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GraniteGrok

Blogline of the Day – Professor Paul Rahe

I watched Susan Rice, Obama’s Ambassador to the UN on the Sunday morning shows making a complete asshat of herself by: By even trying to try to make us all believe that some poorly done movie short could be the sole reason for her fellow Ambassador’s assassination (really, what kind of a “protest” comes fully … Read more

Fall is the time for yard sales…..are you doing one for Obama??

Ugh.  First, the audacity of asking that in lieu of a wedding gift as you and your spouse start your new life together, consider having them just send money to a political campaign (Obama’s).  I know Michelle all wants us to move more and eat less better, but to skip a meal and then send … Read more

Data Point – US Crude Oil Reserves, 1955 – 2010

Er, weren’t we supposed to be running out (Peak Oil theory) instead of increasing (and one of the reasons why Enviro-wackos want to keep us from using more now – “it’s for future generations!“).  It just goes to show that the Malthusians amongst the Enviros never seem to consider the idea of human ingenuity in … Read more

Glen Reynolds nails it – “Why Barack Obama should resign”

What do you say about a Government that care more about its image, more about its power, and more about re-election than doing what it is supposed to be doing?  I don’t often put up entire posts – but this one deserves to be read in it entirety – Glen Reynolds aka “Mr. Instapundit” aka The BlogFaddah” (emphasis mine):

WHY BARACK OBAMA SHOULD RESIGN. Just for the record, this is what it looked like for a man who made a film that made the Obama Administration uncomfortable:

Here’s the key bit: “Just after midnight Saturday morning, authorities descended on the Cerritos home of the man believed to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked protests and rioting in the Muslim world.”

When taking office, the President does not swear to create jobs. He does not swear to “grow the economy.” He does not swear to institute “fairness.” The only oath the President takes is this one:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

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Yo, elwood from Blue Hampshire! You’re thinking Communist/Socialism – but you forgot that OTHER political system

Either elwood, over at the Boo-Hoo Hamsters (aka Blue Hampshire), either is not conversant with the various political systems or dares not bring up that which really describes what is going on here in America – and one which Maggie “The Red” Hassan literally tried to do legislatively.  He’s whining about a statement from Charlie Bass:

He is running ads claiming that Annie Kuster, who supports the Affordable Care Act, is endorsing a “government takeover of health care.”

Far be it for me to defend good ole’ self-described Progressive Republican Charlie Bass – I’m not going to even paper veneer anything positive for him given that he LIED about only running one more time – and now he’s running again.  A pox on his political future (which may well happen this time around).  However, that aside, elwood is STILL wrong:

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Unease and Anxiety walks upon the land – Has a Preference Cascade started?

What is a Preference Cascade?  A great definition after the jump – but think how quickly the TEA Party movement started three years ago.

Part 1: I generally do my gun and ammo purchasing at one of two gun shops (unpaid plugs: Belmont Firearms on Rte 106 in Belmont, NH (and I have a membership at their indoor range) and Skip’s Gun & Sport Shop in Bristol, NH).  Well, TMEW and I had stopped practice shooting for a while and one day we both looked at each other and said “Hey, we haven’t gone to the range in a long time….” and we’ve restarted.  Looking at what I had on hand,  I went up to Skip’s to get some ammo for the Walther P22 that TMEW uses a lot and for which BF didn’t have in stock (yes, I could have ordered it, but I hadn’t been up to Skip’s for a long time and wanted to see the results of their expansion).  Bought some other ammo types, a new range bag for TMEW, a handgun rack for the safe, and a few other things that go boom!

Anyways, I ended talking with the clerk at the counter, and a comment was made (seeing the cases of 9mm and .380 I put on the counter) that people were not really buying ammo by the box (20, 25, 50, et al) anymore but rather , more and more, by the case (e.g., 500 or 1,000 rounds at a whack).  And it isn’t by just single people coming in but groups of people, or a single person buying for a whole gaggle of folks.  She looked at me and said words to the effect “People are getting nervous and anxious – people are not sure what is about to happen next.”

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Unease and Anxiety walks upon the land – Has a Preference Cascade started? Part 2

The conversation I had with the clerk today (er, just looked at the clock – yesterday) about what might be just over the horizon?  What set me off on this topic was a post I read a bit ago on Patheos by The Anchoress – “I expect the crowd in power to destroy everything…“.  She starts off referencing a post from Instapundit:

GOING JEAN GALT? Patrick Carroll writes:

I decided to take six months off this year. I sold stock and did what I wanted for a blissful six months. I read books, drank good wine, watched my garden, got out my high-powered binocs and looked at the planets, hiked, cooked, ate well, just lived. I did so because I expect the crowd in power to destroy everything, so I thought I’d take a break before the deluge…I also bought guns (rifle, shotgun, pistol each for the wife and I), and have contracted with a local landscaping company to build a highly-defensible, nice-looking (fence/hedge combination) perimeter for my property.

Oh, and I bought water barrels. And a propane tank. And a generator.

And then adds (emphasis removed, and added by me):

What’s interesting is that I am hearing similarly discomfited talk around me, and seeing it in my emails. In the past few weeks I’ve heard some surprising people admit they’ve been arming themselves and purchasing ammunition — one such discussion happened all around me at the hairdresser’s while I sat and listened. The stylist and his boss, they’re storing food and arming themselves. The chiropractor who popped in to say hello while taking his afternoon stroll said he is armed, too: “never in my life thought I’d have a gun in the house, now we have two.”

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Obama, you’re no Margaret Thatcher when it comes to Free Speech

Glen Reynolds over at Instapundit is just.all.over.this Obama #FAIL and the way it illustrates the hypocrisy that ReProgressives and Socialists have between the words they speak and what they want you to believe about them, and the actions that belie those words and public beliefs, as he floats all over the blogosphere and reports back:

Compare Margaret Thatcher and Rushdie to Obama and Nakoula.

When Salman Rushdie had a death fatwa pronounced on him for a novel considered insulting to Islam, Margaret Thatcher immediately ordered a protective detail to be sent to Rushdie, who took him to an undisclosed secure location. They have been protecting him ever since. Bear in mind that Rushdie had been a severe and vocal critic and political opponent of Thatcher.

Compare and contrast to Obama and Holder’s treatment of Nakoula.

Indeed.  Margaret rushed not just to defend a private citizen and his thoughts / speech (Salmon Rushdie) but more importantly, one of the primary pillars of Classical Western Liberalism: Free Speech. Sadly, it seems since that time, Britain has come to embrace a perverse version of Political Correctness in its stead, but at that time, Thatcher understood the power of Free Speech.

Frankly, so does Obama – and fears it.

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The Press response to the Naked Emperor…cover-up and deflection

And it has been going on for a long time: “Let’s talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. And I think they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards …as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all, there’s going to be this glow about them that some, is … Read more

Data Point – Muslim Protests (iteration…oh heck, I give up)

The news du jour is that the phenomenon of the Islamic Rage Boy has returned.  Once again, we see that the “Religion of Peace” is really the Religion-that-can’t-keep-itself-in-check.  The Atlantic Wire (via InstaPundit) has a map it is updating – here is the latest:

If you can’t keep track of all the Muslim protests erupting across the globe, you’re not alone. The uproar over a 14-minute anti-Islam YouTube video has sparked furious protests from Somalia to Egypt to Sudan to Tunisia to Libya to Bangladesh to Indonesia to Pakistan. With new reports of protests surfacing every minute, we’ve compiled the latest reported incidents into this handy interactive Google Map. Click the locations and embedded links for more details about each incident.

 And remember, Obama said he could solve this problem: “The Day I’m Inaugurated Muslim Hostility Will Ease”:

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Reason 2,301,456 why the Media is in the Democrat tank for Obama

Like I said here, the Mainstream Media always picks side in the political battles and will pretty much sink to the occasion of “fair and balanced” when spinning what should be straight news.  The graphic is right: In LIBYA for gosh sakes, where they just fought a major civil war and things STILL haven’t calmed down, there was no Marine contingent to protect US officials ON US SOVEREIGN SOIL?  What first seemed to be a “protest” has turned out to be planned, coordinated Al Qaeda operation over multiple locations?

You know, why is the MSM so taken with what ended up with an accurate portrayal of actual events by Romney and NOT what is important – why was this missed, why weren’t adequate steps taken for contingency planning (if this happens, do this; if that, do plan B – you know, doing some rudimentary “planning?), where was the intel lapse, why was Obama skipping out on his intel meetings, and so on?

Instead of substance, it was ‘surface” – it has all been a cover for Obama via “attack the messenger”?  This is not just a #FAIL for the Obama Doctrine and his Administration, but for the MSM for not just doing basic journalism – instead, they go all “opinion” on Romney’s butt as if this was all his fault.

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Data Point – US median Household Income

Remember, the Obama Administration hailed the announcement that the US recession ended in 2009: Should it not have started back up by now? (H/T: Powerline )

Yeah, this fits

We’ve kinda left the Chicago Teacher strike alone thus far.  To be sure, I think it is rather emblematic of the Blue Social model – large public unions pulling more and more from the taxpayers via in-the-Union-Pocket elected officials.

In this case, we have the CTU members earning an average wage of approximately $71-76K / year where the average taxpayer earns around $46K / year.  The union has rejected a 16% raise by Rahm Emmanual, Obama’s former Chief of Staff and now Mayor of Chicago.  What the Union is NOT accepting is the whole notion of teacher evaluations and other reforms.

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So, Ed Mosca has a bug up his **s, eh?

Ed Mosca Blog LogoFull Disclosure #1: We endorsed Josh Youseff for NH State Senate District 7.

Full Disclosure #2: Ed Mosca, the lawyer for Josh Youseff’s ex-wife AND the Legal Counsel for Office of the NH Speaker of the House.

Full Disclosure #3: Ed used to write here at GraniteGrok.  Then he started his own site: The Ed Mosca Blog (and I was sorry to see him leave)

Full Whining Alert #1: STOP WHINING, Ed!  Pull on yer Big Boy pants and consider that you’ve put yourself into this situation.

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Where the Publisher of the Laconia Daily Sun has to apologize for his reporter, Mike Kitch

I do feel sorry for Ed Engler, publisher of the Laconia Daily Sun, up here in the Lakes Region; but he’s ultimately responsible for the quality and correctness of the reporting and writing of his reporters.  He knows this blog post is going up because I just got off the phone with him.

While Ed is going to check to make sure, it seems that, even with the lack of a byline, the article above was written by (OF COURSE!) Mike Kitch – the guy with whom I’ve had words, most famously when he called me cold-hearted.

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Jimmy Carter had the Iran Embassy fiasco – now Obama has his Libyan and Egyptian one

He now has his 3am wake up call on 9-11, a day that most Americans still consider a stain on our history as Islamic Fundamentalists attacked their “Great Satan”.  Those jetliner hijackings back in 2001 sent the country into shock – and then howling for righteous retribution against those that had given succor and aid (Afghani Taliban) to those that planned and carried out the plan (Osama Bin Laden and Al Queada).  Regardless of you view of the Iraq war, the process of taking out OBL and AQ began.

On 9-11.  And now, Islamic radicals have attacked our sovereign soil in Libya and Egypt.  In the former, A US Ambassador has been killed, Christopher Stevens, in the American Consulate in Benghazi.  Two US Marines gave their lives to protect the embassy and and another US American as well.  Again, sovereign soil has been attacked.

How’s that Arab Spring working out fer ya, that “soft power”, that “smart diplomacy”, Prez and Hillary, eh?

The embassy in Cairo puts out the equivalent to a “diplomatic bow” to the Egyptian mobs, riled over an anti-Mohammed movie.  Once again, the “religion of peace” goes on the attack – taking down our flag over our embassy, hoisting the AQ flag, and generally acting like the 3rd world country mobs they are.  US Embassy tweets out:

We condemn the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims

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Not zookeeper – that would have meant Gov. Lynch could actually do something other than just being in the Corner.

Blue Hampshire is really starting to moan and groan: We have seen over the past two years that the Governor’s role is often that of zookeeper The past two years: republican super-majority in the NH House.  Republican super-majority in the NH Senate.  Republican super-majority on the NH Executive Council.  Gov. John “Do Nuthin” Lynch only … Read more

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