I stumbled across a link to this website at iOwnTheWorld. They are the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, and their motto is “May we live long and die out.” 

Phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health. Crowded conditions and resource shortages will improve as we become less dense.

I guess I am dense. Why does it matter if the Earth’s biosphere returns to good health (assuming it is “sick”) if we die out? Oh, is it just for the animals? What if those little frogs in Texas, without us here to hinder them, breed uncontrollably and get power hungry? What if they kick all the salamanders and lizards and snakes out, and then they go after the armadillos and then what? Do you suppose there might be selfless little froggies who go out and recruit the more noble frogs to practice safe sex? But then, maybe the salamanders might seize the opportunity to climb to the top of the biospheric pyramid, and here we go again. So anyhow, here’s a little of their philosophy and ideas. There is lots more on the actual site. Follow the link for a trip down the rabbit hole. (more…)

From Instapundit we get this commentary.

LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE GARY JOHNSON EMAILS THIS COMMENTARY ON THE SOTU:

“If the idea tonight was that the President would fulfill his constitutional duty to give us ‘information of the State of the Union’, we should be able to expect some truth. I didn’t hear much truth. Truth is that the real unemployment rate is probably still above 10%. Truth is that after all the hand-wringing and deals of the past couple of years, instead of cutting spending, the President and Congress are going back to the well for another $1.2 Trillion debt limit increase. And the truth is we are seeing nothing from either the President or the Republicans that will really change any of those unacceptable realities.

“Only in the twilight zone that is Washington could a President who has bailed out and stimulated our economy to death stand in the Capitol and declare there should be ‘no bailouts, no handouts, and no cop-outs’. Can anyone spell GM or TARP or Solyndra? (more…)

Alternate Headline: Obama Breaks The Little Hearts Of Catholic Supporters.

National Catholic Reporter journalist Michael Sean Winters writes from a progressive (I still hate that word) Catholic viewpoint. I started to do a little research about Obama declaring that there will be no exemption for the requirement that the Catholic Church provide employees with health insurance that provides birth control at no cost. I checked out what the bishops had to say, the reaction of Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who visited Obama at the White House to make the case for conscience exemptions. “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. I checked various Catholic blogs and news sources for reactions from Catholics across the nation. Since this is actually an issue which effects other religious institutions such as evangelical and conservative Jewish employers as well, I sought reaction from many sources. However, the reaction from many of the liberal Catholic supporters of Obama grabbed my attention and changed the direction I wanted to go with this article. To be sure, there is the chorus of truly liberal Catholics of the Nancy Pelosi – Joe Bided ilk who are unfazed in their support of access to birth control, sterilization, and abortion, and see no crises of conscience here. They believe that the Church should allow the individual to make their own mind up. However, what really surprised me was the reaction of many of the “mouthpiece” Catholics who support Obama. 

Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care annually.“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection,” Sister Keehan said.

Here is the article by Winters, entitled “J’Accuse! Why Obama Is Wrong On The HHS Conscience Regulations.” 

President Barack Obama lost my vote yesterday when he declined to expand the exceedingly narrow conscience exemptions proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The issue of conscience protections is so foundational, I do not see how I ever could, in good conscience, vote for this man again. (more…)

This article from The Enterprise Blog details a memo from Larry Summers to Obama in December of 2008. It has been said much more eloquently than I am able to say it here, but we must keep this foremost in our minds: we cannot afford four more years of this. The abuse to the Constitution Obama has perpetrated in his first term will be minute compared to the scorched earth policy he will adopt in a second term. We are in a battle, possibly THE battle, to stop the slaughter of the last remnant of constitutional government in this country by prudent individuals with fiscal sanity.

A lengthy piece in The New Yorker looks at policymaking in the Obama White House. A key source for writer Ryan Lizza is a 57-page, “Sensitive & Confidential” memo written by economist Larry Summers—eventually to be head of Obama’s National Economic Council—to Obama in December 2008. Here’s some of what I learned about Team Obama’s thinking as the financial crisis was exploding, followed by quotes from the memo itself:

1. The stimulus was about implementing the Obama agenda.

The short-run economic imperative was to identify as many campaign promises or high priority items that would spend out quickly and be inherently temporary. …  The stimulus package is a key tool for advancing clean energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments.

2. Team Obama knows these deficits are dangerous (although it has offered no long-term plan to deal with them). (more…)

Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, U.Va. Center for Politics

This much is obvious: South Carolina has proven to be a disaster for Mitt Romney. The size of his defeat by Newt Gingrich — a 12%+ landslide in a four-way race — is virtually a repudiation of his candidacy in a state that has prided itself on picking the eventual nominee for 32 years. And we suspect Romney will have several more nights of heartburn, much like this one, as the nomination process unfolds.

The surprise for some may be that Mitt Romney remains a strong, though no longer prohibitive, favorite for the Republican presidential nomination. He continues to benefit from an unorganized, inadequately funded, polarizing opposition. The weak Republican field has aided Romney from the start. Still, if there is another South Carolina-style collapse in Florida for Romney, it will have devastating consequences for the frontrunner — and may even bring calls for a new candidate to enter the race. The pressure is on for Romney in the Sunshine State. (more…)

     It really is hard to believe, but Romney appears to have given conflicting information regarding the Damon Corporation and his involvement in the reporting of the fraud.    

In 1989, Bain Capital purchased controlling interest in Damon Corp., a medical testing company located in Needham, Massachusetts.

During the time that Bain held its ownership of the company, Mitt Romney personally sat on the Board of Directors. And during that same period, Damon Corp. was busy submitting fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare to the tune of millions of dollars charged for unnecessary blood tests. (more…)

I am sure I speak for all of us here in the Tree when I say our prayers with be with her for her continued recovery and well being. The incredible work she must have put into getting where she is today is an example of someone with courage and a can do attitude. I hope that she will continue to make great strides in her recovery.

WASHINGTON — A little more than a year after a gunman opened fire at a market where Rep. Gabby Giffords was meeting constituents, the Arizona congresswoman, who was gravely injured in the attack, announced Sunday she was leaving her public office — at least for now.

Six people died and 13 others were injured in the Jan. 8, 2011, violent outburst that left Giffords, 41, in a coma from a gunshot to the head. (more…)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who parachuted into the 2012 Republican presidential contest on a surge of upbeat expectations, is expected to exit the contest Thursday, two days before a South Carolina primary in which he was trailing far behind the leaders.

Perry will hold a press conference in North Charleston at 11 a.m. ET, when he’ll suspend his candidacy.

Perry almost quit the race after a weak fifth-place finish in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.  But urged on by his wife and supporters, he decided to press ahead, skipping the New Hampshire primary and putting all of his emphasis on South Carolina. (more…)

Dare we hope that some Americans just drank a little of the Kool-Aid Obama and his team dosed the country with in the last election? This poll shows a majority of the Independent voters, a very critical constituency, disapprove of Obama’s job performance on the economy. Two thirds say he has not made any progress when it comes to fixing the economy. Sure he has, it’s just negative progress. He has made it worse. Also, thirty one percent express a favorable opinion. Maybe this poll is good news, but I always wonder how such a number of people – and these claim to be Independent voters – can remain so blind to facts and the reality of our downward spiral under Obama’s leadership. (more…)

We have a guest post today by gfcinthatorder, with collaboration by GruntOfMonteCristo. Our thanks to them for supplying us with this post. Gfc has found the perfect poem for us, Treepers. Little Red Riding Hood has changed her attitude.

As soon as Wolf began to feel
That he would like a decent meal,
He went and knocked on Grandma’s door.
When Grandma opened it, she saw
The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,
And Wolfie said, “May I come in?”
Poor Grandmamma was terrified,
“He’s going to eat me up!” she cried.
And she was absolutely right.
He ate her up in one big bite.
But Grandmamma was small and tough,
And Wolfie wailed, “That’s not enough!
I haven’t yet begun to feel
That I have had a decent meal!”
He ran around the kitchen yelping,
“I’ve got to have a second helping!” (more…)