Quote of the Day: The New York Post staff will soon be convening an emergency meeting to decide between “Weiner Pulls Out,” “Cooked Weiner” and “Weiner’s Last Stand” for their morning headline.-Doug Powers
Must See TeeVee:
Photo of the Day: Nabro
Japan and the softly glowing world…
- BBC
- NHK in English(Live feed in upper right corner)
- Telegraph of London
- Kyodo Wire
- Japan Times
- Asahi Shimbun
- The Daily Yomuri
- Japan Today
- ImTranslator – Online Translator, Dictionary, TTS add on for Firefox (It comes in handy)
- Japanese government list of nationwide radioactivity concentration
- Japan Geigermap
- Ibaraki Prefecture Geiger Counter Readings
- US National Radiation Map (updated every minute)
- Via Soylent Green: Radiation Exposure in Daily Life
- Radiation Dose Chart
- Radiation Converter
- 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.
Japan: three months after the quake
Japan continues to deal with the enormous task of cleaning up and moving forward three months after the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast coast. Local authorities are still dealing with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and now the rainy season, which could increase the risk of disease as workers clear away the debris, is approaching. Collected here are images from this past weekend marking the three-month point, as well then-and-now images of the destruction shot by Kyodo News via the Associated Press
You will note that once again there are no new reports of anyone physically being around or in the reactor building at Fukushima since Sunday.
Reactor No. 1 dry well hits 263 Sv/hour — Highest yet recorded
Units No. 1, 2, and 3 “have nuclear waste on the floor” from melted cores
300 square meter hole in Reactor No. 2 pressure suppression pool: NISA analysis
Yellow-colored water found in Unit No. 3 — Believed to have come from inside reactor (VIDEO)
WSJ: Airborne radiation 40 times usual average detected 60 km from Fukushima plant on Wednesday
Radiation “hot spot” found near Tokyo in Chiba prefecture — 200 km south of Fukushima
Radiation in Japan: Nosebleed, Diarrhea, Lack of Energy in Children in Koriyama City, Fukushima
Once a malicious “baseless rumor” on the net, now it is written up in a regional newspaper with readership in Tokyo and Kanto area.
Tokyo Shinbun (paper edition only, 6/16/2011) reports that many children in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, 50 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, are suffering inexplicable nosebleed, diarrhea, and lack of energy since the nuke plant accident.
TEPCO starts up water treatment system, but massive radioactive waste feared
392 nSv/hr today in South Korea (VIDEO)
World News:
Volcano Ash Disrupts Air Travel in East Africa
When the rift was created in 2005, it almost went unnoted because of the sparse population of the Ethiopian desert. At 34.8 miles large, or 56 kilometers, it sounds impossible that it couldn’t be noticed. Indeed, it was noticed. Satellite imagery clearly showed that the landscape had changed. At the time, geologists believed that the rift was the start of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart. This claim was controversial at the time, however.
Scientists from several countries now confirm that the volcanic activity at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are identical to those at the bottom of the world oceans. And they say that the rift is likely the beginning of a new sea.
Eruption of Puyehue volcano (Chile) : spectacular video of floating ash on Lake Nahuel Huapi
In between the E. coli and the radiation one would be wise to give raw vegetables and fruits a pass this summer…Seven French children hospitalised with E coli
It is becoming evident to many that the March nuclear catastrophe at Japan’s six reactor Daichi Fukushima complex has dealt a huge, possibly fatal, blow to the nuclear industry’s hopes of a revival. A year ago even global warming enthusiasts reluctantly embraced nuclear power as a carbon-free energy generating system, and the industry was ramping up for glory days as a result. The triple whammy against nuclear power beginning with the 1979 partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, followed by 1986’s Chernobyl disaster and now Fukushima, effectively present a “three strikes and you’re out” call against civilian nuclear energy power generation for the foreseeable future.
Iceland: What We Should Have Done
Iceland didn’t rescue its banks. It couldn’t afford to do it. So, they went bust. Iceland looked like it was going down a path of permanent financial armageddon. However, Iceland is in better financial shape than the rest of Europe today.
“Europe’s bailout path has only diverted ever-more resources to failing enterprises, postponing and deepening the problem. Iceland’s restructuring was both painful and costly for the population, but the government did not throw good money after bad, and the taxpayers were spared a nationalization of private debts. Is it any wonder that forward-looking financial markets are now betting on the Icelandic recovery?”
No Dodd-Frank. No super heroics. Just a level headed, clear eyed administration of bankruptcy law. The same would have happened here. Read the whole article.
Victor David Hanson: Thoughts on the Greek Madness
Finally, there is no way out except either sudden or gradual default because of the complex mentality of a xenophobic Greek public that assumes expansionary entitlements as an earned birthright and would treat any who would cut them as some sort of existential enemy. That narrative works out to something like a greedy predatory northern European or American bondholder wanting to pile up even more needless profits by enforcing quite unfair and amoral terms of payback on the courageous, brave, and long-suffering Greek collective.
Once a society descends into that mindset, there is little alternative but the get-real shock therapy of default, which, in the Greek case, would return it to something like the early 1970s when I first visited: a nonconvertible, widely fluctuating drachma, a standard of living more akin to the southern Balkans or western Turkey than France or the Netherlands, a vibrant black market in money exchanges, tight controls on the possession of foreign currencies and a curtailment of imported goods, and very little new infrastructure construction or repair.
The Collapsing Greek Income Statement, Or Why Greece Is Doomed
Federal Reserve Plant To Be Next Greek Finance Minister
Eurozone Central Banks Net Buyers of Gold In 2011 For First Time Since Inception Of Euro
The Czechs don’t trust Obama. I don’t blame them for he has thrown every ally of the US under the bus and kissed the a$$ of all of our sworn enemies….Czechs withdraw from US missile-defense plans
Count the Czech Republic out of any American missile-defense system in Europe. The Czechs formally withdrew from the missile-defense partnership with the US, prompting one lawmaker in Prague to complain that “the current administration doesn’t take the Czech Republic seriously.” They see the Obama administration as more concerned with appeasing Russia — at their expense
Palestinians Want To Kidnap An Israeli “Bride” For Abducted IDF Soldier Gilad Shalit…
Lebanon: Sunni Mufti Calls Palestinians “Trash” Who Are No Longer Welcome In The Country…
And this is by no means the minority view of Palestinians in the Arab world, the truth is Arabs detest them and only use them and their cause to attack Israel.
War #4, the sound of crickets chirping coming from of the anti war left….DOD or CIA in Yemen?
Al-Qaeda Releases US “Hit List” (Photo)
Nigerian Taliban Says They’ve Been Training With al-Shabaab In Somalia And Will Continue To Wage Jihad…
Nigerian Jihadists Bomb Church Killing Three Children, Suicide Bomber Attacks Police Station…
China Surpasses US In Energy Consumption
Beijing battling protest fires on all fronts
An eruption of protests throughout China has sent armoured vehicles into town centres, prompted an internet blackout by the government and left thousands across the country blogging about “crazy” violence on the streets.
China Social Unrest Getting Out of Control: Expert
China’s security services have managed for now to curb social unrest in the southern manufacturing city of Zengcheng after migrant workers set fire to government buildings over the weekend. But one economist says the discord is more worrying for markets than the nation’s widely-telegraphed soaring inflation.
“I think that any amount of cracking down is going to be a little bit like in Syria,” Enzio Von Pfeil, CEO of the Economic Time Bond Fund told CNBC on Thursday. “You’ve put out the flame in one section of the kitchen but then another flame erupts in another section of the kitchen.”
The latest protests were sparked after a pregnant woman was reportedly pushed to the ground by security guards who tried to remove her food stall in Zengcheng, located in Guangdong province.
“Normally [this] would not give rise to the scale of violence that we have witnessed,” Von Pfeil said in emailed notes.
China’s “Born in the USA” Frenzy
Giving birth to a child abroad is not a privilege reserved to the stars and the very wealthy. An increasing number of expectant middle-class parents also fancy giving their children passports that they can feel proud of. “The return on investment is higher than robbing a bank,” the consultancy agent tells women such as Liu. When Chinese children are born in America, they automatically become U.S. citizens. Once they reach 21, their parents will be able to apply for green cards and emigrate.
The breast cancer patients TOO OLD to save: Thousands are being denied surgery by ‘ageist’ doctors
Elderly women are being denied life-saving breast cancer surgery that is routinely given to younger patients, alarming research reveals.
Some doctors look at a patient’s age in their notes – and decide on a treatment plan before they have even met them, experts warn.
Their study, which provides evidence of ageism in the Health Service, found that 90 per cent of breast cancer patients aged 30-50 are offered surgery to remove tumours, compared with 70 per cent of those in their seventies.
Canada Bars Obama’s Close Friend Bill Ayers From Entering Country For Third Time…
What does it say about the President of the United States when the man whose living room he launched his political career from isn’t even allowed to enter Canada?
The Vandals of Vancouver…
Vancouver riot ‘kiss’ photograph sparks mystery
Riot brought under control but looting, damage across Vancouver’s downtown widespread
Canuck hockey dream is now Vancouver’s nightmare
Why did this occur? Why were police unable to quickly quell it?
“It’s terrible,” Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said, shaking his head. “This city and province has a lot to be proud of, the team we have and the guys we have in here. It’s too bad.”
On a night he should have been talking only about hockey and a bitter defeat, he wasn’t. He was talking about the skirmishes.
An outstanding season and a phenomenal run for the cup, which came agonizingly close, had been eclipsed by last night’s melee.
This city’s Stanley Cup dream has soured into a nightmare.
Blood on the streets after Vancouver loss
“Where are your officers?” I asked Constable Jana McGuinness.
“We have a full public safety unit deployed right now,” she said. “We have hundreds of officers, a full deployment. They’re all over.” Well, no, they weren’t. Some were standing in a circle a few metres from the constable, but they still weren’t out in force on West Georgia Street. I’m not blaming police for what happened this night. But did they not anticipate the worst?
They should have. Because a lot of us did. Because something is fundamentally wrong in the city and the surrounding region. A riot after Game Seven in 1994. A riot after a rock concert. A silly episode of street violence early on, during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Look, I was in Calgary in 2004, on the Red Mile, and Game Seven didn’t work out too well there, either. And there might — might — have been a broken pane of glass at the end of all of that.
It’s half past ten now, and the smashing and looting still hasn’t stopped. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has issued a statement, expressing his “disappointment” with the mindless looting and violence. Vancouver, he said, “is a world class city.” Sorry Mayor. But it’s not.
Busting myths of Vancouver’s destructive Stanley Cup riot
Crazed Canuckleheads Tear Up Vancouver: ‘It’s Insane, It’s Absolutely Insane’
I eagerly await a lecture from our moral superiors to the north about how uncivilized and uncouth Americans are.
US News:
Land of the Six Dams News and Info sources:
- KELO-Sioux Falls, SD
- KFYR-Bismarck, ND
- KCAU-Sioux City, IA
- KETV-Omaha, NE
- Say Anything
- Plains Daily
- “Land of the Six Dams” flood gage status interactive map.
Watch what people do, not what they say. In this case if there is “nothing to see here” then why is a ‘no fly zone’ necessary? Airspace Over Flooded Nebraska Nuclear Power Plant Still Closed
OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson told Business Insider that the nuclear plant is in a “stable situation.” He said the Missouri River is currently at 1005.6″ above sea level, and that no radioactive fuel had yet been released or was expected to be released in the future.
Asked about the FAA flight ban, Hanson it was due to high power lines and “security reasons that we can’t reveal.” He said the flight ban remains in effect.
Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant: How Bad Can It Get?
The Missouri river is cold enough to keep the pools and cores cool all by itself. And it’s also powerful to pull the fuel out and irradiate half the country.
Return Of The Dreaded Misery Index
he biggest change was attributed to New York state, where 4,060 fewer layoffs were seen in the construction, mfg and retail industries, followed by California with 2,510 fewer claims due to a “Shorter work week, as well as fewer layoffs in the service industry.” So shorter work weeks are now economic positive. Lastly, on the claims front, the 99 week cliff is pushing ever more people from under the government subsidy wing as 115K people dropped from ongoing EUC and Extended Benefits. The EUC 2008 number is 3,293,507 compared to 4,798,009 a year ago: nearly 1.5 million people have now lost the weekly government check to sit around and look for jobs.
Goldman: “Sorry, You Can’t Blame The Philly Fed Collapse On Japan”
The firm, whose only job now as in 2010, is to pave the way for QE “Oliver Twist” 3, pulls one of the crutches used by the depression apologists, and makes the secular decline case that much stronger. To wit: “Weakness in the Philly Fed cannot be obviously explained by supply-chain disruptions or other special factors, as we argued in yesterday’s US Daily. For example, the latest Beige Book comments on Philadelphia Fed district manufacturing activity said “declines in orders broadened from producers of apparel and rubber products to include producers of electronic equipment and instruments. Failure to pass a multiyear transportation infrastructure reauthorization bill and the ongoing real estate slump were cited by five different manufacturing sectors as hampering the recovery” (these comments refer to May rather than June). Slowing in “electronic equipment and instruments” could be related to supply-chain problems, but otherwise the weakness looks related to other factors.” As to whether this means that the next stimulus is another payroll tax cut as Obama is hoping the republicans will allow, or more 2 Year rate caps, is unclear. What is certain is that the Keynesian monster must be fed.
In A Currency Tug Of War The US Dollar Loses
In today’s economy, we have something quite different. We are imprisoned in a labyrinthian deathtrap of a mainstream system, one that feeds endless fiat formaldehyde into the crusted veins of a long since corpsified infrastructure; a financial golem, a wraith, a thing that creeps across the dark horizon of our country’s future waiting to unleash a special kind of hell. A thing that should not exist.
We live in an unnatural and monstrous economy. A Frankenstein creation…
This creation owes its wretched life to the efforts of a relatively small number of international bankers, corporate financiers, and of course, the private Federal Reserve; the mad scientists of our age, consumed with a lust for power over everything. One day, in the distant future, we will finally understand and appreciate their “brilliance”, or so they tell themselves. The “plan” is simply too complex and wondrous for we nearsighted and frightened villagers to comprehend.
In fact, the plan is very easy to comprehend, and not driven by brilliance, but hubris (one does not necessarily lead to the other). The key to grasping the mangled workings of our economy lay in the lifeblood of our commerce; the dollar itself. If you know the dollar, you’ll know just about everything else. Ignore the dollar, or assume comprehension without ample study, and you will find yourself completely lost in the fog and chaos of the markets.
Are you ready for third-world America?’
The laws of mathematics simply cannot be defied; and the president’s failure to propose a budget, his unprecedented deficits, his failure to address collapsing entitlement programs (and, in fact, accelerating their collapse), and his non-stop attacks on the private sector (the oil, health insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries, to name but a few) will result in certain catastrophe.
It’s not different this time and, should he win a second term, Obama’s reckless, feckless, selfish leadership will almost certainly doom the most magnificent society ever seen on Earth.
And perhaps that’s the intent of the man who marinated in the teachings of Frank Marshall Davis, Jeremiah Wright, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, and numerous other America-hating crackpots.
Obama economy good for some people (like Nancy Pelosi)
Obama By the Numbers: Yes, He Owns This Economy
Wasserman Schultz strikes again: “We own the economy,” she says
She’s not backing down. Let the Republican National Committee poke all the fun it wants, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stands by what she said: The nation is in an economic turnaround and Democrats deserve the credit.
“We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place,” Wasserman Schultz told Mike Allen at a breakfast hosted by POLITICO’s Playbook.
The economy, she said, “has turned around” since President Obama took office, with steady job growth evident even if the pace leaves something to be desired.
The facts highlighted in the RNC’s most recent video deserve review: 9.1 percent unemployment. More than 6 million foreclosures. About 1 million construction jobs lost. Some 865,000 manufacturing jobs lost. An enormous $3.7 trillion added to the national debt. Three straight record high deficits. Strange equation for an economic turnaround!
Flatlined: Catastrophic Obamanomics Chart o’ the Day
What’s fascinating about this graph is that you can see we appear to have been in a normal, run-of-the-mill recession until the Obama “Stimulus” package kicked in 2009. After that point, the endless printing of money, the attendant stealth inflation, and the suppression of free enterprise by swarms of new government bureaucrats all conspired to crush the private sector.
Now imagine how much worse this chart would look had we removed all government workers from the equation.
More small businesses plan to reduce jobs: report
Small business owners have a grim outlook on the economy, with a gathering number planning to reduce jobs over the next three months, according to survey results from an industry group.
The percentage of independent businesses planning to increase employment in the next three months fell to 13% in May, compared to 16% in April and 18% in March, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
ATMs and Other Machines are Exempt from ObamaCare
But why does ObamaCare matter if it mostly won’t kick in for another 2 1/2 years? That’s easy, but clearly not well understood.
If you are running a business, you structure it and design your future plans based not only on the world as it is today, but also on what it may look like in the reasonably near future. You must prepare yourself for likely worst-case scenarios. The one relating to employment is that ObamaCare will survive legal and electoral challenges. Facing that possibility, you avoid hiring people. When looking at “man vs. machine” decisions, you choose the machine if it’s at all affordable. You do everything you can to squeeze productivity out of your current crew, even larding on extra duties and overtime if they can handle it.
Additionally, companies are run by human beings who, especially at smaller businesses, really hate to have to let people go (and of course, they, like their larger brethren, also must worry about unemployment insurance costs, wrongful termination lawsuits, and the like). If you believe that having additional employees around will become cost-prohibitive in 2014, you avoid hiring them today. Combine all of this with historically weak post-recession economic growth, and you have the perfect recipe for what has resulted: lackluster hiring, heavy use of part-timers and temporary help, and the aforementioned bias towards automation.
There’s a quick answer which mostly explains why these job-market and economic conditions are present. It’s not what Ann Curry apparently believes and wants her viewers to believe, which is that it’s some kind of unprecedented orchestrated exercise in corporate greed.
Five words explain businesses’ rational response: Machines are exempt from ObamaCare.
Our President Really, Truly Does Not Understand The Economy
This is a perfectly static view, which would have protected jobs in the buggy whip industry by preventing the creation and expansion of the auto industry; would have protected jobs at glass tube manufacturers against the advent of flat screen televisions; would have barred the creation of the cell phone industry because of all the jobs lost in the land line business, and so on and so on.
This is your modern union mentality at work, in which the preservation of the economic status quo takes priority over innovation and creation. Job losses in old industries make for good 30-second political ads, while the creation of new and more vibrant industries which create more jobs takes too long to explain on television.
He really, truly doesn’t understand. It’s frightening.
The reason employers are not hiring is due in large part to fear of Obama’s economic policies which raise the cost of hiring.
A Cosmic-Sized Inconvenient Truth
The lifetime welfare trap was the genius of likeminded liberals who don’t want to have to grow up. They would prefer to avoid the challenges of obtaining education, learning a craft and spending a life time becoming an artisan of that craft. It devastated the African-American family, who were already leery of the racist society that was rooted in slavery and the race tensions of the 1950′s and 1960′s. To be cool meant to avoid society and take from it what you could. Those who took on society, used the system to gain their individual freedom and independence succeeded, the others hid out on the dole.
That was one of the greatest royal screw ups I ever experienced in my life time.
But it was not the last.
The current economic devastation was the result of another combination of simpleton thinking, arrogance and incompetence. This brilliant idea was formed around the belief that if we hand out houses, we can elevate people to the middle class. Dumb as that sounds now, that is the essence of the left wing policies that ended in the financial ruin of millions of hard working Americans in the middle class. When the left loosened the requirements on home loans to simply require a fog on a mirror, they created a boon to lenders needing new victims (i.e., first time home owners) to line their pockets. The faux increase demand for homes lit a speculation explosion which inflated home prices while undermining the financial basis of the housing market.
The result was the real estate bubble bursting on all that rotten paper in 2008 – which in turn wiped out billions (if not trillions) in home values. The dominoes began falling once that mistake came home to roost, and soon the stock market crashed and completed the destruction of savings for just about all the middle class in America. Between your stocks and your property, you have little else in the way of a nest egg. And if you made the mistake of raiding your home equity prior to the market crash, you ended up owing more than you owned. We are still paying for this royal screw up from the left.
Change! CNBC: US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression
And thus the feedback loop continues. The Obama administration continues to push the policies that led to this meltdown, which puts further pressures on banks, which causes further taxpayer-funded bailouts. Shampoo and repeat — but perhaps, not for all that long
Frankly, and I don’t mean to brag here, but it didn’t take this trip to Colorado to open my eyes to the difficulties most Americans have with high gas prices. Most Americans don’t live in big cities, and if they wanted to seriously cut down on their gas usage they would have to quit their current jobs, a move that even Barack Obama could likely understand would harm their standard of living. Needless to say, zipping into a showroom and putt-putting away in a shiny new Prius isn’t a feasible option for most people who are feeling the pinch at the pump.
The fact that our pundit class can’t imagine how most of the country lives is hardly surprising. But Barack Obama is another story. He’s running for president of the United States, not king of Hyde Park. If he wins, he’ll be leader of all the people, not just the ones who live in cities and for whom their cars are luxuries. It shows a shocking lack of imagination that he can’t deduce how painful hyper-expensive gasoline is for most Americans. Either that, or his enthusiasm for $4 a gallon gas evidences a callous indifference.
Senate Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday in an overwhelming vote to end an important tax break for the ethanol industry, the first of many niche tax breaks GOP lawmakers are looking to close.
The Senate voted 73-27 to end the 45-cent break refiners receive for each gallon of ethanol they blend with gasoline and to scrap a 54-cent tariff on imported ethanol. The subsidy is worth roughly $6 billion a year to the ethanol industry. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates ending it by July would save $2.4 billion over the rest of the year.
Nope. This is not an Onion headline. Go ahead. Try it out. http://www.cia.gov
Internet kill switch on in T minus 5…4…3… as full blown retaliation against all (cyber)enemies foreign and domestic hits new highs. And since no crisis can go to waste, next up is the the appointment of the propaganda Internet Tzar.
More regulations: EPA’s fantasy solution to unemployment
This is exactly what Obama promised his energy policies would do. In January 2008 he told the San Francisco Chronicle, “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. … Coal power plants, natural gas, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” Sure enough, the Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois consumers could see their electricity bills jump an estimated 40 to 60 percent in the next few years if the proposed EPA rule is implemented.
Not to worry, according to the EPA, which claims the proposed regulation will create 30,000 new jobs: “Regulated firms hire workers to operate and maintain pollution controls. Once the equipment is installed, regulated firms hire workers to operate and maintain the pollution control equipment.” But if more regulation creates jobs, why has unemployment during Obama’s tenure in the White House stubbornly remained above 9 percent? In the real world, the only thing red tape produces is additional pages in the Federal Register. If Obama wants to know why unemployment is still so high, he should start by questioning his EPA’s assumption that more regulations lead to more jobs.
American Electric Power announced this week that the latest Obama EPA regulations will cost the company at least 600 jobs and over $6 billion which will be pushed on consumers.
Today, Barack Obama’s horrible EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson lashed out at utility companies for revealing the economic destruction of her department’s policies. She then claimed her administration’s policies will prevent premature deaths… What garbage.
Another Obama Propaganda Fail…Green-Car Mandate Will Eliminate 260,000 Jobs
The Detroit News’s dogged David Shepardson has unearthed a study by one of world’s most respected automotive research firms that reveals that President Obama’s radical CAFE mandate that vehicles average — average! — 62 MPG by 2025 “could force vehicle prices up by nearly $10,000, reduce sales by 5.5 million vehicles annually, and eliminate more than 260,000 jobs.”
Shepardson is quoting from the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research and the 260,000 job loss figure (consistent with past job losses from CAFE rule hikes) is another dent in White House’s propaganda that Green creates jobs.
The CAR study also reveals that Obama’s NHTSA and EPA have been gaming the figures when it comes to the cost of their new rules. The center’s study predicts it will cost between $3,744 and $9,790 per vehicle, while the agencies have low-balled the figure at $770 to $3,500 per vehicle.
GOP Rep. Peter King Rips “Vacuous Morons” At The New York Times For Criticizing Radical Islam Hearings…
Rep. Jackson Lee must have missed this report in December of last year… In the last 24 months 126 people were indicted on terrorist-related charges in the United States. All of them were Muslim.
My Adventures as an Alleged Terrorist
This refusal to “profile” for Islamism damages U.S. foreign policy and that of European countries. Since the Obama administration won’t profile for revolutionary Islamism or anti-Americanism, it has supported the Syrian dictatorship and the Turkish stealth Islamist regime, is quite ready to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s government or Hizballah in Lebanon’s, and can even find a moderate wing of the Taliban.
Imagine Obama administration policy as an airport security system. These countries and movements walk right on the plane but when, for example, Israel enters, alarm bells go off and it gets a full pat-down.
There’s something clearly wrong with both systems.
Special agent with Homeland Security Investigations unit arrested
An investigation by federal authorities revealed that she illegally accessed, stole, and transferred important U.S. Government documents to family members and associates with ties to drug trafficking organizations.
33-year old Jovana Samaniego Deas of Rio Rico, was arrested on several charges including computer fraud and theft of government records.
The borders are a sieve and the government doesn’t care who and what is coming across it but they certainly want to make sure they know where you are going and what you are doing….TSA “Security Exercise” Covers 3 States, 5000 Miles
As we have documented, TSA grope downs and body scans are now being rolled out on highways, street corners, train stations, bus depots, public buildings, at sports events, and even at local prom nights as part of the VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) takeover of the country.
The TSA has also announced its intention to expand the VIPR program to include roadside inspections of commercial vehicles, setting up a network of internal checkpoints and rolling out security procedures already active in airports, bus terminals and subway stations to roads and highways across the United States.
These internal checkpoints, run by Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, and the TSA, involve trucks being scanned with backscatter x-ray devices in the name of “safety” and “counter terrorism”.
The Definitive Scandal: ‘Gunwalker’ Much Worse Than ‘Iran-Contra’
The more than 2,000 weapons that the Obama Justice Department allowed to be delivered to Mexican narco-terrorist cartels are thought to have been used in the shooting of an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers battling the cartels. Two American law enforcement officers have also presumably fallen prey to these weapons, along with an unknown number of civilians on both sides of the border.
President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice has purposefully armed narco-terrorist drug cartels that have been accused of bombings, ambushes, mass murders, public executions, and the assassination of police, politicians, and civic leaders.
Obama’s Justice Department armed the enemy of our neighbor and ally, providing enough arms to equip ten infantry companies, or two battalions, of violent drug dealers.
Iran-Contra was a misguided attempt to trade arms for hostages and supply a covert supply of arms to rebels fighting against a communist dictatorship during the Cold War.
Gunrunner was an attempt to develop enough gun-running evidence to bring down a cartel, and instead supplied thousands of arms to drug cartels locked in a life-or-death struggle with a key U.S. ally and trading partner.
You tell me which is worse.
Issa: Dems trying to obstruct “gunwalking” probe
CBS News has learned that one ATF official told investigators the direction came in a memo issued by then Deputy Attorney General David Ogden. But Ogden told CBS News his memo made no specific mention of gun-walking, and that he didn’t advocate or know about it. Ogden left the Department of Justice in February of last year, just a few months into the controversial operation.
President Obama has said neither he nor his top Justice Department official approved it, either.
Mr. Obama said, “Well, first of all, I did not authorize it. Uh, Eric Holder, the attorney general, did not authorize it. There may be a situation here (in) which a serious mistake was made, and if that’s the case, then we’ll find out and we’ll hold somebody accountable.”
The congressional report states that, less than two months into the operation, agents “believed there was already enough information to arrest the … purchasers, try to flip them, and begin working up the chain with an eye toward the ‘bigger fish’ in the cartels.”
But instead, Attkisson reported, ATF allowed suspects to continue buying and transferring assault weapons – sometimes 40 at a time – for more than a year. All the while, ATF collected reports of the guns turning up at cartel crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S.
Operation Gunrunner explodes into legacy media: ATF agents rip gun sting effort on Mexico border
“We monitored as they purchased handguns, AK-47 variants and .50 caliber rifles, almost daily at times,” John Dodson, an ATF special agent in Phoenix, told the committee… An ATF supervisor in Phoenix, Peter Forcelli, said some tried to raise concerns with supervisors but were rebuffed…
…Republicans and Democrats expressed outrage at the ATF program, particularly about two weapons being found at the scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed in a shootout with illegal immigrants… Republicans on the panel have demanded documents and information about the program from the Justice Department, which includes the ATF, but the Obama administration has resisted…
The most partisan Attorney General since John Mitchell appears to be unlawfully stonewalling Congress.
We, the American people, demand to know what Eric Holder knew and when he knew it.
Hm! No wonder everyone was so eager to build the narrative of a right-wing shooter!
If the gun itself was the product of a left-wing administration’s botched plan (which I still do not understand the goal of), then damnit, we’re going to need the hand holding to be right-wing, for “balance.”
Now, Holder has claimed he knew nothing of this operation.
“Fast and Furious” a “Catastrophic Disaster”
Rep. Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a report on “Operation Fast and Furious,” which says border patrol and ATF agents were told to “surveil” weapons and not interdict. It also said agents warned of devastating consequences, including criminal activity, but supervisors ignored their warnings.
At a House hearing on the program Wednesday, ATF Agent John Dodson said, “Every time we questioned that order, there was punitive action.”
Dodson told Rep. James Lankford (R-OK) the ATF stopped tracking the weapons once they traveled too far from the border. He said the ATF lost track of 1500 – 1800 weapons.
Family of Fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry Testify Before Congress – Demand Justice
The House Oversight and Government Operations Committee held a hearing June 15, 2011 on the ATF “fast and furious” scheme that allowed guns to “walk” into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels.
Two of the ATF “walked” guns ended up at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry south of Tucson.
Gallup: Generic Republican 44, Obama 39
Yesterday’s WSJ/NBC poll had O ahead of a generic Republican opponent, 45/40, but since that lead and Gallup’s margin are both within the margin of error, let’s just call both dead heats with a little less than a year and a half to go. Here’s Carney at today’s briefing insisting that The One is focused laser-like on the economy even though he apparently can’t be bothered getting briefed much on it anymore.
What the talking heads don’t tell you about the NBC/WSJ poll internals
One can spin it any way you want but if you look at the internals of this poll the bottom line is Barack Obama is hemorrhaging his popularity and barring some cataclysmic failure on the GOP side or incredible success on his side he is not going to win re-election.
It’s interesting that my friends on the Democratic side of the spectrum have forgotten who the president is. Up until roughly 6 months ago my Facebook pals enjoyed posting about how much they loved Barack Obama. My relatives on the left were so proud of the man they elected and were quite vocal around the dinner table. I bit my tongue.
Now, they don’t utter a word. There are no tweets, no Facebook posts. They don’t mention Barack Obama at all. Indeed, if they feel the need to discuss politics, all they can utter is a disjointed rant about Sarah Palin or joke about Rick Perry’s hair. It’s like they have no recollection of who they voted for.
Signs of Desperation Appear in Obama’s Camp
When you’ve lost ABC…
Music to read this post by….One-Time Obama Supporter Louis Farrakhan: “That’s A Murderer In The White House”…
Obama Campaign Sends Around Misleading DNC Video on GOP Debate
But the video, which Messina calls a “highlight reel” and the DNC titled “What in the world are they talking about?” selectively uses clips from the 2-hour forum suggesting that the candidates were focused on idiotic issues, or battles from the past, when all of the topics the video hammers the Republicans for talking about were ones they were asked about at the forum.
If You Want a Picture With Michelle Obama It’ll Cost You $10,000
While her husband was busy blaming ATMs for unemployment, FLOTUS headed to California to take some money from the Hollywood ATM
The Soros Plan For The 2012 Election
Let me start out by saying that this is speculation of the rankest sort. I have nothing objective to go by. The best way to start this is to look at Resident ∅s chances given current conditions.
Current economic conditions are terrible. The jobless rate is running from between 9% and 20% depending on how you do the count. And the housing market isn’t coming back any time soon. So he can’t run on his economic record.
Hope and Change? A tad too threadbare this time around. You can only be the first black (not a Muslim) President once.
So what do I think a winning issue for the left will be? What issue will be a large negative for every Republican with a good chance of winning the nomination? The Drug War. All it has to do is explode in the right way in 2012.
So what triggered this off for me? George Soros and Richard Branson among others met a little over a week ago in New York to discuss Drug War Strategy.
#weinerquiddick
POLITICO: “Weiner’s Greatest Hits”
Dylan comes to mind:
Now you don’t talk so loud, now you don’t seem so proud,
About havin’ to be scrounging around for your next meal!Good riddance to this arrogant lump of human garbage.
The calm soothing words of Barack Obama, I’m sure Weiner feels better already.
Weiner Update: Cross-Dressing Edition
Bonus trivia: Weiner was the body double for Jennifer Beals in Flashdance.
All joking aside, back then, Weiner claimed that picture was the result of somebody hacking his wardrobe.
Larry Flint Offers Weiner A New Job Position
Hah-Hah… Pelosi Refuses to Talk About Weiner After He Resigns (Video)
MELTDOWN: Alan Colmes Freaks Out After Weiner Resignation Announced (Video)
Alan Colmes freaked out today after it was announced that penis-tweeting liar Rep. Anthony Weiner would resign. The far left Weiner apologist didn’t take it so well after hearing the news. Breathe, Alan. Breathe.
Of course, Colmes defended liar Weiner… Even after he was reminded that Weiner called 5 news organizations to his office and lied through his teeth about the bogus “hacking” incident.
Oh my: Dem caucus meeting turns angry over Weiner
National Journal looked at his financial disclosures tonight and concluded that the poor guy is sufficiently bad off that he can’t cruise into early retirement. He needs to work, assuming he can find a job in Hopenchange America. Which makes me wonder: Isn’t there a mutually satisfactory solution in the offing here? The Democrats want him out of Congress; Weiner wants a steady income. There’s one person who’s perfectly positioned to cut a check and make both sides happy. How about it, Nancy?
NYT says Weiner will resign; Update: “Staff leaving with their belongings”
NBC’s Luke Russert tweets, “NBC Prod Alex Moe tells me #Weiner ‘s office is locked. Lights are off. Phone goes to voicemail. She saw staff leaving with their belongings[.]“
Could Weiner escape ethics probe by resigning and running for seat again?
My totally unsolicited advice for Huma Abedin
Having acknowledged all of that, however, I still want to share what I would tell Huma Abedin if she were my own sister, or a good friend who found herself in this unbelievably painful and humiliating situation.
So here goes…
The first thing I would tell Huma Abedin if she were my BFF is that in my opinion, those who are now asking whether what her husband did actually constitutes adultery or “cheating” are asking the wrong question. It doesn’t matter whether what he did fits the technical definition of adultery. Why? Because what he did does fit the technical definition of disturbing.
Adultery is generally defined as some sort of extramarital and consensual sexual activity between two adults. The activity might or might not include sending poorly lit, nekkid photos of oneself to the person with whom one is having l’affaire, but the defining factor of adultery isn’t the same thing that primarily defines Weiner’s behavior.
Anthony Weiner is not an adulterer. Anthony Weiner is a sex offender. The man sent lewd pictures of himself to virtual strangers who had not requested that he do so. Chatting someone up briefly on Twitter is not an invitation to be flashed. He had no real connection to, or relationship with the people on the other end of his exhibitionism. They were totally impersonal victims to him. He didn’t even know for certain that they were not minors.
The war that dares not speak its name…US and Lybia:
Flashback: Obama Cites War Powers Resolution In Letter To Congress Announcing Libya Strikes…
Obama Fails to Justify the Legality of War in Libya
Obama’s unauthorized war on Libya costs $9,421,000 a day: Are you getting your money’s worth?
The Obama administration is spending almost $9.5 million every single day to blow things up in Libya because the president has determined that is in the country’s national interest, this country’s national interest, not Libya’s.
You may not have noticed the $392,542 flowing out of the national treasury every hour, day and night, since those first $1.5 million Tomahawks flashed from the launch tubes back on March 19.
But Libya’s dictator Moammar Kadafi has. Not enough to quit, mind you, because he can hide while his troops do the dying and killing.
When Is a War Not a War? When President Obama Says So
The administration is claiming that “hostilities” as defined in the War Powers Act do not apply to the Libya operation.
They told me if I voted for McCain, I’d see a lawless executive that flouted the Constitution and denigrated Congress’ power to authorize war, based upon a theory of sending “mixed messages” to hostile regimes, and they were right!
Oh wait, you wuz serious wit’ dat?
The Growing Conflict Over the Legality of the Libya Intervention
Legal questions aside, the growing willingness of Congress to challenge Obama over Libya illustrates the political dangers of waging war without congressional approval. If anything goes wrong, the president ends up taking all the political blame. That’s why most presidents have in fact sought congressional authorization for major military actions, whether or not they believed it to be legally necessary. President Obama can reduce his political exposure if he now gets congressional support or if he quickly brings the conflict to a successful conclusion. If he does neither, his political problems are likely to get worse. Boehner’s new-found willingness to challenge Obama on this issue could be a sign of things to come.
Well, the last part at least that fits with the old anti-war slogan that “it takes two sides to make war.” Although I suspect what they had in mind was that if we–and only we–stop fighting an enemy there would be no war–not that our shooting alone does not count as war.
I find this fascinating.
I do believe that under this logic, we could nuke somebody and not fall under the administration’s definition of war.
Look for the Union Label/Whackademia/The Badger Rebellion:
A win for Wisconsin — and America
The decision is not just a win for Wisconsin — it’s a victory for constitutionality and the separation of powers across the country.
Partisan judges must not be allowed to override the duly elected legislatures to satisfy their own political positions, nor should they be able to tell the legislatures how to interpret their own rules. In the Wisconsin case, Judge Sumi invalidated the law on the risible grounds that its passage violated the advance-notice requirements of the state’s Open Meetings Law — as if the Budget Repair bill hadn’t been Topic A for months.
Wrote the high court: “In the posting of notice that was done, the legislature relied on its interpretation of its own rules of proceeding. The court declines to review the validity of the procedure.” In other words, when it comes to way the legislature runs its business, the courts should butt out.
It’s about time somebody said so.
Wisconsin Protesters Lock Their Heads To Metal Railings, And Become Their Own Metaphors
Locking one’s head to a metal railing without a key is a pretty accurate metaphor for what the public employee unions want to do to the taxpayers and union members.
There was an easier solution to the problem:
Turn out the lights, lock the doors, and go home. And leave them there.
Union Leader Compares Governor Christie to Hitler at Latest Rally (Video)
Because, Lord knows, if public service union employees were given the same benefits as private sector unions that would be Hitler-esque.
In Other News…
Fools and their money are soon parted. If I was going to pay $50,000 for a car I would get something much better then a shoddily UAW built, coal fired Volt…Potential Chevy Volt buyer turned off by $4,300 “market availability adjustment”
Should We Care if People Don’t Pay Their Debts?
Maybe you think there is no moral obligation to keep your promises. Try it in the context of your personal life: it’s okay for my boss to stiff me out of that raise they promised, because I can always quit. It’s okay for my wife to cheat on me, because I can always get a divorce. It’s okay for my roommate to neglect to pay her half of the rent on the first of the month, as long as she’s willing to move out. It’s perfectly fine for my son to default on that car I cosigned, because the lender has the option to sue me for the balance . . . hey, wait a minute!
Suddenly it turns out that you think promises create a moral obligation–as long as those promises are made to you.
Michele Bachmann and the Empathy Card
That Barack Obama is without a clue when it comes to the economy is no revelation, but that he lacks empathy–traditionally a Democratic refrain–is a bold and interesting twist. The fact is that Obama does often seem to be weirdly detached from the problems he ostensibly is trying to solve. Perhaps that is just his style; perhaps it suggests that his real objective is to advance leftist objectives like government takeover of medicine, not to improve the lot of working Americans. Be that as it may, the fact that Bachmann is an unusually empathetic person positions her, perhaps uniquely, to take that particular approach to Obama’s failures.
Hey Lefties, Palin Is Going To Get What She Wants, So Why Not Sit Back, Relax And Enjoy It?
You don’t exactly have to be Grizzly Adams to know that if you go out to shoot an Alaskan bear, there is one rule that rises above all others. Whatever you do, just don’t wound the bear.
Kill it, miss it, don’t shoot, run and hide, whatever. But if you hit it, you better kill it. Because the last thing you want coming after you is an angry wounded Alaskan bear with nothing to lose.
This is particularly true of the famed mother grizzly bears of which Sarah Palin has warned us Lower 48’ers about.
“In Alaska, I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody is coming to attack their cubs, to do something adverse toward their cubs,” she told us a while back. “You thought pit bulls were tough, well you don’t want to mess with the mama grizzlies.”
Unfortunately for liberals everywhere and professional Republicans here in Washington, Mrs. Palin’s wildlife lesson came too late. Or, so ascendant into their rarified air from the brutalities of nature or the concept of actual consequences in life, they simply failed to heed her wise counsel.
Chalk one up for the First Amendment.
Texas Senate passes bill on cities aiding illegal immigrants
“Drug traffickers and transnational gangs should think twice before they step foot in Texas,” Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, said in a statement. “Prohibiting sanctuary city policies will make the apprehension, detention and deportation of dangerous criminals more uniform — keeping us all safer and Texas more secure.”
PG&E Hit Hard By Antioch Copper Thefts
Slump Creates a Sheetrock Ghost Town
This mining town of 300 people clings like a burr to the back of the Black Rock Desert. For years, it was marked on state Highway 447 by a two-story sign reading, “Welcome to Nowhere.”
On June 20, that tongue-in-cheek greeting will become a fact. Empire, Nev., will transform into a ghost town. An eight-foot chain-link fence crowned with barbed wire will seal off the 136-acre plot. Even the local ZIP Code, 89405, will be discontinued.
Many towns have been scarred by the recession, but Empire will be the first to completely disappear.
Missouri Couple Charged After Pet Ferret Chews Off Baby’s Fingers
They left their baby at home alone with the ferret. The ferret had already bitten the baby twice. A Missouri couple was charged after a ferret chewed off most of their baby’s fingers.
Massachusetts: Pols: What, us change?
Defiant Bay State lawmakers saw no need to change their Beacon Hill ways yesterday, despite the stunning news that their erstwhile leader, disgraced ex-House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, had been found guilty of extortion, fraud and corruption — the third speaker in a row to be convicted on federal charges.
One indignant pol even took personal offense when a Herald reporter asked if the guilty verdict would change the culture at the State House.
“What has to be changed on Beacon Hill? Why would you say something like that?” snapped state Sen. Steven Tolman (D-Brighton).
Baltimore: Baltimore Opens City Curfew Center
Chicago: Boy mugged by group of teens near Ogilvie Transportation Center
Florida: Chill out: school system to turn off cold water on fountains
LOL! Go ahead and feed those kids Sushi! Obesity will be the least of their problems, right after radiation sickness and cancer, that is. Idiots… ‘Unhealthy’ corn dogs, chicken nuggets out, sushi in at L.A. schools
Ex-CIA: ‘Forged document’ released as birth certificate
Turning The iPad Into A Weapon
Combat pilots in Afghanistan have, like many businesses, discovered new and useful ways to use the iPad. U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilots found the iPad a useful way to carry hundreds of military maps, rather than the hassle of using paper versions. Marine commanders quickly realized this “field expedient” (a military “hack” that adopts something for unofficial use while in the combat zone) worked, and made it official. That meant buying iPads for this and getting to work coming up with more uses.
Apple to ‘ban iPhone gig filming’
The leading computer company plans to build a system that will sense when people are trying to video live events — and turn off their cameras.
A patent application filed by Apple revealed how the technology would work.
If an iPhone were held up and used to film during a concert infra-red sensors would detect it.
These sensors would then contact the iPhone and automatically disable its camera function.
People would still be able to send text messages and make calls.
Do as I say, not as I do…Google’s motto is “Don’t do evil”. More reasons why I try to avoid using Google products comes from this Drudge Ku:
REPORT: Obama campaign strikes special deal with GOOGLE advertising...
Ad program 'released to a select few clients'...
FLASHBACK: GOOGLE execs shower Obama's inaugural committee with cash...
MSM Circus and Celebutard Side Show:
NBC News Praises Weiner’s “Strength” After Resignation Press Conference…
They just can’t help themselves.
Reuters Labels Weiner A “Republican” After He Resigns…
NY Times Finally Discusses Obama’s Golf Image And How Bad It Looks
And now with two wars, a tight economy and a high national unemployment rate, the prevailing belief is that constituents do not want to see their representatives having fun at the golf course.
So, now they are going to discuss Obama right? Well, of course the answer is…….no. So far, I haven’t heard anyone complain about their Representatives of Senators playing golf. They do complain about Obama playing golf. Taking vacations. Holding and going to parties. Flying around the world. Stuffing his face with chili dogs. Which, let’s face it, is simply a way to attempt to make Obama look bad to the uniformed voters. Because, really, it would probably have been best for this country, and be best going forward to January 20, 2012, if Obama spent most of his time doing anything but pretending to Do President.
Global Warmening:
Leaked Documents Show UN Climate Change Body Considered Sending Giant Mirrors Into Space To Tackle Global Warming…
Did Dr. Evil get a job at the UN?
Yes, Al Gore, a ‘Consensus of Scientists’ Can Be Wrong
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” says Stamatios Krimigis, a solar physicist and emeritus head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., who led the team that conducted the study. “We’re not supposed to be in a wind that isn’t going anywhere.”
So, it’s possible for a “consensus of scientists” to be wrong? Somebody alert Al Gore!
Voyager 1 Fun Fact: Within two weeks the spacecraft will enter an area known as the “heliopause,” which is so distant that by the time Anthony Weiner’s sext messages reach it, New Yorkers will have just re-elected him for yet another term in 2024
The Sock Drawer:
What A Giant Solar Eruption Would Do To Earth
This website is NSFW, not because of the pictures from WWII but the ads on the website…Poignant Photos of WWII Time
Volcano ash turns Asian eclipse blood red
Science for the win: New wheat variety beats superbug, has higher yield
This is a story that’s not going to get wide distribution, and that’s a shame, because it’s a real triumph for science. Food prices are at historical highs, and if UG99 had devastated parts of the global wheat crop, they would have spiked far higher.
Instead we have scientists recognizing the problem and addressing it, before it has a meaningful impact. Few people will realize it, but millions have been saved from hunger by this discovery. It’s worth celebrating.
More Umbria: Bevagna, Spello, and Assisi (with lots of good food) – not all on the same day!
The verdict seems unanimous. From presidential speeches to role-playing games, the crusades are depicted as a deplorably violent episode in which thuggish Westerners trundled off, unprovoked, to murder and pillage peace-loving, sophisticated Muslims, laying down patterns of outrageous oppression that would be repeated throughout subsequent history. In many corners of the Western world today, this view is too commonplace and apparently obvious even to be challenged.
But unanimity is not a guarantee of accuracy. What everyone “knows” about the crusades may not, in fact, be true. From the many popular notions about the crusades, let us pick four and see if they bear close examination.
Scientists discover new California quake fault that could burst dam and drown thousands
