Hamas Cancels Online Order After Misunderstanding 'Blow-Up Dolls'

Heh, that's funny.

Via Blazing Cat Fur.

Where Are Cuba's Political Prisoners?

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady, at WSJ, "Fifty-three of those jailed by the Castros were supposed to have been freed in the Obama deal":

Who and where are the 53 Cuban political prisoners that President Obama promised would be freed by Havana as part of a deal to liberate three convicted Cuban spies serving lengthy sentences in the U.S.?

I asked the State Department this last week. State referred me to the White House. White House officials declined to provide the list of names citing “concern that publicizing it would make it more difficult to ensure that Cuba follows through, and continues with further steps in the future.”

Bottom line: The U.S. government cannot confirm that they have been released and is not certain they’re going to be released, even though the three Cuban spies have already been returned.

A government official told me that keeping the names of the 53 quiet will give Cuba the opportunity to release them as a sovereign measure, rather than at the behest of the U.S., and that this could allow for additional releases.

In other words, the Castros are sensitive boys who throw despotic tantrums when their absolute power is questioned. Asking them to keep their word is apparently a trigger.

Mr. Obama was destined to have trouble changing Cuba policy. Nixon went to China. But “Obama goes to Havana”? That sounds like stand-up comedy. A man with some humility might have prepared for the challenge. Mr. Obama did not. Now, little by little, what he says he got in the “negotiations” seems to be evaporating while what he gave away appears reckless.

The U.S. president hasn’t gone to Havana, not yet anyway. But he did use the prisoner swap to announce that he plans to unconditionally open diplomatic relations with the military dictatorship, something that the Castros have long demanded. Count that as concession one.

He said he would ease restrictions on American travel to the island and make it legal to use U.S. credit cards and debit cards in Cuba, thereby boosting revenues for the military-owned tourism industry. That’s concession two.

His promise to review Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terror sounded like he had already made up his mind. “At a time when we are focused on threats from al Qaeda to ISIL, a nation that meets our conditions and renounces the use of terrorism should not face this sanction,” Mr. Obama said.

That would complete the concession trifecta. Cuba still supports the FARC, the Colombian terrorist group, it got caught in 2013 trying to smuggle weapons through the Panama Canal to North Korea, and credible intelligence analysts say Cuba has provided Venezuela the technology it needs to falsify identities for Middle East terrorists.

If Mr. Obama is serious about selling U.S.-Cuba detente, a little less obfuscation would be nice...

Less obfuscation? Bwahaha! That's Obama's standard operating procedure! Without that, he'd do even less than the little that he already does!

Keep reading.

Greta Van Susteren: 1) Yes, Mike Huckabee is Running; 2) No, He Wasn't Forced Out at Fox News

Greta was on this morning's 'This Week' powerhouse roundtable at ABC News.

She takes the first question from Martha Raddatz, and it's interesting.

Watch: "Is Mike Huckabee Running for President?"

(I couldn't stay with it too much longer, however. Margaret Hoover's also a panelist, and she's just a disgusting RINO shill, damn.)

China's Maoists Emboldened by Xi Jinping's Traditional Communist Authoritarianism

You can see how much China's international interdependence with the U.S. is fostering democratization. Or, no wait? What? Er, well... Maybe it'll work in Cuba?!!

At the New York Times, "China’s Maoists Are Revived as Thought Police":

HONG KONG — They pounce on bloggers who dare mock their beloved Chairman Mao. They scour the nation’s classrooms and newspapers for strains of Western-inspired liberal heresies. And they have taken down professors, journalists and others deemed disloyal to Communist Party orthodoxy.

China’s Maoist ideologues are resurgent after languishing in the political desert, buoyed by President Xi Jinping’s traditionalist tilt and emboldened by internal party decrees that have declared open season on Chinese academics, artists and party cadres seen as insufficiently red.

Ideological vigilantes have played a pivotal role in the downfall of Wang Congsheng, a law professor in Beijing who was detained and then suspended from teaching after posting online criticisms of the party. Another target was Wang Yaofeng, a newspaper columnist who voiced support for the recent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and then found himself without a job.

“Since Xi came to power, the pressure and control over freethinkers has become really tight,” said Qiao Mu, a Beijing journalism professor who was demoted this fall, in part for publicly espousing multiparty elections and free speech. “More and more of my friends and colleagues are experiencing fear and harassment.”

Two years into a sweeping offensive against dissent, Mr. Xi has been intensifying his focus on perceived ideological opponents, sending ripples through universities, publishing houses and the news media and emboldening hard-liners who have hailed him as a worthy successor to Mao Zedong.

In instructions published last week, Mr. Xi urged universities to “enhance guidance over thinking and keep a tight grip on leading ideological work in higher education,” Xinhua, the official news agency, reported.

In internal decrees, he has been blunter, attacking liberal thinking as a pernicious threat that has contaminated the Communist Party’s ranks, and calling on officials to purge the nation of ideas that run counter to modern China’s Marxist-Leninist foundations.

“Never allow singing to a tune contrary to the party center,” he wrote in comments that began to appear on party and university websites in October. “Never allow eating the Communist Party’s food and then smashing the Communist Party’s cooking pots.”

The latter-day Maoists, whose influence had faltered before Mr. Xi came to power, have also been encouraged by another internal document, Document No. 30, which reinforces warnings that Western-inspired notions of media independence, “universal values” and criticism of Mao threaten the party’s survival.

“It’s a golden period to be a leftist in China,” Zhang Hongliang, a prominent neo-Maoist, said in an interview. “Xi Jinping has ushered in a fundamental change to the status quo, shattering the sky.” China’s old guard leftists are a loose network of officials and former officials, sons and daughters of party veterans, and ardently anti-Western academics and journalists. They look back to the precepts of Marx, Lenin and especially Mao to try to reverse the effects of China’s free-market policies and the spread of values anathema to party tradition. And while their direct influence on the party leadership has been circumscribed, they have served as the party’s eager ideological inquisitors.

Their favorite enemies are almost always members of China’s beleaguered liberal circles: academics, journalists and rights activists who believe that liberal democracy, with its accompanying ideas of civil society and rule of law, offers the country the best way forward.

Mr. Xi’s recent orders and the accompanying surge of pressure on political foes further dispelled initial suspicions that his ideological hardening was a feint to establish his credibility with traditionalists as he settled into power. Instead, his continuing campaign against Western-inspired ideas has emboldened traditional party leftists.

“China watchers all need to stop saying this is all for show or that he’s turning left to turn right,” said Christopher K. Johnson, an expert on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who formerly worked as a senior China analyst at the C.I.A. “This is a core part of the guy’s personality. The leftists certainly feel he’s their guy.”

Keep reading.

Doctrinal Maoism calls for "permanent revolution" (akin to Trotskyism, but in the historical context of China's agrarian revolution), which in turns justifies the continuation in power of the "revolutionary vanguard" of the party, who rule over the state on the basis of the "dictatorship of the proletariat."

Market liberalism threatens the Chinese Communist Party's hold on power. The irony is that indeed increasing affluence via market forces prevents a complete economic collapse and disintegration of the China system along the lines of the Soviet Union. American policy certainly hasn't called for the "rollback" of Maoism, nor is that likely any time soon. Frankly, with the Obama-Democrats we're becoming more like them rather than the other way around.

Violent Leftists Shut Down Ron Wyden Town Hall in Portland

All they want to do is shut things down.

Damn thugs overran the place, and that was it.

At Oregon Live, "Wyden town hall disrupted by 'hands up, don't shoot' protests."

And at Progs Today, "CHAOS ERUPTS As #Ferguson Protesters Shut Down Sen. Wyden Town Hall – Threaten to Beat Security Guard (VIDEO)."

As security tries to gain control and close the door, a big black mofo rams his foot inside as a door stop and threatens, "I'll Break Your Jaw Old Man!"

Well, so much for MLK-style civil disobedience. These people are violent anarcho-communists!

New Year's Sunday Rule 5

Let's get it started for 2015!

To the blogfather of Rule 5, the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Bowls, Boobs and Other Entertainments."

Now, at Gator Doug's, "THE DALEYBABE's HOT JANIS TRUE."

A View From the Beach, "Rule 5 Saturday - Alana de la Garza - The Forever Girl."

Over at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is a horrible fossil fueled mower causing so much heat that it snows, you might just be a Warmist."

Here's 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

At Maggie's Farm, "Saturday morning links."

Also at Knuckledragging, "Your Good Morning Girl," and "Plastic jugs is right…"

Goodstuff's has "Donna Douglas."

And Dana Pico has, "Rule 5 Blogging: Italians."

At the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday."

More at Ode's, "IT'S HETEROSEXUAL PRIDE DAY ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

A Nod To The Gods, "Sunday Random."

Also, at Drunke Stepfather, "MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ IN A WHITE BIKINI OF THE DAY."

At Egotastic!, "Anais Zanotti’s High Flying Boobage and Other Fine Things to Ogle," and "Sextastic Social Media Candids 2014: Emily Ratajkowski, Kate Upton, Selena Gomez and Much More."

The Last Tradition has "Camila Vernaglia."

Political Clown Parade has, "Dallas Cowboys Vs The NFL’s Dirtiest Player."

At Ms. EBL's, "Did someone mention Catwoman?"

At Proof Positive, "...the Obligatory NFL Cheerleaders."

More at Soylent, "Your Morning Coffee Creamer."

Don't miss Average Bubba, "Rule 5 Post: Redhead Edition…"

From Diogenes' Middle Finger, "Happy New Year from DMF."

At THAT MR. G GUY'S BLOG, "Cultural Marxism Goes Viral."

More from Rio Norte Line, "12 Things You Should Know About Contemporary Progressivism."

Finally, Crazy Uncle Bubba has, "Saturday Short Shorts!"

Drop your links in the comments if I've missed your Rule 5.

Until then...

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Randy's Rountable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies."

More at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – The End Is Near," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

Cartoon Credit: William Warren. Perfect accompaniment to my previous post, "Obama's the Nation's 'Hack' Golfer-in-Chief."

Obama's the Nation's 'Hack' Golfer-in-Chief

For as often as he plays, President Obama's criticized for not being very good.

Interestingly, the media is usually banned from taking photos of his game, and the White House does not release the president's scores, unlike Bill Clinton, who would tout his high games when he was in office.

All of this, amazingly, at the Obama-enabling New York Times. More and more, they're lowering the bar for the remainder of his term.

See, "Obama Is the Nation’s Private Golfer in Chief."

NYPD Officers Turn Their Backs on Mayor de Blasio at Wenjian Liu Funeral (VIDEO)

Well, cops saluted de Blasio at last night's wake, but not today.

Once again, they gave the Marxist mayor the cold shoulder.

At the New York Post, "Cops again turn their backs on de Blasio at NYPD officer’s funeral."

Also at Gateway Pundit, "BREAKING: POLICE OFFICERS Turn Their Backs on Mayor De Blasio AGAIN – Wenjian Liu Funeral (Video)."

Newt Gingrich Slams Obama's 'Tragic Failure of Leadership' on Race Relations (VIDEO)

Obama and Holder have made race relations worse. QED.

On Face the Nation:

The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls

This piece, at the New York Times, reminded me of the Mall of Orange, the mall that we frequented when I was a little kid. (It's now called the Village at Orange and is thriving.)

From the Times:

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Inside the gleaming mall here on the Sunday before Christmas, just one thing was missing: shoppers.

The upbeat music of “Jingle Bell Rock” bounced off the tiles, and the smell of teriyaki chicken drifted from the food court, but only a handful of stores were open at the sprawling enclosed shopping center. A few visitors walked down the long hallways and peered through locked metal gates into vacant spaces once home to retailers like H&M, Wet Seal and Kay Jewelers.

“It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.”

The Owings Mills Mall is poised to join a growing number of what real estate professionals, architects, urban planners and Internet enthusiasts term “dead malls.” Since 2010, more than two dozen enclosed shopping malls have been closed, and an additional 60 are on the brink, according to Green Street Advisors, which tracks the mall industry.

Premature obituaries for the shopping mall have been appearing since the late 1990s, but the reality today is more nuanced, reflecting broader trends remaking the American economy. With income inequality continuing to widen, high-end malls are thriving, even as stolid retail chains like Sears, Kmart and J. C. Penney falter, taking the middle- and working-class malls they anchored with them.

“It is very much a haves and have-nots situation,” said D. J. Busch, a senior analyst at Green Street. Affluent Americans “will keep going to Short Hills Mall in New Jersey or other properties aimed at the top 5 or 10 percent of consumers. But there’s been very little income growth in the belly of the economy.”

At Owings Mills, J. C. Penney and Macy’s are hanging on, but other midtier emporiums like Sears, Lord & Taylor, and the regional department store chain Boscov’s have all come and gone as anchors.

Having opened in 1986 with a renovation in 1998, Owings Mills is young for a dying mall. And while its locale may have contributed to its demise, other forces played a crucial role, too, like changing shopping habits and demographics, experts say.

“I have no doubt some malls will survive, but major segments of our society have gotten sick of them,” said Mark Hinshaw, a Seattle architect, urban planner and author.

One factor many shoppers blame for the decline of malls — online shopping — is having only a small effect, experts say. Less than 10 percent of retail sales take place online, and those sales tend to hit big-box stores harder, rather than the fashion chains and other specialty retailers in enclosed malls.

Instead, the fundamental problem for malls is a glut of stores in many parts of the country, the result of a long boom in building retail space of all kinds.

“We are extremely over-retailed,” said Christopher Zahas, a real estate economist and urban planner in Portland, Ore. “Filling a million square feet is a tall order.”...

Pretty fascinating.

Keep reading.

'I am an American Jew. I love the United States. I love everything it stands for...'

This is an amazing essay, from Miriam Herschlag, at the Times of Israel, "Why I have not (yet?) made aliyah":

America is the beacon of freedom and democracy to all humanity. It is the earth’s great hope. It is no coincidence that America is Israel’s foremost friend and protector. America stands up for righteous and struggling democracies throughout the world. It is the noble guardian of truth and the gallant defender of human rights. It follows that America would see in Israel a kindred spirit, a righteous nation wrestling to be free and protecting the dignity of all.

My attachment to America runs deep. When I sing the Star-spangled banner I focus on the words as if it were a prayer. “Land of the free and the home of the brave.” I love every inch of this great land and have taken my children in an RV to see most of it.

But love of America alone would not explain why I do not live in Israel...

RTWT.

Gas Prices Have a Way to Go to Be Historically Cheap

At the Wall Street Journal, "Why Gas Feels Cheap—and Why It’s Not, Historically Speaking: Recent Price Plunge Looks Good After Years of High Costs, but Fill-Ups Were Less Expensive From 1986-2003."

When my wife and I bought our Honda Odyssey van, in December 2001, gas was $1.19 a gallon. So yeah, prices have a way to go before they're that cheap. But historically speaking, the current low prices are pretty mind-boggling.

Thousands Pay Respects to Fallen NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu (VIDEO)

And police officers saluted Mayor de Blasio, rather than turn their backs to him. I think Commissioner Bratton's moral authority is having an influence on morale.

At CBS News New York:

Victoria's Secret Slow and Sultry

Via Theo Spark, "Victoria’s Secret Swim 2015: Slow. Sultry. Swim."

Needs less Candice and more Lily, but otherwise smokin'.

'Night Changes'

I watched this, "One Direction Performing on New Years Rockin Eve 2015 TIMES SQUARE."

And I liked "Night Changes."

'The idea of the Palestinian Authority taking Israel to court over war crimes is among the most grotesque and absurd developments imaginable, a moral inversion of staggering dimensions...'

From Peter Wehner, at Commentary, "The PA, the ICC, and a Moral Inversion of Staggering Dimensions":

The fact that this issue is even being considered points to how corrupt many international organizations are. (Why on earth should we have to debate why a malevolent organization doesn’t have the standing to condemn a nation characterized by excellence and extraordinary moral achievements?) In addition, the U.S. should certainly cut funding to the Palestinian Authority, to whom it currently provides more than $400 million in annual aid.

But beyond all that, this latest move by the PA is an example of the persistent unwillingness to address the pathologies that grip Palestinian society. These pathologies are the core reason for the tensions and conflict with Israel–and rather than dealing with them, the leadership of the Palestinians is, if anything, falling even deeper into denial. The more they fail, the more they blame Israel for their failures. This is an assault on reality, a slander of Israel, and a massive disservice to Palestinians. It would be helpful if more nations, starting with the United States, said so.

The Pull of Community at La Conchita

We lived in Santa Barbara in 1995 when La Conchita suffered its first devastating mudslide. Days of torrential rains triggered it. We used to drive by down the 101. It was like a demolition zone. And then 10 years later it happened again, with a terrible loss of life. But people still want to live there, despite the dangers of another slide.

At LAT, "10 years after fatal mudslide, tiny La Conchita accepts the risks":

A child's dollhouse jammed against a chain-link fence marked "No Trespassing" sits in the shadow of a mangled brick home covered in clotted dirt.

Two faded white crosses lie toppled on a mound of soil taller than a man; nearby, upended planters where someone's flowers once grew sprout weeds. A hand-painted sign dangling in the ocean breeze reads, "Do Stuff That Makes Buddha Happy."

The events of Jan. 10, 2005, when 400,000 tons of mud slid down the bluff behind La Conchita, killing seven adults and three children, are frozen in the eerie tableau — a reminder of the hidden dangers lurking beneath the surface. The tragedy came 10 years after the hill collapsed in 1995 when nine homes were lost.

Yet the possibility of the slope crashing again toward the Pacific Ocean has done little to dissuade people from putting down roots in the eclectic Ventura County beach community near the Santa Barbara County line. As the 10-year anniversary of the deadly slide approaches, the 500-foot cliff remains unfortified, and at least four ramshackle houses sit seemingly undisturbed since the last rescue crews left town.

Faded memories, relatively inexpensive real estate and a wide beach not far from the famous Rincon surf point tend to dull the perception of risk. It helps that the ranch at the top of the hill stopped irrigation leaks that residents contended caused the slope to erode.

But the town of 300 residents wedged between the hill and U.S. Highway 101 has another, less tangible draw to survivors and newcomers — community.

"Culturally, it's so similar to Mexico with how important family is," said Kelly Hill, who grew up in La Conchita and moved back last year with her husband and 9-year-old son. "It's like a little fishing village in Mexico. It's the American Mexican fishing village."...

It really is. There used to be a big tropical banana grove on the north side of the town. The place is a trip. So sorry for the tragedy.

Continue reading.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons.

A New You in Winter Cleaning

At Amazon, Shop Amazon Home - New Year, New You - Winter Cleaning

'Non-Citizen' Designation for 'DREAMers' Driver's Licenses in Arizona (VIDEO)

Uh oh!

That's racist!

At Fox News, "Incoming Arizona lawmaker to propose 'non-citizen' designation on immigrant licenses":

A newly elected Arizona lawmaker says he's drafting legislation to add a "non-citizen" designation on driver's licenses issued to young immigrants participating in a federal program enabling them to avoid deportation.

Republican Rep.-elect Jay Lawrence said he wants to protect the integrity of the voting system.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Rep. Catherine Miranda says Lawrence's proposal spells trouble for Arizona in the wake of past controversy over a 2010 immigration-enforcement law...

More.