A busy weekend of battling!!!

Dear Readers:  When the weekend started with a fencing tournament, I should have known I was in for battles!  I am happy to report the Young Prince placed third in the competition, demonstrating focus and good sportsmanship.

I spent much time at Legal Insurrection, sharing stories on topics that I hope inspire conservative activists across the country:

• California targeted for enhanced gun control activism
• Who left whom, exactly? A look at “declining” Tea Party numbers from the inside
• Shame the shameless shamers
•  Mother Nature and WSJ Mock Climate-Change Bullies
• And my favorite:
  

  A “social media militia” can preserve our liberties today

To which I wanted to say THANK YOU INSTAPUDNIT FOR THE INSTALINK!!!I was thrilled to see Charles Fettinger’s amazing work with the SLOBs get the attention it deserves.

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California and New Zealand’s “Tsunami Bombs”!

Dear Readers:  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  And, may the Goddess of Capitalism act ever in your favor.

I wanted to start the new year with some heartfelt thanks to 3 gentlemen who made the struggles of 2012 a little more bearable, and who have been really wonderful friends of the Shrine.

• Bill Jacobson, of Legal Insurrection, who has invited me to join his team in support of his newest effort: College Insurrection.

• Aaron Clarey, Captain Capitalism, whose kind links to my history pieces are most appreciated — as his overall support of Capitalism.  I am looking forward to the publication of his newest book, “Enjoy the Decline“, which I had the privilege to edit very lightly.

• Silvio Canto Jr., who does the innovative and informative Canto Talk BlogTalkRadio.com show – and is one of the pioneers in the new mode of podcast-based talk radio that I think is the wave of the future.

I also want to give a big thank you to the SLOBS – SAN DIEGO LOCAL ORDER OF BLOGGERS, who are part of a dynamic punditry team covering local, state and national issues. A special mention needs to go to our tech guru, Charles of Doo Doo Economics.

Now, for today’s news. It seems that the Golden State is set firmly on a path to self-destruction. A new wave of fiscal badness is about to hit our shores: Higher down payments could be compromise Prop. 13 reform

Could simply requiring higher down payments on home loans be a compromise reform of Proposition 13?

The Democratic Party supermajority in the state legislature is presently pushing for reforms of Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative that limits property tax increases to 2 percent per year until a property resells.

Some of the legislature’s proposed reforms include  eliminating Prop. 13 for commercial properties and lowering the voter threshold for school parcel taxes to 55 percent from the current two-thirds.

But there may be a better way.

The culprit involved in state budget deficits is not Prop. 13.  It is low down-payment requirements and interest rates on home purchases combined with the effects of slow-growth management and environmental laws. Growth-management laws cause the excessive housing booms and busts that throw state and school budgets out of balance, as well as causing upside-down home values.

That Proposition 13 is being target by the Democratic Supermajority should be especially concerning to Californians. It is about the only taxpayer friendly legislation passed in the past 50 years, and makes living in the state quasi-affordable. Any “reform” will tsunami-like fiscal repercussions.

Speaking of Tsunamis: The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a “tsunami bomb” designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.

The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.

The top secret operation, code-named “Project Seal”, tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.

The plans came to light during research by a New Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files buried in the national archives.

“Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people,” said Mr Waru.

“It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami … and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked.” The project was launched in June 1944 after a US naval officer, E A Gibson, noticed that blasting operations to clear coral reefs around Pacific islands sometimes produced a large wave, raising the possibility of creating a “tsunami bomb”.

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Legal Insurrection’s William Jacobson on Canto Talk, Oct. 4th at 7 pm PST/9 pm CT/10 pm EST

Dear Readers:  I hope you all got a chance to hear the dynamic and golden-voiced Luca Bocci chat with Silvio Canto and myself on Canto Talk, when he updated us on all the good successes of Tea Party Italia (click HERE to listen).  Tomorrow, we are thrilled to talk to William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection (click HERE to listen this Thursday at 7 pm PST/9pm PST/10 om EST…or to download the podcast later).

Legal Insurrection’s William Jacobson

Given all the great material at Legal Insurrection, it will be difficult to touch upon everything. So, here are some of the key items we will probably be discussing.

THE GREAT DEBATE

Legal Insurrection will be featuring the first Presidential Debate tonight. I suspect Professor Jacobson will have something to say about both Mitt Romney and Barak Obama, in terms of their performance. It should be quite interesting.

Update: The feature will be an open thread. You can join me there, as if I have to listen to more than 4 seconds of Obama, I want to be surrounded by friends to help me ease the pain!

COLLEGE INSURRECTION

We recently celebrated our one month anniversary over at our new site.Both the professor and myself want to spread the word encouraging college students to send us articles and links to independent-conservative campus material. Also, we had some good success: A piece I worked up specifically for the site was featured on National Review Online………. News Flash: Men and Women Are Different!

FAUXCAHONTAS AND HER LAW LICENSE SCANDAL

In a nutshell: Doing the work our American press will not do, Professor Jacobson looked deeply into the background of Massachusetts’ Democratic senatorial candidate, Elizabeth Warren, and discovered she has been practicing law without a state law license. Normally, such a thing is illegal. However, it seems like Warren’s skirts the legal requirements just like she skirts authentic genetics — and the elite media seems inclined to give her a pass. We new media types, not so much.

OPERATION COUNTERWEIGHT

In response to the above story, and the fact that no matter who is elected President, Americans would be best served by a Tea Party Congress, Professor Jacobson is featuring several important races around the country with the hopes people donate to those candidates, assist with phone-banking, or otherwise endeavor to help support their efforts.

This is the Final List!

Senate: There are many closely contested races around the country which will decide the fate of the Senate, but most if not all of those will receive national attention and fundraising.  I have chosen to focus on two special cases (Brown and Mourdock) and two long-shots in small states where relatively small amounts of additional money and attention really could help make the races competitive.

• Scott Brown (MA) – hello, hello.  What can I say that I have not already said.  Progressives have made this race their No. 1 priority other than Obama.
• Richard Mourdock (IN) – we helped him defeat Richard Lugar, one of the weakest Republican links and Obama’s favorite Republican.  Now let’s prove that we can help him bring it home.  Mourdock is even or slightly ahead in the polls, but still trails Joe Donelly in cash.  More here.
• Barry Hinckley (RI) – he’s running against Sheldon Whitehouse.  I have been clear that this is a long shot, but we have to win one or two long shots to achieve the counterweight we need.  Whitehouse is not personally popular and I still believe that this could be the surprise of the year.  More here.
• Dan Bongino (MD) – another long shot who is worth the effort, running against Ben Cardin.  Bongino has been working hard, and in a small state an upstart who is good on the stump can exceed expectations.  More here.

House:  I have chosen to focus on districts which will be competitive and in which we either can protect an recent incumbent or flip a seat.  The Cook Report ratings of these races (as of August 2) are posted below.

• Allen West (FL-16) – they target him with SuperPAC money and DWS’s mouth, we defend him.
• Mia Love (UT-04) – we were among the first to recognize Mia’s rising stardom.  Now let’s help her to defeat incumbent Jim Matheson, who plays a moderate Democrat on television.  Love is behind in the polls and fundraising, so she needs our help.
• Brendan Doherty (RI-01)(my home district) – a chance to flip a reliably Democratic district because of the deceit of former Providence Mayor and current congressman David Cicilline who hid Providence’s fiscal problems when he ran in 2010.  More here.
• David Rouzer (NC-7) – a chance to flip an at-risk Democratic seat against the vulnerable incumbent Mike McIntyre.
• Georgia-12 – primary runoff on August 21.  We will support whoever wins to run against vulnerable incumbent Dem John Barrow.
• The Upstate NY Group (more here and here), the improbable but true heart of Operation Counterweight, a chance to protect gains in 2010 and also pick up a seat or two.
  • Chris Gibson (NY-19) – defend freshman congressman.
  • Matt Doheny (NY-21) – defeat Bill Owens, who never should have been in this Republican District but for the debacle of Dede Scozafava undermining Doug Hoffman in the 2009 special election
  • Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-24) – help defend this freshman who has fought hard against the Obama administration in what will be a very tight rematch with former incumbent Dan Maffei, who she defeated in 2010.
  • Maggie Brooks (NY-25) – help defeat vulnerable incumbent Louise Slaughter.
  • Chris Collins (NY-27) – help defeat Kathy Hochul, who eeked out a win in the special election because a fake Tea Party candidate ran third party; Dems claimed the Medicare issue gave Hochul the win, but that was not the case.  Hochul has more money, but this is a Republican district.

  Honorable Mentions:

  • Nan Hayworth (NY – 18) - is in a tight race but in a better position than others in the Upstate NY Group.
  • Chip Cravaack (MN – 08) – a prime target for MN moonbats.
  • Jackie Walorski (IN – 02) – running for Joe Donnelly’s old seat.  She lost in 2010 by a small margin.
  • Ricky Gill (CA – 07) – only 24 years old and a rising star.

A word about my derivation: Operation Counteract, supporting certain Democratic candidates as appropriate. There is a Democratic challenger to perennial race-baiting gadfly, Maxine Waters. His name is Bob Flores and he is challenging Waters in newly redistricted  and more Hispanic district 43 — and under new California rules, the top 2 vote-getters in primaries go up against each other regardless of party. CLICK HERE TO DONATE, SUPPORT, AND OTHERWISE HELP REMOVE A CONGRESSIONAL NUISANCE.

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