Tag: politics

Eric Holder describes his belief that district attorneys don’t have to enforce any laws they disagree with.

10:35 pm

The law is such an inconvenient thing: Eric Holder describes his belief that district attorneys don’t have to enforce any laws they disagree with.

Holder’s real goal? Make the law less inconvenient so he and others in power can wield more power over everyone else. That goal is also shared by Obama as well as a large percentage of the politicians in DC from both parties. See for example this article about a man I disagree with strongly on many issues but who I know is totally on my side on this issue.

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The student who was stopped from handing out copies of the Constitution on Constitution Day has won a settlement from the college that tried to stop him.

2:08 pm

The student who was stopped from handing out copies of the Constitution on Constitution Day has won a $50,000 settlement from the college that tried to stop him.

At the first link I had posted the video the student had taken of the event. It is worth watching again because it is so egregious. That he won so handily is a wonderful outcome.

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A report released by the Obama administration on Monday estimates that health insurance premiums for small and medium business will rise significantly in 2014 because of Obamacare.

1:53 pm

Finding out what’s in it: A report released by the Obama administration on Monday estimates that health insurance premiums for small and medium business will rise significantly in 2014 because of Obamacare.

The report claims that about one third of these businesses will see a decrease in cost, but the article points out that this is likely a very big overstatement and that the increases will likely be much higher than predicted. Based on history, we have every reason to believe this pessimistic prediction and dismiss the hopeful prediction of the Obama administration.

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The cop who shot and killed an already restrained 90 lb teen, saying “We don’t have time for this,” as he fired, has now been indicted for voluntary manslaughter.

2:18 pm

More good news: The cop who shot and killed an already restrained 90 lb teen, saying “We don’t have time for this,” as he fired, has now been indicted for voluntary manslaughter.

Too often the actual cops and government officials who commit acts of oppression get off scot free while their government has to pay the bills. This time, the punishment is being applied to the person who did the deed, a much better approach as it imposes personal responsibility from the individuals involved.

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Victory in the Ukraine for its protesting citizenry with the ouster of that country’s corrupt and tyrannical government.

2:07 pm

Some good news: Victory in the Ukraine for its protesting citizenry with the ouster of that country’s corrupt and tyrannical government.

The ousted President had won an election under suspicious circumstances, then arrested his opponent and put her in jail, then made numerous deals that brought him enormous wealth. He is now gone, and his opponent is free.

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A Democratic Congressmen threatens the loss of the FCC license of television stations which air an ad criticizing his vote in favor of Obamacare.

1:56 pm

Leftwing fascism: A Democratic Congressmen threatens the loss of the FCC license of television stations which air an ad criticizing his vote in favor of Obamacare.

Then Rep. Gary Peters, who is the running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, went all-in Friday, having his lawyers send a letter to a Michigan television station citing the Post in demanding that AFP provide more evidence that Obamacare is as terrible as it really is. Mr. Peters’ lawyers wrote that “Unlike federal candidates, independent political organizations” — and by extension, Ms. Boonstra — don’t have a “right to command use of broadcast facilities.” They clinched with a threat that airing the ad could “be cause for the loss of a station’s license.”

More here.

Other that supporting a law that is causing great anxiety and pain and financial loss to millions of innocent Americans, now this Democrat is also out to squelch freedom of speech. What’s not to like?

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“I don’t think we should be tolerating conservative views because that dominant culture embeds these deep inequalities in our society.”

8:27 am

The open-mindedness of a modern ivy league college student: “I don’t think we should be tolerating conservative views because that dominant culture embeds these deep inequalities in our society.”

Nor is this one student alone. She is typical of the bigoted, hateful leftwing mindset in the academic community, where tolerance is defined by how much you can censor and silence any opposing points of view.

Posted from Garden City, New York. I now shutting down and heading to the airport to fly to Israel. I expect that I will be out of touch with the internet until Sunday, at the soonest.

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A blogger with brains and a passion for free speech explains to the brainless and partisan mainstream press why the Obama administration thinks it can get away with monitoring the news gathering operations of the press and not face outraged criticism.

9:09 pm

A blogger with brains and a passion for free speech explains to the brainless and partisan mainstream press why the Obama administration thinks it can get away with monitoring the news gathering operations of the press and not face outraged criticism.

