California to Vendors: We Can Pay You With IOUs, You Still Have to Pay Us With Cash
— Dave in Texas

It's a beautiful thing. The state runs out of cash and issues almost three quarters of a billion dollars in IOUs to suppliers. Yet they insist sales taxes due the state on those transactions must be paid with actual money.

via the Man-lesbian at The Hostages, who adds "That state would be better governed by blindfolded baby retarded howler monkeys."

It's not hyperbole if you're right.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:27 PM | Add Comment
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Totally Spontaneous Expressions Of Support In Favor Of Health Care Reform Called For By Obama's "Organizing For America"
— DrewM

But don't call it AstroTurfing or compare it to opponents of health care because it's different. Why is it different? It just is now shut up before I report you to flag@whitehouse.gov for fishy behavior.

Supporters of President Obama formerly signed up as members of "Obama for America" received an email today from Mitch Stewart, the director of the group's current incarnation, Organizing for America, to show up at town halls and congressional offices as a counter to the protestors against the president's health care reform push.

Painting the protestors as "Insurance companies and partisan attack groups...stirring up fear with false rumors about the President's plan," Stewart's email tells supporters whom their member of Congress is and even provides information about town hall meetings they may be holding.

...But Brian Walsh of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said, "It's interesting to see the President's political machine calling on his supporters to use their Constitutional right to free speech when the White House spent the last week criticizing others for doing the exact same thing. Republicans agree that every American should have the right to voice their opinion in a calm, respectful manner but after the 'astroturfing' rhetoric from the Democrats this week, it's hard to ignore the hypocrisy in this mass email."

I'm sure Robert Gibbs will be providing a stern warning to these people about what is and isn't acceptable forms of disagreement and the SEIU will continue to enforce this speech code.

Oh wait, that won't be happening because all protests and protesters are equal, some are just more equal than others.

More: Jonn from This Ain't Hell signed up for OFA and has the email that they sent out.

Posted by: DrewM at 04:01 PM | Comments (5)
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Obama Not Flinching On Snitch Central
— Gabriel Malor

When I first heard that the White House was encouraging people to snitch on their neighbors, I assumed this was something cooked up by a low-level staffer in the communications office trying to justify his job. The Obama Administration has been plagued by staffers and advisers who speak in his name only to have him or Rahm Emanuel come along and correct their "inartful" statements later. (Some examples from the last year.)

Generally, it has been a failure of leadership. The Obama folks are running around without supervision and when they don't have a minder looking over their shoulder their Far Left impulses tend to show. Hence, Snitch Central.

Or so I was assuming. But consider the Scare Force One fiasco. It should never have happened and was quickly disavowed as soon as people protested. A low-level staffer gets blamed and the whole thing is quickly forgotten--by the White House, at least.

But that hasn't happened this time. We're on Day 6 of this Orwellian experiment and the White House hasn't backed off, despite the furor from just about everyone. Rather, Robert Gibbs protests that it's a perfectly reasonable tool to counter "misinformation" about Obamacare. Notably, the White House has issued no list of misinformation or corrections to misinformation since it started collecting data on discussions of the President's healthcare plan.

I thought it would have been easy for the Obama people to do what they've always done after a misstep: blame and fire a low-level peon, apologize that people were upset, and pretend they're the smartest, most squeaky-clean Administration ever to occupy the White House. But that hasn't happened and I'm starting to think that the Obamastasi idea wasn't cooked up by a nobody from the communications office.

So, I want to know:

(1) Whose idea was it to have people snitch on their neighbors?
(2) How do I find out if Obama has my name on the "fishy, bears watching" list?
(3) If I'm on it, can I get off the list?
(4) Is Obama going to give the list to the DNC or to his union goons?
(5) Is the list going to end up in the National Archives? (Presidential records laws prohibit the destruction of White House documents, including emails and databases.)
(6) Is the list eventually going to end up available to the public?
(7) Is the list against the law? See 5 USC §§ 552a(e)(7), 552(f)(1) & (2), which prohibit (with certain exceptions not relevant) the White House or any other agency from collecting information describing how any person exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Threshold Question from Libtards: "But is the White House collecting names or just the 'fishy' healthcare statements? Gibbs said no one is collecting names."

The answer is that the White House is required by law to collect and keep both names and content if that is what it receives from snitches. If, for example, someone were to send this post to the snitch email addy, they would very likely include my name when they cut 'n' paste the post. The White House will thus have received an email naming me as spreading misinformation. The White House is required by law to not delete that email. It will become part of Obama's papers that are handed over to the National Archives when he leaves office.

There's no mechanism to strip the names or other personal information out of snitch emails before they hit the White House's servers (and such a mechanism would likely be illegal, anyway). So, yes, the White House is collecting and by law must keep our names as well as any "fishy" statements we may make.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:05 AM | Comments (5)
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SEIU Claims They Were Attacked; Video Shows They're Lying
Correction: Commenters Say He Says "He attacked a minister," and They're Right
— Ace

Correction: Commenters point out that he does seem to be saying "He attacked a minister!"

