Wednesday, November 26, 2014

But the real problem is… Israel!

Sheikyer mami

 
...“Israel is the historical birthplace of the Jewish people and the place where we established the State of Israel.”– Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

“ 'Now, explain to me why you disagree. Tell me. I want to know,” Netanyahu said, as opposition legislators continued to shout their objections.

"Once again, freedom of speech wins over political correctness:
Victory: Federal Judge in AFDI Ad Case Says “Expert” Cannot Testify that “Islamic Jew-

" 'Hatred” Is False
...
"Time to check out the official hypocrisy of Israel’s critics, and note the deafening silence towards this supposed Arab and Islamic racism – by their definition. Here, from the Elder of Ziyon, (read article below the fold)" ...
 

Animal Rights Activists Hold Funeral For Frozen Chicken In Grocery Store

And these people vote. Probably for Nancy Pelosi and Jerry Brown.

KFBK Sacramento  "Direct Action Everywhere, a group of animal rights activists, held a mock funeral in a grocery store in Berkeley, CA to protest the killing of animals.  They had flowers, gave a eulogy and even brought a small coffin. "  Read more:

 
Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, CA
 

Cornel West Declares Ferguson 'Sad End of the Age of Obama'; The flames of Ferguson this age

Missouri governor Jay Nixon practically invited a riot Monday when he announced barricades were up in Ferguson two hours before the verdict. Even worse, they chose to announce the verdict at night. It's really going to hurt Black Friday sales when big screen TVs are free three days ahead of time. Argus Hamilton


Perhaps Dr. West is not aware of the Obama regulatory blitzkrieg discussed elsewhere in the Tunnel Wall.

The Weekly Standard   "Activist Cornel West called Ferguson the "sad end of the age of Obama." He made the comment in a tweet:"

  Cornel West         @CornelWest
: The sad end of the Age of Obama

Democrats Lost the Election. But Obama Still Controls the Regulatory Agencies.


The Daily Signal
"The election results were a crushing political blow for the Obama administration, giving Republicans firm control of both houses of Congress for the final two years of his term. But this in no way signals the end of the president’s policy agenda. It simply shifts the action to regulatory agencies.

"In the days since the vote, this has already begun. Obama is moving forward with his immigration plans, and pushing his appointees on the Federal Communications Commission for stronger Internet regulation. While most modern presidents have routinely ended their terms by unspooling red tape, the regulatory hyperactivity of this administration may take the tactic to new levels.

"President Obama has hardly been shy about his intention to use administrative action to bypass Congress. In this year’s State of the Union address, he vowed to wield his executive powers when faced with congressional resistance to his legislative agenda: “America does not stand still – and neither will I,” he said. “So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation … that’s what I am going to do.”.....More..
 
"And there are many more regulations in the pipeline; agencies have identified 124 additional major rules they intend to work on going forward . (A “major” rule is defined as one expected to impose costs on the private sector of at least $100 million annually.)"

 
 

Amid Ferguson and Thanksgiving, Obama’s Rolling Out 3415 New Regulations. Some commentary:

Has anyone noticed the anti-capitalism tone of the Ferguson riots and how it juxtaposes with the Obama philosophy of economics?  Does anyone recall the Che Guevara posters at an Obama campaign HQ? Did anyone notice the Soviet communist flag in a crowd of demonstrators st Obama's first inauguration?
As Jonathan Gruber believes, there is a rich vein of stupidity among American voters, but among Obama voters there is also much insidiousness.  The Tunnel Dweller

Obama EPA Regulations

Happy Thanksgiving! Obama Issues Most Expensive Ozone Reg Yet    "It’s the day before Thanksgiving and Obama has a gift for people who hate fossil fuels though it will make the rest of us sick. Today, Barack Obama will issue the most expansive and expensive ozone pollution regulation yet under the cover of protecting public health and meeting the challenge of climate change.

"Environmental extremists and government toadies in public health applaud the move.

"Business groups charge that it would be the costliest regulation of all time.

"It brings us one step closer to the demise of coal by these de-industrialists." ...
...
It will be the end of coal and it will come at great cost to the citizens."

"
Red State  "The grand jury decision and subsequent riots in Ferguson have been dominating the news coverage for the last few days. Meanwhile, in about 48 hours, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, one of our most cherished national holidays and a day when we probably won’t pay much attention to the news. It’s the perfect time for a politician to do something controversial, so of course, the Obama administration isn’t letting the opportunity pass them by. News broke yesterday that the President was getting ready to roll out 3,415 new regulations, and with other stories dominating the news in a usually slow news week, it’s probable that most Americans won’t hear this. The Daily Caller explains that Obama’s Unified Agenda for Fall 2014 “includes some 3,415 regulations– more than the last regulatory agenda, and one that includes 189 rules that cost more than $100 million.”. So what exactly is in the list of over 3,400 new regulations? The highlights include some controversial new EPA regulations that continue the agency’s power grab. As the article explains:" ...

For those who’d like to check out the Obama administration’s proposed new government red tape, released Friday, it’s called the Unified Agenda.

The Rule of Memo    "Turn now to the President’s “executive action” on immigration. What did he do?"

New ozone regs would cost industry billions with very little public health benefit   "As Mr. Feldman points out, existing rules have been working fine, and there is no compelling evidence that drastic reductions of ozone emissions will even marginally improve the health of Americans. What the rules will accomplish is a loss of jobs. And they will make American prodicts even less competitive overseas."

Regulate First, Ask Questions Later

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

The Volokh Conspiracy: Michael Brown grand jury process was fair. Officer Wilson speaks,

 
 
 
WaPo  "The Michael Brown grand jury has spoken, declining to return charges against Officer Darren Wilson. The evidence that the grand jury reviewed has made available to the public and can be found here.  Since I haven’t yet had an opportunity to review the voluminous testimony, in this post I discuss not substance, but procedure.  Contrary to the complaints of some critics, the grand jury process was clearly fair.

"Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch described the process that he used.  The grand jury was one that a judge had previously selected, well before the shooting occurred.  After the shooting, the grand jurors were asked to extend their service to hear the evidence.  Prosecutors then called before the grand jury everyone they could that had evidence relevant to the case.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch summarized the process neatly:" ...

Darren Wilson explains why he killed Michael Brown ... "On a hot August day, Wilson drove down a street and spotted two young black men walking down the middle of the road. One wore a black shirt. The other held cigarillos. The details of a robbery earlier that day, blared out on a police radio, clicked into Wilson’s head. Were they suspects? He told the two young men, one of whom was Brown, to move to the sidewalk.

"Things then happened very quickly. Wilson said Brown was at his car window, enraged. Wilson said Brown hit him in the face, grabbing for his gun. Two shots fired. Brown bolted down the street. Wilson pursued. As Wilson told it, Brown charged the officer, reaching into his pants. Wilson raised his .40-caliber Sig Sauer and aimed for a lethal shot."

Ferguson officer: 'I know I did my job right'  ... "Wilson says he felt like it was his duty to chase Brown after a confrontation at his police vehicle. When asked about witness accounts that Brown at one point turned toward Wilson and put his hands up, he responded "that would be incorrect.' "

[VIDEO] Obama in 2006 said “I stole ideas from Jon Gruber”

Wayne Dupree  "Obama in 2006: “You have already drawn some of the brightest minds from academia and policy circles, many of them I have stolen ideas from liberally, people ranging from Robert Gordon to Austan Goolsbee; Jon Gruber; my dear friend, Jim Wallis here, who can inform what are sometimes dry policy debates with a prophetic voice.'”
 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Missing the Crime Beat; Most of today’s reporters have never covered police day-to-day — and it shows.

NRO
 
"The generally abysmal media coverage of the Ferguson tragedy has raised one major question among those of us who once practiced the journalistic trade: Doesn’t anybody cover the cop shop any more?

"It was clear from much of the coverage that few of those assigned to the story knew very much about the law, and that they knew even less about how cops do their jobs. Time was, every genuine news organization had at least one often-grizzled and highly cynical veteran of covering the police beat, who would have suggested that it might not be good or accurate to refer to someone caught on camera pulling a strong-arm robbery as a “gentle giant.”
...
"Policemen and old police reporters have a saying about someone whose actions result in his own demise: He bought his ticket. As sad as it is, the person most responsible for Michael Brown’s death was and is Michael Brown. It’s a shame there were no tough old police reporters in Ferguson to see that."

Hands up

What Obama said about the grand jury (and what he could have said)

American Thinker
 Michael Ramirez Cartoon
... "Let's consider these words.  He starts by appearing to give both sides an even footing, but then he allows that anger is understandable, which is tantamount to it being justified.
 
"A man of peace, a man with compassion and yet a representative of the nation, would not say it is an understandable reaction – because it isn't.  It is not understandable to be angry unless you believe that a result of a lawful and objective jury decision is unfair – and angry with whom?  The police in general?  The government of the state?  The world?
 
"He then goes on not to say that justice has to be trusted, but to call for those who "protest" to be non-violent.  But he does in truth call for protest.

"Thomas Lifson adds:
Let’s consider what could have been.  President Obama could have discussed the thorough process of evidence review undertaken by the grand jury.  He could have discussed why grand jury secrecy is an important feature of the justice system in all 50 states.  He could have stressed that all Americans of all races are protected by the process of checks and balances built into the grand jury system.  He could have mentioned that the grand jury was representative of the demographic composition of the St. Louis area.  He could have urged all those with anger and frustration to take the time to review the evidence seen by the grand jury before jumping to conclusions.
But instead he stated that anger was “understandable.”

 

"Only Revolution Can Bring Peace!" "From Ayotzinapa to Ferguson/Down With Capitalist [something]," "No Justice in the Capitalist Courts!"

Political Cartoons by Bob Gorrell

Ann Althouse  ..."But this post is about the white people — not the media white people who choose this distanced delicacy, but the white people who participated in protests. There's only one, I think, in the text of the article:
A middle-aged white woman wove through the crowd, yelling, “We need to shut this down across America!” and handing out fliers.

The woman, Jessie Davis, was a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party and came here from Chicago.
"And the slide show ends with a shot of protesters "disrupting traffic" in New York City. This crowd is overwhelmingly white (to appropriate a phrase famously applied to tea party crowds). I cropped out a section of the lower left so you could look at the signs:"

Major blowback from Obama's insult to Australia at the G20 in Brisbane

"Federal Coalition members are ... angry at the US President’s public intervention in the Australian climate change debate at the G20 last Saturday"


Thomas Lifson  Barack Obama has managed to damage the formerly close relationship between the United States and Australia, a cornerstone of our presence in the Pacific.  Unless you read American Thinker, you probably don’t know about the fuss created when President Obama stuck his nose in Australian domestic politics and insulted that ally during his closing remarks at the G20 Summit in Brisbane last week:
...
"Much, much worse than the verbal spat, Australia is being pushed into the waiting hands of China, eager to buy more of Australia’s vast natural resources, including coal.  You will remember that China can keep burning coal and emitting CO2 in greater quantities for a decade and a half more thanks the “deal” that Obama made, obligating America to cut its emissions now, while China is allowed to peak its emissions “around” 2030.

"Australia is now contemplating a major step, pulling it away from the U.S. and toward China:" ...  Read more:

From the Melbourne Herald Sun:
Attention America: your windbag president is pushing Australia China’s way  "Robb told Sky News’s Australian Agenda program yesterday he was “surprised” by Obama’s speech, he believed the President was “not informed” about Australia’s climate change policy, that his “content was wrong”, that Australia’s 2020 targets were “roughly comparable” to those of the US and other nations, that his speech gave “no sense” to government efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef and that his remarks were “misinformed” and “unnecessary”.

"In short, Robb dumped all over Obama"…

From the comments section:
The message to the US should be:
“The US may tolerate its leader lying to them, but Australians take a very dim view of it.”


 

Libs aim to destroy the Duggars; America responds

American Thinker  "Last week, transgender activists tried to get the popular TV show 19 Kids and Counting canned.  The movement, accustomed to capitulation, may not have expected a conservative counter-petition to overcome its Change.org push.

"The flap originally came about when Michelle Duggar, matriarch of the Duggar clan, sent out robo-calls in Fayetteville, Arkansas opposing an "anti-discrimination law" that would make it easier for men calling themselves women to share bathrooms with people's young daughters.  Transgender activists descended into a meltdown over Duggar's "transphobia.' "

Read more: