Hank Williams Jr. Apologizes for Obama-Hitler Comparison

At Los Angeles Times, "Are you ready for Hank Williams Jr. for president?":

Hank Williams Jr. apologized Tuesday for comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, saying he let his mouth get the better of him.

But, if some of his fans had their way, Williams wouldn't apologize to anyone. Further, he'd run for president and oust "the enemy," as he labeled Obama.

Williams found himself in hot water Monday after letting loose on Fox News, saying that Obama playing golf recently with GOP House Speaker John A. Boehner was like Hitler doing so with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also called the president not only "the enemy," but one of the Three Stooges. By day's end, ESPN had pulled Williams' "Are You Ready For Some Football?" song and video from its "Monday Night Football" opener, a position that it has held since 1989.

Williams initially stood firm in the face of controversy...

Continue reading.

VIDEO CREDIT: The Lonely Conservative, "Hank Williams Jr Booted By ESPN After Bizarre Fox and Friends Interview."

"The Top 150 Conservative Websites — 4Q11"

From Doug Ross.

My blog came in at #112.

Herman Cain's Mojo

I mentioned that Herman Cain was catchin' the big mo' over the weekend. And he's really got it going this week. At WaPo, "Rick Perry slips, Herman Cain rises in bid for GOP nomination, poll finds":

After a quick rise in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has experienced an almost equally dramatic decline, losing about half of his support over the past month, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Perry’s slide, which comes after several uneven performances in candidate debates, has allowed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to resurface atop the GOP field. But the most direct beneficiary of the disenchantment with Perry is businessman Herman Cain, who is now tied for second place.

Also at Public Policy Polling, "Cainmentum" (via Memeorandum). Cain's rise could be temporary, and this sounds pretty accurate:

The Republican race has always been pretty wide open, but never more so than it is now. The fact that Cain and Gingrich, pretty much given up for dead just a few weeks ago, could have this kind of poll surge is really indicative of how weak anyone's support is right now- very few Republican voters are strongly committed to a particular candidate and most of them can shift in a heart beat. I'll be pretty shocked if Cain is still leading our state polls a month from now but if there's any lesson to be learned from the GOP race at this point it's not to be surprised by anything.

VIDEO: Roseanne Barr Wants Guillotine for the Rich

At Hot Air, "Great new idea from the Hollywood Left: Behead the bankers."

PREVIOUSLY: "The American Revolution Was Not About Wealth Redistribution."

BONUS: Additional reading at Larwyn's Links.

Dr. Martin Hertzberg Letter at the Vail Daily Skewering the Gore-Hansen-IPCC Climate Change Clique

It's so clear and logical, via Anthony Watts, "Thanks to Michael Mann’s response, a newspaper censors a letter to the editor ex post facto" and Pastebin:

Knowledgeable scientists, including the more than 30,000 such as myself who have signed the Oregon Petition, know that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide do not correlate with human emission of carbon dioxide, that human emission is a trivial fraction of sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, that the oceans contain about 50 times more dissolved carbon dioxide than is present in the atmosphere, that recycling of carbon dioxide from the tropical oceans where it is emitted to the arctic oceans where it is absorbed is orders of magnitude more significant than human emissions, and that the carbonate-bicarbonate buffer in the oceans makes their acidity (actually their alkaline pH) virtually insensitive to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The data for the glacial coolings and interglacial warmings for the past 500,000 years always show that temperature changes precede atmospheric carbon-dioxide changes by about 1,000 years. That indicates that temperature changes are driving carbon-dioxide changes and not the reverse as the Gore-Hansen-IPCC clique claims. As oceans warm for whatever reason, they emit carbon dioxide, and as they cool they absorb carbon dioxide.

The carbon-dioxide “greenhouse effect” argument on which the fearmongering hysteria is based is actually devoid of physical reality. The notion that the colder atmosphere above can reradiate its absorbed infrared energy to heat the warmer earth below violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics. For details, see “Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory,” co-authored by myself and several other scientists, which was published earlier this year by Stairway Press.

In any case, if one compares the effect of water in all of its forms (polar ice, snow cover, oceans, clouds, water vapor in the atmosphere) with that of human emission of carbon dioxide, the carbon-dioxide emission is about as significant as a few farts in a hurricane...

Go to Watts Up With That? for the background.

And see climate hoax-monger Michael Mann's letter to the editor, attacking Hertzberg, which apparently got the latter's pulled from the web and perhaps a lot more: "Vail Valley Voices: Global warming denier's claims are falsehoods." Amazing how Mann refuses to acknowledge that Hertzberg's a scientist. The author's book biography is here: Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory.

A Homecoming Queen With a Helmet

Pretty cool.

At New York Times, "Homecoming Queen and Winning Field Goal on the Same Night":

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In his 18 years at Pinckney Community High School, Jim Darga, the principal, said, the homecoming queen had always been crowned at halftime of the school’s football game. Never before, though, had she had to be summoned from the team’s locker room.

And that was just the beginning of Brianna Amat’s big night.

If being named homecoming queen is a lifetime memory for a high school student, so, too, is kicking a winning field goal. For Amat, 18, they happened within an hour of each other.

On Friday, with Pinckney leading powerful Michigan rival Grand Blanc, 6-0, at the half, Amat, the first girl to play football for the school’s varsity, was asked to return to the field. When she arrived, she was told that her fellow students had voted her queen. When the tiara was placed on her head, she was wearing not a dress, like the other girls in the homecoming court, but her No. 12 uniform, pads and all.

A short while later, with five minutes to play in the third quarter, Amat was called to the same field to attempt a 31-yard field goal. She split the uprights.

RTWT.

The Yo-Yo Effect: Mexican Immigrants Repeatedly Brave Risks to Resume Lives in United States

At New York Times, "Crossing Over, and Over."

I'm borrowing from the Times for the title of this post. I guess repeated border hoppers are "brave," as if there's something noble about illegal immigration. The big takeaway here is simply how badly we're failing at staunching the flow of illegal immigrants. And the aliens know it:

Maria García, 27, arrived here after being deported for a traffic violation. She said she had spent six years living in Fresno, Calif., with her two Mexico-born sons, 11 and 7. She was one of many who said that without a doubt, they would find their way back to the United States.

"They can’t stop us," she said.

'The Insidiousness of Racism'

I saw WaPo's article trending yesterday, "At Rick Perry’s Texas hunting spot, camp’s old racially charged name lingered." Governor Rick Perry used to have a Texas hunting ranch near Paint Creek that he used for gatherings and political events. Apparently, a huge rock with the name "Niggerhead" greeted visitors at the entrance gate. The New York Times picked up the story today, stating that the "latest flare-up ... injected the issue of race into the Republican nominating fight..." Interesting how this "flare up" was completely invented by the mainstream press. I doubt folks really care about some old rock painted with an offensive moniker that was not only painted over when Perry's father took lease of the property, but had been turned upside down as well. But the Democrat-Media-Complex continues its endless jihad to portray conservatives as racist bastards, and "Niggerhead" must be the moment's perfectly ugly remnant of the South's racist past.

