Saturday, January 14, 2012

Larwyn's Linx: The Largest (and, Of Late, the Dumbest) Ideological Group

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

The Largest (and, Of Late, the Dumbest) Ideological Group: Digest
"Numbers changing" in Iowa results: Santorum may be victor: FAM
Romney is beatable, but only if conservatives toughen up: Telegraph

White House knew before midterms: Solyndra layoffs were coming: Ace
Bloomberg's Law: Steyn
Michelle Obama sees Barack's 'wonderful progress' in jeopardy: IBD

The Leaf-Blower Paradox and the Fallacy of Obamanomics: Zombie
The Improbable Gingrich Scenario: Patterico
Nutter Fumes After 3 Teens Killed In Reprisal Shooting: CBS Phil

Economy

Obama Called Smaller Bush Debt Rise “Unpatriotic”: Dossier
Mercedes apologizes for using mass-murderer Che in ads: WZ
UAW Thugs Appeal Conviction--And Get Stiffer Sentences: Howling

Confusion reigns: did Bain advise W.H. on auto bailout?: Peth
Lethargic Obama: Townhall
2008 Chart Comparison: ZH

Gunrunner & Energygate

Green Energy Sinkhole: Obama’s $6.5 Billion Junk Bond Empire: VS
White House: We Didn't Tell The NHSTA To Keep The Volt Engine Fires Secret. That Just Sort of Happened.: Ace
Another ATF weapons operation comes under scrutiny: LAT

Climate & Energy

Al Gore said North Pole would be ice-free this year. Guess not, eh?: GWP
CBS: Obama admin spent $6.5 billion on risky green-tech ventures: Hot Air
Top 8 Videos of Alaska’s Record Snow: Blaze

Media

New York Times: Hey, Liberals, Do You Think We're Biased Enough? Or Could We Do More?: Ace
A Portrait of the First Lady as an Angry Young Woman: AT
Morbidly Obese, Never-Was Director: Older Whites That Didn't Vote for Obama Are Racist: NB

MSNBC's Alex Wagner Mutters "Jesus" During Santorum Clip: RCP
Team Obama Defends DNC Chief Wasserman Schultz From “Debbie Downer” Ads: WZ
Ringing Finally Ended, but There’s No Button to Stop Shame: NYT

New AFP ad: You want to talk about layoffs? Let’s talk about Solyndra, then: Hot Air
Mark Levin: Count me a staunch supporter of Marines who pissed on Taliban corpses: Scoop
Bill Maher Admits His Audience Are 'Brainwashed Liberals': NB

World

West: “Unless You Have Been Shot At By The Taliban, Shut Your Mouth, War Is Hell”: WZ
Five of the Most Expensive Military Weapons on Earth: Blaze
The European Credit Downgrades Begin: ConCom

IDF Enlists Computer Hackers to Serve in C4I Cyber-Warfare Unit: Blaze
Defiant Ahmadinejad wins backing of four LatAm allies: Breitbart
US, Iranian ships involved in incidents in Strait of Hormuz: Fox

Sci-Tech

Google, what were you thinking?: Mocality
Air Force Drone Controllers Embrace Linux, But Why?: InfoWk
The New Gmail Sucks: Crooked Timber

Cornucopia

This Just In from the Civil War: The Confederate Submarine H.L.Hunley Has Risen Again: Digest
A tribute to Mooch-elle: Knuckle-draggin'
Food for thought for politicians: ALZ

Kevin Love vs. Sumo Wrestler - ESPN Sport Science: ESPN
Ronald Reagan vs. Washington: Mellow Jihadi
Our Run-Away Election Campaign: MOTUS

Image: MLK Memorial, adapted from iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support a Constitutional Conservative: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "In fact, Pew does not claim to have found, as the AP falsely asserts, that “tensions between rich and poor are increasing.” It finds, rather, that “perceptions of class conflict” and “the belief that these disputes are intense” have become more prevalent, especially since 2009.

It isn’t hard to understand why that might be the case. After all, what have Americans seen when they turned on the news over the past few years? In the White House, a president who, for want of political or managerial competence, has nothing to offer but bitter partisanship and ideologically driven class resentment. In public parks around the country, professional protesters and ignorant college kids ranting about their grievances against “the 1%.” ... The perception of “class conflict” has grown because the media have paid the putative conflict so much attention. They have done so in part for ideological reasons–lefty journalists have had a weird preoccupation with “income inequality” for as long as we can remember–but also in part because it’s newsworthy, especially when the president of the United States is trying to foment class war.

It would also be newsworthy if he succeeded–and that is the story the AP is trying to peddle. But Pew’s findings show it is a phony war. If underlying “tensions between rich and poor” were really rising, the survey would have found some evidence of actual hardening of attitudes across socioeconomic lines." --James Taranto (via Instapundit)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Mission Accomplished!

"Under my plan of a cap and trade system, [energy prices] would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was... [t]hey will pass that money on to consumers." --Barack Obama, 1 November 2008

Mission accomplished.

This graph depicts gas prices since the inauguration of Barack H. Obama.

After years of searching, I've finally discovered a campaign promise that Obama actually followed through with.


Oh, mama - how do I get me one of these?

Because I don't spend quite enough time online.

Lumus, an Israeli company, specialises in what it calls Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology... It's latest product is the PD-18-2, which may look to the untrained eye like a cumbersome pair of sunglasses.

But inside the lenses of the glasses, the user can see high-quality full colour images.

...Products like this are already on the market for professional and military use, but where the next-generation PD-18-2 differs is that users can see though the spectacles too, instead of having the images block their vision.

The translucent lenses allow for what the manufacturer calls 'augmented vision', overlaying images or graphics over your usual field of vision.

They are designed for professionals such as pilots, surgeons and soldiers but there are hopes that it can be adapted for the consumer market so people could watch film or TV on the move, or play video games as they walk around.

...the possibility of a move into the consumer market has already brought mixed reactions from technology watchers.

It could be extremely useful as a portable GPS system, but there are concerns that it could be distracting for pedestrians who can often be seen walking round with their heads buried in mobile phones.

What??? This is an awesome innovation!

'Cause when I think of "augmented vision", I can't help but recall those "X-Ray Specs" that were advertised in the comic books of my youth.

Because I'm mature like that.


Hat tip: Drudge Report.

Obama: I demand Congress give me new powers, and in return, I'll cut nearly 1/400th of the debt limit increase I need

Turns out that President Subprime McDowngrade hasn't quite destroyed enough of America's economy. He wants Congress to give him the authority to centralize even more power. And what could possibly go wrong with that?

President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and his first idea is merging six sprawling trade and commerce agencies whose overlapping programs can be baffling to businesses...

Well that sounds good. How much would the new, combined bureaucracies save?

Jake Tapper noted on Twitter that the proposed savings, $3 billion, is one-four-hundredth of the debt limit increase he just requested from Congress.

It’s also less than half of what Obama tossed away on his supposed green-tech jobs stimulus.

In other words, the President wants new powers over these vast bureaucracies (and guess who will benefit? Hint: starts with the letter U and ends with NIONS).

[Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell laughs at the irony of a President who has spent the last three years expanding government attempting to blame Congress for not reducing it...

Turns out the man who routinely pillories Congress as a "do-nothing" group is now communicating with his partners in the Capitol Building through... the media.

...a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was quick to respond with little enthusiasm.

“After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it’s interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control,” said spokesman Don Stewart.

“And while we first learned of this proposal this morning in the press, we’ll be sure to give it a careful review once the White House provides us with the details of what it is he wants to do.”

I wonder why this move appears so harried, so rushed, so unplanned?

He made a promise to come up with a smart reorganization of the government in his last State of the Union speech. That was nearly a year ago.

Oh. I guess he realized that someone in the media would pull up his last State of the Union address and figure out how many of his myriad promises actually came to pass. Answer: none.

If I could make the decisions for the GOP leadership, I'd grant the president's request... on the condition that the combined agencies' budgets were slashed 20 percent. Failure to achieve those cost-cutting goals in 2012 would result in automatic, mandatory 50 percent budget reductions for those areas.

How's that for cost savings?


Politico hacks: Ron Paul third-party run would kill GOP chances even though most Paul-bots are college-age students who vote Democrat

The last scintilla of credibility possessed by the Democrat public relations journal known as Politiho appears to have been sacrificed at the altar of Ron Paul:

...a Democratic polling firm finds that President Barack Obama's support holds up well if an independent candidate like Michael Bloomberg or Ron Paul were to enter the race...

"Our poll shows that as a third-party candidate, Ron Paul would take 18 percent of the vote in a matchup against Obama and Romney. Almost all of this comes at Romney’s expense. Nearly tied in a head-to-head matchup against the president, Romney’s vote plummets when Paul is added to the ballot, losing 12 points of his vote share.

...While Romney’s support drops off in the face of a third-party challenge, Obama remains strong at 42 percent (12 points ahead of Romney). Thirty-one percent of Romney voters in the two-way matchup defect... [but] only 12 percent of Obama voters defect.

Gee, Politico, the demographics of Ron Paul voters are so hard to research. Finding this WaPo article took me all of, oh, about 12 seconds.

...Paul’s supporters are disproportionately young, independent, non-interventionist, non-Christian and perhaps most telling, dedicated...

• In the Iowa poll, Paul gets more than 50 percent support from the two youngest age groups — 18-29 year olds and 30-44 year olds — but gets less than 12 percent of 45-64 year olds and those 65 and older. In the Post poll, he gets 20 percent among 18-49 year olds, but just 8 percent among those 50 and older. That’s a remarkable age gap.

• The Post poll shows Paul winning 16 percent of independents and only 11 percent of Republicans.

Gosh, Politiho, it's really difficult to detect your true motivation.

Pity your analysis is about as accurate as the rest of the tripe you publish. A Ron Paul run would damage Barack Obama's chances at least as much as the GOP candidate's. And, given the fact that Paul's national security policies are to the left of Dennis Kucinich, he'd definitely capture a large chunk of the moonbat vote.


Related: 10 Fun Facts You May Not Have Known About Ron Paul

Why God sends rain to Mexico but not to the Middle East [Papa B]

Papa B:


It would seem that the political correctness gene skipped Papa B's particular generation.


Larwyn's Linx: Everything Is At Stake, All Right

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Constitutional Crisis

Everything Is At Stake, All Right: DLim
Grassley Not Buying DOJ’s Non-Recess Appointment Apologia: Foundry
DOJ memo argues Obama recess appointments were legal: Hill

Nation

It’s Not Over Until All ‘57 States’ Vote: BigGovt
Obama’s “Razist” Lobbyist Moves Up: Malkin
More Democrats Than Republicans Voted For Ron Paul In NH: Fox

Santorum makes the case against Mitt Romney’s “electability”: Hot Air
Giuliani: "What the Hell Are You Doing, Newt?": Hayward
Santorum Adds Staff, Offices, Money, Endorsements in S.C.: RSM

Obama "didn't want to take pictures with any more soldiers": BuzzFeed
Carney: We're not hiding POTUS' campaign activities...: WZ
Why Obama's Florida Numbers Should Worry Him: RCP

Economy

Union Protesters Growing Desperate in Indiana: Blaze
Obama Chic: Now Selling Campaign Gear for the One Percent: Wizbang
Occupy protesters chant as Obama's 26-car motorcade passes: Marathon

Internal DHS Survey: Obama promoting immigration, not security: WZ
In ‘Right to Work’ Battle, Narrative Trumps Fact on NPR: PJM
Illegally Appointed NLRB Hack Helped Block Reform at Corrupt Union: Foundry

Climate & Energy

Doomsday Clock Moves To 5 Minutes, Partly Due To Climate Change Hoax: Pirate's Cove
Al Gore: If Global Warming isn’t a Campaign Issue, Civilization is at Risk: Malkin
Warmer summers cause colder winters, scientists say: Reuters

Media

Friedman Cheers as Egyptians Are Enslaved: BRubin
Iranian Filmmaker: 'Michael Moore Is the Most Famous Director in Iran': NB
Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Scott Brown... and Mitt Romney: Riehl

Romney on Campaign Finance Reform, 2002: Ace
Should we legalize drugs and prostitution like Ron Paul wants?: Wintery Knight
Dems Licking Their Chops Over Romney: Riehl

The Sacred Narrative: Behold, the Sanity of the Center-Left: PJM
Four-Hour PBS Documentary To Explore Bill Clinton, And I'm Sure They'll Cover the Womanizing: Ace
Brangelina swing by White House for chat with Obama: Fox

For Belafonte and Other Progressive Blacks, Reality of the Obama Presidency a Bitter Pill to Swallow: BigGovt
‘Tactical Voters’ went to Romney in New Hampshire: Barone
Paulbots Hack Celebrity Twitter Accounts, Post Ron Paul Endorsements: WZ

World

North Koreans Who Weren’t Sufficiently Hysterical Over Kim Jong-Il’s Death Headed to Labor Camps: JWF
Things Vladimir Putin is not too busy for: ForPol
Taliban Says Peace Talks With Obama Admin “Don’t Signal An End To Jihad”: WZ

The Global War Against Baby Girls: AEI
Obama’s Disastrous Islamist Outreach: Creeping
Children 'dumped in streets by Greek parents who can't afford to look after them any more': Daily Mail

Obama Administration Airbrushes Britain out of Europe: Foundry
State Dept’s #2 diplomat meets with Muslim Brotherhood: Creeping
Another Pyrrhic Victory in Mexico’s Drug War: Cato

Sci-Tech

The Hack on Stratfor: Stratfor
Acura NSX Concept: Insider
How to cut the cord on cable: Insider

Cornucopia

SCOAMF: Then and Now: Ace
Rogue Ringtone Halts a Maestro: WSJ
Speaking of Holding Noses: Sondrakistan

Image: Wolf Files
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Rick Santorum for President!

QOTD: "We can endlessly debate whether he is such a devoted ideologue that he’s blind to his policy failures, whether he’s willing to sacrifice the economy and the fiscal integrity of the United States for his perceived higher good of radical redistribution, or whether he really intends to do harm, but these are moot questions anymore. Under any of these possibilities, the fact remains that he is hellbent on accelerating his present course, not reversing it, on dictating, not working within his constitutional constraints, much less building a bipartisan consensus." --David Limbaugh

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Fun Coincidence: Obama's State of the Union Speech Will Mark 1,000 Days Without Democrats Passing a Budget

For three years -- including two years with super-majority control of both houses of Congress -- Democrats have avoided passing a budget. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed the Paul Ryan budget within weeks of the GOP taking control in 2011.

President Obama is sure to try to blame Republicans in both chambers for his administration’s failed economic policies. However, on the 1,000th day without a Democrat budget, the President will be forced to explain how anyone else is to blame; it is his party’s Senate leaders who have ignored their basic Congressional responsibility for almost three years...

A short look back on the fiscal recklessness of the last few years shows that if President Obama is upset about budget hostilities in Washington, he has no one to blame but himself. If he is serious about fixing the ailing economy, the President should demand Senate Democrats get back to work:

• 0: Number of Senate votes taken on the massive Democrat spending package crafted last year in place of an actual budget.
• 0: Number of votes the President’s FY 2012 budget received in the Senate.
• 0: Senate Budget Committee budget mark-ups scheduled last year.
• 3: Number of years the deficit has topped $1 Trillion.
• 3: Number of years total government spending has exceeded $3 Trillion.
• 34: number of months unemployment has been above 8 percent, the jobless rate the “stimulus” was supposed to prevent.
• 1.4 million: number of jobs killed by President Obama
• $16.4 Trillion: amount of debt held by the nation after three years of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending binge.

When President Obama blames a "do nothing" Congress, perhaps he should lean over and wink at Harry Reid, who has intentionally avoided passage of a budget for three consecutive years, an act of fiscal irresponsibility without parallel in modern American history.


Good News: Federal Highway Funds Used to Buy Bus Stop Shelters for a Mere $106,000 each

Well, golly gee, Granny Botox, these lovely covered benches certainly appear to be bargains at twice the price!

Should a simple bus shelter -- basically a few benches covered by a roof -- cost as much to build as a three-bedroom house?

That's a question that is provoking outrage and official embarrassment in the southern Oregon city of Grants Pass, which this week signed off on a project to build five bus shelters at an estimated cost of $106,000 apiece.

To some, the price tag is particularly galling given the increasingly fierce competition for dwindling federal highway dollars, which are paying for the project.

"The price is obviously high," said Grants Pass Mayor Mike Murphy, clearly chagrined at the negative publicity his city is getting. "It makes everyone want to hold their nose and gag a little bit here."

But he said the city has little control over the construction cost, which is dictated by a combination of federal and state spending rules. So what was supposed to be a symbol of civic progress instead has turned into an object lesson in the way government makes itself look bad.

"The feeling in the community is this is an outrageous use of federal money and so we should turn it down," Murphy said. All that would do, he said, is send the dollars elsewhere and deprive the city -- population 33,225 -- and its small, four-route bus system of some attractive shelters.

But there's nothing to cut from the federal budget!

And what would the children do, if we cut even a single dollar? What of the children? And the clowns?


Hat tip: Laughing Conservative.

Barack the Magician's Latest Trick: Made One Million Workers Disappear

Investors Business Daily calls it, simply, "Unprecedented."

Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped by 24,000 last week to 399,000 as more workers lost their jobs, the Labor Department said Thursday. At the same time, the economy continues to lose workers.

In the 30 months since the recession officially ended, nearly 1 million people have dropped out of the labor force — they aren't working, and they aren't looking — according to data from Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the past two months, the labor force shrank by 170,000.

This is virtually unprecedented in past economic recoveries, at least since the BLS has kept detailed records. In the past nine recoveries, the labor force had climbed an average 3.5 million by this point, according to an IBD analysis of the BLS data.

...According to the BLS, the "labor force participation rate" — the ratio of the number of people either working or looking for work compared with the entire working-age population — is now 64%, down from 65.7% when the recession ended in June 2009. That's the lowest level since women began entering the workforce in far greater numbers several decades ago.

If you adjust for this drop, the unemployment rate would be close to 11%, instead of the official 8.5%.

At this rate, the completely politicized Bureau of Labor Statistics should just remove a few more million workers from the labor force, so they can get the unemployment rate down to, say, 4.8%. Like it was during those nightmarish Bush years.


Related: Obama Labor Politburo Now Publishing Patently Bogus Unemployment Propaganda.

Gallup: Conservatives Remain Largest Ideological Group in U.S.

How a center-right country elected one of the most radical leftists imaginable to the office of president remains one of the great mysteries of science.

Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This marks the third straight year that conservatives have outnumbered moderates, after more than a decade in which moderates mainly tied or outnumbered conservatives...

...The percentage of Americans calling themselves "moderate" has gradually diminished in the U.S. since it was 43% in 1992. That is the year Gallup started routinely measuring ideology with the current question. It fell to 39% in 2002 and has been 35% since 2010. At the same time, the country became more politically polarized, with the percentages of Americans calling themselves either "conservative" or "liberal" each increasing.

This chart helpfully breaks out those liberals into their various sub-segments.

No. No, I didn't. I never made any modifications to the chart.

Not that you know of.


Man of the people: Obama unveils high-priced, designer campaign fashions

Nothing appeals to the middle class during a brutal recession like overpriced, haute couture Obama logo gear.

Forget those pedestrian campaign t-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers. The Obama Campaign has officially gone upscale and chic in an effort to help re-elect the president in 2012.

Their new “Runway to Win” line of designer campaign swag is now for sale in the campaign’s online store, featuring colorful $85 tote bags by big name designers Vera Wang and Diane Von Furstenberg and a $75 version by fashion favorite Tory Burch.

Looking for a t-shirt? Stars Marc Jacobs, Beyonce, Sean Combs and Jason Wu — who designed Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown — have each contributed a design...

...The priciest of the 13 items listed online is a $95 for a Thakoon-designed silk scarf... Standard campaign t-shirts, it should be noted, cost $30, while a simple canvass tote costs $50 in the same online store...

...The money raised from the sale of campaign-themed apparel and accessory benefits the Obama Victory Fund...

The full list of participating designers: Tory Burch, Marc Jacobs, Beyonce & Tina Knowles, Derek Lam, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez, Tracy Reese, Narcisco Rodriguez, Rachel Roy, Thakoon Panichgul, Grace Tsao-Wu & Laura Kofoid, Diane Von Furstenberg, Marcus Wainwright & David Neville, Jason Wu, Altuzarra, Richard Blanch, Eddie Borgo, Georgina Chapman & Keren Craig, Sean Combs, Prabal Gurung, Monique Pean, Russell Simmons and Vera Wang.

That's the full list of designers that you should boycott (along with any company that sells their crap), since they obviously support the destruction of this republic.


Hat tip: @AmandaCarpenter.

Helpful Flowchart: Should I Vote for Barack Obama?

The Looking Spoon:

I also have a simpler flowchart that I use with drones Democrats. It's really just a "Yes/No" deal:

Q: Do you favor the current course of fiscal irresponsibility, which will bankrupt America and needlessly sentence future generations to poverty and misery?

If you answered "Yes", please vote for Barack Obama. If you answered "No", please support Rick Santorum for President.


Larwyn's Linx: Keep Their Feet to the Fire

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Keep Their Feet to the Fire: Shapiro
Photo ID provisions important to securing elections: Gingrich
All Of A Sudden, Romney Has A Narrative He Can Win With: HayRide

White House 'Insourcing' Photo Op Becomes Romney Bashfest: JWF
Newt Surges: within Error Margin of Romney in SC: Ricochet
Now We Will See the Real Obama: P&F

Project Veritas stings New Hampshire Voter ID-less laws: Moe Lane
Former Rep. Artur Davis on NH: ‘Voter fraud is common’: DC
Eighth Democrat Indicted for NY Ballot Fraud : MenRec

Economy

Who wouldn’t enjoy firing these people?: Coulter
Barack “Occupy” Obama Attending Five Fundraisers This Week: VS
Facing the Arithmetic: Whittle

State of the Union: 1,000 Days Without a Democrat Budget: ATR
Univision Attempts to Blackmail Marco Rubio: Elder
IN Right-to-Work: Unions Protest, Democrats Boycott: Watchdog

Gunrunner & Energygate

New E-mail Blows Hole in Obama’s “Fast and Furious” Story: Western
Like the Failed ATF “Fast and Furious”, the DEA is Trying to Track Money They’ve Given to Cartels: HispSpkng
Regime’s latest Fast and Furious claims scuttled by ATF Director’s emails: Coach is RIght

Climate & Energy

EPA: When reality meets bureaucratic inertia: Q&O
Supreme Court justices critical of EPA in wetlands case: CattleNet
Obama vows to back EPA no matter how many jobs it destroys: Fox

Media

Good Grief… 51% of Huntsman Voters are Satisfied With Obama as President: GWP
Angry Moochelle Angry Over “Angry Black Woman” Stereotype: JWF
A Peek Inside the Bitter Half’s Mind: Moonbattery

Tavis & West Radio Show Edits Out Harry Belafonte Criticism of Obama: NB
Axelrod Defends Jeremiah Wright, Says He Was Victim of Selective Editing: BigGovt
Credit Where It’s Due: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times Both Slam Obama’s Foreign Policy Record: BigJourn

Femme-a-gogue Debbie Wasserman Schultz smears Tea Party, exploits Tucson massacre anniversary: Malkin
Stop Scrutinizing Romney, Dammit!: Cold Fury
How Team Romney Will Sell Out Conservatives: Riehl

Did Allen West just get screwed by the Florida GOP?: Shark Tank
A note to the GOP leadership and all the establishment conservatives...: ProWis
Romney Has Lied and Maligned For Years, It's Time He Paid For It: Riehl

World

2nd Carrier Arrives: CVN 70 Carl Vinson Joins CVN 74 Stennis In Arabian Sea, Off Straits Of Hormuz: ZH
This Jihad’s Jumpin’ / It’s Really Jumpin': Camp o' the Saints
Mercedes-Benz Uses Communist Madman Che Guevara to Sell Luxury Cars: Foundry

Rutherford Arsonists Target Congregation Beth El Rabbi with Molotov Cocktails: Blaze
Defense Spending Is a Shovel-Ready Investment: Hanson
US naval strike group arrives in Arabian Sea as tensions rise with Iran: Fox

Sci-Tech

SOPA foes warn: Not much time left to act: CNet
Microsoft Bets Big on Kinect for Windows, But Splits Its Community: Wired
Best of CES 2012 Slideshow: NetWorld

Cornucopia

I've Come Up With My Slogan For 2012: Sweasel
Lady M Does Damage Control: Watch It Sucka!: MOTUS
Stuff I Like: LG Blast Chiller: Marfdraft

Image: Network World: Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "Since the days of Herbert Hoover, conservatives have rallied around Republican presidents. Republicans are their guys. No matter that Eisenhower prompted the growing power of Arabism in the Middle East; no matter that Nixon imposed price and wage controls and kowtowed to China; no matter that Reagan raised taxes after cutting them; no matter that George H.W. Bush raised taxes after promising not to; no matter that George W. Bush imposed steel tariffs, created a massive new entitlement program, blew up the education budget and bailed out Wall Street. They were our guys.

And then we wonder why our country has moved to the left. It’s not the fault of the politicians; we can throw the bums out all day long, and it won’t do any good. The answer is more basic: We have to be loyal to principle, not people. Politicians will not save us. We will save ourselves by holding our politicians’ feet to the fire." --Ben Shapiro

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The 2012 Campaign: 'It's Going to Get Really Ugly'

Jeffrey Carter at Points and Figures asserts that Bill Daley's retreat from the White House can mean only one thing: "It's going to get really ugly"

Bill Daley leaving the Obama administration was big news for ten minutes. But as my friend Streetwise Professor and I discussed on Twitter after the news broke, this really signals a big change in direction on how Obama will campaign.

It’s going to get really ugly. How ugly? Think of the election cycle from 1796-1804. It will be that ugly. The culmination of those election cycles was a duel by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, with Hamilton losing his life after the gun battle.

Both Hamilton and Jefferson manipulated the press of that time to scandalize the other side. Character assassination is a mild phrase to use when describing the vitriol that went back and forth. Look for more in the coming months.

A parallel development, according to Ace, appears to be laying the groundwork for attacks on Mitt Romney's religion by President Subprime McDowngrade.

Turns out that Obama's Svengali -- David Axelrod -- says that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's speeches were, eh, "selectively edited":

Nonsense, of course.

Here's where my ears prick up: I have said before that Obama could not possibly make Romney's Mormonism a campaign issue because of Obama's membership in an actual cult of hatred.

Right? One would imagine.

But is Axelrod's out-of-the-blue attempt to relitigate Jeremiah Wright, and claim he was quoted out of context by opposition researchers, an attempt to begin insulating Obama against charges about Wright, and thus freeing Obama and the Democrats attack Romney's Mormonism?

Ace, Ace, Ace... for a man who has compiled this list of historic firsts, you think that attacking his opponent's religion would be taboo?

As for sanitizing Jeremiah Wright's remarks, well, that might prove a tad difficult, Axelputz:

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, G*d d**n America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people... G*d d**n America for treating our citizens as less than human. G*d d**n America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

On 9/16/01, blaming the U.S. for the 9/11 attacks: "We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye... We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost!"

"The government invented HIV to kill the man of color!"

In 2007, awarding the Church's Trumpeter award to racist Louis ("The Jews helped Hitler get the Third Reich on the road") Farrakhan: "Farrakhan epitomizes greatness."

"Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people."

"Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain't! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty!"

"We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional killers. ... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. ... We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. ... We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means... And ... And ... And! God! Has got! To be sick! Of this s**t!"

I don't know about you, but my preacher talks like this all the time.


Operation Grand Slam Nears Completion in Europe: Complete, Total Meltdown of Financial System

Mike Shedlock -- who has a damn good track record on macroeconomics over the past several years -- uses the following headline, which actually understates the problem.

Europe’s $39 Trillion Pension Time Bomb Explodes in 2012...


Even before the euro crisis, people were worried about Europe’s pension bomb.

State-funded pension obligations in 19 of the European Union nations were about five times higher than their combined gross debt, according to a study commissioned by the European Central Bank. The countries in the report compiled by the Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University in 2009 had almost 30 trillion euros ($39.3 trillion) of projected obligations to their existing populations.

...Stable or falling birthrates, plus rising life expectancies, are adding to pressures, with the proportion of economic output devoted to spending on retirement benefits projected to rise by a quarter to 14 percent by 2060, according to the ECB report.

Europe has the highest proportion of people aged over 60 of any region in the world, and that is forecast to rise to almost 35 percent by 2050 from 22 percent in 2009, according to a report from the United Nations. That compares with a global estimate of 22 percent by 2050, up from 11 percent in 2009.

...In so-called developed countries, the average lifespan will reach almost 83 by 2050, up from about 75 in 2009, the UN said.

...State pension obligations in France and Germany are three times the size of their economies, according to data compiled by Mercer.

Shedlock concludes: "The punchline to this economic disaster came in the middle of the article: 'Pension managers and governments are relying on economic growth to safeguard the promises they make.'"

Suffice it to say that Europe will be lucky to average any growth -- even one percent -- over the next five years given its imminent set of cascading defaults.

And, not to belabor the point, but this should serve as yet another alarm klaxon for any American concerned with the future of this Republic. That, of course, leaves out liberals, progressives and the rest of the Democrat Party, which appears bent on national suicide.


Image: Business Insider.

The haunting beauty of the welfare state evident in Greece as pedophiles awarded state disability pensions

The collapse of Greek society can't come quickly enough with news like this hitting the (virtual) presses:

There is a silver lining to America’s fundamental transformation into a replica of the bankrupt socialist basket case Greece. A least more people will qualify for special privileges and free handouts by being official victims. Greeks have extended that cherished status to pedophiles, exhibitionists, and kleptomaniacs, all of whom are now regarded as “disabled.”

The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action “incomprehensible,” and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants.

Also joining the ranks of the privileged: pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists, and sadomasochists.

Pyromaniacs and pedophiles are eligible for disability pay up to 35%. That beats being diabetic, which may only get you 10%.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who favors giving Greece one red cent of American money. They will flush it down the toilet, then use their utter helplessness as a weapon to morally mug us for more. Some derelicts are unworthy of charity until they repent and reform. The same goes for derelict nations.

Hell, I'm not worrying about paying Greek perverts (I'm sure Turbo Timmy will find a backdoor way to pull that off).

I'm worried about this delightful graph, which illustrates America's "fundamental transformation" into a social welfare state.

We are fast approaching Greece-level debts and, at the current trajectory of deficit spending, only three or four years will doom our financial system.

But at least we have warning signs.

The European socialist welfare states are collapsing before our eyes. What we are seeing in Europe is a preview of the Obama-Democrat agenda writ large. Socialism can't work, won't work, and has never worked in all of human history.

2012 may very well be our last chance to save this precious Republic.

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. --Ronald Reagan



Hat tip: Vicki.

Larwyn's Linx: Democrats and Executive Overreach

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Constitutional Crisis

Democrats and Executive Overreach: Michael McConnell
Obama’s Arrogant Authoritarianism: Foundry
House Republicans File Resolution Criticizing Recess Picks: Roll Call

Nation

Exposing Romney's fatal flaw: how conservatives can win: Riehl
All Of The Stars Align - Republicans and the Black Vote: Wolf Howling
Socialist Party USA to Rick Perry: Stop Calling Obama a Socialist: Blaze

Obama Appoints La Raza Radical to Control Domestic Policy: Pavlich
Romney Wins N.H.: Exam
VA court likely to allow Gingrich, Perry and Santorum on the ballot: Hot Air

Romney and McCain: The GOP Frenemies’ Club: Malkin
Mitt Romney's 'Inevitablity Factor': ConBlkChk
Chicago Political Turf War Heats Up: AT

Economy

The only known photos from Obamas' “Alice in Wonderland” party: Tatler
Man of the People: Obama Hosts Fundraiser at $45,000 per Ticket: Dossier
Making Young Voters Dependent on the Government: Scoville

In Greed I Trust: Williams
City: Rat population has ‘exploded’ around Occupy D.C. camps: DC
RomneyCare Just Got $150 Million More Expensive: Cato

Gunrunner & Energygate

DNC Chairwoman Getting ‘Fast and Furious’ with Eric Holder: Shark Tank
Finally: ATF Officials Involved in Fast and Furious Reprimanded: Pavlich

Climate & Energy

Don’t Listen To A Word Obama Says About Energy, Because He’s In An All-Out War Against It: HayRide
The EPA has a tough day in court: SAB
Massive oil deposit discovered in Arctic: Blaze

Obama to the EPA: 'Thanks for Being as Clear and as Least Bureaucratic as Possible.': Townhall
UK Report Says Wind Farming ‘Ineffective’ at Cutting Emissions: Blaze
Obama pledges to stand by EPA as it destroys economy: Hill

