The Other McCain

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

Too Bad Mike Castle Lost

Posted on | February 7, 2011 | 13 Comments

He could become part of the Let’s Try to Cram Through Immigration “Reform” Again Caucus:

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have rekindled their alliance on immigration reform, taking some early steps to test the political will for addressing the contentious issue this year.
Their call list hasn’t focused so much on House and Senate members who’ve been reliable pro-immigration votes in the past. Instead, they’re looking to a strange-bedfellows mix of conservative and liberal constituencies that can provide a “safety net” of support, as Graham put it, once the issue heats up.

Any such legislation would be DOA in the House, which means that this is just a scam to hustle campaign cash from open-borders advocates, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Yeah, too bad Mike Castle lost that GOP primary in Delaware. Also too bad Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter aren’t in the Senate, so they could cash in on this RINO fundraising windfall.

Please: Explain to me again why it’s so damned important to elect Republicans to the Senate.

Category: Immigration, Vicious Backstabbing Crapweasels

David Cameron to Brits: ‘They Be Snatching Your People Up Out Here’

Posted on | February 7, 2011 | 7 Comments

The prime minister channels Antoine Dodson:

David Cameron has criticised “state multiculturalism” in his first speech as prime minister on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism.
At a security conference [Saturday] in Munich, he argued the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people turning to all kinds of extremism.
He also signalled a tougher stance on groups promoting Islamist extremism. . . .
“Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism,” the prime minister said.

You may wonder how the “hide your kids, hide your wife” angle fits here, but note this part of the story:

The speech angered some Muslim groups, while others queried its timing amid an English Defence League rally in the UK.

Hmmmm. Let’s see, the English Defence League staged an event in Cameron’s home district of Luton and perhaps, indeed, we should question the timing. Why would there be a recent upswing of EDL support in Britain? Why would this “right-wing” sentiment represented by EDL be sufficiently strong that the Tory PM felt obligated to criticize “multiculturalism” and “passive tolerance” toward Islamic extremism?

You won’t find the answer in the respectable mainstream press, but let us turn to the Communist Party’s British publication, the Morning Star:

The EDL . . . tars all Muslims with religious intolerance and systematic criminality based on “cultural” attitudes.
[EDL spokesman Stephen] Lennon would have us believe that Muslim gangs push heroin outside schools, that schoolgirls are forced to wear the burqa, that Muslim gangs murder non-Muslim youth with impunity and that 15-year-old girls are routinely raped and pimped by Muslim gangs.
And this “systematic rape of our youth,” in which Muslim communities are supposedly complicit because of a “cultural thing” goes unchallenged by the authorities “because of a fear of being called racist,” according to the EDL.

Do you perhaps recall the lurid Fleet Street headlines? C’mon, my fellow Americans: Where did you first read about the U.K. Muslim “rape gang” scandals?

Nov. 26: Muslim Men Led U.K. Girl-Rape Gang
Nov. 27: Report: ‘Issues of Culture, Ethnicity and Identity’ Raised in U.K. Rape-Gang Case
Nov. 30: Muslim Columnist: U.K. Rape Gang Case Exposes ‘Disgusting Cultural Beliefs’
Jan. 24: VIDEO: British Girl, 13, Says Rape Threats Are ‘Happening to Lots of Girls’ at School

To borrow a phrase, this blog is on the cutting edge of societal evolution. Read more

Category: Crime, Great Britain, Immigration, Islam, Racism

AOL Pays $315 Million for HuffPo

Posted on | February 7, 2011 | 33 Comments

Curiouser and curiouser:

The Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with a meager $1 million investment and has grown into one of the most heavily visited news Web sites in the country, is being acquired by AOL in a deal that creates an unlikely pairing of two online media giants.
The two companies completed the sale Sunday evening and announced the deal just after midnight on Monday. AOL will pay $315 million, $300 million of it in cash and the rest in stock. It will be the company’s largest acquisition since it was separated from Time Warner in 2009. . . .
Arianna Huffington, the cable talk show pundit, author and doyenne of the political left, will take control of all of AOL’s editorial content as president and editor in chief of a newly created Huffington Post Media Group. The arrangement will give her oversight not only of AOL’s national, local and financial news operations, but also of the company’s other media enterprises like MapQuest and Moviefone.

Question: What would AOL have paid for the Drudge Report, which throws so much traffic it can melt down your servers? But other questions come to mind:

Go over to Matt’s page at AOL’s Politics Daily, scroll down and you’ll see, “News From Our Partners” — which include Salon, Newser, The Daily Beast, Fox News, ABC, Time and The Week. What becomes of those partnerships? I dunno. But the news from AOL’s Daily Finance is simple:

AOL announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors.

Twenty-five million uniques at HuffPo? Really? And that makes it worth (a) $315 million and (b) hiring Arianna as an executive editor?

Our own traffic has amounted to 200,000+ visits per month since August. Although those numbers aren’t the same as “uniques,” the data is public — it’s there on SiteMeter, available for analysis to anyone who cares to look  — and can be compared to any other site that makes its SiteMeter data public.

OK, so to get from 200,000 to 25 million, you just move the decimal point a couple of places over and . . . Big Fur Hat invites offers from AOL: “Wanna buy iOTW? We’ll allow you to overpay for us too.”

Which is exactly right: AOL paid waaaay to much for that site, and as for the value of Arianna Huffington’s services as an editorial executive: What are they paying her for that? Whatever it is, they’re paying too much.

I’m sorry: $315 million for 25 million monthly uniques? No, that’s crazy. The only way this deal makes any sense at all is as a bid to increase market share: AOL is buying out what had previously been a competitor for its own news products. That an online media giant is now buying up a content provider — and paying such an inflated price — is a signal of market confusion.

Speaking of confusion, Stephen Green asks: “Where did AOL come up with $315 million?”

Good question. This deal smells like last week’s fish.

UPDATE: Further analysis at The American Spectator: “Did they misplace the decimal point?”

UPDATE II: Helpful background from Associated Press:

[AOL’s] fourth-quarter results show it is still struggling to boost ad sales. AOL had just a 5.3 percent share of the U.S. display advertising revenue in 2010, down from 6.8 percent in 2009 . . . Facebook, meanwhile, accounted for 13.6 percent of display revenue last year, up from 7.3 percent in 2009. . . .
The work of [HuffPo’s] 70-person paid staff is augmented by content from news outlets and 6,000 bloggers who write for free.

OK, now figure about $75,000 per paid staffer (salary+benefits), and your annual payroll is somewhere north of $5 million.

So the price paid by AOL is equal to more than 50 years of salaries at HuffPo? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Next question: How many of HuffPo’s 6,000 bloggers (???) are going to continue writing for free at a site that just collected a $315 million buyout?

If AOL calculated those bloggers into the value of the deal . . . well, good luck with that.

UPDATE IV: Of course there’s a huge Memeorandum thread, via which we get John Hawkins:

The world’s not a fair place. Someone as incompetent as Barack Obama is President, The Black Eyed Peas got to play the Super Bowl, and Arianna Huffington is now worth $300 million dollars. That’s the breaks, brother, and we just have to roll with it.

To hell with fairness. What I’m wondering is, if HuffPo is worth $315 million, what’s Hawkin’s asking price? One meeeellion dollars?

UPDATE V: Da Tech Guy points out that AOL also just bought the legions of hateful HuffPo commenters, and Purple Avenger at AOSHQ notes further evidence that maybe AOL CEO Tim Armstrong isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed: Last year the company lost $782 million.

Think about that. I’ve done some stupid things in my life, but losing $782 million? No. Never did that.

UPDATE VI: Chris Wysocki in the comments: “Who wants to lay odds that AOL is going to be the source of Keith Olbermann’s next paycheck?”

Yeah, Scared Monkeys made a similar analogy: HuffPo as the MSNBC of AOL. The Lonely Conservative wonders how long before AOL demands a government bailout.

Professor Reynolds mockingly says the ridiculous price paid for HuffPo “means that InstaPundit’s valuation just skyrocketed,” when of course it means no such thing. Because this deal makes no sense as a business proposition, it cannot be weighed in as a factor for calculating the value of any other Internet property.

What has been proven, if anything, is that there is a sucker born every minute. But we knew that already.

Category: Blogging, Media Bias

LIVE AT FIVE – 2.7.11

Posted on | February 7, 2011 | Comments Off on LIVE AT FIVE – 2.7.11

TOP NEWS
President Downplays Concerns Over Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt

President Obama interviewed by Bill O'Reilly before the Super Bowl

Also, thinks Florida judge was “wrong”. You go, Mr. Former ConLaw Prof!

Secretary Clinton Warns Against Hasty Exit By Mubarak
Transition to real democracy will take time, SecState says

Fighting Continues For Fourth Day On Thailand/Cambodia Border
Ancient temple damaged in fighting



POLITICS
President Reagan Honored And Remembered

Nancy Reagan takes the stage after the wreath-laying ceremony

1,500 gather to celebrate his 100th birthday at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley

Dixon, Illinois Throws A Birthday Party For Their Hometown Hero

Sarah Palin’s Speech



Obama Courts Business With Chamber of Commerce Speech

Thousands Pay Respects To General Vang Pao On Second Day Of Funeral Services



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Groupon Spends Big On Controversial/Tasteless Super Bowl Ads
NASDAQ: Our Network’s Been Hacked
Asian Stocks, Euro, Copper Up On U.S. Growth Outlook; Japan Bonds Decline
Xoom: No Data Plan? No WiFi.
Stereo Satellites Flank The Sun



SPORTS
Packers Bring Lombardi Trophy Back To Titletown

The Lombardi Trophy. Itself.

Pack’s Air Attack Beats Steelers’ Defense In Exciting (For A Change) 31-25 Game

Super Bowl XLV: Lousy Weather, Unfinished Seats, Disappointed Fans (Video)


Also, Christina Aguilera Botches The National Anthem Live :facepalm:

Mark Wilson Leads Phoenix Open Going Into Last Day

Celtics’ Marquis Daniels Out 1-2 Months With Bruised Spinal Cord



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Shia LeBeouf Cuffed For Bar Fight, Released

Some actor fellow we never heard of

Fight started with gay slur, ends with no charges against actor or assailant

“Family Matters” Actress Engaged To Ricky Romance

Lindsay Lohan: I’m Just An Easy Target

“Wayne’s World” Returns To SNL

Tura Satana Of “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” Fame Dies, 72

Zsa Zsa Gabor Celebrates 94th Birthday At Home After Release From Hospital

Amanda Holden’s Baby Tragedy Baffles Doctors



FOREIGNERS
Al Jazeera English Earns Big-Time Credibility During Egyptian Crisis
Brushfires In Perth Claim More Homes
Tunisia’s Coalition Government Takes Steps To Stop “Security Breakdown”
Assange Begins Fight To Prevent Extradition To Sweden
31 Norks Cross Into ROK Waters On Fishing Boat; Only Some Want To Defect
Sinai Pipeline Blast Prompts Calls To Speed Israeli Gas Development
Cameron Reignites Multiculturalism Debate In UK



BLOGS & STUFF
TechCrunch: AOL Buys Puffington Host
Just One Minute: Winning The Future In Egypt (Ongoing)
Sister Toldjah: Happy 100th Birthday, President Reagan!
Mark Steyn: We Need Him Now
(Via American Power)
Weasel Zippers: Obama – “I Haven’t Moved To The Center”

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Rule 5 Sunday: Enter Laughing

Posted on | February 6, 2011 | 6 Comments

What better way to begin this week’s Rule 5 roundup with this trailer, brought to us by Soylent Green? Not content with just one look at the lovely Carla Gugino, Soylent also includes her in his weekly Loose Lingerie feature along with Ashley Greene.

Less amusing, but every bit as entertaining, is a video of the 2011 Miss Pole Dance Australia competition, courtesy of Three Beers Later. Somewhat related: Lara Croft working the pole.

The Rio Norte Line makes its debut on Rule 5 Sunday with the lovely Malaika Aurora.

Proof Positive offers Diora Baird, Susan Hayward, and an item about our British cousins keeping abreast of inflation, if I read that correctly.

Elsewhere in the world of Rule 5, Wyblog notes the coming of Chinese New Year with snow bunnies. Boom3, on the other hand, dangles Daliah Lavi before the Sons of Misbelief.

Maybe the Packers don’t have cheerleaders, but with fans like this, they might be right in thinking they don’t need ’em. Thanks to Fishersville Mike! On the other hand, Gahrie chose to fill the cheerleader gap with some fine examples of the art from other NFL teams.

The Camp of the Saints has a bevy of beauties this week, starting with the lovely Monica Bellucci, the girls of Silvio Berlusconi, a fine collection of cuties led by Petra Nemcova, and last but certainly not least, Hope Olson.

Maggie’s Notebook risks the wrath of Xenu with this pic of the cute young $cientologist Catherine Bell; Dustbury points us toward Busy Philipps and Moon Bloodgood.

The Troglopundit’s heart is heavy today, as Danica Patrick picked the Steelers; in a fit of pique, he goes with beefcake this week instead.

Thanks to all for their links; for next week’s Rule 5 Sunday, please send your links to
Rule 5 Wombat.

Category: Rule 5

Purge Dick Cheney?

Posted on | February 6, 2011 | 7 Comments

How dare he disagree with Bill Kristol!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is a “good man” who has been “a good friend and ally of the United States.”
“We need to remember that,” Cheney said in remarks during an event in Santa Barbara, California Saturday to commemorate the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan.

Elsewhere:

Category: Egypt

Another Kooky Conspiracy Theorist

Posted on | February 6, 2011 | 24 Comments

Glenn Beck won’t back down. On second thought, Bill Kristol’s right. Mark Levin’s wrong. We’ve got to purge these hysterical extremist wackos or else they might take over the entire Republican Party!

“The communist plan for Hollywood was remarkably simple. It was merely to take over the motion picture business . . . [as] a grand world-wide propaganda base.”

What kind of Kool-Aid-drinking paranoid Bircher nutjob would say something as crazy and irresponsible as that? Read more

Category: Conservatism 101, Glenn Beck

Obama Jinxes Steelers in Super Bowl

Posted on | February 6, 2011 | 13 Comments

Ever since the president put the curse on Philly, every NFL team has prayed that Obama wouldn’t endorse them.

Obama: ‘I’ve got some love for the Steelers’

Sorry, Pittsburgh fans: Packers by 4.

But at least Dan Collins can enjoy the sexy cheerleader at AOSHQ.

UPDATE: Everybody else has already blogged this, so what the heck?


Category: Barack Obama, Football, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
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