Right-Wing

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  • Outgoing IRS Commish: If we had a bigger budget maybe stuff like this wouldn’t happen

    Michelle Malkin
    Doug Powers
    17 May 2013 | 1:29 pm
    **Written by Doug Powers Too soon? Never! A congressman asked, “What do you need to make it so that this wouldn’t have happened?” “So there are two things, sir,” said Miller. “And I appreciate the kind words for our people because we are incredibly hard working and honest group, frankly, and that seems to be forgotten in all of this. With respect to political activity, it would be a wonderful thing to get better rules, to get more clear rules. And in terms of our ability to get to this work it would be good to have a little budget that would allow us to get…

  • New Audit Allegations Show Flawed Statistical Thinking

    FiveThirtyEight
    By NATE SILVER
    17 May 2013 | 1:31 pm
    Some conservatives are alleging that the I.R.S. targeted not just conservative groups, but also individual conservative taxpayers. But a handful of anecdotal data points are not worth very much in a country of 300 million people.

  • Quotes of the day

    Hot Air » Top Picks
    Allahpundit
    17 May 2013 | 5:41 pm
    Trust. We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they’re seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal [...] Read this post »

  • Boom: Obama Administration Knew of IRS Targeting in June of 2012

    Townhall's Featured Blog
    Guy Benson
    17 May 2013 | 5:06 pm
    Earlier in the week, White House spokesman Jay Carney categorically denied that no one at the White House was aware of the IRS targeting operation...

  • Standing room only at #Pete13’s Friday Night Lights....

    Patrick Ruffini
    17 May 2013 | 7:43 pm
    Standing room only at #Pete13’s Friday Night Lights. http://bit.ly/13uyWYf
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    Michelle Malkin

  • Outgoing IRS Commish: If we had a bigger budget maybe stuff like this wouldn’t happen

    Doug Powers
    17 May 2013 | 1:29 pm
    **Written by Doug Powers Too soon? Never! A congressman asked, “What do you need to make it so that this wouldn’t have happened?” “So there are two things, sir,” said Miller. “And I appreciate the kind words for our people because we are incredibly hard working and honest group, frankly, and that seems to be forgotten in all of this. With respect to political activity, it would be a wonderful thing to get better rules, to get more clear rules. And in terms of our ability to get to this work it would be good to have a little budget that would allow us to get…

  • Meet the director of Obamacare’s IRS office

    Doug Powers
    17 May 2013 | 8:44 am
    **Written by Doug Powers Tip: If you ever apply for medical treatment under the Affordable Care Act because you were burned by hot tea at a party, be very careful how you phrase it or you might end up in the waiting room for a looong time. From ABC News: The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation. Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since…

  • Obama’s emptiest Benghazi talking point; Plus: Where is Gitmo recidivist and alleged Benghazi jihad plotter Abu Sufian bin Qumu?

    Michelle Malkin
    17 May 2013 | 6:18 am
    The man depicted in the photo above is Abu Sufian bin Qumu. I told you about him on September 20. He’s the former Gitmo detainee released in 2007 who was named as the possible lead plotter in the bloody attacks on our consulate personnel, staff, and private security contractors in Benghazi. We haven’t heard a thing about him from the commander-in-chief, who has vowed repeatedly to track down the killers and “bring them to justice.” On top of all the unanswered questions about Benghazi, there are these unasked questions — which I ask in my column today: Where…

  • Thursday evening open thread and caption contest

    Doug Powers
    16 May 2013 | 1:11 pm
    **Written by Doug Powers A while ago I ran across this on Drudge, and what the Marine must be thinking is begging for some captioning: Here’s how that moment came about. The speaker to Obama’s right is the Turkish prime minister, and their appearance was interrupted by rain when the president called in the Corps: Coincidentally, soon after the rain stopped, the Hyades received notice that they were going to be audited by the IRS. **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

  • Eric Holder makes it clear that he doesn’t know

    Doug Powers
    16 May 2013 | 10:45 am
    **Written by Doug Powers At yesterday’s congressional hearing, Attorney General Eric Holder said “I don’t know” at least 20 times, thereby breaking a record I set on a quiz day back in high school algebra class. Holder, and President Obama for that matter, are so concerned with ensuring fair and impartial investigations that they have selflessly decided to recuse their temporal lobes until the dust settles. Click the pic to roll an impressive “I don’t know” compilation on the Aloof-O-Tron: There are, however, things that Holder does know for sure…
 
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    FiveThirtyEight

  • New Audit Allegations Show Flawed Statistical Thinking

    By NATE SILVER
    17 May 2013 | 1:31 pm
    Some conservatives are alleging that the I.R.S. targeted not just conservative groups, but also individual conservative taxpayers. But a handful of anecdotal data points are not worth very much in a country of 300 million people.

  • Is There Really a Second-Term Curse?

    By NATE SILVER
    16 May 2013 | 9:47 am
    Two-term presidents since World War II tended to be quite popular in their first terms, and significantly less so in their second terms. Is this proof of a second-term curse? In reality, there are some complications.

  • I.R.S. Approved Dozens of Tea Party Groups Following Congressional Scrutiny

    By MICAH COHEN
    16 May 2013 | 5:19 am
    The Internal Revenue Service began approving a flurry of applications for tax-exempt status from Tea Party groups in May 2012, after a two-year period when they approved only a handful.

  • Money on the Bench

    By KEVIN QUEALY
    13 May 2013 | 6:43 pm
    The average Major League Baseball team has five players on the disabled list right now, but not all have been affected equally. The Yankees have the most injured players, 11, and they are costing the club $23,000 an hour.

  • I.R.S. Targeting of Conservative Groups Could Resonate in 2014

    By NATE SILVER
    13 May 2013 | 3:08 pm
    The admission by the Internal Revenue Service that it targeted conservative organizations when they applied for tax-exempt status could motivate a strong turnout from the Republican base.
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    Hot Air » Top Picks

  • Quotes of the day

    Allahpundit
    17 May 2013 | 5:41 pm
    Trust. We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. No one likes what they’re seeing. The Justice Department assault on the Associated Press and the ugly politicization of the Internal [...] Read this post »

  • Miller was full of it and there was clearly targeting going on says…Chris Matthews?

    Mary Katharine Ham
    17 May 2013 | 5:01 pm
    Prima facie. Prepare to have your world rocked. “[I]t’s like he didn’t see what he knew people certainly right, left and center could see, that when you target particular groups, you’re targeting particular groups. I mean, if this were on the other foot, and this was a George W. administration, they were targeting groups that were calling [...] Read this post »

  • Dear Virginia, Terry McAuliffe is not your friend

    Jazz Shaw
    17 May 2013 | 4:21 pm
    Just say no While most of us are waiting out the doldrums of an off year with not too much happening on the election front, Virginia residents have a bit more on their plates. They’ll be electing a new governor this November, and unlike Senate and House seats – which more affect matters of national policy – the [...] Read this post »

  • Is Scandalmania making amnesty more likely?

    Allahpundit
    17 May 2013 | 3:41 pm
    Yep, probably. This point has been made many, many, many times elsewhere this week, but let me put out a little BOLO of my own just in case attention on our side of the aisle is starting to wander too far from immigration. There are two theories on how Scandalmania might affect O’s second-term agenda. Theory one: [...] Read this post »

  • New gun-control ideas: Government mandated Bond-movie gadgets, chocolate bullets

    Mary Katharine Ham
    17 May 2013 | 3:01 pm
    The Personalized Handgun Safety Act, inspired by “Skyfall,” but without the great theme song: “In the most recent James Bond film, Bond escapes death when his handgun, which is equipped with technology that recognizes him as its owner, becomes inoperable when it gets into the wrong hands,” Tierney’s office said in a statement introducing the [...] Read this post »
 
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    Patrick Ruffini

  • Standing room only at #Pete13’s Friday Night Lights....

    17 May 2013 | 7:43 pm
    Standing room only at #Pete13’s Friday Night Lights. http://bit.ly/13uyWYf

  • Jonah Goldberg at the RPV Convention...

    17 May 2013 | 7:14 pm
    Jonah Goldberg at the RPV Convention http://instagram.com/p/Zb5hw-rd5Y/

  • When the right target matters

    17 May 2013 | 10:14 am
    According to the Obama campaign’s digital director, targeted sharing to friends on Facebook was the “most groundbreaking piece of technology” they developed for the 2012 campaign. Engage is proud to announce that we’re delivering this technology to campaigns, organizations, and causes of all sizes — right now. For this weekend’s Republican Party of Virginia convention, supporters of Pete Snyder for Lt. Governor can connect to Facebook and see which of their friends are among the 13,600 registered convention delegates. We then email them reminders about the big convention this…

  • Ending the workday right. http://bit.ly/15L1yni

    14 May 2013 | 4:09 pm
    Ending the workday right. http://bit.ly/15L1yni

  • http://bit.ly/10iiTKM

    26 Apr 2013 | 2:08 pm
    http://bit.ly/10iiTKM
 
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    Stately McDaniel Manor

  • Rhetorical Limitations

    Mike McDaniel
    16 May 2013 | 2:40 pm
    President Obama is often lauded as the greatest rhetorician alive—when he’s not being worshipped as a messiah—even by pundits who …Continue reading »

  • The Buck Never Stops

    Mike McDaniel
    13 May 2013 | 7:46 pm
    On the desk of Harry Truman in the Oval Office was a wooden sign that read “The buck stops here!”  …Continue reading »

  • What Good Vision Reveals

    Mike McDaniel
    13 May 2013 | 7:30 pm
    Despite Mr. Obama’s recent  epic gun control defeat, anti-gun forces continue to pursue their never-ending goals.  No Progressive goal or policy …Continue reading »

  • How Does One Impeach A Messiah?

    Mike McDaniel
    13 May 2013 | 7:23 pm
    On May 18, 2009, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, in the Wall Street Journal Online, wrote: Barack Obama owes his presidency …Continue reading »

  • The Literature Corner: 1-800… (Reprised)

    Mike McDaniel
    10 May 2013 | 10:01 pm
    This past week three young women who had been held captive in a Cleveland, Ohio home for a decade were …Continue reading »
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    redstate.com

  • Too Big To Jail

    ()
    17 May 2013 | 2:43 pm
                    The late, great Lewis Grizzard attended the University of Georgia with a man named “Joe,” where they developed a lifelong friendship.  Joe grew up poor in rural Southwest Georgia.  He was only a boy when he found the body of his dead father who had taken his own life with the family shotgun.  Joe became the man | Read More »

  • Meet New Mexico’s liberal Tim Keller, before he becomes fake-moderate Tim Keller.

    ()
    17 May 2013 | 10:30 am
    Well, let us not ignore the upcoming election cycle simply because the Obama administration has decided to go utterly mad this week*. Below for your dubious delectation is a video from the New Mexico Republican party on one Tim Keller, who is being pushed out as a stealth liberal challenger to Governor Susana Martinez next year. I say “stealth” because – well, watch: Short version | Read More »

  • Obama administration going with the idiot narrative on #Benghazi.

    ()
    17 May 2013 | 9:30 am
    No, seriously, this is the angle that they’re going to run with: “We’re portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots,” said one Obama administration official who was part of the Benghazi response. “It’s actually closer to us being idiots.” Personally, I take the position that the administration needs to embrace the healing power of ‘and,’ here. But as the philosopher once put it: | Read More »

  • Is the Deficit Really Shrinking?

    ()
    17 May 2013 | 7:00 am
    On today's edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss a DHS reaction to Bitcoin, a CBO report on a shrinking deficit and why liberals think deficits are a good thing.

  • Immigration, Wages, and Free Markets

    ()
    17 May 2013 | 4:58 am
    All conservatives and libertarians agree that government should not set wage requirements on private enterprise.  That would violate the foundation of a free market economy.  But should industries and special interest groups get to use the power of government to tilt our immigration system in a way that will actively depress wages?  Is that free market doctrine? I’ve been looking to find someone to come | Read More »
 
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    I Hate the Media Article Feed

  • Amid scandals, White House announces star-studded concert in East Room

    CO2Insanity
    17 May 2013 | 6:55 pm
    Amid scandals, White House announces star-studded concert in East Room. We can hear Obama now: Let’s see, we have sequester, Benghazi, the IRS, Obamacare, Israel, Hamas, Syria, missing terrorists, GITMO, the Boston terrorists, Russia, gun control, the border, immigration reform and the economy is totaled out like a Fiat 500 that got run over by a logging truck. Hmm, I know! Let’s do something really important and have a concert! I can be the master of hegemony! I’ll do a takeoff on Al Green again! I’m, so in love with myself, whatever I want to do is all right with me.

  • Note praising Allah 
didn’t float PC boat

    Bonfire of the Absurdities
    17 May 2013 | 1:32 pm
    Note praising Allah 
didn’t float PC boat. “Why the monthlong blackout on the note in the boat? Why didn’t the feds release it immediately?” Well, outside of the fact this info would’ve subverted the Democrat/Leftist/media narrative of the bombing, we don’t have a clue.

  • Piers Morgan: Say, I guess government can become tyrannical after all

    Bonfire of the Absurdities
    17 May 2013 | 1:17 pm
    Piers Morgan: Say, I guess government can become tyrannical after all. “I’ve had some of the pro-gun lobbyists on here, saying to me, ‘Well, the reason we need to be armed is because of tyranny from our own government,’ and I’ve always laughed at them,” Morgan said last night. “But, actually, this is vaguely tyrannical behavior by the American government.” Anybody who thinks anybody can be trusted with unchecked power just hasn’t been paying attention for the last century or so.

  • Report: IRS deliberately chose not to fess up to scandal before election

    Bonfire of the Absurdities
    17 May 2013 | 12:58 pm
    Report: IRS deliberately chose not to fess up to scandal before election. “…what would have happened if this fact came out in September 2012, in the middle of a presidential election? The terrain would have looked very different.” Benghazi as well. Gee, you’d almost think there was an orchestrated, deliberate effort by someone to hide all this stuff so that Obama could be reelected.

  • Democrat Baucus warns: More to come out on IRS scandal

    Bonfire of the Absurdities
    17 May 2013 | 12:50 pm
    Democrat Baucus warns: More to come out on IRS scandal. “I have a hunch that a lot more is going to come out, frankly. It’s broader than the current focus. And I think it’s important that we have the hearings, and I think that will encourage other information to come out that has not yet come out.” And he oughta know. Pity he didn’t think to do anything about it before now. That’s only his job or something.
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    ChurchCrunch

  • Saturday Sunday Share #100

    Eric Dye
    18 May 2013 | 4:00 am
    We hit 100!!! Can you believe there’s been one hundred Saturday Sunday Shares? Let’s look at last weeks: Joanna - wrote an interesting post on Mars and missions. James Cooper - designed a website for a cool organization. Paul Clifford - is launching all kinds of stuff. Raoul Snyman - has the coolest share I’ve seen in a while. Mark Robinson - re-launched some very good looking websites. Last week was #EPIC! Now, let’s see what kind of shares everyone has for this very momentous Saturday Sunday Share! (Here’s to another 100!) [Image via larskflem via…

  • GameKlip: Android Phone Turned Gaming Console

    Eric Dye
    17 May 2013 | 10:00 am
    This is the best gaming/controller/mobile device solution I’ve ever seen. I would be tempted to get an Android smartphone just to do this! Check it out: GameKlip Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here! Oh, snap! For only about $20 (and a PS3 controller), you can rock your Android as a serious gaming device. I love it! Best of all, the inventor of GameKlip is a really cool guy: Ryan French is a student at the University of Washington is majoring in Applied Computational Math Science, but has always enjoyed tinkering and building things. As an elective, he took a…

  • Felt App – Handwritten Cards are Back!

    Seth Rowoldt
    17 May 2013 | 9:30 am
    I used to be a huge fan of the old hand written card, but it seems like more and more I’m too pressed for time to write that card.  Or I forget about a friend’s birthday until 2 days before, run to Hallmark to score a semi-funny card…write all my sentimental birthday thoughts, go to the post office and buy a book of stamps even though I only need one (didn’t I just buy a book a month ago…wonder where that book is??) Then finally address the card and mail it…only to find out that the mail has already come for the day from my mailbox and it will just sit in…

  • Shark Attack! (or Sharks Could Use Better Marketing & PR) [Infographic]

    Eric Dye
    17 May 2013 | 7:31 am
    It’s a shark attack! But wait… …are the sharks attacking people or are people attacking sharks? Hmmm….just be clear, let’s check: [Click for Larger] Well now that’s all cleared up… I think sharks could use better marketing and PR, don’t you think? [via Ripetungi] You just finished reading "Shark Attack! (or Sharks Could Use Better Marketing & PR) [Infographic]" on ChurchMag! Feel free to comment on it! We use the Standard Theme for our blog platform!

