Hi everybody!

I want to bring readers up-to-date on what has been going on with me, since you probably have noticed a drop-off in blog posts here. First, my computer crashed. Then, just a few hours ago, I had a cataract removed in my left eye. I am typing this from the local library while waiting for my stepson to get off work and take me home. I hope things are going well for you, and I expect to return to blogging very soon. I am excited about being able to see better! Surgery on the other eye is scheduled for July 10.

Taking charge

Long-time readers of this blog know that my favorite book is My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. The reason I like it so much is that she shares with us what she learned when, after a devastating stroke, she regained full functioning of her brain. Taylor, a brain scientist, learned that she did not have to be left-brain dominant, as she had been before her stroke. She learned that in her right brain, there was a place of incredible peace and joy. She learned that she could limit the duration and influence of negative emotions.

She writes, "Paying attention to what emotions feel like in my body has completely shaped my recovery. I knew that no one had the power to make me feel anything. Nothing external to me had the power to take away my peace of heart and mind. That was completely up to me. I may not be in total control of what happens to my life, but I certainly am in charge of how I choose to perceive my experience. I learned that I had the power to choose whether to hook into a feeling and prolong its presence in my body, or just let it quickly flow right out of me."

This kind of thing takes practice, and I am finding that it is worth it!

Jill's website:  http://www.mystrokeofinsight.com/

Let's go get an asteroid!

Should NASA try to nab an asteroid and pull it into the moon's orbit? Tom Jones thinks so and describes what has already been done by scientists who are trying to persuade NASA to do it.
Read more here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/nasa/why-nasa-should-nab-an-asteroid-9890621?click=pm_latest
via Instapundit

The biggest victims of all: child sex traffickers!

You think the Occupiers are not insane? You must read Zombie's post in PJ Media. The Oakland Occupiers protested a conference against child sex trafficking. We learn that rescuing an immigrant girl from a lifetime of sexual slavery at the hands of an evil pimp counts as “racism.” Zombie has a really thorough report with lots of photos here: http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2012/06/18/occupy-oakland-protests-in-favor-of-child-sex-trafficking/?singlepage=true

Be cool!

Although our temperatures cooled off from 95 to 65 today, this photo should help us continue to think cool and happy for tomorrow, too!
http://enpundit.com/2012/19-best-animal-photobombs-of-all-time

"You haven't been groped till you've been groped by an octopus."

So says Dan Riehl who links to this story: "An octopus got the joyride of its life last week when it somehow became stuck on the belly of a bottlenose dolphin in the Ionian Sea. More specifically, the tentacled sea creature had a seat on the dolphin's genital slit."
 http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2012/06/talk-about-groping-geez.html

Riding the rocket booster

George Savage posted this video of a solid rocket booster view of a space shuttle launch, reaching speeds of over 2800 mph, then tumbling back down through the Earth's atmosphere, and hitting the water at a speed of about 10 mph.



http://ricochet.com/main-feed/A-Celebration-of-American-Ingenuity

"Our bombs cost more than anything they could possibly hit in Afghanistan."

Colorado is home to the Independence Institute, which recently hosted a debate between conservative Ann Coulter and libertarian Nick Gillespie. Some of Coulter's comments:

"Republicans may disagree about what serves America’s interest, but Republicans argue about how to deploy the military so that it will serve America’s national security interests. Democrats could not care less. What they care about is: How do I fling the military around the world to make it look like I’m tough on foreign policy? Lyndon Johnson did it with Vietnam. He kept telling his advisers, “I have to show them that Democrats can be tough on foreign policy too. Let’s just keep sending more and more troops without any plan to win.”

And Obama increasing troops in Afghanistan. What on earth are we doing in Afghanistan? Iraq has a literate populace. It’s beautiful for democracy—as is Iran, by the way —young, pro-Western. They’re being led by a lunatic. Afghanistan is exactly the reverse. They have an Al Qaeda– friendly population that has about an 11 percent literacy rate, more goats than flush toilets. They don’t care that their life expectancy is 30 years, they just don’t want foreigners on their soil. Our bombs cost more than anything they could possibly hit in Afghanistan. Why are we spending money on that war? And the answer is because it was a talking point for Obama on the campaign trail: Oh, Iraq, that was the bad war. Afghanistan, that was the good war.

What I care about—and what we can disagree about—is: What is in America’s interest? I think Iraq was, and at least the first six months of Afghanistan was in America’s interest. But you see with Obama more clearly than you did with Lyndon Johnson that they do not care about what helps America. It’s just what looks good for the campaign."

There is also a transcript of a debate between conservative Jonah Goldberg and libertarian Matt Welch. Read the transcripts here:  http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/19/fusionism-revisited/4

Real father?

Joel Gilbert is a graduate of the London School of Economics and also has an MBA from George Washington University. He has written, directed, and produced a 95 minute film documentary "Dreams from My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception," in which he alleges that Barack Obama's real father was not a Kenyan goat herder, but Frank Marshall Davis, Communist propagandist, Marxist, and mentor of Barry Obama. "Gilbert’s research turned shocking when he obtained seven indecent photos of Ann Dunham, Obama’s mother, at Frank Marshall Davis’ house, suggesting an intimate connection between Dunham and Davis," writes Harvard PhD Jerome Corsi.
Gilbert has photos at his website, along with a trailer for his documentary. He has photos of Davis alongside photos of Obama, to try to show that they look alike. I don't see much resemblance, except perhaps in their eyes, and it is even more difficult to see a resemblance between Obama and his alleged Kenyan father.
Read more here:  http://www.obamasrealfather.com/

"I hope I have a simple love like that"

Riding roughshod over the rule of law

Andrew McCarthy begins his post on Obama's latest usurpation of power: "In continuing the dramatic shift from American constitutional democracy to rule by executive fiat that has marked his tenure, President Barack Obama now claims that the illegal aliens, to whom he purports to grant what effectively is amnesty, are “Americans … in every single way but one — on paper.” That is false. They are not Americans under the only thing that matters, the thing the Obama administration has chanted like a mantra — while riding roughshod over  – since its very first day in power: the rule of law."
Read the whole thing here:  http://pjmedia.com/andrewmccarthy/2012/06/18/a-nation-of-paper-not-of-men/?singlepage=true

The Denver Post thinks it is funny

The Associated Press has written a sarcastic piece about conservatives being worried about the use of drones in the United States. In the Denver Post, the headline writer sarcastically entitled the piece Many fear being drone to the wolves. Read more here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hIaExjZo_SJvCNR9gpYff3pSasDA?docId=b224ea8719ce4bbc9abec616653cad90

"Orange tears and empty threats do not a coup prevent."

Jeff Goldstein writes at Protein Wisdom about Obama's newest bureaucratic gambit. "Obama and the far left cohort he installed throughout the administrative state are attempting a coup — with the goal being to fundamentally transform the US from a representative constitutional republic based around a (severely diluted) free market capitalism into a democratic socialist state in league with other democratic socialist states, all of which will become part of some sort of organized global alliance."
Read the whole thing here:  http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=41137

White House invokes executive privilege

Today's huge story is that Obama has invoked executive privilege to keep the House from seeing the documents that reveal White House or Department of Justice involvement in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal.
Update 1:  South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy frames the question on the floor of the House of Representativesvia http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=41143

Update 2: Senator Grassley of Iowa: “How can the president assert executive privilege if there was no White House involvement? How can the president exert executive privilege over documents he’s supposedly never seen? Is something very big being hidden to go to this extreme? The contempt citation is an important procedural mechanism in our system of checks and balances,” he said.

Update 3: Writing at Ricochet, blogger Adam Freeman notes: President Obama has invoked "executive privilege" to head off a contempt of Congress citation against Eric Holder for failing to produce documents relating to operation "Fast and Furious," the bizarre DOJ initiative to send thousands of firearms to Mexican drug cartels to see what they would do with them (kill people, as it happens). Read more here: http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Obama-Asserts-Executive-Privilege

Update 4: Mark Levin:
"Executive Privilege is a very important implied executive power, used in various forms since the presidency of George Washington. Therefore, it's misuse and abuse, to cover-up wrongdoing, conceal embarrassing information, or advance a political agenda, diminishes the ability of future presidents to assert it legitimately." Mark gives concrete suggestions as to how the House should proceed: https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-levin/executive-privilege-and-how-the-house-should-move-forward-legally/10150866576635946

Update 5: Let's give some credit to a member of the MSM for her reporting on Fast and Furious. Dan Riehl has this:

CBS' Sharyl Attkisson Exposed Holder's Lying To Congress In Oct. 2011

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS just Tweeted a link to a story of hers from October 3, 2011. You know, CBS of Dan Rather-Gate infamy. Clearly, the broader media has failed to do its job on Fast and Furious, along with who knows whatever else. It shouldn't even be news at this point. Holder should be gone. The liberal media isn't going to be able to sleep through this one now with New Media in town.

WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.

On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious.

 http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2012/06/cbs-sharyl-attkisson-exposed-holders-lying-to-congress-in-oct-2011.html

Update 6: While giving some credit to CBS" Sharyl Attkisson, let us not forget that it was the blogger at Sipsey Street Irregulars who first broke the Fast and Furious story. He is currently enduring some health problems. Let's pray for him and show him our gratitude.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/

Knowing your father's love

via http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2012/06/little-saturday-night-music_16.html

I'm glad those dark days are over...wait..er um

“Tonight was the premiere of a new version of the TV show ‘Dallas’ with Larry Hagman. … The original “Dallas” series started in 1978. Back then, America was very different. We had an ineffective, one-term president. Gas prices were through the roof. We were in a stand-off with Iran. I’m glad those dark days are over.”

–Craig Ferguson

via  http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2012/06/quote-du-jour_18.html

"These people" cannot fend for themselves

The blogger at Proof Positive has written a post about "the lie Democrats are telling that requiring a photo ID to vote is somehow "voter suppression". Unless you affix a single word in front of it: "Illegal". Good citizens really have no problem with the concept of suppressing illegal votes.

There is nothing in a requirement to show a valid ID at a polling place that is "racist" or substantially different than there is at a bank when you cash a check, an airport where you board a plane or entry to a federal courthouse.
 
In fact, to me, it is at least mildly to downright insulting, to claim that "minorities" are disproportionately less likely to have or to be able to obtain a photo ID, and therefore their votes would be "suppressed". This sounds very much like that form of colonial paternalism, that "these people" cannot fend for themselves, therefore the Great White Father must do their thinking for them. Balderdash!"
Read the whole thing here: http://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2012/06/voter-suppression-laws-and-other-myths.html

Here's to Life!

No complaints and no regrets
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets
For I have learned that all you give is all you get
So give it all you got

I had my share...I drank my fill
And even though I'm satisfied, I'm hungry still
To see what's down another road, beyond a hill
And do it all again

So here's to life
And every joy it brings
Yes here's to life
And dreamers and their dreams

Funny how the time just flies
How love can go from warm hellos to
 sad goodbyes
And leave you with the memories you memorize
To keep your winters warm

But there's no "yes" in yesterday
And who knows what tomorrow brings or
 takes away
As long as I'm still in the game, I want to play
For laughs...for life...for love

So here's to life
And all the joy it brings
Yes, here's to life
And dreamers and their dreams

May all your storms be weathered
And all that's good get better

Here's to life
Here's to love
Here's to you 

Leaving it all on the court

Here is Jason Whitlock on LeBron James' contribution in last night's game four Miami victory over Oklahoma City: "Tuesday night, with the Heat clinging to a three-point lead in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James sat the final 55 seconds. His lower body gave up, giving into cramps. He’d done all he could. On legs he was afraid to fully bend, he drained a three-pointer from the top of the key that unlocked a 94-94 tie with 2 minutes, 51 seconds to play." Tuesday night was another good moment. OKC doesn’t have an answer for James. He’s beating a spirited, talented team into submission with an all-around game that reminds us of Magic, Pippen, Bird and a dash of Jordan."
Read the whole thing here:  http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/LeBron-James-NBA-Finals-Game-4-closer-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-062012

"Make for yourselves extraordinary lives"

Via http://primordialslack.com/?p=2402

What's rude?

Forgetting what we know

Sunny Lohmann writes about things that we do in every day life, but don't allow ourselves to think about, like eating doughnuts, swimming in swimming pools that have fecal matter from babies' diapers, putting your filthy phone to your face, eating chicken fetuses, wearing high heels that will damage your feet, and pretending your nose itches when you smell a fart.
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/06/06/6-facts-its-okay-to-forget-you-know/?singlepage=true

Was Obama just too good for America?

Over at One Cosmos Dr. Bob writes June 14 of mastery versus coercion, conservatism versus leftism, higher human nature versus lower human nature, the power of free will versus the dependency on the state, complementarity versus imbalance. He links to a Peter Wehner article in Commentary that reveals Obama to be a man immersed in self-pity who cannot abide the thought that it may in fact be liberalism that has failed. The narrative of the left after November may be that Obama was just too good for America.
 http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/

Epigenetics

Have you noticed how the so-called scientific community organizes itself around dogmas? I think a lot of that has to do with government funding of scientific research. Global warming became the dogma, which was altered to "climate change." The central dogma now in the biological sciences is genetics. Are we victims of our hereditary traits?

One scientist is challenging that theory, just as many scientists are challenging Al Gore's global warming thesis. Bruce Lipton writes and speaks about epigenetics, meaning control above the genes.  “We are not locked into our fate, because we have the freedom to change the way we respond to the world,” he explains. “We are masters of our genetics rather than victims of our hereditary traits.  If we have positive beliefs built in our minds, then our behavior and our genes will lead us to health and happiness.” In 2005 Lipton wrote a book entitles The Biology of Belief, and he is interviewed here: http://odewire.com/honeymooneffect

Sing it!

A principal in New York City stopped a five-year-old from singing God Bless the USA, and instead asked him to sing a Justin Bieber song about teen-age dating. In honor of that five-year-old and his mom, let's enjoy the Lee Greenwood song now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ykh14j8jKT4#!
via Nice Deb

How can you tell if Democrats are losing?

Ace of Spades and Mickey Kaus are writing about bipartisanship. Ace says that If You Keep Hearing Calls For Bipartisanship, It Must Mean the Democrats Are Losing
 Read the whole thing here: http://minx.cc/?post=330077

Protecting Americans from drone surveillance

Kudos to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He has introduced a bill requiring a warrant to be issued by a court before the government could use a drone to spy on an American citizen. Plese read the whole thing here: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/232489-sen-paul-proposes-bill-protecting-americans-from-drone-surveillance
via the blog entitled Nice Deb

Yes, or no, Mr. Axelrod?

Stephen Green says the next leak out of the White House will reveal that Obama killed Osama bin Laden with his bare hands!

Will he support the Islamists or the military?

Egypt's Supreme Court dissolves parliament, because 75% of those elected were Islamists. Barry Rubin…"[W]e are likely to have the strange situation of an American president fighting to put into power an anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic political force that is opposed to all U.S. interests, because — after all — they did win the election." Oh wait, that won't be so hard for President Obama.
via http://neoneocon.com/2012/06/14/egypt-court-dissolves-parliament/

He won't pick up the tab

NeoNeocon on the president's buck-passing: "I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but I’ve never in my lifetime heard any president of either party—good or bad or indifferent—blame his predecessors 1/1000th of the amount that Obama does. He is a petulant, buck-passing lightweight. To hear him tell it, nothing is his fault, and nothing is his responsibility—except, of course, those things he feels he can take credit for. But they’re few and far between these days."
 http://neoneocon.com/2012/06/14/obama-still-pissed-about-the-dinner-tab/

"Please continue to move forward!"

Magician Rahat of Penguin Magic likes to float his drink cup in mid-air to startle fast food workers.
Most of the workers are amazed/amused, but one man was sure there was an evil spirit loose in the drive-thru, and several others were quite freaked out.
 http://www.neatorama.com/2012/06/15/dat-is-a-demon-holy-spirit-please-continue-to-move-forward/

Watch out for drones, Mr. Munro!

I guess they won't be letting bloggers attend any more rose garden speeches. Neil Munro of the Daily Caller asked President Obama yesterday why he favors foreign workers over American workers, as Obama tried to explain why he was stopping deportation of children of parents who come to America illegally.

Obama began uncontrollably stuttering and was furious at being interrupted. The role of the press is to write down what he says, not question him. Mr. Munro needs to keep an eye out for drones in the neighborhood. That left hand and arm could slice a cake.
Update: Munro is interviewed at The Daily Caller:

Brokaw versus Coulter

Finished Tom Brokaw's book Boom!, and now reading Ann Coulter's book Guilty. Although Brokaw's book kept my interest right up to the end, it would have been better if he would have interviewed someone like Coulter to get her perspective on the period he writes about, which starts with JFK's assassination and ends with Nixon's resignation, although he does write about the Clintons and George W. Bush. Brokaw uses his connections with the entertainment, environmental, civil rights, feminist and political arenas to write a kind of People Magazine history of the tumultuous era.

Coulter, on the other hand, slashes through media-generated stereotypes of "victim groups." She may have lost some of her popularity with conservatives this year by steadfastly supporting the candidacy of Mitt Romney in the Republican primaries, but in my opinion she remains among the best thinkers and most incisive analysts in the conservative movement.

Heroes

Sometimes it takes one to know one.
via http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=18068

Agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness

“At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that ‘news’ is not something that happens to other people. He might learn how his ancestors lived and that he himself is no different–in the crunch his life depends on his agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness.”
Robert A. Heinlein
via  http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=18077

The teleprompter needs to be repaired

via http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=18080

"The private sector is doing fine."

via http://moonbattery.com/?p=12923

"They're not listening to me!"

A guy is victimized at a deli: the employees are "not listening" to him. He wants "lots" of cheese. He wants to "solve it in the right way," which would be to ask 911 to send a police officer to the deli.
viahttp://moonbattery.com/?p=12926

Spending money on political campaigns

Which groups spent the most money in the 2010 mid-term elections? Even though the elections were won overwhelmingly by Republicans, three of the top five money spenders were union groups raising money for Democrats. By far the biggest spender was the American Federation of state, county, and municipal employees. Here is a chart from the Wall Street Journal.
via http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2012/06/debunking-dems-excuse-for-losing-in.html

Has China surpassed the U.S.?

Mike's America had these two graphs produced by the Pew Global Attitudes Survey. The first one shows how attitudes in other countries about Obama and the U.S. have changed from 2009 to the present.

The second shows a survey of 14 nations from 2008 to the present believes that China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's leading superpower. http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2012/06/obamas-favorability-at-new-global-low.html

I'm pretty sure I would slip

Nik Wallenda walked a tightrope yesterday from the American side of Niagara Falls to the Canadian side.

Notice how wet he is as he gets off the cable. http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/15/12246606-nik-wallenda-completes-tightrope-walk-across-niagara-falls?lite

Solar flares to visit Earth June 16

There have been two solar flares released from the sun in the past week. They are expected to hit the Earth's geomagnetic field June 16. Here is the one released June 13: 

64 drone bases on U.S. soil

Instapundit linked today to this article and map showing that there are 64 locations on American soil where there are drone bases. In my area it looks like there are five bases in New Mexico and one planned for the future in Colorado. Check the map to see if there are any near you. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/64-drone-bases-on-us-soil/

I.d. required to hear Obama speech, but not to vote

The Obama campaign checked i.d.s of every person who attended a campaign rally in Ohio, although the Obama Justice Department is not letting states check voters' i.d.s. Read the story here: http://nation.foxnews.com/barack-obama/2012/06/14/id-required-obama-speech-not-vote?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz1xp8tusNh

Bacteria keeps us healthy?

Did you know that you probably have over one hundred trillion good bacteria in your body right now? Did you know that they are essential for human life, providing barricades against disease-forming bacteria, needed to digest food, and to synthesize certain vitamins? There are over one thousand strains of bacteria on each of us. Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/health/human-microbiome-project-decodes-our-100-trillion-good-bacteria.html?_r=1&ref=bacteria

The road forward?

Government data released this week by the the Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-americans-wealth-dropped-40-percent/2012/06/11/gJQAlIsCVV_story.html

What property rights?

Have you got a ditch or gully on your property? The EPA wants to regulate it under the Clean Water Act. http://www.humanevents.com/2012/06/11/epa-power-grab-to-regulate-ditches-gullies-on-private-property/

The end of the Democrats' regime?

James Piereson writes in the New Criterion that the New Deal may finally be coming to an end. A new political coalition may be forming between business interests and middle class Americans. From the 1930s to the present "the Democratic Party has built its coalition around public spending and the recruitment of new groups into the political process, often by promises of new public programs." 

"The Democratic Party has gradually evolved into a “public sector party” that finds its votes and organizational strength in public sector unions, government employees and contractors, and beneficiaries of government programs."

 "The Republicans, much in contrast to the Democrats, have organized themselves in recent decades as a “private sector party,” winning votes and contributions from individuals and business groups committed to cutting taxes and reducing the size and scope of government."

Piereson  shows how we have had three "regime parties:" the Democrats under Jefferson, the Republicans after Lincoln, and the Democrats after FDR. "The dominant parties in each of these eras might be called “regime parties” because they were able to use their political strength to implement and carry forward the basic themes around which these political settlements were organized. Jefferson’s party pushed forward the themes of localism, democracy, and expansion; Lincoln’s, the themes of union, freedom, and capitalism; FDR’s, the themes of national regulation, public spending, and internationalism. In this sense, the United States has rarely had a two-party system but rather a one and one-half party system consisting of a “regime party” and a competitor forced to adapt to its dominant position. These competitors—the Whigs in the 1840s, the Democrats after the Civil War, and the Republicans in the post-war era—occasionally won national elections, but only after accepting the legitimacy of the basic political themes established by the regime party."

Now, however, there are four main reasons why the Democrats' regime may be collapsing:
"(1) unsustainable debt; (2) public promises that cannot be fulfilled; (3) stagnation and slow growth; and (4) political paralysis. The last point is important because it means that the parties will fail to agree on any preemptive solutions to the above problems until they reach a point of crisis." Read the whole article, because he does a great job of explaining each of these point and many more: http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Future-tense--X--The-fourth-revolution-7395

Should the Left be regarded as a fearsome wolf, or a toothless tiger?

Should we view the left as a big bad wolf that makes us afraid, or as a parrot that makes us laugh? Bruce Walker writes in the American Thinker that it should be the latter:  http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/whos_afraid_of_the_big_bad_left.html

If Rush Limbaugh has taught us anything, it is not to fear the left. Ditto Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and Judge Clarence Thomas.

Big SIS: the Special Interest State

Maggie's Farm links to a provocative article by James V. DeLong about the role of special interests in destroying our country:
 "a democratic republic can survive and flourish as a welfare state, one in which a reasonable majority of citizens votes to provide protection against a selected set of risks and to pay for it. Conflicts will occur over the specific boundaries and burdens, but these are incidental. But a democratic republic cannot long survive as a special interest state. The destruction of economic value is too complete, as interests channel the money into unproductive uses—housing and education bubbles; alternative energy; battalions of compliance officers; a ruling class that depends on the iron rice bowl of the government giving its members jobs telling the masses what to do."

"As Jay Cost documents in Spoiled Rotten: How the Politics of Patronage Corrupted the Once Noble Democratic Party and Now Threatens the American Republic, the Democratic Party has become “a kind of national Tammany Hall whose real purpose is to colonize the federal government on behalf of its clients.” Its coalition of True Greens, public employees, unions, feminists, trial lawyers, crony capitalists, academic and foundation dependents, victimization advocates, and poverty profiteers understands this very well, and holds together despite considerable internal antipathy."

Read more here:  http://www.american.com/archive/2012/june/its-not-a-welfare-state-its-a-special-interest-state

Political allegiances trump criminal rap sheet

Instapundit links to a piece in PJ Media, where David Horowitz and David Laksin write about how since his early release from prison in 2000, Brett Kimberlin has found a "second act" as the darling of America's leading tax-free progressive foundations. "Until just a few years ago, Brett Kimberlin was a convicted drug dealer and terrorist doing 51 years in federal prison for planting eight roadside bombs in the town of Speedwell, Indiana. The last of those bombs left a man so severely disfigured that he committed suicide a few years later. An inveterate liar and con artist, Kimerblin managed to gain fame from prison in 1988 by falsely claiming to have sold drugs to then-presidential candidate Dan Quayle."

Read the whole thing here: http://pjmedia.com/blog/brett-kimberlin-and-the-left-wing-money-machine/?singlepage=true

Fast and Furious: the video

Do we deserve answers and accountability? Instapundit links to this video at Powerline:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/06/fast-and-furious-the-video.php

Having kids might just be the best thing that happens to you

Are kids worth the gamble? Dr. Helen Smith writes today at PJ Media that they are (and she includes this wonderful photo). My favorite line from her piece: "They teach you how to care for someone fragile and how to let go of someone competent." Read more here: http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/06/13/reasons-to-have-children/?singlepage=true

"Like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank"

Reading Instapundit regularly is good for me. Today he links to a fabulous article in The Guardian about how High Fructose Corn Syrup has contributed to our obesity epidemic. Government funding of scientists is a big contributor, just like government funding of scientists has contributed to the global warming junk science, and the former close connections between the tobacco industry and government. When the costs of obesity to government health programs becomes higher than the tax revenues from the food industry, the solution will become simple. Read the whole thing here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat

"Too easy on these youngbloods"

via http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/19951-These-youngbloods-dont-practice-the-fundamentals.html

Is character destiny?

From Dr. Joy Bliss at Maggie's Farm: Character is destiny. Mostly, except for bad luck. http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/19953-Real-diagnosis,-in-Shrinkology.html

The Garden of Your Mind

I think my daughter Sara would like Mister Rogers. PBS has remixed some of his shows into this video. Sara would like the concept of "the garden of your mind."

An attack that could paralyze this country

Defense Secretary Panetta told the Senate today that there is a high risk of a cyberattack against the United States. He called it another Pearl Harbor. "Technologically the capability to paralyze this country is there now.” via http://cnsnews.com/news/article/panetta-warns-cyber-pearl-harbor-capability-paralyze-country-there-now

He won't tolerate leaks

via http://laughingconservative.blogspot.com/2012/06/cartoon-daryl-cagle.html

Pinocchio

Click on this cartoon if you are having trouble reading it. via http://laughingconservative.blogspot.com/2012/06/barack-pinocchio.html

Will measures to legalize pot be Obama's secret weapon for re-election?

The Atlantic Wire examines Colorado, Ohio, and Michigan ballot initiatives to legalize pot. I think these initiatives will attract a lot of pot users to the polls, and that their votes will go to Obama. Read more here: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/06/legalizing-weed-obamas-secret-weapon/53504/

AFL-CIO redeploying funds away from political campaigns

If this is true, it cannot be a good sign for the Obama campaign. US News and World Report's Washington Whispers Column says it has been told by the AFL-CIO that it is redeploying funds away from political campaigns. Obama's failure to support them in Wisconsin wouldn't have anything to do with this decision, would it? Read more here: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/06/13/afl-cio-redeploying-funds-from-obama-campaign-to-advocacy-and-infrastructure

Another Homeless to Harvard story

This North Carolina young woman was abandoned by her parents, but kept up with her studies, and has been accepted into Harvard. Local adults, not the government, came to her aid.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

via http://kiradavis.net/profile-in-determination-teen-goes-from-homeless-to-harvard/

Conquering fear

Remember the man who stood in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square? Did you know that he moved in front of the tanks, as the tanks moved to get around him, daring them to run over him? Did you further know that he actually climbed up on the tank? Furthermore, did you know that there was not one, not four, but scores of tanks lined up against him? These images are from a post at Zero Hedge about the nature of courage: http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-06-09/courage-being-scared-death-saddling-anyway

Dreams from his mother

Did you know that Mitt Romney's mother ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate? Just as Mitt's father was unsuccessful in running for president, Mitt's mother had her own difficulties in running for the Senate. How have these experiences affected Mitt? Does he back away from positions when he sees they are not popular with the people whose support he needs? Or, does he have the courage to tell us truthfully what he thinks? Read more here: http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Dreams-from-My-Mother-Greg-Garrett-05-31-2012.html

Can you write in the dark?

Some teacher/student humor from Lemon Stand:

TEACHER: How old were you on your last birthday?
STUDENT: Seven.
TEACHER: How old will you be on your next birthday?
STUDENT: Nine.
TEACHER: That's impossible.
STUDENT: No, it isn't, Teacher. I'm eight today.  (Nicole)

TEACHER: George, go to the map and find North America.
GEORGE: Here it is!
TEACHER: Correct. Now, class, who discovered America?
CLASS: George! (Danielle)

TEACHER: Willy, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WILLY: Me! (Danielle)

TEACHER: Tommy, why do you always get so dirty?
TOMMY: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground then you are. (I can soooo see my husband saying this as a kid!  It reminds me of his manners...)  :)

TEACHER: Why are you late?
WEBSTER: Because of the sign.
TEACHER: What sign?
WEBSTER: The one that says, "School Ahead, Go Slow." (Nina)

SILVIA: Dad, can you write in the dark?
FATHER: I think so. What do you want me to write?
SYLVIA: Your name on this report card. (This sounds a lot like Rachel) :)

TEACHER: In this box, I have a 10-foot snake.
SAMMY: You can't fool me, Teacher...snakes don't have feet. (Erin)

TEACHER: How can you prevent diseases caused by biting insects?
JOSE: Don't bite any. (This would be my husband's reply)

TEACHER: Ellen, give me a sentence starting with "I".
ELLEN: I is...
TEACHER: No, Ellen. Always say, "I am."
ELLEN: All right... "I am the ninth letter of the alphabet." (This would again be Rachel... I love her memorable 'lovely semi-colon'.)

MOTHER: Why on earth did you swallow the money I gave you?
JUNIOR: You said it was my lunch money. (Erin)

TEACHER: If I had seven oranges in one hand and eight oranges in the other,what would I have?
CLASS COMEDIAN: Big hands! (This would be Nina)

 http://lemonademadedaily.blogspot.com/2012/06/humor-to-lighten-load.html

Children who should be seen and heard

I agree with Big Fur Hat, who says these children should be seen and heard!

via http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=137328

He never came home

Invincible Armor posted this image on Memorial Day. http://invinciblearmor.blogspot.com/2012/05/memorial-day.html

Are we in a black hole?

Is our universe entirely contained within a black hole? There is a small group of physicists who are exploring the idea. Read more here: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/06/every-black-hole-contains-new-universe.html

More targeting of conservative bloggers

Michelle Malkin brings to light a case of persecution of a conservative blogger in Arizona. Conservative bloggers are feeling the heat of fascists all across America. Michelle's solution? Shine light on "the Left’s long war to marginalize, demonize, and criminalize conservative dissent." Read all about it here: http://michellemalkin.com/2012/06/09/bloggers-under-fire-arizona-conservative-lawyeractivist-targeted-by-left-wing-arizona-state-bar/

Who is the leaker? Who is the liar?

Do we need a special prosecutor to find out who is leaking classified information? Michael Ledeen doesn't think so. Congress can hold public hearings and find out all on its own. Read much more here: http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2012/06/10/leaks-and-lies/?singlepage=true

Getting out among the masses

Mark Steyn writes about our celebrity president, campaigning 24/7. Most people have to pay $35,800 to attend his fundraisers, but The president of the United States is raffling himself off! For the cost of a $3 non-refundable online-application processing fee, you and your loved one can have your names put in a large presidential hat from which the FBI background-check team will pluck two to be ushered into the presence of their humble citizen-executive. That’s to say, somewhere across the fruited plain, a common-or-garden non-celebrity will win the opportunity to attend an Obama fundraiser at the home of Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, co-hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, the British-born inspiration for the movie The Devil Wears Prada. I wish this were a parody, but I’m not that good. But I’m sure Sarah Jessica and Anna will treat you just like any other minor celebrity they’ve accidentally been seated next to due to a hideous faux pas in placement, even if you do dip the wrong end of the arugula in the amuse-bouche.

 as the commander-in-chief leaks highly classified national-security details to you over the zebra mussel in a Eurasian-milfoil coulis. For a donation of $35,800, he’ll pose with you in a Seal Team Six uniform with one foot on Osama’s corpse (played by Harry Reid). For a donation of $46,800, he’ll send an unmanned drone to hover amusingly over your sister-in-law’s house. For a donation of $77,800, he’ll install you as the next president-for-life of Syria (liability waiver required). For a donation of $159,800, he’ll take you into Sarah Jessica’s guest bedroom and give you the full 007 while Carly Simon sings “Nobody Does It Better.”
Read more here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/302269/our-celebrity-president-mark-steyn?pg=2


I listened to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes the other day, and he was referring to the president as Back Hussein Kardashian. Now I understand why.

Conning victimhood and allowing poseurs to run things and

Victor Davis Hanson says liberalism is imploding.
We could go on forever with illegal immigration, the therapeutic university, or the media, but the message is universally the same: we are coming to the theoretical limits of liberal orthodoxy. Detroit is liberalism’s Nagasaki; California its Greece — and the hated Scott Walker its Angela Merkel.

All the old shiny chrome is rusted and crumpled: Harvard? Knee-deep in the Elizabeth Warren scam. The Nobel Peace Prize? Neither Al Gore nor Barack Obama had a record of bringing peace to anyone. The postmodern EU and its vaunted euro? The mystery is how even technocrats could design such a suicidal currency. The paper of record? The New York Times has become a sort of shopper’s insert, its op-eds and news accounts synopses of yuppie and baby-boomer angst.

Like a super nova, contemporary liberalism is imploding through its own irreconcilable forces.

Read the whole thing here: http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-liberal-super-nova/?singlepage=true

Is your Congressman's name on this letter?

Congresswoman Sandy Adams of Florida has rounded up 87 members of the House to sign a letter to Eric Holder demanding a Department of Justice investigation into SWATting. Read this important letter and explanation here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/jun/10/picket-fla-congresswoman-leads-effort-demanding-sw/

Some voters the campaigns will be fighting over

A bipartisan group of pollsters questioned self-described undecided female voters who shop at Wal-Mart at least once a month in Richmond, Virginia and Las Vegas, Nevada.. They came away with three findings:

•  Don’t underestimate the power of the first family’s image with female voters.
•  The females in the focus groups were surprisingly risk averse — to the point it evoked thoughts of FDR’s 1944 re-election slogan “Don’t swap horses midstream.”
•  Romney remains largely undefined among these two groups. 

Read more here: http://atr.rollcall.com/the-2012-campaign-through-the-eyes-of-walmart-moms/

Life is good...er, uh, I mean...over!

Warning: potty mouth from 31
via http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/

How do you acquire true optimism?

How do you acquire true optimism? "Surround yourself with optimistic people, with people who are persistent and confident." http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2012/06/true-optimism.html

Developing talent

How do we avoid consigning our children to mediocrity in the name of mental health? http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2012/06/developing-talent-through-disciplined.html

Sex-selective abortions

Have you been reading about sex-selective abortions being performed by Planned Parenthood? Apparently it is an even bigger problem in India: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/trash-bin-babies-indias-female-infanticide-crisis/257672/

Oh, hello boss, you are not going to believe why I am late to work!

Grim's Hall linked to this story from my neck of the woods. It is about a bank robber who was stopped at an intersection. Cops handcuffed every person stopped at the intersection, then searched their cars. The robber was in the last car (19th) searched, with two loaded guns. The search lasted for an hour and a half to two hours. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/06/police-stop-handcuff-every-adult-at-intersection-in-search-for-bank-robber/

Baby sis

A 4 year old kid kept telling his teacher about his baby sis who was going to be born, because he was very excited about it. One day his mom made him feel the baby’s movements by placing his palm, on her stomach. The kid didn’t say anything.

From that day onwards he stopped telling his teacher about his baby sis. One day when his teacher inquired about his baby sis. the boy’s eyes were filled with tears. He replied. My Mummy ate it!
 http://onehappydog.us/2012/06/humor-for-wednesday-186

Can you match this?

http://www.businessinsider.com/video-of-tightest-parallel-parking-job-2012-6

Straight ahead!

I found this here: http://www.drsanity.blogspot.com/2012/06/suicide-is-painless.html

"The Glass Cellar'

From Instapundit:

The American men’s rights author Warren Farrell calls it “the glass cellar”. There might be a glass ceiling for women, Farrell once told the Observer, but “of the 25 professions ranked lowest [in the US], 24 of them are 85-100% male. That’s things like roofer, welder, garbage collector, sewer maintenance – jobs with very little security, little pay and few people want them.”
Do Benatar and Farrell have a point? A handful of statistics seems to bear out their thesis. Not only are men more likely to be conscripted into military service, to be the victims of violence, and to lose custody of their children in the event of a divorce, but tests conducted in 2009 by the programme for international student assessment, carried out by the OECD thinktank, showed that boys lag a year behind girls at reading in every industrialised country.

via  http://pjmedia.com/drhelen/2012/05/14/the-glass-cellar/

Will he go back to prison?

John Hawkins interviews Robert Stacy McCain about Brett Kimberlin. http://www.rightwingnews.com/interviews/interviewing-robert-stacy-mccain-about-brett-kimberlin/

If you're a man, stay out of the children's section!

A man was in a Barnes and Noble looking for books to buy for his grandchildren. Naturally, he was looking in the children's section. A woman complained that "a man alone" was in the children's section, and he was asked to leave the store. Read more here: http://pjmedia.com/drhelen/2012/06/05/the-war-on-men-continues/

I like this chart!

This chart may be more consequential in predicting re-election of presidents than any other factors. As always, you can click on it to make it easier to read. http://blog.american.com/2012/06/obamas-entire-reelection-problem-in-one-chart/

Need a bumper sticker?

via http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/06/bumper-sticker-o-day.html

Are we watching the national Democratic Party Implode?

Doug Ross thinks so, although he warns conservatives not to become complacent. He cites many recent examples of prominent Democrats breaking from the Obama line, along with national security breaches coming straight from the White House:  http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/06/we-are-now-watching-democrat-party.html

Newspaper subscriptions: to cancel or not to cancel

I had some free time this afternoon, which is highly unusual, since I work in a retail establishment that usually requires everyone to work on Saturdays. I thought I would try to read about a week's worth of unopened Denver Posts. Yes, I know I can find out what's going on in the world much faster and more comprehensively by reading the many excellent blogs, but I obsess that I might be missing an important story, especially one with a more local twist. As has been the case for many years, the sports pages interested me most. I didn't find much else, but now I have a big pile of newspapers to get rid of, and my fingers were absolutely filthy! What about you? Have you cancelled your subscriptions? I am thinking about it.

Eating well

The person ahead of you in line at the grocery store with the full cart? Odds are they are paying with food stamps, paid for by your taxes, while you have just a few items, but are paying with your own money. $81 billion dollars this year!

"High Crimes, Treasonous Crimes"

Doug Ross summarizes recent leaks from the Obama administration.

• A film is being made about Obama getting bin Laden. The film directors were given access to the raid information, including the identity of one of the Seal Team 6 members.
• In just the past week, two tell-all articles about Obama’s leadership as commander-in-chief have been published, dripping with insider details about his sleeves-rolled-up involvement in choosing terrorist targets for drone strikes and revelations about his amped-up cyber war on Iran...
•  "Dr. Shakil Afridi (pictured above) ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad where U.S. commandos killed the Al Qaeda chief in a May 2011 raid... The operation outraged Pakistani officials, who portrayed it as an act of treachery by a supposed ally. [Rep. Peter] King, R-N.Y., said administration officials talked about the doctor and his DNA sampling... The doctor was sentenced to 33 years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring against the state. 
• "In a rare public admission of the covert cyber war against extremists, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says cyber experts based at the State Department hacked Yemeni tribal websites, replacing Al Qaeda propaganda that bragged about killing Americans...

All-powerful government; citizens living in fear

 Wang Jinxiang, mother of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, walks in the courtyard of her house where Chen was under house arrest, at the Dongshigu village, Shandong province, China. (Andy Wong, The Associated Press)
What is it like to live in a country where the government is all powerful? Even though Chen has been in New York with his wife and children for a couple of weeks now, the villagers are still afraid to talk about his imprisonment in his own house. The Denver Post has this story and photo of his mother. outside the house where he was brutally confined, because he exposed the horrors of that nation's forced abortions and other brutal procedures. http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_20817484/blind-chinese-activists-village-scared-talk-about-him

Obama EPA uses drones on farmers and ranchers in the U.S.

The Obama EPA is using drones to spy on farmers and ranchers. Read the story here: http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/06/epa-drones-spy-on-farmers-in-nebraska-and-iowa/

Hitler finds out Scott Walker won the recall!

I found this hilarious spoof here: http://www.dailypundit.com/

Swift-boat away, mates!

Daily Pundit says ABC is finally covering the Kimberlin story. Kimberlin tells them he does not use the internet in any way, and makes himself the victim, as all criminals are want to do. He claims he is being "swift-boated." Daily Pundit quotes Ann Coulter's famous line, "Swift-boating is when someone tells the truth about Democrats."
Read more here: http://www.dailypundit.com/
Update: Senator Saxby Chambliss has fired off a letter asking Attorney General Holder to investigate SWATting. Fat chance Holder will lift a finger.
These dangerous hoaxes, also known as “SWAT-ting,” occur when a perpetrator contacts local police to report a violent incident at a target’s home. These callers are believed to utilize voice-over IP (VOIP) and other less-traditional telecommunications methods to make the call appear to come from the target residence and to hide the caller’s true identity.
In response, a dispatcher sends a SWAT team or other police unit in a heightened state of readiness to the unsuspecting target’s residence. Targets only learn of these false reports when a large police presence descends upon their homes.
Read more here: http://michellemalkin.com/2012/06/06/sen-saxby-chambliss-to-doj-what-are-you-doing-about-swattings/

Will Michelle withhold pushups from him?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

How important is integrity?

Innominatus blogs about Barry Obama's apparent lies about his own bio: "I was traipsing around the blogosphere and hit this Protein Wisdom link to a bit of investigation done by Doug Ross.  Gist of the story:  Ross dug around in web archives, looking for changes in Obama's "literary bio" - the junk that goes inside or on the back of a book jacket...

Turns out those bios were edited several times, marking such things as barry's ascension through State Senator, US Senator, etc...    The "born in Kenya..." parts remained after each edit, right up until 2 weeks before barry declared his intentions to run for the presidency - at which time it just went away and became "born in Hawaii..."

"I care what I think about me - which influences dictates my treatment of others, particularly those I love.  Hence I can't even begin to understand how a person like barry could so cavalierly misrepresent the self.  To assert a false self implies that the genuine self is lacking.  I would consider that the ultimate betrayal, made worse because it was done by me, against me.  It would be a thousand times more preferable to shape and adjust my life until I WAS what I wanted to be, than to shrug off that effort and just claim it, while knowing otherwise.

It is further boggling that such a man could end up in the nation's highest office.  It would eat at me continually if I attained so much only by BSing people about who I really am.  If barry has so little respect for something as important as the self, how can he be expected to respect anything external?  Like Rights.  Institutions.  Laws.  This flaw of his is much more important than what patch of dirt Stanley birthed him on."
Read more here:  http://innominatus87.blogspot.com/2012/05/value-of-self.html

Oh, and by the way, Innominatus is the only American left who is not descended from the Cherokees.

One fine example of homeschooling

I am reading Tim Tebow. His mom homeschooled him and his three brothers and two sisters, before it became a popular thing to do. His description of it is powerful.

Thank you, Mom!

He is the star of the team that has just won the right to play for the NBA championship. What is the first thing he does? He says "thank you" to his mom! Read more here: http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/06/07/12/We-can-all-feel-good-about-Thunder-/msn_landing.html?blockID=742542&feedID=3589

Need a thrill?

The Daily Mail has this photo and story about extreme kayakers who love to go over the most dangerous waterfalls in the world: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2155371/Over-edge-Extreme-kayakers-dice-death-plummet-precipice-worlds-powerful-waterfalls.html

How long has it been since you've seen a boulder?

Coyote Blog reprints this important story from The Onion of our next environmental crisis:

A coalition of geologists are challenging the way we look at global stone reserves, claiming that, unless smarter methods of preservation are developed, mankind will eventually run out of rocks.

“If we do not stop using them up at our current rate, rocks as we know them will be a thing of the past,” renowned geologist Henry Kaiser said at a press conference Tuesday. “Igneous, metamorphic, even sedimentary: all of them could be gone in as little as 500,000 years.”

“Think about it,” Kaiser added. “When was the last time you even saw a boulder?”
The scientists warned that, although people have long considered the world’s rock supply to be inexhaustible, it has not created a significant number of new rocks since the planet cooled some 3.5 billion years ago. Moreover, the earth’s rocks have been very slowly depleting in the last century due to growing demand for fireplace mantels, rock gardens, gravel, and paperweights.

Kaiser claims that humanity has “wreaked havoc” on the earth’s stones by picking them up, carrying them around, and displacing them from their natural habitat.
“A rock can take millions of years to form, but it only takes a second for someone to skip a smooth pebble into a lake, and then it is gone.” Dr. Kaiser said. “Perhaps these thoughtless rock-skippers don’t care if they leave our planet completely devoid of rocks, but what about our children? Don’t they deserve the chance to hold a rock and toss it up and down a few times?”

Terrorist continues to terrorize conservatives

The latest victim of Brett Kimberlin and associates is black political activist Ali Akbar and his family.  When will this terrorist be put behind bars again? Thanks to http://conservativehideout.com/2012/06/05/brett-kimberlin-update-ali-akbar-targeted/

Death threats against Walker

Twitchy has re-posted many of the vile twitter comments of Scott Walker's opponents. They want him dead. http://twitchy.com/2012/06/06/kill-scott-walker-angry-libs-flood-twitter-with-death-threats-after-wisconsin-recall-defeat/

The President's Obsession

The Ulsterman Report interviews a "White House Insider," who says Obama is obsessed with the drone program, and that he has plans for domestic use of the drones. Apparently, he watches the drone kills over and over in his personal study, like a porn obsession. Read more here: http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/06/04/white-house-insider-barack-obamas-high-tech-snuff-films/
via  http://classicalvalues.com/2012/06/a-whole-new-level-of-weird/

You just never know who might be catching your pitch!

via http://chicksontheright.com/2012/05/30/your-feel-good-video-for-wednesday/

Thank you, sir!

Chicks on the right posted this photo from a friend of theirs who is serving in the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan. via http://chicksontheright.com/2012/06/04/wanna-see-something-awesome-3/

Walker Wins!

NBC has called Governor Walker the victor in today's recall election. http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/05/12074595-nbc-news-walker-emerges-victorious-in-wisconsin-recall?lite
Update: Peter Wehner thinks he knows what the Walker win signifies: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/06/06/what-scott-walker-victory-signals/#more-795808

Sabotage

Gateway Pundit reports that Democrats are busing in voters from Minnesota and Michigan to bolster their vote in today's recall election against Republican Governor Scott Walker. Listen to this guy who calls a talk radio host to tell him he is on a union-sponsored full-to-capacity bus to bring illegal voters to Wisconsin from the Detroit area. The man is tickled that he is pulling a fast one on the Democrats and unions.
via http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/wisconsin-democrats-are-busing-in-supporters-from-minnesota-for-recall-vote-video/

Big government thuggery

This Idaho couple decided to try to build a vacation home near a lake in Iowa. They hauled in fill dirt in anticipation of the construction of their home. However, they were soon visited by bureaucrats from the Environmental Protection Agency and told they would be fined $75,000.00 per day until they 1.) Removed the fill-dirt, 2.) Seeded the ground with “wetlands” plants, 3.) Fenced it for three-to-five years, then 4.) Apply for an “after-the-fact” permit from the EPA which they’d be unlikely to obtain. In March the Supreme Court shot down the bureaucrats 9-0.

Read more here:  http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-Personal-Cost-of-Big-Government-Thuggery

How Democrats treat autistic children in Massachusets

 Read here about the Center's connection to the Democratic Party:
via http://agonist.org/steve_hynd/20120603/electro_shock_torture_school_donates_exclusively_to_mass_dems
more here:  http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/30263.html

A liberal chooses a liberal

The CATO Institute has this analysis of the record of the man whom Romney has chosen to lead his transition team:

Mike Leavitt as Governor

Posted by Chris Edwards

Mitt Romney has chosen liberal Republican Michael Leavitt to lead his presidential transition team. A lot of commentary focuses on his “Obamacare-lovin” proclivities.
Leavitt also has a government-lovin record as governor of Utah from 1993 to 2003, according to Cato’s biennial Fiscal Policy Report Cards. Cato graded Leavitt five times, and his scores were pretty dismal:
2002: D
2000: D
1998: C
1996: C
1996: C
In the reports, Steve Moore and coauthors say such things as “Leavitt is a big spender extraordinaire” and “Leavitt has shown time and again that he is to the left of his party.”
Leavitt apparently favored lots more school spending, and opposed school vouchers.
The Cato reports also say that Leavitt supported a few paltry tax cuts, but blocked larger tax cuts from the legislature, while pushing for higher taxes on Internet users, cigarette consumers, and automobile owners through higher gas and car fees.

This is not good. Whether an administration chooses between pro- and anti-market policies many hundreds of times during its tenure depends upon the people chosen at the highest levels by incoming presidents. Even Ronald Reagan had many “enemies within” his administration that undermined his generally smaller-government approach to policy. Romney appears to be no Reagan, so liberals within his administration would probably have even more free range to cause trouble.
 http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/mike-leavitt-as-governor/