MD Rabbi Alam, Obama Ally and Democrat Candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, Claims No Jews Died on 9/11

This guy's a mainstream Democrat, running for statewide office in Missouri, and boasts personal invitations to the Obama White House.

This is no anomaly. This is today's Democrat Party Jew-hating establishment.

At Atlas Shrugs, "Democrat Jew-hatred: Missouri Muslim Politician Claims 'No Jews Died During the Attacks of 9/11."

This is today's Democrat party. And so is this. What red-blooded, freedom-loving American would associate with the fifth column? Folks should be fleeing in droves ......

This guy is Obama's former satellite campaign manager. More Jew-hatred on Obama's Website: Hub for hate, terror and antisemitism.

Islamic Jew-hatred, it's in the quran.

And see the Washington Free Beacon, "Secretary of Truth":

A Democratic Party caucus chairman vying to become Missouri’s next secretary of state is a 9/11 Truther who has associated with a radical Muslim cleric and trafficked in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

MD Rabbi Alam is an Obama campaign ally and Missouri-based Democratic activist who chairs the National Democratic Party Asian American Caucus (NDPAAC), a Democratic National Committee-sponsored organization that liaises with Asian minorities.

Alam, who was born in Bangladesh, served as a “satellite campaign manager” for then-candidate Barack Obama and the Democratic Party during the 2008 elections, and has since been invited to the White House.

Alam has speculated about Jewish involvement in the September 11th terrorist attacks and participated in an event with a Muslim cleric who has accused Israel of terrorism and alleged that the U.S. invented the HIV disease.

“Why [was] 9/11 was a official holidy [sic] for all jewish [sic] people worked in the the [sic] WTC?” Alam asked in an Internet discussion titled, “Was 9/11 a conspiracy??”

Alam went on to tout the 9/11 Truther film Loose Change 9/11, and challenged readers to “tell me how many of the Jewish people died on the 9/11 tragedy?”

Asked in an interview Monday about his provocative views, Alam stood by his controversial writings, admitting that he has been “waiting to discuss it with somebody.”

“My question was, ‘What’s the reason not a single Jew was killed on that day,’” Alam said, maintaining that his inquiries are based on facts, rather than a bias against Jewish people. “Was there a single Jew killed on that day?”

The State Department long ago debunked the insinuation that Jews, forewarned about the attacks, stayed home on September 11. Officials estimate that somewhere between 200 and 400 Jews died in the World Trade Center; five Israeli citizens also perished in the attacks.

Alam, however, still has many questions, and cites “articles and research” purportedly showing that Jews were not killed.

Alam spent the next 20 minutes of the interview explaining the impossibility that commercial airliners could have singlehandedly knocked down the Twin Towers.

“I have 100 percent doubts. It doesn’t add up,” he said. “My bottom line is the plane is not solely responsible for destroying the whole building.”

Alam’s longstanding ties to the president and Democratic Party make his radical views about the 9/11 attacks and Jewish people all the more startling, political insiders and campaign experts say.

“When people make the Jewish claim with respect to the 9/11 attacks, that is such a red flag for an anti-Semite,” said Debra Burlingame, a board member of the national security group Keep America Safe. “It’s a dirty little truth for the 9/11 Truthers.”

Check the guy's website.

And remember, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz boasts a top staffer who slurs Jews on Facebook as "Jew-bags." See: "In flap over Jewish slur, Debbie Wasserman Schultz stands by aide."

It's the party of hate.

RELATED: From Ben Shapiro, at FrontPage, "74 Anti-Israel Democrats."

Added: Blazing Cat Fur links. Thanks!

Florida Teenager Loses Right Arm in Alligator Attack

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Florida teen loses arm -- but not his wit -- to alligator."

Lots more at London's Daily Mail, "'You're not the only left-handed person in the family now': Brave teen jokes with his sister after having right arm bitten off by ALLIGATOR."

Great White Shark Encounters on Both Coasts of United States

Folks feel as though they're living through Peter Benchley's "Jaws." So far there have been no deaths.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports on a great white shark attack on Saturday, "Shark attacks kayak near Pleasure Point." And this morning's Los Angeles Times reports on the Cape Cod great white sighting from Saturday as well, "Cape Cod shark: 'I just paddled,' kayaker says."

[Walter] Szulc, of Manchester, N.H., didn't realize he was being followed until the nearby paddle-border, Dana Richardson, began waving and yelling, "Shark!" That's when Szulc looked over his shoulder. "I saw the fin right away and I figured this is either it, or I'm going to paddle in," Szulc told reporters later.

Richardson had spotted it earlier about a mile south and said it trailed him as well. He was headed for Nauset Beach to alert lifeguards.

The fish got there first.

"I didn't want to just yell, 'Shark, shark,' and scare people," said Richardson, a Cape Cod resident and longtime surfer and paddle-boarder. "But when I saw the fin following the kayaker, I began yelling and waving my paddle."

The sighting came on the same day that a great white drew attention in Santa Cruz after chomping off the end of a kayak. The kayaker was thrown into the water and stunned, but not injured.

More at LAT, "Cape Cod shark scare: More people, more sharks, more run-ins," and at CSM, "Great white sharks: Close encounters on East and West coasts (+video).

Mr. Szulc is interview at CNN, "Brian Todd reports on the sightings of sharks in Cape Cod."

The Sadly Obligatory Post on Brad Pitt's Mom Receiving Death Threats from 'Tolerant' Gay Rights Progressives

Lonely Conservatives has the story, "Brad Pitt’s Mother Receives Death Threats After Writing Anti-Obama Op-Ed."

And also at the New York Post, "Brad Pitt’s mom faces death threats after anti-Obama letter":

Brad Pitt’s mom Jane Pitt has faced a barrage of death threats and other slurs after writing to her local paper bashing President Obama and his positions on gay marriage and abortion.

“Brad Pitt’s mom, die,” said one Twitter post, according to Web site Twitchy, while another tweet read, “[bleep] you, brad pitt's mom. the gay community made your kid a star, you whacko” and another says, “Brad Pitt’s mom wrote an anti-gay pro-Romney editorial. Kill the Bitch.”

The venomous tweets erupted after the “Moneyball” star’s mother wrote a letter to her local Missouri paper, the Springfield News-Leader, saying of the upcoming election, “Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for [Mitt] Romney’s opponent, Barack Hussein Obama — a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage.”

The Twitchy entry is here, "No H8? Tolerance bullies hurl vile slurs at Brad Pitt’s pro-Romney Christian mom."

Really, this is the radical homosexual left in a nutshell. No rationalizing, no excuse-making, can lift this burden off the progressive left. It's just one hate-filled attack after another, hurled against anyone who deviates from the fake tolerance agenda of the homosexual values-destruction cult.

There's a roundup at Memeorandum, FWIW.

Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo Bring It Home for the Angels

From Bill Shaiken, at the Los Angeles Times, "Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo are bringing it home for Angels."

To say Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo saved the Angels' season reeks of hyperbole. We're going to go one better, though.

Trout and Trumbo revived a franchise sagging under the weight of bloated contracts, mercenary outfielders and October letdowns. If the Angels do get to their first World Series under the ownership of Arte Moreno, the day they called up Trout might be just as significant as the day they signed Albert Pujols.

Probably more so.

Until the Angels summoned Trout from the minor leagues, Pujols had no one to drive in. Until the Angels installed Trumbo in the lineup every day, Pujols had no reliable power threat behind him.

Trout did not make the team out of spring training, crowded out by veterans with guaranteed dollars. Pujols pushed Trumbo off of first base, and out of the everyday lineup.

Now Trout and Trumbo appear anchored in the Angels' outfield — now, and for the next decade.

"When guys perform like this, you let them do what they do and get out of the way," Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto said.

And see ESPN's Buster Olney at this video clip, "Award Winning Angels."

RELATED: From Chris Erskine, "Time to celebrate the star of sports at the All-Star break — baseball."

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux Slobbers Over 'Former GOP Prodigy' Jonathan Krohn

I tweeted Johnathan Krohn during the segment:

Dude! @JonathanLKrohn, man at least try to have a compelling reason for spinelessly abandoning core values you were raised with. #DUH@CNN
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) July 9, 2012

And it's not just Suzanne Malveaux who's been slobbering over the kid. And that's the thing: he's just a child. One of the more absurd memes I read last week was how Krohn was challenging the notion that people get more conservative as they get older. I'm like, right, he's a freakin' a teenager! And besides, I've read the book. It's good. No one writes about something like that, conservatism, without having a deep-seated moral sense of what it's all about. What's so amazing is how transparently dishonest Krohn's transformation has been. He's been arguing that he essentially parroted conservative talking points when he was 13 years old. But anyone who's seen the CPAC clip recognized a true child prodigy who could really walk the walk. And Krohn loved the adulation. Now he's getting it from the other side, as you can see from his Twitter feed. He's mainlining the stuff. He's getting ready for college and he's probably been bullied by his progressive peers, because that's what they do. He frankly caved to the abuse. I won't be surprised if he ODs sometime in the future, or announces he's getting married to a longtime homosexual partner. There's frankly something wrong with the guy at this point and his second 15 minutes will be up shortly.

FWIW, see Krohn's piece at Salon: "I was a right-wing child star."

California Can't Afford ObamaCare's Medi-Cal Expansion

An awesome piece, from George Skelton, at the Los Angeles Times, "'Affordable' Care Act? Not so much for Sacramento":

In Washington, it's called the Affordable Care Act. In Sacramento, it could be become known as another budget buster.

Obamacare — as it's pugnaciously tagged by the political right — may not be affordable at all for California state government.

Soon after the federal healthcare act was passed by Congress in 2010, the Schwarzenegger administration in Sacramento calculated a state price tag of up to $2.65 billion annually.

The Brown administration has torn up that price tag, but doesn't have a new one. They're working on it, "trying to be much more precise," says Len Finocchio, associate director of the Department of Health Care Services.

Good luck on that. As Sacramento consistently demonstrates, being precise on government spending projections is virtually impossible.

But Finocchio acknowledges that the federal act will result in a heavier state financial load. "We almost certainly will be adding Medi-Cal enrollees, and that will be a cost," he notes.

The additional burden on the states is a negative aspect of the healthcare overhaul that seldom gets discussed, especially in Obama-rooting, liberal-dominated Sacramento.

That's California for you, also known as Cuba on the Pacific.

Read the whole thing. Skelton offers a dose of fiscal sobriety that's badly missing these days.

Texas Governor Rick Perry Won't Implement ObamaCare

Good for him.

States are going bankrupt over ObamaCare's unfunded mandates. Of course, the idiot radical progressives are attacking conservative governors on this as racist crackpots, which is all they've got as their socialist program goes down in flames.

Democrats Get All Jittery Over White House 'Taxmageddon' Strategy for 2013

You gotta love this, at the Wall Street Journal, "Democrats and the Tax Cliff":

President Obama has staked his re-election on the promise to raise taxes on anyone making more than $200,000 a year, but it's going to be fascinating to see if he can hold other Democrats through Election Day. June marked the third month in a row of lousy job creation, and the economy is growing slowly even as the January 2013 tax cliff grows closer by the day.

Already, as many as six Democratic Senators are hedging their bets as the economy looks worse. That list includes Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bill Nelson of Florida, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jim Webb of Virginia. The first four are running for re-election this year, while the last two are leaving the Senate. They haven't all declared outright support for postponing the tax hikes, but they have expressed a willingness to negotiate a deal with Republicans that would avoid raising taxes on anyone next year.

RTWT.

Bull Goes on the Rampage at Bous a la Mers Festival in Denia, Spain

I'm getting a kick out of this stuff.

At London's Daily Mail, "Running at full speed with horns out to attack: Shocking moment a raging bull rammed a fearless reveller into the sea."

And lots more from Canada's National Post, "Picture Post: Will this Pamplona bull hit the running target?"

Rosie Jones Classic Photo Roundup

At Egotastic, "Rosie Jones Pictures for An Early Happy Birthday."

The Relentless War Against the Family in Britain

From Melanie Phillips, at London's Daily Mail, "The real meaning of lifestyle choice":

The relentless war against the family in Britain continues in the highest court of the land. Baroness Hale, the veteran ‘lifestyle choice’ radical who, as a member of the UK Supreme Court, is the country’s top female judge, has called for cohabiting couples to be given more legal rights.

According to the Times (£) Lady Hale admires the situation in Scotland where the law is different, and in which the Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling by the Edinburgh Court of Session which ordered a man to pay his former cohabiting partner nearly £40,000 after their relationship broke down.

According to Lady Hale, Scottish law on this issue was both ‘practicable and fair.’ She said:

‘It does not impose upon unmarried couples the responsibilities of marriage but redresses the gains and losses flowing from their relationship.’

Family lawyers have backed her up, saying:

‘The current situation for people who live together in England and Wales more often than not creates injustice and hardship, and our current law fails to reflect the way people are choosing to live their lives.’

But the whole point is that cohabitation is the way they are choosing to live their lives. They could choose to get married. They choose not to, because they do not want to be married. They may want to preserve their independence; they may be averse to making a commitment to another person; they may think marriage is an outdated institution. Whatever the reason, it is their choice not to get married.

But marriage is an institution which inescapably confers obligations on those who enter into it. It is a solemn commitment – the most solemn commitment – one person can make to another.  It entails above all obligations between the spouses. The benefits that accrue to marriage are ineradicably bound up with those obligations.

The absence of legal protection in cohabitation follows from the fact that, unlike marriage, cohabitation is a loose partnership between individuals who remain ultimately free of each other; they can walk out of the relationship with no strings attached. This is the ‘lifestyle choice’ they make. If those benefits are bestowed on people who choose not to undertake their concomitant obligations, this is not only fundamentally unjust.  It vitiates the very nature of a contractual or covenantal agreement. If those who choose to duck the commitment of marriage can nevertheless obtain its benefits, this makes a mockery of and undermines the institution of marriage itself.

More at the link.

Marriage is just a politically convenient football for the left. If you're a swinger, who needs it? But if you're a radical homosexual extremist, marriage is the bee's knees. F-king progressive freak jackwagons.

Monday Malware Hype Fizzles as Few Lose Internet Access

This story was all the rage last week, about how hundreds of thousands of Internet users would be locked out of access because of a secret malicious infection from years ago, or something. It turns out, well, not so much. At the Wall Street Journal, "Malware Threat to Internet Corralled"

WASHINGTON—The malware threat to the Internet likely has been tamed.

Leading Internet-service providers said Sunday that they had moved to ensure that computers infected with malware left behind by a hacking spree that started in 2007 continue to access the Internet normally. On Monday, there were few signs that many Americans had lost their Web access.

Since November the Federal Bureau of Investigation has authorized the operation of servers to allow infected computers to run normally, but those servers went offline at midnight.

Comcast Corp. has reached out to customers with infected machines. Verizon Communications Inc. is connecting customers who lost connectivity to the Internet with technicians who can remove the malware. And AT&T Inc. said it has taken steps to make sure none of its customers lose their Internet connections.

Officials from the companies played down the threat, and some cybersecurity experts said computer antivirus programs and updated operating systems have cleaned most infected computers. The FBI had estimated that 64,000 computers were affected.

Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, said Monday there had been too much hype around the malware threat, which never posed much of a problem.

Exactly.

Anderson Cooper Coming Out Shows How Homosexuality Has Gone Totally Mainstream, or Something

It was pretty much a collective duh when the news broke last week on Anderson Cooper being gay.

Howard Kurtz covered the news on Sunday, and Tim Graham responds at NewsBusters, "CNN Unanimously Approves of Anderson Cooper's Sexuality, Boasts He's Now 'Mainstream,' Not on the 'Wrong Side of History'." It turns out Eric Deggans, interviewed at the clip, bashed conservatives as "haters" who should be banned from the networks in hit job last year at PuffHo, "My Thoughts on MLK Day: When Will News Media Stop Enabling Anti-Gay Activists?"

Michaelangelo Signorile is interviewed at the clip as well (and boy does he look like the stereotypical homosexual). Signorile, as some may recall, notoriously slimed Robert Stacy McCain in a hit piece about ten years back. I'm not linking, but Saberpoint has a related entry that corrects the record: "Robert Stacy McCain: I Know Him Better Than Charles Johnson Does."

And remember, homosexuality is in fact a perversion from the norm, and the left's normalization campaign is in fact a destructive program that is destabilizing for society. Check the archives for more, and see, for example, "Conservatives Block Homosexual Marriage Law in Washington State."

VIDEO: Taliban Execute Woman in Parwan Province, Afghanistan

An original version is here.

And at the New York Times, "In Video of Execution, Reign of Taliban Recalled":

KABUL, Afghanistan — The scene that Afghan officials say was caught on video last month near Kabul was as horrific as it was once common in Afghanistan: a Taliban fighter executing a woman with repeated shots to the back of her head as his compatriots and scores of villagers watch, and then cheer.

The crime the woman was accused of: adultery.

The video, which has begun circulating in Kabul, recalls the Taliban’s five-year reign in Afghanistan, when public executions were advertised on the radio and people accused of crimes were shot in front of crowds that packed the capital’s stadium. Adultery was among the crimes punishable by death.

The execution captured on the video took place in the Shinwari district of Parwan Province, in central Afghanistan, less than a two-hour drive from Kabul. It occurred on or around June 23, said Col. Masjidi, a senior provincial police official. Colonel Masjidi, like many Afghans, uses a single name.

These were bogus charges of adultery against the woman.

And at Atlas Shrugs, "Obama's 'Peace' Partners, the Taliban, Publicly Execute Woman Near Kabul."

Obama to Push Extension of Middle-Class Tax Cuts

From Laura Meckler, at the Wall Street Journal (via Memeorandum):

President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year, an effort to shift the conversation from the sagging economy toward tax fairness.

Mr. Obama appeared in the East Room, surrounded by people who would benefit from the extension. It is another display of the power of incumbency, which lets a president command attention for his ideas in grand surroundings not available to his challenger.

President Obama is launching a push to extend tax cuts for the middle class, Sara Murray reports on Markets Hub. (Photo: Getty Images)

His campaign will amplify the message with a series of battleground-state events this week, and Mr. Obama will make the same case on a campaign trip to Iowa on Tuesday.

The president has long supported a permanent extension of the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 and has called for cuts aiding wealthier families to expire.

But Monday's event marked the first time he specifically called for a one-year extension for the lower-earning group.

"Let's not hold the vast majority of all Americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy," Mr. Obama said.

Senate Democrats plan a vote in the next month on the proposal, which will amplify Mr. Obama's message, though it is not expected to pass. Indeed, no resolution on the issue is expected until after the November election.

And here's the headline at Wizbang, "Obama to Shift Focus From Dismal Jobs Outlook to Raising Taxes."

Well, it's just more class warfare, in any case. And if Team Romney gets its act together they'll be out with rapid reaction taking points hammering Obama on his ObamaCare tax boondoggle, and all the rest of the costs this administration has imposed on average Americans. See more at the Foundry, "Obama Finally Enters the Taxmageddon Debate—With a Tax Increase," and at the Weekly Standard, "Obama Tax Increase Would Hit Business Owners Hard."

Plus see all the coverage at Memeorandum.

Victoria Secret Model Alessandra Ambrosio Takes to the Beach in Malibu

She looks great --- and she just had a baby in May.

See London's Daily Mail, "Keep your eyes on the ball boys! Alessandra Ambrosio plays beach volleyball in a crop top and bikini bottoms," and "What a pair of angels! Bikini-clad Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio frolics in the sea with her gorgeous daughter Anja."

Also at the Blemish, "Alessandra Ambrosio in a Bikini Two Months After Giving Birth."

Three Gored During Monday's Running of the Bulls in Pamplona

Some of the other outlets, like Telegraph UK, have edited the video.

But the Guardian has a raw cut, "Pamplona bull run: Britons and American gored - video."

PREVIOUSLY: "Man Dragged by a Bull at Pamplona 2012."

The Supreme Court Leaks Continue

Check Orin Kerr at Volokh, via Althouse, "Someone on the conservative side of the Supreme Court 'wants us to know that they’re pissed off, and they want us to know why'."

Jan Crawford at CBS News initially reported the leaks.

'Excuses'

The latest ad from Crossroads GPS:

According to National Journal, "American Crossroads has purchased more than $39.8 million in advertising across at least 10 states between Labor Day and Election Day."

Andy Murray's Gracious Speech Following Wimbledon Loss

I promised an update at my previous post: "Andy Murray Worn Down in Heatbreak Loss to Roger Federer at Wimbledon."

As noted, there was a rain delay during the third set. It takes almost an hour to close the stadium at Wimbledon so during that time ESPN anchor Mike Tirico introduced a news segment on Andy Murray's background, especially on the tragedy in his hometown of Dunblane, Scotland. In 1996 a shooter entered Dunblane Primary School and killed 16 young children and one teacher before turning a gun on himself. The kids were 5 and 6-year-olds. The Wikipedia entry for the shooting is here. The ESPN segment included news clips of emotionally distraught parents running down the street to the school. Dunblane's a small town of 8,000 or so residents. And the shooting was one of the worst in the history of Great Britain, so that background is a big part of the huge emotional support for Andy Murray.

The New York Times reports on Dunblane's support for Murray, "Scottish Town Rises And Falls With Andy Murray":

DUNBLANE, Scotland — Inside Dunblane Youth Centre, strangers hugged, fists were pumped and children cheered. Boys lay on chairs shaped like tennis balls. Girls with Scottish flags painted on their cheeks wove through the crowd chanting, “Let’s go, Andy!” The room was so crammed with people breathing stale, warm air that personal space seemed more an extravagance than a basic courtesy, but no one seemed to mind because up there, on the giant projection screen, was one of them.

The people of this village 30 miles northeast of Glasgow have congregated before, have packed its pubs and its social halls and its gathering spots, to watch their most famous son compete at Wimbledon. For three straight years, Andy Murray had reached the semifinals, and for three straight years, Murray had lost. They lauded his effort — “the Scots love a valiant loser,” said Gordon Sloan, of nearby Greenloaning — but yearned for glory.

“We’ve been teased a lot these past few years,” David Macaskill of Dundee said. “A lot of Scottish hearts broken.”

That chance for glory came Sunday, against the indomitable Roger Federer. An island that had produced a men’s Wimbledon finalist for the first time since 1938 wondered if Murray would actually win. A country prayed. A town hoped.

In the town center, two popular pubs, the Village Inn and the Dunblane Hotel, heaved with people 45 minutes before the 2 p.m. start. Crowds spilled onto Stirling Road, which was not a problem because few cars were out driving anyway. Those who could not spend their afternoon planted in front of a television still tracked the score. Outside the youth center, a coffee van blared the radio broadcast of the match. At Simply M&S, the supermarket next door, cashiers asked customers for updates.

Sitting at a table in the Dunblane Bowling Club, Doreen Rose tried convincing herself before the match that Murray could win, should win, would win. “He’s won 8 of 15 matches against Federer,” said Rose, of nearby Callendar. “But they’ve never played on grass. Oh, I don’t know. I’m so nervous, I can’t think.”

Murray captured the first two games of the first set (“Come on, Andy!”), then lost the next two (“Go get ’em, Andy!”). When Murray broke Federer to go ahead, 5-4, Malky McLachlan of Dunblane was standing against a wall. He was cradling his 16-month-old son, Magnus, who was sleeping through the commotion — and through what was Murray’s first set won in a Grand Slam final. “Maybe he’ll see more history when he wakes up,” McLachlan said.

Magnus woke up about a half-hour later, when Murray was toiling through an arduous second set. Federer broke Murray at 5-6, and Sheena Herley of Dunblane sensed a shift in the mood.

“It’s a wee bit subdued now,” Herley said.

More at the link.

Plus, some reactions to Murray's emotional speech. At Telegraph UK, "Wimbledon 2012: Tearful Andy Murray loses on court, but wins the nation’s heart," London's Daily Mail, "Murray lost to a master of the universe, the tennis equivalent of Pele or Ali - tearful Andy's hopes dashed as Federer wins 17th Slam," and the Guardian, "Andy Murray: the fans' tears."

And a critical reaction at USA Today, "ESPN dropped the ball on Murray's reaction." And the Chattanooga Times Free Press, "Roger Federer, Andy Murray both won."

Are We Anywhere Close to Containing the Costs of Healthcare?

At the Wall Street Journal, "The Crushing Cost of Care":

On Valentine's Day 2009, Scott Crawford, 41 years old, received the break that he thought would save his life. A surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore removed his ailing heart and put in a healthy one. The transplant was a success.

But complications put the former tire-warehouse worker in intensive care for almost a year. Surgeons removed his gall bladder, his left leg and part of a lung. And Mr. Crawford soon became one of the most expensive Americans on Medicare.

A sliver of the sickest patients account for the majority of Medicare spending - and young people can often have the highest costs. WSJ's Janet Adamy discusses the case of Scott Crawford, who became one of the most expensive Americans on Medicare.

As his condition turned grave, one of his doctors questioned whether to keep treating him. Nurses reported feeling "moral distress" over his unrelenting pain. Still, medical opinion was split, and Mr. Crawford's family, with the backing of his transplant surgeon, pushed forward.

A few days before Christmas 2009, Mr. Crawford died, leaving behind a young son.

According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare data, the government spent $2.1 million on his inpatient and outpatient care in 2009. That was the fifth costliest of all Medicare beneficiaries that year and the highest among those who died by that year's end. Medicare covered Mr. Crawford's costs through federal disability insurance.

A primary goal of the 2010 health-care overhaul that the Supreme Court upheld last week is to slow the growth of costs. Even so, the law does little to address a simple fact: A sliver of the sickest patients account for the majority of U.S. health-care spending. In 2009, the top 10% of Medicare beneficiaries who received hospital care accounted for 64% of the program's hospital spending, the Journal's analysis found.

Younger patients like Mr. Crawford were more expensive, representing just 18.5% of the beneficiaries who received hospital care but 23.7% of the total cost. Seniors vastly outnumbered them, however, and consumed 76% of the total hospital costs.

As for Medicare's long-term cost trajectory, it is relentlessly upward. The program's net expenditures totaled $486 billion last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, or 13.5% of all federal expenditures. In March, the CBO projected that Medicare expenditures would grow an average of 5.7% per year through 2022 and equal 16.2% of all federal outlays.

Medicare patients rack up disproportionate costs in the final year of life. In 2009, 6.6% of the people who received hospital care died. Those 1.6 million people accounted for 22.3% of total hospital expenditures, the Journal's analysis shows.

But efforts by policy makers to tackle the question of end-of-life care have foundered recently. In the debate over President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul, an initiative to help Medicare beneficiaries plan end-of-life care sank after opponents labeled it a "death panel."

"We're always going to have patients in the Medicare program that need a disproportionate number of resources," said Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator and director for Medicare. As for Mr. Crawford, "A lot of the costs were driven by complications that could have been avoided," he said, citing an early infection as an example.

Continue reading.

Some patients are going to cost more, despite all the treatment to prevent infections and so forth. And when you get a patient like Mr. Crawford, no one's going to recommend that we pull the plug, because that's not what we do. The problem is that overall healthcare costs are out of control and ObamaCare will not address the problem and is expected to make matters worse.

Newspaper Industry Is Running Out of Time to Adapt to Digital Future

Well, this piece is from NYT's David Carr, who notoriously slammed Kansans and Missourians and people with "low sloping foreheads."

So take it FWIW: "The Fissures Are Growing for Papers." (Via Mediagazer.)

Is Spanking Okay?

Here's an ABC News clip from the other day: "Parenting Techniques: To Spank or Not to Spank?"

I personally think it's okay. That said, I don't like spanking my kids all that much. I feel guilty, and that's because society has said it's not okay. It's to the point where I feel like Child Protective Services will be breathing down my neck. That's me though. Overall, I think it should be up to the parents. The recent viral video of the man beating his kid with a belt for not catching a baseball is child abuse. Parents who give their kids a good swift open-hand swat to the butt, after the kids have been behaving badly, are disciplining their children as they see fit. 

Theo's Sunday Hotties

All good.

See: "Sunday Totty...", and "Bedtime Totty..."

Why Conservatives Are Happier Than Liberals

From Arthur Brooks, at the New York Times:

WHO is happier about life — liberals or conservatives? The answer might seem straightforward. After all, there is an entire academic literature in the social sciences dedicated to showing conservatives as naturally authoritarian, dogmatic, intolerant of ambiguity, fearful of threat and loss, low in self-esteem and uncomfortable with complex modes of thinking. And it was the candidate Barack Obama in 2008 who infamously labeled blue-collar voters “bitter,” as they “cling to guns or religion.” Obviously, liberals must be happier, right?

Wrong. Scholars on both the left and right have studied this question extensively, and have reached a consensus that it is conservatives who possess the happiness edge. Many data sets show this. For example, the Pew Research Center in 2006 reported that conservative Republicans were 68 percent more likely than liberal Democrats to say they were “very happy” about their lives. This pattern has persisted for decades. The question isn’t whether this is true, but why.

Many conservatives favor an explanation focusing on lifestyle differences, such as marriage and faith. They note that most conservatives are married; most liberals are not. (The percentages are 53 percent to 33 percent, according to my calculations using data from the 2004 General Social Survey, and almost none of the gap is due to the fact that liberals tend to be younger than conservatives.) Marriage and happiness go together. If two people are demographically the same but one is married and the other is not, the married person will be 18 percentage points more likely to say he or she is very happy than the unmarried person.

The story on religion is much the same. According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, conservatives who practice a faith outnumber religious liberals in America nearly four to one. And the link to happiness? You guessed it. Religious participants are nearly twice as likely to say they are very happy about their lives as are secularists (43 percent to 23 percent). The differences don’t depend on education, race, sex or age; the happiness difference exists even when you account for income.

Whether religion and marriage should make people happy is a question you have to answer for yourself. But consider this: Fifty-two percent of married, religious, politically conservative people (with kids) are very happy — versus only 14 percent of single, secular, liberal people without kids.

An explanation for the happiness gap more congenial to liberals is that conservatives are simply inattentive to the misery of others. If they recognized the injustice in the world, they wouldn’t be so cheerful. In the words of Jaime Napier and John Jost, New York University psychologists, in the journal Psychological Science, “Liberals may be less happy than conservatives because they are less ideologically prepared to rationalize (or explain away) the degree of inequality in society.” The academic parlance for this is “system justification.”

Continue reading.

And here's that Napier and Jost study: "Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals?"

Brooks wrote a book dealing with some of this stuff: Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism.

Ernest Borgnine: 1917-2012

I got a thrill watching Earnest Borgnine in "Red" in 2010. I think I was surprised to see him starring in a brief cameo, but it was great. And it turns out Borgnine was still making movies. He's seen at the clip discussing, "The Man Who Shook The Hand of Vicente Fernández."

The Huffington Post has an interview from a couple of weeks ago, "I Was Marty: An Interview With Ernest Borgnine."

And here's the obituary at the Los Angeles Times, "Ernest Borgnine dies at 95; won Oscar for 'Marty,' showed comic side in sitcom":

Ernest Borgnine, who delivered an Academy Award-winning performance as the lonely Bronx butcher looking for love in the 1955 drama "Marty" and displayed his comic side in the 1960s as the star of the popular TV sitcom "McHale's Navy," has died. He was 95.

Borgnine died Sunday of apparent kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his longtime publicist, Harry Flynn, told The Times. Borgnine went into the hospital "a couple of days ago" for a checkup, Flynn said.

Audiences first took notice of the stocky, gap-toothed Borgnine in the 1953 movie "From Here to Eternity," in which he played "Fatso" Judson, the sadistic stockade sergeant of the guard who viciously beats up Frank Sinatra's Pvt. Angelo Maggio in the adaptation of James Jones' acclaimed novel depicting Army life in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The role moved Borgnine into the top echelon of movie villains in films such as "Vera Cruz" and "Bad Day at Black Rock."

But then came the title role in "Marty," the 1955 film version of Paddy Chayefsky's original TV play about a sensitive Italian American bachelor butcher who longs for more than simply hanging out with his pals on Saturday night.

"Well, waddaya feel like doing tonight?" Marty's best friend, Angie, played by Joe Mantell, asks in the movie's often-quoted exchange.

"I don't know, Ang', wadda you feel like doing?" Marty replies.

Borgnine's sensitive portrayal of the self-described "fat ugly man" not only earned him an Oscar for best actor, but the movie also won Academy Awards for Chayefsky and director Delbert Mann, as well as the best picture Oscar...

More at the link.

Also at Blazing Cat Fur, "Ernest Borgnine has died."

City College of San Francisco, Nation's Largest Two-Year College, On Brink of Closure

This a huge story.

See the San Francisco Chronicle, "City College of San Francisco on brink of closure":

The poorly run City College of San Francisco has eight months to prove it should stay in business, yet must "make preparations for closure," evaluators ordered Tuesday.

The stunning verdict by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges could result in the closure of California's largest college and a fixture of higher education in one of the nation's wealthiest cities. It has 90,000 students.

Only accredited colleges can receive public funding under state law. But City College's failure to fix serious, long-standing problems of leadership and fiscal planning means that the accrediting commission could vote as early as next June to yank the school's all-important certification, said Barbara Beno, commission president.

More at the link.

My first thought was "no way!" This is a campus with almost 100,000 students, about a third full-time, which makes it one of the largest colleges in the United States. Indeed, the report at Inside Higher Ed says CCSF is too big to fail, "Something Has to Give: Accreditation crisis hits City College of San Francisco":

The shuttering of California’s largest college would be a five-alarm fiasco. With a total enrollment of about 90,000 students (33,000 full-time) and 12 campuses and sites around San Francisco, City College is probably too big to fail. Most of those students would have no other local option, and the rest of the state’s community colleges could hardly absorb them, anyhow, given that the system will turn away an estimated 200,000 students this year because of financial shortfalls.

As a result, City College’s closure is unlikely, observers say. But the college has its work cut out for it. The commission didn’t blink in 2005 when it shut down Compton Community College because of fiscal mismanagement. In that case, however, the much smaller college was consumed by El Camino Community College, becoming a campus center, where enrollment is actually up.

The commission’s fix-it list is long and the timeline is short. The college is also dealing with further budget cuts, which will get worse if voters don’t pass a tax hike this fall...

You can guess what happened. Gross financial mismanagement has placed the college's survival in doubt.

Here's the accreditation report from the ACCJC: "EVALUATION REPORT: City College of San Francisco." And two sections from the summary stand out:

All segments of the college staff expressed and demonstrated a genuine commitment to being a student-centered college. Despite the unified commitment to the college mission, there exists a veil of distrust among the governance groups that manifests itself as an 5 indirect resistance to board and administrative decision-making authority. The chancellor, Academic Senate leaders, vice chancellors, deans, faculty, department chairs, Board of Trustees, classified staff, and student leaders have designed and implemented an elaborate shared governance model. However, the team did not find evidence of clearly delineated roles and authority for decision making, thereby hindering timely communication, decisions and results. Based on this behavior, and coupled with the large number of classified and administrative staff vacancies and expenditures that do not match existing revenue, the team is concerned that the roles, responsibilities and decision-making authority of leadership and the governance structures are not clearly defined.

And:

The team was impressed by the documentation provided in the self study and in the voluminous, yet organized evidence provided in the team room. However, during the course of the team visit additional information was required to reconcile differences between evidence provided in the CCSF Self Evaluation Report and statements made in response to team inquiries. Furthermore, gaining access to some evidence related to technology, finances and human resources was not easy. Additionally, after the visit, the team chair received correspondence, which raised suspicion about the integrity of the institution. Furthermore, the college has not made progress to address a long-standing pattern of late financial audits and deficit spending, which harm the financial integrity of the institution. The college must take steps to restore trust and institutional integrity.

Sounds sketchy.

And continue reading at the report, especially Standard III on college resources. The college is radically understaffed, with personnel "overtaxed" in their efforts to perform the duties and services of the institution. The report notes that these human resources deficiencies do not inform the fiscal planning process effectively, which means that money is not being apportioned to serve the essential needs of the school. And scroll down further to Standard IV, especially the sections on "Findings and Evidence" and the "Conclusion." The college appears to have both high levels of internal institutional distrust --- with threats of retaliation made against those serving on key reporting committees --- and of corrupt decision-making processes --- and that's on the Academic Senate side of things, as well --- that have raised questions about the honesty and integrity of the entire self-evaluation and reporting requirements to the ACCJC.

The college has been running budget deficits for three years and has dipped into financial reserves to survive. This is not a new situation statewide, as budget cuts have hit community colleges hard since at least 2008. But checking back over at the story at Inside Higher Ed, the union president (no surprise) blames the budget crisis (not decision-making) for the school's problems:

So how did the situation at City College get this bad? The answer, it seems, is one of culture.

People take open access seriously in San Francisco. No college in the state has a deeper attachment to its mission of serving as many students as possible. And City College also prides itself on a decentralized decision-making process, which allows plenty of experimentation at the department level. But those traditions aren’t particularly helpful while a college absorbs a flurry of budget cuts.

City College “has a long history of delegation,” which “was a good thing for long time,” said Scott Lay, president and CEO of the Community College League of California. But “that doesn’t actually work with several years of budget austerity.”
The report failed to fully acknowledge the role of state funding cuts in causing problems at the college, said Alisa Messer, an English instructor at City College and president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, the college’s primary faculty union. And she defended City College for sticking to its mission.
“We’re trying not to close the door to our students,” she said, adding that “these are truly contradictory and impossible times.”

Messer also defended the college’s stripped-down approach to administration, which she said has been a deliberate attempt to serve as many students as possible in tight times by “trying to maintain people in the front lines.”

Notice the part about how the college takes "open access seriously." I can guarantee you the college's remediation rates are hitting close to 90 percent if not more, which is why they are moving to abolish placement testing for incoming students (sounds familiar). And being perhaps the most diverse community college in the state, it's a safe bet that the college's staffing and administration practices are equally exotic. It would be thought "racist" to say it (but here goes anyway), but community colleges sometimes get less-than-spectacular teachers and administrators. (That's a nice way of saying grossly unqualified.) The so-called culture of diversity at such colleges works to create an affirmative action system that combines with some old-fashioned patronage politics for badly inefficient institutional outcomes. And I'm talking in the general sense here. No doubt those on the inside at CCSF would be able to report on some abject levels of corruption that contributed to the college's fiscal train wreck.

Frankly, it would be a political bombshell if the college were to indeed close, and we'd be hearing cries of racism until the cows come home. That's why I doubt that CCSF will go belly up. It might get taken over and placed in some kind of receivership by the state, and then perhaps merged with another district on a temporary basis. But I seriously doubt a college of this magnitude would up and close its doors on the nearly 100,000 students it serves. See the San Francisco Chronicle for more, "City College vows to resist closure, takeover."

More on this later, for sure...

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Andy Murray Worn Down in Heatbreak Loss to Roger Federer at Wimbledon

Here's the headline at London's Daily Mail, "Murray's Grand Slam hopes dashed as fantastic Federer wins thrilling four-set final at Wimbledon."

Also see the live blog at Telegraph UK, "Andy Murray v Roger Federer - Wimbledon 2012 men's final: live."

I got up at 6:00am to catch the match. Murray came on super strong in the opening games, breaking Federer in the first game and winning his next service to go ahead 2-0. No doubt all of Britain's hopes surged at that start. And things stayed well for Murray. He won the set and looked in good shape to win the match. But there was a rain delay and Wimbledon officials closed the roof of the stadium. When play resumed, Murray was unable to break Federer's momentum and he started to tire badly. And he took a nasty fall during the 10-deuce game that was the turning point of the match. It went downhill from there.

Daily Mail also has a live blog, "WIMBLEDON 2012 LIVE: Andy Murray takes on Roger Federer in the men's final."

More on this later. The closer ceremony was must-see TV. I'll check for video of Murray's speech and update. Until then, a great update at the Daily Mail, "Murray mania turns to misery: Andy, girlfriend Kim and mum Judy all in tears on Centre Court as he loses Wimbledon final to Federer." Murray is a real class act. Federer won with superior fitness and finesse, but with all of Britain's eyes on Murray, it was a heartbreak loss with tons of emotion.

Afghanistan Designated Major U.S. Ally

At the New York Times, "U.S. Grants Special Ally Status to Afghans, Easing Fears of Abandonment."

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States declared Afghanistan a major, non-NATO ally on Saturday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton personally delivering the news of Afghanistan’s entry into a club that includes Israel, Japan, Pakistan and other close Asian and Middle Eastern allies.

The move, announced as Mrs. Clinton stood with President Hamid Karzai amid the rose beds and towering trees on the grounds of the presidential palace here, was part of a broad strategic partnership deal signed by the United States and Afghanistan in May, she said. The pact went into effect last week.

“Please know that the United States will be your friend,” she told Mr. Karzai. “We are not even imagining abandoning Afghanistan. Quite the opposite. We are building a partnership with Afghanistan that will endure far into the future.”

The designation by the United States grants a country special privileges, like access to American military training and excess military supplies, Mrs. Clinton said.

In a separate statement, the State Department said Afghanistan would also be able to obtain loans of equipment from the United States and financing for leasing equipment. The agreement does not, however, “entail any security commitment” by the United States to Afghanistan, the State Department said.

Iraq was never given the status of a major ally, and American troops withdrew last year.

Actually, Iraq, as bad as it is, has had a lot more going for it compared to the Afghan clusterf*ck. The Obama administration plans to hold the reins tightly as the U.S. pulls out, lest the entire AF-PAK region spins out of control into a terrorist Armageddon.

It's Been 76 Years Since a Briton's Won Wimbledon

At Independent UK, "Everyone for tennis! UK grinds to halt as Murray seeks glory." And, "You can't hurry a Murray, but it has been 76 years":

And at Telegraph UK, "We’re with you, Andy":

Whatever the outcome of today’s contest on Centre Court, Andy Murray has already earned a place in the history books: the first Briton to reach the men’s singles final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin almost three-quarters of a century ago. Murray’s courage and persistence – as well as outstanding talent – have been rewarded: he now has the opportunity to accomplish an even more historic achievement by emerging as the first British champion since Fred Perry.

Charles Krauthammer: Israel Likely to Attack Iran Before the Election

Via Weasel Zippers, "Krauthammer: Israel Will Attack Iran Before Election If They Think Obama Will Win":

More from Linkmaster Smith at The Other McCain, "Romney Doesn’t Seem Interested In Winning Ugly."

Suspected Al-Qaeda Terrorist Arrested at Olympic Park, London

At Telegraph UK, "Al-Qaeda terror suspect caught at Olympic Park."

A suspected terrorist who MI5 believe is a would-be suicide bomber was found repeatedly near the Olympic Games venue.

Also at Mirror UK, "Security scare: British jihadist who fought with al Qaeda arrested after he enters Olympic Park FIVE times."

RELATED: At Atlas Shrugs, "Third Muslim Attack on Olympics Thwarted in as Many Days."

At Last: The Blake Lively Bikini Shots You've Been Waiting For

Well, what a difference a day makes!

Here's Friday's entry, "Blake Lively Fourth of July Swimsuit Pics."

And here's the update from yesterday's Daily Mail, "Blake takes the lake! Bikini-clad Lively spends a romantic day boating with boyfriend Ryan Reynolds...and they STILL can't keep their hands off each other."

Man Dragged by a Bull at Pamplona 2012

This is amazing.

Watch especially around 50 seconds at the clip. I guess the guy's lucky it was just his neckerchief that got caught on the horns.

And see the Independent UK, "Five injured in Pamplona running of the bulls."

Saturday Hotties

At Theo's, "Saturday Totty...", and "Bonus Babe..."

Linking (Giving Credit) is a Critical Part of Web Culture

I love this piece at GigaOM, "Why links matter: Linking is the lifeblood of the web."

I'm probably an over-linker, but sometimes when I find a widely available YouTube I don't always give a hat tip. It depends on where I find the video. Bloggers like to link their friends and diss their enemies, so that explains a lot of it. (For blog posts, I mostly link to the blog where I find the reported information initially, and thus sometimes the person who broke the story might not get the link --- and again, the friends/enemies distinction might come into play here.)

I'm probably violating some of the correct norms, but then again, I think that's how most folks roll, actually. For the most part, I probably link to much. Folks have even complained about that to me in fact.

Anniversary of London's 7/7 Terrorist Attacks

With all the Olympic planning, not to mention the new terrorist threats, there's virtually no remembrance of the terrorists attacks of 2005.

But see the Economist, "London bombings: Seven years since 7/7":

SEVEN years ago London suffered one of its worst terrorist attacks when four Islamist terrorists detonated bombs in the morning rush-hour: three in quick succession on the city's underground railway network and a fourth in Tavistock Square aboard a red double-decker bus. Fifty-two people died, including the four bombers, and over 700 more were injured.

The following is an interview with a 7/7 survivor, now aged 26 and working as a PA in Notting Hill.

Continue reading.

RELATED: At London's Dail Mail in 2009, "I've just seen hell on earth: Four years after 7/7, a never before seen picture of the horror that confronted police on the Tube ripped apart by terrorists."

Online Harassment Against Feminist Blogger Anita Sarkeesian

Robert Stacy McCain reports on Think Progress's Alyssa Rosenberg's defense of feminist blogger Anita Sarkeesian. See: "‘Concentrated Campaign of Harassment … to Terrorize People into Silence’- UPDATE: Parallels to Rauhauser." (Via Instapundit.)

Rosenberg's essay is here: "The Escalating Campaign Against Anita Sarkeesian and The Long-Term Weakness of Sexist Trolls." It's a good piece. These people are definitely cowards. It's not clear though that the attacks are right-wing attacks. Go back and read Robert's essay. Apparently Helen Lewis of the New Statesman indicates that the 4Chan hackers might be involved in the attacks on Sakeesian --- and I remember distinctly how advocates for 4Chan claimed the group's activists have no ideological motivation to their attacks. I argued in contrast that the troll-hacker types were anarchist and inherently leftist. I'm not saying much more than that here. Simply that until we see some folks on the left getting SWAT-ted like Patterico and the others, I'll continue the hold that it's the left that's mounting the prominent campaign of online intimidation to silence speech.

PHOTO CREDIT: Anita Sarkeesian via Wikimedia Commons.

ADDED: Bob Belvedere reports with this reference to The Other McCain:

Also, do check out Stacy’s report on a case of Leftist-On-Leftist Thuggery, how [sur-frickin'-prise] high hypocrisy reigns among the ‘respectable Left’, and how Neal Rauhauser comes into play [he's like shit, it seems: he's everywhere].

See the full report: "The #BrettKimberlin Report D+43."

Anthony Glen Gorospe, Mentally Disturbed Hoarder, Arrested in Shooting Standoff With Long Beach Police

My college is located in North Long Beach.

See the Long Beach Press Telegram, "UPDATED: Police arrest North Long Beach shooting suspect after seven-hour standoff."

And this is what SWAT-ting looks like. A dangerous situation:

And see London's Daily Mail, "Hoarder terrified police and housing officials were going to take his possessions 'shot inspector in the head'."

The inspector is extremely lucky to be alive. The bullet grazed him right next to the eye.

BONUS: Back at the Press-Telegram, "Scavengers stealing from home of alleged hoarder."

Serena Williams Wins 5th Wimbledon Title

That's Cliff Drysdale with the analysis at the clip below, and there's another video here (she hugs her family).

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Serena Williams wins fifth Wimbledon singles title":

Serena Williams, who had already eliminated defending Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and second-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who had won this season's first major title at the Australian Open, took down third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday to win her fifth Wimbledon title and her career 14th major championship.

Williams, who had last won a Grand Slam title here two years ago, first overpowered and then outlasted the 23-year-old Radwanska, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Radwanska was playing in her first Grand Slam final.

Shortly after Williams, 30, dominated the 2010 Wimbledon championships, she had a foot injury that required surgery and then a pulmonary embolism that combined to keep her away from tennis for almost a year.

She made her return to majors tennis here a year ago but was upset in the fourth round. Williams suffered an unexpectedly decisive loss in the finals of the 2011 U.S. Open to Samantha Stosur, then lost in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open and in the first round of the French Open last May.

But Williams, seeded sixth, overpowered the field here. In the second game of the second set against the Radwanska, Williams set a new Wimbledon women's record with her 90th ace and that stellar serving kept all her opponents off balance.

More at the link.

And see London's Daily Mail, "Serena beats Radwanska to level Venus' Wimbledon tally with fifth crown at SW19."

'Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie' – Video Shows Copter Pilot Singing Don McLean Song Before Blasting Afghan Insurgent

And this is controversial?

Well, it is for the folks at Guardian UK, "'Bye-bye, Miss American Pie' – then US helicopter appears to fire on Afghans."

The Guardian was one of the big newspapers to publish the WikiLeaks files a few years back, but this 'American Pie' video won't rekindle any enthusiasm for the previous witch hunts.

Added: Weasel Zippers had this first, "Thursday Morning War Porn…" And the update: "War Porn Makes the News: UK Lib Rag Guardian Outraged American Pilot Sang “Bye-Bye Miss American Pie” Before Taking Out Taliban IED Team…"

George W. Bush Visits Africa to Support Efforts to Fight Cancer

I miss him so much.

And at London's Daily Mail, "The President and the orphan: Poignant picture captures moment George W Bush embraced child on tour of Africa."

Obama's Imperial Presidency

From Kim Strassel, at the Wall Street Journal:

The ObamaCare litigation is history, with the president's takeover of the health sector deemed constitutional. Now we can focus on the rest of the Obama imperial presidency.

Where, you are wondering, have you recently heard that term? Ah, yes. The "imperial presidency" of George W. Bush was a favorite judgment of the left about our 43rd president's conduct in war, wiretapping and detentions. Yet say this about Mr. Bush: His aggressive reading of executive authority was limited to the area where presidents are at their core power—the commander-in-chief function.

By contrast, presidents are at their weakest in the realm of domestic policy—subject to checks and balances, co-equal to the other branches. Yet this is where Mr. Obama has granted himself unprecedented power. The health law and the 2009 stimulus package were unique examples of Mr. Obama working with Congress. The more "persistent pattern," Matthew Spalding recently wrote on the Heritage Foundation blog, is "disregard for the powers of the legislative branch in favor of administrative decision making without—and often in spite of—congressional action."

Put another way: Mr. Obama proposes, Congress refuses, he does it anyway.

Continue reading.

Blake Lively Fourth of July Swimsuit Pics

Notice it's not "bikini pics." She's not wearing one.

I guess she's not as concerned about having a totally ripped bod like some other Hollywood hotties. Ryan Reynolds doesn't seem to mind, that's for sure.

At London's Daily Mail, "Dotty about Blake! Ryan Reynolds steals a kiss from his stunning girlfriend as they strip down and heat up July 4 party."

Democrat House Candidate Tammy Duckworth Responds to Rep. Joe Walsh's Attacks

This is yet another one of those times where I'm less than pleased with a sitting Member of Congress, Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois' 8th congressional district. I watched Ashley Banfield's lengthy interview with Walsh the other morning, and video's now available: "Duckworth: Rep. Walsh is extremist loudmouth'."

And then yesterday Duckworth went on the air to respond, seen here with Wolf Blitzer: "Duckworth responds to opponent's attacks."

And read Erick Erikson's takeaway, "I Support Joe Walsh. You Should Too."

Actually, I agree with Erickson, except for a key point: Walsh does indeed come across looking like he's slamming a distinguished veteran who lost both of her legs in combat. Duckworth is an advocate for veterans. She's open about how that's her signature issue. While she's no doubt a far-left opportunist who became antiwar after returning from her service in 2006, running for Congress before the Bush surge, I doubt Walsh will gain much traction with that line of attack. Watch that CNN interview with Banfield. He's not so articulate. Frankly, he comes across like a lout. And while it's not something I followed much, he was also dogged by reports that he dodged his spousal and child support payments.

In any case, it's a battleground district, which CNN is calling one of the nastiest in the country. So, I'll be checking back in on this one.

High-Level Defections in Syria

An excellent report from CBS News:

And see also the Wall Street Journal, "Diplomats Cheer Syria General's Defection," and "Syria Defector's Little-Traveled Path."

Lake Elsinore Kinky Sex Retreats for School Administrators!

At the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "LAKE ELSINORE: Lawsuit cites risqué school district retreats."

And see Chelsea Schilling at WND, "YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK. School retreats spotlight 'kinky sex,' plastic genitals."

Former superintendent Frank Passarella, now retired, reportedly announced the video at the 2011 retreat by telling administrators “everyone should know that it is all in fun.”

According to the complaint, Guevara told district employees to draw shapes and lines that were used to determine whether each attendee liked “kinky sex.”

The newspaper notes that attorneys provided a sexual harassment training workshop after the “kinky sex” incident, but they joked about the exercise.

These retreats are generally taxpayer funded, so it'll be interesting to see what else comes out of this story.

Brad Pitt's Mother Slams Gay Marriage and President Obama

Well, I guess they ran out of Kool-aid out there in, er, Springfield (Missouri).

See the Los Angeles Times, "Brad Pitt's mother knocks Obama on gay marriage, abortion stances."

Also at Maggie's Notebook, "Brad Pitt’s Mother – Jane Pitt: Obama a Liberal Who Kills Unborn Babies – Vote for Mitt Romney."

Change! Growth in Retail Sales Slows From Last Year's Numbers

At the New York Times, "Retail Sales Fell Short in June":

Some of the nation’s biggest retail chains reported on Thursday that sales growth slowed in June, as shoppers held back amid wavering consumer confidence and unemployment.

A survey by Thomson Reuters of 18 retailers showed that sales at stores open more than a year were up 2.5 percent in June, well below the 7.7 percent increase recorded in June 2011. The same-store sales results surpassed Wall Street analysts’ forecasts of a 2.4 percent rise.

Retailers have seen lower spending over all by domestic customers, a drop in consumer confidence as millions of people remain out of work and fewer tourists are willing to spend amid a global economic slowdown.

Nancy Liu, a retail strategist for Kurt Salmon, a consulting firm, said that one of the reasons for the lower June results this year was that the sales numbers were being compared with a strong performance in June 2011.

“Retailers were coming out of the gate” a year ago, she said. “They would have had to outperform to beat those numbers.”

Global economic issues were weighing on consumers. Ms. Liu said the euro zone crisis, the potential slowdown of growth in Asia and unemployment rates that had not recovered as quickly as people expected had prompted retailers to promote and discount heavily to get customers to buy.

In addition, because of a mild winter, retailers may have benefited from some of the summer spending earlier in the year, and inventories are being discounted and cleared to allow for back-to-school buying.

