Morning Whip, Mar. 22, 2010
Contributed by: filbert Monday, March 22 2010 @ 07:33 AM CST
Well, I've had better Sundays.
The Jackrabbits lost.
The Democrats won (meaning that America lost even more of our freedom and liberty). They will not be forgiven.
At least Snookums came home from a trip to Arizona, taking her Dad to a reunion of his World War II Air Force unit. This is an awfully big house with only one person in it.
My regular checkup visit to my doctor tomorrow should be more interesting than usual . . . it's safe to say that my doctor is NOT a fan of Obamacare . . . SECTION TWO: Things That Amuse Me:
Simians and other aminals*:
Rare Lady Beetles Prefer Traditional Diet [*1]
Sports:
NCAA rejects Memphis’ final appeal of vacated wins [*2]
Mid-major power N Iowa grabs national spotlight [*3]
Top seed Tennessee beats No. 8 Dayton 92-64 [*4]
Tennessee women roll against Dayton [*5]
Season over, Jacks look for ways to close the gap [*6]
Princeton Outlasts IUPUI in CBI Quarterfinal [*7]
Pearl says Vols know they stand 1 win from history [*8]
My Bracket Looks Like Berlin in 1945 [*9]
NFL Changes Rule for Post-Season Overtime; Field Goal Won't End Game In First Possession [*10]
Science Fiction and Writing:
Dr. Horrible to return as movie according to Harris [*11]
New Doctor Who soon – catch the trailer [*12]
http://odysseyworkshop.livejournal.com/30352.html [*13]
The right narrator [*14]
Science Friction [*15]
World-Building Week: The Foundation [*16]
How to Write Action SF [*17]
The Internal Paralyzer [*18] -- Mine seems to function very well indeed . . .
Science, technology, and space:
Evolution More Rapid Than Darwin Thought [*19]
Carrier jet takes Virgin rocket aloft for 1st time[*20]
How Dinosaurs Rose to Prominence [*21]
Healthy Food Makes Consumers Feel Hungrier When Choices Are Limited [*22]
TV and Internet use together growing [*23]
Miscellany (amusing things not fitting above, or below):
Hungry burglar breaks into NJ restaurant, cooks chicken and rice, leaves dirty dishes behind [*24]
Gun Store Owner Says Local Police Protection Lacking [*25] -- He probably hasn't gotten the message that the police don't have to protect a damn thing. That's what the courts say, folks. You're on your own. "911: When seconds count, help is mere minutes away!"
How Strong Is Your Booze? True Strength of Alcohol Revealed by New Portable Device
Alcohol in Moderation Is Good for Sick Hearts Too, Italian Study Suggests [*26]
For women, battle of bulge just got tougher [*27]
Moderate drinking helps heart, but don't binge [*28]
SECTION THREE: Politics: The neverending battle against blithering idiocy:
People doing potentially good things (including sightings of politicians doing something less than totally, blitheringly idiotic):
I'll point out in passing that I link fairly often to a site called Hillbuzz--run by some gay (former) Democrats from Boystown in Chicago who were staunch Hillary supporters, and who saw very early exactly who and what Barack Obama is. I like 'em.
Your mission is to drive every Leftist from power, to defund the DNC, and to repeal what was done yesterday. [*29]
Pep Talk [*30]
The Socialists Won A Battle; Now It is Our Turn [*31] -- "Last night the Democrat party died as it drove a spear through the torso of the Constitution and passed legislation that the majority of Americans overwhelmingly opposed." They will not be forgiven.
Things we were told we couldn’t do. [*32]
Rush Limbaugh: We Need to Defeat These Bastards (Video) [*33]
Don’t Get Demoralized! Get Organized! Take Back the 20! [*34]
Senator DeMint Invokes John Paul Jones [*35]
The cure for blithering idiocy: freedom and individual liberty (yeah, I know--ooh, ick, philosophy!):
What Freedom Demands [*36] -- "There is no reason any Democrat up for re-election in 2010 or 2012 needs to retain their seats. They don’t own those seats, any more than the Kennedys owned Massachussetts. There’s no reason the Democrats need to exist as a viable political party after 2012. Obama can be their last President."
One last warning on the dangers of inaction [*37] -- "by not accomplishing reform when they had their chance, Republicans left it on the table for when the Democrats got complete control of Washington. Had Republicans fixed the cost-structure problems when they had the chance, the Democrats wouldn’t have had the opportunity for ObamaCare."
