17 Die as Suicide Blast Hits U.S. Bus in Afghanistan

At New York Times, "17 Are Killed as Suicide Bomb Hits a U.S. Bus in Afghanistan."

KABUL, Afghanistan — At least five American soldiers, eight American contract workers and four Afghans were killed when a Taliban suicide car bomber attacked an armored shuttle bus in Kabul on Saturday, a military official said.

It was the single deadliest attack for Americans in the capital since the war began, military officials said, and follows brazen Taliban assaults on the American Embassy and NATO headquarters in the city last month.

A NATO official said all of the contract workers were Americans, but the coalition did not officially confirm that.

Such high-profile attacks have been seen as a shift in Taliban strategy as they struggle against a surge in American troops that has loosened the militants’ grip on the Taliban heartland in the South and compromised their ability to stage more conventional attacks on NATO forces. American officials see the latest assaults as the Taliban’s attempt to shake confidence in the Afghan government, which is taking over security from NATO in Kabul and other areas of the country.

Communist-Progressive Coalition Lobbies Congressional 'Super-Committee' Against Proposed Cuts to Social Security

The far left is launching an inside lobbying effort against the congressional super-committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in cuts from the federal budget.

At the video, chief union-thug Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO --- the guy who's had more access to the Obama White House than any other interest group representative in the country --- channels the Occupy Wall Street movement and attacks corporations for purportedly ripping off the middle class.

And here's more #OWS-style class warfare, from Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson, at PuffHo, "Message to the 99%: Help Stop the 1% From Using the Super Committee to Rob the American People." (Via the communist Digby at Hullabaloo and Memeorandum.)

Well, it turns out that Nancy Altman is the co-director of Social Security Works and co-chair of the coalition to Strengthen Social Security. Here's the roster of the coalition's partners, which is a who's who of America's far-left Alynskyite unions and revolutionary communist organizations: "Strengthen Social Security: Campaign Members." One of the groups cited there is the Soros-back Campaign for America's future, which has joined the lobbying effort as well: "Don’t Let Dems Cut Medicare, Social Security for the 99%." The Campaign for America's future is a key Democrat-Socialist front group that led the drive to elect Barack Obama as the first socialist president of the United States. According to Discover the Networks:

In the 2004 presidential election, CAF partnered with both the Democratic Party and a number of far-left special interest groups in a campaign to oppose tax cuts. The Democratic National Committee stated, “The Democratic Party is partnering with MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, Campaign for America's Future, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans to organize a massive public mobilization … [J]oin us by calling and emailing your representatives in Congress to let them know that the majority of Americans oppose more irresponsible tax cuts ...”

CAF also endorsed “Invest in America,” an anti-tax-cut statement supported by: ACORN; Alliance For Justice; the American Friends Service Committee; the Center for Community Change; the Center For Women's Policy Studies; the Children’s Defense Fund; the Democratic Socialists of America; the Environmental Working Group; the League of United Latin American Citizens; the League of Women Voters; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy; the National Council of La Raza; the National Lawyers Guild; the National Organization for Women; the National Women's Law Center; the Older Women's League; Peace Action; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Planned Parenthood; Public Citizen; the Service Employees International Union; the United States Student Association; Veterans For Peace; and Women’s Action for New Directions.

So now this exact same coalition is mobilizing an end-run around the GOP-majority in the House, whose resistance to tax increases in last summer's budget stalemate led to the formation of the congressional super-committee. And now with the Occupy Wall Street movement in full swing, the institutional left is shoehorning in on popular frustration at the Obama Depression to oppose any meaningful economic rationalization required to get this country back on track. Even the Communist Party USA is on board. See Trevor Loudon, "Senior Communist Lobbies “Super Committee” for Defense Cuts."

Behold the stealth campaign for the communist-progressive future. This is how institutional left-wing politics in America works, and we know that top officials in the Democrat Party are working right there behind the scenes to further this radical agenda.

Get the truth out about these thugs.

Added: The Other McCain links, "Did Anybody Think The Super Committee Was Anything Other Than An Exercise In Pluckin’ That Chicken?" Also, at Lonely Conservative, "Unions and Commies Lobby Deficit Super Committee."

'Because the Night'

Some music until later, Patti Smith:

NASA Launches Latest NPP Earth-Observing Satellite from Vandenberg

It's the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, NPP.

At LAT, "NASA launches satellite from Vandenberg at night." And PC Magazine, "NASA Weather, Climate Satellite Launches Successfully."

The Hate Speech Bugaboo

This is an unbelievably ridiculous piece, from Erna Paris, at Toronto's Globe and Mail, "There *are* limits to free expression."

And from the comments:

Hate speech is less prevalent in Canada today because Canadians don't like it and don't want it, not because of any law. Canada is not a more fragile place than in 1990; it's a much, much stronger and more tolerant place. The bizarre fear-mongering in this opinion piece is not only logically incoherent, it's completely unjustifiable.

Via Scaramouche.

Bill Whittle's Afterburner: 'How to Steal Power'

Via Instapundit:

Bill Whittle: 'One Thing About Being a Conservative is You Don't Have to Lie'

Funny, but that's exactly the opposite of progressives: They lie about everything.

See: "WFP Interviews Bill Whittle." Talking about how he frames arguments and creates his video productions, Whittle says that "the great thing about being a conservative is you don't have to lie and you don't have to invent stuff..."

Yeah, that is a great thing, at about 3:00 minutes:

Europe Needs Economic Growth

At Los Angeles Times, "Europe debt crisis plan hinges on economic growth":

Reporting from London — The latest plan to save Europe from its debt crisis was greeted with a burst of self-congratulation from the bleary-eyed leaders who negotiated it and a respite from the months of pounding by the continent's financial markets.

But the politicians who struck an early-morning deal in Brussels to avert financial collapse still face another ominous threat: a slide back into recession for their economies that could undermine the debt agreement as well as bring even greater social disorder to their streets.

The realization appears to be taking hold in some capitals that any "grand plan" to restore confidence in the Eurozone will fail without accompanying economic growth. Cuts in government spending that have been prescribed to get budget deficits under control also lead to job losses, along with the hardship and fear that foment social unrest.

Evidence is already coming in. From riots in Britain to peaceful protests by thousands of youths in Spain, from the angry unions marching through tear gas in Greece's streets to the far-right populist parties surging in popularity in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, the consequences of a hard economic squeeze are creating a backlash on the streets and making governments nervous.

More at that top link.

Britney's Femme Fatale Tour, London

Lots of pics, at Daily Mail: "Britney bares a whole lot of skin in risqué stage outfits as the Femme Fatale tour hits London."

How Taxes Destroy Liberty

It's not just taxes per se, but the increasing scope of government power to redistibute income for economic and social engineering.

Read this essay, from Myron Magnet, at City Journal, "On Tyranny and Liberty."

Benefits Run Out for Spain's Jobless

The report's at Wall Street Journal, but click through at Google:

Spain's jobless rate, hovering above 20% since early 2010, reached its highest rate in 15 years in the third quarter, the government reported Friday, at 21.5%—driven up in part by public-sector cuts. The number of households without any income also hit record levels, rising to 559,900, or 3.2% of Spain's families, the government said.

One reason: Three years into the economic crisis, more and more jobless Spaniards are seeing their unemployment benefits expire. The Spanish social safety net for the long-term unemployed runs out more quickly than in many Western European countries, and its unemployment rate is the highest in the European Union.

Most wage-replacement benefits in Spain—which top out at about €1,400 ($2,000) monthly for workers with two children—run out or significantly decline by 24 months, compared with three to five years in some countries, including Belgium and Denmark. Mr. Tuesta's benefits expired late last year.

The government on Friday announced plans to spend an additional €24 billion ($34 billion) on job development from 2012 through 2014. Those expenses could require cuts elsewhere. The euro zone, trying to contain a debt crisis, wants Madrid to slash its budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2013, from more than 9% last year.

Even as it has frozen pensions and cut public-sector salaries, Spain's government has been loath to trim assistance for the jobless. Still, in August, 71% of Spain's jobless collected unemployment benefits, compared with more than 79% in the summer of 2010, according to the Spanish Labor Ministry.

That's the crisis of the European welfare-state model right there, and right here at home protesters at Occupy Wall Street are campaigning for the exact same fiscal bankruptcy and welfare state nightmare.

It's an upside down world.

RELATED: At Reuters, "Spain's Bankia, Popular 'can meet new capital rules'."

'Truth is the New Hate Speech' — Pamela Geller Speaks at Sugar Land Tea Party

Pamela's got lots of updates on her recent free-speech episode in Texas.

See, "Video: Pamela Geller in Sugar Land, Texas — The Speech That Was Banned by Hyatt Place."

Plus, "Liberty Counsel Demand Letter to Hutton Hotel," and "'Hyatt Place Regrets Decison'."

Brown Risks Backlash on Pensions

This is one case where fiscal reality trumps destructive progressive ideology. Pigs will fly if he actually gets this through the legislature.

At Los Angeles Times, "Gov. Jerry Brown risks backlash on pension plan":

Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a sweeping overhaul of California pensions that would require public employees to pay more for their retirement and cut benefits for those hired in the future, setting the stage for a fierce battle with fellow Democrats and some of his main political supporters: unions representing government workers.

Brown's 12-point plan, announced Thursday, would require that all public workers have at least half the cost of their pensions deducted from their paychecks. Most state employees already make that contribution, but many in cities, counties and school districts across the state pitch in far less.

The governor also wants future employees to receive up to a third of their retirement income from a 401(k)-style plan rather than a traditional guaranteed pension. And he urged that the retirement age for most new public workers be raised from 55 to 67.

"I try to protect working people whenever I can," said Brown, 73, "but I'm also responsible to the taxpayer and making sure we have a solvent state government."

California's public pension system has been strained by ballooning obligations to current and future retirees. Brown, who says he does not draw a pension, has called the system unaffordable and unsustainable. He wants to cut the state's long-term pension needs in half.

His plan would have to pass the Legislature, which is dominated by Democrats whose close political allies include labor unions. Brown would need the approval of two-thirds of state lawmakers to place key parts of it on the November 2012 ballot for voters to consider.

Michele Bachmann Slams 'Stealth Attack' by Rick Perry Supporters

She really unloads at the interview. I was watching this afternoon. Bachmann is especially riled by folks trashing her tea party creds.

At CNN, "TRENDING: Bachmann accuses Perry camp of 'stealth' political attack" (via ioic).

Four Reasons Keynesians Keep Getting It Wrong

From Allan Meltzer, at Wall Street Journal:

Those who heaped high praise on Keynesian policies have grown silent as government spending has failed to bring an economic recovery. Except for a few diehards who want still more government spending, and those who make the unverifiable claim that the economy would have collapsed without it, most now recognize that more than a trillion dollars of spending by the Bush and Obama administrations has left the economy in a slump and unemployment hovering above 9%.

Why is the economic response to increased government spending so different from the response predicted by Keynesian models? What is missing from the models that makes their forecasts so inaccurate? Those should be the questions asked by both proponents and opponents of more government spending. Allow me to suggest four major omissions from Keynesian models...

RTWT.

Occupy Phoenix: 'When Should You Shoot a Cop?'

At Hot Air, "Flier at Occupy Phoenix asks, 'When should you shoot a cop?'"

And at Verum Serum, "The Man Behind the 'When Should You Shoot a Cop' Pamphlet."

Continuing Lies by Cowardly Hate-Blogger W. James Casper in Left's Demonic Workplace Intimidation Campaign

W. James Casper continues to lie about his involvement in the long campaign of workplace attacks that have been repudiated by the army of righteous conservatives in recent weeks. (See: "Online Disagreements and the Offline World We Live In...")

Typically, the epic coward at American Nihilist ignored the universal moral approbation directed against all of those making the attacks. Further, he's now justifying the attacks by saying that both sides do it and that it's not just a progressive thing, or something. Casper keeps claiming that "right-of-center" bloggers are also among those who've launched demonic campaigns. And that's just more lies. Specifically, Casper is lying about E.D. Kain's ideological attacks of workplace harassment. I blogged about E.D. Kain because he betrayed me and a number of other bloggers who he burned by pulling the plug on Neo-Constant without even so much as a thank you or acknowledgment of their contributions. Kain did that because he embarrassed himself by selling out the right to join up with the likes of communist Freddie deBoer. I didn't like it. I blogged about it. I make no apologies. That's life. And Erik Kain's a cowardly little prick and Andrew Sullivan wannabe. I don't like him. But I never lied about him. I never contacted him personally. I simply wrote about my disagreements online. I wrote the truth. And for that E.D. Kain contacted my employer not once but twice. As many have pointed out, including law professor William Jacobson at the time, it's extremely bad form to contact someone's work, especially if you're unhappy that someone posted things about you that are entirely true, no matter how inconvenient. That is, you don't have a right to harass someone for speaking their mind, but that's what E.D. Kain did and that's what W. James Casper has endorsed. Indeed, that's who James Casper is.

W. James Casper, who, folks will recall, endorsed racist attacks against me by The Pale Scot, praises the workplace campaigns as not only deserved but effective:

Donald barely mentions any of the people who contacted LBCC, anymore...

That's another malicious falsehood. There's only one person I've stopped mentioning, one of the asshats at Lawyers, Guns and Money, and that's because there's a legal arrangement in place that prevents me from making references to this asshole at the blog. As for the others, they haven't been worth my time, but it's not because their attacks have been effective, as racist W. James Casper claims. In fact, that's just more lies from Comrade Racist Repsac3. I called out E.D Kain in June, for example: "Erik Kain of Forbes: Wishy Washy Pussy." And I'll continue to call him out when I see fit. Kain's a weasel. He'd prefer the world not know about his cheap ass ideological opportunism, so he attempted to get someone fired rather than just debate the issues like a man. And for the record: E.D. Kain long ago came out as a progressive. Despite this, W. James Casper, for over a year, has been spreading a disinformation campaign about how Kain's allegedly right-of-center. He's not, and he said so himself at the hardline progressive blog Balloon Juice: "Why I am Not a Conservative."

And that's yet another example of the kind of routine lies spread by Racist Repsac3.

Now I probably wouldn't be commenting on this again, but some of Racist Repsac3's lies are particularly egregious. For example, there is no moral equivalence between the left's campaign to get me fired and the right's response to whatever happened years ago to Jeff Goldstein. The fact is that a deranged progressive troll named Deborah Frisch threatened Goldstein's family. See: "Blog blunder fells UA teacher." And at Black Five, "Dr. Frisch (did I mention she's a psych[o] professor at the University of Arizona?) has repeatedly and quite disturbing levied DEATH THREATS against Jeff's 2 year old child."

When someone makes death threats it's damned right for people to be concerned. But I don't endorse workplace attacks for any reason. And I take exception to W. James Casper's sick moral relativism. In Casper's nihilist hate world, speaking my mind on my blog is tantamount to making death threats like those of Deb Frisch against Jeff Goldstein's 2 year-old child. And let's be clear about this, THAT IS EVIL. W. James Casper is consumed by hatred of difference. My conservative posse stood up because they saw evil directed against me, by Carl Salonon, E.D. Kain, Alex Knepper, the atheists, and now Captain Fogg. Am I forgetting anybody? Because that's a progressive thing. IT'S THE LEFT THAT DOES THIS.

[Added: I did forget somebody, Captain Fogg's sleaze-blogging ally, (O)CT(O)PUS) of The Swash Zone: "Libel Blogger David Hillman (Swash Zone) Workplace Harassment Fail."]

And to top it off, Repsac3 alleges that I had it coming. No, asshole W. James Casper. It's never okay to campaign against someone's work because someone legally spoke their mind on a blog. Hey asshole W. James Casper, there's no justification for it, and everyone can see through the bullshit and lies that you're spewing. You are a hate-blogger and stalker. I close the comments to my posts (like this one) not for ideological reasons, but because you are banned. YOU ARE BANNED, GET IT, STUPID FUCK? You are not to comment here because I said so. But you have no values, no morals, so you continue your hate campaign, attempting to harass and intimidate at my comment threads. You are a stalker. You long ago crossed the line, and that's what my conservative posse called out, and that's what your own commenter has ridiculed. It's not funny anymore: YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE.

Stop the hate. Stop the intimidation. Stop the threats against me. Stop endorsing, promoting, supporting, republishing, distributing, and football spiking the workplace attacks against me. These are designed for one thing and one thing only: to do me harm because progressives can't stand the light of truth being flashed on their ideological hatred. And that's why you continue to back the attacks. And that's why you have escalated to a personal campaign against me and my family.

Stop contacting me, W. James Casper. Stop attempting to intimidate me. And for God's sake, stop lying about your involvement in all of these attacks. American Nihilist has been the one-stop shop for the workplace attacks against me from day one. You are a sick, sick asshole. Quit e-mailing me. And get some help:

Cardinals Stun Rangers, 10-9, in 11 Innings to Force Game 7

Hey, hoping for another night of baseball? You got your wish.

At Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from St. Louis — St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa probably summed it up best.

"You had to be here to believe it," he said.

But even after seeing St. Louis rally three times in the final three innings to deny the Texas Rangers a World Series title Thursday, it was still hard to believe.

David Freese's leadoff home run in the 11th inning provided the deciding run in the Cardinals' 10-9 victory in Game 6, forcing the exhausted teams to return to Busch Stadium on Friday for a decisive game.

Yet while that one swing may have won the game, it was the Cardinals' grit and heart that may swing the count.

Twice, St. Louis was a strike away from its winter vacation — but both times the Cardinals came back.

"We never quit trying," La Russa said. "I know that's kind of corny, but the fact is we never quit trying.

"The dugout was alive even when we were behind. And sometimes it works."

Also at Hot Air, "Video: The greatest World Series game ever?"

Occupy Wall Street: The Enemy Within

See Discover the Networks, "Occupy Wall Street":

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a movement whose activism is planned and coordinated via a free, open-source social-networking website that is maintained by an independent group of organizers who describe themselves as “committed to doing technical support work for resistance movements.” Strongly anti-capitalist, OWS characterizes America as a “ruthless,” materialistic society where the chief objective is to “always minimize costs and maximize profits”; where “lives are commodities to be bought and sold on the open market”; and where “the economic transaction has become the dominant way of relating to the culture and artifacts of human civilization.” The “deep spiritual sickness” that necessarily results from this repugnant philosophy of perpetual economic "growth for the sake of growth," says OWS, has caused “vast deprivation, oppression and despoliation ... to cover the world.” OWS's prescribed remedy is to replace the foregoing arrangement “with a society of cooperation and community” – i.e., a socialist economy....

Front groups of the community organization ACORN played a major role in organizing the OWS protests nationwide. For instance, the Working Families Party (WFP), a longtime ACORN front, helped mobilize the demonstrations in New York City. "[We are] actually trying to change the capitalist system that we have today because it’s not working for any of us," WFP organizer Nelini Stamp told Laura Flanders of Free Speech TV in an interview.

Meanwhile, ACORN’s newer front groups were likewise deeply involved in launching and expanding the OWS movement throughout the fall of 2011. For instance, New York Communities for Change -- led by longtime ACORN lobbyist Jon Kest -- helped WFP organize the demonstrations in lower Manhattan. In Pennsylvania, Action United participated in the "Occupy Pittsburgh" rallies. In Florida, Organize Now took part in "Occupy Orlando." The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment led the "Occupy L.A." protests. And New England United for Justice, headed by former ACORN national president Maude Hurd, participated in the related “Take Back Boston” rallies in Massachusetts.

The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) was also heavily involved in OWS's formation and early growth. At the heart of "Occupy Los Angeles," for instance, were two Southern California communists -- veteran Party leader Arturo Cambron and his comrade Mario Brito. In early October 2011, Brito declared that OWS's chief objective was to achieve “economic justice,” and added: “This is an international movement ... The vast majority of Americans actually believe income inequality is a major problem. The only reason they haven’t acted upon it is because there hasn’t been a mass movement.” In an October 15, 2011 address to the nearly 3,000 attendees at an "Occupy Chicago" rally, John Bachtell, a spokesman from the CPUSA's national board, claimed to “bring greetings and solidarity from the Communist Party”; he received a number of loud ovations from the crowd.

The early OWS demonstrations imposed considerable monetary costs on the cities in which they were staged. By mid-October 2011, for example, the protesters' then-month-long siege of Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan had already cost New York taxpayers some $3.2 million for overtime police pay. Meanwhile, Boston City Council president Stephen Murphy reported that the costs resulting from the protests in his city were approaching $2 million.

Quite popular at OWS demonstrations across the United States are T-shirts and speeches glorifying such renowned Marxists as Che Guevara, Emiliano Zapata and Mao Zedong; lionizing convicted cop-killer Troy Davis and WikiLeaks collaborator Bradley Manning; promoting the DREAM Act and 9/11 Trutherism; and denouncing Fox News, the American Legislative Exchange Council, Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker, the Koch family, the New York Police Department, and "Nazi Bankers" and Jews.

Indeed, anti-Semitism is clearly in evidence at many “Occupy” events nationwide, where placards and chanted slogans denouncing the alleged conspiracies of “Jewish bankers” (and "Zionist Jews") square neatly with OWS's relentless condemnations of “greedy Wall Street bankers” and thus go unchallenged by the protesting throngs. According to the American Nazi Party, which supports OWS, the movement strikes a welcome blow against an obscenely corrupt "Judeo-Capitalism."

Check the link for the full entry.

IMAGE CREDIT: Communist Lalo Alcaraz.

Israel Matzav on Erick Erickson's Anti-Semitic Attack on Jennifer Rubin

Carl in Jerusalem picks up on my second post on Erick Erickson's attack on Jennifer Rubin.

See: "Eric Erickson charges Jennifer Rubin with dual loyalty, then backtracks":

What I want to get to is Erickson's labeling of anyone who advocates for Jonathan Pollard's release as having dual loyalties (yes, that still comes through in his apology) and of automatically not being a conservative. Over the last year, Lawrence Korb (formerly Caspar Weinberger's number 2 at the Defense Department), former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former US Secretary of State George Schultz, and Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree have all come out in favor of releasing Pollard. Of those, to the best of my knowledge, only Mukasey is Jewish and only DeConcini and Ogletree are not Republicans.

Additionally, some 500 American Jewish and Christian leaders called for Pollard's release in a letter to President Obama in January. That letter cites all of the following (some of whom are already listed above) as favoring Pollard's release:

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Senators Charles Schumer and Arlen Specter, Harvard Law Professors Charles Ogletree and Alan Dershowitz, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, Rev. Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame, Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, former federal Judge George Leighton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olsen, Pastor John Hagee, and Gary Bauer.

And 39 members of Congress.

Would Erickson accuse all of them of dual loyalty? Are none of them Republican or conservative enough for Erickson? Surely Hagee and Bauer (at least) ought to be. And if that's the case, why is Erickson going after Jennifer with a charge like this and not after any of them?

Pollard committed a crime and he's paid for that crime disproportionately. It's long past time to let him go. Unfortunately, much of the American Jewish community cannot find its voice on this issue precisely because it is intimidated by the type of dual loyalty charges made by Erickson against Jennifer Rubin. But the American Jewish community ought to find its voice.

There's still more at the link, and Erickson's getting beaten up in the comments.

Also, at The Other McCain, "Erickson’s ‘Anti-Semitic Screed’?"

Michael Moore: I'm Not in the 99 Percent!

It's not just the hypocrisy. Michael Moore's lying through his teeth on national television. It's really pathetic. At The Rhetorican, "RICH MAN, POOR MAN, YOU’RE NOT FOOLING ANYONE, MAN!"

And the key quote:

Well, then, if you believe that about me, then that’s really something, isn’t it? That, even though I do well, that I don’t associate myself with those who do well. I am devoting my life to those who who have less and who’ve been crapped upon by the system. And that’s how I spent my time, my energy, my money on trying to upend this system that I think is a system of violence; it’s a system that’s unfair to the average working person of this country, and it was a mistake to ever give me a dime, from the day Time Warner, actually, gave me money to buy Roger & Me… I hope they rue the day that they ever allowed me up on the movie screens.

And at NewsBusters, "OWS Supporter Michael Moore Lies on National Television About His Wealth: No I'm Not Worth Millions."

Also, from Peter Wehner, at Commentary, "Michael Moore, Hypocrite and Liar":

Greeks Attack Merkel Government as Nazi Regime

At London's Daily Mail, "Furious Greeks lampoon German 'overlords' as Nazis with picture of Merkel dressed as an SS guard."

Greeks angry at the fate of the euro are comparing the German government with the Nazis who occupied the country in the Second World War.

Newspaper cartoons have presented modern-day German officials dressed in Nazi uniform, and a street poster depicts Chancellor Angela Merkel dressed as an officer in Hitler’s regime accompanied with the words: ‘Public nuisance.’

Greeks are furious at the deal, even though it means the banks will write off 50 per cent of the country’s debt and Socialist prime minister George Papandreou said Greece had ‘avoided a mortal national danger’.

Opposition parties blasted the landmark agreement, with conservatives warning it condemned the country to ‘nine more years of collapse and poverty’.

But it is the fury of ordinary Greeks which is raising eyebrows.

Greek government officials who agreed to the belt-tightening moves have been portrayed in cartoons giving the Nazi ‘Sieg Heil’ salute.

And German visitors flocking to ancient tourist sites are being met with a hostile welcome from some Greeks.

Berlin’s interference has revived historical enmities and evoked comparisons to the massive destruction of Greece at the hands of Hitler’s Germany more than 65 years ago.

That's pretty cheap.

Of course, Greece is the freeloader of Europe, so naturally they'd attack the powerful Germans as "Nazis."

This is What Mobocracy Looks Like: Street Artist 'Above' Hangs Banker in Effigy Along Florida's I-95

Taking things too far?

Hardly, this is where things are headed.

At Weasel Zippers, "Effigy of Wall Street Banker Hung From a Noose Over Miami Highway…"

And London's Daily Mail, "Is this taking the protests too far? Occupy Wall Street-inspired artist hangs dummy of banker from telephone wire."

Iran Defeats the United States in Iraq?

From Frederick Kagan and Kimberly Kagan, at Los Angeles Times, "Out of Iraq":

Iran has just defeated the United States in Iraq.

The American withdrawal, which comes after the administration's failure to secure a new agreement that would have allowed troops to remain in Iraq, won't be good for ordinary Iraqis or for the region. But it will unquestionably benefit Iran.

President Obama's February 2009 speech at Camp Lejeune accurately defined the U.S. goal for Iraq as "an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant." He then outlined how the U.S. would achieve that goal by working "to promote an Iraqi government that is just, representative and accountable, and that provides neither support nor safe haven to terrorists."

Despite recent administration claims to the contrary, Iraq today meets none of those conditions. Its sovereignty is hollow because of the continued activities of Iranian-backed militias in its territory. Its stability is fragile, since the fundamental disputes among ethnic and sectarian groups remain unresolved. And it is not in any way self-reliant. The Iraqi military cannot protect its borders, its airspace or its territorial waters without foreign assistance.

Although Obama has clearly failed to achieve the goals for Iraq that he set five weeks after taking office, Iran, in contrast, is well on its way to achieving its strategic objectives. Since 2004, Tehran has sought to drive all American forces out of the country, to promote a weak, Shiite-led government in Baghdad, to develop Hezbollah-like political-militia organizations in Iraq through which to exert influence and intimidate pro-Western Iraqi leaders, and to insinuate its theocratic ideology into Iraq's Shiite clerical establishment. It has largely succeeded in achieving each of those goals.

Well, they don't beat around the bush, do they?

There's more at that top link.

And see Omri Ceren, at Commentary, "Untangling Ideology From Incompetence on Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal."

Protesting Outside People's Homes — Is This What Democracy Looks Like?

From Elizabeth Ames, at Fox News:

Protesting at people’s homes ... is not about asserting an opinion. It is a warning of potential violence. It implies, 'We’re outside your house because we're angry enough to hurt you unless you do what we want.'

But they're progressives, and thus purely virtuous.

Not.

Archaeologists in France Discover Underground Remains of 21 German Soldiers from World War I

At Der Spiegel, "WWI Grave Find Tells Story Germans Want to Forget":

Archaeologists in northern France have unearthed the bodies of 21 German soldiers from World War One in an elaborate underground shelter that was destroyed in a French attack in March 1918, and hasn't been opened since.

Individual war casualties are still frequently found during construction work on the former Western front battlefields of France and Belgium, but the discovery of so many soldiers in one location is rare.
The tomb, poignant and grisly, sheds light on the lives of the soldiers who died in explosions from heavy shells that penetrated the tunnel.

"It's a bit like Pompeii," Michaël Landolt, the French archaeologist leading the dig, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time. This is an extraordinary find."

Fascinating. It turns out Germans don't really like digging up the past, so to speak. German newspapers buried the story on the inside pages.

RTWT.

Obama Gets a Lifeline on Reelection?

President Obama's toast in 2012, right?

I think he'll lose reelection, but my prediction is based on continued high unemployment and depressed presidential approval ratings. So it's interesting that Obama's getting some improvement on those measures today.

The New York Times has the report on the new third-quarter GDP numbers, "Economic Growth in U.S., Though Still Modest, Speeds Up." And Gallup has the latest approval numbers, which show some improvement in the president's standing, "Obama Job Approval Showing Modest Improvement, Now 43%."

On the economy, continued improvements in economic growth rates must translate into a decline in the unemployment rate. We're still at 9.1 percent nationally, and higher in key states like Florida, Michigan, and Ohio. (BLS data is here.) My hunch is that unemployment needs to come down to below 7 percent nationally by next summer, and perhaps to a similar degree in some of those key battleground states.

On public opinion, Charlie Cook's out with a new analysis, at National Journal, "Underwater":

With the 2012 presidential general election just a year away, it’s a good time to look at the national polling and talk about the state of play. Obviously, we have to make allowances for changing circumstances and unexpected events.

The best barometer of how a president is going to fare is his approval rating, which starts taking on predictive value about a year out. As each month goes by, the rating becomes a better indicator of the eventual results. Presidents with approval numbers above 48 to 50 percent in the Gallup Poll win reelection. Those with approval ratings below that level usually lose. If voters don’t approve of the job you are doing after four years in office, they usually don’t vote for you. Of course, a candidate can win the popular vote and still lose the Electoral College. It happened to Samuel Tilden in 1876, Grover Cleveland in 1888, and Al Gore in 2000. But the popular votes and the Electoral College numbers usually come down on the same side.

In his 11th and most recent quarter in office (July 20-Oct. 19), President Obama averaged a 41 percent approval rating among registered voters, according to Gallup. His average for the month of September was the same. For the week of Oct. 17-23, the president’s approval was 41 percent with a disapproval rating of 51 percent. It’s worth noting that in the Oct. 17-23 aggregation of Gallup tracking, Obama’s job-approval rating among independents was only 38 percent. This was a group he carried by 8 percentage points over John McCain in 2008, 52 percent to 44 percent. Among “pure” independents, those who don’t lean toward either party when pushed, the president’s approval rating was 32 percent.

Focusing on the big picture and that target of 48 to 50 percent among the total electorate, if Obama is to win in 2012, he needs to raise his approval rating at least 7 to 9 points. (Obama got some good news on Wednesday when the CBS/New York Times poll, conducted Oct. 19-24, pegged his approval rating at 46 percent—closer to his target.)

Keep reading.

Well, Obama's up 2 points in the latest Gallup survey, so things are heading in the right direction. And as I reported yesterday, the president, while unpopular, performs better in head-to-head matchups in recent polls. So, Obambi's looking a little more competitive. But it still early and there's lots still to shake out between now and November 2012. And I'll be keeping an eye on things.

'Pushin Too Hard'

The Seeds, from my afternoon drive time on Tuesday:

2:01 - American Woman by Guess Who

2:01 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by Elton John

2:07 - Pushin Too Hard by Seeds

2:17 - Dangerous Type by Cars

2:21 - Light My Fire by Doors

2:28 - Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

2:32 - D'yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin

2:36 - In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett

2:39 - Take It On The Run by Reo Speedwagon

2:49 - Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh

2:57 - Lookin' Out My Backdoor by CCR

And speaking of pushing too hard, I hope Tania doesn't. See: "Chasing 26.2." Just go nice and easy, my friend.

Harvard's Stephen Walt: 'The Myth of American Exceptionalism'

At Foreign Policy.

I saw this a couple of weeks back and wasn't the least bit surprised, especially since I learned that Walt was a featured speaker at communist Code Pink's Jew-hating anti-AIPAC conference in May. I considered writing a full take-down, but thought better of my time. Besides, Walt gets hammered in the comments:

Typical Revisionist Thinking

As an American, I have absolutely no qualms with the content of this article. That said, we all need to take a deep breath and realize that this is just another contribution to the millions of pages of standard revisionist political thinking in the US. And it seems like every time another page or two is written, the author and/or his/her readers act as though they have just unearthed a treasure trove of hidden truth that typical "brainwashed" Americans have never heard before.

There is nothing in this article that is not taught in every basic US history class (at least at the university level), that has not been widely reported in the US media, or that is not a common topic in US political discussion. As much as people outside of the US like to think of Americans as lost in a world of false euphoria stemming from their very "Americanness," the harshest critics of the United States, much like this author, are to be found right within the US itself, teaching at its universities, publishing articles in its journals and newspapers, lecturing at events, and participating in public political discussion. Believe me, as a nation, we are quite sober and objective.

This is a full-length feature in the magazine's November/December issue, and it might be useful for international relations course syllabi. Or, well, perhaps as part of a debate on exceptionalism. Either that, or as a museum piece of elitist (egghead) political science, worth a read for its curiosity value (at the link)

Blackbeard's Cannon Recovered After Almost Three Centuries Underwater

At Telegraph UK, "Blackbeard's pirate ship cannon recovered from ocean."

Also, at London's Daily Mail, "Blackbeard's cannon salvaged from wreckage of pirate's ship on ocean floor."

Polls Suggest Obama Victory in 2012, But Economy Suggests a Defeat

This bugs me.

But campaigns matter, so we won't know for sure until the GOP race is settled in early 2012.

See Wall Street Journal.

I still think Obama's cooked in November 2012.

REMEMBER: "New Poll Finds Deep Distrust of Government."

Thailand Floods Bring Fears of Escaped Crocodiles

Interesting piece, at WSJ, "As Floodwaters Rise, So Do Thais' Crocodile Fears: Reptiles Escape Farms, Spurring Bid to Bring Them Back Alive."

Perry Steps Up Attacks on Romney for Changing Positions

The report's at Wall Street Journal.

And Perry's got his work cut out for him. See Time, "CNN/TIME Poll: Romney Leads Republican Rivals in First Four Primary States."

Mitt Romney's Finest Hour?

I don't recall WSJ's editorial board making any endorsements in the GOP race, but this sure comes close, "Romney's Finest Hour":

A friend of ours quipped recently that Mitt Romney could do his Presidential candidacy a lot of good if he took even a single position that is unpopular in the polls. Well, we can report that he has done that on housing policy, that he's being pummeled for it, and that it may be his finest campaign hour. It also contrasts favorably with the latest temporary, ad hoc and futile housing effort from President Obama.

Campaigning last week in Nevada, the epicenter of the housing bust, Mr. Romney was asked by the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board what he would do about housing and foreclosures. His reply:

"One is, don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up. Let it turn around and come back up. The Obama Administration has slow-walked the foreclosure processes that have long existed, and as a result we still have a foreclosure overhang."

How's that for refreshing? After five years of politicians trying without success to postpone disclosures and levitate the housing market, Mr. Romney dared to tell the truth. Parts of the U.S., including Nevada, still have too many homes, and that supply needs to be sold off and fixed up so the market can find a bottom before home prices can start to rise again. The faster that process proceeds, the faster the recovery will take hold.

That sounds good to me. I just wish Romney was so sure-footed on some other issues, like collective bargaining in Ohio.

Continue reading the editorial at that top link.

RELATED: At MSNBC, "ROMNEY'S KILLING IT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE."

Toronto Airport Security Employee of the Month!

Via Kathy Shaidle, "Toronto airport security employee hopes plane blows up! (video)"

Herman Cain 'Impresses' in Power Outsiders Poll at Huffington Post

From Mark Blumenthal, "Herman Cain Impresses GOP Power Outsiders":

Businessman Herman Cain may be the latest in a string of Republican presidential candidates to enjoy a bump in the national polls, but his appeal is real, even among GOP activists and party regulars in early primary and caucus states. That's the key finding of the latest Power Outsiders survey conducted by The Huffington Post and Patch.

Cain has impressed these local influential Republicans with his story of success and his advocacy of conservative issues. A surprising number believe he can beat President Barack Obama in 2012, although they are more hesitant about Cain's ability to win the Republican nomination.

The HuffPost-Patch Power Outsiders poll of political activists, party officials and officeholders in the early primary and caucus states attempts to listen in on the "invisible primary" under way among influential local activists and political insiders that has historically driven the outcome of party nomination campaigns. This week, we heard from 51 Power Outsiders in Iowa, 45 in New Hampshire and 63 in South Carolina.

As with the announced and prospective candidates tested previously, we began by asking respondents to pick just one word to describe Herman Cain. Nearly three out of four (74 percent) used a positive word to describe Cain, a slightly more favorable response than we have recorded for any of the others tested to date, including Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Chris Christie. The most frequently used positive words were "impressive," "leader," "successful," "likeable" and "charismatic."

Check the link for the tag cloud.

And you gotta love this. The poll shows Cain with the highest favorables among the entire GOP field:

There's lots more at the link.

GOP activists, party leaders, and elected officials were polled in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. It's not a scientific random sample, but the list of participants looks pretty good.

See also Fox News, "Fox News Poll: GOP Primary Voters Get on the Cain Train" (via Memeorandum).

RELATED: At The Other McCain, "James Carville Trashes Herman Cain."

Jennifer Rubin Slams Erick Erickson's 'Anti-Semitic Screed'

My post on the Jennifer Rubin profile at Politico was the top entry here through most of the day. Then this morning I saw Erick Erickson's attack on Rubin at RealClearPolitics. I noticed the Jewish slur, where Erickson deploys the disgusting dual loyalty smear, alleging that Rubin's "best understood as 'Likud' rather than Republican or conservative." Well Rubin pushed back, apparently. See Ben Smith, "Rubin dismisses Erickson's 'anti-Semitic screed'."

And Erickson's apologized, "An Anti-Semite?"

Erickson's a clueless hack, as I've held all along. In fact, I don't doubt his claim of ignorance at the apology, where he suggests that, "A friend of mine explains to me that a Jewish-American might find it insulting because it suggests they put Israel ahead of the United States." Hey, you think?

Just one more example of how overrated this dude is. What a loser.

Via Memeorandum and Weekly Standard.

Added: From PolitiJim, "I'm Sorry But Screw You Erick Erickson."

Police Deploy Flash Bombs at Occupy Oakland?

See Reason, "An Iraq War Veteran is in Critical Condition After Occupy Oakland Scuffles, Police Won't Confirm What Weapons They Used."

But watch the video:

Clearing the protest? Good. Police-state tactics? Not so good.

The New York Times has more, "Updates on Occupy Protests Nationwide":

Two veterans groups say that a protester who was badly wounded in Oakland on Tuesday night is a former marine who is now hospitalized with a fractured skull.

According to Iraq Veterans Against the War, the protester, Scott Olsen, is a member of their group who left the Marines in 2010, after serving two tours in Iraq. In a statement, the group's executive director Jose Vasquez, claimed that Mr. Olsen "sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland march," on Tuesday night. Mr. Vasquez added that Mr. Olsen, a systems network administrator in Daly, Calif. "is currently sedated at a local hospital awaiting examination by a neurosurgeon."

A series of bloody photographs that appear to show Mr. Olsen after he was wounded were posted on the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center's site, Indybay.org. Those images show that Mr. Olsen was wearing a brown military shirt with his last name on the front. Jay Finneburgh, the photographer who shot the images of Mr. Olsen, wrote on Indybay: "This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up. The bright light in the second shot is from a flash-bang grenade that went off a few feet from us. He looks like he might be a veteran. he was eventually taken to highland hospital."

Go back to New York Times to follow the links to IVAW and others.

The freedom to assemble is not unlimited. Time, place, manner restrictions are routine, and the police had already ordered the crowd to disperse. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

Police said they had to protect themselves from protesters who hurled rocks, bottles and paint, and ignored orders to disperse.

Still, that Olsen dude got beat up pretty bad. Looks like the police have some PR problems now.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Marine veteran fighting for life after being shot in the face with gas canister during Occupy Oakland clashes."

New Poll Finds Deep Distrust of Government

Hey, maybe the contradictions of capitalism are ripe for revolution.

At New York Times (via Instapundit):

With Election Day just over a year away, a deep sense of economic anxiety and doubt about the future hangs over the nation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with Americans’ distrust of government at its highest level ever.

The combustible climate helps explain the volatility of the presidential race and has provided an opening for protest movements like Occupy Wall Street, to highlight grievances about banks, income inequality and a sense that the poor and middle class have been disenfranchised.

Almost half of the public thinks the sentiment at the root of the Occupy movement generally reflects the views of most Americans.

With nearly all Americans remaining fearful that the economy is stagnating or deteriorating further, two-thirds of the public said that wealth should be distributed more evenly in the country. Seven in 10 Americans think the policies of Congressional Republicans favor the rich. Two-thirds object to tax cuts for corporations and a similar number prefer increasing income taxes on millionaires.

On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released a new study concluding that income distribution had become much more uneven in the last three decades, a report that could figure prominently in the battle over how to revive the economy and rein in the federal debt.

The poll findings underscore a dissatisfaction and restlessness heading into the election season that has been highlighted through competing voices from the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements, a broad anti-Washington sentiment and the crosscurrents inside both parties about the best way forward.

Not only do 89 percent of Americans say they distrust government to do the right thing, but 74 percent say the country is on the wrong track and 84 percent disapprove of Congress — warnings for Democrats and Republicans alike.

Also:

Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats, two-thirds of independents and just over one-third of all Republicans say that the distribution of wealth in the country should be more equitable...

Hey, that Obama-Pelosis class warfare really works!

RELATED: At The Blaze, "RADICAL BILL AYERS SPEAKS TO OCCUPY CHICAGO PROTESTERS ABOUT REVOLUTION & THE TEA PARTY."

Jennifer Rubin Profiled at Politico

I don't read her that much, although I'm not hostile to Rubin as are some blog colleagues on the right. Dan Riehl and I occasionally go back and forth about Rubin on Twitter.

See "Rick Perry's worst nightmare: Jennifer Rubin."

Rubin describes herself as a mainstream conservative, if not a a movement loyalist.“I don’t take a check-the-box, down-the-line view of conservatism. I think on foreign policy and economics I’m very much a Reagan conservative,” she said.

But many conservative bloggers don’t view her as one of them.

“I don’t have time to waste bytes on someone not in the conservative movement,” RedState’s Erick Erickson, who broke with Rubin over her support for the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, told POLITICO when asked about her in an email.

Dan Riehl, another conservative blogger, described her as an “establishment Republican” and a “neocon” and said he suspected the Post uses her as a kind of foil, to define the rightward limit of the debate as relatively close to the center.

“She’s kind of like [center-right New York Times columnist] Ross Douthat in lipstick, assuming he doesn’t wear any,” Riehl said. “I guess she couldn’t get a job with Romney so she stayed with The Washington Post.”

(In fact, the Post has recently been courting other opinion writers on the right, in particular former Jesse Helms spokesman and Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen, the leading defender of former Vice President Dick Cheney and the harsh interrogation he championed.)

But Rubin, who has never shied from a fight, says that her role is different from conservative bloggers: She’s commenting on the right, not defending it.

Lately I'm "commenting on the right" as well, since I haven't settled on a pick for the nomination, or at least not yet, since Michele Bachmann's numbers took a dive.

More later ...

Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Oakland, California

At The Lede:

1:40 a.m. [EST] Updated - Police officers shot several rounds of tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters from the group Occupy Oakland on Tuesday night, as the protesters tried to re-enter an area outside of City Hall that the police had cleared of their encampment on Tuesday morning.

“It sounded like bombs,” said Joaquin Jutt, 24, a digital animator who was among the protesters. “There was a stinging and burning in my throat, eyes and nostrils. My eyes burned like there was hot sauce in them.”

And a nice photo-blog, at J.P. Dobrin's, "PHOTOGRAPHY OF POLICE DISMANTLING OCCUPY OAKLAND."

German Officials Reopen 1980 Oktoberfest Bombing Investigation

This is interesting.

At Der Spiegel, "Oktoberfest Bombing Under Review: Officials Ignored Right-Wing Extremist Links":

It was less than two weeks before the Oct. 5, 1980 German parliamentary election, and the CSU and its then Bavarian state governor and chancellor candidate, Franz Josef Strauss, were not interested in right-wing extremist terrorism. In their worldview, the threat always came from the left. The social climate was toxic, and the Strauss camp, and others, treated left-wing extremist terror group the Red Army Faction (RAF) and its sympathizers as Germany's public enemy number one.

What did not fit into this worldview was the idea that right-wing extremist groups were at the same time developing their own, loosely defined terrorist network, with cells in Hamburg, Nuremberg, Esslingen near Stuttgart, as well as in Antwerp and Bologna. Not surprisingly, efforts to investigate the threat from the far right were half-hearted at best.

For three decades, the official explanation for the Oktoberfest attack involved the theory of a confused "sole perpetrator." In May 1981, after just eight months of investigation, the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) postulated this theory in its "final comment" on the case. The Federal Prosecutor's Office also noted that there was "no evidence whatsoever" that "third parties" could have influenced Köhler. Case closed -- or so it seemed.

Until now, this final comment was the only document relating to the case that had been made available to the public, while the investigation files on which it had been based remained unknown. Now SPIEGEL has evaluated these files for the first time, in addition to dossiers from the former East German secret police, the Stasi, and other records, some of which were formerly classified -- a total of 46,000 pages.

Bikini Calendar Photoshoot Whistler, Canada

Via Theo Spark:

'The Internet Creates a Misinformed Electorate'

I don't think so, but interesting discussion, in any case.

At Business Week:

Inaccuracies, lies, and innuendoes racing throughout the cyberworld give voters a false sense of knowledge about political candidates. Pro or con?

Lindsay Lohan Nude!

Well, not yet actually.

It was the big celebrity buzz yesterday, in any case.

At LAT, "Lindsay Lohan may be in Playboy — now use your imagination."

The Post-Global Warming World

From Wall Street Journal (at Theo Spark):

The science on climate change and man's influence on it is far from settled. The question today is whether it makes sense to combat a potential climate threat by imposing economically destructive regulations and sinking billions into failure-prone technologies that have their own environmental costs.

Well, WaPo's Eugene Robinson says the debate's over.

Right. Freakin' idiot.

Homosexual Extremists Attempt to Get New Jersey Teacher Fired for Posting Alleged 'Anti-Gay' Comments on Facebook

A little late getting to this, but considering what's been happening here, it's worth weighing in.

See Los Angeles Times, "New Jersey teacher in trouble over anti-gay Facebook comments." And New Jersey Online, "Union Township school officials investigate teacher who allegedly made anti-gay remarks on Facebook":

The case raises broader questions about rights of teachers to speak freely in the age of social media.

No doubt.

Also at The Blaze, "GAY ADVOCATES PETITION TO HAVE TEACHER FIRED AFTER SHE POSTED ANTI-GAY MESSAGES ON FACEBOOK."

WikiLeaks May Shut Down

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of cyber-terrorists.

At Forbes, "Wikileaks to Close Over Funding Blockade?"

The Romney Implosion?

Perhaps Mitt Romney's still the "inevitable" nominee, but all of a sudden he looks more vulnerable, and decidedly un-conservative.

At The Other McCain, "Herman Cain Builds Lead Over Romney, Rick Perry 5th in New CBS/NYT Poll." Perhaps 21 percent isn't that bad, right? Well, ICYMI, on one of the hottest conservative causes of the year, and Romney waffles? See WSJ, "Romney Riles Conservatives by Declining to Weigh In on Ohio Union Referendum," and RealClearPolitics, "Romney Steers Clear of Union Fight in Ohio." And Dave Weigel, "In Ohio, Mitt Romney Punts on Health Care and Union Rights."

It's not a hard issue. We've had practically a year of Wisconsin politics. Folks on both sides are mobilized on collective bargaining, and Romney waffled. See Michelle as well, "Battleground: Ohio."

Matt Bai, at New York Times, says Romney's doing just fine: "Why It’s Good for Romney to Be at 21 Percent."

UPDATE: Linked at The Other McCain. Thanks!

Occupy Oakland 'Anarchist' Speaker Calls for 'End of Liberal Democracy'

Via Founding Bloggers, on Twitter:

Also, at Los Angeles Times, "Police raid Occupy Oakland encampment, arrest dozens."

Lots more at Memeorandum and Verum Serum. Also, at Hot Air, "Video: “The Man” 1, Occupy Oakland 0; Update: Protesters try to re-enter park."

The Once and Future German Problem

My dad used to always warn against the eventual rise of Germany after World War II. It's a question that's always fascinated me. Germany's already wielding tremendous influence amid all the economic turmoil, but if the Eurozone crashes say goodbye to a united Europe and the promise of peace it established.

At Washington Post, "In Europe, new fears of German might."

BERLIN — For decades, Germany’s role in Europe has been to supply the cash, not the leadership. With fresh memories of war, the continent was cautious about German domination — and so were the Germans themselves.

But the economic crisis has shaken Europe’s postwar model, and Germany increasingly calls the shots. As countries struggle to pay their debts, only Chancellor Angela Merkel has enough money to haul them out of trouble. And the price Merkel is demanding — more control over how they run their economies — is setting off alarm bells in capitals across the continent.

In Athens, protesters dressed up as Nazis routinely prowl the streets, an allusion to the old model of an assertive Germany. In Poland, accusations that Germany has imperial ambitions became a campaign issue in the recent presidential election.

And although German leaders have sought in recent weeks to soothe others’ fears in advance of high-level meetings in Brussels on Sunday and in coming days, the tone has sometimes sounded pugilistic.

Germany reengineered its culture after 1945. And I expect its role as economic powerhouse will satisfy renascent nationalist aspirations for European dominance. But there were predictions of a return to multipolarity and armed conflict in the years following the end of the Cold War. Hyper-institutionalization in the European project made that an impossibility. But times change. A lot depends on the role of the United States, whether we stay engaged in NATO and continue to keep Germany down, as we had throughout the postwar era. Is war among the leading European powers even a possibility at this point? Well, probably not --- I haven't heard a lot of calls for territorial revisionism, for example --- but you can't rule these things out. The pillars sustaining the peace are giving way. See Joshua Goldstein's recent essay, "Think Again: War."

RELATED: Anne-Marie Burley (Slaughter), "The Once and Future German Question."

Public Divided Over Occupy Wall Street Movement

This should send some tingles down the legs of the Occupier-in-Chief's communist base.

At Pew Research, "Tea Party Draws More Opposition than Support."

About four-in-ten Americans say they support the Occupy Wall Street movement (39%), while nearly as many (35%) say they oppose the movement launched last month in New York’s financial district.

By contrast, more say they oppose the Tea Party movement than support it (44% vs. 32%), according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and The Washington Post, conducted Oct. 20-23 among 1,009 adults. One-in-ten (10%) say they support both, while 14% say they oppose both.

If the media bothered to cover the endemic anti-Semitism, public defecation, rat-infested conditions, outdoor sex, and revolutionary communism, I doubt you'd see this level of support. That's why bloggers are essential to getting the truth out on these idiot commies. See: "'Occupy Wall Street' Almost Entirely Socialist/Marxist."

IMAGE CREDIT: Bosch Fawstin, at Pajamas Media, "Seven Images That Will Make The Occupiers Cry."

Update on Zilla's Resistance Honor Roll

A follow-up to my earlier entry: "Conservatives Stand Up! — Zilla's Resistance Honor Roll Keeps Getting Bigger!" And Zilla's is here: "Stand Against Evil - Never Let it Win."

I didn't get a chance to link everybody up last time, and I've also been getting support via e-mail. Maggie Thornton sent this, "Harrassment":

Donald, the Left must deeply hate that you have classrooms of young minds in front of you every day. You are in their dominion, Education, and they believe they own it. How dare you treat with those they believe they own. You are their nightmare. Then you are bold enough to leave the classroom and share with your blog readers the insanity of promoting the destruction of capitalism and all that made this country great. You write from strength, with passion, and moral vision. I will pray that you be given the energy and will to prevail against this evil. Never forget that you are on a good and righteous mission.

Maggie

I don't, Maggie. And I appreciate the support.

And Jimmie Bise published a response to the progressives at his blog, "Beware the Howling Mob." Jimmie starts with a discussion of Ann Coulter's phenomenal book, "Demonic," and then writes:

My friend Zilla has been the subject of the left-wing mob, to the point where she ingeniously erected a Troll Tollgate which allows people to yell at her to their heart’s content so long as they fill up her tip jar for the privilege. Thus far, though, Zilla’s thuggish trolls have restricted their activities to childish rants in the comment sections of her blog posts.

Donald Douglas, on the other hand, has suffered that and far more. Left-wing agitators have gone after him, very personally and directly. They have dedicated a blog to his personal destruction and have attempted to get him fired on several occasions over the past three years. So far, they have failed, but their efforts have cost Donald countless hours of his time and, I will assume, some nontrivial amount of money to defend himself from the baseless attacks.

And all he did was give voice to his conservative political opinions.

Smitty, in a post on the subject, noted that it is not sufficient to the left that they prove their ideological opponents wrong. They must oppress. They must take away your ability to speak freely. We can complain about how unfair they are to us, but it won’t matter. They will not change. That is what they do. That is who they are. Progressivism over the decades is nothing but instance after instance of pure power politics: the rule of the howling mob, the haughty “We won”, the vicious “push back twice as hard”.

Here’s the thing, though. That exercise of power requires a faceless mob. When we begin to name and shame the offenders, the power diminishes. Their mob tactics require that they remain numerous and anonymous and that the victim remain isolated. When we band together and identify them as the thugs they are, their courage runs away like water.

It’s time we made the cowards run.

Just keep an eye on these people, Jimmie, and don't let your guard down. They're merciless bastards!

Also, Tania at Midnight Blue stands up as well: "A Progressive Attack on Conservative Blogger." And at Invincible Armor, "Stand With American Power Against Intimidation and Harassment."

Thanks!

And very interestingly, The Independent Realist has administered a brutal flogging to stalking asshat W. James Casper. In fact, Independent Realist engaged RACIST = REPSAC only to come away convinced he wasted his time on an epic loser. See, "Repsac3, W. James Casper — The Final Word." And from the conclusion there:

So there you have it. The whole sordid story of my involvement with a paranoid delusional. I gave him his chance to defend himself, and instead he now spends his days and nights tapping away on his keyboard writing post after post about the evil me and the conspiracy I am leading to ban him from the internet. The comment queue for this blog is filled with his rants are his blogs. As I have no desire to fuel his paranoia any further (not to mention that I don't enjoy playing games with the mentally ill), I am done with him. He cannot be rational or logical, and has slid down into irrational delusions. I fear for his sanity, and I can only hope that he will seek professional help, and not harm himself or others.

The Independent Realist has two other entries, here and here. Amazing isn't it? It took Independent Realist about two seconds to pin down W. James "Costanza" Casper. The idiot's completely deranged. It's too freakin' obvious. Indeed, Casper the hate-blogger responded with some incoherent ramblings attempting to deflect Independent Realist's devastating takedown, only to get hammered by one of his own progressives in the comments! His commenter calls out RACIST = REPSAC as crossing the line, indicating that Casper's campaign of intimidation is becoming "a real drag." Of course, you can't help someone who refuses wise counsel. RACIST = REPSAC's a nut case. A raving hatemonger and lunatic. He rambles at the post, spewing lies about how he's going to stop stalking me, and then says screw it, and starts up again with a new sets of rants.

Clinical.

Kudos to The Independent Realist. Thanks for taking this idiot Casper out back for a smackdown! The dude needs some help, no doubt. Sad.

Useful Idiots of Occupy Wall Street Get Lesson in Communism

Via Reaganite Republican, "Former Soviet Citizen Confronts Historically Ignorant OWS Boneheads re. 'Socialism'."

Miranda Kerr Fantasy Bra

This is the big event every year at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

See Sydney Morning Herald, "Miranda Kerr's Fantasy come true."

RELATED: From 2009, at WSJ, "Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Shows Off $3 Million Harlequin Fantasy Bra."

What's in the Bag? Shannan Click Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011

Some Rule 5:

Previously: "Shannan Click Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011."

And at The Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday."

A Hearing Aid That Cuts Out All the Clatter

I had profound hearing loss when I was 21 years-old. I regained some of my hearing and use a hearing aid. So as you can imagine, this story rings particularly true.

At New York Times:

After he lost much of his hearing last year at age 57, the composer Richard Einhorn despaired of ever really enjoying a concert or musical again. Even using special headsets supplied by the Metropolitan Opera and Broadway theaters, he found himself frustrated by the sound quality, static and interference.

Then, in June, he went to the Kennedy Center in Washington, where his “Voices of Light” oratorio had once been performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, for a performance of the musical “Wicked.”

There were no special headphones. This time, the words and music were transmitted to a wireless receiver in Mr. Einhorn’s hearing aid using a technology that is just starting to make its way into public places in America: a hearing loop.

“There I was at ‘Wicked’ weeping uncontrollably — and I don’t even like musicals,” he said. “For the first time since I lost most of my hearing, live music was perfectly clear, perfectly clean and incredibly rich.”

His reaction is a common one. The technology, which has been widely adopted in Northern Europe, has the potential to transform the lives of tens of millions of Americans, according to national advocacy groups. As loops are installed in stores, banks, museums, subway stations and other public spaces, people who have felt excluded are suddenly back in the conversation.

Continue reading.

Obama Unveils 'Son of Stimulus' for Housing Assistance

Critics called the administration's now-failed jobs initiative the "Son of Stimulus." And now it turns out the housing assistance program has an offspring. See Alana Goodman, "Obama’s New Housing Plan Purely Political." And Felix Salmon's not wasting any breath on it, "Obama's pathetic refinancing initiative."

But see WSJ, "Obama Housing Plan Highlights Sharp Political Split" (via Google):

President Barack Obama on Monday went where his Republican White House rivals have so far refused to go. He asserted that Washington should help Americans refinance their mortgages at lower rates.

The president's move to expand an existing, little-used program underscored his administration's belief that government has a role to play in restoring the health of the nation's broken housing market. In contrast, Republican presidential hopefuls have been loath to address the housing issue at all, in part because they blame government for causing the financial crisis and housing mess.

In 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain proposed that the government buy up home mortgages that exceeded the value of houses, then re-issue them at market value. "He got killed," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the economic adviser who had urged Mr. McCain to make the proposal.

Months later, the tea-party movement took off after CNBC analyst Rick Santelli's on-air tirade in February 2009 after the new Obama administration suggested it would try to aid homeowners. "How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills?" he asked.

Ever since, politicians from both parties have feared aggressive action that would smack of welfare for McMansion dwellers.

Well, yeah. Bailing out over-leveraged homeowners? Still not popular.