Doug Ross @ Journal - 75% snark-free diatribes on politics, technology & security

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Officials in Southern California prepare for inevitable nuclear attack, thanks to SmartPower™ policies of Obama, Clinton and Holder

Given an administration that coddles terrorists, cozies up to nutcases like Kim Jong-Il and wink-winks at a nuclear Iran, these preparations seem sensible.

...local officials are inventorying hundreds of old bomb and fallout shelters as part of their preparations for a "radiological or nuclear event"... Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas are drafting emergency plans while federal agencies study how to prepare the public for what county public health Director Jonathan Fielding describes as a "low-likelihood, huge-consequences event."

His department hosted a workshop earlier this month for the emergency operations staff of the county's 88 cities in preparation for "Golden Phoenix," an exercise scheduled for June 2010 that simulates the scenario of a 10-kiloton nuclear device detonated in Los Angeles... "We think this is a great opportunity for us to open a dialogue with the 88 cities so they can begin to amend their emergency plans to include planning for a nuclear device."

...Interest in such civil defense activities was renewed in recent years amid fears that a terrorist group or rogue nation like Iran or North Korea might gain access to nuclear weapons.

The federal Homeland Security Council is urging state and local governments to prepare in the event of a nuclear detonation in a major city.

And Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is studying how to incorporate a nuclear detonation scenario into a citizen preparedness campaign.

...Experts are also concerned about nuclear threats posed by Iran and North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China and Russia. The president of Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map and experts believe North Korea has missiles that can hit the West Coast.

Experts are especially concerned about the possibility that Iran one day could launch ship-based nuclear missiles, said Brian Kennedy, president of The Claremont Institute's Ballistic Missile Defense Project.

"The West Coast of the U.S. has limited missile defense against a North Korean missile," Kennedy said. "And, unfortunately, we're almost completely vulnerable to a ship-launched ballistic missile attack."

Kennedy is also concerned a ship-launched nuclear missile detonated at a high altitude would create an electromagnetic pulse, possibly destroying electronic equipment and knocking out the nation's power grid - leaving the country with little or no communications and no ability to provide food and water to potentially hundreds of millions of people.

Congressional reports suggest such an attack could result in more than 100 million deaths in a year, said Sharon Packer, executive director of the American Civil Defense Association.

...Ken Kondo, spokesman for the county's Office of Emergency Management, said the recent 50th anniversary of the county's Civil Defense program piqued a lot of interest in the shelters, along with the post-apocalyptic films, "The Road" starring Viggo Mortensen and "The Book of Eli" starring Denzel Washington, slated for release in January.

"Hollywood is raising awareness about the aftermath of a mega disaster and what needs to be done to survive," Kondo said.

"So to Hollywood, we say, `Thank you.' Now it's up to us to start to locate and find these fallout and bomb shelters and make preparations and plans to utilize them in the event that people need to take shelter because of a terrorist attack or man-made event."

Cheering news, but not unexpected from the hard left Democrats that support, enable and appease world despotism.

Labels: Democrats, extremism, Obama, War

KSM Glamor Shot, Trial Serve as Infomercials for Jihad

Writing at American Thinker, J. R. Dunn poses some fascinating questions.

Is anyone else as puzzled as I am by the new stock photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? It could hardly be more different from the hairy chested view of him taken upon his apprehension.

I'm referring to the photo that appeared at the same time that the New York trial was announced, portraying him in traditional Arab dress. The picture is odd in a number of respects. For one thing, it's extraordinarily ambiguous. While KSM appears to be trying to look ferocious, the robes, wide-eyed expression, and cocked head all work to give him a distinctly feminine air. The picture fairly reeks of the homoeroticism that Christopher Hitchens, among others, has detected in the Jihadi subculture.

But the oddest thing of all is this: it's obviously a recent photo. This individual is several years older than the figure in the well-known "crazed pizzeria worker" photo that introduced KSM to the world. So it had to be taken since he was in custody, and it is alleged that the International Red Cross took it.

The question is: why?

Look at what he's wearing. The white headdress, the turban. This is a sheikh's costume. The clothing of a figure of respect in the Arab world. This photo was designed to impress, to portray KSM not as a prisoner, not as a terrorist, but as a man of distinction within the framework of his home culture.