Media

Koch Derangement Syndrome: The New York Times’s Stalinesque Attacks On The Koch Brothers: Riehl
Politics Trumps the Left's Empathy: Steyn
Here's an Election Indicator Democrats Won't Like: MilPundit

Unseat These Atrocious Moderators: Bozell
Media Arrogance: Politico's Simon Suggests GOP Field Isn't Worthy of the Press Corps: NB
The Associated Press’s Stinky ‘New Distinctiveness’: PJM

PPP Poll Shows Santorum Most Electable In *NC Against Obama: Nice Deb
DeMint Predicts Romney Win in SC: Exam
Rush drops nuclear bomb on Newt’s Bain Capital argument: Scoop

World

The Euro Is Already Gone: Chicago Boyz
Champions of Freedom: Stossel
REPORT: Foxconn Employees Threatened A Mass Suicide Over Pay: Insider

Such a "Great" Idea It Can Now Be Proclaimed But Not Criticized: Obama Supports the Muslim Brotherhood: BRubin
Who Lost Nicaragua? Daniel Ortega Begins an Unconstitutional Third Term: Foundry
Filipino Catholics need massive military, police protection from Muslim threat: Creeping

Iran Reports Killing of Nuclear Scientist: BizWk
Federal Appeals Court Rules In CAIR’s Favor, Blocks Oklahoma Voter-Approved Ban On Sharia Law: WZ
Greece Bank Run Shows No Sign Of Stopping: Deposit Outflows Continue In November: ZH

Sci-Tech

How the Brain Spots Faces: Wired
Banks Unite to Battle Online Theft: WSJ
With Search+, Google Fires Another Shot at Facebook: Wired

Cornucopia

Lipstick on your collar: C&S
Day by Daley CHANGEs: MOTUS
Furniture Blogging Gary Locke, Tim Geithner, and Xi Jinping: Mellow Jihadi

Image: Gateway Pundit
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Rick Santorum - a Constitutional Conservative for President

QOTD: "The dangers of the underclass here in the poorest quadrant of the poorest county in poor California are obesity rather than malnutrition. The local state dialysis clinic is tragically full of far more heavy than lean poor. (Yes, I grant that arugula costs more than Hostess CupCakes). More suffer from an expensive ingestion of an unlawful drug than the unavailability of a cheap ingestible prescription drug. The parking lots are full of Tahoes and Yukons; the public trolley for the indigent goes by empty.

Keep all that in mind as we enter the most divisive, class-warfare campaign in recent memory. We are living in the upside-down world Orwell wrote about. A president who likes upscale golf a lot, and Martha’s Vineyard even more, who has hired three “fat cat” bankers as his chiefs of staff (how odd that Emanuel and Lew probably both made a lot out of the Freddie/Fannie bubble), and who is the largest recipient of Wall Street cash in history now argues that half of America suffers from the hands of “them.”" --Victor Davis Hanson

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Militant Quaker Starts Shooting At Cops In Alabama

Did I say "militant Quaker"? Cause I meant to say the usual, CAIR-supported Jihadists.

Alabama man suffers sudden jihad syndrome and starts shooting at the cops.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez wanted to do something extreme “to draw attention to Islam and himself.” So he fired on the police. The Gadsden Times reported:

A man thought to be an Islamic extremist is believed to have shot the windows out of at least two businesses in Alabama City early Sunday to lure police officers to the area and engage them in a shootout.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez was charged with attempted murder.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez, 21, from Albertville, was charged today with attempted murder, according to a news release from the Gadsden Police Department.

“After the man was taken into custody, he reported that he knew he must do something extreme to draw attention to Islam and himself, so he planned to shoot police officers,” Gadsden Police Capt. Regina May said.

Gadsden police officers responded to alarm calls for glass breakage after doors were shot out about 1:30 a.m. Sunday at AutoZone and Rainbow Food Mart near the intersection of 27th Street and West Meighan Boulevard.

The article did not say if he was here legally but the department is checking his immigration status.


I blame Bush.

Oh, wait. That's Ron Paul's line.


Chart: The Price of Gold Since... The Year 1265 A.D.

Tyler Durden offers the following graph courtesy of the Bank of England, which reinforces the notion that what goes around comes around.

We have often seen requests to show the price of gold going back as long as possible. Tonight we can oblige, with a gold price chart, indexed in 2010 British Pounds, going all the way back to 1265...

...To the surprise of many, the early 1980s gold price surge is not the only time in history when gold exploded. It appears that based on the surge in gold back in the late 15th century, there was actually quite a serious need for Columbus to go forth and find a source of gold, because last we checked Ferdinand and Isabella did not have Bernanke's money printers back then. And yes, as Goldman says, there were no ETFs back in the 16th century to draw demand away from the real deal and into make believe exposure.

Ben Bernanke could not be reached for comment at press time.


Related: Introducing the Obama Financial Anxiety Index Level™ (O-FAIL for short)