LIVE AT FIVE – 06.13.11

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TOP NEWS
Christchurch Warned: More Quakes To Come

Policeman directs traffic away from a newly collapsed building

Early afternoon quakes do more damage to stricken city; more aftershocks and further quakes expected

Syrian Army Retakes Town; Thousands Flee To Turkey
Jisr al-Shughour back under government control


Erdogan Promises Consensus In Turkey After Re-Election
His AK party falls just short of majority in parliament



POLITICS
First Photos Of Congresswoman Giffords Since Shooting Released

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

May be released from hospital and end of month, possibly July

Weiner Support Continues To Soften As More Photos Dribble Out



Pawlenty Chides Romney On MassCare

California Budget Talks Continue As Deadline Looms

Leftist Catholics Hold Conference In Detroit



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Stanley Fischer Stakes Claim To IMF Post
Nikkei Hurt On Global Economy Worries, Weak Machinery Data
US Gasoline Prices Down On Lower Demand, Increased Saudi Pumping
Euro Down On Greek Debt Woes
Hacktivists Hit IMF
Apple Intervenes In Lodsys Patent Fight With iOS Developers
Apple Sued By iCloud Communications
WinPhone 7 To Overtake Apple’s iOS



SPORTS
Dallas Fans End 31-Year Wait With Championship Party As Mavericks Win It All

Mavs' Nowitzki, Terry embrace after 105-95 victory over Heat

Dallas coasts to victory in Miami, erases stain of 2006 loss

Jeff Gordon Collects 84th Cup Victory

Seven Hits Away, Jeter Wants Hit #3000 At Home

Dodgers Hang On To Beat Rockies 10-8

Punchless Canucks Eye Cup

The Kid Stays In The Rotation

Royals’ Defense Solid Behind Mazzaro In Shutout Of Angels



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Lily Allen Married And Pregnant

Singer Lily Allen and her husband Sam Cooper

Friends and family in attendance as couple exchanged vows at St. James Church in Gloucestershire

Selena Gomez Blood Pressure Issues?

Clarence Clemons Said To Be Seriously Ill From Stroke

“South Park” Creators’ “Book Of Mormon” Wins At Tony Awards

Candy Queen Dylan Lauren Ties The Knot

Royals Lead Parade To Celebrate Queen’s Birthday

Pippa Middleton Modeling Past Unearthed


Jazz Is Not A Byproduct Of Rap

Record Label Responds To Joan Jett Lawsuit



FOREIGNERS
Turkish Stocks Up As AK Party Wins Election
Vietnam Begins Live-Fire Drills Amid PRC Tensions
Somalia Kills Fazul Abudullah Mohammed; Leadership Vacuum Atop Al-Qaeda Grows
Libyan Rebels Bringing War Closer To Tripoli
Tom McMaster Sockpuppets World With “Gay Girl In Damascus
Silent Teheran Protesters Arrested On Anniversary Of Disputed Elections
Italy Votes On Scrapping Nuclear Energy



BLOGS & STUFF
Maggie’s Notebook: Weiner Resigning? He’s Thinking About It
Yid With Lid: Obama Trying To Force Israel To Negotiate With Palestinians On THEIR Terms
Outside The Beltway: Is The Syrian Army Fracturing?
Lonely Conservative: John Ziegler Says Palin Can’t Beat Obama In 2012
American Digest: The Story Of Owe
Weasel Zippers: UK Police Covered Up Violent Campaign to “Islamicize” Part Of London
No Sheeples Here: Fishing For Moby Dick With A Cane Pole
Newsbusters: ABC’s Claire Shipman Says “A Group Of All White Men Are Not Going To Reach The Best Decisions”
Chicago Boyz: Chicago Tribune Finally Wakes Up To Our Dismal Energy Future
JammieWearingFool: Obama Regrets Not Spending Enough Time With Family; Promptly Ditches Them To Go Play Golf

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Rule 5 Sunday: Lend The Devil A Hand

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Title tune for this week chosen with malice aforethought, since our leadoff link consists of advice from Three Beers Later to Congressman Weiner’s missus in music video form. Suffice it to say “forgive” and “forget” don’t feature in those lyrics. Perhaps related: Mitzi Gaynor.

Elsewhere, Eye of Polyphemus asks the important question “Who cares about Jennifer Love Hewitt‘s acting?” and Fishersville Mike notes that the NHL season is coming to a close as he spotlights the Bruins’ Ice Girls. Continuing with the sports theme, the Rio Norte Line links to the German Playboy pictorial featuring the German National Womens’ Soccer Team, and some bonus Olympians as well. Somewhat related: Sarah Michelle Gellar, in and out of her role as Buffy the vampire slayer, courtesy of A View From The Beach.

Soylent Green kicks off the week with an epic Monday Motivationer, issues an advisory to people complaining about the heat, brings the Jaclyn Swedberg for Humpday and the poster for Girl With The Dragon Tattoo , stirs up disco memories on Thursday, has a surprisngly corsetless Friday, and finally wraps up the week with some Louise Glover. Oh, yes: almost all the preceding were NSFW.

Randy’s Roundtable this week features Aussie Laura Dundovic and Candace Swanepoel; Dustbury features the controversial Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and Shania Twain; Postaldog offers Charlize Theron and Troglopundit notices that the current Miss USA is getting in a spot of trouble – and not for not wearing a burka.

The Camp Of The Saints kicks off the week with Michelle Marsh, moves on to Rule 5 News, draws our attention to a solar powered bikini , and finishes up with Saskia Linssen

DaleyBabes this week include Genevieve Morton, an assortment of sexy women, not all of whom are Asian; Naomie Harris, hot chicks on bicycles, Ginger Lee, Kaley Cuoco, Emily Scott, and Shania Twain. Bonus question: are bikinis porn?

That’s all the Rule 5 linkagery for this week. If you want your links included in next week’s roundup, send them to Rule 5 Wombat by June 18. Thanks!

On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog (or a Make-Believe Syrian Lesbian)

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Why do people never learn to be skeptical of stuff like this?

In recent days, the world has followed closely the saga of Amina Arraf, the blogger who presented herself online as “A Gay Girl in Damascus” and who drew attention with her passionate writings about the Syrian government’s crackdown on Arab Spring protesters. Those writings stopped last Tuesday, and a posting to the blog, ostensibly written by a cousin, said she had been hauled away by government security agents.
News of her disappearance became an Internet and media sensation. The U.S. State Department started an investigation. But almost immediately skeptics began asking: Has anyone ever actually met Amina? Two days after her disappearance, images presented on her blog as being of Amina were revealed to have been taken from the Facebook page of a London woman.
And on Sunday, the truth spilled out: The gay girl in Damascus confessed to being a 40-year-old American man from Georgia. . . .
[Tom] MacMaster, a Middle East peace activist who is now working on his master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, wrote that he fictionalized the account of a gay woman in Syria to illuminate the situation for a Western audience.

How many times do people have to make fools out of themselves over these “too good to check” stories before they wise up to the telltale clues of a hoax?

Whatever happened to common sense? Shouldn’t it be obvious, for example, that the son of the late oil minister of Nigeria isn’t going to send e-mails to random strangers asking for their help in recovering a multi-million dollar fortune? And shouldn’t it be obvious that the sex-crazed teenager in the online chat room is actually an undercover cop working on a Dateline NBC sting?

“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

Gennette Cordova: Still Pro-Weiner

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That’s the most important takeaway from Aaron Worthing’s online interview with the 21-year-old student to whom Anthony Weiner send the momentous May 27 crotch-photo Tweet.

Reading everything she said, taking it all at face value, it is impossible to escape the conclusion: Gennette Cordova is a liberal Democrat and her chief regret of her role in this entire episode is its negative political impact for Democrats, Weiner included.

Ace of Spades tries to read between the lines of Cordova’s comments, but I think that’s pointless. Given her obvious political incentives, to say nothing of her personal incentives, including her relationship with her live-in boyfriend,  shouldn’t we be profoundly skeptical of her version of events?

Cordova deleted the Twitter account on which she carried on her DM exchanges with Weiner, so that she herself no longer has a record of what either of them said in those exchanges. Now she publicly describes those exchanges as perfectly innocent, a description which — if true — raises the question of why Weiner would have suddenly decided to send her that crotch photo, unsolicited.

But we don’t know what is true or not and, absent a law-enforcement investigation that includes subpoenas for the complete records from Twitter, Facebook, etc., we can never know. The same is true of the Delaware teen — I doubt the cops there got subpoenas for her Twitter records — and of everything else involved in this story: Absent a thorough law-enforcement investigation, we have only a partial record of the evidence, and are left to wonder about everything else.

And I remind you that the one thing Weiner has been most eager to avoid is a law-enforcement investigation. Because once the FBI starts asking questions, the rule becomes: Tell a lie, go to jail.

Gennette Cordova was, and apparently remains, a liberal Democrat fan of Anthony Weiner. So if she’s telling a version of the story that would tend to discourage an FBI investigation, I certainly am not surprised.

FMJRA 2.0: Eurotrash Girl

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UPDATE: Dems Call for Ethics Probe

Beware of ‘Feminist’ Men

URGENT: Police Visit Delaware Teen in Connection With Weiner Twitter Scandal

UPDATE: Weiner’s Photo: ‘It’s Me’

Team Newt Implodes: Top Aides Quit Gingrich 2012 Presidential Campaign

CNN’s Toobin on May 31: ‘What Andrew Breitbart Was Insinuating About [Weiner] With Young Girls Is Outrageous’

WeinerGate Götterdämmerung

When Will Weiner Quit?

Weiner’s Liberal Support Collapses as Three Top Dems Call for Resignation

Facebook Disrespects the Unborn

Herman Cain Hits the Big Time

FMJRA 2.0: Drinking Again

Rule 5 Sunday: Hi Friend!

Chicago Teens Charged With ‘Mob Action Violence to Person and Property’

#WeinerGate Fallout: Democrats Criticize Weiner for Missing Israel Day Parade UPDATE: Breitbart Releases 2nd Photo

#WeinerGate: It Gets WORSE
UPDATE: Press Conference 4 p.m. ET UPDATE: ABC News Interviews Woman

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.07.11

Yub Nub!

Breitbart’s Vindication

Military Pay Overhaul

Death of a Blogger

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.08.11

Joan Walsh: ‘I Look Kind of Stupid’

Weiner’s Race-Mongering Past

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: Belated Notice of Charles Johnson’s Total Beclownment

Weiner’s Secret Desire
UPDATED: ‘X-Rated’ Photo Emerges; Weiner’s Wife Is Pregnant; More Democrats Now Calling for Resignation

Feminism and the ‘Friendly Stranger’

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.09.11

McCarthy On The War Powers Act

Behind Blue Eyes

Herman Cain Speaks Bluntly: ‘I Believe Homosexuality Is a Sin … Their Choice’

The Vagina as a Criminal Weapon

New Blog Honors Joan Walsh

LIVE AT FIVE – 06.10.11

Fred Barnes Puts His Finger On It

Impossible to Parody

Arne Duncan: What?

A Special Kind of Stupid: Only ‘Culturally Backward’ People Find Weiner’s Conduct Objectionable, Chris Matthews Says

Quantitative Easing Is Not Default!

I Need People To Go Watch
‘The Undefeated’ For Me

Minor Disagreement With VodkaPundit

‘Moral Fascists’?

Top linkers for this week:

  1. Piece Of Work In Progress (13)
  2. The Camp Of The Saints (10)
  3. (tied) Da Tech Guy and Lisa Graas (7)
  4. (tied) Little Miss Attila, Lonely Conservative, and Republican Redefined

Thanks to everyone for their links! If you’re blogging on Blogspot and wish to be included in the FMJRA, please send me your links at Wombat-socho with “FMJRA” or “Shameless Blogwhoring” in the subject line by June 18.

VIDEO: Wasserman-Schultz Discusses Weiner Scandal on ‘Meet the Press’

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From the NBC transcript:

MR. GREGORY: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, let me start with you.
REP. SCHULTZ: Sure.
MR. GREGORY: What, what led to the change? Why now call for him to resign?
REP. SCHULTZ: Well, I think that since this story broke we were giving Congressman Weiner some breathing room to be able to be, be circumspect, do the right thing, make a — you know, reach the conclusion that, that he needed to step back and step down on his own. And as of yesterday, when that didn’t happen, it was important to, to weigh in.
MR. GREGORY: But before his actual admission, you spoke about this during an interview, and this is what you said.

(Videotape, June 2, 2011)
REP. SCHULTZ: Anthony Weiner is dealing with a personal matter, and it should be left as a personal matter.
(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY: When did it become less a personal matter and more an issue of public trust?
REP. SCHULTZ: Well, I made that statement before it had been revealed that Anthony had not been truthful, and that, that, that he was engaged in the conduct that he had been denying at the time. And once he crossed that threshold, acknowledged that, that he’d been lying, had engaged in conduct that is, you know, completely unacceptable and indefensible…
MR. PRIEBUS: Well, here’s the problem, David.
REP. SCHULTZ: …that’s where I thought that the — that’s where I thought the line was crossed.
MR. GREGORY: Well, I’ll come to you in just a second.
But is this enough that he seeks treatment, or would you still like him to straight out resign?
REP. SCHULTZ: The statement I made speaks for itself yesterday. I think Anthony Weiner needs to resign so he can focus on his family, focus on his own well-being, and make sure that…
MR. GREGORY: So there’s going to be more pressure from top Democrats to say this is not quite enough, leave of absence is not enough, he should step down completely.
REP. SCHULTZ: I think Leader Pelosi, Steve Israel, myself, we all came together yesterday…
MR. GREGORY: Well, what, what is it you can do? I mean, he’s obviously not listening to the admonitions of his colleagues.
REP. SCHULTZ: Well, at, at the end of the day, you know, a member of Congress makes their own decision, and that, that’s certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner. But we have made clear that he needs to resign, he needs to focus on, on getting his, his own personal issues in order…
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
REP. SCHULTZ: …focus on his family and, and do the right thing…
MR. GREGORY: From your, from your…
REP. SCHULTZ: …by his constituents.

Politico notes Wasserman-Schultz’s admission that Democrats are powerless to force Weiner’s resignation.

Under House rules, a vote to expel Weiner could only come after a full Ethics Committee investigation, which would take months, and thus probably extend the scandal into 2012.

UPDATE: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power — thanks!

UPDATE II: Linked by Don Surber — thanks!

PREVIOUSLY:


Report: Weiner Sent Woman Photos of Himself Posing in Congressional Gym

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TMZ released photos this morning showing Rep. Anthony Weiner posing bare-chested in the congressional gym in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. The married congressman reportedly sent the photos to at least one of the women with whom he had what he called “online relationships.”

The photos, which TMZ said were taken using gym mirrors and the camera on Weiner’s Blackberry cell phone, offer further evidence contradicting the Brooklyn Democrat’s previous assertion that he did not use congressional resources in his cybersex activities.

The latest revelation came just hours before Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, renewed their calls for Weiner’s resignation in separate appearances on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation.

UPDATE: Last year, Weiner was himself unwilling to defend three scandal-plagued New York Democrats,  Gov. David Paterson, Rep. Eric Massa and Rep. Charles Rangel:

Allahpundit says:

Think of Weiner’s resignation calculus as a scale: How many public indignities have to pile up on one side to move the weight of his ego in being a congressman on the other side? If you believe KP, the number is basically infinite, so presumably there are still many, many more indignities to come.

The idea that Weiner can stubbornly stay in Congress, even while every ranking member of his own party calls for him to resign, seems extraordinary. But this entire scandal is extraordinary, and normal expectations may not apply to such a raging narcissist.

And the really “mindblowing” part of the scandal is that it was all brought about by the simple error whereby Weiner sent that May 27 crotch-shot photo as a public Twitter message when he meant to send it as a DM, as Ace of Spades says:

The Typo From Hell. Possibly the worst typo in the history of politics.
Not saying he doesn’t deserve it — he does — but consider that but for a single clumsy move by an errant left forefinger, none of this happens.
The smallest error of a fingertip, and a man is wholly undone.