Donald Trump Says He'd Tap Sarah Palin for a Cabinet Post

She should be appointed Secretary of the Interior, to open up federal lands for oil exploration and development. Or perhaps Energy Secretary would be good as well.

At Politico:

Donald Trump has succeeded in alienating many of his fellow Republicans with his personal attacks, but if he does win in November 2016 and is forced to assemble a cabinet of GOP allies, he knows exactly whom he would call on: Sarah Palin.

When asked on Sarah Palin’s Mama Grizz Radio’s “The Palin Update” Monday whether he would seek the former Alaska governor’s advice as president or potentially appoint her to an executive-branch position, Trump said, “I’d love that.”

Also at the Hill, "Trump: 'I'd love' to have Sarah Palin in my administration."

In Addis Ababa, Megalomaniac Obama Tells African Leaders He'd Win a Third Term (VIDEO)

He's a narcissist and a megalomaniac who laughs at his own jokes, as if he's the center of the world. It's sickening.

Background at the New York Times, "‘Nobody Should Be President for Life,’ Obama Tells Africa."

2015 MCAS Air Show Miramar

It's a little more than a month away.

See, "2015 Miramar Air Show Schedule | MCAS Miramar Air Show."

Donald Trump Throws 'Adviser' Michael Cohen Under the Bus

At CNN, via Memeorandum, "Trump adviser Michael Cohen apologizes for rape comment."

Plus, "Trump on Michael Cohen: 'He's speaking for himself..."

And ICYMI, at the Other McCain, "A Cheap ‘Rape’ Smear on Trump."

BONUS: From Dylan Byers, at Politico, "Some thoughts on The Daily Beast vs. Donald Trump."

A Renegade Trawler, Hunted for 10,000 Miles by Vigilantes

An example of non-governmental actors at work.

Pretty fascinating.

At the New York Times, "For 110 days and across two seas and three oceans, crews stalked a fugitive fishing ship considered the world’s most notorious poacher":

A renegade trawler, hunted for 10,000 miles by vigilantes http://t.co/SMTVQkp50N pic.twitter.com/lnFX6IiwZr

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) July 29, 2015

ABOARD THE BOB BARKER, in the South Atlantic — As the Thunder, a trawler considered the world’s most notorious fish poacher, began sliding under the sea a couple of hundred miles south of Nigeria, three men scrambled aboard to gather evidence of its crimes.

In bumpy footage from their helmet cameras, they can be seen grabbing everything they can over the next 37 minutes — the captain’s logbooks, a laptop computer, charts and a slippery 200-pound fish. The video shows the fishing hold about a quarter full with catch and the Thunder’s engine room almost submerged in murky water. “There is no way to stop it sinking,” the men radioed back to the Bob Barker, which was waiting nearby. Soon after they climbed off, the Thunder vanished below.

It was an unexpected end to an extraordinary chase. For 110 days and more than 10,000 nautical miles across two seas and three oceans, the Bob Barker and a companion ship, both operated by the environmental organization Sea Shepherd, had trailed the trawler, with the three captains close enough to watch one another’s cigarette breaks and on-deck workout routines. In an epic game of cat-and-mouse, the ships maneuvered through an obstacle course of giant ice floes, endured a cyclone-like storm, faced clashes between opposing crews and nearly collided in what became the longest pursuit of an illegal fishing vessel in history.

Industrial-scale violators of fishing bans and protected areas are a main reason more than half of the world’s major fishing grounds have been depleted and by some estimates over 90 percent of the ocean’s large fish like marlin, tuna and swordfish have vanished. Interpol had issued a Purple Notice on the Thunder (the equivalent of adding it to a Most Wanted List, a status reserved for only four other ships in the world), but no government had been willing to dedicate the personnel and millions of dollars needed to go after it.

So Sea Shepherd did instead, stalking the fugitive 202-foot steel-sided ship from a desolate patch of ocean at the bottom of the Earth, deep in Antarctic waters, to any ports it neared, where its crews could alert the authorities. “The poachers thrive by staying in the shadows,” Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the Barker, said while trying to level his ship through battering waves. “Our plan was to put a spotlight on them that they couldn’t escape.”

The pursuit of the Thunder until its sinking in April, pieced together from radio transmissions, interviews, ship records and reporting on board the Bob Barker and its fellow ship, the Sam Simon, demonstrates the anything-goes nature of the high seas, where weak laws and a lack of policing allow both for persistent criminality and, at times, bold vigilantism.

Illegal fishing is a global business estimated at $10 billion in annual sales, and one that is thriving as improved technology has enabled fishing vessels to plunder the oceans with greater efficiency. While countries, with varying degrees of diligence, typically patrol their own coastlines, few ever do so in international waters, even though United Nations maritime regulations require them to hold vessels flying their flags accountable for illicit fishing.

That leaves room for organizations like Sea Shepherd, which describes itself as an eco-vigilante group, flies a variation of the Jolly Roger on its ships and often cites the motto, “It takes a pirate to catch a pirate.” In chasing the Thunder, Sea Shepherd’s goal was not just to protect a rapidly disappearing species of fish, its leaders said, but to show that flagrant violators of the law could be brought to justice...

Keep reading.

More #drylandsCA

At the Los Angeles Times.

"How many dry riverbeds do I have to walk before I stop feeling shocked?" #drylandsCA: http://t.co/gZWXhgkqLw pic.twitter.com/zFTtAJHqLe

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 28, 2015

The good news is that the El Niño system is genuinely expected to bring more rain and alleviate some of the drought. See, "July's record-breaking rainfall may not be over yet."

PREVIOUSLY: "#drylandsCA."

Teen 'Lured' 8-Year-Old Santa Cruz Girl Into Apartment Before Killing Her, Dumping Body in Recycling Bin (VIDEO)

That's the grim headline at KTLA 5 Los Angeles, at Memeorandum.

And here's CBS News San Francisco:

Damage Control: Planned Parenthood Hires Crisis Communications Firm

The left's abortion Holocaust industry leader, in damage control mode.

At Politico:

Planned Parenthood has hired high-profile Washington public relations firm SKDKnickerbocker as it scrambles to deal with the ongoing scandal and release of a third undercover video Tuesday showing a clinic’s staff handling fetal tissue after an abortion.

The additional PR firepower reflects the growing pressure on the women’s health organization amid building GOP calls to cut its $540 million in government funding. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this week called to halt Planned Parenthood’s federal funding while Congress investigates whether the organization broke a federal ban on profiting from fetal tissue donation. The Senate plans to hold a vote on a defunding amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and others that is likely to fail.

SKDKnickerbocker is no newbie to working on Planned Parenthood issues. The Democratically aligned firm is run by well-connected operatives, including Anita Dunn and Hilary Rosen. It also worked with the group during the 2012 election cycle, according to SKDKnickerbocker’s website...

Well, Anita "Mao Tse" Dunn is no slouch at damage control, to say nothing of Hilary "Ann Romney Stay-at-Home Mom" Rosen.

More at Memeorandum.

EARLIER: "Grisly New Video Shows Doctor Harvesting Aborted Baby Parts for Planned Parenthood Black Market."

Kate Moss for Love Magazine

On Twitter, "Kate Moss by David Sims wears Balmain Fall/Winter 2015 Lace Body Look 10 styled by @kegrand for @THELOVEMAGAZINE."

More from photographer Katie Eleanor Grand, on Twitter.

And from Drunken Stepfather, "KATE MOSS FOR LOVE MAGAZINE OF THE DAY."

Charlotte McKinney: They're Real. And They're Spectacular (VIDEO)

Watch, at GQ, "Charlotte McKinney: The 5 Things I Say When I'm Asked If They're Real."

BONUS: At the link, "CHARLOTTE MCKINNEY TOPLESS ON INSTAGRAM! Blonde bombshells blonde bombshells!" Also at WWTDD, "Charlotte McKinney Topless on Instagram."

Britain's Lord Sewel Resigns House of Lords After Snorting Cocaine with Two Hookers (VIDEO)

He's a former Labour peer.

The story first broke at the Sun UK, "Lord Coke: Top peer’s drug binges with £200 prostitutes ... And he’s the the one in charge of standards."

More at Sky News, "Lord Sewel Steps Down From House of Lords."

And at Telegraph UK, "Lord Sewel resigns and faces police inquiry after 'snorting cocaine with prostitutes'."

Grisly New Video Shows Doctor Harvesting Aborted Baby Parts for Planned Parenthood Black Market

Good timing.

From The Center for Medical Progress, "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE #PPSellsBabyParts EX-CLINIC WORKER REVEALS PROFIT MOTIVE IN PLANNED PARENTHOOD BABY PARTS SALES, VP MEDICAL DIRECTOR PRICES BODY PARTS ..."

Also at Live Action, "BREAKING: New undercover video shows sorting of aborted baby parts at Planned Parenthood."

Conservatives Harden Opposition to the Export-Import Bank

I've gotta confess, this debate over the Ex-Im bank is completely esoteric. I mean, what does this bank even do? And I guess that's it. Total establishment cronyism.

At Foreign Policy, "Ahead of Friday Deadline, Conservatives Harden Opposition to the Export-Import Bank":

The fate of the Export-Import Bank, a key funding source for small businesses that want to do business abroad, and whose charter expired at the beginning of July, will soon be in the hands of the House of Representatives. Conservative lawmakers there are now preparing to buck their party’s mainstream in an attempt to kill something the White House and U.S. businesses say is necessary to stay competitive globally.

If this sounds familiar, it should.

A similar scenario played out in June, during the debate about fast track trade authority, something President Barack Obama and GOP leadership said was needed to push through trade bills like the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Conservative Republicans teamed up with some Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a close ally of the White House, to delay its passage. Obama ultimately got what he wanted when the renegade Democrats, boxed in by their leader, relented and voted for fast track.

This time, however, conservative members of the GOP and those affiliated with the Tea Party are on their own. Populist Democrats who initially rejected Obama on trade in this case support the bank, known as the Ex-Im. During a rare Sunday vote, senators voted 67 to 26 to attach the bank’s reauthorization to the highway bill, which faces a Friday deadline. The highway bill either has to pass by then, the House could vote on for a five-month extension, or some other compromise must be reached.

But that doesn’t mean Republicans can’t slow down the process. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wants the bank reauthorized. But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Monday he would not bring the bill to the floor of the lower chamber. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, also has said he would not support the bill...

More.

Donald Trump Sells New York Penthouse for $21 Million

Twenty-one million doesn't go that far in presidential politics, so maybe this is just the beginning of an asset selloff for Trump. He's gonna need lots more liquid cash if he's going to contest the primaries all the way through next June.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Located on the 24th floor of the 32-story building, the 6,200-square-foot condo has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms."

RELATED: At Politico, "Donald Trump’s cash will only take him so far in 2016":

The Donald has pledged to self-fund his campaign, but his cash position isn’t even close to what he would need to make it to the White House.

Rising Costs Strike at German Competitiveness

At WSJ, "Companies grapple with labor expenditures that threaten growth, investment in Europe’s largest economy":

FRANKFURT—Spiraling German labor costs are starting to undermine the country’s famed competitiveness, threatening to hurt economic growth and investment in Europe’s largest economy.

Propelled by a healthy economy and record-low unemployment, labor costs here are rising fast, as the government has further tightened its grip on the labor market, driving up companies’ wage bills.

Official German data published this month showed that real wages in the first quarter rose at their fastest rate since late 1992, when wages in East Germany shot up following the country’s unification, and much faster than the eurozone as a whole.

German businesses say they are feeling the pinch, but in Berlin, politicians have ignored a trend economists and managers warn that, if left unchecked, will hit growth and employment levels.

“Rising labor costs is the most critical issue,” said Martin Kapp, the chief executive at machine-tool maker KAPP Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, who said he expects increases in personnel expenses, which include wages as well as contributions to social insurance, retirement and health care, among other costs, to rise about 30% over the next 10 years...

Keep reading.

Cecile Richards Defends Planned Parenthood Selling Aborted Baby Body Parts, Calls Pro-Lifers Killers

From Steve Ertelt, at Life News.

I was going to post the video, but ABC News yanked the interview from its YouTube page. Which is strange, because it was up there on Sunday.

BONUS: From Mollie Hemingway, at the Federalist, "The 4 Most Embarrassing Things Cecile Richards Said In Defense of Planned Parenthood."

Ford Bets on Super-Duper Class of Pickups

I love the new Ford 150, from what I've seen on TV.

But they're more luxurious than I thought.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Auto Makers Double Down on Pricey Pickups."

How and Why to Kill the Iran Deal

From Caroline Glick, at the Jerusalem Post.

Khloé Kardashian Complex Cover Behind the Scenes

Here, "Behind the scenes of Khloé Kardashian's August/September 2015 cover for Complex."

Hat Tip: London's Daily Mail, "'You don't give me credit for my daily workouts!' Khloé Kardashian shuts down 'troll haters' by posting unretouched image from Complex spread."

Boy Scouts of America to Lift Ban on Homosexual Adults

Hey, gotta go with the flow, I guess.

At ABC 10 News, San Diego, "Boy Scouts board ends ban on gay scout leaders."

Also at CNN, "Jon Langbert, a former Boy Scout leader who is gay, says that the lifted ban on gay adult leaders does not go far enough."

Doesn't go far enough? You'll notice that the goal isn't so much to allow gays to participate in the Boy Scouts, but to once again banish altogether the role of religion out of American life, public and private.

This whole turn is horrendous. See, "The Same-Sex Marriage Bait-and-Switch."