Eric Holder: A Legacy of Race-Based Radicalism

From Matthew Vadum, at FrontPage Magazine:

The most racist, polarizing Atty Gen. is gone. His replacement will be no better because that's the way Barack wants it. And Sharpton.

— David Horowitz (@horowitz39) September 26, 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder is at long last relinquishing his cabinet post after nearly six unprecedented, catastrophic years of racial demagoguery and gangsterism.

Holder, who announced yesterday that he will leave office when a replacement is selected, will leave behind what is probably the most ugly and toxic legacy of any attorney general ever in the history of the republic.

Although he has all the moral authority of disbarred Duke Lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong, Holder knows he is immune to criticism because he is black and a radical leftist. He is a protected, pampered member of the ruling class and his arrogance knows no bounds. He ignores court orders and gives congressional overseers the finger.

Holder has transformed the U.S. Department of Justice into a racial grievance incubator, an intensive care unit for kooky, authoritarian ideas that should have died after the 1960s. The DoJ, especially its rotten, totally corrupt Civil Rights Division, is a lawyerly commune for revolutionaries who oppose the very idea of the rule of law. Critical Legal Theory and Critical Race Theory govern much of what goes on in the department.

It is no exaggeration to say that Holder leaves death and destruction behind after saturation-bombing the Constitution, orchestrating criminal activity in order to whip up public support for policy changes, fomenting racial tension and violence, persecuting political opponents and disfavored industries, obstructing justice, and enforcing laws arbitrarily and capriciously and in a manner calculated to benefit his friends and allies.

More.

Mini Cooper S Is a Nifty 'Personality' Car

I can see my son driving a Mini Cooper.

Reviewed by Dan Neil, at the Wall Street Journal:

THE PERSON WHO DRIVES this car is fun at parties, hot in the boudoirs, dangerous with firearms. No, not the chandelier!

You want one of these people at your weekend corporate retreat. But only one, I think.

Mini owners, right? It's a thing. And like the hilarious office mate you can't turn off, a fully optioned Mini Cooper S can be just a tick more fun than is strictly bearable on a day-to-day basis. Maybe you're not in a day-glo checkerboard mood, you know?

"That's your problem, Debbie Downer," this car says, shaking its maracas at me. "Turn that frown upside down!"

Fine.

Redesigned and re-engineered for the 2014 model year, the Mini Cooper S Hardtop (three-door compact) pretty much owns cuteness in the comparative set of midprice personality/performance. Let's meet our bachelors: VW Golf GTI, Ford Focus ST, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ, Ford Mustang. These cars' transaction points hover around $30,000 and they are all powered by turbo'ed, free-spooling four-bangers (excepting the Subaru/Toyota twins, which are naturally aspirated). Some are front-wheel drive, some rear drive, with two doors or four, but they all sell handling finesse more than blazing horsepower, styling charisma more than raw sex appeal...

And at Mini, "INTRODUCING THE NEW MINI. NOW WITH 5 DOORS."

The 'Bro Hug' Has Become the Default Greeting, Especially Among the Morally Decrepit, Faux-Hip Democrat-Left

I'm not so much into the "bro hug." And I'm especially not into it if I'm going to be bro-hugging some skanky unwashed Democrat-leftists.

At NYT:

Circa Now: The Bro Hug: Embracing a Change in Custom http://t.co/T23hevRFzY

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 27, 2014

F/A-18 Hornets and EA-6B Prowlers in Action Off the Aircraft Carrier USS George H.W. Bush

From the U.S. Navy on YouTube:

ARABIAN GULF (Sept. 26, 2014) F/A-18 Hornets and EA-6B Prowlers return to and launch from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in support of strike, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq. These missions help increase U.S. capacity to target ISIL, and coordinate the activities of the U.S. military across Iraq and into Syria.

Emily Ratajkowski on the Red Carpet for New York Premiere of 'Gone Girl'

She's fabulous.

At London's Daily Mail, "She's red hot! Emily Ratajkowski sizzles in slinky off-the-shoulder crimson gown at Gone Girl premiere."

The beautiful @emrata looks stunning on the #GoneGirl red carpet at #NYFF. pic.twitter.com/r6cWo1aAHp

— Gone Girl (@GoneGirlMovie) September 26, 2014

What Was I Saying About the 'Khorasan Group'?

You have to stay a couple of steps before the Obama administration hacks, because it's all bullshit all the time.

I called out the White House disinformation on this fake "Khorasan group" a couple of days back, "Why is al-Nusra Front Being Relabeled as 'Khorasan'?"

And now here comes Andrew McCarthy, at National Review, "The Khorosan Group Does Not Exist" (via Memeorandum):

There is a reason that no one had heard of such a group until a nanosecond ago, when the “Khorosan Group” suddenly went from anonymity to the “imminent threat” that became the rationale for an emergency air war there was supposedly no time to ask Congress to authorize.

You haven’t heard of the Khorosan Group because there isn’t one. It is a name the administration came up with, calculating that Khorosan — the –Iranian–​Afghan border region — had sufficient connection to jihadist lore that no one would call the president on it.

The “Khorosan Group” is al-Qaeda. It is simply a faction within the global terror network’s Syrian franchise, “Jabhat al-Nusra.” Its leader, Mushin al-Fadhli (believed to have been killed in this week’s U.S.-led air strikes), was an intimate of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the emir of al-Qaeda who dispatched him to the jihad in Syria. Except that if you listen to administration officials long enough, you come away thinking that Zawahiri is not really al-Qaeda, either. Instead, he’s something the administration is at pains to call “core al-Qaeda.”

“Core al-Qaeda,” you are to understand, is different from “Jabhat al-Nusra,” which in turn is distinct from “al-Qaeda in Iraq” (formerly “al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia,” now the “Islamic State” al-Qaeda spin-off that is, itself, formerly “al-Qaeda in Iraq and al-Sham” or “al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant”). That al-Qaeda, don’t you know, is a different outfit from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . . . which, of course, should never be mistaken for “al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” “Boko Haram,” “Ansar al-Sharia,” or the latest entry, “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.”

Coming soon, “al-Qaeda on Hollywood and Vine.” In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if, come 2015, Obama issued an executive order decreeing twelve new jihad jayvees stretching from al-Qaeda in January through al-Qaeda in December.

Except you’ll hear only about the jayvees, not the jihad. You see, there is a purpose behind this dizzying proliferation of names assigned to what, in reality, is a global network with multiple tentacles and occasional internecine rivalries.

As these columns have long contended, Obama has not quelled our enemies; he has miniaturized them. The jihad and the sharia supremacism that fuels it form the glue that unites the parts into a whole — a worldwide, ideologically connected movement rooted in Islamic scripture that can project power on the scale of a nation-state and that seeks to conquer the West. The president does not want us to see the threat this way.

Mind-boggling lies and disinformation, but again, it pays to stay ahead of these f-kers. It's all politics. It's never about keeping people safe. And for that I can never forgive the Democrats. They're not Americans. They're anti-Americans.

The Jihad Origins of the Oklahoma Beheader’s Hamas-Mosque

What? The beheader attended a mosque? No way!

And the jihad origins of the Oklahoma beheading? Impossible!

You're racist if you jump to conclusions! And if you're Pamela Geller, you're the most racist of them all times infinity!!

At Atlas Shrugs, "EXCLUSIVE: The Jihad Origins of the Oklahoma Beheader’s Hamas-Mosque."

More at Big Peace, "Oklahoma Beheader Linked to Al Qaeda Leader Awlaki, Boston Bomber's Mosque." (Via Memeorandum.)

U.S. Expands International Coalition Against #ISIS

A report at CBS News:



And also at the Los Angeles Times, "Britain, Belgium and Denmark join coalition fighting Islamic State."

Glenn Reynolds Interviews Joel Kotkin, Author of The New Class Conflict

I've got a lot of books stacked up, but no doubt I'll be getting to Kotkin's soon.

Buy it at Amazon, The New Class Conflict.

And watch this great interview, via Instapundit:

Lily Aldridge, Karlie Kloss, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio

They love to shop, heh.



And the fashion show airs December 9th. Tune in at American Power for all your Victoria's Secret coverage!

The #VSFashionShow will air on December 9th on CBS. GET EXCITED NOW. pic.twitter.com/vxzWOlTGXY

— Victoria's Secret (@VictoriasSecret) September 17, 2014

#OKBeheading Suspect Screamed 'Islamic Phrases' During Attack, Posted #ISIS Hand-Sign Photos to Facebook, But Repsac3 Smears 'Right Wingers' for 'Bigotry'

Following-up from yesterday, "Wait for It! Repsac3 on #OKBeheading: Attacking Islam Just Because the Suspect Tried to Convert Coworkers is Racist!!"

No surprise, but Walter James Casper III is doubling-down on his ideological hatred:

Bigotry is starting with the premise that "Muslims are evil," and viewing every case involving Muslims through that distorted lens.
— W. James Casper (@repsac3) September 27, 2014

Problem is, it's not "jumping to conclusions" when mainstream media sources report that the suspect screamed Islamic exhortations before the beheading (most likely "Allāhu Akbar!"). I mean, seriously. The suspect was proselytizing, according to coworkers. His actions were clearly religiously motivated:

Vaughn foods Co-worker who witnessed murder tells #news9 Murder suspect Alton Nolen was shouting Islamic phrases. FBI investigating
— Robin Marsh KWTV-9 (@robinmarsh9) September 26, 2014

And at the suspect's Facebook page, photos posted there express solidarity with the Islamic State, and then some:

@DelGirlsHoops @proadstudio @maysoonzayid @NY_Patricia #OK Beheaders Facebook page https://t.co/wb2CqbekZl pic.twitter.com/UENUhq8GTD
— RiWired (@riwired) September 27, 2014

So, no. No one's "jumping to conclusions." It's patently obvious that he murdered in the name of Islam.

Actually, it's Repsac3 who's a proven bigot and a racist --- something I've documented here for a long time. Walter James Casper is an epic hater and liar. His own tweets are self-refuting and utterly depraved, outside the bounds of basic decency. Man.

Leftists Sour on Obama

Well, not all leftists have soured on him. Some idiot progs will take their dying breath defending this epic fail of a presidency.

But O's hardcore support has definitely been eroding, especially among young people and moderate- to middle-class income Americans.

At the Hill, "Liberal base sours on Obama."

Megyn Kelly: Oklahoma Beheading Suspect Alton Nolen Shouted Islamic Phrases During Attack

Yes, but we wouldn't want jump to conclusions, because racism!!

At Truth Revolt, "Megyn Kelly: Suspect Nolen Shouted Islamic Phrases During Attack - Workplace. Violence."



And ICYMI, "Alton Nolen 'wasn’t just mildly Islamic in the nothing-to-do-with-terrorism sense, he was super-Islamic in the really-totally-no-terrorism-to-see-here sense...'"

Alton Nolen 'wasn’t just mildly Islamic in the nothing-to-do-with-terrorism sense, he was super-Islamic in the really-totally-no-terrorism-to-see-here sense...'

From Mark Steyn, "Winning Heads and Minds":

Colleen Hufford was born in 1960. Life is full of grim twists and cruel vicissitudes, but in mid-20th century America it would not have occurred to anyone that one needed to worry about going to work and being beheaded by a colleague. Yet that's what happened to Ms Hufford on Thursday: She turned up for her job at at the Vaughan Foods food processing plant in Moore, and Alton Alexander Nolen decapitated her.

Why would he do that? Well, as the initial reports were at pains to assure us, it's nothing to do with terrorism. That's true, in the sense that Mr Nolen is not a card-carrying member of an officially credentialed state-recognized terrorism-provider such as ISIS or al-Qaeda. It's true in the sense that he's not on any official US Department of Homeland Security terror watch list, because, under the geniuses running American national security, that honor is reserved for my fellow Hillsdale cruiser Steve Hayes. And, of course, it's also true in the sense that Mr Nolen is a recent convert to Islam and, as David Cameron and Barack Obama and many others are ever more eager to emphasize, terrorism is nothing to do with Islam. Mr Nolen had the Muslim greeting "As-salamu Alaikum" - "Peace be upon you" - tattooed upon his abdomen. And he'd tried, without success, to persuade his co-workers at Vaughan Foods to convert to Islam. So he wasn't just mildly Islamic in the nothing-to-do-with-terrorism sense, he was super-Islamic in the really-totally-no-terrorism-to-see-here sense.

So Colleen Hufford's death was, as Jim Hoft put it, just "a random workplace beheading". Indeed, many commenters at KOCO-TV seem more outraged by the mentioning of Mr Nolen's religion than by the beheading....

Judging from the various comments sections, many westerners are willing to live with a certain amount of decapitation rather than abandon the multiculti pieties. It is not a pleasant way to die, in part because it requires more expertise than you might think. A decade ago, a young lady in my employ emailed a backgrounder on the subject to me in my room at the Grand Hyatt in Amman the night before I set off on my motoring tour of Iraq. If you're lucky, your killer will insert the knife from the side, the sharp edge pointing to your front. One skilled thrust forward will cut the jugular, the carotid artery, the esophagus - and it will all be over in seconds. On the evidence of their social media videos, the ISIS boys are not that good: They go in from the front, blade facing backward, sawing back and forth for minutes on end. As I said in America Alone:

Writing about the collapse of nations such as Somalia, The Atlantic Monthly's Robert D Kaplan referred to the "citizens" of such "states" as "re-primitivized man". When lifelong Torontonians are hot for decapitation, when Yorkshiremen born and bred and into fish'n'chips and cricket and lousy English pop music self-detonate on the London Tube, it would seem that the phenomenon of "re-primitivized man" is being successfully exported around the planet.

More at Blazing Cat Fur, "‘SHARIA LAW IS COMING!!!!’ Oklahoma Beheader Celebrated Terrorists, Disparaged Non-Muslims On Facebook."

PREVIOUSLY: "Wait for It! Repsac3 on #OKBeheading: Attacking Islam Just Because the Suspect Tried to Convert Coworkers is Racist!!"

VIDEO: Lieutenant Betsy Randolph, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Wishes She'd Killed Alton Nolen in 2010

OMG racist!

At Twitchy, "‘I wish I’d have killed him': Oklahoma trooper recalls 2010 run-in with Alton Nolen."

Tressy Capps Receives Death Threats Over Mexican Flag Video

Tressy sent me the video when she first posted it to YouTube. I blogged it here, "'This Isn't Mexico ... This Is America...'"

Here's the report at FOX 11 News Los Angeles, "A Fontana city council candidate berated a stranger for flying a Mexican flag in her front yard."

Also at CBS News Los Angeles, "Woman Irate That Neighbor Is Flying Mexican Flag In Her Front Yard."

Also national media coverage, at Fox News, "California city council candidate receives death threats over Mexican flag flap."

Taking a position on an issue does not make me evil, racist or unethical if I disagree with your position. Make a mental note.

— Tressy Capps (@tlc2tweet) September 24, 2014

Frat Boys, Drunken Girls and Paternalism

A must-read from Virginia Postrel, at Bloomberg View (via Instapundit).

Well, @AmPowerBlog, give @carolineheldman credit for following #feminism to its logical conclusion, eh? http://t.co/5WMBmornLj @instapundit

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 26, 2014

And Glenn writes:

Campus sex hysteria is an engineered moral panic. Its purpose is to justify targeting, punishing, and isolating the people the panic-engineers don’t like. Nothing that counters the chosen narrative, however sensible, can be tolerated. Because it’s not about helping women. It’s about demonizing and marginalizing men.

Let me be clear, as a great man likes to say: This is not a case of good intentions gone wrong. It is a case of bad intentions given free rein. Forbes should be ashamed to play the role of useful idiot here. But read the whole thing for Virginia’s somewhat more nuanced approach.

Word.

Wikipedia Is Now Trying to Eliminate The Federalist's Online Entry

Heh, so typical.

Read it all, at the Federalist.

Can't resist adding this part:

You don’t burn books because they’re irrelevant. You burn books because you’re terrified that they’re not. You don’t muzzle people who have no audience. You muzzle people only when their voices are amplified far beyond your liking. As the famous baseball player Reggie Jackson said, “Fans don’t boo nobodies.”

Heh, I guess I'm not not a "nobody" in the eyes of the tyrannical left, lol.

S.C. High School Apologizes for Forcing Students to Remove American Flags on 9/11

Lame.

And it South Carolina too, of all places.

At the Daily Signal.

High School Apologizes for Forcing Students to Remove American Flags on 9/11 - http://t.co/ajdD0tpDMs pic.twitter.com/PM0GZCELrS

— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) September 26, 2014

Rachel McAdams Closes In On 'True Detective' Female Lead Role

Heh, she's so hot.

At Variety.

It looks like #TrueDetective has finally found its female lead in Rachel McAdams. http://t.co/kXw1xL8BBr pic.twitter.com/4ZQahoJxnX

— Variety (@Variety) September 26, 2014

Hat Tip: Wombat-socho, at the Other McCain, "LIVE AT FIVE: 09.26.14."

Storybook Ending to Derek Jeter's Storybook Career

I pretty much hate the Yankees, but you gotta give up for Jeter. The guy's an American icon.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Jeter the Hero in Final Game at Yankee Stadium: With Retirement Looming, Captain Singles Home the Game-Winning Run in Victory Over Orioles."



More at Sports Illustrated, "Derek Jeter hits walk-off single in final Yankee Stadium at-bat."

Also, at CBS This Morning, "Joe Torre on Derek Jeter's impact, next move."

Reports: Islamic State Planning Attacks on New York and Paris Subway Systems

Well, we wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions about Islamic State's intentions to destroy the U.S. homeland and maim and murder Americans. Nope, that'd be racist.

Here's Time, in any case, "ISIS Plotting Subway Attacks in New York City and Paris, Iraqi PM Says":

Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) plan to attack the subway systems in New York and Paris, Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday, but U.S. security officials said they had no evidence to back up the claim.

Haider al-Abadi told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly that information obtained from militants captured in Iraq yielded “credible” intelligence that the Islamist group is plotting attacks in New York and Paris, Reuters reports. “They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the U.S.,” Abadi said. “I asked for more credible information. I asked for names. I asked for details, for cities, you know, dates. And from the details I have received, yes, it looks credible.”

More.

And at AoSHQ, "Iraqi PM: We Have Information That IS is Plotting an Attack on the NYC and Paris Subway Systems."

Wait for It! Repsac3 on #OKBeheading: Attacking Islam Just Because the Suspect Tried to Convert Coworkers is Racist!!

Remember, according to Walter James Casper III, when American Muslims murder by beheading, it's never about Islam --- and to "rush" to the conclusion of honor killing or Islamic jihad is racist!!

Bwahaha! Recall the depraved Repsac3 a couple of weeks back:

Making an accusation just because the murderer (& his victim) are Muslim & the victim is a member of his family is bigotry. @StopHonourKill
— W. James Casper (@repsac3) September 17, 2014

And now idiot leftists are all over Twitter saying it's racist to "rush" to the conclusion that this is about Islam.

Bwahaha!! ~~> @ninoesco It's only "workplace violence." Islam is a religion of peace! ROFLMFAO!!! @AgnesClaire @TwitchyTeam @darleenclick
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 26, 2014

So, wait for it! PC-mongering Repsac3 will be attacking the "racist" right for "jumping" to conclusions "without the facts." Because racism lol!

American Jihad! Woman Beheaded in Oklahoma as Suspect Tried to Convert Coworkers to Islam (VIDEO)

At Gateway Pundit, "MUSLIM BEHEADS WOMAN in Oklahoma Food Plant – Tried to Convert Coworkers (Video)."



Also at Twitchy, "BREAKING: Woman beheaded in Oklahoma; Update: Assailant reportedly tried to convert co-workers to Islam; Update: FBI investigating, victims identified."

Added: From Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom, "Woman beheaded — in OKLAHOMA: "“Workplace violence” to be declared in 3 … 2 … 1."

Also at Memeorandum.

Mary J. Blige 'One'

Some music until later tonight. I love this lady.

Bwahaha! Darleen Click Slams Walter James Casper's 'IslamoNazi Entitlement Syndrome'

Remember, for stalking hate-troll Walter James Casper III, to actually stand up against Islamic jihad --- you know, the people who are killing us --- is racism.

Darleen Click hammered terror-enabler Repsac3 on Twitter last week. Really, she just nails the "IslamoNazi" R-E-P-S-A-C.

@AmPowerBlog ROFL more of the IslamoNazi entitlement syndrome ... How DARE you question me, kafir! @MsEBL

— darleenclick (@darleenclick) September 18, 2014

And ICYMI, "Texas Hot Momma Blocks Stalking Hate-Troll Walter James Casper III."

Obama Presses World to Act Against Islamic Jihad

At WSJ, "U.S. Presses World to Act Against Extremism: Obama Implores Leaders to Join Coalition Against Islamic State":

UNITED NATIONS—The U.S. unleashed a barrage of diplomatic pressure on world leaders gathered in New York, imploring them to join an international coalition against Islamic extremism.

President Barack Obama, in a series of appearances throughout the day, outlined a very different U.S. approach to the Middle East than he did last year at the same forum—one that leans heavily on American military power and tightly focuses on ways to diminish Islamic extremism. He urged leaders in the region to do more to combat what he described as the most pressing threat to global progress.

In his sixth address to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Obama said "the cancer of violent extremism" embodied in groups such as Islamic State now dominates his foreign-policy agenda.

"The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force," Mr. Obama said. "So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death."

While leaders met at the U.N., the Pentagon said U.S. and Arab warplanes carried out a new wave of strikes on extremist group Islamic State in Syria, emphasizing regional support for the latest expansion of the air campaign against the group. Heads of state recoiled at a new extremist video showing the beheading of a French hostage.

Despite the U.S. appeals, the scope and longevity of his coalition to fight Islamic State remained unclear.

Major European allies—France, the U.K. and Germany, so far all have declined to send their aircraft into Syrian airspace, in part, because of the lack of U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of such force.

In Paris, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls reiterated the government's refusal. Instead, the French premier bemoaned how world powers had missed the opportunity to deploy air power over Syria in the wake of the alleged chemical attacks last year—when France believed there was a clear legal basis for intervention.

"We wouldn't be in this situation in Syria if the international community had intervened," Mr. Valls said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is still smarting from the defeat he suffered last year when Parliament opposed his plans to join the U.S. in the airstrikes that Mr. Obama eventually called off. Although Mr. Cameron has the authority to launch military action unilaterally, lawmakers say the Syria experience makes it important for the U.K. leader to secure parliamentary approval before taking military action in Iraq.

On Wednesday, Mr. Cameron's government said Parliament would meet on Friday to debate a request from the Iraqi government for airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq, but not Syria.

In his General Assembly speech Wednesday night, Mr. Cameron backed a U.K. military response in advance of the Friday vote, but left open whether it would entail a combat role against Islamic State militants.

"We should be uncompromising, using all the means at our disposal—including military force—to hunt down these extremists," Mr. Cameron said in his address, while adding in anticipation of criticism that the West should avoid the mistakes of the past in Iraq.

The president heralded the inclusion of five Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, in the airstrikes in Syria this week. And the U.S. welcomed commitments by Belgium and the Netherlands to each deploy fighter jets for military operations.

However, a number of Washington's closest Mideast allies—particularly Turkey and Qatar—appeared to be on the fence in terms of how significantly to support the U.S. campaign, though four Qatari planes provided surveillance for coalition attacks on Islamic State Monday.

More.

'Sundown tonight marks the start of the Jewish New Year that begins with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. The ten days from the beginning of this festival until the end of Yom Kippur next week are known in Judaism as the Days of Awe...'

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "A Pause to Account for Ourselves."

Just go read it.

