Jodi Arias Murder Trial Verdict Expected

At CNN, "Haven't been following the Jodi Arias trial? Read this."

Maybe there'll be a verdict today.

Whistleblowers Set to Testify on #Benghazi

Here's the big Fox News report, "Clinton sought end-run around counterterrorism bureau on night of Benghazi attack, witness will say." (At Memeorandum.)

Also at Twitchy, "Must-read: Sharyl Attkisson previews Benghazi whistleblowers’ bombshells; ‘Felt helpless, abandoned’."

BONUS: From John Sexton, at Big Peace, "BENGHAZI WHISTLEBLOWER: 'MY JAW HIT THE FLOOR' AS WH BLAMED YOUTUBE."

Timothy McVeigh Photo Included in New York Times Report on Growth of Homegrown Jihad Terrorism

For the life of me I'm trying to make the connection.

This is supposed to be a report on Islamic jihadis organizing terrorist attacks online, but the World Wide Web was less than two years old when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Building, April 19, 1995. I guess as long at it's a "domestic" bombing that's all the connection one needs at the New York Times. Folks wouldn't want to think the online jihadi threat is anything new or more significant, and we certainly wouldn't want to overstate the international terror network effects. I mean these Tsarnaev brothers were just "knock offs," right? And hey, linking domestic bomber McVeigh at the photo is a nice touch, kinda like April 15th in Boston, when some progressives were citing Hitler's Birthday as a motive. You gotta keep hope alive!

See, "A Homemade Style of Terror: Jihadists Push New Tactics":

At a news conference on Tuesday, President Obama suggested that the bombers had acted on their own, saying that “one of the dangers that we now face are self-radicalized individuals who are already here in the United States.” Mr. Obama said such plots “are in some ways more difficult to prevent.”

So far, the Tsarnaev brothers appear to have been radicalized and instructed in explosives not at a training camp but at home on the Internet. Their bombs were concocted from inexpensive everyday items whose purchase set off no alarms: pressure cookers, nails and ball bearings, gunpowder from fireworks and remote controls for toys. Their choice of an open-air event meant no gate, metal detector or security inspection to pass through with their bombs.

In other words, as Dzhokhar told investigators, they followed the script from Inspire magazine, which Mr. Khan published in Yemen along with his mentor, the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in the same drone strike on Sept. 30, 2011. Mr. Awlaki’s incendiary sermons and Mr. Khan’s training articles survived them on the Web, where the brothers found them.

Read the whole thing. There's no mention of McVeigh at the piece, but again, the composite photo with the caption is perfect for the left's messaging. And the report continues to paint Tamerlan as a forlorn loner who suffered at the hands of the boxing league which disqualified him.

Right. That's gotta be it!

Now for some reality, see Walid Shoebat, at FrontPage Magazine, "The Boston Bombing: Inside The Shocking Web of Terror Training":

With 200 or so attempted terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11, most of which were thwarted, it now becomes easy to understand the origin of these terrorist attacks and where they came from.

Not easy for the progressive Mandarins at the Old Gray Lady, it turns out.

Startling New Information on #Benghazi Terrorist Attack

From Sharyl Attkisson, at CBS News, "Three more officials to testify about Benghazi attacks."

As the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. in Libya, Gregory Hicks was on the ground at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli on September 11, 2012, when terrorists launched two attacks on American compounds in Benghazi.

Hicks and two other government officials have been named as witnesses for a Congressional hearing Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. The others are: Eric Nordstrom, the former lead security official for the State Department in Libya, and Mark Thompson, the acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism at the State Department. Other so-called "whistleblowers" from federal agencies, including the CIA, have provided information to Congressional investigators, but are said to be unwilling - so far - to speak publicly because they aren't authorized by their agencies to do so. Some claim fear of retaliation.

It's been a remarkably long period of silence from the dozens of American survivors and eyewitnesses who were in Libya the night of the attacks. It's not publicly known what testimony the witnesses will give at this week's hearing, but in a series of interviews and communications, CBS News has obtained information about some of areas of knowledge the witnesses can address.

Hicks was number two to Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the attacks. With Stevens in Benghazi on September 11, Hicks was the top Foreign Service official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. When the first U.S. compound in Benghazi fell under attack, Hicks reportedly took the frantic call.

"Greg, we are under attack," Ambassador Stevens told Hicks on the phone. Those were the last words he heard from Stevens.

According to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who appeared Sunday on "Face the Nation," Hicks recently testified privately to the House Oversight Committee: "I never reported a demonstration. I reported an attack on the consulate...I thought it was a terrorist attack from the get-go. I think everyone in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning."

Continue reading.

That's an extremely compelling interview with Issa at the clip above.

Howard Kurtz Grovels Before the Commissars of Political Correctness

Look, Kurtz screwed up, and bad. But because he screwed up with the Jason Collins coming out story, there was progressive hell to be paid.

Sunday talk shows are usually pretty boring, but to watch this guy give the most abject apology and then to have himself flayed by these two lamestream media flacks is just stunning.

Part 2 is here.

Plus, "Howard Kurtz apologizes on CNN for errors" (via Memeorandum).

'How can we “gun people” honestly be expected to come to the table with anti-gunners when anti-gunners are willfully stupid about guns, and openly hate, despise and ridicule those of us who own them?'

Good question.

See Barry Snell, "Waking the dragon — How Feinstein fiddled while America burned."

Man, that's one hella essay.

Any quote would be outstanding. Here's one:

Gun people don’t trust anti-gun people because they look down on us for defending the Second Amendment as vigorously as they defend the First Amendment — a fight we too would stand side-by-side with them on otherwise. We don’t trust anti-gunners because someone defending the First Amendment is considered a hero, but a someone defending the Second Amendment is figured down with murderers and other lowlifes. Where the First Amendment has its very own day and week, both near-holy national celebrations beyond reproach, anti-gunners would use the First Amendment to ridicule any equivalent event for the Second Amendment, like they did for a recent local attempt at the University of Iowa.

I think fortunately, at least this time around, the idiot "anti-gunners" are losing, and losing badly.

RTWT.

Alanis Morissette Rule 5

That baby mama's doing the full figure bikini stroll with her daughter.

At London's Daily Mail, "'Self Love': Bikini-clad Alanis Morissette shows pride in her womanly curves as she strolls the beach in Hawaii with son Ever."

For something a little more risque, check Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday: Taylor Vixen."

More at Pirates's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

While You're Waiting for the #Gosnell Verdict...

Be sure to watch this clip from Live Action, via Pundette:

And from Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Waiting for the Gosnell Verdict":

The wait for the verdict in the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell went on today as a jury continued to weigh the multitude of charges that the Philadelphia abortionist faces for butchering women and their babies. The case has gotten more attention in the mainstream media in recent weeks after conservative columnists lambasted it for ignoring a gruesome story that remains an embarrassment to the pro-choice side of the abortion debate. But it’s still unclear whether the country has even started to fully assimilate what these crimes mean about the state of health care for poor women in this country. Nor are many of us asking the big question that hangs over the Gosnell proceedings: how much of an aberration are the instances of infanticide that the testimony against the defendants revealed?

But there is one thing we know for sure. If Gosnell’s attorneys manage to convince a jury not to convict him, you can forget about any expectations that this case will lead to more scrutiny of clinics where late-term abortions are being conducted.

And that'd be not just a travesty of justice but an ultimate statement that the United States is no longer a nation under God.

More at the link.

Follow Michelle Fields

And she'll post beautiful photos in your timeline.

On Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

More at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES." And Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – No Child Left Behind."

Melanie Phillips Reveals How She Fights the Left

An amazing essay, at London's Daily Mail, "Why the Left hates families: MELANIE PHIILLIPS reveals how the selfish sneers of Guardianistas made her see how the Left actively fosters – and revels in – family breakdown..."

Via Josh Painter on Twitter.

James Gilkerson Middlefield Police Shootout Video

The video's here.

Jawa Report has a bit longer version, "Crime Porn: Idiot With AK-47 Versus Police."

And amazingly, the idiot leftists thought this would seal the deal for the failed assault weapons ban?

At PuffHo, "Against Banning High Capacity Firearms? Then Watch This."

Well, I'm against extreme mental cases with high capacity firearms actually.

More at the Right Scoop, "Piers Morgan believes he has the smoking gun on why AK-47s should be banned…."

Background at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "2 Middlefield officers shoot, kill man after he opens fire on them, injuring both (911 audio recording)," and "Gunman who fired at Middlefield police said to oppose authority."

Jihadi Files Found on Computer of Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, Widow of #Boston Bomber

London's Daily Mail reports, "FBI focuses on Boston bomber's widow after agents discover radical Islamist files on her computer and traces of explosive residue throughout her home":

Federal officials investigating the Boston bombings have discovered radical Islamist materials on a computer belonging to the widow of the deceased suspect, it was revealed Friday.

Katherine Russell, 24, has repeatedly claimed through her attorney that she knew nothing about the deadly April 15 bombings allegedly set off by her late husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.

However, the discovery of al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine on Russell’s computer, along with the presence of explosive residue throughout their home, have raised new questions about Russell's possible involvement in the act of terror.

According to a government document obtained by NBC News, an analysis of the bombs used at the Boston Marathon and pipe bombs that the Tsarnaevs had allegedly thrown at police may have been built following instructions that appeared in an Inspire article titled: Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.

Officials have yet to determine whether the Islamist files found in Russell’s possession belonged to the 24-year-old mother, her late 26-year-old husband or a third party, a source told The Washington Post.

Tamerlan Tsranaev was shot dead in a gun battle with police four days after the marathon bombings when he and his brother allegedly carjacked a vehicle in a Boston suburb.

His younger brother, 18-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had fled, setting off a massive manhunt that ended when he was discovered gravely wounded hiding in a boat. Russell's attorney, Amato DeLuca, had previously said his client was kept in the dark about the deadly plot, and she was shocked to learn that her husband and brother-in-law were allegedly responsible for the attacks.

Continue reading.

Plus, at Jawa Report, "'Sources': Feds Find AQAP's Inspire Mag & Other Jihadi Stuff On Computer Of Boston Bombers Widow."

And following the links, at the Washington Post, "Investigators sharpen focus on Boston bombing suspect’s widow."

PREVIOUSLY: "Tsarnaev Widow Katherine Russell Stops Cooperating With Police."

'Iron Man 3' Review

From Kenneth Turan, at the Los Angeles Times, "Review: 'Iron Man 3' smartly reboots the suit midflight":

The most interesting thing about this new "Iron Man" is that, far from being slicker than the first two versions, it is unexpectedly — and successfully — darker and more serious than its predecessors, with a cast including top actors like Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley and Rebecca Hall.

With former director Jon Favreau reduced to his acting role as Happy Hogan, now the obsessive head of security for Stark Industries, this latest "Iron Man" (co-written by Drew Pearce) has thankfully done away with most of the previous installments' tone-deaf repartee between Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow's indispensable (to him at least) Pepper Potts.

Pepper, now in charge of Stark Industries, is in residence at Stark's Malibu compound and sharing his life, though the man himself is far from his former carefree self. Skittish, uneasy, unable to sleep and given to compulsively building one high-maintenance Iron Man suit after another, Stark is still dealing with the anxiety attack aftereffects of fighting off all those aliens in last summer's "The Avengers," a movie which "Iron Man" blithely assumes everyone on the planet has seen (which may in fact be true).

Read it all at the link.

The most recent trailer is here: "Marvel's Iron Man 3 - TV Spot 11 - Now Playing."

I'm heading out right now with my boys to catch it at the Irvine Spectrum.

I'll be back!

Obama: Israel Has Right to Defend Itself From Hezbollah

Well, you think?

At the Times of Israel, "US president speaks out amid news of Israeli airstrike early Friday on missile warehouse at Damascus airport":

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — President Barack Obama said he won’t comment on an Israeli airstrike against Syria that targeted a shipment of advanced missiles believed to be headed for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israeli officials on Saturday confirmed the Israeli Air Force strike, which took place early Friday.

Obama told the Spanish-language network Telemundo in an interview that he will defer to the Israeli government for comment. He also repeated his view that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weapons to organizations like Hezbollah. The US considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Obama conducted the interview Saturday, and a portion of the president’s answer to a question about the airstrike was broadcast on MSNBC.

Earlier Saturday, US officials told the New York Times that the Israeli airstrike hit a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that Israel believed was intended for Hezbollah...

More at Memeorandum.

Holy Freakin' Cow! Judge Jeanine Pirro Lights Righteous Second Amendment Wildfire at NRA 2013!

Wow!

Get in, sit down, shut up, and hold the freakin hell on!

Via Maggie's Notebook, "Jeanine Pirro NRA Speech 2013: Accused of Denigrating All Muslims “How About Not Blaming All Gun Owners”."

Niall Ferguson Apologizes for 'Tactless and Stupid Remarks' About John Maynard Keynes

On Twitter:

I apologize deeply and unreservedly for stupid and tactless remarks about Keynes that I made on Thursday bit.ly/13cZ6B7
— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) May 4, 2013

Well, mob justice was swift. With luck he'll be able to hang onto his position at Harvard, although the Lawrence Summers precedent isn't encouraging.

Previously: "Harvard's Niall Ferguson Slams Famed Economist John Maynard Keynes: 'A Homosexual Married to a Ballerina'."

Ventura County Springs Fire — 30 Percent Contained

According to Christine Mai-Duc, "At this point, #SpringsFire is at 28,000 acres, 30% contained. Firefighters focusing most on Potrero road area."

Also at the Ventura County Star, "Day 3: Springs fire now 30% contained."

Fire crewsthat have worked 24 hour-shifts wait for relief crews this morning at #springsfire #kpcc twitter.com/ReporterSteph/…
— Stephanie O'Neill (@ReporterSteph) May 4, 2013

And from today's Los Angeles Times front-page, "Destructive 1993 blaze led to new firefighting strategy":

Scott Dettorre was a young firefighter in 1993 when the infamous Green Meadow wildfire swept through, leaving a path of destruction from Ventura County to Malibu.

The fire, which destroyed 53 homes and consumed 44,000 acres, caught firefighters unprepared and prompted officials to rethink the way they fight blazes driven by fierce Santa Ana winds.

This week, Dettorre helped lead the battle against the Springs fire, which like the devastating 1993 blaze covered a wide swath of the county. Dettorre, now a captain, said crews fought the blaze much differently this time.

It's a game plan that as of Friday evening was showing signs of success. Although the fire licked against several subdivisions and hillside estates, it has largely remained confined to rugged wildlands and agricultural zones.

"With this fire, having experienced Green Meadow, our commanding officers realized much sooner that we were not going to get ahead of this fire," he said Friday. "Consequently, we were able to put plans in place to minimize damage to a much greater extent. It is the lessons of Green Meadow that is allowing us to do what we are doing out here."

The fire, which had burned more than 28,000 acres by Friday evening, ignited Thursday morning amid historically dry conditions and strong Santa Ana winds considered unusual for May.

Fire officials quickly determined that the leading edge of the fire was too dangerous to confront head-on.

"It became apparent very quickly that this fire was going to overwhelm us," Dettorre said. "Instead of us being able to outflank the fire, the fire was outflanking us and putting all of the fire personnel in grave danger."

More at the top link. Check back for updates.

Harvard's Niall Ferguson Slams Famed Economist John Maynard Keynes: 'A Homosexual Married to a Ballerina'

Oh boy, this is too juicy!

At Financial Advisor Magazine, "Harvard Professor Trashes Keynes For Homosexuality":

Harvard Professor and author Niall Ferguson says John Maynard Keynes' economic philosophy was flawed and he didn't care about future generations because he was gay and didn't have children.

Speaking at the Tenth Annual Altegris Conference in Carlsbad, Calif., in front of a group of more than 500 investors, Ferguson responded to a question about Keynes' famous philosophy of self-interest versus the economic philosophy of Edmund Burke, who believed there was a social contract among the living, as well as the dead. Ferguson asked the audience how many children Keynes had. He explained that Keynes had none because he was a homosexual and was married to a ballerina, with whom he likely talked of "poetry" rather than procreated. The audience went quiet at the remark. Some attendees later said they found the remarks offensive.

It gets worse.

Ferguson, who is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, and author of The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die, says it's only logical that Keynes would take this selfish worldview because he was an "effete" member of society. Apparently, in Ferguson's world, if you are gay or childless, you cannot care about future generations nor society.

This takes gay-bashing to new heights. It even perversely pins the full weight of the financial crisis on the gay community and the barren.

Not only is this intellectually void, it's mad. And anyone with a moral conscience should be outraged. It is one thing to take issue with a society fueled by self interest and one fueled by a larger ethic. But it's entirely vulgar to make this argument about sexual preference -- and to do so glibly.

Okay, yes.

I'll feign my outrage now. How about this?

"Oh that is horrible, HORRIBLE!

That Professor Ferguson is a nasty brute. And so unfair to the homosexuals and the barren. It's an abomination. Economic conservatives are just like, well, HITLER!

Boycott Harvard until it fires that horrible, HORRIBLE man. Boycott I say! And disinvest!

How could anyone possible say such a thing, and so glibly, yes! That makes it extra mean. That he said it glibly is just HORRIBLE."

HAT TIP: Tufts Professor Daniel Drezner, who apparently thinks Ferguson is just horrible!

Also, here's the conference program and roster. Maybe a video will surface and we'll get some bonus lulz.

UPDATE: The story's building attention at Memeorandum. Ferguson is horrible, HORRIBLE! Extreme outrage all over the place. The speech ayatollahs are out in force! See especially Andrew Gelman at the Monkey Cage and Henry Blodget at Business Insider.

Sources Say Israel Launches Airstrike on Syria

From Barbara Starr at CNN, "Sources: U.S. believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria." (Via Memeorandum.)

Also at the Times of Israel, "Israeli planes hit targets in Syria, say US officials."