Airstrike Over Pakistan Inflames Regional Tensions

At Washington Post, "Dozens of Pakistani troops die in NATO attack," and New York Times, "NATO Strikes Kill Pakistani Forces, Raising Tensions."

And at Fox News, "Pakistan Tells U.S. to 'Vacate' Air Base as Border Strike Inflames Tensions."

Norway School Segregates Students by Race and Ethnicity, Sparking Outrage Over 'Apartheid'

Oops!

A little problem with that multicultural diversity thing, eh?

At London's Daily Mail, "Apartheid row at Oslo school as teachers segregate ethnic students so white children don't feel 'in a minority'." And Telegraph UK, "Apartheid row at Norwegian school after it segregates ethnic pupils":

Bjerke Upper Secondary School in Oslo filled one of the three general studies sets solely with pupils with immigrant parents, after many white Norwegians from last year's intake changed schools.

The controversy over the decision has highlighted the unease in Norway over how to integrate the 420,000 "non-Nordic" citizens who immigrated between 1990 and 2009, and who make up 28 per cent of Oslo's population.

"This is the first time I've heard about this, and it is totally unacceptable," Torge Ødegaard, Oslo education commissioner, said on Friday, before pressuring the school to inform parents that the three classes would now be reorganised. The letter to parents read: "Such a division of the students is not in accordance with the requirements of the Education Act. The school regrets this error."

But Robert Wright, a Christian Democrat politician and former head of the city's schools board, struck back, arguing that the authorities had been wrong to block the move. He also said that other Oslo schools should start to segregate classes to prevent a situation of "white flight" developing.

"I think we have to try this to see how it's functioning," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Bjerke School has come up with a radical solution to a real problem, but the politicians have just said 'no'."

Islamists Claim Victory in Morocco

And what's all this about a "moderate" Islamist party?

Morocco's Party for Justice and Development is a Muslim Brotherhood front-group.

But you wouldn't know it at New York Times, "Moderate Islamist Party Winning Morocco Election":

RABAT, Morocco — A moderate Islamist party appeared Saturday to have won the first election under Morocco’s new Constitution, according to partial election returns announced by the government.

The Justice and Development Party won a plurality of the vote, requiring the king to choose a prime minister from the party and giving it the right to lead a coalition government.

The new Constitution, drafted by King Mohammed VI in response to pro-democracy protests last spring, still reserves important powers for the king, including over military and religious matters, and remains a far cry from the constitutional monarchy demanded by the protesters. But the government will be Morocco’s first popularly elected one, with the power to appoint ministers and dissolve Parliament.

The vote on Friday also made Morocco the second North African country after the Arab Spring to choose a moderate Islamist government. Tunisians gave a plurality to a similarly inclined party last month.

Right. What a scam.

See Pamela, "'MODERATE' MOROCCO GOES ISLAMIC: ELECTION WIN FOR SHARIA PARTY."

Only Days Away: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011

Did you forget?

Well, here's a refresher: "Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra Retrospective."

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel pares down the glitz for topless photoshoot."

Hot Penélope Cruz Steps Out at 29th Torino Film Festival in Italy

I haven't blogged Ms. Penélope in a while.

At London's Daily Mail, "Bellissimo! Penelope Cruz shows off her stunning curves in a ladylike black dress and reveals new shorter hairdo."

South Carolina Man Arrested After Facebook Threat to Governor Nikki Haley

At Pamela's "OBAMA ENDORSED #OWS OCCUPY ACTIVIST THREATENS TO MURDER REPUBLICAN NIKKI HALEY."

Murder threats by #OWS-ers and the media does not report the story. Instead they will make up, out of whole cloth, Jared Loughner's motives or point to my colleagues and me when jihadists do what they have been commanded to do. Pure fiction. But pure fact repels the media elites and cultural rapists like the silver cross to Dracula.

Again and again the media aids and abets the criminal, subversive anti-American destroyers - so vested are they in the take down of this great nation. The daily reports of violence, sexual attacks, disease in the #OWS movement are rampant and still they promote this pox on humanity.

Exactly.

Which explains why this pox on humanity is endorsed by hate-blogging criminal stalker Walter James Caspser III.

Also a video at Right Scoop, "OWS loon arrested for death threat against Gov. Haley." And KLTV, "Man arrested for Facebook comment threatening Gov. Haley's life."

Islamists Expected to Win Big in Monday's Egypt Elections

At Los Angeles Times, "Political Islam at a crossroads in Egypt":

The call to prayer quiets in the minaret as Mohammad Abbas, a street protester turned candidate for parliament, steps out of a decrepit elevator and hurries to his office. He's still learning the art of politics but he can spin a sound bite better than most of his elders. Ask away:

Facebook activists?

"They sit in air-conditioned rooms but don't touch real Egyptians."

Young Islamists?

"Not yet strong enough to influence change."

The Muslim Brotherhood?

His eyes narrow, the banter hushes.

Abbas joined the Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest Islamic movement, when he was in college. But the group that brought the 27-year-old closer to God and honed his social conscience booted Abbas out in July when he made clear that his ambitions for a new Egypt were much different from those of his mentors.

The Brotherhood's moderate Freedom and Justice Party and its more conservative Islamic allies are likely to win big in parliamentary elections Monday; no other organizations are as disciplined or as connected to the masses. But the Brotherhood's unity, which buttressed it for decades against bans and repression by Hosni Mubarak's police state, is splintering as both young and established voices break away.

