Monday, July 28, 2014

Dr. Gina Gentry Loudon's 18-Year-Old Daughter Lyda Loudon Dating 57-Year Old 'Ray Donovan' Star Steven Bauer

Hat Tip: Wombat Socho at the Other McCain, "LIVE AT FIVE: 07.28.14."

At Us Magazine:


She's the daughter of Dr. Gina Loudon, of whom I've had some disappointment of late. Recall, "#Murrieta Protesters @CassandraRules and @BeautifulChaosJ Spew Lies and Hatred, Not 'Civility'."

My 18-year-old son was shaking his head, saying, "I'm all for freedom." So there's that.

#GOP Senate Prospects Brighten: Strong Candidates, Obama's Sagging Approval Expand Party's Map

At the Wall Street Journal, "Prospects Brighten for Republicans to Reclaim a Senate Majority" (via Google):
With 100 days to go until the midterm election, unexpectedly strong bids by several Republican candidates and President Barack Obama's continued sagging approval ratings are boosting GOP chances of capturing a Senate majority.

A battery of recent polling shows Republican candidates mounting competitive bids for at least 10 Senate seats now held by Democrats, including in Iowa and Colorado, states that have been leaning Democratic in recent years. Many Republican candidates have narrowed their opponents' fundraising advantage, according to the latest campaign-finance reports. And a series of international crises has dealt the president some of the lowest approval marks of his second term, weighing on his party's candidates.

"A lot of times, a party has to run an inside-straight to win the majority," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report who handicaps congressional campaigns. "Instead of having five cards in their hand, the Republicans have about 10."

The GOP needs a net gain of six seats for a majority in the Senate, which now has 55 Democrats and allied independents. Republicans have long been expected to contest seven Democratic-held seats in states that voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. But now the GOP is also waging solid campaigns in at least three states that backed Mr. Obama.

Still, Democratic incumbents have remained resilient after weathering millions of dollars in negative advertising. North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, for example, holds a narrow lead in publicly available polling after absorbing $18 million in negative ads, far more than the amount spent on ads supporting her, her campaign said. Democratic prospects also are making serious bids for Republican seats in Georgia and Kentucky, the only two GOP-held seats that are thought to be possible Democratic pickups this year.

But Republicans are favored to win Democratic seats in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia, and GOP challengers are pushing incumbent Democrats to the brink in Alaska, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well as North Carolina. Races for Democratic seats in Colorado and Iowa are now genuine tossups, with some analysts saying the same of Michigan.

This year's map clearly favors the GOP even as Democrats continue to lead on the question of which party Americans would rather see control Congress, according to a compilation of polls by the website Real Clear Politics. The Republican Party also remains far less popular than the president or the Democratic Party, public-opinion surveys show, particularly among women.

But Republicans this year are betting on an anti-Obama message, linking Democratic candidates to a president who is unpopular in many of the battleground states. Democrats, meanwhile, are doing what incumbents typically do when facing a negative election environment: building campaigns around local issues and reminding voters of all the things they do in Washington to help people back home.

Republicans have been here before. In each of the past two elections, the party failed to capitalize on a favorable map to recapture the majority. And to win this year, Republicans would likely have to do something the party hasn't done since 1980: beat more than two incumbents.

Sitting Democratic senators in the four most competitive battlegrounds—Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina—remain at risk but carry financial advantages and, in three cases, family names that are identified with long service to the state. Polls show close contests in each race, and all four Democrats ended June with more money in their campaign accounts than the Republicans running against them, according to Federal Election Commission data.

"All of these red-state Democrats knew they would have difficult campaigns. They've prepared for difficult campaigns, and they're all experienced politicians," said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who is working for Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. "They all have a path to win."

By the end of June, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had raised $25 million more than its Republican counterpart, allowing the committee to spend freely on television ads and turnout opeartions. Democrats in seven of the 10 most competitive races also ended June with more money than their Republican rivals.

But the edge is diminishing in some states. In Colorado, where Democratic Sen. Mark Udall is defending his seat, Republican Rep. Cory Gardner trails in cash on hand by $2.3 million, according to campaign-finance reports. That gap is smaller than the $3.8 million lead that Mr. Udall held at the end of March.
There's a great graphic at the click through.

It think they'll do it. Republicans will take the Senate. They'll at least get the six seats needed for the majority. And if current events continue to dog the president, I expect they'll get more than that. The only bummer here is that Kay Hagan's looking stronger than I'd hoped for, but what can you do? It's gonna be good.

PREVIOUSLY: "Odds of a GOP Wave."

Professor Fernando Guerra: Local Governments Step Up as Obama Has "No Coherent Policy' on Border Invasion

I've never met him, but Dr. Guerra's a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

He's got a good analysis --- especially on Obama's FUBAR border (non)policy --- although I disagree on the impact of the border invasion on the political mobilization of parties' core constituencies. Sure, the Republican base is already fired up, but I don't see how the border invasion increases Democrat Party mobilization. The Dems already have a huge enthusiasm gap going into November. And polls have shown a significant increase in support for greater border security, a trend that's put the Democrats on the defensive. See National Journal, "Immigration Isn't A Slam-Dunk Issue for Democrats Anymore."

But we'll see.



Also, at NewsMax, this sounds about right to me, "Dick Morris: Border Crisis Could 'Wipe Out' Democrats in Midterms."

Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism: A Global Contagion of Hatred Is Now Breaking; It's Fully Encapsulated by the Left

The global left right now is engaged it what is being called the most violent campaign of anti-Semitism since the 1930s.

I've been on top of these developments for weeks, as has Professor William Jacobson. See, "Anti-Semitism on open display in the name of anti-Zionism."

Meanwhile, that ghastly hate-driven troll Walter James Casper tweets a defense of the global left's anti-Semitism. As always with Repsac hate-troll, it's just "a few bad apples," as it always is when the left's hatred and ideological violence is on display.

Of course Repsac's a liar. Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. The global campaign is anti-Jew, because no other state is singled out for the same demonization and deligitimation as Israel. Apartheid exists literally across the Arab world, but only Israel is attacked as an "apartheid state." No other country in the world is subject to an ongoing genocidal campaign of extermination. If you're on the side of the global left, you're on the side of the left's hoped-for Holocaust.

It's anti-Semitism straight up, and Repsac3's down with it:



Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism in #Britain as Jewish People Face Backlash Over Bloodshed in Gaza

And remember, it's a rising tide of leftist anti-Semitism.

At London's Daily Mail:
Jewish people in Britain are enduring a backlash of attacks, bomb threats and anti-semitic insults fuelled by the bloodshed in Gaza.

More than 100 hate crimes have been recorded by police and community groups this month, more than double the usual number.

Community safety groups fear the total could be the second highest ever recorded, after an explosion of violence during the 2009 Gaza war.

In several disturbing cases attackers have invoked the Holocaust and even shouted: ‘Heil Hitler’ at victims...
More.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

NBC's Richard Engel During #Gaza Cease-Fire: 'Didn't see Hamas men out helping with relief and recovery...'

The world saw dramatic photos of the horrendous carnage in Gaza during the 12-hour cease fire. NBC's Richard Engel was on the ground, and --- no flaming right-winger he --- reports that he didn't see "Hamas men" breaking out bread sticks and brooms.



Hottest Instagram Babes This Summer!

Some nice women, lol.

At the College Pill (via Linkiest).

VIDEO: Lightning Strike Kills Man at Venice Beach in Los Angeles

At the Los Angeles Times, "1 beach-goer dead, 8 hurt when freak lightning storm hits Venice."

And the number injured may be as high as 14. The man who died was swimming, according to KABC-7 Los Angeles.

More from CBS News Los Angeles:




'Think Progress' — and Karoli LOL! — Punk'd by Parody Claiming Michele Bachmann Wants Illegals in 'Camps'

Boy, the leftist stooges at "Think Progress" -- and leftist loon Karoli lol! -- must have been really jonesin' for some dirt to smear Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. I mean look at their posts. They've got cut and paste from virtually the entire parody site KCTV7 News, as seen here: "MICHELE BACHMANN SUGGESTS LABOR CAMPS FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN."

And lol here's "Think Progress," where the idiots forgot to, you know, think: "CORRECTED: Bachmann And Migrant Children."

And at Crook and Liars (and Retards), "Crazy Eyes Bachmann Wants Central American Children Put In Indoctrination Camps (UPDATED)."

Karoli even had a Memeorandum thread to broadcast teh stupid.



And as Jonah Goldberg noted earlier, that's some correction lol:



Former Irvine Mayor Larry Agran Under Fire as 'Great Park' Execs Say Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Wasted

The Irvine Great Park development project, which has been under planning since the early-2000s, has been a slush fund for the local Irvine Democrat Party machine. Former Mayor Larry Agran, who ran for the Democrat presidential nomination in 1992, is pushing back hard against allegations that the city wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on the Great Park boondoggle.

At the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, "Great Park execs testify to dysfunction, waste of millions":

 photo Official_City_Portrait_of_Larry_Agran_zps309e7b7a.jpg
Irvine Councilman Larry Agran is brushing off scathing testimony from current and former Orange County Great Park executives that allege millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted through poor budget planning and incompetence under a dysfunctional management system.

Among the allegations are that powerful consultants, one with close political ties to Agran, were authorized to run the project above the direction of city staff members.

The allegations were revealed July 21 through the release of testimony given over the past three months as part of the Great Park forensic audit approved by the Irvine City Council last year. The audit is examining more than $200 million spent on the Great Park so far.

The cost of the audit has risen to more than $1 million, and a final report is expected by September. Four of the audit depositions were released July 21 on a public records request.

Agran served as chairman of the Great Park Corp. for five of the seven years, 2005-12, covered by the audit. The corporation was folded into city operations in 2013.

"It's the kind of gossip and backbiting that's part of any major project," Agran said after stating he had not read the depositions two days after they were released.

Assistant city manager Mike Ellzey has functioned as the Great Park chief executive since shortly after he was hired by Agran in 2008. Ellzey told investigators he immediately encountered an unusual power structure in which consultant Arnold Forde, under a contract to his PR firm Forde & Mollrich, had more decision-making power than he did as CEO. Forde has served as a strategist in several of Agran's City Council and mayoral campaigns.

Ellzey submitted that with Forde as his right-hand man, and Yuhedi Gaffen of the design management firm Gafco, Agran created a "triumvirate of power" within the Great Park Design Studio. He testified the Design Studio routinely operated ahead of proper oversight by city staff members.

"That was just wrong," Ellzey stated in his deposition on June 18. "It was just wrong that a contractor/consultant was directing a public body."

Similar testimony was offered by former Great Park CEO Walter Kreutzen, former Chief Financial Officer Colleen Clark and former Manager Mary Ann Burgess. Ellzey is the only one among the four that remains attached to the Great Park project.

Ellzey said excessive contracts, with sloppy invoicing and design work that often could not produce deliverables, churned through millions of Great Park funds. Forde & Mollrich was paid $100,000 per month for public relations work — a figure Ellzey placed as much as 300% too high.

The release of the depositions hasn't moved Agran from his stance that the entire forensic audit is nothing more than a "political witch hunt," as he has stated in the past.
Right.

A "witch hunt," because public accountability for a leftist Democrat taxpayer boondoggle is all about politics. What a typical big-government leftist. Siphoning money off the public purse for his own cronies. The park's budget is over $200 million and after more than a decade all they can show for it is balloon rides.

Freakin' crook should do time. He and his leftist city council thugs and cronies. Sheesh.

VIDEO: Israel Ambassador Gets 'Thunderous Applause' at Huge Hungarian Pro-Israel Rally in Budapest

Hungarians standing up against lefitst, Hamas anti-Semitism.

Photos from Janos Kis, "Pro-Israel demonstration in Budapest."



Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

Branco Cartoon photo D-Shied-590-LI_zps6c29735e.jpg

Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES," and Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies" (from 7/18).

More at Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup..."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Israeli vs Hamas Defense Shields."

VIDEO: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Confronts NBC's David Gregory on Pro-Hamas Propaganda

A great interview.

Watch, "Israeli PM Netanyahu Confronts NBC’s David Gregory - FULL INTERVIEW 7/27/2014."

Also at Fire Andrea Mitchell, "Netanyahu schools NBC hack David Gregory over pro-Hamas propaganda (Video)," and MRC, "Benjamin Netanyahu Confronts NBC’s David Gregory Over Claim That Israel Targeted a U.N. School."

PHOTOS: Bodies from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Shot Down Over Torez, Ukraine

At Time, "Photo Essay: Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: ‘Unreal’ Scenes from Photographer Jerome Sessini."

 photo photo17_zps0349d061.jpg

CAPTION: "The body of a passenger, still strapped into his seat, rests in a wheat field in eastern Ukraine."

And see this week's cover story, "In Russia, Crime Without Punishment."

Dana Bar-on: Hamas 'Has Found a Way Into Our Homes Now...'

The Israeli Defense Forces, a week or so back, killed 10 Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated into Israel through tunnels built under the kibbutz at Nir Am, located near the border at Gaza in Southern Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reports, "WATCH: 10 terrorists killed attempting to infiltrate Israel through tunnel." Also at the Times of Israel, "Israeli southern border towns empty, adjust to tunnel threats":
Earlier this week 10 Gaza terrorists dressed in Israeli army uniforms popped out of the ground less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. They killed four Israeli soldiers before an airstrike killed them, preventing them from moving deeper into the country.

Most of Nir Am’s 350 residents had already been relocated to safer areas in central and northern Israel, as happened in two previous wars with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, kibbutz spokesman Ofer Liberman said. Those remaining were shocked as Israeli troops entered the agricultural community in full combat gear fearing that gunmen had sneaked inside.
At the video, Dana Bar-on, who lives at Mir Am, shares her experiences and feelings --- and note especially how she's heartbroken at the civilian casualties in Gaza. She cries. But she explains that she loves the IDF --- who are friends and brothers and uncles --- as they always try to protect civilian lives, while protecting Israeli citizens from the Hamas terrorists burrowing below, attempting to murder the Jews in their homes.

A riveting clip, especially the second half, so stay with it, via Elder of Ziyon, "Saving Dana Bar-on."




VIDEO: Wide Open Spaces: Aerial Report Shows No Border Fence for Miles Along Arizona/Mexico Border

American Border Patrol's Glenn Spencer recently videotaped aerial footage of miles of the Arizona/Mexico border. See "Open-Borders Arizona."

And Infowars has this report:



BONUS: From 2008, "ABP's Border Cams Featured on Fox News."

GRAPHIC VIDEO: Dozens of Civilians Dead as Ukaine Artillery Pounds Rebel-Held City of Horlivka

Video, "Ukraine: Dozens dead after Ukrainian troops shell Gorlovka *GRAPHIC*," and "RAW: E. Ukraine city of Gorlovka under heavy bombardment."

At at WaPo, "Ukraine poised to try to reclaim Donetsk, its military says."

'UNRWA is not a neutral force attempting to do good things; it is an arm of Hamas, raising its children to hate, hiding its weapons, and allowing itself to provide human shields as Hamas attempts to attack Israel's citizens...'

From Paula Stern, at A Soldier's Mother, "What is UNRWA?"

Today's Feminists Can't Write for S***

An interesting piece, from Charlotte Allen, at the Los Angeles Times:



Heteronormativity and Gender Roles in Children's Movies

Another opus, from Robert Stacy McCain: