In the “How High Are Corn Prices in the Panhandle, ths?” Category

…judging by what major dad and I saw at our little treehugger co-op Saturday (making the commissary pale in comparison)?
Answer: Higher than a giraffe’s balls.

Our Kids Have Been Dying There for How Many Years

…so they are free to kill their own for dating? They turn my stomach.

In Afghanistan, Rage at Young Lovers

HERAT, Afghanistan — The two teenagers met inside an ice cream factory through darting glances before roll call, murmured hellos as supervisors looked away and, finally, a phone number folded up and tossed discreetly onto the workroom floor.

It was the beginning of an Afghan love story that flouted dominant traditions of arranged marriages and close family scrutiny, a romance between two teenagers of different ethnicities that tested a village’s tolerance for more modern whims of the heart. The results were delivered with brutal speed.

This month, a group of men spotted the couple riding together in a car, yanked them into the road and began to interrogate the boy and girl. Why were they together? What right had they? An angry crowd of 300 surged around them, calling them adulterers and demanding that they be stoned to death or hanged.

When security forces swooped in and rescued the couple, the mob’s anger exploded. They overwhelmed the local police, set fire to cars and stormed a police station six miles from the center of Herat, raising questions about the strength of law in a corner of western Afghanistan and in one of the first cities that has made the formal transition to Afghan-led security.

…Ms. Mohammedi’s uncle visited her in jail to say she had shamed the family, and promised that they would kill her once she was released. Her father, an illiterate laborer who works in Iran, sorrowfully concurred. He cried during two visits to the jail, saying almost nothing to his daughter. Blood, he said, was perhaps the only way out.

“What we would ask is that the government should kill both of them,” said the father, Kher Mohammed.

The teenagers, embarrassed to talk about love, said plainly that they were ready for death.

But they were baffled by why they should have to be killed.

The Religion of Pieces sure covers a lot of hateful territory when you need an excuse for damn near any foul deed, doesn’t it?

If ever there was a reason for the United States to flex its muscle, yanking those two kids out the hands of those whackjob maniacs would be a good humanitarian start.

But no one’s that ballsy or into life and liberty in Obamaland.

“We Either Save This Country Or We Do Not”

My Senator brought tears to my eyes. Dear God, he did. (He also gets into it with Lurch.)

With just a piece of paper in front of him.

“You save the whole house, or it will all burn down!”

I coudn’t be more proud. And he couldn’t BE more right.

Excuse ME?

…One of the little-known features of Harry Reid’s “compromise” proposal–no detailed version of which exists–is that it would “deem” budgets to have been enacted for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

Powerline takes the bloom off Harry’s vile rose.

But you have to read it to find out what’s in it before you pass it.

Boehner Did It

There we have it.

Bravo Mr. Speaker.

World Coming to an End

Film at…well…here it is.

Obama’s Admission

Yep, it’s all been about Party posturing.

At least that’s how “The time for putting Party first has passed. It’s now time to put the American People first” sounded to me.

In Recovery Lexicon, I Believe I’m Called An “Enabler”

…for letting this little news item slip out in front of major dad and Bingley…

Amy Winehouse killed by quitting alcohol, family believes

July 14, 2009

Warren, Michigan

…Obama said, “Now, my administration has a job to do, as well, and that job is to get this economy back on its feet. That’s my job. And it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, ‘Well, this is Obama’s economy.’

That’s fine. Give it to me. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.”

You’re doing a great job there, Bambi, and covering yourself in glory.

I Don’t Think “Invisible Man” Is a Bad Thing

By 2012, he should vanish completely.

BREAKING UPDATE: ZOMG, JUST as I put this up, GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?

DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL!!!

@toddstarnes
toddstarnes
BREAKING: President Obama will be making a statement at 10:20 a.m. eastern time.

Just turn the damn thing completely off.
I gotta work. I’m cool.

Expectedly Craptastic

The Experts were looking for a crappy growth rate of 1.7% last quarter.

Economists forecast the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.7 percent, according to a FactSet survey. That follows a 1.9 percent growth rate in the first three months of the year. Those are the slowest back-to-back quarters since the economy began recovering from the recession two years ago.

The actual number was 1.3%

Oh yay.

Update: Reuters

(Reuters) – The economy grew less than expected in the second quarter as consumer spending barely rose amid higher gasoline prices, and growth braked sharply in the prior quarter, a government report showed on Friday.

Growth in gross domestic product — a measure of all goods and services produced within U.S. borders – rose at a 1.3 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said. First-quarter output was sharply revised down to a 0.4 percent pace from 1.9 percent.

We’re in the best of hands.

Update: from the same article, think about this

A smaller trade deficit , as imports slowed, was one of the main contributors to the rise in second-quarter growth, with businesses spending and inventory investment also adding to output.

What feeble ‘growth’ we had was because we imported less so the trade deficit was smaller.

Unbelievably pathetic.

More: Futures are tanking. Oh, and how’s all the government plans working out for employers?

(Reuters) – U.S. civilian employment costs surged a steeper-than-expected 0.7 percent in the second quarter, the biggest gain since September 2008, on a jump in benefits costs, Labor Department data showed on Friday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the Employment Cost Index to increase 0.5 percent in the three months ending in June, after a 0.6 percent rise in the prior quarter.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Yep, it’s a train

For all our obsessing about it, the national debt is a singularly bad way of measuring the nation’s financial condition. It includes only a small portion of the nation’s total liabilities. And it’s focused on the past. An honest assessment of the country’s projected revenue and expenses over the next generation would show a reality different from the apocalyptic visions conjured by both Democrats and Republicans during the debt-ceiling debate. It would be much worse.

…The U.S. is in danger of reaching a generational tipping point at which older Americans have the clout to vote themselves benefits that sap the strength of the younger generation—benefits that can never be repeated. Kotlikoff argues that we may have reached that point already. He worries that the U.S. could become Argentina, which went from one of the world’s richest to lower-middle income in a century of chronic mismanagement.

Read the whole thing. Closely. As I’ve said many times, we have been our own worst enemy and we all need to cut back, and now, to have a prayer at getting out of this.

And yes that means all things need to be cut, including current benefits for retirees.

Yes, it totally sucks. But we have gleefully let politicians make promises and write checks for us on our account that we simply can’t cover.

“We Will Take Action”

So says “Cowboy” Carney

Oh really?

I’m sure that I don’t need to go over this given that we have such a Noted Constitutional Scholar as President, but we are a nation ruled by law and out Constitution has very specific guidelines on what each branch of government can and can not do.

Here are the sole powers of the President

Section 2 – Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section 3 – State of the Union, Convening Congress

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The threat of default I think certainly falls under “extraordinary Occasions” it seems to me, and note that the Constitution the only power he has is to “convene both Houses.”

In other words, in effect lock them in Congress and say “y’all ain’t leaving until you solve this.”

There is nothing, absolutely nothing in the President’s delineated powers that give him the option or ability to bypass Congress on fiscal matters.

Now, let’s look at Congress. What is their responsibility?

Section 7 – Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto

All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

…

Section 8 – Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

…

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

…

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9 – Limits on Congress

…No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

It is exceedingly clear that there is nothing that Obama can legally do, other than exhort Congress to actually do their job (which they have been miserable failures at). Now, he certainly can help matters by presenting a plan of his own that bears some semblance of reality to it but he CAN NOT unilaterally issue some degree to raise the debt ceiling. No way.

The 14th Amendment argument is specious. Here’s the relevant clause

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

There is nothing here that gives the President some Caudillo-like power to over-step Congress and unilaterally spend more money. It says “the debt shall not be questioned.” This means that we can not disavow it and say we don’t owe it; not that we “can never be late on a payment.” Look, being late on a payment would have enormously deleterious effects on our credit rating and thus on our economy but that is simply NOT the same as “questioning” the debt and in no way can that even be possibly construed as an excuse for the President to assume in effect a dictatorial power over another branch of our government. If Congress royally screws the pooch and doesn’t do their jobs then it is OUR job to get rid of them and put in people who will.

As clearly stated above only Congress can “coin money”, so this idea some people are floating about Obama instructing Noted Tax Cheat Geithner to mint a couple of trillion dollar platinum coins to use as collateral is simply unconstitutional.

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Is that so hard to understand?

On August 2nd we’ll pay the interest on the debt and decide what other bills we can pay, and the world’s credit markets will roast us. Interest rates will rise and our deficits and debt will really explode as we are forced to refinance our $20 some-odd trillion in liabilities at every higher cost.

Congress needs to pass something, and for God’s sake people we need to hold them all seriously accountable in the next election. But we also need to hold ourselves accountable, because we have all in our own way to varying degrees allowed this to develop.

We have to have a smaller government that spends a lot less money.

Or we will be bankrupt in a short period of time.

Project Runway Starts Tonight 9E/8C

YEAH!

Oh, That’s Just Effin’ Great

Punch an Obama voter in the mouth.

Officials Will Brief Public on Which Bills Will Be Paid, Which Not, After Markets Close Friday

If there is no clear path out of this morass by tomorrow, sources say that administration officials will likely brief the public on how the Treasury Department will try to handle the bills Congress mandates that the government pay given a situation where Congress has not given them a way to do so.

Via Ace, who says it’s “almost like they’re looking for the markets to crash”. Yeah, well. I wouldn’t put anything past this bunch, ever.

But I’m stupid that way.

UPDATE: Well, as Geraghty just put it (and I had just finished reading the whole thing on FaceBook):

If Palin were any clearer, GOP freshmen would have woken up with horses’ heads in their beds this morning. http://bit.ly/nhutN6

He’s specifically referring to her cozy sign-off…

All my best to you, GOP Freshmen, from up here in the Last Frontier.

Sincerely,

Sarah Palin

P.S. Everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries.

A Commenter Over at Althouse Reminded Me of a Mr.Wu We All Knew and Loved

Lord, we miss “Deadwood”.

No cute tiger suit, no pretensions and NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Follow the Bouncing BoogityBoogityBoogity Amen

I think it’s cheerful as the dickens.

‘We Don’t Have a Deficit Problem Right Now’

Yessireebob.

And we’re the stupid ones.

Can I be really fly-over country and say something about “fat”, “grossly obese”, plain gross…anything?

Nah. Don’t feed the beast.

This Is From Last October

I guess we missed it because we’re not CBS watchers.

It’s raining outside today.

Inside now, too.

Our Professional, Unbiased Media

How cute ~ “tbag freshman”. A douchebag calls it as he sees it.

@DavidShuster
David Shuster
“Somebody did ask what happens if it gets to the Senate and they change it ” – Rep. King on tbag freshman unaware how bill becomes a law.

BIG Badda

BOOM!

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.

“The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show,” Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. “There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans.”

In addition to finding that far less heat is being trapped than alarmist computer models have predicted, the NASA satellite data show the atmosphere begins shedding heat into space long before United Nations computer models predicted.

Ebola’s explanation accompanied the link for the article:

Idiots. No shit something that can only A) maintain atmospheric properties if attached to cloud conducting nuclei (CCN) B) At maximum can retain under .01% of said CCN ain’t gonna trap heat. That means it’s so miniscule it’s only capable of reflecting or “trapping” exceptionally short wavelengths.

We’re still waiting on a pie chart to turn that into English for us rubes, but, most assuredly, your taxpayer dollars have been well spent on at least ONE Air Force weather grad.

I wonder if Al heard the earth move under his feet?

UPDATE: Ebola plain Englishspeak:

Talking about carbon dioxide as a thermal reflector. Just the base idea that it can, on its own, reflect a significant enough portion of thermal radiation at any length to warm the atmosphere that much is a f*cking joke

Ebola has always been a “climate skeptic”.

Another Reason Why We’re In the Fix That We’re In

It’s why Harry Reid can get 53 do-nothing/done-nothing morons to sign a “we-WON’T-sign-it” letter to a GOP Congress that HAS presented plan after plan to resolve a burgeoning crisis. It’s why a Democratic Congress can sit on its ass for over two years without completing the SINGLE responsibility entrusted and defined in the Constitution, yet twiddle, fiddle and faddle away trillions of dollars that have nothing to do with the immediate lives of Americans and the state of the country in their care. It’s why a President elected with so much hopeful hoopla can turn so quickly into a truly evil charicature, but still be supported in his duplicity and hubris by his base…and by the media.

It’s because this is what they’ve thought of us all along.

Let’s just call them the “Deadbeat Party”

As I write, it’s impossible to guess how the latest made-for-TV partisan crisis in Washington will end. We’ve reached the point where the president of the United States felt he needed to deliver a prime-time speech essentially defending the post-Enlightenment values of reason, evidence and compromise against an obscurantist movement more like a religious cult than a political party.

But has President Obama got the guts to deal with the reality facing him? Signs are not encouraging. The standoff has two major components: the adolescent nihilism of the Republican right,

and the intellectual sloth of the American people.

Y’all got that?

We’re so lazily stupid, you see. We can’t be bothered by any of this, mind you, God forbid even attempt the effort to dig a little deeper than our next trip to the Piggly Wiggly and figuring out the sales tax.

The arrogance is so stunning, it’s breathtaking. Just breathtaking.

I want to go all Allen West on his ass.

And we have to take our lives back, even if it’s $917B at a time.

2012

BREAKING: ANOTHER Soldier Arrested at Ft Hood

What’s WITH these nutjobs and this base?!?!?!:

Terror
EXCLUSIVE: AWOL Soldier Arrested Over Concerns of Possible Second Attack On Fort Hood

At least one U.S. military serviceman has been arrested after raising concerns over another possible attack on Fort Hood, Fox News has learned exclusively.

Pvt. Nasser Jason Abdo, an AWOL soldier from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested by the Killeen Police Department near Fort Hood and remains in custody there. Authorities, however, will not say if Abdo is the one who raised security concerns.

Bob Jenkins, a Fort Campbell spokesman, told Fox News that Abdo was being investigated for child pornography found on his government computer.

Abdo went AWOL on July 4. On the eve of his first deployment to Afghanistan — after only one year in the Army — Abdo applied for conscientious objector status. It was denied by his superiors at Ft. Campbell but later overturned by the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Army review board.

Another source told Fox News that two other U.S. soldiers also raised possible concerns. Authorities have recovered weapons and possibly explosive materials, Fox News was told.

5.6 Earthquake In Wasilla

This is the first thing we can definitely say is Sarah’s fault.

Update: boy, they are refining this sucker all over the place. It’s gone from 5.4 to 5.3 to 5.6 now it’s back to 5.3

Courtesy of Ebola Comes a Video He’ll Be Watching Over and Over, While Living

…in the back of the Commando Wagon down by the river, since his apartment complex WON’T take the government vouchers for rent payment that Congress will be passing out to active duty members, because they can’t get their heads remove á vous from their asses in a timely fashion.

ths notes: After watching, I tried to get into their website yesterday, but the servers were all blowed up from traffic. Seems LOTS of folks had inquiring minds.