Nano, Nano

(Originally posted by my husband on NRO - The Corner)

In a tremendous achievement for personal liberty and mobility, the Indian micro-car, the Tata Nano, has sold 200,000 units in just eight weeks. As these cars will be replacing the "informal car," hand-built from whatever mechanical parts a poor Indian can lay his hands on, I expect Ralph Nader will be celebrating the massive increase in safety involved. As for our friends in the environmental movement, what will they think? "On your bike," I should imagine.

Taking Threats Seriously

The Business Insider is taking the "alleged" threats the White House made seriously here.

Reason Interviews Victims of Obama

The Obama administration has killed the voucher program, particularly in DC.

Reason with Nick Gillepsie interviews the victims of this despicable, ideologically motivated attack on children that Obama has executed. Shame on him.

Watch the video and feel your heart just break despite the video's basis in facts and relatively unemotional examination of this rotten situation! I mean, why can't they spend the lousy $18 million on one of the few educational programs in DC that actually work? Why?

Stone Chipper Lobby's Origin

It's nice to see that nothing changes - ever!

Fun At Airports

This is wickedly evil and funny. Link and listen.

Hot, Hot, Hot

The Global Warming Guys over at CEI are hot, hot, hot. Now guess which one is my husband (who created this over at jibjab.com).

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

America In The World

America in the World is a terrific new pro-USA website that is actually based in Great Britain. Their goal is to fight the anti-Americanism in Europe by presenting a more accurate, truth-based view of America and her role in the world.

So check out this post on Americans and the Great Depression and give this excellent website as much support as you can!

Also see these two videos produced by America in The World here. There is a real reason why Great Britain is America's best friend (even if Obama isn't).

Screw it. I'm posting these videos below - well worth the watch.

GayPatriot Votes Bush

Jeb Bush that is. And according to GayPatriot (a smart man by the way), folks should keep their eyes on Florida.

Pray for Noah

This 5 month old baby was brutally shaken by his daycare provider and now his parents are begging for your prayers.

This child's parents are friends of our babysitters - a woman whom we deeply respect.

Please visit this site - they aren't asking for anything but prayers - and offer your support. Thank you.

It's a Kitten vs. Puppy Swarm, that's why

Welcome to the 20th Century

Saudi Arabia is considering setting a legal age to marriage of 18 after embarrassing publicity of an 8 year-old-girl being married to a 50 year old man.

I'll welcome the Kingdom into the 21st Century when they actually pass and enforce this marriage age limit law.

This is What The Senate Will Look Like

Well, roughly 60% of the Senate will look and act like this.

And I always throught it was the House of Representatives that was the clown car.

Looks like the entire Capital Building is not one giant clown car.

New Website of Intelligent Blogrolls

The Bizosphere or Home of the Carnival of The Capitalists is up and running and looks like a great site.

Here's hoping.

Driving CIA Nuts

Who knew that art could be so mysterious?

Apparently there is an employees-only sculpture at the CIA headquarters that is encrypted and no one at the CIA has ever cracked its code.

How cool is that? Read all about it here.

HAT Tip: Glenn Reynolds

Jonah's Right

Arlen Spector is a crapweasel.

What Hedge Funders Are Saying

Because I can't link to it, I have to copy it in full. Let's just say the post below from NRO - The Corner is an interesting glimpse into the mind of intelligent, non-rent-seeking business folk.

Atlas Frowned [John Derbyshire]

A friend in the hedge fund biz sent me this on Friday. I didn't get the chance to read it on Alan Colmes' show. Identifying information removed.

Hey John — Would you like a sound bite from one of those evil hedge fund guys for Colmes' show tonight? How's this: "As a professional investor I'd have to be out of my skull to partner with this government on anything."

This administration has made it quite clear that they can't be relied upon to honor contracts or legal precedents and if I can't know what the rules are before the game starts then I'm not going to play. Hedge funds aren't like the banks … we haven't failed. We aren't beholden to the taxpayer to make our way. We have contractual and fiduciary obligation which we will honor. People pay us to make them money not to meet a political goal. So Obama had better think long and hard before he tries to bully us like he did the banks, or try to tell us that "he's the only thing between us and the pitchforks."

Also, Geithner and Obama have been saying that they plan on balancing the budget once the crisis is past. The press may believe that twaddle about how he'll do it by "making things more efficient," but we in the hedge fund industry aren't so stupid. We've looked at the numbers and know what he's planning to do. I know dozens of people who are already putting the legal structures in place to move their companies and themselves offshore and away from the grip of the tax man. These are some of the smartest most dynamic people in the world and they'll have no trouble staying ahead of the kids from the short bus over at the IRS.

So unless Obama wants to run out of "other people's money" a lot sooner than he expected, he had better keep some people around to pay the bills. And if he keeps demonizing the productive and saying that it's their responsibility to let him spend their money on the unproductive, then we'll all be gone. I'll be working my 14 hour days is Bahrain or Singapore, and Obama can go suck eggs. He needs the productive classes a lot more than the productive classes need him.

On the plus side, at least my [offspring] will be able to get a decent education.

Forced Political Correctness is A Hate Crime

Andrew Breitbart has an article up on The Washington Times website on the attempts to enact more hate crime laws.

I don't believe they are necessary either.

Having a hate crime doesn't or rarely leads to harsher prison sentences. And if a state does not have the death penalty for murder then a murder committed with "hate" isn't going to get punished any harsher than life anyways.

But aside from their uselessness, hate crime laws are just a means of dividing us. Does it really matter what your skin/hair/eyes look like when you get mugged? Does it really matter if you are a man/woman/other? Will you hurt less if you were mugged not because you were Christian/Jewish/Muslim/other but because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Seriously? Is a woman being raped more or less of a hate crime than a man being raped? Is a child being murdered more or less of a hate crime than a mother? Is a man being robbed more or less of a hate crime because he's black or because he's white?

Doesn't being raped, murdered, or robbed suck in and of itself?

Hate crimes are stupid, useless, and divisive. My cousin who is gay was robbed, raped and dumped into a dumpster like human trash. It was a horrible terrible thing. But not once, not ever, did my aunt or my cousin describe it as a hate crime because what was done was an act of pure hate in and of itself - regardless of to whom it was done.

We're All Felons Now

Best not to say anything if this law gets passed as The Volokh Conspiracy makes so abundantly clear.

It's nice to see that "liberals" are fighting for "free" speech (so long as said speech is approved by them).

See you in prison, my fellow felons.

UPDATE: "Prison Awaiting Hostile Bloggers" Or why broad laws are stupid.

Because It Needs to Be Done

Below was copied in full from NRO - The Corner because our fallen should rest in peace knowing their children will go on to better things.

No Greater Sacrifice [Marc Thiessen]
I attended an amazing dinner Friday night for No Greater Sacrifice — a group that raises money to provide full college scholarships for the children of our fallen heroes in the war on terror. The guest of honor was Gen. David Petraeus, who received the 2nd annual NGS Freedom Award and gave a moving speech.

The wife of fallen Marine aviator Garrett Lawton spoke lovingly about her husband’s sacrifice. He flew combat missions in Iraq and was killed by an IED on a mission with a special forces unit in Heart province of Afghanistan. NGS is funding scholarships for the sons he left behind, Ryan and Caden, ages 5 and 6.

The father of Army Staff Sergeant Daniel “Sparky” Wagoner also spoke. After terrorists attacked Iraqis working at a radio and TV station in Diyala province, Daniel worked around the clock to rewire the station and get it working again so Iraqi journalists, Sunni and Shia, could broadcast a message of freedom, reconciliation, and democracy. He was killed by an IED. The Iraqi journalists he helped traveled to Washington to pay tribute to him, to thank America for getting rid of Saddam Hussein, and to thank the family he left behind for his sacrifice. It was one of the highlights of the evening. NGS is funding a full academic scholarship for Daniel’s 3-year-old daughter Diana. You can see a video about his story here.

In just the 14 months since its founding, NGS has raised half a million dollars in scholarship funds. And they have just launched a new campaign to ask 8 million Americans to give $10 each. If every American gives this small amount, NGS will be able to raise $80 million — enough to fund scholarships for every child of every warrior who gave his or her life in the war on terror.

This is about the best cause I have ever come across. NGS uncompromising in their support not only for our troops, but also for their mission. And they are making sure that every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine going into combat knows that, if the worst should happen, America has their back — and we will provide an education for their kids.

If you want to know more, go to the NGS website. And share it with a friend.

I just made my donation, how about you?

The Pathetic Mr. Sullivan

I've been avoiding the whole Andrew Sullivan thing on NRO - The Corner because my husband used to consider Mr. Sullivan a friend.

However, this is pathetic, sorry, and quite frankly beyond the pale.

Grow up Mr. Sullivan. You deserve better from yourself. This is nothing but innuendo. Infantile, sophmoric innuendo.

Sir, you went to Oxford University! Surely you can turn on your brain again.

Is Obama the New Nixon?

The White House is threatening legitimate and legal businesses with ACORN-like tactics.

Oh, wait, ACORN was trained by Obama so what I should have said was, using the thug-like tactics he trained ACORN to perform, the White House under Obama is threatening legitimate and legal businesses with tactics such as "pitchforks" (metaphorically, of course) and public humiliation.

For The Chosen One to threaten medieval stockades really says something about liberal post-partisan enlightenment.

Hat Tip: Just One Minute

Don't believe me? Here is a New York Post Op-Ed by Irwin M. Seltzer titled "Contract Killers" that lays it all out pretty clearly exactly how Obama's actions destroy rule-of-law....

Obama is pressuring the some 20 "speculators" who are holding out to accept the crumbs that he's offering. But there is more here at stake than the money immediately involved. As George Schultze, managing member of Schultze Asset Management, a hedge fund, told The Wall Street Journal, "This is about contract and bankruptcy law, and upholding agreements -- which is important in the grand scheme of things."

SNIP

More broadly, if lenders know that any deals they strike can be overturned by a president who, like Langella/Nixon, can do things that are otherwise illegal because he decides "they are in the interest of the nation," they'll raise the price they charge for their money -- and not only when lending to the government.

Cool Americana

Follow this link to learn a bit about Dr. Pepper and the man who may have found one of its originial recipe books.

A Rose That Stinks

A rose by any other name would still smell bad.

According to the New York Times, global warming alarmists are losing the battle and rather examine why (because the science proves them wrong), the alarmists want to change the language to make their power-grabbing cramdown more palatable.

Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about “our deteriorating atmosphere.” Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up “moving away from the dirty fuels of the past.” Don’t confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like “cap and cash back” or “pollution reduction refund.”

Charming.

Truth and scientific integrity are unknown to these jokers yet somehow liberals continue to believe they are the openminded ones. BAH!

For A Savior, He's Average

Obama's rating polls at the 100 day mark are average. And I was positive he'd be walking on water by now.

Still average is pretty good for an empty suit.

Who Knew You'd Cheer for the CEO

This Wall Street Journal article about a sand-mining company fighting back against illegally acting tort lawyers and their dubious doctors is inspiring.

Hooray for real justice!