News of the Week for July 27th, 2014
- Election 2014
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Election 2014
The Odds of a GOP Wave Are Increasing
This year’s political environment is shaping up to be nearly as bleak as 2010, and that’s ominous news for Senate Democrats.
How Senator John Walsh Plagiarized a Final Paper
Senator John Walsh of Montana took most of a 2007 final paper required for his master’s degree from the United States Army War College from other sources without proper attribution. Mr. Walsh copies an entire page nearly word-for-word from a Harvard paper, and each of his six conclusions is copied from a document from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace without attribution.
GOP Congressman Returns Award to U.S. Chamber of Commerce Because of Group’s Amnesty Support
Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) returned an award the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave him because of the business group’s support for amnesty for America’s illegal aliens.
The GOP’s digital dilemma
Win in the midterms and create a narrative that the party is finally on par with President Barack Obama and the Democratic data machine headed into the 2016 cycle. But leading GOP techies warn that any success connected to gains in the House and Senate could bring a dangerous sense of overconfidence, arguing that there’s really still lots of ground left to cover in creating the technological skills and gadgetry needed for future elections and especially a winning White House campaign.
Obama Scandals
IRS Puts Out Word It Needs Help Destroying 3200 Hard Drives
Damn, this Obama IRS coverup is much larger than we ever expected.
IRS experts: Lois Lerner’s hard drive only ‘scratched’ and data mostly recoverable
The behavior of the IRS is looking more and more like a cover-up.
FEC Chairman sounds alarm: There’s a ‘move afoot to constrict press freedoms’
Federal Election Commission Chairman Lee Goodman issued a stark warning on Wednesday when he suggested that political speech and press freedoms were under assault by federal regulators.
Obama will take executive action on immigration after summer, adviser says
The move could trigger impeachment proceedings against President Obama, said his senior adviser, Dan Pfeiffer. A spokesman for the House speaker called the impeachment comments ‘political games.’
Gun Rights
Victory in Palmer v. DC
DC handgun carry ban struck down
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
New paper finds only ~3.75% of atmospheric CO2 is man-made from burning of fossil fuels
A paper published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics finds that only about 3.75% [15 ppm] of the CO2 in the lower atmosphere is man-made from the burning of fossil fuels, and thus, the vast remainder of the 400 ppm atmospheric CO2 is from land-use changes and natural sources such as ocean outgassing and plant respiration.
Simulating the integrated summertime ?14CO2 signature from anthropogenic emissions over Western Europe
Radiocarbon dioxide (14CO2, reported in ?14CO2) can be used to determine the fossil fuel CO2 addition to the atmosphere, since fossil fuel CO2 no longer contains any 14C. After the release of CO2 at the source, atmospheric transport causes dilution of strong local signals into the background and detectable gradients of ?14CO2 only remain in areas with high fossil fuel emissions.
Climate models that accidentally got El Niño right also show warming slowdown
We’ve been stuck in cool, La Niña state for most of the past decade.
NOAA Breaks Their Dishonesty Record Two Months In A Row
NOAA has entered the realm of blatant, unabashed fraud in their current discussions about climate.
Deep Oceans Are Cooling Amidst A Sea Of Modeling Uncertainty
Two of the world’s premiere ocean scientists from Harvard and MIT have addressed the data limitations that currently prevent the oceanographic community from resolving the differences among various estimates of changing ocean heat content (in print but available here).
Study: Climate Models Overestimated Global Warming For The Last 55 Years
Climate models relied upon by scientists and governments may be greatly overstating the warming that has occurred since the late 1950s, argues a paper analyzing the discrepancies between modeled and observed temperatures.
So What’s The Real Reason South Polar Sea Ice Is Expanding? It’s The Cooling, Stupid!
During the last three years, since 2011, the ice around Antarctica has been growing, in most seasons, more than during any similar periods of the satellite era where we have that data.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Court Of Appeals Throws Out ObamaCare Subsidies On Federal Exchange
So basically anyone who gets their ObamaCare on the federal exchange, which is a lot if not most, can’t get subsidies. This would be a death blow to ObamaCare.
