Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Shock: Stimulus dollars disproportionately sent to states controlled by... Democrats

And all this time, I'd believed that an inexperienced, unqualified community organizer -- controlled by the Chicago Democrat Machine -- would have been above reproach. My mistake.

According to a new report on President Obama’s stimulus package and its effect on the economy, the amount of stimulus money that went to each state was correlated with the number of Democrats in each state’s congressional delegation...

...[The study] also examines rates of unemployment, poverty, foreclosures and bankruptcies in the various states in late 2008 and early 2009. In all four cases, more grievous economic conditions were negatively correlated with the allocation of stimulus dollars. States with higher unemployment rates, for instance, tended to receive less stimulus money per capita.

The authors draw a damning conclusion: “It’s not the poor, it’s not foreclosures, it’s not bankruptcies, it’s how many Democrats are in your congressional delegation... That’s what a trillion dollars of spending was all about: crony corruption.”

[Others have also] documented the seemingly political use of taxpayer money by the Obama administration, most recently showing spikes in the awarding of federal grant money while Congress was considering major pieces of the president’s agenda.

If you liked him in Solyndra, Sun Power, Nevada Geothermal Power, SolarReserve, et. al., you'll love Obama's crooked Stimulus deals!


Related: Your Handy Dandy EnergyGate Cheat Sheet

Larwyn's Linx: Obamacare Is A Cancer That Must Go

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

Nation

Obamacare Is A Cancer That Must Go: Foundry
The Obama Way: Boker Tov Boulder
Surprise! Obama to Visit Keystone Pipeline Project: Malkin

Economy

Obamacare's Five Tax Increases That Most Hurt Seniors: ATR
White House won't mark two-year anniversary of Obamacare: Beacon
QOTD: Income inequality narrative killer edition: Q&O

Strong Majorities Say Obama Policies Crushing Them: WZ
TSA Screener Pats Down Toddler in Wheelchair With Hip Cast: Reason
20M May Lose Employer Health Insurance: INN

WI students in State Capitol chant “We’re with Walker”: LI
January 1, 2013 -- Financial Armageddon: Elephant
GOP Budget: Slash Taxes, Tax System, Scrap AMT: ZH

2012 Elections

Cry Baby Cry: More Obnoxious, Effeminate Self-Pity From Obama: Ace
Hill Poll Results Grim for Obama: Power Line
Santorum Sees a Much Closer Delegate Race: PolWire

Scandal Central

New documents: ATF had “Fast & Furious” prime suspect in custody in 2010 — and let him go: Hot Air
Stimulus Update: Clean Energy ‘Savings’ of the Day: Malkin
Gee, Wonder How This Will Go Over At The Trial?: Soylent Green (NSFW)

Climate & Energy

Production of Oil, Gas and Coal on Federal Lands Sinks to Nine-Year Lo: Foundry
President Obama to Visit an Oil Field!!: Dossier
Issa goes on epic Twitter rant against Energy Dept. claims: Twitchy

Media

AFP story on Obama daughter’s Mexico trip scrubbed from Internet: DC
What the Mailman Knows about Ayers and Obama: Cashill
For News Organizations, Tech Giants Loom Large: NatlJrnl

Why Is the Story About Malia Obama Vacationing in Mexico Disappearing from the Web?: Blaze
Breaking: AP gets its butt kicked by Twitter: Twitchy
Over-40 Male Sues LA News Stations, Alleging They Only Want Pretty Young (Unqualified) Girls: Ace

Rosie O’Donnell Treats The People Around Her Like Trash: Hawkins
Prager Schools Soledad Over Her Failed Critical Race Theory Segment: Breitbart
Malia in Mexico Despite Security Warning, Story Being Scrubbed: Breitbart

World

Israel: Iran nuke site soon immune to strike: CBS
Carmageddon: European New Car Sales Crash, Worst February in History: Mish
Gunmen ambush, kill 12 police officers in Mexico: AP

Michelle Tells Vets To Honor Iraq War Dead And Wounded By Campaigning For Barack: WZ
The Real Reason the NAACP Went to Geneva: Prager
Napolitano May Exempt Muslims From Airport Pat-Downs: JW (2010)

Sci-Tech

Why Your Office Needs a MakerBot Printer: BizWk
Apple: We Sold A 'Record' Number Of iPads This Weekend: Insider
Microsoft Said to Finish Windows 8 in Summer, With October Debut: Bloomberg

Cornucopia

Rutherford B. Hip: Paco
Top 20 tweets of #BarackObamasPresidentialFacts: Twitchy
2012 Consumer Reports' Worst Used Cars: ABC

Name of Jessica Simpson's Baby Leaked Online: Ace
‘Game Change’: A made-up narrative from two axe-grinders: Times
Top 10 Images That Were No Photoshopped: Looking Spoon

Image: 'Hunt for serial scooter killer who strikes at precise four-day intervals'
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "He told them he was in contact with Mexican cartel members at the time, too. But he promised them — cross his heart and hope to die — that he would help them with their imbecilic gunrunning operation if they let him go. Which they did. And of course, they never heard from him again.

If that sounds insane to you, I’d gently suggest that perhaps you need a bit more brainwashing." --Allahpundit, "New documents: ATF had “Fast & Furious” prime suspect in custody in 2010 — and let him go"

Monday, March 19, 2012

Oops: Rogue Federal Agency Reveals Production of Fossil Fuels on Federal Lands Is... At a 9-Year Low

Barack Obama's ludicrous energy fabrications hardest hit.

Last fall the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration reported a 40 percent decline in oil and natural gas production on federal lands compared to 10 years ago.

The White House and a prominent liberal in Congress protested. They said EIA, a trusted source for reliable energy information, was wrong. They complained that EIA hadn’t accounted for all data from the Department of Interior.

EIA released an updated analysis last week. And while the number isn’t as drastic as originally reported, EIA confirmed the Obama administration is overseeing a sharp decline in fossil fuel production (coal, oil, and natural gas) on federal lands, which recently hit its lowest point in nine years...

[Contrary to President Obama's claims, t]he administration, meanwhile, has also taken several steps to limit production. Heritage’s Nick Loris noted these four steps taken by the Obama administration:
  • Withdrew areas offered for 77 oil and gas leases in Utah that could cost American taxpayers millions in lost lease bids, production royalties, new jobs and the energy needed to offset rising imports of oil and natural gas.
  • Cancelled lease sales in the Western Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast and delayed exploration off the coast of Alaska and kept other resource-rich areas off-limits.
  • Finalized rules, first announced by Secretary Salazar on January 6, 2010, to establish more government hurdles to onshore oil and natural gas production on federal lands.
  • Withdrew 61 oil and natural gas leases in Montana as part of a lawsuit settlement over climate change.
“The big picture is clear that government policies undertaken by the Obama administration have produced a significant decline in offshore oil production on federal lands in fiscal year 2011,” the Institute for Energy Research said in response to last week’s updated EIA analysis. “That is certainly not a way to increase domestic production of oil and keep oil and thus gasoline prices in check."

Report after report after report illustrate two immutable facts: (a) the United States has the richest set of energy resources on the planet; and (b) President Obama is lying about virtually every aspect of his "energy policy" to try to salvage his reelection bid.


Related: Diagramming President Obama's Oil Lies

Another Judicious Use of Taxpayer Funds: Obama Administration Spent $1 Billion On Propaganda in 2010

Just when you think that waste in government can't get any worse, you get a nice thwack in the forehead with a report like this:

Report: US government spent at least $945M on advertising in 2010


Federal agencies spent at least $945 million on contracts for advertising services in fiscal year 2010, and that sum doesn't include all public communications expenditures in the agencies reviewed or even all of the executive branch, a congressional report out last week shows.

Congressional Research Service reported that the calculation was incomplete since the total sum may never be fully known.

...The report says that advertising serves many purposes, including informing the public of its rights and entitlements; telling the public of the agency's activities; inviting public comment on proposed rules; warning the public of perils; and discouraging harmful or dangerous behaviors...

...Congress has criticized government spending on advertising on two recent occasions, [including] in August 2010, when House Republicans on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee faulted seven agencies for engaging in propaganda to promote the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Yes, it's of the utmost importance to advertise non-stop to the American people to ensure as many as possible become dependent on government before the 2012 elections.


Russia Hits Reset on the Arab Spring: Sends Troops Into Syria -- ABC

Dan from NY:

This is starting to get interesting. The way Obama is playing his hand, all the bad actors – Russia, Syria, Iran, the Islamists and Turkey - stand to gain influence in the region at America’s expense. Let’s hope our people (and the Republican candidates) come to realize before the election that it’s more than just the economy, stupid, it’s our deteriorating position in the world.

ABC News, 19 March 2012

Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria


MOSCOW, Russia - A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency... The presence of Russian troops in Syria could be a "pretty obvious" show of support to the regime, according to Russian security expert Mark Galeotti.

...Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean.

...Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov denied reports that Russian special forces were operating inside Syria. He did say, however, that there are Russian military and technical advisors in the country.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government had not heard of the reports of Russian troops in Syria and declined to comment.

Everything the Obama administration touches turns to crap. From the "Stimulus", to health care, energy, the Middle East, you name it. As Mark Levin aptly puts it, "Obama is a human wrecking-ball." And I see no evidence to the contrary.


Hat tip: Dan from NY.

Breaking: Pelosi Slams President For High Gas Prices

Well, it's breaking news in the sense that the Associated Press considers it timely.

Remember these golden oldies?

Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz attacked George W. Bush for high gas prices back in 2008. Now Obama and democrats are complaining that Republicans are politicizing gas prices...

...Even back in 2006 Democrats were politicizing gas prices and the economy when gas was $3 dollar a gallon and the unemployment rate was 5%... The New York Times reported...

Democrats running for Congress are moving quickly to use the most recent surge in oil and gasoline prices to bash Republicans over energy policy, and more broadly, the direction of the country.

With oil prices hitting a high this week and prices at the pump topping $3 a gallon in many places, Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic Senate candidate in Minnesota, is making the issue the centerpiece of her campaign. Ms. Klobuchar says it "is one of the first things people bring up" at her campaign stops.

To varying degrees, Democrats around the country are following a similar script that touches on economic anxiety and populist resentment against oil companies. "It's a metaphor for an economy that keeps biting people despite overall good numbers," said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Mr. Schumer said Democratic candidates in 10 of the 34 Senate races this year had scheduled campaign events this week focusing on gasoline prices.


Of course, now that gas prices are at an all-time, seasonally-adjusted high, any cries for expanded drilling, exploration and refining are met with the sputtering Democrat-Marxist-Flat-Earth-No-Growth-Eco-Statist response: "Don't politicize gas prices!"

If Democrats weren't in power, they'd be useful only as comic relief, preferably in a reality show sandwiched between Hoarders and Snapped.


Europe: Brace for Impact

Q: How's that austerity thingamabob working out in Europe?

A: It was only the "worst February for new car sales in Europe since the turn of the century."

Now, it is beginning to hurt: The European new car market crashed in February. According to data released by the European manufacturers’ association ACEA, new car sales were down 9.7 percent in February. Two months into the year, car sales in the EU are down 8.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.

...The harmless looking percentages hide the fact that this February was the worst of the millennium. Only 888,878 units changed hands in the EU27 in February, the lowest level since comparing months made sense (going back further is futile, the EU was much smaller then…) Even during carmageddon, European had not seen a February as bad as this one...

Hey, I've got an idea! Let's mimic the failed European social Democrat welfare state model like Paul Krugman says! I'll bet that'll work out super!


Hat tips: Mish and BadBlue.

Larwyn's Linx: Progressivism and the authoritarian impulse

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

Nation

Progressivism and the authoritarian impulse: ProWis
Holder in '95: We Must "Brainwash People" to Control Guns: Breit
Biden Booed at Pittsburg St. Patrick’s Parade: ConCom

ObamaCare: Twice as expensive, and getting worse: Hayward
Surprise: Health Care Wasn't Broken: AEI
2001: Eric Holder used 9/11 to argue for more gun control: Scoop

Economy

Big Labor's Big Bucks: WS
Cheap Money, Expensive Gas: Events
WI: 29 sitting judges signed 'Recall Scott Walker' petition: CapPrev

Causes of the Crisis: Samuelson
Smartest President Ever Not So Hot at Negotiation: Instapundit
Will Apple Announce "The Dividend" Tomorrow?: ZH

2012 Elections

If the Presidential Election Were Held Today...: Mead
The Romney Fiscal Record: the 800 lb. gorilla: RWN
Romney wins in Puerto Rico while focused on Illinois: Fox

Scandal Central

Gun-tracking operation caught top suspect, then let him go: LAT
Fast and Furious scandal update shows whistleblower risks: Examiner
Another F&F ‘doc dump’ as interest renewed in probe: Examiner

Climate & Energy

Flashback to 2009: Administration Policies Sought to Discourage ‘Overproduction’ of Oil: RS
Gosh, Wally, I guess President Obama was serious about shutting down the coal industry: Paco
Obama continues faux class warfare attack on Oil Industry tax breaks: CapPrev

Media

‘Intellectual Bankruptcy’, Dr. Krugman?: RS
Rush move to Twitter has boycott organizers worried: LI
NYT confirms Islam a violent religion, runs anti-Catholic ad but won’t run identical anti-Islam ad: Creeping

Humor-Deficient Charles Johnson Sides With #Occupy Movement vs. NYPD: RSM
NPR's anti-Apple activist lied about working conditions: Breitbart
The Killing Of Trayvon Martin Is Not A ‘Black Problem’: Mediaite

This was not the first time Soledad O’Brien tried to rewrite history : Flopping Aces
Alexandra Pelosi "is declining to understand the critique": Althouse
Staffers Say Working With Liberal Hero Rosie O’Donnell a “F***ing Hellhole”: WZ

World

Obama Preps for a ‘Non-Emergency’ Named Iran: NoisyRm
Money, career woes reportedly plagued Afghan killings suspect: Fox
Egypt, Hamas spar over Gaza electricity crisis: JPost

Iran's War in Gaza: ForPol
Four Shot Dead Outside Jewish School in France: BBC
Syrian Rebels Detonate Deadly Car Bomb For Second Day In a Row: WZ

The Best Quotes From David Horowitz’s “Left Illusions”: Hawkins
Mexican cartel says no violence during papal visit: Fox
Cuba detains 70 Ladies in White ahead of pope visit: Reuters

Sci-Tech

Report: Tablets helping improve news consumption: CNS
Building Blocks: Awesome Lego Science Models: Wired
Here’s What Happens When Our Nation’s Capital Is Nuked: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

This Is Your Life, Barack Obama: Granny Jan
Chinese farmer gets 13 years for Forbidden City theft: Reuters
We Are Sooo Wearin’ O’ the Green: MOTUS

Image: Moonbattery
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Support Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "The facts are pretty simple. As a matter of both science and reality, battery technology is neither good enough nor cheap enough to supply American needs relating to transportation. Even were there batteries available for vehicles, the cost of conversion for the tens of millions of cars on the road right now would be cost prohibitive and increasing fuel standards, resulting in smaller and smaller cars, penalize families. Try piling a family of four in a Prius for a trip to grand mom’s house for Spring Break. The luggage and leg room will make for an exciting time.

Even beyond the family car, a battery will not put an 18 wheeler on the road, a 747 in the air, or a locomotive on its rails. Americans depend on crude oil right now and in the future. To cling to the hope of a battery that can meet American automotive needs is anti-science and as realistic as fueling our future with unicorn farts. See Charles Lane at the Washington Post for more on the President’s crusade against science.

This President’s policies have done everything possible to drive up the price of crude oil in hopes that some mythical unicorn fart, solar panel, or battery will come online quickly enough to meet American needs. It is not happening. Going back to May of 2009, the President insisted on discouraging the “overproduction of oil” as potentially damaging to our national security. If only we had a President who understood supply and demand."--Erick Erickson

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Surprising Shortage of Gullible Rubes: Obama Fundraising Turns Out To Be Far More Difficult Than Anticipated

Finding buckets of big money from Forrest Gump-level intellects appears much harder than predicted for the ill-fated Obama regime.

The Washington Post notes President Obama trails Republican front-runner Mitt Romney "in finding donors willing to give $2,000 or more -- a surprising development for a sitting president, and one that could signal more worrisome financial problems heading into the general election. At this point in the last election cycle, Obama had received such large donations from more than 23,000 supporters, nearly double the 11,000 who have given him that much this time. President George W. Bush had more than four times the number of big donations at this point in his reelection."

"Republicans and Democrats alike thought that Obama would have a big financial advantage over Republicans this fall given his record-breaking 2008 fundraising and his status as the sitting president. But the trend of slackening big-donor support is the latest in a series of indications that the 2012 money battle is going to be much tighter than once imagined."

It's not just the big-money donors. The same problems extend to the rabble.

Last July, President Obama's campaign announced that it had raised an average of $29 million in each of the previous three months for itself and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). I was only mildly impressed. After all, that was well below the $50 million a month needed to reach the campaign's goal of a $1 billion war chest for the 2012 race... Seven months later, I'm even less impressed. Through January, the president has raised an average of $24 million a month for his campaign and the DNC...

...many of Mr. Obama's 2008 donors are reluctant to give again. The Obama campaign itself reported that fewer than 7% of 2008 donors renewed their support in the first quarter of his re-election campaign. That's about one-quarter to one-third of a typical renewal rate: In the first quarter of the Bush re-election campaign, for example, about 20% of the donors renewed their support.

There are other troubling signs. Team Obama's email appeals don't ask for $10, $15, $25 or $50 donations as they did in 2008, but generally for $3. Nor are the appeals mostly about issues; many are lotteries. Give three bucks and your name will be put in a drawing for a private dinner with the president and first lady... it suggests the campaign has found that only a low price point with a big benefit can overcome donor resistance...

...This perhaps explains why the White House told congressional Democrats last week not to expect a single dime for their campaign efforts from the Democratic National Committee this year. All the DNC's funds will be needed for the president's re-election.

His campaign's financial situation also may explain why Mr. Obama has embraced Super PACs after decrying them as a "threat to democracy" in the midterm elections...

In related news, the number of Obama's 2008 donors who remain unaffected by the SCOAMF's disastrous policies continues to plummet.


Images: iOwnTheWorld.

A brief, illustrated missive on those Can-Am Spyder Ads

If you've been watching the NCAA Tournament, even for just a few minutes, you've no doubt seen the ads for the Can-Am Spyder. This is the three-wheeled (don't call it a tricycle!) version of the venerable sportbike, presumably built for the suburbanite with an attitude. Thought not quite enough attitude to ride a real sportbike.

But the funniest part of the ads is the fawning reassurance factor, apparently revealed by careful focus-group testing. That is, the secret fear of every Can-Am buyer is: "Will Real Bikers™ Laugh At Me"?

The first attempt to assuage these concerns in the ads is this drive-by acknowledgement by real bikers. Like, don't worry, dude -- you're still cool even though you're driving a trike.

Just to reinforce the notion that Can Am drivers aren't nerds is this scene, like something out of Roadhouse. This is where the hard-assed, grizzled biker inspects the Can Am and then nods approvingly. When, as we all know, he'd be laughing his ass off, pointing, and slapping his knee.

Methinks the marketers overdid the message. Be happy in your geekiness. Revel in it. Don't fight it. Hey, it works for me!


'America’s combined energy resources are... the largest on earth'

Peter Glover, writing at Energy Tribune, obliterates President Obama's incessant lies about energy. He relays a stunning report that describes America's natural energy reserves as an embarrassment of riches.

Which begs the question: with its economy running on fumes and a staggering deficit, why is America the only country on Earth that restricts access to its own vast energy resources? That's a rhetorical question, since we now have a Democrat Party controlled by Marxist ideologues.

...America’s combined energy resources are, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service (CSR), the largest on earth. They eclipse Saudi Arabia (3rd), China (4th) and Canada (6th) combined – and that’s without including America’s shale oil deposits and, in the future, the potentially astronomic impact of methane hydrates.

...it perhaps falls to a friend of the US (i.e., me) to state that if the White House is in any way serious about impacting the economic Black Hole that is the burgeoning national debt, reinvigorating business big-time, creating real jobs and restoring ebbing national wealth, the best shot by a distance if you’re American ... well, you’re standing on it, or rather above it.

...While the US is often depicted as having only a tiny minority of the world’s oil reserves at around 28 billion barrels (based on the somewhat misleading figure of ‘proven reserves’) according to the CRS in reality it has around 163 billion barrels. As Inhofe’s EPW press release comments, “That’s enough oil to maintain America’s current rates of production and replace imports from the Persian Gulf for more than 50 years”. Next up, there’s coal. The CRS report reveals America’s reserves of coal are unsurpassed, accounting for over 28 percent of the world’s coal... that’s a couple of centuries of coal use, at least.

...In 2009 the CRS upped its 2006 estimate of America’s enormous natural gas deposits by 25 percent to around 2,047 trillion cubic feet, a conservative figure given the expanding shale gas revolution. At current rates of use that’s enough for around 100 years... [and] methane hydrates [could] be enough to provide America’s natural gas for more than 400 years.”

...With hundreds of thousands depending on oil and gas drilling for work, it is as yet unknown just how many of Obama’s policies are putting people out of jobs – and preventing the creation of new ones. What we do know however, is that ‘green’ jobs in the alternative energies industries just aren’t cutting the employment ice. In mid-March, a new study by Verso Consultancy estimates that for every new green job created by diverting public money into renewable energy projects in the UK, 3.7 British jobs were destroyed.

Meanwhile US energy policy persists in pursuing the myth that renewables are the economically viable future, with fossil fuels already, as the president said in January, “yesterday’s energy”. With 85 percent of global energy set to come from fossil fuels till at least 2035 no matter what wishful thinkers may prefer, current US energy policy – much like European – is pure political pantomime.

In 2012 we must elect leaders who understand the real world. The leaders we have today exist in some sort of a fantasy dream-scape. Because in the real world, there are no unicorns, no mermaids, no dancing ponies and no "green jobs".


Hat tip: D&S

Chicago Gun Ban Success Story #15,306: 17 Shot, Five Killed Last Night Including a 6-Year Old Girl

Democrats claim to be the party of "science" and "knowledge", yet they stick with their failed policies like body odor clings to Michael Moore. Whether it's rampant deficit spending, the failed "Great Society" welfare mentality, bankrupt entitlement programs, the global warming scam, or dozens of other examples, Democrats never look back and examine the results of their miserable failures. They never course-correct.

The classic example of this is, of course, their unconstitutional attempts to restrict access to firearms for the law-abiding citizen. Say, isn't Chicago one of the most restrictive cities in the nation when it comes to handguns? And isn't it one of the worst cities for gun crime? Those are rhetorical questions, for you drones reading along.

Five people were killed and at least 12 other people wounded in shootings Saturday night and Sunday morning across the city.

Police were questioning two suspects after Deering District officers were able to chase down the occupants of a car who fired on three people, killing a 24-year-old man, about 1:50 a.m. on the 5300 block of South Loomis Boulevard in the Back of the Yards neighborhood... The 24-year-old who died was shot multiple times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was declared dead. A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were being treated in serious condition at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, police said.

...The evening attacks follow the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old girl and the wounding of four other people in Chicago within an hour Saturday afternoon, and 16 shootings, including the slaying of a 42-year-old man, overnight Friday and early Saturday morning.

One day, perhaps the clue-bat will tap Democrats on their collective noggins and help them understand that the worst cities for gun crime are always those that most restrict access (unconstitutionally, mind you) to handguns.

Because those laws only disarm the law-abiding, the citizens who are the first line of defense against violent offenders.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

Here's what would happen if Washington, DC got nuked...

Gizomodo points us to a DHS and FEMA analysis (PDF) of the after-effects of a nuclear detonation in the heart of the District of Columbia. Everything from blast effects, fallout, evacuation procedures, casualties and first-responder preparations are described in great detail.

Unfortunately, our instincts can be our own worst enemy. The bright flash of detonation would be seen instantaneously throughout the region and may cause people to approach windows to see what is happening just as a blast wave breaks the window. For a 10-kT detonation, glass can be broken with enough force to cause injury out to 3 miles and can take more than 10 seconds to reach this range.

Another urge to overcome is the desire to flee the area (or worse, run into fallout areas to reunite with family members), which can place people outdoors in the first few minutes and hours when fallout exposures are the greatest. Those outside or in vehicles will have little protection from the penetrating radiation coming off fallout particles as they accumulate on roofs and the ground.

...Unless a given shelter location is considered unsafe due to fire or structural damage, the length of time individuals should remain sheltered depends on instructions from regional emergency management agencies. For those in good shelters, such as a large concrete, brick, or underground structure, optimal shelter times will likely be in terms of days. In the absence of specific guidance from authorities and adequate supplies of food and water, or for those who are in smaller 2- to 3-story structures or shallow basements, evacuation should be considered after 12 hours. Upon leaving shelter, the best course is to follow routes that take advantage of sheltered passages (subways, underground connectors, or through building lobbies) that lead away from damage and heavy fallout areas. Once clear of potential fallout areas, evacuees should seek a change of clothes (including shoes) and wipe or wash exposed skin surfaces...

...The Severe Damage Zone (SDZ) is the area that immediately surrounds a detonation site and extends to ~0.5 mile radius for a 10-kT explosion, as shown in Figure 10. In the SDZ, few, if any, above-ground buildings are expected to remain structurally sound or even standing, and few people would survive; however, some people protected within stable structures (e.g., subterranean parking garages or subway tunnels) at the time of the explosion could survive the initial blast...

...Very high radiation levels and other hazards are expected to persist in the SDZ making the zone gravely dangerous to survivors and responders. The SDZ should be considered a no-go zone during the early days following an explosion...

...Emergency response and access to the MDZ will be greatly affected by the substantial rubble as well as crashed or overturned vehicles that will completely block streets and require heavy equipment to clear. Broken water and utility lines are expected, and fires will be encountered. However, many casualties in the MDZ will survive and will benefit most (compared to casualties in other prompt effect damage zones) from urgent medical care (AMA, 2011). Responders approaching from the blast-area periphery should be cognizant that when they begin observing that most buildings are either severely damaged or have collapsed, they are entering the SDZ...


...In addition to prompt effects that radiate outward from a detonation site, a nuclear blast can produce nuclear fallout, which is generated when dust and debris excavated by the explosion are combined with radioactive fission products produced in the nuclear explosion and drawn upward by the heat produced...

...The cloud rapidly climbs through the atmosphere, potentially up to 5 miles (8 km) high for a 10-kT explosion, forming a mushroom cloud (under ideal weather conditions) from which highly radioactive particles drop back down to earth as the cloud cools...

...Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not experience substantive fallout because the detonations occurred well above ground at altitudes of 1,900 ft (579.12 m) and 1,500 ft (457.2 m), respectively. At such altitudes, fission products do not have the opportunity to mix with excavated earth...

Net net: this is why the nation's capital is reportedly ringed by extremely sensitive detectors for radioactivity.

And -- sorry, Paulbots -- this is also why we need to continue to invest in missile defense.


Raising the Level of Public Discourse: Cee Lo Sings 'F*** You', Flips Off Audience at Official Obama Fundraiser

Class: the feet on the furniture; the record-setting pursuit of golf, vacations, and White House parties; and the non-stop fundraising -- highlighted last week by a Cee Lo appearance with President Obama at an Atlanta fundraiser.

Singer Cee Lo Green just finished performing his hit song at President Obama’s campaign fundraiser at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Ga., and he started with the uncensored version.

The Grammy-winner and Atlanta native flicked off the audience before asking, “Can I curse in here?” But he didn’t wait for the answer, letting out a loud “f*** you!” Cee Lo ultimately switched to the censored “Forget You” lyrics.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney refused to comment on the song earlier today when pressed by reporters aboard Air Force One. Carney did admit that the president is “a fan” of Cee Lo’s music and might have his songs on his iPod.

Of course he is.

I'm sure his kids are humming the song now, too.


Larwyn's Linx: Rick Santorum's message to Illinois conservatives

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

2012 Elections

Rick Santorum's message to Illinois conservatives: Marathon
Santorum's Progress in GOP Race is Historic: NatlJrnl
Santorum: When In the Course of Human Events: CFP

Nation

Obama’s History Lesson: Steyn
Obama's Canary Is Sick: Surber
Who Looks Dumb Now?: CDN

Michelle: $3 Can Buy His Love: Beacon
Carville: Obama Weak, Can Be Beat: Times
What is Obama's National Defense Preparedness Order?: RWN

Economy

“Breitbart Is Here” Signs Greet #Occupy Goons to St. Louis: GWP
Jerry Brown's Plan B: RWN
'Is the economy recovering for you?': WSJ

Scandal Central

Friday document dump: Holder’s DOJ releases more on ‘Fast and Furious’: DC
Yet Another Solyndra Weekend Doc Dump: Malkin
Obama Executive Order: Peacetime Martial Law?: ProWis

Climate & Energy

'Nice Weather' Making Obama a 'Little Nervous': WS
Obama Weekly Address: Lower Gas Prices By Eliminating Gov’t Subsidies to Oil Companies: Malkin
"It Is On": Ramirez

Media

Stuff that people think they know: JPA
When Wall Street Makes Crap Loans It's a Crisis; When Steven Chu Does, It's "Green Energy": Reason
Politico Notices How Bad Obamacare's Been: RS

New Government Ad Pushes Food Stamps: CDN
Not News: Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Calls For 'Destruction of All Churches in Region': Blumer
Here’s the Obama Movie You Won’t Hear About From the Lame Media: LoneCon

World

Obama's Muslim adviser criticizes Assad for not being able to deliver "resistance to Israel": JihadWatch
How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp: Guardian
Colombian soldiers killed in Farc ambush: BBC

Sci-Tech

Here Are 14 Awesome Gadgets For Under $100: Insider
Big Brother Goes Live September 2013: ZH
Einstein vindicated: Neutrinos not speeding after all: Times

Cornucopia

Show This to the Gun-Grabbers: iOTW
10 George Clooney Crimes, According to Witter: ABC
Former Mr. Universe turns 100 in India: CNS

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "I don't think there is anything new except for the fact that the administration is showing less pretense in trying to pretend it is not running. I don't think Obama has governed since election day in 2010. Certainly after the debt ceiling issue in August he's been campaigning full time. Can anybody name a single piece of legislation, a single proposal, a single speech he's gave that has been designed for anything other than to boost his constituencies, mainly women, Hispanics and youth? He's lost the enthusiasm. He hasn't had a good record. He needs to gin up the base...

...So these people create out of nothing the war on women, immigration legislation that Obama knows has no chance of passing, giveaways like student loans. That is all he has been doing for the last year and he'll continue to do it until election day. We don't essentially have a government, what we have is a campaign." --Charles Krauthammer

Saturday, March 17, 2012

I Refuse to Give Up This Republic Without a Fight

"...These [health care] negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made...” (Barack Obama, 1/20/2008)

...[I want] to repeal some of these tax breaks for these oil companies. But I want to do more than that. I also want to go after their windfall profits, take a segment of those profits..." (Barack Obama, 3/3/2008)

"...Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket..." (Barack Obama, 11/1/2008)

"...“I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had..." (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), 1/4/2009)

"...We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars..." (Barack Obama, 1/28/2009)

"...Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards..." (Attorney General Eric Holder, 2/18/2009)

"...We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem)..." (Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 3/5/2009)

"...Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration..." (Department of Homeland Security report to Janet Napolitano, 4/12/2009)

"...in early January, when Barack Obama was still President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn't quite worked out that way..." (Time Magazine, 7/2/2009)

"...right now drug companies are fighting so that they can keep essentially their patents on their brand-name drugs a lot longer... every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got." (Barack Obama, 8/11/2009)

"...When CNSNews.com asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday where the Constitution authorized Congress to order Americans to buy health insurance--a mandate included in both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill--Pelosi dismissed the question by saying: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”..." (CNS News, 8/23/2009)

"...the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York..." (Washington Post, 2/11/2010)

"...But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what is in it..." (Nancy Pelosi, 3/9/2010)

"...[President] Obama and his health secretary staged a two-pronged attack Monday in a stern letter to health insurance chief executives and a speech in which the president castigated insurance companies 22 times...." (Washington Post, 3/9/2010)

"...once upon a time they taught that under the U.S. Constitution a bill had to pass both the House and Senate to become law. Until this week, that is, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to merely 'deem' that the House has passed the Senate health-care bill and then send it to President Obama to sign anyway..." (Wall Street Journal, 3/16/2010)

"...I don't care about the Constitution when it comes to this [health care bill]..." (Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL), 4/2/2010)

"...The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam," arguing that the term "jihadists" should not be used to describe America's enemies... The comment comes after Brennan, in a February speech in which he described his respect for the tolerance and devotion of Middle Eastern nations, referred to Jerusalem... by its Arabic name, Al-Quds..." (Fox News, 5/27/2010)

"...As solicitor general of the United States, Elena Kagan argued in front of the Supreme Court that the federal government had the constitutional authority to ban certain political pamphlets. She also strongly implied that some political books, if they were partisan enough, could also be censored..." (Reason Magazine, 6/29/2010)

"...The financial regulation bill that President Obama will sign into law on Wednesday is supposed to clean up Wall Street. But an obscure passage buried deep in the 2,300-page legislation... could have a broad impact [on] electronics companies..." (Washington Post, 7/2/2010)

"...The federal government filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at blocking a controversial Arizona law that requires local police and sheriffs to question and arrest anyone whom they suspect is in the country illegally..." (Politico, 7/7/2010)

"...Less than two months after the US Department of Justice sued Arizona over the state’s controversial immigration law, it has filed another lawsuit targeting immigration practices by Arizona authorities... the [DOJ] says Phoenix-area Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC) discriminated against almost 250 noncitizen job applicants by requiring them to fill out more documents than the law requires to prove their eligibility to work...." (Christian Science Monitor, 8/31/2010)

"The Justice Department's civil rights division on Monday objected to a new photo ID requirement for voters in Texas because many Hispanic voters lack state-issued identification... Texas is the second state in recent months to become embroiled in a court battle with the Justice Department over photo ID requirements for voters...

...In December, the Justice Department rejected South Carolina's voter ID law on grounds it makes it harder for minorities to cast ballots. It was the first voter ID law to be rejected by the department in nearly 20 years..." (CBS News, 3/12/2012)
You don't have to ride on a treacherous, unlit cow path from the north-side of Boston to Lexington as the King's Regulars attempt a surprise attack on the Sons of Liberty.

You don't have to board a frigate, sail for weeks across the Atlantic and then sack a city in Tripoli to rescue your imprisoned countrymen.

You don't have to kill a British soldier in a desperate, hand-to-hand struggle after leaping out of a boat on the beach at York during the War of 1812.

You don't have to hold the line against Pickett's desperate charge at Gettysburg as thousands of wounded men shriek bloody murder around you.

You don't have to resist a vicious attack by the Hun with fixed bayonets at Belleau Wood.

You don't have to survive a terrifying duck-boat run onto Omaha Beach as men around you are being chopped to bits by fortified Nazi gun emplacements.

You don't have to liberate the Nazi Death Camps, capping months of brutal fighting and desperate marching through the dirt roads of Europe.

You don't have to withstand a surprise attack by the Chinese 'People's Volunteer Army', fighting to hold the line in 35°-below-zero temperatures for days on end near the Chosin Reservoir.

You don't have to defend the city of Huế from a surprise attack by Viet Cong and PAVN regulars, fighting block-to-block as the entire country is set afire by the Tet Offensive.

You don't have to race across the desert, waiting for a chemical attack or a Scud missile to hit, baking in 130° temperatures, so that you can expel Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard from Kuwait.

You don't have to patrol a patch of hard-scrabble earth in Aghanistan or Iraq, waiting for the inevitable IED by the side of the road -- or signs that you've rolled right into an ambush by heavily-armed 'insurgents' equipped with Iranian RPGs.

You don't have to do any of those things. You just have to vote in November. You just have to take the time to rally your neighbors, your family members and your co-workers to vote for candidates who believe in the Constitution. You must marshal voters who will reject the out-of-control, free-spending government that has brought our country to the edge of bankruptcy.

Because if the Constitution doesn't mean anything, if all of the founders' sacrifices went for naught, if all of those American heroes who fought and bled and died for the flag mean nothing, if all your parents and grandparents gave you doesn't amount to a hill of beans, well, then our generation will be forever known as the weak-willed group that let the American dream slip from our fingers.

And we will be known forever as the generation that allowed American exceptionalism to be stolen from us by a radical leftist from San Francisco, a crooked, power-hungry weasel of a man from Nevada, and an Alinsky-trained community organizer who rose to the presidency without qualifications or even so much as a background check by the media.

You don't have to bleed for your country. All you have to do is rally our forces to vote in November. That is what we can do and that is what we must do to preserve this Republic for future generations.


President Obama's Energy Lies Necessarily Skyrocket

"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

He can run, he can hide, he can evade, and he can blame Bush. But Barack Obama's promises to de-industrialize America live on. In fact, he should proudly campaign in front of a "Mission accomplished" banner.

This graph depicts gas prices since the election of President Subprime McDowngrade.

I wouldn't worry, though. Perhaps the Chinese will sell us gas from our own continent.


Related: Diagramming President Obama's Energy Lies. Chart: GasBuddy.com.

Larwyn's Linx: Shifra's Open Letter to President Obama

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

2012 Elections

Shifra's Open Letter to President Obama: Bruce
Obama's Crude Lottery-Solicitations Point To His Problems Raising Cash: Ace
Obama -- Candidate of Fear: Beacon

"Did the Daily Caller ‘Pull a Media Matters’ on Rick Santorum?": ProWis
Rick Santorum's Illinois Rally: Publius
Obama sharpens criticism of divided Republicans: RCP

Nation

The Myth of “Middle-Class” Uncle Joe: Malkin
5th Circuit rules guns aren’t “property-like”: Q&O
Obama Admin OKs Using Aborted Babies’ Brains in Lab Tests: LifeNews

Michelle Obama to Supporters: Barack 'In Love With You': PunditPress
Perry: We’ll take voter ID case to Supreme Court to win: Scoop
Class: Cee Lo flips off audience, sings f-you at Obama fundraiser: GWP

Economy

Supreme Court Can't Save ObamaCare Mandate: IBD
Gallup Struggles to Explain BLS Jobs Data: Mish
CBO: Exploding debt under Obama policies: Politico

Oil: The Anti Obama Lubricant: Janicki
CBO Exposes Obama's $2 Tril Budget Sleight of Hand: IBD
More ObamaCare Robbing Peter To Pay Paula, Er Sandra Flukes: Kesler

Climate & Energy

Enviros petition EPA to ban lead in ammunition … again: Hot Air
Another Obama Lie: Oil production down 14 percent on federal land: Exam
Greening Us Back to the Stone Age: CFP

Media

Have Obama's Poll Numbers Slipped? Must be Time For an Article About How Stupid and Ill-Informed Voters Are: Ace
Anti-Rush Campaign Was in the Works: Commentary
Cee Lo sings ‘F--- You’ at Obama fundraiser: Twitchy

Kimberley Strassel vs. a Republican Majority: RS
Schmidt Memos Prove ‘Game Change’ Author was Targeted to Save His “Reputation”: C4P
Rush Limbaugh: My Conversation With Mark Levin: Foley

NBC News 'Punk Faggot' Scandal Erupts: Lord
Krugman: Half-truths and logical fallacies litter his denouncement of drilling for oil: Q&O
Tom Hanks' $25 Billion Lie for Obama: Times

World

Arab Spring… Egyptian Salafi Lawmaker Calls For Islamic Crucifixion Law: GWP
French Soldiers Shot Dead on Street: Military
APNewsBreak: New case of Aghan killing Marine: MyWay

Egypt: 300 Muslim lawyers storm court to bar lawyers for Christian convicted of insulting Muhammad: JihadWatch
Documents reveal bin Laden directive to kill Obama, Petraeus: Fox
Reports: Two blasts hit Syria's capital city: USA Today

Sci-Tech

IT Consumerization, the Cloud and the Alleged Death of the CIO : Wired
Symantec's lost cell phone study confirms the worst in people: Fox
'This American Life' Has Retracted Its Foxconn Story: Atlantic

Cornucopia

Rutherford B. Hayes Responds To Barack Obama: Glob
BO and David: Called Out by the Homeland Press: MOTUS
Welcome to Jurassic Park: Elephant

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "Obama’s tepid fundraising reveals a Democratic donor base torn between disillusionment and apathy. Some wealthy liberals, living contentedly in la-la land, are holding back money because they believe Obama has not been left-wing enough, especially on the issue of climate change... Others have seen the mainstream media coverage of the Republican primary and concluded, not entirely without reason, that the GOP is no threat at all. Why write a check, then, when the president is a lock?

But the president is not a lock—and he knows it. The Washington Post poll that Messina mentioned in his letter was soon seconded by a New York Times survey that had Obama’s approval rating plunging 9 points in one month to 41 percent... [And] “all adults” are not necessarily registered or likely voters in elections. The more closely a polling sample reflects the likely electorate this November, the worse Obama fares." --Matthew Continetti

Friday, March 16, 2012

Genius: Administration spending millions to train firefighters how to combat exploding Chevy Volts

Everything the Obama administration touches turns to crap: it has hollowed out the military, de-funded NASA, raided the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for purely political reasons, devastated the health care system, and wasted billions on crony green investments. Exhibit A: the disastrous Chevy Volt:

Last week, the Obama Administration sought to increase the Chevrolet Volt purchaser tax credit from $7,500 to $10,000.

All this for a car so dangerous to first responders that the Department of Energy allocated $4.4 million dollars for programs to prevent fire fighters from electrocuting themselves while trying to rescue crash victims.

...According to industry expert Gary Howell of Howell Automotive, one of the problems lies with the batteries that power the vehicle. “The lithium-ion used in modern electric cars are not like the old lead-acid batteries of the past. They are more powerful and, when damaged, the fluid inside can leak out, creating a short on the circuit boards that are used to control the batteries. The fluid dries and crystallizes, creating a short, sometimes weeks after the damage to the battery occurred.”

This results in spontaneous fires, such as happened in a Volt three weeks after a crash test at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...

...The General Motors Service Technical College provides technical materials to first responders around the country. Just this week, their publication on the Volt was cited by a Baltimore County, Maryland Fire Service Special Interest Bulletin. After a bizarre paragraph extolling the virtues of the car itself, the bulletin gets down to the business of informing fire fighters of how to not kill themselves trying to rescue a crash victim...

“There is a yellow First Responder cable “cut” tag wrapped around the low volt positive battery cable behind the fuse panel door, located on the left side of the rear compartment (see diagram on next page). This cable should be cut first to disable the vehicle safely before beginning any extrication. The cable should be cut on both sides of the label to ensure the cut cable ends do not inadvertently touch and re-energize the vehicle.”

General Motors also warns that “cutting these cables can result in serious injury or death.”

Hence the need for spending $4.4 million in taxpayer money to train firefighters across the country to protect themselves from a car that the government paid people $7,500 per unit to purchase...

I challenge any of you liberals our there to tell me one thing this president has done to advance free enterprise and individual liberty. In fact, I've got five (5) shiny 1 oz. U.S. Silver Eagles (retail value about $160) to the first drone liberal to give me one documented Obama achievement in strengthening the private sector. I won't hold my breath.


Hat tip: Weasel Zippers.