This picture was apparently taken while KSM was in American custody, processed with American acquiescence, and released with American permission. It's exactly as if we were acting as KSM's PR firm, hired to make him look as imposing as possible.

There is no better example of the Obama administration's skewed priorities than this single photo.

KSM admitted -- and it was independently confirmed through multiple sources include Usama Bin Laden -- arranging the murders of some 3,000 American citizens, easily the greatest single act of terrorism in world history.

Men and women going about their business, reading their emails, answering the phones, cleaning toilets and arranging for babysitters.

Men and women left at the real precipice, clothes melting on their bodies as a hundred stories of air offered the only release.

What kind of administration permits KSM to publish glamor shots that market Jihad around the world? What kind of Attorney General supports these efforts?

The same kind of A.G. that expends enormous effort to cover up voter intimidation by its New Black Panther allies, in a seeming effort to encourage anarchy and violence at polling places.

The Justice Department has ordered its career trial lawyers who have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights not to appear to provide testimony or give documents in the investigation of DOJ’s dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case...

How a personnel guideline can supersede the force of a subpoena issued by the commission remains a mystery...

A source tells me that Adams was “not quite” threatened with the loss of his job, but plainly he and his colleague, Christopher Coates, the voting rights section chief, are being strong-armed to disregard a lawful subpoena. This is abject lawlessness, the sort of executive imperiousness that, if practiced by a Republican administration, would bring howls of protest from Congress, the media, and liberal lawyers’ groups. The Obama Justice Department doesn’t want to respond to a subpoena because they have a personnel rule? Next thing you know they’ll be claiming executive privilege for a social secretary. Oh yes, that’s right...

Any liberal with an ounce of intellectual honesty will receive a full and fair hearing on this blog if they can explain this outrageous behavior.

Mark my words: the trial of KSM will turn into a months-long miniseries as well as an effective infomercial for jihad. And, as was presciently stated in the days of Bill Clinton, Americans will needlessly die as a result of these policies.

In the case of Clinton, however, it was due to simple incompetence, arrogance and corruption. Under the current regime, however, it appears entirely intentional, perhaps step number six in the 12-step program to shred the Constitution.

Hat tip: Larwyn.

Labels: Crime, Democrats, extremism, Holder, Obama, War

Google Adds Real-Time Twitter Updates to Search Results

Well, this is interesting. Google appears to have added real-time Twitter messages into its standard search results.

Click to Zoomify
You can also choose Updates as a channel like News, Blogs, Groups, and such.

It's an interesting development, to be sure, and that also highlights the importance of Twitter as a platform.

As an aside, is anyone else seeing this search behavior -- or am I a one-off, as usual?

Labels: eBusiness, Marketing

Larwyn's Linx: Debt Crisis Portends Liberalism's End

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"AGW theory is deader than Monty Python’s parrot. Get over it." -- Melanie Phillips

Labels: Linkfest

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

My War of Words With the Canadian Health Care System

A representative of Canada's state-run health care system has rushed to the battle front to defend her system from evil conservative bloggers like moi. She writes:

Actually, the health care system in Canada does work. And it works pretty well. My family and I have enjoyed unrestricted access to specialists, general practitioners, surgeons, hospitals, outpatient departments, emergency rooms, and labs, just to name a few services, over the past few years for a variety of concerns – football injuries to hysterectomies to skin conditions to flu shots. I’ve never had to argue with a insurance company over what they would pay, nor have a copay to pay. There is no paperwork or bills to review or submit – we just show our health care card at the hospital or doctor’s office or walk-in clinic.

Of course there are idiots, horror stories, and cracks that people fall through in Canada. Just like the horror stories in the States – and this is confirmed by my family in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas and Missouri tell me – (all born and raised in US, so they are not used to, nor probably even aware of, what we have up in Canada and therefore cannot be accused of bias). And there are people that complain bitterly about anything and everything.

- Remember that Canadian woman who had to go to the States for her brain tumour to be removed? It was not cancer, it was not growing appreciably, and the Canadian health care services would have operated on it, close to her own home, in 6 months time, without any change in her overall health. And cost her no money. Instead she had it operated on “instantly” in the US, because she didn’t want to wait, and now is complaining (tearfully on CNN via YouTube) that she is devastated by the bill of over $100,000. That is a reality of the States health care system.

On average, we live longer than the population in the States. Fewer of our babies die in infancy. We have better outcomes in almost every measure of health care – including surgery! We pay through taxes less than half you do in the States for more care. Our health care is not “socialized medicine” – we pay taxes (like you do) and in return, the government allocates $ to each province (like states) for a list of basic health care (prenatal care to surgeries to emergency rooms) to be provided to every Canadian citizen. Period. You do not call it Socialized Agriculture when your government subsidizes farmers? You don’t call it Socialized Free Enterprise when your government reduces tax to business. Socialized Highways, Socialized Parks? Socialized Defence?

Please don’t write off health care systems that are maybe just different from yours.

Her email server really is owned by the interiorhealth.ca domain, so it appears legit. I replied:

Please read the following from the NIH, Stanford University and other professional opinions. Follow the links for attribution. I'll wait patiently for your corrections. Best Regards, Doug

• The work of Barbara Starfield and others has repeatedly shown that having a family doctor is the single best way to ensure access to sound health care. Yet a 2006 study revealed that 17% of Canadians do not have family physicians—about 5 million Canadians have no family doctor. Of these 5 million, around 2 million have sought unsuccessfully for one. The NIH reports that "...with an aging family physician population and a projected increase in the population of seniors as baby boomers reach retirement, there is a looming crisis in primary care in Canada."

• The Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford reports the following, which utterly refutes your claims: "1. Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.

Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the United Kingdom and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher. ... 2. Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality in Canada is 9 percent higher than in the United States, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher, and colon cancer among men is about 10 percent higher. ... 3. Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit from statin drugs, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease, are taking them. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons, and 17 percent of Italians receive them."

• In 2009 about 2,500 Canadians per month sought medical treatment in the U.S. because of accessibility, long waits and life-threatening conditions.

• There is a projected $36 trillion shortfall in funding for Medicare and Medicaid.

• California's Medi-Cal program is an unmitigated disaster, burning a $14 billion hole in a state with a nearly $50 billion overall budget shortfall.

• Single-payer has failed cancer patients and children in the UK. It has condemned patients to long and sometimes fatal waits for routine tests in Canada (e.g., "Excessive wait times for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies are a major problem in the Canadian healthcare system." Healthcare Policy, Canada, 2009).

• The UK's NHS is broke and fading fast.

• "British cancer patients are substantially more likely to die of the disease than those in other western European countries because of poor access to the latest drugs, according to an authoritative report to be published today." (Cancer survival rates worst in western Europe: Telegraph, UK, 2007)

• As for anecdotes? Here's one that describes what U.S. diplomatic officials see every day.

I am an American living and working in [Canadian City]. Please do not use my name, but I am a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Consulate here... working in the... visas section. I could get in big trouble professionally for telling you this.

...I had numerous opportunities to work on cases in which Canadians were attempting to emigrate to the U.S. primarily for medical procedures. In one case, a U.S. citizen father was petitioning for his [Canadian adult] son to join him in [state]...

...His son had a non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and was unable to obtain the necessary treatments in Canada. In the U.S., two physicians had examined him and basically concluded that, because the disease had not spread above his neck, that he could be saved. In Canada, this young man was under a death sentence. Once I was satisfied that his medical costs would not be borne by U.S. taxpayers, I got him his visa and (hopefully) another chance at life.

* * * * * * * * *
[There was another] case of a young Canadian mother, in tears, who had recently given birth to a child with cerebral palsy. Her husband, a U.S. citizen working in Canada, was able to transmit U.S. citizenship to his infant son and he was petitioning for his wife so that the family could move to Chicago. Why? So the boy could get the treatment that he needed in the U.S., which was superior to that in Canada.

* * * * * * * * *
[We all] had several cases of nurses, doctors, and [X-ray] technicians who emigrated to the U.S. for professional reasons. Sometimes it was for the opportunity to earn more money (one doctor, earning about $85K annually Canadian, had a job offer at a clinic in Buffalo for $300K U.S.). For others, it was a chance to to do what they were trained to do - in the U.S., [an X-ray] technician has the equipment and facilities to ply his trade, whereas in Canada the opportunities to do so are quite limited.

* * * * * * * * *
I realize that this is all anecdotal and not statistically based, but in my experience the only Canadians who are satisfied with the system here are people who are healthy. I do not mean that in a snide attempt to be funny, I am serious - it is a good program for young healthy couples with one or two children who need vaccinations and routine appointments.

However, if you get sick, this is not the place to be.

Lastly, a comment - U.S. health care is a good value for the money. Would you rather have 2009 health care at 2009 prices, in the U.S., or 1970 health care at 1970 prices? The answer is obvious, and even our own Congress knows it. I am pretty sure that Ted Kennedy would not choose to have his brain cancer treated anywhere but the U.S., and the same is true for John Kerry's prostate cancer.

* * *
"Access to a waiting list is not access to health care" --Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, Supreme Court of Canada (Chaoulli v. Quebec)

In 2007 the Canadian government issued a series of reports to address the outcry over long wait times for critical tests, procedures and surgeries. Over a two year period:

• Wait times for knee replacements dropped from 440 to 307 days.
• Wait times for hip replacements dropped from 351 to 257 days.
• Wait times for cataract surgeries dropped from 311 to 183 days.
• Wait times for MRIs dropped from 120 to 105 days.
• Wait times for CT scans dropped from 81 to 62 days.
• Wait times for bypass surgeries dropped from 49 to 48 days.

These "improvements" are unheard of in the United States. Waiting 48 days for a bypass or 105 days for an MRI could very well be a death sentence.

The public has fought for 50-plus years to build a publicly funded Medicare system that they’re now telling us isn’t quite working for them. -- Health Care in Canada Round Table 2005

A Commonwealth Fund 2005 International Health Policy Survey (slide 16) showed that 41% of patients in the UK and 33% of patients in Canada waited more than 4 months for non-emergency surgery. Only 8% American patients waited more than 4 months for surgery.

Meanwhile, in Hamilton, Ontario, hospitals have received an infusion of cash to cut wait times for diagnostic procedures and certain surgeries, which have become intolerable.

And these are precisely the type of government-controlled health-care systems proposed by the Democratic candidates. Not only are they destined for failure, they will cost thousands of lives. And with the UK and Canada as examples, everyone can see the train-wreck coming.

Story after story after story describes the Canadian health care system in crisis. CBS News and The New York Times are among the sources.
* * *
For many Canadians, the choice is crystal clear: you can receive "free" health care and die -- or you can receive treatment in the U.S., pay for it, and live. Worst-case, the choice is death -- or bankruptcy. Which would you choose for a loved one?

Labels: Democrats, Healthcare, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, World

Billy Dee Williams Introduces Tiger Woods Collectible Plates

Labels: Water-cooler

Exclusive Photo: Senator Robert Byrd Prepares to Cast 60th Vote on Health Care

They've got to get to sixty, no matter what it takes!

Roll Byrd out on a tray -- just get him to vote.

Labels: Democrats, Healthcare

Democrats Announce Massive Upgrades to Mount Rushmore

Democrats today unveiled a dramatic renovation of Mount Rushmore.

Artist's conception of the upgrades:

The reverse side is also slated for gentrification:

Hat tip: Ace and Doug Ross. But mostly Doug Ross.

Labels: Democrats, Obama

"A Good Solid, Clusterplus"

"So, Mr. President, what did you think of the historic flight?"

"I'd give it a good solid B-plus".
Unrelated: interpreting the cryptic jargon of polling numbers is difficult, but it would appear that Obama's popular support is at a good, solid B+. Hat tip: Ace and Doug Ross. Mostly Doug, though.

