Paulina Porizkova's Still Got It! '80s Supermodel Rocks Skimpy String Bikini at Iceland Spa

She's got two kids, so let's give it up for Ms. Porizkova on Mother's Day!

At London's Daily Mail, "Paulina Porizkova, 48, proves she STILL has a supermodel body in bikini shot at Iceland spa."

Will Obama Suffer the 'Second-Term Curse'?

Well, jeez, let's hope so.

At the Washington Post:

Recent events suggest that the 44th president may not be immune to the phenomenon that historians call the “second-term curse.”

Not four months after his ambitious inaugural address, President Obama finds himself struggling to move his legislative agenda through an unbudging Congress.

And over the past week, two flaring controversies — one over his administration’s handling of the killing of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya, the other over Internal Revenue Service employees targeting tea party groups for special scrutiny — have dominated the discussion in Washington.

It is far from clear how big a political liability either will turn out to be.

At a minimum, they represent diversions working against a president who is keenly aware of how little time he has left to achieve big things. And they are a test of the insular Obama team’s skill at keeping its footing in an environment of hyperpartisan politics and hair-trigger media.

On Friday, for instance, news of the IRS admission and developments surrounding the Benghazi attack turned White House press secretary Jay Carney’s daily briefing into a feeding frenzy and drowned out coverage of a speech that Obama was giving that day on the implementation of the health-care law that stands as his biggest achievement.

“After the election, the president said he was familiar with the literature on second-term difficulties,” said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. “We scholars may be about to see whether knowledge of that history can help a president when they begin to strike.”

“What we’ve seen in the past week reignites the question scholars ask about problematic second terms,” Beschloss added. “Is it mainly a coincidence that every president of the past 80 years has had a hard time after getting reelected? Or is it somehow baked into the structure of a second-term presidency that some combination of serious troubles is going to happen?”

White House officials acknowledge that the history of modern second-term presidencies is a sobering one, replete with scandal and failure.

But they insist that they have seen nothing to suggest that Obama will fall into the traps that have ensnared so many of his predecessors: nothing that rivals the Watergate investigation that drove Richard M. Nixon out of office in 1974, the Iran-contra scandal that nearly derailed Ronald Reagan’s presidency in 1986,or the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998.

Well, at least the media itself is beginning, ever so slightly, to shed it's protective attack dog role and actually report on this clusterf-k administration's endless corruption, scandal, and incompetence. 2016 can't come too soon.

More at that top link.

Russia Withheld Tamerlan Tsarnaev Text Messages, U.S. Officials Say

At the Wall Street Journal, "U.S.: Russia Withheld Intel on Boston Bomb Suspect":

Russia withheld a crucial piece of information from the U.S. before the Boston bombings, U.S. officials say, bolstering a concern that distrust between the two governments erased an opportunity to avert the disaster.

In 2011, Russia sent an alert to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about alleged bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, prompted in part by text messages between his mother and a Russian relative. The texts suggested Mr. Tsarnaev was interested in joining militant groups that Russia blames for attacks in the Caucasus region, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigations.

U.S. officials call these text messages the most important in a series of missed signals between the two countries. One U.S. official characterized at least one of the text messages as generally discussing jihad, but without any specific mention of terrorism plans.

The U.S. officials say they learned about them roughly a week after the April 15 bombings. Several officials say such precise information would have led to a deeper examination of Mr. Tsarnaev, who died a few days after the bombing in a police confrontation. His brother and alleged accomplice remains in custody.

The information Russia withheld "would have allowed the bureau to open an investigation where you could track [Mr. Tsarnaev's] communications," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.). "To me, that's where the ball really got dropped."

Previous terror plots in the U.S. exposed lapses in data-sharing among U.S. agencies, and the official Boston review could still uncover such instances. But so far in the Boston bombing, U.S. officials say, it appears that intelligence-sharing went most awry between the U.S. and Russia. After the Russian government made its 2011 query on Mr. Tsarnaev, the FBI three times requested more information and received none, U.S. officials say. Mr. Tsarnaev was a legal resident of the U.S. and a citizen of Kyrgyzstan.

The Kremlin said Russian security services gathered little information on Mr. Tsarnaev, but officials in the province of Dagestan said they tracked him during a six-month trip there in 2012. Russia never reported such details to the U.S. While in Dagestan, Mr. Tsarnaev met with a known militant, officials in Dagestan said.

U.S. officials say they don't know why the text messages weren't provided earlier. They surmised Russia didn't provide other information because they wanted to protect their sources or because they didn't give the information much credibility themselves.

Continue reading.

Cleveland Suspect Ariel Castro Is Registered Democrat

A great post a couple of days back, at the Other McCain, "Hope and Chains: #WarOnWomen Kidnapper Is Cuyahoga County Democrat."

IMAGE CREDIT: The People's Cube, "Ariel Castro, Cleveland Kidnapper, is a Registered Democrat."

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Claims Victory in Pakistan Election

At the Wall Street Journal, "Former PM Declares Victory in Pakistan: Voters Stream to Polls, but Twin Bombings Underscore the Dangers":

LAHORE, Pakistan—A conservative former Pakistani prime minister ousted in a 1999 military coup, Nawaz Sharif, appeared headed to victory Saturday in a closely fought election that also turned populist cricket legend Imran Khan into a major political force, according to early results.

Mr. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N was leading in 125 constituencies out of 272, according to partial and initial results. Mr. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which boycotted the previous election in 2008, was leading in 35 races, while the Pakistan Peoples Party that controlled the previous government was projected to win 32 seats. With independents and small parties leading in many remaining races, these results, if they hold, could allow Mr. Sharif to form the next government of the world's fifth largest democracy.

The election would mark the first time in Pakistan's coup-ridden history that a civilian government served a full five-year term and transferred power to another elected administration. Turnout was close to 60 percent, according the country's election commission, much higher than the 44% in the previous vote, despite Taliban threats and scattered violence that killed at least 19 people.

"Pakistan needs a strong government that can take strong decisions," Mr. Sharif said as he watched the results stream in on TV in his Lahore headquarters, with cheers by supporters outside growing louder with every new projection. As his lead solidified, he came out to make a victory speech, urging supporters to pray for an outright PML-N majority by the end of the count, so that a future government could be established "without crutches."

Mr. Sharif, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal after the vote, said he foresaw no new problems with the country's powerful military establishment, saying that the 1999 coup against him was the personal initiative of then-army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and not the military as a whole.

He also said he would work for improved relations with the U.S., India and Afghanistan....

The Pakistani Taliban have focused their campaign of violence and intimidation that killed more than 100 people in the run-up to Saturday's vote on the PPP and its two secular allies, the Awami National Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

In the biggest attack on election day, 11 people were killed Saturday morning in twin bombings targeting an ANP office in the southern city of Karachi, a police official said. ANP, according to initial results, would have no seats in the new federal parliament, in part because Taliban violence made it nearly impossible for its candidates to campaign.

Continue reading.

Car Bombings Near Syrian Border Kill at Least Forty in Turkey

At the New York Times, "Car Bombings Kill Dozens in Center of Turkish Town Near the Syrian Border":

REYHANLI, Turkey — Two powerful car bombs killed at least 43 people in this town near Turkey’s border with Syria on Saturday, transforming downtown office blocks into smoldering husks in one of the deadliest attacks on Turkish soil in at least a decade.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, which came 15 minutes and barely a mile apart. Hours later, officials with Turkey’s government, which has backed the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, said they had identified the suspects in the bombing. The attackers, officials said, belonged to an organization linked to Mr. Assad’s intelligence services, though they did not name the organization or the suspects, or provide a detailed explanation of how they reached that conclusion.

Turkey’s swift accusation raised the possibility of an escalating conflict with Syria and the broadening of the war. A senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official said the government had not reached the point where it was considering a military retaliation, but added, “No crime will be left without a response.”

In blaming Mr. Assad’s government, Turkish officials seemed anxious to stave off any possible backlash against thousands of Syrian refugees in Reyhanli or its allies in the Syrian opposition for the bombing. The town is in a region of southern Turkey where some Turks have bristled at their government’s willingness to make Turkey a party to the war, putting it at risk.

After the bombings on Saturday, angry residents smashed the windows of cars from Syria, and a Turkish newspaper reported that protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan later erupted in Reyhanli’s streets.

If connected to the Syrian war, the attack on Saturday would be the deadliest spillover since the beginning of the uprising against Mr. Assad in March 2011. In October, shells fired from Syria killed five people in Turkey, and the Turkish government blamed Mr. Assad’s forces. At least 14 people died in a separate episode when a car bomb exploded at a border crossing.

Continue reading.

Obama Officials 'Redacted the Truth' From Benghazi

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "Heads should roll!":

No Legal Concerns Here...

Not with this Newcastle:

Enjoying a Newcastle. twitter.com/AmPowerBlog/st…
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) May 11, 2013

But see Blazing Cat Fur, "Iron Maiden beer stopped over skull label concerns."

IRS Targets Tea Party Groups — Top Officials in the Know

At the Hill, "Report: Top IRS officials knew of Tea Party targeting two years ago." (At Memeorandum.)

Plus, Katie Pavlich on Twitter:

Every Obama admin scandal "low level" employees blamed yet it is ALWAYS senior officials who r actually responsible bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-wa…”
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) May 11, 2013

And a great editorial at the Wall Street Journal, "The IRS Targets Conservatives":

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the IRS isn't out to get you. We only wish that were a joke. On Friday, an Internal Revenue Service official disclosed for the first time, and by way of apologizing, that the agency that wields the taxing power of the federal government had targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny during the 2012 election season. Apology or not, that can't be the end of the matter.

The stunning admission didn't emerge in an official statement by a senior official at the Treasury Department, which supervises the IRS. Instead, IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner disclosed it on Friday in response to a question from the audience at a meeting of American Bar Association tax lawyers in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Lerner acknowledged that the agency had flagged groups with the words "tea party" or "patriot" to have their tax returns inspected, presumably with an eye on the legality of their tax exemption. Ms. Lerner called this "inappropriate," which it certainly was, and she said it wasn't done "out of any political bias," which is hard to believe. If there was no political bias, why were only conservative groups targeted? White House spokesman Jay Carney also called the IRS actions "inappropriate" on Friday, which makes that the word of the day.

Ms. Lerner added the tax inspections were carried out entirely by low-level workers in Cincinnati without any direction from Washington. Forgive us if we also don't take that claim as gospel.

RTWT.

Simply Nixonian. We've got a lot of scandals boiling up and it's not partisan politics to seek answers. Real answers. It's about preserving the democracy. And about restoring basic decency in government, which went out with the election of the African Interloper in 2008.

'There goes another Obama supporter' — Syrian Rebel Picked Off, Head Explodes

A wicked video, and the comments are hilarious.

At Pat Dollard's, "WATCH, HEADSHOT: Syria Army Sniper Vs. Jihadi With RPG."

MSNBC D-Bags Talk Impeachment on #Benghazi Scandal

Here's Noah Rothman, at Mediaite, "MSNBC Guests: Benghazi Scandal Makes White House ‘Look Terrible,’ Possibly An ‘Impeachment Issue’."

These are way radical leftists admitting that impeachment proceedings could be here in no time: At the clip: Ben Smith, Michael Tomasky, and Nia-Malika Henderson (via Memeorandum).

Who Owns Trademark to 'Keep Calm and Carry On'? — Second World War Propaganda Poster

A great piece, at the Los Angeles Times, "WWII poster calls for calm; now it stokes frenzy, feud."

Has a piece of advice ever seemed so apt, or so frightfully ironic?

Thirteen years ago, Stuart Manley stumbled upon a slightly faded red poster tucked at the bottom of a box of books he had bought at auction. Unfolding it, he found himself staring at a relic of World War II, a long-forgotten piece of government propaganda bearing the logo of the British crown and this pithy message:

Keep calm and carry on.

Charmed by its classic design and no-fuss stoicism, Manley and his wife, Mary, framed the vintage poster and hung it up by the cash register in their secondhand bookshop in a disused Victorian train station in the far north of England. After many admiring comments and inquiries from customers, Manley started selling copies — behind Mary's back, because she didn't want to commercialize it.

Ahem. Enter perhaps the most commercialized British product since David Beckham.

Manley's little side venture spawned a marketing and cultural phenomenon, inspiring a million imitations around the world ("Keep calm and kill zombies," anyone?) and also, alas, one very acrimonious feud.

The Manleys and other traders are caught in a spat with an enterprising Englishman who, after launching his own line of "Keep calm and carry on" products, trademarked the phrase with European authorities two years ago. A slogan originally intended as a public exhortation to a nation at war is now the intellectual property of one person, who has forced some other vendors to stop using it.

The businessman, a former TV producer named Mark Coop, insists he's simply protecting the interests and brand of the company he has worked hard to build since 2007. His foes accuse him of trying to monopolize a piece of history.

"He's a smart chap," says Stuart Manley. "No ethics, but smart."

The Manleys and their allies are hoping that their legal appeal to overturn the trademark, which gives Coop exclusive rights to "Keep calm and carry on" in all 27 countries of the European Union, will succeed. A decision is expected soon.

Continue reading.

Teen Cave 'Kid Zones'

I love it!

At WSJ, "The New Luxury Kids' Rooms":

A DJ mixing station in the sleepover room. Secret passageways inspired by "Harry Potter." A fully tricked-out videogame arcade. You've entered the teen wing of the house.

As parents look for creative ways to keep older kids hanging out at home, some are turning to an unexpected source: architects and designers. The result is a new category of spaces now showing up in family homes: teen lounges, hangout areas, sleepover spaces and "offices" for doing homework.

Chris Pollack recently finished renovating a Manhattan townhouse that includes a 1,000-square-foot teen suite with ping-pong and billiards tables, a recording studio, kitchen and a theater for movies and videogames. The estimated cost: roughly $750,000. "Our clients with kids going into the teenage years are thinking about this more and more," he says. Mr. Pollack, of New York-based design-and-construction adviser Pollack + Partners, says he has also accommodated several requests for homework rooms equipped with security cameras, so parents can keep an eye on computer usage.

Twelve-year-old Jake Robinson lives in a recently remodeled Cape Cod-style house in Santa Monica, Calif., with a dedicated kids' room off the kitchen. "It's kind of fun if you have a long day of school to sit down on the couch and play videogames or watch TV," he says. The space has charcoal-and-white wallpaper, a magnetic wall, a custom sectional and a long desk with computers for Jake and his 8-year-old sister. The space includes large computer screens, so the parents can monitor the kids' screen time from afar.

Christine Markatos Lowe, who designed Jake's room as part of the home's gut remodel, says a growing number of her clients are looking for spaces where they can casually keep an eye on their kids' computer activities. "With all the screen time kids have these days...I'm finding this is something more and more people are requesting," she says.

I'm definitely down with spying on kids' computer use. We've been really monitoring my youngest son's web surfing, since he was busted with naked nasty stuff some time back. He's still learning about all that and it's right there at your fingertips online. You gotta stay ahead of your kids!

I'll say though, all those teen zones sound pretty expensive. My oldest kid has his room to himself, with a bunk bed, desk, MP3 sound system, television, and Apple laptop, and who knows what else?. I'd say he's pretty well set up, if not at the "luxe" level of some of those mentioned at WSJ.

Women Who Have Abortions Are Just Lazy, Irresponsible Sluts Ghouls Who Have No Regard for Human Life

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Soros-Backed Propaganda Machine Think Progress Pathetically Smears Benghazi Whistleblower Gregory Hicks Less That 48 Hours After Touting His Testimony as Debunking 'Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories'

Gawd, these idiots are pathetic.

Washington Free Beacon reports, "Think Progress Reverses on Benghazi Whistleblower."

Read it all at the link.

I saw the Soros monkeys fast out of the gate this week, spewing disinformation and smears against the whistleblowers and conservatives. It's a losing battle at this point. Derps.

American Crossroads: Benghazi

Via Astute Bloggers, "VIDEO: HILLARY'S 2AM CALL AND THE BENGHAZI COVER-UP."

Beer Tasting!

I joined some of my colleagues yesterday for a "Faculty Guided Beer Tasting & Reading" event, one in the "Know Your College, Know Your Colleagues" series sponsored by my department and the faculty union.

Presenting was Professor Matthew Lawrence, the author of Philosophy on Tap: Pint-Sized Puzzles for the Pub Philosopher. He's got a book page with his biographical information. And he's got an interview at the Huffington Post, "Interview with a Philosopher: On Beer and Thought."

We tasted five beers. Here's Matt's slide for Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, a German hefeweizen.

Here's the beer list on the host's refrigerator:

In addition to Weihenstephaner, we tasted Boulevard Brewing Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (Kansas City); Fuller's ESB (London): Alesmith Horny Devil Belgian Strong Ale (San Diego); and Left Coast Brewing Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (Fort Bragg).

Here's the Rasputin Stout:

Matt recommended Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa for its wide selection of beers. I asked about picking up some of that Rasputin Stout for myself. Excellent beer. Shoot, they were all good.

Check the links for the beer pages and enjoy.

I'll see you at the pub!

Democrats v. Humanity

Via the Looking Spoon, "Here's a Hard Truth About Liberals Apologizing for Evil."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Gets Hammered With New Questions on #Benghazi

At Business Insider, "Jay Carney Gets Blasted Over Benghazi."

And at Twitchy, "Paging Candy Crowley: Jay Carney repeats debunked Benghazi lie from presidential debates."

#Benghazi Blows Wide Open — Scrubbed White House Talking Points Are Scandal's Smoking Gun

There's a tremendous amount of news, and still the scrubbed talking points are getting traction. The Benghazi scandal is getting to big to ignore.

Here's ABC's lead story trending at Memeornadum, "Exclusive: Benghazi Talking Points Underwent 12 Revisions, Scrubbed of Terror Reference."

And from Ron Fournier, at National Journal, "Scrubbing the Truth from Benghazi":

The White House has long maintained that the talking points were drafted almost exclusively by the CIA, a claim that gave cover to both President Obama and his potential successor, Clinton. “Those talking points originated from the intelligence community,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in November, adding that the only editing by the White House or the State Department was to change the word "consulate" to "diplomatic facility." Nuland’s emails prove him wrong. As I wrote yesterday (“Why Benghazi is a Blow to Obama and Clinton"), Obama has earned the trust of most Americans but credibility is a fragile thing.

More at the link.

And see Stephen Hayes' long report, at the Weekly Standard, "The Benghazi Scandal Grows."