Change Coming in 2010 Elections

I missed this graphic last night, at my post, "Republicans Poised for Strong Comeback in 2010." The magic numbers are 40 seats in the House and 11 in the Senate. The GOP's going to need a 1994-like showing:

And this gives me a chance to post the comment there, from Reaganite Republican:

The Dems face annihilation in 2010, IMHO - and won't be trusted with the purse strings again for decades, if ever.

ObamaCare is still far from a done-deal, and regardless the political damage is done.

Cap-n-tax? With the evidence looking weak lately, Obama’s own #s tanking … and 11% unemployment? Small wonder Dems are asking him to 86 the bill already.

The only major legislation enacted then would be the wholly-ineffective Porkulus. Obama has NO political cover on that one, due to the paucity of GOP collaborators- he owns it. All it will ever stimulate is inflation… in the months leading right-up to midterms.

The Democrats look to face a bloodbath next fall, with some like Dick Morris predicting a 100+ seat loss on the Hill.

By 2012, most people will wince at the very mention of the name “Obama” - and the GOP could take 40 states running Gilbert Gottfried -

Party’s over kiddies- time to put the grown-ups back in charge ...

See also Reaganite's cartoon roundup from yesterday, "Laughing-Off 2009... a Weird One by ANY Measure."

The New 'Other McCain'

Robert Stacy McCain's new Wordpress blog is now live: "The Other McCain." Robert is traveling to Southern California next Tuesday, January 5th, for the Bowl Championship (the Texas vs. Alabama game is January 7th). I should be free on Wednesday to meet him somewhere up in the Pasadena area for some lunch and perhaps some old-fashioned carousing. I'll take my camera, and will report on developments shortly thereafter.

There's been no break in the quality of posting at The Other McCain, by the way. See Robert's piece on the Sarah Palin non-controversy this morning, "State Employee Faces Discipline for Looking at Porn Insulting Obama at Work."

Paula McClain and the 'Duke 88'

I admit that I didn't follow the Duke rape case all that closely back in the day. I was just getting started as a blogger, feeling my way around the 'sphere, and being careful as far as my own reputation and relationships go. (I used to read Betsy's Page a lot at the time - a great blogger who had the story down cold.) I don't worry about that as much now, the rep thing, although I'm sure being a partisan blogger steps on a few toes here and there.

Having said that, I'd rather be honest and forthright than shameful. And, sorry to have to say it, but it looks like that's what happened with Paula McClain, who is Professor of Political Science Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender at Duke. In 1999, for my upper division course in Black Politics, I assigned chapters from McClain's book, Can We All Get Along?" Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics.

Anyway, I mention all of this after reading John Hinderaker's essay from last night, "What ever happened to the "Duke 88?" (Via Memeorandum.) It turns out that none of the 88 Duke University faculty have apologized for their roles in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case. And as Hinderaker notes, regarding the Duke 88's unfounded ad campaign:

The ad appeared almost four years ago. Stuart Taylor takes a look at what has happened since to some of the 88 thoroughly wrongheaded professors who signed it.

First, according to Taylor, no member of the "Duke 88" has publicly apologized. Many have expressed pride in their rush to judgment.

Second, sigining the ad seems to have been a pretty good career move. In 2007, one member of the group -- Paula McClain -- became head of Duke's Academic Council, the highest elected position for a faculty member ....

The Stuart Taylor piece is here, "The Rot At Duke -- And Beyond: Much of academia appears to have a disregard of due process and a bias against white males." It notes there:

Among the most prominent signers of both the ad and the letter were Karla Holloway, an English professor, and Paula McClain, a political science professor. They also slimed the lacrosse players in opaquely worded, academic-jargon-filled individual statements full of innuendo.

The ad is here, "What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?" The letter is here, "An Open Letter to the Duke Community."

In May last year, my professional association, the American Political Science Association, released this press release, "APSA Bunche Institute Director McClain Receives NSF Grant -- Dr. Paula D. McClain, Director of the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, Receives NSF Grant." And Duke's Provost, Professor Peter Lange, is quoted there:

Duke University is pleased and honored to be home to the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. We are also pleased to have faculty leaders such as Paula McClain and her colleagues, who are willing to put in the enormous time and energy to bring the Institute here and to lead in the teaching and mentoring of its participants. Diversity and inclusion are central to building a strong, vibrant academic community and to the development of scholars who can teach and do research that enhance the disciplines and professions. Duke is enriched by our contribution to this effort in Political Science.

Dr. Lange is also a Professor of Political Science at Duke. He gave a research colloquium at UCSB in the 1990s, when I was completing my graduate training there.

To his credit, at least initially, Dr. Lange refused to join the Duke lynchmob in 2006. As Provost he responded to English Professor Houston Baker (who is cited by Hinderaker as a most "execrable" members of the Duke 88, now on the faculty at Vanderbilt University). Lange writes there, for example:

I cannot tell you how disappointed, saddened and appalled I was to receive this letter from you. A form of prejudice - one felt so often by minorities whether they be African American, Jewish or other - is the act of prejudgment: to presume that one knows something "must" have been done by or done to someone because of his or her race, religion or other characteristic. In the United States our sad racial history is laced with such incidents, only fully brought to light in the recent past and undoubtedly there are uncounted numbers of such incidents not yet, or ever to be, known.

I don't know enough of Dr. Lange's later leadership at the university to say one way or the other, but considering how things developed (as told in the Taylor essay), it certainly appears not all that good.

There's more at Taylor's piece, and I've said enough. Folks can see why, though, when it comes to academics and race, I'm often embarrassed as a professional. The standards of excellence in my field, at least on this score, have sunk low.

New Year's Eve in Times Square 2010

Well, I watched the ball drop in Times Square, and a little bit of Dick Clark, God bless him. Now I'm hitting the sack. Happy New Year everyone. Hundreds of thousands turned out in downtown Manhattan, so if you're up for some reading pleasure at this time of morning, see, "Celebrations in Times Square Despite Troubled Times." I have lots of blogging planned for today (after I wake up!), and throughout 2010. I'm especially excited about politics. I think we're at the beginning of a two-year election cycle that will bring the GOP back to the White House. The Republicans will be given a mandate to restore genuine conservatism in the United States. More on that later. For now, enjoy your January 1st, and build up your power for our coming battles against the left's forces of class struggle and destruction.

Republicans Poised for Strong Comeback in 2010

This is something I've been feeling in my bones for sometime, but especially after the November 2009 elections. From the Los Angeles Times, "GOP Poised for Comeback in Midterm Elections":

After losing the White House and nearly 70 congressional seats in the last two elections, Republicans are poised for a strong comeback in 2010, with significant gains likely in the House and a good chance of boosting their numbers in the Senate and statehouses across the country.

The results could hamper President Obama's legislative efforts as he prepares to seek reelection and reshape the political landscape for a decade beyond, as lawmakers redraw congressional and state political boundaries to reflect the next census.

All 435 House seats, 36 in the Senate and the governorships of 37 states will be on the ballot in November. Democrats are favored to retain the Massachusetts seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in a special election Jan. 19.

Some of the Democrats' most prominent figures, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, are in serious danger as they seek reelection. Both would probably lose if elections were held today.

"It all adds up to a pretty bad year for the party in power," said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "How bad? I'm not sure we know yet."

However, for all Republicans stand to gain, the party still has problems. Polls show that many voters, though unhappy with Democrats, are even less enamored of the GOP.

Steve Pearce, a former three-term Republican congressman, criticizes both parties as he campaigns for his old House seat in New Mexico, saying the explosion in spending under President George W. Bush has only gotten worse under Obama. "Both parties tend to get there and forget who they were and begin to talk differently than they do here," Pearce recently told a gathering of the Chaves County Republican Women in Roswell.

One big question is whether the GOP can capitalize on the free-floating hostility embodied by the anti-incumbent "tea party" movement to seize back control of Congress, four years after Democrats won power. Republicans need to win 40 House seats and 11 in the Senate -- which, for now, seems unlikely.

I personally don't expect majority control to flip to the Republcans next year. That is, not in the House. Forty seats is a huge margin, and actually despite all the glum talk for the Democrats, I think it's going to be anti-incumbent more than anything. That's why what happens with the tea parties is so crucial. Democrats fear the protesters so much that they haven't gotten past demonizing them as "teabaggers." Republicans desperately want to coopt the tea party populism for their own ends, more electoral than policy. We have too many Republicans who diss the grassroots as fringe, for example, the RNC and folks like Newt Gingrich. But if it's one thing I've learned with all of my activism this year, tea party patriots, are in no mood to compromise on principles, and frankly, they'll mobilize in even greater numbers in the months leading up to the 2010 midterms.

Read the rest of the article, in any case.

PLEASE FIGURE OUT OUR GRADES

I got this e-mail in my college in-box the other day, "PLEASE FIGURE OUT OUR GRADES." There was no text body attached, although the message was signed. I submitted semester grades today. I do all grading myself (no TAs), and I don't use a computer calclulator to assign the semester total (since I add lots of additional subjective measures to the final letter grade). Still, it's a rapid-fire culture we're in, and students want their grades, and they want them now!

Perhaps I'll adopt Daniel Solove's "staircase method" of grading next semester. See, "A Guide to Grading Exams":

The key to this method is a good toss. Without a good toss, it is difficult to get a good spread for the grading curve. It is also important to get the toss correct on the first try. Exams can get crumpled if tossed too much. They begin to look as though the professor actually read them, and this is definitely to be avoided. Additional tosses are also inefficient and expend needless time and energy. Note the toss in Figure 3 below. This is an example of a toss of considerable skill — obviously the result of years of practice.

Note in Figure 3 above that the exams are evenly spread out, enabling application of the curve. Here, however, is where the experts diverge. Some contend that the curve ought to be applied as in Figure 4 below, with the exams at the bottom of the staircase to receive a lower grade than the ones higher up on the staircase.

RTWT at the link.

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device...

I wouldn't have thought twice about it, if it weren't for CNN's report, "'Sent From the Candidate's BlackBerry.' Really?" According to the report:

A mass e-mail was sent on Tuesday from Carly Fiorina's senatorial campaign, appearing to not only come from the candidate herself, but from her personal BlackBerry.

While most campaigns send e-mails appearing to be written from the candidate, this one took the extra step of adding at the bottom, "Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device." This tag has raised questions about why the campaign, and others which have included similar tags, would take the extra step to tell readers what is highly unlikely: it was sent directly from Fiorina's BlackBerry.

The e-mail also had embedded links and a campaign FEC disclaimer inside a box; both functions are not available on a BlackBerry.

Fiorina's communications director, Julie Soderlund, did not say whether or not the e-mail was actually sent from the candidate and her BlackBerry.

"This was an e-mail from Carly to her supporters asking for their support at the end of the year," Soderlund told CNN. "It's consistent with what many other candidates are doing at the end of the filing period."

I've copied the "Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device" into the title of this post. I've been getting these e-mails for a while, unsolicited, and I expressed my unhappiness with Ms. Fiorina in an earlier essay, "Carly Fiorina: The Next Dede Scozzafava?" I admire her as a person, but we don't need another RINO in the U.S. Senate. And if this is really a fraudulent solicitation, that's an even deeper black mark on her reputation.

In any case, here's the e-mail in full, from my in-box. Do not contribute to her campaign if you're looking to stop the Democratic agenda:

Carly Fiorina to me

This is a quick note to let you know Thursday night marks the end of our first campaign reporting deadline.

I hope you will consider making a donation of any amount up to the $2400 legal limit to help our campaign reach our fundraising goal by Thursday at midnight.

Since announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate, I have been humbled by the outpouring of support that has come from every corner of California as well as those across the country looking for new leadership in Washington.

This is only the beginning. We're taking our fight to Barbara Boxer and holding her accountable for her record of putting special interests ahead of the citizens of California. I hope you'll join my campaign before the end of the year with a generous donation by following this link. Thank you and have a Happy New Year.

With warm regards,
Carly Fiorina

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Please visit this page if you want to remove yourself from the email list.

Contributions to Carly for California are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

contact@carlyforca.com
www.CarlyForCA.com

Paid for by Carly for California

More at Memeorandum.

Check DeVore's website is here. (he's the tea party favorite in the primary). If folks are making campaign contributions, he deserves your support.

The Left's Permanent War on the War on Terrorism

That's not my title, actually, it's Ace's: "The Left's Permanent War on the War on Terrorism."

I can claim a little originality here, since my Spencer Ackerman post from the other day is pretty much the font for Ace's philosophizing, and William Jacobsen's work as well. (See, "Leftists Spin Attempted Northwest Airlines Attack as Evidence of Fake Al-Qaeda Threat.") Ackerman checks my blog once in a while, but for little good, it turns out. He's been making the rounds apparently, at the usual leftist haunts. He was interviewed at communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, and here he is on Bloggingheads with Eli Lake:

Ackerman looks about 22 years-old in the video (he's about 29, actually), so being wet behind the ears might explain some of his idiocy. He's been forwarding some cockamamie theory that the Abdulmutallab security breach "demonstrates a policy failure more than an intelligence failure."

And you know, that gets the causal relationship almost perfectly backwards. Listen to this interview with former Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. It's an intelligence failure of the first order, and the buck stops with President Obama, who needs to "light a fire under all of these agencies":

And note this is leftist CNN interviewing a former GOP cabinet members, so we can put questions of journalistic bias to the side.

The fact is, Spencer Ackerman and his allies, like radical Matthew Yglesias, are dangerous people. As I've noted many times, they're literally allied with jihad in a socialist/Islamist death embrace. Ace of Spades HQ has more, discussing what these fifth columists are all about:

The left has four political goals:

1) To reverse the public perception that they are a bunch of sissy-pants (not Sassypants, which is altogether different).

2) To de-emphasize terrorism as a media issue, because terror concerns play well for conservatives. (See Goal 1 and the sissy-pants problem.)

3) To sell the public, politically, on a hateful policy of treating terrorists nicely, because, like, Dostoyevsky said something like "you can judge a nation by the way it treats psychotic murder-cultists intent on killing as many innocent civilians as possible for no other reason except to masturbate in human blood."

4) To actually reduce terrorism, because doing so achieves Goal 1 and Goal 2, and also would be a great selling point for Goal 3. (See?! It makes no sense but it works!)

Before getting any further, let us note the incandescently obvious that Goals 1-3 are Major Goals and Goal 4 is a sort of "Nice but Not Necessary" sort of thing. If they can accomplish Goals 1-3, in terms of politics, they're all set. If they can sell the public on the idea that a little bit of mass-murder never killed anyone (except for the people it actually killed, of course), they can pretty ignore Goal 4.

Goal 4 is an entirely secondary proposition which merely assists in Goals 1-3. If you nail Goals 1-3, you really don't need Goal 4. And you can pretty much tell they know that by their emphasis on the first three, and blowing off altogether the fourth. ("The system worked," you've no doubt heard.)

Now, on to the slightly less obvious stuff. Slightly.

To achieve Goals 1-3, they have settled on a basic, stupid, unserious, unpersuasive, jackass political message: Only little pussy-fairies are afraid of terrorists and terrorism; real tough strong he-men types, like us on the left, laugh at it as a big joke. Don't you want to join the super-tough guys who laugh in the face of mass-murder? (As long as it's mass-murder killing other people, of course.) So join us, and laugh at terror, be one of the Real Tough Guys with the Cocks of Burnished Blued Steel, and just put your silly-ass concerns about terrorism away. Let's focus on what really matters -- universal health care and the fundamental restructuring of the economy into something more socialistic -- and let us not be distracted by the childish antics of some Muslim head-cases who are, after all, just "acting up" in a particularly aggressive fashion.

Oh, and of course: Let us also be so bad-ass and Rambo-licious as to shower terrorists with kindness and good treatment, because, you know, if you're really a super nail-spitting fire-breathing Hard Case like us, you never let a bit of righteous fury interfere with your civility and dedication to social justice.

Endlessly repeated, endlessly repeated. It's all so stupid. But apparently some blogger -- or someone -- struck up on this idea in around 2006 (around then -- that's when I seem to remember it popping up) and the idea caught on like wildfire.

They really think that with a little "re-branding" they can solve their perennial Terrorist Gap problem.

There's more at the link.

I'd only add that one has to look at the larger ideological context. Folks like Ackerman and Matthew Yglesias are communists. They want to turn the U.S. into a post-Judeo-Christian society with a command economy. All the world's problems will automatically come to an end when the U.S. imperialist expropriator is brought down to the full "unexceptional" condition the Obama administration has offered as "change." Thank goodness for the tea party patriots, and common sense Americans, who continue to resist this abominable leftist agenda. See, Rasmussen, for example, "58% Favor Waterboarding of Plane Terrorist To Get Information." (Via Memeorandum.)

Folks You Meet at the Gaza Freedom March

Okay, remember my post the other day, "Gaza Freedom March - Toronto"? I posted some photos from Blazing Cat Fur along with some general information. Mostly, these folks are hardline communists. Anti-Semites too, with this Blazing follow-up providing clues: "F&CK THE JDL":

Aid requested in identifying this man ...

Now, some commenters at Blazing's previous post on this had some bright ideas. These were shot down accordingly. See, "Toronto Gaza Freedom March Alert - Can You Identify this Man?" Blazing did not photograph the anti-Semitic f-bomb man, but check the long comment thread for the full engagement.

And shoot Blazing an e-mail (listed at the sidebar) if you know the identity of the man in question.

And in related news, from the New York Times, "Egypt Allows Foreign Activists to March Into Gaza." And, from the commies, "ALL or NONE - Gaza Freedom March Rejects Egyptian Offer to Allow 100 Through."

The Classical Liberal: 'Top 10 Hotties of 2009'

I haven't linked to him in a while, especially since I retired from formal Rule 5 blogging last summer. But The Classical Liberal's got an interesting roundup of the "Top 10 Hotties of 2009." It's way worth a look. Number 2 on the list is Kate Beckinsale, definitely a beauty. For some reason, though, I don't think her filmography does her justice. (Maybe horror flicks produce good income, but I'm more of a heavy drama and romance kinda guy). Anyway, there's a very recent collection of Beckinsale images at Starpulse:

And Theo Spark's got a beauty of a looker up for his "Bedtime Totty ..." Check it out!

And now that I think about it, a top-ten list of favorite beauties is a good idea. I'm running out of time for a 2009 edition, so perhaps I'll do "Best Dreamgirls of 2010." Tune in for that later!

Added: The Blog Prof links with, "Linkaround 12-31-2009."

Finland New Year's Eve Massacre: Muslim Shooter Ibrahim Shkupolli, Dismissed as 'Lone Muslim', Alleged as KLA Terrorist Wanted by Serbia

The "lone wacko" theory is being quickly deployed by Islamist apologists following the bloody killings at Helsinki's Espoo Mall today. Roger Boyes, at the Times of London jumps to dismiss any inkling of Islamist radicalism (with bold emphasis added):

The New Year's Eve massacre in Finland was described by police as a case of domestic violence, a bloody crime of passion.

And so it was:a middle-aged man rebuffed by his ex-girlfriend broke a restraining order, killed her, then shot four of her colleagues at a supermarket before, it seems, taking his own life.

But behind the horrific crime of an apparently deranged individual there was the deep-rooted problem of social exclusion. The clue is in the name of the suspected gunman: Ibrahim Shkupolli.

Finnish sources say he was a Pristina-born Kosovo Albanian, one of the many who have settled in Finland. And therein lies a story.

Actually, that's hardly all of the story. Ibrahim Shkupolli, a suspected KLA Islamist, is an Albanian refugee from Kosovo and known drug dealer:

Police have confirmed to YLE that a sixth person found dead in Espoo on Thursday was the perpetrator of a shooting rampage at the Sello shopping mall. Four people were shot dead at the shopping centre on Thursday. A fifth victim, an ex-girlfriend of the shooter, was found dead in a flat in Espoo.

Following the incident, police began a manhunt for the suspect, Ibrahim Shkupolli. They said he was considered armed and dangerous, and had run-ins with the police in the past ....

According to an eyewitness, one or more people were shot at the Prisma grocery store. One employee was seen lying on the floor in the upper level of the shop. A man dressed in black was seen walking toward the Citymarket grocery shop.

And, at Origins of Islam, "Alleged Saudi sponsored UCK (Kosovo muslim terrorist org.) mass-murderer Ibrahim Shkupolli allegedly also murders at least five in Finland today."

Ibrahim Shkupolli is a UCK/KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army - i.e. muslim terrorists) veteran. He killed 32 Serb civilians in the Qela village in 1997. Also fought against Serb police. He is wanted in Serbia already since 1995.

That's a translation of Finnish website, and there's speculation this is an unfounded rumor (Serbian source is here, and a link from the comments). But if accurate, Shkupolli could very well have previous ties to Middle East terrorist networks. See, "German Intelligence and the CIA supported Al Qaeda sponsored Terrorists in Yugoslavia":

Both the CIA and German intelligence (BND) supported the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a terrorist organization with links to Al Qaeda.

This report by the German TV ZDF Network, reviewed by Mira Beham, is revealing in many regards.

First the report corroborates earlier analysis on the role of the BND and the CIA in supporting the KLA, several years prior as well as in the wake of the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.

Second, it further documents and confirms the KLA's links to Al Qaeda and the role of the latter in the Kosovo conflict ...

That would be the Clinton administration's intelligence services. See, "The Kosovo Liberation Army: Does Clinton Policy Support Group with Terror, Drug Ties?" And, "The Connections between the KLA, Heroin and Al Qaida."

Plus, at Gates of Vienna, "Culturally Enriched Mass Murder in Finland."

See also, Doctor Bulldog, "Islamic Terrorism Strikes Finland":

I know, just because he was a muslim doesn’t mean islam played a role in his decision to commit mass murder (yeah right).

Also, at Astute Bloggers, "IBRAHIM SHKUPOLLI, DRUG DEALING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERS 5," Gateway Pundit, "Muslim Immigrant Opens Fire – Kills 5 in Finnish Mall,," and Atlas Shrugs, "Helsinki: Bosnian Muslim Slaughters Five in Shopping Mall - Including Ex-Wife - Before Killing Himself."

And via Memeorandum, see Barce Pundit, "ANOTHER MASSACRE."

Leftists Cheer for Limbaugh's Death

Yeah, yeah. I know. Both sides do it, right?

No matter how many times radicals say it, there remains an unmatched demonological death-wish culture on the left. DaTechGuy predicted it yesterday, with reference to Rush Limbaugh. See, "Let’s see how nice liberals can be…":

...now that Rush apparently is in the hospital with chest pains...

DaTechGuy then updates with Ann Althouse's post, "'I hope he dies'." Ann links to Lee Doren's tweet from last night:

More at Memeorandum. Also, at Legal Insurrection, "They Shouted 'You Die!' (there's a little roundup of reactions there). And, Snark and Boobs, "Rush Limbaugh in Serious Condition. The Left? Disgustingly Giddy," and Pirate's Cove, "Limbaugh Hospitalized, Left Hopes For His Death."

See also, "Socialism's Psychopathology of Death and Destruction."

RELATED: ABC News, "Rush Limbaugh 'Resting Comfortably' at Honolulu Hospital: Limbaugh Taken to Hospital for Chest Pains, Reportedly on Medication for Back Pain."

Old Jeans Better Than Sex?

Via Philippe Ohlund, at the Telegraph UK, "Women think fitting into old jeans is 'better than sex'":

More than a quarter of British women believe fitting into an old pair of jeans again would feel better than sex, according to research.

More than a third (35 per cent) of those surveyed admitted owning a pair of ''trophy'' jeans they used to fit into and kept in the hope they would slim down enough to wear.
Asked how managing to put them back on would feel, 29.1 per cent said it would be better than sex, 28.9 per cent thought it would beat a promotion, 20.6 per cent believed it would top a best friend's wedding, 20.3 per cent said it would feel better than a lottery win and 11.1 per cent thought it would beat a marriage proposal.

The poll by cereal brand Special K also revealed that 30 per cent of women fantasised more about slimming back into their ''trophy'' jeans than about Hollywood heartthrobs such as George Clooney or Brad Pitt.

The survey showed that on average women own five pairs of jeans, with 10 per cent of women claiming their jeans have outlasted their longest relationship.

Laura Bryant, from Special K, said: ''Women hold a deep attachment to that one pair of jeans which they know they look and feel great in.

''They use them as a benchmark and a great motivational tool when slimming and it doesn't matter how old the pair is.

Actually, I think guys would take the sex. More on that, here:

If women are from Venus, men are -- well -- men. Seventy percent of men think about sex every day -- double the rate among women. Indeed, 43 percent of men think about sex several times a day; just 13 percent of women do that. Eighty-three percent of men enjoy sex "a great deal"; that falls to 59 percent of women. Women, though, are equally likely to express satisfaction with their sex lives.

Rachel Maddow's Number One Security Threat

From David Forsmark, "Rachel Maddow’s Number One Security Threat – Pete Hoekstra?":

In the aftermath of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an airliner by radical Islamist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Rachel Maddow alerted her audience to the REAL security threat facing the United States.

Guess which of the following concerned Rachel:

1. That the TSA is still not using intelligent profiling techniques that have kept Israeli flights terrorist-free for decades?
2. That Abdulmutallab was brought a lawyer by the Feds while he was still in his hospital bed—better treatment than a white collar criminal– and not subject to military or intelligence-style questioning while vital information might still be obtained?
3. That Congressman Peter Hoekstra, the biggest thorn in the side of ACLU and pre-9/11 mentality liberals– who is running for Governor of Michigan– brought up this incident in a fundraising letter to supporters?

If you chose anything but number 3, then you don’t know Rachel.

The reaction of the Left to the Christmas bomber crystallizes once again something that has been true since at least the 1950s—liberals rarely think fighting any foreign threat, no matter how deadly, repressive, or expansionist they may be, is as important as defeating the world’s real evil obstacle to progress and utopia– Republicans!

More at the link. Maddow's attack on Hoekstra's here:

Michael Yon: New Years Eve Tribute, 2009, From Afghanistan

My good friend Kenneth Davenport solemnly recommends:

Please take a moment tonight to remember the fallen heroes of 2009 who fight to keep us free and safe from those who mean to harm us.

Kenneth directs us to Michael Yon's photo-essay, "Into Thine Hand I Commit My Spirit :

Arghandab, Afghanistan
New Year's Eve, 2009

On this small base surrounded by a mixture of enemy and friendly territory, a memorial has been erected just next to the Chapel. Inside the tepee are 21 photos of 21 soldiers killed during the first months of a year-long tour of duty. The fallen will belong forever to the honor rolls of the 1-17th Infantry Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and they will join the sacred list of names of those who have given their lives in service of the United States of America.

The full tribute is here.

Obama's Security 'Breach'

From the Wall Street Journal, "Obama's Security 'Breach': Returning Gitmo's Detainees to Yemen Defies Common Sense":

President Obama has belatedly declared that the near miss above Detroit constituted "a catastrophic breach of security" and ordered a review of America's intelligence efforts. We're glad to hear it, but let's hope the Commander in Chief also rethinks his own approach to counterterrorism.

Recent events have exposed the shortcomings of treating terror as a law enforcement problem and rushing to close Guantanamo Bay. A new wave of jihadists is coming of age, inspiring last month's deadly attack at Ft. Hood and nearly bringing down Northwest Flight 253, and next time we may not be so lucky.

Their latest sanctuary lies in unruly Yemen, headquarters for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, which last year pulled off a series of local bombings, including at the U.S. embassy in the capital Sana, killing 13. The al Qaeda chapter in Yemen has re-emerged under the leadership of a former secretary to Osama bin Laden.

Along with a dozen other al Qaeda members, he was allowed to escape from a Yemeni jail in 2006. His deputy, Said Ali al-Shihri, was a Saudi inmate at Gitmo who after his release "graduated" from that country's terrorist "rehabilitation" program before moving to Yemen last year. About a fifth of the so-called graduates have ended back on the Saudi terror most-wanted list, according to a GAO study this year.

U.S. investigators are looking into whether Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian would-be bomber, was in contact with al-Shihri and another Guantanamo alum who turned up at the AQAP, Muhammad al-Awfi. The week before Christmas, Yemen agreed, presumably under U.S. prodding, to take back six more Guantanamo detainees. Ninety-seven of the 210 left at Gitmo are from Yemen, and if this transfer goes smoothly, the Administration wants to repatriate many more. Most are such hard terror cases that this year even Saudi Arabia rejected U.S. entreaties to accept them.

A Pentagon analysis, released in May, showed that one in seven freed Gitmo detainees—61 in all—returned to terrorism. Al-Shihri and Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, the Taliban's operations leader in southern Afghanistan, are merely the best known. The Pentagon has since updated its findings, and we're told the numbers are even worse.

Yet the White House has resisted calls by Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees to declassify this revised report—no doubt because that would make closing Gitmo harder. Congress should insist on its release.

This second generation of al Qaeda also makes good use of modern technology for recruitment. A student from a wealthy family, Abdulmutallab was exposed to radical Islam through the Internet, and according to some reports was a "big fan" of the imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, who ran a popular jihadi Web site and Facebook page. This 38-year-old cleric, who was born in the U.S., is the spiritual leader of AQAP.

Al-Awlaki was also in email contact with Major Nidal Hasan in the months before the Army doctor shot and killed 13 U.S. soldiers at Ft. Hood. U.S. intelligence intercepted emails between the imam and the Major, but the FBI decided that they didn't constitute a threat. We don't know if Abdulmuttab also communicated with al-Awlaki, but this too is something Congress should strive to find out.

One encouraging development is that the U.S. and Yemen governments are finally working together against jihadists. A series of recent raids supported by the U.S. have killed more than 50 suspected al Qaeda fighters, including suicide bombers. Al-Awlaki and the top two AQAP leaders were possibly killed in one of the strikes, though their fate is unclear.

RTWT at the link.

5-Year-Old Miniature Schnauzer Saves Owner's Life in Naked Dog Killer Case

I saw this report on the afternoon news. It's clear that Julie Donnelley, the deeply saddened owner of the Kokanee, the 5-year-old mini-Schnauzer, genuinely credits her dog for saving her life. Here's the video, from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Crazed Man Kills Dog, Runs Naked Into OC Club":

The Los Angeles Times also the wire report, "Calif. Deputies Say Man Savagely Kills Dog, Runs Naked in Tennis Club, Pours Coffee on Head":

A man savagely killed a dog, ran naked through a tennis club and poured hot coffee on his head before he was finally arrested early Wednesday, Orange County sheriff's deputies said.

Bayron Reyes Lopez, 26, of San Clemente, was hospitalized after being captured at the tennis club where he worked as a maintenance man, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Deputies got the first call about the man at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday when there were reports of a loud radio at his apartment. Amormino said deputies believe he jumped from a third-story window to get away, and was unhurt.

Just after 6 a.m. Judy Donnelley called to say a "strange" man had approached her, and when her 5-year-old mini schnauzer named Coco intervened, the man killed the dog, hitting, choking and "repeatedly beating her on asphalt in front of me."

"She saved my life," Donnelley told KCAL-TV. "I don't know how to thank her." She put flowers on the street where her dog died.

Minutes later, other callers reported a naked man running through the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club and pouring hot coffee on his head. That's where deputies caught up with him, Amormino said.

The Times' report says the woman's name is "Judy" Donnelley, but the Orange County Register also reports the dog owner's name as Julie Donnelley.

Penélope Cruz in 'Broken Embraces'

I'm heading out of here to see Penélope Cruz in "Broken Embraces," a Spanish fim by directer Pedro Almodóvar. I used to attend French films all the time, before I was married. It's good to get away from American cinema from time to time. My interest today, however, is not so much international art, but Ms. Cruz herself. I love her! I'll post a review tonight. Here's the trailer, with subtitles:

On Obama's Watch: 'Afghan Suicide Blast Kills Eight U.S. Civilians'

The politicization of national security is really accelerating today, with Democrats blaming former President George W. Bush for the attempted bombing of Northwest 253. See, "Dems Blame Bush Admin For Terror Attempt," and "EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS GOOD NEWS FOR REPUBLICANS ..." And others from the previous administration are causing some aggressive prevarication on the left. See, "Dick Cheney needs a reminder - 9/11 on his watch."

But we're a year into the Obama administration. Time for blame is long past. Just today, a devastating suicide blast has killed at least eight in Afghanistan. At the New York Times, "Afghan Suicide Blast Kills Eight U.S. Civilians," and from CNN, "8 U.S. deaths at military base in Afghanistan" (via Memeorandum):

Eight Americans were killed in a suicide bombing Wednesday at a military base in eastern Afghanistan, according to a U.S. military official and a U.S. Embassy official.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest attacked Forward Operating Base Chapman near the district of Khost in Khost province, said a third official, who asked not to be named.

The military official said the eight people were not from the military.

There were conflicting reports as to whether the bomber walked into the dining facility or the gym at the base.

Folks will recall President Obama's disastrous indecision on the surge for Afghanistan. While the administration dithered, we've seen an escalation of bombings in the main Afghan theater, and Pakistan has deteriorated to a near-collapsed state, with audacious Taliban incursions and bombings almost daily.

As I've reported all week, the Democratic-left is not serious on national security. If we need partisanship, it should be in coordinating pressure on the Carter-esque Obama national security team to act, and to act with vigor and dispatch. Eight Americans lost their lives today (as of this writing), and nearly 300 died on Christmas Day. Since then leftists have been ridiculing conservatives for "wingnuttia," but while these Democratic idiots yammer away, global jihad tightens its grip on civilization.

I'm almost embarrassed to be an American with these people in charge. But at least we know Obambi's almost certainly a one-term loser.

RELATED: The Rhetorican, "Only One Man Can Stop 'The Dithering'..."

UPDATE: From the comments:

Rick Derris said...

"...and nearly 300 died on Christmas Day."

I'm sure you meant to write that "...and 300 nearly died on Christmas Day", Professor Douglas. And I also find it a bit disturbing that you seem to be blaming Obama for the American deaths in Afghanistan rather than the crazy religious fanatic who actually committed the crime, ie the enemy. Obama is not that enemy.

Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs: Abdulmutallab 'BS-ing' al Qaeda Ties

The cached version is here, "Passengers Took Security Into Their Own Hands." Charles Johnson spends his times trolling around the Internet, looking for freaked out "wingnut hysteria," and here we have LGF dismissing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's radical Islamist ties. This was on Saturday, and by that time we already knew the suspect's deep ties to the al Qaeda network. Recall the early editorial at London's Telegraph, "Analysis: Detroit Terror Attack is a Major Intelligence and Security Failure." Later that day, I wrote, "Revisiting the 'Terrorist Threat Debate'."

Perhaps C.J. will issue a retraction, like TMZ did for the fake Kennedy "exposé." I'm not holding my breath. Meanwhile, here's more on Abdulmutallab, from the Times of London, "Al-Qaeda ‘groomed Abdulmutallab in London’." (Via Memeorandum).

Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs. And Mike at Cold Fury has more, "Just wonderin'..." Added: Dan Collins links, "You Can Die..."