It's Legal to Walk Around Topless in New York

That is, it's legal to go around topless if you're a woman. Elsewhere, not so much, which makes this a civil rights issue.

Glenn Reynolds has more, "FEMINISM: A Woman’s Topless Fight For Equality."

Video here: "Moira Johnston: Topless in NYC."

At Least 7 Dead in Sikh Temple Shooting in Wisconsin

This is awful.

At the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal, "At least 7 dead, including shooter, at Sikh Temple."

At least seven people were killed, including one shooter, just after 10 a.m. Sunday at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, police said.

Four of the dead were inside the temple at 7512 S. Howell Ave. and three of the dead, including a shooter, were outside the temple.

A police SWAT team entered the building before noon and brought uninjured people out of the building at 7512 S. Howell Ave.

They started removing injured people from the temple's prayer room.

SWAT team members were still sweeping the building about 1 p.m. and an explosion was heard from the building at that time. It was unclear what the explosion was.

About six gunshots were heard at 2:30 p.m. in the area. The shots appeared to be coming from the temple.

The first officer on the scene Sunday morning encountered an active shooter and exchanged fire with him, according to Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt who briefed media on the scene.

The shooter went down and is believed to be dead, said Wentlandt. He said authorities had no evidence of a second shooter.

Check the thread at Memeorandum as well.

So far progressives haven't blamed the tea party, but ... Oh wait, here's Kathleen Geier, at The Washington Monthly:

No details have yet been been released about the gunman, but it seems reasonable to suspect that the shooting was racially motivated. I’d say the odds are good that the shooter was some idiot who believed that Sikhs are Muslims (and that Muslims, of course, are all terrorists).

Right. No details. Just like Brian Ross had no details on the Aurora shooter, but went ahead anyway and fingered the tea party. And who would be most likely to attack Muslims? Why, conservatives, of course. Because progressives just love them some Islamofascism!

Also at Blazing Cat Fur, "Reports of shooting at Sikh Temple..."

Expect updates...

2:26pm Pacific: At The Other McCain, "‘It’s Pretty Much a Hate Crime’ — Seven Reported Dead in Sikh Temple Shooting UPDATE: Act of ‘Domestic Terrorism’."

2:39pm Pacific: At The Lede, "Reports from the Scene of Shooting at Sikh Temple."

2:41pm Pacific: And from the comments at Raw Story:

They should arrest Michelle Bachmann, Frank Gaffney, Trent Franks, Louie Gohmert, Thomas Rooney, Lynn Westmoreland, John Bolton, and Glen Beck as accomplices.

2:48pm Pacific: Still little is known about the shooter, but here from Sarah Betancourt at Liberaland:

Online forums are rampant with racist comments about Muslims. Sikhs don’t practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say. According to a CBS report, “Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment.”

5:35pm Pacific: At Lonely Conservative, "Sikh Temple Shooting Already Being Blamed on Republicans."

6:10pm Pacific: At Sooper Mexican, "How to Politicize a Tragedy."

Rule 5 Sunday

Bob Belvedere's got a nice entry, "Rule 5 Saturday: Shay Maria."

And at The Other McCain, "You Had Me at ‘Boobs’."

More at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See…is the flag of the world’s most Evil carbon polluter, you might just be a Warmist." (Hot!) Also, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

Also, at Eye of Polyphemus, "Gillian Anderson."

Checking over at Proof Positive, here's: "Friday Night Babe ... Arianny Celeste!"

And from Randy's Roundtable, "Midweek Rule 5 Break: Katy Perry."

Now, in political news, at Teresamerica, "Jenna Jameson Supports Mitt Romney Rule 5."

Plus, Guns and Bikinis, "Texas Longhorn Girl." And from Wirecutter, "Who doesn't love summer?"

More, at The Last Tradition, "Rule 5 Sunday - Katy Jurado, starred in Westerns of 50s and 60s 1st Latina American nominated for Academy Award."

And from last week's Rule 5 from Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday: Neha Dhupia."

BONUS: From WyBlog, "Some Rule 5 for the ladies: Tim Tebow, shirtless, in the rain."

EXTRA: At Theo's, "Sunday Totty."

Marisa Miller Expecting Baby Boy

In important celebrity news, at People Magazine, "Marisa Miller’s Blog: I’m Having a Boy!"

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Stockholm and the Information Battlespace

Pamela fights for freedom in Sweden, and confronts neo-fascism and a left-wing media apparatus willingly aiding it.

At Atlas Shrugs, "Anna Ringstrom of Reuters: Freedom Equals Racism."

First of all, we were "outnumbered" because we had to conduct our rally surrounded by police vans and police in riot gear -- not because we were violent, but because of the bloodthirsty leftist hoodlums who were screaming their bloodlust and doing everything they could to break through the police lines and do physical harm to the freedom fighters present. Many people told us they were afraid to come, or they'd get fired if they came. Some told us afterward that they wanted to come but couldn't get through the leftist hooligans and the police. So then Reuters reports this as our rally being "outnumbered" -- as if there was simply no interest. Yet when we had tens of thousands at Ground Zero to stand for freedom against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque, they ignored it or severely underreported the attendance. Anything to defame our freedom movement.

PREVIOUSLY: "The War for Freedom on the Streets of Stockholm."

Wall Street Journal Weekend Interview: Martin Peretz, 'Obama Is a Child of the New Left'

And interesting interview with Marty Peretz, at WSJ, "Martin Peretz: From Truman to McGovern to Obama":

Is it too late for the president to visit Israel and mend fences? "Obama can't visit Israel," Mr. Peretz responds. "The Israeli public is uncontrollable. There would be a lot of unpleasantness. If he visited the Knesset—the Knesset is one of the most rambunctious parliaments in the world."

Such rapprochement, moreover, is foreclosed by Mr. Obama's indifference to the basic Zionist ideal, which was on full display in his 2009 Cairo speech to the Muslim world. There Mr. Obama cited the Holocaust—not millennia of Jewish ties to the land—as the basis for Israel's legitimacy. "It took him three-and-a-half years to get to the point where he could recite some version of Zionist narrative," Mr. Peretz sighs. "My father first went to Palestine in 1912"—that is, three decades before the destruction of European Jewry and the establishment of Israel.

All this stands in jarring contrast to the Democratic Party's foreign-policy traditions, Mr. Peretz argues. "You know, I disagreed with Bill Clinton on some things and I didn't disagree with him on others," Mr. Peretz recalls. But Mr. Clinton's administration "was in the deep tradition of the Roosevelt-Truman idea." He concludes: "In any case, I think the Democratic Party was restored to a center role. Yes, it took a lot for the Clinton administration to rescue Bosnia. And it took a lot for the Democrats to admit to a mistake in Somalia." But they eventually did both.

"We're now in a new era," Mr. Peretz warns. "I think that Obama is a child, or maybe let's say a grandchild, of the New Left, with casual moral judgments made about very intricate ethical alternatives." Later he thunders: "Leading by following—it's really a sick phrase."

Obama's a progressive asshole, that's what he is. Screw the f-ker.

Mitt Romney Will Be a Different Kind of President

At the Weekly Standard, "Ad: 'Romney Will Be a Different Kind of President—a Strong Leader Who Stands By Our Allies'."

More at CNN, "Team Romney lambasts Obama in two new ads." (Via Memeorandum.)

The second ad is here: "It's Just Not Getting Better."

Anaheim's Political Segregation

More on the recent crisis in Anaheim, at LAT, "In Anaheim, voting by district could alter the power dynamic."

The discussion is basic. Anaheim still uses at-large council elections, which politically disenfranchise the city's Hispanic majority. But especially interesting is the accompanying graphic, "Anaheim's racial and economic distribution." The 55 Freeway is the Newport Beach Freeway. Southbound takes you right down to Newport Beach and the Balboa Peninsula. Northbound the freeway ends at the 91 Freeway, which goes East and West. Heading East takes you to Riverside and San Bernadino and beyond. That stretch of Anaheim at the right of the graph is very affluent, one of the more prestigious parts of Orange County. It's a foothill area with winding roads and horseback riding --- a rural feel. Folks with money have moved up there for decades. When I was in high school in the '70s, Anaheim Hills High had a truly snooty reputation. South Anaheim over by Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium is resort-oriented with business and industry sprinkled throughout. It's the north part of Anaheim where there's lots of moderate and lower income families, with heavy minority populations. Lots of gang activity as well, it turns out. As I mentioned previously, the images from all the rioting reminded me of Santa Ana's demographics.

In any case, read it all at that top link.

And here's this from the New York Times a couple of days ago, "Fury Reveals Deep Rifts Near 'Happiest Place on Earth'."

PREVIOUSLY: "Social Unrest Exposes Long-Simmering Ethnic Divisions in Anaheim."

Change

Via Marathon Pundit:

RELATED: The Los Angeles Times tries desperately to spin last week's rise in unemployment, "Jobs report provides little to sway voters either way."

Even now, a great majority of voters already have made up their minds between President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. By fall, as the remaining voters make their choices, the din of the campaigns, the presidential debates and whatever other news develops can be expected to drown out any but the most dramatic economic statistics.

As a result, the monthly release of jobs data probably has now begun to wane in importance. That leaves the contest on unsettled ground, with the economy not strong enough to guarantee the president's reelection nor weak enough to doom his prospects.

Well, perhaps. What the jobs report does is give the Romney camp a huge inventory of ammunition to destroy the president's bogus story line. More on that at the Weekly Standard, "Go for the Gold, Mitt!":

Mitt Romney will have many opportunities over the next three months to demonstrate to voters that they should choose him over Barack Obama: his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, the three presidential debates, major policy addresses, and more. But it may be that nothing will speak louder than his selection of a running mate.

Voters seem to care. In a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, 74 percent of registered voters said the selection of a running mate will matter—48 percent saying it matters “somewhat” and 26 percent saying it matters “a lot.” In a close election, as this one seems likely to be, Romney’s pick could help determine the outcome.

It’s not the first time we’ve said it, but it could well be the last: Go bold, Mitt! Pick Paul Ryan, the Republican party’s intellectual leader, the man who’s laid out the core of the post-Obama policy agenda and gotten his colleagues in Congress to sign on to it. Or pick Marco Rubio, the GOP’s most gifted young politician, the man who embodies what is best about the Tea Party and a vision of a broad-based Republican governing majority of the future. Barack Obama was right about this (if only this): Modern democratic politics is about hope and change. Ryan and Rubio, more than anyone else, embody Republican hopes and conservative change.

Also, at The Other McCain, "GIVE US RYAN!"

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Pump Up the London 2012 Olympics

And also Prince Harry of Wales.

At Telegraph UK, "William, Kate and Harry’s Olympic effort to 'sell' UK to the world":

Their daily presence at Olympic events sporting Team GB polo shirts has seen the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry emerge as the most visible brand ambassadors for UK plc during the Games.

While all three share a keen interest in sport, the royal trio, who have attended up to four Olympic events a day while also meeting with foreign dignitaries and international business figures, have embarked on a dedicated push to “sell” the UK to the world during and beyond the Olympic Games.

A royal aide said: “The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry have been throwing themselves into the Olympics with gusto as they recognise that the Games provides a unique moment for the country to sell itself and they recognise they are in a unique position to represent the nation to our friends and partners around the world.”

The Duke and Duchess plan to further consolidate their high profile drive to boost the British economy during their Diamond Jubilee tour of Singapore and Malaysia next month, when they will visit a new Rolls Royce aircraft engine manufacturing plant in Singapore, opened by the Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year.

The Violent Ideology of Revolutionary Theorist Slavoj Žižek

There's no pullout quotes at John Gray's essay, at the New York Review, "The Violent Visions of Slavoj Žižek." Read it all at the link.

Žižek thinks both Hitler and Stalin were pantywaists, although he says both Mao and Pol Pot were on the right track. At the piece he's pictured with a poster of Joseph Stalin above his bed, although he calls himself a Leninist, as Lenin proclaimed violence and terror as essential to the revolutionary project. In other words, the guy's all over the place, blatantly obscene ideologically (especially on the Jews), and a hero for the contemporary radical left --- which figures.

PREVIOUSLY: "Lady Gaga Attracts Marxist Philosopher Slavoj Žižek (and Vice Versa)."

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

Rumors Follow Everywhere You Go...

Enjoy The Gin Blossoms, "Found Out About You":

And check the live clip here, from a concert in Phoenix following the Gabrielle Giffords shooting last year.

California Finds Additional $119 million in Accounts

That's a lot of money.

At LAT, "California finds $119 million more in untapped funds":

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown's administration on Friday announced that $119 million more in untapped money was found in a sweeping audit of state accounts, bringing to more than $286.5 million the sum lawmakers were unaware of as they repeatedly cut government services.

The new discovery includes about $30 million for healthcare programs, almost $29 million for reimbursing crime victims and $12.5 million for cleaning up underground petroleum tanks. It follows revelations that nearly $113 million was languishing in a recycling program funded with consumers' bottle deposits and $54 million had gone unreported by state parks officials.

It's unclear how much of the money identified in the audit, launched last month in the wake of the parks scandal, could have been used to plug the state's deficit. Brown and lawmakers cut more than $1 billion from healthcare in the budget the governor signed five weeks ago.

On Friday, Brown, who had threatened to close 70 parks to help balance the budget, proposed using $20 million of the newfound funds for park maintenance and for matching the private donations that ultimately kept the parks open.

It's a circus up there.

And that's the people's money, not the state's. Government has lost the trust of people, and this is just one more example. $286.5 million. My goodness. We might be able to keep a couple of programs open, you think?

The Ladies Do It Right on 'National Kiss-In Day'!

Via Doug Mataconis on Twitter.

Jared Loughner to Plead Guilty in Giffords Shooting

At the Los Angeles Times, "Jared Loughner to plead guilty in Tucson shooting, sources say."

WASHINGTON — Jared Lee Loughner is set to plead guilty Tuesday in the shooting attack that severely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to knowledgeable sources, as mental health officials believe he is now competent to understand the charges against him in the assault, which killed six people and injured 13 at a gathering with the congresswoman’s constituents in Tucson.

At the hearing Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Tucson, psychiatric experts who have examined Loughner, 23, are scheduled to testify that they have concluded that despite wide swings in his mental capacity, at this time he comprehends what happened and acknowledges the gravity of the charges, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was still unfolding.

Via Memeorandum.

The left immediately politicized the killings, with the depraved TBogg at Firedoglake announcing, "Fuck it, I'm going there."

And flashback to Glenn Reynolds, "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel":

Those who purport to care about the tenor of political discourse don't help civil debate when they seize on any pretext to call their political opponents accomplices to murder.

They don't really care about civil discourse, of course.

Repsac3, Apologist for Homosexual Criminals, Remorselessly Defends Left's Hateful Intimidation and Vandalism on 'National Kiss-In Day'

From the despicable hate-blogger and fascist Walter James Casper III:

In almost all political & social groups, violent & disrespectful members are the exception...despite what partisan propagandists say.
— J. Casper (@repsac3) August 5, 2012

The "partisan propagandists" are the creeps in the left-wing media who refuse to report accurately on what's going on. But as soon as there's any kind of gun violence, these same people are off the blocks with allegations of "the tea party did it!"

Previously: "Repsac3, Hate-Addled Internet Predator, Screams 'Liar' at Virtually Entire World on Politicization of Colorado Shooting." Plus, "When Even Sick Left-Wing Sites Like 'Wonkette' Want Brian Ross Fired, Despicable Hate-Blogger Repsac3 Attacks Michelle Malkin as 'Whiney Wingnut Victim'."

Caroline Glick, Scoop Jackson Lecture: The U.S, Israel and the Arab Revolution

She's awesome. Via Theo Spark:

The War for Freedom on the Streets of Stockholm

Pamela reports:

Today heralded the dawning of a new era of cooperation between pro-freedom groups in Europe, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. Freedom fighters from around the world converged in Stockholm to stand with one voice against oppression, tyranny and fascism. And the fascist thugs were out in force: police at one point found a suspicious package from the Leftists, and examined it out of concern that it was a bomb. It turned out to be a large firecracker, but clearly the Left-fascist who left it wanted police to think it was a bomb, and to create an atmosphere of menace and terror so that people would be too frightened to attend our event.

Continue reading.

Also at Blazing Cat Fur, "Leftist Violence erupts at anti-Islam protest in Sweden."

'Tolerant' Homosexuals Berate Black Man Reading Bible Nearby 'Kiss In' at Chick-fil-A Chicago

Chicago values.

For the life of me, I can't understand how homosexuals think they're building support for their agenda.

From Anne Sorock, at Legal Insurrection, "Chicago Chick-fil-A Kiss-In protesters “chalk” homeless street preacher."

America's Navy: A Global Force for Good

Here's the "Power" advertisement that ran this week during the Olympics: