Democrats Push Gun Control Legislation in Senate

I discussed Senator Charles Schumer earlier, who said the shooting put us at "the tipping point" for the (left's) national conversation on gun control, "Tragedy and Exploitation – the Progressive Way."

And now here comes Senator Dianne Feinstein, "Sen. Feinstein to introduce gun-control bill next year":

WASHINGTON — Two days after the shooting deaths of 26 people at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, Sen. Dianne Feinstein pledged Sunday that she would introduce new gun-control legislation at the beginning of next year’s congressional session.

“It [the bill] will ban the sale, the transfer, the transportation and the possession,” the California senator said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Not retroactively, but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets.”

Feinstein said the purpose of her proposal, a version of the assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004, is to get “weapons of war off the streets of our cities.”

Officials have said that most of those killed in Friday’s massacre — a toll that included 20 children — were shot with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle.

Feinstein has been at the forefront of gun-control efforts nationally. The assault weapons ban that she pushed followed mass killings in a Stockton schoolyard and in a San Francisco office tower. Feinstein was also at San Francisco City Hall in 1978 when Supervisor Dan White killed Mayor George Moscone and fellow Supervisor Harvey Milk. Feinstein saw White flee their offices and found Milk, memorably saying afterward that when she felt for a pulse, her finger slipped into a bullet hole. Feinstein, then the head of the Board of Supervisors, became mayor upon Moscone’s death.

Oh, she means well alright, but she'll have more credibility when she also starts pushing the discussion on expanding mental health services, with talk of involuntary placement of the mentally ill. That's not the hippest topic, of course, but it's the one we must have if we're going to have a legitimate "national conservation" on gun violence. See Leslie Eastman, at Legal Insurrection, "Mother recounts terrors of raising genius son with violence-oriented mental illness."

RELATED: From Politico, at Memorandum, "Schumer, Feinstein push changes on gun laws."

Obama to Speak at Prayer Vigil in Connecticut

USA Today reports, and Slone reacts on Twitter:

HERE HE COMES: President-never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste:President now on Air Force One and en route Newtown, CT #tcot
— slone (@slone) December 16, 2012

BONUS: Aaron Worthing's post from the other day, "A Few Thoughts About the Crime in Connecticut And Gun Control":

...while I am getting sick of the politicization of every tragedy, I am not going to overly object to people talking about gun control today.  I don’t support gun control, but let’s have this out.  If we can’t stand up for the Second Amendment today, we are just going to lose the argument.

The reality is the “lets ban all guns” theory is simply a bit of what I call “silver bullet utopianism”—that is the idea that a large and complex problem can be solved easily with a proverbial silver bullet.  And it is utopianism, with dangerous consequences in real life if we don’t wake up from it.

As I quipped today on Twitter, one only has to drive through downtown D.C. late into the night to see how successful the ban on prostitution is.  You see them, openly and notoriously operating on corners only blocks away from the White House.

(Must... resist... urge... to make cheap “politicians are prostitutes” joke.)

The same can be said for drugs and illegal immigration.  I can name for you several spots where the illegal workers line up.  Everyone can.  It’s no secret.  It’s open and notorious.

And it is downright bizarre to see many of the same liberals who advocate drug legalization, or open borders on the theory that “you just can’t stop the flow” simultaneously argue that banning guns will accomplish anything but disarming solely the law-abiding citizens.

And there are several other problems with banning guns.  For one thing, what liberals are advocating is that the government have a monopoly on the use of deadly force—or more precisely the government and the criminals who violate the law.  Good law abiding citizens shouldn’t protect themselves, the argument goes, the government should protect them...

Well, the left-wing sickos have no shame.

It's all about stripping law-abiding citizens of their guns. The left's "gun control" agenda certainly won't stop gun violence.

PREVIOUSLY: "Tragedy and Exploitation – the Progressive Way."

Tragedy and Exploitation – the Progressive Way

I watched "Face the Nation" earlier. All the panelists were exploiting the tragedy to push for more gun control, with host Bob Schieffer being the most aggressive of them all, even broadcasting a big gun-control editorial at the bottom of the hour. It's really amazing to listen to this. Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer suggested the country was ready for action since Sandy Hook was "the tipping point" in the so-called national conversation. Surprisingly, Schumer sounded at times reasonable, especially when he slammed idiot progressives for wanting to take away Americans' guns. Here's the segment with Schumer's comments, "Is it time for tougher gun laws?" Also on the show was the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. Over the top, he said this massacre was the nation's "new 9/11" (and folks can just ponder the mind-bogging, incommensurable obscenities dripping from that remark). And what gun control love fest would be complete without the despicable "big thinker" David Frum, who befouled himself with a disgusting series of comments over the past few days. Frum's an objectively bad person and few have topped his inhuman posturing on this, and that's saying a lot.

In any case, here's Derek Hunter, at Townhall, "Tragedy and Exploitation – the Progressive Way":

I’ve said before how progressives will exploit anyone and anything to advance their agenda, but I’d always thought there was a line, somewhere, of decency they wouldn’t cross. I was wrong.

With the blood of the victims still wet, progressives began their call for gun control. They had no idea if the guns were purchased legally (they were, and stolen from the first murder victim, the killer’s mother), what kind of guns they were (they were pistols, not “assault weapons,” though a semi-automatic rifle was found, unused, in the killer’s car), or even if the killer was in custody or dead (there were stories of a hunt for a second shooter) before they succumbed to the siren call of their agenda.

Michael Moore, noted tragedy profiteer, took to Twitter with “Only minutes away from pundits & politicians say, "This isn't the time to talk about gun control." Really? When is that moment?”

A short time later he followed up with “The NRA hates freedom. They don't want you to have the freedom to send your children to school & expect them to come home alive.”

No fiction writer could do the sickness of that man justice.

But Moore wasn’t alone, David Frum was his usual self and joined a chorus of his fellow progressives that included Piers Morgan, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and nearly the entire homepage of The Huffington Post in calling for more gun control.

Actress Rashida Jones tweeted, “Gun control is our only road to freedom. Freedom from the fear of senselessly losing children. I'm so saddened. WE NEED LAWS NOW.”

The stupidity of these people is self-evident. States with the most freedom to own and carry guns have the lowest crime rates. Meanwhile, cities such as Chicago, where it’s illegal to own a gun, have the most gun violence.

But although the side of liberty has the statistics, progressives play on emotion. Facts don’t matter in a world of crying children, and progressives know it. A complicated issue is offered a simple solution that appeals to the feeling of helplessness and promises to alleviate it. It’s a tactic used by despots throughout history.

Actually, Hunter is only partially correct on the weapons used. We didn't know that the Bushmaster was used until yesterday, when the medical examiner issued a report on the findings from the crime scene. Initial police reports said only that two handguns were used. But Hunter is right to note that the facts don't matter to the despicable gun-confiscation leftists. Just to mention that the gunman may have had a semiautomatic rifle was enough for radical leftists to launch the most heinous campaign of lies and disinformation. These people are depraved. As Hunter continues:

The president was reserved and presidential in his remarks, and the White House said this is not the time to press an agenda (we’ll see how long that lasts). But their allies would have none of it. Progressive activists and their fellow travellers in the media have a storied history of dancing on graves to advance their agenda, but rarely have they danced so gleefully on such tiny graves yet to be dug. Time will tell which argument wins the day, but I have my suspicions. As President Obama’s former chief of staff once famously said, “You never want a serious crisis go to waste.”

