Obsessed Hate-Troll Walter James Casper Attacks Mad Jewess with Despicable 'Racist' Smear

I didn't even see it until I was talking to the Mad Jewess on Twitter, but she posted an hilarious smackdown of the vile hate-troll Walter James Casper III, a.k.a, Repsac3.

See, "My Buddy is Being Harassed for YEARS, Now!"

It's true.

Repsac's been stalking me and this blog for over half a decade. It started before American Power. Repsac was pissed off years ago when he was trolling me at Biobrain's blog, whining about how nobody was responding to him in the comments. It's been like that ever since, and even worse, as Repsac turned into a pathological liar who created a special blog to harass me. He recruited bloggers who attempted to have me fired at my place of employment, even posting all my workplace information with exhortations to call my administration.

Repsac's spent years in pathetic denial trying to wash away the evil. But we know now that his hatred is not only motivated by ideological intolerance but racial hatred as well. Some time back Repsac joined with the Pale Scot to push disgusting racist smears against me that were universally condemned, even by Casper's current bareback interest, Kevin, the main blogger now at the hateful stalk-blog American Nihilist.

So keep that in mind as Racist Repsac is now launching depraved attacks on the Mad Jewess, simply because she had the temerity to stand up and denounce the vile leftist trolling and harassment. He writes, ""Doug's" racist friend ... MadJewessWoman weighs in..."

Totally predictable. The very first thing Racist Repsac does is attack Mad Jewess Woman as "racist." Of course, leftists have the market on racism cornered, most recently seen with Melissa Harris-Perry's despicable attacks on Mitt Romney's black grandchild. I'm astounded sometimes at just how inhuman and horrible these people are --- and that's after being out here for years in beatdown mode on regressive evil. I'm still amazed sometimes.

And Repsac3? What to say? Everything I've ever posted about him is true. He's been repudiated for his harassment over and over again. Skye, Zilla, the Mad Jewess --- just a few people who've stood up and now look, more disgusting racist allegations and obsessive hate-trolling. And dang, Racist Repsac even stalked some dude named Evan Hurst for months, angry that the guy, who was homosexual, was ignoring him on Twitter. Racist Reppy's got it bad. The dude needs help, and bad. And the Mad Jewess ain't gonna take no shit:

@repsac3 Shut the fuck up jackass. Just look @ your blog you projective Jabba the hut looking asshat
— The Mad Jewess (@MadJewessWoman) January 8, 2014

Screw him. Screw Walter James Casper III. He's a communist and a loser troll who's been denounced repeatedly across the web but just keeps on coming back because he can't help himself. When no one likes you and your life is a miserable failure, you hunker down in hate and lash out at those with whom you disagree. And have no pity for this f-ker. He'd shovel dirt on you six feet down if he had the chance, the Beelzebub monster.

Pinko commie scum is right.

A.J. McCarron's Mom Disses Jameis Winston's Speech on Twitter: 'Am I Listening to English?'

She deleted the tweet, apparently, but not before it was favorited by hottie girlfriend Katherine Webb.

At the Orlando Sentinel, "Jameis Winston tweet: A.J. McCarron's mom apologizes."

At London's Daily Mail, "'Am I listening to English?' Fury as A.J. McCarron's mom takes to Twitter after Jameis Winston's post-game interview - and girlfriend Katherine Webb 'favorites' another insult."

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates Slams President Obama's Politicized National Security Policy

This is been the leading story all day.

See Bob Woodward, at WaPo, "Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama's leadership in ‘Duty’."

And Gates has an op-ed at WSJ, "The Quiet Fury of Robert Gates." (At Memeorandum.)

The commentary on the news shows has been blistering as well. Charles Krauthammer says Gates' rebuke of  Obama is an "indictment that rises above everything else he's done in his presidency."

Six-Year Itch: Historical Trends Point to Democrat Senate Loses in November

As I've written previously, the Dems are defending 20 seats out of 33 seats in play, and 13 of the 15 most vulnerable seats are in Democrat hands.

It's gonna be a bloodbath.

And now here comes Charlie Cook to throw some water on the leftist deniers of November Democrat doom, at National Journal, "Six-Year Itch Plagues Presidents in Midterms" (at Memeorandum):

Obviously, American voters do not have the date of each second-term, midterm election circled on their calendars to kick the party in the White House. But the novelty, energy, and excitement of newly elected presidents tends to dissipate in their second terms. We normally see a scarcity of new (good) ideas, and, to put it bluntly, a level of fatigue starts to plague the relationship between a president and the electorate. Statements, decisions, and policies from the first term can come back to haunt the administration during second terms. Certainly, “If you like your health insurance, you can keep it” might be a nominee in this category. Bad things tend to happen once a president reaches his second term, be they scandals, unpopular wars, economic downturns, or whatever. Think about playing the musical-chairs game, over and over again. The more times you play the game, the greater your chances of being the odd person left standing. We can see this in the way many mayors or governors who stay in office more than two terms often end up with unpleasant results.

RTWT.

PREVIOUSLY: "Republicans Poised for Big Gains in 2014 Midterms."

Science Denier Ron Chusid Won't Publish Comment Responding to Attack on 'Right Wing Deniers of Climate Change'

It's pretty funny that a guy attacking right-wingers for allegedly denying climate change can't answer a few simple questions on the growing number of anomalies in the left's so-called global warming consensus.

But Ron Chusid, at Liberal Values, moderates comments and he wouldn't let mine through, because that might upset the regressive narrative, or something. Here's his post, "Cold Days Confuse Right Wing Deniers Of Climate Change." And my response, "Climate Astrology: Warmists Claim Global Warming Causing Record Cold Temperatures."

Meanwhile, check out Robert Stacy McCain, "Al Gore and the Big Climate Lie."

Have I mentioned lately that @algore is a profoundly dishonest and hypocritical person? Because he is, you know.

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) January 6, 2014

HAHAHA! Al Gore new selfie! pic.twitter.com/5Yr6cmWGGg

— Taz (@jrk8664) January 6, 2014

And see this awesome interview with Steven Hayward yesterday on Larry Kudlow's show. And check out Hayward's writings on the collapsing warming consensus at the Weekly Standard, most recently, "Pay No Attention to the Bad Data: Behind the Curtain at the IPCC."

Two Black Thugs Steal iPhone, Purse, and Wedding Ring from Dying Woman at Taco Bell

Dan Riehl's not normally a PC type, but his headline is sorely lacking the racial element here, "Two teens steal phone, purse and wedding ring from finger of dying woman at Taco Bell."

Look, the race of the mofo thugs is entirely relevant. Call it what it is: a racial hate crime, black on white, and this isn't an isolated case. (SOURCE: London's Daily Mail, "Two arrested for stealing wedding ring from hand of dying woman in Taco Bell drive thru.")

Republicans Poised for Big Gains in 2014 Midterms

Larry Sabato's joined Politico as a bi-weekly columnist. He's an interesting character and has a good track record.

Here's his first installment in promised running dialog on the 2014 congressional elections, "Republicans Really Could Win It All This Year" (via Memeorandum):

As 2014 begins, the environment for the Democrats in this election year is not good. The botched, chaotic rollout of the Affordable Care Act is the obvious cause, but it is broader than that: the typical sixth-year unease that produces a “send-them-a-message” election. Fortunately for Democrats, the GOP-initiated shutdown of the federal government in October has tempered the public’s desire for a shift to the Republican side, too. “None of the above” might win a few races in November if voters had the choice....

At this early stage, the combination of these three factors [the president, the economy and the election playing field] suggests a good election year for the GOP. The president is a Democrat and his approval is weak. The economy may be improving, based on GDP growth (4.1 percent in the third quarter), but voters still don’t believe their personal economy, at least, has picked up much. Instead, the major national issue of the moment is Obamacare, which at this point is a loser for Democrats. The structure of the election in the House and Senate also bends in the GOP direction.

Well, that's all very good and circumspect. For me, in a word, it's gonna be a blowout, especially in the Senate.

