Random Round-Up 08-06

Honor Killing in America

Unemployment Benefits for Illegal Immigrants: Colorado Scandal Exposed

What’s Wrong With Being Sexy?

Murtha-linked lobbyist arrested on corruption charges

GM donates $41,000 to lawmakers' pet projects

Obama, Socialism, and Deception

Show Me State Wisdom: Missouri Voters Reject ObamaCare and Rationing

McCollum v. ObamaCare Florida attorney general and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill. McCollum is leading the charge to protect states from an intrusive federal government

The Limits of Policy Analysis

What the World Isn’t Being Told about the Israeli-Lebanese Border Incident

Insider Trading Inside the Beltway:

Democrats' tactics worsen their problems

Licensing Gone Wild: Government Bureaucrats Shut Down Crying Little Girl’s Lemonade Stand

Mark Tapscott: Gulf widening between 'Political Class' and most Americans

Angle’s New Ad


ObamaCare: The sum of all fears

AP: Black Members of Tea Party Dispute Racist Claims

Judicial recusals and politics make a bad mix

Annals of Swinishness, New York Times edition

Rewriting The History Of The '30s To Justify More Spending In 2010

Shorebank Legacy: Microfinance Under the Microscope

Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Climb to Three-Month High

PJTV Video - ZO Investigates California Scheming: BASTA Rallies Bell Citizens to Overthrow Corrupt Government

Voters to Obama: Your Priorities Stink! A Democracy Corps poll run won't cheer up the Obama White House.

Jobs Picture Worsens With 131,000 Losses; 9.5% Rate

Justice Department steers money to favored groups

August Surprise (Bribe): Massive Mortgage Bailout

Obama's "Birther" Strategy Has Backfired

$10 Billion Public School Bailout Unnecessary

Housing Insanity

Teachers Unions Fear Competition and Will be the Downfall of American Education

The Media’s Rehabilitation of Michael Bellesiles, Right on Schedule

Obama Jobs Deficit Jumps Unexpectedly, ‘Recovery Summer’ a Pipe Dream

Rangel Dismisses Plea Bargain as 'English, Anglo-Saxon' Procedure

SEIU To Famous Latina: Get Back In The Fields

Grigori Rasputin Bailout

More Teachable Moments from Marbella to Martha’s Vineyard

Here, Have Some Cake

First lady under fire for her glitzy Spanish vacation

As her husband celebrated his 49th birthday in Chicago with Oprah, first lady Michelle Obama was halfway around the world, on vacation with her 9-year-old daughter, Sasha, in Spain. The two are traveling on what the White House has described as a four-day "private trip" with several Obama family friends along the country's ritzy southern coast.

Of course, no first lady's life is truly ever private, and already plenty of drama is swirling around Michelle Obama's foreign jaunt. Some critics have laid into the trip's price, while others are highlighting an apparent diplomatic gaffe between the United States and Spain.

Fox News reports that prior to the first lady's arrival, the State Department had issued a travel warning to Americans advising that "racist prejudices could lead to the arrest of Afro-Americans who travel to Spain." The wording was reportedly removed from the State Department website Monday, ahead of Michelle Obama's arrival in the country Wednesday.

Yet the bigger public furor concerns the cost and appearance of the trip. In a scathing editorial published Thursday, New York Daily News writer Andrea Tantaros trashed Michelle Obama as a "modern day Marie Antoinette" for taking such a glitzy vacation while most of the country is struggling to make ends meet.The Obama entourage is staying at the luxury Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton property often described as one of the world's top 10 hotels. Rates range between $500 and $2,500 a night. It's not clear that the Obama delegation picked this hotel specifically, or if the Secret Service — which often gets final say over where a protectee stays — made the accommodations call.

Either way, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the first lady will pay her personal expenses — as will the friends who are traveling with her. But that only covers a small part of the ultimate expense, given that she has full-time Secret Service protection and has to travel with an entourage of staff. That cost, as well as her travel on board an official Air Force charter plane, is covered by taxpayers.

As the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet reports, by the end of the summer, the first lady will have taken eight vacations. That includes a June trip to Los Angeles, where she and her daughters attended the NBA Finals, as well as an upcoming trip to the Florida Gulf Coast next weekend and a 10-day visit to Martha's Vineyard later this month with the president.

Michelle Obama is hardly the only first lady to travel overseas without her husband. Laura Bush and her daughters, Barbara and Jenna, traveled to Africa in 2007, where they went on safari. Yet her trip was regarded as an "official" visit and included several public events. According to the White House, this trip is entirely private, save for a photo-op with the Spanish royal family, who has invited the first lady and her daughter for an official visit.

Quick Round-Up

I'm going to taste some wine today so I may not be able to do a full round-up but here are a few things some friends clued me in on.

Vote for Grey Ghost Winery. Just do it. Vote early and vote often! Here. It is the single best winery in Virginia!

This is why everyone should be on board in reducing government regulations and also why everyone should be supporting the Competitive Enterprise Institute - Police Begin "Guns Drawn" Raids on Organic Food Stores in California

In a shocking development, police begin "guns drawn" raids on organic food stores in California. George speaks with an owner of Rawsome, a Venice beach organic food store caught up in one of the raids. The coverage of this story by the Los Angeles Times caused a firestorm online with many groups concerned about abuse of police powers and unnecessary safety regulations concerning the consumption of organic and raw foods.

ObamaCare and the Constitution—An Update A federal court denies the government's motion to dismiss the challenge.

Shohreh Aghdashloo, the Iranian-born star of The Stoning of Soraya M. and House of Sand and Fog, shares her horror over Iran’s barbaric decision to stone a woman to death for committing adultery.


Black members of tea party dispute racist claims

Please God, Faster, Please - At last, malaria-free mosquitoes

Nevada’s Senate Race Comes Down to One Big Issue: Coked-Up Stimulus Monkeys

Super Cool Dophin Video

My stepmother emailed this link to me but I also found it on YouTube. Loving dolphins, this video is astonishing and wonderful.

Random Round-Up 08-03

President Obama Job Approval

Obama Hits New Low in Gallup

Waning support for Obama on wars

Presidential Self-Adulation Hits New High

Democrats Deserve No Distance. They supported Barack Obama in 2008, and voted for his agenda. They're stuck with him — and that agenda — in 2010.

Jon Kyl's Devastating Case Against Elena Kagan

Rewriting Fannie Mae History. The effort is underway to resurrect the biggest housing losers

Laffer vs. Zakaria: Who’s Right?
Instapundit's take -

Personally, I believe that “fairness” consists in the fruits of my labor not being taken by corrupt hacks to redistribute to their cronies in exchange for votes.

Maxine Waters' questionable ethics

Well, they did give a lot of money to the democrats and Obama - Another $308 Million in Pork for BP

A Right-Wing War on Science? Really?



Concerns voiced over protection of soldiers’ voting rights

100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues

Show Me the Votes: ObamaCare on the Ballot Today in Missouri

Wave of Health Reform Provisions Coming Next Month

Liberty Wins First Skirmish in the Obamacare Legal Battle

Peakes woman loses her baby, dignity while awaiting hospital treatment

ObamaCare: Another Rationing Shill

Jonas, 32, sewed up his own leg after ER wait

The White House's Take On Today’s Ruling in Virginia

Judge lets Virginia healthcare challenge proceed

Virginia AG Rules Officers Can Check Immigration Status, Aren't Required

The New York Times Issues a Correction

I Got My Correction Thanks to the The New York Times — Now Who’s Next?



Crist Lieutenant to Endorse Crist’s GOP Opponent in Florida Senate Race

PJTV Video (PolitiZoid) - Nancy Pelosi Stars in "The Benefits of Unemployment"

How Newsweek Blew It

Chuck Norris - Obama's US Assassination Program? Part 2

No, Congressman, government does have limits

Are Americans Closet Statists? Despite what liberal pollsters say, we don’t secretly worship big government.

End poverty: Export capitalism

More Fed Money for Profligate States?

The $23,000 Totem Pole (on Your Dime)

Another Saintly Pro-Taxer Accuses Anti-Taxers of Lying

Subsidizing the Paris-Based OECD Is a Bad Investment for American Taxpayers


On Demagoguing, Obama Should Look in the Mirror

150 Days Until You Get Hit With Largest Tax Hike Ever

WaPo Unloads Newsweek for $1; Buyer Clearly Overpaid

At stake: Teaching vs. teachers unions



PJTV Video (Hair of the Dog) - Holy Cojones! Sarah Palin Questions Obama's Manhood

Obama’s Immigration Nightmare

The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and who federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.

Welcome to the Recovery

A Conservative Guide to Governing

Democrats Deceived Public in Claiming Public School Bailout was Deficit Neutral

Midwest D-Day: Kansas Senate Tops Balloting

The Consequences of Maxine Waters’s Actions for the Taxpayer

Ethics charges against Maxine Waters add to Democrats' woes



Anti-government mood stifles regulatory push

When you’ve lost the hand driers . . .

The lame duck looms

And apparently, American Taxpayers are footing the bill - Constituting a Culture of Death: Tomorrow’s Vote in Kenya

Top 10 Examples of NAACP Racism

Hacking the Smart Grid. The technology could open up all kinds of opportunities for attackers, researchers say

The Other Side of Shirley Sherrod

Key Senate Democrat: Financial reform bill was wrong to exempt SEC from FOIA requests

Ethics office details charges against Maxine Waters



Many of Rangel's colleagues hanging on to his dirty money

The Truths We Dare Not Speak About Illegal Immigration

Democrats Pursue New Tactics in War on Energy Companies

We Need a Mexican Standoff on Cap and Trade

We Need a Mexican Standoff on Cap and Trade This is an article in The American Spectator by my husband and Roger Abbott.

One of the points he makes is that

The Democrats hope that retiring Republican Senators George Voinovich (OH), George LeMieux (FL), and Judd Gregg (NH), who have voiced support for climate legislation in the past and will no longer need to worry about responding to their constituents, will buck the party line in order to cement their respective "legacies" in the eyes of the media and liberal historians.

This to me is as upsetting as the actual legislation itself.

The United States of America is a representational government. Our Founding Fathers did NOT want party politics. There is no mention of political parties in our foundation documents whatsoever. But now, party politics are trumping the duty ever government official must owe the American people - to work solely on our behalf. Not for themselves, not for their political party, but for the American people they were hired to represent.

It is the SHAME of Congress that its members have put party politics above representing the people. This tendency is the root cause of the rise of the TEA Party. Decent, hard-working Americans are disgusted by so many things from fiscal irresponsibility to special-interest domination, that the TEA Party movement has coalesced.

Will it form a third party? I hope not. I hope it will cause a revolution in American politics, a revolution back to our roots where our representatives understand that they must REPRESENT their constituents and NOT their political party. I firmly support the TEA Party missions insofar as it leads to this result.

As for this nasty bit of legislation - Cap and Trade - I think my husband sums it up best in his article, a sample of which is below:

Most Americans understand that cap and trade would mean skyrocketing energy costs -- as the President himself admitted during his election campaign -- but that's not all. Cap and trade would carry serious geopolitical ramifications for the United States.

During the lame duck session, President Obama will likely travel to Cancun, not on vacation, but to attend a global climate summit. At this follow-up to the failed Copenhagen summit, the international environmental establishment will hope to revive negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. will face pressure not only to cap its own emissions, but to provide aid to developing countries like Mexico to help them develop their own "green" energy industries and build new, "clean" industrial capacity -- the better to out-compete America's newly energy-taxed industries. The EU has already pledged €7.3 billion ($9.92 billion) in "climate aid" to poor countries over the next three years (although much of this is repurposed general aid).

