A City of Mourning and Demonized Police

From Dorothy Rabinowitz, at WSJ, "Shunned by cops, allied with Al Sharpton, incensed by criticism: New York’s mayor begins his second year":

As demonstrations over the grand-jury decisions in Ferguson, Mo., and New York’s Staten Island gathered momentum, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney felt herself obliged on Dec. 9 to issue a campus-wide apology. Her offense? Having said, in a message of support for the protests, that “all lives matter”—for which she became a target of enraged rebukes charging her with insensitivity and with minimizing the concerns of blacks.

What President McCartney’s instant apology said about the moral spine and leadership on the nation’s campuses today needs no spelling out. It wouldn’t be long, however, before the impact of two nonblack lives snuffed out with murderous deliberation would come blasting into the continuing carnival of staged “die-ins,” blocked highways and chanting marchers, including the contingent shouting “What do we want? Dead cops.”

Nothing more instantly transformed the atmosphere in New York than the Dec. 20 killing of police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, shot as they sat in their police car. It broke the hearts of New Yorkers, it demolished whatever shard of public sympathy was left for the marches and denunciations of the police. The murders had, in addition, caused a glaring light to be cast on the mayor of New York, whose central campaign theme when running for the office had been devoted almost exclusively to the evils, the racial bias, in the stop-and-frisk tactic practiced by the police.

Once in office, Bill de Blasio made clear his view of the police as a power that required watching and re-education. To which end he summoned Al Sharpton , the longtime race hustler whose lifetime career pressing fraudulent bias claims, inciting racial conflagrations, was apparently no deterrent to Mayor de Blasio, who described Mr. Sharpton as the nation’s foremost civil-rights leader. The general attitudes emanating from the de Blasio administration were, the police concluded, distinctly unsupportive.

The most important cause of all for that glaring light, of course, was the fact that the two police officers had been killed by an assassin inspired by the antipolice fervor of the demonstrators and by the image of police as a major danger to young black men.

The killer had attended one of the rallies. He had also made certain that there would be no mystery about his motive. He had posted online an explicit declaration of his aim to kill the police, and of the reason: “They Take 1 Of Ours...... Let’s Take 2 of Theirs #ShootThePolice.”

This didn’t prevent immediate efforts on the part of the press sympathetic to the protests, and to the mayor, to dismiss the murders of the police officers as one more case of mental disturbance. The murders had nothing to do, really, with any response to the cases of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York—or, more to the point, with any incitement by the nonstop flow of accusations by demonstrators casting the police as racists and killers.

Much like an echo of the politically driven instinct to play down acts of terrorism as the product of mental illness, family dysfunction and life’s disappointments, regular media portraits of the murderer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, ascribed his act to a turbulent personal life and mental illness.

The idea that deranged individuals with, say, a history of disturbed relationships and a tendency to violence shouldn’t be seen as genuine representatives of a cause, an ideology, is decidedly odd if not itself a kind of deranged thinking. When the cause itself is a grab bag of pathologies, it isn’t surprising that it attracts the disturbed...

More.

Obama's Lists: A Dubious History of Targeted Killings in Afghanistan

It takes Der Spiegel to offer a hard-headed look at President Obama's criminal drone policy, or it would be criminal if it were President G.W. Bush still in office. Remember, the American MSM still gives O an epic pass.

See, "Secret Docs Reveal Dubious Details of Targeted Killings in Afghanistan":

Combat operations in Afghanistan may be coming to an end, but a look at secret NATO documents reveals that the US and the UK were far less scrupulous in choosing targets for killing than previously believed. Drug dealers were also on the lists.

Death is circling above Helmand Province on the morning of Feb. 7, 2011, in the form of a British Apache combat helicopter named "Ugly 50." Its crew is searching for an Afghan named Mullah Niaz Mohammed. The pilot has orders to kill him.

The Afghan, who has been given the code name "Doody," is a "mid-level commander" in the Taliban, according to a secret NATO list. The document lists enemy combatants the alliance has approved for targeted killings. "Doody" is number 3,673 on the list and NATO has assigned him a priority level of three on a scale of one to four. In other words, he isn't particularly important within the Taliban leadership structure.

The operations center identified "Doody" at 10:17 a.m. But visibility is poor and the helicopter is forced to circle another time. Then the gunner fires a "Hellfire" missile. But he has lost sight of the mullah during the maneuver, and the missile strikes a man and his child instead. The boy is killed instantly and the father is severely wounded. When the pilot realizes that the wrong man has been targeted, he fires 100 rounds at "Doody" with his 30-mm gun, critically injuring the mullah.

The child and his father are two of the many victims of the dirty secret operations that NATO conducted for years in Afghanistan. Their fate is described in secret documents to which SPIEGEL was given access. Some of the documents concerning the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the NSA and GCHQ intelligence services are from the archive of whistleblower Edward Snowden. Included is the first known complete list of the Western alliance's "targeted killings" in Afghanistan. The documents show that the deadly missions were not just viewed as a last resort to prevent attacks, but were in fact part of everyday life in the guerilla war in Afghanistan.

The list, which included up to 750 people at times, proves for the first time that NATO didn't just target the Taliban leadership, but also eliminated mid- and lower-level members of the group on a large scale. Some Afghans were only on the list because, as drug dealers, they were allegedly supporting the insurgents...

Keep reading.

The Cuban Archipelago

From Jamie Glazov, at FrontPage Magazine:

Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl.

—Che Guevara, Motorcycle Diaries

President Obama’s recent move to cozy up to Communist Cuba is a crucially  important moment not just diplomatically, but as a moral one in regards to human rights, dignity and justice. As we witness a Radical-in-Chief throwing an economic lifeline to a barbaric tyranny, it is our duty and obligation to shine a light on the dark tragedy of the Cuban Gulag — and to reflect on the unspeakable suffering that Cubans have endured under Castro’s fascistic regime.

Until July 26, 2008, Fidel Castro had ruled Cuba with an iron grip for nearly five decades. On that July date in 2008, he stood to the side because of health problems and made his brother, Raul, de facto ruler. Raul officially replaced his brother as dictator on February 24, 2008; the regime has remained just as totalitarian as before and can, for obvious reasons, continue to be regarded and labelled as “Fidel Castro’s” regime.

Having seized power on January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro followed the tradition of Vladimir Lenin and immediately turned his country into a slave camp. Ever since, Cuba has distinguished itself as one of the most monstrous human-rights abusers in the world.

Half a million human beings have passed through Cuba’s Gulag. Since Cuba’s total population is only around eleven million, that gives Castro’s despotism the highest political incarceration rate per capita on earth. There have been more than fifteen thousand executions by firing squad. Torture has been institutionalized; myriad human-rights organizations have documented the regime’s use of electric shock, dark coffin-sized isolation cells, and beatings to punish “anti-socialist elements.” The Castro regime’s barbarity is best epitomized by the Camilo Cienfuegos plan, the program of horrors followed in the forced-labor camp on the Isle of Pines. Forced to work almost naked, prisoners were made to cut grass with their teeth and to sit in latrine trenches for long periods of time. Torture is routine.[i]

The horrifying experience of Armando Valladares, a Cuban poet who endured twenty-two years of torture and imprisonment for merely raising the issue of freedom, is a testament to the regime’s barbarity. Valladares’s memoir, Against All Hope, serves as Cuba’s version of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. Valladares recounts how prisoners were beaten with bayonets, electric cables, and truncheons. He tells how he and other prisoners were forced to take “baths” in human feces and urine.[ii]

Typical of the horror in Castro’s Gulag was the experience of Roberto López Chávez, one of Valladares’s prison friends. When López went on a hunger strike to protest the abuses in the prison, the guards withheld water from him until he became delirious, twisting on the floor and begging for something to drink. The guards then urinated in his mouth. He died the next day.[iii]

Since Castro’s death cult, like other leftist ideologies, believes that human blood purifies the earth—and since manifestations of grief affirm the reality of the individual, and thus are anathema to the totality—mourning for the departed became taboo. Thus, just like Mao’s China and Pol Pot’s Cambodia,[iv] so too Castro’s Cuba warned family members of murdered dissidents not to cry at their funerals.[v]

The Castro regime also has a long, grotesque record of torturing and murdering Americans. During the Vietnam War, Castro sent some of his henchmen to run the “Cuban Program” at the Cu Loc POW camp in Hanoi, which became known as “the Zoo.” Its primary objective was to determine how much physical and psychological agony a human being could withstand. The Cubans selected American POWs as their guinea pigs. A Cuban nicknamed “Fidel,” the main torturer at the Zoo, initiated his own personal reign of terror.[vi]

The ordeal of Lt. Col. Earl Cobeil, an F-105 pilot, illustrates the Nazi-like nature of the experiment. Among Fidel’s torture techniques were beatings and whippings over every part of his victim’s body, without remission.[vii] Former POW John Hubbell describes the scene as Fidel forced Cobeil into the cell of fellow POW Col. Jack Bomar...

Keep reading.

President Obama gave this horrific totalitarianism a pass, one of the biggest blows to human rights in the last 65 years.

Natasha Barnard

For Sports Illustrated swimsuit, "Natasha Barnard's Sexy Outtakes."

Fireworks Factory Explodes in Columbia

At Gizmodo, "Holy Shit, This Is What Happens When a Fireworks Factory Explodes."

The Myth of 'Learning Styles' is Likely Causing Harm

A very popular paradigm. I've listened to some of my teaching colleagues expound on it at length.

But there's little evidence to support the "learning styles" hypothesis, according to Wired, "All You Need to Know About the ‘Learning Styles’ Myth, in Two Minutes" (via Instapundit).

It's Never a Good Time for a Carbon Tax

Amen.

California just got hit with a new "carbon tax," which is supposed to cost consumer an additional $2 billion a year. And it's basically a stealth tax, part of a "cap and trade" scheme that no one knows about.

We're taxed enough already.

But see the analysis at the Daily Signal, in any case.

Movement to Stop 'Manspreading' Reaches San Francisco (VIDEO)

The most imbecilic "movement" ever devised, and of course San Francisco --- Moscow by the Bay --- would be pushing it to the leading edge.

At CBS News Bay Area, "Movement to Stop ‘Manspreading’ on Transit Reaches San Francisco."

At the clip, just talking about this makes one women get up and leave, obviously not so interested in hearing men discuss opening up space for their masculine parts. And that chunky woman at the 25-second mark? Jeez, lady, take a freakin' shower!

Also at CBS News New York, "'Dude... Stop the spread, please'."

ADDED: From Dr. Helen Smith, at Pajamas, "NYC to Curb ‘ManSpreading’":

Why is one form of sexism okay and the other not? And don’t give me the crap about the patriarchy. If you shame men in this way, you are a nasty sexist who deserves contempt.

Well, that's a good start to explaining leftist hatred. These people are depraved. And it never ends.

Egyptian Bomb Disposal Officer Killed in Giza

Looks like the bomb blew the poor f-ker's head off.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Video - Bomb disposal officer killed in explosion in Giza Egypt" (GRAPHIC).

List of Demands from 'Black Lives Matter'

This is laughable.

Sandhya Somashekhar, at the Washington Post, purports to chronicle the list of "demands" from the "Black Lives Matter" protesters. See, "Oprah says protesters lack clear demands. Here’s what they do want." Ah, I don't think these "demands" are what the protests are really all about.

In any case, here's the background on Oprah's tussle with the "Black Lives" criminals, "Protesters slam Oprah over comments that they lack ‘leadership’."

Actually, Oprah didn't go far enough in dissing these thugs.

Novelist Darryl Pinckney, at the latest issue of the New York Review, indicates that the Michael Brown protesters in Missouri were looking beyond the old guard MLK-style leadership as models for the new (misnamed) "civil rights" rights movement now emerging. Ella Baker, an iconic civil rights activist of the 20th century, who was critical of top-down professionalized leadership, is considered an inspiration by the Ferguson protesters, and she was "ambivalent about nonviolence."

And if you're following along on Twitter, you know that protesters are not all about "non-violent" avenues of resistance:

It is so integral for elders to find the connections between the rad #blackbrunch organizing methods + the 60's lunch counter sit-ins.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

It is so necessary for elders of social movements to recognize that we don't follow their hierarchal non-collectivist respectability shit.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

It is so beautiful to see horizontal leadership, allies knowing their place, community safety + queer prison abolition all in one space.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

Our generation is talking about trans people, about the need to abolish prisons + police forces, about the need to dismantle systems.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

Our generation is attempting to center anti-blackness in a deeply embedded white supremacist social structure. We want to eradicate systems.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

It is not just about indictments. It is about eradicating entire systems whose foundation lie in private property, violence + incarceration.
— Sharmin Ultra (@sharminultraa) January 6, 2015

Dismantle. Abolish. Eradicate.

Yeah, not at all about "non-violence."

And notice how the protests are increasingly racist as well, at AoSHQ, "Protests Become Explicitly Anti-White As Black Protesters Occupy "White Spaces"-- Restaurants Where People Are Eating Sunday Brunch."

Gigi Hadid

Some afternoon Rule 5 for good measure.

At London's Daily Mail, "Sneak peek! Cody Simpson's girlfriend Gigi Hadid poses for new Guess campaign."

Also at Egotastic!, "Gigi Hadid Is Your New Sextastic Face of Guess!"

BONUS: Ms. Hadid's was also a "rookie" for Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition 2014.

Far-Left #BlackLivesMatter Protesters Launch DDoS Attack Against Weasel Zippers

If you don't consider this all-out war from the radical left, you've either got your head in the sand or you're down with left's violence and terrorism.

At Weasel Zippers, "SITE NOTE: WZ Under Attack By Radical Black Group...," and "Today #BlackLivesMatter Imploded":

In the beginning of Occupy, there were some normal, non-radical folk that came out to the protests. People were upset about bailouts and thought that this was what the protest was about. But there was a point at about two months in, where the normal people figured out what Occupy was all about, and the normal people left. What was left was the organizing radicals who were not there because of bailouts but were there for revolution, for anti-U.S., anti-capitalism.

We’re at that point today with #BlackLives Matter. It has never been about #BlackLivesMatter, anymore than Occupy was about bailouts. It is about the same thing Occupy was about – revolution and anarcho-communism. Small wonder, as the same people are behind it.

Exactly. Hey, "hands up, don't shoot!" leftists, is that so hard?

Also at the Right Scoop, "Hackers have taken down a conservative website over THIS 'BLACKS ONLY' manual for 'Black Brunch' protests!"

Be sure to click through to read the (barely legible) "communication" at the link.

Marxists Crash American Economic Association Annual Meeting, Attack 'Fantasy World of Neoclassical Economics...'

I've yet to post on the #BlackBrunch protesters, who by the looks of their Twitter feeds are violent far-left cadres pushing anarcho-communist and neo-Marxist paradigms, and so it's a timely coincidence to come across this piece on the Occupy-backed radicals attacking the economics profession in Boston, at the Washington Post, "The protesters who are trying to upend the ‘fantasy world’ of economics" (via Lonely Con):

There were leaflets, a manifesto, and this warning: “On campus after campus, we will chase you old goats out of power. Then, in the months and years that follow, we will begin the work of reprogramming the doomsday machine.”

On Friday, on the eve of the annual meeting of The American Economic Association in Boston, attended by many of the top economists in the United States, the agents of the heterodoxy had come to declare war on the profession. The small group threw their messages onto the side of the Sheraton Boston in glowing, six-foot tall letters: “BEFORE ECONOMICS CAN PROGRESS, IT MUST ABANDON ITS SUICIDAL FORMALISM.”

“The projection’s looking great,” said Keith Harrington, bearded, bespectacled, and bundled-up, as the sun set in the subzero weather.

“It’s a twelve-thousand lumen projector,” said Kyle Depew, who had schlepped the suitcase-sized thing from New York that day.

Harrington, a community organizer and videographer, once worked as a climate change activist. But after a few years he came to see that the real fight was elsewhere. “The type of activism we were doing around climate was running into systemic challenges,” he said. “We couldn’t get the types of climate change policies we need without system change, without addressing questions in economics like growth and limits to growth.”

Harrington now runs a campaign called Kick it Over, which aims to combat what it describes as “the fantasy world of neoclassical economics — a faith-based religion of perfect markets, enlightened consumers and infinite growth that shapes the fates of billions.” The project is connected with the anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters, which had gestated the original idea behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. Harrington, who studied alternative economics at The New School, hopes to reform the profession from the inside, starting with the way it’s taught.

“When I was in school, I started realizing how limited was the range of economic ideas that students were exposed to in the classroom,” he said. “Neoclassicism is essentially the standard for 95 percent of the graduate departments in the country.”

Through mailing lists and word of mouth, Harrington recruited economics students from around the country to hold the campaign’s first official demonstration here, at this tweedy conference of academics. About nine students showed up at the Sheraton on Friday night to hand out fliers and smash the orthodoxy.

“We were just very disillusioned students for the first couple of years that we were taking econ,” said Jess Fuller, a senior at the University of Vermont majoring in economics and history. “We just felt it was very out of touch with reality, and there were some questions that never seemed to be answered or even asked in the first place.”

Fuller, who also works with a feminist group on her campus, says that mainstream economics doesn’t do a good enough job incorporating perspectives on gender and class.

“There is a sort of value judgment to the way economics is taught,” added Aparna Gopalan, a sophomore at Connecticut College. She recommended a book on Buddhist economics. “From that point of view, the GDP is so funny,” she said. “It makes no sense! It’s like, they’re measuring how many commodities are bought and sold in a year, but the point isn’t the commodities, you know? It’s the hours of labor.”

I don't think "about nine students" are going smash the orthodoxy quite yet, although they're amusing. However, this part reminded me of the #BlackBrunch thugs, and it's not very funny:

On Sunday, they hectored Carmen Reinhart, an economist at Harvard who studies financial crises. A few years ago, Reinhart and her colleague Kenneth Rogoff had become famous for observing a connection between high debt in a country and low GDP growth. Their paper was then the center of a controversy in 2013 when economists at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst pointed out an error in an Excel spreadsheet.

Reinhart, on Sunday, was presenting a paper on the statistics when countries were unable to pay back their debts in full.

Harrington said: “She’s continuing on her focus, which is essentially public debt, and we went in there, and we said: ‘You’re now going to be releasing a new study that’s even more massive and potentially more consequential than the last one. Have you had a graduate student go through and check your data for errors?’”

“She was just livid,” Harrington said. Using a pocket projector, he projected a slide quoting Paul Krugman on to the wall, which declared that Reinhart and Rogoff have “done a great deal of harm.”

Reinhart said that the episode seemed like a personal attack rather than an argument for other perspectives in economics. The irony of the matter, she noted, was that her talk that day concerned a non-mainstream corner of macroeconomics.

“If they understand — if they understand, which is a big if — what heterodox means, this was actually a session precisely on the alternative approaches to debt reduction, the debt relief associated with haircuts,” she said.

“If they want to say ‘we don’t like you, and we want to make it personal,’ this is not the venue for that.”

Not going to win over too many adherents with that methodology, but then they're radical leftists. Their spiel is mostly about performance hatred. A couple of "Black Live Matter" posters and they'd really have outdone themselves.

Police Arrest Fugitive Greek Communist Christodoulos Xiros

He had "absconded" while out on "leave."

Yeah, because those progressive prison furloughs sure keep those crack prisoners on the straight and narrow.

At Euronews, "Greece: Police rearrest fugitive Marxist extremist Christodoulos Xiros":

The formerly dark-haired member of the Greek Marxist guerrilla group November 17, seized by security forces on Saturday in a coastal town outside Athens, now has shoulder-length blond locks and a beard.

Serving multiple life sentences for his role in the now defunct militant group which has killed Greek, US and British diplomats, he had absconded while on leave from jail 12 months ago.

Authorities say he was armed when rearrested.

“He had altered his features. He had long hair, a beard, he was wearing glasses and carrying a gun,” Hellenic Police Chief Dimitris Tsaknakis told reporters, adding that Xiros had erased the identifying features on the weapon.

“He had 13 bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber. He didn’t resist arrest.”

Despite a one million euro reward for his capture, Xiros made a video after his escape, vowing armed action to avenge the pain of austerity cuts suffered by Greeks under international bailout programmes.

As in other European countries, including Germany and Italy, a number of violent leftist groups were active in Greece from the 1970s and 1980s and authorities have been concerned about the prospect of a resurgence during the economic crisis.

Baby Kidnapped in Long Beach Found Dead San Diego Dumpster

The horror.

At CBS News Los Angeles, "Missing 3-Week-Old Long Beach Baby Found Dead In San Diego Dumpster."

Tabitha Bliss tweeted this story last night.

Boys Won't Slap Girl in 'Social Experiment' in Italy: 'Why? Because I'm a man!' (VIDEO)

I don't know why someone thought this would be a good "experiment," but then, you can't stop watching. And of course, the boys are all well-raised. They've been taught that boys don't hit girls, as I was when I was a little boy.

At ABC News Los Angeles, "YOUNG BOYS ASKED TO SLAP A GIRL IN SOCIAL EXPERIMENT."

From the comments:

The media shouldn't be teaching children what they should be learning at home, but unfortunately a lot of parents aren't such good role models. Turn off the TV and be a better parent.

Not all the other commenters agree, sadly.

More at London's Daily Mail, "'Why not? Because I'm a man': Tearjerker video shows touching reactions of boys who are asked to slap a girl in the street."

Yes, it's a tearjerker. Such a sweet video, despite the questionable motivations of the "investigators."

Historians Against the War Defeated at American Historical Association's Annual Meeting

It's the historical association's radical BDS contingent.

Covered exceptionally well at Legal Insurrection, "American Historical Association rejects anti-Israel Resolutions."

Also at Commentary, "A Big Loss for Anti-Israel Academics" (via Astute Bloggers).

'Peaceful Protesters' Disrupt Ceremony for 100-Year-Old War Veteran

At Instapundit, "LIFE IN OBAMA’S POST-RACIAL AMERICA":

This is bullying for the sake of bullying, by racists. It is designed to intimidate, but it is likely to have the opposite effect. It has also completely undermined what looked like a substantial bipartisan consensus on police reforms.

Well, not among the Margaret Hoovers of the RINO right, but still.

More at Fox News, "'Give Me a Chance': WWII Vet's Medal Ceremony Crashed by Protesters (VIDEO)."

PREVIOUSLY: "Violent Leftists Shut Down Ron Wyden Town Hall in Portland."

State Dept Can't Explain Why Cuba Isn't Fulfilling Promises Made in Obama Deal

Video, via Washington Free Beacon.

It's doe-eyed Jen Psaki. She's so sweet and stupid. You gotta love her.

PREVIOUSLY: "Where Are Cuba's Political Prisoners?"

Kaley Cuoco Apologizes for Saying She's Not a Feminist

Another celebrity caves to the left's thought police.

At Truth Revolt, "Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting 'Apologizes' for Saying 'No' to Feminism":

Just as they did with Katy Perry and Shailene Woodley before, feminists immediately lashed out their whips to beat the 29-year-old actress back into the fold, saying she owes all her success to feminism and shouldn't bite the hand that feeds her. On Sunday, instead of sticking to her statements, Cuoco-Sweeting caved to her feminist overlords on Instagram and apologized for offending their good graces. Her apology:

In my Redbook article, some people have taken offense to my comments regarding feminism- if any of you are In the "biz" you are well aware of how words can be taken out of context. I'm completely blessed and grateful that strong women have paved the way for my success along with many others. I apologize if anyone was offended. Anyone that truly knows me, knows my heart and knows what I meant.

Eugène Delacroix, "Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi"

An art review, from Christopher Knight, at the Los Angeles Times, "Delacroix's 'Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi' as a rallying cry":

They don't make paintings like "Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi" anymore.

The slow, ruminative medium of oil paint on canvas has pretty much had it as the sharpest system for the memorable delivery of effective, politically minded propaganda. Painting has long since been replaced by the relentless, 24/7 information cycle repeated nonstop on cable television and the Internet.

Painter Eugène Delacroix, born in a small Parisian suburb in 1798, was a principal artistic pivot on which the total transformation began. It's as if the pressures of unstoppable change pushed him to raise the propaganda bar to extravagant painterly heights.

"Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi," painted in 1826, was among his first bravura masterpieces in the genre.

The allegorical painting is on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, France, for a small but incisive exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (L.A. and Bordeaux have been sister cities for 50 years.) The image is keyed to a tragic episode in the long war for Greek independence from Turkish rule.

Curator Leah Lehmbeck shows it with a Delacroix copy of an oil sketch by Peter Paul Rubens, one of his idols, plus the lovely little version of the "Grande Odalisque" by his chief rival, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, that LACMA acquired last year. There are also lithographs by Théodore Géricault, whose topical paintings Delacroix admired, and by Antoine-Jean Baron Gros, whose Neoclassical work he didn't. (Gros famously dismissed Delacroix's war painting "Massacre of Chios" as a "massacre of art.")

Finally, a bronze medallion by British artist Alfred Joseph Stothard portrays Romantic poet Lord Byron, who died in Missolonghi just a year before the dramatic event Delacroix's canvas commemorates. The poet gets cast in the style of an ancient Greek or Roman hero.

All these provide fractional context for Delacroix's big, melodramatic canvas. A complex story — what has been called Greece's Alamo, a site of heroic resistance fought to the death in the face of a superior military foe — is stripped to representative elements. The painter conjures a personified image of a society badly broken but not destroyed — down but not out. And he inflects the scene with a sly if subtle glimmer of ultimate redemption and deliverance.

The picture, nearly 7 by 5 feet, was painted quickly — in about two months. It is dominated by a life-size female figure whose blue cloak and white tunic employ the colors of the Greek flag to identify her as a personification of the beleaguered nation. Visually she's a cousin to Marianne, the ample-breasted symbol of the French Republic and ancestor of America's Statue of Liberty.

The rubble of a ruined city lies all around her, blood spattered on the stone block below her slipper-clad right foot. She has dropped to her knee, bent on a teetering slab.

Delacroix rendered Greece as strong and powerful, dynamic brushwork describing her garments. The vivid paint bolsters an energetic figure implied by strong limbs articulated beneath her clothing.

He learned the technique from close study of Rubens, who knew the seductive clout of tangible color. Baroque painting had largely been conceived to advance the claims of the Roman Catholic Church, beleaguered by Protestant assaults. Delacroix revived propagandistic elements of earlier Baroque style, but now he put them at the service of nationalist politics.

Delacroix's brilliance was to subsume religious imagery within this secular composition. Drawing on its memory, worldly miracles are invoked.

The white-robed figure of Greece, wrapped in blue, is part Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Spreading her arms wide, she's also part Mary lamenting the death of her son.

The stone slab on which she kneels invokes a tomb. Next to this sepulcher, the grim inclusion of a slain Greek fighter's severed arm quietly suggests the bodies of Lazarus and Christ, soon to be resurrected...

Still more.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Ellie Goulding Red Bikini in Miami

Robert Stacy McCain, not familiar with Ellie Goulding, noted approvingly back in 2012, "Kinda not-bad looking..." And then on second thought, "Wow. She could grind diamonds into sand with her pelvis."

Heh.

So, here she is, at Egotastic!, "British Popstar Ellie Goulding in a Red Bikini on a Yacht in Miami, Florida."

Abandoned America: 50 States, 50 Deserted Places

Photos of abandoned towns, at Small Dead Animals (via Maggie's Farm).

Harvard Professors Outraged by Higher Out-of-Pocket Costs Due to #ObamaCare

And it's not just higher out-of-pocket costs. Harvard employees might be excluded from using services at Harvard-run hospitals, some of the best in the country.

Get a load out of this piece, at NYT, "Health Care Fixes Backed by Harvard’s Experts Now Roil Its Faculty."

Also from Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin's:

Oh how sad: Harvard profs upset because Obamacare was only supposed to affect the rubes http://t.co/Zx8oZ8s63u
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) January 5, 2015

Europe Hasn't Abolished Capital Punishment: Frank Van Den Bleeken, Murderer and Rapist, to Be 'Euthanized' in Humanitarian Gesture

See, for Europe's progressive left, state sponsored murder is just fine. Fine and dandy. As long as it's justified not in terms of "brutal" law and order punishment, but "compassionate" treatment of society's disadvantaged.

At Telegraph UK, "Belgian rapist and murderer to be put to death by lethal injection":

Frank Van Den Bleeken won right to euthanasia after claiming he could not face rest of life in jail.

A rapist and murderer is to be put to death in Belgium this week, despite Europe’s ban on the death penalty, after a court granted him the right to euthanasia.

Frank Van Den Bleeken, 52, is not physically ill but claims his “psychological suffering” is unbearable and that he would prefer to die than spend more of his life behind bars.

He says he has no prospect of ever being released from prison as he cannot overcome his uncontrollable sexual impulses, and that he does not wish another two or three decades in jail.

His application to die was accepted by Belgium’s Federal Euthanasia Commission in September, and over the weekend, official gave approval for him to be taken to a specialist clinic on Sunday, where he will be killed by lethal injection.

Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2002, and is one of only three countries to allow the practice, the others being the Netherlands and Luxembourg. More countries, including Switzerland and some states of America, allow doctors to assist suicide in certain circumstances.

But Belgium has seen a fast growth in the number of cases of euthanasia, and has expanded the practice beyond terminally ill adults. It can now be used in cases of intense pain and psychological distress, while last February the right to euthanasia was extended to terminally ill children, as long as their parents gave consent.

One previous inmate has been euthanased, but he was suffering a terminal illness.

Van Den Bleeken raped Christiane Remacle, a 19-year-old girl, as she came home from a New Year’s Eve party on January 1 1989, and then strangled her with one of her own stockings.

He was deemed insane and not criminally responsible. After seven years on a prison psychiatric ward, he was released, attacking three more victims, aged 11, 17, and 29, within weeks.

He was then ordered to be detained indefinitely, and has seen “the outside” only once since, for his mother’s funeral...

F-king murderous bastard. Why not just label him for what he is: a criminal sociopath who deserves the damned burning needle in his arm?

Frankly, it's just more lies. Belgian leftists are no better than the Nazis. They just turn everything inside out, discombobulating reality, but end up killing just as efficiently as the totalitarian regimes of the 1930s. They make me sick.

More at the link. Ms. Remacle's survivors are not pleased. They want this monster to rot in prison for the rest of his leftist loser life.

Hamas Cancels Online Order After Misunderstanding 'Blow-Up Dolls'

Heh, that's funny.

Via Blazing Cat Fur.

Where Are Cuba's Political Prisoners?

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady, at WSJ, "Fifty-three of those jailed by the Castros were supposed to have been freed in the Obama deal":

Who and where are the 53 Cuban political prisoners that President Obama promised would be freed by Havana as part of a deal to liberate three convicted Cuban spies serving lengthy sentences in the U.S.?

I asked the State Department this last week. State referred me to the White House. White House officials declined to provide the list of names citing “concern that publicizing it would make it more difficult to ensure that Cuba follows through, and continues with further steps in the future.”

Bottom line: The U.S. government cannot confirm that they have been released and is not certain they’re going to be released, even though the three Cuban spies have already been returned.

A government official told me that keeping the names of the 53 quiet will give Cuba the opportunity to release them as a sovereign measure, rather than at the behest of the U.S., and that this could allow for additional releases.

In other words, the Castros are sensitive boys who throw despotic tantrums when their absolute power is questioned. Asking them to keep their word is apparently a trigger.

Mr. Obama was destined to have trouble changing Cuba policy. Nixon went to China. But “Obama goes to Havana”? That sounds like stand-up comedy. A man with some humility might have prepared for the challenge. Mr. Obama did not. Now, little by little, what he says he got in the “negotiations” seems to be evaporating while what he gave away appears reckless.

The U.S. president hasn’t gone to Havana, not yet anyway. But he did use the prisoner swap to announce that he plans to unconditionally open diplomatic relations with the military dictatorship, something that the Castros have long demanded. Count that as concession one.

He said he would ease restrictions on American travel to the island and make it legal to use U.S. credit cards and debit cards in Cuba, thereby boosting revenues for the military-owned tourism industry. That’s concession two.

His promise to review Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terror sounded like he had already made up his mind. “At a time when we are focused on threats from al Qaeda to ISIL, a nation that meets our conditions and renounces the use of terrorism should not face this sanction,” Mr. Obama said.

That would complete the concession trifecta. Cuba still supports the FARC, the Colombian terrorist group, it got caught in 2013 trying to smuggle weapons through the Panama Canal to North Korea, and credible intelligence analysts say Cuba has provided Venezuela the technology it needs to falsify identities for Middle East terrorists.

If Mr. Obama is serious about selling U.S.-Cuba detente, a little less obfuscation would be nice...

Less obfuscation? Bwahaha! That's Obama's standard operating procedure! Without that, he'd do even less than the little that he already does!

Keep reading.

Greta Van Susteren: 1) Yes, Mike Huckabee is Running; 2) No, He Wasn't Forced Out at Fox News

Greta was on this morning's 'This Week' powerhouse roundtable at ABC News.

She takes the first question from Martha Raddatz, and it's interesting.

Watch: "Is Mike Huckabee Running for President?"

(I couldn't stay with it too much longer, however. Margaret Hoover's also a panelist, and she's just a disgusting RINO shill, damn.)

China's Maoists Emboldened by Xi Jinping's Traditional Communist Authoritarianism

You can see how much China's international interdependence with the U.S. is fostering democratization. Or, no wait? What? Er, well... Maybe it'll work in Cuba?!!

At the New York Times, "China’s Maoists Are Revived as Thought Police":

HONG KONG — They pounce on bloggers who dare mock their beloved Chairman Mao. They scour the nation’s classrooms and newspapers for strains of Western-inspired liberal heresies. And they have taken down professors, journalists and others deemed disloyal to Communist Party orthodoxy.

China’s Maoist ideologues are resurgent after languishing in the political desert, buoyed by President Xi Jinping’s traditionalist tilt and emboldened by internal party decrees that have declared open season on Chinese academics, artists and party cadres seen as insufficiently red.

Ideological vigilantes have played a pivotal role in the downfall of Wang Congsheng, a law professor in Beijing who was detained and then suspended from teaching after posting online criticisms of the party. Another target was Wang Yaofeng, a newspaper columnist who voiced support for the recent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and then found himself without a job.

“Since Xi came to power, the pressure and control over freethinkers has become really tight,” said Qiao Mu, a Beijing journalism professor who was demoted this fall, in part for publicly espousing multiparty elections and free speech. “More and more of my friends and colleagues are experiencing fear and harassment.”

Two years into a sweeping offensive against dissent, Mr. Xi has been intensifying his focus on perceived ideological opponents, sending ripples through universities, publishing houses and the news media and emboldening hard-liners who have hailed him as a worthy successor to Mao Zedong.

In instructions published last week, Mr. Xi urged universities to “enhance guidance over thinking and keep a tight grip on leading ideological work in higher education,” Xinhua, the official news agency, reported.

In internal decrees, he has been blunter, attacking liberal thinking as a pernicious threat that has contaminated the Communist Party’s ranks, and calling on officials to purge the nation of ideas that run counter to modern China’s Marxist-Leninist foundations.

“Never allow singing to a tune contrary to the party center,” he wrote in comments that began to appear on party and university websites in October. “Never allow eating the Communist Party’s food and then smashing the Communist Party’s cooking pots.”

The latter-day Maoists, whose influence had faltered before Mr. Xi came to power, have also been encouraged by another internal document, Document No. 30, which reinforces warnings that Western-inspired notions of media independence, “universal values” and criticism of Mao threaten the party’s survival.

“It’s a golden period to be a leftist in China,” Zhang Hongliang, a prominent neo-Maoist, said in an interview. “Xi Jinping has ushered in a fundamental change to the status quo, shattering the sky.” China’s old guard leftists are a loose network of officials and former officials, sons and daughters of party veterans, and ardently anti-Western academics and journalists. They look back to the precepts of Marx, Lenin and especially Mao to try to reverse the effects of China’s free-market policies and the spread of values anathema to party tradition. And while their direct influence on the party leadership has been circumscribed, they have served as the party’s eager ideological inquisitors.

Their favorite enemies are almost always members of China’s beleaguered liberal circles: academics, journalists and rights activists who believe that liberal democracy, with its accompanying ideas of civil society and rule of law, offers the country the best way forward.

Mr. Xi’s recent orders and the accompanying surge of pressure on political foes further dispelled initial suspicions that his ideological hardening was a feint to establish his credibility with traditionalists as he settled into power. Instead, his continuing campaign against Western-inspired ideas has emboldened traditional party leftists.

“China watchers all need to stop saying this is all for show or that he’s turning left to turn right,” said Christopher K. Johnson, an expert on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who formerly worked as a senior China analyst at the C.I.A. “This is a core part of the guy’s personality. The leftists certainly feel he’s their guy.”

Keep reading.

Doctrinal Maoism calls for "permanent revolution" (akin to Trotskyism, but in the historical context of China's agrarian revolution), which in turns justifies the continuation in power of the "revolutionary vanguard" of the party, who rule over the state on the basis of the "dictatorship of the proletariat."

Market liberalism threatens the Chinese Communist Party's hold on power. The irony is that indeed increasing affluence via market forces prevents a complete economic collapse and disintegration of the China system along the lines of the Soviet Union. American policy certainly hasn't called for the "rollback" of Maoism, nor is that likely any time soon. Frankly, with the Obama-Democrats we're becoming more like them rather than the other way around.

Violent Leftists Shut Down Ron Wyden Town Hall in Portland

All they want to do is shut things down.

Damn thugs overran the place, and that was it.

At Oregon Live, "Wyden town hall disrupted by 'hands up, don't shoot' protests."

And at Progs Today, "CHAOS ERUPTS As #Ferguson Protesters Shut Down Sen. Wyden Town Hall – Threaten to Beat Security Guard (VIDEO)."

As security tries to gain control and close the door, a big black mofo rams his foot inside as a door stop and threatens, "I'll Break Your Jaw Old Man!"

Well, so much for MLK-style civil disobedience. These people are violent anarcho-communists!

New Year's Sunday Rule 5

Let's get it started for 2015!

To the blogfather of Rule 5, the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Bowls, Boobs and Other Entertainments."

Now, at Gator Doug's, "THE DALEYBABE's HOT JANIS TRUE."

A View From the Beach, "Rule 5 Saturday - Alana de la Garza - The Forever Girl."

Over at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is a horrible fossil fueled mower causing so much heat that it snows, you might just be a Warmist."

Here's 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

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

Also at Knuckledragging, "Your Good Morning Girl," and "Plastic jugs is right…"

Goodstuff's has "Donna Douglas."

And Dana Pico has, "Rule 5 Blogging: Italians."

At the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday."

More at Ode's, "IT'S HETEROSEXUAL PRIDE DAY ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

A Nod To The Gods, "Sunday Random."

Also, at Drunke Stepfather, "MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ IN A WHITE BIKINI OF THE DAY."

At Egotastic!, "Anais Zanotti’s High Flying Boobage and Other Fine Things to Ogle," and "Sextastic Social Media Candids 2014: Emily Ratajkowski, Kate Upton, Selena Gomez and Much More."

The Last Tradition has "Camila Vernaglia."

Political Clown Parade has, "Dallas Cowboys Vs The NFL’s Dirtiest Player."

At Ms. EBL's, "Did someone mention Catwoman?"

At Proof Positive, "...the Obligatory NFL Cheerleaders."

More at Soylent, "Your Morning Coffee Creamer."

