Will X. Walters, Plaintiff in San Diego Gay Pride Nudity Case, Dead of an Apparent Suicide (VIDEO)

What a waste.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man who lost gay pride nudity case against SDPD dies of apparent suicide":

A man who unsuccessfully sued San Diego police over his public nudity arrest at a gay pride festival was found dead Wednesday night at his Hillcrest apartment in an apparent suicide, authorities said.

The death of Will X. Walters comes about two weeks after a federal jury delivered the verdict in favor of police.

Walters’ attorney, Chris Morris, said Walters was shocked by the Dec. 13 verdict and immediately left the downtown San Diego federal courthouse after it was announced.

Morris said he hadn’t heard from Walters since and had tried to reach him in the days that followed. Friends also tried checking on him, the lawyer said.

San Diego police were called to the apartment by a neighbor late Wednesday.

His time of death was not known. The county Medical Examiner’s Office said the death remained under investigation.

“Will Walters was a valiant warrior for his cause, and he will be missed by those who knew him and the community he fought for,” Morris said Thursday...

Maybe he should have just paid the fines, or whatever, and let it go.

This case isn't worth taking your life. But apparently, his identity as a homosexual man was everything and he wanted that fully validated, or else. I'll bet the guy was a pushy in-your-face advocate for same-sex marriage and all that. Homosexual activists are like that.

More (via Memeorandum).

'The first time I ever smoked pot I also had sex...'

Well, I'm sure that was nice. Especially the sex, heh.

At Nerve, "Love in a Time of Cannabis" (via Instapundit):

I was in high school, she was older and asked if I was cool. I nodded. She showed me how to hit the bong then laid me down on the bed and showed me how to please her. Forever after, I’ve associated sex and weed. They go together like music and dancing. It’s the perfect substance for romance. Your body becomes hypersensitive and alert. Everything’s light, funny, wonderful and weird...

More.

Obama Administration Sanctions Russia on Election Hacking

O doesn't look too pleased at that photo. If looks could be translated into policy, the U.S. would've been a lot tougher on Moscow these last few years. Alas, Obama's like a paper tiger. He looks tough while being a pushover in practice. Frankly, Russia's been eating our lunch, from Ukraine to Syria.

These sanctions are completely political, designed more to delegitimize the incoming Trump administration than to penalize Russia.

God, how much longer until this scum of an administration is shown the door?

At WSJ, "U.S. Punishes Russia Over Election Cyberattacks; Moscow Vows Retaliation":

U.S. punishes Russia over election hacking with sanctions, expulsion of 35 diplomats https://t.co/5AduSeZ9rI pic.twitter.com/tEWhJKRYur

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 29, 2016

President Barack Obama sanctioned Russian government intelligence agencies and expelled 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the U.S. in what he called a partial response to Russia’s alleged use of cyberattacks to interfere with the U.S. presidential election.

Russia threatened to retaliate, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying “the principle of reciprocity applies here.” He said Russian President Vladimir Putin would formulate a response that would create “considerable discomfort in the same areas” for the U.S., according to the Interfax news agency.

The sanctions designate Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, or the GRU, for “tampering, altering or causing the misappropriation of information” with the purpose or effect of interfering with the election. The measures also designate Russia’s main security agency, the Federal Security Service, for assisting the GRU in those activities.

The administration also sanctioned three Russian companies it accused of providing material support for the GRU’s cyber operations and four top Russian officials who run the military intelligence agency.

At the same time, the State Department expelled 35 Russian intelligence operatives allegedly serving under diplomatic cover from the Russian embassy in Washington and the Russian consulate in San Francisco. The officials and their families were given 72 hours to leave the U.S. after the State Department said they “were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status.” The deadline is noon on Sunday.

The State Department also notified Russia that as of Friday Moscow would be denied access to two Russian government-owned compounds in the U.S. One is a dacha, or summer retreat, for Russian embassy officials on the eastern shore of Maryland, and the other is a dacha compound for New York-based Russian diplomats on Long Island, a U.S. official said. The White House accused Russia of using the recreational compounds for “intelligence-related purposes.”

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation also released a joint analysis report, titled “Grizzly Steppe,” giving additional technical details about the election hacking.

Mr. Obama said the steps were “in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election” and followed repeated warnings to Moscow.

“These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.

Russia has denied involvement in the election hacks.

Mr. Peskov said Thursday the new U.S. measures were a display of the Obama administration’s unpredictability and aggressive foreign policy. He said the White House wanted “to ruin once and for all Russian-American relations, which were already at rock-bottom, and apparently, strike a blow against the foreign-policy plans of the future administration,” according to Interfax.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page that the Russian Foreign Ministry would make an official announcement regarding countermeasures against the U.S. on Friday. She said “the American people have been humiliated by their own president.”

The administration’s announcement could reignite the debate between the White House and President-elect Donald Trump, who has challenged the accuracy of the U.S. intelligence assessment attributing the hacks to Russia and called it “ridiculous.” Mr. Obama called Mr. Trump on Wednesday ahead of the announcement...

More.

Bears Ears National Monument and Gold Butte National Monument

The Obama regime is really going on an end-of-year administrative blitz, especially on the environment.

So craven and dishonest. Why not push these initiatives during the first administration, or before the 2014 midterms? Of course O's regime knew they'd be unpopular and the Democrats would face massive backlash.

Anyway, at Memeorandum, "Statement by the President on the Designation of Bears Ears National Monument and Gold Butte National Monument."

And at LAT:

President Obama designates two new national monuments in the West https://t.co/SYKbJj8aXF pic.twitter.com/2vslGHuwdJ

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 28, 2016

More, at Western Journalism, "Utah Lawmakers Vow to Fight Obama’s Creation of National Monuments."

Bitches and Hoes and Feminism

At the Other McCain, linking to the Patriarch Tree, at Medium:

Don't preach ME any sermons! https://t.co/00077MJbeS @AmPowerBlog pic.twitter.com/AsH0cyMtqZ

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) December 29, 2016

Izabel Goulart at St. Barts

At London's Daily Mail:

Victoria's Secret model Izabel Goulart shows off her super toned in St. Barts https://t.co/c90yeG8jw9 pic.twitter.com/e7FuIdQ5Ac

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) December 29, 2016

Also, at WWTDD, "Izabel Goulart in a Bikini."

Plus, at Egoastic!, "Izabel Goulart Red Hot Bikini Paddle Ball and Other Fine Things to Ogle."

At the Crossroads Café

I'm visiting with my sister in Yucca Valley, and my cousin (Hillary) and her family are in town, so we mosied over to the Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree.

It's apparently very progressive around these parts, as can be seen from the signage on the windows. (Joshua Tree National Park is right there, which attracts all kinds of hippies and leftists.)

I doubt they're not going to serve Trump supporters, though. You've got the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center just up the road a bit. Lots of folks are going to be anti-Obama, if not downright #MAGA enthusiasts.

At the Safe Spaces cafe, in 29 Palms. pic.twitter.com/1NFggqJUqt

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 28, 2016

RELATED: At RWN, "Outrage After Hawaii Cafe BANS Trump Voters." (Via Memeorandum.)

'Watership Down' Author Richard Adams Dead at 96

Well, that's a long and lustrous life.

I wish we all could live that long.

Still though, we're losing so many in 2016. It's a great year, actually, but the obits are mounting.

I read "Watership Down" for a book club at my college, and it was great. Adams declaims any larger moral to the story, but the moral is clearly to stand and fight for what you believe, and that good will prevail over evil.

At NYT:

Richard Adams has died at 96. He became one of the world’s best-selling authors with his debut, “Watership Down." https://t.co/7fgkGyzsq0

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 27, 2016

Charlotte McKinney Dream Hotel Photo Shoot

I hope to be seeing more of Ms. Charlotte in 2017.

At Egotastic!, "Charlotte McKinney Dream Hotel Wicked Hot Lingerie Shoot."

Obama's Parting Betrayal of Israel

From Ambassador John Bolton, at WSJ:

"Obama's Parting Betrayal of #Israel" - read my latest op-ed in the @WSJ: https://t.co/y9yV45JFxK

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 27, 2016

The Midnight Push to Empty Out Guantanamo

From Congressman Ed Royce, at WSJ:

.@RepEdRoyce: The midnight push to empty out Guantanamo https://t.co/0piYOdDtPj via .@WSJ

— Montgomery Granger (@mjgranger1) December 27, 2016

Carrie Fisher Dead at 60

I'm not that big a "Star Wars" fan. I remember, back in 1977 when the original "Star Wars" came out, my Uncle Doug had rounded up a bunch of us kids in my family and took us to see the movie.

It was of course fabulous, and we all had a great time; and then I saw "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi" when they came out, as these were basically obligatory.

But that's about it. I don't have all the movies on CD, and haven't even seen all the more recent updates in the franchise.

It just seems like Carrie Fisher's death has some kind of social significance. It's weird, I guess.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Carrie Fisher, child of Hollywood who blazed a path as 'Star Wars' heroine, screenwriter and author, dies at 60."

And at the Other McCain, "CARRIE FISHER DIES AT AGE 60":

"Good-bye, Princess Leia — and may the Force be with you!" https://t.co/HhDIgt9wBF

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) December 27, 2016

Her death came while the latest film in the Star Wars saga, Rogue One, was No. 1 at the box office. She won critical praise for her performance in the original Star Wars film (“Episode IV: A New Hope”), which I first saw in 1977 at Atlanta’s Phipps Plaza theater immediately after its original release. Many of her best scenes were Princess Leia’s exchanges of sarcastic lines with the outlaw pilot Han Solo, memorably played by Harrison Ford, which recalled the classic romantic pairings of Hollywood’s Golden Age — Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, etc.

Baked Alaska

Well, apparently there's an "Alt-Right Civil War," which involves some apparently controversial headlining changes to the so-called "DeploraBall," which is some gala for the Internet cult of rightists supporting Donald Trump.

It's weird, whatever it is.

Here's the headline at Mediaite, via Memeorandum, "Alt-Right in Civil War After Prominent Leader Disinvited From Pro-Trump ‘DeploraBall’."

And see the Ralph Retort, "DEPLORABALL DUSTUP: Baked Alaska Out, MILO In, Accusations Flying From All Parties."

You know, once the Daily Stormer gets involved, I'm outta here.

These aren't my kind of folks, actually.

ICYMI: Epic tweets from @bakedalaska (before the fake/co-opted MAGA3X crew deleted them) https://t.co/wuBy4zdw5P pic.twitter.com/oZf78tCCCx

— ᴰᴶ TB • #AnimeRight (@TRIGGERBAITmk2) December 27, 2016

Israel Prepares to Build More Settlements

Heh.

I can dig it.

At the New York Times, "Defying U.N., Israel Prepares to Build More Settlements":

JERUSALEM — Undeterred by a resounding defeat at the United Nations, Israel’s government said Monday that it would move ahead with thousands of new homes in East Jerusalem and warned nations against further action, declaring that Israel does not “turn the other cheek.”

Just a few days after the United Nations Security Council voted to condemn Israeli settlements, Jerusalem’s municipal government signaled that it would not back down: The city intends to approve 600 housing units in the predominantly Palestinian eastern section of town on Wednesday in what a top official called a first installment on 5,600 new homes.

The defiant posture reflected a bristling anger among Israel’s pro-settlement political leaders, who not only blamed the United States for failing to block the Council resolution, but also claimed to have secret intelligence showing that President Obama’s team had orchestrated it. American officials strongly denied the claim, but the sides seem poised for more weeks of conflict until Mr. Obama hands over the presidency to Donald J. Trump.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Security Council countries by curbing diplomatic contacts, recalling envoys, cutting off aid and summoning the American ambassador for a scolding. He canceled a planned visit this week by Ukraine’s prime minister even as he expressed concern on Monday that Mr. Obama was planning more action at the United Nations before his term ends next month...

Still more.

Shop Today's Deals

*Bumped.*

At Amazon, Deals of the Day.

The deals include Up to 80 Percent Off on New York Times Best Sellers on Kindle.

Not bad.

BONUS: Ian Toll, Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942, and The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944.

Bella Thorne Santa Costume

At London's Daily Mail, "'It was the happiest and saddest year!' Bella Thorne smiles through the pain in a Santa costume as she reflects on a tumultuous 12 months."

Obama's Disgraceful and Harmful Legacy on Israel

I'm just counting down the days 'till Obama's gone. It's going to be a beautiful new day on January 20th.

From Bill Kristol, at the Weekly Standard:

For all eight years of the Obama administration, Democrats have made believe that Barack Obama is a firm and enthusiastic supporter and defender of the Jewish state. Arguments to the contrary were not only dismissed but angrily denounced as the products of nothing more than vicious partisanship. Obama's defenders repeatedly used the trope that "Israel should not be a partisan issue," as if Obama's views and actions were beyond reproach. A whole corps of Jewish leaders, some at the major organizations and many from Chicago, showed far greater loyalty to Obama than to the tradition of true nonpartisanship when it came to Middle East policy.

All of those arguments have been ground into dust by Obama's action Friday allowing a nasty and harmful anti-Israel resolution to pass the United Nations Security Council. Just weeks before leaving office, he could not resist the opportunity to take one more swipe at Israel—and to do real harm. So he will leave with his record on Israel in ruins, and he will leave Democrats even worse off.

It's pretty clear that he does not care. Obama has gotten himself elected twice, the second time by a decreased margin (the only time a president has been reelected by fewer votes than in his first term), but he has laid waste to his party. In the House, the Senate, the state governorships, and the state legislatures, the Democrats have suffered loss after loss. Today's anti-Israel action will further damage the Democratic party, by driving some Jews if not toward the Republicans then at least away from the Democrats and toward neutrality. Donald Trump's clear statement on Thursday that he favored a veto, Netanyahu's fervent pleas for one, and the Egyptian action in postponing the vote show where Obama stood: not with Israel, not even with Egypt, but with the Palestinians. Pleas for a veto from Democrats in Congress were ignored by the White House...

RTWT.

Rep. Maxine Waters: I'm gonna fight Donald Trump 'every inch of the way...' (VIDEO)

She's a vile woman.

A spiteful, combative, and repulsive black bitch of a congresswoman.

Watch, at Free Beacon, "Rep. Waters Refuses to Meet With Trump to Find Common Ground on Policies."

Just wow.

Thomas Sowell's Final Column for Creators Syndicate

At 86, he's retiring.

See, "Farewell."

George Ciccariello-Maher Has 'Protected' His Twitter Account

This isn't the first time I'd heard of Professor George Ciccariello-Maher.

He's about as far-left as they come. I think I came across his page after trolling through Taryn Fivek's page. (Remember her? Emma Quangel?) She's always linking to the most crazy stuff happening on the left, for example, "J20 Resist! Protest Trump's Inauguration in Washington D.C."

Anyway, he's trying to weasel out of his comments calling for a "white genocide," although killing off the white race is pretty much standard fare for hardcore leftists. Drexel, his university, is right to distance itself from his commentary.

See Inside Higher Ed, "Drexel Condemns Professor's Tweet." (At Memeorandum.)

The dude's protected his tweets now, although I think just yesterday they were viewable. He's worried about getting fired. He should be.

More from Sierra Marlee, at RWN, "Drexel U RESPONDS to Prof’s Tweet “All I want for Christmas is White Genocide”."

Here's Mr. White Genocide, George Ciccariello-Maher, celebrating Fidel Castro. pic.twitter.com/5tjDvYxMy9

— Craig R. Brittain (@CraigRBrittain) December 26, 2016

And a sample of the dude's far-left commentary:

Dear Neoliberal Democrats: This is Your Mess, Own It https://t.co/2wOHsbwzIA pic.twitter.com/9LZvfI5yCQ

— US Uncut (@USUncut) November 9, 2016