Quote of the Day: We are living in a bizarre moment in history. Our establishment–the press, the academy, all unions, most politicians, many in business who have skin in the Ponzi game–assure us that borrowing trillions of dollars to finance wasteful spending, while sticking our children with the tab plus interest, is perfectly sensible. On the other hand, believing that we should live within our means is? Crazy!-John Hinderaker from The Tea Party: How Extreme Can You Get?
Japan:
Info Links:
- BBC
- NHK in English (Live feed in upper right corner)
- Telegraph of London
- Kyodo Wire
- Japan Times
- Asahi Shimbun
- Japanese government list of nationwide radioactivity concentration
- Japan Geigermap
- SPEEDI (Japan Radiation level map)
- Ibaraki Prefecture Geiger Counter Readings
- US National Radiation Map (updated every minute)
- Fukushima Potential Radiation Release (you can select area/type of radiation)
- Via Soylent Green: Radiation Exposure in Daily Life
- Radiation Dose Chart
- ZeroHedge commenter Max2205′s excellent post about radioactivity including a list of radioactive elements and their half lives.
- Donations to the American Red Cross that are being designated to Japanese Earthquake relief are already getting to the folks in Japan and are most helpful.
Webcam shows massive cloud of radioactive steam rising from Fukushima (PHOTOS)
Contaminated Water Increased in Reactor 4 Turbine Building
Fukushima 50 criticise ‘inconsistent’ information
30 Fukushima workers exposed to maximum radiation levels
A Chilling Photo Comparison Of Chernobyl And Fukushima
1,000-year-old cherry tree gives hope to Japan nuclear victims
The tree in full bloom has become a symbol of hope in Japan. Adding to the significance of the occasion is that the tree is one of the oldest in a country that cherishes cherry blossoms as symbol of springtime renewal and a fresh start.
The Miharu-Takizakura cherry tree, a national treasure located in Miharu, Fukushima, is one of only three of its kind in the country, dating back more than 1,000 years.
It survived the devastation caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which hit the prefecture, with Miharu town suffering collapsed houses and cracked roadways.
This week, in a demonstration of resilience, the historic tree hit the peak of its springtime blooming, attracting an estimated 60,000 visitors to appreciate its pink flowers.
Thousands of visitors have streamed around the tree despite the tourist office’s cancellation of special cherry tree viewing bus services and the absence of illumination.
Special scorn for ‘flyjin’ foreigners who fled country
Japan’s tsunami means Toyota set to lose position as world’s number one car maker to GM
World News:
Syria uprising: ‘We will continue until the fall of the regime’
PJM Exclusive: Video from Syria’s ‘Great Friday Uprising’ (Content Warning)
Syrian security forces, positioned on rooftops, have been picking off unarmed civilian demonstrators with live hollow-point ammunition using high-precision rifles. The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibits the use in warfare of bullets that easily expand or flatten in the body.
Friday night, PJM published some extremely graphic videos from Syria. They are so extreme that one commenter on YouTube even wondered if we were hacked.
We have not been. We published these videos, horrifying as they are, because we must bear witness to what is going on at this moment in Syria. The history of the last century had many monsters – Hilter, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot – all of whom were mass murderers of their own people. Another such person- active at this very moment – is Bashar al-Assad of Syria. He must be stopped before he murders more,
Therefore you must excuse us for publishing these graphic videos. It is our duty. And it is all our duties to stop this man.
Silence on Iran, vacillation on Egypt, absolute confusion over Libya and now an off-camera statement on Syria. It’s like this guy is in way over his head or something.
Nato strikes hit bunker in Gaddafi’s compound
‘We have won’: Libyan rebels claim Gaddafi has retreated from Misrata after bloody two-month siege
Terrific… Our New Libyan Rebel Allies Filmed Beheading a Libyan Soldier
Iranian Basiji Students Send Flotilla to Bahrain
Iranian hardliner basiji students sent a flotilla today to Bahrain to support the pro-Iranian Shia protesters.
Four soldiers killed as Thailand and Cambodia clash along disputed border
France threatens to ‘suspend’ Schengen Treaty
France has threatened to abandon European Union freedom of movement by “suspending” Europe’s Schengen Treaty due to an influx of Tunisian and Libyan migrants from Italy.
Royal wedding: seating plan reveals intimate ceremony
US News:
A severe storm ripped through Lambert-St Louis International Airport last night, tearing the roof off a concourse, shattering glass and sending debris raining down on passengers.
Planes were diverted to other locations and the airport – crowded with travellers heading home for Easter – was so badly damaged it will be closed ‘indefinitely’, according to city mayor Francis Slay.
Four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after they were hit by flying glass, and more were treated at the scene for cuts.
Read the whole thing! Gasoline and Dollars: Supply and Demand
The fault for the nation’s present predicament lies solely at the feet of the federal government, from its spendthrift fiscal program and obstinate refusal to develop America’s vast oil reserves, to its Russian roulette monetary policy. As for the evil “speculators,” they are indeed speculating on the future rise in the price of oil and gold, but not because of traditional supply and demand factors, but because they are convinced that there is no will in Washington to rein in spending, and that the Federal Reserve will be forced to do another round of quantitative easing exacerbating an already dire situation that can only end in disaster.
Orlando gas station charges $5.69 a gallon
With gas prices above $4 in some states, Americans are canceling spring break plans and rethinking summer vacation, and some tourist destinations are offering gas vouchers of as much as $50 to talk people out of giving up and staying home.
Mainstream Media Puts Good Spin on Bad Real Estate Market
I think the reporting in this story from USA Today is sloppy and inaccurate, at best, and outright spin doctoring a rotten housing market at worst.
Gabrielle Giffords wants to get back to work, says husband Mark Kelly
Obama embraces scattershot lie tactic
A bit of eternal wisdom is that “The truth shall set you free.” The corollary is that Obama’s and the Left’s lies are intended to enslave you, putting you in permanent thrall to Big Government’s endless demands.
So Long Barack, We Hardly Knew Ye
Obama will not survive this, no matter how slick talking and toothy grinnin he is. He should be hearing the creaking of the coffin lid right about July. When average Joe is paying $80 a fill-up and he hears about subsidies to South America so they can “drill, baby, drill”, Obama will be chased into the windmill with flaming clubs.
Behind the Obama Labor Board’s Bashing of Boeing is a Case Full of Irony and Union Failure
What happens when government (state or federal) is pathologically hostile to business
Now that those state governments that are in thrall to unions and labor have made it virtually impossible to do business in State A, the federal government is upping the ante by making it illegal for a business to move to State B. I’ll reiterate here what I often say: The Left may call them corporate fat cats or “rich people,” but I call them employers. When you make it impossible for them to do business, they’re going to leave. And if you make it impossible to leave, they’re going to die on the vine, leaving both State A and State B without jobs.
Greenpeace Admits Coal Power a Job Creator
Recently the enviro-centric group Greenpeace issued an extensive report scolding the “dirty” energy choices made by tech giants like Apple, Google, and Facebook. Greenpeace is all exercised over the fact that many of these companies have moved to North Carolina to take advantage of the coal-produced energy there because the costs are cheaper than the power in other regions. Amusingly, Greenpeace seemed to have completely missed the fact that coal obviously creates jobs or all these companies wouldn’t be moving to North Carolina in the first place.
Greenpeace has its nose out of joint because Google, Facebook, and Apple have moved data centers to NC to take advantage of “low-cost energy” that it claims produces a “corresponding lack of commitment to clean energy.” The eco group is aghast that “misplaced tax incentives” bring jobs and economic success to rural North Carolina.
All that capitalism is horrible, I suppose.
Study: Push for Cap and Trade Failed Despite Friendly Media, Corporate Cash
The Government Accounting Office estimated the Obama administration made $125.4 billion in improper payments last year.
Most of the money lost was in Medicaid and Medicare.
Oh, that makes me confident in Obamacare.
Tea Party David Vs. Two-Headed Goliath
SEIU’s populist Cargo Cult plans.
Bottom line? The Cargo Cult mentality – which is to say, the belief that you can create your own ‘populist’ narrative, and somehow connive people into joining it – doesn’t really work anymore, if indeed it ever did. I understand that the temptation may be strong to try to divert existing anger and worry into more, ah, productive channels – but it’s almost impossible to do that without forming an inherent contempt for the very people that you’re trying to manipulate.
And, oddly enough, American political history is full of the voters deciding to spank groups that treat them with contempt…
Always remember that the Obama/Holder DOJ is protecting the New Black Panthers and that Holder called them “my people”…National Day of Incitement and Intimidation
The voice of incitement and intimidation is growing out there evidently and the New Black Panthers are one of the ones at the forefront. They want violence and revolution. They want death to all those who they “hate.” They want riots in the streets. Here is a list off their site of those they fight for:
“The National Day of Action and Unity” will bring to attention the plight of so many who are uneducated, exploited, behind prison walls, disunited, in poor health, homeless, victims of police brutality, pimped by crooked politicians, tortured, falsely accused, under developed, morally perverse, apathetic, addicted to drugs and alcohol, victims of harsh budget cuts and genocide. Special attention will be given to victims of neo-colonialism, corrupt governments, imperialism, Zionism, capitalism and inadequate concern for the Diaspora of Africa.”
I especially love the parts linking budget cuts to genocide. Of serious interest is their anti-Semite bent as well as their anti-capitalist declarations.
The war that dares not speak its name…US and Libya:
*crickets*
The current generation of American liberals loves a good war. In recent years they’ve fought, with varying degrees of success, the War on Poverty, the War on Hunger, and the War on Carbon. So it seemed ironic that when the liberals of the Obama administration launched a campaign in Libya that seemed truly worthy of being called a war, they were reluctant to use the word. But now that disinclination is starting to make sense — because a war is something you generally set out to win.
You can’t blame liberals for appropriating the word “war” to infuse left-wing social and environmental policies with a sense of moral urgency in order to sell them to voters. Try rallying support for a time-limited kinetic operation against poverty. The trouble is that when you engage in the deadly serious business of dropping bombs on an Arab country and taking sides in a civil war — actions replete with dangers and unintended consequences — you need a stronger basis for acting than the insistence that something must be done.
*crickets*
Look for the Union Label/The Badger Rebellion:
Asked if She Won Election, JoAnne Kloppenburg Offers Long, Awkward Pause
It’s a tough question. If you say yes, you look insane. If you say no, you look like someone who is wasting the taxpayers time and money on a recount.
Union Operative That Wants ‘Financial Panic’ and Communism Still Working at SEIU
So, we have a union thug that has outright said that his goal is to destroy the American economy, yet the union sees no reason to fire him from his high position in the union?
Just remember, folks. THIS is what unions are.
Would you want your child to be around someone like this? Wisconsin School Employee Makes Threatening Phone Call to Business for Selling Gas to GOPer
Maybe the caller was only trying to make sure the pumps were clear in case any Wisconsin Senate fleebaggers needed to top off the tank for another escape to Illinois.
Koran-Burning New Jersey Transit Employee Gets Job Back + Back Pay + $25,000 Settlement
In Other News…
Remember that according to the leftists they are so much more “intelligent and educated” then those “dumb redneck raaaaacist ‘Christiantist’ rethuglican bitter Klingon Cowboy Texans”. If that were the case then why are they going to Texas to try to figure out why businesses are leaving California? They should be able to figure that one out all by themselves without coming to the “Heart of Redness”-I guess being “educated and intelligent” means you have no capacity to recognize the obvious….California politicians visit California jobs … in Texas
“I don’t see this as a partisan issue,” Mr. Newsom told reporters before the group met with Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry. The former San Francisco mayor has many philosophical disagreements with Mr. Perry, but he admitted he was “sick and tired” of hearing about the governor’s success luring businesses to Texas.
In fact, those jobs are moving so quickly that the politicians can’t keep up with them. While California’s delegation visited Texas, another major business announced its intention to move. Fujitsu Frontech, a major high-tech company, will move its manufacturing facilities from Foothill Ranch, California to New York. The announcements of the move didn’t indicate how many jobs this entails, but it’s probably not minimal, and California can hardly stand to lose any at the moment.
Newsom wants to position himself as a “pro-jobs Democrat,” but that’s been an oxymoron in California for decades. If Newsom wants to reverse that trend, he’ll have to start eliminating the red tape that forces business owners to take as long as two years to build and launch locations, as Carls Jr/Hardees executive Andy Pudzer told the group. The state needs to rid itself of its penchant for regulation, especially demonstrated in the episode concerning the California Air Resource Board’s use of a questionable study authored by an academic fraud that not only threatens to put independent trucking companies out of business, but also honest scientists that blow the whistle on the unseemly relationship between state-based Academia and regulatory boards such as CARB.
Beck to Huckabee: “If You’re This Thin-Skinned… It Might Be Best For You to Stay on the Sidelines”
Yesterday, former Governor Mike Huckabee ripped Glenn Beck the boogeyman conspirator on his website for calling him a progressive.
Big mistake.
Flashback/Update: Police Arrested Christians For Leafletting In Dearborn Just Last Year
Technically, the charge was “breach of the peace,” by which everyone understands they expected Muslims to breach the peace and to avoid this decided to cancel the constitutional rights of Christians.
The intellectual swells chuckle at us when we say that there is a campaign to impose sharia law in the US. How silly.
Yes, how silly. They’re not imposing sharia; they’re just imposing tolerance, respect, and civility.
It’s just that — coincidentally enough — the new code of tolerance, respect, and civility has an odd manner of tracking, sura by sura, the precise contours of the Koran’s major prohibitions upon dhimmis.
Asinine policy in Detroit will lead to 333 lay-offs. As library branches in Detroit closes, one branch gets a pricey face-lift, which is odd, because no one in Detroit knows how to read or write. This is like spending money to send Michael J. Fox to diamond cutting school.
Washington state legislature considering electric-vehicle fee
“Electric vehicles put just as much wear and tear on our roads as gas vehicles,” said Democratic state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill’s lead sponsor. “This simply ensures that they contribute their fair share to the upkeep of our roads.”
