December 24th, 2010
Sure, it’s been a great for those of us fighting Big Government, but since it’s the Christmas Season, have you given any thought to helping the less-fortunate? Has anyone given a thought to all those poor Democratic congressman and staffer who just lost their jobs?
Iowahawk has, and he’s provided a handy outplacement guide for those unfortunates voters have recently retired:
In order to land that good job back in your home district, you first need to understand the ins and outs of the non-Washington economic system. Unlike Washington’s easy-to-understand system of leveraging raw unbridled rulemaking and police power to extract tribute from fearful and/or favor-seeking constituents, non-Washington industries are largely based on the production of “goods” or “services.” It sounds complicated, but the basic idea boils down to making things or doing things that other people will pay for. The complicated part is to remember that they must pay for them voluntarily.
That’s Iowahawk for you: Always looking out for the unfortunate.
God bless us each and every one.
Tags: Christmas, Democrats, Iowahawk, Satire
Posted in Democrats, Elections | No Comments »
December 23rd, 2010
Bruce is a lefty sort, but there’s a whole lot of pithy interest and insight in this essay, as there usually is in Bruce’s essays. And also like many of Bruce’s essays, it’s very long. I hope to finish it myself later on today…
Tags: Bruce Sterling, technology, Wikileaks
Posted in Foreign Policy | No Comments »
December 23rd, 2010
Some pre-Christmas Jihad news:
- Speaking of Christmas, crosses have been banned in Bethleham.
- UK Islamic group launches campaign against Christmas, saying it leads to rape, abortions, crime, pedophilia and raves. They forgot fruitcake.
- In the course of a general indictment of Islam, Rule Britannia (a blog I’m not particularly familiar with; a quick perusal suggests a mainstream Euro/Islamic skepticism rather than the swamps of the National Front) cites this death toll for all of Islam from its founding to the current day of 270 million people. I don’t know enough about the history of the regions cited (Africa, India, etc.) to say how accurate this estimate is, but my initial look suggests its on the high side, with extrapolated estimate taken from of single data sources, which tends to result in distorted figures. Still, Will Durant called the Islamic conquest of India the bloodiest episode in all of history (though that was in 1935, which Hitler and Mao still to come, and the sizes of Stalin’s crimes still largely hidden).
- Somalis unite for the time-honored pastime of burning christian books.
- Iranian truck drivers go on strike due to an end to diesel subsidies in port of Bandar Abbas. This would suck if it was happening in a European country, but I’m just fine and dandy about it happening in Iran…
- The Washington Post says there are similar problems in the rest of Iran. Faster, please.
- Australian muslims found guilty of plotting to attack an army base.
- Kosovo’s Prime Minster involved in organ trafficking. Sadly, this does not appear to be an urban legend, and The Guardian is hardly known for their fierce anti-Islamic agenda…
- Here’s another Greek Orthodox prelate going off the deep end. Sayeth the Metropolite of Piraeus Seraphim: “Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire.”
- Everyone and their dog (including Fark) has covered this story about a Gitmo detainee claiming that “Jewish guards used witchcraft on prisoners, made me feel a cat was trying to penetrate me.”
- Spanish teacher reprimanded for merely mentioning ham.
Tags: book burning, Christmas, genocide, Greek Orthodox Church, Guantanamo Bay, Islam, Jihad, This Week in Jihad, War on Christmas
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | No Comments »
December 22nd, 2010
A few bite-sized links of interest for the holiday season:
- Michael Barone digs deeper into the census data. Among the tidbits: Five of the seven states with no state income tax gained the most population, and the other two each gained the most within their region, and immigration seems to have slowed in the last decade.
- More on redistricting from lefty election wonk Nate Silver.
- China’s housing bubble is worse on a percentage of GNP basis than the U.S. or Japan.
- California’s Treasurer claims that the state economy is not in trouble, but is merely resting. He also asserted it has beautiful plummage.
- We’ve got spirit, yes we do!/I killed a buck, how about you?
(Hat tips: Instapundit, mostly.)
Tags: California, cheerleaders, China, Guns, hunting, Japan, LinkSwarm, Nate Silver, Texas
Posted in Democrats, Economics, Guns, Texas | 2 Comments »
December 21st, 2010
The census data has finally been released, and Texas will gain four seats in the U.S. House. (Here’s a map breaking down which districts have gained or lost population, and by how much.) Keep in mind that at least one or two of those seats will have to be “majority minority” Hispanic seats to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
The only other state to gain more than one House seat was Florida, which gained two. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington state each gained one.
Ohio and New York will each lose two seats, while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will each lose one.
The total U.S. population is now 308,745,538, a 9.7% increase from 2000.
The states gaining seats are predominately Republican, while the states losing seats are predominately Democratic, a trend that’s been going on since at least the 1980s. This, along with newly Republican majorities in many of the statehouses that will control redistricting, is the reason some analysts believe that Republicans will control the House at least through 2012, and possibly beyond.
Tags: census, Democrats, Demograhics, Elections, population, Redistricting, Republicans, Texas
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
December 19th, 2010
This post from Roy Beck of the anti-amnesty NumbersUSA, which is further analyzed by Mickey Kaus here, goes into detail about which Senators flipped from pro- to anti-amnesty. Short version: Republicans were a lot more scared of a Tea Party primary challenge in 2012 than Democrats were of general election challengers. Sayeth Kaus:
Score one for losing Delaware Tea Partier Christine O’Donnell, who knocked off establishment pick Rep. Mike Castle (who voted for DREAM) in the GOP primary. Even score one for Alaskan Joe Miller. He probably alienated Republican Lisa Murkowski by beating her in the primary, and ultimately she won reelection anyway as a write-in. But that’s just one lost Senate vote. By my count, Miller’s primary coup may have helped gain around ten votes by terrifying GOP incumbents who might otherwise have been tempted by the prospect of a feel-good, bipartisan, MSM-approved pro-DREAM stand.
Beck also noted at least two Democrats, Conrad of North Dakota and McCaskill of Missouri, who voted for an amnesty despite coming from deep red states and being up for reelection in 2012. Those two seats should be big, juicy GOP takeover targets two years hence…
Tags: amnesty, Claire McCaskill, DREAM Act, Illegal Aliens, Kent Conrad, Mickey Kaus, NumbersUSA, Roy Beck, Tea Party
Posted in Border Control, Democrats, Elections, Republicans | 2 Comments »
December 18th, 2010
Cloture vote fails 55 to 41.
Democrats Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pyror of Arkansas and Jon Tester of Montana (all Senators from deep red states) all voted against the bill. And boy, the head Kossack is sure pissed about Tester, who had previously been his bestest of buddies.
Kausfiles has the blow by blow.
Still, despite being defeated, the DREAM Act has already fulfilled its primary mission: getting Harry Reid reelected.
(Hat Tips: Instapundt and Mickey Kaus)
Tags: Border Controls, DREAM Act, Illegal Aliens, Mickey Kaus
Posted in Border Control | No Comments »
December 17th, 2010
Dallas Reporter: Gun owners exercising their 2nd Amendment rights by killing home invaders are evil. Here, let me badger one on camera.
Dallas Station: You’re fired.
Dallas Reporter: I’ll sue.
Dallas Jury: Get stuffed
Bonus: Ms. Aguilar simply can’t stop digging: “I knew it was also an uphill battle with a jury made up of 11 white people.”
Bonus 2: “He also compared Aguilar to former Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, whom Shaunessy said “‘was a lousy employee and he was an inconsistent player who couldn’t be trusted.'”
Ouch.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Tags: Dallas, Guns, Rebecca Aguilar, Terrell Owens
Posted in Guns, Media Watch, Texas | 3 Comments »
December 17th, 2010
The Bush Tax Cuts passed the House by a margin of 277 to 148. I guess the public outcry over the biggest tax increase in history finally got through their reality bubble.
Also good news is the fact that Harry Reid pulled the pork-and-earmark laden omnibus budget bill off the floor, due, in large measure, to Tea Party pressure.
These are just two small steps toward restoring fiscal discipline and reigning in a gargantuan government, and Tea Partiers and other taxpayers are going to have to keep up the pressure to keep Washington from resorting to its old ways (and expect a lot of backsliding and heartbreak along the way). But both these victories prove one thing: elections matter. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Tags: Bush Tax Cuts, earmarks, Harry Reid, omnibus spending bill, pork barrell
Posted in Democrats, Economics, Elections, Republicans, Waste and Fraud | 2 Comments »
December 16th, 2010
Lots of Jihad news of note this week:
- Just in case you were busy Saturday and didn’t hear, a suicide bomber struck central Stockholm on Saturday.
- That bomber, Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly, was yet another product of British schools.
- But don’t worry, there are only about 200 Islamic extremists total in all of Sweden!
- Except that train bomber guy wasn’t among them. Might need to do some more counting there, guys…
- Not News: Middle Eastern religious leader declares that there’s a Zionist conspiracy against Arabs. News: It was the the patriarch of the Church of Antioch and the entire Levant for Melkite Greek Catholics. (Hat tip: The Corner.)
- Kuwait general says Iran’s nuclear program is military, not civilian. On behalf of non-liberals everywhere: Duh.
- Unclear on the concept: Feminists protesting in favor of Islamic extremists. You’re doing it wrong. (Sadly, the impulse seems inexplicably common in feminist circles these days.)
- Al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks against Christmas shoppers in the U.S. and Europe. Honestly, I just assume al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks year-round. It’s pretty much what they do. It’s like saying the New England Patriots work on winning football games year-round.
- Usually you hear about Iranian-sponsored suicide bombers blowing up people in other countries, not Sunni suicide bombers blowing up Shi-ites in Iran itself.
- Danish MP Jesper Langballe fined for telling the truth about Islamic rapes and honor killings. Indeed, he was denied the opportunity to defend himself.
- Did you know that Feisal A. Rauf, the guy trying to build the Ground Zero Mosque, is a slumlord?
- Weimer Istanbul. (Hat tip: Michael Totten.)
- And speaking of Michael Totten, he has an interview with Giulio Meotti, the author of A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism. Lots of bracing, disheartening information in that interview. “Europe is an anti-Semitic continent.” “The current European anti-Semitism is a powerful mix of Islamist pressure on Europe by large Muslim communities in its midst and a leftist-progressive ideology.”
- The 2010 Jihad Watch Award Winners. If you haven’t noticed, JihadWatch is one of the sites I
steal reference stories from for this roundup.
- Finally, Dwight’s essay on the Iranian Revolution may be of interest to many readers.
Tags: al Qaeda, Denmark, Dwight Brown, Feisal A. Rauf, feminism, Ground Zero Mosque, Iran, Iraq, Istanbul, Jesper Langballe, Jihad, Kuwait, Michael Totten, nuclear weapons, Sweden, Taimour Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly, This Week in Jihad, Turkey, Weimar Germany
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad | 3 Comments »