With about 6,000 candidates running for 498 seats, the elections are a crucial test for the Arab world's most populous nation. The outcome, along with a presidential election scheduled for next year, will reveal whether Egypt emerges as a democratic inspiration in a region clamoring for change or slips back into a military-dominated autocracy where only the faces and illicit bank accounts have changed.

Continue reading.

Added: At Legal Insurrection, "Egyptian Imam The NY Times called “moderate” holds “kill all the Jews” mass rally."

British Press Inquiry Turns the Tables on Tabloids

At New York Times, "Inquiry Into Press Tactics Turns the Tables on Tabloids."

LONDON — It is a story made to order for the sensation-hungry tabloid newspapers that have millions of avid readers in Britain: a roll call of A-list celebrities and crime victims pouring out — day by day, live on the Internet — the personal miseries they say they have endured in seeking to protect the everyday normality of their private lives.

But this time, for the tabloids, it is a story with a bitter twist. For what is happening in a courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice has amounted to a turning of the tables, through the medium of a government-appointed inquiry into the “culture, ethics and practices” of British newspapers, that has turned into a legal soap opera in which the villains have emerged as the tabloids themselves.

The high court judge leading the inquiry, Sir Brian Leveson, has called the sessions that began this week, relayed live on the inquiry’s Web site, a “right of reply” for victims of tabloid excesses. He has refused requests by the newspapers’ lawyers for the right to cross-examine the witnesses, and issued a formal warning to the mass-circulation papers not to strike back against those testifying with new articles that invade their privacy or damage their reputations.

One of those taking advantage of the platform was Sienna Miller, 29, a New York-born actress who lives much of the year in London and found herself a target of intense tabloid scrutiny when she was dating the actor Jude Law. One of the inquiry’s most arresting moments came on Thursday when she described her experiences with London’s “relentless” paparazzi, and described being spat at, verbally abused and subjected to dangerous car chases while trying to elude them.

“I felt like I was living in some sort of video game,” Ms. Miller said. “For a number of years, I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily.”

“I would often find myself — I was 21 — at midnight running down a dark street, alone, with 10 big men chasing me, and the fact that they had cameras in their hands meant that was legal,” she added. “But if you take away the cameras, what have you got? You’ve got a pack of men chasing a woman, and obviously that’s very intimidating.”

Reports: 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' Causing Seizures Among Moviegoers

At New York Times, "Did You Need Us to Tell You That ‘Twilight’ Could Cause Seizures?":

Setting foot into a screening of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” the latest installment in the hit film series about the romance between a mortal girl and a sparkly vampire boy, may induced an unexpected kind of overstimulation: a few viewers say they have experienced epileptic seizures that, The Guardian reports, could be a result of rapidly changing colors in the film’s climactic childbirth scene.

Brandon Gephart of Roseville, Calif., who attended a showing of “Breaking Dawn” with his girlfriend, Kelly Bauman, was taken to a hospital following the scene in which the newlywed Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) delivers the daughter of her vampire husband, Edward (Robert Pattinson), as red, white and black strobes flash on the screen. “He was convulsing, snorting, trying to breathe,” Ms. Bauman told the Sacramento affiliate of CBS News.

Dr. Michael G. Chez, a pediatric neurologist, said the incident might have been a result of a genetic predisposition to photosensitive epilepsy. “It’s like a light switch going off, because it hits your brain all at once,” he told CBS. “The trouble with theaters, it’s dark, the lights flashing in there is more like a strobe light.”

Occupy Los Angeles to Be Evicted From City Hall Park

The drug-addled anarcho-commie losers --- they're done.

At New York Times, "Occupy L.A. to Be Evicted on Monday" (Via Memeorandum.) Also at Los Angeles Times, "Villaraigosa, Beck start countdown to Occupy L.A. closure."

Why Newsweek's Circling the Drain

I mentioned a couple of weeks back how I rarely read Newsweek these days, and here's another example of why.

See, "My Life as a White Supremacist."

No one can forget how Timothy McVeigh set off a bomb in front of a federal building in Oklahoma City in April 19, 1995, killing 168 people including 19 children under the age of 6. FBI efforts to avert another outrage have taken on increased importance in recent years, as fears of Islamic terrorism, a sour economy, expanded federal powers under the Patriot Act, and the nation’s first black president have swelled the ranks of extremist groups. Since President Obama’s election, the number of right-wing extremist groups—a term that covers a broad array of dissidents ranging from white supremacists to antigovernment militias—has mushroomed from 149 to 824, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Alabama-based civil-rights group.

“What we’re seeing today is a resurgence,” says Daryl Johnson, the former senior domestic terrorism analyst for the Department of Homeland Security. In 2009, the department issued a report warning that “right-wing extremism is likely to grow in strength.” And because today’s extremists, unlike their predecessors, have at their disposal online information—bomb-making instructions and terrorist tactics—as well as social-networking tools, the report said, “the consequences of their violence [could be] more severe.”

The report, which was quickly withdrawn after an outcry from conservatives, seemed prescient months later when an 88-year-old gunman opened fire on visitors at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Last year, nine members of the Hutaree, a Christian militia, were arrested in a plot to kill police officers in Michigan. In January, Jared Lee Loughner, an Army reject, was charged with going on a shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., killing a federal judge, among others, and severely wounding Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Earlier this month, the FBI arrested four men of pensionable age in Georgia for allegedly plotting to attack federal buildings and release biological toxins on government employees.

