Star Parker delivers a stemwinder

Syndicated columnist and former congressional candidate Star Parker delivers a powerful speech to the Republican Leadership Conference meeting in New Orleans this month:

Hat tip: Nina and UrbanCure.

Profiting from goods the TSA confiscates from travelers

If the TSA confiscated property from you at an airport security checkpoint, you might be able to buy it back from a store such as the Texas State Surplus Store at 6506 Bolm Road, off U.S. 183. Among many other items, the store has lots of snow globes because they violate TSA regs on liquids.  The Austin Statesman reports:

Thus, rows and rows of snow globes sit at the surplus store, which gets its inventory not only from state surplus but also from items that were left behind or confiscated — "We say willfully surrendered," said cashier Roberta Siller — at airport security checkpoints in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Waco, El Paso and other small airports.In the five years this store has been open, its plane-related inventory has soared because of heightened security, according to director James Barrington. The airport stuff takes up most of one small room at the store. In 2010, the state's general fund was enriched $300,000 by the storefront's sales.

"willfully surrendured"? That is a creative euphenism.

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In San Francisco, city pensions are higher than the average citizen's wage

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The average retiree who worked at least 30 years in city government earns an annual pension of $76,981.

The average pension for a retiree from the Fire Department is $108,552. From the Police Department? $95,016. ....

[C]ity retirees are doing pretty well compared with working San Franciscans. Census data show the median family income in the city is $86,546. Per capita income is $44,373.

Public Defender Jeff Adachi is gathering signatures to place a measure on the November ballot that would require city workers to pay far more of their salaries toward pensions. Currently, most pay 7.5 percent of their paychecks, but some highly paid employees would pay double that in bad economic years under Adachi's plan.

"I think it's interesting that the average pension paid to a city employee is higher than the average earnings of most San Franciscans," he said.

Hat tip: Public CEO.

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Global warmists propose mass killing of animals

The Australian government is considering a proposal to shoot feral camels "from helicopters or four-wheel-drives" purportedly to reduce carbon emissions.  The Australian reports:

One camel is estimated to emit about a tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, measured as 45kg of methane, and they each eat about a tonne of vegetation.

Each camel's death is estimated to yield an "emissions avoidance benefit" of about 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Let us hope that environmentalists never calculate the "emissions avoidance benefit" of shooting humans.

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• France's carbon tax ruled unconstitutional
•UN IPCC responds to Climategate with wild accusations
•Surprise: EU's carbon trading riddled with fraud
•Global warming and the test of science, III
•Global warming and the test of science, II
•Global warming and the test of science, I
•141 scientists wrote letter to UN challenging global warming hysteria.
•Ma'am Sen. Boxer for and against climate whistleblowers.
•BBC propaganda on global warming
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Racer of the Week

Check out the new blog "Racer of the Week" which documents liberal attempts to label as racist anyone who disagrees with them.  (Hat tip: BotW.)

Liberals are religious. Who knew?

Jill Abramson has just been promoted to Executive Editor of the New York Times. In an interview with the New York Times, she explains her view of "absolute truth":

Ms. Abramson, 57, said that as a born-and-raised New Yorker, she considered being named editor of The Times to be like "ascending to Valhalla."

"In my house growing up, The Times substituted for religion,” she said. “If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth." [Emph. added]

That seems like an unlikely article of faith, but it is one shared by many liberals.

UPDATE: Jay Nordlinger (hat tip: Instapundit) points out that the New York Times has now re-written the article removing most of the above quote. What is one to think when "the absolute truth" changes?

PREVIOUSLY on liberals getting religion:
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