Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers

From Michelle Malkin:

It’s on. As the White House grapples with a growing backlash over its Libya lies and lapses, President Obama’s apologists are gearing up for battle. Put on your hip-waders. Grab those tar buckets. Get ready for Operation Smear Benghazi Whistleblowers.

Capitol Hill hearings this Wednesday on the deadly 9/11 consulate attack by jihadists will feature three compelling witnesses, all State Department veterans: Gregory N. Hicks, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya and highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in the country at the time of the Benghazi jihad attacks; Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine who now serves as deputy coordinator for operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the top security officer in Libya.

Nordstrom first testified last fall about how State Department brass spurned his requests for increased security at the compound. Hicks and Thompson are coming forward publicly for the first time this week with more damning evidence contradicting Team Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s claims about the administration’s response the night of the attack and in the ensuing months of cover-ups.

According to the House Oversight Committee, Hicks reportedly will refute Team Obama’s claims that nobody was told to stand down and that all military resources available were used in the rescue efforts. As Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi to save lives during the attacks, Hicks says the team received a phone call from the U.S. Special Operations Command Africa telling them “you can’t go” and that the decision was “purely political.”

The State Department press office already has accused Victoria Toensing, attorney for one of the Benghazi whistleblowers, of “lying” about administration pressure on her clients. Left-wing operatives funded by billionaire George Soros have taken to Twitter to mock reports of fear and intimidation among the new witnesses. White House press secretary Jay Carney continues to sing “Long, Long Ago” and deny all wrongdoing.
And one anonymous State Department official told Fox News reporter James Rosen that Hicks and Thompson have “axes to grind.”

Continue reading.

Also, from Marc Thiessen, "A Benghazi bombshell." (At Memeorandum.)

Plus, at Daily Mail, "Dick Cheney slams Obama administration's Benghazi performance." (At Memeorandum.)

Pamela Geller Nailed Rick Perry's Jihad Problem — And She's Vindicated Big Time With Outing of Holocaust Denier David Cole

Back during the primaries I wrote at least one post on this, "Is Rick Perry 'Pro-Sharia'?" I looked over some of the curriculum at the time and it didn't look good. Pamela had the goods, but she took heat from the right blogosphere's pro-Perry crowd.

Well, we had lots of new developments on this yesterday. Zilla reports, "Bed Down With Holocaust Denying Fraudsters, Wake Up And Eat Crow." And at iOWNTHEWORLD, "Pamela Geller is a Shrieking Harpy Flashback!!!"

And at Pamela's, "ACE AND WEASEL'S #1 SOURCE ON ISLAMIC CURRICULUM DENIAL IS HOLOCAUST DENIER DAVID COLE, MEA CULPA?," and "PERRY MAFIA PUNKED, "BECLOWNED" INDEED."

More at Jihad Watch, "'Source' who 'debunked' story of Rick Perry's Islam whitewash curriculum turns out to be Holocaust denier with false identity."

BONUS: At Da Tech Guys, "A Simple Fact about Pam Geller & Robert Spencer:

I’ve never understood the willingness of people, particularly on the right to go after Pam & Robert. I particularly don’t get the people who seem to have it in their minds they are all in this for the cash.

Forget about the cash. Even conservatives sometimes struggle to stay on the right side of decency and right. Pamela doesn't. That's why I'm always by her side.

PHOTO CREDIT: Norman Gersman.

Back From 'Schools for Subversion'

Here's the announcement, "Schools for Subversion: How Public Education Lays the Foundation for University Radicalism."

I had a wonderful time meeting and listening to Professor Mary Grabar at tonight's event.

I didn't take a lot of picture nor a lot of notes. I enjoyed all the speakers. And the panel was well moderated by Ben Boychuk. The question and answer session was still rolling along when I left the hotel at about 9:50pm. In fact, I was enjoying the Q&A almost as much as the panelists. There are some really deep and passionate opinions on these issues, and at times it feels as if it's impossible to overcome the enormously deadening leftist bureaucracy. I nevertheless felt as if there's plenty folks can do to make things better in public education. I'll try to have some more detailed thoughts later (on what little notes I took).

Oh, for now though, note that Mary's parents got her out of Yugoslavia (Slovenia) when she was 2-years-old. Mary's a naturalized American, an immigrant. When she talks about the crisis of liberty in education it's not theoretical. It's a real, visceral reaction to leftist totalitarianism in our most important cultural institutions.

Plus, note also that panelist Kyle Olson is the author of Indoctrination: How ‘Useful Idiots’ Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism. I'm going to order a copy for myself later this week when I get some downtime.

Schools for Subversion: How Public Education Lays the Foundation for University Radicalism

I'll be heading up to Los Angeles after classes today for an education panel, "Schools for Subversion." I'm meeting Professor Mary Grabar for coffee before the event, held at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Mary's announcement is here.

And at the Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, "Symposium Debates Public School Indoctrination: Symposium Debates Public School Indoctrination":

CJHS Hosts Expert Panel to Dissect Controversial Topic, May 6, in Los Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, a Los Angeles based non-profit activist group, is sponsoring a symposium and expert panel discussion, Schools for Subversion: How the Public Education Lays the Foundation for University Radicalism, on Monday, May 6, at the Luxe Hotel Sunset in Los Angeles.  It has become common knowledge that universities are bastions of political correctness, but that waterfall is spilling down through public education institutions all the way to the elementary level.  Even a cursory look at headlines reveals that innocent children are being subjected to an all too often vicious form of political indoctrination designed to create a liberal mindset as early as possible.Doris Wise Montrose, president and founder of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors said, “The Nazi model for outcome based education was to transform the world by changing the children. Hans Schemm, leader of the Nazi Teacher’s League, clearly stated:  ‘Those who have the youth on their side control the future.’  We know how that ended and we must connect the dots. We have been asleep at the wheel with respect to public education.  America must wake up and act before it is too late.”It begins early in elementary school, when children are inculcated with lessons steeped in “social justice,” which is essentially radical egalitarian, social engineering. Although parents may not be aware of it, social justice creeps into just about every subject: social studies, language arts, science, even math.  It’s weaved into state curriculum standards. It is the focus of colleges of education. It is promoted by curriculum companies (sometimes tax-supported and tax-exempt) to teachers, cloaked in innocuous titles and feel-good text.The roots and real goals of this radical pedagogy will be examined by this panel. Among the topics for discussion:

• The latest Pew poll shows that 49 percent of young adults believe that socialism is a viable economic system. Only 43 percent say they have a negative view. The poll also found that just 46 percent of people age 18-29 have positive views of capitalism, and 47 percent have negative views.

• Even “global warming,” ostensibly a scientific issue, is really about the expansion of government. According to the alarmists, the alleged climate change has been the product of unbridled corporate America, so the government must rein them in.

• Is Islam really a “religion of peace?”

• Does Che Guevara deserve to be idolized?

• Does “The Three Little Pigs” really have a Eurocentric message?

• Is teaching anti-racist math really necessary?

• Why is it okay to teach young kids about the joys of collective bargaining but not about why capitalism is the best system on earth?

Larry Sand, retired teacher and one of the panelists said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. It is essential that the public become fully aware of this troubling phenomenon and get more involved in their local schools with the goal of returning them to centers of learning rather than hubs of indoctrination.”

The expert panel includes:

Kyle Olson – Author of Indoctrination: How ‘Useful Idiots’ Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism and publisher of EAGnews.org, a news service dedicated to education reform and school spending research, reporting, analysis and commentary.

Larry Sand – Retired teacher, president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network, blogger and regular contributor to City Journal. Having taught for over 28 years, he has seen firsthand what Olson has written about.

Mary Grabar – Professor who’s forever battling the “re-educators,” and not coincidentally, forever battling for her continued employment in Georgia. She has written extensively about influence of radicals in our colleges, most notably chronicling the legacy of the late Howard Zinn whose politically charged and factually challenged “textbook,” A People’s History of the United States, is in wide usage in schools across the country. She is organizing the Resistance to the Re-Education of America at DissidentProf.com.

Bruce Thornton – Professor of classics and humanities at Fresno State University and a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of eight books, a regular contributor to FrontPageMag.com and perhaps the most articulate and prolific conservative college professor working today.

Ben Boychuk, moderator  – Currently an associate editor of City Journal, and a columnist for the Sacramento Bee and ScrippsHoward News Service, where he writes eloquently on a wide variety of topics. He has long been involved with education issues, including a recent stint at Heartland Institute where he was managing editor of School Reform News and remains a policy advisor on education issues.

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (CJHS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit tax exempt organization dedicated to educating the public in the United States and abroad about the intellectual and cultural climate that led to the Holocaust, and the ideas and philosophy that bring about a totalitarian dictatorship. CJHS seeks to protect freedom by raising awareness of the aggression and scapegoating that inevitably follow the abandonment of individual rights and the embrace of collectivism. CJHS advances these goals by hosting educational events concentrated in four areas: (1) examining U.S. diplomacy toward Israel and the Middle East, with a focus on the right of the State of Israel to exist and be recognized as a Jewish State; (2) restoring the teaching of and respect for Western values in K-12 education; (3) documenting anti-Semitism and promoting human rights; (4) exposing the existential threat posed by Islam to the liberties and freedoms of western society.  We know how it ends


Brad Butler
UniGlobal.Com Public Relations
Los Angeles, CA
323-410-7511

I'll be on Twitter throughout the night, and will be back to blogging ASAP.

Hope to see you there!

Lila Rose With Mike Huckabee

Following up on my earlier entry, "While You're Waiting for the #Gosnell Verdict.."

More at New York Daily News, "Philadelphia jury begins 4th day of deliberations in case of ghoulish abortion doc Kermit Gosnell."

Israel Airstrike Kills Dozens of Syrian Soldiers

At the Times of Israel, "‘Damascus airstrike killed dozens of elite troops’."

Also at the New York Times, "Israeli Attacks on Syria Fuel Debate Over U.S.-Led Effort."

Plus, commentary at Telegraph UK, "Syria’s tragedy can no longer be contained."

And Elliot Abrams, at the Weekly Standard, "Of Presidents and Bluffing."

Jodi Arias Murder Trial Verdict Expected

At CNN, "Haven't been following the Jodi Arias trial? Read this."

Maybe there'll be a verdict today.

Whistleblowers Set to Testify on #Benghazi

Here's the big Fox News report, "Clinton sought end-run around counterterrorism bureau on night of Benghazi attack, witness will say." (At Memeorandum.)

Also at Twitchy, "Must-read: Sharyl Attkisson previews Benghazi whistleblowers’ bombshells; ‘Felt helpless, abandoned’."

BONUS: From John Sexton, at Big Peace, "BENGHAZI WHISTLEBLOWER: 'MY JAW HIT THE FLOOR' AS WH BLAMED YOUTUBE."

Timothy McVeigh Photo Included in New York Times Report on Growth of Homegrown Jihad Terrorism

For the life of me I'm trying to make the connection.

This is supposed to be a report on Islamic jihadis organizing terrorist attacks online, but the World Wide Web was less than two years old when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Building, April 19, 1995. I guess as long at it's a "domestic" bombing that's all the connection one needs at the New York Times. Folks wouldn't want to think the online jihadi threat is anything new or more significant, and we certainly wouldn't want to overstate the international terror network effects. I mean these Tsarnaev brothers were just "knock offs," right? And hey, linking domestic bomber McVeigh at the photo is a nice touch, kinda like April 15th in Boston, when some progressives were citing Hitler's Birthday as a motive. You gotta keep hope alive!

See, "A Homemade Style of Terror: Jihadists Push New Tactics":

At a news conference on Tuesday, President Obama suggested that the bombers had acted on their own, saying that “one of the dangers that we now face are self-radicalized individuals who are already here in the United States.” Mr. Obama said such plots “are in some ways more difficult to prevent.”

So far, the Tsarnaev brothers appear to have been radicalized and instructed in explosives not at a training camp but at home on the Internet. Their bombs were concocted from inexpensive everyday items whose purchase set off no alarms: pressure cookers, nails and ball bearings, gunpowder from fireworks and remote controls for toys. Their choice of an open-air event meant no gate, metal detector or security inspection to pass through with their bombs.

In other words, as Dzhokhar told investigators, they followed the script from Inspire magazine, which Mr. Khan published in Yemen along with his mentor, the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in the same drone strike on Sept. 30, 2011. Mr. Awlaki’s incendiary sermons and Mr. Khan’s training articles survived them on the Web, where the brothers found them.

Read the whole thing. There's no mention of McVeigh at the piece, but again, the composite photo with the caption is perfect for the left's messaging. And the report continues to paint Tamerlan as a forlorn loner who suffered at the hands of the boxing league which disqualified him.

Right. That's gotta be it!

Now for some reality, see Walid Shoebat, at FrontPage Magazine, "The Boston Bombing: Inside The Shocking Web of Terror Training":

With 200 or so attempted terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11, most of which were thwarted, it now becomes easy to understand the origin of these terrorist attacks and where they came from.

Not easy for the progressive Mandarins at the Old Gray Lady, it turns out.

Startling New Information on #Benghazi Terrorist Attack

From Sharyl Attkisson, at CBS News, "Three more officials to testify about Benghazi attacks."

As the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. in Libya, Gregory Hicks was on the ground at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli on September 11, 2012, when terrorists launched two attacks on American compounds in Benghazi.

Hicks and two other government officials have been named as witnesses for a Congressional hearing Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. The others are: Eric Nordstrom, the former lead security official for the State Department in Libya, and Mark Thompson, the acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism at the State Department. Other so-called "whistleblowers" from federal agencies, including the CIA, have provided information to Congressional investigators, but are said to be unwilling - so far - to speak publicly because they aren't authorized by their agencies to do so. Some claim fear of retaliation.

It's been a remarkably long period of silence from the dozens of American survivors and eyewitnesses who were in Libya the night of the attacks. It's not publicly known what testimony the witnesses will give at this week's hearing, but in a series of interviews and communications, CBS News has obtained information about some of areas of knowledge the witnesses can address.

Hicks was number two to Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the attacks. With Stevens in Benghazi on September 11, Hicks was the top Foreign Service official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. When the first U.S. compound in Benghazi fell under attack, Hicks reportedly took the frantic call.

"Greg, we are under attack," Ambassador Stevens told Hicks on the phone. Those were the last words he heard from Stevens.

According to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who appeared Sunday on "Face the Nation," Hicks recently testified privately to the House Oversight Committee: "I never reported a demonstration. I reported an attack on the consulate...I thought it was a terrorist attack from the get-go. I think everyone in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning."

Continue reading.

That's an extremely compelling interview with Issa at the clip above.

Howard Kurtz Grovels Before the Commissars of Political Correctness

Look, Kurtz screwed up, and bad. But because he screwed up with the Jason Collins coming out story, there was progressive hell to be paid.

Sunday talk shows are usually pretty boring, but to watch this guy give the most abject apology and then to have himself flayed by these two lamestream media flacks is just stunning.

Part 2 is here.

Plus, "Howard Kurtz apologizes on CNN for errors" (via Memeorandum).

'How can we “gun people” honestly be expected to come to the table with anti-gunners when anti-gunners are willfully stupid about guns, and openly hate, despise and ridicule those of us who own them?'

Good question.

See Barry Snell, "Waking the dragon — How Feinstein fiddled while America burned."

Man, that's one hella essay.

Any quote would be outstanding. Here's one:

Gun people don’t trust anti-gun people because they look down on us for defending the Second Amendment as vigorously as they defend the First Amendment — a fight we too would stand side-by-side with them on otherwise. We don’t trust anti-gunners because someone defending the First Amendment is considered a hero, but a someone defending the Second Amendment is figured down with murderers and other lowlifes. Where the First Amendment has its very own day and week, both near-holy national celebrations beyond reproach, anti-gunners would use the First Amendment to ridicule any equivalent event for the Second Amendment, like they did for a recent local attempt at the University of Iowa.

I think fortunately, at least this time around, the idiot "anti-gunners" are losing, and losing badly.

RTWT.

Alanis Morissette Rule 5

That baby mama's doing the full figure bikini stroll with her daughter.

At London's Daily Mail, "'Self Love': Bikini-clad Alanis Morissette shows pride in her womanly curves as she strolls the beach in Hawaii with son Ever."

For something a little more risque, check Bob Belvedere, "Rule 5 Saturday: Taylor Vixen."

More at Pirates's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup."

While You're Waiting for the #Gosnell Verdict...

Be sure to watch this clip from Live Action, via Pundette:

And from Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Waiting for the Gosnell Verdict":

The wait for the verdict in the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell went on today as a jury continued to weigh the multitude of charges that the Philadelphia abortionist faces for butchering women and their babies. The case has gotten more attention in the mainstream media in recent weeks after conservative columnists lambasted it for ignoring a gruesome story that remains an embarrassment to the pro-choice side of the abortion debate. But it’s still unclear whether the country has even started to fully assimilate what these crimes mean about the state of health care for poor women in this country. Nor are many of us asking the big question that hangs over the Gosnell proceedings: how much of an aberration are the instances of infanticide that the testimony against the defendants revealed?

But there is one thing we know for sure. If Gosnell’s attorneys manage to convince a jury not to convict him, you can forget about any expectations that this case will lead to more scrutiny of clinics where late-term abortions are being conducted.

And that'd be not just a travesty of justice but an ultimate statement that the United States is no longer a nation under God.

More at the link.

Follow Michelle Fields

And she'll post beautiful photos in your timeline.

On Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."

More at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES." And Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies."

CARTOON CREDIT: Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – No Child Left Behind."

Melanie Phillips Reveals How She Fights the Left

An amazing essay, at London's Daily Mail, "Why the Left hates families: MELANIE PHIILLIPS reveals how the selfish sneers of Guardianistas made her see how the Left actively fosters – and revels in – family breakdown..."

Via Josh Painter on Twitter.

James Gilkerson Middlefield Police Shootout Video

The video's here.

Jawa Report has a bit longer version, "Crime Porn: Idiot With AK-47 Versus Police."

And amazingly, the idiot leftists thought this would seal the deal for the failed assault weapons ban?

At PuffHo, "Against Banning High Capacity Firearms? Then Watch This."

Well, I'm against extreme mental cases with high capacity firearms actually.

More at the Right Scoop, "Piers Morgan believes he has the smoking gun on why AK-47s should be banned…."

Background at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "2 Middlefield officers shoot, kill man after he opens fire on them, injuring both (911 audio recording)," and "Gunman who fired at Middlefield police said to oppose authority."

Jihadi Files Found on Computer of Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, Widow of #Boston Bomber

London's Daily Mail reports, "FBI focuses on Boston bomber's widow after agents discover radical Islamist files on her computer and traces of explosive residue throughout her home":

Federal officials investigating the Boston bombings have discovered radical Islamist materials on a computer belonging to the widow of the deceased suspect, it was revealed Friday.

Katherine Russell, 24, has repeatedly claimed through her attorney that she knew nothing about the deadly April 15 bombings allegedly set off by her late husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar.

However, the discovery of al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine on Russell’s computer, along with the presence of explosive residue throughout their home, have raised new questions about Russell's possible involvement in the act of terror.

According to a government document obtained by NBC News, an analysis of the bombs used at the Boston Marathon and pipe bombs that the Tsarnaevs had allegedly thrown at police may have been built following instructions that appeared in an Inspire article titled: Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.

Officials have yet to determine whether the Islamist files found in Russell’s possession belonged to the 24-year-old mother, her late 26-year-old husband or a third party, a source told The Washington Post.

Tamerlan Tsranaev was shot dead in a gun battle with police four days after the marathon bombings when he and his brother allegedly carjacked a vehicle in a Boston suburb.

His younger brother, 18-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, had fled, setting off a massive manhunt that ended when he was discovered gravely wounded hiding in a boat. Russell's attorney, Amato DeLuca, had previously said his client was kept in the dark about the deadly plot, and she was shocked to learn that her husband and brother-in-law were allegedly responsible for the attacks.

Continue reading.

Plus, at Jawa Report, "'Sources': Feds Find AQAP's Inspire Mag & Other Jihadi Stuff On Computer Of Boston Bombers Widow."

And following the links, at the Washington Post, "Investigators sharpen focus on Boston bombing suspect’s widow."

PREVIOUSLY: "Tsarnaev Widow Katherine Russell Stops Cooperating With Police."

'Iron Man 3' Review

From Kenneth Turan, at the Los Angeles Times, "Review: 'Iron Man 3' smartly reboots the suit midflight":

The most interesting thing about this new "Iron Man" is that, far from being slicker than the first two versions, it is unexpectedly — and successfully — darker and more serious than its predecessors, with a cast including top actors like Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley and Rebecca Hall.

With former director Jon Favreau reduced to his acting role as Happy Hogan, now the obsessive head of security for Stark Industries, this latest "Iron Man" (co-written by Drew Pearce) has thankfully done away with most of the previous installments' tone-deaf repartee between Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow's indispensable (to him at least) Pepper Potts.

Pepper, now in charge of Stark Industries, is in residence at Stark's Malibu compound and sharing his life, though the man himself is far from his former carefree self. Skittish, uneasy, unable to sleep and given to compulsively building one high-maintenance Iron Man suit after another, Stark is still dealing with the anxiety attack aftereffects of fighting off all those aliens in last summer's "The Avengers," a movie which "Iron Man" blithely assumes everyone on the planet has seen (which may in fact be true).

Read it all at the link.

The most recent trailer is here: "Marvel's Iron Man 3 - TV Spot 11 - Now Playing."

I'm heading out right now with my boys to catch it at the Irvine Spectrum.

I'll be back!

Obama: Israel Has Right to Defend Itself From Hezbollah

Well, you think?

At the Times of Israel, "US president speaks out amid news of Israeli airstrike early Friday on missile warehouse at Damascus airport":

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — President Barack Obama said he won’t comment on an Israeli airstrike against Syria that targeted a shipment of advanced missiles believed to be headed for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israeli officials on Saturday confirmed the Israeli Air Force strike, which took place early Friday.

Obama told the Spanish-language network Telemundo in an interview that he will defer to the Israeli government for comment. He also repeated his view that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weapons to organizations like Hezbollah. The US considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Obama conducted the interview Saturday, and a portion of the president’s answer to a question about the airstrike was broadcast on MSNBC.

Earlier Saturday, US officials told the New York Times that the Israeli airstrike hit a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that Israel believed was intended for Hezbollah...

More at Memeorandum.

Holy Freakin' Cow! Judge Jeanine Pirro Lights Righteous Second Amendment Wildfire at NRA 2013!

Wow!

Get in, sit down, shut up, and hold the freakin hell on!

Via Maggie's Notebook, "Jeanine Pirro NRA Speech 2013: Accused of Denigrating All Muslims “How About Not Blaming All Gun Owners”."

Niall Ferguson Apologizes for 'Tactless and Stupid Remarks' About John Maynard Keynes

On Twitter:

I apologize deeply and unreservedly for stupid and tactless remarks about Keynes that I made on Thursday bit.ly/13cZ6B7
— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) May 4, 2013

Well, mob justice was swift. With luck he'll be able to hang onto his position at Harvard, although the Lawrence Summers precedent isn't encouraging.

Previously: "Harvard's Niall Ferguson Slams Famed Economist John Maynard Keynes: 'A Homosexual Married to a Ballerina'."

Ventura County Springs Fire — 30 Percent Contained

According to Christine Mai-Duc, "At this point, #SpringsFire is at 28,000 acres, 30% contained. Firefighters focusing most on Potrero road area."

Also at the Ventura County Star, "Day 3: Springs fire now 30% contained."

Fire crewsthat have worked 24 hour-shifts wait for relief crews this morning at #springsfire #kpcc twitter.com/ReporterSteph/…
— Stephanie O'Neill (@ReporterSteph) May 4, 2013

And from today's Los Angeles Times front-page, "Destructive 1993 blaze led to new firefighting strategy":

Scott Dettorre was a young firefighter in 1993 when the infamous Green Meadow wildfire swept through, leaving a path of destruction from Ventura County to Malibu.

The fire, which destroyed 53 homes and consumed 44,000 acres, caught firefighters unprepared and prompted officials to rethink the way they fight blazes driven by fierce Santa Ana winds.

This week, Dettorre helped lead the battle against the Springs fire, which like the devastating 1993 blaze covered a wide swath of the county. Dettorre, now a captain, said crews fought the blaze much differently this time.

It's a game plan that as of Friday evening was showing signs of success. Although the fire licked against several subdivisions and hillside estates, it has largely remained confined to rugged wildlands and agricultural zones.

"With this fire, having experienced Green Meadow, our commanding officers realized much sooner that we were not going to get ahead of this fire," he said Friday. "Consequently, we were able to put plans in place to minimize damage to a much greater extent. It is the lessons of Green Meadow that is allowing us to do what we are doing out here."

The fire, which had burned more than 28,000 acres by Friday evening, ignited Thursday morning amid historically dry conditions and strong Santa Ana winds considered unusual for May.

Fire officials quickly determined that the leading edge of the fire was too dangerous to confront head-on.

"It became apparent very quickly that this fire was going to overwhelm us," Dettorre said. "Instead of us being able to outflank the fire, the fire was outflanking us and putting all of the fire personnel in grave danger."

More at the top link. Check back for updates.

Harvard's Niall Ferguson Slams Famed Economist John Maynard Keynes: 'A Homosexual Married to a Ballerina'

Oh boy, this is too juicy!

At Financial Advisor Magazine, "Harvard Professor Trashes Keynes For Homosexuality":

Harvard Professor and author Niall Ferguson says John Maynard Keynes' economic philosophy was flawed and he didn't care about future generations because he was gay and didn't have children.

Speaking at the Tenth Annual Altegris Conference in Carlsbad, Calif., in front of a group of more than 500 investors, Ferguson responded to a question about Keynes' famous philosophy of self-interest versus the economic philosophy of Edmund Burke, who believed there was a social contract among the living, as well as the dead. Ferguson asked the audience how many children Keynes had. He explained that Keynes had none because he was a homosexual and was married to a ballerina, with whom he likely talked of "poetry" rather than procreated. The audience went quiet at the remark. Some attendees later said they found the remarks offensive.

It gets worse.

Ferguson, who is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, and author of The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die, says it's only logical that Keynes would take this selfish worldview because he was an "effete" member of society. Apparently, in Ferguson's world, if you are gay or childless, you cannot care about future generations nor society.

This takes gay-bashing to new heights. It even perversely pins the full weight of the financial crisis on the gay community and the barren.

Not only is this intellectually void, it's mad. And anyone with a moral conscience should be outraged. It is one thing to take issue with a society fueled by self interest and one fueled by a larger ethic. But it's entirely vulgar to make this argument about sexual preference -- and to do so glibly.

Okay, yes.

I'll feign my outrage now. How about this?

"Oh that is horrible, HORRIBLE!

That Professor Ferguson is a nasty brute. And so unfair to the homosexuals and the barren. It's an abomination. Economic conservatives are just like, well, HITLER!

Boycott Harvard until it fires that horrible, HORRIBLE man. Boycott I say! And disinvest!

How could anyone possible say such a thing, and so glibly, yes! That makes it extra mean. That he said it glibly is just HORRIBLE."

HAT TIP: Tufts Professor Daniel Drezner, who apparently thinks Ferguson is just horrible!

Also, here's the conference program and roster. Maybe a video will surface and we'll get some bonus lulz.

UPDATE: The story's building attention at Memeorandum. Ferguson is horrible, HORRIBLE! Extreme outrage all over the place. The speech ayatollahs are out in force! See especially Andrew Gelman at the Monkey Cage and Henry Blodget at Business Insider.

Sources Say Israel Launches Airstrike on Syria

From Barbara Starr at CNN, "Sources: U.S. believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria." (Via Memeorandum.)

Also at the Times of Israel, "Israeli planes hit targets in Syria, say US officials."

UK Independence Party Surges to Best Showing Ever, Winning 150 Local Council Elections

From Tim Stanley, at Telegraph UK, "Ukip is a very British revolution":

The results aren’t all in yet, but it’s obvious what’s happening: Ukip are the moral victors in yesterday’s local elections. A party that was just two men on a golf cart ten years ago has placed second in South Shields and won county seats across the country. A few early observations:

1. The Lib Dems are at risk of becoming politically irrelevant. In South Shields they came seventh, a pathetic result for a governing party.

2. Ukip have helped to smash the BNP. By providing a non-racist Right-wing alternative, they reduced the BNP’s result in the Spalding East and Moulton ward in Lincolnshire from 20.5 per cent in 2009 to just 3.9 per cent today.

3. Labour did well but its gains were only modest. It held South Shields (the kind of seat that a donkey in a red rosette could win) but on a lower majority. Miliband is not popular in southern England and that will prove a problem in 2015.

4. Dan Hannan’s dream of a Ukip/Conservative coalition might actually happen in Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire – a fascinating laboratory for any future pact.

But the big story is the rise and rise of a tiny party once derided by its critics as full of fruitcakes and closet racists. It probably won’t gain any parliamentary seats in 2015: the electoral system is stacked against it and while Ukip’s support is broad, it isn’t deep enough in individual constituencies to win anything. This doesn’t seem to trouble Nigel Farage who says that he sees his party as playing the same role that the SDP played in the 1980s – driving the political agenda in his preferred direction.

RTWT.

Plus, "Ed Miliband needs to fear Ukip, too: Right-wing populism is in the ascendant."

Camarillo Springs Fire Has Now Charred 18,000 Acres

Here's the latest from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Springs Fire: 10K acres burned from Camarillo to coast."

Sarah Palin Speech to National Rifle Association 2013

It wasn't as choreographed as the CPAC speech this year, and not quite as funny, but she's always a crowd-pleaser. And slamming Michael Bloomberg with that box of Skoal Tobacco was priceless.

Watch it at the link.

Motorcycle Crashes Into Cyclists on Dead Man's Curve

Well, it's an awful crash but there were no serious injuries --- thank God.

More at Biking L.A., "Exclusive — What really happened in the Mulholland motorcycle crash that took out two bike riders."

Jess Davies for ZIP Magazine April 2013

At Egotastic, "Jess Davies poses for ZIP Magazine April 2013."

Flaming Cocktail Fail

And it looked like it was going so well!

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "When bartending goes wrong..."

Unravelling the Boston Terror Plot

An interesting piece from Arnold Ahlert, at FrontPage Magazine.

Just go read it over there. These guys were hardly "knock off" jihadis. But it's still early. We'll know a lot more in due time.

NRA Convention Opens in Houston

And Emily Miller is on hand, "Rick Perry says Obama wants to ‘disarm the America public’":

Guns galore twitter.com/EmilyMiller/st…
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) May 3, 2013

Gov. Rick Perry sat back in shock when I told him President Obama told Mexicans that an upside of his efforts to infringe the Second Amendment would be to make them safer. The Texas Republican, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), pushed back his chair and thought before speaking.

“The idea that a United States president would go to Mexico and make that statement is incredulous,” the 2012 president candidate told me in an interview after his rousing speech at the NRA annual meeting in Houston Friday. “His goal — well before he became president of the United States — was to try to disarm the American public. He just disregards the Constitution.”

Continue reading.

Also at Dallas Morning News, "At NRA convention in Houston, official says 'culture war' more than gun rights."

The Left Opens Fire on Kelly Ayotte

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary, "Stalking Kelly Ayotte and Common Sense":

The video of a relative of a victim of the Newtown massacre confronting Senator Kelly Ayotte at a New Hampshire town hall meeting has been all over the cable news channels, as the effort to shame those who opposed efforts to expand background checks for gun purchases escalated this week. Other objects of the increasingly aggressive gun-control lobby like Arizona Senator Jeff Flake have also been subjected to attempts by gun violence victims’ relatives to embarrass him for voting against the Manchin-Toomey amendment. But if these supporters of gun-control bills are really interested in getting something passed, they should listen to one of the measure’s co-sponsors.

Continue reading.

And check the Google News search for the senator.

Here's PuffHo, for example, the hacks: "The Political Suicide of Kelly Ayotte."

But see the New Hampshire Journal, "Ayotte told she ‘looks presidential,’ town hall crowd erupts in cheers – UPDATED with video."

Amnesty Proposal Triples Number of Illegal Aliens Crossing Border

From Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine:

It’s like legalization is a magnet or something. But we know that can’t be true because we were repeatedly told by amnesty advocates that illegal aliens would not show up just because we promised to legalize them.

But someone neglected to tell them that.

Arrests of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States have nearly tripled in recent months — in anticipation of Congressional efforts to enact comprehensive immigration legislation, border patrol agents told CBS News Wednesday.

“Once the first group gets across, they call their family, they call their friends and let them know, ‘Hey the time is right, come on over,’” Border Patrol agent and union representative Chris Cabrera told CBS News.

In March, 7,500 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas — which includes McAllen — Cabrera told CBS News. That’s up from 2,800 in January.

In February, nearly 4,800 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande, the local news website The Monitor.com reports.

In fact, agents in McAllen used their station’s carport to process nearly 900 illegals caught over three days in March, according to the Monitor.com.

Image Credit: The People's Cube.

The View From Above

Lots of lovelies at Subject to Change.

And below is Jade Hayden:

Bonus: At Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is snow created by too much fossil fueled heat, you might just be a New Climate Denier." And at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Elyse Taylor."

Updates on Camarillo Springs Fire

There's local news video from last night here, and from this morning's ABC's Good Morning America here.

And check the Ventura County Star, "Day 2: Air attacks continue."

Check back for further updates...

Added: At the Los Angeles Times, "California wildfire: Firefighters defend naval base at Point Mugu."

Also, "Southern California fire season off to a sinister start":

#SpringsFire:#PointMagu State #Park on #PCH. twitter.com/RobertNBCLA/st…

— Robert Kovacik (@RobertNBCLA) May 3, 2013

The Southern California wildfire season got off to an ominous start Thursday with a massive brush fire in Ventura County that officials fear is just a preview of dangerous months ahead.

The fire showed in dramatic fashion how the region's record dry conditions and lack of rainfall can quickly combine with fierce Santa Ana winds to produce widespread havoc.

Firefighters said the dry winter and spring left the brush much more combustible than they've ever seen it at this time of year. Weather forecasters said the Santa Ana wind conditions Thursday produced gusts topping 60 mph. Those are speeds significantly above normal for May and more common for the fall, when the Santa Anas are at their strongest.

Thousands fled from several communities Thursday morning as flames consumed bone-dry terrain, devouring more than 6,500 acres in just a few hours. Humidity levels dropped to as low as 4%. Walls of flames — some topping 20 feet — bore down on homes and licked up against the side of the 101 Freeway. Temperatures topped 90 degrees.

The heavy winds forced officials to ground air tankers battling the so-called Springs fire, putting more pressure on weary firefighters. Helicopters continued with water drops, and ground crews made several tense stands that prevented flames from getting into subdivisions in Camarillo and Newbury Park.

"It's very unpredictable. Winds are swirling and twisting, and we don't know what way it's going to turn," said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke.

With only about 5 inches of rain since last July, Los Angeles is headed toward its fourth-driest year since 1877.

Pamela Geller Under Attack

A report from Mike Lumish, at the Times of Israel.

Well, she's hitting all the progressive terror-enabling hot buttons.

More here: "AMERICAN FREEDOM DEFENSE INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES PLATFORM FOR DEFENDING FREEDOM IN WAKE OF BOSTON JIHAD."

Tsarnaev Widow Katherine Russell Stops Cooperating With Police

Speaking of mugshots.

At London's Daily Mail, "Katherine clams up: Boston bomber's widow stops cooperating with authorities... but the female DNA found on bomb is NOT hers."

America's Bad Girls — The Hotties Who Still Look Hot for Mug Shots

America's police precinct pinups.

London's Daily Mail is on the case, "Don't let them steal your heart: America's 'bad' girls who still look so good - even when they're posing for their police mugshots":

For most women a police mug shot is the most humiliating photograph that will ever be taken.

In recent months, photographs of celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Lindsay Lohan have been forced to pose for the mandatory 'booking in' picture at the police station. But these pictures of 10 women arrested in the U.S. have shown that some women have managed to maintain their looks in their mug shots.

More at the link.

Pictured below is Jennifer Jensen of Osceola, Florida.

Why Are Phony 'Hate Crimes' So Common, Especially on College Campuses?

Robert Stacy McCain blogged this story a couple of days ago, "The Dreaded Wyoming GOP Facebook ‘Hatef–k’ Rapist Has Been Apprehended."

And James Taranto has a report out today, "Hate Crime' Hoaxes" (via Memeorandum):

Why are phony "hate crimes" so common, especially on college campuses? We'd like to go through a few obvious answers, all of which have merit, and then delve a bit deeper into the psychology of such incidents.

One obvious answer is that people do this sort of thing to get attention. Multicultural identity politics, which is a dominant force on campus and a significant one off it, creates a perverse incentive structure by rewarding victims of purported hate and going easy on hoaxers. In March Michelle Malkin wrote of an incident in which her alma mater, Ohio's Oberlin College, experienced a rash of racist graffiti.

The college president and three deans "ostentatiously published an 'open letter' announcing the administration's decision to 'suspend formal classes and non-essential activities.' " The incident drew national media coverage--but the denouement didn't: "After arresting two students involved in the spate of hate messages left around campus, police say 'it is unclear if they were motivated by racial hatred or--as has been suggested--were attempting a commentary on free speech.' "

Lanker-Simons, unsurprisingly, turns out to be quite the left-wing activist herself. The Boomerang reports that in 2010 she successfully sued the university challenging its decision to bar domestic terrorist and presidential pal Bill Ayers from speaking on campus. But this time around, the university's position vis-à-vis Lanker-Simons isn't exactly an adversarial one...

Continue reading.

Fake outrage and false allegations: the sum of the left's civil rights agenda. Or, as Scared Monkeys writes, "Looks like we have a modern day liberal Tawana Brawley …"

Word.

L.A. Times Reporter Hector Becerra Lamely Poses as Stoop Laborer to Shill for Immigration Reform

You gotta love it.

Reporter Hector Becerra tried to get all authentic with the non-English speaking field workers in Santa Maria, "A day in the strawberry fields seems like forever":

I wore the uniform of the other men: jeans, a tad too baggy so that I kept having to pull them up; a sweat shirt with a hoodie and a jacket over it; a baseball cap; and dusty, steel-toed work boots that a daddy long-legs had called home.

But even if I was dressed like the other workers, the clothes felt like a disguise. As soon as I opened my mouth, my fluent but American-sounding Spanish, not to mention my baby-soft hands, gave me away.

I shared that my parents were immigrants too. It was a defense mechanism, I guess, as much as a way of connecting with them. It didn't matter — they probably would have been generous either way.

About an hour into the picking, my upper and lower back were beginning to tighten and my legs began to burn a little from the stooping.

Oh poor Hector, you pathetic left-wing shamnesty tool. More:

Mark Teixeira, the owner of Teixeira Farms, which owns much of this land, snapped a long stalk and said: "This is how you eat broccoli." With his front teeth, he skinned the stalk and ate it like a carrot.

He invited me to try it. It was sweet and better-tasting than the broccoli head.

Teixeira, an affable guy with a sharp sense of humor, has argued publicly that Americans are unwilling to do the hard work that's necessary to gather crops. Like other growers, many of them conservative Republicans, he argues for immigration reform that provides for a steady stream of immigrants to do the work others won't.

"Americans don't want to do the fieldwork. They'll go over and make hamburgers for $8 an hour with no insurance, no nothing, when they can make more money here," Teixeira said. "I don't care if you pay $20 an hour, they'll come here one or two days, and they're gone. It's a mind-set: They think fieldwork is below them."

Yeah, yeah. Let's just open up the flood gates to the world's poor just yearning to breathe free --- and yearning to mooch off our over-generous welfare state. We have plenty of legal immigrants who will do this work. You don't have to pose like a freakin' idiot to make the case for the left's moral bankruptcy. Go find some news or something to report on, you hack. You think people in California don't know how hard it is to pick strawberries?

More at the link.

#Boston Jihad Bombers Planned July 4th Bombings

They were contemplating suicide bombings as well. I guess the 72 virgins weren't that appealing, considering all the worldly pleasures they enjoyed right here in the good ole U.S. of A. Besides, it's hard to break that welfare dependency. They just couldn't let go.

A great piece at the New York Times, "Boston Plotters Said to Initially Target July 4 for Attack."

They built the bombs faster than they expected so they moved up the date of the attack to Patriot's Day. And the probe continues of the elder brother's trip to Chechnya last year.

And more at the Wall Street Journal, "Boston Suspects Inspired by Cleric." They were inspired by watching Anwar al-Alawki's death to America videos? Nah. That's gotta be right-wing disinformation. It's just gotta be!

There's going to be lots more devastating revelations on this story. Was Tamerlan's widow Katherine Russell an accomplice? She's clammed up since first cooperating with authorities, and now you've got the indictments of the three pals of the younger brother. Who else is out there undiscovered in the wings?

Give me your tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free!

Michelle Malkin Schools Juan Williams on Violent Left-Wing Terrorists Ensconsed in America's Elite Universities

Good stuff:

Jason Collins: The Gay Black Sandra Fluke

From AoSQHQ's must-read essay on the dismissal of idiot Howard Kurtz from the Daily Beast, "Howard Kurtz Screws Up Yet Again, But This Time He's Fired, Because He Offended the Left's Gay Lobby":

There's no doubt, none at all, that Howie Kurtz is a bit of an idiot and says lots of foolish things.

But what makes this time any different? Ah, well it's because this time he offended the left's current top-banana on the Victimization/PC Protection pyramid.

What did he say? Oh, something stupid and dumb and about Jason Collins. Specifically-- he claimed that Jason Collins left something big out of his Sports Illustrated confessional about being gay.

Specifically, Kurtz alleged that Collins' Sports Illustrated confessional failed to disclose that...

"He was engaged. To be married. To a woman."
Now, I would never normally link the Huffington Post, but this is a real zinger so I will. Below, an excerpt from the SI piece -- early in it, I believe -- in which Collins completely omits mentioning his previous engagement to a woman, except for all the times he mentions it.

Clearly Kurtz erred, and rather dumbly. But he does this a lot, and no one's had a problem with it in the past.

Why now?

I think it's pretty obvious -- Jason Collins is now the Gay Black Sandra Fluke, and therefore now An Hero, and the Left protects its heroes.

More here.

Also at Atlhouse, "'Howard Kurtz leaves Daily Beast following Jason Collins column mistake'."

Camarillo Springs Fire Reaches Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County

This has been the big story on local news today. It's hot weather with Santa Ana conditions.

At the Los Angeles Times, "California wildfires: Springs fire reaches PCH in Ventura County."

More at KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Camarillo fire at 8K acres, new evacs ordered."

Reports on the Death of Blogs Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

I've been having a lengthy email exchange with David Swindle and Michael van der Galiën regarding my post the other day, "The Death of Collaboration in the Independent Blogosphere." David's the associate editor at PJ Media and Michael's a new media professional with longtime experience in the conservative blogosphere.

My essay argued that "We've still got lots of independent bloggers out there doing what the mainstream press refuses to do." I recognized the increasing professionalization of the conservatives 'sphere but indicated that blogs will continue to play the key role in alternative media and government accountability going forward. Here's how David responded:

I think there's a big intellectual divide between "bloggers" and "new media professionals." Bloggers are just hung up on the medium of blogging (a medium that is now more than 15 years old and pretty ancient.) New media professionals are people who make their living by exploring and developing new forms of media. I am a partisan of the latter temperament. Blogging is just a means to an end. It shouldn't be an end in and of itself which it is for the kinds of "independent" bloggers who are complaining now about how nobody wants to work with them and link to them anymore. (Not talking about you with that comment, Donald.) New Media professionals should be more interested in finding and developing the next media formats (right now I'm interested in e-books and apps). Preserving the blogosphere as it was in 2002 in like wanting to preserve the newspaper as a format. Time to move on to the next medium and stop fetishizing blogs and "the blogosphere."

I agreed with David for the most post, although I suggested that for all the talk of these "new media professionals" it continues to be bloggers who're among the most well-known alternative media personalities shaping the direction of traditional news reporting. Folks like Michelle Malkin, Ace of Spades HQ, and the Power Line crew are prominent examples. David and I went around a bit more then Michael chimed in:

Listen folks, there are hobbyists - people who run blogs - and there are professionals - people who work for new media organisations. The difference between all too often isn't passion, but strategy, approach, and the time they're taking for it.

As for 'blogging' as in blogging, that's - professionally - more or less dead. It's about generating news yourself, offering different kinds of 'news' (sport, culture, political, etc.), in different ways (Internet TV, written, short written, long written, apps, mobile, normal on the Net, podcasts).

If you're making a living off of this - as I do, and David does - it isn't 'blogging' anymore, it's being a member of the new media.

We all went around for a number of iterations after that. David and Michael pressed further on the "new media professionals" while I continued to hammer the vitality of blogs as watchdogs on the mainstream press.

I don't make a lot of money so I resist the "new media professional title." still, I've been blogging at a number of top conservative blogs for awhile and continue to publish occasionally at PJ Media. When Rick Moran first recruited me to PJ Media in 2008 he mentioned that I was, like him, one of the last "long form bloggers," so even at that time, 5 years ago, the nature of the form was changing.

Change is the theme Andrew "RAWMUSCLEGLUTES" Sullivan stressed in a blog post on the topic earlier this week, "The Death of Blogs? or of Magazines?":

Of course, blogs have evolved – and this one clearly has from its early days. What began as one person being mean to Maureen Dowd around 12.30 am every night is now an organism in which my colleagues and I try to construct both a personal and yet also diverse conversation in real time. But that doesn’t mean the individual blogger – small or large – is disappearing. Our entire model requires, as it did from the get-go, links to other sites and blogs – and we have not detected a shortage.

One reason we have had to grow and evolve – and this started as far back as 2003 – is that the web conversation has grown exponentially since this blog started (when Bill Clinton was president). Yes, many bloggers now get employed by more general sites, or move on to more complex forms (think of Nate Silver, a lone blogger when the Dish first championed his work and now part of an informational eco-system). But every page on the web is equally accessible as every other page. Blogs will never die – but they might form a smaller part of a much larger online eco-system of discourse.

My own view is that one particular form of journalism is actually dying because of this technological shift – and it’s magazines, not blogs. When every page in a magazine can be detached from the others, when readers rarely absorb a coherent assemblage of writers in a bound paper publication, but pick and choose whom to read online where individual stories and posts overwhelm any single collective form of content, the magazine as we have long known it is effectively over.

There's more at the link.

Sullivan is of course one of the premiere (ancient) bloggers who started fifteen years ago. He concludes by arguing that blogs have now evolved into one patch of a larger patchwork of digital forms that constitute a larger presence of web content.

For me, It's been seven years with blogs and I'll keep plugging away like a dinosaur, as long as folks are interested enough to read and link what I have to say.

And returning back to the original theme of collaborative blogging, here's TrogloPundit, "In the spirit of keeping all this blog collaboration going, I shall now coin a new word..."

I'll have more later...

Hat tip to Mark Twain on the title, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Occupy Wall Street May Day 2013

From Charles C. Cooke, at National Review, "Occupy Wall Street: 2013 Edition."

Cooke says "I found a very different group than I saw in 2011. My report is here."

Well, the Occupy goons were pretty much always warmed over communists, but hey, I need to get back out on the streets!

Anyway FWIW, at the New York Times, "Occupy Movement's Changing Focus Causes Rift."

RELATED: At the Seattle Times, "May Day of peaceful protests grows rowdier at night." Isn't it always Seattle? And on Twitter, "#WaMayDay."

'We've forgotten what abortion really is...'

From Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, "Video: “We’ve forgotten what abortion really is”":

Lila Rose gets straight to the heart of why the media didn’t want to cover the Gosnell trial — and why they won’t want to cover what happens in other late-term abortion clinics, either. They don’t want to see the brutality or the inhumanity, and the culture sanitizes the horror of abortion in order to keep public opinion from turning against it. These films, and the Gosnell trial, strip the façade away...

Angry White Dude Gets Angry at Geico's Eddie Money Commercial

I'm re-posting the old Midnight Special segment of "Two Tickets to Paradise."

I'm sure AWD would rather remember old Eddie this way

See: "GEICO EDDIE MONEY COMMERCIAL – WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

Smokin' Mila Kunis Named FHM's 'Sexiest Woman in the World'

Well, she's definitely a looker.

At London's Daily Mail, "'She's the perfect girlfriend': Mila Kunis voted no. 1 on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World list."

And at the source, "FHM 100 Sexiest Women In The World 2013: The full list."

Kelly Brooks checks in at #5. Yes!

Helen Flanagan takes the #3 spot and is Britain's top ranked sexy woman. More at Daily Mail, "So that's why! Helen Flanagan shows off her best assets in lingerie shoot to become Britain's sexiest woman."

Reports of al-Qaeda's Imminent Defeat Are Greatly Exaggerated

A great editorial, at the Wall Street Journal, "The al Qaeda Franchise Threat":

President Obama has preferred disengagement from the Middle East and South Asia to focus on "nation-building at home." One result is Middle East instability and the al Qaeda resurgence. To address these emerging problems, the Administration first needs to acknowledge them. The tide of war, to correct President Obama's other favorite line, isn't receding. It's rising.

RTWT.

Rick Perlstein, Call Your Publisher

Perlstein is the go-to author for idiot progressives attacking the GOP's alleged "racism" in the post-1968 era. It's a bunch of hokum, of course. The Democrats by that time had a 100 years of the most vile eliminationist white supremacy under their hats, and the left is nearly as racist today as it was back in its Jim Crow heyday.  But it's especially good to see political science research showing empirically that progressives like Perlstein are charlatans and liars. See Steven Hayward, at Power Line, "THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY” DEBUNKED AGAIN":

Liberals will never tire of calling conservatives racist, because it’s always a show-stopper, a way of cutting off further debate on any issue where a liberal is likely to lose. So don’t expect it to go away any time soon. (Though why Republicans aren’t better at “punching back twice as hard,” e.g., by pointing out the permanent racist legacy of the Democratic Party, noting the vote tally for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, etc., is beyond me. Another example of Republican rhetorical incompetence.)

Gerard Alexander began a thorough debunking of this theme in the Claremont Review of Books several years ago (“The Myth of the Racist Republicans“), and Sean Trende continues the job with a fine column today on RealClearPolitics, “Southern Whites’ Shift to GOP Predates the ’60s.” It’s worth reading the whole thing...

More at the link.

Hat Tip: Instapundit.

And remember, progressives are the biggest racists.

Perlstein's book is here, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America.

Three More Suspects in Custody in Boston Bombing

Interesting.

At Legal Insurrection, "Boston Police: 3 more suspects taken into custody in Boston Marathon Bombing."

Updates on developments later today...

'Obama Channels Clinton’s Worst Day in Office...'

'...Raises Doubts About Relevancy,' from Ron Fournier, at National Journal, on Monday:

A president is in trouble when he’s forced to defend his relevancy, as Bill Clinton did 18 years ago, or to quote Mark Twain, as Barack Obama did Tuesday. “Rumors of my demise,” he said at a news conference, “may be a little exaggerated at this point.”

Not wrong--just “exaggerated.” Not forever--just “at this point.”

Parsing aside, Obama channeled Clinton’s April 18, 1995, news conference by projecting a sense of helplessness--or even haplessness--against forces seemingly out of a president’s control.

For Clinton, it was ascendant House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the GOP's takeover of Congress five months prior, a vote of no-confidence for the first-term Democratic president. “The president is relevant here,” Clinton insisted in the East Room.

For Obama, his nemesis is a far-less charismatic and influential House Speaker John Boehner, as well as the intense weight of structural problems that favor Washington gridlock. These include the Senate filibuster, hyper-partisan House districts, polarized media outlets, and a fast-changing electorate that is sorting itself in political tribes.

“So my question to you,” ABC reporter Jonathan Karl asked Obama, “is do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through Congress?”

Ouch. “Well, if you put it that way, Jonathan,” Obama quipped, “maybe I should just pack up and go home. Golly.” Then he quoted the humorist Twain, who famously denied his death.

More at that top link.

The Jonathan Karl query is here.

At the clip at top, Dear Leader heads back to the podium to take a question on Jason Collins, the "heroic" NBA star who came out this week. Twitchy just rips President Barebacker on that: "President calls Jason Collins, praises his courage; Slain heroes overlooked," and "Greatest orator ever? Obama says gay NBA player Jason Collins ‘can bang with Shaq’ [video]."

Freedom, Privacy, and Boston

We've lost a lot of our privacy with instant dissemination of the terror.

From Nicole Gelinas, at City Journal:

Much has been made, since the Boston Marathon bombings, of how social media have transformed policing and counterterror techniques. A less-remarked aspect of social networks is the way they have changed how individuals respond to disasters, whether man-made or natural. In particular, some who think nothing of snapping and instantly posting photos of themselves around the clock also have no compunction about snapping and instantly posting photos of the view outside their office windows or across the street during an attack or disaster. What they’re viewing and enabling others to view may be not only gruesome but also intensely personal—images of people gravely wounded or dying. Do people have the right to endure their suffering in private?

A decade ago, this problem didn’t exist. On September 11, digital cameras were still new, and uploading photos was cumbersome. Today, of course, everybody has a digital camera embedded in his phone, and it takes just seconds to send pictures around the world. Minutes after the Boston bombing, before cable news and newspapers had begun reporting it and before emergency responders had “cleared the scene,” as the euphemism goes, social-media users were already redistributing graphic photos of blood-soaked sidewalks still populated by victims with horrific injuries...

Continue reading.

Are there more abortion doctors like Kermit Gosnell?

And do we want to know?

From Melinda Henneberger, at the Washington Post.

BONUS: From Kirsten Powers, at USA Today, "Gosnell's abortion atrocities no 'aberration'."

Saudi Arabia Warned About Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012

At London's Daily Mail, "Saudi official: Kingdom 'warned the United States IN WRITING about Boston Bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2012 and rejected his application for an entry visa to visit Mecca in 2011'."

Boeing's Queen of the Skies Nears End of the Road

It was the glamorous jumbo jet of my childhood, now fading away.

At the Wall Street Journal, "How the Boeing 747 Got Left Behind: Boeing to Launch New Model as Drop in Air-Cargo Business Squeezes Its 747 Jet":

A drop in the global air-cargo business is hastening the decline of the 747 jumbo jet just as Boeing Co. is preparing to launch a new plane that could ultimately replace it.

With its distinctive hump and four big engines, the 747, nicknamed "the queen of the skies," has been a symbol of jet travel for much of the past four decades. But in recent years, as airlines have chosen to fly passengers in more fuel-efficient, two-engine planes, the 747 has increasingly become an aviation packhorse. Most new 747 orders have involved freight carriers, which have been weighed down by two consecutive years of recession in global air cargo.

Earlier this month, Boeing said it would cut production of the 747-8, its newest model, to 1.75 airplanes a month in 2014 from two a month now because of weaker demand for large passenger and freighter airplanes.

Since it launched the 747-8 passenger model in 2006 with a longer body and new engines in hopes of rekindling sales, Boeing has sold just 31 of them to airlines, plus another nine to VIP users. "It's a market that hasn't delivered like we'd anticipated," Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing, says. Meanwhile, the company has sold 70 freighter versions.

Boeing would like to keep producing 747s even as it lays plans for a new model of its twin-engine 777, which could eventually supplant the older plane. As early as this month, the Chicago company is expected to seek permission from its board to formally start selling new stretched models of the 777, dubbed the 777X, with additional lucrative under-cabin cargo space and the 747's 16-hour range.

The new 777X, often dubbed a "mini-jumbo," arriving in 2019 or 2020, will seat around 35 more passengers and fly thousands of miles farther than the first "jumbo" 747 flown by Pan American Airways in 1970.

Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney says he doesn't "see the 777X introduction cannibalizing" the 747-8 significantly because the jets are different sizes. But analysts believe the 777X will be attractive to buyers who want many of the same capabilities with more fuel efficiency.

Launched on commercial service in 1970, the 747 was widely credited with making global travel more accessible. At the time Boeing estimated that the 747 halved the cost to airlines of flying a single passenger, compared with its smaller 707. Sales boomed, with Boeing receiving more than 1,400 orders between the 747's launch in 1966 and 2005.

But economic volatility and swinging oil prices made big bets on big aircraft with four engines seem increasingly risky. Sales surged for big twin-engine jets that could fly just as far. Boeing introduced the twin-engine 777 in 1995 and added subsequent models that stretched the jet's capacity and range, cutting into 747 demand.

More at that top link.

PREVIOUSLY: "Dude Recreates '70's Pan-Am 747 in City of Industry Warehouse."

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Kristen Nicole Playmate Miss May 2013

She's lovely:

Photos here, and SFW, "Kristen Nicole - Miss May 2013."

'It takes a big man to admit when he was wrong, and Alex Seitz-Wald is a very, very small man...'

OMG, this is hilarious!

At Pamela's, "SALON TOOL ALEX SEITZ-WALD: GELLER STILL WRONG EVEN THOUGH BOSTON BOMBING WAS JIHAD."

Read it all at the link.

It's like I was saying earlier, the progressive trolls are relentless: "Salon's Geller-Obsessives Shill for Islamic Supremacy."

ZoNation: Left-Wing Ghouls and the Kermit #Gosnell Trial

"The MSM is still keeping quiet on the Kermit Gosnell abortion trial. So why is the left keeping mum on a story tailor made for prime time coverage?"

Via Theo Spark:

The left's contortion's on #Gosnell are freakin' abominable. Ed Kilgore almost knocked my socks off the other day, at the Washington Monthly, "More Phony Outrage." The ghoul argues that pro-life conservatives "don’t really care about late-term abortions other than as a lever to move public opinion away from legalized abortion generally." Someone should vacuum out that dude's brain. Gawd, what a sick f-ker.

Virgin Galactic Successful Test Flight

At Telegraph UK, "Sir Richard Branson watches Virgin Galactic spaceship's first rocket test."