New York's Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue Destroyed by Fire

At New York Times, "Fire Devastates Synagogue Under Repair in Manhattan":

A four-alarm fire broke out Monday night at an Upper East Side synagogue that was being renovated, spitting flames through stained-glass windows, destroying the roof and heavily damaging the upper floors, the Fire Department said.

No one was badly injured in the blaze, which obscured the sky over much of the neighborhood with smoke. Four firefighters received minor injuries battling the blaze, which fire officials said apparently began on the roof. The cause was not known.

No one was inside, thank goodness. And the Torah scrolls had been removed.

Milly Dowler Family Pressures Rebekah Brooks to Quit News International

At Yorkshire Post, "Do honourable thing and quit, Dowlers urge Rebekah Brooks."

RELATED: There was a really good piece earlier at Pajamas Media, from Mike McNally, "Victory for the Anti-Murdoch Alliance as 'Phone Hacking' Scandal Shuts UK Tabloid."

... there’s a widespread sense of Schadenfreude at seeing a publication that dealt in scandal and sleaze brought down by a scandal of its own, and I’m certainly no fan of the paper. However, there’s a disturbing political dimension to this affair. Few are talking about it – understandably, as no-one wants to be seen as trying to defend the paper’s appalling behavior – but the crusade against the NoW has been driven at least as much by the desire to damage the Murdoch empire and Cameron’s Conservative government as by any concern for those whose phones were hacked, or for the reputation of British journalism.

After the 2007 court case and jailings, the phone hacking affair appeared to be closed. It was the left-wing Guardian newspaper which reopened the saga with a series of reports in July 2009 – and it’s no coincidence that this was at the time when it was becoming clear that Murdoch was switching his allegiance, and that of his papers, from the Labour Party to the Conservatives. The story was enthusiastically taken up by the BBC, which coordinated its coverage with the Guardian; both organizations saw the phone-hacking story as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attack both a powerful rival media group, and (through the Cameron-Coulson connection) the Conservatives. Just for good measure, and lest anyone doubt the political and business motivations involved, the New York Times piled on last year.

Other UK news organisations were slow in taking up the story, either because they were Murdoch owned, or sympathetic to Cameron, or because they knew their own journalists had also engaged in phone hacking and other illegality. But with the BBC driving coverage on its prime-time broadcasts, 24-house news channel, and website, the story became impossible to ignore, and the chance to damage Murdoch became irresistible to other rivals. Coulson’s resignation was the first victory for the anti-Murdoch alliance, and they’ve been keeping up the pressure in a bid to derail News Corp’s bid to take a controlling stake in British satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

I find it revolting, but check the Guardian's coverage for more information. They're out for blood over there.

Baseball Fan Keith Carmickle Nearly Falls From Stands at All-Star Game Home Run Derby

I don't see any video, but NBC's got some great pics, "Fan Nearly Falls From Stands During HR Derby."

Also at Fox News, "Fan Nearly Falls From Stands During Homer Derby."

My wife was watching the 11:00 o'clock news and she let out a yelp, saying, "It happened again. Somebody else is going to get killed. The man was standing on a table!"

Added: Here's the video:

HuffPo Writer Fired for 'Over-Aggregating' News Stories

I don't read Huffington Post, although I'm always interested in what goes on with Arianna Huffington. And this story's a kicker. At LA Weekly, "Amy Lee Firing by Huffington Post Exposes Hypocrisy When it Comes to Site's News-Stealing Business Model." And SF Weekly, "Huffington Post Suspends Reporter for Rewriting Article."

Amy Lee had summarized an original piece at AdAge, and the latter checked the traffic stats, finding that HuffPo sent a measly 57 visitors to its website. See: "What It's Like to Get Used and Abused by The Huffington Post" (via Mediagazer).

RELATED: Also at AdAge, "Huffington Post Launches U.K. Site Amid Murdoch Scandal: First Venture Outside North America Must Prove Its Appeal to Local Readers."

'They hate. Their whole personas are defined by unreasoning, unceasing, unhinged hatred. Hatred defines them. Hatred gives them purpose'

Well, yeah.

That's AoSHQ commenting, perfectly, on the progressive left: "Drunken Angry Cow Who Yells At Strangers In Public Won't Comment Further On Her Antisocial Behavior":

So: This woman was drunk, vile, and incompetent. If only she had been able to restrain her unreasoning, unquenchable hatred, perhaps if she were capable of being rational and cool, she could have avoided her little psychosexual cartharsis of confronting the guy she secretly wishes to have sex with, and maybe he wouldn't have put it on his credit card, and then maybe she'd have an actual story -- Paul Ryan drinks $700 in wine and illegally permits "friends" to pick up the check.

Could have happened! We have no way of knowing now, as Professor Drinky McCapillaryBurst tipped off her surveillance subject to the fact she was keeping a (googly, alcohol-bouyed) eye on him.

But she was too drunk, stupid, and emotionally florid to play that kind of cool let's-see-where-this-goes game. She needed to make a scene (drunks always do) and so she did.

Well, she's a progressive (cow). They don't think so much as emote. But enough redundancy. And ICYMI, this ANONYMOUS SFL (not ASFL because I'm not sure if this cow is adult), really goes off in the comments at SEK's.

These people are sick. I'm tempted to cuss, but my refined sense is in contol.

Gunrunner Money in Obama's Stimulus Package

Instapundit has been all over this story.

And check this editorial at IBD, "The Stimulation of Murder."

RELATED: "Obama’s Watergate."

The Self-Congratulatory Smugness of Internet Culture

Well, I find myself reading over at RAWMUSCLEGLUTES more often than normal, and it turns out there's a change of pace today: Jonathan Rauch, the author of Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, is blogging at Sully's. See: "Blogging: The Rules." He doesn't like blogs and blog ethics. And he's grumpy. But this is catchy:

Am I whining? Sure. But I submit that the whining of traditional journalists (you know, the kind of people who punched their tickets on newspaper police beats where they learned quaint notions of fairness and accuracy and keeping one's opinions out of it and all that) is nothing compared to the self-congratulatory smugness of internet culture, which tells us at least five times before breakfast that it is the Great New Thing.

Rauch argues blogging's glory days are done. Perhaps. But as I've discussed recently, it's really old media that bitten the dust. We'll have some kind of new media, blogs or something else, and citizens will drive an increasing portion of what's news, and they'll keep the establishment more honest than ever before. I like it.

RELATED: From Belladonna Rogers, "The Unbearable Smugness of Liberals: A Guide for the Perplexed."

'The Beatles Illuminated: The Discovered Works of Mike Mitchell' — at Christie's

I saw this on ABC News last night, "Unseen Photos of The Beatles' First US Concert."

And at Christie's: "Sale Information."

And staff members at Christie's share their memories of The Beatles, from surprisingly profound (Kerry Keane) to embarrassingly lame (John Hays). And from Laura Paterson, insightful honesty:

I love the early albums and movies, Hard Day’s Night and Help! This was the Fab Four at their most carefree and surreal (Yellow Submarine notwithstanding). By the time I reached my teens, they simply weren’t cool (Granny liked them, after all), and I switched my allegiance to their rivals, the much edgier seeming Rolling Stones (Granny hated them). Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate their immense influence on popular music and culture. The Beatles define superstardom; from L.A. to Ulaanbaatar, everyone knows who they are.

Erin Andrews Tweets Kate Upton from MLB's Celebrity All-Star Softball Game

Looks like fun.

Erin Andrews' tweet is here. And one more, an Andrews solo pic, here.

Kate Upton responds here. Plus, a brief little video here.

And at Sports Illustrated: "Kate Upton at MLB's All-Star Celebrity Softball Game."

Bleacher Report is impressed: "Kate Upton Takes over the Sports Universe Once Again."

RELATED: At Arizona Republic, "Stars, pros share fun at All-Star Celebrity Softball Game."

Libertarians on Abortion

I'm going to having more on libertarianism in an upcoming essay. I don't see it as a governing ideology, although certainly we could improve a lot of public life, especially economic life, by adopting a way more libertarian programmatic agenda. That said, I've always disliked the rejection of a lot of social morality in libertarianism, and Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie capture some of the moral spinelessness at the clip:

It's enough to say, as Matt Welch does, that one supports the freedom element of the right to an abortion. That part is fine. I've never argued we should have 100 percent criminalization of abortion. The squishy ground is where Nick Gillespie treads, and I don't think he acquits himself well. In fact, he's so squishy he harms even the liberty case for the pro-choice position. Libertarianism becomes a license for perverse libertinism. It's sick to think about what happens to the baby when a woman exercises that sliding scale for the termination of pregnancy. But again, that's why I'm neoconservative on domestic issues.

Ed Morrissey, who prompted the clip, has more: "Video: What is the libertarian position on abortion?"

Family of Rachel Corrie Accuses Israel of Withholding Video Evidence During Civil Lawsuit

At Biased BBC, "Myths and Facts Part 1":

The initial lurid sensationalism is the part of a story that will always stick, never mind what emerges thereafter. Cindy Corrie’s piece in the Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ (H/T Too True) reminded me how unfortunate that can be, especially if the story appears to confirm any of the commonly-held negative preconceptions about Israel.
Just as people still repeat the Al Dura lies unchallenged on the BBC, the myth of Rachel Corrie’s noble martyrdom remains untarnished despite the facts that have come to light following the regrettable incident in 2003.

The notorious legend of Rachel Corrie’s adventures in Gaza concerns her passage from youthful but misguided idealist, through useful idiocy, to her final, inevitable destination - being bulldozed to death.

Posthumously exalted, deified and immortalised by Israel-hating dramatists and propagandists, and further elevated by having the good ship Rachel Corrie named in her honour, (and seized by the Israelis during last year’s propaganda-stunt-flotilla) her media-fuelled journey from zero to hero bears out the adage that a little knowledge is truly a dangerous thing.

It is understandable that Corrie’s family should take up her cause and exploit the unassailable position their bereavement affords them. To face the stark truth about her death would be to accept the futility of it and to rub salt into a painful wound.

More at the link.

The Cindie Corrie article is here: "US collusion in the Gaza blockade is an affront to human rights: My daughter's death shows the cruelty of an America that won't protect its own and is complicit in harming Palestinian civilians." And at the Guardian, "Rachel Corrie's family claim Israeli military withheld vital video evidence" (via Memeorandum).

'Rizzoli & Isles' Second Season Premieres Tonight

Should be starting in a few minutes on the East Coast.

See Atlanta Journal Constitution, "‘Rizzoli & Isles’ Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander riding high as second season starts." And New York Daily News, "'Rizzoli & Isles' review: Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander have great female friend chemistry."

And a great Angie Harmon interview from last year:

Mila Kunis Accepts Invitation to Marine Ball

That invitation was a bold move. Mila Kunis is a looker.

At Fox News, "EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis Says She'll Accompany U.S. Marine to Corps Ball." (Invitation video here.)

At National Review, Daniel Foster reports on the news, and adds: "On an unrelated note, I feel I should inform Blake Lively that I am still stag for the next NR Christmas party."

Well yeah!

Via WeSmirch.

U.S. Builds Up Electronic Attack Arsenal

At LAT, "U.S. is using electronic warfare to attack in waves":

In the skies above Libya, the U.S. Navy has been deploying a small fleet of supersonic EA-18 Growler jets to "jam" Moammar Kadafi's ground radar, giving NATO fighters and bombers free rein to strike tanks, communication depots and other strategic targets.

It's the latest demonstration of "electronic attack" hardware — the "EA" in the Growler's name. Armies have been waging electronic warfare since World War II, but today's technology packs a strategic wallop unforeseen even a decade ago.

With foreign adversaries continuing to improve their radar capabilities and air defense networks, and terrorists worldwide using modern consumer electronics to trigger explosives, the United States is spending billions of dollars in a massive effort to respond. These jammers, for instance, spew radio waves and emit other electromagnetic noise to jumble enemy electronic signals.

"War fighters have gone from using physical weapons like spears and knives, to chemical weapons such as gunpowder and explosives, to electronics with radio waves and computer codes," said Peter W. Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "It's a natural evolution in warfare."

At a time when the defense budget is being eyed for cuts, electronic attack technology is one of the few areas — along with drones and cyber security — in which President Obama wants to boost spending.

Continue reading.

Obama Rules Out Short-Term Debt Solution

The "eat our peas" line is memorable, at the end of the clip, and discussed at Memeorandum.

And at LAT, "At news conference, Obama portrays himself as compromiser in chief":

President Obama says he will not sign a three- to six-month bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling, and instead is calling on Republicans to set aside politics and agree on a long-term compromise before the country hits the debt limit Aug. 2.

The administration is not making contingency plans in the event that Congress won't vote to raise the debt ceiling in time, Obama told reporters Monday morning, predicting during a news conference that "we are going to get this done" before the deadline.

As leaders prepared for an afternoon meeting on the issue at the White House, Obama pledged to bring Republicans and Democrats together "every single day" until they work out an agreement to avert a credit default with a plan on debt and deficit reduction.

Republicans have been saying for months that it's a "moral imperative" for the president and Congress to tackle debts and deficits, Obama said, arguing that he has moved toward their position in hopes of working out a compromise.

"What I've said to them is, 'Let's go,'" Obama said. Such a deal would let Americans know "this town can actually do something once in a while."

Progressives love to talk about Republican "hostage taking" on the budget, but in fact the administration's dishonesty on negotiations is practically criminal. See Yuval Levin, at National Review, "A Raw Deal" (via Memeorandum).

Murdoch Newspapers Targeted Gordon Brown

This story has become a monstrosity. Folks praised Murdoch's closing of News of the World last week, but that's likely only the whet appetites.

At The Scotsman, "Hacking updates: 'Gordon Brown was targeted over 10 year period'":

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he will refer the proposed takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation to the Competition Commission.

The announcement came less than an hour after News Corp said it was "withdrawing proposed undertakings in lieu of reference to the Competition Commission" - meaning it would no longer spin-off Sky News to secure the deal.

It will delay the bid by at least 6 months.
Gordon Brown is the latest figure to have been targeted by News International publications, according to reports, with allegations that they obtained medical records of his son and tried to access his voicemail.

Brown was targeted over a period of more than 10 years, during which a "blagger" tried to obtain details from his bank account, his lawyers were tricked into handing over information and his son's medical records were obtained by a newspaper, according to the Guardian.

Prince Charles and Camilla may have also had their mobile phones hacked by private investigators, police have warned.

The heir to the throne and his wife are among 10 members of the royal family to be warned they may have been targeted.

Earlier, Nick Clegg has called on Rupert Murdoch to "do the decent thing" and reconsider the bid in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that his engulfed the British arm of his media empire.

The Deputy Prime Minister said: "Do the decent and sensible thing, and reconsider, think again, about your bid for BSkyB."

More at WaPo, "Tabloid intrigue spreads: Queen and Brown reportedly targeted as police complain of sabotage."

Also at Telegraph UK, "News International journalists 'hacked medical records of Gordon Brown's family." Scroll down at Telegraph for additional links, and see Mediagazer, especially AdAge, "Life After Rupert's Reign: What Will Happen in a Post-Murdoch World?"

Janice Hahn Faces Prospect of Defeat in Congressional Runoff

Here's the tag for LAT's coverage of the runoff election in CA-36 on Tuesday. And here's the latest headline: "Vitriolic South Bay congressional race nears combative finish." Not mentioned is Hahn's backing of the gang intervention program, nor are the efforts of the Hahn campaign to get Fox News 11 to STFU. See: "Gang Intervention Money Controversy Not Over Yet":

Watch the whole thing. It's riveting and real.

And see Jim Geraghty, at National Review, "Ganging Up in California's Special Election."

AP's not touching it, however. See NewsBusters, "In CA-36 Race, AP Ignores Democrat Hahn's Gang-Intervention Scandal, TV Station Intimidation."

More at The Other McCain: "CA-36: GAME-CHANGER! L.A. Station’s Report Destroys Democrat Janice Hahn."

Palin Plots Her Next Move

It's this week's cover story at Newsweek (via Memeorandum):

It's a fluffy, upbeat piece, and the photos will be splashed at airports and supermarket checkout stands nationwide, just as "The Undefeated" documentary premieres. This will drive progressives crazy. I can see Steve Benen now, incredulous that a "half-term governor" should get so much attention. And well, that's the basis if her appeal right there. Finally we have a national figure who's just one of us, unpretentious and willing to fight. I'd say it's providence, although we heard enough of that "Lightworker" stuff from the Obama cult in 2008. Palin's down to earth, and just what America needs. I hope she makes up her mind soon.

Lucy Pinder 2012 Official Calendar

A follow-up to "'Isn't it funny the way lefties are, at bottom, puritanical about sex?'"

At V³ Magazine, "Lucy Pinder 2012 Calendar Photoshoot [NSFW]."

She's something else.

'Isn't it funny the way lefties are, at bottom, puritanical about sex?'

That's Ann Althouse. I mentioned I'd come back to that quote earlier, but you know, actually, it's not so funny sometimes, progressive puritanism, especially when it devolves into crusades of destruction against ideological enemies. Althouse immediately reminded me of Scott Eric Kaufman, who readers will recall launched a lecherous campaign of allegations at my college workplace, libeling me as a sexual offender with statements that by his own words were completely without foundation in evidence. But just to hurl such demonic claims into the maelstrom of academic identity politics --- against conservative foes especially --- practically guarantees traction. I'm still not quite ready to go into details, but sometime later I'll publish the written record of Scott Eric Kaufman's malicious attacks. Progressives are awful people, truly horrific imitations of humanity. And I was surprised that SEK would admit so much in an update to his blog:

I'm not the best at being human — by all conventional standards, I'm an abject failure — but I always could find a place with words, and that place has been, for most of my life, online.

SEK lost a friend, and to that, well, "any man's death diminishes me ...", but I'm not grieving for the prick. He's an asshole who deserves the ridicule and contumely, and I see that Serr8dt's beaten me to the comment thread, administering some long overdue punishment. And honestly, I didn't hesitate for a second in following up in support:

'You honestly believe this is an appropriate post to make that kind of comment on?'

Oh, quit your bitching, Scott. Everyone knows you're an asshole and you're just opening up the target range here for your enemies. And frankly, I don't believe you ... this post is insincere puff and inglorious piddle, although you got this right: 'I'm not the best at being human—by all conventional standards, I'm an abject failure...'

I would normally hesitate to kick a man while he's down, but SEK owes me both a formal apology and witten retraction. I'm not holding my breath. It's a bitch out there sometimes, but you reap what you sow. And pathetic mewling isn't necessarily going to engender sympathy. In the end, good triumphs over evil, I believe, and SEK's an epic loser. Let's see if this moment of retrospection has any effect. Perhaps out of pain Scott can find the light and do the right thing.