The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE: 01.07.13

Posted on | January 7, 2013 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Obama To Nominate Hagel For Defense

Former Senator Chuck Hagel

Looking to bridge the partisan divide by serving up a nominee both Democrats and Republicans despise


Defiant Assad Rules Out Negotiations With Rebels
First speech in six months pretty much guarantees war to the knife


Indian Women Hope Debate Sparked By Brutal Gang Rape Will Bring Change
Millions pushing for a change in Indian culture



POLITICS
Once A Crook, Always A Crook

Former judge and Florida congressman Alcee Hastings

Congressman Hastings favors allowing Obama to bypass Congress on debt limit, along with serial liar W. J. Clinton

Mitch McConnell: New Taxes Off The Table

White House Considering Stronger Gun Control Measures Beyond Assault Weapon Ban?

Petition Calls For Joe Biden Realty Show

Globe Calls For Renewal Of “People’s Pledge”

Nixon’s Centennial Draws Reflections On His Legacy

It’s Back To Work For Hillary Clinton



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Prices Mixed In Asian Trade: NYMEX $93.07, Brent $111.45
November Unemployment Revised Up To 7.8%
Banks Water Down Liquidity Rule To Avoid Loan Squeeze
Dollar Steady Against Yen, Close To June 2010 Highs
Drought Threatens To Halt Critical Barge Traffic On Mississippi
Wealthy May Defer Income, Curb Spending After Fiscal Cliff Deal
European Shares Flat, Banks Gain
Abe Expected To Spend $136 Trillion To Boost Japan’s Economy
Hostess In Talks To Sell Bread Brands (Audio)
CES: The Selling Starts
Nvidia Dives Into Portable Console Market With “Project Shield”
New LEGO Mindstorms Bring Better Robotics To Kids And Scientists Alike
Lenovo Announces Thinkpad Helix With Windows 8
Canopy Sensus Case Lets You Touch Your Phone All Over
Sony PS2 Manufacturing Ends After 12 Years On The Market
Google Admits Deliberately Blocking WinPhone Users From Maps
Crayola, Griffin Team Up Again To Create Freehand LightMarker For iPad



SPORTS
RGIII Reinjures Knee As Redskins Fall To Seahawks 24-14

Washington QB Robert Griffin III goes down in the 4th quarter after twisting his knee

Did Shanahan Jeopardize Griffin’s Future?

Ravens Defense Holds Hard, Colts Lose 24-9

Nuggets Beat Slumping Lakers Again

Reports Say Kelly Staying At Oregon

Humility, Honor Will Help NHL Win Back Fans As Lockout Nightmare Ends

#6 Kansas Wins 11th In A Row

According To Exit Polls, Nobody Will Make The Baseball Hall Of Fame

ASU Upsets #25 Kent State In GoDaddy.Com Bowl

A Roundup Of Nationals Minor League Signings



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Sarah Michelle Gellar Plotting Return To TV

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Working on half-hour sitcom for Fox

Rapper Azealia Banks Tells Perez Hilton He’s A Messy Faggot Who Should Kill Himself

Lil Twist A Bad Influence On Justin Bieber?

Josh Brolin Busted For Public Drunkenness

Thomas Gibson Busted For DUI

Wealthy Indian Datta Phuge Spends $22.5 Million On Solid Gold Shirt To Impress The Ladies

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” #1 At Box Office @$23 Million, “Django Unchained” A Strong #2 At $20.1 Million

Cher Could Be Headed Back To TV, Signs Development Deal With Logo

Matt Damon Talks About Playing Liberace’s Lover In HBO’s “Behind The Candelabra”



FOREIGNERS
Delhi Court Gags Media In Rape Case
PRC Newspaper Journalists Stage Rare Strike
Australia Bracing For Catastrophic Wildfires
Morsi Expands Brotherhood Influence In Cabinet
Israel To Construct Syrian Border Fence
Pakistani Soldier Killed In Kashmir Flareup
Putin Gives Tax Exile Depardieu A Russian Passport
Opposition Parties Boycott Ghana President’s Inauguration
Cameron Says Tough Year For UK Needs Low Interest Rates
Police Blame Recent Belfast Riots On Pro-British Militants
UN Calls For Talks In Central African Republic



BLOGS & STUFF
Stephen Moore: The Education Of John Boehner
Gateway Pundit: Obama Tells Boehner We Don’t Have A Spending Problem
Weasel Zippers: Pelosi Demands Additional Tax Hikes As Part Of Debt Ceiling Deal
Doug Powers: Pelosi Says There Isn’t Enough Revenue In Fiscal Cliff Deal
Power Line: $weet Charity
Israel Matzav: Could There Be Hockey This Year?
JustOneMinute: Social Security Crisis Arrives At The NYT
Firedoglake: The Only CIA Officer Scheduled To Go To Jail Over Torture Never Tortured Anybody
Protein Wisdom: January Fundraiser, Updated

Category: Live at Five

Illinois: Fire Department Official Accused of Attacking Woman With Knife, Duct Tape and ‘an 8-Inch Sexual Device’

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | 14 Comments

Probably a union member who voted for Obama:

A deputy fire chief in Chicago Ridge was put on administrative leave after being charged with breaking into the Tinley Park home of a neighbor in the middle of the night and attacking her, officials said.
Gary M. Swiercz, 49, of the 8100 block of West 168th Place in Tinley Park, has been charged with attempted murder, home invasion, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated attempted criminal sexual assault, and residential burglary . . .
Swiercz allegedly broke into the home of a woman in his condo building early Saturday morning while wearing a ski mask and possessing a folding knife, duct tape, an 8-inch sexual device and lubricant, said Assistant Cook County State’s Atty. Dan Calandriello.
Swiercz allegedly put his hand on the woman’s mouth while she was sleeping. He then put a 3-inch blade to her throat and threatened to slash her throat, Calandriello said in court today. While she was screaming, he threw her to the ground, then grabbed her by the hair and slammed her to the ground multiple times. She suffered a black and blue swollen lip and a knot on her head, Calandriello said.

Cook County recently became the first county in America to impose a gun tax. There’s no special tax on knives, duct tape or 8-inch sexual devices.

UPDATE: Research indicates that Swiercz is a member of International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 3098.

Category: Chicago, Crime, Illinois

Rule 5 Sunday: Les Chants Magnetiques

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | 15 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


For the benefit of those reading Rule 5 compilations for the first time, or who have forgotten since last time: some of the links below are most definitely Not Safe For Work and could contribute to the pollution of your precious bodily fluids – or worse. Reader discretion as to where and when links are opened is strongly advised.


Once again Laughing Conservative is first past the post, this week with Susan Ward. Next up, Fishersville Mike with Stacy’s favorite cheerleaders. Roll Tide! Elsewhere, Valley of the Shadow rattles the tip jar this month with Elena Vladi, founder of the Goth metal band Demona Mortiss. Randy’s Roundtable posts a Kate Upton video as well as a bonus Victoria’s Secret vid; Blessed Blasphemy chips in with redhead Lucy Collett. Animal Magnetism has Rule 5 Friday and the Saturday Gingermageddon, while First Street Journal has some vintage partisans and pilots of the female persuasion. Meanwhile, A Trainwreck In Maxwell is late with the Rule 5 post (been there, done that) but more than makes up for it with a side order of Leanne Decker.


EBL has a whole herd of links this week, ranging from Game of Thrones women through Downton Abbey to Michelle Monaghan, Sofia Vergara, and Valerie Allain, who alert students will recognize from French In Action.


A View From The Beach has Rachel Weisz, an observation on taking girls out of the cave, Discovery Channel Monkey Dackers, The Good The Bad & The Ukulele, Something Old and Something New, Chocolate Dresses, New Year’s Eve Pinups, and Listen To The Wind Blow.


El Opinador Compulsivo goes for (even higher) quality over quantity this week with Hope Dworaczyk, Ariel Rebel, and some tasty muffins.


Soylent Green starts with Monday Motivationer Tiffany and continues with Afternooner Chelsie, Happy Soylent New Year!, College football, Humpday Hawt New Year’s Spassfabrik Solo Kiera, Falconsword Fursday Lenka, Evening Awesome Sophie, Corsetcare: Fiscal Cliff, Irish Has Left The Building, and Soylent Predictions for 2013. Also, Overnighty Jenya!


Proof Positive’s Friday Night Babe is Kate Walsh, his vintage babe Abbe Lane, and Brooke Shields holds down the Sex in Advertising slot; also, the obligatory 49ers cheerleader. At Dustbury, it’s Jane Russell and January Jones, and at The Camp of the Saints, it’s Sammie Pennington and the Rule 5 News.


The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes this week were the Davalos twins (taking you on a Rule 5 journey), Sanaa Lathan, Amparo Grisales, Alexi Lei, Sharon Leal, Haomi Yotsumoto, Monica Raymund, Sunday humor with Danica Patrick, Helen Su and a Rule 5 extravaganza, Adriana Arboleda, Michelle Zen, Mizuho Hata, and Tania Vazquez.


Thanks to everyone for the linkagery! Links for next week’s Rule 5 roundup should be in the Rule 5 Wombat mailbox by Saturday, January 12.

 

Category: Rule 5

‘It’s Not About Politics, It’s About News’

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | 15 Comments

That, in seven simple words, is what Ali Akbar has been thinking about for the past month. He and I have had several long conversations about what an effective, innovative New Media operation would look like and, by the end of this month, he plans to start rolling it out at Viral Read.

Not much to see there now, but don’t sweat it. An expanded team has been recruited, a site re-design is in beta mode and, most of all, Ali’s been doing a lot of research about what exactly he wants to do. What he wants to do is something that works, something that succeeds.

Like I said, there have been a lot of long conversations, but if Ali hasn’t been making much noise online the past few weeks, there is a reason.

Go look at MediaGazer. Go look at TechMeme. Go look at WeSmirch. Lots of news in the world has nothing to do with politics. For that matter, go look at the Drudge Report and figure out how many of the headlines — at a site universally recognized as a major force in political news — don’t have anything to do with politics, per se.

Everybody knows Ali Akbar is an experienced Republican operative and conservative activist. But to do what he wants to do with Viral Read, Ali had to get his mind outside his purely political self and think like a businessman — as an entrepreneur, as a publisher.

So he’s been looking at what works — and what doesn’t work. He’s been looking at what succeeds — and what fails. He’s been looking real hard at that kind of stuff. He doesn’t plan to fail.

Nor has he failed to plan, but he has figured out (and this is something I have repeatedly emphasized in our long conversations) that being innovative and creative in New Media requires an experimental approach. If someone had told you in 2005 that Michelle Malkin was going to launch Hot Air, turn it into one of the go-to sites on the Internet, then sell that site and, a year later, launch Twitchy, which would in turn become one of the go-to sites on the Internet . . .

Well, there was just no way to anticipate that, just as there was no way to know in advance that Andrew Breitbart was going to suddenly zoom into glory in 2009 as a result of a video sting operation against ACORN by a couple of kids named James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles.

An entrepreneurial attitude toward New Media requires a trial-and-error approach. You have to try different things, see what works and what doesn’t, and then revamp your original plan (whatever that may have been) to accommodate the reality of a rapidly changing marketplace.

So whenever Ali has the new and improved Viral Read ready to go, don’t expect a Major Public Announcement. Instead, expect . . . news.

Because that’s the name of the game. Also, cute puppy pictures.

Category: Journalism

OBAMA’S THIRD TERM? Democrat Proposes Repeal of 22nd Amendment

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | 49 Comments

When I saw the news from Barbara Espinosa on Twitter this morning, I thought it was some kind of crazy joke:

Crazy as it is, however, it’s not a joke: Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) on Friday re-introduced as H.J. 15 the same bill he offered last year, “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment” — i.e., to end the two-term limit on the presidency, enabling Obama to be “President fo Life.”

The Twitchy Team is all over it, but as Barbara points out, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell this this thing could ever pass the ratification process. Of course, the Democrat Party’s contempt for the Constitution is so complete, they don’t care. They’d declare martial law, prohibit dissent as a “crime against the people” and govern by decree if it weren’t for the fact that conservatives are armed to the teeth. That probably explains why Obama is the greatest gun salesman in American history.

UPDATE: Worth noticing that it was a young friend of ours whose Tweet helped get this story onto the Drudge Report:

Gabby Hoffman, superstar! Keep an eye on that kid. She’s going places.

–


Category: Barack Obama, Constitution

Anatomy Of A Great Tweet

Posted on | January 6, 2013 | 13 Comments

by Smitty

Look at this thing of beauty:

Category: Uncategorized

Damn It, Jim, I’m a Blogger!

Posted on | January 5, 2013 | 16 Comments

OK, so Pete Da Tech Guy wrote a post about loyalty, citing the persistence of my gratitude toward Alyssa Milano for an RT in September 2010.  Pete recalled that he had his own celebrity Twitter moment, a Tweet from William Shatner. (Eat your heart out, Jonah Goldberg!)

At the end of his post, Pete mentioned that he was still $370 short of his fundraising goal, and I was trying to think: How can we fix that?

Of course, Pete is famously Sicilian and naturally my mind started turning in that direction . . .

 

About 40 minutes passed and then . . .

How awesome is that? Not only did I get a Tweet from Captain James Tiberius Kirk, but it turns out he’s Twitter buddies with Alyssa!

Remember, however, that this happened because of Pete’s inspirational thoughts about loyalty, and there’s still his fundraiser to worry about, so please go hit Da Tip Jar.

As for me, I must keep pressing onward, to explore new Twitter frontiers, to boldly go where no blogger has gone before . . .

 

Category: Uncategorized

Hey, GOP: The IRS Is A Substantial Reform Target

Posted on | January 5, 2013 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

Let’s face it: the IRS tax code is still a nightmare. It is too complex, too costly and too unfair. There is something fundamentally wrong when roughly 60 percent of hardworking taxpayers have to hire a professional just to do their taxes. You shouldn’t need an army of lawyers and accountants to understand our tax code. We need a simpler, flatter, fairer tax code that’s designed for taxpayers.
That’s why we have to start to work on real solutions to return accountability to our tax code by eliminating special interest loopholes. I believe in a simple principle. When it comes to the tax code, everyone should play by the same rules. Your tax rate should be determined by what’s fair, not who you know in Washington.

If the GOP wants to continue getting crushed in elections, just continue coloring within the Progressive lines, accepting the consumption of liberty by Leviathan. The tax code has long since ceased to become a means of funding legitimate government budgets. We don’t pass budget legislation anymore, and the taxes that are collected are pit into which all too small leap over shall fall. Way to go, DC: you’re as oppressive as King George III ever was.

But where is the reform? GOP candidates just repeat “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs,” as though the Federal government somehow isn’t shot through with rot and in need of a tear-down and retooling. We all know it does. So, if the GOP ain’t got the sack to:

(a) Articulate the real systemic issues,
(b) Lay them at the feet of the Body-surfing Hawaiian Orator,
(c) State what major chunks of the Federal Government are getting lopped off,

then just what good is the GOP, anyway?

via Insty

Category: GOP
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