Ah, their fair share. Perhaps that would have been less had the state legislature not set up tax breaks for people to buy those cars in the first place, nor spent money on PR campaigns to do so. Unlike internal-combustion vehicles that require a specific and unique fuel, electric cars can get charged anywhere, which removes the government intervention and taxation on the process — even if it doesn’t actually do anything to reduce pollution, as most electricity gets generated through burning fossil fuels in conditions no more efficient than a modern internal combustion engine.
Stun gun prohibition violates Second Amendment
Facebook’s two-factor authentication announcement raises questions
NewCivility™ alert!
- Henry Farrell, Political Scientist at George Washington University, Calls (Vaguely) for Easter Egg Bombing of Charles Krauthammer
- Paul Krugman says “So, let’s try another shot to the head.”
- Plot led to prof’s suicide: friends
He wasn’t PC enough for Princeton.
A vicious campaign to end the unblemished 10-year career of a popular but often politically incorrect Princeton teacher left him so despondent that he took his own life, brokenhearted pals said yesterday.
Did I say “dramatic”? I meant “nonexistent”:
- National Organization for Women: chirp chirp chirp
- Ms. Magazine: chirp chirp chirp
- Feministing: chirp chirp chip
- Feministe: chirp chirp chirp
- Pandagon: chirp chirp chirp
- Shakesville: chirp chirp chirp
- Jezebel: chirp chirp chirp
- The Frisky: chirp chirp chirp
- Bitch Magazine: chirp chirp chirp
Seems like a lot of crickets have taken up residence in the feminist blogosphere.
MSM Circus and Celebutard Side Show:
Busted… Soros-Funded Think Progress Caught Pushing Bogus Backlash Story
So, once again Think Progress was caught fabricating the news.
Sorry, Think Progress, the only grassroots groundswell right now is against more government spending and debt. But, don’t let the facts get in the way of your dishonest reporting.
Melania Trump Takes On Behar: “I Had to Show My Birth Certificate” (Video)
Global Warmening:
Happy Vladimir Lenin’s Birthday Earth Day: the religion of environmentalism
Although most of the local MSM outlets around here are engaged in outright environmental propaganda (Michigan media: Save the planet by buying Al Gore’s book and seeing Avatar or something), others have actually allowed some sense onto their pages virtual or otherwise. One was in the Detroit News: Environmentalism is now a religion, and being overtaken by extremism. Taken over by extremism? It was born by extremism. In fact, the brainchild of Earth Day was one Senator Gaylord Focker Nelson who predicted back in the 60′s that by this time in history the Earth would be a vast uninhabitable wasteland. We were supposed to have reached peak oil back in the late 60′s and by the 80′s would be in a new dark age. Earth Day was his invention. Every one of his predictions has been an epic flop fail. Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has become the celebration akin to Easter – the birth of the environmentalist religion.
Take Your Earth Day and Shove It!
Earth Day Founder Murdered and Composted Helen ‘Holly’ Maddux
What’s not indicated to students attending is that Captain Watson’s also known as one of the world’s most notorious eco-terrorists. See, “The Greens’ Favorite Terrorist.” It’s an affront to decency and the public trust that a violent activist like this was given a platform at the state-sponsored university to spit hate and vitriol against the system with calls for anti-capitalist revolution.
But no one should be surprised. It’s all part of the left’s Big Lie of progressive goodness, compassion, and benevolence.The truth is, people like this are murderers and tyrants.Case in point today is the surprising story at MSNBC on Ira Einhorn, said to be a co-founder of Earth Day, which is today, and who also murdered his girlfriend and kept her remains in a box in his apartment for 18 months. Facing trial for murder, Einhorn jumped bail and fled to Europe
Green and White… But Mostly White
More importantly, I’d like to point out that this is one of the whitest crowds I’ve seen in a while. So lilly-white, even, that I’d almost suspect that we’re looking at the inside of a Bloomingdale’s or something. For a group that constantly bleats about how diversity is our strength, one would have thought that they’d put just a little bit bit more effort into actually, you know, being diverse.
But then again, it’s the message that matters when Leftists start doing things, so little things like “actually practicing what they preach” should be overlooked, as always.
Fun and Interesting Stuff:
Hunt for the Yellowstone bison serial killer after beasts shot in protected national park IMHO I don’t think a “local” killed them as one of the commenters ranted about in the comments section on this story. I know Montana and Montanans enough to know that if they wanted to kill them they would have not used a “small caliber” rifle to do so-they have rifles that can drop them with one shot. Plinking away at them only increases the chances of being caught. My guess is that it was either some stupid kid or some envirowacko trying to create an incident to push their agenda.
Shoppers stare as family of ducks get trapped on mall escalator (but why didn’t anyone help them?)
