Helen Gurley Brown, Former Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, Dead at 90

The New York Times reports, "Helen Gurley Brown, Who Gave Cosmopolitan Its Purr, Is Dead at 90" (via Memeorandum). And at Blazing Cat Fur, "Helen Gurley Brown, longtime Cosmopolitan editor, dies at 90."

You can't miss Cosmo at the supermarket check-out lines.

And I can remember, when I was younger, my sisters usually had some copies of Cosmo around the house. I think it's basically an institution, more so than perhaps any other women's magazine.

It's interesting, though, that a lot of conservative women who comment here revile Cosmo. I've posted a couple of Cosmo covers as Rule 5 entries and those seem to generate comments on how vile the feminist movement has become regarding the sexual liberation of women. And there was an essay out a few days ago from Emily Esfahani Smith, who just hammers the magazine, "Cosmo Magazine’s “Wholesome Values”." There's no key pullout quote (the piece itself is mostly quotes) but the bottom line is "wholesome values" for Cosmo is sex, and lots of it.

Clicking over at Cosmo's homepage bears it out, for example, "How to Find Your G-Spot," and "75 Crazy-Hot Sex Moves." According to Esfahani Smith, Helen Gurley Brown laid out a philosophy of sex for the magazine. The magazine ostensibly pushes sex within relationships, between a woman and her boyfriend and between man and wife, and plenty of it, carefree and wild. (And not between two men or two women, thank goodness!) But Esfahani Smith doesn't buy it: "Are these seriously what pass for wholesome values these days?" And she's got a post from April on Cosmo's "values" as well, "“The” Sex Issue of Cosmo." Lots of recent Cosmo covers at that link. Personally, I was a little surprised when Selena Gomez made the cover of the March issue. She's 20 years-old now, so that's fine. The problem is that Selena still appears on Disney Channel's "The Wizards of Waverly Place." I'd expect a lot of parents might find contradictory messages between what Cosmo's selling and that of Disney. (And that reminds me, Scott Eric Kaufman libelously attacks conservative Rule 5 bloggers for alleged pedophilia should they post pics of those so-called 20 year-old "underage" hotties, the f-king loser.)

In any case, I'm not hung up on the feminist angle. It's up to parents to police their kids, and I'm against teens having sex until they're 18 years-old --- and for the record, I have a teenager who goes by that rule.

Oh, and that's Ashley Greene at the picture above, on the August cover. The Daily Mail had pics of her the other day, "How low can you go... Ashley Greene shows off her ample cleavage in a black maxi dress."

MORE at Mediagazer.

Campaigns Spar Over Medicare

#RomneyRyan 2012 on the attack, at Buzzfeed, "In Florida, Romney Hits Obama For Cutting Medicare" (via Memeorandum).

And the neo-socialist Obama campaign is out with a new ad, seen at USA Today, "Obama targets Ryan (and Romney) on Medicare."

Plus, Michelle Fields provides some reality for the reality-based community:

BONUS: Here's Paul Ryan's piece from 2010, "A road map to saving Medicare."

The Triumph of Britain's Olympic Games

At Telegraph UK, "London's brilliant, beautiful Games was the very best of British - it enthralled us all."

And at Independent UK, "London 2012 Olympics: A nation whose sense of itself has been utterly transformed."

IMAGE CREDIT: Sky News on Twitter.

Anderson Cooper's Boyfriend Ben Maisani Caught Slurping Kissing Another Homosexual in New York

It's the hidden secret of the radical homosexual left: extreme promiscuity. While certainly some homosexuals are monogamous, the fact remains that gay sexual abandon has defined the homosexual liberation movement. Indeed, David Horowitz referred to male homosexuals as "plague abettors," considering the legacy of the AIDS holocaust that hit San Francisco's bathhouse scene in the 1980s.

Old habits die hard, no doubt. See London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE: Look away now Anderson! Cooper's boyfriend spotted kissing another man in New York park."

Also at Radar Online, "Anderson Cooper’s Boyfriend Caught Kissing Another Man In New York Park."

Romney Goes Back to Basics with Ryan

An op-ed from Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today (via Instapundit):

With trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, and the exploding national debt (which Obama called unconscionable when it was about half as big as it has become under his stewardship) it seems time for a Back To Basics approach. And that's clearly the direction favored by Romney, the turnaround artist who specialized in taking mismanaged entities and making them work. His choice of Ryan simply takes it to a new level. As Internet humorist IowaHawk tweeted on Saturday: "Paul Ryan represents Obama's most horrifying nightmare: Math."

Yes, math. Ryan is the expert on the often Byzantine complexities of the federal budget. His budget proposal last year, though rejected by Democrats in the Senate, represented a serious effort to rein in runaway spending. The only cogent criticism, really, was that it didn't go far enough.

In fact, the math shows our spending is unsustainable. Nothing can save it: Not higher taxes, not lower interest rates on federal borrowing, not financial jiggery-pokery from the Fed. If we continue on this path, the result will be disaster: We'll be Greece, with nuclear weapons.

Romney's selection of Ryan shows that he understands the dire nature of the problem, and that he's serious about addressing it. But it also lays down a marker.

If Americans take the future of their country seriously, they'll reject the Obama approach, which has been disastrous, and elect Romney-Ryan, along with a substantial number of fiscally conservative members of Congress. That will give America a chance to avoid financial ruin.

RTWT.

Romney's Decision Reframes Race as Battle of Ideologies

I just love the framework of this piece from Maeve Reston, at the Los Angeles Times, "Romney's choice of Ryan reframes campaign."

Take a stroll over at Daily Kos for some quick confirmation.

Here's ABC's report from Friday night when the news broke:

National Stagnation or Renewal? Why Romney Picked Ryan

From Kim Strassel, at the Wall Street Journal, "Why Romney Chose Ryan":

His running mate offers Romney the opportunity to explain to Americans that they have a choice between national stagnation and renewal.

Mitt Romney did much more this weekend than announce a running mate. He unveiled a significant change in strategy. The 2012 election is now a choice, not just a referendum.

Conservatives have spent much of this summer reassuring themselves. They've pointed out the extraordinary sums President Obama has thrown at crippling Mr. Romney. They've noted how ugly and brutal those attacks have been. They've comforted themselves that, for all the smears, Mr. Romney is within a few points of the incumbent in national tracking polls.

Yet the same can be said on the other side. The economy is teetering, the deficit exploding, the nation unhappy with his signature legislation. Daily, Mr. Romney beats the White House with these failures. But he has barely moved the polling dial.

Mr. Romney's choice of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, one of the party's star reformers, is an attempt to break out of the stalemate, change the dynamic. It was foremost a shrewd acknowledgment on Mr. Romney's part that his path to the White House is going to take more than pointing out the obvious. He needs to run on bold ideas, as Mr. Ryan has, and convince Americans those ideas are the way to prosperity.

In fairness, the Romney campaign had the elements in place. It's taken some time, but Mr. Romney today is sporting a fairly bold reform agenda, from his tax cuts to his Medicare reforms, to his vow to end ObamaCare. And the candidate has been dutifully repeating that this election is a choice between two very different futures for the country. Yet his policy and his words were largely lost amid his campaign's intense focus on the president.

Mr. Ryan provides the crucial shift in emphasis, the opportunity to go on offense. We will now have a focus on, and explanation of, the choice between stagnation and renewal. This is what Mr. Ryan excels at—not just crafting ideas, but explaining them in a positive and serious way. This ability is why the congressman—despite his supposedly extremist reform blueprint and budget (says the left)—has continued to win a district that in 2010 went for Mr. Obama.

Continue reading.

CBS News' Nancy Cordes Shills For Obama On-Air and On Twitter

That's Larry O'Connor's headline at Breitbart.

Cordes' Twitter feed is here. Her tweets do seem a bit one-sided, but it's her interview with Stephanie Cutter yesterday that's the real giveaway. It's twelve minutes long and she completely let Cutter off hook. The Obama camp is embroiled in some of the biggest campaign lies in years and not a peep from Cordes, who was sitting in for Bob Schieffer. Recall that Cutter skipped out on a Sunday "This Week" appearance. No doubt even Democrat George Stephanopoulos would have come down harder on Cutter than Cordes does here. But that's to be expected from these in-the-tank "journalists." What's not to be expected --- and frankly what shouldn't be tolerated --- is Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom's lame debate performance. He should have been out of the gate mercilessly attacking Cutter's lies. He broached the subject, hitting on O's gutter politics, but that's not enough. My only explanation is that Mitt put the word out to forget about it. Perhaps Romney himself is planning to call out Barack on it directly. Who knows? The fact remains that you can't let these people get away with this stuff. To his credit, also yesterday morning, Stephanopoulos took it to top Obama strategist David Axelrod, who would not say that the president condemns the bogus "cancer" attacks on Romney. Seriously. The entire campaign has yet to condemn the ads. They can't. The Joe Soptic attacks came from the top. They're clearly endorsed by Barack, who had his former aide Bill Burton produce them through Priorities USA. It's a scam, and likely campaign finance violations are involved as well, which is one more reason that you just gotta pound these people on these f-king lies.

Also at Red Alert Politics, "Journalistic malpractice on Face the Nation," and Twitchy, "Lapdog alert: After ditching ‘This Week,’ Stephanie Cutter not questioned about scandal on ‘Face the Nation’."

'Wide Awake'

It's my wife's turn for a video request. I mentioned previously that she likes Katy Perry, so here you go, "Wide Awake":

BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Smoking hot: Katy Perry takes the plunge in a petal playsuit as she puffs on cigarette outside the cinema."

Jennie Garth Looks Great in New Old Navy Commercial

It's been running during the Olympics.

See AdWeek, "Jennie Garth and Luke Perry Join Old Navy's '90210' Campaign."

#RomneyRyan2012 in Wisconsin

At ABC News, "Paul Ryan Chokes Up at Wisconsin Homecoming Rally."

A full video clip is here.

Plus, at Instapundit, "PUNCHING BACK TWICE AS HARD: Romney responds to heckler in Wisconsin, then tells Obama to get his campaign out of the gutter."

And see the Los Angeles Times, "For Wisconsin rally crowd, Romney-Ryan is a dream team."

Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Interview on '60 Minutes' (VIDEO)

They're a great team.

And Ryan remarks how he and his family have given their lives to public service. That's an honorable thing. You don't abandon conservative principles by running for elective office or working in the public sector, as some vile progressives expect at risk of hypocrisy. No, Ryan's made it his calling to apply his values to the public sphere, in hopes of improving society and making our country better for future generations. Progressive don't care about improving society. All they care about is expanding government and obtaining and holding political power in veneration of the state.

Lonely Conservative has more, "Video: Romney and Ryan’s 60 Minutes Interview."

Mitt Romney's Nazi Torture Cult

At the People's Cube, "Dems' Epic Smears - Romney's Nazi Torture Cult."

RELATED: "Despicable Debbie Wasserman Schultz Claims Ignornance on Priorities USA's Close Democrat Ties."

Syrian Rebels Throw Dead Postal Workers from Rooftops (VIDEO)

Looks like this story checks out.

At Vlad Tepes, "Syrian ‘rebels’ throw the bodies of murdered postal employees off the roof in Alepo Syria":

Here is a link to the video. I did not want to post the video directly here. Its too harsh even for Vlad.

The link goes to Russia Today, "Syrian atrocity: Bodies of postal workers thrown from roof (GRAPHIC VIDEO)."

And Blazing Cat Fur's not shy about it, "Graphic Content: Syrian Rebels Toss Bodies From Rooftop." And neither am I:

Sunday Cartoons

From William Warren:

And see Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

BONUS: From William Jacobson, "A.F. Branco joins Legal Insurrection (first cartoon, Harry Politics)."

Fake Journalist Joan Walsh Attacks Paul Ryan as 'Randian Poseur'

One of the most revealing progressive attacks against conservatives is that they're allegedly hypocrites for receiving government funding, through employment or benefits, or what not. Either that, or they have ties to conservative non-profits or think tank "wingnut welfare" organizations. Basically, you can't be against ever-expanding government on principle because you're on the government's dole. By that logic, anyone who works in government is a mere robot, an Orwellian automaton. The racist misogynist anti-Christian bigot TBogg of Firedoglake routinely attacks conservative professors along these lines, as if slavish obedience to leftist neo-socialism is a prerequisite for a teaching job. And now here comes the repugnant Salon sleazebag Joan Walsh smearing veep nominee Paul Ryan as free-market hypocrite and wingnut welfare freeloader who's worked his entire life in government. See, "Paul Ryan: Randian poseur" (via Memeorandum). Read it all at the link. I told Ms. Walsh how I felt about her slimeball hackery in Twitter, here and here.

BONUS: There's the added debate on whether Ryan's a full-on Ayn Rand acolyte. He may have been at one time, but he's apparently sworn off his ideological affinity for the late "Atlas Shrugs" author. He said, for example, that he ultimately rejected Rand's Objectivism as an "atheist philosophy" --- which makes sense, given that Ryan's Catholic. More at the Atlantic, "How to Tell Paul Ryan Wants to Be Veep: He's Rejected His Former Idol Ayn Rand."

Radical leftists despise Ayn Rand because she accurately explained the destruction of societies from the ravenous, rapacious maul of the endlessly mooching entitlement state. Paul Ryan wants to downsize the left's neo-socialist rape-culture government. And the progressives will do anything to stop him.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

New Kelly Brook Video Clip From Keith Lemon's Forthcoming 'The Film'

Good stuff, from "Keith Lemon: The Film."

'Now, Everybody Put On Their Game Face, and Let's Go Kick Some Butt...'

That's a quote from Robert Stacy McCain, who responds to Allahpundit, "C-3PO Raids the Death Star."

And lots more at The Other McCain, for example, "New Video From #RomneyRyan Campaign: ‘America’s Comeback Team’."

And Robert's getting ready for a road trip. Hit the tip jar if you can, "#RomneyRyan Ohio: Shout It Out Loud!"

Despicable Debbie Wasserman Schultz Claims Ignornance on Priorities USA's Close Democrat Ties

First, kudos to John Roberts for calling her out on this. He mentions by name former White House deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, who is now a senior strategist with Priorities USA Action and Priorities USA. But just look at little lying Debbie. Not only does she claim ignorance on the partisan affiliation of Priorities USA, she doubles down on the "cancer" ad attacks, which have been repudiated across the board.

This is your modern Democrat Party in bold relief, via Instapundit:

See also Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, "Video: DNC Chair “doesn’t know” party affiliation of Obama Super PAC":

Okay, Ms. Wasserman Schultz. We get it. Everyone in both campaigns has to pretend they aren’t coordinating with their friends, colleagues and relatives in the Super PACs to avoid running afoul of the law. (A law, by the way, which is working brilliantly, as long as none of the tens of thousands of political operatives, candidates and elected officials living today would ever consider being dishonest or deliberately obfuscatory.) But you’re seriously going to sit there on national TV and claim that you have no clue about the party affiliation of Bill Burton? You remember Bill, right? The former White House Deputy Press Secretary? I’m guessing this little episode has something to do with a new hashtag trending on Twitter… #DebbieDoesntKnow

And at NewsBusters, "Wasserman-Schultz: 'I Have No Idea' Of Political Affiliation Of People Behind Ad Blaming Romney For Woman's Death":

Serious question: is there anything—anything!—Debbie Wasserman-Schultz won't say to promote Barack Obama?

No, there is no lie too disgusting for her. What's amazing is that there are oodles and oodles of lying gasbags just like her across the Democrat-progressive complex. You're looking at the prototype of the modern Democrat Party woman. It's perfect.

More at The Hill, "DNC chairwoman: Obama super-PAC ad raises fair questions" (via Memeorandum).

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi Ousts Top Military Chiefs

At the New York Times, "In Upheaval for Egypt, Morsi Forces Out Military Chiefs" (via Memeorandum):

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt forced the retirement on Sunday of his powerful defense minister, the army chief of staff and several senior generals, in a stunning purge that seemed for the moment to reclaim for civilian leaders much of the political power the Egyptian military had seized since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year.

Mr. Morsi also nullified a constitutional declaration, issued by the military before he was elected, that eviscerated the powers of the presidency and arrogated to the military the right to enact laws. It was not immediately clear whether he had the constitutional authority to cancel that decree.

In a news conference broadcast about 5 p.m., Mr. Morsi’s spokesman, Yasser Ali, announced the retirements of the defense minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, and the army chief of staff, Sami Anan. He said that both men would serve as advisers to the president, suggesting that they had acquiesced to the plan.

Mr. Morsi also named a senior judge, Mahmoud Mekki, as his vice president. During the Mubarak era, Mr. Mekki fought for judicial independence and spoke out frequently against voting fraud. The president also replaced the commanders of the Navy, Air Force and air defense.

Continue reading.

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Muslim Brotherhood President sacks Egyptian military command." And The Astute Bloggers, "UH-OH: MORSI AND MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SWIFTLY PURGE THE MILITARY" (via Memeorandum).