The Obama Scandals
5/17 12:00 AM
A Far Cry from the Founders Obama disdains constitutional constraint.
Impromptus
5/17 12:00 AM
Oslo Journal, Part II Jay Nordlinger on Garry Kasparov, a love story, Earl Browder’s grandson, and more.
- NY Post Editors: Kevin Williamson for mayor. New York Post
- James Taranto: President Asterisk. Wall Street Journal More Links (7)
- Andrew C. McCarthy: The 10 P.M. Phone Call
- Lee Habeeb: The Islamist War on Women
- Kathryn Jean Lopez: Congrats, Grad! Was It Worth It?
- Stephen W. Smith: An Inferno for Our Times?
- Andrew Stiles: Hearing Out the IRS
- Mark Steyn: The Autocrat Accountants
- Larry Kudlow: No Less Than a Special Counsel
- Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Emptiest Benghazi Talking Point
- The Editors: Aggies’ Farm
- Katrina Trinko: Sebelius’s Suspect Solicitations
- Mark Krikorian: We Trust Barack Obama
- Samuel Aquila: The ‘Therapeutic Cloning’ of Human Embryos
- John Fund: Strange Goings-On at the White House
- Deroy Murdock: This Is Your Brain on Big Government
- Jay Nordlinger: Oslo Journal, Part II
- Mona Charen: A Far Cry from the Founders
- Jonah Goldberg: An Agency after Obama’s Own Heart
- Rich Lowry: The Media’s Tea-Party Moment
- Charles Krauthammer: White House Wordplay
- Sen. Mike Lee: Washington vs. the People
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Slideshow
Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness opens in theaters on Friday, May 17. The film is the second in the franchise’s relaunch under director J.J. Abrams. Here’s a look. Pictured, Mister Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Captain Kirk (Chris Pine).
The studio is keeping a tight lock on the plot of Star Trek Into Darkness, but trailers show the story features a test of mettle for Captain Kirk as he battles a villain bent on destroying Starfleet.
CREW ROSTER: Chris Pine returns as Captain James T. Kirk, the role made famous in the 1960s by William Shatner. (The lights are red, that can’t be good news.)
Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) ponders the next logical move. Quinto again fills the pointed ears of the Vulcan first played by Leonard Nimoy.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban) hasn’t lost his distaste for high tech.
Commander John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) arrives to threaten Starfleet and Captain Kirk in particular.
Commander Harrison blows in the wind. British actor Cumberbatch is new to the Star Trek franchise, and is best known for his role as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock.
Despite the many changes director J.J. Abrams made for this incarnation of Star Trek, the interplay between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock remains key to its appeal.
Kirk and Uhura go for a more colorful look. (The colors are a direct homage to the uniforms of the original series, which were produced in bold hues, in part, to demonstrate the glories of color television.)
The romance between Uhura and Spock is one of the larger changes Abrams made to the franchise’s characters.
Dr. Marcus models some off-duty attire. (In the original series, Marcus was the mother of Kirk’s son, David.)
Commander Harrison gets a heavily-armed red-shirt escort. (“Red shirts” are the notoriously expendable security personnel famous from the original series.)
Uhura draws a bead on an unseen foe. (Fanboys: Could that be the distinctive profile of a Klingon disruptor?)
The original Captain Kirk sent the ship to its doom at the end of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Will the new Enterprise meet the same fate?
BEHIND THE SCENES: Director J.J. Abrams (at left) on the Enterprise bridge set with Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana.
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Slideshow
Riding Harleys in China
The iconic American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson has fans all over the world, including China, where more than a 1,000 enthusiasts recently held a convention at Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang Province, near Shanghai. Here’s a look.
Harley-Davidson sponsors the Harley Owners Group -- or H.O.G., a turn of phrase on their brand’s nickname -- in local chapters around the world. H.O.G. helps the company maintain its unique brand image and lifestyle through a community of motorcycle owners.
There are currently six H.O.G. chapters in China, where Harley-Davidson began selling their motorcycles in 2005. They are a definite luxury item in the Middle Kingdom, subject to sizable taxes and not permitted on highways.
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Slideshow
The Birmingham Campaign
April and May of 2013 mark the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham Campaign, a milestone in the American civil-rights movement. The campaign targeted the city of Birmingham, Ala., to protest segregation laws and raise awareness of the treatment of black citizens in the city and across the South.
The campaign was organized by Reverend Martin Luther King (pictured at left) and Reverend Fred Shuttleworth (right), and included marches, boycotts, and non-violent sit-ins at local businesses and in public areas.
Reverend King was arrested on Good Friday, April 12, in the campaign’s early days. While in jail, he read a newspaper editorial criticizing the tactics of the movement. His response, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” would later galvanize the civil-rights movement. Pictured, King (at right) with Shuttleworth and Ralph Abernathy.
Birmingham police lead a group of black school children to jail following their arrest near the Birmingham city hall.
Young women wait at the Birmingham fairgrounds after being arrested for taking part in demonstrations.
In early May, Birmingham authorities changed their tactics, using police dogs and turning high-pressure water hoses on demonstrators to try and disperse the protests.
This image of police dogs attacking a young demonstrator ran on the front page of the New York Times on May 4, 1963.
Marchers brace as they are hit with powerful high-pressure water hoses in this iconic news photograph published in Life magazine. Images of the violence committed by the authorities, under the direction of Bull Connor, helped turned the tide of public opinion in Birmingham and for the entire civil-rights movement.
Some of the fire hoses were so strong they knocked protesters to the ground and ripped clothes from their bodies.
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Slideshow
World Photography Organization Awards
The annual Sony World Photography Organization Awards honor the best still image work in a range of categories, representing amateur and professional photographers. Here’s a look at the winners in the sports category. This year’s top honors went to Adam Pretty for his coverage of athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
(Adam Pretty)
THIRD PLACE: Ryan Pierce was honored for “Fish Out of Water,” a look at athletes making use of an empty pool.
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Slideshow
Photoshopping POTUS
May is "Scandalpalooza" month in Washington, as the Obama administration deals with the fallout from Benghazi, revelations of IRS misconduct, stolen AP phone logs, and more. The president's spinning and intransigence have also reignited comparisons to Richard Nixon. Here's a look at how the Internet's armchair Photoshop Picassos see things.
DRONES: Rand Paul couldn't stop talking about them in his March filibuster, and Barack Obama couldn't stop using them. From the left and the right, the Internet took POTUS to task over his remote-control warfare.
POTUS ON THE LINKS: The White House kept the press corps cameras far away from President Obama's golf vacation with Tiger Woods in February. But Internet commentators have been firing up Photoshop to mock the president's golf game since his first term.
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Slideshow
Chris Hadfield's Space Odyssey
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has just completed over a year onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as commander of Expedition 35. During his time in orbit he became something of an Internet sensation thanks to his stunning photography, and he even starred in the world's first music video shot in space. Here’s a look.
Last week Hadley bade farewell to the ISS with a full-length, zero-G music video, performing David Bowie’s classic single “Space Oddity” -- with a few references changed to reflect his job. Bowie wrote on his Facebook page: “It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”
Like many astronauts, while in space Hadley was pressed into service conducting science experiments in front of the camera for school kids watching on the ground.
Hadley demonstrates what happens when you wring out a wet towel in zero gravity. Answer: The water doesn’t float away, and the surface tension keeps it stuck against your skin.
Hadfield is a space veteran with two flights on the Space Shuttle and two missions aboard the ISS. Prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency, he was a pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, flying CF-18 Hornet jet fighters.
Hadley (at right) squeezed into a Soyuz capsule on May 13 with fellow crew members, NASA astronaut Thomas Mashburn (left) and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, for the trip back to Earth.
Hadley shot stunning photography of planet Earth throughout his mission. Here’s a taste of Hadley’s view from the ISS.
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Slideshow
Jet Star Roller Coaster
Work crews arrived in Seaside Heights, N.J., on May 14 to begin dismantling the Jet Star roller coaster, a beloved local attraction that became a heartbreaking symbol of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
The Jet Star was part of a boardwalk amusement area in the seaside community. It fell into the water when the end of the pier collapsed and has remained visible in the Atlantic surf ever since.
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Slideshow
Argentina's Sunken City
The bustling lakeside resort of Epecuen in Argentina, southwest of Buenos Aires, once served visitors who came from far away to enjoy its saltwater baths and spas. But in 1985, floodwaters inundated the town, and as residents fled with their belongings, Epecuen was covered in more than 30 feet of corrosive saltwater.
Twenty-eight years later, the water has mostly receded, revealing a broken urban landscape out of a Hollywood disaster film, showing the effects of nearly three decades underwater. The town has never been rebuilt, and now draws visitors eager to tour the devastated ruins. Here's a look at what remains.
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