German Official On NSA Spying "This is meltdown of the constitutional state."

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us..
Thank God for Smart Diplomacy otherwise Germany might be rebuilding its Luftwaffe. Europeans are furious states the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"We need more precise information," said European Parliament President Martin Schulz. "But if it is true, it is a huge scandal. That would mean a huge burden for relations between the EU and the US. We now demand comprehensive information."

Reaction to the revelation that the NSA has been spying on the European Union has evoked outrage, shock, sadness and a sense of betrayal. The same country that once enthralled now sickens Europeans. From Germany to Luxembourg, from Belgium to Britain the Europeans are united in their outrage. According to Der Spiegel, Secret NSA documents show that authorities systematically monitored and saved a large share of Internet and telephone connection data. Internal NSA statistics show that around 500 million communications connections in Germany are monitored monthly by the agency. The NSA also classifies Germany as a "target" for spying.
In Germany the Federal Prosecutors' Office is debating on whether or not to launch a criminal investigation against the NSA. Britain and Germany are reported to be planning a video conference in the British Embassy in Berlin. The German government will be represented by senior officials from the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND.
A sample of quotes from European leaders:

"If these reports are true, then it is abhorrent," said Luxembourgian Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. "It would seem that the secret services have gotten out of control. The US should monitor their own secret services rather than their allies."
"The US justifies everything as being part of the fight against terrorism. But the EU and its diplomats are not terrorists. We need a guarantee from the very highest level that it stops immediately."

From German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger;

"If media reports are correct, then it is reminiscent of methods used by enemies during the Cold War," she said in a statement emailed to the media. "It defies belief that our friends in the US see the Europeans as their enemies. There has to finally be an immediate and comprehensive explanation from the US as to whether media reports about completely unacceptable surveillance measures of the US in the EU are true or not. Comprehensive spying on Europeans by Americans cannot be allowed."

Welcome to the crowd Ms Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. Obama sees the Tea Party as enemies too.
From Elmar Brok, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in European Parliament;

"The spying has reached dimensions that I didn't think were possible for a democratic country. Such behavior among allies is intolerable." The US, he added, once the land of the free, "is suffering from a security syndrome,"

From Jan Philipp Albrecht, a Green Party representative in European Parliament;

"This is meltdown of the constitutional state. The NSA engaged in nothing less than "espionage against democratic countries and their institutions,"

Finally from European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit;

"A simple note of protest is not enough anymore. The EU must immediately suspend negotiations with the US over a free trade agreement, First, we need a deal on data protection so that something like this never happens again. Only then can we resume (free-trade) negotiations."

The community organizer seems to have a full blown diplomatic crisis on his hands. Not to worry. He never lets a crisis go to waste.

Catherine Kieu Becker gets life. Will CBS laugh that off?

Normally I don't post on issues of murder and mayhem from but CBS's The Talk offers a unique insight into the mind of modern feminism. This conversation followed the early reports of the crime as the panel tried to put a happy face on sadism.



Imagine, if you will, a man had tortured a woman, subjecting her to excruciating pain and ended her sex life permanently. Would that be considered a proper theme for comedy? Catherine Kieu Becker has just been sentenced to life in prison so evidently the court did not find much knee slapping humor in the dismemberment.
 Becker’s husband had filed for divorce but allowed her to remain in his house while she looked for other accommodations.  Becker repaid his generosity by drugging a bowl of soup she gave him to eat and then, once he had gone to bed, tying him up, severing his penis with a large butcher knife and grinding it in the garbage disposal.  She then called 911.

Reviewing the Liberal Opposition to Immigration Reform

In a post at New Republic T. A. Frank lays out the liberal case against the Senate version of immigration reform. It's remarkably like the conservative case against the travesty bipartisan elites in Washington would inflict on middle America but up until now I assumed that liberals were in lock step with the Washington insider establishment and the special interests that view a lower standard of living for many Americans as the necessary trade off the public should gladly make to help their sectional interests prevail and prosper. I'm speaking of those in agribusinesses who have always had a soft place in their hearts for employees who will work cheaply and keep their mouths shut, of well heeled middle class minions in industry and politics who really need but can't quite afford nannies and maids in today's labor market, of the corrupt SEIU that is filled with illegal immigrants and brand E-Verify as a "jobs killer".

The country I want for myself and future Americans is one that’s prosperous, cohesive, harmonious, wealthy in land and resources per capita, nurturing of its skilled citizens, and, most important, protective of its unskilled citizens, who deserve as much any other Americans to live in dignity. This bill threatens to put all of that out of reach, because it fails to control illegal immigration. The problem is not that it provides 11 million people eventual amnesty (I don’t object to that, in theory); the problem is that it sets in motion the next waves of millions...
Most of America’s college-educated elites are little affected by illegal immigration. In fact, it’s often a benefit to us in terms of childcare, household help, dinners out, and other staples of upper-middle-class life. Many therefore view the problem as akin, in severity, to marijuana use—common but benign, helpful to the immigrants and minimal in its effects on Americans or anyone else. I know, because it used to be my own view.

Frank's epiphany came in Hong Kong during the during the SARS crisis of 2003. He saw a remarkable city in which even low-skilled laborers such as the men and women, who were wearing masks and wiping down railings, lived far better than similar laborers on the other side of the border. Yes, the former British colony maintains secure borders that prevent an influx of more low-skilled labor from driving down wages and damaging the standard of living of the most vulnerable.
Frank does not cite it but I'm sure he is aware of the Congressional Budget Office scoring of an earlier Gang of Eight bill without the addition of the Corker amendment, that predicts it would slash the deficit by $197 billion in the first decade, but at the cost higher unemployment and lower wages. To quote the report;

The average wage would be lower than under current law over the first dozen years. … CBO estimates that S. 744 would cause the unemployment rate to increase slightly between 2014 and 2020.

So the Democratic Party has become the party of higher unemployment and lower wages but accepts that as a necessary cost of growing the party.

And a lot of Democrats have also convinced themselves that even if there’s a wage loss to low-skilled workers, the massive new voting bloc of mostly left-leaning immigrants will ultimately help the little guy. But if millions of new Democratic voters oppose strict immigration control, then there will no Democratic support for meaningful immigration control. And generous social benefits cannot coexist with an open border.  (Nor can a more egalitarian society.)

Notice Frank falls back on Milton Friedman's dictum that a welfare state with open borders cannot exist. Prior to the welfare state immigration problems barely existed. Hardy souls who needed work such as Glen Campbell together with his father and brothers would annually drive up to Indiana to pick tomatoes. Migrant Mexican workers would return to Mexico after the crops were in and nobody needed a sanctimonious lecture from millionaire senators whose lives will not change no matter what the final immigration reform bill looks like.
It's not my intention to put words in Mr. Frank's mouth for he is, in fact, a much better writer than I am, but let me mention that I have noticed an uncanny correlation between immigration reform and the NSA spying scandal. The most strident voices for immigration reform are also the meekest in their acceptance of governmental spying into the private lives of ordinary Americans. It seems there is no liberal or conservative opposition to immigration reform but rather a Washington insider point of view with its vested interests, aligned against the interests of ordinary Americans. Washington society is comfortable with government secrecy because it is imbued with government actors who are insulated from normal American life just as they will be insulated from the dire effects of blanket amnesty. It is we the people against Senators Schumer, Bennet, Durbin, Menendez, McCain, Graham, Flake, and Rubio and their fellow Washington insiders. It's taxi drivers, iron workers, nurses, auto mechanics, waitresses, pipe fitters, and backhoe operators against the American Chamber of Commerce, Facebook, the SIEU, Linkedin and Microsoft. It's real Americans against corrupted law makers and vested interests.

Photos of Obama's Trip We Don't See

How come we don't see these images on the evening news? Sure, US presidents are routinely protested abroad but if any president other than Obama turned out this much anger television would devote hours of coverage while editorial writers worried about America's image ad nauseam.

Slave master?

Kitchen boy?

Assassin?


I guess burning the American flag is a trick they picked up from Bill Ayers and the Weatherman.
Update: From RT.com;

S. African police shoot stun grenades at anti-Obama protesters

South African police fired stun grenades at hundreds of protesters on Saturday who were demonstrating against US President Barack Obama’s visit to South Africa, according to AFP. Three loud bangs were heard as police tried to move the angry protesters away from the area. Obama’s visit to the country has caused some controversy among a coalition of trade union groups and left-wing political organizations which planned a “national day of action” to coincide with his visit. The groups have indicated that they are cynical about American foreign and trade policies, and that they feel Obama has done nothing to the advantage of South Africa, but merely continued American foreign policies, to which they had hoped for an end.
See if this is ever reported by the MSM.

Parents of Navy Seals Sue Biden and Panetta

I suppose Joe Biden and Leon Panetta will invoke some sort of executive immunity as their defense in the suit brought by the parents of Seal Team 6 members killed in a helicopter crash after the elite team was named by both Biden and Panetta as the hit squad that took out Osama bin Laden. Billy and Karen Vaughn, the parents of Aaron Vaughn; Charles and Mary Ann Strange, the parents of Michael Strange; Doug and Shaune Hamburger, the parents of Patrick Hamburger; and Sidh Douangdara, the father of John Douangdara are asking for $200 million in damages. Keep in mind that many members of the Obama administration have had the temerity to accuse Edward Snowden of treason while top secret information is routinely disclosed by the administration with impunity.
“The hard reality is that Biden and Panetta are alive ‘feasting’ on their ‘political notoriety,” power and wealth, while the brave heroes who gave their lives for our nation’s security are dead, thanks to them!” Larry Klayman, an attorney for the family, said in a statement on the filing. More.

Leftist hypocrisy pauses

  Lots of so-called "Republicans" pretend to be conservative to get votes, McCain and Graham and  perhaps even Rubio being prime examples.
  But one area where the Democrat party excels is frauds.
  That Dem Texas legislator Wendy Davis who "filibustered" the other night to stop Texas's abortions above 20 weeks is a great example. Obama termed it "something special" going on in Austin to prevent abortions above 20 weeks. The "rouge red sneaker" wearing Davis herself, who succeeded in quashing the amendment, termed it a "great victory" and is basking in the glow of Leftist media attention. 
  Whoohoo! Babies can still be killed in Texas at 20 weeks and older!!!
  Just as a reminder this is what a 24 week pregnancy looks like:

  Then there's the hypocrisy of claiming funds are so tight we can't allow schoolkids to tour the White House but taking a separate jet to Ireland to go on a separate vacation, at tremendous cost to both Ireland and US taxpayers. 
  It's free money, after all! And Michelle needs her celebrity hobnobbing, after all! I mean, even if your teenagers roll their eyes at what you sightseeing and the extra plane you co-opted costs an additional $10,000 an hour to ferry you around, it's worth it, man! What's a $3300 a night hotel room anyway? Digs fit for a queen!
  And try being a person of color who thinks right as opposed to left. You're not authentic! You're not a real person of color! Stacy Dash is the latest example of being attacked for encouraging others not to judge Paul Deen for something she is said to have done 30 years ago that might be racist.
  So it's good to see somebody like Tammy Duckworth take on a faker who's been scamming the system. You may remember her. She was an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq:

  Duckworth called out a fellow who claimed his twisted ankle suffered 27 years ago when he was "serving" a year in military prep school was an injury that debilitated him at 30% ("service connected, disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs" his bio reads), even though he went on to play football in college.  The fellow Castillo was inexcusably whiny, complaining that he just didn't feel well but he was there testifying in spite of his discomfort.
  Duckworth's right arm was blown off and reattached; she cannot feel it and is always in danger of losing it, yet this injury is considered a 20% disability while Castillo's is considered a 30% disability which conveniently gave him a "competitive advantage" as a contractor.

  Unfortunately Duckworth is the exception to the rule. We'd like to see more exceptions to the Leftist rule, but those folks are generally driven out of the party.
  But after the dressing down he got, I'm guessing Castillo regrets just a little bit using that "injury" for financial advantage.
  Maybe he ought to go scrub his bio. Clean. We hope. For change.

And the award goes to.....

Well now.

 

Obama is becoming irrelevant

  Has Obama gone too far with his ridiculous new EPA standards? We will have to wait to see but he has certainly proved how irrelevant he is.
  In an increasingly dangerous world, apparently the primary "threat" this country faces is the absurd global warming threat.
  Look, it's not that there's anything wrong with solar power; it's just that making it profitable  isn't quite there yet. 
  And, yeah, it's hard finding a good job right now. And, yeah, everything's expensive but so what? 
  The Middle East is blowing up, there are rumors of our State Department gun running in Libya which ended in the Benghazi murders, but so what?
  What difference does it make?
  And our entire security has been compromised by a 29 year old weasel who's blown it to the Chinese and Russians, but so what?
  And let's not forget that Obama gave away the nuclear codes to Britain's arsenal to the Russians in a show of "trust."
  New York Post:

The leaking of classified data with impunity doesn’t stop there. It goes straight to the White House itself. Who can forget how the Obama national-security team leaked news that it had helped Israel launch a computer virus into Iran’s nuclear program, a story that got three Iranian technicians arrested as American spies? Or how they gave Hollywood film-makers direct access to the planner of the Osama bin Laden kill, whose identity was otherwise highly secret? 

  Meanwhile Sarah Palin calls out the frauds, as usual, especially on the "big leadership moment" on global warming. The Obamabots seem to think that everything's fine. After all, "jobs are up" and "unemployment is down" and "the war is over."
  The war is over?
  Really?
  Yet Obama insists that this major leadership moment on global warming (which was nearly drowned out by planes) is a defining moment because there is no greater threat to the future of the planet and if it's one thing he's about, it's what's good for the planet, never mind the wars, jobs and all that Sturm und Drang.
  Because, see, all of our problems are going to be solved by ruining the coal industry.
  And introducing 40 million illegal immigrants into the health care system.
  Yeah, that'll work.
  Fasting on Thursday.
  Like I said, Obama doesn't care what you think. He doesn't care what's best for the country.
  He only cares about his whacked up agenda.
  It's too bad the planet has figured out what an idiot he is; he isn't deserving of respect and makes it clear that all he wants is what he wants.
  Oblivious? Ya might say that.

Tea Party call to prayer and fasting

  By now, a lot of us have figured out that the Republican Party is working against small government--and freedom--as actively as the Democrat Party.
  Many of us have grown dispirited, unable to understand why so many Americans are willing to be enslaved to government handouts, snooping into our personal affairs, accelerated utility rates in the name of redistribution and unbelievably corrupt politicians who work only for their own greed and not in the best interests of the country.
  Especially hard hit by the moral corruption is the African American community, whose suffering has only increased with government "largesse" and "social justice."
  The leading cause of death in the African American community is abortion. Indeed the racist Margaret Sanger's dream has become reality, as Black women receive a third of the abortions in this country, aborting almost 2,000 fetuses a day.
  And 72% of Black babies are born to unwed mothers, compared to 52% to non-Hispanic White women.
  Almost 40% of inmates are Black, who make up less than 13% of the population.
  One in six Americans is receiving government "help" in the form of cash handouts.
  And Toledo is 3rd highest in the country in sex trafficking, perhaps the center of the trade in the United States.
  We have some serious problems in this country; the battles in Washington, D.C., are only reflective of the overall chaos promoted by liberalism in the culture itself.
  What we are fighting is not poverty of dollars, but a poverty of spirit, of heart and of God.
  It has occurred to many of us to withdraw from politics; some of us have chosen to work toward our ideals through educational ventures, through religious entities and through benevolent services for the poor. 
  And some have chosen not to work toward fixing this mess at all. 
  To just close off the world, as if we can somehow ignore not only the facts but the deterioration around us.
  I would ask my fellow Christian patriots to take a different path.
  And, anyway, a Romney victory might not have been the best answer for what's wrong with this country.
  Instead Liberalism is running wild, with rulings on what we can eat or drink, what religious tenets the government will allow us to hold and generally trying to destroy the Judeo Christian foundation upon which this country is built, including rewriting our founding documents.
  What can we do?
  In my working years when I was often "too busy" to spend much time in prayer, I depended on the elderly folks in my life to pray not only for me, but for the larger issues of our time. 
  Now as I approach that stage of my life, I finally have begun to understand the importance of prayer, not only personally but societally, especially as the walls close in and the feeling of powerlessness overwhelms even the most optimistic Tea Partier. The Founders called it "eating out our substance."
  In a book of modern day slavery called Same Kind of Different as Me, a formerly homeless ex-con named Denver Moore experiences a religious conversion due to the persistent prayers of people God placed in his life. This is a wise book that helps put life and circumstances in perspective.
  Like this quote, for example:

“There's somethin I learned when I was homeless: Our limitation is God's opportunity. When you get all the way to the end of your rope and there ain't nothin you can do, that's when God takes over. I remember one time I was hunkered down in the hobo jungle with some folks. We was talkin 'bout life, and this fella was talkin, said, 'People think they're in control, but they ain't. The truth is, that which must befall thee must befall thee. And that which must pass thee by must pass thee by.”

― Denver Moore, Same Kind of Different as Me 

  So ultimately we realize we aren't in control. Think of it. We're down to asking God for help, together. 

  And our limitation is God's opportunity.

 Anyway my purpose for writing this post is that I would ask my fellow Christian patriots to join in days of prayer and fasting for the future of this country.
  Fasting is simply avoiding food for a given period of time; I'm suggesting an occasional Thursday (or any day) from sunup to sundown, like dinner.
  The purpose of fasting is not to prove anything to God; He knows our hearts already. The purpose of fasting is to separate from the body; any hunger pang is a reminder to pray. It isn't easy, and it's not because of the hunger. If you do this, you'll find that out.
  Meanwhile enjoy Senator Elbert Guillory's rationale for his conversion from Democrat to Republican. 
  Let's hope he can help clean up the Republican Party, whether in Louisiana or nationally, as we continue to work in our communities toward conservative ideals.

Chesapeake Dominates the Utica

Some time ago I reasoned that I was at the age when I should eschew the thrills and risks of the stock market. Lately I made an exception and purchased 100 shares of Chesapeake Energy. It's silly and I know it. Even if Chesapeake appreciates 10 fold it won't make me wealthy. The reason I chose Chesapeake was because it is the biggest player in the Utica Shale and I believe in the Utica Shale. I just want to be on the winning side of what I perceive is nothing short of a revolution. Chesapeake is not the only game in the Utica and the Utica certainly is not the only game in tight oil and natural gas but what was thought to be a lofty political goal a few years ago, energy independence, is quickly becoming an economic reality.

So how well has Chesapeake done in the Utica? Last year the company produced 372,212 barrels of oil and 10.1 million mcf of natural gas last year from 53 wells in the play. As of March 31, it had drilled roughly 250 wells in the play, including 66 producing wells, 87 that are waiting on pipelines, and 97 wells in various stages of completion. On the oil side, Anadarko came the closest to challenging Chesapeake's dominant position, producing 118,726 barrels of oil from its Utica wells while Hess Ohio Resources took second place in gas production, producing 922,979 mcf of gas.
Strictly from the investment perspective there are probably better plays in the Utica than Chesapeake, but it is the biggest if not the best, and if I am going to continue to write optimistically about the Utica I really should put my money in line with my sympathies. After all, I'm not a Democrat.

Journalist David Gregory Tries to Criminalize Journalism

If I didn't know better I might think David Gregory worked for Eric Holder's Justice Department. Gregory asked The Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald why he should not be charged as an accessory to Edward Snowden's criminal disclosure of classified material. One thing for certain; Greenwald is a damn sight smarter than Gregory.

Overstay your visa? No problem. Hoeven-Corker amendment fixes that

Here is one innocuous piece of text that changes the Gang of Eight Bill from bad to intolerable.

(f) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN GROUNDS OF INADMISSIBILITY.—In determining an alien’s inadmissibility under this section, section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)) shall not apply.

What does that mean?
Current law states that those applying for green cards are ineligible if they are either "illegally present" at any point or overstay the terms of their work visa. Such an immigrant, in current law, would have to return to their home country and restart the immigration process. The Corker Amendment wipes away that enforcement mechanism.
In the current draft of the Corker Amendment, any worker in the country on a legal work visa for 10 years can get a green card, even if they overstay their visa. The Corker Amendment allows immigrants to break the law in the future and still be eligible for citizenship. It absolves prospective behavior, not simply past mistakes. I doubt is Corker et al intended that the public would figure this out before the vote on Monday.

Keep NPR in Mind When Congressmen Talk About Tax Exempts

NPR wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea about tax exempt entities that seem to threaten the very solvency of the republic according to the likes of Representatives McDermott or Kaptur. Aside from the legalistic parsing between c3's and c4's there is an overriding principle that confers moral superiority on some tax exempts that allows them to revel in opulence that would be unbecoming even for a for profit corporation such as Goldman Sachs or British Petroleum. NPR is a tax exempt entity just as, say, Tea Party Patriots, but unlike the white trashy Tea Party Patriots, NPR is a tax exempt entity that accepts government grants, ergo superior. Slopping at the public trough, aside from the monetary aspects that make conspicuous consumption possible, also confers on the grant recipient a sanctimonious moral rectitude that can only come from spending other people's money.

