Jon Corzine To Get Off Scot-Free

So much for the rule of law:

A criminal investigation into the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global and the disappearance of about $1 billion in customer money is now heading into its final stage without charges expected against any top executives

In the most telling indication yet that the MF Global investigation is winding down, federal authorities are seeking to interview the former chief of the firm, Jon S. Corzine, next month, according to the people involved in the case. Authorities hope that Mr. Corzine, who is expected to accept the invitation, will shed light on the actions of other employees at MF Global.

Those developments indicate that federal prosecutors do not expect to file criminal charges against the former New Jersey governor....


That wasn't what they were saying a few months ago:

The $633 million [now $1B] in missing client funds from Jon Corzine’s now-bankrupt firm MF Global appears to be a result of a “massive hide-and-seek ploy,” a US Commodity Futures Trading commissioner said yesterday.

“This isn’t just a lost-and-found inquiry; it’s a full-on effort to get to the bottom of what appears to be a massive hide-and-seek ploy,” said CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton said in disclosing the MF investigation.

“It’s a distinct possibility, some would say probability, that somebody has done something with the money, and that it’s not going to be ‘all of a sudden discovered’ with an innocent explanation,” Chilton wrote. “If that’s the case, it’s patently illegal.


They found the proof, all right:

Jon Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in a brokerage account with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), according to a memo written by congressional investigators.

Edith O’Brien, a treasurer for the firm, said in an e-mail quoted in the memo that the transfer was “Per JC’s direct instructions,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by Bloomberg News yesterday. The e-mail, dated Oct. 28, was sent three days before the company collapsed, the memo says.


...But Dirty Jon will still escape jail.  Wanna know why?

...despite President Obama decrying ‘Wall Street Fat Cats' - Corzine has already helped to raise at least half-million dollars for President Obama's re-election.
As for that half-million? The Obama campaign says it will give the money back - if Corzine is convicted of a crime.
But if history is our guide -the kind of Wall Street firms Corzine once ran became ‘Too Big to Fail.' Maybe Corzine himself will be too ‘Big to Jail...

 Not "too big". Just too valuable to Barack Obama. $500,000 in Barack's pockets is enough to let you get away with squandering - illegally - almost $1B of innocent's people's money.


Once we were a nation of laws.  President Obama felt the value of giving up that status was $500K.  A good deal for him in the short-term, I suppose, but money gets spent quickly, the rule of law is restored less so.  Something he might want to think about, as his time in office grows short, and others  - many with legitimate axes to grind - now wield the law for their own ends...

Paul Ryan As...Ione Skye ??

From Mary Katharine Ham & Kelly Maher, taking the "Hey Girl" meme to a new level:





And then, of course, there is this:

As Miss Ham indicates above, it seems like women didn't abandon the ROmney ticket after the Ryan selection after all...

Liberal Bloodsport: Shooting Up Conservative Think Tanks...

...if you can't win the war of ideas, well...just silence those whose thoughts may be considered "dangerous".  Hey -  it's worked before...not in America, of course, but since we are in the process of importing so many other failed ideas from Europe...

Twitchy has a round up of the liberal glee after a gunman opened fire at the Family Research Center in Washington, DC.  Gina Dalfonzo boils down the 140-character hate over at The Corner:

When early eyewitness reports suggested that the shooter had said disparaging things about FRC’s views, the rhetoric got even crazier. The narrative that has emerged among certain members of the Left goes something like this: When a right-winger shoots a left-winger, the right wing is at fault. And when a left-winger shoots a right-winger, the right wing is also at fault, because people with their views are just asking for it...


So think the right (left?) thoughts...or you'd better invest in a Kevlar vest, because you have it coming...

But do you know what really bothers me?

Washington, DC has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation (next to Chicago, perhaps).  Every smart person knows that laws like these are the best way to contain the "senseless violence" sweeping across America  So how could someone in DC possibly get a gun and...

Hang on, let me go grab my vest  before I go any further....

Biden's "Chains": Who's Really Enslaving Black America?

“They gonna put y’all back in chains.”
~Joe Biden on the Romney/Ryan ticket, while speaking to a predominantly African American audience


Romney lashed out, with justification, telling Biden's boss to “take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America.”.

Nice to see some fire in the belly.  But this is a "teachable moment", to use the words of the president.  And we shouldn't let a crisis go to waste, as his cadres are wont to say.

It's time to face the black community, and tell them to look around.  Ask them how giving their unquestioned loyalty to the Democratic party has worked out for them.  Point out that Biden is using the ultimate scare tactic - "If the Republicans win, they will enslave you again" - because neither he, or his party, have anything tangible to offer you as proof your support for them is worthwhile.

It is time for Romney to speak some plain truth here:  The Democrats have hooked black Americans on "government cheese",  providing them with minimal sustenance via welfare and unemployment checks, while corrupting their once-unshakable morality that allowed them to survive centuries of enslavement. They have offered no incentive, no opportunities for the black community to get "off the cheese" and out on their own, where they can prosper and flourish, and not just simply survive.

And there is a reason for that.  An independent black community, one that is free from the bonds of government, may not necessarily vote Democratic.  And that's a big, big problem for the party, who would be crippled without that voting bloc.

We need to point out to African-Americans that Biden is right in one respect - there are the rattle of chains about.  But they are being placed there by the Democrats, who cannot afford for them walk off the plantation.  So they give the blacks just enough to survive - not thrive - and scare them with dire threats about what the other guys would do if they had the chance...

And if you dare wander off the liberal plantation, well...they'll make an example of you, pal.  Just ask Juan Williams.   Or Allen West.  Or Justice Clarence Thomas.

Better yet, ask Condi Rice:

Vice-Provost at Harvard, concert pianist, and Secretary of State?  Or just a n*gger parrot, doing master's bidding?  This is how a black person of great accomplishment is depicted should they leave the Democratic  plantation...


What does Romney have to lose by making this obvious case?  Is he going to fall from 10% of the black vote to 9%?

The ones who have the most to lose with four more years of Barack Obama and the Democrats are black Americans.  Someone ought to think of them...

Paul Ryan/Ayn Rand: The Times Goes There...

As I predicted yesterday, the attack on Paul Ryan's affection for Ayn Rand has begun in earnest.  The New York Times fires a volley, using Jennifer Burns (who wrote a biography of Rand) as cannon fodder.

But first, I will give credit where it is due, as there is a single truth to be plucked from the mudslide

...modern conservatives ignore the fundamental principles that animated Rand: personal as well as economic freedom. Her philosophy sprang from her deep belief in the autonomy and independence of each individual. This meant that individuals could not depend on government for retirement savings or medical care. But it also meant that individuals must be free from government interference in their personal lives.

Or, as John Galt famously said, "Get out of my way".

But one can adapt ideas from within a philosophy without swallowing the entire liturgy.   Jennifer doesn't see it that way, of course, and ties Ryan's failure to be a full-throated Objectivist to, well...you can guess:

Mr. Ryan’s youthful, feverish embrace of Rand and his clumsy attempts to distance himself from her is more than the flip-flopping of an ambitious politician: it is a window into the ideological fissures at the heart of modern conservatism.


Really?  One cannot appreciate the value of the free market and be a good Christian at the same time?  Not according to the Left - those experts at all things religious, of course - who are already labeling Ryan as "un-Christian" for daring to cut the budget down to a manageable level.

Here comes the unsubstanitated bullshit:

....driven by the fever of the Tea Party and drawing upon a wellspring of enthusiasm for Rand, politicians like Mr. Ryan have set the philosophy of “Atlas Shrugged” at the core of modern Republicanism.

Untrue.  Unfortunately.

 Let's go to Jen's conclusion:

Mr. Ryan’s selection as Mr. Romney’s running mate is the kind of stinging rebuke of the welfare state that Rand hoped to see during her lifetime. But Mr. Ryan is also what she called “a conservative in the worst sense of the word.”...Rand knew it was not enough to promote individual freedom in the economic realm alone. If Mr. Ryan becomes the next vice president, it wouldn’t be her dream come true, but her nightmare.


No, Jen, Paul Ryan would not be Ayn Rand's worst nightmare.  It would be Barack Hussein Obama - a man who rose to the top not based on talent but on oratorical seduction (think Ellsworth Toohey, the villain of The Foutainhead).  A man who is a scion of the intellectual Left:

Socialism is not a movement of the people. It is a movement of the intellectuals, originated, led and controlled by the intellectuals, carried by them out of their stuffy ivory towers into those bloody fields of practice where they unite with their allies and executors: the thugs


...and whose mantra is "sacrifice":

"It only stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of service and sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.”


...and is targeting "the rich" - for openers:

"Businessmen are the symbol of a free society—the symbol of America. If and when they perish, civilization will perish. But if you wish to fight for freedom, you must begin by fighting for its unrewarded, unrecognized, unacknowledged, yet best representatives—the American businessmen."

Rand might not love Paul Ryan - you were either all-in or 100% out, as far as she was concerned - but she would have saved her loathing for the man now occupying the White House.  A man whose own philosophical heroes included Reverend "God Damn America!" Wright, domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, and other similar shallow socialists/sociopaths.

The Times and Miss Burns miss the mark widely here.  But it won't be the last shot fired in this direction.

That's OK.  Bring it, bitches...

Paul Ryan/Ayn Rand: Maybe The Left Shouldn't Go There?

Robert Wargas, over at the PJ Tatler:

Predictably, the Left have seized on Paul Ryan’s affection for Ayn Rand to try to paint him as a fringe whacko unfit for office. Excellent. This is EXACTLY what we want them to do. We want the debate to turn ideological. Ryan’s a whacko for liking Rand? OK, remind me who your pastor was for twenty years....

...and in whose living room you started your political career in:

You wanted Ryan, you got him.  Now bring it, bitches, if you can.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz led the first assault with her thick skull...and got knocked on her sorry ass.

Next?

When Paul Ryan Met Bill Clinton...

Late May, 2011.  The Democrats had just won an upset victory in a Congressional special election in NY-26, chiefly by demonizing Ryan's proposal to reform Medicare.

Shortly afterwards, Paul Ryan bumped into Bill Clinton at a fiscal summit held by the Pete Peterson Foundation, where both were speaking. Part of the frank exchange was inadvertently caught on video. Some of the transcript is below, but I recommend watching the 30 second clip. Clinton is wistful, knowing his side won the battle but could lose the war, while Ryan sounds a bit depressed, but defiant nevertheless:

“I’m glad we won this race in New York,” Clinton can be seen saying in the video. “But I hope Democrats don’t use it as an excuse to do nothing.”

Ryan responded: “My guess is it’s gonna sink into paralysis, is what’s gonna happen. And you know the math. I mean, It’s just — we knew we were putting ourselves out there. But you gotta start this. You gotta get out there. You gotta get this thing moving.”

Clinton told Ryan to call him if he ever wanted to talk about the issue, Ryan said he would, and the two parted.





Personally, I was surprised to hear that Bill Clinton was going to have a high-profile speaking role at the Democratic Convention this year. We know the man loves the spotlight, but I certainly thought his finely-honed political sense would prevent him from tying himself to the rapidly sinking ship that is Barack Obama.

Who knows?  Perhaps there will just happen to be some dramatic event overseas that require his attention right around the same time...


(Hat tip: Toby Harden)

Did I Miss The Part Where The DNC Bought Out Yahoo ?

All the politics that is fit to print on the Yahoo! home page...literally:

Show more?  Ah, I think I've seen enough...

So, what's the basis of  the incendiary lead  headline? Hate to do it, but I suppose I'll have to link to to the story at Yahoo's own "financial blog", The Daily Ticker.  Won't take long to see where this is going - or where it's coming from:

According to the New York Times, based on his Congressional voting record, Ryan is one of the most extreme VP candidates in the past century, on either side of the aisle...


Henry Blodget, writing for The Ticker (is he the "writer" that Yahoo! alludes to?  Their own man??)  then goes on to make the following assertions:

At a more detailed level, the Romney-Ryan plan will likely lead to the highest-income Americans paying less in taxes, while making lower- and middle-income Americans pay more

The Romney-Ryan plan will also likely cut Medicare benefits, which disproportionately help lower- and middle-class Americans.


If you  and the New York Times say so, pal.

What Yahoo! doesn't tell you about one of their top political/financial "writers":

In 2002, then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, published Merrill Lynch e-mails in which Blodget gave assessments about stocks which conflicted with what was publicly published.  In 2003, Blodget was charged with civil securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  He agreed to a permanent ban from the securities industry and paid a $2 million fine plus a $2 million disgorgement.

As of 2012 he is co-founder, CEO/Editor-in-Chief of The Business Insider, a blog about Internet business trends and research. He is a frequent contributor to the magazines Slate, Newsweek and New York....


So who is dispensing political advice on Yahoo! under the guise of financial expertise?  A convicted fraudster, aligned with every left-wing media outlet in the country.  Hey, thanks for the transparency, guys!  So to repeat my earlier question...when did the DNC buy you bitches out?

And I saw this - 86 Percent of Romney Coverage Is Negative - and looked at the Yahoo headlines, and I thought to myself - wow - new record!  They got that figure up to 100% all by themselves...



(See here for Yahoo! giving us Paul Ryan as Nosferatu the Vampire.  Seriously.  More of my beefs with Yahoo's slanted news service here, here,  here,  here and here, and here and here...) 

In Which The 2012 Presidential Election Mirrors The Simpsons (Part II)

Part I is here, although with the addition of Paul Ryan to the ticket, hopefully our debates will progress past "C'monnnnnn!" vs. the rubbing of fingers together to indicate tax hikes.  But it will still be about "your children's future", either way...

But let's move on to the second example of our national elections imitating a cartoon sitcom.  Last night, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney, on 60 Minutes, defended themselves against the claim they were dismantling Medicare, by pointing out it was Barack Obama that was de-funding the system by $700 billion -  to pay for Obamacare.  Ryan made it personal and professional, as usual:

“My mom is a Medicare senior in Florida. Our point is we need to preserve their benefits, because government made promises to them that they’ve organized their retirements around. In order to make sure we can do that, you must reform it for those of us who are younger. And we think these reforms are good reforms. That have bipartisan origins. They started from the Clinton commission in the late ’90s."

Good stuff, right?

You wouldn't know... because CBS cut the segment out of the broadcast.

I don't have to explain why, or what their motivation was.  If you are here, reading this, you know exactly why.

And it all reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons, Homer Badman, in which our hero is accused of sexual harassment when a confused babysitter doesn't realize that he's reaching for her rear end only to snatch a rare gummy candy that got stuck to her posterior.

Homer is ostracized by the community, and makes the mistake of going on a syndicated talk show in an attempt to defend himself.


60 Minutes, meet your cartoon doppelganger, appropriately named:  Rock Bottom:





And maybe  - like Homer, and Sarah Palin - Paul Ryan will get to see a TV "biography" of his life air, with all the same distortions of "Game Change", or "Homer S: Portrait of an Ass-Grabber" (starring Dennis Franz as Homer):

[A dark city street, with a rusty beater careering wildly back and forth knocking over garbage cans and uprooting parking meters. Dennis Franz and a pigtailed girl of about 14 are in the car.]

GIRL: *screams in terror*
DENNIS/HOMER: *laughs with evil delight*
[A cat is in the middle of the street.]
GIRL: No, Mr. Simpson! A cat is a living creature!!
HOMER: I don't care!
HOMER swerves across the road and runs over the cat, which meows as the car thumps over it.
The car powerslides to a stop next to the curb. 
 HOMER: Now I'm gonna grab me something sweet. The camera quickly focuses on the girl's butt. 
GIRL: No Mr. Simpson! That's sexual harassment! If you do it, I'll scream so loud the whole country will hear! 
 HOMER: *mocking* With the man [Bill Clinton?] in the White House?! Not likely! *laughs evilly*

Sunday Fun(d-Raising) With The Obamas!

Welcome to Bizarro World.  A day in the life of Barack and Michelle Obama, who spend more time condemning the rich than a New Yorker spends swearing:

President Obama exhorted a group of loyal supporters huddled in the front yard of his Hyde Park home to adopt the Olympic spirit and sprint to the finish in this highly competitive presidential race....

The president was playing host to 100 donors to his re-election campaign who paid $40,000 apiece to attend. The event, his third of five fundraisers scheduled today, was expected to raise more than $4 million for the campaign, according to Democratic officials.

Shortly after wrapping up his remarks, the president walked down the the block from his private residence to a fourth fundraiser of the day at a neighboring home.


And our modern-day Marie Antoinette?

First Lady Michelle Obama is at pop star Gwen Stefani's Beverly Hills home to take part in "Sunday of Fun," according to the report. The event is a fundraiser for President Obama's reelection effort.

The house is in a gated community in Beverly Hills, just off Mulholland Drive. A long black slate driveway with its own black gate, lined by 8-foot shrubs, leads to the residence...The white, minimalist house has unobstructed views of the San Fernando valley. Out back, there is an infinity hot tub that spills over into a vast infinity pool.

Tickets for the event started at $2,500 for a family of four, with approximately 400 guests expected to attend, according a campaign official.


Not something most Americans can afford, what with the rising price of gas, food, and health care, not to mention stagnant employment and wages...but still, no worse than going to Met game, I suppose.

 More:

Ms. Stefani and her bandmates from No Doubt, including Tony Kanal, are seated on folding chairs on the upper portion of the patio. Ms. Stefani is wearing a sleeveless hot pink peplum top, matching hot pink skinny pants, black leather stilettos with spike heels and several chunky silver bracelets. Her hair is arranged in a top knot...Ms. Stefani's children--Kingston, 6 years old; and Zuma, 3 years old (both boys)--are in attendance.


Very...presidential. And parental. If you're the palace whore...

And yet, despite all of the above, we still managed to get this:

Obama: Paul Ryan favors the rich

 Can't make this sh*t up if you tried...

Yahoo! Sees Paul Ryan As Our New Nosferatu...

This cropped photo is what they used on their homepage within the last hour :

Here's the vampire Nosferatu:

In context, here's the photo as used to highlight a story blatantly  intended to dampen voter enthusiasm over the Ryan selection as VP:

Gaunt, unshaven, red eyes, lips curled....just Photoshop in a brush mustache, and we'll be exactly where we expected to be.   

Well, I suppose that's the only picture of Ryan available.  Oh, wait...

Or maybe it was just meant to counter this...

Sarah Palin all over again?  Well, they're gonna try...

(more of my beefs with Yahoo's slanted news service here, here,  here,  here and here, and here and here...) 

Barack Obama Hating On Paul Ryan: If Looks Could Kill...

The video below has been getting a lot of play lately, in which Paul Ryan, in a mere six minutes, exposes ObamaCare as a moral, medical, and financial fraud.

And Baracky doesn't like it.

As early as the 1:45 mark ("a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors") the president takes on the look of a trapped animal.  At 3:38 ("the most cynical gimmick that is in this bill...") Obama is already twitching, and by the 5:21 mark, well...if I had to guess what Obama was thinking at that moment, it would be the manner in which he would best enjoy snuffing the life out of Paul Ryan:

"Good, honest hatred. Very refreshing"

~Commander Kor to James T. Kirk ("Errand of Mercy")

Watch it all, if you want to see an intellectual takedown of a dilettante, a poseur, a wannabe, a lightweight, a waif, a fool:




More here on the animosity between the two men.  Here's the ultimate take-home truth, all you need to know, if you skipped the vid above:

“Obama thinks he is smart and in command of the facts. Ryan actually is.”


Ruh-oh, Shaggy...


UPDATE:  Linked by R.S. McCain - thanks dude!  More on Paul Ryan (as our Hitler du jour) here.  And a recent piece in which we discover that the Democrats believe they have determined the price-point at which Americans would be willing to forfeit some of our most basic freedoms to the government: $16.67

Meet America's Newest Hitler: Paul Ryan

I wrote this post about Paul Ryan - with a similar title - back in January 2011, as RYan was about to deliver the rebuttal to Obama's State of the Union speech.  The warnings I issued then are certainly valid today, as he is announced as Mitt Romney running mate in 2012:

When Sarah Palin came on the scene with her speech at the Republican convention - a brilliant speech, plainly spoken and charming - the hate machine was confused for a moment, like a remote-control car getting static thru the antenna.

And then it did what it does best: Went full-throttle into "hate at high speed" mode, smearing Ms. Palin with every slur imaginable, logic and truth be damned, in the hope that some of it would stick.

And what, pray tell, does this have to do with Rep. Paul Ryan's upcoming State of the Union response? Well, he's going to come across as a youngish, non-threatening, likable gentleman who has a handle on facts and figures, and a plan on how to use them to take the nation in a positive direction.

So he must be destroyed. Palinized. Or at the very least, Hitlerized.

It has begun...

Brace for a "dark" vision of America when Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivers the GOP response to the State of the Union, a Democratic colleague of Ryan's on President Obama's fiscal commission warned Monday.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the bipartisan, 18-member commission, said her experience with Ryan over the past year made her worry about his response to the president on Tuesday night.

"I served with Rep. Ryan on the 18 member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and learned firsthand from the personally congenial Ryan just how dark his vision of America's future is for all but the super-rich," Schakowsky wrote in a blog for the Huffington Post.

"A dark vision" - you know, just like Hitler had for Europe, or Sauron had for Middle Earth, or Lucifer has for the entire universe.


It will likely happen a little faster this time, as Paul Ryan is less of an unknown than Sarah Palin was, and the media is a bit more panicked now than they were in 2008.  Expect the hate by the 5PM news tonight - latest.

But perhaps the fact that Ryan is less of an unknown will benefit him.  The Democrats may have created ads showing Ryan pushing Grandma off a cliff, but the 65+ bunch seem to love him:




And so do the ladies:

Best of all: Obama hates his guts, and Ryan's presence on the ticket will goad him into unforced errors.  Read here: Why Obama hates Paul Ryan: A  left-wing extremist can't compete intellectually with a voice of reason.

Oh, Lord this is gonna be fun...

Price Of Freedom Determined To Be $16.67

And you always thought that was a rhetorical question...

Saw this headline (love the juxtaposition of the two, by the way - so counter-logical!) and thought we had a good story here:

But when you click to the New York Times article, it turns out not to be about those non-existent refunds we were promised via Obamacare -  instead,  it's just more class warfare:

Health insurer refunds may stall in employers' hands

...and so we geta whole story about how individuals covered under their employers haven't seen the "Obamacare refund" yet,  as companies decide how to best disburse the money.  The Times throws around figures in the tens of millions, and warn darkly that some companies may offer refunds only  if employees enroll in "wellness programs" (which is exactly like a targeted tax cut - engage in this government-approved behavior, like buying a certain car or hiring a certain individual, and get some of your own money back - except when the private sector does it, it is eeeeevillll...).

But all is not for naught. At the very end of this tedious tale, I finally become enlightened:

At Sage Realty, a building management company in Manhattan with about 90 employees, the comptroller, Lou Pisano, said payroll software would make it easy to return the workers’ 10 percent share of a $15,000 rebate check in a couple of weeks. 

“The insurance companies were basically pocketing that money in the past,” he said, rejecting the idea of applying it to next year’s premium, because “that’s kind of like a moving target.”

 “Most people,” he added, “are happy just getting a little more money in their check.”


My math:
10% of $15,000 = $1,500
$1500 divided by 90 people - $16.67

And so we have determined the price of freedom, as offered by the government and possibly accepted by the American people, should they re-elect Barack Obama this November.

"A little money in our checks" - literally, $16.67 -  is all it will take for us to hand over the best healthcare system in the world to the government, and exchange it for long lines, limited access to care (and reduced quality), rationing, and further bureaucratic involvement in every aspect of our lives, all now in the name of "the public good".

A great deal....for the government, getting an entire nation to volunteer for perpetual servitude for less than the price of a lap dance each.

Anyone who would give up their basic freedoms for so little never comprehended their true value to begin with.  And  if America re-elects Barack Obama, we will surely deserve what comes next.  And we will pine for what we have lost, but the cost to purchase it back will be much, much higher, and might even need to be paid for in blood....

Newest EPA Dictate: Minimum Gasoline Purchases

And if they can place a minimum on how much gas you can purchase, the precedent is now put in place for a cap on how much gas you can buy.

The Environmental Protection Agency is going to require all consumers to buy at least four gallons of gasoline from certain gas pumps after the new E15 ethanol-gasoline blend is introduced into the market.

