Uncle Jimbo on Blackfive

Uncle Jimbo goes a little too far in suggesting that Cliff May from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies put a beat down on Jon Stewart. It was more akin to what one commenter described - they had a spirited debate. In the end Jon Stewart did what he usually does and that is constantly interrupting the debate with his own innuendo and lazy morals. But the post is an interesting one and the comments section is a learning experience. There are two video’s of the debate and are worth watching if for no other reason than to see how Stewart has left the comedy circuit and tried to vainly enter the left wing morals market.

The discussion that was supposed to take place revolved around torture (and the “memos”) and includes the condemnation of the US dropping the bombs on Japan that ended WWII. The comments section dissected that era also. Have fun.

April 30th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

A Tax Day Conundrum

While we are all fuming and disgruntled about taxes on April 15, there’s a group in Vermont who see things - well… different.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Protesters nationwide demanded lower taxes on Wednesday. A group in Vermont can’t get enough of them.

Calling itself S.O.S., or Save Our State, the group held a small pro-tax protest in Montpelier, the national income tax-filing deadline, to drive home that taxes pay for needed programs and state employees perform necessary duties.

About two dozen people crowded around the state Tax Department’s help window while organizers turned in single-signature petitions, designed to look like a tax form, that organizers called SOS-EZ forms.

They list 17 state programs that could be kept whole with what organizers say would be a modest tax increase (I’ve never heard of a tax increase described as modest - ed.).

“It’s not just a day to worry about taxes; we value our institutions and the programs the state offers,” said S.O.S. organizer Chris Curtis, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid. “We can’t pave our own roads. We can’t keep our own courthouse doors open. It’s frustrating that some days of the week the courts are closed.”

The protest came as thousands of demonstrators gathered nationwide for anti-tax rallies modeled on the original Boston Tea Party.

Dennise Casey, a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Jim Douglas, said he remained steadfast in his opposition to new taxes, but that taxpayers have the option to give the state more than legally required.

“I am assuming that all of these individuals who are advocating for paying more taxes have led by example by paying more taxes today,” Casey said. “As for struggling Vermont families, the governor is opposed to higher taxes.”

Well, luckily they have a Republican governor and will likely remain solvent. But just as I say that, look what happens:

“I think it’s time the common person stands up to the government taking everything from us,” said Bob Martin of Worcester.

But just one building over at the tax department– a much smaller group asked for just the opposite.

They want to pay more for taxes to save cuts to social service programs and state employee jobs.

“We’re not suggesting that we willy-nilly raise taxes but to do it in smart way that spreads out the burden,” said Lindsey Hescock of Middlebury.

“We need to have taxes to have the services and the infrastructure important to all of us,” said Shelia Reed, of Voices for Vt. Children.

Democratic lawmakers agree, and on Tax Day they supported a $24 million income tax hike.

“I don’t think anybody likes to pay taxes, I’m not wild about paying taxes, but I understand it’s an obligation of citizenship and I get a lot for the taxes I pay,” said Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Calais.

Wow.  “I get a lot for the taxes I pay.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

A hat tip to jamiewearingfool for the post.

April 17th, 2009 Posted by bit | Moonbats | post comments

The Bingo War

First, I’m not a big fan of casino’s. I’m not suggestting they’re a bad thing - I’m just not a fan. Sort of like not eating boiled okra but fried is fine.

That being said, I’d like to point you to a revealing article by the editor of Birmingham’s Black&White City Paper - the free newsprint that generally contains all the events going on in and around Birmingham. In addition to the events, there is generally quite a good representation of the political situation in several articles.

The editor, Chuck Geiss, has done quite a story on the bingo issue that Alabama is dealing with in the Legislature. For those of you outside of Alabama (and those in Alabama who just don’t keep up), there is a move to “legalize” bingo in the Legislature (i.e. - read tax) and let the public vote on the issue. Whether it makes it out of the Legislature is not clear as of today. That could all change tomorrow. But the Chuck Geiss article ought to be required reading for anyone who wants to actually be informed on this issue.

This is the lead-in to the rest of the story:

There appears to be a plethora of deceit, strong arm tactics, and self serving banishments in other areas of the state so that success is limited to those areas where the proponents want success to be - and specifically not anywhere else. And it’s all for education - a suspect, repeatable argument that is used to sway anyone who has kids in public schools. Alabama schools are not at the top of any national list nor are they at they bottom - though they haven’t been far at times. Alabama has school funding issues as does every state. And, perhaps in the future, there is gambling to help out that budget. Critics of gambling for education point out that Georgia, where the lottery has funded college education for years, has the same issues as everyone else these days. Maybe. But if they’re still funding college education for students who are making the grade in high school, they’re doing better than we are - much better.

But that’s not what Chuck Geiss’s editorial is focused on. It’s an eye-opening look at what is being requested and what is being denied - the latter being a larger issue.

Have a read or pick up the paper. It’s free.

April 17th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Wonder what the ACLU is gonna do about this?

From the Long War Journal:

DC court finds Gitmo detainee properly held

By Thomas JoscelynApril 6, 2009 10:52 AM

On Thursday, April 2, a federal judge ruled that Guantánamo detainee Hedi Hammamy is being held for good reasons. Judge Richard Leon of the DC District Court found the US government’s evidence was sufficient to show that Hammamy supported al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hammamy, who is also known as Abdul Haddi bin Hadiddi in the US government’s unclassified Guantánamo files, was arrested by Pakistani authorities in April 2002 and transferred to Guantánamo months later. Government prosecutors demonstrated that Hammamy’s passport was recovered in a cave in the Tora Bora Mountains, which were the main fallback zone for fleeing al Qaeda and Taliban forces after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Judge Leon concluded that Hammamy offered no plausible explanation for how his paperwork ended up there. Prosecutors also argued that Hammamy took part in the battle of Tora Bora.

April 7th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

That appeasement thingy

Back a few weeks ago, our new narcissistic-in-charge POTUS tried to “reach out” to Iran, despite the fact that -

OK, so maybe he missed that report. He’s new and all that. Of course, back at the inauguration festivities, the One had euphorically pronounced a change in policy:

But in trying to capture the attention of an Islamic republic, which has repeatedly called for the extermination of Israel and the destruction of the United States, the Messiah vainly attempts leadership:

Iran’s response was…, well…, less than excited. The Iranian fist is still quite clenched. Although the New York Times failed to take note of the key section of Khamenei’s response to the olive branch weakness, The Corner on NRO noted Khamenei’s response:

Apologize, apologize, yada, yada. Apparently that olive branch thingy is a one way street with Iran.

And even more Islamic fist clenching in Afghanistan and Pakistan as obambi offers “honorable reconciliation”:

Predictably, the Taliban responds with almost a laugh:

Funny, I was thinking the same thing - where is there a “moderate” Taliban? Doesn’t the word itself (Taliban) pretty much define the environment as radical?

I’m impressed that the One has continued the Bush program of blowing up every Taliban and al Qaeda big wig they can find in the Afghanistan theater. He’s even expanded the program to include some provinces outside of the Waziristan mountainous regions - which should help to keep our country safer. As Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal has noted, (paraphrased) “When you kill the first or even the second guy in charge, the others move up. But when you kill one through ten in importance, they have to scramble to keep the organization going.” That’s what the US has intended since early in 2008 as the total count of Predator whacks in Pakistan indicates - 36 recorded strikes in 2008 while there were only 10 in 2006 and 2007 combined. While it started on Bush’s watch, it seems to be one of the very few things obambi has supported from that administration. I’m surprised but pleased.

Then there’s the obvious political side. This is the part that Mr. Messiah won’t be honest about:

Strong indigenous security forces are a key to success in counter-insurgency, U.S. military doctrine states, and Obama said his new strategy would increase efforts to train Afghan forces and bring the Afghan army and police up to strength by 2011.

That date also coincides with the time by which, diplomats say, the Obama administration is likely to want to see results in Afghanistan — a year before the next U.S. presidential election.

The Taliban meanwhile, do not have to win the war, analysts say. All they have to do is survive and wait for their opponents to lose the will to keep fighting.

Aww geez… what if that goal is missed? Will obambi lose the election? Or will his fellow left wing socialists raise the white flag and shout “surrender” loudly? Again.

In his quest to develop a “new” America - an appeasing, apologetic, ‘ we’re sorry for existing ‘ excuse for a democratic republic - the Messiah is 0 for 2. The Islamists have now shut him out twice. I keep recalling the news item from a Mark Steyn article in which he interviewed Hussein Massawi, a former Hezbollah leader. “We are not fighting,” Mr. Masawi said “so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.” It’s the creed of the whole Muslim Brotherhood movement from al Qaeda to the Taliban to Iran. But the One misses that. Not unexpectedly, the rest of us don’t.

He’s doing better with the NCAA trying to force them to have a playoff in football.

April 1st, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, morons | post comments

Bill Ayers takes a hike

A few days ago, a blog called the Doug Ross Journal noted an invitation for Bill Ayers, the unrepentent terrorist of the Weather Underground, to speak publicly - at a Naperville High School student assembly!

I guess that since he’s all about teaching teachers to be socialists, someone in the teaching profession in Chicago would ask him to do this. Someone like Alan Leis, the Superintendent of the Naperville School District.

It’s not going well.

In fact, it got canceled. From Little Green Footballs, an email to Charles Johnson from a reader:

Thank you very much for your e-mail regarding Ayers visit to Naperville North High School. I too have been concerned about this event since learning of it last week, and have been working on it since. I want to advise you that this event has been canceled. A formal announcement will follow later today via Talk 203.

Jackie Romberg
District 203 Board of Education

It just seems so sweet.

I can only hope that Ayers is miffed. Or pissed. Either will do.

March 30th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right, morons | post comments

White People with Blue Eyes

How exactly did this world economic crisis happen? What happened in the US might be explainable.

But why is the whole world getting wretched?

Then I read this and everything made sense.

The global financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes”, says Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Standing next to visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a news conference in Brasilia, Silva harshly criticised the world’s top economies, blaming them for sparking the crisis.

It was caused by “white people with blue eyes” and the world’s poorest nations should not have to pay for a crisis they did not create, he said.

Now all we have to do is find all the white blue-eyed people and kick their ass.

Makes sense.

Phew! I’m glad I got brown eyes. I’m almost positive that has saved me from more wretchedness.

How far again is Brazil from Chavez in Venezuela?

March 27th, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, morons | post comments

“Reallocation” and the Messiah

We’ve all heard of the desire of “The One” to reallocate money. Not his money, ours. It’s caused quite a stir if you haven’t been paying attention. But today in The Washington Times, an editorial points out that obambi’s reallocation exercises have gone over a cliff. Now he has transferred $2 million from the program that trained pilots to carry firearms on flights. This has effectively stalled out the program.

Where has he transeferred the money to? Why “…to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.” What? What are we “field inspecting” pilots for? As the Times points out, the trained Airline Pilots (called Federal Flight Deck Officers)… “are reported to have the best behavior of any federal law enforcement agency. There are no cases where any of them has improperly brandished or used a gun.”

But lets kill a program where the end results are:

• No air flights have been hijacked since it started
• No Federal Flight Deck Officer has ever transgressed any rule of this agency.
• Other than the training, there is no cost to the federal government. The pilots are not paid to carry weapons. They do it free of charge.
• About 70% of major airline carrier pilots have a military background (exactly what federal law enforcement agencies look for)
• Armed marshals only cover about 3% of flights out of Washington DC airports.  Sky marshals are costly and quit more often than other law-enforcement officers.

And somehow all this is considered unworthy by The One. So he decides to can it.

I remember the last time dumocrats got this involved with US security. It was when Clinton put up all those walls between the CIA/FBI/NSA. He was afraid of “losing our rights” and got 9/11 instead.

This administration is taking a more proactive approach. Clinton was a dumb redneck but now we have an intelligent idiot.

This failure will be much more “classical”.

March 18th, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, Moonbats, morons | post comments

And the survey says…..!

Ran across this link from Neptunus Lex. It is a survey that, on the whole, suggests that Iraqi’s are much more upbeat about their situation and the future.

There are a few oddball things in it, but I attribute most of it to the folks responsible for the survey - the BBC and ABC News. I’m nearly positive it was not presented in a biased fashion. ABC and the BBC have both been extremely strong supporters of the Iraq W…..just kidding.

I found it interesting that on the same page of the BBC site of this article, there were two completely divergent articles in sequence on the sidebar. As though the BBC can’t make up their mind whether it’s going good or going bad-

Which is it? Who knows. It’s almost as clear as our hopeychangey Congress trying to showcase their understanding of capitalism.

Here’s a link to the pdf file that has the actual survey results. It’s fun to flip through. There are some interesting numbers in there. Just keep in mind that Iraqi’s (according to this survey) look on the United States about the same as they do Iran.

A few comments -

1) The Messiah is sort of panned in Q29.

2) They think it’s pretty damn positive that the Sunni’s got on board this election cycle - Q35

3) Q45 is a riot - we’re right up there with Iran.

4) Oddly, on Q20, 53% think the US still controls the country but on Q19,

5)  61% of respondents believe that the Iraqi Council of Representatives will not “prevent or reduce official corruption” (unofficial corruption isn’t addressed).  On a positive note, the other 29% is still a much higher approval rating than our own Congress has.

Lots of fun reading.

March 17th, 2009 Posted by bit | Humor, Misfit Media | post comments

Biden just doesn’t get it…

Joe Biden may go down as the second most arrogant and ill informed vice president in recent history (behind only the Goracle). The current appeasement White House administration is trying to sell the COIN tactics used in Iraq as something they can repeat in Afghanistan - though the military leaders do not think that is feasible with certain elements, especially the Taliban. But dumbass Biden plows on and completely misses the point of the Anbar Awakening’s successful effort in Iraq, trying to show that the same “surge” should be successful in the Taliban areas of Afghanistan. Bill Roggio rightfully takes offense at Biden’s ignorance:

I question Vice President Biden’s percentages of Taliban leaders and fighters who are reconcilable and irreconcilable. I have yet to hear an intelligence agency or the military describe the Taliban as such, and in fact most people I’ve spoken to think just the opposite. And as I’ve noted here several times: please, someone, name one of these mythical moderate Taliban leaders willing to negotiate an end to the insurgency and break away from al Qaeda.

But Vice President Biden made one statement about the Anbar Awakening that is completely incorrect. He claimed that the Awakening is made up of the “most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance.”

“We engaged in Iraq the most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance in Anbar Province. . . . The same principle pertains here. Whether or not it will bear as much fruit remains to be seen. There’s only one way, and that is to engage,” he said.

The Anbar Awakening is anything but the “most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance.” In fact, the Anbar Awakening is made up of the more moderate, mainstream elements of the insurgency as well as the prominent tribes in the province. The 1920s Revolution Brigades, a largely nationalist insurgent group, and elements of the Islamic Army of Iraq, another insurgent group largely made up of former military officers, formed the insurgent backbone of the Awakening. These groups are hardly radical Islamists, and certainly not the most extreme elements of the Sunni Insurgency.

Read the rest - it’s short and to the point. Saying that Biden is “misrepresenting” the Anbar Awakening is a leap of kindness on Roggio’s part.

For those who may not be familiar, Bill Roggio is the founder of the Long War Journal, an information and analysis effort that has wrapped itself into the Islamist movement and exposes many of the weaknesses and movements of the Jihadi effort. The Long War Journal is cited daily in publications all over the world, including such policy centers as the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

March 14th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right, morons | post comments

Details of Korea’s Launch

A website called “Closing Velocity” has the details of the expected launch and flight path of North Korea’s imminent ballistic missile sandbox toy:

In a letter to ICAO earlier this week, the North said the launch would take place between April 4-8 and between 11:00 a.m. and 4.p.m. (KST), it added.

Of the two potential danger areas identified, one is in waters close to Japan’s northeastern area and the other is in the East Sea, according to a map released by ICAO. The map appears to show that if successful, a multi-stage rocket would fly over Japan after shedding its first booster in the East Sea.

This is where it gets interesting. John McKittrick’s post maps the proposed missile path - and it is on a direct line to Hawaii.  

