YES WE CAN! Hear you now.

Big round of applause to fellow SLB Charles Fettinger of Doo Doo Economics for his win in the “caption this” contest for 6 dollar shirts!!!!

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My Shrine is the Home of “Romney Campaign Supporter Suicide Hot-Line”!

Dear Readers:  Before I go on to today’s theme, a programming note — our favorite BlogTalkRadio host, Silvio Canto, had a special request. Therefore,  I need to share an awesome interview with businessman Joey Norris , in which they discussed the political and economic state of black America today. I also wanted to mention that our own SLOB, Dean of Beers with Demo, will be on the show Thursday (7 pm Pacific, 9 pm Central). Click here for podcasts or to listen.

Now, onto the Shrine’s new role: Suicide Hotline for Nervous Romney Supporters.

Part of the reason is that I have to talk Horemheb off the electoral ledge, as his duty station is in midnight blue Santa Barabra (where the cheap cable package offers only CNN and MSNBC. When he dies, my husband is going to heaven, because he has officially done his time in purgatory). He focuses on the questionable polls offered by these equally questionable news organizations, wondering how Romney is ever going to beat Obama.

A few points:

• All the polls are being done too early with too variable a sampling to be meaningful at this point in the election cycle (CLICK HERE to listen to this podcast with Silvio and independent centrist and the Prairie Editor Barry Casselman for a thorough analysis).
• Obama is hitting Romney with all he’s got, and he isn’t moving the poll numbers.
• The elite media has no interest in presenting this race has the Romney landslide it will be, because that doesn’t make for good ratings.

Romney didn’t get where he is at , nor marry such a great lady, by being dumb.  He has spent the past few years figuring out how to beat Obama, who only relies on a limited number of 12 Alinsky rules during his campaigns.  Romney also has a much more social media savvy band of supporters than McCain did, which helps to return volley on those aforementioned Alinsky rules.  For example, Obama wanted to get some serious mileage out of Romney’s time at Bain Capitol.  The Wall Street Journal is wringing its hands that “Romney needs to explain better”.

Screw that.

Obama has essentially committed verbal harikari with his “You Didn’t Build it” slip.  This has unleashed Romney, who will now have a platform to detail why attacking business success will not lead to a better economy — in full-throated and experienced detail.  (Or as Hillary is 44 notes – Psycho Killer Barack Obama Beaten Senseless By Mitt Romney ) With employment and sales data numbers looking bad, this is a message that will resonate in the coming months.  Additionally, Team Romney fans have fired up social media in a most thorough application of Alinsky Rule 5: RULE 5 -“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”  (Hat-tip, the blog-father, Instapundit).

Stay unemployed, my friends.

As Michelle Obama’s Mirror notes:  ALINKSY WORKS FOR US NOW!!!

There have been a series of Twitter Hashtag skirmishes, in which I have exchanged fire. The obvious one is #YouDidntBuildThat. However, after the Hollywood attempt to game the election with a Batman villain being named “Bane”, there was a ton of great tweets on #ObamaComicBookVillains.

Now, a bunch of Republicans are asking Romney to grab his ankles and release his tax records. Why? Has Romney failed to comply with specific laws — if not, then shut-the-hell up. Obama hasn’t released a fraction of the information Americans across the country have requested — school records, Fast and Furious documents, etc. The fact Romney is man enough to tell them to stuff it is REFRESHING.

So, to those of you who think Romney is going to McCain this election, here is the official MUT prophesy for the day — Obama is going to lose by such numbers, “to be Obama-ed” is going to become the new verb form for a complete and total electoral refudiation. Yes, he will finally hit a bottom so low his name will become a verb.

