North Korea Fires Another Missile Sunday

Kim Jong-un, the only fat kid in North Korea

By Kyong-Ae Choi and Alastair Gale | Sunday, May 19, 2013 As of 2:04 PM EDT

SEOUL—North Korea on Sunday fired a short-range missile into the sea off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula following three similar launches Saturday, once again stirring tensions that had appeared to ease in the wake of a recent series of threats directed at South Korea and the U.S.

The latest missile firing came after the South Korean government on Sunday condemned Pyongyang’s earlier launches and urged it to come to the negotiating table over the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex to allow South Korean companies to withdraw their raw materials and finished goods.

On Sunday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon also asked the North to refrain from further missile tests.

The missiles posed no danger to neighboring countries. Analysts said the launches, which aren’t uncommon, were likely intended as a protest against joint South Korean-U.S. naval drills last week. North Korea, a financially beleaguered state hit by fresh U.N. sanctions following its nuclear test in February, may expect the launches will prompt the offer of dialogue from the U.S., they said.

More at the link.

At THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL, we have already said that North Korea’s testing of atomic bombs does not bother us in the slightest, and that we wish for them to test more such devices. It is our position that, weapons grade¹ (or weapons usable²) fissile material is a difficult and expansive thing to produce, and if the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wishes to take the atomic bombs that they have been able to build and blow them up in holes in the ground, that’s great: it leaves them with fewer on hand.

Though the short range missiles that the DPRK fired into the sea are much less of a burden on that country’s strained economy, each one does have a cost, and each one wasted into the sea is one less that the DPRK has in its arsenal.

We have noted, in the past, our approval of the Obama Administration’s policies toward North Korea: President Obama does not seem to be rewarding North Korea for its bellicose actions, nor giving vent to silliness after each DPRK provocation.³ Continuing to ignore President Kim’s attempts at provocation is the right way to go, and the more missiles he shoots off into the sea, the better.
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Venezuela has run out of toilet paper

TV TOPICSMAY 17, 2013BY: MARGARET MINNICKS

According to USA Today on May 17, Venezuela has run out of toilet paper. Venezuelans can find paper towels and paper napkins, but they can’t find toilet paper in any supermarket.

Venezuelans are scrounging around for toilet paper because supermarkets throughout the country can’t keep rolls on the shelves.

Another source says that the problem is so bad that the Venezuelan government has announced an emergency order for 50 million rolls of toilet paper to help alleviate the problem.

Venezuelan Minister of Commerce Alejandro Fleming said that importing 50 million rolls would help the country meet its average monthly usage of 125 million rolls.

Looks like the fortunately late dictator Hugo Chavez, that great champion of the poor and the oppressed, has left Venezuela with an economy that isn’t worth [Insert slang term for feces here].

Our good friend, the Limerick Avenger, put it this way:

They’ve run out of TP, you say.
A panic, this shortage in May!
What can they do
When they go poo,
And they have no bidet!

As We Come Into Beach Season, Please, People, Clean Up Your Garbage

By William Teach May 18, 2013 – 4:44 pm

As I’ve said numerous times, just because I do not agree with man-induced “climate change” doesn’t mean I hate the environment. From my favorite New Climate Denier website, Grist (yeah, I cite them a lot)

Back in 2012, 561,633 very nice people went out on beaches around the world and picked up the trash that other people had thrown there. They picked up an astounding 10 million pounds. That’s the weight of 5,000 cars. It’s heavier than the Capitol dome.

What’s even more astounding is that this isn’t even the most trash the Ocean Conservancy has collected in the 27 years this challenge has been going. Twice before, volunteers collected more than this amount of trash, measured in weight, and once before, they collected more total items.

More at the link.

It ought to go without saying: clean up your mess. You don’t have to swallow the idiocy — and hypocrisy — of the warmists to know that you shouldn’t leave a mess for other people to clean up.

