Skateboarder Rides Down 405 Freeway During 'Carmageddon'

A video report at KABC-TV Los Angeles.

And at Los Angeles Times, "Carmageddon video: Woman drives down an empty 405 Freeway." Yea, she'd videod it!

Why Does Barack Obama Want to Cut Off Social Security Checks?

From John Hawkins, at Right Wing News:

Casey Anthony Released

At People, "Casey Anthony Released from Jail."

Time has the key headline: "Casey Anthony Released: Can She Ever Lead a Normal Life?"

Actually, she's going to make millions selling her story. She'll probably hook up and have another baby, then be in the news all over again to profit further. It's the American way.

But see New York Times, "How to Pull Off a Vanishing Act":

IT’S starting to look likely — given news reports about her interest in fake names and disguises — that if Casey Anthony gets out of jail as scheduled this weekend, she will do her best to avoid the public eye and join the list of runaways that has recently included James (Whitey) Bulger, Ratko Mladic, Osama bin Laden and certain state senators from Wisconsin.

Ms. Anthony, 25, was found not guilty this month of killing her toddler daughter, but her acquittal in Florida was followed by death threats and extralegal convictions in the nonstop court of cable television.

Should she decide to lie low, she would be following a tradition in America, which, despite the craving of many of its people for publicity, has a long history of its citizenry going on the lam. It would seem that, in the national lore, there is a fugitive or worse for every self-promoter — or so such absconders as Eric Rudolph, D. B. Cooper and Bonnie and Clyde suggest.

The question is, of course: How does one perform a vanishing act these days? In an age of smart phones and GPS — not to mention anonymity-piercing paparazzi and celebrity magazines — is it really still possible to disappear?

Some sources said Ms. Anthony would disguise her appearance. But I bet she'll be back.

Obama Weekly Address: Shared Sacrifice, Blah, Blah...

The words have changed but the game's the same.

Class warfare tax the rich baloney. See Gateway Pundit: "Obama Weekly Address: Tax the Rich."

RELATED: At The Hill, "GOP leaders ignore Obama’s 36-hour deadline for a debt plan" (via Memeorandum).

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