Like Barack Obama, this thread is a blank screen onto which you can project your hopes and dreams.

Hmm. Maybe that zero-content thing doesn't work so well for POTUS.

Posted by: andy at 04:18 AM | Comments (183)
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Are Obama's Iran Sanctions A Ruse? Well, with the number of exemptions they are handing out (sounds like Obamatax) I'd say they aren't serious about enforcing these sanctions.

So, even as it huffs and puffs, the United States last week took steps to undermine the very sanctions it cites as pressure against Iran. Using a loophole in the law, the administration simply exempted China, Singapore and other countries from heavy financial penalties that might be levied against nations that buy Iranian oil. On June 28, Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. had “made the determination that two additional countries, China and Singapore, have significantly reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran” and so the law “will not apply to their financial institutions for a potentially renewable period of 180 days.”

That, of course, was a polite fiction. As a July 2 editorial in the Wall Street Journal succinctly summarized the toothless nature of the sanctions law: “It's so weak, in fact, that all 20 of Iran's major trading partners are now exempt from them. We've arrived at a kind of voodoo version of sanctions. They look real, insofar as Congress forced them into a bill President Obama had to sign in December. The Administration has spoken incantations about their powers. But if you're a big oil importer in China, India or 18 other major economies, the sanctions are mostly smoke.”

Posted by: CDR M at 05:55 PM | Comments (435)
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The all-bacon burger has been created.

Behold:

Not only that, it is right here in Southern California. I need new pants.

And a new desk.

Posted by: CAC at 03:26 PM | Comments (229)
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I think -- but don't know -- that what he's objecting to is being heckled even though his family is present, and he's just buying an ice cream cone on a night out.

Of course, the malefactor seems to be a teacher:

Gov. Christie (R-NJ) was hangin' with his family in Seaside Heights ... and had just ordered an ice cream cone when a passerby fired off some snide comments about Christie's policy on education.

I don't know it's a teacher, but they seem to be the ones objecting to his "education policy" (which is basically the same as everyone else's policy, except teachers can't have whatever they demand). The other possible controversy is the Rowan College situation (Rutgers Camden seems to be in the process of being spun off into its own, less prestigious school, which has some Rutgers Camden grads and students pissed off).
more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:42 PM | Comments (268)
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Just doesn't sound right. Sounds menacing.

I'd like to see that in an ad, as a sort of anti-"Are you doing better now than you were four years ago?" message.

Meanwhile, Obama continues shrieking that Romney's raising more money.

In a phone call from Air Force One, the President reportedly told a group of top donors "I can't do this by myself" and urged them to open their cheque books to "meet or exceed what you did in 2008".

Noting that most had "maxed out to my campaign last time," Mr Obama told them: "I really need you to do the same this time," according to a leaked transcript.

Despite holding a narrow lead over his rival, the president informed the supporters that his ability to campaign and broadcast advertisements in key battleground states such as Florida and Ohio directly depended on their generosity.

Details of the call emerged days after Mr Obama warned supporters that he would be "the first president in modern history to be outspent" by his opponent unless donors upped their contributions.

Posted by: Ace at 11:54 AM | Comments (415)
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When you do this pundit thing for a living, you sometimes make "news" on a slow news day by saying something provocative.

So does Kristol really believe this? I've actually upped the provocativeness of his article, by headlining it as "if Romney keeps talking about the economy, he's going to lose."

Kristol doesn't say that, exactly. Instead, he says if Romney only talks about how the economy is bad, without offering his own detailed plan to right it, he'll lose "narrowly."

Now, I won't get into my beliefs about low-information, late-deciding voters again. Let's just say that I do not think they are "details" sort of people.

They are, at best, responsive to themes. I wish they were more interested in philosophy, fact, and policy. But they're not. They elected Barack Obama without knowing much more than that he represented "hope," and also, "change," and that we had a financial crisis and Something Must Be Done and so forth.

So I don't know if Kristol really means this, or is straining for content on a Friday.

I do like Romney's simple statement: "It doesn't have to be this way." I could see that as a sad, repeated line in a nomination acceptance speech, then turning, through cadence and force, into a positive rallying cry by the end of the speech: "It! Doesn't! Have to be! This way!"

By the way, he offers non-detailed details in that speech. I'm really not sure the swing voters are going to want a super-detailed speech about the Ryan plan. I think, as I've speculated before, they want to know that a super-detailed plan exists, or at least has been talked about, but they really don't want to know the details, no matter how much they claim to they do.

Posted by: Ace at 11:03 AM | Comments (213)
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Reginald Bours, Attorney to the Stars, doing some fine work.

Also doing some fine work -- Judge Rupp.

Kimberlin made a number of statements, but his basic argument boiled down to Walker wanted to encourage people to blog about Kimberlin to incite others to harass him and send him death threats. As evidence, Kimberlin again had pages of Twitter feeds and blog posts.

This time, though, Judge Rupp did something extraordinary that Judge Vaughey did not. He actually looked at the evidence Kimberlin presented. After looking at them, Rupp declared, “I see nothing in here that threatens you personally.”

Kimberlin maintained that Walker was harassing him and engaging in cyberstalking.

Bours questioned Kimberlin regarding the Maryland stalking statute:

Bours: Has Mr. Walker been anywhere near you, except court, since April 19? Has he followed you in a public place?

Kimberlin: No.

Bours: Has he threatened you?

Kimberlin: Not directly.

Then Bours asked Kimberlin about Walker’s recent “swatting” experience, in which someone posing as Walker called the police saying that Walker had shot his wife (see here.) Specifically, Bours asked Kimberlin if he’d had anything to do with it or was aware of anyone who did.

That definitely got under Kimberlin’s skin. His voice rose in anger as he denounced the implication as a “despicable smear.”

Hit that first link to find another judge shutting down a blogger over phony "harassment" claims. A Massachusetts woman was involved in a hit-and-run; she seems to have been given very lenient treatment, and the suspicion is she was given lenient treatment because she's the daughter of a top corrections official.

A blogger blogged about this, and the hit-and-run woman claimed the same phony "harassment" that Kimberlin did.

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Comments (56)
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Who's up for living in a Banana Republic?

The municipalities, about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles, would acquire underwater mortgages from investors and cut the loan principal to match the current property value. Then, they would resell the reduced mortgages to new investors. Â…

For a home with an existing $300,000 mortgage that now has a market value of $150,000, Mortgage Resolution Partners might argue the loan is worth only $120,000. If a judge agreed, the programÂ’s private financiers would fund the cityÂ’s seizure of the loan, paying the current loan investors that reduced amount. Then, they could offer to help the homeowner refinance into a new $145,000 30-year mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration, which has a program allowing borrowers to have as little as 2.25% in equity. That would leave $25,000 in profit, minus the origination costs, to be divided between the city, Mortgage Resolution Partners and its investors.

Ed at Hot Air runs down the market distorting effects this craziness would have but consider this bit from the story.

But unlike the beneficiaries of most recent mortgage-modification efforts, who must show hardship, these borrowers would have to be current on their payments to participate. And the program initially would focus only on mortgage-backed securities that aren't federally guaranteed—about 10% of all outstanding U.S. mortgages.

These aren't even houses in or near foreclosure (not that it should matter in the least). This is just the government enriching itself, their business partners and a select few residents by taking away the income generating property of law abiding lenders and transferring those profits to a second private entity that just happens to be in bed with the government.

This is insanity and jackbooted fascism. Actually it's California and it can't fall into the ocean fast enough.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:11 AM | Comments (207)
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In June 2004, then state Senator Barack Obama attacked George W. Bush's job creation record.

That's 8 years ago to the month compared to today's job numbers. Let's see how Bush and Obama stack up at the same point in their terms, shall we?

How many jobs did the economy created in June of 2004? 112,000 (pdf). This was actually down from previous months. It's actually impressive considering the unemployment rate was...5.6% and had been for much of that year (it's harder to get big job growth when unemployment is relatively low).

Obama actually said that today's awful job numbers are "a step in the right direction".

So to recap...112,000 jobs and 5.6% unemployment was killing the middle class but 80,000 jobs (when there's clearly a job shortage) and 8.2% unemployment is "a step in the right direction".

When Democrats hear that, they chant, "Four more years!".

Posted by: DrewM at 09:03 AM | Comments (276)
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It's a mystery.

This gentleman's latest work of 'art:' he takes bites out of McDonald's cheeseburgers, rewraps them, then bicycles around NYC and throws them to people.

Hill said he didn't want to do the project in Harlem, where he lives, because he felt throwing burgers in a lower-income neighborhood would have different connotations than doing it on the Upper East Side, which is home to among New York City's wealthiest zip codes.

Emphasis me. I have an opinion, but feel inhibited about sharing it because I'm not really qualified to be an art critic. So let's call call in a famous professional and see what she says.

" 'Different connotations,' oh, my, yes! This work of performance art, re-contextualized within the Harlem archetype, instead of the one where he's merely throwing ruined food at wealthy people, would now connote a situation in which his bike is chased down by an angry mob and he is getting his lazy hipster ass beaten to a pulp."

AH.

Yes. Okay. Thanks, Sister Wendy. That's about what we all thought.

Thanks to scott.

Posted by: LauraW at 07:46 AM | Comments (214)
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