Ohio Kidnap Victims Speak Out

At USA Today, "Ohio kidnap victims break silence to say 'thank you'."

And at NBC News, "Cleveland kidnap victims' makeovers send a clear message: We're doing OK."

Anarchist Sabotage in Train Crash at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec?

Could be left-wing terrorism.

At Althouse, "Why did that train explode in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec?," and "'Police say there's evidence Canada train was tampered with'."

And at Blazing Cat Fur, "Megantic mystery: Looking for possible suspects in Quebec disaster? Try anti-oil anarchists."

Anticipating Riots, Broward County Pleads for Calm After #Zimmerman Verdict

At the Conservative Treehouse, "Riot Prevention – Local County Sheriff’s Office’s Prepare Zimmerman Verdict Riot Plans."



PREVIOUSLY: "Leftist Media Agitating for #TrayvonMartin Race Riots," and "Trayon Martin, Rachel Jeantel, and Critical Race Theory."

Added: At NewsBusters, "Russell Simmons: Guilty or Innocent Zimmerman 'Will Ultimately Be Punished' for Martin's Death." And from Michelle Fields, "Facebook pages for “Riot for Trayvon” and “Kill George Zimmerman” pop up."

Alyssa Milano Steps Out in New York to Promote 'The Mistresses'

I watched the show last night, a pretty typical soap opera, but I like her.

At London's Daily Mail, "That's bra-ve! Alyssa Milano, 40, goes without support in tight tangerine dress as she promotes new show Mistresses."

Obama Backers Sign Petition to Repeal the Bill of Rights

The beauty here is that the Bill of Rights can't be repealed --- or at least it can't be repealed without amending the Constitution, technically amending it 10 times, to repeal each one of the first 10 amendments.

But that you could find everyday Americans willing to sign away their most fundamental rights as citizens is utterly astonishing. But that's the way we've become with our state of decrepit civic ignorance in America today.

At the Blaze, "WATCH AND WEEP: HERE’S A VIDEO OF PEOPLE SIGNING A PETITION TO REPEAL THE BILL OF RIGHTS."



Keep in mind, it's not some random fluke that Obama drones would be willing to repeal the Bill of Rights. The left has been working overtime under this administration to strip our most basic rights from the citizenry, from freedom of speech to gun rights to the Fourth Amendment and more. Anything that stands in the way of the left's regressive program of tyranny has got to go.

More from Jeff Goldstein (via Memeorandum).

'The forces that elected Barack Obama president, after all, were the same left-wing radicals whom we saw smashing windows in Seattle in 1999 and marching beneath the banners of Marxist organizations during the anti-Iraq War protests...'

That's Robert Stacy McCain, at his essay discussing one of Rand Paul's former aides, who used to be a neo-confederate, "Fight the Fight You’re Fighting":

Democrats have been so successful at “mainstreaming” left-wing fringe movements that we tend to forget these movements were ever on the fringe. Republicans, meanwhile, are so beholden to notions of bourgeois respectability that they often assist Democrats in denouncing and marginalizing the rightward fringe. This is how we find ourselves with a president whose bestselling memoir was quite probably ghost-written by the unapologetic terrorist Bill Ayers, and who was re-elected by a campaign that smeared the harmless moderate Mitt Romney as a dangerous menace to the common good.

So the Democrats not only never cede an inch of their radical past, but are forever pushing forward with new radicalisms, while Republicans habitually assume the strategic defensive. But should we blame this on the GOP, or blame it on the fringe? Jack Hunter, bless his heart, was trying to speak truth to kookery.

The conservative movement flourished in the wake of the 1964 Goldwater debacle not by purging their own fanatical supporters — some of whom were as kooky as any Paulbot — but by persuading these fanatics to get organized and comport themselves in a manner that could attract mainstream support. The movement that eventually elected Ronald Reagan president and, in doing so, subsequently defeated the Soviet empire, was very pragmatic in its approach to the electoral process and what we might call image management.

Continue reading.

More at Memeorandum.

Comments Closed at Althouse

This happened over the weekend.

Ann writes:

There were some great commenters over the years, some of whom were driven away by vicious commenters. I emphasized free speech until I was forced to retrench and make good faith the test. But that was a deletion policy. I (and Meade) can't spend all our time monitoring comments and deleting. Some truly ugly people stooped to active harassment. This is my place, after all, and I can't host an endless party where there are guests who continually abuse my hospitality. I had to close the door.

She'll reopen the comments. Althouse isn't a blog that can survive without them. But she's been getting too many trolls and it's been taking too much time to deal with them. There's some background that I haven't completely mastered yet, but the sense is that a lot of Instapundit readers are coming over to Althouse and f-king sh*t up.

Here's a post with a long comment thread that relates, "'A somewhat dismissive response'." And Ann's response, "Instapundit says that what he thinks about what he calls my "advice" is "immaterial" but that it's 'probably pretty good advice'..."

That latter post features nearly 300 comments and is time-stamped at 9:26am on the 7th.

Then, checking the search function for "comments," Ann posts a poll on comments at 6:17pm that evening; a flashback to opening comments at the blog in 2005 at 7:07pm; and an invitation to comment by email to Meade at 7:53pm.

Ann's also ruminating and commiserating publicly in updates.

Reading through some of the comments at the various posts, I saw mention of using comment moderation, but Ann indicates that the Blogger "moderate comments" function is not working for her blog. I switched to Disqus some time ago, so I can't comment on how well comment moderation is working on Blogger. I emailed Ann with some information about Disqus commenting, which works well for a lot of Blogger bloggers, especially the useful service of importing old Blogger comments into the Disqus system. It worked for me, although I don't know with Ann's huge archive of comments that it's worth the risk. Ann loves that archive as a history of a community, and once you switch over to Disqus you might have a hard time switching back to Blogger commenting. I don't know, since I haven't felt like switching back, but it's a dilemma.

But something else occurred to me: Clicking on the "post a comment" link at the blog reveals that "Comments on this blog are restricted to team members." I've never used that function, but basically any commenter at the blog has to be a pre-approved team member of the Althouse community. It's not much different that comment registration at a Wordpress blog, and that raises the possibility for Ann and Meade just to create and solicit a pre-approved Althouse blog commenting community. I hesitate to use the example, but folks may remember that Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs was one of the top counter-jihad blogs, and putatively conservative. Charles is positively obsessed with controlling his comments. He pre-approved comments though a sort of random lottery where he'd open the commenting system to new registrants for a short time at unannounced intervals. He'd often get dozens --- if not hundreds --- of new commenters who registered, which he called "hatchlings." It was kind of a big deal back in the day, because folks really wanted to be part of the LGF community. Charles would close the registration window and announce how many new members joined. People would constantly be checking the blog, at the least, to see if they could catch the window opening for new commenters. I never did register, because I didn't care about it that much, and besides, when LGF started posting all the aggressive Darwinism/anti-Christian hatred ... well, the idea of joining the community decidedly lost its appeal. And as for LGF today ... no doubt readers are aware of that tragedy.

But still, it's an interesting example. Say Althouse were to open her comments to new registrants periodically, say on the weekend mornings. This could be done by email requests sent to Ann or Meade by interested readers. They'd have to have a Blogger ID and then could be approved to comment at the blog. If at any time those commenters became abusive they could be banned at a moment's notice.

She's going to need to do something like this. A large plurality responding to her poll said that the blog was basically all about the comments. I actually read Althouse more for the content than the comments, but certainly the comments are a major draw for any reader. I'll never forget the Jessica Valenti "breasts" controversy, at which time I found myself reading comments for hours. That was seven years ago. The blogosphere wouldn't be the same without those periodic Althouse blasts of observation that upend sensibilities and rejigger thinking on some important issue or another. And of course, Ann married one of her commenters --- so c'mon, you're going to tell me that a blog that was featured at the New York Times, in a report on the blogress and her suitor, is going to now be without comments, the very feature that has defined what it is to be an Althouse reader? No way.

In any case, I personally expect commenting to open back over there not too long from now, for the reasons that I've outlined above. Ann and Meade need to find the right way to manage it, because the hatred and vitriol online is extremely "mellow-harshing," as I've written about here many times. But bloggers have their own systems. Some don't allow comments and work more as portals to the Internet. Some bloggers are vanity whores where having comments would be impossible since they'd expose the naked emperor. The opposite of that is Ann's blog, which the New York Times situated as a metaphor for a royal court. That's a pretty good one, as Ann's certainly a benign blog monarch who tolerates much in the realm. But of late the commoners have become so rancid as to completely discombobulate the kingdom (or princess-ipality, be that as it may).

In any case, I'll be checking over at Althouse to see how things go. It's going to work out.

UPDATED: Ann writes to say that opening the comments to "team members" would open the front page to everybody, which is a no-can-do situation. Well, I tried.

Egypt Descends Into Chaos

Today's front-page story at the Wall Street Journal, "Dozens Killed in Clash Between Military, Morsi Supporters; Elections Planned" (via the Other McCain).

'We're conservative Americans. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, Irish it up with a little Stoli, and then grill a rib-eye while you drink it...'

That's from Kurt Schlichter's Townhall column from March, "Have We Lost America? Hell No!"

Somebody tweeted it out on Twitter last night, and it's a keeper:

It’s glorious.

This is no time to be a pessimist. Americans are natural optimists, and we conservatives have reason to be. The initiative and the momentum are with us in the campaign to take this county back from the liberal elites and their spineless lackeys. We’re going to win, and America is going to rise again.

In fact, I almost feel sorry for our opponents.

Almost.

So X's Exene Cervenka Has an Advice Column — Who Knew?

And she had to leave Los Angeles, it turns out, as she now resides in suburban Orange County.

See the O.C. Weekly, "[Exene Says...] Why Are Parents Too Scared to Be Parents?":

The Consequences of Accelerated Modern Life

At Der Spiegel, "Do More, Faster: Acceleration Plagues Modern Society":

Faster! Faster! Even Faster! The phenomenon of acceleration is a defining characteristic of modern life. A new book analyzes how it fuels a constant need for new experiences and a counterintuitive shortage of time.

Steve Ballmer is no Steve Jobs. The CEO of Microsoft is not considered to be much of a philosopher. And yet, for the company's recent developer conference he perceptively wrapped the motto of our time into a pertinent slogan: "Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster!"

Ballmer may have been referring to the development of new products or the creation of ever faster operating systems, but acceleration has also become a universal goal in the modern world. It's more than just a technological phenomenon, argues German sociologist Hartmut Rosa, a professor at the University of Jena. His recently published essay "Beschleunigung und Entfremdung," or "Acceleration and Alienation," posits that acceleration is the core element of modernization and consequently the key concept of our age.

Rosa differentiates between mechanical acceleration, the acceleration of social change and the accelerating pace of daily life. The process of mechanical acceleration began in the 19th century in conjunction with industrialization. In terms of the time it takes to travel across the world, for example, it has effectively shrunk the size of the world to one-sixtieth of its actual size.

Keeping Our Options Open

Today, mechanical acceleration affects the digital sector in particular. But paradoxically, it also goes hand in hand with an acceleration of the pace of life. Even though mechanical acceleration, by shortening the time it takes to complete tasks, was intended to create more available time for the individual, late modern society does not enjoy the luxury of more leisure time, Rosa writes. On the contrary, individuals suffer from a constant time shortage.

The reason for this is our urge "to realize as many options as possible from the infinite palette of possibilities that life presents to us," he says. Living life to the fullest has become the core objective of our time. At the same time, this hunger for new things can never be satisfied: "No matter how fast we become, the proportion of the experiences we have will continuously shrink in the face of those we missed." As a result, more and more people suffer from depression and burnout, according to Rosa.

His definition of social change utilizes a term that originally stems from Marxism: alienation. But Rosa's criticism is not directed against capitalist production conditions (unlike earlier critics of industrial modernity, Rosa's focus is not on labor), but against acceleration as a resulting meta-phenomenon.

Rosa's book shows that this phenomenon deserves at least as much attention as the buzzword "globalization," especially because the continuous acceleration of social change also leads to changes in values, lifestyles and relationships.

Continue reading.

Mos Def Guantánamo Hunger Strike Video

Honestly, I don't care.

Hussein the Incompetent promised to close the facility, so it goes on his head.

See the Guardian UK, "Obama urged to halt Ramadan force-feeding at Guantánamo."

Septic Tank Pervert Caught Peeping on 7-Year-Old Girl in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Another news item on the nihilist Democrat social perversion agenda.

The dude was covered in feces, proving that Democrats will do anything to get to their prey.

At KOTV-6 Tulsa, "Tulsa Man Found Inside Septic Tank Arrested For Peeping Tom."

And at Daily Mail, on Twitter.

Septic diving pervert discovered inside park toilet covered in feces http://t.co/DR7ML0hWMz

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 9, 2013

Whale Knocks Surfer Unconscious In Australia

At the Guardian UK, "Surfer knocked unconscious by whale at Bondi."

Leftist Media Agitating for #TrayvonMartin Race Riots

At the Lonely Conservative, "Is The Media Trying to Incite Race Riots If George Zimmerman Is Acquitted?"

Video Shows Passengers Escaping Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at #SFO

Wild.

But for the grace of God go I.



More at the San Francisco Chronicle, "Investigators probe SFO death."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Probe asks why pilots were slow to speak, act."

Egypt Braces for More Killings

My first thought at the coup was that Egypt was going to be in for a lot of violence.

Unfortunately, it's indeed turning out that way.

At the Guardian UK, "At least 51 protesters killed in Egypt as army opens fire 'like pouring rain'."

Also, "Egypt braced for more violence after 'massacre' of Morsi supporters."

#Angels Get Hot Before the All-Star Break

The Angels were traveling yesterday, but after Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Red Sox, the Halos have won 10 of their last 12 meetings, and in style.

Here's Josh Hamilton's walk-off home run from Saturday night, "Angels rally, defeat Red Sox, 9-7, in extra innings":

Josh Hamilton’s two-run home run in the 11th inning gave the Angels a 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night at Angel Stadium.

Hamilton’s walk-off homer against Boston reliever Craig Breslow, following a single by Brad Hawpe, came after the Angels had roared back with four runs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings in front of 36,112.

It was the first time the Angels won a game after trailing by four runs or more in the ninth inning since 2005.

Yes, but the Angels also had that spectacular walk-off win on the 4th of July. Here's hoping that they keep playing like over the next few weeks and months.

RELATED: "It's an emotional roller coaster for Angels' Josh Hamilton."

The New York Times Slams Eliot Spitzer's Political Comeback

See, "Spitzer Redux":

There will always be candidates for public office who are ethically compromised, temperamentally unsuitable and politically incompetent, but if they insist on running anyway, who has the right to tell them not to? Campaigns sort out the good public servants from the bad.

That said, Eliot Spitzer’s bid to recycle himself by running for New York City comptroller is unnerving on many levels, and not just because he has suddenly decided to undo the buckles of self-restraint that used to keep disgraced ex-politicians (for soliciting prostitutes, in his case) from re-entering the public sphere. Beyond that, there are Mr. Spitzer’s colossal failures in what he did and didn’t do as governor of New York.

This was the man who built a solid record and shiny reputation as a hard-charging attorney general, then squandered it in 14 months in the governor’s office. He had whipped Wall Street and was going to fix Albany, but left it more broken than when he got there.

When he quit — and who can forget how Mr. Spitzer’s stricken wife stood beside him as he announced that it was all over? — he betrayed not just the voters, but the staff members, agency leaders and employees who had followed him to Albany, or moved over from the attorney general’s office, with the goal of healing the Capitol’s sick culture.

And see, "As Spitzer Campaigns, Candidates and Voters Weigh In."

Also at Politico, "Eliot Spitzer's rollicking campaign rollout."

And the Wall Street Journal slams Spitzer as well, "The Spitzer Method."

RELATED: At Egotastic!, "Ashley Dupre to Remind Us of Eliot Spitzer's Biggest Achievement."

Hey, Check Out NTSB's Smokin' Hottie Deborah Hersman

First appointed by President George W. Bush, she's got B.A. and M.A. degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Virginia Tech, via Wikipedia. Hawt!



Plus, at the Los Angeles Times, "Asiana pilots' lack of communication puzzles crash investigators."