And still, the responses are over the top, especially from Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic. That's his term, "the insidiousness of racism." And it is that, the real racism that historically infected society, as I've reported here many times from personal experience. But Ta-Nehisi is one of the left's most prominent institutional race-mongering asshats. He literally lives and breaths racial victimology. It's not that we're occasionally confronted with the wildly bigoted old codger who still uses racist epithets and could care less what folks think. No, with Ta-Nehisi and his ilk every singular example of racist bigotry is an indictment of the whole of American white society. Forget for a moment that we now have a black president. Forget that it's now almost 60 years since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Nope, for progressives no benchmark of progress is enough. To recognize even the slightest vestige of racism's past is to provide progressives with yet another hammer against their political enemies.

So let's be honest: There's no defending this "Niggerhead" rock. But show me the Texas Republicans who paint similar rocks at their hunting grounds. Where are they? I doubt there are many, since the old Jim Crow racism is more repudiated than ever. In any case, see Michelle's piece on this, "Rick Perry and the Macaca Media":

The same lib media outlet that took down George Allen over a dunder-headed moment on the campaign trail in order to perpetuate the GOP=racist meme is trying to kick up dirt over a stone — a stupid stone — that has been painted over and turned over for years.

What does it say about Rick Perry? Nothing. Nada. Zip.

While the Post tries to impose an old narrative on Perry and squeeze blood from a stone, the reality is that Perry has gone out of his way to pander to left-wing impulses on race.

This is the guy that has disparaged his own base as racist in two separate GOP debates.

Remember?

Follow that link.

'Someone Like You'

Some music until later:

RELATED: At Entertainment Weekly, "Adele releases heartbreaking, beautiful 'Someone Like You' music video," and Billboard, "Adele Wanders Paris in 'Someone Like You' Video."

World War II: The Allied Invasion of Europe

A phenomenal photo-essay, from Alan Taylor, at The Atlantic.

Keeping MTV Hip

I loved MTV when it first came out. I hardly watch it nowadays. I just liked the music videos, I think, like Wall of Voodoo, "Mexican Radio." Anyway, an interesting piece at Los Angeles Times, "MTV remakes itself for the millennial generation."

Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett: 'We are working hard to lift people out of poverty...that's what government is supposed to do'

There's video at The Blaze, "OBAMA’S SENIOR ADVISOR VALERIE JARRETT: THE POINT OF GOVERNMENT IS TO GIVE PEOPLE A LIVELIHOOD SO THEY CAN PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES."

Commentary at Maggie's Notebook, "Valerie Jarrett: Purpose of Government to Give You a Job – It’s a World Vision for the Obama Administration," and Townhall, "Obama Adviser: Lifting People Out of Poverty is 'What Government Is Supposed to Do'."

Actually, Jarrett's comment isn't so explicitly "socialist" as it might appear. I don't think, for example, that one can reasonably argue --- after decades of efforts to regulate the economy --- that government has no role in helping to "lift people out of poverty." Economic issues are always important, and when the economy tanks, stimulating employment will certainly be the foremost issue for voters. The problem is that progressives have raped the idea of "lifting people" up. I recall a student arguing last semester that the Constitution's preamble was a manifesto on expanding welfare problems, since it states that this government is established to "secure the general welfare." This student mentioned she listened to NPR, so there you go. No doubt, then, that the left's world vision sees government's role as creating public programs to redistribute wealth so that no one will be poor, but that's not the same thing as stating that government's job is to lift people out of poverty. Social contract theories and institutional economics both conceive of government as providing the basis for firm property rights so that individuals and firms can create and accumulate wealth according to the rule of law. In turn, government increases confidence in markets. Credible commitments by actors in the market ensure that buyers, sellers, investors will seek market transactions. Specialization follows and increasing complexity and sophistication increases not just wealth but social capital. As more of society participate in the market the scope of wealth will expand. This is where conservatives split from progressives, since conservatives see the need to limit the role of the state, as it's long been understood to crowd out the natural constraints and incentives of markets and to introduce all kinds of perversions and corruptions into the economic realm. Frankly, we need to find a way to encourage markets to work more effectively, for labor to flow more freely and for businesses to create and expand absent the heavy-handed government redistribution of wealth. And we won't get there as long as progressives are in power, since they view wealth as inherently evil, or at least as means to an end --- which is the consolidation of the massive European-style socialist welfare state.

I think that needs to be laid out like that before we automatically attack Jarrett's comments. Government has a role in stabilizing and encouraging markets and economic growth. To argue that the opposite is simply ridiculous, and thus it'd be nice if we had some more elevated discussion about these things, especially on the left.

Lady Gaga or Britney Spears?

During the drive out to Rincon for the Don Henley show, my wife said she'd like to go see Lady Gaga in concert. I wasn't surprised, although I quickly replied that I'd rather see Britney Spears. She just seems so much more wholesome. And that statuesque beauty is irresistable:

Amber Heard at LA Times Magazine

A photo-essay, "Best Suited."

RELATED: At The Improper, "Playboy Club's Amber Heard Gets Kinky With Herself (photos)."

The Coming Post-Obama Renaissance

From Victor Davis Hanson, at Pajamas Media:

The Parting of the Clouds

In every literary, historical or cinematic masterpiece, times must grow darkest before the sunrise and deliverance. Tolkien worked that classical theme to great effect. A sense of fatalism overtook a seemingly doomed Gondor — right before the overthrow of Barad-dûr and the dawn of a new age of men. The historian Herodotus, in literary fashion, also brilliantly juxtaposed the Greek collapse at Thermopylae (the Spartan King Leonidas’ head impaled on a stake), and the Persian firing of an abandoned Athens, with Themistocles’s sudden salvation of Western civilization at Salamis. In the classic Western film, hopelessness pervades until out of nowhere a Shane rides in.

What Was Hope and Change?

We are living in an age of such morality tales, though the depressing cycle reminds us that the gloom is hardly fiction or artistry. For those with a little capital there is only a sinking stock market. It seems to wipe out more of their 401(k)s each week, as if each month cancels out yet another year of prior thrift. Near zero interest means any money on deposit is only insurance, not any more a source of income. Millions are trapped in their unsold houses, either underwater or facing an end to any dreams of tapping equity by sale.

And for the greater number without savings? Stagnant GDP, 9.1 unemployment, another $5 trillion in debt, $1.6 trillion annual deficits, and sky-high fuel and food prices have combined to crush any notion of upward mobility. (If in 2004 5.7% unemployment was supposed to mark a “jobless recovery,” what exactly is 9.1% called? If Bush’s average $500 billion deficits over eight years were abhorrent, what must we say of Obama’s average $1.6 trillion over three? Really bad?)

In response, the Obama administration — let me be candid here — seems clueless, overpopulated as it is by policy nerds, academic overachievers, and tenured functionaries (cf. Larry Summers’ “there is no adult in charge”). They tend to flash Ivy League certificates, but otherwise have little record of achievement in the private sector. Officials seem to think that long ago test scores, a now Neolithic nod from an Ivy League professor, or a past prize translates into knowing what makes America run in places like Idaho and southern Michigan...

RTWT.

The American Revolution Was Not About Wealth Redistribution

Toward the end of this ABC News report, reporter T.J. Winick suggests that Occupy Wall Street has "yet to attain tea party-like influence," and he poses the possibility that the protesters might have a comparable tea party-like impact on the 2012 elections. This comparison to the tea parties is interesting. The progressive political establishment did everything it could to discredit and destroy the tea parties. Now though the tea party movement has set the modern standard for successful political change. But Winick's comparison is inaccurate in a fundamental way. Tea parties call on the heritage of the American Revolution as a model to return to the rule of limited government. The Occupy Wall Street protesters, on the other hand, are demanding, in this modern age of the gargantuan state, an even larger government role in public life, and especially the expansion of government power to forcibly confiscate personal income and wealth and redistribute it to a relatively undefined strata of today's petit-bourgeois and mass proletariat. Not only do the Wall Street protesters have the backing of the International Socialist Organization, but radical progressives aligned with the Democrat Party are agitating for revolutionary change. Commenting on the "Declaration" from the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly, David Atkins of Hullabaloo writes:

The General Assembly in this well-considered document has hearkened back to a much older and more florid declaration that similarly began with a statement of principles and a list of grievances.

It is an important beginning. The General Assembly has lit the match. Now it's up to America at large to understand what is at stake, and turn a protest into a revolution.

Adkins' link takes us to the Declaration of Independence. But this is incorrect as well. The American colonists were rebelling against unjust taxation and the rise of British tyranny. In contrast, the protesters in New York, and their allies such as Michael Moore and Rosanne Barr, are really agitating for revolution based on a entirely different statement, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. That declaration, issued in 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, and was heavily influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It embodied the Rousseauian concept of the "general will," which was a Counter-Enlightenment precursor to the forced collectivization of the 20th century's communist gulags. This is actually very elementary political philosophy. ABC News makes the comparisons to the American Revolution, which implies a more mainstream or reformist purpose. Adkins cloaks his revolutionary agitation, erroneously, in the Jeffersonian model. This is pure progressive lies and deceit, for what today's radical left really wants is regime change like the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led the the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1921, or the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which replaced Fulgencio Batista with the communist regime in Cuba. It won't happen any time soon. But as long as the economic crisis continues the hardcore progressive-socialists will gain increasing media attention, and the sympathies of the modern left's celebrity fifth columnists and useful idiots.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: David North, at World Workers Party, "Equality, the Rights of Man and the Birth of Socialism."

VIDEO CREDIT: Jane Hamsher's communist Firedoglake, "'To Express a Feeling of Mass Injustice': #OccupyWallStreet Hits a Tipping Point."

Kelly Brook Rule 5

Well, I think I've found my new favorite Rule 5 hottie.

And it's a good thing too, since the Wombat link-master left off my last week's entries from today's roundup at The Other McCain. I need to step up my game!

See: "Rule 5 Sunday: White Lies."

And more Kelly Brook at London's Daily Mail, "'Whose skin am I in? Just my own': Kelly Brook strips off in nude photo for PETA campaign but covers her curves for launch."

PREVIOUSLY: "Hot Reebok Photo Shoot with Kelly Brook."

And click the image at left to enlarge. She's got a beautiful smile.

Herman Cain, America's Candidate, Catchin' the Big Mo'

Hermain Cain's catchin' some big momentum, and he deserves it.

For example, Michael Barone gives him a huge shout out: "Time to raise Cain to contender status" (at Memeorandum). And Barone points us to Daniel Henninger's piece this week, "Taking Cain Seriously":

Conventional wisdom holds that this week's Chris Christie boomlet means the GOP is desperate for a savior. The reality is that, at some point, Republicans will have to start drilling deeper on their own into the candidates they've got.

Put it this way: The GOP nominee is running against the incumbent president. Unlike the incumbent, Herman Cain has at least twice identified the causes of a large failing enterprise, designed goals, achieved them, and by all accounts inspired the people he was supposed to lead. Not least, Mr. Cain's life experience suggests that, unlike the incumbent, he will adjust his ideas to reality.

Herman Cain is a credible candidate. Whether he deserves to be president is something voters will decide. But he deserves a serious look.

PREVIOUSLY: "Signs of Rising Momentum for Herman Cain." Linked there is The Other McCain, who continues his outstanding Herman Cain coverage. See, "Herman Cain Rhymes With Hurricane: Fund-Raising Surges in Third Quarter." And click "home" over at McCain's to get his commiserations on the lack of recognition for his Cain coverage.

BONUS: From Jonathan Tobin, "Re: Herman Cain?"

Also, at WaPo, "Presidential candidate Herman Cain says Christie is too liberal for Republican conservatives."

U.S. Marines Honor Pamela Geller

Go over there and read the whole thing, "Overwhelming." The Marines gave her the flag flying above Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan on September 11th, 2011:

I cannot describe to you my shock, my awe. I hardly know what to say -- these items are sacred. Our freedom is written in the blood of these heroes, but they honor me with these treasures. I do not deserve such precious gifts. But I heard that Harry Reid had requested this 911 flag, and the heroes at Camp Leatherneck said "No, we are giving it to Pamela Geller." Let me tell you, that was delicious.

I have had U.S. military personnel, both active and retired, thank me for my blogging, and it's the most satisfying honor. Congratulations to Pamela! I would be floating on a rocket ship to outer space! This award just shows once more how great an American she is. Don't stop what you're doing, ever!! And thanks again!

Did Angela Merkel Save the European Union?

This was at the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, "Germans Reconsider Ties to Europe: Merkel Scrambles on Bailout Vote as Key Allies Desert Her" (and at Google):

BERGISCH GLADBACH, Germany -- As Angela Merkel races to convince Germans that their continued prosperity rests on preserving the euro, she is encountering strong resistance even from those in her own party who have been traditionally among the country's most pro-European politicians.

When German lawmakers vote Thursday on whether to put more money into Europe's bailout fund—a step many investors see as essential to prevent a market panic—several conservative deputies, including Wolfgang Bosbach, a prominent champion of European integration, are expected to vote "no." Mr. Bosbach, a high-ranking conservative in Ms. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, has recently become an outspoken critic of the bailout strategy.

"The first medicine didn't work, and now we are simply doubling the dose," said the lanky Mr. Bosbach of the Greek debt crisis. "My fear is that when the big bang happens, it won't just be us who will have to pay but generations hereafter."

The lawmaker rebellion underscores a broader shift among Germans about their nation's role in Europe since the crisis erupted nearly two years ago. While the Thursday vote is expected to pass, and a vast majority of Germans continue to feel a strong, historical commitment to Europe, with a common currency as its anchor, many have grown doubtful of whether it's worth the ever-growing cost of saving the euro.

Like many Europeans, few in Germany today fear the return of armed conflict in Western Europe, the decades-long impetus behind what Germans still often call the "European peace project."

Instead, economic prosperity and stability have become the main rationale for monetary union, an argument many Germans say they have trouble reconciling with one ineffective bailout after another.

Unable to persuade an increasingly skeptical German nation to go along with more rescue measures, Ms. Merkel risks presiding over Germany's growing isolation and the dissolution of the euro—the crowning achievement of Europe's post-World War II drive toward integration.

See if you can get through at those links. It's a fascinating piece. Seventy-five percent of German voters opposed Merkel's vote on the European bailout fund, which was approved Thursday.

And a roundup of opinion at Der Spiegel, "'Europe Can Breathe Easier' after Crunch Vote":

"The markets would prefer more and more money, and ever-increasing loans, but in the end, the money will not have much value anymore. The first serious experts are already talking of an impending need for currency reform, a traumatic idea for the Germans."

"Countries that live beyond their means should not be allowed to expect more money. Banks who make bad deals must be allowed to go bankrupt, without putting the whole system in danger. Creating the necessary structures to allow that is the task of politicians. What's needed are clear rules for national bankruptcies. It is also necessary to force banks to accumulate, as quickly as possible, enough capital so that they can survive a debt restructuring by, for example, Greece."

Man, that's harsh.

Merkel bought some time, and not a whole lot else.

Republican Race for President Is Up for Grabs

I've said it a couple of times, but this is a strange year for GOP nomination politics. Candidates are still considering entering the race with a little over a year until November 2012. That goes against the normal imperatives of presidential nominating politics, at least in recent years, and I'm a little surprised.

In any case, at LAT, "In GOP contest, anything could happen":

Barely three months before the first votes are cast, the Republican race for president is up for grabs, complicated by the absence of a clear front-runner and the rules that have guided the GOP's selection process for the past several decades.

The rise of the "tea party" movement, with its contempt for convention, has undermined the tradition of bestowing the nomination on the candidate presumed next in line, who usually paid their dues through long service or a previous White House try.

At the same time, a new way of awarding delegates has largely eliminated the winner-take-all system that hastened selection of a nominee and forced the party to quickly close ranks.

The rise of so-called super PACs, independent political financing organizations unfettered by spending limits, also means that a candidate can stay competitive long after their campaign's donor base taps out, potentially extending the race beyond the first few contests.

The upshot is a GOP nominating race that is at least as unsettled as the competition four years ago, when Sen. John McCain of Arizona rose from the political graveyard and rallied to claim the nomination.

"We knew from the beginning this was going to be one of the most competitive nominating fights we've had," said Dick Wadhams, a Republican strategist who is neutral in the race. "We thought we had one back in 2008, but this one has already taken on more twists and turns than anything that happened in '08."

Continue reading.

VIDEO CREDIT: The Other McCain, "Is #PerryFail the Hot New #tcot Hashtag?"

Glenn Reynolds Interviews Michael Yon for 'InstaVision'

Via Instapundit:

New Navy Destroyer, USS Spruance, Commissioned in Key West

This is cool.

At Forbes, "USS Spruance commissioned in Key West."

About 3,400 spectators witnessed the first navy vessel commissioning ceremony ever to take place in Key West, despite the island being a base for naval operations for almost two centuries.

The battleship Maine sailed from Key West prior to her 1898 sinking in Havana, leading to the Spanish-American War. In 1917, Navy seaplane and blimp activity began at Naval Air Station Key West. The facility expanded to nearby Boca Chica Key in 1943 and today remains a strategic air base.

"We have such a proud history and tradition with the U.S. Navy down here all the way back to the Civil War," said Key West Mayor Craig Cates. "To have the navy commission a new warship in our city makes us so very proud."

Christie Team Considering the Possibilities for Presidential Run

At New York Times, "Christie Team Assessing How Fast a 2012 Campaign Could Be Mounted."

The question isn't should Christie run, but what are his chances of beating Mitt Romney? Might be tough, at this point, and he's vulnerable on the issues just like Rick Perry, who's now kinda crashing after the big debut. And of course Christie will face endless attacks for his weight, which isn't just unfair, but genuinely cruel. The Los Angeles Times asks, "Is Christie's weight fair game, or did Letterman cross the line?" And do we even need to ask?

RELATED: From Andrew Breitbart, at Human Events, "Man, I Like That Guy: Chris Christie's Dude Factor."

Longest Surviving Two-Faced Cat Makes Guinness Book of World Records

A great story, at LAT, "Meow meow. Two-faced cat wins place in record book."

'Burying the Hatchet': James Q. Wilson Reviews Steven Pinker's 'Better Angels of Our Nature'

This is interesting, at Wall Street Journal, "The long, arduous and incomplete process of civilizing humankind and suppressing its most violent impulses." (Via Small Dead Animals.)

SIDE NOTE: James Q. Wilson is an eminent political scientist and past president of the American Political Science Association. If the profession cultivated more scholars like him I'd express more hope for the discipline.

And check the book at Amazon: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

'Inflamatory' Casey Anthony Video Released

Well, I can see why it was sealed at trial. Doesn't show much at all.

At LAT, "Judge releases controversial footage in Casey Anthony case."

A judge on Friday ordered the release of a video that authorities say captures Casey Anthony's initial response to learning that law enforcement officials had discovered human remains while searching for her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

The video shows Anthony rocking a bit in her chair, and then hunching over. Later, Anthony is seen talking to her attorney.

The quality of the video -- taken in a waiting area near the jail's medical facility -- is poor. It's grainy. It does not contain audio. And it's shot from so far away that it's difficult to detect any facial reactions. Anthony can be seen breathing heavily at one point, and she bends forward several times.

Her reactions could be interpreted in various ways, and a previous judge had ordered the video sealed, saying it might be inflammatory, affecting her chance of getting a fair trial.

Anthony has steadfastly denied killing her 2-year-old daughter, who went missing in 2009. And a jury agreed.

SlutWalk NYC Protests Rape Culture and Sexual Violence

Well, that would have been some protest.

Check the minimalist homepage at SlutWalk NYC. And at Socialist Worker (where else?), "Join us at SlutWalk in New York City."

And the report at London's Daily Mail, "Scantily-clad 'slutwalk' women march on New York after police tell them to 'cover up' to avoid rape."

Protesters dressed in their underwear have taken to the streets of New York today after it emerged the NYPD were warning women in Brooklyn to cover up in the face of sex attacks.

The latest 'slutwalk' protest comes a day after women in Park Slope were warned short skirts should not be worn and shorts that show too much leg have been deemed inappropriate.

On today's march the protesters chanted 'No means no - however we dress, wherever we go.'

This protest was in addition to Occupy Wall Street, which occupied the Brooklyn Bridge for a bit today, with 100s of arrests.

Sizzlin' Saturday Rule 5

And it really is sizzlin', too!

See Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 News: 01 October 2011 A.D." And Eye of Polyphemus, "It Cannot Hurt to Throw in a Photo of Karen Gillan, Too."

Plus, at Zion's Trumpet, "Mexican Actress Mayrin Villanueva." And Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Debora Campos."

PHOTO CREDIT: Theo Spark.

BONUS: At Maggie's Farm, "Maggie's Scientific Poll: Working with appealing persons of the opposite sex."

Radiohead Hoax at Occupy Wall Street

I see no mention of it at the Occupy Wall Street Twitter feed.

But see DNAinfo, "Occupy Wall Street Apologizes for Getting 'Hoaxed' By Radiohead Claim." And at Village Voice, "How Occupy Wall Street Got Hoaxed: The Email From Radiohead's 'Manager'."

And at Instapundit:

NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME: Occupy Wall Street protest, swelled by Radiohead hoax, marches on NYPD HQ, but gets lost. I would be harsher on these people, but given how thoroughly Obama has been in bed with Wall Street, and vice versa, it’s hard for me to get very excited.

And this just in at DNAinfo, "Occupy Wall Street Protesters Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge." And New York Post, "Wall St. protesters shut down Brooklyn Bridge." Yeah, that's gonna build a lot of support for the movement:

One irate driver, a Ground Zero construction worker, blasted the pedestrians.

"I work my ass off all day, and these goddamned hippies close down the Brooklyn Bridge so I can't get home?" he said. "This ain't right!"

Sex Education in Canada: Forcing the Progressive Agenda on Kids

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Brian Lilley: MSM Mocks Parents Concerns Over McGuinty's Perverse Ontario Sex Ed Curriculum."

And background here, "BREAKING: National Post apologizes for pro-family ad, donates proceeds to gay activist group."

And here it is: "An apology from the National Post."

I would be pissed, frankly. See: "Sex workers, Palestinian solidarity mentioned in 6-year-old’s TDSB official school planner."

And the calender's here. May 17th is "International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (International)." Who knew??!!

Awlaki More Important Than Bin Laden?

Could be.

See Ed Morrissey: "Video: Was Awlaki mission more operationally important than bin Laden?"

AQAP had become the most virulent arm of al-Qaeda in the past few years, and it was Awlaki who provided the inspiration for the most difficult of terrorists to find and stop — the home-grown jihadis, like the Times Square bomber and Nidal Hasan, among others. Getting both Awlaki and Samir Khan interrupts a network that not only recruited terrorists but repeatedly demonstrated its ability to launch operations against the US, including inside the US, something that bin Laden’s group failed to accomplish after 9/11. AQAP isn’t destroyed by this strike, but their best assets against the US have been and are not likely to be replaced. Getting bin Laden was a much bigger psychological coup, but Awlaki’s removal does more to make the US safer.

Political Scientists Barbara Walter and Andrew Kydd Beclown Themselves with Theory of Palestinian Bargaining

Here's the authors' op-ed from yesterday's Los Angeles Times, "A win-win strategy for the Palestinians." And the key passage of beclownment:

The Palestinians are playing a long-term bargaining game, and any move toward the goal of statehood has to be considered a victory. Statehood will not come immediately, or when a vote is taken in the Security Council. What will happen is that support for it will slowly and surely increase among average citizens around the world. The extreme positions of Israel and the United States — their refusal to pursue real efforts to allow Palestinians to rule themselves and be free of military occupation — will be increasingly revealed, and tolerance for these positions, even among Israelis and Americans, will decline. Going to the Security Council knowing the bid will be publicly and persistently rejected, therefore, is an inspired strategy. Palestinians appear peaceful and reasonable. Israel and the United States do not.

Walter and Kydd are offering a strategic theory, and any theory like this is based on a number of assumptions, like the assumption of actor rationality. As highlighted above, the authors also assume Israeli and American intransigence. But a model is only as good as its assumptions, and the intransigence assumption here is fatally flawed, and hence their larger analysis falls apart. Case in point: Also out yesterday was Charles Krauthammer's column at Washington Post, "Land without peace: Why Abbas went to the U.N." Krauthammer explicitly challenges Walter and Kydd's assumption that Israel and the U.S. "refuse to pursue real efforts" free of military occupation:

While diplomatically inconvenient for the Western powers, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s attempt to get the United Nations to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state has elicited widespread sympathy. After all, what choice did he have? According to the accepted narrative, Middle East peace is made impossible by a hard-line Likud-led Israel that refuses to accept a Palestinian state and continues to build settlements.

It is remarkable how this gross inversion of the truth has become conventional wisdom. In fact, Benjamin Netanyahu brought his Likud-led coalition to open recognition of a Palestinian state, thereby creating Israel’s first national consensus for a two-state solution. He is also the only prime minister to agree to a settlement freeze — 10 months — something no Labor or Kadima government has ever done.

To which Abbas responded by boycotting the talks for nine months, showing up in the 10th, then walking out when the freeze expired. Last week he reiterated that he will continue to boycott peace talks unless Israel gives up — in advance — claim to any territory beyond the 1967 lines. Meaning, for example, that the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem is Palestinian territory. This is not just absurd. It violates every prior peace agreement. They all stipulate that such demands are to be the subject of negotiations, not their precondition.

Abbas unwaveringly insists on the so-called “right of return,” which would demographically destroy Israel by swamping it with millions of Arabs, thereby turning the world’s only Jewish state into the world’s 23rd Arab state. And he has repeatedly declared, as recently as last week in New York: “We shall not recognize a Jewish state.”

Nor is this new. It is perfectly consistent with the long history of Palestinian rejectionism. Consider...

Keep reading for Krauthammer's examples, from Camp David in 2000 to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert peace deal of 2008.

So think about it: Who's intransigent? It's the Palestinians who are refusing "to pursue real efforts" at self-rule, which would allow themselves to "be free of military occupation." And it's for this reason that the Palestinians have gone to the United Nations. They don't want to negotiate. They've never wanted a final negotiated settlement, because it would mean leaving the Israeli state at the center of the territory to which they claim historical rights.

So notice what we really have: Two fairly prominent political scientists, writing in one of the nation's national newspapers, offering a fancy theory of Middle East bargaining and diplomacy that's based on a theoretical assumption that's a pure lie. And notice further: This example illustrates the power of the global left's campaign of delegitimation against Israel. Statements alleged as fact are shown to be complete fabrications after an elementary review of the historical record. But it goes on and on like this. Modern "progressive" societies buy into a historicism of deceit the exists for the sole purpose of exterminating the Jewish state. And notice one more thing: Walter and Kydd, who I've never met, again show us how often tragically useless is contemporary political science in explaining the world. At a basic level, rigid ideology is a poor foundation for problem solving, since to sustain an ideology requires the erection and perpetuation of myths such as, in this case, Israel's strategic intransigence. By contrast, some basic historical pragmatism shows that in fact the Palestinians have repeatedly rejected peace, having instead opted for violence --- indiscriminate violence, at that --- and war. And when Israel responds it's the one who's rebuked for employing force. I have hard time taking a lot of modern political science seriously precisely because scholars have poisoned their minds with really dishonest ideological presumptions. The idea that Israel is the reason for the failure of peace in the Middle East is false. It's an enormously malicious falsehood. And it's one more tragedy of the political science discipline that scholars rest serious substantive arguments on it.

RELATED: "The Tragedy of John Mearsheimer."

Awlaki's Operational Role in al Qaeda

Well, folks got Gleen Greenwald's side, so how about the pro-targeted killing argument?

Check Kenneth Anderson, at Volokh, "Anwar al-Aulaqi Apparently Killed by Drone in Yemen":

My view of this targeted killing is straightforwardly, congratulations, Mr. President. What has been visible publicly leaves little or no doubt in my mind that Al-Aulaqi was deeply involved in AQAP in operations, and indeed at the highest levels.

And at the update:

Who? As an international law matter, is Al-Aulaqi a lawful target? The US government sees him as taking part in hostilities, part of the operational leadership of an associated force with Al Qaeda, the AQAP. So, yes, he can be targeted with lethal force — and targeted without warning, without an attempt to arrest or apprehend as a law enforcement matter.

Where? Does it matter that he was in Yemen, and not an “active battlefield” in a conventional hostilities sense? The US government does not accept the idea that the armed conflict with Al Qaeda — or armed conflict generally — is confined as a legal matter to some notion of “theatres of conflict” or “active battlefields” or related terms that have been used in recent years by academics and activist groups. As I understand the US government position, it sticks by the traditional concept of “hostilities,” and that where the hostiles go, the possibility of armed conflict goes too (I try to explain this evolution of these views in this short essay). So the fact that he was present in Yemen does not make him beyond targeting, because he is not present in some “active” battlezone such as Afghanistan.

This claim — the conflict follows the participants — frequently leads to a complaint that this means the US might target him in Paris or London. The US position is that the standard for addressing non-state actor terrorists taking safe haven somewhere depends on whether the sovereign where the terrorist is hiding is “unwilling or unable” to address the threat. No, there won’t be Predators Over Paris; Yemen or Somalia is another matter, as President Obama has repeatedly and without cavil said in speeches over the last few years.

Still more at the link.

Heidi Klum Promotes New Fragrance 'Shine'

At London's Daily Mail, "Heidi Klum dazzles in animal print as she premieres her new fragrance Shine."

This Rule 5 is dedicated to my attorney, David Carr, who enjoys the (babe) blogging here and at The Other McCain.

Americans Give GOP Edge in Handling Nation's Problems

At Gallup:

Given a choice, Americans at this juncture appear slightly more inclined to believe that the Republican Party is better situated than the Democratic Party to handle the problems facing the nation. That could be because a Democrat is in the White House at a time when Americans are dissatisfied with the state of the nation and the government. Americans also express interest in a third party to challenge the two major parties, although this level of interest is not unusually high. Additionally, there doesn't appear to be strong sentiment that the current divided control in Washington is the major problem with government.

RELATED: "Democrats Dispirited About Voting in 2012."

Left and Right Come Together

See Ronald Brownstein, at National Journal, "Coming Together":

Two iconoclastic new studies challenge the grim fatalism surrounding the congressional super committee charged with identifying the next steps toward taming the long-term federal debt.

The glum, growing consensus in Washington is that the super committee is more likely to perpetuate than resolve the parties’ stalemate over the deficit. The betting is that, with Republicans still rejecting any tax increases (even though federal revenues, as a share of the overall economy, now stand at their lowest level since 1950), Democrats won’t accept any meaningful restraints on entitlement spending (even though payments to individuals now consume more than three-fifths of the federal budget, squeezing all other liberal priorities). Conventional wisdom now assumes that the committee will offer just enough savings to avoid complete failure (which might further rattle spooked financial markets) but not enough to truly confront the long-term problem.

Yet the two recent studies from unusual left-right coalitions show the opportunity for greater boldness. In each report, groups that started with diametrical ideological views about the role of government coalesced behind reform programs that would substantially reduce the deficit by eliminating programs that are either ineffective or that unnecessarily subsidize special interests.
The agendas offered by these odd-couple alliances alone are not sufficient to stabilize the long-term budget—that can only be done by restraining entitlements and raising more revenue. But these plans show how austerity can enable reform: They underscore the opportunity to use the deficit challenge to rethink federal expenditures that are now justified by little more than the strength of the lobbies protecting them...

Interesting.

More at that top link.

Pornography at a XXX-roads

At The Economist, "The adult industry is seeking respectability—and profits."

Shocking Video Captures Brutal Shooting Near Brooklyn College

At New York Post, "McDonald's Shooting Caught on NYPD Camera":

Occupy Wall Street, 'Leaderless Resistance Movement', Gets Front-Page Treatment at Los Angeles Times

The Times is jonesin' for news.

This is ridiculous. See: "Occupy Wall Street protesters driven by varying goals."

Actually, they have no goals. I'm reminded of Discharge, in any case, "Protest and Survive." These dudes are still protesting and surviving after almost thirty years. We're still on course for the savage mutilation, I guess:

The savage mutilation of the human race is set on course
Protest and survive, protest and survive.

It's up to us to change that course
Protest and survive, protest and survive...

BONUS: Well, perhaps they're actually serious about this protest and survive stuff. See Occupy Wall Street's, "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City" (at Democratic Underground and Memeorandum):

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known...

And at Firedoglake, "The Goal and Message of Occupy Wall Street."

Anti-American Glenn Greenwald Responds to Awlaki Strike on Democracy Now!

I linked Greenwald early this morning, freakin' ASFL.

And here's this, perfectly said, at Jawa Report, "If It Were 1945, Glenn Greenwald and the Left Would Be Lamenting the Death of Hitler":

But this a$$magot has nothing to write about the victims of al Awlaki and other terrorists. His only concern is that the terrorists didn't get 'due process'...

Sometimes there's a downside to the 1st Amendment, and it's having to listen to drivel like this. And yes, I will continue to cheer the death of terrorists, whether they were once a fellow American citizen or not.

Be sure to watch the interview, if you can, where Greenwald speaks so proudly of al Awlaki's radicalism and seemingly justifies terrorism in response to U.S. aggression in Iraq.

Greenwald hates America. He routinely attacks American policy as equivalent to the Nazis. What's amazing is how well his hate goes over. But that's the left for you.

RELATED: At National Journal, "No Due Process in Awlaki's Killing, Civil Libertarians Worry," and at New York Times, "Awlaki Killing Incites Criticism on Left and Libertarian Right."

Ron Paul Decries Awlaki Killing

It's just too predictable. Is there any use of force this clown won't decry?

At LAT, "Ron Paul criticizes Obama for U.S. role in killing of Awlaki."

Manager Terry Francona Out at Boston Red Sox

End of an era.

And was he fired? So far it appears that the decision was mutual.

At Boston Herald, "Terry Francona on leaving Red Sox: 'It's time for a new voice'." And USA Today, "Terry Francona, saying Boston 'wears on you,' out as Red Sox manager."

And from yesterday's Wall Street Journal, "Red Sox Self-Destruction Complete."

RELATED: At Palm Beach Post, "The craziest night in baseball history? This might have been it."

U.S. Jihadi Samir Khan Killed in Awlaki Drone Strike in Yemen

This really is an significant bonus to the story.

Background at WaPo, "A ‘proud traitor’: Samir Khan reported dead alongside Aulaqi":

A Saudi-born American of Pakistani heritage who was raised in Queens, N.Y., was reportedly among those killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting radical cleric and fellow U.S. citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi.

A self-proclaimed traitor to America, Samir Khan contributed to the efforts of al-Qaeda’s Yemen offshoot to promote itself among English-speakers. He was apparently a major force behind the widely-read English-language magazine Inspire, a mixture of ideology, first-person accounts of operations and do-it-yourself jihad advice. Copies of the magazine’s bomb-making and other sections have been found in the possession of several would-be attackers in the U.S. and Britain.

“I am proud to be a traitor to America,” wrote Khan, 25, in an article in the second issue of the online magazine, published in fall last year. He described his life as working in the “jihadi media sector” in North Carolina, before his beliefs turned him into a “rebel of Washington’s imperialism.” He believed FBI agents were watching him in America, including a man who feigned a conversion to Islam, and one who antagonized him, sparking a fist-fight about his online work.

And more background at this 2007 piece from New York Times, "An Internet Jihad Aims at U.S. Viewers."

And don't miss Michelle Malkin's post, "Second U.S. jihadi reportedly killed in drone attack; Plus: Refresher course on American bloggers vs. Samir Khan." She honors the work of Jawa Report, the blog that's been on the trail of Samir Khan for years, and whose publisher Rusty Shackleford was targeted by with death threats. See the post there: "American Traitor Anwar al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen! Upd: SAMIR KHAN, Threatened Rusty's Family, Dead! Obama Confirms, Awlaki DEAD -- Now with More Cowbell, M.C. Hammer Online Jihadis Confirm: Samir Khan Dead! Fingerprints Confirm!"

Anwar al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen

The Other McCain reports, "BREAKING: AL-QAEDA LEADER ANWAR AL-AWLAKI KILLED IN YEMEN -- ‘FACEBOOK FRIEND FROM HELL’."

Also at Jawa Report, "Anwar al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen." (Via Memeorandum.) And New York Times, "U.S.-Born Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen":

SANA, Yemen — In a significant and dramatic strike in the campaign against Al Qaeda, the Defense Ministry here said American-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading figure in the group’s outpost in Yemen, was killed on Friday morning.

In Washington a senior Obama administration official confirmed that Mr. Awlaki was dead. But the circumstances surrounding the killing remained unclear.

It was not immediately known whether Yemeni forces carried out the attack or if American intelligence forces, which have been pursuing Mr. Awlaki for months, were involved in the operation.

A Defense Ministry statement said that a number of Mr. Awlaki’s bodyguards also were killed.

A high-ranking Yemeni security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Mr. Awlaki was killed while traveling between Marib and al-Jawf provinces in northern Yemen — areas known for having an Al Qaeda presence, where there is very little central government control. The official did not say how he was killed.

Mr. Awlaki’s name has been associated with many plots in the United States and elsewhere after individuals planning violence were drawn to his engaging lectures broadcast over the Internet.

Those individuals included Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas in which 13 people were killed; the young men who planned to attack Fort Dix, N.J.; and a 21-year-old British student who told the police she stabbed a member of Parliament after watching 100 hours of Awlaki videos.

Updates forthcoming...

I was expecting this, but not this quick. From knee-jerk progressive anti-American Glenn Greenwald, "The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality." And from international relations expert Stephanie Carvin, "Anwar al-Awlaki and Targeted Killing: A quick, first, and uneasy reaction":

I must admit that I am somewhat troubled by this turn of events. Earlier this year I suggested that the targeted killing of bin Laden was acceptable under international law. He’s been linked to the financing and organising of terrorist attacks around the world and this was well established before his death.

But I have yet to see any reports that suggest that Awlaki has been tied to any material support for terrorist attacks. I think this changes the legal game substantially. It essentially is suggesting that *we* (whoever that is) are now targeting people for their ideas rather than they are actually doing. Pushed to its logical extreme, a person might unintentionally inspire others to commit violent acts. Should they be eliminated?

I’m no fan of Awlaki and I will certainly not mourn his passing, (really – he seems like a total jerk) but this raises serious questions about the targeted killing program, who is being targeted and why. Presumably, in the case of targeted killing, its important there is evidence BEFORE the killing, rather than a scrabble now to piece together a case, after the fact.

I hope there is evidence that he actually materially supported terrorism.

Well, the poor guy!

More, from Jake Tapper, at ABC News, "Officials Thought They Might Kill Awlaki on 9/11 Anniversary."

I Missed Jonathan Tobin's Post on John Mearsheimer...

See Tobin's brief essay at Commentary, "Mearsheimer’s Vanishing Veneer of Respectability." This part is excellent:

The author of the book Mearsheimer admires is Gilad Atzmon, an ex-Israeli who not only doubts the truth of the Holocaust but also thinks the Jews persecuted Hitler and Nazi persecution of the Jews was justified. For Atzmon, any expression of Jewish identity is tantamount to racism. He believes Israel is worse than Nazi Germany. His hatred of his own people has even motivated him to claim medieval blood libels might have been true, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion provides historical insights about the Jews.

And:

The Israel Lobby was itself a typical example of anti-Semitic invective in the way it sought to delegitimize Israel’s American supporters and to single them out as sinister forces undermining democracy. But because its authors were two distinguished academics, they were able to cloak their prejudice in more respectable garb. One can only hope Mearsheimer’s endorsement of Atzmon helps to strip away that unjustified veneer of respectability that continues to attach to the authors’ work.

That ties in pretty well with my remarks at "The Tragedy of John Mearsheimer." Both Mearsheimer and Walt are scholars I admired. But in the end my ignorance is inexcusable. I long viewed The Israel Lobby through the lens of pluralist political science, perhaps out of deference for these "two distinguished academics." But it's not looking good for Mearsheimer. Even hardline anti-Zionists are throwing him under the bus. It's devastating, as noted previously.

See also the update from David Bernstein, "John Mearsheimer and Gilad Atzmon Update." And earlier at Israel Matzav, "John Mearsheimer comes out of the closet." (Apparently not all the BDS types have bailed on Atzmon.)

Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll

Here's the live clip with Brian Setzer:

But listen to Robert Gordon's version, with the incredible Link Wray on guitar. The song was first recorded by Billy Lee Riley and His Little Green Men, and here's this from Wikipedia:

In the early 1970s, Riley quit music to return to Arkansas to begin his own construction business. In 1978 "Red Hot" and "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" were covered by Robert Gordon and Link Wray, which led to a one-off performance in Memphis in 1979, the success of which led to further recording at Sun Studio and a full-time return to performing.

Rediscovered by Bob Dylan in 1992, who had been a fan since 1956, Riley played rock and roll, blues and country-blues.

His album Hot Damn! (Capricorn, 1997) was nominated for a Grammy Award.

That is so cool.

Zombie Covers Berkeley Affirmative Action Bake Sale

One of his best ever!

See: "Racist Cupcakes? Berkeley Erupts over Affirmative Action Satire."

Zombie says that the "privilege" line is actually a class issue, not race. But not really, not for progressives. Race is class. Just look at those signs. Indeed, racism is all progressives have. Well, they had the antiwar movement too, but --- except for perhaps the most hardened communists --- they hypocritically abandoned it when the first black president took office. Amazing consistency. ASFLs.

Antonio Johnson Donates Kidney to Grandmother — After Being Killed in Drive-By Shooting

This story is sad, yet with some hope thrown in.

What's so striking is that the boy offered to donate a kidney before he died, although his mom said no. His grandmother herself "was paralyzed decades ago when she was struck by a stray bullet."

Again, these are longstanding problems, but for the life of me we never hear the president speak out on such chronic violence afflicting the black community. It's going to be one of this administration's biggest moral failings.

At Chicago Tribune, "Slain teen's kidney donated to ailing grandmother."

MSNBC Falling to Third Place in Cable Ratings

Well, yeah.

With socialist news anchors like Lawrence O'Donnell interviewing idiot socialist filmmaker hypocrites like Michael Moore, what could go wrong?

At New York Times, "MSNBC Is Close to Falling to Third Place in Cable News Ratings":

How badly has MSNBC been hurt by the loss of Keith Olbermann? Enough, apparently, to be on the verge of falling back into third place among the cable news networks.

The ratings results for the month of September show that CNN, long relegated to third place in the prime-time cable news competition, is edging its way back up, while MSNBC is moving in the other direction.

For the month, CNN averaged 257,000 viewers in prime time in the category that counts most to the networks — viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 — because that is where the advertising money goes for news programming. MSNBC was just barely ahead with 269,000 viewers. (Neither approached the leader, Fox News, with 526,000).

Both CNN and MSNBC had one especially strong night because of the Republican presidential debates. With those excluded, however, CNN beat MSNBC, 219,000 to 207,000. A year ago, when Mr. Olbermann still occupied the 8 p.m. hour, MSNBC edged CNN by 83,000 viewers, with 256,000 viewers for MSNBC to 173,000 for CNN.

