The Other McCain

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

Transsexual Bullies Successfully Censor Feminist Writers Who Criticized Them

Posted on | January 15, 2013 | 42 Comments

News from the competitive victimhood sweepstakes in Great Britain indicates that transsexuals have won the Most Oppressed Group prize, and are now able to demand complete deference. Kathy Shaidle and Donald Douglas have covered this bizarre controversy. To summarize:

All of this uproar began, remember, with a feminist’s jocular complaint about ridiculous pressures on women about their looks. And the moral of the story: Angry bullies always win!

From whom did the transgender community learn this lesson?

Why, yes, of course: From feminists themselves, who ruthlessly bullied their way to power by organizing hate-fests to denounce men whom they accused of sexism, discrimination, and/or harassment.

The boomerang of ironic payback . . .

 

Category: Feminism, Gays, Great Britain

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.15.13

Posted on | January 15, 2013 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Despite French Airstrikes, Jihadis Continue Advance In Mali

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius

Shortage of ground troops makes defense problematic


Obama Weighs Executive Action On Guns
Nineteen possibilities for executive orders


Thousands Rally For Second Day In Islamabad
“Last chance to save Pakistan”?



POLITICS
NY Senate Passes Package Of Tougher Gun Laws

Adams calls for Congress to follow NY example, ban already-illegal assault rifles

Assembly expected to vote early today

Obama, GOP Issue Challenges On Debt Limit

Newtown Parents, Residents Form “Sandy Hook Promise” Group


Swartz’ Suicide Fuels MIT Probe, Petition To Fire Prosecutor

Military Suicides Hit Record High In 2012

Sandy Relief Bill Faces Big Test Today In House

California’s Independent Legislative Analyst Gives Jerry Brown Good Marks On Budget



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Up On Completion Of US Pipeline: NYMEX $94.05, Brent $111.79
UPS Drops Bid For TNT Express
Japan’s Nikkei Index Hits 32-Month High, Other Asian Markets Mixed
S&P 500 Drops As Apple Loss Offsets Dell Gain; Crops Lead Commodities Higher
Treasuries Gain For A Second Day On Debt Ceiling Impasse
Radio Shack Calls Off Mobile Venture With Target
USDA To Begin Offering Farm Microloans
Has Apple’s Innovation Engine Stalled?
“Red October” Cyberattack Found By Russian Researchers
Study: Smartphones Outpacing Tablets In Data Consumption
Homeland Security Still Advises Disabling Java, Even After Patch
PRC Adds 51 Million Internet Users In 2012
Uber Taxi-Hailing App Lands In DC
Amazon Instant Video Now Available On The Wii
Diablo 3 Patch Preview, Dueling Detailed



SPORTS
LeBron James’ Missteps Cost The Heat As Jazz Prevails

Miami’s LeBron James

Utah gets hot, contains late Miami rally for 104-97 win

Armstrong Admits Doping On Oprah

Clippers Win Without Chris Paul, Beat Grizzlies 99-73

USC Fires Hoops Coach O’Neill

Visnovsky A No-Show At Islanders Camp, Won’t Leave Russia’s Continental League

Bulls Shut Down Hawks In 97-58 Rout


Rajon Rondo Paces Celtics In Win Over Bobcats

Black Caps Capitulate On “Tour From Hell”

Where Have You Gone, Chris Marrero?



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Brad Cooper: I’m Not Dating Jennifer Lawrence

Brad Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence

“I could literally be her father.”

Lindsay Lohan Fires Her Attorney

Jodie Foster: I’m Not Retiring, Speech Speaks For Itself


Britney Steps Out In “Love” Sweatshirt After Split

Matt Lauer Tells NBC Bosses To Release Ann Curry To CNN

Olympic Gymnast Shannon Miller Expecting Baby #2

Zack Snyder Shoots Down “Star Wars” Development Rumors

Maggie Smith Returning To “Downton Abbey” For Season 4

Brazilian Waxing Makes Crab Louse Endangered Species



FOREIGNERS
France Seeks Arab Backing For Mali Campaign
Nick Clegg Warns PM On EU Referendum
Indian LGen Parnaik: Pakistan Always In Denial, Always Fabricating Things
19 Killed In Cairo Rail Accident
Afghans Want Village Police Trainers Out
Gang Rape Victim’s Mother Calls For Death Penalty
UN Human Rights Chief Calls For Investigation Of Norks
Snow Forces 3400 To Spend The Night At Tokyo Airport
Olmert Accuses Netanyahu Of Wasting Billions On “Security Delirium”



BLOGS & STUFF
Gateway Pundit: Obama White House Readies 19 Executive Orders On Gun Control
Jake Sullum: How False Urgency Creates Stupid Gun Laws
Rick Moran: Are Republicans Crazy, Or Just Irresponsible?
Power Line: Obama Plays Hardball On Debt Ceiling, But Can’t Escape His Past
Weekly Standard Blog: The Sophist
Questions And Observations: The Debt Ceiling – Orwell Just Missed It By A Few Years
Althouse: Jodie Foster’s Golden Globes Speech Isn’t Nutty Or Incoherent
NRO Corner: Those New Gun-Control Polls
Ed Driscoll: You Kids Are So Damn Screwed
Patterico: WSJ On The Swartz Plea Bargain
Protein Wisdom: Mark Levin Reacts To Obama Presser – “We Have An Imperial President”
Weasel Zippers: Rep. Stockman Threatens Obama Impeachment Over Guns

Category: Live at Five

Let’s Call It ‘The Doritos Argument’

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

Apparently, this tweet brought me to the attention of some folks on Twitter:

This triggered some fun back’n’forth:

 

The traditional thumb-wrestling over who owns the definitions culminated in:

 

Somewhere in the middle of the fracas, I got hit with this:


So, Tori seems to think that taxpayer dollars form a tidy, velvet-handcuff sort of entrapment. The Doritos Argument, as I’ll label it until I can find some more generally accepted name for the form, seems to be:

If you’ve eaten Doritos, you cannot go to the gym. The first agent-orange colored, star-destroyer shaped, infernally spiced, unnaturally crunching, finger-and-soul staining encounter with one of these diabolical digestives marks a human eternally. That marked person is precluded from ever prying themselves off the couch, liberating themselves from the torrid stigma of snack food, and burning off a few calories, despite the undeniably healthy consequences.

No, that’s daft. You can manage your caloric input/output ration, and you can continue to think clearly in the face of your government bribing you with the money of the as-yet unborn. As badly as the Progressives want to think they’ve successfully re-created man in the image of sheep, they fail.

Get bent, Tori.

Category: Uncategorized

Lynching Big Red: National Media’s Journalistic Crime Against Steubenville

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | 12 Comments

“Families of Big Red athletes have reported being harassed and threatened. . . . Police increased patrols around city schools after a threat of violence triggered a lockdown.
“[Local parent Jackie] Sacripanti said children in the community who had nothing to do with the parties or the alleged rape ‘are being taunted and harassed, just because they attend Steubenville City Schools.'”
— Linda Harris, “Standing up for Steubenville: Rally supports scandal-shocked residents,” Steubenville (Ohio) Herald-Star

What happened the night of Saturday, Aug. 11? We can’t yet say we know “beyond a reasonable doubt,” but Lee Stranahan, who visited Steubenville last week and has examined testimony in a preliminary hearing, is beginning to express entirely reasonable doubts about how the media have covered the accusations of rape against two football players — and insinuations against many others in the community.

An attorney for one of the two accused football players is seeking to have the trial moved out of Steubenville:

Attorney Walter Madison . . . says the case has gone “out of control” amid extensive online and media attention.
The case has gained international attention through the work of bloggers and hacker-activists who allege that other football players should be charged in the August incident but have been protected through a cover-up.

The involvement of “bloggers and hacker-activists” in this case has been problematic, as Lee Stranahan documents extensively:

Alexandria Goddard’s role in this story is an object of particular scrutiny by Stranahan. The former Steubenville resident is being hailed as a heroine by some in the media, who are treating “facts” she has “reported” as if they were . . . well, factual reporting.

This has fostered suspicions of a conspiratorial cover-up by law enforcement, suspicions which may be wholly unwarranted because, in case it has previously escaped your notice, the two suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and there has not yet been a trial.

Nevertheless, the national media have jumped to conclusions faster than you can say “Duke lacrosse team.” Not only has the accusation of rape been assumed as a proven fact, but the shadow of guilty complicity has been cast over the entire city of Steubenville. When the truth is finally known, the media’s credibility is not likely to be enhanced, but who can the innocent people of Steubenville sue to get their reputations back?

PREVIOUSLY: ‘Anonymous’ and Steubenville: Online Lynch Mob Complicates Rape Case

 


Category: Crime, Media Bias, Ohio

‘Little to Lose for Malicious Actors’

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | 11 Comments

“Our ability to cope with deception in the Internet is poor at best. We cannot readily attribute memes to people, because in the Internet, identities are pseudonyms for influence actors we may never have met. Individuals may have multiple identities and spread memes for their own purposes ignoring any need for truth. The problem lies largely in trust relationships, which have historically been based on repeated interactions within relatively small groups of people who must live where they are. Trust building interactions and reputations based on long histories don’t exist in the same way in the Internet. There is little to lose for malicious actors.”
— Fred Cohen, Ph.D., “Infuence Operations”

While doing some follow-up research on Neal Rauhauser — whose persistence as a “malicious actor” is remarkable — I became aware of Rauhauser’s familiarity with Dr. Cohen’s work. Having boasted that he should have won “Iron Troll of the Year” for his activities, Rauhauser’s persistence is not his only remarkable attribute.

There is also the fact that Neal Rauhauser is not in federal prison.

Many people have remarked about this: How is it that Neal Rauhauser can deliberately lie to federal law enforcement — sending false accusations to FBI agents — and not be prosecuted? There are basically three schools of thought on this question:

  1. Neal has highly-placed political allies in the Justice Department who effectively guarantee his immunity from prosecution;
  2. Neal has managed to deceive investigators into believing his inexhaustible supply of bullshit; or
  3. Neal is a target in an ongoing investigation and the feds are just giving him plenty of rope with which to hang himself and his associates.

Of course, #3 is the most reassuring, whereas #2 is implausible — who could ever be stupid enough to believe a word Neal says? — and #1 is almost too frightening to contemplate.

Anyway, I’ve also recently become aware of new deceptions practiced by Rauhauser, as well as some earlier deceptions I had not previously suspected, and just wanted to caution people to be very careful about anyone trying to deceive you, including by impersonation.

These “malicious actors” are a dime a dozen nowadays.

Category: Computers, Crime

Obama’s Festival of Lies

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | 23 Comments

The final press conference of Obama’s first term was a masterpiece of mendacity, a Mardi Gras parade of deliberate dishonesty. Liberals are still trying to catch their breath after the excitement of it all.

What the press corps loves about President Obama is the astonishing audacity of his lies. He doesn’t bother with tiny fibs or slight misrepresentations. No, by God, he tells massive whoppers that everyone understands to be false, but which he knows he can get away with because — like the favorite child of an over-indulgent mother — he has the smug sense of entitlement necessary to erupt in indignation if he is ever called on  his lies: “How dare you notice my self-serving deceptions!”

UPDATE: The transcript of Obama’s Mardi Gras of Mendacity.

Category: Uncategorized

Marxism by Any Other Name

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | 21 Comments

Betty Friedan (left) leads a 1971 protest for the Equal Rights Amendment

“How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”
— Ronald Reagan, 1987

Understanding feminism requires a critical study of the movement’s history that few people are willing to undertake, which is why the roots and development of “Women’s Liberation” (as the movement called itself in the late 1960s and early ’70s) are so widely misunderstood.

Intellectual inertia, a willingness to accept conventional wisdom without scrutiny, thus serves to foster the deception by which feminists present themselves as speaking on behalf of all women, dishonestly denying their origins and ideological affinity as a movement of the radical Left.

Many people are therefore confused by the occasional exposures of feminism’s true nature, as when Brent Musberger was publicly humiliated for having remarked during a football game that Alabama’s quarterback has a beautiful girlfriend. “How dare he!” screamed the feminists, as if Musberger had actually said someting rude or “sexist.”

Similarly, Joe Scarborough was forced this morning to abase himself on MSNBC for the Thought Crime of arguing with his female co-host:

Let’s be clear about what happened here: Joe Scarborough is a smug, domineering egomaniac. Yet it was not until he displayed those traits in an argument with Mika Brzezinski about the lack of “diversity” in Obama’s cabinet that Scarborough was forced to apologize for his habitual overbearing rudeness. Think about that.

Meanwhile, a reader calls my attention to something Dr. Helen Smith noted last month: One of England’s pioneering feminists, Erin Pizzey, gave an interview to Dean Esmay in which she described how she recognized the Marxist nature of the movement at its inception:

I’ve always tried to tell the truth about the beginnings. I was one of the first people in England to get involved with the Women’s Movement and what I saw there, I knew perfectly well was going to be extremely destructive. And, when I began to stand up at these great big Collective meetings – and interestingly enough there were a lot of women from America who came over with initial instruction to show the British women how to be radical feminists. They’re a pretty frightening crowd and I got screamed at a lot . . .
[Y]ou have to remember my background, my parents were caught by the Communists when I was nine and I didn’t see them for three years . . .
So, I had no love of Communism from the very beginning. From what I saw when I was in these great big collectives was really Marxism. We were all organized into groups in our own homes and told that we must have consciousness-raising sessions. And I remember the woman who came to our consciousness-raising and when she finished, I said this has nothing to do with women, this is actually Marxist. I said so we’re supposed to go to work full time and put our children into care provided by the state — like the Communist government — and why are we calling this liberation?

“Consciousness-raising sessions” — that’s a ’60s flashback that most people nowadays either (a) don’t know anything about, or (b) fail to properly understand as a method of indoctrination borrowed from Mao’s China, to rid people of what Marxists call “false consciousness,” i.e., traditional beliefs that contradict Marxist ideology.

Nowadays, the Left’s ideology (including feminism) so widely permeates our culture that “consciousness-raising” is seldom considered necessary, except perhaps on university campuses where it’s called “freshman orientaton” or “Introduction to Women’s Studies.”

Erin Pizzey has recently published an autobiography, This Way to the Revolution, the liner notes of which declare “her story is . . . vital to any understanding of a more revolutionary age.”

Understanding feminism is apt to have the same effect as Ronald Reagan once observed among those who understood Marx and Lenin.




 

 

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Category: Feminism, Intellectuals

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.14.13

Posted on | January 14, 2013 | Comments Off on LIVE AT FIVE: 01.14.13

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
As French Airstrikes Pound Jihadi Bases, Has The War To Retake Northern Mali Begun?

French soldiers prepare to deploy to Bamako from a base in Chad

Training camps, infrastructure and logistics bases hit
France pledges “short” campaign against jihadis

Colin Powell Vigorously Defends Chuck Hagel
Also gets in a gratuitous shot at the Tea Party

Egyptian Appeals Court Throws Out Mubarak Verdict
Conviction and life sentence stemming from protesters’ deaths overturned



POLITICS
Internet Hero Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide After Years Of Government Harassment

Lawrence Lessig (L) talks to Aaron Swartz, then 13

Hanged himself after prolonged legal battles with U.S. Attorney’s office

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Retires After Judicial Commission Files Complaint Regarding Real Estate Transactions

Chuck Schumer Calls For “Restraint” At Gun Shops Amid Record Sales

Marco Rubio Lays Out Plan To “Modernize” Immigration

Justice Sotomayor Writes A Memoir

NYC Schools Chancellor Condemns Looming Bus Strike As “Irresponsible”

George P. Bush Looking To Run For Office In Texas

Farm Bureau President Calls For Ag Reform Even If Subsidies Eliminated



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Slips As PRC Inflation Heats Up: NYMEX $93.56, Brent $110.64
Yen Declines Amid Stimulus Speculation
Goldman Eyes Tax Delay On UK Bonuses
Hong Kong’s CITIC Buys 79% Of Macau Telco
Deal Saves Wonder Bread; Twinkies Still In Limbo
Treasury Not Going To Mint Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coin
HP CEO Meg Whitman Collects $1 In Salary, Millions In Stock And Options
Apple Cuts Orders For iPhone 5 Parts
Oracle Releases Update To Fix Java Vulnerability
CES 2013: Five Dumbest Ideas
Facebook Testing $100 Fee To Mail Mark Zuckerberg
Samsung Scraps Plans For Windows RT Tablet US Release



SPORTS
Brady Shines As Patriots Advance

Aaron Hernandez congratulates Brady after a 4Q touchdown

Pats dominate Texans in 41-28 win

Falcons Survive Seahawks 30-28 After Blowing 20-Point Lead In Fourth Quarter

Dwight Howard Returns, Leads Lakers In 113-93 Rout Of Cavs

Ohio State Inflicts First Loss On Michigan, 56-53

Nyets Fight Through Injuries, Rally To Beat Pacers


Blazers Home Win Streak Ends Against Thunder

Popovich Ejection Sparks Spurs Rout Of Timbermutts

Marlins’ Loria, Samson No Longer Talking To Media

Bruce Chen Commits To Team China For 2013 World Baseball Classic



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Jodie Foster Turns Golden Globes Into Coming Out Party

Jodie Foster

“Officially” out of the closet now

Jason Sudeikis And Olivia Wilde Engaged

Britney Spears Reportedly Close To Closing Vegas Mega-Deal

Bathroom Candles Set Heather Graham’s Manhattan Penthouse On Fire

Demi Moore’s Hot Date With Harry Morton


Tom Cruise Now #3 In Co$, Thinks He’s On The Planet To Defeat Aliens

Evan Rachel Wood Preggers With First Child

Katherine Webb Discusses Her Swimsuit Debut, Fame, Etc.

Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Calling Off The Divorce



FOREIGNERS
Norks Vow To Bolster Deterrence; Rumors Of Third Nuke Test Planned
Syria War Causing “Staggering” Humanitarian Crisis
Indian Police Investigating Two New Gang Rape Cases
Beijing Warns Residents After Off-The-Charts Smog
Frail Fidel Meets Argentina’s President Fernandez As She Visits Cuba To Support Veneuzuela’s Stricken Chavez
Israelis Clear Palestinian Protesters From Settlement Site
Sri Lankan Parliament Impeaches Chief Justice
Massive Crowds Rally In Paris Against Gay Marriage
Protesters Demand Democratic Change In Pakistan
Huge March In Moscow Against Ban On American Adoptions



BLOGS & STUFF
American Power: Can We Just Not Get All Sentimental About Aaron Swartz?
Gateway Pundit: Colin Powell Says GOP “Has Dark Strain Of Intolerance”
Weasel Zippers: Gun Owner Outed By NY Newspaper Is Burglarized; Police Believe Criminals Sought Guns
Power Line: Bill Clinton Lies About Gun Control
NewsBusters: New Miss America Spouts Liberal “Conventional Wisdom” On Guns
Twitchy: Piers Morgan Exposes Dana Loesch’s lack of Gun Knowledge By Making Stuff Up, Deleting Tweets
Ed Driscoll: World War III Began When Al Shanker Got Hold Of A Nuke
Jihad Watch: US Negotiating F-16, Tank Sales To Egypt Despite Lawmakers’ Objections
Via Meadia: Beijing Air Pollution Beyond “Crazy Bad”

Category: Live at Five
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