LIVE AT FIVE: 02.25.14
Posted on | February 25, 2014 | 4 Comments
— compiled by Wombat-socho
TOP NEWS
Ukraine Charges Former President Yanukovich With Mass Murder

A man lights a candle at a memorial to those slain in last week’s Maidan protests
Other former ministers also sought in deaths of protesters
Thai Army Chief Warns Country On Brink Of Armed Conflict
Warns antigovernment protesters, pro-government red shirts against further escalation
PM Yingluck Rules Out Stepping Down
Philippines Drug Raid Shows Mexican Cartels’ Presence In Asia
Sinaloa cartel operatives found at Philippine meth bust
POLITICS
SecDef Hagel Plans Cuts To Reduce Army To Pre-WW2 Levels

Hagel and Chairman of the JCS General Dempsey speak at a Pentagon press conference yesterday
Claims cuts necessary to preserve special ops, cyberwar capabilities
Virginia Gov. McAuliffe’s Commerce Secretary Under Federal Investigation Too
AG Holder Says “Discriminatory” Gay Marriage Laws Don’t Need Defending
Arizona Bill Allowing Businesses To Deny Service To Gays Sparks Heated Debate
Gun Limits For Young Adults Survive Supreme Court Appeal
Sebelius Cuts To Home Healthcare Funds Could Jeopardize Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Down Slightly Ahead Of US Data: NYMEX $102.42, Brent $110.49
Stocks Surge On Healthcare Gains
Carl Icahn’s eBay Battle Gets Nasty
LinkedIn Opens Chinese-Language Site, Will Conform To PRC Censorship Rules
McDonald’s, Taco Bell Rethink Breakfast
SolarCity To Install Fewer Panels In First Quarter
Zuckerberg Wants Facebook To Be “Dial Tone For The Internet”
Former Nokia Chief Elop To Run Microsoft’s XBox, Tablet Businesses
What Mattered At Mobile World Congress Day One
Verizon: Heavy Web Users Should Pay More
Expert Says Selfies Probably Not Causing Spread Of Head Lice In Teens
SPORTS
Finally, Some Good News For Fans Of Terps Mens’ Basketball

Coach Turgeon screams for a foul as Maryland guard Nick Faust hits the floor
Maryland fumbles away another game, falls 57-55 to #4 Syracuse
Bucks Get 11th Win With Rout Of Sixers
Trade Deadline Looms As NHL Resumes Play
Burks, Favors Lead Jazz To 110-98 Win Over Celtics
MLB Limits But Doesn’t Ban Home Plate Collisions
Oklahoma Wilts Down The Stretch, Falls To #5 Kansas
Crawford Leads Clippers Past Pelicans, 123-110
Blue Jackets Put Tyutin On Injured Reserve After Olympic Damage
Mattheus Has MRI, Clippard Back On The Mound
FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Actor, Director, Writer: Harold Ramis Dies At 69

Good night, sweet prince.
Best remembered for roles in “Ghostbusters”, “Stripes”, SCTV; also wrote “Animal House”, many other comedies
Alec Baldwin Bids Goodbye To Public Life
Judy Garland’s Kids To Reunite For Oscars “Wizard Of Oz” Tribute
Robin Thicke’s Wife Paula Patton Announces Separation
Third Child On The Way For Jimmy Kimmel
“American Idol” To Lose Money This Year?
“Teen Mom 2” Star Driving Recklessly Before Fiery Crash, Cops Say
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint Toast Each Others’ Success At Theatre Awards
Half Of Hollywood Supports Miley Cyrus At Her “Bangerz” Concert
Study Suggests Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show” Could Kill The Talk Show Genre
FOREIGNERS
Japan’s New Energy Policy Keeps Nukes As Prime Energy Source
State Department Presses Iraq For Details On Reported Iran Arms Deal
Ugandan President Signs Anti-Gay Bill
Drug Lord’s Lawyers File To Block Extradition To US
Venezuela Death Toll Climbs To 13 As Protests Flare
Italy’s New PM Clears Hurdle With Senate Confidence Vote
Egypt’s Interim Government Resigns Unexpectedly
Leopard On The Loose In Meerut Sparks Terror
ROK President Sets Up Committee To Prepare For Unification With DPRK
India Drops Anti-Piracy Charges; No Death Penalty For Italian Marines
Turkish PM Erdogan Gains Upper Hand As Police Purge Defangs Islamist Leader
BLOGS & STUFF
Proof Positive: Raise Your Hand If You’re Sure!
Michelle Malkin: Why Parents Are “Paranoid” About Common Core
Doug Powers: Eric Cantor’s Democrat Challenger Gets His Alan Grayson On
Twitchy: Piers Morgan Loses Control Of His Tweets Along With What’s Left Of His Dignity
American Power: Spanish Lefty Convicted Of Threatening Political Leaders On Twitter
American Thinker: Shut Up, They Explained
The Necropolitan Sentinel: Obamacare, Pensions, And Debt, Oh My!
Conservatives4Palin: Gillespie Gaining On Warner In Virginia Senate Race
Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard, February 24
Jammie Wearing Fools: Former SC Dem Party Chair On Hillary Supporters – “I Think It’s More Of A Cult Than A Political Movement”
Joe For America: Krauthammer – If Obama Was A Republican, He’d Be Impeached
JustOneMinute: I’ll Believe It When I See It
Pat Dollard: Meghan McCain Thinks Freedom Of Religion Is Embarrassing
Shot In The Dark: Open Letter To Pretty Much Everyone Involved In Last Weekend’s Rhubarb In Buffalo
The Jawa Report: Everyone Wave Bye Bye To Piers Morgan
The Lonely Conservative: ACU Seeking Liberal To Debate Ann Coulter At CPAC
This Ain’t Hell: Those American Olympians And Their “Alternative” Lifestyles
Megan McArdle: Venezuela And Chavez’ Deadly Endgame
Rule 5 Monday: A Double-Stuffed Presidential Collection
Posted on | February 24, 2014 | 14 Comments
— compiled by Wombat-socho
This has been a sad month for Rule 5 fans; I note that it’s been fully three weeks since we paid tribute to the women of the Superb Owl and others. Well, no time like the present to get caught up…unfortunately, there’s so much leftover Rule 5, we’re going to have to serve it up two weeks at a time. Henceforth:
Laughing Conservative kicks things off with the properly plugged-in Kate Upton, followed by Animal Magnetism’s Rule Five Friday and Saturday Gingermageddon (Also, second helpings of Rule 5 Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon!). Goodstuff scores a twofer with Vanessa Mae and Vintage Robot Hookers, Ninety Miles From Tyranny adds the usual trifecta of Morning Mistress, Hot Pick of the Late Night, and Girls With Guns, Blackmailers Don’t Shoot offers Leryn Franco Will Toss Your Javelin and Rule 5 Tuesday With College Cheerleaders, while First Street Journal chips in with IDF Tweets and Swedes in the snow. Also, Randy’s Roundtable suggested Claudine Keane; Ninety Miles from Tyranny did an encore of Morning Mistress, Hot Pick of the Late Night, and added Women With Weapons.
EBL had a veritable thundering herd of sporty heifers, which included a fistful of Seahawks Super Bowl posts, Cracking The Manning Code (with bonus SeaGals), Forty Whiners (with more SeaGals), Liz Hurley, Cate Blanchett, Team USA (with an encore), Catherine Engelbrecht, more Team USA, and Scarlett Johansson. Also, Team Russia, Tina Maze, Winter Olympics Rule 5, Team Canada, Olympic Rule 5 linky love for Jammie Wearing Fools, House of Cards, Game of Thrones, and some House of Cards memes. Also also, Rudkovskaya Rule 5!
Soylent Siberia delivered your morning coffee creamer, noted there was a game on 2/2, and then kicked off the week with Monday Motivationer Brandy, followed by a welcome to our new Ice Age mistresses (with bonus Ice Age pix), Humpday Hawtness, Bass To 11, Fursday Finery Sabrina, Awesome Cameltoe, Overnighty Lonny, Corset Constellation, T-GIF Friday, Balance Issues, Happy Hour Hawtness, and Weekender Jessi.
A View From The Beach offers the Olympics Babe Of The Day, Catrin Claeson – A Great Dane, Zombie Beavers Eating Cute Girls, Bait Like A Master, Drug-Addled Actor Claims Liz Hurley And Bill Clinton Had An Affair, Please Butt Out, Your Majesty!, New Job, Mmmm, Doritos, Super Bowl Live Blog, Free To Express Any View You Want…, and Enough To Make You Want To Drink.
Proof Positive’s Babe of the Week was Rhona Mitra; his vintage babe was Gale Robbins, and Sex In Advertising was covered by Victoria’s Secret. Dustbury submitted Ming-Na Wen and Maria Sharapova (also Jessie J and Yuja Wang), while at The Camp of the Saints, it was Valentina Nappi and the Rule 5 News.
The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes included Jessica Parker Kennedy, Reina Fuji, Stacy Gray, Royce Reed, Kate Capshaw, Melissa Giraldo, Nanami Takase, Aarti Mann, Megumi Yano, Yoko Kumada (Part 1 and Part 2), Dani Nardi, Annabelle Acosta, Candice Michelle, Rosette Mogomotsi, Sara Loren, Yua Saitou, Mari Abe, Ai Uehara, and Courtney Thorne-Smith.
Thanks to everyone for their linkagery, even the people who sent in links from the 10th-15th after being told there would be no Rule 5 roundup that week. -_-
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Why Do Lesbians Love ‘Slut Walk’?
Posted on | February 24, 2014 | 43 Comments
Peter Paul Rubens, Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (1618)
“The SlutWalk movement is about rape in pretty much the same sense Nazism was about the Versailles Treaty — it’s the legitimate grievance that empowers a movement of irrational hatred. We may laugh at the carnival sideshow aspect of women stripping down to their underwear to march down the street in broad daylight, carrying deliberately provocative posters and shouting nonsensical slogans. But the leaders of the movement have a radical ideology they take very seriously, and that ideology is sufficiently influential that anyone who criticizes it risks condemnation as being anti-woman, or even pro-rape.”
— Robert Stacy McCain, Aug. 12, 2013
“Intercourse/PIV is always rape, plain and simple.
“Intercourse is the very means through which men oppress us, from which we are not allowed to escape….
“Sex for men is the unilateral penetration of their penis into a woman . . . [W]omen are dehumanised by this act. It is an act of violence.”
— Radical Wind, Dec. 15, 2013
Professor Donald Douglas commented over the weekend that I’ve “been doing a seminar on radical feminism of late” and this is no accident. Feminist insanity constantly provides excellent blog fodder:
- Feb. 11: Anonymous, Paranoid and Unverifiable: Radical Feminism’s Anti-PIV Madness
- Feb. 12: RadFem: ‘No Woman Is Heterosexual’
- Feb. 13: ‘If It Was a Rape, It Was Good Rape’
That began as sort of a walk-up to Valentine’s Day, which academic feminists have turned into an annual occasion for campus performances of “The Vagina Monologues” and other radical exercises in undergraduate “consciousness-raising,” a topic I addressed in my American Spectator column, “V Is for Victimhood.” And then the hits just kept coming:
- Feb. 14: Professor Dee Graham: The Psychologist Who Drove Feminists Crazy
- Feb. 19: ‘Feminist Dogma’
- Feb. 20: ‘The Second Time as Farce’: @sandraylk’s Recycled Marcusean Marxism
- Feb. 22: Because @kmcdonovgh Knows You’re a Victim of Heteronormative Patriarchy
What you learn, if you study this topic in-depth — “Taking Feminism Seriously” — is that feminist ideology is not merely anti-male, but anti-heterosexual, that “moderate feminism” is an oxymoron: “Feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice,” as Women’s Liberation pioneer Ti-Grace Atkinson said or, in the words of Professor Bettina Aptheker, lesbianism is the “highest state of feminism.”
As extreme as this rhetoric may seem, it is in fact inherent to feminist ideology. It is taught in Women’s Studies/Gender Studies courses and included in the anthologies and textbooks.
The only reason radical feminist doctrine retains its power to shock the general public is because Lesbian Supremacy (as we may call it) is a sort of esoteric truth reserved for the initiated cult believers, whereas the movement’s exoteric discourse addresses itself to issues like “reproductive choice,” workplace equality and rape.
If rape didn’t exist, feminists would have to invent it, because it is the pluperfect organizing issue for a movement which teaches that all men are violent oppressors of women. Demonizing males and stigmatizing heterosexual desire are, after all, necessary to the esoteric truth of feminism, and this has been the implicit message of the “Slut Walk” movement since its inception in Toronto in 2011.
While the Slut Walk phenomenon was instantly controversial, few commentators paid much attention to the role played by radical lesbian feminists in organizing and leading the movement. One who did notice was Jack Donovan of the “men’s rights” site, The Spearhead:
In city after city, the SlutWalk scene has looked more like a gay event than a display of outraged hausfraus and successful businesswomen. . . .
Portland SlutWalk will be another lesbian parade.
Donovan did a bit of research and discovered that the organizers of the Portland event were scarcely mainstream. One was a porn performer who called herself a “top heavy queer femme switch,” another described herself as “lesbian swinger . . . love warrior,” and a third is a “queer cultural worker.” You can get an idea of the fringe ideology involved by reading this paragraph in a press release the Portland SlutWalk organizers issued in June 2011:
We would like to sincerely thank our community for receiving this event so fully, enthusiastically, and lovingly! As a team of dedicated organizers who collectively are queer, sex workers, underemployed, class aware, anti-racist white allies, people of color, women identifying, cis-gender, non-cis gender identifying, survivors, allies, domestic violence advocates, and parents, we want to embrace all of the facets of these identities and more in our aim to represent and serve the diverse array of experiences reclaiming sexual identity, refusing rape culture, and revolting against sexualized violence as a means of policing gender and sexuality, reinforcing patriarchy, racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, and perpetuating the criminalized status of sex workers and women of color.
Fringe extremism can only flourish if mainstream culture is receptive to the argument that normal behavior and normal beliefs are oppressive, and this is why the inherent radicalism of “Slut Walk” — its roots in the esoteric ideology of lesbian feminism — was ignored in liberal media reporting about the phenomenon. If mainstream readers were aware of the radical doctrine and radical goals of the movement, they would actively oppose “Slut Walk.” But the unwillingness to criticize feminist rhetoric, for fear of being called “anti-woman,” discourages skeptical investigation and intimidates potential opponents into silence.
To promote the acceptance of deviant behavior as “normal,” it becomes logically necessary to re-define normal behavior as deviant. Radical feminists therefore must demonize men as violent oppressors and stigmatize all heterosexual intercourse as rape. Feminism teaches women that they are “dehumanized” by men’s “unilateral penetration” — “PIV is always rape, OK?” — so that to be a feminist is to view all men with fear and loathing. Women who do not share these radical anti-male sentiments are treated with contempt by feminists: Heterosexual women are captives participating in their own degradation by men, submitting to the humiliating imposition of penis-in-vagina because they have been brainwashed by the heteronormative patriarchy to believe they enjoy it.
By the way, feminists who go looking for statements by the original 2011 Portland Slut Walk organizers will be disappointed:
LOL: "SlutWalk Portland" failed to renew domain registration. Site taken over by porn spammers. http://t.co/bRUCr1jvcS Irony much?
— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) February 24, 2014
Layers and layers of irony there . . .
How Can @KirstenPowers10 Ever Abandon Her Idolatry of Equality?
Posted on | February 24, 2014 | 84 Comments
In a column called “Conservative Christians Selectively Apply Biblical Teachings in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate,” Kirsten Powers and Jonathan Merritt accuse Christians who refuse to provide goods and services for gay weddings of being hypocritical cherry pickers. According to their argument, consistency dictates that vendors who refuse to bake cakes for gay weddings should also boycott “unbiblical” heterosexual weddings. . . .
A same-sex wedding is the ceremonial blessing of behavior the Bible condemns. Affirmation of homosexual practice is intrinsic to gay nuptials. There is no need to ask the history of the couple or their reasons for marrying in order to figure out whether or not the marriage is one that God would approve. In contrast, while two heterosexuals wishing to marry may or may not be obeying God’s commands, the institution itself is one that God has affirmed.
Things that are obvious from a common-sense perspective — if somebody’s asking for two grooms on a wedding cake, this is not a “marriage” that any Bible-believer could be expected to endorse — are obscure to those blinded by ideological abstractions. Chief among these is the Left’s idolatrous devotion to Equality:
Gay activists do not construe their “rights” in terms of liberty, but in terms of radical and absolute equality. They insist that same-sex relationships are identical to — entirely analogous to and fungible with — traditional marriage.
Common sense resists this assertion, perceiving something fundamentally false in the gay marriage argument. Yet it seems common-sense resistance can only be justified by resort to religious faith, through the understanding that men are “endowed by their Creator” with rights. Eliminate the Creator from discussion, and it becomes impossible to refute the activists’ indignant demand for equality.
You can go read the whole thing, just in case you’ve forgotten what I wrote in November 2008. I have long since tired of trying to get people to understand how we got here: Once you buy into the falsehood that men and women are equal, in the sense of being identical and interchangeable, then you must deny the natural purpose of sexual dimorphism and reproductive biology.
If therefore the differences between men and women are to be explained away as “socially constructed,” and if sex roles are rejected as an oppressive imposition of the “heteronormative patriarchy” — for this is what feminist ideology teaches — then not only are same-sex unions equal to traditional marriages, but homosexual couples must be deemed morally superior to heterosexuals, because gay pairings do not involve the male oppression of women.
Why does Kirsten Powers not see this? If you follow the Left’s logic of “gender” to its inescapable conclusion, you must not merely legalize same-sex marriage, but you must abolish the patriarchal institution of heterosexual marriage and suppress the Judeo-Christian moral code that supports traditional marriage. Homosexuality must not merely be tolerated, but refusal to applaud sodomy must be stigmatized as “hate.” One can perceive a possible future in which young people who reject gay advances will be accused of “homophobia” on that basis alone.
Kirsten Powers does not see where the logic that justifies gay marriage leads and where, in fact, it has already led us: LGBT activists angrily demanding the harassment and suppression of Christian “bigots” who disagree with the gay-rights agenda.
The devotees of Equality are enemies of Liberty, and their fetishistic attachment to an intellectual abstraction requires them to reject religion, custom and. common sense. Ultimately, the Left must not only destroy the Christian church and the traditional family, but they must also wreck the entire system of government established by our Constitution.
Kirsten Powers says she has become a Christian, so why is she still worshipping at the blood-soaked altar of Equality?
LIVE AT FIVE: 02.24.14
Posted on | February 24, 2014 | 9 Comments
— compiled by Wombat-socho
TOP NEWS
Yanukovich Flees, Tymoshenko Freed In Stunning Reversal Of Fortune

Former Ukraine PM Yulia Tymoshenko addresses the crowd in the Maidan after being freed from prison in Kharkov. Not shown: the wheelchair she’s sitting in due to back injuries aggravated by her prison term.
Whereabouts of former President unknown; clashes continue in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
U.S. Warns Russia To Keep Military Out Of Ukraine
Acting President Turchynov stresses “European choice”
Mexican Drug Lord “El Chapo” Guzman Arrested In Mazatlan
Flipped aides, wiretaps and a tunnel network lead to Sinaloa cartel boss’ capture
AAP’s Kejiriwal Slams Both Gandhi, Modi For Corruption
Calls rival candidates the two faces of magnate Mukesh Ambani
POLITICS
Susan Rice: No Regrets Over Benghazi Lies

The National Security Adviser.
Remarks “not meant to mislead the American people”, she said on Meet The Depressed. Oh. Glad she cleared THAT up.
Ayotte, McCain Tell Obama To Be “Clear And Unequivocal” With Putin About Ukraine
Report: Obamacare Medical Device Tax Has Already Killed 33,000 Jobs
Will The 2014 Midterms Test The Tea Party’s Power To Last?
Obamacare Takes Center Stage At Governors’ Meeting
Obama Doubles Down On Minimum Wage As GOP Remains Focused On Obamacare
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asian Crude Rebounds As G20 Vows To Spur Global Growth: NYMEX $102.48, Brent $110.02
Netflix Agrees To Comcast Streaming Deal
Euro Steady As Ukraine Unrest Ebbs
Mastercard To Acquire Mobile Payments Tech Provider C-SAM
Draghi: ECB Will Add To Stimulus If Outlook For Prices Falls Further
The Cost Of Drought
The Phones Of MWC
Microsoft’s Aggressive Platform Push
Mozilla Doubles Down On Mobile With $25 Firefox Phone
HP Makes Play For Network Virtualization With OpenNFV Program
Oculus Rift Lets You Play Original Zelda In First Person Perspective
SPORTS
Canadians Blank Sweden 3-0, Take Hockey Gold

Best hockey team in the world.
Crosby, Toews lead the attack as Canada crushes the Swedes*
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Second Daytona 500 After Rain Delay
Nyets Say Da To Collins, Break Losing Streak Against Lakers
Yankees Lock Up Brett Gardner: 4 Years, $52 Million
Lillard Leads Short-Handed Blazers Past Timbermutts
Final Verdict On “Putin’s Games” – A Rousing Success
Matt Williams Talks About Felipe Rivero And Ross Detwiler
*the Russian bear having been previously whipped offstage by the Finns
FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Snooki Expecting Second Child

Sources say…
Keeping it quiet as she continues lucrative personal appearances
Fan Admits To Faking Rihanna’s Alleged Anti-Gay Comments
Erin Andrews To Replace Brooke Burke-Charvet On DWTS
Ebersols Aboard To Produce And Script “Space Jam 2” As A Vehicle For LeBron James
Michael B. Jordan Disses Critics, Says Fans Will Love His Black Human Torch
Matt Ryan Lands Lead In NBC’s “Constantine” Based On DC Comic
More Fakery By Unspeakable Armenians Exposed
FOREIGNERS
PRC Shares Sink To Two-Week Low On Property Jitters; Hong Kong Sinks Too
Russia Recalls Ambassador To Ukraine Over “Deterioration”
Thai PM Leaves Bangkok As Bombs, Bullets Punctuate Unrest
Oldest Known Holocaust Survivor Dies At 110
Uganda’s President Set To Sign Anti-Gay Bill
Thirteen Killed In Pakistan Bus Station Blast
Koreans Hold North/South Family Reunions In Shadow Of Military Drill Tension
American Inmate Killed In Gun Battle With Israeli Prison Guards
Venezuela’s Maduro Gears Up For Talks To Defuse Protests
Jihadi Mediator Killed In Suicide Attack By Rival Extremists
Pope Francis Warns Newly Elevated Cardinals Against Intrigue, Favoritism
Mugabe: Gays Not Welcome In Zimbabwe
BLOGS & STUFF
American Power: Democrat Gary Peters Threatens TV Station Licenses Over Julie Boonstra Obamacare Ad
American Thinker: Going Somewhere Damgerous
Blackfive: You’ve Got…Gina Elise (Someone You Should Know)
Blackmailers Don’t Shoot: Rule 5 Linkfest, Accidental Ryn Lee Edition
The Necropolitan Sentinel: Obamacare Watch – Another One Bites The Dust
Conservatives4Palin: Governor Palin Posts On Obama’s Media Crackdown
Don Surber: Political Myths
Jammie Wearing Fools: Dingy Harry Attacks Koch Brothers Before Heading To Fundraiser With Democrat Billionaire Sugar Daddy
Joe For America: Feds Charge 25 In Largest Healthcare Fraud Bust In DC History
JustOneMinute: Don’t Call It Genocide In Their Blue Heaven
Pat Dollard: NPR’s Racist Muslim Host Thanks God She’s “Not A White Woman”
Protein Wisdom: Hundreds Of California Government Employees Paid Over $400K/Year
Shot In The Dark: Free People With “Assault Weapons” 1, Scum 0
The Jawa Report: Like Buddy Holly & The Big Bopper, Founder Of Libyan Islamic Group Meets With “Terrible” Accident
The Lonely Conservative: Yes, We Need A Republican Majority, But Conservatives In That Majority Would Be Nice
This Ain’t Hell: Talks End On Bergdahl’s Release
Megan McArdle: Can Lawyers Beat Big Food? Fat Chance.
Rule 5 Sunday will be on a Monday this week, but since I originally wasn’t planning on doing it until after CPAC…
Nickel-and-Dime Ukraine Scandal: Foreigners Bought Bloggers Cheap
Posted on | February 23, 2014 | 16 Comments
It’s MalaysiaGate all over again:
Several conservative bloggers repeated talking points given to them by a proxy group for the Ukrainian government — and at least one writer was paid by a representative of the Ukrainian group, according to documents and emails obtained by BuzzFeed.
The Ukrainian campaign began in the run-up to high-stakes Ukrainian parliamentary elections last year, and sought to convince skeptical American conservatives that the pro-Russian Party of Regions, led by President Viktor Yanukovych, deserved American support. During that period, articles echoing Ukrainian government talking points appeared on leading conservative online outlets, including RedState, Breitbart, and Pajamas Media.
(Whatever the talking points were, I didn’t repeat them. The only foreign country I really care about is Vanuatu.)
The emails and documents, which include prepackaged quotes from election officials and talking points that some writers copied nearly word-for-word, offer a glimpse into how foreign governments dodge tight Justice Department regulations on foreign propaganda to covertly lobby in the United States: The payments were routed through a front group in Belgium to an American consultant, who has urged writers not to cooperate with a reporter investigating the campaign.
(A “front group in Belgium”? The Flemish Menace!)
The model resembles a recent stealth campaign in which bloggers were paid by the Malaysian government to write favorable stories, though the Ukraine campaign appears to have involved smaller sums of money.
(Yeah, I was all over the Malaysia scandal, another one of those blogola deals where nobody offered me a cent, dammit.)
One of the writers who participated in the campaign, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and because of lingering qualms about the arrangement, they said, described being offered $500 for a blog post praising Ukraine’s ruling Party of Regions.
What? You sold out to foreigners for a measly $500? Hell, that won’t even buy you a round-trip ticket to beautiful Vanuatu, the sunny Pacific island paradise where the Grand Hotel and Casino offers spectacular views of the harbor at Porta Vila . . .
Donald Douglas has more at American Power.
Apparently those cheapskate Ukrainian bastards didn’t hire Donald, either. But don’t worry: If there is ever a “high-stakes election” in Vanuatu, we’re gonna be rolling in the blog-o-bucks, baby.
Good-Bye, and Good Riddance: @PiersMorgan Canned at CNN
Posted on | February 23, 2014 | 38 Comments
First smart move that network has made in years:
CNN President Jeff Zucker has decided to bring an end to Piers Morgan’s low-rated primetime show, network sources told POLITICO on Sunday. “Piers Morgan Live” could end as early as next month, though Morgan may stay with the network in another role.
Morgan, a former British tabloid editor, replaced Larry King in the 9 p.m. hour three years ago, prior to Zucker’s tenure as president. His show earned consistently low ratings, registering as few as 50,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 year-old demographic earlier this week.
“CNN confirms that Piers Morgan Live is ending,” Allison Gollust, head of CNN communications, told POLITICO on Sunday after an earlier version of this post was published. “The date of the final program is still to be determined.”
Morgan told The New York Times on Sunday that the show had “run its course” and that he and Zucker “have been talking for some time about different ways of using me.” Sources who spoke to POLITICO said the decision to end the show was Zucker’s.
Here’s your chicken-and-egg paragraph:
Despite low ratings, Morgan drew national attention for his aggressive pro-gun-control campaign in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Morgan addressed the issue nightly for several weeks in late 2012 and early 2013 and hosted fiery, combative interviews with pro-gun adovcates like Alex Jones, a conservative conspiracy theorist.
Do think maybe the “low ratings” and the “aggressive pro-gun-control campaign” had something to do with each other? And do you think that maybe booking a dangerous kook like Alex Jones was related to both the low ratings and the anti-gun agenda?
By the way, I resent Politico applying the “conservative” label to Alex Jones. “Lunatic” is not a political ideology.
Preach It, Dr. Wolf!
Posted on | February 23, 2014 | 20 Comments
by Smitty
2014: YEAR OF THE CONCERN TROLL => Primary challenger to Pat Roberts found to have some curious Facebook postings http://t.co/OBMPibTVey
— Keystone Keynesian (@smitty_one_each) February 23, 2014
For having made some insensitive remarks, the Vichy GOP incumbent is trying to disqualify Dr. Wolf, who responds:
My training as a diagnostic radiologist included the critical component of studying medical images published both in textbooks and online. I have myself authored and published educational material that teaches medical imaging to medical students and doctors. Of the thousands of medical images I have published I have taken care to maintain patient privacy.
Several years ago I made some comments about these images that were insensitive to the seriousness of what the images revealed. Soon thereafter, I removed those images and comments, again several years ago. For them to be published in a much more public context now, by a political adversary who would rather declare war on doctors than answer serious questions that Kansans have, is truly sad. However, my mistakes are my own and I take full responsibility for them.
I have said throughout this campaign and long before it began that I bear the scars of taking the Oath to my patients. When I was 15 years old, I stood at my father’s bedside, himself a rural doctor, and watched him take his last breath. It was at that moment that I knew I would take his torch and dedicate my life to serving patients in need. I’m reminded just how extraordinarily difficult the burden is when I have failed to live up to his example.
It is an incredible honor and an enormous burden to work shoulder-to-shoulder with dedicated people who every day run towards the screaming instead of away. The cumulative effect of day after day, year after year, witnessing so much human suffering, so much tragedy, takes its toll. I’ve seen the burdens of practicing medicine tear apart families and drive good people to vice and as great as the honor is to serve, I would still not wish the burdens of it upon anyone. To those I have offended, I am truly sorry and I ask for your forgiveness.
And now, years later, because I have declared that I am willing to stand up for my country, Senator Pat Roberts wants to attack me as a doctor rather than giving Kansans a reason to vote for him. It’s sad. Pat Roberts has not been able to identify a single issue on which he thinks I am wrong and so he’s doing things the Washington way: character assassination. Kansans should know that I will not be intimidated by their bullying. I did not back down when Barack Obama’s IRS audited me and I will not back down from the desperate attacks of a 47-year Washington insider either.
Hopefully Kansans can tell the difference between an old goat past his sell-by date, and a serious, fresh face of reform.
via Hot Air
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