Slaying Deficits

Accompanying article ... be sure to read the comments.

Quebec: Not Giving Up on Canada ...

... yet:

The dispute over federal crime legislation has, in the Quebec legislature, become a proxy battle for whether the province really belongs in Canada.

Premier Jean Charest found himself forced to defend the merits of Canadian federalism Wednesday from opponents eager to make political hay over Bill C-10.

His opposition, the pro-independence Parti Quebecois, has been citing disputes lately with the new Conservative majority government as evidence Quebec and Canada don't really belong in the same country.

First off, I'm surprised the piggies lift their heads from the Canada provided trough long enough to snort out a comment ... least of all frame the debate into an anti-Canada rant.

Second ... please oh please give up on Canada ... the cost of pig feed is killing us. Quebec offers Canada little but angst, debt, and the surliest bunch of whining wankers this side of the Middle East.

Kicking Canada Until the Toes Bleed

Canada's new best friend ... China:

No one's telling Russia it has to make cars that plug into walls or put windmills atop the Kremlin. Instead, the West will probably just keep kicking Canada until its own toes bleed.

Hot Air weighs in.

Going With Stealth Where Hitler Failed With Panzers

... we told you they'd strike ... and now the snake is coiling:

That this is the final stage of an EU take over cannot be emphasised strongly enough. A country which cannot issue its own budget, where its financial decisions of subject to an over-ride by a supreme power, is no longer an independent country.

Not for nothing did we, in our discussion of increasing the power of citizens over their governments, recommend an annual referendum on the budget – on the premise that he who controls the budget controls the government.

Previous

Climategate 2.0: What We Need Are Lots of Climate Disasters

... otherwise those damn realists will win the debate:

Should this period of climate stability continue then the sceptics will publicise it and insist that global warming is a myth and many politicians and much of the public will believe them. Success for the sceptics will mean that no action will be taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Climategate 2.0: Extra Extra Read All About It

The mother load ... here.

Tree Rings in Their Heads

... that's about all that believers in Mann have:

A tree only grows on land. That excludes 70% of the earth covered by water. A tree does no grow on ice. A tree does not grow in a desert. A tree does not grow on grassland-savannahs. A tree does not grow in alpine areas. A tree does not grow in the tundra We are left with perhaps 15% of the planet upon which forests grow/grew. That does not make any studies from tree rings global, or even hemispheric.

One must admit though, that the sheep herders who have perpetuated the Global Warming scam really had a good run ... amazing when you come to think of it. But really, how hard is it to herd sheep?

Climategate 2.0: It Even Comes with a Pandora's Box

... Oh My:

There’s an embedded archive file called all.7z which contains thousands of additional emails and files.

The 7zip archiver in which this is stored uses 256 bit AES encryption. It’s a tough nut to crack.

“FOIA” chose this most likely because there are no effective tools for 7zip, while there seem to be many for standard .zip and .RAR files.

[...]

But supposing he then sent the passphrase to Phil Jones and M Mann with a threat; Resign now, get the hell out, otherwise this passphrase goes online to the general public. That is a strategy that might push FOIA’s enemies out without completely disgracing the “scientific community”

Climategate 2.0: A Dedication

Dedicated to all the useful idiots who have helped propel the climate-scam along when anyone with an ounce of skepticism would have been suspicious ... like about 10 years ago.

Here's a partial list: Internet Trolls, "Progressives", academics, TV and other MSM personalities, Conservative Politicians and Hacks who drank the Kool-aid ... and of course, Eco-maniacs:

Tried to save the trees

Bought a platsic bag

The bottom fell out

It was a piece of crap

Saw it on the tube

Bought it on the phone

Now you're home alone

It's a piece of crap

I tried to plug in it

I tried to turn it on

When I got it home

It was a piece of crap

Got it from a friend

On him you can depend

I found out in the end

It was a piece of crap

I'm trying to save the trees

I saw it on TV

They cut the forest down

To build a piece of crap

I went back to the store

They gave me four more

The guy told me at the door

It's a piece of crap

Climategate 2.0: Trust a Physicist to Provide a Juicy Read

Here's your teaser ... but for a super long and delightful read, enjoy the production by Luboš Motl:

Observations do not show rising temperatures throughout the tropical troposphere unless you accept one single study and approach and discount a wealth of others. This is just downright dangerous. We need to communicate the uncertainty and be honest. Phil, hopefully we can find time to discuss these further if necessary [...]

Climatgat 2.0: Delingpole Drives the Knife In

James old boy ... give it a turn while you're at it:

In other words, what these emails confirm is that the great man-made global warming scare is not about science but about political activism. This, it seems, is what motivated the whistleblower 'FOIA 2011' (or "thief", as the usual suspects at RealClimate will no doubt prefer to tar him or her) to go public.

Climategate 2.0: A House Built on Sand

Basic problem is that all models are wrong – not got enough middle and low level clouds.

Models ... we don't need no stink'n models.

Climategate 2.0: So Much for Certianty

I pointed out to him that we certainly don’t know the GLOBAL mean temperature anomaly very well, and nobody has ever claimed we do (this is the question he asked everyone). There is very little information at all in the Southern Hemisphere on which to base any conclusion.

... anomaly shanomaly ... what's the big deal.

Climategate 2.0 Hits

The hits so far:

1) Actively subverting FOIA intent

2) Admitting a) Hockey stick flawed & Steve is right, b) hide decline was dishonest, c) climate models are pretty bad, and d) cherry picking results like Japan hurricanes to emphasize a pre-ordained message

3) Trying to manipulate (and probably succeeding) who gets to be IPCC author

4) Trying to manage the message (PR concern)

5) Viewing science results as helping or hurting “the cause” — Mann especially

Nasty Fuckers

There is one massive comeuppance brewing ... I'm going to enjoy every minute of it:

I have been talking w/ folks in the states about finding an
investigative journalist to investigate and expose McIntyre, and his
thusfar unexplored connections with fossil fuel interests.

What's This FOI Thing They Frett About?

... strange folks ... these eco-maniacs:

I’ve been told that IPCC is above national FOI Acts. One way to cover yourself and all those working in AR5 would be to delete all emails at the end of the process

More climate bad:

Any work we have done in the past is done on the back of the research grants we get – and has to be well hidden. I’ve discussed this with the main funder (US Dept of Energy) in the past and they are happy about not releasing the original station data.

... the ever richer smorg.

Climate Smorg

... we'll see what unfolds once the sleuths have dug through the heap:

I’ve changed the headline from Climategate 2.0 to Climategate 2.0 emails – They’re real and they’re spectacular! with a hat tip to Jerry Seinfeld. The relevance of that headline is particularly interesting in the context of where Dr. James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has his office in NYC.

Missed It by That Much

Just like smallpox and tuberculosis, we were so close to wiping out hippies. Thanks to liberal ideology they’re all making a comeback.

... doh.

Meat for the Butcher

Provided by a sloppy CIA:

In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.

[...]

But others inside the American intelligence community say sloppy "tradecraft" -- the method of covert operations -- by the CIA is also to blame for the disruption of the vital spy networks.

F-35: CPC Talking Points that Embarrass the Human Species

Without the F-35, Canada won't have arctic sovereignty ... Oi Vey.

Mourning Democracy

... no matter what "the people" vote for, their masters still reside in Belgium ... unelected, unaccountable, out-of-touch:

But, if the member changes, in this case the member of the European Council, the government in Brussels does not. It goes on regardless, as indeed does that government in Madrid. The people may have dumped socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and replaced him with conservative Mariano Rajoy but, as The Guardian observes, very little else seems to have changed. Mr Rajoy and his team are not acting like they are in charge. Politicians, it says, gave much of their sovereignty away in the past decade.

The Thrill is Gone

Blitzkrieg Without the Panzers

ht

Previous: The Progressive End Game

Previous: Watch Them Pounce

... and a third for good measure ... Killing the Pound.

Israeli Apartheid

... more.

Occypy This

Wind is a Disgrace ...

... says The Duke:

In a withering assault on the onshore wind turbine industry, the Duke said the farms were “a disgrace”.

He also criticised the industry’s reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would “never work” and accused people who support them of believing in a “fairy tale”.

... how about that, there's at least one intelligent person among the British elite.

But does it matter ... indeed, does it?

Obama's 1%: All Show and No Go

The "Progressive" End-Game has Arrived

... and everywhere the cold hard truth is being forced on unwilling cattle:

Rajoy must not only lead Spaniards out of their plight but also appease financial markets, who see the euro zone's fourth-largest economy as in danger of following Ireland, Portugal and Greece in having to seek an international rescue package.

The government sold bonds on Thursday with a yield of almost 7 percent -- a level of borrowing cost that led to bail-outs in other euro zone countries.

In a glimmer of good news, the Spanish stock market closed higher on the last day of trade before the election. Investors saw Rajoy as winning the race with an absolute majority, giving him a strong mandate to carry out his plans.

Cleaning up is not that easy though, because "Progressive" economies function on one basic concept ... buying votes with handouts is the quickest way to power. It's as simple as that.

What happens with "Progressive" vote buying is that gradually the "Progressive" regime becomes a huge portion of GDP, but it does so by taxing and using regulatory regimes.

In the end the productive class (non-government GDP) is squeezed out and debt rises to the point that it is untenable (unless there is an endless supply of revenue via a resource).  Once debt hits unsustainable levels the regime is forced to cut back ... but being that the regime has now become a massive part of GDP the result is unavoidable recession or depression.  You can't remove the single biggest driver of an economy and hope that the economy will keep chugging along.

Furthermore, "Progressive" vote buying creates a massive dependent electorate.  So, once the tap is shut off, populations that have been raised on "Progressive" largesse lash out ... they are like cattle who've been fed in a feed lot and don't know how to get their own sustenance ... or worse yet, can't get it because they are fenced in.

So it is that the lazy, slovenly, but intellectually arrogant hordes in Europe are having their feed cut off.  For decades Western Europeans, almost to a man and woman, have looked down their noses at the rest of the world as they built a multi-generational "Progressive" house of cards.

Even the so-called strong economies, like Germany, have nothing to boast about because the strength of their economies is derived from exporting strength they get from a grossly devalued currency. That's what happens in the Euro-zone, when you tie industrial economies like Germany's to the economies of backwaters ... Germany thrives because the Euro is undervalued in relation to its economy. How else do you think Germany can be such an exporting powerhouse ... it cheats.  If the Euro were to be tied to the German economy alone, it would rise 40% in a flash and plunge Germany ... and France ... and all of Europe  ... into instant depression. 

You were wondering why Angela Merkel is so desperate to save the Euro-zone ... weren't you?  Well now you know.

So, a pox on all their houses.  European smugness and political arrogance has run it's course.  What's amazing, is that it took this long for the ponzi scheme to come crashing down.  I'm always amazed how long "Progressive" economies can thrive on other people's money ... but eventually nature catches up.  In this case the Europhiles will struggle on, keeping us all on edge for perhaps years to come ... but they've all crossed over the crest of the "Progressive" hill and are sliding down the other side ... cattle struggling to keep footing on a greasy slope where gravity is king.

Update: Spain

Ramblings of an Eco-maniac

... from jail:

But come 2012, the climate movement will still face that arrogant taunt, “Whaddaya gonna do? Let a Republican win?” If this movement is ever going to get serious political power, the answer needs to be yes. This is where things get dirty. Like any abusive relationship, this movement will always be taken for granted if it’s not willing to turn its back on Obama. He needs to lose, and everyone needs to know it was us.

It's Time for a New Turn of Phrase

... Doing a Krugman:

I cannot understand why Paul Krugman is held in such high esteem as an economist when he does not understand the simple fact that solar is not economic because it only supplies power when the sun is shining, not when the customer needs it. Maybe that is not in Krugman’s Economics 101 but it is definitely in Common Sense 101. In simple terms he may understand , when everyone supplies potatoes at the same moment to the market the product is not worth much - this Dr Krugman, is called a glut- maybe you have heard of the term.

Pipelines

Why sell our national treasure to someone who constantly threatens suicide?

Delays in building the $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline project will force Canada to sell its huge oil reserves to China instead of the United States, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has bluntly warned President Barack Obama.

Julian Fantino: Liar? Uninformed? or just a Hack?

From Question Period in the House of Commons Nov. 16 (via MILNEWS.ca):

…They are being delivered to countries…

No country besides the US has received a single F-35. The Associate Minister of National Defence also said:

…Our program is on track and on time…

That would be remarkable indeed seeing as the US program most certainly is not:

... more at 3D.

Holy Moley: Newt Rising

32%:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers shows Gingrich with 32% followed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain, who led in Iowa last month, drops to third with 13% of the vote. Texas Congressman Ron Paul draws 10% of the vote in Iowa, while Texas Governor Rick Perry and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann each grab six percent (6%).

... and this is none other than Rasmussen, the most accurate pollster in the world.

Oh ... The Humanity

Look at the bright side; if this all that the children of Stalin and Mao can dish up ... we're safer than we think:

This clip has a lot going on, but it starts out at street level with the NYPD pushing the OWS protesters out of the way to clear a sidewalk. The OWS protesters shout obscenities and one girl even pushes the police officers. A few minutes later that girl is on the ground with a cop on top of her and as you would suspect, the other protesters act like she didn’t do anything wrong and continue yelling at the police.

2008 All Over Again

"There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner," says hedge fund legend Mark Mobius, "because we haven't solved any of the things that caused the previous crisis."

We're raising our alert status for the next financial crisis. We already raised it last week after spreads on U.S. credit default swaps started blowing out. We raised it again after seeing the remarks of Mr. Mobius, chief of the $50 billion emerging markets desk at Templeton Asset Management.

Speaking in Tokyo, he pointed to derivatives, the financial hairball of futures, options, and swaps in which nearly all the world's major banks are tangled up.

Forbes

The Great Canadian Farce

... brought to you by decades of "progressive" influence on the national psyche ...

Peace Keeping Mission:

Canadian military history essentially revolves around fighting or preparing to fight. Peacekeeping is largely a footnote. That's why Professor Granatstein had the third floor of the Canadian War Museum ripped out. Had the Warsaw Pact's militaries made a dash through the Fulda Gap, it's unlikely that peacekeeping would have been an effective counter-strategy.

Yet as the article notes the myth of Canadians as peacekeepers, though somewhat diminished by the Afghanistan campaign, remains in the national psyche. Its origins lie in the twining of those two great forces of modern Canada: Leftist utopianism and our national inferiority complex relative the Americans.

UK's Cameron Offside With Jesus

Blessed are the Cheese Makers:

“In all the figures that we bandy around about the financial-transactions tax, it is worth bearing in mind the fact that around 80 percent of it would be raised from businesses in the United Kingdom,” Cameron told the House of Commons Nov. 7. “I am sometimes tempted to ask the French whether they would like a cheese tax.”

Previous: The Europhiles Pounce

ht

Quebec Based NDP Undermines the West

Out of touch ... out of their mind:

A senior minister in the Harper government has accused the opposition NDP of "denigrating" and "undermining" Canada by sending two of its MPs to Washington to voice concerns about the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The message came Tuesday from Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, who blasted the New Democrats in the House of Commons and then left the chamber to repeat his criticism to reporters.

Related

Conservative Porn

Luv it:

America's Lying Supreme Court Justice

On July 13, 2010, during her confirmation process, the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Kagan a letter asking her a series of questions probing her possible involvement in health care legislation or litigation during her time as solicitor general. The senators asked: “Have you ever been asked about your opinion regarding the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to any proposed health care legislation, including but not limited to Pub. L. No. 111-148, or the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to potential litigation resulting from such legislation?”

The sentors also asked Kagan: “Have you ever offered any views or comments regarding the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to any proposed health care legislation, including but not limited to Pub. L. No. 111-148, or the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to potential litigation resulting from such legislation?”

Kagan’s written response to both questions was: “No.”

I guess we shouldn't be surprised; Marxists the world over are fabled liars ... so why would be expect their little brothers and sisters in "Progressia" to be any different.

Algeria Shuts Down 900 Mosques

The Algerian government last week closed around 900 mosques and prayer halls throughout the country because it says they were used for meetings by suspected Islamic terrorists, Algerian newspaper El-Khabar reported on Monday.

Wow ... somebody gets it.

Afghanistan: Post 2014

... summary.

Shameful Harper Record

... your apparently-con government at work:

"There were 22,674 employees receiving more than five figures in the year prior to the economic crisis that began in September 2008. That number had reached 42,050 by 2010"

What Does Newt Really Think of Global Warming

Toast

So utterly embarrassing I won't post the video.

The world needs a business man ... but it also needs a lot more.

... next up to bat.

OWS: Calling a Lout a Lout

Miller:

The “Occupy” movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. “Occupy” is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.

“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached - is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.

via: The Whiskered Wonder.

I Came; I Saw; I Died

"The insurgents were armed with heavy and light weapons," the spokesman for Paktika province told the BBC. "In retaliation, ANSF launched their own attack. After a fierce gun battle and air support from NATO, all of the insurgents were killed."

The Details

OWS: The One Percent

What they are truly demonstrating is the vast failure of the education system. They have no global perspective or understanding of their historical position. They fail to understand THEY are the 1%. My Che Guevara looking friend to the left here stands to earn $1.6 million more in his lifetime than his high school party buddies who did not go to college. This means, on average he will earn $35,500 more a year than his high school counterpart will, and this is just the American part of the story. The average world citizen earns $7,000 a year right now and that is highly skewed, the median income is much lower. Only 19 percent of the global population lives in a country with mean per capita earnings greater than $7,000. Che is among the 20 to 25 percent of Americans that attend college and, assuming he graduates, will be in the upper income strata, likely the upper 20 percent. So, Che here is in the upper 20 percent of the upper 19 percent, which means, globally speaking, he will be among the wealthiest 4 percent in the world. Just like his Woodstock grandparents who became the BMW driving yuppies, he will protest and rail against the man or rage against the machine or whatever and then go earn a very good living over his lifetime and all of it brought to him by capitalism.

Yep ... sounds about right.

Behind All "Progressive" High Dudgeon

... is a get rich quick scheme:

Former Speaker of the House–and current Minority Leader–Nancy Pelosi apparently bought $1 million to $5 million of Visa stock in one of the most sought-after and profitable initial public offerings (IPO) in American history, thwarted serious credit card reform for two years, and then watched her investment skyrocket 203%.

The revelation appears in Throw Them All Out, the new book by investigative journalist and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer, which was the focus of 60 Minutes on CBS this evening, and which is featured in this week’s issue of Newsweek.

"Progressive" elites are always enriching themselves while pretending to fight for "the little guy". Yet, upon closer examination, they miraculously get richer and richer the longer they are in "government" ... this despite having only a government salary.  There is hardly an exception.

Sure, "all" political elites tend to have the same magical ability ... but only the "progressive" class of elitist is constantly grievance mongering and wailing about "the little" guy while on the other hand enriching itself using inside knowledge, influence peddling, regulatory regimes, and government money.

In the end though, must wish a pox on all their houses.

