Celestial Junk

If You Sleep With Monsters

2012-01-27T12:03:00.005-06:00

What did the Harper PMO think when they cuddled under the covers with barbarians?

Canada is calling Libyan diplomats on the carpet in Ottawa and Tripoli over reports of systemic torture by the country's new interim government. The diplomatic double-whammy is being delivered in both capitals by the Foreign Affairs Department in the form of a note, or demarche, expressing Canada's displeasure over credible reports of torture and deaths of captured loyalists of dead dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Libyan prisons.

Sometimes words fail. It's amazing what politicians will do to influence elections at home. Harper needed a bit of global instability to push voters his way ... plus, he needed an excuse to push the F-35 White Elephant down our throats. So, along came Libya and in went our pilots. Now, the PMO has the nerve to criticize his new barbarian friends for being ... barbarian.

Muslims eat their own ... it's a fact of life that has persisted for 1400 years. What in that, did Harper not understand?

Creating a Monster

2012-01-27T11:29:00.001-06:00

With every day that passes, it becomes clearer just how utterly fabricated the image of "Newt the Monster" is. Failing to win the GOP race on ideas and personal skill, Willard Romney and the GOP establishment have gone into the politics of personal destruction with a vengeance. What's disturbing, is that so far it is the Romney Crap Cannon that has kept him in the race. Feces fights are, apparently, the way to win if you have the ability to spin the biggest yarns and disseminate them..

Take yesterday's shameless and utterly false attacks for example; that Newt was actually an anti-Reagan force. The aussault was coordinated by the GOP Journo-list and hit the air waves and internet like a Newt-ron Bomb ... turns out though, it was utter bunkum:

I can only say that what Elliott Abrams wrote in NRO about Newt Gingrich based on this long ago speech is not worthy of Elliott Abrams. Specifically, Abrams implies that Newt Gingrich was spewing mindless vitriol about Reagan on the House floor. Not only not so, it was quite to the contrary. Of President Reagan, Gingrich says: • "Let me be clear: I have the greatest respect for President Reagan. I think he personally understands the threat of communism." Gingrich then goes on -- at Newtonian length -- praising Reagan for Reagan's understanding of Lenin, Reagan's understanding of the real "purposes of a Soviet dictatorship" and much more. He lists and applauds Reagan repeatedly for the President's appreciation of "the threat in a more powerful Soviet empire" and the threats posed by Communist Cuba and Nicaragua. He ranks Reagan with the great cold war presidents in protecting freedom. In short, time after time after, Newt Gingrich -- true to form -- is there on the floor of the House relentlessly praising and crediting Ronald Reagan. Is it any wonder that years later Nancy Reagan would speak so publicly and warmly about "Ronnie" passing the conservative torch to Newt? Is there any wonder that Michael Reagan has stepped into the middle of this current brawl to endorse Newt?

Purity is as Elusive as Newt, Mitt, and Rick

2012-01-27T11:01:00.000-06:00

We may be seeing a turning point in the GOP primaries ... the feces tossing that was started by Willard Romney, countered by Newt, then taken to new and unprecedented levels of guano injection by Romney may finally have given primary voters all they are willing to take. Even Saint Santorum, who's record is as big-gov as any of the others (save R. Paul), is getting tiring with his pious proclamations of conservative purity. Turns out, Rick has a history:

As the primary drags on, the Conservative purity tests get more and more ridiculous. Truth is, none of the candidates are Conservative, they’re simply Republican (and one lonely little Libertarian). Sure they may have engaged in Conservative behavior on occasion, but what Conservative would ever support the individual mandate? Apparently, every single candidate (save Ron Paul) has touted their support for the anathema of government controlled health care, even Rick Santorum. The Washington Examiner reports:

My guess is that if voters have indeed had their fill of mud wrestling, Newt will win ... handily. All of Romney's momentum has come from burring the other candidates (especially Newt) in garbage. It's called "dehumanizing" your opponent ... remember the attacks on Sarah Palin ... that's how it works.

The reason Willard uses this tact is clear. He's got the personality of a frozen mushroom ... he's a technocrat ... a bean counter ... who is willing to become whatever is needed to succeed. This characteristic has stood Willard well in business, where the only goal is profit ... he's willing to do whatever necessary within the law to attain that goal and it's made him a very rich man (deservedly so).

When translated into politics though, the formula breaks down in the sense that Willard is willing to be, and to do, whatever is legally possible to win. That means he can be a liberal, a conservative, a libertarian, and who knows what else, if it will get him the grande enchilada. Conservatives best take heed.

Newt Skywalker

2012-01-27T08:30:00.000-06:00

It's stuff like this that kills ... and into the gap will come your opponents. I like Newt, especially since he was taking incoming fire decades ago on behalf of the conservative cause. And, he did it in an era when there was no blogosphere or new media to lend him support. Younger conservatives have no clue what it was like "back in the day"; when there was no news source available to counter the narratives set out by a media which was as left leaning as it is today. It took especially skilled and dogged conservatives to survive ... and Newt was one of them. But let's set all that aside for a moment and simply say that as long as Newt spins out moon base talk; he is going to cut out his own feet. Lord knows, he's got the entire establishment GOP gunning for him as it is; the last thing he needs do is give them easy targets as big and juicy as moon bases.

The moon, a thin crescent, hovered in the western sky like a crystal bowl ready to catch a falling star. Cheers filled the air as Newt Gingrich’s campaign bus eased out of the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express. He had just made an astonishing vow: By the end of his second term as president, the U.S. flag would once again be planted on the moon. America, he said, would have a permanent lunar base.

The Next Great Canadian Energy Rush

2012-01-27T08:22:00.001-06:00

LNG:

Despite natural gas prices falling to near 10-year lows last week, Royal Dutch Shell's CEO Peter Voser says demand for gas will be much higher than oil in the long term with the Asia-Pacific region driving the sector's growth.

Charting a Course Eastward

2012-01-27T08:17:00.003-06:00

When your partners are deadbeats, it's often better to go it alone:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper set a bold vision for Canada on Thursday, using the European debt crisis as an example of why Canada must chart its own course to avoid a similar fate. Harper used the stage at the World Economic Forum to take dead aim at the European debt crisis, castigating allies for taking wealth as a given and living way above their means until the wheels fell off. He was critical of the developed world -- including the U.S. -- for complacency and failing to plan for the future to avoid the economic storm churning the global economy. Harper said Canada would continue to follow its own path to create the prosperity to ensure the next generation is not left out, "regardless of what direction other western nations may choose."

I Was There

2012-01-26T21:35:00.002-06:00

“Newt Gingrich, if he does nothing else, did more for the conservative movement and to stop the liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives than virtually everybody today who is criticizing him!”

... Levin Unloads.

The GOP Journo-List

2012-01-26T15:21:00.000-06:00

I've got to say, that even after years of being a political junky ... the assault on Newt Gingrich by the establishment GOP is stunning. It's clear that for the past 4 years Romney has been a busy boy, paying off and/or running a power buying campaign that has seen some of the biggest names in what used to be the "free press" (as opposed to the MSM) toss all pretension of logic and reasoned argument aside to support Willard Romney.

Frankly, it's enormously disappointing. There are but a handful of pundits now who have remained untainted ... who have kept a surprisingly neutrality stance and have challenged equally all GOP candidates. Some of those who have fallen by the wayside ... proving to be nothing but bought hacks of the lowest order are none other than Matt Drudge, Charles Krauthammer, Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, the kids at Hot Air, and many others.

From the day the first debate took place, the masks came off and in often smug terms these, until now, fair minded pundits for the right side of the aisle, ejaculated some of the most illogical and disingenuous bunkum in support of their man Romney. The clear intent was to create the impression that Romney was unbeatable ... that his coronation was going to be swift. In other words, the message to primary voters was, put up, shut up, and get in line.

Given the big money lining up behind Willard Romney ... one has to wonder how far and wide it's been spread ... and for how many years the influence peddling has been going on. My guess is that it started the day John McCain won the last round.

Now that Mr. Gingrich has tossed a monkey wrench into the GOP machinery, panic has caused the machine to strike back using the biggest weapon it can ... the Mud Cannon Brigade. And what's worse, the implementation of the Mud Cannons has forced the other candidates to join in or be buried alive under a mountain of guano.

The result is a shameful display of feces tossing where the best ideas and abilities have been pushed aside in favor of a prom-queen level flame war.

Let's be clear, however, Newt Gingrich is no lily white standard bearer of conservatism ... but neither is he the red eyed mentally unstable demon that the GOP version of "Journo-List" is peddling. The issue isn't even about Romney or Gingrich at this point ... but rather about the utter fallibility of what was, until now, Conservative media. It is one thing, and expected, to have Conservative media show bias toward things "right", but to see them become no better and in some cases worse than the MSM that they so regularly castigate is shameful.

Below I give an example from "real" credible sources that dispel the "evil Newt" theme ... I do this to demonstrate just how hateful, how dishonest, and how utterly undignified the GOP machine in its war against Newt has become.

I hope America enjoys a second term of Barrack Insane Obama.

There is something truly obscene about the full blown assault on Newt Gingrich’s strong Reagan conservative history from and on behalf of Mitt Romney, who unabashedly ran away from the Reagan legacy and conservative principles in his 1994 Senate campaign and 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Truly obscene. The latest iteration comes from Elliott Abrams writing in National Review, quoting pieces of a single speech Newt apparently gave on the floor of the House on March 21, 1986, in which Newt criticized certain foreign policy decisions of the Reagan administration. Abrams does not link to the full speech or to other speeches of Newt at the time.

... be sure to read it all here, and here as well ... and even more here.

A major Hat Tip to Right Scoop.

Twisted

2012-01-26T12:06:00.001-06:00

Newt: On the Cutting Room Floor

2012-01-25T19:35:00.001-06:00

Here’s what I’m told by people familiar with the interview: first, that in much of the rest of the interview she was complimentary towards her former husband, and second, that she was trying to give a full, contextual picture of his character — a context left on the cutting room floor when ABC concentrated only on the sex/adultery/betrayal angle. “They left out the essence of her,” said one of my sources. What they left out is that she, a dedicated conservative, is proud of what she and her husband accomplished together for causes such as balanced budgets and welfare reform. By leaving out so much, ABC did Ms. Gingrich a disservice, because the “open marriage” segment, by general agreement, made her appear somewhat bitter — whereas, in fuller context, it would have made her look more baffled than bitter. Asked on camera if she resented Callista Gingrich being with Newt when he is rich and running large accounts at Tiffany’s while she, Marianne, endured the long, lean financial years and the vitriol from the Left during his Speakership, Marianne Gingrich reportedly smiled and said, “No, I think I had Newt’s best years.”

... the details.

Killed All Their Captors

2012-01-25T10:44:00.001-06:00

After killing the Somali captors, the commandos found Buchanan and Thisted unharmed in an outdoor encampment and freed them. AP, quoting Somali pirates who had spoken with their counterparts at the scene of the raid, said the guards had been chewing the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening and may have been sleeping as the U.S. forces approached.

... read the pleasing details.

State of the Union

2012-01-25T10:36:00.002-06:00

Newt Resigned in Disgrace ?

2012-01-25T09:43:00.000-06:00

... not so fast:

The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former Speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty. Before the Iowa caucuses, Romney and his supporting super PAC did serious damage to Gingrich with an ad attacking Gingrich's ethics past. Since then, Romney has made other ads and web videos focusing on the ethics matter, and at the Republican debate in Tampa Monday night, Romney said Gingrich "had to resign in disgrace."

... be sure to read the whole thing to discover just what a lie the Romney camp is pedaling.

The State of Dis-Union

2012-01-23T08:21:00.002-06:00

Some 48 percent of all Americans — 146.4 million — are considered by the Census Bureau either as “low-income” or living in poverty, up 4 million from when Mr. Obama took office; 57 percent of all children in America now live in such homes.

Low- and middle-income Americans 65 and older now hold more than $10,000 in credit card debt, up 26 percent since 2005. The average age of the American car is 10 years; in 1990, it was 6.5 years old (by the way, in 1985, Americans bought 11 million cars; in 2009, less than half that, 5.4 million).

On the macro side, America’s annual budget has jumped to $3.8 trillion — and yet the United States brings in only about $2.1 trillion in revenue. The U.S. trade deficit for 2011 was $558 billion. America’s total public debt stands at $15.23 trillion; in January 2009, the debt was $10.62 trillion. Mr. Obama is on pace to borrow $6.2 trillion in just one term — more debt than was amassed by all presidents from Washington through Bill Clinton combined. The debt is rising by $4.2 billion every day — $175 million per hour, nearly $3 million per minute.

... the details.

The Art of Being Sanctimonious

2012-01-20T18:08:00.002-06:00

Rare is the person who can deliver sanctimony in a way that doesn't cause those hearing it to recoil. Maybe "sanctimony" is the wrong term ... maybe "righteous anger" or "high dudgeon" are better. Whatever the case, Santorum ain't got it:

At the risk of agreeing with Ron Paul, Santorum was being "overly sensitive" about his criticisms of federal funds to hospitals which could be used for abortion instead of more conventional birth control methods. I thought Paul's intended target was Newt, not Santorum. Paul made Santorum look silly when he said, "I wasn't even thinking of you."

... but this man does:

Travails of the Flying White Elephant

2012-01-20T17:35:00.000-06:00

Now the company concedes this specification problem (though perhaps not for the F-35A the RCAF is to get); the plane as designed just doesn’t seem quite able to do what the the computers, or whatever, predicted:

... the details at 3D.

Take O Out of the Loop

2012-01-20T17:32:00.001-06:00

... before they kick out of the coop:

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) may shorten the initial path for its rejected Keystone XL project, bringing oil from Montana’s Bakken Shale to refiners in the Gulf of Mexico and removing the need for federal approval. “There certainly is a potential opportunity to connect the Bakken to the Gulf Coast,” Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president of energy and oil pipelines, said in a telephone interview today. “That is obviously something we’ll be looking into over the next few weeks.”

Spiteful, Small, Dishonest ... Science

2012-01-20T12:40:00.000-06:00

It begins to boggle the mind how anyone familiar with the Climategate 2.0 emails would trust ... even for a fraction of a second, those pushing the farce of Human Caused Global Warming.

Meanwhile, I suspect you’ve both seen the latest attack against his Yamal work by McIntyre. Gavin and I (having consulted also w/ Malcolm) are wondering what to make of this, and what sort of response—if any—is necessary and appropriate. So far, we’ve simply deleted all of the attempts by McIntyre and his minions to draw attention to this at RealClimate.

Owning the Narrative

2012-01-20T12:35:00.003-06:00

After the onslaught of attack ads in Iowa, Newt Gingrich completely lost the narrative ... since then he has gone on the offensive, or as he puts it, "refusing to unilaterally disarm." He's gone so far in his counter offensive, in fact, as to risk alienating the "profit motive" crowd.

But then, Newt is a historian and obviously loves and identifies with war making where great leaders risk all to over-come the odds. And now, for a while at least, Newt has regained the narrative:

My, How the Mighty Have Fallen

2012-01-19T14:29:00.002-06:00

The costs of subsidizing solar electricity have exceeded the 100-billion-euro mark in Germany, but poor results are jeopardizing the country's transition to renewable energy. The government is struggling to come up with a new concept to promote the inefficient technology in the future.

From grey-clad storm troopers threatening to take over every square inch of Europe, to green-clad lunatics ... historians are not going to be kind to the standard bearers of European utopian-ism. It's amazing that one country can be so amazingly industrial and inventive, while at the same time being catastrophically foolish in its reckless pursuit of utopian ideals.

He's Got the Ears

2012-01-19T14:27:00.001-06:00

... so it only makes sense that BHO complete the trifecta.

Ghost of Gingrich Past

2012-01-18T14:08:00.002-06:00

With members of the mainstream media now hurling charges of using racially coded language against GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, Big Government has uncovered a private memorandum written over three decades ago that offers a unique glimpse into Mr. Gingrich’s longstanding attitudes about race.

... stability.

Pipelines

2012-01-18T11:13:00.001-06:00

Wow:

The Obama administration is expected to reject the controversial Keystone Pipeline this afternoon, according to Fox News. The State Department is expected to vote against the pipeline this afternoon. Transcanada will however be allowed to reapply with an alternate route going through Nebraska. The administration will be unlikely to approve the pipeline under the timeline for the payroll tax cut extension law which requires a decision by February 21

Euro-trash ...

2012-01-17T17:01:00.002-06:00

... do a little trash-talk:

Asked whether he meant that the United States is “waging financial war“ on Europe, Brok specified, “Certain forces in the USA, in particular in the world of finance. It is evident that their one and only aim is in this way to promote Anglo-Saxon interests at Europe’s cost.” “They want to shatter the eurozone, in order to make money,” he added. A member of the European Parliament since 1980, Brok is presently the foreign affairs spokesperson of the parliamentary group of the European People’s Party (EPP). The EPP, which includes the German Christian Democrats, has the largest group of deputies in the parliament. Brok was previously, from 1999 to 2007, chair of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee. According to EUobserver, he is expected to reclaim the latter post when committee chairs are reshuffled next week. The editors of Die Welt emphasize that he “is known as an excellent connoisseur of the USA.”

Snicker ... sounds like "vulture capitalism" to me ... only thing, this time the carcass being picked over will be a result of suicide.

Iran's War

2012-01-17T15:17:00.001-06:00

Houston:

A woman whom Houston police described as an activist on behalf of Iranian women's civil rights was found shot dead at the wheel of her car after it crashed into a townhouse garage. Houston police said the shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. Monday in a posh development near the Galleria. According to investigators, someone walked up to the passenger's side of 30-year-old Gelareh Bagherzadeh's car and shot her in the head.