Filming the Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake Sex Scenes in 'Friends With Benefits'

Seriously.

'Friends with Benefits' director Will Gluck discusses how he did it, at Entertainment Weekly.

Give your actors time to get to know each other. Justin and Mila had never met before, but instead of making them do trust falls or a ropes course I decided to shoot the first half of the movie in New York City. I figured spending 16 hours a day working together out in public, surrounded by 8 million people, would give them time to foster “chemistry.”

Well they sure look good.

Previously: "Mila Kunis a Conservative Hottie!"

Palestinian Bloodlust

There's some new data out on Palestinian public opinion from Stanley Greenberg.

Here's a roundup:

* David Horowitz goes for the shock value: "Survey Shows Palestinians Far Worse Than the Inhabitants of Nazi Germany" (via Blazing Cat Fur). (Horowitz digs in for the real bloodthirsty findings.)

* And from Evelyn Gordon at Commentary, "New Poll Shows Real Cause of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."

* The main report is at Jerusalem Post, "6 in 10 Palestinians reject 2-state" (via Israel Matzav.)

I checked for the raw survey form and didn't find it. The Israel Project, the poll's sponsor, tweeted an interview with Greenberg. No matter about the raw internals anyway. History shows that Palestinians don't support Israel's right to exist. These data are of course quite helpful in demonstrating Israel's security needs.

Marilyn Monroe Rule 5

At London's Daily Mail, "Work of art or a pervert's paradise? Risqué 26ft statue of Marilyn Monroe is unveiled in the Windy City" .

Via Robert Stacy McCain: "Biggest Celebrity Upskirt Photo Ever!"

And some Rule 5: Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart" (c/o Proof Positive, "Saturday Linkaround").

Also at Pat Austin's FMJRA "Swamp Edition."

Storm of Troubles Washing Over the Middle East

Mostly economic troubles.

From Caroline Glick, at Jerusalem Post, "Caution: Storm Approaching."

Glick is her characteristically realist self, and I mean that in a good way (not in the Walt/Mearsheimer way).

Rebekah Brooks, Former News International CEO, Gets Seven-Figure Severance Package

Nicole Kidman should play Rebekah Brooks in the inevitable movie on the fall of the Murdoch empire.

And at The Daily Mail, "Rebekah Brooks in line for £3.5m pay out as News International slaps gagging orders on chief executives (apart from that inquiry on Tuesday)." (At Memeorandum.)

'We are taking steps to permanently armor our major public spaces'

Says Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Hawthorne, who reviews architectural proposals for the National Mall, commissioned by the National Capital Planning Commission, "Critic's Notebook: A design that's bold, restrained and secure."

... it's tough not to feel ambivalent about what the design competition represents in a larger sense for American urbanism as we approach the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. In cities all around the country — not just in New York and Washington — the temporary jersey barriers and other makeshift or ad hoc responses to the threat of terrorism are being replaced by subtler and better-looking but fixed design solutions. The new realities of terror protection are working themselves into the fabric of the American cityscape ...

RTWT.

Elin Nordegren Dates Financier Jamie Dingman!

Who cares, really?

Mostly, it's a chance to re-post this lovely picture of Elin Nordegren.

Her new beau's the son of billionaire Michael Dingman, according to the New York Post, "Elin dating billionaire's son."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Happiness at last! Tiger's ex-wife Elin Nordegren 'finds love again with billionaire's son'."

Cartoon Roundup, July 16, 2011

Check Reaganite Republican for a roundup: "Please Allow US to Retort!"

More cartoons at Theo's: "Cartoon Round Up...."

And at The Other McCain: "VIDEO: Teen Bride Courtney Stodden Says, "God Blessed Me With 'My Soulmate'"."

Save California, Campaign for Children and Families, News Release, July 14, 2011

The press release from Save California, "Pro-Family Response to Jerry Brown's Signing of SB 48":

Sacramento, California -- One of California 's top opponents of placing "LGBT" personages in school textbooks is speaking out on the unfortunate signing of SB 48 by Gov. Jerry Brown today.

"Jerry Brown has trampled the parental rights of the broad majority of California mothers and fathers who don't want their children to be sexually brainwashed," said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, which helped lead the opposition to SB 48. "SB 48 has no parental opt-out. The only way parents can opt-out their kids from this immoral indoctrination is to opt them out the entire public school system, which is no longer for morally-sensitive parents and their children." (Source: RescueYourChild.com and SaveCalifornia.com SB 48 veto request letter)

In 2009, a KPIX/SurveyUSA poll found that four out of five Californians did not support giving homosexual activist Harvey Milk a statewide day of significance. "With the signing of SB 48, even more California parent will be shocked to see the glorification of Harvey Milk and other homosexual-bisexual-transsexual role models in school textbooks," Thomasson said. "SB 48 is the eighth school sexual indoctrination law forcing immorality on kids in California K-12 schools. It's time for parents who love their children to match their words with deeds and do what's necessary to get them out of the immoral government schools and into the safe havens of homeschooling and church schools."

