Is a Palestinian State Today Economically Viable?

From Professor Michael Curtis, at the Gatestone Institute:

Those who admired the second Intifada, heralded by Yasser Arafat but which generated violence for over two years and halted progress to peace negotiations, will now realize that it was a disaster, a severe blow to the Palestinian economy. The violence only resulted in the West Bank and Gaza suffering a severe economic contraction. Between 1999 and 2002, real GDP fell by 27%. In 2007 real per capita GDP was 23% below the 1999 level. Industry, agriculture, tourism, and some other services declined. Public administration, defense, and public services such as health and education grew from 20% of GDP to more than 27%.

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Caroline Glick: Israel on the Eve of the U.S. Elections

I mentioned that Glick would be speaking in L.A., and here's the clip of her talk:

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

Priorities USA Hasn't Even Come Close to Hitting Bottom Yet

Picking up on my previous post, Allahpundit linked to this Major Garrett interview from late May, at Weekly Standard, "Cancer Ad Just the Beginning: Obama Super PAC Ready to Launch More 'Incendiary' Ads."

It's clear that Obama's prepared to run the nastiest, sleaziest campaign ever. In other words, he'll do anything to win reelection. On the plus side is that conservatives have exposed the lies, and with skill and pluck, Team Romney will pick up the ball and run with it --- hard.

And there's no better time to refocus than this weekend. Romney's apparently ready to announce his VP selection, as Doug Powers reports at Michelle's, "Romney to announce running mate Saturday morning" (via Memeorandum). Who's it going to be? Robert Costa speculates, at National Review, "From Boston to Janesville" (via Memeorandum):

Take note, veep watchers: Earlier today, a charter plane took off in Boston, stopped in Chicago, then flew to the tiny airport in Janesville, Wis. Janesville, of course, is the hometown of Representative Paul Ryan, a top vice-presidential contender. According to a source on the ground, the plane is still in Wisconsin.

Tomorrow morning, Mitt Romney will visit the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va. For what it’s worth, Ryan is scheduled to be on vacation in Colorado.

Costa notes that Mitt's son Tagg Romney was in Wisconsin today for a Sikh ceremony for the families. But Tagg also met with Tim Pawlenty today as well, in New Hampshire, along with John Sununu. I have no clue who it's going to be, but by gosh I hope Mitt's not too cautious. And I especially hope this is wrong: "Romney's potential running mate: Rob Portman."

Check back. I'll be blogging this story like crazy.

ADDED: Before I hit the post button, NBC's Chuck Todd just announced that Romney will pick Paul Ryan.

9:31pm Pacific: Here's this, from The Quinton Report, "UPDATED: Bob McDonnell (or is it Paul Ryan) to be announced as Mitt Romney’s running mate?"

Charles Krauthammer: Obama's 'Scurrilous' Attacks Just Might Be Working

I don't believe the polls. Most of those putting Obama ahead of Romney nationally have oversampled Democrats, and they've ignored crashing voter enthusiasm on the left. If the election were today it'd be a squeaker either way, so we'll see on that count.

What does worry me is Romney's campaign. While I was encouraged a couple of months ago when Hillary Rosen attacked Ann Romney as having "never worked a day in her life," now it's like Groundhog's Day with the refusal of Team Romney to exploit the political gifts they've been handed. And while I'm not down totally with Krauthammer that the public's sucking up to the "cancer" attacks, he's right to note how these dirtbag allegations are sucking the oxygen out of Romney's campaign. Allahpundit offer some Eeyorism on this, "Krauthammer: Let’s face it, the Obama Super PAC’s steelworker smear ad is working."

Via Greg Hengler, let’s wind down the week on the most depressing, eeyorish note possible. (You’re welcome.) Quoth the WSJ, “The entire theory of the Obama campaign seems to be that the more outrageous the claim the better, because the more you repeat it the more the media will talk about it, and the lie will achieve a kind legendary truth.” Yup. That’s Krauthammer’s point exactly, and that’s why, per Major Garrett, Obama’s Super PAC apparently has all sorts of nasty, emotionally charged ads already in the can and ready to roll. If you start from the premise that huge swaths of undecided voters are only half-paying attention even at the best of times, then you can do a lot of damage with an emotional ad that omits key facts...

Continue reading.

And see Michelle Malkin's interview yesterday on Fox & Friends. One can only hope that references to RomneyCare won't be Team Romney's first response to the smears going forward. Sure, there's still about 11 weeks left of the campaign, but time's a-wastin'. Romney needs to hit back twice as hard or these scurrilous attacks will be his doom. More are on the way. They need a battle plan.

More later...

Kenneth Turan Reviews 'The Bourne Legacy'

At the Los Angeles Times, "Review: 'The Bourne Legacy' lives up to its predecessors":

"There was never just one." That advertising tag line for "The Bourne Legacy"has an almost apologetic ring to it, as if making a Bourne film without Matt Damon — the star of the first three and the epitome of the empathetic killing machine that is Jason Bourne — was a brash and risky move.

As it turns out, no one needed to worry, because few films have less to apologize for than this one. Complex, unexpected and dazzling, alternating relentless tension with resonant emotional moments, this is an exemplary espionage thriller that has a strong sense of what it wants to accomplish and how best to get there. And it is impeccably cast, from stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton on down.

Tony Gilroy, the man responsible for this accomplishment, is more than the director and co-writer of "Legacy." Though this is his first time behind the "Bourne" camera, he has written on all four pictures, and is in effect the keeper of the franchise flame. Gilroy knows the underpinnings of this world inside out and appreciates how essential it is to maintain and extend the house style of cool and credible intelligence that marked the previous films.

Continue reading.

Alex Morgan Sports Illustrated Body Painting 2012

The video clip is here.

RELATED: At Business Week, "U.S. Women Secure Third Straight Soccer Gold Medal at Olympics." And the New York Times, "With Women’s Soccer Final, NBC Sports Network Sets a Record."

Fire Fareed Zakaria!

No, don't fire him for his petty (and stupid) pattern of plagiarism and hackery. Zakaria should be out for peddling the bullshit global warming myths at his perch on CNN. See, "Koch-backed scientist now says global warming is real," and "Robert Muller on global warming."

But hey, maybe it won't be long after all until he's out on that plagiarism thing.

See the Huffington Post, "Fareed Zakaria Suspended For Plagiarism: Time, CNN Pundit Apologizes For ‘Terrible Mistake’."

And it turns out that NewsBusters claims the scalp, "UPDATED: Time, CNN Suspend Zakaria | Talk About Concealed Carry: Fareed Zakaria Plagiarized Paragraph on History of Gun Control" (via Memeorandum).

And about that hackery, see the Boston Globe, "Fareed Zakaria’s Harvard, Duke speeches identical."

Zakaria holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, and he's well-regarded for his writing on world politics, if not overrated. A while back, President Obama was photographed carrying a copy of Zakaria's "The Post-American World," which fits right into O's post-American ideology. Indeed, I guess the two get along like boon coons, with Obama rumored to be considering Zakaria for a top diplomatic post in a second Obama administration, "CNN's Fareed Zakaria Being Considered for Diplomatic Post in Obama Second Term - Maybe Secretary of State."

Zakaria now seems assured of getting that gig, since failing upward is pretty much a prerequisite for those holding top positions in O's crony cabinet.

Homosexual Couples Under Pressure to 'Have Children'

Funny, isn't it?

Homosexuals can't "have children." They can adopt them, or they can get a sperm donor and then raise a child that's biologically related to one of the parents, or they can have a surrogate mother bear the child, or they can ... so forth and so on.

All that, but they cannot "have" their own child. Perhaps that's why the New York Times changed its headline, from "Gay Couples Face Pressure to Have Children" to "Male Couples Face Pressure to Fill Cradles."

Folks can read it at that second link, but note this interesting observation at Patheos:

Tellingly, the article has a gaping hole, a kind of journalistic elephant in the room. While the story points out that some states do not allow same sex couples to adopt, there are no critical voices in the piece. At all. No one who might have qualms about the notion of gay parents — for moral, ethical or religious reasons— is heard from.

Well, the Times can't have critical voices of dissent. That'd spoil the left's extremist agenda.

And don't forget, "It Sucks for Children of Same-Sex Couples."

PREVIOUSLY, "Marriage and Procreation: Bodily Union of Spouses," and "Real Marriage is the Union of Husband and Wife."

Pants on Fire: Obama Campaign's Stephanie Cutter Slammed for Blatant Lies on 'Cancerous' Joe Soptic Attack Ad

Here's the clip showing Stephanie Cutter's desperate, despicable lies about coordinating with Priorities USA, via Right Wing News:

The Obama campaign admitted days ago that they had knowledge of Joe Soptic, and of course there's audiotape of Cutter, a blatant liar, talking to the man, "Audio: Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter On Call With Man From Cancer Ad Telling His Story…."

Also, as I pointed out previously, both Joe Soptic ads, from Team Obama and Priorities USA (wearing the same polo shirt), came out at the same time, May 14 and May 15. There's no coincidence there. The Obama campaign was coordinating with the Bill Burton Super PAC.

The RNC's out with a new spot slamming Team O, using Cutter's lies from the CNN clip above, "RNC POUNDS STEPHANIE CUTTER WITH DEVASTATING AD."

And here's this from Dana Loesch, "OBAMA SPOKESWOMAN CONTRADICTS DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER ON SOPTIC AD." Loesch is referring to Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who admitted yesterday that the campaign had knowledge of Soptic.

So, where's the big follow up in the press? I'm sure the Obama lap-dog press would rather bury the story. We're in campaign finance violation territory now, "Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki acknowledged Thursday."

More at Twitchy, "#FireLiarStef: Meet Stephanie Cutter, lying liar who lies."

Who Wins the Gold Medal for Huggiest, Touchiest Sport?

Well, Misty May-Treanor practically did a sex romp on top of Kerry Walsh after they won their third gold medal, but I guess that dynamic duo has a lot of competition.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Group Hug: Which Olympic Sport Wins Gold for Touchiest? Fist Bumps, Bro Hugs and Chest Bumps Proliferate; 'We've Got Each Other's Backs'":

Beach volleyball isn't as huggy as its larger indoor cousin. In their recent match against Italy, Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings racked up one high five, 16 low fives, six double-high and double-low fives, and five bum taps, for a total of 28 touches in the first 25 plays, an average of 1.12.

Read the whole thing.

Lady Gaga Likes Having Sex on the Beach

From Gaga's interview in the September Vogue, reported in the New York Post, "Gaga’s sex on the beach."

Also photos at Billboard, "Lady Gaga's Vogue September Cover: Inspired by RuPaul, Fozzie Bear."

Naked Fisherman Being Circled by Huge Hammerhead Shark Resued After Treading Water for Nearly 24 Hours

This is worth posting for the headline alone. See Australia's Herald Sun, "Fishing rescue turns tragic: One man dead, one safe, one missing."

At least one fisherman has died.

Misty May-Treanor: 2012 Olympics Were 'So Much More About the Friendship, the Togetherness, the Journey...'

One of the great stories of the London Olympics, from USA Today, "May-Treanor, Walsh win third gold in style":

For so long, they've dominated this sport. They've been partners for 11 years, winning three consecutive world championships at one point, and now three consecutive Olympic gold medals to end it all. Of the five gold medals awarded since beach volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1996, May-Treanor and Walsh have won three of them.

The two had been emotional on this court the night before after they clinched a spot in the final. They said this medal means more than the previous two.

"The first two medals, I think it was more volleyball," May-Treanor said. "The friendship we had was there, but it was all 'volleyball, volleyball.' This was so much more about the friendship, the togetherness, the journey. Volleyball was just a small part of it." That's because they're different women then they were four years ago

in Beijing, and certainly different than they were eight years ago in Athens.

RTWT.

Also, at the New York Times, "All-American Ending for Beach Volleyball Team."

The Postmodern President

An editorial, at the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama spent his formative years in academia, so he's no doubt familiar with postmodernism, the literary theory that rejects objective reality and insists instead that everything is a matter of interpretation and relative "truth." At any rate he's running the first postmodern Presidential campaign, now organized almost exclusively around allegations about his opponent that bear no relation to the observable universe.

The most important document of this new approach to politics may be this week's now famous TV commercial in which a man on camera accuses Mitt Romney of killing his wife. (The man's late wife, not Ann.) The spot features a Missouri steelworker called Joe Soptic, who recounts how Bain Capital bought his plant and eventually closed it, costing him his job and health benefits. "A short time after that," he says, Ilyona Soptic was diagnosed with cancer. "I don't know how long she was sick and I think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew we couldn't afford the insurance."

He continues: "There was nothing they could do for her. And she passed away in 22 days. I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone, and furthermore I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned."

It's a sad tale, affectingly told. The production values are also excellent, courtesy of Priorities USA Action, Mr. Obama's super PAC that ostensibly doesn't coordinate with his campaign. But its notions about cause and effect are, well, novel....

Yeah, you might say.

More at that top link.

I think the WSJ editors are being pretty reserved. The folks at IBD just called it out blank: "Obama's Campaign of Lies Reaches Despicable Low."

PREVIOUSLY: "Connecting the Dots on Obama's 'Cancerous' Attack on Mitt Romney."

Sarah Palin Slams Obama's 'Agenda of Deception'

Stephanie Cutter is back on Twitter (folks were getting worried there for a minute), although she cancelled her scheduled Sunday appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Dana Loesch reports, "EMBATTLED STEPHANIE CUTTER DROPS ABC 'THIS WEEK' APPEARANCE."

And here's Sarah Palin on Sean Hannity's, via RCP, "Palin: Obama Should Fire Cutter, Carney, Gibbs And Others" (video).

"He should fire her," Sarah Palin said about Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter. "He should fire others around him who are full of deception like Jay Carney, like Robert Gibbs, others who who represent this agenda of deception."

Also, at The Right Scoop, "Full Sarah Palin interview on Hannity."

City of Arcata Cracks Down on Panhandlers

Arcata's way up in Northern California, an area known for far-left politics.

So this is interesting, "Panhandling in Arcata tests the city's tolerance."

ARCATA, Calif. — Over the years, Patrick Steff has installed vinyl siding, repaired Volkswagens and worked in a pizza parlor. On a recent day, the homeless father of two sat disheveled in this North Coast town's central plaza, citations spread around him.

He has been ticketed for camping in the park and smoking on the square. That morning, a police officer caught him on a downtown sidewalk holding a sign that read: "I could use a little help today."

That's illegal here too if you're within 20 feet of a retail store, intersection, bus stop or bank machine.

"It's like an everyday thing," Steff, 37, said of the reprimands.

Long known as the "Berkeley of the North," Arcata traditionally has welcomed the downtrodden, embraced the leftist fringe and fostered a live-and-let-live ethos. But these days, the square is strangely mainstream.

While one quadrant is still dotted with homeless nappers, the immaculate lawn is populated by families with toddlers and its benches have become a prime lunch spot for working folks.

Behind the transformation is a host of factors that send itinerants a new message: Don't come here.

In addition to the anti-panhandling measure — which is facing a constitutional challenge — a sales tax hike paid for two rangers whose job is to roust campers from the city's parks and forestland, as well as enforce behavior on the plaza: No smoking. No skateboarding. No drinking. No dogs.

No skateboarding? The outrage!

Continue reading.

Also, an editorial at the Times, "Arcata's Overbroad Law on Panhandling."

Anaheim Rejects District Elections

At the Los Angeles Times, "Anaheim City Council votes down district election proposal."

I wrote on this previously, "Anaheim's Political Segregation."

Also, "Social Unrest Exposes Long-Simmering Ethnic Divisions in Anaheim." I mentioned how communist Amy Goodman was elbowing into the conversation, and here's hardline communist Michael Prysner of International ANSWER, the asshole:

American Sunrise PAC Attacks Rep. Allan West as Battering Women

Via The Shark Tank, "Super PAC Attack Ad Depicts Allen West Punching White Women."

RELATED: At Legal Insurrection, "Contribute to the Allen West boxing fund."

Robert Pattinson 'Drunk Dialing' Kristen Stewart

Shoot, and I thought the guy was handling this really well.

At Fox News, "Robert Pattinson is 'drunk dialing' Kristen Stewart, report says" (via Instapundit).

I guess he longs for the long legs.

PREVIOUSLY: "Kristen Stewart Cheating Scandal."

U.S. Gymnast Alexandra Raisman: Gold Medal Routine Was Tribute to Israeli Athletes Murdered at 1972 Munich Olympics

At London's Daily Mail, "U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman reveals gold medal tribute to victims of the 1972 Munich terror attack." (Via Doug Ross.)

Raisman is Jewish --- and a real class act. She performed to Hava Nagila, a traditional Hebrew song used at weddings and so forth.

PREVIOUSLY: "Alexandra Raisman Wins Gold Medal in Floor Exercise."