At London's Daily Mail, "Emily Ratajkowski showcases her pert derriere in a series of sizzling snaps as she enjoys a scorching getaway to Tuscany."
Also at Maxim, "EMILY RATAJKOWSKI DANCING TOPLESS AT A PHOTO SHOOT IS THE HOTTEST THING YOU'LL SEE TODAY."
Saturday, June 24, 2017
British Parliament Hit by Massive Cyber Attack
Hmm...
At the Telegraph U.K., "Blackmail fears after Parliament hit by 'sustained and determined' cyber attack leaving MPs unable to access emails":
These really are acts of war and it's increasingly apparent that Western states are losing.
At the Telegraph U.K., "Blackmail fears after Parliament hit by 'sustained and determined' cyber attack leaving MPs unable to access emails":
Parliament hit by 'sustained and determined' cyber attack https://t.co/gcKA3H7lKX— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 24, 2017
Tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph front page today: 'Blackmail fears after MPs hit by cyber attack' pic.twitter.com/Qu9PhfUDS8— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 24, 2017
Parliament has suffered its biggest ever cyber attack as hackers launched a “sustained and determined” attempt to break into MPs email accounts.More.
The “brute force” assault lasted for more than 12 hours on Friday as unknown hackers repeatedly targeted “weak” passwords of politicians and aides.
Parliamentary officials were forced to lock MPs out of their own email accounts as they scrambled to minimise the damage from the incident.
The network affected is used by every MP including Theresa May, the Prime Minister, and her cabinet ministers for dealing with constituents.
Experts last night warned that politicians could be exposed to blackmail or face a heightened threat of terrorist attack if emails were successfully accessed.
MPs also apologised to their constituents and expressed concerns that sensitive and private information shared with them may have leaked.
Fears were raised by cyber specialists that “state actors” such as Russia, China or North Korea could be behind the attack - thought Government sources said it was too early for conclusions...
These really are acts of war and it's increasingly apparent that Western states are losing.
Miles Teller's Girlfriend Keleigh Sperry Bikini Pics
Heh, and this is just after last week, "Miles Teller Arrested for Being Drunk and Uncooperative in Public."
The dude needs to get it together or he's going to lose his hot girlfriend, lol.
At London's Daily Mail, "Beach babe! Miles Teller's model girlfriend Keleigh Sperry shows off her impressive body in skimpy blue bikini during Miami getaway."
The dude needs to get it together or he's going to lose his hot girlfriend, lol.
At London's Daily Mail, "Beach babe! Miles Teller's model girlfriend Keleigh Sperry shows off her impressive body in skimpy blue bikini during Miami getaway."
Beach babe! Miles Teller's model girlfriend Keleigh Sperry shows off her body in a bikini during Miami getaway https://t.co/8Jo7kKYtSL— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) June 24, 2017
Instagram Model Rebecca Burger Killed by Exploding Whipped Cream Canister
It's actually not a "freak" accident.
Those lethal whipped cream canisters were taken off the market, but apparently in Ms. Burger's case some rogue containers slipped through the regulatory cracks.
At USA Today below, and at Drunken Stepfather, "DEAD INSTAGRAM MODEL OF THE DAY."
Those lethal whipped cream canisters were taken off the market, but apparently in Ms. Burger's case some rogue containers slipped through the regulatory cracks.
At USA Today below, and at Drunken Stepfather, "DEAD INSTAGRAM MODEL OF THE DAY."
Rebecca Burger was reportedly hit by an exploding whipped cream canister that was withdrawn from the market in 2013. https://t.co/zoCe2dm4yE
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 22, 2017
Lookouts and Radar Spotters on the Fitzgerald Should've Seen the Oncoming Cargo Ship
This is good. Click through and RTWT.
Maritime mystery: Why a U.S. destroyer failed to dodge a cargo ship https://t.co/duoPYVY99M
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 24, 2017
Aftermath of Alexandria Showed Left-Wing Bullying at its Worst
From Mary Katharine Ham, at the Federalist, "Aftermath of Alexandria Shooting Showed the Left’s Cultural Bullying at its Worst":
Aftermath Of Alexandria Shooting Showed Left's Bullying At Its Worst https://t.co/q5zpFpDUOd
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) June 24, 2017
The behavior of many on the Left this week sent a message that not only do they not 'get' the other half of the country, they don’t want to. That's a recipe for losing elections.More.
