Obama Delivers Populist, Campaign-Style Speech on Labor Day, Launching Drive to Hold Senate

Well, campaigning's the only thing he knows how to do, and the November results will show that he's not even very good at that anymore.

At LAT, "Obama tries to rekindle hope in Labor Day speech."

Labor Day Rule 5

Happy Labor Day!

Here's Wombat-socho's Rule 5 roundup from yesterday, at the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Labor Day Weekend Lovelies."

At Althouse, "'Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on the computer'..."

And Blackmailers Don't Shoot, "You Won’t Find Nude Pictures of Jennifer Lawrence Here."

More at the Nug, "Jessica Kylie aka Miss Rabbit!"

Also, at 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Hot Pick of the Late Night."

And see Proof Positive, "Friday Night Babe: Viviana Greco."

At Doubletroubletwo, "Boobies ... Enjoy ;-)."

Crazy Uncle Bubba has "A Hot Placeholder."

At Drunken Stepfather, "Hacked-tackular."

Odie has "Playing Poker ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

Knuckledraggin', "CAMEL TOE!!!"

At Instapundit, "YOUR DAILY MEMO from the Thought Police. Also the Junior Anti-Sex League."

At Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is an evil plastic water bottle and several evil beer bottles causing seas to rise and temperatures to scorch, you might just be a Warmist (HUGE BREASTS!)"

In a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has the "Friday Pinup."

More at Daley Gator, "DALEYGATOR DALEYBABE TARA BOOHER."

And Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: The Яussians are coming, the Яussians are coming!"

Still more from Wine, Women and Politics, "Babe of the day."

Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart...Kaley Cuoco."

At Soylent, "Your Morning Coffee Creamer."

And at EBL, "Burning Man 2014 Rule 5."

VIDEO: Bill Whittle at Defending the American Dream Summit — #Dream14

The one and only Bill Whittle, at AFP's Dream Summit this weekend:

Legacy Media: The Lost Decade In Six Charts

Interesting.

At the Monday Note, "Ten years. That’s how far away in the past the Google IPO lies. Ten years of explosive growth for the digital world, ten gruesome years for legacy media. Here is the lost decade, revisited in charts and numbers."

Oh, That's Mary Winstead!

I'm trying to remember who this lady is, so I check Wikipedia, and it turns out that Mary Elizabeth Winstead is "Gwen," the dreamy little welcome girl in the 2005 Disney movie "Sky High." I've watched it many times with my kid. She ends up being a bad lady after all, a nemesis to "Will," the shy little goofball who inherits his parents' superhuman powers.

I embedded Ms. Winstead at the post last night, although I didn't make the connection.

Also at Twitchy, "Mary Elizabeth Winstead ‘can only imagine the creepy effort’ that went into nude photo leak."

Evolution of Propaganda: How #ISIS Uses Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, SoundCloud, and More

When I read articles like this, it's like you're supposed to be surprised that terrorists use modern social media to get their message out. It's 2014 for crying out loud. What else would these murderers be using?

At the New York Times, "ISIS Displaying a Deft Command of Varied Media."

New College Board Guidelines Forcing High Schools to 'Teach U.S. History From a Leftist Perspective...'

From Stanley Kurtz, at National Review, "How the College Board Politicized U.S. History":

The College Board, the private company that produces the SAT test and the various Advanced Placement (AP) exams, has kicked off a national controversy by issuing a new and unprecedentedly detailed “Framework” for its AP U.S. History exam. This Framework will effectively force American high schools to teach U.S. history from a leftist perspective. The College Board disclaims political intent, insisting that the new Framework provides a “balanced” guide that merely helps to streamline the AP U.S. History course while enhancing teacher flexibility. Not only the Framework itself, but the history of its development suggests that a balanced presentation of the American story was not the College Board’s goal.

The origins of the new AP U.S. History framework are closely tied to a movement of left-leaning historians that aims to “internationalize” the teaching of American history. The goal is to “end American history as we have known it” by substituting a more “transnational” narrative for the traditional account.

This movement’s goals are clearly political, and include the promotion of an American foreign policy that eschews the unilateral use of force. The movement to “internationalize” the U.S. History curriculum also seeks to produce a generation of Americans more amendable to working through the United Nations and various left-leaning “non-governmental organizations” (NGOs) on issues like the environment and nuclear proliferation. A willingness to use foreign law to interpret the U.S. Constitution is likewise encouraged.

The College Board formed a close alliance with this movement to internationalize the teaching of American history just prior to initiating its redesign of the AP U.S. History exam. Key figures in that alliance are now in charge of the AP U.S. History redesign process, including the committee charged with writing the new AP U.S. History exam. The new AP U.S. History Framework clearly shows the imprint of the movement to de-nationalize American history. Before I trace the rise of this movement and its ties to the College Board, let’s have a closer look at its goals...

Well, you can see where this is going, but keep reading.

HAT TIP: Instapundit.

Jesus, Self-Defense, and Teaching Your Kids to Use Deadly Force

An interesting piece, from Doug Giles, at Clash Daily.

Cloud Storage Hacked in Jennifer Lawrence Nude Photo Leak

Following-up from yesterday, "Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton Nude Photos Leaked Online."

Here's CNET's Dan Ackerman, from CBS "This Morning":

'Wage Theft' Claims: The Latest Left-Wing Scam to Bilk Employers — Happy Labor Day!

You'd think that overtime laws were just invented yesterday. In fact we've had overtime laws since the New Deal of the 1930s, and no doubt employees have long made claims against bosses for unfair pay practices.

But all of a sudden we're now hearing about the scourge of "wage theft," as if employers just discovered that they can "steal" workers' overtime earnings to bulk up profits, or something.

At the New York Times, "More Workers Are Claiming ‘Wage Theft’":

MIRA LOMA, Calif. — Week after week, Guadalupe Rangel worked seven days straight, sometimes 11 hours a day, unloading dining room sets, trampolines, television stands and other imports from Asia that would soon be shipped to Walmart stores.

Even though he often clocked 70 hours a week at the Schneider warehouse here, he was never paid time-and-a-half overtime, he said. And now, having joined a lawsuit involving hundreds of warehouse workers, Mr. Rangel stands to receive more than $20,000 in back pay as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with Schneider, a national trucking company.

“Sometimes I’d work 60, even 90 days in a row,” said Mr. Rangel, a soft-spoken immigrant from Mexico. “They never paid overtime.”

The lawsuit is part of a flood of recent cases — brought in California and across the nation — that accuse employers of violating minimum wage and overtime laws, erasing work hours and wrongfully taking employees’ tips. Worker advocates call these practices “wage theft,” insisting it has become far too prevalent.

Some federal and state officials agree. They assert that more companies are violating wage laws than ever before, pointing to the record number of enforcement actions they have pursued. They complain that more employers — perhaps motivated by fierce competition or a desire for higher profits — are flouting wage laws.

Many business groups counter that government officials have drummed up a flurry of wage enforcement actions, largely to score points with union allies. If anything, employers have become more scrupulous in complying with wage laws, the groups say, in response to the much publicized lawsuits about so-called off-the-clock work that were filed against Walmart and other large companies a decade ago.

Here in California, a federal appeals court ruled last week that FedEx had in effect committed wage theft by insisting that its drivers were independent contractors rather than employees. FedEx orders many drivers to work 10 hours a day, but does not pay them overtime, which is required only for employees. FedEx said it planned to appeal.

Julie Su, the state labor commissioner, recently ordered a janitorial company in Fremont to pay $332,675 in back pay and penalties to 41 workers who cleaned 17 supermarkets. She found that the company forced employees to sign blank time sheets, which it then used to record inaccurate, minimal hours of work....

Here's the bottom line:

Business groups note that the lawsuits against McDonald’s have been coordinated with the fast-food workers’ movement demanding a $15 wage. “This is a classic special-interest campaign by labor unions,” said Stephen J. Caldeira, president of the International Franchise Association. In legal papers, McDonald’s denied any liability in Ms. Salazar’s case, and the Oakland franchisee insisted that Ms. Salazar had failed to establish illegal actions by the restaurant.

Lee Schreter, co-chairwoman of the wage and hour practice group at Littler Mendelson, a law firm that represents employers, said wage theft was not increasing, adding that many companies had become more vigilant about compliance. But that has not stopped lawyers from bringing wage theft complaints because of the potential payoff, Ms. Schreter said. “These are opportunistic lawsuits,” she said...

Yep, totally opportunistic leftist labor scam

More.

75th Anniversary of Start of World War Two

Nazi Germany invaded Poland 75 years ago today.

At the Tampa Bay Times, "75 years ago today: the start of World War II:

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Germany's invasion of Poland, thus beginning the start of World War II. By the end of the war in 1945, more than 50 million, and by some count millions more, soldiers and civilians had died. The atrocities of the Holocaust stand sorely at the center of the tragedy of the war.

Also at Time, "World War II Erupts: Haunting Color Photos from 1939 Poland."

Also, at Deutsche Welle, and interview with British historian Anthony Beevor, "'Moral choice explains fascination with WWII'."

Caroline Wozniacki Ousts Maria Sharapova at U.S. Open

At the New York Times, "Upsets Persist at U.S. Open as Caroline Wozniacki Ousts Maria Sharapova."

I think this describes it! @usopen pic.twitter.com/3tjWbJ2ztu

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) August 31, 2014

Belgian Women Pour Fake Blood in Airport to Protest #Israel Arms Transport

Well, at least it was fake blood.

Sheesh.

At the Times of Israel.