My personal pet peeve: cigarette buts. For some odd reason, some smokers seem to think that their butts don’t count as trash, and they leave them everywhere.

Why are Democrat Men Weak and Effeminate Girly Men?

by ROS on MAY 16, 2013

Much ado has been made in the media regarding the, ahem, aesthetic disparities between liberal and conservative women, and for good reason. It’s true, conservative chicks are hot. I mean, who would you choose: Megyn Kelly or Rachel Maddow? Michelle Malkin or Joy Behar? Patricia Heaton or Roseanne? If you even had to think about any of those, please, save me the trouble and slap yourself.

That said, it only goes to reason that conservative men are far more appealing to the fairer (that hurt) sex as well – or so says this article in the Daily Mail. Democrat men are, in the immortal words of that Republican former governor of California, “giiiiiiirly men”.

More at the link, and Karen wrote about the story as well. But Trace Adkins explains it all:

From The Pirate’s Cove:

Monsieur Kerry Takes Fossil Fueled Flight, Regrets America Isn’t Doing More To Stop Fossil Fueled Flights

By William Teach May 16, 2013 – 5:04 pm

You can’t make this up. Secretary Of State John “Poodle” Kerry took a fossil fueled flight to Sweden and said this (via Grist, which was hoping he would truly apologize for America because fossil fueled flights are causing the Arctic to broil or something)

I also want to say that we appreciate Sweden’s partnership because these challenges in Europe and North Africa and Central Asia simply do not belong to one nation; they’re shared by all of us and they affect all of us. And at the top of that list of shared challenges which does not get enough attention, and it’s one of the principal reasons that I came here today to share bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister but also will travel on to Kiruna to take part in the Arctic Council, a principal challenge to all of us of life and death proportions is the challenge of climate change.

More at the link.

At some point, you would think that these highly educated mavens of global warming climate change would see just how hypocritical they look; it’s not like it hasn’t been pointed out to them before.

John François Kerry was, before he resigned to become Secretary of State, the wealthiest man in the United States Senate.¹ Mr Kerry and his lovely wife Teresa Heinz Kerry own several large, multi-million dollar properties. Now, it’s their her money, and they can own anything that they can afford as far as I am concerned, but all of these places together have to consume gobs of energy, even if they have been retrofitted to make them energy efficient. This waterfront retreat on Brant Point, Nantucket, assessed at $9.18 million, has to be heated throughout the winter, whether Mr and Mrs Kerry are there or not; the pipes will freeze and burst if not, and moisture changes will lead to mold. It’s perfectly sensible for the Kerrys to heat that house in the winter, but that also means that they are having a significantly bigger carbon footprint than the vast majority of Americans, most of whom do not own a second² home, and aren’t having to use electricity and fuel in homes in which they aren’t living. Your Editor finds himself somewhat unimpressed by the sincerity of people living very wealthily telling him that he should live more poorly.

From Sister Toldjah:

#NCPOL: Local “feminists” flip out over #NCGA’s employer conscience protection bill

Posted by: ST on May 16, 2013 at 10:27 am

It’s sorta like the Sandra Fluke manufactured “controversy” over “access” to birth control mixing with the religious exemptions issue – except on a local scale, with narcissistic North Carolina “feminists” in the starring role(s).  Via the Raleigh News and Observer:

RALEIGH — A bill allowing private employers to refuse to cover contraception in their health insurance plans cleared a House committee Wednesday morning and is headed for a vote of the full chamber.

The legislation would also prohibit coverage for abortions in the new state health insurance exchange that is part of the federal Affordable Care Act, and through the plans cities and counties offer their workers. It also says any health-care provider can refuse to participate in abortions; current law protects doctors and nurses.

The bill is off to a rocky start, as Republicans in a House judiciary committee were not unified in supporting it. Rep. Bob Steinburg, a freshman Republican from Edenton who described himself as a hardcore abortion opponent, said he would only support the bill if the prohibition on contraception coverage was removed.

“It’s almost like we’re stepping back in time,” Steinburg said. “To suggest in the 21st century that women would be prevented from having access to birth control – even as far to the right as I am – is going off the cliff. This is going too far.”

Wellllll, I hope Steinburg’s constituents give him a piece of their mind on his  feminist-themed criticism, which greatly misrepresented what the bill actually called for – giving employers the right to EXCLUDE from their health care insurance plans coverage for BC purchases (and abortions). It did not “restrict access.”  It just changed who pays for it – not the insurer, but YOU. A self-described staunch pro-lifer shouldn’t be using left wing talking points to advance his argument one way or the other.  Perhaps Rep. Steinburg is confused. I dunno.

More at the link.

It has been pointed out, many times, that contraception is just plain inexpensive in this country, and even as inexpensive as it is, organizations like Planed Parenthood will provide subsidized cost contraceptives in many places. It costs more to keep your teeth brushed than it does to buy oral contraceptives,³ yet no one seems to think that employer-provided health insurance — or any health or dental insurance program — ought somehow to cover your toothpaste.

Karen runs almost as many stories on economics as we do here at THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL:

360,000 Initial Jobless Claims

by Lonely Conservative • May 16, 2013 •

Initial jobless claims spiked last week to 360,000. Even after the prior week’s upward revision it was a jump of 32,000 claims. It’s going to be kind of hard to put a positive spin on this.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits climbed last week at the fastest pace in six months, a worrisome sign for the economy which has been hit by government austerity.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the biggest jump since November and confounded analysts’ expectations for a more modest increase.

Claims for the prior week were revised to show 5,000 more applications received than previously reported.

A Labor Department analyst said no states had estimated their data, and that there were no signs furloughs for government employees played a significant role in last week’s increase in claims.

The U.S. economy has shown signs that growth slowed late in the first quarter and in April as an austerity drive by the federal government weighed on consumers and businesses. Washington hiked taxes in January and initiated sweeping budget cuts in March. (Read More)

Happy Thursday! If you still have a job you should celebrate. That’s quite an accomplishment in this new normal economy.

More at the link. The fact that Karen and her husband own their own small business means that they have to pay more attention to economic matters. For them, new regulations or business fees aren’t some abstract concepts in the news, but very real things which can directly affect their bottom line, directly affect whether they can stay in business, or go broke.

From Robert Stacey Stacy McCain:

One More Jump …

Posted on | May 16, 2013 | 29 Comments and 8 Reactions

Well, I had hoped the nerve-wracking worry would be over last night. My Army son’s training battalion did their first jump Monday, then two more jumps Tuesday — the second in combat gear — and were scheduled for two jumps Thursday, the last one a night jump. But that one got cancelled, so the fifth jump is today. Or, actually, tonight.

Private McCain called Tuesday night and, after talking to Mom a while, talked to me and told me stuff he didn’t want to tell Mom, who worries enough for the whole family. Attrition due to injuries is not uncommon in Jump Week. By the time they finished the third jump, Private McCain said, they’d subtracted about 20 troops, mostly because of sprained ankles, but also two or three broken legs and at least one concussion. Additionally, there were a couple “refused jumps,” which boggled my son’s mind: “You make it this far and then, you won’t jump?”

Fearless, he is. Or maybe just crazy — hereditary.

More at the link.

“Refused jumps?” I have worked on high steel before, and I’ve seen my fair share of men who just couldn’t handle heights, and you never really know who they will be until the situation arises. I’ve never been faced with having to jump out of a perfectly good airplane before; I’m pretty sure I could do it, with no problem, but until I try it — an unlikely event — I can’t actually know that I could do it.

From Political Realities:

Gun Owners Beware – Let’s Not Act Like Hot-Headed Fools

By LD Jackson

I seldom post more than once per day, but I believe this warrants the occasion. I was doing my morning rounds of reading the news and blog posts I read almost every day and came across something that troubles me greatly. It has to do with the push for more gun control, restrictions on the 2nd Amendment and how gun owners are portrayed in the media.

If you have read Political Realities for any length of time, you should be aware of my stance on gun control. I do not believe it is a good thing, much less constitutional. I do not trust the liberal advocates of gun control and believe they will never be satisfied until the 2nd Amendment is legislated into non-relevancy. Call me paranoid, but that’s how I feel.

Having said that, I do believe it falls on gun owners and other liberty-loving individuals in America to behave in responsibly. This is especially true in high-profile events where it is highly likely that the media will take the slightest misstep and portray it in a way that will not be to our advantage. Thus it is with the event that prompted me to write this post.

You can read about that event at Mr Jackson’s original.
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Eateries Fear Health Law’s Bite

Franchisees Try to Stay Below Insurance Threshold; White Castle Slows Its Expansion
By JULIE JARGON

Some restaurant operators are scaling back expansion plans because of uncertainty about the expense of insuring employees under the new federal health-care law.

The concerns are especially acute among smaller operators who are more likely to be on the cusp of the Affordable Care Act’s requirements for increased coverage of workers. The doubt is adding to anxiety over other rising costs for items like ingredients at a time when diners are cutting back on eating out.

Sam Ballas, chief executive of ECW Enterprises Inc., owner of East Coast Wings & Grill, a 26-unit chain in North Carolina and Texas, in March imposed a three- to five-unit limit, for the time being, on the number of restaurants that franchisees can own, because of worries about health-care costs.

More at the link.

That the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a huge, yet still unknown cost for small businesses is hardly surprising; that small businesses would do what they could to remain outside of the PP&ACA’s coverage requirements is a completely rational response. Perhaps some small business owners really would like to go ahead and provide insurance, assuming that all of their competitors are also so required, but the bottom line rules, and it has to rule, or those small businesses go out of business.

But that’s hardly the only problem.  From Karen:

Do you remember when the Democrats were ramming through Obamacare and pretending that it was going to cost under a trillion dollars? They were very careful to keep the price tag at about $900 billion, lest the voters have even more reason to hate the law. Well, now that it has passed and we know what’s in it, the CBO estimates that it will cost double what the Democrats and President Obama told us. What a shock!

More at the link. But if the government that was creating Obaminablecare couldn’t get the costs right,¹ how could they have been expected to come up with anything as a reasonable projection on what the PP&ACA would cost businesses?

And then there’s this:

The Obamacare Chronicles: 129 laid off from Missouri hospital due to wonderful new health bill

Posted by: Phineas on May 15, 2013 at 1:01 pm

At this point, there’s not much we can do about it, folks. Losing a Supreme Court decision and the 2012 election guarantees that Obamacare will go into full effect on January 1st, 2014 – Happy New Year!

All we can do for now is observe and take note of the pain (some of it our own) as businesses make their plans to deal with the forthcoming train wreck, plans that include laying people off to cover the new, federally-imposed expenses:

From Channel 41 Action News,² Kansas City, Missouri:

I’ve reported on the consequences of Obamacare before, and we’re going to see more and more as we approach 2014 and enter our Brave New World of government-controlled health care. The PPACA imposes immense burdens on businesses, and they will have to act rationally in response, whether by passing on costs to the consumer or cutting costs elsewhere — by layoffs, for instance.

Again, more at the original.

Everything, and I do mean everything, about the PP&ACA that were were told would happen has turned out to be dead wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, which gives that clock a heck of a lot better record than President Obama and his economists³ and experts and what not.

Phineas is right, of course: due to President Obama’s re-election, we are stuck with this monstrosity. I’ve said before that I never believed that it was intended to work, but simply to pass, and establish the principle that the federal government is ultimately responsible for the individual’s health care coverage, and that, when it fails, the principle will still be established, so something else will be put in it’s place — most probably single-payer — rather than just a straight repeal.

