analysis policy in all the world: tháng 5 2013

Thứ Sáu, 31 tháng 5, 2013

Eric Holder's Long History Of Lying To Congress [IBD]

Guest post by Investors Business Daily

Scandal: Before he lied to Congress while under oath about what he knew about targeting reporters, he lied about Fast and Furious. As early as the New Black Panthers case, Eric Holder had a problem with the truth.

That the House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath during his May 15 testimony on Department of Justice (DOJ) surveillance of reporters comes as no surprise. People have forgotten about the New Black Panther case, perhaps the most clear-cut case of voter suppression and intimidation ever. On Election Day 2008, New Black Panther Party members in military garb were videotaped intimidating voters outside a Philadelphia polling place.

The slam-dunk prosecution of these thugs was dropped by Holder's Justice Department. When asked why, Holder, on March 1, 2011, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies that the "decisions made in the New Black Panther Party case were made by career attorneys in the department."

Holder lied, for the decisions were made by political appointees. J. Christian Adams, a former career DOJ attorney in the Voting Rights Section, testified before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission that it was Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, an Obama political appointee, who overruled a unanimous recommendation for prosecution by Adams and his associates.

Documents obtained by Judicial Watch and a ruling by Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in response to a suit brought by the group show that "political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ's dismissal of claims in that case."

Fast forward to Fast and Furious, the Obama administration's program to "walk" guns across the border and into the hands of Mexican drug cartels in furtherance of its gun control agenda.

"When did you first know about the program officially I believe called Fast and Furious? To the best of your knowledge, what date?" House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa asked Holder in sworn testimony on May 3, 2011. "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," was Holder's response.

Holder lied: A July 2010 memo shows Michael Walther, head of the National Drug Intelligence Center, told Holder that straw buyers in Fast and Furious "are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said other documents indicate Holder began receiving weekly briefings on the program from the National Drug Intelligence Center on or before that date.
In an exchange with Sen. Pat Leahy on Nov. 8, 2011, Holder admitted his May 3 testimony was inaccurate when he said he knew about Fast and Furious for a "few weeks." He later changed that to a "couple months."

But the memo from Walther referring to Fast and Furious in detail was sent directly to Holder on July 5, 2010 — not a "couple months" before he testified in May.

No surprise then on May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee, Holder lied when he said: "In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, this is not something I've been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy."

He personally signed off on James Rosen's warrant. Holder's defenders say the statement is technically correct because he never meant to prosecute Rosen, only to find the leaker. If so, then he lied to a federal judge.

Similarly, Holder's testimony to the House Judiciary Committee that he had recused himself from the Associated Press leak investigation that led to the blanket seizure of call records is not backed up by a formal recusal letter, which is required under such circumstances.

So we have at least four counts of lying to Congress by the chief law enforcement officer of the United States.
When did the lies begin? Looks like right after he took the oath of his office.

Hat tips: Investors Business Daily and Michael Ramirez (Cartoon).

THE GENIUS OF DEMOCRAT LEADERSHIP: Illinois Credit Rating, Already Lowest Among the 57 States, Will Fall Further--Moody's

I could point out that Illinois is on the road to becoming a giant version of Detroit. But I won't. I'll simply point to this ominous report from Crain's Chicago Business.

Illinois' credit rating with Moody's Investors Service, already the lowest of any state, could fall if there is no legislative fix to address the state's huge public pension problem, an analyst at the credit rating agency said on Friday... "Our view is that failure to enact pension reforms could drive the state's general obligation bond rating lower from A2, which is already the lowest level for a U.S. state," said Moody's analyst Ted Hampton.

...House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton are at odds over how to approach reform. Madigan's bill opts for unilateral cuts in retirement benefits for current and retired state workers, teachers, legislators, and college and university employees to reap the maximum cost savings.
Cullerton is pushing a bill passed by his chamber that would generally allow workers to retain access to state-sponsored healthcare in retirement if they opt for pension concessions.

Cullerton's plan, which has the backing of public labor unions, would shave the state's nearly $100 billion unfunded pension liability by only $9.13 billion. Madigan's bill, which the unions have vowed to challenge in court on constitutional grounds, would cut it by $21 billion, according to actuarial analyses by the state's pension funds.

...A lower credit rating would raise Illinois' cost for borrowing in the U.S. municipal bond market, where investors already demand hefty yields for the state's general obligation bonds... Illinois' so-called credit spread over Municipal Market Data's benchmark triple-A scale for the muni market was 140 basis points in the latest week. That is the second widest spread after Puerto Rico among major muni debt issuers tracked by MMD. The credit spread for California, which has taken steps to deal with its financial problems, is roughly a third the size of Illinois' at 46 basis points.

When the final collapse of the Illinois state government comes -- and it's when, not if -- the war between the public sector unions and their Democrat sponsors will truly be something to behold. The union rank-and-file will never, ever get all of the insanely rich benefits they were promised in exchange for their votes. And the Democrats will try to evade responsibility for the fiscal tsunami that they've unleashed on their voters.

When that happens, you can look for me here. I'll be the one making popcorn.

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

SHOCK, CONSTERNATION AS KRUGMAN PROVEN WRONG AGAIN: California health insurance premiums to spike 64 to 146 percent

And the former Enron adviser had such a stellar track record of predictions until now, what with advocating a housing bubble and praising the Euro in the last decade alone.

Rate Shock: In California, Obamacare To Increase Individual Health Insurance Premiums By 64-146%

Last week, the state of California claimed that its version of Obamacare’s health insurance exchange would actually reduce premiums... But the data [it just] released tells a different story: Obamacare, in fact, will increase individual-market premiums in California by as much as 146 percent.

...Last week, Covered California—the name for the state’s Obamacare-compatible insurance exchange—released the rates that Californians will have to pay to enroll in the exchange...

...That Obamacare more than doubles insurance premiums for many Californians is especially ironic, given the political posturing of the President and his administration in 2010. In February of that year, Anthem Blue Cross announced that some groups (but not the majority) would face premium increases of as much as 39 percent. The White House and its allies in the blogosphere, cynically, claimed that these increases were due to greedy profiteering by the insurers, instead of changes in the underlying costs of the insured population...

...So, to summarize: Supporters of Obamacare justified passage of the law because one insurer in California raised rates on some people by as much as 39 percent. But Obamacare itself more than doubles the cost of insurance on the individual market. I can understand why Democrats in California would want to mislead the public on this point...

I'm actually looking forward to the full implementation of Obamacare in January. Everything we warned the drones about -- and more -- will unfold in very short order. As Max Baucus described it: a train wreck.

And Nancy Pelosi will need a couple more facelifts from the stress, I suspect. But maybe those are covered under her plan.

Watch a Giant Asteroid Sail by Earth Tonight at 9:30 ET

So advises National Geographic:

Astronomers around the world are gearing up to get their first close-up views of a giant space rock and it’s new-found moon, set to hurtle by Earth Friday, May 31. The flyby will be broadcast live around the world via the web.

Remote controlled telescopes on the Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, will cover the asteroid’s closest approach to our planet which occurs at 4:59 p.m. EDT. You can catch the live coverage right here starting at 1:30 p.m. PDT / 4:30 p.m. EDT / 20:30 UTC...

Called 1998 QE2, this asteroid is considered a potentially hazardous object because it makes a regular close approach to Earth’s orbit... QE2 is a true mountain in motion, stretching 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) across—nine times the length of the 12-deck Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship...

...And astronomers have already made a surprising discovery... QE2 has been hiding its own moon—about 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide. Considering the hundreds of asteroids out there, NASA says this may not be that uncommon. As many as 16 percent of asteroids are actually part of binary or triplet systems.

...Luckily for us Earthlings, there is no chance of a collision. The asteroid will pass by on Friday at 4:59 p.m. EDT at a safe distance of 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers)—15 times the distance separating the Earth from the moon. This is the closest approach the asteroid will make to our planet for at least the next two centuries...

Despite its relative distance from Earth, QE2 will still be visible to backyard telescopes (at least four to six inches in mirror size) as a faint 11th magnitude star (100 times fainter than what the human eye can see) silently gliding across the southern skies the next few nights...

...NASA astronomers plan to train two of the world’s most powerful radio telescopes on the asteroid as it makes its closest approach today. By bouncing radio signals off the tumbling asteroid, they hope to create a detailed map that will reveal information about its rotation, shape, and surface features as small as 12 feet (3.75 meters) across...

There is no truth to the rumor that Michael Moore's gravitational field has influenced the path of the asteroid.

Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

What difference does it make?

Papa B shares this classic with us:

Related: The Complete Benghazi Timeline in Spreadsheet Format.

Larwyn's Linx: Benghazi Is A Crime More Evil Than Anything A President Has Done In Our Lifetimes

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

QOTD: "Now Eric Holder wants to chat with Washington-bureau chiefs to smooth everything out. You see, his aides have been telling the Daily Beast that he's been feeling a "creeping sense of personal remorse."

Holder wants to discuss this mess and his views on snooping on the press . . . off the record, of course...

...Now, the problem is not off-the-record talks per se; the problem is that Holder has some sort of argument that he wants to make to the reporters that he doesn't want to share with the public at large. He wants to assure them of his respect for their "unfettered" ability to report the news, in a meeting in which they cannot report on anything he says or does. Mind you , he's been caught setting the table for a future prosecution of a reporter for publishing classified information and perhaps committing perjury before Congress, testifying on May 15 that prosecuting a reporter is "not something I've ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy." Of course, subsequent revelations about the Rosen case appear to be a blatant contradiction of that testimony. Now Holder wants to get the press to take it easy on him, and he doesn't want his arguments quoted in the papers." --Jim Geraghty

Thứ Năm, 30 tháng 5, 2013

DUDE: "Saudi policeman lashes amnesty applicants with belt"

And that's not my headline: that's the Saudi newspaper's.

A Saudi policeman was caught on camera using his belt to beat expatriates at an immigration department after they packed its offices to benefit from an amnesty announced by the Gulf Kingdom for illegal migrants.

Newspapers said a YouTube film showing the officer beating men and shoving women out of the department in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah has triggered public furor across the country and prompted the suspension of the cop involved.

Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, a brother of King Abdullah, ordered an investigation into the incident and the “immediate suspension of the officer” after seeing the film, Alsaudeh Arabic language daily said.

It quoted a department spokesman as saying the behavior of the officer is “unacceptable and unjustified.”

Wait just a second, Hoss: you mean to say that the Saudis don't have open borders? Or driver's licenses for illegals? Food stamps and welfare? Free health care?

Could someone please email John McCain and Lindsey Graham?

IT'S COME TO THIS: Holder Justice Department Says It Will Help Enforce Islamic Sharia Law

You just knew this was coming, didn't you?

DOJ: Social Media Posts Trashing Muslims May Violate Civil Rights

In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S. the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights.

[Ed.: Apparently the DOJ needs to read the Bill of Rights again and, in particular, the First Amendment.]

The move comes a few years after the administration became the first in history to dispatch a U.S. Attorney General to personally reassure Muslims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is dedicated to protecting them. In the unprecedented event, Attorney General Eric Holder assured a San Francisco-based organization (Muslim Advocates) that urges members not to cooperate in federal terrorism investigations that the “us versus them” environment created by the U.S. government, law enforcement agents and fellow citizens is unacceptable and inconsistent with what America is all about.

...Evidently that was a precursor of sorts for an upcoming Tennessee event (“Public Disclosure in a Diverse Society”) that will feature the region’s top DOJ official [Bill Killian], who serves as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and an FBI representative. The goal is to increase awareness and understanding that American Muslims are not the terrorists some have made them out to be in social media and other circles, according to a local newspaper report. The June 4 powwow is sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee.

The area’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Killian, will address a topic that most Americans are likely unfamiliar with, even those well versed on the Constitution; that federal civil rights laws can actually be violated by those who post inflammatory documents aimed at Muslims on social media. “This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” Killian says in the local news story. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are.”

...Over the years the Obama administration has embarked on a fervent crusade to befriend Muslims by creating a variety of outreach programs at a number of key federal agencies. For instance the nation’s Homeland Security covertly met with a group of extremist Arab, Muslim and Sikh organizations to discuss national security matters and the State Department sent a controversial, anti-America Imam (Feisal Abdul Rauf) to the Middle East to foster greater understanding and outreach among Muslim majority communities.

The Obama Administration has also hired a special Homeland Security adviser (Mohamed Elibiary) who openly supports a radical Islamist theologian and renowned jihadist ideologue and a special Islam envoy that condemns U.S. prosecutions of terrorists as “politically motivated persecutions” and has close ties to radical extremist groups.

The president has even ordered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to shift its mission from space exploration to Muslim diplomacy and the government started a special service that delivers halal meals, prepared according to Islamic law, to home-bound seniors in Detroit. [And who] could forget Hillary Clinton’s special order allowing the reentry of two radical Islamic academics whose terrorist ties have long banned them from the U.S.?

In other words, criticizing Islamofascism -- the political strain of Islam -- could very well be criminalized by the Obama-Holder administration. The Islamist term for this crime is "Blasphemy", which may include one or more of the following:

- speaking ill of Allah
- finding fault with Muhammad
- speculating about how Muhammad would behave if he were alive
- drawing a picture to represent Muhammad
- whistling during prayers
- flouting the rules prescribed for Ramadan
- reciting Muslim prayers in a language other than Arabic
- consuming alcohol
- gambling
- being alone with persons of the opposite sex who are not blood relatives
- finding amusement in Islamic customs
- publishing an unofficial translation of the Qur'an
- practicing yoga
- watching a film or listening to music
- wearing make-up on television
- insulting religious scholarship
- wearing the clothing of Jews or of Zoroastrians
- participating in non-Islamic religious festivals
- converting from Islam to Christianity

This crime is, in many cases, punishable by death.

In other words, you are no longer living in America.

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

HELPFUL GRAPHIC: Political Left and Right Properly Defined

While I don't agree with all of its characterizations, The Objective Standard offers an interesting illustration of the political spectrum.

...the terms “left” and “right” are already widely used to denote the basic political alternative, and because that alternative is in fact binary, the best approach for advocates of freedom is not to reject the prevalent terminology but to clarify it—by defining the relevant terms.

The problem with conventional approaches to the left-right political spectrum is that they either fail to define the alternatives in question, or proceed to define them in terms of non-essentials...

...fascism, far from having anything in common with capitalism, is essentially the same atrocity as communism and socialism—the only difference being that whereas communism and socialism openly call for state ownership of all property, fascism holds that some property may be “private”—so long as government can dictate how such property may be used. Sure, you own the factory, but here’s what you may and may not produce in it; here’s the minimum wage you must pay employees; here’s the kind of accounting system you must use; here are the specifications your machinery must meet; and so on...

....The essential issue in politics is not the size but the function of government; it’s not whether government is big or small but whether it protects or violates rights...

The proper purpose of government is to protect individual rights by banning the use of physical force from social relationships and by using force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. A properly conceived political spectrum must reflect this fact. Whatever terms are used to identify the positions of political ideologies or systems must be defined with regard to the fundamental political alternative: force vs. freedom—or, more specifically, rights-protecting vs. rights-violating institutions.

Whether you are an objectivist or a Constitutionalist in the mold of the Framers, on this we can agree: those who paint the right as "Nazis" are either ignorant or lying.

'I am a Socialist,' Hitler told Otto Strasser in 1930, 'and a very different kind of Socialist from your rich friend, Count Reventlow'.

No one at the time would have regarded it as a controversial statement. The Nazis could hardly have been more open in their socialism, describing themselves with the same terminology as our own SWP: National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Almost everyone in those days accepted that fascism had emerged from the revolutionary Left. Its militants marched on May Day under red flags. Its leaders stood for collectivism, state control of industry, high tariffs, workers' councils. Around Europe, fascists were convinced that, as Hitler told an enthusiastic Mussolini in 1934, 'capitalism has run its course'.

One of the most stunning achievements of the modern Left is to have created a cultural climate where simply to recite these facts is jarring. History is reinterpreted, and it is taken as axiomatic that fascism must have been Right-wing, the logic seemingly being that Left-wing means compassionate and Right-wing means nasty and fascists were nasty. You expect this level of analysis from Twitter mobs; you shouldn't expect it from mainstream commentators.

...I just hope that Lefties who have read this far will have a sense of how conservatives feel when fascism is declared to be simply a point further along the spectrum from them. Whenever anyone points to the socialist roots of fascism, there are howls of outrage. Yet the people howling the loudest are often the first to claim some ideological link between fascism and conservatism.

Simply listen to Democrats like the unhinged progressive Tom Harkin, who says that income and wealth needs to be "reallocated" -- by force, presumably -- and you can hear the echoes of fascists past.

OH, MY: Former New York Times General Counsel and Vice Chairman Eviscerates Obama Administration and Holder DOJ

This is mostly a blatant ripoff of a post at Ace o' Spades (and I used italics to class up the joint, plus I feel bad about the blatant ripoff). In a nutshell, the The New York Times' legendary legal expert and "the father of reporters' privilege" -- James Goodale -- just crushed the ongoing Obama-Holder free speech debacle.

RT: You’ve been called the father of reporters’ privileges. What do you see as the current threats to press freedom in the United States?

JG: It, frankly, is President Obama and Rosengate because this is the first time the – I hate to use the term ‘Espionage Act,’ we’ll say national security act for your viewers – has been used to get reporters.

I mean, that really is frightening because it’s usually used to get leakers. Rosen is a leakee, to use legal phraseology. If the Obama administration, or at least his Justice Department, thinks they can use criminal laws to get journalists because they’re co-conspirators, honestly that is one of the worst things I’ve come across in all the years I’ve been doing this.

Read the following sentence with your best John McClane imitation.

Welcome to the party, pal.

Who Profits at Taxpayer Expense with the Latest Farm Bill Scam?

Another outstanding infographic from The Heritage Foundation.

Whenever Congress throws too much into one bill, special interests profit. The massive farm bill—which is already 80 percent food stamps—is no exception... So what about the rest of the bill—the farm-related part? Heritage’s Diane Katz reports that it includes subsidies for more than a few surprising recipients.

In short, the farm bill is loaded with all of your favorite kinds of pork, directing your money to the wealthy, the well-connected, and the crooks. Consider this Exhibit 90 Jabillion of why the federal government is too damn big.

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: Holder Personally Sued in Massive Tea Party Abuse Lawsuit

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

Nation

Holder Personally Sued in Massive Tea Party Abuse Lawsuit: Tatler
IRS Abuse Included Lois Lerner, Other Higher-Ups: Tatler
Obamacare “Navigators”: Another Sebelius Snitch Brigade?: Malkin

Cincinnati IRS: DC made decisions about Tea Party applications: Scoop
IRS Directed to Lock Down All Agency Data: NRO
The Old Order is Dying: Hanson

The Ohio Players: Driscoll
Congressman Peter King: Holder May Be Guilty of Perjury: RWN
Chumps: Senate GOP Wined and Dine by Obama Feeling Snubbed: JWF

Economy

Live Free or Move: City Journal
Licenses for Illegal Immigrants in Yet Another State: JW
Campaigner-In-Chief Attends Two Fundraisers Today In Chicago: WZ

The IRS, Obamacare, and You: The Complexity: Foundry
Dead Rake in Fortune in Welfare Payments in Massachusetts: RWN
Gibson CEO revives complaints over government raids: Fox

Scandal Central

Lerner’s Signature on IRS Request for info on Tea Party Group: Tatler
New IRS Lawsuit: Tea Party Groups Got Intimidating Letters Just Four Weeks Ago: WZ
The Taxonomy of Scandals: Is Obama Nearing a Breaking Point: Beast

Lois Lerner Told Republican in 1996: “Promise me You Will Never Run Again, and We’ll Drop This (FEC) Case”: GWP
Former Nevada Powerbroker Guilty of Making Illegal Contributions to Sen. Harry Reid: LI
Benghazi Investigation Still Very Much Ongoing: Foundry

Climate & Energy

Idiot Dems in California trying to kill fracking despite massive potential for jobs and energy: Scoop
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! Sparks Set to Fly at Congressionally Sponsored Rare 3 Hour Climate Debate: Depot
Former EPA Head Lisa Jackson Hired by Apple, Which Was Just Beaten Up By Democratic Politiicans: Ace

Media

Krauthammer Brings Up The Obama/Clinton 10:00 Phone Call: ‘There’s the Scandal’: Nice Deb
Associated Press Joins NY Times In Refusing To Attend Off-The-Record Meeting With Holder: WZ
CNN hires Kevin Madden, Stephanie Cutter: Politico

Dem Party Communications Director: Press 'Forfeits [Their] Rights' if They Don't Meet with Holder: PunditPress
Congresswoman to American People: ‘You Are Being Played for a Sucker’ by Obama: Tatler
Mark Levin: Who is going to call the Democrat Senators to testify under oath about their part in IRS scandal?: Scoop

Seems Like Old Times: MSNBC In Ratings Collapse, Down 20% Year-Over-Year: Ace
FLOTUS ‘Ballers,’ Then and Now: Driscoll
Everyone Check Under Your Couch Cushions For Loose Change: Ace

CNN lays out the full timeline of DOJ investigation of James Rosen and State Dept. leak: Scoop
Michelle Malkin debates Juan ‘Hack’ Williams on whether or not Eric Holder lied: Scoop
Quite Possibly the Most Eloquent Sentence of My Entire Journalism Career: RSM

World

Deepening diplomatic crisis between Israel, Russia over arms to Assad: Hayom
What We Can Learn From Rioting In Sweden.: Instapundit
Did the Palestinians Ask Obama to Target Pro-Israeli 501(c)(3)s?: Commentary

Send Us Your Violent Bigots, Yearning To Butcher Our Citizens: Coulter
John Kerry Directs $4 Billion in U.S. Taxpayer Funds to Palestinian Terrorists: MB
China Steals $300 Billion of American Ideas Every Year – Costing US Economy 2.1 Million Jobs: GWP

Sci-Tech

'Secret Pentagon papers' show China hacked into Patriot missile system: Register
iPhone owners get 50 percent more use from their phones – usage data: 9to5mac
First leaked Windows 8.1 screenshot clearly shows new Start button: BGR

Cornucopia

Video – Ted Cruz gives commencement speech at Hillsdale College: CI
Gringo Army Orders!! Beat Back the Liberal Hordes Attacking Ted Cruz!!: Sooper
Anthony Weiner Campaign Seeks Interns, What Could Go Wrong?: Glob

Image: Barking Crayon
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Don't Watch Boring Late Night TV!

QOTD: "Obama and his supporters refuse to be judged on normal criteria, such as the president's actual record in office. Though he is quick to claim credit on the rare occasion--such as the bin Laden raid--when things go right, President Obama typically adopts a prophetic distance from the office he holds that insulates him from criticism and allows him to attack the very Washington he leads, the very political games he plays.

The heresy of Fox News is not just that it criticizes the Obama administration or that it provides a platform for conservative opinion, but that it rejects the attempt to place Obama beyond politics and accountability. It refuses, in other words, to endorse the idea that Obama inhabits a unique category, beyond the obvious (and, for most governing purposes, meaningless) historic fact that he is the nation's first black president." --Joel Pollak, via Ace

Thứ Tư, 29 tháng 5, 2013

STARTLING: What a Drone Can See From 17,000 Feet

Well, this is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying.

Rumors of an experimental 1.8-gigapixel surveillance video camera in development at DARPA -the ARGUS-IS- first surfaced in 2009.

But PBS this year got hold of some actual video feeds- and they are indeed chilling...

All it takes is one lone unit circling an area half the size of Manhattan (at cca 15-20,000 ft.) to provide comprehensive video surveillance of every single inch...

...They are running a program on the moving objects, meaning generating structured data out of the video, not merely displaying images. Just imagine drone-loving Dear Leader with a few hundred of these at his disposal...

And it doesn't even take the utmost tech to get this kind of resolution- this is what a drone equipped with this camera can image, record, and analyze at 17,000 ft...

That puts the prediction of 30,000 drones flying over American soil within the next seven years in perspective.

What could possibly go wrong?

WELL, WELL, WELL: It turns out JFK was a big admirer of Hitler

Praetorian media appears to have kept this particular tidbit a national secret for, oh, about the last half century or so. The national treasure Brent Bozell has the scoop.

You won’t read about this in the mainstream media, of course, but they recently found a diary our former president kept in the 1930s and 1940s wherein he expresses admiration for Hitler and the “Nordic races.” Here’s what he said while traveling through Germany in 1937:

The towns are all charming which shows that the Nordic races appear to be definitely superior to their Latin counterparts. The Germans are really too good — that’s why people conspire against them…

After the war Kennedy was still a Hitler fan:

Anyone who has visited these places can imagine how in a few years, Hitler will emerge from the hate that now surrounds him and come to be regarded as one of the most significant figures that ever lived… He was made of the stuff of legends.

Perhaps that explains the rumored long-lost chapter of Profiles in Courage.

Hat tip: BadBlue News.

HOLY CRAP: 400-year old zombie plant returns from the dead

Rejected headline: New hope for frozen ice dude from 5,000 years ago.

400-year old zombie plant returns from the dead

On an annual trip to the Arctic, a Canadian scientist spotted some moss that had previously been frozen under glaciers for about 400 years. When she took the plant back to the lab, she wondered if it could be brought back to life. Yes, yes it could.

University of Alberta biologist Catherine La Farge and her colleagues go on annual trips to the Teardrop glacier on Ellesmere Island, located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

In the past few years, she’s watched the glacier retreat, exposing rock, mud and ancient moss that had been buried under the ice since the Little Ice Age, which lasted from 1550 to 1850, Sheila Pratt reported in the Edmonton Journal.

La Farge specializes in studying ancient moss, a type of plant called bryophytes. Usually, the moss under the ice looks black and dead, but La Farge noticed some moss near the glacier retreat that was still slightly greenish. She decided to bring it back to the lab, and told the Edmonton Journal that upon closer inspection, she noticed a tiny green stem and decided to see whether the plant could be revived...

...After being ground up and placed in petri dishes with potting soil for several weeks, some of the moss samples did indeed begin growing. A few months later, the dishes were full of the zombie moss. The results of La Farge’s scientific study with her University of Alberta colleagues was just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

These are some super special plants. Unlike most land plants we know, bryophytes lack the vascular tissue that helps pump fluids around different parts of the organism, the BBC News reported. Instead, they reproduce by cloning their cells — and all you really need to keep it going is one.

The fact that these plants could come back after being frozen for hundreds of years has some intense implications. Scientists are studying bryophytes for potential medical use, and La Farge suggested sending some to Mars to see how the moss fares there.

I don't know about that "take the plants to Mars and let 'em grow" idea. The phrase unintended consequences seems explicitly designed for scenarios like that one.

Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

CONGRATULATIONS, ILLINOIS! 15.7 Percent of State Population Now on Food Stamps!

If Democrats weren't in power, they'd be useful only as comic relief. Their Utopian plans always fail, their centralized governmental structures always collapse under their own weight, and their level of economic illiteracy is worthy of a sit-com.

Detroit being a case in point; it serves as an excellent preview of coming attractions for the state of Illinois.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), over two million Illinoisans-- or 15.7 percent of the state's population- are currently enrolled in food stamps... Illinois was the only state to see a double-digit increase of the number of residents enrolled in the SNAP program from the same time period last year.

The United States Census Bureau's latest data shows the population of Illinois sitting at 12,875,255 people. If you take the number of residents on food stamps (2,023,635) and divide it by the population of the state (12,875,255), it shows 15.7 percent of Illinoisans are dependent on food stamps.

...a record number of households--1 out of every 5-- are now on food stamps. Food stamp rolls in America have also recently surpassed the population of Spain and the cost of food stamp fraud has more than doubled in just three years.

A fiscal collapse for Illinois would be the preferred outcome. Then maybe the taxpayers would wake up and stop voting for the Democrat crooks who have destroyed every level of government in the state.

Hat tip: Weasel Zippers.

TIME MAGAZINE: Yes, Of Course There Will Be Google Glass Porn

Google Glass is the first truly mainstream attempt at wearable computing technology. The camera-equipped glasses pairs with an Android device via Bluetooth wireless and provides augmented reality to the wearer.

Time Magazine notes that the porn industry is already eyeing (get it?) Google Glass for its, uhm, unique applications.

Over at ZDNet, Violet Blue reports that adult app company MiKandi is busily working on Glass-friendly content. While it’s not entirely clear how the content will be presented, MiKandi co-founder Jennifer McEwen hinted to Blue that the wearable aspect of Google Glass might be used in the production of adult content:

"We’re experimenting with the features of Glass. From our initial use of the device, photo and video recording is more powerful than we expected... Obviously, Glass is perfect for shooting POV video, so we’re experimenting with that first. But what’s really interesting about Glass is that it’s not just a hands free camera. It can receive and send data, so there are a lot of interesting interactions that we want to explore."

"Being hands-free and hassle-free is a simple but big difference Glass has over other similar devices. It’s so easy and familiar to wear, that from a shooter’s perspective it feels like you’re recording with your own eyes. Because it feels so natural, you can forget about the technology and just be in the moment."

In the article, Blue recounts the systematic removal of adult content from Apple’s App Store and MiKandi’s quest to woo adult app creators over to the Android side. However, Blue wonders if Google might decide to prevent adult content from being available as Glass apps. Based on McEwen’s description of how MiKandi is exploring the various features of Google Glass, it might end up that even if adult content is banned from Glass apps, it sure won’t stop adult content creators from using Glass as a recording device.

The first person who comes up with the equivalent of an app that mimics "X-Ray Specs" from the old comic books is gonna make a trillion dollars.

Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.