The new regulation was revealed in an Aug. 1 letter to the American Motorcyclist Association, which expressed concern that the vast majority of motorcycles and ATVs in use today aren’t designed to operate on E15 fuel and residual fuel from a pump that serves multiple blends might harm these tanks.

This minimum mandate attempts to dilute residual amounts of E15 that will be left in the shared hose.

“Not only do we find it unacceptable for the EPA to mandate that everyone — including our members — buy minimum amounts of gas, but the EPA answer simply won’t work because of the sizes of many motorcycle and ATV gas tanks and the fact that off-highway riders take containers of gas with them on their trips, and most times those containers are much smaller than four gallons,” Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations, said.

“The EPA has no business mandating how much gasoline Americans have to buy when filling up at the pump. What if a rider doesn’t have a motorcycle with a four gallon tank? Or if someone wants to fill a canister for their lawnmower or outboard boat engine, but it only holds 2 or 3 gallons?” Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said today.

“Or what if an American, struggling in this economy, just can’t afford 4 gallons of gas?” Sensenbrenner added. “This is just one more example of how problematic the EPA’s E15 partial waiver is. This is not a solution to misfueling risks — it’s a ridiculous and unworkable mandate.”

"...a ridiculous and unworkable mandate," Congressman?  When did you wake up? You are talking about the EPA -  an agency that is currently collecting millions of dollars in penalties from oil companies and refineries for not using a product called "cellulosic biofuel" in their mixes. The fact that this particular compound does not even exist has had no effect on the EPA's rule-making, instead, they actually upped the blend quota for their imaginary substance in 2012.  This agency makes its living off the ridiculous, the unworkable, and the job-killing, sir - and the more they feed, the stronger they become, and the more they devour...

But hey - that's OK.  Vote for Barack Obama, and empower the despicable, incompetent Lisa Jackson, perhaps the embodiment of "the banality of evil".

Then blame George Bush, when you are waiting on endless gas lines to pay $8/gallon for three days worth of fuel.

Makes as much sense as anything else these days...

Mitt's Massive Majority?

Paul Rahe is expecting a landslide...for Mitt Romney, come the 2012 general election.  Noting that key pollsters are calling the race "neck and neck", Rahne declares they are missing the forest for the trees:

In my opinion, none of the psephologists mentioned above has reflected on the degree to which the administrative entitlements state...has entered a crisis, and none of them is sensitive to the manner in which Barack Obama, in his audacity, has unmasked that state’s tyrannical propensities and its bankruptcy. In consequence, none of these psephologists has reflected adequately on the significance of the emergence of the Tea-Party Movement, on the meaning of Scott Brown’s election and the particular context within which he was elected, on the election of Chris Christie as Governor of New Jersey and of Bob McDonnell as Governor of Virginia, and on the political earthquake that took place in November, 2010. That earthquake, which gave the Republicans a strength at the state and local level that they have not enjoyed since 1928, is a harbinger of what we will see this November.

Rahne leaves out the shocking (to some) show of nationwide grassroots support for Chick-fil-A last week, as it was under attack by the liberal administrators of the welfare state, who weren't satisfied that the company was merely following the myriad of regulations the government had laid out, they insisted that it think the way the state demanded it to as well.

Not a point stressed by the mainstream media, or by the Left.  They understood it, of course, quite clearly.  But they thought it prudent not to mention it, perhaps hoping the underlying point would go unnoticed among the proletariat if they turned it into a "gay rights" issue.

The overwhelming amount of people that showed up to support a fast-food restaurant stunned the liberal elite. On the other hand, the turnout for a gay-friendly counter-protest at Starbucks ("Starbucks Appreciation Day") surprised no one.

Expect similar results and reactions after the polls close on November 6th...

Mitt Romney: Jewish Rock Star?

Via Jen Rubin, we get this story out of Lakewood, New Jersey:

A funny thing happened on the way to a Mitt Romney fundraiser. Romney, who will spend the evening fundraising in the Garden State, was greeted at the first finance reception by members of a Jewish wedding party who were so excited to see him, some attempted to scale a fence to catch a glimpse of the presumptive GOP candidate.

Several guests of the wedding, dressed for the occasion, darted across the parking lot at the first sight of Romney’s motorcade.

Waved off by Secret Service agents, one of the onlookers responded, “We just want to see Romney,” while other snapped whatever photos they could get. As Romney’s motorcade snaked around the venue to a back entrance, the bride, herself, was spotted posing for wedding photos.

Romney, who is expected to raise $1.5 million at a series of fundraisers tonight, met with the bride and groom privately, an aide confirmed, and posed for a photo with the couple. 





Lakewood -  a "town" of almost 100,000 people -  is a strange place, known for three things: A huge Orthodox Jewish community (almost half of that population), a huge Hispanic community, and for being the home of the Phillies Class A affiliate, the Lakewood Blue Claws.

One thing you can count on is those Jews going to the voting booth on November 6th this year.  And maybe the best that can be said is that those 20-30,000 Jewish votes will cancel out the votes of 20-30,000 liberal jerkoffs in Northern New Jersey.  Which makes things a lot more interesting, as there is a Senate seat up here as well. And as I doubt Reuters or the Washington Post is doing much polling in Lakewood, this state may prove to be a tougher "get" for Obama, and all Democrats, than we have currently been led to believe.  Especially if a once-devoted Obama voting bloc is chasing around the Republican nominee like he is Justin Beiber.

Not that the Democrats seem to care much about the Jewish vote, despite the "charm offensive" being put forth by his surrogates.  What can be more of a slap in the face to American Jews than giving one of the nation's most high-profile anti-Semites a key speaking role at the Democratic convention?  The Diplomad sums up #39 thusly:

Jimmy Carter should not have been president. He was incompetent beyond belief; angry about America's success in the world; wanted us to get our comeuppance; and was and is a mean, reptilian and graceless little man. Being out of office has made him even angrier, meaner, smaller, more anti-American, and more anti-semitic. He was and remains a repellent creature; if anyone ever could make me ashamed of my country, he could. I can't forgive him for that.


I am not sure how quickly the Jews will forgive Barack Obama, either.  Especially as he honors the most anti-semetic president in American history at his second coronation...

A Preview Of The 2012 Romney / Obama Debates....

...as presage by the Simpsons, way back in 1995, in "The PTA Disbands".  Miss Krabapple, as head of the teacher's union,  wants a raise for herself and her members - it's all for the sake of the children, of course - while Skinner delivers the hard truth: The district is out of cash.

Hard to hear in this unauthoirzed video, but the crowd reactions to each side's arguments are priceless as well:

Miss Krabapple: "It's your children's future!"

(crowd murmurs appreciatively)

Principal Skinner:  It'll cost you! 

(crowd turns angry)

Miss Krabapple: "C'monnnnn!"

(voice in crowd: "Good point, she makes a good point...")

Skinner: -says nothing, just rubs his fingers together knowingly

(Voice in crowd: "Taxes!  The finger thing means the taxes!")

As you can imagine, this does not end well....

Good Question!

If, God forbid, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, or Joe Biden were to be struck by genuine neurological dementia, how would we be able to tell?

 ~Jim Geraghty, at today's Campaign Spot

Barack Obama's Economic Policy Explained...In 19 Seconds

By a cartoon cheetah:

163,000 Jobs Created In July? What A Pile Of Bullshit...

Wondering how the economy managed to created 163,000 new jobs in July, as the Department of Labor announced last Friday, while all the evidence around you - boarded-up storefronts, declining sales, increased  first-time unemployment claims - seems a bit counterfactual to that figure?

The answer to your confusion (and mine) is simple.  In an act of unprecedented partisan hackery  (by this particular department of government, anyway), Labor wantonly, and without explanation, altered the statistics to create a more positive employment picture in order for Barack Obama to campaign on an improving economy.

John Crudele, in the New York Post, lays it out:

I analyzed Labor’s latest employment numbers last Saturday and found that its total of 163,000 new jobs for July included 52,000 phantom jobs.
The phantom jobs, contained under Labor’s somewhat arcane and usually overlooked Birth/Death Model, are nothing new. The Birth/Death Model allows Washington to guess at the number of jobs created or lost in the crevices of society where they are hard to prove.

You see, phantom job numbers can vary a lot. In April, 206,000 phantom jobs were created, with 204,000 added in May and 124,000 in June. In fact, 400,000 of the total jobs created this year were phantom jobs. So far, so good.

But the 52,000 figure for July was very unusual. In July, 2011, Labor subtracted 18,000 phantom jobs; the prior July saw 38,000 phantom jobs deducted. In July 2009 — you guessed it — 10,000 phantom jobs disappeared.

In fact, you can go all the way back to when the Birth/Death Model began in 2000 and you won’t see a figure anywhere close to the 52,000 jobs added to last Friday’s numbers...


Subtract Labor's 52,000 "new job"s from the July total, and you have 111,000 new jobs in July, a modest improvement from the last two months but still nothing to really crow about.  Now if you take even the middle number of the last three years of negative July adjustments - 18,000 - and apply it to that 111,000 figure, you are down to a June employment number of a mere 93,000 new jobs created.  Which is probably somewhat closer to the truth, if even still a bit high...

But that 93,000 figure also creates an unmistakable trend of anemic job growth under the economic policies of Barack Obama.  Which would hurt his re-election chances tremendously, heading into "convention season".

So the Department of Labor lied to the American people in order to give Barack Obama something to crow about.

Feel better now?

Just remember - whenever the evidence of your eyes does not match that of the government propaganda that the media is blaring out at you, all you need to do is remind yourself:

This is Hope, this is Change...

Forget About A "Misery Index"...We're Going To Get A "Happiness Index"!

...because all those other charts are so depressing (the unemployment rate, the manufacturing index, housing starts, retail merchant sales, international durable goods orders),  the government is now going to create a chart that tells us - really! - that we've never had it so good!

But the opening of the story in USA Today gives away the game:

Which makes you happier — a pay raise or job security? Another TV or a friend next door? A bigger house or more free time?


Note the obvious suggestion here - that a stagnant life at a dead-end (government?) job with a small apartment and a 12" TV is preferable to life filled with the risk and rewards that come with creating capital, and reaping the benefits of success that may come your (but only your) way.

Whose philosophy does that sound like?

If you still can't figure it out:

The practical impact of the panel's work would be to figure out whether a broader GDP could better guide public policy. For example, if commuters prefer riding the train to fighting traffic in a car, perhaps public transit should be bolstered. Or if patients value pain management more than costlier medical treatments, care considerations could get a second look.


Ah, subsiding mass transit, forgoing cars, and skipping "expensive" (albeit life-prolonging) medical treatment in exchange for "holistic" remedies...whose agenda does that sound like?

Seems as if the Obama Administration (remember, they are funding this study) is now going to try to convince us that all of our dirty money is just making us unhappy. Best off simply handing it over to Barack - he'll know best how to spend it, after all - and start enjoying  your new and reduced standard of living.

Although it may sound a bit harsh - no job mobility, tiny living spaces, minimal luxuries...you'll be happier this way.

Trust us.  We're from the government, and we know what's best for you...

Ted Cruz Has Got Some Good Advice For Mitt Romney...

...on attracting the Hispanic vote.  Cruz explains why this vote should be naturally more Republican:

I think the Hispanic community, the values that resonate in our community, are fundamentally conservative. They are faith, family, patriotism… I think what Gov. Romney needs to do and I think what he is doing is defending those values and making the case that the Obama agenda has been incredibly destructive to the Hispanic community.


Just because the media has made Hispanics into a single-issue constituencey - their "desire" for amnesty for illegal immigrants - is no reason for Romney to do the same.  If anything, it is rationale for him to do the opposite.  I've written about this in the past:

Obama and his cadres, whose primary interaction with Hispanics is with lobbyists for ethnic identity groups, fails to see the concern within the Hispanic communities over illegal immigration.

I work with many Hispanics, we talk about it all the time. Illegals flock to their communities as to blend in; parents fear for their children as the two-bedroom apartment next door becomes host to a dozen illegals or more - are they hard workers or career criminals? Nobody knows, and with a president advocating a "don't ask, don't tell" policy towards illegals, it is the American Hispanic population that is becoming scared, victimized, and terrorized, while being politically patronized...


