Thursday, February 2, 2012

Demi Moore's Desperate Attempt to Shag Zac Efron

This lady needs help.

It's too bad too --- she's very beautiful, but that "cougar" thing is bad for your health.

At Los Angeles Times, "Demi Moore plot thickens: Pursuing Zac Efron, fountain of youth?":
Demi Moore isn't having the best week, as far as newsstands are concerned. The actress has reportedly been battling massive insecurity with age and weight, as well as chasing young things like Zac Efron.

After her January hospitalization, allegedly thanks to a bad reaction to nitrous oxide and a smoke inhalant, reports are charging the "Margin Call" star with massive insecurities surrounding the breakdown of her marriage — all leading to this current crisis.

"She's been really down, and she's surrounding herself with young people to make her feel better," Us magazine cites one source as saying.

And by "surrounding" the report suggests Moore "tracked down" 24-year-old actor Zac Efron for companionship. This proposed hunt led to a party in L.A.'s Venice Beach neighborhood, prior to Moore's medical treatment.

"As Demi got older, she convinced herself that she needed to stay young and skinny to remain attractive to her husband," People magazine added to the party, via their own inside source.
Well, I guess there's a way to grow old gracefully, and then there's not...

Romney Screws Up With Comments About the Poor

At Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney trips up as GOP race moves westward":

The Republican presidential contest shifted to the West and Midwest on Wednesday as an exultant Mitt Romney dueled with the man he hopes to meet in November, President Obama, but found himself sidetracked when an infelicitous remark was seized upon by his opponents.

Romney's comment came as he sought, following his landslide win Tuesday in Florida, to cast himself as the inevitable nominee, a posture that had eluded him since his Jan. 21 collapse in South Carolina.

"I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it," he told CNN.

His characterization about the poor immediately metastasized online. Asked about it later, Romney explained, "Of course I'm concerned about all Americans — poor, wealthy, middle class — but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy."

Newt Gingrich, a distant second in Florida, sought to take advantage of Romney's wording as he spoke to hundreds of supporters packed into Great Basin Brewing Co. in Reno.

"I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other," said Gingrich, at his first Nevada event before Saturday's caucuses. Drawing a sharp distinction between himself and Romney, he added, "I am running to be the president of all of the American people, and I am concerned about all of the American people."

Romney's comment also drew condemnation from Obama partisans who have repeatedly exploited the candidate's quotes to argue that Romney is out of touch. And Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who endorsed Romney four years ago, encouraged him to "backtrack," saying the very poor needed jobs, not welfare programs.
I'm with DeMint on this. While Romney's comments aren't really that controversial --- at least not when placed in context --- this is hardly the message you want to send. The problem isn't that we don't have enough public assistance, but that we have too much of it. We've got soul-crushing dependence on government and destruction of personal responsibility. Dan Riehl has more, "Mitt Explains, Only to Step In It, Again ... And, Again."

See also Jennifer Rubin, who says his comments were decontextualized, "Romney on the safety net; anti-Romney media still unhinged."

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

'Like a Rolling Stone'

From Monday's drive time, "10 at 10" from 1965 at The Sound LA:
Get Off of My Cloud - Rolling Stones
Gloria - Them
In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
Do You Believe in Magic - Lovin' Spoonful
The Kids are Alright - The Who
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
Set Me Free - The Kinks
Like a Rolling Stone - Dylan
For Your Love - Yardbirds
You Won't See Me - Beatles
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're going to have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him, "Do you want to make a deal?"

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinking, thinking that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it, babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Taliban Ready to Seize Power in Afghanistan After NATO Pulls Out

Great, just as the Obama administration confirmed that the U.S. will end its combat role at the end of 2013.

The news is at London's Daily Mail, "So is it all worth it? Secret files reveal Taliban will retake control of Afghanistan when NATO troops withdraw":

The Taliban is set to return to power in Afghanistan when British and Coalition forces end their combat role in 2014, a damning leaked confidential report reveals.

Despite 10 years of fighting by NATO forces and their huge sacrifices - 397 members of the British military alone have been killed and thousands wounded - the report says that in the past year there has been unprecedented interest, even from within the Afghan government, in joining the Taliban.

And it points accusingly at Afghanistan’s neighbour Pakistan, a key ally of NATO, where powerful elements in the security and intelligence services support the Taliban and describes how insurgent leaders maintain homes within the heart of the capital Islamabad.

Based on 27,000 interviews with over 4,000 Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners, the detailed report effectively questions the Coalition’s own assessment that it is winning the war in Afghanistan.

The report - The State of the Taliban - was described as ‘devastating’ yesterday (W) by former soldier Ian Sadler, whose son Jack, a 21-year-old reservist serving with the Honourable Artillery Company, died in a roadside bomb blast in Helmand in December 2007.
‘It has been a waste of time operating in the way that the British have,’ he said, ‘Hearing details of the report makes me wonder why our soldiers were sent there in the way they were and the cost that has been paid.’

The report compiled by US forces describes how weapons and vehicles given to Afghan forces have in turn been passed on to the Taliban and says that Pakistan’s feared Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) is actively colluding with the insurgents by actually directing attacks.
Continue reading.

I can't help but think that we're screwed.

Secretary of State Rice, upon leaving office, warned that if we wanted another 9/11, all we had to do was abandon Afghanistan. Let's hope she was wrong.

I'll have more later.

Is Peyton Manning Washed Up?

I talk football with my colleague Professor Greg Joseph when we're out to lunch. I mentioned Peyton Manning yesterday. I was wondering if he's going to retire, and the news last night and today doesn't look good. See the Los Angeles Times, "Peyton Manning likely will never play football again, sources say":

Peyton Manning's football career is likely over, two sources close to the Indianapolis Colts quarterback with knowledge of his recovery from neck surgery told Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports.

Although the vertebrae in Manning's neck have healed as expected, which allowed him to start throwing again back in December, the same can't be said for the nerves in his arm, according to the sources. They say the velocity on his passes has not improved and possibly never will.

All of which, the sources say, indicates the four-time MVP will probably never play again.

Two league-affiliated doctors with experience in spinal fusion surgery told Cole that it would be too risky for Manning to play again and that it could take as long as a year for Manning to know whether a return is possible.

Manning could not be reached for a comment on the Yahoo! article, but he has indicated that he has every intention of resuming his NFL career.
More at the link.

And see "High stakes in Peyton Manning decision," and "Irsay: Peyton Manning situation 'a very complicated medical issue'."

The Most Important Election of a Lifetime?

Seems like I'm hearing that a lot, either on blogs or on TV. And Professor John Pitney takes a look at the question --- and says not to worry. At Christian Science Monitor, "The important election of a lifetime? So say Gingrich et al.":
Newt Gingrich sometimes refers to 2012 as "the most important election since 1860," which set the stage for the Civil War. His Republican competitors are a bit less flourishing in their comparison, describing November as the vote of a lifetime (though Mr. Gingrich also uses that phrase). Across the political divide, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi agrees: It's "the most important election of our generation."

If such descriptions sound familiar, it's because Americans hear them every four years. "This is certainly the most important election in my lifetime – not just because I'm running," said Barack Obama to a Wisconsin crowd early in 2008. Democrats and Republicans applied similar language to the Bush-Kerry contest. In his 1976 campaign against Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford said, "Make no mistake – this election will decide the direction America is going to take in its third century of independence."

So every presidential race is the most momentous in modern times – until the next one.
Continue reading.

I tell my students the same thing. Every four years we're told this is the most important election ever. But I think this year, on the conservative side of things, there's a deep sense of foreboding over the possibility of Obama's reelection. Some argue that ObamaCare will never be repealed if we don't get the Democrats out now. And on top of that some fear that the left will continue to work its ways through the institutions, achieving a revolution of bureaucratic socialism on a scale to make the ghost of Antonio Gramsci do somersaults. But more than that, this election seems to reflect a realization that the Obama administration has signaled the decline of the American culture of individualism, affluence and unlimited opportunity. We've seen these trends before --- trends toward "malaise," in the 1970s, for example --- and the U.S. roared back with optimism and vigor. But this time the changes appear exponentially more dramatic --- the left's assault on our values is literally apocalyptic for conservatives who feel embattled in defending what they believe are the moral foundations of this nation.

New Rick Santorum Ad Slams Newt Gingrich as 'Big Government-Mandating Politician'

Well, big government-mandating and a whole lot more.

This is nice work:


And remember, Michelle offered Santorum a powerful endorsement the other day.

Plus, see William Kristol, "Why February Could Matter":
Rick Santorum: There's lots of speculation as to Gingrich's chances to mount a comeback against Romney, the clear frontrunner. But what if Newt's campaign collapses? What if he's simply jumped the shark with the "Holocaust survivors" robocall? (The call charged that the former Massachusetts governor once "vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing homes--Holocaust survivors, who for the first time, were forced to eat non-kosher, because Romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat kosher.")

What if Santorum does as well or better than Gingrich in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, or in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses next Tuesday? What if Santorum is competitive with Romney in the Missouri beauty contest primary next Tuesday, where Gingrich isn't on the ballot? Couldn't non-Romney voters begin to move nationally from Gingrich to Santorum? Couldn't populist and Tea Party leaders like Sarah Palin do so as well?

In the Gallup tracking poll today, Gingrich is at 28 percent, Romney at 27, and Santorum at 17. Romney will surely move up several points over the next few days--but couldn't Gingrich fall enough and Santorum rise enough that Santorum's number approaches or passes Gingrich? Couldn't Santorum move into second place?

In sum: Could we be heading towards a Romney-Santorum contest on February 28 in Michigan and Arizona, and then in March and beyond? Romney would certainly be a strong favorite in such a contest, given his lead in votes, delegates, money and organization. But wouldn't Santorum ultimately have a better chance than Gingrich to upset Romney, even if it's still a slim one?
Hey, anything's possible.

See also the Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney's Florida win won't seal race."

Megyn Kelly Interviews Michael Coren on Canada Honor Killing Verdicts

A great clip, via Atlas Shrugs, "Religious Slaughter: Michael Coren on FOX TV Discussing Honor Killings."

Rep. Allen West to Switch Congressional Districts

At the Miami Herald blog, "Rep. Allen West to move north, run in Palm Beach congressional seat vacated by Tom Rooney."

And at The Caucus, "Allen West to Switch Districts":

Representative Allen West, Republican of Florida, will switch Congressional districts to greatly increase his chances of winning re-election.

Mr. West now represents the Democrat-heavy 22nd Congressional District – which is about to get far more Democratic under proposed redistricting maps. He will move into the newly configured 18th District, which is a bit more Republican than Democratic.

That district is represented by Representative Tom Rooney, who had already decided to stake his claim to the far more Republican-rich environs of Florida’s new 17th Congressional District on the state’s west coast, which will contain many of his current constituents.

Democrats have balked at the maps, which await court approval, but many members of Congress have begun to position themselves under the assumption that the maps will hold.
William Jacobson has more, "Alan West switching districts."

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Mitt Romney Florida Victory Speech

Following up on my earlier report, "Mitt Romney Florida Victory Could Deal Mortal Blow to Once-Resurgent Newt Gingrich."


And check The Other McCain, "BREAKING NEWS: MITT ROMNEY WINS FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY." And also Legal Insurrection, "Florida primary results."

Mitt Romney Florida Victory Could Deal Mortal Blow to Once-Resurgent Newt Gingrich

I wouldn't count out Gingrich just yet, but the momentum is back with Romney in a big way tonight.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Mitt Romney wins Florida GOP primary":

Reporting from Tampa, Fla. — Mitt Romney won the Florida presidential primary Tuesday, taking a long stride toward capturing the GOP nomination and dealing a potentially mortal blow to the hopes of the once-resurgent Newt Gingrich.

The television networks called the race for the Massachusetts governor soon after polls in the westernmost part of the state closed; by that time Romney already held a big lead in the votes already tabulated. The result ended what had become a suspenseless campaign over the last few days, as multiple opinion surveys showed Romney opening a commanding lead.

His victory handed Romney Florida's 50 delegates, the biggest cache yet, but more than that the win shows his ability to capture support in a big, costly and diverse state that will be a major battleground in the fall contest against President Obama.

Speaking to reporters before the polls closed, Romney said he learned a lesson from the double-digit loss he suffered at Gingrich's hands 10 days ago in South Carolina.

“If we’re successful here, it’ll be pretty clear that when attacked you have to respond and you can’t let charges go unanswered,” Romney said after visiting campaign volunteers at a Tampa phone bank. “I needed to make sure that instead of being outgunned in terms of attacks that I responded aggressively. I think I have and hopefully that will serve me well here.”

Also at the New York Times, "Romney Wins Big in Florida Primary," and the Washington Post, "Romney claims decisive victory in Florida." (Via Memorandum.)

More Florida blogging throughout the evening...

Van Halen: 'Tattoo'

Enjoy some music for the day, some lightening up.

Reactions to Guilty Verdicts in Canada 'Honor Killing' Trial

From Phyllis Chesler, at Fox News, "Will Guilty Verdict in Canadian 'Honor Killing' Trial Be a Turning Point for Justice?":

Western-style domestic violence and even domestically violent femicide is not the same as an honor killing.

For example, Westerners rarely kill their young daughters nor do Western families of origin conspire or collaborate in such murders. While Sikhs, and Hindus, (mainly in India), do commit honor killings, the majority of such murders in the West (91%) are Muslim-on-Muslim crimes.

The high-profile Shafia case may be a watershed decision in terms of Canada’s long standing Multiculturalism Policy which was passed in 1971 under Prime Minister Trudeau and legally enshrined in 1988 as the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.

According to Dr. Salim Mansur, a Muslim Canadian professor and author, such policies are ultimately “racist.” They keep immigrants confined to their “group” and do not encourage members to become “individuals” and “citizens” of a modern liberal democracy.

Although some have called for a special “honor killing” law, it is important to note that the Shafias were tried and convicted under existing Canadian law. They were not tried for committing a culturally approved “honor killing,” but for having conspired to commit a cold-blooded and pre-planned murder on Canadian soil.

So, too, were Muslim-Canadian Aqsa Parvez’s father, Mohammed, and her brother, Waqas, who were tried and convicted for murdering the 16-year-old girl because she refused to wear the hijab and other traditional clothing.

Her mother, who was not tried, lured her daughter home from a shelter for battered women to her death.

After the Shafia jury was individually polled, (it was a unanimous decision and the evidence of guilt was overwhelming), the Justice, Robert Maranger said “It is hard to imagine a more heinous crime, a cold-blooded and shameful crime, (committed because of) a sick notion about honor that has no place in this society.”

And in a statement following the verdict, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson called honor killings a practice that is "barbaric and unacceptable in Canada....This government is committed to protecting women and other vulnerable persons from all forms of violence and to hold perpetrators accountable for their acts."

Defense lawyer David Crowe has vowed to appeal.

The accused continue to insist they are innocent.

I hope that Canadian and North American Muslim associations and experts will welcome this decision in which three murdered Muslim girls and one murdered Muslim woman were considered important enough to merit a long and expensive trial in the search for justice.
VIDEO HAT TIP: Blazing Cat Fur, "Ezra Levant Rips Political Correctness & CBC"s Coverage of the Shafia Honour Killing."

California Penal Code Section 653m on Criminal Harassment With Intent to Annoy: Report on Unwanted Illegal Contacts by Fascist Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III

As promised, I reported Walter James Casper III to the Irvine Police Department yesterday. The officer I spoke with indicated that Casper's actions are serious, potentially criminally actionable offenses under Section 653m of the California Penal Code, which states:
a. Every person who, with intent to annoy, telephones or makes contact by means of an electronic communication device with another and addresses to or about the other person any obscene language or addresses to the other person any threat to inflict injury to the person or property of the person addressed or any member of his or her family, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good faith.

b. Every person who makes repeated telephone calls or makes repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device with intent to annoy another person at his or her residence, is, whether or not conversation ensues from making the telephone call or electronic contact, guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good faith.

c. Every person who makes repeated telephone calls or makes repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device with the intent to annoy another person at his or her place of work is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment. Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good faith.
The police found Casper to be harassing, although he's just short of being criminally implicated under California Penal Code Section 646.9, as discussed at my previous entry, "California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III. In fact, Casper's deranged actions are literally at the limits of legality under the law. Upon review of the evidence presented, the officer suggested that in her experience people like this are indeed highly dangerous and mentally unstable. In fact, the officer suggested that Casper was basically a dirtbag and a loser and wondered if someone like this was worth my time. She said that Casper was "beneath me." I said she had a point --- Casper IS a scuzzy racist sleazebag --- although I then further explained that Casper is the publisher of a hate blog whose co-bloggers and commenters have engaged in campaigns of workplace harassment and intimidation against me (and my family, since workplace attacks are threats to my family's economic livelihood). Given that, she said she understood why I wouldn't let a pattern of despicable intimidation such as Casper's slide by without challenge. Indeed, the officer indicated that Casper's unwanted communications --- communications through the Blogger commenting system, and especially those sent by e-mail after having been warned to cease and desist --- were potentially substantive violations of Penal Code Section 653m, cited above. The key qualifying factor here is Casper's pattern of persistent harassing and annoying contacts AFTER THE HARASSER HAS BEEN TOLD TO CEASE. At this point, while I issued a formal complaint against Casper, I agreed with the officer to hold off on opening a criminal investigation until the complaint process through Google has been exhausted.

Thus, I will be continuing my communications with Google in order to obtain action against Casper to desist from harassing me at the blog and by email.

It's also interesting to note the police department's reaction to Casper's comments after he was banned from American Power:
"As long as Donald Douglas is posting a public blog that accepts comments, I'm going to continue to comment on what he posts, whenever and wherever I choose. He's welcome to delete anything and everything I contribute to his blog if he so chooses -- it is his blog, after all -- but that won't stop me from making the contribution in the first place, and pointing out every cowardly deletion he makes (on my blog, I mean), as well."
I first showed these comments to the officers at the reception, as well the harassing emails Casper has sent me personally. The reception personnel then contacted the officer I spoke with, and I then filed the complaint. The officer and I also discussed strategies to deal with people like Casper who hide and harass under free speech protections to cause emotional and physical distress to their targets. I will be following up with her as soon as I know more from Google.

I will also be expanding the investigation on workplace harassment and intimidation with the Long Beach Police Department. In previous discussions with LBPD the possibility of restraining orders was raised with respect to outside complaints. I will be investigating what the LBPD will recommend regarding Walter James Casper III. Particularly, I will be indicating that it was his blog that first published my workplace information with the intent to harass and intimidate, and I will be indicating that Casper has continued to attempt to cause substantial emotional distress by making contacts to me that serve no legitimate purpose --- contacts that I have explicitly and repeatedly told Casper not to make. I will update on this further.

So until then, I am once again reiterating my demand to Walter James Casper III: Stop contacting me. Such contacts are in violation of the law, for you have been told to stop. Do not comment on this blog. You are banned. And cease and desist from further contacting me by email. You are in violation of California state law and continued contacts by you will be placed on file with the appropriate law enforcement authorities and I will continue to notify Google of your intent to annoy and cause emotional and physical distress.

Budget Cuts Force 'Rationing' at California Community Colleges

This isn't just about cutting class offerings, which is discussed at the clip by Ann-Marie Gabel, LBCC Vice President for Administrative Services.

The community college system will begin prioritizing enrollment, placing part-time, recreational, and self-enrichment students at the bottom of the priority list for registration. See the Sacramento Bee, "California community colleges prepare to ration their offerings":

Faced with state budget cuts since the recession – annual funding is now 12 percent below its 2008-09 high-water mark – community colleges have pared back course offerings. Yet demand remains sky high as costs at four-year universities shoot upward and unemployed Californians seek retraining.

Community college leaders say it has become necessary to ration classroom seats like water in a drought. They plan to impose statewide rules that prioritize students working toward a degree, certificate or basic academic skills. To meet that end, students who make little progress or take classes for enrichment purposes will move to the back of the line.

The hope, says California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott, is that new students won't get locked out. State leaders want to increase the percentage of students who graduate or transfer to universities, rates that suffer when students can't register for classes.

"It was never my wish to ration attendance at community colleges, but this was forced upon us by the very severe budget cuts," Scott said. "The reality is, we just can't offer everything to everybody."
Boy, it's going to be a tough year.

PREVIOUSLY: "Dr. Gaither Loewenstein Appointed New Vice President of Academic Affairs at Long Beach City College."

Monday, January 30, 2012

Michelle Malkin Endorses Rick Santorum for GOP Nomination

And boy, this is some doozy of an endorsement.

See, "For Santorum" (via Memeorandum):

Rick Santorum opposed TARP.

He didn’t cave when Chicken Littles in Washington invoked a manufactured crisis in 2008. He didn’t follow the pro-bailout GOP crowd — including Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich — and he didn’t have to obfuscate or rationalize his position then or now, like Rick Perry and Herman Cain did. He also opposed the auto bailout, Freddie and Fannie bailout, and porkulus bills.

Santorum opposed individual health care mandates — clearly and forcefully — as far back as his 1994 U.S. Senate run. He has launched the most cogent, forceful fusillade against both Romney and Gingrich for their muddied, pro-individual health care mandate waters.

He voted against cap and trade in 2003, voted yes to drilling in ANWR, and unlike Romney and Gingrich, Santorum has never dabbled with eco-radicals like John Holdren, Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi. He hasn’t written any “Contracts with the Earth.”

Santorum is strong on border security, national security, and defense. Mitt the Flip-Flopper and Open Borders-Pandering Newt have been far less trustworthy on immigration enforcement.

Santorum is an eloquent spokesperson for the culture of life. He has been savaged and ridiculed by leftist elites for upholding traditional family values — not just in word, but in deed.

He won Iowa through hard work and competent campaign management. Santorum has improved in every GOP debate and gave his strongest performance last week in Florida, wherein he both dismantled Romneycare and popped the Newt bubble by directly challenging the front-runners’ character and candor without resorting to their petty tactics.
He rose above the fray by sticking to issues.

Most commendably, he refused to join Gingrich and Perry in indulging in the contemptible Occupier rhetoric against Romney. Character and honor matter. Santorum has it.

Of course, Santorum is not perfect. As I’ve said all along, every election cycle is a Pageant of the Imperfects. He lost his Senate re-election bid in 2006, an abysmal year for conservatives. He was a go-along, get-along Big Government Republican in the Bush era. He supported No Child Left Behind, the prescription drug benefit entitlement, steel tariffs, and earmarks and outraged us movement conservatives by endorsing RINO Arlen Specter over stalwart conservative Pat Toomey.
Read it all at Michelle's.

Also blogging, Lonely Conservative, "Michelle Malkin Endorses Rick Santorum," and The Other McCain, "Like an Earthquake in Vanuatu: Michelle Malkin Endorses Rick Santorum!"

Shafia Convictions Put Focus on Culture of Honor Killings

At Wall Street Journal, "Afghan Immigrants in Canada Found Guilty of Honor Killing":

TORONTO—A Canadian court found two Afghan immigrant parents and their eldest son guilty of murdering four female family members in a so-called honor killing Sunday, the climax of a case that's transfixed Canada and sparked a wider debate about clashing cultures amid the country's large immigrant population.

Mohammad Shafia, his wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, and eldest son, Hamed, were found guilty of killing Mr. Shafia's three teenage daughters and Mr. Shafia's first wife in an elaborately staged, though ultimately bungled, car accident in June 2009. The defense argued the four died after a late-night joy ride went awry.

The four-month trial opened a relatively rare window onto honor killings in North America. The crime, where victims are murdered for bringing shame on their family, is increasingly common in western European countries like Britain and Sweden, which has seen large-scale immigration from countries where researchers say the custom happens most—such as Pakistan, India and Turkey ....

The prosecution argued it was honor rooted in Afghan tribal traditions that led Mr. Shafia to cleanse the shame he felt from the conduct of his rebellious daughters, Zainab, 19 years old, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13. The eldest two took unapproved boyfriends, and all three disobeyed their father through their independent behavior and sometimes-revealing dress. Rona Amir Mohammad, who was Mr. Shafia's first spouse in the polygamous family, was killed, the prosecution argued, because she was a troublesome first wife and lenient step mother.

The trial filled the Canadian press with the macabre details of a murder in which police believe the victims were drowned and then placed into a car that was then pushed into a lock outside of Kingston, near Toronto. The local press printed police transcripts of a ranting Mr. Shafia calling his daughters "whores" and boasting, "nothing is more dear to me than my honor."
Video c/o Blazing Cat Fur.

And my previous roundup is here: "Shafia Family Guilty of Honor Killings in Canada: Updates."

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Will Take Up to 10 Months to Removed From Italy's Coast

At Telegraph UK, "Costa Concordia will take 10 months to be removed":

The Costa Concordia cruise ship will take up to 10 months to removed from Italy's coast, according to officials, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved an inch and a half over six hours, coupled with waves of more than three feet.

A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified.

Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board.

"Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster."
RTWT.

Newt Gingrich Pledges 'Straight Out Contest For the Next Four or Five Months'

I posted on this previously, and now here's the video:


And see also Mark Levin, "Character Matters and Romney's Worries Me":
I am beginning to think that the nature and level of attacks being launched by Mitt Romney against Newt Gingrich, which he would surely use against any conservative threatening his nomination, are going to make it very difficult for Romney to unite the different factions of the GOP and the conservative movement behind his candidacy should he win the nomination.  While I have said that I would vote for Rick Santorum, I am appalled at the "anything goes" assault on Gingrich. See here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/politics/the-calculations-that-led-romney-to-the-warpath.html?pagewanted=all?

Romney is not a conservative in the traditional sense, and he has a record of big-government Republicanism.  Even many years after the success of the Reagan administration, he sought to distance himself from Reagan and the GOP, self-identifying as a progressive and independent.  Thus, he resorts to spending multi-millions of dollars trashing his opponents, rather than providing thoughtful arguments on conservatism and constitutionalism.  Lest we forget, it was Gingrich who was trying to run a positive campaign and who offered to debate Romney one-on-one, asking Romney to stop with the millions in unanswered ads attacking him.  Romney declined.  I have no doubt that Romney would do the same thing to Santorum if Santorum was rising in the polls, albeit on different issues.

I have said that Romney is in many ways Richard Nixon, and that Romney would not successfully lead efforts to repeal Obamacare but, in fact, would grow the federal government in many respects.  Romney's advisor, former senator Norm Coleman, has now said as much.  That is Romney's record.  Despite having been a businessman, he was not a defender of free market capitalism while governor.  Romneycare is, as Santorum pointed out, a top-down government health care system with an individual mandate that is breaking Massachusetts' treasury and destroying private health insurance.  It is a disaster.  Romney also backed cap-and-trade and TARP (as did Gingrich).

My great fear is, however, that he is the weakest candidate who can face Obama and will go into the general election with a fractured base, thanks to his own character flaws, which are now on display, and his tactics of personal destruction.  Moreover, while Romney can swamp his Republican opponents by 3 to 1 or more in every state with his spending advantage, Barack Obama will be raising more and spending more to beat him in the general election, meaning Romney's financial advantage will be non-existent.
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