To start the week

Happy Monday everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was gorgeous here in NC and I enjoyed every minute of it. It is amazing what a little sunshine will do for the soul!

Oscar 

Well I know a majority of you caught the Academy Awards last night and for those of you who did not I just thought I would share a few pictures of some of my favorite ladies and gentleman of the evening. It is kind of ironic that I am a brunette and my top 3 looks for the night are platinum blondes? I suppose the grass is always greener but these lovely ladies rocked some gorgeous gowns and have given me some divine inspiration.  

Michelle WIlliams in Chanel Haute Couture

Cate Blanchett in Givenchy Haute Couture

Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein Collection

Mila Kunis in Elie Saab Haute Couture

Anne Hathaway with Mr. Valentino in vintage Valentino

The amazingly talented and dapper men of the evening Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth.

Secrets of a Stylist

Onto other inspiring news from the weekend...Emily Henderson debuted her new design show Saturday evening Secrets of a Stylist on HGTV. I raved about Emily in a previous Post after she had won the Design Star competition and I will sing her praises again today. Emily, a thrifty flea market shopper, takes couple's personalities through a style diagnostic in turn coming up with their design style, "country club chic" meets 'hollywood regency." She then layers the looks to create a space that will suit the Mr. and the Mrs. Great idea and fun to watch, a little crazy with this all being packed into 30 minutes but well worth it.

As you can see in the pictures below the transformation of the room looks awesome! 

Matchbook

As a follow-up to my previous Lela Rose post I wanted to direct you over to the fantastic online magazine Matchbook. The interview with Lela is candid and there are some great photos...they were even able to finagle a homemade Biscotti recipe from Rose. I will have to give that one a try.

The latest issue of Matchbook went live today and one of my favorite shop owners and design bloggers Kelly Galvin Robson of High Street Market is featured on one of her antiquing excursions. She is adorable and has great style. If you have time to stop by her shop I spotted these goodies for sale! 

High Street Market

Republican Governors Association Launches Pro-Walker Ad in Wisconsin

At LAT, "GOP governors to launch ads backing Wisconsin Gov. Walker":

In a sign of the ramifications the budget standoff has beyond Wisconsin's borders, the Republican Governors Assn. plans to become the latest outside group to launch an advertising campaign in the state, supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's effort to end collective bargaining rights for public employees.

The association's chairman, Rick Perry, announced the ad campaign during a briefing with reporters Monday in Washington, where the Wisconsin showdown has loomed over the annual meeting of state leaders.

"Republican governors aren't going to back down from our support of Scott Walker and what he's doing to make the tough decisions in his state to balance the budget," said Perry, the governor of Texas.

The television ad says leaders "don't run away from tough problems," referring to Democratic state senators who have left the state to prevent a vote on Walker's plan. It mentions the Republican governor's position that state employees should pay for more of their own benefits, but it omits the issue of collective bargaining that has fueled weeks of demonstrations at the state capitol.

The ad campaign by the Republican governors is the first salvo of what Perry said would be a two-year effort by the association to "provide some effective oversight of the Obama administration" and offer solutions to issues affecting the states.

Why Koch Industries Is Speaking Out

From Charles Koch, at Wall Street Journal (via Memeorandum):

For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously.

Both Democrats and Republicans have done a poor job of managing our finances. They've raised debt ceilings, floated bond issues, and delayed tough decisions.

RTWT.

The essay focuses on much more beyond Wisconsin, although for Koch Industries, and freedom-loving people everywhere, the Madness in Madison is the tipping point.

The Battle of Wisconsin Rages On

The Hill has the Beltway angle, "AFL-CIO Chief Blesses Obama's Handling of Wisconsin Labor Battle." (And more at Memeorandum.)

But see Weasel Zippers, "Top Union Chief Refuses to Condemn Protester Signs Comparing Gov. Walker to Hitler ..." And especially, Rich Trzupek, at FrontPage Magazine:

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday, AFL-CIO Richard Trumka was given two golden opportunities to do the very thing the left claims is so important to them: tone down violent, incendiary rhetoric. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Asked to condemn the angry words and images that union supporters have employed in Wisconsin, Trumka chose to dance around the question instead:

“We should be sitting down trying to create jobs,” he said. “In Wisconsin, a vast majority of the people think this governor has overreached. His popularity has gone down. They’re saying to him, sit down and negotiate; don’t do what you’ve been doing. So he’s losing.”

Even if one were to accept the dubious premise that Governor Scott Walker is “losing” his battle with the teachers union in Wisconsin, Trumka’s answer is at once disingenuous, troubling and typical of the leftist mindset. The disingenuous part is obvious: Trumka never actually answered a question that was posed twice. Imagine how the old media would have reacted if a conservative leader like Sarah Palin or Rand Paul sidestepped an opportunity to denounce violent rhetoric on the right.

