Friday, May 15, 2015

How Illinois Public Sector Unions Destroyed Chicago

By ProPublica

What happens when you’ve been kicking the fiscal can down the road for years, but the road suddenly hits a dead end? That’s what Chicago – and the state of Illinois – are about to find out.

Chicago’s immediate problem is yesterday’s credit downgrade by Moody’s Investors Services, which turned its debt to junk and could force the city to immediately come up with $2.2 billion to satisfy debts and other obligations.

When big cities have had debt crises – such as Detroit’s recent problems or New York City’s epic problems in the 1970s – states typically rode to the rescue in one way or another. But Illinois, which has the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, says it can’t help the stricken city.

The downgrade follows a Friday decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, which invalidated state limits on cost-of-living adjustments to state pensioners. The limits were part of a slate of reforms signed into law in 2013 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, to deal with underfunded pensions.

Moody’s said the court decision was key to its downgrade because the city has been hoping to dig out of its own financial hole by reducing cost-of-living adjustments, which typically raise the cost of pensions by close to 50 percent.

Chicago’s predicament actually has its roots in a 2003 decision by Illinois to kick the pension can down the road – by borrowing money to fund pensions rather than trying to get the benefits reduced or to stepping up payments to make them financially sound.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama's Iran Deal Lie Collapses

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Nation

Obama's Iran Deal Lie Collapses: Joel Pollak
Democrats get a taste of Obama’s arrogance: Jonah Goldberg
Obama's Third Class Temperament: Instapundit

Levin Rips ABC News and Stephanopoulos: Major Media Scandal: Scoop
Hillary continues to do and say nothing as unfavorables tick up: Hot Air
When Will Hillary Answer for Her Iraq Vote?: David Harsanyi

The Power Elite: Patrick J. Deneen
One Of Obama's Favorite Messages: Springer's Blog
Krauthammer Explains Why Obama Really Hates Fox News: Glob

Gay Marriage Activist was engineer in AMTRAK wreck: RS
Amtrak engineer had ranted online for more safeguards: Post
Why is Jade Helm 15 play spreading way out into West Texas?: J.E. Dyer

Economy

Obamacare Exchanges on Life Support: Michelle Malkin
Failure Theater: Elizabeth Warren edition: RS
DHS Asks Court to Dismiss H-4 Visa Lawsuit: Maria del Carmen Ramos

Scandal Central

Clinton Connections Paid Off for Indonesian Tobacco Tycoon: Lachlan Markay
Former CIA Official: WH's Story on Benghazi Talking Points Isn't Credible: Guy Benson
Five men charged with stealing millions in fraudulent tax returns: Ashley Carman

Climate & Energy

Follow the Money: Ceres Conference 2015: Chris Walker
In the climate debate, hear both sides: WUWT
Sen. Capito introduces legislation to halt EPA regulations on coal: Samuel Speciale

Media

The Hired Liars of Liberal Media: R.S. McCain
I never want to see George #Stephanopoulos moderate another debate: Moe Lane
Bill O’Reilly refuses to reveal results AFDI cartoon poll: FAM

‘Michelle Obama’s Lifetime of Microaggressions’: Rich Lowry
Mark Levin Lashes Out at Libs Politicizing Amtrak Disaster While Bodies Aren’t Even Cold Yet: Tatler
University Launches Insult-Reporting System That Records Offenders’ Social Security Numbers: NRO

Surging: Mark Levin Adds a Dozen New Affiliates--To His 300-Plus Roster: CNS
Going shirtless apparently is Democrat strategy for getting its candidates elected President: Obiter Dictum
Ted Cruz: Halperin Would Be Fired For Asking Obama Similar Racially Charged Questions: Inquisitr

World

Russians: If Iran cheats there will be no sanctions: RS
ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi: “Islam Is The Religion Of War”: WZ
Wanted: Western Professionals To Join The Islamic State (ISIS): MEMRI

Tijuana: 4 executed overnight: Borderland
Texas rest stop vandalized with Islamonazi graffiti: GWP
Gaza: Blast in Hamas training camp wounds 50, including children: JPost

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The accelerator in the Louvre: Glenn Roberts Jr. and Kelen Tuttle, Symmetry Magazine
Hackers use Starbucks app to skim bank accounts, credit cards: Michael Shulman
Latest self-driving Google car heading to public streets: Dee-Ann Durbin, Phys.Org

Cornucopia

How One Woman Earned Her Way Onto the Special Ops Battlefield: DefenseOne
“You Didn’t Earn That on Your Own; Somebody Else Did That For You” (take 5): MOTUS
Citizenfour HD high speed download.: Pilgrimbreak

Image: Latest self-driving Google car heading to public streets
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "North Korean boss Kim Jong Un had his defense minister executed by anti-aircraft gun for, among other crimes, falling asleep at a Kim-led meeting, according to South Korean intelligence. Yet another senseless victim of PowerPoint presentations." --Phil Rosenthal

Thursday, May 14, 2015

THE OBAMA DOCTRINE: Humiliation and Defeat

By Daniel Greenfield

John Kerry returns from his latest Russian visit bearing two baskets of potatoes and a t-shirt.

The t-shirt, given to him by Foreign Minister Lavrov, might as well say, “I wasted my time in Russia and all I got was this lousy shirt.”

It’s a diplomatic success only in relation to Kerry’s previous humiliations such as the time that Russia’s adeptly slimy foreign minister kept him waiting for a week before returning his call while the State Department spokeswoman announced to the world that Kerry was “ready to talk whenever Foreign Minister Lavrov can find the time.”

The Putin regime enjoys humiliating the United States, but even it seems to have tired of degrading Kerry who ruins their fun by failing to realize what is going on. Instead Kerry has become a nonentity; a forgotten messenger boy. It’s a fitting purgatory for the formerly tireless leftist activist in the Senate.

It wasn’t all that long ago that John Kerry was being touted as the last best hope for diplomacy. No one could quite admit that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had made a complete mess, but the sighs of relief when John Kerry got the job instead of Obama’s dishonest crony Susan Rice spoke volumes.

American diplomacy had never before hit the low point that it had under Obama and Clinton. Liberals with an interest in foreign policy had expected professionalism; instead the two politicians used it as their private piggy bank. Obama handed off ambassadorships to key countries to big donors while Hillary spent more time seeing to the interests of Clinton Foundation donors than to our national interests.

Obama had campaigned as an internationalist who would put aside the provincialism of the Bush years to build meaningful multilateral relationships based on his experience with other countries and cultures. But once in office, he treated visits to other countries like domestic campaign trips to obscure states.

Foreign leaders soon found out that an Obama visit was usually a cross between a photo op using their historical landmarks as background and a vacation. While his gaffes and embarrassing behaviors got the most attention, the underlying problem was that he didn’t understand what his job was. His routine of self-important speeches and announcements of billion dollar programs that would never materialize was built for his endless domestic campaign and its lapdog media. And it didn’t play well internationally.

ABC’S STEPHANOPOULOS GRILLED "CLINTON CASH" AUTHOR: Forgot to Note His Own Donations to Bogus Foundation

While Politico got credit for the story, it turns out it was Andrew Stiles at Washington Free Beacon who broke the original scoop.

ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos donated $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, records show. The contribution is publicly available information, but the host had not previously disclosed it to ABC viewers, despite taking part in on-air discussions about the Clinton Foundation and its controversial relationship with foreign donors.

...Stephanopoulos’s recent coverage of the topic has been challenged by critics who question his objectivity as a longtime Clinton aide. The host’s April 26 interview with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, for example, elicited partisan reactions after Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed the Schweizer to acknowledge the lack of a “smoking gun” among the allegations in his book...

Conservative commentators, meanwhile, complained about Stephanopoulos’s “aggressively” dismissive questioning, and took issue with a former Clinton operative asking Schweizer, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, about his “partisan interest” in writing Clinton Cash ... ABC News viewers should have also been reminded of the host’s connection to the Clintons, the politicians at the center of the discussion.


ISIS KINGPIG AL-BAGHDADI: "Islam is the religion of war"

My bad. Looks like I had a typo in the headline.

ISIS media released a video by its top general, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, that explains the "religious" duty of every Muslim is to wage war on the un-believers:

Click to Explodify
Do not think the war that we are waging is the Islamic State’s war alone. Rather, it is the Muslims’ war altogether. It is the war of every Muslim in every place, and the Islamic State is merely the spearhead in this war.

It is but the war of the people of faith against the people of disbelief, so march forth to your war O Muslims... March forth everywhere, for it is an obligation upon every Muslim who is accountable before Allah. And whoever stays behind or flees, Allah (the Mighty and Majestic) will be angry with him and will punish him with a painful torment.

...whoever thinks that it is within his capacity to conciliate with the Jews, Christians, and other disbelievers, and for them to conciliate with him, such that he coexists with them and they coexist with him while he is upon his religion and upon tawhīd (monotheism), then he has belied the explicit statement of his Lord.

Islam is the religion of war.

...This war is only against you and against your religion. Has the time not come for you to return to your religion and your jihād and thereby bring back your glory, honor, rights, and leadership?

...Your [Sunni and Kurd] repentance is more beloved to us than killing you or expelling you. Repent for we do not call you out of weakness. Rather, we call you while our swords are at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer from your necks. If you repent, you will not find from us anything except good and kindness.

[You ISIS fighters must] be patient, because the Crusaders are bleeding to death, the Rāfidah [Shiites] are faltering, and the Jews are horrified and in dread.

Shhhh. No one tell Ben Affleck.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM: Defense Bill Should Not Allow Illegal Aliens to Enlist in the Military

By Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA)

Despite the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted down repeated attempts to encourage the recruitment of illegal immigrants into the military, we are seeing yet another attempt to encourage such recruitment recently inserted into a must-pass defense funding bill.

Even worse, the push to recruit illegal immigrants is happening at a time when U.S. citizens are being downsized from the military or turned away by recruiters.

The House Armed Services Committee recently approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that encourages the secretary of defense to declare that illegal immigrants categorized under President Barack Obama’s first executive amnesty—Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—are “vital” to America’s national interest and thus eligible to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. Congressman Ruben Gallego’s, D-Ariz., amendment passed the committee with six Republicans joining all 27 Democrats.

The recruitment is being encouraged at the very same time the Pentagon is laying off tens of thousands of American troops. According to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, the active Army will be cut by more than 80,000 uniformed personnel by the end of fiscal year 2017.

Moreover, competition for enlistment is already so challenging that American high school graduates now face “more difficulty qualifying for the armed services than ever in the 40-year history of the all-volunteer force,” according to media reports.

Larwyn's Linx: Barack Obama, Media Critic

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Nation

Barack Obama, Media Critic: John Hinderaker
Lying, Inc.: Victor Davis Hanson
Fun Contest: What Will the GOP Establishment Sell Out on Next?: Ann Coulter

Post For Albert: Butthurt Cream On Aisle Nine: Taxicab Depressions
Ted Cruz reels in big New Hampshire endorsements: Henry J. Gomez
Illinois State Senator Barack Obama’s ‘Urban Agenda’: Larry Elder

On Iraq, Hillary Has Some Explaining to Do: Michael Warren
Jeb Bush’s Polish Problem: Leon H. Wolf
Patriot Games: Jeb Bush Offers Another Answer To Iraq Question: Ace

Democrats do the right thing on TPP: RS
Special Forces, Deputies Plan Week Long Exercises: WLTX
Why Is That Cop's Finger in Your Butt?: Jacob Sullum

Economy

Moody's downgrades Chicago schools, park district: ChiBiz
5 reasons Chicago is in worse shape than Detroit: MSN Money
Chicago's first junk-rating blow: $2.2 billion bank payout: ChiBiz

Scandal Central

Vermont driver’s privilege card fraud spreads to foreign countries: Bruce Parker
Two Indian-Americans arrested for H-1B visa fraud in US: DNAindia
New study says H-1B program undercuts U.S. tech jobs: David Weldon, FierceCIO

Media

Clinton Foundation donor can't explain role in Russian uranium deal: Sarah Westwood
Alan Colmes: FBI Should Investigate Clinton Foundation: Daniel Halper
Mika Brzezinski Calls Clinton’s “Moat” Barrier “Frustrating”: MSNBC

Popcorn: Left Slams 'Sexist' Obama Over Spat with Elizabeth Warren: Guy Benson
White Privilege: Another Liberal Distraction: Claire Hawks
University Report States That A Room Full of White People Is a Microaggression: RWN

Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future: AmPower
Smart Policing: Lock Up Liberals: Ann Coulter
Daily Show’s Jon Stewart roasts Mark Halperin’s interview of Ted Cruz: Erik Wemple

World

Qatar to Free Taliban Commanders Exchanged for Bergdahl: Breitbart
Obama Admin Is Training “About 90″ Syrians to Defeat ISIS …(That Ought to Do It): GWP
Leftism is Just Religion for the Godless, Continued: Ace

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

SEPTA Says Commuter Train Hit By Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed: CBS Philly
New blood tests, liquid biopsies, may transform cancer care: WRAL
The Ultimate Interface: Your Brain: Ramez Naam, SingularityHUB

Cornucopia

Document: Jade Helm Commander Plans to “Operationalize The CONUS Base": Old-Thinker News
“Why Is That Girl In the Senate Opposing My Plans?”: MOTUS
Government Censorship on the Rise: Betsy McCaughey

Image: Jeb Bush’s Polish Problem
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "Hillary Clinton, to be candid, is a habitual fabulist. She entered public life lying about everything from her 1-1000 cattle futures con to the location of her law firm’s subpoenaed legal documents. Recently she has been unable to tell the truth in any context whatsoever. She will lie about big and small, trivial and fundamental, from the immigrant myths about her grandparents to the origins of her own name Hillary to her combat exposure in the Balkans. The subtext of “what difference does it make” was something like: “Even if you find out that I lied about the run-up to and follow up on the Benghazi killings, it won’t matter in the least to my career.” She was right, of course, in her assumption that lying had career utility and brought more pluses than negatives, as her current presidential campaign attests.

Her press conference on the disappearing emails was unique in American political history in that everything Ms. Clinton said was, without exception, a demonstrable untruth. It is not that no one believes her, but rather than no one can possibly believe her when she insisted that she would have needed multiple devices for multiple email accounts, or that public officials routinely alone adjudicate what is and is not public and private communications, or that other cabinet officers apparently created, as she did, exclusively private email accounts — and servers — for public business or that security personnel on the premises protect the airwaves from hackers. Even her own supporters know that she lied, and trust that it likely will not hamper her presidential run. Her life has become about as real as that of Annie Oakley’s.

Both Hillary and Bill Clinton lied about almost every aspect of the Clinton Foundation. She knew that the foundation was created to spend 90% on travel and insider salaries and benefits, and 10% on direct grants to charities, that it offered thin moral cover to skullduggery, and that it drew donations from zillionaires, who in turn offered Bill Clinton lopsided lecture fees that he otherwise would not have commanded, and expected favorable U.S. government treatment for their cash. Hillary assumed that beneath the skin of a “charitable organization” the three Clintons ran a veritable shake down operation that resulted in mother, father, and daughter becoming multimillionaires. The Clintons will expect the issue to dissolve, either on the premise that the notoriety cannot do much more damage to the already sullied Clinton name, or that the Democratic Party feels that it can nominate no other candidate who raises as much money and is so recognizable as the proverbial prevaricator Hillary Clinton." --Victor Davis Hanson

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

BEST RESPONSE TO LIBERAL MEDIA’S LATEST LIE: Lack of Infrastructure Spending Caused Amtrak Crash

In 2009, didn't Barack Obama market his unprecedented $787 billion "Stimulus" program under the banner of repairing America's failing infrastructure? Why, yes, yes he did.

President Obama on Tuesday signed into law the largest spending bill in U.S. history, a package he pledges will save millions of jobs and bring the country back from the brink of economic catastrophe...

He said the federal government will send unprecedented levels of support into infrastructure, education, research, energy, health care and state government. He pledged to enact the bill with an "unprecedented level of transparency and accountability."

Fast forward to this week's tragic Amtrak accident. Cue legacy media jumping to the "You low-life taxpayers aren't spending enough money on infrastructure!" argument.

At least six people died and many more were injured in a terrible Amtrak accident on the night of May 12, and before the cause had been discovered, multiple cable news networks used the tragedy to make a political point.

Programming on CNN, CNBC and MSNBC all used the accident to claim the government needed to spend more on infrastructure all before National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators made an assessment to determine the cause of the crash.

Say, Dems: what the hell happened to that $787 billion anyhow?

Oh, and cue the real cause of the accident (hint: what happens when you crank a passenger train up to 106 MPH and hit a curve?):

The engineer of the Amtrak train that derailed near Philadelphia -- killing at least seven and sending more than 200 to area hospitals -- applied the emergency brakes just seconds before the train jumped the tracks while hurtling along at almost twice the speed limit, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said Wednesday.

NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt, stressing he was working with preliminary information, said the train was traveling at 106 mph as it entered a sharp curve where the speed limit was 50 mph. The engineer he said, launched a "full emergency brake application" a few seconds before the train derailed 11 minutes after leaving the Philadelphia station, crumpling cars and throwing around many of the 243 aboard.

Which leads me to the most astute response to liberal media's insane conclusion-jumping:



Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

AS IF IRAN WASN’T ENOUGH: WaPo Worries Obama is Helping China Proliferate Nuclear Weapons

Writing at the Washington Post, Steven Mufson observes that "Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns."

It seemed like a typical day for President Obama. He taped a TV interview on trade, hosted the champion NASCAR team on the South Lawn and met with the defense secretary in the Oval Office.

Not so typical was something that didn’t appear that day on the president’s public schedule: notification to Congress that he intends to renew a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. The deal would allow Beijing to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and pursue a facility or the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel. China would also be able to buy reactor coolant technology that experts say could be adapted to make its submarines quieter and harder to detect.

The formal notice initially didn’t draw any headlines. Its unheralded release on April 21 reflected the administration’s anxiety that it might alarm members of Congress and nonproliferation experts who fear China’s growing naval power — and the possibility of nuclear technology falling into the hands of third parties with nefarious intentions.

Mufson goes on to relay the ominous concerns of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. It worries not only about the proliferation of spent nuclear fuel from U.S.-designed reactors, which is bad enough, but the fact that Obama has also unleashed restrictions on key nuclear energy technologies like coolant pumps.

These pumps could be repurposed or reengineered for use in submarines.

Combined with then-President Bill Clinton's utterly criminal behavior, reportedly accepting donations in exchange for releasing key missile guidance technologies to the Red Chinese, it would seem that the leaders of the Democrat Party are determined to trigger a nuclear holocaust.

The only question is why?


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

D.C. PROF TELLS CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY: There are Way Too Many Crosses on Campus for Muslims to Pray

Eh, because... Crusades:

It just got surreal. George Washington University Law School Professor John Banzhaf filed a human rights complaint to the D.C. Office of Human Rights against Catholic University for hindering Muslim students’ free exercise of their faith due to the “excessive” amount of “Catholic imagery” on the campus. It seems that this man – who teaches at a different school across town – thinks that Catholic University’s adherence to the cultural aspects of Catholicism (we have a lot of artwork, Crucifixes, and statues in every nook and crany) keeps muslim students from praying the required five times a day.

...Just as an aside from a graduate of Catholic high school, at least, did Prof. Banzhaf not see the title of the university? Did he not see the GIGANTIC church on the university property we know as the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception? ... What part of “Catholic” isn’t sinking in? We’re into high art, Jesus hanging on the Cross, defending the separation of the sexes in dorms, etc. It’s part and parcel of the deal when you attend Catholic school.

Across the board, the 60-page complaint filed by Banzhaf has officials at Catholic University and just about every other corner scratching heads. [It seems that] no muslim students have voiced concern for the issues of which Banzhaf writes.

Dan from New York: "Still confused about what Pamela Geller is fighting against? Give the Muslims an inch and they'll take a mile. And of course, this is only their first step of what the Muslim cadres have already accomplished in Britain and Europe, where they’ve moved on to bigger and better things.
 
 
Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

STUNNING REPORT: Obama made up the whole story behind the Bin Laden raid to make himself look good

By Michael Snyder

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has uncovered one of the biggest lies in modern American history. It turns out that much of what the American public was told about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was a blatant lie. According to Hersh, Osama bin Laden had been captured by Pakistan all the way back in 2006, and he was being held by the ISI as a prisoner at the Abbottabad compound that the Seals ultimately raided in 2011. In addition, Hersh says that the ISI and Pakistan’s military knew about the Seal raid in advance. Arrangements were made so that the Black Hawk helicopters could travel through Pakistani airspace safely, and the ISI guards at Osama bin Laden’s compound were pulled away before the Seals got there. And by that time, Osama bin Laden was reportedly in such bad health that he was essentially a cripple. There was no “firefight” at all – only a turkey shoot. Afterwards, Osama bin Laden’s body never made it to the USS Carl Vinson for a “burial at sea”. That was all just part of the cover story according to Hersh. Of course the White House and Obama’s lackeys at CNN are strongly denying all of this, and they will continue to deny the truth for as long as they possibly can. But there are individuals in the U.S. military and in the U.S. intelligence community that can come forward and tell us what really happened. Let us hope that at least some of those individuals still care enough about this country to do that.

According to Hersh, one of the biggest lies that Obama told was that Pakistani leadership had no idea that the Seals were coming in. Actually, the truth is that the head of the army, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the director general of the ISI, General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, were both heavily involved in the planning of the operation. The following is an excerpt from Hersh’s article for the London Review of Books

So, About That Obama-McConnell "TPP" Trade Deal...

By Karl Denninger

The Senate finally did something intelligent on trade...

President Obama suffered a defeat at the hands of his own party on Tuesday, as Senate Democrats blocked a key component of the president's trade agenda. 

After fierce lobbying on both sides of the issue, the bid to start debate -- on expanding the president's authority to negotiate trade deals -- failed on a 52-45 vote. It needed 60 votes to advance ... "What we just saw here is pretty shocking," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, accusing congressional Democrats of standing with "special interests." 

Cut the crap Mitch.

The problem with these trade deals in general, whether it be NAFTA, the most-favored nation status granted to China and others, is that when they involve "developing" or "third world" nations they simply enable wage and environmental arbitrage.

It is expensive, in relative terms, to avoid poisoning the air, water and land.  There is little that is cheaper than simply running a pipe to the nearest body of water and dumping your toxic waste in it; essentially every means of treating that waste to make it safe, or recycling it is more expensive.  All things being equal if you're a manufacturer that uses toxic materials (and most do) if you can put your plant where nobody will stop you from dumping the toxic waste, you will.

Likewise, if the prevailing wage for jobs that are primarily manual labor and do not involve a high degree of skill is a nickel an hour in whatever the local currency is, while our minimum wage is a couple hundred times higher, all things being equal if you can put your plant where the prevailing wage is a nickel an hour you will.

Larwyn's Linx: 1.6 Million Immigrants from Predominantly Muslim Countries Since 9/11

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

Nation

1.6 Million Immigrants from Mostly Muslim Countries Since 9/11: Daniel Horowitz
American Exceptionalism: Christian Mercenary
Ted Cruz kindly suggests one simple rule for Barack Obama: John Hawkins

Why the Hell Would Republicans Provide Obama with a Blank Check on Trade? Scoop
Obama Tries to Revive Fast-Track Trade Bill After ‘SNAFU’: Roll Call
Rubio: U.S. admits 1 million immigrants a year, far more than any nation: PolitiFact

Disobey!: John Stossel
Speak Free or Die: Kurt Schlichter
America is a food stamp nation: Bob Livingston

The Return of Obama’s Hoax-Spreading Bitter Half: Michelle Malkin
Feds: Guns bound for Mideast found in Cedar Rapids clothing drive: KCRG
MD Man Beaten by Mob of Teens–Will There Be Riots?: Sara Noble

Economy

Chicago credit rating plummets to junk status following pension ruling: Trib
Doom: $40 Trillion Of National Debt Down The Road: Contra Corner
Almost Half Of US States Are Officially Broke: ZH

Scandal Central

Clinton Foundation Donors Fill Hillary’s Campaign Coffers: Lachlan Markay
Hillary Clinton email case reopened by federal judge: Stephen Dinan
Report: Cost of Federal Regulation Reached $1.88 Trillion in 2014: Elizabeth Harrington

Climate & Energy

UN Launching A Major Sustainable Development Agenda For The Entire Planet: Michael Snyder
Obama’s Energy Regulations To Cost Americans $460.5 Billion: Michael Bastasch
We Don't Need No Stinking Giant Fans: SDA

Media

More “Mission Accomplished” For The Media And Obama: Eugene Gant
WTF: Mark Halperin’s #NoMames Ted Cruz Interview About Senator’s ‘Cubanness’: Latino Rebels
Gay Hotel Owner Fires Back at 'Gay Extremists' for Anti-Ted Cruz Protests: Rosa Goldensohn

By Accepting Apology, Ted Cruz Sets Classy Example: Matt K. Lewis
That Awful Interview of Ted Cruz, and Why We Can Expect More: Jim Geraghty
Mark Halperin’s biased grilling of Ted Cruz: Jonah Goldberg

7 "Conservatives" Who Surprisingly Have Refused To Stand Behind Pam Geller: TPM
American Conservative Union ratings: Ted Cruz edges Marco Rubio, Rand Paul: George Bennett
Some Odds and Ends: Walter Williams

World

ISIS savagely mutilating women caught breast feeding in public: GWP
White House Hosts Teen Beaten by Israeli Police: Adam Kredo
Iran To Saudi Arabia: “We Will Cut Off Your Hand And Ignite The Flames Of War.”: Shoebat

Democrats block Obama on trade: Susan Ferrechio
Ted Cruz Gets The Iraq Question Right: Erick Erickson
Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns: Steven Mufson

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Designer of 3-D-printed gun challenges feds to Constitutional duel: Fox News
NSA chief wary of proxies: Sean Lyngaas
Tweeting To Order A Pizza Is Probably The Laziest Thing You Can Do: Chris Mills, Gizmodo

Cornucopia

A Community Activist, a Race-Baiter and a Straw Man walk into a bar….: Treehouse
Obama Threw A Party, But...: Springer's Blog
Racial brow-beating does not equate intelligence, or class: Obiter DIctum

Image: Designer of 3-D-printed gun challenges feds to Constitutional duel
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "With two Republican presidential candidates of Hispanic background (Cruz and fellow Cuban-American Marco Rubio) and one GOP hopeful that is a woman (Carly Fiorina) and another an African America (Ben Carson), the liberal authenticity police will be out in force. But rather than merely ignore them as Cruz, who kept his cool with Halperin did, this insidious bias needs to be shown for what it is: a desire by the media to delegitimize anyone who doesn’t conform to their ideas about identity politics as interpreted through the catechism of liberal ideology." --Jonathan Tobin

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Obama DHS busted shipping busloads of Somali Muslims into California

By Warner Todd Huston

Caught on video, a driver for a DHS transport bus told some folks at a California gas station that he was transporting Somali and African immigrants to detention centers in Victorville, CA.

Here you’ll see the video of a large, touring-bus-sized vehicle with covered windows, and featuring the logo of the Department of Homeland Security. The video was taken by Anita Fuentes on the corner of Route 395 and Bear Valley Rd in Victorville, CA about 161 miles away from the Mexican Border.

OBAMA GOES FULL TOTALITARIAN: "We're going to have to change how the media reports"

John Nolte catches the president showing not just a little ankle, but revealing his entire leg.

For going on seven years we have learned three things about President Obama: 1) He loves the poor so much he continues to create more of them. 2) He loves the poor so much he does everything in his power to keep them poor. 3) He doesn’t see the opposition as loyal, but as bad players — his enemy. This is especially true of Fox News, which Obama ripped as anti-poor bigots during a Wednesday afternoon summit on poverty.

...What was most revealing about the president’s comments was his expressed desire to “change how the media reports.”

Speaking of Fox News, the poor, and the way GOP leaders think, Obama said, [W]e’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues.”

After seven failed years, to watch Obama sit there and discuss the poor as though he is part of the solution and not the problem, is laughable.

As Nolte reminds us, Obama is completely unfamiliar with poverty and struggle. From prep schools to the Ivy League, his upbringing was one of exclusivity, privilege and wealth:

ELIZABETH WARREN STRIKES BACK AT OBAMA: Declassify the Trade Agreement!

By William Teach

I strangely find myself in agreement with Senator Warren

(Reuters) U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren hit back at President Barack Obama in their tussle over “fast-track” authorization to negotiate a Pacific Rim trade treaty, a power she says could be used in the future to weaken Wall Street reforms.

The president, who wants expedited negotiating power to streamline the passage of trade deals through Congress, said last week that Warren’s claims were “absolutely wrong.”

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and prominent liberal voice, stuck to her argument in an interview published on Monday with a Washington Post blog, saying Obama should release details of the Pacific trade talks so legal experts can determine if a pact could be used to weaken U.S. bank rules.

“If the president is so confident it’s a good deal, he should declassify the text and let people see it before asking Congress to tie its hands on fixing it,” Warren said in the interview with the Plum Line blog.

One has to wonder exactly why the trade deal is classified. Why it cannot be released for public view. Why Congress critters can only view it in a secure room, cannot have any recording devices, be watched over as you read it, and cannot take any notes they make with them.

From the Plum Line interview

"Postal Workers to Rally Against Human Progress"

That's my headline for the following article spotted at DMnews; their headline is the less accurate "Postal Workers to March for Expanded Hours, Services."

Members of the American Postal Workers Union will hold rallies in more than 85 cities this Thursday in a “National Day of Action” to call for expanded hours and the offering of new services such as banking to preserve jobs.

“U.S. Postal Service executives and the agency's board of governors are using a manufactured financial crisis to justify their strategy of reducing service, delaying mail delivery, and dismantling a great national treasure,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein in announcing the planned demonstrations. “Postal workers are fighting for a vibrant, public Postal Service that expands hours, offers new services, and gives quality service to people across the country.”

Pity no one told these budding rocket scientists that barring the invention of a time machine, followed by a sharp reversal of time -- say, back to the pre-Internet era of 1960 -- nothing is going to bring people back to the Post Office.

And that's ignoring the basic issue of its finances, which is no concern for Democrats, I know, but taxpayers are worried.

That's because the Post Office has lost more than $47 billion in the past decade. As Tyler Durden asks:

...why doesn't this bloated, anachronistic, money-losing zombie just go away and make way for the far more efficient and nimble private sector? After all, there are countless companies which could step in and do what the USPS does for a fraction of the cost?

Simple. The answer:

  • 489,727 career employees.
  • 137,037 non-career employees.

Or, as they are better known in D.C., voters.


Actually, I'm going to have to correct Tyler on one point. It's not the number of voters that D.C. fears; the elites piss off millions of voters all the time (e.g., open borders and illegal immigration). No, they fear the public sector unions that fund the Democrat Party.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.
 

Larwyn's Linx: The ‘Hate Speech’ Canard: Ticket to Tyranny

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Nation

The ‘Hate Speech’ Canard: Ticket to Tyranny: Tom Blumer
Breaking the Democrats' Electoral College Blue Wall: Richard Baehr
Pentagon It is Preparing For a Mass Civil Breakdown in America: John Hawkins

The amusing fight between the Clinton Foundation and Charity Navigator: Moe Lane
20 Days And Counting Since Hillary Clinton Took a Question From the Press: Glob
Washington's new odd couple: Obama and McConnell: Joseph Perticone

Republican Lawmakers Urge Court to Block Immigration Expansion: Todd Ruger
Myths about LA County's Successful 287(g) Program: Jessica Vaughan
Nullification Spreading: Minnesota Invalidates FDA Restrictions: Bob Adelmann

Clinton cash matters to every American: Peter Schweizer
The Real Takeaways From the Halperin-Cruz Interview: David Limbaugh
Jeb Bush, Common Core cronie$, Pearson, PARCC, and your kids’ privacy: Michelle Malkin

Economy

Will American capitalism be a victim of the rise of fascism-lite?: Bookworm
A Simple Infographic to Understand the Choice in 2016: RS
Reports: Hawaii’s Obamacare insurance exchange closing down at cost of $205 million: Twitchy

Scandal Central

Report: Clinton Foundation Tried to ‘Strong-Arm’ Leading Charity Watchdog: WFB
Federal Court Reopens State Dept. FOIA Lawsuit: “Newly Discovered Evidence” of Clinton Crimes: JW
‘Tar. Feathers. Some Assembly Required’: Camp o' the Saints

