Asked which "phony scandals" Pres Obama frequently decries, Jay Carney cited Benghazi and the IRS.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 31, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Revealed: Obama thinks IRS and Benghazi are phony scandals...
The families of the dead and 100's of conservative groups beg to differ...
Interesting: George Zimmerman is still packing heat...
Via TMZ:
George Zimmerman is still armed and theoretically dangerous … he was stopped by cops for speeding and revealed he had a gun in his glove compartment.
Zimmerman was speeding in Forney, Texas on Sunday, just after noon, when he was stopped by police. Zimmerman told cops he was headed “nowhere in particular,” and informed them he had a firearm in his glove compartment.
Zimmerman was given a warning, after cops determined he was free of warrants. He was sent on his way with a polite goodbye, “Have a safe trip.”
Keep on reading…
Great: Majority of of Republicans want their party to become more Conservative...
Via Politico:
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans want their party to change its direction, and more than half say they want the party to become more conservative, according to a new poll.
When asked if Republicans just need to make a stronger case on its positions or whether it needs to reconsider some of those positions, 59 percent of GOP voters surveyed in a new Pew Research Center poll said the party needs to reconsider some policies, while 36 percent said it just needed to make a stronger case. Sixty-seven percent said the party needed to address major problems, as opposed to 30 percent who said needed changes were minor.
How the party should move, though, was more split. Just over half, 54 percent, of Republican voters said the party leaders should move in a more conservative direction, while 40 percent said they should be more moderate. [...]
Of prominent GOP figures, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was the most popular, with 65 percent viewing him favorably and 15 percent viewing him unfavorably.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was viewed 55 percent favorably to 19 percent unfavorably, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was favorably viewed 50 percent to 20 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was favorably viewed 47 percent to 30 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was seen 33 percent favorably to 13 percent unfavorably, with 53 percent saying they had no opinion.
Bloomberg's Big Gulp ban faces another legal setback...
Via Reuters:
New York City’s plan to ban large sugary drinks from restaurants and other eateries was an illegal overreach of executive power, a state appeals court ruled on Tuesday, upholding a lower court decision in March that struck down the law.
The law, which would have prohibited those businesses from selling sodas and other sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces, “violated the state principle of separation of powers,” the First Department of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division said in a unanimous decision.
Space: Huma Abedin, wife NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, taking extended vacation...
Via Politico:
Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s transition office chief and the wife of embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, is expected to take extended vacation time from her job with the former first lady in the coming days, sources told POLITICO.
The move is not a leave of absence, two sources familiar with the move insisted, and it’s not precisely clear when she will depart for her vacation time from her day job.
It was a loose plan she’d had for weeks, since Hillary Clinton has close to no schedule next month - the Clintons are expected to vacation in the monied East Hampton enclave on Long Island - and Abedin had been expected to take the final few weeks leading up to the mayoral primary to be with her husband.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Sad: Number on Social Security Disability Insurance hits new high...
Via IBD:
More than 76,000 workers went on the federal government’s disability program in July, according to the latest data from the Social Security administration, bringing the total number of new enrollees this year to 534,038.
Although that is down somewhat from the same month last year, enrollment in the Social Security Disability Insurance program remains sharply higher than it has been historically. Since 2009, an average of about 1 million workers have gone on SSDI annually — a 31% increase from the average enrollment over the previous 10 years.
As a result, a record 8.9 million workers are now collecting disability benefits, which is up 15% since the recovery officially started in mid-2009.
Today, there are fewer than 13 Americans working in private sector jobs for each worker on disability. That’s down from 31 workers per disabled in 1990.
At the same time, the SSDI program is heading rapidly toward insolvency. At current spending and income rates, the program’s trust fund will become insolvent by 2016 — less than 2-1/2 years from now.
Keep reading…
You are old if you can remember when the police used to be the good guys...
When cigarettes really kill: An unarmed man was shot in his own driveway while rummaging through his mother's car looking for a smoke...
Early Saturday morning, Roy Middleton was rummaging through his mother's car in the driveway of his Warrington, Florida, home, looking for a cigarette, when he heard someone bark, "Get your hands where I can see them!" Middleton initially thought it was a neighbor playing a joke on him, but when he turned his head he saw Escambia County sheriff's deputies standing in his driveway. The next thing he knew, he says, they were shooting at him. "It was like a firing squad," Middleton told the Pensacola News Journal. "Bullets were flying everywhere." Middleton was lucky the deputies were terrible shots. His injuries were limited to a leg wound. "My mother's car is full of bullet holes though," he said. "My wife had to go and get a rental."
The deputies came to Middleton's house around 2:42 a.m. after a neighbor saw him reaching into the car and called 911. What happened after that, from the cops' perspective, is unclear.
Uber RINO John McCain wants to get rid of extra border agents in Gang of Eight immigration bill
Via Politico:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) signaled Tuesday that the dramatic boost in border-security in the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill could be one of the provisions that may be changed in a potential House-Senate compromise.
During an immigration forum hosted by the AFL-CIO Tuesday, McCain – a key Senate Gang of Eight negotiator – said while a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented immigrants is a “fundamental element” of the bill, the “rest of it could be adjusted.” He singled out the border security parts as an example.
“We don’t need 20,000 additional border patrol agents,” McCain said Tuesday. “But what we do need is use of technology that has been developed where we can survey the border more effectively.”
Unlikely: Treasury Department claims federal debt has been stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 70 straight days...
Via CNS News:
According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 26, which the Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt has been stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 70 straight days.Mark Twain should have said there are "Lies, damn lies and anything that comes from the Obama administration."
That is approximately $25 million below the legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 that Congress has imposed on the debt.
The portion of the federal debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress first hit $16,699,396,000,000.00 at the close of business on May 17. At the close of every business day since then, it has also been $16,699,396,000,000.00, according to the official accounting published by the Treasury Department.
If the debt had increased by even $30 million at any time during those 70 days, it would have exceeded the statutory limit. But, according to the Treasury, the debt did not do that. Instead, it remained precisely $16,699,396,000,000.00.
Even though the government’s official accounting of the debt has not budged for 70 days, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it was redeeming.
Keep on reading…
Still Closed: White House Tours; Open: White House Parties for Obama's Muslim Supporters...
Via WHD:
The White House continues to bar average Americans from touring “The People House” but nevertheless lavishes spending on all sorts of special invitees – from diners at last week’s Iftar dinner breaking the Muslim fast to sports teams and foreign diplomats.
Soon after the outcry over the cancellation of tours due to the sequester, the White House promised to see what could be done to allow some visits to resume. But nothing was done and no one can visit – unless President Obama finds you useful or amusing.
Favored guest have poured in this month, even though Obama was traveling in Africa for part of it.
Last week’s glittering Iftar dinner featured about 130 guests treated to remarks by Obama and bread breaking with senior aide Valerie Jarrett and National Security advisor Susan Rice.
Obama held a mass reception for the entire diplomatic corps July 19. He hosted the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion Louisville Cardinals July 23 and will gather with the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants today.
Keep on reading…
Monday, July 29, 2013
Interesting: Saudis worried about shale oil production in US...
Via Reuters:
In an open letter to Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and other ministers, published on Sunday via his Twitter account, Prince Alwaleed said demand for oil from OPEC member states was "in continuous decline".
He said Saudi Arabia's heavy dependence on oil was "a truth that has really become a source of worry for many", and that the world's biggest crude oil exporter should implement "swift measures" to diversify its economy.
Prince Alwaleed, owner of international investment firm Kingdom Holding, is unusually outspoken for a top Saudi businessman.
But his warning reflects growing concern in private among many Saudis about the long-term impact of shale technology, which is allowing the United States and Canada to tap unconventional oil deposits which they could not reach just a few years ago. Some analysts think this may push demand for Saudi oil, as well as global oil prices, down sharply over the next decade.
Amusing: Tennessee GOP “Welcomes” Obama Ahead of Chattanooga Visit
Welcome to Chattanooga - Welcome to America
“Maybe You can Learn a Thing or Two While You’re Here”
Scary: Congressional Black Caucus wants Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee as next DHS Secretary
Conservative bloggers went wild Monday when they got wind of the Congressional Black Caucus’ suggestion that President Obama pick Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston for the post of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Rich Cooper, avid blogger for Security Debrief, responded to the news of the Jackson Lee recommendation in a post by saying, “Apparently, it is not a joke. For reasons that baffle any sense of reality, it is a serious gesture on the part of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to encourage President Obama to nominate Rep. Jackson Lee as a replacement for outgoing-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.”
A letter dated July 25 and signed by CBC Chairwoman Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat, urges President Barack Obama to consider Jackson Lee for the position formerly held by Janet Napolitano, the first woman to hold the position. Napolitano resigned earlier this month to become president of the University of California.
“Representative Jackson Lee would serve as an effective DHS Secretary because she understands the importance of increasing border security and maintaining homeland security,” the nomination letter reads.
Keep on reading…
Moonbattery has a rundown of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's stupidity:
Readers have encountered this liberal “voice of reason” many times before, as for example when she called for American citizens to turn in their firearms, when she established herself as the Queen of Nastiness, when she took a snooze on the House floor, when she brought a phony doctor to advocate socialized medicine at a town hall meeting, when she diverted Islamic terror hearings into an attack on Christians, when she denounced a bill that would give closer scrutiny to suffocating regulations, when she proclaimed that the ObamaCare penalty is not a penalty, when she tried to arm vociferous American enemy Hugo Chavez, when she went completely off the rails while going to bat for Islam, when she rudely took a phone call while a subject was asking her a question at a town hall meeting, when she revealed in 2010 that South Vietnam was still in existence, when she hijacked Michael Jackson’s hearse, when she moved boldly to terminate freedom of speech, and of course when she referred to the American flag Neil Armstrong planted on Mars.
Anthony Weiner drops to fourth place in Democratic primary...
Via Quinnipiac:
Congressman Anthony Weiner drops to fourth place among likely Democratic primary voters in the race for New York City mayor as these likely voters say 53 – 40 percent he should drop out, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
There is almost no gender gap, but a wide racial gap on this question: Women say 54 – 42 percent that Weiner should drop out, compared to men at 52 – 37 percent. But black voters say 53 – 42 percent that Weiner should stay in the race, while white voters say 64 – 25 percent he should get out…
In today’s survey, Weiner gets 24 percent of black Democratic likely primary voters, down from 31 percent last week. Thompson gets 22 percent, with 21 percent for Quinn and 16 percent for de Blasio. Weiner’s support among white voters drops from 23 percent last week to 7 percent today.
Awesome Tweet of the Day
#RollingStone cover we will never see... pic.twitter.com/wC5Aw78MAu
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 28, 2013
Confirmed: Lockerbie bomber release was linked to a commercial deal...
Via The Telegraph:
An email sent by the then British ambassador in Tripoli details how a prisoner transfer agreement would be signed once Libya “fulfils its promise” to buy an air defence system.The disclosure is embarrassing for members of the then Labour government, which always insisted that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s release was not linked to commercial deals.The email, which contained a briefing on the UK’s relations with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, was sent on June 8 2008 by Sir Vincent Fean, the then UK ambassador, to Tony Blair’s private office, ahead of a visit soon after he stepped down as prime minister.Mr Blair flew to Tripoli to meet Gaddafi on June 10, in a private jet provided by the dictator, one of at least six visits Mr Blair made to Libya after quitting Downing Street.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Unlikely: Obama claims Keystone Pipeline could raise the price of gas...
Is Obama back on the choom?
The Hill reported:
The Hill reported:
President Obama said the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline would not be a major job creator and could increase gasoline prices, but added that the White House decision will rest on climate change.
“Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator. There is no evidence that that’s true,” Obama said in a New York Times interview published Saturday.
Obama, in some of his most extensive remarks ever on the pipeline, also said Canada could “potentially be doing more” to curb emissions from the oil sands.
His comments follow his closely watched late June pledge that Keystone XL would only receive a federal permit if the “net” effects of the pipeline would not “significantly exacerbate” carbon pollution.
Obama reiterated that threshold in the newly published interview and said that would be the basis for his decision.
“I meant what I said; I’m going to evaluate this based on whether or not this is going to significantly contribute to carbon in our atmosphere. And there is no doubt that Canada at the source in those tar sands could potentially be doing more to mitigate carbon release,” he said.
Video: Jack Lew Refuses To Answer If William Wilkins Has Been Asked About IRS Targeting
Jack Lew Refuses To Answer If William Wilkins Has Been Asked About IRS Targeting (July 28, 2013)
Carlos Danger's campaign manager abruptly quits...
Via Politico:
Scandal-singed New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner’s campaign manager abruptly quit on the heels of fresh revelations that the ex-congressman resumed sexting relationships after he resigned in 2011, POLITICO has confirmed.
Danny Kedem, the young operative who joined Weiner’s campaign in late spring when the former congressman announced his candidacy, departed the effort at the end of last week, a source familiar with the move confirmed. The news was first reported by the New York Times’ Michael Barbaro.
Amusing: Colorado gun laws so strict they prevent gun buy back program...
Via Breitbart:
All across the country police departments have sponsored gun buyback programs for the purpose of “getting guns off the streets.” But one buyback event in Boulder, CO had to be canceled because the state’s new gun laws are so strict that the police can’t even navigate the law to sponsor the program.
The event was canceled by Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, who sadly had to inform the community that Colorado’s new gun laws made it “nearly impossible” to follow the law.
One of the strict new laws that Colorado recently enacted requires a background check for every transfer of a gun. This would include transfers made from private owners to the sheriffs department, even if the guns are going to be destroyed. Sheriff Pelle informed the community that the system simply isn’t set up to be able to conduct so many checks, nor can it work in a remote location outside his offices.
Keep on reading…
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Unlikely: Michelle Obama claims Barack Obama is working to make Americans free from dependence on government...
Via CNS News:
In an e-mail to supporters, First Lady Michelle Obama says she grew up in a family that didn't need help from the government, and that her husband is working to make Americans free from dependence on government once again.
In her message sent yesterday from democratparty@democrats.org, Mrs. Obama says:
"When I was growing up, a family like mine -- living on my hard-working father's salary at the city water plant -- could build a solid life without much debt and without relying on any form of public assistance. Today, for too many families, that American promise is no longer within reach.
"Barack is working to fix that and he needs solid Democrats in Congress to help him."
Senators ask colleagues for proposals to revamp tax code; promise to keep suggestions secret for 50 years...
Via The Hill:
The Senate’s top tax writers have promised their colleagues 50 years worth of secrecy in exchange for suggestions on what deductions and credits to preserve in tax reform.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), assured lawmakers that any submission they receive will be kept under lock and key by the committee and the National Archives until the end of 2064.
Deeming the submissions confidential, the Senate’s top tax writers have said only certain staff members — 10 in all — will get direct access to a senator’s written suggestions. Each submission will also be given its own ID number and be kept on password-protected servers, with printed versions kept in locked safes.
The promise of confidentiality was revealed just two days before the deadline for senators to participate in the Finance Committee’s “blank slate” process, which puts the onus on lawmakers to argue for what credits and deductions should be kept in a streamlined tax code.
Legal experts warn gays marriage may not be all it is cracked up to be...
Via USA Today:
"For many people there will be this temptation, this very understandable urge to get married because we can and because for so long we could not," Gover said. "But I'm going to caution against that impulsive decision to marry because marriage may not be right for everyone."
As another panelist, estate-planning adviser Chris Heritage, put it, "Walk to the altar. Don't run to the altar."
Heritage stressed couples should talk with their own advisers to see how marriage may affect taxes or health benefits.
There's also the question of what happens if the marriage doesn't work out. Under the law, Heritage said, divorcing couples would have their assets split in half. To get around that, he said, couples may want to consider a prenuptial agreement.
The Supreme Court rulings are probably going to have little impact on couples in existing domestic partnerships, he said.
Panelists did encourage married couples to also register as domestic partners and to take other steps that may give them more rights if they travel to states where their marriage isn't recognized.
Gover suggested that anyone having doubts about a marriage should wait or try some pre-marital counseling.
Does Juror B29 (Maddy) really think George Zimmerman got away with murder?
The answer may not be yes. It appears ABC News did a little selective editing...
Via Salon:
Did George Zimmerman get away with murder? That’s what one of his jurors says, according to headlines in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and dozens of other newspapers. Trayvon Martin’s mother and the Martin family’s attorney are trumpeting this “new information” as proof that “George Zimmerman literally got away with murder.”
The reports are based on an ABC News interview with Juror B29, the sole nonwhite juror. She has identified herself only by her first name, Maddy. She’s been framed as the woman who was bullied out of voting to convict Zimmerman. But that’s not true. She stands by the verdict. She yielded to the evidence and the law, not to bullying. She thinks Zimmerman was morally culpable but not legally guilty. And she wants us to distinguish between this trial and larger questions of race and justice.
ABC News hasn’t posted a full unedited video or transcript of the interview. The video that has been broadcast—on World News Tonight, Nightline, and Good Morning America—has been cut and spliced in different ways, often so artfully that the transitions appear continuous. So beware what you’re seeing. But the video that’s available already shows, on closer inspection, that Maddy has been manipulated and misrepresented. Here are the key points.
1. The phrase “got away with murder” was put in her mouth. Nightline shows ABC interviewer Robin Roberts asking Maddy: “Some people have said, ‘George Zimmerman got away with murder. How do you respond to those people who say that?’ ” Maddy appears to reply promptly and confidently: “George Zimmerman got away with murder. But you can’t get away from God.” But that’s not quite how the exchange happened. In the unedited video, Roberts’ question is longer, with words that have been trimmed from the Nightline version, and Maddy pauses twice, for several seconds, as she struggles to answer it. “… George Zimmerman … That’s—George Zimmerman got away with murder. But you can’t get away from God.”
You have to watch her, not just read her words, to pick up her meaning. As she struggles to answer, she looks as though she’s trying to reconcile the sentiment that’s been quoted to her[...] She thinks he’s morally culpable, not legally guilty.
2. She stands by the verdict. ABC’s online story about the interview ends with Maddy asking, “Did I go the right way? Did I go the wrong way?” But that’s not the whole quote. In the unedited video, she continues: “I know I went the right way, because by the law and the way it was followed is the way I went. But if I would have used my heart, I probably would have [gone for] a hung jury.” [...]
3. She thinks the case should never have gone to trial. According to ABC News, when Roberts asked “whether the case should have gone to trial,” Maddy answered, “I don’t think so. … I felt like this was a publicity stunt.”
Keep reading…
Obama bypasses Congress and gives more direct funding to the Palestinian Authority
Via Washington Times:
President Obama on Friday afternoon ordered another waiver of congressional restrictions on direct funding of the Palestinian Authority, clearing the way for more U.S. aid.
In the one-page order, Mr. Obama said he was taking the action due to the “national security interests” of the U.S. The move comes as the administration is preparing to host renewed direct talks in Washington between Palestinians and Israelis for the first time since 2010.
The president in March directed about $500 million to be sent to the Palestinian Authority, also waiving the restrictions set by Congress. At the time, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he was seeking to move another $200 million to the Palestinians.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Parents of girl Weiner sexted with call him a 'snake and a pervert.’
Via Daily Mail:
Anthony Weiner has been lambasted as a ‘snake and a pervert’ who took advantage of a ‘mixed up kid,’ by the family of the 23-year-old at the heart of his latest sexting scandal.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the close family member said: ‘This guy has used and taken advantage of Syd.
‘He’s a grown man. She’s a young girl and kind of a mixed up kid. She’s bright and she’s pretty but she’s got sucked up in this whole ugly thing and this guy’s a snake and a pervert.’
Shameful tweet of the Day: Jim Carrey justifies defacing of Lincoln Memorial by vandals...
Carrey is a douchebag...
Green paint on Lincoln memorial. Ppl are getting tired of corporate tyranny disguised as democracy. ;^\ http://t.co/jM0wMj7E4h
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) July 26, 2013
Confirmed: Fracking does not contaminate ground water...
Via NCPA:
A landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, shows no evidence that chemicals from the natural gas drilling process moved up to contaminate drinking water aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site. After a year of monitoring, the researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to free gas trapped deep below the surface stayed thousands of feet below the shallower areas that supply drinking water, says CBS News.
Although the results are preliminary (the study is still ongoing) they are a boost to a natural gas industry that has fought complaints from environmental groups and property owners who call fracking dangerous.
The boom in gas drilling has led to tens of thousands of new wells being drilled in recent years, many in the Marcellus Shale formation that lies under parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. That has led to major economic benefits but also fears that the chemicals used in the drilling process could spread to water supplies.
- Drilling fluids tagged with unique markers were injected more than 8,000 feet below the surface, but were not detected in a monitoring zone 3,000 feet higher.
- That means the potentially dangerous substances stayed about a mile away from drinking water supplies.
Keep on reading…
Scary: Team Obama is demanding user passwords from Internet companies...
Via Cnet:
The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users’ stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.
If the government is able to determine a person’s password, which is typically stored in encrypted form, the credential could be used to log in to an account to peruse confidential correspondence or even impersonate the user. Obtaining it also would aid in deciphering encrypted devices in situations where passwords are reused.
“I’ve certainly seen them ask for passwords,” said one Internet industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We push back.”
A second person who has worked at a large Silicon Valley company confirmed that it received legal requests from the federal government for stored passwords. Companies “really heavily scrutinize” these requests, the person said. “There’s a lot of ‘over my dead body.’”
Some of the government orders demand not only a user’s password but also the encryption algorithm and the so-called salt, according to a person familiar with the requests. A salt is a random string of letters or numbers used to make it more difficult to reverse the encryption process and determine the original password. Other orders demand the secret question codes often associated with user accounts.
Demo San Diego Mayor Bob Filner now has 7 women accusing him of unwanted sexual advances
Via Fox News:
Four women publicly identified themselves Thursday as targets of Mayor Bob Filner’s unwanted sexual advances, bringing the number of accusers to seven this week as the leader of the nation’s eighth-largest city signaled once again that he has no intention to resign.
The latest accusers spoke with KPBS about inappropriate touching and comments. They said they believe Filner is unfit for office and should resign immediately.
The women are a retired Navy rear admiral, a dean at San Diego State University, the head of the San Diego Ports Tenants Association and a prominent businesswoman.
Veronica “Ronne” Froman, the retired rear-admiral and the city’s chief operating officer under Filner’s predecessor, told KPBS that Filner once blocked a doorway after others had left a meeting, ran his finger up her cheek and asked if she had a man in her life.
When she told him she did have a man, named Linden Blue, Filner allegedly replied, “Oh, of the Blues Brothers?”
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Weiner's sexting partner: “I’m disgusted by him. He’s not who I thought he was,”
Leathers was sexting with a married man who resigned from Congress for being a creep. Who did she really think he was?
Via NRO:
Leathers says her feelings have since changed, especially after watching the disgraced former congressman at Tuesday’s press conference with his wife, Huma Abedin. “I’m disgusted by him. He’s not who I thought he was,” she said. She also offered Abedin a tear-filled apology.
Keep on reading…
Fox News Poll: Just 25 percent of independents approve of the job the president is doing
Via Fox News:
Most voters are unhappy with the way things are going in the country, and over half say they don’t see signs the economy has turned the corner, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday. Those are two of the reasons why President Obama’s job approval remains below 50 percent — and hits a new low among independents.
Just 25 percent of independents approve of the job the president is doing, down from 31 percent last month.
Overall, 46 percent of voters approve of Obama’s job performance, while 47 percent disapprove. That’s a slight improvement from last month when headlines trumpeted the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the NSA spying on Americans and the Justice Department monitoring journalists. At that time 43 percent approved and 51 percent disapproved (June 22-24).
Amash amendment to limit NSA spying fails
Via Hot Air:
Speaking against the bill on the floor, Reps. Michelle Bachmann and hawkish freshman and Iraq vet Rep. Tom Cotton, among others. The roll call is here, if you’d like to see how your Congressman voted. The totals: 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats in favor, and 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats against.
I’m on the Amash side of this issue. Evidence that the NSA’s domestic spying has actually prevented terrorist attacks has been rather sparse and unconvincing, and while I respect that we occasionally have to make some sacrifices to protect ourselves, coughing up the metadata for every phone call we make doesn’t seem like the right balance to me. Supporters of such programs downplay the idea of metadata, as Cotton did today—“an excel spreadsheet with five columns”—but it only takes a couple of points of metadata to give you a lot of information about a person. Given that we are American citizens not under investigation, I don’t want them having, not to mention storing that information about us. And, I’m with PATRIOT Act author Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner in questioning whether the law even authorizes it.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Shocking statistic: Two people added to food stamp rolls for every new job created under President Obama...
Via CNS:
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday that the Obama administration has pulled the nation from the depths of the "Great Recession" with the creation of 7.2 million private sector jobs.
"And what is absolutely true is that we have come a long way since the depths of the Great Recession. We've created over 7.2 million private sector jobs," Carney told reporters at a press briefing.
Here's what Mr. Carney didn't say:
Since February of 2009, the first full month of Obama's presidency, 9.5 million Americans have dropped out of the labor force. Nearly 90 million Americans are not working today!
That means that 1.3 Americans have dropped out of the labor force for every one job the administration claims to have created.
There are 15 million more Americans on food stamps today than when Obama assumed office.
Breaking: Detroit bankruptcy is back on...
JUST IN: In defeat for employee unions, federal judge rules Detroit bankruptcy can proceed
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 24, 2013
Via The Detroit News:
A bankruptcy judge has overruled objections to the city’s bankruptcy filing, freezing several lawsuits filed against Detroit and will allow the bankruptcy case to proceed in federal court.U.S. District Judge Steven Rhodes also decided Wednesday that an automatic stay triggered by Detroit’s Chapter 9 filing extends to Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Gov. Rick Snyder and members of the restructuring team.The decision comes after city lawyers — during a hearing that lasted almost two hours over the biggest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history — argued Wednesday morning that Detroit would be “irreparably harmed” if retirees were able to block its Chapter 9 filing.
Auburn cop gets fired for refusing to comply with ticket quotas
Whatever happened to serve and protect?
Obvious: Al-Nusra Front plans on establishing Islamic caliphate in civil war torn Syria
Via INN:
The leader of the jihadist Syrian rebel group Jabhat Al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) has declared that his group is in favor of establishing an Islamic caliphate in civil war torn Syria.
In an audio recorded that has been disseminated over the past several days, Abu Mohammad al-Julani stresses that he strongly opposes parliamentary elections or any political settlement in the country which would be achieved through international intervention.
“Being Muslims, we do not believe in political parties or parliamentary elections, but rather in an Islamic regime based on the Shura (advisory council) and which implements justice … Our heading towards the establishment of Islamic law (Sharia) is jihad in Allah’s way,” Julani says in the recording.
Al-Nusra Front several months ago pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and has blacklisted by the United States and the United Nations as a terrorist again.
In the recording, Julani is unfazed by his organization being blacklisted and, in fact, says he is proud to be blacklisted by the U.S.
Delaware destroyed computer records of snooping into Christine O'Donnell's tax records...
Via The Washington Times:
Delaware state officials have told Congress that they likely destroyed the computer records that would show when and how often they accessed Christine O'Donnell’s personal tax records and acknowledged that a newspaper article was used as the sole justification for snooping into the former GOP Senate candidate’s tax history.
The revelations to Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office came Tuesday as the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, the government’s chief watchdog for the Internal Revenue Service, formally reopened its investigation into the matter by re-interviewing Ms. O'Donnell.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Unlikely: Zambian teachers being attacked by horny invisible witches or something...
The traditional leader said the teachers have complained of sleepless nights and bad dreams allegedly caused by wizards and witches.
“The male teachers complained that they have been having sex with women they cannot see. This has been happening to them for about three weeks,” he said.
Chief Sinadambwe said the same incidents were being experienced by female teachers.
“I received a complaint from a female teacher of Makaba Primary School who told me what had happened to her on Friday.
“She said while sleeping next to her husband, an invisible man undressed her and had sex with her,” he said.
He said when she woke up, she found herself naked and her nightdress and underwear were on the floor.
Chief Sinadambwe said when the woman asked her husband if he had intercourse with her late in the night, he expressed ignorance.
Awesome must see tweet of the day....
Boom...
The most famous white Hispanic helped rescue 4 Americans. The most famous black Caucasian refused to rescue 4 Americans! Who's A HATER?
— Kathy in SC (@KBinSC) July 22, 2013
Anthony "bulging underpants" Weiner kept sexting as much as a year after his resignation...
Via Politico:
Joined by his wife at a dramatic news conference Tuesday, New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner acknowledged that he continued to have illicit relationships with women online even after he resigned his seat in Congress two years ago over the same behavior.
“Some of these things happened before my resignation, some of them happened after,” Weiner said.
He couldn't say when? How about right before he attempted to make his political comeback.
Interesting: Wisconsin's largest teacher's union has lost half it's membership since workers aren't forced to join...
Via EAGNews:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says one of the goals behind Act 10, his landmark legislation that clipped the power of most public sector unions, was to give workers more freedom to decide if they wanted to belong to a union.
He’s apparently accomplished his mission. Several of the largest public sector unions in the state have lost thousands of members over the past few years, and a great deal of wealth and political power, as well.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, lost about half of its 98,000 members since Act 10 became law in 2011, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
That means WEAC has lot approximately half of its annual income from membership dues, which has impacted its ability to remain a force on the state political scene.
Shock Video: Obama Supporters Petition to Grant Him Immunity for All Crimes He Commits While in Office
Anything for the Dear Leader...
Unlikely: Harry Reid claims Mitch McConnell, ”tried to make love to the tea party and they didn’t like it,”
Via Politico:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is enjoying the possibility of a tea party backed challenger to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“He tried to make love to the tea party and they didn’t like it,” Reid quipped about McConnell to at an event hosted by the pro-Obama nonprofit Organizing for Action.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Obvious: Illegal immigrants lean heavily Democrat...
Via Pew:
While there’s no way of knowing if these predictions are accurate, the data provide some insights. In 2012, the Pew Research Center’s National Survey of Latinos found that among Latino immigrants who are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (and therefore likely unauthorized immigrants), some 31% identify as Democrats and just 4% as Republicans. An additional 33% say they are political independents, 16% mention some other political party and 15% say they “don’t know” or refuse to answer the question.
Divided: 87 percent of African Americans say Trayvon Martin the shooting was unjustified; only 33 percent of whites say so...
Via WaPo:
African Americans have a mostly shared and sharply negative reaction to the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the not-guilty verdict in the resulting trial, while whites are far more divided, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.Learn the truth about Trayvon Martin.
At least eight in 10 African Americans say the shooting of the Florida teenager was unjustified, recoil at the verdict in the trial and want the shooter, George Zimmerman, tried in federal court for violating Martin’s civil rights.
On the Martin shooting in particular, the racial gaps are extremely wide.
Among African Americans, 87 percent say the shooting was unjustified; among whites, just 33 percent say so. A slim majority of whites (51 percent) approve of the not-guilty verdict in the Zimmerman trial, while African Americans overwhelmingly and strongly disapprove. Some 86 percent of blacks disagree with the verdict — almost all of them disapproving “strongly.”
There is also a partisan tinge to the public views. Among whites, 70 percent of Republicans but only 30 percent of Democrats say they approve of the verdict.
The wheels are coming off Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns bus...
Via BuzzFeed:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns is finding it hard to keep its membership up, thanks to dozens of resignations and lost elections over the last few months.
Worse for Bloomberg, who has become one of the faces of the gun control movement: the people replacing his lost comrades aren’t particularly eager to sign up with the organization, a rare group battling in the trenches against the well-organized and deep-pocketed National Rifle Association. Some appear not quite to have signed on for that level of political heat.
“The original focus, I thought, was going to be on focusing on better on enforcement of our existing laws, and if anything, we have talked about not getting involved with things like banning assault weapons and banning magazine clips,” said Rockford, Il. Mayor Lawrence Morrissey, who left the group in June because, he said at a town hall meeting, the group had veered from what he originally thought it was about.
Bloomberg’s group has come under fire recently for naming murder suspects, including Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in its list of victims of gun violence and for hosting its website on New York City government servers.
According to an old version of its member list, saved on a blog dated back to late February, more than 50 mayors who were then listed on MAIG’s website are no longer there. Most of the mayors whose names are no longer affiliated with the group are off the list either because they resigned or lost an election, but others have specifically asked to be removed.
Keep on reading…
Tweet of the Day: Another zinger from Ted Cruz
Ouch!
Reaganomics: You start a business in your parents' garage. Obamanomics: You move into your parents' garage.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 20, 2013
A couple of pictures from my Japan trip...
This meal is called shabu shabu. Beef steak is sliced paper thin and swished in a boiling pot of water. There are also vegetables to cook in the boiling pot. You dip the beef in a vinegar-soy sauce. It is excellent.
The waitress at this restaurant wore a kimono as a uniform. It is rare to see a women wearing a kimono in Japan anymore. Most of the young women can't even put one on by themselves.
The waitress at this restaurant wore a kimono as a uniform. It is rare to see a women wearing a kimono in Japan anymore. Most of the young women can't even put one on by themselves.
I am on the left. The waitress is in the middle and my friend Ross is on the right.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Wonderful: Food stamp recipients shipping food overseas in barrels...
Via NY Post:
Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.
The practice is so common that hundreds of 45- to 55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels line the walls of supermarkets in almost every Caribbean corner of the city.
The feds say the moveable feasts go against the intent of the $86 billion welfare program for impoverished Americans.
A spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said welfare benefits are reserved for households that buy and prepare food together. She said states should intervene if people are caught shipping nonperishables abroad.
Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, called it just another example of welfare abuse.
Unlikely: Jay Carney Says Amnesty Will 'Increase Wages' (Video)
Even the lamestream media laughed at this ridiculous claim...
Change: Obamacare will cause 72 percent increase for Indiana individual plans in 2014...
Insurance rates in Indiana will increase 72 percent for those with individual plans and 8 percent for small group plans under President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, according to the state’s insurance department.
The spike in costs is due primarily to new mandates under the law, which requires insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions and to offer a minimum level of benefits, said Logan Harrison, chief deputy commissioner with the Indiana Department of Insurance under Republican Gov. Mike Pence. New taxes and fees under the law also contributed, Harrison said.[...]
Costs for individual plans is expected to increase from an average of $255 per member per month in 2012 to $570 in 2014, when the most aspects of the law go into effect, Harrison said.
Quinnipiac University national poll: 48% disapproval for Obama...
A new poll gives President Obama an overall approval rating of 44 percent, with 48 percent of respondents disapproving of his performance.
In late May, the Quinnipiac University national poll gave Obama similar ratings — 45 percent approval, 49 percent disapproval.
“President Barack Obama is in a slump, under water for the last two surveys,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Obama does get a positive rating — 52 percent approval to 43 percent disapproval — for his handling of terrorism, and a 46 percent-45 percent split for his handling of Afghanistan, Quinnipiac reported.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Confirmed: Obama political appointee involved in IRS Tea Party applications...
(CNSNews.com) – IRS employees were ordered by their superiors--including Lois Lerner who pleaded the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination rather than testify in Congress--to send certain Tea Party tax-exemption applications to the office of the IRS's Chief Counsel, which was headed by William Wilkins, who at that time was the only Obama political appointee at the IRS, according to a letter released today by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“As a part of this ongoing investigation, the Committees have learned that the IRS Chief Counsel’s office in Washington, D.C. has been closely involved in some of the applications,” reads a letter released today by the House committees on Oversight and Government and Ways and Means. “Its involvement and demands for information about political activity during the 2010 election cycle appear to have caused systematic delays in the processing of Tea Party applications.”
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Feel good story: Democrat election official convicted of voter fraud...
Via Cincinnati.com:
As a Hamilton County poll worker, Melowese Richardson helped people exercise a precious right.
Today, because she voted illegally in the name of others, including one who was in a coma, she was sentenced five years in prison. Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman could have imposed the maximum prison sentence of six years after Richardson was convicted in May of four counts of illegal voting in exchange for prosecutors dropping four other charges.
Three of her four convictions involved voting for a relative who has been in a coma since 2003. Richardson was a Hamilton County poll worker since 1998 but that ended when she was indicted.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Least shocking story of the day: Justice Department considering civil rights prosecution against George Zimmerman...
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are pressing forward with their investigation into the killing of Trayvon Martin following the acquittal of the man who shot him, George Zimmerman, on state charges, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said Sunday. “Experienced federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction, and whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance with the Department’s policy governing successive federal prosecution following a state trial,” Dena W. Iverson, a Justice spokesperson, said in a statement. The Justice Department’s civil rights division as well as the FBI are continuing to investigate Martin’s death, the statement said. Civil rights groups and Martin supporters have called on the Justice Department to prosecute Zimmerman following his acquittal Saturday night. Sunday’s statement was the first response from Justice following the public pressure campaign. Keep on reading…
Zimmerman acquittal protesters burn American flag...
Liberals always were anti-American...
#Oakland anti-cop protestors overturn dumpsters, smash windows after #Zimmerman verdict, still moving @KTVU pic.twitter.com/Eu6p6cjNGG
— Debora Villalon (@deboraktvu) July 14, 2013