Monday, May 21, 2012

Oh, my: someone at the Washington Post just received a very special call on the Red Phone

I'm guessing that the Red Phone was first installed by FDR to ensure that Democrat talking points were effectively echoed by the hacks at 1150 15th St. NW. Which makes this particular report all the more anomalous and disturbing.

Someone at the Washington Post will surely have received a phone call from the White House today to have a conversation with Josh Hicks, who compares and contrasts the economic records of George Bush and Barack H. Obama (I added the H because it’s raaaaacist): Obama’s remarks on worst job growth: Did he end it or should he own it?. Josh spends quite a bit of time going through numbers and such, and finally concludes:

There’s no doubt that Bush owns an unimpressive record on job creation. But Obama comes in either last, second-to-last or in the bottom half among presidents since the Great Depression, depending on which way you look at the numbers.


The president said that policies from 2000 through 2008 produced the “most sluggish job growth we’ve ever seen.” Perhaps so, but the worst numbers on record occurred under his watch.

Obama chose a poor metric for measuring past administrations. To make his point with jobs data, he has to point to his own numbers and completely disavow much of them, or else ignore public-sector losses. We came close to thinking this was worth Three Pinocchios, but ultimately decided he was not necessarily including his record in the statement. Still, it’s a very fine line. The president should be much more careful about making such a sweeping claim.

According to the president's own Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of eligible Americans engaged in the labor force has dropped continuously since he took office.

As I've said time and time again, there is no recovery. There is only an ongoing malaise, courtesy of record deficit spending, currency devaluation, public sector union payoffs, crony capitalism, rampant fraud, and out-of-control bureaucracies like the EPA, NLRB, HHS, and Interior Department.

But November is coming.


Holy Moley: Democrat-Media Meme Obliterated as Trayvon Martin Fight Club Video Emerges [Stop-Action Photos]

I'm not sure who first located this revealing video. However, American Power links to Blazing Cat Fur (which has the LiveLeak video that was posted after YouTube pulled its version down) that links to Pat Dollard that links to Last Refuge.

The latter site offers significant evidence that the observer in the striped shirt and white ball-cap is Trayvon Martin. First, here are some stop-action photos of the fight between two unnamed combatants. In the video, Trayvon's name is called out about five seconds in.


And, in this particular instance, an MMA-style knee to the face ends the battle. At which point, the observer identified as Trayvon rushes out to congratulate the victor.


All of this makes it appear Trayvon could have had some practice beating on "white Hispanics" (the new racial group that our beloved Democrat-Media complex invented to prejudge George Zimmerman).

But aside from the blunt-smoking, the fight clubs and the White Hispanic-head-bashing, I'm betting Trayvon was just as angelic as the Democrat-Media portrayal implied.


Cardinal Dolan of NY, Cardinal Wuerl of D.C., Notre Dame--Plus 40 Other Catholic Dioceses and Groups--Sue Obama Administration

Well, this report should certainly get the attention of the Golfer-In-Chief and his sycophants. CNS News has the breaking story (via BadBlue.com)

The Archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., headed by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the University of Notre Dame, and 40 other Catholic dioceses and organizations around the country announced on Monday that they are suing the Obama administration for violating their freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The dioceses and organizations, in different combinations, are filing 12 different lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country.

"This lawsuit is about an unprecedented attack by the federal government on one of America’s most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice one’s religion without government interference," the archdiocese says on the website. "It is not about whether people have access to certain services; it is about whether the government may force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and fund services which violate their religious beliefs."

...“We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with the Congress--and we’ll keep at it--but there's still no fix," Cardinal Dolan, who is also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement released by the conference this morning.

...In their suit, these groups name HHS Secretary Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and their departments as defendants.

The Catholic groups have created the website PreserveReligiousFreedom.org to explain their position.

All Americans, irrespective of political affiliation, should oppose President Obama's attacks on First Amendment freedoms.


Larwyn's Linx: The Great Barry

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

Nation

The Great Barry: Steyn
Another Sign the U.S. is Over: Pelerin
Two More Mostly Peaceful Occupiers Charged In Bomb Plot: MBT

Biden's Words Fall on Deaf Ears in Ohio: RCP
Looting like pirates in the name of fighting crime: Hayek
NATO summit protest photos: Sunday, May 20: Trib

Economy

Obama Pursues Higher Tax Rates, Growth Be Damned: Barone
Walker rising, Barrett falling, Unions crying: LI
Cory Booker: Bain has done a lot to support businesses: Beacon

'Is the GOP trying to sabotage the economy?': Power Line
Ouch: Watch Paul Ryan Spank Austan Goolsbee: GWP
Teacher screams at student: criticizing Obama is illegal!: Breitbart

Full-Fledged European Bank Run Underway: Mish
Europe’s Worst Fear: Spain and Greece Spiral Down Together: NYT
Rising US recession risk poses the real threat to Europe: Telegraph

