Quinnipiac's Swing State Ohio Poll is Huge Outlier

You know, when I first saw this Quinnipiac survey my thought was, "Shoot, perhaps Baracky might be able to eek out a victory in November after all." And I'm not talking aboutt the poll's findings on Florida and Pennsylvania, which are basically head-to-head, especially Florida. But Quinnipiac has Obama up 9 points in the Buckeye State, and that sounds a bit much.

Anyway, I checked around. Daily Kos pollster Public Policy Polling is out today with new poll showing Obama up by just 3 points in Ohio: "Obama lead in Ohio down to 3":

Barack Obama continues to lead Mitt Romney in Ohio, 47-44.  But that's Obama's weakest showing in the state in PPP's polling since last October. He had led by 50-43 and 49-42 spreads in our two previous 2012 polls.

The big decline for Obama over the last couple months has been with white voters. He and Romney were basically tied with them earlier this year, but now Romney has opened up a 49-42 advantage with them. It's actually white Democrats with whom Obama's seen the biggest decline recently. In early May he had an 89-6 lead with them, but that's now declined to 78-16.

Obama's approval rating in Ohio has dipped to 44/51, a net 7 point drop from the polls earlier this year when voters split evenly on him at 48/48. That Obama has a small advantage in the state anyway is a testament to Romney's weakness as a candidate. Only 35% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 54% with a negative one. With Obama's approval numbers where they are he would almost definitely be trailing if the GOP had a top notch candidate against him- but it really just doesn't.

The key will be how O's lead holds up with Ohio's independents. I'd code this state a toss up.

See RCP's aggregation of polls for Ohio's general election as well: "Ohio: Romney vs. Obama." Especially important there is Rasmussen's findings: "Election 2012: Ohio President: Romney 46%, Obama 44%." Note that Rasmussen's findings are a month old, and it's likely we'd see Obama's numbers deteriorating even further in Ohio for Rasmussen, whose findings tend to favor Republicans.

More at Memeorandum. At this point, for all my bluster about how Obama's gonna get crushed in November, the fact is you have go around the country assess the swing state races to see who it's shaping up. I'll be doing more of that as we go forward.

Ed Morrissey offers a similar take: "Dueling polls: Obama lead narrowing or expanding in Ohio?" (Via Memeorandum.)

Laura Ingraham Hosts the O'Reilly Factor — Obama Administration's Response to Immigration Law Ruling

An outstanding Talking Points Memo from last night, at Fox News.

See: "Laura Ingraham: Obama administration's response to the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona's immigration law."

Members of Law-School Class of 2011 Had Little Better Than 50-50 Shot of Landing a Job

But if you graduated from one of the top 14 law schools you were sitting pretty.

See the Wall Street Journal, "Law Grads Face Brutal Job Market":

Members of the law-school class of 2011 had little better than a 50-50 shot of landing a job as a lawyer within nine months of receiving a degree, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of new data that provides the most detailed picture yet of the grim market for law jobs.

Under pressure from disillusioned graduates and some professors, the American Bar Association for the first time released a tally of the previous year's graduates who have secured full-time, permanent jobs as lawyers. Until recently, the ABA required law schools to report only general data about how their graduates fared, such as how many were employed full-time or part-time in any kind of job, whether or not it required a law degree.

The numbers suggest the job market for law grads is worse than previously thought. Nationwide, only 55% of the class of 2011 had full-time, long-term jobs that required a law degree nine months after graduation. The ABA defines "long-term" jobs as those that don't have a term of less than one year.

Of course, it isn't uncommon for people to attend law school to advance their career without practicing law. Several law-school deans cautioned against placing too much emphasis on jobs requiring a law degree.

Nationally, 8% of 2011 graduates were said to be in full-time, long-term jobs for which a law degree was preferred but not required, according to the Journal's data analysis. Another 4% were employed in full-time, long-term positions for which professional training was required but for which a law degree offered no advantage....

debate about the value of a law degree. More than 40,000 students enter the law-job market annually. In the past year, law-school graduates have filed more than a dozen lawsuits around the country alleging that some schools misled students with job-placement statistics.

The 2011 data reinforce the notion in the industry that students from the top 14 U.S. law schools have little trouble finding work. The top-ranked schools sent graduates into long-term legal jobs in high numbers, but 87 lower-tier schools had placement rates of 50% or less.

More at the link.

RELATED: Glenn Reynolds keeps linking to this Brian Tamahana piece at the New York Times, so here you go: "How to Make Law School Affordable."

Sometimes I wish I'd gone to law school, mostly for the intellectual enrichment. But more often I think about it now since political science has become so sucky. See Timothy Burke, "Should You Go to Graduate School," and more recently, PM at Duck of Minerva, "Should I get a Ph.D.?"

College Football Scraps BCS System, Will Move to Playoffs in 2014

The information's still kinda sketchy.

See Chris DuFresne at the Los Angeles Times, "Bye-bye BCS: College football will have a four-team playoff," and "New college football playoff system won't end debates":

The throw-it-in-the-dumpster party is set for 2014, when the old carton likely gets replaced with a "playoff" involving four teams and Jerry Jones' enormous stadium/ego.

"BCS" follows "Enron" and "USFL" into history's ignominious logo bin and, in remembrance, there should be a moment of silence … OK, that ought to do it.

Bully to those who demonized the BCS all these years for want of something better, something more.

However, don't for a nanosecond let 11 conference commissioners standing for a photo op Wednesday in Chicago fool you into thinking college football has been saved.

You've got another think coming … and it's coming in 2014.

"Anyone who thinks going to a four-team playoff, or a Plus One, is going to end the controversy, they're naive,"Pac-12Commissioner Larry Scott told the Times following Wednesday's meeting. "Unless you go to an eight, or 16-team playoff, and I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future, you're going to have debate."

And check Sports Illustrated, "Playoff approval a historic, joyous, overdue day for college football."

City of Stockton Goes Bankrupt

God, this is brutal.

At LAT, "Stockton to file for bankruptcy, will be largest US city to fail."

And at SFGate, "Cash-strapped Stockton set to vote for bankruptcy."

Neal Cavuto Fox News Feature on 'Breastaurants'

At Media Research Center: "Neil Cavuto 'covers' hot new 'breastaurant' chain Twin Peaks with all its 'scenic' views."

And see the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "Skin is in: 'Breastaurants' thrive in a struggling industry."

Deneen Borelli: 'The Bottom Line is This, President Obama is Going Down'

I guess Cher really went off on the GOP as RAAAAACIST the other day, but I just love Deneen Borelli's Obama take down at the clip:

Colorado Wildfires Still Rage Out of Control

At the Colorado Springs Gazette, "WALDO CANYON FIRE: 'Firestorm of epic proportions'."

And at CNN, "Colorado wildfire of 'epic proportions' displaces 32000; tests firefighters." And the Los Angeles Times, "Parts of Air Force Academy evacuated as Colorado fire rages."

Plus, Michelle Malkin updates on her family's situation: "One Day at at Time."

Obama Clings to a Narrow Lead

At the Wall Street Journal, "New Poll Shows Him Doing Better Than Romney in Swing States; Both Candidates Face Challenges."

President Barack Obama has managed to retain a narrow lead in his race for re-election despite a spate of poor economic news and surging GOP optimism about Mitt Romney's prospects, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out Tuesday has found.

The president outpolls Romney, his presumed Republican rival, 47 percent to 44 percent, a lead within the survey's margin of error and similar to the advantage he enjoyed a month ago. Obama's lead is wider in swing states, where the campaigns have battled most intensely.

