Puzzling Out Immigration Reform

"Listening to discussions of immigration laws and proposals to reform them is like listening to something out of 'Alice in Wonderland.'

"Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them. 

One of the big problems that those who are pushing 'comprehensive immigration reform' want solved is how to help people who came here illegally and are now 'living in the shadows' as a result.

"What about embezzlers or burglars who are 'living in the shadows' in fear that someone will discover their crimes? Why not 'reform' the laws against embezzlement or burglary, so that such people can also come out of the shadows?" — Thomas Sowell

Dead in the Water

"When employment hit an air pocket in December, most analysts brushed off the dreadful jobs number as an anomaly, or a function of the weather. They chose to believe Ben Bernanke rather than their lying eyes. It’s hard to ignore a second signal that the U.S. economy is dead in the water, though: on Monday the Institute for Supply Management reported the steepest drop in manufacturing orders since December 1980.

In January, only 51% of manufacturers reported a rise in new orders, vs. 64% in December. Not only did the U.S. economy stop hiring in December, with just 74,000 workers added to payrolls; it stopped ordering new equipment. The drop in orders is something that only has occurred during recessions." - David P. Goldman  

Read More 

Another Obama Success Story

CBO nearly triples estimate of working hours lost by 2021 due to Affordable Care Act

A historically high number of people will be locked out of the workforce by 2021, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday.

 President Barack Obama's signature health-care law will contribute to this phenomenon, the CBO said, citing new estimates that the Affordable Care Act will cause a larger-than-expected reduction in working hours—eliminating the equivalent of about 2.3 million workers in 2021.

Another Obama success story. You Obama mouth breathers should be proud of yourselves.  
 

Political Correctness and Black Robes

Something is wrong, very wrong with the Supreme Court. With the power they have to dictate law, (see Obamacare is a tax), the justices should at least try to put on a non partisan face. Unfortunately, they don’t even try anymore.

Justice Sonia Sotamayer speaking to students at Yale:

"Sotomayor was asked at a talk at Yale Law School later in the day about her use of the term “undocumented immigrants” rather than the traditional illegal alien. Sotomayor characterized the issue as a regulatory problem and said labeling immigrants criminals seemed insulting to her. “I think people then paint those individuals as something less than worthy human beings and it changes the conversation,” Sotomayor said.

Um, no. They are here illegally which makes them criminal. When a Supreme Court Justice twists that description you are in dangerous territory. She is looking through the wrong prism, instead of law, she is looking through the skewed perspective of left ideology.

"The 59-year-old justice said she quickly left an interview to attend Harvard, feeling she didn’t belong. She said Yale students in the 1970s were talking about revolutions in Cuba and other countries while she had attended a Catholic high school where the monsignor supported the Vietnam War. “This is too progressive for me,” she said of Yale, sparking laughter. “Yeah, strange, right?” 

Shouldn’t be considered strange at this point. You either have convictions and principles or you don’t. If you change your mind with the prevailing winds, you are not worthy of being on the Supreme Court. And it seems to me, this is exactly what Ms. Sotamayer has become.

"She admitted that she sometimes finds herself stuck between two worlds, one in which her colleagues talk of operas and another in which she sees a cockroach in an apartment in her old Bronx neighborhood and flees. “Sometimes I do feel I’m not part of either world completely,” she said. “My life has changed so much that going back I don’t feel I’m completely part of the conversation.” 

I would like to think a Supreme Court Justice should be decisive, strong, and un-wavering, wishy washy don’t cut it. I would rather have a person who has worked their ass off for years with the hope to be considered for a Justice position, not one who feels out of place.

That gives me the sense that she was surprised with the nomination, surprised she was confirmed, and feels obligated to the people who selected her. Basically a rubber stamp for the left.

h/t  Nod to the Gods

Transformation Stew

Read More @ All The Right Snark

We've got bigger fish to fry than a Coke ad..... Good Grief.

Victory Girls

"I was taken aback at all the hatred — mostly from conservatives — toward the “America the Beautiful” Coke commercial that aired during the Superbowl last night.

The commercial was a beautiful display of the diversity found within our country — so why would anyone be upset over it?

I’ll tell you.

The individuals in the commercial sang “America, The Beautiful” in multiple languages, including English. Apparently, many conservatives took this to mean that Coke doesn’t believe English should be the official language of the United States or that what they were really singing was “open borders for all!”

Let’s calm down before we jump to hasty conclusions, people. Many people, including most of our ancestors, came to America speaking little to no English. Yes, most of them eventually learned English – something citizens of this country should do. There was nothing in the commercial that denounced that.

The U.S. is comprised of people from different countries, many who speak two, three or more languages. I only wish I could say that of myself. That was Americana at its most diverse and it showcased some of the nation’s most iconic scenes: the California coastline, New York streets, Arizona desert and more.

The backlash was ugly and I was embarrassed by it. Is this really how you want to respond, conservatives? I’d think again.

Coca-Cola is quintessentially American and the brand has always used that identity to appeal to cultures globally. This commercial makes sense and is the epitome of patriotic for what it displays.

After reading far too many tweets spewing critical commentary about the commercial, I felt discouraged to be a part of such reactionary, negative people."
James Poniewozik of Time responded to the criticism wonderfully:

"People like my immigrant mother and her immigrant sisters learn English as adults and raise their kids to speak it, and also speak French and Arabic at family get-togethers and on phone calls. We speak English in school and Spanish with grandparents and Spanglish with friends. We speak Creole and Chinese and Tagalog sitting down to family dinners–maybe with a bottle or two of Coke around the table, which is why Coke is smart to recognize this.

We come to America, in other words, and we become American–but we don’t erase everything else that we were before, we don’t forget our cultures and languages as if they never existed, and we don’t hide them as if they’re shameful or less than patriotic. We bring them out and share them, and they make this country better and stronger. America isn’t weakened because people don’t submit to a monoculture; it’s strong because it can absorb the peoples and aspirations and talents of the rest of the world without erasing their cultures."

I don’t believe in open borders, free for all amnesty or changing America’s official language. That doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate the country we are – with the thousands of languages spoken within our borders every day from sea to shining sea.

And here is a link to Adrienne's take on the whole thing.

A Good Monday Morning

Hillary's Goofy Super Bowl Tweet

Hillary Clinton sent out a tweet during the Super Bowl,  joking about FOX for what appears to be related to the network's coverage of the former secretary of State. 

At first glance it was unclear as to the intention of Clinton's tweet. But, Clinton's press secretary Nick Merrill clarified in an e-mail that it was indeed a joke. "It was good-natured, light-hearted, and self-deprecating.

I guess someone forgot to remind the smartest women in the world that it wasn't FOX NEWS broadcasting the Super Bowl........ or perhaps this explains it.

Obama-Biden Super Bowl Party Got Out of Hand

Biden goes long head first into White House fountain

Florida Invaded by Crop Destroying, Poisoning Giant African Land Snails that Eat Houses...... Oh and did I mention they kill dogs?

The Sun Sentinel

"As South Florida's foreign invaders go, the giant African land snail ranks pretty high on the yuckiness meter: They're not only slimy and smelly, they can also devastate crops, sicken humans and even gnaw the stucco off your home.  The oversized, mucus-drenched mollusks are poised to move north from Miami-Dade County, where agriculture officials are preparing to unleash dogs in their two-year battle to wipe out the pest.

Originally from East Africa, mainly Nigeria, the snails can grow to 8 inches long by 4 inches wide and live up to 8 years.

The exotic mollusk carries a parasite in its mucus that can transmit a rare form of meningitis to those humans who touch it. The meningitis, which in humans causes swelling of the brain's lining, has no cure.

"Religious practitioners from Nigeria have been known to use these snails in their religious practices," agriculture department spokesman Mark Fagan said. "They are used to foretell a practitioner's future health, prosperity and spirituality." Federal authorities theorized they were smuggled into the country by practitioners of Ifa Orisha, a Santeria-like African cult whose leader, Charles L. Stewart of Hialeah, urged congregates to drink the snail's juice. The health question was quickly answered: Those who sipped snail soup became violently ill.

Two Labrador retrievers are now undergoing training at a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility in Georgia, and they will be deployed next spring to sniff out the snails, who have a distinct odor. The snail-detecting dogs will join a force of 50 snail hunters, along with a public awareness campaign. The snail-detecting dogs are trained to avoid contact with their prey, and simply to alert to their presence.  

A 4-year-old German shepherd that lived in an infested neighborhood in Kendall did not have that advantage. The snails are suspected of infecting the dog, which went deaf and blind after contracting meningitis and had to be put down.

Middle Finger Symphony Theater

* No Tuxedos Required *

Nig Nagin Finally Goes on Trial

Former New Orleans Mayor Nig "Chocolate City "Nagin's  trial on Bribery, Corruption and being a World Class Asshole started last week in the Big Easy. 

AP - Ray Nagin, a Democrat who was mayor when Hurricane Katrina stuck in 2005, served two terms before leaving office in 2010. He was living in a Dallas suburb when a federal grand jury indicted him a year ago. He faces charges of accepting bribes and free trips among other things from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work.

Each bribery count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Each wire fraud count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The charges are the product of a City Hall corruption investigation that already has resulted in several convictions or guilty pleas by former Nagin associates.

Nagin's 21-count indictment accuses him of accepting more than $160,000 in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of local businessman Frank Fradella. Nagin also was charged with accepting at least $60,000 in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts.

The indictment claims Nagin received free private jet and limousine services to New York from an unidentified businessman who owned a New Orleans movie theater. Nagin allegedly agreed to waive tax penalties the businessman owed to the city on a delinquent tax bill in 2006.

A political novice before he was first elected mayor in 2002, Nagin became a national figure after broken levees flooded most of the city in Katrina's aftermath. Known for his occasionally cringe-inducing rhetoric, Nagin famously declared in 2006 that the slowly repopulating city would be "chocolate" again, playing to black residents' fears that they would get short shrift during the recovery process."

It is beyond the thinking of a lot of people in this part of the country as to how this douche bag dodged charges of manslaughter in the deaths of the many poor New Orleans citizen he abandoned  and left the city for safety as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the city.   

The Nation's State of Disunion

"After four years of the politics of divide-and-conquer, Mr. Obama had stirred sufficient resentment in his political base to win a second term. What he has produced entering the sixth year of his presidency is a nation in a state of disunion.

"The pollsters at Gallup wrote last week that Mr. 'Obama is on course to have the most politically polarized approval ratings of any president.' Segments of the U.S. population see themselves not just in disagreement with the Obama administration, but as the target of its policies.

"This includes not only the famous 1%, but also the upper-middle class, Southern states, charter schools, politically active conservatives, private businesses, the Catholic church, electric utilities, doctors driven out of ObamaCare's health networks and those famous partisans, the Little Sisters of the Poor.

"All have been vilified, investigated, audited or sued by the president himself, Eric Holder's Justice Department, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and, not least, the Internal Revenue Service. Last year's most remarkable polling number from Gallup said in December that 72% of Americans regard big government as the greatest threat to the U.S. They got the message."  — Daniel Henninger, WSJ