Memorial Day

Israeli Commandos Used Incredible Restraint

I'm with Israel:

The Navy commandoes were prepared to mostly encounter political activists seeking to hold a protest, rather than trained street fighters. The soldiers were told they were to verbally convince activists who offer resistance to give up, and only then use paintballs. They were permitted to use their handguns only under extreme circumstances. …

At one point, the attackers nabbed one commando, wrested away his handgun, and threw him down from the top deck to the lower deck, 30 feet below. The soldier sustained a serious head wound and lost his consciousness.

Only after this injury did Flotilla 13 troops ask for permission to use live fire. The commander approved it: You can go ahead and fire. The soldiers pulled out their handguns and started shooting at the rioters' legs, a move that ultimately neutralized them. Meanwhile, the rioters started to fire back at the commandoes.

Isn't It Comforting to Know

... that with all the preventative measures taken by deep sea oil rigs, they have no fracking idea what to do once the stops fail:

BP Plc (BP.L) said on Saturday the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.

"We have not been able to stop the flow," said Doug Suttles, the London-based oil giant's chief operating officer.

"We have made the decision to move on to the next option," he added.

That next option is called the lower marine riser package cap, one that captures oil from the well rather than plug it. Suttles said it could take four days or longer to show results.

U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Mary Landry, flanking Suttles at a daily briefing, said the news of the top kill failure was disappointing and that the best option for ending the spill was drilling a relief well which BP estimates will take two months.

Perhaps, it'd be a tad bit better to drill on dry land:

When evaluating in an honest way all factors that contributed to the current pollution of the Gulf, we must ask why BP was drilling in 5,000 feet of ocean when there are so many other accessible and safe alternatives. There are large deposits of oil shale in Western Colorado that could easily and safely be extracted as it is now in Western Canada. We have all heard of the huge deposits of oil in ANWR, on Alaska's North Shore. Because of improved drilling technology, all available oil in ANWR can be extracted by using only 2,000 of its roughly 19,000,000 acres.

Why the West Will Lead

... because Western conservatives understand that Robin Hood spells a lot of nothing for everyone ... or as Maxime Bernier says ... a tax on corporations is a tax on "people":

The benefits from Alberta's new royalty incentives will be "material" and "significant," according to research reports that emerged overnight following the announcement on Thursday.

Provincial Energy Minister Ron Liepert went much further than most anticipated in announcing a series of royalty holidays for specific types of oil and gas activity, as well as confirming details or "curves" associated with lowered maximum royalty rates announced in March.

Analyst Robert Fitzmartyn of investment bank First Energy Capital said Alberta companies will have to crunch the numbers over the next few weeks to decide whether to adjust their capital budgets but the changes make it likely that activity will increase.

He said it remains unclear whether the new regime will make Alberta a better place to invest than other jurisdictions, given the ever-changing royalty picture and rising and falling commodity prices.

Saskatchewan, for instance, announced Thursday it would cut the maximum Crown royalty rate to 2.5 per cent on the first 882 million cubic feet of natural gas produced from every horizontal gas well drilled between before March 31, 2013.

Source

Maxime

When you over-tax corporations they ...

- leave
or
- pass it on
or
- lay off workers

By now, the socialist experiments of various provincial governments across Canuckistan should be proof enough to Canadians that Robin Hood means a lot of mediocrity for everyone ... except bureaucrats, unions, NGOs, and parasites. For example, under Saskatchewan socialists the province vastly expanded government largesse and government corporations, and unions ruled the roost ... yet the province languished. Now, under the much more capitalist friendly Sask. Party, the province is forging the strongest economy in Canada ... and among the strongest in the entire Western World.

Bonus Read.

Maxime on Maximum Power

... watch this guy; he may figure big in our futures:

FC: Recent statistics show that while Quebec has 24% of Canada’s population it only has 16% of its economic output or income. What can the rest of Canada do to help Quebecers see their current path is unsustainable to say nothing of how unfair it is for part of Quebec’s bills to be paid by the rest of the country.

MB: First of all it’s the politicians in Quebec that must realize after four decades of big spending government that it is not the solution. We are going directly into a brick wall. I want to make it clear that I’m proud to be from Quebec, I’m proud of our culture, I’m proud of our language, I’m proud of the four centuries before that, but the last four decades have not been so good. We must change and we must question the Quebec model and that’s the only way to bring more prosperity. I don’t want Quebec to have more money from equalization payments because that means we’re poorer. I want my province to be richer and to receive less money from equalization payments. The way to do that is to be out there and speak about individual freedom and responsibility and less government in Quebec. And I think Quebecers are ready to hear that. In the end, making these changes will be the responsibility of politicians at the provincial level in Quebec.

... for a taste of straight talk, read.

I like ... especially when compared to the slippery slime dished out by some of our other CPC travellers.

ht

Islam Is ... As Islam Does

At what point, will even the progressives call a spade a spade?

Death toll hit 80 in gunmen attacks in Pakistan's Lahore on Friday, police sources said.

More than 100 people were also injured during the attacks, a senior police officer told media.

Two groups of unknown militants attacked two worship places almost simultaneously in eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

The attacks were carried out at Garhi Shahu and Model Town Block C areas of Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province.

The militants, wearing suicide jackets and holding hand grenades,entered the worship places of a religious group Ahmadi, declared non-Muslims in Pakistani in early 1970s, and held hostage hundreds of worshipers in Garhi Shahu, witnesses said.

For more fun and games c/o Muhammad's lunatics ... click. (scroll down for this year's score-board)

There's Nothing Like a Good Hearing

... to put the old scallywags to flight:

No, I think he's identified, if I'm not mistaken, 17 scientists that warrant further investigation. This is absolutely appropriate. These are scientists, many of them on the government dole, the United Nations money. These scientists who've actively been involved in at least the appearance of or actively involved in rebuking Freedom of Information Act requests - scientists who get public fund s to do research that have a lot of questions to answer. And for them to say, "Oh my gosh, what horror!" No, they're on the public dime in many cases and they're advocating public policy changes and radical changes to our lifestyles down to the toilet paper we use, down to the light bulbs we can use. Down to how much we're going to be paying for gas and home energy, all based on their science which has now -been credible accusations that they have cooked the books. So it's completely appropriate for the government to start looking at them and naming names.

When the Science Fails

... throw the hate-crime grenade. It's the last resort of all progressives:

“Sad, but scarcely surprising. Sites like this one will eventually be shut down in future updates to hate crime legislation, as they are well on the way to inciting violence and hatred towards scientists and science communicators.”

Chinese Fire Drill on the Water

... and in the White House:

"Mayday, Mayday. This is Deepwater Horizon. We have an uncontrollable fire."

When Capt. Kuchta realized what she had done, he reprimanded her, she says.

"I didn't give you authority to do that," he said, according to Ms. Fleytas, who says she responded: "I'm sorry."

[...]

At one point, a Transocean executive was standing partly in the lifeboat, helping injured workers off the rig and telling Mr. Rupinski not to lower the boat yet. Rig workers piling in were shouting for him to get the boat down. "There had to be at least 50 people in the boat, yelling, screaming at you to lower the boat," Mr. Rupinski recalled. "And you have a person outside saying, 'We have to wait.'"

Terrified workers began jumping directly into the sea—a 75-foot leap into the darkness. Mr. Rupinski radioed the bridge that workers were going overboard.

[...]

One boat was long gone. When they reached the boarding area, the second was motoring away, according to several witnesses. Ten people were left on the rig, including Mr. Wheeler, the injured toolpusher, who was lying on a gurney.

... Read it All.

... and in the meantime, the O-team struggles to find a way to take advantage of the crisis.

I wonder if the president knows what a disaster this is not only for him but for his political assumptions. His philosophy is that it is appropriate for the federal government to occupy a more burly, significant and powerful place in America—confronting its problems of need, injustice, inequality. But in a way, and inevitably, this is always boiled down to a promise: "Trust us here in Washington, we will prove worthy of your trust." Then the oil spill came and government could not do the job, could not meet need, in fact seemed faraway and incapable: "We pay so much for the government and it can't cap an undersea oil well!"

This is what happened with Katrina, and Katrina did at least two big things politically. The first was draw together everything people didn't like about the Bush administration, everything it didn't like about two wars and high spending and illegal immigration, and brought those strands into a heavy knot that just sat there, soggily, and came to symbolize Bushism. The second was illustrate that even though the federal government in our time has continually taken on new missions and responsibilities, the more it took on, the less it seemed capable of performing even its most essential jobs. Conservatives got this point—they know it without being told—but liberals and progressives did not. They thought Katrina was the result only of George W. Bush's incompetence and conservatives' failure to "believe in government." But Mr. Obama was supposed to be competent.

Bonus: Narcissist in Chief in a Crisis:

Then, addressing all the ignorant Americans who have failed to appreciate his rescue efforts, Obama mustered up a semblance of indignation: “Those who think we were either slow in our response or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred.”

And this is the Obama definition of accountability: blaming everyone else for lacking the Ivy League-honed comprehension skills to see the greatness of his fortitude and foresight.

How high of a priority did his administration really make the post-spill cleanup? After droning on haltingly about the federal failure to form an “oil…tracking…flow…group,” Obama admitted with a shrug: “There was a lag of several weeks that shouldn’t have happened.”

With more self-pity than compassion, Obama wrapped up the rare press conference with a disjointed, off-script ramble:

More Bonus ... losing the base.

Herman Van Rompuy

... what every bureaucrat aspires to be:

I would hate to have to inhabit the intellectual construct that forms the world of Herman Van Rompuy. According to this dire little man, us poor simple "ordinary people" were misled over impact of the euro.

Europe's "man in the street", he says, was misled for years over the vast political and economic implications of the creation of "Euroland". "Nobody ever told the proverbial man in the street that sharing a single currency was not just about making peoples' lives easier when doing business or travelling abroad, but also about being directly affected by economic developments in the neighbouring countries."

Jews Can't Walk the Streets

ht

Candy or Cancer?

... say what?

What makes Michelle Obama's style so exciting? It's youthful, accessible and irreverent.

Case in point: the wow-worthy Peter Soronen gown she wore to this week's state dinner honoring Mexico. We're still talking about it, and how she consistently pulls off enviable looks with ease.

Here are 10 lessons we've learned so far from our very fashionable first lady:

... keep reading.

I was half expecting Bruno to pop up and ask ... "Candy, or Cancer?"



... Michelle Obama? Candy, or Cancer?

TV News Top Gun

... showing them all how it's supposed to be done:

Losing Carville

... when hardcore hacks begin to fall overboard, it's over ... click.

Bonus Vid:



More Bonus:

Obama's Rig

More Plain Spoken Politics

... what a refreshing change:

Conservative Fascists in America

Canuck Combat Cam

... keep in mind that while our boys are at war, ALL of our politicians play political games, with the LPC and NDP trying to create scandals from nothing, and the Harper-bots terrified of showing TOO MUCH support for the mission least they offend Quebecors.

By the way, Canada has already lost the war ... it is leaving the field of battle on a set date while that field is still contested ... that's a loss by any historic standard. Thanks Ottawa ... you've made history.

My sympathy goes out to the families of those who have been killed or seriously wounded ... what a waste.

