Bucky Lasek Wins Gold Medal in Skateboarding Vert — X Games Los Angeles

This guy's cool.

He won bronze in 2011 when I attended with my boyz

At LAT, "Bucky Lasek wins vert gold medal at X Games."

Also, "At 40, skateboarding vert pioneer Bucky Lasek still gets ramped up":

Bucky Lasek stands atop the vert ramp hunched forward, right hand on his skateboard.

Above his tidy brown chin strip and mustache, deep lines crease his cheeks. He watches other boarders drop in at practice Wednesday.

Tom Schaar, 13. Mitchie Brusco, 16. Jono Schwan, 16. All young enough to be his kids.

But at 40, Lasek is far from just the old Buck.

He's the best in the sport today and possibly of all time. He proved that again Saturday, winning his fourth straight gold medal at the X Games in Los Angeles.

"When I look at some of my classmates and stuff on Facebook, it's pretty crazy," Lasek said. "I wouldn't expect those guys to be rolling in."

At an age when many men are going through crises, Lasek is at the peak of his career and showing no signs of slowing down. He won in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, this April after a nine-year gold-medal drought in the event, and on Saturday became the first ever to four-peat.

Once a pioneer in the vert event, Lasek is now breaking ground as the oldest to compete, especially as the one to beat.

"This is the best year I've ever had in my life competitively," Lasek said.

It's more than that, said retired professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

"His last few competition appearances were far and above better than anything he's ever done," Hawk said, "and better than anyone has ever ridden on the vert ramp."

That's so cool.

More at the link.

'If the bar ain't bendin', then you're just pretendin'...'

Hugh Jackman's a bad mf.

Via Twitter.

Senator Ted Cruz: 'Our Single Best Chance to Defeat #ObamaCare...'

Leftists are attacking Senator Cruz, obviously out of fear that his campaign against the ObamaCare monstrosity will be successful.

The law is failing and the idiot left has again embarked on one of its epic misadventures in cognitive dissonance.

Democrat Perverts and Sexual Harassers: What War on Women?

A great segment.

Emily Miller pulls no punches on the Democrat criminals and pervs.

And remember, this behavior is not a bug but a feature of disgusting Democrat existentialism.



And ICYMI, "Leftists Freak Out as GOP 'Flips the Script' with Democrats' War on Women."

High-Tech Japanese Toilets Vulnerable to Attack From Android App

Here's a change of pace for you.

And who knew the Japanese were into the bidet thing?

Live and learn, at the Verge, "Japanese toilet users vulnerable to Bluetooth bidet assaults."

And here's the video.

Nyjah Huston Wins at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles

It's just wrapping up on ESPN.

This Nyjah kid is so talented it's ridiculous.



Earlier, "Nyjah Huston Tops Prelims at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles."

Stop Islamic Terror!

I like the raised fist.

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "Yes!"



More, "Winding down," and "Can't argue with that."

Also, "Everybody's got a cause," and "Hezbollah flags the fashion accessory."

Professor Colin McGinn Resigns After Allegations of Sexual Harassment

It's all about gender equality these days, and dolts like this philosopher sure make it easy for the shakedown feminists.

At NYT, "A Star Philosopher Falls, and a Debate Over Sexism Is Set Off":

Ever since Socrates’ wife was painted as a jealous shrew by one of his pupils, women have had it tough in philosophy.

Thinkers from Aristotle to Kant questioned whether women were fully capable of reason. Today, many in the field say, gender bias and outright sexual harassment are endemic in philosophy, where women make up less than 20 percent of university faculty members, lower than in any other humanities field, and account for a tiny fraction of citations in top scholarly journals.

While the status of women in the sciences has received broad national attention, debate about sexism in philosophy has remained mostly within the confines of academia. But the revelation this summer that Colin McGinn, a star philosopher at the University of Miami, had agreed to leave his tenured post after allegations of sexual harassment brought by a graduate student, has put an unusually famous name to the problem, exposing the field to what some see as a healthy dose of sunlight.

“People are thinking, ‘Wow, he had to resign, and we know about it,’ ” said Jennifer Saul, the chairwoman of the philosophy department at the University of Sheffield in England and the editor of the blog What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?

“I think that’s unprecedented,” she added.

Keep reading.

And following the links, here's Feminist Philosophers, "Letter From Concerned Philosophers."

McGinn's reply is here. (Apparently he's been blogging about the whole affair for months.)

And skim over this blog for a bit, What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?

I don't know. I see mostly men being jerks around women. It's stupid. And it should stop. But the feminist mindset is so stultifying it's ridiculous. The tiniest perceived slight is sexism, so it becomes a no-win situation. Men are jerks. Women are looking for anything that can be called "sexism" to feed their victimization psychology. There's no way out, and again, no one wins.

Added: Althouse has a longer meditation on this, "Sexual harassment in academia: It depends what the distinction between 'logical implication and conversational implicature' is."

Obama Keeps 'Phony Scandals' Alive for August 3rd Weekly Address

Not only does he keep recycling his stale "middle class recovery" garbage, he's completely disconnected from the real news on the ground, like the bombshell CNN report on the dozens of CIA operatives in Benghazi last September 11. If leftist regressives tell you the president's doing a good job they deserve to be shot.

Continued Gender Integration Will Only Exacerbate the Problem of Sexual Assault in the Military

From the letters to the editor, at the Wall Street Journal, "West Point: Duty, Honor, Country and Fairness, Too":

The politically incorrect but unassailable truth is that the increased occurrences of sexual assault are the predictable results of a military that increasingly puts teenage and 20-something men and women together in close quarters for long hours under stressful conditions. Throw in intimate familiarity, few financial expenses and the catalyst of alcohol, and there exists a situation similar to any college dormitory.

Unfortunately, the continued gender integration of the military will only exacerbate the problem of sexual assault, not to mention unit morale and overall combat effectiveness. Efforts to combat military sexual assault through periodic power-point "training" and stern lectures by military lawyers will prove impotent against hormones and alcohol.

Daniel Barbeau
Irvine, Calif.

More letters at the link.

The backstory is from James Taranto, "A Strange Sort of Justice at West Point: Trent Cromartie was cleared of sexual-assault charges. But the cadet was kicked out of school anyway."

And again here it is, the consequences of cultural Marxism working its path of destruction "through the institutions."

Homosexual Teacher at Catholic School Fired After Marrying Partner

You think?

I'm not sure why someone like this is still Catholic.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Gay teacher at Glendora Catholic school fired after marrying partner":

A gay teacher at a Catholic high school in Glendora was fired after he married his partner and photos of the wedding were published in a local newspaper last month.

Ken Bencomo, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga was fired from his teaching position at St. Lucy's Priory High School days after he married his partner of 10 years.

He and Christopher Persky, 32, were among the first couples married at the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder's office after a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed gay couples to marry in California.

Photos of the ceremony were published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Officials at St. Lucy's Priory had been aware of Bencomo's sexual orientation for about 10 of the 17 years he was employed by the school, said Patrick McGarrigle, Bencomo's attorney.

School officials specifically mentioned the wedding and the publicity it received during a meeting at which Bencomo was informed that he had been fired, McGarrigle said.

Bencomo, through his attorney, declined to comment.

"Ken was one of the school's star educators and the decision to terminate him because he lawfully married a man is just heartbreaking to him — it's crushing," McGarrigle said. "It shows a terrible error of judgment and complete disregard of Ken and what he has brought to the school."

Shoot, the guy was probably one of the brightest stars on campus, but he went and got married? What a freakin' dolt.

#Dodgers Tie Club Record With 12th Straight Win on the Road

Hey, it makes me happy.

At LAT, "Dodgers keep rolling, tie club record with 12th straight road win":

RECAP: @HyunJinRyu99 fans 6 as #Dodgers win 12th straight on road, 6-2 over Cubs. http://t.co/9WrJfWSq6d pic.twitter.com/hSH5ppClQ3

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2013

Say this for the Dodgers during their current hot streak -- they’ve been versatile.

They squeak out narrow victories, or clobber opponents, or use walk-off heroics. And sometimes, like Friday, they just sort of win.

Their 6-2 victory Friday over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field unfolded without much in the way of dramatics, unless you count the ejections of Manager Don Mattingly and second baseman Mark Ellis in the fourth inning.

But it was another win, which is almost all the Dodgers know these days. It was their 12th consecutive road victory, tying the franchise record set by the Brooklyn Robins in 1924. It gave them an 11-2 mark since the All-Star break and was their 29th win in 36 games overall.

And the Dodgers pulled it off all sorts of ways.

Hyun-Jin Ryu was at less than his best Friday, which seems to be a theme for him on the road, but was good enough to earn the victory and raise his record to 10-3. He became the first Dodgers rookie to win 10 games since Kaz Ishii in 2002.

Ryu went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and 11 hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.

But he was supported by enough offense from the Dodgers, and generally disinterested-looking play by a bad Cubs team, to make it hold up, and the Dodgers went to 59-49. It’s the first time this season the Dodgers have been 10 games over .500.

Continue reading.

Brawl Erupts in Taiwan Parliament Over Nuclear Power

Pretty amazing, actually.

We could use some of this passion in D.C., especially among the homo and metrosexual Democrats.

At WSJ, "Brawl in Taiwan Legislature Delays Vote on Nuclear Plant: Nuclear-Energy Safety Concerns Intensify After Japan's 2011 Earthquake."

Jessica Hometown Hottie

It's that time of year again, via Maxim:

Royal Baby's Birth Certificate

Sure, we have economic class stratification in this country, but you'll never see something like this.

Will & Kate list jobs as prince, princess on royal baby's birth certificate http://t.co/AboCNl9PeX pic.twitter.com/AiiN5iFa2s

— New York Post (@nypost) August 2, 2013

'Blurred Lines' Makes Robin Thicke White Soul's Leader

This song was too hot for most everybody when the video was first released.

But NYT's down with it, "Yesterday’s Style, Today’s Hits":

We first met Robin Thicke about a decade ago, zipping through the streets of Manhattan on a bicycle in his debut video, Jesus mane flowing behind him, then doing some sub-“Saturday Night Fever” moves in a freight elevator. The song was “When I Get You Alone,” and it sampled Walter Murphy’s “Fifth of Beethoven,” the 1976 disco-classical fusion, a hybrid of flash and seriousness that Mr. Thicke appeared perfectly comfortable with, even if few others were: wildly out of step with the sound of the time, his single never hit the American charts.

Jump forward to “Blurred Lines,” the song that has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks now, and that has elevated Mr. Thicke from white-soul curio to pop certainty. There he is in the crisp video, chipper and smug, in a beautifully cut suit, frolicking with barely clothed models (in the version where they’re wearing clothes at all, that is). He has the look of a man finally coming into the privilege he was sure was his all along.

But don’t let the video’s modernism fool you: white-soul conservatism is the order of the day, and this hit is just as nostalgic as Mr. Thicke’s first single was, under a much cooler cover. “Blurred Lines” is influenced heavily by Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” and even with the producer Pharrell Williams’s clean, large drums and a sizzling, naughty guest rap by T.I., Mr. Thicke can’t help himself — he loves yesterday way more than today. That’s also clear from the bulk of his new album, also called “Blurred Lines” (Star Trak/Interscope), on which his hit is one of several songs that sound helicoptered in from three or four decades ago. Mr. Thicke may be the sound of now, but he’s only passing for contemporary.

With its full-band soul arrangements that hark back to disco and before, “Blurred Lines” is a loud reminder of the fundamental conservatism of white soul. Nostalgia is a frequent hallmark of white participation in black genres, a way of signaling respect and knowledge without presuming to reshape the art form’s present. It’s a safe space, guaranteeing an audience of nostalgists and that-white-boy-can-sing true-schoolers.

Hey, if it's conservative I can dig.

Plus, those hot nude wenches at the "unrated" version are to die for, mf.

More at the link.

Hungry Bear Goes Dumpster-Diving for Some German Food

This clip has been getting some play.

And see the Washington Post, "Hungry bear nimbly helps himself to leftovers in dumpster behind German restaurant in Colorado."

Leftists Freak Out as GOP 'Flips the Script' with Democrats' War on Women

The introduction to this clip is hilarious in how aggressively Chris Matthews asserts a conservative "war on women" --- which everyone knows only exists in the minds of Democrats. And now that we've got marquee Democrat headlines of disgusting Democrat dehumanization of women, Matthews is twisting in his seat at MSNBC, worrying about how the left's sexist women-groping, dick-exposing entitlement culture is somehow an aberration.

It's not. This is how leftists roll.



It turns out the RNC has been doing double-time getting the word out on all the disgusting Democrats sexism, and folks in D.C. are looking to tamp it down. See WaPo, "GOP finds its own ‘War on Women’."

And far-left extremist Katrina vanden Heuvel is not pleased, "The GOP misunderstands the ‘war on women’."

Nyjah Huston Tops Prelims at Street League Series — X Games Los Angeles

At Street League, "STREET LEAGUE AT X GAMES LA: PRELIMS RESULTS."



And at ESPN, "NYJAH HUSTON TOPS STREET LEAGUE PRELIMS."

Obama's Foreign Policy in Shambles

From the inimitable Charles Krauthammer, at this afternoon's Fox News All-Stars.



More at CNN, "U.S. issues global travel alert, to close embassies due to al Qaeda threat," and Pajamas Media, "Dozens of US Embassasies to Close Sunday Due to ‘Credible’ Terror Threat (Update: Worldwide Travel Warning)" (via Memeorandum).

'Can't a guy just go get a haircut without a bunch of femi-queer-Nazis bugging the f*** out of him?'

From my comment at Blazing Cat Fur, "Woman who identifies as queer feminist activist denied haircut at Westdale barbershop."

What Neocon Revival?

Here's a key passage from David Brooks at the New York Time, "The Neocon Revival":

Neocons put values at the center of their governing philosophy, but their social policy was neither morally laissez-faire like the libertarians nor explicitly religious like some social conservatives. Neocons mostly sought policies that would encourage self-discipline. “In almost every area of public concern, we are seeking to induce persons to act virtuously, whether as schoolchildren, applicants for public assistance, would-be lawbreakers, or voters and public officials,” James Q. Wilson wrote.

How would they know if programs induced virtue? Empirically. “Neoconservatives, accordingly, place a lot of stock in applied social science research, especially the sort that evaluates old programs and tests new ones,” Wilson added.

Nobody would call George F. Will a neocon, but, in 1983, he published a superb book called “Statecraft as Soulcraft.” It championed the sort of governing conservatism that was common then and is impermissible now. “It is generally considered obvious that government should not, indeed cannot, legislate morality. But, in fact, it does so, frequently; it should do so more often,” Will wrote.

He was not calling for a theocracy. He was calling for “strong government conservatism,” for a limited but energetic government that could cultivate the best in persons by educating the passions. “American conservatives are caught in the web of their careless antigovernment rhetoric,” he concluded.

Brooks reiterates a key point about neoconservatism: that its essence is a domestic policy movement, despite the rise of the foreign policy Vulcans during the George W. Bush administration.

But what Brooks doesn't do is examine how the so-called neocon support for "strong government" in fact erodes the values of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency that are central to a conservative creed. Also neglected is the notion that some Republicans thought of as neocons, John McCain comes to mind, have become the biggest enablers of dependency-state Democrats in recent years, and have thus tarnished the brand nearly beyond redemption. Indeed, McCain's now saying he'd more likely back Hillary Clinton over Rand Paul in 2016, which raises the question: When will McRINO be switching parties? (See IBD, "Why Does John McCain Keep Running as a Republican?")

The problem for neoconservatism is not to surrender to laissez-faire libertarianism, it's simply to stand up for the very values that it purports to champion. Pushing for a "strong government" conservatism at this point simply empowers Democrat big government. Neocons need to reconnect with the mediating institutions that help families free themselves from government dependency. This doesn't mean becoming a 100 percent small-g conservative. It means standing up for values by reining in out-of-control Democrat-collectivist entitlement statism. Without that, there is no "neocon revival."

RELATED: From Reihan Salam, at National Review, "Searching for Irving Kristol" (via Memeorandum).

Millennial Moochers: A Record 21.6 Million Young Adults Lived at Parents' Home in 2012

The detritus of the Obama economy.

Here's the report at Pew Research, "A Rising Share of Young Adults Live in Their Parents’ Home: A Record 21.6 Million In 2012."

And at the clip, I'm going to credit Christy Setzer with making some decent points, but there's no doubt the current administration's policies are severely hampering the life chances of younger people. It's pretty sad, too, since these are the same people who were hoodwinked by the despicable Hopenchange lies.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Recommended Reading List

I consider myself widely-read, but I only score with "War and Peace" on this list.

At London's Daily Mail, "The 22 books everyone should read… according to F. Scott Fitzgerald: List of novels he dictated to nurse is revealed."

Sister Carrie: Theodore Dreiser
The Life of Jesus: Ernest Renan
A Doll’s House: Henrik Ibsen
Winesburg, Ohio: Sherwood Anderson
The Old Wives’ Tale: Arnold Bennett
The Maltese Falcon: Dashiel Hammett
The Red and the Black: Stendahl
The Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant
An Outline of Abnormal Psychology: edited by Gardner Murphy
The Stories of Anton Chekhov
The Best American Humorous Short Stories
Victory: Joseph Conrad
The Revolt of the Angels: Anatole France
The Plays of Oscar Wilde
Sanctuary: William Faulkner
Within a Budding Grove: Marcel Proust
The Guermantes Way: Marcel Proust
Swann’s Way: Marcel Proust
South Wind: Norman Douglas
The Garden Party: Katherine Mansfield
War and Peace: Leo Tolstoy
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete Poetical Works

I do have Conrad, Dreiser, Faulkner, and Stendhal on my paperback bookshelf, so perhaps I can get back up to speed on my classical reading?

We'll see...

Timeline of 'Horndog' Simon Cowell's Women

This is pretty good, via the New York Post, "'Baby mama' seeking to tame horndog Simon Cowell, making 'X-Factor' judge keep promise to marry her." (Via WeSmirch.)

#TheyFeelPain: New York Times Attacks 'Theory of Pain-Based Abortion Limits'

The New York Times is obviously still smarting from the pro-aborts' debacle in Texas.

See, "Theory on Pain Is Driving Rules for Abortions":

It challenges four decades of constitutional doctrine and is based on disputed scientific theories.

Yet a push to ban abortion at 20 weeks after conception, on the theory that the fetus can feel pain at that point, has emerged as a potent new tactic of the anti-abortion movement. Advocates saw the potential of such a measure because it taps into public concern about late-stage abortions, appears to alter the rules only incrementally, and claims to be rooted in science.

“Any time we talk about developmental landmarks of the unborn child, anything showing that the unborn child is a member of the human family — that gets the public to take a closer look at abortion,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, the state policy director of the National Right to Life Committee, who is widely seen as the architect of 20-week legislation.

The 20-week ban was first adopted in 2010 in Nebraska, where conservatives aimed to rein in one well-known abortion doctor. A pain-based abortion limit has now been enacted in a dozen states, most recently in Texas, and a bill to impose one nationally passed the Republican-controlled House in June. One recent poll, while affirming public support for legal abortion over all, suggested that a majority of people would draw the line at 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights advocates call the pain argument duplicitous and say the laws will be declared unconstitutional, arguing that they are a reflection of Republican gains in state legislatures and not a shift in public opinion. But they have also been forced to mobilize against 20-week bills in state after state, and they credit their opponents with effective marketing.

“These laws are cloaked in the language of two-week increments, rather than banning abortion at conception or other more radical measures,” said Suzanne B. Goldberg, the director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia University. “They are cutting back on women’s constitutional rights, but less dramatically, so they trigger less alarm across society.”

In the three states where the bans have been legally challenged, the courts blocked them. In the standard laid out by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973 and elaborated on in later decisions, women have a right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, around 24 weeks into pregnancy.

But proponents of 20-week bans hope that one of the cases will be accepted by the Supreme Court. Reading into opinions by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the likely swing voter, they are hoping for a legal upheaval.

With these bills, the anti-abortion movement is tapping into a powerful strand in the complex tangle of public opinion on abortion. Support for legal abortion drops when people are asked about the later stages of pregnancy.

In a Gallup poll last December, 61 percent of Americans said abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy, but 27 percent said it should be legal in the second three months, and 14 percent in the final three.

Since then, other pollsters have started asking about a 20-week limit — evidence that opponents of abortion have injected the proposed cutoff into the public discourse, said Michael Dimock, the director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

By any measure, the practical impact of a 20-week ban is small compared with the potential legal and symbolic effects. In all cases but one, in Arizona, the laws ban abortions at the 20th week after fertilization, which is the 22nd week after the last menstrual period, the most common way of describing pregnancy. The estimate of fetal viability at around 24 weeks is also timed from the last menstrual period, so the actual gap between the two approaches is about two weeks, involving several thousand abortions, at most, out of an estimated 1.2 million performed every year.

Only "several thousand abortions" out of over a million each year in the left's genocide of the unborn.

Regressive leftists are evil baby killers. They're despicable people. Just disgusting.

There's still more at that top link, but again notice how the baby killers are "abortion rights activists" while the protectors of the unborn are "anti-abortion," to make it seem as if that's something shameful.

Killing the unborn is the ultimate shame. That's why I can never ever condone the ideology of the left. The have a romance with death. Leftism is an ideology of death and destruction of human decency. I never support these people. Never.

Bill Whittle's Afterburner: 'Sarah Palin was Right'

Funny, I was just talking about this earlier, "ObamaCare's Just for the Little People."

Elliot Sloan Wins Big Air Gold at X-Games Los Angeles 2013

At LAT, "Elliot Sloan wins X Games gold in skateboard big air":

Elliot Sloan moved from New York City to Vista, Calif., 7 1/2 years ago and has been chasing a dream ever since. On Thursday night at Irwindale Speedway he finally achieved it, winning his first X Games gold medal, in the skateboard big air event.

"This is probably a game changer, to have one of these under my belt," Sloan said. "I'm so relieved right now. It's the last one out here, so to end it like this on a high note, it's definitely something I've been looking forward to all year." The X Games are moving from the Los Angeles area to Austin, Texas, next year.

Sloan used a tail grab 720 (two full rotations) and a tail grab 540 to notch a total score of 90.165, edging 13-year-old Tom Schaar and denying Bob Burnquist a golden sweep of all four X Games skateboard big air events in 2013.

Earlier this year, Sloan, 25, took bronze at X Games Barcelona and silver at both Brazil and Munich, falling to Burnquist each time. Before Sloan's winning run, Burnquist fell hard off the quarterpipe, later saying he broke his nose.

"It's the same stuff I've done all year," Sloan said. "Unfortunately, Bob went down on the one run he usually makes, which is crazy. ... It's awesome, but I would have preferred to beat him at his best."

More at the link.

'Complicit in evil...'

From the comments at the Other McCain, "Vile Lie-Peddler @Karoli Kuns and the Posthumous Vindication of Breitbart":

There is a point where "that incredibly stupid" becomes unbelievable and "complicit in evil" becomes the most obvious explanation.

So many leftists have just gone off the deep end and plunged into pure evil, defending murderers and pedophiles.

And yet they continue to influence so many people who are just to lazy to think on their own and we continue to slide into the abyss with monsters like this leading the way...

Karoli's a vile woman, no doubt. But she's not alone. The left is "complicit in evil" all around. That's what the regressive left is all about.

Flashback: Jake Brown's 45-Foot Slam From X-Games 2007

I remember watching this on television at the time. The dude got up and walked away.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Jake Brown's epic fall is not forgotten":

It has been six years, but fans still ask Jake Brown the same questions: "How did it feel? What was going through your head? How are you still alive?"

It's understandable, but how Brown walked away from a 45-foot free fall really isn't.

It has become the main part of his legacy in the skateboarding big air event — not landing the first ollie 720, winning a gold medal after years of trying or skating on two broken ribs in Barcelona earlier this year.

"I haven't really seen too much of that change. It's still the same six years since I did that," Brown said. "Yeah it's always brought up, but I'm just here to skate and try to help us progress. I just want to leave a positive mark on the sport."

On that day in 2007, the Australian landed the first 720 in big air competition over a 55-foot gap before losing control, his body flailing in mid-air before smacking the wood ramp. His shoes flew 50 feet, his head was under his back due to the whiplash and the Staples Center crowd was eerily silent.

Fellow big air gold medalist Bob Burnquist was at the top of the ramp when he thought he saw his friend for the last time.

"I fell on the ground and started crying because I thought he had died," Burnquist said.

Brown's injuries were a fractured wrist, fractured vertebrae, bruised liver, bruised lung, ruptured spleen and concussion. And yet he still got up and walked off.

Two years later, Brown won the gold medal in that same event, when he realized mental preparation underneath the helmet is almost as important as technical prowess above the board.

"I thought I was good right away, but it took me a couple of years to mentally get back to where I wanted to be," Brown said. "Everything is heightened at that level: the danger, the rush, the reward."

More at the top link.

Hilarious Jimmy Kimmel on Anthony #Weiner 'No Quitter' Campaign Ad

I was ROTFL the other night when this was on.

Lauren Silverman Husband Names Simon Cowell in Divorce Papers

Made for the tabloids.

At the Mirror UK, "Simon Cowell could face DNA test and court appearance over fling with friend's wife that left her pregnant," and "The secrets of Simon Cowell's "love boat" cruises with Lauren Silverman and her husband Andrew."

Also, "Simon Cowell jokes 'I haven’t read the newspapers' as he's questioned about baby."

Obamaphone Blowout!

On Hannity's last night.

"Let Me Finish, Then You’ll Be Educated On Something!"



FLASHBACK: "Free Obama Phones."

ObamaCare's Just for the Little People

The special gall here is that the man's slated to be one of the key enforcers of the brutal ObamaCare regime. And he clearly and honestly confesses that for people with coverage already, moving into a new "environment" is going to be badly inferior to what's available to people of his status already.

When the left thinks they know what's good for America, they make sure to exempt themselves from the ramifications of those "wonderful" changes. This, in a word, is evil.

Via the Lonely Conservative, "Video: IRS Official Wants to Keep His Current Health Plan, Doesn’t Want Switch to OCare."

Lauren Silverman Demands Marriage and Reality Show From Simon Cowell

Well, that's what you get for not wearing a raincoat.

At London's Daily Mail, "Marry me and give me a TV show! Simon Cowell's 'gold digger' pregnant lover 'has demanded he marry her and give her a reality TV show'."

Roger Waters Responds to Charges of Anti-Semitism

At Algemeiner, "Roger Waters Defends Himself Against Charges of Anti-Semitism: ‘I Have Many Very Close Jewish Friends’."

And Twitchy, "Comfortably dumb: Roger Waters says he’s not an anti-Semite; Some of his best friends are Jews."

@jaketapper Ah he used the old line of "Some of my best friends are self-hating Jews."

— UnfrozCavemanZionist (@CygnusA81) August 1, 2013

BACKGROUND: "Roger Waters Concert Exhibits Hateful Anti-Semitic Images and Props."

Mugabe Wins Zimbabwe Election: Opposition Decries 'Huge Farce'

Well, this is no surprise.

At the New York Times, "Challenger to Zimbabwe’s President Says Election Was a ‘Huge Farce’":

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Morgan Tsvangirai, the challenger to Zimbabwe’s longtime president, Robert Mugabe, asserted Thursday that the country’s presidential election had been a “huge farce” and called upon international observers to investigate what he described as widespread irregularities.

Senior leaders of Mr. Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, meanwhile, said they expected a huge victory, retaining the presidency and recapturing a majority of the Parliament.

“This victory is so sweet,” said Saviour Kasukuwere, a top minister in Mr. Mugabe’s party, who added he was handily re-elected to his parliamentary seat. He rejected the accusation that the vote had been manipulated.

“President Mugabe did not rig this election,” he said. “President Mugabe was voted overwhelmingly by the people of Zimbabwe.”

But Mr. Tsvangirai said the vote failed to meet “international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election.”

The Zimbabwe Election Commission has not released official results in the presidential election, but from the tone of Mr. Tsvangirai’s statement, it appeared that his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, was headed for defeat.

“In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate,” Mr. Tsvangirai, 61, said in a statement. “But more importantly, the shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.”

The vote, which took place Wednesday, was meant to resolve years of political crisis in Zimbabwe, ending an uneasy power-sharing agreement that put the ruling party and the opposition into government together.

More at the link.

PREVIOUSLY: "Zimbabwe Opposition Grows Bolder."

Edward Snowden Granted One-Year Asylum in Russia

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Edward Snowden granted asylum, leaves Moscow airport in taxi," and "Snowden asylum may presage rocky period in U.S.-Russia ties."

WASHINGTON — Now that Russia has granted temporary asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the question is not whether the decision will hurt U.S.-Russian relations but, rather, how bad the damage will be.

Russian officials maintained Thursday that the action was "insignificant," in the overall relationship with Washington. But the White House reacted angrily, a contrast with President Obama's first term, when the administration was eager to strengthen ties with Russia to enlist the Kremlin's help on an array of issues.

More at the Guardian UK, "White House 'reconsidering' Russia summit after Snowden given asylum."

And I always love watching Democracy Now! Communist Amy Goodman cheers against the United States, and of course bringing on clueless hacks like Spencer Ackerman adds a special comedy to the reporting. This guy's a crack international affairs analyst!

CNN Reports Massive, 'Unprecedented' CIA Intimidation Campaign and Cover-Up

Flopping Aces has it, "CNN: CIA “intimidating” operatives to ensure they keep quiet," and Hot Air, "CNN bombshell: Dozens of CIA operatives were on the ground during the Benghazi attack, agency in panic over revelations."

And at Big Peace, "REPORT ON CIA PERSONNEL TAKES BENGHAZI FROM 'PHONY' SCANDAL TO IMMENSE COVERUP."

There has always been something unsettling about the September 11th attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and a Thursday report on local CIA activity the night of the attack only adds to the unease. CNN is reporting the CIA may have had upwards of 35 personnel in Benghazi on the night of the attack, and that "as many as seven [of these] were wounded." An unnamed source claims these individuals are subjected to polygraph tests as frequently as once a month to monitor them for possible leaks to news outlets.

Since the assault's immediate aftermath, the Obama administration was worked diligently to ensure the details of that night remain secret—even as the family members of four murdered Americans killed search for answers. The White House initially refused to label the onslaught as a terror attack, despite the assassination of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stephens. Caught in the final months of the President's reelection campaign, his subordinates instead promoted the idea of spontaneous protests caused by a YouTube video.

More recently, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) alleges that Benghazi survivors have been bound by non-disclosure agreements from the federal government so their knowledge of the night's events cannot be made public. Americans have learned U.S. Diplomatic Security personnel like David Ubben and others were in Benghazi during the attacks, as well. They survived but have been kept from Congress and the public since the attacks took place.

Consequent with this news is the revelation that President Obama was missing from the situation room while the attack took place. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was in the situation room and said after seeing Obama for a 5 PM meeting, he did not see or hear from the President again that night—though the attack lasted for hours.

More, "Exclusive: Dozens of CIA operatives on the ground during Benghazi attack."

'I'm not a monster' — Ariel Castro Sentenced to Life in Prison Plus 1000 Years

At the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Judge sends Ariel Castro to prison for abduction, rape of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight (slideshow)."



More video, "Judge paints lonely future for Castro," and "Victim confronts Ariel Castro: 'Your hell is just beginning'."

Simon Cowell's 'The Ex-Factor'

I posted on this yesterday, "Simon Cowell Reportedly Expecting Baby With Hot New York Socialite Lauren Silverman, Who's Still Married to One of Cowell's Close Friends Andrew."

And here's today's New York Post, "Simon Cowell knocked up his pal's wife, and now he's getting trashed in their divorce --- First pics of Cowell's 'baby mama' after it was revealed reality TV mogul got friend's wife pregnant; gal pal called a 'gold digger'."

'Asian Girlz'

Folks say it's quite possibly the most racist song ever written.

Here's LA Weekly with the clip, "Offensive 'Asian Girlz' Video Sparks Talk of Protest."

Lyrics at Angry Asian Man, "OKAY, SO THIS IS PRETTY MUCH THE WORST THING EVER MADE."

Via WeSmirch.

Penelope Cruz Super-Sexy for Agent Provocateur Lingerie

I'm late getting up to speed on the big news for the day.

So, to get things rolling, here's the lowdown on Penelope Cruz, at US Magazine, "Video: Penelope Cruz Directs Super Sexy Lingerie Ad For Agent Provocateur Line."

Oh My! Michelle Malkin Slams Omni-Hating Race Hustler Al Sharpton!

Well, he's Jew-hating, white-hating, and everybody else in between-hating.

Michelle unloads with righteous indignation at skeezy race hustler and MSNBC shakedown shark Al Sharpton.

"This guy is a shakedown artist who hates cops, who hates whites, who hates Jews, who has stoked his rent-a-mob to murder Yankel Rosenbaum..."

And take notice at that Morton Downey clip with Sharpton going off on that vile racist, homophobic "punk faggot" rant. Gawd, that man is awful --- but perfect for MSNBC.

Zimbabwe Opposition Grows Bolder

From this morning's New York Times, "Mugabe Keeps Grip Before Vote, but the Opposition Grows Bolder."

And, "Zimbabwe Vote Tests Long Rule of Mugabe":

DOMBOSHAWA, Zimbabwe — For Nyaradzai Majuru, the choice of how to cast her ballot was simple. Before she and her husband received a two-acre plot of land that had been seized from a white farmer several years ago, they were penniless subsistence farmers on a scrap of communal land. Now, they grow green beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and cabbages that they sell in the market.

“Our life is better now because of President Mugabe,” said Ms. Majuru, 27, her youngest child tied to her back with a blanket, referring to Robert Mugabe, 89, who has led this country since it shook off white rule in 1980. “I support him all the way.”

But for 40-year-old Elizabeth, a janitor at an agricultural college in this small farming town 20 miles north of the capital, life has only gotten worse under Mr. Mugabe’s rule. Hyperinflation wiped out her savings. Hunger gnawed at her family. A lucky few got land, but the country’s economy was destroyed, she said, declining to give her last name out of fear of reprisals by the government.

“We need change in this country,” Elizabeth said. “We are tired of this old man.”

They were among the millions of Zimbabweans who went to the polls on Wednesday in what many here are calling the most pivotal election since the nation voted out white rule. Despite frigid predawn temperatures, people lined up before the polling stations opened, eager to decide whether to end or extend the three-decade tenure of Mr. Mugabe, a liberation war hero who still holds a tight grip on the country.

In Harare, the capital, there was none of the violence and intimidation that characterized the disastrous 2008 presidential election season, when 200 people died in a state-sponsored crackdown on the opposition and others seen as supporting it.

“This is a huge change, the fact that people can stand around and talk openly about their views,” said Namo Mariga, an agribusiness entrepreneur, after casting his ballot in the upscale suburb of Borrowdale. “The atmosphere is much freer.”

The election pits Mr. Mugabe against the former union organizer Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change. Mr. Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round of the election in 2008 but refused to participate in a runoff because of the attacks on his supporters. A deal brokered by regional powers put the two rivals into an uneasy power-sharing agreement, and both are now seeking an outright victory to govern alone.

“It is quite an emotional moment sometimes when you see all these people after all the conflict, the stalemate, the suspicion, the hostility,” Mr. Tsvangirai said after casting his ballot. “I think there is a sense of calmness that finally Zimbabwe will be able to move on again.”

Sporadic problems were reported in a number of regions. Lines were long in urban areas, raising concerns that not everyone would be able to vote Wednesday. The challengers said the Zimbabwe Election Commission had deliberately reduced the number of polling stations in their strongholds to discourage voters, but the commission denied it. Some voters who registered recently found that their names were not on the rolls, but they were able to cast ballots using the registration receipt.

“We’ve already made clear this election is illegal, illegitimate, unfree and unfair,” said Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon. “We are participating with a heavy heart.”

The planning for the election has been chaotic and rushed because Mr. Mugabe unilaterally set a much earlier election date than other political parties had anticipated.

But early reports from election officials and some monitors said that the voting had gone well. Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria who is leading the African Union observer delegation, said that based on initial reports the voting had been peaceful and orderly, and appeared to be free and fair.

Continue reading.

And at CNN, "Focus turns to vote-counting in Zimbabwe's hotly contested election."

Partial results should be available Thursday. I'm not holding my breath.

Bill O'Reilly Eviscerates the Far-Left's Grievance Industry

Shoot, O'Reilly's like must-see TV these days.

Who knew?



O'Reilly's going to sue the New Haven Register, which so far has not apologized. See, "MATT DeRIENZO: Editorial on Nugent, Fox News opens conversation about race."

DeRienzo admits the newspaper erred but doesn't come out with a forthright apology for the screw up. I'll bet we'll see one by the end of the week. That editorial just softens up the ground.

Controversial Reza Aslan Interview on Fox News

I don't know much about Reza Aslan and I don't much care.

I have no plans to read his book, and I probably still wouldn't read it if the publisher sent me a desk copy.

I don't much care about him, and I certainly don't care about his revisionist history of Jesus.

Pamela Geller had this the other day, so folks have a substantive critique here, "REZA ASLAN IS ACADEMIA'S ANWAR AWLAKI."

More at First Things, "Reza Aslan Misrepresents His Scholarly Credentials."

And from Andrew Kaczynski, "Author Attacked by Fox News Is Actually Kind of a Jerk on Twitter."

Below is the first part of the interview, with Lauren Green.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Reza Aslan's Jesus book a No. 1 bestseller, thanks to Fox News":

Near the end of Reza Aslan's strange, 10-minute television exchange with Fox News, the author of "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth," gives voice to a thought that’s entered the mind of many an author while being interviewed: “I’m afraid it seems like you haven’t read my book.”

The interview, now circulating widely on social media sites, has helped propel the book to No. 1 on the Amazon bestseller list Monday.

Aslan is a Muslim scholar of religion and a one-time Christian convert who’s just published a popular book about the life of Jesus. This earned him the wrath of those who wage a daily crusade against the “liberal media”— Fox News. Fox News religion correspondent Lauren Green tried to give Aslan the proverbial third degree Friday on the show "Spirited Debate," only to see Aslan patiently and deftly parry her attempts to corner him as an angry Muslim.

“Is This The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?” BuzzFeed asks in the headline above its posted video of said interview.

In the interview, Green says, “You are a Muslim. Why did you write about Jesus?”

Aslan answers this, and many other of Green’s questions, in a deliberately slow tone, as if he were being interviewed by the not-very-well-informed editor of a high school newspaper. “I am a professor of religions,” he says. “It’s what I do for a living.”

I thought he was petulant and overly defensive.

More here, FWIW, "Reza Aslan talks 'Zealot,' the book behind the viral Fox News video."

Watch the rest of the interview here.

Simon Cowell Reportedly Expecting Baby With Hot New York Socialite Lauren Silverman, Who's Still Married to One of Cowell's Close Friends Andrew

Well, that would be awkward.

At London's Daily Mail, "PICTURED: Simon Cowell cuddles up to the mother of his child Lauren Silverman on a VERY cosy Caribbean holiday... as her husband looks on":

It came totally out of the blue when it was revealed on Wednesday that Simon Cowell had fathered a baby with a New York socialite.

But pictures show the 53-year-old music mogul putting on a tactile display with Lauren Silverman, 36, as they enjoyed a cosy Caribbean holiday in January 2012 alongside her husband.

Whilst real estate mogul Andrew Silverman was just a mere matter of feet away, the striking brunette was seen tenderly running her hands through the hair of the X Factor boss.

Enjoying a new year break in St Barths, the trio seemed to be in high spirits as they sat on-board Cowell's luxury yacht soaking up the sun as the sipped on glasses of orange juice.

And while the group appeared to be chatting away amiably, the pictures show the pop mogul certainly only had eyes for one of the Silvermans, with him seeming utterly unable to distract himself from the alluring Lauren.

With Andrew looking on, Cowell leaned in closely to the stunning socialite, with a smirk spreading across his face as he indulged in a close conversation with the beauty.

But it wasn't long until the property entrepreneur got some quality time with his wife, as he tenderly cupped Lauren's bottom as Cowell looked on.

The star appeared utterly amused by the entire debacle, and grinned away as he stared at the couple.
After the two men enjoyed a brief chat, Lauren and Cowell made their way over to a sun lounger, where they kicked off a rather friendly display.

Check the links for the photos.

Three's a crowd, as they say, although Cowell certainly made the best of it.

#Weiner Spokeswoman Barbara Morgan Apologizes to Olivia Nuzzi

London's Daily Mail with a big write-up, "Weiner spokeswoman apologizes and tries to laugh off vitriolic tirade against former intern she branded a 'sl**bag' and 'fame hungry b****' as she shares photo of her 'swear jar' stuffed with cash."

And at Twitchy, "Ex-Weiner intern: ‘Of course I accept’ Morgan’s apology for calling me a ‘slutbag’."

As to Barbara Morgan's apology, of course I accept it.

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 31, 2013

BONUS: "Slam! ‘Who said it?’ Dana Loesch wallops Weiner, slutbag-spewing aide as only she can."

'Coming Soon' — Sydney Leathers X-Rated Parody of Sexting Affair

As you can tell, I'm having fun with New York's tabloid summer of scandal.

At the New York Post, "COMING SOON: Porn reenactment of Weiner and his sexting pal":

Leathers met with Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment, who offered Weiner's former paramour an opportunity to make an X-rated parody of the sexting affair. When shock jock Howard Stern asked Leathers if she would have sex on camera, the 23-year-old replied, 'We'll see what happens.' Weiner has vowed to move beyond the scandal: 'Quit isn’t the way we roll in New York City.'

Elite Colleges Show Wide Disparities in Low-Income Enrollment

This is what leftists should be protesting.

At the New York Times, "Efforts to Recruit Poor Students Lag at Some Elite Colleges":

With affirmative action under attack and economic mobility feared to be stagnating, top colleges profess a growing commitment to recruiting poor students. But a comparison of low-income enrollment shows wide disparities among the most competitive private colleges. A student at Vassar, for example, is three times as likely to receive a need-based Pell Grant as one at Washington University in St. Louis.

“It’s a question of how serious you are about it,” said Catharine Bond Hill, the president of Vassar. She said of colleges with multibillion-dollar endowments and numerous tax exemptions that recruit few poor students, “Shame on you.”

At Vassar, Amherst College and Emory University, 22 percent of undergraduates in 2010-11 received federal Pell Grants, which go mostly to students whose families earn less than $30,000 a year. The same year, the most recent in the federal Department of Education database, only 7 percent of undergraduates at Washington University were Pell recipients, and 8 percent at Washington and Lee University were, according to research by The New York Times.

Researchers at Georgetown University have found that at the most competitive colleges, only 14 percent of students come from the lower 50 percent of families by income. That figure has not increased over more than two decades, an indication that a generation of pledges to diversify has not amounted to much. Top colleges differ markedly in how aggressively they hunt for qualified teenagers from poorer families, how they assess applicants who need aid, and how they distribute the available aid dollars.

Some institutions argue that they do not have the resources to be as generous as the top colleges, and for most colleges, with meager endowments, that is no doubt true. But among the elites, nearly all of them with large endowments, there is little correlation between a university’s wealth and the number of students who receive Pell Grants, which did not exceed $5,550 per student last year.

Washington University has an endowment similar in size, per student, to those of Emory and Vassar — between $300,000 and $400,000 as of mid-2012, wealthier than all but a few dozen colleges in the country, and Washington and Lee’s endowment is significantly larger, the Times research shows. At Harvard and Yale, with the largest endowments in the country, Pell enrollment was near the 15 percent average for the 50 most competitive colleges; at Princeton, with the largest per-capita endowment, it was lower, 12 percent, though its officials say the rate is higher for the freshman class starting this fall.

John Berg, the vice chancellor for admissions at Washington University, said one reason its numbers are so low is that the disadvantaged students it admits usually have offers from other top colleges with better name recognition.

Bob Strong, a professor of politics at Washington and Lee who oversaw admissions there for two years as interim provost, conceded that his institution historically did a poor job of recruiting low-income students, but said that it has improved and “we’re still working on it.”

And maybe regressive leftists might work on enlarging the pool of highly qualified minority students. But really, I doubt they care about that, because, you know, some "victims of discrimination" might have to work a little bit harder in life.

#Dodgers Beat Yankees With Ninth Inning Walk-Off Single

The Dodgers are pure excitement right now.

At LAT, "Dodgers walk off with another win":

Before Andre Ethier touched home plate, his teammates were leaping out of the dugout. The fans at Dodger Stadium were leaping out of their seats.

October came early to Los Angeles and everyone wearing blue wanted to celebrate.

The latest magical moment in the Dodgers' remarkable midseason run came Tuesday, when Mark Ellis drove in Ethier with a ninth-inning bloop single to deliver a 3-2, walk-off victory over the New York Yankees.

BOX SCORE: Dodgers 3, Yankees 2

"These kind of games, we just feel like we're going to win right now," Manager Don Mattingly said.

The Dodgers have won 27 of their last 33 games. They have claimed five World Series titles in Los Angeles, but had never won as many games in any previous 33-game stretch since their move from Brooklyn in 1958.

The walk-off win the was the second in a row for the Dodgers, who beat the Cincinnati Reds two days earlier on an 11th-inning home run by Yasiel Puig. They increased their lead over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West to 31/2 games.

"We're just finding a way to get a big hit, something we weren't doing earlier in the season," Ellis said.

He neglected to mention steals. Ethier stole one base in the first three months of the season. But with two out in the ninth inning and Ellis at the plate, he stole second base.

That set up Ellis' hit off Shawn Kelley, which floated over the head of leaping shortstop Derek Jeter.

"We're not even blowing teams out, just not making mistakes and never giving up as a team," starting pitcher Zack Greinke said.

More from Bill Plaschke, "Plenty of star power in stands, but real show is on field for Dodgers."

San Bernardino 'Mass Rainbow Wedding' Called Off After Nobody Shows Up

I guess the organizers thought God would part the skies and homosexuals would rain down like manna from heaven.

But not.

At the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, "Mass gay wedding in San Bernardino called off when no one shows":

SAN BERNARDINO -- A month after California began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples once again, gay couples can get married, get divorced and even get cold feet.
A planned mass "Rainbow Wedding" ceremony at a gay community center in San Bernardino ended Saturday with the officiant being stood up at the altar when no one showed up more than an hour after the ceremony was scheduled to be held.

"It's a statement about equality," said P.J. Seleska, who runs Inland Empire Pride's Center on Waterman Avenue. "We had a big celebration" the night the Supreme Court struck down Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act "and kicked around ideas."

The center serves an impoverished region of thecity, and includes a food pantry and other services to help its largely poor clientele.

"It's so expensive to get married out there, are you kidding me?" Seleska said.

Marriage licenses alone cost $88 in San Bernardino County.

"Now I understand why people run out to Vegas," Seleska said.

Right.

It's "so expensive."

Damned freaks.

Moonbattery has more:

As this farcical episode illustrates, homosexual marriage was only an issue because the cultural Marxists who run the government and the media made it into one as a weapon to use against the traditional values that are the foundation of American civilization. The damage having been done to the institutions of marriage and Christianity, homosexuals are already returning to their bath houses. They tend to have hundreds of sex partners in the course of their often disease-shortened lives; blasphemous “marriages” are not likely to replace this lifestyle.

Word.

PREVIOUSLY: "Homosexual 'Marriage' Designed to Destroy the Institution of Marriage."

Manning Verdict Said to Raise Odds of WikiLeaks' Assange Prosecution

At the video communist Amy Goodman interviews Michael Ratner, an attorney for WikiLeaks.

And at the Washington Post, "Manning’s conviction seen as making prosecution of WikiLeaks’ Assange likely":

The conviction of Army private Bradley Manning on espionage charges Tuesday makes it increasingly likely that the United States will prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a co-conspirator, according to his attorney and civil liberties groups.

Judge Denise Lind, an Army colonel, found Manning guilty of several violations of the Espionage Act, and he could face life in prison. Press freedom advocates said the verdict adds to their alarm that the Obama administration’s aggressive pursuit of leakers will discourage whistleblowers from providing critical information on military and intelligence matters.

Army Private Bradley Manning Found Guilty on 20 Counts, Including Several Violations of Espionage Act

Various reports indicate that Manning was convicted on 20 of 22 counts.

The press is spinning this as a victory for the defense, since Manning was not convicted of "aiding the enemy." Of course, to be convicted of espionage is de facto the same thing, but legally he won't be subject to possible life in prison without parole.

At the Los Angles Times "Bradley Manning acquitted of most serious charge, convicted of others." And the Wall Street Journal, "Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy: Guilty of Most Lesser Charges Related to WikiLeaks Documents."

And the Washington Post has a nifty graphic, "Verdict in Bradley Manning case."

Garland County Jail Break Video

The dude got away.



And check the comments at this thread, lol, "UPDATE: Deputies arrest accomplice of escaped inmate, search continues."

Sydney Leathers on Howard Stern Show: #Weiner's 'Too Busy Jackin' Off' to Be Mayor

She's orgiastic about this whole thing.



And see the New York Post, "Weiner sext pal in raunchy tell-all interview: Phone sex '15 times a day wouldn't be enough' for obsessed pol."

Quitting Isn't 'How We Roll'

Oh hey, stay in the race, by all means.

The skeezy "slutbag" lulz are definitely how the Democrats roll.

London's Daily Mail has the original video of Weiner stoically pledging to, er, stick it out. See, "'Quitting isn't how we roll in New York': Tired Weiner insists he will NOT stand aside in new ad as his online mistress revels in humiliating him again in Howard Stern interview."

And here's Erin Burnett:



I'll have more coming up shortly.

Olivia Nuzzi 'Slutbag'

Well, she sure nailed it with that morning tweet.

Nuzzi published a "tell all" piece, it turns out. And boy, Anthony Weiner's ommunications director completely lost it.

Well, today will certainly be interesting. pic.twitter.com/OvwU0bNjDL
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 30, 2013

At Twitchy, "All class: Weiner aide lashes out at ‘slutbag’ former intern."

Here it is at New York Daily News, "Anthony Weiner intern reveals why she, fellows joined New York mayoral campaign" (at Memeorandum).

And Nuzzi had this at NSFWCORP, "Source: Weiner's Campaign Manager Quit Afer Being Lied To (And He's Not The Only Departure)."

TPM broke the story on the communications director, although I prefer not to link those progressive scumbags. They're as disgusting as a bunch of Weiner social-media cock shots.

Americans Once Again Divided by Race

It's the left that's dividing America, from the president on down to the lowest precincts of the despicable Democrat Party base.

From Ronald Brownstein, at National Journal, "Americans Are Once Again Divided by Race":

Like a lightning flash in a stormy sky, the Trayvon Martin case has illuminated the depth of the impasse between white and nonwhite America. But a similar dynamic looms less visibly behind Washington's standoff between a Democratic coalition that relies on overwhelming support from minorities and a Republican coalition still almost entirely dependent on the votes of whites, especially older ones.

Both developments tell the same challenging story: Even as America experiences its most profound demographic change in more than a century, our society is increasingly fracturing along overlapping racial, generational, and partisan lines. The diversity remaking America could be a source of rejuvenation and innovation, but today it is reinforcing our ferocious partisan polarization. The Martin case and the Washington stalemate both capture the escalating collision of perspectives and priorities between a growing, mostly younger minority community and our aging white population—what I've called the brown and the gray.

Yes, and the left owns that polarization, lock, stock and depraved smoking barrel.

Continue reading.

Barack Hussein Claims Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnamese Communist Revolutionary, Inspired by Founding Fathers

The background's at Fox News, "Uh Ho: Obama Says Vietnamese Dictator Inspired by Founding Fathers," and Wizbang, "Obama Claims Vietnamese Communist Ho Chi Minh was “Inspired by the Words of Thomas Jefferson”."

And here's the takedown, at IBD, "Linking Jefferson to Ho Chi Minh a New Low For Obama":

Few comparisons have been as odious as the one offered by the president linking one of the great mass murderers of history to one of America's Founding Fathers and authors of our liberty.

Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were mortal and inhumane enemies who joined civilization after their hideous barbarism was defeated.

They renounced their former brutality, acknowledged their guilt and shame, and became our strongest allies as they genuinely embraced liberty and democracy. They did not forget their past. They repudiated it.

Vietnam has never repudiated its past while celebrating a faux victory over an American enemy that was never defeated on the battlefield but only in the halls of a Congress that abandoned an ally and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

President Obama met with his Vietnamese counterpart, President Truong Tan Sang, last Thursday in the same Oval office where LBJ picked bombing targets in a war he micromanaged into futility. The 44th president conveniently forgot Vietnamese history and slandered ours by linking a founder of our democracy, Thomas Jefferson, to the mass murderer Ho Chi Minh.

Sang had brought Obama a copy of a letter sent to President Truman from Ho in which the communist dictator spoke hopefully of cooperation with America.

Obama, stopping short of yet another apology, mused about what might have been, and noted "we discussed the fact that Ho Chi Minh was actually inspired by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of Thomas Jefferson."

That's technically true and historically accurate. Ho Chi Minh did frame the earliest portions of the 1945 Vietnam Declaration of Independence on the actual Declaration of Independence written by Jefferson in 1776. But while the future third president spoke of inalienable rights granted by his and our Creator, he meant it. Ho Chi Minh was only serious about the glory of the state.

Come to think of it, Obama is too, often leaving the word "Creator" out of any mention of our inalienable rights as mentioned in the declaration while he routinely ignores the Constitution and its restriction on his and federal powers.

To be charitable, one could claim Obama was just trying to humor a guest, as Trent Lott once did to Strom Thurmond.

But was it necessary to praise a man who killed approximately half a million people in an effort to consolidate his power, or to suggest ideological similarities between the architect of mass carnage and an author of liberty?

In consolidating his dictatorial power in North Vietnam, Ho went after landowners, intellectuals, school teachers, businessmen, civic leaders, anyone who might pose future opposition to his thuggish rule. Those who would not publicly confess their crimes against the state and the people were often brutally executed.

By early November 1956, when residents of An Giang province, which included Ho's birthplace village of Nam Dan, refused to pay what they considered oppressive taxes, Ho sent troops to collect, then sent in an army division, shooting. About 6,000 unarmed villagers were killed in a massacre obscured by the Soviet Union's suppression of Hungary.

After Ho's death in 1969, his successors did not miss a beat. Congressional Democrats and their allies in the media, such as the venerable Walter Cronkite, who had already proclaimed the war lost, helped ensure South Vietnam's defeat and ushered in an era of mass carnage, boat people and re-education camps that resulted in more death after the war than during it.

After Saigon's "liberation," the summary executions of tens of thousands of South Vietnamese began. Hundreds of thousands more were forced into re-education camps as 1 million boat people fled on anything that would float, with countless thousands perishing in the South China Sea. And let us not forget the killing fields of Cambodia, where 3 million were slaughtered.

This is the legacy of the man Obama said was inspired by Thomas Jefferson.

And really, is that so hard to understand? Is it that hard to understand that it serves American foreign policy no good purpose to stroke the vanity of Vietnamese Communists?

But leftists don't care about that. My money says Obama would liquidate at least 500,000 if it would help him keep power, but we can thank the Founders that he won't have the chance.

See idiot leftist ghoul Steve M. for the epic, morally bankrupt defense of Barack Hussein, the wannabe Communist dictator, "OBJECTIVE-FACT-ABOUT-LONG-DECEASED-ENEMY-GATE!!!"

Steve M.'s an asshole and a coward.

Oh, and did I mention loser? He's a asshole, loser and a coward.

PREVIOUSLY: "No Enemies on the Left? Progressives for Barack Obama." None.

Pope Francis' Statement on Homosexuality

He's a caring, loving pope.

Although his comments have set off a frenzied doctrinal search for answers, clarity, and stability.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Pope Signals Openness to Gay Priests: Pontiff's Comments Suggest Greater Acceptance of Homosexuality Among Clerics":

ROME — When Pope Francis said he wouldn't judge gay priests, he opened the door to a new era of reconciliation within the Roman Catholic Church, which has struggled for decades to confront the presence of homosexuality in its ministry.

The pontiff was traveling aboard a turbulent overnight flight to Rome from his first overseas trip—a journey marked by his plain-spoken appeals to Catholics to reground the church in grass-roots ministry—when he broached the delicate issue of how the Catholic hierarchy should respond to clerics who are gay, though not sexually active. In doing so, he departed from the posture that has long shaped papal thinking on gay priests.

"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff told a news conference in response to a question. "You can't marginalize these people."

Pope Francis reaffirmed church teaching by referring to homosexual acts as a sin. But he wielded his formidable bully pulpit to shift the tone of how the church regards homosexual orientation at its highest ranks.

The pope returned to the Vatican from a weeklong visit to Brazil, where he was given a rock-star reception as an estimated three million people flocked to a Sunday Mass on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.

Analysts said that show of support is likely to strengthen his hand as he confronts myriad challenges, including alleged corruption at the Vatican bank and the sexual-abuse crisis.

The pontiff said women couldn't be ordained as priests, because the issue had been definitively settled by Pope John Paul II. However, he said he wanted to develop a "theology of the woman," in order to expand and deepen their involvement in the life of the church.

Continue reading.

I know some Catholics are in denial over this, but it is what it is. See Kathryn Jean Lopez, for example, "What the Pope Did and Didn’t Say on the Plane."

#Angels Pay Heavy Price for Pujols Gamble

I wrote about this at the time, hoping for the best, hoping to avoid an albatross.

There's always next year, but if you're an Angels fan, it seems like such a waste.

At the New York Times:

Arte Moreno basked in the spotlight of his own making at Angel Stadium in December 2011. Moreno, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels, was there to announce the signing of Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240 million contract. Moreno explained that he was motivated partly by a desire to keep up with the Yankees, who had beaten the Angels in the 2009 playoffs.

“We could play Boston, then the Yankees, and we weren’t prepared to play with them,” Moreno said that day. “You look at what you can develop in the organization, what can you do in the market, what are the Band-Aids you can apply. We just didn’t feel like we had the depth to compete at the level we wanted to compete at.”

By trying to imitate the Yankees, Moreno’s team has become them: worse, actually.

The Yankees, of course, are feverishly hoping to escape the remaining four-plus years on their bloated 10-year, $275 million contract with Alex Rodriguez. One way out would be a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball for Rodriguez’s involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, but that seems unlikely.

In any case, for all of Rodriguez’s baggage, he did lead the Yankees to a championship in 2009, the second year of his contract. For the Angels, the second year of the Pujols deal has become another washout.

While the creaky Yankees remain in the pennant race, gamely grabbing Alfonso Soriano and others to stay in it, the Angels effectively dropped out on Monday. They traded their most effective reliever, the left-hander Scott Downs, to the Atlanta Braves for the minor league reliever Cory Rasmus.

It was not a major move, but the timing was a clear acknowledgment of the Angels’ plight: the deal came two days before the non-waiver deadline, and one day after the news that Pujols was likely to miss the rest of the season with a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot.

“I saw him earlier this season, and it hurt me to watch him run,” said one major league scout, who was granted anonymity so he could candidly discuss another team’s player. “It reminded me of when Mark McGwire had that problem, although he was in his late 20s. It might take Pujols a little bit longer.”

More at that top link.

But like I said earlier, I'm shifting this season's loyalties to the Dodger. They have a shot at the championship.

Cassadee Pope at the Grand Ole Opry

She's a sweeetie.



And a skater chick.

See, "Cassadee Pope to Make Her Grand Ole Opry Debut."

No Fatalities at Florida Blue Rhino Gas Plant Explosion

At LAT, "Florida gas plant explosion: No fatalities after massive blasts."



And see London's Daily Mail, "Huge blast rocks Florida gas plant as workers escape ALIVE: Two critical and residents evacuated after explosion heard 10 miles away."

#Weiner Sexting Partner Sydney Leathers Boasts of Milking 'Sugar Daddies' for Thousands

She's a skanky betty.

At London's Daily Mail, "WEINER EXCLUSIVE: Weiner's sexting partner offered sex for cash and bragged about milking sugar daddies she called 'super-pathetic' for thousands of dollars."

Very swanky.

Monica was hot by comparison. Seriously? http://t.co/J9iWkbXepF Really, seriously?

— ConservativeLA (@ConservativeLA) July 30, 2013

'Weiner Should Drop Out...'

At Quinnipiac, "July 29, 2013 - Weiner Should Drop Out, NYC Likely Dem Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Quinn Leads, With De Blasio, Thompson Tied For Second."

Weiner's got 16 percent support. He's gone softer than an ice cream cone at the state fair in July --- and that's saying it nicely.

Via Memeorandum.

Also at the Weekly Standard, "Weiner Drops to Fourth."

Drops. Sags. Wilts. Goes flaccid.

I don't know. It gets old fast.

Michelle Williams for Louis Vuitton

If you don't already, you'll have a thing for Michelle Williams after watching "My Week With Marilyn."

And here's the latest on the lovely lady, at London's Daily Mail, "From girl-next-door to smouldering Louis Vuitton model: Behind the scenes of Michelle Williams' first fashion campaign."

Smokin' Dana Loesch Destroys Democratic Strategist Christy Setzer on #Hannity

At Dana's blog, "From Hannity Tonight":

If the crux of your argument that congress is “childish” for doing its job of providing checks and balances to a runaway Democrat train of spending, you’re doing it wrong.

Skeezy Democrat skank, this Setzer lady:



Also at the Blaze, "DANA LOESCH RIPS REPUBLICANS NOT SUPPORTING DEFUND OBAMACARE EFFORT: ‘THEY’RE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED’."