Hearings on GSA Scandal: Republicans Hammer Administrators on Lavish Spending

At Washington Examiner, "GOP rips GSA for 'culture of wasteful spending'."

And at the Washington Post, "GSA official asserts right to remain silent as Congress begins hearings into spending scandal."

BONUS VIDEO: Via Michelle:

More at Memeorandum.

Obama's Bloodiest Scandal

From Katie Pavlich, at Townhall, "Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal":

If the majority of American people knew Fast and Furious like they know Solyndra or the GSA scandal, they would be outraged. Despite very few exceptions, the media has been complicit in the cover-up of Obama’s bloodiest scandal by ignoring and refusing to report about it. Why? To protect the President. This scandal, one that has left hundreds of bodies in its wake, would be deadly to the administration. This is the scandal that will bring President Obama down in November, so long as the American people know its details.

Wow!

That sounds like a blockbuster.

Check out the book here: Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up.

And Michelle seconds that emotion: "Katie Pavlich exposes “Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up”."

Anders Behring Breivik Goes on Trial

At Telegraph UK, "Anders Behring Breivik forced to confront cold reality of his crimes," and "Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik moved to tears."

Breivik's emotional at the video, but most of the coverage indicates he was defiant.

More here, "Anders Behring Breivik spent a year playing World of Warcraft role-playing game online," and "Anders Behring Breivik statement 'will determine legal sanity'."

And at London's Daily Mail, "The red dots died, the yellow dots survived: Court sees chilling map of Breivik's deadly rampage around island," and "'There's someone shooting just outside. He's coming in': Terrifying phone call of survivor of Breivik's massacre is played to court."

My previous reporting is here. And see especially, "Anders Behring Breivik — No Clear Ideological Program."

First Street Journal — Rule 5 Blogging

Recall Dana at First Street Journal posts our military's women warriors.

See: "Rule 5 Blogging: The Fashionistas."

I liked this one. I think shows endurance and sacrifice.

Toy Boarders

This is cool:

The homepage is here.

Madison Tea Party Rally — April 14, 2012

William Jacobson has a report, "Madison Tea Party battleground more divided, entrenched than ever."

And at Gateway Pundit, "THOUSANDS Turn Out at Pro-Walker Madison Tea Party Rally."

And here's video of Dana Loesch, via Althouse:

More from Althouse at her tags, here and here.

ZoNation: 'Liberals Are the Agents of Censorship'

A great clip:

BONUS: An example of progressive censorship, at Blazing Cat Fur, "'I am an atheist who opposes Wilson's ideas and supports gay rights. That said, our side acted like f----ng children tonight'."

Pat Condell: 'Israel and the United Nations'

Via Jake Finnegan:

Happy Birthday, Ann Romney!

I like it: "Romney for President Releases New Web Video: 'Happy Birthday, Mom'."

And folks are talkin' like today's the kickoff of the general election campaign, even though the GOP nomination's not sewn up yet.

Gallup started its presidential election tracking poll today, for example: "Romney, Obama in Tight Race as Gallup Daily Tracking Begins." (Via Memeorandum.)

PRINCETON, NJ -- Mitt Romney is supported by 47% of national registered voters and Barack Obama by 45% in the inaugural Gallup Daily tracking results from April 11-15. Both Obama and Romney are supported by 90% of their respective partisans.

That sound's nice, of course, but it's the Electoral College that decides the election, and it's a bit more complicated: "A few states could decide Obama-Romney battle."

With the November field set, Americans can look forward to months of trench warfare as President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney wage a costly, brutal and scathingly negative fight over a narrow slice of voters in a limited number of states.

Although Romney still must accumulate the 1,144 delegates he needs to officially claim the Republican presidential nomination — a task made infinitely easier by the exit of his chief rival, Rick Santorum — the more important calculation involves the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.

Each candidate starts with a core of partisan supporters, which together represent at least 80% of the electorate, and a set of states he can reliably expect to win come November, strategists in both camps agree.

Romney is almost certain to sweep most of the Great Plains and Southern states, notwithstanding his weak performance there during the primary season, as contempt for Obama overcomes much of the resistance the former Massachusetts governor has faced among evangelical and socially conservative voters.

The president should repeat his 2008 performance by prevailing along the West Coast and carrying New York, his home state of Illinois and most of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.

That leaves about a dozen states to decide an election that, barring the unexpected, promises to be more like the cliffhangers in 2000 and 2004 than Obama's comfortable victory four years ago.

Continue reading.

Community Colleges Offer Path to Four-Year Degrees

Well, this is interesting.

At the New York Times, "Opening Up a Path to Four-Year Degrees":

PHILADELPHIA — At the end of his first year at the Community College of Philadelphia, Christopher Thomas decided that his goal — to go back to school and get a degree — was no longer worth it. He was in debt from thousands of dollars in student loans. After class, he rode a bus an hour and a half to a suburban restaurant where he worked as a waiter. When the shift ended at midnight, it took him three buses to get home. He couldn’t afford a computer, so in the middle of the night, he walked to his aunt’s house and used hers to finish his class work.

He got seven A’s and a C, but the plan was for eight.

Mr. Thomas was 36, living in a spare bedroom at his grandmother’s house and doing much of his sleeping on the Route 124 bus. “I’m done,” he told friends.

But he wasn’t. A woman in the college’s Institutional Advancement department, Patricia Conroy, kept sending e-mails about a $2,000 scholarship. “WHY DON’T YOU APPLY FOR THIS,” she wrote. He won one. Professors spoke about his promise. Friends said it would be a crime.

“My dream of a 4.0 was gone,” he said. “I figured what it would take for a 3.9. If I aced out, I still might not make it, but a 3.89 was possible.”

Actually, he finished with a 3.91. This fall he will enter the University of Pennsylvania.

Increasingly, the students here are making that jump. Dawn-Stacy Joyner, a former hospital cook, will also attend the University of Pennsylvania. Nine women graduating this spring have been accepted to Bryn Mawr. Larry Thi, who hopes to become a teacher, transferred to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“There’s been a major acceleration the last few years,” said Rod Risley, executive director of Phi Theta Kappa, the community college honor society.

It’s partly the economic collapse. The Community College of Philadelphia costs $4,400 a year for city residents; the most expensive private colleges are $60,000. Getting an associate degree first can save $100,000.

“These students are choosing community colleges with the intention that this is their path to selective institutions,” Mr. Risley said.

I don't know about this.

Students like Christopher Thomas are extremely atypical, in my experience. As are the other students also mentioned at the article, including the author's own kid. Maybe the Times needs a larger sample. As I reported earlier, 90 percent of students at my college are taking remedial courses --- and frankly, if I had just a handful of students who were aiming for a 4.0 I'd be delighted. It's just not working out like that. See: "Cost of ignorance - Ill-prepared students a burden for colleges," and "Remedial classes are draining CSULB budget."

I applaud all hard-working students like those cited at the Times, but we're going to need a lot more kids like that.

Catholic Vote 2012

William Jacobson asks if Catholics will "vote in larger numbers and against Obama this year?"

I don't know, and will update with more information later. Meanwhile, a re-post of my favorite political video:

And recently at the New York Times, "Obama Shift on Contraception Splits Catholics."

And from John Feehery, last year, "Obama and the Catholic Vote."

Laura Marling Live at Coachella 2012 — 'Ghosts' / 'Blackberry Stone'

A nice clip, via London's Daily Mail, "You're supposed to watch the bands! Besotted Emma Watson only has eyes for new boyfriend as they kiss at Coachella":

Emma Watson has fallen under the spell of Will Adamowicz, clearly enchanted by her new beau.

The besotted duo attended Coachella, but spent more time gazing at one other than watching bands.

The Harry Potter actress didn't seem shy kissing her boyfriend in full view of the public at the music event, which is around a 90 minute drive from Los Angeles, even closing her eyes passionately as she planted a kiss on Will's lips.

Dressing down for the festival, birthday girl Emma - who turns 22 today - sported jeans, a leopard print scarf and a feathered gilet as the balanced shades on her head doubled up as a hairband.

Will, who has been dating Emma since the end of last year, looked equally infatuated as he gazed at his famous girlfriend with a look that only couples in their honeymoon phase possess.

When they weren't lost in each other's eyes adoringly, they still appeared content just to be together.

Lots more from the festival at the link.

Laura Marling's lyrics to "Ghosts" here.

'Have a Nice Flight' — Israel's 'Welcome Letter' to 'Flytilla' Activists

This is too good not to share, via Blazing Cat Fur and Director Blue:

Also at Jerusalem Post, "Israel to 'thank' fly-in activists in mocking letter."

Class, Gender, and One Hundred Years After the Titanic

Here's an essay from Jean Kaufman, a.k.a. Neo-Neocon, at The Weekly Standard:

It is clear that class was a huge factor in Titanic survival, although it is difficult to know how much of the class differential was deliberate exclusion and how much accidental circumstance. But there is no escaping the conclusion that gender was an even greater factor than class, and that this was deliberate: Many first-class male passengers either elected to die in order that third class female passengers might live, or were forced by the crew to refrain from saving themselves at the expense of those third class women. That’s a different–and more accurate–narrative, although it’s not quite as politically correct. And it’s one that has gotten very little traction over the years.

RTWT, and be sure to leave a comment at Neo-Neocon.

Oops! Britain's First Muslim 'Life Peer' Suspended After Placing £10 Million Bounty on Presidents Obama and G.W. Bush

Well, multiculturalism is hard.

At Pamela's, "UKs first Muslim "Life Peer," Lord Ahmed, offers 15-million-dollar bounty for President Obama and Former President Bush's Head, too UPDATE: Lord Nazi Suspended..."

And at Telegraph UK, "British Peer Lord Nazir Ahmed suspended after 'offering £10m bounty on Barack Obama and George Bush'":

A controversial British peer has been suspended from the Labour Party amid reports that he offered a £10 million bounty for the capture of President Barack Obama and his predecessor President George W Bush.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, 53, who in 1998 became the first Muslim life peer, was reported to have made the comments at a conference in Haripur in Pakistan.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "We have suspended Lord Ahmed pending investigation. If these comments are accurate we utterly condemn these remarks which are totally unacceptable."

According to Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper Lord Ahmed offered the bounty in response to a US action a week ago.
The US issued a $10 million reward for the capture of Pakistani militant leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, who it suspects of orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people died as terrorists stormed hotels and a train station.

The British peer reportedly said: "'If the US can announce a reward of $10 million for the (capture) of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of £10 million (for the capture of) President Obama and his predecessor, George Bush."

Lord Ahmed reportedly said he would arrange the bounty at any cost, even if he had to sell his own personal assets including his house.
He was said to have made the comments at a reception arranged in his honour by the business community of Haripur on Friday.
A former Pakistani foreign minister and a provincial education minister were said to have been present at the reception.

Lord Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan, became Baron Ahmed of Rotherham at the age of 40. In 2007 he was highly critical of the awarding of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, claiming the author had "blood on his hands."

In 2009 he was jailed for dangerous driving after sending and receiving text messages minutes before being involved in a fatal motorway crash. The Court of Appeal later suspended his 12-week jail sentence.

A week ago the US offered the bounty on Saeed in response to what it called his increasingly "brazen" conduct in Pakistan where he moves freely and appears on television.

Documents found by US special forces at Osama bin Laden's final hideaway in Abbottabad, 22 miles north of Haripur, last year apparently linked Saeed with the al-Qaeda leader. The evidence was said to have shown that bin Laden played a key role in planning the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

In its statement suspending Lord Ahmed the Labour Party said: "The international community is rightly doing all in its power to seek justice for the victims of the Mumbai bombings and halt terrorism."

Kim Novak Says She's Bipolar — 'Branded as Difficult' by Hollywood, 'They Prohibited Her Friendship With Sammy Davis Jr.'

Once you've seen "Vertigo", you're hooked on Kim Novak.

And she's in the news, at Los Angeles Times, "Kim Novak says she's bipolar, regrets leaving Hollywood."

And get this on her conflicts with establishment Hollywood:

She was branded as difficult, Novak said, in part because she rejected attempts by studio executives to define and control her. At one point, they wanted her to take the name "Kit Marlowe" and wear her makeup like Joan Crawford did; at another, they prohibited her friendship with Sammy Davis Jr., saying it was too provocative.

Too provocative, right.

And just think, it's conservatives who're constantly attacked as "racist." Meanwhile, not much has changed regarding Hollywood's "promotion" of "diversity."

David Axelrod 'Makes the Case for Mitt Romney'

At Los Angeles Times, "Romney campaign says Axelrod 'makes the case for Mitt Romney'."

More at Memeorandum.

UPDATE: At Twitchy, "Obama adviser David Axelrod endorses Mitt Romney for President?"

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

And at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

Taliban Insurgents Launch Coordinated Attacks in Kabul

At Telegraph UK, "Taliban insurgents attack embassies and Nato headquarters in Kabul":

The Taliban said they and other militant groups were behind a coordinated assault in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday which included attacks on the British and German embassies in the heavily guarded, central diplomatic district.

Also at Time, "Blasts and Gunfire Shake Kabul as Taliban Launches Coordinated Attacks."

I'm seeing the eerie comparisons to Vietnam in 1968 and the Tet Offensive. It's a prelude to a pullout, and a loss of U.S. influence for decades.

UPDATE: Stormbringer reports, "KABUL: ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "At least 35 killed in Afghan assaults; attackers reportedly surrounded."

Also, at the New York Times, "Kabul Rocked by Gunfire and Explosions" (via Memeorandum).

Obama Campaign Claims Mitt Romney Would 'Outlaw Abortion'

At Riehl World View, "BuzzFeed Catches Team Obama Lying About Romney's Views."

And at Big Government, "Obama Campaign Claims Romney Would 'Outlaw Abortion'."

Also, at Human Events, "Five Lies You Need to Know about Mitt Romney."