Scandal Central

Obama wants this dead cop to go away: Carlson
Pic of the Day: Obama’s Sealed Records: Nice Deb
Fisker Karma Fire in Texas Garage Being Probed by NHTSA: BizWk

Climate & Energy

Your Random Surfing For Cute Cats And Funny Puppies Is Killing Gaia!: Cove
Obama Keeps A Bad Promise to Kill Off Coal: GWP
EPA threatening energy producers: Waide

Media

Daniel Adkins, Left-Wing Media, & the Arizona “Stand-Your-Ground” Victim Ignored: RippDemUp
Trayvon Martin Shown in New Surveillance Video: AmPower
Marco Rubio: Obama Is Most “Divisive Figure In Modern American History”: WZ

Heroic, Courageous Gay President Steers Clear of Prop 8 in California: JWF
Chicago: 18 Men In Hoodies Enter Restaurant, Use Hammers and Nightsticks To Attack Patrons: Jawa
Page & Plant Interview In Strolling Drone: RSM

The Long Shadow of Barack Obama's Identity Crisis: Power Line
‘Other Computer Savvy Activists’: RSM
Unhurt after being crushed by occupiers and police gauntlet: Marathon

World

G-8 Leaders Agree: More Rosy Platitudes, Empty Statements Needed: Mead
Silver Star for the outstanding job Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney did in Afghanistan: Ace
Eurozone's banks are 'in tatters', says Ken Clarke: BBC

White House Leaks Details of SEAL Mission, Underwear Bomber... For Political Spin: Ace
Iran committed to ‘full annihilation of Israel,’ says top Iranian military commander: DC
Chuck Schumer Channels Nazi Germany, Goes After Americans Attempting to Escape Taxes: Hideout

Sci-Tech

Leap Motion: 3D hands-free motion control, unbound: CNet
Where do babies come from?: Ace
Android, Samsung top smartphone sales, topping Apple's iPhone: NetWorld

Cornucopia

Marine Returns to Beautiful Surprise: Sees Son with Cerebral Palsy Walk for the First Time: ObjStd
“Breaking Bad” as a retirement option: Primordial Slack
SNL’s Season Finale Digital Short Reprises ‘Lazy Sunday’: Mediate

Image: Chicago Tribune
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "The legacy press, which covers empty non-events like this [G-8 Summit] with great relish, strained and gasped to find some drama in the event. Would the leaders fail to find a statement so bland, so meaningless and yet somehow cheery and optimistic sounding that their deliberations would be difficult? Would any leaders have a few too many cocktails and let a little bit of candor slip into the flow of banal talk? ... As usual, the answer to these questions appears to be no. President Obama spoke of an ‘emerging consensus’; translated out of dipspeak that means that no consensus emerged...

...For the New York Times, the desire to make President Obama look good and the journalistic need to whomp up some drama led to a story line about “pressure” being put on Germany’s Angela Merkel to shift to a more accommodative, ‘pro-growth’ path. No doubt she is under pressure, but did peer pressure or anything else at the G-8 change her mind? The Times story tries hard to make it look as if something was going on, but close reading of the story shows no movement in Merkel’s position from her first meeting with Hollande and the final communique simply repeats the usual bilge. Judging from the quotes in the piece, the best headline would have been “Merkel Rejects Obama Plea for Change in German Policy”, but the misleading and vacuous “World Leaders Urge Growth, Not Austerity” struck the Times as a happier way to go." --Walter Russell Mead

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Grandma's Got a Gun

Papa B has an idea for a new entitlement program.

You're a sick senior citizen and the government says there is no nursing home available for you. So what do you do?

Our plan offers anyone 65 years or older a revolver (no ammunition needed). We teach you how to carjack, rob passers-by, burglarize residences, and otherwise commit heinous crimes.


Of course, this means that you will be sent to prison where you will get three meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating, air conditioning and all the health care you need!

Need new teeth? No problem. Glasses? That's great. Need a new hip, knees, kidney, lungs or heart? They're all covered.

As an added bonus, your kids can come and visit you as often as they do now.

And who will be paying for all of this? It's the same government that just told you that you they cannot afford for you to go into a nursing home.

Plus, because you are a prisoner, you don't have to pay any income taxes anymore.

Obama poised to achieve another historic record: highest tax rate ever!

But I'm sure leeching even more money from the private sector will supercharge job creation and help the recovery accelerate even faster!

Americans are facing an unprecedented $494 billion tax hike on Jan. 1, 2013. It’s been dubbed “Taxmageddon” given the economic devastation it would cause.

...The bulk of Taxmageddon comes from expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, but also means the child tax credit will be cut in half, the Alternative Minimum Tax patches end, the Death Tax returns to its 2001 level, and a handful of new Obamacare tax hikes take effect...


...Conservatives should applaud Boehner[*] for seeking a solution sooner rather than later. But without action from the do-nothing Senate, there’s little hope of stopping this enormous and unprecedented tax increase before November...

Wait just a second. Didn't California just try this same strategy and fail miserably?

Oh well, this is the Lightbringer we're talking about, so perhaps it'll be different this time. After all, he got the oceans to stop rising.


*I'll applaud Boehner when he actually stops Obama and doesn't wimp out.

Barack Obama's biographical brief edited repeatedly over 17 years, but Kenyan birthplace changed just weeks after his presidential run announced

The biography provided by Barack Obama to his literary agent specified his birthplace as "Kenya". And, over the course of 17 years, despite multiple revisions by Obama, the Kenyan birthplace remained a fundamental part of the bio on the agent's website.

I've used the Wayback Archive to explore the exact transformations of Obama's biography on his agent's site (click on any of the thumbnails to zoom to a readable size).

On June 27, 1998, the website read: "BARACK OBAMA was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book is DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE."

The Obama entry remained unmodified (e.g., June 6, 2002) until sometime around December 9, 2004, when it was modified to read: "BARACK OBAMA is the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, and was the dynamic keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He was also the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE, is a New York Times bestseller."

On February 10, 2007, Senator Barack Obama formally announced his candidacy for the Presidency.

On April 3, 2007, the website read: "BARACK OBAMA is the junior Democratic senator from Illinois and was the dynamic keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He was also the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE, has been a long time New York Times bestseller."

Sometime between April 3rd and April 21st, a member of the Obama campaign staff (or Obama himself) noticed the discrepancy in birthplace that would presumably disqualify the Senator from office.

On April 21, 2007, the website read: "BARACK OBAMA is the junior Democratic senator from Illinois and was the dynamic keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He was also the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Hawaii to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE, has been a long time New York Times bestseller."

On June 14, 2007, the website read: "BARACK OBAMA, the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, is currently campaigning to become the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee. He was born in Hawaii to a father who was raised in a small village in Kenya and a mother who grew up in small-town Kansas. Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University before moving to Chicago, where he became a community organizer. He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. His first book, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE, has been a long-time New York Times bestseller."

Old media's feeble handling of this issue -- parroting the laughable assertion that clerical errors caused Obama's birthplace to be incorrectly listed, when former clients and the agency's policy itself states that authors provide the biographical briefs -- is pathetic.

As I've demonstrated here, Obama's bio was carefully edited over the course of 17 years to reflect his various accomplishments.

It was only a few months after his presidential candidacy was announced that his Kenyan "birthplace" became Hawaiian to confirm his eligibility for office. Obama remains a client to this day, which helps explain the literary agent's willingness to instantly offer an explanation for the discrepancy.

Only a Kool-aid-swilling hack or a Democrat-media drone -- but I repeat myself -- would buy into the literary agent's lame excuse.


Top 10 Liberal Logic De-Motivational Posters

Hand-selected by Biff Spackle from the magnificent Liberal Logic 101:











Click on any of the images to visit the original site.


Hat tips: The Looking Spoon and Right Wing News.

Larwyn's Linx: Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) Tells Eric Holder to Stuff It

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

Nation

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) Tells Eric Holder to Stuff It: RS
Oops: Voter ID Required at Another Democratic Caucus: RNLA
Obama's 'Attack Watch' Slams 'Kenya' Booklet Story: Breitbart

A Word From Tom Lipscomb: Power Line
The Fiction of Barack Obama: NoisyRm
Obama's Atrocities: Breitbart

Sputtering, misfiring, broken old democracy: JPA
A Racial Revolution?: Sowell
1001 Reasons to Vote for Obama: CDN

Economy

U.S. to face another credit downgrade if Obama reelected: DC
Mostly Peaceful Occupy 'Activists' Held on Terror Charges: JWF
No corporate welfare for the merchants of death: Hoosier

Shocker: Obama, socialist French leader call for stimulus: GWP
Maryland’s April employment figures are cause for concern: LI
Cali Nightmare: deficit, unemployment spike as businesses exit: Events

9th Circuit Takes Plush Maui Vacation At Taxpayer Expense: Breitbart
All Roads in Europe Lead to Gold: ZH
FaceBook: The Complete Forensic Post-Mortem: ZH

Scandal Central

The EPA Is Annexing Alaska: Wizbang
Saudis Supply 90 Percent of Jihad Funding: RWN
Big Macs, KFCs and takeaway pizzas are HEALTHIER than many NHS hospital meals: Daily Mail

Climate & Energy

Obama challenges oil companies to drill existing leases even if there's no oil there: RS
The “well funded” climate business – follow the money: C&S
Gore Beclowns Himself Yet Again With Idiotic Fabrications About the Warming Cult: Depot

Media

The ideological extremism of David Brooks: Patterico
Conservatives support Jon Lovitz as liberal trolls renew vile attacks: Twitchy
Graphic film on female sex tourists cheered in Cannes: News.com.au

The Election 2012 Raaaaacism Meme Grows: STACLU
Hannity Special: McCain Camp Didn’t Vet Obama; Palin Thought That Was a Mistake: C4P
ESPN to Manny Pacquiao: Stop Defending 'Cruel, Untrue' Catholic Church: NB

In 2006, TAB First Published Details of Obama's Literary Agent: TAB
Exclusive Document Debunks Unfavorable Myth About Obama's Columbia Years: Breitbart
Dershowitz: FL state prosecutor Angela Corey illegally withheld evidence from the courts: Scoop

World

Earthquake hits Italy: Fatalities and many injured, photos from scene: Twitchy
How Islam Killed Greco-Roman Civilization: FPM
Ratcheting Up The Crisis In Europe: Mead

Losing Egypt, Losing the Mid-East: AT
China Military Getting Stronger: NYT
Spain: The "Most Anti-Semitic Country in Europe": Gatestone

Sci-Tech

Science vs. PR: AEI
SpaceX rocket launch aborted in last second: Times
Facebook's aggressive approach to solving its mobile problem: CNet

Cornucopia

Elizabeth Warren Indian Love Call: Sad Hill News
"Birth" of a Liberal's "Truth": MOTUS
A Nice Crowd: C&S

Image: Breitbart
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "...At one point last week, television networks were sending camera crews out onto the streets to look for panicky customers standing in line at ATMs or at bank counters; but then they realized that these days you can do it all on the net. We have entered the age of the invisible bank run and are waiting for the first virtual panic.

An invisible bank run is a hard thing to watch; not only is it less telegenic than the old-fashioned kind, one relies on numbers from official government agencies for statistics. How much money left the banking system today? How many banks need emergency liquidity to meet the tide of withdrawals? In the old days, reporters could and did watch lines form outside the banks and watch the armored trucks arrive with cash. These days it is happening anonymously and you only know what they tell you.

They are very unlikely to tell you the truth ... ... They don’t want you to panic — and they want to make sure that your money is trapped when they take it away or turn it from gold into straw." --Walter Russell Mead

Saturday, May 19, 2012

An Islamist Spills the Beans [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:


You should make it a priority to view the video referenced below.


Via andrewbostom.org:


Dr. Wafa Sultan, a remarkably courageous and thoughtful Muslim freethinker, recently debated Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad.


Dr. Sultan watched passively while the good Sheik expressed without equivocation his pious views—in full accord with classical, mainstream Islamic doctrine on jihad —and then politely added her own plain spoken commentary in response.


This less than 8-minute video segment, if viewed objectively and dispassionately, could do more to educate the American public on the theory animating the practice of “Islamic international relations,” without any further explanation required.

Ruh Roh: Europe's Invisible Bank Run Accelerates

The inevitable result of the Left's policies -- unchecked deficit spending, powerful public sector unions, easy access to welfare, and open borders -- is now unfolding in Europe. The endgame is certain to be as profound as it is cataclysmic.

...Worries about a run on Greek banks have rattled Athens this week, after savers withdrew at least 700 million euros on Monday alone, according to minutes of Papoulias’s comments to political leaders posted on the presidency’s website.

It is not only Greeks who are worried about their savings. Data shows depositors have also taken flight from banks in Belgium, France and Italy. And on Thursday, Spain’s Bankia was reported to have seen more than 1 billion euros drained by its customers in the past week.

Greeks are afraid they could be hit by rapid devaluation if the country leaves the European single currency, while customers at Bankia have been rattled by the government’s takeover of the recently floated bank on May 9 and growing uncertainty about the final cost of Spain’s banking reforms... “The entire Greek banking system is in danger: The banks are now facing the worst of all outcomes, deposit flight,” said Arnaud Poutier, deputy CEO of IG Markets France.

...Greece’s banks have lost 72 billion euros in deposits since the start of 2010, or about 30 percent, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Five of Greece’s top banks saw 37 billion euros taken out last year, including 12 billion from EFG Eurobank and 8-9 billion apiece at National Bank of Greece, Piraeus and Alpha Bank.

...Savers have shifted to property, gold and other banks, or stashed it privately. In Greece, this slow-speed run on deposits has not caused panic. But that could quickly change if there is a sudden loss of confidence in the banks.

Savers lost faith in Britain’s Northern Rock overnight in September 2008, queuing for hours in the days that followed to take out their cash, despite a guarantee safeguarding most deposits. The British government ended up nationalizing the bank.

...Cash flooded into Britain; more than 140 billion euros was deposited in four big banks alone. The U.K. benefits from its position outside the eurozone and its Asia-focused banks HSBC and Standard Chartered are seen as safe havens.

Other banks to see big inflows included Barclays, Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Switzerland’s Credit Suisse and UBS and Russia’s Sberbank and VTB.

All of these repudiations to collectivist policies should -- but won't -- serve as an object lesson to Democrats. That's because the modern Democrat Party is immune to introspection and unwilling to examine facts, logic, history and reason.

Which is why it must be politically obliterated in November -- before it's too late to save this precious Republic.


