So which one?

Which Republican presidential nominee?

Having just spent an hour or so watching the New Hampshire GOP Republican debate, having gleaned various tidbits over the internet since a while back, I can honestly say I don’t know.

Yet.

In comments at that link, Ron Paul’s supporters come across as a tad too fervent, as does Paul himself. He just comes across as a bit whiney. Quick to complain about a problem but a bit wishy washy with any solutions.

Romney arguably won, but he comes off as Obama-lite+religion. He’s big government but I will say he’s tending to own his opponents. He does look presidential and has the establishment’s backing… not necessarily a good thing when up against Obama who REALLY has the Establishment’s backing and REALLY (at least) talks presidential (except here where he sounds about as formidable as Julia Gillard).

Townhall meeting coming to a venue near you

OK, so PM Gillard reckons The Debate We Never Had™ is over, but that doesn’t mean – oh no siree – that folks aren’t standing up to have their say.

A townhall meeting in Brisbane:

Mr Hockey said merchants at a Brisbane market this morning told him they would not be able to pass on the cost of an estimated 10 per cent rise in electricity without sacking staff.

“Time and time again, as we went past every store, all the workers were coming out and saying ‘you have to stop this tax’,” he said.

Read on.

Agreed, Jill Singer: the nonsense has to stop

Jill Singer supports a carbon (dioxide!) tax. Unfortunately, she shows a complete ignorance of the real science behind the politics.

THE “debate” over a carbon tax in Australia has become high farce.

Indeed it has. The Left seem to think that taxing the bejesus out of a trace gas will somehow save a planet that doesn’t need saving. Jill and her ilk fail to realise CO2 is only a minor greenhouse gas at that. It makes up only 0.04% of our atmosphere. Most of it is natural. The sceptical side has man-made CO2 at 3% or about 0.001% of our atmosphere. The alarmist side puts man-made CO2 at ten times higher. But so what? That means man-made CO2 would occupy 0.01% of our atmosphere.

There’s no way Man’s small contribution to a minor greenhouse trace gas – yet an essential gas, most of it naturally occurring – can be the main driver of climate. That hypothesis is, to use Jill’s words, a “high farce”.

Read more of this post

Downer calls for Taliban negotiations

At first glance, this is a particularly unpalatable notion, but perhaps the Realpolitik of the situation warrants such a change of strategy.

THE initial objective of the invasion of Afghanistan has been achieved and it’s time for a diplomatic settlement involving the Taliban and their Pakistani creators, says former foreign minister Alexander Downer.

In an article entitled “Our messy war” published in The Spectator ahead of the parliamentary debate on Afghanistan, Mr Downer said the initial military goal was to destroy al-Qaeda’s capacity to use Afghanistan as a base for attacks on the US and other western targets.

“That goal was achieved. Al-Qaeda was destroyed in Afghanistan. As time has passed there has been mission creep,” he said.

Mr Downer said the task now was apparently to improve the quality of democracy and security, but that was proving perilously difficult as Afghanistan had never been competently governed by an administration based in Kabul.

However, on the one hand we see reports of a decimated Taliban having endured a near decade-long “arse-kicking”. Their best commanders are either dead or captured and what’s left is literally a rag tag army.

Thus, why negotiate now? Rather, seizing the jugular (g’day, reader Carpe Jugulum ;-)!) would appear to be the more effective option in the long-run.

But then there are the reports of a wishy-washy US president who even after an Iraqi-style troop surge- which has arguably been a success, just like in Iraq – still appears to not really know what to do.

American Spectator’s Alfred S. Regnery:

Afghanistan is often called the “graveyard of empires.” It is also Barack Obama’s Achilles’ heel. He has nobody to blame but himself.

Afghanistan has little strategic value and the war is one of choice rather than necessity. Now, at the end of a wasteful and frustrating decade, our objective is to end the fighting and leave a measure of stability behind. But clarifying even this simple goal seems more than the Obama administration can handle.

That’s probably why Downer is calling for a deal. Regnery’s piece goes on to remind us that Afghanistan, hardly a nation, is but really a collection of tribes, rooted in the middle ages, and certainly not a prime candidate for nation-building.

Still, something doesn’t sit right. Even with Al-Qaeda taken care of over there, what’s to say they wouldn’t re-emerge – and quickly? A deal and/or pull-out would likely inspire Islamic terrorist forces around the globe. And just how much could you expect a “legitimised” Taliban to keep up their end of any bargain?

The Australian parliament is set to debate the Afghanistan War this Tuesday. Yet with the major government power-broker, Greens’ leader Bob Brown, not even having been there, it seems folly to have this debate just now even if both, generally speaking, the ALP and Liberals are committed to the war.

You’d think the best course of action would be to head the advice of the generals on the ground. Bob Brown flies in the face of this, however.

“We have to take what our army commanders are saying into account here but then I have letters from relatives of troops who are in Afghanistan or going to Afghanistan who do not want their loved ones sent to what they see as a hopeless war,” he told ABC Television.

A US debate over what step to take next is scheduled for December.

Faced with a White House war review due in December and decreasing public support for the war back home, the U.S. military is not in a position to hold back. The current phase of operations is geared to make a statement: drive the fight as aggressively as possible and rout the Taliban in their own backyard. Looking forward, commanders posit that improved civilian freedom of movement and a stronger government presence will be reliable gauges of progress. But it remains to be seen just what metrics will be enough to convince the Obama Administration that serious money and manpower should be poured into a conflict now entering its 10th year.

Whatever the powers-that-be decide, now is a good time for Western forces to strike hard while the iron is hot. One reason is purely military in nature: the Taliban is at its knees. The other reason is purely political in nature: Obama and other Western politicians appear to be at their knees.

A deal with the Taliban?

Picture source: Taliban feud over murder of Polish hostage


cross-posted

I Want Your Money

It’s a new film coming out that takes a look at recent US government spending.

H/T RWB

cross-posted

Lobely Lefties

I posted this at my own personal site yesterday, but since no one else is posting here, I thought it’d be worth a run.

Hyar she blows…

This was first brought to general attention yesterday. It’s about halfway down the page. LOBES!!! After further research, it is clear there definitely IS something between Leftards and their ears. It is clear that there IS more to it than the well-known Lefty head tilt. Photo analysis proves this to be true. That’s NSW Green Party would-be senator Lee Rhiannon. Her parents were commies. However, Reds under the beds with lobes like robes is not by any means a one-off phenomenon. More photographic evidence under the fold.

The Desperate Left

A bunch of Lefties at the California State University have sifted through Sarah Palin’s trash to find out the details of her speaking engagements contract, handed it to a local Democrat pollie, who dutifully handed it to their propaganda department the media. And now Democrat California Attorney General, Jerry Brown is investigating.

Gee, nothing desperate going on there.

And as for Palin’s speeches, shock horror, she makes some decent coin from them – and with a few perks thrown in. We’re talking $100,000 bucks a speech.

OMG, it’s “embarrassing” writes Tim Reid at The Times and reprinted in The Australian.

Yes, it is. Even I’m embarrassed that the Left is getting so desperate nowadays. Noteable also is that the Australian places Reid’s article in the “news” section.

Bollocks his article is “news”.

SARAH Palin faced embarrassing revelations yesterday about lavish demands that she makes before speaking engagements, including first-class air travel or large private jets, suites in hotels and even bendable straws in her water bottles.

…

The latest revelation will do little to damage her reputation among the party’s grassroots activists, who view her as a straight-talking hero, but it undercuts her claim to be a down-to-earth “hockey mom” who is fighting for ordinary working Americans.

Sounds more like Leftist opinion to me, and a media beat-up, Chris Mitchell.

Anyway, let’s just have a look at who earns the big bucks for speaking engagements. There’s Al Gore who gets over $250,000 to peddle speculation. Australia’s Tim Flannery get’s $50,000 to do the same.

And here’s a tidy list from the website whose company drew up Palin’s contract.

The following receive upwards of $40,000 per engagement. Is Palin’s deal out of the ordinary?

Yes, some TEA Party members are black

So who are the real racists?

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – They’ve been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s first black president.

“I’ve been told I hate myself. I’ve been called an Uncle Tom. I’ve been told I’m a spook at the door,” said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

“Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks,” he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they’re black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

Not taking any bets though that the Left will stop their lies and slander.

What’s good to see however, is that there’s a good chance more black Americans could run for office on the GOP ticket. And they won’t be pulling any racial crap, either, because any decent Right-winger worth his salt goes on policies, not any kind of childish racism nonsense.

And let’s face it it, how could Obama have possibly been a post-racial president when 96% of blacks voted for him?

*cross-posted at bing’s cubby house

Obama Chooses to be Overshadowed by Apple Tablet Computer

OK, see if you can discern the logic here. This morning, Apple sent out invitations for an unveiling event of a new product on January 27th, which is almost certainly going to be the long rumored tablet; the most anticipated Apple product since the iPhone. More anticipated than the iPhone, in fact.

Then, this afternoon, President Obama announces that he’s going to give his State of the Union Address, also on January 27th.

Now, the Apple event is scheduled for 10AM California time, which is 1PM Washington D.C. time, while Obama’s SotU speech will be at 9PM Washington time – eight hours after the Apple event begins.

Now, I had to ask myself, “Self, why would Obama announce, on the same day Apple announced, an event eight hours later, on the same date, January 27th?” Could he and his handlers be so stupid as to not know that the intertubes will be cooking with Apple Tablet talk when Obama and his Teleprompter take the stage?

mmmmmmmmNo. Probably not.

Then I had to ask myself, “Self, why does Obama want his SotU speech to be buried beneath an avalanche of Apple buzz?”

Could it be that, Obama’s Approval Index sucks, and he wants his SotU event to be off the radar?

Could it also be that, Scott Brown’s polling rocks, and he seems poised to pull the upset of the century by pulling, “Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat” out from under the DNC-anointed Martha Coakley, and that would be a slap-in-the-face referendum on the Obama administration?

mmmmmmYeah, that’s what I suspect.

Unbelievable.

US Citizen? Sign the petition against cap n’ trade

If you’re a man-made global warming sceptic, or if you think the science perhaps isn’t settled, or if you are worried about a potential communist world government, or if you are worried about giant non-sovereign world taxes being imposed on all of us, or if you think the governments of this world already have too much power, or even if you’re not convinced yet either way, and don’t want a road paved that there’s no turning back on in just two short weeks, then sign this petition.

SIGN HERE

People literally right now are speaking at Copenhagen presenting the other side to this man-made CO2-driven man-made climate change/global warming argument. They will also be speaking tomorrow. Time is of the essence.

UPDATE

This post differs from the original. It came from watching the latest Monckton videos (the end of Part 4 of which part 1 was posted by 1.6 below), about a GLOBAL problem – but unfortunately only US citizens can sign that petition. Hence, first update removed, replaced with this.

OMG! A Pollie who reads the bills!

I have no idea who John Sullivan is, but my goodness I’d like to vote the guy a raise.

Sure he’s no charismatic demagogue like Barry O, but you don’t want one of those pretending to look out for the country.

One congressman being prepared to actually come out and read the so-called healthcare bill is a small step, but it’s vital.

Now all we need to to is support him and encourage others in congress to do the same.

I honestly have NFI why a person would vote on legislation they’ve not read. It’s basically lying to your constituents, and any adverse consequences should fall squarely on your shoulders for having been a part of such a total disgrace.

His website’s here.

via GoV

Conserving Conservatives

Shhh! Gallup Reports That Conservatives Outnumber Libs in All 50 States; Media Plays Dumb

Thanks to some guy called TGordon… and by default, Mr Andrew Bolt.

Not Evil Just Wrong

Only five days to go. Pay up. Type QUADRANT into the coupon box to get a 10% discount.

Bob Carter:

In contrast to this small (and still hypothetical) risk of damage from human-caused climate change, there exists a certainty that gross socio-economic damage is already resulting from global warming activism, and is set to get worse.

Merv Bendle:

The accelerating moral panic about alleged global warming and its projected catastrophic effects is a fundamentally religious phenomenon. Despite its pretensions, it is not primarily about science. Rather, it represents the emergence of a new religious movement (an NRM, or what used to be called a ‘cult’). This new form of eco-fundamentalism is characterized by a widely excessive faith in science, a hatred and despair at Humanity, an intolerance of opposition or even skepticism, and a near hysterical form of secular Apocalypticism.

The director, Phelim McAleer:

Spain believed the hype about environmental regulation creating “green jobs” and boosting the economy. Now 18 percent of Spaniards have no jobs. Our own country – Ireland – has the Green Party in government who are pushing for a “carbon tax”. This will increase the price of every good and service on an island that is enduring 13 per cent unemployment. The increased costs will drive out jobs during one of the worst recessions in living memory.

A similar fate awaits Australia if it follows Europe’s lead. Eighty percent of Australia’s energy comes from coal, and the country exported $45 billion worth of it last year. Tens of thousands of jobs in the energy sector are at stake if Parliament adopts ETS to cap carbon dioxide.

Oh, and just in case.

UPDATE

David Flint:

In any event …i t is becoming increasingly evident that support for the fundamentalist global warming agenda is soft. Indeed the BBC now concedes there has not been any evidence of global warming since 1998, notwithstanding the increasing amount of carbon emissions. That’s why the fundamentalists are trying to change the name of their secular religion to climate change.

Once the electorate understands the massive impact on their lives of an ETS, and the fact that it won’t affect global carbon emissions [nor global warming, nor climate change – bing], they will obviously reject it. In 1998, the promise of the GST almost brought down the government. This was a far more benign, almost harmless substitute for other taxes including those ones curiously found invalid by the High Court.

Look Who’s Running For Congress.

In Chicago, no less!

Those who know me well know that I’m a supporter of the military, and also somewhat conservative.

Blackfive has entered the fray, so for our American readers, go check it out.

Even if you can’t run, you can still donate to his campaign.

Even Jon Stewart knows ACORN, MSM stuffed

This ACORN debarcle isn’t a Left vs Right issue, no matter how much the MSM want to defend ACORN and/or try to ignore the biggest scoop/scandal of the year (that they didn’t break!), claiming it’s a Conservative witch hunt.

Even Jon Stewart knows this is BS and sure dishes it up to 60 minutes et. al.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about "Even Jon Stewart knows ACORN, MSM stu…", posted with vodpod

H/T to HotAir.

Picture of the year

With huge thanks to powerlineblog. Please let the pic stay up, guys.

PS Just in case.

South Africa; world cup

Flicked on CNN. Generally positive “analysis” about the Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa next year. The question of security came up, namely safety for the fans. No worries, should all be fine. Measures have been taken.

Well, considering South Africa, since Mandela’s (de Clerk’s) thingamagigamy, lauded by the powers that be as a great positive step, has a comparable murder rate to, say, Iraq, can we be so sure?

Surely we can. But wouldn’t that take the MSM to admit Iraq is a success, just as they laud South Africa’s?

It’s quaint. Mandela was a a former terrorist, and is now the darling of the Western media. Bush was a Yale and Harvard graduate, was heavily involved in baseball and energy production, yet is a pariah of the Western media.

Dead or Alive?

… You’re coming with RoboKev.

Not just a robot.

Meanwhile…

Please explained.

RoboKev explained.

Steyn ponders liberty in the technological era

For those of you who don’t read Tim Blair, here’s Mark Steyn on the radio.

LINK

Get back

So argues Victor Davis Hanson.

The real cause of unhappiness with the Republicans was simply that they could not make a convincing case for conservatism to a changing electorate because so many of them were not acting as conservatives.

And just because I can. Liberals don’t own that song.

Baghdad flower show

What was that about Operation Iraqi Freedom being a failure, doomed from the start, a mistake?

IRAQ is holding its first-ever flower festival…

The Left has to face it. They were dead wrong.

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour! (Al Gore UPDATE!)

To correspond with, “Earth Hour” The Competitive Enterprise Institute has organized Human Achievement Hour. So, when the leftards are turning off all their lights – an hour from now – I’m going to boot up all four computers in the house, connect them all to my AirPort Extreme Base Station, have one monitoring my eMail, one downloading pr0n, one streaming audio, and I’ll surf on the remaining one (The PowerMac G5 2.3 GHz Dual Core/23″ Cinema HD Display model that draws about 250-300 watts of electricity), while watching TV in a window to the right.

Simultaneously, I’m going to turn on every light in the house, turn the thermostat up to 78 degrees, and open every door to the outside so I’m heating the entire neighborhood. Then, I’ll fire up the gas grill in the back yard and grill a couple of steaks.

I HOPE I’m setting a good example for CHANGE.

UPDATE: Evidentally, Al Gore, that champion of Teh Earth, followed my lead and left his tree-illuminating flood lights on during Teh Earth Hour.

“The kicker, though, were the dozen or so floodlights grandly highlighting several trees and illuminating the driveway entrance of Gore’s mansion.

I [kid] [shit – Beef] you not, my friends, the savior of the environment couldn’t be bothered to turn off the gaudy lights that show off his goofy trees.”

I’m only shamed by the fact that Al used more electricity and emitted more carbon than I did during Teh Earth Hour.

Lataan uses evidence

Na. Only joking. But here’s the latest one.

By the use of extensive censorship these blogs attract a large audience of fellow travellers ranging from the reasonably articulate moderately right-wing who occasionally will dispute the editor’s view, through to the most outrageously racist and Islamophobic warmongers and all-round right-wing extremists there are in Australia…

These blogs? Evil Murdoch. Kinda sounds like ‘murder’. Must be evil.

But folks, before you enjoy this confused soul’s new blog, why not acquaint oneself with his old one?

Seriously, though, this is a man with a very warped sense of right and wrong, true and false.

Evidence, Lataan. Even Jeremy advocates that in his day job.

And the same goes for Aussie conservatives and libertarians, too

Writes Stephen Green in his pajamas…

A few years back, television writer/producer/director/visionary Joss Whedon made a little libertarian-themed science fiction movie called Serenity. In it, our ragtag band of heroes make their way around the ‘verse by trading freely when they can and by stealing from the corrupt, oppressive central government when they must. Before launching a minor raid on a government stash of ill-gotten gold, Jayne, the hired muscle (played with an endearingly ignorant malice by Adam Baldwin), cocks his shotgun menacingly — is there any other way? — and suggests, “Let’s be bad guys.”

Yes. Exactly. Let’s.

And he’s got some bloody good reasons as to why.

Happy Birthday to Sarah Palin (via The Black Sphere)

.

A Birthday Tribute to Governor Sarah Palin.

By honorary-Australian-any-old-time-he-finally-manages-to-get-his-butt-down-here Kevin Jackson of The Black Sphere.

Couldn’t have said it any better myself, so I’m not even gonna try.  I may not be real smart, but I’m smart enough to know when I’m beat. 😉

Seriously.  READ IT.

And while you’re there, have a browse through the site & the left sidebar.  Lots of good stuff there, about Kevin and what he’s about, about others on his team & how to support them.  Heaps good links ‘n’ stuff, plus Obama photoshops galore.  Plus the Black Sphere Radio Show links (which I’m not smart enough to embed directly – failed the “fetch” unit an’ all).

Bonus! There’s a Perth connection (there’s always a Perth connection, watch any Perth news broadcast, ask any0ne sheltering a piece of Skylab in their back shed, ask John Glenn!) , as one of Kev’s team members Dave (now in Texas)  lived in Mt Pleasant (a Perth suburb) in the early 70’s whilst his father, a Geophysicist, worked out in the Great Sandy.

Perth/Western Australia and North Carolina – the two main nexuses (nexii?) of the universe.  Forget that “six degrees of separation” stuff, with WA and NC there’re never more than two or three degrees of separation between any major world event and these two places.  Honest.

Now.  Go away and read.

*(update below the fold)*