Richie Havens: 'Here Comes the Sun...'

Via William Jacobson, "RIP – Richie Havens."

Also at Rolling Stone, "Richie Havens, Folk Icon, Dead at 72."

The Evil in Boston

From Bret Stephens, at the Wall Street Journal:

I have my own experience of what a bombing of this sort looks like. In January 2004 I was living in Jerusalem when a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus down the street from my apartment. I was on the scene in about three minutes.

"The ground was covered in glass; every window of the bus had been blasted," I wrote later that day. "Inside the wreckage, I could see three very still corpses and one body that rocked back and forth convulsively. Outside the bus, another three corpses were strewn on the ground, one face-up, two face-down. There was a large piece of torso ripped from its body, which I guessed was the suicide bomber's. Elsewhere on the ground, more chunks of human flesh: a leg, an arm, smaller bits, pools of blood."

Rereading these lines all these years later, I'm struck by how far they fall short of capturing my memory of the event, of the experience of it. But human carnage is beyond description, a fact known mainly to those—now including several hundred people in Boston—who have seen it for themselves. To see it is to understand it; to understand it is to have no real words for it.

Gawker Won't Take Down Videotape of Hulk Hogan Bonking His Friend's Ex-Wife

This is the link at Mediagazer, "A Judge Told Us to Take Down Our Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Post. We Won't."

Gawker's John Cook is the biggest scumbag, and I really do mean the freakin' biggest scumbag. Still, this is quite the unusual story:

We publish all manner of stories here. Some are serious, some are frivolous, some are dumb. I am not going to make a case that the future of the Republic rises or falls on the ability of the general public to watch a video of Hulk Hogan fucking his friend's ex-wife. But the Constitution does unambiguously accord us the right to publish true things about public figures. And Campbell's order requiring us to take down not only a very brief, highly edited video excerpt from a 30-minute Hulk Hogan fucking session but also a lengthy written account from someone who had watched the entirety of that fucking session, is risible and contemptuous of centuries of First Amendment jurisprudence.

Head back over to Mediagazer to read it all.

Need a refresher on John Cook? Here you go: "John Cook, Dude Trying to Out CIA Agent Who [Helped Kill] Bin Laden, Married to Anti-Zionist Allison Benedikt*."

Like I said: The dude's the scum of all scum. I couldn't care less what happens to that sex tape, although I'm not at all bothered by the pain and harassment the court is raining down on that sleazebag.

Bombers' Mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva Press Conference: 'America took my kids away from me...'

The jihad mom, via BCF, "Video: Mother of Boston bomb suspects berates US authorities - America Took My Kids Away From Me!"

Also at USA Today, "Bomb suspects' mother will 'never' accept their guilt."

I thought she didn't care if her son died? Allahu Akbar!

Gwyneth Paltrow — 'World's Most Beautiful Woman' — Shows Off Smokin' See-Through Mesh Panel Gown at Hollywood Premiere of 'Iron Man 3'

Ms. Paltrow was named People's 2013 "Most Beautiful Woman," but the big news is this sheer number she stepped out in Wednesday at the 'Iron Man 3' premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.

See London's Daily Mail, "Gwyneth Paltr-WOW! Iron Man 3 star stuns in dress with entirely sheer side panels (and no underwear) at film premiere."

Oh, and I guess the "Most Beautiful Woman" thing didn't go over too well on Twitter: "Gwyneth Paltrow is crowned the world's most beautiful woman - and then it all turns ugly on Twitter."

The "most beautiful"? Meh. Who cares? She looks great and the "Iron Man" films are smokin'!

Live it up, baby!

Sophisticated Bomb Design Indicates Tamerlan Tsarnaev May Have Received Weapons Training in Chechnya

Because, of course there wasn't any international planning, or some such shit like that.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Boston bombs showed some expertise: Investigators say the triggering devices used suggest the older brother received guidance on his recent trip to Russia":

Investigators say the triggering devices used suggest the older brother received guidance on his recent trip to Russia
":WASHINGTON — Investigators said the two Boston Marathon bombs were triggered by long-range remote controls for toy cars — a more sophisticated design than originally believed — bolstering a theory that the older suspect received bomb-making guidance on his six-month trip to Russia last year.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died in a shootout with police last week, "more than likely got some instruction in Dagestan," a federal law enforcement official said Wednesday.

The official said investigators continued to believe that Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar, 19, were radicalized in the U.S., and that no foreign terrorist group orchestrated the plot.

Nevertheless, the CIA revealed Wednesday that it had asked the FBI and other federal agencies to put Tamerlan Tsarnaev on the terrorism watch list in October 2011 after receiving information from Russia. His name was not placed on a no-fly list, but it was circulated to various intelligence and domestic security agencies.

The information the CIA received "was nearly identical to the information the FBI received in March 2011" from Russia, one official said — unspecific allegations that he had become an Islamic extremist.

The CIA shared all the information provided by the foreign government including two possible dates of birth, his name and a possible name variant as well, an official said.

FBI and Russian security services have been conducting interviews separately in the Dagestan area since the Tsarnaev brothers became suspects in the bombings last week, according to a federal law enforcement official. The agencies are talking to Tsarnaev family members, including the father of the brothers.

The officials asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Further suggesting that Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Russia trip played a role, Secretary of State John F. Kerry told reporters Wednesday in Brussels that the elder suspect "learned something where he went, and he came back with a willingness to kill people."

A joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security intelligence bulletin sent to state and local law enforcement Tuesday night suggested that the bombs' triggering mechanism was more sophisticated than previously thought.

"The sophistication of the explosive devices is similar to what you might find on a battlefield, and I am concerned there is a person out there, either in the Chechen region or in the United States, who trained him," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement.


"For anyone to rule out a foreign connection at this time, I think is highly premature," he said.

America's Insane Asylum for Jihadists, Hustlers and Frauds

A commentary from Michelle Malkin:

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon killing spree by foreign-born jihadists, see-no-evil bureaucrats in Washington are stubbornly defending America’s lax asylum policies. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Tuesday that the screening process is rigorous, effective and extensive.

These people can’t handle the truth. Or tell it.

The Tsarnaev brothers reportedly were granted asylum by “derivative” status through their parents. After entering on short-term tourist visas, the mother and father (an ethnic Chechen Muslim) won asylum and acquired U.S. citizenship. Next, younger son Dzhokhar obtained U.S. citizenship. Older son Tamerlan, whose naturalization application was pending, traveled freely between the U.S. and the jihad recruitment zone of Dagestan, Russia, last year before the bombers’ gunfight in Watertown, Mass., last week left the Muslim terrorist dead.

[Sidenote: They all received taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, too. No surprise. Did you know jihad preachers have urged their followers to collect welfare bennies while plotting terror?]

Though they had convinced the U.S. that they faced deadly persecution, the Tsarnaevs’ parents both returned to their native land and were there when their sons launched last week’s terror rampage. Authorities will not reveal any details of the sob stories the Tsarnaevs originally spun to win asylum benefits for the entire family.

The whole thing stinks. And it’s an old, familiar stench. Immigration lawyers have been working the system on behalf of asylum con artists for decades. The racketeers coach applicants with phony stories and documents from “chop shops” and game their way through “refugee roulette.”

Continue reading.

And don't skip Michelle's interview with Hannity at that clip. Outstanding.

After Tweeting Wishes for 'White American' Bomber, Despicable Terror Enabler Walter James Casper III Denies Leftist Bias in #Boston Marathon Reporting

Repsac3, professional progressive troll and rim-station rim master, is lying again.

After getting hammered the other day, the idiot troll rights harasser posted an entry even more stupid than his usual level of stupidity: "Note to Media Bias Hunters on the Right..." Folks can Google it if they want.

Rim-Station Repsac claims that NPR's Dina Temple Raston was only relying on official statements when she falsely claimed the Boston bombing was likely the work of the far right, because:

April is a big month for anti-government, and right-wing individuals. There's the Columbine anniversary. There's Hitler's birthday. There's the Oklahoma City bombing. The assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco."

Actually, no.

No official agency claimed that celebration of "Hitler's birthday" on the right was a possible catalyst for the Boston attack or any such shit. She's commenting, not reporting. I repeat Temple Raston is just spewing her own hateful prejudices. She offers no evidence for her claims. That is, without a shred of substantiation, she drops the idea of "officials said such and such" and that the "FBI is comparing this or that" as the prelude to deranged smears that have been universally repudiated in the press. Only someone as mental as Walter James Casper III would defend such proven, despicable lies and hatred.

Troll harasser Repsac claims that any reporter would be looking at "other possibilities" like "Islamist extremism" in addition to alleged right wing fanatics, blah, blah... But Temple Raston wasn't looking at "other possibilities." Morning host Steve Inskeep, her colleague at NPR, reported that Temple Raston "scoffed" at the thought of a possible Muslim suspect from Saudia Arabia: "Asked about 'Saudi national' off-air, @nprdina scoffed."

But facts don't matter to Walter James "Rim-Station" Casper III. Moreover, as I reported earlier, it's not just stupidity with depraved people like "Hatesac3." There's a fundamental embrace of evil that drives people like this, manifest by a pathological aversion to decency and truth.

At the video from Tuesday night is Sean Hannity segment on the left's "Rush to Judgment," which includes examples of leftist media outlets completely falling over themselves in blame-righty fits. After the introductory video collage, Juan Williams admits that Hannity's piece is "on to something" about the left's faux journalistic attacks on conservatives --- and Williams is a way left-of-center defender of the Obama administration who usually smacks down Hannity's attacks on the left, not to mention Bill O'Reilly's. But I like Williams. He's got a core of decency and honesty that people like the violently hateful harasser Walter "Rim-Station" Repsac badly lacks.

And remember, Walter James Casper III tweeted out the universally disparaged racist David Sirota's "white American bomber" hit piece. See: "'Emotionally, it is very hard for me to consider such ilk as fellow Americans, let alone as decent human beings...'."

Racist Rim-Station Repsac3 is a vile troll who should be blocked, banned and reported to the authorities for his criminal and hateful harassment and debauchery.

'Five Jihadists Have Reached Their Targets in the United States Under Barack Obama...'

Rep. Tom Cotton skewers this terror-enabling Democrat pro-sharia administration, via Weekly Standard:

At the Breitling Shop South Coast Plaza

I stopped for sandwich at Lawry's Carvery the other day at South Coast Plaza, and there's a Breitling store across the aisle.

Very cool.

#Boston and Civil Liberties

From Julie Borowski:

Here's That 'GE Works' Commercial With 'Agent Smith'

This is pretty cool:

How to Stop Terrorists Before They Kill

From Judith Miller, at WSJ, "The NYPD's surveillance program was designed to detect local terrorists before they strike—and it's working."

She makes a pretty good case, but then, New York's resources are enormous compared to Boston's.

See also, the Verge, "They're watching: why city-wide surveillance failed to stop the Boston bombing."

Kelly Brook Bikini Photo

Via Twitter:

Obama Mismanagement May Have Allowed Bombings

At IBD, "Bureaucratic Mismanagement May Have Allowed Bombings":

Lawrence Wright, author in 2006 of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of al-Qaida, "The Looming Tower," wrote in an open letter 6-1/2 years ago to his fellow Pulitzer-winning journalist, Steve Coll: "The reorganization of our intelligence agencies — through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the new office of Director of National Intelligence — has done nothing to improve the bureaucratic tangles, the institutional incomprehension, and the limited skill set of our operatives; indeed, in many respects, it has only added a new overlay of confusion."

As Wright pointed out, "Communication broke down at a crucial time — exactly during the period that al-Qaida was making its plans for 9/11."

As Chambliss noted, "Information sharing between agencies is critical. And we created the Department of Homeland Security to supervise that. We created the National Counter Terrorism Center to be the collection point for all of this information." He vowed to find out whether somebody "dropped the ball."

Whoever that somebody who dropped the ball is, you can bet the establishment media won't identify him as the guy who shoots hoops at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

As a candidate, President Obama relished ridiculing what he called the Bush administration's "color-coded politics of fear" and its "rigid 20th century ideology" unsuited to fighting "21st century's stateless terrorism."

But five years into his tenure as president, Obama doesn't seem to be a very good manager of the government bureaucracies charged with protecting Americans from terror.

The Honey-Trap of Moral Equivalence

From Douglas Murray, at Gatestone:

Today, in an age that often seems of pragmatism and managerial-ism in politics, if there is a way not just to honor the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's memory but to continue her legacy it should be to encourage and praise those rare individuals who are willing to buck such trends. In Canada recently, I have had an opportunity to reflect on the perhaps surprising fact (also surprising to many Canadians) that in recent years Canada has shown itself to be a home to convictions which ennoble the present and can stand proud before history. The Harper government's moral clarity on a number of issues –in particular religious freedom and Israel – demonstrate a stand that can be rightly admired and celebrated by free peoples around the world.

Over the last decade the issue of religious freedom has come out of the rear-view mirror to a position of utmost importance, especially among minority communities. But nowhere does it matter more than in the Middle East. As Canada's Foreign Minister, John Bair, must have been reminded on his recent trip to the region, whether you compare what is happening across that region to events in Europe in 1848 or 1991, such historical comparisons are of limited use. What is happening there now, the upsurge of Islam, is a once-in-a-lifetime event. And although none of our countries may any longer have the capability or will to have a permanent military presence in the region, the significance of what soft diplomacy we can muster, and what moral stands we insist on, may yet prove far more important.

Continue reading.

Hat Tip: Blazing Cat Fur (the essential Canadian counter-jihad blog).

Police Officer Saves Man From Being Hit by Train

A lifesaver.

At London's Daily Mail, "Pictured: Dramatic moment Colombian police officer drags man from platform edge seconds before train hurtles into station."

Syrian Rebels Direct Hit by Tank Shell

A freakin' wicked video, via Blazing Cat Fur, "Bad day for the Rebels."

Tsarnaevs Were on Welfare!

Andrea Tantaros leads off at "The Five":

Awesome Interview With Boston Bombing Survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis

She asked for a whiskey while waiting for medical help --- that's my kind of lady.

At CNN, "Boston bombing survivor: I take it day by day."