The Other McCain

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

Pakistan: Friend or Foe?

Posted on | May 10, 2011 | 12 Comments

In the wake of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza issues a threat:

“Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force. No one should underestimate the resolve and capability of our nation and armed forces to defend our sacred homeland,” Gilani said.

However, the U.K. Guardian reports that Pakistan agreed 10 years ago that the U.S. would be permitted to stage such a raid if bin Laden were located in their country. (Via Memeorandum.)

However, former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf denies that any such deal ever existed:

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air reports Pakistan has outed our CIA station chief in Islamabad.

Linked by Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress — thanks!

Category: Pakistan, Terrorism

Passenger With a Yemeni Passport Charges Cockpit Yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’

Posted on | May 10, 2011 | 9 Comments

An in-flight disturbance of unknown motive:

The passengers sat stunned as they watched a man walk quickly toward the front of American Airlines Flight 1561 as it was descending toward San Francisco. He was screaming and then began pounding on the cockpit door.
“I kept saying to myself: ‘What’s he doing? Does he have a bomb? Is he armed?'” passenger Angelina Marty said.
Within moments Sunday, a flight attendant tackled Rageh Almurisi. Authorities do not yet have a motive. . . .
Federal agents are investigating Almurisi’s background. He was carrying a Yemeni passport and a California identification card, authorities said. . . .
Marty, 35, recalled that she and other passengers on the plane were stunned when they saw Almurisi walking down the aisle. She said a woman in a row across from her who speaks Arabic translated that Almurisi said “God is Great!” in Arabic.
Andrew Wai, another passenger, told KGO-TV on Monday that the wife of one of the men who took Almurisi down later said Almurisi was yelling “Allahu Akbar.”

Just another unhinged radical Lutheran, I’m sure . . .

Doug at Daley Gator suspects the Methodists, but this has all the hallmarks of the dreaded Lutheran Menace.

(Via Memeorandum.)

UPDATE: “Nothing to see here, move along.”

Category: Terrorism

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.10.11

Posted on | May 10, 2011 | Comments Off on LIVE AT FIVE – 05.10.11

TOP NEWS
SEALs Ready To Fight If Pakistan Got In The Way

Backup helicopter originally on hand in case SEALs needed to fight their way out

New York Times report liable to further aggravate US-Paki tensions; in other news, US may get access to Bin Laden’s wives for questioning

Mississippi Expected To Crest Today At 48 Feet In Memphis
Beale Street, Graceland, Sun Studios, other landmarks safe


Senate GOP Blocks Confirmation Of Cole As Deputy AG
President’s recess appointment seen as soft on terrorism; will leave office at end of 2011



POLITICS
Boehner Calls For Trillions In Cuts As Part Of Debt Limit Vote

Boehner speaks as Congressional candidate Jane Corwin listens at fundraiser

Any legislation to raise debt limit should includes cuts larger than the limit increase, Speaker says

Nadler, Weiner Call For Bin Laden Bounty To Be Paid To 9/11 Families

Gingrich To Announce Run For The White House

Navy Chaplains Cleared To Officiate Gay Marriages – Except That Violates DOMA

Texas Senate Passes Campus Carry Bill

65 Arrested In Protest At California State Capitol

Arizona Appeals 9th Circuit Stay Of Immigration Law To Supremes

Dean Heller Sworn In As Newest Senator



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Why Microsoft Is Buying Skype
US Stocks Climb, Led By Oil Price Rise
European Shares Fall On Fears Greece Needs New Bailout (Video)
Asian Stocks Mixed, Australia Slips Ahead Of Budget
Feds Provide $200 Million For Michigan High-Speed Rail
Sears Considers Moving Out Of Illnois
McDonald’s Revamps Restaurants For Upscale Look
Google’s Annual Developers Conference Gets Underway
WinPhone “Mango” Update To Offer New Audio & Voice Features
Unlicensed Google Music Arrives Tomorrow



SPORTS
Heat Surge, Celtics Flounder As Miami Takes Command Of Series 3-1

Chris Bosh gets his Howard Dean on after scoring five points in OT

Celtics can’t make the plays and get sliced up, 98-90

Travis Wood Does Double Duty As Reds Down Astros

Pirates Rise Above .500 With Win Against Dodgers

Canucks’ Lockdown Approach Brings Series Win Against Predators

McCourt Could Lose The Dodgers But Remain Their Landlord

Greinke Sharp In First Home Start



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Kelly Brook Loses Baby Girl

Kelly Brook and boyfriend Thom Evans

Suffers miscarriage over the weekend

Whitney Houston In Outpatient Rehab

It’s A Boy For Alicia Silverstone

Bristol Palin, Massey Brothers Land Reality Show

Taylor Momsen, Jessica Szohr Not Returning To “Gossip Girl” For Fifth Season

Stanley Tucci Joins “The Hunger Games”




Rob Marshall Signs On For “Thin Man” Reboot, Confirms Re-Team With Johnny Depp

Beyonce To Receive Billboard Millennium Award

NeNe Leakes: Why I Quit “Celebrity Apprentice”



FOREIGNERS
Combat Stirs Libya’s Deadlocked Eastern Front
Palestinians Feel Strain Of Unity Pact
Russia Tightens Security Ahead Of Victory Day Celebrations
Cuba Publishes List Of Proposed Economic Changes
More Mass Graves Found In Ivory Coast
Fifteen Killed, Thousands Forced From Homes As Tropical Storm Aere Hits Philippines



BLOGS & STUFF
Allahpundit: Reportedly US Has Had Deal With Pakistan That We Could Come In & Bag Bin Laden Since 2001
PJ Tatler: Are We In For A Cold War With Pakistan?
Riehl World View: Erick Erickson’s Huntsman Problem
Jim Geraghty: Sure Democrats Are Hawkish, But Only If They Get To Call The Shots
Ed Morrissey: Gas Prices To Fall Fifty Cents By Summer?
Watts Up With That?: Billions Needed In UK To Protect Wi-Fi From Global Warming

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

BREAKING: Arnold Schwarzenegger Dumps Liberal Wife Maria Shriver

Posted on | May 9, 2011 | 18 Comments

OK, the headline is totally misleading, because we don’t yet know who dumped whom:

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, have separated, with Shriver moving out of their Brentwood mansion while the two determine the next step in their 25-year marriage.
Shriver has been residing apart from the actor-turned-politician for the last few weeks. The former first couple confirmed the separation in a joint statement released Monday after questions were raised by The Times.
“This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us,” the statement read. “After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion and prayer, we came to this decision together. At this time, we are living apart while we work on the future of our relationship.
“We are continuing to parent our four children together. They are the light and the center of both of our lives.” We consider this a private matter and neither we nor any of our friends or family will have further comment. “We ask for compassion and respect from the media and the public.”

Rumors that Arnold is going to be hanging out with Charlie Sheen and a half-dozen porn “goddesses” could not be confirmed . . .

UPDATE: Now a Memeorandum thread, and of course this video clip is absolutely obligatory:

Category: California, Celebrities

Cool Video: 9 Months = 2 Minutes

Posted on | May 9, 2011 | 4 Comments

Genevieve Damascus and her husband Mike did a time-lapse photography sequence of her pregnancy with their son, Griffin:

Genevieve’s Web site is called Mama Natural. Maybe you want to see her natural childbirth video? It’s pretty cool, and perhaps the only time you’ll ever hear the phrase “my uterus was exhaused” on YouTube.

UPDATE: Tweeted by Alyssa Milano!

In case you didn’t know, Alyssa is also expecting — as you can see from her profile picture. BTW, you can follow @MamaNaturalBlog on Twitter, too.

UPDATE II: Mama Natural just now posted this new video of her son Griffin laughing at bath time:

Category: Video

Rule 5 Monday

Posted on | May 9, 2011 | 4 Comments

It’s been a busy weekend, mostly spent boning up for tonight’s management final, sleeping, or going “Awwwww” at dire wolf puppies, and unfortunately Rule 5 Sunday drew the short straw.

Let us begin, appropriately enough, with this fine instructional video from Three Beers Later, carefully chosen as the kickoff for National Offend A Feminist Week. Mr. McEnroe follows this auspicious debut with a career advice video (NSFW), a look at Modern Women in the Armed Forces, and the burning question “Have You Hugged A Nurse Today?”.

Meanwhile, Soylent Green had pork chops for dinner in honor of Osama’s death; afterward, dessert. Later, Humpday Hawtness is followed by weather with a little Spanish lingo, a trifecta of interesting items, a tribute to the late Seve Ballesteros, and the ever-popular Corset Friday. See if you can find the link that isn’t NSFW. There actually is one!

Fishersville Mike reminds us of the sad death of Yvette Vickers. More cheerfully, it’s Female Assassins Week (NSFW) at the Rio Norte Line. Eye of Polyphemus lights on the recently remarried Reese Witherspoon, who appears to have been, er, uplifted by the experience. Randy’s Roundtable has a nice collection of Nicole Graves pix and some Lily Aldridge in lingerie as well. A View From The Beach this week features one of my favorites, Jessica Alba, and leads off with a pic of her from the prematurely-ended Dark Angel. Yum. Over at the POH Diaries, there’s some Jessica Upton Twitter pix, and Postaldog celebrates Mother’s Day with a selection of Kate Beckinsale (the hottest mom in Hollywood?) photos.

Dustbury has an interesting pair of ladies this week: Al Rojo Vivo hostess Maria Celeste Arraras and former weekend hostess of that show, Candela Ferro. Proof Positive’s Vintage Babe this week is Yvette Vickers; from a more recent crop, Carolyn Murphy.

The Camp Of The Saints leads off with Joyce Nizzari, continues with Ana de la Reguera, and wraps up the week with Yvette Vickers’ Playboy pictorial, shot by Russ Meyer.

The DaleyGator’s DaleyBabes this week include Jessica Jane Clement, Kate Middleton and some guy she married;), Stephanie Okereke, Lanisha Cole, Judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Mayte Carranco doing the weather, Kate Upton, and Jennifer Metcalfe.

Thanks to all for their submissions this week; to be included in next week’s Rule 5 roundup, please e-mail your links to Rule 5 Wombat.

Category: Rule 5

‘Start the War From Right Here’

Posted on | May 9, 2011 | 31 Comments

One of my favorite tales of World War II is the D-Day landing at Utah Beach. Everybody knows about the horrible carnage at Omaha Beach, but relatively few people know what went wrong at Utah Beach: Because of an unexpected cross-current offshore, the Fourth Infantry Division was landed more than a mile from its objectives.

The unit commanders on the beach checked their maps and were confused. German artillery was beginning to get the range on their position. Should they hike up the coast and try to capture their assigned objectives, despite having now lost the advantage of surprise?

One man on Utah Beach knew exactly what to do, and made the decision that changed everything.

“We’ll start the war from right here!” Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. proclaimed, ordering the troops to forget about the original plan and instead advance inland from where they were.

That story came to mind today when I read a Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader editorial about pundits trying to pick winners and losers — deciding who is “first tier” and who isn’t — in the GOP 2012 primary field. Then I thought about Teddy Jr. at Utah Beach when I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about the claim that Mitch Daniels in the man to beat and when I saw the ABC News story about GOP money sitting on the sidelines. And it came to mind again when I read Byron York’s Washington Examiner column about Republicans hoping for a “super-hero” candidate to swoop in and rescue them.

What’s all this “let’s-wait-and-see crap” about? Did we have a debate in South Carolina last week or not? And did we have a winner last week or not? Here’s Byron York:

And yet Republicans are fighting the idea, heard not just in the press but among some of their own colleagues, that a president in the mid-40s can’t be defeated. It doesn’t make sense to them. So they hope for some new way out of the problem.
The one candidate already in the field who is generating excitement as a genuinely new face is Herman Cain, the talk radio host and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. It’s not because Cain is young — at 65, he is the oldest candidate in the field, aside from Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich — but because he brings a businessman’s credibility to a race dominated by economic issues; has a gift for commonsense talk; and does it all with a little showmanship . . . After Thursday’s debate, when Frank Luntz conducted a focus group discussion for Fox News, Cain was the big winner.

But, but, but . . . I’ve heard all the objections, and I don’t care. I’m tired of people hesitating, waiting around for Chris Christie or Mitch Daniels or whoever their GOP “Dream Date” may be. Team Obama is talking about raising $1 billion — that’s $1,000,000,000.oo — to re-elect this disastrous president. We can’t sit around waiting and hoping. It’s time to get busy.

More than 300 people are expected to attend a Herman Cain fundraiser tonight in Milton, Ga., hosted by former UPS chairman Ron Wallace. That could easily raise in excess of a quarter-million dollars.

And you can go to HermanCain.com and donate now.

C’mon, who’s with me? “We’ll start the war from right here!”

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! I saw a sudden spike in traffic and thought it was just because I got re-Tweeted by Alyssa Milano. (Seriously, her Twitter feed throws some heavy traffic.) Meanwhile, we are just two weeks from a key special election in New York’s 26th District.


Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain

Congratulations, Ed Schultz!

Posted on | May 9, 2011 | 15 Comments

MSNBC’s angry gasbag has been awarded “Quote of the Year” in the annual Dishonor Awards, in which the Media Research Center recognizes the very worst in liberal media bias:

“The Republicans lie! They want to see you dead! They’d rather make money off your dead corpse! They kind of like it when that woman has cancer and they don’t have anything for her.”

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but doesn’t Ed Schultz remind you of the kind of mean drunk that gets thrown out of a bar for slapping around a cocktail waitress? He’s just such an unhappy, angry person. I guess the MSNBC target audience can really relate to hm, though.

Speaking of MSNBC, the sexist cheapskates at the network were originally paying Mika Brzezinski 1/14th of Joe Scarborough’s salary. And it is reported that MSNBC staffers aren’t exactly eager to join Keith Olbermann’s new show at Current TV. Yeah, it’s like being invited to join Hitler in his bunker with the Red Army closing in.

(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)

UPDATE: Welcome, Don Surber readers!

Category: MSNBC
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