Latest on Europe's Migrant Crisis (VIDEO)

Man, people will risk everything to get to Europe.

They should come to the U.S. It's not like we don't let everyone in anyways.

At the BBC, "European migrant crisis: Italy navy rescues 50 from dinghy."



And on Greece, at London's Daily Mail, "'There will be bloodshed': Stark warning from Greek mayor after Kos police use batons and fire extinguishers to break up 1,500 strong refugee protest at football stadium."

Not so welcoming over there, I guess.

More, at the Express UK, "PICTURED: Syrian migrants pose for SELFIE after landing on Greek island of Kos."

Wham!! New Echelon Insights Poll Has Donald Trump at 29 Percent, Soaring Over GOP Field!

I don't like online polling. There's been a huge debate among political scientists over the validity and efficacy of the new online surveys.

I don't like them, and my distrust of online surveys was confirmed by the massive cluster of YouGov's polling of the British general election, which badly failed to predict the decisive victory for the Conservatives.

I like Kristen Soltis Anderson, however. She's got a must-read new book out, The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). She's smart and not prone to ridiculous spin.

So that makes this worth a look, at Hot Air, "Echelon Insights post-debate poll: Trump 29, Carson 10, Fiorina 9, Rubio 9, Bush 9."

Holy survey 'splosion Batman!

Alternate headline: “Blogger to start gaming out President Trump’s possible VP nominees.”

On the one hand, as noted by my pal Karl, this poll was conducted using Google Consumer Surveys. If you’re wary of online polls, especially ones like this that attempt to “infer” important demographic data about respondents based on their browsing history and IP, then discount these results accordingly. On the other hand, Echelon Insights is operated by Kristen Soltis Anderson and Patrick Ruffini, two of the right’s brighter lights in political data crunching. They wouldn’t have published this poll if they didn’t have good statistical reasons to think it’s accurate, I’m sure.

Pop the champagne, Trump fans. And make sure it’s only the finest champagne. The classiest...

Keep reading.

And go straight to the survey, "New Poll: Trump Leads Post-Debate; Fiorina, Rubio, Carson, and Cruz Rise."

WATCH: New Video Released of 'Biggest Shark Ever Filmed'

It's from underwater photographer Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, on Facebook.

And at NBC.

Amazing:

Northern California Jerusalem Fire Jumps Into Napa County (VIDEO)

Temperatures are expected to soar well past 100 degrees up near Sacramento. That's not good for firefighters.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Northern California wildfire jumps into Napa County; 150 homes evacuated."

And watch, via KCRA Sacramento, "Fast-moving Jerusalem Fire grows to 12,000 acres."

Top Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie Solveig Hansen

She's a Danish sweetie, on Twitter.

And on video:



BONUS: "Solveig Swimsuit Photos, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2015."

Ralkina Jones: 'I don't want to die in your cell...' (VIDEO)

And then she died.

At the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, "'I don't want to die in your cell:' Police release video of Ralkina Jones taken prior to death."

And the New York Daily News, "Cleveland woman found dead in jail tells prison officers 'I don't want to die in your cell' hours earlier in video."

She was charged with alleged assault, but she had all kinds of medical conditions.

Where Fox News Consumers Fit on the Ideological Spectrum

This is pretty cool, from Pew Research. Click through to take a closer look, with the distribution of conservative Fox viewers superimposed against the total viewing audience. It's cool.

GOP debate put Fox News in the spotlight. A profile of its audience: http://t.co/NK9CVQejaS pic.twitter.com/5ohTojqjYw

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) August 12, 2015

BONUS: At the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "Handling of Donald Trump Puts Fox News on the Spot."

Magical Thinking and the Real Power of Hiroshima

From Jeffrey Lewis, at Foreign Policy, "A few thoughts on the psychological effect and utility of nuclear weapons":

HIROSHIMA, Japan — I am in Hiroshima, as is my usual practice in August. I am a member of the governor of Hiroshima prefecture’s Roundtable on Nuclear Disarmament. Each year, the city and prefecture mark the bombing with both a high-level dialogue about the state of things and public events about our nuclear predicament.

This year is the 70th anniversary of the bombings, which feels like a big moment to take stock of where we are, how we’ve gotten here, and where we’re headed.

Hiroshima is a better place to do that thinking than Washington, D.C. The weather isn’t particularly nice in either place, but Washington’s August is doubly marred with nakedly ideological polemics on the bombing. You’ll hear that the bombings ended the war and saved millions of American lives, or that President Harry Truman knew the war was over and was just trying to frighten the Soviets, a move that starts the Cold War. I don’t think the historical evidence supports either view or even the stark duality both views presume, but what is really galling about these arguments is that the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are reduced to the role of mere extras at their own murders.

I find a visit to Hiroshima deeply centering. It offers a chance to think again about the history of the bombing and to put the people who suffered most back at the center of the story.

It is easy to argue about the bombings with hindsight. We know the bombs worked and that they inflicted terrible suffering on the people of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. Our entire modern debate about whether the bombings were intended to end the war or frighten the Soviets is premised on our contemporary conviction that nuclear weapons are awesome in the traditional sense of that word.

But Robert Oppenheimer and others didn’t know that. They were not sure, in advance, that a nuclear explosion would inspire awe. If you look back through the documents, you can see scientists worrying about picking a target to show the bomb’s best effect. There is even a dark passage where Kyoto is discussed as a target because the highly educated population would be better positioned to grasp that this bomb was different. “From the psychological point of view,” the document notes, “there is the advantage that Kyoto is an intellectual center for Japan and the people there are more apt to appreciate the significance of such a weapon as the gadget.” Consider that Oppenheimer’s first question to Gen. Leslie Groves after the bombing was whether it had occurred after sundown. He was still worried the locals wouldn’t be able to tell it was not a run-of-the-mill bombing unless the big fireball turned night into day. Groves explained that a night bombing hadn’t been feasible. The locals still noticed.

Our modern conviction that nuclear weapons are different only came later. While the construction of the norm against nuclear weapons, I think pride of place goes to John Hersey’s Hiroshima. Originally published as a series of articles in the New Yorker, it was eventually published by Alfred A. Knopf press. The fact that I was assigned this text repeatedly in high school and college probably explains my choice of careers. I have a slim 1946 first edition that is one of my prize possessions.

The creation of this norm was slow and contested. In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles worried very much about a growing taboo against nuclear weapons use. They worried the taboo would deny the United States a weapon that they believed was essential to meeting defense commitments around the world.

Over time, we’ve come to see nuclear weapons as Hersey saw them, as the ultimate expression of material and spiritual evil of total war. The bomb has come to represent the ability of our civilization to destroy itself and our nagging fear that our political and social institutions are inadequate to save us from the abyss.

This norm, really this fear, helps explain why nuclear weapons have not been used again in anger in the intervening 70 years. One might point to deterrence, but nor have we used the bomb against states with no nuclear weapons. Even Eisenhower hesitated in response to suggestions nuclear weapons night help relieve French forces trapped by the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu.

The implication of this norm, of course, is that we can’t actually use nuclear weapons. It’s hard, for example, to imagine dropping a nuclear bomb on the Iraqis we claimed to be liberating from Saddam Hussein. That’s certainly what Air Force Gen. Chuck Horner, who ran the air war during the 1991 Gulf War, concluded. Asked by an interviewer whether he considered using nuclear weapons, he responded, “You could use nuclear weapons but for what targets? The nuclear weapon’s only good against cities; it’s not any good against troops in the desert. I mean it takes too many of ’em, so the problem you have is, you have a war where if you kill a lot of people, particularly women and children, you lose the war no matter what happens on the battlefield.” Nor, obviously, did the United States use nuclear weapons in 2003.

I once had the opportunity to ask a four-star general a pointed question: Are there any targets that the United States cannot destroy without nuclear weapons? I got an interesting response, one that I found a bit convoluted and that involved a nearby chair as a metaphor. He said something like, “Take this chair — there are a lot of ways I can destroy the chair as a chair, but does destroying the chair have the unique psychological effect of using a nuclear weapon?” I wasn’t quite sure I was as intimidated by our ability to nuke the chair, or even the whole dining room at Restaurant Nora, but I took that to be a “no.” There are no such targets...

That's a little soppy for me, although he's absolutely right about the norm against nuclear use. No rational state will use nuclear weapons today. That's one reason why you want keep them out of the hands of state leaders in, say, Pyongyang and Tehran.

Still more at that top link.

And ICYMI, "The Defeat of Japan Was Anything but Inevitable. Dropping the Bomb Was the Right Thing to Do."

WATCH: Center for Medical Progress Releases 6th Planned Parenthood Investigative Video

At Life News, "6th Shocking Video Catches Planned Parenthood Selling Aborted Babies Without Patient Consent."

And watch: "Human Capital - Episode 2: Inside the Planned Parenthood Supply Site."

Fortunately, this one's not a graphic video. I couldn't even watch the last one, which shows "technicians" using tweezers to sort baby parts from a huge tray of human remains. Ghastly.

Also at Memeorandum.

BONUS: From Amy Otto, at the Federalist, "How Pro-Choice Women Undermine Feminism."

Donald Trump Interview on 'Hannity' (VIDEO)

He's more confident than ever, and always hilarious.



Plus, more of the interview, "Can Donald Trump stimulate the American economy?," and "Donald Trump lays out plans for immigration, health reform."

Top Secret' Emails Found: Hillary Clinton to Turn Over Private Server to FBI

She's been lying for a year, and it's been drip, drip, drip with the release of the emails. Call me skeptical that anything will change, although it must be said that Hillary's taking a beating in public opinion. And that makes me happy.

At McClatchy, "‘Top Secret’ emails found as Clinton probe expands to key aides":

WASHINGTON - As pressure builds on Hillary Clinton to explain her official use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, she faced new complications Tuesday. It was disclosed her top aides are being drawn into a burgeoning federal inquiry and that two emails on her private account have been classified as “Top Secret.”

The inspector general for the Intelligence Community notified senior members of Congress that two of four classified emails discovered on the server Clinton maintained at her New York home contained material deemed to be in one of the highest security classifications - more sensitive than previously known.

The notice came as the State Department inspector general’s office acknowledged that it is reviewing the use of “personal communications hardware and software” by Clinton’s former top aides after requests from Congress.

“We will follow the facts wherever they lead, to include former aides and associates, as appropriate,” said Douglas Welty, a spokesman for the State Department’s inspector general.

Despite the acknowledgment, the State Department inspector general’s office has left numerous unanswered questions, including exactly who and what is being investigated. The office initially declined to comment and referred questions to the Intelligence Community inspector general’s office, which said it is not currently involved in any inquiry into aides and is being denied full access to aides’ emails by the State Department. Clinton, herself, is not a target.

The expanding inquiry threatens to further erode Clinton’s standing as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Since her reliance on private email was revealed in March, polls in crucial swing states show that increasing numbers of voters say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, in part, because of her use of private emails.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, wants Clinton and her aides to “come clean and cough up” information about their personal email use.

“Both the State Department and Intelligence Community inspectors general should be looking into the staff use of the Clinton private server for official State Department business. This means giving both inspectors general access and custody of all emails that haven’t already been deleted,” said Grassley of Iowa. “From what is publicly known, it appears that the investigation thus far has focused so much on the former secretary of state, that it’s gotten lost that high-level staff apparently also used this server too.”

Keep reading. (Via Elizabeth Price Foley, at Instapundit.)

For #BlackLives Matter, White Progressives Are Still White Supremacists

Race hatred, i.e., hatred of white people, is at the core of #BlackLivesMatter.

At Twitchy, "White progressives trying to help minorities #FeelTheBern put in their place with #NotAnAlly hashtag." (Via Michelle Malkin, "This is what it looks like when the IED of left-wing identity politics blows up in white progressives'.")

And from black activist Dominique Hazzard, on Facebook:

Folks are asking “What about Hillary?

1) Some people, like me, actually like *Bernie Sanders* and want to vote for him for President. But the Bernie that’s been on display for months just won’t do. We a better Bernie and that’s why we push.

2) Sure, Hillary is a very strategic target. (In general, not for this tactic cause she got the ill security).

But….. WHY would Hillary feel the need to be a better advocate for ending structural racism and white supremacy when Bernie Sanders, her MORE RADICAL opponent, can get away with a) cancelling meetings with black freedom movement organizers b) explicitly stating that the focus of his campaign is seniors and poor white people, as if black votes and lives don’t matter c) deflecting questions about racism and turning them into answers about socio-economic class at every turn d) not publicly releasing a racial justice platform???? If I were her, I sure wouldn’t feel the need to out-radical my radical opponent. Not at all.

'Emin advanced her career with media-friendly drunken antics, and by cozying up to power players, rather than making worthwhile art. She made a name for herself by behaving as a kind of pandering clown for the glitterati, a predictable freak show for our would-be ruling class, feeding into the establishment’s most precious clichés...'

This is interesting, at the Remodern Review, "The Doublethink Strategy of the Cultural Elitists":

If you don’t understand the desired outcome, the actions make no sense.

One of the most controversial and least talented artists of the global art scene routinely receives the full force of establishment institutional support, including from a supposedly conservative government.

Tracey Emin is a notorious figure in England. She is an icon of the Conceptual Art movement that has done so much to destroy the credibility of elitist culture for anyone who has a life outside of the Postmodern cocoon.

Emin’s an artist who can’t draw; naturally the powers that be named her Professor of Drawing at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of the Arts.

*****

Once you realize the arrogant ruling class believes tearing down the traditions and standards of Western civilization will cement their grasp on unaccountable power, the promotion of Emin as the pinnacle of artistic achievement becomes understandable. Hyping soulless, unskilled art has a toxic, weakening effect on society as a whole. Conceptual art is a tool of oppression.

RTWT.

Via Instapundit.

GRAPHIC: Islamic State Land Mines Blow Up Kneeling Hostages in New Method of Jihad Barbarity (VIDEO)

At Victory Girls, "New Method of Execution for ISIS Fighters: Kneel Before Bombs Buried in The Ground."

And this is extremely graphic. You can see the land mines blowing the bodies to chunks, "ISIS Blows Up Hostages - Graphic Video."

Hillary Clinton's Gotta #FeeltheBern! Vermont Senator Surges in New Hampshire, 44-37 Percent

Heh, this is getting fun.

At the Boston Herald, "Bernie Sanders surges ahead of Hillary Clinton in N.H., 44-37: N.H. Democrats lukewarm to her tough image":

Boston Herald front page -- August 12, 2015 pic.twitter.com/mWJyP9cxTn

— Boston Herald (@bostonherald) August 12, 2015

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has rocketed past longtime front-runner Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, a stunning turn in a race once considered a lock for the former secretary of state, a new Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows.

Sanders leads Clinton 44-37 percent among likely Democratic primary voters, the first time the heavily favored Clinton has trailed in the 2016 primary campaign, according to the poll of 442 Granite-Staters.

Vice President Joe Biden got 9 percent support in the test primary match-up. The other announced Democrats in the race, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Gov. Jim Webb, barely register at 1 percent or below.

The live interview phone poll was conducted Aug. 7-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

Clinton is still viewed overwhelmingly by voters as the likely Democratic nominee, but the results suggest she faces an unexpectedly difficult fight to prevent an embarrassing opening loss in the first-in-the-nation primary.

The Franklin Pierce/Herald poll shows that most New Hampshire Democrats are lukewarm to Clinton, despite her campaign’s concerted effort to soften her image and connect with voters.

Just 35 percent of likely primary voters say they are “excited” about Clinton’s campaign, according to the poll. And 51 percent of voters say that while they could support her, they aren’t enthusiastic about her White House bid.

And while 80 percent of likely Granite State Democrats view her favorably, just 38 percent of those say they have a “very” favorable impression.

Sanders’ rise has been meteoric. The socialist senator trailed Clinton by a 44-8 margin in a Franklin Pierce/Herald poll in March.

More than half of New Hampshire’s likely Democratic primary voters say they view Sanders “very” favorably, an indication of the excitement the Vermont senator has generated among his mostly liberal supporters.

But while Sanders has surged ahead in New Hampshire, he does face what appears to be an electability problem, even among his staunch supporters.

Just 11 percent of likely Democratic voters picked him over Clinton to win the nomination, while 65 percent said she would emerge as the party’s general election candidate...

Out for My Walk Yesterday

Better late than never, I guess.

I'm going to make an effort to get back in shape.

I walked about 4 or 5 miles. Very nice.

That's probably a heron, not an egret. I wasn't sure.

Is that an egret? Don't know if they come in gray? Beautiful. #Irvine pic.twitter.com/TTfIhtLxvd

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 11, 2015

She's sticking her head up now. #Irvine. pic.twitter.com/NWC5Pwu3Tf

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 11, 2015

Nice little pond in the flood channel. The ducks can chill. #Irvine. pic.twitter.com/zNVajmdold

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 11, 2015

Stopping for a break at Culver and Irvine Blvd. #Irvine. pic.twitter.com/GEblzU7bzf

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 11, 2015

Ben Affleck's Got Moobs!

My youngest son's always joking about men with boobs -- "moobs" -- so I was cracking up when I showed him these shots of Ben Affeck. Man, this dude's got massive moobs, lol.

At London's Daily Mail, "Ben Affleck's ex-nanny pictured posing with Tom Brady's Super Bowl rings on private jet to Las Vegas with duo."

Feminism’s Attack on Human Nature

At the Other McCain, "Feminism’s Attack on ‘Institutionalized, Normative Heterosexuality’."

And get your copy of Sex Trouble: Essays on Radical Feminism and the War Against Human Nature.

Robert's working on the second edition. It's gonna be good.

The West Bank's Other Violent Extremists

You had the stabbing death at the gay rights parade, as well as the arson bombing attack that killed a Palestinian baby.

I had a couple of posts, "Israel Braces for Violence, Hamas Rockets, After Palestinian Baby Killed in Firebombing," and "Meir Ettinger, Grandson of Meir Kahane, is Held in Israel."

So, FWIW, here's a look back to Daniel Byman and Natan Sachs's piece from the September/October 2012 issue of Foreign Affairs, "The Rise of Settler Terrorism":

Late this past June, a group of Israeli settlers in the West Bank defaced and burned a mosque in the small West Bank village of Jabaa. Graffiti sprayed by the vandals warned of a "war" over the planned evacuation, ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court, of a handful of houses illegally built on private Palestinian land near the Israeli settlement of Beit El. The torching of the mosque was the fourth such attack in 18 months and part of a wider trend of routine violence committed by radical settlers against innocent Palestinians, Israeli security personnel, and mainstream settler leaders -- all aimed at intimidating perceived enemies of the settlement project.

This violence has not always plagued the settler community. Although many paint all Israeli settlers as extremists, conflating them with the often-justified criticism of Israeli government policy in the West Bank, the vast majority of them oppose attacks against Palestinian civilians or the Israeli state. In the past, Israeli authorities and the settler leadership often worked together to prevent such assaults and keep radicalism at bay. Yet in recent years, the settler movement has experienced a profound breakdown in discipline, with extremists now beyond the reach of either Israeli law enforcement or the discipline of settler leaders.

Nothing justifies violence by extremists of any variety. But to be stopped, it must be understood. The rise in settler radicalism stems from several key factors: the growth of the settler population over the past generation, the diversification of religious and ideological strands among it, and the sense of betrayal felt by settlers following Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Israel, through the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other security agencies, must now assert control over groups that no longer respect the state or the traditional settler leadership. Yet just as radical settlers pose an increasing threat, mainstream Israeli society has become more apathetic than ever about the fate of the Palestinians. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians remain deadlocked, and even their meaningful resumption, let alone success, seems unlikely in the near future. The Israeli government thus feels little political or diplomatic pressure to confront the extremists.

But with the peace process frozen, what happens under Israeli control matters more, not less. With Israel likely to govern parts of the West Bank for some time, it can no longer shirk its obligations -- to protect not only its own citizens but Palestinian civilians as well -- by claiming that a two-state solution is on the horizon and that the Palestinians will soon assume full responsibility over themselves. And if Israel wants to preserve the possibility of a negotiated peace, it must address this problem before it is too late. Whenever extremist settlers destroy Palestinian property or deface a mosque, they strengthen Palestinian radicals at the expense of moderates, undermining support for an agreement and delaying a possible accord. Meanwhile, each time Israeli leaders cave in to the demands of radical settlers, it vindicates their tactics and encourages ever more brazen behavior, deepening the government's paralysis. In other words, Israeli violence in the West Bank both undermines the ability of Israel to implement a potential deal with the Palestinians and raises questions about whether it can enforce its own laws at home.

Recently, Israeli leaders have begun to recognize the problem. Following extremist vandalism against the IDF and mainstream settler leaders over the past year, some Israeli generals and government ministers began to label radical settlers as terrorists. Now, the Israeli government should translate that bold rhetoric into decisive action. To begin with, it should officially designate the perpetrators of violence as terrorists and disrupt their activities more aggressively. Security agencies should then enforce Israeli law, prosecuting violent settlers as they would terrorists, Palestinian or Israeli. And to slow the tide of radicalism, Israeli leaders must denounce extremists and shun their representatives, placing particular pressure on religious leaders who incite violence. Meanwhile, the United States and other countries seeking to revive the peace talks must encourage Israel to take these steps before things worsen. Washington should itself consider designating violent radical settlers as terrorists and should push Israel to crack down on them. Settler extremism tarnishes Israel's name and imperils its future. Friends of Israel, the Israeli government, and even those who support the settlements in the West Bank should fight back against this dangerous phenomenon...

Keep reading.

RELATED: At the New York Times, "Soul-Searching in Israel After Bias Attacks on Gays and Arabs."

A French Couple's Love for the American West Ends in Death in the Desert. Their Son Got Lucky.

Not sure what the couple was thinking, but obviously it's not too bright to go hiking at White Sands National Monument, a freakin' boiling summer desert in New Mexico, at 1:00 in the afternoon in 100 degree heat.

But hey, they loved the place.

At least they sacrificed for their kid.

At the New York Times, "A French Couple’s Love for the American West Ends in Tragedy":

PARIS — The family from France was so enthralled by their last visit to the American West that they started planning another almost immediately. On Facebook, they posted pictures of the vast blue skies, the rugged ocher canyons and the endless strips of asphalt that had captivated them.

This year, David and Ornella Steiner, a couple from a quiet town near Reims, about 100 miles east of Paris, returned, starting in Seattle before heading to Santa Fe. A picture posted on Aug. 2 on Mr. Steiner’s Facebook profile showed the vivid electric blue water of a natural pool in Yellowstone Park.

But it was at the White Sands National Monument of New Mexico, a region where beautiful landscapes can conceal dangers quick to surprise even the most prepared visitor, that the Steiners’ new trip took a terrible turn. Last week, the couple was found dead in the desert, apparently from heat-related exhaustion during a hike. Their 9-year-old son, Enzo, was the only one to survive, found alive by park rangers who believe his parents sacrificed water to save him.

The French Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the boy arrived in France over the weekend with his grandmother, who had flown to Albuquerque to bring him home.

Kim Duntze, who worked with Ms. Steiner at the Reims town hall, said in a telephone interview that news of the couple’s death had shocked her co-workers, who all knew about the trip because Ms. Steiner had been planning it for over a year and had discussed it frequently at the office.

“They had fallen in love with the area,” Ms. Duntze said. “It was their dream project.”

The bodies of Mr. Steiner, 42, and his wife Ornella, 51, were found by park rangers last week during a routine patrol. Sheriff Benny House of Otero County told The Alamogordo Daily News on Saturday that two empty 20-ounce water bottles were found with the bodies but that the boy told investigators the bottles were full when the family started the hike.

“The father and mother would take one drink while they made the child take two swallows of water,” Sheriff House said. “It might have been why the child fared so well due to his smaller stature, plus he probably consumed more water than they did.”

Still more.

Natasha Oakley

At London's Daily Mail, "Flaunting the body which made her an Instagram sensation! Natasha Oakley leaves little to the imagination as she hits the beach in monochrome bikini."

And check her out on Instagram.

WATCH: Police Release Surveillance Video in Tyrone Harris Shooting

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Surveillance video shows man with gun before he was shot by police during Ferguson protests, authorities say."

#FeeltheBern in Los Angeles: Bernie Sanders Draws 27,000 in Campaign Rally at Sports Arena (VIDEO)

Well, I'm obviously getting a kick out of this, heh.

At Gateway Pundit, "Bernie Sanders Draws FIVE TIMES As Many at Monday Rally as Hillary’s Largest Crowd" (via Memeorandum).



More at the Los Angeles Times, "Why a huge Los Angeles crowd turned out for Bernie Sanders."

PREVIOUSLY: "Bernie Sanders Draws 28,000 People at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon," and "Bernie Sanders Draws 15,000 People at University of Washington."

Orphans of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Appeal to Barack Obama to Exonerate Mother Posthumously

It's Michael Meeropol and Robert Meeropol, writing at the New York Times, "The Meeropol Brothers: Exonerate Our Mother, Ethel Rosenberg." (Via Memeorandum.)

The Rosenbergs were hardline communists, both Julius and Ethel.

Naturally, hard-left historian and nutjob Erik Loomis, at Lawyers, Guns, and Money, makes the absurd claim that the execution of the Rosenbergs was "one of the greatest injustices of the Cold War."

Loomis is a communist who wrote his dissertation on homosexual lumberjacks, so naturally he'd be taking Stalin's side in the debate. Freakin' loser.

So, see John Schindler, at 20 Committee, "The Rosenbergs and Espionage Denial":

More than six decades after they were executed for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg continue to inspire polemics. Their case had ample drama, embellished by the fact that the doomed couple were the only Americans executed for espionage by the United States during the Cold War. That they left behind two orphaned sons made the case poignant.

They were convicted during the Korean War, which took the lives of over 50,000 Americans who died to stem Soviet aggression, which provided an explanation why the government did not seek leniency, especially because the Rosenbergs had assisted the Soviet nuclear weapons program with their espionage. Moreover, it was obvious that Federal prosecutors wanted Ethel’s cooperation — Julius was the Soviets’ big fish and the government’s case against his wife was weaker than against him — but Ethel, a hardline Communist, rejected that, even when she could have saved her own life for her children’s sake.

Although the Rosenbergs had defenders who pleaded that they were innocent, or at least severely misunderstood, most of them fell silent when the National Security Agency twenty years ago declassified its VENONA project, a top secret code-breaking effort that revealed numerous 1940’s secrets of Soviet espionage against the United States. The unveiling of VENONA, one of the great triumphs of American intelligence, also revealed why Federal prosecutors were so confident in their prosecution of especially Julius Rosenberg. VENONA transcripts made clear that Julius, who appeared in the messages under the Soviet covernames LIBERAL and ANTENNA, wasn’t just a Stalinist true-believer but an important agent of the Soviet secret police who gave Moscow every American secret he could get his hands on.

For all but the most determined denialists, that Julius Rosenberg was a Soviet spy was proved conclusively by VENONA — the ace in the hole for the Feds that they possessed in 1953 but could not show to the jury at the Rosenbergs’ trial, because it was so highly classified. Julius was every bit the traitor that the government said he was, and he had betrayed nuclear secrets to Stalin.

Now the case is back in the news, with Michael and David [Robert] Meeropol, the Rosenberg’s orphaned sons, appealing to President Obama in today’s New York Times to exonerate their mother who, they claim, was unfairly convicted of espionage. Specifically, they want the Obama administration to right what they see as the wrongs of so many decades ago.

“Our mother was not a spy,” the Meeropols flatly state, demanding that President Obama “acknowledge that Ethel Rosenberg was wrongly convicted and executed.” Their case for this is based on the recently released grand jury transcript of David Greenglass, who was the Meeropol’s uncle. Greenglass, Ethel’s brother, was himself a Soviet spy who served almost ten years in Federal prison for betraying atomic secrets to Moscow. One of the most sordid aspects of this sordid case is that Greenglass saved his own skin, and that of his wife, by fingering his own sister.

The newly released grand jury testimony leaves little doubt that Greenglass embellished matters over the decades and his story changed with time (he died last year); he was never an especially reliable witness. On the basis of this the Meeropols protest that their mother was innocent, and to “prove” that they highlight evidence from various sources in a slipshod manner. Although I understand that the Meeropols need to believe that their mother wasn’t a spy for Stalin, the facts to not dear that wish out.

VENONA made very clear what Ethel was up to. I’ve worked with VENONA materials for years, including intercepts never released to the public, and I thereby shut the door on denialism regarding Alger Hiss, another one of Stalin’s spies inside the U.S. government that many on the left simply refused to accept was a traitor, although his guilt was firmly established by VENONA.

Several VENONA messages reveal important facts about Ethel Rosenberg. Number 1657, sent from the KGB’s New York residency to the Center (i.e, HQ) in Moscow on 27 November 1944, is worth citing in detail (for the original see here)...

Keep reading.

Pentagon Report: Taliban Jihadists 'Breached Walls' of Camp Integrity in Latest Kabul Attack

Following-up from Sunday, "Scores Dead in Wave of Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan."

Looks like a pretty extreme deterioration of security over there.

At Twitchy, "Pentagon reports that insurgents made it inside Camp Integrity, Kabul during Friday’s attack."

Bernie Sanders Draws 28,000 People at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon

Damn, he's packing 'em in like a rock star.

At the Portland Oregonian, "Bernie Sanders speaks to packed crowd at Portland's Moda Center."

And at KOIN News 6 Portland:



PREVIOUSLY: "Bernie Sanders Draws 15,000 People at University of Washington."

Rogue Drones

Following-up from last month, "Drones Disrupt Aerial Firefight Drops Over Cajon Pass North Fire (VIDEO)."

And now at the Washington Post, "Rogue drones a growing nuisance across the U.S.":

Rogue drone operators are rapidly becoming a national nuisance, invading sensitive airspace and private property — with the regulators of the nation’s skies largely powerless to stop them.

In recent days, drones have smuggled drugs into an Ohio prison, smashed against a Cincinnati skyscraper, impeded efforts to fight wildfires in California and nearly collided with three airliners over New York City.

Earlier this summer, a runaway two-pound drone struck a woman at a gay pride parade in Seattle, knocking her unconscious. In Albuquerque, a drone buzzed into a crowd at an outdoor festival, injuring a bystander. In Tampa, a drone reportedly stalked a woman outside a downtown bar before crashing into her car.

The altercations are the byproduct of the latest consumer craze: cheap, easy-to-fly, remotely piloted aircraft. Even basic models can soar thousands of feet high and come equipped with powerful video cameras — capabilities that would have been hard to foresee just a few years ago.

Reports began surfacing last year of runaway drones interfering with air traffic and crashing into buildings. But the problem has grown worse as drone sales have surged.

“I’m definitely getting much more concerned about it,” Michael P. Huerta, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said in a phone interview Monday. He said the FAA was particularly worried about a surge in reports of drones flying dangerously close to airports. The latest incident came Sunday, when four airline crews reported a brush with a drone on a flight path into Newark International Airport.

Huerta added that the recent interference by drones with California firefighters was “really a wake-up call for a lot of people. This kind of thing has got to stop.”

More.

Drones are an especially beneficial technology when used appropriately --- like in Seal Beach, where lifeguards use drones to prevent shark attacks --- but it's infuriating in cases like the Cajon Pass North Fire, where drone users forced firefighters to shut down operations.

Actually, though, the drone knocking out the homosexual rights activist at the Seattle gay parade is pretty beneficial too, heh.

The Growth of Scholarly Co-Authorship: How Many Scientists Does It Take to Write an Academic Paper?

This is pretty cool, if not a bit absurd.

At WSJ, "Apparently, Thousands: Scientific journals see a spike in number of contributors; 24 pages of alphabetized co-authors":

A Frenchman named Georges Aad may have the most prominent name in particle physics.

In less than a decade, Dr. Aad, who lives in Marseilles, France, has appeared as the lead author on 458 scientific papers. Nobody knows just how many scientists it may take to screw in a light bulb, but it took 5,154 researchers to write one physics paper earlier this year—likely a record—and Dr. Aad led the list.

His scientific renown is a tribute to alphabetical order.

Almost every paper by “G. Aad et al.” involves so many researchers that they decided to always list themselves in alphabetical order. Their recent paper, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, features 24 pages of alphabetized co-authors led by Dr. Aad. There is no way to tell how important each contributor might be.

“Basically, this guy has won the academic lottery,” said Vincent Larivière, a professor of information science at the University of Montreal who studies scholarly communications.

From Aad to Zoccoli, these physicists, who conduct experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, are a measure of an accelerating trend in science—the growth in the number of people who get credits.

In fact, there has been a notable spike since 2009 in the number of technical reports whose author counts exceeded 1,000 people, according to the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, which analyzed citation data. In the ever-expanding universe of credit where credit is apparently due, the practice has become so widespread that some scientists now joke that they measure their collaborators in bulk—by the “kilo-author.”

Earlier this year, a paper on rare particle decay published in Nature listed so many co-authors—about 2,700—that the journal announced it wouldn’t have room for them all in its print editions. And it isn’t just physics. In 2003, it took 272 scientists to write up the findings of the first complete human genome—a milestone in biology—but this past June, it took 1,014 co-authors to document a minor gene sequence called the Muller F element in the fruit fly.

“There was a joke that anyone who had ever seen a fruit fly got to be an author,” said neuroethologist Zen Faulkes at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, who tracks the spiraling number of scientific co-authors.

The exponential growth has a number of causes, one of which is that experiments have gotten more complicated. But scientists say that mass authorship makes it harder to tell who did what and who deserves the real credit for a breakthrough—or blame for misconduct.

More than vanity is at stake. Credit on a peer-reviewed research article weighs heavily in hiring, promotion and tenure decisions. “Authorship has become such a big issue because evaluations are performed based on the number of papers people have authored,” said Dr. Larivière.

Usually, the position of first author confers the most prestige, identifying the person who contributes the most to a research enterprise. The last author is usually the senior scientist who oversees the experiment.

Even before Dr. Aad and his fellow physicists adopted their alphabetical order, there have been unorthodox approaches to ranking co-authors. The co-authors of a 1974 paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology ranked themselves by playing a croquet tournament, according to a footnote. The authors of a 1998 paper in the journal Molecular Ecology arranged the order of co-authors “by proximity to tenure decisions,” according to their acknowledgments.

But now the sheer numbers are prompting scientists to come up with new ways to keep track. Some researchers are developing computer software to decipher the taxonomy of scientific credit. “The challenges are quite substantial,” said Marica McNutt, editor in chief of the journal Science. “The average number of authors even on a typical paper has doubled.”

Keep reading.

U.S Coast Guard Unloads $1 Billion in Seized Cocaine in San Diego (VIDEO)

Yes, but border security is racist!

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "$1 BILLION of cocaine unloaded in San Diego":

The crew of the USCG Stratton unloaded 34-tons of cocaine that it brought to San Diego after a four month operation in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Central and South America involving the US Navy, DEA and other partner agencies. 39 seperate seizures from fishing boats, pangas and a few semi-submersibles yielded the large quantity of contraband. Officials put the wholesale value of the drugs at $1 billion.

Total seizures for the year are up to $1.8 billion, at LAT, "U.S. Coast Guard shows off $1-billion worth of seized cocaine."

PREVIOUSLY: "U.S. Coast Guard Seizes Homemade Submersible Vessel Carrying Eight Tons of Cocaine (VIDEO)."

Pennsylvanian Woman Sparks Controversy After Posting Photo of Herself Breastfeeding Friend's Son

She was "wet nursing" both her own son and a friend's son at the same time, calling them "milk siblings."

She posted a photo to a breastfeeding community page, but got a split verdict, needless to say.

At London's Daily Mail, "'It's a special bond between us all': Mother sparks debate on social media after posting a photo of herself breastfeeding her son... and a friend's child she was babysitting."

She's no doubt a progressive Democrat.

ADDED: From ABC News, "'Milk Siblings' Breast-Feeding Photo Sparks Controversy."

Ty Glocks Thug Life Facebook Account!

I posted Got News' entry to the sidebar, but this Tyrone Harris' "Ty Glocks" Facebook page is getting mainstream media coverage in the local news.

AT KPLR News 11 St. Louis, "Tyrone Harris showed off guns on Facebook, was out on bond for other felony charges":

When will the media report truths @FoxNews @CNN @msnbc Here is Tyrone Harris aka Ty Glocks pic.twitter.com/FVcJnlOAXA

— Renegade Cowboy⚓️ (@Rene_gadeCowboy) August 10, 2015

FERGUSON, MO (KPLR) – Tyrone Harris, Jr. showed off guns on Facebook, was out on bond for other felony charges.

18-year-old Tyrone Harris, Jr. was released on bond for a different felony case, before the August 9, 2015 gun battle.   He`s now charged with ten additional felonies including 1st degree assault on law enforcement officers. Minutes before his shooting, we were at the front line when we heard about looting at a strip mall one parking lot over. That’s where the gunfight broke out.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called it ‘a remarkable amount of gunfire.’

Police said Harris shot at them. Belmar added, ‘The plain clothed detectives returned fire from the inside of their van.’

Harris survived and was transported to a hospital. Police said he was carrying a stolen 9 mm handgun. Belmar said, ‘The suspect`s gun was stolen in 2014 from Cape Girardeau.’

We`ve confirmed with police sources, the Facebook page of Tyrone Harris. He calls himself TY Glocks. He`s posted dozens of pictures with him holding guns, often posting them with the #pistolgang. His last post was about an hour before the shooting. It said “I (expletive) around go on West Florissant tonight.”

The gun battle started after reported looting at 10:20 pm. St. Louis County Police swarmed West Florissant. FOX2 had two crews on the ground. After more reported looting, away from the protest line, at least 30 shots rang out...

And on Facebook.

Protesters Shut Down Interstate 70 in St. Louis

Our old nemesis Cassandra the Israel-bashing racist is on the scene, "Car just plowed through protesters #Ferguson."

And at Twitchy, "‘Awesome’: Driver breaks through human chain of protesters blocking I-70 in Ferguson [videos]."

More at Gateway Pundit, "Breaking: #BlackLivesMatter Mob Shuts Down I-70 Both Ways in St. Louis – Driver Plows Through Line (VIDEO)."

BONUS: At CNN, "Protesters block interstate near Ferguson."

ADDED: From Joe Biden's Hairplugs, "Black lives don't matter on I-70. Run those fuckers over."

Islamic Father Lets Daughter Drown Rather Than Be Rescued by Lifeguards, Lest They 'Dishonor' Her

He didn't want her being touched by "strange men."

Islam is a disease of untold death.

At the Mirror UK, "Father let daughter drown rather than be rescued by male lifeguards because it would 'dishonour' her."

London's Daily Mail won't call the man "Muslim." He's an "Asian" instead, labeled so as to avoid a Charli Hebdo attack on the Mail's headquarters, obviously.

But see Bare Naked Islam, "‘ISLAMOMANIA’ IN ACTION: Muslim father lets daughter drown rather than have her touched by ‘male’ rescuers":

“Two rescue men were at the beach, and they rushed to help the girl. “However, there was one obstacle which prevented them from reaching the girl and helping her. “This obstacle was the belief of this Muslim man who considered that if these men touched his daughter, then this would dishonour her. It cost him the life of his daughter.’

“The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them. “He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man. So she died. The woman’s father was arrested and faces criminal charges. (Nothing will happen to him because this is allowed under the sharia)

ADDED: Also from Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "TO LIVE AND DIE IN THE BIZARRO WORLD: In Dubai, Father Keeps Lifeguards from Rescuing Drowning Daughter to ‘Save Her Honor’: The father “who is apparently very strong — restrained the lifeguards from doing their job because ‘he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man.’”"

Bizarro.

Bernie Sanders Draws 15,000 People at University of Washington

Hillary Clinton's not drawing anywhere near these kinds of crowds.

At the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Bernie Sanders draws 15,000 people at UW, state’s biggest political crowd since 2010 Obama visit":

The cheering for Sen. Bernie Sanders began outside the UW’s Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Saturday night, as Sanders talked to the 3,000 supporters who couldn’t get in, before giving a rip roaring populist speech to the 12,000 supporters inside the basketball arena.

Sanders was blocked from speaking at a Social Security anniversary celebration earlier in the day at Westlake Center, due to a disruption by Black Lives Matter protesters similar to one that greeted him at NetRoots Nation in Phoenix three weeks ago.

If the boorish, disjointed protest had not blocked him, the Westlake crowd would have heard Sanders talk knowledgeably about unemployment among African American youth, raising wages for the working poor, America’s high incarceration rate and the need for prison reform. He held forth later at the UW

“Too many young lives are being destroyed by the so-called ‘War on Drugs’,” the Democratic presidential candidate declared.  “Too many lives are being destroyed by our system of incarceration.” And, pledged Sanders, “No President will fight harder to end the stain of racism and reform our criminal justice system. Period.”

President Sanders?  The East Coast pundit class cannot grasp that a self-identified “democratic socialist,” from a tiny state, who has been preaching against corporate power in his Brooklyn accents for 50 years, could possibly mount a credible bid for the White House.  Tens of thousands of people, turning out at rallies across the country, beg to disagree...

Sanders is a buffoon, but his campaign's good for democracy, frankly. He's providing a real and significantly credible alternative to Clinton, and he's campaigning the old-fashioned way, exactly the opposite of what stage-managed Clinton's doing.

PREVIOUSLY: "Bernie Sanders Shut Down by #BlackLivesMatter Protesters (VIDEO)."

'True Detective' Season 2 Grand Finale

I enjoyed the series, although there was a lot of minimalist language with a lot of teaser lead-in suspense kind of drama, which had me confused for the first few episodes, but after about the 7th episode I could better piece it all together. Of course, by that time the season was almost over. Still, I liked it. And especially liked the acting.

Some reviews, at Esquire, "'True Detective' Season 2 Finale - 'Omega Station' Recap," and the Daily Beast, "‘True Detective’ Season 2’s Fatal Finale: Why Nic Pizzolatto’s Show Will Be Hailed as a Cult Classic."

More at WSJ, "‘True Detective’ Season 2 Finale Recap: ‘Omega Station’":

So that’s how one of the most divisive, scrutinized and debated seasons in recent television history ends — with bullets, hearbreak and survival. Did it leave you satisfied?

For all its faults, the gonzo, gripping, silly, bleak and dense L.A. noir season of Nic Pizzolatto‘s “True Detective” ultimately made for entertaining television. Even the viewers and critics who ended up disliking what this season had to offer were “hate watching” to see what kind of crazy stuff would happen next (a guy in a bird mask shooting someone; an “Eyes Wide Shut”-style sex party) or what advanced vocabulary word (apoplectic, stridency, etc.) would come out of Frank Semyon’s (Vince Vaughn) mouth next. Even its detractors would likely admit, however, that the second season built some momentum in its second half. Would that continue in the 90-minute season finale, though?

Amy Willerton Tribute to the '90s (VIDEO)

At FHM, "FHM Sexy Shorts Presents: A Sexy Tribute to the '90s with Amy Willerton."

How Hatred of the Jewish State Created the Red-Green Alliance

From Joseph Puder, at FrontPage Magazine, "The nexus of genocidal Islamists and hypocritical leftists":

Leftists indoctrinate and exploit innocent children in anti-Semitism and jihad terror propaganda. pic.twitter.com/iUDpz1mid7

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 6, 2015

The Jerusalem Post headlined the following in its culture section on July 12, 2015, “Irish Dance Competition canceled due to BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Pressure.” The Israeli “feis” (Irish Dance Competition) website was attacked by a radical political group called Irish-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) led by Raymond Deane, Kevin Squires, and Amanda Crawford. The first-ever Irish dance festival set to take place in Tel Aviv, Israel was cancelled due to a campaign of terrorist–like threats to performers, the school, students and parents. The IPSC website proudly featured a congratulatory message from Omar Barghouti, the Palestinian co-founder of the BDS movement.

The underlying truth about this story is that Irish leftists have banded together with Arab Islamists in a show of blind hatred toward the Jewish state. Of all the violators of human rights worldwide, the Irish-leftists condemn and seek to eviscerate only one “violator” – Israel. They have not threatened to punish Irish performers going anywhere else in the world except to Israel. According to the likes of Deane, Squires, and Crawford, the Assad regime in Syria, with the blood of 250,000 civilians is legitimate. Iran, whose ayatollahs hangs gays and lesbians, and oppress its Kurdish, Baluch, and Arab minorities, is fine as well. Turkey’s brutal suppression of its Kurdish minority is not a problem. China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, to name a few, all gross violators of human rights, are exempt by IPSC. Only Israel is guilty.

“Human rights must take precedence over trade,” proclaims the IPSC website, yet the only country that observes human rights and religious freedom in the Middle East is Israel. Only in Israel are Arabs free. Palestinian-Arab-Muslims make life for gays, lesbians and Christians impossible. There are numerous stories of gays who fled to Israel after being tortured by the Palestinian Authority. According to Yossi Klein Halevi, “One young man discovered to be gay was forced by the Palestinian Authority police to stand in sewage water up to his neck, his head covered by a sack filled with feces, and he was then thrown into a dark cell infested with insects. During one interrogation, Palestinian police stripped him and forced him to sit on a Coke bottle. When he was released he fled to Israel.”

The Gatestone Institute International Policy Council, reported (February 15, 2012) that ”In recent years the Christian population has declined not only numerically, but also as a proportion of the overall population (in the Palestinian Authority areas and Gaza). This decline has been due to a number of factors: Christian emigration, a higher Muslim birthrate, poor economic conditions, the rise of Islamist groups, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, growing insecurity, the use made of Christian towns such as Beit Jala as a base by Palestinian fighters for sniping against Israeli areas in Jerusalem, and Christian concern about their fate in the political future.”

The Palestinian legal and judicial system does not provide protection for Christian land owners, and enforces discrimination in educational, cultural, and taxation policies against Christians. Religious freedom in the Palestinian controlled territories is a wish, not a reality. Christians have suffered harassment, intimidation and maltreatment at the hands of the Palestinian-Muslim authorities. Christian businessmen have been extorted, and their property confiscated. Christian women have been abused and raped with impunity. Christian girls are “abducted, and have been subjected to forced marriages with Muslims,” which also means forced conversion to Islam. There have also been attempts to impose the Islamic dress code on Christian women.

The IPSC website is replete with circulars heralding: “Remember the Children of Gaza,” but do they remember that for years the children of Israel had to stay in bomb-shelters because Hamas in Gaza targeted their schools and kindergartens?  Does the BDS movement or IPSC bother to present the facts about Gaza?  How about the 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians? When Israel finally retaliated against the Hamas jihadists who share the same ideology as ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and the Muslim Brotherhood, (establishing a global Caliphate and making Islam reign everywhere) Hamas criminally and deliberately used women and children as human shields. Hamas counted on the fact that Israel would never intentionally target innocent civilians, especially children.

Barghouti’s BDS calls for: an end to Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories since 1967, including dismantling the Wall and colonies; an end to Israel’s system of racial discrimination against Palestinian citizens; and respecting the UN-sanctioned, fundamental right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.” Barghouti, who advocates academic boycott of Israeli universities, has himself received an MA degree from Tel Aviv University. The same Barghouti rejects the two-state solution or any deal between the Palestinians and Israel on that basis.

The New York Daily News (February 25, 2013) had this to say about Barghouti: “skilled as a propagandist, he piles falsehood upon falsehood to present Israel as relentlessly oppressing the Palestinians in violation of human decency, and to hold Israel exclusively responsible for the ills afflicting them.”

It is apparent that Barghouti and the BDS movement seek to delegitimize the Jewish state and bring about its demise. The “right of return” of the Palestinian refugees to Israel is a formula devised to bring about an end to the Jewish state. Jewish refugees from the Arab states, more numerous than the Palestinians, were settled in Israel. Palestinian refugees should have been allowed citizenship in Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Instead, Barghouti’s Arab-Muslim brothers chose to use them as a political tool and Barghouti is doing no less.

Keep reading.

WATCH:The Moment Shots Fired at Ferguson #BlackLivesMatter Protest (VIDEO)

I saw this last night, practically in real time.

Via Ruptly:



PREVIOUSLY: "Black Suspect Tyrone Harris Charged with Assault After Opening Fire on St. Louis County Police," and "St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reporter Paul Hampel Beaten and Robbed by #BlackLives Matter Protesters in #Ferguson."

'Viciousness' Against Megyn Kelly Creates Security Concerns for Fox

Well, she certainly adopted some of the SJW-left's "war on women" rhetoric, but obviously the outrage is stupid and over the top.

At Gateway Pundit, "Report: ‘Viciousness” Against Megyn Kelly Online Has Created Security Concerns for FOX":

On Monday CNN reported that FOX News has increased security at their New York headquarters following the debate.

“There has been so much viciousness directed at Kelly online that it has created a security concern for FOX. She will be back on the air tomorrow night (Monday) Maybe Trump will come on her show at some point.

Demi Lovato Scorches on Stage as She Performs Chart-Topping 'Cool for the Summer'

I like this woman.

At London's Daily Mail, "Turning up the heat! Demi Lovato scorches on stage in revealing bra top and hotpants as she performs new single Cool For The Summer on The Voice Australia."

New Andrea Tantaros Bikini Pic!

She looks great!

On Twitter, "Winding down the weekend."

I think she's going with one of those new "slashkinis.'

See London's Daily Mail, "Are YOU brave enough to wear a slashkini? Stars can’t get enough of summer’s hottest swimwear trend so we sent one brave volunteer to Brighton to find out if it shapes up (with help from a very eager lifeguard)."

Obama White House Staffer Charged with Domestic Violence for Shooting at Capitol Police Boyfriend

This won't get much media coverage, that's for sure.

At Instapundit, "#HANDSUPDONTSHOOT #WARONMEN: Special Assistant to Obama Arrested for Shooting at Her Boyfriend."

Special assistant to Obama who shot at her boyfriend is smoking hot http://t.co/nVcj0YX0LK pic.twitter.com/oIaJ8V9Ohd

— JWF (@JammieWF) August 10, 2015

At Least 9 Dead in Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front Attack on U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey (VIDEO)

At the New York Times, "Gun Battle Erupts Outside U.S. Consulate in Istanbul":

The assault was one of four major incidents of violence across Turkey on Monday, none of them attributed to the Islamic State. They were instead blamed on the Marxist and anti-American Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, which claimed the consulate attack, and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or P.K.K. That group has fought an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades and Turkey’s government views it as a primary threat...

And the Wall Street Journal, "Nine Killed in Attacks Across Turkey":

ISTANBUL—Nine people were killed in separate attacks across Turkey on Monday, adding to worries here that Ankara’s decision to step up military pressure on Kurdish separatists and increase involvement in the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State will trigger more violence on Turkish soil.

A car carrying explosives struck a police station in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli neighborhood at 1 a.m. local time, killing the attacker and wounding three policemen and seven bystanders.

Less than six hours later, two gunmen opened fire on the same police station, setting off a gunfight in which two attackers and one police officer were killed.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, and the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant messages, reported no statements by Islamic State about the police station assaults.

Still, they compounded the jitters of Istanbul’s 14 million people on a day when the U.S. Consulate in the Sariyer district also was hit by gunfire.

There were no casualties, and one of the two women who carried out the 7 a.m. attack was captured. Authorities identified her as Hatice Asik, 42, of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

The DHKP-C, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the U.S., killed a Turkish security guard and wounded several other people in a suicide attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara two years ago.

The flare-up of violence in Turkey’s largest city occurred a day after the U.S. deployed six F-16 fighter jets and 300 military personnel to Incirlik air base in southern Turkey as part of joint Turkey-U.S. bid to increase military pressure on Islamic State forces in neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Concerns that the interim government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was plunging Turkey deeper into the region’s conflicts were multiplied by attacks elsewhere in Turkey.

A roadside bombing in southeastern Sirnak province on Monday killed four policemen and wounded another, according to local media reports. Also, one soldier was killed when a military helicopter drew fire in the province in an attack officials blamed on “separatist terrorists”—shorthand for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK...

Still more.

Debunking the Left's 'Missing Men' Theory of Mass Incarceration Causing the Breakup of Black Family

The disintegration of the black family predates the rise of mass incarceration, and so leftists have reversed the causal arrows to remove the pathologies of the black urban culture from the national debate over #BlackLivesMatter.

From Kay Hymowitz, at the Wall Street Journal, "The Flawed ‘Missing Men’ Theory":

.@MadJewessWoman #FERGUSONLOOTCREW mofos #Ferguson. pic.twitter.com/HunKokXD4t

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 10, 2015

As riots tore through Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore this winter and spring, so did denunciations of a criminal-justice system that has placed a disproportionate number of black men behind bars. One widely aired theory holds that not only are racial disparities and mass incarceration patently unjust on their own terms, but they also result in, to quote Hillary Clinton in the first policy speech of her campaign, “missing husbands, missing fathers, missing brothers.”

The missing-men theory of family breakdown has the virtue of being easy to grasp: Men who are locked up are obviously not going to be desirable husbands or engaged fathers. It also bypasses thorny and deadlocked debates about economics and culture. Still, the theory has a big problem: It’s at odds with the facts.

What extensive data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Vital Statistics Reports show is that the black family was in deep disarray well before America’s prison-population increase. As the 1960s began, 20% of all black births were to single mothers. By 1965 black “illegitimacy”—in the parlance of the time—had reached 24% and become the subject of Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s prophetic but ill-fated report “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

Yet the figure that so worried future Sen. Moynihan turned out to be the ground floor of a steep 30-year climb. By 1980 more than half of black children were born to unmarried mothers. The number peaked at 72.5% in 2010 and is now just below 72%.

In the 1960s and early ’70s, as nonmarital births raced upward, the number of black men admitted to state and federal prisons annually hovered between 20,000 and 27,000, showing no significant trend up or down. The later 1970s showed a notable increase, so that in 1980 alone there were 53,063 black males admitted to prison. Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, black prison admissions grew to historic highs and peaked at 257,000 in 2009. They have since declined slightly.

If anything, the timing of the two problems points to the opposite causation from the one assumed by “missing men” theorists: As the family unraveled, crime increased—the homicide rate doubled between the early 1960s and late ’70s, with more than half of the convicted being black—leading to calls for tougher sentencing to place more bad guys behind bars. In other words, family breakdown was followed by increased crime and more-crowded prisons...

It's a bit more complicated, but you get the gist of it.

Keep reading.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reporter Paul Hampel Beaten and Robbed by #BlackLives Matter Protesters in #Ferguson

I saw Hempel's tweets last night around 11:30pm Pacific.

Attacks like these, and the fact that Tyrone Harris opened fire on police with a stolen 9mm, need to be the focus of press coverage.

All the rest is a bunch of bull.

At Twitchy, "‘I got swarmed’: Post-Dispatch reporter beaten, robbed while covering Ferguson break-ins."

Black Suspect Tyrone Harris Charged with Assault After Opening Fire on St. Louis County Police

The dude wasn't a "victim" of a "police shooting" during "peaceful protests" in Ferguson.

The fucker opened fire at cops with a stolen 9mm. And this chump was a "good friend" of Michael Brown.

Because social justice.

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Northwoods man charged with assault after shootout with police during Ferguson protests":

Now I'm seeing that a reporter was attacked by "peaceful protestors." Horrible.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 10, 2015

Memorializing a guy who robbed a store and attacked a cop by ... robbing stores and attacking cops. Good grief.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 10, 2015

Sad to see the lies certain people tell themselves to justify selling their soul.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 10, 2015

Cops are blamed for shooting suspect with stolen gun who fired on them in Ferguson last night. Of course. http://t.co/USULGK6wd6

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 10, 2015

ST. LOUIS • A Northwoods man shot by police Sunday night during street protests in Ferguson was charged Monday with four counts of assault on police and other charges.

Tyrone Harris, 18, of the 6700 block of Donald Street in Northwoods, was charged with four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, five counts of armed criminal action and shooting at or from a motor vehicle. Bail for Harris was set at $250,000 cash.

Police said in court records that at 11:23 p.m., Harris was running in the 9200 block of West Florissant Avenue during street demonstrations and firing shots. Harris fired at least one shot into an officer's vehicle, and that police officer returned fire, the documents say. Officers got out of their car and chased Harris, who fired shots at them as he fled.

Police critically wounded Harris and said they recovered a 9mm Sig Sauer semiautomatic pistol next to his body. Harris was still hospitalized Monday.

Harris has a court date later this month in another case.

He faces charges in St. Louis of stealing a motor vehicle, theft of a firearm and resisting arrest by fleeing. He is scheduled to go on trial in St. Louis Circuit Court on Aug. 31.

According to the complaint filed by a city police officer, Harris is accused of stealing a Dodge Intrepid and a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol from someone who lives on the 1400 block of Union Boulevard on Nov. 3 between 1 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. The next day, an officer saw the car, and other detectives arrived to help keep an eye on the car and set up spike strips. After two police officers tried to pull the car over by activating lights and sirens, the car sped off and went the wrong way down Theodosia Avenue, forcing a car off the road. The Intrepid then hit the spike strips and stopped just over the St. Louis County line.

As an officer approached the car, he observed Harris as he removed the stolen 9mm pistol from his waistband and put it between the seat and console, the complaint said.

Harris admitted to the officer that he had stolen the car and gun, the complaint said.

A trial had been scheduled for July 20, but was postponed because a witness was unavailable, according to court records.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Ferguson is in a state of emergency AGAIN - after police are shot at and shops looted as town marks anniversary of Michael Brown's death."

CNN's Brian Stelter Reports the Death of 'Kathy Lee Gifford's Husband Frank' on Twitter

Sometimes it pays to have some cultural knowledge and perspective. Obviously, Brian Stelter has neither.

At Twitchy, "‘Many things wrong with’ Brian Stelter’s ‘horrific’ tweet regarding NFL Hall of Famer Frank Gifford’s death."

And see the obituary at the Wall Street Journal, "Frank Gifford, Broadcaster and NFL Great, Dies at 84."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "Appreciation: Frank Gifford was admired in football for composure and sharp mind."

British Sniper Saves Man and His 8-Year-Old Son from ISIS Beheading with Head Shot from 1000 Meters Away

Your feel-good story of the day, at Instapundit, "MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: Hero SAS sniper saves father and eight-year-old son from being beheaded by ISIS maniac."

Red State's Erick Erickson Reads Angry Tweets After Diisinviting Donald Trump from Conservative Gathering (VIDEO)

Erickson's widely reviled across the right 'sphere, evidently more so after the whole Donald Trump-Megyn Kelly brouhaha.

Watch, at Telegraph UK, "Here's the moment RedState founder Erick Erickson, who banned Donald Trump from the conservative gathering, reads out the outrageous hate mail he's received from Trump supporters."

And ICYMI, "Red State Closes Comments on Erick Erickson Post Banning Donald Trump from Conservative Gathering."

Target Stores to Move Away from Gender-Based Signs

So far, they're removing gender-based signs for the toy section and bedding. No word on the kids' clothing section, but it won't be long before kids' clothing is totally homogenized, heh.

At CNN, "Target to move away from gender-based signs."

Also at Twitchy, "‘Progressive BS’: Target’s plan to ‘phase out gender-based signs’ in stores earns eyerolls."

Scores Dead in Wave of Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz.

At WSJ, "Afghanistan Attacks Kill at Least 77":

KABUL — Violence surged in Afghanistan over the weekend including three separate bombings in the capital Kabul in one day—a wave of attacks that left at least 77 people dead.

It was the first spate of attacks on the capital since deep divisions emerged within the Taliban leadership over who should succeed their spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. The insurgents, however, have sought to dismiss talk of any rift after the Afghan government and the Taliban revealed last week that Mullah Omar had been dead for more than two years.

The latest attack struck the northern province of Kunduz on Saturday night. A suicide bomber targeted members of an irregular anti-Taliban militia, killing 25 people, according to a local police spokesman.

The Taliban, who have been battling Afghan forces for control of Kunduz for months, claimed responsibility.

On Friday, three separate attacks jolted Kabul, leaving more than 50 dead in less than 24 hours, according to Afghan and foreign officials. It was the deadliest day in years in the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for two out of the three attacks.

Friday’s violence ended a period of relative calm in the Afghan capital, where there hadn’t been a major security breach in more than a month.

The spike in attacks further complicates efforts led by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to broker a peaceful resolution to the 14-year conflict with the Taliban.

“We are still committed to peace but we will respond to such terrorist attacks with full force,” Mr. Ghani said in a statement on Saturday.

The Taliban have formally named a new leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, who had been effectively in charge of the group for years.

But the appointment was immediately opposed by several senior Taliban, and religious scholars close to the movement are seeking to mediate between the rival factions, say people close to the extremist group.

The series of attacks on Friday began with a truck bomb that exploded near an Afghan military intelligence compound. Fifteen people were killed and around 300 wounded in one of the most powerful explosions to have ever shaken the Afghan capital. It left a deep crater, and caused residential and commercial buildings to collapse, a scale of destruction rarely seen in the city.

Scores of women and children were among the victims.

“Kabul, as the capital, should be an example for security in the country—but that’s not the case,” said Luca Radaelli, the country head of Emergency, an Italian nongovernmental organization that runs three hospitals in Afghanistan.

“The situation is just getting worse.”

No one claimed responsibility for the truck bomb. A Taliban spokesman said the group was assessing whether its fighters were involved...

More.

Also at AP, "Security Tight After Devastating Kabul Attacks," and Reuters, "Suicide attack kills 29 in northern Afghanistan."

PREVIOUSLY: "Afghanistan: At Least Six Dead in First Major Taliban Attack Since Leadership Transition (VIDEO)."