Annndddd…Now The 4th Circuit Court Of Appeals Upholds IRS ObamaCare Rule That DC Court Struck Down This Morning
Unlike the DC circuit the 4th circuit is all about “context”, the plain meaning of words be damned.
Drafting error vs. poor draftsmanship
Obamacare by its express and unambiguous terms limits Obamacare subsidies to people using health care exchanges “established by the State.” Thus, subsidies to people in the federal exchange are not permitted, as these exchanges obviously are not established by the State.
Seven potential effects of the D.C. Circuit Court’s Obamacare ruling
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled that health insurance subsidies in 36 states were illegal because the text of Obamacare limited subsidies to those states that set up their own exchanges. Prior posts provided some background on the case and the legal reasoning behind the decision. Here’s a rundown of seven potential legal, political, legislative and policy effects of the ruling.
No, Halbig Did Not Gut Obamacare Because Of A “Drafting Error”
Reading is fundamental, unless you’re a liberal blogger.
Jonathan Gruber: Hey Man I Have No Idea Why I Said Federal Subsidies Weren’t Available Except to State Exchanges. It Was a Mistake.
You Know, a Verbal Typo.
Again: In Another Briefing in 2012, Jonathan Gruber Committed the Same “Speak-O” and Said that States Which Refuse to Set Up Obamacare Exchanges Would Lose “Hundreds of Millions in Tax Credits” (Federal Subsidies)
Hey man sorry about that weird thing that happened in your mouth.
Jon Gruber, Asked About His Second Statement That Only State Exchanges Are Eligible For Subsidies: “Same Answer” (That Is, The Second Time Was Also a “Speak-O”)
Odd that an off-the-cuff speak-o should appear in a speaker’s prepared remarks.
Who are you going to believe — Me, or your lying ears? Gruber: My 2012 remarks were “a speak-o”
This answer is not a “speak-o” any more than the statutory language on subsidies and exchanges was a “typo.” Gruber explained the coercive policy correctly and in detail, along with the stakes involved in seeing the coercion succeed. It’s not a case of just using the wrong terminology, like “market” instead of “exchange.” Gruber clearly understood the statute at this time — in January 2012 — to provide the arm-twisting needed to get states to launch their own exchanges by stiffing consumers in states without them, which would then create more pressure on those states to get them the federal subsidies that they were funding but not receiving.
WELL, WELL, WELL: Senate Hearing: Tax Credits are available for State Exchanges Only.
Senator Baucus explains how The Affordable Care Act sets conditions where Tax Credits are available for State Exchanges Only.
Hilarious Fail of the Week: Gruber Claims It Was a “Speak-O!”
As all the world now knows, Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber is on video explaining that under the ACA, tax subsidies will only be available to individuals who enroll in state-created exchanges, and will not be available to those who participate in the federal exchange. In other words, the limitation of subsidies to state exchanges was a deliberate policy, intended to give states a major incentive to create exchanges, and not a “typo” as liberals are now claiming. Which, in turn, means that the Halbig majority was right.
Obamacare’s Architect Agreed That Only State Exchanges Could Offer Subsidies
Tonight, Reason’s Peter Suderman published an interesting revelation about the history of the decision reached this week by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, that Obamacare subsidies couldn’t be distributed unless it happened through a state exchange.
War & Terror
FAA Bans All US Flights to Israel
Anticipating an imminent ban by the FAA of all U.S. flights to Israel, Delta, United, and US Airways each canceled all outbound flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport until further notice.
‘Evidence’ Moscow firing from Russia on Ukraine troops: US
The United States has evidence that Russian troops are firing artillery from inside Russia on Ukrainian military positions, a US official alleged Thursday.
China: People’s Liberation Army from the 29th live-fire exercises will be closed a large area of ??the East China Sea waters
Zhejiang Maritime Safety Administration on July 25 issued NOTAMs “Zhejiang HNA [2014] 7 – East China Sea in the actual use of weapons training.”
U.S. Embassy in Libya evacuated amid growing violence
The U.S. Embassy in strife-torn Libya was evacuated early Saturday, under cover of American warplanes and spy aircraft, according to the State Department and the Pentagon.
Russia massing 15,000 troops on Ukraine border, says NATO
Russia has now amassed around 15,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Friday, offering a higher figure than one previously cited by the Pentagon.
As Libya Implodes, “Smart Diplomacy” Becoming a Punch Line
The United States is pulling embassy staff out of Tripoli, and has issued a travel advisory that nicely outlines what a nightmare Libya has become. If Obama were a Republican, the press coverage of this stinking corpse of a policy flub would be quite different.
National
‘Creating Oneness’ through Progressive Comedy
Netroots Nation is an annual conference for online progressive activists. Over the past few days, the group held their ninth annual event in Detroit — America’s finest example of unchecked liberal policy.
Obama to non-profits: celebrate LGBT or else
President to sign executive order forcing religious organizations to hire LGBT or reject federal money
Occupy protester threatened to kill two officers’ families
The Occupy Wall Streeter who once sobbed in court because she had to appear in the same dress twice also threatened to kill two cops’ families, court papers show.
Ted Kennedy & the Death of Mary Jo
The Chappaquiddick Rant
Comedic Social Justice Media
An important question being addressed at Nutroots Nation: Why is it that a bunch of oversensitive weenies who run for the smelling salts at the slightest hint of offense are thought of as humorless?
California Highway Patrol Seizes Medical Records Of Woman An Officer Was Caught On Tape Beating
Today’s demonstration of post-brutality scrambling is brought to you by the California Highway Patrol. First off, we’ll take a look at the “alleged” brutality, which looks incredibly similar to non-alleged brutality.
Black Hat presentation on unmasking TOR users suddenly cancelled
A presentation on a low-budget method to unmask users of a popular online privacy tool, TOR, will no longer go ahead at the Black Hat security conference early next month
California drought: ‘Water cops’ being hired by Bay Area agencies to root out water waste
It’s about to get more difficult to go unnoticed if your sprinklers are watering the street more than your lawn.
Great news from Hillary: The Russian reset worked
It’s obvious what she’s trying to do here but this is a weird, weird moment to do it.
Thesaurus Synonyms for ‘Obstructionist’ Include ‘Right-winger,’ ‘Rightist,’ ‘Tory’
Apparently only conservatives and others on the right can be obstructionists, according to Roget’s Thesaurus.
Merriam-Webster Editor Apologizes For Bigotry Association to Conservatism (Sort Of)
In July, we learned that a Google search of the word “bigotry” turned up a definition that equated the word to “right-wing.” The sample sentence from the Oxford Dictionary set off a small firestorm of anger by conservatives, who don’t consider themselves bigoted and don’t think it should be part of any dictionary definition of the word.
Mom Jailed for Letting Her Kid Play Unsupervised Also Fired From Job
Here is an update on the case of Debra Harrell, the South Carolina mom jailed for letting her 9-year-old play in a popular park unsupervised (you read it here first), while she worked at McDonald’s.
The Sun Could’ve Destroyed Civilization Two Years Ago
If an asteroid big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century appeared out of deep space and buzzed the Earth-Moon system, the near-miss would be instant worldwide headline news.
Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, but most newspapers didn’t mention it. The “impactor” was an extreme solar storm, the most powerful in as much as 150+ years…
RICK PERRY: Illegals Behind 3,000 HOMICIDES & 8,000 SEXUAL ASSAULTS in TX Since ’08 (Video)
Texas Governor Rick Perry went on Hannity tonight to discuss the illegal immigrant crisis at the US southern border. Perry shared these shocking numbers on the current crisis.
It Appears a New York Times Writer Wants Orthodox Christian and Islamic Views Stamped Out. “Ruthlessly.”
Who will rid Josh Barro of these turbulent priests? Barro is a writer at the New York Times. He has taken to twitter to proclaim that “anti-LGBT attitudes are terrible” and “we need to stamp them out, ruthlessly.”
State agencies launch LGBT data-collection effort
New York State is launching a campaign to collect coordinated data on residents’ sexual orientation as part of a comprehensive effort to improve health and human services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender New Yorkers, the state’s health department announced Wednesday.
The Government Is Cracking Down on School Bake Sales
States are trying to circumvent federal nutrition standards that would limit sugary foods at school fundraisers.
