Archive for May, 2011

Jim Hoft

Bill O’Reilly: We Demand a Statement From FBI on WeinerGate By Tomorrow (Video)

by Jim Hoft

Bill O’Reilly told his viewers tonight that he will demand that the FBI offer a statement to his show tomorrow on the Weinergate “hacking” incident.

His panel tonight did not believe Weiner’s claim that his twitter account was hacked.

Bill O’Reilly:

If a hacker is coming in and able to breach security of a sitting Congress person, it’s a big deal. I don’t care what picture’s involved… I want the FBI to tell the American public, and tomorrow I’m going to insist, what they’re doing about this… Even if he doesn’t file, it’s at the level now that the FBI has to come in and clarify. Tomorrow with all due respect Mr Muller, the head of the FBI, we want a statement from you. With all due respect.

Reminder: We (Gateway Pundit Truth Alliance) are offering a $200 reward to anyone who offers information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the Weinergate penis hacker.

Brett Healy

Eight Weeks Later, Liberal Concedes in Wisconsin High Court Race

by Brett Healy


Eight weeks after the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Joanne Kloppenburg finally conceded defeat in her bid to unseat Justice David Prosser.

“David Prosser has won this election and I have congratulated him,” Kloppenburg said Tuesday in a press conference a block from the Capitol.

However, in her prepared remarks, Kloppenburg was adamant that “[T]housands of votes were not counted, were counted incorrectly, or have been called into question.”

Kloppenburg’s concession was as atypical as the election process itself.

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Publius

Weinergate: Congressman’s Media Meltdown; Belligerent Weiner Refuses to Answer Questions, Calls CNN Producer ‘Jackass’

by Publius

Yes, this is Rep. Anthony Weiner calling a CNN producer a “Jackass.” And that’s just the beginning:

Dan  Riehl

Twitter/Adam Sharp (D): Verified Account Status Bogus Marketing Ploy?

by Dan Riehl

Twitter has been successful in drawing a great number of eyeballs to its application with the use of a so called verified account status. It allows the average person to track, address and even interact with what one might call celebrities in various areas of life. Unfortunately, given Democrat and Twitter official Adam Sharp’s, lack of response to accusations that another prominent Democrat’s verified account was hacked – without a blip in its verified status – one might just as readily conclude that Twitter has no genuine safeguards in place whatsoever to ensure that a verified account is truly representative of the individual it’s claimed to be for every tweet, as has previously been widely presumed.

As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on individual user accounts, for privacy reasons.

I label Twitter representative Adam Sharp a Democrat given his years of work for Senator Mary Landrieu – pointed out in a January 2009 press release.

Allen succeeds Adam Sharp, who joined the Landrieu office in June 2004 as Deputy Communications Director and has led the communications team since being named Communications Director in 2005 and Deputy Chief of Staff in early 2008.

It’s understandable, perhaps, that Sharp might be reluctant to say anything that might damage another high-profile Democrat like Weiner; however, one would think his guiding allegiance today would be his role as an official Twitter spokesperson.

As he seems so unwilling to discuss a now much publicized hacking incident involving a Twitter verified account, what are people to think?

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Publius

Congressman Says Weinergate Cybersecurity Investigation Vital to ‘Ensure Our National Security’

by Publius

Great story from the Daily Caller:

Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns is demanding an investigation into cybersecurity issues raised by #Weinergate, saying it is vital to “ensure our national security.”

Though New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner remains silent on whether or not he’ll be seeking an investigation into his claims that his Twitter and Facebook accounts were hacked, leading to his Twitter account’s posting of a picture of a man’s erect penis underneath gray boxer-briefs, Stearns told The Daily Caller that the imbroglio raises troubling questions that should be looked into by Congress.

“Although this particular incident is a matter for law enforcement, it clearly indicates that hacking is a serious problem and as Chairman it would be appropriate for the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to examine the issue of cybersecurity to protect our privacy and to ensure our national security,” Stearns said in an email to The Daily Caller. (more…)

Jack L. Treese, CWO US Army, Retired

Judicial Travesty: Supreme Court Orders Release of 46,000 Convicted Felons

by Jack L. Treese, CWO US Army, Retired

This recent decision has been in the making since 1990 when the class action Coleman v. Brown was filed in District Court that found that California “prisoners with serious mental illness do not receive minimal, adequate care.” Then in 2001 Plata v. Brown said “the State (California) conceded that deficiencies in prison medical care violated prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights and stipulated to a remedial injunction.”

In 2005 when California did not comply with the “remedial injunction” a three-judge court was empowered “to order reductions in the prison population.” All of this is further explained in the recent ninety-one-page U. S. Supreme Court decision that can be found under “Recent Decisions” here and selecting Brown v. Plata.