The Second Austrian Revival [*38] -- "a second Austrian revival has grown spontaneously out of the failure of mainstream macroeconomists to adequately explain the inflation and bursting of the high-tech and real-estate bubbles. . . unlike the first revival, the second revival of Austrian economics has focused on the economic theory of Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard. Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong, two prominent ultra-Keynesians, now felt compelled to learn about and try to refute the Austrian theory of the business cycle. Other macroeconomists such as Lee Ohanian of UCLA were inspired to reexamine the historical record and found that Rothbard was right about the causes of the severity of the Great Depression."
Cue the video!
Austrian Economics on the Rise [*39] -- Dave Ramsey[*40] is a kind of front-porch practical Austrian economist . . .
“You Vote for Obamacare; we vote for your opponent” [*41] -- It's like golf . . . follow-through is important.
No, we are not doomed! [*42]
Dear GOP: Fight [*43]
Out-of-touch Congress Sounds Our Clarion Call to Take a Stand [*44]
Intolerable Acts and Tea Parties [*45]
FREE WILL AND DESTINY [*46] -- "I thought I might need to try my small part to cheer people up and calm them down, but for once I have underestimated the American people. People, by and large, seem not only calm but absolutely determined. Everywhere I have looked this morning the reaction seems to be more or less the same: a nation of steely-eyed missile men. These Marxist bastards have no idea what is coming for them. No idea."
Hooray For Libertarian-ish Centrists, the 42 Percent Solution to All That Ails Politics! [*47]
America is neither left nor right but centrist [*48]
Palin hearts Reagan: Her success shows why it mattered to Alaskans [*49]
The Cost of Doing Nothing: How ObamaCare revived the debate over the use and abuse of the Commerce Clause [*50] -- Democrat response: "There is no debate. The science is settled. You don't want to take away Granny's Medicare, do you? THE CHILDREN! THE CHILDREN!"
There Will Be Revolution! [*51] -- This can go down the easy way, or it can go down the hard way. So far, the Democrats seem insistent on pushing the forces of individual freedom and liberty into the hard way. It's not too late. But the fuse has, I fear, been lit.
Politics, otherwise difficult to classify:
Senators form Internet freedom caucus [*52]
The reality of President Obama and his entire Administration as blithering idiots:
From zero to hero where neither tag fits [*53]
Daily Gut: Daddy Got Us a Pony! [*54]
Brilliant Hillary Screws Up at AIPAC… Doesn’t Know Her HamAS(S) From a Hole in the Ground [*55] -- Wouldn't it be Middle East Peace Process 101 to know which wild-eyed radical group controlled which piece of "Palestinian" territory?
Racism: White Men Abandoning Obama [*56] -- I dunno. I'm feeling pretty abandoned right now myself . . .
Obama’s Transparency Haze[*57] -- Gosh. He lied. Knock me over with a feather.
The reality of Washington Democrats (and Independents, and Socialists) as blithering idiots:
Protester Spits On Congressman Cleaver [*58] -- Wow. Somebody actually upset about being turned into a slave. Imagine that. Guess what, Cleaver, if you do bad things to people, don't be surprised if they get angry. Moron.
Liberals in Congress Destroy Freedom in America and Their Own Re-Election Prospects This Fall [*59]
Walking the Plank [*60] -- They will not be forgiven . . .
Barney Frank Holds Republicans to a Higher Standard (than One He Can Meet Himself) [*61] -- Of the many Democrats in Washington who can be properly described as "loathsome," Barney "Everybody Should Have A House--And Health Care, Too!" Frank is high on the list.
All Shook Up… Bart Stupak Partied Down With Fellow Dem Reps After Pro-Abortion Obamacare Vote [*62] -- He played his appointed role in the political theater. Now? It's Miller Time!
Bart Stupak, A Pocket Full of Mumbles [*63]
Democratic Party Corruption [*64] -- And, if you vote for Democrats, you're an accessory to widespread corruption. Sorry if the truth hurts . . .
On Barney Frank’s Hypocrisy and Hateful Rhetoric [*65] -- "Well, Barney, the feeling is mutual. But, I, for one, wouldn’t hold you in such contempt if you showed a little more respect for your ideological adversaries and a little more consistency in your rhetoric. And were less ready to accuse Republicans of dastardly motivations and psychological disorders when they offered a viewpoint at odds with your own."
Indiana Dem Senatorial Candidate Down 18 Points After Voting For Obamacare [*66] -- It is just barely possible that the Democrats have misread the mood of the American people . . .
Every Republican Ad Needs to Carry This Image [*67] -- November is coming. You will not be forgiven.
