Son of Kyoto is effectively dead, mainly because there’s no way in hell the Senate will approve the U.S. doling out tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for the likes of Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.
Contrary to popular belief that Arizona’s immigration law would alienate Hispanic voters from the Republican Party, Republicans candidates actually did better among Hispanic voters in 2010, garnering 38% of the vote compared to 29% in 2008 and 30% in 2006. “Many Hispanics indeed voted for the very Republican candidates most identified as having a pro-enforcement or anti-amnesty stance. And these Republicans generally did as well as, or better than, the Republicans running for the same positions in the previous election.”
For those who haven’t heard of him, Joe R. Lansdale is a friend, a mentor, and a hell of a writer. He’s also not a conservative (don’t get him started on Bush 43). But I thought you might appreciate his defense of Walmart from the perspective of someone who grew up in a small east Texas town:
If you’re poor and barely making it, or even if your income is middle-of-the-road, it’s good to get what you need at slashed prices, anytime of the day, seven days a week, in a big, ugly, over-lit store that closes only on Christmas and half a day on Christmas Eve. If you forgot to get a gift card and a six pack of tall boys, you have to think, “To hell with downtown.” What we got now in our downtown are specialty stores that provide things we can’t get at Walmart, like maybe a stuffed deer head for that special place over the mantle. The stuff we really need, hell, it’s at Walmart.
Here’s something else. With Walmart in town, lots of people can be put to work, far more than downtown ever employed. Someone has to run a 24-hour store, check people out, sack groceries, push carts, place stock, work at the McDonald’s sequestered in the back. The workers have all skin colors, not something I saw a lot of downtown, except for immigrants unloading trucks.
Even The New York Timesnotices Britain’s jihad schools. All it took was a program on the BBC. Maybe the Beeb could do a piece on how higher taxes and bigger government are actually unpopular among Americans…
It’s not a surprise when Pakistani officials defend the Taliban, since they were essentially created by the Pakistani ISI. However, it’s a bit more surprising when it comes from the Minister of Tourism.
Of course, The Pakistani ISI are not to be confused with the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist group, which is currently railing against…Microsoft? (You have to be an MEMRI subscriber to see the full report. I may have to sign up…)
This week’s winner in Irrational Fatwa Bingo is…blood donations.
Americans’ support for stricter gun control laws has gradually declined over the last two decades, from 78% when this question was first asked in 1990 to 49% in 2008, and 44% in 2009 and again this year.
Also, 69% of Americans oppose an outright ban on handguns.
The fly in the ointment: 63% of Democrats want stricter gun regulations. So chances are, when a Democratic running for office says they’re in favor of Second Amendment rights, they’re most likely lying just as much as when they claim to be pro-life, and even if they aren’t, they still won’t hesitate to put gun-grabbers like Nancy Pelosi in positions of power.
Thomas Sowell sees TSA policies as part and parcel of this administrations contempt for average Americans: “This administration is so hung up on political correctness that they have turned ‘profiling’ into a bugaboo. They would rather have electronic scanners look under the clothes of nuns than to detain a Jihadist imam for some questioning.”
Yes, it’s a great tragedy, but this is all I could think of (NSFW):
Edit to add: Yes, that is my Fark greenlight. No, I didn’t realize this was the anniversary of the JFK assassination until somebody pointed it out. I already assumed I was getting an aisle seat on the express to Hell for making light of the tragedy anyway…
You may have noticed that the race for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is getting hot and heavy. So it’s no surprise to see current Speaker Joe Straus campaigning to retain his role. However, I must say it was something of a surprise to see him advertising (via Google ads) on Powerline. Here’s a capture of the ad I saw there (no doubt triggered by the fact my IP address is inside Texas):
The irony is that there are numerous voices in the Texas conservative blogosphere complaining that Strauss isn’t conservative enough:
This chart suggests Straus is the least conservative of the three candidates running.
Ken Paxton seems to be the choice of most conservatives who have chimed in on the race.
I was going to say that I had not studied the issue enough to be for or against Straus. But then I came across this Austin-American Statesman piece praising Straus for being “nonpartisan” and “moderate,” which is pretty much the kiss of death as far as I’m concerned, and a solid reason to vote for someone else as speaker, advertising on Powerline not withstanding.
