'Alive Inside'

I vaguely remember seeing this last year sometime, but Rachel Lucas has it, from her random 4th of July fur-balls.



And see Core 77, "Must-See Video: "Alive Inside" Documentary Reveals the Profound Power of Portable Music."

Germans Protest NSA Surveillance

At RT, "Thousands fill German streets to protest Berlin’s NSA spying involvement."

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Democrat Communists Seek Florida Boycott Over #Zimmerman Verdict

At Gateway Pundit, "Jesse Jackson Wants a Boycott of Florida… But Smoking Cigars With Castro in Cuba Was OK."



More at Memeorandum.

Roger Ballen Interview at Der Spiegel

This guy's got quite the body of work.

See, "Photography Legend Roger Ballen: 'Photos Are Like Fossils'."

Selena Gomez Breaks Out

Still a Disney teeny-bobber to me, she's nevertheless breaking out to the big time.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Selena Gomez's sexy new vibe shines through in 'Stars Dance'"

Sipping a Coke while seated on a patio overlooking a pool and tennis court, the 21-year-old singer-actress exuded a sense of deep calm (or perhaps deep boredom) as she discussed her new album.

Yet behind her studied half-smile, Gomez seemed aware that the tabloid frenzy — and the fixation on her love life — is one sign that things are going right.

"This is a lot different than any of the records I've put out before," she said. "This transition that I'm going through has been really awkward and cool, and I've learned a lot about myself."

Released on Tuesday (when it shot straight to No. 1 on iTunes), "Stars Dance" is the fourth studio disc from Gomez, who after a stint on "Barney & Friends" found fame with her role on the Disney series "Wizards of Waverly Place."

More importantly, though, the album comes in the wake of her appearance earlier this year in "Spring Breakers," the violent, sex-drenched crime drama from director Harmony Korine in which Gomez played one of four girls on a wild rampage through South Florida's neon-colored landscape.

That new adult vibe carries over to the suggestive lyrics and the harsh electronic textures of "Stars Dance," which Gomez said had been influenced by dubstep superstar Skrillex's work on the "Spring Breakers" score. "I just loved his beats," she said. "When you watch 'Spring Breakers' you can physically feel the music in the party scenes."

More at the link.

And check out "Stars Dance" on Wikipedia.

Penguin Chicks

Now, how's about a change of pace.

I love 'em.

The march of the penguin chicks at the @SFZoo today. Photo: Ian C. Bates, The Chronicle Story: http://t.co/hr4oMk6kPE pic.twitter.com/F4OtXI7uNk

— SFGate.com (@SFGate) July 28, 2013

Alfonso Soriano Traded to New York Yankees From Chicago Cubs

I always thought it was weird seen Soriano playing for the Cubs when I clicked over to WGN.

Here's the news, at the New York Post, "Yankees acquire Soriano from Cubs."

And at the clip, a reminder of New York's most recent era of dominance, now seemingly long ago.

10/21/01 ALCS Gm4: Alfonso Soriano's walk-off home run gives the Yankees a 3-1 win and 3-1 series lead in the ALCS.

Sidney Disses Huma

At the New York Post, "Weiner's sext partner says wife Huma Abedin is in it for power and fame."

Anthony Weiner’s cyber mistress says he fakes it — with his wife.

“It almost feels to me like it’s more of an arrangement, or a business relationship, than a marriage,” Sydney Leathers said of the perv pol and his humiliated spouse, Huma Abedin.

Leathers offered a half-hearted apology to Abedin “for the pain she probably feels” — though she told “Inside Edition” she believes the Hillary Clinton aide loves being in the political limelight.

“I do think that is probably part of it,” Leathers said, when asked if she thought Abedin stays in her marriage “for the power, for the fame, for the stature.”

Escena in Palm Springs is First Tract House Development Since the 'Mad Men' Era

Interesting.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Escena Palm Springs: SoCal's first modern tract houses in decades":

Escena is believed to be the first single-family tract house development in Southern California built in a modern architectural style since the actual “Mad Men” era, when builders such as Joseph Eichler and the Alexander Construction Co. brought Midcentury Modern to the masses. The bet driving this development: that a new generation raised with smartphones, Ikea stores and hybrid cars understands that modern design is built into every object of their lives.

When it comes to home, the prevailing, post-recession sensibility is simple but cool. It’s smart and efficient. It’s comfort without excess. Escena houses, Poon says, are designed for the modern person who thinks, “I don’t want to be the guy driving the Hummer.”

So here on the north side of Palm Springs, where Gene Autry Trail meets Vista Chino, you will see no faux Italian villas striving for “Under a Tuscan Sun” romantic rusticity. No Spanish tile, no Moroccan arches, no board-and-batten ranch-house siding with a Western accent. These houses speak in the architectural language of flat roofs, open floor plans and maximum connection to the outdoors. Imagine floor tile that emulates the look of polished concrete. Or sleek, high-gloss kitchen cabinets imported from Italy and unencumbered by hardware. Or biofuel fireplaces that deliver ambience without pollution.

“There is a lot of beautiful, modern design in mixed-use projects, condos and apartments, but not in single-family housing,” says Poon, principal at Poon Design, a Beverly Hills firm whose portfolio includes Chaya, Saffron and Mendocino Farms restaurants. Any developer can crank out “Taco Bell” houses and make money, the architect says, “but I think it’s time — time to start offering high design to a mainstream marketplace."

Pretty nice, if you're into Ikea. Lots of photos at the article, in any case.

Barack Hussein Dismisses 'Phony Scandals'

I'm shaking my head at this.

President Barack Hussein, Asshole-in-Chief.

Breitbart has video, "Obama Slams 'Phony Scandals' In Weekly Address."

And from Michael Graham, at the Boston Herald, "Nothing ‘phony’ about O’s scandals":

“With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.” — President Obama, Wednesday

Question: How many Americans have to be murdered in an al-Qaeda attack on a U.S. consulate before it stops being a “phony” scandal?

Answer: If Barack Obama is president, more than four.

Writers across the spectrum — from the liberal New York Times to the conservative Wall Street Journal — have beaten up on President Obama’s latest “dreadful, cliche-ridden” (James Taranto, wsj.com) speech on economic policy, the second-longest speech of his presidency.

How can a man talk for more than an hour on a single topic, as Obama did on Wednesday, and say absolutely nothing new? As columnist Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post explained, “It’s because the president has nothing to say about the economy.”

Liberals complain that all conservatives ever say is “Cut taxes and cut spending!” Perhaps they’re right, but that’s two more ideas than Barack Obama has offered during his entire presidency.

Which is why the only line from this Teleprompter novella that’s gotten any traction is his “phony scandals” feint.

“Phony”? What’s phony about the fact that the IRS targeted citizens based on their ideology? That the discussion of this targeting went all the way up to the president’s hand-picked IRS chief counsel William Wilkins? That Wilkins met with Obama in April 2012 just two days before “new guidance” on how to handle Tea Party applications was sent from Washington to IRS operatives?

Imagine cub reporter Barack “WoodStein” Obama being told by his Washington Post editors in 1972 that the Nixon administration using the IRS to target its enemies was a “phony scandal.” Would he have agreed?

“Phony”? What’s phony about the family members of a Fox News reporter being spied on by the Department of Justice? About Attorney General Eric Holder lying about his knowledge of “potential prosecution” of the media by his department?

And then there’s Ben-ghazi. Almost a year later, we still don’t know where the president was when the terrorist attack started, whether the military was ordered to leave Glen Doherty to die, or why the White House continued to push the phony story of a video weeks after it knew it was a terror attack and not a movie protest.

Four dead Americans at a consulate the Obama administration knew was being targeted but left unprotected. On 9/11. With an ambassador in it. If that’s a “phony scandal,” how many dead Americans does it take to make a real one?

Continue reading.

And still more at Instapundit.

The Obama Media Pool Lacks Racial Depth

Yeah, they're short on authentic black mf's.

At WaPo, "When the first black president of the United States walked into the White House press room to talk about Trayvon Martin and the complexities of race in America last Friday, the people poised to convey his remarks to the world were overwhelmingly of one race — white."

Lucy Pinder for Nuts' 'Rude Girls'

Via Nuts on Twitter.

Click though for the "Rude Girls."

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller Tells Vice President Joe Biden to Get the Fuck Out!

The letter's from January, but never too late to post.

Via Bloviating Zeppelin, "A Letter From an Oregon Sheriff."



Revolution is fomenting against the criminal regime in Washington, a bit at at time. But it's coming.

More Than 100 Morsi Supporters Dead in Egypt Violence

At London's Daily Mail, "Bloodbath in Cairo: More than 120 dead and 1,000 injured after police 'shoot to kill' in violent clashes which have rocked Egypt."

And at BNI, "EXCELLENT! Reports out of Egypt allege more than 100 pro-Morsi rioters killed by Egyptian Army."

Added: Lots more at Blazing Cat Fur.



More here, "Chaos Grips Egypt — Again."

Sarah Palin: 'I was banned from talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright...'

Well, Republicans were basically banned from winning the election.

If you don't talk about the treason and anti-Americanism of the Democrat Party and its vile nominee, no one else is going to do if for you, last of all the leftist media complex.

At Twitchy, "Sarah Palin tells Greta Van Susteren: ‘I was banned from talking about Rev. Wright’ [video]."

Homosexual 'Marriage' Designed to Destroy the Institution of Marriage

I just happened to come across this at the Blaze, "LESBIAN ACTIVIST’S SURPRISINGLY CANDID SPEECH: GAY MARRIAGE FIGHT IS A ‘LIE’ TO DESTROY MARRIAGE." (Hat tip: Marooned in Marin.)

There's audio at the link, but Glenn Beck featured this lesbian in a segment a couple of months back.



Again, I'm not sure how I missed this at the time, well, other than being in the middle of the semester, deep in term papers, but here's Robert George on the woman's same comments, "What Few Deny Gay Marriage Will Do":

Just imagine the uproar had, say, Rick Santorum said ,“Fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what [they] are going to do with marriage when [they] get there—because [they] lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie.” But, of course, you don’t have to take it from Rick Santorum or other defenders of marriage as a conjugal union. Masha Gessen will tell you the same thing.

Although Gessen’s willingness to put the matter in terms of “lying” is startlingly frank, it is no longer uncommon for advocates of redefining marriage to acknowledge that the effect—for them an entirely desirable effect—of redefinition will be the radical transformation of the institution. The objective is not merely to expand the pool of people eligible to participate in it, as was long claimed. In conceding (and celebrating the fact) that redefining marriage will fundamentally alter the institution, transform its social role and meaning, and undermine its structuring norms of monogamy, exclusivity, etc., Gessen is far from out of step with other leading figures in the movement. She joins influential NYU sociologist Judith Stacey, Arizona State University professor Elizabeth Brake, “It Gets Better” founder Dan Savage, writer Victoria Brownworth, journalist E. J. Graff, activist Michelangelo Signorile, and countless other important scholars and activists.

Moreover, there seem to be very few prominent scholars and activists in the movement to redefine marriage who are criticizing Masha Gessen, Judith Stacey, Elizabeth Brake, and the others, and speaking out for the norms of monogamy and fidelity and other traditional marital and familial ideals. Many are quiet, but few actually deny that the abandonment of the conjugal understanding of marriage will have the transformative institutional and social effects that Gessen, Stacey, Brake and the others (approvingly) say it will have.

And be sure to read the comment thread.

Half of #ObamaCare Call Center Jobs Will Be Part-Time

From up in Contra Costa County, where officials were touting the call center jobs as the "cream of the crop.

Well, not.

At the Contra Costa Times, "Concord: Half of Affordable Care Act call center jobs will be part-time":

CONCORD -- Earlier this year, Contra Costa County won the right to run a health care call center, where workers will answer questions to help implement the president's Affordable Care Act. Area politicians called the 200-plus jobs it would bring to the region an economic coup.

Now, with two months to go before the Concord operation opens to serve the public, information has surfaced that about half the jobs are part-time, with no health benefits -- a stinging disappointment to workers and local politicians who believed the positions would be full-time.

The Contra Costa County supervisor whose district includes the call center called the whole hiring process -- which attracted about 7,000 applicants -- a "comedy of errors."

"The battle for the call center was over jobs with good working wages and benefits; I never dreamed they would be part-time," said Karen Mitchoff, who has heard from complaining constituents and expressed her "extreme displeasure with how it was handled" to call center supervisors.

One recent hire, who last week learned the job would be part-time, said the new "intermittent" employees feel like they've been used as a political tool, and many now regret applying for the positions.

"What's really ironic is working for a call center and trying to help people get health care, but we can't afford it ourselves," said the worker, who asked for anonymity out of fear of losing the job. The county says it had been telling the public and supervisors all along that some positions would be full-time and some part-time. However, portions of staff reports list all 204 jobs as full-time, and a job posting said the same.

It's the latest controversy involving the call center, one of three created statewide to help citizens enroll in various new health care options under President Obama's Affordable Care Act when it goes live at the start of next year.

Contra Costa was selected early on by the state to run the call center, but the deal mandated the county run the operation itself, with state funding, or lose it to another county. Once Contra Costa secured the call center, Concord and Richmond battled for the right to host it. Unions nearly derailed the project before some last-minute wrangling to ensure workers weren't transferred needlessly and would receive appropriate benefits.

The state budget allows for 180 customer service agents, half of them part-time, when the call center opens Oct. 1, said Contra Costa Deputy County Administrator Theresa Speiker. The full-time employees, she said, will handle the core 40-hour work week, while the part-timers will handle the extended hours. For the first three months, the call center at 2500 Bates Ave., off Highway 4 and Port Chicago Highway, will be open 72 hours a week. After that, it drops to 59 hours a week.

"In open session and in (staff reports) we've been pretty clear that not all will be full-time jobs," Speiker said.

Speiker said the 7,000 applications were "totally outside what we anticipated with the demand for these jobs. We were blown away."

The new hires, many of whom left other full-time jobs for the call center positions, were told they were the "cream of the crop," the recent hire said.

Everyday brings another story illustrating the epic disasters of ObamaCare.

The GOP has a choice campaign platform for 2014, if the idiots don't blow it.

A Failed Celebr-Ambassador Returns to Washington

From Michelle Malkin:

Welcome to another installment of No Obama Bundler Left Behind. This chapter stars an elite Hollywood fundraiser who scored a plum diplomatic appointment, slacked off on the job and left her public office in disgrace, and then rebounded from failure as a new Obamacare promoter. Nice crony “work” if you can get it.

This failed celebr-ambassador is Nicole Avant. Her father, Clarence Avant, is a prominent Democratic activist and music executive. Her husband, Ted Sarandos, is the chief content officer at Netflix. Her godfather is music legend Quincy Jones. On Monday, Avant turned up at an Obama administration confab with pop stars (Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo), comedy stars (Amy Poehler, Kal Penn, Aisha Tyler) and other assorted Beautiful People (public relations teams for Oprah Winfrey and Alicia Keys). The liberal glam squad members all have agreed to spread Obamacare propaganda to the masses.

Avant, billed as an “Obama administration veteran” by The Hollywood Reporter, represented “industry” at the Ministry of Health Care Misinformation meeting this week. The Wrap, another Hollywood gossip outlet, describes Avant as having been “tasked with helping boost Obama’s relationship with Hollywood.”

But what exactly has this “veteran” accomplished? What are her qualifications? How has she used taxpayer dollars, and what exactly is her “industry”?

By all appearances, the industry of Nicole Avant is Nicole Avant...

Culture of corruption.

More at that top link.

Kopp-Etchells Effect

The corona effect from helicopter rotor blades in Afghanistan, and named the "Kopp-Etchells Effect" by war correspondent Michael Yon, after Cpl. Benjamin Kopp and Cpl. Joseph Etchells, who were killed in action.

Not sure why now, since Yon was writing about this back in 2009, but London's Daily Mail reports, "Mesmerizing halo effect caused by blades of landing combat helicopters named in honor of two fallen soldiers."

Chaos Grips Egypt — Again

At Reuters, "Violence deepens Egypt turmoil, deposed leader probed for murder."

And the New York Times, "Violence Erupts After Mass Rallies Over Fate of Egypt."

And here's the kicker, "Aid to Egypt Can Keep Flowing, Despite Overthrow, White House Decides":

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has concluded it is not legally required to determine whether the Egyptian military engineered a coup d’état in ousting President Mohamed Morsi, a senior administration official said Thursday, a finding that will allow it to continue to funnel $1.5 billion in American aid to Egypt each year.

The legal opinion, submitted to the White House by lawyers from the State Department and other agencies, amounts to an escape hatch for President Obama and his advisers, who had concluded that cutting off financial assistance could destabilize Egypt at an already fragile moment and would pose a threat to neighbors like Israel.

The senior official did not describe the legal reasoning behind the finding, saying only, “The law does not require us to make a formal determination as to whether a coup took place, and it is not in our national interest to make such a determination.”

“We will not say it was a coup, we will not say it was not a coup, we will just not say,” the official said.

The most corrupt administration in history, completely lawless.

Previous Egypt blogging is here, with plenty of chaos.