'As Easy as Ordering a Book From Amazon' — Suspect James Holmes Amassed 6,000 Rounds Via the Internet

The public isn't moved toward greater gun control coming out of Aurora, although it's amazing the kind of arsenal the suspect amassed.

This is from this morning's front-page at the New York Times, "Suspect Bought Large Stockpile of Rounds Online":

DENVER — Unhindered by federal background checks or government oversight, the 24-year-old man accused of killing a dozen people inside a Colorado movie theater was able to build what the police called a 6,000-round arsenal legally and easily over the Internet, exploiting what critics call a virtual absence of any laws regulating ammunition sales.

With a few keystrokes, the suspect, James E. Holmes, ordered 3,000 rounds of handgun ammunition, 3,000 rounds for an assault rifle and 350 shells for a 12-gauge shotgun — an amount of firepower that costs roughly $3,000 at the online sites — in the four months before the shooting, according to the police. It was pretty much as easy as ordering a book from Amazon.

He also bought bulletproof vests and other tactical gear, and a high-capacity “drum magazine” large enough to hold 100 rounds and capable of firing 50 or 60 rounds per minute — a purchase that would have been restricted under proposed legislation that has been stalled in Washington for more than a year.

Mr. Holmes, a graduate student in neuroscience with a clean criminal record, was able to buy the ammunition without arousing the slightest notice from law enforcement, because the sellers are not required in most cases to report sales to law enforcement officials, even unusually large purchases. And neither Colorado nor federal law required him to submit to a background check or register his growing purchases, gun policy experts said.

A few states like Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey, and cities like Los Angeles and Sacramento, have passed restrictions on ammunition sales, requiring permits for buyers or licenses for sellers, or insisting that dealers track their ammunition sales for law enforcement.

But in Colorado, and across much of the United States, the markets for ammunition — online and in storefronts — are largely unregulated, gun-control advocates say.

I imagine those gun control advocates see this angle as a way to get some leverage for stricter gun laws. But the same rebuttal applies: the suspect is an extreme anomaly and tighter gun control laws wouldn't have made a difference. He bought legally and would have been able to buy legally under whatever regime is in place. Had he been restricted in Colorado he could have gone somewhere else and a ban on Internet sales would probably violate the Second Amendment. And frankly, if someone's determined enough to amass a stockpile for a mass murder, he'll do it legally or not.

In any case, the Wall Street Journal also has a piece on the arsenal, "Rifle in Shooting Once Was Federally Restricted."

Obama Praises Himself for Ending Iraq War on Same Day Insurgents Kill at Least 100 in New Offensive

The administration's badly flawed Iraq drawdown is coming home to roost, ironically on the same day that President Obama was conducting a round of gutsy call, football-spiking political events, including campaign ads and military speeches.

Jake Tapper notices, "President Obama Praises Self for Ending War in Iraq on Bloodiest Day of the Year in That Country" (via Memeorandum). It's not insignificant, Jake, not at all.

See the New York Times, "Iraq Insurgents Kill at Least 100 After Declaring New Offensive" (via Memeorandum):

BAGHDAD — In a coordinated display intended to show they remain a viable force, Iraqi insurgents launched at least 40 separate attacks throughout the country on Monday morning, setting off car bombs, storming a military base, attacking policemen in their homes and ambushing checkpoints, the Iraqi authorities said.

At least 100 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the single bloodiest day this year, according to Iraqi officials in the many areas where attacks took place.

The attacks, coming in the early days of Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim religious rite, were predicted Sunday in an audio message attributed to the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Bakir Al Baghdadi, and posted on the group’s Web site. Mr. Baghdadi vowed that a new offensive, which he called Breaking Down Walls, would begin soon.

The offensive was without precedent this year at least in the sheer number of attacks, spread over so many locations in a third of Iraq’s 18 provinces, from north to south. It was sure to raise concerns about the government’s ability to contain the violence, six months after the last American troops left the country.

“I think Al Qaeda in Iraq made a big joke of the government and the Iraqi security forces,” said Khalid Fadel, a military analyst and former instructor at the Iraqi Military College. “They were so clear that they were going to launch attacks during Ramadan, and the government said that they have information of about 30 terrorist groups entering the country, but still the security forces are unable to prevent the attacks.”

Mr. Baghdadi said in the Qaeda statement that “we are returning again to dominate territories we used to dominate, as well as more.” He depicted the attacks as part of a battle launched by Sunnis against the country’s Shiite leaders and people.

Continue reading. And just a few minutes ago I caught a few minutes of the president's speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nevada. He looks almost deathly glum, and he's still speaking at the live feed right now, at 1:05pm.

The Untold Story of the Arab Spring

At IBD, "Obama, Hillary Secretly Helped Bring Islamofascists to Power in Egypt" (via Israel Matzav).

And it all sounded so great at the time, the talk of freedom and democracy in Egypt. Recall former Bush NSC chief Stephen Hadley, "The Two Likeliest Political Outcomes for Mubarak."

The euphoria faded fast, or at least in my case. I don't think Hadley's updated his opinion, despite the accession to power of the Islamists.

Colorado Shooting Suspect James Holmes in Court

I'm watching CBS News, and there's a live feed here.

8:40am: Erick Weber has a picture of the suspect on Twitter.

8:43am: That's it. He's back out of the courtroom.

9:00am: The New York Times reports, "Suspect in Colorado Shooting Appears in Court."

9:05am: A video clip:

New Julie Henderson Bikini Pics!

At London's Daily Mail, "Bikini model Julie Henderson brings some Miami heat as she parades enviable figure on the golden sands."

She's a Sports Illustrated model. See: "Julie Henderson in Desroches Island, Seychelles."

NCAA Slaps Penn State With Huge Penalties

At the New York Times, "Penn State Penalties Include $60 Million Fine and Bowl Ban."

The NCAA vacated all of Penn State's wins going back to 1998, and I'm still trying to figure out the logic of that. You can't erase history, so I guess it just vacates the team's rankings. Anyway, read it all at the link. Late justice, I guess.

Anaheim Places Officers on Leave After Fatal Shooting

At the Los Angeles Times, "2 officers placed on leave after fatal shooting in Anaheim."

And at the O.C. Register, "2 officers on leave after Anaheim shooting":

[VIDEO PULLED]

ANAHEIM – Two police officers have been placed on paid leave after one of them fatally shot an unarmed man as he attempted to flee on foot in a residential alleyway, police Chief John Welter said Sunday.

The shooting victim, 25-year-old Manuel Angel Diaz of Santa Ana, was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 7 p.m. Saturday after being shot in the alley a few blocks northeast of downtown Anaheim.

Police described Diaz as a "documented gang member," and said he was shot after the officers saw three men near a car in the 600 block of Anna Drive, near La Palma Avenue and State College Boulevard. Believing the activity to be suspicious, the officers approached the vehicle, and all three men fled on foot.

The officers chased Diaz and observed him throwing unidentified objects onto rooftops as he ran, Welter said. What led one of the officers to shoot Diaz remained under investigation Sunday, Welter said.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait said he would be asking California's attorney general to assist in the investigation.

"I'm asking for a full investigation," Tait said at a Sunday news conference. "Transparency is essential. Whatever the truth is, we will own it."

The dead man's sister, Lupe Diaz, said Sunday that her brother was "just hanging out with friends" before the shooting.

"There is no explanation," Diaz said. "It's not fair."

Continue reading.

The suspect Diaz was shot in the butt, and then again in the head, according to an eyewitness.

And note this from the Register's report: "Police reportedly tried to buy any video taken by witnesses on their cellphones, residents said." And the reporter at the clip says the same thing, so there were probably a number of requests.

The police dog jumped out of the police car unauthorized as well, which is fail.

A little damage control, no doubt.

Prof. Glenn Reynolds has written on the right of citizens to record the police, at the Washington University Law Review, "A Due Process Right to Record the Police."

BONUS: There's a huge roundup at the O.C. Weekly, and witnesses reportedly identified the deceased as Manuel "Stomper" Diaz. See, "Anaheim Police Fire Rubber Bullets at Crowd After Officer-Involved Shooting."

Olympic Committee Won't Hold Moment of Silence for Slain 1972 Israeli Athletes

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Not One Moment to Remember Munich":

In spite of the growing calls for a moment of silence in honor of the 11 Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the head of the International Olympic Committee said yesterday that he would not alter his determination to refuse to allow the issue to intrude upon the opening ceremonies of the London Games this Friday. Jacques Rogge said yesterday that it “was not fit” for a commemoration of Munich to be included in the gala start to the global athletic extravaganza.

This week, President Obama added his voice to those already calling for a moment of silence at the ceremony. Perhaps even more importantly, Bob Costas, NBC television’s Olympic host, has said that he will impose his own moment of silence on the coverage of the event when the Israeli team enters the stadium:

“I intend to note that the IOC denied the request,” Costas said. “Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive. Here’s a minute of silence right now.”

Costas deserves great deal of credit for not allowing the IOC’s desire to keep the memory of Munich out of sight during the games (Rogge said he will attend a ceremony honoring the Munich victims in Germany next week). But while he finds the refusal to simply devote one minute to remembrance “puzzling,” there is no mystery about it. Rogge has called requests for such a memorial “political.” While there is nothing political about recalling the terrorist attack, by that he means that many of the participating nations are not comfortable highlighting a crime committed by Palestinians or honoring the memory of Israeli Jews. As historian Deborah Lipstadt wrote this past week, the controversy is more proof that in the eyes of the world, spilled Jewish blood remains a cheap commodity.

Continue reading.

The Lipstadt essay is here: "Jewish Blood Is Cheap."

Alexander Cockburn, Shill for Communism, Dead at 71

David Horowitz comments on the death of Alexander Cockburn:

Alex Cockburn is dead of cancer at the age of 71. Alex was an influential voice in a generation of leftists who did an enormous disservice to this country and the world at large by carrying on a political tradition and promoting a political cause that killed 100 million people in the 20th Century – in peacetime – and consigned more than a billion others to immeasurable and unnecessary poverty, even starvation, by imposing on them the crackpot socialist schemes of Karl Marx and his misguided disciples. Alex’s father Claud was also a noted writer and both an agent of and propagandist for Stalin’s bloody regime. Alex exhibited in his own person many of the worst Stalinist traits. He was personally vicious in attacking political opponents and even friends, such as Christopher Hitchens, about whom he wrote one of the most disgusting columns I have ever read – although in fairness it must be said that Christopher himself was a master of this particular form of literary abuse.

On the other hand, Alex had worthy sense of humor, which even a target like myself could appreciate, and was a clever writer though inferior as a stylist to Christopher whom he obviously envied and paid back with insults. It could be said of Alex that he was also a gutsy individual who, like Christopher, on occasion displayed independence of mind – a rarity among leftists who are normally incapable of challenging the progressive herd. Alex’s most notorious deviation from orthodoxy was his refusal to support the idea that human beings are responsible for climate change, a cardinal tenet of the progressive faith. This caused the obituary writer for the Los Angeles Times, which like most of our metropolitan papers has become a left-wing tabloid, to say of him “his thoughts on global warming aligned him with the far right” – as though matters of science should be subject to a political party line.

Needless to say, the Times obit failed to mention the fact that Alex and his father were shills for Communists, or that Alex was anti-American and an anti-Semite and a cheerleader for the Islamo-fascists of Hizbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood who are bent on destroying us. Despite the unfortunate resurgence in our time of the vile ideologies of the 1930s and 1960s to which he devoted his life, Alex was at the end a bitter and spiteful man. This was the predictable fruit of a life spent badly in recrimination and anger.

The Times' obituary is here: "Leftist journalist Alexander Cockburn dies at 71."

The New York Times also has this, "Alexander Cockburn, Left-Wing Writer, Is Dead at 71." And note an interesting bit, in light of David's remembrance:

After Martin Peretz, the publisher of the The New Republic, had a fainting spell in Paris in the late 1980s, Mr. Cockburn gleefully noted that it occurred at an expensive restaurant where patrons were “so bloated that they have to be rubbed down with Vaseline to squeeze through the door.”

Yet when Mr. Cockburn wrote a column drastically revising downward the number of deaths attributable to Stalin, Mr. Peretz suggested that Mr. Cockburn “has a sentimental interest in this controversy but not the credentials to evaluate it.”

No one drastically revises downward "the number of deaths attributable to Stalin," unless they want to whitewash the crimes of 20th-century leftism, which is exactly what David points out.

And about Cockburn's dissent from the leftist global warming orthodoxy, the communist Down With Tyranny! wasn't down with that:

I can't overstate how important Alex's weekly fuck-the-bullshit journalism was for me in, roughly, his first two decades in the U.S. (beginning in 1973), first at the Village Voice, then at The Nation. In the pre-Internet age, I don't know that anyone reached me as regularly and forcefully with the message that the media are feeding us sanitized (or worse) BS, and that self-proclaimed left-leaners aren't necessarily more trustworthy than the roster of unapologetic establishment whores, and arguably less so in that they pretend to be other-than-whores....

The memorialists are writing in terms like this, from the deck on the L.A. Times obit: "His views didn't always jibe with those of his allies."

Which is a polite way of saying that a lot of people who found in him a champion on a whole range of issues were anywhere from mystified to horrified by what he had to say on other issues. The most conspicuous example, as Carolyn Kellogg puts it in the L.A. Times obit, "was his denial of global warming, which brought him a measure of public attention in 2007." But I often found, on occasions when I read something he wrote from the '90s on (usually by referral from a friend or colleague), that I didn't know quite what to make of it. Was it the fire-breathing truth-teller who had once inspired me so, or was it a hobby-horse-riding crank who had perhaps been living too long inside his own head?

So there was really no point in my seeking out his writing, and I'm sure in those later couple of decades I missed a fair amount of it which would have gotten my juices going and pointed me in directions I needed to explore.

Which is another way of saying I'm not going to read the f-ker if he's not trumpeting the communist party line.

Jeez, these are some sick freak leftists.

'Reliable Sources' Covers Media Response to Colorado Shooting

A follow-up to my earlier post, "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'." As noted, Repsac3 is infected with incredibly deep hatred and bigotry, and this prevents him from even acknowledging progressive error, not to mention left-wing evil.

At the clip, Howard Kurtz briefly mentions that Breitbart's website claimed that the suspect was a Democrat, and then corrected the post. That's premature as well, and I think folks should report the facts about what is happening on the ground before trying to tear apart your enemies. Of course, that is not something the progressives like Walter James Casper believe, so there's literally no reason to expect him to call out folks on his side rather than defend them. As I've documented here for years, he's a genuinely twisted individual, and frankly a sad little imitation of a man.

Also at the clip, Ana Marie Cox makes a good point that if we're going to debate gun control, let's do it in response to news at the local level, around the country, where we've seen a massive loss of human life, especially in Chicago. Glenn Reynolds suggested why that won't be happening, however, "REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF..."

...this month’s massacre in Chicago.

“A mass murder like Aurora, Colorado, naturally grabs the headlines and attention, as it should. A presidential recognition of the murders is appropriate. Yet more than twice as many people have been murdered this month in the president’s hometown of Chicago than were killed in the Aurora shooting. They are just statistics for whom there will be no presidential visits or flags flown at half staff.”

Well, since Chicago already has very strict gun control, these deaths can’t be turned to political use.

And see William Jacobson as well, "Remembering Chicago’s Victims."

Huma Abedin Gets Police Protection After Being Threatened

Following up on my previous entry, "Rep. Michele Bachmann Wants Investigation of Huma Abedin, Aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

And this is wrong, "Weiner wife under guard":

Police and federal officials have placed security around ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, after a New Jersey man threatened her, law-enforcement sources said.

An individual, described as a Muslim man, made the unspecified threat after Rep.

Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last week claimed Abedin’s family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and asked for a probe to see if she is helping the Islamist organization. The man was questioned by the NYPD and the State Department and has not been charged, sources said.

That said, it's a legitimate question about the potential influence of Abedin's parents on U.S. foreign policy. She's a top aide to the U.S. Secretary of State, for crying out loud. Find out what's up with that and be done with it. See Nonie Darwish, for example, at FrontPage Magazine, "Huma Abedin’s Mother and an Islamist Agenda":

Huma Abedin, Secretary Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, could be the nicest woman with the greatest character, but that is not the issue nor should it be a reason to prevent ny inquiry into her family background and connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead of attacking Representative Bachmann for raising important questions regarding Muslim Brotherhood penetration of the US government, the response from the media and Senator McCain should have been a statement to the effect that Abedin has already been vetted and has a sound security clearance. But instead, the response was: “How dare you, Michele Bachmann!”

Now let us examine Huma’s mother’s history and activities. Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin has been identified in Saudi Arabia as one of the founding members of the Muslim Sisterhood, a Muslim Brotherhood women’s group. This is the same group that half of Egypt was too scared to vote for and that was criminalized for many decades in Egypt for its subversiveness and terror activities. Dr. Abedin is no ordinary Muslim woman, but an activist who supports Sharia law. She is also a long-time chairperson of the “International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child” (IICWC). Now let us examine what that group is doing in Egypt today and why many Egyptians are afraid of its activities and are strongly denouncing it.

The last elections in Egypt have proved that half of Egypt is afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood and does not want to live under Sharia, but that is not the same concern of Abedin’s organization (IICWC), which is advocating Sharia law. The IICW contributed greatly to fear of its agenda after a recent publication in Arabic on its website. The following topics were discussed, among others, suggesting the annulment of Egyptian moderate laws, which would be replaced by Sharia laws. Below are some of the positions that appeared in the IICWC publication:

* The IICWC position that the current laws criminalizing female genital mutilation be revoked.
* The IICWC’s position demanding that the laws forbidding child marriage below the age of eighteen be revoked. No new minimum marriage age was given; the group stated that the marriage standard depends on the financial and mental ability and not dependent on a specific age.
* The IICWC’s positions, as reported, demanding that the laws forbidding marital rape be revoked and that polygamy is a right for men.
* The IICWC’s position that a health check-up before marriage be revoked since it is against religion and should not be part of the marriage contract.
* The IICWC’s position that criminal responsibility triggering at age 18 be reduced to age 15.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the right of a woman to register her newborn by herself for a birth certificate because Sharia states that a child’s lineage is given strictly to the father and his paternal line. The child belongs to the father even if it was the product of adultery.
* The IICWC’s position revokes the criminalization of physical and mental abuse of parents against children, so long as the punishment does not cause a permanent deformity or the beating is too extreme.

Above are the values that Huma Abedin’s mother believes in and that her organization is trying to impose on the Egyptian public after the revolution. Huma did not keep a distance from her mother’s activities when she introduced Secretary Clinton to her activist mother. During Clinton’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the US Secretary of State visited and spoke at the Islamic college of Dar El-Hekma together with Huma, where Dr. Saleha Abedin was a vice-dean and one of its founders.

See also the Center for Security Policy, "Ties That Bind? The Views and Agenda of Huma Abedin’s Islamist Mother."

Check that link.

At this point it's clear that Huma Abedin's mother is a woman whose agenda stands radically at odds with U.S. foreign policy. By all accounts, Secretary Clinton is personally close to Huma, and thus it's quite important that the public be reassured of no undue influence being exerted to disrupt U.S. protection of human and women's rights around the world.

Joe Paterno Statue Taken Down at Penn State University

At the Wall Street Journal, "Statue of Paterno Taken Down."

Suspect James Holmes' Rapid Descent

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Suspect's Rapid Descent: Holmes Bought Rifle, Bullets During Month After School Exit":

AURORA, Colo.—In early June, first-year doctoral student James Holmes stood before professors of neuroscience here for an oral exam that marked the beginning of at least four more years of intense study of how the brain works.

Days later, though, school administrators received an email from Mr. Holmes saying that he dropped out of the program. He didn't give a reason.

What happened over the next month is now the focus of law-enforcement officials who say Mr. Holmes entered a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and shot 70 people early Friday. So far, they have learned that between the time he left school and the massacre, Mr. Holmes applied for membership at a shooting range, whose owner on Sunday described Mr. Holmes's answering-machine message as "incoherent, bizarre, freakish at best." The suspect also bought an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a military-style gun popular with sportsmen since a federal ban on its sale expired eight years ago.

Meanwhile, police said, Mr. Holmes had bought thousands of rounds of ammunition via the Internet and received "high-volume" deliveries by mail to his home and school, for what authorities described as an arsenal of weapons and explosives.

Yet amid these developments, on July 9, Mr. Holmes also talked of furthering his education while sharing a beer with a neighbor at a local bar.

Interviews with investigators and people who knew Mr. Holmes, from his high-school years to his last days as a student, depict a cerebral, quiet man whom none thought capable of violence. He was described as a disciplined student—playing online videogames only after studying—and often joined group social events. But even those who shared stretches of intimate space with Mr. Holmes, in dorm rooms or graduate-school laboratories, say he was distant and enigmatic.

Notice two bits of new information here. Holmes, as reported elsewhere today, was turned down after looking to join a gun club. But note too that it's not true that Holmes was a completely isolated loner, which would fit more closely with a brooding outcast profile. Instead, he appeared to enjoy social events with other students, something that I focused on last night, as he seemed to be isolated on campus. That may still be the case, although it's not so clear now or to what degree. And the Journal's piece continues:

Mr. Holmes found a crew of studious students on his floor that appeared a good fit for him his freshman year, hallmates said. He became a fixture socially among the science majors and others. Often, he joined them for dinner and games of Guitar Hero or movie nights to watch Disney films, several recalled.

Still, Mr. Holmes remained a mystery to some. His freshman roommate said the two rarely spoke beyond small talk about "The Simpsons" or "Family Guy." Mr. Holmes often spent his lunch hour in the suite's common lounge watching a show called "How It's Made" on the Discovery Channel, which is about factory products.

Mr. Holmes was disciplined and kept his room tidy. He spent much of his time in the room with his books open or staring into a computer screen. Each night he played an hour or two of online computer games after the studying was done before going to bed early, his roommate said.

"He was very responsible," he said. "He had his quirks, which were that he didn't talk a lot."

Well, now it looks like a guy was, yes, something of a recluse but was attempting to fit in and find a social group. Frankly, he's not that abnormal. Lots of people are shy and reserved, and they hold back from aggressive socializing, staying within their comfort zone. Okay, but the Journal has more on Holmes' academic problems and abrupt resignation from the neuroscience program:

When classes ended in May, the students were required to pass a first-year test referred to as the "prelims." The school said students had to stand before three professors and answer questions.

Shortly after the tests were done, the classmate said, a neuroscience administrator took the group for drinks to tell them Mr. Holmes had dropped out. The administrator said she received a short resignation email from Mr. Holmes that didn't explain why. Some assumed he had gone back to California.

Mr. Holmes hadn't been on campus since June, though his program-cancellation paperwork remains unfinished, according to a university spokesman.

About the time he applied to leave the university, Mr. Holmes began buying thousands of rounds of ammunition via the Web and purchased four guns over the past 60 days, including the a AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, Glock handguns and a shotgun, police said.

Check the link for a few more details.

Here's my piece from last night: "James Holmes' Academic Frustration and Social Isolation."

At this point I'm focused less on the social isolation variable and more on the academic frustration factor. The problem now, though, is that Holmes gave no reason for his withdrawal from the university. The Journal suggests that he'd taken his first-year oral exams. There's more to that than it sounds, that is, there's more to these than just having to "stand before three professors and answer questions." Depending on the department, the student will get to pick his oral examination committee. You're building mentor relationships by this time, and faculty have gotten a good look at you during the first year seminars. The department will usually not advance to candidacy those who've been struggling. The student receives some kind of grade, for example "passed with distinction" or "high pass," that signals a successful oral exam and advancement to the Ph.D. program. A student could get something like an undistinguished passing grade and then not be advanced. Perhaps the student could leave the department with Master's degree. And while that's not in evidence so far in Holmes' case, it's possible he just had an awful experience taking the orals. The committee is going to try to pin you down on your weakest area, forcing you to struggle to explain some area of the literature or big problem of method or so forth. It's not very fun to be harangued like that, and if Holmes had a bad time of it --- that is, if he was pinned down during the orals and didn't acquit himself on some topic --- it could have been a blow to his already questionable sense of self, his esteem. And if so, perhaps he couldn't face his colleagues.

Keep in mind it's not clear from the Journal's report whether Holmes even took the oral exams, so I'm just thinking out loud. If he took them, and then notified the department before the neuroscience administrator took students out for drinks, then the timing would be about right. But that's unclear without a more concise report on this timeline of events.

That's my take for now, then. Grad school is no cakewalk, especially that first year, which might be called "Darwinian." In this case, not only was Holmes perhaps not one of the "fittest," but his failure to survive the program could have sent him off onto a dark path toward becoming a psychopath.

More later...

U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government

With the exception of Max Boot at Commentary, and Reuel Marc Gerecht at the Wall Street Journal, we've seen few voices advocating direct military intervention in Syria. (And Gerecht was calling for CIA-directed operations, quite short of full boots on the ground.)

An invasion of Syria would have worked better months ago, had there been enough foresight to realize that it was time for Assad to go and there weren't really other good options. Certainly, the U.N.'s engagement has once again made a mockery of that institution, especially with Russia protecting its balance of power interests in Syria, which include Moscow's only naval base outside of Russian waters. On Thursday this photo at the Los Angeles Times summarized --- like "a picture worth a thousand words" --- U.S. frustration with United Nations diplomacy toward Syrian President Bashar Assad (see, "Russia, China veto U.N. resolution on Syria"). Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has his hands outstretched as he leans forward in a pleading stance, while U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice looks at him, arms crossed, seemingly angry and surely frustrated. It's an amazing shot.

But now here comes the New York Times with the very shocking headline, "U.S. to Focus on Forcibly Toppling Syrian Government." Notice how Memeorandum has the original headline, which has now been changed at the Times' website, to "Stymied at U.N., U.S. Refines Plan to Remove Assad." And from the article:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad, American officials say.

Administration officials have been in talks with officials in Turkey and Israel over how to manage a Syrian government collapse. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is headed to Israel in the next several days to meet with Israeli defense counterparts, following up on a visit last week by President Obama’s national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon, in part to discuss the Syrian crisis.

The White House is now holding daily high-level meetings to discuss a broad range of contingency plans — including safeguarding Syria’s vast chemical weapons arsenal and sending explicit warnings to both warring sides to avert mass atrocities — in a sign of the escalating seriousness of the Syrian crisis following a week of intensified fighting in Damascus, the capital, and the killing of Mr. Assad’s key security aides in a bombing attack.

The administration has had regular talks with the Israelis about how Israel might move to destroy Syrian weapons facilities, administration officials said. The administration is not advocating such an attack, the officials said, because of the risk that it would give Mr. Assad an opportunity to rally support against Israeli interference.

Administration officials insist they will not provide arms to the rebel forces. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already financing those efforts. But American officials said that the United States would provide more communications training and equipment to help improve the combat effectiveness of disparate opposition forces in their widening, sustained fight against Syrian Army troops. It’s also possible the rebels would receive some intelligence support, the officials said.

Continue reading.

Well, as Marc Gerecht indicated, we're already aiding the free Syrian forces with "a rudimentary, small-scale CIA covert action" now under way against Assad. And besides weapons of mass destruction, the next biggest worry is that Islamists will come to power after the regime falls. I can't think of a better way to prevent that, at least in the short term, than by installing an "American Caesar" to govern the country until direct popular elections are held. The biggest impediment to that, frankly, is the risk of open armed conflict with Russia, which would cause a further deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations to rival the worst points of the 20th-century Cold War. But the U.S. shouldn't rule out the option of military intervention for humanitarian purposes, especially amid the continuing refugee flows from the country.

A complete collapse of power in Damascus with no countervailing force is an even worse scenario, so it's going to take a lot of leadership, especially in Washington, to protect regional and international security in Syria in the weeks ahead.

'MIDNIGHT MASSACRE' — Media Coverage of the Colorado Theater Killings

I haven't been using anything like "Batman killer" in my reporting. It just doesn't seem right to reward the suspect with that kind of language. But see the New Statesman's roundup of news outlets that blared some variation of "BATMAN MADMAN" across their front pages: "How the media shouldn't cover a mass murder." (Via Mediagazer.)

And below is the image from yesterday's Los Angeles Times front page. The newspaper has had good coverage, via Yahoo, "Colorado shooting: How newspapers covered the 'Dark Knight' massacre." The caption at the picture reads: "TOM SULLIVAN hugs relatives at Gateway High School, where he was seeking information on his son, Alex, who went to see 'The Dark Knight Rises' for his birthday. Some victims remained unidentified Friday."

British Model Keeley Hazell Shocked at Colorado Shooter's Picture at 'Adult Friend Finder'

She's a Page 3 girl at the Sun UK, and here's the report, "Batman killer’s obsession with Keeley Hazell."

And see London's Daily Mail, "The model 'Joker' was obsessed with: Page Three girl's shock at appearing with gunman in picture posted on adult website weeks before massacre."

And no big news outlets have picked this up yet, but TMZ isn't holding back, "Colorado Shooting Suspect James Holmes - The Match.Com Profile."

Either way, the search for answers continues, at the Los Angeles Times, "Theater shooting suspect a mystery despite intriguing details." And, "Colorado shooting suspect worked for a summer as camp counselor in L.A. County." (Via Memeorandum.)

Beyond 7 Billion: The Biggest Generation

The Los Angeles Times is running a five-part series on global population starting today. The first entry focuses on India, "Fertility rates fall, but global population explosion goes on."

The politics of world demographics is extremely interesting, mainly because it captures most of the big partisan debates on global development and environmental protection, for example, debates on the earth's "carrying capacity," the relationship between population and poverty, family planning (in both the advanced and developing worlds), and climate change. Depending on who you talk to, the world is nowhere near its limit of human population sustainability. Indeed, the sky-is-falling naysayers, Stanford University demographer Paul Ehrlich, especially, were proved so wrong with their 1970s-era predictions, that international attention to population change dropped off the radar. Robert Zubrin talks about the hysteria here: "The Population Control Holocaust."

In any case, here's the key alarmist passage from the Times' piece:

The relentless growth in population might seem paradoxical given that the world's average birthrate has been slowly falling for decades. Humanity's numbers continue to climb because of what scientists call population momentum.

So many people are now in their prime reproductive years — the result of unchecked fertility in decades past, coupled with reduced child mortality — that even modest rates of childbearing yield huge increases.

"We're still adding more than 70 million people to the planet every year — which we have been doing since the 1970s," said John Bongaarts, a leading demographer and vice president of the nonprofit Population Council in New York. "We're still in the steep part of the curve."

Think of population growth as a speeding train. When the engineer applies the brakes, the train doesn't stop immediately. Momentum propels it forward a considerable distance before it finally comes to a halt.

U.N. demographers once believed the train would stop around 2075. Now they say world population will continue growing into the next century.

In India, a country of 1.2 billion people, women have an average of 2.5 children each, and the birthrate is projected to fall to 2.1 by 2030. At that point, parents will merely be replacing themselves.

But even then, India's population will continue to grow because of momentum. It is on track to surpass China's and is not expected to peak until 2060, at 1.7 billion people.

Momentum isn't the only factor in population growth. In some of the poorest parts of the world, fertility rates remain high, driven by tradition, religion, the inferior status of women and limited access to contraception.

Population will rise most rapidly in places least able to handle it: developing nations where hunger, political instability and environmental degradation are already pervasive.

The African continent is expected to double in population by the middle of this century, adding 1 billion people despite the ravages of AIDS and malnutrition.

Even under optimistic assumptions, the toll on people and the planet will be severe.


Today, about 1 in 8 people in the world lives in a slum. By midcentury, with the population at more than 9 billion, the ratio would be 1 in 3, assuming poverty and migration to cities continue at their current rates.

Now nearly 1 billion people are chronically hungry, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and at least 8 million die every year of hunger-related illnesses.

By midcentury, there will be at least 2 billion more mouths to feed, and no one can say where the food will come from.

It's not just that the population will be larger. It's that hundreds of millions of newly affluent people, mostly in Asia, will want to add dairy products and grain-fed beef and pork to their diets.

To meet the projected demand, the world's farmers will have to double their crop production, according to calculations by a team of scientists led by David Tilman, a University of Minnesota expert on global agriculture.

William G. Lesher, a former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the brightest minds in the field haven't figured out the solution.

"We're going to have to produce more food in the next 40 years than we have the last 10,000," he said. "Some people say we'll just add more land or more water. But we're not going to do much of either."

Most of Earth's best farmland has already come under hoof or plow, and farmers are losing ground to expanding cities and deserts. Soil erosion, chemical contamination and salt buildup from irrigation are despoiling prime acreage.

Climate change will make all of these challenges more daunting. Higher temperatures and violent weather will stunt or destroy crops. Increased flooding will imperil millions living in low-lying regions. More severe droughts could displace masses of people, leading to conflict.

By 2050, the United Nations predicts, there could be as many as 200 million "climate refugees."

Despite these trends, population growth has all but vanished from public discourse.

In Europe, Japan and North America, leaders are worried about having too few young people to care for aging populations and to fund benefits for the elderly.

In developing countries, leaders often consider large youthful populations a source of economic vitality and political strength.

In the U.S., contraception has become entangled in acrimonious battles over abortion, causing some environmental and humanitarian groups to retreat from family planning initiatives.

Under the best conditions, it's hard to get contraceptives into the hands of impoverished women who want them. In developing nations, family planning programs open and close at the whim of autocrats. Aid from wealthy nations rises and falls with political currents.

The result: Nearly 20 years after 179 nations signed a pledge to provide universal access to family planning, supplies of contraceptives remain erratic in much of the developing world.

Population growth gets less attention than it did in the late 1960s, when there were half as many people on the planet.

And check back at the article for some cool graphics.

RELATED: From Bjørn Lomborg, at Foreign Affairs, "Environmental Alarmism, Then: The Club of Rome’s Problem -- and Ours and Now."

Eat Like You Mean It

The ad's for Hardee's at the clip, but on the West Coast we've got Carl's Jr.

FLASHBACK: "Kate Upton's Smokin' Ad for Southwest Patty Melt at Carl's Jr."

Released: First Video of Alleged Colorado Theater Shooter James Holmes

ABC News has the report, "ABC News Exclusive: First Video of Colorado Shooting Suspect James Holmes Emerges" (via Memeorandum and at YouTube). The clip, showing the suspect James Holmes at a science camp in San Diego six years ago, confirms what we already know about the man: he was a typically normal teenager and pretty much a geeky science guy. According to the article:

By most accounts, Holmes lived the life of a normal teen -- with a particular interest in science.

The video shows him being introduced at the seminar as someone whose "goals are to become a researcher and to make scientific discoveries. In personal life, he enjoys playing soccer and strategy games and his dream is to own a slurpee machine."

Though Holmes was apparently a gifted scientist who had received a federal grant to work on his Ph.D. at one of the most competitive neuroscience programs in the country, he was a loner who -- oddly for a young scientist -- seemed to have no Internet presence.

However, there's a second segment at ABC News, available at the YouTube clip here, in which correspondent Pierre Thomas reports that a computer was found in the suspect's apartment. I'm interested to hear more of Holmes' academic record and work product, as I mentioned last night at my report: "James Holmes' Academic Frustration and Social Isolation."

I'll be updating throughout the day, so check back.

Meanwhile, check PJ Media, "Fox: No Body Armor for Aurora Theater Shooter" (via Memeorandum).

Politicizing the Colorado Shootings

James Taranto appears on this Lou Dobbs panel on Fox New, from Friday:

Lou Dobbs makes a good point as well, that where are all the cries for gun control as the urban areas, like Obama's Chicago, are just awash in blood?

And previously, "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'."

California Democrats Give Pay Raises to Assembly and Senate Staff, While Voters Being Asked for Tax Hikes in November

The Democrats control both chambers of the legislature, and I'm betting they don't expect repercussions from this decidedly bad political move. And since the reports came out, the Senate pay raises have been put on hold. But that's not cooled some of the public outrage, and the Assembly pay hikes are still going through.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Lawmakers give raises to aides before cutting other workers' pay":

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers gave raises worth $4.6 million annually to more than 1,000 of their aides before cutting the pay of most other state workers, newly released records show.

The lawmakers said they were trying to make up for several years without staff pay increases.

"Modest adjustments based on individual performance were appropriate," after pay and hiring freezes during the previous four years, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said in a statement.

But the raises, at least 10% for some top staffers in the last 11 months, have been disclosed at an awkward time for Steinberg and his fellow Democrats, who control the Legislature. They are gearing up to help Gov. Jerry Brown to convince the public that the state is desperate for money in the aftermath of a deep recession and should pass billions of dollars in tax hikes in November.

Opponents of the governor's tax plan wasted no time in painting the Democrats as hypocrites.

"It's an outrage that they did this when the governor is asking voters to approve a tax initiative because he says we can't pay our bills," said Lew Uhler, head of the California-based National Tax Limitation Committee.

And state workers hit with a 4.62% pay cut to help balance California's budget were enraged by news of the raises.