James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois arrived in a D.C. suburb several months ago and lived out of his van next to a small local baseball field, which had recently been reported as the site of Republican congressional baseball practice. He took pictures of this otherwise unremarkable locale, and showed up there last Wednesday with two guns and a list of six elected Republicans on his person. He verified with a member of Congress that they were indeed Republicans on the field before opening fire, attempting to murder a bunch of them.
A week later, one of the victims, Rep. Steve Scalise, had been smeared by one national media figure and told his wound was “self-inflicted” by a nightly news anchor while he was still in the hospital fighting for his life. Republicans had been scolded for not changing their views on the Second Amendment in response to being attacked, and national media had either moved on from the story or moved on to scolding Republicans for their reaction to it.
Rep. Mo Brooks faced the question about his Second Amendment views just minutes after someone literally tried to murder him. Can we take a moment to think about how utterly crass this is? Imagine an abortion bomber blowing up a Planned Parenthood grand opening in Washington DC, injuring members of Congress in attendance. Then imagine most national news coverage including this question for their colleagues who escaped maiming: “Shouldn’t you probably consider changing your views on abortion? Maybe pass some common-sense limits on it?”
Yet Brooks offered a competent, calm civics class on the subject to anyone who was willing to listen.
Media Doesn’t Want to Talk About What Really Happened
National media covered the incident voraciously for several hours, but within a day, most had moved on to another leak in the Russia story. Less than 48 hours after a multiple assassination attempt on members of Congress, there were no media vans or cameras at the Alexandria baseball field where it occurred. Just for perspective, when Republican staffer Elizabeth Lauten committed the offense of writing something critical of President Obama’s daughters on her private Facebook page, news cameras were camped on her parents’ lawn staking her out for the better part of a week.
When the press was covering the shooting, it was mostly a gauzy, imprecise discussion of how “rhetoric” might have caused it, which means we’re in the business of determining whose rhetoric to stifle to prevent further violence. Wouldn’t you know it? The answer was… Donald Trump’s rhetoric, which has the magical power to compel a Bernie volunteer to shoot a long-time Trump-supporting Republican. Way to go on the narrative assist, there, Rep. Mark Sanford.
The New York Times went so far as to repeat a long-debunked lie blaming Sarah Palin’s political speech for the wholly unrelated shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords in an attempt to make Republicans culpable in a scenario in which Republicans were shot. All of its fact-checkers were presumably engaged in checking the statements of Republicans blaming Democratic rhetoric for the shooting, because those are their priorities. (For what it’s worth, I’ve been on record for a long time about how it’s unwise to conflate political speech with violence in a country that values free speech.)
Let’s Talk about How the Victims Responded, Instead
Less than a week after the shooting, there was a high-profile House election in Georgia—the most expensive House race in history. The Republican candidate Karen Handel had been specifically named by Hodgkinson in one of his anti-Republican Facebook rants. When I say named, I mean he called her a “shit” then exhorted his followers to “Vote Blue!” This tidbit got only the briefest of mentions outside local news, as did the threatening letters containing white powder Handel and her neighbors received days before the election. The powder turned out to be non-toxic.
Hodgkinson’s attempted massacre was not part of media coverage of GA-6 despite his act of intimidation having clear implications there. Targeting a specific population for its beliefs usually has a secondary consequence—to cow the members of the community the murderer didn’t succeed in killing. Would Republican voters be intimidated into staying home or emboldened by this attack on elected Republicans? It seems like an interesting question in a special election where turnout is important and unpredictable, yet it was rarely if ever discussed.
Instead, the only time the shooting came up in national media coverage of GA-6 was when an outside group ran a small, ham-handed ad tying Democratic rhetoric to the shooting. The ad was promptly, rightly denounced by Handel, but the scolding coverage of the ad went on for a day. My, how quickly we move in the news cycle from Republicans literally shot to Republican overreach about Republicans being literally shot.
Handel’s win thanks to the turnout of Republicans could and should have been celebrated as a defiant stand by free citizens in the face of an attack meant to scare them out of engaging in democracy. Exercising your right to vote then celebrating an electoral victory are very healthy ways to defy a gunman who tried to kill people who share your beliefs.
Instead, in the wake of Handel’s solid win, which snatched the #Resistance’s longed-for victory, Washington Post writer Dave Weigel scolded Republicans for “dunking” on Democrats despite everyone’s one-day indulgence of “come together” rhetoric, as if four hours of praise-hands emoji and super-hot memes on Twitter is part of the “climate of hate.”
In our hypothetical above about an attack on elected officials at Planned Parenthood, imagine a loudly pro-choice candidate winning an important, high-profile victory less than a week later and the news media tsk-tsking Emily’s List for celebrating that win...
Friday, June 23, 2017
Bruce Bawer, The Victims' Revolution
*BUMPED.*
At Amazon, Bruce Bawer, The Victims' Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind.
At Amazon, Bruce Bawer, The Victims' Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind.
Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism
Robert Stacy McCain regularly cites this book.
At Amazon, Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.
At Amazon, Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.
Public Support for Single-Payer Healthcare
At Pew Research, "Public support for ‘single payer’ health coverage grows, driven by Democrats":
And don't forget, Venezuala should be a cautionary tale for leftists, but it's not.
Via Memeorandum.
Public support for ‘single payer’ health coverage grows, driven by Democrats https://t.co/RwfANnwRv1 pic.twitter.com/0I1Un1kT1L
— PewResearch FactTank (@FactTank) June 23, 2017
A majority of Americans say it is the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. And a growing share now supports a “single payer” approach to health insurance, according to a new national survey by Pew Research Center.Democrats are socialists, if we didn't know that by now --- and if they had their way, we'd have much worse healthcare outcomes than we already do. Much more healthcare inequality, especially, with the well-off able to afford private medical care, and those less well-off stuck in substandard government-run Cuba-style "healthcare" hellholes.
Currently, 60% say the federal government is responsible for ensuring health care coverage for all Americans, while 39% say this is not the government’s responsibility. These views are unchanged from January, but the share saying health coverage is a government responsibility remains at its highest level in nearly a decade.
Among those who see a government responsibility to provide health coverage for all, more now say it should be provided through a single health insurance system run by the government, rather than through a mix of private companies and government programs. Overall, 33% of the public now favors such a “single payer” approach to health insurance, up 5 percentage points since January and 12 points since 2014. Democrats – especially liberal Democrats – are much more supportive of this approach than they were even at the start of this year.
Even among those who say the federal government is not responsible for ensuring Americans have health care coverage, there is little public appetite for government withdrawing entirely from involvement in health care coverage. Among the public, 33% say that health care coverage is not the government’s responsibility, but that programs like Medicare and Medicaid should be continued; just 5% of Americans say the government should not be involved at all in providing health insurance.
The issue of the government’s responsibility in ensuring health coverage remains deeply divisive politically, according to the new survey, conducted June 8-18 among 2,504 adults. More than eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (85%) say that this responsibility falls to the federal government, while about two-thirds of Republicans and Republican leaners (68%) say it does not.
Still, most Republicans (57%) say the government “should continue programs like Medicare and Medicaid for seniors and the very poor.” Just 9% of Republicans say the government should not be involved in providing health insurance at all...
And don't forget, Venezuala should be a cautionary tale for leftists, but it's not.
Via Memeorandum.
Nina Skye, 21-Year-Old Preschool Teacher in Los Angeles, Fired After Appearing in Pornography Videos
I don't know?
Maybe she can make more money doing porn. She clearly enjoys it. At London's Daily Mail and Heat Street:
Maybe she can make more money doing porn. She clearly enjoys it. At London's Daily Mail and Heat Street:
'I love teaching, I love sex': Christian kindergarten teacher, 21, who starred in $2,500-a-time PORN films is fired https://t.co/gR6kZIyJ0D pic.twitter.com/RSHodpwA6e
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 23, 2017
TFW society won't let you do porn and teach kids how to read. https://t.co/nCjfgZmYqp
— Heat Street (@heatstreet) June 23, 2017
GOP #ObamaCare Repeal Will Transform American Health Care
From Avik Roy, at Forbes, via Memeorandum, "The New Senate Republican Bill Will Transform American Health Care":
Finished reading the Senate HC bill. Put simply: If it passes, it’ll be the greatest policy achievement by a GOP Congress in my lifetime.
— Avik Roy (@Avik) June 22, 2017
I’m very open to thoughtful critiques of the Senate bill from the left. “MILLIONS WILL DIE” is not it.
— Avik Roy (@Avik) June 23, 2017
The hotly-anticipated Senate Republican health care bill came out on Thursday morning. The airwaves quickly filled up with predictable talking points from both sides. But once the dust settles, it will emerge that the Senate bill will have far-reaching effects on American health care: for the better.Keep reading.
Substantial improvements to the House bill
In March, when House Republicans published their bill to replace Obamacare—the American Health Care Act—I described it in Forbes this way: “GOP’s Obamacare Replacement Will Make Coverage Unaffordable For Millions—Otherwise, It’s Great.” I meant it. There were great things about the House bill, in particular its far-reaching reforms of the Medicaid program.
But Paul Ryan’s bill contained a fatal flaw. Its flat tax credits, which provided identical assistance to the poor and the wealthy, would price millions of near-elderly low-income workers out of the insurance market and trap millions more in poverty.
Fortunately, buried in the House bill was a way out of the morass. Section 202 of the bill contains a transitional schedule of tax credits that was meant to serve as a bridge between the old Obamacare system, ending in 2017, and the new Paul Ryan system, beginning in 2020.
It turns out that if you simply kept that bridge in force, and tossed overboard the Paul Ryan flat tax credit, you’d solve all of these problems with the House bill. By making that change, the near-elderly working poor would be able to afford coverage, and the poverty trap would be eliminated.
And that’s precisely what the Senate bill did! Section 102 of the Senate bill—the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017—closely mirrors Section 202 of the House bill, with age- and means-tested tax credits up to 350 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
Making this change not only solves the problems I described above. It also makes it easier to reform the Medicaid program.
Real Medicaid reforms
The Senate bill includes and refines the best part of the House bill: its reforms of Medicaid, the dysfunctional government-run health care program for the poor whose enrollees have no better health outcomes than the uninsured.
Because the Senate bill’s tax credits are robustly means-tested and available to those below the poverty line, the bill is able to repeal Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion while offering higher-quality coverage to individuals who signed up for Medicaid under the expansion.
The reason that Medicaid’s health outcomes are so poor is because the outdated 1965 Medicaid law places a laundry list of constraints on states’ ability to manage their Medicaid programs. As a result, the main tool states have to keep Medicaid costs under control is to pay doctors and hospitals less and less each year for the same care. Hence, many doctors don’t take Medicaid, and Medicaid enrollees struggle to gain access to care.
The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 addresses these problems in several ways.
First, the bill repeals Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and replaces it with tax credits so that low-income Americans can buy the coverage of their choice at an affordable price.
Second, the bill gives states a new set of tools to make their Medicaid programs. For example, under Obamacare, states are only allowed to check if someone is eligible for Medicaid once a year, even if that enrollee has moved to a different state, or becomes no longer eligible, or is no longer alive. Jonathan Ingram of the Foundation for Government Accountability, in a recent report, recommended allowing states to redetermine eligibility more frequently and thereby culling their rolls of ineligible individuals.
Third, the bill puts the legacy Medicaid program on a long-term per-capita cap tied to medical inflation through 2025, and conventional inflation (CPI-U) thereafter. This change is important, because Medicaid per-enrollee spending is growing at a slightly slower rate than Medical inflation; hence, making the program sustainable requires the use of CPI-U. The fiscal sustainability of Medicaid is essential to making sure that those who depend on the program can know it will be there for them in the future...
Trevor Noah on the Philando Castile Shooting Video
Leftists think they're on some high horse here?
The cops gunned down this dude. The cops murdered him. It's plain as day. It's not, however, a case for the "Black Lives Matter" movement. That's about cop-killing. We're supposed to be a nation of laws. There was no justice in the Philando Castile case, and that's really sad.
Watch, "Trevor Noah on the Philando Castile Shooting: 'Forget race. Are we all watching the same video?'"
PREVIOUSLY: "Minnesota Officer Acquitted in Killing of Philando Castile."
The cops gunned down this dude. The cops murdered him. It's plain as day. It's not, however, a case for the "Black Lives Matter" movement. That's about cop-killing. We're supposed to be a nation of laws. There was no justice in the Philando Castile case, and that's really sad.
Watch, "Trevor Noah on the Philando Castile Shooting: 'Forget race. Are we all watching the same video?'"
PREVIOUSLY: "Minnesota Officer Acquitted in Killing of Philando Castile."
Democrat Party of Hate and Destruction (VIDEO)
Watch, from this morning's Fox & Friends, at Fox News, "Judge Jeanine: Democrats a party of hate and destruction."
'Rainbow Armpit Hair for Pride'
Seen on Twitter:
Rainbow Armpit Hair For Pride Is the Most Amazing Thing You'll See Today https://t.co/VBZuvaHxf9 pic.twitter.com/IF9uADBvJv
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) June 21, 2017
NO IT ISNT https://t.co/4EV7IjoCyh
— Jenna Jameson (@jennajameson) June 23, 2017
Shop Best Sellers in Grocery and Gourmet Food
*BUMPED.*
At Amazon, Grocery & Gourmet Food.
And, Shop Gourmet Coffee.
BONUS: Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics.
At Amazon, Grocery & Gourmet Food.
And, Shop Gourmet Coffee.
BONUS: Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics.
Total Insanity at Evergreen State College (VIDEO)
There's still a couple of things reassuring about the whole mess at Evergreen: One, the leftist totalitarians are still outnumbered by people who oppose them (and who have powerful ways to get the opposition message out); and two, at some point, the Evergreen students will have to go out and make it in the real world. Most of these students will seek jobs at leftist non-profits and radical progressive interest groups and think tanks (if they indeed seek work at all). But if some of them want employment in regular corporate America, they'll find there's a limit at even the most tolerant and progressive firms to the obscenities of social justice extremism.
In any case, watch the video below, and read the commentary and analysis at the Other McCain, "The Catastrophe at Evergreen State":
In any case, watch the video below, and read the commentary and analysis at the Other McCain, "The Catastrophe at Evergreen State":
As has been pointed out, Professor Weinstein “supported Bernie Sanders, admiringly retweets Glenn Greenwald and was an outspoken supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement” and calls himself “deeply progressive,” but that’s not enough for the thugs at Evergreen.
Out in Paper: Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon
Now available in paperback, at Amazon, Clinton Romesha, Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor.
Getting an Edge in the Long Afghan Struggle
From David Petraeus and Michael O'Hanlon, at WSJ, "Trump’s early approach holds promise if backed with a sustained, and sustainable, commitment":
PHOTO: Above, "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a helicopter over Kabul, April 24."
Trump's strategy should seek long-term sustainability in Afghanistan, write David Patraeus & Michael O’Hanlon https://t.co/hWUJMhT9NA— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) June 23, 2017
Can the U.S. succeed in Afghanistan? Not without a sustained, and sustainable, commitment. President Trump’s decision to give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to add several thousand more U.S. troops to the 8,400 currently deployed is encouraging—but only if it is a first step in a comprehensive approach.More.
Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, should also receive greater leeway in the use of U.S. and NATO air power. And officials should remain open to the possibility of reconciliation with some insurgents, probably just those that break off from the central Taliban.
An intensified military effort could arrest the gradual loss of territory held by the government in recent years—now estimated by U.S. Central Command at only 60% of the country—and to regain battlefield momentum. Congress should enable all this by appropriating the $5 billion or so a year above current levels that such a strategy will require.
America’s leaders should not lose sight of why the U.S. went to, and has stayed in, Afghanistan: It is in our national interest to ensure that country is not once again a sanctuary for transnational extremists, as it was when the 9/11 attacks were planned there. We have been accomplishing that mission since the intervention began in October 2001. Although al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is diminished, it could rebound if given the opportunity. Islamic State could expand its newfound Afghan foothold as well.
The augmented troop levels Mr. Trump has authorized would be only 12% to 15% of the peak U.S. force levels, in 2010-11. The country can sustain that level of commitment. While all casualties are tragic, our losses in Afghanistan would likely remain far fewer than the losses from another major terrorist attack in the U.S.
Today the U.S. and its coalition partners lack the capacity to train and assist Afghan forces adequately in the field. As recently as 2015, the allied forces did not even have a full-time advisory presence for the main Afghan army corps in Helmand province. Largely as a result, the Taliban gained control of much of the province. Nor did the coalition have adequate advisers to help the smaller Afghan formations near Kunduz before that city fell to the Taliban in 2015. It was later liberated only at high cost, especially to Afghan forces and civilians. Restrictions on coalition air power reduced America’s ability to help Afghan partners.
Adding some 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. and allied troops could provide the capacity for several dozen deployable mentoring teams. That is far from enough to assist each Afghan brigade or battalion. But it could support the units that are engaged in the toughest fights and are most intensively involved in rebuilding their capabilities. Supporting those teams logistically and with air power, and providing quick-reaction forces in several parts of the country to help them if they get in trouble, would drive additional requirements for coalition troops into the low thousands.
On the civilian side, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah need to continue their efforts against corruption, which have shown gradual, modest results to date. With U.S. help, they need to reform the electoral commissions that will oversee parliamentary and presidential elections over the next two years.
Then there is Pakistan, where the U.S. needs a tougher approach...
PHOTO: Above, "Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a helicopter over Kabul, April 24."
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