LIVE AT FIVE – 05.29.12

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— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Tensions Flare As Revolutionaries Frustrated By Egyptian Election Results

Ahmed Shafiq (L) and Mohammed Morsi (R)

Former Mubarak VP Shafik, Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi to square off in second round of Egyptian Presidential election
Related: Shafik’s HQ Set On Fire By Protesters

Thad McCotter Fails To Qualify For Ballot
Will stage write-in candidacy for re-election after signature snafu on nominating petition

Mitt Promises World’s Strongest Military
Explicitly rejects European path of fatter welfare state, skeletal military
Related: Stacy’s Crazy Cousin John Rips Memorial Day Heckler



POLITICS
Romney Ready To Claim Nomination After Tuesday’s Texas Primary

Mitt Romney enjoys the view from his campaign plane between San Diego and Colorado

Will be largely unopposed in Texas; main focus on fundraising trip with Donald Trump

California 9/11 Scholarship Fund Raided To Plug Deficit Holes

Gallup: Veterans Prefer Romney

FEMA Trailer Litigation May Soon Be Over

Ted Cruz Aims To Ride Second Tea Party Wave

Louisiana Senate Restores $340 Million In Cuts To State Budget Imposed By House

GOP Hangs NH Student Debt Around Obama’s Neck

Lugar Says He Won’t Campaign For Mourdock

Marisa DeFranco Comes Out Swinging, Demands Four Debates With Fauxcahontas



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Up As Iran Tension Continues; NYMEX $91.41, Brent $107.62
Greek Euro Exit Aftershocks Risk Affecting US, PRC
JP Morgan Dips Into Cookie Jar To Offset “London Whale” Losses
Funds Cut Exposure To Eurozone Banks
Gold Inches Up On Weaker Dollar, Spain Concerns
Peruvian Anti-Mining Protests Turn Violent; 2 Dead 50 Injured As Government Cracks Down
Frustrated By Market Barriers, European Companies Looking To Reduce PRC Investments
Argentina Overtakes Venezuela As South America’s Biggest Default Risk
Facebook Smartphone To Be Released Next Year
Russian Firm: Iran Under Attack By “Flame” Malware
Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone Goes On Sale In Europe
RIM Prepares For Radical Moves With Global Restructuring
Facebook To Buy Opera?
Sharp Pantone 5 Has Eight Color Choices, 3.7″ Screen…And A Radiation Detector
GameStop Adds Android Tablets To 1600 Stores
38 Studios Is Dead; Fallout Over Company’s Implosion Takes On Life Of Its Own



SPORTS
James Scores 32 As Heat Run By Celtics In Game 1

LeBron James drives past the Celtics' Paul Pierce

Celtics fall 93-79

Angels Ace Jered Weaver Out Early With Back Injury, Team Wins Wild 9-8 Slugfest Against Yankees Anyway

Brewers Edge Dodgers 3-2

Napoli, Cruz Homer For Rangers In 4-2 Win Over M’s

Cubs Outslug Padres 11-7, End 12-Game Losing Streak

Zajac’s Late Return Key To Devils’ Success

Sale K’s 15 As Chisox Edge Rays 2-1

Tigers Get Mad, Sox Get Even, Reach .500 With 7-4 Win At Fenway

Zimmerman Laments Mistakes In 5-3 Loss To Fish



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Justin Bieber Gets Physical

Justin Bieber

Wanted for questioning in wake of paparazzi scuffle

Gordon Ramsay Leaves Charity Soccer Game On A Stretcher

Take A Good Long Look At Elle Cover Boy David Beckham



Lindsay Lohan Sought In $40K Tanning Salon Judgment

Kenya Bell’s Estranged Husband Begs Her To Be His Sugar Mama

Demi, Ashton Have Second Counseling Meeting With Rabbi

Amanda Bynes Accused Of Another Hit & Run



FOREIGNERS
Northern Italy Hit By Another Earthquake; This One 5.8
Assad Meets With Annan
Qatar Shopping Mall Fire Kills 19, Including New Zealand Triplets, 10 Other Children
Ex-PM Blair Testifies In Murdoch Inquiry
No Slim Times At Jubilee Parties
Tensions Rise In PRC As Tienanmen Square Anniversary Coincides With Tibetan Religious Holiday
FBI Joins Investigation Into Kenyan Bombing
The Butler Did It: Paolo Gabriele Charged In Document Leaks From Vatican



BLOGS & STUFF
Daily Pundit: I’m Sure Chris Hayes Would Be A Lot More Comfortable With That
Jawa Report: “Happy Memorial Day, Maggot”
Pat Dollard: CNN’s Erick Erickson Gets SWATted
Patterico: Caller To Lee Stranahan Show Claims To Be My SWATter
American Thinker: McDonald’s Toy Causes Saudi Heads To Explode
Israel Matzav: New Massive Spy Malware Found In Iran
Weasel Zippers: First Lady Sponsors Nuke Sub USS Illinois – With All-Female Crew
American Power: As The Nation Remembers This memorial Day, Don’t Forget Obama Was The Most Antiwar Candidate Since George McGovern
Atlas Shrugs: Muslim Mobs Set Fire To Ahmed Shafiq’s Campaign HQ
The POH Diaries: In Memoriam – The Old Obama
Jihad Watch: Muslims Stone French Catholics During Mass

Rule 5 Monday: Memorial Day

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— compiled by Wombat-socho


Once again, I am compelled to begin the weekly rule 5 post by reminding the Loyal Readers that the links that follow are not necessarily safe for work, and in fact, in the case of Soylent Green‘s links, we can pretty much guarantee that they’re NSFW. Thing is, I don’t have the time to peruse every single link folks send in. I’ll usually check a new linker’s stuff to make sure we don’t have outright pr0n being submitted, but that’s as far as it goes. I’m interested in what the consensus is on this, or even if there is one.


Politically Incorrect leads off this week with an ad from the notional Lynx Airlines and Brittney Palmer. Laughing Conservative has Siobhan for our delectation, Reaganite Resistance has Kimberly Guilfoyle of Fox News, and the Rio Norte Line demands freedom for Kate Upton’s boobs. Randy’s Roundtable has Sandra Valencia, while the First Street Journal goes back to 1948 for some Israeli War of Independence Rule 5. This week, Three Beers Later goes country with Gretchen Wilson.


A View From The Beach has a Emma Watson/Alicia Keys twofer, Kelly Brooks getting an indecent proposal, biking in Amsterdam, cave girls and wolf dogs, two kinds of Japanese weirdness, and something about moths & flames.
Very, very belatedly: First Street Journal’s Cinco De Mayo Rule 5.


Soylent Green has a wakeup call with Kayla Collins, something Hungarian for Mr. Sith, THEN we get to Shanna the Monday Motivationer. Then follows Tuesday Titillation, Humpday Caliente, Dakota Rae, Overnight Awesome, and a dash of Ginger. Also, a Memorial Day motivationer!


Copious Gasser makes a rule 5 post in honor of The Feral Irishman’s millionth hit, some see-through garments, cleavage and other boob shots, and a Froggy Saturday post. At The Camp Of the Saints, it’s been a busy week, but at least there’s Tasha de Vasconcelos. Proof Positive has Lea Michele, Vintage Babe Brooke Shields, and the weekly Sex in Advertising feature.


The Daley Gator’s Daley Babes are Rina Rukawa, Liz Hernandez, Melyssa Ford, Yuko Momokawa, Brenda Song, Le Toya Luckett, and Elisabeth Shue; also, Bill Clinton in a porn star sandwich, and the sad tale of Lauren Odes.


Thanks to everyone for their linkagery! Next week’s links will be due Saturday, June 2; please make sure you send them to Rule 5 Wombat so they’ll be properly entered.

So You’re Telling Me 1 In 3 Vets Favor #OccupyResoluteDesk?

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by Smitty

The Blaze relates a Gallup poll showing 58% of veterans favor Romney to 34% for BHO. Gallup theorizes:

Men who serve in the military may become socialized into a more conservative orientation to politics as a result of their service.

We had this one guy on USS Two Ships Ago, whose last name I’ll truncate to ‘M’ for reasons of good taste.

The rotation pattern for junior officers at the time was every 18 months or so, the idea being to reduce the stress of being a division officer. You could go to a ship, get through the learning curve of being in the fleet, and then transfer somewhere else to start fresh, with a clean slate.

Except FUM.

Effed-Up M______ was such a heinous piece of work that his nickname, FUM, followed him to his second division officer tour. Had him covered like a jimmie hat, did the sobriquet. You could have a conversation with him, and he seemed so normal, so natural, so pleasant. Yet time and again he would come into possession of a critical piece of information and sit on it, to the detriment of others. After a while, it came to seem deliberate passive aggression. FUM was secretly hated, but had a prominent position in the wardroom, so you had to navigate around his carcass with care.

FUM and #OccupyResoluteDesk, seem two birds from the same henhouse, as far as I can tell. Nobody whose experienced an organization capable of real-world accomplishment (and I don’t mean electoral campaigns) is going to follow either one except out of idle curiosity.

In November 2008 I was talking to a Lefty friend of mine. She was a psychiatric nurse in the Navy in the Vietnam era. I suppose she’s in the 1/3 category. Asked what I thought of the result, I allowed that it depended upon whether the campaign moderate Obama or the radical leftist Obama showed up in January to be sworn in. We all see that we may as well have had Hugo Chavez or my old buddy FUM as BHO for the last three years. Barack couldn’t lead two nuns in one minute of silent prayer, any more than he could avoid jacking up a toast to the Queen of England.

Perhaps support for BHO among veterans can be attributed to head injuries.

Update: more at The Lonely Conservative, including the latest Romney campaign video.

On This Memorial Day, I Say: ‘Forget You, Van Jones’

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by Smitty

Instapundit links The Examiner, where Brett Kimberlin’s bruther from another mother, Van Jones, accidentally underscores the liberty this country was founded upon, and the danger of jackwagons like him:

“At this point in this struggle, it’s the so-called patriots who are the ones who are smashing down every American institution,” Jones said last weekend in Milwaukee. “It’s the so-called patriots, the ones who come out here with their Tea Party and the flags and call themselves patriots — they’re the ones that are smashing down our unions, smashing down public education, smashing down every American institution that we built, and our parents built, and our grandparents built to make this country great.”
Jones added that the Tea Party is trying to “take a wrecking ball — and paint it red, white, and blue — and smash down all the things our parents did for us.”

Really, Jones? Do you really have a pack of low-information toadies who don’t see you for the parasite you are? Do you really think you can tout unions, which have helped drop Michigan’s population by 25% since 2000, or the U.S. education system, whose higher education bubble was explored by the Instapundit. This is the education system that touts Elizabeth Warren as a Native American, except for when she’s not.

I, for one, hope Scott Walker rides to a resounding victory in the recall election. This country is about liberty, Jones. And the men and women who’ve fought and died in support of this country and her Constitution don’t need another word of Orwellian crapflooding from you. While we should ever remember to be vigilant against the threat of lying Commies who’d steal our liberties, the only words I have for the actions of a despicable thief who’d enslave us are: ‘Forget you’.

Update: linked at The Camp of the Saints

Update II: That un-mincing Mr. G Guy drops the F-Bomb straight up. You are warned.

Somebody Tell Nina Totenberg Her Buddy Brett Kimberlin Is Making News Again

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“The tale-teller was a short fellow who needed to be looked up to, who consistently sought relationships with females much younger than himself, who could boast to an eighteen-year-old woman he’d just met on a bus that he was ‘one of the strongest men in the world.'”
— Mark Singer, Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin (1996), Page 312

“In e-mails and Web postings from Kimberlin’s two organizations, Justice Through Music and Velvet Revolution, he intersperses occasionally useful pieces of information . . . with a hefty portion of bunk, repeatedly asserting as fact things that are not true. . . . Kimberlin has found a home in the blogosphere . . .”
— Massimo Calabresi, Time magazine, “The Wizard of Odd,” Jan. 5, 2007

“Using two popular leftist blogs, the 56-year-old from Bethesda, Md., has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public and left-leaning foundations by promising to put conservatives he disagrees with in jail, often with offers of large rewards. So far — without success — he has called for the arrest of Karl Rove, Andrew Breitbart, Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue, Massey Energy Chairman Don Blankenship and other high-profile public figures.
“A review of tax filings for Kimberlin’s blogs, ‘Velvet Revolution’ and ‘Justice Through Music,’ raises troubling questions about whether his ‘nonprofit’ operations are dedicated to public activism — or are just a new facade for a longtime con artist.”
— Ed Barnes, Fox News, “Leftist Blogger’s Criminal Past Raises Questions About His Real Intent,” Oct. 19, 2010

“In sworn testimony in a court proceeding involving Seth Allen, Kimberlin falsely claimed to have been ‘secretly exonerated’ (???) of the heinous crimes for which he was convicted in 1981.”
— Robert Stacy McCain, “Lying Felon Can’t Stop Lying,” May 24

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
In the fall of 1988, when convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin was still locked up in federal prison and claiming to have sold dope to GOP vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle, every political reporter in the country wanted to write about Kimberlin. In his 1996 book, Mark Singer recounts how National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg spoke to Kimberlin two or three times every day in late October and early November 1988.

So why, 24 years later, are Nina Totenberg and the rest of the elite media ignoring what their old friend’s been up to lately? Tom Blumer of Newsbusters asks, “Where Is the Establishment Press?”

Leading blogger Robert Stacy McCain has decided that he and his family must leave their home and that they can’t go back; he officially describes his location as “whereabouts unknown.” On Friday, Patterico, an assistant DA by day, revealed a campaign of harassment involving “workplace complaints, publication of personal information such as home addresses and pictures of residences, bogus allegations of criminal activity, whisper campaigns, frivolous legal actions, and frivolous State Bar complaints.” Oh, and he was “SWATted” — he had his home stormed by a SWAT team, complete with a police helicopter and a spotlight. Someone pretending to be him “called the police to say I had shot my wife.” An audio expert Patterico hired concluded that “it is probable” that the hoax call was placed by a Kimberlin associate known to have tweeted a public threat against himself and his family.
Erick Erickson of RedState got “SWATted” Sunday evening; this time, “Someone called 911 (pretending to be) from my address claiming there had been an accidental shooting.”

This is a complicated story and difficult to tell. So far as I know, it started in October 2010 when Mandy Nagy of Breitbart.com published her 3,600-word article about Kimberlin. Also in 2010, Kimberlin’s associate Neal Rauhauser, a Democrat campaign consultant, was accused in the “TwitterGate” episode of targeting Tea Party activists for obscene harassment online. (Also see, “Democrat Cyber Stealth Revealed: Neal Rauhauser & Radical E-Thugs,” Patrick Read, Oct. 13, 2010.) In 2011, one of the online activists who helped push the Anthony Weiner scandal into the news, Mike Stack got “SWATted” and has subsequently pressed charges of harassment against Rauhauser.

Liberal blogger Seth Allen (@prepostericity) was critical of Kimberlin and Brad Friedman, partners in the tax-exempt non-profit Velvet Revolution. Allen was sued by Kimberlin. Allen got legal assistance from attorney Aaron Walker, who blogged under the pseudonym Aaron Worthing. Walker then became a target of Kimberlin’s harassment, with the result that both Walker and his wife lost their jobs.

Such is the story that I learned on May 17, when Walker published his 28,000-word account of his entanglement with Kimberlin. Immediately recognizing this as a newsworthy story, I began reporting about it on my blog. Four days later, on May 21, Kimberlin contacted my wife’s employer, raising security concerns for the employer and causing me to leave my home in order to be able to continue reporting the story without potentially endangering others.

Reacting to Kimberlin’s harassment of Allen, Walker, myself and others, Lee Stranahan declared that Friday, May 25, would be “Everybody Blog Brett Kimberlin Day” — with remarkable results. As a journalistic fugitive, I continued reporting the story:

The story continues gaining momentum. The Sunday “SWATting” of Erickson, a CNN contributor, guarantees that this story won’t go away soon. Michelle Malkin has published a “to-do list” for those who want to put a stop to the intimidation and harassment:

The massive blogburst about convicted bomber and online terrorist ringleader Brett Kimberlin ended on Friday, but this is an ongoing legal, financial, and emotional morass for the targets. And it has now entangled new victims. It is precisely because each and every blogger, Twitter users, activist, talk show host, and podcaster is potential new prey for sicko Kimberlin and his cabal that we must all stand together.

“Online terrorist ringleader” is a rather strong term. I prefer Jimmie Bise Jr.’s neutral objective phrase, “Lying Felon Brett Kimberlin,” but why quibble over semantics at this point?

What we have here is a remarkable news story, and the story is not about me. It’s not about Aaron Walker or Mike Stack or Seth Allen or Patrick Frey or Erick Erickson or Mandy Nagy.

This is a story about Brett Kimberlin. What is truly dumbfounding is that Kimberlin’s old media buddies like Nina Totenberg think we’re too stupid to notice them ignoring it. 

 Robert Stacy McCain, Whereabouts Unknown

 

 

UPDATE: Linked by Andrea Shea King at Radio Patriot, Bob Belvedere at Camp of the Saints, That Mr. G. Guy, Da Tech Guy, That Innocuous Girl and The Lonely Conservative — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!

Thanks also to all the many readers who have contributed to the Shoe Leather Fund to help defray the expense involved in this unexpected road trip to the Undisclosed Location.

 




 

THE KIMBERLIN FILES:

 

Meghan, You Ignorant Slut

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“Last week, I went on Al Sharpton’s MSNBC show PoliticsNation to talk about extremism in the Republican Party. As a socially liberal Republican, this happens to be a topic I know a lot about. On the show, I told Sharpton that many Republicans treat me like a freak, especially the extreme-right members of my party. I went on to say that I don’t understand the appeal of extreme bloggers such as Michelle Malkin and the late Andrew Breitbart. That’s all I said, but it only took a few hours before my comments were posted out of context on a variety of blogs that suggested I was viciously attacking Breitbart. My Twitter feed exploded with insults, including the suggestion that I should kill myself.”
— Meghan McCain, The Daily Beast, “Cut It Out, Internet Bullies!”

Let’s start here: In what sense, Cousin, are you a Republican?

Because I’m trying to think of any recent occasion in which you have actually done anything to help the Republican Party.

Nothing immediately comes to mind.

Instead, you go on TV (and write columns of insipid nonsense for Tina Brown) denouncing Republicans and conservatives as extremists.

Michelle Malkin — extreme!

Andrew Breitbart — extreme!

In fact, I think your resentment toward them is not a matter of issues or ideology, but simply the fact that the “extremists” you denounce are actually more popular than you.

You seem to be under the delusion that you are entitled to demand respect from the honest people you insult, simply because your family is rich and your father is a senator. You are a stereotype of the spoiled little rich girl who can’t understand why people don’t automatically kowtow to her whims.

So while you’re whining about people calling you a “fat pig” on Twitter, other people are actually dealing with far more serious forms of harassment and intimidation. Yet I don’t seem to recall you saying one word about the plight of Aaron Worthing, and you were notably MIA on “Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.”

Your selfishness is the root of your problems, and if you had any valuable skill or talent, I’d say you were impairing your usefulness by your ill-considered antics. As it is, you’re just another obnoxious D-List celebrity bimbo, and they’re a dime a dozen.