Parents Remain Gloomy About America's Future While Teens Feel Confident

A Heartland Monitor Poll, sponsored by National Journal, "American Adults Believe Today’s Children Have Fewer Prospects and Opportunities, though Teens Remain Optimistic about the Future, according to the Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll":

Washington, D.C., September 20, 2013— New data from the quarterly Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll shows an American public that overwhelmingly believes childhood and parenthood were better for earlier generations, with 79 percent of poll respondents saying it was better to have been a child when they were young.

Watch a live briefing on key findings from the latest Heartland Monitor Poll today at 8:30 a.m. ET, at http://www.nationaljournal.com/events, featuring Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and the Workforce Committee.

The most recent Heartland Monitor shows that Americans are deeply uncertain about the prospects for today's children. A majority (68 percent) of respondents believe that when today's children are adults, they'll have less financial security, with a poorer chance of holding a steady job and owning a home without too much debt. Almost the same percentage (62 percent) believes their children will have less opportunity to achieve a comfortable retirement. Overall, Heartland XVIII delivers a downbeat vision from parents and non-parents alike, who believe that today's children will display less patriotism, work ethic, and civic responsibility than today's adults.

Yet, in the face of this intense pessimism on the part of adults, teenagers are much more optimistic and clearly feel the older generations have it wrong. For the first time, the Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll also surveyed high school teenagers ages 13-18, and found an optimistic view of the economy: More than half of the teens surveyed (54 percent) say they believe it’s better to be a teenager today than it was when their parents were growing up. A plurality (45 percent) believe that when they are their parents' age, they will have more opportunity to get ahead than the previous generation. Just 24 percent of teens say they will have less opportunity.

“The world looks to America as a beacon of hope to realize one’s dreams. While we see pessimism in this poll, the younger generation feels a sense of optimism about the future,” said Sanjay Gupta, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Allstate. “These findings reinforce a challenging backdrop, but the optimism of the  younger generation gives us hope in the enduring American dream.”

The 18th quarterly Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll digs into the increased concerns about the country's political direction and the economy. American adults say that opportunities for a quality education, access to health care, fair treatment, adequate play time, and sufficient love and attention are accessible to some, but are not guaranteed for the average American child.

This negative view of the future parallels a noticeable chilling of the national mood, with a high percentage (64 percent) of Americans believing that the country is on the wrong track. President Obama's approval rating has hit a low (40 percent), as has that of Congress (13 percent), since this poll's first installment in April 2009. Almost half of Americans (47 percent) say that the Obama administration's actions decrease the opportunity for them to get ahead, the highest percentage since the poll began asking the question in April 2009. Respondents are relatively split on whether the economy will improve (28 percent), become worse (31 percent), or stay the same (36 percent) over the next 12 months.

In the area of education, more teens than adults consider college a worthy investment. While over half of adult respondents (53 percent) still believe the average four-year college education is a ticket to the middle class, and that a degree helps people get good jobs and build successful careers,  a full 39 percent view college as an economic burden. Teenagers, meanwhile, feel that college is a good investment for the future (86 percent), rather than an unnecessary expense that is not worth it (14 percent).

In other areas of the poll, a large majority (69 percent) of adults polled believe parents are too busy with work and their own personal lives to spend enough time with their children or to give them the attention they need to learn and grow.

“The operative definition of the American Dream is that each generation will live better than its predecessor,” added Ronald Brownstein, editorial director of Atlantic Media. "The latest Heartland Monitor survey shows how much the sustained economic slowdown has frayed that expectation among average Americans. While the poll shows that most Americans believe the country is still providing kids with many of the necessary ingredients for success—particularly a quality education—it captures a widespread fear that the economy simply won't provide as many opportunities to future generations as Americans remember from when they were young.”

Key findings from the 18th Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll are also available via PDF. Additional information on the entire polling series can be found at: http://www.theheartlandvoice.com/category/insights.

Key Findings

1. Americans overwhelmingly believe that today's children and parents are facing more difficulties and challenges than previous generations.

79 percent of Americans believe it was better to have been a child when they were young while just 16 percent of American adults believe it is better to be a child in America today.
75 percent believe it was better to be a parent when they were growing up, while just 19 percent of Americans think it is better to be a parent in America today.
This sentiment is remarkably consistent across demographic lines, including age, education, and income.
More than half of teens surveyed (54 percent) say it's better to be a teenager today than it was when their parents were growing up (46 percent).
Teens are less positive about the state of parenthood today - 40 percent think it is better to be a parent today than it was when their own parents were growing up (60 percent).
Overall, Americans overwhelmingly believe that today's children face more challenges (66 percent) than opportunities (25 percent).

2. Looking forward, Americans remain concerned about opportunities and achievement for the next generation.
Just 20 percent of Americans believe that today's children will have more opportunity to get ahead when they are grown, compared to 45 percent who fear that today's children will have less opportunity, and 30 percent believe they will have about the same level.
Today, fewer Americans believe their children will have more opportunities to get ahead than did so a year ago. In September 2012, the Heartland Monitor showed that 32 percent of Americans believed the next generation will have more opportunities, while 32 percent believed they will have less.
Young adults ages 18-29 are the most optimistic, but just 31 percent believe that today's children will have more opportunity when they are grown, a 12-point decline since last September.
Today's teens are more hopeful about their future opportunities, with 45 percent believing they will have more opportunity than their parents had, 24 percent believing they will have less opportunity.
Thinking about the achievements and activities of their own generation, Americans believe today's children will not quite measure up on a number of factors:
68 percent think that today's children will have less financial security;
65 percent think they will have less patriotism and pride in their country;
63 percent think they will have less work ethic and professional motivation;
62 percent think they will have less financial freedom and the ability to afford luxuries;
53 percent think they will have less financial responsibility;
48 percent think they will have less civic and community responsibility.

3. Americans are conflicted on policy approaches related to the cost of raising children and college education.
When considering the idea of shared societal responsibility and sacrifice as it relates to assisting parents and children, a slight majority of Americans express hesitation about asking businesses and non-parents to contribute too much.
51 percent believe that "while the country should be supportive of children and young families, raising those children is the responsibility of the parents.”
42 percent think that "the entire country has a shared responsibility to invest more in children and young families.”
When told the average cost of cost of raising a child totals more than $240,000:
60 percent say that the best approach to making parenting more affordable is "lowering taxes.”
34 percent prefer "increasing public spending” on programs like pre-K, public education, child care, health care and college tuition.
More than half of Americans see college as a ticket to the middle class (53 percent) rather than an economic burden (39 percent).
Teenagers overwhelmingly believe that college is "a good investment for the future" (86 percent) rather than an "unnecessary expense that is not worth it" (14 percent).
Fewer than half of parents with school-age children think it's realistic that they will be able to pay for college education for themselves or their children.

4. This poll shows a decline in the American political environment and a fading confidence in President Obama and the economy.
Just a quarter of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, a slippage from the 30 percent we measured in May/June. Half of Democrats (50 percent) and only 45 percent of African-Americans now believe things are headed in the right direction.
President Obama's job approval sits at 40 percent, down from 48 percent in May/June and the lowest we've measured across 18 Heartland Monitor polls.
Just 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, even lower than the 17 percent we measured in May/June.
47 percent of Americans now believe that the Obama administration will decrease opportunity for people like them to get ahead. This is the high-water mark for this measure of pessimism, up from 43 percent in April and 40 percent in May/June.
Just 28 percent believe the economy will improve 12 months from now, the lowest we've measured from 44 percent last November to 34 percent in April and 37 percent in May/June.

5. Americans continue to occupy a "middle ground" between optimism and concern regarding their personal financial situation.
44 percent rate their own personal financial situation as excellent or good, compared to with to 49 percent in May/June 2013.
43 percent expect their financial situation to improve by this time next year, a slight decline from 47 percent in May/June but notably higher than the 36 percent measured in April 2013.

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L.A.'s Department of Water and Power Funneled $40 Million to Union-Controlled Non-Profit Groups

Totally corrupt, but that's what you get these days with morally-bankrupt big-city Democrat machine politics.

At LAT, "DWP says it can't track millions in ratepayer money":

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has directed an estimated $40 million in ratepayer money to two nonprofit groups charged with improving relations with the utility's largest employee union, but the agency claims to have scant information on how the public funds have been spent.

The Joint Training Institute and the Joint Safety Institute, controlled by DWP managers and union leaders, have received up to $4 million per year since their creation more than a decade ago after a contentious round of job cutbacks at one of the nation's largest municipal utilities.

Nearly all of the nonprofits' money comes from DWP ratepayers, records show. About $1 million per year has been used to pay the salaries of a handful of administrators, according to the limited records the utility has provided to The Times under the California Public Records Act. Separate federal tax records offer only summaries of the organizations' outlays, including more than $360,000 spent on travel from 2009 to 2011.

Officials at the nonprofits, the DWP and the employees' union, Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, declined to be interviewed about the institutes' activities and spending.

Nonprofits' financial records

After inquiries from The Times, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti said the mayor plans to meet with DWP managers in coming days to discuss the issue. "This is ratepayer money and they need to account for it," Jeff Millman said.

The broad purpose of the organizations, city records show, has been to "identify" safety and training as core values at the department, and to promote "communication, mutual trust and respect" between DWP managers and the electrical workers' union.

Ordinances establishing the nonprofits in 2000 and 2002 don't specify how the ratepayer money should be spent.

References to the organizations' work in public records reviewed by The Times give a spotty picture of the groups' activities. A recent report by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education notes that one, the Joint Training Institute, developed an online self-study course, including instruction in basic math and reading comprehension, for prospective DWP employees preparing for Civil Service exams.

Another report posted online in 2004 by a former Joint Safety Institute administrator discussed the need for "ergonomic training" and a "defensive-driving fair" for agency employees. "Probably the most dangerous thing we do every day is drive to and from work," the administrator wrote.

Three representatives of the DWP, including General Manager Ron Nichols, serve on the boards overseeing the nonprofits. Three additional board members come from the union local, led by Business Manager Brian D'Arcy. Board members are not paid for their service.

DWP managers and union leaders have struggled to agree on uses for the money, apparently contributing to an accumulation of cash in the nonprofits' accounts, records and interviews show. The two groups had $13.8 million on hand at the end of fiscal 2011-12, the most recent year for which the tax-exempt organizations' IRS filings are available. The filings do not detail outlays. For example, they don't indicate who traveled or where they went.

Jeez, DWP's a freakin' cash cow slush fund for the unions!

Still more at the link.

House Republicans Vote to Defund #ObamaCare

At NYT, "House approves Stopgap Money, Setting Up Fight." (Via Memeorandum.)

And WSJ, "Health Law Thrust Into Fiscal Fights: House GOP Votes to Strip Money for Insurance Overhaul as Oct. 1 Shutdown Deadline Approaches":

House Republicans on Friday thrust President Barack Obama's health law into the middle of two looming fiscal battles, a strategy that roils Congress's efforts to keep the government solvent this fall and avoid a partial government shutdown in less than two weeks.

The House on Friday passed a Republican bill to keep the government funded starting Oct. 1. That measure, however, also eliminates money for the health-care law. It was a triumph for a wing of the Republican Party that has campaigned for months to convince GOP leaders to make a fight over the health law a top priority.

With the government-funding issue unresolved, House Republicans opened another front Friday. Following a closed-door GOP strategy session, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) set a vote for the coming week on legislation that would link a yearlong postponement of the health law's implementation to a yearlong extension of the government's borrowing authority. The law's online insurance marketplaces are set to go live Oct. 1 for policies that will take effect in January.

Neither challenge to the health law is likely to survive the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The simultaneous showdowns and the injection of the health-care issue risk creating a market-rattling impasse reminiscent of the fight over raising the debt limit in 2011 that resulted in the U.S.'s credit rating being downgraded.

The budget that currently allocates funds to the federal government expires Sept. 30. Then, by mid-October, Congress would need to raise the federal debt limit or the government will run out of ways to keep paying its bills.

Mr. Obama called House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) Friday night to say he wouldn't negotiate on the debt limit, according to an aide to Mr. Boehner, reiterating comments the president made earlier in the day in Claycomo, Mo. The speaker replied that "the two chambers of Congress will chart the path ahead," the Boehner aide said.

"We're not some banana republic. This is not some deadbeat nation," Mr. Obama said earlier at the Missouri event. "So what I've said is, I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States."

The House bill would cut off all federal spending for implementing and running the health law, including subsidies to help low-income people pay their premiums and federal funding for states expanding their Medicaid programs.

The conservatives' victory Friday could be short-lived. The Senate in the coming week is expected to restore the health-care money and throw the government-funding bill back to the House. Republican leaders are hoping they will build up enough momentum to pressure Democrats to accept health-law cuts or other budget concessions during the debt-limit fight instead.

"The key thing is we are going to negotiate over the debt limit. The president isn't going to be able to say, 'I'm just simply not going to talk with anybody,' " Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.) told reporters Friday.

Natalie Portman Steals the Spotlight at NYC Ballet Gala

She's so wonderful.

At London's Daily Mail, "Natalie Portman steals the spotlight from fashionistas Sarah Jessica Parker and Doutzen Kroes at New York City Ballet gala."

#ObamaCare 'Glitches' as Health Law Can't Determine Enrollee Subsidy Eligibility

At Jammie Wearing Fools, "What Could Go Wrong? ObamaCare Exchanges in 36 States Can’t Calculate How Much People Will Pay."

And at Heritage, "Obamacare’s Insurance Exchange 'Glitches'."

Kill the monstrosity, as I always say.

#Dodgers Celebrate in #Diamondbacks' Swimming Pool

Here's Bill Plaschke:

Dodgers soak it all in after winning West, much to Arizona's chagrin http://t.co/TDWf8D32iM
— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) September 20, 2013

It was the most unusual of clinching celebrations. Yet for the Diamondbacks, it was also one of the most infuriating. Citing security issues, team officials had earlier asked the Dodgers not to return to the field once they entered their clubhouse. Even though the stadium was virtually empty when the Dodgers ran to the pool, the Diamondbacks were furious at what they perceived as the Dodgers' lack of respect for their team, their fans and their building.

"I could call it disrespectful and classless, but they don't have a beautiful pool at their old park and must have really wanted to see what one was like," said Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall, a former Dodgers executive, in an e-mailed statement.

Well, seems like you don't go all hog wild in someone else's house. And it made the front-page of today's paper.

@RSMcCain Disrespect? #Dodgers celebrate in #Diamondbacks' pool. #MLB #Playoffs pic.twitter.com/uOSVSMDe0z
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 20, 2013

But see, "Why Los Angeles Dodgers jumping into Arizona's pool wasn't disrespectful."

L.A.'s Skidrow Homeless Exploited to Buy iPhones at Pasadena Apple Store

This is sick.

At KTLA, "Homeless People Hired to Buy iPhones for Businessman in Pasadena (VIDEO)."

And at LAT, "Homeless used to buy iPhones in Pasadena left stranded, unpaid (VIDEO)":

Fights break out at Pasadena Apple store as iPhone frenzy gets out of hand; 2 arrested. http://t.co/9KEi20wYax pic.twitter.com/s309pa8Ld3

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) September 20, 2013

Dozens of people picked up on skid row by an enterprising man hoping to secure a load of new iPhones said they were left unpaid and stranded at the Pasadena Apple store.

Dominoe Moody, 43, said he was taken to Pasadena from a downtown Los Angeles homeless mission with several van-loads of people to wait in line overnight for the latest iPhone.

He was promised $40, but said he wasn’t paid because after handing the man the iPhone, the man was taken away by police when people became upset with him.

“It didn’t go right. I stood out here all night,” he said, adding that he has no way to get home.

Pasadena Police Lt. Jason Clawson confirmed that a fight broke out about 9 a.m. as a man left the store with multiple iPhones.

Other people who were in line and hired by the man began fighting with him because they said they weren’t being paid enough, Clawson said. Police escorted the man from the scene, he said.

