Monday, April 06, 2015

UNEXPECTEDLY: Obamacare Caused Health Insurance Rates to Go Up By 50% On Average

By Warner Todd Huston

Remember how Barack Obama claimed that all our insurance rates would go down? Heck, at one point he even claimed he’d save Americans $2,500 a year. Well, it turns out that his Obamacare law caused expenses to soar by over 50% on average and for some more than that. Yes, Obama lied again.

Here are some examples of Obama claiming that insurance rates would go down for most Americans with his Obamacare law…

Well, apparently this is yet another major Obamacare lie. In fact, almost no one has found lower insurance rates. On the contrary, premiums have soared in costs and they continue to rise.

It’s been five years since the Affordable Care Act became law, but only two since most of its provisions went into effect.

As its detractors predicted, Obamacare’s implementation led to a large, immediate rise in health insurance premiums. This is hardly surprising: The law required that a broad swath of treatments be fully insured, thus deepening the moral hazard problems that have long plagued the American health insurance system.

Larwyn's Linx: Iran Framework Deal: Greatest Political Hoax Ever?

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Nation

Iran Framework Deal: Greatest Political Hoax Ever?: LI
U.S.-Israeli tensions hit new boiling point with Iran nuclear deal: Kelly Cohen
The President Is Playing A Very Dangerous Game, Rep. Zeldin Warns: Sara Noble

Munich, Anyone? Obama’s Iran Agreement in Translation: Roger L. Simon
NPR: The Deal Struck with Iran Was Not the Deal Announced by President: Lev Tsitrin
Iran: All Sanctions, Boycotts, Embargos Will Be Gone Forever on Day One: Sara Noble

Two Guys Or Two Girls And a Pizza Place: Ben Domenech
The Ongoing War Against Christianity: Star Parker
Requiring a concealed carry permit is the definition of ‘infringed’: Bob Livingston

Wasserman Tries to Defend the Dearth of Dem Candidates: GWP
Clinton machine threatens Martin O’Malley. Note the choice of subject noun: Moe Lane
Progressives Unhinged: Derek Hunter

Economy

Obamacare’s $800 Billion Tax Hike Explained in One Chart: Alex Rendon
Suspend the president of the University of Virginia: Don Surber
Why Are So Many Employers Unable to Fill Jobs?: Stephen Moore

Scandal Central

Rolling Stone's UVA rape investigation: “A failure that was avoidable”: CJR
Down from Watergate: Kevin D. Williamson
US Soldiers Now Being Lectured on White Privilege at Diversity Training Sessions: GWP

Climate & Energy

Governor Brown: “Californians Will Be Heavily Fined For Long Showers”: Treehouse

Media

Spare Us Your Outrage: Erick Erickson
Let Them Bake Cake: Mark Steyn
CNN: “Will Schumer bring on new Democratic era?”: Moe Lane

CBS Sends Out Insane Iran ‘Death To America’ Tweet But Not Before Twitter Notices: Michael Hausam
A Kennedy whitewash: Post
For The Betterment Of Mankind, Carry A Gun: Concealed Nation

Right Wing Conspiracy Behind Donations to Memories Pizza Revealed: MB
Chris Matthews VERY upset at Hitler comparisons, forgets when he compared Bush to Hitler: Scoop
CIA Tweets ‘Good Riddance’ to Homeland Character: Evan McMurry

World

France slams Kerry over lowered demands on Iran for deal: Hayom
Obama leaves four Americans behind with Iran nuke deal: FAM
France’s True Problem: Skinny Fashion Models: AmInt

He descended into Hell: Leslie Eastman
Obama statement on Kenyan massacre doesn't mention jihadis killed Christians: Marathon
Vienna: “Free, Free Palestine” chant becomes “Kill, Kill the Jews”: LI

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

You Won’t Believe That These Designs Are Actually From One Single Shirt: Mike Shouts
Disney is pouring $250 million into a fantasy sports site: Jon Fingas
Watch the First Ever 4K 1,000 fps Drone Footage: PopMech

Cornucopia

Easter 2015: MOTUS
Had Enough? Cruz May Be the Answer: iOTWreport
Pray for Mandy Nagy (Update 4-4-2015: “she misses the way it used to be”): LI

Image: Barack Obama fights back against Israeli critics of Iran nuclear deal
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a conservative candidate? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "The Indiana hysteria is an excellent indicator. Ron Fournier of National Journal, who for some reason is generally esteemed, argued with a straight face that Indiana’s freedom-of-religion law is “not unlike Jim Crow laws at all,” which is true if you ignore the slavery and categorical subjugation and the use of state violence in the service of a program of general political and social repression and the first few centuries of American history and all. Moral panics have their uses: If you convince yourself that your opponent is evil — not wrong, not operating from a set of values at variance with your own, but evil — then there is no crime of which he might not be suspected — and, more important, no crime that one might not commit oneself in order to frustrate his wicked aims.

Needless to say, this line of thinking can be suspended when the politician is confronted with real but politically convenient evil, e.g., those Sandinistas that the Reagan administration was fighting. This is why in the popular history of 20th century, the bad guys aren’t the Communists who murdered 100 million people and their American enablers, but the meanies such as Richard Nixon and Joe McCarthy, who tried to expose them." --Kevin D. Williamson

Sunday, April 05, 2015

BILL WHITTLE: "SIR, I WILL NOT OBEY THAT ORDER."

By Bill Whittle

Let’s just assume for a moment that you’re a radical, left-wing zealot, who was raised by actual communists, and who, naturally enough views the United States military as the tool of capitalist exploitation and colonial racism. Now, further assume that through a perfect storm of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, fate, money, power and media bias somehow conspired to make you Commander in Chief of those same armed forces.

What would you do?

You couldn’t very well scuttle 11 carrier strike groups. You can’t just destroy entire air wings, or armored divisions, or any of the rest – no matter how much you may want to. That would break the spell.

If you hate this country, and you especially hate the military, you simply cannot go around destroying the weapons – that’s too obvious. But you can do something much more subtle, and in the long run, even more disastrous, if your stated goal is to fundamentally change the country and the military that protects and defends it.

You don’t have to destroy the weapons. You don’t even have to destroy the warriors. All you have to do is create a set of conditions that are so incompatible with the warrior code that the warriors will remove themselves, because these are people who risk death and dismemberment, and whether at the tip or the end of the spear, generally live in appalling conditions, under great emotional hardship, for disgraceful levels of pay.

AAA: Top 7 Reasons for Teen Driving Accidents

A study funded by AAA probably represents the most comprehensive research project into the causes of teen driving accidents ever conducted.

The research team analyzed nearly 1,700 videos taken from in-vehicle event recorders covering the six seconds immediately prior to crashes involving teen drivers. Results identified driver distraction as a factor in 58% of all crashes studied, including 89% of road-departure crashes and 76% of rear-end crashes. The National HIghway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had previously estimated that distraction would be a factor in only 14% of teen driver crashes, which had to be an absurdly low expectation given the ubiquity of cellphone and texting addiction among (but not limited to) teens.

Video data was recorded by Lytx DriveCam devices that collect video, audio and accelerometer data when a driver triggers an in-vehicle device by hard braking, fast cornering or impacts that exceed a certain g-force. Each video is 12 seconds long and provides information from before and after the trigger event...

...The AAA researchers found that drivers manipulating their cellphone (calling, texting or other uses), had their eyes off the road for an average of 4.1 out of the final six seconds leading up to a crash. According to distraction.gov, checking a text typically takes your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds, during which time the car will have covered the length of a football field when traveling at 55 miles per hour.

The top 7 reasons for teen crashes:

ind the wheel were found to be:

  1. Interacting with one or more passengers: 15% of crashes
  2. Cell phone use: 12% of crashes
  3. Looking at something in the vehicle: 10% of crashes
  4. Looking at something outside the vehicle: 9% of crashes
  5. Singing/moving to music: 8% of crashes
  6. Grooming: 6% of crashes
  7. Reaching for an object: 6% of crashes

Send this to any teen drivers you know.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

EVIL CLOWN: Taco Bell Launches Cold War Against McDonald's With Soviet-Style Propaganda Imagery

Pretty funny.

Egg McMuffins aren't just mediocre pastries stuffed with microwaved eggs, bright yellow cheese and ham product. They are a form of tyranny.

That, at least, is the upshot of "Routine Republic," a riveting and surreal new Taco Bell campaign from Deutsch. A year after the agency cheekily hired a bunch of guys named Ronald McDonald to celebrate the Mexican-themed fast-food chain's first foray into breakfast, the shots at the Golden Arches are barely masked.

In the three-minute centerpiece ad ..., McDonald's affable but intrinsically creepy mascot is reimagined as a sunken-eyed Stalinist clown (though perhaps bearing closer resemblance to Mao). He rules over a small army of look-alikes and an oppressed proletariat in a decrepit, cloistered city with a beefy security apparatus. Run-of-the-mill breakfast sandwiches are his preferred method of subjugation.

Watch the video after the break:

Larwyn's Linx: Kill the Deal

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Nation

Kill the Deal: William Kristol
Obama administration warns Iran not to be put off by deal's spin: Lid
Iran’s Persian statement on ‘deal’ contradicts Obama’s claims: Amir Taheri

Arabic Most Common Language of Refugees in U.S.; 91% on Food Stamps: Creeping
Los Federales To Fly In Children From Central America For Illegals: Cove
Illegal Alien with Drug-Resistant TB to Be Released into US, say AZ Reps: Breitbart

Tom Cotton vows to stop Obama's insane Iran deal: Scoop
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Negotiated deal with Iran is only option: Luke Rosiak
Arabic: Most Common Language of Refugees in America: Breitbart

Stop Liberals From Exploiting Conscience To Avoid Their Civic Duties: Kurt Schlichter
How the West was Lost: Ed Driscoll
Political Pandering over Religious Freedom Bill: Rick Jensen

Economy

Record High 12,202,000 Black Americans Not In Labor Force: WZ
Obamacare Has Led to Higher Insurance Premiums: Salim Furth
Missouri considers banning purchase of soda, chips with food stamps: Exam

Scandal Central

The Rise of the Megalothymiamanical Memories Pizza Truthers: Ed Driscoll
Broken City: Rahm Emanuel and the unraveling of Chicago.: John B. Judis
Surrender to Tehran: National Review

Climate & Energy

Corn, Scorn and Policy Porn: Debra Saunders
Regulator faces climate rule challenges amid leadership swap: John Siciliano

Media

French media broadcast location of Jews hiding from jihad murderer: Robert Spencer
Black Support Of Gun Ownership Skyrockets: Bob Owens
Mormons Across America Deliver Some Major Bad News to Harry Reid: ConTrib

Who, Exactly, Should We Punish for Not Digging Gay Marriage?: Ace
What Feminists Mean by ‘Equality’: R.S. McCain
Just Some Good Reportin': Ace

World

Islamist terrorists target and slaughter Christians in Kenya; but Obama’s statement ignores it: PW
New ISIS Magazine Singles Out Santorum as ‘Catholic Crusader’ Enemy: Tatler
Saudi Arabia warns Canada to not support blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes: Adam Taylor

The Threat of War Is Real: Joel Skousen
Three Female Terrorists Arrested in New York; Philly: Ryan Mauro
Abu Bakr, Husband of Terror Suspect, Marched in NY Parades with Black Flag of Jihad:

'Iran funding the rebuilding of Hamas tunnels in Gaza': Hayom
Lebanese Hezbollah calls Iran deal a 'victory': Exam
Hezbollah hails Iran deal as victory for ‘axis of resistance’: Avi Lewis

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Judge orders Facebook and Zuckerberg to turn over documents: Larry Neumeister
3 Vendors Lead the Wave for Big Data Predictive Analytics: Virginia Backaitis
Extended Warranties: Are they worth it? We Ask An Expert: Simon Hill

Cornucopia

Evolving, It’s What Progressives Do: MOTUS
Classic Cartoon – Easter Yeggs: Glob
Pope, thousands brave rain for Easter in St. Peter’s Square: WaPo

Image: Evolving, It’s What Progressives Do
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a conservative candidate? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "Britain has a parliamentary system of government, and so Neville Chamberlain's parliamentary majority ensured the Munich agreement would go forward. The U.S. Constitution, on the other hand, provides for a separation of powers. As Hamilton explains in Federalist #75:

"However proper or safe it may be in governments where the executive magistrate is an hereditary monarch, to commit to him the entire power of making treaties, it would be utterly unsafe and improper to intrust that power to an elective magistrate of four years' duration. ... The history of human conduct does not warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as those which contain its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the sole disposal of a magistrate created and circumstanced as would be a President of the United States."

It is now up to the members of Congress to do their duty, on this delicate and momentous occasion. It is up to members of Congress to refuse to accede to this set of concessions made by our current executive magistrate, concessions that would put one of the world's most dangerous regimes further along the road to acquiring the world's most dangerous weapons." --William Kristol

Saturday, April 04, 2015

THANKS, OBAMA: Today's Middle East Resembles "Europe Right Before World War I"

By Steven Bucci

For years, the great nations of Europe spent huge sums of money to build their military might. They assembled themselves into blocs, all the better to play a dangerous game of power politics. Slowly, surely, they were stumbling toward war.

In June 1914, an assassin shot the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the powder keg was lit. The results were disastrous.

The Middle East today looks frighteningly similar to the Europe of the early 20th Century.

For years, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have competed—Iran, as the champion of the Shia Islamic world, the House of Saud as the de facto leader of the Sunni world.

Iran has a massive military, as well as major capabilities in unconventional warfare and espionage. It influences or outright controls Hezbollah in Lebanon, Assad in Syria, and the powerful Shia militias in Iraq. Now, Tehran is encouraging—and most likely aiding—the Al Houthis rebelling in Yemen.

