Islamic State Fears Nothing

Following-up from earlier, "David Cawthorne Haines Beheaded."

And now from Pamela Geller, "The Islamic State Beheads Another Hostage, British Aid Worker David Haines #Savages":

They fear nothing. They know Obama cannot get a golf game together, let alone a coalition. The Brits and the Germans have said they won’t join him. The Arab States won’t join the Great Satan to attack the Islamic State. Tepid lip service is all he will get from the Arab States. And Obama is conflicted between his duty to this country (which he chose to lead) and his perception in the Muslim world as Muhammad.

Obama is a spineless, feckless coward; he hates the US almost as much as the Islamic State does.

Quran 47:4 “When you meet the infidels, smite their necks.”

More.

Bob Crewe Dies: Was Songwriter for Frankie Valli and Four Seasons

At LAT, "Bob Crewe dies at 83; songwriter behind Frankie Valli, Four Seasons":

Bob Crewe — the songwriter and producer behind dozens of hits, including standards like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," which boosted Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons into pop posterity — died Thursday in Scarborough, Maine. He was 83.

Crewe, a four-decade resident of Los Angeles, had been in worsening health since injuring his brain in a fall four years ago. In 2011 he moved to Maine to be closer to his brother, Dan Crewe, who confirmed his death.

With no formal music training, Crewe parlayed natural talents into a long and successful career, helping to advance the fortunes not only of Valli and the Four Seasons but also Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Bobby Darin, Lesley Gore and Oliver.

Most of Crewe's songwriting hits were in the 1960s, but the 1970s brought one of his last chart-toppers, the soul hit "Lady Marmalade" for Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash of the vocal group LaBelle. The song, written with Kenny Nolan, launched a sexually suggestive line — "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? — into the vernacular of a generation.

"He was an enormous talent," Valli said Friday. "He was making records from the early '50s to the '60s and '70s. He had his own record company for a while. Sometimes I wonder if the industry really realized what a talent he was. He was surely one of the most creative people I ever worked with."

Crewe, portrayed in the movie and Tony-winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys," frequently collaborated with Bob Gaudio, the singer, songwriter and keyboardist who was one of the original members of the Four Seasons.

Although Crewe couldn't play an instrument or read music, "he sort of had a way of painting a picture of what he wanted," Gaudio told The Times. "He had a way of communicating with people — and they got it. He'd say, 'I want to hear some blue streaks here.' He's noted in the show as saying, 'I want to hear sky blue; you're giving me brown.'"

More.

David Cawthorne Haines Beheaded

British Prime Minister David Cameron has responded on Twitter:

The murder of David Haines is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014

We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014

And at Mirror UK, "David Haines 'beheading': Latest updates after ISIS video claiming to show execution of British hostage."

More at Telegraph UK, "Foreign Office working urgently to verify video showing British hostage David Haines 'beheading' by Isil terrorists." And BuzzFeed, "New ISIS Video Purports To Show Execution Of British Citizen."

Added: At Bare Naked Islam, "Islamic State (ISIS) claims to have beheaded British hostage, David Haines, and is threatening to behead another Briton, Alan Henning."

Obama's Betrayal of the Constitution

From leftist Professor Bruce Ackerman, at the New York Times (via Ms. EBL):

BERLIN — PRESIDENT OBAMA’s declaration of war against the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria marks a decisive break in the American constitutional tradition. Nothing attempted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, remotely compares in imperial hubris.

Mr. Bush gained explicit congressional consent for his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In contrast, the Obama administration has not even published a legal opinion attempting to justify the president’s assertion of unilateral war-making authority. This is because no serious opinion can be written.

This became clear when White House officials briefed reporters before Mr. Obama’s speech to the nation on Wednesday evening. They said a war against ISIS was justified by Congress’s authorization of force against Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that no new approval was needed.

But the 2001 authorization for the use of military force does not apply here. That resolution — scaled back from what Mr. Bush initially wanted — extended only to nations and organizations that “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the 9/11 attacks.

Mr. Obama is rightly proud of his success in killing Osama bin Laden in 2011 and dismantling the Qaeda network he built up. But it’s preposterous to suggest that a congressional vote 13 years ago can be used to legalize new bombings in Syria and additional (noncombat) forces in Iraq. In justifying earlier bombing campaigns in Yemen and Somalia, the administration’s lawyers claimed that the 2001 authorization covered terrorist groups that did not even exist back then. They said it sufficed to show that these groups were “affiliated” with Al Qaeda.

Even this was a big stretch, and it is not big enough to encompass the war on ISIS. Not only was ISIS created long after 2001, but Al Qaeda publicly disavowed it earlier this year. It is Al Qaeda’s competitor, not its affiliate.

Mr. Obama may rightly be frustrated by gridlock in Washington, but his assault on the rule of law is a devastating setback for our constitutional order. His refusal even to ask the Justice Department to provide a formal legal pretext for the war on ISIS is astonishing...

More.

And for the prototypical leftist response, see depraved authoritarian Steve M. at No More Mister, who blames it all on George W. Bush and the evil Republi-thugs, "MY SECRET SHAME: OBAMA'S SHREDDING THE CONSTITUTION, AND I DON'T REALLY CARE."

Nowhere does Steve M. actually rebut Professor Ackerman. Steve M. mocks Professor Ackerman and blames Republicans. Fact: George W. Bush went to Congress for war authorizations in 2001 (Afghanistan) and 2002 (Iraq). Now we have a president who simply refuses to seek congressional authorization for wars and improvises at each step along the way. I mean, Steve M. doesn't even offer the most reasonable rebuttal to Professor Ackerman, that Obama is acting under his power as commander-in-chief, with his own interpretation of presidential war powers; and that absent the large, wholesale, long-term deployment of ground troops, the president has ample authority to authorize strikes against terrorist on the basis of executive power alone.

But again, it's not about whether or not Obama has exceeded his authority. For Steve M. and other left-wing partisan hacks, it's all good as long as it's a black Muslim socialist who's pulling the strings up on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Republi-thugs are just standing in the way of the coming of leftist Heaven on Earth.

Nina Agdal for Leonisa Lingerie September 2014

At Egotastic!, "Nina Agdal poses in Leonisa Lingerie September 2014."

'Moderate', Obama-Backed Syrian Rebel Front (SRF) Signs Non-Aggression Pact with Islamic State — #ISIS

Right.

Remember the SRG is one of the key factions that compose the Free Syrian Army, the supposed anti-Assad rebels upon whom the Obama administration has staked its Syria policy.

Hmm, big mistake.

Basically, we're funding the Islamic State at this point.

At PuffHo, "ISIS Strikes Deal With Moderate Syrian Rebels: Reports."

And from Patrick Poole, at Pajamas Media, "Yet Another US-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Makes Peace With ISIS":

According to the media reports other groups joining the ceasefire with ISIS include Liwa Ahrar Turkman al-Golan, Liwa Hittin & Liwa al-Umma al-Wahida.

When seeking US heavy weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles, SRF commander Jamal Maroof was full of bravado, declaring war against ISIS. In May, McClatchy reported that SRF and other “vetted moderate” rebel groups had received TOW missiles from the US and posted videos of their use.

But as soon as weapons were being delivered to Maroof’s SRF forces, he was giving interviews to Western media making clear that “Al-Qaeda is not our problem.”

A May 2014 report by Jenan Mousa of Al-Aan notes that Maroof runs SRF in a cave with his 3 wives and children...

During that interview where Maroof talks about receiving US military aid and his soldiers receive US training, there is one curious artifact in the background:

Yeah, talk about not understanding the optics!

More at the link.

Basically, forget about "aiding" the "moderate" Syrian rebels. There's no such thing. Perhaps at one point, years ago, there were. But not now. We need to start bombing the "Islamic State" like it's 1945. That is, if the U.S. is really serious about "destroying" ISIS. I think somebody of particular importance said that, somewhere. And, well, time's a wastin'.

Countries Around the World Trying to Suppress the Flow of Jihadists to #ISIS

Well, good luck with that.

At the New York Times, "Nations Trying to Stop Their Citizens From Going to Middle East to Fight for ISIS":

UNITED NATIONS — France wants more power to block its citizens from leaving the country, while Britain is weighing whether to stop more of its citizens from coming home. Tunisia is debating measures to make it a criminal offense to help jihadist fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, while Russia has outlawed enlisting in armed groups that are “contradictory to Russian policy.”

The rapid surge of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and its ability to draw fighters from across the globe, have set off alarm bells in capitals worldwide. Countries that rarely see eye to eye are now trying to blunt its recruitment drive, passing a raft of new rules that they hope will stop their citizens from joining extremist groups abroad.

The United States has seized on the issue, pushing for a legally binding United Nations Security Council resolution that would compel all countries in the world to take steps to “prevent and suppress” the flow of their citizens into the arms of groups considered to be terrorist organizations.

Recruits from 74 countries are among the estimated 12,000 foreign militants in Syria and Iraq, many of them fighting with ISIS, according to Peter Neumann, a professor at King’s College London, who has culled the figures largely from government sources. The largest blocs of these fighters come from nearby Muslim countries, like Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, but smaller contingents come from countries as far away and disparate as Belgium, China, Russia and the United States...

Continue reading.

Amanda Marcotte's '7 Female Misogynists' Is Actually 10, But Who's Counting?

She's a vile woman.

Funny though, she's not lesbian, which is an anomaly for Robert Stacy McCain and his series on radical feminism.

Marcotte ain't so great with numbers, that's for sure. The Politichicks --- Ann-Marie Murrell, Morgan Brittany and Dr. Gina Loudon --- count as one woman is Marcotte's rogue's gallery of femisogynists.

Happy Saturday! Here is a list of 7 female misogynists. http://t.co/jSJwEOgniK Glad to have my Twitter mentions turned off!
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) September 13, 2014

And yes, turn off those mentions! What better way to avoid the fact that you're reviled by the entire world?!!

Walter James Casper take note!

Added! From Darleen Click, "Vagina Warrior Amanda Marcotte has an Enemies List."

Cathy Young & I at top of SALON enemy list.We are both pro-choice, pro-LGBT,libertarian-leaning feminists.Our crime?We check feminist facts.

— Christina H. Sommers (@CHSommers) September 13, 2014

Saturday Roundup

Let's start things off with the Mad Jewess Woman, "Start War Before Elections. Brilliant Plan of the #Communist #Democrats," and "Speaking Out Against Tyranny Is Gods' Will."

And at Maggie's Farm, "Sunday Morning Links."

Also at Blackmailers Don't Shoot, "Quinnspiracy Rule 5 Linkaround, and Odie's, "Special Watch ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

From William Teach, at Right Wing News, "Nancy Pelosi: Civilization Is In Jeopardy If GOP Takes Back Senate."

And at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is a wonderful greenspace which would be perfect for solar panels (as long as it is far from your home), you might just be a Warmist."

Matt Vespa, at Town Hall, "Fighter Pilot Was Tasked With Taking Out United 93 By Crashing Into It," and John Hawkins, "Millennials, Hollywood Is Lying To You About Work And Success (Part 2)."

At the Conservative Hideout, "Racial Violence: Two Black Women Force White Tenants out at Gun Point, Tired of ‘White People Moving Into Area’."

Now at Camp of the Saints, "The Obamas: Tone Deaf, Blind, and Dangerous."

And at EAG News, "University paper publishes 9/11 editorial, claims USA needs to ‘get over’ terrorist attacks."

More at Pat Dollard's, "Leftist Nutcase Bill Maher Says He Might Vote For Rand Paul Due To Libertarian Nutcase’s Anti-American Foreign Policy."

From Peter Ingemi, "Why a Formal Declaration of War on ISIS should be voted on and passed," and Zero Hedge, "Obama’s ISIS War Is Not Only Illegal, It Makes George W. Bush Look Like A Constitutional Scholar."

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY," and the Chive, "There Are Sexy Chivers Among Us (97 Photos)."

And at Lonley Con, "Kirsten Gillibrand Won’t Disclose Who Harassed Her."

From Dana Pico, "Economics 101: Maybe going on strike for higher wages when your jobs are already being replaced by robots isn’t the wisest idea."

Check out Jack Dunphy, at PJ Media, "Oakland Firefighter Plays Victim Card Until Police Release Video."

And JWF, "Democrat Fossil James Clyburn Say Sexting is a ‘Great Tool’ for Organizing Voters."

Also at Egotastic!, "Yasmine Colt Pink Bikini Sextastic for Today’s 138 Water Shoot."

At Knuckledraggin', "The most popular girl at the office," and Good Stuff's, "GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (155th Issue)."

California State University Could Limit Enrollment to Transfer Students

This is the first I've heard of it.

At LAT, "Cal State trustees raise scenario of transfer-only university":

Could California State University one day limit enrollment to transfers, admitting burgeoning numbers of community college students but turning away new freshmen?

The idea sounds far-fetched, but that scenario was raised Tuesday by trustees who cautioned that insufficient state funding could radically reduce the mission of the nation's largest university system.

The warning came during a discussion of the preliminary 2015-16 budget, which predicted growing demand for the 23-campus system. The Cal State system drew a record 761,000 applications for the fall 2014 term.

Much of that demand, officials said, is likely to come from community college transfers for two reasons: increased state funding is expected to boost two-year college enrollment by 60,000 students this year, and increased numbers of community college students will earn associate degrees for transfer, which guarantee admission to a Cal State campus.

After years of budget cuts and enrollment declines, funding for the Cal State system is increasing under Gov. Jerry Brown's multiyear plan that calls for an additional $119.5 million each for the Cal State and University of California systems in 2015-16.

But that number is $116.5 million short of what the Cal State system says it needs for operations, including a target enrollment increase of about 12,000 students. About half the students who qualify for Cal State entry but are turned away end up at community colleges, further increasing the transfer numbers, officials said...

More.

It's a sky-is-falling scenario.

Cal State will get more funding. The state's economy is picking up steam and tax revenues are increasing. There'll be a political outcry if freshmen are denied admissions to Cal State.

Should Children Be Held Back for Kindergarten?

Well, we held back our youngest son, who has ADHD and other neurological issues. And remember, I used to be skeptical of all the reports of ADHD, especially among my own students at college. But until you have a child with severe developmental issues, it's really hard to comprehend what kids --- and their parents --- go through.

So, keeping a kid back depends on the kid. Our oldest son is an outstanding student, basically a regular kid. He went to kindergarten when he was 5. But we kept back our second son and I'm glad we did. It's been helpful.

Either way, check the Wall Street Journal, "Many parents are holding back their 5-year-olds from school for a year, but the benefits are doubtful."

Republicans Putting Together an Agenda for First 100 Days of 2015

Just in case they win control of the upper chamber in November, which is looking increasingly likely.

At the Hill, "GOP Senate's first 100 days."

HETEROSEXUAL SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Boy, that really pisses off the homosexual fascists.

At Instapundit, "21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: HETEROSEXUAL SAME-SEX MARRIAGE angers gay rights activists who say it 'trivializes marriage'."

Heh, the irony.

Big Solar Storms Expected This Weekend

At CNN:



Also at the Sydney Morning Herald, "Twin solar storms head towards Earth."

Lucy Collett's Twitter Video!

Watch, via Zoo Today.

Northern California Nudist Camp Accused of Stealing Water

Nudists. Progressives.

The biggest f-king hypocrites.

Tweeted earlier, from LAT:

Progressive values: Bay Area nudist resort accused of stealing 280,000 gallons of water. @Instapundit http://t.co/x5b43gv4sf

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 13, 2014

Microaggressions on Campus

Via Maggie's Farm, "You can't be too alert for microaggressions on campus."

UC Davis Researchers Develop Nanoparticle Cancer-Fighting Treatment

As Professor Glenn Reynolds always says, "faster please."

Via CBS Sacramento:

NewsBusted: President Obama's Approval Ratings Hit a New Low

Via Theo Spark:

Foreign Policy Editor David Rothkopf Hammers Obama's Foreign Policy: Says Barack Should Take a Page from George W. Bush's Second Term

A phenomenal piece, at Foreign Poilcy, "National Insecurity: Can Obama's Foreign Policy Be Saved?":

"YOU'RE STILL A SUPERPOWER," a top diplomat from one of America's most dependable Middle Eastern allies said to me in July of this year, "but you no longer know how to act like one."

He was reflecting on America's position in the world almost halfway into President Barack Obama's second term. Fresh in his mind was the extraordinary string of errors (schizophrenic Egypt policy, bipolar Syria policy), missteps (zero Libya post-intervention strategy, alienation of allies in the Middle East and elsewhere), scandals (spying on Americans, spying on friends), halfway measures (pinprick sanctions against Russia, lecture series to Central Americans on the border crisis), unfulfilled promises (Cairo speech, pivot to Asia), and outright policy failures (the double-down then get-out approach in Afghanistan, the shortsighted Iraq exit strategy).

The diplomat with whom I was speaking is a thoughtful man. He knew well that not all of these problems are the result of the blunders of a single really bad year or the fault of any one president. The reality is that any president's foreign policy record depends heavily on luck, external factors, cyclical trends, and legacy issues. And, to be sure, Obama inherited many of his greatest challenges, some of the biggest beyond his control.

Obama's presidency is largely a product of a moment in history that likely will be seen someday as an aberration -- the decade after 9/11, during which a stunned, angry, and disoriented America was sent spinning into a kind of national PTSD. Call it an age of fear, one in which the country and its leaders were forced to grapple with a sense of vulnerability to which they were unaccustomed. The response of George W. Bush's administration -- entering into the long, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, remaking U.S. national security policy around the terrorism threat -- led to a backlash that ushered Obama into office with a perceived mandate to undo what his predecessor had done and avoid making similar mistakes.

The problem is that in seeking to sidestep the pitfalls that plagued Bush, Obama has inadvertently created his own. Yet unlike Bush, whose flaw-riddled first-term foreign policy was followed by important and not fully appreciated second-term course corrections, Obama seems steadfast in his resistance both to learning from his past errors and to managing his team so that future errors are prevented. It is hard to think of a recent president who has grown so little in office.

As a result, for all its native confidence and fundamental optimism, the United States remains shaken and unsteady more than a decade after the 9/11 attacks. Many of its problems have only grown dangerously worse: Its relative influence has declined; the terrorism threat has evolved and spread; and U.S. alliances are superannuated, ineffective shadows of their former selves. Compounding this is such gross dysfunction in Washington that, on most issues, the president is presumed to be blocked by Congress even before he has had the opportunity to make a move.

If the nation is to recover fully, Obama must not only identify and attempt to reverse what has gone wrong, but he also must try to understand how he can achieve new gains by the end of his second term. That is to say that huge challenges remain unaddressed and rising to them requires a hard look at himself -- his responses, his messages, his management, and his team.

He must start by devoting special attention to the instances that knocked his foreign policy off the rails. And one stands out, even in the minds of some of the president's most prominent loyalists...

Keep reading.

Rothkopf wraps up the essay with a comparison of Presidents Obama and G.W. Bush. The former should take a page from the latter. (Although I don't expect he will.)