Remember this, next time they come sniffing ’round for donations

Pro Publica:

Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy?

The charity has hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request we filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a ‘‘trade secret.’’

Yep, wouldn’t want those other charities to find out.  It might get in the way of executive bonuses.

Via Newser via Insty.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:26:21 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ganders get sauced, don’t seem to like it...

The Wall Street Journal:

Lawmakers Wednesday voiced concern over the Obama administration’s plans for monitoring individuals who hold security clearances...

Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) said... that the stated possibility of continuous evaluation of legislative officials [especially members of Congress - O.G.] would raise constitutional questions...

The senators apparently find little ‘‘constitutional question’’ about ‘‘continuously evaluating’’ the citizenry, of course.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 18:11:35 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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The closer you get...

‘‘monkeyfan,’’ commenting at Instapundit:

I was always curious of what might have happened if the original National Socialists had gained power in a Germany that had a 2nd Amendment...  Never would I have guessed that I would have to actually worry about it.

Alas, it seems the purveyors of the latest [progressiver] iteration of Nationalist Socialism seem to be seizing the opportunity to show us.

‘‘Unthinkable!  It couldn’t happen here!  Never again...’’

Let’s see; we've got big central government run by party faithful; crony capitalist cartels with ‘‘seats at the table’’ exercising inordinate direct input (often word for word injection) regarding the crafting of legislation and regulatory controls; consolidation of media/propaganda assets into pliable network blocs which closely coordinate the distribution of regime friendly narratives; widespread use of intimidation and other institutional means to suppress ungood speech; enabling acts out the wazoo; discretionary/situational rule of law which flows in one monolithic direction; a networked domestic surveillance apparatus primarily aimed at the citizenry - with specific internal targeting of [potential] domestic dissenters; official arming of [other] international fascist entities; countries falling like dominoes to aforementioned fascists in service of domestic agenda; arming of criminal cartels and other forces of disruption in ostensibly allied countries; active programs (official and otherwise) to disarm law-abiding citizens; massive dislocation of neighboring ethnic populations and ongoing efforts to engineer domestic demographics; distribution of jobs and benefits via a codified system of ethnic/racial/gender classification; widespread use of national civilian government assets to directly harass and disrupt various social and economic activities of perceived domestic ideological rivals; official financial and logistical support for regime friendly activists...etc., etc.

Suddenly that unidentifiable duck-sounding thing is starting to goosestep like one...

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:58:07 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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