Landrieu’s Swan Song Has Got To Be “When the Levee Breaks”

Posted on | December 6, 2014 | 17 Comments

by Smitty

“Momma, you got to move.”

If I lived down in Louisiana, I would be requesting that on every rock station available.

Vote Cassidy!

Leftovers

Posted on | December 5, 2014 | 23 Comments

So, I packed a bunch of stuff off to the Shenandoah with me last week, and managed to get them all read – or at least enough so that I feel good about giving an informed opinion. First off, no love for Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising, a ponderous tome leaden with Warhammer 40K thud and blunder. I’m taking another stab at at, but I don’t think my second opinion’s going to be any better than the first.

Contrariwise, Drake & Flint’s Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn is good stuff; Drake and Flint write well together (see The Reformer and The Tyrant from the Raj Whitehall series) and the books are full of swashes being buckled, derring-do in far-off lands, and skulduggery close to home. I’m looking forward to the other four books in the series.

Virginia Postrel’s The Substance of Style is a fascinating book about the importance of esthetics in modern American society and how it impacts not just our cars, appliances, houses, and other objects but our very concept of who we are and the kind of people we like to hang out with. She has convincing rebuttals to both Abraham Maslow and his pyramidal hierarchy of needs and the Frankfurt School with its “manufactured consent” and the argument that we’re all just puppets manipulated by advertising. Very, very solid work and worth having even though it’s no longer on sale.

Peter Grant’s War To The Knife was a good read, a cut above the average brain candy. It starts as a tale of guerrilla war against a repressive off-planet invader, but the unexpected success of the guerrillas’ desperate final attack forces a change in the invaders’ government even as the guerrillas get off-planet and begin to assemble a government in exile that might be able to carry the war to the enemy’s home. I’m going to be very interested in seeing where Grant goes with this story.

Considerably more fluffy, and nearly as violent (which is saying quite a bit) is The Many Deaths of Joe Buckley, an amusing collection of death scenes written by Larry Correia, David Weber, John Ringo, and other Baen authors, with some added poetry and songs by fans. Who is Joe Buckley, and why do so many Baen authors enjoy killing him off? Even if you already know the answer, you may still be amused, and the proceeds go to Operation Baen Bulk and ReadAssist, unquestioably worthy causes.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago K-Bob suggested in the comments that I should put up an index of the book posts. Anyone else think I should fire up a Blogger page and do this?

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Category: Books

LIVE AT FIVE: 12.05.14

Posted on | December 5, 2014 | 11 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

TOP NEWS
Marchers Swarm NY, Minneapolis, Oakland, San Francisco For Second Night

Marchers protesting the grand jury decision in the death of Eric Garner block the West Side Highway in New York City

Attorney General Holder pledges full review of the case
Experts: Federal charges in Garner case need to clear high bar
Brown, Garner, Rice police cases collide, forcing debate on tactics
Protesters, police clash in New York City

House GOP Repudiates Obama’s Immigration Actions
Boehner treading carefully as he rounds up votes for the cromnibus

Putin’s State Of The Union Caps A Bad Year For Russia
From Olympic host to rogue state

POLITICS
DOJ: Cleveland Police Use Of Deadly Force Violates Rights

AG Holder holds a roundtable meeting with community leaders, law enforcement, and local officials

A “pattern or practice” of “excessive or deadly” force

Coal States Brace For Plant Closings Over EPA Rules

Defense Asks For Leniency In Gov. Rowland Sentencing

DHS On Hiring Spree To Carry Out Obama’s Immigration Orders

White House Dissatisfied With Number Of Students Opting To Ditch College

After Midterm Whipping, Senior Democrats Voice Regret Over Obamacare

Hagel Touts Sexual Assault Report As Sign Of Progress

Federal Judge Rules Indiana Abortion Clinic Law Unconstitutional

THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Set for Second Weekly Drop After Saudi Price Cut: WTI $66.46, Brent $69.21
Starbucks Goes Upscale With Fancy Coffee Emporium
Uber Valued At $40 Billion In $1.2 Billion Equity Funding
Amazon Now Serves Takeout – And Diapers
US Jobless Claims Fall Below 300K
Thirty-Year Mortgage Rates Fall For Fourth Week
Apple, Xiaomi Phones Found Violating Privacy Laws In Taiwan
Wozniak: No, Apple Was Not Founded In A Garage
Norks Still A Suspect In Sony Cyberattack Despite Denial
Deadline Extended In CBS-Dish Negotiations
IBM Partners With Docker, Launches Containers Service

SPORTS
Sputtering Bears Tamed By Cowboys 41-28

Bears RB Matt Forte brought to ground by Cowboys CB Orlando Scandrick

Cowboys run wild as Bears’ ground game stalls

Warriors Whip Pelicans, Streak Now At 11

Canucks Blank Pens, 3-0

Kyrie Irving Leads The Charge For Cavaliers

Texans Lose #1 Pick Clowney To IR For The Season

Devils Top Leafs, 5-3

Oregon State’s Mike Riley Heads For Nebraska

Islanders Win Record 11th Straight With 2-1 Edging Of Sens

Blazers Beat Pacers, 88-82

Blue Jackets Beat Panthers In OT, 4-3

Bad Day At The Office For Coyotes As Jones Shuts Them Out

Lightning Cruises To Shutout Of Sabres

Sharks Win Third In A Row With 7-4 Drubbing Of Bruins

A.J. Foyt Released From Hospital

Royals Sign Reliever Hochevar To Two-Year Deal

Colby Lewis Signs One-Year/$4 Million Deal

Nationals Tender Contracts To Ten Players

FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Millionaire Matchmaker” Has Advice For Jennifer Lopez

Stanger: “I think I could help her, easily”

Patti Stanger’s first hint? “Don’t lead with the cooch.”

Miley Cyrus Smokes Weed On Stage At Art Basel

Ryan Reynolds In “Deadpool” Deal

“Biggest Loser” Alum Damien Gurganious Dies, 38

Krysten Ritter Nabs Lead In Marvel’s “Jessica Jones”

Tyler Perry, It’s A Boy!

Chris Rock Blames Hollywood’s Race Problem On White People

Chris Pratt In Early Talks For “Magnificent Seven”

Jennifer Lawrence Debuts On Billboard 100 At #12

“Homeland” Actor Engaged To Paralympic Sprinter

FOREIGNERS
Super Typhoon Strengthens As It Bears Down On Philippines
Pentagon Confirms Failed Attempt To Rescue Hostage In Yemen
Putin Tells Duma West Wants To Weaken Russia
New Violence In Chechnya Leaves At Least 20 Dead
Four Killed As Militants Storm Indian Fort On Kashmir’s Line Of Control
Bahrain Jails Shiite Activist For Insulting King
Thai King Cancels Appearance On 87th Birthday
Modi Refuses To Fire Minister For Derogatory Remark
Australia Toughens Immigration But Lets In More Refugees
Chicoms to Cease Harvesting Organs From Prisoners – Next Year

BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: We Told You So!
Doug Powers: Obama’s 2011 Prediction Of A Million Electric Cars On The Road By 2015 “Barely” Missed
Twitchy: Occutard Claims Peter Pan “On The Side Of The Oppressors”
The Quinton Report: Maryland Man Lied About Being Vietnam POW
American Power: Foer, Weseltier Out At The New Republic
American Thinker: Profiling – Sin Or Survival Instinct
Conservatives4Palin: Poll – Cassidy Crushing Landrieu By 24 Points
Don Surber: Supremes To Baby Killer – Drop Dead
Jammie Wearing Fools: After Wasting Trillion Dollars On “Stimulus”, Obama Whines US Infrastructure Is “Embarrassing”
Joe For America: Girls Just Wanna Have Guns – Powerful New Documentary In The Works
JustOneMinute: The Most Astonishing And Disturbing Story Yet In Ferguson/NY/Cleveland
Pamela Geller: Muslims Of Switzerland Declare “Beginning Of The Islamic Revolution”
Protein Wisdom: Trey Gowdy Demonstrates How To Fold, Spindle, And Mutilate The Race Card
Shot In The Dark: Maybe Dog Whistles Just Jumped The Shark
The Gateway Pundit: Black Female Police Sergeant Supervised Eric Garner Arrest
The Jawa Report: AQAP Threatens To Murder US Citizen Luke Somers And Invade Israel
The Lonely Conservative: Why Are Parks, Museums And Wilderness Included In Defense Bill?
This Ain’t Hell: Purple Hearts For Ft. Hood Shooting Victims? Maybe
Weasel Zippers: MSNBC – We Must Retrain America On Racism “So White Tongues, White Brains Can Follow Suit”
Megan McArdle: What’s So Bad About Low Gas Prices?

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Category: Live at Five

May Not Be True That We Have A 1-Party System, But The Theory Explains A Lot

Posted on | December 4, 2014 | 33 Comments

by Smitty

Via Instapundit, “Poll: Americans reject Obama’s immigration order, want illegals out of schools, jobs”

Via Breitbart, emphasis mine:

“The Democratic Party is falling apart on this [Obamacare] and immigration because the numbers are very bad…something is going on. It’s called politics. They just got crushed in the election. Not that the Republican leadership has any idea that the American people just voted to stop Obama not to fall over and surrender, which seems to be their plan now.

Oh, I think the Republican leadership has plenty of ideas. I also think they fear oligarchs, bankers, and their lobbyist minions far more than the GOP fears the voters.

It’s almost as if there is really one Progressive Party, with Democrat and Republican wings, that are doing more jockeying for power than their job. Maybe these illegal immigrants are just shock troops to clear out the native peasantry.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a document that could clarify the actual purpose of Congress to represent the will of the people, and help resolve such ambiguous matters as the immigration debate? It would have to be a clean, straightforward affair, though; perhaps even as short as the Constitution.

Category: Republicans

LIVE AT FIVE: 12.04.14

Posted on | December 4, 2014 | 3 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

TOP NEWS
Seventeen States File Lawsuit To Halt Obama Amnesty Orders

I AM THE LAW!

Department of Homeland Security sued by states, arguing Constitution violated and laws broken
Texas leads sixteen other states in suit
Scott Walker, Wisconsin AG Van Hollen Join Suit

Protests Erupt After Policeman Not Indicted In Choking Death Of Eric Garner
NYPD officer Pantaleo not indicted by grand jury despite using proscribed chokehold

Thirty Years After Bhopal Disaster, India Hasn’t Learned Necessary Lessons
Little learned in terms of disaster management

POLITICS
Boehner Faces Conservative Ire After Decision To Delay Immigration Fight

Will he need Democrats to pass continuing funding resolution?

Senate GOP, House conservatives objecting to purely symbolic vote

Landrieu, Senate’s Last Deep South Democrat, On Her Own Now

Taxpayer Dollars Paid For Eco-Loonies’ $25,000 Christmas Party

Military Sex Assault Reports Up 8%

House Passes Bill To Extend Tax Breaks Through December

Supremes Weigh Bias Claim In Case Of Pregnant UPS Driver

Defense Bill Hits Snag Over Land Swaps, Wilderness

Appeals Court Won’t Extend Florida Gay Marriage Ban

GOP Lawmakers, Benghazi Survivors Fume Over Committee Report

THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Mixed On US Stockpile Drop: WTI $67.71, Brent $70.33
Fed’s Beige Book Shows “Widespread” Job Gains
ADP: US Employers Added 208,000 Jobs In November
Dow, S&P 500 End At Record Highs
Wildlife Expert Claims Killing Wolves Actually Increases Livestock Attacks
Girl Scouts Raise Cookie Prices But Offer Two New Varieties
Google To Introduce Child-Friendly Versions Of Products
Russian E-Ink YotaPhone Hopes It’s Second Time Lucky
Coalition Forms To Oppose Comcast/Time Warner Merger
Verizon Starts Shutting Down 3G Network As 4G LTE Comes Online
PS4 Goes Gray To Celebrate 20 Years Of Sony PlayStation
Aussie Gamers Fighting Back After Target Pulls “Grand Theft Auto V” From Shelves

SPORTS
Canadiens Legend Jean Beliveau Laid to Rest

Don Cherry: “…beside the word class, you would find Jean Beliveau’s picture.”

Hall of Fame player for twenty years with Canadiens died Monday at 83

Sixers Snap 0-17 Skid Against Exasperated Timbermutts

Habs Rally Too Little Too Late Against Wild

Spurs’ Streak Snapped In OT By Nyets

Oilers Lose Heartbreaker To Jets In OT

Braves Sign Nick Markakis To Four-Year Deal

Harden Leads Rockets Over Grizzlies 105-96

Blackhawks Top Blues 4-1

Bulls Deal Hornets Tenth Straight Loss

Denard Span Has Surgery For Sports Hernia

FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Mariah Carey Apologizes For Drama, Keeps Promise To Sing At Rockefeller Tree Lighting

Didn’t show up for pre-taping due to divorce drama

Performed live Wednesday night

Jimmy Fallon, It’s A Girl!

Teresa Giudice Sues Her Lawyer Over Prison Sentence

Blake Lively Plans To Take Parenting Tips From Her Mom

Lindsay Lohan Launches Clothing Line “My Addiction”

Kesha’s Mom Sues Dr. Luke, Claiming PTSD

Tori Spelling Wants More Plastic Surgery To Make Herself Feel Better

No-Talent Michael Sam Claims He’s Not In NFL Because He’s Gay

Tea Leoni Dating “Madam Secretary” Co-Star Tim Daly

Annie Lennox Questions Madonna’s Topless Photo Shoot

Nicki Minaj Raps About Teenage Abortion In “All Things Go”

Chelsea Gallery To Open Dee Dee Ramone Exhibition

Eva Mendes Dishes On “Exhausting” Pregnancy

First-Edition Philip Roth Book Fetches $80K At Christie’s

Katey Sagal Sounds Off On “Sons Of Anarchy” Plot Twist

“Unbroken” Star Was So Nervous Around Angelina Jolie, He Threw Up

FOREIGNERS
Teheran Denies US Reports Of Iranian Air Strikes Against Islamic State
Survey: Israel One Of Least Corrupt States In Middle East
Iraq Says Woman Detained By Lebanon Isn’t Al-Baghdadi’s Wife
Polls Predict Easy Victory For PM Shinzo Abe
UK Spending To Fall To 1930s Levels
Norks Give Hollywood A Taste Of Cyber War
Gun Battle Breaks Out In Grozny, Chechnya
Philippines Begins Evacuations In Advance Of Super Typhoon
Modi Impresses Obama By Shaking India’s Bureaucratic Inertia
Palestinian Stabs Two Israelis, Is Shot By Security Guard
Aussie Foreign Minister Declares Al-Raqqa Province In Syria Off-Limits
Venezuela Charges Opposition Leader With Alleged Coup Plot

BLOGS & STUFF
Michelle Malkin: Nothing On Terry Bean
Twitchy: White House, IRS Won’t Release Docs They Shared Because “Privacy”
American Power: OC Register, Riverside Press-Enterprise Lay Off 100 Employees
American Thinker: Black Crime Claims Life Of Apologist For Black Crime
Conservatives4Palin: Governor Palin Weighs In On Consumerism, Russia, And Energy Production
Don Surber: Pay-To-Play Justice In West Virginia
Jammie Wearing Fools: Surprise! 20% Of Applicants For Obama’s “Deferred Action” Protection Are Fraudulent
Joe For America: Scott Walker – Still Winning For Wisconsin
JustOneMinute: NRO, Cut The Crap
Pamela Geller: American Woman Stabbed By Veiled Muslima In Abu Dhabi Mall
Protein Wisdom: States Act While Congress Dithers On Obama’s Unilateral Amnesty Orders
Shot In The Dark: It Was Twenty-Five Years Ago…
The Gateway Pundit: NYC Mayor DeBlasio Smears NYPD – Blames Eric Garner’s Death On Racism
The Jawa Report: Ishallahshaheed’s Last Note To Mommy
The Lonely Conservative: A Tale Of Two Staffers
This Ain’t Hell: DoD Negotiates Cuts To Troops’ Compensation
Weasel Zippers: Democrat Staffer Who Roofied And Raped Woman Gets No Jail Time
Megan McArdle: The System Failed Eric Garner

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Category: Live at Five

Democrats Implode in Louisiana

Posted on | December 3, 2014 | 24 Comments

Ali Akbar, Anita Moncrief and other activists with the Black Conservatives Fund have been making a huge difference in Louisiana during the final weeks of the campaign leading up to Saturday’s election that will end the Senate career of Democrat Mary Landrieu.

However, as much credit as is certainly due to BCF, the real credit goes to the Democrats themselves, who simply weren’t ready for primetime once Ali’s crew showed up to expose their corruption. Take a look at this headline Monday from the London Daily Mail:

‘Go vote again tomorrow’: Video shows
Louisiana mayor whose son is Sen. Mary Landrieu’s
chief of staff encouraging voter fraud as final
US Senate contest’s runoff election draws near

The story of how BCF got that video is very interesting, but the real problem for Democrats is that they’ve been getting away with this stuff so long they don’t even know it’s wrong. Decades of habitual corruption — and Louisiana is a cesspool of crooked politics, the Chicago of the South — have this effect of making Democrats utterly shameless.

So how does Senator Mary Landrieu feel about all of this?
“I looked at the video, it was in a bar room, you know, on a stage, people were having a good time. It seemed to me to be a joke” explains Landrieu.

BREAKING: @MaryLandrieu responds to our video re: voter fraud. She calls it a "joke." #lasen http://t.co/yVCj74z1ET pic.twitter.com/bsLpOuVANs

— Black Conservatives (@BlacksFund) December 3, 2014

When they’re exposed, they don’t know how to react.

The staff of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and the Democrat Party continues to use black protesters but constantly stops them from speaking. Now two new videos show a white union supporter of Landrieu tell a black activist, Anita MonCrief, to “go down on Bill [Cassidy],” Landrieu’s opponent, and another black supporter of Landrieu tells MonCrief she is “pretty much” an uppity negro.

.@AnitaMonCrief is loved in Louisiana! RT if you support her over the union thugs who attacked her! #LAsen #NoMary pic.twitter.com/7UnAjYnbO8

— Black Conservatives (@BlacksFund) December 3, 2014

The Democrat Party is a political disease caused by a virus of selfishness that spreads through lies. The only known cure is truth.

Louisiana Runoff Polling Looks ‘Ugly’ For Landrieu

Damn, Andrew Breitbart would be so proud to see this day. After Saturday’s election, there won’t be anything left of the Democrat Party in Louisiana but a vast smoldering crater of failure and fear.

Have feminists begun their pre-mortem of why Mary Landrieu is going to lose so badly Saturday? http://t.co/STc8nA30Fp BLAME PATRIARCHY!

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) December 4, 2014

Category: Corruption, Democrats, Election, Louisiana, Senate

Enjoying Buzzword-Free Masculinity

Posted on | December 3, 2014 | 31 Comments

by Smitty

I’m old enough to remember when duty, honor, and manhood went both without saying and without marketing buzzwords:

Spornosexual, lumbersexual & a man walk into a bar. Bartender looks at the man, curious. Man: “I don’t know, either.” http://t.co/klv4qSeQwX

— Reform Or Die (@smitty_one_each) December 3, 2014

For a lumbersexual definition, dive into this settling pond.

For anybody ambiguous on the point of manhood, take a four-day sabbatical, pray and read one Gospel a day. You’ll not regret the time investment.

Category: Culture