*****
"It's ridiculous that Jerry Brown says he's making history 'honest,'" Thomasson added. "The bill he signed prohibits teachers and textbooks from telling children the facts that homosexuality has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS and other STDs, higher cancer rates, and earlier deaths. These important facts about lifestyles children will being forced to admire will be omitted. And Brown calls this 'honest'? This revisionist history will actually make more children believe a lie -- that homosexuality is biological, which it's not, and healthy, which is isn't." (Source: "Not Born This Way")

Brown signed SB 48 despite it being completely unnecessary to deal with school bullies. There are existing laws that already strongly address this issue, such as: AB 1785 (2000) requires public schools to coordinate with local law enforcement to suppress and report both "hate crimes" and "hate-motivated incidents"; AB 394 (2007) requires K-12 schools to "post antidiscrimination and antiharassment policies in all schools and offices, including staff lounges and pupil government offices" and requires the State Department of Education to "display information on curricula" relating to "antidiscrimination and antiharassment" in regards to "sexual orientation" (homosexuality and bisexuality) and "gender" (cross-dressing and sex changes); ACR 82 (2010) permits participating schools - pre-kindergarten through higher education - to become official "Discrimination-Free Zones" that "enact appropriate procedures that meaningfully address acts of discrimination that occur on campus."

"These existing laws, in addition to other campus anti-bias and anti-violence laws, are certainly strong enough to quell physical and verbal bullying, rendering SB 48's broad curriculum indoctrination unnecessary even to satisfy the stated anti-bullying goals of the bill's sponsors," Thomasson said. "SB 48 is a revisionist history, sexual brainwashing bill, not an anti-bullying bill."

Continue reading.

See also, Rescue Your Child, "The Problem Facing California Public School Parents":

What your child is guaranteed in California public schools -- Because of bad laws, lack of pro-family laws, and politically-correct trends, here's what kids are guaranteed to receive in California public schools:

1. Homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination
2. Pro-abortion indoctrination, "confidential” abortion referrals and off-campus "counseling", without parental consent
3. Condom/birth control pills indoctrination and distribution without parental consent; no teaching children how to truly avoid STDs; "abstinence-only" education prohibited
4. Anti-God, pro-evolution indoctrination
5. Political correctness
6. Dumbed-down academics, less academic success, on average, than private or home school
7. Negative socialization and peer pressure
8. Less safety, on average, than private school
9. Anti-Christian indoctrination and widespread rejection of religious and moral values
10. Anti-parent sentiments

More at that link.

Ritual Mourning for Leiby Kletzky

At New York Times, "Ritual Mourning for Slain Brooklyn 8-Year-Old."

Throughout the morning and afternoon on Friday, a stream of visitors entered the Kletzky family’s brick apartment building on 15th Avenue in Borough Park. Almost all were somber, as if on a mission they did not relish.

Shoeless and sitting on a low chair, Leiby’s father, Nachman, received the visitors alone in a narrow dining room while his wife, Itta, and their four daughters clustered in a bedroom off the kitchen.

Around the apartment, there were so many gifts of fruit and cakes that the family had been forced to send some back. But these were no consolation, visitors said.

“They’re trying to cope,” said Jonathan Schwartz, 42, a close friend. “They keep on saying that God gave them the privilege to raise this child for nine years.”

Though most visitors had attended shivas before, several observed that no gathering had approached the shock and deep grief of Leiby’s.

“If you had a dad go, 90 years old, it’s understandable,” said one family friend, who asked that his name not be used. “This is harder to comprehend, the worst of the worst.”

Could Facebook Go the Way of Myspace?

I've thought about this, with the launch of Google+.

At Time, "Could What Happened to MySpace Happen to Facebook?":

MySpace fell from grace for several reasons. First, they sacrificed the service's integrity in pursuit of monetization. For those who remember, the user experience declined drastically once the service hit a critical mass.

We were bombarded by ads—highly irrelevant ones and many of a sexual nature (at least mine were). There came a point in time where I literally said to myself that the service had become unusable. I heard the same from a plethora as others as well. The turning point was when they lost control to the advertisers. Their monetization strategy was poor and because of that the site went downhill.

The second reason was because they failed to innovate in order to meet the needs of their users. In short, MySpace ran out of ideas. The site started with the humble idea of giving people their own spaces on the web but never evolved it into much more.

Facebook, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. They have not only been innovating and evolving the service to meet the needs of their users, but they have also been employing a business model that actually works for the service and is valuable to people. This model includes the subtle yet relevant placing of ads.
Facebook has innovated and monetized without sacrificing their network's integrity for the almighty dollar. Facebook also has another market force in their favor, and that is the philosophy of "sunk costs."

Continue reading.

I have two e-mails accounts, Facebook and Twitter, and the blog. Now there's Google+ and I've used it a bit. It's nice, but folks have to prioritize and economize. If Mark Zuckerberg doesn't lose his cool he and Facebook will be fine. Word has it that he blew the video chat launch. See: "Is Facebook’s Video Chat Really ‘Something Awesome’?" Mostly, it all just seems like so much. I think we're too interactive as it is. In any case, Althouse has an upbeat post in Google+, "'4 Reasons Artists Are Loving Google+'."

'Carmageddon' Closes the 405 Freeway

It's happening.

At KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Carmageddon begins - Caltrans closing 405 on-ramps."

At at Los Angeles Times, "Plan ahead. Avoid the area, or stay home."

NewsBusted: 'President Obama says economic challenges weren't created overnight'

Via Theo Spark:

Leiby Kletzky Update

At New York Daily News, "Leiby Kletzky's parents skip burial of slain son because it was too painful, visitor says."

Also, "Amateur sleuth helped track down Leiby's killer."

Plus, "Leiby Kletzky's family thanks community: 'We are forever grateful and thankful'," with a picture of this statement:

"We are forever grateful and thankful to Hashem (G-d). We would also like to express to each and every individual - to our friends and neighbors and our fellow New Yorkers and to all the volunteers and to all the agencies from the local, city, state, and federal, who assisted us above and beyond physically, emotionally, and spiritually - and to all from around the world, who had us in their thoughts and prayers. From the depths of our mourning hearts, we thank you!"

Also a photo slideshow here.

'Twilight Saga' on Showtime

I'm watching movies. My oldest son was watching "Twilight" when I came downstairs earlier. We have it on DVD, but Showtime's playing the full saga and I kept watching. A nice break from reading and watching cable news all afternoon. (My youngest son's working on his Legos. More about that later. He's got some new ones.)

'Cut, Cap and Balance'

At The Hill, "House Republicans release 'Cut, Cap and Balance' bill."

House Republicans on Friday afternoon released their "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill that the House is expected to take up next week.

Republicans have said they would only accept an increase in the federal debt ceiling if immediate cuts are made, federal spending is brought back into balance over the next several years, and a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is approved. The GOP bill, H.R. 2560, would do all three.

Details at the link

Pat Dollard Slams California Gay History Law

On Twitter:

PREVIOUSLY: "California Textbooks to Include Gay Achievements."

Pat Dollard's page is here.

Lady Gaga's YouTube Channel Shut Down

Temporarily.

It's back up now: "Lady Gaga's YouTube restored after copyright issues."

And Lady GagaVEVO's channel was unaffected:

Dow Jones CEO Resigns

It's Les Hinton.

See Wall Street Journal, "Dow Jones CEO Hinton Resigns."

And at New York Times, "Les Hinton's Resignation Letters to Murdoch and Journal Staff":

Dear Rupert,

I have watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story has unfolded. I have seen hundreds of news reports of both actual and alleged misconduct during the time I was executive chairman of News International and responsible for the company. The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable. That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp, and apologize to those hurt by the actions of the News of the World.

Continue reading Hinton's resignation letter.

And Rupert Murdoch responds, "Murdoch on Hinton Resignation":

To Dow Jones employees,

You will have just heard that I, with the heaviest of hearts, have accepted the resignation of Les Hinton. It is a measure of his integrity and the quality of his character that he felt compelled to take responsibility even though he is far from the serious issues in London.

Les and I have been on a remarkable journey together for more than 52 years. That this passage has come to an unexpected end, professionally, not personally, is a matter of much sadness to me. I vividly recall an enthusiastic young man in the offices of my first newspaper in Adelaide, where Les joined the company as a 15-year-old and had the rather unenviable task of buying me sandwiches for lunch.

It was clear then that Les was a remarkable talent, and that he had the ability and the energy to carry him far. Little did we both realize that we would be travel companions on a journey through the world of magazines, Hollywood, television studios, coupons and the greatest newspapers on the globe. Little did we realize that our corporate relationship would end in these circumstances.

Through all of his many jobs he has displayed leadership – and that leadership has enabled us to make remarkable progress at the Dow Jones company while our competitors have been flailing because of structural change and economic crisis.

Continue.

Look for a thread shortly at Memeorandum.

More: At New York Times, "Executive Who Ran Murdoch Unit at Time of Hacking Quits."

U.S. Recognizes Rebels in Libya

The story's at New York Times and Memeorandum.

At the video is a portion of the president's March 28th speech. "Regime change" isn't mentioned, although that was the plan all along:

I wouldn't have authorized this deployment, but if you're going in don't lie about it. That's what I hate about R2P. It's so dishonest, but amounts to virtually the same logical outcome as democracy promotion policies. But if it's launched under a Republican president the "world community" rises up in arms at the "threat" of another "Hitler." When a Democrat does it it's "humanitarian intervention."

See: "'Saints Go Marching In': David Rieff at The National Interest."

Side Note: One more thing about R2P: Samantha Power invoked the doctrine for the invasion of Israel, which is just sickening to think about. Democrats will do that.