The Target Lady is Back!

Yeah, the commercialism's a bit much sometimes, but one of the pleasures of Black Friday is Maria Bamford, the Target Lady. I'm seeing Target ad buys during the Green Bay-Detroit game of Fox.

RELATED: From Fashion Ad Week, on Twitter: "Thanksgiving is all about The 4 F's: Family, Football, Friends & Food!"

End the Black Friday Madness!

Well, you can always shop at Amazon.

Or, well, see Robert Frank, at New York Times, "How to End the Black Friday Madness":

In recent years, large retail chains have been competing to be the first to open their doors on Black Friday. The race is driven by the theory that stores with the earliest start time capture the most buyers and make the most sales. For many years, stores opened at a reasonable hour. Then, some started opening at 5 a.m., prompting complaints from employees about having to go to sleep early on Thanksgiving and miss out on time with their families. But retailers ignored those complaints, because their earlier start time proved so successful in luring customers away from rival outlets.

Actually, Franks says a new national 6 percent sales tax on Thanksgiving would solve the problem. Typical, left-wing response, but that's not gonna do it. Consumers will decide. If shoppers don't like shopping on Thanksgiving then they won't shop. More on that at Telegraph UK, "Black Friday: most important day of the year for the US economy."

'Occupy' Urges Black Friday Blackout

At Fox News, "'Occupy'-Inspired Campaign Urges Boycott of Black Friday."

Dirtbags.

Medical Marijuana Target of U.S. Prosecutors

At New York Times, "Medical Marijuana Industry Is Unnerved by U.S. Crackdown."

UKIAH, Calif. — An intensifying federal crackdown on growers and sellers of state-authorized medical marijuana has badly shaken the billion-dollar industry, which has sprung up in California since voters approved medical use of the drug in 1996, and has highlighted the stark contradiction between federal and state policies.

Federal law classifies the possession and sale of marijuana as a serious crime and does not grant exceptions for medical use, so the programs adopted here, in 15 other states and in the District of Columbia exist in an odd legal limbo. While federal agencies have long targeted Californians who blatantly reap illegal profits in the name of medicine, or who smuggle marijuana across state lines, the Justice Department said in 2009 that it would not normally pursue groups providing marijuana to sick patients, in accordance with state laws.

But in the last several weeks, federal prosecutors have raided or threatened to seize the property of scores of growers and dispensaries in California that, in some cases, are regarded by local officials as law-abiding models. At the same time, the Internal Revenue Service has levied large, disputed tax charges against the state’s largest dispensary, threatening its ability to continue.

In a hint of the simmering federal-state tensions, Kamala D. Harris, the attorney general of California, described in pointed terms the Oct. 7 announcement by four United States attorneys of their tough new campaign against many dispensaries, which they called commercial operations that violate the intent of California law as well as federal statutes.

“It was a unilateral federal action, and it has only increased uncertainty about how Californians can legitimately comply with state law,” Ms. Harris said in an interview. Since federal authorities do not recognize that marijuana can serve medical ends, she said, “they are ill equipped to be the decision makers as to which providers are violating the law.”

Kamala Harris is a blithering idiot. The Feds know exactly what's going on, which is that medical marijuana's a scam. Some patients may benefit, but otherwise the whole agenda is about stealth legalization.

And since I'm on this, I've been meaning to post Melanie Phillips' killer essay, "Drug legalisation? We need it like a hole in the head.

Melanie Phillips provides the essential conservative argument on the legalization debate (and she devastates the case of Portugal, which is widely cited by legalization enthusiasts as the "successful model" of decriminalization). But compare to David Swindle, "Our Deceitful Marxist President’s Cruel War on Sick Medicinal Marijuana Patients." It's a winding piece, but I'm still not convinced pot smoking's not counter-cultural. Or, let's just say that the tea party folks --- who I've been protesting with for over two years --- aren't down with it. But the Occupy folks are: "Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries." (Also, federalization of drug policy by itself doesn't make a conservative argument on marijuana legalization, and the federal government does indeed have authority to regulate "which of the plants God set growing on this earth" --- it's called the Commerce Clause, which kicks in when drugs and drug-related inputs are bought and sold across state lines. Besides, as I always say, drugs are for losers.)

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "L.A. council to debate whether to outlaw medical pot stores."

The Rise and Demise of the Zuccotti Park Commune

I'm just now getting a chance to read this phenomenal photo-essay from El Marco, "Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries."

Grab a cup of coffee. The dude knows what he's talking about.

Zombie comments as well, "The entire Occupy movement summarized in one sign."

Yemen's Saleh Agrees to Transfer Power

At LAT, "Yemen president signs pact to cede power."

After months of unrest that have brought his country to the edge of civil war, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to hand power to his vice president in a deal that leaves him immune from prosecution in the deaths of scores of protesters.

The agreement reached with the opposition and backed by the U.S. and Persian Gulf nations allows Saleh to retain the title of president for three months while early elections are scheduled. A clever politician who has ruled for 33 years, Saleh has broken similar promises before and it remains to be seen whether he will finesse a loophole to stay in charge.

The president, a former tank officer, is the epitome of the Arab strongman, playing his enemies off against one another and using force when necessary. His departure would leave his poor and battered nation facing an uncertain fate as tribes jockey for power, a secessionist movement rumbles in the south and a resurgent Al Qaeda branch battles security forces in towns and villages.

Saudi television showed Saleh signing the agreement, which was negotiated by United Nations envoy Jamal Benomar, in the presence of Saudi King Abdullah.

Saleh pledged that his ruling party would cooperate with the opposition in a new unity government, adding, "This disagreement for the last 10 months has had a big impact on Yemen in the realms of culture, development, politics, which led to a threat to national unity and destroyed what has been built in past years."

Daniel Ellsberg Joins Occupy!

Ellsberg makes some interesting comparisons to the Vietnam era. All the same, he's a blame-America commie. Unreal sometimes how these people think. I mean, what is the Utopian alternative?

Expel the UC Davis Occupiers

From David Horowitz, "Don’t Pepper Spray Them: Expel Them":

A bunch of students who think they’re revolutionaries formed a mob at UC Davis the other day, blocked a public walkway and refused to move when campus police requested them to do so. As participants in the Occupy Wall Streets on American neighborhoods and now campuses, these are people who support violence against a democratically elected government at home and terrorism abroad. They are friends and comrades of Jew-haters both domestic and foreign. You will notice the Keffiyehs in the video — but the record of the Occupiers is quite clear — on the matter of Jews, on the matter of violence and on the matter of hatred for their own country.

To be a “revolutionary” in a democratic country is to be a self-conceived and self-declared outlaw. That’s who these students are. Of course the may not realize who they are since the adults around them have conspired not to hold them accountable for their actions. But that’s who they are. I have long been of the opinion that the Sixties might have been avoided if administrators had responded to the illegal occupations of college campuses by expelling the culprits responsible. I see the same mistake being made now by the administrators at UC Davis who in the midst of what is — for them — a public relations nightmare, are groveling before these enemies of civility, decency, public order and the fundamental principles which sustain our Republic.

These demonstrators, these haters of our civic order, have forfeited the right to be subsidized by California taxpayers and to occupy privileged spots at our public universities. They need to be taught a lesson as much as our society needs to learn a lesson.Treating adults as children is bad policy; treating the enemies of American democracy as children and “idealists” can be suicidal. If we don’t defend ourselves, there is no one else who will.

Image Credit: Serr8d's Cutting Edge.

Joseph Stiglitz on the Top 1 Percent

The "1 percent" figure that's bruited about is generally attributed to Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-winning economist and professor at Columbia University.

He was interviewed back in May at the communist news network, Democracy Now! Scroll forward to about 2:45 minutes for the start of the interview. Stiglitz waxes longingly about Europe as the land of opportunity, which goes to show you that even the world's foremost economists can't predict what's going to happen even six months into the future. Spain gave the Socialist Party the boot last week, Greece is on lifeline and Germany could bail the Eurozone at any time.

And at Vanity Fair, "INEQUALITY: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%." (I know, it's the magazine of America's aspiring super-rich, but who cares about the hypocrisy if it gets the message out that inequality is horrible, just horrible!)

A New Communist Manifesto

As if the original Marx and Engels wasn't enough.

At The Utopian, "Towards a New Manifesto":

In 1956, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer sat down to write an updated version of the Communist Manifesto. These are previously unpublished notes from their discussions.....

Adorno: I have the feeling that, under the banner of Marxism, the East might overtake Western civilization. This would mean a shift in the entire dynamics of history. Marxism is being adopted in Asia in much the same way as Christianity was taken up in Mexico at one time. Europe too will probably be swallowed up at some point in the future.

Horkheimer: I believe that Europe and America are probably the best civilizations that history has produced up to now as far as prosperity and justice are concerned. The key point now is to ensure the preservation of these gains. That can be achieved only if we remain ruthlessly critical of this civilization.

Adorno: We cannot call for the defence of the Western world.

Horkheimer: We cannot do so because that would destroy it. If we were to defend the Russians, that’s like regarding the invading Teutonic hordes as morally superior to the [Roman] slave economy. We have nothing in common with Russian bureaucrats. But they stand for a greater right as opposed to Western culture. It is the fault of the West that the Russian Revolution went the way it did. I am always terribly afraid that if we start talking about politics, it will produce the kind of discussion that used to be customary in the Institute.

Adorno: Discussion should at all costs avoid a debased form of Marxism. That was connected with a specific kind of positivist tactic, namely the sharp divide between ideas and substance.

Horkheimer: That mainly took the form of too great an insistence on retaining the terminology.

Adorno: But this has to be said. They still talk as if a far-left splinter group were on the point of rejoining the Politburo tomorrow.

Horkheimer: What are the implications of that for our terminology? As soon as we start arguing with the Russians about terminology we are lost.

Adorno: On the other hand, we must not abandon Marxist terminology.

Horkheimer: We have nothing else. But I am not sure how far we must retain it. Is the political question still relevant at a time when you cannot act politically?

Amazing, that's 55 years ago and nothing's changed.

There's a book too, at Amazon.

Far-Left Congresswoman Jane Schakowsky: Occupy is Unstoppable

Yeah, because, you know, there ain't no commies in Congress or nothin':

This interview's from last week. No matter. Actually facts won't change any of these poisoned minds. See USA Today, for example, "Poll: 6 in 10 indifferent about Occupy movement."

'Nights in White Satin'

Check out Jonathan Sanders piece at PJ Media, "So You Think You Hate Punk Rock: The Five Bands That Will Change Your Mind." It's interesting, and a bit strange. Punk was indeed unusual at the time (1970s) but's it's mainstream now --- looked back on today as a period of innovation and rejuvenation in the history of rock and roll. I don't know if you can find folks who truly "hate" punk, since if they like The Clash or Green Day they're punked out. The other thing is that Sanders lists five bands for those new to the genre, but he doesn't mention any Los Angeles bands. I used to hang out with musicians back in the day --- like Annette Zilinskas, the original bassist with The Bangles --- who pretty much refused to accord any superiority to British punk bands, to say nothing of bands from New York.

In any case, may I suggest The Dickies, a Los Angeles mainstay, formed in 1977. They routinely opened for The Ramones and it looks like they're still going strong. Enjoy:

Michele Bachmann Endures Increasing Sexist Attacks on Campaign Trail

I guess Evan McMorris-Santoro's oppressed-women radar perked up after noticing the start of last weekend's GOP candidate forum with Frank Luntz. Michele Bachmann couldn't even be gracious enough to pour water for her opponents without being smeared as a "water-carrier." And the comments at the post are what you'd expect from the demonic commie-progressives at TPM, "Michele Bachmann Carries Her Opponents’ Water…Literally"

Then there's the "lying bitch" attack on the Jimmy Fallon show, at The Frisky, "Michele Bachmann Demands Apology For “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” Incident On Jimmy Fallon." And New York Times, "NBC Expresses Regret to Bachmann Over Introduction on Fallon Show."

And now progressive media are going after Representative Bachmann's cosmetics? At Huffington Post, "Michele Bachmann Wears Tons of Makeup For CNN Debate," and London's Daily Mail, "Michele Bachmann brings out the war paint as she cakes on the make-up for GOP debate."

Bachmann was subject to unhinged misogyny in August when Newsweek published the "Queen of Rage" cover photo: "The Conservative Crazy Eyes Cliche & Other Stupid MSM Photo Tricks." This stuff is par or the course for conservative women. And had right-leaning outlets slammed First Lady Michelle Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the same fashion, all hell would have broken loose across the progresso-sphere.

'Pinkwashing' and the Depravity of the Anti-Israel Left

William Jacobson responds to Professor Sara Schulman's New York Times essay, "Israel and ‘Pinkwashing’." (At Memeorandum.)

William's post is here: "The demented Israeli “pinkwashing” charge." Read it all the link. I have nothing but contempt for people like Schulman, whose essay is not only despicable, but exceptionally unintelligent as well.

Newt Gingrich Courts Conservative Backlash on Immigration

At New York Times, "Gingrich Risks Conservative Outrage on Immigration":

Did Newt Gingrich have a “heartless” moment on Tuesday night?

In a September debate, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, drew a furious response from conservatives in his party when he said critics of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants “did not have a heart.” The response halted Mr. Perry’s momentum amid charges from rivals that he was too soft on the issue of immigration for the party faithful.

Now, Mr. Gingrich — the newest leader in the national polls — has embraced a similar apostasy: the idea that the country should find a way to make many millions of illegal immigrants legal.

“There’s a way to ultimately end up with a country where there’s no more illegality, but you haven’t automatically given amnesty to anyone,” Mr. Gingrich said, citing a program from the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation.

That was enough for Mr. Gingrich’s rivals to pounce. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, refused to allow Mr. Gingrich to claim that his suggestion was different than amnesty.

“If people who come here illegally are going to get to stay illegally for the rest of their life, that’s going to only encourage more people to come here illegally,” Mr. Romney said.

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota agreed with Mr. Romney. “I don’t agree that you would make 11 million workers legal, because that in effect is amnesty,” she said.

Also, at The Hill, "Rep. King denounces Gingrich immigration plan as 'amnesty'." (Via Memeorandum.) And check AoSHQ, "Gingrich's Daft Immigration 'Solution'."

PREVIOUSLY: "Newt Goes All 'Dede Scozzafava' on Immigration!"

BONUS: Jeff Goldstein's post from last night, "Debate thoughts, nano edition."

Pepper Spray Saturates National Debate

At New York Times, "Pepper Spray's Fallout, From Crowd Control to Mocking Images":

Some women carry it in their purses in a pink, lipstick-shaped container. Hikers use it to deter bears. People in most states can buy a small canister of it on a quick-release key ring on Amazon.com for $7.07.

As pepper spray has become ubiquitous in this country over the last two decades, it has not raised many eyebrows. But now, after images of the campus police at the University of California, Davis, spraying the Kool-Aid-colored orange compound on docile protesters on Friday, pepper spray is a topic of national debate.

It has become the crowd-control measure of choice lately by police departments from New York to Denver to Portland, Ore., as they counter protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

To some, pepper spray is a mild, temporary irritant and its use has been justified as cities and universities have sought to regain control of their streets, parks and campuses. After the video at Davis went viral, Megyn Kelly on Fox News dismissed pepper spray as “a food product, essentially.”

Continue reading.

Robert Reich: Occupy Democracy

There's so much that's wrong with Robert Reich's commentary. It's like where to begin?

Mostly, it's the hypocrisy that's bugging me. The guy's hardly a money-grubbing occupy hippie. The author of numerous best-selling books, Reich has served three presidential administrations and was President Clinton's Secretary of Labor. As a political economist his words have significance, but as a class warrior he's pretty much fail. The fact that he's Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy makes me wonder if he's in his right mind. Certainly the school's benefactors have some issues with the widespread anti-Semitism of this movement, and Reich has been speaking up and down the state at these protests. I sense some desperation in the appeals as well. I mean seriously. "Money in politics"? Boy, that's a new one! Reich's boss --- Bill Clinton --- almost single-handedly turned "soft money" into a household phrase in the 1990s. It's so stupid, really. Attacks on "money in politics" are really attacks on Republicans, which in the end is nothing but lies, considering the trail of Wall Street cash leading right to the current occupant of the White House, to say nothing of the pay-for-play Democrat Party politics that's been SOP for decades. In any case, Lawrence Meyers had a lot along these lines last summer, at Big Government, "What’s Wrong With Robert Reich."

The Right-Wing Assault on the 99 Percent?

Man these people are truly desperate.

See Verum Serum, "Center for American Progress’ Outreach to Occupiers: Conservatives Are Against the 99%." I'm not linking to the despicable Center for American Progress, but VS has the link to the policy paper: "How Conservatives in Congress Are United Against Proposals to Help Ordinary Americans."

These people are just rank losers. Again, the hypocrisy is just killing me, and the opportunism to exploit petty anarchists is astonishing.

Wow! Blake Lively Looks Fabulous at 'Gossip Girl' 100th Episode Party

At London's Daily Mail, "Thank goodness for the tassels! Blake Lively steps out in daring sheer dress joining Gossip Girl co-stars to celebrate 100th episode."

Former LAPD Chief William Bratton to Lead UC Davis Pepper Spray Investigation

At Los Angeles Times, "Bratton to lead investigation of UC Davis pepper-spraying."

And from yesterday's lead story at the paper, "UC Davis chancellor apologizes for pepper-spray incident."