Read it all. If you happen to be a journalist with any ethics, it will make you sick.

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The Obama administration is moving ahead with a FCC project to send government agents into newsrooms to make sure journalists cover certain topics the Obama administration considers important.

8:58 am

The first amendment is such an inconvenient thing: The Obama administration is moving ahead with a FCC project to send government agents into newsrooms to make sure journalists cover certain topics the Obama administration considers important.

I had read about this proposed project last week but had then seen reports that the FCC was backing down. Now it appears they are not.

What I can’t figure out is this: What news organization is going to agree to this? The FCC has no legal power over print journalism. If those researchers wanted to enter my newsroom or question my reporting, I’d simply tell them to go to hell, after I recorded the conversation. I would then report on that conversation, making it as embarrassing as I could for that researcher and the Obama administration.

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Democrats are whining about the Medicare cuts imposed by Obamacare, by the very law they refused to read and then imposed on us.

8:39 am

Finding out what’s in it: Vulnerable Democrats are now whining about the Medicare cuts imposed by Obamacare, by the very law they refused to read and then imposed on us.

The article notes how these same Democrats were also very blunt about lying that Obamacare would not force any cuts to Medicare, before the law was passed.

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Colorado sheriffs push back against enforcing the gun laws passed by Democratic state legislators

12:10 am

Colorado sheriffs push back against enforcing the gun laws passed by Democratic state legislators.

Fifty-four out of 62 Colorado elected sheriffs together with retired law enforcement, Federal Firearms Licensed dealers, disabled individuals, gun manufacturers and other concerned citizens filed a complaint in federal court against the governor claiming violations of the Second and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

A ban on high-capacity magazines and required background checks for the private sale and transfer of firearms are the two components of the legislation being targeted for dismissal in the courts, said Cooke. “The legislature basically outlawed all magazines not just ones that can hold more than 15 rounds,” he said.  “Any magazine that can be readably converted to hold more than 15 rounds is illegal – which is about every single magazine made.”

There is also this quote:

Last week a coalition of pro-Second Amendment legislators attempted a full repeal of the unlawful magazine capacity limit only to be rejected at the committee levels of a Democrat-controlled legislature, said Cooke.

According to the new law, if a firearm with a magazine attachment was taken into possession after July 1 it would be considered a crime; but if that same firearm was purchased before July 1 it is a “grandfathered” magazine and not considered a crime, he said. The sheriff presented the two differently-dated magazines to the committees and asked them to tell the difference.  “Obviously they could not do it.” When neither the public nor law enforcement can distinguish between two magazines that are identical the law is unconstitutional, he said.

When you pass bad laws, all you will get is contempt for the law. Thus, it is essential that we be reluctant to pass laws unless we are very very very sure they make sense.

Posted from Garden City, New York.

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Off to Israel

1:00 pm

Posting for the rest of February will be spotty. I am heading to New York to give a lecture the Long Island section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics on Thursday night, then on to Israel for 10 days to visit family.

For an idea of what it was like to visit Israel last February, check out my earlier posts below, listed in chronological order. In each case, I think you will get a more accurate portrayal of the reality on the ground, in contrast to the political antisemitism of today’s modern intellectual culture.

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Our decadent elites.

9:41 am

Our decadent elites.

I don’t understand why members of Congress, the White House and the media become cooperators in videos that sort of show that deep down they all see themselves as . . . actors. And good ones! In a phony drama. Meant I suppose to fool the rubes. It’s all supposed to be amusing, supposed to show you’re an insider who sees right through this town. But I’m not sure it shows that.

We’re at a funny point in our political culture. To have judgment is to be an elitist. To have dignity is to be yesterday. To have standards is to be a hypocrite—you won’t always meet standards even when they’re your own, so why have them?

I have always tried to have judgment, dignity, and standards, which I guess explains why I have had so little success compared to today’s politicians and modern intellectuals.

Meanwhile, take a close look at who participated in the video Noonan describes above. It will tell you who we should not trust in the impending war over American freedom.

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University of South Carolina administrators refuse to teach the Constitution as required by state stature because they find it “inconvenient.”

