The Other McCain

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

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Harasser?

Posted on | August 8, 2013 | 148 Comments

In the wake of the atheist sex scandal we reported Tuesday, someone in the “skeptic” community (as these soi-dissant rationalists refer to themselves) created a Tumblr blog called “More Will Be Named” that expanded the list of accused harassers beyond Skeptical Inquirer deputy editor Ben Radford. Before that Tumblr was deleted (for reasons unknown) former children’s TV host Bill Nye “The Science Guy” was among those named, as referenced in Tweets here, here and here.

Is there anything to such accusations? I have no idea, but if it seems wildly improbable that Nye could be suspected of such behavior, remember that no one outside the “skeptic” community (and relatively few insiders), had any reason to suspect Ben Radford before Karen Stoltznow went public with her account this week.

Now more women are coming forward to testify that the “hostile climate” for women in the atheist movement is not limited to the Radford situation. Atheist podcaster Stephanie Svan described a case involving Jim Frenkel, while Carrie Poppy describes her problems at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), which hosted the conference where Stoltznow claims she was sexually assaulted by Radford.

The most interesting aspect of Carrie Poppy’s accusation is the finger she points at JREF President D.J. Grothe, whom she denounces for “constant duplicity, dishonesty, and manipulation.” See if you don’t notice something in this sentence:

I was assured on more than one occasion by James Randi that D.J. Grothe would be fired (I hear Randi denies this now, though he repeatedly promised it to another staff member as well, and that staff member and I represented the entirety of JREF full-time staff other than D.J. and his husband, Thomas), but after several months of waiting and being asked to wait, it became clear that D.J. was not going to be fired.

WHOA! D.J. Grothe is a gay man and an atheist and (according to Carrie Poppy) complicit in this kind of foul misogyny?

Damn, I’m gonna need more popcorn. Meanwhile, feminist maniac Amanda Marcotte has weighed in to say that the answer to this problem — you guessed, didn’t you? — is more feminism.

OK, forget the popcorn. One of you ladies fix me a sammich.

 

Category: Feminism, Religion, Scandal, Science, Sex

Diana West Dissed by David Horowitz?

Posted on | August 8, 2013 | 72 Comments

Regular readers will remember the shocking revelation — “‘A Conspiracy So Immense’ — Was FDR Aide Harry Hopkins a Soviet Agent?” — from Diana West’s new book, American Betrayal. Now comes disturbing news from Diana that David Horowitz’s FrontPage Magazine has removed a favorable review of her book from that site and replaced it with what she calls a “massive hit piece” by Ron Radosh.

Radosh and Horowitz are friends from way back, and I’m sure this influenced the decision, but . . . c’mon, really?

It’s not the first time Radosh has slammed conservative authors. Years ago, Thomas Woods’ Politically Incorrect Guide to American History came under similar assault, and I know Woods was furious about that. But that was one of those typical neo-vs.-paleo dust-ups, and I chalked up that episode as mere sectarian infighting.

Radosh’s hostility to West is more difficult to fathom, because she is a Movement Conservative in good standing. One might think that Horowitz would have looked at Radosh’s savage review of West’s book and said, “Ron, could you tone it down a bit? Do we really need to have this fight?” This could turn into an damaging feud.

And just to make clear, I’m on Diana West’s side all the way in this one, because I remember how Diana stood up for Pamela Geller when Charles Johnson went on the warpath against Pamela.

There’s more that friendship involved, however. American Betrayal demands a conservative re-appraisal of our understanding of FDR’s foreign policy, and indeed to re-examine many basic assumptions about mid-20th-century history. If Harry Hopkins was a Soviet agent . . . Well, finish that sentence however you will.

The very fact that there could be any suspicion about the loyalty of such a key presidential aide is mind-boggling.

Please read Diana’s article at Breitbart.com, “Did the Roosevelt Administration Send Uranium and Other Atomic Materials to Stalin?”

 

Category: Books, Culture, History

LIVE AT FIVE: 08.08.13

Posted on | August 8, 2013 | 8 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Bashar Al-Assad: Not Dead Yet

Al-Assad with the Syrian Grand Mufti

Dictator shown on state TV after reported rebel attack on his convoy

Obama Cancels Meeting With Vladimir Putin
Criticizes Russian anti-gay legislation


Residents Ordered To Evacuate As SoCal Wildfire Rages
6000 acres burned near Banning



POLITICS
New ObamaCare Rules For Congressmen & Staffers

“Great deeds are done at night!”

Lawmakers and staffs not getting out of Obamacare after all

Two More Women Come Forward With Filner Accusations

Fort Hood Trial Is Study In Bizarre Twists

Second Widow Joins Fight For Hotshotter’s Benefits

Weiner Allegedly Hurls “Grandpa” Remark During AARP Forum

Obama To Meet Troops At Camp Pendleton

#SharkWeek: Dead Shark Found On NYC Subway Car

Pentagon May Revise Benefits to Unmarried Gay Couples

GOP Revives “Penny Plan” As Alternative To Sequester For Balancing Budget

Banks Sue Richmond, Caifornia Over Plan To Seize Mortgages Through Eminent Domain



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Up Slightly In Asian Trade As PRC Imports Hit Record High: NYMEX $104.58, Brent $107.52
Asian Stocks Post Biggest Decline In Six Weeks
Groupon Matches Quarterly Profit Forecasts
Yen Rises To Seven-Week High Before BOJ Decisions; Pound Gains
Time Warner Beats Profit Estimates As Ad Revenue Surges
JPMorgan Faces Civil, Criminal Probes Over Mortgages
Treasuries Snap Two-Year Loss before $24 Billion Ten-Year Note Sale
Smartphones Don’t Make Smart Babies
Publishers Urge DOJ To Rethink Apple E-Book Remedies
Google Boosts Phone Security, Rolls Out Android Device Manager
T-Mobile US Reports Largest customer Growth In Four Years
Facebook Borrows From Twitter’s Playbook With Trending Topics
Oculus Hires Doom Creator John Carmack As CTO



SPORTS
Tony Stewart To Miss At Least Three Cup Races With Broken Leg

Tony Stewart

Chase chances up in smoke after dirt-track crash

Fox Sports Signs 12-Year Deal To Televise US Open Starting In 2015

Running Rangers Swipe Seven In 10-3 Whipping Of Angels

Jerry Wolman, Eagles And Flyers Owner, Dies At 86

Cubs Stun Phillies In Ninth

Luna Rossa Beats Artemis Racing In Opening Race Of America’s Cup Challenge Semifinals

Dodgers Knock Out Shelby Miller, Shell Cardinals 13-4

Papa Grande Era Over (Again); Tigers Release Former Closer Valverde

Timbermutts’ Muhammad Booted From Rookie Transition Program

Jay Bilas Forced NCAA Into Hiding

Birds Pound Padres 10-3

Red Sox Rally In Ninth To Beat Astros 7-5

Pirates Still The Best, Top Marlins 4-2

Braves Finish Nationals With 6-3 Win, Sweep



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Jennifer Aniston: Stop Asking Me About Babies!

On the set of “We’re The Millers”

Tired of journalists’ questions on the subject

Adrienne Bailon: Britney Spears “Can’t Hold A Conversation”

Drake Calls Amanda Bynes’ Tweets About Him “Weird And Disturbing”

Laila Ali Apologizes To Unspeakable Armenian


“Two And A Half Men”: Amber Tamblyn To Play Charlie’s Daughter

Transgender Person Sues BET For Forcing Him Into Mens’ Clothes

“CBGB” Trailer: Go Inside “The Greatest Rock Club Ever”

LeAnn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian Get Reality Show With “Duck Dynasty” Producer

Cops Probe “Die Hard” Bieber

Robin Thicke Gets First #1 Album On Billboard Chart

Lindsay Lohan Has SOBER Family Fun Night

Paula Deen Turned Down “Dancing With The Stars” Offer

“War Hero” Wins Young Beauty



FOREIGNERS
International Flights Resume After Nairobi Airport Blaze
Muslims Celebrate Eid With Prayers, Feasting
US, EU Call For End To “Dangerous Stalemate” In Egypt
PRC Dissident Records Rallying Cry While In Detention
Work On New Railway Line Digs Up London History
Chicoms Test Japan On Island Claims After Philippine Success
Vemezuelan Supreme Court Rejects Capriles’ Election Appeal
Hamas Drops Call For Destruction Of Israel From Manifesto
Defense Minister Antony Blames Pak Army for Line Of Control Killings, Talks Put On Hold



BLOGS & STUFF
The Looking Spoon: The Gaffe Obama Made With Jay Leno That’s Going Largely Unnoticed
Michelle Malkin: Three Forgotten Facts About The Fort Hood Attack
Twitchy: #HeadLocksFullOfWomen? Debbie Wassermann-Schultz Posts Her Stupidest Tweet Ever?
Ace Of Spades: Walmart – We’re So Proud Of “The Nation” For Finally Raising Its Minimum Wage To The Actual Legal Minimum Age
Moe Lane: Have I mentioned Lately That I Hate The Phrase “Low Information Voters”?
Via Media: President Obama Should Snub Putin, But Not Over Snowden
Robert Zubrin: Give Snowden Immunity
Weasel Zippers: Leaked IRS Manual Details DEA’s Use Of Hidden Intel
Betsy Woodruff: Texas Tea Partiers Want Gohmert To Primary Cornyn
Thomas Sowell: Barbarians At The Campus Gates
Ed Morrissey: GreenTech Lobbied WH Aide Involved In Solyndra Deal
Byron York: Why Isn’t Rick Santorum The 2016 GOP Frontrunner?
Allahpundit: Chris Christie – The GOP’s Least Wanted
NewsBusters: AP’s Russ Bynum Covers Up Obama’s Gulf Ports Gaffe
Stephen Kruiser: An Examination Of Obama’s Economic Speechapalooza From Outside The Cult


Category: Live at Five

Bob Belvedere — Hacked!

Posted on | August 8, 2013 | 36 Comments

Bob Belvedere at Camp of the Saints knows that the guidelines for “Rule 5” set a limit at the PG-13 line. Obviously, on Saturday, the hackers took control of Bob’s blog and posted photos of, uh, plus-size model Melissa Manning which are definitely Not Safe For Work.

Or so I’m told, by persons familiar with this dreadful cybercrime. An immediate investigation must be launched to find these hackers.

Melissa Manning is on Twitter. Bob Belvedere is, too.

 

Category: Camp of the Saints, Rule 5

Virginia Youth Basketball Coach Arrested on Sex Charge With Pre-Teen Girl

Posted on | August 7, 2013 | 21 Comments

Marlow Mikassa Afshartous, alias Marlow Talley, 39, of Reston, Virgina, has been arrested on charges of sexual assault and solicitation of child pornography. The investigation began two months ago and officials said Talley “had at least one sexual relationship with a female athlete under the age of 13. . . . Talley was a coach and trainer at Claude Moore Recreation Center, Georgetown Day School, and the now-closed Hoop Magic in Chantilly and Fairfax Stars.”

Georgetown Day School is rather posh. To have had an accused sex offender coaching there will send shivers through the D.C. elite.

 

Category: Crime, Sex, Virginia

‘Distributed Internet Reputational Attack’? Charles Carreon’s Self-Evident Absurdity

Posted on | August 7, 2013 | 29 Comments

Charles Carreon on Bloomberg News, March 2012.

Ken White at Popehat continues his reign of terror by offering to debate censorious douchebag Charles Carreon over the latter’s proposal that “Distributed Internet Reputational Attack” be recognized as a tort (i.e., grounds for a civil lawsuit).

Mr. Carreon’s problem is simple: He doesn’t understand how the Internet works. Also, he is a censorious douchebag.

Some writers on the Internet are more popular than others, which is perhaps not the same as saying that the more popular writers are always better writers than the less popular writers, but the saying that “content is king” expresses a basic truth: Someone who consistently cranks out good stuff will usually have more success online, especially if they have a strong sense of what readers want to read.

Ken White has built a large and loyal readership, especially among aficionados of legal lore and First Amendment issues. In addition to his vast legal erudition, he brings to his blog a capacity for diligent research and a lively sense of humor. Among the readers of Popehat are other successful bloggers with a legal background, including the very popular Instapundit. Ken White is, we might say, a blogger’s blogger, and this means that if he sets his sights on a vulnerable target, several other bloggers are likely to join the bombardment.

Charles Carreon evidently does not understand this and therefore, when Popehat helped turn Oatmeal’s hilarious beatdown of Carreon into a viral sensation last year, Carreon perceived this as an injustice which he now proposes to make a tort, “Distributed Internet Reputational Attack.” But who is to blame for this?

CHARLES CARREON IS TO BLAME.

Attempting to evade responsibility for one’s own errors by externalizing blame onto scapegoats is at the heart of Carreon’s problems. To describe the auto-douchebaggification process briefly:

  1. Idiot says, writes, or does something stupid.
  2. The stupidity appears on the Internet.
  3. Bloggers notice the stupidity, make fun of the idiot.
  4. “Hilarity ensues,” as they say. People in comments of blogs pile on further insults, blog readers look up the idiot’s phone number or e-mail address and express in vivid terms their disdain for the idiot’s stupidity.
  5. Idiot reacts stupidly, further hilarity ensues.

Charles Carreon’s reaction to his initial Oatmeal-v-FunnyJunk embarrassment was to double down and double down again. He ignored the First Law of Holes and kept digging, because it evidently never entered his mind that perhaps he was in the wrong.

Thin-skinned narcissists who cannot admit error — whose response to criticism is always to demonize their critics, and who therefore automatically externalize blame for their own mistakes — are always doing this sort of thing to themselves in the Internet age.

Look: If you are ever in a situation where your stupidity makes you a target, the correct thing to do is . . . nothing.

Don’t react. Don’t try to defend yourself. Don’t lash out at your tormenters. Just ignore it until it is over. Learn your lesson, avoid repetition of the error, and be glad it wasn’t worse.

People who merely describe your stupidity — however mocking and sarcastic their descriptions — have done you no wrong.

Consider the example of Jackie Mackie Paisley Passey, who described herself as “a very high-quality woman,” citing the reasons why men should crave her romantic companionship:

I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, but I’m also really sick of getting e-mailed several times a week by delusionally hopeful men who read my blog and think because I am *their* dream girl that I’ll therefore want them too.

Ace of Spades disassembled her with astonishing deftness:

Look, I want to make it clear I’m not saying this girl is ugly, per se. What she is is “plain.” She is what I call “Bad Irish.” The Irish look, but not the Good Irish look. The pasty skin, the elfin features… but not cute elfin, or better yet, hot elfin.
What you’re looking at here is a 5. A girl you wouldn’t notice in the average college or singles bar, except maybe if you had recently quit smoking, and noticed she had a fresh pack of Marlboro Reds held in her (indifferent) cleavage.

And you know something? However humiliated she was by that — and trust me, she deserved the humiliation — Ms. Passey figured out rather quickly that there was no way to “win” it. After an update or two where she tried to explain, defend or justify her stupidity, she walked away and eventually married a guy (“delusionally hopeful”?) and disappeared from the blogosphere.

Is Charles Carreon as smart as Jackie Mackie Paisley Passey?

Stay tuned to Popehat for further developments.

 

Category: How This Here Internet Thingy Works

Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt: Bats, Belfry, Some Assembly Required

Posted on | August 7, 2013 | 55 Comments

Bill Schmalfeldt ranting on YouTube

When last we left the strange saga of Bill Schmalfeldt, the self-described “brain-damaged troll,” his incessant barrage of Twitter gibberish had become so demonstrably crazy that there were fears for his safety. Apparently, however, the nice young men in white coats didn’t take Bill to the Funny Farm, or else the psychiatric staff at Spring Grove have granted him Internet access for therapeutic reasons, because he’s still ranting today. Now he’s got new reasons to rant — Ken White at Popehat has begun his dismantling of Schmalfeldt. A few excerpts:

Our special tonight is a disturbed self-styled journalist named Bill Schmalfeldt. . . .
He leaves no sense of what values he promotes, only of what groups and individuals he hates. There’s only one circumstance when you get a sense that he’s enjoying what he does, that he has a craft or a calling. That’s when he’s describing someone being raped, murdered, or otherwise abused, or when he’s pursuing the families of someone he hates. . . .
There are constant themes. The first is that, though he is nominally “progressive,” he delights in using homoerotic imagery and insults normally associated with homophobes to attack people he doesn’t like . . .
Second, despite being nominally “progressive,” he is perfectly willing to indulge in racism to revile people he doesn’t like. . . .
Third, he’s really, really into the rhetoric of violence and murder.  . . .
Fourth, Schmalfeldt enjoys attacking the family of his political targets.  . . .
Schmalfeldt . . . reported [Breitbart.com contributor Lee] Stranahan to the Dallas Police, the FBI, the District Attorney, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Texas Family Protective Services . . .
Bill Schmalfeldt doesn’t have principles. Bill Schmalfeldt doesn’t have values. Bill Schmalfeldt doesn’t have beliefs. Bill Schmalfeldt has enemies, and then nothing, a black and dank and empty void of sullenness. . . .

Read the whole brilliantly brutal thing and remember: This is just the first installment of an expected series of digital vivisections.

Two weeks ago, when Bill Schmalfeldt threatened me with a spurious copyright claim, I replied with 5,000 words to explain something really simple: BILL SCHMALFELDT IS CRAZY. He keeps providing more evidence of his irrationality, because he can’t help himself. This will not end well for him. He will either go to jail or go to the nuthouse, or else he’ll suffer a fatal neurological and physical breakdown.

If anyone were sincerely interested in Bill Schmalfeldt’s well-being, they’d be begging him to stop, but nobody who actually knows Bill Schmalfeldt likes Bill Schmalfeldt. He evidently lacks any concern for whatever remains of his own human dignity. None of his enemies could ever hate him as much Bill Schmalfeldt hates himself.

 



 

 


Category: Bill Schmalfeldt

From Russia, With Hate: Sodomy Lobby Now Dictating U.S. Foreign Policy

Posted on | August 7, 2013 | 63 Comments

Last month, I wrote about Russia’s harsh backlash against gay-rights activism (“Russia Says ‘Nyet’ to Gay Adoptions“), and it turns out that this explains the cancellation of a scheduled summit:

The Wall Street Journal, among others, reportsthat President Barack Obama has decided to cancel a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s grant of temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Yet that cannot possibly be the case. A few weeks ago, when Snowden arrived in Russia, Obamabrushed the issue aside: he was not “scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker,” he said.
Obama also downplayed the Snowden issue on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday, as the Daily Caller notes. But he played up the conflict over gay rights, citing Russia’s insistence that it will enforce its anti-gay laws during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi (and confusing them with the Summer Olympics in the process). He claimed that he had “been very clear” that gay rights “should transcend every country.” . . .

Read the rest by Joel Pollak at Breitbart News. The astute reader will perceive how the whole “neocon imperialist crusader” philosophy of Bush administration foreign policy, which Obama supposedly was going to reverse, has instead been simply converted to other purposes. Whereas the Republicans were going to spread “democracy” to the Middle East at the point of a bayonet, now the Obama regime aims to spread cultural liberalism by means of diplomatic hardball. This is a further sop to the same vocal minority that supports John Kerry’s recognition of foreign gay marriages for immigration purposes.

Can’t wait to see what the paleoconservatives have to say about this, and expect this may be a rare occasion of paleo/neo agreement.

America Loves You, Sama Elmasry!

 

Category: Barack Obama, Gays, Russia
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