"My membership is reeling from it,'' said Rocco Paternoster, executive director of the 7,000-member Assn. of California State Supervisors. "It's really a slap in the face not only [to] the employees but also the public."

He said a flood of angry emails from workers is believed to have contributed to the crashing of the group's website Thursday.

A spokesman for Steinberg said he would seek a pay freeze for the Senate staff during the current fiscal year. An Assembly spokesman said the lower house had no such plan.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) declined to comment on the raises in his chamber since Dec. 1, 2011. Most of the them were given to Assembly workers who had not received any in at least three years, said Jon Waldie, chief administrative officer of the lower house.

Records requested by The Times indicate that at least 1,090 staffers in the Legislature received raises during the last fiscal year. More than 110 of those were earning six-figure salaries; 13 now make more than the $173,987 paid to Brown.

The highest-paid aide to receive a raise was Christopher Woods, chief budget consultant for the Assembly speaker. Woods' pay grew 3.6%, to $193,476. Catherine Abernathy, chief of staff for Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), received 37%, for a salary of $65,832 a year, after taking on additional duties.

Raises and promotions went to 533 Assembly staffers at an annual cost of $3.1 million, according to a Times analysis. About 200 employees changed jobs, with the vast majority of those — 163 workers — seeing at least a 10% bump in pay.

Unemployment's still over 10 percent, although that's down from nearly 12 percent a year ago. See Governing, "Jobless Rates Rise as California, Ohio, North Carolina Add Most Jobs." Either way, I don't think Democrats can justify these pay raises, but we'll see. It's up to the voters in the respective districts.

The Predictable Banality of the After-Massacre Media

From Rick Moran, at PJ Media:

I would like to propose that anyone and everyone who writes anything about the massacre in Colorado save their work and, when the next mass killing occurs, simply republish the article, plugging in the new names, dates, and places where appropriate.

This will not only save time and effort, but, since we’ve already read what pundits have to say and we know all the arguments by heart, we won’t have to read it again. Thus, the news-consuming public will be spared the angst-ridden diatribes against guns, or immorality, or our broken mental health system, or violence in the media, or how it’s the left’s fault or the right’s fault — even articles like this one that complain about pundits writing about the same subjects every time a mass shooting occurs.

The post-massacre media environment gives true meaning to the cliche “deja vu” — “already seen” according to Wikipedia. I challenge anyone to come up with anything original written by anyone in the last 24 hours that didn’t follow the now traditional meme-making and narrative-setting path that every major public bloodletting has followed in the last decade.

Well, personally I like the media reporting on the specifics of a case --- what caused the shooter to act the way he did. No two gunman are the same, although theories of psychology can provide answers. And reporting on the reporting is certainly appropriate. Any big news event is a national media event. We can't divorce ourselves from it, or from criticism of the coverage. I do think folks can just hold off on the policy ramifications a bit longer, and the sick justifications for the politicization. That is indeed too much.

Rick also has this, "Why Is Brian Ross Still Working for ABC News?" The short answer is he made a mistake, corrected it and apologized. It was a really bad mistake so perhaps ABC News should take action? I wouldn't. But lots of folks are asking why is Ross still employed, even quite a few on the left.

James Holmes' Academic Frustration and Social Isolation

Folks can make what they want out of this New York Times piece, "Before and After Massacre, Puzzles Line Suspect’s Path." Most of the information is already public, although the Times mentions that sketchy news that Holmes trolled adult sex sites (and notes that the adult finder information is unconfirmed). But I thought this part was interesting:

Apart from a speeding ticket, Mr. Holmes had no previous encounters with the police in Aurora. He had no history of trouble with the police at college in California. He left no easily identifiable online messages or videos that might offer any insight to his mind-set. It also remained unclear how Mr. Holmes was able to afford the large amount of weapons, ammunition and protective gear he had, and how he learned to booby-trap his apartment. He was being held away from other inmates at the Arapahoe County Jail on Saturday because of the case’s high profile, Sheriff Grayson Robinson said. Mr. Holmes is due to make his first court appearance at 9:30 Monday morning.

There will be lots more coming, but I expect the graduate school angle that will be increasingly crucial. For example, the Times notes that Holmes:

...had an appointment at the university under a one-year Neuroscience Training Grant from the National Institutes of Health, a spokeswoman for the university said. The federal grant pays for six pre-thesis doctoral students in the university’s neuroscience program at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Such grants are usually quite difficult to obtain, going to only the top students.

Now, this was at the University of Colorado at Denver, which is a medium-ranked doctoral institution in neuroscience (the prestigious National Research Council rankings are here). The university has a medical school as well. No doubt it's highly competitive. Earlier reports said Holmes was struggling. If so, he probably started having problems right way, the first semester, which might track with his strange behavior. Especially important is Holmes isolation. People at the apartments said they never saw him with anyone else. He didn't have a girlfriend or a love interest, and he spent a lot of time online, apparently --- not just for the adult websites, although we'll have more on that later, but for the bomb-making information, and so forth.. He planned both the theater shooting and the booby traps meticulously.

So at this point, it's academic frustrations combined with social and emotional isolation. Besides that, I'd like to know what kind of family support he had. How often did he talk to his parents? Did he go home to San Diego to visit and how often? What kind of social activities were available in his academic department and did he make use of them? Surely the university had loads of intramural and professional support programs, and Holmes had to be working with academic advisers. Somewhere he slipped though the cracks, and people in Denver and back home in San Diego have some soul-searching to do. You can't prevent everything, but it looks like signs of loneliness or social introversion were in evidence.

That's my take for now. Check back for more.

Six-Year-Old Veronica Moser-Sullivan Killed in Colorado Theater Massacre

I read about this little one yesterday, but more information is coming out.

At London's Daily Mail, "Pictured: The tragic six-year-old girl shot dead in Dark Knight massacre as America mourns 12 victims murdered in cold blood."

All 12 of those who died in the tragic cinema shooting in Aurora, Colorado on Thursday night have been identified - they range from 51-year-old Gorden Cowden to Veronica Moser-Sullivan, who was just six years old.

Three are believed to have been members of the military, while two died trying to save their girlfriends from the hail of bullets sent out by alleged shoot James Holmes, who launched his vicious attack during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Veronica, the youngest victim, was a 'delightful' girl who was looking forward to starting swimming lessons this week, according to her grieving family.

Details about the 12 victims emerged on Saturday, the day before Barack Obama planned to travel to Aurora to meet with those affected by the massacre.

More here.

Tiki Barbar Remarries Just 4 Days After Finalizing Divorce From First Wife

I used to have a lot of respect for this guy, but he divorced his wife when she was pregnant with their third and fourth children, twin daugthers. I personally don't have that big a problem with divorce. I do have a problem with ditching your wife for a 23-year-old hottie while your ex-wife bears your newborn child.

In any case, at London's Daily Mail, "NY Giants star Tiki Barber marries 23-year-old pinup wife days after divorcing mother of his four children."

Check that link. He was cheating on his wife before they divorced, as his lawyers house. His popularity has taken a big hit, so I guess that's a comeuppance.

Mossad Reportedly Fears Iranian Attack on Israeli Athletes at Olympics

At the Times of Israel:

Israel reportedly fears Iran or a proxy organization may seek to attack Israelis during the Olympic Games, set to begin later this week, The Sunday Times reported.

Israel had already planned for beefed-up security for its delegation at the Games in London, but now harbors concerns that the terrorists responsible for last week’s bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, will strike again, the paper reported Sunday.

According to the Sunday Times, agents from the Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet security service, who flew to Bulgaria in the wake of the bombing, have hurried to try to identify the bomber and his helpers in an effort to counter any possible threats on Israel’s delegation to the high-profile event.

A Mossad agent in Bulgaria has reportedly been in close contact with Britain’s security service about possible threats. According to the report, special Mossad agents have been dispatched to capitals around Europe where members of Iran’s Quds Force are known to be working out of embassies.

More at the link.

Israel Defense Forces: Medical Delegation Arrives at Bulgaria

From the IDF news desk:

Using Twitter to Identify Psychopaths

From Kash Hill, at Forbes (via Instapundit):

People’s nasty traits have a way of revealing themselves on social networks: in writing. Or rather in how they write. That means an analysis of how someone tweets could reveal whether he or she is narcissistic, Machiavellian, or psychopathic, according to researchers who plan to present their findings at DefCon next week.

What are some of the Twitter stylings of these undesirables? Curse words. Angry responses to other people, including swearing and use of the word “hate.” Using the word “we.” Using periods. Using filler words such as “blah” and “I mean” and “um.”

(I suspect that an analysis of the Twitter streams of many a blogger would suggest they are potentially a narcissist, a psychopath or an avid reader of “The Prince.” Which may well be an accurate assessment.)

“The FBI could use this to flag potential wrongdoers, but I think it’s much more compelling for psychologists to use to understand large communities of people,” says Chris Sumner of the Online Privacy Foundation, which collaborated with Florida Atlantic University and big-data competition site Kaggle to conduct the study. He imagines the algorithmic models his team developed could be used to compare character traits between different countries based on Twitter.

Continue reading.

The Syria Endgame

A leader on Syria, from The Economist, "Towards the endgame":

IN EVERY revolution, there is a moment when the tide turns against the regime. In Egypt it came on January 28th last year, when protesters occupied Tahrir Square and torched the ruling-party headquarters. In Libya it happened on August 20th last year, when people in Tripoli rose against Qaddafi. In Syria it may have happened on July 18th, when a bomb struck at the heart of Syria’s military command.

If the attack shifts the balance of power decisively against President Bashar Assad, that is greatly to be welcomed. But a year or so after their revolutions, both Egypt and Libya remain unstable; and Syria, which borders Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, is an exceptionally complex and pivotal part of the Middle East. Those who wish Syrians well now need to focus not just on how to bring about Mr Assad’s swift fall from power, but also on how to spare the post-Assad Syria from murder and chaos and how to prevent violence from spreading across a combustible region.

Continue reading.

Shooting Suspect James Holmes Allegedly Trolled Sex Site 'Adult Friend Finder'

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Cries for Gun Control Following Colorado Shooting Massacre

Here's the almost unbelievably over-the-top editorial at the NY Daily News, "Blood on hands of Obama, Mitt and NRA!"

Glenn Reynolds calls it a "disgraceful piece of blood-libel agitprop..."

And see Doug Ross, "The Geniuses Who Think You Can Ban Evil." (Via Memeorandum.)

More at the New York Times, "Colorado Gun Laws Remain Lax, Despite Some Changes." Mentioning James Holmes, who purchased guns legally, there's this:

The guy basically had normal guns,” said Eugene Volokh, an expert in constitutional law at the University of California, Los Angeles. Unless some new evidence of documented psychiatric disturbance emerges, Mr. Volokh added, “there’s no indication that, from his record, he is someone whom more restrictive screening procedures would have caught.”

Yeah, and read the entirely reasonable editorial at the New York Post, "Colorado Shootings Sparks Gun-Control Calls":

...individual access to legally obtained firearms is explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution — a fact reaffirmed by the US Supreme Court as recently as 2010.

Constitutions are not easily amended — that’s the point, after all — and the 2nd Amendment would be a particularly tough nut to crack. Politically, even indigo states trend purple on guns.

So while a case can be made for stronger national gun laws, it needs to be advanced with profound respect for the constitutional issues involved.

Surely, no reasonable person would argue that “The Dark Knight Rises” be banned, and the 1st Amendment savaged, because it might have sparked yesterday’s shootings.

The Constitution is the law of the land.

Respect it.

More at Memeorandum. It turns out New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg announced he'll introduce gun control legislation to the Congress. Lautenberg's a Democrat, so it figures.

IMAGE CREDIT: Yahoo News "Colorado shooting: How the world's newspapers covered the 'Dark Knight' massacre."

Bomb Squad Detonates Colorado Apartment of Theater Shooting Suspect (VIDEO)

From Rick Moran at PJ Media, "Police Detonate Booby-Trap in Colorado Suspect’s Apartment."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Bomb experts touch off explosion in Holmes' rigged apartment."

And remember this part from Reuters earlier, "Police to detonate devices in Colorado shooting suspect's home":

James Holmes, who was arrested after allegedly opening fire on hundreds of people watching a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," apparently also set some audio equipment at his apartment on a timer, a second law enforcement source close to the investigation said.

The timer set off some loud music later in the night.

"It was to turn the music on ... it was on a timer. It came on loudly obviously to create a call for noise disturbance. People would make entry and potentially (trigger) those explosive devices," the second source said.

Yeah, trigger those explosives and blow up those entering the apartment. That is sinister, indeed.

See also the New York Times, "Police Disarm Major Threats at Suspect’s Apartment."

Spectacular Alessandra Ambrosio Mini Dress Photos

I was just mentioning how great she looks.

And now here's this at London's Daily Mail, "She only gave birth two months ago! Alessandra Ambrosio shows off stunning post-baby figure in metallic mini-dress."

New Jessica Gomes Bikini Pics

At Egotastic, "Jessica Gomes Bikini Pictures Put the My My My in Miami."

RELATED: "Jessica Gomes Photos in Sydney, Australia From the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photo Gallery."

Colorado Survivor Jansen Young Describes How Military Boyfriend Took Bullet for Her

A follow up to my previous entry, "Names of Colorado Shooting Victims Emerge."

Here's the video of Jansen Young, whose boyfriend, Jon Blunk, saved her life.

More at The Blaze, "‘HE PROVIDED ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SURVIVE’: WOMAN DESCRIBES HOW MILITARY BOYFRIEND TOOK A BULLET FOR HER DURING SHOOTING."

Names of Colorado Shooting Victims Emerge

At 9 News Colorado, "Names of victims emerge in theater shooting."

DENVER - The names and stories of the 12 people killed continue to emerge after a gunman barged into a crowded Aurora theater Friday, set off gas canisters and opened fire as spectators dove for cover. Dozens of others were injured.

A six-year was among the dead. At the San Jose Mercury News, "Stories of victims killed in Colorado shooting emerge."

And at London's Daily Mail, "A hero who died saving his girlfriend, a man at his birthday party... the tragic stories of twelve victims killed in Dark Knight massacre."

Freedom to Blog Update July 21, 2012

I just wanted to post a brief update on Brett Kimberlin and related blogging.

Aaron Worthing continues to push back against the left's repulsive lawfare campaign, "Exclusive: Brett Kimberlin Threatens to File Criminal Charges Against Me, Again," and "Exclusive: My Virginia Complaint Against Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser and Ron Brynaert."

And the background is at Michelle's, "Going dark to urge congressional action: Who will protect the freedom to blog?", and "Freedom to blog updates: Aaron Walker fights Brett Kimberlin gag order; the Left and endless lawfare."

And at Camp of the Saints, "The #BrettKimberlin Report D+52: Brad Friedman’s Fit."

Now, in related developments, my friend Karen at The Lonely Conservative has been subjected to a vicious hate campaign. Really, it's unbelievable the degree of abuse she's been fighting. See "Connecting the Dots on the Ongoing Harassment." RTWT and see also The Other McCain, "Poison Pen E-Mail and the Harassment of the Lonely Conservative."

And God bless Mare Zilla for her undaunted defense of those under assault: "Because Darkness Hates the Light – ROLL CALL!", and "Oh, Those “Compassionate” Leftists!"

Both Karen and Zilla have links to those joining the call of liberty.

And it this point, I can't recall a more vicious campaign of destruction. Prayers for Karen.

And that's saying a lot, considering:

* "The Lies of Scott Eric Kaufman — Leftist Hate-Blogger Sought to Silence Criticism With Libelous Campaign of Workplace Harassment."

* "Carl Salonen Libelous Workplace Allegations of Child Pornography and Sexual Harassment at Long Beach City College."

* "Intent to Annoy and the Fascist Hate-Blogging Campaign of Walter James Casper III."

* "Roundup on Progressive Campaign of Workplace Intimidation and Harassment."

Previous "Freedom to Blog Updates" are here.

When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'

Here's Wonkette's entry from yesterday, "ABC NEWS SHOULD FIRE BRIAN ROSS, AND OTHER NOTES ON BEING TERRIBLE."

There are 12 people dead and 50 injured at a movie theater in Colorado, including a baby. It’s not as though you can’t look into a suspect’s history after a massacre and report things as they’re confirmed. That’s what the media should do! What the media, and every idiot on the Twitter, should not do, is first seek out a narrow angle that probably has nothing to do with crazy people going crazy — say, “what political party is this insane person in?” — and then get it wrong out of pure laziness. This matters. Let’s shame some people. First up: ABC News should fire Brian Ross....

Jesus fucking Christ on a hotplate. Brian Ross and his BLOTTER INVESTIGATIVE TEAM googled for a few minutes and didn’t bother trying to confirm anything and wow, huh, look at that, he was wrong....

Tea Party people on the Internet are furious over this, and they have every right to be, because it’s an egregious, early error that will color the impressions of people no matter how frequently or aggressively it’s retracted. Can Brian Ross! Put him in the goddamn street. He is constantly wrong, at reporting on national television.

Exactly.

The decent, human thing to do would to be to gather facts, and especially not go looking around the Internet to see "what party is this insane person in?", or what tea party organization, as did No More Mr. Nice Blog did. That is, the decent, human thing would not be going all gonzo trying to score partisan points to destroy your enemies.

But despite the universal condemnation of the left's attempts to politicize the Aurora massacre, Walter James Casper III decided to take to Twitter to --- wait for it! --- slam conservative Michelle Malkin as a "whiney wingnut victim":

Whiney Wingnut Victimhood -michellemalkin.com/2012/07/20/bla… via @michellemalkin The prob isnt partisanship, it's unsubstantiated speculation as news.
— J. Casper (@repsac3) July 21, 2012

And for reviled hate-blogger Repsac's claim that it's just "unsubstantiated speculation as news," let's go to a veteran newsman who writes a column on news reporting, James Taranto, at the Wall Street Journal, "With Extreme Prejudice: How ABC News "investigates" a horrific crime." Picking up on ABC's retraction and apology, Taranto writes:

This strikes us as insufficient. Simply as a matter of journalistic craft, the report was appallingly shoddy. Ross pointed the finger at an innocent man based on nothing but the coincidence of a common name and the man's residence in the same city of 325,000 where the crime took place.

Let us amend that. There was one other factor, and this is what makes the ABC error not just amateurish but sinister: the innocent Jim Holmes's involvement with the Tea Party. For more than three years liberal journalists have falsely portrayed the Tea Party as racist and potentially violent. After the January 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., speculation immediately began that the suspect was a Tea Partier. Even after it was proved that he was not, the New York Times published a despicable editorial blaming conservatives anyway.

Ross and ABC were out on this limb alone. Either other journalists learned their lesson from Tucson, or it didn't occur to them to look for a political motive this time (it was a more plausible hypothesis in a shooting that targeted a politician).

It is reasonable to interpret Ross's hasty unsubstantiated report as an expression of hostility--bigotry--toward the Tea Party and those who share its values, which are traditional American ones. ABC's carelessness here is in sharp contrast with the way the mainstream media treat criminal suspects who are black or Muslim. In those cases they take great pains not to perpetuate stereotypes, sometimes at the cost of withholding or obscuring relevant facts such as the physical description of a suspect who is still at large or the ideological motive for a crime.

Oikophobia is no less invidious than other forms of bigotry. ABC and Ross have apologized for their irresponsible reporting, but they have something more to answer for here. Their careless and inadvertent falsehood was in the service of a big lie.

See more on that bigotry from Taranto: "Oikophobia."

And actually, Ross and ABC weren't out on a limb alone. Walter James Casper III jumped out on that limb too, the asshole. So, once again, this whole sordid episode demonstrates the deep, vile wellspring of bigotry erupting from the warped mind of hate-blogger Walter James Casper III. 

Bob Herbert on Rachel Maddow Show: 'Republican Party Has Been a Safe House For Bigotry For Decades'

My first reaction was, "Oh brother. Here we go again." But it's Rachel 'Hutaree' Maddow, so I guess it's no surprise.

My second reaction, listening to the full clip, is how amazingly self-refuting Bob Herbert is -- and wrong on the facts as well (conservatives don't embrace ideological or racial extremists, for example, but progressives do). Notice how Hebert argues a couple of times that bigotry is a fringe sentiment, and it's even on the way out. Right. Everyone knows that, except for desperate lefties who have nothing else. Kinda sad, but Herbert proves he's a washed-up clown of progressive punditry. 

My third reaction is to realize just how sad the modern left-wing of American politics has become. It's been almost 50 years since President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and leftists like Herbert are still obsessed with the tragic murders of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman. The denial in November at O's defeat, accompanied by wild allegations of racism, no doubt, is going to be something to behold. A political and ideological meltdown on a centennial scale.

'Heaven'

From Los Lonely Boys:

Here's praying that heaven awaits the Aurora shooting victims.

Twelve Years After Boy Scouts v. Dale, Homosexuals Escalate Extremist Attacks on Traditional Organization

At great letter to the editor at the Los Angeles Times (responding to this idiotic "tolerance" editorial):

The Times' editorial bemoaning the "sad" and "unnecessary" evolution of the Boy Scouts reflected in its exclusion of gays and atheists should instead decry the fact that in many cases, democracy has evolved into a fanatic religion of the equal sign.

The support of Christian churches does not represent any nefarious and new penetration of religion into the Boy Scouts. Since its founding, the Boy Scouts has been based on traditional religious principles — nothing new here. The Supreme Court has affirmed the Boy Scouts' right to express this principle in its membership.

I do not see why it is so hard for some "democrats" to extend their love for equality and free choice to freedom of association. There is nothing to prevent the formation of parallel institutions that articulate their own values.

Jack Kaczorowski
Los Angeles

In fact, the radical homosexuals don't want "parallel institutions." They want to take over and fundamentally transform, as the president pledged, America's traditional institutions. And the leftist's couldn't care less about constitutional niceties such as freedom of speech or freedom of association. Once the homosexual extremists start to tighten their grip --- as they are now all over the nation with their hate-filled agenda --- they just tighten until their targets are near death and frankly give up. In our upside-down world the so-called oppressed have become the oppressors, and they've got an Oppressor-in-Chief in the White House. Thank goodness O's days are numbered. Soon people of values and decency can start rolling back the tide against the homosexual bigots and their disgusting Democrat allies.