"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
by Smitty
I’m connecting a couple of (i)d(i)ots here in a less-than-totally-factual sort of way. A curriculum basis for this ‘exciting’ new field can be found here.
The ultimate comfort, of course, is that these clowns will eventually have the opportunity to explain themselves to the Almighty.
TOP NEWS
Obama Lifts Ban On Mexican Truckers
Nothing else gained from summit; Mexico still torqued about Wikileaks revelations
Judge Orders Protesters Out of Wisconsin State Capitol
Overnight occupations over and done thanks to ruling
Westboro “Baptist Church” to Challenge State Anti-Picketing Laws
Maryland plans to continue enforcing law regardless of Phelps clan’s intentions
POLITICS
Governor Walker Vows No Compromise On Unions
“I want to be an innovator here and give my local governments the ability to manage their own budgets. On that part, we can’t compromise.”
Economic recovery colors federal budget debate
Harvard To Welcome ROTC Back To Campus After 41 Years
NJ Men Plead Guilty To Terrorism Conspiracy Charge
California Teen Flees To Avoid Arranged Marriage
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Euro Holds Huge Gain; Dollar Looks For Jobs
New claims for unemployment lowest in three years
Prepare For Transport Stocks’ Weakness To Spread
Military’s Second X-37 Spaceplane Readied For Launch
Video Game Publicity Stunt Goes Awry
Nielsen: Consumers Prefer Android
SPORTS
NFL Labor Talks Head Into Overtime With 24-Hour Extension
President Obama won’t intervene
Embarrassing Collapse Shows Something Isn’t Right With Heat
Arnott Pays Off Again As Caps Edge Blues
Elbow Pain For Cain Is Vogelsong’s Gain
Oregon Football Faces Questions Over Recruiting
Bob Probert’s Death Could Affect NHL Lives
FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Captain America”: First Look At The Red Skull!
Also, director Joe Johnson on why he prefers Cap to a certain man of steel.
Jimmy Fallon Is “Winning” In Charlie Sheen Parody (Video)
Charlie Sheen: I Twitter For Cash!
Paula Abdul Calls 911 To Escape From Boyfriend’s Car
Simon Cowell Confirms Names On Short List For “X Factor” Judge Panel
Courtney Love To Pay $430K To Settle Twitter Defamation Case
Elizabeth Hurley Cast As “Wonder Woman” Nemesis
Trent Reznor To Score – And Act In – “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”
Disney Parks Unveils New Annie Leibowitz Disney Dream Pictures
Zooey Deschanel: Being Called “Quirky” Is Annoying
“The Dark Knight Rises” – But Against Who?
FOREIGNERS
Libyan Rebels, Qaddafi Loyalists Battle For Oil Sites
Retired FBI Agent “Somewhere In Southwest Asia”, Presumed Held By Iran
Obama Keeps Libya Options Open
UN Probes Zimbabwe Arms Sent To Ivory Coast
PRC Defense Budget To Increase 12.7%
Pakistani Christians Protest After Murder Of Shabaz Bhatti
BLOGS & STUFF
C4P: Protesters Do $7.5 Million Damage To Wisconsin State Capitol
Another Black Conservative: Judge Vinson To Obama – Get To Gettin’ On Obamacare Appeal
Clayton Cramer: Gun Smuggling Into Mexico – ATF Ordered To Let Shipments Go To Cartels
Mark Krikorian: Bringing A Beanbag To A Gunfight
Power Line: Think Ignorance Swings And Misses
Nick Gillespie: To Surly, With Love
Riehl World View: Manchin Signs On To Block EPA’s End-Run Of Democracy
Shot In The Dark: Do You Remember?
— compiled by Wombat-socho
Forget about Kim and Kourtney. It’s definitely Khloe, thanks to this Tweet she sent Thursday:
I’m sure My Favorite Kardashian™ will want to check out Herman Cain’s article, “In Defense of American Exceptionalism,” from the March issue of The American Spectator. And then she’ll want to join the grassroots online army at Citizens for Cain.
UPDATE: BTW, in case you didn’t notice, Mike Huckabee badmouthed Natalie Portman. Dude. How stupid is that?
Everybody loves Princess Amidala. Luke Skywalker’s mom, for crying out loud! And why would a conservative trash a woman who just called motherhood “the most important role of my life“?
Oh, wait. I forgot.
Mike Huckabee isn’t a conservative. Just ask Ann Coulter.
A lawyer representing the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police had seemingly threatened state Sen. Frank LaRose for voting in favor of S.B. 5, a bill to limit the power of government employee unions. Without directly mentioning Ohio FOP lawyer Mike Piotrowski’s “cops hold grudges” remark, LaRose condemned such threats in a statement (PDF) today explaining his vote for the legislation:
“Acknowledging that our state faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis, I stood on principal yesterday and voted for Senate Bill 5. This bill helps restore balance to the public employee collective bargaining process, while also protecting the rights of our state’s hardworking public service employees.
I opposed the initial version of the bill based on fundamental objections I had with a few of its provisions. By standing steadfast on what I believed to be fair, I was able to work with my colleagues to protect the essential right of employees to collectively bargain. I also successfully led the effort to remove language that could subject strikers to imprisonment. With these important changes to the bill, I was able to reach a middle ground and address what I saw as flaws in the initial legislation.
A robust debate is crucial to the process of crafting public policy. I sincerely value and respect the position of those who oppose my vote. It is however intolerable and unproductive to resort to mean-spirited personal attacks and senseless threats. Those who engage in such behavior degrade the necessary public discourse and demean their own cause as well. The citizens of our state deserve better. Let’s work through these tough issues together and maintain civility in the process.
The people of our community sent me to Columbus to stand up for them and make tough decisions based on what’s in the best interest of all Ohioans. I agonized over this decision and ultimately cast my vote based solely on what I believe is right. My vote was not, and never will be, motivated by political considerations or outside pressure. Anyone who says otherwise does not know me or understand my unwavering commitment to serving the citizens of our community. I am duty bound to do what’s best for Ohio, even when it may be unpopular. We must work together to bring prosperity back to the Buckeye State.”
Ohio FOP executive director Catherine Brockman did not respond to requests for comment on Piotrowski’s Facebook remarks.
Sen. LaRose has drawn intense criticism for his vote in favor of S.B. 5 in part because the freshman Republican lawmaker was seen as a key swing vote. Last week, LaRose told a local TV station he was “uncommitted” on the bill, and a liberal blogger in Ohio, Abe Zaidan, wrote today that he had met LaRose at a restaurant and thought the senator would oppose S.B. 5.
This was mentioned Tuesday, but now the U.S. News & World Report article is available online:
But Obama, in his most candid moments, acknowledged that race was still a problem. In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent “Tea Party” movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn’t helping them nearly enough, he said.
A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to “take back” their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn’t dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a “subterranean agenda” in the anti-Obama movement — a racially biased one — that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it.
Thanks to Gabriel Malor at AOSHQ, where Drew M. reminds us that the notoriously racist “Take Back America” Conference was twice addressed, both in 2006 and 2007, by an “aggrieved” and “resentful” activist who had a “subterranean agenda” to “stir up anger.”
Yeah: Barack Hussein Obama. Mmm mmm mmm.
Yet another reminder that if it weren’t for double standards, Democrats would have no standards at all.
UPDATE: Not to get all Beck-on-the-chalkboard here, but when I looked up the Campaign for America’s Future, which sponsored the “Take Back America” conferences where Obama spoke in 2006 and 2007, I noticed this:
CAF is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. It has a sister organization called the Institute for America’s Future which is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan think tank that conducts research and analysis and publishes reports about political and economic policy issues.
The Institute for America’s Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy sponsor a joint project called the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of environmentalists and labor unions, which seeks to commit the United States to energy independence while providing opportunity for what new “green-collar” jobs in the energy sector.
The Apollo Alliance? That name kinda rings a bell, doesn’t it?
The Apollo Alliance is a project organized by the Institute for America’s Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. The Alliance is a project of the Tides Center.
Wait a minute: There’s something strangely familiar about all this.
Apollo Board Member Van Jones
Accepts White House Post
— March 10, 2009
So Obama spoke at the “Take Back America” conference, sponsored by a sister organization of the think tank that co-sponsored the Apollo Alliance, whose board member Van Jones was appointed as “green jobs czar” by Obama, who subsequently declared it was racist to want to “Take Back America.”
Y’know, it’s almost like there is a pattern here or something.
Went to my e-mail spam box today looking to see if an important message had gotten misdirected, as sometimes happens. Among the spams I had received (from [email protected]) was this e-mail:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Counter-terrorism Division and Cyber Crime Division
J. Edgar. Hoover Building Washington DC
Attention: Beneficiary,
Records show that you are among one of the individuals and organizations who are yet to receive their overdue payment from overseas which includes those of Lottery/Gambling, Contract and Inheritance. Through our Fraud Monitory Unit we have also noticed that over the past you have been transacting with some impostors and fraudsters who have been impersonating the likes of Prof. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, Frank, Anderson, none officials of Oceanic Bank, Zenith Banks,Thomas Robert of BBC national lottery, Kelvin Young of HSBC, Ben of FedEx, Ibrahim Sule, Dr. Usman Shamsuddeen and some impostors claiming to be The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Cyber Crime Division of the FBI gathered information from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) formerly known as the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) of how some people have lost outrageous sums of money to these impostors. As a result of this we hereby advise you to stop communication with any one not referred to you by us
We have negotiated with the Federal Ministry of Finance that your payment totaling $1.5M(One Million Five Thousand United States Dollars) be released to you via a custom pin based ATM card with a maximum withdrawal limit of $3,000 a day which is powered by Visa Card and can be used anywhere in the world were you see a Visa Card Logo on the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). We have advised that this should be the only way at which you are to receive your payment because it’s more guaranteed, since over $5 billion was lost on fake check year 2008.
We guarantee 100% receipt of your payment, because we have perfected everything in regards to the release of your $850,000.00 United States Dollars to be 100% risk free and free from any hitches as it’s our duty to protect you. (This is as a result of the mandate from US Government to make sure all debts owed to people which includes Inheritance, Contract, Gambling/Lottery etc are been cleared for the betterment of the current economic status of the nation and its citizens as he has always believed “Our Time for Change has come” because “Change can happen
To redeem your fund you are hereby advised to contact the ATM Card Center via email for their requirement to proceed and procure your Approval of Payment Warrant and Endorsement of your ATM Release Order on your behalf which will cost you $495(Four hundred and ninty five dollars) only nothing more and no hidden fees as everything else has been taken cared of by the Federal Government including taxes, custom paper and clearance duty so all you will ever need to pay is $495 only.
Contact Information
NAME: James Philip
E-MAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: +234-708-495-6544
Do contact Mr. James Philips of the ATM Card Center via his contact details above and furnish him with your details as listed below and your ref no (NG35892BB),calling him on his hot line will be faster than to email him:
Your full Name:
Your Address:
Home/Cell Phone:
Occupation:
Age:
Ref No:
On contacting him with your details your files would be updated and he will be sending you the payment information in which you will use in making payment of $495.00 via Western Union Money Transfer for the procurement of your Approval of Payment Warrant and Endorsement of your ATM Release Order. After which the delivery of your ATM card will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay, extra fee or any authority raising eyebrow.
Upon receipt of payment the delivery officer will ensure that your package is sent within 24 working hours. Because we are so sure of everything we are giving you a 100% money back guarantee if you do not receive your ATM CARD Shipment Confirmation within the next 24hrs after you have made the payment for shipping.
Once again we are so sure of you receiving your payment at no any other cost as we have taking it upon our duty to monitor everything in other to cub cyber crime that is perpetrated by those impostors.
Thanks and hope to read from you soon.
ROBERT S. MUELLER,
DIRECTOR
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535
TELEPHONE: (202) 324-3000
FAX: (202) 666-5283
Note: Disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your ATM card, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with Mr. James Philips of the ATM card center who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your payment and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office via the above fax number so we could act upon it immediately. Help stop cyber crime.
Just in case anybody at FBI headquarters sees this and decides to forward it to the boss, let me add my personal recommendation to Director Mueller: If you ever identify the guys responsible for this kind of spam scam, they need to be terminated with extreme prejudice.
Of course, this isn’t stuff that the U.S. federal government can make a matter of official public policy, but we also know that there are ways that things can just sorta happen, right? Your agency talks to the intelligence agencies, you create a task force to identify the scammers, you get a CIA undercover field agent to plant a GPS tracker on the dude and . . .
C’mon: It’s the Third World, an inherently dangerous place. If the spam-scammer’s operation is destroyed by a sudden and unexplained explosion, nobody’s going to suspect an American intel operation.
That Predator drone will just silently hum its way back to the deck of a ship cruising off the coast and the overwhelming odds are that nobody will ever know the difference.
On the other hand, if there were to be a “leak” — say, sometime in September 2012, nudge, nudge — that the noticeable decrease in e-mail spam was because President Obama had authorized counter-terrorism strikes against foreign scammers, I’m sure this necessary action would be overwhelmingly supported by a grateful American public.
Call it “Operation Landslide Re-Election.”
Just a friendly suggestion from a concerned citizen.
by Smitty
I was introducing a colleague to the fine addiction that is the RSS reader when he brought up a blog that is arguably more shameless that this one (if such is possible): What Would Tyler Durden Do?
WWTDD? is a Fight Club reference, and I must out myself as the only human being on the planet who hasn’t seen the flick.
Nevertheless, WWTDD? has a post about Christina Aguilera worrying her chums over some knucklehead named Matthew Rutler:
Culminating yesterday when they were both arrested in West Hollywood, her for public intoxication and him for a DUI, Christina Aguileras life has been on a downward spiral ever since she started dating Matthew Rutler in December. Oh and don’t worry, her friends have noticed. . .
Obviously she needs to dump this jackass, but after that the key to her comeback is to set manageable goals. She can’t try to be the old Christina, not yet, she’s too drunk and too fat.
I’m not sure that this analysis is really optimizing all of the modern social networking venues. Given that Charlie Sheen has joined Twitter, I contend that Chuckles and ChAg should dump the current cabooses in their lives and get their loco motives together on Twitter for the e-wrecktion of the century.
Alternate post title: Why The Smitty Dating Service Failed.
Ohio’s state Senate yesterday passed S.B. 5, which would limit the power of government employee unions. Among those voting for the measure was state Sen. Frank LaRose, a 31-year-old freshman Republican from Akron. After the passage of S.B. 5, LaRose’s Facebook page filled up with comments, including one from Michael Sarge Piotrowski who — as Melissa Clouthier explains at Red State — is a lawyer representing the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police.
“Funny thing about cops, they hold grudges,” Piotroski wrote on LaRose’s page.
After being criticized by LaRose’s supporters — including College Republican activists Joe Manno, Nick Willcox and John Eakin — Piotrowski tried to walk back his comment, while simultaneously lashing out at Republicans.
“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Piotrowski wrote in a reply to Willcox. “When Republicans talk about ‘Union Thugs’ they may as well be calling people the n-word.”
Sources in Ohio say they expect LaRose to make a statement about the incident later today.
UPDATE: Linked by Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress. Some background from my Ohio sources: LaRose is a former sergeant in the Army Green Berets, an Iraq War veteran and “just the nicest guy in the world.” He worked closely with College Republicans at Akron University during his 2010 campaign against Democrat Frank Comunale for an open seat in District 27. LaRose won in a 57-43% landslide and perhaps this campaign ad will give you a hint why:
LaRose is obviously a very appealing young face, perhaps a rising star in the Ohio GOP, which came back strongly in last year’s midterm elections after back-to-back drubbings in the 2006 and 2008 cycles.
UPDATE II: Professor William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection sees this as part of “a disturbing pattern in which the distinction between the police and the police unions becomes blurred.”
Welcome, Instapundit readers! Also, now a Memeorandum thread.
UPDATE III: “Why I Left Ohio.” I’m still waiting on a statement from Sen. LaRose, and have requested a statement from the Ohio FOP.
UPDATE IV: Linked by The Lonely Conservative — thanks! — and by American Power, which provides this video of angry union activists creating a disturbance in the Ohio state capitol building after the Senate voted Wednesday:
You can hear the chant of “Shame! Shame!” The vote in the state Senate was 17-16 in favor of S.B. 5, with six GOP senators voting “no.” The bill is expected to pass the state House, where Republicans hold a 54-40 majority.
Still waiting on an expected statement from Sen. LaRose’s office. No comment yet from the Ohio FOP.
UPDATE V: Sen. LaRose issues statement saying it is “intolerable and unproductive to resort to mean-spirited personal attacks and senseless threats.”