Watch Them Pounce

Europhiles are at a cross-roads. The grand experiment is in turmoil, but they just can't help being themselves; which is power hungry, unaccountable, big-gov progressives who dream of a Europe under the thumb of unaccountable technocrats:

Barroso warns that all members of the EU need to unite and "advance together", citing Remembrance Sunday to warn that that "actions have consequences". He then repeats the familiar mantra that "peace and prosperity will best be furthered by Europeans supporting and trusting EU institutions, rather than allowing the continent to fragment politically and economically".

As the Euro-crisis deepens, watch the bureaucratic scum of Europe go for the ultimate power move ... after all, they all have a boner for only one European government centered in Brussels.  Lost on these incredibly dangerous folks is the fact that they are simply trying to accomplish what every other European imperial power attempted in the past ... only this time they are attempting to do the deed without war.

"If you don't unite under one Euro government run by bureaucrats, you may see Europe sliding back into the wars of the past", They threaten. 

Poor dears ... too stupid and hungry for power are they, that they don't even know they are out of ammunition.

Ammunition?  Of course ... they've run out of the only ammunition that can be employed by progressives to grasp and keep power  ... other people's money.

Ramblings of the Intellectual Underclass

.... from my inbox comes the response below, which relates to this:

Haha, #5, ministry of whistle blowers to protect whistle blowers....nice!

Haha, #6, raise minimum wage to a "living wage"......how many billions around the world would kill for a chance to make Canadian minimum wage?

Oh boy, #9, end the supply management of agricultural products....great! This is the first step towards Commie style famine! Obviously we can't trust those evil farmers with our crops!

Hey, part of #14 is actually a good idea, Swiss style democracy....not sure what Nunavat style consensus decision making is though haha

Nice, #24, independent investigation into 9/11.....these guys are awsome!

And #26, "Two Police Forces", one to prove guilt, one to prove innocence.....apperently they are entirerly unaware of how our justice system works or what police do.

#34, free Post-Secondary education....I wonder who pays for this? Probably Rockafeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and the monopoly man.

What We Need is to Make Clitoridectomies Fashionable

Afghanistan and Canucks: An Enigma

Relieved its over ... indeed ... who the hell wants to be reminded that there are actually Canucks who are willing to sacrifice their very lives for the betterment of those filthy Afghans ... it gets in the way of a perfectly self-indulgent life:

Indeed, Canadians seem overwhelmingly relieved that it is over, even though they barely showed any interest in the conflict when it was on. The apathy can be traced to the fact that Canadians were not asked to pay a price for the war, unless they were related to the roughly 160 Canadians, mainly soldiers, killed in the conflict, along with thousands of others who were injured, either physically or mentally.

The politicians also did a poor job at explaining the war to Canadians. It was barely raised during the last several elections and political leaders avoided the subject as much as possible.

Canuck Oil Shrugs Off Keystone Delay

Time for plan B:

With the Keystone XL pipeline on hold, the giant companies tapping Canada’s oil sands will turn to Plan B — existing pipelines to the United States.

Those pipelines, which now carry slightly more than 1 million barrels a day from Canada’s oil sands to the United States, can be expanded by adding pumping stations. Some companies, notably Enbridge, already have plans to boost the capacity of their lines and speed the journey of crude from Alberta to Texas.

Is the Tiger Sick ?

Charles Hugh Smith:

I know it's tough to think about anything but the fast-melting ice cream cone that is Europe, but there are some things you should know about China. All the reassurances you've been reading about China's "soft landing" and its "they know what they're doing" central government are probably false. Here's why: very little in China is as it seems on the surface, or as it's presented to the Big Noses (Westerners). There are three reasons for this.

Pei:

For quite some time, analysts of China have been puzzled by a strange phenomenon: the country’s public and financial institutions are decidedly subpar by any international standard, but its economic growth rate is anything but. This puzzle can only be explained by two conclusions: either China has been fudging its growth data, or Chinese institutions aren’t as bad as outsiders commonly think.

Pettis:

I’m often referred to as a ‘China Bear’ and that’s a word I really hate. I’m not a China bear—I'm a skeptic. And, in some of the incredibly feverish statements we’ve heard in the press and among my former investment banking brethren about the prospects in China, as well as in some of the things we hear about the imminent collapse of China, I have to say that I find much of that to be very very questionable and frankly nonsense. There are some very very big problems that China faces and a lot of the long-term expectations that many of us have for China, whether it is that China will be the largest economy in the world in 5 years—I’ll take that bet, it won’t—or whether it’ll collapse in five years—I’ll also take that bet, it won’t. I think the truth is a little bit more boring—it’s somewhere in the middle.

The Corzine Touch

Just two weeks after MF Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the trustee overseeing the failed futures brokerage disclosed plans on Friday to fire all of its broker dealer employees as it liquidates the business.

In a statement, the court-appointed trustee, James Giddens, said the broker dealer’s 1,066 employees were notified on Friday that their employment has been terminated, effective immediately.

Lucky for America, Jon Corzine has an inside track to not only the WH, but to the very people who regulate our markets.  I wonder if they'll be lining to cover his back when the court cases start?

The Children of the Fallen

A Tradition of Sacrifice

Highway of Heroes

Coming Home

Drill Baby Drill

Peak Oil? How will we know when we do reach that magic point?

Oil could hit $150 a barrel soon if investment in the Middle East and North Africa fails to rise with demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.

Prices have remained high throughout 2011, partly due to Libyan unrest.

"We are in the danger zone for the global economy at current levels," said IEA economist Fatih Birol.

My personal guess is that if oil can't be held below $100 USD for NYMEX Crude; we are well into peak oil. Natural Gas ... here we come.

Thousandaires

Liar Liar

Giving Cain the Axe ...

... elrod:

Herman Cain​ has spent his life living and working all over the country -- Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, D.C. -- but never in Chicago.

So it's curious that all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago: home of the Daley machine and Obama consigliere David Axelrod​.

Suspicions had already fallen on Sheila O'Grady, who is close with David Axelrod and went straight from being former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley's chief of staff to president of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), as being the person who dug up Herman Cain's personnel records from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

Do We Kill in the Name of Fascism?

“Why do the Americans rejoice in the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, why did France play into the hands of al-Qaeda in Libya…?”

... time will tell ... but in the meantime, self-examination is vital.

Newt Gingrich: Phoenix Rising ?

Cain Collapse

The accusations of sexual harassment against Cain are, in my opinion, dubious at best. What is causing me to back away from the Cain-train though, is the nasty case of hoof-in-mouth disease the Cain team has.

No matter how skilled an executive one may be, entry into political hard-ball requires at least an average skill in managing narrative ... and the Cain-train ain't got it:

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon acknowledged Block’s mistake in an email to CNN.

“Based upon information available at the time of Mr. Block’s Tuesday night interview on Fox News, the campaign was led to believe that Mr. Josh Kraushaar, currently with the National Journal and a former employee of Politico, was the son of Karen Kraushaar,” Gordon said. “Mr. Josh Kraushaar is in fact, not related to Ms. Karen Kraushaar.”

If You've Ever Had the Misfortune ...

... of working with one of these, you know how pathological they can be about their "rights" crusade:

Karen Kraushaar, 55, filed the complaint while working as a spokeswoman at the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Justice Department in late 2002 or early 2003, with the assistance of her lawyer, Joel Bennett, who also handled her earlier sexual harassment complaint against Cain in 1999. Three former supervisors familiar with Kraushaar's complaint, which did not include a claim of sexual harassment, described it for the AP under condition of anonymity because the matter was handled internally by the agency and was not public.

To settle the complaint at the immigration service, Kraushaar initially demanded thousands of dollars in payment, a reinstatement of leave she used after the accident earlier in 2002, promotion on the federal pay scale and a one-year fellowship to Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, according to a former supervisor familiar with the complaint. The promotion itself would have increased her annual salary between $12,000 and $16,000, according to salary tables in 2002 from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

I've personally seen these feminazis ply their trade ... and believe me ... it's ugly.  They feel entitled to move up the ladder ... no matter what and over whomever ... and when road blocks come in their way they simple ramp up the accusations and demands.  Hyper-feminism gave ladder climbing female psychopaths and narcissists valuable tools in getting what they want ... and most often, they get what they want.

Another Cain Accuser Steps Forward

Surviving Sex Scandals

... is as easy as one, two, three.

Holy Smoke

via

The Bialek Gold Rush

NYP:

She did so with the breathy giddiness of a gal who’s read too many bodice-rippers. Bialek, who had her bleached-blond hair set in waves for the occasion, recounted with a broad grin the night back in 1997 when she flirted like a tart with the “inspirational” Mr. Cain.

My advice to Cain supporters ... if your man is going to be run through the crucible, be sure his accusers get the same.

“She was fired from her job, and her boyfriend suggested she contact Cain in hopes he could help her find employment.”.

In this particular incident she was fired for falsely accusing her boss of sexual harassment, a charge denied by co-workers, as well as being pretty much a pain in the ass to work with.

“I remember her as a time-waster, and rabble-rouser. If she didn’t get her way she cried about sexual harassment”. A former co-worker, a female no less, emailed me. “She was trouble with a capital “T”. The fact that she waited 13 years and never said a word not even during Cain’s earlier forays into politics. She only now magically appears because Cain is leading in some polls and proving a threat to Barack Obama?

Gold Rush indeed ... not just for Bialek, but for the MSM.

F-35 and Jamming

Mark:

In the end, the F-35 may be a good aircraft. It does represent the next generation of fighter aircraft but the leap is not as extensive as many may think when compared to 4.75 generation fighters like the Block II Super Hornet or F-15 Silent Eagle. Pair that with all the cost and development problems of the F-35 and one really has to question this direction.

