The Other McCain

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

Late Night Administrivia

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 17 Comments

— by Wombat-socho

The death march to April 15 has begun, which means that instead of the previous 46 hour a week schedule I was working, I will be working 54 hours a week until the end of the tax season. Feel free to quote Han Solo on the subject of rewards to me. This is going to force some changes to my blogging around here…first of all, Live at Five will be shifted to Live At Six for the duration. I can’t seem to stay awake late enough to get it done while going to bed early enough to get a decent night’s sleep, and waking up early enough to do it isn’t working any more either. So, an hour’s delay. The FMJRA will still be posting on the nights of the 6th and 13th, and Rule Five Sunday will be back on the 7th with a Super Double-Coverage Illness Makeup Edition, featuring a contribution from the foremost scourge of the Unspeakable Armenian. There will be a return to normalcy on the 14th once the backlog from last week is cleared out.

After tax season is over, I’m taking a few days off to visit family and friends in Minnesota; regular linkagery will resume on Tuesday, April 23, God and Southwest Airlines permitting. In the meantime, aspiring guestbloggers and/or linkmonglers should submit resumes, writing samples, and full-length photographs (Speedos optional) along with your gruel and grog requirements to the proprietor, one R. Stacy McCain, no later than this Friday. Applicants are advised that due to the strictures of the Test Act of 1673, no PopishCatholic individuals can be accepted without an Act of Indemnity and/or a completed I-9 form*. Your cooperation is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Yes, of course this is a joke. What is WRONG with you people?

Category: Blogging, FMJRA Award, Live at Five, Rule 5, Taxes

Unenforced Laws, Preventable Crimes: California Still Circling the Drain

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 9 Comments

Law-abiding taxpaying citizens are fleeing California, an increasingly ungovernable bankrupt disaster, but hey, they’ve got a good-looking attorney general and Paul Krugman thinks the state is making a “comeback,” so why worry? Well, among other things, they can’t afford to keep criminals in prison:

He was released from custody in July 2012 because of a new law that transfers authority over some felons from state prisons to county jails and, on their release, from state parole to county probation departments. The law, also known as public safety realignment, was intended to reduce overcrowding in state prisons.

This criminal who got out of prison last July was picked up on a parole violation in January, but released less than a week later.

And now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story:

In the early-morning hours of March 27, a 10-year-old girl was kidnapped from her home near the Northridge campus of California State University. About 12 hours later, the redheaded girl was discovered walking barefoot in the parking lot of a shopping center near a Starbucks. Police say she was sexually molested after being abducted by two men with lengthy criminal records, one of whom — Tobias Dustin Summers, 32 — is still a fugitive at large.

Read the rest, and pay close attention to just how much crime these two perpetrators had previously committed:

Summers has convictions for receiving stolen property, grand theft, petty theft, possession of an explosive, and presenting false identification to police, according to records. In 2009, he was convicted of battery. Originally, he was also charged with annoying a child, but that charge was dismissed.
Between 2004 and 2012, Martinez was convicted of burglary, petty theft, grand theft, resisting a police officer, and unlawfully entering a property, according to records. In April 2012, he was convicted of making threats of death or great bodily injury.

When habitual offenders are turned loose because the state can’t afford to keep them in prison, bad things happen. Liberals tells us that the answer is passing more laws, but what about enforcing the laws on the books?

Every time some Democrat talks about the need to “keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” I want to scream at my TV: “How about getting the criminals off the street?” And when liberals start babbling about keeping children safe . . . well:

The complaint alleges that Summers broke into the home and used a knife to abduct the girl.

A 10-year-old girl gets kidnapped and raped by career criminals who should have been behind bars, but this crime doesn’t fit the liberal narrative, so don’t expect to see any Democrats or liberal pundits talking about it on MSNBC.

 

Category: California, Crime

‘Undocumented Workers’: Dating Underaged Girls Americans Won’t Date

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 14 Comments

Say hello to Jose Zarata, 25, described by a sheriff’s deputy in Maricopa County, Arizona, as “a non-U.S. citizen who has been living in the country without proper authorization.”

