Nationwide Protests Grip Egypt

These are mondo massive protests.

At WSJ, "Widespread Opposition Protests Grip Egypt: Biggest Demonstrations Since Mubarak's Ouster Urge Morsi to Step Down, Call Early Elections; a Crowded Tahrir Square":

CAIRO—Egyptians took to the streets on Sunday for nationwide protests against President Mohammed Morsi, presenting a massive popular opposition that rivaled the size of demonstrations that toppled President Hosni Mubarak more than two years ago.

By early evening, legions of protesters had crowded into Cairo's Tahrir Square and filled several city blocks in front of Ittihadiya Palace, the president's main residence, demanding that Mr. Morsi step down and call early elections.

In most protest areas, the atmosphere was ebullient. Families walked with children in tow, some with their faces painted, munching on snacks and waving Egyptian flags. Passing motorists honked their horns, lending a festival aspect to the marches despite weeks of concern over the potential for violence.

Parts of the capital that would normally be starting a workday Sunday were largely quiet. Protesters marched through streets that were almost empty of cars. Shops and restaurants in Cairo remained closed.

Although the main protests remained peaceful, the nation's Health Ministry said five people were killed and more than 400 injured around the country, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo were set ablaze. People inside the building were seen firing at protesters.

Demonstrations of comparable size were reported throughout the country, with streams of Egyptians flooding streets in the coastal city of Alexandria, southern Egypt and the heavily populated Nile Delta region. Smaller protests were held by Egyptian expatriates in Sydney, Paris, Washington and other capitals.

The size of the demonstrations—with the numbers of protesters estimated from hundreds of thousands into the millions—exceeded any of the protests that have taken place since Mr. Mubarak stepped down in February 2011. The massive turnout stood alongside Mr. Morsi's repeated claims that most Egyptians stood behind the country's first-ever elected president.

Continue reading.

And at the New York Times, "Video and Images of Anti-Morsi Protests."

Lady Gaga Changes National Anthem: 'Land of the Free, and the Home for the Gay...'

They're bringing on the backlash.

At Twitchy, "‘Disrespectful’: Lady Gaga ripped for changing the words to the national anthem."

And at the Washington Times, "Lady Gaga amends national anthem: ‘Land of the free, and the home for the gay’."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Cartoons."

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Sour Kraut."

RELATED: "Our Hapless, Powerless President Can't Do Jack About Edward Snowden's Global Jetsetting."

Julian Assange Interview on ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos'

He just lies through his teeth at this clip.

HAT TIP: Memeorandum.

Traditional Sunday Rule 5

And by traditional, I mean traditional testosterone-driven male ogling of the feminine sex. All the gay "sweetness and light" is driving me crazy.

This is Miss Tori Lee at left.

And see Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup – Pre July 4th!" and "If All You See……is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle being washed with precious non-renewable water, you might just be a Warmist."

Also at Gator Doug's, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Jessa Hinton."

At Proof Positive, "Women of PETA XXXIV -- Because the world needs more naked, nearly naked and vegetable clad vegetarians!"

Now over at Randy's Rountable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Erica Redling."

At Zion's Trumpet, "It's Rule 5 Friday."

And going directly to Wine, Women and Politics, "Bonus Babes."

Also at Odie's, "Blonde Curtains ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

From Animal Magnetism, "Rule Five Friday – Animal’s Manifesto, Part Ten." And at Bob Belvedere's, "Rule 5 Saturday: Chloe Vevrier."

And 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Rule 5 Sunday With Links." And from Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: The IDF again!"

Soylent Green has "Afternooner: Hot Wheels," and "Your AM Angel."

And at Drunken Stepfather, "PAULINA GRETZKY IS STILL IN A BIKINI OF THE DAY."

Also, at Pitsnipes and Gripes, "Random curves." Plus the Right Way has "Friday Babe."

Check Egotastic! too, "India Reynolds Stacks Her Stacks Up Against Courtnie Quinlan in the Battle of the Boobtastic."

Wrapping it up is Theo, "Bedtime Totty..."

Add your links in the comments and I'll update!

Supreme Court Denies Petition to Halt Homosexual Marriages in California

I commented on this previously, "'Tonight it is chaos and lawlessness, and anyone who is concerned about the rule of law ought to be deeply troubled by what happened here...'"

And now at the Los Angeles Times, "Supreme Court rejects bid to halt same-sex marriages in California," and the Hill, "Report: High court rejects petition to halt gay marriages in Calif." (Via Memeorandum.)

Party time!

Toronto Gay Pride Week 2013

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Toronto Gay Pride Week 2013 Kicks Off with a Jew-Bashing Lecture."

Well, the left's disgusting and deathly agenda is all of a piece, isn't it?

More, "Let the games begin..."

Also, "King and Queen" and "Its only just begun..."

Plus, "Which one is Justin?" and "Random Strange."

Still more, "More stuff but the dog is cool," "Socialism," and "Pride floats fall into two categories Crappy and Crappier."

Finally, "I think this is the Chief" and "TDSB of course."

That's quite a bit. Check back at BCF for more.

How Will Homosexual Marriage Supporters Argue Against Polygamy?

Well, WND has this, "Next Up, Polygamy?"

Actually, proponents of polygamist marriage aren't holding back at all.

At Reason, "So How About That Polygamy? Time to Talk About It?":

Will Wilkinson, blogging at The Economist, makes an argument that as with prostitution, our criminalization of polygamy often does the opposite of what’s intended and increases the victimization of women and children because of its shadowy status in culture:

If a man can love a man, a woman can love a woman and a man. And if they all love each other... well, what's the problem? Refraining from criminalising families based on such unusual patterns of sentiment is less than the least we can do. If the state lacks a legitimate rationale for imposing on Americans a heterosexual definition of marriage, it seems pretty likely that it likewise lacks a legitimate rationale for imposing on Americans a monogamous definition of marriage. Conservatives have worried that same-sex marriage would somehow entail the ruination of the family as the foundation of society, but we have seen only the flowering of family values among same-sex households, the domestication of the gays. Whatever our fears about polyamorous marriage, I suspect we'll find them similarly ill-founded. For one thing, what could be more family-friendly than four moms and six dads?

There you go.

You're going to be seeing a lot of arguments like this. Americans have to hunker down and avoid the left's culture of depravity. It's nearly all enveloping, but a backlash is coming. I guarantee it.

And see from 2009, "How Does Gay Marriage Affect Me?"

Added: From William Jacobson, "Polygamy – another love that now dares speak its name again."

Who Are the True Defenders of the West?

"If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons." --- Winston Churchill, comments to his personal secretary John Colville the evening before Operation Barbarossa.

I'm struck by Melanie Phillips' last line in her response to Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer's reply to her original screed on the Home Secretary's ban:

You’d never think from this, would you, that I wrote the book Londonistan, and have been viciously and repeatedly attacked for ‘Islamophobia’ on account of my warnings against Britain’s systemic failure to acknowledge the religious nature of the Islamic jihad against the west. You’d never realise from this, would you, that in my piece about the banning order I specifically condemned the UK government for allowing into the country inflammatory Islamic extremists while banning Ms Geller and Mr Spencer. No, all this is simply brushed aside -- because I do not think common cause should be made with thugs and neo-Nazis....

It would be comic, were it not a tragic illustration of the west’s inability correctly to identify just who are its enemies and who are its true defenders.

The implication is that by snobbishly dismissing the EDL as a bunch of hooligans and Nazis she's able to seize the high ground over Pamela and Robert. It's an amazing piece of sophistry, especially coming from one of such purportedly high British pedigree. No doubt Ms. Phillips is aware of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's comments on June 21, 1941, the night before Nazi Germany embarked on its fateful strategic gambit to invade Soviet Russian in Hitler's final bid for Lebensraum.

The Soviets after World War II would ultimately become the biggest threat to liberty in the West, but at that moment in 1941 nothing was more important than the defeat of the totalitarian Nazi regime. No country would be safe from Germany's insatiable racist hegemony. The fate of the British Isles and the Empire lay at the hand of Churchill's government. He wasn't about to stick up his nose and diss Stalin as some dirtbag cracker from the Georgian hinterland.

I think this comment at Blazing Cat Fur's thread really sums up:

Spencer and Geller are correct; Phillips is trying to distance herself based on Leftist character assassination, as if the Left does anything else. Phillips should have thought this through and realized she's just isolated herself by trying to distance herself.

She forgets; there's no distance. We all live in Dar al-Harb.

There may be some high principles at stake in this debate. There may be some reasonable claims about the need to keep distance from EDL. But for all of her erudition and past advocacy --- recall that Ms. Phillips has long been one of my favorite writers on the left's destruction of liberty, decency, and national security --- it's clear that she's made a serious lapse of judgment with her internecine war on Pamela and Robert, the premiere counter-jihadists in the U.S.

Pamela and Robert are the true defenders of the West. It's shameful that Ms. Phillips would so hastily throw them under the bus.

And with that, here's Pamela's response this morning, "MORE ELITISM":

Apparently Melanie Phillips can dish it out but she can't take it. She was shocked that both Robert and I would respond to her gratuitous attack on our work. She is calling her cop-out column "A hysterical and ignorant response."

What did she expect? That we wouldn't defend ourselves? She has attacked me before. She praised a blogger who wrote that I was "a lunatic blogger." Please go here and read it all. I did not respond, because lord knows that intercine warfare is the last thing we need. But the last shot she took was a step too far. Not now, when the stakes are so high and time is too short.

Hysterical and ignorant? Pathetic. More elitism. She says she doesn't want to engage in ad hominen attacks, so she lets others do the dirty work and then praises them.

Forgive me if I don't drop to my knees in thanks because she called us "anti-jihad" and not "anti-Muslim," "anti-Islam," or "islamophobic" like the enemy does. That's how low her bar is -- we are supposed to be grateful that she doesn't defame us.

She pats herself on the back for opposing our banning order, but so did some of our most vicious enemies. Are we to be grateful that she didn't support the ban? Really? Please, Mel, don't help me. With friends like you, we don't need Harry's Place.

As for the evidence she presents against the EDL, it is weak and unconvincing. The EDL was formed because the BNP was racist and anti-semitic. They purge BNP from their ranks. The EDL has a Jewish division (and an LBGT division, a Sikh division, etc.). Tommy has been arrested? So what? I never said these were Nancy boys. They aren't. And they don't play in the sandboxes of Oxford, Cambridge or The Spectator. He has paid his debt to society; how long will his troubled youth be held against him? He is, in his way, a more eloquent and impassioned voice against the islamization of his country than is Phillips.

The EDL has nothing racist or xenophobic about its platform. Phillips knows full well that the rare nazi salute at an EDL rally is most often the work of an infiltrator, a deliberate schemer attempting to smear the group. They are removed from the demo immediately. She ought to be more critical of those who seek to manipulate her good opinion.

Phillips says that the EDL targets mosques, but it doesn't. Actually Islamic supremacists fake attacks on mosques and try to pin them on the EDL, but Tommy Robinson has said: "Anyone who knows anything about our group knows there is no way we do anything like that. It’s just so blatant it’s not us."

Her reference to Vlaams Belang is really a low blow. First, because we attended a conference in 2007 that Filip DeWinter happened to be at (here). That is the extent of my relationship. I knew nothing of him or his group (I still don't) when I went to Brussels along with Bat Ye'or, David Littman, Dr. Aryeh Eldad (Israel), Robert Spencer, Dr. Andrew Bostom, Friends of Oriana Fallaci and the world's leading counter jihadists. Hundreds were there. So was DeWinter. So what? Melanie Phillips is now attaching herself to the libels of the execrable Charles Johnson. That tells you everything.

PREVIOUSLY: "Pamela Geller: 'With Friends Like These...'"

Also, "Free Speech Dies in UK: Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller Banned from Entering," and "Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer Banned From Britain."

Battle of Gettysburg Reenactment

KNXV-TV ABC15 Phoenix, "Thousands flock to witness reenactment of battle of Gettysburg."

And from Selena Zito, at the Pittsburgh Tribune, "Gettysburg: Where America got its chance to start over."

And a video at Telegraph UK, "Thousands take part in Gettysburg re-enactment."

'American Music'

From the band's January concert at the Observatory in Santa Ana. I looked into getting some tickets, but it was too late.

Why Humans Throw So Well

This is cool.

At the New York Times, "Scientists Unlock Mystery in Evolution of Pitchers":

No one knows whether Homo erectus, the early ancestor of both the Yankees and the Red Sox, threw the split-finger fastball.

But he could have, according to a group of scientists who offer new evidence that the classic overhand throw used by baseball players at all positions, and by snowball, rock and tomato hurlers of all ages, is an evolutionary adaptation dependent on several changes in anatomy. They first appeared, the researchers say, around 1.8 million years ago, when humans were most likely beginning to hunt big game and needed to throw sharp objects hard and fast.

No other primate throws with anything comparable to human force. Chimpanzees, who are much, much stronger, pound for pound, than human beings, can throw, as any zoo visitor knows. But the best an adult male can do is about 20 miles per hour. A 12-year-old human pitcher can easily throw three times that fast.

Clearly, the reason is not muscle strength, according to Neil Roach of George Washington University, first author of a report in the journal Nature released on Wednesday. Dr. Roach, who conducted the research as a graduate student at Harvard, and his colleagues there used motion-capture video to analyze the throwing motion of 20 college athletes, who hurled baseballs at a target about 100 feet away, with and without a brace that restricted shoulder motion.

They analyzed the structure of the shoulder and upper arm, the motion and the forces involved, and concluded, first, that muscles alone cannot account for how hard and fast humans throw. The shoulder and arm and the rest of the body involved in the throwing motion must be storing elastic energy, like the long tendon of a kangaroo when it hops, or the human Achilles’ tendon in running and jumping, they said.

“You’re storing energy in your shoulder,” Dr. Roach said, speaking from Africa, where he was heading to Lake Turkana to look at fossil footprints of human ancestors about a million and a half years old. The storage occurs in the cocking motion, when a thrower brings hand and ball back, preparing to throw. “It works just like a slingshot would. You’re actually stretching the ligaments.”