Climate & Energy

22 Very Inconvenient Climate Truths: WUWT
Antarctica Has So Much Sea Ice Global Warming Loons Have Trouble Getting There: WZ
Study: CO2 emissions have increased water-efficiency of European trees: Junk Science

Media

Arrogant Democrat Partisan Mark Halperin Subjects Ted Cruz to Racial Purity Test: Ace
Mark Halperin apologizes to Ted Cruz for questions about Cuban heritage: Ben Kamisar
Ted Cruz Introduces His Mom to the World: Tatler

Michelle Obama explains why Sarah Palin was treated so poorly by the media: Allen West
Michelle Obama Tells Black Grads That White People Make Life Tough: BuzzPo
Katie Couric Tries To Intimidate Carly Fiorina…And Fails : Tammy Bruce

Stalker Tries to Kill George Zimmerman: Treehouse
Banning Unruly Students from an Art Museum is Now Deemed Racist: iOTWreport
Totalitarian-Lovers at The Nation revert to form: RS

World

Child Sex Slaves Presented for Sale Naked at Islamic State Bazaars: MB
CNN: Radical Islam Is A ‘Made-Up Idea’: Caleb Howe
CNN quickly cuts away from Japanese leader saying TPP will enable free flow of people: By Howard Richman

Britain in Crisis: David Cameron’s troubles are just beginning: Theodore Dalrymple
The British elections: Cal Thomas
Big surprise in Britain: Conservatives Beat Labour — and the Polls: Michael Barone

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

The World in 2025: 8 Predictions for the Next 10 Years: SingularityHUB
Illinois police will use drones, won't say 'drones': Mona Lalwani
Google's self-driving cars involved in 11 accidents, says director: BusinessTodaya

Cornucopia

Carly Fiorina May Not Win, But Facing the Press Isn’t the Issue It Is for Hillary Clinton: Joe Concha
All Our Balls Are Deflated Around Here: MOTUS
Boston U. Professor Under Fire for ‘Problem Population’ Comment About White Men: Tina Nguyen

Image: Obama sends McConnell a note on Loretta Lynch
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Isn't it time for a real conservative? Ted Cruz 2016: Official Site

QOTD: "The candidacy of Carly Fiorina is a fascinating one from a media perspective. She’s a former CEO and political candidate…with both of those pursuits ending with her being dismissed.

The easy line of questioning of Ms. Fiorina has become apparent early and often regardless of the many outlets she’s appeared on since announcing her candidacy last week, and it sounds something like this:

If you got fired as CEO of a company, what makes you think you could be president?

If and when Hillary Clinton—the likely Democratic nominee—actually sits down for a major interview in any capacity, it will be interesting if she’s faced with the same scrutiny regarding her performance in her last job as Fiorina has endured. To that end, feel free to answer these questions: What was Mrs. Clinton’s signature achievement as Secretary of State for five years? And if we’re going through the full LinkedIn page…what was her signature achievement as senator? Why was she fired by Democratic voters in 2008 in favor of another candidate who wanted to be CEO of the party…and of the country for that matter?" --Joe Concha

Monday, May 11, 2015

Illinois Supreme Court Rules That State Taxpayers are Now Slaves to Public Sector Unions

By Steve Bartin

Illinois taxpayers learned this week that they are essentially slaves if they live in the state of Illinois.

The Illinois Supreme Court just ruled that public pensions do not have to abide by the laws of mathematics. This means taxpayers are on the hook for actuarially impossible to pay pensions for public employees.

The Illinois Supreme Court's decision to strike down a landmark pension law also blew up Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's budget plan and put pressure on him and the Democratic-led legislature to swiftly increase taxes to resolve state government's financial crisis.

IT’S DONE: Stick a Fork in the "Green Energy" Movement

By Stephen Moore

The green energy movement in America is dead. May it rest in peace. No, a majority of American energy over the next 20 years is not going to come from windmills and solar panels. One important lesson to be learned from the green energy fad’s rapid and expensive demise is that central planning doesn’t work.

What crushed green energy was the boom in shale oil and gas along with the steep decline in the price of fossil fuel that few saw coming just a few years ago.

A new International Energy Agency report concedes that green energy is in fast retreat and is getting crushed by “the recent drop in fossil fuel prices.” It finds that the huge price advantage for oil and natural gas means “fossil plants still dominate recent (electric power) capacity additions.”

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Most of the government experts—and many private investors too—bought into the “peak oil” nonsense and the forecasts of fuel prices continuing to rise as we depleted the oil from the Earth’s crust. Oil was expected to stay way over $100 a barrel and potentially soon hit $200 a barrel. National Geographic infamously advertised on its cover in 2004 “The End of Cheap Oil.”

Barack Obama told voters that green energy was necessary because oil is a “finite resource” and we would eventually run out. Apparently, Obama never read “The Ultimate Resource” by Julian Simon which teaches us that human ingenuity in finding new resources outpaces resource depletion.