Where would America find the money to send this aid abroad? Much of the money would likely come from the sale of carbon permits to American businesses, the cost of which will mostly be passed on to consumers. Developing countries are demanding this as part of any successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012. However, they are also demanding that developing countries -- including major emerging economies like Mexico, Brazil, and China -- be exempted from having to reduce their own emissions, at least in the short term.

Daily Round-Up 08-02

Facebook Saves a Teacher

Self-imposed Republican moratorium leads to drop in 2011 earmark spending


GENERAL BAD BEHAVIOR


K Street feels it's being unfairly targeted by bill disclosing lobbying violators

Mexican Drug Cartel Allegedly Puts a Price on Arizona Sheriff's Head

White House provides back-door amnesty
Preemption and Prosecutorial Discretion: A Response to Andy McCarthy

Obama's Immigration Power Play

In the fight over Arizona's immigration law, everybody loses

Kagan and the Agency-Exhaustion Doctrine: A Response to Media Matters

Mt. Pleasant police officer placed on administrative leave

How Much Private Property is the Government Stealing in Your State?


27% of Showbiz Dollars Go to GOP?

What needs to change to defend America

Sen. Leahy (D-VT) Denies Senate Judiciary Request to Investigate New Black Panther Case. Leahy denies the request in a letter filled with factual and legal errors, and left-wing talking points

Stealthy Government Contractor Monitors U.S. Internet Providers, Worked With Wikileaks Informant

Russia's great gas game is a ploy to revive past power

Former UC Irvine Muslim Student Union Member — and Former Muslim — Speaks Out.





JUNK SCIENCE


Egg on Their Faces. Government dietary advice often proves disastrous.

Unnatural Science

What Social Science Does—and Doesn’t—Know. Our scientific ignorance of the human condition remains profound.

EPA to Crack Down on Farm Dust

US tells climate negotiators it will stick to carbon emissions reduction pledge

The BP Spill: How Bad Is It, Really?

The Death of Cap and Tax Harry Reid's latest energy bill is designed not to pass

President Obama’s climate ‘Plan B’ in hot water

Maker Faire Detroit 2010: Amick A2 wind-assisted electric spaceship vehicle

Bad Politician Bad 08-02

4
President Obama Job Approval

The Rangel Dispensation The ethics committee exposes the mores of modern Washington

Democrats Scatter Monday as Obama Comes to Town

Democrats Keep Distance From Each Other

House Ethics Committee announces charges against Maxine Waters

Mad Maxine

GOP Working to Keep Dems' Ethics Storm on Radar

In House Ethics Battles, a Partywide Threat

Congressman at Town Hall: ‘The Federal Government Can Do Most Anything in This Country’


The yacht vs. the pickup truck

The Party of the Rich It's not who you think....

President Obama, Democrats Confront Changed Map in 2010

NANNY OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2010: SAN FRAN SODA BANNER MAYOR NEWSOM


Facing up to bringing down entitlement spending

The Dems' deficit-hawk fakery

Voters want supersized government to crash diet

How could an American president be so anti-American?

How Much Private Property is the Government Stealing in Your State?


Ethics cases raise racial questions

Just how broken is the Senate?

Obama’s College Transcripts

PJTV Video (Front Page with Allen Barton) - Kagan's Cakewalk

A battle between Left and Right -- inside the GOP

Egg on Their Faces. Government dietary advice often proves disastrous.

Obamacare 08-02

Poll: Majority favors healthcare repeal

AMERICA’S NEW HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVEALED

Charting Obamacare

High Res. pdf of this chart here.

Another reason to vote GOP? - Republican Party eyes choking health law funding

Obamacare Challenge Wins Round One (of ∞)

Judge Permits Virginia Health Care Law Challenge to Continue

Time for clarity on Obamacare

Challenge to Health Care Law Advances

Va. health care reform lawsuit clears 1st hurdle

Health Law Needs Repeal

Obamacare Only Gets Worse Upon Further Review

In Economic Woes 08-02

What Don't You Understand About "It's Not Your Money"

Negative Symptoms: The Result Of A Weak Dollar

The Dems' deficit-hawk fakery

Private Sector Blues. What Obama thinks is good for America is bad for business.

The Soak-the-Rich Catch-22

What about Fannie & Freddie?

Obama Inc. - Wall Street Reform from RightChange on Vimeo.

Social Security Jitters? Better Prepare Now

The crisis of middle-class America

Voters want supersized government to crash diet

State and Local Debt Bombs Ticking Throughout US Heartland

How Much Private Property is the Government Stealing in Your State?

Time to Teach Stockman a Lesson (Again)

Housing policy must be set on sustainable basis

Obama, Congress create another bailout fund

'Black Swan' Author Taleb: Budget Deficits Threaten Investors

America's Worst Job Market: What 27.6% Unemployment Looks Like

Democrat Tax Increases are Coming

As spending by wealthy weakens, so does economy

Slow Manufacturing Growth Boosts Weak Recovery

California Government Grows as Private Sector Shrinks

California Unemployment Rate – 12.3%
Source: California Employment Development Department

Californians Currently Listed as Unemployed- 2.24 Million
Source: California Employment Development Department

Private Sector Jobs Lost in California Since 2005- 1,298,700
Source: California Employment Development Department

State Government Jobs Added Since 2005- 38,100
Source: California Employment Development Department

Racism and the Small Business Jobs Act

It's Not Pretty

Facing up to bringing down entitlement spending

Fed Chief Sees Long Road Back to Economic Health

Media Bias 08-02

Political operatives on Journolist worked to shape news coverage

Whom Do You Trust More — Fox News or the New York Times? Democrats Say Fox!

PJTV Video - Right Online 2010: New Media and the New Right

Jonathan Strong Cracks Open the JournoList

With Videos - Breitbart on JournoList

Kagan and the Agency-Exhaustion Doctrine: A Response to Media Matters

Shame of a Nation: Make-Believe Media Ignores Wikileaks’ White House Dialogue

Frank Rich Must Be Exceptionally Well Paid

Liars and Ignoramuses

Fighting Corruption Round-Up 08-02

ADF increases global impact with new status at United Nations

Facebook Saves a Teacher

Self-imposed Republican moratorium leads to drop in 2011 earmark spending

Tough-on-Crime Is the Right Approach, but only if Laws Are Just

An encouraging thought from the always-excellent GayPatriot - Big Brother From The Ground Up?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is taking on the state's entrenched special interests, shrinking government and fixing the budget hole -- all without raising taxes. He's doing in his state what the tea party movement is demanding of the federal government.

Can We Clone NJ Gov. Chris Christie?


Nebraska's Nelson first Democratic senator to oppose Kagan

Pawlenty's Iowa swing may foreshadow 2012 bid

A Tea Party for All

PJTV Videos - Coast to Coast: Jim Rutledge Promises to Depose the Queen of Maryland (VodkaPundit - he's so dreamy) AND Democrats Declare War on Tea (Special)

Random Round-Up 08-01

OUCH - President Obama Job Approval

Department of Labor Inspector General Nominee: Too Political, Too Controversial

S.o.B.! Sen. Leahy (D-VT) Denies Senate Judiciary Request to Investigate New Black Panther Case. Leahy denies the request in a letter filled with factual and legal errors, and left-wing talking points

Health Law Needs Repeal

Whatever happened to the Constitution?

PJTV Video (AlfonZo!) - The Life & Times of Zo, Part 2: All You Need Is Love ... And Some Kung Fu



Ethics panel to charge California Rep. Waters
Citizens Vs. the Political Class

Energy: Does renewability matter?

