The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Your Feminist Future

Posted on | June 25, 2014 | 25 Comments

#YesAllWomen can become crazy cat ladies!

A Wisconsin woman who was charged with stealing back 15 cats from the Humane Society was arrested for violating the conditions of her bond.
Lee Ann Shore, 46, was arrested last month after she allegedly broke into the Coulee Region Humane Society in Onalaska, Wis. to get cats that were seized from her earlier in May.
Shore’s apartment had been condemned, according to Coulee Region’s executive director Heather Hankins.
“They took out 17 cats, and the reason being that the living conditions were not suitable for people or animals,” she said.

While we don’t have much information on Lee Ann Shore‘s life history or educational background, I’m willing to take a wild guess.

Lest you think the “crazy cat lady” jokes are merely a hateful stereotype of feminists as unloved, lonely and mentally ill, permit me to call your attention to the life of Shulamith Firestone. In 1967, Firestone was a founder of Chicago’s “West Side” group, the first Women’s Liberation group in America. In 1970, she published one of the most influential of early feminist books, The Dialectic of Sex.

Soon after that triumph at age 25, however, Firestone “disentegrated rapidly, losing her emotional equilibrium and her sense of herself in the world,” as feminist historian Susan Brownmiller wrote, a polite way of saying that Firestone had a nervous breakdown and lost her mind.

She had been nearly forgotten by the time she died in 2012:

When Shulamith Firestone’s body was found late last August, in her studio apartment on the fifth floor of a tenement walkup on East Tenth Street, she had been dead for some days. She was sixty-seven, and she had battled schizophrenia for decades, surviving on public assistance. There was no food in the apartment, and one theory is that Firestone starved . . .

You can read the whole thing, but the question is this: If Shulamith Firestone “battled schizophrenia for decades,” exactly when did that battle begin? Is it not possible that the radical feminism which made her famous in the late 1960s and early ’70s was, in fact, simply an early symptom of the madness that ultimately destroyed her?

 

Category: Feminism

GOP Establishment Turns Out Democrat Voters to Defeat Conservative Candidate

Posted on | June 25, 2014 | 132 Comments

Remember that headline, bookmark this page and circle June 24 on your calendar, because the result of Tuesday’s primary runoff in Mississippi was an ill omen that portends Republican defeat in November.

Check back here on Wednesday, Nov. 5, to see if my helpless sense of dark foreboding doom is correct, but today it seems obvious: If the Republican Party spends money to turn out Democrat voters against a conservative in a GOP primary — the paid professional party apparatus doing this as a deliberate strategy — what message does that send to conservatives, whose votes are crucial to whatever hope Republicans have of winning an electoral majority?

You can read the New York Times analysis of Tuesday’s result in Mississippi and glean whatever “moral of the story” you wish, but my visceral sense of what it means can be summarized in one word: Disaster.

Maybe that’s just me.

Whether what the Republican Party did to re-nominate Thad Cochran was illegal is one question, and Chris McDaniel has vowed to challenge the outcome of the runoff, to answer that question.

However, there is no question at all that what the Republican Party did in Mississippi was wrong — both morally and politically. To seek the assistance of your political enemies in order to defend the seat of a corrupt and ineffective septuagenarian like Thad Cochran? This is not, as some GOP operatives are telling each other, a clever “strategy” for defeating an insurgent challenge; this is lying and cheating — a breach of trust that brings shame to the party, per se.

If Republicans are not trustworthy, if they are not honest, why would any honest person call himself a Republican? Loyalty must be reciprocated in order to have any meaning, and GOP leadership on Tuesday betrayed the loyalty of their party’s supporters.

Contrary to my very deep sense of gloom today, it is still possible that the Republican Party will capture the Senate majority in November, so that Mitch McConnell’s cronies can address each other as “Mister Chairman” again (which is all they care about). Given all the advantages the GOP takes into this mid-term election, it would take an extremely incompetent fall campaign by the Republicans to prevent McConnell from becoming Majority Leader.

Despite my dark mood today, therefore, I cannot predict as a certainty an embarrassing GOP failure in November. All I’m saying is that if everything falls apart for Republicans between now and Election Day, if the Democrats catch all the lucky breaks while the GOP is cursed with misfortune, so that McConnell’s selfish ambition is thwarted and Harry Reid remains the Majority Leader . . .

Well, if that happens, remember June 24 as the point of no return.

 

Category: Election, Mississippi, Republicans

‘Progress’ As Cultural Bulldozer

Posted on | June 25, 2014 | 25 Comments

by Smitty

Anthony Daniels, aka Theodore Dalyrmple, speaking at Hillsdale of the lower class in England, emphasis mine:

Certainly the notions of dependence and independence have changed. I remember a population that was terrified of falling into dependence on the state, because such dependence, apart from being unpleasant in itself, signified personal failure and humiliation. But there has been an astonishing gestalt switch in my lifetime. Independence has now come to mean independence of the people to whom one is related and dependence on the state. Mothers would say to me that they were pleased to be independent, by which they meant independent of the fathers of their children—usually more than one—who in general were violent swine. Of course, the mothers knew them to be violent swine before they had children by them, but the question of whether a man would be a suitable father is no longer a question because there are no fathers: At best, though often also at worst, there are only stepfathers. The state would provide. In the new dispensation the state, as well as television, is father to the child.

Read the whole damning indictment, which is certainly not far off of the current American debacle.

I guess Mrs. OtherSmitty and I are some kind of rebellious counter-culture figures, staying employed, married, and taking our children to church, instead of raising them to look to the government for another Baal-out.

Category: Culture

LIVE AT FIVE: 06.25.14

Posted on | June 25, 2014 | 7 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Baghdad Claims Successes In Anti-ISIS Fight

Meanwhile, John Kerry pleads with the Kurds

Officials say fighting continues at Baiji, border crossings retaken


Putin Asks Duma To Revoke Ukraine Military Force Authorization
A good will gesture to Kiev?


Japan’s Abe Fires His “Third Arrow”
PM promises to slash corporate taxes, reduce shelters



POLITICS
Cochran Squeaks Past McDaniel In Tight GOP Senate Runoff

Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel

Unofficial returns show Cochran ahead by 6600 votes


Rangel Claims Victory, Espaillat Won’t Concede



Beauprez Wins Colo. Primary, Will Face Hickenlooper In November

Lankford Wins Okla. Senate GOP Primary

Defrocked Methodist Pastor Who Performed Son’s Gay Wedding Reinstated

IRS Agrees To $50K Settlement For Leaking Marriage Group’s Donor List

Archivist Faults IRS For Not Reporting Loss Of E-Mails



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Iraq Crisis Keeps Brent Over $114: NYMEX $107.50, Brent $114.29
Red China’s Stocks Drop To One-Month Low Before New Issues
Wall Street Drops As Traders Sell Blue Chips
US Set To Resume Crude Oil Exports After Four-Decade Ban
Hachette Acquisition Turns Up The Heat On Amazon
American Apparel Hires Outside Investigators
Microsoft Exchange Online Suffers Nine-Hour Outage
Montana Data Breach Exposes 1.3 Million Records
Google To Unveil TV Set-Top Box
Facebook Still Reigns Among US Teens
Google, Microsoft Clouds Now Cover MongoDB



SPORTS
Royals Get Kershawed At The K

No luck at the plate for Lorenzo Cain

Dodgers blank KC 2-0


Virginia Routs Vanderbilt 7-2, Forces Game 3 In CWS

Mets Rough Up Kazmir, Crush A’s 10-1


Archer Tagged For Five Runs As Rays Fall To Bucs Again

Kinsler Homers In Return, Tigers Stomp Rangers 8-2

Upton Brothers Both Go Yard As Braves Edge Astros 3-2

Blue Jays Hang On For Win After Yanks Boot Away Six-Run Rally

Zimmerman Jacks 2-Run Sayonara Homer After 15 Innings, Three Wiener Races



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Emily Ratajkowski: The Bombshell Of Summer

Everything else was borderline NSFW

GQ’s cover girl for July


Gary Oldman Fires Back At ADL’s Anti-Semitism Charges

Katie Cleary’s Husband Suicides After She Was Photographed With Leo DeCaprio, Adrian Grenier

Fox Rebooting “Predator” With Shane Black



Justin Bieber Moves To Beverly Hills Condo – Which He’s Already Hotboxed

Justin Theroux Would Like To Bring Jennifer Aniston To The Afterlife

Hank Baskett’s Shemale Mistress Revealed

Pentatonix Joins “Pitch Perfect 2”

Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes Joining Coen Brothers “Hail, Caesar!”

Lana Del Rey Ends Engagement To Barrie-James O’Neill

Good Girl Gone Bad!

Joan Lunden Has Breast Cancer

Miley Cyrus Has Enlisted Little Sister Noah As Her “Pussy Police”

Billy Joel Rescues Woman In Hamptons



FOREIGNERS
Pentagon Says Advisers Arrive In Baghdad
Business Lobbies At Odds With Administration Over Russia Sanctions
Meriam Ibrahim Arrested At Airport
Her Majesty Declines Seat On Iron Throne
Italian PM Renzi Plans Economic Blitz
Cameron Taunted By Juncker Over “Lack Of Common Sense”
Le Pen, Wilders Fail To Forge Coalition In EU Parliament
Iron Dome Intercepts Two Gaza Rockets As Barrage Continues
Mexican Troops Capture Leader Of Tijuana Cartel



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: The Brutal Choice In Iraq
Doug Powers: Koskinen
Twitchy: MD Dems Nominate Man Who Botched Obamacare Exchange For Governor
American Power: McDaniel Won’t Concede To Decrepit Race-Baiter Cochran
BLACKFIVE: SSG Ryan Pitts To Receive Medal Of Honor
Conservatives4Palin: Governor Palin Makes Sense Of A Revealing Primary Night With Hannity
Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard, June 24
Jammie Wearing Fools: MSNBC Shreds NYT, WaPo For Lack Of IRS Coverage
Joe For America: NYT Plays The Bully, Gets Punched Out
JustOneMinute: Where Is Nate Silver When The Times Needs Him? (Parts I AND II!)
Pat Dollard: New Poll Shows Majority Of Americans Believe IRS Deliberately Destroyed Lois Lerner’s E-Mails
Protein Wisdom: On Paid Maternity Leave
Shot In The Dark: Flexible
The Jawa Report: Cornhole Watch – Kassim Alhimidi, 26 Years To Life
The Lonely Conservative: White House Ignored Warnings Form Kurds On ISIS
This Ain’t Hell: More About That “Rousing Success” Called Obamacare
Weasel Zippers: “Why Aren’t We Putting Them On A Bus?”
Megan McArdle: Millenials Skip The Ring And Mortgage


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Category: Live at Five

Internet ‘Porn Diva,’ 19, Arrested for Bisexual Video Orgy With Girls 12, 13, 14

Posted on | June 24, 2014 | 104 Comments

The police affidavit in this case is astonishing: Bianca Byndloss, 19, and her co-defendants Christian Hernandez, 19, and Brian Yanes, 18, engaged in a May 25 orgy with three girls ages 12, 13 and 14. All are charged with multiple felonies and it looks like an open-and-shut case because all three suspects and also the victims “recorded the sex acts with their cell phones,” to quote the June 18 affidavit for Hernandez’s arrest.

The affidavit states that Hernandez had sex with the 12-year-old, and that his cell phone contained videos of the 13-year-old performing oral sex on the 12-year-old, as well as a video of the 12-year-old “digitally penetrating [Byndloss’s] vagina.” Meanwhile, according to the affidavit, the 14-year-old’s cell phone contained video of Hernandez “digitally penetrating” the 12-year-old, as well as three other “videos depicting the co-defendants and victims engaged in sexual acts, while [Hernandez] is sitting on the bed.”

Byndloss had used the Twitter account @bibiMiami (now deleted) to promote herself as an “up-and-cumming [sic] porn diva” online. The Miami Herald reports her background:

Byndloss has two previous brushes with the law. In 2013, police arrested her on charges of burglary and petty theft, a case that was quickly dropped. In January, she was charged with misdemeanor battery, a case that was also dropped.

So as soon as she turned 18, Byndloss started racking up an arrest record and, although both those previous charges were dropped, now we find her charged with serious felonies — three counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a minor and promoting sexual performance of a child — in a case where the police say they have overwhelming evidence against her. There is no reason, given the nature of the crimes and the clear evidence of guilt, for the prosecutor to show leniency or to offer a plea bargain. And if you’re Byndloss’s lawyer, there’s no way you want a case like this to go to a jury trial.

Yet, according to the Smoking Gun, Byndloss popped up on Twitter after she made bail Friday and, before she deleted her account, she tweeted out such stupid sentiments as “fun leads to trouble just live and learn” and “I love my career i hope this doesn’t interfere with my dreams but only time will tell.”

Bibi, sweetheart: You’re going to prison.

After you get out of prison — maybe by the time you’re 30, or maybe not — you will be required to register as a sex offender. And as for your “career” . . . Well, have you seen Orange Is the New Black?

We should additionally note that (a) Byndloss is the same age as Duke University porn star Miriam Weeks/”Belle Knox” and (b) this depraved crime occurred in Florida, which is also home to such infamous perverts as the fugitive boy-molester Denise Harvey, convicted girl-molester Nichol Marie Phelps, gay teen porn star Robert Marucci and, most notoriously, teen lesbian sex offender Kaitlyn Hunt.

 

Category: Crime, Florida, Sex

LIVE AT FIVE: 06.24.14

Posted on | June 24, 2014 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Kerry Promises “Intense and Sustained Support” For Iraq

The SecState and Iraqi PM Al-Maliki

Doomed.


Egyptian Court Sentences Al Jazeera Journalists
All three get between 7-10 years for aiding terrorists via propaganda; Western press appalled


FLOTUS: I’m Not Going Into Politics After Leaving The White House
Minorities, women hardest hit



POLITICS
FBI Sting Busts 281 Pimps, Frees 168 Kids

FBI Director James Comey with LEO, prosecutors

Many of the rescued never reported missing despite being child welfare agency clients

Members Of Congress Concerned Over Lack Of Immunity For US Troops In Iraq

Mormon Church Excommunicates Founder Of “Ordain Women” Group

Hillary’s Crony Capitalism Gaffes Continue

Chairman Issa Tells IRS Chief Koskinen: “You Have A Problem With Credibility”

Kansas Boy Fights Back After Little Free Library Shut Down By City



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Drops As Iraqi Crisis Fails To Affect Shipments: NYMEX $105.70, Brent $113.93
Asian Markets Mixed As Nikkei Lags
Wall Street Ends Flat After Six-Day Rally Amid Deals, Housing Data
Six Flags Over China?
SanFran City Attorney Puts Kibosh On Parking Spot Auction App
Market Basket Workers Angry After Firing Of CEO Demoulas
Microsoft Increases Free OneDrive, Office 365 Storage
Watch Out GoDaddy! Google To Start Selling Domains
Government Control Big Sticking Point At ICANN Meeting
Sprint Is Next To Give Free Trial Periods A Shot
Chromebook Pixel Owners’ Promised Free Data Plans Being Prematurely Axed
Google Glass Turning Into Fashion Accessory



SPORTS
Vanderbilt Scores 9 In Third Inning, Holds Off Virginia To Win 9-8

Cavs starter Nathan Kirby: the boy had no control

Commodores could take first national championship in any sport ever with a win tonight

Greinke Battered As Royals Snap Skid With 5-3 Trouncing Of Dodgers

Bautista, Tulowitzki Named Captains For Home Run Derby

Alvarez Hits Three-Run Dinger, Helps Pirates Rout Rays 8-1

Blue Jackets Trade Umberger To Flyers For LW Hartnell

Hernandez, Morrison Lead M’s 12-3 Crushing Of Red Sox

Lind Returns From DL, Homers In Jays’ Win Over Yankees

Gio Shuts Down Brewers 3-0



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
True Blood: “I’ve Had Sex With Several Cast Members”, Says Anna Paquin

“We’re all like kind of cozy and friends.”

Real-life husband and co-star Steven Moyer has directed her sex scenes with other actors


Jeff Robinov’s New Studio 8 Gets $1 Billion From HK’s Fosun Int’l


Gordon Ramsay Announces End Of “Kitchen Nightmares”

Joan Rivers: Kristen Stewart Threatened To Sue Me Over Slutty Comments

Hank Baskett’s Ultimate Betrayal

Rapper Big Boi’s Divorce Dropped

Hope Solo’s Nephew: “So I Pulled A Gun On Her”

Sting Says No Inheritance For His Kids

Sam Smith Covers Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know”

Nicole Richie Grows An Organic Garden



FOREIGNERS
Gazprom Says Gas Flow To Europe Via Ukraine Stable
Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim Freed By Court After Death Sentence Imposed For Apostasy
As Costs Rise, Israeli Settlements Face Questions At Home
Watchdog Group Confirms Last Of Syria’s Chemical Weapons Removed From Country
Bangladesh Delays Sentencing In War Crimes Trial Of Islamist Leader
ISIS Jihadis Reportedly Kidnap, Murder Judge Who Sentenced Saddam Hussein To Death
ROK PM Nominee Withdraws Amid Controversy Over Historical Views
Eight Killed In Kano School Bombing
Atrocity Court Declines To Probe Norks
380 Detained In Sinkiang Violence
Kenyan Airstrikes On Al Shabaab Bases Kill 80
Afghanistan’s Chief Electoral Officer Quits After Fraud Allegations
Thai Dissidents Form Group To Pressure Junta For Return To Democracy



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: Kathleen Kane, Wrong Again!
Doug Powers: Big Government Chivalry Not Dead – Elijah Cummings Defends Honor Of Helpless Revenue Collection Agency
Twitchy: #NottheOnion – David Brock Accusing Free Beacon Of “Unethical Practices” Causes LOLs
American Power: The Man Who Broke The Middle East
American Thinker: How The Left Will Repay The Catholic Church On Immigration
BLACKFIVE: Obama Flipflops On Legal Protection For Troops In Iraq
Conservatives4Palin: Governor Palin On Today’s Important Primaries
Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard, June 23
Jammie Wearing Fools: The Big Lie Exposed – No So-Called Global Warming In The US Since The 1930s
Joe For America: Out Of The Wild, Krugman Edition
JustOneMinute: A Corporatist RINO Checks In On Climate Change
Pat Dollard: Reminder – Filthy, Lying, Covering-Up IRS Commissioner Is A Major Democratic Donor
Protein Wisdom: Breaking – Supreme Court Limits EPA Rules On Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Shot In The Dark: Go Forth And Be PC Badgerers Of Men
STUMP: Public Pension Review – Why Keeping A Watch Is Important
The Jawa Report: Who Our SpecOps Troops Should Be Deploying For
The Lonely Conservative: Rejoice! Hillary Clinton is Just Like You And Me, And She Pays Taxes!
This Ain’t Hell: RIP Stephanie Kwolek
Weasel Zippers: Thad Cochran Robocalls Black Voters, Smears Tea Party As Racist
Megan McArdle: Curbing Climate Change Won’t Come Cheap


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Category: Live at Five

Sexual Assault at UT-Austin

Posted on | June 23, 2014 | 34 Comments

#YesAllWomen (in Texas):

“Campus police questioned two University of Texas football players as part of a sexual assault investigation,” involving an incident that allegedly “happened early Saturday morning in the San Jacinto Residence Hall.”

Then there is this sentence:

According to the university’s most recent security report, victims reported nine on-campus sexual assaults in 2012.

Does anyone else remember how George Will became the living symbol of “rape culture” in American journalism? It involved two statistics cited by feminists: First, that 20% of college women are victims of sexual assault as undergraduates; and second, that only 12% (roughly 1-in-8) of sexual assaults are reported to authorities. Applying that math to enrollment figures and reported sexual assaults at Ohio State University, Will found that even if you multiply the number of sexual assault reports by 8.33 (thus to represent the 12% figure) the calculations showed “a sexual assault rate of approximately 2.9 percent — too high but nowhere near 20?percent.”

Well, what about these numbers for UT-Austin? If there were nine sexual assaults reported on campus in 2012, but only 12% of such crimes were actually reported, this would mean that there were 75 assaults total that year. If 2012 was an average year, we can multiply that number by a factor of four to reach 300 as the total number of sexual assaults (both reported and unreported) during the typical four-year undergraduate career of a UT-Austin student.

In 2011, there were 38,437 undergraduate students at UT-Austin, of whom 51.3% (19,718) were female. If my math is correct, this means that the sexual assault rate was slightly more than 1.5%.

Of course, the ideal number would be zero, but the point is this: Administration officials including Vice President Joe Biden have been touting these statistics — one-in-five college women victimized by sexual assault, only 12% of which are reported to authorities — as justifying a federal policy to combat what is being described as an “epidemic” of rape on campus. Yet when we apply these statistics to actual data, we find that the numbers don’t add up, and that the alleged “epidemic” involves a vast exaggeration.

The problem is not whether opinion columnists offend us by using language about “privilege” and victimhood as a “coveted status” (George Will’s thought-crime). Rather, the problem is something much simpler: The administration is lying to us, and these lies are being used to justify federal policies that could be very harmful.

There was more evidence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction in 2003 than there is of a college rape “epidemic” in 2014. But if feminists cared about evidence, they wouldn’t be feminists, would they?

UPDATE: Thanks to Greg (@g56yu) on Twitter for pointing out this November item about “underreported” assault at UT-Austin:

“If you look at the national statistics, they’ll say one in four college women is likely to be a victim of sexual assault by the time they complete college, and for men it’s one in six,” said Jennifer Hammat, institutional Title IX coordinator and assistant vice president for student affairs. “For a campus population of 50,000 [students], that means we should be seeing 12,500 cases a year. And we’re not.”
There were only 18 forcible sexual offenses reported in 2012, including those occurring on campus properties, residence halls, non-campus buildings and adjacent public property, according to the University’s Annual Security Report released last month. The year before, there were 16.
Erin Burrows, a Voices Against Violence health education coordinator, said these low statistics should not be interpreted to mean UT students experience radically lower rates of sexual assault compared to students at other universities.

A couple of things: The 50,000 enrollment number includes grad students and, if you add in sexual assaults against students that reportedly occurred at “non-campus buildings,” the number for 2012 roughly doubles — so, about 3%, the same as at Ohio State.

More importantly, however, both Hammat and Burrows have it fixed in their mind — as a fact — that a certain large percentage (1-in-4) of students are victims of sexual assault, so the relatively low number of reported assaults at UT-Austin doesn’t mean anything.

In other words, ignore the available facts, believe the scary statistics.

 

Category: Crime, Education, Feminism, Sex

One Hundred Years Ago

Posted on | June 23, 2014 | 26 Comments

Anniversaries often slip my attention. A.O. Scott has a long essay in the New York Times about World War I, which began in August 1914, so that we are now living in the 100th anniversary of the last summer of peace before that bloody atrocity.

Scott points to a startling fact: On July 1, 1916, opening the Battle of the Somme, the British suffered 60,000 casualties in a single day.

We simply cannot imagine such a thing nowadays. Total U.S. combat deaths in the Iraq War were less than 5,000, with another 32,000 wounded. In the worst month of fighting in Iraq — November 2004 — there were fewer than 140 American troops killed.

Probably the best book about World War I is The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, which won a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction.

 

Category: History, Military
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