BONUS LULZ: BooMan thinks the Democrats will "break even" in the Senate (whatever that's supposed to mean) and retake the House of Representatives. Got that? Retake the House of Representatives! Bwahaha!! One of the reasons I can't wait for November is because I'm relishing ramming the election results in smug Democrat faces, especially BooMan's. Like I said, it's gonna a be blowout, especially in the Senate.

The ASA Has Turned Itself Into a Pariah

At the New York Times, "Backlash Against Israel Boycott Throws Academic Association on Defensive":

NEW YORK — With its recent vote to boycott Israel’s higher-education institutions to protest the country’s treatment of Palestinians, the American Studies Association has itself become the target of widespread criticism and ostracism. It has gone from relative obscurity to prominence as a pariah of the United States higher-education establishment, its experience serving as a cautionary tale for other scholarly groups that might consider taking a similar stand on the Middle East.

Read it all at the link (via Carl in Jerusalem).

And from Glenn Reynolds, "Yes, this movement is not merely inept, it is evil. The ASA needs to be made an example of, sufficient to deter similar evil in the future."

'Harmony'

I can't remember the last time I heard this song. I was out yesterday driving the Jeep and had satellite radio set to the '70s channel. "Harmony" is the last song on Side 4 of John's 1973 album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Used to listen to that a lot when I was in junior high. Amazing.

Hello, baby hello
Haven't seen your face for a while
Have you quit doing time for me
Or are you still the same spoiled child

Hello, I said hello
Is this the only place you thought to go
Am I the only man you ever had
Or am I just the last surviving friend that you know

Harmony and me
We're pretty good company
Looking for an island
In our boat upon the sea
Harmony, gee I really love you
And I want to love you forever
And dream of the never, never, never leaving harmony

Hello, baby hello
Open up your heart and let your feelings flow
You're not unlucky knowing me
Keeping the speed real slow
In any case I set my own pace
By stealing the show, say hello, hello...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Fractures Pelvis in Ski Accident

She's no spring chicken, so I'm interested to see how her recovery's going to affect her political power and tenure.

At Der Spiegel, "Appointments Cancelled: Merkel Breaks Pelvis in Skiing Accident":

German Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured her pelvis in a skiing accident while on Christmas vacation in Switzerland, her spokesman said Monday. She has cancelled appointments and will have to spend much of the next three weeks lying down.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 59, has cancelled many of her appointments after injuring her pelvis while cross-country skiing in Switzerland during the Christmas break.

"She fell. While cross-country skiing. We think it was at low speed," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. He said she had suffered "heavy bruising combined with an incomplete fracture of the left rear pelvic ring." Merkel spent her Christmas vacation in the Swiss resort of Engadin.

Also at London's Daily Mail, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel breaks hip while cross-country skiing in Swiss mountains... but only realises days later."

Hip? Pelvis? Here's the skeletal image at Wikipedia. A broken hip is one of the worst injuries for elderly people. Sometimes they never recover. At 59, Merkel's not quite what you'd call elderly, but she's still. It's a dangerous injury.

Supreme Court Stays Utah Homosexual Marriage Ruling

At the New York Times, "Justices' Halt to Gay Marriage Leaves Utah Couples in Limbo" (at Memeorandum):

SALT LAKE CITY — In a move that cast doubt over the marriages of roughly 1,000 same-sex couples in Utah, the United States Supreme Court on Monday blocked further same-sex marriages there while state officials appeal a decision allowing such unions.

The development created what Utah’s attorney general called “legal limbo” for the same-sex couples who had wed in the state in recent weeks. With the state’s ban on such unions reinstated for now, many wondered whether their window to marry in Utah had closed forever.

“As remarkable and miraculous as it was, we’re still cognizant of the fact that this still is one of the most conservative states in the union,” said Michael Ferguson, half of the first gay couple to receive a marriage license in the state. “I don’t feel a sense of despair or hopelessness or anything remotely close to that. This is part of living in a civil society where we have the rule of law.”

Although Utah had warned gay couples that their marriages could be dissolved if it succeeded in its legal appeals, the state had also begun granting benefits to newlyweds. Some state employees have already applied for health insurance for their same-sex spouses. Many of the couples are planning to file joint tax returns. And parents are planning to add their new spouses as legal parents through adoption...

More at the link.

And see Paul Mirengoff for analysis, "SUPREME COURT HALTS GAY MARRIAGE IN UTAH, FOR NOW."

Plus, an interesting post at Althouse, "'The Supreme Court on Monday morning put on hold a federal judge’s decision striking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage...'"

Enough! Stand Up to Harassment and Stalking — Block and Report Walter James Casper in 2014

Recall from last year, "Ban, Block and Report Walter James Casper III in 2013."

It's been exactly one year and this vile POS continues to stalk my blog and Twitter feed, and he continues to stalk the comments at this blog despite being banned for abuse years ago.

The leftists are on defense as their statist-collectivist project continues to go implode before our eyes. But as we saw with the widely ridiculed piece on Millennial socialism at Rolling Stone, far leftists are not shy about outing themselves as full-blown communists these days, no doubt emboldened after 5 year of the most radical president in American history.

As I pointed out last year, Walter James Casper III, a.k.a. Repsac3, is an ideological communist who uses stealth to hide his agenda, attack political enemies, and harass people online. Numerous friends of American Power have denounced Casper as hardline harasser and communist ideologue. He's basically a dirtbag and a loser.

And now I come to find out he and his blog henchmen have been stalking some of my blog allies on Twitter. People are not pleased and folks should expect an epic beatdown.

I'll update later.

Meanwhile, report Walter James Casper III to the appropriate authorities should he target you with his demonic hatred and harassment. This person is truly vile. Recall the Vox Day's comment on truly useless blog trolls:

Vox Popoli is not, and will never be, an echo chamber. There are not, and will never be, any topics that are definitively outside the scope of permissible intellectual discourse ... The only commenters whose participation I will not tolerate is those who repeatedly lie, who demonstrate proven intellectual dishonesty, and who simply refuse to admit it when someone else has publicly shown them to be wrong. If you are not at least capable of acknowledging that you could be wrong about an idea, no matter how near and dear it is to you, then you will probably be better served commenting at a place where your ideas will not be questioned or criticized.

That description fits racist Repsac3 to the letter, and that's why he was banned years ago. The POS defied my wishes and announced a "troll rights" theory to justify his obsession with this blog and his hatred of the moral clarity of American Power. He's a cancer. And the asshole still has the sickness.

More later.

And remember, never cave to these f-kers. Leftists are evil. They defy decency and reason. You must crush them with the mailed fist.

Florida State Levonte Whitfield 100-Yard Kickoff Return — #BCSChampionship

What a game.

At LAT, "BCS championship game: Auburn vs. Florida State live updates":

That seven-year Southeastern Conference stranglehold on college football's national championship has come to an end.

But it died hard.

Very hard.

Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was outplayed by Auburn counterpart Nick Marshall for three quarters, but the Florida State redshirt freshman showed why he was considered the nation's top player, bringing Florida State back in the final minutes for a 34-31 victory in the Bowl Championship Series title game at the Rose Bowl.

A crowd of 94,208 witnessed it, and 10 times that many will say they were there.

Winston connected with Kevin Benjamin on a two-yard pass just above the outstretched arms of Auburn's Chris Davis with 13 seconds left for the game-winner.

Winston, the first freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national championship, completed 20 of 35 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He also run for 26 yards in 11 carries.

His pass to Benjamin capped a furious final few minutes.

Auburn led, 24-20, after a 23-yard field goal by Cody Parkey with 4:42 left.

That lead lasted 11 seconds -- as long as it took Florida State freshman Levonte "Kermit" Whitfield to sprint 100 yards with the kickoff.

But Auburn came right back with a 37-yard touchdown run by Tre Mason to regain the lead, 31-27. Mason, a Heisman Trophy finalist, finished with 195 yards in 34 carries.

All that did was set it up for Winston's heroics.

He cooly drove Florida State 80 yards in seven plays, the big gain coming on a short pass that Rashad Greene turned into a 49-yard gain.

Green caught the ball in the right flat, split two Auburn defenders, and raced down the sideline.

Five plays later -- on the second play after an untimely Florida State penalty for delay of game -- Winston found Benjamin. Florida State got a pass interference call on the next play, however -- Davis was called for being over Green's back -- moving the ball to the two with a first down.

Top-ranked Florida State capped a 14-0 season. Auburn fell to 12-2 in the final game of the BCS era.

2014 Mazda CX-5 TV Spot Featuring Tom Sims

I just saw this commercial during the game. I wasn't even listening but recognized Tom Sims, who passed away in 2012.

Climate Astrology: Warmists Claim Global Warming Causing Record Cold Temperatures

I just left this comment at Ron Chusid's Liberal Values, "Cold Days Confuse Right Wing Deniers Of Climate Change."

No one’s denying “climate change.” What people reject is the stupid and unproven assertion that human activity is causing the earth’s temperature to increase. If so, with more than 100 billion tons of carbons released in the last 15 years, why haven’t we seen continued warming? Earth’s temperatures have been flat over that period, not rising, despite the predictions of the IPCC scientists. That’s what leftist science deniers have to answer. Are you a science denier, Ron? Because all this talk about how record cold temperatures are caused by “global warming” is basically astrology. Seriously, prove your assertions. The claims at that Quartz piece are pure speculation (and such changes in the jet stream are naturally occurring patterns independent of human activity).

At issue is this ridiculous piece at Quartz, "How global warming can make cold snaps even worse."

And indeed, conservatives are having a blast with it. At Weasel Zippers, "Climate Change “Experts” Claim Global Warming Causing Record-Breaking Cold Snap…" (Via Memeorandum.)

And check out this great roundup at Climate Depot, "Warmists Claim: ‘Global warming is probably contributing to the record cold’ – ‘Global warming can make cold snaps even worse’." And following the links, at Real Science, "Experts : Cold Used to Be Caused By Cold, But is Now Caused By Heat."

Things aren't going so well for the left's climate crackpots. When a basic theory requires an endless number of auxiliary hypotheses in an attempt to sustain the theory's original claims, it's pretty clear that the theory itself is bunk and it's time for new theoretical assumptions. The theory of anthropogenic climate change isn't being supported by recent climate events. Indeed, we're basically seeing the last gasps of a global warming fad. Soon enough folks will move onto something else. One theory (that's well established) holds that expanding economic growth more broadly, to poorer countries, will increase incomes and prosperity and promote more sustainable development. Looking at you, China.

ADDED: Blazing Cat Fur's got a great video clip, "Climate alarmists' shipwreck."

Nancy Grace's Withering Attack on Drug Decriminalization

I had CNN's Brooke Baldwin on at lunchtime (since I can't stand Shepard Smith, who's on Fox at the same hour). I see her talking with Nancy Grace, and normally I'm not going to be very interested in Nancy Grace (she seems kinda crazy after awhile). But I turned up the volume and was pleasantly surprised to listen to her. She was making a lot of sense. It's worth your time for a listen.

Wow, Nancy Grace is making too much sense on marijuana legalization, on @BrookeBCNN's show. "Do you want your cab driver on pot?"

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 6, 2014

More Maria Menounos!

I was just thinking how lovely this lady is the other day, and now here she is again at London's Daily Mail, "Stunning in stripes! Maria Menounos shows off her amazing figure in monochrome-string bikini for day two of Mexican vacation."

PREVIOUSLY: "Maria Menounos Bikini Hotness in Cabo San Lucas."

Rachel Maddow Wears the 'Ideological' Pants at @MSNBC

An outstanding piece from Eliana Johnson, at National Review, "Rachel's Show" (via Memeorandum).



Much of the report is hardly surprising, although it's truly hilarious that MSNBC's marquee ideological programs are leading the network's nosedive in the ratings. Note that she's "neither an executive nor a manager" at MSNBC, but the programmatic direction is all Maddow. And I love this quote:

Maddow ... is motivated by ideology. “If you debate for a living, you’re going to lose sometimes. Sometimes your preconceptions are wrong — that has never happened to her one time,” says a former colleague. “She is actually not that interested in reality; she is the most ideological person I’ve ever met. That is not somebody you want in charge of your programming, because she might put on a great show, but she cannot make rational decisions — her agenda is changing America. . . . She really thinks she is changing America for the better. You can’t have somebody like that in charge of your programming.”

That's unsourced, but Maddow's a pathological liar whose show is a festival of conspiracies about conservatives and the GOP. It's no wonder the network's circling the drain.

More at Weasel Zippers, "MSNBC Appoints Executive to Review Scripts Before Airtime In Bid to Stop Rash of Jaw-Dropping Gaffes…," and NewsBusters, "Suicide Prevention? MSNBC Has Appointed Executive to Review Scripts Before Airtime."

A 'Mixed Bag'? Fifty Years Later and That's All to Be Said for 'War on Poverty'?

Because the left has announced its 2014 agenda will be a "war" against economic equality, I can understand why there was little discussion of this online yesterday. But this "mixed bag" after 50 years and hundreds of billions of dollars is a telling commentary on the inability of government to socially engineer economic outcomes.

At the New York Times, "50 Years Later, War on Poverty Is a Mixed Bag":

WASHINGTON — To many Americans, the war on poverty declared 50 years ago by President Lyndon B. Johnson has largely failed. The poverty rate has fallen only to 15 percent from 19 percent in two generations, and 46 million Americans live in households where the government considers their income scarcely adequate.

But looked at a different way, the federal government has succeeded in preventing the poverty rate from climbing far higher. There is broad consensus that the social welfare programs created since the New Deal have hugely improved living conditions for low-income Americans. At the same time, in recent decades, most of the gains from the private economy have gone to those at the top of the income ladder.

Half a century after Mr. Johnson’s now-famed State of the Union address, the debate over the government’s role in creating opportunity and ending deprivation has flared anew, with inequality as acute as it was in the Roaring Twenties and the ranks of the poor and near-poor at record highs. Programs like unemployment insurance and food stamps are keeping millions of families afloat. Republicans have sought to cut both programs, an illustration of the intense disagreement between the two political parties over the best solutions for bringing down the poverty rate as quickly as possible, or eliminating it.

For poverty to decrease, “the low-wage labor market needs to improve,” James P. Ziliak of the University of Kentucky said. “We need strong economic growth with gains widely distributed. If the private labor market won’t step up to the plate, we’re going to have to strengthen programs to help these people get by and survive.”

In Washington, President Obama has called inequality the “defining challenge of our time.” To that end, he intends to urge states to expand their Medicaid programs to poor, childless adults, and is pushing for an increase in the minimum wage and funding for early-childhood programs.

But conservatives, like Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, have looked at the poverty statistics more skeptically, contending that the government has misspent its safety-net money and needs to focus less on support and more on economic and job opportunities.

“The nation should face up to two facts: poverty rates are too high, especially among children, and spending money on government means-tested programs is at best a partial solution,” Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution wrote in an assessment of the shortfalls on the war on poverty. Washington already spends enough on antipoverty programs to lift all Americans out of poverty, he said. “To mount an effective war against poverty,” he added, “we need changes in the personal decisions of more young Americans.”

Still, a broad range of researchers interviewed by The New York Times stressed the improvement in the lives of low-income Americans since Mr. Johnson started his crusade. Infant mortality has dropped, college completion rates have soared, millions of women have entered the work force, malnutrition has all but disappeared. After all, when Mr. Johnson announced his campaign, parts of Appalachia lacked electricity and indoor plumbing.

Many economists argue that the official poverty rate grossly understates the impact of government programs. The headline poverty rate counts only cash income, not the value of in-kind benefits like food stamps. A fuller accounting suggests the poverty rate has dropped to 16 percent today, from 26 percent in the late 1960s, economists say.

But high rates of poverty — measured by both the official government yardstick and the alternatives that many economists prefer — have remained a remarkably persistent feature of American society. About four in 10 black children live in poverty; for Hispanic children, that figure is about three in 10. According to one recent study, as of mid-2011, in any given month, 1.7 million households were living on cash income of less than $2 a person a day, with the prevalence of the kind of deep poverty commonly associated with developing nations increasing since the mid-1990s.

