Mother's Day Gifts

At Amazon, Shop - Mother's Day Store.

BONUS: From Helen Smith, Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters.

Mexico's Baja California Won't Ban Bullfighting for Now

As soon as I started reading this piece I was reminded that my dad used to take me and my sisters to see the bull fights in Mexico. My younger sister and I used to mimic the Mexicans yelling their Spanish shout outs, Olé!!

At LAT, "Mexican state of Baja California balks, again, at banning bullfighting":

Fifteen minutes into a heated session on whether bullfighting should be banned in Baja California, legislator David Ruvalcaba proposed that the fate of the controversial but financially attractive sport needed further study.

Immediately the boos rang out, and half the crowded walked out.

For the third time this year, the Congress of the Mexican state of Baja California blinked in the face of banning a sport that has deep cultural roots in Mexico but is increasingly viewed as animal cruelty.

On Thursday, 12 legislators voted for the delay, eight opposed it and two abstained. And like that, bullfighting season will indeed begin Sunday in Tijuana.

Though they have repeatedly chosen not to vote on the issue, legislators here bristled at the notion, put forward by the bullfighting lobby, that the state does not have the power to regulate the sport.

“Of course we have the power to regulate the sport,” said legislator Juan Manuel Molina, though he allowed that that power carried the responsibility of exploring the ban further.

“It's a matter of culture and a matter of belief, but it's also a matter of humanity,” Molina said. “The spectacle is cruel.”

But Molina questioned how it was possibly fair to ban bullfighting while allowing other sports that claim Mexican heritage, such as cockfighting and the rodeo.

Animal rights groups have presented signature campaigns, celebrity endorsements and polls that purport to indicate overwhelming opposition to bullfighting as part of a public campaign against the sport, which has its roots in Spain and has been banned in some Latin American countries.

Bullfighting is increasingly unpopular in Mexico, according to the polling firm Parametria. In a 2015 poll, 73% of Mexican citizens supported a nationwide ban.

The Mexican states of Sonora and Coahuila, which border the U.S., have banned bullfighting, as has the southern state of Guerrero. But the sport remains popular in the capital, Mexico City, where the Plaza de Toros Mexico seats 48,000 spectators, the largest bull ring in the world.

On Sunday in Tijuana, the largest city in Baja California, the event will feature a rejoneador, a bullfighter on horseback, for the first bullfight of the season.

Built next to the sea and nearly adjacent to the border wall that separates it from California, the Tijuana bullfight ring is designed to appeal to Americans, even extending special offers to San Diego tourists: For a minimum of $200, guests will be whisked to the grounds of a winery on Saturday for a “Toros and Vino Event” that will feature two hours of private bullfights and a return trip across the border before the main event on Sunday.

If the ban is successful, the nearest bull ring near the Southwest border would be Chihuahua's La Esperanza...

 More.

Fresh Evidence Links Saudi Government to 9/11

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Flight Certificate of Would-Be Bomber Found in Embassy Envelope Buried Underground."

Judith Miller, 'I took America to war in Iraq. It was all me...'

Here's Judy Miller for Prager University, in a really outstanding video:

White Students Fear for Their Lives on Colleges Campuses

This is no joke.

See Jillian Kay Melchior, at Heat Street:

During protests, #Mizzou staffer feared walking on campus. @heatstreet has the exclusive: https://t.co/2oFStT2LBU pic.twitter.com/j57nvZYqWV

— Jillian Melchior (@JillianKayM) April 20, 2016

500 Migrants May Have Died After Boat Sinks in Mediterranean (VIDEO)

That's a horrific toll.

At Time, "500 Feared Dead After Migrant Boat Sinks in Mediterranean."

David Horowitz Replies to Slander

At FrontPage Magazine, "REPLY TO SLANDER":

Being defamed by a UCLA Vice Chancellor for defending the Jews.

Today a letter attacking me was sent to all members of the UCLA community – that would be nearly 50,000 people I think – by Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Jerry Kang. The Vice Chancellor’s letter attacked me as a “provocateur” who last year “put up hostile posters accusing two student organizations — the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — of being murderers and terrorists.” This is a lie.

Actually it is two lies. First, the posters posted last year targeted only Students for Justice in Palestine – not the Muslim Students Association. Kang obviously included MSA so that he could condemn me for employing what he called a “tactic of guilt by association, of using blacklists, of ethnic slander, and sensationalized images engineered to trigger racially-tinged fear.” (Calling people you don’t agree with racist seems to be a favored gutter tactic of activists on campuses like UCLA these days.)

Second the posters did not accuse SJP of being an organization of murderers and terrorists, as the Vice Chancellor claims. They accused SJP of being “Jew-haters” because they support the murderers and terrorists of Hamas, which they do. That is why the only words on the posters were “Students for Justice in Palestine” and “#Jew Haters.” In a public statement I also called on UCLA to remove the campus privileges and university funding of SJP because they are a hate group and their activities routinely violate UCLA’s “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance,” which Vice Chancellor Kang professes to champion.

Kang then accused me of compounding these sins by conducting a new poster campaign – launched yesterday - called “Stop the Jew Hatred on Campus.” The new posters listed the names of UCLA student and faculty activists who support SJP and BDS – the Hamas-inspired boycott movement, designed to strangle the Jewish state. Kang’s letter calls the posters “a focused, personalized intimidation that threatens specific members of our Bruin community.” There is no intimidation on the posters, just a list of names of activists who support SJP and BDS. Nonetheless, Kang went on to elaborate “if your name is plastered around campus, casting you as a murderer or terrorist, how could you stay focused on anything like learning, teaching, or research?” But the posters don’t cast those listed on them as murderers and terrorists, just activists from Students for Justice in Palestine who supported the BDS boycott campaign. BDS has been denounced by figures as liberal as Alan Dershowitz and Larry Summers as anti-Semitic. Kang sent a personal letter of support to all those named as activists in behalf of these anti-Semitic campaigns. He then went on to lecture everybody about diversity, tolerance and inclusion.

This disgraceful performance by a top university official demands a retraction and apology from the University of California and some serious reflection by Vice Chancellor Kang about the hateful content of his letter and the focused, personalized intimidation directed at myself and all those involved in putting up posters he happens to disagree with.

More.

Angry Protests Over Los Angeles Unified School District's Transgender Restroom Policy (VIDEO)

At KABC News 7 Los Angeles, "STUDENTS, PROTESTERS FIGHT OUTSIDE LA SCHOOL WITH GENDER-NEUTRAL BATHROOM."

Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Transgender Student in Virginia Restroom Case

Like I've said, it's a transgender tipping point.

See Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom, "Federal Court rules that biological sex is a myth":

Black is white; up is down; and ….

“You are a slow learner, Winston,” said O’Brien gently.

“How can I help it?” he blubbered. “How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.”

“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.” (“1984” Orwell)

Jackie Johnson's Cooler but Pleasant Forecast

It's not too bad at all this week.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Katherine Heigle Wears Tight Black Shiny Pants with Stiletto Heels and Tailored Black Jacket Over Lacy Top in New York

She went on the Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM yesterday in New York.

She had some regrets.

At London's Daily Mail, "'I needed therapy': Katherine Heigl was left 'embarrassed' and shaken after infamous Emmy drama that soured her Grey's Anatomy career."

Former Red Sox Ace Curt Schilling Fired by ESPN for Transgender Comments on Facebook

Boy, talk about the transgender tipping point.

Moonbattery nails it, "Curt Schilling Commits More Thought Crime on Social Media."

The homosexual fascists were out for blood, at Outsports ("Outsports"?), via Memeorandum, "This is ESPN's Curt Schilling's disgusting view of transgender people."

More at NYT, via Memeorandum, "ESPN Fires Curt Schilling Over an Offensive Social Media Post."

Deal of the Day: Stuhrling Original Watches

At Amazon, Stuhrling Original Mens "Specialty Grand Regatta" Stainless Steel Professional Swiss Quartz Dive Watch.

More, Save on Stuhrling Original Watches.

Plus, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Complete Collection One [Blu-ray], and Steins Gate: Complete Series Classic [Blu-ray]. (Plus, scroll down for up to 61% off "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" and "Steins Gate: The Complete Series.")

And from Glenn Reynolds, An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths.

Still more, from James C. Bennett and Michael J. Lotus, America 3.0: Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century—Why America’s Greatest Days Are Yet to Come.

BONUS: From Professor Joseph Nye, Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics.

Donald Trump's Odds for First-Ballot Victory Improve After New York Primary (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Trump celebrates Republican primary victory in New York, still railing against system":

Donald Trump roared to a huge victory Tuesday in New York's Republican primary, delivering a much-needed chance to reset his presidential campaign and retake the upper hand in the fight for the GOP nomination.

There had been little doubt Trump would carry his home state, where the real estate mogul is literally a household name: In giant letters and various forms, “Trump” adorns some of Manhattan's most exclusive properties.

The outcome was clear the instant that polls closed, with the front-runner leaping to an enormous lead that never wavered. With nearly all of the votes counted, Trump had 60% support, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 25% and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 15.

The key question was the size of Trump's victory and whether he would capture all of the delegates by winning 50% of the statewide vote and a majority in each of New York's 27 congressional districts. It appeared he would claim at least the overwhelmingly majority of the state's 95 delegates, with Kasich taking a handful.

The allocation was more than a matter of vanity or political perceptions. The GOP contest has become a hand-to-hand battle for delegates to the party's July convention in Cleveland, where they alone will choose the nominee to carry the party standard into the fall campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

It takes a majority, 1,237 delegates, to be assured of the nomination before the GOP gathering, which appears to be Trump's best hope as opponents work to stop him short and throw the convention open to one or another of his rivals.

Trump entered the day with 756 delegates, followed by Cruz with 559 and Kasich with 144. Trump's substantial gain eases his quest for the nomination but still leaves the outcome far from certain.

“The path forward is a high wire,” said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and speechwriter for former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson of California. “It is manageable, but there is no room for error on either side.”

Trump was blown out by Cruz in the last GOP contest, the April 5 primary in Wisconsin, and has been steadily losing ground to the senator's better-organized campaign ever since, as Republicans seat their national delegates at state- and district-level conventions across the country.

Still, of the three candidates remaining, Trump is the only one with a realistic chance of winning the nomination on the first ballot in Cleveland.

In an effort to steady his campaign, Trump recently shook up its staff, bringing in some of the very Washington establishment figures he once criticized. Amid the upheaval, his campaign field director, a political neophyte, resigned as Trump sought to professionalize his delegate wrangling under Paul J. Manafort, a former lobbyist and longtime Beltway insider, who quickly moved to consolidate and extend his power.

In one sign of Manafort's apparent influence, Trump has grown uncharacteristically restrained in his public comments, in a seeming effort to project a more presidential image. His victory speech Tuesday night was notably brief and absent the insults and braggadocio that characterized previous celebrations...

More.

Dr. Paul McHugh, Transgender is 'Mental Disorder'; Sex Change 'Biologically Impossible'

At CNS News, "Johns Hopkins Psychiatrist: Transgender is ‘Mental Disorder;' Sex Change ‘Biologically Impossible’."

And following the links takes is to McHugh, at WSJ, "Transgender Surgery Isn't the Solution":

The government and media alliance advancing the transgender cause has gone into overdrive in recent weeks. On May 30, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review board ruled that Medicare can pay for the "reassignment" surgery sought by the transgendered—those who say that they don't identify with their biological sex. Earlier last month Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that he was "open" to lifting a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. Time magazine, seeing the trend, ran a cover story for its June 9 issue called "The Transgender Tipping Point: America's next civil rights frontier."

Yet policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention. This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken—it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes.

The transgendered suffer a disorder of "assumption" like those in other disorders familiar to psychiatrists. With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the individual differs from what seems given in nature—namely one's maleness or femaleness. Other kinds of disordered assumptions are held by those who suffer from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, where the assumption that departs from physical reality is the belief by the dangerously thin that they are overweight.

With body dysmorphic disorder, an often socially crippling condition, the individual is consumed by the assumption "I'm ugly." These disorders occur in subjects who have come to believe that some of their psycho-social conflicts or problems will be resolved if they can change the way that they appear to others. Such ideas work like ruling passions in their subjects' minds and tend to be accompanied by a solipsistic argument.

For the transgendered, this argument holds that one's feeling of "gender" is a conscious, subjective sense that, being in one's mind, cannot be questioned by others. The individual often seeks not just society's tolerance of this "personal truth" but affirmation of it. Here rests the support for "transgender equality," the demands for government payment for medical and surgical treatments, and for access to all sex-based public roles and privileges.

With this argument, advocates for the transgendered have persuaded several states—including California, New Jersey and Massachusetts—to pass laws barring psychiatrists, even with parental permission, from striving to restore natural gender feelings to a transgender minor. That government can intrude into parents' rights to seek help in guiding their children indicates how powerful these advocates have become.

How to respond? Psychiatrists obviously must challenge the solipsistic concept that what is in the mind cannot be questioned. Disorders of consciousness, after all, represent psychiatry's domain; declaring them off-limits would eliminate the field. Many will recall how, in the 1990s, an accusation of parental sex abuse of children was deemed unquestionable by the solipsists of the "recovered memory" craze.

You won't hear it from those championing transgender equality, but controlled and follow-up studies reveal fundamental problems with this movement. When children who reported transgender feelings were tracked without medical or surgical treatment at both Vanderbilt University and London's Portman Clinic, 70%-80% of them spontaneously lost those feelings. Some 25% did have persisting feelings; what differentiates those individuals remains to be discerned...

Keep reading.

Kelsey Harkness on High School Girls and Gender Neutral Locker Rooms: 'Disagreement Does Not Equal Discrimination' (VIDEO)

Here's Ms. Harkness, at the Daily Signal, "Why These High School Girls Don’t Want a Transgender Student in Their Locker Room."

And with Dana Loesch:

'Transgender and unisex bathroom regulations empower terrible people...'

They do.

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "DISPATCHES FROM THE LEFT’S WAR ON BATHROOMS."

Also, at KING 5 News Seattle, "Man in women's locker room cites gender rule."

Jackie Johnson's Sunny and Warm Wednesday Forecast

Jackie's back, and she brought some lovely weather with her.

It was quite reasonable today.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Jeffrey Lord, What America Needs

At Amazon, What America Needs: The Case for Trump.

BONUS: From Donald Trump, The Art of the Deal.

Kelly Rohrbach on Set as She Takes Over Pamela Anderson's Role of C. J. Parker in Film Version of the 'Baywatch' TV Show

Kelly Rorhbach is really cool. I've blogged her a number of times previously.

Now here's the latest, at London's Daily Mail, "C.J. Parker to the rescue! Kelly Rohrbach zips around Baywatch beach set in racy one-piece as filming rolls on."