Having listened to it, yes, that is what he says. Sorry, I kept hearing "America" rather than "a minister."

So, they do seem to have made that claim at the time. But we know the guy who got beaten up didn't attack anyone -- he wasn't even a partisan. He was just a guy peddling political novelties. He had no reason to attack anyone, as he really didn't care about anything going on particularly, except as a sales opportunity.

Plus, we still have that grotesque toad of a female union dolt playing pushy-face unprovoked. Kinda letting you know who's there expressly to push people around.

...

From the SEIU "blog," which is of course merely a PR effort.

The claim a union member and "Reverend" was attacked.

The Reverend, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, and others who attended in hopes of a peaceful dialogue about our nation's healthcare crisis, endured the latest attempt by right-wing fringe groups to hijack the democratic process through violence if necessary. Last night, the Teabaggers' violent tactics broke and dislocated the shoulder of the Reverend.

So -- was the "reverend" attacked? Or did he merely get hurt in a scuffle the SEIU began?

One would imagine that if one of their own were attacked, they'd mention that fact after the fight when they're accused of beating someone. One would imagine they'd say, "We attacked you? You just attacked us?"

They don't say that. Oh, after the fact, casting about for a legal defense, they say that.

But at the time? One minute after the scuffle? Let's see what their legal pretext for the beat-down was at the time of the fight, before they'd had time to lawyer up.

The defense offered at the time? "He attacked America!"

Imagine someone caught on tape immediately after shooting someone. In court, he offers the defense "He came at me first!"

But on tape, he said nothing about that; instead, he shouted "You had sex with my wife!"

What's the real reason for the shooting? It's not the crap he comes up later when his lawyer tells him adultery is not a defense to murder.

Now, it seems to me that unless the good reverend has the unlikely nickname of "America," the real reason for the beat-down is not "you attacked us first," but rather "You said things we don't like, so we decided we had a right to beat on you."

As we've been reminded by the left ad nauseam, dissent does not give license to violent reprisal. (Indeed, the left usually claims that dissent doesn't even give license to disagree with the dissent, as even simple verbal disputation constitutes "brutalizing" and "chilling" dissenters.)

If that's not evidence enough, we also have an example of the SEIU attacking first right on tape -- the horrid, lumpy female union creature slaps the woman holding the camera, without any provocation. (Except, I suppose, the "she attacked America" provocation.)

There is a real danger of sending union goons to these things in the first place. They are not cops and have no right to their own self-styled law enforcement and protection against breach of the peace. Private citizens have no duty whatsoever to obey their illegitimate commands.

But they seem to be behaving as if they imagine they've been deputized as justices of the peace.

Furthermore, the SEIU has sent, it seems, the most hot-tempered, partisan, and violent volunteers possible, people just looking for a reason to punch a conservative they don't like.

Even if one accepts the SEIU has the right to send goons to these things, they ought to be sending cool-headed folks, not people who use "He attacked America!" as a legal pretext to beat people on the street.

Oh: It's also looks kinda bad for the "we were attacked first defense" that the union douchebags shout out "It's the Union Way!"

Yeah, buddy, we know about the "union way."

Posted by: Ace at 06:40 AM | Comments (1)
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Leaked Iron Man 2 Footage from ComicCon
— Ace

Dark and grainy and inaudible at times, but cool, if you dig this sort of thing.

The movie seems to continue the a-bit-to-the-left-now-a-bit-to-the-right minor muddled politics of the first one. (Which I think is smart in terms of getting audience and probably the best the right can hope for anyway.)

Here, there's a small right-y moment as a Senate committee demands Stark turn over his suit to the government. He refuses, on simple grounds: "Because it's my property!" And that doing so would reduce him to the level of "indentured servitude and/or prostitution, depending on what state you live in."

That's my political excuse for posting this. The real reason is that I'm a huge comic book geek. (Well, I don't read comic books, but I'm a big fan of superhero movies.)

The Senate hearing seems to be a inspired by the interrogations Howard Hughes was subjected to (and Stark is modeled after Howard Hughes, at least earlier in life, before he went off his trolley).

Stealth Objectivism? I don't know much about Objectivism but I know "A is A" is some kind of first principle. Stark here disputes that the suit is a "weapon," and insists upon "defining it as what it is." Stretching, probably.

Probably best to watch it in a larger size here, but a smaller version is embedded below. more...

Posted by: Ace at 05:31 AM | Add Comment
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Overnight Open Thread (Mætenloch)
— Open Blog

Well genghis is out on a mission for the Bacon Liberation Front and details are on a need to know basis. Let me just say that our interest in the bacons is also shared by our brothers to the south. So just remember that you can enjoy the ONT safe in your barcalounger and mobility scooters only because there are semi-active morons out there walking the pork wall prepared to do dark deeds on behalf of bacon and bacon accessories. Viva las carnitas!

Anyway here are a few items for your enjoyment:

Item #1: The Automatic Pancake Machine
Sure it costs $3500, but it produces a pancake every 30 seconds so it's totally worth it to shave those precious two minutes off your morning routine. For uh, important stuff.

Item #2: The Frazetta Meatcard Challenge
So what do you do when you have a couple of high power CO2 lasers lying around and a bunch of beef jerky? Why make jerky business cards of course! And how to you get the word out? Well sponsoring a contest where you have people recreate classic Frank Frazetta paintings in real life seems like a good way to start. God I love American creativity.

Coraje!
more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:20 PM | Add Comment
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Idle Saturday Music Blogging
— Gabriel Malor

After the last music post, somebody sent me this trippy music video taking advantage of the innate creepiness of carnies. Apparently it won awards.

Oh, and she begged me not to reveal her identity to you guys because "I feel like I should have outgrown this kind of music by now" and she was afraid ya'll would bust her chops. Uh huh.

You should tell her that she is right.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 01:33 PM | Add Comment
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I want to see Obama square this circle
— Purple Avenger

Recent headlines: unemployment down!

Latest food stamp figures:

...As the nation's unemployment rate nears 10 percent, a record 34.4 million people - or one in nine Americans - were participating in the food stamp program as of May. That's an increase of 650,000 people from the previous month and up 6 million from the same time last year...

The food stamp figures DO INCLUDE those people who used up all their unemployment eligibility or have simply given up looking for work. Just because you've fallen off the "official" (i.e. phony) employment radar, doesn't mean you've fallen off the food stamp radar. In fact, you become more dependent than ever on that small bit of assistance once you're "invisible" and don't matter to blog trolls and the lying asshats in Washington.

Of course, I've reported the Dept of Agriculture to the Whitehouse for promulgating this obviously "fishy" data. It was the only patriotic thing to do when I realized Dept of Agriculture was distributing these counter-revolutionary numbers.

Courage.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 12:12 PM | Add Comment
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Secret Service Altered Bush Motorcade Route Based on Tip by Psychic. [dri]
— Open Blog

The Secret Service changed the route that President George H. W. Bush was scheduled to take during a September 1992 trip to Enid, Oklahoma based on the visions of a psychic. The psychic claimed that an assassination attempt on the president would occur if the originally planned motorcade route was followed.

This revelation is alleged in a new book by investigative reporter Ronald Kessler entitled “In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect”.

According to Kessler:

"Agent Norm Jarvis was assigned to run intelligence investigations for the visit, and a detective from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation called him,"
"He said that a woman who was a psychic had told her police contact, whom she worked with on a homicide case in Texas, that she had had a vision that President Bush was going to be assassinated by a sniper."

The psychic then proceed to give details regarding an overpass that the alleged sniper would use in the attempt and correctly stated in which building presidential limousines were being securely stored.

"As more details from the psychic turned out to be right, the advance leader decided the psychic could not be ignored. Never mind if anyone thought they were crazy. Better safe than sorry, he and Jarvis thought."

A Secret Service spokesman denied the report stating that it was not the organizationÂ’s practice to change a motorcade route based on psychic visions.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:00 PM | Add Comment
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Boston Globe: ummm all that bullshit Obama said about not raising your taxes? Yea, it was all bullshit.
— Purple Avenger

Ouch, this is going to leave a mark. I have of course, reported the Boston Globe to the Whitehouse as being counter-revolutionary purveyors of "fishy" stuff.

Now, it would be economic folly to raises taxes while the economy is still sputtering badly^{[but they will do it anyway]}. But by the same token, itÂ’s highly disingenuous to suggest that taxes on the middle class will never have to rise. When the recovery comes, this nation simply has to start putting its fiscal house in order. And you canÂ’t do that just by cutting spending and raising taxes on high earners^{[cutting spending?, ha, ha, ha, comedy club gold here]}.

Naturally, the Globe tosses out a small "but he means well and hasn't fibbed to us in the past, and its other people who are really the ones screwing Obama now, not himself" bone to Obama.

...ItÂ’s all the more disappointing because President Obama has generally been good about leveling with the American people about the challenges we face. But on this issue, he made an unrealistic campaign promise ^{[translation: he lied to win an election]}- and now, by undercutting experts who hint at the truth, the White House is only digging him in deeper^{[translation: its others in the administration discrediting him, not his own transparent campaign lies]}.

Yo Gibby and Timmy - you're gonna have to stop "digging" the one in deeper dudes. Keep this shit up and you're going to have to report yourselves to the fish police.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:37 AM | Add Comment
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