All Gave Some. Some Gave All

—Dave In Texas

Why we should remember them. Some gave everything.

"French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris"

—Andy

I copied Reuters' headline directly. They make it sound like just another day at the office, don't they?

A police union spokesman said surveillance footage of the attacker showed him as tall and bearded, aged about 35, possibly of North African origin and wearing a white Arab-style tunic.

Beard? North African? Arab-style tunic? I don't know about you, but if I were a criminal profiler, I might flag the suspect as a member of the Euro-Tea Party. Or it may possibly have been one of those damned Lutherans ... they're known for doing stuff like this all the time.

Three days after a British soldier was killed in a London street by two men who said they acted to avenge violence against Muslims, the attack near Paris raised questions about a possible copycat attempt to kill a French soldier.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls noted the similarity in an interview on France 2 TV saying the attacker was clearly trying to murder his victim, but he added that it was too early to offer any theories.

"Let's be prudent for now," Valls said of the attacker's identity and motivations. "Everything is being done to arrest this individual."

Yes, yes. Let's be prudent. Mustn't leap to any conclusions.

The Coldest War

—Dave In Texas

An armistice ended full out bloody combat in the struggle between communism and democracy. A war that was called a "UN police action", some of us (ok older us) learned about as we watched M*A*S*H.

American soldiers and Marines died in the coldest winters ever. I'd recommend Halberstan's The Coldest Winter. If you can get past his stupid political jabs in the middle, it's a very good account of combat on the ground.

So many miscalculations, so many men who suffered because of those miscalculations. Warfare changed forever then, for both sides in the cold.

It's called "the Forgotten War". I pray we never forget that one hundred and thirty thousand American men diedwere wounded or killed in this forgotten war. Today, and Monday, remember those veterans from this "forgotten war".

60 years later we have an "armistice". A temporary peace. As long as we remember it is never forgotten.

My bad.. 33,000 killed, 92,000 wounded. Thanks pep.

"Half mile away is the enemy -- doing the same damn thing," he said. "And nobody's shooting at anybody because it's too damn cold."

Close it up

I Drive Your Truck

—Andy

Thanks to @DoreenHDickson for sending me the story behind Lee Brice's hit song.

Then came the part of the interview that hit me hardest: It was the moment when Paul Monti talked about his son’s truck, and why he still has it, and still drives it.

“What can I tell you? It’s him,” Jared’s father explained, nearly choking on his words. “It’s got his DNA all over it. I love driving it because it reminds me of him, though I don’t need the truck to remind me of him. I think about him every hour of every day.”

I was already tearing up before that story about Jared’s truck. But as the details piled up — the truck was a Dodge 4X4 Ram 1500 with decals on it that included the 10th Mountain Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, an American flag, and a Go Army sticker — I lost it.

And there I was sitting in my car in a Walmart parking lot on a sunny Memorial Day in my hometown crying hard. Crying like a child. Crying as if I’d lost my child.

I wasn’t the only one in a car crying that day. It turns out that a Nashville songwriter named Connie Harrington was in her car, too, listening to the very same story. Moved to tears, she pulled over to the side of the road, scribbling notes as the story proceeded.

And here's the result, which I have loved ever since I first heard it.

A Memorial Day Story [CBD]

—Open Blogger

I read this in a post on Friday night and realized how appropriate it would be for this weekend. I asked the commenter for permission to repost it.

Thanks "An Observation" for the wonderful story.

Saturday Morning Open Thread

—Andy

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend, and I thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon the United States of America.

And I'll be damned if a bunch of two-bit socialist bastards who weaseled their way into positions of power will cause one drop of the blood spilled from Lexington & Concord to the Kunar Valley to have been done so in vain.

This Memorial Day, let's re-dedicate ourselves to preserving that for which our soldiers fought so valiantly.

Overnight Open Thread (24 May 2013)

—CDR M

Don't pull a SCOAMF move this weekend and forget what it is supposed to be about but do have fun with friends and family and take a moment to honor the fallen this Memorial Day.

USS Porter Collision

In the aviation world, we have a lot of training in something called aircrew coordination training (ACT) or cockpit resource management (CRM). Careful analysis of aircraft mishaps had determined that poor aircrew coordination and loss of situational awareness had contributed to or caused over 60% of mishaps. ACT was implemented in order to improve aircrew communication and situational awareness and lower human error in aircraft mishap rates. It is painfully obvious after listening to the audio of the USS Porter's bridge leading up to the collision that ACT/CRM training might be of value there.

I imagine this book, How To Avoid Huge Ships is a pretty popular read now. The book reviews are teh funneh.

How To Open A Beer

Might come in handy this weekend.

X-Wing Lego

Good God. Full scale Lego X-Wing fighter. Only 5,335,200 pieces! I'm disappointed though. The S-foils can't lock into attack position.

Low Level Growlers

h/t

iSniper

Inteliscope: Because your tactical rifle totally needed an iPhone strapped to it. Just don't have your phone on vibrate when taking the shot.

Dog Video

Tonight's ONT brought to you by Ginger Awareness:

h/t

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maet or CDR M. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Close it up

It's Memorial Day Weekend

—JohnE.

Check the calendar. I'm completely serious.

Jake Tapper had some good stuff on Twitter.

Digital Archaeology - the search for the first web page[Purp]

—Open Blogger

It, or something close to it, is hidden on an old Next computer, but the drive is password protected and nobody remembers the password.

...Thankfully one of the people he showed it to while in the US for the Hypertext 91 conference kept a copy. This was largely because, said Mr Noyes, he had one of the same types of machine, a Next computer, that Sir Tim used for the demo...

The saying the internet never forgets is not really accurate. Shit goes completely missing constantly...particularly on vendor support sites after mergers. The archive.org effort isn't snap shotting everything either.

Evening Open Thread

—Ace

via @TheRickWilson

Holder Personally Vetted Rosen Search Warrant; Lied About It Under Oath

—Ace

It gets worse.

They fought to keep Rosen from finding out about the warrant because they wanted to keep searching his emails for a long period of time. Years, as it turned out.

And it gets worse yet.

[The prosecutor, Machen] argued that disclosure of the search warrant would preclude the government from monitoring the account, should such a step become necessary in the investigation. Machen added that “some investigations are continued for many years because, while the evidence is not yet sufficient to bring charges, it is sufficient to have identified criminal subjects and/or criminal activity serious enough to justify continuation of the investigation.”

Machen insisted the investigation would be compromised if Rosen was informed of the warrant, and also asked the court to order Google not to notify Rosen that the company had handed over Rosen’s e-mails to the government. Rosen, according to recent reports, did not learn that the government seized his e-mail records until it was reported in the Washington Post last week.

...

According to recently unsealed documents in the case, the Obama Justice Department sought an extensive amount of information from Rosen’s e-mail account. In addition to Rosen’s correspondence with Kim, the government wanted to know about Rosen’s contacts with other government officials, including “records or information relating to the Author’s communication with any other source or potential source of the information disclosed in the Article.”

Do you see what's going on there? Not only do they want to see which of Obama's people are disloyal in the actual case, they also want to keep secretly reading a private citizen's email for years in order to find other sources of leaks in other matters.

In other words: It's nakedly a Traitor Fishing Expedition.

Question: What happens if we find out that one of Rosen's sources -- say his other government sources, who are not in possession of any confidential information, but who can offer some negative information about Obama personnel -- failed to be promoted due to his name surfacing in this years-long Loyalty Crusade?

At 5:00, Holder says -- under oath-- he stayed out of any decisions to spy on the press. And not just in the AP matter.

In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material. This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy.

Finally: Britain Cracks Down On Those Exploiting the System to Encourage Hate

—Ace

Oh, you thought I meant the jihadi preachers on the dole?

No, I meant people making angry comments about the Woolrich butchers.

A 22-year-old man has been charged on suspicion of making malicious comments on Facebook following the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby.

Benjamin Flatters, from Lincoln, was arrested last night after complaints were made to Lincolnshire Police about comments made on Facebook, which were allegedly of a racist or anti-religious nature.

He was charged with an offence of malicious communications this afternoon in relation to the comments, a Lincolnshire Police spokesman said.

...

A second man was visited by officers and warned about his activity on social media, the spokesman added.

Glad they're finally getting to the Root Causes of the problem.

Secret Documents Reveal Winnie the Pooh Author A. A. Milne Was an Officer of MI7b During the Great War

—Ace

That headline there?

That's a big fat lie.

Well, it's the truth, but it's misleading. I learned this from the media. MI7b was a propaganda-writing outfit, not a frontline espionage group.

This was actually revealed last month but it didn't attract much notice.

Secret documents saved from a skip have shed new light on Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne's clandestine role as a propagandist in the First World War.

All evidence of MI7b, the secret military intelligence unit where AA Milne was based, was feared lost - because government officials ordered the destruction of its entire archive.

But 150 classified documents were taken home by Captain James Lloyd and remained a secret for nearly 100 years, including a never-before seen satirical poem by Milne.

It imagines what famous great writers like Tennyson and Shakespeare would have written had they been propaganda writers in MI7b.

Milne became a pacifist after the war and the verse shows his struggle with the work he undertook.

It should be noted that although he became a pacifist, he modified his pacifism a bit to support, sorta, the war against the Nazis.

Incidentally, he had a great big feud with legendary Wooster & Jeeves writer P.G. Wodehouse. Part of this was due to Wodehouse's behavior during WWII -- he had not gotten out of France when the Nazis invaded and he and his wife were captured as... Prisoners of War? Civilians?

Anyway, the Nazis offered him a deal: Do 4 or 5 radio programs for us, and we'll let you and your wife depart back for England. Wodehouse took the deal. His programs were not pro-Nazi -- they actually poked fun at them -- but still, doing cute comedic radio programs for the Nazis just to save one's own skin did not go down well with Milne, who, despite his pacifism, was still pretty anti-Nazi.

Fantastic Essay: Rote Expressions of Alleged "Outrage" Are Not Enough To Combat Terrorism

—Ace

Great link from Hot Air.

This is so full of head-nodding quotations that it's a a lie to excerpt any one part. However:

Too many still seek refuge in ignorance and denial that was so memorably displayed by U.S. officials after the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. A man who was a member of the American armed forces, Maj. Nidal Hasan, gunned down his colleagues while shouting "Allahu akbar." On that occasion the American government, like the French government before it and the British government this week, decided to focus on everything about the attack other than what really mattered: the motive. Fort Hood was put down to a case of workplace violence.

...

Most of the extremists who have repeatedly expressed their hatred of British soldiers are themselves supported by the British state. A prominent hate-preacher—Anjem Choudary, a leader of the disbanded al Muhajiroun—was even caught on video earlier this year extolling Britain's "jihad-seekers' allowance." As he explained to his followers, "The normal situation, really, is to take money from the kafir"—a slur for non-Muslims. "Allahu akbar. We take the money."

After the video showed up online, a BBC reporter asked Mr. Choudary to clarify how much he's taking—the press has long reported a sum of £25,000 ($37,770) per year. "It's irrelevant," Mr. Choudary replied.

This would not be the first time a country has paid both sides in a conflict. But if the reported figure is anywhere near accurate, it would surely be the first time in human history that a society has paid its opponents better than it pays its own. A British soldier can expect to start in the army on a salary of around £16,000 ($24,172).

The events in south London must cause a re-evaluation by British society of the insanity we have been permitting. The question is not how sad we feel. The only question should be what we do about it.

Video of the London Terrorists Being Shot

—Ace

I can't view this video.

But I am told it is... exhilarating.

Downer ending, of course: They live.

Hey, You Know Who Really Liked Obama's Speech Yesterday...? MSNBC, That's Who

—Ace

"He used his position as a classroom."

Obama gave an alleged foreign policy speech which was, in sum, patterned after Casey Kasem's sign-off "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reachin' for the stars."

MSNBC was absolutely thrilled by it.

They also loved Medea Benjamin's interruption of the speech to attack it from the Code Pink left. But even more than loving Medea Benjamin's interruption, they loved Obama's polite exchange with her.

It was just a supremely awesome day at MSNBC.

Get in Their Faces: Leftists Began Coordinated, Intentional Campaign to Impose a "Chilling Effect" on Conservative Donors (Their Own Words!) in 2008

—Ace

Big article at the WSJ, putting this all in context.

The White House insists President Obama is "outraged" by the "inappropriate" targeting and harassment of conservative groups. If true, it's a remarkable turnaround for a man who helped pioneer those tactics.

On Aug. 21, 2008, the conservative American Issues Project ran an ad highlighting ties between candidate Obama and Bill Ayers, formerly of the Weather Underground. The Obama campaign and supporters were furious, and they pressured TV stations to pull the ad—a common-enough tactic in such ad spats.

What came next was not common. Bob Bauer, general counsel for the campaign (and later general counsel for the White House), on the same day wrote to the criminal division of the Justice Department, demanding an investigation into AIP, "its officers and directors," and its "anonymous donors." Mr. Bauer claimed that the nonprofit, as a 501(c)(4), was committing a "knowing and willful violation" of election law, and wanted "action to enforce against criminal violations."

AIP gave Justice a full explanation as to why it was not in violation. It said that it operated exactly as liberal groups like Naral Pro-Choice did. It noted that it had disclosed its donor, Texas businessman Harold Simmons. Mr. Bauer's response was a second letter to Justice calling for the prosecution of Mr. Simmons. He sent a third letter on Sept. 8, again smearing the "sham" AIP's "illegal electoral purpose."

Also on Sept. 8, Mr. Bauer complained to the Federal Election Commission about AIP and Mr. Simmons. He demanded that AIP turn over certain tax documents to his campaign (his right under IRS law), then sent a letter to AIP further hounding it for confidential information (to which he had no legal right).

The Bauer onslaught was a big part of a new liberal strategy to thwart the rise of conservative groups. In early August 2008, the New York Times trumpeted the creation of a left-wing group (a 501(c)4) called Accountable America. Founded by Obama supporter and liberal activist Tom Mattzie, the group—as the story explained—would start by sending "warning" letters to 10,000 GOP donors, "hoping to create a chilling effect that will dry up contributions." The letters would alert "right-wing groups to a variety of potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives." As Mr. Mattzie told Mother Jones: "We're going to put them at risk."

...

None of this proves that Mr. Obama was involved in the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofits. But it does help explain how we got an environment in which the IRS thought this was acceptable.

By the way: Obama is fond of saying "the first victims of Muslim terrorism are other Muslims." In the same way, the first victims of Obama's "chilling" strategy were supporters of Hillary Clinton and then John Edwards-- they, too, were "put at risk."

Whoah: JFK Was a Nazi-Admirer As Late as 1937

—Ace

We all knew his father had Nazi leanings and was quite a raving anti-semite, but to the extent this has been admitted it has always been insisted this was only Joe Kennedy's thing, not JFK's.

Here now the news.

President Kennedy's travelogues and letters chronicling his wanderings through Germany before WWII, when Adolf Hitler was in power, have been unearthed and show him generally in favour of the movement that was to plunge the world into the greatest war in history.

Fascism?' wrote the youthful president-to-be in one. 'The right thing for Germany.'

In another; 'What are the evils of fascism compared to communism?'

And on August 21, 1937 - two years before the war that would claim 50 million lives broke out - he wrote: 'The Germans really are too good - therefore people have ganged up on them to protect themselves.'

And in a line which seems directly plugged into the racial superiority line plugged by the Third Reich he wrote after travelling through the Rhineland: 'The Nordic races certainly seem to be superior to the Romans.'

After visiting two of Hitler's holiday homes, he wrote:

; 'Who has visited these two places can easily imagine how Hitler will emerge from the hatred currently surrounding him to emerge in a few years as one of the most important personalities that ever lived.'

Obama: Hey, You Know Who Should Be Promoted? Victoria Nuland, Shepardress of the False Talking Points

—Ace

TBOTFG.

The White House announced Thursday that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Victoria Nuland as assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, a position that requires Senate confirmation.

It's very odd how those who lie are promoted and those who tell the truth are demoted.

You'd almost think that, despite his protestations, Obama did not actually want the truth to come out at all.

Friday Morning News Dump

—BenK

• Woolwich Terror Suspect Revealed To Be Muslim Convert
• "Youths" Continue Rioting In Sweden
• IRS Targeted Adoptive Parents
• Death Penalty: NJ Restaurants And Bars Caught Selling Colored Rubbing Alcohol As Scotch
• Are You Ready For Huntsman 2016?
• Woman Who Left Americans To Die In Benghazi Accepts Humanitarian Award
• The Medea Benjamin Thing Felt Awfully Staged
• Poland Set For Biggest-Ever Increase In Defense Spending
• JFK, Nazi Admirer?
• Zimmerman Lawyers Want Jurors To See Photos On Trayvon's Cell Phone
• I-5 Bridge Collapses In Washington River
• How Would A 3-D Printed Shotgun Slug Hold Up?
• Steven Crowder's Newest Video
• Mom Spends One Month In Jail For Mooning School Bus
• Eric Holder Will Be Investigating Eric Holder
• Now The Gibson Guitar Raid Makes Sense
• Obama Commerce Secretary Nominee Omitted More That 80 Million Dollars In Financial Disclosures
• Woman's Terrible Plan To Win Back Her Ex-Boyfriend
• Good: Some Unions Are Now Angry Over Health Insurance Overhaul
• Our 2016 Presidential Nominee Is Having His BFF Come Into Town For A Visit

Follow me on twitter.

Top Headline Comments 5-24-13

—Gabriel Malor

Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Just a cover video from me today and also, note, I'll be out of town until Wednesday.

Initial FBI explanation of Todashev shooting in FL no longer operative [Purp]

—Open Blogger

Throw another scandal on the pile.

...Initially, FBI officials said Todashev, 27, became violent and lunged at an agent with a knife while he was being questioned...

...The agent, acting on an "imminent threat," then shot Todashev, they said...

...However, later in the day, some of those officials had backed off that preliminary account, and it's no longer clear what happened in the moments before the fatal shooting, The Associated Press reported...

Overnight Open Thread (5-23-2013)

—Maetenloch

Losing in Blue

CEO magazine put out its annual business friendliness ranking of the states and here are the bottom 10 states:

And unshockingly they're all nearly all blue states with blue state legislatures (can you name the exceptions?). And all of them either lost congressional seats or stayed the same during the 2010 reapportionment. So people are voting with their feet.

By contrast the top 10 are almost all red states and most gained seats in Congress. And are in general just nicer places to live.

Quote of the Day - Reason #17 Why Breitbart Only Read the Comments

While scanning last night's ONT I just happened to catch this comment. In context it all makes sense but you won't see anything like this elsewhere in the conservative blogosphere.

499 Posted by: yankeefifth at May 22, 2013 10:37 PM (Z9EHQ)

She's a retard Red Sox fan....but she's OUR retard Red Sox fan.

Don't fuck with peaches, or you'll have to deal with Dildo!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 22, 2013 10:40 PM (O6Tmi)

Evening Open Thread

—Ace

Here's a piece on a name that just might be getting more mention in the Scandal Summer to come -- Obama's consiglierte, Valerie Jarrett.

Of Course: Despite Claims She Had Nothing to Do With Scandal, And That It Was All "Front Line" (Low-Level) Workers, Lois Lerner's Signature is on Letters to Many Groups Targeted by IRS

—Ace

I don't know why I'm even slightly surprised.

I think people have a natural impulse to believe there's some truth in what someone says -- I think we (or I, at least) have a tic somewhere that says "Well, no one lies completely brazenly; there's always some tiny safe harbor of truth their statement takes refuge in."

But that's wrong. Sometimes, people just Straight Up Lie About Everything.

A series of letters suggests that senior IRS official Lois Lerner was directly involved in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups as recently as April 2012, more than nine months after she first learned of the activity.

A superb civil servant. She's certainly earned her taxpayer-paid vacation.

Slight Knock-Down of Eric Holder Story

—Ace

Some are a little meh on this story, because, they say, the law requires Eric Holder (and no one else) to sign these sorts of warrants.

So, they're saying: Didn't we already sort of know/guess this? The knock-down isn't that the story is false, but that it is, or should have been, obvious, and hence isn't shocking news.

Ehhhh... I guess I admit I didn't consider that.

Still... certainly it's news to me he signed the warrants, given that he'd been so fulsome in noting his complete recusal from decision-making in the AP case.

I guess I was assuming that the signature here, too, may have been delegated.

But it wasn't.

So I insist this is a big story. It adds to what we know. Perhaps many (smarter than I) suspected this was the case, but knowing beats suspecting.

ERIC HOLDER SIGNED OFF ON JAMES ROSEN SEARCH WARRANT, OFFICIAL SAYS

—Ace

Via NBCNews, Michael Issikoff reporting:

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

Oh it gets slightly better: Today Barack Obama announced that Eric Holder had agreed to "review" the procedures employed in subpoenaing journalists' phone logs and emails.

In other words: It sounds an awful lot like Obama has appointed Holder to investigate himself.

[Update - JohnE.] That part of Obama's speech:

Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th.

I'm sure that'll clear everything up.

[Update 2 - JohnE.] Video below from 7 days ago.

Interesting Speculation: Did Joseph Stack's Attack on an IRS Building -- and the Left's False Narrative That This Communist was a "Tea Partier" -- Spur the Political Persecution of the Tea Party by the IRS?

—Ace

The dates are intriguing.

Joseph Stack -- who wrote a paean to the Communist way in his suicide note, which the Washington Post chose to delete in order to make him appear to be a Tea Partier* -- crashed his plane in the IRS building on February 18, 2010.

It is suspected that an unknown incident or directive started the IRS' inspection of Tea Party groups on February 25, 2010. The actual persecution began in March.

Today Obama made special mention of Joseph Stack's suicide/murder, noting it as a terrorist incident.

* Most media continue refusing to acknowledge this.

Here is the end of Stack's suicide note -- often deleted by the media.

saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

–Joe Stack (1956-2010), 02/18/2010

Another Date: WisRich writes:

ntriguing? Bah. How about this date:

***January 27th, 2010.***

The date Obama berated the Supreme Court for striking down McCain-Fiengold and unleashing, gah, free speech from people like the Tea Party folks.

This was the Clarion Call to Action for the progressives at every level of government.

Could be both. January 27 provided the actual motive, while February 18 provided the pretext.

Our Long National Nightmare Is Over: Mid-Level Employee Put on Administrative Leave, So The Scandal Is Now Over

—Ace

Lois Lerner on administrative leave, which I think means she continues to be paid for not working as "punishment."

It is Now Time To Put This Partisan Witchhunt Behind Us (TM) so that the President Can Get Back to the Job He Was Elected to Do (TM).

Because Middle Class (TM).

Court Which Issued Secret Subpoena for James Rosen's Emails Kept the Filings Secret for a Year and a Half Despite Being Ordered by Another Federal Court to Disclose the Documents

—Ace

At The Conversation, reported by the Washington Post.

The judge who failed to follow the law has two things to say:

1. He's "sorry."

2. He is conducting a top-down inquiry to discover which of his nameless low-level employees is responsible:

Lamberth blamed a series of administrative errors and said a review of the “performance of the personnel involved is underway.”

Well. That's just wonderful.

Isn't it awfully funny how facts that could have embarrassed Barack Obama kept being inadvertently delayed until after the November 2012 elections?

It's always an accident, and it's always low-level employees.

Royce Lamberth does not appear to be strongly liberal; he is a Reagan appointee. Though note that a "conservative-leaning judge" tends to be, in reality, a liberalish country-club Republican.

Nevertheless, this is so foul-smelling that no, it's not too early to Raise Suspicions. Every goddamn time this Administration oversteps its Constitutional bounds "low-level employees," always acting on their own initiative and without oversight from any higher ups, take pains to conceal the scandal from the public.

And we're always told that the direct beneficiaries of such concealment had nothing at all to do with it.

Trashy Former Pop Star Drinks Her Own Urine on MTV in Ratings Stunt

—Ace

If you had questions about whether Ke$ha was a classy lady-- questions that really ought not to persist, given that she really spells her name that way, "Ke$ha" -- consider them now resolved.

Some are using this provocation as a justification for renewing the calls for a-la-carte cable subscriptions. "Some" are, in this case, correct.

Anyone who now has cable pays for MTV. Cable companies negotiate a flat payment to a station for carrying it. MTV also collects revenues from advertising, but a major source of its revenue is the automatic "tax" MTV imposes on your cable bill every month. You have no way to avoid paying for MTV-- except for cancelling the service altogether.

Monopolies are generally not permitted to "bundle" services together. And local cable companies are usually monopolies, or, at best, have but one competitor-- and as all of them have instituted this bundling practice and will not stop the practice no matter how much the public clamors for it, the monopolies (or duopolies) at least appear to be in collusion on this point.

MTV will be defended on First Amendment grounds. Here's the thing: I can buy into that defense. I don't want to censor MTV.

But MTV's right to broadcast its expression -- which apparently now includes a strong urine-drinking component -- does not trump any citizen's right to not view that expression, or his right to not pay for/subsidize that expression.

Ke$ha wrote back to the h8rs and claimed "Change the channel if you don't like it."

Sorry, Ke$ha. Almost everyone complaining has changed the channel (if they ever watched MTV at all). But that doesn't change the fact that they are being forced by a monopoly or duopoly to pay for MTV every single month.

It's time for consumer choice in cable subscriptions. No American should be forced by a monopoly to purchase a product he does not want (and in fact may object to for profound philosophical reasons).

MTV can be permitted to continue its descent into Porn for Children (TM) only if citizens are likewise permitted to not subsidize it.

VP Joe Biden: Damn I'm Glad the Jews Control the Media and Push Social Liberalism on the Country

—Ace

A "Dan Foster Type" explores wisdom of our affably racist Vice President, and notes that The Onion beat him to the sentiment.

Here is some of what Biden had to say on Jewish control of the media:

“I believe what affects the movements in America, what affects our attitudes in America are as much the culture and the arts as anything else,” he said at a Democratic National Committee reception for Jewish American Heritage Month. He cited social media and the sitcom “Will and Grace,” giving Jews a large part of the credit for both.

“I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether it’s in Hollywood or social media are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry,” he said. “The influence is immense, the influence is immense. And, I might add, it is all to the good.

Biden thoughtlessly stamps upon a strange rule in our politically-correct world, and thereby exposes its stupidity for all to see: You're not allowed to say anything about group stereotypes -- stereotyping a group is always Racism You Guys -- unless you're saying that stereotype is a good thing.

So, an angry old codger can spit and say "Jews control the media" and that's bad and racist, but a stupid old codger like Joe Biden can say "Jews control the media, splendid!" and that's philosemetic.

Note the actual observation in both cases is precisely the same -- but one man is adjudged to be a crazy, bitter conspiracist for noting it, because he assigned that observation a negative value, and the other is taken to be a swell-hearted old fool, because he assigned it a positive one.

This is a ridiculous rule, of course. In both cases, the observation is precisely the same -- sort of true, sort of false. The observation cannot become more true because you say it's wonderful, and it cannot become more false because you're critical. The truth of the observation is, of course, perfectly independent of the positive or negative assessment of the situation a speaker may assign to it.

Equally absurd is closely associated rule: The same behavior which is praiseworthy in a minority group is usually depicted in seethingly hostile terms if white people do it. To cite the most obvious example: The practice of Christianity itself. Atheist white liberals will do blackflips to praise the joy and spirituality of the black practice of Christianity, but any white person who subscribes to such a vicious gutter-religion must be contemned or, at least, condescended to.

Speaking of absurd rules of PC: Breitbart's John Nolte notes that a Politico reporter stated that Guantanamo was Obama's "tar baby," and no one in the media noticed or objected.

Nolte's piece is written in an arch way, though I don't expect that the liberal media will comprehend that (should they deign to read it, which they won't). He takes the Politico reporter to task for her "racism."

Of course, he doesn't mean a word of it; he is attempting to illustrate for the media the ludicrousness of their own attacks on conservatives for similar language.

A liberal can say "tar baby" and no one blinks because of course we know no liberals are racist.

If a conservative says it, though, it's proof he's offering "dog whistles" to his fellow racist.

How do we know this? What is the difference between the liberals' use of the expression and a conservative's?

Well, obviously: We know that conservatives are racist, ergo their use of "tar baby" must be racist.

And how do we know they're racist in the first place? Because, of course: They say things like "tar baby." Duh.

This is of course circular reasoning, which is obvious to anyone who gives the situation a moment's inspection, but of course leftists do not give the situation a moment's inspection, because their entire ideology is premised on double standards and creating different Classes of persons, some Officially Privileged (and therefore who can say "tar baby" without fear of being declared a racist) and some Officially Disparaged (for whom many, many words and ideas are off-limits, up to and including the mere criticism of the President).

Of all the many things I despise about the President, the Left, and the Leftist Media, I think this must be the most despicable and unamerican-- this never-ending attempt to create and strengthen a sharp division of Classes of citizenship, Favored and Disfavored, with starkly different rules applying to each.

And what is all the more galling is the claim that simply noting this unamerican Marxist scheme is itself evidence of racism, nearly a crime against the state. To object to one's Official Status as a Disfavored Person is to confirm the Elite's judgment of placing one in the category of Disfavored Person!

After all, if we were more enlightened -- more deserving of the status of Favored Person -- we'd understand the benevolence of the scheme. By critiquing the regime, we only prove that we belong in the category of Disfavored Persons.

NRCC Jumps on "Arrested Development" Buzz with "IRS'ted Development"

—Ace

Kinda funny.

Also, The Onion actually wrote a funny piece. Moderate content warning, as you can gather from the excerpt.

Obama Fed Grapes While Urging Press Conference To Enjoy Orgy

WASHINGTON—Standing before members of the White House Press Corps Wednesday afternoon as aides lowered a bunch of grapes into his mouth, President Obama encouraged everyone gathered in the West Wing briefing room to abandon their inhibitions and revel in a wild, drunken orgy.

Sources confirmed Obama, who had initially called the press conference to discuss the progress on an infrastructure development bill, suddenly requested everyone in the room strip off their clothing and strongly urged NBC’s Chuck Todd and CNN’s Jessica Yellin to kick the festivities off by engaging in oral sex in front of the podium.

“This afternoon I will discuss how the new water resource development bill could affect S. 601, but first, I think we should all give in to the basest of our primal urges and drink thirstily from the cup of lust,” said Obama, as the juice of the grapes he was eating ran down his chin and White House staffers placed a wreath of leaves onto his head. “This is a day of excess! So now, release yourselves from your attire and surrender your body and mind to the pleasures of the vita carnalis, and to the sheer majesty of the human flesh.”

...

Throughout the course of the lascivious ceremony, sources also reported seeing a fully nude White House press secretary Jay Carney prancing between the writhing, sweat-soaked nude bodies sprawled across the room while playing a pan flute and vigorously tugging his erect penis.

“Are we not but beasts, each and every one of us?” Obama roared, as a line of young White House interns frantically playing drums filed into the room followed by servants carrying large trays loaded with slow-roasted boars, cooked turkeys, salted fish, and one large goat on a spit. “Death may visit us all by nightfall, thus do not concern yourself with the petty, ephemeral nature of existence and instead embrace pure pleasure!”

Shock: Obama's Nominee for Secretary of Commerce is a Chicago Billionairess Mega-Donor Crony Who By the Way Understated Her Income by $80 Million

—Ace

From the Chicago Tribune:

Pritzker, 54, a member of Chicago's wealthiest family, is a business executive whose family founded Hyatt Hotels. She is a Democratic mega-donor and was nominated by longtime friend President Barack Obama, whom she helped get elected.

She's being questioned today by the Senate. They'll be asking about a failed bank of hers, Superior Bank.

Among the issues she likely will be asked about is the 2001 failure of Superior Bank, based in Hinsdale, where Pritzker was chair from 1991 to 1994. Pritzker also handled the matter after her uncle Jay died in 1999. The bank was co-owned by the Pritzker family and aggressively pursued subprime mortgages and car loans.

After having filed a lowball figure for her income, she's recently amended her financial disclosure statements to note "Oh yeah, I received an additional $80 million too, forgot to mention it, such a trifling figure, so sorry about that, shan't happen again."

Her net worth is estimated at $1.85 billion.

So, 99%.

Why Didn't Obama Investigate Leaks about the Killing of OBL, or His Kill List?

—Ace

Kristen Powers reminds everyone that leaks that make Obama look good aren't investigated, even if they reveal information about our most clandestine military units.

There's actually sort of an answer to this, although it's really no answer. Obama probably leaked this stuff himself, or his top minions leaked it with his permission. As President, he does have a lot of power to decide what a "leak" is -- he has some power to declassify things himself.

But that's not really an answer. For one thing, the Administration is surely not following the formal requirements of declassification in its pro-Obama leaks-- that is to say, it's almost certainly not filing an executive order saying such-and-such a fact about SEAL Team 6 is now declassified.

More importantly, Obama is plainly not classifying secrets according to whether they harm national security, but only as to whether they harm his political fortunes. Such a scheme of classification cannot be supported and would not be supported in court were there any way to bring the question before a judge.

GM recalls 20,000 - wheels could fall off [Purp]

—Open Blogger

This is what happens when the government is in the car business I guess

...The Detroit automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it is recalling 18,871 2013 SRX SUVs in the United States and nearly 1,000 in Canada over concerns that a wheel could eventually fall off...

What does it matter? Why are we here? The good news is, unlike Venezuela, at least we got bung wrap on the shelves, and some fresh thread smell.

Google Doodle Contest Winner Sabrina Brady's Best Day Ever

—Andy

Story here.

Also, no link dump today. Ben's pay has been appropriately docked.

Top Headline Comments 5-23-13

—Gabriel Malor

Happy Thursday.

The dude killed by the FBI in Florida implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in that unsolved triple homicide in Boston. Suspicion: CONFIRMED.

Obama's going to try to change the subject today to the poll-tested topics of drones. Speaking of, did you hear that drone strikes accidentally killed three Americans, aside from the intentionally-targeted Anwar al-Awlaki?

Healthcare industry officials say they're feeling pressured to donate to a nonprofit with close ties to the White House. Just another day in Obama's America.

Maj. Nidal Hasan fired his attorneys and will represent himself in his upcoming court martial, which starts June 5.

The UK is taking what the Ministry of Defence terms a "common sense precaution" and ordering troops not to wear their uniforms if they're traveling alone to and from work or off bases. Eesh.

Switching gears, though not countries . . . this is a nice story about Helen Mirren.

Overnight Open Thread (5-22-2013)

—Maetenloch

A Trick Question

You're Mitt Romney and it's October 31, 2012 and a witch comes to you and says, "I can help you win 72 percent of the Hispanic vote or give you an extra 4 points of the white vote." Which one do you pick?

Looking at the raw politics of the immigration debate, it's amazing to me that more GOP pros haven't asked themselves some version of this and then bothered to run the numbers to find out which is best for them.

The answer is here (select to see):

But what if Romney had been able to reach a mind-blowing 70 percent of the Hispanic vote? Surely that would have meant victory, right? No, it wouldn't. Romney still would have lost, although by the narrowest of electoral margins, 270 to 268. (Under that scenario, Romney would have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College; he could have racked up huge numbers of Hispanic votes in California, New York and Texas, for example, and not changed the results in those states.)

According to the Times' calculator, Romney would have had to win 73 percent of the Hispanic vote to prevail in 2012. Which suggests that Romney, and Republicans, had bigger problems than Hispanic voters.

The Great 'Naturally Conservative' Hispanic Vote

Doesn't seem all that likely to vote for republicans and more importantly doesn't appear to change who it votes for according to major immigration debates or reform.

Here is the Republican share of the Hispanic vote in those elections:
    1980: 38 percent
    1984: 37 percent
    1988: 30 percent
    1992: 29 percent
    1996: 23 percent
    2000: 36 percent
    2004: 43 percent (probably more like 38 percent)
    2008: 32 percent
    2012: 28 percent

Meanwhile the Immigration bill just gets better and better: Detained Illegal Immigrants Now Get Free Attorneys

CAC's Spaced Out Challenge: A Triple Planet Treat, Bees & a Peek at ISON

—CAC

The last few editions have featured objects you can't really enjoy naked-eye, but that changes with a special grouping of three planets this Sunday. All you need to see the trio are your eyes and a clear western/ west-northwestern horizon.

With the moon full or damn close to it this week/weekend, most deep sky objects save for double stars and clusters aren't worth the hunt, particularly in urban areas. With a pair of binoculars though, you can enhance your view of the planetary meet-up, eyeing the faint moons of Jupiter for a few minutes before the trio dips below the horizon. This week is the last good one this year for spotting the largest planet in the solar system in evening skies, and your best for eyeing Mercury, the smallest. Venus will hang around a bit longer, and Saturn continues to quietly drift along in Virgo.

Co-blogger rdbrewer sent over a link teasing a first look at Comet Ison, still on track to be visible naked eye in November, courtesy the Slooh Space camera here.

A few 'rons have mentioned the late Jack Horkheimer in the spaced threads. I found a video featuring another rare trio of worlds from 1991 (hint-hint: this stuff doesn't happen that often), and, well, I can see why some of you have mentioned him. He's very, very enthusiastic:

As an added bonus, keep your eyes on the sky after the trio, and if you live in an urban area, keep your binoculars handy for one of the oldest-known and beautiful clusters in the sky, Praesepe, more commonly called the Beehive:

DSS image of M44
Finding it without a dark sky can be alitle tricky, but thankfully there are some rather bright stars than can show you the way. Those living in rural areas should be able to pick out the faint constellation Cancer, but I kept the map set for those of us in the suburbs:

As always, for your astronomical needs be sure to hit up the Ace storefront right up their in yonder corner, check out the FULP object list for suburban/urban amateurs, clear skies to you, and keep looking up!

Next week: finding the dark secret of the swan

Close it up