Marco Rubio, call your office.
The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would
create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the
U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a
ubiquitous national identification system.
Buried in the more than 800 pages of the bipartisan legislation
(.pdf) is language mandating the creation of the innocuously-named
“photo tool,” a massive federal database administered by the Department
of Homeland Security and containing names, ages, Social Security numbers and photographs of everyone in the country with a driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID. --AOSHQ quoting Wired
The AOS comment is worth repeating:
It's not like it's a tattoo or anything.
Nothing to see here. Move along. Or we'll have the IRS audit your ass.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
The End Justifies the Means: Bill Ayers, Terrorist
Let's start here:
...Certainly the liberal news media haven’t publicized the fact that the man who launched Barack Obama’s political career in his living room was the leader of an organization that attempted the mass murder of American soldiers at a dance....
Umnnhh, come to think of it, no they didn't!
When questioned whether his terrorist bomb-throwing was akin to the Boston terrorist bomb-throwing, Ayers drooled and farted something about the 'awfulness' of the Vietnam war--so 'there was no comparison.'
In other words, to Obama's most significant early supporter, the end justifies the means.
Got it. Thanks, Bill.
...Certainly the liberal news media haven’t publicized the fact that the man who launched Barack Obama’s political career in his living room was the leader of an organization that attempted the mass murder of American soldiers at a dance....
Umnnhh, come to think of it, no they didn't!
When questioned whether his terrorist bomb-throwing was akin to the Boston terrorist bomb-throwing, Ayers drooled and farted something about the 'awfulness' of the Vietnam war--so 'there was no comparison.'
In other words, to Obama's most significant early supporter, the end justifies the means.
Got it. Thanks, Bill.
Gun Violence Drops Precipitously
Hmmmm.
Over the last twenty years, gun homicide rates have fallen by 49%, and nonfatal firearm crime has fallen even more greatly....
Further,
...The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993. Violent non-fatal crime victimization overall (with or without a firearm) also is down markedly (72%) over two decades. ...
It would be even more interesting to find a study which demonstrates the co-incidence between "gun violence" and "drug gangs". The way I hear it from the thin-blue-line people I know, that is the vast majority of the problem.
HT: Arms/Law
Over the last twenty years, gun homicide rates have fallen by 49%, and nonfatal firearm crime has fallen even more greatly....
Further,
...The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993. Violent non-fatal crime victimization overall (with or without a firearm) also is down markedly (72%) over two decades. ...
It would be even more interesting to find a study which demonstrates the co-incidence between "gun violence" and "drug gangs". The way I hear it from the thin-blue-line people I know, that is the vast majority of the problem.
HT: Arms/Law
Why NOT "Tax Fairness"?
It's a mid-length essay, but it's clear.
Amazon and WallyWorld are happy to screw small competitors...with the Gummint's guns on their side.
That's called "Crony Capitalism." And it sucks no matter who is playing the card.
Amazon and WallyWorld are happy to screw small competitors...with the Gummint's guns on their side.
That's called "Crony Capitalism." And it sucks no matter who is playing the card.
Blaming HRC for Benghazi (?)
I think this is the right take.
When it first became clear that the CIA’s Benghazi talking points had been altered, many of us viewed the White House as the prime suspect. After all, it served President Obama’s political purposes to claim, at the height of a political campaign in which he was taking credit for the fall of al Qaeda, that the death of a U.S. ambassador was down to spontaneous outrage over a video, rather than pre-planned terrorism.
Note the bold text.
Things change, although nap-time Obozo is hardly cleared of malfeasance.
It turns out, however, that the State Department was the prime culprit. It was State that pushed back hard against the original talking points. The White House, probably for the political reason cited above, took its side.
Why did State want the talking points changed? Because it had ignored warnings about rising terrorist activity in Libya and had reduced security rather than beefing it up, as our embassy requested.
The Madistan gang thinks that this is all about killing off the Hildebeeste's election chances.
Not really; it's about who failed to do what to protect a US ambassador.
Big difference.
As far as nap-time Obozo goes:
...Her culpability during the attacks is doubtful in my opinion, but I would still like to know what she was doing during those tragic hours....
The emerging facts make it clear that Mr. Pantywaist needed his beauty rest and did not (or refused to) allow SF troops from Tripoli to get to Benghazi.
So. Hillary and Obozo lied. US people died.
When it first became clear that the CIA’s Benghazi talking points had been altered, many of us viewed the White House as the prime suspect. After all, it served President Obama’s political purposes to claim, at the height of a political campaign in which he was taking credit for the fall of al Qaeda, that the death of a U.S. ambassador was down to spontaneous outrage over a video, rather than pre-planned terrorism.
Note the bold text.
Things change, although nap-time Obozo is hardly cleared of malfeasance.
It turns out, however, that the State Department was the prime culprit. It was State that pushed back hard against the original talking points. The White House, probably for the political reason cited above, took its side.
Why did State want the talking points changed? Because it had ignored warnings about rising terrorist activity in Libya and had reduced security rather than beefing it up, as our embassy requested.
The Madistan gang thinks that this is all about killing off the Hildebeeste's election chances.
Not really; it's about who failed to do what to protect a US ambassador.
Big difference.
As far as nap-time Obozo goes:
...Her culpability during the attacks is doubtful in my opinion, but I would still like to know what she was doing during those tragic hours....
The emerging facts make it clear that Mr. Pantywaist needed his beauty rest and did not (or refused to) allow SF troops from Tripoli to get to Benghazi.
So. Hillary and Obozo lied. US people died.
Woopsie! ObozoCare to Whack Head Start!
Well, BotoxNancy is finding out what's in the legislation, alright. Taxpayers, bend over....
Head Start teachers and administrators told The Daily Caller that their most pressing concern is not budget impacts from sequestration but changes coming from President Barack Obama’s health-care law.
In 2014, the impact of 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act “is probably going to be a 9 percent [cost] increase, and significantly more the next year,” said Nancy Nordyk, director of the Head Start program in southern Oregon.
Rising healthcare costs will likely force Oregon to reduce some Head Start workers’ hours so they’re not eligible for the medical program, said Nordyk, who spoke to TheDC during a national Head Start conference held just outside D.C. in Maryland....
Head Start has been proven, time and again, to be a useless zit anyway, but it will be fun to watch this go up in flames.
HT: AOSHQ
Head Start teachers and administrators told The Daily Caller that their most pressing concern is not budget impacts from sequestration but changes coming from President Barack Obama’s health-care law.
In 2014, the impact of 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act “is probably going to be a 9 percent [cost] increase, and significantly more the next year,” said Nancy Nordyk, director of the Head Start program in southern Oregon.
Rising healthcare costs will likely force Oregon to reduce some Head Start workers’ hours so they’re not eligible for the medical program, said Nordyk, who spoke to TheDC during a national Head Start conference held just outside D.C. in Maryland....
Head Start has been proven, time and again, to be a useless zit anyway, but it will be fun to watch this go up in flames.
HT: AOSHQ
Monday, May 06, 2013
The Shill Speaks!!
Sean Hackbarth, now a paid persona at the Chamber of Commerce, argues that cheap labor (whether IT labor or farm-hands) is a growth thing, ya' know.
What did you expect?
Let's not bother with the farm-hand question here.
Over the years, I've noted the work of Norm Matloff of UC-Davis. There's a reason: Norm has proved, with far more evidence than necessary, that the IT slave-labor gambit is just that. These are not "best and brightest"; they are pedestrian IT worker-bees, who are imported strictly to make IT payroll cheaper.
And they displace proficient and savvy US citizens who pay taxes and spend money.
Somehow, Hackbarth manages to evade that point entirely.
That's what shill-ery is all about, folks.
What did you expect?
Let's not bother with the farm-hand question here.
Over the years, I've noted the work of Norm Matloff of UC-Davis. There's a reason: Norm has proved, with far more evidence than necessary, that the IT slave-labor gambit is just that. These are not "best and brightest"; they are pedestrian IT worker-bees, who are imported strictly to make IT payroll cheaper.
And they displace proficient and savvy US citizens who pay taxes and spend money.
Somehow, Hackbarth manages to evade that point entirely.
That's what shill-ery is all about, folks.
Obozo Lied, US Citizens Died
Well, there's some new testimony about Hermaphrodite-in-Chief.
...a team of Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden from doing so by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa.The account from Gregory Hicks is in stark contrast to assertions from the Obama administration, which insisted that nobody was ever told to stand down and that all available resources were utilized.
There's only one person who could have made that call.
Maybe he was asleep, in preparation for his fund-raiser the next day?
Or maybe he just doesn't give a shit about American lives.
HT: Bob Owens
...a team of Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden from doing so by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa.The account from Gregory Hicks is in stark contrast to assertions from the Obama administration, which insisted that nobody was ever told to stand down and that all available resources were utilized.
There's only one person who could have made that call.
Maybe he was asleep, in preparation for his fund-raiser the next day?
Or maybe he just doesn't give a shit about American lives.
HT: Bob Owens
More--MUCH More--on the BLS Jobs Report
Hmmmm. The teetering is showing.
While most pundits have focused on the BLS Establishment Survey, which reported that 165,000 payroll jobs had been created during April, the Household Survey* numbers told a much different story.
Total employment rose by 293,000 during April, but part-time jobs increased by 441,000. As a result, full-time jobs declined by 148,000.
The number of "full-time-equivalent" (FTE) jobs** only increased by 73,000. This was not enough to keep pace with the growth of our working-age population, so the "FTE jobs ratio" (the number of FTE jobs per 100 working-age Americans), fell.
The essay blames it on ObozoCare, which is likely. It's also possible that there is a lack of sustainable demand, of course. But if the Feds have been spending umpty-zillion in "stimulus" dollars, Keynes says there WILL be increased demand. So where is it?
More:
During April, the FTE jobs ratio fell for the fifth month in a row, to 53.09. The earliest warning signal for every recession since 1955 (the first year for which the data is available) has been a significant, sustained decline in this ratio.
As of April, the fall in the FTE jobs ratio from its local peak was only 0.11. This is not yet a strong indicator of an impending recession.
...This having been said, there also has never been a case where the FTE jobs ratio fell for five months in a row and a recession did not follow. So the recent decline is definitely something to be concerned about.
Based upon the historical record, if the current decline in the FTE jobs ratio were to continue, and to reach a cumulative 0.60, renewed recession would become a virtual certainty.
A reasonably-reliable predictor, ECRI, has wavered up and down for several months, with strong growth only emerging in the last couple of weekly reports. (This predictor is for 6 months out ++).
The Democrat Senate majority lives in interesting times. Heh.
HT: PowerLIne
While most pundits have focused on the BLS Establishment Survey, which reported that 165,000 payroll jobs had been created during April, the Household Survey* numbers told a much different story.
Total employment rose by 293,000 during April, but part-time jobs increased by 441,000. As a result, full-time jobs declined by 148,000.
The number of "full-time-equivalent" (FTE) jobs** only increased by 73,000. This was not enough to keep pace with the growth of our working-age population, so the "FTE jobs ratio" (the number of FTE jobs per 100 working-age Americans), fell.
The essay blames it on ObozoCare, which is likely. It's also possible that there is a lack of sustainable demand, of course. But if the Feds have been spending umpty-zillion in "stimulus" dollars, Keynes says there WILL be increased demand. So where is it?