Belgian women pour fake blood in airport to protest Israel arms transport http://t.co/dv9VkmUALv

— TOI Jewish Times (@TOIJewishTimes) September 1, 2014

Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton Nude Photos Leaked Online

Actually, a bunch of celebrities had their nude photos leaked.

At Variety, "Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Ariana Grande Among Celebrities Exposed in Massive Nude Photo Leak."

And at BuzzFeed, "Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande, Kate Upton, More Celebs Have Alleged Nude Photos Leak In Massive Hack."

Actress Mary Winstead, whose photos were also leaked, is not pleased:

To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves.

— Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014

#Angels Sweep #Athletics to Take 5-Game Lead in AL West

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels complete four-game sweep of A's with 8-1 victory."

It feels great if you're an Angels fan, but man, this has been an astonishing collapse for the Athletics.

Sounds like team meeting going on right now in #Athletics clubhouse.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

This is a pretty long closed-door meeting.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Melvin says team should be embarrassed. He feels bad for fans. #Athletics

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Melvin held meeting to impart that to team. Cuts session with reporters short after blasting team's performance past three games.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Kazmir says #Athletics disappointed in selves. "This is not who we are."

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Donaldson: "Something had to be said. ..this is a wakeup call. This is the time of year to be playing our best and we're playing our worst."

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Kazmir questions Gerry Davis' professionalism with strike zone today, says he was hitting his spots every time with nothing to show for it.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Kazmir says Davis made "cry baby face" at #Athletics dugout last night, A's lodged complaint and Davis was reprimanded.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Norris says #Athletics cant piss away season after getting such good opportunity. "We have to figure it out."

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

#Athletics Drumbeat: Melvin airs team out; more on Kazmir/strike zone/Gerry Davis weirdness: http://t.co/7Hx4XOScB2

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 31, 2014

Bob Melvin: "That was embarrassing. The last 3 days the worst I've seen. #Athletics

— John Hickey (@JHickey3) August 31, 2014

#Athletics Derek Norris: "We've got to figure it out. Frustration, anger, disappointment, embarrassment all added up today."

— John Hickey (@JHickey3) August 31, 2014

#Athletics Brandon Moss on mgr Bob Melvin's closed-door meeting: "he's as tired of watching it as were are of doing it."

— John Hickey (@JHickey3) August 31, 2014

NBC's Richard Engel: Military Commanders, Former Officials 'Apoplectic' Over Obama's National Security Failures

Engel has been hitting the White House hard, but this report just rips the administration. And the Ryan Crocker interview at the segment helps bring down the hammer:

Asian-Bashing #Dems and Doormat Minorities Who Enable Them

ICYMI, from Michelle Malkin, a great piece.

Professor Charli Carpenter Boycotts #APSA for Placing an 'Undue Burden' on Her 'Gender-Conscious' Work-Life Balance

Boy, this might as well be a parody of the life of a far-left politically correct academic, except that it's not a parody. Behold this "brave" statement of "gender consciousness" from Professor Charli Carpenter, at the hate-site Lawyers, Guns and Money, "Why I Am Not at APSA This Labor Day":

I’m boycotting my professional organization for scheduling a conference so as to inhibit work-life-balance and pose an undue burden on parents in the profession, especially mothers. I’m boycotting APSA because they have done this year by year over the protest of their members. What began as an irreconcilable personal conflict for a parent of grade schoolers and partner to a dual-career spouse – what began, that is, as a simple work-life balance choice – has turned over the years into a political statement that I’ll continue to make until APSA’s policy changes.

I’m not saying APSA is an inherently family-unfriendly organization....

So starting when my daughter was 8, my husband and I decided to try a new system: alternating APSAs. Each year, one or the other of us would go from now on, and one would stay. This idea made sense in theory, but in practice it put strain on our family’s carefully cultivated and gender-conscious balance between work and family life, as we each navigated life on the two-body tenure track striving for equity both in child-rearing and career opportunities...

Oh brother. The drama is excruciating.

Wouldn't want to upset that "carefully cultivated and gender-conscious balance between work and family life." No siree!

Besides, child-rearing equity is important!

A little late for National Offend a Feminist Week, but Charli's "work-life balance" rants are precious, heh.

IMAGE CREDIT: Serr8d's Cutting Edge.

Professor Daniel Drezner Speaks at Another Controversial Conference Panel — #APSA2014

Dan Drezner is Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Folks will recall that Drezner's blog was one of the first I used to read on a regular basis, over a decade ago. He quit the blog recently when Foreign Policy moved to a weekly column format for its online writers, and now Drezner's set up shop at the Washington Post as a contributor.

But Drezner's also known for his questionable ethics and intelligence when it comes to conference participation. Earlier this year he appeared on a panel with Holocaust denier William Lind, who has been described by Michael Goldfarb as a "paleoconservative Jew-baiter extraordinaire."

