Saturday, May 31, 2014

A Wearable Submarine

Daddy like:

Developed and built by Nuytco Research, this exosuit is made from hard metal and allows divers to operate safely down to a depth of 1000 feet. The suit has four 1.6 horsepower propulsion thrusters, fiber optic gigabit ethernet, and a host of telemetry devices.


The "Exosuit atmospheric diving system" (ADS) will allow wearers to work in deep water without facing problems with decompression. While still in testing right now, diver Michael Lombardi will be taking it out for its first full exploration mission later this summer, at a location called Canyons, approximately 100 miles off the coast of Rhode Island.

Ironman.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

BOOM: Ted Cruz Wins RLC Straw Poll

By Conservative Intel

NEW ORLEANS, May 31, 2014 — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., excited the crowd at the Republican Leadership Conference when he addressed them this afternoon. He followed up his appearance with a victory in the event’s 2016 presidential straw poll, which was sponsored by Conservative Intel.

In the straw poll, 633 ballots were cast, which was attended by more than 1,500 people. The results were as follows:

1. Ted Cruz — 30.33 percent
2. Ben Carson — 29.38 percent
3. Rand Paul — 10.43 percent
4. Mike Huckabee — 5.06 percent
5. Rick Perry — 4.90 percent
6. Curt Clawson (write-in) 4.58 percent
7. Jeb Bush — 4.42 percent
8. Marco Rubio — 3.32 percent
9. Rick Santorum — 2.37 percent
10. Paul Ryan — 2.05 percent
11. Allen West (write-in) — 2.05 percent
12. Chris Christie — 1.11%
 

I’m Here to Chew Bubble Gum and Debunk the 97% Global Warming Myth… and I’m All Out of Bubble Gum

By Jim Lakeley

Climate blogger Tom Nelson alerted us to a study of Australian opinion about man’s role in making the planet boil (or not).

People are more likely to believe that humans cause global warming if they are told that 97 percent of publishing climate scientists agree that it does, a new study has found.

Well, yes. If I was told that, say, 97 percent of dentists agree that chewing Trident is better for your teeth than chewing bubble gum, that would make perfect sense. Trouble is, the idea that “97 percent of publishing climate scientists agree” human activity has created an out-of-control global warming crisis is a myth.

To cop the immortal words of Rowdy Roddy Piper in the B-movie classic “They Live”: I have come here to chew bubble gum and debunk this myth … and I’m all out of bubble gum.

One of the most commonly cited studies of the “97 percent” was conducted by a University of Illinois professor and a graduate student who asked the following questions to 10,257 Earth scientists working for universities and government research agencies:

Larwyn's Linx: 9 Top Lies of Outgoing WH Press Secretary Jay Carney

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Nation

9 Top Lies of Outgoing WH Press Secretary Jay Carney: TR
Can the Legislative Roots of Obamacare Overturn the Law?: PJM
White House Tried To Cover Up Meeting Between Hillary And Obama: WZ

Hillary Clinton Blames Video For Benghazi Attack In New Book Novel: WZ
Widespread Memorial Day Black Violence Ignored by National Media: AT
House Dems unveil new gun bill: Politico

Boehner's intimidation tactics to keep his speakership: iOTW
Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) seems… worried… about her electoral chances: RS
After primary loss, Tea Party stirs Georgia GOP runoff: Fox

Economy

1 in 6 American Men Between Ages 25-54 Are Not Working: WS
Despite Thomas Piketty, Voters Reject Economic Redistribution: Michael Barone
`Operation Choke Point' Details Disclosed in Government Memos.: WSJ

Scandal Central

ATF Charged with Creating Fictitious Crimes: Instapundit
“Obama Hits Suburbs After Election”: PW
Weekly Update: Fast and Furious Hero: JW

Hillary's Failed Benghazi Spin: Stephen F. Hayes
Woman Who Left Americans to Die: I won't play politics on the backs of dead Americans: JWF
'Dude!' Team Hillary reportedly hires Tommy Vietor for Benghazi spin control yes, that dude : Twitchy

Media

NYT: End Mass Incarceration Now -- A Fisking: TAB
Rolling Stoned: Low-info lies for low-info readers: Tom Blumer
ABC, NBC Ignore GDP Plummet, Again: MRC

Hillary Attacks Critics of Her Benghazi 'Hard Choices': TR
Apple’s newest executive advocating rape and murder of women- a radical homophobic racist: Michael Lofti
Sarah Palin on Veterans Affairs: 'Illegal aliens' get better care: Politico

World

Iranian Power Struggle Reaches New Heights, Threats Exchanged: IPT
Muslims Push for Taxpayer-Funded Halal Food in California Public Schools: Outpost
London’s Drive to Become the Sharia Finance Capital of the West: Breitbart

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

There Might Be 100 Million Planets In The Galaxy With Complex Life: UniverseToday
Home Depot staffer fired, tapped 30,000 accounts, shared card data: Adam Greenberg
Congressman bankrolled by ISPs tries to halt Internet regulation: Ars

Cornucopia

“If I only had a brain…”: MOTUS
This minor-league-baseball player hit a home run and guess who caught the ball?: Rare
Less Than 25% of West Point Cadets Stood Up For Obama After He Was Introduced: RWN

Image: Obama’s boldest move on carbon comes with perils
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Dave Brat for Congress: Fire Eric "Amnesty" Cantor!

QOTD: "With his lame duck status and this being his “year of action,” we should be terribly wary of what institutionalized edicts he’s putting in place — and especially, those we haven’t really heard much about. Because fundamental transformation has been given its legal go ahead through ObamaCare, and the offshoots of that re-imagining of the relationship between the people and the government, with the citizens as subjects and the government the sovereign, will be used in any number of ways to constrain liberty and choice, all in the name of the greater good." --Jeff Goldstein

Friday, May 30, 2014

THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX: Then, Now and the Lies They Told

101 years ago, the progressive movement in America -- an offshoot of the European socialists -- passed the 16th Amendment, which installed the federal income tax. Like all of the progressives' fables, it was predicated on lies.

Consider the dichotomy:



The federal government is insatiable.

It has become what the Framers feared.

It has become an unconstrained leviathan that inserts itself into every aspect of Americans' lives and ruins everything it touches. From Fannie Mae to the VA, from the "Great Society" to public sector unions, from the student loan business to Obamacare, it has a track record of failure and a legacy of misery.

And no matter its failures, it never downsizes. It never turns introspective, examines it failures and course-corrects. The elites who become lifetime politicians take an oath to uphold the Constitution and then refute it. Once in office, they revile its limits and scoff at its intent.

We Americans were blessed with the gift of the finest form of government ever seen in human history. And the progressives are trying to throw it all away, following the same ill-defined game-plan of centralized, authoritarian government with top-down decision-making that hasn't worked in all of human history, can't work, and will never work.

Precious little time remains to save this Republic.


6 STARTLING TIME-LAPSE PHOTO SEQUENCES: The Utter Collapse of the Democrat Utopia of Detroit

Using publicly accessible street maps, the folks at GooBing Detroit compared various Motor City properties over a period of time. Each of the following photo sequences were taken in the 2009 to 2011 time-frame.


Killer's Own Words Confirm NRA's Truism: Only Good Guys With Guns Stop Bad Guys With Guns

By Yehuda Remer

"It would be impossible to kill enough of my enemies before being dispatched by those damnable cops."

Elliot Rodgers, the UCSB murderer who killed six people, seemed to take a chapter out of the NRA playbook, echoing Wayne LaPierre’s now famous words – “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”

In his 141-page manifesto Rodgers writes:

“Another option was Deltopia, a day in which many young people pour in from all over the state to have a spring break party on Del Playa Street. I figured this would be the perfect day to attack Isla Vista, but after watching Youtube videos of previous Deltopia parties, I saw that there were way too many cops walking around on such an event. It would be impossible to kill enough of my enemies before being dispatched by those damnable cops.”

In other words, the more good guys on the ground, the more likely mass killings can be reduced. So says the killer.


Read more at TruthRevolt

Larwyn's Linx: Dem Luis Gutierrez helping Eric Cantor get reelected to push Amnesty

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Dem Luis Gutierrez helping Eric Cantor get reelected to push Amnesty: Hot Air
Mary Landrieu: Oh, you bet I support Harry Reid for Majority Leader again: Hot Air
Obama Flack: Hey, You Know Obama Can't Fire Shinseki: Ace

10 Questions on the Obama Administration's Release of Criminal Aliens: CIS
Great: Former Republican Senators Endorsing Democrat Senate Candidates: Ace
Obama: Sure I Suffered Concussions Back When I Never Played Football: JWF

Carney Won’t Say Whether Obama Has Confidence in Shinseki: NRO
Meet Corrine Brown (D-FL), vehement Florida VA booster: Moe Lane
Dave Brat Tells the Truth About Eric Cantor on Amnesty: VARight

Economy

Economy Shrinks 1% in First Quarter: Breitbart
Death Rattle Confirmed – First Quarter GDP Revised To -1%: Treehouse
The Real Minimum Wage Is Zero: Fred Wszolek

Congress May Mandate Paid Maternity Leave, Other Women’s Benefits: PJM
Companies Like Uber Encourage Innovation, Improve Consumers’ Lives: RWN
Piketty’s Envy Problem: Peter Schiff

Scandal Central

Shinseki: All Right, Now I'll Start Actually Doing My Job: Ace
IRS Scandal Expands to Include Pro-Israel Groups: LI
ILL-inois: $12 million paid in medical benefits to 3,000 dead persons: Marathon

DOD Memo outlines Obama’s plan to use the military against citizens: Bill Gertz
Smoking gun reveals Obama use of military against US citizens: Anthony Martin
Totalitarian Collectivism: BATR

Climate & Energy

Media outlets continue to push climate crisis scenario, and the public isn’t buying. : John Fund
Obama To Announce Coal Regulation Via Executive Fiat (Recession to Follow): Lid
DoD official: Climate change is critical to national security: GSN

Media

Benghazi Is Such a Non-Issue That Hillary’s Democrat Party Enablers Are Meeting About It: DC
When Bushies blew a CIA cover, it was 'treason'; now, it's a mistake: Byron York
After Weeks of Leftist Harassment, Gay GOP Candidate’s Office Vandalized: GayPatriot

CBS Investigates the Latest on 'Ugly' VA Scandal Without Mentioning Obama's Name: MRC
Mass killers hold culture — and country — hostage: Jonah Goldberg
Killer's Own Words Confirm NRA's Belief: Good Guys With Guns Stop Bad Guys With Guns: TR

World

The Way West Point Cadets React to Obama vs. Bush Tells You Everything You Need To Know: YC
Reporters Openly Mocked the U.S. State Department’s Spokeswoman Today: Tatler
Obama's empty foreign policy vision falls flat at West Point: The Hill

Kerry: Obama Administration ‘More Engaged’ with World ‘Than at Any Time in American History’: PJM
An American’s Experience with Islamic Apostasy: Raymond Ibrahim
Howard Dean: Media Doesn't Know How To Deal With Obama's "More Sophisticated" Foreign Policy: RCP

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Machines v. Lawyers: John O. McGinnis, City Journal
Hackers put security tool that finds payment card data into their arsenal: CIO
In case of a Russian invasion, Estonia is uploading its government to the cloud: QZ

Cornucopia

Climate Change Blamed for 'Icy Reception' to Obama Speech: Cube
Let’s Debate the Logic of White Privilege: MOTUS
The America We Used to Know is Being Erased: Zion's Trumpet

Image: The People's Cube
Sponsored by: Dave Brat for Congress: Fire Eric "Amnesty" Cantor!

QOTD: "I go to Europe a lot for various speeches. I always get asked how come Obama’s not paying attention to us? I think he is. The problem is the Europeans have to change. This is not -- he can't rely only on America with a different policy. The Europeans have to understand now they're equal partners and more is expected of them. I think that's exactly what the president -- the kind of foreign policy the president wants." --Howard "YEEEHHAHHAHAWWWW" Dean

Thursday, May 29, 2014

AWESOME: Because it isn't powerful enough, Feds announce plan to take over local zoning decisions

Last Friday night, as the long holiday weekend began, the Obama administration furtively announced a plan to being controlling local zoning decisions at the federal level. Stanley Kurtz, writing at the National Review, explains:

...not a word has been heard of late about a truly transformative Obama executive action, his rule on “affirmatively furthering fair housing” (AFFH). That rule will push Americans into living how and where the federal government wants. It promises to gut the ability of suburbs to set their own zoning codes. It will press future population growth into tiny, densely-packed high-rise zones around public transportation, urbanizing suburbs and Manhattanizing cities...

You won’t see a more ambitious Obama administration initiative than this. Yet Obama never discusses AFFH. Although a preliminary version of the rule was released in July of 2013, the president didn’t mention it in his State of the Union address. The controversial rule was the subject of a Weekly Standard cover, yet as far as I can tell neither The New York Times nor The Washington Post has ever done a story on AFFH...

[There isn't] an issue more worthy of public debate and discussion in advance of the 2014 midterm election than the AFFH rule and the Obama administration’s “regionalist” housing policies. You can see dry runs for what Obama hopes to do with his new housing rule in recent planning initiatives in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Twin Cities...


How can conservatives help draw the public's attention to these radical and unconstitutional dictates?

HILLARY'S NEW BOOK "HARD CHOICES" AND THE BIN LADEN RAID: 7 Ways POTUS Led From Behind

By Rusty Weiss

With her memoir, Hard Choices set to be released in the coming weeks, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her publishing company have provided an excerpt in which she claims President Obama’s actions during the Bin Laden raid were “as crisp and courageous a display of leadership” that she had ever seen.

Here are 7 reasons that Obama’s leadership during the raid was neither crisp or courageous.

1) Obama Canceled the Mission to Kill Bin Laden Three Times

Clinton writes about one of the strongest examples of decision-making under pressure:

“Perhaps the most famous example from my four years as Secretary of State was President Obama’s order to send a team of Navy SEALs into a moonless Pakistani night to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. The President’s top advisors were divided. The intelligence was compelling, but far from definitive. The risks of failure were daunting.”

The Clinton memoir tries to paint a picture of decisiveness despite “risks of failure” and “far from definitive” intelligence. President Obama made the call despite the numerous doubts. That isn’t necessarily the case, however.

According to a book released in August of 2012, titled Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, a source “with Joint Special Operations Command who had direct knowledge of the operation and its planning,” claims that Obama squashed the kill order on bin Laden in January, February, and March of 2011. Bin Laden was successfully taken down in early May.

2) Obama’s Indecisiveness Was Decided For Him

CITIZEN OF THE WORLD: Incompetence knows no borders

New York Magazine captured the reactions of seven diverse media outlets to President Obama's foreign policy speech at West Point earlier this week. The highlights included "[he] demolish[ed] straw men" (Slate), "highly partisan and defensive in tone", "weak, indecisive and unconvincing" (Bloomberg), "a defensive, lawyerly answer to critics" (CNN), and "ludicrous" (The New York Times, no less).


As former VP Dick Cheney summed it up: "We've got a problem with weakness, and it's centered right in the White House. It's as though he wasn't even around when 9/11 happened."


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

ObaVAcare

As A.F. Branco observes, "the V.A. is but the tip of the iceberg."


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: The 'Almost Exclusively White Phenomenon' of Constitutional Conservatism

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The 'Almost Exclusively White Phenomenon' of Conservatism: John Bennett
Establishment GOP Takes The 30 Pieces Of Silver To Pass Amnesty: ConHQ
Cuccinelli: Amnesty could destroy the GOP Base: PJM

1,700 vets hidden from VA wait list, wait times for others averaged 115 days: Hot Air
Eric Holder's Money Shot: Mark Steyn
When Obama Called the Plame Leak a Major Crime: GWP

The Elvis Presley Movie Presidency: HayRide
Michelle: Republicans “Playing Politics” with Kids’ Health: Keith Koffler
Rahm Emanuel Wants All Chicago Gun Sales To Be Videotaped: Glob

Economy

Unions Try To Block Veterans From Receiving Civilian Care: LoneCon
Gibson Guitar Knows Why The Feds Raided Them: Bryan Preston
NYT: Recovery Has Replaced Good Jobs With Bad Jobs: S&L

The Saddest, Scariest Millennial Statistic You’ll See Today: Bryan Preston
Have Insurance Through Your Employer? Get Ready For The Obamacare Pain: LoneCon
“A smoking gun in debate over consumer class actions?”: Overlawyered

Scandal Central

UNREAL: Obama Wants Race-Based Legal System in Hawaii: ConTrib
Labor Secretary Tweets Out Pro-Communism Message: YC
Judge who put Conyers back on the ballot is one of Harry Reid's "nuclear option" confirmees: Poor Richard

Climate & Energy

IPCC findings dispute ABC, CBS, NBC alarmist and flawed Antarctica sea level rise claims: WUWT
Al Gore: ‘Global Warming Will Cause Millions of People’s Heads to Explode’: Rash
More wind farms could lead to blackouts: Express UK

Media

Dear Democrats: If this administration can’t get socialism right, how will any administration, ever?: Bookworm
Huffington Post Article Promotes Anti-Semitic Elders of Zion Libel: TR
CNN Caught Red-Handed Sabotaging Gun Control Poll!: BuzzPo

WATCH: Mark Levin talks to Hannity about Obama scandals, Republicans in DC, and more…: Scoop
L.A. Times: Leaker of Valerie Plame Identity Was Richard Armitage Scooter Libby: Patterico
One-Percenter Gwyneth Paltrow Says Internet Criticism as ‘Bloody, Dehumanizing’ as War: Sooper

Hillary’s New Book: 7 Ways Obama Failed to Lead During the Bin Laden Raid: Rusty Weiss
Don’t Stigmatize Murderers!: Ann Coulter
The Intellectual Dishonesty of Obama and Other False Purists: Ron Fournier

World

Ouch: Less Than 25% of West Point Cadets Stood Up For Obama After He Was Introduced: WZ
New Ad: 'CAIR Leaders Convicted of Jihad Terror-Related Crimes': TR
Hamas-CAIR Thugs at Work: AFDI “Truth About CAIR” ads defaced with antisemitic vandalism: Pamela Geller

Cheney slams Obama on Afghanistan: Was he around when 9/11 happened?: Scoop
The tea party lives — in Europe: Cal Thomas
TSA check misses empty AK-47 clips in Yemeni man’s luggage: Post

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

This cheap and beautiful machine is 3D printing's best chance at going mainstream: Verge
Snowden Addresses Critics, Explains Why He Won’t Return to Face Charges: Wired
It’s not a man bra—it’s a wearable technology optimization device: QZ

Cornucopia

Strong Safety: Ann Barnhardt
Megyn Kelly Roasts Joe Scarborough: Have Fun with Your ‘Four Viewers’: Josh Feldman
‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ is a worthy Western sendup: Post

Image: E-cigarettes could save millions of lives, experts tell WHO
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BOOM: Chris McDaniel for Senate

QOTD: "Obama chafes at ... even-handed analyses. He dismisses them as "false equivalence" because the president won't be happy until every news story casts him as the hero and Republicans as the villains.

In politics and in everyday life, rarely are both sides equally wrong, which is why journalists shouldn't draw false equivalence. [WaPo liberal writer Dan] Balz is an example of how to measure blame fairly, not necessarily equally.

Rarer still is one side 100 percent right, which is why Obama is guilty of false purity. Obama's intellectual dishonesty has prevented him from learning on the job, which is what's required of great presidents—the kind who overcome obstacles that others whine about." --Ron Fournier, National Journal

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

ANOTHER BENGHAZI MYSTERY: Where was the USS Bataan?

By Investor's Business Daily

Benghazi: The administration deploys an assault ship with 1,000 Marines to Libya after ordering Americans to leave as the country implodes. Where was this ship on Sept. 11, 2012? Where was the president?

The families of the Benghazi dead must be cursing and scratching their heads at the sight of the amphibious assault ship Bataan, with about 1,000 Marines aboard, sailing into the Mediterranean Sea to assist in evacuating Americans if the current round of deadly fighting in Libya worsens.

Suddenly the administration is paying attention to the warning signs of a crisis of its own making and issuing concerns about security that were absent when four Americans died begging for help from an indifferent administration and a president who was resting prior to yet another fundraising trip.

Based on escalating security concerns, the U.S. State Department recommended Tuesday that Americans in Libya "depart immediately." In addition to the Bataan and its helicopters, America also has 250 available Marines, seven Osprey combat aircraft and three refueling planes in Sigonella, Italy, AFP reported.

Three years after President Obama supported the move to topple and kill longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has descended into armed chaos, and there isn't even a YouTube video to blame this time.

IF WE CAN JUST SAVE ONE CHILD: The Smallest Victims of the Ruling Elites' Amnesty Blather

By Genevieve Wood

There has been a lot of talk from the Obama administration about having more “humane” immigration policies — but the sad fact is that on President Obama’s watch, one of the most inhumane realities of illegal immigration has skyrocketed. Children are crossing the border – and they’re doing it without their parents.

The number of minor children crossing or attempting to cross the U.S. southern border unaccompanied by a parent or other adult relative has exploded from 6,560 in 2011 to an estimated 60,000 for fiscal year 2014. Border patrol agents in South Texas reported over 1,000 such children were apprehended by officials earlier this month, including a 3-year-old boy from Honduras.

What explains the dramatic increase?

As a government official from Ecuador told The New York Times, one of the main reasons is a belief held by many in Central America and Mexico that some sort of immigration reform will be passed that allows anyone who can get into the United States illegally to be able to stay.

In other words, the prospect of amnesty is encouraging more illegal immigration – and in this case, the human trafficking of children. Often raised by their grandparents or other relatives because their parents have already come to the U.S. illegally, these children are traveling alone or with human smugglers, called coyotes, who are paid to get them across the border.

And what happens once they’re here? According to the Department of Health and Human Services, by law, the U.S. government must assume custody of “unaccompanied alien children” apprehended by law enforcement who file claims to remain in the United States. The government then contracts with state-licensed facilities to care for the children until it can place them with sponsors.

According to a judge in Texas who has reviewed numerous such cases, the U.S. government is guilty of encouraging this illegal behavior.

OBAMA'S WORDS: Like Sand Against the Wind

By Lawrence Sellin

For Barack Obama speeches are not just motivational instruments or representations of a desired state of affairs, but feats of political transubstantiation, where, if he utters them, words become reality.

It is a behavior not dissimilar to Adolf Hitler maneuvering imaginary German divisions from his Berlin bunker while Russian troops rampage throughout the city above him.

Delusional is the only term that I can muster to describe the chasm that exists between the words Obama uses and the differing reality into which they are dispensed.

In politics and foreign policy, words have power if they are truthful and followed by corresponding actions. When they lack authenticity, however, words degenerate into the coarse tools of a con artist, receptive only to the cynical or the equally delusional.

It is as if Obama is following the George Burns axiom, the key to success is sincerity, if you can fake that, then you've got it made.

Case in point was his 2014 commencement speech at West Point, which was little more than a collection of false assumptions and imaginary accomplishments.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama Outs CIA Agent: None Dare Call It Treason

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Obama Outs CIA Agent: None Dare Call It Treason: ConHQ
Nancy Pelosi uncertain deaths of veterans at VA qualifies as a scandal: BuzzPo
President Obama’s Five-Step Scandal Manual: Keith Koffler

Hospitals hiking costs on the poor due to … ObamaCare: Hot Air
Government Agency Scraps Employee Ratings To Avoid ‘Discrimination’: DC
Rutgers Professor Blames UCSB Killing Spree on White Privilege: GWP

Look What 42 Years In DC Has Done to Senator Thad Cochran: Jen Kuznicki
#GASen candidate Michelle Nunn doubled salary while laying off 100: Unyielding
Texas Republican Runoff 2014: Rick Perry wins, Bill Powers loses: Cahnman

Economy

New IRS Obamacare Rule Guarantees Massive Job Loss: Publius
Pelosi On Best Way To Fix Obamacare: “Single-Payer” Like the VA: WZ
Public Unions Share the Blame For VA Deaths: Betsy McCaughey

US Economy Poised to Accelerate? Bond Market in Disbelief: Mish
Abortions, Crime At All Time High, Detroit Nears Third World Status: Ben Howe
IRS Eyes New Ways To Tax Miles of Frequent Fliers: Ira Stoll

Scandal Central

Behind the White House Leak of the CIA Agent’s Name Is a Real Story: Sara Noble
White House Announces It’s Investigating Itself After Outing CIA Official: Tammy Bruce
Glenn Greenwald to Publish Names of US citizens that NSA Spied On Illegally: Hacker News

Climate & Energy

The Left Doesn’t Really Believe in Climate Change: Jon Gabriel
EPA To Unilaterally Push Cap And Trade On Carbon Emissions: BarbWire
Google Honors Rachel Carson, Who Helped Cause the Death of up to 50 Million People: MB

Media

Dear Christians With Guns: Herschel Smith
“Nobody Needs.” The Media Attempts To Grant “Absolute Moral Authority” To Gun Control: Bob Owens
The Online Off and the Offline On: Erick Erickson

As Always, Life Continues to Imitate Liberal Fascism: Ed Driscoll
MSNBC’s Touré Apologizes for Equating Holocaust Survival With White Privilege: Glob
Obama scolds female reporter for asking about Afghanistan: FAM

Scenario for a Republican Nightmare in the 2016 Elections: Michael Barone
MTV Partners With CAIR Despite Terror Links: Creeping
White Privilege: Walter Williams

World

The Death Row Maternity Ward: Mark Steyn
CAIR Officials on Memorial Day: Do Fallen Troops Really Merit Honoring?: GWP
Justice for Taryn and Tanner: Michelle Malkin

Putin’s well-worn fascist lies: Jonah Goldberg
Guardian smears UKIP as "extreme right": Commentator
Prince Charles Calls for End of Capitalism to Save Planet From Global Warming: GWP

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

China's Payback for US Hacker Indictments Begins: TNW
Google made a self-driving car, and it doesn't have a steering wheel: Verge
Skype will soon get real-time speech translation based on deep learning: GigaOm

Cornucopia

Obama 'Madder Than Hell' After Accident Triggers WWIII: Cube
Blue on Blue: Hollywood Versus Hornaday: Ed Driscoll
Trump: there's a good reason why Obama dodged a $50 million offer to release student records: Daily Mail

Image: Obama 'Madder Than Hell' After Accident Triggers WWIII
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BOOM: Chris McDaniel for Senate

QOTD: "...[T]he Left doesn’t really believe in climate change. Their true religion is raising taxes, increasing government, impeding capitalism and reducing national sovereignty. Climate change is just a temporary excuse to achieve those ends." --Jon Gabriel

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

ROBB REPORT: Best Hotel of 2014

Robb Report has issued its "Best of the Best 2014" issue. The winning hotel looks quite unique:


The world’s only hotel to occupy a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe–designed building, the new Langham, Chicago (312.923.9988, www.langhamhotels.com), is a worthy tribute to the great Bauhaus architect. Debuted in September in an imposing glass tower along the Chicago River, the hotel abounds with appropriate touches, including Mies-inspired furnishings designed by the luminary’s grandson, Dirk Lohan of the Chicago-based firm Lohan Anderson. The 316-room property—which occupies the first 13 floors of the 52-story tower—breaks with form at times, as in the plush-carpeted guest rooms and suites and the Eastern-inspired Chuan Spa. The David Rockwell–designed Travalle restaurant serves as the hotel’s most authentic interpretation of Bauhaus, with glass walls, clean lines, and minimalist wood-and-metal furnishings. ($295–$6,000)

I'm guessing the suite pictured above is a tad closer to $6,000 a night as opposed to $295.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

California's Strictest-in-the-Nation Gun Control Laws No Match for Its Lax Mental-Commitment Rules

By Investor's Business Daily

Guns: The Santa Barbara shooter had legally purchased and registered firearms, and passed prior questioning by the police who saw no danger to himself or others. More gun laws won't stop the next such shooter, either.

It is eerie how the mental health of the shooter consistently seems to emerge as a key factor in mass shootings such as the rampage by Elliot Rodger, who killed six and wounded 13 on Friday. The shooter had been in therapy since age 8 and police had been warned by his parents to check him out.

Yet few liberals cry for tougher mental health laws compared with demands for tougher gun control. It would surprise these liberals that "right-wing bitter clingers" and even the NRA agree that some people shouldn't have access to guns — people such as Elliot Rodger.

The question is how to realistically and constitutionally do it. Instead of answering that question, we hear cries for "tougher" laws. But tougher than what?

Last December the Los Angeles Times noted in a report that California had the strictest gun control laws in the country and had received an A- grade in a state-by-state analysis by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

HEARTLESS: Socialist-Democrat Bernie Sanders Defends Single-Payer VA Even as Veterans Suffer and Die

By Bruce Parker

TONE DEAF: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has issued a series of high-profile statements that appear to defend the VA hospital system.

As accusations flood the Department of Veterans Affairs over systemic, severe wrongdoing at VA medical centers across the country, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has made a series of puzzling public statements that appear to defend the government hospital bureaucracy.

The string of statements began on May 15, when Sanders appeared on CNN for an interview with Chris Cuomo.

After urging media to remain neutral over claims that 40 U.S. veterans died at the Phoenix VA while waiting to receive care, Sanders said, “The allegation is not that the delay in care caused that, only that that is what is now being investigated.”

“Did the delay in care of these people on the secret waiting list actually cause these deaths? We don’t know,” Sanders said.

Elsewhere, Sanders appeared to gloat over the Veterans Affairs health care system, saying “the VA holds up as good or better than private hospitals. By and large, veterans throughout America believe that they’re getting pretty good health care.”

Larwyn's Linx: The Incompetence of Barack Obama: Outed CIA Covert Officer Edition

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The Incompetence of Barack Obama: Outed CIA covert officer edition: RS
Violence, Scapegoating, Misogyny and a Creepy Little Weirdo: R.S. McCain
Critics: White House Blunder Puts Whole CIA Unit in Peril: Todd Beamon

Lord Obama: Victor Davis Hanson
The Left Didn’t Waste Time Politicizing California Rampage: LoneCon
Thousands of Bikers Ride Through DC to Honor the Fallen: ConTrib

Teacher Admits Writing Common Core to End White Privilege: BuzzPo
The 6 Lamest Excuses For Failure From The Obama Administration: RWN
Fourth Mini-Bomb Goes Off a DC Area Theater: GWP

Hey, progressives: What else can you force Americans to do?: BuzzPo
Conclusive Proof Obtained: @SenRandPaul Is Just Another Hack: Belvedere
The Media Protects another Racist Democrat: Eagle Rising

Economy

What the IRS Obamacare ruling means: DTG
Unions, employers square off over ObamaCare costs in collective bargaining: Fox
White students fed up with black professor’s racial screeds, lawsuits fly: DC

Scandal Central

If only Obama treated our military vets as well as he does illegals: Godfather
Widow Claims Veterans' Hospital Police Beat Her Husband to Death: Courthouse
Over A Dozen House-Passed VA Reform Bills Sitting on Harry Reid’s Desk: Hideout

Climate & Energy

“Global Warming” Fun Fact of The Day: Planet Has Cooled Since 2005: WZ
EPA’s next target in fight against climate change: cooking stoves: Times
White House Quietly Releases Regulatory Agenda on Holiday Weekend: LI

Media

VA Fallout: Boston Globe, LA Times Declare Obama Incompetent: Warner Todd Huston
Ken Blackwell Destroys MSNBC Gun Control Narrative In One Response: TR
QOTD: How fact-resistant liberalism takes its greatest toll on those at the bottom: AEI

A Reparations Plan That Makes Sense: Jim Goad
The Labor Union that Runs the Media: Cliff Kincaid
Colion Noir On Mass Shooters: Real Revo

Newsweek – Orwell’s Newspeak and Thought Criminals in the Mental Hospital Called America: Paul McGuire
A Young College Grad Calls My Show: Dennis Prager
Not Like a Boss: Ace

World

Valerie Plame and Obama’s Double Standard on Outing CIA Personnel: Daniel Greenfield
Murder and Motivation: Mark Steyn
Voting Results From Europe Show Backlash To Muslim Immigration: NoisyRm

Muslim Brotherhood has a ‘significant presence’ in Canada, says study: BCF
Why is Team Obama unable to bring home Marine held in Mexico?: Fox
Ukraine: Rebels claim 35 deaths at Donetsk airport: USA Today

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Report: Google and Nest Want to Offer Home Surveillance: Gizmodo
Google Ignores Memorial Day – Update: 18 Hours Later, Google Decides To Honor Our Troops: WZ
HP to cut up to 16,000 more jobs: CNN

Cornucopia

My Daughter Made A WWII Veteran Cry: BuzzPo
Memorial Day, 2014...Some Personal Thoughts: Nuking Politics
Ronald Reagan Honors the Fallen… This is Powerful: ConTrib

Image: Ace o' Spades
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: BOOM: Chris McDaniel for Senate

QOTD: "If we were living in normal times, the following scandals and failures — without going into foreign policy — would have ruined a presidency to the point of reducing it to Nixon, Bush, or Truman poll ratings.

Think of the following: the Fast and Furious scandal, the VA mess, the tapping of the communications of the Associated Press reporters, the NSA monitoring, Benghazi in all of its manifestations, the serial lies about Obamacare, the failed stimuli, the chronic zero interest/print money policies, the serial high unemployment, the borrowing of $7 trillion to no stimulatory effect, the spiraling national debt, the customary violations of the Hatch Act by Obama cabinet officials, the alter ego/fake identity of EPA head Lisa Jackson, the sudden departure of Hilda Solis after receiving union freebies, the mendacity of Kathleen Sebelius, the strange atmospherics surrounding the Petraeus resignation, the customary presidential neglect of enforcing the laws from immigration statutes to his own health care rules, the presidential divisiveness (“punish our enemies,” “you didn’t build that,” Trayvon as the son that Obama never had, etc.), and on and on.

So why is there not much public reaction or media investigatory outrage?" --Victor Davis Hanson

Monday, May 26, 2014

OPEN BORDERS: Mexican Drug Cartels Now Using Billboards in Texas to Threaten Police and U.S. Citizens

The insanity of a federal policy that refuses to secure America's border with a failed narco-terror state is nowhere better illustrated than today in El Paso.

Two frightening incidents of vandalism in El Paso near the Mexican border in Texas have been interpreted as warnings from drug cartels...


In both instances, a mannequin wearing a suit and tie was tied to a billboard with a noose and messages were scrawled over the placards.


Local station KHOU reports that one of the signs reads 'Plata o Plombo' which translates to 'silver or lead', a threat used commonly against police officers effectively warning that if they do not accept the cartel's bribes then they will be shot.


...This symbol has historically been used by Mexican drug cartels to threaten or intimidate Mexican citizens, business owners and government officials; however, we have never experienced this in El Paso,' local police said in a press release about the vandalism...

...The fear now for many is that the 'warnings' shows that the drug cartels- which have not been identified by name- are willing to bring the violence from Mexican border towns into Texas.

Oh, yeah. I forgot.

They're "doing it for love," right, Jeb Bush?


MEMORIAL DAY: Obama Should Apologize For Five Years of Abysmal Treatment of Veterans

By Michael Synder

This Memorial Day, Barack Obama and members of Congress will honor our veterans by wearing ribbons and laying wreaths, but what they should really do is apologize to the entire nation for treating them like human trash for the past five years. You see, the truth is that this VA scandal is nothing new. The problems at the VA hospitals have been documented over and over again for years. When Barack Obama was a U.S. senator, he served on the Veterans Affairs Committee. So as he entered the White House, he was supposed to be an expert in this area. And back in 2008, he pledged to "make the VA a leader of national health care reform so that veterans get the best care possible". But of course that never happened. And now Obama is claiming that he only learned of the "secret waiting lists" at VA hospitals by "watching television", and his staff says that he is "madder than hell" about it. So now that he has been publicly shamed, will Obama actually do something about it? Because our military veterans deserve far better care than what they have been getting.

Most Americans don't realize this, but members of al-Qaeda detained at Guantanamo Bay actually receive far better medical treatment than our military veterans do. Just consider what former Pentagon spokesperson J.D. Gordon had to say about the matter...

Leftist sportswriter Mike Lupica once again blames untreated mental illness on the Constitution

A chemically unbalanced psychopath goes on a murderous rampage, this time using his luxury sports car, some knives and a firearm to kill and maim innocent people.

And what is the reaction of ostensible "sportswriter" Mike Lupica? As you might have expected, it's to lash out at the Constitution's Second Amendment and those who defend it.

Masterminds like Lupica can't be bothered to ruminate on the fact that the psycopath's own parents couldn't keep their kid on his meds nor alert the authorities to their real fears. No, Lupica wants to punish all of society for the actions of a lunatic.

So Lupica goes right to the totalitarian's playbook: get rid of all guns in order to stop psychopaths from killing. Yes, that's right, Mikey, ignore the guy plowing into people with his car, ignore his use of knives to kill, and instead go right for the jugular of the Consitution.

Larwyn's Linx: Grievously Wounded Vet Hammers Inept Commander-in-Chief on Memorial Day

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Grievously Wounded Vet Hammers Inept CINC on Memorial Day : RWN
The phony VA scandal is Bush's Fault, so can't you just let BO play through?: MOTUS
Memorial Day 2014: MOTUS

Ted Cruz's Dad Levels Obama and Holder Using the Bible: WJ
Democrats Privately Calling Obama 'Detached' and 'Incompetent': Daniel Halper
In response to UC Santa Barbara killings, let’s ban everything: Howard Portnoy

Never has worked, never will work: Cold Fury
Eric Holder Tells Graduates to Forget Sterling, Voter ID a Bigger Threat: Publius
Why are all mass-murderers Democrats?: AmPower

Economy

IRS Bars Employers From Dumping Workers into Exchanges: NewsMax
The Retail Death Rattle Grows Louder: Burning Platform
Figures: Democrat Pays Homeless Workers Below Minimum Wage: BuzzPo

Scandal Central

Bipartisan Lawmakers Call For Criminal Investigation Into VA Scandal: Cove
The VA Scandal: A Shadow over Memorial Day: CFP
White House PR Mistakenly 'Outs' CIA Station Chief In Afghanistan: Instapundit

Climate & Energy

Courts looking less impressed with EPA overreach: Instapundit
We’re Like Super Doomed From An Antarctic Ice Sheet: Cove
5.7 million dollar NSF grant to Columbia University for climate ‘voice mails from the future’: WUWT

Media

6 Shocking Details From Suspected Santa Barbara Shooter’s 141-Page Manifesto: Oliver Darcy
Three lies about ‘right-wing lunatic virgin’ Elliot Rodger that liberals wants you to believe: YC
There is Too Much Stupid At the Daily Kos, It’s Difficult To Post: iOTW

George Will: Gov't Can't Run Post Office, Amtrak – Why Should We Think It Can Run Health Care?: Breitbart
Citizen Journalist Visited by Joint Terrorism Task Force for Filming Police Building: StoryLeak
Seriously, MSNBC … exactly who is your audience???: Caleb Howe

Elliot Rodger's Parents Rushed to #IslaVista During Murder Rampage — #UCSB: AmPower
Rampage started at suspect's home before terror spree: CBS
Criminal Justice Reform: A New Domain of the Right?: PJM

World

Hooray! Obama To Warn Of Foreign Policy Overreach In West Point Graduation Campaign Speech: RWN
Islam: Some Religions Are More Equal Than Others: NoisyRm
Another Sheriff Buckles To CAIR: Shoebat

Fun Night for the Eurosceptics: UKIP and Front National Storm Brussels; Infighting Begins: Mish
WATCH: Nigel Farage Victory Speech: Order-Order
Still hunting for Brussels Jewish Museum shooter: LI

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Google Rated Top Employer for Pay and Benefits by Glassdoor: WSJ
The Dinosaur Hunter: ForPol
Driverless Cars Legally Hit Roads as California Issues Licenses; The Last Mile: Mish

Cornucopia

War vet reunites with K9 partner: 'He was my best friend': KOMO
Day By Day: The Other: Chris Muir
North Korea's Plan For Rap Music Dominance: Diogenes

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: HUDSON VALLEY HONOR FLIGHT - Help the Heroes

QOTD: "Washington, D.C. rapper Wale publicly bashed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday for pressuring the Redskins to change their name, saying the senator is only attempting to “make a bigger name” for himself by exploiting race issues.

The rapper also reminded his 3.6 million Twitter followers that Reid once told reporters that President Barack Obama was an effective politician because he’s a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

“Same dude tht was talkin down on Obama bein a ‘light skinned’ with ‘negro dialect’ all the sudden is a crusader for what’s right in race,” Wale tweeted.

The rapper called Reid “sketchy,” adding that he likely doesn’t know “anything about [the] Washington team and I doubt he cares he just using a sensitive time to garner attention.”" --Jason Howerton