More:
During April, the FTE jobs ratio fell for the fifth month in a row, to 53.09. The earliest warning signal for every recession since 1955 (the first year for which the data is available) has been a significant, sustained decline in this ratio.
As of April, the fall in the FTE jobs ratio from its local peak was only 0.11. This is not yet a strong indicator of an impending recession.
...This having been said, there also has never been a case where the FTE jobs ratio fell for five months in a row and a recession did not follow. So the recent decline is definitely something to be concerned about.
Based upon the historical record, if the current decline in the FTE jobs ratio were to continue, and to reach a cumulative 0.60, renewed recession would become a virtual certainty.
A reasonably-reliable predictor, ECRI, has wavered up and down for several months, with strong growth only emerging in the last couple of weekly reports. (This predictor is for 6 months out ++).
The Democrat Senate majority lives in interesting times. Heh.
HT: PowerLIne
Sunday, May 05, 2013
"Background Checks"? Really?
In the good ol' days, when Uncle Joe and his descendant-in-crime Nikki Khrushchev ruled the Fatherland, there were lots and lots and lots and lots of 'psychiatric cases' sent off to the Gulag in Siberia.
Ask Solzhenitsyn.
Well. By co-incidence, there's another "psychiatric cases" gambit in play. And Guess Who is playing the card?
Secretary Kathleen "ObamaCare" Sebelius - and her Department of Health and Human Services - has promulgated regulations which would, by executive fiat, waive all federal privacy laws and encourage you doctor to report you to the FBI.
Understand a couple of things: First, the standard which your doctor would use to turn you in is embodied in Clinton-era ATF language and in the anti-gun Veterans Disarmament Act of 2007. Specifically, you doctor would "drop a dime" on you if he suspected you were even a slight "danger to yourself of others" or were "unable to manage your financial affairs."
My twiddlefanny Lefty readers will be horrified--HORRIFIED--that the comparison was made. But 'scuse me: it's too obvious to ignore.
HT: RenMan
Ask Solzhenitsyn.
Well. By co-incidence, there's another "psychiatric cases" gambit in play. And Guess Who is playing the card?
Secretary Kathleen "ObamaCare" Sebelius - and her Department of Health and Human Services - has promulgated regulations which would, by executive fiat, waive all federal privacy laws and encourage you doctor to report you to the FBI.
Understand a couple of things: First, the standard which your doctor would use to turn you in is embodied in Clinton-era ATF language and in the anti-gun Veterans Disarmament Act of 2007. Specifically, you doctor would "drop a dime" on you if he suspected you were even a slight "danger to yourself of others" or were "unable to manage your financial affairs."
My twiddlefanny Lefty readers will be horrified--HORRIFIED--that the comparison was made. But 'scuse me: it's too obvious to ignore.
HT: RenMan
Narcissism, Projection, and Geopolitics
McCain makes an interesting point here.
...it does highlight the nature of the larger problem, what Jeanne Kirkpatrick rightly called the “Blame America First” mentality.
There is a sort of perverse narcissism involved in this worldview: Encountering people who hate us, liberals think, “It’s about us.”
This error was what crippled liberalism during the Cold War. If the Soviet Union wanted to destroy America, liberals imagined, this must be because of something wrong with America, rather than something wrong with the Soviet Union. So liberals wanted to change American foreign policy — détente! — in a more pro-Soviet direction, accepting the Leninist critique of “Western imperialism” as essentially accurate, so that you had Jimmy Carter claiming (and evidently believing) that a U.S. commitment to “human rights” would somehow repair the damage to American international prestige.
Except it wasn’t about us. It was about them....
It's another case of projection writ large. Lefties understand their offenses, which is good. However, they tend to project those offenses to the larger (US) population as a whole--which is a logical fallacy.
...it does highlight the nature of the larger problem, what Jeanne Kirkpatrick rightly called the “Blame America First” mentality.
There is a sort of perverse narcissism involved in this worldview: Encountering people who hate us, liberals think, “It’s about us.”
This error was what crippled liberalism during the Cold War. If the Soviet Union wanted to destroy America, liberals imagined, this must be because of something wrong with America, rather than something wrong with the Soviet Union. So liberals wanted to change American foreign policy — détente! — in a more pro-Soviet direction, accepting the Leninist critique of “Western imperialism” as essentially accurate, so that you had Jimmy Carter claiming (and evidently believing) that a U.S. commitment to “human rights” would somehow repair the damage to American international prestige.
Except it wasn’t about us. It was about them....
It's another case of projection writ large. Lefties understand their offenses, which is good. However, they tend to project those offenses to the larger (US) population as a whole--which is a logical fallacy.
The Old Keynes Controversy Rises Again
Evidently Niall Ferguson committed felony definition.
Gertrude Himmelfarb was right about that.
....something of the “soul” of Bloomsbury penetrated even into Keynes’s economic theories. There is a discernible affinity between the Bloomsbury ethos, which put a premium on immediate and present satisfactions, and Keynesian economics, which is based entirely on the short run and precludes any long-term judgments. (Keynes’s famous remark. “In the long run we are all dead,” also has an obvious connection with his homosexuality — what Schumpeter delicately referred to as his “childless vision.”) The same ethos is reflected in the Keynesian doctrine that consumption rather than saving is the source of economic growth — indeed, that thrift is economically and socially harmful. In The Economic Consequences of the Peace, written long before The General Theory, Keynes ridiculed the “virtue” of saving. The capitalists, he said, deluded the working classes into thinking that their interests were best served by saving rather than consuming. This delusion was part of the age-old Puritan fallacy....
It's not difficult to argue that the Consumption Ethos flogged by the advertising industry has its basis in Keynesian theory, although I'd prefer to finger Rousseau as the immediate culprit.
HT: AOSHQ
Gertrude Himmelfarb was right about that.
....something of the “soul” of Bloomsbury penetrated even into Keynes’s economic theories. There is a discernible affinity between the Bloomsbury ethos, which put a premium on immediate and present satisfactions, and Keynesian economics, which is based entirely on the short run and precludes any long-term judgments. (Keynes’s famous remark. “In the long run we are all dead,” also has an obvious connection with his homosexuality — what Schumpeter delicately referred to as his “childless vision.”) The same ethos is reflected in the Keynesian doctrine that consumption rather than saving is the source of economic growth — indeed, that thrift is economically and socially harmful. In The Economic Consequences of the Peace, written long before The General Theory, Keynes ridiculed the “virtue” of saving. The capitalists, he said, deluded the working classes into thinking that their interests were best served by saving rather than consuming. This delusion was part of the age-old Puritan fallacy....
It's not difficult to argue that the Consumption Ethos flogged by the advertising industry has its basis in Keynesian theory, although I'd prefer to finger Rousseau as the immediate culprit.
HT: AOSHQ
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Eddie Flynn's "Paper Crimes"
We all know that Eddie Flynn is a political animal with aspirations higher than Milwaukee. So when he refers to "paper crimes" like felons-in-possession of guns, he's covering somebody's ass. (His own, and that of the local US Attorney, for you ignorant Lefties.)
Let's look at the "paper crimes" and their sentence guidelines, shall we?
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)—for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon, fugitive, or drug user… And possession means touching a gun, any gun, handgun, rifle or shotgun. Any firearm that Dianne Feinstein would ban for us, is already an illegal gun for violent criminals.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(j)—for possession of a stolen firearm.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(i)—for shipment or transport of a stolen firearm across state lines.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(b)—for shipping, transporting or receipt of a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.
• 5 to 30 years consecutive mandatory minimum sentences—18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A)—for carrying, using, or possessing a firearm in connection with a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• The death penalty or up to life imprisonment—18 U.S.C. § 924(j)—for committing murder while possessing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• 15 years mandatory minimum—18 U.S.C. § 924(e)—for a “prohibited person” who has three prior convictions for drug offenses or violent felonies.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(g)—for interstate travel to acquire or transfer a firearm to commit crimes.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Let's look at the "paper crimes" and their sentence guidelines, shall we?
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)—for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a felon, fugitive, or drug user… And possession means touching a gun, any gun, handgun, rifle or shotgun. Any firearm that Dianne Feinstein would ban for us, is already an illegal gun for violent criminals.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(j)—for possession of a stolen firearm.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 922(i)—for shipment or transport of a stolen firearm across state lines.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(b)—for shipping, transporting or receipt of a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony.
• 5 to 30 years consecutive mandatory minimum sentences—18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A)—for carrying, using, or possessing a firearm in connection with a federal crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• The death penalty or up to life imprisonment—18 U.S.C. § 924(j)—for committing murder while possessing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking.
• 15 years mandatory minimum—18 U.S.C. § 924(e)—for a “prohibited person” who has three prior convictions for drug offenses or violent felonies.
• 10 years—18 U.S.C. § 924(g)—for interstate travel to acquire or transfer a firearm to commit crimes.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Friday, May 03, 2013
pResident Obozo, Lying Again
We're all waiting for some proof of this:
President Obama used a speech at Mexico’s Museo Nacional de Antropología – the National Anthropology Museum – to claim that ‘most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.’
Aside from Obozo's very own "Fast and Furious," which guns, exactly?
See, AK's are not US 'exports.'
It's possible that he's referring to US-made M16A1's or -2's which were stolen from the Mexican military (or "liberated" from there), I suppose.
President Obama used a speech at Mexico’s Museo Nacional de Antropología – the National Anthropology Museum – to claim that ‘most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.’
Aside from Obozo's very own "Fast and Furious," which guns, exactly?
See, AK's are not US 'exports.'
It's possible that he's referring to US-made M16A1's or -2's which were stolen from the Mexican military (or "liberated" from there), I suppose.
The Food Stamp Recovery of Obozo
If getting food stamps is "economic recovery", we're nearing fiscal Nirvana.
Since Obama took office, the number of Americans considered to be eligible to participate in the workforce has increased by 10.4 million people.
But, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the workforce only increased by 1 million workers since President Obama took office.
No wonder he spends so much time campaigning.
Since Obama took office, the number of Americans considered to be eligible to participate in the workforce has increased by 10.4 million people.
But, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the workforce only increased by 1 million workers since President Obama took office.
No wonder he spends so much time campaigning.
Thursday, May 02, 2013
There Are Men, and There Are .....Not-Men
Erickson doesn't phrase it quite that way, but it fits.
...Cruz had gone back to Texas and told some activists at a Freedomworks conference that Mike, Rand and Ted were constantly being yelled at by fellow Republicans. It’s a true statement verified by other Senators. These Republican conference meetings leak all the time. Reporters hover outside the door waiting to talk to these Senators. But Ted dared tell just how scared some of his colleagues are that they are being exposed as not quite the conservatives they campaigned as being....
IIRC, Cruz told the Not-Men club that if they actually had principles, they wouldn't have to shimmy around yapping and whining about "strategy."
Cruz could have substituted "cojones" for "principles". In fact, the SHOULD have. The Not-Men club had to use S.E.Cupp and Jennifer Rubin as their....ahhh....warriors. That fits, too.
And the Not-Men rule the House, too:
...John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy won’t even pretend to fight. Boehner basically plays a game of chicken by stepping aside and saying “you win.” And, he has publicly said he won’t shut the government down. The House “leadership” is running scared from the debt ceiling… and was dead set against Obamacare de-funding. Today, the House “leadership” is telling folks on the Hill it won’t fight the Farm bill. And on immigration – forget it… everyone is running around listening to consultants saying this is the way to win Hispanic votes...
(He could have mentioned Paul Ryan, who is now marching to the Left as he performs his Presidential-Wannabee-Panderdance).
...Cruz had gone back to Texas and told some activists at a Freedomworks conference that Mike, Rand and Ted were constantly being yelled at by fellow Republicans. It’s a true statement verified by other Senators. These Republican conference meetings leak all the time. Reporters hover outside the door waiting to talk to these Senators. But Ted dared tell just how scared some of his colleagues are that they are being exposed as not quite the conservatives they campaigned as being....
IIRC, Cruz told the Not-Men club that if they actually had principles, they wouldn't have to shimmy around yapping and whining about "strategy."
Cruz could have substituted "cojones" for "principles". In fact, the SHOULD have. The Not-Men club had to use S.E.Cupp and Jennifer Rubin as their....ahhh....warriors. That fits, too.
And the Not-Men rule the House, too:
...John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy won’t even pretend to fight. Boehner basically plays a game of chicken by stepping aside and saying “you win.” And, he has publicly said he won’t shut the government down. The House “leadership” is running scared from the debt ceiling… and was dead set against Obamacare de-funding. Today, the House “leadership” is telling folks on the Hill it won’t fight the Farm bill. And on immigration – forget it… everyone is running around listening to consultants saying this is the way to win Hispanic votes...
(He could have mentioned Paul Ryan, who is now marching to the Left as he performs his Presidential-Wannabee-Panderdance).
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
The "Press"? It Is To Laugh
Not to mention Gosnell, let's look instead at secondary items like....say......National Security!
The US "press" [insert laugh track here] has managed to avoid tough questions about Benghazi, and only one outlet has reported that returned-and-hospitalized Benghazi victims are being threatened by the Obozoites if they talk about what actually happened there.
Then there's this:
Saudi Arabia warned the United States IN WRITING about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012, and rejected his application for an entry visa to visit Mecca in 2011...AOSHQ quoting LONDON Daily Mail
Oh, yes, there's more to that story, which was broken by foreigners. Not the US "press" [insert laugh track here.]
One wonders if the US "press" would object were Obozo to issue an E.O. obviating the "press" portion of the 1st Amendment.
[Insert laugh track here.]
The US "press" [insert laugh track here] has managed to avoid tough questions about Benghazi, and only one outlet has reported that returned-and-hospitalized Benghazi victims are being threatened by the Obozoites if they talk about what actually happened there.
Then there's this:
Saudi Arabia warned the United States IN WRITING about Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012, and rejected his application for an entry visa to visit Mecca in 2011...AOSHQ quoting LONDON Daily Mail
Oh, yes, there's more to that story, which was broken by foreigners. Not the US "press" [insert laugh track here.]
One wonders if the US "press" would object were Obozo to issue an E.O. obviating the "press" portion of the 1st Amendment.
[Insert laugh track here.]
Ryan's Presidential Pander Begins
It's now obvious that Paul Ryan thinks he should be President.
GOP Rep. Paul Ryan reportedly has changed his views and now says he believes gay couples should be able to adopt children. Asked at a town-hall-style meeting Monday in Wisconsin about the issue, Ryan said he would “vote differently these days” and still opposes gay marriage...
Uh-huh. Because, after all, the Natural Law changes when one seeks higher office, eh, Paul?
Maybe Ryan should take a look at the old Milwaukee County Grounds and the orphanage that it included. Does he, "in these days" think those children were "un-loved"? Did they all fail later in life?
And by the way, Paul: did you clear that with Tim Cardinal Dolan?
GOP Rep. Paul Ryan reportedly has changed his views and now says he believes gay couples should be able to adopt children. Asked at a town-hall-style meeting Monday in Wisconsin about the issue, Ryan said he would “vote differently these days” and still opposes gay marriage...
Uh-huh. Because, after all, the Natural Law changes when one seeks higher office, eh, Paul?
Maybe Ryan should take a look at the old Milwaukee County Grounds and the orphanage that it included. Does he, "in these days" think those children were "un-loved"? Did they all fail later in life?
And by the way, Paul: did you clear that with Tim Cardinal Dolan?
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
House of Representatives Science Caucus Says.....
I, for one, never knew the level of scientific knowledge present in the House Democrat delegation.
A number (of) House Democrats have written a resolution calling on Congress to recognize that climate change will hurt the plight of women more than men; driving women into “transactional sex” for survival — among other horrible fates. HE quoted at Cold Fury
Empirically proven cause/effect thing, right?
A number (of) House Democrats have written a resolution calling on Congress to recognize that climate change will hurt the plight of women more than men; driving women into “transactional sex” for survival — among other horrible fates. HE quoted at Cold Fury
Empirically proven cause/effect thing, right?
Monday, April 29, 2013
Platonic Pelosi
If you didn't know better, you'd think Nancy was acquainted with the works of Plato.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a gathering in Cleveland that childcare for all should be the next “pillar” of American government and “the president comes close in his budget when he says ‘preschool for all’
Nancy is merely a Statist. Plato--well, at least he understood righteousness.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a gathering in Cleveland that childcare for all should be the next “pillar” of American government and “the president comes close in his budget when he says ‘preschool for all’
Nancy is merely a Statist. Plato--well, at least he understood righteousness.
Lectures And What One Learns
Recently, I've had the experience of being lectured-by-blogpost. It's interesting. The blog-lecturer in question is a Famous Fellow in some quarters.
The business at hand involves a set of "rules", some of which are hard-and-fast, others of which are subject to reasonable debate. Sadly, one of us isn't following the "hard-and-fast" rules (that is, the ones which are written and very explicit.) Not on my side of the ledger, mind you.
The debatable ones? Well, rather than actually have the discussion, there are blog-posts.
Ralph Waldo Emerson had something to say about this sort of thing:
Indeed.
The business at hand involves a set of "rules", some of which are hard-and-fast, others of which are subject to reasonable debate. Sadly, one of us isn't following the "hard-and-fast" rules (that is, the ones which are written and very explicit.) Not on my side of the ledger, mind you.
The debatable ones? Well, rather than actually have the discussion, there are blog-posts.
Ralph Waldo Emerson had something to say about this sort of thing:
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
Indeed.
Founders: Smart Dudes, Except for Subsidiarity
Grim points to something interesting in our Constitutional setup.
...What the Founders did was to give us a system that not only checked three branches with three separate functions against one another. They also provided us with a system in which the three basic kinds of government were all present, and counterbalanced. We could get every good Aristotle saw in every system; and when one branch went bad, there was the hope that the competing interests of the other forms of government might right it.
OK. So?
...There is only one problem, and it is one Aristotle did not consider: the problem of scale. More and more, I think a government must adhere to a human scale in order to be just. I mean by "a human scale" that maximum set of people such that the members can all know one another, and care about one another. At levels beyond this, a fundamental aspect of humanity is lost: we don't love each other any more, and are content to treat the unloved members as less than the beloved ones....
Yah. The solution is called "subsidiarity," which the Catholic Church has been pushing for centuries. There's a reason for that, and it's coming into focus.
...What the Founders did was to give us a system that not only checked three branches with three separate functions against one another. They also provided us with a system in which the three basic kinds of government were all present, and counterbalanced. We could get every good Aristotle saw in every system; and when one branch went bad, there was the hope that the competing interests of the other forms of government might right it.
OK. So?
...There is only one problem, and it is one Aristotle did not consider: the problem of scale. More and more, I think a government must adhere to a human scale in order to be just. I mean by "a human scale" that maximum set of people such that the members can all know one another, and care about one another. At levels beyond this, a fundamental aspect of humanity is lost: we don't love each other any more, and are content to treat the unloved members as less than the beloved ones....
Yah. The solution is called "subsidiarity," which the Catholic Church has been pushing for centuries. There's a reason for that, and it's coming into focus.
Illegals, ID Theft, and The Stupids
Kudos to Fox6 News for running a story that mentions the horrific damage that illegals do. Paul Ryan won't like this--nor will Marco Rubio. Tough s**t.
And we can't forget The Stupids: our Gummint's very own IRS!!
Home loans denied. Their credit trashed. And a Wisconsin couple had no idea why it was all happening. But the Federal Government did....
...After Suarez was released from prison, the Guenterberg’s lost track of him. But the FOX6 Investigators tracked him down in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago....
“You used his social security number to buy cars and houses and get jobs and he has been dealing with this for years,” said FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn.
“No, no that`s not true,” said Cornelio Suarez. “I used them for work. Just to, like, bring food to my family.”
Suarez claims he only used Robert Guenterberg’s social security number …not his name.
“I use my name, I no use his name and everything. I was paying my bills. I pay my bills and not like regular people like do. I do not do bad things to nobody,” Suarez said.
In other words, Suarez doesn’t think he did anything wrong.
Suarez is lying like a rug, of course. But hey!
Illegals are good for the economy! So says Paul Ryan and all the other Brilliant Ones in DC.
And we can't forget The Stupids: our Gummint's very own IRS!!
Home loans denied. Their credit trashed. And a Wisconsin couple had no idea why it was all happening. But the Federal Government did....
...After Suarez was released from prison, the Guenterberg’s lost track of him. But the FOX6 Investigators tracked him down in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago....
“You used his social security number to buy cars and houses and get jobs and he has been dealing with this for years,” said FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn.
“No, no that`s not true,” said Cornelio Suarez. “I used them for work. Just to, like, bring food to my family.”
Suarez claims he only used Robert Guenterberg’s social security number …not his name.
“I use my name, I no use his name and everything. I was paying my bills. I pay my bills and not like regular people like do. I do not do bad things to nobody,” Suarez said.
In other words, Suarez doesn’t think he did anything wrong.
Suarez is lying like a rug, of course. But hey!
Illegals are good for the economy! So says Paul Ryan and all the other Brilliant Ones in DC.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Jim Doyle's Grand Theft Victim Now in Trouble
For some strange reason, the local newsrag forgets recent history.
Here's a refresher to remind you of ALL the pertinent facts:
Armed with strong veto powers to rewrite state budgets, and with a substantial enough minority in the Legislature to withstand override attempts, between 2003 and 2007 the Governor and legislative Democrats found it as easy to raid the transportation fund as, say, to shoot fish in a barrel.
For one thing, while Decker's assertion that "over $1 billion was transferred out of the transportation fund while the Republicans were in complete control of the Legislature" is technically true, it is irrelevant because being in control of the Legislature does not necessarily translate into being in control of the budget.
The remark was meant to assign Republicans responsibility for the transfers during those years, but that's simply not true. It was Gov. Jim Doyle who proposed the transfers, and Republicans publicly criticized the proposals from day one.
As years went by, GOP resistance became more pronounced. It especially became marked after Doyle used his veto pen in 2005 to excavate $427 million out of the highway account.
As researchers at the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have stated, the governor used the so-called Frankenstein veto - in which he could cross out words and numbers to create a new sentence from two or more sentences - to pare a 752-word section to 20 words sanctioning the transfer of the $427 million to the general fund to be used education.
The Transportation Fund was demolished by James Doyle, a corruptocrat. He should repay it--along with his (D) legislative cabal.
Screw the bastards.
Here's a refresher to remind you of ALL the pertinent facts:
Armed with strong veto powers to rewrite state budgets, and with a substantial enough minority in the Legislature to withstand override attempts, between 2003 and 2007 the Governor and legislative Democrats found it as easy to raid the transportation fund as, say, to shoot fish in a barrel.
