Movie Review: 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'

At the Hollywood Reporter, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Film Review":

Emotional fluency and literary pretense go hand in hand in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, an affecting, well acted tale of 9/11 trauma and a boy's effort to piece things together after his father's death. A self-conscious prestige project with weighty thematic elements, a tony literary pedigree and top-tier actors, director Stephen Daldry's fourth film is dominated by the performance of a 13-year-old with no previous acting experience, Thomas Horn, who enables his character's pinball intellect and inchoate emotions to pulse through every scene. While the subject matter will keep some prospective viewers away, many who do come will be emotionally wrenched by the treatment of loss and the interplay between parents and child, indicating good commercial prospects in most markets.

I can only think of one other big screen epic of this sort, "World Trade Center," and I'm surprised we haven't had more. And "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is another film that's on my list of movies not to miss.

Angels Sign Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson

They snag the most feared slugger and ex-Texas ace in what may be biggest one-day free-agent splash in MLB history. Team officials say it shows owner Arte Moreno's desire to win; teammates are giddy.

The Angels made perhaps the biggest one-day free-agent splash in baseball history and transformed themselves into legitimate World Series contenders Thursday, spending about $331 million to acquire the game's most feared slugger and one of its top pitchers.

Within a span of two frenzied early morning hours at the winter meetings, the Angels reached agreements in principle with first baseman Albert Pujols on a 10-year, $254-million deal and left-hander C.J. Wilson on a five-year, $77.5-million deal.

Bridesmaids in recent free-agent pursuits — the Angels failed in bids to sign Mark Teixeira, Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre the last two winters — the Angels nabbed the two stars with a massive investment that was $144 million more than the $183 million Arte Moreno paid to buy the team in 2003.

"I can't say in my wildest dreams I thought I'd be sitting here today," Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto, less than two months into the job, said at a news conference to announce the moves. "It's a tribute to the aggressive nature and quality of our ownership.

Lockdown Lifted at Virginia Tech After Two Shot to Death

I saw a headline earlier at one website or another, and I thought I'd landed at an archived page. But indeed there was another deadly shooting at Virginia Tech.

John Lennon's Death 31 Years Ago Today

John Lennon was killed 31 years ago today and, shortly afterward, Roxy Music added his song "Jealous Guy" to their set while on tour in Germany, as a tribute. They recorded and released it a few months later... just a beautiful remembrance of John.

Jobs Crisis

From Adam Davidson, at New York Times, "Can Politicians Really Create Jobs?":

The current economic downturn has been called a housing crisis, a financial crisis and a debt crisis, but the simplifying logic of the political season has settled on what is really more a result than a cause. We are now, according to nearly everyone running for office, in a jobs crisis. Every politician currently has a “jobs plan,” very often a list of vague proposals filled with serious-sounding phrases like “budget framework” and “regulatory cap” that are designed, for the most part, to mean both everything and nothing at all.

RTWT.

GOP leaders say they have a plan, and at Minority Leader Eric Cantor's page, "The Republican No Cost Jobs Plan."

The NFL Won't Share 'All-22' Television Footage

This is interesting.

At WSJ, "The Footage the NFL Won't Show You: Despite Its TV Ubiquity, the League Won't Share 'All-22' Footage; Second-Guessing the Coach."

Obama Rejects FDR Prayer for WWII Memorial

Sent along by my good friend Norm Gersman in New York.

At Fox News, "Obama Administration Opposes FDR Prayer at WWII Memorial."

And for your late-night reading pleasure, check the roundup at Proof Positive: "Saturday Link-Around."

Keystone XL Pipeline Protesters to Encircle the White House

Here's a post at the Tar Sands Action website: "Huge Momentum for Tomorrow."

And get a kick out of Robert Redford, via Blue Collar Philosophy:

And more at the Montreal Gazette, "Seinfeld's 'Elaine' adds voice to Keystone protest." And at Toronto Sun, "Keystone XL pipeline a slippery issue."

On the Origins of the Occupy Movement

Reading this New York Times editorial, "Occupying the National Debate," it's becoming increasingly clear that very few people now contributing to the mainstream discourse have a clue as to the occupy's movement's raison d'être. I started dealing with the media's cluelessness yesterday at my post, "Hypocritical Occupy Oakland Supporters Denounce Anarchy and Violence of Occupy Oakland Protesters."

The occupiers are fundamentally anarcho-communist revolutionaries. My friend Tania Gail was out to Occupy Philly today, and she comes back with a powerful black-and-white photo-set that captures the more raw collectivist ideologies of the protests:

The Toronto Star has a report up that gets closer to the theme I'm working on here. See: "Occupy Wall Street: The Origins of An Occupation." But as I noted last night, I've been writing on this movement for a couple of years now, since student activists in California and New York appeared to be mobilizing an anti-capitalist revolutionary occupation program. Here's one of the essays I pulled up from some of my previous blogging. See Take the City!, "Let Them Bury Their Dead":

As far as we can tell, the coalition of movement-builders (hereafter abbreviated CoMB), consists of assorted Trotskyists, Marxist-Leninist-Maoists (MLM), anarchists, and radical liberals. While their ideologies are diverse, the CoMB insist that the student movement requires leadership, transparency, clearly-defined goals, and democracy. Their ultimate criterion is quantitative: numbers of protesters, numbers of rallies, numbers of newspapers sold, numbers of endorsements, ratios of disadvantaged to privileged, dollars of damages, etc. They privilege form over content, while largely ignoring the qualitative aspects of collective action and its potential for a revolutionary trajectory. As for the various Leninists, their idealist conceptions of the ‘necessary’ forms of struggle are a-historical caricatures that suit their ideological hang-ups. They would superimpose patterns of revolutionary struggle borne against a Czarist regime almost a century ago onto the decadent capitalism that exists today in New York City.

The CoMB’s elevation of ideal structures and concepts results, at best, in call for a rally or demo with large numbers – at worst, in full-on counterrevolutionary policing of the movement. Leadership of the CoMB kind can just as easily manipulate and suppress as it can do any “good”. The formal preoccupation with transparency, which for many in the CoMB is just a call for democratic-centralism, has the potential to undermine more militant and forward-thinking action, especially in an epoch of growing state repression. The insistence on defining goals often forces people to think within the realm of reform, thereby legitimating bankrupt power in a time of crisis when militancy and direct action are crucial. The fetishization of formal democracy (especially in an environment dominated by ‘experienced organizers’) can undermine autonomous endeavors that may point to novel and potentially effective forms of struggle. And yet, these abstract ideals are accepted without question within the CoMB. We believe that, as always, self-organized workers, students, and the unemployed — in solidarity with one another — will figure out these issues through the course of struggle itself, through their own successes and failures.

In focusing on quantitative criteria as the sine qua non of effective action, the CoMB tow the same line as bourgeois politicians, social scientists and statisticians, and miss the real point. What is far more important than the question of “how many” is the question of “how”: How are these actions manifesting the antagonisms of class society? How is this activity building the preconditions for greater collective action? How are these modes of struggle confronting real material and social needs? How are they contributing to a new repertoire of tactics that address the unique conditions of this era? These lead to other questions: What good is an enormous rally if everyone feels less powerful once it’s over? When does “movement building” actually build movement as opposed to suppressing it? If we apply a critical reading of history, we can see that in many instances more people have been mobilized far more quickly and passionately through collective militant action than through teach-ins, rallies, panel discussions and newspaper articles. The recent uprisings in California are a good example of this.

I think you can see what I mean. I'll be looking around and writing more about this, because the mainstream press sure doesn't get it. And while folks from Barack Obama to Richard Trumka might not know the specifics of these revolutionary collectives --- and they probably don't much care --- they're all too ready to exploit the occupiers to further consolidate and entrench the left-labor coalition and expand middle-class entitlements (which will of course bankrupt the state). These people aren't much better than the Chinese Communist Party elites now getting air purifiers installed at the CCP headquarters in Beijing. Statist leaders simply rape the movement they ostensibly claim to represent. And as for the student anarchists and genuine occupation forces, their movement will last only so long as it doesn't get co-opted and become mainstream. After that, their spontaneous collectives will become institutionalized tyrannies and genocidal bureaucracies. The alleged anti-statists will become statists. Ideologies of pure human freedom will soon give way to the blood of terror. There is no other long-term trajectory. Idealism descends to the misery of death and violence soon enough.

Violent Occupy DC Protests at Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity Summit

Last night I noticed Kerry Picket of the Washington Times pictured at this MSNBC photo-blog, and she included it in her report: "PICKET: (video) Occupy protesters attempt to bust into DC event."

And at The Other McCain, "‘F– Michelle Fields!’ — Interview With Reporter Harassed at Occupy DC Protest."

More from Clare O'Connor at Forbes, "Occupy The Koch Brothers: Violence, Injuries, And Arrests at DC Protest."

Added: Michelle Fields, at Daily Caller, "Occupy protest turns violent outside Washington Convention Center." (At Memeorandum.)

PREVIOUSLY: "Goons From 'Occupy Wall Street' Storm Americans for Prosperity 'Dream Summit'."

Swing States Pose Obstacles to Obama's Reelection

I was starting to hedge a bit on my prediction of President Obama's defeat next November, but maybe I shouldn't worry about it. Reelection looks pretty remote at this point.

See USA Today, from earlier this week, "Swing States poll: Obama's path to 2nd term an uphill climb":

WASHINGTON – For President Obama, the path to a second term is going to be an uphill climb.

While Americans across the nation are downbeat about the economy and the future, a special USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that voters in a dozen key battleground states for the 2012 election are in an even deeper funk about their lives, Obama's tenure and the nation's politics.

One year before Election Day, the debut Swing States survey charts a narrower and more difficult course to victory for Obama than he navigated four years ago — and shows opportunities for Republicans in some states that have gone Democratic for decades.

Obama has "had some really good ideas … but he's struggling with trying to get his ideas into place and dealing with Congress, and he hasn't done a very good job with that," Mary Jo Jones, 57, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said in a followup interview after being surveyed. She supported Obama in 2008 but would consider switching in 2012 to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, if Republicans nominate him. "He seems to be a pretty good businessman, and he might have some ideas to help us on the economy."

Michigan, which has backed the Democratic candidate in the last five presidential elections, is among the 12 swing states likely to determine the outcome next year. The others are Florida, North Carolina and Virginia in the South; Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico in the Mountain West; Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin in the Midwest; and New Hampshire and Pennsylvania in the Northeast.

Continue reading.

Unemployment's down to 9 percent nationwide --- pretty lousy, I know, but we have the Electoral College, so it's the state numbers that will matter most. I've mentioned Ohio quite a bit in earlier analyses. Ohio's unemployment rate is 10 percent and the state has 18 electors. Pennsylvania's cited as a swing state and the state's got 20 electors. Pennsylvania reported an 8.3 percent unemployment rate in September, which apparently triggered the extension of unemployment benefits. Pennsylvania's unemployment was 8.8 percent when Obama took office, so folks will be hammering him on the campaign trail: "Where are the jobs?" We'll just continue to look at the key swing states for developments. It's hard out there for a Democrat.

RELATED: At Invincible Armor, "Obama: “We’re Better Off Today Than When I Took Over”."

Membership Has Its Privileges: Top Chinese Communist Party Members Enjoy Purified Air Machines

Remember, communist societies are based on the supposition of equality, but the elite is more equal than others.

At New York Times, "The Privileges of China’s Elite Include Purified Air."

News that Chinese leaders are largely insulated from Beijing’s famously foul air comes at a time of unusually heavy pollution in the capital. In recent weeks, the capital has been continuously shrouded by a beige pall and readings from the United States Embassy’s rooftop air monitoring device have repeatedly registered unsafe levels of particulate matter.

Air purifiers were approved by the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee. Membership has its privileges.

Also at Astute Bloggers, "CHINA'S DISGUSTINGLY SELFISH RULING ELITE - (YES, THEY HAVE ONE AND IT'S NOT RIGHT-WING; IT'S LEFT-WING!)."

Buckley, If Not God, Returns to Yale

From Neal Freeman, at Wall Street Journal (via Google).

Added: Peter Berkowitz, at RealClearPolitics, "God and Man at Yale Turns 60."

Prime Minister George Papandreou Survives Confidence Vote

At Telegraph UK, "Greek prime minister survives confidence vote."

And at New York Times, "Greek Leader Survives Vote, Bolstering Deal on Europe Debt." And at Business Week, "Papandreou Seeks to Form Unity Government to Avert Default":

Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking to form a government of national unity that will enable Greece to convince international leaders to resume aid before the nation runs out of funds next month.

Papandreou met with President Karolos Papoulias today as pressure mounts on the 59-year-old to step aside after he was forced to cancel a referendum that may have led to Greece being ejected from the euro. The premier won a confidence motion early this morning after pledging to disaffected members of his ruling Pasok party that he would not stay on.

Papandreou proposed “contributing definitively to creating a government of wider cooperation with the main goal of guiding legislation and anything else related to the historic Oct. 26” agreement with international lenders, the premier told reporters after meeting the president in Athens today. Last month’s accord “is a prerequisite for our remaining in the euro.”

Israeli Consulate Occupied in Boston

But hey, it's not anti-Semitic or anything.

At Future of Capitalism, "Occupy Boston Occupies Israeli Consulate."

Also, at Power Line, "IS DEMOCRATS’ DEMAGOGUERY FUELING ANTI-SEMITISM?"

Aid Package Elusive at G-20 Summit at Cannes

At WaPo, "G-20 sends a strong message to Europe," and LAT, "G-20 summit ends with little action on European debt crisis."

BONUS: Eswar Prasad, at The Daily Beast, "Crisis Kills G-20 Progress."

Holiday Angels 2011 — Victoria's Secret

That fashion show's coming up in a little more than three weeks.

Occupy Wall Street Militancy Just Getting Started

At IBD:

Now that Oakland's streets have been "redecorated" with shattered glass, cement chunks and burning garbage from the Occupy Wall Street movement, it's critical to see that these acts are no aberration, but came after calls for force and violence. What makes it disturbing is how close the White House is to them as election time approaches.

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, speaking on radio host Ed Schultz's show last Monday, declared, "What we need is more militancy." Asked to clarify, Gerard said: "I think we've got to start a resistance movement. If Wall Street Occupation doesn't get the message, I think we've got to start blocking bridges and doing that kind of stuff."

Continue reading.

Pat Condell: Irrational Islamic Jew Hatred is the Root Cause of the Problem in the Middle East

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

John Hawkins: The Police Should Crack Down On Occupy Wall Street

At Right Wing News:

And at Los Angeles Times, "Occupy Wall Street protesters get their own potties." Awesome! Maybe the protesters will defecate in the outhouses instead of on cop cars.

Night Walk with 4-4 Cav

At Michael Yon's:

It’s amazing how many lights can be seen on a dark night. Especially if you are with the US military. Different-colored lights are useful for differing purposes. The color you use can depend on your job. For medics, blue light is good for blood. It’s also good for tracking blood trails. Bright white is best but then the enemy can shoot you. Red light can make blood disappear, but then again blue light makes petroleum look like blood, and so if you are treating patients at night from after an IED strike on a vehicle, there can be confusion. American military maps are made to be “red light readable” because red light preserves night vision and is harder to see from a distance. The question of lights and how to use them can soak up thousands of words and so let’s keep it simple and move on.

Amazing photo-essay. Check the whole thing at the link.

Gabrielle Giffords' Remarkable Recovery

From last night's World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, a video here.

And Representative Giffords' book is coming out November 15, "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope."

And at Los Angeles Times, "In new book, Gabrielle Giffords vows to return to Congress."

'Young Americans'

I had to run into the office yesterday morning to pick up my jacket, which I'd forgotten on Thursday. Here's The Sound L.A. Friday morning on the drive back home. I'm on a Bowie jag, so here you go, "Have you been an un-American?":

9:38 - It's Only Rock And Roll by Rolling Stones

9:50 - Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy

9:55 - My My, Hey Hey by Neil Young

9:58 - Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane

10:02 - Young Americans by David Bowie

10:08 - Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy

10:12 - Shooting Star by Bad Company

Goons From 'Occupy Wall Street' Storm Americans for Prosperity 'Dream Summit'

At The Other McCain, "#OWS Protesters Attempt to Storm AFP Defending the American Dream Summit."

And at MSNBC, "Occupy DC spills in to street near convention center." (Kerry Picket is at right in the bottom photo.)

VIDEO: Attorney Joel Bennett Issues Statement on Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations

This is a flaming skull story at AoSHQ, "ONE CAIN ACCUSER SAYS SHE HAS CHOSEN "NOT TO RELIVE" THE DETAILS OF THE INCIDENT' SEES "NO VALUE" IN TALKING ABOUT IT PRIVATELY OR PUBLICLY."

And Legal Insurrection has a series on the day's developments:

* "NRA should release everything, or nothing."

* "The case (or not) against Herman Cain."

* "Cain accuser – now not willing to talk // ADDED: Politico and NY Times spin refusal as accuser “confirming” and “standing by” her complaint."

* "Politico now owns most misleading headline ever."

Also, at Hot Air, "Lawyer for Cain’s accuser: On second thought, she’d rather not relive this publicly," and The Other McCain, "Herman Cain Accuser’s Lawyer: ‘No Value of Revisiting the Matter … Now’."

Israel Navy Intercepts Boats Bound for Gaza

At New York Times, "Israel Intercepts Two Boats Bound for Gaza":

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said on Friday that it had boarded two small boats that were sailing toward Gaza to challenge Israel’s maritime blockade of the Palestinian coastal enclave. There were no reports of violence or injuries.

The boats, one Canadian and the other Irish, were carrying 27 pro-Palestinian activists, journalists and crew members from nine countries. The military had stated that it would prevent the boats from reaching Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The Israeli Navy initially notified the vessels that they were en route to an area under blockade and advised them to turn back, or to sail to a port in Egypt or Israel, the military said in a statement.

Also at Israel Matzav, "Here we go again... Flotilla refuses navy order to turn around; UPDATED WITH VIDEO."

Republicans Hit Obama After Jobs Report

At CNN:

And at New York Times, "Report Shows Gain in Jobs but Growth Is Still Sluggish."

Sarah Palin: Occupy Wall Street Wants Bailout (VIDEO)

At Weasel Zippers, "Palin Slams “Entitled” Occupy Wall Street Protesters…"

'Girl Panic'

Via Cindy Crawford:

More supermodels from Duran Duran.

Hypocritical Occupy Oakland Supporters Denounce Anarchy and Violence of Occupy Oakland Protesters

Only an idiot is going give these freaks the time of day:

As longtime readers will recall, I've been following the Occupy Movement for a couple of years. The movement's ideological foundations are in anarcho-socialism and revolutionary violence. A guiding credo is common (socialist) property rights enforced by direct action. See this week's "Declaration of Solidarity with Neighborhood Reclamations," for example:

Occupy Oakland, in solidarity with the Occupy movement and with the local community, has established the principle of claiming for open use the open space that has been kept from us. We are committed to helping this practice continue and grow. Here in Oakland, thousands of buildings owned by city, banks, and corporations stand idle and abandoned. At the same time social services such as child and healthcare, education, libraries and community spaces are being defunded and eliminated.

Occupy Oakland supports the efforts of people in all Oakland neighborhoods to reclaim abandoned properties for use to meet their own immediate needs...

Underneath these demands is an ideological agenda of militant anti-capitalism, for example, yesterday's "Communique from the Crisis Center":

Tonight we open the Crisis Center. In this abandoned building that once provided services to those in need, we open the Occupation Crisis Center. Capitalism cannot avoid crisis. Capitalism cannot resist crisis. But capitalism is not the crisis. We are the crisis. Capitalism is not hungry, homeless, jobless, excluded, exploited. We are. And across the globe, across the nation, across borders, across Oakland, we are moving to meet our immediate needs. We are reclaiming space that has been unused, used against us, left empty while we sleep outdoors, while we cook and organize and struggle outdoors. We open this building in this moment of crisis — in our moment — to continue our occupations, continue our struggles, to seize this crisis and make of it a new world in which everything belongs to everybody...

And here's this on the downtown rioting and violence, "Statement on the Occupation of the former Traveler's Aid Society at 520 16th Street":

We are well aware that such an action is illegal, just as it is illegal to camp, cook, and live in Oscar Grant Plaza as we have done. We are aware that property law means that what we did last night counts as trespassing, if not burglary. Still, the ferocity of the police response surprised us. Once again, they mobilized hundreds of police officers, armed to the hilt with bean bag guns, tear gas and flashbang grenades, despite the fact that these so-called “less-than-lethal” weapons nearly killed someone last week. The city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect one landlord's right to earn a few thousand every month. Why is this? Whereas the blockade of the port – an action which caused millions of dollars of losses – met with no resistance, the attempt to take one single building, a building that was unused, met with the most brutal and swift response.

The answer: they fear this logical next step from the movement more than anything else. They fear it because they know how much appeal it will have. All across the US thousands upon thousands of commercial and residential spaces sit empty while more and more people are forced to sleep in the streets, or driven deep into poverty while trying to pay their rent despite unemployment or poverty wages. We understand that capitalism is a system that has no care for human needs. It is a system which produces hundreds of thousands of empty houses at the same time as it produces hundreds of thousands of homeless people. The police are the line between these people and these houses. They say: you can stay in your rat-infested park. You can camp out here as long as we want. But the moment that you threaten property rights, we will come at you with everything we have...

And even more, see "Open Letter From Anarchist Participant in Oakland Strike":

After the successful national day of action and general strike in Oakland, naturally, we see the topic of violence and non-violence growing within our movement and within the voices of corporate media networks. Obviously this is a result of certain actions that individuals and groups within the movement decided to partake in. Unfortunately we are hearing a great deal of slander, and nonsense at the forefront of this discussion. As someone who has been with the occupation as much as possible, I feel it's necessary to confront this.

Isolating people based on their willingness to engage in self-defense by actively protecting the spaces we’ve all worked so hard to build together, and the symbolic defiance of exploitative property by making absurd claims of them being “Outside agitators” as if it they are some how separate from the many people who have been actively involved in building these spaces of 'direct-democracy' and communal living should not only be considered an attack on solidarity, but an attack on movements of the people. What divides movements of the people, weakens movements of the people.

Many of us out there today and tonight were Anarchists, but many were also not. We are the ones who were in the streets, ready to provide support & solidarity with all of our brothers and sisters. We were ready to brave against the violence of the state arm and arm with you, to protect one another, and provide medic support to anyone who fell victim to the police assaults. We are the ones whom also involved themselves with serving food to the commune, providing sanitation, organizing actions and broadening the movement. We are not separate from the movement. We are not outside agitators. We are a part of the movement, we are involved with the struggle. We stood with the occupation before day one, we stood with the occupation tonight and will continue to do the same in the future. Don’t let age old divide and conquer tactics convince you otherwise, please...

These are not new sentiments. When Adbusters began agitating for the occupation of Wall Street, the publishers there were familiar with the anarchist roots of the movement. This is what "occupation" means. The movement is about exploiting the current "contradictions of capitalism" (foreclosures, recession, unemployment) to propel the revolutionary moment. And so please disregard stupid editorials and blog posts like these linked below, for such lamebrains are trying to glom onto a movement they either don't understand or are willingly attempting to disguise: "Occupy Oakland Vandals are Nothing But Overgrown Overage Adolescents," and "Oakland Not On Fire, Fox News Lies Re: Occupy Oakland."

Mostly, though, I think there's just a mass stupidity on the left among those who've identified with a movement that's fundamentally about radical, violent change. It's a sign of how bankrupt is progressive politics in this country. From Michael Moore to Keith Olberman to President Obama, the left is scratching desperately for anything to take attention away from the Democrat failures of the last three years. The anarchists have long pushed for violence and bloodshed and the new order. They are having their day, and their enablers and useful idiots now decrying the very violence they ignorantly have signed on to support. It all proves, altogether, the ideological and intellectual hollow core of the movement.

Occupy Oakland

At Michelle's, "More ugly Occupy Oakland pictures that won’t make MSM front pages."

Plus, "Occupy Oakland’s dangerous “strike” follies; Plus: Capitalism-bashing, cop-hating rapper Boots Riley is back; Updated."

'We Are Under Attack': Jamie Glazov on the Michael Coren Show

Via FrontPage Magazine:

Communist Angela Davis Gives Opening Speech at Occupy Oakland 'General Strike'

Notorious communist Angela Davis has been making the rounds nationwide, speaking out for the "occupation." And from Oakland, see: "Black Panthers and Communist Revolutionary Thug Angela Davis in Oakland."

The Cain Bonfire

At WSJ:

Lesson one of the Cain mess is that running a campaign for the Presidency of the United States is unlike anything else in politics, or anything else in American life for that matter. Mr. Cain's remarkable success so far, riding to the top of the GOP preference polls, is a testament to his skills at communicating and his willingness to offer bold policy proposals.

Mr. Cain has proven there is a hunger in the public for roiling the political status quo. If he has disappointed his supporters, which remains to be seen, it is because he hasn't displayed sufficient self-awareness of the requirements of being a top-tier presidential candidate.

Anyone who makes it to the front of the candidate line is going to come under close—make that withering—scrutiny. If in one's past exist two sexual harassment suits formally settled by one's employer, that is going to become public. It is a certainty. Allowing oneself to drift through a campaign until the day the buried bombs go off is amateur hour. Republicans have a right to ask Mr. Cain what he would have said if he won the nomination and the news had broken after Labor Day next year. The Cain campaign would have been smarter to leak the story pre-emptively.

I raised these points days ago, but continue reading the editorial.

RELATED: At Saberpoint, "Raise the Black Flag: Take No Prisoners," and "Men's Rights Online: Reasons for False Charges of 'Sexual Harassment'."

'Under the Bridge'

More music, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from yesterday's afternoon playlist at The Sound L.A.:

2:30 - Radar Love by Golden Earring

2:36 - 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago

2:41 - Changes by David Bowie

2:48 - Somebody To Love by Queen

2:53 - Clampdown by Clash

2:57 - Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf

3:01 - Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company

3:06 - Witchy Woman by Eagles

3:10 - Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers

3:18 - Darkness Of The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen

3:23 - Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

3:32 - Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan

Thanks to all of my awesome readers. More blogging tonight.

Beating Righthaven

I've been meaning to put up a big entry on my successful defense against Righthaven. I was thinking I'd write some big fancy post on my motion to dismiss, which I filed with the help of David Kerr of Santangelo Law Offices in Fort Collins, Colorado. But I've been too busy and haven't taken the time. So, with recent developments indicating the end is most-likely near for the reviled copyright trolling concern, I might as well post on it for the record.

Righthaven sued me for alleged copyright violation on March 8, 2011. The docket listing is here. The lawsuit claimed that I'd infringed the copyright held by the Denver Post for its picture of the invasive pat down at this article: "Controversy over pat-downs, body scans lands at DIA." Like dozens of other bloggers, I'd featured a full-size screencap of (the article and) the crotch-grab photograph in a post on TSA's "touching junk" backlash. I filed a motion to dismiss pro se. Attorney David Kerr provided legal advice pro bono.

Righthaven files "no warning" lawsuits. That is, it gives no advance notification to defendants, which violates the norm of providing "take down notices" to those suspected of copyright violations. By doing this, Righthaven --- which made a speciality out of suing small-time bloggers and "mom-and-pop" businesses --- was able to scare the bejesus out of its targets, who then would settle out of court generally in the three to five thousand dollar range. Defendants were threatened with the possibility of a $150,000 judgment and the forfeiture of their website's domain name (URL address). Let me tell you: It's frightening as hell opening up that letter of service and reading the lawsuit. You can't even believe you're being sued, but you can't ignore it or wish it away. A non-response would result in a default judgment, so there's no time to dilly-dally. No wonder so many defendants settled out of court rather than attempt a legal defense, especially since obtaining legal counsel and going to trial would probably run into the tens of thousands of dollars on average. I first found out about the lawsuit from Steven Green of the Las Vegas Sun, who left me message on Facebook and then the link to this article mentioning me as a defendant.

Righthaven's model is entirely predatory, and the company soon earned everlasting enmity by filing lawsuits against folks who were unemployed, on public assistance or disabled. Righthaven, for example, sued cat-blogger Allegra Wong of Boston, who was unemployed and receiving "financial support from a companion." Righthaven also sued Brian Hill of North Carolina. Hill is autistic and chronically ill and is supported by Social Security disability benefits. My attorney David Kerr successfully defended Hill, whose story was featured in the New York Times, "Enforcing Copyrights Online, for a Profit."

After the Hill case, Righthaven seemed to come under withering fire from defendants who refused to settle with what many considered a bloodsucking copyright troll. In a series of cases out of Federal District Court in Nevada, defendants were able to show that Righthaven in fact failed to own the copyrights for the materials over which it was suing. The company had entered into a "strategic alliance agreement" with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and in April, Roger Hunt, the Chief U.S. District Judge for Nevada, ordered the agreement unsealed in a case involving the Democratic Underground. In the following weeks and months Righthaven continued to suffer defeats at the hands of judges in Nevada, and then later in Denver as well, where soon enough Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane would start handing down a series of devastating defeats for Righthaven. Eventually the Denver court threw out 34 cases filed there alleging copyright violations (including mine), most likely all of them involving the TSA pat down photo. See: "Judge: Righthaven lacked standing, abused Copyright Act."

That was about five weeks ago. Since then Righthaven's been hit with judgments totaling several tens of thousands of dollars and it's been unable to make good on the payments, instead asking for leniency and extensions from the courts. But time's running out. The news out this week is that the District Court in Las Vegas has ordered U.S. Marshals to seize more than $63,000 in Righthaven assets. See: "Marshals ordered to seize Righthaven assets." And see this report from Nate Anderson, at Ars Technica, "US Marshals turned loose to collect $63,720.80 from Righthaven":

Looks like it's time to turn out the lights on Righthaven. The US Marshal for the District of Nevada has just been authorized by a federal court to use "reasonable force" to seize $63,720.80 in cash and/or assets from the Las Vegas copyright troll after Righthaven failed to pay a court judgment from August 15.

Righthaven made a national name for itself by suing mostly small-time bloggers and forum posters over the occasional copied newspaper article, initially going so far as to demand that targeted websites turn over their domain names to Righthaven. The several hundred cases went septic on Righthaven, however, once it became clear that Righthaven didn't own the copyrights over which it was suing. Righthaven, ailing, was soon buffeted by negative court decisions as a result.

In August, the case Righthaven v. Hoehn was tossed by a federal judge in Nevada, who went a step further and declared that defendant Wayne Hoehn's complete copy of a newspaper article in a sub-forum on the site "Madjack Sports" was fair use. On August 15, the judge awarded $34,045.50 to the Randazza Legal Group, which represented Hoehn. Righthaven, which had spent so much time thundering to defendants about just how badly the federal courts would make them pay... didn't pay.

Instead, it filed a flurry of appeals alleging (among other things) that having to pay the money would involve "the very real threat of being forced out of business or being forced to seek protection through bankruptcy." Righthaven contended that it could eventually win the case on appeal and thus should not be bankrupted before it had the chance to make its case.

But the increasingly disorganized organization couldn't even get its appellate filings in on time. Yesterday, Righthaven had to admit that it missed the October 31 deadline for its opening brief in the case. It blamed the problem on a "misunderstanding," then noted it would need a few more weeks to actually write the brief, since "Righthaven’s counsel is scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure for which it is estimated that he will be recovering outside of the office for approximately one week."

Randazza shot back that Righthaven was "prolonging the appellate process by deliberately creating a manufactured deadline crisis. It is nobody’s fault but Righthaven’s that it cannot file a single opening brief with this Court within the original briefing schedules Righthaven knew of, and could have reviewed at any time." All the while, Randazza Legal Group was ringing up more fees with every brief it wrote.

The appeals court has refused to act on Righthaven's request to delay its August judgment further, and the money was due last Friday. When it didn't show up, Randazza Legal Group went back to the Nevada District Court to request a Writ of Execution to use the court's enforcers, the US Marshals, to collect the money. The court clerk issued the writ today, and Righthaven's $34,045.50 judgment has now ballooned to $63,720.80 with all the additional costs and fees from the delay.

There's still more at the link.

I can't say I haven't learned a lot through all of this, although involuntary education isn't my style.

And I want to again thank my attorney David Kerr for being a super stand-up guy and wise counsel. I reached out to a number of law offices in the beginning. It was going to be expensive and I didn't know if I'd be able to afford a defense. David took an interest in my case and my blog and ended up helping me file the defense. That was cool.

More on this later.

Nate Silver: 'Harassment Allegations Could Cut at Core of Cain's Appeal'

And I'm quoted at the post, at FiveThirtyEight.

Ericka Anderson Runs 36th Marine Corps Marathon

That's gotta be one of the greatest personal accomplishments ever, and Ericka's a veteran at this stuff, apparently.

See: "Marine Corps Marathon #3: So You Think You're a Rockstar..."

And see the news report at WaPo: "36th Marine Corps Marathon: Charles ‘Chad’ Ware wins men’s race; Tezata Dengersa wins women’s."

And more running at Ericka' blog: The Sweet Life. She's so energetic!

Ericka is Senior Digital Communications Associate at the Heritage Foundation.

BONUS: At New York Times, "The Once and Future Way to Run":

We were once the greatest endurance runners on earth. We didn’t have fangs, claws, strength or speed, but the springiness of our legs and our unrivaled ability to cool our bodies by sweating rather than panting enabled humans to chase prey until it dropped from heat exhaustion. Some speculate that collaboration on such hunts led to language, then shared technology. Running arguably made us the masters of the world.

Frank McCourt Agrees to Sell Dodgers

At LAT, "McCourt and Major League Baseball will seek approval from Bankruptcy Court to auction the team that he bought in 2004."

Plus, "Peter O'Malley wants to run Dodgers":

Peter O'Malley, whose family owned the Dodgers for nearly half a century, said Wednesday he would like to run the team once again.

O'Malley said he hopes to lead an investment group that would buy the Dodgers, enabling him to return as the team's chief executive.

"I want to reconnect the team and the community," O'Malley said.

When he spoke out last fall, in urging owner Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers, O'Malley said he had no interest in returning as owner or president of the team.

McCourt agreed to sell on Tuesday, in an abrupt end to his two-year court fight to retain ownership of the Dodgers.

"The health of the organization has deteriorated in the last 12 months," O'Malley said. "The standing of the organization in the community has deteriorated.

"I am confident I can restore it to respectability quicker, sooner and probably better than — or at least as well as — anyone else."

Let's hope so. I'd hate to see the Dodgers sold out of area, or go belly up altogether.

NewsBusted: 'Occupy Maine protest was attacked with a stink bomb last week'

Via Theo Spark:

Jennifer Rubin: Cain's Race Politics 'Reprehensible'

Well, folks got after Jennifer Rubin last week for thrashing Rick Perry, although it turns out she's an equal opportunity thrasher. She really hammers Cain here: "Cain’s noxious racial politics":

This is reprehensible....

Cain and his defenders, like actors in a theatrical tragedy, are falling prey to the very evil they labored against: the propensity to assign political identity by race and to invoke race to shield one from personal responsibility. Cain is in trouble because he didn’t handle a past claim that even a political novice would know would come to light.

VIDEO: Texas Judge Beats Daughter

Man, that's a ferocious beating.

At ABC News, "Family Court Judge Caught Beating Ill Daughter on Videotape." And at London's Daily Mail, "'It had happened before and was escalating': Judge's disabled daughter reveals why she posted YouTube video of her father brutally beating her."

Also, at KRIS-TV Corpus Christi, "Judge Videotaped Beating Daughter - Full Coverage."

Herman Cain Chief of Staff Accuses Rick Perry Campaign of Leaking Sexual Harassment Bombshell

Well, whoever dug the dirt has to be twisting his mustache with glee at this point. The Herman Cain campaign implosion has reached near-meltdown, and soon there won't be much left of it, and it's only Wednesday. Dan Riehl pulls no punches with the headline: "You Lie! Cain's House of Cards Collapses as He Tries to Blame Perry." And following the link takes us to Richard Miniter, "Cain Says Perry Camp Behind Sex Harassment Leak." And from Jonathan Karl, at ABC News, "Cain Adviser Accuses Perry Campaign of Leaking Harassment Story, Demands Apology."

The Cain story just took another bizarre turn.

That's for sure.

Check Memeorandum for all the links, and also Dan Collins, "What We Still Don’t Know About the Herman Cain Accusations." And at The Caucus, "Cain Faults Perry as More Allegations Emerge."

'Stay'

Well, I'm in the mood for more Bowie. For years he was my favorite artist and I think I've been neglecting him here at the blog. Check back for more blogging this afternoon:

A Greek Lesson in Democracy

At New York Times, "Greek Revolt on Bailout Vote May Oust Prime Minister."

ATHENS — The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou teetered on the verge of collapse on Tuesday, threatening Greece’s adherence to the terms of a new deal with its foreign lenders and plunging Europe into a fresh bout of financial turmoil.

Several lawmakers in the governing Socialist Party rejected Mr. Papandreou’s surprise plan for a popular referendum on the Greek bailout, raising the possibility that he will not survive a no-confidence vote scheduled for Friday that depends on his holding together a razor-thin parliamentary majority.

An emergency cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Papandreou ended at nearly 3 a.m. Wednesday, with the cabinet saying that it unanimously supported the prime minister’s call for a referendum, local news outlets reported. The opposition and some members of his own party, however, were calling for new elections immediately.

The impasse in Athens seemed likely to delay — and perhaps scuttle — the debt deal that European leaders reached after marathon negotiations in Brussels last week. Financial markets cratered on Tuesday for the second straight day, wiping out the gains since the Brussels deal was announced last week. Some analysts said that Greece was now coming closer to a messy default on its debt, and perhaps a departure from the zone of 17 countries that use the euro as their common currency.

And at Wall Street Journal, "A Greek default would provide a lesson in what happens to countries that can't live within their means":

George Papandreou became the most unpopular man in Europe on Monday by announcing that his government would put the terms of last week's EU-IMF bailout package to a referendum, so that Greeks can decide their economic future for themselves. The Prime Minister's announcement sent markets tumbling world-wide, took Italian government-bond yields to a near euro-era high, and had German officials privately denouncing his behavior as un-European.

An alternative view is that Mr. Papandreou has done his own people, and all Europeans, a considerable favor. Who would have thought the Greeks had something to teach the world about democracy?

Yeah, who would have thought the Greeks would know something about democracy? They're living beyond their means, no doubt, but this news is like a breath of fresh air. What a crisis!

Also at WSJ, "Greek PM's Referendum Plan Stuns Europe, Rattles Markets."

Long Beach Defense Work Bulks Up Boeing's 3rd Quarter Profit

This was last week, at Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Boeing's 3rd quarter profit tops $1 billion."

Boeing reported a $1.1 billion quarterly profit on Wednesday that beat expectations because of strong growth in its defense business.

The company's passenger jet profit grew more slowly and manufacturing problems have forced it to cut its forecast for deliveries of its two newest jets.

A large share of Boeing's defense work is done in Long Beach and surrounding communities, including production of the C-17 Globemaster cargo jet, satellite research and development in Seal Beach, and engineering and other work in Huntington Beach.

Boeing also maintains a large defense workforce in El Segundo, where crews operate the world's largest satellite manufacturing facility, said Paula Shawa, Boeing's regional spokesperson.

Photo: "Long Beach Boeing C-17 Tour."

Heidi Klum Skinless Dead Body Costume

A report at New York Times, "Project Halloween."

Manners Decline in the South

This is fascinating, despite the racial grievance undertones. At New York Times, "A Last Bastion of Civility, the South, Sees Manners Decline."

Herman Cain Campaign Knew of Politico Hit Piece 10 Days in Advance

As outrageous as this whole thing is, I'm still pretty taken aback by how amateurish was the Cain's campaign's response to the revelations. Here's this from the front page at this morning's Los Angeles Times, "Harassment allegations trip up Herman Cain":

Many conservative activists were quick Monday to rally behind Cain. L. Brent Bozell III, a frequent media critic, called the allegations a "high-tech lynching," summoning the language Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas used when accused of harassment at his explosive 1991 confirmation hearings.

"This will play to his advantage with the grass roots," predicted K.B. Forbes, a GOP strategist who has worked for previous insurgent candidates. "One of their favorite lines is, 'It's the liberal media.'"

But for insiders — donors, Republican strategists and others among the political establishment — the episode could raise further doubts about Cain as well as concerns about the wherewithal of his seat-of-its-pants campaign operation.

According to Politico, campaign operatives knew the article was coming for 10 days. And yet in its initial statement — which was widely circulated — the campaign did not deny the harassment allegations. That was left, many hours later, to Cain.

The campaign had almost two weeks to prepare. Cain needed to have a press release ready to go, which would have also served as his crib sheet in responding to allegations. This is Campaigns and Elections 101. It's the basics of rapid response politics. Had Cain come out with a strong statement Sunday night he could have stayed on message all day yesterday, during his whirlwind network interview rounds. Instead, he dug a hole from which he needs to quickly extricate himself.

EARLIER: "Herman Cain's Accuser Speaks Out."

Herman Cain's Accuser Speaks Out

Lots of developments in the Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal.

CNN has this, "Attorney for Cain accuser: Cain is lying."

Also, at Los Angeles Times, "Herman Cain accuser wants to talk, her lawyer says":

One of Herman Cain’s accusers wants to be heard.

Her lawyer told the Washington Post on Tuesday that she is ready to tell her side of the ongoing saga involving allegations of sexual harassment while Cain was head of the National Restaurant Assn. in the late 1990s.

But, the lawyer, Joel Bennett, said the woman remains bound by the confidentiality agreement she signed as part of a settlement of her claim with the association.

“It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement,” Bennett told the Post. “The National Restaurant Assn. ought to release them and allow them to respond.”

In an appearance Tuesday evening on Fox News Channel, Cain demurred when asked whether the woman should be given a chance to provide her version of events.

“There are legal implications if the restaurant association waives that. I just found out about this today -- there are legal implications" he said, adding that "we can't answer that right now. It's too soon."

Cain was asked on Fox whether he had breached the agreement by discussing the allegations publicly, thus freeing the woman to talk. He said he hadn’t because he had never identified the name of the one woman who’s complaint Cain says he recalls.

At New York Times, "Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay."

'Diamond Dogs'

Okay, back on the grid.

I laughed when I hopped in the van for the round trip back home. Stevie Ray Vaughan popped on the radio, at The Sound L.A. I had SRV posted this morning for my placeholder entry, so I'll pick it up for some evening blogging with the next in the queue, David Bowie in 2004. My wife and I caught this show at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater:

4:22 - Crossfire by Stevie Ray Vaughan

4:26 - Diamond Dogs by David Bowie

4:32 - American Girl by Tom Petty

4:36 - Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix

4:39 - Bad Company by Bad Company

4:49 - Band On The Run by Paul Mccartney And Wings

4:55 - Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy

5:02 - You Might Think by Cars

5:05 - You Can't Always Get What You Want by Rolling Stones

5:18 - Black Friday by Steely Dan

5:21 - Rock And Roll Band by Boston

5:25 - You Really Got Me by Kinks

5:27 - Baby Hold On by Eddie Money

5:30 - Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd

'Couldn't Stand the Weather'

Lighten it up here, with Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Passin' through this business of life
Raisin’ sand if I'm needed to
Ain't so funny when things ain't feelin' right
Daddy's hand helps to see me through
Sweet as sugar, love won't wash away
Rain or shine, it's always here to stay
All these years you and I've spent together
I guess, we just couldn't stand the weather

Like a train that stops at every station
We all deal with trials and tribulations
Fear hangs the fellow that ties up his years
Entangled in yellow and cries all his tears
Changes come before we can grow
Learn to see them before we're too old
Don't just take me for tryin' to be heavy
Understand, it's time to get ready for the storm

Herman Cain on PBS NewsHour

Here's Judy Woodruff with the interview. Herman Cain has aligned the story lines. We'll see what comes up through the rest of the day, because boy, the Democrat-Media-Complex sure smells blood:

And stay with it all the way through. Cain starts to lay out some intriguing thoughts on foreign policy. I like what he says about China in particular.

RELATED: The big story at New York Times, "Cain Confronts Claim From '90s of Sexual Harassment."

Kevin Williamson on Herman Cain Allegations

See: "Why This Could Be the End of Cain."

It's a competence critique, focusing on the managerial side of things.

I'm more worried about the initial waffling, which is another word for indecision, which is not supposed to be characteristic of Herman Cain.

Ann Coulter: Politico's Herman Cain Smear 'Another High-Tech Lynching'

And see Roger Simon, at PJ Media, "Politico and Cain: Return of the High-Tech Lynching."

In Santa Ana, Mexicans Attack New Businesses for 'Ethnic Cleansing'

At New York Times, "New Faces and a Contentious Revival":

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Business has never been slower at Mina Bridal, which sells billowing taffeta ballroom dresses in colors like hot pink and electric blue for quinceañeras, the traditional 15th birthday celebration for Mexican girls.

Mina Madriles, who has run the downtown store for nearly three decades, said that a generation ago girls would have elaborate parties just as their parents had — where a $1,000 dress was just a fraction of the expense. Now, she is giving away her dresses to some families who hire her to coordinate the party at their homes to save money.

“Nobody has any money anymore; there’s nothing we can do,” Ms. Madriles said.

Fourth Street — also known as Calle Cuatro — has long been the center of Latino business in Orange County, the place where Mexican immigrants could find nearly anything they might have looked for in their homelands. Along some stretches, it is impossible to hear anything but Spanish. The signs beckon customers to travel to Guadalajara or buy a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots for a “super discuento,” and the sidewalk vendors shout, “Frutas, frutas,” as they call attention to their freshly cut coconuts and mangos.

But as the economy has soured, many of these stores have struggled to stay afloat. Some stores closed, others asked their landlords for a reduction in rent. At the same time, several property owners began pressing to create a group to improve downtown Santa Ana.

The owners, who were mostly white, were determined to make it more welcoming to English-speaking clients and bring in customers from more affluent parts of Orange County. What they really wanted to do, opponents said, was scrub away any suggestion that it is an immigrant hub, in a city that is 85 percent Latino. Fiesta Marketplace changed its name to “East End,” and the pink buildings that might evoke a Mexican plaza were repainted in muted hues. A few stores put up signs proclaiming, “Stop ethnic cleansing.”

I grew up in neighboring Orange, and Santa Ana's been a Mexican enclave for decades. With 85 percent of the population Hispanic, I don't think folks need to worry about "ethnic cleansing." The economy hitting everybody pretty hard, and you'd think Santa Ana locals would be pleased with new businesses entering the market.

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Children of immigrants hit an economic ceiling."

PREVIOUSLY: "Santa Ana Enclave Tops Orange County In Proportion of Single-Parent Households."