See what I'm saying?

James von Brunn, the suspect in the Holocaust Memorial shooting, was ordered to undergo psychiatric testing while in custody. He hated Jews and neocons. See, Kathy Shaidle, "Holocaust Museum shooter von Brunn a 9/11 'truther' who hated 'neo-cons', Bush, McCain." And the case against the Hutaree Militia unraveled as soon as prosecutors filed charges. And of course, the completely debunked notion that Tuscon killer Jared Loughner was "right wing" long ago devolved into urban legend territory. Even Diane Sawyer resurrected the meme in her recent interview with Representative Giffords.

Pretty bad, eh?

See Reason as well, "Newsweek Cannot Help But Follow Media Tradition of Panic Over Right Wing Extremists."

Deranged Stalker Walter James Casper III Fires Up the Criminal Hate-Blogging for the Holidays

Walter James Casper III, a.k.a Comrade Racist Repsac3, Commissar of State Security, People's Commissariat for Internet Affairs, decided this weekend to fire up his criminal fascist attack-machine over at the progressive hate-hole American Nihilist. I'm not linking. Folks can Google it. Check Racist Walter James Casper's Thanksgiving posts. What is especially demented are the pathetic, lewd and sexually-charged attacks on my wife. These people would rape my wife! This is what Walter James Casper's all about. The criminal adult sick fuck loser proves once again why a large number of my readers choose to contact me by email rather than publish their real names at the comments. Still, some readers refuse to be intimidated. My friend Rusty Walker, for example, sent this note a week or so back:

Just a quick note of praise to you: I know many on here share with me, a personal thanks for your continued great posts in Americanpower; your vigilance against the far-Left university professors that sow misguided and misrepresented seeds of dissent in the vulnerable minds of our youth. As a conservative professor you are unique in California, essential. You are an important element in sanity vs. Utopianism, capitalism against socialism; and a reminder of the importance of democratic and family values; and every now and again we must thank you for what at times is a thankless job. Like you always say, "It's tough out here!"

And for the record, deranged stalker Walter James Casper III put on the snake charm in Zilla's comments. "Stand Against Evil - Never Let it Win." I've spoken to Zilla about it and she's not fooled. She knows James Casper is all about evil and the Devil's program is built on stealth, lies and deceit. Those are words that describe the unbridled hatred of ultra-ASFL Walter James Casper III. See: "Justina Jensen and Walter James Casper III," and "Continuing Lies by Cowardly Hate-Blogger W. James Casper in Left's Demonic Workplace Intimidation Campaign."

Defeat in Iraq

From Caroline Glick, "Calling things by their proper names" (via Blazing Cat Fur):

Since Obama came into office, he has followed the Left's ideological guidelines of ending the fight against and seeking to appease America's worst enemies. This is why he has supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. This is why he turned a blind eye to the Islamists who dominated the opposition to Gaddafi. This is why he has sought to appease Iran and Syria. This is why he supports the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Syrian opposition. This is why he supports Turkey's Islamist government. And this is why he is hostile to Israel.

Both RTWT.

Glick saves some harsh criticism for President George W. Bush, who she says caved to the left's morally bankrupt terror appeasement program.

Shoppers Scour Stores for Black Friday Bargains

At Chicago Tribune, "Shoppers hit the deck running on Thanksgiving night."

And check this monstrous post at London's Daily Mail, "Black Friday madness: Grandfather body-slammed by cops, man tasered, two shot, Wal-Mart in bomb scare and woman pepper-sprays rival shoppers on day of chaos."

London's Daily Mail: Climategate Scientists Collude with Government to Hide Research Debunking Global Warming Hysteria

Awesome.

See: "Climategate scientists DID collude with government officials to hide research that didn't fit their apocalyptic global warming."

The emails paint a clear picture of scientists selectively using data, and colluding with politicians to misuse scientific information.

No kidding?

And more at Pirate's Cove, "ClimateGate 2.0 – Protecting The Cause And Hiding The Information."

Black Friday Novices

More on Black Friday.

At New York Times, "For Black Friday First-Timers, Not a Night of Conversion."

And my first-hand report from yesterday: "Wal-Mart Black Friday."

British Shopkeeper Fights Off Knife-Wielding Attacker With Broom

At Mirror UK, "Hero shopkeeper fights off knife robber with broom." And at London's Daily Mail, "Shocking moment robber takes shop assistant hostage with a knife to her throat... before brave boss fights him off with a BROOM."

Black Friday Sales Pay Off for Retailers

At Los Angeles Times, "Early Black Friday sales appear to pay off for retailers."

An early kickoff to the holiday shopping season appeared to pay off for retailers, who bet correctly that extended late-night hours would draw even more bargain hunters to the annual Black Friday extravaganza.

The shopping frenzy, although marred by a pepper spray incident at a San Fernando Valley Wal-Mart, bodes well for increased consumer spending as the year draws to a close. It would be the latest in a series of modest improvements to an economy still trying to shake free from the lingering effects of the devastating recession of 2007-09.

"People have had so many years of recession that they want to spend money and feel good about themselves," said Ron Friedman, a retail expert at advisory and accounting firm Marcum in Los Angeles. "And many people have set money aside and are paying off their credit cards more, so people can spend a little bit more than last year."

