"Unexpected" Rise in Great Lakes Water-Levels

Completely "unexpected." 

But one thing you CAN expect:  continuing cash flowing to "water management" experts.

Trapping Funds

Fund-raising can be a lot of fun!!

Father Garrett Kau joked with parishioners as he unpacked his gun from its case Saturday afternoon. Kau was one of dozens from around the region gathered at the Circus City Sportsman’s Club in support of the St. Clare Health Care Foundation.

... The priest, of St. Joseph Catholic Parish, said he saw a flyer about Saturday’s event and decided to participate in support of the foundation. Kau said enjoys living in Wisconsin and connecting with other outdoor enthusiasts.

“It’s actually been a few years since I’ve shot,” he said with a laugh, adding that so far, he’d been happy with his results.

Participants paid $20 for a pig roast lunch and a round of shooting and could pay extra for additional rounds....

...Participants included 17-year-old Aaren Weinke, of Baraboo, a member of the Sauk County Youth Shooting Team, Dr. Mark Meier, a general surgeon at the hospital for 20 years, and many other community members and hospital supporters.

The spanferkel alone is worth the $20.00.

Lois Lerner's Next Job

HT:  Peter

RoJo and Turley? Yup. They Get It Wrong

Lions and lambs?  Naifs, really. They don't identify the problem correctly, so the solution won't work.

A growing crisis in our constitutional system threatens to fundamentally alter the balance of powers — and accountability — within our government. This crisis did not begin with Obama, but it has reached a constitutional tipping point during his presidency. Indeed, it is enough to bring the two of us — a liberal academic and a conservative U.S. senator — together in shared concern over the future of our 225-year-old constitutional system of self ­governance.

No.  Really?  C'mon, boys, it's Summerfest time f'cryin' out loud.  Shut up with the "crisis" noise, eh?  Beer's getting warm.

There has been a dramatic shift of authority toward presidential powers and the emergence of what is essentially a fourth branch of government — a vast network of federal agencies with expanded legislative and judicial power. ...The growing authority invested in federal agencies comes from a diminished Congress, which seems to have a dramatically reduced ability to actively monitor, let alone influence, agency actions.

Not exactly.  Congress writes laws which are filled with "at the discretion of the Secretary...."  or "...subject to the findings of the agency..." clauses.  How do YOU think the EPA managed to grab 'control' of CO2, for example?  It was either slovenly drafting or deliberate graftsmanship disguised as "the public interest."  Take your choice:  we've elected idiots or well-manicured crooks, folks. 

There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, no Congress-slime wants to be pinned down.  There are always escape clauses built into the legislation, and these political animals use them expertly.  Second, agencies and departments always have an agenda and Congress-slime always want to get re-elected.  So when an agency proposes to stomp the toes of .......say........the mud-bee industry, Congress-slime make it known that they can influence the agency.  Cha-Ching!!!  The mud-bee lobby forks up contributions and the agency's threat goes away.  Until next election cycle.

With a few exceptions, Congress is full of preening, scheming, pale and paunchy schlubs whose narcissism is only a few degrees removed from that of Obozo.  THAT is why "an Act of Congress" is always the solution, whether for managing bug populations on backwater creeks in North Noplace, Nebraska, or for dictating how many artichokes Farmer Brown can put on one acre of his own damn land.

The 9th and 10th Amendments were written precisely for the problem RoJo and Turley fret about.  And as Andy McCarthy notes separately, Congress can simply shut off the funds.

But that would leave Congress impotent quel' horreurs!!

Get the grift drift??

Yup. "Immigration Reformers" Lie Like Hell, Too

Not only did the study find that ALL the job-growth in the US went to illegal (and legal) immigrants over the last 14 years.  It also found that there are NO "jobs that [native] Americans won't do."

So those kids you raised--and often sent to college to acquire massive debts?

They can't find a job.

Well done, Ted Kennedy, GWBush, and ObozoCommie!!

Quiz question:  which Big Lie has more impact on the US:  Global 'Warming' or "Need for Immigrant Workers"?  Please limit your response to 250 words and provide citations.

Mary Burke, Student of Karl Rove

Seems as though Mary Burke's campaign is deceptive and near-slanderous.

There's a model for that:  Thad Cochran's campaign, with tactics from Karl Rove.

Who said that Democrats can't learn from Republicans?

Fraud in Mississippi

Mississippi's primary elections run under the same sort of rules that Wisconsin has:  you can vote in the (R) or (D) primary, but not both.

Unless Karl Rove is funding your (R) campaign, in which case, by all means, steal the damn election!!

“It’s not so much a recount,” McDaniel continued. “We’re looking to the issue of whether or not people who participated in if June 3 Democrat Primary crossed over into the Republican Primary this Tuesday night. We’ve found more than 1,000 examples of that in one county alone. So, we’ve found widespread irregularities of ineligible voters. They should not have been there in the first place. And they were pushed there. This is what's shocking, Sean. They were pushed there be an overt action, an aggressive action on the part of Sen. Cochran’s campaign that was filled with race-baiting, lies, distortions...."--Hannity show quoted at Breitbart

One local pundit approves of the results:

It’s time McDaniel conceded the election, and time for the national Tea Party groups to go screw up another election somewhere else. 

Umnnhhhh...another way to put that, Wiggy, is that you approve of Rove & Co.'s tactics.  Surely you jest.

Obozo 0, Citizens 12

Obozo lost 12 in 24 months, all 9-zip.

That's just so far.

EPA Hard Drives Crash, Too!

But only after a subpoena is issued.

...members grilled McCarthy on lost emails from a hard-drive crash (the same issue that wiped out emails from IRS employee Lois Lerner). In this case, the emails in question were from retired EPA employee Philip North, who was involved in the agency's decision to begin the process of preemptively vetoing the Pebble Mine project in Alaska.

North, who declined an interview request by the committee, is retired, and committee staff say they have been unable to track him down. According to a committee aide, North's hard drive crashed in 2010--which was around the same time that the committee is investigating the agency's discussions of a potential veto--and the emails were not backed up.

NSA knows where North is, of course, and--like with Lerner--they prolly have the emails in their DB.

We're only missing one element:  North never took the Fifth.

HT:  AOSHQ

Post-Doc Studies in Wussiness: Boehner

Before McCarthy's article surfaced, it occurred to me that Boehner's strategy sucks.  Reduced to simple terms, Boehner has decided to run and tell teacher about the mean kid who hit him in the face.

McCarthy phrases it more elegantly:

...Under our system, in order to avoid having major public policy questions decided by the governmental branch that is not politically accountable to voters, the judiciary is limited to resolving concrete controversies — cases in which the party bringing the suit has actually been injured by a violation of law. Courts are thus prohibited from issuing advisory opinions: pronouncements that some course of conduct is or would be illegal. 

Yet, that appears to be exactly what the speaker will ask them to do.

It's merely a show for the lumpenproles who still think that being (R) means opposing Statism.

Conveniently for Cryin' John, McCarthy provides the REAL answer, too!

...Republican leadership does not see its “other options” as including the exercise of powers the Constitution gives Congress to stop executive lawlessness in its tracks, namely, cutting off the executive branch’s funding and impeaching executive branch officials who violate the law, carry out lawless policy, mislead lawmakers, stonewall investigations, and frustrate Congress’s constitutional oversight function.

Johnny Boy doesn't have the balls to do that.  Never did, never will.

ONLY -3% GDP Dump?

The Feds released the revised 1Q GDP number.

Minus 3%.

First time in 58 years it's been that bad.

Not to worry, say the spinners.  It was all the cold winter.

Don't bet on that.  Remember that "auto sales" are not to the final buyer--the consumer--they're to the dealers.  Also note that new housing sales are down---not up.

A Gun or a Woman?

There are a number of good reasons for favoring the gun.

10. You can trade an old .44 for a new .22.
9. You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you're on the road.
8. If you admire a friend's gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times.
7. Your primary gun doesn't mind if you keep another gun for a backup.
6. Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.
5. A gun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.
4. Guns function normally every day of the month.
3. A gun doesn't ask , 'Do these new grips make me look fat?'
2. A gun doesn't mind if you go to sleep after handling it.
And the number one reason a gun is favored over a woman....

1. YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN

Indeed.

HT  Captain

Ripping the Snot Out of Koskinen

Koskinen is a snotty bureaucrat.  Pasty, chubby, and condescending.

Here's how you rip the snot out of them.

HT:  Zippers

Jindal Hits It Out of the Park

Jindal's on to something here, and it's not very pretty.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday night accused President Barack Obama and other Democrats of waging wars against religious liberty and education and said that a rebellion is brewing in the U.S. with people ready for “a hostile takeover” of the nation’s capital.

“I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States,” Jindal said, “where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.”  --FoxNews quoted at Cold Fury

It gets a lot better.

“Are we witnessing right now the most radically, extremely liberal, ideological president of our entire lifetime right here in the United States of America, or are we witnessing the most incompetent president of the United States of America in the history of our lifetimes? You know, it is a difficult question,” he said. “I’ve thought long and hard about it. Here’s the only answer I’ve come up with, and I’m going to quote Secretary Clinton: ‘What difference does it make?’” 

Buy.  More.  Ammo.

Waukesha County Imitates Dane County?

A hint of the disorder which infects the mind of the Waukesha County clerk lies in this adulatory essay about the Dane County clerk.  (Hint:  it's called "corporation counsel.")

...McDonell was the first county clerk to promise he would keep his office doors open nights and weekends to accommodate gay nuptials.

Crabb ruled on the afternoon of June 6. Within hours McDonell marshaled volunteers to issue marriage licenses and dozens of weddings took place into the night, throughout the weekend and until the following Friday when, at state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s request, Crabb stayed her ruling pending appeals.
McDonell credited Dane County attorneys, along with officials in Milwaukee and Rock counties, for persuading officials, even in Republican counties, that while Crabb hadn’t issued an injunction ordering anyone to allow gay marriages, her ruling gave clerks the authority to issue license applications if they so chose....

That's patently false, of course. Crabb's initial ruling did NOT delete the Wisconsin statute (nor Constitutional amendment) forbidding issuance of licenses for gay "marriage."  The fact that she did not specifically do so was a clear sign that the stay was going to be issued.  Crabb deliberately waited a week to issue that stay; but in the absence of clarity, Dane and Waukesha charged ahead with absolutely zero prudence.  You'd expect that from Dane and Milwaukee, of course.

Novack--the befuddled clerk--followed McDonell's lead, but she did not do so on her own.  That leads us to Corporation Counsel, folks.

The Diabolic: "Gender"

The term 'gender' has been introduced to Western culture.  At the core, it is a lie specifically designed to evade nature.

Don't take my word for it.

...“In response to my questioning, Pope Francis said, ‘Gender ideology is demonic!’” Laun wrote in his essay, adding that the pope was not exaggerating in his comment.  

“Indeed, gender ideology is the destruction of persons, which is why Pope Francis was justified in calling it demonic,” he said.

Writing of gender ideology, Bishop Laun explained that “the core thesis of this sick product of reason is the end result of a radical feminism which the homosexual lobby has made its own.”

“It asserts that there are not only Man and Woman, but also other ‘genders’. And furthermore: every person can choose his or her gender,” he added....

Understand that a 'product of reason' in this sense is actually ir-rational because it denies 'essence.'  

..."According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature. This duality is an essential aspect of what being human is all about, as ordained by God. This very duality as something previously given is what is now disputed. The words of the creation account: “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27) no longer apply. No, what applies now is this: it was not God who created them male and female – hitherto society did this, now we decide for ourselves. Man and woman as created realities, as the nature of the human being, no longer exist. Man calls his nature into question..."---Benedict XVI

This "gender" ideology--a construct fashioned in Hell by the father of lies--is also the basis for homosexual 'marriage,' which by extension is also a lie.  It's a point we have made repeatedly when referring to homosex 'marriage.'

This is a matter of nature, which has to do with essence, not accident.  Color of skin is accident.  One's sex and the powers inherent thereof is nature.

Ask any Muslim, Hindu, or Orthodox Jew.  

By coincidence, an essay at Federalist takes up the same general idea.

...As fringy as they may sound, injecting such lies into our language—“the pregnant man” and the push to separate the word “pregnancy” from the word “woman”—are clear signals that we are moving steadily towards erasing all gender distinctions in the law.

And why should we care? Because erasing gender distinctions, especially as they apply to childbearing and rearing, would serve to legally un-define what it means to be human. A new legal definition of human—as neither male nor female—would apply to you whether you like it or not. Already, there is social pressure for everyone to comply with the gender theory notion that biological facts are mere “social constructs.”

Oh.  I see.

...We should especially care because we are well on the way to enacting such laws already. In November, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The law is based on the assumption that one’s perceived “gender identity” does not always “match” your sex “assigned” or “designated” at birth. So, the thinking goes, the law should allow a more ambiguous array of gender identities: male, female, both, neither, or something else entirely. It’s not an overstatement to say that ENDA is a huge step, mostly under the radar, to codify a new definition of humanity.

And the list of Bozos who voted for this includes ALL the usual "Big Tent" Pubbies:

Ayotte, Collins, Flake, Hatch, Heller, Kirk, McCain, Murkowski, Portman, and Toomey.

McCain is like the damned spot of Shakespearean fame.  Just won't disappear.

And how does our Waukesha County Clerk fit into this panoply of lies and deceit?

...If gender distinctions are erased in law, all marriage will become legally obsolete. The elites pushing same-sex “marriage” have known this all along....

The dumbass woman has managed to commit criminal stupidity, that's how.  Who knew that a miserable little clerk in Waukesha could imitate Obozo so well?

Lois Lerner, Criminal Sludgebucket

The WSJ (ht Ace) reports that Lerner's hard drive was annihilated 10 days after the Republicans sent their first inquiry letter about IRS' persecution of Tea Party groups.

Not to worry about Ms. Lerner, who will draw a full pension and health-benefit package in her retirement.  Too bad that won't be spent at Leavenworth, eh?

Dear Archbishop Listecki...

Anthony Esolen makes some points which, perhaps, the Archbishop hasn't had time to consider before he set his nasty little lapdog loose.

[Common Core's] whole approach to education is wrong; it is based upon a wrong understanding of the human person.  That is why it has no real place for the humanities, reducing them to occasions for scrambling up “skills,” rather than for opportunities to grow wise, to learn how to behold and cherish what is beautiful, and to build up the intellectual / moral virtues of reverence, gratitude, honesty, clarity, and humility.  It can no more be made Catholic, while remaining itself, than human sacrifice can be made Catholic, or cloning, or eugenics, or any other fundamental offense to the very being of man....

That is the elegant version of my observation that CC is, essentially, a Prussian/utilitarian scheme.  The little darlings are being prepared for Office Work, or Machinist Work, or Computer Work, rather than for Life.  Technical education is just fine--for some, it's perfect--but only after they have an understanding of Beauty, Truth, Charity, and Goodness.

...These days it is an easy and terribly painful thing to compare the work of our current educational carpenters with those of past generations.  You can find old textbooks.  Those alone should crush us with shame.  The third is that education is not in fact a techne like carpentry after all.  It is the formation of a human soul.  That, of course, is denied by the Common Core promoters.  But parents surely are not only competent to judge the formation of the souls of their children; they are by far the most competent, because they know those children far better than anyone else does, and they see most clearly the results of their schooling.  Finally, parents who are not teachers are free of the prejudices that come from any insular setting.  The age-segregated, community-isolated school, a new thing in the world, is something of an island.  The teachers see what goes on inside; but other people are in a better position to evaluate what kinds of people come out....

Hmmmm, Your Excellency??

He's A Lying Scumbag, Paul

OK, Paul, he's a lying scumbag bureaucrat weasel.

Just what are YOU going to do about it?

SCOAMF Rides Again

Our Emperor has grown tired of his Iraqi leader Maliki.

It was Hildebeeste and SCOAMF who allowed Maliki--an Iranian favorite--to form a government, despite the fact that a better alternative existed and had a licit claim.

Now that Iran is showing its teeth through its subsidiary ISIS, Obozo the SCOAMF finds that 'at this point in time, it DOES make a difference.'

EDIT/ADD:  Apparently it is the Sunni--with Saudi money--who are the ISIS folks.  Thx, Steve!!