A known Felon transporting seven pipe bombs in their car? A fatal shootout with police on a city street? Seems pretty newsworthy on a national level, right? Except for a couple of minor details...

...The weapon the man had was a single-shot, 12-gauge shotgun. “It was homemade but very deadly,” Griffin said...

...multiple officers from San Diego were involved, including members of a gang team...

...The name of the man who was shot and killed has not been released...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:38 AM | Comments (110)
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Senator John Cornyn of Texas is going to offer an amendment to the Gang of 8 proposal to basically rewrite the security and enforcement sections of the bill.

Amnesty shill Jennifer Rubin has the outline.

Entitled the RESULTS amendment (Requiring Enforcement, Security and safety, & Upgrading Legitimate Trade and travel Simultaneously) the amendment would:

• Requires DHS Secretary and GAO Comptroller General to jointly certify that these triggers are met before

Registered Provisional Immigrants (RPI) can adjust to Lawful Permanent Resident (“green card”) status:

STOP right here.

Rubin goes on to list a number of good proposals from Cornyn but the devilish detail is right there, "Registered Provisional Immigrants can adjust....". In other words, Cornyn has some tough triggers to be met before illegals can get "green cards" BUT they still get legalized in some way BEFORE any actual border security improvements happen.

Now Team Rubio will say, "oh well it's just temporary status and if the triggers aren't met their legal status will expire". Is anyone stupid enough to believe that? Once there is any type of legalization it will NEVER be revoked.

Amnesty supporters will not budge on this because they know it's the whole game. Do you really think a President Hillary or even a President Rubio is going to say, "hey we can't secure the border but good news! We now have a list of all the temporarily legalized aliens are so when their probationary status expires, we'll just go round them up!" If it's impossible and inhumane to deport them now, how exactly will it be possible to do it in 5 or 10 years?

Don't buy the crap they are selling. Yes, Cornyn's triggers are a step in the right direction but the real deal is what order this happens in. Anything that has any type of legalization first moots the later triggers for green cards later, no matter how tough they are.

Given that Marco Rubio worked on this amendment with Cornyn, it'l be interesting to see what he does if the Democrats kill it. I think Rubio has painted himself into two opposite corners at once...he can't bail on the bill without looking like a loser who can't deliver and he can't sign on if the things he says have to be in it aren't.

BTW-If this stuff is so important to Rubio, why didn't he insist on it when he was working on the Gang of 8 bill? His leverage was at its peak then. It's almost as if the security stuff is all smoke and mirrors with Rubio. Almost.

Rubio is either playing some masterful 3D chess here or he's an idiot. And since I don't buy the idea of 3D chess in politics....

Meanwhile, over in the House....

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) — a key conservative who had been engaged in secret negotiations over immigration reform — said Wednesday that he will drop out of the so-called House Gang of Eight.
The problem, Labrador said, was an impasse over how the pending legislation would address the issue of health care for undocumented immigrants. That issue had recently emerged as a major sticking point between Democrats and Republicans, and the negotiations had teetered on the edge of collapse at least three times in the last several weeks before drawing closer to an agreement again.

Not so shockingly, the other 3 GOP members of the House "gang" are still on board with the bi-partisan process and apparently with giving illegals ObamaCare subsidies. So yay GOP!

THIS is why I hate the GOP:

The problem, says the Cornyn aide, is that a security-first arrangement is just not politically possible. “You could put legalization contingent on triggers on the front end,” the aide says. “But that’s never going to pass Congress. Democrats are never going to vote for that. Republicans are never going to be unified on that. It’s never going to happen. You’re never going to be able to say, ‘enforcement first.’ It’s a purist position. It’s never going to become law.”

The only reason security first is politically impossible is because liberals are sticking to their purity position and apparently that's okay. It's those damn conservatives who are asking for politically impossible purity that must be brought to heel.

Notice the straw man in there...Republicans won't "unify" around security first. Well, they obviously aren't unifying around amnesty first either. Amazing how much higher the bar is set for conservatives (unanimity) than for liberals (just enough to help the Democrats pass it)

Things conservatives want: "purist position" that can never happen.

Things liberals want: Hey, that's just the facts of life that we all have to deal with. It's like the weather man, you can complain but it's not going to change.

And that's what OUR side thinks.

Added: The PERFECT response to Cornyn's aide.

It already is the law, and not enforcing it is the problem.
Posted by: CTimbo at June 06, 2013 11:16 AM (IdpbF)

Posted by: DrewM at 06:20 AM | Comments (281)
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What can I say? When you accidentally write something good, you ride it. You ride it like Secretariat in the Kentucky Derby. The cobloggers will present contemporary tributes to those who step up and do extraordinary things, but I wanted to slip this in so that I feel like I'm contributing to the blog.

Besides, if I don't post SOMETHING, Dave in Texas (the AoSHQ HR Director) will eventually take away my key to the executive washroom and my dental coverage.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 04:30 AM | Comments (18)
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• 2008 Obama: No Warrantless Wiretaps If You Elect Me
  
• Cincinnati IRS Staffers Say DC Officials Directed Tea Party Targeting
  
• WH: All Your Phone Records Are Belong To Us
  
• The Parochialism Of Diversity
  
• Rubio Trying To Get Out Of Gang Of Eight
  
• Obamacare Increases Taxes
  
• It's Beyond Orwellian
  
• Battered Obama Supporter Syndrome
  
• Syrian Army Retakes Golan Crossing Point
  
• General Eisenhower's Message To Troops Before The Invasion
  
• Komen: The Cost Of Caving To The Liberal Media
  
• Secret Man Caves Found In EPA Warehouse
  
• German Growth Down
  
• Why Google Reader Really Got The Ax
  
• IMF Admits Major Mistakes On Greek Bailout
  
• Obama's Christmas Tree Tax Slipped Into Farm Bill
  
• Do Marriage And Parenthood Make People More Conservative?
  
• German Courts Grant Gay Unions
  
• Pizza Delivery By Drone
  
• Ex-Miss America To Run As A Republican
  

Follow me on twitter

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:20 AM | Comments (269)
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Happy Thursday.

A secret warrant (the latest of many) is being used to compel Verizon to hand over caller data to the NSA . . . all Verizon caller data. The President's defenders will evolve some excuses for this over the next few days, I'm sure, but let's get the obvious ones out of the way. First, the man who said he was all about making a change from Bush 43 will say "Bush did it." Second, liberals will ask, "why do you care . . . unless you have something to hide." Third, "experts" (aka liberal law professors) will suggest that caller data isn't really private info, so how could anyone reasonably protest that the government is collecting it? Fourth, something along the lines of "Verizon warrant is the new n*****." Gonna be a fun day.

I meant to link this yesterday, but it went right out of my head. Sen. Paul was in California sharing his nut 'n' crunchy side. "Paul's advisers tell me that the senatorÂ’s eco-friendly message isnÂ’t so much an evolution as a strategic embrace of his old self."

A new poll finds Obamacare less popular than ever before. Just 37 percent say it's a good idea. 49 percent say it's a bad idea. Just 19 percent say they'll be better off under the new regime. The Democratic freak out is delicious. And just you wait 'til IRS starts demanding a mandate payment from people who didn't buy insurance.

In related news, Obama is on the campaign trail again tomorrow. He'll be in California to make a speech on how awesome Obamacare is. Dude can't take a hint, although I guess I'd be pretty sensitive if my name was on it too.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:50 AM | Comments (332)
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Kling on the Three Languages of Politics

Patterico points out this podcast by economist/writer Arnold Kling where he discusses his theory about the fundamentally different ways that progressives, conservatives, and libertarians view the world.

Kling says that, basically, the three groups look at issues along different axes:

• Progressives look at issues along an axis of oppressed vs. oppressors

• Conservatives look at issues along an axis of civilization vs. barbarism

• Libertarians look at issues along an axis of freedom vs. (government) coercion

The idea is that it is easier to understand how a person from one of those groups looks at an issue if you better understand what axis they jump to.

Kling gives as an example the Boston Marathon bombings. He notes that the Weekly Standard had a piece titled "Civilization and Barbarism." A perfect example of the conservative world view.

Progressives sought a way to view the bombings in the prism of a struggle between oppressed and oppressors, the most famous example of which was David Sirota's piece Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American.

Libertarians became concerned about the lockdown of an entire city by the police department.

I haven't listened to it yet but just based on the summary I'm already willing to shell out the $2 for his book on Amazon.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:17 PM | Comments (867)
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Dood, you were warned about crossing the streams

...Plainly, the protesters [Purp:all 10 of them...apparently imported from Miami/Dade...because Broward denizens were unconcerned] were alarmed by unconfirmed news stories suggesting that the very, very wealthy and very, very conservative Koch brothers, Charles and David, were about to snatch up the Tribune newspaper chain, including BrowardÂ’s Sun Sentinel...

...Tribune Company emerged from bankruptcy...and the Sun Sentinel. Last month, reports surfaced that the libertarian activists Kochs were interested...

...Radical Jack [some well known local leftist], as he was known in his days as a fiery anti-war student leader at Florida State University, talked about how progressive Broward would make a poor fit for the KochsÂ’ far-right philosophy...

Presumably if the Kochs put their "libertarian activist" hats on, the fit would be better for Broward progressives, right? Legalized drugs, free speech and so on are a lot of "common ground". Oh wait, I think Grimm is actually talking about faux-rebranding evil Tea Party types with the "libertarian kook" brush (and vise-versa). My bad. The NYT did the same thing back in April.

Grimm goes on to concern troll the Koch's, because you just know he's looking out for their financial well being. He's a caring guy like that.

...The Kochs, not in the habit of losing money, might come to wonder if they were snookered into buying the Tribune Company newspapers. If it was some liberal conspiracy to get them to fritter away millions that might have gone to the American Legislative Exchange Council or the Heartland Institute or the Heritage Foundation...

This repeated conflation of conservative and libertarian labeling by the left is no accident. There's something going on here. An undercurrent, a long game. I can't quite put my finger on it yet or who's behind it, but it seems coordinated, intentional.

My gut is telling me it may have something to do with the "youth" and the Luap Nor phenomenon. Some, uncomfortable with the strictures of the their traditionally liberal democrat nests, were peeled away and radicalized in ways disturbing to the left, and that just won't do. Well, that my working hypothesis for the moment, but its subject to revision.

Oh, topic switch -- the Google logo today? Its as you might expect -- box stock, no mention of a certain unpleasantness some decades ago. The liberation of Europe? Bah.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:35 AM | Comments (99)
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As you know, the Turkish media behaved cravenly through the protests, imposing a total blackout of the demonstrations. CNN Turk's decision to run cooking shows and penguin documentaries instead of news is lampooned in one of those Taiwanese videos.

One guy, a game show host (of all things!), decided to defy the complete ban on mentioning what everyone could see outside their windows by writing 70 questions for his show for which all answers related to the protests and provoked the government -- and not in a playful way, either.

Literally every question/answer defied the ban, but I'm just quoting the edgier ones.

Note how many deal with the media, due to its cowardice (only one station reported on the protests). There were even more about the media, but it got repetitive, so I stopped quoting them.

1- A journey undertaken to see, to have fun: GEZI –name of the park that is at the center of the protests.

...

4- An activity geared towards trying to change or improve a situation: A PROTEST [EYLEM]

5- A coming together around a set of ideas without being divided: UNITY

6- The metaphor for understanding what the facts are: TO WAKE UP

...

8- The ability to make decisions according to correct, meaningful interpretation: COMMON SENSE

...

12-Democratic solution box: THE BALLOT BOX

...

22-To resist, to not give up: RESISTANCE

23-To find an event or an application as unfair, and not accept it and resist it: PROTEST

24-To be able to decide without undue pressure from outside: FREEDOM

25-The act of supporting each other for shared thoughts and goals: SOLIDARITY

26-What happens when all workers stop working: GENERAL STRIKE

27-To come together for a common goal: ORGANIZE

28-A word that means to rise up, to march: INSURRECTION

29-The best name for a TV station: HALK (PEOPLE — the name of the [only] TV station that covered the protests)

...

31-The thing that is referred to in Article 28th of the Turkish Constitution as "Free and Cannot be Censored:" PRESS

32-The communication medium defined by Nezihe Meriç as “A dragon with a thousand heads”: MEDIA

33-An action that means the same thing as approval: SILENCE

34-Limiting the freedom of press, communication, film or books by government: CENSORSHIP

35-The person who is supposed to learn about an event and write about in various outlets: JOURNALIST

36-The microblog and social network site that has been described as a “curse”: TWITTER

...

39-The state of being able to resist power or injustice but being quiet: COWARDICE

...

41-A piece of news that gets published by media outlets but that is not true: FALSE NEWS

...

48-Naked power: VIOLENCE
...

53-Word for use of violence without any common sense: DISPROPORTIONATE

54-A weapon that attacks eyes, nose, mouth and lung tissue, a weapon oleosresin capsicum: PEPPER SPRAY

55-What APCÂ’s excrete: PRESSURIZED WATER [the big APCs' water canons are an emblem of the government's repression-- well, those, and blanket of tear gas that makes Istanbul look like London]

56-Democracy breather: GAS MASK

57-The main institution whose principle is “the power belongs unconditionally to the people”: TURKEY’S PARLIAMENT

...

59-To limit rights and freedoms: REPRESSION

...

61-The person who does not allow freedoms to people they rule: DESPOT

62-The internal court which is what propels people to judge their own actions: CONSCIENCE

...

66-A person that concentrates all political power: DICTATOR

67-A person who serves for money: SERVANT

68-A ruling system in which executive power can act independent of judiciary: PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM (internal Turkish political transition discussion)

69-To voluntarily give up a position: RESIGN

70-The act that makes a person bigger by asking to be forgiven for wrong actions: APOLOGIZE

He has been relieved of his duties and his show is now cancelled.

This guy goes down in the annals of history as The One Game Show Host with B**** of Iron.

Video at the last link. It's in Turkish, though, or whatever they speak there. Still, maybe worth watching for the guy's deadpan.

Princeton can use a man like Joel.

Posted by: Ace at 03:57 PM | Comments (404)
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This happened: more...

Posted by: CAC at 02:12 PM | Comments (141)
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Gee, I wonder if he was unbiased and objective when he was working for Nightline.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:06 PM | Comments (329)
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