Chasing the Dying Memories of Soviet Trauma

There's a retrospective on the fall of the Soviet Union at the new Foreign Policy. I'll be reading and posting more from it, but this essay from Orlando Figes is fascinating, "Don't Go There":

In November 2004, Nona Panova was being interviewed by a researcher from the Russian human rights organization Memorial, working under my direction on an oral history project about private life in the Stalin era. Nona, a 75-year-old woman whose father had been arrested during the purges of the 1930s, had been talking for several hours about her upbringing in St. Petersburg and her family when she saw the tape recorder with its microphone. The conversation went like this:Panova: So that's how it was.… [Notices the tape recorder and shows signs of panic.] Are you recording this? But I'll be arrested! They'll put me into jail!

Interviewer: Who'll put you in jail?

Panova: Someone will.… I've told you so much; there's so much I've said.…

Interviewer: [Laughs.] Yes, and it was very interesting, but tell me, who today would want to put you in jail?

Panova: But did you really make a recording?

Interviewer: Yes, don't you remember? I warned you at the start that our conversation would be recorded.

Panova: Then that's it. It's all over for me -- they'll arrest me.

More at the link. Ms. Panova thought she'd be killed. Here's another part this was gripping:

For years, what the world knew about the Soviet Union was limited entirely to the public sphere. Apart from a few memoirs by great writers caught up in the repressions of the 1930s, particularly Evgenia Ginzburg and Nadezhda Mandelstam, there was little from a personal perspective coming out of those years. More representative testimonies began to emerge only in the glasnost period, when victims of Stalin's repression were encouraged to come forward with their stories. Organizations like Memorial helped them look for information about their missing relatives, took interviews, and organized archives from the mass of documents, letters, photographs, and artifacts that people brought into their offices in plastic bags and boxes following the Soviet regime's collapse.

And yet even these documents were difficult to interpret. Take diaries, usually regarded as the most direct expression of an individual's private thoughts and emotions. Diarists of the 1930s and 1940s, however, faced serious obstacles. When a person was arrested, the first thing to be confiscated was the diary, which was likely to be used as incriminating evidence. Many diaries that came to light during the glasnost years express conformist political ideas. Should we take their words at face value, as expressions of a genuine yearning to belong to the Soviet collective, which was no doubt felt by many people insecure about their place in the system? Or should it be assumed that fear drove more to hide themselves behind a mask? Two major finds have been translated from Russian: the 1930s diary of Stepan Podlubny, a kulak son fashioning a Soviet identity for himself in a factory school, which was published in Germany as Tagebuch aus Moskau (1996) by historian Jochen Hellbeck; and Nina Lugovskaya's schoolgirl diary from the same decade, published in English as I Want to Live (2006). For Hellbeck, the Podlubny diary shows how the individual was practically unable to think outside the terms defined by Soviet politics. In this vision of the "Soviet subject" -- developed by Hellbeck from several newly discovered Stalin-era diaries in Revolution on My Mind (2006) -- there is little space for private life at all, if we take that to depend on independent thought. Yet the Lugovskaya example shows that even a schoolgirl subjected to the full array of propaganda about the "radiant Soviet future" was not only capable of dissenting, pessimistic, and even "anti-Soviet" thoughts, but eager to confess them to her diary as an expression of her individuality.

Living in fear as a direct result of communist totalitarian control. This is where today's progressives seek to return. They're communists, and just take a look across the radical left establishment today. To simply speak out against the PC commissars is to risk a termination of employment, personals attacks, threats of violence, or even possible jail time in country's like Canada and the Netherlands. Progressives are communists. Like Soviet citizens under Stalin, there is no dissenting from the progressive line without threat to life and liberty.

Jewish Defence League Protests Omar Barghouti in Toronto

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Omar Barghouti - Disrupted."

There's a little bit of discussion of whether free speech rights are violated, and thus conservatives are just as bad as communists and jihadis. As I noted at the comments, I thought about heckling Noam Chomsky at UCLA, but I might not have had any backup, and would have been swarmed by the Student for Justice in Palestine jihadis! That said, there's a lot of frustration on the right, so I can see the temptation. As Vlad Tepes notes:

It appears that the Jewish Defense League has given some Islamic BDS people a taste of thier own medicine that we have seen at so many campus’ across the world from Scotland to Sweden and through the USA ...

VIDEO: Kate Upton SoBe Bikini

The POH Diaries has this: "Sweet Lord. A Kate Upton Staring Contest."

And more Kate Upton, for SoBe:

Jewish Conservatives and the New Media

From Benyamin Korn, at Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Jews becoming commonplace in conservative ‘new media’."

The piece mentions just about everyone. Andrew Breitbart is Jewish, and so is Tammy Bruce, which I didn't know.

Interesting.

Hat Tip: Israel Matzav.

Lightning Medicine

At London's Daily Mail, "The incredibly rare sacred white buffalo who's one in TEN MILLION" (via AoSHQ).

I'm fascinated by Native Americans. This is really cool story.

Gauging Consequences for Republicans Who Backed Gay Marriage

At New York Times, "After Backing Gay Marriage, 4 in G.O.P. Face Voters’ Verdict":

A day and a half after he voted to legalize same-sex marriage, State Senator Mark J. Grisanti went to church.

There, across the pews at St. Rose of Lima in North Buffalo, sat 81-year-old Ann Deckop, and she felt betrayed, since Mr. Grisanti had vowed in 2008 that he was “inalterably” opposed to same-sex marriage.

“I voted for him and I’m writing a letter indicating that I will not be voting for him in the next election,” Ms. Deckop said.

But there was also Greg Fox, a 52-year-old technology industry salesman, who called Mr. Grisanti “a gentleman.”

“It’s important that we uphold Catholic values,” Mr. Fox said, before adding, “This is also 2011, so things change.”

And at the front of the church was the priest, who, Mr. Grisanti recalled, “put a hand over his heart and kind of pounded his chest, and pointed to me and smiled.” Mr. Grisanti said he was unsure what that meant.

Now, Mr. Grisanti and the three other Senate Republicans who provided votes necessary to legalize same-sex marriage in New York are confronting the uncertainty of how voters in their districts will react. Voter response will influence the balance of power in the New York Senate, where there are just two more Republicans than Democrats. And the events in New York also have national repercussions: because several Democratic-dominated states have already legalized same-sex marriage, gay-rights advocates increasingly need Republican support if they are to change local laws elsewhere in the country.

Some Republican donors, as well as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and leaders of the gay-rights movement, have promised to support the re-election campaigns of the four New York lawmakers. But the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage, said it would spend $2 million in an effort to defeat the legislators, and key elements of the senators’ traditional political base have vowed to withdraw support.

“One thing I know for sure, these four people will not have the Conservative Party endorsement,” said Michael R. Long, chairman of the state Conservative Party. “That is certain.”

Keep your eyes out for these races. A cautionary warning for RINOs.

Reaffirming Our Independence

An editorial, at Orange County Register:

The Fourth of July, Independence Day, is a good time not only for hot dogs and fireworks, but to reflect for a moment on what makes this country unique, the qualities that enabled it to become in some ways the most successful country in history, and to contemplate the extent to which those qualities still animate Americans.

It has been said that the United States is the only country founded on an idea, or a set of ideas, rather than on ethnic or racial similarities, kinship, conquest or the simple fact of a relatively homogeneous group of people living in the same geographic region for centuries. Those ideas are summed up in the Declaration of Independence, the document whose signing and promulgation we celebrate. In some ways it can lay claim to being the most revolutionary public document in human history.

Aspects of the idea that people are not just vassals of the powers that be, interchangeable cogs in the great machinery of society presided over by leaders who had by and large established themselves through conquest and pillage, had been growing for centuries before 1776. But the circumstances surrounding the decision of the Colonists to separate from Great Britain offered the opportunity to summarize emerging principles in a uniquely eloquent manner.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident," the Declaration proclaims, "that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." By "created equal," of course, the founders were not so naïve as to believe that we were all equally tall, intelligent, beautiful or worthy, but that we have equal value in the sight of God or Natural Law and should receive equal treatment rather than preferences or punishment based on our status from government. Every human being has a certain inherent dignity, and decent people respect that.

Check that link above for the rest.

Also, from Jennifer Braceras, at Boston Herald, "The lasting lessons of independence."

BONUS: At American Digest, "How Beautiful We Were."

Progressives Cheer Death of Motorcyclist Who Died Protesting Helmet Laws

I guess the death of Philip Contos, who lost control and flew over the handlebars on his '83 Harley, hitting his head, gives ideological vindication to the progressive left, some of whom are gleefully mocking the rider. The background details are at Clutch & Chrome, "Rider dies at motorcycle helmet protest in New York State."

The death of a motorcycle rider while protesting helmet laws in upstate New York has made international headlines.

The tragic irony around the death of 55-year-old Philip A. Contos won’t be lost on those involved in the ongoing debate which weighs rights against needs in the case of mandatory helmet laws. Nor will it be the last time the events of Saturday June 2nd are discussed.

The accident happened Saturday afternoon in the town of Onondaga, in central New York near Syracuse. Contos was taking part participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York in an event organized by American Bikers Aimed Towards Education, or ABATE.

ABATE is a motorcycle rights group organized by chapters all over the United States and promotes motorcycle safety, awareness and education and organizes motorcycle rides.

Contos was riding his 1983 Harley-Davidson with a group of bikers who were protesting helmet laws by not wearing helmets when tragedy struck.

"He hit the brakes, lost control, was ejected and struck his head on the road,“ State Trooper Robert Jureller said, “He suffered a skull fracture."

Crooks & Liars is using the story to ridicule self-interested personal behavior, which is apparently a lesson for "Ayn Rand fans." See, "Moral of The Story: When You Always Put Your Own Interests First, It Can Work Against Your Interests." And even worse is ASFL John Cole at Balloon Juice, "Freedumb Riders."

Don Surber responds, "Mocking the Dead." (Via Memeorandum.)

Angie Harmon Squelches Rumors That 'Rizzoli & Isles' Characters Are Lesbian

Well, this story gives me a chance to blog Angie Harmon!

At Los Angeles Times, "'Rizzoli & Isles' — are they or aren't they?":

The first season of TNT's crime drama "Rizzoli & Isles" featured an episode with the title "I Kissed a Girl." Its stars, Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, played on a softball team, shared some intimate dinners, drank wine over candlelight and hopped into the same bed for girl talk.

But this is not a gay show.

Series creator Janet Tamaro described Harmon's Rizzoli and Alexander's Isles as a "power couple" — the center of a buddy drama, one that broke cable ratings records in its debut run and returns for its second season July 11. But the women are not together, as in together.

Tamaro chalks up the rampant are-they-or-aren't-they discussion to throwing "two gorgeous actresses together who have great, natural chemistry." She contends that Harmon's tomboyish homicide detective and Alexander's stylish medical examiner "are straight women who don't fear the interest in or the speculation about their relationship."

That hasn't stopped gay pop culture blog AfterEllen from dubbing the show, "totally gay, it just doesn't know it yet." Or another lesbian blog, CherryGrrl, from creating a "Rizzoli & Isles" drinking game, advising viewers to take a shot for interaction between the title characters that includes "stares lasting longer than three seconds," "sleeping in the same bed/couch/squad car," "adorable bickering which generally relates to sexual tension," or "complaining to each other about their inability to find a compatible mate, all while being completely compatible mates." The Washington Post even pointed to a hunky visiting FBI agent as a short-lived distraction from the "faintly lesbian undertones that the show keeps trying to establish."

Harmon, a veteran of "Law & Order," said she's familiar with the online chatter and that it's "super fun" to play a role that has some same-sex romantic vibes. She's relishing a character who's gruff and aggressive, the polar opposite of her own girlie personality, she said.

But as close as they are, Rizzoli and Isles are just best friends, she said. Really.

"I hate to disappoint, but these characters are straight," Harmon insisted. "If we lose viewers because of it — sorry!"

And that's amazing, that Harmon would note the possibility of LOSING viewers if the characters weren't gay. Reminds me of my post the other day, on the anti-hetero bigotry of Dan Savage. It's hard out there if you're straight. See: "Gay Sexual Abandon and the Perverse Inversion of Values by Same-Sex Extremists."

The Rizzoli & Isles page is here, on TNT.

The Meaning of Independence

At the clip, the finale from Saturday night's fireworks at Pechanga:

That was on of the better fireworks shows I can recall. A full video is here. The show was twenty minutes long and the finale was just spectacular.

And check out this essay from E.J. Dionne at the Washington Post, "What our Declaration really said":

Our nation confronts a challenge this Fourth of July that we face but rarely: We are at odds over the meaning of our history and why, to quote our Declaration of Independence, “governments are instituted.”

Only divisions this deep can explain why we are taking risks with our country’s future that we’re usually wise enough to avoid. Arguments over how much government should tax and spend are the very stuff of democracy’s give-and-take. Now, the debate is shadowed by worries that if a willful faction does not get what it wants, it might bring the nation to default.

This is, well, crazy. It makes sense only if politicians believe — or have convinced themselves — that they are fighting over matters of principle so profound that any means to defeat their opponents is defensible.

We are closer to that point than we think, and our friends in the Tea Party have offered a helpful clue by naming their movement in honor of the 1773 revolt against tea taxes on that momentous night in Boston Harbor.

Whether they intend it or not, their name suggests they believe that the current elected government in Washington is as illegitimate as was a distant, unelected monarchy. It implies something fundamentally wrong with taxes themselves or, at the least, that current levels of taxation (the lowest in decades) are dangerously oppressive. And it hints that methods outside the normal political channels are justified in confronting such oppression.

We need to recognize the deep flaws in this vision of our present and our past. A reading of the Declaration of Independence makes clear that our forebears were not revolting against taxes as such — and most certainly not against government as such.

Dionne so badly misses the point on the tea parties, to say nothing of the Declaration of Independence, that I feel bad for him. Keep reading at the link. Anyone can cherry pick the founding documents to find passages and quotations to fit their agenda. Progressives like Dionne are depressed that it's been conservatives and libertarians who've been much more successful in capturing and representing the spirit of individual liberty animating our political culture. I keep seeing progressives argue that the founding documents called for the expansion of government. I mean, c'mon: Dionne is arguing that opposition to taxation is not an element of the Declaration of Independence. But history disproves it, for the ability to tax is the ability to destroy, so to understand opposition to taxation is to realize that government extraction from the people destroys liberty. But again, I feel sad for people like Dionne, because they're getting worried that Americans have awoken from the slumber of affluence and industry, and taken a closer look at how the political class is destroying our very foundations.

In any case, Jeff Jacoby offers the big picture, "Philosophy, faith and the Fourth of July."

Fox News Twitter Account Hacked

It's trending at Memeorandum.

And a report at New York Times, "Apparently Hacked, a Fox News Twitter Account Sent Out Alarming Posts":

A series of alarming Twitter posts about President Obama appeared on Fox News’ Twitter account for political news early Monday morning, and the Web site for the cable television network said it was a victim of hacking.

The Twitter account, @foxnewspolitics, one of many that is operated by Fox News, claimed that the president died while campaigning in Iowa, but gave no source for the news. On Monday morning, FoxNews.com first posted a brief statement saying that the reports were incorrect, and that it regretted “any distress the false Tweets may have created.”

The six messages — which as of late Monday morning were still available online — created a flurry of attention overnight and senior Secret Service officials were gathering on Monday morning to discuss them, said to a law enforcement official who declined to be identified because of an investigation into the matter.

A spokesman for the Secret Service, George Ogilvie, said, “We’re not commenting on any of this.”

Jeff Misenti, the vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital, said in a later statement on Monday that the news organization will be requesting “a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts.”

More details at the link.

And a screencap of the tweets is here.

And check this at Think Magazine, "UPDATED: Think Talks with the Group That Hacked A Fox News Twitter Account."

Jerusalem Post: Jewish Groups Denounce 'Save Switzerland' Anti-Semitic Poster

Following up from yesterday, here's this from Jerusalem Post, "Swiss Jewish groups denounce ‘anti-Semitic’ poster."

A far-right Swiss group called Geneve Non Conforme has advertised a national “Save Switzerland” day with a poster depicting a doll wrapped in an Israeli flag, wearing a yarmulke, bearing peyot (sidelocks), and lying on its back with an arrow through its head.

Although the message was posted on June 17, it only come to the attention of Jewish groups late last week. Johanne Gurfinkiel of the Swiss Jewish rights group CICAD said that the image “defines the deep anti-Semitic hate” of the leaders of the movement, adding that the poster is “a call to murder, pure and simple.”

GNC defines itself as an anti-immigration, anti-globalization cultural association, but denies that it is anti- Semitic.

Following CICAD’s complaint, the poster was altered, and the yarmulke and sidelocks removed.

A statement on the group’s website stated that the doll in the poster was supposed to represent “Israeli extremism (Zionism)” and “was not meant as an attack against Jews.”

“The message is just the same,” said Gurfinkiel in response, “The threat is just as dangerous.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the Swiss authorities to take action against GNC.

Check the link for the Simon Wiesenthal Center's response, but notice how the GNC's going to leave left the arrow in the head at the poster. And anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. It's getting kinda Kristallnacht-ish over there.

'Twitter and Facebook are like personal wire services that filter the constant flow of information across the Web'

Says Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton. See, "At The Post, reporters get socialized to social media."

And here's this from Post writer Jura Koncius, who has 1,300 followers on Twitter:

Part of being on Twitter is “shameless self-promotion,” Koncius says; “you are your own public relations person” in journalism today. But another part is to engage in a conversation with sources and readers, showing them what interests you and what might interest them. And they respond in kind, showing her things she didn’t know before, Koncius says. “It enhances my day, it provides a smile.”

I've been on Twitter over two years now. I enjoy it. But I don't use it aggressively or addictively. Frankly, I should be using it more. The one thing about it that can't be beat is the instantaneous news reporting. I was blown away at the power of Twitter during the Iranian democracy protests in 2009. The quantity and quality of all kinds of news and social media at the time was transformational. I spoke differently about technology during my lectures. This kind of thing happens often if you're on Twitter quite a bit, but the last time I felt like that was when U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. Keith Urbahn, a former staffer for Donald Rumsfeld, tweeted it, and it took off around the Twittersphere. By the time President Obama gave his national address I'd been tweeting for more than 90 minutes, and I was able to post on the release of the initial fake pictures to great effect. Thus it seems really weird that Washington Post writers are just now getting seminars in social media. None of these tools are new. It's the professional norms that are lagging.

Pamela Geller and the English Defence League

I followed this story for a bit yesterday. The short of is that the folks at Gates of Vienna are attacking Pamela Geller for calling out the English Defense League for the anti-Semitism in its ranks. I thought I'd blog on this sooner or later, and there's never been a question as to picking sides: Pamela's my friend and she's long been slammed by idiots like Charles Johnson. So now that she's warned some in the EDL leadership it's clear there's going to be no tolerance for this at Atlas Shrugs. Pamela updated with a new post yesterday, "The Evil That Men Do":

Apparently an update is required on the blogwar against Atlas that is being waged by vultures with an altogether nefarious agenda. It's not important, because these bottomfeeders just bang keyboards and jockey for position on the bottom of the food chain. But to be clear .......

I stand by my concern about the increasing antisemitism in the ranks of the admins at the EDL. We have no intention of breaking with the EDL if they purge these antisemitic elements. If they do not, they will be finished as a force for good in England. I was immediately reassured that these rogue elements would be routed out. End of story. This campaign to gang up on Geller by small "counter-jihadists" trying to make a name for themselves clearly is motivated by something enitrely different. Something very ugly and transparent.

And about that Facebook page (pictured), Pamela writes:

There are pages and pages of this kind of stuff. Here is just one example. "Hel Gower" is a powerful EDL administrator. She "liked" this page.

I've read through the comments at Gates of Vienna, and mostly this is a prestige thing (there's rank jealousy of Pamela), but a lot of ugliness over there as well, for example, this comment from DP111:

The EDL is the only grassroots movement in the West that is against the destruction of Western civilisation. It is the only one that has the courage to go out on the streets, even into Muslim areas, and face the hostility and violence of Muslims, Left wing extremists, the police and the media. There is nothing like it in the West. There are now movements in the West that have modelled themselves on the EDL.

The EDL is way above and beyond the likes of single bloggers such as Geller and Spencer, or for that matter any blogs. The EDL does not need to apologise or explain itself - its very being and what it does, is more then enough. The rest is immaterial. It does not need to have an apology from Spencer or Geller, as it is far bigger, stronger, and motivated enough to step on to the real battlefield, rather then merely bemoan the Islamisation of the West - they are real soldiers, who get bloodied and injured, rather then armchair commentators on the passing scene.

My hat off to the EDL. Support it, as your life, and the lives of your descendants, depends on these few.

My scholarly work covered European interwar politics, and reading that reminds me of the Brownshirts of Hitler's Germany. So this guy is calling out Pamela and Robert Spencer for raising questions about EDL affiliations? And as Pamela and Robert are by no means "armchair commentators" it seems that some of the animosity toward them is generated by an irrational hatred in response to challenge. And the commenter insinuates that fighting in the street, fighting with violence, is what it takes to fight the left and Islamization (see the Daily Mail on this). So it's a dispute on tactics as well. And not to read too much into one comment, but it's not a long step from the street thuggery against Muslims to attacks against Jews as part of a global conspiracy. (See this anti-Semitic British National Socialist blog post, for example, and the sidebar graphic there, which says "REMEMBER: PRO-ISRAEL + ANTI-ISLAM = New World Order.)

Anyway, see Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, "EDL leader: 'We repudiate any individual, group or writing that favors anti-Semitism, neofascism, and any race-based ideology'. "

And Robert Stacy McCain has more on the controversy, "Genesis 12:3." And following the link there takes us to Da Tech Guy, "Not late to Pam’s side this time."

Happy Fourth of July!

From Tania, the patriotic free spirit at Midnight Blue:

Cindy Crawford Cover Photo Gallery

"Fast-loading, one page–no stupid, time-wasting slideshow," says economist Craig Newmark, "400 Classic Cindy Crawford Covers" (via Right Wing News).

Louis M. Cruz, Former LBCC Construction Manager, Convicted, Served Time in Texas for Felony Conspiracy to Commit Bribery

The Los Angeles Times reports on my college, "Former building projects manager at Long Beach City College served time for job-related bribery in Texas."

Officials at Long Beach City College say they do not screen employees of private contractors, such as Cordoba and Gateway.

"We don't want to get into the business of trying to intervene in their hiring decisions," said college president Eloy Oakley. He added, however, that the college's lawyers were looking into whether contractors could be required to conduct background checks on employees assigned to the school.

Oakley said he had no indication that Cruz engaged in any misconduct at the campus. Officials of the L.A. college district said there were no problems with Cruz's performance at Mission College.

Pretty interesting. And note this:

At Long Beach City College, Cruz oversaw construction of a new fitness center, an academic building and other projects.

That "academic building" would be the South Quad Complex:

Preserving Liberty

Glenn Reynolds has a piece at the Washington Examiner, "Sunday Reflection: Three things you can do for liberty" (via Lonely Conservative).

One of his suggestions? Get active:

It's surprisingly easy to get involved in politics locally, and you can acquire responsibility and influence quite rapidly if you're good with people and willing to put in the work.

Alternatively, you might join a Tea Party group. Those are still springing up all over, and are already having a dramatic influence on both national and local politics.

The tea parties have matured quite a bit since they first broke out in 2009. But joining some kind of group helps form the networks to all kinds of activities and meetups, and some of these involve ties to candidates and party organizations. It'a amazing, really, how substantially local activists and organizations have been mobilized by the Obama regime in Washington. I don't quite recall anything like it, and the Republicans have a lot to worry about from the grassroots as well. Liberty knows no party, and it's time to cut government and restore some freedom.

16th Annual Pechanga Pow Wow

I headed back out to Pechanga yesterday for the Native American Pow Wow at Pechanga Resort, and also a spectacular fireworks show last night.

News reports are at North County Times, "Pechanga Pow Wow tradition carries on," and Southwest Riverside News, "16th-annual Pechanga Pow Wow celebrates Native American culture."

Hundreds of tribal members from throughout the U.S. congregate to Pechanga for the annual event in hopes of sharing their pride, traditions and indigenous culture with surrounding community members.

I missed the morning grand parade, but here's some pics from the evening, around 6:00pm with temperatures still around 90 degrees. Hot.

Tribal dancing and a crowd shot:

It's a festival event, with lots of vendors. Militant Indian paraphernalia is common:

This gentleman kindly stopped so I could take a picture:

Militancy goes hand in hand with ethnic separatism, an ideology ruthlessly exploited by hardline neo-communist anti-Americans (recall my reporting from Phoenix last year):

And at a vendor's stand a couple of spots over, a Lori Piestewa shirt on sale for $25.

Private Piestewa was a Hopi and the first Native American woman killed in combat while serving in the U.S. armed forces and she was the first woman killed in the Iraq war of 2003. Piestewa died an American, and think all Americans should be proud of her service to country. And I know that many Native Americans take great pride in their military service, so there's a tension there when we confront the militant imagery alongside the patriotic.

Holiday Cartoon Roundup

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

VIDEO: Anne V Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011

Continuing Rule 5 weekend, Anne V at Sports Illustrated:

Plus, at Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Charlene Wittstock Princess of Monaco." And at Proof Positive, "Tonight's FNB* is Genevieve Morton!" Added: At Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

Obama: Eliminating 'Tax Breaks' is a 'Spending Cut'

President Obama can't even come out and say he's for raising taxes, which is what eliminating "tax breaks" is. Democrats used to call tax hikes revenue enhancements. Now they've got Orwell: Freedom is tyranny, poverty is theft, repealing tax breaks is spending cuts. At about 1:40 minutes:

And see Human Events, "Top 10 Obama Attacks on Capitalism." (Via Cold Fury.)

Very Religious White Americans More Than Twice as Likely to Identify With GOP

But religion has no effect on blacks, who identify with the Democratic Party regardless of religion orientation.

At Gallup, "Religion and Party ID Strongly Linked Among Whites, Not Blacks."

Personal religiousness makes little difference among blacks ... as the powerful partisan pull of Democratic identification among black Americans trumps any influence of religion. Only 9 to 10% of blacks in each of the three groups of varying religiousness identify as Republicans, while more than three-quarters in each group identify themselves as Democrats.

Reminds me: "The Democrat Party Has Always Been the Party of Racism."

Anti-Israel Dyke March in Toronto

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Jew Haters Crash Dyke Parade."

Also, "Video: Suicide Pride - Pride allows QuAIA to march in Dyke Parade."

Not the kind of coverage available at Toronto Sun, "Dyke March takes a stand."

RELATED: At Vlad Tepes, "Toronto’s fourth Journey of Faith Conference. Where you too can find tolerance through Islam’s Revelations and Prophetic Traditions!"

Greece Arrests Captain of Gaza-Bound 'Audacity of Hope'

At New York Times, "Greece Jails U.S. Captain in Gaza Flotilla."

At the video, Communist Party member Angela Davis and Professor Rashid Khalidi, former PLO advisor to Yasser Arafat. Oh, and anti-Israel propgandist Noam Chomsky, the intellectual rock star of today's Jew-murdering left. And so many more:

Israel is the only country in the world held out for this kind of visceral hatred. It's anti-Semitic. Prominent people, shilling for terrorism. It's perverted.

Supermodel Linda Evangelista's Son Fathered By Salma Hayek's Husband

A compelling story, at New York Post.

And at Robert Stacy McCain's, "Dude."

And American Perspective goes for a roundup, with lovely photos: "Linda Evangelista and Salma Hayek - Rule 5."

Britain's Prince William and Wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Tour Canada

At National Post, "A new age of relevancy for the royals."

Plus, "Protestors spoil Royal arrival in Quebec."

Save Switzerland: Shoot Straight and Kill the Jews

Well, the ad just says "Save Switzerland: Shoot Straight." But the accompanying image leaves no doubt. How'd you like an arrow to the forehead?

And if this seems shocking, imagine how folks feel in Geneva.

At Ynet, "Swiss party ad features Jewish doll":

The anti-Semitic ads incurred the wrath of members of the Jewish community in the country. "This is a call for the murder of Jews," said Jonah Gurfinkel. Sabine Simkhovitch-Dreyfus, deputy director of the Jewish community federation said: "A red line has been crossed."

Check the link. I don't see more information about this GNC group online, but considering the recent reports on the far-left Left Party's anti-Semitic program in Germany, one might not brush this off too quickly as a fluke. (See: "A Map without Israel: Germany's Left Party Faces Charges of Anti-Semitism.")

ExxonMobil Pipeline Spill at Yellowstone River

At New York Times, "Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Into Yellowstone River."

An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana ruptured late Friday, spilling crude oil into the river and forcing evacuations.

The pipeline burst about 10 miles west of Billings, coating parts of the Yellowstone River that run past Laurel — a town of about 6,500 people downstream from the rupture — with shiny patches of oil. Precisely how much oil leaked into the river was still unclear. But throughout the day Saturday, cleanup crews in Laurel worked to lessen the impact of the spill, laying down absorbent sheets along the banks of the river to mop up some of the escaped oil, and measuring fumes to determine the health threat.

Looks like a small incident, but just seeing "ExxonMobil" and "oil spill" is a powerful reminder of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Stoned Drivers

At Los Angeles Times, "Stoned drivers are uncharted territory":

Flores had run off the road and killed a jogger, Carrie Jean Holliman, a 56-year-old Chico elementary school teacher. California Highway Patrol officers thought he might be impaired and conducted a sobriety examination. Flores' tongue had a green coat typical of heavy marijuana users and a later test showed he had pot, as well as other drugs, in his blood.

After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Flores, a medical marijuana user, was sentenced in February to 10 years and 8 months in prison.

Holliman's death and others like it across the nation hint at what experts say is an unrecognized crisis: stoned drivers.

The most recent assessment by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, based on random roadside checks, found that 16.3% of all drivers nationwide at night were on various legal and illegal impairing drugs, half them high on marijuana.

In California alone, nearly 1,000 deaths and injuries each year are blamed directly on drugged drivers, according to CHP data, and law enforcement puts much of the blame on the rapid growth of medical marijuana use in the last decade. Fatalities in crashes where drugs were the primary cause and alcohol was not involved jumped 55% over the 10 years ending in 2009.

"Marijuana is a significant and important contributing factor in a growing number of fatal accidents," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy in the White House and former Seattle police chief. "There is no question, not only from the data but from what I have heard in my career as a law enforcement officer."

As the medical marijuana movement has gained speed — one-third of the states now allow such sales — federal officials are pursuing scientific research into the impairing effects of the drug.

Another reason why druggies are losers.

Obama Administration Seeks Warm Relations with Islamists

The Wall Street Journal reports, "U.S. Reaches Out to Islamist Parties":

The Obama administration is reaching out to Islamist movements whose political power is on the rise in the wake of Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

The tentative outreach effort to key religious political groups—the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahdha in Tunisia—reflects the administration's realization that the spread of democracy in the region requires it to deal more directly with Islamist movements the U.S. had long kept at arm's length.

Speaking to reporters during a visit Thursday to Budapest, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration is now seeking "limited contacts" with Muslim Brotherhood members ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections slated for later this year.

"It is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful and committed to nonviolence," Mrs. Clinton said. "We welcome, therefore, dialogue with those Muslim Brotherhood members who wish to talk with us."

Seems to me some folks were rejecting the Muslim Brotherhood as a governing party in Egypt just a few months ago. I'll check for a link. Meanwhile, here's this from Frank Gaffney, "The Tipping Point: Embracing the Muslim Brotherhood":

The Obama administration chose the eve of the holiday marking our Nation's birth to acknowledge publicly behavior in which it has long been stealthily engaged to the United States' extreme detriment: Its officials now admit that they are embracing the Muslim Brotherhood (MB or Ikhwan in Arabic). That would be the same international Islamist organization that has the destruction of the United States, Israel and all other parts of the Free World as its explicit objective.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to downplay the momentousness of this major policy shift by portraying it during a stopover in Budapest as follows:

"The Obama administration is continuing the approach of limited contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood that have existed on and off for about five or six years." In fact, as former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy points out in a characteristically brilliant, and scathing, dissection of this announcement, Team Obama's official, open legitimation of the Brotherhood marks a dramatic break from the U.S. government's historical refusal to deal formally with the Ikhwan.

Read it all at the link above. And see also, Andrew McCarthy, "The Obama Administration Opens Formal Contacts With the Muslim Brotherhood." And Big Peace, "No Evidence Muslim Brotherhood Is Committed To Democracy."

Progressives Raise Pressure for Ginsberg Retirement

Althouse blogs this report from the Associated Press: "Justice Ginsburg's Future Plans Closely Watched." And this is fascinating:

Ginsburg, the second woman on the bench, has only to look at the first for a cautionary tale about retiring. Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement in 2005 in part so she could take care of her ailing husband, John. Two months later, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in office.

Meanwhile, John O'Connor's health declined much faster than his wife anticipated and he soon was living in a nursing home in Arizona. Would she have quit the court had she known what awaited?

In retirement, O'Connor has maintained a busy schedule, hearing cases on federal appeals courts as well as advocating for Alzheimer's funding, improved civics education and merit selection, rather than partisan election, of state judges.

O'Connor, now 81, also has said she that she regrets that some of her decisions have been "dismantled" by the Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito, who took her seat in 2006, has voted differently from O'Connor in key cases involving abortion rights, campaign finance and the use of race in governmental policies.

O'Connor regretted retiring not long after she left the job. She was pressured out at the time, and she's spoken out against it in later interviews.

John Lennon's Second Thoughts

Recall that by 1979 John Lennon was becoming outwardly conservative.

From David Swindle, at FrontPage Magazine:

How will the Left respond to these revelations? If the first reaction at The Los Angeles Times is any indication, the attempt might be to damage the credibility of the witness. Tony Pierce does not even bother commenting on the claims and instead noted that Seaman plead guilty in 1983 to stealing photos, journals, and letters from Lennon.

Jon Wiener at The Nation also jumped on this strategy to defend the icon he wrote a whole book promoting. Wiener went further though, trying to pass off a bland written statement in support of a group of striking workers and an ambiguous comment that the 1960s “gave us a glimpse of the possibility” of a better world as evidence that Lennon died a progressive. (At Salon Justin Elliott regurgitates this weak tea response.) Wiener ends with another ad hominem against Seaman, noting the former personal assistant also tried to “cash in” on his Lennon connection before with a book. Wiener fails to explain what financial stake Seaman could possibly have today in telling lies about Lennon’s politics.

It’s worth remembering that The Nation was the publication with the longest track record of defending the innocence of the Rosenbergs — regardless of every new piece of evidence to emerge over the last 30 years.

The problem with this kill-the-messenger strategy is that it labors under the mistaken impression that Seaman’s anecdotes are the only proof of Lennon’s Second Thoughts. As soon as one starts looking at Lennon circa 1980 as a Reagan conservative, more and more long-available evidence comes into focus. Old, familiar statements suddenly make sense in a new way. Some writers had even already theorized of Lennon’s political shift.

Well, progressives still have Paul McCartney!

Read the whole thing anyway. Progressive heads exploding at the news! You gotta love it!

More on Amazon Affiliates

I know I've posted on this, but I'm still bothered by the Democrat budget in California, which imposes taxes on online sales from the state, also known as the "Amazon tax," since one of the biggest companies affected is Amazon.com. One of the things I miss about being an affiliate, is that whenever I mentioned a book --- which is pretty often --- I would link to Amazon's associate's link and I could earn a referral commission. That's not an option any more. So now it seems weird linking books knowing that a referral fee could be earned --- and an earning opportunity lost. Anyway, Robert Stacy McCain wrote about his referral success. Every now and then a reader will buy an expensive product through a referral link and that sends a large commission to the blogger. Some time back a reader bought an $800 bunk bed through my links, and I received a hefty commission for the purchase. That was nice. And Robert writes on those as well:

Somebody got a sweet deal — only $499! — on that piece of high-end home video equipment via one of the Amazon links here, which earned me a sweet $20 commission through the Amazon Associates program.

And Robert shares this video of Jeff Bezos:

Meanwhile, I rarely link him but I'll break my rule to send readers to Little Green Footballs for some lulz. Charles Johnson is perterbed by Amazon's decision to pull out of the state, but not so much that Democrat tax hikes are destroying free enterprise in California.

Typical. Charles Johnson's a bleeding-heart progressive with psychological problems. No surprise he'd back big government over business.

Anyway, Common Sense Political Thought has an entry, "Amazon.com going Galt Updated, Saturday morning."

And at Los Angeles Times, "Amazon, California play waiting game in sales tax fight":

Amazon.com Inc. is sticking by its vow not to collect California sales tax on Internet purchases — and state officials must decide what to do about it.

But the showdown over the new tax collection law that took effect Friday could be months away. Companies don't send the taxes to the state until the end of each quarter, which means the California Board of Equalization won't know officially about Amazon's refusal to collect them until Oct. 1.

The tax-collecting agency said Amazon accounts for about half the Internet sales in California from large out-of-state firms that, prior to the new law, did not have to collect sales tax for the state. It said the new law would capture about $317 million a year in sales taxes that previously went uncollected.

Amazon, based in Seattle, has said repeatedly that it would not collect the California sales tax, calling it an unconstitutional infringement on interstate commerce.

Such defiance sets up a major legal battle by this fall, though Amazon could first challenge the law in court, as it has in New York. It has lost a trial court ruling there and has an appeal pending.

Amazon is "going to fight in every state where it can fight," said Tracey G. Sellers, managing director of the Tampa, Fla., office of tax firm True Partners Consulting. "It's going to be years before this whole issue is settled" in the courts.

Amazon declined to say whether it would sue to overturn the new California statute, though state officials expect a lawsuit.

More at that link above, but California officials are looking to novel ways at making this unconstitutional law work:

The new law also gives the Board of Equalization the authority to develop new theories that would establish a nexus or legal connection, making Amazon liable for collecting California sales taxes.

"This swings the gate wide open to establish nexus as we see fit," said Betty Yee, a board member who spearheaded the agency's support for the law. But she acknowledged that any other theories the board devises would probably be tested in court.

As wee see fit? Gotcha.

The Future Still Belongs to America

Great piece from Walter Russell Mead, at Wall Street Journal:

It is, the pundits keep telling us, a time of American decline, of a post-American world. The 21st century will belong to someone else. Crippled by debt at home, hammered by the aftermath of a financial crisis, bloodied by long wars in the Middle East, the American Atlas can no longer hold up the sky. Like Britain before us, America is headed into an assisted-living facility for retired global powers.

This fashionable chatter could not be more wrong. Sure, America has big problems. Trillions of dollars in national debt and uncounted trillions more in off-the-books liabilities will give anyone pause. Rising powers are also challenging the international order even as our key Cold War allies sink deeper into decline.

But what is unique about the United States is not our problems. Every major country in the world today faces extraordinary challenges—and the 21st century will throw more at us. Yet looking toward the tumultuous century ahead, no country is better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities or manage the dangers than the United States.

RTWT.

There's not a lot to quibble with, although Mead might underestimate the challenge of transnational terrorism --- which is promoted by powerful regional states --- to the stability of the international system. If the issue is geopolitics and the rise and fall of great powers, then, yes, America's well positioned for continued primacy for generations. Other than that, I think folks will appreciate systemic arguments like this when the economy's expanding and unemployment's declining.

Iran Sends Arms to Iraq, Afghanistan

At Wall Street Journal, "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."

TEHRAN—Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior U.S. officials, in a bid to accelerate the U.S. withdrawals from these countries.

The Revolutionary Guard has smuggled rocket-assisted exploding projectiles to its militia allies in Iraq, weapons that have already resulted in the deaths of American troops, defense officials said. They said Iranians have also given long-range rockets to the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents' ability to hit U.S. and other coalition positions from a safer distance.

Such arms shipments would escalate the shadow competition for influence playing out between Tehran and Washington across the Middle East and North Africa, fueled by U.S. preparations to draw down forces from two wars and the political rebellions that are sweeping the region.

The U.S. is wrestling with the aftermath of uprisings against longtime Arab allies from Tunisia to Bahrain, and trying to leave behind stable, friendly governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran appears to be trying to gain political ground amid the turmoil and to make the U.S. withdrawals as quick and painful as possible.

More at the link.

This is classic international politics. I'm reminded of how the Soviet Union saw an improvement in the world correlation of forces after the American withdrawal from Vietnam. By the late-1970s the shift of influence and momentum in the Third World had shifted to Moscow. Iran can't operate on a global scale as the Soviets did, but most of the important developments in national security right now are in the Middle East and South Asia. And given how poorly the Obama administration has responded to current events, Egypt's revolution for example, and the political cut-and-run from Afghanistan, things aren't likely to improve a whole lot in the short term.

VIDEO: Marisa Miller at Boston Common Magazine

See, "Marisa Miller Breaks the Mold."

Also at Marisa Milller's blog.

Conservative Women Under Attack

More conservative female abuse.

Sean Hannity with Ann Coulter. It's excellent, especially the Obama gaffe montage:

British Youth Can't Read or Write

At Telegraph UK, "Too many young people are unable to read, write or communicate properly and do not work hard, a business leader claimed, as mass immigration is named by the Government as the biggest threat to challenging the benefits culture." (Via Theo Spark.)

Well, if it's any consolation to the Brits, Americans don't know when we severed ties from the mother country. At Marist Poll, "Independence Day — Seventeen Seventy When?" And, "Don’t Know Much About History?"

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Sexual Assault Prosecution Collapses: Accuser's Credibility Destroyed

Interesting story at New York Times, "One Revelation After Another Undercut Srauss-Kahn Accuser's Credibility." (At Memeorandum.)

This isn't something I followed closely. These are serious allegations, but that Strauss-Kahn's a socialist made it amusing, especially in that he was expected to be the next Socialist Party candidate for the French presidency.

And more at this Nightline report, which has some strong statements from the plaintiff's attorney:

Also at Telegraph UK, "Dominique Strauss-Kahn walks free after maid rape case crumbles."

BONUS: At Legal Insurrection, "Strauss-Kahn and credibility problems."

NewsBusted: "Democrats say Republicans are sabotaging 'economic recovery''

Via Theo Spark:

Romney Keeps Sights Set on Obama, Economy

At Wall Street Journal, "Republican Front-Runner Looks Past Primary Rivals, Casts Himself as Party's Likely 2012 Candidate."

Romney's far ahead the polls, but Bachmann's had the buzz this last week and Palin's again in the news with "The Undefeated" premiere. It's hard out there for a front-runner!

Michelle Goldberg: 'A Feminist With Paranoid Fantasies About Christian Fundamentalists Taking Away Her Sacred Right to Choose'

Robert Stacy McCain has an outstanding piece on journalist Michelle Goldberg: "Daily Beast Writer Claims Obama Is a Victim of Washington’s ‘Pundit Class’."

Stacy says he's never heard of Michelle Goldberg, and he writes:

So she’s a “senior contributing writer” for media grand dame Tina Brown, a feminist with paranoid fantasies about Christian fundamentalists taking away her sacred Right to Choose, and an award-winning author who has written for a half-dozen other liberal outlets.

I can't claim the same ignorance of Michelle Goldberg. I own a copy of Goldberg's book, The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World. I read the first few chapters but had to put it down because I was getting nauseous at the literal campaign of death Goldberg advocates.

Anyway, here's Goldberg on communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!

The Democrat Party Has Always Been the Party of Racism

Andrew Klavan (via Self Evident Truths):

Lucy Pinder Lynx Effect

A new ad campaign, from The Lynx Effect:

Lynx is Axe in the U.S., which has been accused of "encouraging sexual promiscuity and sexism."

See also, Mirror UK, "Lucy Pinder takes over from Kelly Brook as new Lynx girl."

And here's a Rule 5 roundup:

At Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Emily Scott."

And at Bob Belvedere's, "A Little Hump Day Rule 5: Dorothy Mays And Valerie Lane."

Don't miss: Astute Bloggers, Blazing Cat Fur, Bob Belvedere, CSPT, Dan Collins, Doug Ross, Gator Doug, Irish Cicero, Left Coast Rebel, Mind-Numbed Robot, Legal Insurrection, Lonely Conservative, PA Pundits International, PACNW Righty, Pirate's Cove, Proof Positive, Saberpoint, Snooper, WyBlog, The Western Experience, and Zion's Trumpet.

And my friends Marathon Pundit and Marooned in Marin.

More, at American Perspective, Maggie's Notebook and Zilla of the Resistance.

Drop your links in the comments!

Gay Sexual Abandon and the Perverse Inversion of Values by Same-Sex Extremists

That's the takeaway for me, from this long piece at the New York Times, "Married, With Infidelities."

Gay sexual abandon. Meaning the gay rights movement is expanding the boundaries of what's morally acceptable to accommodate a model of openly aggressive sexual abandon. Gays want sex when they want it, with whomever they want it, wherever they want it. And they're not afraid of saying it, at all. The Times interviews Dan Savage, the author of the homosexual advice column "Savage Love." Yeah. Savage. And open. Savage is all about openness in marriage. For example, if you're not sexually satisfied, tell your spouse. Say you need more. Get approval and go get laid somewhere else. Savage's mantra is "good, giving, and game," GGG for short. Be good, giving, and game for sexual freelancing. It's a different kind of morality, you might say. Here's this from the article:

Savage’s honesty ethic gives couples permission to find happiness in unusual places; he believes that pretty much anything can be used to spice up a marriage, although he excludes feces, pets and incest, as well as minors, the nonconsenting, the duped and the dead. In “The Commitment,” Savage’s book about his and Miller’s decision to marry, he describes how a college student approached him after a campus talk and said, as Savage tells it, that “he got off on having birthday cakes smashed in his face.” But no one had ever obliged him. “My heart broke when he told me that the one and only time he told a girlfriend about his fetish, she promptly dumped him. Since then he had been too afraid to tell anyone else.” Savage took the young man up to his hotel room and smashed a cake in his face.

The point is: priests and rabbis don’t tell couples they might need to involve cake play in their marriages; moms and dads don’t; even best friends can be shy about saying what they like. Savage wants to make sure that no strong marriage ever fails because an ashamed husband or wife is desperately seeking cake play — or bondage, urine play or any of the other unspeakable activities that Savage has helped make speakable. If cake play is what a man needs, his G.G.G. wife should give it to him; if she can’t bring herself to, then maybe she should allow him a chocolate-frosted excursion with another woman. But for God’s sake, keep it together for the kids.

Okay. Right. What else did Savage do up in his hotel room with the young cake boy? Pattycakes? Folks should read the whole thing when they have a few minutes. And I'll tell you: Savage Love won't work in my house. My wife and I are traditional. We love each other exclusively. And we do so because that's how we conceive marriage. When you marry you're committing to that one person you want to share your life with, exclusively, "forsaking all others." There are lots of reasons for this. But most of all is the integrity of the institution itself, and what it means for the sanctity of vows, honesty, and the regeneration of families. Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller have a child by adoption. How's that going to look as the child get older and sees his parents f**king around with whoever they want? And back to the article, Savage talks about how a man would feel giving his wife permission to have extramarital affairs, but then he realizes he can't abide by the thought of someone else vaginally penetrating his wife. You think?!!

I don't look at the gay marriage issue from a religious perspective primarily, because the argument against gay marriage is at base socio-biological, about preservation of families and society, and the regeneration of cultures. It's about preserving that which is eternally right and good. There is nothing natural about same sex marriage in terms of creating life and living in commitment for strength and safety in family. Same sex couples cannot naturally reproduce, and marriage is most basically about binding one man and one woman for the purpose of natural regeneration. For the gay movement to abandon that to uncontrollable desires is obscene. But there's the morally religious argument as well, seen today at the Wall Street Journal, "Evangelicals and the Gay Moral Revolution."

The Christian church has faced no shortage of challenges in its 2,000-year history. But now it's facing a challenge that is shaking its foundations: homosexuality.

To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can't Christians just join the revolution?

And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, "The Honor Code," moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we've witnessed on the question of homosexuality.

In less than a single generation, homosexuality has gone from something almost universally understood to be sinful, to something now declared to be the moral equivalent of heterosexuality—and deserving of both legal protection and public encouragement. Theo Hobson, a British theologian, has argued that this is not just the waning of a taboo. Instead, it is a moral inversion that has left those holding the old morality now accused of nothing less than "moral deficiency."

The liberal churches and denominations have an easy way out of this predicament. They simply accommodate themselves to the new moral reality. By now the pattern is clear: These churches debate the issue, with conservatives arguing to retain the older morality and liberals arguing that the church must adapt to the new one. Eventually, the liberals win and the conservatives lose. Next, the denomination ordains openly gay candidates or decides to bless same-sex unions.

This is a route that evangelical Christians committed to the full authority of the Bible cannot take. Since we believe that the Bible is God's revealed word, we cannot accommodate ourselves to this new morality. We cannot pretend as if we do not know that the Bible clearly teaches that all homosexual acts are sinful, as is all human sexual behavior outside the covenant of marriage. We believe that God has revealed a pattern for human sexuality that not only points the way to holiness, but to true happiness.

There's more at the link, and see also Maggie Gallagher, "New York's GOP Lets Down the Base."

The media may portray the New York victory as the decisive turning point that makes gay marriage inevitable across the country—as they almost always do. Yet every victory for our marriage tradition that I have personally helped make happen was heralded as impossible: from Prop 8 in California, which overturned a state supreme court decision imposing same-sex marriage; to overturning gay marriage in Maine in 2009 through the referendum process; to blocking gay-marriage bills in New Jersey, Maryland and Rhode Island; to passing a marriage amendment through the Minnesota legislature that will go to the people in 2012.

Our string of unheralded victories is possible only because the American people, though they have few visible champions, continue to stubbornly believe that gay marriage is not a civil right and that marriage is different for a reason: These unions make new life and connect children to a mom and dad.

Gallagher's group, the National Organization for Marriage, has pledged $2 million to defeat New York legislators who voted for the bill, and they're gleefully targeting freshman Republican Senator Mark Grisanti, one of the lawmakers who flip-flopped on the issue.

Anyway, at Keith Olbermann interviews Savage at the clip. The political and religious discussion, with sex talk, is at the second half. Savage is super articulate. He makes sexual abandon and immorality sound cool. He jokes about people who "butt f**k" and then offers himself up to Tony Perkins. Savage also goes off on people with strong values as being religiously abused. The most interesting argument is that Savage claims that you can't hold traditional values and also be friendly with gays or have good friends who are gay. Savage perfectly embodies gay bigotry. He says if you are traditional on marriage you must instinctively react violently to gay people. That'a lie that makes people of values primitive. It's also fundamentally dishonest. But this is how gay activists win. They paint conservatives as potentially violent anti-gay extremists, and people of values, because they have values not to offend, capitulate. That's how the gay thuggery of sexual abandon wins. It's evil.

Democrats and the Epic Housing Crisis

A great read.

At IBD, "The Angst of Phil Angelides."

A Soldier's Mother — Letter to Hedy Epstein

I regret I haven't been reading her blog like I used to, but this is linked at Memeorandum, and it's worth sharing big time: "Hedy Epstein - A Personal Message":

Your participation, in the flotilla brings shame to you and worse is a betrayal of your family, those that died in Auschwitz. It is hard to comprehend how distorted your view of life, of Judaism, and of Israel must be to bring you to the point that you sail against your own people. Yes, you’ll say you sail for human rights, for humanity and some such nonsense but last year’s flotilla – and very likely this one, displayed the worst of humanity.

There is no humanitarian crisis – so says the Red Cross just two months ago. What arrogance you have to think you know better. You, who make your life in America, dare to tell us how we should live in this land, in this area.

Had there been an Israel when your family was taken to Auschwitz, Israel would have saved them – as we have saved Jews all over the world. No, we are not going to be victims ever again, nor are we interested in making the Palestinians victims.

Now go read it all.

And at communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!

Glenn Beck's Last Show on Fox News

Here's part of the show, the introduction:

I'll update with the full clip later. Meanwhile, from Gabby Hoffman, at Washington Times, "Glenn Beck ends popular Fox News show to start GBTV."

Tuition Going Up at California Public Universities

California once promised free public higher education to all who could gainfully benefit from its provision. Now though, the state's Master Plan for Higher Education is shattered.

At Los Angeles Times, "Second round of tuition hikes likely at UC and Cal State systems":

Students at the University of California and Cal State University systems are likely to face a second round of tuition hikes this fall in response to deeper funding cuts in the new state budget, officials and student leaders said Wednesday.

Discussions are underway for tuition increases of at least 10%. That hike would come on top of an 8% increase at UC and a 10% boost at Cal State that already are set to take effect this fall.

An early victim of the state budget cuts is a new medical school at UC Riverside. Campus officials said Wednesday they would delay opening the school by a year, until fall 2013.

Student leaders expressed disappointment about their soaring tuition and said that Sacramento is putting the brunt of the state's budget problems on them. A decade of increases has more than tripled tuition to about $11,000 a year at UC and $4,884 at Cal State, not including room, board and other fees.

"Ultimately, this again represents the ongoing disinvestment in higher education in California," said Christopher Chavez, outgoing president of the Cal State Student Assn. "What it comes down to is that students are expected to pay more and to get less."

Look at me, I'm in tatters!

IDF Delivers Goods to Gaza

Great video, via Theo Spark:

Ticketless Nigerian Exposes Holes in Air Security

Dude was a stowaway, avoiding arrest for five days.

At Los Angeles Times, "Another tear in the airport security net":

Virgin America Flight 415 from New York to Los Angeles was already two hours into its journey when some passengers in the upscale "Main Cabin Select" section complained that the man seated in 3E reeked of body odor.

A flight attendant asked Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi for his boarding pass and was surprised to see it was from a different fight and in someone else's name. She alerted authorities, and Noibi went back to sleep in his black leather airline seat. When the plane landed, authorities chose not to arrest Noibi, allowing him to leave the airport.

On Wednesday, Noibi was arrested trying to board a Delta flight out of Los Angeles. Once again, he had managed to pass undetected through security with an expired ticket issued in someone else's name. Authorities found at least 10 other boarding passes, none of which belonged to him. Law enforcement sources told The Times they suspect Noibi has used expired plane tickets to sneak on to flights in the past. On his website, Noibi describes himself as a "frequent traveler."

Now, federal authorities and Virgin America are trying to explain how the Nigerian American was able to get through layers of security — and then avoid arrest for five days after officials discovered he was a stowaway.

Aviation safety experts said they see several major breakdowns in security procedures. Transportation Security Administration and airline officials should have noticed the ticket was expired and not in Noibi's name when he boarded at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, they said. He was allowed onboard by showing his expired university ID card, even though college identification cards are not on the TSA's list of valid IDs and federal transportation sources said that it alone should not have been accepted.

Maybe TSA should spend more time checking African vagrants than 95-year-old travelers in Depends.

Bachmann Derangement

As noted a couple of times already, progressives can't help themselves in making sick and misogynistic attacks on Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

London's Daily Mail has a write up, "Michele Bachmann as you've never seen her before... Online pranksters make a mockery of the Tea Party darling."

Click through for the pics. I'm not posting any here.

See also Legal Insurrection, "Politico’s Thinly Thought Out Hit Piece On Bachmann."

RELATED FLASHBACK: At Michelle Malkin's, "The Four Stages of Conservative Female Abuse."

VIDEO: Hooters International Swimsuit Contestants 2011

It's Rule 5 weekend!

Via Viral Footage:

Plus, Eye of Polyphemus revs it up with Jennifer Aniston.

Also, at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart - Emily Scott."

BONUS: Check The Other McCain for political updates.

New York Minority Parents Protest National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)

Hopefully we'll be seeing more protests like this.

At Big Government, "Inner City Parents Protest Teachers’ Union, NAACP Over Charter School Lawsuit" (via News Alert):