My sympathy does not however go out to the soldiers ... they're where they want to be and are far better men and women than any hack in Ottawa ... they are neither victim nor felon ... they are warriors doing the job they signed up for. They're in it with eyes wide open ... politicians be damned.

Phone Now

Random House

Tel: (212) 782-9000

That Sinking Feeling

It's interesting how fast the best machinations of the crooks, fakes, and phonies, fall apart:

Last month hundreds of environmental activists crammed into an auditorium here to ponder an anguished question: If the scientific consensus on climate change has not changed, why have so many people turned away from the idea that human activity is warming the planet?

Nowhere has this shift in public opinion been more striking than in Britain, where climate change was until this year such a popular priority that in 2008 Parliament enshrined targets for emissions cuts as national law. But since then, the country has evolved into a home base for a thriving group of climate skeptics who have dominated news reports in recent months, apparently convincing many that the threat of warming is vastly exaggerated.

A survey in February by the BBC found that only 26 percent of Britons believed that “climate change is happening and is now established as largely manmade,” down from 41 percent in November 2009. A poll conducted for the German magazine Der Spiegel found that 42 percent of Germans feared global warming, down from 62 percent four years earlier.

... and in other news:

For what is believed to be the first time ever in England, an audience of university undergraduates has decisively rejected the notion that “global warming” is or could become a global crisis. The only previous defeat for climate extremism among an undergraduate audience was at St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, in the spring of 2009, when the climate extremists were defeated by three votes.

Last week, members of the historic Oxford Union Society, the world’s premier debating society, carried the motion “That this House would put economic growth before combating climate change” by 135 votes to 110. The debate was sponsored by the Science and Public Policy Institute, Washington DC.

Serious observers are interpreting this shock result as a sign that students are now impatiently rejecting the relentless extremist propaganda taught under the guise of compulsory environmental-studies classes in British schools, confirming opinion-poll findings that the voters are no longer frightened by “global warming” scare stories, if they ever were.

Christie Versus Ottawa Slime

As Rex Murphy says, the current crop of politicos in Canadian federal politics amounts to the most unimaginative bunch that we've seen for a long time. I'll add slippery hacks to that.

Here is what true leadership looks and sounds like; but what's amazing is that Christie is not that unusual ... he's just unusual for a politician. So many business people I've known over the years (as well as good educational administrators) were like Christie, and they got a lot done. Politicians, unfortunately, are seldom cut from this cloth and all too often are composed mostly of slime. Part way through the video (1:30), Christie might as well be talking about Ottawa hacks ... from all parties.



... more on Christie.

Steyn on Victoria Day

"In Canada, Britain and America, we're the heirs to so many centuries of peaceful constitutional evolution we find it hard to comprehend the thin ice on which European democracy skates. When we look back on the Seventies, it's Pierre Trudeau, Harold Wilson and Jimmy Carter, all of whom I could have done without. But they look pretty good compared to a stroll down memory lane in Portugal, Spain and Greece, where Seventies nostalgia means Salazar, Franco and the Colonels. In most of Europe, there simply is no tradition of sustained peaceful democratic evolution. After 215 years, the U.S. Constitution is not only older than the French, German, Italian, Belgian, Spanish and Greek constitutions, it's older than all of them put together. Whether the forthcoming European constitution will be the one that sticks remains to be seen, but I wouldn't bet on it. It's more likely the latest doomed big idea: Communism, Fascism, European Union, each wacky notion a response to the last dud."

More

The Trews: To Our Fallen

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The New Bolsheviks

A commie is a commie is a commie ... always.

SEIU-NPA terrorize a teenage boy home alone, and possibly break Federal laws by storming into banks, taking over their lobbies and shutting down their businesses.

Are the American people expected to believe that over the course of these several working visits to the White House that the subject of the street mob actions Andrew Stern’s union was sponsoring and coordinating never once came up?

Unfortunately, there are no alleged reporters in all of the Washington press corps who are either smart or curious enough to ask the President what the American people are to believe about the appearance of the Administration coordinating with unions to intimidate private citizens in their homes, terrorize their children, and break federal laws by organizing mobs to occupy and shut down bank buildings.

If the Executive branch of the government were conspiring with any group to break the laws of this nation, would that be grounds for impeachment, if not a few questions on the subject?

... read about the most important piece of information SEIU won't tell you.

Chicago Banker - in - Chief

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) joined U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) in a letter to Obama asking for records concerning ShoreBank. The South Side bank, known for its community lending and with personal ties to Obama aides, has lined up at least $125 million in capital from major banks to qualify for a potential $75 million from the federal government.

Citing unspecified reports of pressure on Wall Street mega-banks, whose interests are involved in a financial regulations bill, the representatives asked for all material, “including e-mails, phone logs and meeting records,” that deal with ShoreBank.

They said ShoreBank may be getting special favors when other banks have been forced to close. The letter asked Obama to respond by June 2.

... keep reading. (be sure to read the comments):

Oh man, you talk about a sacred cow on the Left, that is ShoreBank. I’ve been hearing about it since I was in graduate school studying urban economic development. The Chicago political ties are troubling, for sure, but I can tell you there isn’t a serious liberal in this country that doesn’t know about the great and wonderful ShoreBank. This isn’t about political payoffs per se, it is about propping up the Left’s “good bank.” Still disgraceful, but probably not quite as bad as it looks.

What’s funny is that ShoreBank is in trouble in the first place. Its supporters have gone on and on for decades about how great its lending standards are and how many wonderful small businesses and responsible homeowners have been able to buld wealth as a result of its lending prowess, while maintaining its safety and soundness like any other bank. The entire federal Community Development Investment Fund was based on ShoreBank as the model. Seriously, I wish I had a dime for every time I’ve heard about this bank in glowing terms from some liberal speaker or writer. And now even this “model” bank needs a bailout?

You would think liberals would start to notice that the economy has really gone off the rails if ShoreBank needs a bailout.

Zero - from - Zero

The New Jersey War

Christie versus Progressive State Suicide:

It took about two minutes from the time Senate President Steve Sweeney certified the passage of the millionaires tax package for Gov. Chris Christie to veto the bills at his desk.

"While I have little doubt that the sponsors and supporters of this bill sincerely believe that the state can tax its way out of this financial crisis, I believe that this bill does nothing more than repeat the failed, irresponsible and unsustainable fiscal policies of the past," wrote Christie in his veto statement. "Now is not the time for more of the same. Ultimately, another tax increase will punish the state’s struggling small businesses and set our economy further back from recovery."

Video and More @ Gateway

Previous

ht: Dave in the Comments

Keeping in the Spirit of Things: Pulp Fatwa

Another Cjunk classic. For the right ambience, try the music below. Also, even though we're all big boys and girls here, this is me giving you an official 'harsh language' warning.

“Ok, so tell me again about the hash laws.”

“What do want to know?”

“Well, hash is illegal there, right?”

“Well, that depends. Here’s how it breaks down. Its illegal to own it, its illegal to sell it. Its illegal to carry it, but that don’t matter. Get this, if the cops stop you, they won’t search you.”

“What do you mean, they can’t search you?”

“No man, they’ll just start beating you right there. Just up and beat you to within an inch of your life!”

“And that’s if you don’t have the stuff on you???”

“Exactly. If you do have the hash, you’ll get a trial. That usually takes about 15 minutes, then you’ll probably find yourself hanging from a lamppost!”

“Oh man, fuck that, I ain’t goin, that’s all there is to it!”

“Yeah. But you know what the funniest thing about Arabia is?”

“What?”

“The little things. They got the same shit over there, just different.”

“Example.”

“Alright, well you can walk into a movie theater in Riyadh and there aren’t any women, anywhere. I mean, they’re there, but they’ve got their entire face covered in this veil thing. And you know what’s more fucked up?”

“What?”

“Women can’t leave their house without a man. I mean, how do you meet chicks?”

“That is fucked up man.”

“Yeah. Still, they’ve still got everything we’ve got. They’ve got more MacDonald’s than we do, but there are these little differences. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?”

“They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?”

“No man, they’ve got the Arabic system, its all screwed up. They wouldn’t know what a Quarter Pounder is. They call it a ‘Intifada, with cheese’. And a Big Mac is a ‘Big Mustafa’.”

“What do they call a Bacon Burger?”

“Well, they ain’t too big on pig, but I think they call it a ‘Infidel Burger’. Guess what they’ve got instead of beef?”

“What?”

“Mutton. Every where you look, mutton. They’re drowning in that shit man. But listen, forget that, what happened to Marsellus Wahabi and his sister?”

“Well, Marsellus was out of town, right. He leaves Ahmed with Mia. Marsellus comes back early, and finds Ahmed giving Mia a foot massage.”

“Yeah. So what?”

“Get this, Marsellus just blows up.”

"What do mean, literally?"

"No man, fuck. No not literally. He gets mad. He gets so mad that he and Ahmed throw Mia off the balcony."

“Whoa whoa whoa! They throw Mia off the balcony? That’s fucked up man. Shouldn’t Marsellus throw Ahmed off the balcony?”

“Nah, their system is all fucked up and ass backwards. Its called 'honor killing'. Since Mia brought ‘dishonor’ to the family, it’s the right of the other family members to kill her.”

“Ah man, all of that over a foot massage!”

“Yep! Like I said, it is FUCKED up!”

... more Cjunk oldies.

EDMD

... because everybody knows Mo has a special relationship with children ...

Vote Progressive or Die

Like I've been saying, progressive policies have only 4 goals; increase government bureaucracy; increase unionization; increase the size and number of NGOs; and increase the number of citisens dependant on Nanny:

As it turned out, Mrs Delik is a breast cancer survivor herself, so the postcard was very relevant to her. She brought it up among a group of her girlfriends – seven of them. Six had not received the Labour election card. The seventh had – and, by a remarkable coincidence, Shirley Foreman had had surgery for breast cancer. So in a group of eight women the only ones to receive the government’s breast-cancer warning were the two breast-cancer patients themselves. “When I received the breast cancer card at first I thought it was from the hospital,” said another Sherwood resident, Janet Arslan. “I did not think Labour would be that crass to deliberately target a terminal cancer patient like me.”

A Rare Good CPC Moment

International Bank Tax:

Canada will "resist" a bank tax, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Tuesday as ministers fanned out across the world to raise opposition to the proposal for avoiding another financial crisis.

"Canada is, and will remain, opposed to a tax that would penalize financial institutions that remained strong and prosperous while many of the world's banks failed," Clement told a press conference with Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.

"We will resist the bank tax here at home and we seek to convince other heads of government of the virtue of our position," he said as senior ministers echoed his message in Mumbai, Beijing and Washington.

The British Chihuahua

It's amazing to watch what progressives have done to the UK ... they've utterly and totally cut the nackers off of the bulldog:

The SAS launched a daring mission to rescue two of its own men held hostage in Iraq against the orders of the Ministry of Defence, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The elite unit was pushed to the brink of mutiny after it was banned from saving the SAS soldiers captured by militants because to do so would embarrass the Government.

The astonishing edict drove SAS officers close to mass resignation, according to a hardhitting report by the Tory MP Adam Holloway, a former Guards officer.

... let's not forget that UK forces were handed an utter defeat at the hands of Shia terrorists in Basra ... a defeat that was reversed in one week by Iraqi and American forces who came charging to the rescue and pacified Basra while UK forces ... the victims of "progressive" war tactics hatched by the labour government, hunkered down on their bases.

Progressive Greens Piddle Themselves Over Spain

... because Spain has the best green plan on the planet. Only problem; it's an utter failure:

Christopher Horner reports that Pajamas Media has received a leaked internal document confirming Spain realizes its green failures, just as Obama pushes the American Power Act based on Spain’s program.

Pajamas Media has received a leaked internal assessment produced by Spain’s Zapatero administration. The assessment confirms the key charges previously made by non-governmental Spanish experts in a damning report exposing the catastrophic economic failure of Spain’s “green economy” initiatives.

On eight separate occasions, President Barack Obama has referred to the “green economy” policies enacted by Spain as being the model for what he envisioned for America.

Back to Harvard

... say goodnight Iggy:

Michael Ignatieff is by far the least popular federal political leader, a new poll suggests.

Only 26 per cent of Canadians had a positive impression of the Liberal leader, according to The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey.

Twice that number, 52 per cent, had a negative impression, leaving Ignatieff with a net score of minus 26.

Almost the same number -- 51 per cent -- had an unfavourable impression of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But he was viewed favourably by 42 per cent, for a net score of minus nine.

The ratings for the two leaders have remained largely unchanged since early March.

By contrast, NDP Leader Jack Layton scored a net rating of plus 10, with 46 per cent holding a positive view and 36 per cent a negative view.

In Quebec, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe scored a whopping

plus 20, with 52 per cent viewing him favourably versus 32 per cent unfavourably.

Green Leader Elizabeth May was viewed positively by 28 per cent, negatively by 32 per cent, for a net score of minus four.

... before Canadian Conservatives gloat, let me suggest that the only thing keeping them in power is Iggy (and previously Dion). The day the LPC get a leader with even a marginal pulse, the CPC under Harper will get crushed. After all, the Harper CPC couldn't get a majority against Dion ... by far the worst leader to ever hold the helm of the LPC.

In fact, now that Iggy is all but done, I'm getting really nervous about CPC fortunes. With a bit of luck, the LPC will replace Iggy with Bobby ... which should buy a bit of time for the CPC to find its voice ... if that's possible for a bunch of Ottawa hacks.

A New Low for the O-Team

Indefensible:

Presumably a Facebook post about it is in the works; if it isn’t, it should be. The idea of State voluntarily introducing Arizona’s law into a discussion of human rights abuses with China may well be the single lowest moment on foreign policy that the administration’s had since The One was sworn in. Even Marc Ambinder, writing about Palin’s challenge to Huntsman, managed to choke down his bile towards conservatives to admit that it’s all but indefensible (“comparing China’s regular and brutal and unapologetic detention of political dissidents to the temporary detention of citizens caught without papers is … a tough case to make”).

There Ain't No Fool ...

... like a green fool:

…how is it that, in the 21st century, you could support this Leader of the Opposition, who says that the world was hotter in Jesus’ time? How could you actually hold to a belief, in defiance of total science around the world, that somehow in the last 2000 years the world has become cooler, not warmer? How could you stand behind a leader who says that the industrial revolution, in effect, did not happen?

Just a Sporting Event

A Nazis spokesperson, Erwin Cramer, claimed in a telephone interview with the BBC that the V2 that struck a London district on Friday was the first of many to come.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the bomber was from Kabul and carried 750 kilograms of explosives in his car.

Another reason I despise so many journalists ... in their relativistic progressive world, Afghanistan, Iraq, and any other confrontation with Fundamentalist Islam is just a sporting event. Had news media behaved like they do today during WW2, Hitler and the Japanese militarists would've won ... why? ... because winning wars depends on sustaining "will" ... especially in decadant democracies.

Obama Died and Went to Heavan

When Obama died, George Washington met him at the Pearly Gates. He slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare you try to destroy the Nation I helped conceive?"

Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed."

James Madison followed, kicked him in the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense!"

Thomas Jefferson was next, beat Obama with a long cane and snarled, "It was evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence ."

The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Monroe and 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the radical, socialist, leader.

As Obama lay bleeding and in pain, an Angel appeared. Obama wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."

The Angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 VIRGINIANS waiting for you in Heaven. What did you think I said? You really need to listen when someone is trying to tell you something!"

From the comments HERE ... where the very source of a whining "anti-Obama" news story gets pilloried in the comments.

ht

Should BP Fry?

Greek to Me ... but interesting opinion nevertheless:

I find this very interesting.

First I can't believe that anyone would approve the casing design used. Every single liner should overlap into the previous casing by 500ft and it should have cement in the annular space between the casings. After landing the wiper plugs on these liners the drill pipe is disconnected from the liner hanger and the excess cement that is above the liner is circulated or reverse circulated back to surface where the excess cement volume and contamination is recorded. If you don’t get cement back to surface then the success of the operation is suspect. CBL and testing of those liners should be performed at minimum and followed by squeeze cementing if needed.

The current casing design does not even bring cement back to the previous casing string. What are they crazy?

Lets take the 7" liner or tapered string. It's not an easy task pumping 51 bbls of cement almost 3 1/2 miles below surface without cement contamination. This is why you pump lots of densified flushes, spacers and wiper plugs ahead and behind your cement slurry’s and believe me they are expensive.

After they successfully set the 7” liner they should have run a retrievable packer and performed a positive and negative test on the liner and hanger to determine it’s integrity. If the test fails you already have the packer in place so you squeeze cement to repair the liner lap. Then you run and cement a tieback liner after that.

I cannot believe that BP did a negative test using only the BOP as a failsafe to control a Blow Out. To kill a well of this magnitude you need pipe in the well as deep as possible.

When they went to abandon the well they should have set a cement plug and gone back in and tested the plug with a drill bit. At that point they could drill some of the plug testing the integrity of the plug.

Another plug should have been set closer to the seabed and then a mechanical plug set above that.

BP should fry over this one.

Oh and by the way the last casing cemented to surface was the 22 inch casing at 7937 ft. that is the weakest point in the well and if the 9 7/8 casing has failed or the annulus between the 9 7/8 and 16 is flowing then the 16” casing is getting the pressure and the burst pressure on that casing is 4000 psi. plus or minus.

If they cap this well from above then we might see a subterranean blowout somewhere on the seabed because there is only 2616 ft. of formation that is holding back that pressure.

The good news is that if this well is that good our energy problems could be over.

Source

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How Progressives Get Elected

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... the discussion.

Why Progressives are Dangerous

... because no matter how many times reality smacks them upside the head they will refuse to acknowledge it:



... or even look at it !



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Leave it to Mommy

... to make it all better:

Who is not very pro-women, Miss Marcotte? Silly me! I suppose you must be right because I’m a big dum-dum. How can mere women care about pesky things like the economy or icky military stuff? Math is hard! And that’s for boys! (Well, except for President Obama, evidently). I should just shut up or start screeching about my “right” to abort unborn babies so that I can be “equal” and care about pretty stuff like the environment.

Yeah, not so much. I’ll stick with Sarah Palin, Nikki Haley, Liz Cheney, Michelle Bachmann, Michelle Malkin and other strong, brilliant Moms.

I believe that the left is in for a rude awakening and a nice long time out given to them from said Mommies. Leave it to Mommy to make it all better, as always!

Why the CPC are Doomed to Minority

... because they can't communicate ...

... The following video c/o SDA is a demonstration of speaking over the media filter ... it's a demonstration of how principled and confident conservatives sound. Compare it to the hackery we get from the CPC:

Culture Clash

Parasite meets survivor:

Kwang Soo Kim and Geraldine Beardy were from different worlds.

He was a Korean immigrant, running a corner store in Winnipeg's tough north end. She was a member of a remote reserve, who fell in with a rough crowd while in the city for medical treatment.

On Thursday, police announced they had charged Kim with killing Beardy over what friends say was a stolen can of luncheon meat.

Kim, 62, is accused of manslaughter for allegedly beating Beardy, 29, outside his store last September after she stole something. Police said she was hit in the upper body with a weapon and fled to a nearby home. She died from her injuries five days later in hospital.

... and I agree, "Nobody's worth dying over a can of Klik,"

... but the contrast between the two is amazing ... one bound and determined to overcome ... the other, a leech like so many others crawling all over our cities.

Getting Inside the Progressive Mind

... is like crawling through slime.

Progressives just can't get it through their heads that the old socialist maxim, “poverty begets poverty”, is only partially true ... if at all. They don't understand, nay refuse to understand, that vice also begets poverty. Behind just about every poor person in a Western democracy is an addiction or crime; those who live in poverty as a result of illness or disability are few and far between. Strange thing that vice; get rid of it and all of a sudden poverty becomes a thing of the past.

Another concept that progressives never grasp, is "build it, and they will come!"

Civilization is full of parasites, and the more goodies you offer the so-called "needy", the greater the number of parasites there will be to feast on the free lunch. It's human nature, it's the way things have always been.

So it is, that Saskatoon's shithole, Riversdale and Pleasant Hill, have been the stomping ground of progressives for decades ... including 2 Saskatchewan premieres. Yet, both communities remain the primary area in Saskatoon where the parasites come to feast ... the addicted congregate, and the criminals hunker down ... imagine that.

Now, one of Saskatoon’s chief progressives has a brain-wave ... spread the misery around:

The overabundance of support agencies for poor and homeless people concentrated in Riversdale needs to be addressed in what the city councillor for the area is calling "solution by dilution."

"The simple fact is that the status quo is not working," Coun. Pat Lorje said in an interview. "We need to think about alternative models."

Many of the city's social supports for homeless people are concentrated in the area, trapping people in negative lifestyles, Lorje said. The result is the creation of a society unto itself, from which it is harder to pull people out because they are exposed to more intense levels of the forces that cause, and keep, people homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol, Lorje said.

... and just to rub in the fact that progressives truly are intellectually challenged, let me remind you that Saskatoon is located in Saskatchewan ... the fastest growing economy in North America and one of the strongest economies in the Western world ... where, wonder of wonders, there is a labour shortage.

The fact is, that just about every single fracking "poor person" in Saskatoon's shithole could get a job if they wanted to ... that is; if they wanted to.

A Budget to Make Every Progressive Smile

What a wonderful budget ... just think of all those government jobs, all those union jobs, all those NGOs with nice fat payrolls ... and all those Americans who now depend on government just to survive.

Truly, a great day in Progressia:

The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

A Bush Legacy

Stock Market free-for-all:

Until last Thursday, the NYSE's gripes about the dangers of market fragmentation and opaqueness seemed like little more than the sour grapes of a former monopoly pining for the old days of fat spreads and easy living. But after a still-inexplicable near 1,000-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, even U.S. lawmakers are now parroting the Big Board's complaints.

[...]

It wasn't long ago that the NYSE itself embraced the electronic exchanges and dark pools it's partially blaming for last week's crash. Although at first it had to be pushed kicking and screaming into the technical nirvana of electronic trading, it snapped up Archipelago Holdings in 2005, then merged with Euronext in 2006; last year it launched its own dark pool in Europe. However, none of that history seems relevant to NYSE executives these days. They prefer to talk up their old-school specialists as a valiant army of Captain Americas who stood firm last Thursday against the recklessness of opaque trading systems and the high-frequency algo-trading horde.

She'll Be Hell on Wheels

... in 20 years:

Go West Young Man

For decades Saskatchewan progressives purposefully held back the Saskatchewan economy ... despite the fact that Saskatchewan is one of the most resource-rich regions on earth.

Why did the progressives stifle development?

Because every progressive knows that booming economies attract confident, independent, and upward mobile individuals who have little use for government handouts ... and confident, upward mobile and independant individuals have even less use for the progressive pig trough.

Recall, that just about every single progressive initiative that has ever been launched in the past 3 decades anywhere on earth involves:

- increase the size and power of government bureaucracy
- increase the power of unions
- increase the power and size of NGOs
- increase the number of dependent people

So it is, that just now we are beginning to grasp just how utterly crushing the progressive yoke was to Saskatchewan prosperity. For the rest of Canada, the lesson is simple ... Ontario and Alberta paid a handsome fee in transfer payments to the "have-not" province of Saskatchewan, even though that "have-not" province was sitting on what amounts to the Canadian golden egg. In otherwords, it was more important for progressives to get handouts from the rest of Canada and keep the population needy, than to build a strong, vibrant, stand-on-its-own economy.

A REPORT

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The Day the Machines Took Over

There are a number of theories as to what caused the sudden plunge in stock markets on Thursday; a plunge that went far beyond the general sell off that was happening.

Paul Smalera considers 3 theories:

Whether this was intentional or unintentional, it happened all at once. If it was an intentional [attack], then the question is, was it a demonstration, a test, or the attack itself? Whatever it was, we didn't stop it. It stopped itself.

Or, did the NYSE cause a liquidity dry up by "slowing down" the market intentionally:

The New York Stock Exchange came under fire from its rivals on Friday for slowing trading during the tumultuous trading session on Thursday afternoon, during which $1,000bn was briefly wiped off share values.

Rival exchange chiefs said the move had exacerbated the plunge in prices. Once NYSE slowed trading on its floor in companies that had experienced big price moves, the reduction of liquidity exacerbated volatility in those shares at other trading venues.

Quote of the Day

My wife is a knitter ... a fanatic to be truthful ... lot's of little Afghan kids are wearing her creations, as well as one lady in the Afghan legislature.

She tells me about stuff she picks up on knitting sites.

Today she delivered a gem via Rush Limbaugh:

"If her (Janet Lapolitano's) brains were wool, she wouldn`t have enough to knit leggings for a canary"

If You Don't Like America

... don't let the door hit you on the way out:

So mexican kids are mad that living in American other kids wore the RW and B. Big freaking deal. STFU. Cinco deMayo is a minor holiday not even celebrated in Mexico. You don't like RW and B then leave.

[...]

There is no better argument of deporting illegals than this statement above. "...the Mexican-Americans students demanded the school suspend the boys who wore the U.S. flag-adorned clothing..." Imagine foreigners come the the USA and demand American kids remove American flags! These Mexicans have truly hurt their cause, and will see that at the ballot box.

I suppose if it was St. Patricks Day, American flags must be hidden as to not offend the Irish? Isn't Cinco de Mayo about defeating the French? Does this not offend Franco-Americans? The schools must stop such race baiting.

I'm the father of four kids, and will ensure they all now get American flag t-shirts. It's great watching the backlash against this insipid foreign invasion spread across the land.

Turning the Tables

Oops!

The federal Conservatives, on the defensive for weeks over allegations that former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer may have engaged in illegal lobbying, were able to turn the tables yesterday when they discovered a Toronto law firm touting a Liberal MP as an influential lobbyist who could get things done for their corporate clients.

Derek Lee, a lawyer who has represented a Torontoarea riding since 1988, is also legal counsel for the law firm Sun and Partners.

Parts of a profile of Mr. Lee on the law firm's website were read in the House of Commons by Infrastructure Minister John Baird, who was cheered on by his caucus colleagues.

That paragraph said "Mr. Lee's valuable contributions to our clients include acting for foreign and offshore organizations in obtaining operating licenses, securing regulatory and governmental approvals for mergers and acquisitions ... advising government bodies on international issues regarding cross-border tax collection, anti-dumping issues, and lobbying government on policy issues as well as facilitating inter-governmental relationships."

Terminator 2011

How do you "hang" a machine?

According to regulatory officials, "a huge, anomalous, unexplained surge in selling" happened at about 2:45 p.m. New York time, setting off trading based on computer algorithms, thus amplifying the fall.
"Somebody should hang this New York Stock Exchange," Rogers said. "They claim to be the center of the world's capitalism, of the world's financial markets, you would think that in 2010 they could sort out simple things like electronics."

Vindication for Some:

A year ago, before anyone aside from a hundred or so people had ever heard the words High Frequency Trading, Flash orders, Predatory algorithms, Sigma X, Sonar, Market topology, Liquidity providers, Supplementary Liquidity Providers, and many variations on these, Zero Hedge embarked upon a path to warn and hopefully prevent a full-blown market meltdown.

Previous

Black Box Trading: Digital Destruction

Imagine, if you will, that a "human" trader enters a "B" for billion instead of an "M" for million ... and computers begin to sell off one of the primary stocks on the DOW on what is already an ugly day of selling. Other computers pick up the selling as stops are triggered ... igniting a frenzy of sales. By the time it's over the DOW has plunged like the Red Barron on his last outing... all because of a "B":

In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses—all apparently due to a trader error.

