Paris Attacks Undercut Western Hopes of Containing Extremists

Containment's obviously not working. If the West is going to do something, leaders need to get off their asses. I'm not optimistic in that regard.

At WSJ:

WASHINGTON—The consecutive terror attacks that killed 224 people on a Russian charter plane Oct. 31 and well over 100 in Paris on Friday have undercut what remained of Western hopes of containing extremists, a goal sought through years of faltering wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.

A day before the Paris attacks, President Barack Obama sounded an optimistic note about the campaign against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria. “I don’t think they’re gaining strength,” the president told ABC News in an interview Thursday. “From the start our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them.”

Now that French President François Hollande has blamed Islamic State for the attacks Friday in Paris, world leaders are certain to take a new look at the extremist movement.

Many parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East, are in a state of chaotic and deadly upheaval, with weak or nonexistent governments creating huge voids for terror networks to flourish. U.S. military planes have peppered parts of Syria and Iraq with drone strikes, killing senior Islamic State officials. Islamic State computer wizard Junaid Hussain was killed by a drone strike in Syria in August. A separate drone strike is believed to have killed a British citizen known as Jihadi John in the same city just this week.

But even after dozens of such strikes, the terror attacks continue. They have emanated from cells within Islamic State as well as terror groups stretching from North Africa, across the Middle East, to South Asia. And they often are of such scale that intelligence agencies and police forces are left dumbfounded and searching for answers.

Militants killed 17 people in France in January, most of them employees of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in a brutal slaying that raised fears about what radical Islamic militants could do after returning from war-torn areas like Yemen and Syria.

In Turkey, more than 100 people were killed by twin suicide blasts Oct. 10 at a peace rally in Ankara, with Islamic State the main suspect. On Thursday, more than 40 died in a Beiruit suburb in a double suicide bombing for which Islamic State claimed responsibility.

The midair breakup of a Russian passenger jet late last month, while still under investigation, is believed to have been a rare mass casualty event caused by a bomb on a plane. And the attacks Friday night in Paris came after the country had ramped up its surveillance laws and devoted more resources to tracking citizens returning from Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. and Western countries have spent billions of dollars trying to disrupt terror networks in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, but the war seemingly has countless fronts...

Keep reading.

Yeah, well, it's full spectrum terror. See, "Islamic State Shows Mastery of 'Full-Spectrum Terrorism'."

Paris Attackers Linked to Belgium Suburb Where the Authorities Have 'Lost Control' (VIDEO)

At the Telegraph UK, "Two of the Paris attackers and at least three other people involved linked to a heavily-Muslim suburb of Brussels where the authorities admit they have 'lost control'":

Two of the Paris attackers – and at least three other people involved – are linked to a heavily-Muslim suburb of Brussels where the authorities admit they have “lost control.”

The neighbourhood of Molenbeek, which has been involved in many previous terror attacks, was last night emerging as a key centre of the plot. Belgian prosecutors said that one of the seven killers who died in Paris had been identified as a Frenchman living in Molenbeek, which is described by one expert as “the capital of political Islam in continental Europe.” A second attacker lived in or close to the district.

As a wave of new arrests was made in the area on Sunday, Belgium’s interior minister, Jan Jambon, admitted to VRT television that “we don’t have control of the situation in Molenbeek at present” and said the authorities needed to “clean up” the area...

Keep reading.

Destroy the ISIS Caliphate

From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, "We can either fight ISIS in our cities or in their cities."

And at Instapundit, "MICHAEL GOODWIN: It’s time for Obama to make a choice: Lead us or resign."

'Desert Drizzle': Obama's Antiseptic Bombing Campaign Won't Defeat Islamic State

Remember from back in January, "Obama's Pathetic Bombing Campaign Hasn't Stopped Expansion of Islamic State in Syria."

This is a common theme, and we'll be returning to it again and again, until the U.S. faces a Paris-style attack on the homeland.

See David Deptula, retired U.S. Air Force general, at USA Today, "We can't stop the Islamic State with a 'Desert Drizzle'":

Is it going to take the equivalent of the Paris bombings here, before Obama takes decisive action against the Islamic State?

Is it going to take the equivalent of the Paris bombings — or worse — in the United States before President Obama takes decisive action against the Islamic State?  Secretary Kerry stated last week that President Obama “has directed every member of his national security team to pick up the pace and move forward with ideas for degrading and defeating Daesh more rapidly, more completely and permanently.” That should not be difficult given that last month the president’s plan resulted in only 4 strikes a day in Syria. That is pathetic. For comparison, the number of air strikes during Desert Storm averaged over 1200 a day. The current operation in Syria is more appropriately named “Desert Drizzle.”

We have it within our capacity to destroy the Islamic State leading to the elimination of their sanctuary for terror. However, to do so will require moving beyond the current anemic, pinprick air strikes, to a robust, comprehensive use of airpower — not simply in support of indigenous allied ground forces, but as the key force in taking down the Islamic State. It will require focusing on the Islamic State as a government, not an insurgency, and for Central Command and their subordinate task force to stop fighting the last war, and start the serious use of airpower....

The moral and strategic menace of the Islamic State warrants the optimal application US air power until the group is decomposed as an effective entity. A more robust and comprehensive air campaign over the past year could have reduced the slaughter of thousands of innocents at the hands of the Islamic State. It would have prevented the migration of terrorists out of Syria, some of who may have been involved in the attacks in France.

Rapid and devastating air attacks can still liquidate the capacity of the Islamic State to wage war and prevent the spilling of more blood. Overwhelming and focused attacks to crush the Islamic State — not episodic, antiseptic bombing — will also send a signal that the US has the will, power and resolve to confront other regional threats.

The danger of attempting to conduct ‘immaculate warfare’ by over-constraining the application of airpower is self-defeating, as it perpetuates the misperception that airpower is incapable of accomplishing what it is actually very capable of delivering under the laws of war — the rapid disintegration of the Islamic State.

It is admirable that Operation Inherent Resolve air operations in the past year plus have produced precise attacks with the fewest possible number of civilian casualties. However, humanity, justice, and civilization demand that the restrictions that are delaying and inhibiting the means to halt the evil of the Islamic State be removed, and that we optimize our asymmetric advantage of airpower...

G20 Summit Shifts Focus to Terrorism After #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)

Well, everybody's going to talk a tough game, but not much is going to change. Perhaps there'll be an uptick in airstrikes --- France already seems more determined in that regard --- but the Obama administration's current overall policy will remain in effect. Despite calls to "degrade and destroy" Islamic State in past statements, frankly the administration's going to be lucky if it steps up already weak containment efforts.

At USA Today, "Obama vows at G-20 summit to hunt down Paris terrorists":

ANTALYA, Turkey — President Obama joined other world leaders for a summit at this Mediterranean resort Sunday, vowing to join French authorities in hunting down the terrorists responsible for the worst attack on Paris since World War II.

"The skies are darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris,” Obama declared after meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan ahead of the opening of a two-day meeting of leaders representing the world's top 20 economies. "We stand in solidarity with them in hunting down the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice.”

“The killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is not just an attack on France, not just an attack on Ankara, but an attack on the civilized world," Obama said, referring to Friday night's Paris attacks that killed 129 people, and bombings in the Turkish capital in October that killed more than 100.

Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for 35 minutes off to the sides of the summit, the White House said. The two leaders mentioned the progress in Syria talks in Vienna, including the areas of agreement outlined in the International Syria Support Group's statement of Nov. 14.

"Specifically, President Obama and President Putin agreed on the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, which would be proceeded by U.N.-mediated negotiations between the Syrian opposition and regime as well as a cease-fire," the White House said. "As the diplomacy continues, President Obama welcomed efforts by all nations to confront the terrorist group ISIL and noted the importance of Russia's military efforts in Syria focusing on the group."

Obama said he and Erdogan, the summit's host, discussed fortifying the borders between Syria and Turkey, redoubling efforts to bring about a peaceful end to the four-year civil war in Syria and eliminating the Islamic State, the radical group that claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

The Syrian war has unleashed millions of refugees, most winding up in Turkey and raising concerns that Islamic State terrorists may be among those crossing into Turkey and migrating from there to Western Europe. That concern has been heightened by the discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one of the Paris terrorists.

Obama said the United States stands with Turkey and Europe in reducing the flow of migrants there. Hundreds of thousands of them have entered Europe this year...

France Launches 'Massive' Airstrikes Against Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria (VIDEO)

At London's Daily Mail, "BREAKING NEWS: French launch series of 'massive' air strikes on Isis targets in Raqqa including jihadi recruitment centre and training camp."

Holly Holm Knocks Out Ronda Rousey in Stunning UFC 193 Title Upset (VIDEO)

I saw all the bloody, swollen photos of Ronda Rousey's face last night on Twitter and I thought the photos were retouched.

But no. She got her face punched in by Holly Holm! It was major, wow!

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ronda Rousey is knocked out by Holly Holm in UFC title fight":

After belting Rousey with a left hand to the head that turned the former champion, leaving her awkwardly exposed as she stood from a slip, Holm followed with a knockout left kick to the right side of Rousey's head.

With the previously unbeaten Rousey briefly unconscious on the canvas, Holm unleashed a couple hammer punches toward the face that caused referee Herb Dean to stop the fight 59 seconds into the second round.

Holm expressed a look of awe as the groggy Rousey awoke and was aided to a stool placed in the middle of the octagon at Etihad Stadium, where a shocked crowd estimated at more than 60,000 looked on along with a pay-per-view audience expected to surpass 1 million.

"I'm trying to take it in, but it's crazy," Holm said in the octagon after the massive upset that ranks with Matt Serra's stunning victory over former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman's knockout of longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva...

Also, "Holly Holm cashes in her life's work to shock Ronda Rousey," and "Ronda Rousey has earned right to rematch with Holly Holm, UFC president says."

Sunday Afternoon Gisele Rule 5

I just noticed this Rule 5 post from January 2014, "Sexy Saturday Rule 5."

The lovely Gisele was the headlining babe, and she's on Twitter.

New Update LIVE in https://t.co/COjTu9gcR1 - Lace Choker pic.twitter.com/TbTqUxWgVX

— Gisele (@xoGisele) November 13, 2015

Kate Hudson Posts Tight Bikini Photo to Instagram

She's such a good lady.

At Fox News, "Kate Hudson flaunts bikini bod on Instagram."

#ParisAttacks: Chaos Grips French Capital After False Reports of Gunfire (VIDEO)

Here's the dramatic headline at the Telegraph UK, "Paris attacks: Chaos and fear grips French capital after false reports of gunfire send people 'running for their lives' • Death toll rises to 132 as suspect still on run."

And check the Other McCain, "TERROR MANHUNT: French Authorities Seeking Accomplices of Islamic Killers."

Obama Administration to Accelerate Importation of Syrian 'Refugees' to the United States

Great.

Talk about a fundamental transformation. Obama wants to transform the U.S. into a stronghold for Islamic jihad (and that's as if we haven't been Islamicized enough already, sheesh).

At the CBC, "Syria refugee crisis: U.S. opens centres to speed vetting":

The Obama administration is moving to increase and accelerate the number of Syrian refugees who might be admitted into the United States by opening new screening outposts in Iraq and Lebanon, administration officials told Reuters on Friday.

The move comes after President Barack Obama pledged in September to admit an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016, torn by four years of civil war and disorder.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the plans to open a refugee settlement processing centre in Erbil, Iraq, before the end of 2015, and to resume refugee processing in Lebanon in early 2016, said spokeswoman Danna Van Brandt.

The White House would not say how many additional refugees it may take in beyond the 10,000, but two senior administration officials said they are seeking ways to increase the number.

Suitable for resettlement

"We want to be in a place where we can push out really ambitious goals," said one of the officials, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

The State Department runs nine screening centres worldwide that serve as meeting points for refugees and U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees who have to decide who is suitable for resettlement in the United States.

The additional centres will double the number available to refugees in the Middle East.

Most Syrians are now screened for potential U.S. resettlement at centres in Istanbul and Amman, Jordan. The new centres are designed to "increase the channels" the United States has for reaching Syrian refugees, the official said.

Amid a tide of refugees in Europe, some congressional Democrats and refugee advocates say the United States should do more for Syrians who often make dangerous journeys to lands where they have no home or means of employment.

However, some Republicans have raised concerns that allowing more Syrians into the United States jeopardizes national security.

Well, allowing more Syrians just might "jeopardize national security," considering especially that one of the French jihadists was a refugee from Syria.

But remember, during his Cairo speech Obama said it was his job to defend against any and all criticism of Islam. He'd rather look out for the jihadists than he would Americans.

Islamic State Shows Mastery of 'Full-Spectrum Terrorism'

At the Telegraph UK, "Paris attacks: Isil have shown their mastery of the full spectrum of terrorism":

Analysis: In the space of 13 days, Isil destroyed a Russian airliner, bombed Beirut and brought carnage to Paris, inflicting a combination of attacks unmatched by any terrorist group.

Among the many terrible facts about the bloodshed in Paris, one stands out. No terrorist group has ever previously inflicted the combination of attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

The carnage in Paris must be placed alongside other recent events for its real significance to become clear. True enough, Isil’s claims of responsibility should always be treated with caution, but if they are accurate, then consider what its operatives have inflicted in the space of just 13 days.

Since Oct 31, Isil has destroyed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt, wrecked a street in Beirut using two suicide bombers, and brought terror to Paris by carrying out near simultaneous assaults on at least six separate targets across the capital.

If its claims are true, Isil has carried out three complex acts of mass murder in three different countries – spread across two continents - in less than a fortnight. Along the way, its terrorists have killed 393 people from nations as disparate as Lebanon, Ukraine, France and Russia.

When David Cameron said that events in Paris showed Isil's appetite for “mass casualty attacks” and a “new degree of planning and coordination”, he was making the point in mild terms. There is simply no precedent in the modern history of terrorism for the rapid succession of havoc that Isil appears to have wrought.

The group’s recent attacks are unique in several respects. The fact that they happened quickly and in far flung countries is important, but not, in itself, decisive. Al-Qaeda never actually struck three targets in three countries in 13 days, but Osama bin Laden’s followers might have been capable of doing as much their heyday before 2001 – provided, that is, we are talking about the kind of bomb attacks that the network had made its speciality.

What makes Isil’s onslaught unique is how different the three operations were – and how each demanded a particular range of skills.

Most terrorist groups come to specialise in one method of bloodshed. Under bin Laden’s leadership, al-Qaeda developed a near obsession with destroying civil airliners - a compulsion that reached its apogee on September 11 – or planting large bombs in unsuspecting capitals. For the first two decades of its existence, Hamas concentrated almost exclusively upon carrying out suicide bombings in Israel.

The events of the last fortnight appear to demonstrate that Isil has mastered all of these black arts and more. The destruction of the Russian airliner showed that its operatives can subvert airport security and infiltrate explosives on board a passenger plane.

The deaths of 41 people in Beirut last Thursday once again displayed Isil’s ability to inflict a tragically familiar brand of terrorist attack, namely a double suicide bombing in a Middle Eastern capital.

And then came Paris. On Friday night, Isil’s terrorists used automatic weapons and bombs to carry out an assault which appeared to owe as much to the “urban guerrillas” of 1970s Europe as to the Islamist brand of nihilism.

Four decades ago, young Germans and Italians joined the Red Brigades or the Baader-Meinhof gang and fought gun battles in city streets. They took hostages and murdered passers-by, causing Italians to use the term "Years of Lead" for that era of their history, so named because of the empty bullet casings that lay scattered in the streets after every incident.

Isil’s terrorists followed a similar modus operandi in Paris, except that they focused solely upon killing innocent bystanders - not police officers or government officials - and their murderous exertions were ended only by their own deaths.

But the conclusion is unmistakable: when it comes to destroying a plane, taking hostages, dispatching suicide bombers to Beirut, or running amok in a European capital, Isil’s operatives can do all of the above in quick succession. They have shown their mastery of the full spectrum of terrorism in a way that no group – not even al-Qaeda - has ever done before...

More.

Cal State Long Beach Student Nohemi Gonzalez Killed in #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)

There's no escaping global jihad.

At the Long Beach Press-Telegram, "CSULB student from El Monte killed in Paris attacks."

Caught Between Internal and External Terror Threats, France Struggles to Cope (VIDEO)

Well, I guess that's putting it bluntly.

And it's going to get worse before it gets better. That's for sure.

At the Washington Post:

Two weeks ago, France’s top spy arrived in Washington for urgent meetings with his counterparts at the CIA and other agencies on the war in Syria and the rapidly morphing terrorist threat emanating from the Islamic State.

“We have now two kinds of threats,” Bernard Bajolet, the head of the French spy service, said in a rare public appearance during his visit. There is an “inside threat,” he said, speaking of young radicalized French residents, but “in addition to that we have the threat from outside, either through terrorist actions which are planned [and] ordered from outside or only through fighters coming back to our countries.”

The attacks Friday in Paris showed how these twin threats are converging on France like a vise, putting extraordinary pressure on security services that have long been regarded as among the most capable in Europe but now seem overwhelmed by a surge in plots tied to Islamist terrorist groups.

French and U.S. intelligence services were scrambling Saturday to make sense of the still-emerging details about an attack that involved eight militants launching assaults on targets scattered across the French capital, leaving at least 129 people dead.

But a flurry of related arrests outside France and clues suggesting that at least one of the gunmen recently entered Europe through Greece seemed to bolster French President François Hollande’s description of the attack as one that was “prepared, organized and planned from outside the country by the Islamic State, but with help from inside.”

If so, the attack appears to have been a hybrid of the threat streams cited by the French spy chief last month, as well as an alarming evolution of the objectives and tactics employed by the Islamic State.

“They’re exploiting a seam in France,” said a senior U.S. official with access to classified information about the attacks and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “This could be ISIL-inspired” or involve “trained fighters from ISIL coming back to France,” the official said. “I’m not sure it makes much of a difference. ISIL feeds on this chaos.”

More.

Don't Forget Your Thanksgiving Shopping

At Amazon, Thanksgiving Store.

And get ready for Christmas, Bestselling Books in Military History.

Plus, stay warm, Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat.

WATCH: Video Shows Police Shootout with Terrorists Outside Bataclan Theater — #ParisAttacks

Paris isn't going to be the same --- not for long time, if ever.

See William Jacobson, at Legal Insurrection, "Will we always have Paris? Maybe not."

At watch, via CNN:

New Kelly Brook Photos

At What Would Tyler Durden Do, "Kelly Brook Headlines Ping Pong."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Bust-ing out! Curvy Kelly Brook shows off her VERY generous cleavage in sexy low-cut dress as she steps out for restaurant launch party."

Great Fun Tonight 😘😘😘 pic.twitter.com/hYW8At4DMN

— Kelly Brook (@IAMKELLYBROOK) November 12, 2015

Sneak Peek: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 (VIDEO)

Here's a lovely break from all the French jihad blogging, via Theo Spark.

Paris Attack Was Work of 3 Teams, An 'Act of War' by Islamic State, France Says (VIDEO)

You've got huge banner headlines running at the New York Times.

It's major.

See, "Three Teams of Coordinated Attackers Carried Out Assault on Paris, Officials Say; Hollande Blames ISIS":

PARIS — Three teams of Islamic State attackers acting in unison carried out the terrorist assault in Paris on Friday night, officials said Saturday, including one assailant who may have traveled to Europe on a Syrian passport along with the flow of migrants.

“It is an act of war that was committed by a terrorist army, a jihadist army, Daesh, against France,” President François Hollande told the nation from the Élysée Palace, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “It is an act of war that was prepared, organized and planned from abroad, with complicity from the inside, which the investigation will help establish.”

As the death toll rose to 129 — with 352 others wounded, 99 of them critically — a basic timeline of the attacks came into view.

The Paris prosecutor, François Molins, said the attackers were all armed with heavy weaponry and suicide vests. Their assault began at 9:20 p.m. Friday, when one terrorist detonated a suicide bomb outside the gates of the soccer stadium on the northern outskirts of Paris. It ended at 12:20 a.m. Saturday when the authorities stormed a concert hall, the Bataclan. One attacker there was killed; two others detonated suicide vests. Inside the hall, 89 people, who had been listening to a rock band, had been shot to death.

The man with the Syrian passport — which Greek officials said had been registered at the Aegean island of Leros on Oct. 3 — was 25, and died at the stadium. Another assailant, who died at the concert hall, was 29 and a native of Courcouronnes, about 20 miles south of Paris. He had a criminal record and was known to be involved in extremist Islamic ideology, Mr. Molins said.

The hunt for possible accomplices of the terrorists gained steam on Saturday. Officials in Belgium announced three arrests, one of them linked to a rental car found in Paris. In Germany, the police were exploring whether a man they arrested last week with weapons in his car and his GPS navigator set for Paris was linked to the attacks. But it remained unclear how a plot of such sophistication and lethality could have escaped the notice of intelligence agencies, both in France and abroad.

Mr. Hollande declared three days of national mourning, and said that military troops would patrol the capital. France remained under a nationwide state of emergency.

Mr. Hollande vowed to “be unforgiving with the barbarians from Daesh,” adding that France would act within the law but with “all the necessary means, and on all terrains, inside and outside, in coordination with our allies, who are, themselves, targeted by this terrorist threat.”

The attacks, and the possibility that the Islamic State was to blame, promised to further traumatize France and other European countries already fearful of violent jihadists radicalized by the conflicts in Syria and elsewhere...

Keep reading.

Scale of #ParisAttacks Underscores Global Threats

The free flow of people across borders is going to be a thing of the past --- or at least it should be, if Europeans wake up.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Paris Attacks’ Scale Underscores Global Threats":

The sophistication, resources and scale of Friday’s attacks in the heart of Paris underscored to officials across the globe that the challenges of containing extremist violence have reached a new level, and that the calculus of the Western effort against terrorism had fundamentally changed.

European governments in the past few months have sought various means to guard against national security threats, with some erecting barbed-wire fences to stem the flow of migrants, while others, including France, devoted hundreds of millions of euros to strengthening electronic surveillance systems.

Friday’s attacks highlight the weakness of those strategies in a world where global extremism flows across nations. It also raises questions about transnational agreements on open-border travel that have been a bedrock of modern Europe. In his first comments to the nation after the attack, French President François Hollande announced the closing of his country’s borders.

French authorities didn't immediately name a culprit, but the nature of the attacks left little doubt they were the work of a well-organized terrorist group. A French official said Friday the attacks were “unfortunately well-prepared and coordinated.” The apparent use of explosives and the likelihood that a significant number of people were involved were particularly alarming to U.S. counterterrorism officials.

At the same time, officials in several countries have voiced strong suspicions that the recent downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt was the work of a terrorist bomb. If Islamic State or another terrorist group is blamed for that attack, in addition to Friday’s carnage, pressure could increase to ramp up the war on such terrorist organizations to a new level.

That could include more pressure on Western countries to step up the military intervention in Syria. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization doesn't have a formal role in strikes against Islamic State, although members of the alliance are taking part in the U.S.-led coalition...

More.

More, at Time, "ISIS Attack on Paris Suggests a Change in Strategy."

Pianist Plays 'Imagine' Outside Bataclan Theater After #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)

Political idealism was one of the leading causes of World War II. But then, leftists never learn.

As Ann Coulter tweeted last night, "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? French people ran onto the street with signs that said, 'Je Suis Charlie'! Why didn't that stop this?"

Idealism is nice, especially during a time of enormous crisis. But folks can sing "Imagine" until the cows come home, and it's not going to solve Europe's jihad problem. Halting the wave of Islamic migration would be the first start, and then repatriating Muslims to their home countries after that. You can't keep taking Muslims without importing Islamic jihad. Until the Europeans learn that lesson, their goose will be cooked.

Bono and U2 Lay Flowers at the Bataclan Theater — #ParisAttacks

They're good guys.

Bono and the members of U2 lay flowers at the Bataclan Theatre by @JeffJMitch pic.twitter.com/7JA7u6TiER

— Bette Lynch (@BetteMLynch) November 14, 2015

Paris Attacks Deepen Debate About Migration Crisis in Europe; Critics Reassert Security Concerns

Following-up from yesterday, "Angela Merkel's Future in Doubt as She Faces Coup After Her Own Party Criticises Asylum Policies."

At WSJ, "Paris Attacks May Unsettle EU’s Debate on Migration":

BERLIN—The attacks in Paris stunned Europe and deepened one of the European Union’s greatest crises: the tide of migration from the war-torn Middle East and elsewhere sweeping in from across the Mediterranean.

In Germany, the attacks quickly galvanized opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, with critics saying that it had become clearer than ever that the migrants from the Middle East represented a grave security threat. In Poland, a country that had already opposed Ms. Merkel’s stance, leading politicians doubled down and warned they wouldn't honor an earlier agreement to take in refugees.

Ms. Merkel has been under intensifying fire for months for opening Germany’s doors to refugees, a posture that many critics say has helped touch off a tide of migration into Germany numbering as many as 10,000 a day.

As of Saturday afternoon, it remained unclear whether the attacks were perpetrated by homegrown terrorists or people who entered France from abroad. Nevertheless, they quickly offered fodder for critics who said that Germany and Europe couldn’t manage the influx of migration from the Middle East.

In a sign of how much the Paris attacks may unsettle the EU-wide debate on migration, politicians in Poland quickly tied the attacks to Ms. Merkel’s policies. The incoming minister in charge of European affairs, Konrad Szymanski, said the country’s new, conservative government, to be sworn in on Monday, wouldn’t honor its predecessors’ commitment earlier this fall to take in about 7,000 people as part of an EU-wide plan to redistribute migrants across the bloc.

“Decisions of the European Council that we’ve criticized regarding the resettlement of refugees and immigrants to all EU countries are still binding law of the EU,” Mr. Szymanski wrote in an article posted online. “But faced with the tragic events in Paris we don’t see political possibilities for its enforcement.”

Keep reading.

"Frank Bruni of the New York Times tut-tuts against 'The Exploitation of Paris'..."

That's all the lefties are doing, tut-tuting against the so-called "reactionary right."

See Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "FREUD CALLED IT DISPLACEMENT":

Frank Bruni of the New York Times tut-tuts against “The Exploitation of Paris,” in a piece that could easily have been written by doing a find-and-replace search of a thousand different Times articles written immediately after 9/11. (A period in which the Times was utterly obsessed with the terrorist dangers of all-male golf courses). Along the way, Bruni name-checks Roger Simon, PJM’s boss emeritus...

More.

Plus, a real heads-scratcher, at Jihad Watch, "Salon: “After Paris, let’s stop blaming Muslims and take a hard look at ourselves”."

Leftism is a mental disorder. Seriously.

William McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse

Check out Will McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State.

He's also got a piece up at Politico, "How ISIL Out-Terrorized Bin Laden":

Brutality and doomsday visions have made ISIL the world’s most feared terrorist group....

The Islamic State’s brutality and its insistence on apocalypse now and caliphate now set it apart from al-Qaeda, of which it was a part until 2014. We’re used to thinking of al-Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden as the baddest of the bad, but the Islamic State is worse. Bin Laden tamped down messianic fervor and sought popular Muslim support; the return of the early Islamic empire, or caliphate, was a distant dream. In contrast, the Islamic State’s members fight and govern by their own version of Machiavelli’s dictum “It is far safer to be feared than loved.” They stir messianic fervor rather than suppress it. They want God’s kingdom now rather than later. This is not Bin Laden’s jihad...

More.

Ann Coulter: 'Donald Trump was elected president tonight...'

At the Hill, "Coulter after Paris attacks: 'Trump was elected president tonight'." (Careful the autoplay videos at the click through.)

Ann Coulter took to Twitter on Friday night to respond to the Paris terror attacks, saying that “Donald Trump was elected president tonight.”

The conservative commentator tweeted a series of reactions to the attacks that left more than 120 dead, calling for “no more Muslim immigration.” She also targeted recent U.S. college student protests, as well as American gun and immigration laws and proposals.

Coulter ended her string of Tweets with: “They can wait if they like until next November for the actual balloting, but Donald Trump was elected president tonight.”

Actually, I think the more narrow political issue will be the fight against Islamic jihad, rather than the larger border security problem, which is more a question of illegal immigration from Latin America. But if Trump plays it right, he could score significant political points.

Trendy Warm Chunky Soft Stretch Cable Knit Slouchy Beanie Skully Hat

Heh. It's a best-selling item at Amazon.

But so is the Ergodyne N-Ferno 6823 Wind-proof Hinged Balaclava, Black, which seems a bit less wistful.

And ICYMI, from Erick Stakelbeck, ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam.

The Migrant Jihad Has Begun in Paris

From Robert Spencer, at FrontPage Magazine, "At least one jihad attacker was a 'refugee'. Will European leaders reconsider their migrant policy?":

That didn’t take long: one of the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis who murdered at least 160 people in Paris on Friday held a Syrian passport and passed through Greece in October. In October, he was a “refugee” seeking asylum in Europe from the Syrian war zone; in November, he was murdering French civilians for the Islamic caliphate. The Migrant Jihad has begun.

French and European authorities can’t say they weren’t warned. Last February, the Islamic State boasted it would soon flood Europe with as many as 500,000 refugees. And the Lebanese Education Minister recently said that there were 20,000 jihadis among the refugees in camps in his country. Meanwhile, 80% of migrants who have recently come to Europe claiming to be fleeing the war in Syria aren’t really from Syria at all.

So why are they claiming to be Syrian and streaming into Europe? An Islamic State operative gave the answer when he boasted in September, shortly after the migrant influx began, that among the flood of refugees, 4,000 Islamic State jihadis had already entered Europe. He explained their purpose: “It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world, and we will have it soon, inshallah.” These Muslims were going to Europe in the service of that caliphate: “They are going like refugees,” he said, but they were going with the plan of sowing blood and mayhem on European streets. As he told this to journalists, he smiled and said, “Just wait.”

A year before that the Islamic State issued a call for jihad murders of French civilians: “If you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be.”

Then after the attacks the Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for them, and warning: “Let France and all nations following its path know that they will continue to be at the top of the target list for the Islamic State and that the scent of death will not leave their nostrils as long as they partake in the crusader campaign, as long as they dare to curse our Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and as long as they boast about their war against Islam in France and their strikes against Muslims in the land of the Caliphate with their jets, which were of no avail to them in the filthy streets and alleys of Paris. Indeed, this is just the beginning. It is also a warning for any who wish to take heed.”

So war was declared, and acts of war carried out – and the response has been drearily predictable. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was swift to try to dissociate the Paris attacks from the migrant influx into Europe: “I would like to make this urgent plea to avoid drawing such swift links to the situation surrounding refugees.” Alas for de Maiziere, there was the inconvenient fact of that Syrian “refugee” who pass through Greece on his way to jihad in Paris.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama was true to form, not mentioning Islam or Muslims in his statement on the Paris attacks, and not giving a hint that it was his precipitous and politically motivated withdrawal from Iraq that created the vacuum that allowed for the rise of the Islamic State. Indeed, the Islamic State could end up being the most significant legacy of the Obama Administration. Obviously American troops couldn’t have stayed in Iraq forever, and the Iraq project from its beginnings was based on false assumptions about Islam, ignoring its political, supremacist and violent aspects; but Obama’s hasty and ill-thought out withdrawal took into account none of the realities on the ground: the Sunni/Shi’ite divide, the Iranian influence in Baghdad, the Sunnis’ unwillingness to participate in the Baghdad government and the Shi’ites’ refusal to allow them to do so in any significant way, and more. France today is paying the price for the willful ignorance and short-sightedness of Obama and his administration...

Continue reading.

European Authorities Scramble to Identify Suspects in #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)

Authorities found a Syrian passport on the body of one of the Paris attackers.

And see the Los Angeles Times, "Authorities scramble to identify suspects in Paris terror attacks":

Authorities across Europe moved Saturday to identify possible accomplices to seven attackers who unleashed a series of shootings and bombings across Paris, with Belgian authorities announcing they had made several arrests.

A spokeswoman for Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens told reporters that authorities had arrested "several suspects," though it was not clear what connection, if any, they had to Friday's attacks in Paris.

Geens said the arrests came after a rental car with Belgian license plates was seen close to the Bataclan theater in Paris, the scene of some of the worst violence, on Friday night, the magazine De Standaard reported.

French authorities identified one of the dead terrorists as a Frenchman, about 30 years old, who had previously been tracked by authorities in connection with his Islamic radical activities, France Info radio reported.

Meanwhile, French media reported that a Syrian passport was found near one of the dead terrorists after a bomb attack at a soccer game at the Stade de France, the national stadium just north of Paris, though it had not been established that the passport belonged to the attacker.

It appeared the passport holder had crossed into the European Union through the Greek island of Leros in October.

“We announce that the passport holder had passed from Leros on Oct. 3. where he was identified based on EU rules," Greek Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

"We do not know if the passport was checked by other countries through which the holder likely passed."

Toskas added: “We will continue the painstaking and persistent effort to ensure the security of our country and Europe under difficult circumstances, insisting on complete identification of those arriving.”

More.

WATCH: Graphic Video Shows Hostages Escaping from Bataclan Concert Theater — #ParisAttacks

Le Monde's Daniel Psenny took the video, via CNN:

The World's Most Dangerous Ideology

Here's Raymond Ibrahim, for Prager University.

This clip went up last month, but it's ever so timely, considering.

Angela Merkel's Future in Doubt as She Faces Coup After Her Own Party Criticises Asylum Policies

She was on thin ice well before last night's Paris attacks.

I don't know if she can stay in office much longer.

At the Telegraph UK:

Angela Merkel’s political future is being questioned for the first time in Germany as divisions continue to grow in her government over her “open-door” refugee policy.

Guests on a popular television political talk show debated the possibility of a coup against the German chancellor from within her own party.

The discussion came as civil servants at the government refugee agency warned identity checks for Syrian asylum-seekers were ineffective and open to abuse by economic migrants and terrorists.

Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister, warned that Germany was facing an “avalanche” of refugees set off by a “careless skier”.

And Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister, twice acted unilaterally to introduce stricter controls on Syrian asylum-seekers without informing Mrs Merkel...

More.

And earlier, at Der Spiegel, "The Lonely Chancellor: Merkel Under Fire as Refugee Crisis Worsens."

So Where'd the Paris Jihadists Get Their Kalashnikovs?

Well, there's a huge black-market weapons pipeline from Eastern Europe. Thousands of AKs are confiscated by authorities every year.

At the Daily Beast, "This is How AK-47s Get to Paris."

Erick Stakelbeck: ISIS Exposed

Some reading on Islamic State.

From Erick Stakelbeck, ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam.

President Obama Tells George Stephanopoulos: Islamic State's Not 'Gaining Strength' (VIDEO)

From just this morning, on Good Morning America.

The Orwellian Obama.

Islamic State's "contained."

Inside the Bataclan Concert Hall — #ParisAttacks

At the New York Times, "‘Scene of Carnage’ Inside Sold-Out Paris Concert Hall":

PARIS — The band had been playing to the crowd at one of this city’s most popular music venues, The Bataclan, for about an hour. The 150-year-old music hall was sold out for the show by the American group Eagles of Death Metal.

Suddenly, four men brandishing AK-47 assault rifles entered the hall. There were shouts of “Allahu akbar” just before the gunmen opened fire, and for about 20 minutes there was carnage.

Witnesses said the attackers also threw grenades into the crowd.

“When they started shooting, we just saw flashes,” a witness named Gwen told French BFM-TV. “People got down on the ground right away. It was all dark.”

In the scramble to survive, people climbed into the upper boxes of the hall, or cowered under seats. The musicians quickly fled the stage.

“It was a scene of carnage,” Julien Pearce, a radio reporter who was inside The Bataclan, told Europe 1 radio.

The music hall can seat up to 1,500 people, but it was unclear how many were inside when the attack began. Some of the spectators managed to escape out back exits, but for minutes the gunmen shot unimpeded.

Benjamin Cazenoves posted an update on Facebook from inside the theater: “Alive. Just some cuts. Carnage. Bodies everywhere.”

Mr. Pearce told CNN that he saw two of the men enter and begin to fire randomly. He said the gunmen wore black and said nothing. They simply fired indiscriminately into the crowd. Mr. Pearce said that when he walked out into the street, he saw 25 bodies on the ground.

“It lasted for 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 horrific minutes when everybody was on the floor covering their heads and we heard so many gunshots, and the terrorists were very calm, very determined, and they reloaded three or four times their weapons,” Mr. Pearce said.

At around 10 p.m. the gunmen began rounding up survivors, holding them as hostages as dozens of police officers massed outside. For more than two hours a tense standoff prevailed, with more and more police arriving at the scene, enlarging the tense perimeter around the music hall in the city’s 11th Arrondissement...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "The Horror in Paris."

Jackie Johnson's Chilly Overnight Forecast

It's been cold overnight across the Southland.

Here's Jackie, via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

The Horror in Paris

At the Wall Street Journal, "Europe’s worst attack since Madrid requires a new antiterror resolve":

Paris endured one of the worst terror assaults in history Friday night, with scores murdered in coordinated attacks at multiple sites, including a restaurant, a concert hall, a soccer stadium and the Les Halles food market. President François Hollande declared a national state of emergency and closed France’s borders. “This is horror,” he said in a televised address. It’s also our world today.

Though no group had claimed responsibility for the attacks, Islamic State (ISIS) didn’t wait long to celebrate. “O crusaders we are coming to you with bombs and rifles,” tweeted one unofficial ISIS propagandist, according to the Vocativ news site. “Wait for us.” Witnesses report hearing cries of “Allahu Akbar” along with gunfire. A woman at the Bataclan concert hall told the Journal that the attackers wore black-and-white kaffiyehs as they sprayed the crowd with gunfire. One hundred mostly young people are reported to have died in the hall.