Labels: Democrats, Obama

Top 20 Mark Levin Quips

20. Yello? Yello? Yello?
19. Get off the phone, you big dope!
18. Wiener nation.
17. "Thank me!"
16. Mark gargles or "Levin-itizes" a caller.
15. "Women's underwear" (Keith Olbermann's undergarment of choice).
14. FReeper or MarkLevinFan.com mentions.
13. Mentions Beck (surreptitiously) and other back-benchers.
12. Lactose intolerance; free government cheese giveaways.
11. It's [time] Under God!
10. New York Slimes or Washington Compost reference.
9. "Yes, I said it!"
8. "Kumbaya" with the Levin lyrics.
7. Meet the Depressed.
6. "God Bless Us!"
5. Mary Landfill, Harry 'The Body Odor' Reid, Nancy 'Stretch' Pelosi
4. "I will sue their asses."
3. A RuPaul supporter gets clipped.
2. Barack Milhaus Nobama.
1. "I'm calling a Levin Surge!"

"Take my word for it, I am gorgeous!"

Hat tip: Fudd Fan.

Labels: MSM, Protecting America

Holiday Artwork o' the Day

Attribution Unknown, Circa 2008

Spotted at: Crazy Uncle. Update: Original from Art of Obama (NSFW), via Reliapundit.

Labels: Art, Obama

Larwyn's Linx: Culture of Corruption: Michelle Obama edition

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Nation

Culture of Corruption: Michelle Obama edition: Malkin
Pong, You're Dead: Dems' Secret Weapon: Kaus
Tackling Civil Rights Injustice: PittLive

The Democratic War on Science: Moe Lane
The Youth Vote Moves On Dot Org: AT (Lasky)
True Lies: AmeriCorps, the First Lady and Gerald Walpin: York

Fistgate VII: What She Saw at Fistgate: GWP
Media Matters Backs Jennings' Teen Fisting Conference: GWP
Yes, the Left Is Coming For Your Guns: Moonbattery

Economy

That Old-Timey Economics: B+!: Ace
Bad times for Americans are good for DC bureaucrats: Tapscott
What Would an 'F' Look Like?: GWP

Obama: More Risky Loans, Please!: Ace
WH Adviser Summers: 'Everyone agrees recession is over': Fausta
Teach a liberal how to be conservative about health care: SMP

Media

Desperate Demcare Peddlers Play Murder Card Again: Malkin
60 Minutes and One Giant Step Back: Commentary
Obama's Good, Solid B+: Ace

The New Yorker's Cheap Shot: Israelly Cool
Despicable: Leftist Loons Politicize Breast Cancer Research: LegalIns
Komen Foundation Supports Hadassah Lieberman - Time to Support Komen: LegalIns

Liberals Dominate Top 10 FAIL Moments of 2009: GWP
A Time of Universal Deceit: Star Parker
S**tstorm Erupts In Koslamistan: JWF

Climate & Energy

Why Those Emails Are Lethal: Spectator
Climate Depot Defends Gore!?!: Depot
We're Melting! Record Cold Forecast for Copenhagen: Surber

'Trick' used to 'hide the decline' worse than originally thought: PJM
Scientists Finally Realize ManBearPig is Hurting the Cause : JWF

World

The United Nations -- Public Enemy Number One -- Has Got to Go: PJM (Solway)
Venezuelan Bank Takeover?: Fausta
Iran will put three U.S. hikers on trial: Maktoob

UN-backed Troops Accused of Killing and Raping Civilians: GWP
Giving Britain the Cold Shoulder: WSJ
Vienna, My City of (Anti-Semitic) Dreams/Nightmares: PJM (Chesler)

Clinton Speaks: Slow-Motion Diplomacy: RubRep

Sci-Tech

Google ponders risky Android solo act: CNet
Quantum camera snaps objects it cannot 'see' : New Scientist
Al Qaeda Secret Code Broken: Schneier

Cornucopia

Bowing to Tradition: Michelle's Mirror
Daily Scoreboard: Surber

Labels: Linkfest

Monday, December 14, 2009

Gropenhagen: Anti-Capitalist Protesters Captivated by Free Sex Offers from Uber-Capitalist Prostitutes

Der Spiegel reports that anti-Capitalist warmers are enjoying Copenhagen's prostitutes free-of-charge.

Copenhagen Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sent postcards to city hotels warning summit guests not to patronize Danish sex workers during the upcoming conference. Now, the prostitutes have struck back, offering free sex to anyone who produces one of the warnings.

Copenhagen's city council in conjunction with Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to 'Be sustainable - don't buy sex'.

"Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says.

Now, Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms, saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs. They have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card...

John Galt notes the irony.

I get a chuckle out of the great dichotomy currently taking place in Copenhagen.

Literally thousands of the worlds left wing anti-Capitalists have descended or maybe it is ascended to Copenhagen in an attempt to implement world wide centralized control of the world's nation state economies, world trade and peoples' lives.

At the same time, the professional ladies of the evening are offering their services free of charge due to the exceedingly extra high demand for their services that will take place from the huge influx of these anti-Capitalists.

The Ladies will more than make up the forgiven fees for their services with the increased resulting demand and tips resulting derived therefrom..

Ladies of the evening applying true Capitalist ideology to make more money from the anti-Capitalists.

Heh™.

Labels: Climate, Economy

What Do House Democrats Know That The Rest of Us Don't?

In a tersely worded email, Richard Baehr observes:

In four weeks, four incumbent, long-serving Democratic Congressmen -- John Tanner, Brad Gordon, Dennis Moore, and Brian Baird -- have all announced their retirements.

All of the seats will be tough for the Democrats to defend in 2010. It certainly appears that the Pelosi-Schakowsky-Waxman wing of the Democrat Party has pushed the entire party and its legislative agenda so far to the left that moderate Democrats are giving up the fight.

In the Rasmussen poll today, the approval-disapproval score for President Obama has hit an all-time low: 44% approve, 55% disapprove with 24% strongly approving, and 42% strongly disapproving. Despite the most favorable press coverage ever for any new president, Obama's approval scores are lower than those for any other new president since these polls began. The last three national surveys on support for Obamacare: 40-56 in Rasmussen, 34-61 by CNN/Opinion Dynamics, and 34-57 by Fox.

The Democrats may try to blame their failure to pass health care reform, if it occurs, on Joe Lieberman. But the failure will be their own: they could not convince the American people that their monstrously complex and expensive proposal ($2.5 trillion in the first ten years after benefits kick in) was necessary.

What do these 'moderate' Democrats know? That they each have a giant serving fork sticking in their back.

More of Richard's analysis is available at Pajamas Media.

Labels: Democrats, Healthcare, Obama, Pelosi, Reid

2010 Nissan Maxima SV Sport

AutoBlog has the review. Capsule summary:

...The base car starts at "just" $30,460. But the car Nissan provided us has a price tag of nearly $40,000. You do get a lot car for that money, but at the end of the day, $38,384 is a big chunk o' change. So big, in fact, that you might be tempted to choose an Infiniti G37 sedan (beginning at just over $33,000), or even a Cadillac CTS (starts at $37,000). Two similarly-sized cars that are, as it happens, rear-wheel drive...

Heaping praise upon Nissan's wonderful V6 is like calling firefighters heroes – you just do it, and only the crazy will argue. Still displacing 3.5-liters – unlike the Z, G, M and FX, which have jumped up to 3.7-liters – the VQ35DE produces a whopping 290 horsepower and a stout 261 pound-feet of torque, more than enough to scoot the fairly big boy (190 inches, 3,565 pounds) to 60 mph in less than six seconds. In terms of potency, those 290 horsies are more than you get from 3.5-liter V6s found in the Accord (271 hp), Avalon (268 hp), Taurus (263 hp) or Mercedes-Benz E350 (268 hp). And way more than you get in a 211 hp turbocharged Audi A4. But none offer a CVT...

Is the beefy price tag worth it? No spoilers here -- you'll just have to read the rest.

Labels: Autos

The Children That Harry Reid Condemned to Death

Mr. Peabody, set the Wayback Machine to October 2006.

This moving photograph shows Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt, superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, holding an injured Iraqi girl. The picture was taken in October 2006, while Chief Gebhardt was deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq. According to the Air Force Print News, the infant girl Chief Gebhardt held in his arms "received extensive gunshot injuries to her head when insurgents attacked her family killing both of her parents and many of her siblings."

Chief Gebhardt is now back home in Wichita, Kansas, with his wife and two children. An Air Force Link article about the sudden fame he gained as the subject of this photograph reported that:

The chief had a knack for comforting [the injured Iraqi girl] and they often would catch a cat nap together in a chair.

"I got as much enjoyment out of it as the baby did," he said. "I reflected on my own family and life and thought about how lucky I have been."

While deployed to Iraq, the chief tried to help out any way he could. He figured holding a baby that needed comforting that would free up one more set of arms that could be providing care to more critical patients.

"I pray for the best for the Iraqi children," he said. "I can't tell the difference between their kids and our kids. The Iraqi parents have the same care and compassion for their children as any American."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seems to have a knack for sentencing innocents to death and enslavement. Aside from his abysmal form of socialized medicine -- that will enslave generations unborn to untold trillions in debt -- he is infamous among America's military families for a quote that well nigh bordered on treason.

Just months after the accompanying photograph was taken, Reid abandoned all moral support for America's troops in the field.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday said the war in Iraq is lost militarily and "can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically" after more than four years of fighting...

"Now I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows: that this war is lost, that the surge is not accomplishing anything," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters...

While lawmakers were outspoken in press briefings, several officials described Wednesday's White House meeting as polite for the most part, but pointed during Reid's comments that he spoke with generals who likened Iraq to Vietnam and described it as a war in which the president refused to change course despite knowing victory was impossible... Bush bristled at the comparison, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One quoted him as saying, "I reject" the comparison.

Reid is a disgraceful little weasel who has yet to apologize to our armed forces and their families. And, should his government-run health care bill pass, he will be long gone when the entire system implodes under unsustainable waste, inefficiencies, fraud and debt.

"This war is lost."

This is Reid's legacy. This is Reid's mantra. This is Reid's political epitaph.

Hat tip: Papa B.

Labels: Democrats, Reid, War

Finally: a Scientifically Valid Hockey-Stick Graph

Consider the following, relatively complete picture of the nation's unemployment situation:

Lately there has been much back and forth over the definitions of (un)employment, of improving (deteriorating) trends therein, and of just what is going on with the labor pool in the U.S. Due to the lack of a definitive data series that tracks comprehensive unemployment over time, the possibility for loose interpretation exists and is (ab)used by many. In order to hopefully mitigate a lot of the debate on the margin, here is probably one of the more comprehensive charts available, which tracks Initial Claims, Continuing Claims and Emergency Unemployment Compensation (the last being somewhat notorious lately, and a datapoint that has to be considered due to the skyrocketing exhaustion rate) since 1967. Pretty simple. The result does not need much commentary.

I'm truly shocked that the Democrats' central planning efforts haven't worked. I mean they worked in Cuba. And Zimbabwe. And the Soviet Union.

Welcome to the Obamaconomy!

Labels: Democrats, Economy, Obama

Bad News: Polar Ice May Vanish Soon, Gore Will Not

Dan from New York:

Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years

We must act now to reverse the process! Save the ice, get rid of the dummy.

Labels: Climate, Crime, Democrats, Gore

EPA Acquires High-Cap Semi-Auto Handguns Due to Extreme Dangers of Testing Air and Ponds for Toxins Like Carbon Dioxide

Nothing spells danger like testing rivers and ponds for dangerous pollutants such as carbon dioxide and radon. That's why the EPA is arming up, acquiring dozens of Glock 19 semi-auto handguns.

This is a Glock 19 fitted with an optional 33-round magazine.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigations Division intends to award a sole source firm-fixed-price Purchase Order to Glock, Inc. under the authority of FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures for 40 Model G-19, 9mm frame handguns with finger grove and rail frames, Tijico night sights, extended magazine catches and 3.5lb/NY1 Trigger magazines. The Glock model G-19 is the Agency standard firearm and is the only pistol that fits our training, certified repair technician contracts, and equipment capabilities without a major change to Agency operations. Our agents are trained with the Glock pistol, and changing to another manufacturer would require transition training for each agent that could range from 1 to 3 days depending on the manufacturer. Additionally, our Agents are outfitted with holsters and magazine clips that are fitted to the Glock model firearm. Furthermore, EPA-CID has a large amount of spare parts for the Glock weapons and to retool these parts would require substantial expenditure for the Government.

The EPA's motto says it all: Trouble is our business.

As for you climate deniers out there? Let this be a warning to you. The EPA isn't playing patty-cake with low-life jamokes like you.

Labels: Climate, Crime, Democrats, Obama