South Africa's ANC Condemns Cartoon Depicting President Jacob Zuma as Erect Penis

Well, it figures, they say he's a dick.

See BBC, "Jacob Zuma penis cartoon by Zapiro 'disgusts' ANC" (via Memeorandum).

The cartoon's at the Mail & Guardian. That reminds me of another black commie president also known as a dick.

Someone should draw up another cartoon.

The ANC's condemnation is here: "ANC condemns the cartoon by Zapiro and the Mail and Guardian Newspaper." And here's the update at the Mail & Guardian: "Zapiro defends cartoon, while ANC call for apology."

The Shard of London

The Wall Street Journal has a slide show.

And at Telegraph UK, "The Shard opens with laser light show":

The Shard's inauguration ceremony was rounded off with a laser light show that lit up the capital.

More at the Daily Mail, "Flying high: Laser show lights up the sky in London as The Shard is officially unveiled."

Warship Museums Not Assured Success

At LAT, "Warship museums are not assured victory as tourist draws":

When the battleship Iowa was commissioned in 1943, it was a powerful weapon in yet another war to end all wars.

Now its huge guns are pointed at a string of seafood restaurants in San Pedro, and it's about to join America's fleet of floating museums — some 48 warships that have been donated to coastal communities eager for tourist dollars and upgraded waterfronts.

Although some of the attractions have thrived, others have been swamped in debt or racked by age.

In San Diego, the aircraft carrier Midway has topped 1-million visitors per year. Another carrier, the Intrepid, is a must-see museum in Manhattan, especially with the recent arrival of the space shuttle Enterprise.

But near Houston, the century-old battleship Texas closed indefinitely last week after holes opened up in its corroded hull and it started taking on more than 1,500 gallons of water a minute. In Alameda, the aircraft carrier Hornet is getting by. But it was nearly shut down a few years ago when officials couldn't cover the rent and electric bills. In Camden, N.J., the battleship New Jersey now has five full-time employees — down from a peak of 50.

The difference comes down to a real estate adage: "Location, location, location," said Robert Kent, director of the Pacific Battleship Center, which will operate Los Angeles' newest museum.

Keep reading.

Plus, at Des Moines Register, "Branstad visits hospital briefly after choking on carrots: The governor was in California for the commissioning of the USS Iowa battleship."

Leisure is Not a Traditional American Life Goal

A very interesting essay from the Barrister at Maggie's Farm, elementary, in fact: "Americans and Europeans: Leisure is not a traditional American life goal."

And that reminds me of this, so unfortunately, we've gotten more like Europe under Obama: "Alexandra Pelosi's Latest Video Slams 'Welfare Queens' and 'Obama Bucks'."

What is the Higgs Boson?

It's one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in generations, for one thing. But what is it? Well, it's a hypothesis in theoretical physics that explains the origins of mass in atomic particles that have mass. Here's the brief explanation at the Los Angeles Times:

Quantum theory says that the universe is made of two types of elementary particles, fermions and bosons. Fermions are matter, like the electron or the proton. Bosons are energy and can transmit forces, like the photon. In 1964, two groups of three theorists each proposed that the universe is pervaded by a molasses-like field, now called the Higgs field. As fermions pass through the field, they acquire mass. Without the field, the universe would literally fall apart; even atoms would no longer exists.

The piece continues:

One of the physicists, Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh, predicted that if this field were hit by the right amount of energy, it would produce a unique particle, which came to be known as the Higgs boson. Higgs was present at the CERN announcement Wednesday and said afterward that, "For me, it is an incredible thing that has happened in my lifetime."

And at the video is Professor Higgs:

See also Instapundit: "CATCHING YOU UP ON the Higgs Boson."

And especially, "WHY THE HIGGS-PARTICLES IS SO IMPORTANT!"

BONUS: At the Economist, "The Higgs boson: Science’s great leap forward."