Homeowners Association: Veteran Can’t Build Furniture For Military Families In Need
A war veteran who builds furniture in his garage and gives it to military families in need could be forced to shut down the saws
Hobby Lobby Spooks LGBT
Who knew?
Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win
Data-driven decisionmaking played a huge role in creating a second term for the 44th President and will be one of the more closely studied elements of the 2012 cycle
Eleanor Holmes Norton says ‘you don’t have a right to know’ what’s going on in government
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting congressional delegate for the District of Columbia, angrily sputtered during a congressional hearing Friday that the White House should not be held up to scrutiny, saying that there was no right to know what it was doing behind closed doors.
Halbig’s Critics Hoist By Their Own Petards
Next Time, Read The Law Before Making It Law
Colorado Atty. General to Investigate Planned Parenthood Videos Coaching Young Girls in BDSM
The attorney general of Colorado says he will have his staff review the Live Action investigative video of a Denver Planned Parenthood employee coaching a young woman, believed to be only 15-years old, in the practice of high-risk sexual activities, including bondage/discipline and sado-masochistic sex (BDSM).
Biden Awkwardly Calls Out His Daughter For Being Poor, Whines He Should Have Raised A Republican
It was President Obama who said that because he doesn’t have to run for reelection, he can finally tell the truth, but it seems that although Vice President Biden is considering a run, he’s actually the one taking this “truth telling” message to heart.
Ohio State core class teaches Christians are dumber than atheists
Psychology 1100 is a general education requirement class.
Boston ‘Teeming With Protesters’ in Giant Rally Against Housing Illegal Immigrants in the State
Illegal immigration protesters descended upon historic Boston on Saturday decrying Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s decision to offer shelter in the state to unaccompanied minors.
Profs Given Grant To Overcome White Male Hegemony in Science Fiction. Or Something.
At the University of California, Riverside, a grant was needed to explore “ethnic futurisms” — because, it seems, “there has long been an unacknowledged tradition of SF written by people of color.”
Denver homeless shelters overflowing as city deals with surge of younger people attracted to legalized marijuana
An informal survey found that about a quarter of the increase was related to marijuana
Economy & Taxes
The Nation’s $100 Billion Regulations Tab
President Obama’s pen-and-phone regulations are costing ordinary Americans hundreds of dollars every year, largely through extra costs to businesses.
15 Reasons the Party on Wall Street is About to End in Tears
To paraphrase Clubber Lang, the following are 15 reasons that the central banking party fueling our economy will end in “pain”.
International
Iraqi Christians are raped, murdered and driven from their homes – and the West is silent
For the first time in 1,600 years, Mass is not being said in Mosul: an ancient culture has been wiped out in a matter of weeks. It’s a war crime that, strangely, no one seems to want to talk about.
Venezuela’s Transformation To Socialist Utopia Is Nearly Complete As Its Factories Grind To A Halt
Venezuela’s transformation to a socialist utopia has been well-documented on these pages.
Why did 28,000 rivers in China suddenly disappear?
Startling government survey sheds new light on Chinese water crisis
Chinese city sealed off after bubonic plague death
30,000 residents of Yumen are not being allowed to leave and 151 people have been placed in quarantine after man’s death
47 dead, 11 injured in Taiwan plane crash
A Transasia Airways plane crashed when making an emergency landing in Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 40 people, China’s Xinhua news agency said.
China’s terrifying debt ratios poised to breeze past US levels
The China-US sorpasso is looming. I do not mean the much-exaggerated moment when China’s GDP will overtake America’s GDP – which may not happen in the lifetime of anybody reading this blog post – as China slows to more pedestrian growth rates (an objective of premier Li Keqiang.)
Air Algerie flight ‘probably crashed,’ wreckage reportedly spotted
Conflicting reports emerged about wreckage spotted in two different sites
India Moves to Reassert Itself in Nepal
India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Nea href=”http://ace.mu.nu/archives/350631.php” target=”_blank”a name=”International”pal on Friday to lay the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, the first to Nepal by an Indian PM in 17 years. The trip is meant to help India regain the influence it has lost in the landlocked country over the past decade.
Ukip: Winning Here!
