English Professor Lawrence Levine Murdered in Umpqua Community College Massacre

More sadness.

Professor Levine was a gentle soul who lived next to the North Umpqua River, and liked to help other fly fishers. That's a Christian life if there ever was one, just what leftists hate. It's why he was murdered by the Christian-hating Chris Harper-Mercer, just one more hateful leftist in a long line of murdering hateful leftists.

In any case, at the Oregonian, "Oregon college shooting: Lawrence Levine had simple needs, passion for writing."

More, "Umpqua Community College instructor becomes Oregon's 12th workplace homicide victim since 2011."

Angels Win Game 2 Against Rangers, in Final Series of Season, Staying in Playoff Contention

It's a four-game series in Arlington, and the Angels can't lose another game, or else they'll be eliminated from the wild card race.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels keep pace in playoff chase with 2-1 win over Rangers."

And at the O.C. Register, "Final: Mike Trout sparks Angels to critical victory over Rangers."

As this post was being scheduled, the Astros were up over the Diamondback 17-2 in the eighth inning in Phoenix. Nobody in the American League West is giving up just yet.

Oregon Shooter Chris Harper-Mercer Had Substantial Ties to Los Angeles Area (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Oregon Shooter Chris Harper-Mercer Was Discharged from Army, Had History of Mental Health Problems (VIDEO)."

And here's more information, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Oregon Mass Murderer Had Many Ties to Southland."

Social Media Self-Defense

Helpful hints for the paranoid hacker, here. (Via Oakland Elle.)

Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, Former Orange County Woman, Murdered in Umpqua Community College Massacre

Sad.

At the O.C. Register, "Former Orange County woman killed in Oregon shootings; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, is being mourned by husband Eric Dietz and others."

REPORT: Oregon Shooter Chris Harper-Mercer Worshiped Satan, Claimed 'I Serve Darkness'

He was evil. An evil far-left murderer.

At People Magazine, "'I Serve Darkness': Oregon Gunman Wrote About Obsession with Satan in Reported Manifesto, Says Source."

People Magazine hasn't confirmed the existence of the Satan-worshiping report, although Mercer did leave behind written statements. Here's a lengthy piece at the New York Times, "In Note Left Behind, Gunman ‘Did Not Like His Lot in Life,’ Officials Say."

More at the New York Post, "Oregon gunman singled out Christians during rampage."

Hateful. Demonic. Leftist.

BONUS: Watch this video, at KOIN 6 News Portland, "Sheriff: Umpqua CC shooter had 13 weapons." The dude had serious mental infirmities. He was loner who sat in his room all day, lurking on his computer. Apparently the local sheriff knows more about the shooter's writings, but isn't speaking about them now.

Russia and the U.S. in Syria: A Prelude to War?

From Noah Rothman, at Commentary, "A Prelude to War?":

World War I didn’t begin in Europe. It started in Africa.

By the time the shooting erupted in 1914, in fact, a retrospective analysis of the conditions that led to war had lent credence to the conclusion that a great clash was almost inevitable. Germany’s perceived “encirclement” and that resurgent nation’s belief that they had been unfairly cut off from their share of colonial possessions in Africa led Berlin to embrace bellicosity. Germany forcefully protested France’s subjugation of a Moroccan rebellion and subsequent occupation of that territory in 1911 — a territory that Germany coveted. Paris’s move prompted Italy to declare suzerainty over the state of Libya, leading to a war with the Ottomans for control of that North African nation. After the Turks had lost control of the North African coast, the race was on to divide the spoils of the Ottoman Empire’s Balkan possessions, culminating in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. By the onset of August Crisis in 1914, the world had already been at war for the better part of three years.