Big cities are vulnerable targets, as the world learned with the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai. There nine Islamic terrorists murdered 164 people in two hotels, a cafe, a train station and a Jewish center. They shut down a city of 18 million people in minutes.

According to one report, a terrorist captured by French police at the concert hall claimed the attacks were in retaliation for France’s participation in attacks on ISIS targets in Syria. If so, the political calculation may be to reprise al Qaeda’s 2004 train bombings in Madrid, on the eve of a Spanish election. The attacks, which left 191 commuters dead, led to the defeat of José María Aznar’s conservative Partido Popular, which supported the war in Iraq, and the election of the antiwar Socialists.

We doubt the French will draw the same lesson when it comes to fighting ISIS in Syria or anywhere else. The jihadist war against France is decades-old. France’s domestic intelligence services have spent years attempting to keep track of an ever-expanding list of radical French Islamists, and nobody should be surprised if Friday’s attackers turn out to be names on that list. Paris would not be out of bounds to consider some combination of preventive detentions and, if necessary, renditions to foreign countries. Civil libertarians will object, but civil liberty is also a function of security, and right now Paris has neither.

These attacks are another dreadful reminder that the West’s collective failure swiftly to defeat ISIS in its Syrian and Iraqi heartland has allowed this jihadist infection to spread—into Afghanistan, Turkey, Sinai and North Africa...

That's for sure.

The battlefield's creeping west, and with alacrity.

Keep reading.

President Obama's Statement on the Paris Attacks (VIDEO)

He's being criticized for his standard, cowardly political correctness.

At Gateway Pundit, "OBAMA Makes Statement on Bloody Paris Terrorist Attacks — WON’T MENTION ISLAM."

Here's the text of the White House statement, "Statement by the President on the Situation in Paris":

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening, everybody.  I just want to make a few brief comments about the attacks across Paris tonight.  Once again, we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.  This is an attack not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share.

We stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that the government and the people of France need to respond.  France is our oldest ally.  The French people have stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States time and again.  And we want to be very clear that we stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

Paris itself represents the timeless values of human progress.  Those who think that they can terrorize the people of France or the values that they stand for are wrong.  The American people draw strength from the French people’s commitment to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.  We are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberté and égalité and fraternité are not only values that the French people care so deeply about, but they are values that we share.  And those values are going to endure far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening.

We’re going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.

We don’t yet know all the details of what has happened.  We have been in contact with French officials to communicate our deepest condolences to the families of those who have been killed, to offer our prayers and thoughts to those who have been wounded.  We have offered our full support to them.  The situation is still unfolding.  I’ve chosen not to call President Hollande at this time, because my expectation is that he’s very busy at the moment.  I actually, by coincidence, was talking to him earlier today in preparation for the G20 meeting.  But I am confident that I’ll be in direct communications with him in the next few days, and we’ll be coordinating in any ways that they think are helpful in the investigation of what’s happened.

This is a heartbreaking situation.  And obviously those of us here in the United States know what it’s like.  We’ve gone through these kinds of episodes ourselves.  And whenever these kinds of attacks happened, we’ve always been able to count on the French people to stand with us.  They have been an extraordinary counterterrorism partner, and we intend to be there with them in that same fashion.

I’m sure that in the days ahead we’ll learn more about exactly what happened, and my teams will make sure that we are in communication with the press to provide you accurate information.  I don’t want to speculate at this point in terms of who was responsible for this.  It appears that there may still be live activity and dangers that are taking place as we speak.  And so until we know from French officials that the situation is under control, and we have for more information about it, I don’t want to speculate.

Thank you very much.

The gunmen were wearing keffiyehs, and shouting "Allahu Akbar!", but we wouldn't want to "speculate" about this "heartbreaking situation."

Keep clutching those pearls, in other words.

PREVIOUSLY: "Footage of the #Bataclan Siege — #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)."

Footage of the #Bataclan Siege — #ParisAttacks (VIDEO)

Via Sky News:



PREVIOUSLY: "Paris Attacks Remind Us the Free Is World at War with Brutal Terrorist Groups."

Paris Attacks Remind Us the Free Is World at War with Brutal Terrorist Groups

From Nile Gardiner, at the Daily Signal:

Tonight’s horrific series of terrorist attacks throughout Paris have sent shockwaves across Europe and the world.

According to media reports, dozens of people have been killed so far in multiple attacks on several locations in the French capital, including a restaurant near the Place de la Republique, and the Stade de France, home of the French national soccer team. Some of the attacks are reported to have been suicide bombings.

In addition, up to a hundred people were taken hostage by terrorists at the Bataclan concert venue. The French government has declared a state of emergency, deployed troops to the streets of Paris, and has closed the country’s borders.

In terms of sheer scale, this could be the largest terror attack on Western soil since the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

While it is too early to determine the exact identity of the terror group responsible for these atrocities, the attacks are consistent with the kind of mass casualty attacks that have been carried out in the past by Islamist terrorists in London, Madrid, Istanbul, and most recently in Paris itself, with the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January this year.

It also comes in the wake of last week’s explosion on board a Russian airliner flying from Egypt to St. Petersburg, which US and British authorities believe was a terrorist attack. According to the London Daily Telegraph, gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” in one of tonight’s Paris attacks.

There is speculation that the terror attacks are a direct response by the Islamic State to the US drone strike against Jihadi John in Raqqa, Syria yesterday. While it is unlikely that ISIS would have the capability to launch such a well-coordinated attack within such a short time frame, it is possible that ISIS could have been planning such an attack on Paris for some time, and decided it launch it today for propaganda reasons to give the impression that this is immediate retaliation for the Jihadi John strike...

Actually, nearly 200 were murdered in the Madrid terror bombings in 2004, but today's Paris attacks may turn out to have been even bloodier. Things are still unfolding. Certainly a large-scale coordinated attack like this, in a major Western capital, marks a major turning point. Mumbai can happen anywhere at this point.

Previous blogging here and here.

Paris Terror Attacks — Updates

Following-up, "France Declares State of Emergency as Terror Attacks Leave Scores Dead (VIDEO)."

Sky News has a streaming video here, "Sky News Live."

More at Telegraph UK, "Paris shooting: Scores killed and injured after 'Kalashnikov and grenade attacks' across French capital with dozens of hostages taken..."

At least 100 dead at the concert hall.

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Paris Under Siege; Attackers Kill Dozens."

More at Legal Insurrection, "LIVE VIDEO AND UPDATES: Terror in Paris, Borders Closed, Curfew."

DEVELOPING.

France Declares State of Emergency as Terror Attacks Leave Scores Dead (VIDEO)

Oh boy.

Here we go again. And nothing will change. You'll see an initial outpouring of faux resolve, and then it will be right back to where it was before: kowtowing to Islamic jihad, afraid of being attacked as "racist" by the terror-loving left.

At Atlas Shrugs, "Jihad in Paris: Scores DEAD, Mass Murder across French Capital with Dozens taken HOSTAGE," and Jihad Watch, "France seals borders, declares emergency as Muslims murder at least 60."

And at the New York Times, "In Paris, Multiple Attacks in Deadly Night of Terror":

PARIS — France reeled Friday night from a shooting rampage, explosions and mass hostage-taking that convulsed the Paris area in what the president called an unprecedented terrorist attack on his country. His government closed the borders and mobilized the military in a national emergency.

French television and news services quoted the police as saying at least 60 people had been killed and many dozens wounded in at least four apparently coordinated attacks, far eclipsing the deaths and mayhem that roiled Paris in the Charlie Hebdo massacre and related assaults around the French capital less than a year ago.

One of the explosions struck near the country’s main sports stadium where Germany and France were playing a soccer match, forcing a hasty evacuation of President François Hollande. As the scope of the assaults quickly became clear, he convened an emergency cabinet meeting and announced France was closing its borders.

“As I speak, terrorist attacks of an unprecedented scale are taking place in the Paris region,” he said in a nationally televised address. “There are several dozen dead, lots more wounded, it’s horrific.”

Mr. Hollande said on his orders the government had “mobilized all the forces we can muster to neutralize the threats and secure all of the areas.”

President Obama in Washington came to the White House Briefing room to express solidarity and offer aid and condolences. “Once again, we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians,” he said. “This is an attack not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share.”

More.

And see London's Daily Mail, "At least 60 dead in series of terror attacks as Kalashnikov-wielding gunman opens fire in restaurant, 100 hostages are taken at theater, two blasts are heard near stadium and gunfire is reported at mall."

Plus, at Sky News on Twitter, "Hostages appear to be leaving #Bataclan concert hall; attackers are reportedly killed in police siege #ParisAttacks..."

DEVELOPING. I'll have more.

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And ICYMI from last night, Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century.

Keely Mullen

R.S. McCain's mocking the hell out of this poor girl.

She was on Cavuto's the other day, and didn't acquit herself too well.

You have to really feel badly for America's youth if this lady's is anything near representative. Just wow.

Cary Grant Took LSD Over 100 Times

That's one of the amazing tidbits in this fascinating obituary of Cary Grant's late wife, Betsy Drake.

See, "Betsy Drake dies at 92; gave up acting career to marry Cary Grant":

Their 1949 marriage in Palm Springs was front-page news, with Howard Hughes, a close friend of Grant's, serving as best man. It would be the most durable of Grant's five marriages.

After they separated in 1958, Drake started seeing a Beverly Hills psychotherapist, who prescribed therapy with LSD, which was legal at the time.

In her first session, she experienced the pain of her own birth.

"Enthused by what she considered an incredible experience, Betsy went home and called her mother, with whom she hadn't spoken in a decade," Vanity Fair magazine reported in 2010.

"'I told her, 'I love you,' and after all that time, she just said, 'Of course you do, darling,' and hung up."

Drake talked Grant into similar sessions and he came away a true believer, using the drug more than 100 times...

Hysteria and Outrage at Claremont McKenna College (VIDEO)

The background's at LAT, "Amid racial bias protests, Claremont McKenna dean resigns."

And here's the editorial at the Claremont Independent, "We Dissent":

To our fellow Claremont students, we are disappointed in you as well. We are ashamed of you for trying to end someone’s career over a poorly worded email. This is not a political statement––this is a person’s livelihood that you so carelessly sought to destroy. We are disappointed that you chose to scream and swear at your administrators. That is not how adults solve problems, and your behavior reflects poorly on all of us here in Claremont. This is not who we are and this is not how we conduct ourselves, but this is the image of us that has now reached the national stage.

We are disappointed in your demands. If you want to take a class in “ethnic, racial, and sexuality theory,” feel free to take one, but don’t force such an ideologically driven course on all CMC students. If the dearth of such courses at CMC bothers you, maybe you should have chosen a different school. If students chose to attend Caltech and then complained about the lack of literature classes, that’s on them. And though it wouldn’t hurt to have a more diverse faculty, the demand that CMC increase the number of minority faculty members either rests on the assumption that CMC has a history of discriminating against qualified professors of color, or, more realistically, it advocates for the hiring of less qualified faculty based simply on the fact that they belong to marginalized groups. A hiring practice of this sort would not benefit any CMC students, yourselves included.

We are disappointed in the fact that your movement has successfully managed to convince its members that anyone who dissents does so not for intelligent reasons, but due to moral failure or maliciousness. We are disappointed that you’ve used phrases like “silence is violence” to not only demonize those who oppose you, but all who are not actively supporting you. We are most disappointed, however, in the rhetoric surrounding “safe spaces.” College is the last place that should be a safe space. We come here to learn about views that differ from our own, and if we aren’t made to feel uncomfortable by these ideas, then perhaps we aren’t venturing far enough outside of our comfort zone. We would be doing ourselves a disservice to ignore viewpoints solely on the grounds that they may make us uncomfortable, and we would not be preparing ourselves to cope well with adversity in the future. Dealing with ideas that make us uncomfortable is an important part of growing as students and as people, and your ideas will inhibit opportunities for that growth.

We are adults, and we need to be mature enough to take ownership of and responsibility for our feelings, rather than demanding that those around us cater to our individual needs...

Heh.

Well done. Finally someone's acting like adults.

Still more (via Memeorandum).

Plus, at FrontPage Magazine, "The Crybully Credo: 'It's Literally Your Jobs to Take Care of Us When We Don't Feel Safe'." (At Memeorandum.)

An American Fascism

From David Horowitz, at FrontPage Magazine, "Calling the campus protests what they are":

The racist, McCarthyite, totalitarian movement rearing its ugly head on college campuses as diverse as Missouri, Yale and Vanderbilt is being treated by conservatives as a case of kids too fragile to handle views with which they disagree. This may work as a debating tactic but it misunderstands both the malignancy of the politics behind the campaign and the ferocity of its radical leaders. Now they are calling for the heads of liberals (and getting them). But quaint American prejudices like the First Amendment still stand in their way. But for how long? If this movement, which includes large contingents of the Democratic Party – including the president, achieves critical mass and succeeds in its agendas and acquires the necessary power, who can doubt that they will be putting dissenters in prison and worse? These are people intoxicated with their own virtue, and determined to purge non-believers in their path. They are a perfect analogue to the Islamic fanatics who want to purify the planet. While the Islamic fanatics be-head, the American fanatics suppress and burn. At bottom, they see the world in parallel terms: Slay the infidels wherever you find them.

The current eruptions on college campuses, which will be escalating through this year, are the product of four decades of capitulations to leftwing racism and political correctness, which is a totalitarian party line whose inventor Mao Zedong murdered 70 million Chinese in its name. America still has strong traditions of intellectual pluralism and individual rights, which are obstacles in the way of the progressive storm troopers, but for how long? How many capitulations by so-called liberals, how many unconstitutional executive orders, how many coercions by Democrat-controlled government agencies before there are no obstacles left?

We saw these lynch mobs first hand in Ferguson, but only an inaudible few were willing to name them for what they were. In Ferguson, the president of the United States supported the lynchers, along with the Democratic Party and the leftwing chorus. And so it spread to New York and Baltimore and now Missouri and Yale. The time has come to call this for what it is, an American fascism.  But the time is also getting late to reverse the tide.

In the Mail: Alistair Horne, Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century

This is great.

The public relations folks at Harper Collins sent out a copy.

Here, Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century.

Note that Alistair Horne is major historian. His work on the Algerian war for independence is one of the all-time great classics in French history, counter-insurgency, and post-colonial studies. See, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962.

Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy Campaign (VIDEO)

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is less than a month away, on December 8th.

Tune in hear for all your Victoria's Secret blogging.

And watch, "Go behind the scenes with Lily Aldridge, Taylor Hill, Sara Sampaio, Behati Prinsloo and Candice Swanepoel as they shoot the Victoria’s Secret Holiday 2015 campaign."

Queer Vegan Witch Accuses Radical Feminists of 'Anti-Trans Violence'

I swear the entire world has lost its marbles.

At the Other McCain.

Mass Psychological Meltdown Across America's So-Called Institutions of Higher Learning (VIDEO)

We should call them America's institutions of lower learning, and lower psychological stability. Sheesh.

At the New York Times, "Racial Discrimination Protests Ignite at Colleges Across the U.S.":

The passion that ousted the heads of the University of Missouri after protests over racial discrimination on campus is spreading to other colleges across the country, turning traditional fall semesters into a period of intense focus on racial misunderstanding and whether activism stifles free speech.

Hundreds of students demonstrated at Ithaca College in upstate New York on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of the college president, Tom Rochon, for what they said was his lackluster response to complaints of racial insensitivity on campus, including an episode in which two white male alumni on a panel called a black alumna a “savage,” after she said she had a “savage hunger” to succeed.

At Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., about 100 students demonstrated in solidarity with their counterparts in Ithaca and Missouri, while at the University of Kansas, the administration called a town hall meeting to give students and faculty a chance “to be heard” before any concerns about race on campus could grow.

At Claremont McKenna College in California, the junior class president resigned Tuesday after a furor over a Facebook photograph that showed her posing with two women who were wearing sombreros, ponchos and mustaches for Halloween. A campus demonstration followed on Wednesday.

And at Yale, the campus is still in turmoil about an overheard “white girls only” remark at an off-campus fraternity party, and debating over whether students had a right to wear transgressive Halloween costumes.

In interviews, students say they have been inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement that grew out of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by the police in Ferguson, Mo. They say the victory of protesting students and football players at the University of Missouri has spurred them to demand that their universities provide a safe space for students of color...

So, they were inspired by a lie, "Hands Up, Don't Shoot"? That figures.

Keep reading.

Bonfire of the Academy

At WSJ, "As liberal adults abdicate, the kids take charge on campus":

By bonfire of the academy we mean a conflict of values about the idea of a university that now threatens to undermine or destroy universities as a place of learning. Exhibit A is the ruin called the University of Missouri.

In the 1960s—at Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley and elsewhere—the self-described Student Left occupied buildings with what they often called “non-negotiable” demands. In the decades since, the academy—its leaders and faculties—by and large has accommodated many of those demands regarding appropriate academic subjects, admissions policies and what has become the aggressive and non-tolerant politics of identity and grievance.

This political trajectory arrived at its logical end this week at Missouri with the abrupt resignation of the school’s president, quickly followed by its number two official. The kids deposed them, as their liberal elders applauded either out of solidarity or cowardice.

The cause of President Tim Wolfe’s resignation is said to be his failure to address several racially charged incidents on campus and the threat by its Division One football team to boycott this weekend’s game unless he stepped down.

The university’s campus, in Columbia, is not far from Ferguson, Mo. Among the charges against President Wolfe was that his response to the shooting of Michael Brown was inadequate, which is to say, he did not sufficiently take the side of the protesters or rioters. Since Ferguson, the left-wing Black Lives Matter group has come to prominence and intimidated even presidential candidates. This has been accompanied by successive claims of racial grievance against public and private institutions.

In the United States, by now the instinct of the overwhelming majority of people is to address such complaints in good faith, investigate them and remediate where necessary. Only the tiniest minority would wish to see racial grievances bleed indefinitely. Yet the kids assert that America is irredeemably racist...

Keep reading.

Donald Trump, Marco Rubio Win Republican Debate, WSJ Poll Finds

Here, "Donald Trump, Marco Rubio Won GOP Debate, Poll Finds":

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio won Tuesday’s night primetime Republican debate, according to an overnight poll of Internet users who watched the contest, but Mr. Trump came out as the favorite among Republicans and left the best impression about his ability to serve as president.

Some 24% of debate-viewers named Mr. Trump and 23% picked Mr. Rubio as the winner of the eight-candidate event, which was sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and Fox Business News. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson followed, with 13% declaring each to have won.

Mr. Trump’s lead in the Internet survey was larger among debate-watchers who said they’d vote in a Republican primary...

Also at Memeorandum.

'The truth is, I don't like anyone who's running for President in either party...'

Not me. I like Cruz, Rubio, and Trump. I pretty much despise Jeb Bush, and I agree that Kasich looks like a drunk blowhard know-it-all.

But see Althouse, "'Biggest loser on merits: Kasich. He’s done. He came across angry, condescending, and unprincipled'..."

PREVIOUSLY: "Marco Rubio Wins Fourth Republican Debate (VIDEO)."

Marco Rubio Wins Fourth Republican Debate (VIDEO)

He did well. Even my wife was impressed, heh.

At Politico, "Insiders: Rubio wins, Kasich bombs":

Marco Rubio won the fourth Republican debate -- and John Kasich lost.

That’s the assessment of this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our bipartisan survey of the top activists, strategists and operatives in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Nearly 40 percent of Republican participants said Rubio won the debate in a survey taken immediately following Tuesday night’s contest -- no other candidate had more than 12 percent.

“Energy,” said an Iowa Republican of Rubio. “He wants the job.”

“By every measure Marco Rubio won the [night],” a New Hampshire Republican said. “Strong and informed on every issue, inspirational, presidential. He actually moved the ball down the field.”

Added a Nevada Republican, Rubio “gave a compelling vision for a hopeful future contrasting his youthful vision to a tired "older" take on the country epitomized by Hillary.”

For the second Republican debate in a row, the POLITICO Caucus named the Florida senator the biggest winner of the night, noting his vigorous defense of a muscular American foreign policy — one of the biggest applause lines of the evening — and forceful remarks concerning Wall Street as evidence of a strong and articulate candidate.

Forty-two percent of Democrats also agreed that Rubio won the night.

“He is engaging, articulate, comfortable in his own skin and has a hopeful positive message...he packages well for a party that is looking for change but still wants a foot in policy and politics,” a New Hampshire Democrat said...

Political Correctness, Leftist Intolerance, and the University of Missouri Campus Protests

I walked in at 6:00pm exactly tonight, just in time to flip the remote over to Fox Business Channel for the GOP presidential debate. My wife had dinner ready, bless her heart, and I poured a glass of wine and ate dinner with my family while the debate played out, with low volume, on the television.

At work today I saw all the incredible coverage at Memeorandum on the political correctness earthquake at Mizzou. There's no way I can catch up with all of the news tonight. Sure beats a slow news day, that's for sure.

In any case, I'll have more on the debate later.

Check Memeorandum for all the totalitarian campus action, "University of Missouri, please immediately fire employees who taunted media," and "As Missouri Activists Block Journalists, a Divide Over ‘Respect’ and Rights."

And at the Missourian, "UPDATE: MU faculty member resigns courtesy appointment, apologizes for photojournalist incident."

Now, at Instapundit, "Meanwhile, looking at the Mizzou YikYak feed, a lot of students are sorry the university caved, but worried about this potential threat," and "NEO-NEOCON: More on Missouri—and more and more and more..."

At the Other McCain, "Well, That Didn’t Take Long," and "‘Systemic Racism,’ Anarchy and Incipient Totalitarianism at University of Missouri."

Finally, here's James Rosen on Special Report, covering the Missouri protests:

Starter Home Gift Guide

At Amazon, Shop Holiday Home & Garden Gift Guide - Starter Home.

And ICYMI, from Alonzo Hamby, Man of Destiny: FDR and the Making of the American Century.

Plus, back by popular demand, Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam.

The 'Rising American Electorate' Not So Fired-Up for 2016 Election

The Democrats have a major uphill climb to a third Democrat term in the White House in 2017.

The "Rising American Electorate," another term for Obama's "coalition of the ascendant" (ethnic minorities, Millennials, and single women), have a significant lag in voter enthusiasm relative to the older, whiter electorate.

Far-left Greg Sargent, at the Washington Post, even makes note of it, "Here’s Hillary Clinton’s big 2016 challenge, in one chart."

Combine the enthusiasm gap with the intense anger and pessimism in polling data, especially among those same older, whiter voters, and we're seeing the stirrings of a major earthquake election next November. The Obama interregnum is coming to a bitter end. It's all going to come crashing down for the Democrats. I expect Hillary Clinton to be a formidable candidate, but she's not going to generate the kind of enthusiasm that Obama did. Not by a long-shot.

I'll be keeping an eye on this all the way to November 8, 2016.