Connecting the dots between the launch site (orange triangle) and the two danger zones where the two stages will splash (red triangles), we can see where the missle could head — again, according to the North Koreans themselves:

• They indeed plan to overfly Japan, shedding the first booster in the Sea of Japan.
• Depending on the range of the missile, the trajectory is making a bee-line for Hawaii.

Could it get there? Who knows. But, according to McKittrick, North Korea recently tested an ICBM engine that could put California in its sight:

Could it actually reach Hawaii? Who knows … but the North Koreans did recently test an ICBM engine that would put California in reach. Whether that engine will power this missile is unknown.

Of course there is now a Fox News report that Japan can shoot down the missile if it is launched.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told North Korea to abandon the launch and said Japan was ready to defend itself.

“Legally speaking, if this object falls toward Japan, we can shoot it down for safety reasons,” he said.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan would “deal with anything that is flying toward us. We are preparing for any kind of emergency.”

One commenter noted that “President Training Wheels will use his powers of diplomacy to make everything better. Look at what a wonderful job he has done so far with the UK and Brazil.”

True, but it may be worse than that. The UK and Brazil aren’t even aiming missiles at us. And the Messiah hasn’t been “in the fire” yet on Foreign Policy. I expect him to come out of this one about medium rare.

March 13th, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, morons | post comments

Considering Bernie Madoff a Terrorist

Dennis Lormel at The Counterterrorism Blog has an interesting post up that describes a curious vacancy in Bernie Madoff’s plan - an exit strategy.

As a former FBI Agent, with extensive investigative experience in sophisticated fraud and financial crime schemes, I was intrigued by a statement Madoff made to the court during his pleading. He said “… and as the years went by, I realized my arrest and this day would inevitably come.” Someone needs to ask Madoff the question “at what point in time did you realize that your scheme would be detected?” How many years ago did Madoff reach his conclusion? In my experience, at that point in time, Madoff began planning his exit strategy.

Lormel goes on to note that Madoff’s exit strategy was actually missing:

Big time fraudsters usually theorize that their schemes have a certain shelf life, and at some point, their fraud will be detected. Therefore, many of these fraudsters make contingency plans and devise exit strategies. In many cases, that would mean fleeing the U.S. and relocating to a safe haven such as Robert Vesco and Marc Rich did. Interestingly, Madoff did not. So what was his exit strategy?

The scariest note that Lormel makes mention of is the Annual Threat Assessment that was delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:

On February 12, 2009, Director of National Security (DNI), Dennis C. Blair, testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. DNI Blair provided the Committee with the Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community. The first sentence of the assessment states:

“The primary near-term security concern of the United States (U.S.) is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications.”

This was the first time in six years that terrorism was not listed as the primary threat to the country. Fraud and other criminal activity resulting in the laundering of illicit funds have always been considered a threat to our national economy. The current financial crisis was primarily driven by the frightful combination of fraud, greed and arrogance. The magnitude of that fraud, greed and arrogance has clearly shaken not only our national economy but the global economy as well. In so doing, as noted by DNI Blair, the resulting international instability created by the financial crisis has become the most significant threat to our national security.

 It was good to see that Lormel considers the actions of Madoff to be “economic terrorism” and should be harshly punished - particularly in seizing his assets. Lormel did not have kind words for the greed of other business executives who have been fraudulent in this economic meltdown - calling them “despicable”. 

The general concensus, from people I have had conversations with, is that those business executives who have been grinding the public trust into dust should all be in jail. I agree. And our Congress wants to keep bailing them out. As though the money arrogant and greedy executives lost will ever come back.

And the bank presidents, who are taking most of the blame from the street, get million dollar pay raises. Or coyly tell the stock holders they will forego their “incentive” pay, yet take grandiose stock options for the same amount.

There hasn’t been honor or statesmanship in Washington for years. But to dive into an empty pool as this current Congress has is embarrassing. They seem to think, somehow, that we will change our minds about their behavior and the single digit approval rating they collectively have will climb.

They couldn’t be father from the truth or more disconnected from their constituents.

March 13th, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, Getting it Right | post comments