Governor Rick Perry Responds to President Obama's Executive Orders on Guns

The last paragraph is especially good:

"In fact, the piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally. The second amendment to the Constitution is a basic right of free people and cannot be nor will it be abridged by the executive power of this or any other president."

The entire statement is here: "Statement by Gov. Perry on President Obama’s Executive Actions." Via Joshua Treviño on Twitter.

Anna Kendrick's Risqué Love Tweet to Ryan Gosling

At London's Daily Mail, "'Apparently that's inappropriate!' Anna Kendrick's admission that she pleasured herself while watching Ryan Gosling goes viral."

She tweeted:

'Ugh - NEVER going to a Ryan Gosling movie in a theater again. Apparently masturbating in the back row is still considered "inappropriate".'

Obama Exaggerates Deficit Savings, Avoids Real Fix

At IBD, "New Math: President Obama Exaggerates Deficit Savings":

At his press conference this week, President Obama made it seem as though the job of getting the government's deficits under control is nearly done.

"The consensus is we need about $4 trillion to stabilize our debt and our deficit," he told reporters, "which means we need about $1.5 trillion more."

Obama claimed to have already cut spending $1.4 trillion, and this, combined with $600 billion in tax hikes he got as part of his fiscal cliff deal plus interest savings, "adds up to a total of $2.5 trillion."

All that's needed now to finish the job, he said, is "closing some additional loopholes (and) doing some additional cuts." Sounds easy enough. In fact, Obama said he's already put forward a plan to do that.

But a closer look at the numbers shows that Obama is exaggerating how much deficit reduction he's actually achieved, and is being decidedly Pollyannaish about the nation's still massive long-term budget gap and what will be needed to close it.

O was lying through his teeth through that entire press conference. It was disgusting.

But continue reading at IBD.

Republicans Talking Impeachment Over Guns

At The Week, "Could Obama be impeached for taking action on gun control?"

Islamists Holding Americans Hostage in Algeria

Things are getting bad out there, really bad.

At USA Today, "Militants claim 7 Americans among hostages in Algeria."

Heading Toward Civil War in America

Here's some Glenn Beck while I read around for some of the responses to the administration's gun-grab exploitation show this morning.

Kathryn Bigelow: 'Zero Dark Thirty' and the Hunt for Osama bin Laden

The Los Angeles Times asked Ms. Bigelow to respond to criticism of her film. See, "Kathryn Bigelow addresses 'Zero Dark Thirty' torture criticism."

The Times' background story is here, "Kathryn Bigelow defends 'Zero Dark Thirty' torture scenes."

'I am so glad I am not a young woman in America in 2013. If you are not a slut, any real social life is tough...'

From Pamela Geller's essay, "New York Times Declares Victory in Feminism's War on Love and Romance."

And then head back over to The Other McCain, ICYMI, "Nobody Really Likes @LenaDunham, and Deep Down Inside She Knows It, Too." (And by the way, I watched the second season's premiere of "Girls." It's slut culture, grind culture, and Lena Dunham takes her clothes off, a lot...)

See also Weasel Zippers, "Hollywood Obamabot Vows to Not Get Married Until “All Gay People Can Get Married”…"

IMAGE CREDIT: London's Daily Mail, "So much for keeping it real! Girls star Lena Dunham gets a glossy makeover for new magazine shoot."

The Interview interview is here: "Lena Dunham":

"I think that I may be the voice of my generation—or, at least, a voice of a generation," declares Hannah, the aspiring writer protagonist of Lena Dunham's new series, Girls, which premieres this month on HBO and revolves around a group of four young women living in New York as they fumble their way through twenty-something life in the greater post-recessionary Manhattan area.

We're doomed.

Why Are Trans People So Angry?

The Other McCain weighed in on the angry transsexuals debate and notes it's a case of "competitive victimhood." See, "Transsexual Bullies Successfully Censor Feminist Writers Who Criticized Them." (And don't miss the rousing comments section therein...)

And then Christine Burns, who says she's an "equalities expert," whatever that is, offers some common sense on why trannies are so angry, at Just Plain Sense, "Mending Fences":

The Guardian is seen by many trans people (rightly or wrongly) as prone to transphobia … a belief reinforced when it carries reports critical of one trans clinician whilst being blind to the clinical abuse of hundreds or thousands of other trans people. Again, the only balance in this latest controversy has come from trans writers.

I don't say whether it is fair or not for trans people to see the world this way. I'm too far from everyday discrimination myself to know for certain how I'd feel if I were being called an abomination.

I don't say that being abusive or making threats is ever an acceptable way to conduct an argument. Heavens, over the years I've had enough threats myself. It's not nice.

But I do have the perspective to understand why people might get that angry. Why they may lose it. Why cries of 'victim' by the people who've abused you may sound just a tad ironic.

The Guardian's about as far left a mainstream newspaper/website as you'd imagine, so this idea that it's "prone to transphobia" is a little much. I think it was the reaction to some rather, er, penetrating commentary that set these buggers off.

In any case, Blazing Cat Fur has more on that, "'...people who identify themselves as 'transgendered' are psychotic or simply unhappy...'" You could say the same thing about "troll rights" harassment stalkers, but that'll be for another day.

Previous posts on the trannies are here and here.

Stand and Fight

Via Althouse, "'NRA airs new TV ad criticizing Obama on eve of White House gun announcement'."

And lots of reactions at Memeorandum, FWIW

Prosecutor's Husband Slams Family, Others Blaming His Wife for Death of Aaron Swartz

At Guardian UK, "Aaron Swartz: husband of prosecutor criticises internet activist's family":

IBM executive married to district attorney tweets anger after family suggests overzealous prosecution contributed to his death.

The husband of the US district attorney involved in the Aaron Swartz prosecution has publicly criticised the activist's family for accusing his wife of complicity in the suicide, amid claims the aggressive litigation was driven by their desire for a test case.

Tom Dolan, an IBM executive married to Carmen Ortiz, used his Twitter account to attack the family of Swartz, who died on Friday. One tweet, posted on his @TomJDolan feed, said: "Truly incredible that in their own son's obit they blame others for his death and make no mention of the 6 month offer."

His comments, made three days after Swartz's death, attracted outrage on social media. The account has since been deleted.

When asked about Dolan's tweet and whether it was appropriate, Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for Ortiz, told the Guardian she had "no comment" to make at this time.

Swartz, 26, who helped create Reddit, had been facing charges of breaking into Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer system to access academic articles from the JSTOR digital library with the intention of making them freely available.

His family have accused prosecutors and MIT officials of contributing to his death by pursuing a harsh array of charges for "an alleged crime that had no victims". His death, and what critics have denounced as an over-reaching prosecution, have prompted calls for changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and for a halt to such prosecutions.

If he had been found guilty of the charges, Swartz faced up to 35 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines, although it has emerged that negotiations between his lawyers and prosecutors had included a potential plea bargain of six months in prison.

Condemnation of prosecutors over the litigation against Swartz continued on Tuesday. A petition to the Obama administration to remove Ortiz from office reached 28,188 signatures, past the crucial 25,000 signatures needed for a White House response.

In July 2011, Ortiz said in a statement about the case: "Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars. It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away."

More at the link.

Here are the tweets:

Via BetaBeat, "IBM Exec Husband of Aaron Swartz Prosecutor Takes to Twitter to Defend His Wife."

RELATED: As I highlighted earlier, Swartz was a cowardly Chomsky-loving radical in the mold of the depraved Anonymous and WikiLeaks criminals. He was a regular guest blogger at communist Henry Farrell's Crooked Timber, and this post lays out his far left-wing program: "Toward a Larger Left."

And you know, I'm sure most people, after they're gone, would love have the support of the criminal hactivists, like how Anonymous showed its love for Swartz: "Anonymous hacks MIT after Aaron Swartz's suicide."

They're all a bunch of cowards. Progressives, anarchists, the Think Progress goons and they're readers ... they're all a bunch of cowards and communists. Fuck 'em.

PREVIOUSLY: "Can We Just Not Get All Sentimental About Aaron Swartz, to the Effect of Martyring the Dude, or Anything Like That?"

Fabulous Jessica Chastain Photos From Golden Globes After-Party

She changed into something a little more comfortable for the post-awards parties.

At London's Daily Mail, "She’s got legs appeal: Jessica Chastain shows off her slim pins in a little black dress following her Golden Globe win."

And ICYMI: At The Astute Bloggers, "GUARANTEED NOT HALAL: ZERO DARK THIRTY'S JESSICA CHASTAIN."

BWHAHA! MSNBC Race-Baiter Touré Deletes Tweets After Attacking James O'Keefe as 'Disrespectful'

Liars and hypocrites.

That's all they are. Liars and hypocrites. And, well, collectivists too, which is why they lie so much, backing up their lies with disgusting double standards.

See Twitchy, "Boo hoo: Touré whines that O’Keefe disrespected him by including him in exposé of anti-gun hypocrites."

MSNBC's @toure just DELETED his tweet at me after appearing in video rejecting GUN FREE sign. Here's a pic... twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII…
— James O'Keefe(@JamesOKeefeIII) January 15, 2013

Checking back at Twitchy, Touré denies that he deleted his tweets, but I don't see them in his timeline.

A leftist gun-grabbing hypocrite who lies about deleting his own tweets attacking those calling him out for his hypocrisy. Man, trying to follow the left's lies and cover-ups is like following a Rube Goldberg contraption. They keep you off busy and off balance!

PREVIOUSLY: "'Citizens Against Senseless Violence'."

Whoops! Chrysler Opening New Jeep Factory in China After All

Oh boy, virtually the entire "mainstream" political class attacked Mitt Romney for his alleged malicious lies on (bailed out) Chrysler Corporation's off-shoring manufacturing jobs to China. The Washington post had the classically idiot "fact check." See, "4 Pinocchios for Mitt Romney’s misleading ad on Chrysler and China.?" And from Jill Lawrence, at National Journal, "Romney Ad Wrongly Implies Chrysler is Sending U.S. Jobs to China." Lawrence is one of the "journalists" who announced that O's visage belongs on Mt. Rushmore.

Well, our "fourth branch" of government failed yet again in fulfilling its basic responsibility to provide the people with clear and accurate information so that they can hold government accountable. See the Wall Street Journal, "Chrysler Looks to Restart Jeep Production in China":

Chrysler Group LLC majority owner Fiat SpA F.MI -1.32% has struck a deal with Guangzhou Automobile Group 2238.HK -2.18% to restart Jeep production in China, a major step toward expanding the brand in the world's largest auto market.

The Jeep was first launched in China in 1983, and although production there ended in 2009 when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, the brand remains well recognized. Today, Jeep sells three models in China—the Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and Compass—all imported.

Fiat said Tuesday it had signed a "framework agreement" to expand its partnership with Guangzhou to build more Fiat models, as well as to add Jeep production to China. Fiat already jointly builds the Fiat Viaggio, a midsize sedan, with the state-owned Guangzhou and imports several other models, including the subcompact 500.

The company didn't offer an exact time frame for Jeep production in China, saying only that any models built there will be for the Chinese market exclusively. At this point, it's unclear what models are being considered.

Chrysler and Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has targeted Jeep, along with Italy's Alfa Romeo, as two brands with the potential to grow globally. With new models and localized factory production, Mr. Marchionne aims to expand Jeep's presence in Europe, Russia and China.

"The expansion of the agreement with our GAC partners will allow us to unleash the potential of both our Fiat and Chrysler Group brands in China," said Jeep chief Mike Manley, who is also chief operating officer for Fiat and Chrysler in Asia. He said the next-generation Jeep midsize sport utility vehicle, the Liberty replacement, will also be sold in China.

And remember Stephanie Cutter, Team Obama's chief propaganda minister? She attacked Mitt Romney as a liar all year, but she's the one who'd been lying. I know. We knew that already. But the lies just keep coming, don't they? See the Obama for America clip here. And you know, Chrysler and GM were in the tank with the lies as well. Mitt Romney was right. Team Obama claimed a "fact-based" campaign. What they actually achieved was an Orwellian nightmare that leveraged them back into power on deceit and demonization.

Britain's Defense Chiefs Warn Against Escalation in Mali

At Independent UK, "Top brass warn No 10: Avoid Mali escalation":

Defence chiefs have warned against Britain becoming enmeshed in the mission against Islamists in Mali, pointing out that any action could be drawn-out and require significantly greater resources than have so far been deployed.

The most senior commanders are due to make their apprehension clear at a meeting of the National Security Council with the Prime Minister today. They have the backing of the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond.

Following three days of French air strikes in Mali, the Islamists launched a counter-offensive yesterday showing they are not a spent force. They attacked government positions in the central town of Diabaly after crossing a river in small groups under cover of darkness. British resources are already stretched, with two RAF transport aircraft having to be diverted from Afghanistan to carry French equipment equipment to Mali. There is a shortage of such aircraft and they are being used to their full capacity. One of the Boeing C-17 Globemasters, hailed by David Cameron yesterday as "our most advanced and capable transport plane", broke down a few minutes later in Paris, en route to Africa.

Some of the military top brass took part in operations in another West African country, Sierra Leone, where prompt action by the then-Brigadier David Richards, now the Chief of the Defence Staff, stopped rebel fighters from taking over the capital, Freetown. But a more protracted campaign was needed, including the rescue of British soldiers kidnapped by one guerrilla group, the West Side Boys.

Defence sources pointed out that the French had already had to revise their original plans for intervention after meeting more resistance than expected. François Hollande's government has sent extra troops and asked for help from the US and Denmark as well as the UK. About 1,800 other soldiers will be sent by Mali's neighbours. Defence sources dismissed reports that British military instructors were being sent immediately to Mali's capital, Bamako, and that unmanned drones were on stand-by.

Mark Simmonds, the Africa minister, last night ruled out a deployment of British troops alongside French forces in Mali. In a statement to the Commons he said Britain's role would be "limited" to logistical support.

"The Prime Minister has made categorically clear that the initial supporting deployment will be for a period of one week," Mr Simmonds said.

"He has also made clear that there will be no combat troops from the UK involved and we have no plans to provide more military assistance."

Well, because people could get killed, or something.

'Take Me Home, Country Roads'

Lisa Graas tweeted out a version of this last night. Peaceful.

The Wikipedia entry is here.

'Citizens Against Senseless Violence'

This is great, via Blazing Cat Fur, "This Home Is Proudly Gun Free":

Added: From Michelle Malkin, "What I most admire about James O’Keefe…"

Los Angeles Times: 'Pedophilia Now Seen By Many Experts as Deep-Rooted Predisposition That Does Not Change'

Oh brother.

Here we go. Civil rights for pedophiles.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Taking a different view of pedophilia":

As a young boy, Paul Christiano loved the world of girls — the way they danced, how their spindly bodies tumbled in gymnastics.

In adolescence, as other boys ogled classmates, he was troubled to find himself fantasizing about 7- to 11-year-olds.

His desires remained stuck in time as he neared adulthood. Despite a stable home life in suburban Chicago, he was tortured by urges he knew could land him in prison.

"For having these feelings, I was destined to become a monster," he said. "I was terrified."

In 1999, Christiano was caught buying child pornography. Now 36, he said he has never molested a child, but after five years of state-ordered therapy, the attraction remains.

"These people felt they could snuff out the desire, or shame me into denying it existed," he said. "But it's as intrinsic as the next person's heterosexuality."

In the laboratory, researchers are coming to the same conclusion.

Like many forms of sexual deviance, pedophilia once was thought to stem from psychological influences early in life. Now, many experts view it as a sexual orientation as immutable as heterosexuality or homosexuality. It is a deep-rooted predisposition — limited almost entirely to men — that becomes clear during puberty and does not change.

The best estimates are that between 1% and 5% of men are pedophiles, meaning that they have a dominant attraction to prepubescent children.

More at that top link. 

And then see The Other McCain, "Rush Limbaugh Is Right: The Academic Pro-Pedophile Movement Is a Real Danger," and Maggie's Notebook, "Academia Normalizing Pedophilia With Minor-Attracted Person: Hebephiles, Ephebophiles and Pedophiles."

Hey, if it feels good do it, right? See, "Hate-Blogger™© W. James Casper and the Pro-Pedophilia Movement."

Liberals Are the Cancer Cells in the Destruction of the Metaphysical Body of the Republic

This is an amazing essay, from Tom Hoffman, at American Thinker, "We Await our Caesar":

Great civilizations are grand metaphysical enterprises that transform the physical landscape in accordance with the underlying belief system. The appearance of liberal ideology can be best understood as a metaphysical virus that spells the doom of the metaphysical body politic. The great institutions and traditions that conservatives seek to preserve and pass on to their children are looked upon as a problem and a source of inequity by the liberal ideologue. Conservatives are doomed to fail when confronted with an enemy that does not share their value system. The system itself is the enemy to the liberal/progressive.

The spiritual organism that is a grand civilization lives out a destiny as do all organisms. In old age we are less able to fend off disease. The great civilizations were all victims of their own success; they died of old age, a shadow, if that, of their former greatness. The glorious Roman Republic succumbed to the same cultural rot that we today are experiencing. Caesar was able to manipulate a demoralized mass of city dwellers to topple the aristocracy long since grown corrupt in exchange for food and games. The modern welfare state is the reflection of that Roman rot in our time...

As far as the body politic is concerned, liberals are the cancer cells, the change agents bent on destroying an order that is perceived as unfair. There are no clear alternative visions other than utopian longings. They are as destructive and shortsighted as was Robespierre. They leave only destruction behind...

Read it all.

The 'Bonkers' Radical Left — The Suzanne Moore-Julie Burchill Uproar

Well, I can't beat this headline, from Dan Hodges, at Telegraph UK: "The Suzanne Moore-Julie Burchill uproar shows how utterly bonkers parts of the radical Left are at the moment." Here's the key bit:

@ampowerblog @rsmccain Most clueless neocons are a bit confused about what bullying is. "Bullying" is what that badly-written article did.
— Michael Rowe (@rowemichael) January 15, 2013

This idiot troll couldn't handle it, blocked me by the third tweet: ---> @rowemichael I'm getting fast on the draw! #HighNoon. @rsmccain
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 15, 2013

Oh god, that idiot @rowemichael was marinating in this drivel, "hate speech"? Isn't it always? guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/… … @rsmccain #LGBT #HRC
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 15, 2013

The Left detests a traitor. Or rather, there’s nothing the Left loves more than embarking on a witch-hunt for a traitor. Which is why Suzanne Moore found herself strapped firmly into the progressive ducking stool last week, after writing an article for the New Statesman that contained the line “We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual”. This single sentence, in a piece that otherwise sought to take a chainsaw to sexism and gender prejudice, saw Moore facing demands to apologise for what Pink News called her “recent transphobic outburst”.

No sooner had Moore been officially found to be in league with the devil than it was Julie Burchill’s turn. Burchill had defended her friend in a typically understated Observer piece, including a hot contender for most un-PC line of all time: “a gaggle of transsexuals telling Suzanne Moore how to write looks a lot like how I'd imagine the Black and White Minstrels telling Usain Bolt how to run would look”. This resulted in Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone demanding Burchill’s sacking, which was a very sensible response. What we all need at the moment is government ministers appointing newspaper columnists.

Next it was Owen Jones’s turn. The horny-handed tribune of the workers dared to suggest on Twitter there were probably more appropriate candidates for progressive outrage than Moore or Burchill, and was promptly vilified for his own treachery. Then, just as the whole thing was starting to resemble a surreal feminist/LGBT Marx brother’s sketch, in rushed gay rights activist Peter Tatchell shouting “Make that three hard-boiled eggs!” Actually, I couldn’t quite make out what Peter’s take on the whole issue was, but what I do know is he spent the next hour or so vainly trying to convince people he hadn’t become the new Bernard Manning.

I’ve got to be honest; I’ve found the spectacle of the cream of the progressive movement re-enacting the final scene from Reservoir Dogs strangely exhilarating. It’s like watching a grainy video from the 1970s, with Norman Mailer sitting in some run down cinema in Greenwich Village, swearing at Germaine Greer, and screaming “You damn harpies!” at every women in the room.

It’s also quite illustrative of some of the problems affecting the radical Left at the moment: not least the fact that a significant fraction of the radical Left is utterly bonkers. I’ve got my differences with Suzanne Moore – as a man I don’t actually feel collective responsibility for the breast-implant scandal, for example – but anyone who claims Moore is prejudiced is jumping an exceedingly large shark.

That's a lot of inside baseball --- or, er, cricket, be that as it may --- but by Jove I think he's got it!

And this idiot Michael Rowe above must really be searching the #Transsexual tweets, or something, because within seconds he was in my timeline attacking me as a "clueless neocon." What fun!

EXTRA: Hodges links to Paris Lees, so folks will for a moment understand why transsexuals are so damned unreasonable. See, "AN OPEN LETTER TO SUZANNE MOORE."

Man Uses His Arm to Catch Giant Tarpon in Florida

He lost that fish, but this is an awesome video:

And see London's Daily Mail, "The catcher, caught: Incredible moment angler's ARM is swallowed by a fish he tried to grab it by hand."

'Chuck Hagel hates Jews...'

From Caroline Glick, "Chuck Hagel - It's the anti-Americanism, stupid":

Chuck Hagel hates Jews. Or should I say, he hates Jews who think that Jews have rights and that their rights should be defended, in Israel by the government and the IDF, in America by Israel's supporters.

As I mentioned before, it is not at all surprising that Obama appointed Hagel, and I see little  chance that the Senate will reject his appointment. Israel and its American friends however can take heart that Israel will not be Hagel's chief concern.

Hagel -- and Obama -- have bigger fish to fry than Israel. They are looking to take on the US military. They will slash military budgets, they will slash pensions and medical benefits for veterans in order to save a couple dollars and demoralize the military. They will unilaterally disarm the US to the point where America's antiquated nuclear arsenal will become a complete joke. And I don't see the military capable of stopping it. Anyone remember the F-22?

I find the whole Israel angle on Hagel irritating because of this. Yes, Hagel will be bad to Israel. But we can minimize the damage by diversifying our own arsenal and weaning ourselves off of US military handouts that only serve as work subsidies for US military contractors at the expense of Israeli ones. Moreover, for years that military aid has been a corrupting force on Israel's general staff. I've been advocating ending US military aid to Israel for more than a decade, but better late than wait until we find ourselves at war and out of spare parts because Hagel and Obama won't sign the requisition orders to Boeing and Lockheed.

Unlike Israel, the US military cannot minimize the damage that Hagel and Obama will cause. America's capabilities will suffer at the hands of the duly reelected Commander in Chief and his duly appointed Defense Secretary. The only chance to dodge that bullet was on Election Day and the American people blew it.

By making this a story about Hagel the anti-Semite, nice senators like Lindsey Graham and John McCain are obfuscating the main problem. The main reason Hagel shouldn't be appointed is not because he hates Israel. It is because he hates a strong America...

Continue reading.

The Observer Caves to Transsexual Mob, Pulls Julie Burchill Column Slamming 'Bed-Wetters in Bad Wigs'

Here's the main news report at The Guardian, "The Observer withdraws Julie Burchill column as editor publishes apology." And the allegedly offending column is available here, "Transsexuals should cut it out." I recommend reading the whole thing right away, but I can't resist posting the last two paragraphs, which I think is what drove the trannies over the edge:

To have your cock cut off and then plead special privileges as women – above natural-born women, who don't know the meaning of suffering, apparently – is a bit like the old definition of chutzpah: the boy who killed his parents and then asked the jury for clemency on the grounds he was an orphan.

Shims, shemales, whatever you're calling yourselves these days – don't threaten or bully us lowly natural-born women, I warn you. We may not have as many lovely big swinging Phds as you, but we've experienced a lifetime of PMT and sexual harassment and many of us are now staring HRT and the menopause straight in the face – and still not flinching. Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet. You really won't like us when we're angry.

You see, there's nothing that progressives can't stand more than someone who not only refuses to toe the collectivist line, but who is more than ready to stand up and throw the abuse back in their faces, twice as hard. Julie Burchill, so witty and unwilted, scared the f-king shit out of them.

In any case, here's the editor's groveling apology, "Statement from John Mulholland, editor of The Observer."

And London's Daily Mail has a big write-up, "Observer removes controversial Julie Burchill article on transsexuals from website and issues apology after Twitter storm." It turns out that Lynne Featherstone, a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament and former Equalities Minister, called for Burchill's termination. Yep. The trannies got help from some thuggish progressive bully in the Commons. The Telegraph's David Hughes has more on that, nailing it with the headline, "Lynne Featherstone’s call for Julie Burchill to be sacked is a little creepy."

In any case, I'll read around to find some of the trannies in outrage online, but thank to Kathy Shaidle for the hat tip, "Paper pulls Julie Burchill column about transsexual bullies — after transsexual bullies complain."

War in Mali: France Boldly Goes Where the U.S. Fears to Tread

This is a devastating front-page report at the New York Times, "French Strikes in Mali Supplant Caution of U.S.":

BAMAKO, Mali — French fighter jets struck deep inside Islamist strongholds in northern Mali on Sunday, shoving aside months of international hesitation about storming the region after every other effort by the United States and its allies to thwart the extremists had failed.

For years, the United States tried to stem the spread of Islamic militancy in the region by conducting its most ambitious counterterrorism program ever across these vast, turbulent stretches of the Sahara.

But as insurgents swept through the desert last year, commanders of this nation’s elite army units, the fruit of years of careful American training, defected when they were needed most — taking troops, guns, trucks and their newfound skills to the enemy in the heat of battle, according to senior Malian military officials.

“It was a disaster,” said one of several senior Malian officers to confirm the defections.

Then an American-trained officer overthrew Mali’s elected government, setting the stage for more than half of the country to fall into the hands of Islamic extremists. American spy planes and surveillance drones have tried to make sense of the mess, but American officials and their allies are still scrambling even to get a detailed picture of who they are up against.

Now, in the face of longstanding American warnings that a Western assault on the Islamist stronghold could rally jihadists around the world and prompt terrorist attacks as far away as Europe, the French have entered the war themselves.

First, they blunted an Islamist advance, saying the rest of Mali would have fallen into the hands of militants within days. Then on Sunday, French warplanes went on the offensive, going after training camps, depots and other militant positions far inside Islamist-held territory in an effort to uproot the militants, who have formed one of the largest havens for jihadists in the world.

Some Defense Department officials, notably officers at the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command, have pushed for a lethal campaign to kill senior operatives of two of the extremists groups holding northern Mali, Ansar Dine and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Killing the leadership, they argued, could lead to an internal collapse.

But with its attention and resources so focused on other conflicts in places like Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, the Obama administration has rejected such strikes in favor of a more cautious, step-back strategy: helping African nations repel and contain the threat on their own.

Over the last four years, the United States has spent between $520 million and $600 million in a sweeping effort to combat Islamist militancy in the region without fighting the kind of wars it has waged in the Middle East. The program stretched from Morocco to Nigeria, and American officials heralded the Malian military as an exemplary partner. American Special Forces trained its troops in marksmanship, border patrol, ambush drills and other counterterrorism skills.

But all that deliberate planning collapsed swiftly when heavily armed, battle-hardened Islamist fighters returned from combat in Libya. They teamed up with jihadists like Ansar Dine, routed poorly equipped Malian forces and demoralized them so thoroughly that it set off a mutiny against the government in the capital, Bamako.

A confidential internal review completed last July by the Pentagon’s Africa Command concluded that the coup had unfolded too quickly for American commanders or intelligence analysts to detect any clear warning signs.

“The coup in Mali progressed very rapidly and with very little warning,” said Col. Tom Davis, a command spokesman. “The spark that ignited it occurred within their junior military ranks, who ultimately overthrew the government, not at the senior leadership level where warning signs might have been more easily noticed.”

But one Special Operations Forces officer disagreed, saying, “This has been brewing for five years. The analysts got complacent in their assumptions and did not see the big changes and the impacts of them, like the big weaponry coming out of Libya and the different, more Islamic” fighters who came back.

Either way, it's the French who're putting troops in harm's way to stop the Islamist incursion. Unfortunately, France is not the United States, and I doubt they have either the political or military willpower to sustain a long deployment. Losing there means the sacrifice of Mali to the terrorists, and the aftermath of regime change will be a bloodbath. All the more reason to pull for the French, hardly the best of U.S. allies but amazingly right about what they're doing to beat back al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

French Mission in Mali 'Is Not Without Risk'

A report on French military operations in Mali, at Der Spiegel:

And Germany, on Monday, unexpectedly became one of them. The government in Berlin has announced that it is prepared to provide cargo planes as well as medical personnel. Andreas Peschke, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, said that Germany did not want to "leave France alone in this difficult hour."

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that several other allies, including the United States, Britain, Denmark and other countries in Europe, had offered assistance, though none have indicated a willingness to send troops and warplanes. The US has offered communications, transportation and intelligence support. Sources in Copenhagen on Monday told the German news agency DPA that Denmark was considering the provision of active support. Several African countries have pledged to send troops as well.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Sunday once again ruled out the deployment of German troops. "The involvement of a German fighting force is not up for debate," he said. Still, Berlin has voiced support for the French offensive. "France has acted and that was decisive, correct and deserves our support," German Defense Minster Thomas de Maizière said on German radio on Monday.

Germany also remains involved in a European Union effort to develop plans for a military training mission to Mali. On Sunday, Westerwelle said: "The development of plans for an EU training mission for the Malian military will continue. Whether and how Germany will participate will be decided when the plans are complete."

Widely Applauded

For now, Hollande hasn't just gotten support from abroad either. Despite his vow to scale back France's decades-long support of Francophone Africa, the move to block the Islamist advance has been widely applauded in France.

But the mission, which began last Friday after Islamists began moving south toward the Malian capital of Bamako, is not without its dangers. French forces have spent the last several days pounding Islamist strongholds in northern Mali, including near Gao and Kidal, the epicenter of the rebellion. But the Islamists are well armed, flush with weapons that flooded into the country from Libya and they managed to shoot down a French helicopter early in the offensive, killing the pilot. Currently, some 550 French troops are on the ground in Mali according to news reports.

In addition, the offensive puts the lives of eight French hostages, who are likely being held by their abductors in northern Mali, in danger. Furthermore, a second French commando, wounded in a failed French attempt over the weekend to rescue a Frenchman held hostage in Somalia since 2009, has died according to the Somali rebel group al-Shabaab on Monday. It is believed that the hostage too was killed.

Paris believes that the offensive against Islamists in Mali could put its citizens at even greater risk of attack from Islamist extremists. Indeed, Paris has ordered increased domestic security.

For now, though, Hollande has widespread domestic support and the backing of the international community. German commentators are also largely backing the move on Monday although many seem uncertain what response would be the most appropriate for Berlin.

Also, at Telegraph UK, "Al-Shabaab publishes alleged photograph of dead French commando." And Long War Journal, "Shabaab releases photos of French commando captured in failed rescue mission."

Mark Levin: 'We Have An Imperial President...'

Mark Levin unloads on President Obama following this morning's press conference, with Megyn Kelly:

More at The Other McCain, "Obama’s Festival of Lies":

The final press conference of Obama’s first term was a masterpiece of mendacity, a Mardi Gras parade of deliberate dishonesty ....

He doesn’t bother with tiny fibs or slight misrepresentations. No, by God, he tells massive whoppers that everyone understands to be false, but which he knows he can get away with because — like the favorite child of an over-indulgent mother — he has the smug sense of entitlement necessary to erupt in indignation if he is ever called on his lies: “How dare you notice my self-serving deceptions!”

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

Monday Morning Roundup of the Roundups

Let's get it started around here, with Angry White Dude, "HOME SWEET HOME – NO LIBERALS ALLOWED!"

And Emily Esfahani Smith has a little roundup at Acculturated, "The Daily Scene."

More at Maggie's Farm, "Monday morning links."

Also at The Other McCain, "LIVE AT FIVE: 01.14.13," and Director Blue, "Larwyn's Linx: Enough--Guns, Active Shooters and Pharma."

And from William Teach at Pirate's Cove, "Typical: Hardcore Leftists Support Iran and Their Nuclear Ambitions."

And Ronn Torossian, at FrontPage Magazine, "Celebrating Anti-Israel Extremists."

Now, over at The Foundry, "Morning Bell: When the Government Fails Completely." And from Thaddeus Russell, at Reason, "The Last Leftist: The late Howard Zinn."

And from the "I Don't Think So Department," at The Nation, "Big Week for Gun Control, and the Debate Is Moving Left."

And in breaking news, at The Washington Examiner, "Obama: Conservative media ‘demonizes me’." And at Weasel Zippers, "Choom Gang Chairman: “I Like A Good Party”…"

Now for some hotties, at Egotastic!, "Paris Hilton Bikini Vacation Photos, Because Paris Hilton Demands Your Attention."

Also from Gator Doug, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Paola Andrea Rey."

And Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday (January 5th): Sammie Pennington." Plus, at Subject to Change, "Rule  5."

I'll have more later...

PHOTO CREDIT: AoSHQ.

The Truth About Aaron Swartz 'Crime' — Remove the Quotation Marks and It's Not So Hard

Alex Stamos, CTO of Artemis Internet, was an expert witness for Aaron Swartz. He wrote a post about Swartz's death, "The Truth about Aaron Swartz’s “Crime”." He also cross-posted it at i09, and was surprised that folks might have a different take on things:

Man, there are some mean commenters at io9. I guess this is my intro to Gawker-world.
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) January 14, 2013

And here's a sample of those "mean" comments:

Swartz is not at fault for sneaking into a supply closet to intentionally evade detection because the closet was unlocked?

What, so it's somehow normal and acceptable for anyone to just walk into an unlocked supply closet (with intent to evade detection) so they could access files in a manner that shouldn't be accessed?

If he were truly not breaking any laws or any of MIT's terms, then he wouldn't have gone to lengths (even minor lengths) to evade detection.

Not breaking any of MIT's or JSTOR's terms is irrelevant. Private companies' terms are not the same thing as the law. The subterfuge proves that, yes, he was committing fraud so he could access information in a manner he knew he shouldn't have, JSTOR and MIT's attempts to stop him prove that although they did not have any terms he was an unwelcome presence on their network. There was intent to commit a crime, there was subterfuge to avoid detection, and a crime was committed. Why is this so hard?

No, not hard.

It's only hard if your moral universe inhabits the same vicinity as Anonymous, WikiLeaks, or the New York Times.

PREVIOUSLY: "Can We Just Not Get All Sentimental About Aaron Swartz, to the Effect of Martyring the Dude, or Anything Like That?"

EXTRA: At the Times of Israel, "Activist’s death fuels debate over computer crime."

UPDATE: The Jawa Report links, "Thief, Terrorist Lover Lauded by MSM." Thanks!

Plus, the Wall Street Journal has a big piece, and it's not putting the wonder kid is a positive light, "Legal Case Strained Troubled Web Activist." (At Memeorandum.) Swartz was an extremely flawed activist, no MLK type whatsoever. He was a coward who refused to accept responsibility for his own criminal activity. Althouse has more on that:

He knew what he was doing was criminal, and he was a very intelligent man who chose to do it anyway and conceived of what he was doing as actively virtuous....

His crime was about making more information freely public, and yet he cringed at publicity about his own plight, even where his plight was something he invited into his life and believed in as an especially good thing to do. Why the shame? Why not expose yourself as a martyr to laws you oppose?

RTWT.

And William Jacobson is working the civil liberties angle, "Finding common ground in limited government — I am the NRA and EFF."

I am not indifferent to that angle, although Swartz's case isn't all that different to me than, say, Julian Assange's and WikiLeaks. I don't impute noble motives to these people. And pushing cyber-law reform can be accomplished without making martyrs of proven cowards.

Jodie Foster's Golden Globe Speech

Via Instapundit:

When I was in law school at Yale, she was an undergraduate and she went out with my roommate for a while. She seemed nice, but she’s matured since.

British Consumers to Face Higher Energy Bills in Wind Farms Boondoggle

At Telegraph UK, "Wind farm contracts to increase energy bills for families":

Millions of families face higher energy bills because of a “shocking” catalogue of errors made by the Government when it awarded contracts for expensive offshore wind farms, MPs will disclose today.

Consumers could see bills rise in the coming years after “generous” deals worth £17 billion were agreed with energy firms delivering wind-generated power to homes, a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned.

Under a scheme agreed by Labour leader Ed Miliband during the last Labour government, but implemented by Coalition ministers, the contracts guarantee that the power firms will be paid even if they fail to deliver energy to households.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the PAC, described the contracts as a “licence for the private sector to print money at the expense of hard-pressed consumers”. The warning on energy price hikes comes as temperatures across the UK are set to plummet in the coming days.

The Met Office has issued warnings of ice and severe cold weather, with snowfall predicted across central, northern and south-east England as well as parts of Wales and Scotland.

Continue reading.

Behind France's Botched Hostage Rescue in Somalia

Weasel Zippers reports, "The Mayhem In Mogadishu Behind the Failed French Somalia Rescue."

'Les Miserables' Wins Three Golden Globes

The Los Angeles Times has lots of coverage: "Live updates: Jodie Foster talks it up; 'Les Miserables' wins big at Golden Globes."

Also, "Golden Globes: Can they bode some Oscar upsets?" Well, no doubt, or at least some upset Oscar hopefuls. Certainly if I were Kathryn Bigelow et at., I wouldn't be heading over to the Academy Awards with my hopes up or anything. Jessica Chastain won for Best Actress, but that's it for "Zero Dark Thirty." See, "Golden Globe Awards 2013: The complete list of winners and nominees."

BONUS: At the Astute Bloggers, "GUARANTEED NOT HALAL: ZERO DARK THIRTY'S JESSICA CHASTAIN."

Can We Just Not Get All Sentimental About Aaron Swartz, to the Effect of Martyring the Dude, or Anything Like That?

Look, I'm a big fan of John Donne, "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind...", and so forth. But all day yesterday you couldn't click on Memeorandum without somebody else weighing in on how angelic this Aaron Swartz was. I mean, sheesh. It's a wonder the dude was ever indicted in the first place. And it wasn't just folks on the left. I posted on Althouse's response to the news, which needed at least two blog entries. She's a law professor and law professors are interested in the law, so the legal facts around the case are compelling. And of course if the feds were playing especially hard against Swartz --- which seems to be the consensus, perhaps to make an example out of the guy, I'd say --- then we all have an interest in the liberty implications of his death. Be that as it may, I think the bipartisan outpouring for the, er, defendant, has more to do with the ignorance of this hacker's ideological program than the causes for which he stood. He wasn't libertarian. He was a social justice radical and his family's obituary goes to lengths to point it out. I tweeted earlier today to mock the Los Angeles Times, which had the most clueless heading with links to Swartz's obituary, and Daniel Greenfield responded back with the money tweet:

@ampowerblog and a Chomskyite anti-American terrorist lover
— Daniel Greenfield(@Sultanknish) January 13, 2013

I'm not happy the man is dead, but when you see people like the radical Henry Farrell going gaga over him, as if he's a freakin' martyred saint, then you know there's some larger collectivist significance going on. Seriously. Say a prayer for the dude but save the Beatitudes for someone who's indeed worthy. This guy was being charged with felony counts and was looking at doing significant time.

FYIY, Patterico has more on the legal aspects of the case, and it's not to say that these are unimportant, "EXCLUSIVE: Attorney for Aaron Swartz: Prosecutors’ Arguments Were “Disingenuous and Contrived”."

And I'll update if I find more information on this man's radical past, which apparently was pretty substantial.

UPDATE: This just in from the New York Times, "Aaron Swartz, a Data Crusader and Now, a Cause." Whatever. People glorify the broken idealist, fighting the injustices of governmental or corporate power, or some kinda power, like the power of MIT's journal storage website, which no doubt was causing the impoverishment of the entire developing world, or something else even more nefarious as that. What else could it be? I'm in awe of the lost promise of this gone-too-young tech-cultural genius.

Gun Owners Against Illegal Mayors!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

For weeks my inbox has been flooded with the most disgusting child massacre exploitation spam ever, from this perverted left-wing group called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns." I even checked out the YouTube page, labeled "Demand a Plan," which features child exploitation videos exhorting law abiding Americans to support this corrupt leftist agenda to keep guns out of the schools, blah, blah.

Well people are pushing back. It turns out there's a new website exposing the roster of corrupt, criminal mayors shilling for the radical left's gun-grab agenda. Check out the rap sheets, including that of epic black urban boss thug Kwame Kilpatrick. Via Anne Sorock, at Legal Insurrection, "Mayors against Illegal Guns swindle with latest infographic."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

More at Jill Stanek's, "Stanek Sunday funnies 1-13-13." And at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Gore-y Details."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Left-Wing Journalists Shocked --- Shocked! --- at Drudge Report's Hitler/Stalin/Dear Leader Barack Hussein Juxtaposition

At the Washington Examiner, "Journalists react in shock to Drudge Report header featuring Hitler and Stalin."

Look, totalitarians seize the citizenry's means of self-defense. Obama deserves the comparison. These people are his freakin' personality cult.

Snakes on a Plane!

Really.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Did Someone Say Snakes?"

Also at Sydney's Herald Sun, "Seriously, snakes on a plane."

I imagine they'd say, "Crikey!"

Overweight Woman Falls Into Upper East Side Sidewalk

At London's Daily Mail, "Sidewalk COLLAPSES beneath overweight woman as she runs from the rain in New York City."

And on Twitter:

I think Bloomberg should be nanny-stating some infrastructure development: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2… #NewYork #UpperEastSide #Manhattan
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 13, 2013

And here.

UPDATE: Hey, she says her weight saved her, at London's Daily Mail, "Being overweight SAVED my life: 400lb woman who fell through NYC sidewalk claims the fall would have killed a thinner person."

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."