The Saudis, powerful in their own right, have allied with al-Sisi in Egypt, King Abdullah in Jordan, and most of the other Gulf Arab states. They are also allied with the Pakistanis, who have one of the largest militaries in the world, and nuclear weapons to boot. Additionally, there is a growing possibility that the Turks may throw in with the Sunni side.

6 Interesting Facts About the 2015 Final Four Point Spread

Morning Call has some interesting facts about the 2015 Final Four Betting Line.


6: THE PROS ARE BETTING WISCONSIN

The KY-WI betting line opened at -6 for Kentucky but "significant professional action on Wisconsin" has driven that number down to 5.

5: SMALLEST SPREAD OF THE YEAR FOR KENTUCKY

The -5 number for Kentucky is its smallest favorite all year, tied with its -5 at Louisville in December.

4: 70 PERCENT OF BETS BACK DUKE OVER MICHIGAN STATE

Duke is a -5 favorite over Michigan State, but Vegas has let 70 percent of the bets go Duke's way. This tells me that someone very knowledgeable is putting their money on MSU covering.

3: IN FALL OF 2014, KY WAS A 50-1 LONGSHOT TO GO UNDEFEATED

Sportsbooks "will suffer a big loss if this prop cashes".

2: THE ODDS AGAINST A PERFECT BRACKET

The odds against a perfect bracket thus far in the tournament (picking all 60 games correctly): 2,300,000,000,000 (2.3 trillion) to 1.

1: POSSIBLE TITLE GAME SPREADS

• Wisconsin -5.5 over Michigan St
• Wisconsin -1 over Duke
• Kentucky -11 over Michigan St
• Kentucky -6 over Duke

Hat tip: BadBlue Sports News.

Washington Post hammers Obama's Iran deal as a catastrophic mistake

By The Tower

Noting that President Barack Obama’s stated goals for an acceptable nuclear deal with Iran in 2012 would see Tehran “‘[…] end their nuclear program’ and ‘abide by the U.N. resolutions that have been in place,'” an unsigned staff editorial published today in The Washington Post laments that the president has retreated “a long way” from these positions.

The “key parameters” for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced” but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear state.

The editorial also observes that the sanctions relief that would follow an agreement would allow Iran “to wage more aggressively the wars it is already fighting or sponsoring across the region.”

ISRAEL UNITED: Obama's Iran Deal is Utterly Insane

By Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel


I just came from a meeting of the Israeli cabinet. We discussed the proposed framework for a deal with Iran.

The cabinet is united in strongly opposing the proposed deal.

This deal would pose a grave danger to the region and to the world and would threaten the very survival of the State of Israel.

The deal would not shut down a single nuclear facility in Iran, would not destroy a single centrifuge in Iran and will not stop R&D on Iran's advanced centrifuges.

On the contrary. The deal would legitimize Iran's illegal nuclear program. It would leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure. A vast nuclear infrastructure remains in place.

The deal would lift sanctions almost immediately and this at the very time that Iran is stepping up its aggression and terror in the region and beyond the region.

In a few years, the deal would remove the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, enabling Iran to have a massive enrichment capacity that it could use to produce many nuclear bombs within a matter of months.

The deal would greatly bolster Iran's economy. It would give Iran thereby tremendous means to propel its aggression and terrorism throughout the Middle East.

Such a deal does not block Iran's path to the bomb.

Such a deal paves Iran's path to the bomb.

And it might very well spark a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East and it would greatly increase the risks of terrible war.

Now, some say that the only alternative to this bad deal is war.

That's not true.

There is a third alternative – standing firm, increasing the pressure on Iran until a good deal is achieved.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama’s "Justice" Department Charges Menendez … But Not Harry Reid

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Nation

Obama "Justice" Department Charges Menendez...But Not Reid: Andrew C. McCarthy
Border Security: Texas Leads While Feds Fail: Matt Mackowiak
Top Dems voice 'great skepticism' over Iran nuclear deal: Mike Lillis

Somali Refugees to US Increased 250% Under Obama: Daniel Greenfield
Americans Arrested for Financing Al-Shabaab Somali Terror Group: Ryan Mauro
Pro-Terror Paper: Obama Said ”Khamenei, I am at your service!”: Daniel Greenfield

Some Indiana Interrogatories: Power Line
Discrimination in Indiana - Private or Political?: Richard Ebeling
I Am Not Going To Your Gay Wedding; Please Protest: John Hawkins

Poll: Ted Cruz Enters Top Tier of GOP Hopefuls: LI
Jeb Bush Relationship With Fraudster Claudio Osorio Gets New Scrutiny: NLPC
Kansas Joins Constitutional Carry States, Anti-Gun Columnist Loses Mind: Bob Owens

Economy

Even the BLS has run out of bulls***: recession confirmed: Jim Quinn
Record 93,175,000 Americans Not In The Labor Force: Breitbart
H-1B proponents hide abuses behind phony claims: Ross Eisenbrey

Scandal Central

Obama’s Militarization of CIA: The XX Committee
What Really Happened to Harry Reid, Part 3: Power Line
FBI Uncovers Another Of Its Own Plots, Feinstein Responds with Call to Censor The Internet:

Are They Arming for Riots Across America?: Mac Slavo
Boston Bombing Report: Officers Lacked Weapon Discipline: Marc Fortier
Illegal Immigrant Drug Smuggler Sues Border Patrol After Dog Bites Him During Arrest: John Brodigan

Climate & Energy

Unhide the EPA Global Warming Tax: Phil Kerpen

Media

The Accidental Gawker: Gavin McInnes
Agents of Chaos: Daniel Wiser
Senator Ted Cruz thanks Jesus Christ in first campaign ad: BPR

CBS Employee @AlixBryan Targeted #MemoriesPizza GoFund Had Lavish Vegas Party: GotNews
Covert warfare coming to Texas sparks some fears of federal takeover: Dylan Baddour, Houston Chronicle
Letters: 55 years later, thoughts on 'Operation Jade Helm': Larry Daley

World

Iranian Regime Holds “Down With America” Protest Day After Nuclear Deal Announced: GWP
Ayatollah Khamenei On Iran Deal: We Have Triumphed Over Our Enemies: WZ
Arabs Blast "Obama's Deal" With Iran: Khaled Abu Toameh

US rejects Netanyahu’s demand for Iranian recognition of Israel: Times of Israel
Anti-Israel protesters call ‘Kill the Jews’ in Vienna: Times of Israel
The relentless march to a more united Europe: John Redwood MP

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Top tech cars at the 2015 New York Auto Show: Bill Howard
10 unusual detector materials: Troy Rummler
New York 2015: Mercedes-Benz G 65 AMG: GTspirit

Cornucopia

A Little Sympathy For The Devil, Please: MOTUS
How Evil Are New Jersey’s Gun Laws? This Evil: Extrano's Alley
California man gets 18 years for US 'revenge porn' site: Phys.Org

Image: Teen Survivor of Garissa, Kenya College Massacre Found Alive
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a conservative candidate? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "Clearing the way for Iran to get nuclear bombs may — probably will — be the most catastrophic decision in human history. And it can certainly change human history, irrevocably, for the worse.

Against that grim background, it is almost incomprehensible how some people can be preoccupied with the question whether having Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu address Congress, warning against the proposed agreement, without the prior approval of President Obama, was a breach of protocol.

Against the background of the Obama administration’s negotiating what can turn out to be the most catastrophic international agreement in the nation’s history, to complain about protocol is to put questions of etiquette above questions of annihilation." --Thomas Sowell

Friday, April 03, 2015

"Diplomacy has brought war upon us"

By Caroline Glick


The world powers assembled at Lausanne, Switzerland, with the representatives of the Islamic Republic may or may not reach a framework deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program. But succeed or fail, the disaster that their negotiations have unleashed is already unfolding. The damage they have caused is irreversible.

US President Barack Obama, his advisers and media cheerleaders have long presented his nuclear diplomacy with the Iran as the only way to avoid war. Obama and his supporters have castigated as warmongers those who oppose his policy of nuclear appeasement with the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism.

But the opposite is the case. Had their view carried the day, war could have been averted.

Through their nuclear diplomacy, Obama and his comrades started the countdown to war.

In recent weeks we have watched the collapse of the allied powers’ negotiating positions.

They have conceded every position that might have placed a significant obstacle in Iran’s path to developing a nuclear arsenal.

Larwyn's Linx: Iran gains time, and splits the West, with another non-deal

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Nation

Iran gains time, and splits the West, with another non-deal: J.E. Dyer
The diplomatic track to war: Caroline Glick
Missing From the Iran Deal Announcement: Ballistic Missiles: CNS

This Culture War We're In: Sultan Knish
RFRA not like Jim Crow laws at all: Jonah Goldberg
Hidden Camera: Will Muslim Bakeries Make a Gay Wedding Cake?: Steven Crowder

Sen. Mike Lee rips SCOTUS, Congress for 'subversion' of Constitution: Paul Bedard
Memories Pizza Story Was Literally Fabricated Out of Nothing: Ace
Victim Shock Troops: Mona Charen

Obama lies about Iranian fatwa against nuclear weapons: RS
Hillary Clinton backs Obama's Iran deal: Politico
Iranians erupt with joy after nuclear deal: CNN

Economy

ISIS Panel at University of New Mexico: LL1885
As Higher Minimum Wage Takes Effect In Seattle, Costs Rise: RWN
GE and America’s Corporate Bootleggers: Scott Rasmussen

Scandal Central

An Engineered Drought: Victor Davis Hanson
Federal Judge Hands Tea Party Huge Victory Against the IRS: Steven Ahle
No Criminal Charges For Lois Lerner Of IRS, Keeps Bonuses, Nice Retirement: Robert W. Wood

Media

Unexpectedly: Crime Rates Begin to Rise in Los Angeles: Jack Dunphy
Pastor Cruz: ‘We Are on The Brink of The Destruction of This Country’: CNS
Ted Cruz Campaign Ad: “This is Our Fight” – Video 4/1/15: FreeLight

Meet America's ISIS pin up boy on The Americans With Charlie LeDuff: MyFoxDC
Obama's Nuclear Straw Man: Mark Steyn
Left Rejects Idea of Payback as the Motive for Menendez Indictment: Roger Aronoff

World

WaPo: Obama has Retreated From Previous Positions on Iranian Nukes: Tower
Benjamin Netanyahu calls Iran nuclear deal a threat to Israel's survival: DailyMail
Iran Nuclear Deal: Cheering Crowds Greet Zarif in Tehran : NBC News

Northcom: Russian Cruise Missile Threat to U.S. Grows: Bill Gertz
Russia Ready to Sell S-300 Missiles to Iran if Sanctions Fall: Sputnik International
Russian ships in old Arctic NATO base set alarms bells ringing: Yahoo!

At least 147 students massacred at Christian college in Kenya: Rick Moran
British Home Secretary to Islamic Extremists: "The Game is Up": Soeren Kern
Rabbi Warns of Civil War in the United States: Eliyahu Berkowitz

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Salesforce: loves doing business in gay-killing Saudi Arabia, hates doing it in Indiana: Moe Lane
The truth about Lyme disease: Anne Kingston (2014)
The Apple Watch as Bulls*** Filter? We Can Only Hope: Chris Maxcer

Cornucopia

Who Created This Mess Anyway?: MOTUS
Obama Resigns: AmDIgest
The Mystery of Barack Obama Continues | Obama Social Security Numbers: WJ

Image: Iranians erupt with joy after nuclear deal
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a conservative candidate? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "What if you are an atheist who really objects to gay marriage? Must you still bake cakes for gay weddings, or will pro-shariah Muslim bakers be the only ones who can walk into court and ask to be excused from doing so..?

Do we respect a gay baker's right to choose not to bake a cake for the Westboro Baptist Church with icing that reads God Hates Fags?

Do we respect a fundamentalist Muslim baker's choice not to bake a cake for a bar mitzvah because she really is not crazy about the Star of David?" --Deroy Murdock

Thursday, April 02, 2015

UNEXPECTEDLY: Lois Lerner Skates

By Investor's Business Daily

Scandal: The Justice Department says Lois Lerner, who used her IRS office to target the Tea Party, didn't waive her Fifth Amendment rights before Congress and won't be prosecuted for contempt over her missing emails.

Until former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is called to testify under oath before Congress about her multiple private email accounts on a personal server kept in her Chappaqua, N.Y., home, she won't get a chance to plead the Fifth Amendment as former IRS official Lois Lerner did in May 2013 before the House Oversight Committee regarding her division's targeting of Tea Party groups.

Clinton, under this administration, will likely not fear or face any criminal prosecution for violating the Federal Records Act and doing her official business on that personal server now deliberately wiped clean of records she knew were under subpoena and the subject of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.

But then, Lois Lerner, poster child for hard-drive crashes and missing emails, won't face charges for contempt of Congress either. After pleading her innocence at that 2013 hearing, Lerner went on to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. This raised the question of whether the Constitution let her remain silent after she was not silent and pleaded her case.

OBAMA: If you like Iran without nuclear weapons, you can keep Iran without nuclear weapons

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but only just:

The new deal between Iran, the United States and its allies Thursday is a "historic understanding" that paves the way for a final agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from making nuclear weapons, President Obama said.

"If this framework leads to a final, comprehensive deal, it will make our country, our allies, and our world safer," Obama said at the White House.

Obama forcefully turned his 18-minute statement in the Rose Garden into a victory lap for his policies on Iran and the Middle East. He pledged to work with Congress and Israel, which are both skeptical of any deal with Iran, and with other nations to create a lasting agreement that negotiators have to reach by June 30.

Israel, the existence of which hangs in the balance, ain't convinced.

“Tomorrow night, Jews everywhere will sit down at Passover Seder and debate whether Israel and the Jewish people have been sold out by Europe, President Obama and those that agreed to make this deal with Iran,” said Nathan Diament, Executive Director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center. “President Obama said ‘If Iran cheats, the world will know it.’ People will be wondering – is that akin to ‘if you like your health insurance, you can keep it?’”

Short answer? Yes.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Senator Robert Menendez Indicted, Lois Lerner Will Not Face Charges

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

Nation

Senator Robert Menendez Indicted, Lois Lerner Will Not Face Charges: Victory Girls
Abolish the IRS? Defiant Agency Chief Tells Congress to Shove It: Michael Walsh
Indiana Gets Support From an Unlikely Source: MagFarm

It’s The Christian Right’s Turn In The Closet: W. James Antle III
Indiana and the culture wars: Cal Thomas
Memories Pizza Place May Never Re-Open, Due to Death Threats: Ace

Granny Clinton’s Approval Ratings Have Fallen and Can’t Get Up: JWF
Hillary Clinton Makes It Hard to Follow the Money: Conor Friedersdorf
The Progressive Left Destroys People’s Lives: Glob

Fifty Shades of Iran Negotiations: Roger L. Simon
Tuesday feel good stories: This Ain't Hell
Immigration Advocates Rush to Menendez’s Defense: Emma Dumain

Economy

"This case is garbage. It’s a garbage case. It’s a RICO case that means nothing.": Althouse
Wow. A Change.org petition worth signing.: Moe Lane
GOP Budget to Slash Spending And Repeal Dozens Of Costly Mandates!1!!1!: Ace

Scandal Central

Obama Adviser on Iran Worked for Pro-Regime Lobby: Jordah Schachtel
Border Patrol ignores illegals and begins harassing citizens: RS
23 arrested in massive Medicare-Medicaid fraud scheme: Rick Moran

Lifting the covers on ‘Obamoogle’: Tammy Bruce
IRS Says Abortions Are Eligible For A Tax Deduction: WZ
DOJ lets Lois Lerner off the contempt hook: LI

Media

Indiana Pizza Shop Gets Set Up By Local Reporter – Instantaneous National Moonbattery Ensues: Treehouse
Liberal High School Coach Tweets That Christian Business Should be Burned Down: RWN
TV Reporter’s Cheap ‘Gotcha’ Story Incites Hate Mob Against Indiana Pizza Shop: R.S. McCain

Plagiarism is Not Cool: The XX Committee
Dear America: Stop Pretending To Be Offended By Everything: David Harsanyi
Indiana Gays and the Bakery of Doom: Mark Steyn

Trevor Noah Doesn’t Like Americans Either: Sara Noble
Why I am offended by Trevor Noah's intersex joke: Jude Knowles, women24
The New Yorker Calls GOP ‘Opportunistic’, ‘Fear-Mongering’ Over Iran Opposition: Steve Berman

World

President Obama Must Not Complete a Disastrous Deal With Iran: Observer
Iran Refuses to Give Up Core Nuke Materials: Adam Kredo
Little late, dips****s: Jewish Democrats call on Obama to cool rhetoric against Netanyahu: JPost

Iranian forces advancing toward Israel's border in the Golan: James Lewis
Netanyahu: 'Unconscionable' that world talks with Iran as it calls for destruction of Israel: JPost
In future war, Hezbollah will fire 1,000 rockets a day, IDF predicts: Times of Israel

Egypt Bashes US Reluctance To Support War On Terrorism: Lid
Niger: Misunderstanderers of Islam torch 68 churches: Robert Spencer
As Bloody Wars Rage Islamic World, U.N. Chief Slams Israel For “Causing Enormous Suffering”: WZ

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

OnePlus tiny April Fools' drone is real and for sale: Aloysius Low
How broadband providers seem to avoid competition: Chris Zubak-Skees
Is this ET? Mystery of strange radio bursts from space: Sarah Scoles, NewScientist

Cornucopia

Must have bumper sticker: LL101
Woman, 38, Flashes Google Street View Camera, Crosses Off Item On Her Bucket List (NSFW): TSG
Serious Scraping Needed: LI

67-Year-Old Vet Hands It Back to a Punk: MB
I Feel Safe, Do You?: iOTWreport
The Secret Weapon Behind Super Troopers 2: Wired

Image: In future war, Hezbollah will fire 1,000 rockets a day, IDF predicts
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a conservative candidate? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "It is unrealistic to hope that Mr. Obama could emerge as a modern Churchill in this chaotic and dangerous chapter in human history. But even [Neville] Chamberlain would not have made the disastrous agreement that Mr. Obama seems so eager to conclude.

Mr. Obama is an amateur who is enthralled with the sound of his own voice and is incapable of coming to grips with the consequences of his actions. He is surrounded by sycophants, second-rate intellectuals, and a media that remains compliant and uncritical in the face of repeated foreign policy disasters. As country after country in the world’s most dangerous region fall into chaos—Libya and Yemen are essentially anarchic states, even as Syria and Iraq continue to devolve—Mr. Obama puzzlingly focuses much of his attention and rhetoric on Israel, childishly refusing to accept the mandate its people have given their prime minister in an election that, by the way, added three additional seats to the country’s Arab minority....

...The Iran deal is a march toward the nuclear abyss hand-in-hand with the world’s largest exporter of terrorism– the patron of Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi militias in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, and operatives killing Jews in Argentina. Regrettably, a naïve, petulant President Obama sees this as a crowning part of his legacy and nothing will stand in his way." --The Observer

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY MLB FAN MAP: Courtesy of your overseers at Facebook

I gotta admit: this kinda thing creeps me out.

As we approach opening day, the Facebook data team is releasing several maps detailing Major League Baseball fandom across the US... [The] map displays Facebook fans of all MLB teams by county. Each county is color-coded based on which official Facebook team page has the most likes from people who live in that area...


Click to explodify

...It should come as no surprise that the New York Yankees have a strong following throughout the country. The Yankees have a plurality of fans in at least one county in 24 states.

Although most MLB teams were able to "win" at least one county, there were a few teams that were shut out. The New York Mets, the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays all failed to nab even a single county in the United States. Of course, the Blue Jays were able to dominate Canada...

And I'm sure all of the fans "opted-in" to allow Facebook to mine their personal information.


Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time Sports News.

I GOT 21 PROBLEMS AND A GAY WEDDING CAKE AIN'T ONE

Over a IJreview, Kyle Becker and Justen Charters dissect the hypocrisy of the left's outcry over Indiana's religious freedom law using one, simple map.

21 Problems with the National Outcry About Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Law on One Map

Indiana’s controversial new bill signed into law is called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The bill guarantees individuals the right to conduct business without ‘substantially burdening their ability to exercise their religion.’

It has been roundly condemned around the nation. Seattle’s mayor went so far as to issue a travel ban to Indiana for city workers, while San Francisco’s mayor is considering a ban on city funds being sent to the Hoosier state.

Nevertheless, the ‘extremely controversial’ RFRA is based on a 1993 Federal Law, which is also dubbed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It was signed into law by ‘right-wing extremist’ president Bill Clinton.

Above is a map of the states that have signed onto versions of the 1993 RFRA signed into law by former President Bill Clinton (as of 2014). The ACLU map shows 19 states that adopted such legislation; Utah and Indiana more recently passed laws.

I think you'll enjoy hearing what a President Ted Cruz would do in his very first act as President

By Warner Todd Huston

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Cruz said that he’d undo all of Obama’s unconstitutional Executive Orders. This is one of Obama’s most outrageous abuses of power, one even liberals have said isn’t right.

Here is what Cruz said about the EOs.

The next 20 months are going to be very dangerous because President Obama, unfortunately, seems to have decided to disregard the United States Congress and disregard the American people and instead is trying to force through as much of his extreme agenda as possible via unilateral executive action—and I think we’re going to see that only accelerate through the end of 2016 with more and more unconstitutional executive orders, more regulatory abuse and more and more efforts to go to the United Nations and foreign war tribunals in an effort to end run Congress. In January 2017, we will have a new president and if I am elected president, the very first thing I intend to do on the first day is rescind every single unconstitutional or illegal executive action from President Obama.

Note that this includes repealing Obama’s illegal amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. Obama did all that by his order, by changing how his departments operate, not by law.

Let’s hope if Cruz wins he follows through with this. Obama is the most lawless president in American history and his use of EO’s is a perfect example of that. He has illicitly used them to try and change acts of Congress, and that is illegal.


Read more Warner Todd Huston at PubliusForum.com.

GREAT NEWS: Obama pledges to cripple the U.S. economy to appease the United Nations' climate scam

By Investor's Business Daily

Climate Change: President Obama's proposal to cut U.S. emissions by 28% over 10 years as America's contribution to a global climate treaty will devastate our economy while doing nothing to reduce temperatures.

The "Clean Power Plan" that the Obama administration submitted Tuesday to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change met an end-of-March deadline for contributions to a treaty in the final stages of negotiations.

But the proposal, known to climate negotiators as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, isn't new. Obama announced the goal of reducing emissions by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 as part of a joint climate pledge that he made in Beijing last November with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It remains, however, a dangerous sacrifice of U.S. progress and economic freedom on the altar of the climate change religion.