The Other McCain

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

Has Barrett Brown Scammed NBC News?

Posted on | March 9, 2011 | 29 Comments

In-freaking-credible!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Barrett Brown is either, as Michael Isikoff reports, “an underground commander in a new kind of warfare” — a member of a criminal conspiracy who should be under arrest — or else he’s one of the most successful hoaxers in recent memory. What astonishes me is to realize that just two days ago I was exchanging e-mails with Brown after he threatened me via Twitter over a post I wrote Feb. 14:

Is the FBI Watching Barrett Brown? (And
If They’re Not Already, Shouldn’t They?)

Everything I know about Brown leads me to believe that his claim to be a leader of “Anonymous” is self-aggrandizing nonsense. But here’s the problem: Absent complete access to his computer records, how would you go about verifying or falsifying that claim?

Consider what bush-league crap Brown was up to less than three months ago: In late December, he was posting videos of himself arguing with his girlfriend’s roommate. Before that, he was getting himself banned from blogs. Before that, he had his lawyer threatening me for making jokes at his expense.

So here we have a guy who seems to have spent December trying to get himself noticed by somebody — anybody — and now in March he’s interviewed by Michael Isikoff on NBC Nightly News?

An ability to detect the aroma of bovine excrement is essential to a newsman’s trade and it is my considered judgment that NBC News has been bamboozled, hoodwinked and scammed by Barrett Brown.

There’s an old saying in this business: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” And unless the Justice Department announces that Barrett Brown is the focus of a federal investigation, I’m calling bullshit.

UPDATE: Let me explain further why I’m so dubious of Brown’s claim. Stars and Stripes reports:

 The Financial Times reports this week that U.S. law enforcement agencies are investigating plans by members of a hacking collective known as Anonymous to disrupt [Marine Corps Base] Quantico’s operations in protest over the alleged rough treatment of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, a suspect in the Wikileaks data dump that has sent countries around the world into a tizzy with the disclosure of state secrets big and small.

OK, so “Anonymous” is threatening the U.S. Marine Corps, and meanwhile Barrett Brown — who has been publicly claiming since mid-February to be involved with “Anonymous” — is strolling down the street doing an interview with NBC News? Doesn’t basic common sense tell you that there’s something wrong with that picture?

UPDATE II: Linked by Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs — thanks!.

Category: Barrett Brown, NBC, WikiLeaks

Worst President Ever

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 13 Comments

There can no longer be any question about it:

The Obama administration threatened to veto two measures being pushed by U.S. House Republicans that would eliminate programs aimed at helping people who are struggling to pay their mortgages, the administration said.
The House of Representatives is set to vote this week to kill an effort to lower mortgage payments for so-called underwater borrowers as well as an emergency fund for homeowners who have lost their incomes.
A statement from the White House Office of Management and Budget said the administration “strongly opposes” legislation that would cut the Federal Housing Administration Short Refi Option program and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. President Barack Obama’s advisers would recommend that he veto the bills if they reach his desk. . .
Forty-four loans have been modified under the program since it began in September, according to the FHA. Because no borrowers have defaulted, the program has cost nothing so far, according to the FHA. The administration statement called it “vital to the nation’s sustained economic recovery.”

Holy freaking crap. How can a program that has affected only 44 loans in six months — less than eight per month — even merit the description “relevant,” much less “vital”?

As has been amply demonstrated, the administration’s mortgage “assistance” programs have had very little impact on the housing problem (see Megan McArdle here and here, just for starters). Even if these programs were based on sound economic policy, which they aren’t, they would face two basic hurdles to effectiveness:

  1. Mortgage holders in the most serious trouble are too far gone to be helped by the programs; and
  2. If the federal programs were changed to help every troubled borrower with an “underwater” mortgage, there would be so many applicants the programs couldn’t deal with them.

So what the administration is doing, really, is running Potemkin village programs merely for the political benefit of being able to claim they’re “helping.” And here is Obama threatening to veto any spending bill that doesn’t fund these useless programs, implausibly claiming they’re “vital” to recovery!

If it was not blindingly obvious before, surely now it is beyond dispute that Harvard Law School is the worst possible preparation for the presidency, especially in a time of economic crisis.

What America desperately needs now is a president who knows something about basic economics. But where can we find such a man?

Category: Barack Obama, Economics

Mr. G Misses the Point

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 38 Comments

Responding to my earlier post about Echidne of the Snakes, That Mr. G Guy writes:

“I’ve been a single man and a married man and I feel . . . that I’m much better off and happier as a married man.”

Wow — talk about not getting it! 

Mr. G obviously doesn’t realize that his argument will do nothing to persuade a feminist like Echidne of the Snakes. Feminists don’t give a damn about men’s happiness. In fact, because feminists view happiness as a zero-sum game — where more happiness for men must obviously result in less happiness for women — Mr. G’s example would only strengthen their opinion that marriage is a very bad thing.

Feminism: A political ideology based on a belief that no honest man should ever have a reason to smile.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! And speaking of “the more regrettable aspects of the contemporary cultural debate,” I was having a spirited argument on Twitter with my friend Dan Collins as to which of us had been more prophetic in blogging the Charlie Sheen meltdown. Dan clearly was ahead of me in blogging about Sheen’s demented rant Feb. 24 on the Alex Jones radio show, which was the definitive signal that Charlie had parted ways with reality.

So I’ll have to redouble my efforts to own this meme. And how many blog posts has Harvard Boy done about the Sheen insanity saga, huh? #winning

Category: Feminism

Seattle Police: ‘No Reason to Suspect Foul Play’ in Marizela Perez’s Disappearance

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

Michelle Malkin updates readers on the missing-person case involving her 18-year-old cousin, University of Washington student Marizela “Mei” Perez, who hasn’t been seen since Saturday:

The Seattle PD says it has probable visual identification of Marizela boarding the Othello train near her home in the Rainier Beach area and commuting into the University District during the noon hour on Saturday. . . . There’s evidence that she was last seen Saturday afternoon at the Safeway in the city’s University District on 4732 Brooklyn Ave NE between 1-2pm. At some point during that time, purchases were made on her debit card.
The police say they “have no reason to suspect foul play” at this point.

That is good news: If there were evidence of a kidnapping or some other crime, the police would have said as much. However, Mei’s family has reason to be extremely concerned, as a Seattle Times story makes clear:

Perez’s father, Edgar Perez, from New Jersey, said he was flying to Seattle on Monday to help in the search. . . .
Perez said his daughter has been living with her aunt and uncle.
Edgar Perez said he called his daughter about 4 p.m. Saturday, but got no answer. Normally, he said, she calls back within five minutes, but he didn’t hear back from her.
“If she’s going to be late she always calls us,” he said. He said he contacted Perez’s boyfriend, and he hadn’t seen Marizela either.
Lauro Mendoza said he last saw her at noon Saturday and expected her back at dinnertime.
“She always comes home on time,” her uncle said.

The fact that she hasn’t called her family or friends, as she usually does, obviously raises very serious worries. There are a lot of people remembering the Perez family in their prayers.

PREVIOUSLY:

Category: Michelle Malkin, Washington State

Herman Cain Wins Iowa Debate

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 22 Comments

The headline expresses a neutral, objective fact. Of course, that’s not the headline on the MSM stories about Monday night’s 2012 presidential candidate forum sponsored by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. But who do you believe, the lying liberal media or your own two eyes?

Brian at Freedom’s Lighthouse says, “Herman Cain is going to shine in the debates that are coming. He is easily one of the most powerful and eloquent speakers in America today.” And did you notice that Cain’s remarks drew repeated applause from the audience? That kind of spontaneous reaction is why, despite their bias, even the liberal media can’t entirely ignore Cain’s powerful momentum:

Most Americans haven’t heard of Herman Cain, the former head of a chain of pizza restaurants who is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
But in Iowa, home to the nation’s first presidential caucuses, Cain has caught the attention of conservative activists influenced by the tea party movement who aren’t bothered by candidates who have succeeded in business but have never held a public office.
“He’s creating quite a buzz,” said former Iowa Republican Party Chairman Richard Schwarm. “He is someone Iowa caucus-goers are going to take very seriously.”

Isn’t it time you joined the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain?

UPDATE: Linked by Cubachi — thanks!

UPDATE II: That Mr. G Guy and If You Seek Peace also acknowledge the neutral, objective fact of Cain’s victory.


Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Iowa

NPR Executive Ron Schiller Calls Tea Party ‘Racist,’ ‘Xenophobic,’ ‘Scary’

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 21 Comments

James O’Keefe’s provided this “Candid Camera” moment for Schiller:

Wow, it’s almost like Schiller believes it’s time for NPR listeners to “Take Back America.”

William Upton has compiled a history of NPR’s bias.

Category: Media Bias, Racism, Tea Party, Video

Echidne of the Snakes Really Hates Christianity and Marriage Doesn’t She?

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 24 Comments


Jaana Goodrich (“Echdne of the Snakes“) participates in an economics panel
with Paul Krugman and Duncan “Atrios” Black, at EschaCon ’08 Conference,
Philadelphia, March 29, 2008 (Photo by A Spork in the Drawer)

Yesterday, there was a Memeorandum thread about Ross Douthat’s latest column. I glanced at the column, and considered blogging about it, but then Charlie Sheen got axed from Two and a Half Men, so I never got around to writing about the Harvard prodigy’s opus. (Ross dialed toll-free on the SAT, as they say, which means never having to worry about hustling up blog traffic.)

So this morning, I awoke to discover another Memeorandum thread, this one devoted to Echidne of the Snakes blogger Jaana Goodrich attacking Douthat. Evidently, Harvard Boy struck a nerve here:

Their research, which looks at sexual behavior among contemporary young adults, finds a significant correlation between sexual restraint and emotional well-being, between monogamy and happiness — and between promiscuity and depression.
This correlation is much stronger for women than for men. Female emotional well-being seems to be tightly bound to sexual stability — which may help explain why overall female happiness has actually drifted downward since the sexual revolution.
Among the young people Regnerus and Uecker studied, the happiest women were those with a current sexual partner and only one or two partners in their lifetime. Virgins were almost as happy, though not quite, and then a young woman’s likelihood of depression rose steadily as her number of partners climbed and the present stability of her sex life diminished.

The research cited is from a book, Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying, by sociologists Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker. And it turns out that Regnerus is to Echidne of the Snakes what windmills were to Don Quixote: She’s damned near obsessed with him, because he is a “Christian who advocates early marriage” — oh, noes!1!1!!

Echidne’s first reaction to publication of the Regnerus/Uecker book was a post titled, “The Price of Uppity Sluttiness (Is a Lonely Old Age),” in which she made much of discovering that Regnerus had written this in the August 2009 issue of Christianity Today:

[A]fter years of studying the sexual behavior and family decision-making of young Americans, I’ve come to the conclusion that Christians have made much ado about sex but are becoming slow and lax about marriage — that more significant, enduring witness to Christ’s sacrificial love for his bride.

So Regnerus has a Genesis 2/Mark 10 understanding of marriage as a divine covenant, a sacramental institution, in which sex is more than random impulse — and this causes head-exploding anxiety reactions for Echidne of the Snakes, who summarizes Douthat’s column thus:

1. Tell that more young people are choosing abstinence. This must mean that they are wingnuts.
2. Quote only studies which support the view that the wimminz are unhappy with premarital sex. Or that the wimminz are just unhappy with all their freedoms. Don’t mention the usual corollary of wingnuttery which argues that the menz are outrageously happy with all the booty they can trawl.
3. Then remind us that Planned Parenthood is a Very Bad Thing. Its existence encourages wild sex among teenagers. Guess why? Because they aren’t getting properly punished for its consequences. The gurlz, he means.

Set aside, for a moment, Echidne’s imputation that Regnerus and Uecker have produced pseudo-science that Harvard Boy is naively (or perhaps, cynically) regurgitating for his readers.

Instead, ask yourself this: What if Regnerus and Uecker are right?

What would be the consequences of having scientific proof that pre-marital chastity and marital fidelity — “One Life, One Wife”  — confer socio-economic advantages not only on individuals who uphold such values, but also produce advantages for the larger society?

The implications for public policy, I’ll leave to the wonks. Rather, I suggest the likelihood that this scientific insight could lead people to consider the possibility that the Bible is actually true.

No wonder Echidne’s head is exploding. Ideas have consequences.

UPDATE: Oh, this is unfortunate and lamentable: Some of the commenters on Echidne’s blog post have decided to make personal attacks on Douthat and his wife:

CWalz: Speaking as one of those “sluts” I found virginity highly over rated. Ross is just afraid that some of us “experienced” women will find folks like him woefully inadequate in the sack if we have someone to compare him to. That would be my supposition which I think could be as equally provable as all of Ross’ suppositions on the subject.

Sukabi: I think Douchehat’s wife is a very unsatisfied woman, and when she complains about his random poking in the sack, he calls her a slut and proceeds to write one of these columns…

DrDick: I am still not convinced that Ross is not still a virgin. I have seldom encountered someone as anti-sex and pleasure in my life.

Of course, scientific truth is independent of the sexual adequacy of Harvard graduates, just as truth is independent of the attractiveness of feminist bloggers. And thank God for that.

Category: Feminism, Marriage, Sex

Too Many White Guys in U.S. Military?

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 51 Comments

Being stuck in Kabul with crappy bandwidth is, apparently, a privilege that all those crackers are hogging:

The U.S. military is too white and too male at the top and needs to change recruiting and promotion policies and lift its ban on women in combat, an independent report for Congress said Monday.
Seventy-seven percent of senior officers in the active-duty military are white, while only 8 percent are black, 5 percent are Hispanic and 16 percent are women, the report by an independent panel said, quoting data from September 2008. . . .
“This problem will only become more acute as the racial, ethnic and cultural makeup of the United States continues to change,” said the report from the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, whose more than two dozen members included current and former military personnel as well as businessmen and other civilians.

My first reaction on reading this report was to think of Smitty, a squid stuck in landlocked Afghanistan. Too white, too male: Send him home!

My second thought was: “Military Leadership Diversity Commission? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Who dreamed that up?” Answer:

Under the provisions of The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, Section 596, Public Law 110-417, Congress established the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC).

So this provision got jammed into the defense budget and now, two years later, we get this report — which provides the Obama administration an excuse to start messing around with the military under the guise of “enhancing diversity.”

My third reaction? Imagining our enemies laughing their butts off.

Category: Military
« go back — keep looking »

    About

    This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

    Subscribe to our feed

    Search

    Admin