As the study of the First World War has fallen out of fashion in the United States, the presumption that the United States entered the stalemated war immediately following the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat has become prevalent. In fact, the United States would enter the war 23 months after that galvanizing attack. Such was Woodrow Wilson’s commitment to his 1916 pledge to keep America out of Europe’s war. An internationalist and an anti-imperialist, Wilson was burned by his experience intervening in the Mexican Revolution (which led to an even greater civil conflict and the rise of Pancho Villa’s bandit raids into the Southern United States). But as Germany’s position in Europe deteriorated and it prepared for a more robust anti-shipping campaign that almost certainly meant more Lusitantias, Berlin sought to electrify Mexican revanchism with the ill-fated Zimmermann Telegram. The alliance that was meant to squeeze the United States on two fronts had the precise opposite effect. Reluctantly, Congress followed Wilson into war.

Today, another great and embittered power is on the march. Ruled by a rancorous cabal of ambitious men who are all but consumed with a desire to reacquire lost grandeur, it is Russia that threatens the peace. It is Russia that is taking advantage of long-simmering conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa to advance its interests. It is Russia that is pressing its luck on the outer fringes of Europe. Nearly 100 years to the month after the August crisis, another civilian transport was targeted and destroyed by forces loyal to a revanchist European nation.

Then as now, a great power conflict was virtually unthinkable. By 1914, it had been over 40 years since the last major European war. Then as now, the sun long ago set on La Belle Époque, but its lingering effects were pleasant enough to mollify the public. Then as now, few would predict that an Earth-shattering calamity that would forever change millions of lives was just around the corner.

To understand the dire state of affairs in Syria, one need only observe the behavior of American policymakers.  Administration officials were caught off guard by the brazenness of Russia’s intervention into the five-year-old Syrian civil war, the commencement of which was announced by a Russian three-star general who boldly marched into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and gave the United States one hour to clear the airspace around the city of Homs. Russian bombers were soon targeting not the Islamic State but CIA-armed and trained rebel forces. The effects of Russia’s bold maneuver will be swift. The risk of NATO and Russian air assets with limited military-to-military contacts all shooting at different targets in the same theater increases the risks of accidental confrontation exponentially. If there was a conflict, there are few mechanisms in place to prevent it from escalating. The United States may soon find itself forced out of theater merely because to continue to operate in Syria is too dangerous...

Boy, that's melodramatic.

Come out from under the covers, and keep reading.

President Obama Says Vladimir Putin is 'Acting Out of Weakness' in Syria

Yeah. Right.

Actually, Obama's being humiliated by Putin.

At WaPo, "President Obama says Putin is acting out of weakness rather than strength."

And at Gateway Pundit, "Obama: Putin Acted “Out of Weakness” By Moving Military to Syria (VIDEO)."



PHOTO CREDIT: Ray Filitto on Facebook.

Charles Cooke Presses Mark Halperin and Mika Brzezinski on Their Vague Threats to the Second Amendment (VIDEO)

See Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit.

And watch, "Mark Halperin Insists U.S. Must Do Something About Gun Violence But Can't Offer Solutions."

Why Do Mass Shooter Tragedies Always Seem to Happen in Gun-Free Zones?

Dana Loesch talks to John Lott, Jr., at the Blaze TV, "John Lott, Jr., on Gun Rights in Wake of Shooting."

Plus, Lott is the author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws.

Oregon Shooter Chris Harper-Mercer Was Discharged from Army, Had History of Mental Health Problems (VIDEO)

The shooter has roots in L.A. County's South Bay, including attending a school for kids with emotional and behavioral problems, the Switzer Learning Center in Torrance. See Robert Stacy McCain, "Reports: Chris Harper Mercer, 26, Identified as #UCCShooting Gunman."

And now there's more details about this individual's psychologically-troubled background. At the Oregonian, "Shooter Chris Harper-Mercer was discharged from Army, experienced apparent mental health issues":

A darker picture emerged Friday of slain Umpqua Community College shooter Chris Harper-Mercer as a deeply troubled, anti-religion, anti-government recluse obsessed with guns.

The U.S. Army discharged him just five weeks into basic training in 2008. Records indicate he graduated in 2009 from a high school catering to troubled and special-needs students. Multiple media sources reported Friday he left behind an angry note that is now in the hands of investigators.