Rep. Maxine Waters Calls Conservative Protesters “Teabaggers” …Again (Video) [*68] -- I await the certainly forthcoming apology with bated breath . . .
Congressional Word Cloud: Wow, People Really Do Not Like Our Legislative Body [*69]
The reality of Washington Republicans as blithering idiots:
A Democrat & Republican make nasty comments on House floor--Guess which one apologized? [*70]
ObamaCare blasted by … Mitt Romney [*71] -- The problem for Romney is, of course, that Obamacare has pretty much blasted him, too . . .
Oh Boy. Republicans Likely To Run On "Repeal And Replace" [*72] -- I'd prefer something like "Real, Responsible Reform" myself . . .
Repeal And Replace: Balancing Tactics And Strategy [*73] -- "So, to repeal and replace I would add ‘reinforce’." Maybe.
Other blithering idiots at large making life difficult for regular folks:
Hmmm: Feds, local law enforcement accessing cell phone tracking “thousands of times a month” [*74] -- Time to trot out the fascist trope "if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about?"
Which Came First, The Single Payer or The Censorship? [*75] -- Nobody is more intolerant of opposing views than self-described "liberal-progressives." Nobody.
Feasting on Hannity: Cannibal Conservatives Aren’t Conservatives [*76]
Opposition Research: because blithering idiocy can be dangerous, especially when organized into idiotic groups with idiotic ideologies:
Is ACORN’s Bankruptcy Claim Just More Deceit? [*77] -- Well, Democrats do lie, after all . . .
ACORN Folds! Will Cease All Operations Within Months [*78] -- I don't think the proper word is "fold." "Metastasize" might be closer. Although maybe with the ACORN-In-Chief in the White House, maybe they think their work is done--forever. God help us.
Laying the Cornerstone of a Socialist Utopia [*79] -- Meaning, of course, a Utopia for socialists--the looters. For those who are shackled and forced to work, it's not quite such a paradise, as history as shown over and over and over again.
The Culture War still sucks! (But where's the "traditional" Culture War I'm supposed to be against?) -- "It's almost like being against racism, in favor of racial equality and against segregation, and then waking up to see that it is "racism" to oppose affirmative action, and even racism to disagree with the president over health care. As to what happened to the evil segregationists, who knows?" Yes. We're in the endgame of this phase of human history, sparked mainly by Marx and Engels in the 1800's.
Is Racism the "Heart" of the Tea Party Movement? [*80] -- Actually, it's closer to the mark to say that racism is at the heart of the modern Democratic Party and the "progressive" movement. They're the ones that seem to perpetually obsess about how much melanin is in somebody's skin.
The Keith Olbermann Memorial "Special Comment" on blithering idiots in the Media:
MSM invents a “GOP dilemma” which exists only in the minds of the MSM as filtered through their coverage (of Tea Parties)* [*81]
Katie Couric & the Lamestream Media [*82]
Figures. NY Times Still Pushing Bogus Tea Party N*gger Story Despite Video Proof That It Was Made Up [*83] -- The nice thing about being the Old Media is you can make up whatever shit you want about people on the right, report it, and you can not only get away with it, but people will actually still believe you, even after all of the demonstrable lies you've told over the decades about conservatives and classical-liberals. Oh, yeah, you can also refer to them with a vulgar term for a homosexual oral sex act without any consequence whatsoever.
SECTION FOUR: Case Studies in Blithering Idiocy
"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Eating Less Meat and Dairy Products Won't Have Major Impact on Global Warming, Export Argues [*84] -- Or, "Expert Argues" perhaps . . .
The well funded, well organized, global skeptic network laid bare /sarc [*85]
ACS: going veggie won’t impact global warming
Americans High on Nuclear, Low on Global Warming [*86]
Brains… BRAINS!!! [*87]
Reforming health care and freeing it from the (usually) well-intended tyranny of the blithering idiots in government:
What is to be undone? [*88]
The Lie of Fiscal Responsibility: How Democrats used deceptive accounting to make history with health care reform. [*89]
Up next: court challenges [*90]
Can ObamaCare be repealed? [*91]
And Now, What? [*92]
Outside the Beltway: State AGs Start the Road to Repealing Obamacare [*93]
Fiorina’s Free-Market Plan to Improve Health Care [*94] -- But remember always, "Republicans don't have any ideas." None which the feeble little minds of Democrats can grasp, anyway . . .
If Past is Prologue When it Comes to Guesstimating Actual Health Care Costs, Well, it Was Nice Knowing You All... [*95] -- Surprise! Governments are not particularly competent at accurately estimating how much big social programs will cost. Guess which way their estimates go, compared to reality. Go on. Just guess.