Dancing on the graves. The blood hadn't dried and horrible, horrible progressive ghouls were demanding immediate action on gun control in Congress. Never let a crisis go to waste for these people, even before families are able to collect their loved ones. Godless and inhumane. Progressives are destroying this country right before our eyes. Don't let them. Stand for decency. Stand for liberty. Stand for reason and what is right, all that is the exact opposite of what the authoritarian collectivist left is pushing.

Progressives Push 'Social Justice' in Public Education

A great post and video at Blazing Cat Fur, "Ending Progressive Public Education."

Also at Eye Crazy, "Good news everyone! Canadian school kids are now getting Marxist indoctrination in Math class."

Connecticut Killer's Mother Taught Him How to Shoot

This story's at the New York Times, "Killer's Mother, His First Victim, Was a Gun Enthusiast, Friends Say" (via Memeorandum), and Telegraph UK, "Connecticut school massacre: Gunman's mother taught him to shoot."

She loved her guns, apparently, which is fine. But notice this bizarre and internally contradictory passage at the Telegraph's piece:

The killings have once again pushed America’s lax gun laws to the top of the political agenda. It was claimed last night that he had even tried to bolster his arsenal by buying another gun on Tuesday — three days before his murderous assault — but was refused because he did not have a “proper” permit.

The authors didn't think that through, eh? Connecticut's gun laws are not "lax," a point made even more obvious in the case of the suspect, who was turned down for another weapon by those very same not-so-lax state gun laws.

More here: "Semiautomatic Rifle Was Used in Attack."

Madness, Deinstitutionalization and Murder

From Clayton Cramer's research paper at The Federalist Society (via Althouse):

Studies in New York and Connecticut from the 1920s through the 1940s showed a much lower arrest rate for the mentally ill. In an era when involuntary commitment was relatively easy, those who were considered a danger to themselves or others would be hospitalized at the first signs of serious mental illness. The connection between insanity and crime was apparent, and the society took a precautionary approach. Mentally ill persons who were not hospitalized were those not considered a danger to others. This changed as deinstitutionalization took effect.

Be sure to read it all. For example:

Patrick Purdy, a mentally ill drifter, used his Social Security Disability payments to buy guns, while having a series of run-ins with the law. After one suicide attempt in jail in 1987, a mental health evaluation concluded that he was “a danger to his health and others.” In January 1989, Purdy went onto a schoolyard in Stockton, California with an AK-47 rifle, murdered five children and wounded twenty-nine others, before taking his own life.

Lots more examples like that at the link, but Purdy's is interesting. His crimes led to the passage of the federal assault weapons ban in 1994 (which expired in 2004). The left always uses these horrific killings to take away guns, and the media's working hard now to exploit Sandy Hook for the same purposes. See: "Media Sets Gun Control Narrative, Shuts Down Mental Health Debate."

  RELATED: At The Other McCain, "Guns Don’t Kill People …"

Semiautomatic Rifle Was Used in Attack

More details on the Sandy Hook Massacre, and an update to my previous report, "Ghoulish Walter James Casper III Exploits Connecticut School Massacre to Push Gun Control, Spread Lies and Disinformation."

At the Wall Street Journal, "Semiautomatic Rifle Was Used in Attack":

SANDY HOOK, Conn.—The 26 victims who were shot inside a Connecticut elementary school on Friday were each hit by more than one bullet, most of them from the high-powered semiautomatic rifle wielded by the 20-year-old suspect, the state's chief medical examiner said on Saturday.

Authorities worked into Saturday morning at a temporary morgue on the school grounds to identify the bodies, H. Wayne Carver II said, as state authorities released the names of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

On Saturday afternoon, authorities revealed the truth behind the grim numerical toll: a list of names, overwhelmingly female, heart-rendingly young. Twenty of the 26 victims in the school were just 6 or 7 years old.

"I believe they were all first-graders," Mr. Carver said.

Six adults also were killed in the school, including school psychologist Mary Jo Sherlach, the oldest victim, at age 56.

Mr. Carver said his staff would perform an autopsy Sunday on the two remaining dead in the spree: the suspect, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who took his own life at the school, and his mother, Nancy Lanza, 52, whom Mr. Lanza shot and killed in the house the two shared in town.

Mr. Lanza's body was found close to the rifle and two handguns he carried, police said, and he is believed to have taken his own life.

Continue reading.

It wasn't until today that the medical examiner could release these details, including the information on finding the suspect's body and the weapons used. As the report continues:

The forcible entry helped solve one of the many unanswered questions about the massacre Friday: how a heavily armed young man was able to pass through the locked security doors of an elementary school.

School staff members saw evidence of forced entry as they were ushered out of the school, said Mary Ann Jacob, a clerk at the school library who hid with others in a storage room during the shooting spree. As they left the building, Ms. Jacob said she saw that the plate-glass window next to the building's front door was broken.

But much remained unanswered, and much of what had been assumed in the rush of the crisis turned out to be wrong. It was incorrect, Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police said, that Mr. Lanza's mother had had any connection to Sandy Hook Elementary, where early reports suggested she had been a teacher.

Law-enforcement officials initially said an assault rifle had been discovered in a car in the school's parking lot. In fact, said Mr. Carver, the medical examiner, it had been the primary weapon used in the killings.

Robert Stacy McCain live-blogged developments yesterday. In an update he mentions the dramatic shifts in what was known throughout the day, "Chris Rock Was Right":

When I got up Friday morning, live-blogging a mass murder was not part of my plan for the day. In fact, at the end of a post Friday morning about labor union violence in Michigan, I promised further developments on that story. As I was researching that, however, the TV kept updating with news about a shooting at a school in Connecticut and I figured this might be a story worth mentioning on the blog.

The original 12:15 p.m. ET post relayed reports that “three people have been wounded or injured and one person, the suspected shooter, is dead,” but added the caution that “early reports on events like this can be often be confusing and/or inaccurate.”

To say the very least.

By the time I added the first update, NBC was already reporting 20 dead and next it was 24, then 26, then 27, and all these changing numbers were coming amid a welter of confusing (and, as it turned out, largely wrong) details about the shooter, about the victims, etc. And this kept going for about six hours. Everything is still pretty sketchy, but we now have the bare-bones facts of the story.

Well, the actual facts of the story didn't matter to the radical leftists like Angie Coiro and her hate-addled followers like Walter James "Hatesac" Casper III. Indeed, it's not about "gun control" with these people. It's about literally destroying right-wing impediments to statist authoritarianism:

@damkina Because the #NRA is partnered w/ #ALEC, which is fueled by the #Koch brothers. Unending $$$. We can't tackle this in bits &pieces.
— Angie Coiro (@Angie_Coiro) December 15, 2012

RT @leftonmain: NRA Under Twitter, Facebook Attack After Shootings huff.to/U17j8V \\ Only a taste of what's coming to them & #ALEC.
— Angie Coiro (@Angie_Coiro) December 15, 2012

Yes, "Only a taste of what's coming to them."

Stalin couldn't have stated his plans for liquidation of political enemies any more clearly.

The right to bear arms guarantees citizens the individual protection against the state. That's the central liberty guarantee extant in the Second Amendment. Along with freedom of speech, it's perhaps the most important right Americans have to defend against tyranny. And the radical left would strip those rights in a split second, obliterating the civil liberties of millions of law-abiding people who had nothing to do with this massacre or any one before it. Indeed, mass shooting like Sandy Hook are possible explicitly because upstanding citizens obey the law and come to places of work and school unarmed. It's the criminals who violate those so-called gun free zone to wreak unfathomable evil. The left's policies facilitate the killing, and then these sick-fucks exploit the murders to bring about even more draconian policies that will ultimately bring about even more killing. It's the progressive death loop of ever-expanding gun confiscation. This is the evil the Walter James Casper III tweeted out yesterday in his utterly inhumane rush to politically capitalize on the deaths of those innocent children, 16 of them just 6 years old. This is why decent, intelligent and God-fearing people stand up for the truth. This is why decent, law-abiding Americans repudiate the left's lies. They know where it leads. They know the left's policies will bring the reign of terror and the camps. The piles of bodies stacked like cord wood is the "taste of what's coming." The leftists just lay it out there for everyone to see. It would be shocking but we've seen this play before and the millions of piled corpses before the final curtain.

Stand tall against it. Stand for liberty. Stand against the left's program of death and destruction of the individual.

New Details in Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

The chief medical examiner has released the names of the victims. At the Wall Street Journal, "Victims Are Named in Connecticut Shooting." And the Los Angeles Times, "Victims of Sandy Hook school shooting are named."

And contrary to some earlier reports, the gunman was not "buzzed in" the school's entrance. See the Los Angeles Times, "Connecticut shooting: Gunman forced his way into school, police say."

Plus, check this Fox News interview with criminal psychologist Alan Lipman, who notes that in every case, "the facts are, as in Aurora, as in Arizona, as in Virginia Tech, as in virtually every case the Secret Service studied of these kinds of events... Every one of these episodes is proceeded by an undiagnosed, untreated, mental illness."

Also at The Other McCain, "‘He Was a Quiet Ewok, Kept to Himself a Lot. Kind of a Loner, I Guess You’d Say’." (Via Memeorandum.)

Expect updates...

5:18pm Pacific: More, at London's Daily Mail, "Twelve little girls and eight little boys: Police name Connecticut massacre victims - all aged six and seven - as it's revealed gunman shot each child up to 11 times in 'revenge' attack after fighting with teachers the day before."

10:15pm Pacific: More, "Semiautomatic Rifle Was Used in Attack."

MSNBC's Alex Wagner: Hopefully Connecticut Massacre Will Create 'Political Capital' for Gun Control

These inhuman MSNBC progressives have no shame.

Video at RealClear Politics, "MSNBC Host: CT Shooting May Bring 'Political Capital' For Gun Control."

Tougher Gun Control Laws Unlikely After Elementary School Massacre

Listen to Piers Morgan get all angry and "furious," in his own words, all while completely ignoring the facts, and even distorting them. He points to the Bushmaster rifle in outrage even though that gun was not used in the massacre, and he rants about how all these guns were bought legally. They were, although the suspect stole them from his mother, whom he murdered, and then killed 20 children and 6 adults. Morgan was spouting the same nonsense after the Aurora shooting. We'll have more stupid gun control outrage after the next shooting, God forbid. But no matter what happens, fortunately, we're not likely to see a wave of repressive gun control laws that will only strip the civil liberties from law-abiding citizens and do nothing to stop gun violence.

More at the Los Angeles Times, "Tougher gun laws seem unlikely even after school shooting":

WASHINGTON — Another mass shooting, another drive for gun control. But will the latest shooting — this time at an elementary school — change the political calculus in Washington and generate more support for tougher gun laws?

"I think the impact of this is going to be inescapable," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center.

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is among the worst shootings in the nation's history and comes after a spate of other high-profile episodes of violence, including mass shootings this year at a Colorado movie theater, a Wisconsin temple and an Oregon shopping mall. The rampage in Connecticut left 27 dead, 20 of them children ages 5 to 10. The shooter then killed himself.

But although the tender age of the victims brought tears to President Obama's eyes and an assertion from him that "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics," political observers from both parties were doubtful that anything major would be done.

"You think Social Security is the third rail of politics, try guns," said a Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Congress, far from being inclined to tighten gun laws, allowed an assault weapons ban to lapse in 2004.

"You have Republicans getting a lot of push-back from the base on a number of issues, such as agreeing to tax increases and compromising on immigration. Throwing the 2nd Amendment and gun rights into the mix would be devastating to the party," said a congressional Republican staffer, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue.

Opposition comes not just from Republicans. A number of Democrats have been skittish about the issue, contending that Al Gore's support for gun control cost him votes in rural states in the 2000 presidential election.

White House spokesman Jay Carney steered clear of the issue when asked about it Friday, saying it was a day for mourning, not policy debates. That stance immediately drew criticism from the left, and gun control advocates moved swiftly to ratchet up the pressure on Obama.

"If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control ... I don't know when is," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

"President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress," New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said.

About 200 protesters calling for immediate action appeared outside the White House, some carrying placards that read, "Today: Sandy Hook. Tomorrow?"

"Condolences don't work," said Pastor Michael McBridge of Oakland. What will work is "action now," he said.

"We've had enough," added Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a leading gun control advocate who sponsored the now-lapsed federal ban on assault weapons, has said she plans to make a new effort to revive the measure.

Still more at the link.

And after that head over to read Jeffrey Goldberg, at the Atlantic, "What Can We Do to Stop Massacres?" (At Memeorandum.)

Stimulus Forecasts Show Obama Can't Blame GOP for Poor Economy

At IBD, "Obama's Attacks On GOP Tax Policy Blunted By Own Data":

President Obama continues to blame the soft economy and record red ink on Republican policies, including "tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans."

But three years ago he seemed convinced the economy had made a clean break from those old policies, and would soon roar back on the strength of his own policies. The proof is in his economic projections.

In his 2010 budget, Obama predicted his American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would "jump-start our economy" and "create new jobs" and "many years of economic growth."

Stronger economic activity, he promised, would bring in more government revenues and "cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office," putting "our nation on sound fiscal footing."

"The time has come to usher in a new era — a new era of responsibility in which we act not only to save and create new jobs, but also to lay a new foundation of growth," the president said.

Didn't Deliver

His recovery plan included more than $1 trillion in new government spending. A Democrat-controlled Congress passed it without a single Republican vote.

Based on the new economic program, the White House forecast real GDP in 2012 would grow at a robust 4.6% clip, cutting the unemployment rate to 6.0%. It also saw the budget deficit dropping to 3.5% of the economy.

The projections didn't come even close to panning out. Real GDP growth has stagnated at 2%, while unemployment hovers near 8%. Far from being halved, the deficit had soared to 8.5% of GDP.

As the jobless rate soared to 10% — well beyond the promised 8% high point — the White House had to adjust its assumptions and timeline. In its 2012 budget, however, it still projected 4.0% economic growth.

Despite White House spin, it became clear the president's economic plan had failed to deliver on its promised stimulus.

They all knew this. Obama, David Axelrod, Stepanie Cutter --- they all knew all of this.

Which is why they lied 24/7 about the problems facing the country and launched the most unprincipled demagogic smears against private property and wealth accumulation in modern history. And it worked! I doubt four more years of economic stagnation will help the party maintain its general election majority, but then again, I was wrong about 2012, so who knows? Maybe another paradigm of lies will lift these criminal authoritarians to yet another presidential win in 2016. Democracy doesn't just collapse in one big instant, it withers away in the slow death of a thousand cuts. It's withering now under the Democrats, but all is not lost. The republic will survive when enough people who've been butt-reamed and had the wool pulled over their eyes wake up and scream, "I'm not going to take it anymore!"

The End of the Dive Bar on Skid Row

At the Los Angeles Times, "The last call for a skid row era at King Eddy Saloon":

Wire-thin and slumped like a question mark, James Maley nurses a watered-down whiskey at the battered bar inside the King Eddy Saloon. Around him a boisterous crowd presses in. Maley taps a cracked fingernail nervously on his glass and stares warily at the newcomers.

They've come to see novelist John Fante's son, Dan Fante, read at the bar that inspired his father's 1939 classic "Ask the Dust." They're also here to experience skid row's last dive bar before it shuts down for renovations on Sunday.

"If this happened every day, I would never show up," says Maley, who lives in transitional housing a few blocks away.

Other time-worn regulars, many with leathery skin, bad teeth and watchful eyes, nod in agreement. The bar provides home and family for those who have neither. They come for community and to spend what little money they have on plastic pitchers of beer and $2.50 gin and tonics.

When the Fante reading ends, the interlopers quickly disperse.

"There go the slummers," says John Tottenham, a poet who has been coming to the King Eddy since the 1980s.

Chances are the crowds will be back when the bar reopens under new management. The owners plan to use old photos to restore the bar's Midcentury look. They hope to renovate the abandoned speak-easy in the basement and open the bar's windows that are covered by stucco, letting natural light into the place for the first time in decades.

They haven't finalized their plans, but one thing is for sure. Drinks won't come cheap at the new King Eddy.

The bar is located on the corner of 5th and Los Angeles streets in the King Edward Hotel, which was built in 1906 and was a tony destination for visitors to what was once a thriving commercial district. The hotel now provides low-income housing for many of King Eddy's regulars.

The pre-Prohibition era King Eddy is painted black. With neon beer signs providing most of its light, the room is dim and gloomy. Its black-and-white checkered floor is grimy. Plastic beer flags hang from the ceiling and the place smells of stale smoke and disinfectant.

The bar itself, shaped in a square, commands the center of the room, with cracked vinyl banquettes lining the perimeter. A glassed-in smoking space is set off to the side. Behind the bar is a tiny fluorescent-lighted kitchen where prepackaged burgers, pizza and sandwiches are heated in a microwave. A beer and burrito would set a person back only $4.

Next week, Maley and the other dislodged drinkers will have to find another bar, but they face a new downtown landscape of high-end mixology bars, restaurants and Brazilian waxing salons...

Well, it's probably for the better, right? Skid row's the roughest of rough-and-tumble hardscrabble habitats, so cleaning up the place is good policy. But if you're down and out downtown, this kind of gentrification can force a relocation to even more dangerous haunts. It's hard out there on the streets. Hopefully folks can hang on to a little stability and continuity.

Continue reading at the link.

Progressives Don't Want 'Gun Control' Laws, They Want to Abolish the Right to Bear Arms Altogether

First of all, folks need to read William Jacobson' essay in full, "My long car ride mourning the victims “regardless of the politics”." This part is especially good:

Banning guns not only is unconstitutional, in a free society it would be no more effective than banning drugs, and truly would leave guns only in the hands of criminals.

Will we address what kind of society we would have to have in order to impose the type of gun control which exists in a place like China, where an attack on school children by a knife-wielding assailant injured 22 students just yesterday, but did not result in any deaths?  I doubt it.

What exactly is the “meaningful action” to be taken to prevent an obviously sick person from killing his own mother and then going to a kindergarten to shoot children?

The easy answer of more gun control would not have changed today.  Today took place in a state which has gun control and in which all the rules were followed, except by the homicidal killer who would not have cared about any rules.

The seemingly easy answers will be all about the politics.

Following the links takes us to the NRA's information page for Connecticut's gun laws. As William notes, the state indeed "has gun control," and how. There are background checks, waiting periods, and gun registration requirements. All of these no doubt encroaching on the Second Amendment. You can watch MSNBC all day and the idiots there won't tell you that. They'll spout disinformation about how mental illness isn't correlated with increased gun violence, claims that disregard the fact that all the recent high-profile massacres have been committed by suspects with psychiatric problems. As I've been reporting with more frequency of late, the left, during the Obama interregnum, is increasingly divorced from objective reality, pushing propaganda and disinformation that promotes the state-approved party line. And with the president announcing his intent to seek "meaningful" policy reform on America's gun laws, law-abiding citizens can expect to bear the brunt of an authoritarian infringement (yet another infringement) on their constitutional rights.

More here: "Gun Control Laws Seek to Punish 'the People Who Didn't Do It' — And Don't Work Anyway."

Ghoulish Walter James Casper III Exploits Connecticut School Massacre to Push Gun Control, Spread Lies and Disinformation

All the reports I read yesterday, and most of those I listened to on television, indicated that the shooter used Glock and Sig Sauer handguns, but that a Bushmaster .223 automatic weapon was found in the suspect's vehicle. For example, according to this CNN report:

[Updated at 6:51 p.m. ET] A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation says the three guns found at the shooting site were legally purchased by Nancy Lanza, the mother of the suspect in the shooting.

According to the law enforcement official, the Glock and Sig Sauer handguns were found inside the school with the deceased gunman. The Bushmaster was found in a car outside the school. The official did not know if the car was registered to the gunman, to his mother or to someone else.

And the New York Times reported:

Law enforcement officials said the weapons used by the gunman were a Sig Sauer and a Glock, both handguns. The police also found a Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine.

But facts make no difference to the dishonest, despicable far-left criminal stalker Walter James Casper III, who retweeted this bald face lie from Angie Coiro early in the day:

RT @aurosan: This is the gun used by the shooter. It's legal. Can someone explain to me why any citizen needs this? twitter.com/aurosan/status…
— Angie Coiro (@Angie_Coiro) December 15, 2012

There's lots more disinformation where that came from, at Hatesac's timeline.

During a press conference yesterday, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announced that "evil visited this community today." And as fast as a blast from the gun barrels, the progressive ghouls are now attempting to capitalize on such unthinkable horror in order to strip the civil liberties of millions of law-abiding citizens who had nothing to do with this horrendous crime. That too is evil, but then again, progressivism's an evil ideology, all too perfectly embodied by "troll rights" harassment thug Walter James Casper III.

See also: "Gun Control Laws Seek to Punish 'the People Who Didn't Do It' — And Don't Work Anyway."

WaPo's Ezra Klein Will Almost Certainly Retain the Title of World's Dumbest Blogger in 2013

An awesome report, from Doug Ross, "WORLD'S DUMBEST BLOGGER: My 'Facts' About Gun Control Aren't Political, As Far As You Know."

Gun Control Laws Seek to Punish 'the People Who Didn't Do It' — And Don't Work Anyway

See Glenn Reynolds' commentary at USA Today, "Gun-free zones provide false sense of security":

Policies making areas "gun free" provide a sense of safety to those who engage in magical thinking, but in practice, of course, killers aren't stopped by gun-free zones. As always, it's the honest people — the very ones you want to be armed — who tend to obey the law....

Gun-free zones are premised on a lie: that murderers will follow rules, and that people like my student are a greater danger to those around them than crazed killers. That's an insult to honest people. Sometimes, it's a deadly one. The notion that more guns mean more crime is wrong. In fact, as gun ownership has expanded over the past decade, crime has gone down.

Fortunately, the efforts to punish "the people who didn't do it" are getting less traction these days...

RTWT, via Memeorandum.

And see also The Astute Bloggers, "SAD, SICKENING NEWS OUT OF CONNECTICUT."

Gunman Kills 20 Schoolchildren in Connecticut

When I stepped out this morning, the facts were still coming in on the Newtown shooting, and by late evening on the East Coast, it's still far from a complete picture on what happened in Connecticut. I'll be writing on this story as I have on previous massacres, hoping to add, if possible, a little insight and analysis on events. Meanwhile, here's the report at the Los Angeles Times, "Gunman kills 20 kids, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school":

NEWTOWN, Conn. — A gunman massacred 20 children and six adults at a suburban elementary school here Friday morning before killing himself in what appeared to be the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, authorities said.

Sources said Adam Lanza, 20, earlier killed his mother at home and then drove her Honda to Sandy Hook Elementary School equipped with firearms that were registered to one or both of his divorced parents.

Clad in military fatigues and carrying two semiautomatic pistols, he entered the school, argued with someone in the hallway and then opened fire on staff members and children around 9:30 a.m., a law enforcement source said. He focused his gunfire on two rooms. Children huddled in closets and corners as the carnage unfolded.

Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said police searched "every nook and cranny" of the kindergarten-through-fourth-grade campus after receiving a 911 call. He said 18 children and seven adults were found dead at the school — including the shooter — and two other children died at the hospital. Victims' bodies remained inside the school into the evening as relatives were gathered at a nearby fire station.

Vance did not officially identify the shooter or any of the dead. He said another adult had been killed elsewhere in Newtown, but he did not say whether it was Lanza's mother. Police are questioning Lanza's 24-year-old brother, Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., the Associated Press reported.

It was the deadliest school shooting since 32 were murdered in the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage.

"Evil visited this community today," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday evening. "It's too early to speak of recovery."

Continue reading.

Also at the New York Times, "No Motive Known as Trail of 28 Dead Is Left in Connecticut." And at the Wall Street Journal, "Dozens Killed in Conn. School Shooting."

President Obama Wipes Away Tears While Describing 'Overwhelming Grief' of Newtown Massacre

It is overwhelming grief.

And perhaps a day like today would be a day to put aside politics and instead get closer to loved ones and God, but no, the left's mass-shooting exploitation chorus is kicking it into high gear.

Here's the take at The Right Scoop, "President gives emotional statement on mass shooting, hints at possible gun control legislation."

And at Twitchy, "In wake of Conn. school massacre, President Obama calls for ‘meaningful action’; Anti-gun zealots turn on White House for not politicizing shooting to their liking; Michael Bloomberg demands a plan."

And this curation's been updated, "Execrable ghoul David Frum mocks victims of Conn. school shooting; Update: Eric Boehlert, Piers Morgan join in; Update: Michael Moore swoops in; Update: Celebrity ghouls crawl out." Plus, "Anti-gun vulture Michael Moore swoops in, says NRA hates freedom, wants children dead."

Expect updates...

PREVIOUSLY: "Report: More Than Two Dozen Dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut."

Report: More Than Two Dozen Dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut

The numbers are still unconfirmed, but CBS News Connecticut had this, "BREAKING NEWS: 27 Dead, Including 14 Children, In Elementary School Shooting."

Added: From Robert Stacy McCain, "CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTING."

More from the Hartford Courant, "AP: 27 Dead, Including 18 Children, At Sandy Hook School Shooting In Newtown."

And from Dana Loesch:

Awful. Some families have less babies to take home from school today. My heart is sick and sad.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) December 14, 2012

Well, this is totally unexpected:

Assault weapons ban "a commitment" of President Obama's, spokesman says. on.cnn.com/Zq1uF7
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) December 14, 2012

Now at Twitchy, "Execrable ghoul David Frum mocks victims of Conn. school shooting; Update: Eric Boehlert, Piers Morgan join in; Update: Michael Moore swoops in; Update: More celebrity ghouls crawl out."

10:55am Pacific: At PBS: "State Police Briefing on Newtown, Conn. Elementary School Shooting." And at CBS News, "Conn. school shooting: Student says teacher saved him."

11:12am Pacific: At Twitchy, "Disgusting: Lefty celebs crawl out to politicize Newtown, Conn., tragedy."

I'm stepping out for a few hours. More blogging later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, check Instapundit for updates.

Susan Rice Bemoans Partisanship in Whiney Withrawal as Secretary of State Nominee

It's all partisan politics with these people, all the time. And keep in mind it was moderate Senator Susan Collins who was the most implacable opponent to Rice's confirmation in the Senate. (And it was a chorus of leftist Democrats and journalists who've been leading the weeks-long opposition to Rice, but the White House never lets the truth get in the way of an epic smear against the right.)

And Rice took to the pages of the Washington Post to explain her withdrawal? She's a backbench bureaucrat. Nobody needs an op-ed to figure out what happened. Democrats are just horrible people. We watch it roll before out eyes every day. See: "Why I made the right call." (At Memeorandum.)

Hit by ObamaCare, Anthem Blue Cross to Hike Premiums 25 Percent for Individual Policy Holders

The Los Angeles Times reports on the price hikes by California insurance providers in response to ObamaCare, "Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes up to 20%."

I have Anthem Blue Cross, which is mentioned:

Health insurer Blue Shield of California wants to raise rates as much as 20% for some individual policyholders, prompting calls for the nonprofit to use some of its record-high reserve of $3.9 billion to hold down premiums.

In filings with state regulators, Blue Shield is seeking an average rate increase of 12% for more than 300,000 customers, effective in March, with a maximum increase of 20%.

Some consumer advocates and healthcare economists say Blue Shield shouldn't be raising rates that high when it has stockpiled so much cash. The company's surplus is nearly three times as much as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn. requires its member insurers to hold to cover future claims.

"Blue Shield is sitting on a huge surplus that is beyond what is required or necessary," said Laurie Sobel, a senior attorney for Consumers Union in San Francisco. "It should be used to hold down rate increases when it hits these extraordinary levels."

California officials can take into account an insurer's amount of surplus, among many other factors, when determining whether they think a rate increase is reasonable. Both the California insurance commissioner and the state Department of Managed Health Care are reviewing the company's proposed premiums, but neither agency has the authority to reject changes in rates.

Some other states limit how much surplus can be held by nonprofit health plans. Other regulators press nonprofit insurers to return more money to consumers and the community overall since their stated mission is to serve the public good. Washington's insurance commissioner has said the two big nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans there hold enough surplus to allow a portion of it to be used to reduce rates.

At Blue Shield of California, based in San Francisco, reserves have jumped 77% since 2006 from $2.2 billion to $3.9 billion in September. That has outpaced the company's 19% growth in annual revenue since 2006.

Blue Shield said its reserves have nothing to do with rate increases, and that money has been put aside for the future benefit of its policyholders.

"Reserves are needed to ensure our members' claims can be paid no matter what," said Blue Shield spokeswoman Lindy Wagner. "We need them to protect against uncertainties like a pandemic or another crisis."

The company also expects higher costs from an influx of new customers under the federal healthcare law in 2014.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime change in the healthcare market that will bring a lot of volatility, and we need higher reserves for that," Wagner said.

Even with these proposed rate increases, Blue Shield said, it expects to lose money in the individual insurance market in 2013.

The insurer said its medical costs for this segment of the business grew 10.6% and what it actually pays is rising 12.5% after adjusting for its portion after customer deductibles. The state's largest for-profit health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, cited a similar jump in medical costs in seeking rate hikes as high as 25% for some individual policyholders, effective in February.

California regulators expect to finish their reviews of various company rate filings in the coming weeks.

Understand that the Democrats had not a single clue about what they were doing in 2009. They just rammed through this monstrosity greased with lies. WyBlog has more, "Remember when Obamacare was gonna save us thousands on our health insurance? Me neither..."

Steven Crowder's Family Under Police Protection

Crowder tweeted last night:

Right now I have a former police officer, heavily armed at my house protecting my wife. The threats are severe. Prayers appreciated.
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) December 14, 2012

And at The Other McCain, "Left’s ‘Tent Truthers’ Claim Union Attack on AFP in Lansing Was an ‘Inside Job’."

Plus, from Dana Loesch, "Everything About This Article Is Idiotic."

Illiterate Rap Fans Flood Michelle Malkin's Timeline With Racist Misogyny

I was on Twitter when this was going down.

At Twitchy, "Rapper The Game and fans attack ‘racist,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘hoe’ Malkin and Fox News; clog Twitter with bad English, threats."

Are you threatening me, fool? NOTED. RT @therealgreeley @thegame @meekmill fuck this @michellemalkin bitch up
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 14, 2012

Background here: "‘Jesus Piece’: Have you seen the cover of The Game’s new album?," and "Fox News, Michelle Malkin brace for mass exodus of viewers as The Game urges boycott."

Marcy Wheeler's Pro-Union Thuggery — And a Raging Homosexual's Blast From the Past!

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

First Rule of Defeating Leftists: Don't Call Them 'Liberals'

I'm 41 posted an excellent entry the other day, "The Blogger’s Rules For Defeating Liberals."

However, I cringed with all the references to "liberals." These goons are not "liberal." They're progressive collectivists (as the most hardened of them self-identify) or, frankly, simply radical leftists.

Zilla has more:

I can’t stand to see them called “liberals” because there is nothing “liberal” about them. Words matter, as they say. Call ‘em what they really are: LEFTISTS. The edit to the [blog] title is from me, because I don’t want to see the freaks called by their preferred misnomer at any place that I have editorial control over.

When referring to "liberals," the proper meaning makes reference to those early thinkers evoking the ideology of individual liberty and limited government, most importantly John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Adam Smith. The Democrat Party until roughly John F. Kennedy espoused a form of "modern liberalism" that by default drew on America's constitutional foundations in liberty but increasingly sought an expanded role for the state in promoting economic equality and social welfare. Yet, the left today is almost completely unrecognizable from the Cold War liberalism of Kennedy and Harry Truman. Today's left is a quasi-Marxist, state-collectivist ideological apparatus, intent to delegitimize private property and wealth accumulation and to elevate extreme ethnic tribalism as the blunt cudgel of radical redistributionist class warfare. President Obama is the chief class warrior and national divider in this mode, the perfect vessel of the vengeful fever swamp ghouls of the Democrat Party.

Zilla might not even be this charitable, although that's the pretty well-understood ideological bastardization of "liberalism" over the last couple of generations. Today's leftists are the Orwellian zombies who spout tolerance but practice extreme racism, anti-Semitism and viewpoint intolerance. These ghouls preach "peace" and "respect" as the highest principles but instead practice union thuggery and anti-speech bullying and lawfare as standard operating procedures. And more than ever, the left phantasmagorically operates under a false consciousness of objective lies as progressive truth. The "tent trutherism" coming out of Lansing is just the latest manifestation, but President Obama's 2012 campaign will perhaps be remembered by traditional historians as the most dishonest (and morally reprobate) in post-modern history, marked especially by a media empire in service to state power, with journalists effectively functioning as party apparatchiks for the endlessly voracious tax-and-spend regime of the soul-crushing collectivist machine.

That's why people should simply refuse to call these people "liberals." They are precisely the opposite of the great classical liberals, and are indeed the very kinds of tyrants for which the latter developed theories to frustrate, prevent, and destroy.

Union Violence in the Age of Obama

From Michelle Malkin, "'There Will Be Blood': Union Violence in the Age of Obama":

Yesterday [Tuesday], Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed right-to-work legislation into law. The death threats against him are pouring in. The Left is blaming the conservative victims of union violence, as usual. The progressive climate of hate is always our fault. Today’s column sets the Democrats’ call for blood in the context of Obama-era union violence and incitement.

He helped build that.

Read it all at the link. The thug violence in Lansing is not an aberration. It's not an isolated case. The attack on Crowder --- and the racist attack on the hot dog vender --- is just the latest example left-wing bullying and malevolent muscle. This is what they do. This is who they are.

Angry Atheism Drove Nativity Scenes From Santa Monica

An awesome commentary, from Rabbi Michael Gotlieb, at the Los Angeles Times, "Santa Monica Ban on Religious Displays Leaves Us All Poorer":

Today's atheism is different from the atheism of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Nietzsche, Russell and Voltaire did not gloat over the presumed death or nonexistence of God. There was no triumphalism in their assertions. While not enamored of organized religion, they did not view it as a singular force for evil.

Things have changed. Outspoken, angry 21st century atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens have sought to eradicate God and organized religion from the planet; faith-based religion in any form is unacceptable to them. When studying these modern-day thinkers, the late Herbert Marcuse's lament proves fitting and prescient: "We, no matter the side, become fanatical in our own anti-fanaticism."

Today's atheists hold that religion educates children and adults to hate in the name of their pious doctrines. Religion, they tell us, encourages followers to engage in God-directed slaughter and conquest of innocents. Its mission is to convert skeptics — or worse, subdue nonbelievers — until the whole world buckles.

The truth is, they're partly right. There have always been people who commit evil in the name of God and religion. They do indeed give religion and God a horrible name. Such behavior is perverse, inexcusable and, of course, sinful.

But today's atheists are as extreme in their convictions as the fire-and-brimstone believer. The resolute follower knows beyond any doubt that God exists, whereas the atheist knows beyond any doubt that God is a figment of the imagination. I'm reminded of the aphorism: To the believer there are no questions; to the atheist, there are no answers.

As a Jew and a rabbi, my speaking out in support of Christians who wish to display a Nativity scene on public land can potentially carry more weight than a priest or minister speaking out. The reason is simple: It's not my religious narrative. More important, faithful Christians do not threaten me. If anything, I'm inspired by them. By definition, different people from different faiths view God and religion differently.

In the meantime, Santa Monica, where I live and serve a congregation, is less festive, bright and accepting this Christmas season. And given my city's current municipal policy — one that forbids the use of public.

So true. One more example of progressives making everybody less well off.

But read the whole thing.

Modern Workplace Distractions

These are office and work-station distractions. Things are a little different in my profession. In the classroom much of my job is working to minimize distractions, keeping students on task. The technology is everywhere. Students must put it away or you'll have multitasking nightmares.

But see the Wall Street Journal, "Workplace Distractions: Here's Why You Won't Finish This Article":

In the few minutes it takes to read this article, chances are you'll pause to check your phone, answer a text, switch to your desktop to read an email from the boss's assistant, or glance at the Facebook FB -1.43% or Twitter messages popping up in the corner of your screen. Off-screen, in your open-plan office, crosstalk about a colleague's preschooler might lure you away, or a co-worker may stop by your desk for a quick question.

And bosses wonder why it is tough to get any work done.

Distraction at the office is hardly new, but as screens multiply and managers push frazzled workers to do more with less, companies say the problem is worsening and is affecting business.

While some firms make noises about workers wasting time on the Web, companies are realizing the problem is partly their own fault.

Even though digital technology has led to significant productivity increases, the modern workday seems custom-built to destroy individual focus. Open-plan offices and an emphasis on collaborative work leave workers with little insulation from colleagues' chatter. A ceaseless tide of meetings and internal emails means that workers increasingly scramble to get their "real work" done on the margins, early in the morning or late in the evening. And the tempting lure of social-networking streams and status updates make it easy for workers to interrupt themselves.

"It is an epidemic," says Lacy Roberson, a director of learning and organizational development at eBay Inc. EBAY -0.25% At most companies, it's a struggle "to get work done on a daily basis, with all these things coming at you," she says.

Office workers are interrupted—or self-interrupt—roughly every three minutes, academic studies have found, with numerous distractions coming in both digital and human forms. Once thrown off track, it can take some 23 minutes for a worker to return to the original task, says Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, who studies digital distraction.

Companies are experimenting with strategies to keep workers focused. Some are limiting internal emails—with one company moving to ban them entirely—while others are reducing the number of projects workers can tackle at a time.

Last year, Jamey Jacobs, a divisional vice president at Abbott Vascular, a unit of health-care company Abbott Laboratories, ABT -0.24% learned that his 200 employees had grown stressed trying to squeeze in more heads-down, focused work amid the daily thrum of email and meetings.

"It became personally frustrating that they were not getting the things they wanted to get done," he says. At meetings, attendees were often checking email, trying to multitask and in the process obliterating their focus.

Part of the solution for Mr. Jacobs's team was that oft-forgotten piece of office technology: the telephone.

Mr. Jacobs and productivity consultant Daniel Markovitz found that employees communicated almost entirely over email, whether the matter was mundane, such as cake in the break room, or urgent, like an equipment issue.

The pair instructed workers to let the importance and complexity of their message dictate whether to use cellphones, office phones or email. Truly urgent messages and complex issues merited phone calls or in-person conversations, while email was reserved for messages that could wait.

Continue reading.

Cal State Fullerton Locked Down While Police Search for Armed Men

When I got home yesterday afternoon, a little after 4:00pm, the high-speed chase was on TV.

See the Los Angeles Times, "Fullerton campus on lockdown after robbery, high-speed chase."

Also, "Cal State Fullerton lockdown: search focuses on Mihaylo Hall."

Hayden Panettiere Bikini Pics!

Very nice.

At London's Daily Mail, "Newly-single Hayden Panettiere shows Scotty what he's missing in stunning bikini photoshoot."

Mark Steyn on Breakdown in America

A great interview, with Michael Coren:

It's Hard Out There for Off-Season Sports Fans

From Bill Dwyre, at the Los Angeles Times, "Baseball off-season can be tough on fans who see favorite players jump ship":

The most intriguing game that baseball plays is not hitting and pitching. It is musical chairs.

This is the sport's funny season. But unlike golf, where the funny season was simply a time for Freddie Couples to make more money for Christmas shopping, baseball's is real and serious.

So serious, as a matter of fact, that we actually might feel sorry for baseball writers.

They spend seven months a year, on expense account, watching a warm-weather game from the best seats in the house, with hot dogs nearby. Then, when the season ends and it's time to rest and re-introduce themselves to family, the real work begins. The stadiums are replaced by cellphones embedded in ears and daily dealings with lawyers, agents, rationalizing general managers and Scott Boras.

Great newspapers should pay them reasonable salaries for the season and a hefty supplement for the funny season. A Boras Bonus.

The pawn in all this is the fan. He is wired to be loyal to his local heroes. He is encouraged to purchase the jersey of his favorite player ($79.95 at the stadium store) and be sure to get his tickets early. This will be the year, he is told. The team is there for his viewing pleasure. Of course, next year, the team will be there again for his viewing pleasure. It will just be a vastly different team.

To be clear, this isn't an attempt to identify good guys or bad guys. This isn't a anti-greedy-player or anti-greedy-owner rant. In the airheaded, overused term of the day, baseball's situation is what it is.

The news comes daily. Fingers point in all directions.

Michael Young is now a Philadelphia Phillie? He had Texas Ranger carved into his heart. The pride of Bishop Amat High spent 12 years as Mr. Ranger RBI. If you were an Angels fan and saw him at the plate with another Ranger on base, you just jotted down a run in your scorecard.

Kevin Youkilis is now a New York Yankee? Has he really joined the evil empire, as did Johnny Damon a few years ago, leaving Boston Red Sox fans speechless and suicidal. Sure, Youkilis made a brief stop with the Chicago White Sox, but he was Boston through and through. Expect jersey burnings around Fenway.

We just got used to Mike Napoli as a Ranger, after a nice run of being the power behind the plate for the Angels. But nope. Throw away that jersey. Napoli is now a Red Sox.

Ah, and so is Shane Victorino. It never seemed quite right to see him in a Dodgers uniform. He was a Phillie, a tough-guy-in-a-tough-city player. Now he is a Bostonian.

Albert Pujols, the best of the best, after all those years in Cardinals red, the modern-day Stan Musial, both in performance and local image, in an Angels' uniform? Good for Southern California, but weird nevertheless.

Yeah, and Pujols had a rough start last season. It takes a while getting used to new lineups.

More at the link.

'Chasing Ice'

There was a blurb on this at Memeorandum. Your daily dose of climate change propaganda. Some beautiful pictures, but at this point folks need to make themselves experts on the science. You simply can't trust anyone in the MSM to report on this objectively.

Michigan Stuns Labor as Blue Model Continues to Unravel

From Walter Russell Mead:

Labor’s clout is in steep decline in the Middle West. In a move that was unimaginable just ten years ago, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a pair of “right-to-work” bills into law, dealing a serious blow to unions in one of the states that gave birth to the modern labor movement in America. The Wall Street Journal:

Gov. Snyder’s willingness to sign the legislation—a reversal of his previous position that right to work was a divisive issue that he would prefer to avoid—highlights the diminution of union clout both in Michigan and nationally.

The UAW once had more than one million members in the U.S., and as recently as 2004 had 654,000 active members. Now, after years of cuts by Detroit’s big auto makers and their parts makers, the UAW’s national membership is down to roughly 380,000 members, according to Labor Department filings. In Michigan, about 17.5% of workers were union members in 2011, according to Labor Department figures.

Besides the realities of declining union membership, this development more broadly suggests deep splits and ambivalence in American politics: At the national level, Democrats are running strong, but in many states something different is happening. Michigan was long seen as a great example of the blue social model. The high wage, unionized automobile industry supported the state economy and promoted the development of a mass blue collar middle class. It was a great social achievement, and Americans were not wrong to love it, but it has been in gradual yet inexorable decline for more than a generation.

Today’s blue model liberals face a challenge. Can they find a path that actually restores states like Michigan and cities like Detroit to the kind of health they knew back when the blue model actually worked?

Continue reading.

Mead suggests that "red state conservatives have yet to show that they can deliver something better," although right-to-work states, across the country, enjoy far more robust employment sectors than do the states of the bankrupt blue state model. See Heritage: "Simple truths about Right-to-Work."

Please Contribute to Blazing Cat Fur Defense Fund

Well, yet more in the ongoing freedom to blog series: It turns out my good friend BCF --- a.k.a Arnie, Kathy Shaidle's husband --- is being sued by serial litigant Richard Warman, a so-called "human rights activist" and actual member of the white supremacist Stormfront group.

See, "Blazingcatfur Legal Defense Fund Raising Drive."

There's a PayPal widget at that link. It's a dreadful feeling opening up that letter of service, so no doubt Arnie deeply appreciates all the help he's getting.

And don't miss Mark Steyn with the background, "Warman sues Blazing Cat Fur for linking to 'far-right' hate site."

Provocative North Korean Rocket Launch

At Fox News, "Defiant North Korea releases photos from its 'provocative' rocket launch."

And there's an ABC News video report here, "North Korea Missile Launch Successful."

CBS News This Morning Broadcast From the House Ways and Means Committee Chamber

When I turned on CBS, I thought they were at the Supreme Court talking about the homosexual agenda. But upon closer look it didn't look like the Supreme Court at all. But then, near the end of the show, Norah O'Donnell came back on with this segment, "Ways and Means Committee: A look back in time."

The discussion of Wilbur Mills reminded me of my Congress seminar in graduate school. They used to call the powerful committee chairmen the "Old Bulls" of Congress, and none were more powerful than Mills. Folklore had it that even President Johnson and to grovel before the Ways and Means Chairman in order to get anything passed on Capitol Hill, including Medicare.

Draft Army Handbook Wades Into Divisive Afghan Issue

Both fascinating and troubling, at the Wall Street Journal:

* * *

Cultural Awareness:

Flashpoints/Grievances Some U.S. Troops Have Reported Regarding Afghanistan National Security Forces:

To better prepare [coalition forces] for the psychologically challenging conditions in Afghanistan, familiarize yourself with the following stressors some U.S. troops have reported concerning [Afghan security forces] behavior during previous deployments. Bear in mind that not all [coalition] troops have reported such experiences or beliefs.

Some ANSF are profoundly dishonest and have no personal integrity
ANSF do not buy-into war effort; far too many are gutless in combat
Incompetent, ignorant and basically stupid

Bottom line: Troops may experience social-cultural shock and/or discomfort when interacting with [Afghan security forces]. Better situational awareness/understanding of Afghan culture will help better prepare [coalition forces] to more effectively partner and to avoid cultural conflict that can lead towards green-on-blue violence.

* * *

*****

WASHINGTON—American soldiers should brace for a "social-cultural shock" when meeting Afghan soldiers and avoid potentially fatal confrontations by steering clear of subjects including women's rights, religion and Taliban misdeeds, according to a controversial draft of a military handbook being prepared for troops heading to the region.

The proposed Army handbook suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture, not Taliban infiltration, has helped drive the recent spike in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces.

"Many of the confrontations occur because of [coalition] ignorance of, or lack of empathy for, Muslim and/or Afghan cultural norms, resulting in a violent reaction from the [Afghan security force] member," according to the draft handbook prepared by Army researchers.

The 75-page manual, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, is part of a continuing effort by the U.S. military to combat a rise in attacks by Afghan security forces aimed at coalition troops.

But it has drawn criticism from U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the top military commander in Afghanistan, who aides said hasn't—and wouldn't—endorse the manual as written. Gen. Allen also rejected a proposed foreword that Army officials drafted in his name.

"Gen. Allen did not author, nor does he intend to provide, a foreword," said Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. "He does not approve of its contents."

Gen. Allen hadn't seen the proposed foreword until a portion of the handbook was called to his attention by the Journal, Col. Collins said. Military officials wouldn't spell out his precise objections. But the handbook's conclusion that cultural insensitivity is driving insider attacks goes beyond the view most commonly expressed by U.S. officials.

The version reviewed by the Journal—marked "final coordinating draft" and sent out for review in November—was going through more revisions, said Lt. Gen. David Perkins, commander of the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whose Center for Army Lessons Learned wrote the manual.

The proposed foreword was prepared by Army staff for Gen. Allen's eventual consideration, and the general's concerns will be taken into account as the military moves ahead with more revisions, he added.

The proposed handbook embraces a hotly debated theory that American cultural ignorance has sparked many so-called insider attacks—more than three dozen of which have claimed the lives of some 63 members of the U.S.-led coalition this year. The rise in insider attacks has created one of the biggest threats to American plans to end its major combat missions in Afghanistan next year and transfer full security control to Afghan forces in 2014.

Afghan leaders say Taliban infiltrators are responsible for most insider attacks. U.S. officials say the attacks are largely rooted in personal feuds between Afghan and coalition troops, though not necessarily the result of cultural insensitivity.

Last year, the U.S.-led coalition rejected an internal military study that concluded that cultural insensitivity was in part to blame for insider killings, which it called a growing threat that represented "a severe and rapidly metastasizing malignancy" for the coalition in Afghanistan.

The study was reported last year by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. military at the time said the study was flawed by "unprofessional rhetoric and sensationalism."

The 2011 report—"A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility"—is now a centerpiece of the draft handbook's advice to soldiers heading to Afghanistan, and it is listed under the draft's references and recommended reading. The report's findings also informed the current manual for troops in Afghanistan, which was released in February, according to Gen. Perkins.

U.S. Army officials didn't make the current version of the manual available for review.

No doubt there is a cultural disconnect, which is why many conservatives have been calling for withdrawal for some time.

The full piece is also at Current.Mil-Tech.News.

And see Atlas Shrugs, "NEW ARMY MANUAL ORDERS SOLDIERS NOT TO CRITICIZE TALIBAN, PEDOPHILIA, 'ANYTHING RELATED TO ISLAM' OR 'ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS'."

Marcy Wheeler and the Americans for Prosperity Self-Sabotage Tent Conspiracy

This is one of the more classic cases of partisan hatred blinding an otherwise intelligent person into abject imbecility, if not progressive insanity.

"Emptywheel" is Marcy Wheeler, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, which just goes to show that even high-powered credentials are no guarantee against epic self-beclownment.

William Jacobson reports, "The Epistemic Closure of progressives to their violent union thugs." At the screencap union thugs are taking down the AFP tent:

Even more pathetic is how many other unhinged progs jumped on board, at Memeorandum, "Breitbart Folks Appear to Fake Violence in Lansing." Hilariously, lame-blogger Steve M. at No More Mr. Nice Blog sucks it all up, downplaying the vicious union thug attack on Steven Crowder as insignificant.

It's too easy with these people. This is the left. This is what they do. Just own it people. You folks won last month. Let's see if you can keep your majority. As it turns out, it's not going too well at the state level.