European Leaders Debate Severe Options for Accord

At WSJ (via Google):

BRUSSELS — European leaders took their first steps toward a new plan to stem the euro crisis, admitting that their last grand plan, agreed to only three months ago, has failed.

The new effort, which leaders hope to finalize at another summit on Wednesday, involves a sweeping recapitalization of European banks, a substantial restructuring of Greece's debts, a bigger bailout fund, and even possibly fresh efforts to entice sovereign-wealth funds in China and elsewhere to come to Europe's aid.

Continue reading at that link.

Banks are writing off some of their Greek loans, and lots more capitalization is needed. See also Der Spiegel, "German Parliament Slows Euro Rescue Decisions," and Telegraph UK, "David Cameron vows to reclaim EU powers amid looming rebellion."

Who Wants to Be Evaluated by Students?

Well, interestingly, I'll be passing out my own student evaluation forms next week, as part of my post-tenure review cycle. This happens every three years after the fourth year of employment (and the final probationary evaluation, when one is granted tenure). I don't mind them at all. I get decent reviews, and it's my political science colleagues who'll be using them to do a brief write up for their post-tenure committee reports. I imagine the dean and higher ups in the administration might be interested in them, but I doubt they do anything more than accept the recommendations from the department committees. The buzz on campus, however, is the latest union negotiations with the college over "student learning outcomes," which if implemented college-wide, could be used in evaluating faculty. (These SLOs could be combined with student evaluations in way way or another.) Needless to say the union's not falling in line for this. So many factors (outside of the classroom) determine student success that using SLOs in evaluating faculty would be seriously flawed, and worse, prone to really awful abuse if faculty retention decisions are made with them. I mention all of this as background for this piece at Minding the Campus, "Who Wants to Be Evaluated by Students?" Read the whole thing at the link, and here's this from The Barrister, at Maggie's Farm:

The notion that students evaluate profs as if school were American Idol seems perverted to me. School is not infotainment. I can be an entertaining speaker and did some litigation in my distant past, but I would never teach where my career, even in part, depended on student evaluations. When teaching, I like to be a demanding SOB, intolerant of anything short of excellence and keeping people on their toes. In the end, people are thankful for my demanding attitude.

RELATED: One of my favorite articles on this, "Something Wrong in Our Schools? Let's Blame Teachers."

Vanuatu

Robert Stacy McCain tweeted the other day, "Just updated my profile to include 'future U.S. ambassador to Vanuatu'."

I thought that was kinda funny at the time, but even more so now, with this piece on Vanuatu at Sunday's travel section at Los Angeles Times, "Vanuatu islands: Get happy, get a little wild."

The background on that ambassadorship at The Other McCain, "Memo From the National Affairs Desk to the Herman Cain Presidential Campaign."

The Tax Reform Evidence From 1986

From Martin Feldstein, at Wall Street Journal:

Congress's Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is struggling to find $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years. This is a unique opportunity to use tax reform to reduce future budget deficits while lowering individual tax rates.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986, enacted 25 years ago last Friday, showed how a tax reform that includes lower rates can change incentives in a way that grows the tax base and produces extra revenue. The 1986 agreement between President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill reduced the top marginal tax rate to 28% from 50%. A conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat could agree to a dramatic reduction in top rates because the legislation also eliminated a wide variety of tax loopholes.

A traditional "static" analysis that ignores the response of taxpayers to lower tax rates indicated that those combined tax changes would leave total revenue unchanged at each income level. But the actual experience after 1986 showed an enormous rise in the taxes paid, particularly by those who experienced the greatest reductions in marginal tax rates.

RTWT.

Jennifer Lopez Breaks Down on Stage

At People Magazine.

And lots of pics at London's Daily Mail, "Jennifer Lopez runs off stage sobbing after singing about lost love... (but at least she looked sensational in nude skintight catsuit)."

PREVIOUSLY: "Jennifer Lopez Hot New Fiat Ad."

Executive With Schizoaffective Disorder Uses Job to Cope

My wife and I are both like this. It's not schizophrenia, but keeping busy with work helps combat symptoms of severe anxiety. And now psychiatrists are finding large-N support for the tendency.

At New York Times, "An Executive Job as Defense Against Mental Ills."

Mitt Romney Offered Healthcare to Illegal Immigrants

Well, I doubt this will derail his "inevitability," but you never know. The inconsistencies are piling up.

At Los Angeles Times, "Medical help for illegal immigrants could haunt Mitt Romney":

The Massachusetts healthcare law that then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed in 2006 includes a program known as the Health Safety Net, which allows undocumented immigrants to get needed medical care along with others who lack insurance.

Uninsured, poor immigrants can walk into a health clinic or hospital in the state and get publicly subsidized care at virtually no cost to them, regardless of their immigration status.

The program, widely supported in Massachusetts, drew little attention when Romney signed the trailblazing healthcare law. But now it could prove problematic for the Republican presidential hopeful, who has been attacking Texas Gov. Rick Perry for supporting educational aid for children of undocumented immigrants in Texas.

"We have to turn off the magnet of extraordinary government benefits," Romney said at the recent Fox News-Google debate in Florida.

Perry has defended the Texas program, saying it is better to educate young people, even if they are in the country illegally, to help them become productive members of society.

Similarly, supporters of the Massachusetts program note there are ultimately higher costs for denying care to sick patients regardless of their immigration status.

The Massachusetts program, which cost more than $400 million last year, paid for 1.1 million hospital and clinic visits. It's unclear how many undocumented patients benefited because the state does not record that data.

The Romney campaign referred questions to Tim Murphy, who served as Romney's state health and human services secretary. Murphy said the governor never intended the Health Safety Net to serve undocumented immigrants.

Right.

"Never intended." Just like Romney never intended to hire illegal immigrants, like the ones the Boston Globe reported on in 2006: "Illegal immigrants toiled for governor: Guatemalans say firm hired them." And here: "Lawn work at Romney's home still done by illegal immigrants."

Gaddafi Killed by Shot to the Head

Well, you think?

It's not like it took a forensic medical examiner to figure it out.

See CBS News, "Autopsy: Qaddafi was killed by shot to head." (Via Memeorandum and Doug Powers at Michelle's.)

Hillary Clinton Warns Iran on U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. Here's she's seen with Christiane Amanpour, where she announces that "no one should miscalculate our commitment to Iraq, most particularly Iran":

See New York Times, "Clinton Defends Iraq Withdrawal Plan."

Springtime for Islamists in Tunisia?

At LAT, "Tunisia vote could shape religion in public life":

This nation that inspired revolution across the Arab world is facing another bellwether moment that may again foreshadow what happens throughout the Mideast in the intensifying battle between secularists and Islamists over the role of religion in shaping public life.

Tunisians will vote Sunday for a constituent assembly that will set the course for a new government and write the nation's laws. Islamists, suppressed for decades by autocratic rule, are poised to win big, a prospect that has liberals and secularists worried about the future of civil liberties.

The outcome will be the latest evolution in a tumultuous year of Arab rebellion that last week saw Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi killed and his half-naked body laid out in a souk's cold-storage locker, a gruesome show of contempt that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago.

But it has been a year of the unfathomable: Here in Tunisia, the suicide late last year of a desperate fruit seller launched an uprising that in January brought down President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. With quickening speed, revolt spread to Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown weeks later. Today, as the words "Arab Spring" have become the catchy lexicon of rebellion, the entrenched leaders of Yemen and Syria face gathering forces arrayed against them.

The pressing concerns facing Tunisia mirror those of other countries trying to advance beyond the grip of tyrants. Voters here say they do not want the vital issues of joblessness, economic problems and widening youth disenchantment to be eclipsed by an Islamic agenda.

But ambitions of Islamists have been simmering for years in a region where police states arrested their leaders and muffled the voices of fiery clerics. Freedoms brought by the Arab Spring are reigniting debates between Islamists and secularists, but also between ultraconservative and moderate Muslims over how deeply religion should permeate society.

Also at WSJ, "Large Numbers Turn Out for Tunisian Vote" (via Google):

Democracy activists across the region hope that a successful vote here could galvanize pro-democracy movements that have flagged amid violent regime crackdowns, as in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, and by a pushback by old-guard counterrevolutionary forces, as in Egypt.

Among the countries that have overthrown leaders, Tunisia presents the most fertile seedbed for democracy, say analysts: It has a relatively large and educated middle class. Women enjoy a measure of equality unmatched in the Arab world. The country has a tradition of civil rule both before and after January's revolution. With a relatively homogenous population of 10 million, the country also suffers from few ethnic and sectarian rifts.

The question is the degree to which Tunisia's vote will apply to the likes of Egypt, Libya, Yemen or Syria, where uprisings have been bloodier and rife with internal tribal, sectarian or regional tensions. Tunisia may stand as an aspirational example, analysts say—or as a bar set too high.

Dan Neil Reviews the 2012 Honda Civic

This is Neil's "Rumble Seat" column, which used to be exclusively at the Los Angeles Times.

Now (also?) at Wall Street Journal, "Honda's Sporty New Civic, Heavy on the 'Ick'":

And just like that, a giant stumbles. The redesigned 2012 Honda Civic—one of the most successful cars in U.S. auto history, a nameplate burnished with the grateful tears of generations of Americans—is a dud. A sham. A shud. Massive fail, LOL.

Civic's U.S. sales were down 26% in September and 15.6% year-to-date, a cratering rivaled only by the 15.7% decline registered by the Honda Accord. Some part of the losses was caused by supply-chain issues associated with the April earthquake; the greater part, surely, is bad press. The Civic sedan/coupe recently got scratched off the Consumer Reports list of Top Five recommended cars—which for Honda is like getting your name scratched off the frontispiece of the family Bible.

Over at the Honda fan site vtec.net they're in the midst of a high-tech Spanish Inquisition, with John Mendel, American Honda's executive vice president for sales, as guest of honor. It ain't pretty.

I've just spent two weeks enjoying the company of the 2012 Civic Hybrid sedan (see sidebar) and the Si sedan—the sport-tuned version with a 201-hp four-banger, a limited-slip differential, and a six-speed manual gearbox to slap around—and, to damn them with faint praise, they're actually pretty good cars. Still, they do not burn with Honda's once-routine overachievement, and the ire the company faces reflects the high expectations and great trust consumers have placed with the brand. In other words, merely decent feels like a betrayal from Honda.

What's going on with these cars? I have a theory....

Keep reading.

I've had three Honda Civic LX sedans, the second two with GPS navigation systems. They're awesome cars. But Honda does this every couple of iterations. They alienate the car's core fan base, perhaps attempting to appeal to a larger, family demographic, etc.

In any case, I used to read Neil's column every Wednesday at the Los Angeles Times. I thought I read something of his over there a few weeks back, but he might be syndicating his reviews now across different newspapers. He's fun to read, in any case.

Gilad Shalit Release

Gilad Shalit was released last Tuesday. I posted a couple of times on the Israel/Hamas deal, but I didn't have the chance mid-week to comment on Shalit's homecoming. He looks ghastly. That's what five years of being held hostage does to you. Terrorists terrorize. Not enough to eat. No loved ones to care for and have care for you. It burns inside the think of what in God's name drives these people to such barbarism. But he's home, and that in itself is a blessing, even if there may be more just like him.

I'm reminded after checking over at Melanie Phillips' blog, and she links to a couple of her essays: "The infernal choice," and "Journalism? No, cruelty and propaganda."

Occupy London Protests Close Down St. Paul's Cathedral for First Time Since World War II

At Telegraph UK, "St Paul's Cathedral announces closure due to 'Occupy' protesters":

It seemed a gesture of Christian tolerance when a clergyman at St Paul’s Cathedral told police to allow anti-capitalist protesters camped outside to continue their demonstration.

But the alliance appeared to be faltering yesterday as St Paul’s closed for the first time since the Blitz, claiming it had no choice because of the dangers posed by the growing numbers on its doorstep.

Successes Overseas Are Unlikely to Help Obama at Home

Not only will there be little gain politically, but we could be witnessing a weakening strategic situation in the Middle East. Lots of instability across the region combined with a declining U.S. presence. This is a major transformation in international politics, but the concerns are at home, and Obama needs some successes on that front. See NYT:

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s announcement that the last American soldiers will leave Iraq by the end of this year capped a momentous week in which he could also take credit for helping dispatch one of the world’s great villains, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Conventional wisdom holds that none of this will matter to Mr. Obama’s frayed political fortunes, which will be determined by the economy rather than the notches he is piling up on his statesman’s belt.

Yet Mr. Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq — a campaign pledge kept — and the successful NATO air campaign in Libya — with no American casualties, and at a tiny fraction of the cost of Iraq — allowed him to thread a political needle: reaffirming his credentials as a wartime leader while reassuring his Democratic base that he is making good on the promises that got him elected.

This one-two punch may also strengthen the president’s hand against his eventual Republican opponent, according to Mr. Obama’s supporters, by depriving Republicans of a cudgel typically used on Democratic presidents, that they are weak on national security. The swift and fierce criticism of his Iraq decision by the Republican candidates shows how reluctant they are to cede this advantage to him.

“There is an aggregate effect to all the president’s foreign policy successes,” said Bill Burton, a former White House aide who is a senior strategist at Priorities USA Action, a political action committee backing the Obama campaign. “The notion of who is a stronger leader will be deeply influenced by the promises the president kept.”

As the Rich Go, So Goes Much of the Economy

At Wall Street Journal, "The Wild Ride of the Wealthiest 1%."

An amazing report:

During the past three recessions, the top 1% of earners (those making $380,000 or more in 2008) experienced the largest income shocks in percentage terms of any income group in the U.S., according to research from economists Jonathan A. Parker and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen at Northwestern University. When the economy grows, their incomes grow up to three times faster than the rest of the country's. When the economy falls, their incomes fall two or three times as much.

The super-high earners have the biggest crashes. The number of Americans making $1 million or more fell 40% between 2007 and 2009, to 236,883, while their combined incomes fell by nearly 50%—far greater than the less than 2% drop in total incomes of those making $50,000 or less, according to Internal Revenue Service figures.

Walid Phares: The Strategic Situation in the Middle East

An interesting discussion, with Lou Dobbs interviewing Walid Phares. The U.S. could have worked to slow the pace of change in the states of the Arab Spring, especially Egypt. And the U.S. could have countered Iran's influence by negotiating a long-term basing deal deal in Iraq, but we're pulling out now.

The New York Times has some related reports: "Despite Difficult Talks, U.S. and Iraq Had Expected Some American Troops to Stay," and "U.S. Scales Back Diplomacy in Iraq Amid Fiscal and Security Concerns."

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

Glenn Reynolds links to the New York Times, "Ailment Can Steal Youth From the Young."

Glenn updates with some reader correspondence.

'The Ides of March'

Saw it Friday night.

I enjoyed it, although a number of things about the film tell me more about director and star George Clooney than about politics. Clooney's character is Mike Morris, a governor of Pennsylvania running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Morris is portrayed as a matter-of-fact progressive, proclaiming his unabashed secularism. He says his only religion is "the Constitution" and within ten days of taking office he'll pass legislation putting internal combustion engines on a bee line to extinction. It's really eye-rolling stuff. Morris repeats the mantra that he wants to make America great again. The closest model is Bill Clinton in 1992, and not just with echoes of economic nationalism. Morris is not the model of propriety we find out, in a plot twist that's key to the entire show. For me it was the movie's Machiavellian power games that ring true, and I'd recommend it in that sense, and for the crisp cinematography, solid acting, and for bringing things toward the climax relatively quickly. In any case, I'm avoiding plot spoilers here, so let me hand it over to A.O. Scott for some more background: "Estranged Bedfellows." And also, Kenneth Turan, "Movie review: 'The Ides of March'." If you're out to the movies this next week you might give this film a go.

VIDEO: Britney Spears 'Criminal'

It's controversial.

At London's Daily Mail, "True Romance: Britney Spears' casts boyfriend Jason as her lover for steamy sex scene in her music video."

Also, at MTV, "Britney Spears' 'Criminal' Director Talks Gun Controversy," and "Britney Spears Director Leads Us Through 'Criminal' Video."

Gaddafi Wearied of Life on the Run

At New York Times, "In His Last Days, Qaddafi Wearied of Fugitive’s Life.

And at Telegraph UK, "Gaddafi's final hours: Nato and the SAS helped rebels drive hunted leader into endgame in a desert drain."

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "Rebel fighter answered Gaddafi daughter's desperate phone call and told her: Old Fuzzhead is dead."

Misogyny 'Straight Up' – Bill Maher: Michelle Malkin Would Name Her Vibrator 'Obama'

Remember racism straight up?

Well, here's your misogyny "straight up," via Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters (at Memeorandum):

And, of course, I don't see Rachel Maddow, that great champion of the oppressed, putting up any objections. That's misogynist. Where's the progressive outrage?

Michelle's probably kicking with her family, enjoying her weekend. But look for another awesome roundup next week on how "tolerant" are these progressive hacks.

Keep up the fight, Michelle! I'm standing with you!

UPDATE: Linked at The Other McCain, "Is Anyone Slimier Than Bill Maher?"

Occupy Wall Street and the Jews

The key thing about the rash of anti-Semitism we've seen out of Occupy Wall Street is not that it's shocking, but so mainstream. I'm not shocked at all by it. I write about this stuff all the time. One reason progressives work so hard to shut me down and shut down this blog is because I continually and relentless shine a light of moral approbation on their Jew-hatred. Not enough people do this, in my opinion. People must think that anti-Semitism lingers only in the extreme fringes of the aging millenarian right-wing, the last gasp of a few Nazis. But it's not that. As I've noted numerous times, Jew-hatred is the premiere organizing position of today's progressive-left movement. And while some remind us not to worry too much about Israel, say, since it's more vibrant and economically stronger than its regional enemies, I think there's never a good time be complacent about these things, especially since Jew-hatred seems to gain more mainstream acceptance by the day. The events of the last two months in New York and around the country have shown what it's like when the big media outlets and top political officials pooh-pooh the hate. "First they came…"

A particularly perverse version of such enabling can be seen in Michelle Goldberg's, "One Percent," at the Jewish magazine Tablet. Goldberg keeps stressing how Occupy Wall Street is "anarchist," and hence, there's no way to control or ostracize the "minimal" numbers of anti-Semitic members:

Occupy Wall Street lacks tools for enforcing any sort of discipline, or ostracizing troublemakers. When someone at a Tea Party rally holds a particularly offensive sign, as many have, the movement can denounce them. But there is no one at Occupy Wall Street to do the denouncing.

Somehow Goldberg can write this with a straight face, after she writes earlier in the essay that the organizing model at Zuccotti Park has "has fostered, for the most part, a spirit of volunteerism and cooperation." So which is it? Anarchy or cooperation? If there's cooperation among activists, there's not an "inability to enforce some kind of order." All these idiots have to do is get in the face of the Jew-hating freaks and have them GTFO. What's the problem?

Well, the problem is that Goldberg is a typical progressive Jew who sees the main danger to Jewish life emerging on the right. Sure, Goldberg probably really does cringe at the blatant anti-Semitism. I just think she's too stupid to realize she's attached to the wrong side. Not so for MJ Rosenberg, a Media Matters "fellow" and epitome of Jewish neo-communist extremism. See Rosenberg's piece, "Exploiting anti-Semitism to destroy Occupy Wall Street," at the Jewish Journal:

An ugly old tradition is back: exploiting anti-Semitism to break the backs of popular movements that threaten the power of the wealthiest 1 percent of our population. It is being used to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has conservatives in a state of near panic....

Because utilizing anti-Semitism directly would not succeed in this country today, the reactionary defenders of the economic status quo are using the flip side of the coin: the fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. They are accusing Occupy Wall Street of anti-Semitism, relying on the old myth that Wall Street is Jewish and hence that opposition to Wall Street’s agenda is just opposition to Jews.

There's more at the link, and Rosenberg gets hammered at the comments. He's a really bad act, and his ravings are truly the product of the most perverse neo-communist class-warfare tropes. He turns my stomach.

In any case, the video above is the trailer for "Unmasked: Judeophobia and the Threat to Civilization." Phyllis Chesler references it at her entry, "An Open Letter to the ‘Good Liberal’ Who Ignores Occupy Wall Street’s Jew Hatred." And she notes there:

Unmasked ... shows us the Parisian mobs (leftists and Islamists) crying “Death to the Jews” in 2001. We see and hear angry, hate-choked speeches delivered on American campuses which characterize Israel as a “Nazi, Apartheid” state. We see Israeli soldiers confiscating 50 tons of ship-borne weapons in 2010 — weapons which included rockets with the capacity to attack the Israeli Navy and even more sites in civilian Israel. We see what really happened when armed Turkish mercenaries violated international law and attacked Israeli soldiers on the Mavi Marmara. We are reminded that Israel was condemned for exercising its legal right to self-defense, and that Israel brings all goods and supplies into Gaza after first checking for weapons. The “blockade” of Gaza exists to keep weapons out that are being expressly brought in to exterminate Israelis.

When I ran into anti-Semitism in the early 1970s, I at first believed it could be contained, even resolved, if Israel only Did Something Else.

I was wrong. No matter what else or what more Israel did or could do, it would ever have been enough. Israel’s crime is an essential and existential one. It exists. This is unforgivable. It remains a permanent offense to Arabs and Muslims. In 2000, when Arafat launched his Second Intifada, I knew that Wiesel’s bloody beast was back. In 2003, I published a book about it: The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It.

What I first began writing and talking about nearly a decade ago has here been brought to life, expanded, and dramatically enacted in this film.

Read the whole thing.

Chesler indicates that the war against the Jews is a war of the information battlespace. It's a battle of the minds over the social construction of right and wrong in the contemporary age. If big media silence on the #OWS Jew-hatred is any sign, we've got a lot of work to do.

UPDATE: Linked at PACNW Righty, "Occupy Wall Street and the Jews."

Socialism and Occupy Wall Street

Progressive nitwit Matthew Yglesias has this at The New Republic, "How Occupy Wall Street Is a Rational Response to a System That’s Failed" (via Memeorandum).

Yglesias' (idiotic) essay is part of the series, "‘Liberalism and Occupy Wall Street,’ A TNR Symposium." I read Fred Siegel's piece earlier, which is much better, "Occupy Wall Street and the Return of the McGovernites":

The editors of The New Republic are wiser than they know in trying to keep their distance from the Zuccotti Park protesters. In their zeal to recapture the spirit of the 1960s, the Occupy Wall Streeters are replicating the very processes that produced the current crack-up of liberalism. But if the editors arrived at the right conclusion, they came to it by a false path, one which has produced a fundamental misunderstanding of the history of American liberalism.

The core of the TNR editorial lays out what in principle is an honorable and essential difference between liberals and radicals. Unlike radicals, “liberals,” says TNR “are capitalists.” But that underlying premise of the editorial is belied by the historical record.

Herbert Croly, the founder of TNR, understood himself as a radical for whom the use of the then uncommon term “liberal” was merely a euphemism for an American sort of socialism. Croly spoke of his seminal book, The Promise of American Life—the founding document of American liberalism—as “socialistic.” It’s true that it was only in the 1930s that many at TNR openly referred to themselves as socialists. But looking back, in 1931, Edmund Wilson argued strongly for liberals to give up Croly's "gradual and natural approximation to socialism" and to embrace socialism openly.

The period from roughly 1950 to 1970 was the anomaly. It took the concussive effects of the Communist conquest of Eastern Europe in the wake of World War Two to temporarily pull liberalism off its socialist path.

The radicals of the 1960s deployed their justified opposition to the Vietnam War to blind themselves to the consequences and meaning of statism and Stalinism. Their aggressively willed ignorance produced the 1972 McGovern platform which re-wrote the traditional program of the European socialist parties in the American language of rights. Employment, educational quality, and housing were to become matters of right subject to the power of judicially supervised bureaucracies.

Since then the distinction between liberalism and anti-capitalist radicalism has been continuously effaced by the rise of a vast regulatory state staffed, in part, by public sector unionists. Statism in America eschewed a European-style ownership of the means of production. Rather its aim has been, in the name of good and defensible causes such as a cleaner environment, to run as much of the economy as possible through government, directly and indirectly. The upshot is that the American percentage of GDP devoted to government has reached European levels. And by and large liberals approve of this trend. According to a February 2010 Gallup survey, 53 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of liberals have a positive image of socialism. The Gallup findings were backed up by a December 2010 Rasmussen survey which found that 42 percent of Democrats—the people whom former Presidential candidate Howard Dean described as “The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party”—think that the government should manage the economy completely.

More at the link.

One of the things about American socialists (radical progressives) is how vehemently they deny their essential commitment to socialism (radical progressivism). I like how Siegel speaks truth to power: American "liberalism" really is socialism. Some of the major writers of the 20th century had no qualms about applying the proper terminology. But since socialism is deeply unpopular in the United States --- at least those policies explicitly labeled socialist --- the left must adopt evasive language and ideological misnomers. Matthew Yglesias claims he's "liberal" but he's one of the biggest mainstream socialists writing today.

Anway, Siegel doesn't go far enough with his analysis. He lamely piles on the attacks on Wall Street, when we know that the same bureaucratic explosion he elaborates is what brought about the housing crash in the first place. (See, "Wall Street Did It?") Big government socialist statism is killing us. Folks like Matthew Yglesias have their fingers on the triggers, or on the meat cleavers, be that as it may.

The Romney-Cain Ticket

Reliapundit and I were talking about it last week: "COULTER ENDORSES ROMNEY-CAIN."

And now Coulter is putting that pitch into overdrive, on Sean Hannity's, for example. At Lonely Conservative, "Ann Coulter: How About a Romney/Cain Ticket?"

Frankly, I'm still pulling for Michele Bachmann, but time's running out, and money. At Time Magazine, "New Hampshire Staff Exodus Augurs End Times for Bachmann Campaign." Also, from Allah, "Iowa: Cain 37, Romney 27, Paul 12, Gingrich 8."

Folks know I respect Mitt Romney, and I do think a Romney-Cain ticket would be attractive. So, let's see how things play out. The consensus is that Romney's the one. See LAT, "Mitt Romney may win the GOP presidential nomination by default."

Romney's Guilty Republican Syndrome

From Kim Strassel, at WSJ:

As the GOP casts about for a response to Occupy Wall Street, at least one prominent Republican isn't sweating it. In the war over class, Mitt Romney is already waving a white flag. And therein lies one of his chief liabilities as a Republican nominee or president.

The Occupy masses don't have a unified message, though the Democrats embracing them aren't making that mistake. President Obama helpfully explained that the crowds in New York and elsewhere are simply expressing their "frustrations" at unequal American society. The answer to their protests is, conveniently, his own vision for the country. If wealthier Americans and corporations are just asked to pay their "fair share," if "we can go back to that then I think a lot of that anger, that frustration dissipates," said the president.

This is a campaign theme in the making, and one with which Mr. Obama has already had plenty of practice. Congressional Democrats, too, see the value of pivoting off Occupy Wall Street to build an election-year class-warfare argument.

Keep reading.

Romney's been playing some class warfare games of his own, apparently, hoping to nip Democrat attacks in the bud. Not working so well, it turns out:

'I Won't Back Down'

This is really cool. The second album sides request yesterday at The Sound LA was Tom Petty's, Full Moon Fever, Side 1. And guess who makes an appearance at this old MTV-style video clip:

PREVIOUSLY: "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)."

Gaddafi Stole a 'Staggering' $200 Billion in Libyan Assets

At LAT, "As Libya takes stock, Moammar Kadafi's hidden riches astound":

If the values prove accurate, Kadafi will go down in history as one of the most rapacious as well as one of the most bizarre world leaders, on a scale with the late Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire or the late Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

Yeah, and some dude at The Guardian is bawling about how Gaddafi didn't get a "private" death. Like he deserved it, idiot.

Really Amazing Pictures of Ann Althouse at Sunset

Just head over there and check it out, "Autumn Sunset."

I don't think I could take as beautiful of photographs, even if I had that kind of photo gear. Simply wonderful.

Wall Street Did It?

Don't blame big banks for the flailing economy and housing crash, notes IBD:

... based on the number of toxic loans in the system in 2008, the government was responsible for not just a simple majority, but more than two-thirds. It's quantifiable — 71% to be exact (see chart). And the remaining 29% of private-label junk was mostly attributable to Countrywide Financial, which was under the heel of HUD and its "fair-lending" edicts.

Via Memeorandum and Verum Serum.

PHOTO CREDIT: That Mr. G Guy.

The End of the Euro?

I've been keeping tabs on this. I think the end is near, especially as Europe's economy is becoming segmented into the healthy and sick, with Germany the healthiest of all.

See Bruce Thornton, at Defining Ideas (via Instapundit):

The champions of the European Union once touted it as a “bold new experiment in living” and “the best hope in an insecure age.” But these days “fear is coursing through the corridors of Brussels,” as the B.B.C. reported in September. Such fear is justified, for the nations of Europe are struggling with fiscal problems that challenge the integrity of the whole E.U.-topian ideal. Greece teetering on the brink of default on its debts, E.U. nations squabbling about how to deal with the crisis, debt levels approaching 100 percent of GDP even in economic-powerhouse countries like Germany and France, and European banks exposed to depreciating government bonds are some of the signposts on the road to decline.

A monetary union comprising independent states, each with its own peculiar economic and political interests, histories, cultural norms, laws, and fiscal systems, was bound to end up in the current crisis. All that borrowed money, however, was necessary for funding the lavish social welfare entitlements and employment benefits that once impressed champions of the “European Dream.” Yet, despite the greater fiscal integration created by the E.U., sluggish, over-regulated, over-taxed economies could not generate enough money to pay for such amenities. Now, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, admits, “We can’t finance our social model.”

This financial crisis means the government-financed dolce vita lifestyle once brandished as a reproach to work-obsessed America is facing cutbacks and austerity programs immensely unpopular among Europeans otherwise used to amenities like France’s 35-hour work week, or Greece’s two extra months of pay, or England’s generous housing subsidies that cost $34.4 billion a year. No surprise, then, that from Athens’ Syntagma Square to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, austerity measures attempting to scale back government spending have been met with strikes, demonstrations, boycotts, and protests, some violent, on the part of citizens for whom such government entitlements have become human rights. In fact, such transfers of wealth have been formalized as rights in Articles 34 and 35 of the E.U.’s Charter of Fundamental Human Rights.

Continue reading.

RELATED: From Tyler Durden, at Zero Hedge, "It's Baaack: FT Deutschland Pronounces Deutsche Mark's Return, Prices Itself At 4.11 DM." (Also via Instapundit, who hedges on Zero Hedge.)

Gaddafi's Burial Delayed

At Sydney Morning Herald, "Gaddafi on display in freezer as row rages over killing," and Washington Post, "Libyans line up to see Gaddafi’s body on display; groups call for probe into death."

Dr. Karen Ruskin on Ezra Levant's 'The Source'

At BCF, "The repetitive chanting betrays a cult-like lack of self empowerment and displays a sense victimization."

Late Friday Rule 5

What the heck?

I haven't posted any Rule 5 for at least a week.

See Bob Belvedere, "A Little Hump Day Rule 5: Elisabetta Gregoraci."

And at Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Valentina Zelyaeva," and Pirate's Cove, "If All You See…is a Gaia friendly bike and an evil water bottle, you might be a Warmist."

Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Ashley Hartman."

Also, from Soccer Mom, "Julianne Hough - Rule 5."

BONUS: From Theo, "Bedtime Totty..."

Drop your links in the comments if you'd like to be added...

UPDATED: Proof Positive has this: "Friday Night Babe: Natalia Vodianova!"

Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)

It's album sides by request all weekend long, at The Sound LA. Pretty fitting that Abbey Road was up first, and here's "Oh! Darling":

New Footage Shows Muammar Gaddafi Begging for His Life

At Telegraph UK, "Rebels argued over whether to kill Gaddafi as he begged for his life."

Obama's Cut and Run from Iraq

At NYT, "U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq by Year’s End, Obama Says."

And see Max Boot, at Commentary, "The Iraq Withdrawal Is Nothing to Brag About."

And check the roundup at Memeorandum.

Roundup: Death of Muammar Gaddafi

Here's the top story at this morning's New York Times front-page: "Violent End to an Era as Qaddafi Dies in Libya." And video of the final moments is at London's Daily Mail, "Who shot Gaddafi? New video shows blood pouring from dictator immediately before death but mystery surrounds coup de grace."

Check back for updates.

Conservatives Stand Up! — Zilla's Resistance Honor Roll Keeps Getting Bigger!

The freak leftist fascists are unrelenting, but again I'm overwhelmed by the awesome moral support I'm seeing across the blogosphere. So, here's a follow-up to my earlier entry, "Huge Shout Out to Ladd Ehlinger!"

Thanks again to Zilla, by the way. She had oral surgery the other day. But I got a tweet shortly thereafter, and she was doing fine! (And ICYMI, see "Stand Against Evil - Never Let it Win.")

And well, before I forget, at word of thanks to SHOUT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER. The support is much appreciated.

Also at WyBlog, "Free Speech for thee but not for me?":

Donald was the first guy to link WyBlog, way back when I was starting out. And he got me hooked on Twitter too. He's a gentleman and a scholar; really. We don't always agree, but that's OK. Disagreeing without being disagreeable seems to be purely a right-wing / conservative trait. The politics of personal destruction was invented by the Left, and they're masters at it. Silence is Golden, unless it's their own shrill cacaphony which of course must be tolerated by all.

If Free Speech is to mean anything it absolutely must mean that the other guy has the inalienable right to say things you don't like. There is no right to not be offended. Sorry, but that's the truth.

Thanks Chris!

Also, check Bob Belvedere, "Right Wing Bloggers Under Relentless Attack: The Battle Rages On":

Donald, the man behind American Power, has been subject to efforts by these radicals to get him fired from his job as a college professor. He has posted a Roundup on Progressive Campaign of Workplace Intimidation and Harassment that I urge you to read all of, including the links, so that you can get a real understanding of th extent of these attempts to destroy this good man and hurt his family. What the Left is doing to him is but one instance of many that I fear will grow in number as the Progressives become more desperate. By having rejected tradition and morality and, thus, decency, the Left is free to achieve their end [the silencing of all opposition] by any means necessary. There is nothing to restrain them; God-like, they have given themselves license to do as they see fit.

And more, at Marooned in Marin, "Standing With a Fellow Blogger & Friend Against Vicious Attacks By Leftists":

Just as The Lonely Conservative writes here, I have also found it ironic how liberals, Leftists, whatever you want to call them, have always claimed to be such great champions of free speech and free expression. Yet when someone has a different point of view, the Left are always the first ones who try to obscure and censor differing opinions. We saw it during the Prop 8 campaign in California, where lists of people who donated to defend traditional marriage had their workplaces and or businesses distributed in order to punish and silence them.

There is nothing traditionally liberal about that. In fact, it is the totalitarian and fascistic face of the Left that has also existed in nations where Americans spilled their blood to defeat their tyrannical regimes. If you want to disagree with another point of view, fine. But when it comes to threatening one's livelihood, libeling critics, falsely accusing them of crimes, etc--that crosses a line. Not only that, it shows how these Leftists cannot support their own arguments, and must silence their dissenters by any means necessary. Which is the essence of totalitarianism.

It is for this purpose that I stand with my friend and fellow blogger against these attacks.

I'll continue updating.

Meanwhile, thanks to Blazing Cat Fur for linking some time back.

And Adrienne's Corner.

And Doug Ross.

And Invincible Armor.

And Right Wing News.

And That Mr. Guy.

And The Pagan Temple has a really interesting take on things, "Donald Douglas — Struck By The Poison Of Progressive Ideology."

BONUS: Maggie Thornton e-mailed a while back and I've been meaning to post her comments. I'll get to that over the next few days, and anyone else I might have missed.

Thanks again, everybody!

Outrage Over Exotic-Game Animals Hunted Down in Ohio

Strange story. And look for activists pushing for even more regulations.

At WaPo, "Dangerous exotic animals turned loose, hunted down in Ohio." And at NYT, "Police Kill Dozens of Animals Freed on Ohio Reserve."

Kristin Cavallari Bikini Pics!

She looks great.

See Celebslam, "Kristin Cavallari is in love again."

Hyatt's Houston Sugar Land Hotel Cancels Tea Party Event on Islam

From Pamela Geller, "The Quisling Cowards at the Hyatt Place Sugar Land Caved to Intimidation," and "Across the Pond the Hyatt's Craven Quisling Cancellation Makes News."

And following Pamela's links takes us to London's Daily Mail, "Hotel cancels Tea Party event after learning that anti-Islam activist was due to be a speaker."

Cain's Stimulating '9-9-9' Tax Reform

Arthur Laffer's down with it, at Wall Street Journal:

It used to be that the sole purpose of the tax code was to raise the necessary funds to run government. But in today's world the tax mandate has many more facets. These include income redistribution, encouraging favored industries, and discouraging unfavorable behavior.

To make matters worse there are millions and millions of taxpayers who are highly motivated to reduce their tax liabilities. And, as those taxpayers finagle and connive to find ways around the tax code, government responds by propagating new rules, new interpretations of the code, and new taxes in a never-ending chase. In the process, we create ever-more arcane tax codes that do a poor job of achieving any of their mandates.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's now famous "9-9-9" plan is his explicit proposal to right the wrongs of our federal tax code. He proposes a 9% flat-rate personal income tax with no deductions except for donations to charity; a 9% flat-rate tax on net business profits; and a new 9% national tax on retail sales.

Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan was designed to be what economists call "static revenue neutral," which means that if people didn't change what they do under his plan, total tax revenues would be the same as they are under our current tax code. I believe his plan would indeed be static revenue neutral, and with the boost it would give to economic growth it would bring in even more revenue than expected.

Continue reading.

Dirty DUIs

A bizarre story, at LAT, "Coming Clean on 'Dirty DUIs' in Contra Costa County."

Romney Strikes Back After Lousy Performance at CNN Debate in Las Vegas — UPDATE: Ad Pulled!

More background on the CNN debate at Riehl World View, "Don't Stick A Fork In Perry, He Isn't Done, Yet."

Mitt Romney obviously agrees.

At Politico, "Team Mitt Romney video tries to remind on Rick Perry."

UPDATE: The ad was pulled. See Hot Air, "Brutal new Romney ad: Rick Perry’s a moron; Update: Romney pulls ad?"

And here's a copy of it:

Bank of America's Death Rattle

I bailed out of Bank of America a couple of years ago, after my wife and I consolidated some of our accounts. But the service was getting just awful.

And here's this at Protein Wisdom, "'Not With a Bang, But a Whimper: Bank of America's Death Rattle'."

And follow the links over there.

Large Majority Backs 'Occupy Wall Street' in Latest National Journal Poll

It's interesting.

See, "Occupy D.C.? Most Back Protests, Surtax":

At a time when protests have erupted across the country over a growing inequality of wealth and Congress is considering measures to impose a surtax on those earning more than $1 million annually, the public seems to be in a populist mood—one that’s tempered by skepticism about Washington’s ability to do anything about the grim economy.

A new survey shows that Americans overwhelmingly support the self-styled Occupy Wall Street protests that not only have disrupted life in Lower Manhattan but also in Washington and cities and towns across the U.S. and in other nations. Some 59 percent of adults either completely agree or mostly agree with the protesters, while 31 percent mostly disagree or completely disagree; 10 percent of those surveyed didn’t know or refused to answer.

What’s more, many people are paying attention to the rallies. Almost two-thirds of respondents—65 percent—said they’ve heard “a lot” or “some” about the rallies, while 35 percent have said they’ve heard or seen “not too much” or “nothing at all” about the demonstrations.

The results appear in the latest edition of the United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll.

More at the link.

It's not going to end well for the administration. Recall Ronald Brownstein's essay from earlier, "Obama's Disapproval Ratings Hardening Among Voters."

Obama Flush With Cash from Financial Sector

At WaPo, "Obama has more cash from financial sector than GOP hopefuls combined, data show":

Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data.

Obama’s key advantage is his ability to collect bigger checks from fewer donors, because he raises money for both his own campaign committee and for the Democratic National Committee, which will aid in his reelection effort. As a result, Obama has brought in more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and other financial service companies than all the other GOP candidates combined, according to a Washington Post analysis of contribution data.

Right.

And the administration's "sympathetic" to the protesters?

See: "Obama campaign announces it will protest Obama administration."

Patricia McAllister Fired by LAUSD: Anti-Semitic Teacher Caught on Tape at 'Occupy L.A.' Protest

McAllister, in a local TV interview, discusses her termination at the video. She's holding a sign that reads, "Congress Should Print the Money, NOT the Zionist Jews":

McAllister was fired by LAUSD after her anti-Semitic statements went viral over the weekend on YouTube. Reason's Tim Cavanaugh, who interviewed her, has responded with his own commentary --- and it's not very compelling, frankly, considering Reason's reputation as the premiere libertarian magazine: "Reason Guilty of Anti-ANTI-Semitism: Sub Teacher Fired." Go read it all. Cavanaugh attempts to split the difference between being a parent and being a journalist, and he fails badly.

And more failure from the editors at Los Angeles Times, who applaud the district's decision: "Free speech — Within Limits." It's a horrible editorial. The woman's entitled to her opinions, no matter how sick, and the Times offers the slipperiest of slopes to defend her termination:

As a teacher, McAllister works with a captive audience of vulnerable children. Her comments certainly raise questions about her ability to treat them all equally and fairly. What's more, even if she's been the soul of discretion on the job, as well as kind and evenhanded with all her students, by making herself a public symbol of intolerance, McAllister no longer can serve effectively as a teacher.

For one thing, Jewish students likely would feel intimidated in her classes, no matter how nicely she treated them; their parents and many others might storm the principals' offices demanding her removal. Other students and parents might rally to her cause, or, alternately, they too might feel threatened by her bigoted positions. She would be a disruptive element on campus, and her future effectiveness as a teacher would almost certainly be compromised. (After she was fired, McAllister expanded on her views in an interview with Fox TV: "The word Jew is similar to communism today … Jews have been run out of 109 countries through history and we need to run them out of this one.")

As execrable as her comments were, it might be a different matter if McAllister were, say, a Department of Motor Vehicles clerk. There, she would be dealing with adults who could hold their own, and would have little direct authority over them. It also might be different if she had expressed a controversial opinion that was not an inflammatory attack on a particular ethnic or religious group.

We're reluctant to restrict anyone's ability to express even the most loathsome views openly and publicly. But when a teacher trumpets hateful opinions that could intimidate the impressionable young people she's supposed to be serving, that's not just free speech — it's a performance issue. In speaking out so intemperately, McAllister's ability to do her job was fatally compromised.

I find McAllister's comments reprehensible. But as one who's been the subject of a three-year campaign attempting to get me fired, I have serious issues with concern trolling bullshit like this. Watch the video above. Toward the end the news clip, the district's statement flashes on screen:

As Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), I want to emphasize that we condemn the remarks made recently by Patricia McAllister.

Her comments, made during non-work time at a recent protest rally, were her private opinions and were not made in the context of District services. At LAUSD, we recognize that the law is very protective of the freedom of speech rights of public employees when they are speaking as private citizens during non-working time.

I further emphasize to our students, who watch us and look to us for guidance, to be role models and to represent the ideals by which LAUSD lives, that we will never stand for behavior that is disrespectful, intolerant or discriminatory.

As a day-to-day substitute teacher, Ms. McAllister was an at-will employee. As of today, she is no longer an employee of the LAUSD.

Notice that? The district states a principle, yet abandons it because the teacher is untenured. Thus, being tenured creates rights that are denied to individuals not similarly situated. Ugly or not, the woman was stating her opinion, a political opinion, at a political rally while acting in private capacity. The district's decision reaches into the realm of personal space. And it should not. This is tyranny. They fired her because they could, not because it was right. And there's so much more going on there: McAllister taught small children, so perhaps parents would have been upset, as the Times suggests. Fine. Let the parents pull their kids out of class. Or better yet, let them pull their students out of the school altogether. McAllister's comments are not an aberration. That kind of progressive anti-Semitism is inherent to radical left-wing ideology. And people just like McAllister are like grotesque malignancies growing all through public education in the United States. LAUSD burned off a cancerous growth but they didn't cure the disease. The solution to offensive speech is more speech. Let more McAllisters bloom and Americans will soon be taking a closer look at the public schools, and they won't like what they see. Note how McAllister is not misspeaking when she spouts her hatred. It would have come out on the job, sooner or later. And if the kids in her charge are young and vulnerable, transfer her into the higher grades. If students are offended they'll know without having to be force-fed outrage. They can complain fair and square and the school would have been on solid ground in terminating her for racist, discriminatory speech in the classroom, prohibited by statutory regulation.

And here's this from Gary, at the comments at Libertarian Republican:

Big Brother keeps marching.

Your employer will not allow freedom of speech on your own time and away from your place of employment.

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

You got it.

Chinese Toddler Dies Brain-Dead After Hit-and-Run Accident

It's hard to even call it a hit-and-run. How about kill-a-kid and who gives a damn?

Background at China Daily, "Hospital offers little hope for girl's survival."

The child was pronounced "brain dead."

And now the hand-wringing.

See USA Today, "Toddler's hit-and-run case prompts Chinese soul-searching," and Washington Post, "An injured toddler is ignored, and Chinese ask why."

Perry, Romney Spar in CNN Debate

Ed Morrissey has a great report, "Who won the Vegas fight?", and also at Michelle's, "Fight Club: GOP candidates brawl on CNN":

Romney and Perry — both flip-flopping squishes on immigration enforcement — tried to out-tough each other on the issue.

Perry resurrected Romney’s illegal alien problem from 2007. (See here for background.) Romney counter-attacked by calling out Perry’s opposition to E-verify.

Bottom line. They are both, in Perry’s words, “conservatives of convenience” on the issue. What is it with the GOP andimmigration cross-dressers? Ugh.

RELATED: At LAT, "Perry accuses Romney of 'shape-shifting,' promises 'unbridled truth'."

VIDEO HAT TIP: Althouse.

The Occupy Movement's Anti-Semitism

Kathy Shaidle on the Michael Coren Show, via Blazing Cat Fur:

Occupy Philly

Tania Gail posts some photos at Flickr:

Videos from Occupy Philly at Tania's Twitter feed, here and here.

It could probably go without saying, but these idiots really test my patience. All the coverage here at the blog today, and you get the picture. And Obama's backing these mofos? Again, I can't wait for November 2012. Talk about restore sanity. The nation'll need to take a month-long shower before even attempting a presidential transition.

Occupy Denver

A phenomenal report: "Neo-Cannibals, Deadbeats, Dopers and Democrats Occupy Denver."

The best shot is the immigrant cab driver who says, "I’m working, and I’m studying. What do they mean, there’s no jobs?"

Well, they don't really want to work, or they'd be working.

'There is overwhelming evidence that the University of Wisconsin in engaging in racial and ethnic discrimination, and it should stop'

Says Roger Clegg from the Center for Equal Opportunity, speaking yesterday at the University of Wisconsin. State Assemblyman Mark Pocan, a Democrat, attacked Clegg pretty agressively, according to Althouse:

Whether the University complies with the standard laid down in the Supreme Court case law is, of course, crucial, but the state legislature has the power to impose a stricter standard on the University (if it thinks that's a good idea). In addition, it's possible that the CEO plans to use this case to get affirmative action back into the Supreme Court with the hope of changing the legal doctrine.

RTWT for the context.

Iraq War Draws to a Close

At National Journal, "Iraq War Ends with Whimper, Not Bang":

The Iraq War began with Pentagon officials boasting about an initial offensive that would “shock and awe” the enemy, then-President George W. Bush flying a military plane to an aircraft carrier for a high-profile address to thousands of cheering troops, and round-the-clock coverage on the nation’s TV networks. Eight and a half grueling years later, the deeply unpopular conflict is set to end with a whimper, not a bang.

Washington and Baghdad’s failure to agree on a troop-extension deal means that virtually all of the 43,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq will stream out of the country over the next six weeks, bringing a quiet end to a conflict that began with so much bombast.

More at that top link.

Scorsese's George Harrison Documentary Was on Again Last Night...

Hey, HBO's been showing it pretty regularly if you've missed it: "'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'."

And Wikipedia has the background on this video:

"In 2004, George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' was played in tribute by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Ferrone and Dhani Harrison, along with fellow inductee Prince."

'Occupy Wall Street' Almost Entirely Socialist/Marxist

AoSHQ with a blinding realization.

And following the links takes us to Charles Gasparino, at New York Post, "New York’s Marxist Epicenter":

The standard portrayal of the Wall Street protesters goes something like this: Ragtag group of unemployed young adults, venting often incoherent but overall legitimate populist outrage about economic inequality. But go down to the movement’s headquarters, as I did this past weekend, and you see something far different.

It’s not just that knowledge of their “oppressors” -- the evil bankers -- is pretty thin, or that many of them are clearly college kids with nothing better to do than embrace the radical chic of “a cause.” I found a unifying and increasingly coherent ideology emerging among the protesters, which at its core has less to do with the evils of the banking business and more about the evils of capitalism -- and the need for a socialist revolution.

But, of course, these aren't REAL communists, or anything. Nothing to see here. Move along.

BONUS IMAGINARY COMMUNISTS!! From Kevin Williamson, "‘Follow the Red Flag!’" And, yawn, more here: "Communist Marching with #OccupyChicago Identified as OFA Organizer for President Obama."

Rick Santorum Slams 'SNL' Debate Parody as 'Bullying'

Well, GOP candidates are gonna get this stuff from the "tolerant" progressive-entertainment types. And I'll bet SNL's writers couldn't wait to smear Santorum as some closeted-gay conservative hypocrite cruising the Castro.

At The Hill, "Santorum calls SNL sketch 'bullying'."

I gotta admit, though. Bachmann taking down Newt was pretty good.

'Don't Hold Us Back'

At LA Weekly, "Los Angeles Charities and Minority Groups Tell United Teachers Los Angeles and LAUSD: 'Don't Hold Us Back'" (via Instapundit).