Is Taegan Goddard's "Political Wire" the Dumbest Political Site on the Web? One Thing's For Sure: It Has the Dumbest Commenters

Someone named "Taegan Goddard" -- if that is his real name -- runs a so-called news site named "PoliticalWire." Just so you're aware if you happen to vist: PoliticalWire is the news equivalent of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: it's guaranteed to repetitively spew DNC talking points while attracting a certain -- how can I say this politely? -- clientele of low intellectual capacity. The shallow end of the gene pool, if you will.

The latest example of the site's drone-like insipidity is this delightful missive, entitled "Is GOP Trying to Sabotage the Economy?" [sic]

Associated Press: "Are Republican lawmakers deliberately stalling the economic recovery to hurt President Barack Obama's re-election chances? Some top Democrats say yes, pointing to GOP stances on the debt limit and other issues that they claim are causing unnecessary economic anxiety and retarding growth."


Regardless of whether the suspicions are right, "there's evidence that unceasing partisan gridlock and the prospect of big tax increases and spending cuts in January are causing some companies to postpone expansions."

Genius. So the greatest deficit spender in world history, whose own budgets have been repudiated by the nail-biting, bipartisan margin of 610 to nothing, and who had super-majorities in Congress for two years, blames the GOP for his epic failures?

• He jammed through the world's biggest "Stimulus" bill, roughly $800 billion that is now built into the baseline budget, because of Democrats' three-year failure to pass a budget.

• Using every political maneuver imaginable, he shoved Obamacare down the American people's throats -- a 2,700 page bill that not one person read before it was voted on.

• In an unsurprising turn of events, he slammed a "Financial Reform" bill into place -- thousands of pages of additional legislation that no one read -- that left the lynchpins of the financial crisis (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) unreformed.

• He presided over such egregious deficit spending that the U.S. lost its AAA credit rating for the first time.

• His EPA and Department of the Interior have repeatedly attempted to crush America's energy production: found in contempt of court for its illegal Gulf drilling ban, repudiated in federal court for exceeding its authority by revoking properly issued mining permits and killing the Keystone XL pipeline just for starters.

• He tacitly endorsed illegal immigration by issuing executive orders to implement a de facto DREAM Act and sued states for enforcing federal immigration law.

• Through his National Labor Relations Board, he's repeatedly intimidated large manufacturers like Boeing.

• He's wasted tens of billions on phony "green energy" companies like Solyndra that -- just coincidentally, I'm sure -- never failed to have ties to his campaign's biggest contributors.

Those items are just the tip of the iceberg.

But all of these failures -- Soviet-style, central planning on steroids -- are the Republicans' fault. Or at least Bush's.

With embarrassing drivel like this, I'm guessing Taegan Goddard and his collective commenting crew couldn't harness enough intellectual firepower to spark a stogie.


Topmost image: People's Cube.

Virtual Book Burning: Amazon Submits to Sharia Law in Europe

An alert reader of Germany's Politically Incorrect -- relayed by Gates of Vienna -- observes that Amazon appears to have deleted Geert Wilder's bestseller from its European stores.

Marked for DeathThe new book by Geert Wilders, Marked for Death, is apparently neither being advertised nor offered in European Amazon. About two months before its publication date, it was possible to reserve the book on your Amazon wish list. In that space now, there is an empty window — without even a dust jacket. Unavailable. Then if you go to amazon.de, you find out it no longer exists.

...If you call up the book on amazon.com and then substitute .de for .com in the address line, so you can order the same book in English, the message appears: “Sorry, the web address you have given does not exist on our website.” If you try this procedure with any other book in English, the “translation” from amazon.com to amazon.de works effortlessly, as always.

Well, OK, not at German Amazon. Maybe British? So instead of dot.com, we put in dot.co.uk. The result is the message: “We’re sorry, the web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site.” Hmm, no active site for the new Wilders book.

If you try the same procedure with another English language book, you get the respective active pages on amazon.co.uk and amazon.co.fr. Just not with Geert Wilders’ book.

Our impression: Amazon does not intend to offer Geert Wilders’ new book in Europe. Since Amazon is having no problems with it in the USA, and the book there is at the stupendous bestseller rank of 459, the suspicion is that someone in Europe has caused some trouble or made some threats. So, is the idea really to keep the book away from Europe?

Why is Amazon worried about listing Wilder's book? Amazon reviewer Bruce -- who gives the book five stars -- describes its content in stark terms.

Geert Wilders new book, "Marked for Death" is an absolute must read and a breath of fresh air. In a methodical way it traces exactly why Islam has been such a curse for all those societies where it is practised. In the words of Mr. Wilders, "Throughout history, Islam has brought poverty, social strife, backwardness, intolerance, and tyranny to societies where it was practiced. This trend continues today, as the curse of Islam hampers the quest for freedom and democracy in the Middle East." The dangers it poses to the West cannot be underestimated and our pandering to Islam and indeed encouraging Muslim immigration to our lands can only undermine our democratic values. Mr. Wilders explains why Islam does not merit the description of it being a "religion." Rather it is really a totalitarian system of beliefs based on hatred and inequality and ultimately control of the human being.

There is a term -- "dhimmitude" -- that perfectly describes Amazon's seeming behavior. I wonder how many other books have been censored for "our own good"?

I liken this kind of conduct to a virtual book burning.


Why Barack Obama listed his birthplace as Kenya

The biography provided by Barack Obama to his literary agent specified his birthplace as "Kenya". And, over the course of 17 years, despite multiple revisions by Obama, the Kenyan birthplace remained a fundamental part of the bio on the agent's website.

Was Barack actually born in Kenya? I seriously doubt it, even though Michelle Obama has publicly stated that Kenya is her husband's "home country". Contemporary newspaper listings in Honolulu, for example, list the time and place of his birth. While this isn't ironclad proof, to be sure, it's good enough for me.

No, my suspicion is that Mr. Obama manipulated his birthplace intentionally (and cynically) to take advantage of certain benefits unavailable to those born in the United States.

Bookworm Room describes why that might have been. We need to set the Wayback Machine to 1978, when young Obama was seeking admission to college.

1978 isn’t just any year. It’s a very special year. It was the year that the Supreme Court decided Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) 438 U.S. 265... [and] held that [the] race-based admission process was unconstitutional.

With that decision, Obama, who was a self-confessed slacker in high school, suddenly lost his e-ticket to a good college. He couldn’t know then (nor would it have mattered) that the various concurrences in this deeply divided opinion would eventually open the door to colleges and universities making race a “factor” in admission, so much so that this “factor-ness” eventually created a whole new quota system.

My best guess is that, denied an opportunity to use quota systems to parlay a lousy academic record into a quality college admission, Obama searched around for other means of bypassing his academic failings. It was this search that led him to announce that he was Kenyan. I’m sure that a certain amount of digging will reveal that, just when the Bakke decision came down, American universities were engaged in some sort of pro-active policy involving increasing the number of African nationals on America’s college campuses. Obama was happy to oblige the universities in this effort by co-opting his father’s nationality, and burying the fact that he was a garden-variety American black kid.

There’s the nexus — In 1978, Obama, who already then was willing to lie to achieve his goals, created a false identity to deal with the changes the Bakke decision wrought on college admissions.

This appears to be an extremely plausible explanation for Obama's refusal to release any of his college transcripts.

My guess is that this scenario -- or one similar to it -- helps explain why Obama enjoys the company of race-hustlers like Al Sharpton.

And where was the media for lo these many years? Busy investigating Sarah Palin's elementary school chums?


Larwyn's Linx: Progressing toward Moral Darkness

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

Nation

Progressing toward Moral Darkness: Horne
Republicans: Vote To Defeat Obama in Arkansas Dem Primary!: Sooper
AZ Secretary of State Threatens to Remove Obama from Ballot: Dossier

With Friends Like Obama...: MRC
Connections: Soros, A Terrorist, Democrats and Obama?: Camp
No Need To Run a $10 Million Campaign on Jeremiah Wright: Hawkins

Does 04 + 08 = 12?: Patterico
Obama's Agent Requires All Authors To Submit Their Own Bios: Ace
Obama bio stated he'd been born in Kenya until 2007: Breitbart

Economy

Joe Biden: Obama Economy Driving People To Support Jailed Felons: Riehl
What the obama Administration Has Taught America: RWN
Disneyland ticket prices to increase from $80 to $87: KABC

Civility: Vandals In Wisconsin Now Burning Scott Walker Yard Signs: Glob
TSA: Success Rate of Full-Body Scanners Is Classified: Reason
Memo to Justice Kagan: Taxes Are Coercive: ObjStd (3/12)

Scandal Central

House GOP leaders order Holder to cooperate on gun-running probe: Times
Internet gambling: Holder's DOJ law reinterpretation benefits Obama's home state, Dem donors: Marathon
Is a 1978 case rejecting academic racial quotas, the smoking gun behind Obama’s 'Kenyan' identity?: Bookworm

Climate & Energy

The Global Renewable Energy Index is crashing: Watts
Pathetic: After Blocking Oil Drilling, Obama Now Posing in Front of Oil Wells: JWF
The question put to Dr. Mann at Disneyland today: Watts

Media

Alan Dershowitz: It’s Time to Drop the Murder Rap Against George Zimmerman: JWF
Who Warned Us About Brett Kimberlin?: RSM
Witness Saw Little Angel Trayvon, Who Was High on Drugs, Beating George Zimmerman “MMA Style”: MB

The Crucial Trayvon Martin Evidence the Media Won’t Repeat: Owens
Counterfeit Kenyan: Taranto
Mark Levin rails against Romney camp for avoiding Rev. Wright issue: DC

All of Seven women show up for NOW’s big anti-Rush protest in DC: MBT
Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Temple Israel Destroy 70 Year Family Relationship: Shark
Presidential Election 2012: Eddie Haskell versus Ward Cleaver: Bookworm

