University of Arizona Offers Minor in 'Hip-Hop Concentration'

Well, the university's "hip hop department" claims it won't be an easy minor, but I doubt it's going to help the "concentration" of those brothers who sign up for this scam. At the Los Angeles Times, "University of Arizona is first to offer minor in hip-hop":

Most people consider New York and Los Angeles to be the centers of hip-hop culture, but it's Tucson where students will find the first university to offer a minor dedicated to the movement.

The University of Arizona has recently added the concentration to its Africana Studies minor program. The decision is part of a trend to give serious academic study to the subject.

The curriculum is bound to be a hit with students, said Alain-Philippe Durand, interim director of the Africana Studies program. Though the concentration is new, the university has offered hip-hop courses since 2004.

Last spring, a class on hip-hop cinema at the university filled up in a matter of hours. Students then began emailing the teacher in an attempt to add the course.

"Rap and hip-hop in general has become super-popular around the world," Durand said. "The main reason for that is that it affects every single discipline and aspects of society."

News of the minor is exciting, said Steven Pond, associate professor and chairman of the Cornell University's music department. Cornell is at the forefront of applying serious study to the hip-hop movement, touting the largest hip-hop collection of music recordings, rare fliers, artwork, photography and other memorabilia.

"It's a very good development and an exciting one, … the idea of acknowledgment of the deep impact hip-hop has in many areas, across cultures," Pond said. "I think it's a very positive development to see hip-hop enter the academy, even if it's a decade or even a generation late."

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, a Former Prosecutor and Democrat-Turned-Republican, Is Rising Star in National Politics

I think Greta Van Susteren named-checked Governor Martinez on a "This Week" segment a while back, but either way, Martinez has a hefty resume and is driving her state's open-borders radicals nuts.

At the Los Angeles Times, "New Mexico's Latina Gov. Susana Martinez makes waves in the GOP":

SANTA FE, N.M. — In 2010, New Mexico's Susana Martinez made history, being elected the nation's first Latina governor. Since November, she's made waves, criticizing Mitt Romney for the harsh rhetoric of his presidential campaign and chiding fellow Republicans for actions that, she says, have needlessly estranged Latinos from the GOP.

"We have to make sure that as Republicans we don't just visit Latinos during election time, but that we make them part of the solution," Martinez said in an interview. "It's extremely important that we elect people that look like the population they serve."

Martinez is a strong favorite for reelection in 2014. Beyond that, the former prosecutor and Democrat-turned-Republican is touted as a potential U.S. attorney general or even vice president in a future GOP administration.

But here at home, some question Martinez's ability to advise her party, much less serve as a role model for Republicans grappling with their poor image among Latinos.

The doubts point to the highly charged politics surrounding immigration and related issues and underscore the challenge Republicans face as they try reaching out to Latinos without antagonizing the party's conservative base, as well as supporters who resist any easing of the GOP's hard-line stance.

Martinez has advantages other Republicans can't easily match, including a charismatic personality, a compelling up-by-the-bootstraps history and the benefit of running in a majority-minority state where Latinos have been an integral part of the power structure for decades.

"She can go into rural Hispanic areas and tell [her] story and impress a lot of people," said Brian Sanderoff, New Mexico's leading independent pollster. "It's a lot easier for a female Hispanic Republican to pull off than a middle-aged white guy, frankly."

But Martinez has also been a surprisingly divisive figure. Though she enjoys strong public approval ratings, she has a contentious relationship with Democrats in Santa Fe, the state capital, as well as with many Latino activists, who accuse her of scapegoating Latino newcomers and exploiting anti-immigrant sentiments for political gain.

"It's one thing to talk about changing tone and rhetoric," said Marcela Diaz, head of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a group that has waged protests against Martinez and opposes her efforts to repeal the state law allowing illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses. "We'd like to see a change in tone and rhetoric, accompanied by action."

Yeah, a change in tone and rhetoric, caving to the Latino lawbreaking crowd, no doubt. The freaks.

RELATED: At The Hill, "Sen. Rubio: Obama has ‘poisoned the well for people’ on immigration reform." (At Memeorandum). Well, the left has poisoned just about everything these days, so immigration's not going to be any exception.

Old Foes Lead Charge Against Chuck Hagel

I noted earlier that "The Hagel nomination is the epic battle ground for the competing visions of U.S. foreign and national security policy for the next four years and beyond. And, well, perhaps some folks at NYT are reading my blog.

See, "Hawks on Iraq Prepare for War Again, Against Hagel":

In the bitter debate that led up to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said that some of his fellow Republicans, in their zest for war, lacked the perspective of veterans like him, who have “sat in jungles or foxholes and watched their friends get their heads blown off.”

Those Republicans in turn called him an “appeaser” whose cautious geopolitical approach dangerously telegraphed weakness in the post-Sept. 11 world.

The campaign now being waged against Mr. Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense is in some ways a relitigation of that decade-old dispute. It is also a dramatic return to the public stage by the neoconservatives whose worldview remains a powerful undercurrent in the Republican Party and in the national debate about the United States’ relationship with Israel and the Middle East.

To Mr. Hagel’s allies, his presence at the Pentagon would be a very personal repudiation of the interventionist approach to foreign policy championed by the so-called Vulcans in the administration of President George W. Bush, who believed in pre-emptive strikes against potential threats and the promotion of democracy, by military means if necessary.

“This is the neocons’ worst nightmare because you’ve got a combat soldier, successful businessman and senator who actually thinks there may be other ways to resolve some questions other than force,” said Richard L. Armitage, who broke with the more hawkish members of the Bush team during the Iraq war when he was a deputy to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, who championed the Iraq invasion and is leading the opposition to Mr. Hagel’s nomination, says the former senator and his supporters are suffering from “neoconservative derangement syndrome.”

Mr. Kristol said he and other like-minded hawks were more concerned about Mr. Hagel’s occasional arguments against sanctions (he voted against some in the Senate), what they deem as his overcautious attitudes about military action against Iran and his tougher approach to Israel than they were about his views on Iraq — aside from his outspoken opposition to the American troop surge there that was ultimately deemed successful.

Mr. Kristol’s latest editorial argues that Mr. Hagel’s statement that he is an unequivocal supporter of Israel is “nonsense,” given his reference in a 2006 interview to a “Jewish lobby” that intimidates lawmakers into blindly supporting Israeli positions.

“I’d much prefer a secretary of defense who was a more mainstream internationalist — not a guy obsessed by how the United States uses its power and would always err on the side of not intervening,” he added. Of Mr. Hagel and his allies, Mr. Kristol said, “They sort of think we should have just gone away.”

In fact, the neoconservatives have done anything but disappear. In the years since the war’s messy end, the most hawkish promoters have maintained enormous sway within the Republican Party, holding leading advisory posts in both the McCain and Romney presidential campaigns as their counterparts in the “realist” wing of the party, epitomized by Mr. Powell, gravitated toward Barack Obama.

And while members of both parties think the chances are good that Mr. Hagel will win confirmation, the neoconservatives are behind some of the most aggressive efforts to derail it, through television advertisements, op-ed articles in prominent publications and pressure on Capitol Hill, where some Democrats, including Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, have also indicated reservations.

Hagel voted for the 2002 Iraq resolution authorizing U.S. military force. He later became an outspoken opponent of the war and opposed the surge in 2007 that essentially won the war. That's the Democrat-style stab in the back I've long highlighted as the most despicable sort of villainy in foreign policy. Hagel served has country admirable Vietnam, but he besmirched his record with his Iraq waffling, and that's put him in league with other current foreign policy creeps who will be a disaster for U.S. foreign policy. He's said to be pro-appeasement on Iran as well, although I don't have the links right now on that. I get so fired up about the left's Iraq treason that that really does it for me in and of itself.

More at the New York Times.

PHOTO: "Former Senator Hagel meeting with, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, and former Virginia Senator John Warner," via Wikimedia Commons.

French Hostage Crisis in Somalia

At Telegraph UK, "Hunt for missing soldier after failed hostage rescue":

A dramatic attempt to rescue a French secret serviceman held hostage for more three years by Somali militants ended in tragedy and confusion last night.

Helicopter-borne commandoes launched a raid on a hideout in a remote Somali bush village to free the agent from the clutches of al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked Somali militant group.

But in the “intense” firefight that followed, one French soldier was shot dead and a second ended up missing in action, while the hostage himself was also thought to have been killed.

Last night, however, al-Shabaab claimed that it had abducted the soldier from the scene and was now holding him as well as the original hostage, who it said had been held in a different location all along.

The botched mission unfolded as the French military suffered separate casualties in their operation against al Qaeda militants on the side of Africa in Mali, which was launched late on Friday. The pilot of a French helicopter gunship was killed yesterday morning after being apparently shot down while strafing a column of Islamist fighters in the north of the desert state.

While the French government insisted the Somali mission was unconnected to the Mali one, it was widely speculated that the effort to free the hostage was prompted by fears that his captors might kill him in revenge for the operation against their fellow militants in Mali.

Continue reading.

Also from the DEBKA File, "France terror alert after Mali, Somali operations. Al Qaeda threatens hostages."

RELATED: "We've Got al Qaeda on the Run Alright ... In Africa, Stronger Than Ever!"

Expect updates...

Surviving an Active Shooter Event

My college's public relations office, working with Risk Services and the LBPD, posted this announcement to the college community, "A Reminder - Be Prepared - What to do in the case of an Active Shooter."

On campus, California's a gun free state, although watching the video it's clear that someone needed to be on hand [added: it's not clear that the guard shot at 1:15 is armed, although talking as he is so casually, he might as well be off duty in any case], armed and ready to defend against the intruder. See Weasel Zippers for what's happening in Montpelier, Ohio, "School Board in Ohio Unanimously Votes to Arm Custodial Staff." Hey, it's a start.

Surprise! Center for American Progress, Obama's Hard-Left, Soros-Backed Policy Shop, Calls for 'Sweeping' New Gun Agenda

Well, as they say, never let a crisis go to waste.

At the Washington Post, "Sweeping new gun laws proposed by influential liberal think tank":

With President Obama readying an overhaul of the nation’s gun laws, a liberal think tank with singular influence throughout his administration is pushing for a sweeping agenda of strict new restrictions on and federal oversight of gun and ammunition sales.

The Center for American Progress is recommending 13 new gun policies to the White House — some of them executive actions that would not require the approval of Congress — in what amounts to the progressive community’s wish list.

CAP’s proposals — which include requiring universal background checks, banning military-grade assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and modernizing data systems to track gun sales and enforce existing laws — are all but certain to face stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association and its many allies in Congress.

Obama — as well as Vice President Biden, who is leading the administration’s gun violence task force — has voiced support for many of these measures. Yet it is unclear which policies he ultimately will propose to Congress. Biden is planning to present his group’s recommendations to Obama on Tuesday.

CAP’s recommendations, presented Friday to White House officials and detailed in an 11-page report obtained by The Washington Post, establish a benchmark for what many in Obama’s liberal base are urging him to do after last month’s massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

“There’s nothing here that interferes with the rights of people to have a gun to protect themselves,” CAP President Neera Tanden said. But, she added, “we have daily episodes where it seems that guns are in the wrong hands, and that’s why we think it’s important that the president acts.”

The key part, of course, is this bit about "executive actions that would not require the approval of Congress." There is no way that radical leftists will ram their freakin' "progressive wish list" through Congress, so like everything else, they'll go around it. Once again, these ghouls are depraved.

Database for Mentally Ill Gun-Buyers Doesn't Work

This is a national database, created after the Virginia Tech massacre, and it's total fail. It's a good bet this failure will be used to bolster the left's current case for confiscation. It's all pretty FUBAR among the left's gun control fanatics.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Many mentally ill missing from gun background check system":

WASHINGTON — Swept along by the tide of outrage and sorrow after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Congress passed a law to try to prevent future tragedies by keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

The measure, signed by President George W. Bush, promised to strengthen the 14-year-old National Instant Criminal Background Check System by establishing incentives and penalties to prod states to submit records of people legally barred under federal law from buying guns — including those who had been committed to mental institutions.

But today, that promise remains unfulfilled. More than half the states haven't provided mental health records to the federal database that gun dealers use to check on buyers. And the gap in dealing with the mentally ill is just one of myriad problems that have hampered background checks.

In the shock that followed the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings last month in Newtown, Conn., improving that system has emerged as a major focus of the Obama administration's plans for combating gun violence. Vice President Joe Biden, who could make recommendations to the president as soon as Tuesday, said he believed there was support for expansion to cover private gun sales, which make up much as 40% of all purchases but do not require background checks.

The history of the last change, the NICS Improvement Amendments Act, shows how difficult it will be to fix this broken system. Many states haven't even begun to figure out which of their mentally ill residents should be included, or how to gather paper records from courthouses and mental hospitals. There is federal funding for the work, but not nearly enough.

Last year, after the 2010 Tucson shootings by a mentally ill Jared Lee Loughner, President Obama acknowledged in an opinion column that the law "hasn't been properly implemented."

The background check system, which became effective in 1998, was part of a 1993 law that prohibited people from possessing guns if they were convicted of a felony, addicted to drugs, committed domestic violence or were involuntarily sent to a mental institution.

Gun rights organizations, including the National Rifle Assn., have fought expansion of those checks. Though the NRA says it supports making sure the names of "violent schizophrenics" are in the database, the group also made it tougher for states to comply — by successfully lobbying for a provision in the 2007 law that requires an appeals process so the mentally ill can seek to have their gun rights restored. States must set that up before they can receive federal grants to help collect records.

As many as 2 million mental health records are not in the system, the National Center for State Courts has found. Gun control advocates say plugging holes like that could be one of the most effective ways to stem gun violence.

"Having 2 million prohibited purchasers out there whose names are not in the background check database is a ticking time bomb," said Mark Glaze, executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Detroit Welfare Mob Riots for Section 8 Housing Vouchers

We're going to hell. Soon enough, alright. Shit's hitting the freakin' fan.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Riot Breaks Out at Housing Assistance Event In Metro Detroit."

Also at Lonely Conservative, "In Michigan 5000 Show Up For 1000 Section 8 Vouchers, Chaos Ensues."

In Michigan 5,000 people showed up at a human services office to pick up Section 8 housing vouchers. The problem – there were only 1,000 vouchers available and the crowd got out of control. The state police had to be called in with riot gear and the giveaway was canceled. Of course, the people who were turned away empty handed act like victims, and one young woman lamented that so many elderly people were turned away. That’s sad, maybe if all of these young, able-bodied people weren’t there to get theirs the elderly frail people would have been taken care of.

Yeah, I'm heartbroken about this.

Mallory Hagan, Miss New York, Wins Miss America Pageant 2013

At the New York Post, "There she is ... Miss New York, a Brooklyn resident, wins Miss America pageant."

But see Sara Marie Brenner, "Miss New York spews gun control mantra, wins Miss America."

#MissNewYork, if u r attacked, don't fight violence w/ violence. Just love him off of u. Seriously #guncontrol is why she won. #MissAmerica
— Sara Marie Brenner (@saramarietweets) January 13, 2013

Also at Twitchy, "Newly crowned Miss America from New York makes anti-gun noises; Viewers not so impressed, audio link added."

ADDED: Lots of pictures at London's Daily Mail, "Tap-dancing woman from Brooklyn, 23, is crowned Miss America after speaking out against armed guards in schools."

Man Saves, Releases Mouse Into the Wild, Only to See It Snatched by Hawk Within Seconds

My mom does this kind of stuff. She wouldn't kill the mice that came into her house. But soon enough she had to call the exterminator, the problem was getting so bad.

In any case, I've done stuff like this too. You want to be humane. But first you might want to check around for any predators. Cool they got it all on video, in any case.

At London's Daily Mail, "Man releases trapped mouse into the wild rather than exterminate it… only for hawk to swoop and kill it within seconds."

French Pilot Killed in Mali Helicopter Raid

At CNN, "'Many deaths' as Malians, joined by French, try to beat back Islamist militants":

Bamako, Mali (CNN) -- An effort to halt advancing militant Islamist forces has resulted in "many deaths" in northern Mali, a military spokesman said -- with the fatalities including Malian soldiers, insurgents and a French pilot killed in a helicopter raid.

Mali is being joined by France -- its former colonial ruler, which recently sent troops there -- as it tries to beat back advances by forces linked to al Qaeda. Much action recently has focused in and around the key northern city of Konna, which insurgents took on Thursday only to retreat the following day after a combined air and ground assault.

"There were many deaths on both sides, both rebels and government soldiers," Malian defense ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Diara Kone said Saturday of the fighting in the northern part of the country. The government, in a statement read on state TV, said 11 of its soldiers died and about 60 were wounded in the battle for Konna.

The French pilot died while taking part Friday afternoon in an aerial operation targeting a terrorist group moving on the town of Mopti, near Konna, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

The aerial offensive -- which includes strikes by French fighter jets -- continued through Friday night and into Saturday, the minister added.

"Every means was used in fighting the Islamists, including two attack helicopters. They sent the Islamists fleeing," Kone told CNN. "This shows that the Malian army is capable to fight."

And at Telegraph UK, "Britain to send military transport planes to assist Mali operation," and at London's Daily Mail, "Britain to send troops and two planes to Mali to assist French operation against Islamist rebels."

BONUS: At Weasel Zippers, "French Warplanes Pound Islamist Rebels In Mali, Attack Helicopter Shot Down By Rebels…"

Older Workers Remake Their Careers

At the New York Times, "Over 50, and Under No illusions":

IT’S a baby boomer’s nightmare. One moment you’re 40-ish and moving up, the next you’re 50-plus and suddenly, shockingly, moving out — jobless in a tough economy.

Too young to retire, too old to start over. Or at least that’s the line. Comfortable jobs with comfortable salaries are scarce, after all. Almost overnight, skills honed over a lifetime seem tired, passé. Twenty- and thirty-somethings will gladly do the work you used to do, and probably for less money. Yes, businesses are hiring again, but not nearly fast enough. Many people are so disheartened that they’ve simply stopped looking for work.

For millions of Americans over 50, this isn’t a bad dream — it’s grim reality. The recession and its aftermath have hit older workers especially hard. People 55 to 64 — an age range when many start to dream of kicking back — are having a particularly hard time finding new jobs. For a vast majority of this cohort, being thrown out of work means months of fruitless searching and soul-crushing rejection.

To which many experts say, “What did you expect?”

Everyone, whatever age, needs a Plan B. And maybe a Plan C and a Plan D. Who doesn’t know that loyalty and hard work go only so far these days?

“Shame on you if you’re not thinking every single year, ‘What’s my next step?’ ” says Pamela Mitchell, a career coach and author. “It’s magical thinking not to do this.”

Ms. Mitchell, who has reinvented her own career a few times, says everyone should think about options, alternative job paths and career goals, just in case. She recommends talking over job possibilities with family members and, if possible, building a financial cushion.

Constant networking is crucial, too. The idea, she says, is to prepare in case a big change comes.

“If you’re thinking about it, you’ll be doing all this piecemeal along the way,” she says.

All of which, of course, is easier said than done. But some people who have gone through the emotional and financial strains of late-career unemployment say that with skill, determination and a bit of luck, the end of a job doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Changing jobs or careers can be a good thing later in life, despite the many risks. Many agree that a willingness to push beyond the comforts of location, lifestyle and line of work is vital.

Though there is no single path, there are success stories that offer hope.

Well, a late-career job change actually sounds pretty exciting, without all the financial uncertainty, of course.

Continue reading, in any case.

Helen Flanagan in FHM February 2013

At Egotastic!, "Helen Flanagan Flashes Her Sweet Deep Cleavage for FHM."

Tech's Over-Sharing Economy

At the Wall Street Journal, "Don't Talk to Strangers — Unless You Plan to Share Your Mac-and-Cheese":

The hottest technology trend is apps that let anyone share anything, which is why Grace Lichaa recently found a group of strangers eating her home-cooked macaroni.

About a dozen people she met through the Internet arrived, mostly on time, at her Washington, D.C., house in November for three flavors of macaroni and cheese: garlic-crusted, goat cheese tomato, and curried. Ms. Lichaa, 32 years old, advertised seats for the "mac attack" on a site called EatFeastly.com for $19.80 each.

Feastly asks diners to respect a "virtual Mom" at the gatherings. Mom is "cool with elbows on the table, but please respect the host," the company specifies online. Sharing wash-up duties is optional.

"Everybody was amazingly gracious," says Ms. Lichaa. Some diners even brought beer.

Dinners with strangers are just one front in what Internet companies and investors are dubbing the share economy: niche marketplaces for things that get cheaper when people use them together. Lately Internet startups have, in all earnestness, set up businesses to "share" pet care, wedding gowns, child rearing and more.

Got some lousy holiday presents? Re-gift them at Yerdle.com, which describes itself as "a magical place where people share things with friends."

Like leftovers? MamaBake.com lets you cook and trade dishes with other moms.

Need a new dress? Try 99dresses Inc., an online marketplace where people sell their old dresses for "buttons," or virtual currency that allows them to buy more dresses from other users.

It could be ridiculous—or the next big thing. Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR -1.09% this month agreed to acquire shared car provider Zipcar Inc. ZIP +0.08% for about $500 million. Venture capitalists last fall valued the sharing economy's rising star—a service called Airbnb Inc. that lets people rent their homes, or rooms in their homes, to strangers—at $2.5 billion.

As startups describing themselves the "Airbnb for" whatever multiply, the question that fewer people are asking is what shouldn't be shared.

In San Francisco, Adolfo Foronda's family is testing the limits. They weren't ready for a full-time puppy, but don't mind borrowing one. So a few months ago, Mr. Foronda signed up to be a dog sitter on DogVacay Inc., a website matching dog owners with paid sitters for a fee.

"It's the Airbnb for dogs," Mr. Foronda says, adding that his 5-year-old daughter Sophia screamed for joy when he told her the family was getting "temporary dogs."

Interesting, but I wonder where is the burst of spectacular economic growth from all this activity?

Oh yeah. The Democrats are in office. Economic growth will have to wait while people share their leftovers online.

Still more at the link.

Jessica Chastain Responds to Kathryn Bigelow's Best Director Snub for 'Zero Dark Thirty'

I posted a roundup of my "Zero Dark Thirty" coverage at Theo's yesterday.

More later...

Can Nostalgia and Testosterone Coexist? 1980s Heroes Reloaded

Actually, Bruce Willis is still making great films. The other two? Meh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Willis take aim at new villains."

Shocker! Ravens Beat Broncos in Double Overtime

The New York Times has the report, "Late Mistakes by the Broncos, and Manning Falls Short Again."

And like everybody else, I'm thinking Denver's got it in the bag, and I tweeted so much, and then my shock at Joe Flacco's long bomb to Jacoby Jones:

@ampowerblog Not that tough! WTF!
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 13, 2013

An exciting game, in any case, although I was looking forward to Denver advancing.

Despicable: Arab Gang Attacks Two Hareidi Jews in Jerusalem

Things are not right in the world.

At Gateway Pundit, "Disturbing Video Shows Arab Mob Attacking Hareidi Jews Near Wailing Wall."

Via Arutz Sheva, "Video: Arabs Gang Up on Hareidim in Jerusalem" (at Memeorandum).

Saturday Roundup of the Roundups

That was fun the last time I did this, so here we go again. As I wrote at the time, "We could just save readers some time by linking to all the good stuff." Indeed.

Starting out is Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: Fräuleins!"

Speaking of which, here's a lovely "fräulein" at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is snow that can only occur when it’s really hot outside, you might just be a Warmist."

It's John Hawkins' birthday, so check out Right Wing News and Linkiest!

And Maggie's Farm, "Saturday morning links."

Also at BCF, "Al Qaeda In Iraq - a compilation."

More from House of Eratosthenes, "“You Get All the Good-Looking Women”."

And from Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday: Brook Little." And Eye of Polyphemus, "Abigail Clancy."

Plus, at Ninety Miles From Tyranny, "Girls With Guns." And at Proof Positive, "10-6 Ravens vs. 13-3 Broncos."

Knuckledraggin My Life Away has this, "Kerodin - The Early Years (Bad Ass)," and "Oh, this is gonna leave a mark."

Now over at Legal Insurrection, "Mother Nature and WSJ Mock Climate-Change Bullies." And from Director Blue, "I AGREE WITH JOE BIDEN: We really do need a national gun violence database."

And at Daley Gator, "Your Daley Gator Anti-Obama Picture O’ The Day."

Drop your links in the ocmments to be added to the roundup. That's plenty of links for now.

Aaron Swartz Suicide

I saw this story trending on Memeorandum and thought, "Okay, let's see what this is all about."

This Swartz guy apparently hacked into the JSTOR academic journal database, gaining access to "millions" of scholarly journals (articles?). He was facing trial on multiple counts and looking at up to 35 years in jail. Most of the commentary's even more emotional than usual, since the guy was some kind of Internet genius. It's like he was some 21st century Jesus, or something.

In any case, Althouse is fascinated by the legal aspect and is sympathetic to the argument of government bullying, although what caught my attention was this comment from Beldar:

Our host asked in comments above, "Assuming the law is important -- as was said about the law David Gregory violated — why was it in the public interest to go against Swartz and try to get this creative, well-meaning, energetic young man put in prison for 35 years?"

But the presumtion that the MAXIMUM potential punishment sought is also the ONLY possible punishment that might have resulted makes this a loaded question.

If the laws he's accused of violating have social value, it's to protect intellectual property.

On other occasions Swartz tried to change those laws more directly, but on this occasion he was accused (apparently with good reason) of having engaged in a massive and deliberate violation of them, indeed the most shocking sort of violation of the law that he could contrive — for, he claimed (in his best Robin Hood voice), the most altruistic of purposes.

What Professor Althouse sees exclusively as a "creative, well-meaning, energetic young man" was indeed probably that, but he may also have been a deliberately notorious thief of intellectual property. Certainly if one only focuses on the "words trying to be free," one comes up with a different evaluation than if one also weighs, for example, the financial damage to the net worths of both the academics and their institutions whom the current law deems worthy of protection.

There's no doubt that the late Mr. Swartz' suicide is sad. But when I'm picking my heroes, even when I'm looking among those whose heroism is supposedly demonstrated by their noble civil disobedience, I expect to see in them a frank acknowledgment and acceptance of the costs and consequences of that disobedience.

More at Althouse, on Lawrence Lessig's comments, "'Prosecutor as bully'."

Howard Stern Slams Lena Dunham

This is interesting because I was just reading about Lena Dunham at the Los Angeles Times, "Review: Lena Dunham's 'Girls'."

"Maybe I'll check it out," I was thinking to myself. So now here comes Robert Stacy McCain reporting on Howard Stern smacking down the grind culture celebrity, "Nobody Really Likes @LenaDunham, and Deep Down Inside She Knows It, Too."

Anyway, if you know somebody like Lena Dunham, you understand what she’s doing: “I’m fat and ugly and unpopular, but maybe if I add ‘cruel’ and ‘obnoxious’ to the list, I can pretend like people who don’t like me are intimidated by my intelligence and courage.” This isn’t really an effective compensation, but it provides her an excuse — a rationalization, a defense mechanism — she can alternately cling to as a crutch or wield as a weapon, harming others without actually helping herself. The damage is never healed, because her inner feelings of worthlessness are so intense, she scorns as contemptible anyone who wants to help her: “If you like me, there must be something wrong with you.”

Read it all at the link.

And at Us Weekly, "Howard Stern Calls Lena Dunham 'Little Fat Girl,' Likens Girls Sex Scenes to 'Rape'."

PHOTO: At London's Daily Mail, "Who needs pants? Lena Dunham pokes fun at her fashion faux pas in stunning photoshoot."

Stunning Sofia Vergara Photos, Past and Present

She took to Twitter to post some old photos from her younger days, but she's looking better than ever nowadays.

At London's Daily Mail, "I was a blonde bombshell! Sofia Vergara shares flashback snaps from her early days as a model in Colombia."

VIDEO: Judge Jeanine Pirro on Journal News' Map of Gun Owners

I caught this last night. Judge Pirro is awesome:

Peyton Manning is Back and Better Than Ever

At USA Today:

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Every few days, Archie Manning's phone will ring early in the morning.

It's even earlier in Colorado, where Peyton Manning frequently makes the most of his time on the 20-minute commute from his home in an upscale suburb of Denver to the Broncos training facility.

Archie Manning has been making it a point not to bother his son too much during his first season in Denver, but this much is clear from those phone calls: Peyton Manning is happy and enjoying football more than ever

"I know for sure he's not taking it for granted. I think he's elated," Archie Manning told USA TODAY Sports this week. "Peyton's always been a grinder, but I think he's enjoying it more. I think he maybe reflects more, and he's soaking up every moment."

It's not that Manning ever stopped loving football. But after neck surgeries — four of them over 18 months — forced him to miss the 2011 season, Manning has learned to appreciate all of the moments along the way.

And there have been plenty of them in his storied 15-year NFL career. The former No. 1 overall pick out of Tennessee is a four-time league MVP, a five-time all-pro first-team player and a Pro Bowler a dozen times. He led the Colts to the playoffs 11 times and the Super Bowl twice — winning once as the game's MVP — in his 14 seasons in Indianapolis.

And see Sam Farmer, at LAT, "Broncos QB Peyton Manning wrote the book on speed reading."

I'll have more football blogging over the weekend. Baltimore at Denver starts at 1:30pm Pacific.

After Immigration Arrests, Obama Administration Caves to Open Borders Mob on Twitter

The world is upside down. Connected lawbreakers like David Gregory get off scot-free, while the justice system crushes those who dare step outside the confines of politically acceptable discourse. Things are so bad that even Obama's ICE hacks can't get a break. When DREAM activist Erika Andiola's mother and brother were arrested the young woman's response was swift. She organized a politically correct mob of Twitter untouchables to denounce the "injustice," and promptly won a reprieve from a kowtowed White House scared of its own open borders shadow.

And on cue, the New York Times balloons this farce into the family tragedy of the century. See, "After Immigration Arrests, Online Outcry, and Release":

"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty" #istandwitherika #WeAreAndiola #SomosAndiola #RealTalk twitter.com/maria4az/statu…
— Maria Castro (@maria4az) January 11, 2013

PHOENIX — Immigration agents arrested the mother and brother of a prominent activist during a raid at her home here late Thursday, unleashing a vigorous response on social media and focusing new attention on one of the most controversial aspects of the Obama administration’s policies on deportation.

The agents knocked on Erika Andiola’s door shortly after 9 p.m., asking for her mother, Maria Arreola.

Ms. Arreola had been stopped by the police in nearby Mesa last year and detained for driving without a license. Her fingerprints were sent to federal immigration officials as part of a controversial program called Secure Communities, which the Obama administration has been trying to expand nationwide.

That routine check revealed that Ms. Arreola had been returned to Mexico in 1998 after she was caught trying to illegally cross the border into Arizona with Erika and two of her siblings in tow. As a result, she was placed on a priority list for deportation.

After being seized on Thursday, she could have been sent back to Mexico in a matter of hours, but Obama administration officials moved quickly to undo the arrests. Officials had been pressured by the robust response from advocates — through phone calls, e-mails and online petitions, but primarily on Twitter, where they mobilized support for Ms. Andiola, a well-known advocate for young illegal immigrants, under the hashtag #WeAreAndiola.

The reaction offered the Obama administration a taste of what it might expect when it gets into the thick of the debate over an immigration overhaul, which Congress is expected to tackle this year. President Obama has already been under harsh criticism for the number of illegal immigrants deported since he took office — roughly 400,000 each year, a record unmatched since the 1950s.

Ms. Andiola, 25, posted a tearful video on YouTube shortly after her mother and brother were handcuffed and driven away. “I need everybody to stop pretending that nothing is wrong,” she said in the video, “stop pretending that we’re all just living normal lives, because we’re not. This could happen to any of us anytime.”

She is the co-founder of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, one of the groups pushing for a reprieve for immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children, as she was. She has been arrested while camped in front of Senator John McCain’s office here, protested outside the United States Capitol, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine in June under the headline, “We are Americans — just not legally.”

In November, Ms. Andiola got a work permit under a program begun by the Obama administration last year that gives certain young illegal immigrants temporary reprieve from deportation. She graduated from Arizona State University in 2009.

Well, the young woman's working the system like old time political pro. And that Twitter mob is downright freaky. Look at that stuff: #WeAreAndiola. At least they're not hiding the total open-borders radicalism:

"The same President who was forced to stop deporting DREAMers must stop deporting our families too." bit.ly/WLu78Q #WeAreAndiola
— UnitedWeDream.org (@UNITEDWEDREAM) January 12, 2013

DREAM's a lawbreaker's scam. Erika Andiola is living proof.

Back over at the New York Times, it turns out there's a chance that Ms. Andiola's mom could still get the boot back to Mexico. No worries though. Her daughter has more pull than an old-line PRI boss in Mexico City. No doubt the goons at immigration enforcement will be going easy on these folks, lest old Eric Holder bring down some bureaucratic heat. Those DREAMers are working the president like a Stradivarius.

Prop. 13 Tax Restraints Targeted for Attack by California Legislators

I blogged on this in November, after it became clear that the Democrats would have a super-majority in the legislature.

See IBD, "Proposition 13 Property Tax Curbs Face Attack In California":

The tax revolt that swept California and the nation starting in the 1970s may have run out of steam, but its landmark law, Proposition 13, is still largely intact.

That could change in the next two years as Democratic state lawmakers with a new two-thirds majority in both houses take aim at Proposition 13 tax restraints in their hunt for money.

Taxpayer advocates are girding for battle. "This year, for us, will be devoted entirely to defending Proposition 13," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association.

Backers of Proposition 13 warn that changes could pinch family finances and hurt businesses, large and small, in a state with joblessness still near 10% and costs higher than many locales.

Passed in 1978 with nearly 65% of the state voting yes, Proposition 13 is a shield and political symbol. It has kept California property taxes moderate and predictable, capping them at 1% of a property's value when it last sold, plus a 2% annual inflation factor.

Critics long blamed the law for state fiscal woes. But mainstream politicians knew it was popular and didn't want to touch it.

Isn't this amazing.

Just yesterday the Los Angeles Times reported on Governor Brown's announcement that the California state budget is in the black. You'd think that these people would try to restrain spending rather than go hunting for ever more "revenue" sources. The maw of the leftist entitlement state is never sated.

There's more at the link.

MSNBC's Al Sharpton Touts Gov. Chris Christie as Model for GOP 'Compromise'

There's a lot going on at this clip, not least being the comments from the smokin' Abby Hunstman, daughter of RINO presidential contender Jon Hunstman. All this talk about Chris Christie is fascinating. He's a great guy, although those bromance bear hugs with Barack Hussein after Hurricane Sandy didn't go over too well with the conservative base. And if you stay with it until Ms. Hunstman comes on, Al Sharpton attacks Rush Limbaugh for raising the issue of the left's normalization of pedophilia, which Robert Stacy McCain discussed yesterday, "Rush Limbaugh Is Right: The Academic Pro-Pedophile Movement Is a Real Danger."

And remember, this is a concerted action by the left's media complex to mainstream these big "compromise" Republicans like Christie. The dude got the full front cover treatment at Time Magazine this last week: "Chris Christie branded 'The Boss' on front cover of Time magazine but insists it'd be 'crazy' to think of run at the White House (for now at least)."

Obama Accelerates End of U.S. Combat Role in Afghanistan

Things aren't going to turn out well in Afghanistan, but this is what the president's always wanted.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Afghanistan War Goal 'Now Within Reach,' President Declares; U.S. to Transition Into Advisory Role":

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said he would speed up troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, signaling his intention to accelerate the end of America's longest war.

After White House meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday, Mr. Obama said the U.S. is moving up the schedules for pulling American forces out of Afghan villages and for ending most unilateral combat operations. That is possible, he said, thanks to what he described as recent gains by U.S. troops and progress in training Afghan security forces to take the combat lead.

"The reason we went to war in the first place is now within reach: ensuring that al Qaeda can never again use Afghanistan to launch attacks against our country," Mr. Obama said.

"Starting this spring, our troops will have a different mission—training, advising, assisting Afghan forces," he added. "This sets the stage for the further reduction of coalition forces."

The shift, announced by the president at a White House news conference with Mr. Karzai, could carry benefits for both leaders as they negotiate winding down the unpopular war, now in its 12th year.

Mr. Obama provided few new details except to say that American force reductions should continue at a steady pace, signaling at least some of the 66,000 American troops now in Afghanistan could leave starting this spring and summer, rather than in the fall, the time frame preferred by commanders.

Top Pentagon officials had said that they envisioned the U.S. shifting from a combat to a support mission, focused on training and assisting the Afghans, in mid-2013. The steps announced Friday by the U.S. and Afghan leaders moved up that time frame by several months, to spring.

A faster withdrawal timeline allows Mr. Karzai to argue back home that he has been able to more quickly recoup Afghanistan's sovereignty, with Afghan forces taking the lead on security and U.S. troops exiting sooner.

In the U.S., Mr. Obama gets to make the case to Americans that he isn't only winding down the war, but that he is doing so even faster than he had promised.

To military experts, speeding the withdrawal process may not be the best war strategy. Afghan and coalition officials said Afghan troops still depend on international forces for artillery, air support, intelligence collection and casualty evacuation.

"If this acceleration means the Afghans don't have access to those combat multipliers…that puts their ability to assume lead responsibility at risk," said Gen. James Dubik, a senior fellow for the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank occasionally critical of the administration's strategy.

PREVIOUSLY: "How to Waste a Decade in Afghanistan."

NBC's David Gregory Will Not Be Prosecuted for Illegal Magazine Clip

At the Washington Post, "No charges for “Meet the Press” host Gregory for displaying high-capacity magazine on the air."

And at AoSHQ, "Company Town: AG Who Gave David Gregory a Pass Turns Out to be Friend... of David Gregory's Wife."

IMAGE CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "David Gregory will not be prosecuted."

Britney Spears Splits From Fiancé Jason Trawick

She's got a lot going on --- and I hope she's not going to have another meltdown anytime soon. She made a fabulous recovery, personally and professionally, after that shaved-head fiasco some years back. Here's wishing her well.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Britney Spears and Jason Trawick end engagement, go separate ways":

It's been a big day for Britney Spears. Not only did she confirm she was leaving "The X Factor" after only one season, she also announced she and Jason Trawick were breaking off their engagement after only one year.

"I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends," Spears said in a statement released to People announcing the end of the engagement. Brit's rep told the mag the decision was mutual.

Added Trawick, her onetime agent who'd popped the question back in December 2011: "I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever."

Brit has two sons, 7-year-old Preston and 6-year-old Jayden, from her marriage to Kevin Federline, which ended.

While sources told TMZ that Spears and Trawick had simply "grown apart" and called the breakup friendly, Radar Online painted an uglier picture, alleging that the two had been fighting for months and sleeping apart, saying Trawick had already moved out of the home they shared.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Britney Spears 'jumps before she's pushed' as she quits The X Factor USA after just one season."

Two Minutes Hate

Following up on yesterday's post, "Dear Leader Barack Hussein Has Already Cemented His Legacy."

Here's the "Two Minutes Hate" from "Hate Week" in "1984."

Nowadays MSNBC performs the ritual, nightly.

'I Can Barely Contain My Fury at What Is Going On...'

A great segment from Mark Levin's show, via RCP:

MARK LEVIN: You know folks, I'll be honest with you. I just told a friend of mine -- even though I sit behind this microphone and I try to be civil and so forth -- I can barely contain my fury about what's going on in this country. I'm just being honest with you. I can barely contain it. I'm so frustrated by this tyranny, you have no idea. Now we can analyze it, we can intellectualize it, we can parse it and so forth and try to unravel it. But I'm just telling you, from an emotional point of view, it is just so damned infuriating to see the greatest country on the face of the earth run by a bunch of lilliputians, who are constantly attacking it from within.

Dear Leader Barack Hussein Has Already Cemented His Legacy

These idiots at National Journal are debating whether Our Dear Leader Barack Hussein should have his face added to Mr. Rushmore. And I'm all, "Like that even matters? Dear Leader's face is already carved into every telescreen across the country, just like Big Brother in "1984."

See, "Obama Has Already Cemented His Legacy, Like It or Not" (via Memeorandum).

Also at the Washington Free Beacon, "Sharpton: Is Obama Ready for Mt. Rushmore? (VIDEO)."

IMAGE CREDIT: The People's Cube.

French Air Strikes Against Islamist Insurgency in Mali

At Telegraph UK, "France launches air strike on al-Qaeda in Mali":

French forces have launched an air strike on the southern fringe of the Sahara, intervening to help Mali’s army stop al-Qaeda fighters from advancing towards the country’s capital.

President François Hollande declared that Mali’s very existence was threatened by “terrorist aggression”, adding: “French army forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements.”

The battle came after hundreds of Islamist gunmen struck beyond their stronghold in northern Mali and seized the town of Konna in the central region on Thursday.

This placed them less than 40 miles from Mopti, the last garrison town protecting the road to the capital, Bamako. President Dioncounda Traore of Mali appealed for help from France, the former colonial power, and a counter-attack began Friday with the aim of retaking Konna.

Just hours after the assault was launched, reports claimed that Malian forces had successfully retaken Konna with French military support. “We are there now,” Lieutenant Colonel Diaran Kone told Reuters.

“Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM) and its local allies captured three regions of northern Mali last year, gaining control over 300,000 square miles. In the past week, they have begun moving southwards and taking even more territory.

And at Atlas Shrugs, "FRENCH AIR STRIKES HELP MALIAN ARMY BEAT BACK ISLAMIC SUPREMACIST PRO-SHARIA REBELS."

Dan Froomkin: 'Zero Dark Thirty Is a Despicable Movie...'

Froomkin retweeted my little LOL rant from last night:

.@froomkin "Zero Dark Thirty" is freakin' killer! And was LOL at your stereotypical "review": froomkin.tumblr.com/post/401007654… #ZDT @zerodarkthirty
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 11, 2013

And here's his post, on Tumblr no less, "Zero Dark Thirty Is a Despicable Movie, Even if Bigelow and Boal Didn’t Intend It That Way."

This movie is generating more leftist outrage over a motion picture than I can remember.

I'll have more on this...

PREVIOUSLY: "Academy Snubs Best Director Nomination for Katherine Bigelow and 'Zero Dark Thirty'."

'I assumed the Big Bang Theory would be exactly like that... But it's not. It's actually smartly written, with some genuine care put into it...'

That's AoSHQ riffing on television's "Big Bang Theory":

I avoided this show for years because of Murphy Brown. Murphy Brown was "about politics," but the extent of the "politics" was insipid references to people who were in politics.

Like, "Gee, I haven't been this drunk since I did tequila shooters with Gary Hart!"

Wocka wocka. You mentioned a name I've read in a newspaper. How political.

I assumed the Big Bang Theory would be exactly like that, but swapping out political references for geek ones -- "Gee, I haven't been this drunk since I did tequila shooters with Gary Gygax!"

But it's not. It's actually smartly written, with some genuine care put into it. Apparently they have an on-staff scientist vetting all the science -- all the formulas, all the references, all the scientific analogies -- that appear on the show.

And the geek stuff is almost all stuff geeks actually talk about (or at least have thought about). Plot holes in movies, time-travel paradoxes, superhero continuity issues. Even when they talk about something that hasn't actually been a topic of geek conversation -- like Raj's contention that mummies are no different than zombies, except with respect to one minor fashion choice -- it's at least in the ballpark of a Real Geek Topic.

I wanted to mention it because last night's show, which should be on demand if you have that service, was a pretty good entry point for people who don't watch the show...

Hmm... Okay, I might be able to find time to check it out, if only to observe fine thesbian skills of smokin' hot Kaley Cuoco.

Socialist Lawrence O'Donnell Blasphemes Holy Bible in Vicious Rant Attacking Pastor Louie Giglio

Following up on my earlier coverage of this controversy, for example, "'The intolerant Left claims another scalp...'," and "The Homosexual Star Chamber Exacts Its Latest Penalty."

Recall that O'Donnell is a self-declared socialist and he really demonstrates his Marxist bona fides here. He's right that virtually no one alive today follows the Holy Scripture with 100 percent literalism, but that argument's just a straw man facilitating a no-holds-barred, across-the-board attack on biblical moral teachings in public life. He's really disgusting. Remember what Kirsten Powers said (linked above). Opposition to homosexuality is just plain orthodox Christian teaching. Demonize that and you demonize an entire faith. All the rest of O'Donnell's blatherings about the Bible not condemning slavery is bullshit. Anyone who's familiar with the politics of Martin Luther King, Jr., knows that the black community drew its greatest strength from the Bible's teaching on the Exodus and the scriptural promises of freedom from bondage. O'Donnell is blasphemous and obscene and Pastor Giglio must have really been hitting too mother f-king close for these depraved assholes, Lawrence O'Donnell and his Think Progress thugs. Behold that Giglio's penance is to be flogged in the court of public opinion and banished from the public realm for taking a position at odds with our Great Leader Barack Hussein Obama.

I simply do not recognize the America of today. This hateful, vile public discourse the left pushes is not representative of the America that cradled me in freedom from my childhood. It's an ugly, vindictive, and harshly punitive state of affairs. It's shameful and simultaneously makes me sad but angry, and determined never to cave to these progressive ghouls. Never.

UPDATE: Linked at Astute Bloggers, "MSNBC'S LARRY O'DONNELL PROVES CONTEMPORARY SOCIALISTS PERSIST IN ATTACKING OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION DESPITE THE FACT SOCIALISM HAS KILLED MORE THAT ANY IDEOLOGY EXCEPT FOR ISLAM."

Thanks!

'The intolerant Left claims another scalp...'

Following up on my post yesterday, "The Homosexual Star Chamber Exacts Its Latest Penalty."

Here's Twitchy on Kirsten Powers' comments on the left's merciless attack on Louie Giglio, "Kirsten Powers slams ‘intolerant Left’ for forcing pastor out of inauguration."

For the record, I don't agree with a lot of what Giglio said, but his sermon was basic orthodox Christianity. Who is banned next? The pope?
— kirsten powers (@kirstenpowers10) January 11, 2013

Well, yeah. The left's goal is to eradicate any recognition of religion, and the role of moral values, in public life. It's absolutely totalitarian, the kind of censorship and suppression you'd find in totalitarian societies. Like I said yesterday, they'd execute Giglio if they could. It's frightening the degree of power these extremist minorities have under this regime, but that's why conservatives have to stand a post. We're down to the very survival of liberty in this country.

'Lincoln' and Other Serious Films Top Oscar Nominee List

A commentary from A.O. Scott, at the New York Times, "A Chainsaw-Free Mainstream":

#ZeroDarkThirty has received 5 #OscarNoms, including Best Picture. See it in theaters TOMORROW: bit.ly/ZDTtix twitter.com/ZeroDarkThirty…

— Zero Dark Thirty (@ZeroDarkThirty) January 10, 2013

For the past few years, the Oscars have been haunted by the fear that the pictures, to paraphrase Norma Desmond, had gotten small. Or at least that the kind of pictures worthy of Academy Awards no longer operated at a scale demanded by a worldwide broadcast. The box office numbers of best picture nominees seemed to be shrinking as the movie business split in two. At one end was a specialized boutique outfit, at the other a franchise factory geared to the international mass market. Between those poles was a hole where the serious mainstream movies used to be.

 Some time in the past decade or so, the argument goes, Hollywood abandoned the grown-up audience, preferring to chase after adolescent eyeballs with fantasy blockbusters and lowbrow genre fare. Or maybe the discerning public, seduced by cable television and distracted by the Internet, gave up on moviegoing, leaving the multiplexes to the teenage mutant vampire hordes. In any case, the idea that American cinema could define and ennoble the broad middle ground of the culture — a magical place where art intersects with commerce and popularity coexists with prestige — is as dead as the old studio system.

Don’t believe it. When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees Thursday, it dealt a blow to this conventional wisdom. Whether ambitious mainstream moviemaking has been granted a new, long-term lease on life remains to be seen. But the Academy’s choices confirmed that 2012 was not just a strong year for movies, but also for precisely the kind of movies that are supposed to be nearly obsolete.

Look at the list of leading nominees — “Lincoln” and “Argo,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Misérables,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Amour,” “Life of Pi” and “Django Unchained” — and you will find a dizzying diversity of themes and styles. You may also notice a lot of big-studio releases without a superhero in sight. And, perhaps most remarkably, you will find movies that have already sparked passionate arguments and sold a lot of tickets. It would be hard to say the same about the last two best picture winners, “The Artist” and “The King’s Speech.” Both were charming, nostalgic trifles, and though “The King’s Speech” made a lot of money, it was too safe — too small — to make anybody angry.

Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” leading the pack this year with 12 nominations, is an almost too-perfect example of the kind of movie they supposedly don’t make anymore. Shot on actual film stock in somber light, it tackles weighty historical issues with a blend of gravity and exuberant theatricality that would have done the old moguls proud. But it is much more than a musty period drama, or a puffed-up, dumbed-down history lesson.

"Lincoln" was awesome, but I'm still reeling from the spectacular "Zero Dark Thirty."

I might go see that again. Man, was it good.

Anyway, more of Scott's piece at that top link.

Sandy, Katrina, and the Pro-Government Party

A devastating commentary, from Mona Charen, at National Review:

Just a few days after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the New York Times’s Paul Krugman crowed triumphantly about the federal government’s response to the disaster. “After Katrina the government seemed to have no idea what it was doing; this time it did. And that’s no accident: the federal government’s ability to respond effectively to disaster always collapses when antigovernment Republicans hold the White House, and always recovers when Democrats take it back.”

What a fairy tale. Mature adults understand that earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are unfortunate facts of life. They further know that government agencies are, by their very nature, slow and lumbering animals.

Krugman was right about one thing, though. Sandy would not be Obama’s Katrina, because the press is on his side. President Obama parachuted into New Jersey after the storm and declared that he would not tolerate “red tape” or “bureaucracy” by the government. He then hopped back aboard Air Force One and resumed his campaign schedule. His admirers, including, alas, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and the besotted Krugman, swooned.

Six days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, President Bush’s presidency had been declared a failure and a disgrace. It was all FEMA’s fault, we were given to understand, and, by extension, Bush’s fault. It wasn’t the incompetence of local and state officials, or the levee collapse (a failure, by the way, that impartial observers lay at the feet of another government agency going back years, the Army Corps of Engineers). No, within a few days of the storm’s impact, Bush was an enemy of the people.

RTWT.

Jessica Chastain Wins Best Actress at Critics Choice Movie Awards

She is so good. I'll be blown away if she doesn't win the Best Actress Oscar as well.

At London's Daily Mail, "Well that paid off! Jessica Chastain wins Best Actress after jetting to LA from Broadway for Critics' Choice Awards."

And this is the Broadcast Film Critics Association's 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, which formally launches the awards season. More at the Los Angeles Times, "'Argo' wins Critics' Choice Movie Awards for best film, director." And the Hollywood Reporter, "'Argo,' 'Silver Linings Playbook' Win Big at Critics' Choice Movie Awards."

Italy's Mussolini Cult

At Der Spiegel, "'Il Duce' Calendars and Beer Mugs: Mussolini Cult Alive and Well in Italy":

Every year, thousands of people in Italy hang a fresh calendar of images depicting Benito Mussolini on their wall, just one of many indications that the cult of "Il Duce" is alive and well in the country. Many still consider the fascist dictator to have been an honorable man, and it is a weakness that politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi have been able to exploit.

Decked out in army fatigues, his hand raised in fascist salute, he emblazons newsstands, lies ready in bookshops and is splashed across countless websites: Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and founder of fascism known simply as "Il Duce", enjoys massive popularity in Italy as a calendar pin-up. One month he's in a steel helmet, his chin jutting sharply forward, the next he's clutching a Roman short sword, the famous chin still at attention. His valiant, steel-helmeted soldiers also march on annually, in color or black and white, accompanied by fascist symbols like the swastika.

Foreign tourists, especially Germans, are shocked when they see these openly flaunted calendars. Yet even in 2013, the former Italian dictator has a loyal fan base at home. And they're not just buying calendars.

The full extent of the Mussolini cult -- a phenomenon many foreigners find difficult to understand -- can be seen in Predappio, a small town in the Emilia-Romagna region with barely 7,000 inhabitants. As a tourist destination, Predappio is not really worth the trip. But it was here on July 29, 1883 that Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, the son of a blacksmith and a village school teacher, began a life that would lead to his coronation as "Il Duce," the architect of fascism who was the precursor and in many respects a model for Adolf Hitler.

Back then, the dreary village was still called Dovia. But its most famous son used it as a model settlement for fascist city planning, rebuilding the town and renaming it Predappio. Later, after he had been captured in 1945 by Italian partisans, executed and hung upside down on public display at a Milan gas station, the former dictator was buried with his father, mother, wife, daughter, sister and brother in Predappio.

'The Only God'

Today, young men with shaved heads in long black capes regularly pose for photos at the Mussolini family tomb. The condolence book is filled with sentences like "You are the only God," and some visitors stretch their right arms forward in the so-called "Roman salute," not dissimilar to the Nazi salute.

Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Predappio, filling its bars, restaurants, and especially the "Il Duce" devotional shops that line the main road. There you can buy letter-openers, ashtrays, coins, shirts, pants, coffee cans, wine, beer mugs and lighters brandishing slogans are like "Believe, Obey, Fight" or "Damned be he who gives up." Of course, all bear images of Mussolini, replete with famous chin and fascist salute. There are flags with swastikas and SS insignia and 38-centimeter-tall bronze busts of "Il Duce" that go for €45.

There's even a bust of Hitler, markedly smaller of course at 16 centimeters, for the bargain price of €15. Objects like these attract some German neo-Nazis, who seize the opportunity, as well as the bottle -- in this case filled with beer and bearing Adolf 's image under the heading "The Comrade" for the price of €3.

Italians, for the most part, shun the Nazi nostalgia items, which disturb the country's mainstream historical narrative. The most successful of the Mussolini souvenir sellers in Predappio, Pierluigi Pompignoli, puts it this way: "Hitler was a criminal, but Mussolini was a man of honor."

Well, if there was ever a postwar European crisis conducive to Fascism's return in Italy, we're right in the middle of it.

More at the link, in any case.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirt youth in 1935," via Wikimedia Commons.

'You Come Here With Your Little Book...'

Boy, that Piers Morgan sure likes egging on the pro-deportation crowd.

Dissing the U.S. Constitution as "your little book" while debating Ben Shapiro? That's really a lot.

Via BigFurHat, "Bravo Ben Shapiro!"

Bombings in Pakistan Kill More Than 100 People

At the Wall Street Journal, "Pakistan Bombings Kill More Than 100 People."

And at Atlas Shrugs, "#Savage #MyJihad: Twin Suicide Bombings kill 115 people in Pakistan."

Stunning 360 Degree Interactive Image of New York City

Very cool, at Telegraph UK, "New York in stunning 360 degree detail."

It takes a few seconds to load.

But, indeed, very cool.

NRA Pushes Back Against White House Gun Control Agenda

At the Wall Street Journal, "Biden's Emerging Gun Push Draws NRA Ire":

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday he would recommend the White House push for broad measures to stem gun violence, citing growing support for tighter background checks on gun purchasers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other moves.

But the National Rifle Association delivered a swift rebuke following a meeting with Mr. Biden, saying the administration was gearing up for an attack on gun ownership.

Mr. Biden said he would deliver his recommendations Tuesday to President Barack Obama, who has promised a quick effort to put them into practice. The strong opposition from the NRA, the nation's most powerful gun-rights group, suggested proponents of new measures had substantial work to do to build political support.

"We disagreed, obviously, on important issues,'' said James Baker, director of federal affairs for the NRA, who attended the meeting Thursday with Mr. Biden. In a written statement, the NRA said it was "disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment.''

Mr. Biden and other administration officials have met with a range of groups this week, among them medical associations, victims' rights and sportsmen's organizations, entertainment-industry trade groups and gun retailers, as part of an assignment from Mr. Obama to draw up a response to the school killings last month in Newtown, Conn.

Mr. Biden detailed some of his potential recommendations before a morning meeting with sportsmen's groups and others, saying they had arisen from his discussions so far and had broad support.

He didn't say in his public comments whether he would recommend an effort to revive the federal assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004. But Mr. Baker, the NRA official, said Mr. Biden all but threw his support behind a ban during the private meeting the NRA attended Thursday. The White House declined to comment on Mr. Baker's characterization of Mr. Biden's position.

In his public comments, Mr. Biden also said he had heard a "surprising recurrence'' of suggestions from groups he consulted that the nation require a background check for every gun purchase. Currently, checks are only needed for purchases from federally licensed dealers, in an effort to make sure that buyers aren't prohibited from owning a firearm.

Many proponents of tougher rules have called for closing what some call the "gun show loophole,'' which allows sales without background checks from private sellers who often do business at gun shows. Mr. Biden suggested that background checks be applied even more widely, to all private sales, wherever they occur. Gun-control advocates say that a substantial share of the nation's gun sales are excluded from the background-check requirement.

Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association Inc., said a number of areas of agreement emerged during the meeting attended by the NRA, especially on civil commitment laws for the mentally ill and increased penalties for gun trafficking. Mr. Feldman said he differed from many in the room by backing expanded background checks at gun shows. He said, however, he opposed requiring background checks on all gun sales.

The NRA said it opposes Mr. Biden's plan to expand background checks.

Depending on how they are crafted, most of Mr. Biden's potential recommendations would likely require legislation. Mr. Obama can take some steps without agreement from Congress, as he has executive authority to ban certain gun imports and strengthen some aspects of background checks.

"We can do a great deal without in any way imposing on and impinging on the rights of the Second Amendment," Mr. Biden said in public comments.

And at the New York Times, "Tough Path for Ban on Assault Guns Shifts Obama's Focus." (Via Memeorandum.)

PREVIOUSLY: "Leftists Push Gun Control Agenda 'Unmatched in Modern Times'."

Katherine Webb Defends Brent Musberger

Well, I'm glad she's resisting the totalitarian PC brigades:

PREVIOUSLY: "Brent Musburger Under Fire For Comments About Katherine Webb."

Obama's Big Power Grab

Yet again an awesome talking points memo from Bill O'Reilly. The administration's pushing a constitutional crisis, no doubt.

Quentin Tarantino Gets Pissed Off in U.K. News Interview, Won't Talk About Impact of His Films on Gun Violence

The dude gets really testy in this interview with Britain's Channel 4 News.

PREVIOUSLY: "Leftists Push Gun Control Agenda 'Unmatched in Modern Times'."

'Sunny Came Home'

A huge hit at the time, but I rarely hear it anymore, from Shawn Colvin:

Sunny came home to her favorite room
Sunny sat down in the kitchen
She opened a book and a box of tools
Sunny came home with a mission

She says days go by I'm hypnotized
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire

Sunny came home with a list of names
She didn't believe in transcendence
It's time for a few small repairs she said
Sunny came home with a vengeance

She says days go by I don't know why
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire

Get the kids and bring a sweater
Dry is good and wind is better
Count the years, you always knew it
Strike a match, go on and do it

Days go by I'm hypnotized
I'm walking on a wire
I close my eyes and fly out of my mind
Into the fire
Light the sky and hold on tight
The world is burning down
She's out there on her own and she's alright
Sunny came home
Sunny came home...

'Invisible Driver' Orders Food at Drive-Up Window

This is something else, at Scallywag and Vagabond, "Drive thru invisible driver prank goes viral. A metaphor on the American fast food experience…":

Missing Teen Sarah Alarid Body Recovered

The young woman went missing New Year's Eve and Sheriff's helicopters just happened to see her car crashed at the bottom of a deep ravine while conducting a search for another person. It's the video that's startling. I can't imagine going over a cliff like that.

At KTLA 5 Los Angeles, "Sarah Alarid’s Body Recovered in Sand Canyon Ravine," and at the Los Angeles Times, "Sarah Alarid's body found in forest; detectives suspect accident."

Also, "Sarah Alarid's friends, family gather for vigil after body found."

My oldest son thinks she may have been text-messaging, took her eyes off the road and went over the side. And as she was supposed to be coming from a party, perhaps she'd been drinking. It's very sad, in any event.