Ukip is learning how to street fight, and that should worry the two main parties
Boko Haram Fight Cameroon Soldiers In Cross-Border Battles
Nigeria’s Islamist militant group Boko Haram has carried out two cross-border attacks into Cameroon since Friday, killing at least four soldiers and prompting the Cameroonian army to send reinforcements to the area, army sources said on Saturday.
Boko Haram kidnaps wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister
The wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister, Amadou Ali, was kidnapped this morning July 27th after men of the Boko Haram sect stormed her home in the northern town of Kolofata, Cameroon’s information minister and government spokesman revealed.
Denmark: Politician’s Hitler tweet leads to police charge
Danish People’s Party member Mogens Camre compared Muslims to Hitler, leading an Esbjerg resident to report him to the police.
Opinion
Why Aren’t There More Gay People?
I have a sensitive, inconvenient, and undoubtedly politically incorrect question: Why aren’t there more gay people?
In Defense Of Old Racist Art
Censorship, once a very dirty word in liberal circles, has undergone a makeover of sorts and, in its new guise of social responsibility, it is making an unfortunate comeback.
What Should a ‘Do Something’ Congress Do?
Not what the President has in mind.
Property and Peace
The irreplaceable basis for a prosperous and decent society is property.
The Politicization of Science in the Media
The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect strikes again
The Morals of the Welfare State
Mitt Romney took a lot of grief, much of it deserved, for his infelicitous remark (albeit behind closed doors, supposedly) about the “47 percent” during the 2012 campaign. But he’s not entirely wrong to raise the issue of whether dependency doesn’t eventually corrupt the recipients.
Daniel Hannan goes to the heart of things, praising the rule of law
As I said, today I got to hear Daniel Hannan speak as part of promoting his new book, Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World. I have my autographed copy in hand, and am look forward reading it. To the extent Hannan’s talk was a preview of his book, I know I’m going to like it, and then drive everyone crazy by quoting from it all the time.
Verizon’s Inspire Her Mind ad and the facts they didn’t tell you
Do girls fall behind in science and engineering because our society tells them they should be pretty, rather than, “pretty brilliant?” That’s the message of a new viral Verizon campaign. But the Factual Feminist shows that many inconvenient facts were held back to construct the the misleading narrative.
Schools of Privilege
My hostility to elite institutions of higher education is not entirely a matter of vulgar populism. It is also based on knowledge of what sort of childhood and adolescence is necessary to compete in the admissions sweepstakes at elite private schools.
The Valley of the Shadow
How mansion-dwelling, carbon-spewing cutthroat capitalists can still be politically correct.
Stupid Liberal Facebook Meme #548215
1a. If the CEOs are not Obama donors, they will go to jail.
Meet the Head of the Lefties’ Koch Network
Under a cloak of secrecy, Philip Gara LaMarche funnels billions to leftist groups.
See Ya Later, I’m Voting Vader
Darth Won’t Make You Barf
How the Obama Administration’s Lawlessness Will Challenge the Next Conservative President
As we’re entering the twilight years of the Obama administration, it’s time to begin thinking about the long-term effects of his “pen and phone” presidency, effects that will linger well after the next conservative president is sworn in.
Emotions in Motion
Last week, at the very end of the Freemen vs Serfs thread, phaedrus made a few posts musing about the “unbridgeable divide” between Progs and Conservatives when discussing issues. He attributed it to differing types of logic-their position is logical to them, my opposing position is logical to mestalemate.He’s not wrong, but I think he’s missing the forest for the trees here. It’s much simpler than that, and understanding what’s going on requires going right back to basics.
Great Moments In Leftist Logic
Watch as a “right-wing meme” … magically becomes the conventional wisdom.
Lying commies
The more people are exposed to socialism, the worse they behave
Liberal thinking explained by Evan Sayet
Smoking is healthier than fascism.
The aphorism’s latest affirmation comes via the death of a seller of cigarette singles at the hands of New York City police officers.
Sex Trouble: Feminists Worry That Disney Movies Are Making Girls Heterosexual
Is your daughter a victim of male oppression? Blame Aladdin – as well as The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, The Lion King and Toy Story 2.
Why Have a Bill of Rights ?
In any free society that area of life which is left to the sole discretion of the individual includes all actions that are not specifically forbidden by a general law.
/aTweet