Retailers have been keen to attract cautious consumers in a recovery weighed down by constraints in employment, housing and credit as well as, until recently, high gasoline prices.

“The second quarter is proving to be a real downer for retailers and consumers alike,” said Chris G. Christopher Jr., a United States economist for IHS Global Insight. “Job prospects are looking dimmer, equity markets are more volatile, the European debt crisis has reared its ugly head and consumer confidence is back into recession territory.”

Arizona Mom Faces Child Abuse Charges After Arrest for Pouring Beer Into Her 2-Year-Old's Sippy Cup

It's hard to believe.

The main thing is the kid is doing fine.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Arizona mom admits putting beer in 2-year-old's sippy cup."

More at London's Daily Mail, "Mother arrested after allegedly pouring beer into the drinking beaker of her two-year-old son."

F-king Despicable Global Warming Progressives Exploit Colorado Wildfires to Stoke Climate Change Hysteria

LGM communist Erik Loomis couldn't resist exploiting the wildfires to stoke global warming hysteria: "Colorado is the Future."

Loomis is too predictably stupid to merit a response. Anthony Watts calls the Colorado-inspired hysteria "crazy": "‘What global warming really looks like’ – Michael Oppenheimer FAIL."

But see Michelle Malkin, who was evacuated from her home due to the Waldo Canyon Fire, "Global warming blame-ologists play with fire":

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Good news: The Waldo Canyon fire, which forced 32,000 residents (including our family) to flee, claimed two lives and destroyed 347 homes, is now 100 percent contained. Bad news: Radical environmentalists won’t stop blowing hot air about this year’s infernal season across the West.

Al Gore slithered out of the political morgue to bemoan nationwide heat records and pimp his new “Climate Reality Project,” which blames global warming for the wildfire outbreak. NBC meteorologist Doug Kammerer asserted: “If we did not have global warming, we wouldn’t see this.” Agriculture Department Undersecretary Harris Sherman, who oversees the Forest Service, claimed to the Washington Post: “The climate is changing, and these fires are a very strong indicator of that.”

And the Associated Press (or rather, the Activist Press) lit the fear-mongering torch with an eco-propaganda piece titled “U.S. summer is what ‘global warming will look like.’”

The problem is that the actual conclusions of scientists included in AP’s screed don’t back up the apocalyptic headline. As the reporter acknowledges under that panicky banner:

“Scientifically linking individual weather events to climate change takes intensive study, complicated mathematics, computer models and lots of time. Sometimes it isn’t caused by global warming. Weather is always variable; freak things happen.”
So, this U.S. summer may or may not really look like “what global warming looks like.” Kinda. Sorta. Possibly. Possibly not.

Furthermore, the AP reporter concedes, the “global” nature of the warming and its supposed catastrophic events have “been local. Europe, Asia and Africa aren’t having similar disasters now, although they’ve had their own extreme events in recent years.”

A more hedging headline would have been journalistically responsible, but Chicken Little-ism better serves the global warming blame-ologists’ agenda.

More inconvenient truths: As The Washington Times noted this week, the National Climatic Data Center shows that “Colorado has actually seen its average temperature drop slightly from 1998 to 2011, when data is collected only from rural stations and not those that have been urbanized since 1900.”

Radical green efforts to block logging and timber sales in national forests since the 1990s are the real culprits. Wildlife mitigation experts point to incompetent forest management and militant opposition to thinning the timber fuel supply.

Another symptom of green obstructionism: widespread bark beetle infestations. The U.S. Forest Service itself reported last year...

More at the link.

Jobs Numbers Could Affect Presidential Race

At the New York Times, "Stakes for Jobs Figures Rise as Voters’ Views Start to Solidify":

WASHINGTON — Economists are slashing their already tepid growth forecasts. The unemployment rate seems stuck at around 8 percent. It is a tense time for the American economy. It is also the time that some experts believe the country’s undecided voters are beginning to cement their presidential picks.

That is why many political scientists and consultants consider Friday’s jobs report and the ones immediately following it to be so important — perhaps more so than those of the previous three years.

“I don’t know whether it is because American voters are myopic, or because they are forward-looking,” said Andrew Gelman, the director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University. “But they appear to care most about change in the economy in the year preceding the election,” rather than the state of the economy over an incumbent president’s first four years.

Some narrow the critical period even more, arguing that what happens from April until October of an election year weighs especially heavily on voters’ minds.

“It’s difficult to sort out the electoral effects of specific slivers of economic conditions,” said Larry M. Bartels, a Vanderbilt University professor of political science. But he cited the economic climate of the middle of the election year as unusually important — a time when even wavering voters begin to lock in decisions on the presidential race and lock out conflicting reports about the economy.

This political reality is not lost on the Obama and Romney campaigns, which have sparred over the state of the economy to the near exclusion of every other issue.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, has centered his campaign on the notion that President Obama’s incompetence as an economic steward has made recovery weaker than it need have been — with unemployment too high and job growth too slow.

Mr. Obama has countered that Mr. Romney’s business record at Bain Capital epitomizes the profits-at any-cost philosophy that has cut middle-class jobs. As for his own record, he argues that pushing the 2009 stimulus program through Congress has helped the economy rebound and that without it, the nation would be in worse economic straits.

“Throughout history, it has typically taken countries up to 10 years to recover from financial crises of this magnitude,” Mr. Obama said recently, noting the sustained recessions in Europe. He added, “Our economy started growing again six months after I took office, and it has continued to grow for the last three years.”

The question now is which economic messages will sink in among the pool of voters — roughly one in 10 — who tell pollsters they are undecided.

RTWT.

Also, a surprisingly lame piece at the Los Angeles Times, "Analysis: Impact of jobs report on presidential contest minimal."

I think O's looking like Carter in 1976, or perhaps G.H.W. Bush in 1992 --- in other words, I expect him to lose. Romney's had a rough week coming out of the NFIB decision and the campaign's lame response, but he'll get back on top of his game. He's going to be hammering this president. And there's still a while to go.

See also James Pethokoukis, "June jobs swoon: America’s labor market depression continues."

And at Instapundit, "INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: 10 reasons why jobs market even worse than weak June employment report."

Mitt Romney: Jobs Report a 'Kick in the Gut'

At the Christian Science Monitor, "Bad jobs report jolts Obama, gives Romney a break":

The weak June jobs report ends a three-week stretch of momentum for President Obama. For Mitt Romney, it interrupts cries from conservatives to shake up his floundering campaign.

WASHINGTON - On balance, it’s a bad day for President Obama. The June unemployment report came in Friday below expectations, with only a net 80,000 jobs created and unemployment stuck at the high rate of 8.2 percent.

That makes 41 straight months above 8 percent unemployment, Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney was quick to remind at an early-morning press conference.

The discouraging jobs report ended three weeks of momentum for Mr. Obama, which began with his new policy halting deportations for some young undocumented immigrants - a highly popular move in the crucial Latino voting bloc – and continued with the Supreme Court’s surprise ruling last week that upholds most of his health-reform law.

The jobs news also interrupted Mr. Romney’s damaging narrative of discontent among prominent conservatives, after he and his campaign fumbled their response on health care and news reports about his business practices and off-shore bank accounts.

Now, the discussion has jolted back to the core issue of the campaign: the economy.

“There’s no way around it, the jobs numbers are a loss for Obama,” says Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Wall Street Journal Critique of Romney Shows Rupert Murdoch's Doubts on Candidacy

An interesting piece at NYT, "Shots by Murdoch at Romney Play Out to Conservative Core." And this paragraph is a keeper:

Fundamentally, Mr. Romney and Mr. Murdoch are very different. Mr. Romney is said to respect Mr. Murdoch as a visionary business mind and deeply admire how he built the company he inherited from his father into a $60 billion global media power. But a teetotaling Mormon from the Midwest and a thrice-married Australian who publishes photos of topless women in one of his British newspapers are bound to have very different world views.

Yeah, that's quite a difference.

RTWT at the link.

Click though at the link for the WSJ editorial: "Romney's Tax Confusion."