Report: U.S. Military Close to Lifting Ban on Women in Frontline Combat

This is something I talk about every semester in my classes, when we cover gender equality. Students who rarely speak will often pipe up when the debate gets going. And I'm surprised to hear a lot of the guys spout very backward views on the role of women in society. Indeed, it's not unusual to hear some say that women should be wives and mothers exclusively. That said, some of the ladies are frightened to death with the prospects of military service; they like old-fashioned gender roles just fine. As always, it should be a matter of open access: If women want to serve, they should not be prohibited, even in the most sensitive or intimate combat roles.

See the special report at the Christian Science Monitor, "Women in combat: US military on verge of making it official."

RELATED: At the New York Times in April, "Marines Moving Women Toward the Front Lines."

Air France Crash Investigation Finds Pilot Error and Faulty Equipment

The jet crashed in 2009. Here's the story at the Los Angeles Times, "Probe of Air France crash in Atlantic blames pilots, training":

The investigation of the 2009 crash of an Air France jet into the Atlantic Ocean concludes that the cockpit crew took the wrong steps to correct a high-altitude stall and blamed the errors on poor training of those piloting today's highly automated aircraft.

In its final report issued Thursday, the French civil aviation authority's Bureau of Surveys and Analysis said its review of flight data recorders recovered almost two years after the crash disclosed that the two junior pilots at the controls of AF 447 were "completely surprised" by the failure of cockpit instruments to guide them out of the disaster.

All 228 passengers and crew on board died in the June 1, 2009, crash of the jet en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The Airbus A330-203, built by a European consortium that includes the French government, suffered a rare cruising-altitude loss of power while the flight captain was outside the cockpit on a scheduled break, the French investigative agency reported.

It said the two copilots, both in their 30s, didn't know what to do when ice accumulation caused the aircraft's autopilot to disconnect, and that they took the opposite action from what was needed, which was nosing the plane down to recover lift.

RTWT.

Also at CSM, "Lessons from Air France Flight 447 Rio-to-Paris crash."

Aaron Worthing Beats Brett Kimberlin on Appeal of Peace Order

Just for the record, I like using Aaron's screen name, "Aaron Worthing," since he continues to use it on Twitter, and to some extent on his blog ("A.W."). His real name is Aaron Walker and he was outed by Brett Kimberlin.

In any case, congratulations to Aaron. His post is here: "Today in Circuit Court, Brett Kimberlin Lost and the First Amendment Won..."

And some of the reactions so far:

* David Hogberg at IBD: "‘Great Day For the First Amendment’: Walker Wins Appeal Vs. Kimberlin Peace Order."

* Hogewash, "WOOT! #BrettKimberlin Loses!"

* Legal Insurrection, "Walker beats Kimberlin in court."

* Matthew Vadum, "‘Great Day For The First Amendment’: Walker Wins Appeal Vs. Kimberlin Peace Order."

* Popehat, "Aaron Walker Defeats Brett Kimberlin, Retains First Amendment Right To Blog About Him."

* The Other McCain, "Aaron Walker (and Freedom) Win Maryland Appeal vs. Brett Kimberlin."

* Twitchy, "Freedom to blog: Judge rules Aaron Walker is free to write about Brett Kimberlin."

Plus, there's a Memeorandum thread.

BONUS: Aaron has an update: "Just a Reminder: Team Kimberlin Still Wants to Ruin My Life."

Would Iran Nuclear Balancing Mean Stability in the Middle East?

I mentioned that I would update on Kenneth Waltz and Iranian nuclear proliferation when I'd read his full Foreign Affairs piece in hard copy. Here's the essay: "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability."

As noted, Waltz's theory is "structural" in that it abstracts away from the decision-making processes of leaders to focus on systemic factors like the balance of military and economic capability. This is parsimonious theory. But it simply cannot explain why states deviate from the theoretical expectations derived from objective factors alone. My beef here is that Waltz assumes the Iranian leadership to act as a perfect rational actor, and thus target states shouldn't worry about the Iranian bomb --- Iran will follow the logic of deterrence and a cold peace will emerge. I'd say this gets it wrong not just on rationality, but on intentions as well, which in the case of Iran have not been hidden or concealed in any way. Notice how Waltz handles these concerns at the essay:

One reason the danger of a nuclear Iran has been grossly exaggerated is that the debate surrounding it has been distorted by misplaced worries and fundamental misunderstandings of how states generally behave in the international system. The first prominent concern, which undergirds many others, is that the Iranian regime is innately irrational. Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, Iranian policy is made not by "mad mullahs" but by perfectly sane ayatollahs who want to survive just like any other leaders. Although Iran's leaders indulge in inflammatory and hateful rhetoric, they show no propensity for self-destruction. It would be a grave error for policymakers in the United States and Israel to assume otherwise.

Yet that is precisely what many U.S. and Israeli officials and analysts have done. Portraying Iran as irrational has allowed them to argue that the logic of nuclear deterrence does not apply to the Islamic Republic. If Iran acquired a nuclear weapon, they warn, it would not hesitate to use it in a first strike against Israel, even though doing so would invite massive retaliation and risk destroying everything the Iranian regime holds dear.

Although it is impossible to be certain of Iranian intentions, it is far more likely that if Iran desires nuclear weapons, it is for the purpose of providing for its own security, not to improve its offensive capabilities (or destroy itself). Iran may be intransigent at the negotiating table and defiant in the face of sanctions, but it still acts to secure its own preservation. Iran's leaders did not, for example, attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz despite issuing blustery warnings that they might do so after the EU announced its planned oil embargo in January. The Iranian regime clearly concluded that it did not want to provoke what would surely have been a swift and devastating American response to such a move.

I mentioned some of this at my previous entry, and there are additional links there: "A Nuclear-Armed Iran May Be the Best Path to Stability to the Middle East."

And recall that Saddam's Iraq is the key recent example of decision-makers either deviating from pure rationality, or more generally leaders subject to strategic misperception resulting in calamitous security outcomes: "Chronic Misperception and U.S.-Iraq Conflict."

RELATED: At the Wall Street Journal, "Iran Tests Missiles After EU Oil Move." And see the ITN video here: "Iran launches long-range missile."

Radical Activists Seize on San Onofre in Post-Fukushima Attack on Nuclear Energy Programs

This plant has been around as long as I can remember. I've always been personally fascinated with it, and nuclear energy generally, and haven't worried that much at all about a nuclear disaster. Years ago, right at Basilone Road (which follows along next to the plant), my skate buddies and I used to run across the 5 Freeway to reach some huge Ameron pipes being built there. The last thing we were worried about was radioactivity. We used to skate with Tony Alva down there, and he talks about it at this essay.

In any case, see the report at the New York Times, "Troubles at a 1960s-Era Nuclear Plant in California May Hint at the Future":

SAN ONOFRE STATE BEACH, Calif. — More than seven million people live within 50 miles of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. But for decades, residents here largely accepted, if not exactly embraced, the hulking nuclear plant perched on the cliffs above this popular surfing beach as a necessary part of keeping the lights on in a state that uses more electricity than all of Argentina.

“I don’t think about it too much,” said David Vichules, 55, who has been surfing here since before the plant opened in 1968. “I guess it’s risk and benefit.”

All that changed, however, after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in Japan last year, followed in January by a small leak of radioactive steam here caused by the deterioration of steam tubes that had been damaged by vibration and friction. The twin generators at the San Onofre plant have been off-line for five months, and the plant has subsequently become a point of contention in the fight over nuclear power in the United States.

The leak has galvanized opposition to the nuclear plant among local residents, who are calling for San Onofre to remain shuttered for good.

Antinuclear activists from across the country have seized on problems at San Onofre as an opportunity to push California toward a future without nuclear power.

“A lot of people have gotten involved since Fukushima, and now especially since San Onofre has been closed,” said Gary Headrick, the founder of San Clemente Green, a local environmental organization. “It’s really not worth living with this risk. We should shut it down.”

The plant will remain shut through at least the end of the summer while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Southern California Edison, the utility company that operates it, investigate the cause of the leak from the steam tubes.

Officials have said repeatedly that the generators will restart only if they are deemed safe.

Still, any efforts to permanently close the nuclear plant face the ever-growing appetite for electricity in Southern California. San Onofre, the largest power plant in the region, produced 2,200 megawatts, enough to power 1.4 million homes, and also helps import power to the region.

It's always something with the loony left.

These people are freaks --- and their "green" energy alternatives have proven to be boondoggles time and again. You gotta beat these people back like flies. It's ridiculous.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Angry Left-Wing Racist Attacks Rep. Allen West as 'Bought Mother F*cker'

Maybe the dude's sucking back too many of those Miller Lites.

At the Shark Tank, "Allen West Called a “Bought Mother F*cker”" (via Memeorandum and Marooned in Marin).

Americans Say Presidential Campaign Will Be 'Exhausting'

Presidential campaigns are too long and have gotten longer the past too election cycles. (I think the GOP primary debates stretching back as far as mid-summer of 2011 is a first.) The good news from the Pew survey is that folks think the campaign will be informative. See, "Partisans Agree: Presidential Election Will Be Exhausting":

Republicans and Democrats find little to agree on these days, but they have some similar reactions to the 2012 presidential campaign. Nearly identical percentages of Republicans and Democrats say the election will be exhausting. On the positive side, there also is widespread partisan agreement that the campaign will be informative.

The national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 7-17 among 2,013 adults, finds that just 49% expect the election to be exciting. Nearly six-in-ten Democrats (59%) say the election will be exciting, compared with 51% of Republicans and just 41% of independents.

The expectation that the election will be exhausting is in line with perceptions of the campaign so far. Most Americans say the campaign has been too long and dull (56% each), while 53% say it has been too negative. At the same time, an overwhelming majority (79%) views the presidential campaign as important.

Comparable percentages of Republicans, Democrats and independents say that the campaign has been too long and too negative. And more than eight-in-ten Republicans (85%) and Democrats (83%) say the campaign is important, as do 77% of independents.

However, there are partisan differences in views of campaign 2012. Notably, fewer Republicans than Democrats say the campaign is interesting. Republicans are less likely to say the campaign is interesting – and more likely to view it as dull – than they were in late March, before Mitt Romney effectively wrapped up the GOP nomination.

Currently, 33% of Republicans say the presidential campaign is interesting down from 52% in late March (March 22-25). The share of Republicans describing this year’s campaign as dull has spiked from 42% to 60% since then. By contrast, Democrats are finding the campaign increasingly interesting as the general election gets underway. Currently, 45% say it is interesting, up from 36% in March.

I'm a bit surprised Republican identifiers are now finding the campaign dull. Earlier polls showed 90 percent enthusiasm for Mitt Romney's campaign, and there's a burning fire of opposition to this administration and especially ObamaCare. But if Team Romney keeps blowing the messaging they'll no doubt turn off more potential voters. That Wall Street Journal editorial on that today really nailed the point. As Ben LaBolt demonstrates at the clip, the White House is freaking about the tax issue in the ObamaCare ruling. So it's up to Romney to get it right on the messaging and to fire up the troops for the long battle.

Katy Perry Performs at Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Celebration

My wife loves Katy Perry and wants to see her live in concert. Hey, I'm not going to fight it.

At Celebuzz, "Katy Perry Performs on ‘Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular’ (VIDEO)."

Also, at Toronto's Globe and Mail, "Why is Katy Perry an unstoppable hit machine?"

BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Keeping abreast of her calls: Katy Perry places her phone in her cleavage as she enjoys July 4th bike ride around Venice Beach."

The Return of Marxism

I don't think the new communists will pull off the full scale proletarian revolution, but there's no doubt that Marx's revolutionary program has seen a resurgence in global politics. And I only disagree with the Guardian's Stuart Jeffries in assuming that the phenomenon is something new. Communists the world over cheered Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency, and when the markets crashed in 2008 the left saw that as the classic crisis of capitalism. In any case, see "Why Marxism is on the rise again":

Capitalism is in crisis across the globe – but what on earth is the alternative? Well, what about the musings of a certain 19th-century German philosopher? Yes, Karl Marx is going mainstream – and goodness knows where it will end...

Later this week in London, several thousand people will attend Marxism 2012, a five-day festival organised by the Socialist Workers' Party. It's an annual event, but what strikes organiser Joseph Choonara is how, in recent years, many more of its attendees are young. "The revival of interest in Marxism, especially for young people comes because it provides tools for analysing capitalism, and especially capitalist crises such as the one we're in now," Choonara says.

There has been a glut of books trumpeting Marxism's relevance. English literature professor Terry Eagleton last year published a book called Why Marx Was Right. French Maoist philosopher Alain Badiou published a little red book called The Communist Hypothesis with a red star on the cover (very Mao, very now) in which he rallied the faithful to usher in the third era of the communist idea (the previous two having gone from the establishment of the French Republic in 1792 to the massacre of the Paris communards in 1871, and from 1917 to the collapse of Mao's Cultural Revolution in 1976). Isn't this all a delusion?

Aren't Marx's venerable ideas as useful to us as the hand loom would be to shoring up Apple's reputation for innovation? Isn't the dream of socialist revolution and communist society an irrelevance in 2012? After all, I suggest to Rancière, the bourgeoisie has failed to produce its own gravediggers. Rancière refuses to be downbeat: "The bourgeoisie has learned to make the exploited pay for its crisis and to use them to disarm its adversaries. But we must not reverse the idea of historical necessity and conclude that the current situation is eternal. The gravediggers are still here, in the form of workers in precarious conditions like the over-exploited workers of factories in the far east. And today's popular movements – Greece or elsewhere – also indicate that there's a new will not to let our governments and our bankers inflict their crisis on the people."

Read it all at the link (via Memeorandum).

Apple Preps Launch of New Smaller iPad

At PC World, "Report: Apple Preps iPad Mini to Battle Nexus 7, Kindle Fire."

And at WSJ, "Apple Preps for Smaller Tablet: Parts Makers in Asia Gear Up to Produce Device With Smaller Screen Than iPad":

Apple Inc.'s component suppliers in Asia are preparing for mass production in September of a tablet computer with a smaller screen than the iPad, people familiar with the situation said, suggesting a launch for the device is near.

Two of the people said that the tablet's screen will likely be smaller than eight inches. The iPad's screen measures 9.7 inches, unchanged since the first model was released in 2010.

Officials at the component suppliers, who declined to be named, said this week that Apple has told them to prepare for mass production of the smaller tablet. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Apple was testing such a device but hadn't yet decided whether to proceed with production.

One person said the screen makers Apple is working with include LG Display Co. of South Korea and Taiwan-based AU Optronics Co.

An Apple spokeswoman in California declined to comment.

Analysts said a smaller tablet could help Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple maintain its dominance in a market that keeps getting more crowded. Competitors include Samsung Electronics Co. and Amazon.com Inc., while Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. recently unveiled tablet devices.

Last year, the iPad held a 62% share of the world-wide tablet market, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli, which expects overall tablet sales this year to surge 85% to 126.6 million units.

Continue reading.

San Diego Shoots Its Wad: Entire 'Big Bay Boom' Goes Off in 15 Seconds

The ultimate bummer, at KNSD-TV San Diego, "Fireworks Shot Off Early in Bay" (via Memeorandum).

And for the gay sexual abandon, see Towleroad: "It was an embarrassing moment [for] organizers, to be sure, but provides the viewing public with an incredible, though short-lived, orgy of sparkles, crackles and pops."

WikiLeaks Syria Emails

The news on WikiLeaks' Syria emails has rekindled everything about Julian Assange, the rape allegations, and the U.S. government's effort to indict the cyber-terrorist on espionage charges. FYIW, Glenn Greenwald lays out the stakes at the video. Unlike (the goon) Greenwald, I'd love to see an indictment. And see also Telegraph UK, "Wikileaks begins release of 2.4 million emails from Syrian government."

And if you stay with the video to the second half, Greenwald slams the Obama administration on the SB 1070 immigration decision. It's interesting that Greenwald stresses a major victory for Arizona, as the Court upheld the so-called "show your papers" provision of the law. The administration, goes the argument, was hindered in making the case against that element of the law because it has followed an aggressive deportation program, and hence could only oppose SB 1070 on federalist grounds, not on substance. What Greenwald implies, but doesn't say, is that therefore the Justice Deparmtent's attack on Arizona was purely political, since the administration is already working with local law enforcement to apprehend illegals. Of course, Jan Brewer's been arguing along similar lines the whole time, but it's great to hear the admission from an America-bashing leftist.

Anyway, LAT has more on WikiLeaks and I expect there will be much more news on this throughout the day: "WikiLeaks has data from 2.4 million Syrian emails."

Mitt's Messaging Mismatch

Team Romney's botched response to NFIB is at WSJ's lead editorial, "Romney's Tax Confusion" (via Memeorandum).

And Althouse covers the CBS News interview from yesterday, "Mitt Romney says "The Supreme Court has the final word. And their final word is that Obamacare is a tax":

[Reporter Jan] Crawford moves in with the challenge Romney will always have to deal with: You did the same thing in Massachusetts. It this was a tax, then that was a tax. And we expect him always to answer in about the same way: There's a difference between doing something at the federal level and doing it at the state level.

Read it all at the link.

Jewish Anti-Zionists Attack Israel Online

Ben Cohen is one the best writers on the left's hatred of Israel.

Here's his new essay at Commentary, "Attacking Israel Online":

Throughout the greater Middle East, opposition to the concept and existence of a Jewish state is an idée fixe for hundreds of millions of Arab and non-Arab Muslims. A hatred of Jewish political sovereignty that frequently dovetails with more traditional anti-Semitism animates café discussions and street protests as surely as it prohibits regional political progress. Yet the strand of anti-Zionism that has lately come to attract the most attention in the West is the one articulated by a tiny minority of left-wing Jews at a handful of websites.

Full-time antagonists of Israel such as M.J. Rosenberg, Max Blumenthal, Philip Weiss, and Peter Beinart have accumulated an influence that vastly exceeds their single-digit numbers. This is in part due to the financial sponsorship of successful and well-established media institutions. Until March 2012, Rosenberg was employed by Media Matters for America (MMfA) at a salary of some $130,000 per annum. Weiss was supported for years by the Nation magazine’s Nation Institute. Peter Beinart’s new Open Zion blog is hosted by the Daily Beast, an online publication jointly owned by the Harman family and the Internet media giant IAC.

But Rosenberg, Weiss, and Beinart take a different view of their place in the media conversation. They believe themselves to be fearless truth-tellers who actively resist a censorious tribal culture that bulldozes any hint of discord. Rosenberg offered a pithy insight into this in an April 2012 opinion piece for the website of Al Jazeera. After claiming that pro-Israel advocacy organizations were hindering efforts to secure a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, he concluded with an exhortation. “Being pro-Israel means caring about Israel,” wrote Rosenberg, whose career has been built on the fact that he briefly worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee three decades ago. “It does not mean using it as an excuse for power brokering and suppressing dissident voices.”

Dissident voices? Properly understood, the word dissident describes intellectuals and activists operating in oppressive societies. What they do frequently results in imprisonment, torture, and even death. The dissidents of whom Rosenberg speaks so modestly, since they include himself, are not silenced, but rather celebrated, by media establishments ranging from the Huffington Post to the BBC.

The persistent inclusion of these “dissident voices” in discussions of America, Jews, and Israel has proven very useful indeed, since their membership in the tribe is deemed to give them special standing in presenting their indictment of Israel—and, somewhat more subtly, inoculates Gentile critics of the Jewish state against the charge that their attacks on Israel might be anti-Semitic. How can they be if they are merely echoing the arguments made by such passionate, such moral, such fearless, such dissident Jews?

In an Internet age characterized by instant, rolling comment, they have helped to reactivate a set of ideas that many thought had perished with the grubby pamphlets published in the old Soviet Union, screeds that bore titles such as “Zionism: A Tool of Reaction.” Whereas the true dissidents of the Cold War era introduced words such as samizdat into the vocabulary of the West, the ersatz dissidents of the Jewish left have popularized a host of expressions—Judaization, Israel-firster, Zionist apartheid, and so forth—that were once relegated almost entirely to the openly anti-Semitic fringe.

Continue reading.

The Signers of the Declaration Pledged 'To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor', and They Made No Empty Boast

A great essay, from Daniel Flynn, at FrontPage Magazine, "Remembering the Founders' Sacrifice."