The Los Angeles Times said Harper-Mercer's note was several pages long and talked about his anger and depression.

Sofia Camarena of Long Beach, California, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she used to date Harper-Mercer's father."I used to change Chris' diapers when he was a baby," she said, upset after learning that he was the shooter in Thursday's massacre and was himself dead. "He was born with problems. He was hard to discipline. If you told him 'no,' he would scream like you had just hit him."

Camarena said that she had heard Harper-Mercer's mother was having "a hard time" with him and that he attended a special school.

Camarena said she last saw Harper-Mercer when he was 18 and she had asked him how he was doing.  "He said he was doing good," said Camarena, whose son went on to marry Harper-Mercer's step-sister.

There are a number of indications that Harper-Mercer had mental health or behavioral issues. His screen name on some social media sites was "lithium love." Lithium is used as a psychiatric medication.

Harper-Mercer graduated from The Switzer Learning Center in 2009, according to a graduation listing in The Daily Breeze newspaper. Switzer Center is a private, nonprofit school in Torrance, California, geared for special education students with a range of issues from learning disabilities, health problems and autism or Asperger's Disorder, according to the school's website.

"They take in students that are referred to them by the surrounding school districts," said Thomas Buescher, former chairman of the Switzer board. Enrollment typically ranges between 90 and 100, Buescher said. Two-thirds come from a nontraditional household, like a group home or foster home, according to Buescher, who said a high proportion also come from low-income homes.

A neighbor told The New York Times that Harper-Mercer's mother had told a neighbor, "My son is dealing with some mental issues," and was intolerant of roaches that had infested the building.

Witnesses said Harper-Mercer singled out the religious during the shooting. He reportedly asked students and staff their religion and shot those who answered they were Christians.

The U.S. Army confirmed Friday it discharged Harper-Mercer just halfway through his 10 weeks of basic training in 2008. "A review of Army records indicate that Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer was in service at Ft. Jackson, S.C., from 5 November-11 December 2008 but discharged for failing to meet the minimum administrative standards to serve in the U.S. Army," said Lt. Col. Ben Garrett.

Garrett declined to elaborate on what those "minimum administrative standards" were.

There's also evidence Harper-Mercer tried to engage with the world...

Still more.

And here's the Los Angeles Times, "Oregon gunman left hate-filled note and long struggled with mental issues, sources say."

13 Weapons Recovered in Umpqua Community College Massacre

Unlike President Obama and radical gun-control leftists, I'm waiting for more information to come in before politicizing the issue.

That said, we actually know a lot about the killer, and as it's been in most recent cases of horrific mass murder, the suspect fits no easy ideological template. Indeed, you'd think the guy was an immature, confused emo-prog, but then he claimed to be a "conservative Republican" in a dating site profile. That's obviously impossible, considering the proof coming out that Chris Harper Mercer hated Christians. Leftists hate Christians, and they're willing to kill them to prove it.

I'll have more.

Meanwhile, at the Los Angeles Times, "Oregon college shooting updates: Gunman Chris Harper Mercer described as 'hate-filled':

13 weapons recovered in college shooting

Law enforcement officials said 13 weapons were recovered from Umpqua Community College and the gunman's residence.

Six were found at the school.

Seven were taken from the apartment of Chris Harper Mercer, 26.

All were purchased legally, officials said.

Mercer opened fire at the college Thursday morning, killing 9 people. He was killed in a gunfight with police.

Also, at the Daily Beast, "Umpqua Gunman Chris Harper Mercer Hated Religion Online."

Amber Lee's Got Your Weekend Weather

We're getting into Indian summer.

It's still very hot in Southern California.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Charles Krauthammer: Obama's Syria Debacle (VIDEO)

From the irreplaceable Dr. Krauthammer, at WaPo, "Obama's Syria Debacle":

“Russia hits Assad’s foes, angering U.S.”

— Headline, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 1

If it had the wit, the Obama administration would be not angered, but appropriately humiliated. President Obama has, once again, been totally outmaneuvered by Vladimir Putin. Two days earlier at the United Nations, Obama had welcomed the return, in force, of the Russian military to the Middle East — for the first time in decades — in order to help fight the Islamic State.

The ruse was transparent from the beginning. Russia is not in Syria to fight the Islamic State. The Kremlin was sending fighter planes, air-to-air missiles and SA-22 anti-aircraft batteries. Against an Islamic State that has no air force, no planes, no helicopters?

Russia then sent reconnaissance drones over Western Idlib and Hama, where there are no Islamic State fighters. Followed by bombing attacks on Homs and other opposition strongholds that had nothing to do with the Islamic State.

Indeed, some of these bombed fighters were U.S. trained and equipped. Asked if we didn’t have an obligation to support our own allies on the ground, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter bumbled that Russia’s actions exposed its policy as self-contradictory.

Carter made it sound as if the Russian offense was to have perpetrated an oxymoron, rather than a provocation — and a direct challenge to what’s left of the U.S. policy of supporting a moderate opposition.

The whole point of Russian intervention is to maintain Assad in power. Putin has no interest in fighting the Islamic State. Indeed, the second round of Russian air attacks was on rival insurgents opposed to the Islamic State. The Islamic State is nothing but a pretense for Russian intervention. And Obama fell for it.

Just three weeks ago, Obama chided Russia for its military buildup, wagging his finger that it was “doomed to failure.” Yet by Monday he was publicly welcoming Russia to join the fight against the Islamic State. He not only acquiesced to the Russian buildup, he held an ostentatious meeting with Putin on the subject, thereby marking the ignominious collapse of Obama’s vaunted campaign to isolate Putin diplomatically over Crimea.

Putin then showed his utter contempt for Obama by launching his air campaign against our erstwhile anti-Assad allies not 48 hours after meeting Obama. Which the U.S. found out about when a Russian general knocked on the door of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and delivered a brusque demarche announcing that the attack would begin within an hour and warning the U.S. to get out of the way...

"Démarche." I love that word. It means that a state is issuing or taking a dramatic military or diplomatic step, usually implying some threat of force. You used to read about Nazi Germany issuing démarches in the military buildup to World War II. Now the Russians are issuing them in the Middle East, warning the U.S. to just stand aside. "Our moves are a fait accompli."

But keep reading.

We're being utterly humiliated. It's actually kind of sad at this point.

Visit the Halloween Shop at Amazon

October's here. Time to get ready for trick or treat.

Here, Shop Amazon - Halloween Shop.

Plus, Shop Books in Horror.

Also, Books from R.L. Stine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Stares Down United Nations in Rebuke to Iran Nuclear Deal (VIDEO)

At Town Hall, "Chilling: Netanyahu Glares at UN Delegates for 45 Seconds for Their 'Deafening Silence' on Iran Deal."

Chilling:

Dana Loesch: 'Gun Free Zones are Criminal Protection Areas...'

Here's Dana on "The Kelly File" last night:



And see her big write-up on Oregon's policy on gun free zones, "After UCC Tragedy, White House Calls For Stronger Gun Laws."

Don't Miss Mark Levin's Plunder and Deceit

I picked up my copy, at last.

Maybe commenter Art Deco will pick up a copy as well. He wasn't too pleased with Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes' biography of Jack Kemp.

Check out Levin's book on Amazon, Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future.

Up to $120 Off the New Canon EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera

Amazon's really pushing this promotion, Shop - Up to $120 Off on Canon's New EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera.

Plus, pre-order Anthony Beevor's, Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge.

And thanks again to all my readers who've been shopping through AmPow's Amazon links. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and every little bit helps.

Epic Troll Jon Hendren Hijacks HLN Segment on Edward Snowden, Goes on About Edward Scissorhands

Well player, sir.

Well played.

At USA Today, "Genius gives TV interview on Edward Snowden, only talks about Edward Scissorhands."