from G Reynolds

NEW JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP TO 8-MONTH HIGH: “New U.S. claims for unemployment aid unexpectedly rose last week to touch their highest level in eight months, pushed up by factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, a government report showed on Thursday.” Or, you know, the whole recovery could basically be stalling.

Meanwhile, should the motto for our economic forecasters be “expect the unexpected?”

UPDATE: Reader Dave Ivers emails: “What? The MSM can’t say ‘jobless recovery’ anymore?” Not until at least 2013.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Michael Ubaldi writes: “So much as glancing at a chart of initial jobless claims over five years shows how ridiculous it is to discuss anything other than why the metric is miles away from where it should be. Just one of these days I’d like to see read that third-to-fifth sentence in a wire report as ‘Claims were pushed up by factors including hopeless employers laying their workers the f___ off again.’”

before I wander off and play with something shiney

Seven Minutes vs. Sixteen Hours.

Obama Will Soon Hang For Killing Bin Laden. Okay, first, any talk of hanging is just plain racist. Stupid racist imam.

9 Months, 16 hours ...... Obama's Reluctance, Osama Poised to Flee

Always classy: Hard-Left Radio Host Mike Malloy: When Will Navy SEALs Take Out Death-Dealing George W. Bush?

JIM TREACHER IS NOT IMPRESSED: Obama Administration takes victory lap in clown car. 

The head of the CIA admitted yesterday that there was no live video footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound as further doubts emerged about the US version of events. Sheesh. So what were they watching in that Situation Room photo? 

Navy Seals, not the President, Made the Decision to kill bin Laden

Liberal Policies Lose on a Day America Wins

Tariq Ramadan: Changing Osama stories ‘bizarre’.

Communication Breakdown: The Press and White House’s Dizzying Post-Bin Laden Reports

read 'em all!

which is it, fellas?

Politico: White House Quietly Changing Story On Bin Laden:

Gutsy call?  Skulking Towards bin Laden: Obama Overridden by Military and Intel Officials in Takeout of OBL?

All Those Operational Details the Obama Administration Gave About the bin Laden Raid? Maybe They Weren't Quite True.

IOWAHAWK: American Pride is Back Out of the Closet! “Who is to credit for this rebirth in American national unity? First and foremost, we must cite the leadership of President Obama. Like many Americans – and the Nobel Peace Prize committee – I naively feared he was actually serious when he initially proposed shutting down Guantanamo, trying detainees in American civilian courts, and prior consultation with the international community. Little did I know that this untested young Commander-in-Chief would muster the courage to read his weekly Gallup numbers and, in one daring unilateral extra-judicial targeted hit job, toss aside every single idiotic foreign policy principle of his election campaign. Perhaps most satisfyingly, it was a mission made possible thanks to information extracted by methods he previously banned as ‘illegal torture.’”

The status of the "debate" from VDH:

Some plaintiffs “preventively detained” for an “indeterminate” period at “al-Qaeda’s chief recruiting tool” in a lame-duck Guantanamo offered critical information about bin Laden’s otherwise not very important “pawns” and “couriers”; some even did so after being subject to superfluous and not very legal “enhanced interrogation techniques.” We then dispatched a questionable “assassination” team into a sovereign nation without its consent, executed bin Laden and various unnamed others, praised our “partnership” with Pakistan, apparently for allowing bin Laden to live with impunity among their retired military for five years — and have finally established a narrative that the problem with Bush-era antiterrorism protocols was never their efficacy, morality, or legality, but simply the president who established them. Keep or expand the former, change the latter, and we have a new national consensus on the tools necessary in the War on Terror.

all pretty much news related .... posting on the 72 versions later

George W. Bush Vindicated

Bin Laden Fallout

Two Senators in one: Here was Sen. Patty Murray in 2004: ”He’s been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health-care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. He’s made their lives better. We have not done that.”

This Sunday she said: “The superb work of our military and intelligence communities have led to the death of the mastermind of the worst attack in our nation’s history. It is indeed a great moment. I applaud our troops, intelligence operatives, and the administration for never wavering in this important goal in the broader war on terrorism.”

Hipster Irony Alert!: Watch Stephen Colbert Celebrate Results of Cheney’s ‘Secret, Lawless Assassination Squad’ and ‘Torture’

Team Six: From Cheney’s Secret Assassination Squad to Obama’s Super-Awesome Cleanup Crew.

In Madison, in the midst of a concealed carry debate, a local liberal (Stu Levitan) comes out with a statement that would be a career-ender if it came from a conservative, and a local conservative (Dave Blaska) refrains from “going ‘all-Madison’” on him. What Levitan wrote:

I think it would be fun to have 2 or 3 dangerous-looking black guys testify next week in support of concealed carry. The more gang-banger the better. Let the committee know EXACTLY who they’ll be letting carry guns.

 

WHO OBL was .... Claire Berlinski has compiled a nice little list:

of terrorist acts committed or inspired by a man who is now dead.

• 1993 (Feb.): Bombing of World Trade Center (WTC); 6 killed.
• 1993 (Oct.): Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.
• 1996 (June): Truck bombing at Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killed 19 Americans.
• 1998 (Aug.): Bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; 224 killed, including 12 Americans.
• 1999 (Dec.): Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S.
• 2000 (Oct.): Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed.
• 2001 (Sept.): Destruction of WTC; attack on Pentagon. Total dead 2,992.
• 2001 (Dec.): Man tried to denote shoe bomb on flight from Paris to Miami.
• 2002 (April): Explosion at historic synagogue in Tunisia left 21 dead, including 11 German tourists.
• 2002 (May): Car exploded outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.
• 2002 (June): Bomb exploded outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.
• 2002 (Oct.): Boat crashed into oil tanker off Yemen coast, killing 1.
• 2002 (Oct.): Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, killed 202, mostly Australian citizens.
• 2002 (Nov.): Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killed 16.
• 2003 (May): Suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• 2003 (May): 4 bombs killed 33 people targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.
• 2003 (Aug.): Suicide car-bomb killed 12, injured 150 at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• 2003 (Nov.): Explosions rocked a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, housing compound, killing 17.
• 2003 (Nov.): Suicide car-bombers simultaneously attacked 2 synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds.
• 2003 (Nov.): Truck bombs detonated at London bank and British consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 26.
• 2004 (March): 10 bombs on 4 trains exploded almost simultaneously during the morning rush hour in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 and injuring more than 1,500.
• 2004 (May): Terrorists attacked Saudi oil company offices in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, killing 22.
• 2004 (June): Terrorists kidnapped and executed American Paul Johnson, Jr., in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• 2004 (Sept.): Car bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed 9.
• 2004 (Dec.): Terrorists entered the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing 9 (including 4 attackers).
• 2005 (July): Bombs exploded on 3 trains and a bus in London, England, killing 52.
• 2005 (Oct.): 22 killed by 3 suicide bombs in Bali, Indonesia.
• 2005 (Nov.): 57 killed at 3 American hotels in Amman, Jordan.
• 2006 (Jan.): Two suicide bombers carrying police badges blow themselves up near a celebration at the Police Academy in Baghdad, killing nearly 20 police officers. Al-Qaeda in Iraq takes responsibility.
• 2006 (Aug.): Police arrest 24 British-born Muslims, most of whom have ties to Pakistan, who had allegedly plotted to blow up as many as 10 planes using liquid explosives. Officials say details of the plan were similar to other schemes devised by al-Qaeda.
• 2007 (April): Suicide bombers attack a government building in Algeria's capital, Algiers, killing 35 and wounding hundreds more. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claims responsibility.
• 2007 (April): Eight people, including two Iraqi legislators, die when a suicide bomber strikes inside the Parliament building in Baghdad. An organization that includes al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia claims responsibility. In another attack, the Sarafiya Bridge that spans the Tigris River is destroyed.
• 2007 (June): British police find car bombs in two vehicles in London. The attackers reportedly tried to detonate the bombs using cell phones but failed. Government officials say al-Qaeda is linked to the attempted attack. The following day, an SUV carrying bombs bursts into flames after it slams into an entrance to Glasgow Airport. Officials say the attacks are connected.
• 2007 (December): As many as 60 people are killed in two suicide attacks near United Nations offices and government buildings in Algiers, Algeria. The bombings occur within minutes of each other. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly called the Salafist Group for Preaching, claims responsibility. It's the worst attack in the Algeria in more than 10 years.
• 2007 (December): Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani prime minister, is assassinated in a suicide attack on Dec. 27, 2007, at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf blames al Qaeda for the attack, which kills 23 other people. Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban leader with close ties to al Qaeda is later cited as the assassin.
• 2008 (January): In the worst attack in Iraq in months, a suicide bomber kills 30 people at a home where mourners were paying their respects to the family of a man killed in a car bomb. The Iraqi military blames the attack on al-Qaeda in Iraq.
• 2008 (February): Nearly 100 people die when two women suicide bombers, who are believed to be mentally impaired, attack crowded pet markets in eastern Baghdad. The U.S. military says al-Qaeda in Iraq has been recruiting female patients at psychiatric hospitals to become suicide bombers.
• 2008 (April): A suicide bomber attacks the funeral for two nephews of a prominent Sunni tribal leader, Sheik Kareem Kamil al-Azawi, killing 30 people in Iraq's Diyala Province.
• 2008 (April): A suicide car bomber kills 40 people in Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province in Iraq.
• 2008 (April): Thirty-five people die and 62 are injured when a woman detonates explosives that she was carrying under her dress in a busy shopping district in Iraq’s Diyala Province.
• 2008 (May): At least 12 worshipers are killed and 44 more injured when a bomb explodes in the Bin Salman mosque near Sana, Yemen.
• 2008 (May): An al-Qaeda suicide bomber detonates explosives in Hit, a city in the Anbar Province of Iraq, killing six policemen and four civilians, and injuring 12 other people.
• 2008 (June): A car bomb explodes outside the Danish Embassy in Pakistan, killing six people and injuring dozens. Al-Qaeda claims responsibility, saying the attack was retaliation for the 2006 publication of political cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• 2008 (June): A female suicide bomber kills 15 and wounds 40 others, including seven Iraqi policemen, near a courthouse in Baquba, Iraq.
• 2008 (June): A suicide bomber kills at least 20 people at a meeting between sheiks and Americans in Karmah, a town west of Baghdad.
• 2008 (August): About two dozens worshippers are killed in three separate attacks as they make their way toward Karbala to celebrate the birthday of 9th-century imam Muhammad al-Mahdi. Iraqi officials blame al-Qaeda in Iraq for the attacks.
• 2008 (August): A bomb left on the street explodes and tears through a bus carrying Lebanese troops, killing 15 people, nine of them soldiers. No one claims responsibility for the attack, but in 2007, the army fought an al-Qaeda linked Islamist group in Tripoli.
• 2008 (August): At least 43 people are killed when a suicide bomber drives an explosives-laden car into a police academy in Issers, a town in northern Algeria.
• 2008 (August): Two car bombs explode at a military command and a hotel in Bouira, killing a dozen people. No group takes responsibility for either attack, Algerian officials said they suspect al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is behind the bombings.
• 2008 (September): In its first acknowledged ground attack inside Pakistan, U.S. commandos raid a village that is home to al-Qaeda militants in the tribal region near the border with Afghanistan. The number of casualties is unclear.
• 2008 (September): A car bomb and a rocket strike the U.S. embassy in Yemen as staff arrived to work, killing 16 people, including 4 civilians. At least 25 suspected al-Qaeda militants are arrested for the attack.
• 2008 (November): at least 28 people die and over 60 more are injured when three bombs explode minutes apart in Baghdad, Iraq. Officials suspect the explosions are linked to al-Qaeda.
• 2009 (April): on April 6 in Baghdad, a series of six attacks kills 36 people and injure more than 100 in Shiite neighborhoods; April 23: at least 80 people are killed in three separate suicide bombings in Baghdad. This is the largest single-day death toll due to attacks since February 2008. One of the bombings is reportedly set off by a female, who was standing among a group of women and children receiving food aid.
• 2009 (December): a suicide bomber kills eight Americans civilians, seven of them CIA agents, at a base in Afghanistan. It's the deadliest attack on the agency since 9/11. The attacker is reportedly a double agent from Jordan who was acting on behalf of al-Qaeda.
• 2009 (December): A Nigerian man on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit attempted to ignite an explosive device hidden in his underwear. The explosive device that failed to detonate was a mixture of powder and liquid that did not alert security personnel in the airport. The alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told officials later that he was directed by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The suspect was already on the government's watch list when he attempted the bombing; his father, a respected Nigerian banker, had told the U.S. government that he was worried about his son's increased extremism.

from Peter King's MMQB 5/1/11

When Cal defensive end Cameron Jordan was taking a tour through his new business home -- the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie, La. --on Saturday, his cell phone rang.

"Hi,'' said the voice on the other end. "Jordan? This is the Cleveland Browns ... '' The call was for some biographical information.

"Uh, yeah, this is Cameron Jordan,'' he said. "But the Saints already picked me.''

There was an awkward pause, and Cameron Jordan said: "I think you mean Jordan Cameron, you're looking for Jordan Cameron. That's not me.''

Cameron Jordan, the 24th pick in the draft, then hung up the phone. The Browns actually picked the right person -- USC tight end Jordan Cameron and had phoned him to tell him the good news -- and this was the call back to get biographical information from him.

The New York Times has an interesting story headlined "House G.O.P. Members Face Voter Anger Over Budget." It looks at the recent tough town halls faced by various members, including the man who replaced Rep. Alan Grayson in Central Florida. After reading about a chaotic and contentious scene, we learn how Rep. Dan Webster responded. Jim Geraghty at The Corner writes:

But note Webster’s reaction: “Webster beat Democrat U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson last year. But the 8th Congressional District has a Democrat majority, and the party hopes to take the seat back in 2012. He appeared flustered at times, but remained calm and never raised his voice. “This is the most competitive part of the district and I expected it to be a competitive crowd,” Webster said when the dust had settled. “There’s nothing wrong with that….There’s nothing wrong with the clash of debate at all, nothing.’”

Notice that Webster did not compare the crowd to Timothy McVeigh. No talk of abandoning the town hall meeting format. No claim that the folks who showed up with opposing views are not actual constituents. No demand that everyone turn in their cameras first, lest something embarrassing end up on YouTube. No bizarre claim that constituent meetings not be considered ‘political events.’

 

from http://ricochet.com/main-feed/This-Is-What-Democracy-Looks-Like

 

gleaned from multiple sources

1.  Is there a specific dollar amount beyond which you would not raise the debt ceiling? If so, what is that figure and why would you refuse to exceed it?

2.  Why have you adopted all of President Bush’s counterterrorism policies and practices — with the exception of enhanced interrogation techniques — that you had condemned as  unconstitutional, un-American, and ineffective when you were a presidential candidate?