Obama Schedules White House Meeting with Muslim Brotherhood Officials

Barack Hussein wants to keep those murderers in power in Egypt, and a Turkish delegation is overseeing the meeting.

(Head hits desk.)

At Atlas Shrugs, "OBAMA REPORTEDLY TO MEET WITH MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OFFICIALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE."



PHOTO CREDIT: Gateway Pundit.

Californians Confused and Angry at Amber Alert on Cellphones

I give my iPhone to my youngest boy to use (pretty much all the time now), because he "can't find his charger" to his iPod. So last night he was in the back room watching TV for awhile and he comes out and says, "You got a couple of amber alerts." I'm like "WFT," thinking my son signed me up for some funky new apps or something. But turns out the state sent out its first amber alert by mobile devices yesterday, and a lot of folks aren't pleased.

See LAT, "Amber Alert: Californians confused, angry and startled":

Residents across California were startled overnight by cellphones that came to life in screeches and buzzes, awaking some and unsettling others with the state's first Amber Alert via text message.

Californians are no strangers to Amber Alerts, which are issued for critical child abductions. But for the first time Monday night, residents across the Southland experienced an Amber Alert issued via text message to their cellphones -- and got the full complement of a 10-second spurt of high-pitched noise and buzzing.

The message -- which included only basic details about a blue Nissan -- sent many customers into a tizzy of confusion, even anger. The text did not explain the circumstances.

Amber Alert Q&A: Why it happens, how to turn it off

The Amber Alert was issued after James Lee DiMaggio, suspected of killing Christina Anderson, 44, of Lakeside, allegedly kidnapped one or both of her children: Hannah Anderson, 16, and Ethan Anderson, 8.
Most newer phones are automatically set up to receive the alerts -- which look like text messages but are free -- meaning customers must contact their cell service provider to opt out of the program. Otherwise, customers will receive alerts tailored to geographic regions.

Well, this is the first I've heard of it. Don't know if I'll opt out, but if they become really frequent, probably yes. I'll get the same alerts on TV within a few minutes.

More at KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Amber Alerts on cellphones: A closer look."

The Truth About Benghazi

Erin Burnett's one-hour investigation starts now.

I'll have some thoughts on this later...

Wow, Even the Leftist Daily Beast Gets It: 'Nidal Hasan's Murders Termed 'Workplace Violence' by U.S.'

The White House obviously cares more about a mass-murderer who screamed "Allahu Akbar" before opening fire than it does for the victims who were gunned down.

It's no wonder why this president and his sick PC shock troops are so widely reviled.

Here's the Daily Beast:

Fort Hood victims suffering continues as government labels the murder of 13 soldiers "workplace violence" http://t.co/NNwE900dde

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 7, 2013

The Old 'MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour' to be Replaced with New Politically-Correct 'Ifill/Woodruff NewsHour'

From Brian Stelter, at the New York Times, "Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff to Co-Anchor ‘NewsHour’" via (Memeorandum):

The PBS “NewsHour,” which was co-anchored for decades by the two men who created it, will soon be co-anchored by two women.

PBS announced on Tuesday that Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff would take over the nightly newscast in September, putting an end to the rotating anchor format that has been in effect for several years. Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff will also share the managing-editor responsibilities for the program.

The appointments are another milestone for women on television and in journalism, seven years after Katie Couric became the first female solo anchor of a network nightly newscast. PBS noted in a news release that “this will mark the first time a network broadcast has had a female co-anchor team.”

The co-anchor arrangement harks back to the 1970s, when Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil founded the nightly newscast that was later named “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” The two men jointly presented the program until 1995, when Mr. MacNeil retired. Mr. Lehrer continued to anchor it until 2011, when he retired. Their company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, remains in charge of “NewsHour,” and they were involved in the discussions that culminated in Tuesday’s announcement.

“If Gwen and I can be the team that Jim and Robin were, we will consider that a success,” Ms. Woodruff said in a telephone interview.

Asked what advice the two former anchors had given them, Ms. Ifill said in a separate interview, “They told us to stick close together and to stay friends.”

Ms. Woodruff and Ms. Ifill already are close, having crossed paths in Washington, where they both live, countless times, and having “appeared on endless panels together discussing women in journalism,” as Ms. Ifill put it.

Ms. Ifill, who is black, said that she and Ms. Woodruff were mindful of the broader significance of their appointment.“When I was a little girl watching programs like this — because that’s the kind of nerdy family we were — I would look up and not see anyone who looked like me in any way. No women. No people of color,” she said.

“I’m very keen about the fact that a little girl now, watching the news, when they see me and Judy sitting side by side, it will occur to them that that’s perfectly normal — that it won’t seem like any big breakthrough at all,” she added.

That is so much bull. In fact, Woodruff herself is a pathbreaking woman journalist, who anchored CNN's "Inside Politics" for 12 years starting in 1993; and through much of that time she worked with longstanding and highly-regarded CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, who is black.

The appointment of Ifill and Woodruff to co-host a nightly newscast is boring, un-pathbreaking news. They're both widely accomplished journalists (according to the standards of the profession, which I note because Ifill's a partisan hack IMHO), and obviously PBS went with the politically correct "two-women" route to staunch the bleeding from its viewership among the effete highly educated NPR demographic. It'll be a miracle if the show lasts half as long as Woodruff's did with "Inside Politics." Indeed, we're likely to see changes within 2-3 years at least. The program's been struggling for some time. I wish them well, frankly. I think the more diversity in the media marketplace the better, especially given the BuzzFeed-ization of political journalism.

Meaningless Criminal Charges Filed in Benghazi Attack Investigation

At the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Files Sealed Charges in Benghazi Attack: Move Marks First American Response to Assault That Killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya" (via Memeorandum).

Read it all at the link.

The piece has an update and correction that reads, "The U.S. filed sealed charges against a number of individuals related to last year's attack on U.S. diplomatic posts in Benghazi, Libya. A headline on an earlier version of this article incorrectly said the U.S. filed sealed indictments."

So, the "charges" aren't really an "indictment," which means that no one's going to trial. Indeed, CNN reports that it's not clear if the administration plans to detain anyone, "It couldn't be learned when the United States plans to announce the charges or whether there is any intention to try to detain [Ahmed Abu] Khattala or the others."

This means nothing. The administration has never been serious about "bringing the terrorists to justice." Indeed, Obama's drone policy was driven by the need to actually avoid capturing militants, which would be a little inconvenient considering the Democrats bullshit hypocrisy on Guantanamo, trials in civilian courts and all the other leftist clusterf-k claims.

These people are basically traitors. It's sickening.

Fabulous at 50! Smokin' Helen Hunt Shows Off Her Hot Bathing Suit Body!

Well, I sure miss on her television.

At London's Daily Mail, "Helen Hunt shows off her sensational swimsuit body as she hits the beach for new movie."

And here's the background on the movie she's filming, at E! Online, "Helen Hunt to Direct, Write and Star in Family Drama Ride."

Democrat Targeting of Tea Party Groups is Part of the Left's Long-Time Assault on the First Amendment

From Bradley Smith, at the Wall Street Journal, "The IRS Attack on Political Speech":

The Internal Revenue Service's scandalous targeting of tea party and conservative groups refuses to die, as one by one the administration's explanations prove untrue.

We were told that the White House, like the rest of the country, learned about the program on May 10 through a planted question asked of then IRS official Lois Lerner at an American Bar Association conference. Turns out the White House knew earlier. We were told the targeting was the work of a few rogue IRS employees in Cincinnati. Then those employees insisted that they were being managed from Washington.

We were told that no political appointees were involved, but now we know the scandal goes at least to the office of Obama appointee and IRS Chief Counsel William Wilkins. We were told that liberal groups were targeted, too. But then the IRS's inspector general, whose report exposed the harassment, clarified that only conservative groups were targeted.

Now the administration line is that the scandal is nonetheless "phony." That assertion is part of a Democratic counteroffensive contending that the tea party and conservative groups applying for "charitable" tax status never should have sought such IRS approval.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, argued on "Meet the Press" on May 19 that conservative groups were, "under the guise of a charity, [using] undisclosed millions of dollars to do political campaigns." At a May hearing, Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) claimed that the groups were supposed to spend their money on "charitable activities," and demanded of the IRS, "How could you all in the IRS allow the tax breaks funded basically by the taxpayer [to be spent] on these political campaign expenditures?"

Liberal columnist Jeffrey Toobin has also taken up the theme that the groups were seeking improper tax advantages. Writing in the May 14 issue of the New Yorker, Mr. Toobin argued that if approved by the IRS, the tea party groups would not pay taxes on contributions received. "In return for the tax advantage," he wrote, these groups "must refrain from traditional partisan political activity, like endorsing candidates."

This attack is wrong on the law, and cynical as politics. As these IRS apologists well know, liberal groups, such as Moveon.org, have long had the same tax status as that requested by the tea party and conservative groups—and that status is not of a "charity."

Charities fall under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, and they include the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, churches, private colleges and even overtly agenda-oriented organizations such as the NAACP and the Sierra Club Foundation. Contributions are tax deductible to the donor, and for that reason the organizations are prohibited from engaging in political activities.

Yet conservative groups targeted by the IRS did not seek tax status as charities. They were applying for designation as nonprofits operating under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, for "the promotion of social welfare." Contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax deductible, so there is no "tax break" for their donors. Nor do the groups themselves get a "tax advantage." Mr. Toobin argues that these groups should be reclassified under Section 527 of the tax code. More on that below, but 527 organizations also pay nothing in taxes. So there is no "tax advantage" to operating as a 501(c)(4).

So why was the IRS involved at all, and why does it matter? The answer is that the IRS scandal is part of a long-term assault on First Amendment rights. Thanks to "campaign finance reform," citizen groups must navigate a maze of government paperwork and apply to the IRS for a tax license to speak on politics. People literally need a lawyer to figure it out, and not just any lawyer, but one from the highly compensated and mostly Washington, D.C.-based bar practicing "political law."

Continue reading.

Smith's a former chairman of the FEC. He knows whereof he speaks. Frankly, this is the most lucid discussion of the "Section 500" tax categories I've read. Especially good is how he calls bull on all the fat-ass leftists defending the administration's authoritarianism. But this stuff has to come out in a political campaign to really pick up traction. The facts of Barack Obama's authoritarianism and corruption should be the centerpiece of a renewed conservative drive for Congress and the presidency. The scandals along with ObamaCare should be a perfect storm of disaster for Democrats seeking election. But the disgusting JournoList media bolsters the epic fail party in power, so it's a hard road ahead, either way.

So, I continue to stand in dissent and rebellion against the leftists destroying our once great country. But I'm still optimistic that the forces of good and decency can pull us back from the brink, and drive the Democrat-Socialists into long-term oblivion. God willing.

Escaped Python Kills Two Boys, 5 and 7, at New Brunswick Sleepover

I can't fathom the grief.

At London's Daily Mail, "First pictures of brothers, age 5 and 7, who were crushed in their sleep by 16-foot python that slithered into their room through a vent."

And an interesting post at Treehugger, "15-feet long African rock python escapes from pet store, kills two boys (age 5 and 7)."

Almost 30 Minutes with Kennedy!

Well, it's Kennedy and this Andy Schuon, but still.

At Reason, "Kennedy and Producer Andy Schuon on the Golden Age of MTV."

No Slutbags!

Another riot!

At the New York Post, "No Slutbags! Bogus 'interns wanted' flyers for Anthony Weiner popping up."

From Theo's

Nice.

"Bedtime Totty..."

Amazon's Jeff Bezos Buys the Washington Post

Fascinating.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Bezos Buys Washington Post for $250 Million: Amazon Chief's Deal Doesn't Involve Online Retailer but Shows Media Power Shift":

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.06% Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is buying the Washington Post WPO +1.56% for $250 million in an out-of-the-blue deal that captures the newspaper industry's economic decline and the shift of power from old media to Silicon Valley.

The sale puts one of the most famous newspapers in the U.S.—the publication credited with breaking the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation almost 40 years ago—in the hands of a Web businessman who rose to prominence only in the past 20 years.

It comes as many newspapers are struggling to survive. Print newspaper ad revenues fell 55% between 2007 and 2012, according to the Newspaper Association of America, as advertisers and readers have defected to the Web. Some newspapers have been forced to slash costs and in some cases file for bankruptcy. Just three days ago the New York Times Co. NYT -0.42% sold the Boston Globe for $70 million, having paid $1.1 billion for it in 1993.

The Internet is "transforming almost every element of the news business," Mr. Bezos said in a letter to Washington Post employees. "There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment," Mr. Bezos wrote.

He added that he won't be involved in the day-to-day management of the newspaper.

In an interview Monday, Washington Post Co. Chairman Don E. Graham praised Mr. Bezos's track record as a well-connected industry innovator with the patience to make difficult businesses profitable, but he acknowledged challenges.

"Jeff is a business person, not a magician. He is going to have to work as hard as everyone else to figure out the problem of news. But he brings a lot," Mr. Graham said.

Early this year, Mr. Graham brought in investment bank Allen & Co. to begin looking for someone to buy the Washington Post. The decision to sell had come after months of reflection among the company's board members, said one person familiar with the situation. Mr. Graham "couldn't see how to grow [the paper] and began to wonder if there was a better owner," the person said.

Mr. Graham spoke with many prospects directly, drawing on his extensive network in Silicon Valley. Mr. Graham, who has been an adviser to Facebook Inc. FB +2.99% chief Mark Zuckerberg, has spent years building relationships with technology titans, including Mr. Bezos, who had helped him make important hires such as Amazon veteran Vijay Ravindran, the head of WaPo Labs.

Several months ago, Mr. Graham's bankers reached out to Mr. Bezos, said a person with direct knowledge of the deal. Initially, Mr. Bezos held back, citing a lack of time to properly deal with a transaction. Then, in July, Mr. Bezos wrote an email to Mr. Graham saying, "If you're interested, I am," said another person familiar with the situation.

Mr. Bezos, who launched Amazon in 1995, is worth about $26 billion, courtesy of his stake in the e-commerce giant. As part of a planned stock sale, Mr. Bezos took in $185 million this month, representing less than 1% of his holdings. Forbes ranked him as the 19th most-wealthy man in the world, just ahead of Google Inc.'s Larry Page.

Mr. Bezos wasn't available for an interview.

Not available for a statement to WSJ, although here's his full letter at WaPo, "Jeff Bezos on Post purchase." (Via Memeorandum.)

And see, "Washington Post sale: Details of Bezos deal."

Now, if Bezos would just buy the Los Angeles Times I'd be set.

Al-Quds Day Rally, New York: 'Free Palestine — From River to the Sea...'

My god, the place was swarming with terrorists.

At Atlas Shrugs, "FORMER HAMAS-CAIR OFFICIAL SPEWS VICIOUS ANTISEMITISM AT 'AL QUDS DAY': ISLAMIC JEW-HATRED UNBOUND."

And at Silent Majority No More, "'Al Quds' Day – JEW HATRED & FASCIST LIES UNCHALLENGED in NYC."

Fascists, yes.

Sponsored by the Stalinist International Action Center Communists.

And their program? Push the Jews to the sea. They aggressively announce it every day. They want to eliminate the Jews from Israel, and once the Caliphate is restored they'll seek to spread Islamic rule across the rest of the world.

Always resist these people, the true representatives of leftism and Islam.

Sydney Leathers, Obama Democrat and Weiner Mistress, Shoots Porn Film for Hardcore Vivid Entertainment

Boy, that didn't take very long.

And, well, she says Weiner didn't take very long to, eh, you know what, so I guess it's fitting.

At London's Daily Mail, "Just when he thought it couldn't get any more humiliating. . . Anthony Weiner' sexting partner brings out her own X-rated movie":

Anthony Weiner's sexting partner has stripped down for the public as she filmed a video for a major porn distributor.

Sydney Leathers poses provocatively in a five-minute clip of the video, and talks about her virtual relationship with the disgraced congressman.

'He would always compliment me on my breasts and my butt and my feet, and he would always tell me I was the perfect height to wear heels,' the 23-year-old said.

Also at TMZ, "WEINER'S SEXTING PARTNER STRIPS NAKED -- In Hardcore Porn [PHOTOS]."

Hey, Democrats creating jobs!

Wonders never cease!

Added: The Other McCain links, "Will Sydney Leathers Porn Video Be Entitled, ‘Not Enough Latex on Earth’?" Thanks!

RNC Threatens Boycott of Network Debates Over Hillary Clinton Documentaries

At the Hill, "RNC warns networks: Drop Clinton movies or lose 2016 GOP debates" (at Memeorandum):

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus threatened to pull the group’s partnership with NBC and CNN for 2016 GOP presidential primary debates if the networks moved ahead with plans to air films on Hillary Clinton.

Rush calls the documentaries "four-hour mini-series commercials." And he says the GOP has "nothing to gain" by participating in the debates, which are solely designed to make the Republican candidate look bad.

Lady Gaga and Madonna Facing Punishment in Russia

Putin leads the world's biggest rogue regime.



More at Memeorandum.

Shakedown Scofflaw Tawana Brawley Finally Starts Paying Man She Falsely Accused of Rape in 1987

I saw this story the other day, but it's picking up traction.

Here's the background at the Washington Times, "Tawana Brawley found after decades, served court order for defamation case," and "Tawana Brawley, who faked rape, begins defamation payments 25 years later."

The New York Post tracked her down, and reported back in December, "25 years after her rape claims sparked a firestorm, Tawana Brawley avoids the spotlight."



And from yesterday's Post, "Pay-up time for Brawley: '87 rape-hoaxer finally shells out for slanderJust $431,000 to go."

And I guess there's no word from Al Sharpton, at Da Tech Guy's, "Al Sharpton useful to the Radical Left. Tawana Brawley not so much."

Also, from Gregory Kane, "COMMENTARY: It’s Time for Reverend Al Sharpton to Step Up Again For Tawana Brawley."

Headline Change on the DREAMers' Self-Deport Clusterf-k

Remember this, "Illegal Aliens Self-Deport in Latest 'Poor Me' Open Borders Shakedown Scam"?

Well, the whole scam's not turning out too well for the idiot DREAMers, who probably won't be allowed back in the county. The best part is how this puts Obama in a jam. The open borders shills aren't pleased by the sideshow either.

Thus, my headline change, at Twitter.

Bwahahah!!

Stupid Demonstration at Arizona Border Makes Fools of Supporters of #Immigration Overhaul. @MichelleMalkin http://t.co/9QBAZWIW0l

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 5, 2013

Melissa Debling for Zoo Today

Lovely.

All my brand new pics from last weeks @ZOO shoot is now online http://t.co/FndJXOKNCS pic.twitter.com/IyCwD7B9tF

— Melissa Debling (@MelissaD89) August 1, 2013

Dick Morris Explains Congress's #ObamaCare Exemption

He's so happy-go-lucky about it, and thus makes the Democrat #ObamaCare ghouls look that much more cartoonish.

You can't make up a more epic storyline for the monumentally corrupt political class.



And don't miss Patterico's smackdown of the utterly bankrupt Obama ghouls, "Utterly Corrupt Obama Rewriting ObamaCare Unilaterally (Again)." (At Memeorandum.)

VIDEO HAT TIP: John Hawkins.

Politico Changes Embarrassing Headline on OFA No-Shows — Hilarity Ensues

At Twitchy, "Lapdogs leashed? Politico runs cover for incredibly shrinking Obama cult, changes headline."

And earlier, "Schadenfreudelicious! More OFA Va. fail: Massive crowds in the ones attend Obama parties [pics]."

Hilarious!

“Sue Langley, faithful and dedicated @OFA volunteer starting off with introductions @OFA_VA pic.twitter.com/V4PLtE6GaL”

— OFA VA (@OFA_VA) August 4, 2013

#SadTrombone day for @OFA_Va http://t.co/HfqkLEzkjr Only one shows up? I've seen bigger crowds watch the grass grow!

— Sean O (@Sean_for_3) August 5, 2013

RT @whpresscorps: RT @BuzzFeedAndrew: Literally 1 person showed up to OFA's ObamaCare event in Virginia Sunday http://t.co/ceeBdq58wI

— HarrisFaulkner (@HARRISFAULKNER) August 5, 2013

Bet no one gets fired over this headline change RT @lachlan: Interesting headline change. http://t.co/QuloG9nhlz http://t.co/Gt865IZiQP

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) August 5, 2013

Man, this is getting too funny. The Dems are epic lulz!

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, Decries Twitter Trolls and 'Wind-Up Merchants'

Here's the piece, "Stella Creasy MP: We can't leave Twitter to the trolls and wind-up merchants."

Louise Mensch is not pleased with the "wind-up merchants" bit:

Stella Creasy @stellacreasy MP,am a big fan, but worthless partisan Telegraph article, comparing @toadmeister and @DPJHodges to Katy Hopkins

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 5, 2013

That is really disappointing and kind of shameful. And a shabby attempt to shut down debate. Hodges and Toby Young both major figures

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 5, 2013

Toby Young runs a successful Free School and spearheaded the movement; Dan Hodges one of UK's foremost activists & bloggers @stellacreasy

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 5, 2013

To compare either to Katie Hopkins is so monumentally beneath you it renders your entire argument worthless. @stellacreasy

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 5, 2013

Katie Hopkins is just a mini shock-jock like Samantha Brick. To compare Young and Hodges to her = comparing Gove to her. Moronic

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 5, 2013

And here's this at the Guardian UK, "Katie Hopkins: queen of conflict."

Another leftist trying to "shut down debate." I'm shocked. Shocked!

China to Ditch One-Child Policy

It won't make much of a difference.

Human life is so degraded in China families will continue to practice infanticide. It's the result of a culture of collectivism and deprivation. And of leftism.

At Telegraph UK, "China to ditch its one-child policy as ageing crisis looms":

China's new leaders are close to abandoning the country's one-child policy, belatedly moving to avert an ageing crunch as the work force goes into sharp decline.

The official news agency Xinhua reported that the Family Planning Commission is studying proposals to lift the ban on a second child, if either parent is an only child. The body's spokesman said aim is to "improve" family policy, confirming leaks to Chinese newspapers that a major shift is in the works. The new rules are expected to come into force early next year, and may be extended to cover all families by 2015.

Jun Ma from Deutsche Bank said the new policies should shore up the pension system and inject stimulus as China's growth sputters. "As tens of millions of sibling-less people in China are now entering their child-bearing age, we expect this policy shift would induce a baby boom," he said.

The one-child policy dates back to 1971 in its original form and has led to 336m abortions and 222m sterilisations, often badly executed in poor regions. Recent abuses have caused uproar, with photos circulating on the internet of a young mother lying beside a fully formed baby after she had been seized by police for failing to pay the "social compensation fee" for an illegal child. She was forced to undergo an abortion just before her natural birth.

Premier Li Keqiang clearly views the policy an anachronism at a time when China is running out of workers, and faces a demographic time-bomb. There are currently five workers for every pensioner. This ratio will fall to two by 2035.

The policy has always been a patchwork of measures. Ethnic minorities are exempted. Farmers are allowed a second child if the first is a girl. The urban middle class can usually pay the fine, barely enforced in Shanghai where fertility rates are collapsing for other reasons. The shift in policy may come too late to avert an ageing shock. The workforce shrank by 3m last year, an inflection point that has come sooner than expected.

RTWT.

Leftists love all those abortions --- the more the merrier!

Congress's #ObamaCare Exemption

A great leader at the Wall Street Journal, "The President intervenes to give Members and staff a break":

To adapt H.L. Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the cynicism and self-dealing of the American political class. Witness their ad-libbed decision, at the 11th hour and on the basis of no legal authority, to create a special exemption for themselves from the ObamaCare health coverage that everybody else is mandated to buy.

The Affordable Care Act requires Members of Congress and their staffs to participate in its insurance exchanges, in order to gain first-hand experience with what they're about to impose on their constituents. Harry Truman enrolled as the first Medicare beneficiary in 1965, and why shouldn't the Members live under the same laws they pass for the rest of the country?

That was the idea when Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley proposed the original good-enough-for-thee, good-enough-for-me amendment in 2009, and the Finance Committee unanimously adopted his rule. Declared Chairman Max Baucus, "I'm very gratified that you have so much confidence in our program that you're going to be able to purchase the new program yourself and I'm confident too that the system will work very well."

Harry Reid revised the Grassley amendment when he rammed through his infamous ObamaCare bill that no one had read for a vote on Christmas eve. But he neglected to include language about what would happen to the premium contributions that the government makes for its employees. Whether it was intentional or not, the fairest reading of the statute as written is that if Democrats thought somebody earning $174,000 didn't deserve an exchange subsidy, then this person doesn't get a subsidy merely because he happens to work in Congress.

But the statute means that about 11,000 Members and Congressional staff will lose the generous coverage they now have as part of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Instead they will get the lower-quality, low-choice "Medicaid Plus" of the exchanges. The Members—annual salary: $174,000—and their better paid aides also wouldn't qualify for ObamaCare subsidies. That means they could be exposed to thousands of dollars a year in out-of-pocket insurance costs.

The result was a full wig out on Capitol Hill, with Members of both parties fretting about "brain drain" as staff face higher health-care costs. Democrats in particular begged the White House for help, claiming the Reid language was merely an unintentional mistake. President Obama told Democrats in a closed-door meeting last week that he would personally moonlight as HR manager and resolve the issue.

And now the White House is suspending the law to create a double standard. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that runs federal benefits will release regulatory details this week, but leaks to the press suggest that Congress will receive extra payments based on the FEHBP defined-contribution formula, which covers about 75% of the cost of the average insurance plan. For 2013, that's about $4,900 for individuals and $10,000 for families.

How OPM will pull this off is worth watching. Is OPM simply going to cut checks, akin to "cashing out" fringe benefits and increasing wages? Or will OPM cover 75% of the cost of the ObamaCare plan the worker chooses—which could well be costlier than what the feds now contribute via current FEHBP plans? In any case the carve-out for Congress creates a two-tier exchange system, one for the great unwashed and another for the politically connected.

It's just terrible legislation, passed with the greatest of socialist intentions, and exempting the very people who "know" what's good for everyone else.

We need repeal. But we also need for Democrats to eat ObamaCare in 2014 --- ram it back down their throats, and they can choke on that crap-burger.

More at the link.

Yale Sex Week

This is not only interesting but the author, Kate Maltby, is hilarious.

At Telegraph UK, "What I learned at Yale Sex Week: porn never goes away when it's banned, Dave."

#TwitterSilence

A new protest campaign emerged after Britain's Caroline Criado-Perez was bombarded with violent threats on Twitter.

Twitchy reports, "Online threats inspire new Twitter rules, #TwitterSilence campaign."

Louise Mensch strikes the right tone, I'd say, arguing that less silence, especially less silence in identifying the harassment trolls, is the way to go.

#Twittersilence seems wrong to me; ignores major, positive steps taken by @Twitter just a day ago. Won't be joining.

— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 4, 2013

And at the Washington Post, "Twitter apologizes to women abused online."

'So Friedrich Engels was gay...'

That's Meade's response to see this headline, at Althouse, "'How Friedrich Engels’ Radical Lover Helped Him Father Socialism'."

Well, it makes sense. "Radical lover" sounds so homosexual.

Click though for the full story.

Sabine Jemeljanova for Loaded Magazine August 2013

I've been lazy about posting my weekend Rule 5 roundups --- and I don't know when I'll be out of the funk. Stay tuned.

That said, everyone loves a pretty girl, as the Other McCain likes to say.

So here's Sabine Jemeljanova, via Egotastic!, "Sabine Jemeljanova Desperately Hot and Fully Loaded."

Also at the source.

PREVIOUSLY: "Sabine Jemeljanova at Egotastic!"

More later...

Rachel Reinhard Dislocates Elbow During Women's Skateboard Street Final — X Games Los Angeles

ESPN showed a different angle during the contest. A horrible fall. Her arm just crumpled beneath the full weight of her body. Gruesome.

This made me think of how the sport's norm is for no safety gear in the street contests. The vert skaters wear full gear, although I'd argue that safety gear's just as important for the street skaters, especially helmets.



More at ESPN.

'Most Serious Terror Threat in Years' Forces Closure of U.S. Embassies, Consulates

The Chicago Tribune reports, "Terror threat that closed embassies called most serious in years."

And Mandy Nagy has the hammering headline, at Legal Insurrection, "“Decimated” al-Qaeda causes U.S. to shut embassies and go on high alert."



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

'Bodies Were Flying in the Air' — Horror at Venice Beach

It's an awesome boardwalk. You'd be just chillin', never expecting any problems.

The suspect was intent on killing. Witnesses are interviewed at the clip.



And a LAT, "Venice boardwalk crash: Man, 38, arrested on suspicion of murder," and "Venice boardwalk: Witnesses describe chaotic scene of hit-and-run."

Video here, "Venice Beach murderer getting into his car and plowing though innocent people." And moments after the hit-and-run, "Venice Boardwalk Tragedy."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Randy's Rountable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Colin Powell Denies 'Salacious' Affair After Hacked Emails Go Public

This is just wow.

At the New York Post, "Salacious e-mail exchanges between Colin Powell and Romanian official Corina Cretu."

And at London's Daily Mail, "'You were my greatest love of my life': Deeply personal emails sent between Colin Powell and a blonde Romanian diplomat revealed by hacker but he DENIES having an affair."

Look, the guy drank the Obama Kool-Aid and went all RINO. This is no surprise considering the Democrats' salacious summer of scandal.

Meghan Rutledge Epic Premature Fist-Pump in Women's Moto-X Final — X Games Los Angeles

Astounding.

I clicked over to ESPN just in time to see this woman go up over the big jump, pump her fist, and then crash like Lindsey Jacobellis in the women's snowboardcross at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Twitter was lighting up with lulz (and some sympathy), and I sent Rutledge the Jacobellis video for a homework assignment.

Bucky Lasek Wins Gold Medal in Skateboarding Vert — X Games Los Angeles

This guy's cool.

He won bronze in 2011 when I attended with my boyz

At LAT, "Bucky Lasek wins vert gold medal at X Games."

Also, "At 40, skateboarding vert pioneer Bucky Lasek still gets ramped up":

Bucky Lasek stands atop the vert ramp hunched forward, right hand on his skateboard.

Above his tidy brown chin strip and mustache, deep lines crease his cheeks. He watches other boarders drop in at practice Wednesday.

Tom Schaar, 13. Mitchie Brusco, 16. Jono Schwan, 16. All young enough to be his kids.

But at 40, Lasek is far from just the old Buck.

He's the best in the sport today and possibly of all time. He proved that again Saturday, winning his fourth straight gold medal at the X Games in Los Angeles.

"When I look at some of my classmates and stuff on Facebook, it's pretty crazy," Lasek said. "I wouldn't expect those guys to be rolling in."

At an age when many men are going through crises, Lasek is at the peak of his career and showing no signs of slowing down. He won in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, this April after a nine-year gold-medal drought in the event, and on Saturday became the first ever to four-peat.

Once a pioneer in the vert event, Lasek is now breaking ground as the oldest to compete, especially as the one to beat.

"This is the best year I've ever had in my life competitively," Lasek said.

It's more than that, said retired professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

"His last few competition appearances were far and above better than anything he's ever done," Hawk said, "and better than anyone has ever ridden on the vert ramp."

That's so cool.

More at the link.

'If the bar ain't bendin', then you're just pretendin'...'

Hugh Jackman's a bad mf.

Via Twitter.

Senator Ted Cruz: 'Our Single Best Chance to Defeat #ObamaCare...'

Leftists are attacking Senator Cruz, obviously out of fear that his campaign against the ObamaCare monstrosity will be successful.

The law is failing and the idiot left has again embarked on one of its epic misadventures in cognitive dissonance.

Democrat Perverts and Sexual Harassers: What War on Women?

A great segment.

Emily Miller pulls no punches on the Democrat criminals and pervs.

And remember, this behavior is not a bug but a feature of disgusting Democrat existentialism.



And ICYMI, "Leftists Freak Out as GOP 'Flips the Script' with Democrats' War on Women."

High-Tech Japanese Toilets Vulnerable to Attack From Android App

Here's a change of pace for you.

And who knew the Japanese were into the bidet thing?

Live and learn, at the Verge, "Japanese toilet users vulnerable to Bluetooth bidet assaults."

And here's the video.

Nyjah Huston Wins at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles

It's just wrapping up on ESPN.

This Nyjah kid is so talented it's ridiculous.



Earlier, "Nyjah Huston Tops Prelims at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles."

Stop Islamic Terror!

I like the raised fist.

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "Yes!"



More, "Winding down," and "Can't argue with that."

Also, "Everybody's got a cause," and "Hezbollah flags the fashion accessory."

Professor Colin McGinn Resigns After Allegations of Sexual Harassment

It's all about gender equality these days, and dolts like this philosopher sure make it easy for the shakedown feminists.

At NYT, "A Star Philosopher Falls, and a Debate Over Sexism Is Set Off":

Ever since Socrates’ wife was painted as a jealous shrew by one of his pupils, women have had it tough in philosophy.

Thinkers from Aristotle to Kant questioned whether women were fully capable of reason. Today, many in the field say, gender bias and outright sexual harassment are endemic in philosophy, where women make up less than 20 percent of university faculty members, lower than in any other humanities field, and account for a tiny fraction of citations in top scholarly journals.

While the status of women in the sciences has received broad national attention, debate about sexism in philosophy has remained mostly within the confines of academia. But the revelation this summer that Colin McGinn, a star philosopher at the University of Miami, had agreed to leave his tenured post after allegations of sexual harassment brought by a graduate student, has put an unusually famous name to the problem, exposing the field to what some see as a healthy dose of sunlight.

“People are thinking, ‘Wow, he had to resign, and we know about it,’ ” said Jennifer Saul, the chairwoman of the philosophy department at the University of Sheffield in England and the editor of the blog What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?

“I think that’s unprecedented,” she added.

Keep reading.

And following the links, here's Feminist Philosophers, "Letter From Concerned Philosophers."

McGinn's reply is here. (Apparently he's been blogging about the whole affair for months.)

And skim over this blog for a bit, What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?

I don't know. I see mostly men being jerks around women. It's stupid. And it should stop. But the feminist mindset is so stultifying it's ridiculous. The tiniest perceived slight is sexism, so it becomes a no-win situation. Men are jerks. Women are looking for anything that can be called "sexism" to feed their victimization psychology. There's no way out, and again, no one wins.

Added: Althouse has a longer meditation on this, "Sexual harassment in academia: It depends what the distinction between 'logical implication and conversational implicature' is."

Obama Keeps 'Phony Scandals' Alive for August 3rd Weekly Address

Not only does he keep recycling his stale "middle class recovery" garbage, he's completely disconnected from the real news on the ground, like the bombshell CNN report on the dozens of CIA operatives in Benghazi last September 11. If leftist regressives tell you the president's doing a good job they deserve to be shot.

Continued Gender Integration Will Only Exacerbate the Problem of Sexual Assault in the Military

From the letters to the editor, at the Wall Street Journal, "West Point: Duty, Honor, Country and Fairness, Too":

The politically incorrect but unassailable truth is that the increased occurrences of sexual assault are the predictable results of a military that increasingly puts teenage and 20-something men and women together in close quarters for long hours under stressful conditions. Throw in intimate familiarity, few financial expenses and the catalyst of alcohol, and there exists a situation similar to any college dormitory.

Unfortunately, the continued gender integration of the military will only exacerbate the problem of sexual assault, not to mention unit morale and overall combat effectiveness. Efforts to combat military sexual assault through periodic power-point "training" and stern lectures by military lawyers will prove impotent against hormones and alcohol.

Daniel Barbeau
Irvine, Calif.

More letters at the link.

The backstory is from James Taranto, "A Strange Sort of Justice at West Point: Trent Cromartie was cleared of sexual-assault charges. But the cadet was kicked out of school anyway."

And again here it is, the consequences of cultural Marxism working its path of destruction "through the institutions."

Homosexual Teacher at Catholic School Fired After Marrying Partner

You think?

I'm not sure why someone like this is still Catholic.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Gay teacher at Glendora Catholic school fired after marrying partner":

A gay teacher at a Catholic high school in Glendora was fired after he married his partner and photos of the wedding were published in a local newspaper last month.

Ken Bencomo, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga was fired from his teaching position at St. Lucy's Priory High School days after he married his partner of 10 years.

He and Christopher Persky, 32, were among the first couples married at the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder's office after a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed gay couples to marry in California.

Photos of the ceremony were published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Officials at St. Lucy's Priory had been aware of Bencomo's sexual orientation for about 10 of the 17 years he was employed by the school, said Patrick McGarrigle, Bencomo's attorney.

School officials specifically mentioned the wedding and the publicity it received during a meeting at which Bencomo was informed that he had been fired, McGarrigle said.

Bencomo, through his attorney, declined to comment.

"Ken was one of the school's star educators and the decision to terminate him because he lawfully married a man is just heartbreaking to him — it's crushing," McGarrigle said. "It shows a terrible error of judgment and complete disregard of Ken and what he has brought to the school."

Shoot, the guy was probably one of the brightest stars on campus, but he went and got married? What a freakin' dolt.

#Dodgers Tie Club Record With 12th Straight Win on the Road

Hey, it makes me happy.

At LAT, "Dodgers keep rolling, tie club record with 12th straight road win":

RECAP: @HyunJinRyu99 fans 6 as #Dodgers win 12th straight on road, 6-2 over Cubs. http://t.co/9WrJfWSq6d pic.twitter.com/hSH5ppClQ3

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2013

Say this for the Dodgers during their current hot streak -- they’ve been versatile.

They squeak out narrow victories, or clobber opponents, or use walk-off heroics. And sometimes, like Friday, they just sort of win.

Their 6-2 victory Friday over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field unfolded without much in the way of dramatics, unless you count the ejections of Manager Don Mattingly and second baseman Mark Ellis in the fourth inning.

But it was another win, which is almost all the Dodgers know these days. It was their 12th consecutive road victory, tying the franchise record set by the Brooklyn Robins in 1924. It gave them an 11-2 mark since the All-Star break and was their 29th win in 36 games overall.

And the Dodgers pulled it off all sorts of ways.

Hyun-Jin Ryu was at less than his best Friday, which seems to be a theme for him on the road, but was good enough to earn the victory and raise his record to 10-3. He became the first Dodgers rookie to win 10 games since Kaz Ishii in 2002.

Ryu went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and 11 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.

But he was supported by enough offense from the Dodgers, and generally disinterested-looking play by a bad Cubs team, to make it hold up, and the Dodgers went to 59-49. It’s the first time this season the Dodgers have been 10 games over .500.

Continue reading.

Brawl Erupts in Taiwan Parliament Over Nuclear Power

Pretty amazing, actually.

We could use some of this passion in D.C., especially among the homo and metrosexual Democrats.

At WSJ, "Brawl in Taiwan Legislature Delays Vote on Nuclear Plant: Nuclear-Energy Safety Concerns Intensify After Japan's 2011 Earthquake."

Jessica Hometown Hottie

It's that time of year again, via Maxim:

Royal Baby's Birth Certificate

Sure, we have economic class stratification in this country, but you'll never see something like this.

Will & Kate list jobs as prince, princess on royal baby's birth certificate http://t.co/AboCNl9PeX pic.twitter.com/AiiN5iFa2s

— New York Post (@nypost) August 2, 2013

'Blurred Lines' Makes Robin Thicke White Soul's Leader

This song was too hot for most everybody when the video was first released.

But NYT's down with it, "Yesterday’s Style, Today’s Hits":

We first met Robin Thicke about a decade ago, zipping through the streets of Manhattan on a bicycle in his debut video, Jesus mane flowing behind him, then doing some sub-“Saturday Night Fever” moves in a freight elevator. The song was “When I Get You Alone,” and it sampled Walter Murphy’s “Fifth of Beethoven,” the 1976 disco-classical fusion, a hybrid of flash and seriousness that Mr. Thicke appeared perfectly comfortable with, even if few others were: wildly out of step with the sound of the time, his single never hit the American charts.

Jump forward to “Blurred Lines,” the song that has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks now, and that has elevated Mr. Thicke from white-soul curio to pop certainty. There he is in the crisp video, chipper and smug, in a beautifully cut suit, frolicking with barely clothed models (in the version where they’re wearing clothes at all, that is). He has the look of a man finally coming into the privilege he was sure was his all along.

But don’t let the video’s modernism fool you: white-soul conservatism is the order of the day, and this hit is just as nostalgic as Mr. Thicke’s first single was, under a much cooler cover. “Blurred Lines” is influenced heavily by Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” and even with the producer Pharrell Williams’s clean, large drums and a sizzling, naughty guest rap by T.I., Mr. Thicke can’t help himself — he loves yesterday way more than today. That’s also clear from the bulk of his new album, also called “Blurred Lines” (Star Trak/Interscope), on which his hit is one of several songs that sound helicoptered in from three or four decades ago. Mr. Thicke may be the sound of now, but he’s only passing for contemporary.

With its full-band soul arrangements that hark back to disco and before, “Blurred Lines” is a loud reminder of the fundamental conservatism of white soul. Nostalgia is a frequent hallmark of white participation in black genres, a way of signaling respect and knowledge without presuming to reshape the art form’s present. It’s a safe space, guaranteeing an audience of nostalgists and that-white-boy-can-sing true-schoolers.

Hey, if it's conservative I can dig.

Plus, those hot nude wenches at the "unrated" version are to die for, mf.

More at the link.

Hungry Bear Goes Dumpster-Diving for Some German Food

This clip has been getting some play.

And see the Washington Post, "Hungry bear nimbly helps himself to leftovers in dumpster behind German restaurant in Colorado."

Leftists Freak Out as GOP 'Flips the Script' with Democrats' War on Women

The introduction to this clip is hilarious in how aggressively Chris Matthews asserts a conservative "war on women" --- which everyone knows only exists in the minds of Democrats. And now that we've got marquee Democrat headlines of disgusting Democrat dehumanization of women, Matthews is twisting in his seat at MSNBC, worrying about how the left's sexist women-groping, dick-exposing entitlement culture is somehow an aberration.

It's not. This is how leftists roll.



It turns out the RNC has been doing double-time getting the word out on all the disgusting Democrats sexism, and folks in D.C. are looking to tamp it down. See WaPo, "GOP finds its own ‘War on Women’."

And far-left extremist Katrina vanden Heuvel is not pleased, "The GOP misunderstands the ‘war on women’."

Nyjah Huston Tops Prelims at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles

At Street League, "STREET LEAGUE AT X GAMES LA: PRELIMS RESULTS."



And at ESPN, "NYJAH HUSTON TOPS STREET LEAGUE PRELIMS."

Obama's Foreign Policy in Shambles

From the inimitable Charles Krauthammer, at this afternoon's Fox News All-Stars.



More at CNN, "U.S. issues global travel alert, to close embassies due to al Qaeda threat," and Pajamas Media, "Dozens of US Embassasies to Close Sunday Due to ‘Credible’ Terror Threat (Update: Worldwide Travel Warning)" (via Memeorandum).

'Can't a guy just go get a haircut without a bunch of femi-queer-Nazis bugging the f*** out of him?'

From my comment at Blazing Cat Fur, "Woman who identifies as queer feminist activist denied haircut at Westdale barbershop."

What Neocon Revival?

Here's a key passage from David Brooks at the New York Time, "The Neocon Revival":

Neocons put values at the center of their governing philosophy, but their social policy was neither morally laissez-faire like the libertarians nor explicitly religious like some social conservatives. Neocons mostly sought policies that would encourage self-discipline. “In almost every area of public concern, we are seeking to induce persons to act virtuously, whether as schoolchildren, applicants for public assistance, would-be lawbreakers, or voters and public officials,” James Q. Wilson wrote.

How would they know if programs induced virtue? Empirically. “Neoconservatives, accordingly, place a lot of stock in applied social science research, especially the sort that evaluates old programs and tests new ones,” Wilson added.

Nobody would call George F. Will a neocon, but, in 1983, he published a superb book called “Statecraft as Soulcraft.” It championed the sort of governing conservatism that was common then and is impermissible now. “It is generally considered obvious that government should not, indeed cannot, legislate morality. But, in fact, it does so, frequently; it should do so more often,” Will wrote.

He was not calling for a theocracy. He was calling for “strong government conservatism,” for a limited but energetic government that could cultivate the best in persons by educating the passions. “American conservatives are caught in the web of their careless antigovernment rhetoric,” he concluded.

Brooks reiterates a key point about neoconservatism: that its essence is a domestic policy movement, despite the rise of the foreign policy Vulcans during the George W. Bush administration.

But what Brooks doesn't do is examine how the so-called neocon support for "strong government" in fact erodes the values of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency that are central to a conservative creed. Also neglected is the notion that some Republicans thought of as neocons, John McCain comes to mind, have become the biggest enablers of dependency-state Democrats in recent years, and have thus tarnished the brand nearly beyond redemption. Indeed, McCain's now saying he'd more likely back Hillary Clinton over Rand Paul in 2016, which raises the question: When will McRINO be switching parties? (See IBD, "Why Does John McCain Keep Running as a Republican?")

The problem for neoconservatism is not to surrender to laissez-faire libertarianism, it's simply to stand up for the very values that it purports to champion. Pushing for a "strong government" conservatism at this point simply empowers Democrat big government. Neocons need to reconnect with the mediating institutions that help families free themselves from government dependency. This doesn't mean becoming a 100 percent small-g conservative. It means standing up for values by reining in out-of-control Democrat-collectivist entitlement statism. Without that, there is no "neocon revival."

RELATED: From Reihan Salam, at National Review, "Searching for Irving Kristol" (via Memeorandum).

Millennial Moochers: A Record 21.6 Million Young Adults Lived at Parents' Home in 2012

The detritus of the Obama economy.

Here's the report at Pew Research, "A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents’ Home: A Record 21.6 Million In 2012."

And at the clip, I'm going to credit Christy Setzer with making some decent points, but there's no doubt the current administration's policies are severely hampering the life chances of younger people. It's pretty sad, too, since these are the same people who were hoodwinked by the despicable Hopenchange lies.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Recommended Reading List

I consider myself widely-read, but I only score with "War and Peace" on this list.

At London's Daily Mail, "The 22 books everyone should read… according to F. Scott Fitzgerald: List of novels he dictated to nurse is revealed."

Sister Carrie: Theodore Dreiser
The Life of Jesus: Ernest Renan
A Doll’s House: Henrik Ibsen
Winesburg, Ohio: Sherwood Anderson
The Old Wives’ Tale: Arnold Bennett
The Maltese Falcon: Dashiel Hammett
The Red and the Black: Stendahl
The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant
An Outline of Abnormal Psychology: edited by Gardner Murphy
The Stories of Anton Chekhov
The Best American Humorous Short Stories
Victory: Joseph Conrad
The Revolt of the Angels: Anatole France
The Plays of Oscar Wilde
Sanctuary: William Faulkner
Within a Budding Grove: Marcel Proust
The Guermantes Way: Marcel Proust
Swann’s Way: Marcel Proust
South Wind: Norman Douglas
The Garden Party: Katherine Mansfield
War and Peace: Leo Tolstoy
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete Poetical Works

I do have Conrad, Dreiser, Faulkner, and Stendhal on my paperback bookshelf, so perhaps I can get back up to speed on my classical reading?

We'll see...

Timeline of 'Horndog' Simon Cowell's Women

This is pretty good, via the New York Post, "'Baby mama' seeking to tame horndog Simon Cowell, making 'X-Factor' judge keep promise to marry her." (Via WeSmirch.)

#TheyFeelPain: New York Times Attacks 'Theory of Pain-Based Abortion Limits'

The New York Times is obviously still smarting from the pro-aborts' debacle in Texas.

See, "Theory on Pain Is Driving Rules for Abortions":

It challenges four decades of constitutional doctrine and is based on disputed scientific theories.

Yet a push to ban abortion at 20 weeks after conception, on the theory that the fetus can feel pain at that point, has emerged as a potent new tactic of the anti-abortion movement. Advocates saw the potential of such a measure because it taps into public concern about late-stage abortions, appears to alter the rules only incrementally, and claims to be rooted in science.

“Any time we talk about developmental landmarks of the unborn child, anything showing that the unborn child is a member of the human family — that gets the public to take a closer look at abortion,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, the state policy director of the National Right to Life Committee, who is widely seen as the architect of 20-week legislation.

The 20-week ban was first adopted in 2010 in Nebraska, where conservatives aimed to rein in one well-known abortion doctor. A pain-based abortion limit has now been enacted in a dozen states, most recently in Texas, and a bill to impose one nationally passed the Republican-controlled House in June. One recent poll, while affirming public support for legal abortion over all, suggested that a majority of people would draw the line at 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights advocates call the pain argument duplicitous and say the laws will be declared unconstitutional, arguing that they are a reflection of Republican gains in state legislatures and not a shift in public opinion. But they have also been forced to mobilize against 20-week bills in state after state, and they credit their opponents with effective marketing.

“These laws are cloaked in the language of two-week increments, rather than banning abortion at conception or other more radical measures,” said Suzanne B. Goldberg, the director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia University. “They are cutting back on women’s constitutional rights, but less dramatically, so they trigger less alarm across society.”

In the three states where the bans have been legally challenged, the courts blocked them. In the standard laid out by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973 and elaborated on in later decisions, women have a right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, around 24 weeks into pregnancy.

But proponents of 20-week bans hope that one of the cases will be accepted by the Supreme Court. Reading into opinions by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the likely swing voter, they are hoping for a legal upheaval.

With these bills, the anti-abortion movement is tapping into a powerful strand in the complex tangle of public opinion on abortion. Support for legal abortion drops when people are asked about the later stages of pregnancy.

In a Gallup poll last December, 61 percent of Americans said abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy, but 27 percent said it should be legal in the second three months, and 14 percent in the final three.

Since then, other pollsters have started asking about a 20-week limit — evidence that opponents of abortion have injected the proposed cutoff into the public discourse, said Michael Dimock, the director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

By any measure, the practical impact of a 20-week ban is small compared with the potential legal and symbolic effects. In all cases but one, in Arizona, the laws ban abortions at the 20th week after fertilization, which is the 22nd week after the last menstrual period, the most common way of describing pregnancy. The estimate of fetal viability at around 24 weeks is also timed from the last menstrual period, so the actual gap between the two approaches is about two weeks, involving several thousand abortions, at most, out of an estimated 1.2 million performed every year.

Only "several thousand abortions" out of over a million each year in the left's genocide of the unborn.

Regressive leftists are evil baby killers. They're despicable people. Just disgusting.

There's still more at that top link, but again notice how the baby killers are "abortion rights activists" while the protectors of the unborn are "anti-abortion," to make it seem as if that's something shameful.

Killing the unborn is the ultimate shame. That's why I can never ever condone the ideology of the left. The have a romance with death. Leftism is an ideology of death and destruction of human decency. I never support these people. Never.

Bill Whittle's Afterburner: 'Sarah Palin was Right'

Funny, I was just talking about this earlier, "ObamaCare's Just for the Little People."

Elliot Sloan Wins Big Air Gold at X-Games Los Angeles 2013

At LAT, "Elliot Sloan wins X Games gold in skateboard big air":

Elliot Sloan moved from New York City to Vista, Calif., 7 1/2 years ago and has been chasing a dream ever since. On Thursday night at Irwindale Speedway he finally achieved it, winning his first X Games gold medal, in the skateboard big air event.

"This is probably a game changer, to have one of these under my belt," Sloan said. "I'm so relieved right now. It's the last one out here, so to end it like this on a high note, it's definitely something I've been looking forward to all year." The X Games are moving from the Los Angeles area to Austin, Texas, next year.

Sloan used a tail grab 720 (two full rotations) and a tail grab 540 to notch a total score of 90.165, edging 13-year-old Tom Schaar and denying Bob Burnquist a golden sweep of all four X Games skateboard big air events in 2013.

Earlier this year, Sloan, 25, took bronze at X Games Barcelona and silver at both Brazil and Munich, falling to Burnquist each time. Before Sloan's winning run, Burnquist fell hard off the quarterpipe, later saying he broke his nose.

"It's the same stuff I've done all year," Sloan said. "Unfortunately, Bob went down on the one run he usually makes, which is crazy. ... It's awesome, but I would have preferred to beat him at his best."

More at the link.

'Complicit in evil...'

From the comments at the Other McCain, "Vile Lie-Peddler @Karoli Kuns and the Posthumous Vindication of Breitbart":

There is a point where "that incredibly stupid" becomes unbelievable and "complicit in evil" becomes the most obvious explanation.

So many leftists have just gone off the deep end and plunged into pure evil, defending murderers and pedophiles.

And yet they continue to influence so many people who are just to lazy to think on their own and we continue to slide into the abyss with monsters like this leading the way...

Karoli's a vile woman, no doubt. But she's not alone. The left is "complicit in evil" all around. That's what the regressive left is all about.

Flashback: Jake Brown's 45-Foot Slam From X-Games 2007

I remember watching this on television at the time. The dude got up and walked away.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Jake Brown's epic fall is not forgotten":

It has been six years, but fans still ask Jake Brown the same questions: "How did it feel? What was going through your head? How are you still alive?"

It's understandable, but how Brown walked away from a 45-foot free fall really isn't.

It has become the main part of his legacy in the skateboarding big air event — not landing the first ollie 720, winning a gold medal after years of trying or skating on two broken ribs in Barcelona earlier this year.

"I haven't really seen too much of that change. It's still the same six years since I did that," Brown said. "Yeah it's always brought up, but I'm just here to skate and try to help us progress. I just want to leave a positive mark on the sport."

On that day in 2007, the Australian landed the first 720 in big air competition over a 55-foot gap before losing control, his body flailing in mid-air before smacking the wood ramp. His shoes flew 50 feet, his head was under his back due to the whiplash and the Staples Center crowd was eerily silent.

Fellow big air gold medalist Bob Burnquist was at the top of the ramp when he thought he saw his friend for the last time.

"I fell on the ground and started crying because I thought he had died," Burnquist said.

Brown's injuries were a fractured wrist, fractured vertebrae, bruised liver, bruised lung, ruptured spleen and concussion. And yet he still got up and walked off.

Two years later, Brown won the gold medal in that same event, when he realized mental preparation underneath the helmet is almost as important as technical prowess above the board.

"I thought I was good right away, but it took me a couple of years to mentally get back to where I wanted to be," Brown said. "Everything is heightened at that level: the danger, the rush, the reward."

More at the top link.

Hilarious Jimmy Kimmel on Anthony #Weiner 'No Quitter' Campaign Ad

I was ROTFL the other night when this was on.

Lauren Silverman Husband Names Simon Cowell in Divorce Papers

Made for the tabloids.

At the Mirror UK, "Simon Cowell could face DNA test and court appearance over fling with friend's wife that left her pregnant," and "The secrets of Simon Cowell's "love boat" cruises with Lauren Silverman and her husband Andrew."

Also, "Simon Cowell jokes 'I haven’t read the newspapers' as he's questioned about baby."

Obamaphone Blowout!

On Hannity's last night.

"Let Me Finish, Then You’ll Be Educated On Something!"



FLASHBACK: "Free Obama Phones."

ObamaCare's Just for the Little People

The special gall here is that the man's slated to be one of the key enforcers of the brutal ObamaCare regime. And he clearly and honestly confesses that for people with coverage already, moving into a new "environment" is going to be badly inferior to what's available to people of his status already.

When the left thinks they know what's good for America, they make sure to exempt themselves from the ramifications of those "wonderful" changes. This, in a word, is evil.

Via the Lonely Conservative, "Video: IRS Official Wants to Keep His Current Health Plan, Doesn’t Want Switch to OCare."

Lauren Silverman Demands Marriage and Reality Show From Simon Cowell

Well, that's what you get for not wearing a raincoat.

At London's Daily Mail, "Marry me and give me a TV show! Simon Cowell's 'gold digger' pregnant lover 'has demanded he marry her and give her a reality TV show'."

Roger Waters Responds to Charges of Anti-Semitism

At Algemeiner, "Roger Waters Defends Himself Against Charges of Anti-Semitism: ‘I Have Many Very Close Jewish Friends’."

And Twitchy, "Comfortably dumb: Roger Waters says he’s not an anti-Semite; Some of his best friends are Jews."

@jaketapper Ah he used the old line of "Some of my best friends are self-hating Jews."

— UnfrozCavemanZionist (@CygnusA81) August 1, 2013

BACKGROUND: "Roger Waters Concert Exhibits Hateful Anti-Semitic Images and Props."

Mugabe Wins Zimbabwe Election: Opposition Decries 'Huge Farce'

Well, this is no surprise.

At the New York Times, "Challenger to Zimbabwe’s President Says Election Was a ‘Huge Farce’":

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Morgan Tsvangirai, the challenger to Zimbabwe’s longtime president, Robert Mugabe, asserted Thursday that the country’s presidential election had been a “huge farce” and called upon international observers to investigate what he described as widespread irregularities.

Senior leaders of Mr. Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, meanwhile, said they expected a huge victory, retaining the presidency and recapturing a majority of the Parliament.

“This victory is so sweet,” said Saviour Kasukuwere, a top minister in Mr. Mugabe’s party, who added he was handily re-elected to his parliamentary seat. He rejected the accusation that the vote had been manipulated.

“President Mugabe did not rig this election,” he said. “President Mugabe was voted overwhelmingly by the people of Zimbabwe.”

But Mr. Tsvangirai said the vote failed to meet “international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election.”

The Zimbabwe Election Commission has not released official results in the presidential election, but from the tone of Mr. Tsvangirai’s statement, it appeared that his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, was headed for defeat.

“In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate,” Mr. Tsvangirai, 61, said in a statement. “But more importantly, the shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.”

The vote, which took place Wednesday, was meant to resolve years of political crisis in Zimbabwe, ending an uneasy power-sharing agreement that put the ruling party and the opposition into government together.

More at the link.

PREVIOUSLY: "Zimbabwe Opposition Grows Bolder."

Edward Snowden Granted One-Year Asylum in Russia

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Edward Snowden granted asylum, leaves Moscow airport in taxi," and "Snowden asylum may presage rocky period in U.S.-Russia ties."

WASHINGTON — Now that Russia has granted temporary asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the question is not whether the decision will hurt U.S.-Russian relations but, rather, how bad the damage will be.

Russian officials maintained Thursday that the action was "insignificant," in the overall relationship with Washington. But the White House reacted angrily, a contrast with President Obama's first term, when the administration was eager to strengthen ties with Russia to enlist the Kremlin's help on an array of issues.

More at the Guardian UK, "White House 'reconsidering' Russia summit after Snowden given asylum."

And I always love watching Democracy Now! Communist Amy Goodman cheers against the United States, and of course bringing on clueless hacks like Spencer Ackerman adds a special comedy to the reporting. This guy's a crack international affairs analyst!