Hispanic Americans want what every American wants - the opportunity to get a good job, rise up in the world, and be able to walk the streets safely at night.  Obama's policies towards the Hispanic community has deprived them of all three.  Time to make sure that they know that.

And to point out that the only two active Hispanic governors today are Republicans (Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez of New Mexico, America's first "Latina" to hold the office).  And once Cruz takes his seat in the Senate, as he assuredly will, Republicans will boast a 2-1 advantage in Hispanic Senators (maybe 2-0, if the despicable Bob Menendez [D-La Raza] gets the boot in New Jersey).

Groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition are making sure the message about Obama's anti-Israel policies are getting out there to the community, past the mainstream media filter.  Romney will have to pole-vault over the MSM as well to get the news to Hispanics that Obama is screwing them.  And if he needs help to do so, he'd better go get it.  Could be a game-changer...

Staples vs. Solyndra

You know, every now and then this Mitt Romney fellow can really bring it:






And while Barack Obama may bemoan the lack of a narrative, or "a story", for which to seduce the American people with during his 2012 re-election campaign, he sure seems to have provided Mr. Romney with a few very good ones...

Maybe that's one particular wealth that Mr. Obama really didn't want to spread?

Well, at least the president can credibly claim that Mitt Romney "did not build that" narrative, and in fact he couldn't have done it without government assistance....although I'm thinking this would be one occasion that Barack might want to leave that infamous storyline behind...

Liberal Tolerance

From the Chick-Fil-A "kiss-in" in Hollywood, California:

Ringo's got more here...

A Liberal's Lament: God, I Hate Cheering For Team USA!

But don't worry, they are just as proud of their country as you are - they just show it by being ashamed of themselves for even thinking patriotically, and rooting against American althetes.

David Sirota, in Salon, demands we Don’t chant “U.S.A.!”

And yet, as I’ve grown older, I find my “U.S.A.!”-chanting reflex increasingly interrupted by pangs of discomfort... In short, chanting the initials of our nation seems less like it did in 1984 than it has since 1992.


And what happened in these two formative years that so consume Mr. Sirota?

This was precisely the purpose of the ’84 Olympics — it was a one-sided showcase of American superiority.” Then came the 1992 games — the first after the fall of the Berlin Wall. America was at its geopolitical and economic zenith, able to claim the title of “world’s sole superpower.” But instead of projecting a ray of humility in the “with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility” spirit, we instead used the Olympics to spike the ball in the end zone — or, more accurately, 360 windmill dunk over the rest of the planet.



Sirtoa gives us undistilled liberal truth here: Losing to a lesser foe is a more moral outcome than a triumph by a superior athlete. Apply if to economics - Solyndra as superior to Big Oil, food stamps as preferable to a business you didn't build - and you see why we are living in a never-ending Great Recession.

Sirtoa goes on to explain to us why, in reality, America sucks:

Missed in the ensuing red-white-and-blue hoopla, of course, is the fact that we are not so exceptional outside the Olympic village....
For instance, we are not gold, silver or even bronze medalists when it comes to healthcare; sadly, we are 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality and 36th for life expectancy. Likewise, we are not champions when it comes to basic equality; we are one of the most economically unequal nations in the industrialized world....


All demonstrably false, of course, but when does that stop a liberal from spouting it and Salon from printing it?
The mask is off, and now Sirtoa goes nuts:

In this sense, the shrieks of “USA!” for our athletes take on a “doth protest too much” quality. Our shiny medallions and our patriotic braying reassure us that, despite our slipping world standing, we at least still kick international ass in the competition that gets the highest Nielsen ratings...As if deliberately perpetuating the cycle, our Olympic victories — and celebrations of those wins — then (wrongly) convince us of our ongoing superiority, while robbing those weaker nations of any wins that might give them a fleeting feeling of self-empowerment or sovereignty against us. In other words, we are further distracted, and they further emasculated by us militarily, economically, geopolitically and, every four years, athletically.


Sirtoa,in a nutshell: We need to stop rooting for our mean, shitty little nation. We make other people feel bad by not losing to them, and they might like us less. We are nothing more than a nation of "shrieking, braying" idiots, and we have more to be ashamed of than proud of.

But don't you dare question his patriotism.

BTW, 21 year-old Kayla Harrison -  gold medalist for Team USA Woman's Judo   - is the kind of person he is ashamed to root for:

‘This Is My Day. This Is My Purpose. I’m Not Afraid to Win.’

Barack Obama Wants Your Beer Money!

We've all known someone like this - the guy who comes out drinking with the boys and doesn't bring any money with him, yet is always ready to claim a fresh, frosty brew when someone else is buying a round....

Or even worse: How often have we seen a beggar - after asking pitifully for spare change - head down to the liquor store to cash in his charity for a quick bottle of Thunderbird?

We've seen enough of each to recognize the type on sight.  And the "man" (in scare quotes, because no one who actually possessed the male XY chromosomes would make such a request) who tweeted this is a combination of both of these despicable archetypes:

No thanks, pal, I'd rather quaff the brew than give the cash to you.  And let my friend carry his own freakin' weight for a change.

Or, if I may quote a certain plutocrat:

Hmmm. . . eternal happiness for one dollar...? I'd rather keep the dollar!







(Hat tip: White House Dossier)

Chick-Fil-A: Jersey Represents!

Yeah, even in Blue Jersey, people still would like to keep their freedom of speech...via the New York Post:

Masses line up to show support for Chick-fil-A CEO

It took more than hour to order a chicken sandwich at a New Jersey Chick-fil-A yesterday as hundreds of diners descended on the fast-food chain to show their support for the company’s CEO — a vocal critic of gay marriage.

The scene at the Paramus Park Mall, where the long lines snaked throughout the food court into the early evening, was played out at hundreds of other Chick-fil-A locations throughout the country in a show of solidarity for the company’s president, Dan Cathy, and free speech.

“We’re here to show support for his freedom of speech and his right to say what he wants, whether we agree or disagree,” said Eric Arosemowicz, who came with his wife, Dana.

“I think the mayors of those big cities need to worry about their local issues and not worry about what the founder believes about marriage,” said Dana Arosemowicz, while waiting at the New Jersey eatery with her husband.
“I took the afternoon off just to support the freedom of religious beliefs and speech,” home health care nurse Christin De Meo, 51, said after about an hour on line in Paramus.

Ken Walsh, the owner/operator of the Paramus outlet, was stunned by the huge crowd. “We never have lines like this,” said Walsh.

Neighboring eateries in the mall’s food court were near empty...


"A backlash against a backlash" is the way the New York Post describes it, but the blowback didn't start yesterday at Chick-fil-A.  It started in Wisconsin with the re-election of Scott Walker, moved to Brooklyn with the election of Republicans in districts that haven't seen them in almost a century, and showed up on Tuesday in Texas with the landslide victory of Ted Cruz.

Nervous much, Barack?

Word is that gays will hold a homosexual "kiss-in" at Chick-Fil-A's on Friday.  And while there's nothing wrong with waiting on line with buying chicken, aggressive PDA's in public places tends to turn most people off, regardless of the gender of the participants.  And may be illegal in some places as well.

Good luck with that.  Maybe Rahm Emanuel can suck face with David Axelrod at the Chicago outlet.  Hey, if you are that devoted to the cause...

And while we're speaking about Jersey, all is not well in the Garden State:

President Barack Obama is maintaining a lead over Mitt Romney among New Jersey voters surveyed despite concerns about the way he's doing his job. A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released Thursday shows Obama 13 percentage points ahead of the Republican....However, only a third of the New Jersey registered voters surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction and 49 percent approve of the way Obama is handling his job...


Still too much blue in those Jersey veins.  They know the guy is doing a shit job, but can't bring themselves to pull the lever for a Republican (yet).  Or at least not admit it...

Sigh.  Still some work to do, I suppose.  We'll stay on it...

USA's Aly Raisman Gets A (Small) Measure Of Revenge...

The IOC has made it clear that they believe Jewish blood is cheap, as they steadfastly refused to hold a moment of silence to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich Massacre (and way to go, Barack Obama, for making a fuss about it!  Wait...what?  He didn't offer more than platitudes? Shocked, I am!).

But the Jews will not be held down. And God loves irony (and Chick-fil-A, apparently).  And so the 2012 Olympics gives us a nice Jewish gymnast from Massachusetts (sigh) by the name of Aly Raisman, representing Team USA, doing her floor routine to the Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila".

And winning a Gold in the process.  Click here to see her in the prelims:

Funny to see the London crowd, laced with more than a few anti-semites (and that's me being polite - given what Great Britain has morphed into, it is likely that the crowd was predominately anti-semites) clapping their hands and pounding their feet to the rhythmic strains of this ancient song of the Israelites.

In every generation, the haters rise up to extinguish us.  And while they always draw our blood, they wind up drowning in their own.

Hot Air:

Watching a strong, beautiful Jewish woman finish her last tumbling pass, triumphant, as the whole stadium clapped along to a Hebrew folk song of celebration was a great moment— a moving, joyous contrast to Munich and an example of the kind of cultural tribute that’s unstoppable in free people, no matter what the IOC says.


Sometimes, God makes his point not through preachers or sinners, but via 18 year-old gymnasts.  Which is only part of what makes him so great...

(Ted) Cruz Control, "300", And Why Barack Obama Is Sh*tting Bricks

Stunning. Spectacular. In your face.

No other way to describe Ted Cruz's 13 point win over Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst for the Republican Senate nomination in the great state of Texas.  If you take into account Cruz's second-place finish to Dewhurst in the "first round" of the primaries, it's a 24-point turn-around for the Tea Party candidate.

Most of the early polling showed Dewhurst with about a 6-8 point lead over Cruz.  As June wore into July, it was Cruz picking up a 4-6 point lead (a lead Dewhurst claimed as his own, based on his internal polls), and it wasn't until the final pre-election poll, which showed Cruz opening up a 10 point lead, that we saw the makings of a rout.  And yet, Cruz's victory margin topped even that figure, thought to be an outlier at the time.

Dewhurst spent almost $25 million of his own money on the race.  Cruz raised closer to $7 million, although the Club for Growth kicked in another $5.5M of their own on his behalf.

Outspent almost 2-1, Cruz still eviscerated his opponent.  Over 1 million Texans came out to vote on this sweltering summer day, roasting in 100+ degree heat, to make their voices heard.

Related to the point I am about to make:

Ted Cruz wasn’t the only Tea Party victory yesterday. The entire political establishment of Georgia (including the Republican governor and legislative leadership, plus the Democratic mayor of Atlanta and his machine), just got its collective ass royally kicked by the Tea Party. “TSPLOST,” a sales tax hike that would have funded a multi-billion dollar slush fund for transit boondoggles and taxpayer-funded development bootstrapping was supported by $10 million in relentless advertising. Tea Party groups spent all of $15,000 in paid opposition.

Result: 69-31, against. And that was in the Atlanta metro region.


What does Barack Obama see, when he looks over this landscape?

He sees polls with virtually no reliability, seemingly missing out on a key voting bloc that turns out en masse on election day.  A bloc that seems to be growing, not shrinking, no matter how much his state-controlled media derides and mocks them.  A bloc that is impervious to the bombardment of slick, time-tested political advertising, that cannot be moved by negative attacks or even outright lies.

And he sees that more and more Americans are voting with this group, even if they claim no affiliation.  In places like Atlanta, Wisconsin, and Brooklyn, NY.  He sees the Jews leaving him, one by one, and looks at the likelihood of Republicans having two high-profile Hispanic Senators (Cruz & Rubio), versus only one for the Democrats, the lowly and laughable Bob Menendez (D-La Raza).

And while his oracles - the mainstream media - keep telling him he is infallible, a god, it seems as if even Obama knows that their books are cooked.  And perhaps our president feels like another god-king, who saw his best-laid plans laid to waste by those who could not be bribed or bought

Into the Hot Gates we march. Into that narrow corridor we march. Xerxes numbers count for nothing...

....nor does Obama's money.  Or his polling.  Barack Obama is heading into his own Hot Gates on November 7th, his armies of insane liberals neither as large or strong as he once believed.  And it may in fact be beginning to dawn on him, for the first time, that his doom is at hand.

Maybe he'll "dicispline" his generals...?


Update:  Revenge is a dish best served...with Chick-Fil-A?