Don't miss Average Bubba, "Rule 5 Post: Redhead Edition…"

From Diogenes' Middle Finger, "Happy New Year from DMF."

At THAT MR. G GUY'S BLOG, "Cultural Marxism Goes Viral."

More from Rio Norte Line, "12 Things You Should Know About Contemporary Progressivism."

Finally, Crazy Uncle Bubba has, "Saturday Short Shorts!"

Drop your links in the comments if I've missed your Rule 5.

Until then...

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



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

More at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – The End Is Near," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

Cartoon Credit: William Warren. Perfect accompaniment to my previous post, "Obama's the Nation's 'Hack' Golfer-in-Chief."

Obama's the Nation's 'Hack' Golfer-in-Chief

For as often as he plays, President Obama's criticized for not being very good.

Interestingly, the media is usually banned from taking photos of his game, and the White House does not release the president's scores, unlike Bill Clinton, who would tout his high games when he was in office.

All of this, amazingly, at the Obama-enabling New York Times. More and more, they're lowering the bar for the remainder of his term.

See, "Obama Is the Nation’s Private Golfer in Chief."

NYPD Officers Turn Their Backs on Mayor de Blasio at Wenjian Liu Funeral (VIDEO)

Well, cops saluted de Blasio at last night's wake, but not today.

Once again, they gave the Marxist mayor the cold shoulder.

At the New York Post, "Cops again turn their backs on de Blasio at NYPD officer’s funeral."

Also at Gateway Pundit, "BREAKING: POLICE OFFICERS Turn Their Backs on Mayor De Blasio AGAIN – Wenjian Liu Funeral (Video)."

Newt Gingrich Slams Obama's 'Tragic Failure of Leadership' on Race Relations (VIDEO)

Obama and Holder have made race relations worse. QED.

On Face the Nation:

The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls

This piece, at the New York Times, reminded me of the Mall of Orange, the mall that we frequented when I was a little kid. (It's now called the Village at Orange and is thriving.)

From the Times:

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Inside the gleaming mall here on the Sunday before Christmas, just one thing was missing: shoppers.

The upbeat music of “Jingle Bell Rock” bounced off the tiles, and the smell of teriyaki chicken drifted from the food court, but only a handful of stores were open at the sprawling enclosed shopping center. A few visitors walked down the long hallways and peered through locked metal gates into vacant spaces once home to retailers like H&M, Wet Seal and Kay Jewelers.

“It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.”

The Owings Mills Mall is poised to join a growing number of what real estate professionals, architects, urban planners and Internet enthusiasts term “dead malls.” Since 2010, more than two dozen enclosed shopping malls have been closed, and an additional 60 are on the brink, according to Green Street Advisors, which tracks the mall industry.

Premature obituaries for the shopping mall have been appearing since the late 1990s, but the reality today is more nuanced, reflecting broader trends remaking the American economy. With income inequality continuing to widen, high-end malls are thriving, even as stolid retail chains like Sears, Kmart and J. C. Penney falter, taking the middle- and working-class malls they anchored with them.

“It is very much a haves and have-nots situation,” said D. J. Busch, a senior analyst at Green Street. Affluent Americans “will keep going to Short Hills Mall in New Jersey or other properties aimed at the top 5 or 10 percent of consumers. But there’s been very little income growth in the belly of the economy.”

At Owings Mills, J. C. Penney and Macy’s are hanging on, but other midtier emporiums like Sears, Lord & Taylor, and the regional department store chain Boscov’s have all come and gone as anchors.

Having opened in 1986 with a renovation in 1998, Owings Mills is young for a dying mall. And while its locale may have contributed to its demise, other forces played a crucial role, too, like changing shopping habits and demographics, experts say.

“I have no doubt some malls will survive, but major segments of our society have gotten sick of them,” said Mark Hinshaw, a Seattle architect, urban planner and author.

One factor many shoppers blame for the decline of malls — online shopping — is having only a small effect, experts say. Less than 10 percent of retail sales take place online, and those sales tend to hit big-box stores harder, rather than the fashion chains and other specialty retailers in enclosed malls.

Instead, the fundamental problem for malls is a glut of stores in many parts of the country, the result of a long boom in building retail space of all kinds.

“We are extremely over-retailed,” said Christopher Zahas, a real estate economist and urban planner in Portland, Ore. “Filling a million square feet is a tall order.”...

Pretty fascinating.

Keep reading.

'I am an American Jew. I love the United States. I love everything it stands for...'

This is an amazing essay, from Miriam Herschlag, at the Times of Israel, "Why I have not (yet?) made aliyah":

America is the beacon of freedom and democracy to all humanity. It is the earth’s great hope. It is no coincidence that America is Israel’s foremost friend and protector. America stands up for righteous and struggling democracies throughout the world. It is the noble guardian of truth and the gallant defender of human rights. It follows that America would see in Israel a kindred spirit, a righteous nation wrestling to be free and protecting the dignity of all.

My attachment to America runs deep. When I sing the Star-spangled banner I focus on the words as if it were a prayer. “Land of the free and the home of the brave.” I love every inch of this great land and have taken my children in an RV to see most of it.

But love of America alone would not explain why I do not live in Israel...

RTWT.

Gas Prices Have a Way to Go to Be Historically Cheap

At the Wall Street Journal, "Why Gas Feels Cheap—and Why It’s Not, Historically Speaking: Recent Price Plunge Looks Good After Years of High Costs, but Fill-Ups Were Less Expensive From 1986-2003."

When my wife and I bought our Honda Odyssey van, in December 2001, gas was $1.19 a gallon. So yeah, prices have a way to go before they're that cheap. But historically speaking, the current low prices are pretty mind-boggling.

Thousands Pay Respects to Fallen NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu (VIDEO)

And police officers saluted Mayor de Blasio, rather than turn their backs to him. I think Commissioner Bratton's moral authority is having an influence on morale.

At CBS News New York:

Victoria's Secret Slow and Sultry

Via Theo Spark, "Victoria’s Secret Swim 2015: Slow. Sultry. Swim."

Needs less Candice and more Lily, but otherwise smokin'.

'Night Changes'

I watched this, "One Direction Performing on New Years Rockin Eve 2015 TIMES SQUARE."

And I liked "Night Changes."

'The idea of the Palestinian Authority taking Israel to court over war crimes is among the most grotesque and absurd developments imaginable, a moral inversion of staggering dimensions...'

From Peter Wehner, at Commentary, "The PA, the ICC, and a Moral Inversion of Staggering Dimensions":

The fact that this issue is even being considered points to how corrupt many international organizations are. (Why on earth should we have to debate why a malevolent organization doesn’t have the standing to condemn a nation characterized by excellence and extraordinary moral achievements?) In addition, the U.S. should certainly cut funding to the Palestinian Authority, to whom it currently provides more than $400 million in annual aid.

But beyond all that, this latest move by the PA is an example of the persistent unwillingness to address the pathologies that grip Palestinian society. These pathologies are the core reason for the tensions and conflict with Israel–and rather than dealing with them, the leadership of the Palestinians is, if anything, falling even deeper into denial. The more they fail, the more they blame Israel for their failures. This is an assault on reality, a slander of Israel, and a massive disservice to Palestinians. It would be helpful if more nations, starting with the United States, said so.

The Pull of Community at La Conchita

We lived in Santa Barbara in 1995 when La Conchita suffered its first devastating mudslide. Days of torrential rains triggered it. We used to drive by down the 101. It was like a demolition zone. And then 10 years later it happened again, with a terrible loss of life. But people still want to live there, despite the dangers of another slide.

At LAT, "10 years after fatal mudslide, tiny La Conchita accepts the risks":

A child's dollhouse jammed against a chain-link fence marked "No Trespassing" sits in the shadow of a mangled brick home covered in clotted dirt.

Two faded white crosses lie toppled on a mound of soil taller than a man; nearby, upended planters where someone's flowers once grew sprout weeds. A hand-painted sign dangling in the ocean breeze reads, "Do Stuff That Makes Buddha Happy."

The events of Jan. 10, 2005, when 400,000 tons of mud slid down the bluff behind La Conchita, killing seven adults and three children, are frozen in the eerie tableau — a reminder of the hidden dangers lurking beneath the surface. The tragedy came 10 years after the hill collapsed in 1995 when nine homes were lost.

Yet the possibility of the slope crashing again toward the Pacific Ocean has done little to dissuade people from putting down roots in the eclectic Ventura County beach community near the Santa Barbara County line. As the 10-year anniversary of the deadly slide approaches, the 500-foot cliff remains unfortified, and at least four ramshackle houses sit seemingly undisturbed since the last rescue crews left town.

Faded memories, relatively inexpensive real estate and a wide beach not far from the famous Rincon surf point tend to dull the perception of risk. It helps that the ranch at the top of the hill stopped irrigation leaks that residents contended caused the slope to erode.

But the town of 300 residents wedged between the hill and U.S. Highway 101 has another, less tangible draw to survivors and newcomers — community.

"Culturally, it's so similar to Mexico with how important family is," said Kelly Hill, who grew up in La Conchita and moved back last year with her husband and 9-year-old son. "It's like a little fishing village in Mexico. It's the American Mexican fishing village."...

It really is. There used to be a big tropical banana grove on the north side of the town. The place is a trip. So sorry for the tragedy.

Continue reading.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

A New You in Winter Cleaning

At Amazon, Shop Amazon Home - New Year, New You - Winter Cleaning

'Non-Citizen' Designation for 'DREAMers' Driver's Licenses in Arizona (VIDEO)

Uh oh!

That's racist!

At Fox News, "Incoming Arizona lawmaker to propose 'non-citizen' designation on immigrant licenses":

A newly elected Arizona lawmaker says he's drafting legislation to add a "non-citizen" designation on driver's licenses issued to young immigrants participating in a federal program enabling them to avoid deportation.

Republican Rep.-elect Jay Lawrence said he wants to protect the integrity of the voting system.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Rep. Catherine Miranda says Lawrence's proposal spells trouble for Arizona in the wake of past controversy over a 2010 immigration-enforcement law...

More.

Brazilian Man Survives Knife Attack to Skull, Drives Three Hours (VIDEO)

Man, that's gnarly.

At CNN, "Man stabbed in head, drives three hours."

Twitter to Launch Video Service to Rival YouTube

Actually, I like Twitter the way it is. And same goes for YouTube, which means I don't need a rival.

Oh well.

At TechCrunch, "Details Unveiled for Twitter’s Native Video Player to Rival YouTube."

Claudia Romani Bikini Pics!

Here's something to take your mind off all the leftist hatred, disturbed "social justice" indoctrination, and radical left "Black Lives Matter" hypocrisy.

At Egotastic!, "Claudia Romani Bikini Pictures Take and Make the Cake in Miami."

Bill Eggler, Longtime Legislative Writer for Democrat New York Assembly Speaker, Posts 'Kill a Veteran' on Twitter

I saw someone RT this earlier, and thought, "Whoa, that is freakin' deranged."

Of course, no surprise to find out the dude's a Democrat Party insider in New York.

Via Barack Castro on Twitter. Click though for the blog post exposing this sick f-ker.

The Democrats. Once again, the party of hate.

'Social Justice' Preschoolers March in 'Black Lives Matter' Protest in Oakland

Well, in New York you had the little boy screaming "Fox News Liar, Liar Pants on Fire!"

So the far-left ghouls in Oakland were not to be outdone.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Preschool protesters march in Oakland":

Oakland's Radical Brownies. http://t.co/Z08waX2rcS pic.twitter.com/M3qNd6r1sw

— David Colburn (@davidcolburn) January 3, 2015

After storytime, the marchers made their own colorful and glittery star, then sang, “This Little Light of Mine.”

The event was a marked departure from the late-night, anger-fueled protests in Oakland over the past several weeks, where people took to the streets to demonstrate against police brutality against minorities and specifically against the killing of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and in New York City.

The parents who attended the Saturday morning playground event said they wanted to participate in the Black Lives Matter movement with their children, but in an age-appropriate way.

“Many families aren’t ready to explain police violence to their kids and I can understand why, it’s complicated and scary,” said Andrea Ibarra-Tacdol in a statement. “Our families are ready to share stories about differences, to teach our little ones to appreciate the diversity of their friends, and to march with other families who believe that black lives matter.”

Neto Cornejo, 2, participated in the short march through the Lake Merritt farmer’s market seated in his red Radio Flyer push bike. He didn’t specifically chant for peace and justice, but he looked like he was having a good time.

“As a Latino person, as a parent, it’s become very apparent — the connection between the Black Lives Matter campaign and the Latino community,” said Neto’s dad, Dani Cornejo, citing common issues like mass incarceration, discrimination and police violence. “That’s why we’re out here, in solidarity.”

Lupita Martinez, 10, was among the older children at the event. She attended with the social justice scouting troop she helped start a month ago: the Radical Brownies, complete with uniform brown vests and berets.

It’s sort of a “brown beret, Black Panther” thing, said her mom and co-founder Anayvette Martinez. “It’s all rooted in social justice for girls of color.”

It was one of the first official activities of the newly formed and unaffiliated troop.

“I like to learn a lot about what’s happening around me,” Lupita said. “It gives me ideas about how to help.”

That's child abuse, seriously.

Two-year-olds cannot comprehend "social justice" and "mass incarceration." Indeed, it's not a protest involving children at all. It's about whacked out far-left parents strutting their "social justice" bona fides like a bunch of drugged-out peacocks.

I mean really. Leftism is like a disease.

Black Lives Matter? 23-Day-Old Infant Dead After Found Battered in East Harlem Apartment (VIDEO)

I'm sure the leftist "Black Lives Matter" thugs will swoop down to East Harlem to launch protests against the inhumanity.

At NYDN, "Battered infant dies after cops find him unconscious in East Harlem apartment."

At CBS News New York:

Anti-Gun Beta Males

Heh, from Katie Pavlich, lol.

I'm going to start a new club: Women Against Anti-Gun Beta Males #2A

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 3, 2015

Obama's Regulatory Siege Holds Back the Economy

Well, in light of my last entry, "Can Robust U.S. Economy Lift Global Markets?"

(Keep in mind, the recent phenomenal U.S. economic performance is in spite of the Obama administration's FUBAR economic policies.)

At IBD, "Obama's Regulatory Siege Holds Back the Economy":

When it comes to costly regulations, Barack Obama is without presidential peer. We believe it's a big reason why the economic recovery from the financial crisis has been the worst ever.

According to data toted up by Competitive Enterprise Institute Fellow Wayne Crews, 2014 ended with 78,978 pages in the Federal Register, the government's regulatory bible. That's the fifth-highest ever. An improvement? Hardly.

As Crews notes, of the "six all-time-high Federal Register page counts, five belong to Obama." Counting the number of pages in the Federal Register is key, since it reflects the general level of regulation in the U.S. economy. In Obama's case, it indicates he's the most regulating president ever.

During the five years of his regulatory siege, the annual average of regulatory pages in the Register has increased by 8% over the preceding five years.

We're not picking nits here. Every rule that goes into effect has an economic impact. And many, if not most, have a negative economic impact — that is, costs outweigh benefits. It's an enormous cost to our economy.

Americans like to wonder why so few new businesses and new jobs are being created these days. Regulation is a big reason.

Still more.

Can Robust U.S. Economy Lift Global Markets?

Good news for the U.S. economy. Not so much for the rest of the world.

At LAT, "Overseas problems won't derail growing U.S. economy, analysts say":

NEW YORK — Call it the Great Divide: The new year figures to be one of robust economic growth in the U.S., with slowdowns, stagnation and setbacks everywhere else in the world.

The list of global problems is indeed long and worrisome. Europe and Japan teeter on the edge of recession. Russia careens toward a full-blown economic crisis. China's once-torrid growth is slowing faster than previously forecast. And many emerging economies are getting slammed by plunging oil prices.

All the overseas problems put together, though, are not enough to derail a strong U.S. economy, Wall Street analysts say. The Commerce Department stunned markets Dec. 23 by reporting that the nation's total economic output grew at an annual pace of 5% in the third quarter. The result blew past an already strong estimate of 3.9%.

"Spirits unleashed," was how Mark Zandi of research firm Moody's Analytics Inc. described the U.S. economy even before the final estimate for the third quarter came in.

The good U.S. economic news, forecasters said, will translate into solid but not spectacular returns in the stock market, which has been on a long bull run.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up about 11.4% for 2014, its third straight year of gains since the Great Recession. Most forecasts call for returns to be about half that in 2015 and beyond.

Forecasts can always be wrong, of course, but the new year begins with a set of unusually well-defined themes that, unless something dramatic happens, figure to play an important role in shaping the year's global economic picture. Here are a few of them...

Falling oil prices are a major factor in U.S. economic growth --- to the great consternation of the leftist climate change enviro-freaks.

But keep reading.

Daley Gator's Top 50 Blogs for 2015

The very gracious Doug Hagin includes me near the top of his list of top blogs for the new year.

See, "THE 50 BLOGS YOU MUST FOLLOW IN 2015."

And see Zilla's response as well, "A Spectacular Honor."

Illegal Aliens Begin Getting Driver's Licenses in California

Progress for Mexifornia.

At Town Hall, "Immigrants seek California driver licenses."

And at LAT, "Historic day as immigrants in US illegally begin getting driver's licenses."

Plus, video at CBS News San Francisco, "Undocumented Immigrants In San Jose Begin Seeking Driver’s Licenses Under New AB 60 Law."

Dictator Raul Castro Lays Flowers at Mausoleum of Jose Marti on 56th Anniversary of Cuba's Communist Revolution (VIDEO)

And boy, talk about sending an overwhelming message of impending democratic liberalization, ahem.

Fox News Liar, Liar Pants on Fire!

So the truly demonic "Black Lives Matter" anti-cop vigilantes put a little boy on the street with a sign screaming, "Fox News Liar, Liar Pants on Fire!"

So pathetic. It's almost unreal, but then again, nothing is too low for radical leftists. Nothing is too disgusting or perverse. These ghouls will stop at nothing to destroy the normal order of things --- and in the process they debase a small child's life, to say nothing of all the children they abuse and debase 365 days a year.

See Doug Powers, at Michelle Malkin's, "Protesters in front of Fox News deploy young member of Future Agitators of America."

Wall Street Journal Weekend Interview: Daniel Mael, 'How to Fight the Campus Speech Police...'

This is mind-boggling.

See, "How to Fight the Campus Speech Police: Get a Good Lawyer":

Rolling Stone magazine in November published a 9,000-word account of a horrific gang rape alleged to have occurred in 2012 at a University of Virginia fraternity. The story triggered a national outcry. UVA administrators pre-emptively suspended all fraternal activities on campus, effectively tarring an entire class of students for maintaining a culture of rape and impunity.

Then the original story collapsed. The confusion and anger that followed was a teachable moment about campus frenzies and baseless moral panic. But the episode also threw into high relief another facet of modern higher education: university administrators who, in their eagerness to mollify critics, trample students’ rights and in the process lives and reputations.

Often students from unpopular groups and those who hold unpopular views find themselves alone, facing zealous administrators at closed-door disciplinary hearings. In these places the basic rights of Americans—including the right to counsel, due process, the presumption of innocence and even free speech—don’t apply.

That was the predicament faced by Daniel Mael, a senior majoring in business at Brandeis University near Boston. The 22-year-old native of Newton, Mass., is on the honor roll and has immersed himself in student life, intramural sports and Brandeis’s Orthodox Jewish community. As a student journalist, he has published articles in national outlets.

The problem: Mr. Mael is a pro-Israel man of the right on a campus increasingly hostile to conservatism and the Jewish state. The other problem: The Brandeis administration, as at so many colleges, is more committed to shielding students’ political sensitivities from “harassment” than challenging their minds. Brandeis administrators define harassment so broadly that almost any student could be guilty at any time.

Speaking by phone while on winter vacation in Israel this week, Mr. Mael says: “They try to intimidate students into being silent, in the interest of people’s feelings not being hurt, rather than encourage debate.”...

You gotta RTWT.

Oregon Players Taunt Jameis Winston With 'No Means No!' Chant

From Christine Brennan, at USA Today, "'No means no' chant brought on by Winston":

Oregon coach Mark Helfrich told The Associated Press he plans to discipline the three players who mocked Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston Thursday night at the conclusion of the Ducks' 59-20 Rose Bowl victory, but it should come as no surprise that Winston was the target of the players' "No means no" tomahawk chop chant.

During the post-game celebration, the players' actions were an undeniable reference to the December 2012 allegation of rape against Winston that was all but ignored by authorities for a full year.

While the sight of the three players taunting Winston with FSU's own chant was jarring, it hardly was shocking, considering Winston's considerable resume of trouble. (Linebacker Torrodney Prevot and running back Kani Benoit are identifiable on video; the other player is wearing a T-shirt.)

We're used to seeing college sports fans mock athletes who get into trouble. (Dukies, we're talking about you.)

We're not used to seeing players in uniform representing their school on a national stage mocking opponents, which is likely the reason why the Oregon players will be disciplined.

That said, Winston certainly is an easy target. In addition to the very serious allegation of rape, which was mishandled terribly by the school and the Tallahassee police, he stole soda from a Burger King and crab legs from a Publix. He was handcuffed for possession of a BB gun. And he screamed a vulgarity while standing on a table in the FSU student union.

The Oregon players will be criticized in the national media, and perhaps we'll hear from them in the coming days, but in the meantime, we should be pleased that they actually know the meaning and impact of the "No means no," phrase, and in their own way, shined a light on a famous man accused of rape...

Actually, Winston was supposedly cleared of the rape charges, following a two-year investigation. Who knows what really happened with the rape, although the dude stealing crab legs was caught on camera. The guy's a bleeding idiot.

Jake Tapper interviews Brennan here, "Taunts will follow Jameis Winston in NFL."

And Oregon's players can be seen chanting at PuffHo, "Oregon Players Mock Jameis Winston With 'No Means No!' Chant After Rose Bowl Blowout."

Buckingham Palace Denies Prince Andrew 'Sex Slave' Allegations (VIDEO)

The Other McCain reports, "Ex-Teenage Hooker Says She Was Forced to Have Sex With British Royalty."

And see London's Daily Mail, "Under-age 'sex slave': Duke denies claim in court papers that teen was picked to sleep with him by Robert Maxwell's daughter."

More, "'I will not be bullied into silence': Woman who claims Prince Andrew abused her while she was billionaire's 'underage sex slave' says she is being 'unjustly victimised'."

Of course, the Royal Family has issued a "categorical" denial, via Sky News:

British Prime Minister Warns Labour Leader Ed Miliband Would 'Destroy Jobs' and Create 'Economic Chaos'

Well, leftists tend to destroy and defile entire societies.

The British general election campaign's already shaping up to be a hoot.

At Telegraph UK, "David Cameron: Putting Ed Miliband in Number 10 could trigger 'economic chaos'":

Prime Minister warns that a Labour Government would 'destroy jobs and destroy livelihoods' as he fires first shots of 2015 election campaign with poster launch in Halifax.

Ohio State vs. Oregon: College Football Playoff National Championship 2015

My "Roll Tide!" friends lamblock and Robert Stacy McCain are crestfallen, but I think it's going to be a great championship match-up.

At NYT, "Oregon Looks Bold and Exciting; This Time It’s Not the Uniforms," and "Ohio State Upsets Alabama in Sugar Bowl and Advances to National Championship Game."

What would be a traditional Rose Bowl matchup is the national championship matchup. Old school.

— RB (@RBPundit) January 2, 2015

Confessions of a Hooters Waitress

It's hard out there for a Hooters hottie.

At London's Daily Mail, "Confessions of a Hooters waitress: From $100 tips to fending off 'pervy' men and dealing with angry wives - the truth about America's 'working class sorority'."