With Earth Day hours away, the Obamas prove how serious they are about climate change – twitchy.com
We’re losing count of how many planes, helicopters and vehicles are involved, but it looks like somebody’s trying to make the carbon footprint too large to calculate so as to ward off any charges of eco-hypocrisy.
No Greater Tyranny — Descendants of Liberty Press
Burt Wagner was arrested for something that was not actually a crime. His home was raided, his finances were ruined, his family was traumatized, and he was “disappeared” for several days, stuck in solitary confinement while his wife and attorney tried to simply find out where he was being held. All warrants and grand jury testimony were secret and sealed, so he could not refute evidence or face accusers. In the end, all charges were entirely dismissed – once he agreed to let the federal government keep $80,000 of seized assets.Welcome to our post-Patriot Act nation, where civil asset forfeiture is used to steal the life savings of innocent citizens who happen to catch the attention of a hungry government. As you read Burt’s account – and he deserves that much – we’d like you to keep two questions in mind. First, does this even remotely sound like America? And second… how tasty do you think you look to a predatory prosecutor?
Read the whole fucking thing. Is this an America and Government you’re proud of?
Way to go Wisconsin – The voter ID debate is now over
I do not have a fishing license because I don’t fish. I don’t have a hunting license because I don’t hunt. I don’t have a concealed firearm license because I’ve never held a gun in my life.
Yet according to voter ID opponents, my rights to hunt, fish and protect myself are being suppressed because I don’t hold licenses to do these things. Perhaps it’s a secret plot on behalf of Wisconsin’s trout to keep me from tempting them with a delicious worm.
And Wisconsin turnout was quite high btw:
On April 5 in Wisconsin, the dire warning that the new voter ID law would suppress votes was exposed as a fraud; nearly 700,000 more people showed up to vote than in 2008, the last time both parties held presidential primaries — an increase of nearly 50%. It was the largest spring primary turnout in Wisconsin since 1972.
….
If the goal of voter ID was to suppress voting, it failed spectacularly. But that still leaves a small portion of voters on the other side of Stevens’ equation — those who are unable to get the required photo ID for voting. This week, a federal panel of 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld Wisconsin’s voter ID law, but said individuals in the small subset of citizens who had great difficulty in getting photo identification still should be allowed to cast ballots.
Progress.
Added – I should delete this post simply to avoid showing how gullible I am! But to fully shame myself, I will leave it up. It is, of course, an April Fools joke. I would assume it would be more obvious if seen in the paper edition or via the “front page.” The name should have given it away, “Alexus Car” which of course translates into “A Lexus Car.” Oh well, lesson learned (I hope!)
Sounds like a great reason to avoid businesses in Niwot. What stoopidity. – Toll roads proposed for Niwot neighborhoods – Left Hand Valley Courier
As for why this pilot project is taking flight in Niwot, Carr said the small size of the town makes it easier to see what the impacts will be, and the affluent community is best able to afford it.
“Before we take this idea to the rest of Boulder County and Longmont, we thought it would be best to test it out in a smaller community,” Carr explained. “Though it’s never happened before, there’s a chance it might not go how we plan, so we wouldn’t want it to affect too many people. Niwot, with its high-end subdivisions, will be the perfect place for this pilot project.”
Carr expects the project to begin this summer, once all the spring snow melts.
And this is only the beginning….
“Before we take this idea to the rest of Boulder County and Longmont, we thought it would be best to test it out in a smaller community,” Carr explained. “Though it’s never happened before, there’s a chance it might not go how we plan, so we wouldn’t want it to affect too many people. Niwot, with its high-end subdivisions, will be the perfect place for this pilot project.”
The article doesn’t say, but it appears that Alexus Carr works for Boulder County, which apparently has her employed with the job title: “senior planner for the toll projects.” Assuming that is the case, it once again brings up Boulder Counties dereliction of duties when it comes to county infrastructure. The county has already abrogated it’s duty to maintain subdivision roads. However, they have pledged to maintain main county thoroughfares. Now we see that they wish to dodge this obligation as well.
Ham-Handed Arrest at Pediatric Clinic Highlights Official War on the Powerless – Reason.com
Forget that “war on cops.” Unaffordable penalties, incompetent courts, and heavy-handed tactics are all evidence of an official assault on regular Americans.
Thugs with guns. Worse yet, government thugs with guns. This “raid” was about a trivial offense. Public shaming of these thugs is called for.
New York Minimum Wage — White Castle Adjusts, Entry-Level Workers Lose Out – National Review
But Cuomo’s idea of “economic justice” is a long way from the dollars-and-cents reality of running a burger business. If labor costs rise dramatically, White Castle will have to balance its books by raising prices or changing its business model so that it needs less labor. “Is there any room to raise prices to cover costs?” Richardson muses. “We think we’d need to increase menu prices by something like 50 percent. It’s not something we’ve done before. It’d be catastrophic.”
In fact, Richardson says that White Castle has historically seen its customers react noticeably to even slight increases in menu prices. “Some people think that we can just raise menu prices to cover the increased labor costs,” he says. “But it’s a ripple effect. We’re not the only place to eat, we compete with other restaurants. And people always have ‘L cubed’: Making Leftovers Last Longer.”
Richardson says — and common sense dictates — that if menu prices at fast-food chains shoot up by anywhere near 50 percent, many people will stop eating out as much, replacing trips to White Castle with trips to the grocery store. Customers can always vote with their feet and their dollars.
But thinking through the implications of raising prices to cover increased costs, which could reduce sales, isn’t what irks Richardson the most: To him and to White Castle, New York’s minimum-wage hike is a threat to a culture of opportunity in the neighborhoods that they have always called home.
“Candidly, this could create a whole generation of kids who won’t get their first job,” Richardson laments. “We’re in tough neighborhoods — and White Castle hasn’t abandoned those neighborhoods. On the surface, higher pay seems noble, but it’s not — because it denies the reality of the free-enterprise framework that has allowed small businesses like ours to thrive.”
Read the whole thing. On a related note: California clothing manufacturers fleeing minimum wage hike
Libertarian debate. Candidates are Gary Johnson, John McAfee, Austin Petersen. If the libertarian candidate can poll at 15% then he will qualify for the televised Presidential debates, I assume until he doesn’t poll at 15% but don’t know for sure. In a political year such as this, I’d certainly like to see a 3rd person on the debate stage.
Quite the journey. Read the whole thing.
Nearly 20 years ago, Monica Lewinsky found herself at the heart of a political storm. Now she’s turned that dark time into a force for good
Monica Lewinsky: ‘The shame sticks to you like tar’ | Technology | The Guardian
Way to go University of Chattanooga students – UTC Students start petition for #TheChalkening recall election – News 12 Now
“This is NOT a recall petition for Hailey Puckett,” the email reads, “but for the newly elected President and Vice President who have asked her to resign following her chalking artwork showing support for Donald J. Trump on the UTC campus.
As Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit says, “Punch back twice as hard.”
Way to go Ohio State – FINALLY—A COLLEGE PRESIDENT FINDS A BACKBONE – Steven Hayward/Powerline (video at link)
Hayward concludes:
Memo to all college presidents: This is how you do it. Why is this so hard?
The father-in-law is an OSU grad and entire family are OSU sports fans. No doubt, OSU has acted much better than I expect my alma mater, The University of Tennessee would in a similar situation.
Instapundit – He’s a male, which makes him guilty.
Read the comments too.
Stop the press, someone tell the psuedo intellectual Boulder elite and especially the Boulder County Commissars – Biologists Have Learned Something Horrifying About Prairie Dogs – Gizmodo
“Prairie dogs will chase ground squirrels—usually babies—and if they catch them, they shake them violently,” Hoogland said. “While they’re shaking, they’re biting the back of the neck to sever the vertebral column. Sometimes they grab by the head and literally debrain the baby. It’s violent, savage, and awful.”
Ya don’t say. Next Boulder County will be saving the ground squirrels.
If you really want to help poor people, raising the minimum wage is one of the worst things you can do. It kills jobs that poor people desperately need.
Wow… ya think?
City of Dallas is trying to evict Hinga Mbogo out of his auto repair shop he’s owned for 30 years – Dallas Wants To Destroy A Popular Small Business–And Not Pay Him A Dime – Forbes
Instead of respecting the property rights of minority-owned businesses, the city wants to redevelop and gentrify the area.
Thin mints will never be the same – ACADEMIC FARCE OF THE WEEK: HOW TO RUIN THIN MINTS – Steven Hayward
Thank you Denise Goerisch, hope you are awarded your Ph.D in Geography…. on 2nd thought, perhaps the world would be better off with one less.
News Seagate can use: Cyberthieves’ Latest Target: Your Tax Forms
An email scam targeting companies is putting huge amounts of individuals’ tax information into the hands of criminals, potentially wreaking havoc on the victims’ lives for years.
Coming at the height of tax season, when millions of workers are filing their federal and state returns, the “phishing” or “spoofing” scheme is simple and effective: The perpetrator, impersonating a company’s high-ranking executive from a phony email address that appears legitimate, fools staffers in the payroll or human-resources departments into forwarding W-2 forms or other tax information.
Of course, what good is the article without mentioning Seagate by name?
Other victims include data-storage firm Seagate Technology PLC in Cupertino, Calif.; Billy Casper Golf, a golf-course company based in Reston, Va.; biotechnology companyPerkinElmer Inc.; and Phoenix-based regional grocery chain Sprouts Farmers MarketInc.
To quote Yogi Berra, “It’s like deja vu all over again” – Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit
The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place.
Oh this will end well.
Microchipped dogs: My name is Melanie and in seven days’ time I will become a criminal
Coming soon to a stoopid city near you.
If I were the parents of these ninnies I’d be ashamed and taking away their tuition money – Hey, College Ninnies—Grow Up! | City Journal
Put aside for a moment the students’ ignorant demand for protection from political speech. Their self-image as immiserated proletarians, huddled together for safety and support, is pure fantasy. In fact, they are the most privileged group of human beings in history, enjoying unfettered access to intellectual, scientific, and social resources that would have been the envy of every monarch in the age of absolutism. And any college adult who has any sense of his responsibility to fit his charges for an objective relationship to reality would seek to convey that truth. By contrast, rewarding students’ delusional self-pity only increases the likelihood that they will fail to take advantage of the enormous intellectual riches at their fingertips and go through life with self-defeating chips on their shoulders. But President Wagner followed slavishly in the footsteps of virtually every other college president confronted by student claims of “unsafety”—he rolled over completely.
The real world is going to be very unkind to this group of most privileged spoiled brats. My only concern is that industry will cater to these idiots. They need a real job in the bruising real world or spend some time in the unemployment line.
