Posts Tagged ‘LinkSwarm’
Friday, December 16th, 2011
I get the impression that this “Christmas” thing you hear so much about is getting close. I should probably do something about that. In the meantime, some links:
Iowahawk channels Stephen G. Bloom on the Hell that is Iowa.
Dwight has a good bit on the left’s favorite cop killer. “I believe some people do things so awful to other people that they deserve to die. I believe Ted Bundy deserved to die. I believe Ronald Clark O’Bryan deserved to die. And I think Abu-Jamal deserves to die.”
Dwight also mentioned Christopher Hitchens’ Why Orwell Matters, which I have not read. (In fact, while I have read numerous of Hitchens’ essays, I have not read any of his books, which is a deficiency I should probably correct.) Here’s a very interesting interview with him on the subject. However, if I may rudely quibble with the recently dead (and I suspect Hitchens would insist on doing so in the same situation), I do take partial issue with his assertion that “the right doesn’t have anyone it can come up with from that period who was as prescient as Orwell.” I would argue that Malcolm Muggeridge’s reporting on the Holodomor (Ukrainian famine) would not only qualify, it preceded Orwell’s reporting from Catalonia.
Speaking of Hitchens, Michael Totten reprints their entirely-too-exciting exciting exploits in Lebanon together. That’s also reprinted in The Road to Fatima Gate, which i should give off my lazy ass and do a review of before the year is over. (Summary: If you want to know what’s happened in Lebanon over the last decade, you should read it.)
Mark Steyn on how America wasted the unipolar moment.
More on the Democrats’ white working class problem.
A view from across the pond: “The failure of the Occupy Wall Street movement and its descent into Lord of the Flies-style chaos, and in many instances thuggery and criminality, is emblematic of the dramatic decline of the Left in the United States.” (Yeah, I submitted the Fark story as well.)
Dallas vs. Detroit.
And just in case you missed it, Texas is still kicking ass on the jobs front.
On a completely non-political note: Llamas With Hats.
Tags:Christopher Hitchens, Democrats, Dwight Brown, Holodomor, Iowahawk, LinkSwarm, Malcolm Muggeridge, Mumia Abu-Jamal
Posted in Communism, Crime, Democrats | No Comments »
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
A random collection of links presented instead of actual content:
It turns out that Jabba the Hutt didn’t bang Princess Leia, but he did try to get her to bang Chris Dodd. Being a Democrat means getting away with things that would force a Republican to resign. If bloggers hadn’t forced the MSM to cover the story, they would have covered up for Anthony Weiner, too. The Washington press knew for decades that Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd were utter sleazebags, and yet they still carried water for them. The question is: What Democratic scandals do MSM reporters know about right now that they’re refusing to cover?
The United State Air Force would like you to say hello to their little friend: “Aerospace giant Boeing Co. has delivered the first batch of 30,000-pound [Massive Ordnance Penetrator] bombs, each nearly five tons heavier than anything else in the military’s arsenal…The weapon’s explosive power is 10 times greater than its bunker-buster predecessor, the BLU-109. And it is nearly five tons heavier than the 22,600-pound GBU-43 MOAB surface bomb, sometimes called the ‘mother of all bombs.'”
Rich liberals want other taxpayers to subsidize their decision to live in New York. “[It] might as well be called the Bicoastal Elite Tax Relief Act.”
Trouble at Gulf Coast Planned Parenthood.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were at the very heart of the housing bubble collapse. And yet, I’m not aware of a single office holder from the Democratic Party who has even suggested closing or privatizing Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This isn’t closing the barn door after the cow escaped, this is getting a whole new barn, a new cow, and a new oil lantern, and putting the oil lantern in the exact same place the previous cow knocked it over when it burned down the previous barn.
Cheap solar? Ain’t happening.
You know how Formula 1 racing was coming to Austin with the help of taxpayer subsidies? Yeah, not so much. According to Comptroller Susan Combs: “We have not paid out any money for the Formula 1 event. The only dollars that can be spent on the United States Grand Prix are tax revenues attributable to the successful running of a race. The state of Texas will not be paying any funds in advance of the event.” I’m still not a fan of the Major Events Trust Fund, as tax kickbacks for sporting events are not a proper function of government, but at least they’re not providing blank checks the way some taxpayer subsidies of professional sports do.
Iowahawk occupies Alan Sherman.
Tags:Anthony Weiner, bomb, Chris Dodd, Edward Kennedy, Energy Policy, LinkSwarm, Military
Posted in Austin, Military, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Have a nice cup of randomness:
Post-Gadhafi Libya will be run as an Islamic state under Sharia law. Thanks a lot for that great foreign policy triumph, Obama.
This Islamsists also came out on top in the election in Tunisia. Maybe the Arab Spring version of democracy will turn out to be the same kind that came to Post-Colonial Africa in the 50s and 60s: One Man, One Vote, Once. Liberals were big cheerleaders then, too.
Mickey Kaus points out that propping up public sector employment is a lousy idea even in Keynesian. But it’s a great idea if you want to keep Democrats in power as part of an ever-expanding government, thus providing even more opportunities for graft and kickbacks, as well as back-scratching campaign contributions from public sector unions. Which is probably the real reason Matthew Yglesias is so gung-ho for the idea. Or, as Alpha commenter Peter Schaeffer notes below Yglesias’ original post: “This isn’t about stimulating the economy, but providing slop to the public sector trade unions that dominate the Democratic party.”
NPR host fired for overtly acting as a liberal mouthpiece rather than covertly. Which is why the host of All Things Dismembered stepped down because of her husband’s job with the Obama campaign. Maybe NPR staffers need a refresher on their “We all work for the Democratic Party, but here’s how to hide it” orientation course…
Why people are moving to the South: “Ask transplanted business owners and they’ll tell you they like investing in states where union bosses and trial lawyers don’t run the show, and where tax burdens are low. They also want a work force that is affordable and well-trained. And that doesn’t see them as the enemy.”
Tags:Jihad, Libya, LinkSwarm, Matthew Yglesias, media bias, Media Watch, Mickey Kaus, Moammar Gadhafi, MSM, NPR, Tunisia
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Economics, Jihad, Media Watch, Welfare State | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Texas’ economy under Perry kicks the ass of Massachusetts under Romney.
I was previously unaware of the Texanomics blog, but the blogger there (curiously anonymous; there’s nothing in the About Me page) is giving WILLisms a run for his money in charting the superiority of Texas over the other 49 states (or, if you’re Barack Obama, the other 56 states, including Wyomorado).
Thanks to Obama’s magic touch, 2012 is actually shaping up to be worse for Democrats than 2010.
Jonah Goldberg says that Obama has woken the bear of America’s natural conservative tendencies.
The Daily Caller interviews Michael Totten about his new book, In the Wake of the Surge. I’m reading his previous book on Lebanon, The Road to Fatima Gate intermittently (mixed up with the usual science fiction), and enjoying it a great deal.
Speaking of books, I suppose I should mention that Adam Winkler’s Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America is now out. Previous coverage of an excerpt from that book can be found here.
Well, here’s some cheerful news: “Moldovan authorities believe that 2.2 pounds of weapon-usable uranium is held by traffickers who have in the past sought to sell the material to North African buyer.” (Hat tip: Bruce Sterling’s Twitter feed.)
The open-minded liberals at the University of Wisconsin-Stout are threatening a professor because his poster quoted a line from Firefly. (Hat tip: Neil Gaiman’s Twitter feed.)
Tags:Adam Winkler, Gunfight, Guns, Iraq, Jonah Goldberg, LinkSwarm, Michael Totten, Mitt Romney, Obama, Rick Perry, Wisconsin
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Economics, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
After an unusually active week, here’s a LinkSwarm for a lazy Friday, including a few things I meant to link to earlier and didn’t have the time.
Christopher Hitchens, a fine writer and a formidable intellect, weighs in on the London riots. In the process Hitchens provide a nod to his brother Peter Hitchens’ analysis of the riots (and link to this fascinating debate between the two on the nature of religion, of which I was previously unaware). I’m not entirely convinced by Hitchens argument that there were “bad” areas no one went into long before the riots. I’m sure there were, but did they consist of people who had never held a job in their lives, and would those denizens in past eras have felt a complete lack of compunction over setting other people’s small businesses on fire?
Speaking of Hitchens, here he is on 9/11.
Michael Barone wasn’t impressed with Obama’s job speech: “Straw men took a terrible beating.”
Turkey to dispatch warships to break the Gaza blockade. What’s the worst that could happen?
Interpol issues a notice for Moammar Gadhafi.
Also, clashes in the Gadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid.
Others say the real objective of the rebel (provisional government?) offensive is the arms caches at the oasis of Jufra.
Solayndra is just the tip of Obama’s crony capitalism.
Oooo, burn.
Chocolate weapons. That is all.
Finally, some good news from the Bastrop fire. Couple with horse farm had to flee with horses, but without tackle. The good news is the tackle (including some very expensive saddles) survived the fire. The bad news is it was promptly stolen. The good news is it took all of nine hours to track down the thieves trying to sell the stuff on eBay. Score one for the good guys.
Tags:Bastrop, Chocolate, Christopher Hitchens, Gaza, Gaza Flotilla, Guns, Israel, Libya, LinkSwarm, Moammar Gadhafi, Obama, Solayndra, Texas, Turkey, wildfire
Posted in Crime, Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Military, Texas, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
Friday, August 5th, 2011
The last six days of blogging have been pretty packed, so here’s a LinikSwarm for a lazy (and very hot) Friday:
Christopher Hitchens on Turkey. He glosses over the fact (maybe he only had so many words) that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk could be quite a murderous bastard himself when it suited his interests…
Amazon isn’t the problem in California. “How perverse is it when wanting to keep money that you’ve earned is considered being greedy?”
Either I missed this when it was announced, or the MSM didn’t cover it, but Mississippi NAACP executive Lessadolla Sowers was convicted of ten counts of voting fraud in April.
Meanwhile, in a completely unrelated story, Democrats continue to oppose Voter ID bills, and even trotted out Bill Clinton to play the race card.
Here’s a movie about an an Islamic punk band with female and gay members who drink beer and smoke pot. Sadly, and predictably, it’s completely fictional.
Fannie Mae is back to what it does best, i.e. losing taxpayer money.
You may remember my previous mention of the new definition of “flash mobs,” i.e. large groups of black youths that gather together to commit crimes and then disperse. Evidently they’re a big enough problem in Cleveland that they passed an ordinance to crack down on the phenomena, which was vetoed. Alas, from the description, the Ohio ACLU is probably correct in calling it “both ineffective and unconstitutional.”
Flash mobs also seem to be a problem in Philadelphia.
And Chicago.
And just last week in Greensboro, NC.
In fact, it’s a big enough issue that the National Retail Federation has issued guidelines on how to deal with it.
Tags:Bill Clinton, Christopher Hitchens, flash mob, Jihad, LinkSwarm, Mississippi, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, NAACP, Turkey, Voter Fraud
Posted in Budget, Crime, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. Here are a few follow-ups to previously covered stories:
Politico’s David Catanese says that David Dewhurst is going to jump into the Senate race.
After months of dawdling, the Obama Administration finally changes its mind and declares Texas a wildfire disaster area. Better late than never, I suppose.
Another ex-Gingrich staffer climbs aboard the Rick Perry bandwagon (albeit with a group urging him to run, not Perry himself).
In the course of naming Rick Perry the “winner” of the recent legislative session, the Texas Tribune’s Jay Root repeats the lie that Education funding was decreased in the recent session, rather than receiving a slight increase. Does the MSM just believe that if they repeat the lie enough times people will believe it’s true?
A Daily Kossack looks over the phony-baloney PPP Texas senate race poll and stills comes up gloomy about Democratic chances. Also manages to display his ignorance, stating “On the Democratic side, the only announced candidate is retired Gen. Ricardo Sanchez,” not only ignoring declared Democratic candidate Sean Hubbard, but also his appeal for votes on Daily Kos. I guess it’s just a case of the far left hand not knowing what the other far left hand is doing…
I hope everyone is enjoying their July 4th weekend, even though those of us in drought-stricken central Texas won’t be firing off any fireworks this year…
Tags:2012 Election, David Catanese, Elections, LinkSwarm, Newt Gingrich, Ricardo Sanchez, Rick Perry, Sean Hubbard, Texas, Texas Senate Race, wildfire
Posted in Democrats, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
The big news around Austin is that it actually rained last night, meaning our trees and lawns won’t die, fall over and blow away like so many tumbleweeds. At least not this week.
Another fascinating Michael Totten piece, this one interviewing Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Having solved all other problems, Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Larado) decides to tackle Texas’ most-pressing need: A week-long statewide celebration of just how awesome Sen. Judith Zaffirini is.
Want to call in an airstrike against the Taliban? There’s an app for that.
Over at NRO, Matt Mackowiak says this is Rick Perry’s moment.
Yelena Bonner, Andrei Sakharov’s widow and a human right campaigner in her own right, died over the weekend at 89.
Plus Rich Lowry weighs in on Perry’s “Uncompassionate Conservatism”.
Michael Williams puts up his official statement on why he switched to the a congressional race. He also says “In only a week, we have been able to secure over $250,000 in contributions and pledges,” which is a seriously good start for a House race. His website also sports his snazzy new bow-tie logo.
The Texas Tribune’s insiders list puts up a poll of 2012 and 2014 race favorites. Use grains of salt as instructed by your spin doctor.
Dallas ISD spent $86,000 on Chick-Fil-A, proving not only that administration is wasteful, but that they have bad taste to boot.
So far, Jon Huntsman’s campaign is making Newt Gingrich’s look better by comparison.
Tags:2012 Election, Dallas ISD, LinkSwarm, Michael Totten, Rick Perry, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Texas Senate Race
Posted in Elections, Jihad, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Here in Austin it’s suppose to hit 103º for the rest of the week. Insert your own “hot news” related pun here.
Some links:
Paul Burka’s list of best and worst state legislators is now out. Golly, what do you know? Every entry in the worst of list is a Republican? As the Church Lady is wont to say, “How Con-VEN-ient!”
The Texas Tribune insiders offer up their own best and worsts lists. Sen. Wendy “I’m going to force a special session, ensuring that we get our asses kicked by Republicans even harder than we would have otherwise” Davis (D-Ft. Worth) shows up on both lists…
Some analysts believe that our current debt crisis (including unfunded liabilities) is already worse than Greece’s crisis
Texas Senate passes anti-Sanctuary Cities legislation.
This Hendrik Hertzberg New Yorker piece on Rick Perry sounds exactly like you would expect a piece on Rick Perry by a former speechwriter for Jimmy Carter to sound. I would say he buys his smug by the pallet-load from Sam’s, but since the nearest Sam’s Club to Manhattan is in Secaucus, NJ, and we know no self-respecting liberal would think of crossing the Hudson for so crass a purpose as saving money, no doubt it’s hand-crafted artisan smug bought from a tiny, independent smug boutique down in the Village. Oh, and he’s wrong about Cameron Todd Willingham as well, since the real facts show that he was indeed guilty of burning his own two small children to death.
Bill Murchison says that Perry would make a good Presidential candidate, but maybe not the best. (Hey Bill, whatever happened to the Landrum Society? It’s been a long time since I received word of their get-togethers…)
Tags:Cameron Todd Willingham, Greece, Hendrik Hertzberg, LinkSwarm, Paul Burka, Rick Perry, Wendy Davis, William Murchison
Posted in Crime, Economics, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
Taking some time to get back into the post-Memorial Day swing, so here are a few links of interest:
California passes new Let’s-Drive-As-Much-Business-to-Texas-As-Possible law. Thanks, California Democrats!
Another interesting Michael Totten piece, this one on Jewish settlers in Hebron.
Just in case it wasn’t already blindingly obvious, the economy still sucks.
Holly Hansen covers Rick Perry’s conference call.
Stratfor on the ambush of a heavily armed convoy of drug cartel gunmen by another cartel. “In an environment where drug cartels can mass dozens of gunmen and arm them with powerful weapons like machine guns, .50-caliber sniper rifles, grenades and RPGs, there is no such thing as a force that is too big to be ambushed.” It also suggests that Mexican drug gunmen make incompetent soldiers.
Speaking of the drug war, something that produces a mass grave of 226 people has to be classified as a serious war…or a serious atrocity.
A freedom ranking of states. Texas comes in fifth. (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
How “smart growth” policies helped contribute to the housing bubble. (Hat tip: Powerline.)
I haven’t been following Weinergate because so many others have, but I wanted to point out Ace of Spades shocking, inconceivable theory:
We are all agreed that someone had an interest in sending a picture of Rep. Weiner’s erection to a coed. Even Rep. Weiner agrees on this much—he’s basically told us yeah, that’s my junk. And he’s proud of that. Would I sound very boring if I were to suggest that the person with the means, opportunity, and motive to send Rep. Weiner’s dicpic to the coed was none other than Rep. Weiner himself?
Tags:California, drugs, LinkSwarm, Mexico, Sinaloa Drug Cartel, Texas, Zeta Drug Cartel
Posted in Crime, Economics, Foreign Policy, Texas | No Comments »