@mattduss @dandrezner try taking your lumps like a man and apologizing for elevating a holocaust denier—you did that, not anybody else.
— Michael Goldfarb (@thegoldfarb) July 3, 2014

Here's the report on the controversial event from Alana Goodman, "Antiwar Conference Featured Panelist Who Spoke at Holocaust Denial Conference."

So, with that kind of disgusting conference participation, one might expect Professor Drezner to be more choosy in aligning himself with enemies of Israel. (One might be even more likely to think so, as Drezner is himself Jewish.)

But no. It turns out Drezner spoke this weekend at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, at a panel called "Navigating a Career in International Relations." Well, "navigating" an IR career these days apparently means getting on the good side of the most vile anti-Israel academics in the field, Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, authors of the widely condemned book, The Israel Lobby.

At the APSA website, here's the panelist lineup for "Navigating a Career in International Relations":

Date: Saturday, Aug 30, 2014, 4:30 PM-6:00 PM

Location: Only those registered for the meeting can see room assignments. If you have registered, login to see rooms. Subject to change. Check the Final Program at the conference.

Co-sponsored by 18 International Security-33

Chair(s):

Leslie Vinjamuri
University of London, SOAS

Participant(s):

Helen V. Milner
Princeton University
Helen V. Milner
Princeton University
John J. Mearsheimer
University of Chicago
Daniel W. Drezner
Tufts University
Stephen M. Walt
Harvard University
Colin H. Kahl
Georgetown University
Jennifer M. Lind
Dartmouth College

Drezner, of course, is well-versed in the controversies surrounding Walt and Mearsheimer's The Israel Lobby. Indeed, back in 2005, he offered a robust defense of the embattled authors, going so far to argue that "Walt and Mearsheimer should not be criticized as anti-Semites, because that's patently false."

Really? "Patently false."

Well, the widely respected Anti-Defamation League, which describes itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", would beg to differ. Here's this ADL response to Walt and Mearsheimer at the website, from 2006, "A Review of Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" -- An Anti-Jewish Screed in Scholarly Guise."

And then there's the authoritative response from political scientist Eliot Cohen, who is the Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, at the Washington Post, in 2006, "Yes, It's Anti-Semitic."

I could go on listing eminent, reputable voices who have slammed The Israel Lobby for precisely what it is: hatred and bigotry.

But hey, nowadays hate and bigotry are apparently resume enhancers in the political science discipline.

In 2011, Professor Walt spoke at the far-left Code Pink's Move Over AIPAC! Summit, where attendees bestowed honors on the late White House correspondent Helen Thomas, whose later years where mired in controversy over vile comments she made, caught on tape, attacking Israel and suggesting that the Jews should "move back to Europe." Professor Mearsheimer, as well, has done little to clear his name of anti-Semitic aspersions, going so far as writing a book-jacket blurb for vicious Israel-basher Gilad Atzmon, who the ADL describes as:

... an outspoken and prolific promoter of classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control over American foreign policy, and has written that Jews have a plan for world domination. He has trafficked in anti-Semitic canards such as the notion that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus.

And here's Jeffrey Goldberg's dramatic headline on Mearsheimer, at the Atlantic, "John Mearsheimer Endorses a Hitler Apologist and Holocaust Revisionist." And see Commentary, "Mearsheimer’s Anti-Semitism Scandal." [Added: Don't miss Alan Dershowitz as well, at the New Republic, "Why are John Mearsheimer and Richard Falk Endorsing a Blatantly Anti-Semitic Book?"]

Drezner is no doubt aware of all the latest controversies surrounding Walt and Mearsheimer, although he obviously remains untroubled and unconcerned with his own reputation. It'd be one thing if Drezner had appeared on a panel to debate Walt and Mearsheimer on some topical issue in international politics (Obama's bumbling foreign policy; Israel's third Gaza war). But Drezner's appeared at a professional development panel, and thus gave a disciplinary imprimatur to the views of Walt and Mearsheimer.

I called him out on Twitter yesterday:

.@DanDrezner Well, hope you were spared the anti-Semitic tropes and slurs of Walt and Mearsheimer. Not spared: your honor. #TheIsraelLobby
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 31, 2014

In all, a sad statement on the state of the field: Israel-hatred as a career-booster in political science.

Revolt Against the Brassieres

At Barnorama, "Join The Fight Against Bras, Today!"

Plus, elsewhere it's Rule 5 Sunday, at Pirate's Cove, for example, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is CO2 infused beer killing the climate, you might just be a Warmist."

And at 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

Also, from last Sunday at the Other McCain, "Rule 5 Sunday: Peaches En Regalia."

BONUS FLASHBACK: "#NOAFW – Exclusive: Feminists Attempt to Brainwash Kate Upton."

Check back here for more regular babe blogging updates.