Morning in Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Party captured a huge majority government Monday evening, pushing the NDP out of many long-held urban ridings.

Glorious

Palinized ?

Cain is the best pathological liar on the planet ... that's what you've got to believe if you believe the accusations ... and he's managed to hide it throughout a 40 year career:

I was in the hotel 14 years ago when Cain brought Bialek back and she sexually harrassed me in the elevator as she headed up to her room.

Prove she didn’t.

[...]

Was that you? I remember seeing that. I will be your witness.

Hot Air

Kill Team 6

Figures ... Obama was too busy doing a victory dance to capitalize on Osama intel:

US NAVY Seals have revealed for the first time that they killed Osama Bin Laden within 90 seconds of entering his fortress-like home in Pakistan.

The men who killed the al-Qaeda chief have decided to speak out because they are tired of their "shabby treatment" by politicians who claim they were on a "kill mission."

... what do you expect America, you put Chicago into the WH?

F-35: Time to Look Elsewhere

3D:

In potential reductions to major weapons systems, Mr. Panetta said he was considering cutting the purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a radar-evading jet for the Air Force, Navy and Marines that is projected to cost nearly $400 billion for more than 2,400 planes over the next two decades. He suggested he might slow or cut back production, although the final decision may be to protect that jet program and identify cuts in other weapons purchases.

Murmuration

Wait for it (best at full screen):

Turning Ice Cream to Dog Shite

Barack Obama was a principled opponent of the Iraq war from its beginning. But when he became president in January 2009, he was handed a war that was won. The surge had succeeded. Al-Qaeda in Iraq had been routed, driven to humiliating defeat by an Anbar Awakening of Sunnis fighting side-by-side with the infidel Americans. Even more remarkably, the Shiite militias had been taken down, with U.S. backing, by the forces of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. They crushed the Sadr militias from Basra to Sadr City.

Al-Qaeda decimated. A Shiite prime minister taking a decisively nationalist line. Iraqi Sunnis ready to integrate into a new national government. U.S. casualties at their lowest ebb in the entire war. Elections approaching. Obama was left with but a single task: Negotiate a new status-of-forces agreement (SOFA) to reinforce these gains and create a strategic partnership with the Arab world’s only democracy.

He blew it.

... loser.

The Target of Acorn OWS

... is a democrat; only thing is, OWS bots are too stupid, ill-informed, and partisan to know it:

Months before MF Global teetered on the brink, federal regulators were seeking to rein in the types of risky trades that contributed to the firm’s collapse. But they faced opposition from an influential opponent: Jon S. Corzine, the head of the then little-known brokerage firm.

As a former United States senator and a former governor of New Jersey, as well as the leader of Goldman Sachs in the 1990s, Mr. Corzine carried significant weight in the worlds of Washington and Wall Street. While other financial firms employed teams of lobbyists to fight the new regulation, MF Global’s chief executive in meetings over the last year personally pressed regulators to halt their plans.

The agency proposing the rule, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, relented. Wall Street, which has been working to curb many financial regulations, won another battle.

Killing Them Softly

... good move Steve:

The Conservatives have pledged themselves to another campaign finance reform which just happens, by sheer coincidence, to mainly hurt the Liberal party.

The Tories are planning to close a loophole that allowed candidates in leadership races to take out loans to finance their bids.

“The current rules on political loans do not meet the high standards of accountability, integrity and transparency that Canadians expect in their political process,” Tim Uppal, the minister of state for democratic reform, declared ponderously. “The Political Loans Accountability Act builds on our flagship Federal Accountability Act by closing a loophole allowing corporations and unions to make political loans.”

The Only Thing Constant About Islam ...

... is that first comes Islam ... then comes backwardness:

A band of men whom hairdressers described as being dressed in the uniform of local security forces stormed the "Edem" salon in the centre of the regional capital Grozny, demanding they cover up the hair of two women in their advertisement.

"Authorities walked around the area, ripping off ads with women pictured in them. They told us that ads displaying women without headscarves are banned," said a 28-year-old hairdresser, who declined to give her name.

Climate Disruption ... 1960

... more.

American Sleaze

... the Rick Perry mud-machine at work:

Was the recent attack on Herman Cain’s presidential campaign a professional hit job? Absolutely, says Herman Cain. And he says he knows just where to look for the guy who did it: At 815 Slaters Lane in Alexandria, Virginia, a low-slung former warehouse in the shadow of a coal plant.

There, beside rusting rail lines, is the home of OnMessage Inc., a Republican-leaning consulting firm recently hired to bolster Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign.

Brain Dead and Embedded Up Their Own Ass

“This dodging, this subject-changing, this self-flattering proclamation of virtue,” says Glavin, “this is dementia, this is what happens before brain death, this is what happens before flat-lining . . . Spare me your pleadings, there’s nothing left wing about what you’re saying; there’s nothing progressive or anti-unilateral and pro-multilateral about telling the UN to go fuck off.”

Glavin says the subject matter he engages with in his book, and during the lecture, is not going to feel pleasant.

“This book is going to hurt, it’s going to sting,” he says. “A lot of people in this country, who set the parameters of the public debates . . . pundits, columnists, opinion makers and trend setters, who whine about reporters [that are] embedded with the military in Afghanistan, are themselves embedded up their own ass.”

and

“It’s about our culture as much as it’s about Afghan culture,” he says, “the country that we imagine doesn’t exist in the real world . . . where we mark the beginning of the war in Afghanistan — shortly after Sep 11, 2001 — the overwhelming majority of Afghans mark the beginning of peace.”

... keep reading.

Comparing Two Used Car Salesmen

Perry:

Right now, Rick Perry is trying to portray himself as a "good conservative" so that if he enters the race he will be accepted by Christian conservatives. If Rick Perry did win the Republican nomination, he would have a great chance of winning the general election because he would very much be an "establishment" candidate.

But before Republicans get too excited about Rick Perry, there are a whole lot of things that they should know about him.

Romney:

Mitt Romney is a "politician" in the worst sense of the word. As his past has demonstrated, he will do and say just about anything in order to get elected. The positions he has taken during this campaign season have been carefully calculated to help him win both the Republican nomination and the general election.

That is why so many call Mitt Romney a "flip-flopper". Romney will take just about any political position if he thinks that it will help him. Mitt Romney's wife, Ann Romney, once made the following statement about her husband....

Oakland Police Push Back at City Hall

On Tuesday, October 25th, we were ordered by Mayor Quan to clear out the encampments at Frank Ogawa Plaza and to keep protesters out of the Plaza. We performed the job that the Mayor’s Administration asked us to do, being fully aware that past protests in Oakland have resulted in rioting, violence and destruction of property.

Then, on Wednesday, October 26th, the Mayor allowed protesters back in – to camp out at the very place they were evacuated from the day before.

To add to the confusion, the Administration issued a memo on Friday, October 28th to all City workers in support of the “Stop Work” strike scheduled for Wednesday, giving all employees, except for police officers, permission to take the day off.

... keep reading.

He Ran NJ into the Ground

... and now MF:

The bankruptcy of MF Global demonstrates that the 1% of crony capitalists in America are now subject to the same risks of economic losses as the other 99% of us. Led by former Goldman Sachs Chairman Jon Corzine, MF Global engaged in speculating on the bonds of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain (PIGS) with shareholder money; they then tried to hedge their bets with derivatives called Credit Default Swaps (CDS). The firm relied on Corzine’s inside expectation that crony politicians in Germany and France would stick taxpayers with the cost of bailing-out bondholders, like MF Global. The bet buckled when voters rebelled and demanded bondholders suffer losses. Once subject to capitalist risks, MF Global collapsed.

Occupy

Fritz is at War Again

After close to a decade of deployment in Afghanistan, German soldiers have seen something not experienced by their postwar predecessors: extensive combat. It has helped to create a more assertive army and changed the military in fundamental ways. It has also made the job more deadly.

... keep reading.

F-35: Pro and Con Views

What then does this mean for Canada? First, stealth is required now. Further, once the majority of allied air forces convert to stealth aircraft they will have zero interest in a nation still operating older aircraft with 1000 times their radar cross section flying anywhere near them. Surprise would be totally lost. In fact, the only role of a CF 18 in a few years will be as a diversion or decoy. Second, all fighter bombers, including stealthy ones, need the support of the limited number of electronic warfare aircraft available. One can safely predict that a future air campaign commander will dedicate his scare electronic warfare assets to the most capable aircraft flying against the most defended targets deep in enemy territory. Finally, older designs like the F/A-18 can be made more stealthy but this has seems to have peaked with the F/A-18 E/F. While 15 times stealthier than the CF-18, the F/A-18 E/F’s radar cross section is ten to fifty times larger than that of an F-35 with stealth part of its original design.

... keep reading the pro.

His detection range information is based on current and well understood enemy radar systems. There are many defence experts who will counter this argument by saying that different radar wave forms or completely different search techniques, e.g. infra-red search and track (IRST), will marginalize current stealth technologies.

First strike capability is quickly being assumed by cruise missiles and UCAVs.

Alternatives to higher levels of stealth? Mastery of the electronic spectrum using sophisticated jammers will undoubtedly deny enemies a first shoot opportunity, i.e. they may be able to see us but there is nothing they can do about it. As the commodore alludes to, electronic support aircraft are an alternative to stealth.

... keep reading the cons.

Just Kill it Already

I agree ... at some point blogging about cheats, liars, frauds and their supporting cast of useful idiots loses its shine:

Oh dear. I really didn't want my first blog post in a week to be yet another one about global bloody warming. Problem is, if those lying, cheating climate scientists will insist on going on lying and cheating what else can I do other than expose their lying and cheating?

Wall Street Occupies Wall Street