Shocker: Political class backs spending while voters oppose

U.S. stalls on trial for September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Housing policy must be set on sustainable basis

PJTV Video (Trifecta) - Mucking Up Our Culture, One Kid at a Time

Tea Party Jitters Spencer Wilking Finds That New York’s Tea Partiers Aren’t The Bigoted White Guys You Fear.



Rangel's real crime. 25 years of Harlem neglect

Pelosi: 'Out of the loop' in Rangel investigation

President Obama’s choice

PJTV Video - THE WEEK IN BLOGS: Mr. Sister Gores Al and Tipper



Obama's Vanity is a Liability for Democrats

With Recovery Slowing, the Jobs Outlook Dims

Controversy proves collusion among liberal journalists

Christiane Amanpour’s biased reporting causes a backlash to her selection as host of ABC’s This Week

PJTV Video - Bull Sessions: Our Adolescent President, WikiLeaks, and The JournoList



Slate, the Jury: Wyly Brothers vs. George Soros

Journolist--The Careerist Antidote to Neolib Contrarianism

Greenspan Says Decline in U.S. Home Prices Might Bring Return of Recession

NYT Blogger Who Knocked Fox News' Audience Diversity Has the Same Problem

Out of debt. A tax increase is no way to start.

Experimental Economist Bart Wilson on the Meaning of "Fair"


Obama is zero for four and Republicans are sitting pretty

Support for Mexican border fence up to 68%

Arizona immigration law debate triggers shockwaves

The yacht vs. the pickup truck. Democrats are now the party of perceived privilege, and GOP is the party of the people

Impending Senate Vote for More School Spending Won’t Improve Education Looks like all American taxpayers will be forced to pay dues to the Teacher's Unions.



Geithner’s GDP Whopper

Calling bull on Biden's pretend war against 'corporate interests'

California Rep. Waters may face fall ethics trial

Poll: Plurality expect Obama tax hike

PJTV Video (The Hicks File) - Surprise, Surprise: The Lockerbie Bomber Is Still Alive

Recession was deeper than gov't previously thought

Dems, GOP Vie to be First to Repeal ObamaCare's 1099 Small Business Reporting Rule



The Truths We Dare Not Speak About Illegal Immigration

PJTV Video (Front Page with Allen Barton) - The Not OK Corral: Arizona Clashes with Federal Government Over SB 1070

Political momentum grows for revoking birthright citizenship

Memo outlines backdoor 'amnesty' plan. Immigration staffers cite tools available without reform

America's Worst Job Market: What 27.6% Unemployment Looks Like

DC Sniper Claims Conspirators In Shatner Interview

Did the government cause the Gulf spill?

Majority Report



PJTV Video (TEA Party News) - Democrats Declare War on Tea

A Tale of Two Battles. Macroeconomic data vs. earnings reports, and deficit-cutters vs. borrow-and-spend.



Climate Proposals Threaten Pursuit of Happiness and Justice

Lawmakers stoke the public's disgust

Electoral College Attack Leads to Voter Frau

Questions multiply about $100 million Islamic center planned near Ground Zero.

PJTV Video (Kruiser Control) - I Don't Give a Damn About Chelsea Clinton's Wedding

American Royalty?!?

I wish Chelsea and Marc all the best on their new lives together and I certainly do not believe in giving the sins of the father to the child, but calling this wedding "American Royalty" is insulting.

First of all, the LAST thing America is about is "royalty". This notion is unpatriotic at best.

Second, the daughter of a US President that was nearly impeached marries the son of a convicted felon/congressman. In what way does that count as "royal".

Again, may Chelsea and Marc's union be happy and lasting, but it is NOT royal. Just American.

Is Obama Throwing Rangel "Under The Bus"?

Obama hopes Rep. Rangel can leave "with dignity" Don't get me wrong, I agree with him that Rangel has got to go as does all the other Congressional Crypt-Keepers and anyone else tainted by corruption. I'm just surprised Obama would go after Rangel and not clean his own house (I'm looking at you Holder).