Several developments in anatomy allowed humans to throw this way, he said, including a waist that allows twisting and a relatively open shoulder, compared with those of other primates like chimpanzees.

Looking at the fossil record, Dr. Roach and colleagues put the moment at which these changes came together in one body at about 1.8 million years ago, when Homo erectus first appeared. “It’s possible that Homo erectus could throw as fast as we do,” Dr. Roach said.

More at that top link.

Kate Upton for Vogue Brazil

On Twitter:

#voguebrazil pic.twitter.com/4MuIGRQvkN

— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) June 27, 2013

And at London's Daily Mail, "Kate Upton the queen of curves brings smouldering glamour to Vogue Brazil in her 'favorite' photo shoot yet."

Obama Visits Fake Slave House, Gazes Through Trash Door

Historians have debunked this "slave house" visit.

And Blazing Cat Fur has more.

I commented on this earlier as well, with considerable contempt.

'Tonight it is chaos and lawlessness, and anyone who is concerned about the rule of law ought to be deeply troubled by what happened here...'

That's John Eastman, Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage, quoted at the Los Angeles Times, "Prop. 8 backers make emergency effort to block same-sex marriages."

He needs to let this one go. And the Prop. 8 sponsors need to let this go too. The game was rigged. Use that against them in future battles, but let it go for now in California. See SCOTUS Blog, "Emergency stay of California same-sex marriages sought" (at Memeorandum).

Guardian and Observer Runs Front-Page Story on Secret European-U.S. Surveiliance Deal Sourced to Jew-Hating Conspiracy Theorist Wayne Madsen

Here's the cover image on Twitter:

OBSERVER FRONT PAGE: "Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America" #skypapers pic.twitter.com/MTRmz9qrZq
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 29, 2013

Here's Michael Moynihan:

Holy shit. Guardian just did an NSA story sourced to insane crackpot Wayne Madsen. Is their Google broken? http://t.co/Mcb3vd0OdE
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) June 29, 2013

And Louise Mensch calls out Madsen:

Guardian and Observer Weakend - run front page NSA story based on word of conspiracy theorist crackpot (Obama's gay, Israel caused 911)
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 29, 2013

And checking the Guardian's homepage, here's the headline at the link for the article, "Taken down: deals to hand over private data to America."

The piece is still available, however, at Democratic Underground (with a Che Guevara avatar adding a nice touch there), "GUARDIAN: Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America":

At least six European Union countries in addition to Britain have been colluding with the US over the mass harvesting of personal communications data, according to a former contractor to America's National Security Agency, who said the public should not be "kept in the dark".

Wayne Madsen, a former US navy lieutenant who first worked for the NSA in 1985 and over the next 12 years held several sensitive positions within the agency, names Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain and Italy as having secret deals with the US.

Madsen said the countries had "formal second and third party status" under signal intelligence (Sigint) agreements that compels them to hand over data, including mobile phone and internet information to the NSA if requested.

Under international intelligence agreements, confirmed by declassified documents, nations are categorised by the US according to their trust level. The US is first party while the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand enjoy second party relationships. Germany and France have third party relationships.

And it's clear the Guardian's editors knew of Madsen's reputation as a conspiracy theorist, as the article makes mention of their source's controversial background:

In an interview published last night on the PrivacySurgeon.org blog, Madsen, who has been attacked for holding controversial views on espionage issues, said he had decided to speak out after becoming concerned about the "half story" told by EU politicians regarding the extent of the NSA's activities in Europe.

He said that under the agreements, which were drawn up after the second world war, the "NSA gets the lion's share" of the Sigint "take". In return, the third parties to the NSA agreements received "highly sanitised intelligence".

Madsen said he was alarmed at the "sanctimonious outcry" of political leaders who were "feigning shock" about the spying operations while staying silent about their own arrangements with the US, and was particularly concerned that senior German politicians had accused the UK of spying when their country had a similar third party deal with the NSA.

Although the level of co-operation provided by other European countries to the NSA is not on the same scale as that provided by the UK, the allegations are potentially embarrassing.

"I can't understand how Angela Merkel can keep a straight face, demanding assurances from Obama and the UK while Germany has entered into those exact relationships," Madsen said.

Read the whole thing at Southport - UK Front Pages.

And it turns out this Madsen dude's a regular on 9/11 truth central's Prison Planet with Alex Jones.

And according this pro-Israel website, the dude's a raving anti-Semite, "Wayne Madsen Promotes Classic Anti-Semitism on Iran’s PressTV," and "So Typical of Wayne Madsen’s Paranoia, Da Joos “Control” Obama and Romney." (Follow the links at those entries.)

I'll update with developments, but it's pretty telling that the far-left Guardian went ahead with a front-page story, with the hard copy print runs already rolling, while sourcing a hardcore 9/11 truther and Jew-hating conspiracy theorist. Well, come to think of it, that's not too different from Glenn Greenwald's ideological program, so there you go.

PREVIOUSLY: "Glenn Greenwald Speaks on NSA Surveillance at Socialism 2013 Conference."

Glenn Greenwald Speaks on NSA Surveillance at Socialism 2013 Conference

I think it's pretty telling that these people (Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill who introduces him) are addressing a conference of Marxists, who are by definition anti-American. Greenwald goes on about how the main responsibility of journalism is to piss off those in power. I'm amazed at how radical leftists reject the idea that there is nothing that government might keep secret in the name of carrying out national security programs. Certainly more honesty and transparency in government is needed, especially under this administration, which has done nothing but lie about what it's doing, but the left's cries of tyranny would be much more credible if they were joined by widespread protests against the Democrats and calls for impeachment of President Obama. Progressives pushed for impeachment of President George W. Bush, to say nothing of multiple calls for war crimes trials for the entire membership of the hated Bush-Cheney cabal. One those who called for that very thing, who now talks a tough game on civil liberties while refusing to walk the walk, is the idiot Kevin Gosztola at Firedoglake.

He's got an entry on this up this afternoon, "Glenn Greenwald’s Speech to the Socialism Conference [with Transcript]." (Via Memeorandum.)

Rosie Jones and India Reynolds Celebrate Wimbledon

At Egotastic!, "Rosie Jones and India Reynolds Play Tennis for Nuts."

Ground and Pound: #TrayvonMartin Was Waling on George Zimmerman MMA Style

Here's the comment from Patriot Lemonade on Twitter:

Witness puts #Trayvon on top of Zimmerman throwing MMA style Ground and Pound punches with #Zimmerman screaming for help. #ZimmermanTrial

And at Legal Insurrection, "ZIMMERMAN TRIAL BLOCKBUSTER — TRANSCRIPT — Eyewitness Good: Black guy in black hoodie on top punching down Mixed Martial Arts style":

The State seems to have suffered the most destructive of its own witnesses to date in calling Jonathan Good to the stand.Good was composed, coherent, and direct through his extensive testimony, the entirety of which was entirely consistent with the defense’s theory of lawful self-defense.

More at Legal Insurrection.

RELATED: "Tommy Christopher: ‘Cracker’ is a compliment, you guys!"

PREVIOUSLY: "#TrayvonMartin Supporters Keepin' it Classy on Twitter."

California Heat Wave

Record hot weather today. We just got back from having lunch at Subway with my wife down in Aliso Viejo. We're glad to get back home in the air conditioning. Man. I've got the Angels at Houston on and will be blogging throughout the evening.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Heat wave: It's 116 and rising in Palm Springs, Death Valley."

And a slideshow, "Heat wave in the Southland."

Hate-Fueled Psycho Alec Baldwin Gets a Pass From GLADD

This something else, at TMZ "GLAAD — Alec Baldwin Gets a Pass ... 'Cause We're Starf**kers."

And from Darleen Click, "It was never about “homophobia” or “sexism” or “racism” …":

It is about Leftism, and once a good member of the cult, you can do anything …

Also at BuzzFeed, "9 Ridiculous Quotes From Alec Baldwin’s "Apology" Interview."

And at GLADD, "ALEC BALDWIN SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF THE GAY COMMUNITY."

Screw em' both --- Baldwin and GLADD. It's not about rights. It's about power and the destruction of decency and morality. Screw 'em --- the bungee bunghole jumpers.

'Go to the barricades for religious liberty...

From Kathryn Jean Lopez, at National Review:

That’s the headline on a piece today in the N.Y. Daily News from Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

He writes:

Religious freedom is a good in its own right, and it also fosters the common good. It enables people of faith to contribute to their communities. We see faith in action in schools, clinics and humanitarian assistance projects throughout the world. Faith inspires people to serve their neighbors, enriching the public life we all share.

Faith communities are also vital participants in public debates and often help hold governments accountable to their people. From neighborhood parish schools to faith-based soup kitchens and immigrant resource centers, religious ministries are essential to the social fabric.

And religious freedom reinforces other freedoms — of conscience, of the press and of assembly, to name just a few.

You’d think that governments would encourage religious liberty as a way to help their societies advance. But as Pope Francis has said, “In the world today, freedom of religion is more often talked about rather than put into practice.” Instead, many restrict religion and feed societal animosities toward religious minorities in the name of “good order” and control.

The result is too often violence and social conflict.

No doubt.

PREVIOUSLY: "Mofo @Dat_Nigga_Reppy Be Down Wit Some Anti-Christian Hatin'!" And, "Faith, Any Faith, Has Now Officially Become Hate Speech."

Mofo @Dat_Nigga_Reppy Be Down Wit Some Anti-Christian Hatin'!

Hey, ain't nevah no surprises wit dat hate-addled mofo Walter James Casper III --- a.k.a. @Dat_Nigga_Reppy, since he be down with somma mofo @Dat_Nigga_Vonni hatin' on Twittah.

Seriously, @Dat_Nigga_Reppy done be tweetin' him some Erik "Lumberjack" Loomis anti-Christian hate:

On Our Knees for America - Lawyers, Guns & Money : http://t.co/uqQzOy78RH
— J. Casper (@repsac3) June 28, 2013

I done already be blogging on dat mf, "Faith, Any Faith, Has Now Officially Become Hate Speech." And @Dat_Niggy_Reppy already done tweeted him some anti-Christian hate from vile mf POS John Aravosis:

Most unfortunate logo and slogan in the history of American politics http://t.co/9kFgSStb3z
— J. Casper (@repsac3) June 28, 2013

These mofos be lying, especially epic liar @Dat_Nigga_Reppy. I been calling out dat fool for his mf harassment for long time, yo. Ima get me some cops comin' down on that bitch for his serial harassment, cracka fool!

Mf @Dat_Nigga_Reppy just be like @Dat_Nigga_Vonni on #TrayonMartin on Twittah:

Its a #Free world #Fuck all u #CreepAssCrackers  #RIPTRAYVON
— Vonni Versace (@Dat_Nigga_Vonni) June 27, 2013

I got these #Crackers goin crazy on my #TL bout that #zimmerman shit
— Vonni Versace (@Dat_Nigga_Vonni) June 28, 2013

@CreepyKyle13 kill all u Zimmerman supporting mfs!!!
— Vonni Versace (@Dat_Nigga_Vonni) June 29, 2013

See dat, mofo! Next up, we likely be seein' @Dat_Nigga_Reppy gonna be down with poppin' some Christians, no doubt yo! More here, cracka!, "#TrayvonMartin Supporters Keepin' it Classy on Twitter."

BONUS: "Bwahaha!! Poor Widdle Wepsac3 Whines Hilariously: 'I'm the Victim! It's Me, I'm the Victim!'"

Bwahaha! I be laughin' at dat bitch!

A Thriving American Legacy in Iraq

Leftist anti-American Bush-haters will never credit American democracy promotion in Iraq, but as time goes by the evidence is coming in on the epic power of the freedom agenda.

From Fouad Ajami, at WSJ, "A Thriving American Legacy in Iraq."

And from J.J. Gould, at the Atlantic, "10 Years After the Fall of Saddam, How Do Iraqis Look Back on the War?":

... for those of us who lived under the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and understand what tyranny means, ... the difficulties of today, the pains of today, and the disappointments of today -- and they are very profound, because Iraqis deserve better -- these pale in comparison to what we had to endure. ... Then, people had the certainty of the knock on the door late at night, and could possibly end up in a mass grave. Two weeks ago, in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, a new mass grave in which there were some five-six people who were shot. Their families never heard from them since 1988. They were found and they could only be identified by the pajamas they were wearing as they were taken from home. These are the type of stories that my people, my community, had to endure.

VIA Instapundit.

Markets Brace for Post-Fed World

At WSJ, "Despite Best Yearly Start Since 1999, Investors Spooked by Central Bank's Signals See Turbulence Ahead":

The U.S. stock market had its best start to a year since 1999, but by Friday—the halfway mark of 2013—investors had ditched their party hats and braced for the Federal Reserve to cut back on policies that helped send stocks soaring this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the first six months of the year up 14%, but all the gains came in the first five months. The Dow fell 1.4% in June, including a 114.89 point, or 0.76%, drop on Friday to 14909.60.

The impact on financial markets from an anticipated shift in Fed policy in the second half of the year is now a matter of intense debate. In the past week, senior Fed officials have sought to reassure markets the central bank would withdraw its assistance gradually and only if the U.S. economy appeared strong enough.

But some investors said they were bracing for more tumult in the months ahead, as markets face a new, uncertain world.

"We think it is going to be a bumpy summer, a volatile summer," said Rebecca Patterson, chief investment officer at Bessemer Trust, which manages about $60 billion in New York. Ms. Patterson added that she was optimistic U.S. stocks would pull through with gains.

In June, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed the central bank's intentions to start trimming aid this year. But he said any changes would depend on continued economic strength and be limited to gradual reductions in monthly bond-buying. Increases in the Fed's target short-term interest rates, he said, would require a return to 6.5% unemployment.

The stock market has since swung down and then up as investors tried to predict the fallout. Bond prices took an even bigger hit and yields, which rise as bond prices fall, surged.

Most Fed officials said the markets overreacted to Mr. Bernanke's news conference, but one said market volatility was a normal reaction to the prospect of a pullback by the Fed.

nvestors have become dependent on the Fed's unprecedented injections of cash into markets, including the current $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program. There is no historic experience to help predict how the unwinding of such an elaborate support system will unfold, creating uncertainty.

Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Wealth Management, which oversees about $116 billion, compares a gradual withdrawal to movie hero Indiana Jones trying to grab a diamond from the stones of an ancient tomb without bringing the whole edifice crashing down.

"How do you withdraw the support, which has been massive?" Mr. Dunigan said. "It is hard to do. Throttling back is going to be a little tricky."

That was revealed this month, when the mere mention of a Fed pullback roiled markets across the globe. Gold ended its worst quarter since the start of modern gold trading in 1974; Brazilian stocks were down 16% and the Australian dollar tumbled more than 12%.

The U.S. bond market, which is the direct recipient of the Fed's monthly purchases, has been especially hard hit.

Faith, Any Faith, Has Now Officially Become Hate Speech

At All The Right Snark, "Finally! SCOTUS Gives the Left a Group They Can H8!!!"

Ah, yes. In the name of equality Liberalism can finally, openly, and with judicial fiat hate Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus. And they don’t have to feel guilty at all!!

What a coup!

And supporters of homosexual “marriage” took to the Twitters to share their SCOTUS-approved H8:

“Take that bitches!!!” was the tolerant Left’s response.

In an effort to be able to “live their lives and love their loves” freely, they now have the door kicked wide open to hate those folks who disagree with them and hate them with impunity!!!

Ain’t life grand?!

You see, there’s equality, then there’s equality.

And a First Amendment protection to practice your religion isn’t something that you can do with equal freedom as say two men who want to get married in your church.

Faith, any faith, has now officially become hate speech.

More at the link (via iOWNTHEWORLD).

BONUS: Some mondo sized stupidity and Christian hatred, from Erik "Lumberjack" Loomis, "On Our Knees for America." Because descending to bended knee in prayer is really all about cone jobs for your bestest bungee bunghole jumping homies. WINNING!

Labor's Kevin Rudd Returns as Prime Minister of Australia

Julia Gillard to sacked. See the Guardian UK, "Julia Gillard ousted as Australia prime minister":

Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, has been sacked by her party just months before the next election and replaced by the man she ousted three years ago.

After an unprecedented day of political bloodletting in Canberra, Kevin Rudd beat Gillard in a ballot of MPs by a margin of 57 to 45 to become Labor party leader. It is only the second time a sitting Australian prime minister has been removed from their first term in office by their party; Rudd was the first.

Delivering his victory speech, Rudd dedicated himself to winning the election in September. "In 2007 the Australian people elected me to be their prime minister. That is a task that I resume today with humility, with honour and with an important sense of energy and purpose."

He also paid tribute to Julia Gillard. "She is a woman of extraordinary intelligence, great strength, great energy. All of you across the nation would recognise those formidable attributes," he said. "Julia has achieved much under the difficult circumstances of minority government, helped by a dedicated set of ministers."

"She has been a remarkable reformer and I acknowledge those contributions this evening," he said.

Rudd said he had taken on the challenge of the leadership because he could not "stand idly by and allow a (conservative) Abbott government come to power in this country by default".

There's background on Gillard's sacking at the link, although I like this:

Conservative opposition leader, Tony Abbott, whose party is well ahead in the polls, criticised the revolving door of Labor leadership, saying Australians deserved better.
"She has been a remarkable reformer and I acknowledge those contributions this evening," he said.
"In 2007 you voted for Kevin and got Julia," he said. "In 2010 you voted for Julia and got Kevin. If you vote for the Labor party in 2013 who knows who you will end up with."

Next Battlegrounds in Homosexual Marriage

Hey, the Sodomites are just now getting started.

At the New York Times, "Both Sides on Same-Sex Marriage Issue Focus on the Next State Battlegrounds":

With the expected addition of Californians after Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, some 30 percent of Americans will live in states offering same-sex marriage.

Now the two sides of the marriage wars are gearing up to resume the costly state-by-state battles that could, in the hopes of each, spread marriage equality to several more states in the next few years, or reveal a brick wall of values that cannot be breached. There is wide agreement from both sides on where the next battlefields will be.

Proponents of same-sex marriage were already energized by victories in six states over the last year, bringing the total number authorizing such unions to 12 states, before California, and the District of Columbia. They are hoping for legislative victories this fall or next spring in Illinois and possibly New Jersey and Hawaii.

Twenty-nine states — not including California —have constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Some advocates expect that in the November 2014 elections, Oregon and perhaps Nevada or Ohio could become the first states to undo their amendments. At the same time, a court case in New Mexico could extend marriage rights.

These strategists agree they are unlikely to win over more conservative states in the South and the West in the foreseeable future. But, looking at the historical experience with issues like bans on interracial marriage, which the Supreme Court outlawed only in 1967, they feel confident that if equality spreads to more states and public attitudes continue shifting, a future Supreme Court will find that marriage is a right for gay men and lesbians as well as heterosexuals.

“Building a critical mass of states and a critical mass of public support — that’s how social movements succeed,” said Evan Wolfson, the founder of Freedom to Marry. “We’ll pursue this strategy until we finish the job,” he said, “and I think it will be a matter of years, not decades.”

The opponents of same-sex marriage, while unhappy that the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act and opened the door to gay marriage in California, are taking heart that the court did not declare same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

After a recent succession of stinging defeats in Delaware, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington State — after political campaigns in which they were heavily outspent — the groups have also vowed to step up fund-raising for advertising and mobilizing supporters.

“These court decisions could be a real boon to our fund-raising,” said Frank Schubert, a conservative political consultant and vice president of the National Organization for Marriage. “People tend to react when the wolf is at the door.”

Well, not just wolves, but jackals, serpents and general pestilence.

The New Yorker's already ramming homosexuality down our children's throats, to say nothing of other bodily parts, "Bert and Ernie's 'Moment of Joy' — The New Yorker's #DOMA Cover."

Winnie Mandela Daughter Attacks 'Racist' Media 'Vultures'

These folks are keeping it classy.

See, "Video of Mandela’s Daughter Calling Reporters ‘Vultures’."

Who's This Hot Celebrity Stepping Out of a Car?

A funny TMZ video:

Canada's Socialist Teachers Brainwash Students

Well, it's not just Canada, obviously.

But see Blazing Cat Fur.

Pamela Geller: 'With Friends Like These...'

There's been some significant developments since Britain banned Pamela Geller.

At Atlas Shrugs, "WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ......"

Also, "MORE FRIENDLY FIRE."

It turns out that Melanie Phillips had some not so supportive things to say about the whole thing, at her blog, "The British government's jihad against free thought." It's an otherwise quite excellent denunciation of the cowardice of the British government, all except Phillips completely declaims Pamela and Robert Spencer. If anyone is diminished it's Ms. Phillips:

By banning from the country as extremists the American anti-jihadis Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the Home Secretary Teresa May has not only made herself look ridiculous but has sent the enemies of the United Kingdom the message that they have it on the run.

I do not support the approach taken by either Geller or Spencer to the problem of Islamic extremism. Both have endorsed groups such as the EDL and others which at best do not deal with the thuggish elements in their ranks and at worst are truly racist or xenophobic.

The result has been a serious blow to the credibility of these two writers, with particular damage being done to Spencer whose scholarship in itself is scrupulous. It has also split the defence against Islamic extremism, and handed a potent propaganda weapon to those who seek falsely to portray as bigoted extremists all who are engaged in the defence of the west against the Islamic jihad.

The bitter irony here is that Ms. Phillips is nearly as reviled as is Pamela, and if she wasn't British she'd long ago have been banished from the country one way or another. The Times of Israel has more on that, "The woman Britain's left loves to hate." She has a new book out called "Guardian Angel." And from what I've been reading of her lately she's attempting to reposition herself on the left, hence, she's been frequently seen as softening her attacks on Islam. It's too bad, but it's not easy standing up for truth, consistently and with no prevarication.

In any case, I took to Twitter this afternoon to express some thoughts about all of this:

Enemies of freedom are winning, people. I #StandWithPamelaGeller when weaselly so-called freedom fighters say they do but really don't.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

@AmPowerBlog I couldn’t believe Melanie Phillips. I expected better from her.

— Natasha (@mooseandskwerl) June 28, 2013

@MooseandSkwerl She's really a leftist who's upset with social change. She can't go all the way and defend people like Pamela Geller.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

I stand with @MaroonedInMarin too. A great blogger and patriot freedom fighter. #FF

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

Freedom fighters don't whine about counter jihadists being "shrill." That's adopting the tactics of the left. Resist that. Stand and fight!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

If conservatives have learned anything it's that the left will use any means necessary to destroy patriots and freedom fighters. Don't cave.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

It doesn't mean you have to pick a fight with everyone who has a difference of opinion. Simply that you there is a time to stand and fight.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

Thank you my friend! RT @AmPowerBlog: I stand with @MaroonedInMarin too. A great blogger and patriot freedom fighter. #FF

— Marooned in Marin (@MaroonedInMarin) June 28, 2013

This is one of those times. When you are banned from a democracy based on the lies of the left, no one is safe. People will come for you.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

And regarding Britain, we can now only loosely apply the democratic label. Home Secretary Theresa May has cravenly capitulated to true evil.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

I stand with @AmPowerBlog a great writer & Patriot #FF

— Marooned in Marin (@MaroonedInMarin) June 28, 2013

And the lies are so thick you'd need an ICBM to break through them. This is not new, friends. Terror-enablers stop at nothing to push jihad.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

Why do you think leftists back the most hardened terrorists and demonize counter-jihadists? They both want the same thing, destruction...

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

...and by destruction, I mean destruction of goodness, decency, values and tradition. That's what stands up to nihilism and relativism.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

And bet your bottom dollar the MSM goons are in on this, for they attack @PamelaGeller with a glee that's truly criminal. Stand against it.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

Have people forgotten the warnings of Pastor Martin Niemöller? This isn't fun and games. You have skin in the game without realizing it.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

My friend @RSMcCain is standing up as I write all this. See his post, "The Face of Cowardice: Theresa May." http://t.co/vPW6yUb4VB #Freedom

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

#FF @Sultanknish @MarkTapson @CraigR3521 @Vermontaigne @ZillaStevenson @JihadWatchRS @SouthSalem @BigFurHat @BlazingCatFur @MadJewessWoman

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 28, 2013

And click on this:

RT @MrsShitrit: I want to post this again by hope not hate - controversial twitter Auschwitz post https://t.co/YayqWtYeRT

— Pamela Geller (@pamelageller) June 28, 2013

And this:

A gross double-standard over hate-speech: http://t.co/8FxoggY5zc

— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) June 27, 2013

BONUS: There's further background, with embedded tweets, at the New York Times, "American Declared Blogger Non Grata in Britain for Anti-Islam Crusade."

Prop. 8 Ruling Worries Direct Democracy Activists

It's long been one of my biggest peeves that the State of California refused to defend Proposition 8 in federal court. This is a classic example of the permanent political class usurping the popular will, simply because it disagrees with the popular will.

And a precedent is being set. As the Los Angeles Times reports, "Prop. 8 ruling raises fears about effects on other initiatives."

And Wirecutter expresses some contempt for the elite know-it-alls, "No more. I’m done":

Fuck this shit.

Between a sitting President that uses voter fraud and bribery to win an election and the Supreme Court deciding that We, The People are wrong and overturning our fucking decisions, I will never enter a voting booth again.

We, The People decided that same sex marriage will not be tolerated in the state of Kalifornia and the Supremes decided that we don’t know what the fuck we want or what our morals are.

We know, we voted and they overturned OUR decisions.

I’m not going to waste my fucking time anymore.

And the sponsors of Prop. 8 aren't happy with the extremely fast move to allow marriages to proceed, "Prop. 8 authors denounce restart of gay marriages in California."

Well, it's a done deal now. Time to move onto the next battle.

Catherine Kieu Sentenced to Seven Years to Life for Cutting Off Her Ex-Husband's Penis

I reported on this at the time of the crime.

And here's the news out today, at the Los Angeles Times, "Woman who cut off husband's penis gets 7 years to life in prison."

Kris Perry and Sandy Stier Marry After 9th Circuit Lifts Stay on Homosexual Marriages

At Towleroad, "Prop 8 Plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier Marry in California."

PHOTO: Kris Perry and Sandy Stier getting married at San Francisco City Hall http://t.co/nJo8TGoz5S pic.twitter.com/iycrKYBh3n
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 28, 2013

Also at Buzz Feed, "Court Lifts Stay, Same-Sex Couples Marrying Again In California." (Via Memeorandum.)

Ninth Circuit Lifts Stay on Homosexual Marriages in California

Just saw this right now on Twitter:

#BREAKINGNEWS 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts stay on same-sex marriages in California, marriages can now resume.
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 28, 2013

More at KGO-TV San Francisco, "9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifts stay on Proposition 8":

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A federal appeals court says it is lifting its freeze on same-sex marriages in California and the state is required to issue licenses to gay couples starting immediately.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order Friday saying it's lifting the stay it imposed while a lawsuit challenging California's gay marriage ban worked its way through the courts.

That means same-sex marriages can resume in the state for the first time since 2008.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that the sponsors of California's voter-approved gay marriage ban lacked the authority to defend Proposition 8 in court once the governor and state attorney general refused to do so.

The decision lets stand a trial judge's declaration that the ban violates the civil rights of gay Californians and cannot be enforced.

According to Manny Rivera, a spokesman for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the first pair to be married following the action will be one of the two plaintiff couples, Kris Perry and Sandra Stier, of Berkeley.

They will be married at San Francisco City Hall at 4:15 p.m.

Just keep it humble, progs. Keep it humble and keep cool toward people of difference.

Bert and Ernie's 'Moment of Joy' — The New Yorker's #DOMA Cover

The left has not greeted the Supreme Court's same-sex rulings with humility, and I doubt the in-your-face homo bitch-slapping celebrations will go over well with the general public in upcoming elections. But hey, it's well wort the lulz.

At Twitchy, "Paging Sesame: Bert and Ernie share cuddly ‘Moment of Joy’ on The New Yorker’s DOMA cover." And reactions at Memeorandum.

Yasiel Puig Continues His Stunning Debut With the Los Angeles #Dodgers

I was watching last night when Puig hit a go-ahead single in the bottom of the seventh. At LAT, "Yasiel Puig pulls Dodgers to sixth win in a row."

And from Bill Plaschke, "Yasiel Puig seems able to put on a show, whatever he does":

It was two hours before the first pitch Thursday, and the Dodger Stadium tour guide was ushering a dozen fans from the seats behind home plate when one of them stopped.

"Wait a minute," he said. "Puig is hitting."

"But…," said the tour guide.

"No, no, no," said another fan. "Puig is hitting."

The entire group halted to witness the hottest debuting hitter in Dodgers history take batting practice. Turns out they could have done it with their eyes closed.

BOX SCORE: Dodgers 6, Philadelphia 4

Thwack! Home run. Boom! Home run. Bang! Ball off the wall.

After Puig had turned the first three pitches into something that sounded like a cartoon brawl, the tour guide sighed.

"OK," he said. "We'll stick around and watch Puig."

We will, indeed. As the Southern California summer moves from soft to sticky, we'll crowd into Chavez Ravine to stand under the 22-year-old Dodgers sensation as if he were a wildly refreshing sprinkler.

He sprayed amazement again Thursday night in a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that left one Matt Kemp as breathless as the rest of us.

"Puig, man, he's an amazing kid," Kemp said afterward.

Soak him in, L.A.

Puig has played just 23 games. That video at top was posted after his breakout week early this month.

Continue reading at the link.

Smokin' Hot Carissa Rosario Goes Topless Sunbathing in New York, Gawkers Run to the Rooftops!

This is hilarious, at the New York Post, "Maxim babe pops top":

Maxim pinup Carissa Rosario wanted to ensure she had no visible tan lines for the NBA Draft Week event she hosted — and caused a commotion by sunbathing nearly nude in Midtown.

Needless to say, the event had to be cut short, as you can see why, via Twitter:

“@TweetBreezies: The smoking hot @carissarosario. #TweetBreezies #HonorRoll pic.twitter.com/eTeYoVPy8f” thanks 4 the luv 😉☺

— Carissa Rosario (@carissarosario) May 30, 2013

National Homosexual Marriage is Inevitable

I don't doubt it, but Charles Krauthammer makes the case, at the Washington Post, "Nationalized gay marriage, now inevitable." (Via Memeorandum.)

And Owen Kerr explains how the Court is likely to hand down a constitutional right to homo-marriage outright, at Volokh, "A Punt, But For How Long?"

Best bet for conservatives is to let this ruling sink in and then come back to it politically at election time. Support for homo-marriage is still narrowly divided, even in lefty states like California where if not for diabolical hard-left thuggery and deception the Prop. 8 decision would have never been upheld in federal court in the first place.

Not only that, the radical left is getting pushy, and will likely foment a backlash. See, "After #DOMA Ruling, Much Work to Be Done for Statutory Rape Equality."

Obama Rolls Out Red Carpet for Vile Jew-Hating Cleric Abdullah Bin Bayyah

Here's the report at the Investigative Project on Terrorism, "Exclusive: Banned Cleric's Outspoken Deputy Visits White House." And at Fox News, "Official confirms, defends White House meeting with controversial Muslim scholar."

And here the analysis at Michelle Malkin's, "Another White House play date with Muslim jihad":

Bin Bayyah’s moderate Muslim costume shouldn’t fool anyone. This sharia thug, who has worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to boost his progressive-friendly cred, lobbied the United Nations to outlaw all mockery and criticism of Allah. He raised money to benefit the terror group Hamas. He is a top lieutenant of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf Qaradawi, who exhorts followers to kill every last Jew; sanctioned suicide bombings and the killing of our soldiers; expressed support for executing apostates and stoning gays; and declared that the “U.S. is an enemy of Islam that has already declared war on Islam under the disguise of war on terrorism and provides Israel with unlimited support.”

As jihad watchdogs have reported, the administration has rolled out the red carpet for dozens of Muslim Brotherhood officers, flacks and sympathizers. IPT noted last year: “White House visitor logs show that top U.S. policy-makers are soliciting and receiving advice from people who, at best, view the war on terrorism as an unchecked war on Muslims. These persons’ perspectives and preferred policies handcuff law enforcement and weaken our resolve when it comes to confronting terrorism.”

No kidding. Another Qaradawi cheerleader, Hisham al-Talib, was welcomed last spring at the White House by Obama’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Four days later, White House officials welcomed a foreign delegation of the radical sharia-enforcing Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt. As I reported previously, al-Talib is an Iraqi-born Muslim identified by the FBI as a Muslim Brotherhood operative and a major contributor to the left-wing Center for Constitutional Rights, the group of jihadi-sympathizing lawyers who helped spring suspected Benghazi terror plotter Abu Sufian bin Qumu from Gitmo....

We need a zero tolerance policy for jihadist infiltrators and coddlers in Washington. Let’s make the most transparent administration ever live up to the hype. I suggest the White House be required to raise the black flag of Islamic jihad at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue every time President Obama welcomes these treacherous visitors.

Even better: Let’s take a page from Kanye West and project the names of all the Ikhwan-linked goons who are allowed to darken the White House doorstep onto the side of the Old Executive Office Building for all to see — along with their most infamous hate videos and fatwas against Jews, infidels, gays, women and U.S. soldiers. No more play dates with Muslim jihad behind closed doors. Light ‘em up.

Once again, this is the "progressive left" in action. Where are the denunciations for the troll rights harassers around the web? (Toe tapping ....) Oh, not forthcoming. No surprise.

See also Bare Naked Islam, "OBAMA REGIME warmly welcomes to the White House, deputy of terrorist suicide bombers-endorsing cleric banned in the US and UK."

Michelle Fields on Red Eye Debating Immigration and Polygamy

This is a bit too libertarian-ish for me, but funny nevertheless.

European Union Diktats Forcing Energy Rationing in Great Britain

Bad karma from all the cowardly political correctness, no doubt.

At London's Daily Mail, "Electricity to be rationed: Power cuts in 2 years unless industry cuts back, warns regulator."

Britain could face a return to Seventies-style power rationing to prevent blackouts.

The disturbing news came amid warnings that the country may not be producing enough energy to keep the lights on by 2015.

Offices and factories could be ‘bribed’ to close for up to four hours a day during the winter to prevent households losing power.

Energy regulator Ofgem said the country faced an ‘unprecedented challenge’ as coal-fired plants are closed by European Union diktats on the environment.

Well, frankly, Obama's war on fossil fuels promises to put America on the fast lane to British-style rationing. Perish the thought, I know. But it's happening.

South Africa Prepares for Mandela's Passing

At WSJ, "Flowers, Cards, Hope Pile Up for Mandela":

JOHANNESBURG—The life of Nelson Mandela appeared to hang in the balance Thursday morning, as family members visited the Pretoria hospital where he was undergoing treatment and neighbors from his rural ancestral town prepared for the passing of South Africa's former president.

"Yes, tata's situation is critical…he doesn't look good," Mr. Mandela's oldest living daughter, Pumla Makaziwe Mandela, said in an interview Thursday on South African state television, using the local term of respect for an older person.

"But I think that for us as his children and grandchildren we still have this hope because you know when we talk to him he will flutter, trying to open his eyes and will open his eyes, when you touch him he still responds," she said.

On Thursday, President Jacob Zuma paid his second visit to the hospital in less than 24 hours in order to confer with Mr. Mandela's doctors. In a statement, Mr. Zuma said he was informed by the medical team that Mr. Mandela's condition "has improved during the course of the night. He remains critical but is now stable."

Late Wednesday, Mr. Zuma canceled plans to attend an infrastructure-investment conference in neighboring Mozambique, after conferring with Mr. Mandela's doctors at the Pretoria hospital where he was admitted June 8 to treat a lung infection.

Mr. Zuma's spokesman, Mac Maharaj, wouldn't confirm news reports that Mr. Mandela is on life support, or say whether Mr. Zuma planned to visit him again on Thursday.

Mr. Mandela, a revered champion of peace and racial equality who became South Africa's first black, freely elected president in 1994, has been hospitalized four times since December and suffered a string of respiratory ailments stretching back to the tuberculosis he contracted during 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa's former white-minority government.

Dozens of reporters and satellite trucks have converged outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria. They track every visit by family members and government officials—and capture the hopes and memories of well-wishers who have left a mounting pile of flowers, cards and balloons outside the hospital's gates.

Continue reading.

Britney Spears Animated GIF Album Covers

At BuzzFeed, "Every Britney Spears Album Cover As An Animated GIF."

Obama Visits Senegal

He always visits the slave houses. Why that's a priority, well, that's only explicable from the Obama-leftist self-demonology of perpetual apology for America's alleged past sins.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Obama begins Africa tour, visits Senegal slave house":

DAKAR, Senegal — President Obama arrived in this corner of West Africa to deliver messages about civil society and good governance, democracy and development. Senegal's message to him was simpler: Welcome home.

The greeting was plastered on signs and T-shirts wherever Obama went Thursday during his first full day of a weeklong, three-country trip to Africa. Although Obama was born and largely raised in Hawaii, his father was born and is buried in Kenya, and on this day Senegal treated the president as one of its own. Lampposts were covered with signs reading, "Welcome home, Mr. President." The greeting, and Obama's likeness, appeared everywhere. Crowds of people danced and waved.

Obama seemed to claim Senegal too, shaking hands and posing for pictures, but also acknowledging the dark history of slavery the country shares with the United States.

The president and his family visited a small slave house on Goree Island off the coast of Dakar, the nation's capital, where it is said men, women and children were traded, sorted, shackled and weighed before being sent across the Atlantic to the Americas.

The president stared pensively out the "door of no return," described as the exit for those boarding slave ships, while spending about half an hour in the two-story salmon-colored house filled with dark holding cells.

"Obviously, for an African American — and an African American president — to be able to visit this site, I think, gives me even greater motivation in terms of the defense of human rights around the world," Obama said afterward.

The president doesn't care about human rights. He cares about power. If touting his so called commitment to human rights helps him push his apology agenda (and statist agenda), then he'll say he cares about human rights. Frankly, America's standing in the world right now is as low as it's been --- if not lower --- than any time since President Carter was in office. Watching interviews on the news yesterday people said that because Obama's black they were excited to see him. It's not that he represents America, or that America has been at the forefront of freedom promotion since the mid-20th century, it's that the president is black. That's a sad, sad commentary on where things stand in the world. It's basically affirmative action in public diplomacy. And it's not good, for the world community nor for American foreign policy.

Tea Party 'Threat' on Hannity Live

Dana Loesch and Kirsten Powers on Hannity's last night:

BACKGROUND: "One of Four Obama Supporters Sees Tea Party as Biggest Threat to National Security."

Obama Says He Won't Bargain for Return of 'Hacker'

At the Wall Street Journal, "Ecuadorean Disarray Clouds Snowden Bid":

Disarray within the Ecuadorean government over the role of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange in Edward Snowden's asylum bid is complicating the outcome, according to diplomatic correspondence that appears to shed light on the mixed signals from Quito over the American fugitive's fate.

Mr. Assange—the antisecrecy-group founder who for the past year has been sheltered inside Ecuador's London embassy—wrote to Ecuadorean officials Monday that he hoped his role in the Snowden matter hadn't embarrassed the government, according to an internal Ecuadorean diplomatic correspondence obtained by Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Networks and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

But in the note, Mr. Assange also offered public-relations advice to top Ecuadorean officials about how to handle the crisis. Mr. Assange's earlier efforts on Mr. Snowden's behalf had prompted one diplomat to caution that Mr. Assange could be perceived as "running the show" in Ecuador.

In addition, it was an Ecuadorean diplomat who has said he is close with Mr. Assange—Fidel Narvaez, the consul at Ecuador's London embassy—who issued a controversial temporary travel document intended for Mr. Snowden, according to another of the Ecuadorean diplomatic correspondences.

WikiLeaks and Mr. Assange didn't immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday. Representatives for Ecuador's foreign ministry declined to comment on the authenticity of the correspondences.

Several representatives at Ecuador's mission in London also declined to comment and said Mr. Narvaez was out of the office and unavailable to comment. He didn't respond to an email seeking comment.


Mr. Snowden has been charged by U.S. authorities with theft of government property and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information. On Sunday, Mr. Snowden arrived in Moscow, according to WikiLeaks, after spending several weeks in Hong Kong after he admittedly leaked details of U.S. National Security Agency intelligence-gathering programs.

Russian officials have said he remains in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, and have said he should move along. The question now is where Mr. Snowden—stripped of his U.S. passport and apparently without an Ecuadorean travel document—can go.

The validity of any Ecuadorean travel document, or "safe pass," has been the subject of intense speculation this week. Mr. Assange said this week Ecuador issued such a document to Mr. Snowden and Ecuadorean officials haven't denied it exists. But officials have said that such a safe conduct pass, if it is in Mr. Snowden's possession, isn't valid.

On Tuesday, Alexis Mera, the legal adviser to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, was sent a correspondence from an address bearing Mr. Narvaez's name. "Dear Alexis," read the note, which included a copy of an Ecuadorean safe-conduct pass issued in Mr. Snowden's name, "I am responding to your request."

Another email from the same account, dated Wednesday and addressed to the legal adviser as well as to a presidential spokesman, said: "I trust you received the requested document yesterday." Mr. Narvaez was in Moscow at the time, according to the message.

But by then, Ecuadorean officials were publicly disputing that Mr. Snowden had been given such travel papers—a position voiced most strenuously by Mr. Correa on Thursday. Even if such a document existed, the president said, "the person who issued it will be totally without authority and [the document] would have no validity."

Snowden's pretty screwed over right now, obviously. It's not fun holing up in an airport, and as folks were saying on Fox News' All-Stars, especially so at Moscow's airport.

In any case, more at the link.