So, instead of second-guessing the Romney Team, get in and contribute with such talents you have. It will be a far better use of your emotional energy. And, keep in mind, the only poll we should be concerned with is this one on Nov. 6th:

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SLOB Stories

• A must-watch video via WC Varones: A public health message from your friends at W.C. Varones
• Word Warrior offers a hilarious series of INTERNATIONAL THREAT ALERTS
• KT Cat has a take on banking operations under the current regulations that is informative: Vengeance Is Expensive
• B-Daddy covers what will be one of the most serious unintended consequences of Obamacare: Bending Down the Cost Curve at the Expense of Innovation

A few links to friends of the Shrine:

• Speaking of hiding things, Legal Insurrection reveals that Debbie Wasserman Schultz hides property by using “Deborah Schultz”
• Mark Meckler notes More Fed Workers on Disability Than Entire Population of NYC
• I am totally jealous – EdgeofSandBox got to meet Professor Jacobson, and as a bonus dissects magnificently an EJ Dione column: The Peace Now of Economic and Social Policy
• And, after reading this, I promise to fix Captain Capitalism a home-cooked meal if he comes to San Diego.
• Jeanie-ology’s take on today’s theme: Lone Cowboy Obama Promotes Collectivism

Finally, prayers being sent to Lonely Conservative, who is being targeted for harassment because she won the “Circle of Moms” contest, in which I met her on-line.  I know you only take flak when you are over the target, but to be exposed to such sensless hatred must be soul-draining.  I hope she finds the strength to endure, and she would be a good example for all of us to continue the good fight.

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SNAP OUT OF IT!!! Obama and #ObamaTax can be DEFEATED!

Dear Readers: Today, it’s MUT’s movie round-up.  Like Legal Insurrections’s Professor Jacobson, I find it difficult to interpret the SCOTUS decision as anything other than a battle loss.  From the class movie, “The Lion in Winter“:  I’ve suffered more defeats than you have teeth. I know one when it happens to me.   However, for those of you who simply want to focus on rigged polls and embrace desolation and depression, I have this line from “Moonstruck” for you:

The WAR can still be won!

ObamaTAX (the independent-conservative rechristened Obamacare) will not be implemented until 2014, and Romney says its repeal will be his first act upon becoming President.  Therefore, the day after his signature is dry on that executive order, this DEMOCRAT will be working for Romney’s re-election.  Romney has raised more than $4 million (as of this writing) since the senseless SCOTUS decision came down.  Happily, most of my fellow citizen activists do not seem to be inclined to roll over for this classless President — whose first act was to tweet:  BFD.

So, my response is this:  YOU CAN KISS MY ROYAL ROMANIAN ASS.

Shrine Friend Lorraine Yapps Cohen published a list of the 10 Reasons Obama is going to be crushed like the “Terminator” on Nov. 6th.  I think it is a great place to start to regain some enthusiasm:

Top ten reasons why Obama will lose the 2012 election

#1. In 2008, Americans were charmed by a newcomer who promised hope and change in the midst of growing national discontent….Now we know Barack Obama: who he is and who he isn’t; what he promised vs. what he delivered; what he says he’ll do and what he actually does; what he’s really about, where his values lie, and what he stands for, which is mostly his narcissistic self. Americans now know the real Barack Obama and don’t want any more of him.

#2. In 2008 when Obama took office, unemployment among Americans stood at 6.1%. Unemployment soared to 10% in the first two years of his administration. Today, it stands at 8.2% despite that the reporting is statistically manipulated to pose a prettier picture.

#3. Americans want to be all they can be and free of the social polices that stunt what made America exceptional. Democracy based on the Constitution works. Socialism doesn’t….Obama’s brand of socialism simply doesn’t jive with the American spirit. And constitutionality cast to the wind won’t win him votes.

#4. America is known as the land of opportunity….By his actions, Obama favors equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity. We don’t get opportunity when government instead assigns equality according to race, color, creed, gender, or religion.

#5. We will not re-elect a President who has spent too much on green technologies that don’t work.

#6. Political polarization runs rampant. Americans are tiring of the extremes that divide. Obama promised to unite us. Instead he uses class warfare to divide us. We are not going to vote for more of that.

#7. Our homes have lost their luster as the embodiment of the American Dream. The housing market is dying, if not dead as a doornail in some locations already. Houses have lost 30-50% of their former values. …Where is the Obama-made change in housing that we were promised?

#8. The national debt increased to $15.7 trillion under Obama’s spending spree. This puts our children and their children in financial bondage to government. By not electing Obama, we eliminate more of the same for four more years, putting an end to the horrific prospect of interminable debt.

#9. Obama has no idea how to generate wealth. His scheme for making money is to tax whatever wealth Americans earned for themselves while declaring war on businesses that created wealth in the first place.

#10. And finally, Americans cannot and will not re-establish as President an apologist for our national greatness. ..
President Obama might take national demise down the paths of such righteousness, but he won’t win another election that way.

The entire post offers further details and links, so please check back. Meanwhile, the San Diego Local Order of Bloggers (SLOBs) is a source of great analysis and inspiration:

• W.C. Varones: Insiders got advance word on ObamaCare ruling
• Beers with Demo: ObamaCare SCOTUS ruling round-up (UPDATED) and Video clip of the day (featuring Bill Whittle’s take on ObamaTax – You can MIND MY OWN BUSINESS)
• B-Daddy notes that because Team Obama spiked the football, he’s donated to Team Romney.  B-daddy also offer his own set of 10 reasons why American activists shouldn’t give into despair:

1. The ruling didn’t expand the power of the commerce clause to infinity.
2. Most conservatives had always felt that had the mandate been honestly labeled as a tax, it would have never been challenged.
3. I always thought the mandate’s financial penalty was too weak to force compliance.
4. Because the mandate is a tax, it’s repeal can’t be filibustered in the Senate, where the rules on filibuster do not apply to spending bills.
5. The mandate has no criminal enforcement provision, including asset forfeiture in the portion of the tax code in which it resides.
6. The ruling on the Medicaid portion is likely to be more substantive.
7. The Chief Justice worked to protect the reputation of the court.
8. This is likely to help Romney, who is making the argument that the only way to get rid of Obamacare is to get rid of Obama.
9. The court has ruled officially that Obama has raised taxes on the middle class.
10. Ultimately the public got what it deserves for electing Democrats in such overwhelming numbers, including the 2008 nominee, who lacked the experience to inject any leadership into this miserable bill. We are reminded of why we need a tea party movement to restore government to constitutional limits because we, the people, demand it.

I must disagree with B-Daddy on Point #10 — In 2008, Team Obama perpetrated the most significant fraud on the American Public in history — portraying Obama as a centrist. This meme was helped along by the elite media. Needless to say, the new media has been a dynamic force to set the record strait, which is reason #11 for both the above lists:

Reason #11 Obama will loose (Courtesy of Charles Caesar of Doo Doo Economics):

Original by Charles Caesar of Doo Doo Economics.

(MUT Note: Hey, Reason and Powerline — we SLOBs had this graphic first).  Yes, it is a TAX!

Reason #11 NOT to give into despair: THE NEW MEDIA WILL NEVER REST. Via Pat_Ess on Twitter, Tammy Bruce got the word out that Obamacare has been Transformed into ObamaTAX!#ObamaTax now resides as the hottest new Twitter Hashtag:

And if you want to help the process along, contribute an entry to #ObamaCareInThreeWords

One last thought: Which iconic movie man do you want to be, facing extreme challenges and daunting odds —

The whiner in “Aliens”:

Or John McClane in Die Hard?

This is what I will be saying as I head to the polls Nov. 6th:

Yippee ki yay, Mother Fucker!!!

(Quick — call the civility police — a Tea Party leader just swore at Obama).

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Blue Insanity: Cap&Trade Racist, DNC’s Crazy Survey, CA Budget Madness

Dear Readers:  Scanning the web today, I had an eco-update to my “Environmentalists Gone Wild” post of yesterday.  It seems that California activists are saying CALIFORNIA’S CAP AND TRADE IS RACIST!!!  Cool.

A coalition of environmental justice and civil rights activists has filed a complaint alleging that cap-and-trade provisions in California’s pioneering program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions discriminate against people of color.

Eco-activists vs race-baiters. I have just 2 words:

I wonder if Capt. Capitalism will consider this fight “well-rounded”. BUTT I digress.

Speaking of insanity, DNC-head Debbie Wasserman Schultz sent a survey to us Democrats. The odor of desperation so potent it managed to waft through the computer screen. Here is a sample of the questions asked: I suspect that the DNC will be none too happy with my response.

Also:

• Professor Jacobson seems particularly thrilled about another demographic breaking away from the blue fold.
• Lonely Conservative reports on a poll in which Obama is losing 25% of the black vote. INSANE!

The Democrats in Sacramento are also madly working to manipulate a series of spot-bills that will help making passing tax increases on us minions much easier. From Cal WatchDog: NEW: ‘Big three’ budget talks behind closed doors

Earlier in the year I reported about the 80 spot bills — empty bills awaiting bill language — which were moved from the legislative budget committees to the Assembly and Senate floors.

The now includes Proposition 25, majority vote by the Legislature to pass a budget; and Proposition 26, requiring a supermajority vote to pass fees and taxes by the Legislature. So the majority Democrats are making major policy changes and potential tax increases by dropping either in trailer-bill language.

By using the spot bills, and now budget-trailer bills, the majority party is avoiding the usual and legal committee process, and the public will never hear the policy and financial debate surrounding the bills.

This means legislators are not always given have a chance to weigh in on and debate the bills.

The tactic raises serious questions about the questionable lengths the majority party will go to jam through legislation without the historically and legal processes.

How can such insanity be dealt with? Per Alinksy Rule 5 — some mocking is in order. Fellow SLOBs Beers with Demo and Charles Caesar, and Conservative Mom Friend Zilla, have been leading the way with the newest Twitter-blitzkrieg: #characterstospare, mocking Obama’s lame insult of the Romney campaign.

              I LOVE US!!!

KT Cat has a series on European Insanity — that is, their debt crisis. His pieces on what is going on over across the pond are essential reading, as this is likely to really impact us hard. For example, in a bat-shit crazy-ass move, new French President Hollande just LOWERED the retirement to 60. I guess because German workers are just aces about working to 80 to support them.

Quick — call the civility police — I just used the words ass and shit.

To conclude, a little tune called “Blue Insanity”.

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MUT’s Music Mix: Rasha, “Azara Al Hay” (Girls of the Quarter)

Dear Readers:  In keeping with the SLOBs tradition of music on the weekend, I have gone though my massive world music collection and uncovered Rasha’s “Azara Al Hay” (Girls of the Quarter).

When possible, I like to offer a translation:

The songs sounds a lot more joyful in its original language. B-Daddy has something from the 1970’s — Hold Your Head Up. It’s to celebrate the great week independent conservatives had, as described by Beers with Demo.

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TEA PARTY WINS June 5th: THIS is the first day of November, 2012!

Dear Readers:  It is hard to express the joy I felt when hearing the news that Gov. Scott Walker rocked the recall election, blowing-out his challenger and sending a strong message about how taxpaying Americans feel about union thuggery.    At times, the written word just doesn’t suffice.  So, here’s an image that represents how I felt  last night:

I was delighted to see that Carl DeMaio will be in contention for Mayor this November, opposing the odious Bob Filner.   Fiscal sanity made a big return in the Golden State, as pension reform won not only in San Diego but it much bluer San Jose as well.  It seems our politically connected union-leader-lead-opponents, as in Wisconsin, are going to use the courts to challenge the voter-passed reform measures.   Current San Diego Mayor, Jerry Sanders, predicts that DeMaio will get the Walker-recall-treatment if he wins in November.

In fact, Californians are so unmoved by calls for tax hikes, they rejected the usually easy-to-pass “sin tax” on cigarettes to fund another behemoth bureaucracy.  It seems the vote was quite close, and the advocates are not conceding defeat.  I would like to think the California Tea Party Ballot recommendations put out by the San-Diego Local Order of Bloggers (SLOBs) were helpful in ensuring this tax-hike got spiked.  I can’t but think that the tax increases Brown intents to thrust on the ballot in November will get a similar treatment.  Interestingly, a pay panel is slashing the Governor’s salary, along with state lawmakers, by 5% starting this December.

Here are some related  thoughts from my fellow SLOBs:

• W.C. Varones: OMG it’s a f’n blowout! This is a Waterloo of epic proportions for the unions.  As a great TelePrompTer reader once said, “This was the moment when the rise of the [unions] began to slow, and our [country] began to heal.”
• Beers with Demo: Walker appeared to have outperformed many of the polling projections we saw. Could he have possibly been the beneficiary of a reverse Bradley effect?
• B-Daddy: DeMaio vs Filner in the Fall with an appropriate beer reference.

Also, Charles Caesar has a nice round-up of other California June 5th election highlights:

In San Diego, during a conversation with a young establishment Republican, we commented, “we are tea partiers here to make sure the good guys win.” The look of alarm was on his face was disarmed by my friendly smile.

The election results were terrific with one major exception. First, the good news:

1. Carl DeMaio, a San Diego mayoral Republican candidate and fiscal reformer won, but will be in a clearly defined run off against establishment Democrat Bob Filner.
2. State Proposition 29. Increased cigarette taxes failed with 51% voting against.
3. San Diego Proposition A. Bars the city from requiring Project Labor Agreements on municipal construction contracts passed decisively (58%)
4. San Diego Proposition B. Reformation of  San Diego City Employee Retirement Benefits passed overwhelmingly (66%).
5. El Cajon Proposition D. Proposed Charter City passed (57%). Grants the city of El Cajon increased flexibility in it’s budget.

The bad: State Proposition 28. The deceptively worded expansion of term limits was passed.

Getting back to the video highlights:

• If you love SCHADENFREUDE, check out Legal Insurrection’s MSNBC video.  I love watching Rachel Maddow eat crow for dinner instead of chocolate.
• For even more SCHADENFREUDE joy, check out Left Coast Rebel’s coverage of not just one, but two, lefty meltdowns.

And, if all of this awesomely awesome news weren’t enough, there seems to have been a major defection in the Democratic Party: BILL CLINTON HAS GONE ROGUE.  Hillary is 44 has the absolute best analysis on this subject:

Bill Clinton’s candidates badly beat up Obama’s candidates last night in the primaries. Bill Clinton in the past week declared he “liked” Donald Trump (you know the guy who beats up on Obama and regularly calls Obama a Kenyan), trumpeted Mitt Romney’s “sterling” business record, demanded the election discourse be a Bain-free zone, and put down a marker for Obama to state specifically what he has done and what he will do if reelected.

Bill Clinton is no dope and Bill Clinton has been running campaigns since the George McGovern days. Bill Clinton knows more than anyone about campaign messaging and Bill Clinton knows that what he has done is take an ax to the Obama campaign message.

Finally, no celebration is complete without the HITLER PARODY VIDEO.  Word Warrior has the Youtube, with a fabulous take on last night’s events:   Civil Servants are supposed to serve the public; not lord it over them. But over time, the roles have become reversed; with the public seen by Unions and their hand-picked politicians as a cash-cow to be milked to dry.  Well, in most states the cow is running dry!

Yes, the Tea Party scored major victories yesterday — even in this sapphire blue state.  Truly, this is the first day of November 2012.

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Shrine Shout-Out: Thanks, Captain Capitalism and Lonely Conservative!!!

Dear Readers:  I wanted to take a moment to feature 2 of my favorite blog-sites, and to personally thank them for their support of the Shrine of Flaming Capitalism.  I can only adore Captain Capitalism (Rantings and tirades of a frustrated economist.), given his moniker.   I wanted to express my gratitude in his featuring my Queen Tausert-Egyptology post in a recent round-up.  It was nice seeing that piece, which I put some blood, sweat, and tears into, get a little attention!

Thanks so much Captain!!!

I think his post today is an example of his amazing awesomeness: Updating the Factors of Production. He adds a fifth factor to the following 4 factors of products: 1) Land; 2) Labor; 3) Capital; 4) Entrepreneurs

However, I would like to tender a fifth.

I’m doing this not to make things more complicated or to somehow be enshrined in the Economics Hall of Fame, but because our economy today practically proves there is a fifth and final factor of production that is required to produce, but is not accounted for in the current list. That fifth component is:

A future.

Some would call it “political” or “economic certainty.” I’m calling it a future simply because if there is no hope an economy will be stable, MORE SO that you will be able to keep the majority of your gains….

Captain Capitalism will be on the blogroll under both “Capitalist Hero” and “Admired Patron”, because I can’t decide between the two. And his support and all the interested readers will inspire a few more Egyptology posts on a regular basis!  THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! 🙂

I also wanted to thank the Lonely Conservative, a New York working mom who was the winner of the Circle of Mom’s Political Moms contest. She and I have been corresponding, and I think I made her feel sorrier for my blue state status. This occurred when we were discussing New Your Senator Chuck Schumer’s proposed “exit tax”. I informed her that in 2009, the braniacs in Sacramento proposed an exit tax for those fleeing the Golden State.

She has the following take on the Catholic groups suing the Obama Administration over the Contraception Mandate.

Dozens of Catholic organizations are suing the Obama administration over the mandate to provide employees coverage for birth control, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. The administration had to see this coming, but they didn’t care. Now these schools, charities, dioceses and health care providers will spend a great deal of money bringing these suits, while the taxpayers will foot the bill for defending them. It was all so avoidable.

Speaking of California, here are some gems that we should know:

Legislature attacks California property rights

A bill was passed by the Assembly [AB 2299] Thursday which would allow a newly created, protected class of individuals to legally hide ownership of property by claiming a public safety classification.

By hiding their ownership information, these individuals would be able to conduct business outside of the scrutiny of the public, undoubtedly resulting in different classes of property owners, as well as the demise of California’s constructive notice property rights system…..

And AB 2299 would make it impossible for a member of the public to verify ownership of their own home. Under AB 2299, only the government could verify real property ownership.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association is opposed to AB 2299 and expressed concerns at a recent hearing about how a confidentiality program might be used to perpetrate fraud: “AB 2299 would bar journalists and the public from investigating the situation unfolding in Los Angeles where the assessor is accused of collecting campaign contributions from property owners in exchange for lowered property assessments. The bill would completely insulate and protect any public safety official who might be involved in this type of scheme and would eradicate any public scrutiny, oversight or accountability.”

Assembly hearings expose Brown budget gaps
Like a woman with a shopping addiction, California politicians are going to bankrupt the Golden State. California has a $16 billion deficit, a $4.6 billion budget spending increase since January, a credit rating which will probably be lowered and a big fat $10 billion debt owed to the K-14 public schools.

It doesn’t look good. Someone needs to cut up the state’s credit cards and put the Legislature on a Weight Watchers plan for big spenders.

UPDATE:  A Shrine friend notes:  Leslie, the debt is now 18 billion.  There was an accounting error just realized late last week per Senator Dutton’s office.

And Chris Reed gets us ready for the response to the above story: ‘Terrorists’ who oppose tax hikes: Prepare for the onslaught

Will Jerry Brown get lots of blame for his $4-billion-in-extra-revenue fantasy that he concocted last June? It’s made a dire situation much worse.

Will anyone in the media point out that contracts with gov unions that Jerry approved this fiscal year not only continue providing “step” increases for time on the job — in other words, just for showing up — but overall pay hikes?

Will anyone in the media point out that the people with power in this state have blocked all fundamental reforms — except the one (prisoner “realignment”) that allowed them to shift costs to local governments?

No, no and no.

Instead, we’ll see the usual one-two punch to explain all that is wrong with California.

1. Those damn Republicans who oppose tax hikes are to blame.
…
2. Prop. 13 is to blame. It ruined the state.

BIG MUT NOTE: YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE FOLLOWING THE ARKANSAS PRIMARY, IN WHICH A CHALLENGER IS REALLY CHALLENGING OBAMA.

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SLOB Stories:

• W.C. Varones: Checking the facts the MSM won’t: this weekend’s outrageous Obama and Pelosi lies  W.C. details a false narrative about JP Morgan and the debt ceiling (if you liked the first debt ceiling debacle, you will LOVE the second).
• Beers with Demos: Oddly enough, we don’t think he’ll take his own advice  Money Quote – Edenhofer let the environmental cat out of the bag when he said “climate policy is redistributing the world’s wealth” and that “it’s a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization.”
• Shane Atwell: If You’re not on Twitter, You Should Be
• Related to the above SLOB link, Charles Caesar summarizes the Failed Obama Hashtag List.
• KT Cat: It’s Time For Germany To Leave The EU  Only if they like their money being worth something.
• Word Warrior: Romney Hits Back – Apparently, I’m not the only one growing wearing of Obama’s attacks on capitalism and private equity capital. Now even Democrats are speaking out…And some have even been leading the way!!!!

One last note:  I have been reading Edward Klein’s amazing book on the realities of the Obama Administration.  The most concerning thing I heard was how much a serious policy player Michelle Obama is — and you can click HERE to see a number of reasons for that worry.  Tammy Bruce has details and a public podcast that is essential listening.   Go check out Tammy Bruce (click HERE).

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Tea Party WINS: Locally, State-wide, Nationally, and INTERNATIONALLY!

Dear Readers: My last post featured mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio, who initiated a sensible and well-developed SAN DIEGO PENSION REFORM Ballot measure in an attempt to stave off fiscal disaster for the city.

Therefore, I was delighted to hear LaDona Harvey report that, despite a union-backed attempted to remove the measure from the June election, a judge has ruled that the properly filed petition to place the roadmap in front of the voters can go forward. Details can be found here: Judge: Pension Reform Initiative Will Stay On June Ballot.

I don’t expect the union elites to just let this go, however: They will cheat, manipulate, and prevaricate to protect their power and perks.

Speaking of unions, let’s now feature a win for parents against the enormous behemoth that is the education bureaucracy! Mark Meckler reports on a new law:

Parent Trigger Laws Force Education Reform on Underperforming Schools

This is from the website, ParentRevolution.org: “What is the California Parent Trigger?

The California Parent Trigger is an historic new law that gives parents in California the right to organize and demand a real change at their child’s failing school. Under the Parent Trigger, parents at persistently low-performing schools can organize and transform their school based on what’s good for children, not adults. If they are able to gather 51% of parent signature at their school their district must implement one of four turnaround models (including in-district reforms such as staff changes and out-of-district reforms such as charter conversion).”

In other news, I am delighted to see some serious citizen-pushback against eco-activists. For example, KFMB-CBS-8 News tried to generate some faux outrage against the California Fish and Game President, who legally bagged himself a fairly sizable cougar. I was delighted to see so many comments supportive of the hunter’s legal right to hunt. I will also point out that mountain lions are becoming habituated to humans, and some of these powerful animals are stalking us as prey. Frankly, I like being at the pinnacle of the food-chain, and I am not inclined to let eco-activists persuade me otherwise. For a reminder that this threat is real, here are some news clips:

Mountain lion reported near schools
SAN DIEGO – Two schools and a Boys and Girls Club were locked down Monday after a mountain lion sighting was called into authorities, deputies said. The mountain lion was seen on Winecreek Road in 4S Ranch just before 1 p.m. causing Oak Valley Middle School and Stone Ranch Elementary School to keep students inside, according to the San Diego Sheriffs Department.

Big Bend mountain lion attacks boy, 6

A 6-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion while walking near the lodge at Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park with his family Sunday night. The boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries — scrapes and puncture wounds to his face, according to park officials. His father was able to fight off the cat by stabbing it with a pocket knife.

I am second to no-one (well, perhaps KT) in my love of felines. But I personally want cougar hunts re-established in California. We need these animals to relearn their fear of us. They aren’t pets: They are high-end predators.I do not want any child sacrificed on the altar of eco-activism.

I am also bone-tired of reasonable fuel-policy being scuttled based on the theology of man-made global warming. It seems that the citizens of California got a break, as the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives authorized the Secretary of Interior to resume oil and gas leasing off the Santa Barbara/Ventura and Santa Maria coasts beginning no later than July 1, 2014. Hopefully, with a new Senate and new President in elected this November, this may actually reopening would re-employ Californians.

In related news, Shrine friend Roger Cohen is, again, featured in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece: Concerned Scientists Reply on Global Warming

In summary, science progresses by testing predictions against real world data obtained from direct observations and rigorous experiments. The stakes in the global-warming debate are much too high to ignore this observational evidence and declare the science settled. Though there are many more scientists who are extremely well qualified and have reached the same conclusions we have, we stress again that science is not a democratic exercise and our conclusions must be based on observational evidence.

The computer-model predictions of alarming global warming have seriously exaggerated the warming by CO2 and have underestimated other causes. Since CO2 is not a pollutant but a substantial benefit to agriculture, and since its warming potential has been greatly exaggerated, it is time for the world to rethink its frenzied pursuit of decarbonization at any cost.

This publication is especially timely, especially in light of recently uncovered Man-Made Global Warming Fraud. Blog-father Instapundit summarizes the latest installment of scientific quackery related to this — Global Warming Fanatic Blames Victims for His Abuse (Click Here for Glenn’s list of related links).

Finally, there are reports of a Worldwide Tea Party being planned (rumor has it April 14th). Caesar Charles has a report and a video featuring citizen activists working for fiscal sanity, smaller government, and personal liberty around the world.

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SLOB highlights!

• WC Varones: Devaluation is like the weather
• Left Coast Rebel: Rick Santorum Unveiled
• Beers with Demo:  Your Tax Dollars at Work
• B-Daddy:  Concerns over China

Two last notes:

1) I am sick of being viewed as a mobile pleasure vehicle by both of our national parties. I AM TOTALLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT NOT HAVING ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES for a wide variety of reasons. See my list of concerns ABOVE! Lipstick Underground hits it out of the park with this piece: Quit Making Me Root for Romney.As the Final Four are gearing up for yet another debate, let’s hope they have balls enough to return the dialog to where it belongs: TRUE CRONY CAPITALISM and CORRUPTION, JOBS, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND SENSIBLE BUDGET POLICY.

I will be ranting more about this shortly.

2) After venting, I now direct you to Word Warrior for a little humor: NEW TERMS FOR AMERICAN WORKPLACE. A sample —

BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Dear Readers: I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day! The Young Prince gave me a couple of pieces of chocolate from his collection, and Horemheb sent a card from the Great Northern Outpost of Santa Barbara. I hope that Hathor, the Egyptian Goddess of Love and Beauty, smiled on you today as well.

Hat-tip: orderwhitemoon.org

A bit of a news update: Today, we welcome a new blogger into the San-Diego Local Order of Bloggers: Word Warrior.It is by Barry J., who co-posted with me about “Real Men“. His first piece on the blog (A Tale of Two Revolutions) is a great sampling of the amalgam of history, current events, and insight that makes Word Warrior a great addition to our band of agitators.

Barry also has a military history site: The Deadliest Blogger. Both sites will be going onto the blogroll.

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