  • Inspiration: While You Are Waiting [Video]

    Chip Dizárd
    17 May 2013 | 7:00 am
    Sometimes waiting is the toughest part of life.  I had the opportunity to film Pastor Pierre Quinn and recently I was just approved for a job transfer that took two years. That doesn’t seem like a long time but as tech people we all want things quick, fast and in a hurry. I hope this message inspires you like it did me to relish in the wait while God prepares you for something big. Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here! How do you handle waiting on God? [Image via wwarby via Compfight cc] You just finished reading "Inspiration: While You Are Waiting [Video]" on…
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    Outside the Beltway

  • Brain Detects Grammar Errors Subconsciously

    James Joyner
    18 May 2013 | 2:05 am
    A recent piece at ScienceDaily titled “Grammar Errors? The Brain Detects Them Even When You Are Unaware” caught my eye, given how many grammar errors I deal with on a daily basis. It turns out that they mean something different than I do by the term. Participants in the study — native-English speaking people, ages 18-30 — had their brain activity recorded using electroencephalography, from which researchers focused on a signal known as the Event-Related Potential (ERP). This non-invasive technique allows for the capture of changes in brain electrical activity during an…

  • OTB Caption Contest Winners

    Rodney Dill
    17 May 2013 | 1:14 pm
    The Swing And A Miss Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. Photo By RICK WILKING/REUTERS ✰ THE WINNERS ✰ First: Patrick McCain – The tax-exempt status for “Ping Pong Patriots” is still under review. Second: Paul Hooson – “Shouldn’t we just pay someone to do this?”. Third: Hal 10000 – Microsoft’s paddle-based answer to Google Glass seems unlikely to catch on. (…at least not for the first dozen or so versions – rodney dill) HONORABLE MENTION Anonymiss – Proof that two billionaires are not always better…

  • IRS To Conservative Group: Please Tell Us About The Content Of Your Prayers

    Doug Mataconis
    17 May 2013 | 10:35 am
    Among the more bizarre things to come out of today’s House Ways & Means Committee questioning of outgoing Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller and Treasury Department Inspector General J. Russell George, was the revelation that one Christian group that applied for 501(c)(4) status was asked to document the contents of its prayers: While applying with the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status in 2009, an Iowa-based anti-abortion group was asked to provide information about its members’ prayer meetings, show documents sent by an IRS official to the organization. On…

  • U.S. Murder Rate On Track To Be Lowest In More Than 100 Years

    Doug Mataconis
    17 May 2013 | 10:03 am
    Kevin Drum links to an interesting study which suggests that, if current trends hold up, 2013 will see the United States experience it’s lowest murder rate in 100 years [Study available in PDF]. Drum, who has been blogging a lot lately about the measurable impact of the removal of lead from the environment starting in the 1970s comments: Analytically speaking, murder is an especially interesting crime because we have pretty good homicide statistics going all the way back to 1900. Most other crimes have only been tracked since about 1960. And if you look at the murder rate in the chart…

  • U.S Lost Track Of Terrorists In Witness Protection Program

    Doug Mataconis
    17 May 2013 | 6:46 am
    Well, this is embarrassing: WASHINGTON — The Justice Department temporarily lost track of two former terrorists who had participated in its witness protection program and until recently did not disclose the fictitious identities it created for terrorism-linked witnesses to the agency that generates watch lists, allowing some who were on the no-fly list to take commercial flights under their new names, according to a new report. A public summary of the classified report, issued Thursday by the office of the Justice Department’s independent inspector general, Michael Horowitz,…
 
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    Wizbang

  • As Gangs Flourish, Displaying Historical Firearms Illegal in Chicago Museums

    Warner Todd Huston
    17 May 2013 | 1:54 pm
    Outside of Chicago’s museums gangs are killing each other at an alarming rate. But due to Chicago’s strict gun ban policies, inside those museums curators are not allowed to display historical firearms. In fact, in some cases the museums are not even allowed to store their collections inside the city limits. The matter has become [...]

  • Wizbang Weekend Caption Contest™

    Doug Johnson
    17 May 2013 | 3:00 am
    It’s Friday, which means it’s time for the Wizbang Weekend Caption Contest™. Enter your best caption for the following picture: Winners will be announced Monday morning.

  • New State Dept. Spokesperson Gets Slammed Over Benghazi

    Warner Todd Huston
    16 May 2013 | 2:19 pm
    It has been 8 months since the terrorist attacks on our facilities in Benghazi, Libya, attacks that ended up killing four Americans including our ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens. Still we haven’t had a concrete explanation about this incident and new State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki didn’t do anything to alleviate that state of affairs [...]

  • Eric Holder Doesn’t Know

    Dan Karipides
    16 May 2013 | 1:18 pm
    I haven’t had the energy to post on the recent run of scandals rocking the Obama administration. This is mainly due to the fact that I don’t have any faith that the administration will actually be rocked by them in the long term. The media may be angry now, probably over the AP issue and [...]

  • The U.S. Marshal Service Has Lost Over 10% Of The Terrorists In The Witness Protection Program

    Doug Johnson
    16 May 2013 | 11:28 am
    CNN’s Jake Tapper has details on the Obama administration scandal of the day, this one based off of yet another Inspector General report. The U.S. Marshal Service had been “unable to locate” two former participants in the federal Witness Security Program “identified as known or suspected terrorists,” states the public summary of an interim Justice [...]
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    Drudge Retort

  • Noonan: This Is About Trust

    AndreaMackris
    17 May 2013 | 6:33 pm
    Peggy Noonan: What happened at the IRS is the government's essential business. The IRS case deserves and calls out for an independent counsel, fully armed with all that position's powers. Only then will stables that badly need to be cleaned, be cleaned. Everyone involved in this abuse of power should pay a price, because if they don't, the politicization of the IRS will continue -- forever. ... And it would be shameful and shallow for any Republican operative or operator to make this scandal into a commercial and turn it into a mere partisan arguing point and part of the game. It's not part…

  • It's Not Cool to Poop in the Pool

    mysterytoy
    17 May 2013 | 5:33 pm
    A refreshing dip in your local public pool might not be so appealing now that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that more than half of public pools contain a detectable amount of human fecal matter. The CDC reports that nearly 60 percent of public pools tested positive for bacteria found in human feces that can cause rashes and infections. One of the CDC's tips for swimming safety: "Do not swallow the water you swim in."

  • Illinois Senate Approves Medical Marijuana

    rcade
    17 May 2013 | 5:17 pm
    The Illinois Senate voted Friday to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, paving the way for the state to join more than a dozen others. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) has indicated he is sympathetic to the bill, especially as it would benefit injured veterans. "It is a substance which is much more benign than powerful prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and the rest," said state Sen. Bill Haine (D). "The scourge of these drugs is well-known. This is not true of the medical use of marijuana."

  • Report: Toronto Mayor Smoked Crack

    rcade
    17 May 2013 | 1:51 pm
    A cellphone video that appears to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine is being shopped around by a group of men involved in the drug trade. Two Toronto Star reporters have viewed the video three times. It appears to show Ford in a room sitting in a chair and inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. Ford is incoherent, trading jibes with an off-camera speaker who goads the clearly impaired mayor by raising topics including Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and the Don Bosco high school football team Ford coaches.

  • Gallup: Public Interest Low in Current Scandals

    rcade
    17 May 2013 | 1:47 pm
    Gallup: Slim majorities of Americans are very or somewhat closely following the situations involving the Internal Revenue Service (54%) and the congressional hearings on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and its aftermath (53%) -- comparatively low based on historical measures of other news stories over the last two decades. These results are based on a May 14-15 Gallup poll. Despite extensive news coverage of these stories in recent days, the level of attention being paid to each is below the average 60% of Americans who have closely followed more than 200 news stories…
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    New Republic

  • Even Before the Crack-Smoking Videotape, Rob Ford was the Most American Politician in Canada

    Thomas Rogers
    17 May 2013 | 3:13 pm
    Few Americans had probably heard of Rob Ford before yesterday evening, when a bizarre story about the mayor of Toronto allegedly smoking crack cocaine appeared first on Gawker and then the

  • The Origins of Paul Scott's Vast Masterpiece

    Peter Green
    17 May 2013 | 2:45 pm
    I first met Paul Scott at Firpo’s bar on Chowringhee in Calcutta in 1944. I was an NCO in what was euphemistically described as “Special Duties,” that is, intelligence, but more often meant taking on any odd job for which no one else could be found; Paul was an air supply captain who had been

  • The Latest Exercise in "Blue Texas" Wishful Thinking

    Nate Cohn
    17 May 2013 | 10:16 am
    Texas electoral politics tend to elicit sensationalism. Jeb Bush has suggested the Lone Star state, which voted for Romney by 16 points in 2012, could somehow turn blue in 2016; Ted Cruz, who doesn’t even

  • The IRS Scandal Has Nothing to Do With Obamacare

    Jonathan Cohn
    17 May 2013 | 8:12 am
    The debate over the IRS scandal officially became ludicrous on Thursday, when Republicans decided to use it as a cudgel for bashing Obamacare.The day started with Republican lawmakers warning darkly that, under Obam

  • 'Seduced and Abandoned': This is What a Movie Deal Looks Like in 2013

    David Thomson
    16 May 2013 | 9:00 pm
    Once upon a time, Orson Welles is supposed to have lamented that he spent 95 percent of his life running around trying to raise money for movies and 5 percent making them. “It’s no way to live,” he concluded, but that imbalance lasted Welles until he was seventy, when he died, alone, in a cott
 
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    Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

  • Benghazi

    editor@truthdig.com
    18 May 2013 | 2:27 am
    By Signe Wilkinson Related Entries May 18, 2013 Overreaching May 18, 2013 Ping Pong

  • Overreaching

    editor@truthdig.com
    18 May 2013 | 2:27 am
    By Nick Anderson Related Entries May 18, 2013 Overreaching May 18, 2013 Ping Pong

  • Ping Pong

    editor@truthdig.com
    18 May 2013 | 2:24 am
    By Nick Anderson Related Entries May 18, 2013 Overreaching May 18, 2013 Ping Pong

  • Wall St. Banks

    editor@truthdig.com
    18 May 2013 | 2:23 am
    By Bill Schorr, Cagle Cartoons Related Entries May 18, 2013 Overreaching May 18, 2013 Ping Pong

  • Benghazi Talking Points

    editor@truthdig.com
    18 May 2013 | 2:22 am
    By Adam Zyglis, Cagle Cartoons, The Buffalo News Related Entries May 18, 2013 Overreaching May 18, 2013 Ping Pong
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    Power Line

  • What If the Obama Scandals Had Surfaced Last Fall?

    John Hinderaker
    17 May 2013 | 9:06 pm
    (John Hinderaker) I was on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night, talking about the Benghazi talking point emails. Near the end of the segment, Hugh asked whether I thought the presidential election might have turned out differently if Obama and Clinton had not succeeded in covering up the truth about Benghazi. I was skeptical. The story of the election, I said, was the Obama campaign’s ability to turn out, once again, a large majority of the low-information voters who swept Obama into office in 2008. Few of those low-information voters, I said, would either have understood, or…

  • Highlights of Today’s IRS Hearing

    John Hinderaker
    17 May 2013 | 2:44 pm
    (John Hinderaker) Former acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee today; Paul live-blogged his appearance. My friend Jeff Davis compiled this video of highlights of today’s proceedings. As usual, the highlights consist more of the Congressmen’s questions than Miller’s answers, but the video is nevertheless revealing. Miller comes across just as Paul described him:

  • The Week in Pictures, Scandalpalooza Edition

    Steven Hayward
    17 May 2013 | 8:00 am
    (Steven Hayward) I had to doublecheck the calendar this morning to make sure I hadn’t woken up back on April 1, for a couple of the front section headines in today’s Wall Street Journal had me wondering.  Such as: “As Hepatitis C Spreads, Scotland Steps In.”  Scotland?  Since when did it become the CDC?  Or how about this: “Berlin Leftists’ New Target: Barbie Dreamhouse.”  You can always count on the left for frivolity. Anyway, lots of good stuff piled up on the photo spindle since our midweek graphical update.  There’s a pretty clear…

  • Live-blogging the House IRS hearing

    Paul Mirengoff
    17 May 2013 | 7:28 am
    (Paul Mirengoff) Steve Miller, former acting Commissioner of the IRS, is testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee. Paul Ryan has just taken him to task for his prior testimony to Congress. Ryan demonstrated that Miller failed to meet his obligation to tell Congress the whole truth in his previous testimony. In prior testimony, Miller was asked what “targeting” of tax exempt groups was taking place at the IRS. At the time Miller, had been briefed about targeting. However, his answer did not divulge the targeting. Even Democrats don’t seem to be buying…

  • MS. found in a boat

    Scott Johnson
    17 May 2013 | 5:33 am
    (Scott Johnson) CBS News reports: Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left a note claiming responsibility for the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon, reports CBS News senior correspondent John Miller. Sources tell Miller that Tsarnaev wrote the note in the boat he was hiding in as police pursued him, and as he bled from gunshot wounds sustained in an earlier shootout between police and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. It reads as part manifesto, part suicide note and part justification for the killing and maiming of innocent civilians. The note — scrawled with a marker on…
 
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    LewRockwell.com Blog

  • His Empire of Death

    Lew Rockwell
    17 May 2013 | 2:53 pm
    See the latest Neocon Watch from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, on Bill Kristol's vast domains. He uses them to promote perpetual war, the police state, the corporate state, the welfare state, the Fed, and the Republican party.

  • Don't Imitate Bernanke

    Lew Rockwell
    17 May 2013 | 12:01 pm
    Thus, to discourage private counterfeiting, we have the new, uglier, continuously less valuable $100 bill.

  • Hating the Good

    Lew Rockwell
    17 May 2013 | 11:23 am
    The neocons haven't given up smearing, demonizing, and ridiculing Ron Paul since he left Congress; indeed, they have stepped it up. But here is what is so heartening: no decent person believes them. They can throw mudballs to their heart's content. It doesn't work. And by the way, neocons: you are about to have much more to worry about, as Ron becomes an even bigger national and international figure. When that happens this summer, you can hold your breaths until you turn blue, and we will just laugh.

  • Spying on the AP

    Lew Rockwell
    17 May 2013 | 11:00 am
    Am I really supposed to get angry over this? After all, the AP was revealed as the CIA's baby in the Church hearings of the 1970s, which was not exactly shocking to anyone paying attention. The AP is a hub of the sort of regime journalists who cheer the wars and the police state, the oligarchs and the Keynesians, and the vicious federal spying on all the rest of us. But...but... it's far worse to spy on the government's pals. Yeah, right.

  • Heroic Smuggling

    Lew Rockwell
    17 May 2013 | 6:54 am
    The anti-human food blockade of Gaza continues, but KFC is smuggled through, and let's hope all the thousands of other items that are banned, from toys to medicines.
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    town hall

  • My most favorite picture ever...

    Stephanie
    17 May 2013 | 2:48 pm
    It's hard to beat this beauty.

  • A day in the life...

    Stephanie
    16 May 2013 | 8:41 pm
    I'll let the pictures tell the story (well, as much as possible) In full disclosure, I slept in our closet last night.  Wes snored something fierce, so I had to find quiet refuge.  So, this early morning wake up call hit me hard today. 6:30 am prayers before the oldest two head out the door.  This is what I usually find them doing as we straggle downstairs. Every single day he does this.  He's my slow-to-wake-up child. I went all out again and made Spencer's breakfast.  Every day I think about the fight over breakfast Wes and I had.  I wonder if it warms his…

  • love languages: how I mother with them in mind

    Stephanie
    15 May 2013 | 4:08 pm
    So, I'm sure you have all read/heard/listened to a lecture about the Five Love Languages.  The first I heard of this idea was probably 10 years ago, or so at a Relief Society meeting, where a professional life coach gave a lecture on the book.  I was intrigued, and later read the book and spent plenty of time trying to figure out my and the rest of my families love languages. Cate.  Cate is words of affirmation.  I consider this one of the easiest love languages to fulfill.  Cate likes verbal praise more than just about anything else.  I make sure to tell her…

  • 10 things that make me super happy

    Stephanie
    14 May 2013 | 7:37 pm
    {image via pinterest} Bubble Baths.  I'm a bather.  I admit it.  Taking a long, drawn-out bubble bath every night after dinner used to be my sanity when I had a home full of little kids.  Nowadays, I don't "need" my bath-time like I did back then, but I still take a bath almost every single day. When I lived abroad in Great Britain, our home didn't have a bathtub.  That was a long semester for me to plow through not being able to bathe.  I remember on a week trip I took to Paris with a few of my friends the dumpy charming hotel we stayed in had a bathtub and I…

  • I guess I should apologize

    Stephanie
    13 May 2013 | 1:58 pm
    Confession-  I sat on that If You're a Mormon, You Live in a Small Town post for several weeks before I published it. Why?  Why did I hesitate?  And furthermore, why did I finally pull the trigger? I was talking to my sister and sister-in-law last night while we lingered over our delicious Mother's Day dinner, and I told them my biggest problem with writing a blog is hesitation.  I hesitate a lot.  And, mostly I hesitate because my words are rather straight-forward at times.  And, some might interpret them as cutting. My sister nodded reassuringly and told me…
 
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    Betsy's Page

  • Cruising the Web

    Betsy Newmark
    17 May 2013 | 4:15 am
    AP's real crime was to publish the Yemen terrorist story before Obama could have a self-congratulatory press conference announcing the same story. So just ignore Eric Holder's righteous indignation about what a damaging and dangerous leak this was.The news service was prepared to publish its scoop on May 2, 2012. But in discussions with government officials, the CIA stressed to AP that publishing anything about the operation to obtain the bomb and thwart the plot would create grave national security dangers and compromise a “sensitive intelligence operation.”Michael J. Morell, the CIA’s…

  • Just in case you thought the tax-exempt bureau of the IRS was uniquely corrupt....

    Betsy Newmark
    16 May 2013 | 3:52 am
    Eliana Johnson links to another story to frighten those fearful of the IRS's violation of rights."This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service ('IRS') agents (collectively referred to as 'defendants' herein) during a raid of John Doe Company, in the Southern District of California, on March 11, 2011," the complaint states. "In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians."No…

  • Cruising the Web

    Betsy Newmark
    16 May 2013 | 3:38 am
    If you had doubt that the IRS was acting in a purely ideological way and was just checking out all 501(c)(4) application, check out the information from USA Today detailing how conservative groups would wait two or more years to get their tax exempt status approved, but liberal groups with words like "Progress" or "Progressive" in their names got approved in just a few months. Lois Lerner, the head of the office granting tax-exempt status, even granted retroactive tax-exempt status in a month to a fraudulent charity established by President Obama's half-brother.And a conservative group could…

  • Cruising the Web

    Betsy Newmark
    15 May 2013 | 4:06 am
    How naive do IRS officials believe we are when they try to tell us that they singled out conservative groups, delaying approval of their tax exempt status, often past the election, and causing several groups to drop their application altogether, but that there was no political bias involved? As Rich Lowry writes,In March 2012 congressional testimony, then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman repeatedly denied any targeting of conservatives. Evidently, no one who knew about it did his or her boss the favor of telling him that he had to tell Congress. In fact, the IRS didn’t reveal its…

  • Cruising the Web

    Betsy Newmark
    14 May 2013 | 3:19 am
    The Washington Post reports that it wasn't just IRS employees in Cincinnati targeting conservative groups. Washington IRS officials were in on the game also. And this tidbit should be investigated further.Catherine Engelbrecht, president of the Houston-based True the Vote, first filed for tax-exempt status in July 2010. At one point, Engelbrecht — who is still awaiting a determination from the IRS regarding her voting rights organization and a separate tea party group, King Street Patriots — said an IRS employee informed her: “I’m just doing what Washington is telling me to do. I’m…
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    The Fix

  • Cory Booker made $1.3 million from speeches over five years

    Sean Sullivan
    17 May 2013 | 3:41 pm
    EARLIER ON THE FIX: The worst week of Obama’s presidency? Close, but no. The IRS scandal: ‘horrible customer service’ or political malfeasance? The impossibly complex world of campaign finance — in 1 chart Of Watergate and lesser scandals GOP’s biggest … Continue reading →    

  • President Obama’s bad week, in one chart

    Chris Cillizza
    17 May 2013 | 2:24 pm
    It doesn’t take a political genius to grasp that President Obama has just weathered one of the worst weeks of his time in office. But, sometimes a picture tells the story better than all the words we’ve written on it … Continue reading →    

  • The worst week of Obama’s presidency? Close, but no.

    Chris Cillizza
    17 May 2013 | 12:54 pm
    For the sixth time in his presidency, Barack Obama “won” our “Worst Week in Washington” award this week. “For a president who wanted to spend the week, and the weeks to come, talking immigration and budget, the events of the … Continue reading →    

  • The IRS scandal: ‘horrible customer service’ or political malfeasance?

    Sean Sullivan
    17 May 2013 | 12:16 pm
    Did the Internal Revenue Service “target” conservative groups for extra scrutiny? Or was it more a case of “horrible customer service”? Depends on who you ask. Friday’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing into the scandal that erupted into public … Continue reading →    

  • The impossibly complex world of campaign finance — in 1 chart

    Chris Cillizza
    17 May 2013 | 11:00 am
    One of the lessons the general public (or at least some of them) have learned from the Internal Revenue Service scandal is that the world of campaign finance — who can raise and spend what, where they can get the … Continue reading →    
 
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    Reason.com Full Feed

  • Watch Future of Spaceflight: XCOR's Doug Jones Talks with Brian Doherty

    Brian Doherty
    18 May 2013 | 3:51 am
      If you've ever dreamed of flying in space - and have about $95,000 in mad money stashed away - you've got a ticket to ride. On May 16, Reason's Brian Doherty talked with XCOR co-founder Doug Jones about the future of spaceflight in the latest Reason webcast streamed live from our Los Angeles studios. Click above to watch now or click below to go to the full article page, featuring links, downloadable versions of videos, and a full playlist of past Reason TV webcasts featuring the likes of former MTV VJ Kennedy, underground artist Chris Cooper (Art of COOP), Reason Foundation's Adrian…

  • Future of Spaceflight: XCOR's Doug Jones Talks With Brian Doherty

    Brian Doherty
    18 May 2013 | 3:34 am
    If you've ever dreamed of soaring to the stars, liftoff may be coming sooner than you think. Just ask XCOR's Chief Test Engineer Doug Jones, who has designed a commercial suborbital spaceship that can fly up to four times a day, six days a week - sort of like an airplane. And for the low, low price of $95,000, you too can have a ticket to ride.  On May 16, Reason's Brian Doherty talked with Jones in the latest Reason TV livestream webcast from our Los Angeles studios Watch the interview now. About 25 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Watch past livestreams -…

  • Baylen Linnekin on the Uncertain Future of Awful "Ag Gag" Laws

    Reason.com
    18 May 2013 | 3:00 am
    Laws meant to crack down on farm whistleblowers, commonly referred to as “ag gag” laws, have been drawing fire around the country from various quarters—from animal rights activists to free speech advocates. Detractors often refer to “ag gag” laws as such because these laws serve to gag or stifle the speech of persons who cry foul over some facets of animal agriculture. While momentum appeared to favor ag gag laws this past autumn, writes Baylen Linnekin, two recent decisions have dealt a serious blow to that support. View this article.

  • Who Is Trying to Legalize College Contract Cronyism in California?

    Scott Shackford
    17 May 2013 | 3:52 pm
    Katy Grimes of Cal Watchdog uncovered some potentially dangerous weirdness in a California Assembly bill. Potentially dangerous weirdness is an unfortunately common component of Golden State legislation and is often not an obstacle to passage. This one has all the hallmarks of the way union workers got themselves exempted from harassment laws while engaging in picketing. Grimes reports: Public contracts should always be subjected to stiff scrutiny. Without public scrutiny and oversight, spending other people’s money is too easy. But a new Assembly bill would not only increase the amount of…

  • J.D. Tuccille Talks Lost Terrorists and Terrorism Busts on RT at 7pm ET (Roughly)

    J.D. Tuccille
    17 May 2013 | 3:50 pm
    We know the feds are perfectly capable of losing track of terrorism suspects. With competence an open question, how legit are their other terrorism busts, such as that of a Russian-speaking truck driver in Idaho? Tune in as J.D. Tuccille chats about this and oh so much more on RT sometime after 7pm ET.
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    Lehigh Valley Conservative

  • As He Thinketh

    Randy Toman
    11 May 2013 | 12:06 pm
    Disraeli’s famous description of one of his opponents: “He had only one idea and it was wrong.” Life with its surrounding culture is becoming increasingly confusing, the so called good guys have lost their ability to convince the other they have the correct position. They have lost the ability to frame the argument and with it the ability to give convincing standards that will win the day. Why have we lost the standards by which we must live? What is this element that has been lost? We have lost the ability to argue from the Bible because we do not believe that is to be the…

  • From Frustration to Total Destruction

    Randy Toman
    22 Apr 2013 | 1:08 pm
    Judges 21:25 (KJV) “In those days there was no king in Israel: Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” There is a frustration that has come over the land —one that can not be worked out—–a time—“When the enemy shall come in like a flood,…” Isaiah 59:19 (KJV). We are at a place in history were—”The bricks are fallen down…” and because of arrogance and evilness in the land the people think they can build with— “…but we will build with hewn stones.” Isaiah 9:10 (KJV). The people of this land, are like…

  • Samson–It’s all down Hill from there

    Randy Toman
    9 Apr 2013 | 9:38 am
    Delilah had found out Samson’s secret, and had his hair cut off—all the while he slept on her knees. Note what Samson says in Judges 16:20 (KJV) after he was awaken thinking things are the same. “—I will go out as at other times before—” But poor Samson did not know his strength was gone “—the Lord was departed from him.” You know the rest of the story. Paul in the book of Acts chapter 14:16 (KJV) tells the people things are now different because of Jesus Christ—–the God of the heaven–”Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in…

  • Bernanke Can’t Wait to Escape

    Randy Toman
    7 Apr 2013 | 6:42 am
    Reading between the lines and making a concerted effort for all of us to find the truth will not happen. Most of us will not agree with what the other claims is the answer—-some do not know there is a problem. We are confused and flounder in our everyday world, viewing large problems with the narrowest of scopes in an attempt to understand. In he book “Reckless Endangerment” Morgenson & Rosner 2011 Page 138 they say and I quote: “Charles Kindleberger, the author of the classic 1978 economic text ‘Manias, Panics and Crashes A history of Financial Crises’ already…

  • The Panic Takes Us Where?

    Randy Toman
    4 Apr 2013 | 11:31 am
    The first law in any panic is to be the first to panic, realizing the danger of a situation and giving you a small window of reaction time. Under fractional reserve banking all banks and all national banking systems are extremely fragile, it is only the trust factor that sustains the over all operation, avoiding the panic is first; the realization the system is indeed fragile and second; it will never sustain a run on the banks, third; your money is lost if the system fails. The Cyprus crisis has pushed the banking industry to the edge. What happens within the European Banking System and with…
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    National Review Online - The Corner

  • Krauthammer's Take: IRS Chief's Testimony in Category of 'How Stupid Do You Think We Are'

    elianayjohnson
    17 May 2013 | 4:53 pm
    Charles Krauthammer was unimpressed with the testimony of IRS chief Steven Miller, arguing that it “falls under the category of ‘How stupid do you think we are?’” “Here’s a guy who says that the IRS openly discriminated against groups on the basis of their politics, but the action was not a political action, it was instead an attempt at efficiency,” he said. “You’ve gotta be a knave or a fool to say that and you’ve gotta be an idiot to believe it. It’s simply a contradiction in terms.”  

  • IRS Scandals

    Patrick Brennan
    17 May 2013 | 3:31 pm
    In the early days of this scandal, I opined in a Corner post that it was believable this might be just a few low-level employees. I would like to state this is now obviously untenable. I also mentioned NOM’s experience — its legally protected Form 990s leaked, which has since hit Drudge and elsewhere. For the record, this happened after I stepped down from NOM and I don’t have inside information about what happened. My theory that it was a former employee who requested the data is only a theory. We need someone with subpoena power to find out what really happened.  

  • Does the House GOP Also Trust Obama?

    Mark Krikorian
    17 May 2013 | 3:04 pm
    The House of Representatives’ own version of the Gang of Eight has announced agreement on an amnesty bill, though without revealing what they actually agreed to. It’s clear the bill legalizes (i.e., amnesties) illegal aliens, since one sticking point was “how the legislation would handle health care for immigrants on the pathway to citizenship.” Since I can’t imagine that the Democrats in the gang (Becerra, Yarmuth, Lofgren, and Gutierrez) would ever agree to postponing the grant of legal status until E-Verify, exit-tracking, and real border control are in place, it seems likely…

  • Assisted Religious Suicide

    Kathryn Lopez
    17 May 2013 | 2:43 pm
    Charles C. W. Cooke drew attention earlier today to an astonishing new piece in the Telegraph estimating that Christians will be a minority of the British population even sooner than earlier projections had suggested — in fact, within a decade.  This religious free-fall both across the Atlantic and here at home is one of the subjects of my new book, How the West Really Lost GodThe question of just why so many Western men and women no longer know Easter from the Easter bunny — or care — is one of the most fascinating intellectual puzzles out there. And the going explanations for…

  • To Shrink the IRS, Repeal Obamacare’s Individual and Employer Mandates

    Avik Roy
    17 May 2013 | 2:21 pm
    One of the many troubling features of Obamacare is that it dramatically expands the reach and scope of the IRS. Two provisions in particular — the individual mandate, requiring people to buy health insurance; and the employer mandate, requiring employers to cover their workers — require substantial new enforcement powers for the IRS. I explain why in a new post for my Forbes blog: Basically, the IRS needs to know the specific insurance policy you’ve obtained, whether on your own or through your employer. The law also has the effect of forcing employers to make you disclose your…
 
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    The American Conservative » Daniel Larison

  • The “Isolationist” Label Obscures and Misleads, and That’s the Point of the Using It (II)

    Daniel Larison
    17 May 2013 | 7:17 am
    Jacob Heilbrunn dismisses Bret Stephens’ latest: The extent to which Obama is carrying out an overdue realignment of American foreign policy can be debated. But to dub it isolationism and to invoke 1939, as does Stephens, is not merely unhelpful, but also quite misleading. This is very politely put, but as I’m sure Heilbrunn knows Stephens’ references to “isolationism” are intended to be misleading. Since there are no isolationists today, and the label is mainly a pejorative term of abuse, there is almost no way that it can’t be misleading. Shouting fascist…

  • Non-Interventionist Blowback?

    Daniel Larison
    17 May 2013 | 5:34 am
    Syria hawks have lately been falling back on an argument that echoes the so-called McCain “vengeance doctrine.” This is the idea that the U.S. will reap a bitter harvest of unfortunate consequences if it does not intervene in Syria’s conflict. According to McCain, the danger lies in the resentment that will be felt against America by those on the opposition side. Another variant of this argument that “neglect” of Syria will have longer-term consequences for the U.S. that aren’t immediately apparent. The first version is not very credible, but the second is…

  • The Flawed Comparison Between Syria and Rwanda

    Daniel Larison
    17 May 2013 | 4:13 am
    Greg Scoblete also rejects comparisons between Rwanda and Syria: Now, unlike Rwanda, “other forms of intervention” in Syria consist of riskier policies than jamming radio stations. Things like arming rebel groups and establishing no-fly zones — i.e. policies that even more explicitly tie the U.S. to the fighting in Syria. But like Rwanda, these interim steps are almost certainly not going to “help” Syria in the humanitarian sense of the word. They will help depose Assad, but absent a means to stabilize a post-Assad Syria, there’s liable to be a failed state…

  • The Folly of a Syrian War

    Daniel Larison
    15 May 2013 | 12:36 pm
    My new column for The Week on Syria is online: Like the Iraq War, a U.S. war in Syria would be unauthorized and illegal under international law, and America would have even fewer allies than it had in Iraq. Like Iraq, the costs and duration of a Syrian war have been minimized to make it appear to be a quick, easy, and cheap intervention. Unlike Iraq, there wouldn’t even be the pretense that the U.S. was acting to eliminate a potential threat to our security. Instead, the U.S. would be fighting solely for the purpose of overthrowing another government. While the Iraq War was mostly…

  • Crocker on Syria

    Daniel Larison
    15 May 2013 | 8:12 am
    Josh Rogin reports on the former U.S. diplomats that are wary of any military involvement in Syria: On the other hand, those who’ve seen the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from a front-row diplomatic seat say caution is the better part of policy prudence when it comes to Syria. “There are no good options here and the pressure is growing to do something because that is what we do, we do things [bold mine-DL],” says former Amb. Ryan Crocker, who served as ambassadors to both Iraq and Syria and now is a senior fellow at Yale University. “But everything of significance I can…
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    The Spectacle Blog

  • Low-Level IRS Staffer: No, We Didn’t Mastermind This Entire Thing

    Matt Purple
    17 May 2013 | 2:48 pm
    We already knew the government’s excuse for the IRS scandal—that it was a couple of staffers gone rogue at the Cincinatti office—was absurd. Now one of the those Cincinatti employees, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, has confirmed it: “We’re not political,’’ said one determinations staffer in khakis as he left work late Tuesday afternoon. “We people on the local level are doing what we are supposed to do. . . . That’s why there are so many people here who are flustered. Everything comes from the top. We don’t have any authority to make…

  • UPDATED: IRS Acting Chief Apologizes, But Defends His Actions

    Kaylin Bugos
    17 May 2013 | 2:17 pm
    In his opening statement before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee today, former acting IRS director Steve Miller apologized for the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS, saying: “Partisanship has no place in the IRS.” After his opening statement, however, it became clear that Miller wasn’t really sorry. Repeatedly, he objected to committee members’ use of the word “targeting” to describe the actions of the IRS, calling it “pejorative.” He frequently defended his own actions, refusing to acknowledge that he did much of anything…

  • Voter Fraud Affected Election Results in Missouri

    Kaylin Bugos
    17 May 2013 | 1:31 pm
    Opponents of voter ID laws like to say that voter fraud doesn’t matter and never affects election results. But as we learned this week, voter fraud is the reason John Rizzo, a Missouri House representative, won in the state’s 19th House district In the Democratic primary for the seat in 2010, Rizzo beat his opponent, Will Royster, by one vote. The district is heavily Democratic, so Rizzo was able to easily win the general election. This all sounds fine until you look ahead to this week when John C. Moretina pleaded guilty to voting in the district, even though he did not live there.

  • Purple Privacy Push Persists in House Drone Hearing

    Luca Gattoni-Celli
    17 May 2013 | 1:28 pm
    The bipartisan drumbeat for privacy safeguards regarding domestic drone use continued at a congressional hearing Friday morning. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations was overshadowed in everything but name by the Ways and Means inquiry into the IRS’s political targeting of conservative groups, as reported by my colleague Kaylin Bugos. The proceedings illustrated that members of both parties are wary of drones’ privacy implications but open to their considerable promise. While addressing lingering regulatory questions, expert witnesses…

  • IRS Director: ‘Some People Call Me Maurice’

    Kyle Peterson
    17 May 2013 | 9:12 am
    In bizarre testimony on Capitol Hill today, IRS acting director Steve Miller told Congress that agents used secret codenames to identify him, including “space cowboy,” “gangster of love,” and “Maurice.” “People talk about me, baby. Say I’m doing you wrong, doing you wrong,” Miller reportedly said in his opening remarks. “Well don’t you worry, baby, don’t worry. Cause I’m right here, right here, right here, right here at home.” Miller repeatedly used the word “pompatus” throughout his…
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    BobMcCarty.com

  • THE CLAPPER MEMO #3 — Amazon’s ‘Top 100 Hot New Releases in Terrorism’

    BobMcCarty
    16 May 2013 | 6:15 am
    The Kindle version of THE CLAPPER MEMO continues to climb the charts, now showing up in the #3 spot in Amazon’s “Top 100 Hot New Releases in Terrorism.” Thanks to everyone who’s helping get the word out about this book … Continue reading →

  • THE CLAPPER MEMO Climbs Into Top 100 New Releases in Politics

    BobMcCarty
    15 May 2013 | 9:15 am
    Good news! The Kindle version of my recently-released second nonfiction book, THE CLAPPER MEMO, is now listed at #33 #17 #10 among Amazon.com’s Top 100 Hot New Releases in Politics. While three strong endorsements are helping the book garner serious … Continue reading →

  • Industry Insiders Generate ‘Buzz’ for Book, THE CLAPPER MEMO

    BobMcCarty
    14 May 2013 | 1:00 pm
    Though not unexpected when one considers the subject matter, I appreciate seeing others generating “buzz” about my just-released second nonfiction book, THE CLAPPER MEMO. An example of that surfaced today in the form a news release issued by officials at … Continue reading →

  • Talk Radio Update: Listen May 21 on 33 Stations in 12 States

    BobMcCarty
    14 May 2013 | 12:45 pm
    Be sure to tune in and listen one week from today at 10 a.m. Central when I make a guest appearance on Commonsense Coalition Talk Radio. Host Beth Ann Schoeneberg and I will talk, among other things, about THE CLAPPER … Continue reading →

  • ISAF Officials Tout Portable Polygraph as ‘Key Component’ Against ‘Insider Threats’

    BobMcCarty
    14 May 2013 | 9:30 am
    Imagine my surprise this morning when, less than two weeks after the release of my new book, THE CLAPPER MEMO, International Security Assistance Force officials issued public statements regarding the alleged effectiveness of portable polygraph devices in Afghanistan. First known … Continue reading →
 
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    About.com Immigration Issues

  • Immigration Reform Bill Facing Amendment Challenges in Senate

    13 May 2013 | 3:34 am
    The Gang of Eight's proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill has started its formal journey through Congress, and already there have been volleys of poison-pill amendments intended to derail the legislation as it goes through the Senate's committee mark-up process....Read Full Post

  • Immigrant Remittances Recovering From Steep Recession Declines

    13 May 2013 | 3:13 am
    One reliable sign that the U.S. economy is recovering from the Great Recession is the steady increase in immigrant remittances to their homelands over the last five years. According to research released by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, immigrant workers living in the United States are still trying to get back to the income levels they had before the recession took hold late in 2007, but remittances are stabilizing....Read Full Post

  • Comprehensive Immigration Reform Proposal Ends the Diversity Lottery

    6 May 2013 | 12:15 am
    One of the many contentious ideas in the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill is a largely overlooked provision that eliminates the diversity visa lottery (popularly known as the green card lottery) in exchange for making more visas available to highly skilled, highly educated immigrants in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)....Read Full Post

  • Obama Telling Mexico President Comprehensive Reform Possible

    4 May 2013 | 3:10 am
    President Obama is continuing to press his case for comprehensive immigration reform during his meetings with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City. "I'm optimistic about us getting this done because it's the right thing to do. We've seen leaders from both parties indicate that now's the time to get comprehensive immigration reform done," Obama said at a joint press conference with Pena Nieto....Read Full Post

  • Entrants to Green Card Lottery '14 Can Begin Checking Status Online

    2 May 2013 | 7:43 am
    The U.S. State Department is allowing entrants to the 2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa program --popularly known as the green card lottery -- to begin checking their status online. The entrant status check opened May 1, and those who have entered the lottery are reminded to keep their confirmation numbers, since the government might select more DV 2014 applicants later this year....Read Full Post
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    Civil Society Trust

  • The 800-Pound HUD Gorilla

    Administrator
    3 May 2013 | 9:37 am
    They say the states are supposed to be the laboratories for legislative creativity.   We can watch what works and what doesn’t, emulate the best and avoid worst, and improve the lot of everyone. But what happens when the mad scientist is the federal government, cramming an experiment down the throat of a particular state and county?  What if their process is textbook “arbitrary and capricious“, and yet they clearly aspire to go national with the results, regardless of efficacy? Such is the saga going on in Westchester County New York, where County Executive Rob Astorino is embroiled…

  • We Need To Reign In The Government Affordability Index

    Administrator
    1 Jan 2013 | 8:02 pm
    What does it mean to be able to afford our own government?  Most (although apparently not all) people realize that if we are to ask government to provide us with an ever-increasing list of services, we need to be able to pay for them.  And what better measure of affordability than the rate of growth of personal income?   It is from personal income that we pay our taxes, that pays for government.    Using data retrieved via the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank’s eminently useful “FRED” system, I calculated an index that measures the former against the latter.    Let’s call this…

  • Ending Crony Capitalism Can Help Heal Our Wounded Country

    Administrator
    6 Nov 2012 | 6:00 am
    No matter who wins today’s election, one thing is for certain:  This country will remain deeply divided on the proper role of government.   While the debate has been healthy in many respects, it has also been equally damaging.   In many ways, the President-elect and his new Congress will greet tomorrow and find a wounded country.   With all the talk of the “need to compromise”, “reaching across the aisle” and giving “everyone a fair shot”, the next President and Congress could do no better than to attack the biggest root cause of public acrimony: crony capitalism.   In…

  • Bring On The Radical Ideologues

    Administrator
    14 Aug 2012 | 4:16 pm
    President Obama and I agree completely on exactly one thing, and it concerns the upcoming November election: It’s not just a choice between two candidates or two political parties. More than any other election, this is a choice about two different visions for the country, for two different directions of where America should go. And the direction that we choose, the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth in November, is going to make a difference not just in your life, but in the lives of your children and in the lives of your grandchildren. It will make a difference…

  • Mayor Bloomberg and the Real Path To Obesity

    Administrator
    6 Jun 2012 | 6:42 pm
    People sometimes say that by electing a super-rich person to public office, that office-holder is less likely to be beholden to equally rich special interest groups.   In the case of New York City’s Michael Bloomberg, we may just be seeing how a super-rich, non-reelection seeking mayor might not need to care what any of his constituents think.    Bloomberg certainly deserves kudos for determination and sticking to principle.   Too bad for all of us that they are the principles of a statist. I’m of course referring to Bloomberg’s latest governmental crusade: “educating”…
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    Cato @ Liberty

  • IRS Abuses Past and Present

    Chris Edwards
    17 May 2013 | 10:51 am
    Chris Edwards The stories coming out about IRS abuses of nonprofit groups are appalling. We will likely find out that arrogant and biased officials are to blame, as well as members of Congress who pushed them to be especially aggressive on conservative groups. Past IRS abuses have stemmed from foul play by both politicians and bureaucrats. As Gene Healy mentions, numerous presidents have used the IRS as a political weapon. As for the bureaucrats, investigations during the 1990s revealed how IRS enforcement had run amok, with abusive tactics being used against small businesses and other…

  • Poll: Already Scant Support for Obamacare Erodes

    Michael F. Cannon
    17 May 2013 | 9:24 am
    Michael F. Cannon According to the latest Reason-Rupe poll: The president’s health care law is losing public support… Only 32 percent of Americans say they liked the health care law when it was passed and still like it today. Seven percent liked the law when it was passed, but like it less now. Meanwhile, 45 percent disliked the health care law when it was passed and still dislike it. Four percent of Americans say they disliked the law when it passed, but like it more now. These results are consistent with the Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, which has always reported a…

  • DOJ vs. School Choice

    Jason Bedrick
    17 May 2013 | 8:44 am
    Jason Bedrick Claiming that private schools in Milwaukee are discriminating against students with disabilities, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) demanding that private schools participating in the Milwaukee school choice program comply with Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act. As Professor Patrick Wolf explains over at Education Next, the DOJ is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. Wolf is part of a team of researchers that has studied the Milwaukee school choice program over five years. Their…

  • OECD Study Admits Income Taxes Penalize Growth, Acknowledges that Tax Competition Restrains Excessive Government

    Daniel J. Mitchell
    17 May 2013 | 5:51 am
    Daniel J. Mitchell I have to start this post with a big caveat. I’m not a fan of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The international bureaucracy is infamous for using American tax dollars to promote a statist economic agenda. Most recently, it launched a new scheme to raise the tax burden on multinational companies, which is really just a backdoor way of saying that the OECD (and the high-tax nations that it represents) wants higher taxes on workers, consumers, and shareholders. But the OECD’s anti-market agenda goes much deeper. The OECD has…

  • Never Mind the IRS, You'd Better Be Nice to Kathleen Sebelius

    Michael F. Cannon
    16 May 2013 | 2:02 pm
    Michael F. Cannon ObamaCare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board is everything its critics say and worse. It is a democracy-skirting, Congress-blocking, powers-unseparating, law-entrenching, tax-hiking, fund-appropriating, price-controlling, health-care-rationing, death-paneling, technocrat-thrilling, authoritarian, anti-constitutional super-legislature. Its very existence is testament to government incompetence. It stands as a milestone on the road to serfdom. The Congressional Research Service has now confirmed what HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pretends not to know…
 
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    Northwest Indiana Politics

  • We need America back...and we need Lake County to be rescued from the crooks.

    12 May 2013 | 12:14 am
    Why has the criminal Democratic Machines ruled North Lake County for decades?   You think a County Income tax is anything but a grab by crooked politicians from Gary and East Chicago and Gary to continue to fund their scams by stealing it from South Lake County.   The only way to save Lake County and Indiana is to fix Washington and Indiana as well as Lake County, too.   We need to be smart and fight.  Be smart and fight.  Be smart and fight!!! Obama Versus the Founding Fathers There is perhaps no other American president who stands in such stark contrast to the US…

  • There will be an income tax in Lake County

    10 May 2013 | 8:19 am
    The County Commissioners opted not to veto the Council's income tax (1.5%) and now Lake County becomes the final county in the state to adopt an income tax.   Thoughts?

  • Just in from Indianapolis

    25 Apr 2013 | 10:28 am
    For Immediate Release April 25, 2013 GOVERNOR PENCE CALLS AGREEMENT FOR 5 PERCENT INCOME TAX CUT AND INHERITANCE TAX REPEAL “GREAT VICTORY” FOR HOOSIER TAXPAYERS “Today Hoosier taxpayers won a great victory. The agreement reached between our administration and legislative leaders will be the largest state tax cut in Indiana history. The combination of a 5 percent individual income tax cut, inheritance tax repeal and additional tax relief for businesses is the right tax relief at the right time and will give a much needed boost to working families, small businesses and family farms. I am…

  • Chavismo

    16 Mar 2013 | 10:50 am
    We in this blog, and almost all conservatives on the whole, try to win the electorate over by convincing them of the bare, dry facts.  Liberals tug at the heartstrings and try to win with emotion.  Conservatives also aim for consistency in their candidates and officials, and readily throw out those who let them down with their personal behavior as well as public voting record.  Liberals don't care what the person is like as long as they get their liberal points advanced. This is shown often in Region politics.  A sitting Lake County surveyor had the FBI raid his office and…

  • Is the United States a Nation of Frogs?

    13 Mar 2013 | 5:55 pm
    My friend Solomon P. (aptly named) recently wrote an essay and I would like to present it to you.  We certainly have a lot of frogs and sheep in this nation but that is not all...if we had more lions, this nation would not stand for the boneheads and users and good old beltway boys that populate our government!  Solomon identifies seven animals that typify the population of our nation.   Nation of Frogs? The other day I saw an old and a bit overused analogy about how we don’t notice our rights being eroded and our wealth being stolen, because it’s happening so slowly, the…
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    The Right Commentary

  • The New Enemies List

    David
    15 May 2013 | 4:38 am
    I'm sure Presidents have had worse seven-day stretches than President Obama has had over the past week.  Richard Nixon had scandals breaking out everywhere during the latter days of his... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • The Kid vs The Cop

    David
    8 May 2013 | 4:38 am
    There is a video that has gone viral where a 12-year old boy confronts a motorcycle cop about illegally parking on the sidewalk.  This incident took place in Las Vegas as 12-year-old Jeremy Drew... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Amnesty Bill Gives Immediate Access to Welfare for Illegals

    David
    1 May 2013 | 4:38 am
    Remember the days when the Democrats said that no illegal alien would ever be allowed access to Obamacare?  Remember the days when Democrats AND Republicans said any immigration bill would not... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Kermit Gosnell: Holocaust of the 21st Century

    David
    24 Apr 2013 | 4:38 am
    As the trial of abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell, continues in Philadelphia, more horrific news comes out describing his Nazi-like abortion procedures.  To begin, none of this doctor's staff was... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • The Left Celebrates Death of Margaret Thatcher

    David
    10 Apr 2013 | 4:38 am
    The "Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher, passed away Monday, April 8, 2013.  She was a good friend of President Ronald Reagan.  Both contributed to the end of the Cold War.  The Left will... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
 
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    Washington Free Beacon

  • Camp: IRS ‘Arrogance’ Came Across at Hearing

    Washington Free Beacon Staff
    17 May 2013 | 7:44 pm
    Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.) said an “arrogance” came across from the IRS in the form of Steven Miller’s testimony Friday about the conservative targeting scandal in an interview with Fox News. Miller called the agency’s actions an example of “horrible customer service,” but did not think it was illegal that there was a list of criteria employees used to identify conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Congressmen from both parties grilled Miller, the previous acting IRS commissioner, over failing to disclose last year that Tea Party and other…

  • Fox News Montage on Bipartisan Disgust With IRS Scandal, Miller’s Evasive Testimony

    Washington Free Beacon Staff
    17 May 2013 | 7:17 pm

  • Rogers: Administration Shouldn’t Wait to Be Embarrassed to Provide Information

    Washington Free Beacon Staff
    17 May 2013 | 6:44 pm
    Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.), in an interview on Bloomberg discussing the various scandals plaguing the Obama administration, said the White House still needed to divulge more information about the Benghazi terrorist attack and whether the narrative it was trying to push about terrorism affected its decision-making. “Four Americans are dead,” Rogers said. “Their families deserve a full vetting of what happened, leading up to the event, during the event and after the event. That’s not clear. I hope the administration is more forthcoming in its information. It…

  • Krauthammer: Miller’s Testimony Under Category of ‘How Stupid Do You Think We Are?’

    Washington Free Beacon Staff
    17 May 2013 | 4:19 pm
    Columnist Charles Krauthammer thrashed Steven Miller on “Special Report” Friday, saying the previous acting commissioner of the IRS’ testimony on the conservative targeting scandal fell under the category of, ‘How stupid do you think we are?’ “Here’s a guy who says that the IRS openly discriminated against groups on the basis of their politics, but the action was not a political action,” he said. “It was instead an attempt at efficiency. You’ve got to be a knave or a fool to say that, and you have to be an idiot to believe it.

  • WFB’s Ellison Barber Discusses IRS Scandal’s Connection to Obamacare on ‘The Blaze’

    Washington Free Beacon Staff
    17 May 2013 | 4:03 pm
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