Baby Sea Lion Jumps Aboard Boat, Changes Sailor's Life

It's J.R. Gilkinson, off the coast of Newport Beach. The little sea lion made the most thrilling experience of his life.

At the New York Post, "Puppy love: Baby sea lion snuggles up with boater."

Julie Borowski on #NSA Surveillance

She's great:

2013 World Freestyle Round-Up Championships

Via Jim Goodrich on Facebook:

The website is here.

Lt. Col. Ralph Peters: 'Bring Back the Death Penalty' for Traitors Like Edward Snowden

Strong words:

Big Brother Really Is Watching Us

From Sen. Rand Paul, at the Wall Street Journal, "Monitoring hundreds of millions of phone records is an extraordinary invasion of privacy":

When Americans expressed outrage last week over the seizure and surveillance of Verizon's client data by the National Security Agency, President Obama responded: "In the abstract, you can complain about Big Brother . . . but when you actually look at the details, I think we've struck the right balance."

How many records did the NSA seize from Verizon? Hundreds of millions. We are now learning about more potential mass data collections by the government from other communications and online companies. These are the "details," and few Americans consider this approach "balanced," though many rightly consider it Orwellian.

These activities violate the Fourth Amendment, which says warrants must be specific—"particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." And what is the government doing with these records? The president assures us that the government is simply monitoring the origin and length of phone calls, not eavesdropping on their contents. Is this administration seriously asking us to trust the same government that admittedly targets political dissidents through the Internal Revenue Service and journalists through the Justice Department?

No one objects to balancing security against liberty. No one objects to seeking warrants for targeted monitoring based on probable cause. We've always done this.

What is objectionable is a system in which government has unlimited and privileged access to the details of our private affairs, and citizens are simply supposed to trust that there won't be any abuse of power. This is an absurd expectation. Americans should trust the National Security Agency as much as they do the IRS and Justice Department.

Monitoring the records of as many as a billion phone calls, as some news reports have suggested, is no modest invasion of privacy. It is an extraordinary invasion of privacy. We fought a revolution over issues like generalized warrants, where soldiers would go from house to house, searching anything they liked. Our lives are now so digitized that the government going from computer to computer or phone to phone is the modern equivalent of the same type of tyranny that our Founders rebelled against...

Continue reading.

And listen to the video after about 6 minutes especially. Hannity shows a bunch of clips featuring President Transparency's complete 180 degree spin on surveillance, wiretapping, the war on terror. You name it. This president is an epic liar and hypocrite.

Majority of Americans Supports Government Programs to Track Terrorists, Even at Risk of Privacy

At Pew Research, "Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic: Public Says Investigate Terrorism, Even IF It Intrudes on Privacy."

I don't have that big a problem with it. I'm just amazed that Obama expanded the program rather than wind it down, like he promised during the campaign. And there's a political fallout, that's what's going to be better for liberty. That said, I can appreciate the libertarian arguments. It's simply a matter of tradeoffs to me, and I'm willing to lean toward greater security.

Charles Krauthammer has more:

More at Memeorandum.

Europeans Demand Answers on Obama Administration's Secret Intelligence-Gathering Programs

Wow, the story keeps getting bigger and more complicated.

From the Guardian's lede tomorrow morning, "Obama pressured over NSA snooping as US senator denounces 'act of treason'":

Barack Obama was facing a mounting domestic and international backlash against US surveillance operations on Monday as the administration struggled to contain one of the most explosive national security leaks in US history.

Political opinion in the US was split with some members of Congress calling for the immediate extradition from Hong Kong of the whistleblower, Edward Snowden. But other senior politicians in both main parties questioned whether US surveillance practices had gone too far.

Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the national intelligence committee, has ordered the NSA to review how it limits the exposure of Americans to government surveillance. But she made clear her disapproval of Snowden. "What he did was an act of treason," she said.

Officials in European capitals demanded immediate answers from their US counterparts and denounced the practice of secretly gathering digital information on Europeans as unacceptable, illegal and a serious violation of basic rights. The NSA, meanwhile, has referred Snowden to the Justice Department, and said that it was assessing the damage caused by the disclosures.

Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who revealed secrets of the Vietnam war through the Pentagon Papers in 1971, described Snowden's leak as even more important and perhaps the most significant leak in American history.

Yeah, and the idiot Ellsberg compares the U.S. to East Germany's "Stasi" regime. A nice touch from a traitor.

Change! Democrats Now Support Warrantless Eavesdropping by Two-Thirds Majority, Up by Nearly 30 Percent Since Bush/Hitler!

Again, you gotta love this.

At Pew:

64% of Dems now say NSA surveillance program acceptable; 36% said that when Bush was president pewrsr.ch/19ikCJS twitter.com/pewresearch/st…
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) June 10, 2013

Hypocrisy! MT @pewresearch 64% of Dems now say NSA surveillance program acceptable; 36% said that when Bush was pres. pewrsr.ch/19ikCJS
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) June 10, 2013

Well, folks gotta work out that cognitive dissonance somehow. What better way than to say, "Hey, trust us, our guy won't threaten freedom!"

Also at Commentary, "Obama’s Fans Try to Change the Subject."

Freakin' hypocrites. These people disgust me.

Holly Madison Goes For Saturday Morning Run in Sporty Pink Crop Top and Tiny Grey Athletic Shorts

Hey, she looks good too!

At London's Daily Mail, "Working off those pregnancy pounds in style! Holly Madison goes for a jog in cleavage-baring crop top and tiny shorts."

TPM's Josh Marshall Gets Hammered for 'Lining Up to Defend Obama Admin Surveillance...'

This just tickles the hell out of me.

Dear Leader's utter hypocrisy is causing crazy fits of apoplexy across the leftist fever swamps.

Instapundit posted this the other day, "HEY, RUBE! Americans Are Outraged Because in Voting for Obama, They Thought They Were Rejecting Bush." (Be sure to click through to the Daily Kos post at the link; the comments are gold!)

And now I see some interesting nuggets about Josh Marshall on Twitter:

Must say: pretty disappointed with former Lefty warriors against Bush Admin surveillance lining up to defend Obama Admin surveillance.
— Tom Belknap (@dragonflyeye) June 10, 2013

@dragonflyeye Who? I'm not seeing it on my end. But then again, maybe I stopped reading those people a while ago.
— Joseph A. Henderson (@josephenderson) June 10, 2013

@josephenderson In particular, Josh Marshall. Who I admit I'm ambivalent about as a commenter. Greenwald is now the enemy.
— Tom Belknap (@dragonflyeye) June 10, 2013

Yeah, I trolled through Marshall's Twitter feed. He's got two blog posts on Snowden, "Wow. Just Wow," and "What’s the Deal with Hong Kong?"

And he's getting called out by TPM regulars, "One of Many Dissenting Voices":

A threshold has been crossed while the public slept. Some light is finally being shined on the practices of our security apparatus. Maybe now, as the memory of Bin Laden fades, we are entering the first time since 9/11 when we can have a reasonable public conversation about the privacy interests of our people and what must be sacrificed in order to preserve the rights we cherish. It kills me to see people I respect, opinion leaders like yourself, collectively shrug at the revelations of these last several days.

Well, "shrugging" is how partisan hacks like Marshall protect "The One."

But read the whole thing. The perturbed reader hammers Marshall for questioning "Snowden as a messenger" rather than focusing on "the materials he has provided..."

Yeah, well, those materials aren't going over so well for President Transparency. But don't blame me. I voted for the other guy --- both times!

The Beach is Better in September

That's one thing I used to love about UCSB — classes didn't start until the end of September, which of course meant that school didn't cut into the prime beach time.

And right now, in June, it's more like this:

Bar Refaeli Stands Up for Transgender Pissing Rights!

She's an idiot.

I swear, some of the most beautiful people have absolutely no brains.

At the Times of Israel, "Give pee a chance: Refaeli stands up for gays … at a urinal."

Also at the Blaze, "THE ODD PHOTO SUPERMODEL BAR REFAELI SENT OUT TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR TRANSGENDER RIGHTS." Check the comments:

What about my right to privacy? I forgot, the gays and transsexuals have the power to DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. No need for privacy. Would you allow men into a bathroom with women? Why not? They would let a gay man – WHO IS sexually attracted to men – to stand beside a straight man at a urinal. Insane.

Hey, it's all the about teh gays.

PREVIOUSLY: "Government Redefinition of Marriage is Not Inevitable."

Government Redefinition of Marriage is Not Inevitable

Well, you wouldn't know it from the latest L.A. Times poll, "58% of California voters now favor gay marriage."

There's video at the link. Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, indicates that the shift in support of homosexual marriage is both "generational" and "attitudinal."

Perhaps, although a lot remains to be seen, not the least of which is this month's Supreme Court ruling on Prop. 8 and DOMA.

Some polling finds the public seeing homosexual marriage as "inevitable," at Pew Research last week, for example. But the Heritage Foundation throws water on that meme. See, "On Marriage, Inevitability Is a Choice We Can Reject":

Marriage is founded on the anthropological truth that men and women are different and complementary, the biological fact that the union of a man and woman also creates new life, and the social reality that children need a mom and a dad.

For decades, social science has shown that children tend to do best when reared by their married mother and father. Government recognizes marriage because it is an institution that benefits society in a way that no other relationship does.

Marriage is society’s least restrictive means to ensure the well-being of future citizens. It protects children by incentivizing adults to commit to each other and take responsibility for their children.

All the polls in the world cannot undo the truth about marriage. But they can obscure the truth and make it less likely that men and women commit to each other permanently and exclusively. This in turn reduces the odds that children will know the love and care of their married mothers and fathers.

Whatever pollsters and pundits may tell us about “inevitability,” the only way to guarantee a political loss is to sit idly by. We should frame our message, strengthen coalitions, devise strategies, and bear witness.

Yes, bear witness, like this:

I think the Gaystapo’s weakness is simple: start talking about them.

Do the job the media won’t do, and start taking an interest in the lies that are spread in gay magazines, newspapers, and via social media. Start pointing out the “Gaystapo” leaders in your community who take to stages to make hateful speeches that rev crowds up against Christians and conservatives. Here in Chicago, the key Gaystapo figure is a man named Art Johnston who owns Sidetrack the Video Bar…and he constantly is holding some event in the bar that degenerates into a two-minutes-hate against religious people and conservatives. It’s all deliberate and is what Johnston and others in the Gaystapo call “activism”. Really, it’s just spreading hate and creating colorful “enemies” for gays to lash out at…so that they will then donate to Johnston’s Equality Illinois organization, which is just another tool of the institutional Left that makes itself sound more appealing by calling itself “Equality Illinois”. A better name for the thing would be “We Spread Hate But Aren’t Called Out On It Because We Are Gay”. I guess “Equality Illinois” fit more easily on bumper stickers.

The Gaystapo hate sunlight and they shrink and wither when they’re actually talked about. The thing is, so many conservatives and Christians avoid talking about anything gay that these guys are then left to do whatever they please unchallenged. That’s such a mistake. Frankly, the only reason these guys have so much power is because it’s all been ceded to them by conservatives who just don’t want to be caught discussing the gay community at all (for fear of being called homophobes if they do).

I think the best way to bring the Gaystapo down is to start holding them to their own rules…which ironically enough is one of the Alinsky Methods that the Gaystapo uses on conservatives all the time. Equality Illinois, for instance, claims it is for equality in Illinois for everyone. So, why do almost all Equality Illinois events held in Sidetrack the Video Bar include speeches and other stunts that rev the crowds up to shout hateful things about Christians and conservatives? Why does any Equality Illinois event include screaming and yelling about “getting” the “enemies of the gay community”? Shouldn’t an organization with such a lovey-dovey sounding name avoid hating anyone or labeling anyone on Earth “an enemy”?

Hypocrisy, I guess, is ultimately the Gaystapo’s Achilles’ heel...

I think the “gay community” does the world a very bad service by not taking a zero tolerance approach to things like NAMBLA because there remains the Daddy/Son fetish amongst some gay guys, where older men want to be with very young guys. A lot of these guys were molested when they were young…and when they get older they want to inflict this onto little boys to continue the cycle of abuse. Muslim men are actually really big into this because Islam encourages the abuse of young boys…and when those boys grow up they expect to be able to abuse boys sexually, too, since that’s what they did when they were little. It’s just beyond sick.

The Gaystapo prevents anyone from calling people out for horrific behavior, though. When it comes to sex, anything is supposed to be permissible in gay culture. The Gaystapo certainly gives the impression that “anything goes”…especially in bars that have “secret” rooms or private “play party” nights where admission is charged and things aren’t open to the public. Most of the leather bars in Chicago have these sorts of events…and a lot of times you have to know someone who is a member of that fetish club to get into the event.

It’s all sick. And the people involved in this are seriously messed up. These are the crazy uncles in the attic of the gay community…but unfortunately a lot of them seem to be very rich and influential because the Gaystapo lets them do as they please. i don’t know if you watch the tee-vee show “True Blood” on HBO, but last season the plot revolved around “The Vampire Authority” that was trying to mainstream and present a more normalized face for vampires to the world…and they were opposed by the Sanguinista faction of vampires, which wanted to be deviant and feed openly on humans and generally do all the things that people were scared vampires really liked to do.

In the gay community, you mostly see the mainstreamers…but you must know that the true deviants like the NAMBLA crowd still exist and no effort at all is made to stamp these guys out. They’re just kept in the basement or in the shadows, and the Gaystapo runs interference or creates distractions so you don’t think about what’s going on. There are secret fetish and sex clubs in Chicago like “The Hell Fire Club” or “Windy City Watersports” or whatever where all sorts of bizarre things go on…and bars like Jackhammer, Touche, and Cell Block have those secret rooms where different “clubs” hold their private events and get up to all sorts of things that would probably make your eyes melt out of your face if you read about them.

That’s all part of the “dark side of the rainbow” that no one’s supposed to talk about during “pride month” in June.

Exactly.

Just keep bearing witness to the hatred and horrors of this movement. It's just not normal.

'Serendipity'

An Honor Society lyrics video, with the cameraman strolling down the boardwalk at Venice Beach.

A live clip is here.

Also at Venice Beach, from April, "The Sperminator."

Left-Winger Andrew Hacker Slams Common Core

Hacker, with Claudia Dreifus, says tea partiers have it right on Common Core. See, "Who’s Minding the Schools?":

By definition, America has never had a national education policy; this has indeed contributed to our country’s ambivalence on the subject. As it stands, the Common Core is currently getting hit mainly from the right. Tea Party-like groups have been gaining traction in opposition to the program, arguing that it is another intrusion into the lives of ordinary Americans by a faceless elite. While we don’t often agree with the Tea Party, we’ve concluded that there’s more than a grain of truth to their concerns.

The anxiety that drives this criticism comes from the fact that a radical curriculum — one that has the potential to affect more than 50 million children and their parents — was introduced with hardly any public discussion. Americans know more about the events in Benghazi than they do about the Common Core.

RTWT.

And maybe there is some bipartisan push back. See my earlier piece, "The So-Called 'Bipartisan Backlash' Against Common Core."

Nikki Finke Still Standing Despite Report of Her Firing

A wonderfully dishy piece from David Carr, at the New York Times, "Despite Report of Her Firing, Nikki Finke Is Still Standing."

#Snowden's High Stakes Gamble

It's going to be an interesting news day.

This Snowden cat is almost too perfect the anti-government foil. But we'll see.

At the Guardian UK, "Edward Snowden's choice of Hong Kong as haven is a high-stakes gamble."

Edward Snowden's choice of Hong Kong as a haven from where to leak intelligence documents and to unmask himself as a whistleblower rests on calculations on the territory's press freedom safeguards and its extradition treaty with the US. It is a high-stakes gamble.

Just before sovereignty over Hong Kong passed from Britain to China in 1997, the US signed a new extradition treaty with the semi-autonomous territory. Under that treaty, both parties agree to hand over fugitives from each other's criminal justice systems, but either side has the right of refusal in the case of political offences.

Beijing, which gave its consent for Hong Kong to sign the agreement, also has a right of veto if it believes the surrender of a fugitive would harm the "defence, foreign affairs or essential public interest or policy'' of the People's Republic of China. In short, the treaty makes Snowden's fate a matter of political expediency not just in Hong Kong but in Beijing.

Yeah, and the dude's in high demand stateside. See, "Edward Snowden: Republicans call for NSA whistleblower to be extradited."

Check all the links at Memeorandum as well.

More here throughout the day.

Death Toll Climbs in Santa Monica Shooting Massacre

At the Los Angeles Times, "Santa Monica shootings: Death toll rises as fifth victim dies."

Also, "Santa Monica shooting: Police still trying to reach gunman's kin," and "Santa Monica shootings: Students and staff struggle to cope."

Here's ABC News with the suspect's photo:

#SMC UPDATE: Santa Monica PD have released a photo of the suspected gunman, 23-year-old John Zawahri twitter.com/ABC7/status/34…

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 9, 2013

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Also at Paco's Enterprises, "Sunday Funnies." And Reaganite, "Power Couple of the Year Wow Paparazzi~."

More at Theo's, "Day by Day."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Cruz Control."

Here's Some Alice Goodwin Rule 5 to Take Your Mind Off #NSA Surveillance

At Zoo Magazine, "Alice Goodwin new & naughty shoot and Rihanna's Rude Archive!"

And at Egotastic!, "Alice Goodwin in Lingerie for a Boobtastic Shoot."

More at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is unsustainable fishing because slight increases of CO2 means that life won’t reproduce, you might just be a Warmist."

Also at Proof Positive, "Best of the Web* Linkaround," and "Friday Night Babe: Lauren Holly!"

More at Bob Belvedere's, "Lindsey Anne Strutt." And "Rule 5 News."

Plus at 90Ninety Miles From Tyranny, "Late Night Ladies."

And Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart (on Friday)...Chloe Pridham."

Check Guns and Bikinis as well, "Anne Vyalitsyna and Exotic Model."

See Odie's too, "Being Blonde ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

From Wirecutter, "Your Good Morning Girl."

Still more at the Last Tradition, "Rule 5 Sunday – The Return of Diana Dors, British Blonde Bombshell of 1950 and 1960s."

And from Conservative Hideout, "Girls and Guns, and did I Mention Links? June 5, 2013."

Plus, from Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: Glamour Girls."

Now at Daley Gator, "DaleyGator DaleyBabe Ming Na."

Don't forget Evil Blogger Lady, "Bocce Ball Rule 5."

And Theo Spark, "Bedtime Totty..."