GEE, WHO COULDA PREDICTED IT? Sales of Electric Vehicles Collapse in January

Never mind that the United States sits on hundreds or thousands of years of fossil fuel supplies. Never mind that. The federal government wants you to drive electric cars. The problem is, you ain't buyin' em.

EV sales had shown minor signs of life in the last quarter of 2012, only to collapse sharply in January. “Sales of the Chevrolet Volt, the Toyota Prius Plug-In and Nissan Leaf each had deep dropoffs in January from December,” Reuters says.

“Even after accounting for the fact that January is one of the slowest months of the year for auto sales, the dropoff for plug-in electric cars was considerable,” Michelle Krebs of Edmunds told the wire. According to Krebs, consumers are opting instead for less-expensive standard hybrids, rather than plug-in electric cars. OEMS blame other factors, such as limited supply, model year changeovers, or changeovers from Japanese to U.S. production, as it is the case for the Nissan LEAF. GM says January sales were down for the Volt because people bought before the end of the year to gain the 2012 tax credit. Which may have been the power behind the last quarter rise of the still tiny segment...

Ain't central planning grand?

I mean, how many billions of dollars did this administration waste on electric cars and batteries when the technology just isn't ready? When the full history of the Obama green energy program is written (starting with Solyndra, Fisker, A123 Systems, Tesla, etc.), it will make the Teapot Dome Scandal look like a shoplifting incident.

Thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts' outrageous Obamacare decision, though, it would seem the federal government has the legal right to command you to buy electric vehicles. So we got that goin' for us.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

UNBELIEVABLE: Bloomberg secretly distributed abortifacients to teens without telling parents: "population control on blacks and Latinos"

When it comes to Mayor Bloomberg, salt and 16-ounce sodas are out -- but abortifacients are in.

Plan B has become Plan A in the Bloomberg administration’s stealth war on teen pregnancy.

Handouts of the “morning-after pill” to sexually active students have skyrocketed under an unpublicized project in which health centers in public schools offer girls a full menu of free birth-control drugs and devices, records obtained by The Post show.

Last September, the city revealed it had started giving out Plan B and other birth control in the nurses’ offices of 13 high schools. At the time, officials said 567 girls had gotten Plan B... But the birth-control blitz was much bigger than the city had acknowledged. About 40 separate “school-based health centers” doled out 12,721 doses of Plan B in 2011-12, up from 10,720 in 2010-11 and 5,039 in 2009-10, according to the newly released data.

...The revelations stunned Mona Davids, president of the NYC Parents Union, whose 14-year-old attends a Manhattan high school... “I’m in shock,” she said. “What gives the mayor the right to decide, without adequate notice, to give our children drugs that will impact their bodies and their psyches? He has purposely kept the public and parents in the dark with his agenda... “This was population control on blacks and Latinos without our knowledge,” she said.

Plan B, which can block pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sex, is just one weapon in the city Department of Health’s arsenal for its Reproductive Health Project, an internal report reveals... Besides “emergency contraception,” about 40 school-based clinics have dispensed prescriptions for birth-control pills, intrauterine devices (IUDs), hormone-delivering injections and Patch and NuvaRing — covering a total 93,569 monthly cycles through June 2012, the report says.

This pint-sized, would-be dictator must have some deadly serious psychological issues.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

HAHAHAHAHA: White House actually commanded people not to photoshop the Obama gun picture with predictable results

How can people not Photoshop the hilarious image of President Obama "doing skeet-shooting"?

That's what @FlyFidelity asks, posting this classic from FreakingNews.

Oh, and can you believe it? The White House really did command you peons not to Photoshop the image. With predictable results.

Oh, here's a classic from SooperMexican:

Maybe they don't want people Photoshopping a Photoshop?


Update: Sad Hill News:

I assume Bill Ayers was with the president at Camp David.

And this.

Update II: Heh:

Update III: More mockery.

Update IV: The President hunts for supper:

President Obama's Busy Day

Brad emailed us this graphic:

And notes, "Here is a picture from the AP of Obama on Aug 4th - look at the watch."

"Look at the watch he is wearing in the shooting pic... how many people change watches during the day from a golfing watch to a shooting watch?"

Verrry interesting.

THE NEW BUMPER STICKERS ARE HERE, THE NEW BUMPER STICKERS ARE HERE: A Woman's Right to Choose

Claudia at iOwnTheWorld:

Ideas for additional stickers are appreciated.

FOR REAL: White House Releases Photo of President Obama Doing "Skeet-Shooting All the Time"

Oh, my.

WHITE HOUSE RELEASES PHOTO OF OBAMA FIRING GUN

The White House has released a photo of President Barack Obama firing a gun, two days before he heads to Minnesota to discuss gun control.

...In a recent interview with The New Republic magazine, Obama said "yes" when asked if he has ever fired a gun. He said "we do skeet shooting all the time," except for his daughters, at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland...

Thanks to cub reporter Biff Spackle, this august journal had already published photographs proving President Obama's shooting prowess.

If the editors of The New Republic wish to secure reproduction rights, please call the BiffPhone at 997-555-1212.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

HARRY REID TO DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Sorry, Grandma, But the Dog Ate Your Assault Weapons Ban

I'll give the Democrats this much: they rarely engage in internecine warfare. But Harry Reid's debt to the National Rifle Association runs wide and deep.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) took a pass on directly supporting the most talked about Democrat-sponsored anti-gun legislation in Washington. The bill, sponsored by California’s Dianne Feinstein (D, CA), would renew and enlarge a federal ban on assault weapons.

Feinstein’s legislation was introduced to great media fanfare last week, but this week Reid told reporters that he’d bring other legislation to the floor and allow it to undergo what promises to be a lengthy amendment process.
Reid declined to commit to bringing Feinstein’s bill to the floor even though that bill was publicly supported by the Democrat’s second and third ranking senate members.

Senate Leader Reid praised Senator Feinstein for her enthusiasm for her bill but suggested hers wasn’t the only game in town. “We’re going to have votes on all kinds of issues dealing with guns, and I think everyone would be well advised to read the legislation before they determine how they’re going to vote,” he said to reporters.

As part of that process, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D, VT) also announced plans to hold hearings on gun violence.

One would hope this news will begin to stabilize the prices of my favorite toys.

JUST LIKE THE NLRB: Lawless EPA "thumbing its nose" at nation's second highest court #Bastiat

Yesterday the EPA became the second arm of the Obama administration to execute a rhetorical middle-fingered salute to a federal court.

Just days ago the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), responding to a federal Appeals Court that found the president's recess appointments were illegal, said that it would ignore the court's order and continue business as usual.

On Thursday, the EPA replied to another federal Appeals Court decision. The court had just thrown out the agency's mandate to the oil industry that it use non-existent biofuels; the EPA in return metaphorically spit in the court's face.

Days after a federal appeals court said the Obama administration is setting overly optimistic production quotas for the struggling biofuels industry, the government issued new standards Thursday that raise production estimates for 2013.

New standards announced by the Environmental Protection Agency require production of 14 million gallons of so-called cellulosic biofuels made from grasses and woody material. That's up from an 8.7 million-gallon requirement in 2012 -- when actual production was near zero.

An oil industry representative said the Obama administration was thumbing its nose at a ruling last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court threw out the 2012 mandate for cellulosic biofuels, saying it was based on wishful thinking rather than accurate estimates for an industry the Obama administration wants to encourage. Administration officials have said that increased use of biofuels could lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, as well as lower U.S. dependence on foreign fuel.

"The court recognized the absurdity of fining companies for failing to use a nonexistent biofuel," said Bob Greco, director of downstream operations for the American Petroleum Institute, the principal lobbying group for the oil and gas industry... Greco said he was astonished that EPA would nearly double the mandate for biofuel in 2013. "EPA needs a serious reality check," he said, calling the mandate a "stealth tax on gasoline" and an "egregious example of bad public policy."

This administration is engaging in, as Frederic Bastiat termed it, "legal plunder":

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

What are the consequences of such a perversion? It would require volumes to describe them all. Thus we must content ourselves with pointing out the most striking.

In the first place, it erases from everyone's conscience the distinction between justice and injustice. No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree...

...imagine that this fatal principle has been introduced: Under the pretense of organization, regulation, protection, or encouragement, the law takes property from one person and gives it to another.

...how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law — which may be an isolated case — is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protect and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.

Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system.

The entire federal government has, at least by Bastiat's definition, become a monolithic apparatus designed to facilitate legal plunder. From General Motors to Solyndra and the Stimulus to Obamacare, the taxpayers' trillions have been stolen -- "legally" -- and directed to the president's political backers.

It is a recipe for disaster and a societal model that cannot long survive.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

INTERESTING CHART O' THE DAY: Inflation vs. Gold, 1915-2010

In order to pay for excessive government spending, the United States and other countries around the world are busy printing money. This practice, known as "debt monetization", is the precursor for inflation. Sometimes, in fact, the act of paying sovereign debt by printing money can lead to hyperinflation and currency collapse; the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe's recent experience being two noteworthy examples.

I was thinking to myself how a typical investor might be able to profit from a sudden burst of inflation. After all, the printing can only go on so long before a currency becomes a joke. We also know that America's most recent bout of severe inflation took place during the Carter administration.

Knowing that gold and silver are bellwether commodities that tend to march inversely against a devaluing currency, I decided to compare those metals against CPI to determine whether any obvious trends could be discerned.

History tells us that timing a peak is well nigh impossible. Perhaps once gold and silver go parabolic it will be time to sell. And given this administration's march to currency collapse, parabolic it will go.


Hat tips: Wikipedia: Consumer Price Index by Country and MacroTrends.

OH, MY: NBC blacks out Hagel's disastrous confirmation hearing

NBC is America's answer to the Soviet Union's Pravda. It serves as an unofficial public relations arm of the Obama administration. It has been caught -- on numerous occasions (e.g., here, here, and here) -- editing video and audio clips to advance the Statist agenda.

And it routinely censors news. Like today, when President Obama's nominee for SECDEF, Chuck Hagel, beclowned himself in a Senate hearing that was, by turns, embarrassing and horrifying.

And how did NBC handle Hagel's denouement?

When the going got tough -- for instance, when Lindsey Graham eviscerated Hagel's "Jewish Lobby" nonsense -- NBC simply blacked out the disastrous performance.

That didn't stop the hemorrhaging; even the progressive kooks are disgusted with what must be the worst confirmation hearing on record. The only way this dim, prejudiced, and terrorist-appreciating hack should get into the Pentagon is with a ticket for one of their guided public tours.

PATRIOTS: America's Sheriffs Are Standing Tall Against the Left's Full-Throated Attack on the Constitution

Thankful for...

∆ Champaign County Sheriff: The problem isn’t guns or magazines, it’s the mentally ill:

Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh has weighed in on the hysterical call by Democratic Party leaders to ban guns, limit magazine capacities and impose all sorts of other restrictions both in Springfield and in Washington, D.C. ... While he doesn’t come out and say he’s not going to enforce further gun bans, he does cover a number of points that are just common sense around here:

• Right to carry will deter crime.
• America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, isn’t criminally misused around here.
• Magazine capacity isn’t an issue.
• Cops here, including him, support law-abiding citizens’ right to carry and possess firearms of all sorts.
• The real problem for his department is mental health issues.

∆ NY Sheriff’s PBA blasts Cuomo, Legislature over NY SAFE:

...Our objections to the legislation are numerous and begin with the process under which the bill was voted on in the Senate. It is deeply disturbing to our membership, as public servants and Citizens of the state of New York, the manner in which this legislation was brought to the Senate for vote...

...It is our understanding that many Senators had approximately 20 minutes to read the legislation before being forced to vote on it and note that the bill was brought before the Senate and voted on so quickly that its authors failed to make provisions for the exemption of police officers or the National Guard with respect to the new magazine-capacity requirements. Having reviewed the legislation and given the time constraints, it is our conclusion that there is no possible way any normal person could have read the entire bill and understood its implications prior to voting on it. They most certainly could not have requested and received the input of their constituency and considered their opinions in the matter which is the most basic tenet of a representative government. The entire process was one of secrecy and of intentional withholding of information from the public. We condemn this in the harshest terms. Had there been an opportunity for the public to exercise their right to be involved in the legislative process prior to the bill being voted upon, We would have offered a letter of opposition. Instead, we find ourselves in the rather unique position of opposing legislation after it has been passed. Our membership believes we were denied one of the most basic rights of a democracy by this process and we cannot and will not accept this type of behavior from our
elected officials...

...The SCSDPBA reminds the addressees that “assault weapons,” which are banned under the new legislation if they have 1 military­-type feature, were responsible for 5 out of 769 homicides in New York last year or .007% – hardly a public safety crisis for our state... While it may come as a surprise to the authors of the legislation, most semi-automatic pistols do in fact come with a pistol grip, making nearly every semi-automatic pistol an assault weapon and thus subject to registration on a yearly basis...

...In recent days, we have also become aware of published reports describing a large and growing movement within our state of citizens who have apparently announced their intention of non-compliance with the new statutes as they relate to assault weapons and registration. With an estimated 1 million assault rifles in existence throughout New York, it is beyond comprehension that the legislature and the Governor would needlessly place police officers in a position where they might be called upon to confiscate the previously lawfully owned property of an American citizen. There can be no denying the potential danger this prospect places law enforcement in and once again strongly suggests a bill that was rushed to passage without aforethought or any regard for its potential implications. We cannot excuse this and do not appreciate our very safety being sacrificed for political gain.

∆ Milwaukee Sheriff: Calling 911, Waiting Not Best Option for Defense:

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. has released a 30 second public announcement calling on the citizens of Milwaukee to familiarize themselves with a firearm and aid the police in defending life between the time they dial 911 and the time the police arrive.

∆ Colorado: Sheriffs Say No to Proposed Gun Control:

Late last week, the County Sheriffs of Colorado (CSOC) drew a line in the sand in defense of the Second Amendment, telling elected officials in the Centennial State that they will not support any of the proposed gun restrictions.

These devoted public servants understand better than most the efforts necessary to preserve and advance public safety interests for the community as a whole. The CSOC also made it clear in their statement that they welcome dialogue, in the wake of recent tragedies, that relates to protecting the public. However, they ardently assert that they “…do not believe these tragedies should be used as the backdrop to advance gun control legislation.”

The CSOC specifically cited their direct opposition to the gun grabbing efforts in Denver, being led by extremist organizations like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" (MAIG). The so-called “common sense” measures being weighed by these out-of-town extremists include a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles, arbitrary limitations on magazine capacities, the ban on bulk purchases of ammunition, a statewide database for concealed carry permit holders, unnecessarily restrictive mental health checks and the criminalization of law-abiding citizens through the prohibition of private firearms transfers.

∆ Sheriffs Push Back on Obama Gun Control:

More than 90 sheriffs from mostly rural counties say they won't enforce what they deem unconstitutional gun laws from the Obama administration or Congress... The sheriffs sent open letters to President Obama and began a media effort to "stand up against the unconstitutional gun control measures being taken," according to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association... The Texas-based group released a list of 90 sheriffs who oppose Obama's gun-control efforts. The list includes sheriffs from more than 20 states as well as sheriff's associations in Utah and New Mexico.

∆ Utah sheriffs pledge their lives against Obama’s gun grab:

We respect the Office of the President of the United States of America. But, make no mistake, as the duly-elected sheriffs of our respective counties, we will enforce the rights guaranteed to our citizens by the Constitution. No federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights — in particular Amendment II — has given them. We, like you, swore a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation.

∆ Kentucky Sheriff Vows to Uphold Constitution, Not New Gun Control Laws:

Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman has some advice for federal officials attempting to confiscate legal guns held by citizens in his jurisdiction: “go ahead, make my day.” ... “My office will not comply with any federal action which violates the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold,” Peyman said. “Let them pull that stuff in other places if they want, but not in Jackson County, Kentucky.”

∆ Oregon Sheriff Says Won’t Enforce Un-Constitutional Gun Laws:

An Oregon sheriff has sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden saying his department will not enforce any new gun laws it considers unconstitutional... “We are Americans,” Mueller wrote. “We must not allow, nor shall we tolerate, the actions of criminals, no matter how heinous the crimes, to prompt politicians to enact laws that will infringe upon the liberties of responsible citizens who have broken no laws... In summary, it is the position of this Sheriff that I refuse to participate, or stand idly by, while my citizens are turned into criminals due to the unconstitutional actions of misguided politicians."

I applaud these patriots and am thankful for their service and loyalty to the Constitution. If only our legislators possessed such integrity.

FACT SHEET FOR LIBERAL IGNORAMUSES. We'll speak slowly and avoid big words, I promise.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation offers the following excellent list of Modern Sporting Rifle Facts. No, they're not "assault rifles". They're Modern Sporting Rifles.

The modern sporting rifle, based on the AR-15 platform, is widely misunderstood. Why? Confusion exists because while these rifles may cosmetically look like military rifles, they do not function the same way. Also, groups wanting to ban these rifles have for years purposely or through ignorance spread misinformation about them to aid their cause.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation asks you to be an informed gun owner and to use the following facts to correct misconceptions about these rifles. Remember, that if AR-15-style modern sporting rifles are banned, your favorite traditional-looking hunting or target shooting semi-automatic firearm could be banned, too.

• AR-15-platform rifles are among the most popular firearms being sold. They are today's modern sporting rifle.

• The AR in "AR-15" rifle stands for ArmaLite rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. "AR" does NOT stand for "assault rifle" or "automatic rifle."

• AR-15-style rifles are NOT "assault weapons" or "assault rifles." An assault rifle is fully automatic -- a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.

• If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an "assault weapon," he or she either supports banning these firearms or does not understand their function and sporting use, or both. Please correct them. "Assault weapon" is a political term created by California anti-gun legislators to ban some semi-automatic rifles there in the 1980s.

• AR-15-style rifles look like military rifles, such as the M-16, but function like other semi-automatic civilian sporting firearms, firing only one round with each pull of the trigger.

• Versions of modern sporting rifles are legal to own in all 50 states, provided the purchaser passes the mandatory FBI background check required for all retail firearm purchasers.

• Since the 19th century, civilian sporting rifles have evolved from their military predecessors. The modern sporting rifle simply follows that tradition.

• These rifles' accuracy, reliability, ruggedness and versatility serve target shooters and hunters well. They are true all-weather firearms.

• Chamberings include .22, .223 (5.56 x 45mm), 6.8 SPC, .308, .450 Bushmaster and about a dozen others. Upper receivers for pistol calibers such as 9 mm, .40, and .45 are available. There are even .410 shotgun versions.

• These rifles are used for many different types of hunting, from varmint to big game. And they're used for target shooting in the national matches.

• AR-15-style rifles are no more powerful than other hunting rifles of the same caliber and in most cases are chambered in calibers less powerful than common big-game hunting cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag.

• The AR-15 platform is modular. Owners like being able to affix different "uppers" (the barrel and chamber) to the "lower" (the grip, stock).

And, they are a lot of fun to shoot!

Indeed.


Hat tips: Willie and BadBlue Gun News.

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS LIKE CHUCK HAGEL

Caroline Glick continues to wake up the useful idiots who believe that Barack Obama is a friend of Israel, which remains the last best hope for Western Civilization in the Middle East.

I think it is pretty amazing that AIPAC is keeping mum on the fact that Obama has nominated a Jew hater and Israel basher to serve as the next Defense Secretary. As I've said before, Hagel's appointment is a far greater threat to the US military than it is to Israel. But still, it is pretty obscene that Obama is getting away with appointing this character to serve as the Pentagon chief.

Today, the estimable Adam Kredo at the Washington Free Beacon reported another classic Hagelian anti-Israel slur and libel. Back in 2003 he gave an interview to his hometown paper saying that Israel "keep[s] the Palestinians caged up like animals."

And of course, this is only one of countless examples of Hagel's animus towards the Jewish state and its Jewish supporters in the US... Israel is better off expanding its own defense industries than depending on Hagel for spare parts.

As to the US military, ...the movement to assign women to frontline combat unit is not about advancing women. It is about destroying the US military. The fact that Obama didn't even need for Hagel to enter office before taking his first swipe at the military shows just how grandiose his plans for gutting US military capabilities in his second term are.

To be clear, as a woman who served as an officer in the IDF for 5 and a half years, and worked as an embedded reporter with an all male US infantry unit in Iraq, I have to say that I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with women serving in combat. But the purpose of last week's decision wasn't about permitting women to fight on the battlefield. They already do. It was about social engineering and weakening the esprit d'corps of the US military. As Saul Alinsky taught his followers the goal is never what you say it is. The goal is always the revolution.

Delegitimizing and weakening Israel is only one part of the "revolution." Israel will survive Obama and Hagel and Kerry and Brennan.

But that doesn't mean we and our supporters in the US should keep silent about their hostility just because we know we can't block their appointments. By pointing out their radicalism, we are at a minimum sending out the necessary warning about what their future plans will likely involve. And that is important, because the more they are criticized the weaker they will feel.

As historian Trevor Loudon has proven through exhaustive research, Barack Obama's real goal is to strip the United States military bare. Hagel's appointment simply confirms that ugly reality.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER TRAGEDY: Curiously, gun control capital of the U.S. is also its murder capital

It's enough to make you sick. No matter how badly their gun-control policies fail, no matter how many people die, Democrats will keep pushing and pushing and pushing their dictatorial agenda.

Yesterday a talented 15-year old -- an Honor Roll student who had performed in the presidential inauguration ceremony earlier this month -- was shot and killed in the Chicago neighborhood just blocks from her home. And, once again, Chicago is on track to suffer more than 500 murders this year.

CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports the victim, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, was taking shelter from the rain with a group of 10 to 12 teenagers under a canopy in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park on the 4500 block of South Oakenwald Avenue around 2:30 p.m., when someone jumped a fence, ran up to them, and opened fire.

...Just days before, Hadiya performed with her high school band at President Obama’s inauguration.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Hadiya’s mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, to try to offer a measure of comfort...

...CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports the park where Hadiya was shot is just blocks from King College Prep High School — where she was an honor student, volleyball player, and majorette with the school band.

...Police said Hadiya had no gang affiliation and likely wasn’t the intended target. Several of the teens with her at the time, however, were believed to be gang members.

According to the Stuffington Roast, Chicago -- which has the strictest gun control laws in the country -- is far more dangerous than Afghanistan.

"If only one child can be saved"?

And Rahm Emanuel, who serves as mayor of the most violent city in America, wants to tell the rest of America about the importance of banning guns?

I've got an idea, Rahm: why don't you drink a big tall glass of Shut-Up Juice and start letting law-abiding citizens carry weapons? And then watch your crime rates go down as the gang-bangers your "Great Society" pals have spawned will have no earthly idea who's packing heat.

As it stands in Murder-town, only criminals bent on violence have guns while law-abiding citizens are reduced to cowering in fear or begging for their lives.

That's why concealed carry laws have been proven to reduce gun violence, over and over and over again, in city after city and state after state. Try and read a book for a change, you statist kook, before you dare tell us how to live our lives. Schmuck.

If we can only save one life? How about 1,200 lives?

Joe Biden and Barack Obama routinely resort to the Statist's traditional rhetoric in pushing their anti-Constitutional agenda.

The quote they frequently employ -- "if it saves only one life" -- is demonstrably specious.

Last month, ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) released statistics on the tiny fraction of illegal aliens who were actually deported in 2012.

Just this small slice of the illegal alien population was determined responsible for:

• 1,200 murders

• 5,550 rapes and other sexual offenses

• 40,000 drug crimes

• 36,000 DUIs

Thousands of murders. Thousands of rapes. Thousands of sexual assaults. Thousands of pedophiles. Thousands of drug crimes. Thousands of DUIs.

If it only saved one life?

These Leftists are the lowest of the low.

JUST PERFECT: Cuomo and his Statist Oath-Breakers Don't Even Know Which Guns They've Banned

Bob Owens explains:

In 30 pictures describing “pistols that are not assault weapons,” the NY SAFE web site incorrectly identifies 6 of 30 handguns presented by name, and 16 of 30 by type.

...NY SAFE serially confuses a rifle’s caliber with its model, and worse, can’t tell the basic difference between a rifle and a shotgun...

...or tell the difference between a weapons that are legal, yet function identically as “evil assault weapons”...

...… and we’re supposed to take them seriously? It would be laughable, other than the fact that if you mistake the NY SAFE Act web site a being a competent guide, you could end up in prison for violating the NY SAFE Act since the Web site and the actual law have very little in common...

And these are the masterminds who think they can prevent psychopaths from committing violent acts through unconstitutional restrictions on law-abiding citizens?

No wonder New Yorkers -- in huge numbers -- say they will defy this flatly unlawful idiocy.

Perhaps Mayor Bloomberg and the rest of the elites should disarm first, just to show the citizens how it's done.


Hat tip: BadBlue Guns.

EXCLUSIVE: New Photos of President Obama Skeet-Shooting Unearthed

We finally have confirmation that President Obama does indeed "do skeet-shooting all the time."

Cub Reporter Biff Spackle cannot reveal how he acquired these photographs because he can not -- and will not -- disclose sources or methods.

If the editors of The New Republic wish to secure reproduction rights, please call the BiffPhone at 997-555-1212.

UPDATE: Status of Gun Industry

Interesting status report from Valley Guns in West Virginia:

Status of gun industry

Attention F.B. fans: to follow will be several IMPORTANT Info updates about the status of the gun industry currently, followed by an INVENTORY UPDATE: We traveled to Texas for Industry meetings concerning the shortages, here's what we were told.

Smith & Wesson-is running at Full capacity making 300+ guns/day-mainly M&P pistols. They are unable to produce any more guns to help with the shortages.

RUGER: Plans to increase from 75% to 100% in the next 90 days.

FNH: Moving from 50% production to 75% by Feb 1st and 100% by March 1. Remington-Maxed out!

Armalite: Maxed out.

DPMS: Can't get enough parts to produce any more product.

COLT: Production runs increasing weekly...bottle necked by Bolt carrier's.

LWRC:Making only black guns, running at full capacity...can't get enough gun quality steel to make barrels.

Springfield Armory: Only company who can meet demand but are running 30-45 days behind.

AMMO: Every caliber is now Allocated! We are looking at a nation wide shortage of all calibers over the next 9 months. All plants are producing as much ammo as possible w/ of 1 BILLION rounds produced weekly. Most is military followed by L.E. and civilians are third in line.

MAGPUL is behind 1 MILLION mags, do not expect any large quantities of magpul anytime soon.

RELOADERS... ALL Remington, Winchester, CCI & Federal primers are going to ammo FIRST. There are no extra's for reloading purposes... it could be 6-9 months before things get caught up. Sorry for the bleak news, but now we know what to expect in the coming months. Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted...

Related commentary from Bob Owens:

They didn’t know when they’d be getting anything back in stock, from magazines to rifles to pistols. Manufacturers were running full-bore, but couldn’t come close to keeping up with market demand. It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands, M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.

Barack Obama, Dianne Feinstein and the rest of the Statists have done more to promote gun ownership than the NRA ever did. Well done, Democrats!


Hat tip: Wanda.

I don't know this Jason Mattera fellow, but I like the cut of his jib

Now this right here is a real journalist.

In an explosive exchange outside the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., security guards for billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg accosted senior Talk Radio Network investigative reporter Jason Mattera when he asked the mayor about his strong support for gun control.

In the video, Bloomberg is seen surrounded by security. Mattera approaches Bloomberg and asks, “In the spirit of gun control, will you disarm your entire security team?”

Bloomberg’s reply: “Uh, you, we’ll get right back to you.”

“Why can you defend yourself but not the majority of Americans?” Mattera asks as the mayor walks away. “Look at the team of security you’ve got. And you’re an advocate for gun control?”

The video then cuts to Mattera walking further down the street when one of the men guarding Bloomberg, identified as Officer Stockton NYPD, stops Mattera and asks to see his photo ID...

One rule for the elites, one rule for the peons.

After all, that's the evil that Statism always devolves into. Which is why these progressive miscreants continually lobby for more control, whether it's health care, guns, unions, education, or light bulbs.

They can't articulate any limits to the power and control they seek. They're making it up as they go along.

Their only goals are controlling you and solidifying their power, not about following the Constitution, not about following the law, not about honoring America's traditions or its moral code or its ethics.

It's about keeping a white-knuckled death grip on power that Bloomberg, Feinstein, Schumer, and Obama seek to hold over you, the individual. We are witnessing history here. It is our sacred duty to preserve this, the world's last best hope for liberty.

AT LAST: Important Merger Formalized

I guess this makes it official.

Martha Raddatz could not be reached for comment at press time.