The poll highlights challenges facing both candidates. While Obama retains a durable base of support, his standing among white, working-class voters, which was low to start with, continues to erode. Interest in the campaign is not nearly as intense as it was four years ago among young people and Latinos, who were important to Obama's victory in 2008.

At the same time, more people viewed Romney unfavorably than favorably by a six-point margin, with nearly one quarter of those polled viewing him "very negatively" -- twice the level in December. Romney's business background, which he has made a central element of his candidacy, is a draw for many, the poll found. But it is viewed negatively by even more people.

Overall, the survey presents the presidential race as both tight and stable. "It looks like a dead heat on a merry-go-round," said Peter Hart, the Democratic pollster who conducts the Journal survey with Republican Bill McInturff. "There is the appearance of motion, but the horses' positions haven't changed."

Obama's advantage is more pronounced among poll respondents in 12 battleground states which, taken as a group, favor him 50 percent to 42 percent. His larger lead in those states, which include Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Virginia, could reflect the impact of ads by his campaign that criticized Romney's record as a businessman and portrayed him as out of touch with the middle class.

"There are two campaigns -- the one being fought out in the press, and one in swing states," said McInturff. "We're seeing some indications that the advertising could be having an impact."

The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted June 20-24, after a month that seemed to offer much to buoy Romney. His fundraising was strong, the May jobs report was weak, and Obama was widely criticized for saying the private sector was "doing fine." Republican confidence grew after an effort by labor unions and their Democratic allies to recall Wisconsin's Republican governor failed.

The poll also had warning signs for Obama. His approval rating, 47 percent, dipped to its lowest level of the year, while more people disapproved of his economic stewardship -- 53 percent -- than at any time since December. Nearly two thirds said the country was on the wrong track.

Via My Fox Detroit.

The key is those battleground states. It's still early though and I personally think O's toast. But it's the Electoral College that counts, so we'll see.

And see Glenn's roundup on related ObamaCare polling, here.

A Lesson in Home Defense From Robert Stacy McCain

I was busy with quite a few other things yesterday, so I'm catching up with all the activity on the #Freedomtoblog front. I'm not going to try and round everything up at this post, but a good place to start is The Other McCain's, "Professor Glenn ‘Exhibit E’ Reynolds":

In point of fact, a 12-gauge shotgun is highly recommended as a home-defense weapon and, as I told Brian, is simple to operate. You don’t really have to aim it, really. Just point it in the general direction of an intruder and pull the trigger and the godawful roar of the thing will put the fear of God into him, even if he’s not hit.

Of course, if he’s hit, he’s likely to be dead PDQ.

And I specified a pump shotgun for this simple reason: Imagine you were an intruder trying to sneak into a house in the middle of the night and you heard that racking sound of someone chambering a round in a pump shotgun. Wouldn’t you immediately run for your life?

A few years ago, a knife-wielding crackhead broke into my younger brother’s house in Georgia and made the mistake of not running when he heard that sound. The crackhead ruined the carpet when he bled out.

My younger brother is still alive and well.

End of lesson in home defense.

Continue reading at the link. But actually, this part is pretty good too:

Brett Kimberlin is a lying cowardly punk who in 1981 was sentenced to 50 years in prison and who, by all rights, should still be in prison, rather than attempting to intimidate honest citizens.

I said “attempting to intimidate honest citizens,” because I am not intimidated in the least by Kimberlin’s lies and threats, and I will not be silenced. “Truth is great and will prevail,” as Thomas Jefferson said.

RELATED: "Obsessed Progressive Who Shall Not Be Named Is Ideological Kith and Kin to Brett Kimberlin, And I Suspect He'd Like to Put Me Under Just As Fast."

Bret Stephens: Who Lost Egypt?

At the Wall Street Journal (via Google):

Don't console yourself with the belief that the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country's first free presidential election is merely symbolic, since the army still has the guns: The examples of revolutionary Iran and present-day Turkey show how easily the conscripts can be bought, the noncoms wooed and the officers purged.

Don't console yourself with the idea that now the Islamists will have to prove themselves capable of governing the country. The Brotherhood is the most successful social organization in the Arab world. Its leaders are politically skillful, economically literate and strategically patient. Its beliefs resonate with poor, rich and middle class alike. And it can always use the army as a scapegoat should the economy fail to improve.

Don't console yourself with the expectation that the Brotherhood will play by the democratic rules that brought it to power. "Democracy is like a streetcar," Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Islamist prime minister, observed long ago. "When you come to your stop you get off." Any party that rules street and square makes its own "democratic" rules.

Don't console yourself, finally, with hope that Egypt will remain a responsible, status quo player on the international scene. By degrees, Egypt under the Brotherhood will seek to arm Hamas and remilitarize the Sinai. By degrees, it will seek to extract concessions from the U.S. as the price of its good behavior. By degrees, it will make radical alliances in the Middle East and beyond.

Who lost Egypt?

The Egyptians, obviously. This was their moment, opportunity, choice. They chose—albeit by a narrow margin—a party that offers Islamic stultification as the solution to every political and personal problem. By the time they come to regret their choice, they won't be in a position to change it.

But there are other players in this debacle, too.

And see Spengler at PJ Media, "What do you do when the people are the problem?"

Nora Ephron, 1941-2012

Nora Ephron has died.

See the New York Times, "Nora Ephron, Essayist, Screenwriter and Director, Dies at 71" (via Memeorandum).

And I can't help being reminded of this movie, as the Times notes:

Her first screenplay, written with her friend Alice Arlen, was for “Silkwood,” a 1983 film based on the life of Karen Silkwood, who died under suspicious circumstances while investigating abuses at a plutonium plant where she had worked....

Ms. Ephron followed “Silkwood” three years later with a screenplay adaptation of her own novel “Heartburn,” which was also directed by Mr. Nichols. But it was her script for “When Harry Met Sally,” which became a hit Rob Reiner movie in 1989 starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, that established Ms. Ephron’s gift for romantic comedy and for delayed but happy endings that reconcile couples who are clearly meant for each other but don’t know it.

“When Harry Met Sally” is probably best remembered for Ms. Ryan’s table-pounding faked-orgasm scene with Mr. Crystal in Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side, prompting a middle-aged woman (played by Mr. Reiner’s mother, Estelle Reiner) sitting nearby to remark to her waiter, indelibly, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

The scene wouldn’t have gotten past the Hollywood censors of the past, but in many other respects Ms. Ephron’s films are old-fashioned movies, only in a brand-new guise. Her 1998 hit, “You’ve Got Mail,” for example, which she both wrote (with her sister Delia) and directed, is partly a remake of the old Ernst Lubitsch film ‘The Shop Around the Corner.”

And the scene also reminds me of my good friend Norman Gersman in New York, who took me to Katz's Deli for dinner on September 10, 2010.

See: "Safe Landing in New York!"

BONUS: From Roger Simon, "Nora Ephron Passes."

Jenny McCarthy Playboy 2012 Nude Playmate

This is at People Magazine, so what the heck?

See: "Jenny McCarthy's Sexy-at-39 Playboy Cover: Sneak Peek."

Plus, a Playboy preview at YouTube.

Also at Celebslam, "Jenny McCarthy says her new Playboy shoot is classy."

ADDED: At Egotastic, "Jenny McCarthy bring two Irish jugs out to play."

Tuesday Totties, at Theo Spark's

In case you missed it from yesterday, a great mini-roundup: "Tuesday Totty..."

Muslim Mob Attacks Christians at 2012 Dearborn Arab Festival

This is a long video. I was running in and out checking on my kid while I was trying to watch it yesterday. But it's worth it. For a while it looks like just plastic bottles are being thrown, but as the Christians start to move off, they are pelted with all kinds of debris and human waste, apparently. But throughout the Christians are being verbally abused, and viciously. And check especially around 18:00 minutes when Ruben Israel is being threatened with arrest by the cops. The Deputy Chief Mike Jaafar is especially an asshole. Nothing at the clip indicates that the Christians weren't allowed to protest the event. And again, when you get to Deputy Jaafar, you can see pretty much how it all shakes out. The violent mob isn't the problem. It's the peaceful Christians, respectfully standing their ground, who are subjected to police harassment. It's all so un-American, but again, the left is un-American. They're raping our right to freedom of speech in this country.

In any case, via Pat Dollard, "Doing Allah’s Will: Muslims Stone Christians In Dearborn, Michigan While Local Police Cower In Fear."

The video's a production of The United West. See: "American Muslims Stone Christians." And Joe Newby has an Examiner post: "Christians stoned by American Muslims in Dearborn as police watch."

More Rats Jump Ship: Sen. Claire McCaskill Won't Attend Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

The symbolism is off the charts here.

If folks recall, Sen. McCaskill was the administration's biggest congressional point person on healthcare reform throughout 2009. So if she's going to skip the president's nomination for a second term --- which should be a crowning achievement for the party --- then you know something's wrong.

See TPM, "Claire McCaskill Will Not Attend Democratic National Convention" (via Instapundit).

At the video, Sen. McCaskill claims there would be no "death panels" in ObamaCare: "It's just not true." Of course, everybody knows that health rationing, especially for older patients, were central to the law's cost savings projections --- and I read the bill myself. Death panels were in there baby. Watch after 3:00 minutes at the clip:

And note something here: I skimmed McCaskill's Senate YouTube page from 2009, when she launched it, and I can't find a single video with her advocating for the law. And I recall seeing her on all the Sunday talk shows at the time --- she was wall to wall talking about that bill! Seriously, this is telling. She's also got a new channel, "ClaireMcCaskill2012's channel." And no sign of ObamaCare talking head videos there either.

Man, it's like she's erasing her political history!

PREVIOUSLY: "The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre Won't Endorse President Obama."

Obsessed Progressive Who Shall Not Be Named Is Ideological Kith and Kin to Brett Kimberlin, And I Suspect He'd Like to Put Me Under Just As Fast

Following the method found at the screencap here, I will hold off mentioning by name the f-king obsessed progressive who has sought to do me grievous harm.

Patterico suggested last night that today is going to be a big day for the left. And here's Patterico's update: "Strong Circumstantial Evidence That Brett Kimberlin Is Astroturfing the Alleged “Threats” Against Him and His Allies." Notice this key quote at the post:

Kimberlin is on record as despising me. He has threatened me with a defamation lawsuit. He has filed a State Bar Complaint against me. He has complained about me to my office. (That’s a matter of public record, so I am giving nothing away.) He has complained about me to the stalking unit of my office, and reported me to Kamala Harris. He has insinuated in court documents that I may be responsible for a plot to murder him, and he has spoken of filing a RICO action against me and others.

That hits amazingly close to home. In fact, here's how close it hits after making some changes with strike-through editing:

Kimberlin An unnamed progressive is on record as despising me. He has threatened me with a defamation lawsuit legal action to get me stop blogging about his past evil deeds. He has filed a State Bar Complaint against me obsessed over my Rule 5 blogging for years. He has complained about me to my office college. (That’s a matter of public record, so I am giving nothing away.) He has complained about me to the stalking unit of my office chairman of my department, and reported me to one of his blog commenters turned me into Kamala Harris. He has insinuated in court documents that I may be responsible for a plot to murder him sexually harassing young women, and he has spoken of filing a RICO action new legal proceedings against me and others if I dare continue to blog about his malicious attacks on my livelihood.

This unnamed blogger has violated his own rules of legal agreement and I plan to stand up against his campaign of progressive lawfare. I have been dealing with the true evil of the progressive left and I don't doubt for a moment that if I continue to blog about this obsessed progressive he would escalate his campaign of intimidation. I am in the process of working with my attorney and will update on that later. Meanwhile, I stand with Aaron Walker, and I share these sentiments:

Whoever did this, if you think this will stop me from speaking the truth about the violent domestic terrorist Brett Kimberlin, you are sadly mistaken. If anything it makes me more determined than ever. This was an act of desperation; this was not the act of people who feel they are winning. Indeed it was the of people too much a bunch of wussies to come at me directly.

Stay tuned...

Larry Brinkin, President of the California Association of Human Relations Organizations (CAHRO), Gay Rights Icon, Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

This is the kind of guy that Walter James Casper III champions and defends. You know, if you call out the gay radical extremists for their inherent criminal perversions, you will be attacked as a bigot who hates "teh gays". F-king progressive assholes. This is 100 percent in sync with what these people are all about.

See the San Francisco Chronicle, "S.F. gay rights advocate arrested over child porn":

San Francisco police have arrested veteran gay rights advocate Larry Brinkin in connection with felony possession of child pornography.

Brinkin, 66, who worked for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission before his retirement in 2010, was taken into custody Friday night. He spent the night in jail before he was released on bail, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department.

The district attorney's office will decide Tuesday whether to file charges. "We're still reviewing the case," district attorney's spokeswoman Stephanie Ong Stillman said Monday.

Police say that Brinkin had pornographic images, some that appear to show children as young as 1 and 2 or 3 years old being sodomized and performing oral sex on adult men, in e-mail attachments linked to his account, according to a search warrant served by San Francisco police.

More at the link.

And have a barf bag ready for this description from SF Weekly, "Larry Brinkin, S.F. Gay Rights Icon, Arrested on Child Porn Charges":

According to the search warrant, SFPD acted after receiving a tip from the Los Angeles Police Department, which obtained from AOL an e-mail exchange between a Los Angeles user and zack3737@aol.com. Police say they linked the AOL address to Brinkin’s IP address; he is owner of the account and paid for AOL service with his credit card.

The warrant claims these e-mails contained images of children as young as perhaps a year old being sodomized by and performing oral sex on adult men. Zack3737@aol.com — whom the police allege is Brinkin — provided graphic commentary on the photos of interracial adult-child sex. Comments included “I loved especially the nigger 2 year old getting nailed. Hope you’ll continue so I can see what the little blond bitch is going to get. White Power! White Supremacy! White Dick Rules!”

The AOL e-mail account was also linked to Yahoo! Groups centering around discussions of child porn, according to the search warrant. Investigators say they additionally found e-mails sent from Brinkin’s now-defunct city e-mail account to zack3737@aol.com.

In classic Walter James Casperian fashion, the LezGetReal blog throws up a smokescreen:

There have been incidents where people have been arrested for possessing child pornography on their computer that turned out to be malware using the computer to launder the images. This can often be difficult for people to prove, however.

Do not be surprised that anit-LGBT organizations will use this arrest against the Community; however, it is important to remember that most pedophiles identify as straight, and there are many straight people who have been arrested, charged, and convicted for possession of child pornography.

Right. Just malware. And of course, the generic "everybody does it" excuse makes this the perfect Casperian defense.

But don't be fooled. While sure there will be heteros who do such evil. The difference is such criminal perversion and depredation is fundamental to the radical left's anything goes revolutionary sexual agenda. Call this shit out for what it is: endemic to radical progressivism.

Hat Tip: Memorandum and PJ Media.

ADDED: More about Brinkin at the CAHRO homepage.

Shut That Jan Brewer Bitch Up! Progressives Launch Vile Attack on Arizona Governor After Supreme Court's SB 1070 Ruling

Just read it all, at Twitchy, "‘Shut that Jan Brewer bitch up’: Left targets Arizona governor with vile slurs after SCOTUS immigration ruling."

Venus Williams Loses in First Round at Wimbledon

I was watching. Seeing Venus leave the stadium I sensed a career-ending loss.

At Telegraph UK, "Wimbledon 2012: Venus Williams suffers worst defeat since 1997 as Elena Vesnina knocks her out in round one":

Even at 2.51pm and against a clear-blue sky, one could discern the sight of Venus setting in the west.

In the corner of south-west London that had yielded five Wimbledon triumphs, Venus Williams bade her farewells in only the third hour of the tournament as she succumbed 6-1, 6-3 to Russia’s Elena Vesnina in the latest chapter of the American’s painful demise.

The pity was that Williams could not muster the same resistance in her match as she did in the extraordinary press conference that ensued. The 32 year-old, who has been diagnosed with the chronic fatigue-inducing condition Sjögren’s syndrome, had been described by one inquisitor as “struggling”. She curled her lip, regarding the observation not as an innocuous observation but as a vicious personal slight.

“Am I struggling?” she shot back. In truth, the question sounded rhetorical, given that she only began the comeback from her debilitating condition in April and had already endured a second-round exit at Roland Garros.

“Am I? I don’t know. Tell me what the struggle is.” The reporter explained, harmlessly enough, that it was to win matches. “You think? Tell me how I should do better,” she replied, before launching an impassioned defence of her accomplishments.

And see Diane Pucin, at the Los Angeles Times, "Venus Williams' Wimbledon loss is telling."

Facebook Changed Your Email Contact Information at Your Profile Page Without You Knowing About It

My facebook URL is www.facebook.com/American.Power.

I don't like Facebook all that much, and I set my privacy settings to what experts recommended was a moderate protection level a couple of years ago. I think I've mentioned it, but most of the stuff I get in my message box is all kinds of spam from people I don't really know. They're just Facebook "friends" who I want to be able to see my blog posts. So now I'm reading these reports on how Facebook created email addresses for its users without notification. See, Whitson Gordon at Lifehacker, "Facebook Changed Everyone's Email to @Facebook.com; Here's How to Fix Yours," and Kash Hill at Forbes, "Facebook's Lame Attempt to Force Its Email Service On You," (via Memeorandum).

I just changed my email back to my americanpowerblog email. It took not even five seconds --- and it was so empowering!

Take that Mark Zuckerberg!

Long Beach City College to Abandon Placement Testing for New Incoming Students

This is part of the college's Promise Pathways initiative. Student success at the college is so dismal the administration is willing to do just about anything to continue moving bodies students through.

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Long Beach City College tries an alternative to placement tests":

Edward Yacuta felt rushed and nervous when he took a test to determine whether he was ready for college-level English classes at Long Beach City College.

The 18-year-old did poorly on the exam, even though he was getting good grades in an Advanced Placement English class at Long Beach's Robert A. Millikan High School.

Most community colleges would assign students like Yacuta to a remedial class, but he will avoid that fate at Long Beach. The two-year school is trying out a new system this fall that will place students who graduated from the city's high schools in courses based on their grades rather than their scores on the standardized placement tests.

Long Beach is in the forefront of a movement in community colleges nationwide to reassess the use of placement tests for incoming students.

The issue is especially acute in California, where about 85% of students entering a two-year college are assigned to remedial English classes and 73% to remedial math, mostly based on placement tests. Only about one-third of those students go on to earn an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college, according to California's community college system.

Remedial classes — sometimes referred to as developmental or basic education — typically don't offer credit that counts toward graduation. Many students must take multiple levels of remedial courses to catch up. And some research indicates that remedial courses don't adequately prepare students for more advanced courses.

Nationwide, students and states spent about $3 billion on remedial education last year, according to a report by Complete College America, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C.

More:

The Long Beach program, called Promise Pathways, could provide a model. The college, which has a long collaboration with the Long Beach Unified School District, will use high school transcripts and senior English and math grades to determine the appropriate college classes, which students must take in their first semester.

The new approach came after the college found that 60% of students it placed in remedial English classes had earned an A or B in their high school English course. Meanwhile, 35% of students placed in college-level English had received a C or D in high school. And a small number of students who failed English in high school wound up being placed in the college-level class based on the placement test.

Typically, about 170 of the 1,400 incoming freshman coming from Long Beach Unified would be placed in college-level English this fall and about 130 in college-level math.

Under the new system, the college estimates that 800 students will be placed directly in college-level English and 450 in college-level math. Students in the program will also have to enroll in a college success course to help them with time management, note-taking and other study skills.

Officials estimate that the average student will save a semester and a half of remedial coursework. The system is expected to especially benefit black and Latino students, who are disproportionately assigned to remedial classes, said Long Beach City College President Eloy Oakley.

"We're confident in the data we've looked at and confident that students will be placed into the appropriate class," Oakley said.

Yacuta, the Millikan graduate, said he wants to major in business administration and eventually transfer to Cal State Long Beach. He's hoping that going directly into a college-level class will save time and money.

"Being accepted into the program is a real convenience for me because it's going to help me to get out sooner," he said.

FLASHBACK: From the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Cost of ignorance -- Ill-prepared students a burden for colleges."

Supreme Court Bars Mandatory Life Terms for Juveniles

At the Christian Science Monitor.

In a major decision issued Monday, the US Supreme Court struck down mandatory sentencing schemes requiring juvenile defendants to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Voting 5 to 4, the high court declared that automatically sentencing someone so young to a lifetime behind bars – with no future prospect than to die in prison – is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment.

“The Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority decision. “A judge or jury must have the opportunity to consider mitigating circumstances before imposing the harshest possible penalty for juveniles,” she said.

While I'm not bothered by this, the ruling's definitely of a piece with the "evolving standards of decency" doctrine that's leading, I think, toward the abolition of capital punishment in the U.S., which I oppose. The article continues:

Kagan said juvenile offenders should not be punished as harshly as adults, because they are generally less culpable than adults for their crimes, and enjoy a higher capacity to change. Studies have shown that judgment and character are not fully formed until an individual reaches his or her 20s.

The high court used that same rationale concerning the development of the brain and emotional maturity to justify two other landmark rulings – declaring the death penalty for juvenile offenders unconstitutional in 2005 and deciding in 2010 that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole for a non-homicide crime violated the Eighth Amendment.

The deciding fifth vote in all three cases was cast by the same justice, Anthony Kennedy.

In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the Monday decision is not a logical extension of the court’s earlier holdings in 2005 and 2010.

“Those cases undoubtedly stand for the proposition that teenagers are less mature, less responsible, and less fixed in their ways than adults – not that a Supreme Court case was needed to establish that,” he said.

“What they do not stand for, and do not even suggest, is that legislators – who also know that teenagers are different from adults – may not require life without parole for juveniles who commit the worst types of murder,” he said.

And check Lyle Denniston at SCOTUS Blog, "Opinion recap: Narrow ruling on young murderers’ sentences."

April Rose Maximum Lingerie Exposure

What a lady:

PREVIOUSLY: "April Rose Maximum Exposure."

Obama Booed After Thanking Boston for Kevin Youkilis Trade

Via Fire Andrea Mitchell, "Obama booed loudly at Boston fundraiser when he thanked Boston for Kevin Youkilis trade to the Chicago White Sox (Video)."

Lara Pulver, Who Starred Nude in BBC's 'Sherlock', Inundated With Offers for 'Swinger Films'

Well, I'm not a BBC kind of guy, actually, but this is interesting.

At Telegraph UK, "Actress Lara Pulver 'offered swinger films' after nude Sherlock scenes."

The segment is available on YouTube.

BONUS: At the Sun UK, "'Sherlock fell in love with Irene Adler'."

Hot and Heavily Armed Women

Via First Street Journal: "Rule 5 Blogging: Women With Weapons Edition."

Jewish Federation of Los Angeles Cancels Pamela Geller Event After Threats from Council on American–Islamic Relations

I've been seeing Pamela's posts going up, but haven't had a chance to get something  published.

And remember, as we follow the anti-free speech attacks on Aaron Walker and others, remember the constant battles Pamela Geller is forced to wage just to get her message out. God bless her. 

See: "Jewish Surrender: LA Jewish Federation Submits To Hamas-linked Muslim Groups, Cancels Geller Event."

Pamela's sponsors found an alternative venue. See: "VIDEO: The Speech the LA Jewish Federation Feared You Would Hear, Pamela Geller at ZOA, Western Division."

And here's the rest of Pamela's reporting:

* "Proud Zionists Defeat LA Jewish Federation."

* "Bad Journalism 101: LA Times Repeats Islamic Supremacist Talking Points In Covering Cancellation of Geller Speech."

* "Hamas-CAIR and LA Jewish Federation Make Common Cause Against Zionists."

* "Victory! LA Jewish Federation Apologizes for Cancelling Geller Talk."

Tomorrow Will Be an Interesting Day for the Left

There's a certain blogger who's been commenting at Patterico's post, "Aaron Walker SWATted." (And that's an interesting thread, if you've got nothing better to do at the odd hours of the night.)

I'll have more on that certain blogger after I hear back from my attorney, but refer here for a recap.

Meanwhile, Patterico's post has a thread at Memeorandum.

And see Lonely Conservative, "After Having Free Speech Rights Restored, Aaron Walker was SWATted," and Protein Wisdom, "Aaron Walker SWAT-ed [Darleen Click] [updated by Jeff] [UPDATE x2 Darleen]."

More at Instapundit.

Aaron Worthing SWAT-ted!

Aaron Worthing won a court victory today when parts of the peace order prohibiting him from writing about Brett Kimberlin were struck down in Maryland Circuit Court. Aaron posted on that here: "An Important Victory For Freedom of Expression."

But now there's horrible news that Aaron and his wife were SWAT-ted about and hour ago:

BREAKING NEWS: tonight I was swatted.More details to come. @Liberty_Chick @Patterico @ali @michellemalkin @AoSHQ @Dust92 @rsmccain
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) June 25, 2012

Details are still coming in. Check Aaron's Twitter feed for updates. And also Twitchy, "Aaron Walker SWAT-ted."

Expect updates...

ADDED: Robert Stacy McCain reports: "Aaron Walker SWATted?"

UPDATE: Aaron has posted his report: "What Happened Tonight."

'F*ck Arpaio!' — The Left Reacts to Arizona v. United States

As noted earlier, there's a little in both sides from today's SB 1070 ruling at the Supreme Court, and the Wall Street Journal agrees: "Both Parties Claim Victory in Arizona Ruling."

But that's not stopping radical progressives from dancing a jig — and attacking SB 1070 supporters as racist!

See, of all people, Perez Hilton, "Supreme Court Sides ALMOST Entirely With Federal Government In Arizona Immigration Case!"

Well, three out of four isn't bad!

But we still wish they could have abolished ALL of these ridiculously RACIST and unjust policies!

And the progs are especially pissed at Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. See Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice, "Scalia's Anger at Obama on Immigration." (Via Memeorandum.)

Also Balloon Juice, "Wingnuts on the Bench, and Lawyers, Guns and Money, "SB 1070 and the Scalia Clown Show." (Via Memeorandum.)

Expect updates.

It's like an insane explosion of cheers and jeers.

Added: At Weasel Zippers, "Tingles: “Pack Of Conservatives” In Current Supreme Court Would Not Have Backed Desegregation, Civil Rights Bill…"

We're going to see more RAAAAACIST attacks through the night...

In the Mail: What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback

The public relations folks at HarperCollins sent me a copy of Monica Crowley's new book, What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback.

I'm in the middle of the first chapter right now and thoroughly enjoying it.  I wish I could block quote some of Crowley's discussion of Barack Obama. It's some of most incisive comments on this man, distilling years' worth of frustration with his candidacy and presidency. I'll see what I can do later to post some longer excerpts, in addition to a more complete review.

Meanwhile, Jamie Glazov has an interview at FrontPage Magazine, "What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior’s Guide to the Great American Comeback":

FP: Monica Crowley, welcome to Frontpage Interview. It is an honor and privilege to speak with you.

Crowley: Thanks for having me, Jamie.  It’s an honor for me to join you.  You guys do heroic work.

FP: Let’s begin with what inspired you to write this book and what it is about.

Crowley: I wrote this book for several reasons.  First, I surveyed all of the destruction and despair wrought by Team Obama and their fellow leftists and thought, “Are we supposed to just to accept this??  Just accept radically redistributionist economic policies, unprecedented spending, record-breaking deficits and debt, non-existent economic growth, socialized medicine, and American decline abroad?  Just lie back and take it?  Oh hell, no!”  I wrote this book to reinforce the notion that America CAN be saved from this assault—-and that she is WORTH SAVING. Obama may be doing his best to turn America the Exceptional into America the Also-Ran, but he didn’t count on us running a great defense.

Second, I wrote it because if you have only listened to the mainstream media, you have only received a small—and very distorted—part of the Obama-era picture.  I put together the entire Obama domestic policy record with the entire foreign policy record—and when you see all of the evidence amassed in one place, it’s devastating.  Part of the power of the book is seeing the sheer volume of leftist madness to which he’s subjected us.  Never before have we had a president so hellbent on redistributing ALL of our greatness, not just here at home, but abroad. I wanted to shine a light not just on the policies he’s implemented but on the very sophisticated leftist psychology he and his team have used to get it done.

I also made the book really funny, because in the age of Obama, if we don’t laugh, we cry, and there’s no crying in a book by Monica Crowley.

And finally and most importantly, I wanted to create a new template for America in the 21st century.  Obama did it from the left in 2008, and now it’s our turn.  I developed the concept of the Happy Warrior as a rallying cry for those of us who want to restore America to its great foundational principles: individual freedom, personal responsibility, fiscal restraint, and economic liberty.  President Reagan was the quintessential Happy Warrior, and no one loves, respects, and admires Reagan more than I do.  But Reagan served 30 years ago.  If we’re going to have any hope of getting America back on the rails, we’ve got to take his positive embrace of conservatism and bring it into the 21st century.  Like Reagan, we know we’re in a war for the future of America.  And like Reagan, we join the battle joyfully and with the full confidence that we can win the battle of ideas and bring America back.

This book is the fun, spirited, optimistic battle cry of the new Happy Warrior!

FP:  Tell us about that title!  How did you come up with it—-and what does the “Bleep” really stand for?

Crowley: I was going to call it Fifty Shades of Obama but then thought better of it.

One day last summer, I was having dinner with a good friend.  I told her that I wanted to write another book but wasn’t quite sure as to what its focus should be.  We then started talking about how epically weird the last few years under Obama have been.  Every day, we were getting hit with a new piece of insane leftist social engineering or some new policy to take down American power or prestige abroad—a rapid-fire assault I call “Barack-a-mole.”  Our enemies were getting olive branches, our allies were getting dissed, and millions of Americans were being moved into government dependency at home.  “What the (bleep) just happened?” I sighed.  She looked at me and said, “That’s your title.”  And so it came to be.  Of course, I used an actual unprintable word.  I thought I’d let each reader supply his or her own favorite profanity.

FP: Expand for us on the disasters that have occurred under Obama in your view—and why he has behaved as he has.

Crowley: Obama doesn’t run around wearing a Carrie Bradshaw-esque nameplate necklace that says, “Socialist.”  But his policies, actions, words, background, and associations speak louder than any ID necklace ever could.  As a technical matter, economic fascism (government control of the means of production without ownership) more accurately describes what Obama is carrying out than socialism (government ownership of those means of production), but “fascism” and “socialism” are highly charged words—and arguments over the labels often obfuscate the reality of the policies.  Obama has engaged in extreme government-directed redistributionism to undermine the free market, generate widespread dependency, and further centralize state power.

In the end, the term matters less than his policies and their effects.  This is a man who spent his formative years learning at the knees of assorted communists, from his mother and father to Frank Marshall Davis to the Marxist professors and sundry socialists he admitted he sought out while in school to the self-avowed Communists (Van Jones, “green jobs” czar), Mao admirers (Anita Dunn, communications director) and radical redistributionists (Cass Sunstein, regulatory czar) he appointed as president.  He spent a good deal of time mastering the art of Saul Alinsky’s tactics for advancing the socialist revolution.  In 2007, he said of his years learning Alinsky’s methods, “It was that education that was seared into my brain.  It was the best education I ever had, better than anything I got at Harvard Law School.”  Indeed.

FP:  You say he then made it to the big stage and governed strictly according to that redistributionist ideology in which he was so steeped.

Crowley: Without a doubt.  Obama never made a mystery of who he was or what he believed.  He employed those revolutionary tactics as a Chicago community organizer and then moved on to pull more formal levers of power.  Once he seized the brass ring in 2008, it was “Katie, bar the door.”  He immediately put the redistributionism of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson on steroids: he spent trillions of dollars—particularly on “stimulus” and other spending projects which stimulated nothing but government, added an unprecedented $5 trillion to the national debt, and engaged in massive social engineering in every major part of the U.S. economy (the financial sector, the industrial base, the energy sector, and health care).

He moved to divide Americans based on class, race, and gender; after all, if Americans are pitted against each other, they are too distracted to focus on what he’s doing.  He has deliberately and quickly moved the United States toward a European-style social democratic state, despite the fact that those nations are currently imploding from decades of socialist redistributionism.  Obama’s intent is to expand government dependency in order to ultimately create a permanent Democrat voting majority.  Any other American president would’ve been flipping his lid over the kind of chronically high unemployment we’ve suffered.  Not Obama.  The more folks unemployed, the more dependency being created.  And if this were allowed to go on, supported by the redistributionist agenda, America would be truly altered.  (This is, by the way, what he meant when he spoke about “change.”)

But the book here. It's great!

Security Forces Brace for Violence After Muslim Brotherhood Wins Egypt's Presidency

At the Los Angeles Times, "Muslim Brotherhood candidate wins Egyptian presidential vote." And here's the key section on the threat of violence:

The California-educated conservative Islamist will, at least in the short term, seek to calm critics in the U.S., Europe and Arab states in the Persian Gulf. Morsi has called Israelis "vampires" but has pledged that the Brotherhood is committed to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel that has become a cornerstone of efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East. What is uncertain is whether he is inclined to emulate the progressive, entrepreneurial Islam of Turkey or tilt toward a less Western leaning theocracy-based government.

Egyptian security forces braced for possible violence after Morsi, a political prisoner under Mubarak, was declared the winner. Fears arose that Shafik loyalists, including those with links to internal intelligence services, would attack Brotherhood members celebrating across the country.

Shouts of "Morsi! Morsi!" echoed out of the square and along the Nile where Egyptian flags flew from car windows and men wept in joy and disbelief.

"Defeating Ahmed Shafik is a defeat of Mubarak's regime," tweeted Khaled Ali, a labor lawyer and former presidential candidate. "The revolution continues."

Shafik's announced 48.3% of the vote, however, showed that voters remained as divided as the two candidates. Coptic Christians and others worry that the Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Salafis want to gradually impose a strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, on the nation. Thousands of Copts left Egypt after the parliamentary elections, and those remaining, who make up about 10% of the population, stand behind the army.

More at the link.

And don't miss Barry Rubin's analysis, "Egypt: A Muslim Brotherhood President Does Not Prove That We Are All ‘Chimps’.

Supreme Court Upholds Key Provision of Arizona's SB 1070

Progressives will highlight that 3 of 4 of the law's provisions were struck down. But the thing to emphasis is that it's really the key provision that was upheld by the court --- the authority for local law enforcement to determine the legal residency status of suspects in a lawful stop. That's what's been called "racial profiling" for these past few years. It's what progressives targeted for defeat at the Court. In that sense, no matter what the left says, this is a huge defeat for the open borders extremists in the Democrat Party and the radical netroots fever swamps.

See the Wall Street Journal, "Supreme Court Upholds Key Part of Arizona Law" (via Memeorandum). And at the Los Angeles Times, "Supreme Court strikes down key parts of Arizona immigration law."

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Monday that the federal government has the sole power to enforce the laws against illegal immigration, striking down three key provisions of Arizona's first-in-the nation crackdown on undocumented residents.

"Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration,” said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, "but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law."

But the 5-3 decision was not a total loss for Arizona. The justices cleared the way for state officials to begin enforcing a provision that calls on police, when making lawful stops, to check the immigration status of people who may be in the country illegally. These status checks should not "result in prolonged detention," Kennedy said.

The decision may be a partial, symbolic victory for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, but it is a much bigger win for President Obama. His administration had sued to block the Arizona law from taking effect, and it prevailed on three of the four provisions under dispute.

The high court struck down parts of Arizona's SB 1070 that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work and to not to carry immigration papers. The justices also blocked a provision that gave the police authority to arrest immigrants for crimes that may lead to deportation.
"Federal law makes a single sovereign responsible for maintaining a comprehensive and unified system to keep track of aliens within the nation's borders,” Kennedy wrote. If Arizona could arrest and hold immigrants for not carrying papers, "every state could give itself independent authority to prosecute federal registration violations."

William Jacobson argues that the Obama administration did better at the Court than expected, and with the residency verification provision upheld, we can expect more litigation. See: "Supreme Court upholds key immigration status check provision of Arizona law."


I'll have more on the reactions later. 

IDF War Porn

Totally cool:

Weasel Zippers has the Hebrew version, or at least I think that's Hebrew, LOL!

See: "Sunday Afternoon War Porn…"

The Rats Are Jumping Ship: Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre Won't Endorse President Obama

Via Weasel Zippers, "NC Dem. Congressman Mike McIntyre Refuses to Endorse Obama…":

The rats are jumping. See also The Hill, "Sen. Manchin to skip Democratic convention":

Three prominent West Virginia Democrats said Monday that they would skip the party's national convention in Charlotte, N.C., this September over concerns that links to the party could hurt their re-election chances.

It's gotta be racism. There's no other possible explanation.

Toronto District School Board: Cross Dressing Guide For Elementary School Students

This is not a joke. Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

At BCF, "TDSB Curriculum Guide Encourages Elementary School Boys to Be Cross Dressers."

Read it all at the link.

And then don't forget my earlier entry, "Los Angeles Times Pumps Up 'Difficulties' of 'Transgender Children' While Reporting That Clinical Treatment Is Based on 'Instinct and Observation' Rather Than Science."

Turkey Seeks NATO Action After Syria Shoots Down One of Its Warplanes

See the Wall Street Journal, "Turkey Promises 'Necessary Steps' After Syria Downs Jet."

And at Telegraph UK, "Nato to meet over Turkish plane 'being shot down' over Syria":

Nato has said it would meet to discuss member state Turkey's accusation that Syria shot down one of its warplanes in international airspace and not inside its own territory, as Damascus claims.

NATO said it would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday following a request from Turkey that invoked Article Four of the alliance's founding treaty, which covers threats to member states' security.

Turkey has already acknowledged that its fighter jet might at some point have entered Syrian airspace. But after an initially cautious response, Ankara toughened its rhetoric on Sunday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkey's TRT television that at the time it was shot down, their plane was in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria.

Syria had given no warning before opening fire, he added.

The fighter had been on an unarmed training mission to carry out a radar system test, and both pilots are still missing.

Looks like Turkeys torn between East and West, or the Middle East and the Western alliance.

The Left's Meltdown Continues: 'Balloon Juice' Screams 'F*ck You, New York Times' After Newspaper Publishes Campbell Brown's Epic Planned Parenthood Smackdown

This is really something else.

My theory is that most popular lefty blogs are popular simply because they notch up the vile attacks to the level of nitroglycerin. DougJ has a perfect example at Balloon Juice, "Si, Senor", reposted here in its entirety for the full effect:

I’d understand publishing this if there was some plausible way to paint Campbell Brown as a nonpartisan moderate or whatever, but there’s not. She’s Dan Senor’s fucking wife. If you want to call me sexist, I’d say the same thing if the Times published something like this from Todd Palin.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD has a large target on its back. At no time in the organization’s history has it faced such a concerted Congressional challenge to its agenda. But most worrisome is the organization’s shrinking number of defenders, and Planned Parenthood has only itself to blame. It has adopted a strategy driven by blind partisanship, electing to burn bridges instead of building them. That strategy is damaging, and possibly imperiling, its mission.

Fuck you, New York Times. You stay afloat because hippies like me pay for a subscription even though we could read you for free. And then you throw this shit in our faces as if it was the height of seriousness. Fuck you.

Well, yeah, that's just a little bit sexist, you think?

I mean, "Si, Senor," is basically "yes sir" in Spanish, and that implies that Campbell Brown doesn't have an independent thought of her own, that she's just regurgitating her husband's talking points. Recall that Dan Senor served during the Bush administration as the spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Shoot, that's just gotta drive progressives batsh*t crazy, and thus explains how unhinged these people are that the New York Times would deign to give space to lefty journalist who's married to a hated neocon.

Brown's full essay is here: "Planned Parenthood’s Self-Destructive Behavior."

BONUS: This piece from Kathleen Geier notes that Dan Senor is an adviser to the Romney campaign, at the Washington Monthly, "Concern troll of the day: Campbell Brown."


PREVIOUSLY: "Campbell Brown to Barack Obama: Stop Condescending to Women."

Transformers Director Michael Bay Steps Out With Smokin' Hot Mystery Woman

No word on who this lady is, but as my dad used to say, she's built like a brick shithouse.

See London's Daily Mail, "His new leading lady? Transformers director Michael Bay steps out with a mystery brunette who can hardly contain her curves in a tiny pink dress."

'Levitated Mass'

I guess people like it, but personally, I was thinking that hauling that rock from the desert was a waste of resources. And you'd think the artsy-environmentalist types would have been the first to object. Maybe the idea of some lasting aesthetics was worth spewing tons of carbon "waste" into the atmosphere during the move.

I'm not one to complain, actually. But transporting that thing was one hella production.

In any case, see the Los Angeles Times, "What do museum-goers think of LACMA's 'Levitated Mass' sculpture?":

And see Christopher Knight, "Review: LACMA's new hunk 'Levitated Mass' has some substance."

'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'

I thought the preview looked interesting, but Betsy Sharkey says it's a dud: "Review: 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' crashes":

The drama and romance of "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, starts imploding long before the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth is due to deliver annihilation.

At least it's an ambitious misfire from the filmmaker, screenwriter Lorene Scafaria making a rocky directing debut. The movie ponders what people would do with their final days if the end were a fait accompli. Will anarchy reign or will humanity win out? Will Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightley), relative strangers living in the same apartment building, find each other, and love, before the planet and the asteroid collide? Or will they die alone? Lots of potential for a really tragic love story — from here to eternity, literally.

But by the time the answers come around, so much has gone wrong — with the film as well as the world — it's hard to care. Scafaria, who made such a splash with her cheeky screenplay adaptation of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" in 2008, is simply over her head here.

The troubles begin with the casting choices. What must have seemed like a perfect fit in Carell — those doleful eyes and a slight smile — is not even close. This already restrained actor is completely shut down as Dodge, the resigned-to-his-fate man in the spotlight. For the versatile Knightley, usually so at home in whatever she's handed — from "Pride & Prejudice" to "Pirates of the Caribbean" — the fit has perhaps never been worse. As Penny, a funky artist type who collects vinyl records and dresses in thrift-store chic, she is either nodding off (there's some sort of loose explanation of the medical condition early on) or flailing around, and neither suits her.

Actually, that "fit" thingy did cross my mind. Perhaps Knightly might stick to pirate movies.

All Natural

Some babe blogging out of Britain, from Zoo Magazine.

Needless to say, this kind of stuff causes fits of apoplexy for the radical leftists.

Who gives a flying f-k, I say:

Florida Teenager Survives Harpoon Shot to the Head

I'm a few days late on this story, but the video shows paramedics wheeling the kid out with that harpoon sticking right out of his noggin.

Instapundit had it earlier, "TEENAGER SHOT WITH SPEAR THROUGH HEAD SURVIVES."

And check the graphic report at the Los Angeles Times, "Teen with 3-foot fishing spear in skull poses dilemma for doctors."

Will You Vote the Values That Will Stand the Test of Fire?

This video's a knock-off of the Catholic Vote election ad from 2008, seen here. But Maggie Gallagher likes it, so here you go:

I can't stress how big social issues are this election. The White House has reproved the homosexual activists who, during a homosexual pride event at the White House last week, photographed themselves flipping off a portrait of President Reagan during the event.

Dan Riehl for the story, "Picture and Video: Gay Activist Invited to White House Gives Reagan Portrait the Finger," and "Gay Activist White House Guest Wrote to Obama, Plus "Count Me As One Who Hates!'."

I meant to put something up on this earlier, but it's been a busy weekend.

Colorado Wildfires Have Forced 11,000 Evacuations and Destroyed More Than 200 Homes

The New York Times reports, "11,000 Evacuated as Colorado Fire Grows."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Colorado wildfires force thousands to evacuate":

Two wildfires ravaging Colorado have forced 11,000 evacuations and destroyed more than 200 homes.

The Waldo Canyon fire forced the complete evacuation of Manitou Springs over the weekend and evacuations from nearby Colorado Springs and a number of small communities along Highway 24, according to Rob Deyerberg, a spokesman for the firefighters battling the blaze.

"We're used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this," Amanda Rice of Rock Falls, Ill., told the Associated Press.

She left a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday with her husband, four children and dog, according to the AP, and took her family to an evacuation center before she got an order to leave. Others were awakened by evacuation orders in the middle of the night.

"It was just this God-awful orange glow,” Rice said of the flames. “It was surreal. It honestly looked like hell was opening up.”

The Colorado Springs Gazette has huge coverage. See: "WALDO CANYON FIRE: Fire at 3,600 acres -- and growing."

And Michelle Malkin has been evacuated, "A personal note: Evacuated from Waldo Canyon Fire; Update: Sunset and smoke, 3,600 acres destroyed":

Our family is among the 11,000 residents of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs who have been evacuated in the wake of the Waldo Canyon Fire. We’re homeless, but safe for now — though the kids are devastated we couldn’t get their parakeets, Keets and Tweety, out of the house before security/emergency personnel cleared out our neighborhood.

We are so thankful for our many friends here and especially the heroic firefighters, police, and disaster relief officials and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to contain the fire and protect our homes.

More at the link.

And at Twitchy, "Photos, evacuation updates flood Twitter as #WaldoCanyonFire spreads west of Colorado Springs," and "As #WaldoCanyonFire spreads, social media helps spread word, provide instant updates, potentially save lives; Update: Spreading the word on how to help."

White House 'Congratulates' Morsi on Winning Egyptian Presidential Election

Daniel Halper reports, at Weekly Standard:

White House spokesman Jay Carney issued the following statement in response to the Egyptian presidential election:

"The United States congratulates Dr. Mohamed Morsi on his victory in Egypt’s Presidential election, and we congratulate the Egyptian people for this milestone in their transition to democracy.

"We look forward to working together with President-elect Morsi and the government he forms, on the basis of mutual respect, to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States.  We believe that it is important for President-elect Morsi to take steps at this historic time to advance national unity by reaching out to all parties and constituencies in consultations about the formation of a new government. We believe in the importance of the new Egyptian government upholding universal values, and respecting the rights of all Egyptian citizens – including women and religious minorities such as Coptic Christians.  Millions of Egyptians voted in the election, and President-elect Morsi and the new Egyptian government have both the legitimacy and responsibility of representing a diverse and courageous citizenry.

"The United States intends to work with all parties within Egypt to sustain our long-standing partnership as it consolidates its democracy.  We commend the Presidential Election Commission and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for their role in supporting a free and fair election, and look forward to the completion of a transition to a democratically-elected government.  We believe it is essential for the Egyptian government to continue to fulfill Egypt’s role as a pillar of regional peace, security and stability.  And we will stand with the Egyptian people as they pursue their aspirations for democracy, dignity, and opportunity, and fulfill the promise of their revolution."

I guess that's a prototypical formal statement of diplomatic recognition, but still, given this White House's utter amateurism on Egypt over the last 18 months, such breezy statements are literally frightening.

See Rep. Allen West, for example, "The Muslim B'Hood takeover in Egypt shows Arab Spring is radical Islamic nightmare" (via Memeorandum):

A year ago there were those of us who warned the Obama Administration of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt. We were castigated as alarmists and loose cannons. Today our predictions have come to reality and the ominous specter reminding us of the Iranian revolution is evident. The Muslim Brotherhood claimed they would not run a presidential candidate. Clearly the Arab Spring is nothing more than a radical Islamic nightmare. Now we need to unequivocally reiterate our support to the Coptic Christians and Israel. What an incredible foreign policy faux pas by the second coming of President Jimmy Carter, the Obama Administration. I call upon President Barack Obama to cut off American foreign aid to Egypt, denounce the results of this election, repudiate the Muslim Brotherhood, and all radical Islamist political entities.

Boy, that's a tough set of recommendations!

I only dissent on the immediate withdrawal of foreign aid. We have leverage over Egypt's foreign policy through our foreign aid program, and perhaps the military will impress on the new government the importance of regional peace. That is, we have the carrot of cooperation over Cairo at the moment. We may have to use the stick of direct military support to Israel at a later date. Let's see how it goes.

Again, read Jonathan Tobin's piece from earlier today, which is about the right tone, I'd say: "U.S. Must Avoid Embrace of Morsi."

Paraguay President Fernando Lugo Ousted in Political 'Coup d'Etat'

Technically, it's not a coup, but some folks are still questioning the parliamentary removal of President Fernando Lugo.

See the Sidney Morning Herald, "Paraguay 'coup' prompts isolation threats."

And at Telegraph UK, "Paraguay's ousted leader Fernando Lugo denounces 'coup'":

Paraguay's ousted President Fernando Lugo has broken cover to accuse the country's Congress of carrying out a "parliamentary coup d'etat" to force him from power.

The New York Times also reports, "In Paraguay, Democracy’s All-Too-Speedy Trial."

But see Babalú, "Some good news from Latin America, for a change."

And don't miss Fausta, "Paraguay: Lugo will be spending more time with his families":

As previously posted, Fernando Lugo, the Catholic bishop who’s sired at least a dozen children by several women (at least one of which was underage at the time), has crowned his political career by getting himself impeached.

Well, that adds an interesting twist to the story. I'm sure Lugo and his dozen kids will great ample support from the Obama White House. 3, 2, 1...

From MEMRI: Egypt's Safwat Hagazy, 'Muslim Brotherhood Will Liberate Jerusalem'

Okay, this video from MEMRI is getting picked up in light of Mohammed Morsi's accession to the Egyptian presidency. See Weasel Zippers, "Egypt’s New Muslim Brotherhood President Calls For Jerusalem To Be Future Capital…"

Note that MEMRI's video was posted to YouTube in May, "Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi: Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Candidate Will Liberate Jerusalem."

And see Arutz Sheva from a couple of weeks back, "Muslim Cleric: Jerusalem to be Capital of Egypt Under Mursi Rule":

If Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi were to become president, Egypt’s capital would no longer be Cairo, but would be Jerusalem, a prominent Egyptian cleric said at a presidential campaign rally, which was aired by an Egyptian private television channel.

“Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem with God’s will. Our chants shall be: ‘millions of martyrs will march towards Jerusalem,’” Safwat Hagazy said, according to the video aired by Egypt’s religious Annas TV.

The video, which went viral after being posted on YouTube, was translated into English by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“The United States of the Arabs will be restored on the hands of that man [Mursi] and his supporters. The capital of the [Muslim] Caliphate will be Jerusalem with God’s will,” Hegazy said, as the crowds cheered, waving Egyptian and Hamas flags.

“Tomorrow Mursi will liberate Gaza,” the crowds chanted.

“Yes, we will either pray in Jerusalem or we will be martyred there,” Hegazy said.

Hegazy’s speech came during a presidential campaign rally at the Egyptian Delta city of Mahalla, where Mursi attended along with the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badei and members of the group and its political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Al Arabiya reported.

Mursi will challenge Egypt’s former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in the upcoming runoff elections, scheduled to take place June 16 and 17. Shafiq, an air force general, was the country’s last prime minister before former president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down by a popular uprising in February 2011.

More at the link.

And at Althouse, "Muslim Brotherhood candidate wins the Egyptian presidency."

Also at Memeorandum.