The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Greetings From Lost Wages

Posted on | October 18, 2011 | 26 Comments

LAS VEGAS, Nevada
Whose lucky number will be up in tonight’s debate on CNN? That’s the subject of my American Spectator column today:

Even before landing, passengers in the window seats can see the neon lights of the casinos on the strip. As soon as you exit your plane and step into McCarran International Airport, the business of the place confronts you: Rows of slot machines waiting to accept the visitor’s contribution to the local economy. “Double Gold,” “Triple Red White & Blue,” and “Triple Diamond Deluxe” — the bright lights, garish colors and clamorous sounds of the machines invite you to take a chance and, what the heck, why not? “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” as the slogan says, and what happens here day after day is tourists losing money that stays in Vegas.
You go home. Your money stays here. If tourists were as lucky as they hoped, Las Vegas would go broke within 72 hours and all the tourists would go home rich. What actually happens, of course, is that the tourists lose far more than they win and yet they keep coming back year after year, losing more in the slot machines and poker pits, at the blackjack tables and roulette wheels — even at the airport, where they can bet a buck and maybe win a million (but much more likely lose again) before they board the flight back home. And tonight at the Sands Expo and Convention Center on the Strip, somebody’s going to lose a presidential debate. . . .

Please read the whole thing. And a few quick headlines:

Republicans Call For Romney
To Join Nevada Boycott
— WMUR-TV, New Hampshire

Perry Campaign’s Payment for
Private Jet Raises Questions
— New York Times

Iowa GOP officials set date for
the Republican caucuses: Jan. 3
— Des Moines Register

Tonight’s debate starts at 8 p.m. ET — don’t miss it!


Category: Debates, Election 2012, Fear and Smitty in Vegas

Proto-#OccupyWallStreet Protesters Spinal Tap On The Perils Of The 1%

Posted on | October 18, 2011 | 2 Comments

by Smitty


I’ll take their word for it:

I rode the jet stream, I hit the top
I’m eating steak and lobster tails
The sauna’s drafty – oooh, the pool’s too hot
The kitchen stinks of boiling snails

The taxman’s coming, the butler quit
This ain’t no way to be a man
I’m going back to where I started
I’m flashing back into my pan

Yeah, that’s what I am doing, and why not?
It’s better in a hell hole

Keep that in mind while you’re pining for finer fjords.

Inspired by Paco.

Category: humor, Video

Ron Paul’s “Restore America”: Spot On

Posted on | October 18, 2011 | 34 Comments

by Smitty

It’s an 11 page .pdf that is as serious as lung cancer about doing something concerning federal over-reach and over-spending, nuking:

  • Department of Education
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development

What gives me pause about the bulk of the candidates is that they seem to be looking around the elephant in the room, the over-reach, and just talking about reigning in spending.

As they do pretty much every. Single. Miserable. Election. Cycle. It’s like some big news when a Rick Perry calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme. When the truth is like a shocking revelation, that, itself, is a problem.

Admittedly, I get queasy when Ron ventures into foreign policy, but what difference does foreign policy make when the whole country is impoverished by our idiot Ruling Class? One is tempted to vote for whoever is bringing the biggest wrecking ball.

via Althouse

Category: Ron Paul

LIVE AT FIVE – 10.18.11

Posted on | October 18, 2011 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Israel, Palestinians Begin Prisoner Exchange

Israeli soldiers patrol behind a fence at Tel Nof airbase

Palestinian prisoners on buses in custody of Egyptians

At Debate, Focus Is On Fast-Rising Cain
Will he be the latest fizzle or will the Cain Train keep rolling?


Libyan Rebels Celebrate Fall Of Bani Walid (Video)
Pockets of resistance remain there and in Sirte



POLITICS
Obama Stumps For Jobs Plan

President Obama buys candy at a stop in Boone, NC

President mocks Republicans for not understanding “complex” jobs bill; GOP returns fire, ripping trip as just another campaign tour

Federal Judge Orders Review Of Interior’s Polar Bear Decision


Supremes To Hear “Stolen Valor” Law Challenge

USA Today/Gallup Poll: Majority Of Adults Support Capitalism, Blame Washington For Economic Misery

Ron Paul Proposes $1 Trillion In Cuts, Including Interior Department

Iowa Republicans Set Caucus Date For January 3

Rand Paul’s Switch Clears Way For Pipeline Bill

Policy On KIA Bracelets Stokes Marines’ Fury



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
World Stocks Fall After PRC GDP, French Warning
Banks Decline As Citibank, Wells Fargo Report Lower Q3 Earnings
PRC Growth Slowest In Two Years As European Demand Cools
CFTC To Impose Position Limits On Commodity Traders: Will It Stick?
Richard Branson, NM Officials Dedicate Spaceport
Twitter CEO: 250 Million Tweets A Day – Now What?
Free Apps For Angry Blackberry Users As RIM Tries To Make Amends
HTC Takes A Blow In Fight With Apple
Tim O’Reilly v. Christopher Poole On The Subject Of Web Identity (Videos)
Charging Stations Multiply, But Electric Cars Are Few



SPORTS
Jets End Three-Game Skid With 24-6 Win Over Dolphins

Sanchez executes, defense contributes, and Jets win

Sanchez throws for 200+ yards and TD, runs another one in to help Jets break losing streak

Factors Converged In Crash That Killed Dan Wheldon

Stern Seeks Quick Results As NBA Enters Mediation

Big East In State Of Flux

Reborn Winnipeg Jets Beat Penguins For First Win

Morosi: Don’t Expect Repeat Of Texas Tumble

Can The Raiders Survive Without Jason Campbell?

McCourts Take Swing At Divorce Deal

OccupyDenver Devolves Into One-Man Kansas Jayhawks Rally (Video)



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Rooney Mara: Playing With Fire

Rooney Mara, coming soon to a theater near you

The star of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in Vogue

Kelly Osbourne: I Was Never As Fat As Christina Aguilera

Has-Been Actress Calls Pope A Nazi

Karina Smirnoff Postpones Wedding To Brad Penny

Underage “Hannah Montana” Star Michael Musso Busted For DUI

“Walking Dead” Season 2 Premiere Delivers Record Ratings

Giuliana Rancic: I Have Breast Cancer

Lena Headey Embracing The Crazy For “Game Of Thrones” Season 2

Beyonce’s Baby Bump Missing From “Love On Top” Video

“Footloose” Star Kenny Wormald On Fame And Humility



FOREIGNERS
Kenyan Troops Advance 50 Miles Into Somalia
Two Brits Detained By Kenyan Anti-Terror Police
Turkish Foreign Minister Meets Syrian Opposition In Ankara
Bangkok Reinforcing Flood Defenses; Death Toll At 315
Europe’s Richest Woman Declared Incompetent
US Troops Seal Afghan Border With Pakistan
Yanukovich Dismisses EU Protest Over Timoshenko Verdict



BLOGS & STUFF
Allahpundit: Howard Stern’s Crew Interviews OWS Protesters (Audio)
Legal Insurrection: OWS Turnout A Major Fail
Pat Dollard: #Occupy Protesters To Confront Obama During Bus Trip
PJ Tatler: Did Obama Shoot His Weekly Address In Front Of A Green Screen?
Hit & Run: Administration Says They Oppose Implementing CLASS Act But also Oppose Its Repeal
Volokh Conspiracy: Public Support For Pot Legalization Hits 50% For The First Time
Power Line: “Christopher Columbus Was The First Zionist”
Sense Of Events: The Obama Supporter’s Conundrum
Gateway Pundit: CPUSA Organizer Cheered By OccupyChicago Also An Obama Organizer
National Review: Bold, Brash, And Wrong
IBD: The Austerity Myth – Federal Spending Up 5% This Year
American Power: California Schools Adding LGBT Curriculum To All Grades From Kindergarten On Up
American Thinker: Ron Paul’s Serious Proposal


SOTD: Viva Las Vegas

Category: Live at Five

Antisemitism Runs Amok At Occupy Wall Street Events

Posted on | October 17, 2011 | 39 Comments

Guest post by Duane Lester of All American Blogger

 

I have spent quite a bit of time trying to understand why a majority of Jewish Americans continue to support this President when his actions are so anti-Israel. I have tried to convince Jewish Americans that the left generally doesn’t have much use for them.

Still, they support President Obama and Democrats.

What will it take for the scales to fall from their eyes for them to understand the left is not their friend?

How about overt antisemitism? It’s part and parcel with the Occupy Wall Street movement and is found from coast to coast. Here’s a video from the Emergency Committee for Israel:

Here’s an interview Reason TV conducted at Occupy L.A.:

There is word that the Jewish vote may finally be turning away from the Democrats. The Wall Street Journal the election of Robert Turner in New York was “the first electoral outcome directly affected by President Obama’s Israel policy.”

A Public Policy Poll taken days before the election found a plurality of voters saying that Israel was “very important” in determining their votes. Among those voters, Republican candidate Robert Turner was winning by a 71-22 margin. Only 22% of Jewish voters approved of President Obama’s handling of Israel. Ed Koch, the Democrat and former New York mayor, endorsed Mr. Turner because he said he wanted to send a message to the president about his anti-Israel policies.

This is a preview of what President Obama might face in his re-election campaign with a demographic group that voted overwhelmingly for him in 2008.

In response, Obama took drastic measure. He unleashed Biden on them, which some might consider an act of aggression:

As Mr. Obama confronts his re-election challenge and the prospect of fracturing support among core constituencies, he is relying increasingly on Mr. Biden for help with one particular group: American Jews, who routinely tend to vote Democratic but whom the Republicans are, once again, making a run at.

Despite some warning signs, Democratic officials maintain that they do not think that Mr. Obama is in danger of losing the Jewish vote — particularly given the president’s muscular defense of Israel at the United Nations General Assembly…

It’s insulting for these “Democratic officials” to state they don’t believe the Jewish vote is going anywhere because Obama gave a speech defending Israel. In 2008, he said he’d bring an unshakeable commitment to Israeli security, then proceeded to tell them to retreat back to 1967 borders after elected.

Do they honestly believe that people forget so quickly, or are they spinning?  I’d bet Stacy’s tip jar on the latter.

There is no doubt that the left is unafraid of pulling back the curtain on their beliefs regarding Israel and Jews in general.   I doubt Republicans will garner a majority vote from Jewish Americans in 2012.  After all, in 2008, Obama took 77 percent of the Jewish vote. But if the left continues to be so overt in their antisemitism while Republicans like Herman Cain preach almost unconditional defense of Israel, I’m thinking Republicans will be able to count on Jewish voters in the near future.

 

Category: #Occupy

The Army Of Climate Change Darkness Marches On

Posted on | October 17, 2011 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

Guilt by association is an ugly thing. So I disclaim at the outset any attempt to say that, merely because John Holdren,

the president’s current science czar — an advocate of de-developing America and population control.

has been a source of advice to Mitt Romney on “global warming and carbon emissions”. And the two should know:

Massachusetts is the first and only state to set CO2 emissions limits on power plants. The limits, which target the six largest and oldest power plants in the state, are the toughest in the nation…

Also interesting:

One of Romney’s former top state environmental officials during his tenure as Massachusetts governor now oversees air quality at Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, playing a key role in the march of environmental regulations to fight climate change and slash pollution from coal-fired power plants that is regularly blasted by Republicans seeking Obama’s job. Sometimes, even Romney himself.

I’d like to dub these climate change/carbon tax weenies the Army Of Climate Change Darkness, because:

  • they perpetuate this climate change myth in the face of scandal,
  • they pursue the kind of centralized market control that breeds failure wherever it goes, in this case, power failure,
  • they do seem an army invading our formerly capitalist country, and,
  • this blog still has not seen Bruce Campbell and Mitt Romney in the same place simultaneously.


Yeah, so what? Mitt is a smart guy. It may be that John Holdren does know something useful. Just because there is a bit of a professional tie there cannot be construed to mean that Holdren is a tool of the plutocrats and crony capitalists, and Mitt Romney is the anointed favorite who can be relied upon to ensure the correct wheels get greased. Why, that would be  a cheap shot, and this blog is far above such.

But wait! There’s more!

Washington, D.C., October 17, 2011 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request today with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), run by controversial White House Science Adviser (and former Mitt Romney climate adviser) John Holdren. The FOIA request seeks records involving an apparently co-ordinated effort between OSTP and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to subvert and circumvent U.S. law.

Specifically, CEI’s FOIA request seeks details of the Obama Administration’s involvement in a UN IPCC plan to hide official online correspondence in non-governmental accounts. The express purpose of creating a non-government web-site “cloud” communications system was to avoid national transparency laws, such as the U. S. FOIA. However, with OSTP having taken over the lead U.S. role in the IPCC in 2009, this also implicates the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA).

The new IPCC system sought to shield U. S. government employees working on the Fifth Assessment Report from FOIA requests by hiding their correspondence, even though they are being tasked and paid by the federal government to work on the report. The scandal-plagued IPCC is funded with millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. CEI demonstrates in its FOIA request that the IPCC’s motivation to avoid future FOIA requests was past embarrassment over releases of earlier communications between IPCC officials and participating bureaucrats, appointees and scientists working on the assessment reports.

Read, as they say, the whole thing. At first blush, it doesn’t seem to pass the ‘So, what?’ test. However, given the U.N. non-command of doing anything useful, and the heretofore unbelievable hijinks of this administration, these guys are likely of everything under the sun except recognizing legitimate solar ventures. One assumes the worst and is rarely proven wrong.

And so what does that mean for the Mr. Squeaky Clean? Is it as bad as lauding Ted Kennedy when signing RomneyCare into law? Between the carbon tax, the RomneCare, and the seeming non-grasp of the fact that TeaPartiers are standing athwart the GOP yelling STOP, one sincerely hopes Somebody Arises Resurrecting American Hope.

Category: Mitt Romney

Bise And I Are All Big Time Now Because We Made ‘Kruiser Control’

Posted on | October 17, 2011 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

Good show, give it a watch:
The Tweet of the Week thing is cool. Kruiser should also do a top three for the various hash tag games, as the riffs are also brutal there.

Category: humor, Video

Thomas Sowell On #OccupyWallStreet

Posted on | October 17, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

I don’t know if Thomas Sowell has the same problem Herman Cain does with black authenticity, but Sowell makes just as much or more sense as Cain does:


Watch the whole thing:

Via Sowell on Twitter

Category: #Occupy, Economics
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