From the Nanny State to the Bully State -- Words of warning from Australia . . .
One need not be an American libertarian or a European classical liberal to appreciate the stewardship ethic's threat to a democratic society. Rather than the product of an ideological agenda, a plea for personal choice as the foundational value of public health is, in stark contrast, a plea for both common sense and morality in policymaking.
As Bully Staters do not want us to smoke cigarettes, gamble, drink alcohol, or gain weight, they will ratchet up their campaign to shame and coerce those who rejoice in the individual's right to pursue pleasure. Under the Bully State, the real bully is Nanny the Policy Nurse, who dispenses regulatory ‘cures' for all manner of alleged social ills, from smoking to simply having fun.
Modern Liberalism: The uneasy and troubling feeling that somebody out there, somewhere, is having fun.
It's a new day in… oh, let's call it 'America' [*96]
The Real Arithmetic of Health Care Reform [*97] -- "In reality, if you strip out all the gimmicks and budgetary games and rework the calculus, a wholly different picture emerges: The health care reform legislation would raise, not lower, federal deficits, by $562 billion." The amusing thing is that the Democrats actually think they've won. This fight has barely begun. All they've done so far is get the attention of the American people. And we are not pleased. Not pleased at all.
What Now? Four Guiding Principles for Health Care [*98]
They Should’ve Listened to Rush [*99] -- IT WAS A TRAP!
New CNN Poll: 59% Oppose Obamacare [*100]
The Inevitable Depersonalization of Medicine [*101] -- I had a routine check-up with my doctor this morning, and she was saying exactly the same thing this article is . . . single-doctor family practitioner offices are going extinct, and that extinction will be hastened, not prevented, by Obamacare . . .
Wanna know what your new government health care system is going to look like? -- This gentleman is already unhappy with government-run health care, and not particularly looking forward to more of the same . . .
You Know How Bad You Thnk ObamaCare Is? Yeah, It's Worse [*102]
20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms [*103] -- See, I want people to have good health care. I just don't believe in enslaving an entire country in order to provide it.
I'll Tax the Insurance That You Lack [*104] -- So, what else is the government going to fine you for not buying?
Stupak: You’re right, there’s nothing to stop Obama from rescinding that abortion order [*105]
Is health-care reform constitutional? [*106]
ObamaCare: A Good Night For Tyranny [*107] -- The Democrats think it's 1931 again. It's closer to 1861--or maybe 1857 with the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court which ruled that slaves could never be U.S. citizens, and lit the fuse that exploded in the Civil War. Except this time it's Congress and the President re-imposing slavery on the entire nation.
On Health Care, Some Perspective [*108] -- "the bill sticks us with a set of fundamentally flawed policy ideas that will have far-reaching consequences for American government and economy . . . Instead of wholesale collapse, we'll likely see creeping decay."
We Can Repeal This [*109]
The Shoe That Has Yet To Drop [*110] -- "Taxes."
Health Care: Arbitrage Obama And The Dems [*111] -- "When the fines and pre-existing coverage "stop-out" go into effect (now for kids, in a couple of years for the rest) drop all coverage for those affected. Why?" Because it will make economic sense for most people to do that. Which is exactly what the Democrats wanted--to throw everyone into a government-run "single-payer" system. Never mind that we'll never, ever be able to afford it without massive cuts in the availability of health care to the very people the Democrats claim to be helping with this monstrosity. That's why I'm so upset about this.
Exempted From Obamacare: Senior Staff Who Wrote the Bill [*112]
Peering Into Our Future? [*113] -- A warning from France.
A few thoughts on the health care legislation [*114] -- "The existing legislative promises of Medicare and Social Security are a train wreck that cannot be avoided without radical change. Expanding coverage just brings the train wreck closer. It’s a nice idea but it is unaffordable."
Another word on mandates [*115] -- That word would be "unprecedented" but "unconstitutional" also works.
A look at Obama's health care overhaul law[*116] -- The AP gives the happy-talk version of Obamacare. Reality will prove somewhat different, I'm afraid. For instance: "The legislation cuts about $455 billion over 10 years from projected payment increases to hospitals, insurance companies and others under Medicare and other government health programs." It is virtually certain these cuts will never, ever happen--and even if by some miracle some of these cuts occur, they will be utterly overwhelmed by the increased costs inflicted on the health care system by this disastrous legislation.
Depend On The Government For Your Health Care? Good Luck… [*117] -- "Under the guise of coverage for pre-existing conditions and the security of knowing that you can’t be kicked off your insurance when you really need it, the democrats have pushed through a bill which will lead to the end of health care as we know it." This physician's article sounds like it could have been written my my own doctor . . .
Health care reform – on to step 2 [*118] -- Do you think they're done? Oh, no. Not by a long shot. There's still some liberty left to steal from you.
ObamaCare’s Immediate Impact [*119] -- "Of 18 highlighted points, most or all of them will increase payments made by government or increase health insurance premiums. This is “bending the cost curve”."
Health-Care Cost Lies Make Us Sing the Blues: Amity Shlaes [*120]
And You Thought the Health Care Debate Was Over [*121]
Rasmussen: 49% want states to sue to stop ObamaCare [*122] -- "Only 37% oppose the idea." Oh, yeah. Tell us again how very popular this whole health care thing is again. Please.
Obama Signs Health Care Bill [*123] -- If the individual mandate stands, either through legislative inaction or by court ruling, America is done. A new country will exist and it's founders won't be Washington, Jefferson and Madison. It won't have been inspired by philosophers like Montesquieu and Locke. No it will be a country founded by Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Their philosophical inspirations, John Dewey, Herb Croly and of course Saul Alinsky, are the antithesis of those who espouse individual liberty."
You Democrats, in Washington and around the country, in political office and you just driving around with Obama bumper stickers on your cars--You will not be forgiven.
ObamaCare Is the Democrats’ New Kansas-Nebraska Act [*124] -- Personally, I think we're closer to 1859 than 1854. The Civil War began in 1861. I pray that I'm wrong. But I don't see Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the Democrats returning to political sanity any time soon.
Breaking: 13 States Sue Federal Government to Stop Unconstitutional Obamacare [*125] -- In case you're scoring at home, that's about 38% of the way to a Constitutional Convention . . . and after 2010, there may be enough Republican state legislatures to open that particular can of whoop-ass on the socialists in the Democratic Party.
Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill [*126] -- The view from the sentient Left . . . "Fact: This bill is almost identical to the plan written by AHIP, the insurance company trade association, in 2009." Who's in the back pocket of "special interests" again?
The Economy (Can the blithering idiots bring down the most productive economy the world has ever seen? Yes, They Can! Will they?):
Outdated union red tape strangles recovery: When will Obama learn it's not 1931 anymore? [*127]
Party Like It's 2005 [*128] -- "The Democrats presume that there always will be taxpayers and purchasers of U.S. Treasury securities foolish enough to fund the trillions of dollars in spending."
And So It Begins: Bond Market Weighs In On Unsustainable Debt Levels [*129]
Is America’s AAA Rating in Trouble? [*130] -- If you have to ask the question, then the answer is "yes."
Graph of the Day for March 23, 2010 [*131] -- Um. Yeah. That "Cash for Clunkers" was sure a success, wasn't it? I'm sure Obamacare will be just as successful.
 |
| Guess which month "Cash for Clunkers" happened in? |
Oh, by the way, this looks kind of like we're headed for some kind of "double-dip" recession, doesn't it? While Congress and the President fiddled with health care and "stimulus" programs that didn't stimulate a damn thing, the economy continued to struggle along under the weight of government interventions. Heckofa job, Barry.
High-Speed Rail: More Mickey Mouse Stimulus Spending [*132] -- Oh, yeah. This will help a lot. (That was sarcasm.)
Why the Stimulus Isn't Working [*133]
Thanks Barack… Most Americans Believe The Economy Could Collapse [*134]
Foreign affairs and National Security (Will blithering idiots get us all killed, or make us all speak Spanish--or Chinese--or Arabic--or all three?):
Has Germany just killed the dream of a European superstate? [*135]
The Resistance Bloc Will Not Be Appeased [*136] -- Oddly, not about the American health care issue . . . "If we extend a hand in friendship, they’ll bite it and try to chew off a finger. If we take their side once in a while to appear evenhanded, they’ll twist the truth until it looks like a sinister plot, then they’ll bite us again." . . . actually, come to think of it, yes--yes it is . . .
Lawfare: Terrorist Who Helped Plan 9/11 Attacks Ordered Released [*137]
The Morning Whip is a (mostly) daily review of what's out there that caught my attention, sometimes but not always posted before 11 am Central time in the U. S. of A., unless I just don't feel like it that day, am out doing something more important or more fun, or I've been abducted, detained, arrested, or otherwise flummoxed by the agents of blithering idiotry.
I surf the Web, so you don't have to! (which would be a trademark, but come on, who am I kidding?)
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