Here’s a pro-top for aspiring murderers: If you want to bump off your wife, don’t talk over murder methods with all the other paramedics you work with.
Despite which, it still took seven years to indict and convict the guy.
How Not to Commit the Perfect Murder
April 13th, 2014If You Don’t Think Ted Cruz is Running for President in 2016, You Haven’t Seen His Schedule
April 11th, 2014Some political observers think Ted Cruz will pass on running in the 2016 Presidential race, including the very perceptive liberal law professor Alan Dershowitz, who says flatly that “Cruz won’t run in 2016.”
I would suggest to those who don’t think Cruz is running should look at his travel schedule. This Saturday, for example, Cruz has a pretty hectic itinerary in New Hampshire:
Saturday, April 12
10:00 am ET – Nashua
Greater Nashua NHGOP Day of Action Rally
Nashua City Hall, Back Parking Lot
229 Main Street
Nashua, NH 0306011:00 am ET – Manchester
Greater Manchester NHGOP Day of Action Rally
Livingston Park, Pool Parking Lot
14 Red Coat Lane (off Hooksett Road)
Manchester, NH 031041:35 pm ET – Manchester
Sen. Cruz to hold media availability
The Executive Court
Media Room
1199 South Mammoth Road
Manchester, NH 031092:15 pm ET – Manchester
Sen. Cruz to speak at Americans for Prosperity “Freedom Summit”
The Executive Court
1199 South Mammoth Road
Manchester, NH 03109
He’s also been to Iowa this year:
Tuesday, March 18
1:40 pm CT – Des Moines, IA
Sen. Cruz speaks at the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) Homeschool Day at the Capitol
Marriott Hotel Downtown
Iowa Ballroom
700 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 503097:40 pm CT – Mason City, IA
Sen. Cruz speaks at the Cerro Gordo County GOP Dinner
The Music Man Square
308 South Pennsylvania Avenue
Mason City, IA 50401
There were a significant number of events in Iowa and new Hampshire last year as well:
Friday, October 25
7:00 pm – Des Moines, IA
Sen. Cruz keynotes 2013 Iowa GOP Ronald Reagan Dinner
Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center
Iowa Events Center
730 3rd Street
Des Moines, IA 50309NOTE: Sen. Cruz speaks at ~7:30 pm; he will take questions from the press following the program in room 402.
Saturday, October 26
12:00 pm – Les Mars, IA
Sen. Cruz Speaks at Defenders of Freedom Banquet
Le Mars Convention Center
Banquet Hall
275 12th Street, SE
Le Mars, IA 51031NOTE: Sen. Cruz speaks at ~1:05 pm; he will take questions from the press following the program.
Friday, August 23 – Dublin, New Hampshire
4:45 p.m. ET
Media Availability
Knollwood Farm
4 Windmill Hill Road
Dublin, NH 034446:30 p.m. ET
New Hampshire GOP Summer Backyard Party
Knollwood Farm
4 Windmill Hill Road
Dublin, NH 03444
On Saturday, August 10, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz will speak at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa.
Saturday, August 10
3:50 p.m. – Ames, IA
Iowa State University
Stephens Auditorium
400 Beach Avenue
Ames, IA 50011*NOTE: Sen. Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, will speak prior to the Senator at 3:35 p.m.
If Cruz isn’t running, he’s sure spending an awful lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire for a Senator from Texas.
For an additional data point, note that there’s already a Draft Ted Cruz Super PAC that just happens to be run by Cruz regional director Raz Shafer (and a rare kudo for David Weigel for doing the leg, er, Google and WHOIS work).
Finally, this video on the Ted Cruz for Senate YouTube channel sure sounds like a campaign ad:
If I had to bet money, I’d say Cruz is running for the Presidency in 2016, and I think he’ll make a formidable candidate.
When Democrats Say There’s No Voter Fraud, They’re Lying
April 10th, 2014There’s an risible liberal talking point that continues to rear its ugly head regarding ACORN and the Democratic Party’s demonstrated record of voting fraud:
“That’s not voting fraud, that’s voter registration fraud.”
Before we address the talking point proper (which seems to have originated at the liberally biased “fact checking” site FactChek.org), let us note that:
- Voter registration is merely a specific type of voter fraud, not something entirely different.
- Both kinds are deeply destructive of the “one man, one vote” principles of representative democracy.
- The FBI places both registration and at-the-polls fraud in the same category of fraud.
So in summary, there is no legal distinction between “voting fraud” and “voter registration fraud.”
However, even when making that dubious distinction, there have been numerous, documented instances of Democrats and ACORN staffers (but I repeat myself) committing in-person voting fraud:
Four Democratic officials and political operatives have pleaded guilty to voter fraud-related felony charges in an alleged scheme to steal an election in Troy, N.Y., FoxNews.com reports.
The group forged signatures on applications for absentee ballots and on the ballots themselves in a 2009 primary of the Working Families Party, which was affiliated with now-defunct community group ACORN.
So even by the standards of facetious distinctions between “voting fraud” and “voter registration fraud,” Democrats and ACORN have committed plenty of both.
No wonder they oppose Voter ID…
WordPress Appears To Be Broken Today
April 10th, 2014It won’t save drafts. More specifically, it won’t save drafts from the dashboard, though you can publish them, and you can edited previously save drafts.
If you save a draft from the dashboard, it creates what appears to be a copy of the last draft you have before than. Clicking on that draft brings up that older draft, and the duplicate then disappears from the list of drafts when you go back.
This is on WordPress 3.7.2, which was working yesterday.
I’m hoping this is a transient error…
Update: Upgraded to 3.8.2, and Quick Draft still appears to be broken…
Venezuela: A Ray of Light Amidst the Encroaching Darkness?
April 9th, 2014When last we checked, Venezuela had come down with a case of Terminal Socialism. Here’s an update.
Faced with crippling inflation and a shortage of basic goods due to endemic cronyism, horrible mismanagement and laughable official exchange rates, Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government has finally thrown in the towel and instituted floating exchange rates… sort of:
A dollar will cost you 6.3 bolívares if you are the government, or if you can persuade Cencoex (the government’s foreign-trade body) that you intend to import vital goods such as food or medicine. Then there’s the Sicad I rate, currently just over 10 bolívares to the dollar, but contingent on irregular, “auctions” (which are nothing of the sort). The new Sicad II process, which is as close to a free market as the government will allow, opened at a whopping 50 bolívares to the dollar. But even that is a bargain compared with the unofficial exchange rate, which at the time of writing stands at almost 68 bolívares.
Meanwhile, shortages of basic goods mean Venezuelans get to enjoy that classic staple of late stage socialism: waiting in line to get food:
Food lines in Venezuela , 16 hours to buy something , Welcome to socialism !! pic.twitter.com/zptCEKABAV
— Peter Perez (@cubamaniak) April 9, 2014
Glory to Socialism! Food lines in Venezuela #BackInTheUSSR via @theresa_beh @Conservative_VW pic.twitter.com/spoOfFHS9o
— bangkokdave (@bangkokdave) March 31, 2014
This is one of the MANY lines being form in Venezuela to get food… Smfh man. #SOSVenezuela pic.twitter.com/PQayOpE1Gj
— Whitney (@__WXMD) March 12, 2014
And the violent crackdown against opposition protesters continues:
Naturally, as a prelude to cracking down on the opposition, they followed the old socialist playbook by outlawing private ownership of guns. It’s always so much easier to oppress people once they’ve been disarmed. Even so, as the following video (via Legal Insurrection) shows, police don’t always get the upper hand:
Security forces have also committed dozens of documented instances of torture.
Are there any rays of home in the grim situation? Yes, Maduro’s government and opposition leaders have agreed to talks. Whether these can actually accomplish anything remains to be seen, but the fact that Maduro “ruled out any changes to the course of what he calls the Bolivarian revolution, the distinct brand of socialism created by his predecessor in office, Hugo Chavez,” tends to indicate that the prognosis is still grim.
Other Venezuela news:
Ben Carson for President: Save Your Money
April 8th, 2014I’ve been getting a lot of political solicitations this year, one of which came from the Draft Ben Carson for President campaign.
Since this is now a real thing (run by a John Philip Sousa IV) collecting real money, I would like to do my part to quash it.
Ben Carson is an impressive person with a compelling life story, but giving money to this particular cause is a bad idea, for numerous reasons:
The only thing donating to the Draft Ben Carson campaign will accomplish is to pad the bank accounts of political consultants and direct mail specialists.
Though I think we can all agree that Ben Carson would be a dynamite choice for Surgeon General…
*This requirement is optional for any candidate that kicked Adolf Hitler into the dustbin of history.
Leland Yee/Shrimp Boy Chow Update for April 7, 2014
April 7th, 2014Here are some updates to the story of California Democratic State Senator Leland Yee and Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s federal weapons trafficking charges, via Dwight and Instapundit (among others):
Any moment now…I just know it! #MorningJoe #LelandYee pic.twitter.com/vM0TcQ90oX
— Teresa (@BlackIrishI) April 7, 2014
@CNNWriters @TheINDYpundit If a pro-life Republican state sen was busted by FBI for running illegal abortion clinic…might u care then?
— Icwhatudo (@icwhatudo) March 29, 2014
I (D)oubt we'll ever know the (D)etails of why Lelan(D) Yee's crimes (D)on't have a higher profile. @larryelder @instapundit
— BattleSwarm (@BattleSwarmBlog) April 4, 2014
Hope You Didn’t Want To Do Anything in Downtown Austin This Week
April 7th, 2014This week, UT’s LBJ Presidential Library is having a three-day Civil Rights Summit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For this they’ve managed to snag four different past and present U.S. Presidents:
President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at a Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, April 10, 2014….President Obama will be joined by three former Presidents who will also deliver remarks at the Civil Rights Summit: Jimmy Carter will speak on April 8; Bill Clinton will speak on April 9; and George W. Bush will speak on April 10.
That’s a real feather in the cap for the LBJ Library and whoever arranged the summit, but it’s likely going to mean a huge pain in the ass to anyone who wants to do something in Austin when Obama comes to town. Obama’s over-protective security detail usually bring traffic to a complete standstill wherever he goes. I don’t know his schedule, but if he comes in and leaves Thursday, expect everyplace from the airport up to about 35th street to be all bit impassable for much of the day.
Better pack a lunch…
Texas Statewide Race Updates for April 4, 2014
April 4th, 2014My taxes and family health issues have curtailed blogging somewhat, so here are some statewide race updates, some of which stretch back to just after the primary:
One Abbott supporter in Edinburg, former state representative Aaron Peña, is a Democrat-turned-Republican with strong ties to the valley. He says his fellow Hispanic Texans may vote Democratic, but they are traditionalists on cultural issues, including abortion. Davis may be popular with the liberal set in Austin, but she doesn’t offer much to Peña’s constituents, he says.
Also this:
Davis herself doesn’t appear to be making much effort to court the Valley vote, or any vote for that matter. She’s noticeably inconspicuous on the trail, and even friendly media have a hard time finding her.
Movement conservatives in Texas — a label that includes fiscal and social conservatives, Tea Partyers and the religious right — seem to be forming up behind Dan Patrick, a state senator running for lieutenant governor; Ken Paxton, a state senator running for attorney general; and Wayne Christian, a former state representative running for railroad commissioner. Each finished ahead of the establishment candidate in his race — in Patrick’s case, the incumbent lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst.
Ramsey also notes money switching to conservative challengers. Plus this: “Every Republican senator has probably given some private thought to state Sen. John Carona’s loss to Donald Huffines, and that kind of private thinking often leads to changed voting patterns.”
Ft. Hood Shooting Followups
April 3rd, 2014A few random followups on the Fort Hood shooting: