Kenneth Turan Movie Review: 'Captain America: The First Avenger'

At Los Angeles Times.

I'll probably take my youngest boy to see it today:

God and History Will Judge

Via Theo Spark:

Michele Bachmann at Kill the Bill Rally

Eric Kleefeld's a little wretch, frankly. Pull out one single sentence from a half-hour Michele Bachman speech and you've got a case for hyper-nullification? Hardly.

But Dan Riehl worked on this, and he says:

While she is saying that Americans should not feel compelled to comply with Obama Care if passed via an un-Constitutional manner, using the so-called Slaughter Solution, she also states that, if passed legitimately, it would be the law of the land until repealed.

Listen at about 20 minutes for the key sections.

The 3/11 Madrid Bombings: 6 Years Later

This post will remain at top all day, in honor of the 191 people killed on March 11, 2004, exactly 6 years ago today. M-11 is controversial in Spain. Initial investigations ruled out a direct link to al Qaeda (see the references to the Wikipedia page), but the Wilson Center had an update last year, "The 3/11 Madrid Bombings: An Assessment After 5 Years":

The conventional wisdom that soon emerged about the 3/11 attacks was that it was a prototypical example of a local terrorist cell at work: self-recruited, leaderless jihad—a "bunch of guys," as one analyst has put it.

"The media has astonishingly contributed to this [perception of] al-Qaeda as an amorphous phenomenon," Reinares said [Fernando Reinares, of the Program on Global Terrorism in Madrid's Elcano Royal Institute].

Reinares's analysis challenges this conventional wisdom. For evidence, he draws on the judicial review conducted by the Spanish authorities, as well as the trials of terrorist defendants prosecuted in Madrid and Italy. Most of those involved in the 3/11 attacks were from Morocco; they were first-generation immigrants, not homegrown terrorists (as they were in Britain).

Two terrorists who played a key role in the bombings had been members of the al-Qaeda cell established in Spain in the 1990s. This cell had extensive international contacts, including with the Hamburg cell headed by Mohammed Atta (who visited Spain during the preparations for the 9/11 attacks in America). These members of al-Qaeda in Spain were not self-radicalized and self-recruited, Reinares said.

The leader of the Spanish al-Qaeda cell attended a key meeting of North African jihadist groups in Istanbul in February 2002. That meeting, which occurred in the aftermath of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime and deny al-Qaeda a safe haven, led to a strategic decision by these groups operating in the Maghreb and Spain to launch renewed attacks. Members of those cells had received terrorist training, including instruction in using cell phones to trigger simultaneous explosions, in Afghanistan during the Taliban era.

The Moroccan members of the al-Qaeda cell in Spain had been "radicalized from above," using popular opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (which the Spanish government at the time had supported) as one recruitment tool.

At the video is Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. (The homepage is here.) One hour long, the film is must see. If you're short for time, scroll ahead to 17:25 minutes, where radical clerics, in multiple speeches, shout "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is Great" -- while chanting "Death to America." Also, check at about 31:30 minutes, where we find out that the terrorist are not far from home, plotting murders of American citizens thousands of miles away. "They are here." Right here among us. It's absolutely chilling.

I wish all of my readers a safe and happy day, but please never forget our friends in Spain and around the world. We never forget.

And for a memorial of all those lost in Madrid 6 years ago, see José M. Guardia, " IN MEMORIAM, 6 YEARS AFTER."

Readers are invited to comment. I'd love to hear from you, especially those newer readers I've not spoken with.

Sheryl Crow Nude! Well, Actually Topless, for Cover of Los Angeles Times Magazine

Sheryl Crow has posed for a beautiful topless photo-shoot for the cover of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. See her interview, "Every Day is a Winding Road":

Every day when I went into radiation, I was already in despair because my personal life had taken a crash, and I realized I was being forced to show up for myself in a way I never had to before. I couldn’t have someone else do the radiation for me. I couldn’t have a man come in and save me, save my health, prop me up and make me better. It was me who had to lay there on a metal table with this giant alien-looking machine shooting a beam into my chest. And to lay there and think that this was less about the high-tech machinery, although that was scary, and more about my ability to handle the moment—that was empowering. It definitely jerked me into the reality that we come into this world with an incredible strength, and we learn how to be a victim, or we learn how to approach things from the standpoint that, really, things just happen, and there’s an opportunity in every challenge.

Read the whole thing here. It's almost as good as Carrie Prejean bikini pics.

Obama at U.N.: Disastrous Agenda

From Ben Johnson at FrontPage Magazine, "Obama’s Dangerous UN Agenda":

Barack Obama’s UN speech advanced a doctrinaire left-wing foreign policy that will hamstring American defense, further sideline the economy, and leave the nation relying on “law enforcement” to chase down terrorists after the fact. His anti-American statements were offensive, but his substantive proposals could do far more damage.

The whole thing is at the link.

See also my response to Obama's speech, "Obama at U.N.: Worst Foreign Policy Ever."

Obama's Post-Allied America

From Abe Greenwald, at the Weekly Standard, "Post-Allied America: The U.S. Shrinks Its Influence and Severs Ties With Sympathetic Global Partners":

With last Wednesday's decision to scrap plans for a promised missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, President Obama put the finishing touches on a new and dangerous entity: post-allied America. With his declaration a week later before the UN General Assembly that "alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long gone Cold War" no longer apply, he justified his creation. As a string of headlines from Central and Eastern European capitals makes plain, the U.S.'s most reliable democratic partners see the administration's decision for what it was: a historic shift in America's priorities. Adversaries' wishes now enjoy equal baseline footing with the needs of friends. Whatever may tip Washington in this or that policy direction, a history of cooperation or shared ideology will not be a factor. The Obama administration believes, ahistorically, that this will turn bad actors good.

The implications are disastrous. Small democracies, like Poland and the Czech Republic, may fall prey to aggressive, expansionist neighbors like Russia. Rogue and autocratic regimes will go unchecked as they ratchet up various proscribed initiatives. The U.S. will lose access to valuable partnerships, thus halting our ability to roll back dangers and maintain global stability. Already fading is American credibility. How can the U.S. hope to shame China out of abetting totalitarian North Korea when President Obama himself has just agreed to snub the pro-Democracy Dalai Lama out of deference to China? One-time allies will be forced into expedient relationships with our ideological antagonists. Democracy may see worldwide retreat.
The missile defense decision was a knock-out blow to our fraying alliances. But the Obama administration's unmistakable capitulation to the Kremlin was preceded by months of escalating post-ally policy. It should be no surprise that some of the potential dangers listed above have been realized. Treating Israel as just another Middle Eastern country with stubborn complications has led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into secret security discussions with Moscow. Indifference to maintaining our relationship with Great Britain may be seen as the backdrop before which Scotland freed the murderer of 190 Americans in order to facilitate Libyan oil contracts.

The shift in American policy is more than geostrategic. It is a shift in the realm of ideas. President Obama has not merely sided with anti-democratic states over democratic ones, but supported anti-democratic forces over democratic ones within the same states. Instead of throwing U.S. patronage behind aggrieved Iranian voters, the American president "bore witness" to their deadly struggle before the White House publicly recognized their tormentor as "the elected leader" of Iran. Instead of standing with democratic Hondurans, who refused to see their country go the way of regional banana republics, Obama has decided to refuse them aid and recognition until they accept a would-be self-appointed strongman.

More at the link.

Related: The Washington Post, "Iran Reveals Existence of Second Uranium Enrichment Plant." Plus, Dana Loesch responds, "Obama Knew About Second Iranian Facility?" (via Memeorandum).

Benjamin Netanyahu: 'What a Mockery of the Charter of the United Nations'

At Fox News, "Netanyahu Condemns U.N. for Allowing Ahmadinejad to Deliver Address":

Holding aloft evidence of Hitler's Final Solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday railed against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his denial of the Holocaust and scolded the United Nations for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak during its opening session of the 64th U.N. General Assembly.

With detailed reminders in hand of the war that sent 6 million Jews to their deaths in concentration camps, including construction blueprints for Auschwitz, Netanyahu took his turn at the dais to recall the agreement within the world body to create the Jewish state and express astonishment at what he witnessed a day earlier in that organization's great hall.

He commended those who boycotted Ahmadinejad's speech, but condemned those who allowed it.

"To those who gave this Holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people. ... Have you no shame? Have you no decency?" Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also scolded the United Nations for giving the Iranian president "legitimacy" just six decades after the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad addressed the body Wednesday, and in the run-up to the session repeated his belief that the Holocaust is a myth.

"What a disgrace," Netanyahu said. "What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."

Netanyahu challenged the international community to step up and prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but expressed broad disappointment with the United Nations.

The Wall Street Journal's story features a picture of Netanyahu hold aloft Nazi documents during the speech. See, "Netanyahu Blasts Ahmadinejad at U.N." And Haaretz, "Netanyahu Slams UN, Challenges It to Confront Iran." (via Memeorandum).

Also, Jennifer Rubin, "A Speech for the Ages" (via Memeorandum):

If the president’s speech was one of the more embarrassing and shameful displays by a U.S. President before the UN, then today brought a reminder of the power of moral clarity. Bibi Netanyahu delivered a scathing condemnation of those who sat and listened to Holocaust denier Ahmadinejad.

Check also Atlas Shrugs for the full-length videos, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's UN Speech: 'But to those who gave this Holocaust-denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency?' 'What a disgrace!'."

Station Fire in Los Angeles Claims 2 Firefighters, 74 Structures

The video's from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Station Fire Grows to 105,000+ Acres."



But see also the Los Angeles Times, "L.A. County Fire Has Destroyed 74 Structures, Remains Out of Control":



The number of structures burned by the Station fire has surged to 74 as the out-of-control wildfire pushed west and north, officials say.



Fifty-three homes, mountain cabins and other buildings were destroyed when the fire swept through the hamlet of Stonyvale in Tujunga Canyon. Earlier officials had said 21 homes were lost, mostly in remote areas in Tujunga Canyon and south of Acton.



The fire showed little sign of slowing down this afternoon as it threatened 12,000 homes in suburban tracts and desert communities, along with a historic observatory and major array of television and radio transmission towers.



“The fire is headed just about anywhere it wants to,” L.A. County Fire Deputy Chief Mike Dietrich said. “This is a very angry fire. Until we get a change in the weather conditions, I am not overly optimistic.”

With afternoon winds picking up, the Station fire, the largest of eight burning in the state, was plowing through dense hillside vegetation and steep terrain toward residential areas of Sunland and Santa Clarita on the west.



As billows of white and black smoke danced ominously close, Chuck Horn ushered his family and his two prized collectors' automobiles out of his home in the Sunland-Tujunga area.



"We took pictures, tax returns, insurance forms, the dog, the chicken, and that's it," Horn, 61, a retired L.A. County public works employee, said as he prepared to drive away in his baby blue 1931 Plymouth three-window coupe. Horn was next planning on moving his black 1911 Buick Model 33 away from the blaze.



To the east, firefighters were hoping that a concerted effort to cut fire breaks and lay down fire retardant would save the Mt. Wilson Observatory and a key complex of communications towers.



Because of the intensity and unpredictability of the blaze, which continued shifting directions, fire crews had to pull out of the mountaintop area today and wait for the firestorm to pass.

More at the Link.



Plus, click on this: "Los Angeles Fire Map: Tracking the Spread of the Flames [Updated]."



And, "Fallen Firefighters Remembered for Their Courage."

Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Arnaldo Quinones

Chad Lindsey, Everyday Hero

While all of us bloggers are caught up in reading other blogs, slumming for hits, and reading the latest headlines on Memeorandum or Hot Air, we sometimes miss the pleasures of just sitting back with a big-city newspaper.

I picked up hardcopies of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal this morning. I'm taking them to my classes in a few minutes, to have some examples for my students' writing assignments. But thumbing through the Times right now reminded me what's so great about old-fashioned newspaper reading.

It turns out that Chad Lindsey, a New York actor now currently working in the Off Broadway play, "Kasper Hauser," was waiting for the subway the other morning when another gentlemen rushed too quickly up to the edge of the subway platform, and fell down onto the tracks. The guy hit his head and was knocked unconscious, bleeding profusely. Check the story at the Times for the details, "Leap to Track. Rescue Man. Clamber Up. Catch a Train":

On Monday, as he waited for the train, about 2:30 p.m., he was thinking ahead to the reading he was heading to. “I’m kind of zoned out, and I saw this guy come too quickly to the edge,” he said. “He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad, because I couldn’t get close enough to grab his coat. He fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed out.”

Mr. Lindsey said he sensed a train was approaching, because the platform was crowded. “I dropped my bag and jumped down there. I tried to wake him up,” he said. “He probably had a massive concussion at that point. I jumped down there and he just wouldn’t wake up, and he was bleeding all over the place.”

He looked back up at the people on the platform. “I yelled, ‘Contact the station agent and call the police!’ which I think is hilarious because I don’t think I ever said ‘station agent’ before in my life. What am I, on ‘24’?”

The man wouldn’t wake up, he said. “He was hunched over on his front. I grabbed him from behind, like under the armpits, and kind of got him over to the platform. It wasn’t very elegant. I just hoisted him up so his belly was on the platform. It’s kind of higher than you think it is.”

He stole a glance toward the dark subway tunnel that was becoming ominously less dark, with the glow on the tracks, familiar to all New Yorkers, signaling an approaching train.

“I couldn’t see the train coming, but I could see the light on the tracks, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get out of this hole.’ ”

He remembered the subway hero of 2007, Wesley Autrey, who jumped on top of a man who was having a seizure on the tracks and held him down in the shallow trench between the rails as the subway passed over them. “I was like, ‘I am not doing that. We’ve got to get out of here.’ ”

People on the platform joined the effort. “Someone pulled him out, and I just jumped up out of there,” he said. With time to spare: “The train didn’t come for another 10 or 15 seconds or something.”

The man lay bleeding on the platform, and the police arrived. Mr. Lindsey soon got on another train. A large group of riders who had been on the platform entered the subway car with him, smiling and clapping him on the back and saying thank you.

Read the whole thing.

Lindsey's friends called the Times to identify him as the hero after the story first ran on the City Room blog.

This is just a great portrait of one guy doing what any of us would and should do to help another citizen and fellow man, irrespective of partisanship, ideology, race, religion or any other quality that tends to divide us so much nowadays as Americans.