For one thing, while Decker's assertion that "over $1 billion was transferred out of the transportation fund while the Republicans were in complete control of the Legislature" is technically true, it is irrelevant because being in control of the Legislature does not necessarily translate into being in control of the budget.
The remark was meant to assign Republicans responsibility for the transfers during those years, but that's simply not true. It was Gov. Jim Doyle who proposed the transfers, and Republicans publicly criticized the proposals from day one.
As years went by, GOP resistance became more pronounced. It especially became marked after Doyle used his veto pen in 2005 to excavate $427 million out of the highway account.
As researchers at the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have stated, the governor used the so-called Frankenstein veto - in which he could cross out words and numbers to create a new sentence from two or more sentences - to pare a 752-word section to 20 words sanctioning the transfer of the $427 million to the general fund to be used education.
The Transportation Fund was demolished by James Doyle, a corruptocrat. He should repay it--along with his (D) legislative cabal.
Screw the bastards.
Friday, April 26, 2013
A Moral Question
From Sipsey's Smuggler:
LESSON NO. 1: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and take you someplace you do not want to go because of who you are or what you think -- kill him. If you can, kill the politician who sent him. You will likely die anyway, and you will be saving someone else the same fate. For it is a universal truth that the intended victims always far outnumber the tyrant's executioners.
This does not seem to comport with your standard Christian moral code.
Or does it?
It IS the Christian moral code that one can--and perhaps should--allow himself to be martyred for Christ--that is, for the Faith.
But what if it's not about The Faith?
LESSON NO. 1: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and take you someplace you do not want to go because of who you are or what you think -- kill him. If you can, kill the politician who sent him. You will likely die anyway, and you will be saving someone else the same fate. For it is a universal truth that the intended victims always far outnumber the tyrant's executioners.
This does not seem to comport with your standard Christian moral code.
Or does it?
It IS the Christian moral code that one can--and perhaps should--allow himself to be martyred for Christ--that is, for the Faith.
But what if it's not about The Faith?
Napolitano's Troops Burning Ammo---Fast
Frau General Napolitano's domestic army is burning ammo rapidly.
...the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116 million that same year — among roughly 70,000 agents.
Comparing that with the small-arms purchases procured by the U.S. Army, he said the DHS is churning through between 1,300 and 1,600 rounds per officer, while the U.S. Army goes through roughly 350 rounds per soldier. --Fox News quoted at Bob Owens
That's a LOT of "training"
But there are other possibilities.
Either DHS is over-training and wasting taxpayer money on ammunition if they are shooting this much per agent, or they are lying about how much they are stockpiling, which would beg the question, why are they stockpiling so much ammunition.
An interesting question, indeed!
...the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116 million that same year — among roughly 70,000 agents.
Comparing that with the small-arms purchases procured by the U.S. Army, he said the DHS is churning through between 1,300 and 1,600 rounds per officer, while the U.S. Army goes through roughly 350 rounds per soldier. --Fox News quoted at Bob Owens
That's a LOT of "training"
But there are other possibilities.
Either DHS is over-training and wasting taxpayer money on ammunition if they are shooting this much per agent, or they are lying about how much they are stockpiling, which would beg the question, why are they stockpiling so much ammunition.
An interesting question, indeed!
BUY. MORE. AMMO!!
How Many Rounds Is "Too Many"? Not Enough!
7-round magazines for you suckers in NY State. That's about one-fifth what this cop needed.
...At the core of his desperate firefight was a murderous attacker who simply would not go down, even though he was shot 14 times with .45-cal. ammunition — six of those hits in supposedly fatal locations.
...In this free-for-all, the assailant had, in fact, been struck 14 times. Any one of six of these wounds — in the heart, right lung, left lung, liver, diaphragm, and right kidney — could have produced fatal consequences…“in time,” Gramins emphasizes....
Finally,
...When the suspect bent down to peer under the car, Gramins carefully established a sight picture, and squeezed off three controlled bursts in rapid succession.
Each round slammed into the suspect’s head — one through each side of his mouth and one through the top of his skull into his brain. At long last the would-be cop killer crumpled to the pavement....
But the guy was NOT dead--yet.
HT: Arms/Law
...At the core of his desperate firefight was a murderous attacker who simply would not go down, even though he was shot 14 times with .45-cal. ammunition — six of those hits in supposedly fatal locations.
...In this free-for-all, the assailant had, in fact, been struck 14 times. Any one of six of these wounds — in the heart, right lung, left lung, liver, diaphragm, and right kidney — could have produced fatal consequences…“in time,” Gramins emphasizes....
Finally,
...When the suspect bent down to peer under the car, Gramins carefully established a sight picture, and squeezed off three controlled bursts in rapid succession.
Each round slammed into the suspect’s head — one through each side of his mouth and one through the top of his skull into his brain. At long last the would-be cop killer crumpled to the pavement....
But the guy was NOT dead--yet.
HT: Arms/Law
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Confirmed: Congress Is Slime, Says Politico
Politico reports, RedState carries the news:
They want to rush it through, probably sneaking it through...
Should make those "Town Hall" meetings very interesting, I'd say.
According
to the Politico, in super secret “high-level, confidential talks”,
Harry Reid, John Boehner, the Obama administration, and other lawmakers
are working to exempt themselves and their staffs from Obamacare.
Should make those "Town Hall" meetings very interesting, I'd say.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
"Why, Yes, We're Illegally Snooping on You. So What?"
If you're surprised, you're a damn fool.
The documents concern a collaboration between the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and private companies to allow government monitoring of private Internet networks. Though the program initially only applied to defense contractors, an Executive Order issued by the Obama administration earlier this year expanded it to include other "critical infrastructure" industries. The documents obtained by EPIC also cited NSPD 54 as one source of authority for the program. NSPD 54 is a presidential directive issued under President Bush that EPIC is pursuing in separate FOIA litigation. --EPIC quoted at Hit and Run
Obozo & Co. secretly promised AT&T (and others) that the Gummint would provide "2511 letters" for any illegal snooping, thus making it "legal." It's not, but the pResident SAID it is, you see.
IOW, CYA. Since AT&T (and others) are completely and entirely dependent on Gummint to operate (see FCC, among others), they had a reason--stark raving fear--to "cooperate."
The documents concern a collaboration between the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and private companies to allow government monitoring of private Internet networks. Though the program initially only applied to defense contractors, an Executive Order issued by the Obama administration earlier this year expanded it to include other "critical infrastructure" industries. The documents obtained by EPIC also cited NSPD 54 as one source of authority for the program. NSPD 54 is a presidential directive issued under President Bush that EPIC is pursuing in separate FOIA litigation. --EPIC quoted at Hit and Run
Obozo & Co. secretly promised AT&T (and others) that the Gummint would provide "2511 letters" for any illegal snooping, thus making it "legal." It's not, but the pResident SAID it is, you see.
IOW, CYA. Since AT&T (and others) are completely and entirely dependent on Gummint to operate (see FCC, among others), they had a reason--stark raving fear--to "cooperate."
The Value of Wiggy
In days of yore, I took out 6 dozen of these hole-boring garden-eaters.
Wiggy now (belatedly) provides a use for them.
Well. Better late than never. There are plenty more where the first 70++ came from
Wiggy now (belatedly) provides a use for them.
Well. Better late than never. There are plenty more where the first 70++ came from
The WallyWorld Relief Act of 2013
That would be the proposed 'internet sales tax' law.
Jacoby mentions this little Constitutional difficulty with the Senate (that's "Democrat") bill:
...There is a crucial reason why merchants have been required to collect taxes only for states with which they have a “substantial nexus.” Anything else would be taxation without representation. States cannot be allowed to reach beyond their borders, imposing tax obligations on retailers who had no vote in the matter, no political recourse, no opportunity to be heard. Against such antidemocratic unfairness, Americans once fought a revolution....
Not that the Democrat Party gives a s*%^ about the Constitution or the rule of law, or any of that old-fashioned stuff....
Jacoby mentions this little Constitutional difficulty with the Senate (that's "Democrat") bill:
...There is a crucial reason why merchants have been required to collect taxes only for states with which they have a “substantial nexus.” Anything else would be taxation without representation. States cannot be allowed to reach beyond their borders, imposing tax obligations on retailers who had no vote in the matter, no political recourse, no opportunity to be heard. Against such antidemocratic unfairness, Americans once fought a revolution....
Not that the Democrat Party gives a s*%^ about the Constitution or the rule of law, or any of that old-fashioned stuff....
How It Works in Chicago and California
Brief article, right to the point.
The winner in the high-speed rail taxpayer-screwing happens to be the husband of a Senatrix.
And, by the way, when a $Billion's at stake, CHANGE THE RULES!!
The winner in the high-speed rail taxpayer-screwing happens to be the husband of a Senatrix.
And, by the way, when a $Billion's at stake, CHANGE THE RULES!!
Immigration "Reform"? Puhleeeezz...
Just a couple of points here, relayed by Malkin.
This concerns the Senate proposal, not whatever-it-is that Ryan and the terrorist-lover from Chicago spew onto the table.
...The background check provisions of the bill in Section 2101(b)(8) contain no requirement that amnesty applicants actually provide government-issued documentation proving who they say they are. That means that any illegal alien can invent a new name with a totally clean record and present that name when applying for the amnesty. Immigration officials will have absolutely no way to force the alien to disclose his real identity....
... Unlike the amnesty of 1986, and unlike the various smaller amnesties that have been enacted since then (such as the “Section 245i” amnesty), this bill actually allows illegal aliens who have already been deported from the United States to return and gain the amnesty.....
...Sections 2101(b)(13 and 2103(b)(2)(C) permits beneficiaries of Secretary Napolitano’s unlawful DACA directive of June 2012 to become eligible for the amnesty and for lawful permanent resident status. The DACA Directive was issued by Secretary Napolitano in direct violation of federal law, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1225, which requires that immigration officials place certain aliens into removal proceedings....
The Administration of Lawlessness (Obozo & Co.) rolls on, aided and abetted by Congress.
This concerns the Senate proposal, not whatever-it-is that Ryan and the terrorist-lover from Chicago spew onto the table.
...The background check provisions of the bill in Section 2101(b)(8) contain no requirement that amnesty applicants actually provide government-issued documentation proving who they say they are. That means that any illegal alien can invent a new name with a totally clean record and present that name when applying for the amnesty. Immigration officials will have absolutely no way to force the alien to disclose his real identity....
... Unlike the amnesty of 1986, and unlike the various smaller amnesties that have been enacted since then (such as the “Section 245i” amnesty), this bill actually allows illegal aliens who have already been deported from the United States to return and gain the amnesty.....
...Sections 2101(b)(13 and 2103(b)(2)(C) permits beneficiaries of Secretary Napolitano’s unlawful DACA directive of June 2012 to become eligible for the amnesty and for lawful permanent resident status. The DACA Directive was issued by Secretary Napolitano in direct violation of federal law, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1225, which requires that immigration officials place certain aliens into removal proceedings....
The Administration of Lawlessness (Obozo & Co.) rolls on, aided and abetted by Congress.
Dancing With the Devil (For Wales?)
A hint-hint article from Politico describing Paul Ryan's smooch-fest with Gutierrez.
Gutierrez has an inordinate affection for terrorists who attack US targets.
There's little question that Ryan has career aspirations. It will be unfortunate, indeed, if he marches even further leftward to attain that goal.
Voting to fund ObozoCare is Lefty enough, ain'a?
Gutierrez has an inordinate affection for terrorists who attack US targets.
There's little question that Ryan has career aspirations. It will be unfortunate, indeed, if he marches even further leftward to attain that goal.
Voting to fund ObozoCare is Lefty enough, ain'a?
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Hillary Lied, People Died
Yah, well. She's always been a liar; the stakes changed, that's all.
CBS: Five House Committees (Armed Svcs, Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, Intel, Oversight) released interim report on Benghazi.
Congressional Report: Secy Clinton's testimony to Congress was incorrect when claiming she was unaware of certain Benghazi security requests
Cong Report: Secy Clinton signed an 4/12 State Dept cable acknowledging then-Amb Cretz's formal request for additional security assets
Cong Report: but Clinton ordered the withdrawal of elements to proceed as planned.
Secy Clinton testified in Jan. 2013 "I didn't see those requests. They didn't come to me. I didn't approve them. I didn't deny them."
Cong Report:White House/SState Dept. Officials Altered Talking Points to protect State Dept. from criticism for inadequate security levels. CBS News quoted at AOSHQ
IIRC, "testimony....was incorrect..." translates to perjury.
Wannabet there's no prosecution?
CBS: Five House Committees (Armed Svcs, Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, Intel, Oversight) released interim report on Benghazi.
Congressional Report: Secy Clinton's testimony to Congress was incorrect when claiming she was unaware of certain Benghazi security requests
Cong Report: Secy Clinton signed an 4/12 State Dept cable acknowledging then-Amb Cretz's formal request for additional security assets
Cong Report: but Clinton ordered the withdrawal of elements to proceed as planned.
Secy Clinton testified in Jan. 2013 "I didn't see those requests. They didn't come to me. I didn't approve them. I didn't deny them."
Cong Report:White House/SState Dept. Officials Altered Talking Points to protect State Dept. from criticism for inadequate security levels. CBS News quoted at AOSHQ
IIRC, "testimony....was incorrect..." translates to perjury.
Wannabet there's no prosecution?
Obozo's Air Traffic Scam
Obozo (who has NO air travel problems) has decided to give the traveling public another pain in the ass.
So he ordered the FAA to pull air-traffic controllers off duty and blame the Republicans!!
(Let's not talk about the fact that the sequester was Obozo's idea....)
Since the 9/11 attacks, air traffic is DOWN 25%.
Since the 9/11 attacks, the FAA's budget is UP 41%.
One of these things is not like the other.
So he ordered the FAA to pull air-traffic controllers off duty and blame the Republicans!!
(Let's not talk about the fact that the sequester was Obozo's idea....)
Since the 9/11 attacks, air traffic is DOWN 25%.
Since the 9/11 attacks, the FAA's budget is UP 41%.
One of these things is not like the other.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Recovery in Housing? Not So Fast...
Interesting bit of info here.
...Tom Lawler has sent me some rough data that suggests much of the increase in conventional sales in California has been due to investor buying (mostly large institutional investors buying single family homes to rent). As an example, reports are Blackstone has purchased 20,000 homes nationally and Colony Capital has purchased 7,000 homes. And there a number of other large players. There groups have continued to buy even as the number of foreclosures has declined.
Even MORE interesting:
Note: some of the smaller investor groups I've mentioned on this blog have stopped buying (they started buying at the low end in late 2008). They say the numbers no longer make sense.
That will leave a mark, particularly with first-time homebuyers.
...Tom Lawler has sent me some rough data that suggests much of the increase in conventional sales in California has been due to investor buying (mostly large institutional investors buying single family homes to rent). As an example, reports are Blackstone has purchased 20,000 homes nationally and Colony Capital has purchased 7,000 homes. And there a number of other large players. There groups have continued to buy even as the number of foreclosures has declined.
Even MORE interesting:
Note: some of the smaller investor groups I've mentioned on this blog have stopped buying (they started buying at the low end in late 2008). They say the numbers no longer make sense.
That will leave a mark, particularly with first-time homebuyers.
Self-Defense? Why Would One Need That?
We're told that the pResident will shortly toss a few more regulations on gun ownership and sales.
After all, with the remarkable capability of the FBI to find and detain heavily (and illegally) armed terrorist radical Muslims, why would you need 15 or 30 rounds to defend your family or your country?
Don't worry. Be happy. Gummint's here to help.
After all, with the remarkable capability of the FBI to find and detain heavily (and illegally) armed terrorist radical Muslims, why would you need 15 or 30 rounds to defend your family or your country?
Don't worry. Be happy. Gummint's here to help.
Birds of a Feather in the Obozo Zoo
It's possible that for the next 2-3 years, we'll have a leading Leftist Radical at the top of DOL.
Fits right in to the Obozo pattern, of course. Radicals everywhere!
During his Senate confirmation hearing last Thursday, Perez affirmed what many already knew–but the Obama Administration has been loathe to admit–that the real unemployment rate is actually double what the Administration touts.
To make matters even more embarrassing for the Obama Administration, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon, Perez may have illegally been leaking information to outside groups via his personal e-mail.
That would be about 3 dozen violations of the law, by the way. It's a pattern within this Administration.
One more thing: radicals don't have to throw bombs at children to destroy the country.
Fits right in to the Obozo pattern, of course. Radicals everywhere!
During his Senate confirmation hearing last Thursday, Perez affirmed what many already knew–but the Obama Administration has been loathe to admit–that the real unemployment rate is actually double what the Administration touts.
To make matters even more embarrassing for the Obama Administration, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon, Perez may have illegally been leaking information to outside groups via his personal e-mail.
That would be about 3 dozen violations of the law, by the way. It's a pattern within this Administration.
One more thing: radicals don't have to throw bombs at children to destroy the country.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
The Salvatorians' Dissembling Problem
When Bill Clinton was President, I learned the term "parse." It proved useful.
Evidently, it's quite useful to--of all entities--the Salvatorian order, too.
..."...Rodrigues [the local chief Salvatorian] told the Journal Sentinel he did not know of any other allegations against Marsicek. On Tuesday, he defended that statement, noting that he had been careful to say the order did not have any other allegations 'from a victim.' In the Sacramento case, the allegations came to the order through the diocese." --JS Online quoted at Provincial Emails
If you've paid attention, you'll know that one of the three most vicious child-rapists in Milwaukee was a Salvatorian priest operating from Mother of Good Counsel's rectory.
This "boundary issues" thing is a bit problematic. A "hug" can be interpreted differently.
That said, there's a maxim worth knowing: "pattern of practice." Just so Fr. Rodrigues knows, that's a very specific legal term with which he should get acquainted, soon.
Evidently, it's quite useful to--of all entities--the Salvatorian order, too.
..."...Rodrigues [the local chief Salvatorian] told the Journal Sentinel he did not know of any other allegations against Marsicek. On Tuesday, he defended that statement, noting that he had been careful to say the order did not have any other allegations 'from a victim.' In the Sacramento case, the allegations came to the order through the diocese." --JS Online quoted at Provincial Emails
If you've paid attention, you'll know that one of the three most vicious child-rapists in Milwaukee was a Salvatorian priest operating from Mother of Good Counsel's rectory.
This "boundary issues" thing is a bit problematic. A "hug" can be interpreted differently.
That said, there's a maxim worth knowing: "pattern of practice." Just so Fr. Rodrigues knows, that's a very specific legal term with which he should get acquainted, soon.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Justice Kennedy's Rousseau-ism
You all recall Kennedy's flapdaddle in the Lawrence opinion, right?
"...to define one's own concept of existence, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life...."
Umnnhh, yah, sure.
That's straight out of Rousseau.
...Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) turned Aristotle’s notion of Nature on its head. Aristotle said Nature defined not only what man is but what he should be. Rousseau countered that Nature is not an end—a telos—but a beginning: Man’s end is his beginning. He has no immutable nature. “We do not know what our nature permits us to be”, wrote Rousseau in his Emile. A 20th century version of this view was offered by John Dewey, who said: “human nature is not to have a nature”. There is nothing man “ought” to become, no moral imperative. There is no purpose in man or nature; existence is therefore bereft of any rational principle. This means there is no entelechy, no such thing as ‘having one’s end within,’ as Aristotle put it. In fact, reason itself is not natural to man, according to Rousseau – whereas Aristotle said it is man’s very essence. For Rousseau, the roots of reason are in the irrational. Reason is the servant of the passions, not of the truth....
It is also a path to anarchy.
It should come as no surprise that Dewey was a Rousseauian critter, too; one look at his public schooling of today will confirm that.
"...to define one's own concept of existence, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life...."
Umnnhh, yah, sure.
That's straight out of Rousseau.
...Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) turned Aristotle’s notion of Nature on its head. Aristotle said Nature defined not only what man is but what he should be. Rousseau countered that Nature is not an end—a telos—but a beginning: Man’s end is his beginning. He has no immutable nature. “We do not know what our nature permits us to be”, wrote Rousseau in his Emile. A 20th century version of this view was offered by John Dewey, who said: “human nature is not to have a nature”. There is nothing man “ought” to become, no moral imperative. There is no purpose in man or nature; existence is therefore bereft of any rational principle. This means there is no entelechy, no such thing as ‘having one’s end within,’ as Aristotle put it. In fact, reason itself is not natural to man, according to Rousseau – whereas Aristotle said it is man’s very essence. For Rousseau, the roots of reason are in the irrational. Reason is the servant of the passions, not of the truth....
It is also a path to anarchy.
It should come as no surprise that Dewey was a Rousseauian critter, too; one look at his public schooling of today will confirm that.
Obama-Approved Serial Killers
There's simply no other way to say it: Gosnell is a serial killer.
...The Philadelphia grand jury report, now amplified by trial testimony, outlined the systematic execution of hundreds of healthy, living, breathing, squirming viable babies. The panel concluded that the "vast majority of the babies he aborted" were more than 24 weeks old....
Obama, famous for voting "present" on most issues (just like today), was not so reticent on the matter of post-birth babykilling in Illinois.
And the son of a bitch "celebrates life" in Boston?
...The Philadelphia grand jury report, now amplified by trial testimony, outlined the systematic execution of hundreds of healthy, living, breathing, squirming viable babies. The panel concluded that the "vast majority of the babies he aborted" were more than 24 weeks old....
Obama, famous for voting "present" on most issues (just like today), was not so reticent on the matter of post-birth babykilling in Illinois.
And the son of a bitch "celebrates life" in Boston?
Thursday, April 18, 2013
A Little Chicanery at Fisker, With Taxpayer Dollars
Well, several million here, several billion there, who gives a damn?
Fisker Automotive Inc., a maker of luxury plug-in cars, was allowed to keep using money from a U.S. Energy Department loan after violating its terms multiple times, according to a research report.The Energy Department, which gave Fisker a $529 million line of credit in 2009, knew by December 2010 that the carmaker wasn't meeting milestones required to keep drawing taxpayer funds, according to a report by PrivCo,...
...While the Energy Department cut off Fisker's funding in June 2011, after the company drew down about $193 million, the delay allowed additional taxpayer money to be lost, the report said...
Too bad, so sad. Evil Republicans and Tea Party types, I suppose.
