The Northern Muckraker

Apologies/short hiatus

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of posts. We have begun our student teaching practicum, and that experience is currently consuming nearly all of our energies, at least until we get into more of a routine.

New stuff when we get time.

Great company

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 23:34:00 +0000

The Communist Party USA has already announced that they are endorsing President Obama for reelection in 2012, despite their stated bitter disappointment in his not pushing harder in his first term for such promised goodies as single-payer government-controlled health care and "card-check" legislation designed to eliminate the secret ballot when workers are voting whether or not to unionize:

"Wrote [CPUSA Chairman Sam] Webb: 'Neither party is anti-capitalist, but they aren't identical either. Differences exist at the levels of policy and social composition. And despite the many frustrations of the past two years, the election of Barack Obama was historic and gave space to struggle for a people's agenda.'"

Chairman Mao himself couldn't have come up with more flowery propaganda.

The Commies are clearly salivating at the prospect of an Obama second term, one in which the president would no longer have to care about winning elections or pacifying moderate voters but instead would be free to fully advocate for advancing the Great Leap Forward agenda of such mentors of his as Saul Alinsky and Bill Ayers.

Remember the people who desperately need the current president to remain in office when contemplating your own ballot.

Here comes the slippery slope

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 04:40:00 +0000

"WASHINGTON – Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.

The requirement is part of a broad expansion of coverage for women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care law. Also to be covered without copays are breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well-woman" physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy, counseling on domestic violence, and other services."

We will first stipulate that having some of these services made more available to women will most likely result in a net benefit for both them as well as society in general.

That's not the point.

Lots of things would be of great use to people if the government were to force private companies to give them away for free - cars, computers, you name it. That doesn't happen, of course, because the Constitution does not give the .gov that redistributive power. Similarly, nowhere in that document is a provision giving the Feds the authority to force people to buy products (such as health coverage) they may not wish to own or the ability to tell those firms which of their wares they must give away instead of charge for, as we hope the Supreme Court will eventually point out.

We predict that this is just the first in a long series of coverage mandates, and that sly Washington bureaucrats will slowly and patiently deem more and more items to be vital and necessary over time until everything is eventually provided gratis. And then we'll be Great Britain, where operations for such things as cataracts, hip replacements and tonsillitis are now deemed to be "non-urgent" and thus denied until the patient basically can no longer see, walk or swallow.

Of course, there really is no free ride, as the first article notes:

"Although the new women's preventive services will be free of any additional charge to patients, somebody will have to pay."

Dig deep, peasant.

Off topic but interesting, at least to me

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:52:00 +0000

There are at least three Apple stores in Kunming, China that appear to be complete fakes.

That certainly is taking goods piracy to an entirely new level.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 57

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:14:00 +0000

So that if we happen to be strolling around Denver, Colorado with a date and are accosted by the gang of feral youth there which is currently amusing themselves by bashing couples in the head with baseball bats and robbing them of their possessions, we will be able to successfully defend ourselves against their brutal assault.

"The attackers are 'not nice people,' [Denver Police spokesman Sonny] Jackson said."

That's one heck of an understatement.

Those thugs are still on the loose, Denver residents, and the cops can't be everywhere. Protect yourselves accordingly.

A curious silence

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Former New York Times reporter Janny Scott has written a biography of Barack Obama's mother in which Scott definitively proves that Dear Leader lied right through his teeth in the 2008 presidential campaign when he claimed that Ann Dunham had been denied health insurance reimbursement during her ultimately fatal battle with cancer. Rather, Dunham had been fully covered and all treatment expenses were paid save for her deductibles and other uncovered costs. The only apparent disagreement between Dunham and any insurance entity, according to Scott, was with a different company which refused to pay disability coverage for her living expenses because it considered her condition to be pre-existing.

Those updated facts make for quite a bit different of a tale than what was presented by candidate and President Obama as the poster story of a horribly broken health-care system, which is probably why he didn't bother to mention them whilst ramming his Ponzi scheme through Congress.

Strangely enough, Ms. Scott has been declining to talk further with reporters about her work despite repeated requests for interviews. Now, when was the last time anyone remembers a book author refusing free publicity, especially as the usual end result is more books being sold? One naturally wonders if perhaps some of Scott's former colleagues at the Times convinced her to go back on the monolithic pro-Obama reservation before more damage could be done to their false idol.

Another crime foiled without a shot by a lawfully-owned firearm

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:13:00 +0000

77-year-old Congressman Leonard Boswell, D-IA, and his family successfully fought off an armed intruder who confronted them at their rural Iowa farmhouse last Saturday night.

The attacker had apparently rang the doorbell and when Boswell's daughter answered pointed a gun at her and demanded money. The congressman then intervened, grabbing the gun and wrestling the thug to the ground. Meanwhile, Boswell's 22-year-old grandson alertly grabbed a loaded shotgun from another room and chased the suspect into a nearby field, where he managed to escape. He is currently being sought by police.

Another example of a successful defensive gun usage by law-abiding citizens that won't make the official stats because (thankfully) no shots were fired. Tell us again how these events never happen, Brady Campaign and Violence Policy Center, especially to an older person who probably would have eventually lost the physical battle with his presumably much younger assailant.

We imagine Congressman Boswell is one Democrat who will flatly refuse to support the recently proposed gun-control bill, introduced by some comrades in his own party as a knee-jerk reaction to the federal "Project Gunwalker" scandal, that seeks to criminalize and punish acts which are already quite illegal. A new law, of course, that if passed wouldn't apply to the stunningly incompetent management of the BATFE, which seems to be directly responsible for allowing a significant percentage of recent cross-border gun smuggling to take place without interdiction for crass political reasons.

Remember, Decatur County residents, the alleged suspect in Saturday's incident remains at large and most likely even more desperate, and may soon target another local residence in that remote area at some point. Please prepare accordingly.

We have ways of making you talk

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:09:00 +0000

The Department of Justice is arguing that forcing a criminal suspect to give up the password to an encrypted hard drive does not constitute a violation of a person's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

"Prosecutors stressed that they don't actually require the passphrase itself, meaning [Ramona] Fricosu would be permitted to type it in and unlock the files without anyone looking over her shoulder."

Oh, come on.

Declan McCullagh of CNET makes a good point in his article - if investigators instead had found some sort of journal or diary written in code, would they then be justified in making the suspect provide a translation against his or her will? Of course not, and if such a key was involuntarily obtained one would also never be sure that what the person provided was indeed accurate. A mentally-held password should not be handled any differently. For that matter, what if the defendant really did forget the phrase? Should someone get jail time for sincerely having a poor memory?

We're not sticking up for the suspects in this particular case, but rather the next law-abiding person who is ordered to turn over their computer for a search (including demanding login details) despite a complete lack of evidence to justify such a fishing expedition, a practice that happens on a daily basis at customs checkpoints both here and abroad. Here's how to protect your data and private information from such snoops.

Off topic but interesting, at least to me

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:12:00 +0000

The major supermarket chain Albertson's is removing the self-checkout lanes from all of its stores that currently use them.

Good. We've never used those lanes at any store on principle. If retailers want the peasants to do part of their job for them they can at least give those who choose to use such lanes slightly lower prices than those who prefer to wait for a human cashier. There's no advantage otherwise, and anyone in that industry who argues that self-checkout lanes are somehow "faster" has never watched a clueless customer helplessly scan the same item over and over, fruitlessly (pun intended) search for the right produce code, try to locate where to insert the money or otherwise hold up progress for the people waiting behind them, who inevitably end up doing even worse.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 56

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 23:48:00 +0000

Because, despite disingenuous propaganda to the contrary, unprovoked bear attacks can and really do occur everywhere from Yellowstone National Park (fatality) to Pinetop, Arizona (massive head trauma and probable loss of movement in both arms).

That's odd. Wasn't it just a few short years ago that the Brady Campaign filed suit (and lost) to prevent the government from jettisoning their unconstitutional rule banning law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms when visiting national parks, loudly claiming that there was just no earthly reason for "allowing" people to exercise their inherent right to self-defense in such places? Sadly, the Yellowstone incident has proven the Bradyites to once again be completely wrong. Innocent people should indeed be able to defend themselves from predators (whether two- or four-legged) wherever they may happen to be, particularly when hiking in a popular yet remote tourist attraction.

The Arizona case is especially illustrative of our position because the 61-year-old woman involved apparently sustained many of her injuries while trying to fight off the 300-pound black bear with her bare hands.

Would an appropriate-caliber handgun have allowed the victims to successfully fight off their ursine attackers? We'll of course never know for sure, but one thing is for certain - an immediately available and properly used firearm would undoubtedly have given these victims a much better chance at a happier outcome.

He's not going quietly

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:40:00 +0000

Acting ATF director Ken Melson is reported to have met on Monday, July 4 with congressional investigators and told them that the Justice Department is actively obstructing the probe into Project Gunwalker, the absolute disaster of a botched "sting" operation that has directly resulted in the deaths of two American law-enforcement officers as well as those of countless innocent Mexican citizens.

Gee, no wonder Eric "Neutral, leaning towards favorable" Holder and the other top brass at Justice appear to have wanted Melson gone in the worst way. Too bad for them the acting director has chosen not to be the fall guy for the ones who apparently really thought up and implemented this scheme and has decided to go down swinging.

Oh, and get this - Melson is also said to have stated that the prime target of the scheme, a previously deported drug dealer, is an FBI informant. Talk about a classic case of one hand at a massive government agency not knowing what the other is up to, mostly because of turf wars and other maddening intra-departmental squabbling. As former senator Tom Daschle once famously stated, though, "You can't professionalize until you Federalize". Right.

It's about time that someone has finally gone on record as stating that the obvious attempted coverup of this mess is coming from the highest levels of Justice, presumably because the authorization for and administration of the failed operation came from the very same offices. It otherwise wouldn't make a lick of sense for those in charge to try to obstruct the investigation, since if it really were just some rogue subordinates who were responsible for Gunwalker the easiest and safest course of action would be full disclosure and punishment for those involved, leaving Holder, Lanny Breuer and others at the top of Justice smelling like a rose. The fact that those higher-ups are making such a risky move does more than anything else to leave the blame arrow pointed directly at them.

Mr. Melson's official interview with the inspector general is today. It will be interesting to see what other interesting nuggets of information are going to be shortly coming out.

Bush-league antics

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:32:00 +0000

The British government gave a fantastic dinner at Guildhall in London yesterday in honor of both the close relationship our two countries share as well as the dedication of a statue of President Ronald Reagan in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth. The event was well-attended by important luminaries of all political ideologies from both nations.

One person, however, was notably absent - U.S. Ambassador to London Louis B. Susman. He was a complete no-show at the party in what many people are considering to be a deliberate snub of the festivities. Why would people think this?

"Ambassador Susman is, of course, a long-standing Democrat fundraiser, nicknamed the vacuum cleaner for his skill at sucking donations out of the wealthy. And his efforts to fill Obama's campaign pockets was said by many to be his main qualification to come to London."

Nice to know we have such professional, competent people representing America's interests abroad.

Apparently honoring a former Republican president's birthday is beyond Mr. Susman's capabilities, to the harsh chagrin of even some Democrats who were present at the soiree:

"'Our ambassador should be here,' said Lynn de Rothschild, the American entrepreneur who is married to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and was one of Hillary Clinton's key fundraisers in 2008 as well as a supporter of several Republican presidential candidates. 'This was an historic dinner to mark Reagan's centenary and to celebrate him as the man who ended the Cold War. What could not be more important?'

'Why is our ambassador not here on Independence Day? No excuse. How is it that America is not represented in this room by our ambassador? It is appalling that no representative of our government is in this room. This has the feel of petty partisanship.'"

We agree with Mr Rothschild. This was a true embarrassment and an outrageous slap in the face to a well-meaning gesture by the British government. After all, July 4 is the day we declared independence from them in the first place. They didn't have to celebrate any of this with us, yet they freely chose to host the festivities. For our ambassador to blow it off with no explanation is the height of arrogance and rudeness.

Do your job, Mr. Susman. You are supposed to represent the entire United States of America, not just the nakedly partisan politician who named you to your current position. A personal apology from you would be very appropriate right about now.

Dying? Suffer

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Great Britain's National Health Service, the utterly bankrupt and completely mismanaged government-mandated health care scheme that Dear Leader and many liberal Democrats in Congress wish us here in America to ultimately emulate, has as many as 100,000 terminally ill people on its rolls who aren't getting the palliative care they desperately need:

"Meanwhile, 97% of hospices do not receive all the funding they need for the NHS services they provide, and some patients are victims of "rationing" towards the end of the NHS financial year."

Translation - these people simply die in agony because there's no money left to give them proper pain control, nursing care and other necessary end-of-life services.

Hmm. "Rationing". Seems like that word has come up before, only to have Obamacare supporters pooh-pooh away as ludicrous the inevitable result of imposing a single-payer health system. Try doing the same thing to these suffering Brits and see if they think the concept is so far-fetched.

We just can't wait for this kind of top-notch medical care to become the U.S. standard as well.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 55

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 22:26:00 +0000

Because there aren't nearly enough professional, service-oriented and informative police officers around who consider it their duty to sensibly notify the people they swore to serve and protect about the very real dangers lurking in their own communities, which would then allow those residents to make informed decisions about which areas are safe for them to visit.

Case in point - veteran St. Petersburg, Florida police officer Thad "Stu" Crisco is being investigated by his department and could be suspended for ~~telling a local resident the truth about a local hangout~~ "making disparaging comments against the city":

"[Crisco] allegedly warned St. Petersburg father Bob Esposito about letting his 16-year-old daughter hang around the Northshore Pool at night. Esposito's daughter was one of five teens robbed by a group of armed men there about 10:30 p.m. on a recent weeknight."

Gee whiz, a well-meaning officer warning a concerned father to not permit his daughter to loiter around somewhere very dangerous. What's wrong with that? Sounds like Crisco (who has a sparkling record, according to the story) was merely doing his job. Mayor Bill "Nothing Wrong Here" Foster disagrees:

"'I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light,' Foster said."

Which apparently includes purposely allowing residents to remain blissfully clueless about which parts of their community are provably dangerous. What an incredible disservice to your constituents, Mayor.

Unintended consequences

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:28:00 +0000

California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation yesterday designed to collect online tax revenue from corporations that do not have a physical presence in the state (because the Supreme Court has ruled that such a practice is unconstitutional) by somehow tortuously redefining "company" to include any and all small satellite businesses that happen to subcontract for that corporation.

For example, this would be akin to decreeing, say, Roy's Nuts and Bolts of California to be a subsidiary of a fictitious Iowa-based Onlinefasteners.com simply because Roy happened to ship a couple of odd-sized lag bolts to a customer in Oregon who ordered them online from Onlinefasteners, thus making a couple of bucks to which California obviously has no claim.

Amazon.com and Overstock.com have subsequently announced that effective immediately they would be ending their affiliate programs with small California companies (estimated to be as many as 25,000) such as independent bookstores and small retail shops, meaning that many of them will now most likely be driven out of business and thus will not be contributing any more local sales and income taxes into the state's coffers. Other online companies are expected to quickly follow suit.

In other words, greedy California not only stands to gain nothing, it's actually going to lose badly-needed tax revenue as a direct result of this ill-conceived law.

Well done, Governor. Enjoy your eventual heaping bowlful of nothing.

Start making the popcorn

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:01:00 +0000

John Solomon of The Daily Beast is reporting that the Senate Judiciary Committee has reached a deal that will allow Ken Melson, the acting head of the ATF, to testify before that body next month about the disastrous "Project Gunwalker" debacle that has claimed the lives of at least two U.S. law enforcement agents as well as those of countless innocent Mexican citizens.

Since Mr. Melson has already stood up for himself by refusing to be the fall guy and resign his position amid the fallout from the botched "investigation", he will presumably be quite eager to explain in great detail exactly who among his superiors at Justice (and at State, since this mess involved an international border) knew about and authorized allowing thousands of straw-purchased guns to be sent to Mexico over the objections of street-level ATF agents and even the gun dealers themselves.

Bob Owens of Pajamas Media theorizes about the possible repercussions from Melson's upcoming appearance. We think Owens's third scenario is the one most likely to come about - that Attorney General Eric "Neutral, leaning towards favorable" Holder will ultimately be held accountable over this. Why? We think it's because Senator Chuck Grassley smells important blood in the water, otherwise he wouldn't have paid the relatively high price he did (releasing holds on three Obama nominees) for securing Melson's on-the-record testimony. Representative Darrell Issa is also apparently convinced (and is working like mad to prove) that Holder perjured himself when he testified in front of Issa that he didn't know about the failed scheme until it broke in the national news.

Be sure to tune in for this particular hearing. We look forward to watching the roaches scurry away from the light.

Ugly bias from the same old sources

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:53:00 +0000

"I think if it's Kansas, if it's Missouri, no big deal, you know that's the dance of the low-sloping foreheads, the middle places... right?"

New York Times columnist David Carr (a Minnesota native, by the way. No pathological self-hatred there, no sirree), talking about state education scores on Bill Maher's HBO television program and actually expecting agreement from the other panelists, who to their credit did no such thing.

Powerline nailed it when they titled their post on this incident "The Mask Slips. Again". Funny what slips out when liberal media figures get a little too comfortable with their surroundings and forget they are on TV and not palling around on Journolist or haunting the local newspaper watering hole with the rest of the monochromatic herd who happens to think just like them.

By way of comparison, any panel member regardless of political leaning would be deservedly run out of town on a rail had she or she callously ridiculed, say, inner-city minority schoolkids in the same manner. Since Carr was slandering the proles in flyover country, though (which includes himself, we remind everyone), the Times apparently has no problem with or response to this arrogant, elitist pronouncement by one of its favored employees.

Typical, but not particularly surprising.

We'd like to know the answer to that as well

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:39:00 +0000

The American peasant is constantly lectured that SWAT teams need to be routinely deployed these days for the most minor of search warrant services, even for aged or infirm suspects, ostensibly for reasons of "officer safety".

Radley Balko poses a very interesting question - if such extreme overkill is indeed a true necessity, then why was FBI Ten Most Wanted List member James "Whitey" Bulger, an extremely dangerous double-digit murder suspect who had upwards of thirty firearms in his apartment when he was arrested the other day, lured out and taken into custody without incident by using a simple and effective phone call ruse?

(h/t to Billy Beck)

From the Department of Glaringly Obvious Headlines

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:15:00 +0000

"Michelle Obama: 'I can't stop eating French fries. But eat your vegetables.'"

Do as I say, not as I do. Limousine liberalism in a nutshell.

The Jack-Booted Thug of the Week...

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:44:00 +0000

... is Rochester, New York police officer Mario Masic, for arresting local resident Emily Good on May 12 for filming Masic with her cellphone from her own front lawn while he and other officers performed an allegedly questionable traffic stop on a young black male motorist on the street in front of her home:

Masic is seen on the tape unlawfully ordering Good to go into her home, telling her that "I don't feel safe with you standing behind me", even though she is clearly doing nothing but standing in her own yard holding a phone while not interfering with the officers in any way. Masic then trespassed onto Good's property and placed her into custody on an obvious retaliatory charge of "obstructing governmental administration".

The motorist seen handcuffed in the traffic stop? He was apparently released without charge after the officers' reported allegation that he possessed drugs wasn't borne out after a search of his car uncovered no illegal substances. Go figure.

Here's a firsthand account from a friend of Good's who was an eyewitness to the incident. We note with more than a little incredulity the following portion of that statement:

"According to the arrested woman, after the arrest the four police met in the parking lot of Wilson High School around the corner and had a conference for about an hour about how to deal with the case. A Sargent came over and gave them advice about how to write up the report that would minimize their wrong doing."

If you have to have a hour-long meeting to figure out how to respond to something you did, fellows, you most likely didn't do the correct thing.

Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard has reportedly opened an official investigation into this incident. Time will tell if "Officer" Masic will be disciplined for this blatant and unlawful misuse of his authority.

(h/t to Carlos Miller)

Nothing's allowed

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:44:00 +0000

Big Intrusive Government marches on, this time in Washington State:

"People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86 fine."

So much for being able to enjoy a competitive, challenging swim or a relaxing ride on an inner tube (which floats, we remind everyone) without risking a visit from the Water Police. We're surprised the County Council didn't also mandate crash helmets while they were at it.

"'We are improving the health for everyone because of these laws that we pass,' [Councilwoman Julia Patterson] said."

Sure you are, ma'am. You keep right on believing that. In fact, you'd better get busy and start passing even more restrictive regulations to see just how "healthy" your community can get. We're sure your subjects will thank you profusely for taking over every aspect of their lives.

The snakes have been very busy lately

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:22:00 +0000

Mother Jones magazine reports that the tactical gear-clad goons who comprise the TSA's attempt-to-be-intimidating VIPR teams (Yes, intimidating. It's right in their name - Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) have lately been ramping up their warrantless searches of innocent passengers on subways, ferries, trolleys and buses (and in at least one instance forcing people disembarking from a train in Savannah, Georgia to submit to a so-called "screening"):

"Currently, the TSA only has 25 VIPR teams doing these impromptu searches: in 2012, it wants to get 12 more."

Coming soon to a public transportation system near you - the elimination of your right to travel without being interrogated and/or molested by an agent of the government.

Want an example of how much of a ridiculous farce this kind of exercise really is? These VIPR teams have been seen operating on the light-rail system in Phoenix, Arizona:

The carrying of firearms without a permit by law-abiding citizens on the light-rail system in Phoenix, Arizona happens to be perfectly legal. Precisely what, then, are those teams looking for, and how many innocent citizens are going to be unlawfully detained or even placed in danger by an "operator" over something those people have every right to do?

The story also links to the first reported instance of that agency searching the private vehicles of citizens entering and leaving a public facility:

"Random car and truck inspections are wrapping up at the Port of Brownsville [Texas].

...

A spokesperson says TSA is checking all private and commercial vehicles coming in and out of the port."

(How can such a process be considered "random", by the way, when all vehicles are forced to submit to such unlawful snooping?)

Ask them politely for a warrant. If they can't produce one, or if they don't have reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed, they have no legal right to search either you or your car. Don't let the TSA violate your basic Fourth Amendment rights without challenging them.

A new Obamacare "glitch" rears its ugly head

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:11:00 +0000

"WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed."

Another maddening detail that proves just how hastily and shoddily this unconstitutional law was constructed. Thank you so much, Nancy "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy" Pelosi. Your scheme worked to perfection. Except for that whole avoiding controversy thing, of course.

We wonder how many other nasty surprises like this one are lurking around just waiting to be discovered in that execrable piece of legislation (rammed down our throats by the Senate in the dark of night on Christmas Eve precisely because of the presence of such ill-conceived "twists").

That sure settles the issue

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:51:00 +0000

One of Dear Leader's core constituencies has once again been merrily thrown under the bus:

"At today's briefing, Jay Carney again clarifies that another aide was mistaken to claim that Obama did not sign a questionnaire supporting same-sex marriage.

Obama has been 'very clear that his position is evolving.'" (emphasis ours)

Yeah, that kind of mealy-mouthed pap will go a long way towards pacifying the justifiably growing very angry gay community, which like so many other voting blocs has been waiting for close to three years for their turn to be "taken care of" by the man they helped put into the Oval Office after he made all of those flowery promises to them.

We hope they're not in some kind of hurry or anything, because it looks like Obama's "evolution" on the issue is proceeding at about the same pace as species evolution.

A snapshot of life

reaver33@gmail.com (Douglas Hester) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:13:00 +0000

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Los Angeles, California
7:15 p.m.

Seen posted on the door of an art gallery in Little Tokyo:

The careless flicking of leftover food bits by casual browsers is apparently quite the issue at this particular establishment.

On a related note, the food at the nearby Shabu-Shabu House is well worth however long the wait might be for you to get a seat.