Keeping up with the Googles has always been a challenge for not for profit entities. Wealthy donors tend to look askance at institutions that look wealthier than themselves but government grants seem to flow eternal to institutions where the help is pampered with large salaries and ostentatious perquisites similar to IRS employees.
NPR recently moved into its new 400,000 square-foot, $200 million home and they’re really excited about it. If it did not keep with Google and Microsoft in the conspicuous consumption department it's not for lack of trying. Now at last NPR can boast of its very own in house chefs to better pamper top management. It has bee hives on the roof to pollinate the greenery. They not only have all the mindless administrative positions common in public bureaucracies they have a Chief People Officer to keep the extremely diverse 800-person staff extremely happy.
Lest the public get the idea that Gwen Ifill, Mark Shields, David Brooks and the rest of the extremely competent, extremely diverse, and extremely environmentally conscious workforce are the moral equivalents of welfare moms NPR explains that public funding accounts for an insignificant portion of its bloated budget. Yes, but what about the tax exempt status? Even someone as churlish as myself, who couldn't give a damn about owning a frigging bee hive let alone an elevator whose voice tells riders which floor they’re on and which direction they’re going, can figure that the pittance of lost revenue the IRS could gain from shaking down Tea Party groups pales in comparison to NPR's tax break. Keep NPR in mind the next time you hear a Democrat bemoaning the lost tax revenue from Tea Party groups.

Chris Matthews; Afternoon Sun ‘Ruined’ Obama’s Speech

Lucky William Jennings Bryan didn't have to worry about the sun's glare on his teleprompter. Obama sycophant Chris Matthews blamed the sun for spoiling the president’s speech in Berlin.
“I think a lot of the problem he had today was the late afternoon sun in Berlin ruined his use of the teleprompter and so his usual dramatic windup was ruined,” Matthews said immediately after the speech. “I think he was really struggling with the text there.”
Oh yeah, the afternoon sun gets 'em every time.

Yes we scan

Protestors in Germany mocked Obama. Yes we scan!

Ich bin ein snoop?

NSA Myth Debunked; Verizon Phone Records Did Not Prevent a Terror Attack on Wall Street

Claims that the NSA used its trove of covertly collected phone records to prevent an attack on the New York Stock Exchange are a gross exaggeration if not a down right falsehood. According to Wired the alleged plot failed because the conspirators decided against it. Khalid Ouazzani who was identified as the mastermind of the plot pled guilty in 2010 to providing money — $23,000 in “material support” to Al-Qaida. He also pled to a count of money laundering and bank fraud, and is set for sentencing next month.

New York defense attorney Joshua Dratel said Ouazzani worked as a government informant — a cooperating witness — in the New York federal prosecution of Sabirhan Hasanoff, who has pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. Even the government’s own sentencing memorandum shows that the defendants called off a proposed plot on their own, without involvement from federal authorities.
“There was no plot. There was one guy was asked to check out a tourist site downtown. It was a year and a half before they arrested Hasanoff. So if they thought it was really a plot, what were they doing letting him run around?” Dratel asked in a telephone interview.

The Christian Science Monitor is well on the way to refuting the claim that data mining by NSA helped prevent the New York subway bombing plot.

As to the New York subway plot, it was discovered not by analysis of vast amounts of Internet data of foreign users, but rather by old-fashioned police work, according to The Guardian, the British newspaper that first published a secret NSA document showing the agency collected phone metadata from Verizon Business Services.
A British intelligence investigation into a suspected terrorist cell in England’s northwest first turned up a crucial e-mail address of a Pakistani extremist, write The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington and Nicholas Watt. They passed this address to the US.

NSA is scraping the bottom of the data barrel to justify it unconstitutional assault on the 4th amendment.

Ohio House: Maybe we'll allow warrantless wiretaps

  The Ohio Liberty Council is warning that the Ohio House of Representatives a bill that would allow--and perhaps even sell--warrantless wire taps of cell phones.

Just when you thought Republican led state government could be relied upon to protect your rights, think again. A new bill being proposed before the Ohio House Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee (SB 5) gives law enforcement access to cell phone location data without warrants in emergencies.

However, the law does not provide sufficient protection from the provision of such information to law enforcement in non-emergencies. Further, it may provide a financial incentive for cell phone carriers to provide such information – as much as $2200 per “sale” to police. -

  You know what to expect from Leftist Democrats. Do you support a party because you have a dim hope they might do the right thing as opposed to always doing the wrong thing?
  Pretty lame, Republicans. Pretty lame.

Mr. Rubio, Take Down This Ad

Senator Jeff Sessions has called on Senator Marco Rubio and Face Book's Mark Zuckerberg to withdraw the phony advertisements they have generated to push the Gang of 8 immigration bill. In a previous post I exhibited two of those ads.

“Indeed, Mr. Zuckerberg apparently created a front group that’s on the advertisements and it says--they’re called ‘Americans for a Conservative Direction,’” Sessions said on the Senate floor on Monday afternoon. “People, I suppose he’s saying all this on the ad when he’s already said the bill is flawed and he can’t vote for it in its current circumstances. The advertisement ought to be pulled, it seems to me." 
"So, worse, virtually everything in the ad, especially in the voiceover, not Sen. Rubio’s voice, but the voiceover is false,” Sessions clarified.

Good for Senator Sessions. Marco Rubio has become the Senator from Face Book not the Tea Party. As Sessions says, “A commitment to the truth is a conservative value.”

Get real about who Obama really is

  The stories emanating from the worst administration in US history keep getting worse.
  The stories from peope who've been treated by this government are creepy. The monsters in DC are out of control.
  Let's get a few things out of the way though about Obama.

• Obama does not care what you, we or 50% of the country think. Thus pressure from the scandals won't affect the Obama machine. It's the Chicago way, after all, to suggest they'll break your legs or murder your child if you disagree with them, just as a union official did recently to a Hurricane Sandy contractor in NY. Daily Caller:

Then Capobianco said something that the source would never forget.
“He said, ‘I would just hate for anything to happen,’” recalled the source. Capobianco then rattled off a list of the source’s home address, his wife’s name, his kids and their current whereabouts.

•   Obama doesn't care about---is even hostile toward---the Constitution so quit thinking anything his administration does will support that magnificent document. They want to rewrite history and our founding principles.
•   Obama will use any means necessary to get what he wants. He issues commands from his presidential pulpit and expects the foot soldiers to fulfill those commands. No written directions are necessary when you're controlled by a cult leader, a "light bringer."
•   Obama disappears when things get tough. He really has no personal feelings for just about anyone but himself, spectacularly revealed when he gave a cheerful "shoutout" before discussing the hideous Fort Hood shootings. 
•   Obama considers race and ideology more important than any person or religious beliefs. He is hostile to Christianity, unless it's a form of social justice religiosity. There is no "Christ" in Obama's Christianity. Only "Obama."
•   Obama doesn't know what he's doing regarding the economy nor does he care; print the more money the better. He will take any opportunity he can to bankrupt the country for its own "good."
• Obama takes things very, very personally. He has a huge ego that needs to be nursed by those around him. You might say he was a mixed child--- a cross between spoiled and rotten, surrounded by unbelievably indulgent adults.
• Obama thinks he's right in everything he does. He never questions himself, really, since introspection is foreign to him and he seems fairly oblivious to the fact that people around him have been pumping him up for years, even editing video and photographs to reinforce the whole "lightbringer" image.
• Obama keeps score; he bears grudges. He uses people. He pampers himself, pats himself on the back, determines to get revenge against his "enemies," who are designated as enemies for their opposition to the Man Who Would Be King.
• Obama lies and then laughs about it. Through his behavior, his minions have learned to lie with impunity so being a hypocrite isn't a problem, like Harry Reid who on the Senate floor denounced Republicans for holding up the budget for 86 days, even though Democrats haven't passed a budget in over 1300 days. the absurd Wasserman Schulz claims an abortion bill is "an extreme, unprecedented reach into women's lives." She wants YOU to pay for "women's" (meaning any female of any age) abortions, abortifacients, birth control and even doctor's appointments, but YOU don't get to say how your money gets spent and YOU can't protest on principle because THEY don't have any.
• The only truth Obama recognizes is the "truth" he creates. There is no such person as a whistleblower. Only troublemakers.

  So when CBS reporter Sharyl Atkisson starts writing stories about some of the government dirt Obama's been shoveling, it isn't a problem when his minions turn on her home computers in the middle of the night and read what's on them.
  It's no problem snooping into Petraeus's personal emails and then using information against him when they need to boot him.(Will we ever know if the same was done to SCOTUS Justice John Roberts?)
  It's no problem for the unconstitutional activities of the government if IRS agents abuse American citizens. Or, for that matter, any other governmental agency may abuse Americans, such as happened with the founder of True The Vote. They undoubtedly deserve it if they disagree with Obama.
  Building an enormous data base with everyone's 
  Let's be realistic. If he doesn't get what he wants, Obama will issue an executive order, legal or not. The law means very little to him unless he writes it--executively.  
  He's overreaching; this is the way he'll self-destruct. If the Republicans weren't such idiots, it'd be a great time to promote conservatism. Unfortunately we have elitists like Jeb Bush espousing nonsense and progressivism and traitors like Rubio promoting disastrous immigration reform.
  We need to gear up for 2014.  
  Identify political targets like Jeb Bush and Rubio and work against them.
  Snowden's revelations may indeed work against Obama and his ilk. 
  And even Leftists don't like what's he's doing anymore.

NSA whistleblowers: Snowden did the right thing

  I've been mulling this whole Edward Snowden thing since the story broke.
  It bothers me that people keep ridiculing Snowden as a "high school dropout" as if only highly educated people should be able to get the good IT jobs or you're only really smart if you are credentialed by some politically correct institution.
  Considering the condition of our academic institutions these days, that's hardly a feat.
  And considering that some of the smartest tech people have had no use for institutional learning---which often meets only the needs of the people writing the curriculum---and considering I personally know a brilliant IT guy who could barely stomach any traditional learning path, I think those ridiculers better get a clue to the new world that has terra formed while they weren't watching.
  But on to Snowden.
  I don't know if he's hero or scoundrel but it seems to me what's happening--the whole forced transparency thing--is good.
  Several NSA whistleblowers who tried to work within the system say Snowden did the right thing.
  They have tried to get the NSA to change its ways without luck.
  Watch the video and decide for yourself. We'll link to this video after a day or two since it has an uncontrollable autoplay.
  Here's the link.

Marco, You Just Can't Cut It

Sorry Marco, but you just can't cut it. You have put the wishes of illegal's above the needs of average working Americans. You have sold out to the special interest who care only about cheap labor. In a post on another blog I called you the Senator from Face Book. You have sold out your Tea Party principles to a group of Silicon Valley billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, who run companies where the top employees donate mostly to Democrats. Men whose only interest is the expansion of H-1B visas. These are the people who pay for those countless ads not conservatives. You even prattle the verbiage from their phony website. "Please help us fix our broken immigration system." They paid for this ad not Tea Party members. Not the people who put you were you are but the people who care only about their precious corporations. Eat your heart out, Chris Dodd, Rubio has taken crony capitalism to the next level.

When Kelly Ayotte announced her support for your plan they rushed out this video.

Most conservatives would not oppose an increase of H-1B visas. No one wants to see high tech companies offshore their work. What conservative, if you still remember who they are, do oppose is the saturation of the country with low skilled workers who will dramatically drive down wages in construction, meat packing and hotel industries. Our public schools do an excellent job of inundating the country with marginally employable dead beats with practically no English skills, we don't need anymore.
“We are very pleased with the progress and happy with what’s in the bill,” said Peter J. Muller, a former House aide who now works as the director of government relations at Intel. “It addresses many of the issues we’ve been advocating for years.”
As the New York Times reported;
Rob Jesmer, a former top Republican Senate strategist who helps run the new Zuckerberg-backed nonprofit group that sponsored the Rubio ad, insisted that his organization’s push is based on the personal convictions of the executives who donated to the cause and who believe immigration laws need to be changed. Those convictions just happen to line up with what their corporations are lobbying for as well, he said.
Marco, apparently your convictions just happen to line up with what corporations are lobbying for as well and that just does not cut it.

The Supreme Court Battle We Didn't Lose

J. Christian Adams is not upset by yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that struck down an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. Adams served in the DOJ's civil rights division and is familiar with the ongoing battles surrounding election law. According to Adams we won 80% of the case.

Worse, conservatives dooms-dayers who have never litigated a single National Voter Registration Act case have taken to the airwaves, describing the case as a disaster which invites illegal-alien voting.
In the last year, I’ve litigated five NVRA cases and worked on the preemption issues for years, and there is more to cheer in today’s opinion than there is to bemoan. Those complaining about the opinion don’t understand what the Left’s goal was in this case: total federal preemption. On that score, Justice Scalia foiled them; indeed, the decision today was a huge war won, even if the small Arizona battle was lost.

As Adams sees it, it was a win for state rights as total federal preemtion of state voting laws the motive behind the case. He spells out what the left hoped to acheive;

Invalidation of Arizona’s requirement that those submitting a federal form provide proof of citizenship with their federal form. Mind you, the citizenship-proof requirement is NOT part of federal law and the Election Assistance Commission does NOT require it in the form they drafted.

Invalidation of state citizenship-verification requirements when a state voter registration form is used (yes, such forms exist separate from the federal requirement) on the basis of federal preemption. They wanted the Arizona case to invalidate all state citizenship-verification requirements.

Automatic registration if a registrant submits a completed federal EAC approved registration form, no questions asked.

Federal preemption on the ability for states to have customized federal EAC-approved forms that differed from the default EAC form.

Federal preemption over states, like Florida and Kansas, looking for independent information on citizenship to root out noncitizens from the voter rolls. Again, the Left wanted the federal EAC form to be the no-questions-asked ticket to the voter rolls.

Most importantly Adams points out that the states, by virtue of this opinion are free to check the applicants' citizenship status no matter how the citizenship question is answered on EAC form. It's nice to have a smart lawyer on our side.

 

Sarah Palin; Put Congress on Cruz Control

Governor Palin, speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition suggested putting Congress on Cruz control. Ted Cruz made a short appearance on Fox and Friends this morning while Sarah Palin was guest hosting.

Slap Shot! Sarah Palin: You just put the BS in CBS

Commenting CBS News reporter Elizabeth Palmer comparison of the ‘conservative’ candidates running for president in Iran to the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, God bless her and would she please run for senate, quipped you just put the BS in CBS.

Judge Jeanine Pirro; The Real Losers of DC

Another classic rant by the judge. I would hate to be on her wrong side.

Landrieu's terrible horrible week was downright DUMB

  Senator? Mary Landrieu has has a bad couple of days.
  First her son gets arrested, which in itself is bad enough.
  But why?
  Well, he was driving dumb drunk.
  Which in itself is bad enough.
  But actions bespeak character and Senator? Mary Landrieu's son knew exactly what to do when he hit someone while driving dumb drunk.
  He exited the scene. Drove away. Dodged responsibility.
  And his mother said?
  Please give us some privacy while we work out our family problems.
  How funny is that? 
  Privacy!!??? In America?
  Oh, wait, she's a senator? and she deserves privacy unlike the rest of us, I guess.
  Or maybe not. Who knows. That's all top secret.
  Until you get the IRS inquisition in the mail, at least.
  But then Senator? Mary Landrieu, who is in politically perilous territory because her voters are more conservative than she is, went on to beclown herself on the floor of the Senate.
  The Senator? scoffed at the idea that John Thune is too stupid to know anything about building border fences. Why? Because Thune of South Dakota lives on the border of Canada and, duh, what kind of border problems does South Dakota have with Canada? Duh?
  Her quote via Breitbart:

“A smart fence, which is what Senator McCain and I want to build--since he’s from Arizona, I think he knows more about this than the Senator from South Dakota who only has a border with Canada and that is quite different,” Landrieu said.

South Dakota does not share a border with Canada. It does, however, share borders with North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa."

  She goes on to throw wild excoriations about the "dumb fence" she's not going to vote for.

“So I would be voting against Senator Thune’s amendment because I’m not going to waste taxpayer money on a dumb fence, and that’s what his amendment would be,” Landrieu said. “We need to build a smart fence and a fence is not just a physical structure which could be built out of a variety of different materials with or without barbed wire on the top.”

  She did this until Thune reminded her she already had voted for it.
  Wow. That fence is really dumb, eh?
  Like it must have an IQ of about 10, right?
  With all this "dumb this" and "dumb that" it's hard to figure if Landrieu means the fence can't speak for itself or it's too stupid to know how stupid it is.  
  Wait.

Rep. Jim Jordan Destroys FBI Director Robert Mueller

Congressman Jim Jordan destroyed FBI Director Robert Mueller on the IRS targeting scandal and investigation today. It's outrageous that no one in this administration knows anything. How clean are the FBI's hands?

Leggo my Legos!

  So you might have noticed how academics have become increasingly detached and, shall we say, irrelevant (not to mention wrong).
  We have a great example of this in New Zealand, where one"university doctor" has declared that there are simply too many negative Lego faces out there and that's hurting children. (You remember. "if we can stop/save one _____, then we have to ___!" line)

Bartneck said in a press release, “We cannot help but wonder how the move from only positive faces to an increasing number of negative faces impacts on how children play.”

  Interesting that educators aren't worried about frightening children with suspension, police arrests and harassment if they make the mistake of talking about guns or biting their pop tarts into the shape of a revolver.
  A great example of the increasingly sophisticated lingo American intelligentsia employ to make their obscure irrelevant impressive points can be found over at the occupy website.
  Here is a portion of a "poem" written by someone over there who was undoubtedly wearing a plastic crown or helicopter wings while typing this very profound "poem", imagining a world without capitalism:

A playful place, a place of fun, a dancing world of bright colors, a world in which we bubble and overflow into one another and beyond.

A world without hard lines - a world in which identities exist only to be transcended. A world in which the basis of human existence is not identity, but the mutual recognition of our dignities.

Not 'I am', 'you are' — but I-you-we do-create-become. A different form of organization, a different form of coming together. The mutual recognition of humans, and also, in a different way, the mutual recognition of human and non-human forms of life.

Nonsense, of course, were it not for the fact that it already exists – as potential, as rebellion, as the force of the 'not yet' in the present.
To find the world that could exist after capitalism, we must look to the anti-worlds already being created in countless struggles against capitalism – countless cracks in the texture of capitalist domination.

  Hey, that "I-you-we do-create-become" is a great idea, eh? 
  'Cept we created the Tea Party and Occupy had so much respect for it that they copied it. Only the capitalists unionists paid/pay for their buses, their meals, their "expenses," not to mention the contributions of celebrities who feel guilty for having so much dough and so little to really contribute to society.
  Meanwhile I think I'll go find that "world without hard lines" known as sleep.

Having trouble listening to talk radio?

  Listening to Rush yesterday was a roller coaster ride. He's spot on with observations about the latest scandal, privacy issues and the current whistleblower. (Clarification: Snowden is the whistleblower for this particular scandal. Many other whistleblowers have already been chewed up and tossed aside by the press. It remains to be seen if Snowden is a truthteller or not.)
  But then Rush says he's just as depressed as the rest of us out here and it's hard to come in to work.
  Um, hello? I don't really want to listen to you then, partner.
  This has been much the same attitude with conservatives concerned about the conditions in the country today. 
  One hopes there will be a good showing next Tuesday at the Tea Party protest in DC, which would be a healthy sign for those who oppose Obama's policies and fascist attitude.
  The next goal is to get solid conservatives elected next year. Right now, it's only a few Tea Party House members holding the line against this lawless Chicago brand administration.
  Winnable races. Viable candidates.
  Admittedly it's pretty bleak right now; the idea that our government itself breaks the law by wiretapping Verizon phone lines is both appalling and frightening.
  And it's pretty absurd that the feds can track our every movement, harass Tea Partiers and presidential critics and yet not be able to track down the illegal aliens "hiding in the shadows."
  It's also absurd that all these extreme measures are taken against American citizens and yet when warned by the Russian government about the nefarious attentions of the Boston bombers, the feds did nothing.
   But that the feds haul out the old "if we can stop/save one _____, then we have to ___!" line to justify just about anything they want to do, regardless the consequences to all Americans. Overreach? Let me snicker.
  It's inevitable that, with all this personal information available, that information will be abused by government. We need to fight it.
  Peggy Noonan (she who was part of the initial Obama shmooze campaign) says it precisely at her WSJ blog:

2. There is no way a government in the age of metadata, with the growing capacity to listen, trace, tap, track and read, will not eventually, and even in time systematically, use that power wrongly, maliciously, illegally and in areas for which the intelligence gathering was never intended. People are right to fear that the government’s surveillance power will be abused. It will be. There are many reasons for this, but the primary one is that humans are and will be in charge of it, and humans have shown throughout history a bit of a tendency to play every trick and bend and break laws.

“If men were angels,” as James Madison wrote, limits, checks, balances and specifically protected rights would not be necessary. But they aren’t angels. Add to all this simple human mistakes, innocent and not, and misjudgments. And add to that sheer human craziness, partisan lust, political mischief of all sorts. In the Clinton White House there was a guy named Craig Livingstone who amused himself reading aloud the confidential FBI files of prominent Republicans. The files—hundreds of them—were improperly secured and disseminated. Imagine Craig Livingstone at the National Security Agency. Imagine Lois Lerner.

So if we have and develop a massive surveillance state, it will be abused. And that abuse will, down the road, do damage not only to individuals but, quite probably, to the nation’s morale, to its very vision of itself.

  This country has weathered tremendous obstacles, not the least of which was an internecine war which took more lives than any other war we've fought and tore even families apart. And we enjoyed the peaceful Post WW2 prosperity.
  But now is the time to fight for the best place on earth; we will survive Barack Hussein Obama.
  The bad news is that story after story, scandal after scandal reveal the depravity of this group of liars, cheaters and criminals.
  The good news is that these people are exposing themselves for what they are: eager hypocrites wanting to snoop on and control the lives of others.
  We just don't have to be party to it.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8, NIV

MSNBC Rewrites History; Identifies George Wallace as a Republican

MSNBC is rewriting history. Observing the 50-year anniversary of George Wallace’s infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door,” in which the governor physically blocked two black students from entering the University of Alabama All In with Chris Hayes produced this graphic identifying Wallace as a Republican.

Update: Chris Hayes has apologized. "This was a stupid, inexcusable, historically illiterate mistake. I should have caught it and apologize for failing to."

Great graphics department you got there, Chris.

Congressman Peter King Makes My Ass Hurt

Whoa! Congressman Peter King has built a career on 9/11 but enough is enough. I find King's hypocrisy to be over the top. King thinks Glenn Greenwald should be prosecuted for reporting on the Verizon data grab and PRISM. Who does this guy drink with? Eric Holder? Yes, Congressman, it must be a great comfort a to James Rosen knowing he has a congressman like you. I must be losing my mind. Suddenly I find myself agreeing with the likes of Ron Widen and Dennis Kuchinich and feel genuine embarrassment listening to RINO's such as King and John McCain.



Okay, here are the Newspeak rules. Reporters who report the truth should be jailed and bureaucrats who lie to Congress and the public are victims of circumstance.

I Blame the Koch Brothers

Who is really behind the Verizon data grab? The Koch brothers, of course. It's a little hard to connect the dots but if you're naturally prone to conspiracy theories or watch a lot of MSNBC programming it will come easier. Ok, here's the skinny direct from the Center for Public Integrity. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson signed the FISA Court order. "Judge Vinson was the only member of the special court to attend the August 2008 conference sponsored by the Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment, according to disclosure records filed by the federal judge".

And

"FREE received a total of $430,000 in general operating support from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, of which billionaire businessman Charles Koch is a director."
Hey, it's an open and shut case.

Lois Lerner Still Has Access to IRS Computer

You all surely remember Danny Werfel. He's the new acting IRS commish whose voice sounds like he is going through puberty. Yeah, he's a real take charge guy, practically another Norman Schwarzkopf. I have a question that maybe Danny could clear up. What exactly does it mean when Lois Lerner is placed on administrative leave with pay and can still access her IRS computer from home? I mean this looks like nothing really happened in spite of all the press to the contrary? Is she planning another conference in Anaheim or maybe a new video or does she just log on to check her inbox for fan mail?
Eliana Johnson at National Review Online has been all over the IRS scandal since it broke and she quotes her source within the IRS;

[Lerner] can still access taxpayer data. If your duties do not include dealing with taxpayers, you are forbidden from seeing the information. That is a violation of IRS policy, and if she actually accesses any file that contains any Personal Identifiable Information, it is a felony violation. That would include emails that she has in her files discussing any taxpayer case that contains the name, address, phone numbers or tax data from a case. Actual Unauthorized Access (IRS uses the term UNAX) would be a really good reason for the new boss to can her in a hurry. I am sure a simple examination of her email files and hard drive would discover she still has taxpayer data.

Johnson makes the point that accessing taxpayer information while on suspension would be illegal and normally an employee's computer would be wiped clean but Lerner's has not. I'm sure Danny will want to clear this up for us.

The Democrats' Dream Ticket

No Rubio for me!

  Damn.
  What a disappointment Marco Rubio is. He's turned out to be one more ambitious, duplicitous politician, willing to say and do anything to get elected.
  This is not simply because I disagree with him on the immigration issue. The "gang of 8" proposal will solve no problems; it's pretty obvious that it will only increase the problems we have here, including a mad rush for the border and for free Obamacare and welfare benefits. 
  I mean, isn't that why our government is advertising in MEXICO for people to come HERE, and visit benefits.gov, the minute they cross the border?
  Deficit be damned, Leftists and many Republicans are willing to break this country by flooding it with new citizens who will vote for more benefits without worrying about breaking a sweat by working.
  So Rubio tells Tea Partiers he wants border security and that's more important than anything. In fact, he might not vote for the immigration bill if it's not!
  Then he trots on over to Univision and tells the Hispanic audience that absolutely illegals will be legalized. Daily Caller:

“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.”

In most of his public appeals for the Gang of Eight bill, Rubio has stressed its enforcement provisions, saying that border security must come before immigrants are granted legal permanent resident status. What he has not stressed so much is the fact that the bill would legalize the 11 million almost immediately, after they have passed background checks and paid some sort of fine.

  So back and forth he goes, saying what he thinks his audience wants to hear.
  It's despicable.
  And Rubio should be ashamed.
  It's estimated that this bill will legalize 40 million more voters.
  We can only hope that the House holds firm.

IRS: Keep your faith to yourself

"You have to keep your faith to yourself." So says IRS agent Sherry Wan. One might complain that the IRS should provide someone without Ms Wan deficiencies in spoken English if it wants to communicate verbally with the public it presumably serves but that's another matter. On the other hand Ms Wan is probably less offensive when she is not understood.
Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal group, made the audio available  of an IRS official telling a group that provides support to women in abusive pregnancy situations to keep its faith to itself. In the recorded phone conversation, an IRS agent lectures the president of the organization about forcing its religion and beliefs on others and inaccurately explains that the group must remain neutral on issues such as abortion. Neutral? Right. Just as Planned Parenthood does.

Economic Geography

Meredith Whitney was one of the first to call trouble at Citigroup in the early days of the 2008 financial crisis. She also predicted mass municipal bankruptcies which for the most part have yet to materialize. In her latest book Fate of the States she posits the theory that states to a large extent are masters of their destiny. Poor state governance leads to poor states.
Specifically, Whitney says “central corridor” states Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Colorado, Utah, North Dakota and Montana are best-positioned for fast economic growth and population migration.
What these states have in common are low taxes, pro-business policies, low population density (meaning lower housing costs, shorter commutes and better quality of life) as well as strong and stable balance sheets, especially relative to other states.

Making the other list are California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Illinois, all blue states.

Ohioans Facing 88% Rate Increase for Health Insurance

Thanks to Obamacare Ohioans can expect an 88% increase in the cost of health insurance. In Ohio, the state insurance department said, the average premium for an individual healthcare policy will likely rise from $223 per month to $420. The cheapest insurance with federally mandated coverage many people won't want will be $280 per month.
“We have warned of these increases since a state-specific study in 2011 indicated Ohio would be significantly impacted by the ACA,” Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor said.  “The Department’s initial analysis of the proposed rates show consumers will have fewer choices and pay much higher premiums for their health insurance starting in 2014.”
Speaker John Boehner quickly pounced on the news.
"The president sold his health care law to Ohioans as a way to bring down costs, but instead, many will pay nearly $200 extra every month while also paying higher taxes. It’s unfair to struggling families and taxpayers, and it’s another reason why we have to repeal this law and focus on patient-centered reforms that will actually lower health care costs and protect jobs."
In an economy so weak that higher gasoline prices retard economic growth the effect of reducing every individual's spending power by $2400 per year may spell depression. Yes, some will be eligible for premium subsidies but the overall effect is aptly called a train wreck.

State Dept Stopped Investigation Finding Employees Consorted With Drug Dealers & Prostitutes

Here we go again. What could possibly go wrong when experienced and seasoned State Department employees who are privy to national secrets associate with prostitutes and drug dealers? Hey, most of the time they were off duty. As Hillary would say; "What difference does it make?" CBS is reporting that the State Department halted an internal investigation that found that members of Hillary's security detail used prostitutes and that an ambassador regularly slipped away from his security detail to solicit sex from prostitutes in a public park. Boy will be boys. Nothing to see here.

NSA Leaker Comes Forward

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA technical assistant, claims he passed the classified information that blew open a number of intense surveillance operations to the media because he doesn't 'want to live in a society that does these sort of things. Snowden was not a loser. He earns $200,000 per year with defense contractor Bootz Allen Hamilton.

'I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions,' but 'I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.'
He said he was bracing for the government to demonize him, but he hoped that his coming forward would not divert attention away from the revelations he made public.
'I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in,' he told The Guardian.
'My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.'

Beat The Drum Slowly

It's getting about time to send Eric Holder's saddle home. The American public has seen this death ritual countless times before. Generally when the opposite political camp calls for a head it is dismissed as partisanship but when members of troubled officeholder's own persuasion question his political viability it's time to buy the burial plot. Next will come the anguished and tearful dialogue as the family decides it time to put down the loyal but suffering family pet. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia started the dance with a dosado yesterday and today David Ignatius of the Washington Post countered with the left allemande.
Sympathetic detachment is essential and Manchin knows how to deliver that. “Whenever you feel that you have lost your effectiveness or may be losing your effectiveness to the detriment of the job that you do … you have to evaluate that and make a decision. And I think we’re at the time now where decisions have to be made.” Wow! I love it! It's almost as if we are talking about erectile dysfunction or the loss of bladder control.
Ignatius is a bit sterner. Holder, it seems has exercised poor judgment. Damned perceptive, although one wonders why it took five years for Ignatius to notice. He then meanders through several cases such as the prosecution of John Edwards and the absurd idea of trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a Manhattan courtroom as examples of Holder's failing judgment. Never mind the fact that the public is fed up with Holder's partisan approach to legal issues and his contemptuous mendacity when dealing with Congress Ignatius concludes that Holder's bad judgment is politically terminal.
Few if any of these deaths are ever quick and merciful. The vultures sometimes must circle for weeks, but the outcome is preordained and certain. Eric Holder will go.

The heavy hand of the IRS, exposed in 5 minutes

  The brain is hot and weary trying to process all the illegal, immoral and illicit (not to mention totalitarian and commie) activity that has been exposed this last week.
  If you missed the IRS hearings, here's a rundown. Very effective.

Dorothy Rabinowitz Takes On The Bike Lobby

Dorothy Rabinowitz is not a great fan of New York's bike sharing program. "Do not ask me to enter the minds of the totalitarians who run this city." Her critique raised the ire of bikers and liberal bloggers alike.
It's not often an editorial in the Wall Street Journal bring this much vitriol to the party but the outrage continued. Even Jon Stewart waded into the controversy.
Rabinowitz responded to her critics in another video.

Obama thinks you're stupid

    Yesterday I heard a Dem talking point--uttered by Lindsey Graham--that you're a fool if you think the government has time to--bwahaha are you stupid???--listen to millions of phone calls a day. What a CRAZY plan would THAT be? 
  So why on earth would this administration be interested in your private information (You fool, you!) so no one should be upset by the latest scandal that the feds are tracking every move we make, listening to our phone calls, reading our emails and texts, snooping into our bank accounts and spending habits and storing that information in a huge huge huge data center in Utah. (Read about it over at Wired and then try to sleep at night.)
  And let's have interns do it, because they'll definitely not do anything unethical or illegal, right? Better still, hire some interns from Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, right?
  Of course, as we've mentioned several times, Maxine Waters let the cat out of the bag that Obama's been snooping on people for years and he has the goods on you so you better do what he wants.
  You can kiss the underground economy goodbye, for one thing. From US News via Washington Blog:

Starting this year, the IRS tools will be able to track all credit card transactions, for starters. The agency has also instructed agents on using online sources such as social media and e-commerce sites including eBay, as well as the rich data generated by mobile devices. In one controversial disclosure in April, the ACLU showed documents in which the IRS general counsel said the agency could look at emails without warrants, but the IRS has said it will not use this power.

While the agency has declined to give details about what third-party personal data it will use in robo-audits and data mining, it has told government and industry groups that its computers are capable of scanning multiple networks at the same time to collect “matching” comprehensive profiles for every taxpayer in America. Such profiles will likely include shopping records, travel, social interactions and information not available to the public, such as health records and files from other government investigators, according to IRS documents.

  And we all trust the IRS because, hey! I wasn't the one who was snooped on, right? Because I trust Obama, right? Because we know that the government would never snoop on my personal info or have secret email accounts for themselves, would they?
  Uh, yeah, well, unfortunately for this administration, we aren't ALL stupid, although many of his acolytes are not only deluded but stupid. And we know he thinks we're all stupid because he says stuff like "Gas is too high, right? We want the price of gas to go down so we're going to raise taxes on oil companies!" and everyone cheers, as if somehow taxing oil companies will lower local prices instead of raising them.
  Let's take a step back and remember Joe the Plumber, an ordinary Toledo guy who asked a simple question and stirred up a tempest which prompted state employee Fred Williams to prompt his employee to search Joe's state records resulting in this (WaPo):

Ohio's Inspector General concluded in a report that Jones-Kelley had wrongly authorized searches of Wurzelbacher through records kept on child support payments, temporary aid to families and unemployment benefits. A state employee concerned that privacy rules had been violated initially disclosed the breaches.

The report said that while the searches "were done in the midst of a political campaign," there was no evidence the information was released "in an effort to support any political activity or agenda."

[SNIP] 

Searches of Wurzelbacher's driving history also were made using an account through the Toledo Police Department, which is investigating those actions, the report stated. A former information technology contractor for the Ohio Attorney General's office conducted a review of driving records for Wurzelbacher and others, without the office's knowledge, yesterday's report said. Those searches are being investigated by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for possible criminal charges, the Inspector General report stated.

  Defending the offending criminals who invaded Joe's privacy were the taxpayers of Ohio, sponsored by a Democrat AG. Several of the employees lost their jobs, several received wrist slaps but the civil rights lawsuit Joe filed was dismissed, along with its appeal.
  I love this idea that RINOs and some Dems are pushing that, meh, it's OKAY that the government has access to every aspect of our lives.....as long as you haven't done anything wrong.
  So the rumors that Graham is gay? It's ok if people find out if that is true? If true, why hasn't Graham told us already? 
  And the rumors that SCOTUS Justice John Roberts has some adoption problems that may have influenced his behavior? Is it ok if people know that? Because we're sure no one in state or federal government would ever do anything with that, aren't we? Like try to take away his kids?
  After the brouhaha hit the fan with Joe, a coworker approached me, laughing, mocking and showing an article he had found. "Look," he said exultantly," his name isn't even Joe. It's Samuel!" What shocked me was this man's absolute conviction that Joe was a fraud because he went by the name of Joe instead of Samuel, as if this were a crime.
  My point is that, with millions and millions of regulations on the books, everyone's guilty of something and if they're not, the government and the media can make anything look like it's a crime.
  It's like Obama saying the other day that the problem of the rising costs of insurance isn't the fault of the Affordable Care Act (he didn't use "Obamacare" this time, oddly), but rather the fault belongs to the small business owners for passing on the costs of Obamacare to its employees.
  So it's not Obamacare's fault. It's the BUSINESS'S fault!!Because they should absorb all the costs even though many businesses operate on a shoestring.
  See? You're stupid! 2 + 2= 5!!!
  And the feds can make anybody guilty because doubletalk does that.
  No. No. No. 
  Monitoring every US citizens phone calls AND data is a big deal.
  And if you don't think so, you're continuing to take the blue pill instead of the red pill.