Royal Wedding in 60 Seconds

Pretty cool, via Business Insider.

Republican Candidates Strain to Break From Trump's Shadow

See Los Angeles Times, "GOP candidates try to refocus."

It's pretty fascinating that Donald Trump's sucked up so much oxygen in a relatively short period of time.

Maybe these folks need to bulk up on the opposition research, because Trump's pretty vulnerable on precisely those issues that matter most to voters: the economy and jobs. See earlier at Los Angeles Times, "Trump's tower a sore spot on the Strip":

Reporting from Las Vegas - Speaking to Republican activists here, Donald Trump touted something other than his potential presidential bid and hit reality television show: Trump International Hotel and Tower, a gleaming luxury high-rise and his sole Las Vegas venture.

"It's one of the greatest signs of all time," Trump said Thursday of the building's marquee, rising 64 stories above Las Vegas Boulevard. "You drive down that Strip, what do you see?"

"Trump!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"We got it built, it's doing great and we're very proud of it," the real estate mogul said, in remarks that were otherwise laced with profanity and attacks on President Obama.

But the reality of Las Vegas' tallest residential building — which Trump described as "very, very successful" — is different from the hype.

Conceived as a high-end hotel-condominium development in Las Vegas' go-go years, the project opened in 2008 amid the economic meltdown. Most investors pulled out and demanded their deposits, leaving Trump and his partners holding the bag.

The casino-free building, wrapped in 24-karat-gold-infused glass, now rests in the boneyard of the Las Vegas Strip, a collection of vacant lots, barren scaffolding and silent cranes left over from abandoned resort projects.

These days, the 645-foot Trump tower might be a metaphor for his nascent campaign: lots of splash, little in the way of substance.

As Trump touts his own business acumen, his Las Vegas hotel makes it clear that he fell prey to the speculative fever that gripped the nation — and particularly wounded Nevada, a state that will play a key role in determining the Republican presidential nomination next year.

More at that link above.

Maybe there'll be more critical reporting on Trump's business success. So far only Michelle Malkin's had anything to say that contradicted's the fawning MFM reporting.

Also at Politico, "'Sorry' state of affairs at GOP forum."

The Paranoid Style: The Persistence of Conspiracy Theories in American Politics

An interesting piece from Kate Zernike at the New York Times. An excerpt:

The fact that many Americans — and many Republicans in particular — have told pollsters that they doubt the president’s citizenship is less surprising when you consider the sizable percentages of Americans who subscribe to other conspiracy theories, said Robert Alan Goldberg, a history professor at the University of Utah and the author of “Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America.”

Eighty percent of Americans, he said, believe that President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, rather than a lone gunman, as a government commission affirmed. Thirty percent believe that the government covered up aliens’ landing in Roswell, N.M., and a third of American blacks believe that government scientists created AIDS as a weapon of black genocide. Sept. 11, of course, has inspired conspiracy theories — it was plotted, variously, by “the Jews,” the Bush administration or Saddam Hussein.

By definition, Professor Goldberg said, a conspiracy theory is a belief that cunning forces are seeking to bend history to their will, provoking terror attacks or economic calamity to move the world in the direction they wish.

“I look at this birther conspiracy as a typical example,” he said. “This is far beyond the issue of whether this is a legitimate president. The real issue for them is this belief that this is a ploy by this hidden group to get power, to move Americans toward socialism or globalism or multiculturalism using Barack Obama as a pawn.”

RTWT at the link.

This is the Day the Lord Hath Made

Via Blazing Cat Fur, "Blessed Respite ... John Rutter's anthem from the Royal Wedding."

A close-up of William and Catherine at 3:40 minutes:

Also, at Los Angeles Times, "Britain celebrates the royal wedding."

RELATED: From Mona Charen, at National Review, "A Wedding: Not Just For Royals."

Camp Pendleton Memorial for Fallen Marines

At Los Angeles Times, "Tribute is paid to 25 'Dark Horse' troops who died and more than 200 others who were wounded while routing the Taliban from the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province":

"These Marines did what Marines always do," Lt. Col. Jason Morris, the battalion commander, told the gathering. "They took the fight to the enemy and they won."

When the Marines of the 3/5 arrived in the Sangin district of Helmand province in late September, Taliban flags flew boldly throughout the region, the schools were closed by Taliban order and the marketplace was virtually abandoned.

Seven months later, after hundreds of firefights and the discovery of hundreds of roadside bombs, Sangin is a different place. The Taliban flags are gone; the schools, including those for girls, are open; and the marketplace is flourishing.

The long-term future of Sangin, indeed all of Afghanistan, is yet to be determined, but for the moment, the Afghan government has a chance to establish itself in a region that has long been a stronghold of the Taliban, the narcotics cartel and their allies in neighboring Pakistan.

In those seven months, 25 Marines from the 3/5 were killed in combat and more than 200 were wounded — more dead and wounded than from any Marine battalion in the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

May Day! — Democrat-Socialists Rally Around Unions

Of course.

It's May Day, the "International Day of the Worker."

And right on cue, at Los Angeles Times, "California Democrats rally around unions":

Framing the union battles taking place across the nation as a fundamental attack on working Americans, Democratic leaders on Saturday accused Republicans of scapegoating public employees for political gain.

"They are intent on dismantling the very economic ladder that lifted our middle class and made California the richest and greatest state in the greatest nation in the world," Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris told thousands of delegates and supporters gathered at the Democrats' annual convention in Sacramento.

As cities, counties and states struggle to balance budgets, public employee unions have come under fire from critics arguing that their benefits, especially their pensions, are overly generous. Some of the most notable battles are in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker sought to eliminate collective bargaining rights for many state workers, and Ohio, where an anti-union measure is the subject of a proposed voter referendum.

Several speakers tied the Wisconsin controversy to Costa Mesa. A budget shortfall in the Orange County city led officials to issue layoff notices to much of its workforce and to push to privatize many city services.

Orange County Employees Assn. General Manager Nick Berardino described Costa Mesa as "ground zero for working men and women in California" and said the actions there "represent a direct threat to the Democratic Party and democracy itself."

Right.

Because for socialists "democracy" is always defined in terms of economic redistribution. Like as found at University of Missouri's labor studies seminar, which featured Tony Pecinovsky, Communist Party USA, who indicates:

In my opinion... I think in the opinion of the Communist Party, politics is all about nuance. Just like there’s different trends and tenedencies within the labor movement, the Democratic Party is very much the same. It’s not one hegemonic whole. There’s different perspectives and points of views within a spectrum, right? And so we tend to focus on and help those candidates who as Don said, share our values.

"Don" would be Don Giljum, who was fired by the university for advocating violence.

This are what Democrats are all about.

May Day! — Police Prepare for Communist Open-Borders Rally in Los Angeles

At Los Angeles Times:

This year's May Day rally is expected to draw fewer immigrant rights activists to downtown Los Angeles than in past years, but police said they would be prepared for any problems that might occur.

Marchers will assemble at 10 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Broadway and Olympic Boulevard and walk north on Broadway toward City Hall, officials said. The march will conclude with a rally on Broadway between First and Temple streets near City Hall.

Organizers said the demonstration could draw more than 50,000 people, but permits sought for the march estimate a crowd of about 10,000.

Whatever the turnout, police said, they would be ready with a significant deployment of officers.

"We are going to have a large enough deployment to handle anything," said LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez. "Our posture will be consistent with what we've had the last two years. We want to keep a lid on anything, but, ideally, we are going to maintain a low profile and facilitate allowing everybody to express their 1st Amendment views in a peaceful and organized manner."