Reading the text of the decision the court “concluded that it would be possible to reduce the prison population ‘in a manner that preserves public safety and the operation of the criminal justice system.’”

The decision says the state has created “a certain and unacceptable risk of continuing violations of the rights of sick and mentally ill prisoners, with the result that many more will die or needlessly suffer.” Further that, “The constitution does not permit this wrong.”

The court used a statement from the former heads of correctional systems in Washington, Maine, and Pennsylvania, to justify that California prisons are “criminogenic” and a statement from a chief probation officer who testified that “it seems like (the prisons) produce additional criminal behavior”. In that same passage California’s Little Hoover Commission stated, “California communities are burdened with absorbing 123,000 offenders returning from prison, often more dangerous than when they left.”

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Reason TV

North Carolina Bans Rare Burgers! Nanny of the Month (May 2011)

by Reason TV

May’s biggest busybodies are taking it to poker players and teen tanners, but the nation’s top nag has lovers of pink-in-the-middle burgers seeing red.

In a stunning blow to all that is juicy and delicious, the Tar Heel state actually prohibits restaurants from serving rare or medium-rare hamburgers. (And if this crime against meat freedom seems especially un-American, keep in mind that it comes from the same state that once banned Old Glory at public rallies.)

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Warner Todd Huston

DNC Chair Mad that GOP Wants to Make It Illegal to Be an Illegal Alien…Or Something

by Warner Todd Huston

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a Democrat Congresswoman from Florida and is currently the head of the Democrat National Committee. She is also one of the most vitriolic, off base, half informed demagogues of the far left in America today. There are tons of examples of her lies and calumnies out there — it’s an almost daily occurrence now that she is DNC head — but today we have a new one. This time DWS is lamenting how Republicans want to make illegal immigration, well, illegal.

Yes, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not bright enough to catch the “illegal” part in the phrase “illegal immigrant.” Apparently the question, “what part of illegal don’t you get,” is one she doesn’t get.

Naked Emperor has the video of Wasserman Schultz from May 26 of this year.

Transcript:

I think the president was clearly articulating that his position — Democrats position — is that we need comprehensive immigration reform. We have 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country that are part of the backbone of our economy. And that, that is not only a reality but a necessity. And that it would be harmful if some — you know, the Republican solutions that I’ve seen in the last few years is that we should just pack them all up and ship them back to their own countries, and in fact it should be a crime and we should arrest them all. I mean that was in legislation that Jim Sensenbrenner advanced a couple of years ago.

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Rick Amato

Judge’s Order Keeps James O’Keefe From Attending Conservative Conference in California

by Rick Amato

Young investigative filmmaker James O’Keefe has become a celebrity of sorts in conservative circles for his work exposing operations inside the group ACORN.  But a federal judge’s order is keeping O’Keefe from joining prominent conservatives like Andrew Breitbart and myself at an upcoming conference in California.

Judge's order restricting James O'Keefe from attending conservative conference.

Federal judge Daniel E. Knowles III has denied a request by O’Keefe to travel outside the state of New Jersey.  Breitbart, O’Keefe and Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter are scheduled keynote speakers for the Eagle Forum Conference in San Diego, June 10th and 11th.

Conference organizers have said that Breitbart and O’Keefe are slated to teach conference attendees “How To Be An Effective Citizen Journalist.”  McCotter meanwhile, a favorite among grassroots conservatives, has been rumored to be considering a run for President.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he chooses the conference setting to announce his candidacy plans.  Yours truly, by the way, will be acting as emcee for the weekend event.

The judge does not detail his reasons for denying O’Keefe’s request and interestingly has routinely approved previous requests by O’Keefe to travel outside New Jersey.

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Dan  Riehl

Weiner’s Actual Tweet Stream Disputes His Version, Raises Valid Questions

by Dan Riehl

The second image below is an exact duplication, in top-to-bottom chronological order of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s actual Twitter timeline on the night of what’s now being called Weinergate. It includes a now deleted Tweet of an explicit image, which can also now be determined to have been Tweeted at 11:30 PM ET on the night of May 27. That’s made possible by referencing two existing time-lines, Weiner’s own on Twitter and that of TweetCongress, an official Tweet stream of all Representatives. Evidently, it is cached separately, as while Weiner deleted the offending Tweet from his Twitter account, it remained at TweetCongress when last checked and screen capped, though the linked image is unavailable. That would have been deleted at Yfrog. But the Tweet is unmistakeably the one in question.

It is the center Tweet in the screen cap below. Because we can determine where it appeared in his timeline down to the minute and have the actual Twitter timestamps for his other Tweets via his Twitter page, we can demonstrate the actual time of the controversial Tweet to have been 11:30 PM, as stated above.

Several valid questions emerge from an analysis of Weiner’s actual real-time Tweet stream. See below.

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Publius

WeinerGate: CNN Reports Congressman Not Answering Basic Questions

by Publius

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) spoke to the press today to tell them that he would no longer be speaking to the press about his claim that his Twitter account was hacked.

Pamela Geller

Stand Against Honor Killing

by Pamela Geller

On August 24th, we will be dedicating the Aqsa Parvez Grove in American Independence Park in Jerusalem, Israel. If you can be in that part of the world, join me.

Non-Muslims have begun to take note of the victims of Islamic honor killing, and to serve notice to their killers that the victims will not be forgotten, or their murders ignored. Americans have seen a spike in the brutal murder of Muslim girls under Islamic law.

Remember Aqsa Parvez? She was brutally murdered by her father and brother in December 2007 for refusing to wear the Islamic headscarf. But that was only the beginning: the abuse and dehuminaization of this girl continued. She was buried in an unmarked grave. Her family refused to acknowledge her life, as she had “dishonored” them. In defiance of her devout father and brother, she had refused to live under the suffocating dictates of Islamic law. The eleventh grade student began taking off her hijab, a traditional Islamic headscarf, when she went to school, and would put it back on when she returned home. Her dad would go to her school during school hours and walk around trying to find her, trying to catch her not wearing Islamic garb, talking to boys or hanging out with “non-Muslims”. “She wanted to dress like us,” said one friend of Aqsa. “To be normal.” For this, her family prefers that she be forgotten — unknown, unloved, unmourned.

In December 2008, when I read that Aqsa lay in an unmarked grave, I was beside myself. I started a memorial fund at Atlas to get her a headstone. But I had no idea how difficult and ugly it would be simply to honor a teenage girl in Canada who just wanted to live free — and how eagerly Western non-Muslims would aid and abet the family’s efforts to dishonor her in death as they did in life.

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The New Ledger

The Democrats’ Plan to Tax 62% of Your Money

by The New Ledger

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the end of nuclear energy in Germany, the Democrats’ plan for a 62% tax bracket and the effects those taxes will have on the economy.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Anthony Weiner and his eponymous Twitter “hack”
German government wants nuclear exit by 2022 at latest
UK gas up as German nuclear u-turn may lift demand
Francis’ Word of the Day: orthogonal
A 62% Top Tax Rate?

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Publius

A Lot of Coincidences in Weiner’s Tale

by Publius

From Peter Ingemi in The New York Post:

By now, you’ve heard about the Tweet picture sent from Weiner’s account to a young lady named Gennette Nicole Cordova. The congressman has insisted his accounts were “hacked.” Cordova, in a statement released late Sunday night (36 hours after the tweet in question), says, “The account that these tweets were sent from was familiar to me. This person had harassed me many times after the congressman followed me on Twitter.” She also said that her previous tweet, “I wonder what my boyfriend @repweiner is up to,” was a joke.

Such statements notwithstanding, those on the left trying to paint this as a conspiracy must deal with an array of odd elements that an increasingly tech-savvy public may find suspicious:

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Constance Dogood

Exclusive Excerpt: ‘How the GOP Establishment Is Co-opting the Freshman Tea Party Class’

by Constance Dogood

[Ed. Note: 'How the GOP Establishment Is Co-opting the Freshman Tea Party Class,' publishing today, is part of a 'Voices from Tea Party' series from Broadside Books. The author "Constance Dogood" is a tea party leader who now works on Capitol Hill for a new Member of Congress. The book, priced around $2, can be purchased here. Below are two excerpts.]

The demeanor of the NRCC hotshots in the district near the end of Mr. Freshman’s campaign didn’t help me generate a positive impression of the organization, either. They were young, ambitious, and very well dressed. They were also tin-eared and callow. When they came in, they moved in. Desks were taken, computers were hijacked, and they told all the volunteers who had worked so hard for this candidate to stop coming to the office: the professionals were here and they would handle things. They advised the candidate to stop coming into the office and only speak to staff via email. The campaign staff was shut out of strategy meetings and relegated to fetching lunch and making copies. They demanded spreadsheets and donor lists, and when we balked at sharing this information they threatened to walk out of the campaign. Our candidate, not wishing to alienate Washington even before his election, told us to give them whatever they wanted. We complied, but our conclusion was that they were a bunch of spoiled brats.

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Jim Hoft

REWARD OFFERED For Arrest and Conviction of Weinergate Hacker

by Jim Hoft

Enough Is Enough.

On Friday night a a photo surfaced on Congressman Weiner’s yfrog account and in his verified Twitter timeline of a man in tight underwear with a bulging erection. The photo was sent to one of the many young attractive coeds who Rep. Weiner “follows” on Twitter for his news and entertainment. The image was immediately deleted. Rep. Weiner claimed his account was hacked but the upstanding Congressman has not contacted the FBI or Capitol Police. However, he did lawyer up.

Help bring the Weinergate hacker to justice.

What you can do to help:
The humble Rep. Weiner may want to play down this criminal action but now you can help. We (Gateway Pundit Truth Alliance) are offering a $200 reward for anyone who offers information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the Weinergate penis hacker.

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William Shughart II

Obama’s Schizo Energy Policy: Counterproductive Approach to Oil Production

by William Shughart II

The world price of crude oil has been on a roller coaster lately, gyrating above and below $100 a barrel. Several weeks ago, prices at the pump reached $5 a gallon in some places but seem to have settled down, at least temporarily, to less than $4 in many parts of the country. The elevated cost of gasoline—and of heating oil, aviation fuel and other energy products derived from “black gold”—understandably is a matter of great concern to most Americans.

Rising energy costs already have changed many families’ summer vacation plans, threatened to short-circuit the weak recovery from the Great Recession and, combined with recent increases in food prices, contributed to incipient inflationary pressures that foreshadow a lower standard of living and a return to the stagflation of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

Fluctuations in crude oil prices are being driven mostly by uncertainty over supplies from oil-producing countries in North Africa and the Middle East, along with a weakening U.S. dollar and other political factors that largely are beyond the control of the much-maligned U.S. oil industry.

But they are not totally beyond Washington’s control. Just recently, President Obama reversed course once again, announcing policy initiatives that the White House claims will increase domestic oil production.

The president says he now wants to lease more drilling areas in the Gulf of Mexico and reduce bureaucratic delays in issuing permits for energy exploration and recovery.

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Todd Feinburg

CNN Poll: Punks Can Beat ‘Good Guys’

by Todd Feinburg

My talk radio co-host, Tom Finneran, is a former Speaker of the House in Massachusetts. He’s upbeat and outgoing – a bright and engaging city “kid” who joined the legislature in his twenties and came of age under the golden dome of the state house, mastering the dance of relationship and power.

When Tom is discussing someone of influence of whom he approves, I’ve observed an unconscious grading system in operation. Most anyone he served with in the legislature, for example, is affably referred to as being a “Good Guy.”

For Tom, of course, being a “Good Guy” is a badge of honor – an acknowledgement that the recipient operates with agility and guile in pursuing the People’s Business. Good Guys are mostly smart and hardworking in Tom’s experience, and are forced to suffer the indignities of media smears, unreasonable ethics scrutiny, and voters’ ignorance of how tough their jobs are.

Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, as Tom is still called by the loyal, likes a guy so much that he slips in a second “good,” as in, “Ah, that Joey Mac, he’s a good, good guy.” And, on rare occasions, there have been those who he deems to be (slowly, and with a smile) a “good, good, good guy.”

In my mind, and on the air, I’ve branded each “good” which Tom bestows upon a lucky recipient as symbolizing a year earned in the pen. I’m assuming the Good Guys have made unacceptable compromises to earn such hearty praise from one who rose to the top of a world defined by compromise.

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Ezra Dulis

Weinergate: Twitter User Dan Wolfe Denies Hacking Accusations; Welcomes FBI Investigation

by Ezra Dulis

“I hope he [Weiner] comes after me. Look up my IP. Nothing to hide here. I’d voluntarily hand anything they want over. Check me and my IP. Anything. I did not post that tweet.”

Twitter user Dan Wolfe (known as @patriotusa76) has clarified several details concerning his involvement in the “Weinergate” scandal, insisting that a thorough investigation of the tweets in question will prove he did not compromise the verified Twitter account of Congressman Anthony Weiner (D, NY-9). In a series of direct messages on Twitter, Wolfe explains how he found the offensive image sent from Weiner’s Twitter account, his previous tweets about accounts followed by the Congressman, and his desire for law enforcement to investigate his online activity that night.

Asked whether he followed Congressman Weiner or the recipient of the controversial tweet, Wolfe states he “wasn’t following either of them ever.” He named several other twitter uses who he regularly communicates with, explaining, “Our twitter group mentions him a lot because he appears in media a lot and says things we hate a lot. If he wasn’t saying anything, we wouldn’t comment.” Wolfe claims that on May 27th, the date the tweet went public, he navigated to the @RepWeiner account by clicking on Weiner’s username on a retweet in his Twitter stream. The tweet in question was the much-discussed one where Weiner announced the time of his upcoming appearance on the Rachel Maddow show with the hashtag #Thats545InSeattleIThink. “I found the 5:45 tweet weird,” Wolfe says.

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Publius

Tuesday Open Thread: Model T Edition

by Publius

Today, in 1927, the last Model T rolled off the Ford production line.