This is a make-or-break season for retailers, and they pulled out the stops. Wal-Mart rolled out some of its sale items to shoppers at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Other major chains including Target, Best Buy, Macy's and Kohl's all opened at midnight for the first time.

RELATED: From Reuters, "Midnight Black Friday start likely to become norm."

Wal-Mart Black Friday

At Los Angeles Times, "Wal-Mart's unhappy holiday tradition: Black Friday violence." A customer was shot during an attempted parking lot robbery at Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calfornia. In Kissimmee, Florida, a man was arrested after a scuffle at the Wal-Mart jewelry counter. And in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a couple was attacked as they were were leaving a Wal-Mart around 1am. And, in a separate Los Angeles Times report, "In Porter Ranch, a woman pepper sprayed customers at a Wal-Mart in what authorities say was a deliberate attempt to get more 'door buster' merchandise."

I knew we'd be hearing stories like this. My wife and I took a trip with our boys over to the Wal-Mart at Foothill Ranch. I was going to pick up a Compaq laptop for $199.00, or an HP for $248.00, but they were sold out by the time we got in the store, at about 12:40am. My wife picked up some toys for my youngest and we were out of there by 2:00am. There were probably 1,000 people lined up out front. It was a pretty orderly affair. No surges. No violence. No drama. Just early morning Black Friday shopping. It's a phenomenon nowadays, a weird one:

Community of Holocaust Survivors Dwindles in Queens

At New York Times, "A Community of Survivors Dwindles":

ONE thing about life in New York: wherever you are, the neighborhood is always changing. An Italian enclave becomes Senegalese; a historically African-American corridor becomes a magnet for white professionals. The accents and rhythms shift; the aromas become spicy or vegetal. The transition is sometimes smooth, sometimes bumpy. But there is a sense of loss among the people left behind, wondering what happened to the neighborhood they once thought of as their own.

For Sophia Goldberg, change has meant the end of a way of life.

On a recent morning Ms. Goldberg sat in her tidy seventh-floor living room, surrounded by needlepoint portraits stitched by her own hands, and sighed over the changes immediately around her.

Ms. Goldberg, 98, lives in a 19-story apartment house in Flushing, Queens, one of two neighboring buildings that were erected for survivors of the Holocaust. When she moved there in 1978, she said, her neighbors formed a tight community of predominantly Jewish refugees like her who had fled to the United States from Austria or Germany.

“We had parties,” Ms. Goldberg said, her voice barely above a whisper. “We had card games. It was our people. We had Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in our apartment.”

Now, she said, “It’s completely changed — I have no neighbors here.”

For Ms. Goldberg, the transformation has been steady and overwhelming. Of the 326 residents in her building, now only 31 are Holocaust survivors, and only 7 of them are German or Austrian.

The new neighbors are friendly enough. But she said: “We do not talk. We say hello, goodbye. But that’s it. They don’t speak German. They don’t speak English. They speak Russian and Chinese. Sometimes they just shake their heads.”

Continue Reading.

The article links to Selfhelp Community Services, established in 1936 to help German émigrés flee Nazi persecution and settle in the United States. That generation is getting very old. No wonder Ms. Goldberg hasn't many friends around these days.

Black Friday Sales Show Divide Between Shoppers

At New York Times, "Opening Day for Shoppers Shows Divide":

As the busiest retail weekend of the year begins late Thursday night, the differences between how affluent and more ordinary Americans shop in the uncertain economy will be on unusually vivid display.

Budget-minded shoppers will be racing for bargains at ever-earlier hours while the rich mostly will not be bothering to leave home.

Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Best Buy and Target will start their Black Friday sales earlier than ever — at 9 and 10 p.m. in some instances — with dirt-cheap offers intended to secure their customers’ limited dollars. A half a day later, on Friday morning, higher-end stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom will open with only a sprinkling of special sales.

The low-end and midrange retailers are risking low margins as they cut prices to attract shoppers, while executives at luxury stores say that they are actually able to sell more at full price than in recent boom years.

“We’re now into a less promotional environment than we were before the recession,“ said Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and chief executive of Saks. In the third quarter, for instance, Saks reduced the length of an annual sale to three days from four, and excluded the high-margin category of cosmetics from another regular sale.

Retail analysts are expecting a decent holiday season, with many estimating that sales will increase about 3 percent over last year, with contributions from shoppers across income levels. Yet the Friday after Thanksgiving, the kickoff to the highest-revenue weeks for stores, is expected to lay bare the increasingly parallel universes of retailing in America, the analysts said.

“Those in a more modest income situation are the people who are going to the Wal-Marts and the Best Buys and the Targets at 8, 9, 10, 11 p.m. with little kids in tow because they can’t afford a baby sitter,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultant firm. “It’s a very unpleasant shopping experience, frankly, for a lot of people.”

Right. Kids are unpleasant. Can't afford a babysitter. Give me a break.

Now back to the real world.

This parallel universe is mostly bullshit. Whatever divide we have in the holiday shopping experience isn't just now emerging. I worked valet parking at South Coast Plaza back in the 1980s. And I'll tell you, that's some high-powered shopping over there. Not too many discount stores. Wealthy people were everywhere. Folks with less didn't shop there. I didn't much shop there, except maybe at Broadway or some of the bookstores open back then. The rest was designer boutiques and high-end department stores, like Saks, cited at the Times piece. Perhaps such journalism provides sympathy for the oppressed 99 percent. But smart readers can see through the crap. They enjoy the time with their families over the holidays and they get back to work the week after Black Friday.

After Assad

From James H. Anderson, at World Affairs, "After the Fall: What’s Next for Assad":

In a spectacular case of bad timing and even worse judgment, Vogue magazine published a glam profile of President Bashar al-Assad’s wife last March, just around the time her husband’s regime started brutalizing unarmed regime protestors. Deeming Asma al-Assad “the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies,” the puff piece glossed over the dictatorial essence of the Assad dynasty and missed altogether the fact that it was about to experience the heavy weather of the Arab Spring.

Assad has cast himself as the only thing standing between order and a sectarian bloodbath, denouncing the unarmed protestors as “saboteurs” and “terrorists” while unleashing snipers, tanks, artillery, and even naval gunfire against unarmed civilians, killing, according to the UN’s very conservative estimates, more than three thousand and imprisoning ten thousand more since March 2011.

The apple does not fall far from the dictatorial tree. In February 1982, Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad, killed an estimated twenty thousand civilians in putting down a rebellion in Hama (now, understandably, a hot spot in today’s insurgency). The massacre gave rise to the phrase “Hama Rules,” which became shorthand for extreme brutality. But Assad the younger faces a much broader and more determined opposition than his father ever did, and the trajectory of his slow-motion downfall is becoming increasingly clear. So much so that the question in Syria today is not only how to get rid of the tyrant, but what the nation will look like when he’s gone.

Also, at Telegraph UK, "The UN intensifies pressure on Syria as Turkey compares Bashar al-Assad to Hitler."

'Push'

Well, since I'm on the music, here's Rob Thomas and friends. Thomas' solo outfit played at Harrah's Rincon earlier this year. Looking for an encore in 2012 and I'll check 'em out:

'Round Here'

Amazing how time flies. I saw these dudes in Santa Barbara in the 1990s, when they hit the big time:

Avoiding Europe's Downward Spiral

Via Chicks on the Right:

Is Stephen Walt Responsible for Inspiring Terror Suspect Jose Pimentel?

He's not, but he should be held to the same standards by which he attacks his ideological enemies.

See Omri Ceren, at Commentary:

ABC News disclosed last night that arrested New York City terror suspect Jose Pimentel “spent much of his time on the Internet… and maintained a radical website called TrueIslam1.” TrueIslam1 has a number of sections, most of them handed over to Islam and jihad. There are two only sections that deal straightforwardly with politics: one labeled “Politics” and one labeled “The U.S.A.”

Both sections have different articles and both of course still contain plenty of Islamic theology – ergo the concept of political Islam – but they have one thing in common. They both have links to free downloads of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s book The Israel Lobby. Other than those links there doesn’t appear to be any overlapping content between the two sections. Apparently, Pimentel thought Walt and Mearsheimer’s feverish opus was something that needed to be read and distributed...

Continue reading.

And here's this at Atlas Shrugs:

Walt’s paranoid worldview and its concomitant conspiratorial images are the stuff of ancient anti-Jewish bigotry. They seem to resonate deeply with online and offline jihadists, who give them priority of place next to tracts calling for genocidal warfare. And unlike Geller and Spencer, Walt has an entire media industry helping him make anti-Semitism respectable. On that last point, see Lee Smith’s Tablet Magazine expose from last year.

U.S. Troops Celebrate Last Thanksgiving in Iraq

At Fox News:

American troops marked their last Thanksgiving in Iraq Thursday with turkey, stuffing and a rocket fire alarm.

Fewer than 20,000 American troops remain in Iraq at eight bases across the country. All of the forces must be out of Iraq by the end of this year, and American soldiers have been busily packing up their equipment and heading south.

Many of the bases no longer have civilian contractors making meals for them, so the troops have been eating prepackaged meals.

These folks deserve our everlasting thanks.

Also: "Video: Thanksgiving Feast: Last Real Meal in Iraq."

Occupy Movements Nationwide Celebrate Holiday

A break from the mayhem.

At USA Today:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Most Americans spent Thanksgiving snug inside homes with families and football. Others used the holiday to give thanks alongside strangers at outdoor Occupy encampments, serving turkey or donating their time in solidarity with the anti-Wall Street movement that has gripped a nation consumed by economic despair.

In San Francisco, hundreds of campers at Justin Herman Plaza in the heart of the financial district prepared turkey dinners that were handed out by volunteers, church charities and supporters of the movement against social and economic inequality.
Across the bay in Oakland, where protesters and police previously clashed when an Occupy encampment was broken up, occupiers enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast outside City Hall with music and activist speakers, including Clyde Bellecourt, co-founder of the Minnesota-based American Indian Movement.

And in New York, Occupy organizers distributed Thanksgiving meals at Zuccotti Park, where the protest movement began on Sept. 17 before spreading nationwide. Protesters were evicted from the park on Nov. 15.

"So many people have given up so much to come and be a part of the movement because there is really that much dire need for community," said Megan Hayes, a chef and organizer with the Occupy Wall Street Kitchen in New York. "We decided to take this holiday opportunity to provide just that — community."

Oh, please.

These people need to take a bath and start pounding the pavement for jobs.

Losers.

Ndamukong Suh Ejected as Lions Lose to Packers

Thanksgiving football.

At New York Times, "Lions Lose Their Cool and Game Against Packers."

Egyptian Generals Apologize for Bloodshed but Reject Calls to Leave Power

At New York Times, "Egypt Military and Protesters Dig In for a Long Standoff."

Also, at Business Week, "Egyptian Army Says Holding Power Is a 'Curse' It Can't Escape."

GOP Voters Skeptical of Mitt Romney

At Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney still faces a trust deficit with GOP voters."

As other Republican candidates have stumbled their way toward the presidential primaries, Mitt Romney has put together what would seem to be all the elements of a winning campaign: an effective staff, a robust treasury and smooth, knowledgeable performances both in debates and on the trail.

But for months, the threshold of support for the former Massachusetts governor hasn't inched above a quarter of Republican voters in national polls. For many GOP voters in early primary states, hesitation about Romney comes back to one thing: their perception that he has routinely molded his views to suit the political mood, with ambition his overriding principle.

"He's not a person we could trust to lead our country," said Angela Cesar, a 41-year-old Republican from Ypsilanti, Mich., who said Romney had changed his position on too many issues. "He's going to be listening to voices outside. I want someone who can hear his own voice — a clear voice."

Steve Holroyd, a 54-year-old chef from Rye, N.H., was initially attracted to Romney's candidacy, but now describes him as evasive: "The more I listen to him, the more he just kind of flip-flops and doesn't know where he stands on anything."

Romney's advisors say the argument that their candidate is a political contortionist will not resonate because voters are concerned about the economy — and little else. But in his failed 2008 bid, when the issue was raised — as now — by opponents, it hit its mark not because of the issues involved but because of what Romney's flip-flops suggested about his character.

The campaign demonstrated sensitivity to the problem in this race: Romney has strongly defended the health insurance mandate that he instituted in Massachusetts, even though it is reviled by GOP voters, rather than reverse himself on it. Romney's aides have also leveled charges of flip-flopping at GOP rival Rick Perry and at President Obama, who Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said has "a new slogan and a new mission every day."

Asked about the criticism during a recent Michigan debate, Romney said: "I think people understand that I'm a man of steadiness and constancy."

Steadiness and constancy.

Right.

Video: Via Right Klik.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Serves Thanksgiving Meal to Troops at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson

At Boston Globe, "Giffords serves Thanksgiving meal at Ariz. base."

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

This wasn't as bountiful a spread as we usually lay out. My wife had to be at work at 2:00pm. She's an assistant store manager at a major national arts and crafts retailer. I'd mention the name, but it's not worth having my wife's life threatened by the likes of Walter James Casper III and his demonic progressive totalitarians.

She cooked turkey breast with mashed potatoes and gravy, green-bean casserole, stuffing and hot rolls. And there's cranberry on the side, of course. It was lovely.

And don't miss the Thanksgiving blogging at Maggie's Farm, "Why is American Thanksgiving about food?", and "Very Fitting For Thanksgiving."

Obama Neglects to Thank God in Thanksgiving Address

At Los Angeles Times, "Obama criticized on Twitter for Thanksgiving remarks omitting God." And see Todd Starnes, at Fox News, "Obama Leaves God Out of Thanksgiving Address."

Progressive Heads Explode Over Islamic Butterball Turkeys!

I saw this on Twitter earlier, from the Israel-hating pro-terror progressive blog Mondoweiss, "Pamela Geller’s Islamophobia hits new low with Thanksgiving Day smear of dietary laws."

Right. "Islamophobia." It's not Islamophobia when they're really trying to kill you. Come to think of it, it's not like authorities are overreacting, or anything.

And Pamela has a huge roundup on the exploding progressive hatred, "CLEAN UP, MEAT AISLE: TALKING HEADS EXPLODING OVER HALAL BUTTERBALLS."

Great News! Molotov Occupy Protester Released from Jail, Returns to Zuccotti Park

At New York Daily News, "Molotov madman who said on YouTube he would bomb Macy's is out of jail and back at Zuccotti Park: Nkrumah Tinsley is bailed out by Occupy Wall Street movement and has rejoined protest."

And check Pamela's, "WEAPONS CACHE FOUND DURING CLEANUP OF OBAMA-ENDORSED #OCCUPY WALL STREET."

The Target Lady is Back!

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

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

End the Black Friday Madness!

Well, you can always shop at Amazon.

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

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

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

'Occupy' Urges Black Friday Blackout

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

Dirtbags.

Medical Marijuana Target of U.S. Prosecutors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Rise and Demise of the Zuccotti Park Commune

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

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

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

Yemen's Saleh Agrees to Transfer Power

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daniel Ellsberg Joins Occupy!

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

Expel the UC Davis Occupiers

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

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

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

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

Image Credit: Serr8d's Cutting Edge.

Joseph Stiglitz on the Top 1 Percent

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

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

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

A New Communist Manifesto

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

At The Utopian, "Towards a New Manifesto":

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's a book too, at Amazon.

Far-Left Congresswoman Jane Schakowsky: Occupy is Unstoppable

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

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

'Nights in White Satin'

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

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

Michele Bachmann Endures Increasing Sexist Attacks on Campaign Trail

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Newt Gingrich Courts Conservative Backlash on Immigration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pepper Spray Saturates National Debate

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading.

Robert Reich: Occupy Democracy

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

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

The Right-Wing Assault on the 99 Percent?

Man these people are truly desperate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Newt Goes All 'Dede Scozzafava' on Immigration!

Remember Dede?

Michelle has the refresher: "An ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend Radical in GOP Clothing."

Old Newt's getting a little too comfortable up there in the frontrunner's spot, it turns out. He's already angling for the independent vote and we're still weeks away from the Iowa caucuses. Can you say "RINO"? See The Hill, "Immigration exchange during GOP debate nudges Gingrich toward the center":

Newt Gingrich ended up to the left of his GOP rivals on immigration during a CNN debate on Tuesday, defending his position that the United States shouldn't deport every illegal immigrant while the other presidential hopefuls accused him of supporting magnets that attract illegal immigration.

"I don't see any reason to punish someone who came here at 3 years of age and wants to serve the United States of America," Gingrich said, adding that those whose parents brought them to the country illegally but want to serve in the U.S. military should be included in a program that lets foreigners earn citizenship through military service.

Gingrich said he found it hard to believe that Americans would support deporting millions of people and that visas should be made available for those with math and science skills.

But he also made it clear that flexibility would apply only to those who had been contributing positively to the nation for years, not to those continuing to flout U.S. immigration laws.

"I do believe if you've come here recently and you have no ties to the U.S., we should deport you," he said.

Basically, come here illegally, don't get caught and live in the shadows for a decade or two, and you're good to go!

Yay Newt! We knew you still had the old RINO spirit!

Also at Politico (and Memeorandum).

Hamas Gains Momentum in Palestinian Rivalry

Wonderful news!

At New York Times, "New Winds in Mideast Favor Hamas":

GAZA — For years, the imposing black gate that sealed the border between Egypt and Gaza symbolized the pain and isolation that decades of conflict have wrought on this tiny coastal strip, especially under Hamas in recent years.

But recently, the gate has come to represent a new turn for the increasingly confident Hamas leadership. The twin arches of the border crossing have swung open twice in recent weeks for V.I.P. arrivals, first to receive hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as one captive Israeli soldier moved in the other direction, and a second time for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to visit Gaza for the first time in decades.

Both instances lifted the fortunes of the Islamists at a critical time ahead of negotiations scheduled to be held in Cairo this week with their main rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, who leads the Fatah party.

Hamas’s leader, Khalid Meshal, arrives at those talks with a sense of regional winds at his back. Dictators have fallen, replaced by protest movements and governments that include the Islamist movements those dictators suppressed. Hamas has lost no opportunity to highlight this development as it basks in the growing regional importance of its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and most powerful Islamist movement in the world.

“This is a hot Arab winter that has not until now ripened into spring,” a Hamas official, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, proclaimed in Gaza last month as he claimed the Arab revolutions for Islamic revivalism. The campaigns to oust corrupted leaders have reached a “critical stage,” he said, before concluding, “With God’s help, next year we will see the flowering of Islam.”

That should read, "With God's help, next year we'll see the flowering of terrorism."

But continue reading.

New Trove of Stolen E-Mails From Climate Scientists Is Released

At New York Times:

The anonymous hacker who shook the world of climate science two years ago by posting a trove of stolen e-mails delivered a new batch on Tuesday, stirring up climate-change contrarians a little more than a week before global negotiations on greenhouse gases are to begin in Durban, South Africa.

The new e-mails appeared remarkably similar to the ones released two years ago just ahead of a similar conference in Copenhagen. They involved the same scientists and many of the same issues, and some of them carried a similar tone: catty remarks by the scientists, often about papers written by others in the field.

Climate scientists said the release was likely intended to torpedo any potential progress in the Durban negotiations, though not much progress had been expected anyway given that countries have been reluctant to commit to binding emissions limits.

The University of East Anglia, the British institution at the middle of the previous hacking episode, confirmed that at least some of the newly released e-mails were authentic. The cache released in 2009 appeared to have come from a file someone obtained by hacking into the university’s computers, a crime for which no charges have been filed or suspects named. The new batch of more than 5,000 e-mails is evidently a fresh selection from the same set of records.

Continue reading.

I honestly don't pay heed to the global warming scaremongers these days, not that I ever much did in any case. The science is not settled, and it's just not even what academics call "normal science" anymore. That is, the scientific community long ago abandoned the rigorous methods of inquiry and morphed into a quasi-religious cult ready to burn heretics at the stake. Go back and read this post from October: "Dr. Martin Hertzberg Letter at the Vail Daily Skewering the Gore-Hansen-IPCC Climate Change Clique." And then check the instant classic from 2009, Steven Hayward's, "Scientists Behaving Badly," at the Weekly Standard.

And then back to the current controversy, check Watt's Up With That?, "Climategate 2.0 emails – They’re real and they’re spectacular!" And James Delingpole, "Uh oh, global warming loons: here comes Climategate II!" (At Memeorandum.)

Now, That's What I'm Talking About! — Occupy Protesters Heckle Obama in New Hampshire

At London's Daily Mail, "'Banksters are destroying America!': Obama heckled as Occupy protesters drown out President in New Hampshire."

Also at Memeorandum.

Place the Super Committee Blame Where it Belongs: On the Democrats

Look, idiot progressives are in denial, but the fact is Democrats have pushed for higher taxes all year and the GOP hasn't budged. Here's GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, at Wall Street Journal, "Why the Super Committee Failed:

Even if Republicans agreed to every tax increase desired by the president, our national debt would continue to grow uncontrollably. Controlling spending is therefore a crucial challenge. The other is economic growth and job creation, which would produce the necessary revenue to fund our priorities.

In the midst of persistent 9% unemployment, the committee could have enacted fundamental tax reform to simplify the tax code, help create jobs, and bring in over time the higher revenues that come with economic growth. Republicans put such a plan on the table—and even agreed to $250 billion in new revenue by eliminating or limiting most of the deductions, credits, loopholes and tax expenditures mainly enjoyed by higher-income Americans. We offered this to avoid the even larger tax increases already written into current law that will intensify the pain Americans are feeling during these difficult economic times.

Republicans were willing to agree to additional tax revenue, but only in the context of fundamental pro-growth tax reform that would broaden the base, lower rates, and maintain current levels of progressivity. This is the approach to tax reform used by recent bipartisan deficit reduction efforts such as the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission and the Rivlin-Domenici plan.

The Democrats said no. They were unwilling to agree to anything less than $1 trillion in tax hikes—and unwilling to offer any structural reforms to put our health-care entitlements on a permanently sustainable basis.

Unfortunately, the committee's challenge was made more difficult by President Obama. Since the committee was formed, he has demanded more stimulus spending and issued a veto threat against any proposed committee solution to the spending problem that was not coupled with a massive tax increase.

RTWT.

Jennifer Rubin places blame directly on the president: "The consequences of presidential weakness" (via Memeorandum).

Additional thoughts at Left Coast Rebel.

Mila Kunis is GQ's Knockout of the Year

A full-size pic at London's Daily Mail, "Sexy Mila Kunis scores a one-two punch as she's dubbed Knockout of the Year by GQ." And of course, at Gentlemen's Quarterly, "Mila Kunis: GQ Men of the Year 2011: The Knockout."

PREVIOUSLY: "Smokin' Mila Kunis Attends Marine Corps Ball."

Thanksgiving Day Gets the Jump On Black Friday

At Los Angeles Times, "Black Thursday is replacing Black Friday as more stores open on Thanksgiving":

Black Thursday is becoming the new Black Friday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, will for the first time launch its holiday sale kickoff at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, joining Toys R Us Inc., Kmart and other chains that have already thrown their doors open while holiday turkeys are still warm.

Other big retailers — including Target Corp., Best Buy Co., Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. — have decided for the first time to open at midnight.

Chain stores have been advancing their opening times for several years, but analysts say it has reached a tipping point this season, with Thursday night poised to upend Friday morning as the official holiday kickoff.

"It's no longer Black Friday, it's going to be Black Thanksgiving from here on out," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "Retailers recognize the importance of being convenient, and one of those conveniences is opening earlier so people don't have to wait in line at 4 in the morning in the cold."

The trend in part reflects the tougher environment for brick-and-mortar retailers, who face increased competition from Internet sales that run on a 24-7 basis.

The late-night shopping hours also appeal to coveted younger customers, many of whom prefer to do a midnight shopping run Thanksgiving Day instead of having to leave their warm beds before dawn the day after.

"Young adults are the ones who really come out in force on Thanksgiving Day," said Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. "They may have three hours free after dinner, and they want to get some shopping done and be home by midnight."

The earlier hours are a big help to Jacob Nieto, a 35-year-old stylist who scours the circulars on Thanksgiving to plan his shopping strategy. The Koreatown resident, who saved more than $1,000 last year on Black Friday, said waking up before dawn to shop is "just torture."

PREVIOUSLY: "Shoppers Angry as Black Friday Sales Push Into Thanksgiving."

Russian News Anchor Tatiana Limanova Gives President Obama the Finger On Air

At BCF, "Russian Newschick Gives Obama the Finger On Air":

Also at Honolulu Civil Beat, "Russian News Anchor Gives President Obama the Finger Over APEC."

UPDATE: At Blue Collar Philosophy, "Russian Woman Who Flipped Off Obama During Broadcast Has Been Fired."

Rihanna's Videos Present Challenges

At LAT, "Pespective: Rihanna's videos present challenging issues":

The runaway success of the melancholic retro-rave "We Found Love" certifies Rihanna as one of the most successful pop singers of all time, according to Billboard magazine. It's her 20th Top 20 hit, amassed faster than any other solo artist in chart history. But it's the video that really dazzles. On Oct. 20, film director Dennis Dortch ("A Good Day to be Black & Sexy") tweeted the clip along with the comments, "Wow. I believe this to be flyest music video ever by a major (black) recording artist." He later added, "I wish someone would cast her in an indie film."

Directed by Melina Matsoukas, who also directed videos for Rihanna's "S&M," "Hard," "Rude Boy" and "Rock Star 101" and whose résumé includes videos for Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, the "Love" clip centers on a modern-day, melanin-infused Sid and Nancy, played by Rihanna and boxer-turned-model Dudley O'Shaughnessy. We see the drug-addled couple at a skate park, outdoor rave, fish-and-chips spot, rampaging through a convenience store, and passed out on sidewalks. While filming the video in Ireland, Rihanna tweeted, "This is probably one of the deepest videos I've ever done. Its all about love and love being like a drug."

BONUS: "Album review: Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk'."

Obama Rushes to Blame GOP for Super Committee Failure

Via Gateway Pundit:

Gilboa Assault Rifle

Via Double Tapper: