Far-Left Radicalism Goes Mainstream

From Michael Goodwin, at the New York Post, "Radicalism is going mainstream":

Something’s in the air, and it’s not just the normal spring rituals of protests, love and allergies. It’s the unsettling sound of radicalism tearing America apart.

Ideas that only recently were relegated to the fringes are now going mainstream. And policies that were settled, established norms are under vicious assault.

Here’s the real shocker: The radicals are not limited to Occupy Wall Street and other anarchists demonstrating against cops, capitalism and all authority. Instead, respected public figures and government officials who would normally defend the establishment are leading the charge against it.

Take the growing New York movement to opt out of standardized student tests. While unions are protesting the use of tests for teacher evaluations, many middle-class parents are joining them.

Indeed, the most prominent opt-out leader is Rob Astorino, the county executive of Westchester County and last year’s GOP gubernatorial nominee.

Astorino, who presides over a suburban bastion of orderly and manicured prosperity, wants to repeal the Common Core standards adopted by New York and more than 40 other states. He boasted that he and his wife, a special-ed teacher, withheld their children from the exams for the second year because the tests “are poorly and secretly devised, developmentally inappropriate, disruptive to wider learning, and federally rather than locally engineered, among other concerns.”

A Bronx middle-school principal went further down the rabbit hole, charging in a published letter that the tests come from “the same system that facilitated our current economic gap, redlining, crack ­cocaine, Jim Crow and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.”

The principal, Jamaal Bowman of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, insisted, “We should not trust the state” because it uses “testing as a smoke screen to destroy public education.”

Wow, imagine what his students are learning.

If that were all, it would be bad enough. But mainstream radicals also are assailing childhood vaccines as another government plot. California is the epicenter, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went off the deep end making the case...

Keep reading.

Armageddon times, on the firing line.

Changing Party Coalitions to Clash in 2016 Election

I expect the electorate wants change, although Republicans can't discount the changing demographics.

Interestingly, Hillary Clinton is not the candidate to sustain the so-called Democrat rainbow coalition of the ascendant. She'll be freakin' 69 in January 2017. And she doesn't tip the counter help.

At the Los Angeles Times, "2016 election pits desire for change against a demographic shift":

The presidential campaign got fully underway this last week with a flurry of announcements, road trips and rallies that will roll across the country with increasing intensity for the next year and a half.

Most of what grabs headlines in the coming campaign will have little or no impact on who wins, past experience has shown. But underneath the hoopla, two clashing realities will shape what is likely to be a close and hard-fought battle.

Democrats will be trying to win a third consecutive presidential election, a difficult task made harder by the fact that by almost 2 to 1, Americans continue to believe the country is on the wrong track, polls show.

Republicans will be trying to win with a base of supporters that is roughly 90% white in an increasingly diverse country, having failed so far to develop a strategy to attract the growing minority populations who rejected them in 2008 and 2012.

Who wins will almost certainly depend on which proves more powerful — the hunger for change or the inexorable demographic wave.

Or to put it another way, the 2016 election will test whether the Obama coalition of minorities and white liberals can hold together, turn out and defeat the aging but still powerful coalition of social and economic conservatives and foreign policy hawks assembled by Ronald Reagan 35 years ago.

The best case for Republicans is that "the American public seldom has the stomach for a third term, and President Obama hasn't been the kind of leader who generates a third term," said political scientist Julia R. Azari of Marquette University in Wisconsin.

The two presidents in the modern era whose parties did win three or more elections, Reagan and Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, both transformed American politics by embodying — and helping bring about — a change in what people believed government should do.

Obama has not accomplished that. As a result, Azari said, for Hillary Rodham Clinton — or another Democratic nominee if she stumbles — it's hard to "talk about the Obama legacy" because it's not clearly defined.

Obama came into office with hopes of leading the country toward a new acceptance of activist government. Some Democrats hoped, for example, that successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act would cause Americans to warm toward the expanded government role in guaranteeing health coverage it represents.

Obamacare by now has helped more than 20 million Americans get insured, the biggest increase in coverage in half a century.

Contrary to dire warnings from the law's opponents, healthcare costs have not shot upward — the rate of healthcare inflation is the lowest in years — the job market has improved and the cost to the federal government is below forecasts.

Despite those successes, the country remains sharply divided on the law. American views of the Affordable Care Act have improved a bit in recent months — 43% disapproved and 41% approved in the most recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation in March — but mostly, opinions have been stuck about where they were when Congress first passed the bill in 2010.

Rather than changing the nation's close partisan divide, the healthcare law appears to have reinforced it.

Broader measurements also find continued widespread skepticism about government...

Keep reading.

Oklahoma City Bombing 20th Anniversary

At WCPO-TV 9 Cincinnati, "20th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombings."

Also, from Bob Schieffer, at Face the Nation, "Face The Nation Flashback: The Oklahoma City bombing."

And at NYT, "Bill Clinton Leads Tribute on 20th Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing."

U.S. Concerned About al-Qaeda's Reemergence in Yemen as Saudi-Led Coalition Attacks Houthi Rebels

At the Los Angeles Times, "Saudi-led Yemen air war's high civilian toll unsettles U.S. officials":

Concerned about reports of hundreds of civilian casualties, Obama administration officials are increasingly uneasy about the U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led air war against rebel militias in Yemen, opening a potential rift between Washington and its ally in Riyadh.

Backed by U.S. intelligence, air refueling and other support, Saudi warplanes have conducted widespread bombing of Yemeni villages and towns since March 26 but have failed to dislodge the Houthi rebels who have overrun much of the Arab world's poorest nation since last fall.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, widely regarded as the terrorist network's most lethal franchise, has capitalized on the chaos by sharply expanding its reach. Fighters loyal to the group claimed control Thursday of a military base and other key facilities near Mukalla, an Arabian Sea port in southern Yemen.

Saudi officials said they are not targeting areas with Al Qaeda fighters, however, and are focusing only on the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim minority whom they view as proxies for Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

With the country sliding into civil war, the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, resigned under pressure Wednesday. Officials said the Moroccan-born diplomat had lost the support of Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies.

Pentagon officials, who pride themselves on the care they take to avoid civilian casualties, have watched with growing alarm as Saudi airstrikes have hit what the U.N. this week called "dozens of public buildings," including hospitals, schools, residential areas and mosques. The U.N. said at least 364 civilians have been killed in the campaign.

Although U.S. personnel don't pick the bombing targets, Americans are working beside Saudi military officials to check the accuracy of target lists in a joint operations center in Riyadh, defense officials said. The Pentagon has expedited delivery of GPS-guided "smart" bomb kits to the Saudi air force to replenish supplies.

The U.S. role was quietly stepped up last week after the civilian death toll rose sharply. The number of U.S. personnel was increased from 12 to 20 in the operations center to help vet targets and to perform more precise calculations of bomb blast areas to help avoid civilian casualties.

U.S. reconnaissance drones now send live video feeds of potential targets and of damage after the bombs hit. The Air Force also began daily refueling flights last week to top off Saudi and United Arab Emirates fighter jets in midair, outside Yemen's borders, so they can quickly return to the war.

Saudi officials say their goal is to pressure the Houthis to disarm and to reinstate President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. That would require the Houthis to give up virtually all their gains since they captured the capital, Sana, in September and forced Hadi into exile in March...

More.

Leftist Democrat One-Party Coalition Destroying the Once Expansive California Dream

Actually, it's an old story by now, but told well by Joel Kotkin, the expert on the dwindling dream of the once-golden state.

At the Daily Beast, "The Big Idea: California Is So Over."

American Jewry's Moment of Decision

From Caroline Glick:

This week in two meetings with prominent American Jews, President Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet. Either the Jews of America will rise to the challenge or they will allow Obama to marginalize them.

It is their choice, and now is the time for them to decide.

In the first meeting, Obama met with centrist Jewish leaders from major Jewish organizations like the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC. Major donors to these groups, like to almost every other major Jewish organization in America, are largely Democrats.

According to The Washington Post, the purpose of the meeting was “to defuse antagonism toward [Obama] and to convince [Jewish leaders] that he shares their concerns about the safety of Israel and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.”

That is, the main goal of the meeting was to silence Jewish criticism of Obama’s deal with Iran.

So far, Obama seems to have accomplished that goal.

Although, according to a source who spoke to The Algemeiner, the atmosphere at the meeting was “ungiving, very stern and tense.” Since the meeting took place, none of the leaders who participated has openly criticized Obama’s policies regarding Iran. Their silence comes despite the fact that, according to the participants who spoke with The Algemeiner, Obama did not allay the concerns they expressed regarding the dangers his nuclear deal with Iran constitute for Israel.

The second meeting of the day was a far friendlier affair. According to The Algemeiner, participants included supporters of the anti-Israel organization J Street, including Alexandra Stanton, Lou Susman, and Victor Kovner. Other outspoken leftist Jews, including Haim Saban and former AIPAC presidents Amy Friedkin and Howard Friedman, also attended.

As The Algemeiner reported, participants in this meeting were much less concerned about Obama’s deal with Iran. At least one participant, described as more “centrist” than other participants gushed at the president, saying, “You are doing the right thing [with Iran]. We are behind you 100 percent.”

Participants in the second meeting also were excited at the prospect of Obama making good on his threat to act against Israel at the UN Security Council. Indeed, they lobbied him to abandon Israel at the international forum. A participant told The Algemeiner that one of his colleagues told Obama, “If you decide to go against Israel at the UN, let us know first and we’ll do the legwork for you, in the [Jewish] community…so you’re not going to come in cold.”

The purpose then of Obama’s second meeting with American Jews was not to silence dissent, but to mobilize his supporters to weaken community opposition to his hostile policies toward Israel, both in regard to Iran and in regard to the Palestinians.

And here, too, the meeting was largely successful.

An indication of the success of Obama’s efforts to rally his Jewish supporters in favor of his anti-Israel policies came on Wednesday, when the Jewish arm of the Democratic Party, the National Jewish Democratic Council, issued a stunning press release. In it, the NJDC condemned Sen. Marco Rubio for supporting Israel. On Monday, Rubio announced that he is running for president.

Rubio’s pro-Israel crime involved his plan get the Senate to condition approval of Obama’s nuclear deal with the ayatollahs on Iran’s recognizing Israel’s right to exist. According to the NJDC, Rubio’s plan, “has no purpose other than to politicize the US-Israel relationship at a time when the Jewish state needs our steadfast support. It is shameful that Sen. Rubio would further politicize this issue to advance his own political goals.”

If the NJDC is truly steadfast in its support for Israel, it is hard to understand what its members are so upset about.

As far as Israelis are concerned, Rubio’s plan is aligned with the widest political consensus imaginable.

The Israeli Left, led by Labor Party leader Yitzhak Herzog, supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that sanctions against Iran should be dropped only after Iran recognizes Israel’s right to exist.

As to America, it is hard to understand how anyone in the American mainstream could oppose conditioning Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons on its abandonment of its aim to destroy Israel.

Obama himself has always insisted that protecting Israel’s security is a paramount goal of his presidency.

Both in his meetings with Jewish leaders and in his interview earlier this month with The New York Times’s Tom Friedman, Obama claims to have been deeply hurt by accusations that he doesn’t care about Israel’s security and said that he would consider it a personal failure if Israel were weaker when he leaves office.

Yet, by refusing to condition a nuclear deal that as Obama himself acknowledges will reduce Iran’s breakout time for military nuclear capabilities to zero on Iran’s eschewal of the goal of Israel’s destruction, the NJDC, like Obama himself, is not protecting Israel or supporting it. Like Obama, the NJDC is indirectly legitimizing Iran’s goal of destroying Israel...

More.

Hookers for Hillary

This is a thing?

Seriously.

At London's Daily Mail, "Hookers for Hillary: Nevada sex workers come out in favor of Clinton for president in 2016."

Also at Big Government, "‘HOOKERS FOR HILLARY': BUNNY RANCH EMPLOYEES ENDORSE HILLARY CLINTON."

San Diego Man Who Abandoned Son After Crash Gets 4-Year Prison Sentence

Hard to believe that anyone would let their own children die.

But this dude Angelo Fabiani drove recklessly, crashed and rolled, then let his son die in the hands of strangers.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Dad who left boy in wreck gets prison: Young boy fell to ground when father unbuckled seatbelt, later died. The dad walked home."

Also ABC 10 News San Diego, "Man who left son to die after crash apologizes at his sentencing."

Sunday Cartoons

At Theo's, "Cartoon Roundup..."



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

Also at Lonely Con, "Saturday Funnies."

Cartoon Credit: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Crass Reunion."

Hundreds of Migrants Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Off Coast of Libya

Video, at the Telegraph UK, "700 feared dead in Mediterranean boat capsize."

And at the Guardian, "700 migrants feared dead in Mediterranean shipwreck."

Mike Trout Youngest Player to Hit 100 Home Runs, Steal 100 Bases

Now if the rest of the team could just pick up the pace...

At LAT, "Angels star Mike Trout proves a tougher out during two-homer game":

Houston reliever Chad Qualls got two quick strikes on Mike Trout in the eighth inning of a tie game Friday night and threw two nasty pitches, down and in, to the Angels center fielder.

It’s the kind of at-bat that would have probably ended in either a strikeout or an out last season for Trout, who won the 2014 American League most valuable player award despite leading the league with 184 strikeouts and hitting .215 on two-strike counts.

Qualls threw two nasty pitches, down and in, but Trout was able to foul off the 0-2 and 1-2 deliveries. Qualls then tried to go up and away with his next pitch but caught too much of the plate, and Trout lined it into the right-center-field seats for a three-run home run that gave the Angels a 6-3 victory in Minute Maid Park.

Trout also hit a two-run homer on a full-count pitch in the sixth inning to become the youngest player in major league history -- at 23 years 251 days old -- with 100 homers and 100 stolen bases.

Trout is batting .444 on the season and .400 (eight for 20) on two-strike counts. He says his new early-in-the-count approach is the reason he’s feeling more comfortable with two strikes.

“When I get aggressive early in the count, it gets me ready for pitches later in the at-bat, as opposed to just letting one go by,” Trout said. “When I’m up there, I’m looking to drive the ball. First pitch, second pitch, if I just get my pitch, I’m going to try to swing at it.”

Trout, who hit .287 with 36 homers, 111 RBIs and 115 runs last season, came to spring training determined to cut down on his strikeouts, but he said it took a month of exhibition games for him to get comfortable with the idea...

More.

Former Playboy Model Michelle Manhart Fights to Protect American Flag from Hateful Leftists

At Big Government, "Police Detain Military Veteran Michelle Manhart for Taking Stomped Flag from Students."

Watch: "Michelle Manhart Arrested for Protecting US Flag from Desecration."

And at Right Wing News, "When This Female Air Force Vet Saw Protesters Stepping on the Flag, It Took Four Cops to Bring Her Down."

Also at London's Daily Mail, "Air Force veteran who posed for Playboy is tackled by cops and arrested for taking on protesters who were trampling on US flag."

At Esscurve, "AF Vet Michelle Manhart Wears Only Her Patriotism."

Hottest Lily Aldridge Outtakes

She's such a sweetie.

At Sports Illustrated:

Hot Holly Hagan

At Zoo, "Holly Hagan is hotter than ever before in her amazing new lingerie shoot!"

New Islamic State Video Shows Slaughter of Ethiopian Christians

At the New York Times, "ISIS Video Purports to Show Killing of Ethiopian Christians."

And note: The video doesn't "purport" to show anything. Christians are being murdered before our very eyes, this time in Ethiopia. Who's next?

And watch, at Bare Naked Islam, "Islamic State (ISIS) slaughters and beheads 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya (WARNING: Extremely graphic)."

A Tale of Two Justice Department Reports

A scathing review and analysis, from Heather Mac Donald, at the Weekly Standard, "Justice Is Blind: The case of dueling DOJ reports on Ferguson, Missouri":

Remember Michael Brown, the 18-year-old whose fatal shooting in Ferguson, Mo., last August triggered two waves of riots, a national protest movement, death threats against the officer who shot Brown, lamentations by college presidents regarding America’s enduring racial injustice, vilification of St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch for not obtaining an indictment against the officer who shot Brown, a campaign to eliminate grand jury proceedings when police officers use deadly force, the assassination of two New York police officers, and a presidential task force to reform policing? The press and public leaders don’t appear to remember Brown, now that a Justice Department report has demolished the narrative that turned him into a martyr to police and prosecutor racism. His shooting is now mentioned in passing only as a prelude to a second Justice report, also released on March 4, that preserves the meme of a racist Ferguson police force, thus providing a substitute rationale for the summer and fall rioting.

Before the Justice Department report on the Brown shooting is consigned to total oblivion, it is worth examining its findings, as well as the strategies used to marginalize them, in some detail. They bear on the ecstatically received second Justice Department report on Ferguson police racism and on the larger discourse about policing and race.

Keep reading.

Video of Suge Knight 'Hit-and-Run' Released

At Telegraph UK, "Court shows CCTV footage showing former rap music mogul driving over two men with his pickup truck."

Gorilla Cracks Glass at Omaha Zoo

At KMTV Action 3 News Omaha, "Gorilla breaks glass at Nebraska Zoo."

It's pretty scary.

At the Santa Barbara Zoo, the silverbacks would sometimes sit by the glass, and if you knocked on it they'd knock back -- pounding it -- quite angrily.

Via Instapundit.

BONUS: Xeni Jardin, obviously no fan of zoos, takes the gorilla's side at Boing Boing, "Video: A captive Silverback Gorilla attacks some very foolish humans at the zoo."

Internal Revenue Service Places $70,000 Tax Lien on MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry

Because leftists like Harris-Perry want others to pay for their tyrannical collectivist redistribution schemes.

This is literally obscene.

At the Winston-Salem Journal, "Internal Revenue Service Places $70,00 Tax Lien on MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry."

And at Twitchy, "‘Epic burn’! These flashbacks make tax dodger Melissa Harris-Perry look even worse."

Shroud of Turin to Go on Display in Rare Exposition Expected to Attract Millions of Visitors

At Reuters, "Millions expected to view Turin Shroud in rare display."

And at Pajamas, "Shroud of Turin Goes on Display Tomorrow."

Josh Hamilton Files for Divorce

I've been real disappointed in Hamilton's play, but I've lately been quite sympathetic to him, and now even more so considering his pending divorce.

He's had tremendous support among the players, so that really tells you something. It's the Angels' ownership that's throwing him under the bus. And now comes news of problems on the home front.

At LAT, "Troubled Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton files for divorce in Texas." Also, "Angels' Josh Hamilton lists Newport mansion for sale at $16.5 million."

RELATED: At the Dallas Morning News, "Josh Hamilton's battle: From cocaine cravings and 26 tattoos to faith and Rangers."

Lady Gaga Flaunts Her figure in Tight Black Top and Latex Fishtail Skirt in Hollywood

Hey, no complaints here.

Catwoman glasses too!

At London's Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga flaunts her ample cleavage and pert derriere in tight black top and PVC fishtail skirt as she dines out in Hollywood."

Mexico's Auto Industry Accelerates

The fruits of free trade and global interdependence, to the consternation of anti-American, anti-globalization activists, to say nothing of anti-free trade protectionists.

And wow, the U.S. is running a $7 billion trade surplus with Mexico.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Giant Ford and Toyota investments help fuel Mexican auto industry boom":

Investment in the Mexican auto industry is soaring as automakers take advantage of low labor rates, an increasingly sophisticated workforce and a plethora of free trade agreements.

Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it will spend $2.5 billion to build and expand engine and transmission factories in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Guanajuato, creating 3,800 jobs.

Ford’s investment follows Toyota Motor Corp.’s announcement earlier this week that it will spend $1 billion to construct a new factory in central Mexico, where it will build Corolla compact cars.

“The Mexican auto industry is coming of age,” said Mike Jackson, an analyst at IHS Automotive, an industry research firm.

To be sure, wages top the list of Mexico’s auto manufacturing advantages. Workers at the auto assembly plants south of the border earn an average $5.64 an hour compared to $27.78 for their U.S. counterparts, according to the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those at the parts suppliers earn just $2.47 an hour. Workers at U.S. auto suppliers average $19.65.

But that’s just one factor, Jackson said. The Mexican auto industry is turning out more sophisticated vehicles than it could a decade ago. That’s why luxury automaker BMW also revealed plans for a $1-billion plant in San Luis Potosi last July. Mercedes-Benz and Nissan are building a joint, $1.4-billion plant in Aguascalientes. Audi is constructing a $1.3-billion factory near Puebla.

Altogether, auto companies and suppliers have announced almost $5.5 billion in factory expansion and construction so far this year, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Ford aims “to make our vehicles even more fuel-efficient with a new generation of engines and transmissions our team in Mexico will build,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas.

Already, Ford manufactures engines and assembles the Fiesta, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ in Mexico. The transmission plant to be built in Guanajuato will be Ford’s first in Mexico.

The Mexican auto industry has grown to the point at which it generate jobs beyond the assembly lines.

Automakers and suppliers report increasing reliance on Mexico for engineering, according to Jay Baron, chief executive of the Center for Automotive Research. That is turning the nation into a “key competitor” for high-paying white collar jobs provided by automotive research and development operations, he wrote in an industry report.

Baron and other analysts said Mexico’s auto industry growth is accelerated by a web of free trade agreements. The country has pacts with more than 40 nations that, combined, represent 70% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

The number of vehicles Mexico produces annually is expected to rise 54% from last year's level to nearly 5 million in 2022, according to IHS Automotive. U.S. production will rise 7% to a little more than 12 million during the same period.

Mexico's geography -- easy access to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans -- bolsters its position as an automotive export hub.

“No other country in the world boasts an equivalent export environment,” Baron said.

More.

The Presidency and the Culture Wars

An interesting piece, from Damon Linker, at the Week, "How the race for president became the ultimate battlefield in the culture war":

What if the whole national drama surrounding the American presidency — the canonization or demonization of the office-holder, the obsession with the commander-in-chief's every utterance, the nearly two-year-long beauty contest we call a presidential campaign — isn't really about politics at all?

It certainly sounds counterintuitive.

Reporters and pundits may focus on the horse race in their coverage of a campaign, but most would surely say that a presidential election contest is ultimately about political ideology and the policies flowing from it. The Republicans want to cut government spending, regulations, and taxes, increase spending on defense, and use American military power more aggressively. The Democrats want to increase government spending, regulations, and (by implication) taxes, while cutting defense spending and using American military power a teeny-tiny bit less frequently.

The election itself is about which ideology you support and which personality you prefer to serve as its champion.

That's certainly part of what's going on. But it's not all of it. Or even most of it. Or the core of it.

More than ever, presidential politics is about something other than politics. It's about culture, identity, signaling, and symbolism. In a country of 318 million people, in which there is no shared religious conviction, no shared ethnicity, and increasingly no common culture or moral consensus about marriage and sex, and in which the burden of what is typically a nation's greatest act of collective endeavor and sacrifice (war) has been offloaded to a tiny segment of the population that voluntarily bears the burden largely out of public sight and mind — in such a centerless country, with a media culture that fixates on image, style, and symbolism, a single nationwide quadrennial election in which every adult citizen can participate has taken on existential overtones.

More than affirming his or her ideology or policy proposals, we want to be able to look at a presidential candidate and say: "That's me. That's who I am. That's how I see America."

Keep reading.

Children Raised by Homosexual Couples at Serious Risk

From Oscar Robert Lopez, at American Thinker, "The Gay Marriage Wake-Up Call."

The Meaning of Their Service

From U.S. Marine Corps General (four star, retired) James Mattis, at the Wall Street Journal, "A retired four-star Marine Corps general on the clarifying effect of combat experience, the poison of cynicism and how veterans can help revive American optimism."

Kendall Jenner in Sexy GQ Photo Shoot (VIDEO)

Watch: "Kendall Jenner's Sexy GQ Shoot."

Also, "The 12 sexiest moments from Kendall Jenner's GQ cover shoot," and "Presenting our May cover star Kendall Jenner."

BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Kendall Jenner shows off her lean and slender frame in a behind-the-scenes video for GQ shoot... as she talks about her passion for selfies."

Weekend Weather with Jackie Johnson

Slather up with sunscreen. It's going to be hot.

Texas Veterinarian Kristen Lindsey Fired After Killing Local Cat with Bow and Arrow

At KBTX-TV, College Station, Texas (at Memeorandum), "Veterinarian Fired After Bragging About Killing Cat with Bow and Arrow (WARNING: Graphic Photo)."

It doesn't look like a "feral" cat, and so what anyway. Why not just leave it alone?

More at London's Daily Mail, "'My first bow kill... lol': Self-proclaimed 'vet of the year' fired after posing for image holding a dead cat she killed with a bow and arrow after allegedly hunting it down."

ESPN Reporter Britt McHenry Suspended After Foul-Mouthed Parking Attendant Rant

At Hot Air, "Video: The obligatory “ESPN reporter acts like an a-hole to parking attendant” clip; Update: Suspended one week."



ADDED: At Instapundit, "WAIT, MORE PREMATURE INTERNET OUTRAGE? SURELY NOT! Kyle Smith: ESPN was totally wrong to suspend Britt McHenry."

Shop Patio, Lawn and Garden — Books Too!

I'll be working today. More blogging tonight.

Meanwhile, Shop Amazon's Patio, Lawn & Garden Spring Event .

Plus, from David Horowitz, The Black Book of the American Left Volume 4: Islamo-Fascism and the War Against the Jews.

And from Jason Riley, Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., to Earn a Cool $120 Million in Fight Against Manny Pacquiao

He's one of the highest earning athletes ever.

At LAT, "Floyd Mayweather Jr. is glad he waited for big fight."

Pete Farndon's Widow Rants Against Twitter Trolls

I thought this was a parody for a second. But it's legit.

From Conover Farndon Kennard: "We Hurt Gun Nuts' Fee Fees and They Want Information On Me, So Here It Is."

Lots of drugs. Sex and drugs and rock-and-roll. Seriously. People die.

Pope Francis Says Gender Theory Causes Society to Take Step in the Wrong Direction

Well, I'm sure he'll generate a swift denunciation from the regressive precincts of the Catholic diaspora.

At Zenit, "Pope Francis: Removal of Differences Between Man and Woman Is the Problem, Not the Solution." (Via Instapundit.)

Leftists Celebrate Tax Day by Protesting for Higher Minimum Wage

From Ben Shapiro, at Big Government.

Also at USA Today, "Fast-food strikes widen into social-justice movement."

Still more at CBS Los Angeles:

Rocky Mountain Land Library

This is where I want to be.

At the New York Times, "Envisioning a Colorado Haven for Readers, Nestled Amid Mountains of Books":

SOUTH PARK, Colo. — The project is striking in its ambition: a sprawling research institution situated on a ranch at 10,000 feet above sea level, outfitted with 32,000 volumes, many of them about the Rocky Mountain region, plus artists’ studios, dormitories and a dining hall — a place for academics, birders, hikers and others to study and savor the West.

It is the sort of endeavor undertaken by a deep-pocketed politician or chief executive, perhaps a Bloomberg or a Buffett. But the project, called the Rocky Mountain Land Library, has instead two booksellers as its founders.

For more than 20 years, Jeff Lee, 60, and Ann Martin, 53, have worked at a Denver bookshop, the Tattered Cover, squirreling away their paychecks in the pursuit of a single dream: a rural, live-in library where visitors will be able to connect with two increasingly endangered elements — the printed word and untamed nature.

“It’s everything, really,” Ms. Martin said of the role the project has played in her life, and that of her husband, Mr. Lee. “It’s not really about us. It’s something for Colorado, for this region.”

They have poured an estimated $250,000 into their collection of 32,000 books, centering the collection on Western land, history, industry, writers and peoples. There are tales by Norman Maclean; wildlife sketches by William D. Berry; and books on beekeeping, dragonflies, cowboys and the Navajo. The couple said that groupings of books would be placed around the ranch, organized by theme: mining, railroads, fur trade, Native American tribes, natural history, astronomy.

Their library has a broad range of potential audiences, they said, from elementary school pupils to literature enthusiasts and Ph.D.s.

“The connection to nature — we know this place will give that to people,” Mr. Lee said. “Even if they don’t pick up a book.”

More.

Some Parents in East Bay Don't Like Planned Parenthood Teaching Sex Education to Their Kids

Yeah, I can imagine some parents might not be too pleased, but don't forget, children "belong to communities," not their families.

At ABC News San Francisco, "ACALANES SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD SEX ED CLASSES."

How Israel Hid Its Secret Nuclear Weapons Program

Remember how Obama leaked classified documents on Israel's nuclear weapons program in retaliation against Netanyahu's refusal to kowtow?

Well, Politico discusses the secrecy behind the program.

Here: "An exclusive look inside newly declassified documents shows how Israel blocked U.S. efforts to uncover its secret nuclear reactor."

Vegetarian Model, 19, Bathes in Pig Blood to Maintain Her Youthful Looks

I expect people like this to lose the Darwinian battle of the survival of the fittest.

At London's Daily Mail, "'My greatest fear is getting old': 19-year-old vegetarian model bathes in PIG BLOOD in a desperate bid to maintain her youthful looks forever."

Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows

Heh.

At USA Today, "'Hunger Games' star's race chat goes viral."

“What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?”

Watch: "Amandla Stenberg: Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows."

Goose With Arrow In Its Neck Dies After Surgery (VIDEO)

A goose just doesn't get an "arrow in its neck" by accident. Some loser had to put it there, with, you know, a bow and arrow...

Sick.

At CBS News Los Angeles.

The bird was believed to have been shot with the arrow about two weeks ago.

It remains unclear who shot the arrow, but authorities say if a shooter is identified, that person may face multiple charges. “They should be caught and incarcerated for it,” Chino Hills resident Heather Grant said. “Animal abuse is disgusting.”

Gravity Payments CEO to Boost Entire Company's 'Minimum Wage' to $70,000 (VIDEO)

I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Most business owners don't take $930,000 pay cuts to help their employees.

There's something else going on with this dude. Strange.

At KIRO 7 Seattle, "Seattle CEO to cut his pay so every worker earns $70,000."



Better private sector charity like this than statist collectivist redistribution schemes by corrupt Democrat Party cadres, in any case.

'This guy was trying to pick up girls and get sympathy drinks in a battle ready uniform which wasn't even on properly let alone, wearing it at a bar...'

I saw this story at London's Daily Mail a couple of days ago, "Stolen Valor? Row in Florida bar as man in uniform 'trying to pick up girls' gets aggressive when he can't answer simple questions about his basic training."

And now at the Blaze (via Memeorandum), "Bystander Asks Man in Military Uniform Basic Questions About His Service — His Answers Sparked This Explosive Exchange."

Also, see Katie McGuire, at Right Wing News, "VIDEO: A Bystander Asks a Man in Military Uniform Some Basic Questions About His Service – His Answers Sparked An Explosive Exchange!"

Charlotte McKinney for Guess Swimwear and Lingerie

At Egotastic!, "Charlotte McKinney Does Guess."

BONUS: "Charlotte McKinney Topless in Alleged Leaked Photos: Is This Really the Charlotte McKinney Jackpot?"

STEM Toys and Games

Hey, everyone's trying to get an edge these days, even toddlers.

At Amazon, "STEM Toys & Game Store."

Police Officer Runs Over Suspect in Arizona, Ending Day-Long Crime Spree (VIDEO)

Hey, the police department is hailing him as a hero.

At Tucson News Now, "Marana police video shows cruiser ram crime spree suspect." (At Memeorandum.)

And the New York Daily News, "SEE IT: Former NYPD cop disarms gunman by ramming with police cruiser to end Arizona crime spree."

Marco Rubio Presidential Campaign Announcement Video

Watch: "Marco Rubio Announcement."

Damn. That speech was absolutely incredible. So much American pride. #Rubio2016

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 13, 2015

Hillary Clinton Makes Surprise Lunch Stop at Chipotle

No one recognized her. That's simply bizarre.

At the New York Times, "On the Road, Hillary Clinton Stops for Lunch at Chipotle and Goes Unrecognized."

And at Twitchy, "‘Does Chipotle have a senior burrito?’ Hillary’s ‘just like us,’ you guys [photos]."

Obama's Blue States Fading in Rocky Mountain West

More road kill from the Democrats' "coalition of the ascendant."

At LAT, "Obama conquered the West for Democrats, but now it's back in play":

When President Obama claimed the Democratic nomination en route to the White House, he planted his party flag in this Rocky Mountain capital, vowing to end Washington's dysfunction and find elusive consensus around issues such as immigration, guns and abortion.

Running as a different breed of Democrat — one more pragmatic and sensitive to the unbridled ethos of the region — Obama captured several Western states that the Republicans had won four years earlier, and came surprisingly close in two others.

Afterward, there was heady talk among Democrats of making the Mountain West a reliable part of their presidential base, safely tucking Colorado and Nevada alongside the blue bastions of California, Oregon and Washington, and turning Republican-leaning Arizona and Montana into a pair of tossup states.

But after the last several contentious years, none of that has happened. If anything, the interior West has grown even more competitive, as Republicans rolled up big midterm victories last year in Colorado and Nevada. They kept single-party control of Arizona's capital and, from all appearances, pushed Montana off the table for Democrats.

The ups and downs of Obama and his party, the Republican comeback after two losing presidential campaigns, and the demographic changes remaking the face of the country have been broadly writ across the Rocky Mountain West, and what happens here could go a long way toward deciding which party wins the White House in 2016.

With no candidate hailing from the region, and no special affinity for likely Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton or any one of the Republican hopefuls, the fight is likely to be close, especially in Colorado, which has lately seen more political upheaval — shifting control of the state Senate, a pair of lawmakers recalled in a fight over guns, a rural secession movement — than just about any state.

Even Obama supporters, including some who helped put him in the White House, say he has fallen short of the goals set forth that August 2008 night in Denver, and of the political aspirations that followed. Washington appears more dysfunctional than ever, immigration, guns and abortion remain political flashpoints and the national party is still viewed in much of the libertarian-leaning West with the same degree of suspicion.

"As a candidate there was more hope for Obama," said Dave Hunter, a veteran Democratic strategist in Montana, which Obama came close to winning in 2008, only to lose badly four years later. "But the reality, once he became president, was that he looked more like a typical Democrat than many people thought he was going to be."

 Hillary isn't going the reassemble the Rockies for the Democrats. They're making a big mistake.

Keep reading.

Regressive Democrats Try to Push Hillary Clinton Left

Following up from earlier, "Radical Leftists Urge Hillary to Go 'Bold' (VIDEO)."

At the Wall Street Journal, "Some Democrats think Hillary Clinton isn’t liberal enough, posing a challenge to her as she prepares for a presidential campaign":

WASHINGTON—Hillary Clinton was once seen as a liberal voice pulling her husband and party to the left. Today, on the brink of her announcement that she is running for president, some Democrats think she isn’t liberal enough.

What troubles them are her ties to Wall Street and Bill Clinton’s centrist economic record. They don’t like that she appears more comfortable with bipartisan compromise than populist calls to fight banks and other business interests, and wonder if she stands with them on other issues.

“There’s a general uncertainty of where she stands on key economic issues,” said Roger Hickey, co-chairman of the liberal advocacy group Campaign for America’s Future. “A lot of people would prefer to have someone who is a real populist crusader, who is clear about what she would do.”

More.

Uncovered Hailey Clauson

Via Sports Illustrated.



FLASHBACK: "Hailey Clauson Swimsuit Body Paint."

Raul Castro Stands Up for Obama at Summit of the Americas

Communist birds of a feather stick together.

At Telegraph UK, "US President Barack Obama received a remarkable vote of confidence from Cuban leader Castro, who praised his 'humble background'."

Star Wars Digital Movie Collection

Get your deals: Shop Amazon Instant Video - Star Wars Digital Movie Collection.

Hillary's 'Spontaneous' Campaign Closed to Public This Week, Won't Give Formal Stump Speeches Until May

Here's Chuck Todd ejaculating about Hillary's "spontaneous" campaign. Man, what a feat!

So hard in this new media age to do anything that looks spontaneous to political world. This Hillary road trip idea has done just that

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) April 13, 2015

Of course, it's so spontaneous she won't be having formal stump speeches until May, via Toby Harnden tweeting Politico, "Hillary Clinton to drive to Iowa."

.@HillaryClinton "not planning any major speeches or campaign rallies until May" http://t.co/nseEDhOTp0

— Toby Harnden (@tobyharnden) April 13, 2015

And per Jennifer Jacobs, of the Des Moines Register, Hillary's Iowa events this week are closed to the public with limited media access. Now that's what I call taking your message to the people!

In Iowa, Hillary Clinton will do educational roundtable & a business roundtable. Neither open to public, limited access to news media.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 12, 2015

UCLA Faculty Approves Diversity Course for Future Undergrads

Mandatory diversity classes, of course.

At Blazing Cat Fur.

I'm locked into my job but I'd move out of this state if I could. Man.

Hilarious Darrell Hammond 'First Dude' in SNL's Hillary Clinton Cold Open

It's pretty funny.

At iOWNTHEWORLD Report, "SNL Skewers Hillary (And takes a few shots at Bill)."

Watch: "Hillary Clinton Election Video Cold Open - SNL."

Radical Leftists Urge Hillary to Go 'Bold' (VIDEO)

Hillary's not statist enough, obviously.

Seems more like an Elizabeth Warren recruiting video to me. Hillary's got no need to go bold at this point. Not until she faces are primary challenger. And that remains to be seen.

At WaPo, "In video message, progressives tell Hillary Clinton: We’re ‘Ready for Boldness’":

Using her own words, and the words of other Democrats, a progressive group called on Hillary Clinton to take bold, populist stances in her second campaign for president.

As Republicans came at Clinton from the right on Sunday ahead of her anticipated announcement of a White House run, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) needled her from the left with a new YouTube video detailing the agenda it wants Clinton to support.

More.

Anti-Hillary Street Art in Brooklyn

Via Weekly Standard.

Rule 5 Sunday

Well, enough Hillary blogging for now.

Here's some breastastic bazonga blogging, featuring Lissy Cunningham.



Now over at Gator Doug's, "THE DALEYBABE MELANIE RILEY."

More at Regular Right Guy, "Chelsea Clinton: ELLE: Rule 5."

And from Ms. EBL, "Airport Security Steals Alyssa Milano's Breast Milk."

At Knuckledraggin', "Titties."

Also at Odie's, "Old Barns ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

From AWD, "IF LOVING ALISON KRAUSS IS WRONG, AWD DOESN’T WANT TO BE RIGHT!"

From Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: If it ain’t rainin’, it ain’t trainin’!"

Also at the Last Tradition, "Rule 5 Sunday - Anais Pouliot."

And at Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

At Egotastic!, "READER FINDS: Kelly Brook Purported Nekkid Selfie, Chloe Sevigny Topless, Charlotte McKinney Crazy Hot Funbags, and Much Much More…"

A View from the Beach, "Rule 5 Saturday - Some Hollywood Cheesecake with Alison Brie."

Proof Positive, "Friday Night Babe: Simone Holtznagel!"

Goodstuff's, "GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (185th Issue)."

Also at 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

And from the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday™."

Crazy Uncle Bubba has, "A little bit of Mother Nature."

PCP has, "Flowing Curves of Beauty."

Now, over at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is a horrid and evil gas grill, you might just be a Warmist."

As usual, drop your Rule 5 links in the comments if you're not included.

Until then...

Hillary Clinton's Announcement Video

Here it is, via the Clinton campaign page.

Also at WSJ, "Hillary Clinton Launches Campaign for President."

And Telegraph UK, "'It's official: Hillary's running for president' - campaign for 2016 Democrat nomination launched: live."

BFD, as they say in flyover country.



PREVIOUSLY: "So 1990s: Clinton Campaign Announces Hillary's 2016 Presidential Bid by Email."

So 1990s: Clinton Campaign Announces Hillary's 2016 Presidential Bid by Email

I think I'll die of boredom.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Second shot: Hillary Clinton running again for president."

It's official: Hillary's running for president http://t.co/MAiPzSvrgg #HillarysBigAnnouncement #Hillary2016 pic.twitter.com/rzAmaEz6l7

— SFGate (@SFGate) April 12, 2015

And at the Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton launches presidential bid."

The New York Times Accuses Republicans of 'Racist Insurrection' Against Obama

Seriously.

The race card's pretty much been played out by this point, but then, that's all leftists have left these days. Pathetic.

At the New York Times, "A New Phase in Anti-Obama Attacks."

And at Gateway Pundit, "NY Times Accuses GOP of Racist ‘Insurrection’ Against Obama" (via Memeorandum).

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



More at U.S. Freedom Army, "Another liberal who ignores laws she doesn't like," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Lonely Con, "Speaking of Media Bias…"

Still more at Theo's, "Hillary: Please STFU and go way...", and Maggie's Farm, "Work Sucks! Tax the One Percent!"

Cartoon Credit: A.F. Branco.

'Media Matters would clearly prefer that Clinton be coronated as the Democratic nominee in “historic” fashion, given its ties to Clinton fanboy and perennial drama queen David Brock, who gets paid a lot of money to professionally adore Hillary Clinton...'

Well, about that uncontested Democrat primary in 2016.

Heh.

At Free Beacon, "Media Matters: Contested Primary Would Be Bad for Hillary." (Via Instapundit.)

Top 20% of Earners Pay 84% of Income Tax

Well, my wife and I paid our fair share. Thankfully we got a nice tax return this year. We're in the top 20 percent as well, although that's not as impressive as it sounds.

At WSJ, "And the bottom 20%? They get paid by Uncle Sam. We compare tax burdens as Tax Day approaches."

The Earned Income Tax Credit is the main reason folks at the bottom quintile get paid by Uncle Sam.

New Hurdles for Hillary Clinton in 2016

There's talk that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley will enter the Democrat primaries against Hillary Clinton. It's a good thing too. It's going to be pretty strange if Clinton runs unchallenged next year. She'd essentially be running for the nomination like an incumbent president, although it remains to be seen if she'll be able to generate a commensurate level of enthusiasm.

In any case, more on the story at the Los Angeles Times, "Hillary Clinton will be a commanding front-runner facing high expectations":

Hillary Rodham Clinton will enter the 2016 Democratic presidential race — finally, officially — as the most commanding front-runner in generations. Yet her path to the White House will not be easy, much less assured.

For every advantage she carries an offsetting burden, along with the weight of exceedingly high expectations.

Clinton is beloved and widely admired. She is also loathed and widely criticized.

She boasts an unprecedented resume — former first lady, New York senator, secretary of State — and enjoys universal name recognition after more than two decades of near-constant presence on the national stage. That familiarity, however, will make it exceedingly difficult for Clinton to present herself as someone fresh and different — qualities voters often crave, especially at the tail end of a two-term presidency.

After more than a year of speculation and anticipation, Clinton is expected to formally launch her campaign Sunday with a video announcement, followed by a trip to Iowa, which is set to begin the presidential balloting next winter.

She's loathed alright.

At the New York Post, for example. And be sure to click through for the brutal excoriation from Michael Goodwin.

Hillary Clinton’s presidential plan is growing stale http://t.co/K70Om6cWVi pic.twitter.com/3KP1g8jJOF

— New York Post (@nypost) April 12, 2015

Proxy War in Yemen: Saudi Arabia and Iran Vie for Regional Supremacy

At Der Spiegel, "Saudia Arabia and Iran Fighting Proxy War in Yemen":

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition continues to bombard Yemen in an effort to stop the advance of an Iran-backed Shiite militia there. The conflict is becoming a proxy war for regional supremacy. The risks to the House of Saud are great.

On recent evenings, as Western foreign ministers negotiated fervently with the Iranian leadership in Lausanne, Switzerland, two young women in the Yemeni capital of Saana spent their time gazing fearfully into the darkening night sky. Nina Aqlan, a well-known civil rights activist, and her friend Ranim were on the lookout for Saudi Arabian fighter jets. Ranim was staying with Aqlan because her own apartment stands next to the headquarters of the Political Security Organization, Yemen's domestic intelligence agency. The building is considered a potential target for the Saudis and their allies.

"In the beginning, we thought they might bomb us for one or two nights. But it keeps getting worse!" says Ranim. In the background, the thump of the anti-aircraft batteries can be heard, occasionally interrupted by the thundering explosions of bomb detonations. Sometimes, the attacks last from early evening to midnight, they say over a Skype connection that repeatedly crashes. At other times, the bombing begins later and only ends at dawn.
The nightly strikes come as a Saudi Arabia-led, largely Sunni coalition consisting of nine countries seeks to push back Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. Coalition jets have struck military bases and intelligence agency headquarters, but also a cement factory, a dairy and a refugee camp. By Thursday, the death toll from the bombings, which began one week ago, had risen to over 90. "What kind of war is this?" Aqlan asks angrily. "Why is it being fought?"

There isn't a direct connection between the hostilities and the surprisingly comprehensive deal reached between the West and Iran on the country's nuclear program on Thursday night. But aside from Israel, no country views the pact with as much skepticism as Saudi Arabia. Indeed, following similar developments in Syria and Iraq, the conflict in Yemen is increasingly looking like a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran. The two capitals are blatantly wrestling over supremacy in the region. Either Saudi Arabia, the traditional Western ally that is watching nervously as the United States slowly pulls back. Or Iran, which has been expanding its power in the region of late and which has just taken an historic step toward rapprochement with the US and its allies.

Keep reading.

Britain's Trident Nuclear Deterrent Explained

A big political debate on Britain's nuclear deterrence, at Telegraph UK, "General Election 2015: How each party compares on Trident":

Britain's nuclear deterrent system, Trident, comes up for renewal next year. Parties are at odds over whether to carry on with four Vanguard-class submarines, which have been patrolling the seas since 1984.

With rising diplomatic tensions between Russia and the West and the rise of Islamic State, the world stage remains remarkably tense. The Conservatives have now warned that Labour would leave the country "open to nuclear blackmail by rogue states" because Ed Miliband is “so desperate for power” he is willing to “barter Britain's national security". So, where do the parties stand on Trident?

Keep reading.

Plus video, "What is Trident? Britain's nuclear deterrent explained."

Dana Loesch on the Cover of Guns & Ammo

Dana mentioned the Guns & Ammo cover earlier this week, "An Announcement Ahead of NRAAM."

She's only the second woman to be featured on the cover. Back in 1961 (the year I was born), Officer Jeanne E. Bray was featured. I'd say 54 years is much too long between women's covers.

Also at Twitchy, "Dana Loesch unveiled as first woman on cover of ‘Guns & Ammo’ since 1961."

And buy Dana's book, Hands Off My Gun: Defeating the Plot to Disarm America.

Steely Dan Didn't Even Bother to Engage Coachella's Younger Audience

Indeed, the band was practically trolling the young whippersnappers with "Reelin' in the Years."

At LAT, "Coachella 2015: Who exactly was Steely Dan trying to reel in?"

PREVIOUSLY: "AC/DC to Let Loose on Whole New Generation."

Drunk Crazy Woman Runs Across I-15 in High Heels as Bystanders Scream 'You're Going to Get Killed!'

Her car stalled on Interstate 15 in San Diego. Cars come barreling down the freeway as bystanders try to warn of the danger. A couple of near misses as cars swerve to avoid slowing traffic.

I don't think people realize who dangerous that is. And even more so when you're drunk, like this lady who just walks in and out of the road like she's at the supermarket.

At ABC 10 San Diego, "Drunken woman wanders onto I-15 freeway," and "WATCH: Drunken woman wanders onto I-15 freeway."

More at ABC 7 San Francisco, including shots of the woman getting arrested, "CAUGHT ON CAMERA: WOMAN STUMBLES ACROSS SAN DIEGO HIGHWAY."

Emma Kuziara (Emma K) for Zoo Today

Watch, "Emma K is sexier than ever in here amazing strip shoot!"

And on Instagram, "If you haven't already, go grab @zoo_today now to see my NEW shoot!"

Islamic State Murders Egyptian Soldier and Another Captive

I don't consider these "executions." An execution implies the victim is a criminal suspect, charged by a court of law, and tried according to some basic principles of due process. That's obviously not the case with the murders by Islamic State.

At the Jerusalem Post, "ISIS affiliate in Sinai claims execution of Egyptian solider, beheading of captive."

And watch, at Bare Naked Islam, "Islamic State (ISIS) in Sinai Peninsula executes Egyptian soldier and beheads a civilian in latest video."

Angry Lion Photo Taken Just Before He Attacked

Just spectacular. And totally amazing.

Remind me not to get in the gun sights of an angry lion!

At London's Daily Mail, "Let us prey: Fearless photographer captures image of hungry lion moments before the jungle king prepares to pounce."

Photographer gets attacked by a lion while taking these photos. Worth it. http://t.co/705PnhWMyb pic.twitter.com/bb3qQijDMe

— Melissa Keizer (@KeizGoesBoom) April 11, 2015

Pastor at #WalterScott Funeral Launches Scathing Attack on 'Racist' South Carolina Officer Michael Slager

Well, I must say, it didn't look good. Almost no one is standing up to defend Officer Slager, not insignificantly fellow police officers.

At London's Daily Mail, "'Walter Scott's death was motivated by racial discrimination': Pastor at funeral of unarmed black man shot in the back five times launches scathing attack on South Carolina cop who killed him."

Gwyneth Paltrow Pledges to Live on $29 Food Stamp Budget for One Week

I like Gwyneth. She's my favorite loopy lefist, heh.

At London's Daily Mail, "Gwyneth Paltrow vows to live on just $29 worth of food for a week as part of a charity challenge - but is already under fire from critics for her 1,000 calorie-per-day menu."

And at Twitchy:

'Grandstanding limousine liberal’: Gwyneth Paltrow vows to live on SNAP budget http://t.co/KRhbTLX7Fv

— TwitchyTeam (@TwitchyTeam) April 11, 2015

Another Reminder That the #BlackLivesMatter Movement is Actually a Revolutionary Communist Program

Marylin Zuniga, the Philadelphia teacher who had her students write "get well cards" to Mumia Abu-Jamal, tweeted a shout out to "comrade" Johanna Fernandez, who is a Professor of History at Baruch College.

Professor Fernandez is the coordinator for Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal, an organization that proclaims a "revolutionary practice" in solidarity with political prisoners.

And according to the professor, in an essay at the Huffington Post:

The Fraternal Order of Police [of Philadelphia] knows that there is danger in the widespread discovery of Mumia by today's powerful generation of young black and brown activists. Indeed, their serious engagement with the political analysis, challenges, and lessons of struggle waged by black radicals last time -- a significant number of whom are political prisoners today -- would be a beautifully dangerous thing. It would catapult the Black Lives Matter movement, and our nation, closer to revolution. And for the leading black prophetic voice of our time, that would mean freedom, indeed.

So, again, we have it from radical activists at the roots of the movement: #BlackLivesMatter is about fomenting the communist revolution, the overthrow of the capitalist system in the U.S.

I've reported this fact numerous times, for example, "The Revolutionary Communist Roots of #BlackLivesMatter."

Deranged Leftist Commits Suicide on Capitol Hill: 'Tax the One Percent!'

Well, this time it was a suicide. Next time it will be murder. That's where we're heading with the far-left's murderous collectivist ideological agitation.

At the Right Scoop, "BREAKING! Man commits suicide on U.S. Capitol lawn, had ‘Tax the One Percent’ sign."

And at CNN, "Shooting at U.S. Capitol was a suicide, police say."

Reports - Man holding a sign "Tax the one %" kills himself in front of the Capitol. Building is on lockdown. Our stringer is on his way
— Ruptly Newsroom (@RuptlyNewsroom) April 11, 2015

The Obama Administration Sows Injustice in Campus Rape Cases

First read the Other McCain, "A Coven of Liars: Sabrina Rubin Erdley, Emily Renda and Catherine Lhamon."

Catherine Lhamon is the Obama administration's Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education.

She defends the lower burden of proof in campus rape cases at the Wall Street Journal, "In Campus Rape Tribunals, Some Men See Injustice."

The Rolling Stone rape hoax was simply a product of the Obama administration's ideological and tyrannical rape culture hysteria and agenda. It's pretty despicable. Lives are being ruined. This is what the left does.

UPDATE: Linked at Instapundit. Thanks!

New Wall Street Tycoon Backs Ted Cruz

Well, that oughta shake up the race a bit. Money is the mother milk of politics, as they say.

It's a new era these days, with super-pacs and all.

At the New York Times, "Hedge-Fund Magnate Robert Mercer Emerges as a Generous Backer of Cruz."

GOP to Hammer Hillary Clinton with Web Ads Starting Sunday

At the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Republicans will launch anti-Hillary Clinton ads on Sunday as she makes her candidacy official."

And watch, "Stop Hillary."

Marie Harf Facebook Feud With Her Mom's Friend Over Daily Caller Article

At Truth Revolt.

Hillary Clinton’s Campaign and the Coming Culture Wars

From Peter Wehner, at Commentary:

As the Clinton campaign is about to begin, then, here’s a prediction: She, her team, and her party will obsess on cultural issues and attempt to divide the nation around them to a degree we have never quite seen before. She’ll do this both because she is a liberal woman and because she has very little to say on economic and foreign policy matters. Mrs. Clinton will go into this election believing the “culture wars” to be the best and safest political ground for her. She will portray Republicans as engaged in a “war on women” in such a way that past efforts will look like a walk in the park. The distortions, mob mentality, and smear campaign that characterized the reaction of the left to the Indiana version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (the federal version of which Bill Clinton signed into law) will be amplified by a factor of a hundred. If Hillary Clinton could talk about contraception, abortion, evolution, same sex marriage, and equal pay for equal work every day between now and November 2016, she would.

'Unfriended'

I should see this.

I've been studying technology, social media, and youth culture --- to get a better handle on the generation of kids I teach.

More on that later.

This flick looks trippy.

At NYT, "In ‘Unfriended,’ Horror Unfolds on a Desktop Screen":

A Google search or an iMessage may seem an unlikely source of dramatic tension for a movie. But the new horror thriller “Unfriended,” opening April 17, takes these routine actions in our daily digital lives and turns them into moments of fear and dread. It’s one in a recent spate of horror movies playing out on computer screens that might be likened to the found-footage horror genre that “The Blair Witch Project” started in 1999. But now the frights rely on an active Skype account and a strong Wi-Fi signal.

While dramas like “Disconnect” (2013) and “Men, Women & Children” (2014) have grappled with how technology is changing our lives (and how those changes can be portrayed on a big screen), it may be the horror genre that best examines the intimate and unsettling nature of technology and how we construct our online selves.

“We don’t think about it that much, but our computers and our digital lives are full of secrets,” Nelson Greaves, the writer of “Unfriended,” said by phone from Los Angeles. “You type in a password to get onto the computer. You type in another password to get onto your email. Because of those passwords, we feel like these are safe spaces. And so we behave in these spaces ways that we don’t anywhere else.”

“Unfriended” takes place in real time on the desktop of a teenage girl, Blaire (Shelley Hennig). Her screen becomes the audience’s movie screen. We see her searches, her iMessage chats with her boyfriend, her group Skype session with friends and the mysterious Facebook messages she begins to receive from the account of a girl who had committed suicide a year earlier, after a humiliating video of her was anonymously posted and circulated online. It’s a story of cyberbullying and cyberstalking in which cruel online actions of the past can come back to haunt the characters.

“I’m a very shy person and try to live my own little life,” the film’s director, Levan Gabriadze, said in a phone interview. “But with the Internet, suddenly everybody becomes public and everybody is under the spotlight. Every mistake you make is documented and stays there. It really is a tough space to be, because the Internet doesn’t forget.”

One of the producers, Timur Bekmambetov (“Night Watch,” “Wanted”), harbored the idea of making a movie on a computer screen for more than a decade. He said he thought a movie set on a desktop was a fresh way of getting at a character’s internal thoughts.

Sounds amazingly realistic.

More.

New Jersey Teacher Suspended After Class Sends 'Get Well Cards' to Cop Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

*SMH*

At CBS News New York, "N.J. Teacher Suspended For Having Students Write To Convicted Cop Killer."

Also, at Newark's Star-Ledger, "N.J. teacher suspended over third-graders' 'get well' letters to convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal." And at Philly Mag, "Philly Students Send Get-Well Cards to Mumia Abu-Jamal."

AC/DC to Let Loose on Whole New Generation

AC/DC's headlining Coachella tonight and next Friday. My son's going next weekend, but he won't catch AC/DC's performance, the idiot lol.

Maybe some of the other young whippersnappers there will.

At LAT, "Brian Johnson, AC/DC all set to shake the Coachella kids up":

After 40 years of hard-rock superstardom, there aren't many things AC/DC has yet to try.

Headlining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as the veteran Australian band will do when the annual blowout kicks off Friday in Indio, is one of them.

But if Brian Johnson was nervous about performing at a festival known for its adventurous talent and youthful crowd, the 67-year-old singer didn't show it this week at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills — perhaps because he'd just received some reassuring words from Paul McCartney, who played Coachella in 2009.

"I ran into him downstairs this morning," Johnson said Tuesday over tea with his band mates Angus Young and Cliff Williams. "He goes, 'Brian, you get on that stage and I'm telling you, you see all these kids looking for the hip-hop acts. Then they see you, and they're like, 'Who's he? Oh, yeah — me dad talks of him.' " Johnson laughed in his raspy growl. "But he said it's great because you're doing your thing, and eventually all the kids go, 'He's cool, this dude!'

"It kind of takes you right back to the start, when you had to win over an audience," the singer added. "I'm excited."

As it happens, the crowd won't be the only X factor for AC/DC at Coachella, which after its run this weekend at the Empire Polo Club is set to repeat April 17-19. The band's Friday night set — the opening date of a world tour scheduled through fall — will also feature two additions to the band in guitarist Stevie Young (Angus' nephew) and drummer Chris Slade.

Or new-ish additions, let's call them. Both men have played in AC/DC before, Young in the late '80s and Slade in the early '90s. But now both appear to have permanent gigs following a tumultuous 2014 in which founding guitarist Malcolm Young, Angus' older brother, was forced to leave the group as a result of dementia and longtime drummer Phil Rudd lost his spot after he was arrested in New Zealand on charges of drug possession and threatening to kill. (An additional murder-for-hire charge was dropped due to insufficient evidence.)

The dramatic events — which came just as AC/DC was preparing to release its latest album, November's typically solid "Rock or Bust" — rattled the band, said Angus Young, who called the experience a "roller coaster."

Yet AC/DC has weathered turmoil before, most famously when its original lead singer, Bon Scott, died of alcohol poisoning in 1980. Months later, the group recruited Johnson and put out "Back in Black," still its biggest album ever. Moving past these latest troubles was never in question, Johnson said.

"You pick yourself up, dust yourself down and just keep going," said the frontman, instantly recognizable in his trademark black T-shirt and flat cap. "You live on, and you have a wonderful memory of them always with you, but you're not going to stop doing what you do. Otherwise, you die inside, you know? And we would die — I would, if I didn't do what I was doing. There'd be nothing." He paused as though suddenly aware of how serious he sounded. Then he laughed.

"I'd just be another guy looking for a hobby."

More.

Here's That Dove Video in Which Women Choose if They're 'Beautiful' or 'Average'

Everyone's beautiful.

Beauty's skin deep, blah blah.

Not sure why anyone at Dove thought this was a good idea.

At Ad Week, "Dove's Latest Film Makes Women Choose If They Are 'Beautiful' or 'Average': But is the concept overly simplified?"

And watch: "Dove Choose Beautiful | Women all over the world make a choice."

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.