What’s troubling, though sadly unsurprising, is what this reveals about the way a leftist leader like Trumka thinks. Asked to denounce a tactic, he comes back with an answer that implies that such tactics are working. Trumka doesn’t actually come out and say that the end justifies the means, but it’s pretty obvious that he feels that way. Far from discouraging leftist protestors from employing violent imagery and rhetoric, Trumka’s answer sounds an awful lot like a nod of approval for the results that those tactics have supposedly achieved ....

The left says that public discourse ought to be civil, unless it involves a position that’s important to the left, in which case anything goes. Teachers unions are always demanding more for their members in the name of the best interests of the kids they educate, but they don’t have a problem orchestrating what amounts to an illegal strike when the union’s interests are threatened. Elections and majority rule are wonderful concepts on the left, until they lose an election and are in the minority. In that case, running away and hiding so that you don’t have to accede to the will of the majority is perfectly acceptable. If the battle of Wisconsin proves anything, it’s another demonstration of the self-serving hypocrisy that permeates the left in America.

Word.

PREVIOUSLY: "Wisconsin Police Union in Solidarity with Progressives, Socialists, and Big Labor Squatters," and "Public Unions and the Socialist Agenda."

Note: I pulled the Meet the Press clip with Trumpka, but check Weasel Zippers, where it seems to be playing fine.

Wisconsin Police Union in Solidarity with Progressives, Socialists, and Big Labor Squatters — UPDATE! Police Threaten Insurrection!!

Well, the Boing Boing commies are down with the Big Labor squatters in Madison, and the cops are as well, "Wisconsin Cops For the Win":

And here's this, from Glenn Reynolds:

YOU CAN SEE WHY TEA PARTY PROTESTERS WORRY THE COPS MIGHT TAKE SIDES: L.A. Police Union Urges Members to ‘Stand in Solidarity’ with SEIU and MoveOn.Org. The folks at BoingBoing seem to like it that the Wisconsin cops are siding with protesters, but where’s the reason for trust from those who feel otherwise? Do we want police to take sides in political disputes?

Apparently some do. This is why (1) you should always bring a camera; and (2) public employee unions should be illegal. If union protesters turn violent — as they increasingly have — can you trust pro-union police to intervene?

More at the link.

RELATED: At Althouse, "'The administration of Gov. Scott Walker abruptly locked out protesters from the Capitol on Monday morning...'"



UPDATE: From William Jacobson, "Wisconsin Police Union Members Threaten Insurrection":

It's unclear to me what the lines of command are in Wisconsin, and whether the departments in which these policemen work ultimately are under the control of the Governor and/or legislature. Clearly, the Governor does control the National Guard. Regardless, the police union members involved have actively advocated and offered to participate in insurrection against the legal authority in Wisconsin.



More than anything, this shows the dangers of public sector unions. Those who work for the state occupy a different position than those who work in the private sector because they carry the weight of state authority. When those state workers are in law enforcement, they carry special obligations not to use their positions for political purposes.



When an off-duty policeman wearing police insignia takes a megaphone and announces that he and his fellow police union members will disobey orders, that policeman -- at a minimum -- has dishonored his pledge to uphold the law.



It appears that by the end of today we will know whether the police union members' talk of insurrection was bluster (which I suspect is the case), or if they really will risk their careers by disobeying lawful orders from legitimate and duly elected state authority.

Public Unions and the Socialist Agenda

One of the more interesting things about the left is the refusal of its partisans to admit they're socialists. The truth, of course, is obvious to anyone who witnesses the massive progressive demonstrations, of recent years, for example the big One Nation rally the Democratic base held last year (see, "Democrats, Union Workers, and Communists Rally Together in Washington"). Indeed, we often hear that conservatives are chasing after "imaginary communists" and that attacks on Democrat Party extremism is "McCarthyism." The only problem for the left's denialists is that when one actually goes out to the protests and mobilizations, communists are everywhere, and they're usually in fact the key organizers. Progressives know that if the socialist label sticks they'll get slammed at election time, and rightly so, since Americans are by nature individualistic and entrepreneurial. By definition, then, the social program is anti-American, to say nothing of totalitarian. So it's interesting to see the AFSME members saying here that they're all about inclusion, and that they'd prefer the socialist alternative to the rational budget planning of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

And see also, Robert Tracinski, "Public Unions & the Socialist Utopia" (via Memeorandum):

The Democratic lawmakers who have gone on the lam in Wisconsin and Indiana-and who knows where else next-are exhibiting a literal fight-or-flight response, the reaction of an animal facing a threat to its very existence.

Why? Because it is a threat to their existence. The battle of Wisconsin is about the viability of the Democratic Party, and more: it is about the viability of the basic social ideal of the left.

It is a matter of survival for Democrats in an immediate, practical sense. As Michael Barone explains, the government employees' unions are a mechanism for siphoning taxpayer dollars into the campaigns of Democratic politicians.

But there is something deeper here than just favor-selling and vote-buying. There is something that almost amounts to a twisted idealism in the Democrats' crusade. They are fighting, not just to preserve their special privileges, but to preserve a social ideal. Or rather, they are fighting to maintain the illusion that their ideal system is benevolent and sustainable.

Unionized public-sector employment is the distilled essence of the left's moral ideal. No one has to worry about making a profit. Generous health-care and retirement benefits are provided to everyone by the government. Comfortable pay is mandated by legislative fiat. The work rules are militantly egalitarian: pay, promotion, and job security are almost totally independent of actual job performance. And because everyone works for the government, they never have to worry that their employer will go out of business.

In short, public employment is an idealized socialist economy in miniature, including its political aspect: the grateful recipients of government largesse provide money and organizational support to re-elect the politicians who shower them with all of these benefits.

Put it all together, and you have the Democrats' version of utopia. In the larger American culture of Tea Parties, bond vigilantes, and rugged individualists, Democrats feel they are constantly on the defensive. But within the little subculture of unionized government employees, all is right with the world, and everything seems to work the way it is supposed to ...

This is why the left is treating any attempt to fundamentally reform the public workers' paradise as an existential crisis.

Well, some folks are for the insurrection, as we've been seeing for weeks.

See also, Pejman Yousefzadeh, "Marxists. I Hate These Guys" (via Instapundit).

Well, of course Ezra Klein doesn't hate 'em, "Do We Still Need Unions? Yes" (via Memorandum).

READER EMAIL: Metallic Fur Uggs...

Hey!
Let me preface this by saying that I'm sorry for ruining your day. If you thought Uggs couldn't get any worse, I'm afraid you were a little too preemptively optimistic.

METALLIC UGGS
Excuse me, I left something out (as if that weren't enough:)
METALLIC FUR UGGS.
I saw a mid-twenties, otherwise pretty woman on the subway a few days ago, and I was shocked. Let's just saw I heard more than a few snickers as she stepped off the platform.
I couldn't get a picture, but it looked like a combination of these (see attached.)
I mean, I'm in eighth grade and I know this is wrong!
Sincerely,
Sarah C
(A very young and very disgusted ArmHe member)

Well Sarah, Thanks for the email. First off you didn't ruin He's day in fact you made it 100x better. Anytime someone joins the War on UGGS, He smiles a little bit bigger. The fact that the ArmHe has 8th grade members means that Fashion by He is reaching the youth of this world young enough to shape their little minds. Hopefully by the time these young ArmHe members grow up they will shape the fashion world under He's rule.

It is hard for He to even imagine combining metallic uggs and fur uggs. Just way too much to handle on a Monday. But yea there is no way that can possibly look good. Just another day of the War on Uggs in full affect, see someone in UGGS and point and laugh. Bingo!
-He

P.S. Keep the emails and fashion pics coming He's way.

ENTER THE TALON NYC NECKLACE GIVEAWAY!

Art

This is the best makeup mess up I have ever seen.

tfs

Natalie Portman Wins Best Actress at Oscars 2011

Commentary from Betsy Sharkey, at Los Angeles Times, "'Black Swan's' Natalie Portman made worthy sacrifice for her art."

RELATED: "Oscars: Natalie Portman and the anatomy of a dress." And some coverage at New York Times, "Oscar Coronation for ‘The King’s Speech’."

Might be He's Favorite Skirt of All Time...

Holy hell. As far as He is concerned this could be the hottest, sexiest, most ass amazing dress ever made. Bec & Bridge hit a f*cking home run. Now the odds are this model just has an amazing ass, and that 99% of the people who wear this won't look half as good, but if you got an ass, and you want the world to know it. He found the dress to make the ass and legs worth 10 points, no question.
-He

Wally Pfister's Union Call Out at Academy Awards

More Oscar coverage later, but the Wally Pfister call-out captured the imagination of the neo-communist left, "Oscar Winners Celebrate Union Crews That Are ‘A Very Important Part Of The Middle Class’" (via Memeorandum):

Notice the part about supporting "any other country." Hey, there's some neo-communist international solidarity for ya!

RELATED: At PuffHo, "Charles Ferguson's Oscar Speech Rips Wall Street: 'Inside Job' Director Levels Criticism During Acceptance."

Also, from Jammie, "Shocker: Obama Makes Oscars Cameo": "I'd have probably thrown up if I'd bothered to watch this dreck."

New York Times Searches for Union Victory in Wisconsin Protests

More reporting from Althouse, "The NYT strains to find a "victory" for the Wisconsin demonstrators." The "victory" is the police capitulation to the union thugs:

Notes Althouse:

A decision was made that it wasn't worth the drama to oust these people who've been clean and orderly enough. Plus, the police are — it seems to me — sympathetic to the protest. As for the GOP politicians who dominate the state government: Why would they want to make martyrs out of the folks who've worked so long and hard to demonstrate how strongly they care? They've been hanging out in the Capitol, enduring the cacophony of their own drumming and chanting and sleeping on the hard stone floor for 10+ days. They're punishing themselves. Why not let them suffer, unmolested, and continue to generate images that disturb the Wisconsinites who voted the Republicans into office 3 months ago?

Plus, from Michelle, "Capitulation: Madison capitol police give in to Big Labor Slumber Party occupiers":

In Madison, Wisconsin — the Berkeley of the Midwest — deadlines don’t mean diddly-squat. Rules don’t apply. And the People’s House belongs not to hard-working taxpayers, but to Big Labor squatters who have grimed and slimed up the Capitol for almost two weeks.

The Capitol police had set a deadline this afternoon for the grievance mob to clear out their sleeping bags, crock pots, and other makeshift camp paraphernalia. The occupiers ignored them. The Capitol police then promptly…capitulated. Rest assured, rewarding the breakdown of civil order will lead to more civil disorder. Way to go, Madison.

The New York Times piece is here: "Demonstrators Can Continue Overnight Stays in Wisconsin Capitol." (Via Memeorandum.)

More at Pundit & Pundette, "Monday various & sundry."

Tulip Skirt

I want that skirt. Heck, I want it all. Cream is on my wishlist this Spring.

tfs

It's Back to Rain in NYC...

This weather is absolutely killing Fashion by He, between the cold and now the rain, how the hell is a man suppose to get a decent picture of a poorly dressed girl? Had to go deep into the FbyHe archives to pick this old pic out that was never used. Made He a little sad because it's not yet spring/summer. Dresses, no jackets, big wedges, its coming, just not fast enough.
-He

Unions Plot Strategy to Prolong Wisconsin Protests

At Chicago Tribune, "AFL-CIO works to keep Wisconsin protests going":

WASHINGTON — AFL-CIO leaders, sparked by the strength of pro-labor protests in Wisconsin, are deciding how they can help keep the crowds large and the pressure high as demonstrations enter a third week.

Officials at the nation's largest labor federation said Monday they are looking for a more strategic approach to keep the protests going strong.

"This thing rose from the streets of Wisconsin, and if you've got any brains as a leader, you see a parade, you get out in front of it," said Greg Junemann, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and a member of the AFL-CIO's executive council.

"Before this thing starts to diminish, we need to make sure it gets a shot of vitamins at all appropriate times," he said.

Also, at New York Times, "In Wisconsin, Flinging Blame and Citing Deadlines." And from Ed Morrissey, "Walker gives 24-hour deadline to fleebaggers."

Sewing Black Hole

Sorry I have been a M.I.A. for the last few days but I have become very close with my unpicker, (the best invention ever!) in my attempt to slowly put together my first item in the  Colette Spring Palette Sew Along.   I am nearly done, just the hem to do and then I will share with you all.  I just hope I don't loose any more blood, those pins are so very sharp.  Hehe, whoever said that sewing was a calming passtime has not met me, but I am rather proud of my achievement.  

I wrote about the sew along here with my plans and colour choices.

Happy Monday to you all, see you tomorrow for the finished product.

Image from Sublime Stitching.

'These People Hate'

Yeah, well, I was saying the same thing yesterday about my deranged commenter, who may well have been the deranged hatemaster REPSAC = CASPER. Horrible people, progressives. See Nice Deb, "Video: Fox News Reporter On Madison Protesters – “There’s Hate In Their Eyes”":

Partial transcript via The Daily Caller.

“One thing I think should make clear – the people coming after us from every live shot here, these people hate,” Tobin said. “These are people who don’t respect diverse viewpoints. In fact, they’re so afraid I’ll present a diverse viewpoint, that’s why they try to heckle me and shut down every live shot. They’ve made it clear, that what they want to make it harder for me to do my job. They are proud of that when they disrupt a live shot, when they really trample over the First Amendment rights or the First Amendment’s obligations of a reporter. Now, I am not saying that’s all of the people. Those are the people that come here and heckle and try to disrupt things. I look in their eyes – there is hate in their eyes. They don’t want to hear any kind of viewpoint that is different from their own. That’s why they do what they do.”

Yep, that's them.



Nice Deb's got additional commentary, and see the thugs beating on the reporter at Freedom's Lighthouse, "Fox News’ Mike Tobin Shouted At and Hit During Live Report In Wisconsin."

Oil Flows as Rebels Gain

At WSJ, "Libyan Opposition Presses Gadhafi, Establishes Government, Sets Crude Shipment":

Libyan rebels pressed the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi Sunday, taking control of a key city near the capital of Tripoli, declaring a provisional government and allowing oil shipments to resume from territory under their control.

An oil tanker was expected to depart the port of Tobruk in the northeast corner of Libya sometime Sunday night carrying 700,000 barrels of oil, said Hassan Bulifa, a member of the management committee of Arabian Gulf Oil Co., Libya's largest oil producer and the only oil company based in the country's opposition-controlled eastern territory.

The management committee has assumed control of day-to-day operations at the company after its chairman, Abdulwanis Saad, resigned during the uprising against Col. Gadhafi. Mr. Bulifa said he believed the tanker would be bound for China.

The turmoil across the Middle East, cradle of much of the world's oil production, has sent prices soaring. Last week, crude oil for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $8.17 per barrel, or 9.11%, to $97.88, and for the seventh time since 1982 prices jumped 10% within two days. Month-to-date, U.S. benchmark crude is up 6.17%.

The Arabian Gulf Oil shipment would be the first oil exported from the eastern territory in more than a week—the last left on Feb. 19, before much of eastern Libya had slipped out of government control. Money earned from exports from rebel-controlled territory still goes into the accounts belonging to the National Oil Co., which is based in Tripoli and remains under the control of Mr. Gadhafi's government. Nevertheless, the relaunching of exports would be good news for Arabian Gulf Oil, which has had to cut back production rates for fear of running out of storage capacity amid a lack of export outlets.

More at the link.

Andrew Sullivan Moving to Daily Beast

The news is here.

And when you finish that recall the piece a while back at The New Ledger, "Through the Looking Glass With Andrew Sullivan."

And always entertaining commentary from The Other McCain, "Who Speaks for America?":

A Harvard-educated, AIDS-infected, Internet-cruising, marijuana-using gay British expatriate presumes to speak for Americans who reject Sarah Palin because of “a meanness, a disrespect, a vicious partisanship.”

We await a response from Sarah Palin’s uterus ...

In any case, I saw this first on Twitter, but if Memeorandum starts a thread I'll be updating. Last time I really read Sully was during the Iran democracy protests in 2009, and he was indeed a force of nature at the time. Other than that, I can do without RawMuscleGlutes.

ADDED: In bonus pervy news, I'd forgotten that David Frum was blogging a while back at the left's leading forensic gynecology outlet, and from that whacked pedestal he defended pro-pedophile blogger Alex Knepper against the folks at NewsReal Blog. And of course recall how well that turned out: "Pro-Pedophile Propaganda: For It Or Against It, David Frum?"

OKAY, now a thread at Memeorandum. And the link there to New York Times, "Andrew Sullivan Joins Tina Brown’s ‘Daily Beast’/'Newsweek’ Team":

The launch date of Tina Brown’s reinvented Newsweek after its merger with her Daily Beast Web site remains vague, but Ms. Brown’s efforts to continue building an impressive roster do not: Andrew Sullivan announced Sunday that his popular blog, “The Dish,” would be leaving TheAtlantic.com and joining Ms. Brown’s team in April.

Also, Tina Brown's announcement, "Andrew Sullivan Joins The Daily Beast!"

I tweeted on this a little earlier, suggesting that Sully might actually lift Newsweek's viability. When Niall Ferguson published his critical cover story over there a couple of weeks ago it was the first time that I'd been genuinely interested in reading the magazine. Tina Brown's a veteran at this sort of thing, although as for Newsweek's potential success, it's like "the British are coming," or something ...

Libya Rally Toronto

The video's c/o Blazing Cat Fur:

And see Michael Coren, "Absence of Outrage":

The bigots, the blind, the barbarous and the bullies have formed a coalition. Know them and expose them, before it’s too late.

Peachy Keen

What a necklace. I love her painstakingly braided hair and the teeny, silver earrings.

tfs

The Latest Frank Rich Hissy Fit

The entire country is focused on the left's fits of moral depravity and violence, and once again for Frank Rich of the New York Times, it's the tea party that's the biggest threat to democracy, "Why Wouldn’t the Tea Party Shut It Down?" (via Memeorandum):

The highest priority of America’s current political radicals is not to balance government budgets but to wage ideological warfare in Washington and state capitals alike. The relatively few dollars that would be saved by the proposed slashing of federal spending on Planned Parenthood and Head Start don’t dent the deficit; the cuts merely savage programs the right abhors. In Wisconsin, where state workers capitulated to Gov. Scott Walker’s demands for financial concessions, the radical Republicans’ only remaining task is to destroy labor’s right to collective bargaining.

That’s not to say there is no fiscal mission in the right’s agenda, both nationally and locally — only that the mission has nothing to do with deficit reduction. The real goal is to reward the G.O.P.’s wealthiest patrons by crippling what remains of organized labor, by wrecking the government agencies charged with regulating and policing corporations, and, as always, by rewarding the wealthiest with more tax breaks. The bankrupt moral equation codified in the Bush era — that tax cuts tilted to the highest bracket were a higher priority even than paying for two wars — is now a given. The once-bedrock American values of shared sacrifice and equal economic opportunity have been overrun.

That last line is the laugher of the month, but of course progressives have seized on it faster than union dues from a teacher's paycheck: "Frank Rich: “The once-bedrock American values of shared sacrifice and equal economic opportunity have been overrun”."

Yes, bedrock values have been thrown out the window, but it's progressives doing the dumping. Ann Althouse has had the best coverage, for example, "Althouse and Meade return to the Veterans Memorial and encounter apologetic protesters, the police, and a rudeness expert":

Ann also destroys petulant Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo, "Who invited Peter Yarrow to the Wisconsin protests? And why was he the only entertainer on the bill?"

Ann's the best.

Foaming Rabid Union Thug Captures and Exemplifies Today's Progressive Politics

I'm very thankful for some of the praise of my readers, for example, Stogie at Saberpoint and my friend and occasional contributor Norman Gersman from New York. I have other readers as well who correspond by e-mail but would prefer to stay out of the scrum of the left's demonic totalitarianism. I've called out REPSAC = CASPER recently, and I've been requesting that he retire his stalking blog American Nihilist. REPSAC = CASPER is perfectly representative of the demonic progressive left, and I wouldn't be surprised if he logged in anonymously and left this comment at my blog last night:

Anonymous said...

Actually, all Republicans are Satanic Nazi rapist terroristic treasonous child-molesting scumbags, who would rape my two year old niece to death happily, and sell the video on www.gop=666.cum.

Anyone who doesn't agree with this truth, as priven by Scott WalKKKer, Satanic Nazi rapist pig whore governor of WisKKKonsin, let them rape, torture, and brutally murder me - I would rather die than support all of you Satanic Nazi rapist terroristic treasonous child-molesting scumbags.

February 26, 2011 9:27 PM

Hey, words fail, but how about this, from Rebel Pundit, "Exclusive: Rabid Union Thug Foams at the Mouth $1Mil bet GOP Hearts KKK.. “Wussy MotherFxxkers, I’ll make you pay, Tea Baggers”" (via Lonely Conservative and Memeorandum):

Behold today's Democrat Party progressive left. When conservatives stand up for values, they're standing up for right and goodness in the world. The opposite of right is found in the left's relentless campaigns against truth, decency, and the individual in society. The hatred at websites such as REPSAC = CASPER's --- and in the comments cited here, and in endless attacks by union thugs --- are perfect examples of the new neo-communist totalitarianism. What's sad is that the lamestream press is totally in the tank, so again that's all the more reason for folks of God and decency to stand up.

Alessandra Ambrosio Off Duty (Elite, Milan) exits the Dolce & Gabbana show

FashionINTERNATIONAL by He...Washington, DC

here's the hot mess i came across on the metro in DC today...I swore she was an 8 yr old girl until i saw her frazzled hair and her face...*cringes* and yes, she was applying nail polish on the train and it was all over her cuticles...ahhhh xoxo Janine apetitediva.blogspot.com

Hot Mess indeed.
-He

Milk

I love the t-shirt / shift dress. Would be perfect with knee socks and wooden wedges. I love a cold glass of milk for my snack-time as well.

ffffound

etsy south...

i just found the old red hen shop based in florida and i am lovin' everything that shopowner julie curates.  she has a lovely style, an eye for good vintage finds and she is also a talented photographer.  she is the current etsy featured seller .

vintage opera glasses, $55

both photos courtesy of julie/ the old red hen

large glass cloche, $95 


beautiful montessori baby toys from pinkhouse handworks based in texas.  i am a montessori mama and would have loved to have had these handmade toys for my daughter when she was a baby.

wouldn't this make a wonderful baby gift?  five sweet toys in one bag, simple, cotton, wood, $35

both photos courtesy of pinkhouse handworks

wintery blue soft circular rattle & teething ring, $20


graphicspaceswood based in florida, involves the collaboration of a family working between two states. they make super cute wooden bookends and shelves.

mabel the mushroom bookend, $80

both photos courtesy of graphicspaceswood

bentley the bunny bookend, $80

Sweden Sees Backlash Against Open Immigration Policies

You think?

At New York Times, "In Sweden, Immigration Policies Begin to Rankle":

MALMO, Sweden — Nick Nilsson, 46, decided to vote for Sweden’s far-right party last fall because of a growing sense that his country had gone too far in letting so many immigrants settle here.

A truck driver, Mr. Nilsson lives a half mile from the Rosengard section of this city, where dreary apartment buildings are jammed with refugees from virtually all the world’s recent conflicts: Iranians, Bosnians, Palestinians, Somalis, Iraqis.

“No one has a job over there,” Mr. Nilsson said recently. “They are shooting at each other. There are drugs. They burn cars. Enough is enough.”

For a time, Sweden seemed immune to the kind of anti-immigrant sentiment blossoming elsewhere on the European continent. Its generous welfare and asylum policies have allowed hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle here, many in recent years from Muslim countries. Nearly a quarter of Sweden’s population is now foreign born or has a foreign-born parent.

But increasingly, Swedes are questioning these policies. Last fall, the far-right party — campaigning largely on an anti-immigration theme — won 6 percent of the vote and, for the first time, enough support to be seated in the Swedish Parliament.

Six months later, many Swedes are still in shock. The country — proud of its reputation for tolerance — can no longer say it stands apart from the growing anti-immigrant sentiment that has changed European parliaments elsewhere, leading to the banning of burqas in France and minarets in Switzerland.

In Malmo, a rapidly gentrifying port city in Sweden’s south, support for the far-right Sweden Democrats was particularly strong, about 10 percent of the vote. It is a place where tensions over immigration are on full display.

The city’s mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, a Social Democrat, ran his hands over a city map in his office, pointing out working-class neighborhoods like Mr. Nilsson’s that voted heavily for the Sweden Democrats, as might be expected, he said. But he could point to wealthier neighborhoods, too, that produced support for the far right as never before.

“We must dig deeper to understand that,” he said quietly.

There's more at the link, but really? Dig deeper? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that North African and Middle Eastern immigration is straining the Swedish political culture and stressing the melting pot ethic of the socially progressive Swedes. And tack on high unemployment and the social disintegration that comes with it, and what's the mystery? What's going to be a bit more challenging to explain is how an essentially leftist social services regime will be able to accommodate the increasing influence of rightist parties not particularly hostile to fascist doctrines and exclusionist solutions the national crisis. It's not going to fall neatly into the "racist" framework, since too many citizens of a more tolerant persuasion will also be throwing up their hands. The best that can be hoped for is that economic growth remains robust in Sweden and elsewhere, although given the vote in Ireland this weekend it's still going to be a while for economic prosperity --- however modest --- to take some of the pressure off. Not only that, some folks argue that Europe's already given itself over to immigrants from the less developed world, and Islamization itself. Depending on your perspective, that will hardly be good for the preservation of the Western ideal.

Who Was Worse, Hitler or Stalin?

At New York Review, "Hitler vs. Stalin: Who Killed More?":

In the second half of the twentieth century, Americans were taught to see both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union as the greatest of evils. Hitler was worse, because his regime propagated the unprecedented horror of the Holocaust, the attempt to eradicate an entire people on racial grounds. Yet Stalin was also worse, because his regime killed far, far more people, tens of millions it was often claimed, in the endless wastes of the Gulag. For decades, and even today, this confidence about the difference between the two regimes—quality versus quantity—has set the ground rules for the politics of memory. Even historians of the Holocaust generally take for granted that Stalin killed more people than Hitler, thus placing themselves under greater pressure to stress the special character of the Holocaust, since this is what made the Nazi regime worse than the Stalinist one.

Discussion of numbers can blunt our sense of the horrific personal character of each killing and the irreducible tragedy of each death. As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, the difference between zero and one is an infinity. Though we have a harder time grasping this, the same is true for the difference between, say, 780,862 and 780,863—which happens to be the best estimate of the number of people murdered at Treblinka. Large numbers matter because they are an accumulation of small numbers: that is, precious individual lives. Today, after two decades of access to Eastern European archives, and thanks to the work of German, Russian, Israeli, and other scholars, we can resolve the question of numbers. The total number of noncombatants killed by the Germans—about 11 million—is roughly what we had thought. The total number of civilians killed by the Soviets, however, is considerably less than we had believed. We know now that the Germans killed more people than the Soviets did. That said, the issue of quality is more complex than was once thought. Mass murder in the Soviet Union sometimes involved motivations, especially national and ethnic ones, that can be disconcertingly close to Nazi motivations.

Ultimately, folks'll have to assess this essay themselves, given the nature of the discussion. The author, Timothy Snyder, isn't as clear as he should be, given that he's claiming the Nazis killed more than the Soviets. But the basic gist is that the Soviet numbers have been revised downward. And does it matter at this point, despite the discussion of the marginal enormity of one more single death out of the 100s of thousands or even millions? Only God knows the suffering of each of the families that lost loved ones. It becomes a metaphysical thing, at some point. And despite the author's numerical exegesis, I'm not convinced that Stalin's modernization planning and ruthless political liquidation programs are of the same kind of totalitarianism that resulted in the Holocaust. It's all depressing, and if folks recall Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism, the permissive causes (especially anti-Semitism) were found all across Europe following the turn of the 20th century. Beyond this, I'm leaving it to the experts. At least in reflecting on these things, the last thing that comes to mind is the GOP's budget balancing programs today. Progressive Democrats are hoisting signs emblazoned with STALIN, HITLER, WALKER. And the effect --- beyond sheer stupidity --- is simply to illustrate how fleeting is the left's legitimacy and its grip on the social welfare state in early-21st century America.

'Wall of Lies' From David Horowitz Freedom Center

At FrontPage Magazine, "UCLA Daily Bruin Prints Center’s “Wall of Lies”."



NewsReal Blog Editor David Swindle debuted the Wall of Lies at CPAC, and the response was a bit unexpected. See, "The Anti-Semites Who Swarmed Us at CPAC and the Future of the Right."



I'm looking forward to attending a campus event featuring the Wall of Lies, especially given my recent visit to UCLA, "Israeli Apartheid Week, Students for Justice in Palestine, UCLA, February 23, 2011."



RELATED: At Jawa Report, "'Islamo-Fascism Awareness Campaign' vs 'Israel Apartheid Week'."

100,000 March on Wisconsin Capitol

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the story, "Protesters deriding bill again fill Capitol Square."

And the video's c/o Althouse, "Outside the Capitol today — a march, snow, and Peter Yarrow":

1:38 — "HITLER STALIN WALKER."

Yep. Watch the clip and see that sign. The enormity of evil, trivialized.



RELATED: At Legal Insurrection, "50-State Union Protest Falls Far Short Of Predicted Turnout" and "FAIL… Dems Left Red-Faced; Protesters Fail to Materialize at National MoveOn Rallies" (via Instapundit).



And Los Angeles Times blends it all together, "Protesters out in force nationwide to oppose Wisconsin's anti-union bill":

Nearly two weeks into a political standoff, tens of thousands rallied in Madison and in dozens of cities around the nation to oppose a bill that would severely limit collective bargaining rights for most Wisconsin public employees.



Joel DeSpain, spokesman for the Madison Police Department, said the rally — in steadily falling snow — drew between 70,000 and 100,000 and may have been the largest protest in Madison since the Vietnam War.



"I've been around Madison for 50 years, and I have not seen anything like it so far," he said.



A Republican-backed bill containing the anti-union provisions prompted 14 Democratic state senators to flee Wisconsin, denying the Republican majority a quorum to pass it. The Republican-dominated state Assembly passed a version of the bill early Friday, but the Senate remains stymied until Democrats return.



Despite exhortations by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Democrats were still hiding in Illinois as supporters rallied across the nation. The liberal group MoveOn.org said it organized rallies in 66 cities, including every state capital.



"From what we can tell, it was kind of an amazing wave of energy around the country," said MoveOn.org Executive Director Justin Ruben.

Look, I marched with 50,000 people last year in Phoenix. Seeing 100,000 in the snow in Madison is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. That said, I think the Times is gilding it a bit on the rest of the nation business. We'll be seeing more protests when the budget axe starts to fall in other Statehouses. Today is Madison's glory.

End Hamas' Violence

An impressive essay, from Molly Cornfield of UCLA's Bruins for Israel, at The Daily Bruin:

In 2005, Israel evacuated all Israeli citizens from Gaza. This peaceful gesture went unrecognized, and Hamas responded with an increase in rocket attacks. Hamas also retaliated by perpetrating 52 suicide bombings, killing 288 Israelis and wounding hundreds more.



Hamas refuses to pursue a peaceful coexistence between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, despite the compromises Israel has made. Hamas’ charter and spokesmen continue to call for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews. What the international community had hoped would be a thriving Palestinian democracy has become a launching pad for terrorism. Efforts have been made by the international community to revive the peace process.

More at the link.



PHOTO CREDIT: Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin, founder of Hamas, "Israeli Apartheid Week, Students for Justice in Palestine, UCLA, February 23, 2011."

Wisconsin State Capitol as Permanent Free Speech Zone

Althouse isn't thrilled by the idea, "Is it viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment for Wisconsin to permit the protesters to use the Capitol building as it has over the past 10+ days?":

The Capitol has for years and years been a solemn place. For 25 years, I have brought visitors there and walked slowly through the beautiful spaces looking at the different colored and patterned marble on the walls and gazing with awe up into the dome. This is the Capitol Wisconsinites know and treasure. It can't become an all-purpose free-speech forum.

And in related news, from Glenn Reynolds, "A NEW WEB AD targeting those fugitive Wisconsin legislators":

Also at Hot Air, "Perry: Fleebagging tactic “immature, juvenile”."

More news at New York Times, "In Wisconsin and Beyond, Rallying Behind Unions." And The Hill, "Labor secretary: GOP govs asking workers to give up their rights." (via Lonely Conservative and Memeorandum).