Ten years ago, most of these people would have been extremely reluctant to call out UTLA.

That would have been seen as anti-union.

But with Los Angeles kids circling the drain (and remember the frightening fact that LAUSD educates one in every eight or nine kids in all of California) and with the union fighting most attempts at change, those days seem over.

At my college, my head hurts sometimes when the union pushes positions that harm students, but you can't get a word in edgewise. After a while, you don't even try. Hopefully the "Don't Hold Us Back" coalition will have an impact.

Herman Cain's Campaign Song Also Aims to Be Tea Party Anthem

At New York Times, "Song Adopted by Cain’s Campaign Also Aims to Be a Tea Party Anthem."

Huge Shout Out to Ladd Ehlinger!

Zilla put the call out for conservatives to stand against evil, and a number of folks have answered the call, joining Zilla's honor roll of moral right.

I've been off the grid, so I'm just now reading all the responses. Ladd Ehlinger responded at his blog with an entry, and I read that first and was moved to write without delay. See "When Flame Wars Spill Offline: Conservative Media Should Stand Up." And my comments there:

Ladd, we've engaged enough times by Twitter that I certainly consider you a friend. The battle is of one big piece. The collectivists go by many names, with the Democrat Party being the most familiar. From there you can go on down to real Marxist-Leninists, the folks so closely tied to the party in power today. Values-wise, they're all the same. Perhaps there are degrees, but it's the obliteration of the individual vis-a-vis the state that's the result. I'm going do a roundup of all the support I've received. I can't begin to thank you all enough. I've been on a high all day and I haven't come down yet. That strength from conservative solidarity is unconquerable, and I hope we sustain it!

The progressives mock and ridicule the notion of secular collectivism, but when I argue that the left's attacks on truth and honesty are "satanic," that's the referential understanding. Marxism is a secular religion. It is a belief system which seeks a totalizing dominion over truth and over those who claim a truth based on universal right. According to Leonidas Donskis, in Forms of Hatred: The Troubled Imagination in Modern Philosophy and Literature:

A world religion, a secular belief system, and a rival civilization, Marxism came into existence as a false secularization of consciousness. Marxism has always rested on a sort of secular demonology, splitting humanity into warring groups and demonizing what it took as agents of exploitation and social evil.

As a kind of secular Church, Marxism succeeded, in a historically unprecedented way, in satisfying the ideological, political, and psychological needs of marginalized and alienated intellectuals scattered around the world. It became the first secular Umma of intellectuals. Moreover, it provided its adherents, those secularly religious radicals and doctrinaires, with a sense of pride --- after all, Marxism made intellectuals a major force in history and a presence in all societies, Marxist and non-Marxist alike --- and also with a spiritual fatherland. Marxism designed the revolutionary-ascetic moral culture, which has always been at odds with all other modern systems of moralization, especially with the liberal and nationalist moral cultures.

Linkmaster Smith, at The Other McCain, responds to developments with a version of this, "They Truly Hate Liberty." But more formally is Lisa Graas, "Is American Power Blog Under Attack From Satan?" Both warn that conservatives, in fighting evil, must stay true to God. Conservatives must live good and decently, for then they will have even more strength to carry them forward. Here is my response to Lisa Graas:

Thanks Lisa. Your advice is welcomed. I live by Him in my actions. None of us are perfect, but I never waver from the truth in my dealings with people, I never bear false witness. I can thus claim a moral position that my opponents repeatedly have made frightening haste to abandon. At my blog I linked the series of workplace attacks I've endured, with a record there of the libelous allegations made against me. Even were these normal political and ideological differences, one must beware the forces of evil lurking about in all the lies. This is what I believe. And in that I believe in God, in that He would have me stand for truth and against the lies. And more, in that all politics for me is moral, I do good by Him if I push ahead for a political vision of goodness and right. Sometimes, I'm told, I might use more care to stay on the side of right. So, I'm working on it. I succumb to emotion at times. But in faith I find strength, for no one should be subject to these campaigns of destruction. Those endlessly and remorselessly working against me are secular demons who live not by His holiness, but by the opposite that attempts to pull the Christian warriors asunder.

Thanks again.

I will be updating and adding new posts --- with links to others blogging on this--- in appreciation for all the support. Please head over to Zilla's if you haven't already. She'll add your link to the honor roll.

Baby Thinks Paper Magazines Function Like iPad

Amazing video, undoubtable (via Laughing Squid):

California Public Schools to Teach Homosexual Curriculum to Children as Young as Kindergartners

This was in the news when the legislature authorized teaching homosexual studies some time back.

And now at LAT, "California schools scrambling to add lessons on LGBT Americans."

If this were being introduced when kids are in, say, 5th or 6th grade, I personally wouldn't have an issue with it for my own kids. But as it is, kindergarten or 1st grade, and so on? God, that's almost obscene in its assumptions. It's understandable why parents would object. I recently asked my 10-year-old if he knew what homosexuality was. He didn't have a clue, so I explained it to him. He didn't seem to care that much about it, but the point is I'd prefer it was my wife and I talking about these things with him, especially in the moral context. I would not teach my child that all family structures are equal, for example. My position is that the traditional household with one father and one mother is the most healthy and prosperous for children. Schools will teach kids that all alternative family arrangements are equally valid, and that's a radical curriculum.

In any case, from the article:

At Wonderland Avenue Elementary School in Laurel Canyon, there are lesson plans on diverse families — including those with two mommies or daddies — books on homosexual authors in the library and a principal who is openly gay.

But even at this school, teachers and administrators are flummoxed about how to carry out a new law requiring California public schools to teach all students — from kindergartners to 12th graders — about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans in history classes.

"At this point, I wouldn't even know where to begin," Principal Don Wilson said.

Educators across the state don't have much time to figure it out. In January, they're expected to begin teaching about LGBT Americans under California's landmark law, the first of its kind in the nation.

The law has sparked confusion about what, exactly, is supposed to be taught. Will fourth-graders learn that some of the Gold Rush miners were gay and helped build San Francisco? Will students be taught about the "two-spirited people" tradition among some Native Americans, as one gay historian mused?

"I'm not sure how we plug it into the curriculum at the grade school level, if at all," said Paul Boneberg, executive director at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.

School districts will have little help in navigating this sensitive and controversial change, which has already prompted some parents to pull their children out of public schools.

Well, yeah. I don't have kids that young, kindergarten or 1st grade, but my youngest would still be introduced to these topics as a 4th grader. I don't think he's ready. He barely knows that much about sexuality at all. We talk about it when he has questions. He's more worried about Beyblades.

The Professional Left and 'Occupy Wall Street'

From last Monday, at Weekly Standard, "The Professional Left Embraces Occupy Wall Street."

And now from Dan Riehl, at Big Government, "Democrats Have Serious Connections with #OccupyWallSt":

With more revelations likely to come, initial emails released by Big Government demonstrate that not only do Democrats all the way up to the White House support the ongoing Occupy movement, they have formally partnered with it in terms of fundraising and support.

RTWT.

And from Dana Loesch, at Big Journalism, "Journolist 2.0: OccupyDC Emails Show MSM, Dylan Ratigan, Working With Protesters to Craft Message."

RELATED: At Maggie's Farm, "Potemkin Protests."