Fisker Automotive Inc., a maker of luxury plug-in cars, was allowed to keep using money from a U.S. Energy Department loan after violating its terms multiple times, according to a research report.The Energy Department, which gave Fisker a $529 million line of credit in 2009, knew by December 2010 that the carmaker wasn't meeting milestones required to keep drawing taxpayer funds, according to a report by PrivCo,...
...While the Energy Department cut off Fisker's funding in June 2011, after the company drew down about $193 million, the delay allowed additional taxpayer money to be lost, the report said...
Too bad, so sad. Evil Republicans and Tea Party types, I suppose.
Ded We Mention It's oBOZOcare?
When one undertakes to run the Gummint, one should have big-boy pants.
Obama? Not even close.
...Klein’s [Time Magarag's Lefty essayist] post focuses primarily on the implosion of Obamacare’s exchanges. Pointing out that the President’s apparatchiks squandered three full years during which they should have been hard at work preparing for the advent of these insurance “marketplaces,” Klein laments their failure to do so with the following piece of Solomonic wisdom: “This is a really bad sign.” Indeed it is. And Klein isn’t the only advocate of Obamacare to finally notice that this hopelessly Byzantine health care “reform” law is an implementation nightmare....
...Not only has the go-live date for the insurance exchanges been pushed back a year, a wide variety of the law’s other key provisions have either been delayed or simply abandoned. The most conspicuous of the latter category was the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. This program was so badly designed that Kathleen Sebelius admitted HHS couldn’t pay for it and one of its own administrators speculated that it might collapse. It was repealed in January....
...Senator Cantwell was also among the thirty-three Democrats who voted with all of the Senate Republicans last month to repeal Obamacare’s job-killing 2.3 percent excise tax on manufacturers and importers of medical devices....
...Even the much-touted Obamacare provision that we were told would eliminate the “pre-existing condition” scourge is proving to be a bust. According the Heritage Foundation, the Obama Administration estimated that 375,000 people would enroll in the pre-existing conditions insurance plan (PCIP). “But as of January 2013, over two-and-a-half years since the plan began, only 107,139 were enrolled—less than 29 percent of original projections.” And yet the program is running out of money...
...“In a 2012 report, the Administration conceded that claims’ costs had been 2.5 times greater than they had anticipated.” This is of a piece with the “Affordable Care Act” in general. When Obamacare was first shoved down our throats, we were told that it would cost $898 billion. Now the projected cost is $1.6 trillion....
Obama makes a great Pouter-in-Chief, stamping his widdle feets and ranting about "Republican" "obstructors." IOW, he's just another community organizer of mediocre talent.
He ain't no President.
Obama? Not even close.
...Klein’s [Time Magarag's Lefty essayist] post focuses primarily on the implosion of Obamacare’s exchanges. Pointing out that the President’s apparatchiks squandered three full years during which they should have been hard at work preparing for the advent of these insurance “marketplaces,” Klein laments their failure to do so with the following piece of Solomonic wisdom: “This is a really bad sign.” Indeed it is. And Klein isn’t the only advocate of Obamacare to finally notice that this hopelessly Byzantine health care “reform” law is an implementation nightmare....
...Not only has the go-live date for the insurance exchanges been pushed back a year, a wide variety of the law’s other key provisions have either been delayed or simply abandoned. The most conspicuous of the latter category was the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. This program was so badly designed that Kathleen Sebelius admitted HHS couldn’t pay for it and one of its own administrators speculated that it might collapse. It was repealed in January....
...Senator Cantwell was also among the thirty-three Democrats who voted with all of the Senate Republicans last month to repeal Obamacare’s job-killing 2.3 percent excise tax on manufacturers and importers of medical devices....
...Even the much-touted Obamacare provision that we were told would eliminate the “pre-existing condition” scourge is proving to be a bust. According the Heritage Foundation, the Obama Administration estimated that 375,000 people would enroll in the pre-existing conditions insurance plan (PCIP). “But as of January 2013, over two-and-a-half years since the plan began, only 107,139 were enrolled—less than 29 percent of original projections.” And yet the program is running out of money...
...“In a 2012 report, the Administration conceded that claims’ costs had been 2.5 times greater than they had anticipated.” This is of a piece with the “Affordable Care Act” in general. When Obamacare was first shoved down our throats, we were told that it would cost $898 billion. Now the projected cost is $1.6 trillion....
Obama makes a great Pouter-in-Chief, stamping his widdle feets and ranting about "Republican" "obstructors." IOW, he's just another community organizer of mediocre talent.
He ain't no President.
Scalia Slams Sensenbrenner
You recall that "conservative" Jim Sensenbrenner is a passionate defender of certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
Those provisions happen to be "embedded preferment," according to Scalia.
About time for "Conservative" Jim--who also voted to fund ObozoCare--to retire and take his sinecure, no?
Those provisions happen to be "embedded preferment," according to Scalia.
About time for "Conservative" Jim--who also voted to fund ObozoCare--to retire and take his sinecure, no?
Sudden Deportation Raises Questions
Suddenly, the Boston-living "Saudi Arabian national" "student" was kicked the hell out of the USA.
Secret meetings with the Saudi ambassador.
Al-Quaeda connections running in the family.
Curious, no?
Secret meetings with the Saudi ambassador.
Al-Quaeda connections running in the family.
Curious, no?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Copper Straw-in-the-Wind
See the chart at this link.
Copper has always been a reliable econometric canary.
Ticker adduces a bunch of other straws in the post, none particularly encouraging.
At the same time, ECRI's predictor does not signal recession; it's been regularly wobbly--really, non-directional--for several months.
Hmmmmm.
Copper has always been a reliable econometric canary.
Ticker adduces a bunch of other straws in the post, none particularly encouraging.
At the same time, ECRI's predictor does not signal recession; it's been regularly wobbly--really, non-directional--for several months.
Hmmmmm.
Philadelphia BK?
Mish thinks Philly is the next Stockton.
You know a city is in deep trouble when its mayor invites Wall Street but not the press and not private citizens to a closed meeting to discuss the future, including a sell-off of city assets.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, whose municipality has the lowest credit rating of the five most-populous U.S. cities, did just that.
My translation: Philadelphia is bankrupt. However, that easily discernible fact will of course be denied until it officially happens.
This is NOT a good time to buy Philly munis.
You know a city is in deep trouble when its mayor invites Wall Street but not the press and not private citizens to a closed meeting to discuss the future, including a sell-off of city assets.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, whose municipality has the lowest credit rating of the five most-populous U.S. cities, did just that.
My translation: Philadelphia is bankrupt. However, that easily discernible fact will of course be denied until it officially happens.
This is NOT a good time to buy Philly munis.
Tax "The Rich"? Congrats! YOU Are "The Rich!!"
Another steaming pile from the pen of Obozo.
President Obama’s long-delayed budget proposal cops to $580 billion in new taxes over the next ten years, which he naturally portrays as tax increases on the rich. But in truth, a review conducted by the McClatchy news service found the actual value of Obama’s tax hikes is well over $1 trillion...
Chained CPI, a $1.00/pack tax on cigarettes, fees levied on banks, brokers, and utilities (which YOU will pay), another hike in capgains taxes and estate taxes, and the raids on IRA retirement funds make up the balance of the confiscations.
So now we have the two "icons"--Rubio* and Obozo--lying like Hell about their plans.
What a country!!
*See below post
President Obama’s long-delayed budget proposal cops to $580 billion in new taxes over the next ten years, which he naturally portrays as tax increases on the rich. But in truth, a review conducted by the McClatchy news service found the actual value of Obama’s tax hikes is well over $1 trillion...
Chained CPI, a $1.00/pack tax on cigarettes, fees levied on banks, brokers, and utilities (which YOU will pay), another hike in capgains taxes and estate taxes, and the raids on IRA retirement funds make up the balance of the confiscations.
So now we have the two "icons"--Rubio* and Obozo--lying like Hell about their plans.
What a country!!
*See below post
The Empty Rubio
Looks like we've found another hack politician.
"If, in fact, this bill does not have real triggers in there, if there is not language in this bill that guarantees that nothing else will happen unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place, I won't support it."--Rubio on the Limbaugh show.
That was then.
[Interviewer]...is this bill enforcement first or is it legalization first? And the bottom line is, with legalization being in just six months, the answer is, this is legalization first, isn't it?
RUBIO: Well, first - yeah, but it's, well, but it's important to understand that. If you do just -- that was my original position. The problem is what do we do in the meantime? While you're doing all these enforcement mechanisms, what do you do with the millions of people that are undocumented? --ABC News
(Source: Numbers USA)
The back-and-forthright Senator. Just like our "conservative" preener Sensenbrenner--who mutters imprecations about ObozoCare and then votes to fund it.
"If, in fact, this bill does not have real triggers in there, if there is not language in this bill that guarantees that nothing else will happen unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place, I won't support it."--Rubio on the Limbaugh show.
That was then.
[Interviewer]...is this bill enforcement first or is it legalization first? And the bottom line is, with legalization being in just six months, the answer is, this is legalization first, isn't it?
RUBIO: Well, first - yeah, but it's, well, but it's important to understand that. If you do just -- that was my original position. The problem is what do we do in the meantime? While you're doing all these enforcement mechanisms, what do you do with the millions of people that are undocumented? --ABC News
(Source: Numbers USA)
The back-and-forthright Senator. Just like our "conservative" preener Sensenbrenner--who mutters imprecations about ObozoCare and then votes to fund it.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Sequester, the Evil of All Evils
It's one thing for Obozo to yammer about The Evil Sequester. We expect completely un-informed drivel from him.
It's another thing entirely for supposedly well-informed economic commentators to barf up this stuff.
...but I think this slowdown is mostly related to fiscal tightening (mostly the payroll tax hike and the sequestration budget cuts)....
The GDP of the US in 2012 was fifteen-point-eight TRILLION dollars.
The sequester: $44 billion.
Really? The Evil Sequester killed the economy?
It's another thing entirely for supposedly well-informed economic commentators to barf up this stuff.
...but I think this slowdown is mostly related to fiscal tightening (mostly the payroll tax hike and the sequestration budget cuts)....
The GDP of the US in 2012 was fifteen-point-eight TRILLION dollars.
The sequester: $44 billion.
Really? The Evil Sequester killed the economy?
Saturday, April 13, 2013
What's Tammy Been Doing?
Wisconsin's junior Senatrix--another State Socialist--doesn't mention this vote.
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Ruling Class' Visit to Middle America
Well-done vignette which deserves a lot of attention.
Remember, this is from the Ruling Class--meaning the BushBoyzzz AND the children of FDR.
Remember, this is from the Ruling Class--meaning the BushBoyzzz AND the children of FDR.
Another Law, Another Waste of Paper (With Implications) UPDATED!!
Passing laws is 'what they do.' That's why--no matter how stupid the law--politicans pass laws.
After months of hysteria (look up the etymology) the on-paper "solution":
...It appears that private gun sales will require background checks – if the gun for sale is advertised online or in a publication....
Really?
There's also a "family member" exemption.
So as the Examiner's reporter reports:
....it appears that a mother could buy a rifle for her son for his birthday – and although she would receive a background check to purchase the gun, her son would not be expected to get a background check to receive it as a gift.
Can you say "Sandy Hook"?
Unlike "lawmakers," I have no delusions. This is useless legislation, but it will be abused by the Statist-in-Chief and his cabal (whether now or later) to expand the definition of 'prohibited persons.'
Recall that very few anti-Communists were sent to prison in Russia because they were actually criminals. They were, instead, found to be 'in need of psychiatric treatment.'
UPDATE: (It's worse than you could imagine)
...it says that the Attorney General may not consolidate or centralize records of firearms acquisition and disposition maintained by licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers, and by buyers and sellers at gun shows (and makes it a crime for him to do so).
But then, the STM bill takes those protections away by using the all-powerful word “notwithstanding”—”notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Attorney General may implement this subsection with regulations.” The courts may construe the “notwithstanding” to allow Attorney General Eric Holder to issue regulations that could begin to create a federal registry of firearms, because the law says he can implement the subsection without regard to the protections against a registry elsewhere in the legislation....
--The Captain quoting Heritage analysis...
OK, RoJo. Time for the filibuster to begin!!
After months of hysteria (look up the etymology) the on-paper "solution":
...It appears that private gun sales will require background checks – if the gun for sale is advertised online or in a publication....
Really?
There's also a "family member" exemption.
So as the Examiner's reporter reports:
....it appears that a mother could buy a rifle for her son for his birthday – and although she would receive a background check to purchase the gun, her son would not be expected to get a background check to receive it as a gift.
Can you say "Sandy Hook"?
Unlike "lawmakers," I have no delusions. This is useless legislation, but it will be abused by the Statist-in-Chief and his cabal (whether now or later) to expand the definition of 'prohibited persons.'
Recall that very few anti-Communists were sent to prison in Russia because they were actually criminals. They were, instead, found to be 'in need of psychiatric treatment.'
UPDATE: (It's worse than you could imagine)
...it says that the Attorney General may not consolidate or centralize records of firearms acquisition and disposition maintained by licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers, and by buyers and sellers at gun shows (and makes it a crime for him to do so).
But then, the STM bill takes those protections away by using the all-powerful word “notwithstanding”—”notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Attorney General may implement this subsection with regulations.” The courts may construe the “notwithstanding” to allow Attorney General Eric Holder to issue regulations that could begin to create a federal registry of firearms, because the law says he can implement the subsection without regard to the protections against a registry elsewhere in the legislation....
--The Captain quoting Heritage analysis...
OK, RoJo. Time for the filibuster to begin!!
Grade-School Agitprop
We've all heard the maxims from Marx/Lenin & Co. which are assiduously followed by Big Education: "Stupidify 'em while they're young, and they'll vote Obama every time" (or variants thereof.)
Sure enough, the Union Grove School District is today's Shining Example of Marxism-in-School!!
Sure enough, the Union Grove School District is today's Shining Example of Marxism-in-School!!
A
mother at a Wisconsin public school said her daughter’s eighth grade
class was assigned a worksheet with some eyebrow-raising definitions for
“conservatism” and “liberalism.”
Conservatism,
it stated in part, believes in “preserving traditional moral values by
restricting personal freedoms” while liberalism is for “equality and
personal freedom for everyone.”
....The worksheet was a product of Sunburst Visual Media [a subsidiary of "Cerebellum Corporation".]
For those of you who are unconvinced of the effect of propaganda, consider the combox at this post. Therein you will find the scrawlings of a semi-literate who has swallowed this....stuff....by the gallon.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
"Improvement" in Mortgage Delinquencies
While it is true that 9 is less than 10, you have to see the chart at the link to understand that "improvement" is a relative term, indeed.
See it?
From 1995 through 2005, the mortgage delinquency/foreclosure rate hung around 5.5%.
Then it climbed to just under 15%.
Now it has "improved" to around 10%.
It's the Obozo Improvement!!
Look a little harder at that chart to see the unicorns.
See it?
From 1995 through 2005, the mortgage delinquency/foreclosure rate hung around 5.5%.
Then it climbed to just under 15%.
Now it has "improved" to around 10%.
It's the Obozo Improvement!!
Look a little harder at that chart to see the unicorns.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
"Take Gummint Out of Marriage"? Fuggedaboudit
Quite a few folks--including Governor Scott Walker--have mused that perhaps 'getting government out of marriage' is the better way to resolve the bogus claim by homosexuals that they have a "right" to marriage.
This essay should push that idea off the table.
This essay should push that idea off the table.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Nutbag "Gun Registration" Senate Proposal
Read the fine print, folks. John McCain is (apparently) unable to do so--which is why he cannot comprehend the opposition.
But then, John McCain's a loser.
...While President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg talk about “gun sales,” the actual legislation moving through Congress aims to regulate far more than sales. It would turn almost every gun owner into a felon. The trick is that the language under consideration applies not only to sales but also to “transfers,” which are defined to include innocent activities such as letting your spouse borrow your gun for a few hours....
See how that works? Just a flip of a word!
Anyhow, the essay describes 50 ways to be a gun-criminal.
But then, John McCain's a loser.
...While President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg talk about “gun sales,” the actual legislation moving through Congress aims to regulate far more than sales. It would turn almost every gun owner into a felon. The trick is that the language under consideration applies not only to sales but also to “transfers,” which are defined to include innocent activities such as letting your spouse borrow your gun for a few hours....
See how that works? Just a flip of a word!
Anyhow, the essay describes 50 ways to be a gun-criminal.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Irony Personified
Seems like "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" has lost another member--to the County Jail.
The mayor of Marcus Hook was charged [March 21] with holding an acquaintance hostage during a drunken encounter at his home last month that allegedly ended with the mayor’s firing a gun into the floor.
During the encounter, Mayor James D. Schiliro repeatedly offered to perform a sex act with the 20-year-old male, according to police.
...According to the man, Schiliro, who was intoxicated, asked repeatedly whether he could perform oral sex on him. . . .
According to court records, Schiliro waved three handguns during the encounter. At one point, he put a gun to his head and said “he didn’t want to live anymore,” --McCain quoted at Grim's Place
This particular MAIG is a Republican.
It is also noted that MAIG's website has scrubbed the cretin.
Now you know why MAIGs don't want people having guns. They'll run around demanding BJ's and shooting up floors if they don't get 'em.
Or something.
The mayor of Marcus Hook was charged [March 21] with holding an acquaintance hostage during a drunken encounter at his home last month that allegedly ended with the mayor’s firing a gun into the floor.
During the encounter, Mayor James D. Schiliro repeatedly offered to perform a sex act with the 20-year-old male, according to police.
...According to the man, Schiliro, who was intoxicated, asked repeatedly whether he could perform oral sex on him. . . .
According to court records, Schiliro waved three handguns during the encounter. At one point, he put a gun to his head and said “he didn’t want to live anymore,” --McCain quoted at Grim's Place
This particular MAIG is a Republican.
It is also noted that MAIG's website has scrubbed the cretin.
Now you know why MAIGs don't want people having guns. They'll run around demanding BJ's and shooting up floors if they don't get 'em.
Or something.
Friday, April 05, 2013
No Israeli Women in Combat Roles
Another Left-O-Wacky myth, busted.
Women serve in support and combat support roles in the IDF, recently they have been allowed additional options but they still do not serve in active combat.
Around the world there has been some discussion about whether or not women should serve in active front-line combat. In Israel it is clear that despite the vast contribution of women in the military, active combat is not an option. This decision is based on the physical and biological differences between men and women but also for moral reasons. As Michal, a combat fitness instructor in the IDF, says, "No one wants to even think of the possibility of an Israeli girl falling into the hands of the enemy." Our history is already filled with too many such stories of atrocities.
Oh, well.
Maybe they should move on to Global Cooling. Or Keynesian Economics.
HT: Vox
Women serve in support and combat support roles in the IDF, recently they have been allowed additional options but they still do not serve in active combat.
Around the world there has been some discussion about whether or not women should serve in active front-line combat. In Israel it is clear that despite the vast contribution of women in the military, active combat is not an option. This decision is based on the physical and biological differences between men and women but also for moral reasons. As Michal, a combat fitness instructor in the IDF, says, "No one wants to even think of the possibility of an Israeli girl falling into the hands of the enemy." Our history is already filled with too many such stories of atrocities.
Oh, well.
Maybe they should move on to Global Cooling. Or Keynesian Economics.
HT: Vox
Thursday, April 04, 2013
The USCC: Lacking Anything to Do
Evidently the USCC doesn't have anything important to do.
The injustice of taking innocent life lies at the heart of the church’s pro-life position. There is no question about the innocence of pre-born children. And Americans are becoming more and more uneasy as we learn of people on death row eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. And surely, after the gunning down of primary grade children in Newtown, Connecticut, it is clear assault weapons stand out dramatically as a threat to innocent life.
The U.S. bishops now call on people to support federal legislation to require background checks for all gun purchases, to limit civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines and to make gun trafficking a federal crime. The bishops also want a ban on assault weapons.
...
A pro-life stance is a noble one. Sadly it must confront the ignoble reality of abortion, the death penalty, and another threat to peace and human life, the preponderance of assault weapons. --quoted at CMR
(The usual morons will shortly hit my combox with priest-perpetrator snark, which is not entirely unjustified.)
As CMR observes, this bunch equates 2A rights with abortion, easily one of the most moronic comparos in recent USCC history.
Let's instead talk about wasting resources on bureaucracies, Bishops. At least there is a cogent argument to be made on that issue.
The injustice of taking innocent life lies at the heart of the church’s pro-life position. There is no question about the innocence of pre-born children. And Americans are becoming more and more uneasy as we learn of people on death row eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. And surely, after the gunning down of primary grade children in Newtown, Connecticut, it is clear assault weapons stand out dramatically as a threat to innocent life.
The U.S. bishops now call on people to support federal legislation to require background checks for all gun purchases, to limit civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines and to make gun trafficking a federal crime. The bishops also want a ban on assault weapons.
...
A pro-life stance is a noble one. Sadly it must confront the ignoble reality of abortion, the death penalty, and another threat to peace and human life, the preponderance of assault weapons. --quoted at CMR
(The usual morons will shortly hit my combox with priest-perpetrator snark, which is not entirely unjustified.)
As CMR observes, this bunch equates 2A rights with abortion, easily one of the most moronic comparos in recent USCC history.
Let's instead talk about wasting resources on bureaucracies, Bishops. At least there is a cogent argument to be made on that issue.
Straws in the Wind
Neumayr, via Belvedere:
During last year’s campaign, Obama said that religions will remain free to determine their own “sacraments.” Shouldn’t that go without saying? The very fact that Obama made such a declaration should scare people. Whenever a pol says “I won’t do [fill in the blank],” it usually means that very activity is on his mind.
The sacrament of marriage comes to mind.
During last year’s campaign, Obama said that religions will remain free to determine their own “sacraments.” Shouldn’t that go without saying? The very fact that Obama made such a declaration should scare people. Whenever a pol says “I won’t do [fill in the blank],” it usually means that very activity is on his mind.
The sacrament of marriage comes to mind.
Surprise! Wisconsin Tax Burden is Burdensome
Remember that the proposed budget INCREASES Wisconsin state spending. Got that?
...While April 18 is the national Tax Freedom Day, individual states have their own Tax Freedom Days due to their own tax structures. For Wisconsin this year, Tax Freedom Day comes on April 20, later than the national average because of Wisconsin’s current tax and spending climate. Last year Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day was April 21.
The relative lateness of Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day means it takes the state longer that most states to earn enough money to pay for the burden of state, local and federal government. In 2012, 40 states had Tax Freedom Days earlier than Wisconsin. Similarly, this year Wisconsin is tied for the 9th latest Tax Freedom Day, meaning again that 40 states get done paying their tax burden sooner than Wisconsin....
By the way, Krispy Kreme Christie's state is #3 in tax burden. Remember that when that anti-2A twit starts hauling himself around looking for a presidential nomination.
...While April 18 is the national Tax Freedom Day, individual states have their own Tax Freedom Days due to their own tax structures. For Wisconsin this year, Tax Freedom Day comes on April 20, later than the national average because of Wisconsin’s current tax and spending climate. Last year Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day was April 21.
The relative lateness of Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day means it takes the state longer that most states to earn enough money to pay for the burden of state, local and federal government. In 2012, 40 states had Tax Freedom Days earlier than Wisconsin. Similarly, this year Wisconsin is tied for the 9th latest Tax Freedom Day, meaning again that 40 states get done paying their tax burden sooner than Wisconsin....
By the way, Krispy Kreme Christie's state is #3 in tax burden. Remember that when that anti-2A twit starts hauling himself around looking for a presidential nomination.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
World-Class Ignoramus: (D) CongressCritter
Un-frickin'-believable ignorance.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette drew national criticism Wednesday for remarks made at a public forum in which she said banning high-capacity in ammunition magazines would be effective in reducing gun violence because "the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available."
...DeGette, who for years in Congress has been the prime sponsor on a federal ban on high-capacity magazines....
...
"These are ammunition, they're bullets, so the people who have those now, they're going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available"
Oh, it gets even better!
DeGette spokeswoman Juliet Johnson on Wednesday said the senior congresswoman from Denver "misspoke" and then issued another erroneous statement about guns.
"The congresswoman has been working on a high-capacity assault magazine ban for years and has been deeply involved in the issue; she simply misspoke in referring to 'magazines' when she should have referred to 'clips,' which cannot be reused because they don't have a feeding mechanism," Johnson said. --(both) quoted at AOSHQ
If both these people were in the same room, the total IQ would not equal that of a chipmunk.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette drew national criticism Wednesday for remarks made at a public forum in which she said banning high-capacity in ammunition magazines would be effective in reducing gun violence because "the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available."
...DeGette, who for years in Congress has been the prime sponsor on a federal ban on high-capacity magazines....
...
"These are ammunition, they're bullets, so the people who have those now, they're going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high-capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available"
Oh, it gets even better!
DeGette spokeswoman Juliet Johnson on Wednesday said the senior congresswoman from Denver "misspoke" and then issued another erroneous statement about guns.
"The congresswoman has been working on a high-capacity assault magazine ban for years and has been deeply involved in the issue; she simply misspoke in referring to 'magazines' when she should have referred to 'clips,' which cannot be reused because they don't have a feeding mechanism," Johnson said. --(both) quoted at AOSHQ
If both these people were in the same room, the total IQ would not equal that of a chipmunk.
Recovery Underway? Maybe, Maybe Not
Two items which are noteworthy.
Earnings for very large crude carriers, the industry’s biggest ships, plunged 75 percent from a year earlier to $11,624 a day, according to figures from Clarkson Plc (CKN), the world’s largest shipbroker. A surplus of the supertankers seeking charters in the Persian Gulf averaged 21 percent during the first quarter, the largest glut since 2009, according to market surveys by Bloomberg.
“Crude rates remain in the doldrums,” RS Platou Markets AS, an Oslo-based investment bank, said by e-mail today. VLCCs earned $17,000 a day on average in the first quarter, down 32 percent from a year earlier, it said....--quoted at Bayou RenMan
Is that entirely the result of US fracking success? Not likely.
Here's the second:
Copper futures are headed down. Copper is 'the Old Farts' econometric'; it is a component of practically every manufactured item in the world; when its price is going down, so is economic activity.
Straws in the wind.........
Earnings for very large crude carriers, the industry’s biggest ships, plunged 75 percent from a year earlier to $11,624 a day, according to figures from Clarkson Plc (CKN), the world’s largest shipbroker. A surplus of the supertankers seeking charters in the Persian Gulf averaged 21 percent during the first quarter, the largest glut since 2009, according to market surveys by Bloomberg.
“Crude rates remain in the doldrums,” RS Platou Markets AS, an Oslo-based investment bank, said by e-mail today. VLCCs earned $17,000 a day on average in the first quarter, down 32 percent from a year earlier, it said....--quoted at Bayou RenMan
Is that entirely the result of US fracking success? Not likely.
Here's the second:
Copper futures are headed down. Copper is 'the Old Farts' econometric'; it is a component of practically every manufactured item in the world; when its price is going down, so is economic activity.
Straws in the wind.........
EPA Rolls Over: Industry Takes It on the Chops
If you've been paying attention, you know how the ObozoEPA operates. Left-O-Wacky "green" bunch sues, EPA rolls over and plays dead, industry loses.
Here's the latest one, with an extra-special ObozoEPA twist:
...Under the old policy, manufacturers did not have to suffer Clean Air Act penalties if the excess emissions came about during periods of “start up, shutdown, or malfunction” (SSM). The Sierra Club opposed this long-standing exemption.
“Oddly, it appears that, instead of defending EPA’s own regulations and the SSM provisions in the EPA-approved air programs of 39 states, EPA simply agreed to include an obligation to respond to the petition in the settlement of an entirely separate lawsuit,” wrote Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a letter yesterday to Gina McCarthy, President Obama’s nominee to lead the EPA. “In other words, EPA went out of its way to resolve the SSM petition in a coordinated settlement with Sierra Club.” The agency now says that 36 of those states are not implementing federal law appropriately....
Neat, eh?
Here's the latest one, with an extra-special ObozoEPA twist:
...Under the old policy, manufacturers did not have to suffer Clean Air Act penalties if the excess emissions came about during periods of “start up, shutdown, or malfunction” (SSM). The Sierra Club opposed this long-standing exemption.
“Oddly, it appears that, instead of defending EPA’s own regulations and the SSM provisions in the EPA-approved air programs of 39 states, EPA simply agreed to include an obligation to respond to the petition in the settlement of an entirely separate lawsuit,” wrote Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a letter yesterday to Gina McCarthy, President Obama’s nominee to lead the EPA. “In other words, EPA went out of its way to resolve the SSM petition in a coordinated settlement with Sierra Club.” The agency now says that 36 of those states are not implementing federal law appropriately....
Neat, eh?
The ObozoCare Box of Chocolates
One of the fillings is Obozo's Excremental Surprise!
...President Barack Obama’s new health care law will offer subsidies to help people buy private health insurance on state-based exchanges, if they don’t already get coverage through their employers. The subsidies are based on income. The lower your income, the bigger the subsidy.
But the government doesn’t know how much money you’re going to make next year. And when you apply for the subsidy, this fall, it won’t even know how much you’re making this year. So, unless you tell the government otherwise, it will rely on the best information it has: your 2012 tax return, filed this spring....AP, quoted at RedState
Of course, there's a little catch:
...What happens if you or your spouse gets a raise and your family income goes up in 2014? You could end up with a bigger subsidy than you are entitled to. If that happens, the law says you have to pay back at least part of the money when you file your tax return in the spring of 2015...
Umnnhhhhhh....
This has serious implications for people who work on commission or whose spouse goes back to work or gets a better job.
It also works the other way: if you lose your job, or if your earnings go south, you'll be paying a higher rate than you have to--all year long.
...President Barack Obama’s new health care law will offer subsidies to help people buy private health insurance on state-based exchanges, if they don’t already get coverage through their employers. The subsidies are based on income. The lower your income, the bigger the subsidy.
But the government doesn’t know how much money you’re going to make next year. And when you apply for the subsidy, this fall, it won’t even know how much you’re making this year. So, unless you tell the government otherwise, it will rely on the best information it has: your 2012 tax return, filed this spring....AP, quoted at RedState
Of course, there's a little catch:
...What happens if you or your spouse gets a raise and your family income goes up in 2014? You could end up with a bigger subsidy than you are entitled to. If that happens, the law says you have to pay back at least part of the money when you file your tax return in the spring of 2015...
Umnnhhhhhh....
This has serious implications for people who work on commission or whose spouse goes back to work or gets a better job.
It also works the other way: if you lose your job, or if your earnings go south, you'll be paying a higher rate than you have to--all year long.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Big Gummint Sensenbrenner
Congressman Sensenbrenner found a Shiny Object so as to draw attention away from his vote for ObamaCare.
He finds that Obozo has taken away airport tower personnel from Republican districts.
OMG!!
Fortunately, we have moved from the Blast Zone near Crites Field in Waukesha, which will be denuded of controllers soon. Wiggy, on the other hand.....
This will probably be the end of Waukesha County commerce. GE and FiServ's corporate jets will undoubtedly stop flying immediately, because their pilots are incapable of using standard English to communicate with other pilots...........
.....oh, well, maybe not.
For a fellow who represents himself as a "conservative," Sensenbrenner certainly likes Big Gummint.
For another perspective on Sensenbrenner's Shiny Object, see this item.
He finds that Obozo has taken away airport tower personnel from Republican districts.
OMG!!
Fortunately, we have moved from the Blast Zone near Crites Field in Waukesha, which will be denuded of controllers soon. Wiggy, on the other hand.....
This will probably be the end of Waukesha County commerce. GE and FiServ's corporate jets will undoubtedly stop flying immediately, because their pilots are incapable of using standard English to communicate with other pilots...........
.....oh, well, maybe not.
For a fellow who represents himself as a "conservative," Sensenbrenner certainly likes Big Gummint.
For another perspective on Sensenbrenner's Shiny Object, see this item.
Monday, April 01, 2013
How To Defeat ObozoCare
When Jim Sensenbrenner, Paul Ryan, and Cryin' John Boehner voted to continue funding ObozoCare, (breaking all sorts of campaign promises), it fell to another entity to rid the land of this fungal pestilence.
Turns out that ObozoCare may eliminate itself.
The law calls for a new insurance marketplace specifically for small businesses, starting next year. But in most states, employers will not be able to get what Congress intended: the option to provide workers with a choice of health plans. They will instead be limited to a single plan. --NYT quoted at HotAir
Since nobody knew what was in the Magic Box until it was opened, it now appears that nobody knows how to assemble the pieces, either.
HotAir opines:
This was one of the reassuring promises the president and the Democrats made when they were touting the law’s benefits, and you’d think they’d want to get mitigating provisions like this one up and running as soon as possible, i.e., before the 2014 midterms, to give the Republicans as little fodder as possible for their continuing criticisms — and who knows how much else will go wrong between now and then...
The Tower of Babel redux, mutatis mutandis.
Turns out that ObozoCare may eliminate itself.
The law calls for a new insurance marketplace specifically for small businesses, starting next year. But in most states, employers will not be able to get what Congress intended: the option to provide workers with a choice of health plans. They will instead be limited to a single plan. --NYT quoted at HotAir
Since nobody knew what was in the Magic Box until it was opened, it now appears that nobody knows how to assemble the pieces, either.
HotAir opines:
This was one of the reassuring promises the president and the Democrats made when they were touting the law’s benefits, and you’d think they’d want to get mitigating provisions like this one up and running as soon as possible, i.e., before the 2014 midterms, to give the Republicans as little fodder as possible for their continuing criticisms — and who knows how much else will go wrong between now and then...
The Tower of Babel redux, mutatis mutandis.
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