1:08 pm

The law is such an inconvenient thing: University of South Carolina administrators refuse to teach the Constitution, as required by state stature, because they find it “inconvenient.”

State statutes maintain that all students at a South Carolina public school must spend a certain amount of time studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. Failure to abide by the statute is grounds for the removal of the head of the public institution–in this case, President Pastides. “Willful neglect or failure on the part of any public school superintendent, principal or teacher or the president, teacher or other officer of any high school, normal school, university or college to observe and carry out the requirements [of the statute] shall be sufficient cause for the dismissal or removal of such person from his position,” according to South Carolina law.

The USC administrators say the statute is inconvenient to enforce, however, since it would disrupt the university’s current course requirements.

It might inconvenient, and the law itself might be foolish, but it isn’t up the administrators to decide this. They should be fired.

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Communism fails again, and the Western intellectual elite puts blinders on so they don’t have to see it.

11:35 am

Communism fails again, and the Western intellectual elite puts blinders on so they don’t have to see it.

Communism and top-down state control of human activity has always failed in the past, continues to fail in the present, and will always fail in the future — no matter how good or sincere the intentions might be. If you want to make life better for people, give them freedom and then try to persuade them to do the right thing. Applying force simply does not work.

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NOAA’s official prediction for this winter was worse than monkeys working on typewriters.

9:58 am

The uncertainty of science: NOAA’s official prediction for this winter was as bad as monkeys working on typewriters.

“Not one of our better forecasts,” admits Mike Halpert, the Climate Prediction Center’s acting director. The center grades itself on what it calls the Heidke skill score, which ranges from 100 (perfection) to -50 (monkeys throwing darts would have done better). October’s forecast for the three-month period of November through January came in at -22. Truth be told, the September prediction for October-December was slightly worse, at -23. The main cause in both cases was the same: Underestimating the mammoth December cold wave, which brought snow to Dallas and chilled partiers in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

But don’t worry. These guys know exactly what’s going to happen to the climate in a hundred years.

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A Boston hospital kidnaps a man’s daughter and then slaps a gag order on him to try to prevent him from talking about it.

4:35 pm

A Boston hospital kidnaps a family’s daughter and then slaps a gag order on them to try to prevent them from talking about it.

The Boston hospital, to which the girl was transferred on the advice of her original doctors in Connecticut, disagreed with the treatment and then forced their decisions on the family to the point of denying them access to their daughter. The father is now going public because he fears if she doesn’t get the right treatment “she is going to die.”

Though the story makes no mention of it, we must remember that Massachusetts is the land of Romneycare, where the government has stepped in to run the medical world. Somehow, I strongly suspect that fact plays a part in this story, if only as a cultural factor.

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“Indeed we are not purists. We just want people who fundamentally represent our values.”

9:28 am

The real tea party platform: “We are not purists. We just want people who fundamentally represent our values.”

Indeed, despite the allegations that we seek purity within the party, it is clear that what we want is a bold party of contrast – whether in the majority or minority. We want a party that will offer a bold stance on immigration and the debt ceiling, for example, and fight for it with equal and opposing force. We want loyal conservatives that share and fight for our conservative values the same way elected liberals fight for the Democrat party platform. Instead we are given a pale pastel version of Republicans who placate conservatives during election years, and then enact the liberal Democrat talking points through clandestine political efforts.

We know who is with us and who is with the political class. Everybody takes bad votes once and a while. Even Ted Cruz recently voted for a bad flood insurance bill. None of us are demanding purity from him because we know that on almost every issue he is not just a vote but a courageous and effective voice for the millions of us who are disenfranchised by the ruling class oligarchy. He fights every day in Washington for us.

The article also looks in detail at the recent debt ceiling vote and notes how it clearly revealed the loyalties of the Republican leadership. As the author states, “The leaders in the House and Senate, along with their boot lickers, are fundamentally against us. Many of us have known and observed this privately for years, but the debt ceiling vote – both in the House and Senate – brought their devious subterfuge out in the open.”

Read it all. Its goal is not to make you give up, but to recognize the difference between the Republicans who matter and the Republicans who are quislings.

More details here about the growing leadership fight in the Republican Party. Based on what I read, the present leadership, especially in the House, is on very thin ice.

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Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia House of Burgess, March 23, 1775.

7:53 pm

For no reason in particular: Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia House of Burgess, March 23, 1775.

After reading it I have no doubt you will agree that this man is a right-wing extremist of the worst sort. Why, for instance, hasn’t the IRS come after him, along with OSHA, the EPA, and numerous other of our noble federal agencies that were created to protect us?

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Governments spent $359 billion in 2012, about the same as 2011, on their effort to stop global warming.

1:31 pm

Where the big money really is in climate science: Governments spent $359 billion in 2012, about the same as 2011, on their effort to stop global warming.

Global investment in climate change plateaued at USD $359 billion in 2012, roughly the same as the previous year, according to a new Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) study, “The Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2013.” Once again the figure falls far short of what’s needed. The International Energy Agency projects that an additional investment of USD 5 trillion is required by 2020 for clean energy alone, to limit warming to two degrees Celsius. However, the gap is likely wider: The World Bank projects we are on a path to four degree Celsius warming, suggesting that efforts to scale up finance are falling further and further behind.

I include the quote above to make it clear that the source is very much a supporter of the human-caused global warming scenario. And while the article also details the large amounts of money invested in fossil fuels, it is important to recognize the difference. The money for stopping global warming is almost entirely used for fake research or public relations propaganda efforts or to support government regulatory agencies. The money for fossil fuels is money used to invest in actual energy production.

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The trial of the century.

11:30 am

The trial of the century.

Michael Mann doesn’t like people calling him a fraud for torturing and manipulating the climate data to create the false illusion that the climate is warming. And so, he is trying to shut down any criticism or analysis of his very poorly done science by using the power of government to enforce his will.

Two quotes from the article that are of interest:

Here is the point at which we need a little primer on libel laws, which hinge on the differentiation between facts and opinion. It is libel to maliciously fabricate facts about someone. (It is not libel to erroneously report a false fact, so long as you did so with good faith reason to believe that it was true, though you are required to issue a correction.) But you are free to give whatever evaluation of the facts you like, including a negative evaluation of another person’s ideas, thinking method, and character. It is legal for me, for example, to say that Michael Mann is a liar, if I don’t believe that his erroneous scientific conclusions are the product of honest error. It is also legal for me to say that he is a coward and a liar, for hiding behind libel laws in an attempt to suppress criticism.

These are all reasons that the lawsuit should have been summarily thrown out. It goes beyond the legitimate scope of libel and defamation laws and constitutes an attempt to suppress opinions that are considered politically correct.

And this:

In other words, Steyn’s evaluation of Mann’s scientific claims can be legally suppressed because Steyn dares to question the conclusions of established scientific institutions connected to the government. On this basis, the DC Superior Court arrives at the preposterous conclusion that it is a violation of Mann’s rights to “question his intellect and reasoning.” That’s an awfully nice prerogative to be granted by government: an exemption against any challenge to your reasoning.

I said before that I don’t know how the rest of us skeptics escaped being sued along with Steyn. Now we know. Mann is attempting to establish a precedent for climate censorship. If he wins this suit, then we’re all targets.

And global warming activists like Mann call me a “denier?”

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Ben Carson and his family and friends have been targets of IRS harassment since he criticized Obama in 2013.

10:19 am

Working for the Democratic Party: Ben Carson and his family and friends have become targets of IRS harassment since he criticized Obama in 2013.

Carson said audits and other harassment began in May or June of 2013 and gradually expanded to include family members, associates, and his charitable endeavors.

“I’ve been quite I would say astonished at the level of hostility that I have encountered,” Carson said in an exclusive interview with host John Bachman on “America’s Forum” on Newsmax TV.

“The IRS has investigated me. They said, ‘I want to look at your real estate holdings.’ There was nothing there. ‘Well, let’s expand to an entire [year], everything.’ There was nothing there. ‘Let’s do another year.’ Finally, after a few months, they went away. But they’ve come after my family, they’ve come after my friends, they’ve come after associates.”

This harassment apparently occurred after the IRS scandal broke in the spring of 2013, which means that instead of ending the harassment that supposedly outraged him, Obama accelerated it by aiming it directly at his electoral opponents.

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