than two years. In a year, he will see a member of his own party distance himself or herself from the President in order to win. The President is right. He has no races left to win.

And thanks to his leadership, he has very little legacy to left to defend. The world is a far more dangerous place than when Barack Obama took office. The nation is far more divided. And Republicans should commit themselves to seeing that Barack Obama’s legacy lies on the ash heap of history." --Erick Erickson

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

THE REAL STATE OF THE UNION: By the Numbers

Say, I wonder if our beloved President will mention any of these stats?

$18.1 Trillion:
Total Debt Under Obama As Of January 14, 2014. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/14/15)
$10.6 Trillion:
Total Debt When Obama Became President On January 20, 2009. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/9/15)
$7.5 Trillion:
Amount Added To The National Debt Despite Obama's 2010 State Of The Union Declaration That He Would Not Leave "A Mountain Of Debt." (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/14/15; President Barack Obama, Remarks On The State Of The Union, Washington, D.C., 1/27/10)
$4 Trillion:
Amount Of Debt That Obama Once Called "Irresponsible" And "Unpatriotic." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Fargo, ND, 7/3/08)
$1.8 Trillion:
Cost Of ObamaCare's Coverage Provisions Through 2024. (CBO, 4/14/14)
$1.3 Trillion:
Total Student Debt Held By Americans. (Federal Reserve Board Of Governors, Accessed 1/14/15)
$869.3 Billion:
Total Taxes In ObamaCare. (JCT, 6/15/12; CBO, 4/14/14)
$95 Billion:
Cost Of New Regulations Added Since Obama Became President. (American Action Forum, 1/6/15)
$60 Billion:
Cost Of Obama's Community College Tuition Plan Over Ten Years. ( The Associated Press , 1/9/15)
$3.4 Billion:
Average Amount Of Debt Added Daily Since Obama Became President. (U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/14/15)
$3.4 Billion:
How Much The Construction Of The Keystone Pipeline Would Contribute To GDP According To A State Department Review. (United States Department Of State, 1/14)
46.5 Million:
Average Number Of Americans Receiving Food Stamps In FY 2014. (Department Of Agriculture, Accessed 1/14/15)
13 Million:
Average Number Of Americans Who Have Joined The Food Stamp Program Since FY 2009. (Department Of Agriculture, Accessed 1/14/15)
7 Million:
Number Of Americans Who Will No Longer Have Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Due To ObamaCare. (Congressional Budget Office, 4/14/14)
5.5 Million:
Americans Who Have Fallen Into Poverty Since Obama Became President. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 1/14/15)
2.3 Million:
Americans Who Are Only Marginally Attached To The Labor Force. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
401,000:
Construction Jobs Lost Since Obama Became President. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
321,000:
Manufacturing Jobs Lost Since Obama Became President. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
273,000:
Number Of People Who Left The Labor Force Between November And December Of 2014. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
$56,492:
Current Debt Per Capita Under Obama. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 1/14/15; U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/14/15)
42,100:
Number Of Jobs The Construction Of The Keystone Pipeline Would Support Over Two Years According To A State Department Review. (United States Department Of State, 1/14)
$21,724:
Increase In Debt Per Capita For Americans Since Obama Took Office. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 1/14/15; U.S. Treasury Department, Accessed 1/14/15)
$4,154:
Increase In Family Health Care Premiums Under Obama. (The Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/10/14)
$2,484:
Decline In Median Household Income Since Obama Became President. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 1/14/15)
1978:
The Last Time The Labor Force Participation Rate Was At Its Current level. (BLS, 1/24/14)
677:
Individuals Who Have Been Through Obama's Revolving Door. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 1/12/15)
215:
Rounds Of Golf Obama Has Played Since He Has Taken Office. (Mark Knoller, Twitter Feed, 12/31/14; Mark Knoller, Twitter Feed, 1/4/15)
174:
Number Of Days Obama Has Spent All Or Part On Vacation. (CBS News, 12/22/14; Mark Knoller, Twitter Feed, 1/4/15)
100%:
Total Debt As A Percentage Of GDP Under Obama. (OMB, Accessed 1/14/15)
65.7%:
Labor Force Participation Rate When Obama Became President. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
62.7%:
Labor Force Participation Rate In December. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/14/15)
65:
Number Of Fundraisers Obama Attended In 2014. (Mark Knoller, Twitter Feed, 12/2/14)
32.8:
Average Number Of Weeks Someone Will Be Unemployed. (BLS, 1/14/15)
14.5%:
Poverty Rate In 2013. (U.S. Census, Accessed 1/23/14)
13.2%:
Poverty Rate Before Obama Became President. (U.S. Census, Accessed 1/23/14)
6:
Veto Threats Issued By Obama In The New Year. (The White House Website, Accessed 1/19/15; ABC News, 1/16/15)
0:
Attempts To Actually Work With Congress