The change in the September ratings was most noticeable at 8 p.m., where CNN has moved its best-known host, Anderson Cooper. The network’s performance during that hour has improved by 38 percent over last year, growing to 215,000 viewers from 156,000.

On MSNBC, meanwhile, Lawrence O’Donnell has lost 100,000 viewers from the numbers Mr. Olbermann posted last September, with 185,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 age group, a drop of 35 percent. (Bill O’Reilly on Fox, as always, dwarfs his competitors with about three times as many viewers, 611,000.)

More ominously, the falloff for Mr. O’Donnell seems to be affecting MSNBC’s biggest name, Rachel Maddow. Her audience dropped 15 percent this year, to 245,000 from 289,000. She still beats Piers Morgan on CNN in the 9 p.m. hour, but his show has improved 18 percent over Larry King’s ratings last year, with 193,000 viewers to Mr. King’s 164,000.

Actually, no. Viewers don't want left-wing partisan news shows. Progressives are in power now and people are dying out there, literally, without economic growth and without hope. It's the Democrats' legacy that's being rejecting, because consumers are calling bull on MSNBC's "Lean Forward" news scam.

What a joke.

Michael Coren Interviews Pamela Geller

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

Engineer Climbers Inspect Washington Monument

This is cool.

At LAT, "Washington Monument inspection underway."

Rick Perry Faces Immigration Hurdles in Iowa

I mentioned over the weekend that Rick Perry should expect more attacks on his soft immigration positions.

Well, there's more news, from yesterday at LAT, "Rick Perry backs off 'heartless' comment." And AoSHQ, "Perry: On Second Thought (Or First?), I Shouldn't Have Said You Were Heartless."

And from the other day, at LAT, "Rick Perry's Immigration Record a Tough Sell in Iowa":

It came up unbidden in the crowd of neighbors waiting recently for the Texas governor to drop by Uncle Nancy's Coffeehouse in Newton, the former corporate home of the washing-machine giant Maytag.

"I'm not sure I like Perry's approach to immigration," said Doug Ringger, a retired Maytag marketing man. "That concerns me a little bit — or a lot. I haven't heard him say we need to seal the borders."

Iowa voters are not alone in expressing such concerns, though they might seem jarring in a state whose small towns and cornfields are hundreds of miles from the nation's southern border. The state has faced little of the political turmoil over illegal immigration that has long been a staple of politics in California, Arizona, Texas and other places that are home to greater numbers of undocumented workers.

But the 2008 arrest of nearly 400 illegal immigrants at a meatpacking plant in Postville highlighted the arrival of undocumented workers in Iowa as never before. At the same time, the growth of Iowa's Latino population has sparked discomfort among some of the white conservatives who dominate the Republican caucuses.

Though Iowa remains the sixth-whitest state in America, its Latino population has surged from 33,000 in 1990 to 152,000 last year, census figures show. Even in the absence of precise figures showing how many residents are undocumented, that cultural shift has helped turn illegal immigration into a key issue for Republican caucus voters, said Dennis Goldford, a politics professor at Drake University in Des Moines.

"That presence, particularly with regard to very small-town rural Republicans who tend to think the country they know is disappearing, this becomes a problem for them," Goldford said.

Also: "In Iowa, Anita Perry defends husband's immigration views."

VIDEO: Javier Manjarres, "Rick Perry - “I Am Not for Amnesty”."

Scorning Voting, Protests Surge Globally

At New York Times, "As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe":

MADRID — Hundreds of thousands of disillusioned Indians cheer a rural activist on a hunger strike. Israel reels before the largest street demonstrations in its history. Enraged young people in Spain and Greece take over public squares across their countries.

Their complaints range from corruption to lack of affordable housing and joblessness, common grievances the world over. But from South Asia to the heartland of Europe and now even to Wall Street, these protesters share something else: wariness, even contempt, toward traditional politicians and the democratic political process they preside over.

They are taking to the streets, in part, because they have little faith in the ballot box.

“Our parents are grateful because they’re voting,” said Marta Solanas, 27, referring to older Spaniards’ decades spent under the Franco dictatorship. “We’re the first generation to say that voting is worthless.”

That's a really significant statement, for if voting is considered worthless by whole generations, it could signal a larger shift against democracy itself. Frightening on the one hand, and reflecting a spoiled ignorance on the other, it perhaps signifies a pop cultural fascination with the activist street. What explains this? It's not like we've had a particularly long period of economic dislocation. And the European situation is more drastic than what's happening stateside, so maybe that's not the best example of a widespread trend. Notice for example how the Wall Street protests drew scant participation, compared to the Wisconsin anti-Walker campaigns of earlier this year, as I noted: "The Revolution Does Not Appear to Be Brewing."

In any case, we've got the all-knowing political science establishment to the rescue. See Dan Drezner, "Do networks transform the democratic political process?" (At Memeorandum.) It's transnational issue activism.

Can This Government Be Fixed?

An interesting piece, from Susan Page, at USA Today:

The third threatened government shutdown this year was narrowly averted. Congress' deficit "supercommittee" is apparently on a track to nowhere. And there has been contentious debate but little action on the proposals to help the jobless.

Can this government be fixed?

Americans are increasingly frustrated by the disconnect between what they say they want in their government, and what they see happening in Washington. A majority want compromise; they see polarization. They want economic and other problems addressed; they see gridlock and a series of perils-of-Pauline cliffhangers. By a record 4-1 ratio in a new Gallup Poll, they express dissatisfaction with the way the country is being governed.

"We are in this period of great anxiety because of economic uncertainty … and that has people worried about their future," says Dan Glickman, a former Democratic congressman and Cabinet secretary affiliated with the Bipartisan Policy Center. "What they need is confidence building, and what I don't think they sense from our government system is confidence building. Everything they see is division."

While President Obama and congressional leaders wrestle over immediate crises — a stopgap deal approved by the Senate late Monday has put off the latest budget showdown until Nov. 18 — a growing number of think tanks and advocacy groups with such names as No Labels, Americans Elect, Third Way and Ruck.us are trying to address underlying factors that fuel Washington's partisan stalemate.

The result, he says, has "got people either nervous as hell or disengaged."

Keep reading.

The proposed "solutions" are gimmicks.

For the most part, the government will be fixed when the economy is fixed. The voters need a clear set of alternatives and they need to put a solid majority in power to get things done. Folks thought that was Barack Obama (and the Democrat-Socialist Party), but now even the media elites are saying he "wasn't ready" for the office. Well, duh. Let's give this guy the boot in 2012 and get somebody in there who has a clue, someone who'll fix things --- a conservative who'll fix things. Democrats just make things worse.

Obama Sets Back Race Relations Decades

Awesome, as usual.

From Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review, "Obama’s Racial Crisis." (Via Pundette.)

PREVIOUSLY: "Frustrated Teacher Walks Off the Job in Los Angeles: Metaphor for Obama's Bankrupt Education Policy."

'I cannot tell you how weary I am of this kind of pretentious s**t...'

That's idiot progressive Barbara O'Brien blabbing about how wonderful the Wisconsin protests have been and how freakin' stupid are the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Yeah. Great. I made the same argument myself, except I don't differentiate between "stupid protesting and smart protesting." It's all stupid, Barbara. Wisconsin was better organized, but still stupid. But keep plugging away. I'm don't know what CUND Gulag would do without your inane communist ramblings.