World

The Fascist Boogie Fever: NoisyRm
The College for Defense of the Bolivarian Alternative of the America: Latin America’s school for dictators: Fausta
Two Obama Administration Scandals on Syria?: BRubin

The Three C's: Gates of Vienna
Opposition to an Iranian nuclear weapon is global: Matzav
Spain crisis rocks Europe as Moody's downgrades banks including Santander: Independent

The Spirit of Geert Wilders : Steyn
The New Egypt's Politics: Who Can Demonize Jews And Israel, The Most?: JoshuaPundit
U.N. Chief Says Al-Qaeda Active In Syria: WZ

Sci-Tech

In Demand: Ninjas, Jedis and Gurus: WSJ
Where and When to See Sunday’s Solar Eclipse: Bruce
Facebook debut as a public company fails to pop as stock closes nearly flat: WaPo

Cornucopia

Great Moments In Presidential History With Obama: Looking Spoon
The Amateur and the Other Amateur: MOTUS
The 12 best tweets about Dana Loesch’s new superpower: Twitchy

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund Can Use Your Support

QOTD: "The disintegration of the euro looks to me to be the most likely outcome... we may get some temporary respite from the panic if Greece manages to form a government, but this will surely just prove temporary as further austerity leads to continued recession, civil discontent and greater support for extremist political parties [which is already scary – 1-in-14 Greeks just voted for a neo-Nazi party].

The ECB very probably has more tricks up its sleeve, which may be LTRO 3 or perhaps some form of Quantitative Easing [e.g. purchasing a GDP weighted portion of member states’ government bonds]. But these measures will again fail to address the underlying imbalances at the heart of the eurozone." --Mike Riddell, M&G

Friday, May 18, 2012

Papa B's New T-Shirt


Papa B says he's 1/32nd Cherokee.




Oh, my: Since Obama took office "red states have had a job growth rate of nearly twice that of blue states"

The DNC propagandists have some 'splainin to do:

Just 16 states have seen job growth since President Obama took office, according to state employment data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The remaining states have lost a combined 1.4 million jobs since January 2009.

Even 34 months after the recession officially ended in June 2009, there are still 11 states that have fewer people working now than at the start of the recovery... Meanwhile, 20 states have unemployment rates at or above 8%, including nine with unemployment at 9% or higher, according to the BLS.


At the other end of the spectrum, Texas has been the leader in job creation under Obama, with 240,000 more people working there than when he took office. Since the recovery started in June 2009, Texas has added 474,000 jobs, which accounts for one in four of all the jobs created during the recovery.

North Dakota takes the prize for fastest job growth rate, with employment climbing 13% since Obama took office, due largely to the oil boom there.

The biggest job loser under Obama is California, which as of April was down 285,000 job vs. January 2009, BLS data show.

...Looked at through the political prism, red states — those likely to vote for Mitt Romney this November — gained jobs, on average, under Obama. Blue states, in contrast, had an average job loss rate of almost 1%.

And since the recovery started, red states have had a job growth rate of nearly twice that of blue states.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean to say that class warfare, increased taxes, uncontrolled regulations and massive growth in government doesn't help job creation?

I'll make a note of that for future generations.


Innocent young Trayvon captured on video moments before he started beating George Zimmerman "MMA-Style"

Now that authorities have released photos of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman from the night of the shooting, legacy media has suddenly gone deaf, dumb and blind.

Here's a screen-cap of innocent young Trayvon from a 7/11 security camera, moments after smoking a blunt that night. At least, we can assume he'd smoked a blunt, given the THC the coroner detected in his system.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the February death of Trayvon Martin in a Sanford neighborhood. Zimmerman has claimed he shot Martin in self-defense.

Within the documents was the autopsy report, which shows where Martin was shot and what happened as a result. It also said Martin had THC in his body that night. THC is a substance commonly found in marijuana. However, the report did not specify marijuana.


Also among the documents is the original report on Zimmerman's injuries that night. It stated that Zimmerman had abrasions on his forehead, bleeding and tenderness to his nose, and a small laceration on the back of his head. The records also included close-up pictures of Zimmerman face the night of the shooting.

The records include several recordings and pictures, along with 183 pages of documents.

The documents include the original report by Christopher Serino, the investigator who investigated the shooting. The report said the entire incident, from Zimmerman's initial call to when he was taken into custody, only took about eight and a half minutes.


Among the witness statements is one from a man who said he saw a dark-skinned man in a hoodie who was on top of a Hispanic man and punching him. The man yelled that he was going to call the police, and then he heard a "pop." However, the man admitted that he did not see the beginning of the scuffle. Another witness said he heard someone say "I've got a gun, I've got a gun," and "take my gun from me."

...In the report, Serino also said he heard a man's voice yelling either "help" or "help me" 14 times in a 38 second time span on one of the 911 tapes, and that the voice was determined to be Zimmerman.

Another report recounts Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, listening to the 911 tape. The report said Martin was asked whether the voice on the tape was his son, and Martin "quietly responded 'no.'"

Furthermore, multiple witnesses had described Trayvon's beating of Zimmerman in no uncertain terms:

A witness told Florida cops that he saw Trayvon Martin straddling George Zimmerman and pummeling the neighborhood watch captain “MMA [mixed martial arts] style” shortly before the unarmed teen was felled by a gunshot to the chest. …

Interviewed by cops about 90 minutes after the shooting, the witness — whose name was redacted from police documents — said that he was inside his home when he heard a “commotion coming from the walk way” behind his residence... The man recalled seeing “a black male, wearing a dark colored ‘hoodie’ on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help.”

Don't expect to see any of this in old media, which is strictly in the business of disseminating Democrat propaganda. And that includes race-baiting, Sharpton-style, and any other disinformation campaigns that can advance the cause of Balkanization and massive, centralized government.


Cartoon o' the day: Paint the rest, Barry!

From the peerless Michael Ramirez, courtesy of Tammy Bruce.


If you missed the backstory, Sweasel can you fill you in.


Larwyn's Linx: Here’s An Idea For Chuck The Schmuck And Bob Casey

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

Nation

Here’s An Idea For Chuck The Schmuck And Bob Casey: HayRide
Who funds the fund watchers?: Beacon
AZ Gov. Expands Most Innovative School Choice Model in U.S.: Foundry

Vetting Obama: Born in Kenya?: Nice Deb
A Literary Agent Screwed Up Obama’s Bio For 18 Years?: HillBuzz
Funny Money: Walker Opponent Awarded No-Bid Contract: Beacon

Economy

Choose Your Stimulus: RWN
Rubio Blasts Democrats For Failing To Pass A Budget: Glob
HP Said To Consider Cutting Up To 25,000 Jobs: Bloomberg

Democrats outraged as smart money flees Obama economy: NoisyRm
Illegal Immigration Costs Maryland Nearly $1.9 Billion a Year: CDN
ATR Rejects Gov. Quinn's Reckless Medicaid "Reform" Proposal: ATR

Scandal Central

First Solar CEO grilled for dumping stock after taxpayer loan: Hayward
Brightsource DOE Funding Exposes Obama Cronyism: Foundry
Vermont Bans Fracking; CNN: What the Heck is Fracking?: RS

Media

Mark Levin slams Romney for savaging Newt yet pulling back against Obama with Rev. Wright: Scoop
Krauthammer: Romney Ad Linking Rev. Wright to Obama “Would Be Completely Legitimate”: Nice Deb
Comedy Central writer cries over conservative hashtag games: Twitchy

Obama's Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: 'Born in Kenya': Breitbart
Lapdog media immediately jumps to defense on Obama’s biographies with cries of ‘birther’: Twitchy
If Liberals Ran Major League Maseball: Unsolicited

Convicted Terrorist Kimberlin Got $70K From Tides Foundation, $10K From Streisand, $20K from Kerry’s Wife: RSM
Cops, Witnesses Back Up George Zimmerman's Version of Trayvon Martin Shooting: ABC
An independent pollster, or -- what was I thinking?: WesternExperience

The Breathtaking Ignorance of the Washington Post’s Rachel Weiner: C4P
Evidence and “ultimately avoidable” legal irrelevancy released in Trayvon Martin case: LI
Koch Attorney Slams Bashir: 'Way Your Network' Treated Us 'Led to Death Threats Against Our Owners': NB

World

Malik Ali Brings the Crazy to Irvine Speech: IPT
Netanyahu: No evidence Iran will end nuke program: JPost
Greece Figured It Out!: Ticker

As European Bank Run Threatens, Fitch Says Global Firms Need Another $566B: Forbes
Spain falls into recession amid fears of eurozone bank run: AFP
Audio of an F-22 Pilot Getting Hypoxia: DefTech

Sci-Tech

Saudi hackers target Iran oil sector - report: Arabian Business
Study: You're not clicking on Facebook ads -- and you never will: CNet
Coffee buzz: Study finds java drinkers live longer: MyWay

Cornucopia

More Evidence That I Was Right About Killing Julian Assange: Hawkins
The best picture of a dog dressed as two pirates carrying treasure you'll see today or your money back: Troglo
Interviewing Jonah Goldberg About His New Book, “The Tyranny of Cliches": Hawkins

Image: Troglopundit
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Stop Agenda 21: Sign the FreedomWorks Petition

QOTD: "I hadn’t seen the story [about the Obama campaign inserting him into prior presidential biographies], but I do know that when the president ran, he said that this election would be the turning point, that the oceans would recede, that the world would shift because of him being in office. There seem to be people around him, as well as himself, who have a very grand view of what he will accomplish . . . and we’re still waiting to see that. I think the American people have been disappointed. The promises were grandiose and extraordinary, and the deliverables have been disappointing at best. I think it is one thing to try to rewrite your own history — it’s something different altogether to rewrite that of all your predecessors. . . . I can commit: I will not be trying to rewrite the biographies of former presidents." --Mitt Romney