According to multiple sources, a trader entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble [PG 60.75 -1.41 (-2.27%) ], a component in the Dow. (CNBC's Jim Cramer noted suspicious price movement in P&G stock on air during the height of the market selloff. Watch.)

Sources tell CNBC the erroneous trade may have been made at Citigroup.

... on a cautionary note, the story is not yet confirmed ... maybe it was simply a black box sell off ... a wonderful cascade of digital destruction as machines, not humans, wreaked havoc.

The Other Natural Disaster

... so far, not even a mention from The Big O:

What Progressive Utopia Looks Like

Click

We've said many times before that progressive policies, no matter how well intentioned always ... and I mean always, end up doing the same things:

- increase the size and power of government bureaucracy
- increase the power of unions
- increase the power and size of NGOs
- increase the number of dependent people

** the sum is to increase the parasite class until ...

... the citizenry can vote itself more and more lavish entitlements without having to pay a penny ... basically by stealing other people's money or through debt financing.

Behold Greece ... behold your progressive future.

How to Send More Viewers to FOX

Robert Gibbs shows us how it's done:



Source: Have fun reading the comments.

If You Are Going to Lie; At Least ...

... make it a big one, and never under any circumstance back down:

Australian polls have plummeted, and the credibility gap I mentioned earlier has already translated into votes. Whether people agree or disagree with the Emissions Trading Scheme, no one is impressed when a leader hypes something in the most hyperbolic and inflammatory terms, then bails suddenly, as if it was not a big deal.

Shocking Glacier Decline

The following report is enough to give any AGW "denier" reason to step back and reconsider:

There are also worrisome reports of significant temperature increases, with anomalies of several degrees. Also in the report is the mention of ice free open sea of almost 2 million square kilometers, which is termed as “unprecendented in the history of the Arctic”.

It is shocking to read. I urge readers to have a look at some of the excerpts I’ve posted.
First a map. Spitsbergen is part of Svalbard, which is part of Norway.

... read it at WUWT.

Breaking: Receding glaciers reveal ancient decadent culture.

Tea Bagger Terror

Truly, the progressive mind is one dark place, usually only glimpsed when the mask slips:

“Bloomberg later told CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric that the suspect behind the bombing attempt could be a domestic terrorist angry at the government who acted alone.

“If I had to guess 25 cents, this would be exactly that. Homegrown, or maybe a mentally deranged person, or somebody with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill or something. It could be anything,” he said.

I wonder how many dark progressive minds are hoping for some Tea Bagger Terror ... just to boost their chances of regaining the pole position? The sheer number of times some progressive mentions "Tea Bagger" and terror or fomenting violence in the same mouth full, is creepy.

The Dumbest Fracking Terrorists

Lucky for us, that jihadists are so fracking stupid they can't get a killing right.

If they weren't so hell bent on spectacular Mo-bombs, they'd simply do their terror the old fashion way. It's amazing that your average suicidal teen who shoots up a school, or your typical wacko disgruntled employee, do a better job than jihadist wankers. (unless of course it comes to tossing acid in the faces of little girls or torturing hotel guests to death)

The point is though, that despite being the dumbest terrorist-types in history, all these scum need do is get it right once.

Could there be, on the planet today, a more loathsome creature than the jihadist ... or for that matter, his Western sympathizer and apologist ... or the progressive dope who is so averse to offending the Religion of Pieces that she doesn't employ the full weight of the state to defend her own citizens even in the face of obvious threat.

Obamacare Crashes and Burns

Deroy Murdock:

Just five weeks after the president of the United States signed Obamacare into law, it already resembles an overweight airplane lumbering down the tarmac, poised to crash and burn soon after takeoff. Obamacare’s excess cargo of broken promises threatens such a catastrophe.

“The plan I’m announcing tonight,” Pres. Barack Obama promised a joint session of Congress last September 9, “will slow the growth of health-care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.”

Not so fast, warns Medicare’s Office of the Actuary. In a devastating, independent, 38-page analysis released on April 22, chief actuary Richard Foster forecast, “The growth rate reductions from productivity adjustments are unlikely to be sustainable on a permanent annual basis.#...#We show a negligible financial impact over the next 10 years for the other provisions intended to help control future health care cost growth.”

“This is an objective report by administration actuaries that shows this sweeping legislation has serious, serious problems,” says health-policy analyst Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute. Foster’s study delineates the canyon between Obama’s warm words and the chilly disappointment that awaits those who expect Obamacare to do good.

Arizona Racism?

... more.

Update c/o Steyn:

As I write, I have my papers on me -- and not just because I’m in Arizona. I’m an immigrant, and it is a condition of my admission to this great land that I carry documentary proof of my residency status with me at all times and be prepared to produce it to law-enforcement officials, whether on a business trip to Tucson or taking a 20-minute stroll in the woods back at my pad in New Hampshire.

Who would impose such an outrageous Nazi fascist discriminatory law?

Er, well, that would be Franklin Roosevelt.

But don’t let the fine print of the New Deal prevent you from going into full-scale meltdown. “Boycott Arizona-stan!” urges MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, surely a trifle Islamophobically. What has some blameless Central Asian basket case done to deserve being compared to a hellhole like Phoenix?

Great Interview Was an Oil Rig Survivor

Music Videos From the War Zone

This has been making the rounds lately. It's all good fun, and it seems to have become some sort of bizzare tradition of troops overseas. No doubt its all a by-product of the boredom and downtime that comes with military service.

First up an oldy by Norwegian troops in Kosovo, complete with original lyrics. Gotta love it:



Next, our own Canadian guys and gals in nearby Bosnia, with a little help from a Canadian celeb:



Finally, a bevy of bored Brits stationed in Iraq, shalala-lala-lala-LA!: