The Other McCain

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

Not ‘Hostilities,’ Just ‘Imminent Danger’

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | 4 Comments

What U.S. forces are doing in Libya is not “hostilities,” the White House said last week — because “hostilities” is the key word in the War Powers Act, which the White House insists doesn’t apply to Libya. NATO bombs are killing civilians, but it’s not “hostilities.” However, the Pentagon is giving “imminent danger” pay to troops deployed for the Not Actually a War in Libya:

On Monday, a spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said the Pentagon’s decision was further proof that Obama’s logic is flawed.
“If members of our armed forces involved in the military action in Libya are getting ‘imminent danger’ pay, it’s one more indication that the White House claim that we aren’t involved in ‘hostilities’ just doesn’t pass the straight-face test,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

Meanwhile, watch Jay Carney spin it in this clip from the PBS Newshour:

Operation Odyssey Dawn began March 19, so we’re now past the 90-day window required for the president to notify Congress under the War Powers Act, but liberals never live by the rules they try to enforce on others, and Obama’s Illegal War™ just proves the rule.

Category: Barack Obama, Libya, Military

‘Why Eric Holder Must Go’

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | 6 Comments

Retired FBI Agent Rick Hahn and Accuracy in Media director Cliff Kincaid will speak next Tuesday, June 28, at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Kincaid will “examine Communist Cuba’s sponsorship of anti-American terrorism and harboring of fugitives from justice and the need to keep Cuba on the official U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Evidence will also be presented of how Castro’s agents of influence continue subversive operations on American soil and how the Obama Administration’s expansion of travel to and from the communist island undermines American national security.”

Joining Kincaid and Hahn at the event will be Humberto Fontova, Joseph F. Connor and Larry Grathwohl. For more information visit USA Survival News.

Category: Cuba, Eric Holder, Terrorism

Boeing and the Myth of ‘Skills’

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | 27 Comments

Back during the 1990s, I got tired of hearing a line that Bill Clinton relentlessly repeated about the need to “invest” in education to provide “the skills needed to compete in the 21st-century economy.”

As nice as that rhetoric sounds, it didn’t match the economic reality: Major manufacturers weren’t opening new factories in Latin America and Asia because those people had superior skills and education, but simply because they were willing to work cheap. While it is in general true for any individual worker that he can improve his economic situation by improving his skills, the companies that were shipping jobs to Indonesia and Brazil weren’t doing so because workers in those countries possessed an advantage skill-wise over workers in Toledo or Pittsburgh.

All of this is by way of introducing the astonishingly idiotic argument Thomas Geoghegan makes against Boeing’s re-location to South Carolina:

Why is Boeing, one of our few real global champions in beefing up exports, moving work on the Dreamliner from a high-skill work force ($28 an hour on average) to a much lower-wage work force ($14 an hour starting wage)? Nothing could be a bigger threat to the economic security of this country.
We should be aghast that Boeing is sending a big fat market signal that it wants a less-skilled, lower-quality work force. . . .
We depend on Boeing to out-compete Airbus, its European rival. But when major firms move South, it is usually a harbinger of quality decline.

Read the whole thing, but I must warn you that the argument is fact-deficient and frankly prejudiced against the South — and yet further proof that law schools are a lousy place to learn economics.

Category: Economics, South Carolina

Up Late With Anna Maria Alberghetti

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | 13 Comments

Insomnia struck last night. It was one of those rare nights when I’d gone to bed early, before my wife did, and when Mrs. Other McCain came to bed, she woke me up by trying to pry the TV remote out of my hand.

So then I was awake, and although I drifted off a couple of times, I ended up flipping around the channels until I found myself watching part of the 1957 romantic comedy Ten Thousand Bedrooms with Dean Martin and Anna Maria Alberghetti.

The plot is a silly trifle: Dean Martin is Ray Hunter, the owner of a worldwide hotel empire (thus the “bedrooms” of the title) who comes to Rome and falls in love with his young secretary Nina, played by Alberghetti. Alas, custom requires that the youngest daughter can’t marry until her older sisters are married, so Ray must find husbands for each of Nina’s three older sisters.

Like Where the Boys Are (1960), Ten Thousand Bedrooms is sort of a cultural time-capsule giving us a glimpse at the attitudes toward romance that prevailed in the Eisenhower era. Some might look askance at the pairing of Martin, who was 40 when the film was made, with the 21-year-old Alberghetti, but c’mon: It’s Dean Martin. What 21-year-old could object to being wooed by that romantic crooner?

I’d never heard of Alberghetti, who was perfectly lovely as the ingenue Nina. Curiosity got the better of me — “Who is that girl?” — and so I got out of bed and logged on to find out. She’s now 74, and Dean Martin’s been dead for more than 15 years, but weren’t they wonderful in 1957?

Category: Movies

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.21.11

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | 10 Comments

TOP NEWS
Obama To Announce Afghan Withdrawal Decision Today

Afghan forces in training

“He’s finalizing his decision. He’s reviewing his options.” Scale and pace of withdrawals to be announced in a speech tonight



Sen. McCain Blames Illegals For Arizona Wildfires
Predictable butthurt from pro-illegal orgs ensues

Despite Supremes, Lawyers Vow To Press On Against Wal-Mart
Failed class action to be replaced with appeals to EEOC, smaller/individual suits against the retail giant



POLITICS
Twenty-Year Ban Planned For Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon.

National Mining Association: “(The decision) is scientifically unsupportable and sets a troublesome precedent as we struggle to create jobs and meet more of our future energy needs with domestic fuels.”

Stalemates Lock Albany

Poll: Utahns Say It’s Time For Senator Hatch To Go

Huntsman’s Moderate Record To Be Scrutinized

State Takeover Of Failing Schools Just Part Of Governor’s Plans For Detroit

Student Visa Program Has New Rules, Same Problems

Romney Takes Flak For Failure To Sign Pro-Life Pledge

Supremes Kill Global Warming Suit 8-0



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Asia Stocks Snap Four-Day Drop, Euro Gains
US Stocks Advance As Greek Debt Fears Ease; Dow Up 76
PNC To Buy Royal Bank Of Canada US Branches, Card Assets
Fitch Warns: US Must Raise Debt Ceiling By August 2 Or Lose AAA Rating
Sears Looking At DC Area For New HQ
Feds Sue Bankers Over Mortgage Bonds “Designed To Fail”
LulzSec, Anonymous Team Up, Plan Digital Destruction
DOJ Approves Microsoft’s Skype Buy
Facebook To Take Top Spot In Online Display Ad Market



SPORTS
Jack’s Back With The Fish

Jack McKeon, 80, prepares for his second tour as Marlins manager

Second-oldest manager in baseball, behind Hall of Fame A’s owner/manager Connie Mack
Jack McKeon To The Birth Of Baseball In Six Steps

Albert Pujols Out Six Weeks With Broken Wrist


Why Did Selig Reject The Dodgers/Fox Deal?

Yankees’ Nova Wins Third Consecutive Start As Reds Fall 5-3

Red Sox Rack Up 10 In 7th Against Padres

Zambrano Settles In As Cubs Rally By White Sox

Hamilton, Beltre Help Rangers Romp Past Astros

Key NFL Owners Meeting Starts Today

Timbermutts Hope Rubio Helps Fans Forget About Recent Draft Flubs



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
“Green Mile” Actor Marries Barely Legal Singer

Doug Hutchinson and Courtney Stodden

“…we’re very much in love and want to get the message out there that true love can be ageless.”

The Breakup Of Michael Bay And Megan Fox

Hefner Finds His Rebound Girl

Paris Hilton, Cy Waits Call It Quits

WB Settles “Hangover II” Tattoo Lawsuit

Master P – Child Support Battle Begins

Amy Winehouse Falls Apart On Stage In Belgrade (Video)



FOREIGNERS
Syrian Forces Sweep Aleppo As Assad Promises Reform
44 Killed, 8 Injured In Karelia Plane Crash
Tunisia Convicts Former President
Sudan Pulls Out Of Abyei, Admits Ethiopian Peacekeepers
Israel, Turkey Attempt To Mend Rift With US Mediation



BLOGS & STUFF
American Digest: Jon Stewart – Schmuck, Putz, Liar, Fraud, Or All Four?
Matt Welch: What Do Ann Coulter And Slate Agree On?
Lonely Conservative: Politifact Says Jon Stewart’s Claims About Fox News Viewers Are False
Don Surber: Democrats = Religious Bigots
Power Line: Fast & Furious Backpedaling At DOJ
Legal Insurrection: Is Netroots Nation 2012 Hiding In Providence?
Blackfive: Like Watching a Car Wreck
Allahpundit: Bachmann Orders Ed Rollins To Apologize To Palin
Vodkapundit: Print It And they Will Come
James Taranto: Happy Donor’s Day!

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Bob Belvedere Is Nuts

Posted on | June 20, 2011 | 11 Comments

Having previously vowed to have no comment — no comment! — about the former Hillary Clinton intern who is now working in the “adult entertainment industry,” I’m obliged to point out that Bob Belvedere at Camp of the Saints has photos of the woman. Perhaps not the most interesting photos of her, but I repeat: No comment.

Category: Camp of the Saints, Rule 5

Conservative PAC Asks Law Enforcement to Investigate DOS Attack on Web Site

Posted on | June 20, 2011 | 6 Comments

When the Turn Right USA political action committee (TRUSA-PAC) launched their controversial online video ad attacking Democratic congressional candidate Janice Hahn last week, TRUSA-PAC experienced a denial-of-service (DOS) attack that prevented people from reaching their Web site. Now the PAC is asking the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the hacker attack:

Turn Right USA PAC (TRUSA) has contacted the FBI and other organizations after being the subject of extended Denial of Service (DOS) attacks on June 15 and 16. They have been asked to determine whether the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and/or the Janice Hahn campaign have hired, instructed or colluded with hackers in order to launch DOS attacks against not only TRUSA’s websites, but Ladd Ehlinger, Jr’s personal websites.
Less than 24 hours after TRUSA launched the world’s most controversial ad, the “Show Me Your Cash, B—h!” on youTube, TRUSA’s websites www.hahnshomeboyz.org and www.turnrightusa.org suffered prolonged and sustained DOS attacks until we blocked the offending IP address causing the problem.

See also:

PREVIOUSLY:

Category: California, Crime, Election, Ladd Ehlinger, Video

Wal-Mart Wins, Women Lose, Stocks Rise

Posted on | June 20, 2011 | 24 Comments

The Supreme Court sided with Wal-Mart against a bunch of malcontents claiming “gender discrimination,” and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 76 points.

Mere coincidence, I’m sure we’ll be told — the Wall Street rally is being attributed to encouraging news on the Greek debt crisis — but it seems to me that the court’s pimp-slap to the class-action tort-mongers had to be a welcome relief to Corporate America. Here’s a video from, of all places, Al-Jazeera:

Category: Supreme Court
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