To be honest, seeing people in poverty makes me sad. But the solution is more economic growth and opportunity, and especially expanding the culture of work, marriage, and thrift. The current Democrat agenda is simply creating a deeper dependency society, seen, for example, in New York's able-bodied black men standing around outside welfare offices waiting for their federal public assistance checks, enthusiastically referred to as "Obama bucks."

Can't Get Tenure? Then Get a Real Job

Here's Megan McArdle, at Bloomberg, in a great piece:

The last few days have seen the eruption, among academic bloggers, of a tense discussion over tenure. These discussions have been going on for a while, of course, as the situation for newly minted PhDs keeps getting more dire, and the reaction of people with tenure is to tut-tut about how awful it is and say that someone should do something...

Continue reading.

The job market for new Ph.D.s in political science has sucked for a long time. I'm fortunate to have a full-time tenured job. Shoot, I'm living the life. I don't go back to school until February 3rd. It's basically a six-week paid vacation, since I'm paid over 12 months. I stay up until all hours of the morning watching movies, sleep in all day, watch football or whatever, all with no worries about publishing some hot-shot research paper or planning for some overrated academic conference. I haven't been to the APSA annual meeting in years, but considering the clusterf-k controversy over the New Orleans meeting a couple of years back, I might as well be going to a communist gathering at the MLA. (And God's wrath came down on the APSA anyway, with the meeting cancelled by Hurricane Isaac.)

(I should confess, for all the blather about the leftist and communists, I'll probably go back to APSA one of these times, when the correlation of circumstances works in my favor, including institutional conference funding and stuff like that. It's nice to get out of town, meet other teachers, etc., even if I have to avoid idiot Marxists most of the time.)

Great John Lydon Interview

Fascinating.

See, "Punk-rock legend John Lydon: Sex Pistols were banned from gigging in Scotland for being hooligans - that's an achievement."

Hey, Mick Jagger paid Sid Vicious' legal fees? Who knew?

Via Kathy Shaidle, "Looks like I don’t have to worry about the Sex Pistols playing Vegas after all…"

Megyn Kelly Interviews Debra Burlingame on Terror-Lawyer Lynne Stewart's Early Release

Astute Bloggers has it, "LEFTIST LAWYER WHO ASSISTED TERRORISTS RELEASED EARLY FROM PRISON BY OBAMA AND HOLDER."

And previously, "Terror-Lawyer Lynne Stewart Released from Federal Prison."



And here's the follow up, "Kelly File Investigation - Former Lawyer Released Early After Aiding Terrorist - Who Signed Release?"

The Costs of U.S. Retreat

At the clip, a remarkably consensus on the Middle East power vacuum among the panelists on yesterday's "Meet the Press." David Ignatius argues that some actor is going to have to stand up and fight al Qaeda. It's not likely to be the U.S. under the Obama administration, however. But a reckoning's coming. Start the video at 11:45 minutes.

And see the Wall Street Journal, "Al Qaeda revives in Iraq and Syria's contagion spreads to Lebanon" (at Google):

Americans want to forget about Iraq and Syria, especially since President Obama walked back from his bombing threat in September, but Syria and Iraq haven't forgotten America. The contagion from Syria's civil war is spilling across borders in ways that are already requiring U.S. involvement and may eventually cost American lives.

The casualties include the stability of Lebanon, which like Syria is riven by Shiite-Sunni divisions. Thousands of Shiite Hezbollah militia have joined the war on behalf of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, and the opposition is retaliating with a terror campaign inside Lebanon.

An al Qaeda affiliate took credit for the car bomb that exploded on Thursday in a residential neighborhood of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold. This followed the car-bombing murder of Sunni moderate Mohamad Chatah a week earlier that had the hallmarks of Hezbollah. The Saudis recently pledged $3 billion to turn the Lebanon military into a viable counterforce to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, our Journal colleagues report that Hezbollah has smuggled advanced antiship missile systems into Lebanon from Syria. The missiles are intended for use against Israel, which has attacked arms shipments headed for Lebanon at least five times in the last year.

The dangers are that the violence in Lebanon devolves into another civil war, or that Hezbollah provokes Israel into a response like the 2006 war. Hezbollah already has upwards of 100,000 missiles, many of them unsophisticated Katyushas, but two or three times the number it had in 2006. Hezbollah may be stockpiling higher-quality missiles in order to retaliate after an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program or on another arms shipment. This could escalate into another war.

Syria's contagion is also spilling into Iraq with the revival of al Qaeda in neighboring Anbar province. Anbar was the heart of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003, and American soldiers paid dearly to reclaim cities like Ramadi and Fallujah. Al Qaeda was defeated when Sunni tribal chiefs turned on them amid the U.S. troop surge in 2007.

But now al Qaeda is coming back, thanks to the heavy-handed sectarian rule of Shiite Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and to the rise of jihadists in Syria. The U.S. refusal to help the moderate Syrian opposition has given the advantage to Sunni jihadists, including many from Europe and probably the U.S. too. Much of eastern Syria is now controlled by the al-Nusrah front or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and they move with ease back and forth into Iraq. Men flying the flag of al Qaeda took over large parts of Ramadi and Fallujah last week, ousting the Iraq army.

The Iraqis are promising a counterattack to retake Fallujah, but insurgencies aren't easily beaten when they have support in the local population. Many local Sunni leaders no longer trust the Maliki government, which may not be able to protect them against al Qaeda reprisals.

The U.S. recently supplied Mr. Maliki with Hellfire missiles to use against the insurgency, and he wants American intelligence and drone support. It's clearly in the U.S. interest to defeat the jihadists. If al Qaeda can operate with impunity in Anbar, it could develop safe havens from which it can plot attacks outside Iraq. As we learned from Afghanistan before 2001, that includes attacks on the U.S. 

More at the link.

Escaping the Public School System

From Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "Consider alternative schooling":

My daughter did most of her high school online, after spending one day in ninth grade keeping track of how the public high school she attended spent her time. At the end of eight hours in school, she concluded, she had spent about 2½ hours on actual learning.

Switching to online school let her make sure that every hour counted. The flexibility also allowed her to work three days a week for a local TV-production company, where she got experience researching and writing for programs shown on the Biography Channel, A&E, etc., something she couldn't have done had she been nailed down in a traditional school. And she still managed to graduate a year early, at age 16, to head off to a "public Ivy" to study engineering. Did she miss out on socializing at school? Possibly, but at her job she got to spend more time with talented, hardworking adults, which may have been better. (And, as a friend pointed out, nobody ever got shot or pregnant at online school.)

And buy Reynolds' new book, The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education From Itself.

'Face the Nation' Flashback: Fidel Castro Interview

El Comandante Fidel appeared on "Face the Nation" 55 years ago this month, the most "notorious" guest ever to appear on the show. And not a word he uttered was true, which is par for the course for Communists.

The part about Ed Sullivan scooping Edward R. Murrow is worth it alone.

'Cheney, like her father, is an unapologetic neoconservative who favors muscular use of American military power overseas, a policy that does not sit well with many grassroots conservatives, particularly in the libertarian-leaning West...'

That's Liz Cheney, who I love, but who's now dropping out of the Wyoming Senate race, not surprisingly.

At CNN, "First on CNN: Liz Cheney to abandon Senate bid" (via Memeorandum).

In Congress, 2014 Begins with Shrunken Ambitions

Well, it's not like Harry Reid was gonna reach across the aisle or anything. See his interview on "Meet the Press,"Reid: Republicans should extend unemployment insurance." And the Republican response, "House GOP looks to foil Dems' 2014 agenda."

At WaPo:

Back in 2009, during the heady days of hope and change, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced 90 pieces of legislation. In 2013, amid gridlock and dysfunction, he sponsored just 35 bills. None of them became law.

It was a familiar pattern. Members of Congress from both parties introduced fewer bills last year than in similar legislative years over the past decade. They cast fewer votes than usual. And, as has been noted, they passed fewer laws than in any other year in recorded congressional history.

Set to begin a new session Monday, lawmakers are struggling to find optimism that 2014 will mark a pivot point for an institution whose historically low approval rating has been at or below 20 percent for three years. Last year seemed to bring a rock-bottom moment — not just in the public’s view but across the Capitol, where ambition withered among lawmakers themselves.

“Legislators give up on the process, and either before or right after they’ve done that, the people that we work for give up on the process,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a 17-year veteran of the House and the Senate. He summed up the malaise that some members of Congress feel: “Whenever anybody tells me, ‘I’m frustrated with the way the Senate and the Congress are working,’ I say, ‘I fully understand; I’m more frustrated with this than you are.’ ”

The year ended with a bright moment when bipartisan groups in the House and the Senate agreed to a budget framework for 2014 and 2015.

Rather than a reprieve, however, that modest bill presented a challenge: Can lawmakers continue to forge compromises between the GOP-controlled House and the Democrat-dominated Senate, or was the budget deal a brief flicker of comity?

“We could show the American people how you do legislation in a divided Congress, and it takes a lot of work, and you have to listen to each other, and you have to be respectful of each other, which I think, in general, has been lacking,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who co-sponsored the budget deal with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Look, you go to legislate with the legislative institutions that you have. Republicans need to hold firm against the left's big government agenda while positioning themselves for electoral gains in November.

More at the link.

Propagandizing at the MLA

A great piece, from Jonathan Marks at Commentary.

RELATED: At Instapundit, "TOLERANT ACADEMIA: Modern Language Association’s fascist douchebags outlaw The Daily Caller from convention."

And following the links takes us to this precious piece, at the (Revolutionary Communist) Progressive Labor Party, "Modern Language Association Convention PL’ers Put Communism on the Agenda":

Party members gave papers on various facets of literary radicalism: the role played by communists in the proletarian and post-colonial literary movements; speculation about post-class society in literary works focusing on racism and sexism; debates over the “idea of communism” in current political theory. The current economic crisis, along with the dire job market faced by many humanities scholars and teachers, has many MLA members querying the legitimacy of capitalism.

That's from last January, which just goes to show, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

NFL Fans Forgo Playoff Tickets, Prefer the Couch

Well, at five below not counting the wind chill, is it any wonder?

At WSJ, "Packers, Colts, Bengals Struggle to Sell Seats Despite Soaring TV Ratings":

I can't imagine being at Green Bay today. God bless those dedicated fans.

— Madison Martin (@maddyemartin) January 5, 2014

The NFL enters the first round of playoff games this weekend with soaring television ratings, billions of dollars in network TV contracts in their pocket and a nation of football fans who can't wait to hop on their couch and watch a weekend of games.

The league has never been a more popular viewing option. There's just one problem: Fewer people want to actually attend the games.

In the latest evidence that the sports in-home viewing experience has possibly trumped the in-stadium one, ticket sales were slow for the first week of the National Football League's marquee stretch of games.

Three teams hosting games this weekend asked the league for extensions to sell more tickets for the games to avoid a television blackout in local markets, which is imposed by NFL policy if a game isn't sold out. The teams, the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals, needed large corporate assistance to ensure the sellouts.

"This wasn't just financial, this was emotional. This game needed to be on TV for the people of Wisconsin," said Jay Zollar, the general manager of WLUK, a Fox affiliate in Green Bay, Wis. His station, along with two other Fox affiliates in Wisconsin, as well as three local businesses, decided on Thursday to purchase any remaining tickets.

More at the link.

Menachem 'Max' Stark, Slain New York City Slumlord, Had Mile Long 'Enemies List'

So that means he had it coming?

And the dude was an Hasidic Jew, at Twitchy, "‘Shame on you!’ Did the New York Post go too far with this cover story? [pic]."



And see the Post's story, "Who DIDN'T want him dead? The burnt body of slumlord Menachem "Max" Stark was discovered in the trash Friday after he was kidnapped off a Williamsburg street."

Well, the Post always takes it right up to the line, so WTF? The market will respond, yeah or nay.

Mitt Romney Accepts Melissa Harris-Perry Apology for Racist Attack on Grandchild

Twitchy has it, "‘Class act’: A gracious Mitt Romney responds to MSNBC’s mockery of his grandson; Update: Video added."

And the full interview here:

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Night Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Facebook Blocks the People's Cube

It's all about homosexuals these days.

You can't make a joke anymore without bringing down the leftist thought police.

At the People's Cube, "Facebook Censors the People's Cube, Blocks for 12 Hours."

New Year's Rule 5

It's time for another Sunday roundup.

That's the lovely Jessica Davies below, via Twitter.

Fan of Glamour has more.

Soylent has "Your Morning Coffer Creamer."

And now over to Knuckledraggin' My Life Away, "Your Good Morning Girl."

At Wine, Women, and Politics, "Your Babe of the Day."

From Dave In Texas, "Wildcard Sunday Game 2."

And see Proof Positive, "Best of the Web* Linkaround," and "SF 49er's vs. Green Bay Packers- Playoffs Round One."

Ms. EBL has, "Congratulations Saints Rule 5."

American Perspective has, "When Cabin Fever Strikes, Pump It UP! (Video)."

And see Blackmailers, "Rule 5 Saturday with Adrianne Palicki."

From Doug Hagin, "DALEYGATOR DALEYBABE ALEXI LEI."

At Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is horrible freezing cold water inundating the biosphere because someone drove a fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist."

From Sean Linnane, "The BIRDS of STORMBRINGER."

At 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Graphic Art: Snow Trooper."

And at Odie's, "Three Dogs ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

And at the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday–Resolution Edition."

From A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, "The Friday Pin Up."

At Barking Moonbat, "Going Shopping."

More from Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: This one was easy!"

Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Heather Crook."

From Drunken Stepfather, "LEA MICHELLE’S BRAZILIAN CUT BIKINI ASS OF THE DAY," and "Steplinks of the Day."

At Classy Bro, "10 Hottest Photos of Playboy Model Shelby Chesnes" (via Linkiest).

Still more at the Chive, "There’s something special about a woman’s back (30 Photos)."

And from Popaholic, "Julia Pereira’s Candid Bikini Pictures Are So Freaking Hot You’re Eyeballs Will Melt!"

Front has "Hannah Martin."

Finally, at Egotastic!, "Olga Kent Unveils the Red Bikini Wet and Wild and Nipple Ready in Miami."

BONUS: At Saberpoint, "Hysterical Laughter at the Ice-Bound Global Warming Believers."

And drop your links in the comments if I've missed you and I'll get you linked up at the next roundup!

'Before marrying Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray identified as a lesbian, which has become part of the progressive credentials of New York’s first family...'

Oh brother.

So, British Olympic diver Tom Daley, who's just 19, came out as homosexual in a YouTube video a few days ago, and the homo-rights industry is all aflutter at the news. One small problem, though. The dude goofed in his announcement, saying "Of course I still fancy girls." Oops! Not cool, especially if you're looking for some creds. Seriously. I just love the quote at the headline about Bill de Blasio's wife identifying as lesbian before marrying the future mayor, because on the left it's all about maintaining your perverted ideological bona fides.

At the New York Times, "Bisexual: A Label With Layers — Tom Daley Comes Out as Bisexual, Igniting L.G.B.T. Debate":

“Of course I still fancy girls.”

Those six little words, tossed off like a request to please hold the mustard ....

But the cheers were premature, or at least qualified. Despite the trending Twitter hashtag #TomGayley, Mr. Daley never used the word “gay,” and there was the matter of his still fancying girls. While many commenters embraced the ambiguity (“I don’t care if Tom Daley’s gay or bi or whatever ... He’s still fit,” one tweeted), others raised eyebrows.

Was it a disclaimer? A cop-out? A ploy to hold on to fans? Was he being greedy, as some joked? Or was he, as the video’s blushing tone suggested, simply caught up in the heady disorientation of first love, a place too intoxicating for labels?

Whatever the answer, Mr. Daley’s disclosure reignited a fraught conversation within the L.G.B.T. community, having to do with its third letter. Bisexuality, like chronic fatigue syndrome, is often assumed to be imaginary by those on the outside. The stereotypes abound: bisexuals are promiscuous, lying or in denial. They are gay men who can’t yet admit that they are gay, or “lesbians until graduation,” sowing wild oats before they find husbands.

“The reactions that you’re seeing are classic in terms of people not believing that bisexuality really exists, feeling that it’s a transitional stage or a form of being in the closet,” said Lisa Diamond, a professor at the University of Utah who studies sexual orientation.

Population-based studies, Dr. Diamond said, indicate that bisexuality is in fact more common than exclusively same-sex attraction, and that female libido is particularly open-ended. That may explain why female bisexuality is more conspicuous in popular culture, from Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” to “The Kids Are All Right” and the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black.” (That straight men may find it titillating doesn’t hurt.)

In a recent Modern Love essay in The New York Times revealing her relationship with another woman, the actress Maria Bello wrote, “My feelings about attachment and partnership have always been that they are fluid and evolving.” Before marrying Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray identified as a lesbian, which has become part of the progressive credentials of New York’s first family.

Male bisexuality, by contrast, is more vexed, and much of the skepticism comes from gay men. In the aftermath of Mr. Daley’s announcement, Ann Friedman wrote a post for New York Magazine’s The Cut blog predicting that male bisexuality would become more visible as gender mores evolved. “Traditional definitions of masculinity — which tend to go hand in hand with homophobia — are going through a real shake-up,” Ms. Friedman wrote. “More hetero men are tentatively admitting that they’re turned on by certain sex acts associated with gay men.”

The gay conservative pundit Andrew Sullivan swiftly countered on his own blog, The Dish, saying, “I suspect, pace Friedman’s dreams, that there will always be far fewer men who transcend traditional sexual categories — because male sexuality is much cruder, simpler and more binary than female.” He called Mr. Daley’s claim about liking girls “a classic bridging mechanism to ease the transition to his real sexual identity. I know because I did it, too.”

Keep reading.

The "It Doesn't Get Better" homo-bully Dan Savage is cited at the piece. He apparently hates bisexuals and has been accused of "biophobia."

Like I always say: It's hard out there for the freak rim-station radicals!

Oops! New York Times Goes Off Script, Claims U.S. Power Vacuum Foments Middle East Chaos

Sometimes things get so bad even the administration's official media mouthpiece can no longer spin the spin.

At the Old Gray Lady, "Absent U.S., Power Vacuum in Middle East Lifts Militants":

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The images of recent days have an eerie familiarity, as if the horrors of the past decade were being played back: masked gunmen recapturing the Iraqi cities of Falluja and Ramadi, where so many American soldiers died fighting them. Car bombs exploding amid the elegance of downtown Beirut. The charnel house of Syria’s worsening civil war.

But for all its echoes, the bloodshed that has engulfed Iraq, Lebanon and Syria in the past two weeks exposes something new and destabilizing: the emergence of a post-American Middle East in which no broker has the power, or the will, to contain the region’s sectarian hatreds.

Amid this vacuum, fanatical Islamists have flourished in both Iraq and Syria under the banner of Al Qaeda, as the two countries’ conflicts amplify each other and foster ever-deeper radicalism. Behind much of it is the bitter rivalry of two great oil powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rulers — claiming to represent Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively — cynically deploy a sectarian agenda that makes almost any sort of accommodation a heresy.

“I think we are witnessing a turning point, and it could be one of the worst in all our history,” said Elias Khoury, a Lebanese novelist and critic who lived through his own country’s 15-year civil war. “The West is not there, and we are in the hands of two regional powers, the Saudis and Iranians, each of which is fanatical in its own way. I don’t see how they can reach any entente, any rational solution.”

The drumbeat of violence in recent weeks threatens to bring back the worst of the Iraqi civil war that the United States touched off with an invasion and then spent billions of dollars and thousands of soldiers’ lives to overcome.

With the possible withdrawal of American forces in Afghanistan looming later this year, many fear that an insurgency will unravel that country, too, leaving another American nation-building effort in ashes.

The Obama administration defends its record of engagement in the region, pointing to its efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis and the Palestinian dispute, but acknowledges that there are limits. “It’s not in America’s interests to have troops in the middle of every conflict in the Middle East, or to be permanently involved in open-ended wars in the Middle East,” Benjamin J. Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, said in an email on Saturday.

For the first time since the American troop withdrawal of 2011, fighters from a Qaeda affiliate have recaptured Iraqi territory. In the past few days they have seized parts of the two biggest cities in Anbar Province, where the government, which the fighters revile as a tool of Shiite Iran, struggles to maintain a semblance of authority.

Lebanon has seen two deadly car bombs, including one that killed a senior political figure and American ally.

In Syria, the tempo of violence has increased, with hundreds of civilians killed by bombs dropped indiscriminately on houses and markets.

Linking all this mayhem is an increasingly naked appeal to the atavistic loyalties of clan and sect. Foreign powers’ imposing agendas on the region, and the police-state tactics of Arab despots, had never allowed communities to work out their long-simmering enmities. But these divides, largely benign during times of peace, have grown steadily more toxic since the Iranian revolution of 1979. The events of recent years have accelerated the trend, as foreign invasions and the recent round of Arab uprisings left the state weak, borders blurred, and people resorting to older loyalties for safety...

Shameful. Just downright shameful. More at the link.

And see Michelle Malkin, "Obama’s Afghanistan mess."

Bad Idea: Widespread Marijuana Legalization

I'm surprised by this essay, from Larry Kudlow, at RCP. I had no idea he was a recovering addict.

See, "Enough Pot Happy Talk":

There was way too much giddiness in the media about the first day of legal pot selling in Colorado. Instead of all the happy talk, I think it's time for some sober discussion and a strong dose of education about the addiction risks of smoking marijuana -- particularly among young people. It may start out as a party, but it often ends up as something much, much worse.

With the grace of God, I've been clean and sober for over 18 years -- a recovery experience that still has me going to a lot of 12-step meetings. And I hear time and again from young people coming into the rooms to get sober how pot smoking led to harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Now, this is anecdotal, and I am not an expert. And I will say that many people can control alcohol or pot or other drugs. But I am not one of them. And I am not alone.

Talk to virtually any professional drug counselor, and they will warn that pot is a gateway drug. Or listen to left-of-center columnist Ruth Marcus, who has gathered important professional evidence about the risks of pot.

Ms. Marcus reminds us that the American Medical Association recommended against legalization, stating, "Cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern." The AMA added that pot "is the most common illicit drug involved in drugged driving, particularly in drivers under the age of 21. Early cannabis use is related to later substance-use disorders."

The AMA also noted that "Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood and psychotic-thought disorders."

I am indebted to Ruth Marcus for this information. She, by the way, thinks "widespread legalization is a bad idea, if an inevitable development."

Now, I didn't hear any of this coming from the media in its first day of reporting on legal pot sales. That's way too bad. The risks associated with pot use must be discussed frequently and soberly so that all can recognize the downside threats.

Keep reading.

Kudlow's not necessarily against legalization. He just wants a full airing of the issue. Enough with the dopey media pom-pom sections.

Bull Sends Woman Flying Into the Stands

This is lol material.

Watch at BCF, "Bull gives woman impressive lift off."

London SkyCycle

At Wired:

Cars, buses, and rogue pedestrians are all conspiring against cyclists in congested cities, forever running them down, scaring them silly or simply getting in the way. It’s something designer Norman Foster — an avid rider — hopes to alleviate with a dedicated biking highway built above London’s rail lines.

The purely hypothetical but nevertheless amazing SkyCycle would stretch 137 miles in and around the city, accommodating as many as 12,000 riders per hour on a cycling superhighway 50 feet wide. The dream calls for 200 on- and off-ramps which, according to Foster + Partners’ estimates, means nearly 6 million people will live or work within 10 minutes of an entrance. Without all those cars to weave around and lights to stop for, travel times to and from work would be reduced by up to 29 minutes.

A 137-mile 'cycling utopia' floating above London's rail lines http://t.co/59kGH9KDIO pic.twitter.com/iA90iNvvAb

— WIRED (@WIRED) January 5, 2014

U.S-Iraq Distrust Hinders Fight Against al-Qaeda

Obama's abandonment of Iraq is playing out, as I mentioned yesterday, "Al-Qaeda in Iraq Resurgent."

And now here comes this, at the Los Angeles Times, "Distrust hinders U.S.-Iraq fight against resurgent Al Qaeda militants":

WASHINGTON — With insurgents linked to Al Qaeda battling for control of two major Iraqi cities, long-standing suspicion between the Obama administration and the government in Baghdad is hindering joint efforts against a common foe.

Sunni Muslim militants have gained control of territory in western Iraq's Anbar province in recent weeks, and intense fighting has broken out in two of Anbar's main cities, Fallouja and Ramadi, that were the sites of crucial battles during the Iraq war. On Friday, militants waving the Al Qaeda flag blew up key government buildings in Fallouja.

The Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rushed reinforcements into the region. More than 8,000 Iraqis died in the fighting last year, according to United Nations figures, making it the bloodiest year since 2008. But in one sign of the gap between Washington and Baghdad, Maliki's government recently halted secret U.S. surveillance flights by unarmed drones.

Across the border in Syria, militant groups are playing an increasingly large role in the insurgency against President Bashar Assad. Among the most prominent militant groups on both sides of the border is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The group has roots in Iraq, but the civil war in Syria has provided fresh supplies of money, weapons and fighters. Under the leadership of Abu Bakr Baghdadi, it seeks to create an Islamic caliphate including the territory of both Syria and Iraq.

As some ISIS militants were fighting government forces in western Iraq on Friday, others were battling other Syrian rebel groups trying to limit their reach near Aleppo, in western Syria.

Some current and former U.S. officials say they believe the White House is still weighing how deeply it wants to be involved in containing the militants, but several former officials are urging it to waste no time in stepping up its efforts.

"It was bad enough when this contagion was just inside Syria, but now it's spreading, and that's a whole lot worse," said Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to '09. Nothing could be more worrisome, he said, than the militant groups' plan to expand their grip on territory, giving them a base from which they could plot long-range operations.

Continue reading.

And more at the Washington Post, "Rebels battle al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters across northern Syria."

Blackadder Libel: The Left's Typically Depraved Attack on Britain's Education Secretary Michael Gove

I had to look up "Blackadder," not being British and all.

Although I do have some knowledge of the origins of World War I, not to mention the left's nihilistic antiwar hatred of anything resembling patriotic memory. Thus this debate over the comments made by British Education Secretary Michael Gove are completely predictable.

The background's at London's Daily Mail, "Michael Gove blasts 'Blackadder myths' about the First World War spread by television sit-coms and left-wing academics":

Left-wing myths about the First World War peddled by Blackadder belittle Britain and clear Germany of blame, Michael Gove says today.

The Education Secretary criticises historians and TV programmes that denigrate patriotism and courage by depicting the war as a ‘misbegotten shambles’.

As Britain prepares to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the war, Mr Gove claims only undergraduate cynics would say the soldiers were foolish to fight.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Mr Gove says he has little time for the view of the Department for Culture and the Foreign Office that the commemorations should not lay fault at Germany’s door.

The Education Secretary says the conflict was a ‘just war’ to combat aggression by a German elite bent on domination.

‘The First World War may have been a uniquely horrific war, but it was also plainly a just war,’ he says. ‘The ruthless social Darwinism of the German elites, the pitiless approach they took to occupation, their aggressively expansionist war aims and their scorn for the international order all made resistance more than justified.’

Gove's comments are uncontroversial and smack dab within the historical consensus on both the origins of the war and the counterfactual expectations had Britain not fought in 1914. But leftists are so bloody blinkered with hatred that any historical just-war affirmation is shot down with stupid faux righteousness.

There's more on this at the Independent UK, "Cambridge history professor hits back at Michael Gove's 'ignorant attack'":

The battlefield hostilities may have officially terminated 96 years ago but the argument over the rights and wrongs of the First World War show little sign having been settled. Today, one of Britain’s most eminent historians hit back at what he described as an “ignorant attack” by Education Secretary Michael Gove on his analysis of the conflict.

Writing in the Daily Mail yesterday Mr Gove accused Professor Sir Richard Evans of failing to acknowledge the debt owed to the soldiers that were killed in the Great War claiming he had previously dismissed attempts to honour their sacrifice as “narrow tub-thumping jingoism”.

Sir Richard, Regius Professor of History and President of Wolfson College Cambridge, suggested the criticism stemmed from his vocal opposition to the Education Secretary’s ill-fated attempts to reform the way history is taught in schools.

Professor Evans told The Independent: “I never said that at all. I said his proposals for the National Curriculum were narrow tub-thumping jingoism and there is some relationship between that.”  In his article Mr Gove claimed that the centenary of the start of the war which is being marked this year should not be seen “through the fictional prism” of Oh! What a Lovely War and Black Adder which characterised the four years of fighting which cost 16m lives and resulted in 20m wounded as a “series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite”. “Even to this day there are left-wing academics all too happy to feed these myths,” he wrote.

However, Professor Evans accused Mr Gove of oversimplification.  “How can you possibly claim that Britain was fighting for democracy and liberal values when the main ally was Tsarist Russia? That was a despotism that put Germany in the shade and sponsored pogroms in 1903-6.”

He said that unlike Germany where male suffrage was universal – 40 per cent of those British troops fighting in the war did not have the vote until 1918. “The Kaiser was not like Hitler, he was not a dictator. He could never make his mind up and changed his mind every five minutes. The largest political party in Germany in 1914 were the Social Democrats,” he said. “Germany was a very divided country in 1914 and becomes more so as time goes on. It is not Nazi Germany,” he added.

Professor Evans agreed with Mr Gove that the debate about the war is too much shaped by popular culture. “I think the Government has got it about right. I think the Department for Culture Media and Sport has made money available for groups and institutions to mark the war in any way they see fit. That is the right thing to do. I don’t think anyone should try and impose their political view on the public. The kind of debate we are having now is the right thing to do.”

Professor Gary Sheffield of the University of Wolverhampton, who was praised by Mr Gove for his recent study of Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force whose Western Front offensives cost nearly one million British lives, said it was not a question of ideology.

“Mr Gove’s politics and mine are pretty different but the view he has put forward is right. What he was wrong about however is that there is a left-right split – there isn’t,” he said.

“The publicity that has been kicking off around the centenary has reflected the Black Adder point of view although he (Mr Gove) is wrong to single it out – it is satire not documentary.”

Professor Sheffield said mainstream historians had been revising their opinions of the conflict over the past three decades overturning the “bad war” theory which had taken hold in the 1930s.

“The war was fought for defensive reasons and Europe would have been a very dark place if Germany had not been defeated. Imperial Germany wasn’t as bad as Nazi Germany but it was bad enough,” he said. “We don’t want this year to be a jingoistic carnival of celebration but rather a sober understanding that what Britain was fighting for was important. It was a war against aggression,” he added.

I disagree with Professor Sheffield on the so called left/right split. The popular culture is already screwed. And should the grade school curriculum be polluted with blather about how the war was a waste of lives, a "misbegotten shambles," then the left's antiwar meme will be indoctrinating generations of British youth.

Here's Gove's initial piece that brought forth the leftist spew, "Why does the Left insist on belittling true British heroes? MICHAEL GOVE asks damning question as the anniversary of the First World War approaches." And more typical antiwar bilge, at the far left New Statesman, "Michael Gove defends deaths of 37 million people as 'just'."

Boeing Vote Deals Blow to Southland Hopes for 777x Project

I was thinking about this earlier, "Boeing Machinists Accept 777x Contract."

See LAT, "Boeing union's vote is a blow to Southern California":

The 777X & its composite wing will be built in Puget Sound area as a result of tonight’s vote. Boeing statement: http://t.co/vOM0EclS6w

— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) January 4, 2014

The labor dispute drew attention of Southern California lawmakers still reeling from Boeing's decision in September that it would close the C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet plant in Long Beach in 2015. The plant was talked about being a potential home for the 777X program.

"Obviously, California would have loved to bring the 777X program home," said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), chairman of the Assembly's Select Committee on Aerospace. "But we'll continue to reach out to Boeing to try and bring manufacturing jobs to Long Beach."

#FULLCOMMUNISM: 'Rolling Stone’s five economic reforms sure sound like Marxism...'

This is freakin' hilarious.

At Twitchy, "‘This cannot possibly be real’: Rolling Stone’s five economic reforms sure sound like Marxism."

More from Nick Gillespie, "Rolling Stone's Sad "5 Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For'." (At Memeorandum.)

Rolling Stone blows.

— S.M (@redsteeze) January 4, 2014

You know what else really blows? Communists.

— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) January 4, 2014

.@AdamBaldwin The writer blows. He doesn't realize Obama blows. He also rides a unicorn that blows rainbow toots out of it's hind end.

— ★♥ Harriet Baldwin (@HarrietBaldwin) January 4, 2014

Depraved Melissa Harris-Perry Sheds Crocodile Tears in On-Air Romney Apology to Save Her Job

I remember her whooping it up during the segment last week. At no time did she rein in her panel and say, "Hey, this discussion is going in a way that's derogatory and unhealthy." She could have apologized at that moment and moved on, and thus would have prevented this whole blowup that may still cost her her job.

At London's Daily Mail, "Melissa Harris-Perry makes tearful apology after joke that made Mitt Romney's adopted black grandson the butt of a series of jokes."

And from Ed Morrissey, "Video: Melissa Harris-Perry’s tearful apology to Romney and other adoptive families":

BuzzFeed’s Dorsey Shaw notes that Mitt Romney is scheduled to appear on Fox News Sunday, and suggests that he will respond to Harris-Perry at that time. I’d be surprised, though, if the normally-gracious Romney has anything more to say about it than an acceptance of this apology today. This is the kind of moment most people would do best to rise above, rather than slug it out with their families in the crossfire.

Captain Ed argues it's time to move on, and perhaps it is, although, as broached above, I think Dan Riehl nails it, "She Lies! Original Video Indicates Melissa Harris-Perry’s Tearful Apology Is Bogus":

In today’s tearful apology MSNBC host Melissa Harris Perry claims she “identified with” the Romney family picture that her show went on to mock. She also claims that she intended to say “positive and celebratory” things about it, not make it the butt of a joke.

That’s obviously false – in fact, as she admits, the very title of a segment she was basically setting up was “Look back in laughter.” That alone suggests she is simply spinning to get out of trouble, now.

And speaking of crying, I won't be when Harris-Perry gets canned.

Alabama Mom Michelle Pritchett Attacks Oklahoma Fans at Sugar Bowl

At the Blaze, "‘I’D DO IT AGAIN’: MOM WHO LEAPED OVER BLEACHERS TO ATTACK ENEMY FOOTBALL FANS DEFENDS HER WILD ACTIONS."

She told Yellowhammer News: “It started off being friendly, just us going back and forth about the game … But what ended up happening had nothing to do with the game. It escalated. When they said something to my son, I told them to shut their mouths. They were telling my son to come down there and ‘do something about it.’ I said, ‘no, that’s not going to happen. This crap needs to stop.’”

Pritchett said her son is 16, and they “crossed the line” when they started “taunting” him.

“The security people had already gotten on to those guys for throwing bottles at people,” she added. “When they escorted me out, the security guard told them there was no reason to be pressing charges on me because those guys were out of control the whole game. I defended my son. If they had kicked those boys out to begin with, it wouldn’t have happened the way it did.”

I'd defend my kid too, but perhaps she could have gotten security over there, in the fuckers' faces. Mighta been able to stay for the whole game.

Also at London's Daily Mail, "'I'd do it again if I had to': Alabama fan mom unapologetic following viral video of her DIVING over crowd to attack Oklahoma students at Sugar Bowl game."

Why Snowden Won't (and Shouldn't) Get Clemency

From Fred Kaplan, at Slate, "He went too far to be considered just a whistleblower" (via Louise Mensch):

I regard Daniel Ellsberg as an American patriot. I was one of the first columnists to write that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should be fired for lying to Congress. On June 7, two days after the first news stories based on Edward Snowden’s leaks, I wrote a column airing (and endorsing) the concerns of Brian Jenkins, a leading counterterrorism expert, that the government’s massive surveillance program had created “the foundation of a very oppressive state.”

And yet I firmly disagree with the New York Times’ Jan. 1 editorial (“Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower”), calling on President Obama to grant Snowden “some form of clemency” for the “great service” he has done for his country.

It is true that Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance of American citizens—far vaster than any outsider had suspected, in some cases vaster than the agency’s overseers on the secret FISA court had permitted—have triggered a valuable debate, leading possibly to much-needed reforms.

If that were all that Snowden had done, if his stolen trove of beyond-top-secret documents had dealt only with the NSA’s domestic surveillance, then some form of leniency might be worth discussing.

But Snowden did much more than that. The documents that he gave the Washington Post’s Barton Gellman and the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald have, so far, furnished stories about the NSA’s interception of email traffic, mobile phone calls, and radio transmissions of Taliban fighters in Pakistan’s northwest territories; about an operation to gauge the loyalties of CIA recruits in Pakistan; about NSA email intercepts to assist intelligence assessments of what’s going on inside Iran; about NSA surveillance of cellphone calls “worldwide,” an effort that (in the Post’s words) “allows it to look for unknown associates of known intelligence targets by tracking people whose movements intersect.” In his first interview with the South China Morning Post, Snowden revealed that the NSA routinely hacks into hundreds of computers in China and Hong Kong.

These operations have nothing to do with domestic surveillance or even spying on allies. They are not illegal, improper, or (in the context of 21st-century international politics) immoral. Exposing such operations has nothing to do with “whistle-blowing.”

Many have likened Snowden’s actions to Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers. (Ellsberg himself has made the comparison.) But the Pentagon Papers were historical documents on how the United States got involved in the Vietnam War. Ellsberg leaked them (after first taking them to several senators, who wanted nothing to do with them) in the hopes that their revelations would inspire pressure to end the war. It’s worth noting that he did not leak several volumes of the Papers dealing with ongoing peace talks. Nor did he leak anything about tactical operations. Nor did he go to North Vietnam and praise its leaders (as Snowden did in Russia).

The New Yorker’s Amy Davidson, who has called on Obama to “pardon” Snowden, cited Jimmy Carter’s pardoning of Vietnam-era draft dodgers as “a useful parallel when thinking about Snowden’s legal situation.” This suggestion is mind-boggling on several levels. Among other things, Snowden signed an oath, as a condition of his employment as an NSA contractor, not to disclose classified information, and knew the penalties for violating the oath. The young men who evaded the draft, either by fleeing to Canada or serving jail terms, did so in order to avoid taking an oath to fight a war that they opposed—a war that was over, and widely reviled, by the time that Carter pardoned them.

There are no such extenuating circumstances favoring forgiveness of Snowden. The Times editorial paints an incomplete picture when it claims that he “stole a trove of highly classified documents after he became disillusioned with the agency’s voraciousness.” In fact, as Snowden himself told the South China Morning Post, he took his job as an NSA contractor, with Booz Allen Hamilton, because he knew that his position would grant him “access to lists of machines all over the world [that] the NSA hacked.” He stayed there for just three months, enough to do what he came to do.

Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel of Reuters later reported, in an eye-opening scoop, that Snowden gained access to his cache of documents by persuading 20 to 25 of his fellow employees to give him their logins and passwords, saying he needed the information to help him do his job as systems administrator. (Most of these former colleagues were subsequently fired.)

Is a clear picture emerging of why Snowden’s prospects for clemency resemble the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell? He gets himself placed at the NSA’s signals intelligence center in Hawaii for the sole purpose of pilfering extremely classified documents. (How many is unclear: I’ve heard estimates ranging from “tens of thousands” to 1.1 million.)  He gains access to many of them by lying to his fellow workers (and turning them into unwitting accomplices). Then he flees to Hong Kong (a protectorate of China, especially when it comes to foreign policy) and, from there, to Russia.

This isn’t quite what it would have seemed in Cold War times...

A great piece of writing. Basically, Snowden's a very bad man. Far from a patriot, he's deserving of a long stint behind bars, if not the death penalty (a point on which I vehemently disagree with Kaplan).

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