Turns out there were other things Jose wanted to do “without proper authorization,” such as dating the 13-year-old daughter of Maria Saucedo. She said “no,” so Jose shot her in the chest.

The Associated Press won’t call Jose Zarata an “illegal immigrant,” nor will they mention that the age of consent is 12 in Mexico, so we have to turn to other sources:

John Hill of the group Stand With Arizona Against Illegal Immigration blamed the crime on “the sick culture of Mexico,” where the age of consent is 12, and said Mexico ”rarely prosecutes child rapes.”

“Family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande,” President Bush said, but maybe those values are somewhat difficult to translate.

UPDATE: “Do you think the illegal immigrant obtained his weapon legally?” 

 

 


Category: Arizona, Crime, Immigration, Mexico, Sex

Amanda Marcotte: So Dangerously Crazy, Even Conor Friedersdorf Fears Her Now

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 18 Comments

Amanda Marcotte: So humorless, it’s hilarious

No public controversy involving sex is complete until feminist scold Amanda Marcotte makes a fool of herself, and she’s continually striving for ever-lower nadirs of stupidity.

So, a high-school boy in Los Angeles recorded a YouTube video asking famous model/actress Kate Upton to be his prom date. Upton at first indicated on the Today show that she might accept the invitation, but then politely declined. End of story? No, because Amanda Marcotte had not yet made a fool of herself.

Just in case you’ve forgotten, Marcotte was one of two feminist bloggers (along with the hate-filled Melissa McEwan) who was hired by the John Edward presidential campaign in 2007, inspiring the memorable headline, “Vote for Edwards, Godbag Christofascists!”

As PJMedia’s Bryan Preston points out, “Marcotte is so entertainingly nuts that we once made a movie about her.”

How did Marcotte react to the Kate Upton prom-date story? By interpreting it through a prism of sexual violence:

The lesson learned: You may be a rich and famous model, but any random man can, just by making a video, force you to do a little song and dance about how delightful his attentions are.
Instead of applauding Davidson for this, adults should be appalled. All that’s been taught here to young men is that they are entitled to women’s attention simply because they ask for it. . . . This entitlement we teach men crops up all the time for women, and it’s rarely as cute as a silly comedy video: When a man demands that you stop on the street to entertain his proposal of going back to his place and then follows you for blocks because you pretended not to hear him. When a rape victim is told that if she didn’t want to have sex, she shouldn’t have gone to the rapist’s hotel room. When a woman files for a restraining order because she’s afraid her abusive husband means it when he says that if he can’t have her, no one can. . . .
[M]en who are violent feel justified because they believe that women owe them their attention, their bodies, and their love. By joining in the collective pressure on Upton to give her attention . . . to a young man just because he wants it, we’re contributing to the overall culture of male entitlement.

Could we unpack the bizarre and tendentious assumptions packed so tightly into Marcotte’s pointy head? Yes, we could.

Do we really need to bother doing so? No, we don’t.

Because Ace of Spades notices that Marcotte’s argument is so preposterous even Conor Friedersdorf objects to it.

Friedersdorf’s usual gig is denouncing any successful or influential conservative spokesman — Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, et al. — but he took time out from his assigned duties at The Atlantic to expose Marcotte’s crypto-Marxist idiocy:

Her ideology causes her to write as if she doesn’t understand what is plain to most observers: Kate Upton is far more privileged, powerful, culturally savvy, and capable of fully exercising her autonomy than the vast majority of straight white males in America, and certainly more than a dateless, non-celebrity 18-year-old high school student on YouTube.

Now that Marcotte has jumped the Friedersdorf shark, so to speak, it’s probably safe to objectify Kate Upton again:

She’s obviously a helpless victim of the patriarchy, isn’t she?

 


Category: Celebrities, Feminism, Rule 5

Lady Gaga-Gate Continues

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 7 Comments

Yesterday, I noted the RNC’s emphatic denial that they knew anything about this. Well, that denial was apparently wrong:

Following up on reports that Lady Gaga was offered — and turned down — $1 million to perform at last year’s Republican National Convention, Jeff Quinton has obtained documents and e-mails showing that an RNC official was privy to the negotiations.

Jeff Quinton has a full report at Naked DC.

Category: Scandal

LIVE AT FIVESIX: 04.04.13

Posted on | April 4, 2013 | 5 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Connecticut Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Gun Control Measure

Connecticut lawmakers embrace after passing gun control law

Connecticut lawmakers embrace after passing gun control law

Governor ready to sign bill

Civilian Employee Shot Dead At Fort Knox
Authorities say it wasn’t a random act

Norks Warn Military Cleared To Launch Nuke Attack Against U.S.
ROK Defense Minister says missile moved to east coast doesn’t have the range





POLITICS
Obama Raises California Cash For Dems While Trying Not To Derail His Second-Term Agenda

"There is hope...send money."

“There is hope…send money.”

Raising money to help Democrats retake the House in 2014

Governor Perry To Speak At Memorial For Slain DA

White Supremacist Gang Members Sought In Murder Of Colorado Prison Chief


West Virginia Sheriff Murdered, Suspect Wounded

Alabama Legislature Passes Tighter Rules For Abortion Clinics

Obama’s Chump Change

Colorado Sheriffs Push Back Against Calls For More Gun Control

Hagel Unveils $1 Billion Plan To Beef Up Missile Defense

Bloomberg Made Big Donations To Republican County Committees

$700 Million In Katrina Relief Funds Missing



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Sinks As U.S. Inventories Surge: NYMEX $94.41, Brent $107.37
ADP: U.S. Hiring In March Slowest In Five Months
Draghi Considers Plan B After Cyprus Fumble
Monsanto Beats Profit Expectations, Raises Full-Year View
March Auto Sales May Be Highest Since 2007
Clearwire Investor Offers $240 Million In Financing To Avert Sprint
Zynga Shares Still Cheap Despite Boost
The Mouse Cleans House: Disney Shuts Down LucasArts Game Studio
Samsung Gets Own Stores Inside Best Buy
Can You Hear Me Now? Cell Phones Turn 40
Google Expands QuickOffice To Android, iPhone
Baidu Reportedly Developing Wearable Eye Web Device Similar To Google Glass
Samsung And Mozilla Announce New Browser Engine “Servo”
FTC Awards $50K In Robocall Challenge
Apple iPad Is Three Years Old Today
Google Sells Frommer’s Travel Guides Back To Founder
California Bill Would Make Google, Facebook Disclose User Data Collected
Mozilla Firefox 20 Brings Enhanced Private Browsing, New Download Manager



SPORTS
Talk Of Brittney Griner In NBA Sparks Debate

Baylor's Brittney Griner

Baylor’s Brittney Griner

Controversy rages after Mavs owner Mark Cuban suggested he’d draft her


Anthony Scores 40 As Knicks Roll To 10th Straight Win

Lincecum Wild, But Giants Top Dodgers 5-3


Kings Lose To Rockets As Franchise Fate Debated In New York

Oilers Extend Streak To Five With 8-2 Rout Of Flames

Andy Enfield And His Model Wife Welcomed To USC By Song Girls

Timbermutts Bomb The Bucks 107-98

Newcomers Fuel Rangers Victory Over Pens

Rays Beat O’s With Ninth-Inning Homer

Gio Homers, Pitches Six Scoreless Innings As Nats Blank Fish 3-0



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Zoe Saldana Joining “Guardians Of The Galaxy”?

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana

“Avatar” actress to join Marvel movie as female lead

Brad Pitt To Star In David Ayers’ WW2 Pic “Fury”

Leno Blesses “Tonight Show” Succession Plan


Liam Hemsworth Is So “The Raven”

Richie Sambora Skipping Tour Dates With Bon Jovi Due To Personal Issues

USA Network Eyes “Happy Endings” Pickup If Cult Comedy Series Not Renewed By ABC

TLC Orders “Breaking Amish” Spinoff With Original Cast

Wynonna Fears She Disappointed Tony Dovolani With Early DWTS Exit



FOREIGNERS
Cameron Defends Trident As LibDems Mull Replacement
Torrential Rains, Flooding Kill 31 In Argentina
Gillard Off To PRC To Promote Trade
WW2 Russian Bomb Defused In Berlin
U.S. Offers Up To $5 Million For Leads On Ugandan Warlord Kony
Pakistani Youth Cool To Democracy
Four Sisters Injured In Uttar Pradesh Acid Attack, One Serious
Canadian Border Shooting Suspect In Custody
Attacks On Goths And Punks Now Classified As Hate Crimes



BLOGS & STUFF
First Street Journal: What Could Go Wrong?
Sondrakistan: There’s a Word For This
Ed Morrissey: Q-Poll Shows 2016 GOP Field Wide Open
Reince Priebus: Media Covers Up Democrat-Backed Planned Parenthood’s Support For Infanticide
Jammie Wearing Fools: Obama Pretends He’ll Sacrifice 5% Of His Salary
Hit & Run: Congresswoman Doesn’t Realize “Assault Magazines” She Wishes To Ban Are Reusable
NRO Corner: Dem Rep Tells Constituent “You’d Probably Be Dead” If Confronted By Armed Intruder
JustOneMinute: Gun Magic, Or, More Fun With Numbers At The NYT
Via Meadia: Illegal Imimgration Debate Is So 1990s
Breitbart: ICE Union Chief Says “Disproportionate Numbers Of Criminals” Entering US
American Thinker: It Looks Like The Best Way To Repeal Obamacare Is To Implement It
Rush Limbaugh: I Don’t Think Obamacare Can Work, And Obama Doesn’t Care If It Does Or Not
Weasel Zippers: NYT Feminist Crank Maureen Dowd Compares Justice Scalia To George Wallace
Lonely Conservative: Abuse, Addiction, Racism And Desperation On The Reservation


Category: Live at Five

My Thing, Your Thing, Our Thing UPDATE: Apparently, It’s #WAR

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 37 Comments

Dana Loesch has a piece at Red State about the controversy that ensued when Ben Howe wrote a piece at BuzzFeed criticizing a video from Tea Party Patriots. I never saw the video and didn’t read Howe’s BuzzFeed piece, although friends made me aware that there was some kind of kerfuffle about it.

What. Ever.

Part of the argument was about the fact that Howe used BuzzFeed — perceived as a liberal site — to attack conservatives, to which Loesch responds: “What does it matter where it was published? . . . Buckley published in Playboy. Other conservatives have published in Huffington Post.”

Politics is a team sport played by individuals, and there is no scientific formula for reconciling team success with individual ambition. The teams are so large, in fact, that it is difficult to determine who is responsible for success or failure.

Ronald Reagan said, “You can accomplish much, if you don’t care who gets the credit,” but it seems there are some people who spend all their time claiming credit for success — or blaming others for failure. If I paid attention to half the behind-the-scenes drama I’m aware of, I wouldn’t have time to pay attention to anything else, and there is lots of drama I never find out about simply because it is behind the scenes. So I ignore as much of it as possible, until it hurts my friends or becomes such a distraction that it can’t be safely ignored any longer.

I could write a thousand words about this, but there’s no time. The “roving new media guru Ali Akbar” is anxious to leave South Carolina today and it’s a long drive home.

Headline at Politico: “GOP frets Mark Sanford could blow it”

Yeah. No more time to worry about that now . . .

UPDATE: OK, we stopped on the way home to eat and I hopped online to see what was happening. John Nolte was leading the Breitbart crew on Twitter in #WAR mode:

Donald Douglas at American Power has the necessary links for understanding this Montagues-and-Capulets feud.

Remember that it all started with an article about a video that showed at CPAC three weeks ago.

Category: South Carolina

Correction of the Day

Posted on | April 3, 2013 | 13 Comments

What they’re worried about at GOP-HQ:

“To be clear, the RNC neither asked, offered, thought of or ever considered the idea of Lady Gaga performing at our convention. And clearly, we didn’t offer a million dollars. The story is actually referencing an event by American Action Network, an independent group that is no way affiliated or connected to the Republican National Committee or Republican Convention.”

Nice of them to clear up that important issue.

Category: Republicans
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