The Hidden Story Behind Stop Rush

At Rush's page, via Instapundit, "Actually, this reads like Limbaugh’s thinking of suing."

Look at the unadulterated Hate fest going on at the #stoprush vine... Good lord these people need help... They make my skin crawl.

— Beanfrompa (@BeanfromPa) September 25, 2014

Anais Zanotti Sexy While Eating Ice Cream

At Egotastic!, "Anais Zanotti Licks the Cream from the End of Summer's Cone."

Hervé Gourdel Beheaded

Another one brutally murdered.

See the New York Times, "French Hostage in Algeria Is Beheaded in Video."

Maybe France will rethink its position on not joining the airstrikes in Syria?



Added: At Bare Naked Islam, "Islamic State (ISIS) video says: 'The best thing you can do is kill civilian disbelievers (non-Muslims) – Americans, Europeans, Canadians, etc…'"

Why is al-Nusra Front Being Relabeled as 'Khorasan'?

You know, who the f-k came up with this stupid terrorist moniker, "Khorasan"? These thugs are the al Nusra Front terrorists, a Syria-based off-shoot of al-Qaeda just a brutal as any out there. They've been in the news for years. Indeed, Clarissa Ward reported on "Khorasan" yesterday, and immediately reverted to the al-Nusra label for the bulk of her report.

It's like some Obama White House hacks started floating this idiotic "Khorason" label to scare the bejesus out of people, kinda like referring to the Sicilian mafia as "La Cosa Nostra": it just sound shadowy and sinister, although, of course, some halfway coherent bottom-dwellers would immediately recognize this group for who they are without the fascist leftist relabeling.

It's totally lame and completely unhelpful. But we've got Democrats doing PR in DC, so any half-addled dolt with a laptop can figure this stuff out.

In any case, here's the spooky report at WaPo, "Targeted by U.S. airstrikes: The secretive al-Qaeda cell was plotting an ‘imminent attack’."

CNN's Nic Robertson provides a pretty good breakdown at the clip:



More at this Ashleigh Banfield segment, "What is the Khorasan Group?"

And see especially, Thomas Jocelyn, at the Long War Journal, "US airstrikes target Al Nusrah Front, Islamic State in Syria."

Sill more, at BuzzFeed (via Memeorandum), "How 'Khorasan' Went From Nowhere to the Biggest Threat to the U.S."

U.S. Promises Long Campaign in #Syria

At the Wall Street Journal, "Syria Strikes: U.S. Reports Significant Damage in Attacks on Islamic State, Khorasan; American, Arab Warplanes Hit Targets Around Iraq-Syria Border":

WASHINGTON—The first U.S.-led airstrikes on extremist groups in Syria hit militant leaders, training camps and control centers, U.S. officials said, promising this was only the start of a long campaign.

The attacks were conducted with the aid of Arab allies, but the U.S. carried out the bulk of the raids. After the first wave of strikes, the U.S. said it conducted follow-on attacks during the day Tuesday that hit two Islamic State armored vehicles in Syria.

The U.S. and its allies unleashed more than 160 missiles and bombs on targets inside Syria, disrupting infrastructure used by the extremist groups Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked Khorasan, Pentagon officials said in the first assessments of the impact of the strikes.

While it will be days before a definitive conclusion can be drawn, U.S. officials said they believe some leaders of both Islamic State and Khorasan were likely killed in the strikes on training camps and headquarters buildings.

The expansion of the military campaign against Islamic State from Iraq to Syria carries significant risks for President Barack Obama's administration.

Mr. Obama has spent his presidency extricating the U.S. from two long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now there is the prospect of getting mired again in a protracted Middle East war.

Western-backed rebels fear U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State and other extremist groups inside Syria will ultimately tip the balance in the multi-sided civil war in favor of the Syrian regime that Washington opposes.

Also, Islamic State made a new threat against a Western hostage. The family of British captive Alan Henning, an aid-convoy volunteer being held by the group, said on Tuesday that they had received an audio recording of the prisoner pleading for his life.

Islamic State has released videos showing the beheadings of three Western hostages—two of them Americans—since the U.S. began airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq in early August.

U.S. officials didn't provide estimates of casualties, though local residents said many were killed, including civilians. American officials said there were no indications of civilian casualties and promised to review any such claims.

The U.S.-led strikes will continue over coming days, U.S. officials said, though they cautioned that future waves are likely to be smaller than the opening round as the campaign quickly settles into a lower, but persistent beat.

"I can tell you that last night's strikes were only the beginning," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary...

More.

And don't miss Walter Russell Mead, "THE PARALLELS BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA AND GEORGE W. BUSH" (via Instapundit).

Still more at Memeorandum.

Bwahaha! People's Cube Just Destroys Idiot Collectivists on Obama's Disgraceful Latte Salute

This is fabulous!

Liberals are equating these pics. If you know anybody with a pet Styrofoam cup. Let me know. #tcot @michellemalkin pic.twitter.com/utPuu03IfI

— The People's Cube (@ThePeoplesCube) September 23, 2014

Progs are such losers.

There's a reason President Bush got standing ovations at West Point, and Obama not so much. And that reason goes to the core of who our current loser president is, not least of which is an America-hating coward and appeaser who earns no respect for our uniformed personnel.

PREVIOUSLY: "Barack Obama's Latte Salute."

'They're just people looking to the east...'

From the Sound L.A., yesterday morning.

The Doobie Brothers, "China Grove." What a rockin' song.

Lady
Styx
8:50 AM

Whole Lotta Love
Led Zeppelin
8:45 AM

Lay It On the Line
Triumph
8:39 AM

China Grove
The Doobie Brothers
8:35 AM

Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Police
8:22 AM

More Than A Feeling
Boston
8:18 AM

Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison
8:15 AM

Everybody Wants You
Billy Squier
8:11 AM

Sara
Fleetwood Mac
8:05 AM

Bad Company
Bad Company
8:01 AM

Huge Majority Supports Airstrikes Against #ISIS in Syria

A classic rally-'round-the-flag effect, at Gallup, "Slightly Fewer Back ISIS Military Action vs. Past Actions."

It may be that current public support is "slightly fewer" than previous military efforts, but remember, the U.S. has been at war continuously since October of 2001. Obama's got public support for his actions against ISIS. The trick now is not to blow it. Knocking out a few windows and demolishing a few buildings won't defeat the terrorists. The president is boxed in by his antiwar rhetoric, and if that rhetoric doesn't change, Americans will continue to be in danger.

Slightly Fewer Back #ISIS Military Action vs. Past Actions... http://t.co/7HhLopCl2Q pic.twitter.com/B0rXZzZfvB

— GallupNews (@GallupNews) September 23, 2014

Angels' Wade LeBlanc Makes Pitch for Playoff Spot in 2-0 Win Over A's

It was a great game. And a relief too. I'm worried about the Angels' pitching going into the post-season.

At LAT:

The tangled web of an injury-plagued and struggling Angels rotation grew even more convoluted Tuesday night, but for a good reason. Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc has thrust himself into the playoff picture.

LeBlanc, filling in for the injured Matt Shoemaker, allowed five hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Oakland that pushed the Athletics into a tie with the Kansas City Royals for the American League wild-card lead.

Combined with his 5 1/3-inning scoreless effort last Thursday against Seattle, LeBlanc, who was designated for assignment three times this season — twice by the Angels — has thrown 10 2/3 scoreless innings in two starts, allowing eight hits, striking out four and walking one.

With Shoemaker questionable for the division series because of a rib-cage strain and Hector Santiago getting shelled in his last two starts, LeBlanc has positioned himself to be considered for the playoff rotation. At the very least, he should earn a long-relief spot...

More.

Cory Rasmus, who's pitched a few games this last couple of weeks, is looking good too. Mike Scioscia needs to let him play longer.

I would have blogged more about the Angels since they clinched a playoff berth, but it's been depressing. Who knows if they'll clear 100 wins for the season, which is almost over?

The Wages of Discrimination

From Sarah Kendzior, at Al Jazeera, "As income inequality now rivals that of the gilded age, scrounging for survival has become a mainstream way of life."

"For anyone who came of age after the millennium, war and economic decline are all we have known." http://t.co/N38aSTsoKn

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 23, 2014

Freedom to Blog Update September 24, 2014: AmSpec Caves to Vexatious Asshat Brett Kimberlin

Sometimes the bad guys win. Or, sadly, sometimes the good guys cave to the bad guys.

See Popehat, "American Spectator Surrenders to Vexatious Litigant and Domestic Terrorist Brett Kimberlin."

Left-Wing Activists Hold White House 'Die In' to Support #ISIS Genocide

I'm just shaking my head as I post this. But then, these are brain-dead leftists we're talking about.

From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine.

Dead LAPD Officer Found Inside Thousand Oaks Home

A suicide, apparently.

At KABC-TV Los Angeles, "DEAD LAPD OFFICER FOUND IN THOUSAND OAKS RESIDENCE AFTER DISTURBANCE REPORT."

Prime Minister David Cameron Speaks to NBC's Brian Williams

I really like him, except for his Achilles heel of political correctness. Nobody's perfect, I guess.

Here, "Britain's David Cameron on ISIS: 'These People Want to Kill Us'."

USS Arleigh Burke Launches Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles

Via the U.S. Navy, on YouTube.

Europe's Anti-Semitism Rises — From the Precincts of the Islamo-Fascist Left

Something I've written about quite a bit, sadly.

At the New York Times, "Europe’s Anti-Semitism Comes Out of the Shadows":

SARCELLES, France — From the immigrant enclaves of the Parisian suburbs to the drizzly bureaucratic city of Brussels to the industrial heartland of Germany, Europe’s old demon returned this summer. “Death to the Jews!” shouted protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies in Belgium and France. “Gas the Jews!” yelled marchers at a similar protest in Germany.

The ugly threats were surpassed by uglier violence. Four people were fatally shot in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. A Jewish-owned pharmacy in this Paris suburb was destroyed in July by youths protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. A synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany, was attacked with firebombs. A Swedish Jew was beaten with iron pipes. The list goes on.

The scattered attacks have raised alarm about how Europe is changing and whether it remains a safe place for Jews. An increasing number of Jews, if still relatively modest in total, are now migrating to Israel. Others describe “no go” zones in Muslim districts of many European cities where Jews dare not travel...

Keep reading, but note: Once again, the mainstream press whitewashes Islamic anti-Semitism, raising the specter of "right-wing" parties, blah blah.

No. It's leftist Islamo-fascism that's the threat to Jews in Europe today. The media's only making things worse. And that's even more sad.

The Utter Failure of Obama

A great piece, from Bruce Walker, at American Thinker:

Barack Obama is destined to be the greatest flop in American presidential history.  He is, in every sense of the word, an utter failure.

Consider first his signature achievement, Obamacare.  Not only has Obama had to delay implementation, creating a perfect precedent for his Republican successor to do the same, but the law is more unpopular today than it has ever been according to all polling data.

Pew Research reports that 55% of Americans disapprove of Obamacare.  A clear plurality of Americans believe that they will be worse off because of Obamacare.  CBS News lists the “strongly approve” of Obamacare at 16%, while “strongly disapprove” is a whopping 47%.  Every polling organization, no matter how the question is worded, shows the same public disdain for this law.

The fear conservatives had that a new entitlement will create a permanent constituency may not happen this time, because Obamacare, unlike Social Security or Medicare, helps almost no one and hurts a lot of people.  Moreover, by foolishly rejecting a bipartisan reform, Obama and his party cannot claim broad support for his law.

This political hack, who had the power to do anything during his first two years, could think of nothing more imaginative than (1) spending federal dollars like water based upon the ancient and failed “stimulus” idea and (2) implementing an even greater failure – ask any Briton or Canadian – of nationalized health insurance simply, one suspects, because Barry had no keener mind or greater imagination than to pick up tired ideas of British Socialism eighty years old.

Obama, who “won” the Nobel Peace Prize almost as soon as he took office, is now officially a warmonger president – but one who leads from behind and rejects every attempt to form a national consensus policy, and whose utter haplessness in guiding national security is stunning.  Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Iraq – everywhere in the world, really – Obama’s foreign policy has been almost comic opera.

Obama's White House staff seems almost as incompetent as he is, as anyone who has listened to Ms. Harf for more than a minute quickly grasps.  Everyone around Obama simply reads talking points and denies, without any support at all, anything that challenges those talking points.

Has anyone around Obama, for example, confessed that the attack in Benghazi was not caused by an anti-Islamic film, and that any explanations to the contrary were simple invention?  Has Barry or his “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” ever acknowledged any failure beyond the ubiquitous and meaningless mantra “I accept full responsibility”?  Who truly trusts Obama anymore on national security issues, and who abroad relies on anything he says or any promises he makes?

Some presidencies that are successes in policy areas, like the Nixon presidency, are unwound by corruption and cover-ups.  Has any administration been as marinated in lies about important facts in investigations as this administration?  The IRS e-mail scandal surpasses anything Nixon did in Watergate.  The destruction of documents by a Hillary State Department to hide information from Congress relating to Benghazi, if true – who, really, doubts that now? – would surpass any misconduct in presidential history.

Now Barry is on the verge of doing what no president has done: leading his political party into two consecutive midterm election debacles.  Eisenhower and Nixon suffered heavy losses in their second midterms, but not their fist.  Clinton did just the opposite.  Reagan actually gained Senate seats in his first midterm, but he lost the Senate in his second midterm.

Even our worst presidents like their bright spots.  Grant was a truly noble character and a war hero whose memoirs of the Civil War remain great history.  Harding’s low-tax and pro-growth policies led to the Roaring Twenties, and Harding was a fierce champion of black rights.  Truman, a courageous combat veteran in 1918, helped birth Israel and preserve South Korea.  Nixon was brilliant, and his opening the door to China transformed the geopolitical world.  Carter was an honorable man, a graduate of the Naval Academy who served on a nuclear submarine, however dreadful the Carter presidency was.  

But Barry – has he really done anything at all?  Does Obama have the slightest ennobling quality?  Has he taken a single courageous stand on anything?  Does our president do anything at all, really, except savor the perks of office and read his notorious teleprompter?

Soon, very soon, the utter failure of Obama will be a truth known by all his countrymen.

No, no ennobling qualities. He's a disaster from the get go. Yes, it's going to be a crushing November election, but then, we'll still have two more years of this f-king Democrat Party misery.

FLASHBACK: April 27, 2009, "Worst. President. Ever."

The Incoherence of Liberal Feminism

At the Other McCain.

"Another clever young girl trying to get rich selling books to slightly-less-clever girls" http://t.co/QjzvB1KVBy pic.twitter.com/VPwhxPzyke

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 23, 2014

The Unfree Speech Movement

From Sol Stern, at the Wall Street Journal:

This fall the University of California at Berkeley is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, a student-led protest against campus restrictions on political activities that made headlines and inspired imitators around the country. I played a small part in the Free Speech Movement, and some of those returning for the reunion were once my friends, but I won't be joining them.

Though the movement promised greater intellectual and political freedom on campus, the result has been the opposite. The great irony is that while Berkeley now honors the memory of the Free Speech Movement, it exercises more thought control over students than the hated institution that we rose up against half a century ago.

We early-1960s radicals believed ourselves anointed as a new "tell it like it is" generation. We promised to transcend the "smelly old orthodoxies" (in George Orwell's phrase) of Cold War liberalism and class-based, authoritarian leftism. Leading students into the university administration building for the first mass protest, Mario Savio, the Free Speech Movement's brilliant leader from Queens, New York, famously said: "There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. . . . . And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

The Berkeley "machine" now promotes Free Speech Movement kitsch. The steps in front of Sproul Hall, the central administration building where more than 700 students were arrested on Dec. 2, 1964, have been renamed the Mario Savio Steps. One of the campus dining halls is called the Free Speech Movement Café, its walls covered with photographs and mementos of the glorious semester of struggle. The university requires freshmen to read an admiring biography of Savio, who died in 1996, written by New York University professor and Berkeley graduate Robert Cohen.

Yet intellectual diversity is hardly embraced. Every undergraduate undergoes a form of indoctrination with a required course on the "theoretical or analytical issues relevant to understanding race, culture, and ethnicity in American society," administered by the university's Division of Equity and Inclusion.

How did this Orwellian inversion occur? It happened in part because the Free Speech Movement's fight for free speech was always a charade. The struggle was really about using the campus as a base for radical politics.

I was a 27-year-old New Left graduate student at the time. Savio was a 22-year-old sophomore. He liked to compare the Free Speech Movement to the civil-rights struggle—conflating the essentially liberal Berkeley administration with the Bull Connors of the racist South.

During one demonstration Savio suggested that the campus cops who had arrested a protesting student were "poor policemen" who only "have a job to do." Another student then shouted out: "Just like Eichmann."

"Yeah. Very good. It's very, you know, like Adolf Eichmann, " Savio replied. "He had a job to do. He fit into the machinery."

I realized years later that this moment may have been the beginning of the 1960s radicals' perversion of ordinary political language, like the spelling "Amerika" or seeing hope and progress in Third World dictatorships.

Before that 1964-65 academic year, most of us radical students could not have imagined a campus rebellion. Why revolt against an institution that until then offered such a pleasant sanctuary? But then Berkeley administrators made an incredibly stupid decision to establish new rules regarding political activities on campus. Student clubs were no longer allowed to set up tables in front of the Bancroft Avenue campus entrance to solicit funds and recruit new members.

The clubs had used this 40-foot strip of sidewalk for years on the assumption that it was the property of the City of Berkeley and thus constitutionally protected against speech restrictions. But the university claimed ownership to justify the new rules. When some students refused to comply, the administration compounded its blunder by resorting to the campus police. Not surprisingly, the students pushed back, using civil-disobedience tactics learned fighting for civil rights in the South.

The Free Speech Movement was born on Oct. 1, 1964, when police tried to arrest a recent Berkeley graduate, Jack Weinberg, who was back on campus after a summer as a civil-rights worker in Mississippi. He had set up a table on the Bancroft strip for the Berkeley chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Dozens of students spontaneously sat down around the police car, preventing it from leaving the campus. A 32-hour standoff ensued, with hundreds of students camped around the car.

Mario Savio, also back from Mississippi, took off his shoes, climbed onto the roof of the police car, and launched into an impromptu speech explaining why the students had to resist the immoral new rules. Thus began months of sporadic protests, the occupation of Sproul Hall on Dec. 2 (ended by mass arrests), national media attention and Berkeley's eventual capitulation.

That should have ended the matter. Savio soon left the political arena, saying that he had no interest in becoming a permanent student leader. But others had mastered the new world of political theater, understood the weakness of American liberalism, and soon turned their ire on the Vietnam War.

The radical movement that the Free Speech Movement spawned eventually descended into violence and mindless anti-Americanism. The movement waned in the 1970s as the war wound down—but by then protesters had begun their infiltration of university faculties and administrations they had once decried.

"Tenured radicals," in New Criterion editor Roger Kimball's phrase, now dominate most professional organizations in the humanities and social studies. Unlike our old liberal professors, who dealt respectfully with the ideas advanced by my generation of New Left students, today's radical professors insist on ideological conformity and don't take kindly to dissent by conservative students. Visits by speakers who might not toe the liberal line—recently including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Islamism critic Aayan Hirsi Ali —spark protests and letter-writing campaigns by students in tandem with their professors until the speaker withdraws or the invitation is canceled...

Still more.

Everything the left touches it destroys. So it is with so called "free speech." America's campuses today are the least free places in the United States. Always resist these people. Always stand against the left, whatever you do. You'll be on the right side of decency. The leftists, not so much.

'Maybe Democratic leaders aren't finding success in expanding their liberal base because fair-minded Americans don't easily gravitate to a political party led by people whose default election tactic is to demonize its opponents..'

Well, of course, the Democrats are the party of hate.

From Tom Bevan: The End of Civil Rhetoric (via Instapundit):

It’s also true that Democrats are under pressure to rev up what appears to be a lethargic electorate or face defeat at the polls in November. It’s unfortunate that we’ve come to accept the idea that voters can only be motivated by fear and anger toward their political opponents.

Yep, that's all they've got.

Barack Obama's Latte Salute

So disrespectful, god.

Watch here.

And at Breitbart, "Obama's Disrespectful 'Latte Salute' Shocks and Offends."

The #ISIS Threat to the U.S. Homeland

Andrea Mitchell reports for NBC News, and she's taking the ISIS threat quite seriously:

Charles Krauthammer: Syria Airstrikes 'Not Significant' Militarily

Once again, the inimitable Dr. Krauthammer:

Michelle Fields Calls Out Celebrity Warming Hypocrites at New York People's Climate March (VIDEO)

Hey, classy babe Michelle Fields was batting 1.000 at the communist people's march on Sunday. She just hammered the celebrity hypocrites, Leo DeCaprio most deliciously.

Outstanding.

At Pajamas, "PJTV’s Michelle Fields: Are Climate Change Hypocrites Leonardo DiCaprio and Senator Bernie Sanders Out of Touch with Reality? (Video)."

Talking to Leonardo Dicaprio about climate change. Don't think he was happy about me bringing up his yachts & jets pic.twitter.com/3TAkP6rbjD

— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) September 21, 2014

Leonardo Dicaprio suddenly loses his hearing when I ask him about his yachts http://t.co/aAUv0RMzF2 #ClimateChangeMarch

— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) September 22, 2014

VIDEO: RFK Jr. refuses to give up cellphone to save planet... http://t.co/81EjlTGDlJ

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) September 22, 2014

Alicia Keys Poses Nude for Peace

A fabulous woman, she posed nude and pregnant.

At London's Daily Mail, "Pregnant Alicia Keys posts nude photo of herself with peace sign painted on baby bump to draw eyes to We Are Here charity movement."

And at NPR, "Meet the Global Groups That Alicia Keys Got Naked For."

Alana Goodman and Ellison Barber Discuss the Hillary Letters

I'm a little underwhelmed, although it is new and interesting.

And hey, the ladies at the Free Beacon are doing big investigative journalism the mainstream press refuses to do. That's something.

Here, "The Hillary Letters: Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinsky Correspondence Revealed."

Bill O'Reilly Proposes Mercenary Army to Defeat #ISIS

From last night's Talking Points Memo, "Defeating ISIS and other terror groups."

And this morning, on CBS This Morning:



Also, O'Reilly's new book, Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General.

Mark Zuckerberg's $10 Million San Francisco ''Fixer-Upper' Has Neighbors Pissed Off

Well, I'm sure he's telling 'em to suck it up, for the Masters of the Universe and all that.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Neighbors feeling squeezed by work on Mark Zuckerberg’s S.F. home":

Welcome to Fort Zuckerberg — the $10 million Dolores Heights “fixer-upper” that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife have turned into a massive construction encampment that has some neighbors feeling under siege by the Facebook founder.

Their problem goes beyond the rash of “no parking” signs on 21st Street near Dolores Street that have kept them from parking outside their own homes these past 17 months.

Dozens of construction workers, using backhoes and jackhammers, are busy installing everything from a new kitchen to bathrooms and decks — and tearing up the sidewalks for new fiber-optic cables that will connect to the home.

And it’s all being overseen by round-the-clock security.

“This is nothing short of a fortress,” said one homeowner, who asked not to be named to avoid a public kerfuffle with the new Facebook neighbors.

Assessor’s records show that contractors for Zuckerberg and his wife, UCSF physician Priscilla Chan, have taken out no fewer than 10 permits for millions of dollars in construction work to the 1920s-era home — located just a block and a half from hipster central Dolores Park.

One permit lists a $65,000 remodel of the kitchen and six bathrooms — a figure that appeared to be so small that one real estate agent called it “a joke.”

Yeah, and I'm sure he's putting some illegal aliens to work as well, further pissing off the locals. Heh, even those San Fran progs have limits on their tolerance, especially as they get their NIMBYism on.

Pro-Life Marchers Press Spanish Government During Madrid Protest

From EuroNews:

Thousands of anti-abortion campaigners have marched in Madrid accusing the Spanish government of betrayal over an electoral promise to restrict the rights of women to terminate their pregnancies.

Reports have suggested the conservatives have been considering shelving the controversial plans, even though they have an absolute majority.

The bill allows abortion only in cases of rape or serious health risk to the mother - not for a malformed foetus.

Jill Tarlov, Wife of CBS Senior Vice President, Dies After Being Hit by Bicyclist in Central Park

Man, what a way to go.

At NYT, "Woman Hit by a Bicyclist in Central Park Dies":

When the weather is fine, the main roadways in the park are filled with pedestrians, runners, in-line skaters, horse-drawn carriages, cars, pedicab drivers, leisurely bikers and racing cyclists all competing for limited space.

This last group, the racers, have come under scrutiny after the accident on Thursday.

Ms. Tarlov, who lived in Fairfield, Conn., had been in New York City shopping for a present for her daughter, according to her family.

She was walking through the park around 4:30 p.m. when she stepped into the roadway.

At the same time, Mr. [Jason W.] Marshall was coming down the street on his racing bike, the police said.

Mr. Marshall swerved to avoid a group of pedestrians, the police said, but struck Ms. Tarlov. She was rushed to the hospital and was placed on a ventilator.

Mr. Marshall, a professional baritone saxophone player who lives in Harlem, remained at the scene. He has not been charged with any crime.

Extremist Climate Change Rhetoric Heats Up as the Warming 'Consensus' Collapses

From John Fund, at National Review, "The Crumbling Climate-Change Consensus":

One reason the rhetoric has become so overheated is that the climate-change activists increasingly lack a scientific basis for their most exaggerated claims. As physicist Gordon Fulks of the Cascade Policy Institute puts it: “CO2 is said to be responsible for global warming that is not occurring, for accelerated sea-level rise that is not occurring, for net glacial and sea-ice melt that is not occurring . . . and for increasing extreme weather that is not occurring.” He points out that there has been no net new global-warming increase since 1997 even though the human contribution to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 25 percent since then. This throws into doubt all the climate models that have been predicting massive climate dislocation.

Other scientists caution that climate models must be regarded with great care and skepticism. Steven Koonin, the undersecretary for science in the Energy Department during President Obama’s first term, wrote a pathbreaking piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal in which he concluded:

We often hear that there is a “scientific consensus” about climate change. But as far as the computer models go, there isn’t a useful consensus at the level of detail relevant to assessing human influence. . . . The models roughly describe the shrinking extent of Arctic sea ice observed over the past two decades, but they fail to describe the comparable growth of Antarctic sea ice, which is now at a record high. . . . Any serious discussion of the changing climate must begin by acknowledging not only the scientific certainties, but also the uncertainties, especially in projecting the future. Recognizing those limits, rather than ignoring them, will lead to a more sober and ultimately more productive discussion of climate change and climate policies. To do otherwise is a great disservice to climate science itself.

Even scientists who accept the conventional scientific treatment of the subject by the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change increasingly question just how much it would help to curb emissions or to radically redistribute wealth, as activists like Klein urge us to do. Bjørn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, told me that all of the carbon-reduction targets advocated by the U.N. or the European Union would result in imperceptible differences in temperature, at enormous cost. “We would be far better off and richer if we did simple things like painting roofs in hot climates white and investing in new technologies that could help us adapt to any change that is coming,” he says. Even the U.N.’s own climate panel admits that so far, climate change hasn’t included any increase in the frequency or intensity of so-called extreme weather.

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "'The modern climate alarmism movement has been hijacked by the remnants of those who still adhere to the defunct tenets of revolutionary Marxism...'"

Why Beheading?

From Jeff Jacoby, at the Boston Globe:

ISLAMIC STATE has made the beheading of victims a key element in its campaign of terror and conquest. Most conspicuous in recent weeks have been the murders of Westerners James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and David Haines, whose severed heads and decapitated bodies have been shown in threatening videos produced by the jihadists. In the years since 9/11, other Islamist terrorist groups have circulated equally ghastly beheading videos. Among the earlier victims were journalist Daniel Pearl, businessman Nicholas Berg, and construction contractors Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong — all Americans beheaded by Al Qaeda.

Last week, meanwhile, Australian police arrested 15 suspects allegedly linked to Islamic State; they are accused of plotting to publicly behead a victim abducted at random.

Clearly the terrorists relish the horror beheading evokes in America and other Western democracies, as well as the fear it inspires among Kurds, Shiites, or other local forces standing in the path of their juggernaut. Psychological warfare is an essential element in Islamic State’s military strategy, writes Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Even when heavily outnumbered, Islamic State has been able to leverage its reputation for implacable brutality “to dissuade Iraqi forces from ever seeking battle.” And by killing American and British hostages with such sadistic relish, it aims to intensify the desire of many in the West to wash their hands of involvement in Iraq once and for all.

But there are other ways to terrorize, other gruesome means of mass murder — suicide bombings, poison gas, hijackings. Why the emphasis on beheading?

No doubt part of the explanation is that beheadings tend to draw more attention than suicide bombings and exploding cars. Deadly though they are, car bombs and shootings have lost much of their shock value in Western eyes. It takes an unusually high death toll for a bombing in Iraq to attract as much media attention as the decapitation of a single hostage by an English-speaking Islamist wielding a knife. Terrorists crave attention, more now in the digital age, perhaps, than ever before. Islamic State and other jihadist groups have many ways to commit mass murder. But for generating a spectacle that will be noticed — and shuddered at — the world over, sawing off the head of an American journalist or a European relief worker, then uploading the video to the Internet, is hard to beat...

More.

RELATED: At LAT, "Islamic State's soft weapon of choice: social media."

Flashback: 2010's 'Progressive' Obama-Democrat 'One Nation' March Was All About Communism

Follow-up to yesterday's post, "'The modern climate alarmism movement has been hijacked by the remnants of those who still adhere to the defunct tenets of revolutionary Marxism...'" As I noted there:

And keep in mind these people aren't fringe. They're mainstream leftists, the kind of whacked out weirdos who've ventured out time and again at all the progressive, Democrat Party protests since Obama took office. The loons are the mainstream of today's left, and they have no freakin' clue.

Yep, exactly.

Remember, back in 2010 and the March for Jobs, Justice, and Peace? Well, that event sponsored by all kinds of mainstream Democrat Party groups and Obama for America-style organizations. And no surprise, it turned out to be one big Marxist revolutionary loon-fest. Here, "Progressives March on Washington for 'One Nation Working Together' — Thousands Rally in Support of Socialist Agenda."



And just think, we're more screwed today than when Obama took office. Thanks loony-prog-commie-Democrat-revolutionary-dregs!

Hackers Target Emma Watson, Threaten to Release Nude Photos

At Telegraph UK, "Emma Watson Targeted by Hackers Who Say They Will Release Naked Photos in Four Days":

The hackers are threatening to publish nude photos of Emma Watson in retaliation for her speech where she announced that she was a feminist.

The actress Emma Watson is being targeted by hackers who are threatening to publish nude photos of her in retaliation for her speech where she announced that she was a feminist.

Although the countdown does not specifically say that naked pictures will be published, the site is believed to have been made by members of the internet forum 4chan, who were behind the recent release of hacked pictures of celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

US website Gawker quoted posts, since deleted, that appear to show the timing of the release is no accident and that the publication of pictures would be a direct response to her speech.

One of the comments quoted says: "She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online."
The hackers say they will leak nude photos of the Harry Potter star in under five days time.

An image of Emma Watson wiping away a tear appears on the site beside a digital timer which is counting down the seconds until the release.

The words: "Never forget, the biggest to come thus far" are written in capital letters on the bottom of the screen.

More.

U.S. Airstrikes in Syria

Folks were tweeting the news a little while ago. And now the developing story at the Los Angeles Times, "U.S. begins airstrikes over Syria."

White House Fence Jumper Omar Gonzalez Had 800 Rounds of Ammunition in His Car

At the Washington Post, "White House fence jumper had ammunition, machete in car, prosecutors say." And at the Hill, "Prosecutors: White House fence jumper had 800 rounds of ammo in car" (via Memeorandum).

Yes, but we should feel sorry for him, because PTSD. At the Los Angeles Times, "White House intruder was an Army vet with PTSD, family says":

The intruder who scaled a White House fence and made it through the front doors was an Army veteran diagnosed with combat trauma, but authorities said Saturday the case was still under investigation.

A family member in California said Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, near Ft. Hood, has been homeless and living alone in the wild and in campgrounds with his two pet dogs for the last two years.

“We talked to him on 9/11 and he said he planned to go to a Veterans Administration hospital to seek treatments,” said the family member, who asked that he not be identified pending completion of the Secret Service investigation.

“He’s been depressed for quite some time,” the relative said. “He’d been taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. I suspect he stopped taking it, otherwise this wouldn’t have happened.”

More.

Actually, Barack's not pleased, PTSD or not. At US News, "Obama Concerned Intruder Got in His Family's Home."

People's Climate Demarche

An awesome leader, at today's Wall Street Journal:

Hundreds of thousands of people attended yesterday's People's Climate March in New York: http://t.co/e3cs5dHjeV pic.twitter.com/q9J29qjmZr

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 22, 2014

Tens of thousands of environmental protestors paraded through New York City on Sunday, in a "people's climate march" designed to lobby world leaders arriving for the latest United Nations climate summit. The march did succeed in messing up traffic, but President Obama won't achieve much more when he speaks Tuesday at this latest pit stop on the global warming grand prix.

Six years after the failure of the Copenhagen summit whose extravagant ambition was to secure a binding global treaty on carbon emissions, Mr. Obama is trying again. The Turtle Bay gathering of world leaders isn't formally a part of the international U.N. climate negotiations that are supposed to climax late next year in Paris, but the venue is meant to be an ice-breaker for more than 125 presidents, prime ministers and heads of state to start to reach consensus.

One not-so-minor problem: The world's largest emitters are declining to show up, even for appearances. The Chinese economy has been the No. 1 global producer of carbon dioxide since 2008, but President Xi Jinping won't be gracing the U.N. with his presence. India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi (No. 3) will be in New York but is skipping the climate parley. Russian President Vladimir Putin (No. 4) has other priorities, while Japan (No. 5) is uncooperative after the Fukushima disaster that has damaged support for nuclear power. Saudi Arabia is dispatching its petroleum minister.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon excused these truancies at a press conference last week: "In any event, we have other means of communications, ways and means of having their leadership demonstrated in the United Nations." In that case, why not do a conference call?

To understand the coldness of this brush off, global CO2 emissions increased to 35.1 billion metric tons in 2013, a new record and a 29% increase over a decade ago. Of the year-over-year carbon climb, China at 358 million metric tons jumped by more than the rest of the world combined and is responsible for 24.8% of emissions over the last five years. Over the same period, developing nations accounted for 57.5%.

What this means is that regardless of what the West does, poorer countries that are reluctant to sign agreements that impede economic progress hold the dominant carbon hand. No matter U.S. exertions to save the planet from atmospheric carbon that may or may not have consequences that may or may not be costly in a century or more, the international result will be more or less the same, though U.S. economic growth will be slower....

So the problem is so dire that we must impose huge new costs on carbon and energy production, but don't worry—you won't feel a thing. The government will create all new energy industries and wealth in a seamless transition. Caveat emptor: Supposedly professional economists who promise that scarce resources can be made scarcer at zero cost have stopped practicing economics. They have become politicians, if not as honest.

Rather than debasing economics, perhaps the climate lobby should return to the climate science and explain the hiatus in warming that has now lasted for 16, 19 or 26 years depending on the data set and which the climate models failed to predict even as global carbon dioxide emissions have climbed by 25%. Their alibi is that the new warming is now hidden in the oceans, an assertion they lack the evidence to prove.

RTWT.

'The modern climate alarmism movement has been hijacked by the remnants of those who still adhere to the defunct tenets of revolutionary Marxism...'

Heh, from Noah Rothman's conclusion, at Hot Air, "Reason Magazine actually asked climate protesters what they want to do, and it’s hilarious."

You gotta watch. And keep in mind these people aren't fringe. They're mainstream leftists, the kind of whacked out weirdos who've ventured out time and again at all the progressive, Democrat Party protests since Obama took office. The loons are the mainstream of today's left, and they have no freakin' clue.

Jessica Chastain at Salomé Screening in London

According to Just Jared:

Salome is a filmed version of the Oscar Wilde‘s controversial play, while Wilde Salome, which also screened that day, is a documentary that chronicles the challenges Al [Pacino] faced while performing in the play and simultaneously directing both features.

Well, check out Ms. Chastain on the carpet, at Egotastic!, "Jessica Chastain Yellow Dress at Salome and Wilde Salome Screening."

Muslims Facing Tomorrow: Rally for Minority Christians and Other Religious Communities in the Middle East and the Muslim World

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Muslims Facing Tomorrow Rally For Persecuted Christians - Professor Salim Mansur's Address - ISIS Is Islam."

Munich Oktoberfest

Heh, looks awesome.

Via EuroNews:

The 181st Oktoberfest is underway in Munich, following its opening amid pouring rain on Saturday.

Long ago, the festival was brought forward to September in the hope of better weather.

But come rain or shine, few care once the beer starts flowing...

Jordan Arrests 11 Islamic State Jihadists

At the Times of Israel:

Security official says suspects admit to plotting attacks in Hashemite Kingdom; Israel has indicated it will act should group reach neighboring state.

Jordan said it arrested 11 members of the Islamic State group suspected of plotting terrorist attacks inside the Hashemite Kingdom

A security source said the suspects were planning to harm high-value interests in the country and admitted to the charges against them, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier this month, Israel told the US that should the extremist group start operating in neighboring Jordan, it will not hesitate to act, according to a Channel 2 TV report which cited diplomatic sources.

The report did not specify what actions Israel might take if Islamic State started impacting upon Jordan, but Israel is wary of its eastern neighbor being challenged by the brutal terror group, and would seek to guard against further inroads that would directly threaten Israel...

More.

Why Poor Students Struggle

An interesting piece from Vicki Madden, at the New York Times.

Seems like a pretty accurate account, and race is not highlighted so much as socioeconomic background. Interesting.

White House May Check Tourists From Afar

Looks like those fence-jumpers have rattled the cage a bit.

At the New York Times, "White House May Check Tourists Blocks Away."

And background from the Washington post, "Fence-jumper makes it into the White House."

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Fakers," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Perv-Shaming Your Bottom-Pincher is a Low Blow

Heh, you gotta love that headline, from Radhika Sanghani, at Telegraph UK.

It's about New York bartender Laura Ramadei, who named and shamed the guy who allegedly groped her. See Gothamist, "A NYC Bartender's Powerful Open Letter to the Hedge Funder Who Allegedly Grabbed Her Ass."

The accused, hedge-fund financier Brian Lederman, denies it. At the New York Post, "Hedge-funder’s defense in ‘grope’ case: I never grabbed her."

Awesome! Neocon Robert Kagan Slams Leftist Jane Harmon's Soft Power Narrative to Beat #ISIS (VIDEO)

National Review has the abbreviated clip, "Robert Kagan: Obama Administration Must Prove It’s Willing to Fight ISIS in Order to Gain Allies."

But the whole segment is good, from Face the Nation this morning. Kagan says soft power is fine and dandy, but ISIS doesn't care about soft power. If you want to beat folks like this you need to destroy them on the ground and bolster American respect around the world. Allies will flock to your banner then.

A great panel. Kagan's comments on hard power come at about 6:20 minutes.

Breaking Up with Barack — And His Friends!

Heh, via Legal Insurrection, "Ad implores women to break up with Obama."