Too bad it’s costing so many people their jobs in the process of failing!
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Philadelphia High School for Creative And Performing Arts sophomore student Brenna Schiman holds a sign protesting budget cuts at the School District Headquarters last week. ( Yong Kim / Staff Photographer )

POSTED: Monday, May 13, 2013, 3:10 AM

The city schools’ financial troubles are not new, yet reactions to the School District’s latest request for aid — $60 million more from the city, $120 million more from the state — were met with surprise.

Frankly, after two consecutive years of raising taxes on Philadelphians at the last minute to address the school system’s structural deficit, I fully expected a third emergency funding request this year. What I did not anticipate, and will not accept, is the continued absence of a commitment from state officials to address the plight of Philadelphia’s schools.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the state showed commitment by helping schools keep pace with rising costs. The state-city funding ratio that year was 62.7 percent to 37.3 percent. But this school year, the estimated state-city funding ratio is 57.5 percent to 41.9 percent. So it’s time for Harrisburg to step up.

Years of draconian budget cuts from the state helped get us to the current $242 million budget shortfall. City Council stands ready, as it has in years past, to engage in a process of establishing longterm fiscal solvency for the School District. But any last-minute aid from the City must be met with a substantive contribution from the state. Otherwise, demagogues who reject the mission of public education will be vindicated by its collapse.

Why, I ask, must the state come up with more money for Philadelphia’s public schools? Why shouldn’t it be Philadelphia’s responsibility to pay for its own schools?

Philadelphia is the wealthiest part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, due to the large concentration of businesses in Philly. Why is it that poorer people in poorer counties, like Carbon County, where I live, should be taxed more to pay for public schools in a wealthier area?

The better solution would be to simply end all state funding of Philadelphia’s public schools, of all local public schools, and then reduce the state’s tax rates to the point at which localities have the room to raise their own taxes to pay for their public schools. Then Philadelphia can worry about funding its own public schools by itself, without coming hat in hand to the state.
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POLITICO

D.C. turns on Obama

By MIKE ALLEN and JIM VANDEHEI | 5/14/13 9:10 PM EDT
The town is turning on President Obama – and this is very bad news for this White House.

Republicans have waited five years for the moment to put the screws to Obama – and they have one-third of all congressional committees on the case now. Establishment Democrats, never big fans of this president to begin with, are starting to speak out. And reporters are tripping over themselves to condemn lies, bullying and shadiness in the Obama administration.

Buy-in from all three D.C. stakeholders is an essential ingredient for a good old fashioned Washington pile-on — so get ready for bad stories and public scolding to pile-up.

Vernon Jordan, a close adviser to President Bill Clinton through his darkest days, told us: “It’s never all right if you’re the president. There is no smooth sailing. So now he has the turbulence, and this is the ultimate test of his leadership.” Jordan says Obama needs to do something dramatic on the IRS, and quick: “He needs to fire somebody. He needs action, not conversation.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/dc-turns-on-obama-91386.html#ixzz2TKEyrSBI

Politics – The Daily Caller

IRS sent confidential info on conservatives to liberal nonprofit ProPublica
11:07 AM 05/14/2013

CAUTION BEFORE YOU READ THIS – REMEMBER THE IRS WILL BE IN CHARGE OF OBUMMERCARE – KEEP THAT IN YOUR MIND WHEN THE AGENCY THAT KNOWS WHAT YOU MAKE, WILL ALSO HAVE ALL YOUR HEALTH RECORDS.

The division of the Internal Revenue Service that improperly scrutinized the tax-exempt status of conservative groups sent confidential information on 31 conservative groups to the well-funded liberal nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica, according to a revelation made by ProPublica Monday.

“The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year,” according to the ProPublica report.

A Lot More Here:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-sent-confidential-info-on-conservatives-to-liberal-nonprofit-propublica/#ixzz2TIbhLHls