Most people weren’t paid by the man, Moody said, estimating that 70 to 80 were recruited and driven to the store to wait in line.

“They need to bring him back ... to pick up the people that he brought here,” said Vivian Fields, 49. “We have no way to get home.”

Fields, who is in a wheelchair, said she was approached by recruiters at a homeless shelter on skid row and arrived in Pasadena on Thursday about 7 p.m. She waited overnight at the store.

Pasadena police are not investigating the incident, Clawson said.

"It's not a police issue. It's a business issue," he said.

Actually, it's an exploitation issue.

Pisses me off. Someone should pop the f-ker who stiffed these people.

Allan Brauer, Homosexual #Democrat Official in California, Wishes Death on Amanda Carpenter's Children

A great example of the Dan Savage-ization of the Democrat Party.

At Twitchy, "‘May your children all die’: Comms. Chair of Sacramento Dems attacks Amanda Carpenter."

Ms. Carpenter is an aide to Senator Ted Cruz.

.@sacdems, your Comms Dir, @allanbrauer, speaks for you, correct? pic.twitter.com/cIeFJbF8JU
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) September 20, 2013

Always, always remember: This is no aberration. This today's Democrat Party at work.

It's almost shocking, except it's not. It's SOP for these ghouls. Same demonic depravity. Different day.

Also at Big Government, "DEM OFFICIAL WISHES DEATH ON TED CRUZ AIDE'S CHILDREN."

Also at Free Beacon, "Democratic Official Allan Brauer Wishes Death on Ted Cruz Aide’s Children."

Added: Brauer has apologized on Twitter.

More, at Twitchy, "Calif. Dem spox: Comms. chair’s death wish was wrong, but Ted Cruz is the real problem!"

UPDATE: He's fired. At Expose Liberals, "Allan Brauer resigns after death wishes on Amanda Carpenter kids."

The Real Navy Yard Scandal

From Charles Krauthammer, at the Washington Post.

It's not one scandal. It's two, which in fact addresses. The primary scandal is how society allows the mentally ill fall through the cracks. They fall through, and in the case of Aaron Alexis, they ultimately take down 12 people with them.

The the second scandal, also a psychiatric disorder, is the radical left's sick propensity to turn any gun tragedy into a moment of politicized gun control:

In the liberal remake of “Casablanca,” the police captain comes upon the scene of the shooting and orders his men to “round up the usual weapons.”

It’s always the weapon and never the shooter. Twelve people are murdered in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, and before sundown Sen. Dianne Feinstein has called for yet another debate on gun violence. Major opprobrium is heaped on the AR-15, the semiautomatic used in the Newtown massacre.

Turns out no AR-15 was used at the Navy Yard. And the shotgun that was used was obtained legally in Virginia after the buyer, Aaron Alexis, had passed both a state and federal background check.

As was the case in the Tucson shooting — instantly politicized into a gun-control and (fabricated) tea-party-climate-of-violence issue — the origin of this crime lies not in any politically expedient externality but in the nature of the shooter.

Keep reading.

This is one of those rare essays in which Krauthammer draws on his medical expertise as a previously practicing psychiatrist.

Outstanding.

Via Memeorandum.

Miss South Carolina Brooke Mosteller Trailer Trash Joke

The "state organization" apparently prepared the joke for her, and she was hesitant to repeat but, "everyone kept telling her" it was a good joke.

Actually, not.

At the Washington Times, "Miss South Carolina embarrasses her state with trailer joke."

'If someone says [the] house is on fire but doesn't leave the house, we tend to doubt that the house is on fire and wonder why that person is trying to get us to leave the house...'

That's Althouse, on the latest meltdown in the "global warming" scam.

See, "'When the government is so clearly failing to act on climate change... it's not surprising that the level of doubt about climate change has risen'."

And following the links, at UK's Daily Express, "What climate change? Fewer people than EVER believe the world is really warming up."

RELATED: At London's Daily Mail, "World's top climate scientists told to 'cover up' the fact that the Earth's temperature hasn't risen for the last 15 years." (Via Memeorandum.)

Chantell

From the UK, on Twitter.

Home Depot Dumps 20,000 Employees onto ObamaCare

Critics long argued that ObamaCare was just the first step toward nationalized health care.

And here comes yet another major national chain dumping its employee insurance benefits and sloughing off its part-time workforce onto the ObamaCare exchanges. How many of these will then end up needing taxpayer subsidies to afford coverage? How many of these will end up on Medicaid?

Who knows? All I know is that the law is working just as Democrats intended: to kill healthcare excellence in America.

The Lonely Con reports, "Home Depot Dumping 20,000 Part Time Workers Into Obamacare Exchanges."

There's been so much in the news on this I don't even try to attempt a full roundup. The administration denied big labor a waiver from the law, to the harsh chagrin of the union bosses (and proving Republicans right all along).

And now news comes that the same people who wrote the law are now cashing in as ObamaCare consultants in the private sector. Culture of corruption anyone?

The depraved left, of course, lies and obfuscates about this socialist clusterf-k, alleging a reign of so-called Republican "anarchy" over demands for defunding.

But the political reckoning is coming. Republicans will be smart to hold the line on ObamaCare. Make the Democrats eat this steaming pile of a law. It's the only way we're going to have meaningful change. Full repeal. That's the ticket.

Lee Woodruff: Secrets to a Successful Marriage

An interesting interview from today's "CBS News This Morning."

Woodruff discusses her article at Ladies Home Journal, "Let's Talk About Sex (And Why I'd Rather Just Go To Sleep)."



She is married to ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, who was nearly killed by an IED in Iraq in 2006.

Together they wrote a memoir, discussed at NPR (with an excerpt), "Bob Woodruff and Wife Pen Recovery Memoir."

More, "Author Lee Woodruff on the Secret to a Successful Marriage and Being 'Perfectly Imperfect'."

Todd Helton Tags Out Matt Carpenter With the Old Hidden Ball Trick

And he was funny about it, "I've been wanting to do that for 17 seasons. Now I can cross that off my bucket list."

And he later hit a solo home-run to tie the game at 6-6 in the 9th.

Colorado won 7-6 in the 15th inning.



More video here, "Helton uses brain, brawn in win."

Helton's retiring after 17 seasons with the Rockies. His last game will be at Los Angeles on September 29th.

#Dodgers Clinch National League West Title

The game was player early afternoon yesterday. I was at work, but was watching for updates on the Dodgers' Twitter feed.

A.J. Ellis hit an eighth-inning home run and from there it was just a matter of closing the Diamondbacks down.

At LAT, "Dodgers cash in and win the West."

PHOENIX — Standing in a clubhouse that was about to become a champagne-soaked stage on which Yasiel Puig would break-dance in front of hollering teammates, catcher A.J. Ellis reflected on how the Dodgers conquered the National League West.

"It's amazing what talent can do," Ellis said.

The Dodgers secured their first division title in four years with a 7-6 victory over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday that served as a testament to that talent.

The World Series trophy might not be for sale. But the NL West crown was.

The Dodgers started the season with a record payroll of $230 million. That figure increased by $10 million or so as baseball's most free-spending owners continued to add reinforcements.

Over the six-month season, the small- to mid-market teams in their division had little chance.

"The collection of players here is unmatched in all of baseball," Ellis said. "When you get those guys together in the right form, clicking together, it's going to create amazing results."

How amazing? The Dodgers erased a 9 1/2-game deficit in the standings on June 22 to become the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot, quickly going from last place to first. And they overcame a 6-3 deficit Thursday and won the game on an eighth-inning solo home run by Ellis.

Of all the millionaire players who bathed in alcoholic beverages at Chase Field, none were as important as Hanley Ramirez, who was acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins last year.

Ramirez hit two more home runs, Nos. 19 and 20 in of his injury-shortened season — a three-run blast in the third inning that put the Dodgers ahead, 3-0, and a solo shot in the seventh that tied the score, 6-6.

"This is one of the best hitters in baseball," Manager Don Mattingly said. "He can really hit. I want the whole world to see this."

The world will see Ramirez on a stage on which he has never previously performed. Nine years into his major league career, Ramirez will be playing postseason baseball for the first time.

"It's a long season," Ramirez said. "We knew that we could come back and win the division. And we did it."

Ramirez missed five of the last six games because of an irritated nerve in his back. He was replaced by Nick Punto at shortstop in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"Everybody knows I'm not 100%," Ramirez said.

Continue reading.

Audrie Pott Suicide

At London's Daily Mail, "'I swear to god if you still have those pics I'll kill you': The pleading Facebook messages teen sent days before she killed herself 'after classmates sexually assaulted her and spread images of attack'."

And at Rolling Stone, "Sexting, Shame and Suicide: A shocking tale of sexual assault in the Digital Age":

Saratoga High School, with its country-club-worthy­quad, Olympic-size swimming pool and plush tennis courts, is one of those affluent California schools American teens recognize from movies and TV. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the school is home to high-achieving children of parents working at Apple, eBay, Netflix and other tech corporations headquartered within 50 miles. If the Saratoga Falcons did not regularly field a winning football team, there's consolation in the fact that each graduating class has propelled dozens of kids into Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Berkeley.

The summer before her death, Audrie had started to change, moving away from the kids she'd hung out with since middle school. She had started to drink a little and had dated a slightly older guy. When she drank, the self-consciousness that had afflicted her since junior high melted away. She loosened up. Sometimes, she loosened up a lot.

On Labor Day weekend of the new school year, Audrie's friend, let's call her "Sara" (many of the kids' names in this story have been changed to protect their identities), said her parents were away, leaving their white cottage-style house with its long green lawn in her care. Sara – 15, pretty, slim and blond – and Audrie had become close that summer and were exploring a new realm of boys, bottles and small parties, preferably at parent-free houses, that the Saratoga kids call "kickbacks."

That Sunday, Sara told her parents that she was going to be sleeping over at Audrie's, and Audrie told her mother that she'd be sleeping over at Sara's. When Sheila drove Audrie to Sara's, she assumed the girls would be spending the evening in their jammies in front of the television, or giggling over ice cream and Facebook. But Sara had already texted around a dozen friends to drop in for her kickback.

Eventually, 11 kids showed up, many of them to sip vodka and Gatorade cocktails. They all belonged to their class's popular clique, the girls dressed as provocatively as possible, even by the loose standards of California high schools. "See-through shorts and thongs pulled up, shorts pulled down," recalls an older girl. "That's what the 'cool girls' wore." The boys they hung out with favored a uniform locally dubbed "swagfag" – snapback hat, PacSun tank tops, knee-length chino shorts and Vans.

A few kids had brought some bottles of liquor – rum stolen from Safeway, vodka bought for them by an adult at a liquor store. They eventually guzzled a bottle of tequila that Sara's parents kept in their own cabinet. The mixer of choice was Gatorade, or downed straight. Audrie drank hardest of all....

Just reading that you can tell it's going to end badly.

But continue reading.

A New Touch for iPhone

At WSJ, "Fingerprint Technology, New System Make the 5S the Leader of the Smartphone Pack":

The iPhone 5S is the first digital device I've seen with a simple, reliable fingerprint reader—one you can confidently use, without a thought, to unlock the device instead of typing in a passcode. You can even use this fingerprint reader, called Touch ID, to authorize purchases from Apple's App, iTunes and e-book stores.

It sounds like a gimmick, but it's a real advance, the biggest step ever in biometric authentication for everyday devices. After using Touch ID, I found it annoying to go back to typing in passcodes on my older iPhone.

That's so cool.

RTWT.

Also, at Wired, "Debut of iOS 7 Heralds the Dawn of the Mobile-First Era," and "How to Prep Your iDevice for iOS 7."

Plus, "IMAGE GALLERYA Guide to the Differences Between Apple's New iOS 7 and iOS 6," and "How to Use iOS 7, Apple's New Operating System."

Still more at the Verge, "iOS 7 now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch." (Via Techmeme, with additional articles on Apple.)


And on Twitter:

Downloading iOS 7. "About 16 hours remaining." What the hell?

— Robin Abcarian (@robinabcarian) September 19, 2013

Apple customers frustrated by lengthy iOS 7 download delays http://t.co/itYuX3BxnT #Apple

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 19, 2013

I'm holding off a bit before I upgrade, lol.

Costa Concordia Righting

At the Guardian UK, "Costa Concordia engineers exhausted and relieved after successful salvage," and "Costa Concordia salvage mission gives families hope for news of the missing."



Also at Scientific American, "Crippled Costa Concordia Ship is Upright--Now What?"

Rebel-on-Rebel Violence Seizes Syria

Because it's going so well over there with our, er, allies.

At the Wall Street Journal:

An al Qaeda spinoff operating near Aleppo, Syria's largest city, last week began a new battle campaign it dubbed "Expunging Filth."

The target wasn't their avowed enemy, the Syrian government. Instead, it was their nominal ally, the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army.

Across northern and eastern Syria, units of the jihadist group known as ISIS are seizing territory—on the battlefield and behind the front lines—from Western-backed rebels.

Some FSA fighters now consider the extremists to be as big a threat to their survival as the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

"It's a three-front war," a U.S. official said of the FSA rebels' fight: They face the Assad regime, forces from its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and now the multinational jihadist ranks of ISIS.

Brigade leaders of the FSA say that ISIS, an Iraqi al Qaeda outfit whose formal name is the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, has dragged them into a battle they are ill-equipped to fight.

Some U.S. officials said they see it as a battle for the FSA's survival.

In recent months, ISIS has become a magnet for foreign jihadists who view the war in Syria not primarily as a means to overthrow the Assad regime but rather as a historic battleground for a larger Sunni holy war. According to centuries-old Islamic prophecy they espouse, they must establish an Islamic state in Syria as a step to achieving a global one.

Al Qaeda militants from central command in Pakistan and Pakistani Taliban fighters have also set up operational bases in northern Syria, people familiar with their operations said.

The spread of ISIS illustrates the failure of Western-backed Syrian moderates to establish authority in opposition-held parts of Syria, some of which have been under rebel control for over a year.

Continue reading.

Ken Norton Dies at 70: Former Heavyweight Champ Once Beat Muhammad Ali

At the Los Angeles Times, "Former heavyweight boxer Ken Norton Sr. dies at 70."

And at the Washington Post, "Former heavyweight Ken Norton dies at age 70":

Norton broke Ali’s jaw in their first bout, beating him by split decision in 1973 in a non-title fight in San Diego. They fought six months later, and Ali won a split decision.

They met for a third time on Sept. 28, 1976, at Yankee Stadium and Ali narrowly won to keep his heavyweight title.

Norton would come back the next year to win a heavyweight title eliminator and was declared champion by the World Boxing Council. But on June 9, 1978, he lost a bruising 15-round fight to Larry Holmes in what many regard as one of boxing’s epic heavyweight bouts and would never be champion again.

“Kenny was a good, good fighter. He beat a lot of guys,” said Ed Schuyler Jr., who covered many of Norton’s fights for The Associated Press. “He gave Ali fits because Ali let him fight coming forward instead of making him back up.”

Video here, "Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton I - March 31, 1973 - Entire fight - Rounds 1 - 12 & Interviews."

Cameron Espinosa, 12, Dead After Fire Ant Bites

You just never know how you're gonna check out.

He was just a boy too. My youngest son is 12-years-old. Sad.

At US News, "Texas town outraged after middle school football player dies from attack by ants during game."

And at USA Today, "12-year-old football player dies after ant bites."

Historic Left-Wing Clusterf-k Media Falsely Reports AR-15 Used in #NavyYardShooting

Here's Emily Miller, at the Washington Times, "New York Times gets it wrong, media obsessed with linking AR-1."

And at Twitchy, "Emily Miller: Aaron Alexis made no effort to purchase AR-15, media ‘obsessed’ with idea."

And it wasn't just the New York Times but virtually the entire leftist MSM complex.

Here's the cover yesterday's New York Daily News:




A total, complete leftist clusterf-k.

Sick.

More at Twitchy, "NY Daily News called out for epic front-page fail, absurd ‘AR-15 made for murder’ column."

And at Big Journalism, "NY Daily News Shamefully Leaves Up Mike Lupica AR15 Column."

Freedom to Blog Update: Standing Up to Evil

Every single time I've been the target of left-wing harassment and intimidation --- including the numerous and despicable libel campaigns against my college employment --- it's been the result of blogging the truth about despicable leftists and their depraved ideology of hate, envy, and coercive redistributionism. There's nothing left-wing monsters hate more than people shining the truth on their acts of godless hatred, harassment, and intimidation. I'm proud of everything I've ever done to earn that kind of enmity, because I always stand for decency and right. I won't stop shining that spotlight of truth, ever.

So it's with a deep sense of investment that I link to this piece from Robert Stacy McCain, "The Fact of Evil: @Popehat Describes Brett Kimberlin’s Lawsuit Against Truth." And he writes:

Liars hate truth, and the wicked fear justice. Every honest man must oppose harassment and intimidation intended to silence those who call evil by its right name, because if truth is silenced, the righteous and innocent shall become prey for the wicked and dishonest.

Continue reading.

And following the links, don't miss Popehat, "The Popehat Signal: Help Fight Evil In Maryland."

Don't back down. Speak the truth and stand tall against these f-kers. They're genuinely evil.

Britney Spears Confirms Las Vegas Residency in 'GMA' Appearance

Hey, maybe I'll check her out next time I'm in Vegas.



More at London's Daily Mail, "Britney Spears takes a gamble in plunging jumpsuit as she is greeted by 1,000 screaming fans in Nevada desert to announce Vegas residency deal."

Pat Tillman Image Painted on Locker Room Door Leading Out to Sun Devil Stadium

Poignant.

Via BuzzFeed, "Arizona State Football’s Pat Tillman Tunnel Will Give You Chills."

Tillman leading out the devils. No hashtags necessary. Pictures worth 1000 words pic.twitter.com/AdYDBIQolU

— SunDevilEquipment (@SunDevilEquip) September 6, 2013

'You need coolin', baby, I'm not foolin' .... I'm gonna send ya back to schoolin'...'

From last Thursday morning's drive-time. I left home and went into the 7/11 store across from my apartment to get some coffee. When I got back in the van and turned the ignition, on comes the crack-a crack-a crack of Pat Benatar's drum intro to "Heartbreaker." I thought to myself, "Cool"! as I turned up the volume. And then as I was pulling into the parking lot at work, just as I pulled into my parking stall, on comes the thump-a thump-a thump-a of Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Of course I sat back for a few minutes to enjoy the music. Then it was off to start my day.

Music at The Sound L.A.

Whole Lotta Love --- Led Zeppelin 06:59 AM

The Wanton Song --- Led Zeppelin 06:55 AM

Old Time Rock N Roll (live) --- Bob Seger 06:50 AM

Hollywood Nights --- Bob Seger 06:46 AM

TRYIN' TO LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU (LIVE) --- Bob Seger  06:40 AM

Ohio Crosby, Stills, Nash &  ----Young  06:29 AM

Rockin' In the Free World --- Neil Young 06:25 AM

Marrakesh Express Crosby, Stills & --- Nash 06:22 AM

Heartbreaker  --- Pat Benatar 06:19 AM

Why America Invaded Iraq

Outstanding discussion from Professor Andrew Roberts for Prager University (via Instapundit).

Notice how the Democrat Senators --- including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and John Kerry --- all voted for the war authorization in 2002, only later to call President Bush a liar. But Professor Roberts notes the Bush "had no reason to lie." He was only continuing the policies the Bill Clinton administration put in place. And all the major intelligence agencies of course had warned about Saddam Hussein's brutal regime and his relentless pursuit of WMD. Amazing how clear it is today. But of course, the left's lies of the Bush years were so enormous as to turn reality inside out. These deceits are truly unforgivable. Democrats and leftists are genuine traitors to America and its national security. Never forget that. Never.

The Depravity of the Anti-Israeli Left

I read the Lustick commentary at the New York Times, "Two-State Illusion."

But see the outstanding response from Jonathan Marks, at Commentary:

Let me set aside Lustick’s argument against the two-state solution and begin with what is most shocking in his op-ed, his own proposed solution. Lustick argues that the U.S. and others should abandon the two-state solution and let the parties fight it out. The key passage must be quoted at length:

With a status but no role, what remains of the Palestinian authority will disappear. Israel will face the stark challenge of controlling economic and political activity and all land and water resources from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The stage will be set for ruthless oppression, mass mobilization, riots, brutality, terror, Jewish and Arab emigration and rising tides of international condemnation of Israel (my emphasis).

Lustick makes explicit the nihilism of the anti-Israeli left. He has no strong reason to believe that the bloodbath he wishes on the Israelis and Palestinians will have results favorable to either. But why not break a few eggs if there’s some prospect of an omelette? Like many on the anti-Israeli left, but more explicitly, Lustick is prepared to entertain a morally satisfying position, which costs him nothing but means a blood sacrifice for those whose best interests he professes to have in mind....

Lustick does not really think a two-state solution impossible. Instead, he thinks that when confronted with a choice between two difficult ways forward, one should choose the one that results in the end of the State of Israel. Again, Lustick says out loud what his crowd thinks:

The disappearance of Israel as a Zionist project, through war, cultural exhaustion, or demographic momentum, is at least as plausible as a two state solution.

Lustick’s op-ed should be required reading for anyone who thinks that to stand with the anti-Israeli left is to support of the rights of Palestinians. To stand with the anti-Israeli left is instead to hope for an open conflict that will result in the end of Israel. It is not just friends of Israel who should be disgusted with academics who hope to foment such a conflict, knowing, unless they are complete fools, that in making a poorly thought out, long-odds bet on a one-state solution, they gamble with the lives of Palestinians and Israelis.

One other point: Lustick constantly compares Israel to South Africa, and in so doing reveals not just his anti-Semitism but his ignorance. He's attacking Israel as an "apartheid state" that deserves destruction, while of course saying nothing of the totalitarian pathologies of Islam that form the foundations of the so-called "Palestinian" identity. Behold the core of the left's anti-Israel depravity: The lies and double standard that are handmaidens to evil.

Equally disgusting to me is that Lustick's a political scientist. There are certainly a great many political scientists who are champions of Israel. But it's especially bothersome that there are so many nihilists like the depraved Lustick --- glorified as "experts," there're little more than propagandists for a new Holocaust. Sick.

Time Magazine Yanks U.S. Cover Mocking 'Weak, Waffling' America: 'The World According to Vladimir Putin'

They shoulda ran it.

We are looking weak and waffling. Forty more months of the shit under Obama. 2016 can't come soon enough. Damn. Putin's putting this administration to shame.

At Pat Dollard's, "Time Magazine Scrubbed Gloating Putin U.S Cover."

Here's the cover at Time. And the article, or a stub of it, is here: "The World According to Vladimir Putin."

University of California Paying $9,950 a Month for Napolitano's House

The system works!

Or, well, she's working the system.

At LAT, "UC leases housing at $9,950 a month for president Napolitano."



Image: "The System Worked? Janet Napolitano Flip-Flops on Terror Threat; President Obama, Still Mum on Thwarted Attack, Will Take Golf Break to Address Nation."

Helicopter Evacuates Survivor in Washington #NavyYardShooting

This image was playing over and over on cable news earlier today:



And just now at London's Daily Mail, "REVEALED: Gunman, 34, who murdered TWELVE in Washington Navy Yard rampage claimed he had 'anger issues' after rescuing victims of 9/11 and was kicked out of Navy after 2011 gun charge."

Well, so much for the leftist gun control narrative. Nothing's fitting into the hate-hole the left has assembled to demonize gun owners and patriots.

PREVIOUSLY: "Black Thug Aaron Alexis Identified as Gunman in Washington Navy Yard Shooting."

'Blurred Lines' Hottie Emily Ratajkowski Cast in 'Gone Girl'

She'll play opposite Ben Affleck, via Twitter.

More at Rolling Stone, "'Blurred Lines' Siren Emily Ratajkowski Cast in David Fincher Film," and "10 Things You Don't Know About 'Blurred Lines' Model Emily Ratajkowski."



The "Blurred Lines" video is here.

PREVIOUSLY: "Emily Ratajkowski Rule 5."

PHOTO CREDIT: Emily on Twitter.

Black Thug Aaron Alexis Identified as Gunman in Washington Navy Yard Shooting

Instapundit links to the FBI page from earlier today with the message:

Aaron Alexis, deceased, is believed to be responsible for the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, in the Southeast area of Washington, DC, around 8:20 a.m. on September 16, 2013. The FBI is asking for the public's assistance with any information regarding Alexis.

Well, I'm sure the image of this man wasn't what the depraved gun-grab leftists were hoping for.

The New York Times has some information on Alexis here, "Gunman and 12 Victims Killed in Shooting at D.C. Navy Yard." And at USA Today, "Aaron Alexis, Navy Yard shooting suspect: Who is he?"

But see Fire Andrea Mitchell, "Aaron Alexis – dead Washington Navy Yard shooter arrested in 2010":

Aaron Alexis a black thug has been identified as the dead Washington Navy Yard shooter. Aaron Alexis was a 34-year-old individual from Fort Worth, Texas. According to NBC Dallas, Alexis recently began working as a civilian contractor. Aaron Alexis also had a criminal history. He was allegedly arrested in Fort Worth back in 2010 for firearms discharge. The Aaron Alexis mugshot is available here.

Maybe this shooting was done ‘for Trayvon.’

And those whiners who want to be politically correct about calling this scum a ‘thug’ it’s too damn bad. This site isn’t and never will be politically correct. He had a criminal record, killed at least 13 Americans for his own reason. Yes, he is a thug just like Jared Loughner, James Holmes and Adam Lanza. Don’t like it? Too bad. Go whine on some leftist blog.

Word.

PREVIOUSLY: "Update on Washington Navy Yard Rampage," and "At Least 12 Dead in Washington Navy Yard Shooting."

Update on Washington Navy Yard Rampage

Here's the Washington Post screencap I took while working at the office this morning:




As noted, I didn't have a lot of time to keep up with the news as it unfolded.

Here's the headline now at the Washington Post, "Gunman identified: Assailant at Navy Yard was a contractor":

At least 13 people are dead and several others were wounded after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, police said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities sought to contain the panic.

The incident, in which the death toll rose almost hourly, represents the single worst loss of life in the District since an airliner plunged into the Potomac River in 1982, killing 78.

Continue reading.

More, "Suspect was discharged from Navy in 2011 after shooting incident arrest."

At Least 12 Dead in Washington Navy Yard Shooting

I've been teaching today and my access to news has been sporadic. I saw the initial reports of the Navy Yard shooting after arriving at the office, but I had a lot of prep today and taught two classes. I'm just now back home and tuning into TV news and checking out what's happening online.

A lot's been happening, that's for sure.

So, check Memeorandum and Twitchy for updates, as well as Instapundit.

More updates and linkage later.

Meanwhile, here's Emily Miller, "Obama uses Naval Yard shooting to stoke fear, push anti-gun agenda":

Scaring the American public is one of President Obama’s favorite political tactics to get gun control. Just hours after the terrible shooting at the Naval Yard on Monday, Mr. Obama said that even though he didn’t have the facts, “We’re confronting — yet another — mass shooting. And today it happened on a military installation in our nation’s capital.”

Yet another?

The last mass shooting was over nine months ago at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. While we mourn every one of those children and educators lost that day — and today in Washington, D.C. — these events are not a cause for increased alarm.

A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Study (CRS) released in April showed there have been 78 public mass shootings in the last 30 years that claimed 547 lives. That averages to 18 victims a year.

To put that number in context, there were 8,583 murders by firearm in the U.S. in 2011, the most recent year for which we have figures from the FBI. And, there were 851 people accidentally killed by firearms in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The congressional report concluded that,  “While tragic and shocking, public mass shootings account for few of the murders related to firearms that occur annually in the United States.”

The president also added as the press conference that the horrific crime at the naval building will “be investigating thoroughly what happened — as we do so many of these shootings sadly that have happened and do everything we can to try to prevent them.”

As I wrote in my new book, “Emily Gets Her Gun,” every life is precious. But Mr. Obama never has much to say about the thousands of people murdered every year in individual shootings. You never hear Mr. Obama talk about investigating those killed every day in our cities.

(Well, except for Trayvon Martin, who the president said looked like the son he never had — before the trial of George Zimmerman even started.)

Instead, Mr. Obama focuses on the rare mass shootings because the uncontrollable and random nature of them are more frightening to the public, which is politically helpful for him to push his gun-control agenda.

Typical gun-grabbing politicization.

Continue reading.

Half of Syria's 'Rebels' Are Jihadists or Hardline Islamists

Well, you can't say Obama's been inconsistent in his support for America's enemies. Siding with al Qaeda against Assad really does put a capstone on this administration's terror-coddling policies.

At Telegraph UK, "Syria: nearly half rebel fighters are jihadists or hardline Islamists, says IHS Jane's report":

Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country's civil war.

Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria now number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.

The new study by IHS Jane's, a defence consultancy, estimates there are around 10,000 jihadists - who would include foreign fighters - fighting for powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda.

Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather than a wider international struggle.

There are also at least a further 30,000 moderates belonging to groups that have an Islamic character, meaning only a small minority of the rebels are linked to secular or purely nationalist groups.

The stark assessment, to be published later this week, accords with the view of Western diplomats estimate that less than one third of the opposition forces are "palatable" to Britain, while American envoys put the figure even lower.

More at the link.

And at the video, from CBS News, "The Briefer: Ex-CIA No. 2 on Syria crisis.:

I'm concerned because I fear the breakup of the state of Syria, collapse of the central government, sectarian warfare, opportunity for al Qaeda to have a safe haven in Syria that is not dissimilar to the safe haven that it once enjoyed in Afghanistan and once enjoyed in the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas].

Yay Baracky!

Hirsute Pennant Pursuit in Boston

Beards are pretty much always in with the Red Sox, although this year I'm especially impressed with Mike Napoli's, who was clean shaven for all those years with the Angels.

At the New York Times, "Bonding With Beards, the Red Sox Repair Their Clubhouse Chemistry":

Happy Friday! #GetBeard http://t.co/PLr3r02dkJ
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) September 13, 2013

The Boston Red Sox take their craft seriously. Catcher David Ross owns a special comb. First baseman Mike Napoli has reached a level of forestation so impenetrable that a family of squirrels could be living on his face. And pitcher Andrew Miller has stayed true enough to the cause that he said his wife had “given up the battle.”

The Red Sox have done two things exceptionally well this season: play baseball and grow beards.

The team’s fervor for facial hair has become a phenomenon in Boston, where fans have once again embraced a winner. Perched atop the American League East since July 31, the Red Sox left New York on Sunday after taking three of four games from the Yankees.

“The characteristic of this club is to grind all the way through to the end,” Manager John Farrell said.

Part of that has entailed surviving the itchy, scratchy and sweaty quest for the perfect midsummer beard. The Red Sox are fairly conformist with their look: trim along the cheeks with a bulbous bottom, as if a hairy water balloon were swaying in the breeze. For the team, beards have become more than a hobby.

“Baseball players are superstitious,” Miller said, “and it seems to be working.”

In the process, the Red Sox have become high-profile poster boys for the bewhiskered lifestyle. Phil Olsen, the captain of Beard Team USA, which competes at the World Beard and Moustache Championships, praised the players for being stylish and pragmatic.

“Good beardsmanship builds fraternity, camaraderie and friendship,” Olsen said in an e-mail. “My unscientific observation: The Red Sox’ record improves with the length of Dustin Pedroia’s beard.”

More at the link.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

CARTOON CREDIT: Nate Beeler at Town Hall.

Larry Summers Drops Bid for Fed Chair

He never had a chance.

At LAT, "Larry Summers pulls out of running to be Federal Reserve chairman."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Victory on Summers Emboldens Liberals as New Fights Loom":

WASHINGTON – Chest-thumping by liberals after Lawrence Summers‘s decision to withdraw from consideration as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve could have broad implications, not just on the central bank but also for how Democrats maneuver during looming budget fights.

A number of Democrats and liberals quickly called Mr. Summers’s move a victory for their cause, and they tried to leverage the decision to pressure President Barack Obama to nominate Fed vice chairman Janet Yellen to the post.

“I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said late Sunday. Mr. Sanders is one of Congress’s most liberal members. “The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate.”

Some Democrats could also interpret Mr. Summers’s decision, particularly his prediction that if he were nominated it would be “acrimonious,” as a possible thawing of their recently dormant influence with the White House on economic decisions. Instead of polite reaction to Mr. Summers’s move, liberal critics piled on immediately.

“Summers’ decisions to deregulate Wall Street & do the bidding of corporate America has made the lives of millions of Americans acrimonious,” tweeted Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a group that pushes for liberal causes and candidates.

Mr. Green’s characterization of Mr. Summers is popular among liberals, but one that Mr. Summers’s allies say is distorted and unfair.

The White House clearly didn’t appreciate the rebellion against Mr. Summers. Rather, senior members were annoyed at public attacks on someone who hadn’t even been nominated. But the result illustrated how quickly – and effectively – progressive groups can mobilize on particular issues even when they had appeared to lose clout on Capitol Hill.

The larger question is where things go from here...

Where do we go from here? Farther left, of course. These aren't "liberals" who quashed Summers' nomination. They're socialists. Bernie Sanders is a socialist who caucuses with the Democrats, and these so-called progressive organizations --- like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee --- are basically front-groups for far-left movements influenced by Marxist and "social justice" ideologies. They're not "liberals."

Control the language and control the culture. Call these assholes out for what they are: far-left radicals pushing Marxist gender politics and aggressive economic redistributionism.

More at the Washington Times, "Under pressure from some Democrats and feminists, Lawrence Summers withdraws name for Federal Reserve." And at Memeorandum.

FLASHBACK: At VDare, "The Larry Summers Show Trial."

Peggy Noonan on Vladimir Putin's Power Play

Here's Noonan yesterday, "Putin’s Audience":

Why would Vladimir Putin take such an aggressive tone in parts of a piece supposedly addressed to Americans and supposedly explaining his views on Syria and, more largely, U.S. foreign policy? Suddenly I realized: because he’s not really writing to America. That’s not who he’s talking to. He chose as a venue a major American newspaper, but he’s writing to the world. He is telling the world he knows how to correct America, tell it off, criticize it for its conceit. And he does it right to their faces, not in a Moscow interview or a St. Petersburg speech. He is rubbing America’s nose in it for the delectation of its friends, occasional friends, foes and occasional foes. He wasn’t writing to us at all. He’s attempting to show the world he’s its reliable voice, its real leader, not those other guys. Would he have done this in the past? No. A truly historic level of foreign policy incompetence on the part of the White House got us to this point.

And her longer piece yesterday is available at the Patriot Post, "Vladimir Putin Takes Exception."

HAT TIP: Carl in Jerusalem, "A truly historic level of foreign policy incompetence on the part of the White House got us to this point."

PETA Slams Katy Perry Over 'Roar' Music Video

Yeah, well, PETA is PETA.

At Variety:

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently slammed the use of animals in Perry’s video, which features the 28 year-old singer hanging out with monkeys, elephants and tigers.

“Animals used for entertainment endure horrific cruelty and suffer from extreme confinement and violent training methods,” a PETA spokesman said in a statement. “They often become stressed and anxious when hauled around and forced into unfamiliar or frightening situations.”

Oh goodness.

I'm sure Ms. Perry's crew treated the animals well. Can't folks have a little fun savagery these days?



HAT TIP: Film Ladd on Twitter.

RELATED: At BuzzFeed, "17 Completely Absurd Moments From Katy Perry’s “Roar” Video."

Glendale Hoover High Monitors Students' Social Media

It's for the children!

At LAT:

Glendale district's monitoring of students on social media causes a stir http://t.co/7H09nvfP5c

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 15, 2013

More at Popehat, "Glendale Unified School District, Concerned About Social Media, Pays Money to Be Creepy."

Hot for Tennessee Vols

On Twitter.

Not sure if those breasts belong to Ms. Elise, although they're certainly spectacular.



HAT TIP: Glenn Reynolds, who apparently loves hims some college boobs!

President Barack Obama Interview on 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos'

What to say?

Obama just talks babbles over key questions from Stephanopoulos, and the latter routinely fails to follow-up those questions and press the issues. U.S. policy under this administration has shifted from the two-year-long demand the Assad must step aside --- ASSAD MUST GO! --- to the position of reaching a Russian-brokered international accord allowing U.N. inspectors into Syria on a wish and a prayer? What could go wrong? Seriously.

The best thing for Obama is that the Syria crisis may now be finally coming to a much-needed conclusion, which allows foreign policy to move out of the constant 24-hour news cycle.

Idiot leftists are lamely trying to spin this interview as some kinda game-changer. See, for example, the partisan hacks at PoliticusUSA, "Obama Obliterates The Republican Myth That Putin Saved Him on Syria." (The blog's down at the moment, although that headline at Memeoandum is plenty lulz right there.)

Meanwhile, Margaret Wente nails the headline at Toronto's Globe and Mail (and you can click through and read this one), "Barack Obama, the 98-pound weakling":

So, let me get this straight. Some red lines cannot be crossed, and gassing Syrian children is one of them. That’s what Barack Obama told us Tuesday evening. “The images from this massacre are sickening,” he said. “Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath. A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.”

The moral imperative is clear, he argued. We cannot let dictators get away with this. On the other hand, the United States can’t be expected to solve all the world’s problems, either. Therefore, the way ahead is to outsource U.S. foreign policy on Syria to … Vladimir Putin!

So much for the credibility of the world’s only superpower. Mr. Obama’s staff have been tweeting that this delaying tactic is an incredible display of smart diplomacy. But to most of us, it just makes him look gullible. The President has allowed himself to be hog-tied and hornswoggled by Lilliputians. He was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past, when a blundering giant threw its weight around and only wound up showing the world how incompetent it is. But if there’s one thing worse than being a blundering giant, it’s being a 98-pound weakling.

On Thursday, Mr. Putin kicked more sand in his face. On the op-ed page of The New York Times no less, he lectured Mr. Obama on diplomacy and peace. “From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future,” he said with a straight face. “We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law.”

This from the guy who has been arming Bashar al-Assad to the teeth and blocking the United Nations from doing anything about it. Mr. al-Assad has been using Russian weapons to slaughter his own people.

I guess it’s always possible that the Syrian dictator (memorably likened to a “human toothbrush” by Christopher Hitchens) will immediately surrender his stockpiles of chemical weapons (which he has claimed he doesn’t have), welcome UN weapons inspectors with open arms and give armed protection to the squads of experts who will be necessary to decommission and destroy his various caches of nerve gas, who will somehow do their jobs in the midst of a the bloody civil war that has already destroyed half the country. Or maybe the UN can send in peacekeepers to put it under international control. Or maybe the Easter Bunny will intervene.

More likely is that Mr. al-Assad will use the newly opened diplomatic track to obfuscate, delay, prevaricate and continue killing people, while tying up the process in endless procedural knots. He has now promised to sign the UN Chemical Weapons Treaty – just not quite yet, and only if the U.S. stops arming the rebels, and only if Israel ratifies it first.

Ouch.

Continue reading after you remove your forehead from the furniture on which it just came crashing down.

And then check Janet Daly, at Telegraph UK, "Poker-face Putin holds all the cards":

At one point last week in the charade known as “the Syria peace negotiations”, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, announced solemnly, “This is not a game”. Well, he was wrong there. This certainly is a game: the trouble is that Barack Obama is trying to pretend that it’s chess, while Vladimir Putin plays hard-faced poker. The absurd story that the White House has been concocting off the top of its head – in which the stage we have reached was actually the American goal all along – is desperate. We can expect the talks between the US and Russia to be punctuated by repeated announcements of “agreement” like the one we had yesterday, to make this seem credible.

So this was always the plan, plotted three moves ahead by the clever American president, who was only pretending to be indecisive, quixotic and out of his depth. By sort-of threatening military intervention and then appearing to back down at the last minute, the US was not dithering or tripping over its own feet on the world stage. Oh no. It was creating the necessary conditions for Bashar al-Assad and his Russian mentors to come to the table and begin the process of submitting themselves to international standards on chemical weapons. Of course, if we pursue the chess analogy, then the first clever move was really Assad’s. By using chemical weapons, he created the necessary conditions by which the US would be forced to engage in these negotiations, which will almost certainly protect his regime from removal by the West, and will guarantee his Russian friends a place on the highest global platform.

Assad the war criminal, presiding over his little tinpot dictatorship, can now present his demands (for no more threats of military intervention, and no help to Syria’s rebels) to the world’s only remaining superpower in return for handing over weapons that are illegal anyway. The man who holds an illicit armoury can use that cache of arms as a bargaining chip to protect his own future. And Putin, the ex-KGB autocrat presiding over a country with a dying population, a failing economy and a defunct military – who was once cast by Obama as beyond the pale because of his unacceptable human-rights record – can bluster and preen as he delivers peace in our time. Yes indeed, it’s all going according to plan.

Well, maybe it is going according to plan, if that plan is to destroy America's power, influence, and credibility in the world. The problem with that hypothesis is that of course the president denies it. He's arguing that his diplomacy is strengthening U.S. interests and standing.

In any case, Ms. Daly continues at the link.

The Los Angeles Times has the straight news angle, "Obama defends deal with Russia on Syria, says it could end war."

And still more at Memeorandum.

'The Battle for Busing'

Here's a report on the legacy of school desegregation efforts at the New York Times, "Desegregation and the Public Schools."

There's a video at the report:

This week’s Retro Report video, “The Battle for Busing,” follows the story of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district, which became a national model for racial integration for 30 years only to resegregate about a decade ago, after a court ruling lifted the mandatory integration plan.

When the Charlotte busing plan began in 1971, there were whites who threatened to go to jail before they would let their children attend schools with blacks. The open racism voiced by whites in the Retro Report’s archival footage is vicious and ugly; students were injured when fistfights broke out between whites and blacks.

But by 1974, the district was being singled out in the news media as a national model, particularly West Charlotte High, which had previously been all black. The impact of integration was visible almost immediately at the school. When whites arrived, the facilities were upgraded, said a former chairman of the school board, Arthur Griffin. A gravel parking lot was paved, and the football stadium and the gymnasium were renovated.

Over the years, researchers like Prof. Roslyn Mickelson at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, conducted studies concluding that children of any race who attended diverse schools were more likely to succeed, in areas like graduating, avoiding crime and attending college.

But in the end, the same federal courts that had ushered in integration helped kill it. In the late 1990s, Judge Robert D. Potter of Federal District Court essentially said that the Charlotte district had met its constitutional duty by successfully creating a single school system serving all children regardless of race and that no more need be done.

Frankly, it's a strange report, almost like a time warp.

People aren't concerned with school busing these days, a program that epitomized big-government approaches to public policy. The statistics are jarring and cautionary, however, especially the data showing that in urban schools today the student demographic is 90 percent black and Hispanic. More than anything, parents need a way to get their kids away from that social disorganization, and that way is school vouchers. These would provide real choice to families who've borne the brunt of genuine patterns of racism and government indifference for decades.

But beyond that, of course, is the culture of black and minority student underachievement, which stems from cultural factors endemic to those demographics and which even school choice won't fix. I could go on about it, but the glorification of the thug culture, the delegitimization of book learning, and the generalized decline of the historical work ethic in many parts of the society account for a lot of the failures in the schools. Newfangled attempts at desegregation won't do jack to fix those problems. Indeed, the most likely outcome decades from now is more of what we're seeing today. What will bring change will be the destruction of the public school union monopoly on power and the freeing and redirecting of resources channeled to state bureaucrats to families themselves. I suspect things like this are happening in key pockets, but not fast enough for the great majority of disadvantaged students.

It's a depressing state of affairs that people aren't serious about fixing, especially Democrats, from the president on down.

'Building a Mystery'

Sarah McLachlan.

I love her voice. Just cherish it.

You come out at night
that's when the energy comes
and the dark side's light
and the vampires roam
you strut your rasta wear
and your suicide poem
and a cross from a faith
that died before Jesus came
you're building a mystery

You live in a church
where you sleep with voodoo dolls
and you won't give up the search
for the ghosts in the halls
you wear sandals in the snow
and a smile that won't wash away
can you look out the window
without your shadow getting in the way
you're so beautiful
with an edge and a charm
but so careful
when I'm in your arms

CHORUS
'Cause you're working
building a mystery
holding on and holding it in
yeah you're working
building a mystery
and choosing so carefully

You woke up screaming aloud
a prayer from your secret god
you feed off our fears
and hold back your tears oh

Give us a tantrum
and a know it all grin
just when we need one
when the evening's thin

Oh you're a beautiful
a beautiful fucked up man
you're setting up your
razor wire shrine

CHORUS

REPEAT CHORUS

Christiane Amanpour Slams 'False Moral Equivalence' on @CNN's AC 360

Well, she's calling out idiots Andrew Sullivan and Charles Blow, so I'll give her that.

Intense and passionate.

At Politico, "Christiane Amanpour gets emotional on Syria."

'Pass the Torch' Super-Pac

Ainsley Earhardt interviews activist Sarah Ponn.

Rush Limbaugh on American Exceptionalism

Via Common Cents.

U.S., Russia Agree on Plan on Syrian Chemical Weapons

Hey, maybe Obama's finally off the hook.

Putin pulled O's chestnuts out of the fire, and good thing too. It's been unbearable to watch all this time.

At WSJ, "Target Is for Damascus to Destroy Stockpiles by Early 2014":

 

GENEVA—The U.S. and Russia agreed Saturday on a broad framework for destroying Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons by the first half of next year.

Under the agreement between Moscow and Washington, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must provide a complete list of the types, quantity and locations of his country's chemical-weapons stockpiles to the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons by next Friday.

The plan will be codified in a U.N. Security Council resolution that won't rely on a threat of military action for enforcement, officials indicated. The U.S., France and Western allies had favored arming any U.N. resolution with a threat of force for noncompliance. But opposition from Moscow forced the Obama administration to drop the demand to pursue a diplomatic outcome and avoid U.S. military action.

Instead of a threat of force, an initial U.N. resolution will put into effect the process of inspection and destruction of Syria's chemical warfare infrastructure. If inspectors complain of noncompliance, a second U.N. resolution could be adopted under a U.N. rules that in some instances allows for the use of force.

However, Russia's opposition to force makes it nearly certain that any U.N. resolution on Syria will avoid military penalties, U.S. officials acknowledge, while reserving the right for military strikes by the U.S. acting on its own or with allies.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday that the agreement marked progress in U.S.-Russian ties and "represents an important, concrete step" toward disarming Syria of chemical weapons. But he also insisted that the Assad regime live up to the agreement and indicated that if it didn't, the U.S. could respond militarily.

"This framework provides the opportunity for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in a transparent, expeditious, and verifiable manner, which could end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but to the region and the world," Mr. Obama said in a statement. "And, if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act."

Hey, let's take the military option off the table... Wonderful, for Russia and Syria!

Assad will be playing cat and mouse from the outset with no fears of hard military reprisals. And Russia's  restored to key geopolitical player. Thank goodness! Now the Obama amateurs are breathing a sigh of relief at the White House and State Department. Vladimir is the man!

More at the link.

And see, "Four Reasons the Syria Deal Could Fall Apart," and "Syria Deal Revives a Partisan Divide: Republicans, Democrats Split After Brief Accord on Military Action."