[Guest post by DRJ]

There have been a series of small and medium earthquakes near Borrego Springs, California, in the last 3-4 hours. Did you feel them?

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

As Patterico posted Monday, CNN’s Senior Editor for Mideast Affairs Octavia Nasr mourned the death of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah in a tweet:

“Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.”

Today she left CNN:

“From Parisa Khosravi – SVP CNN International Newsgathering

I had a conversation with Octavia this morning and I want to share with you that we have decided that she will be leaving the company. As you know, her tweet over the weekend created a wide reaction. As she has stated in her blog on CNN.com, she fully accepts that she should not have made such a simplistic comment without any context whatsoever. However, at this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.

As a colleague and friend we’re going to miss seeing Octavia everyday. She has been an extremely dedicated and committed part of our team. We thank Octavia for all of her hard work and we certainly wish her all the best.

Parisa.”

It’s been my experience that when people are let go, “we wish you the best” isn’t the message they remember.

— DRJ

[Guest post by Jack Dunphy]

There’s been much discussion here in Los Angeles about the appropriateness of a publicly owned venue like the Coliseum hosting what in essence is an extravaganza of illegal drug use. My thoughts on the matter are posted today over at Pajamas Media. A sample:

On June 25 and 26, something called the Electric Daisy Carnival was once again held in and around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the site of two Olympic Games but lately reduced to hosting less noble entertainment. Billed as an “electronic dance festival,” the EDC is in reality an enormous outdoor orgy of drug use set to the incessant beat of music which, if it were employed in the service of discomfiting captured al-Qaeda terrorists, would bring threats of sanctions from the United Nations. And it all took place in a publicly owned facility and under the watchful but largely impotent eye of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Read the whole thing.

–Jack Dunphy

[Guest post by DRJ]

The Obama Administration’s DOJ has sent a letter to BP demanding that it provide advance notice of any significant sale of assets or cash transfers. BP indicated it would respond in due course.

Perhaps BP is wondering what legal authority the Administration has to make such a demand. Me, too.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Even though they live in Mexico, the new Mayor of Juarez and his wife have claimed a homestead exemption on their El Paso, Texas, residence for 13 years. This is a good example of how the dividing line between Juarez and El Paso is becoming increasingly blurred, but this El Paso homeless man knows the difference:

H/T A Friend.

— DRJ

[Guest post by DRJ]

Naked Emperor News looks at one of the New Black Panthers involved in the Philadelphia voter intimidation case — King Samir Shabazz:

“You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers. You’re gonna have to kill some of their babies.”

— DRJ

Normally I would give you the quotes and ask you where they came from. Obama administration press release? Head of the Black Panther Party? But I don’t have time for such tomfoolery, so I’ll jump straight into the appallingly slanted story:

A former Justice Department lawyer hired during the Bush administration alleged on Tuesday that the department scaled down a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party last year because his former colleagues do not want to protect white people’s civil rights.

. . . .

The testimony by Mr. Adams brought new attention to a case that has been used as political ammunition against the Obama administration by some conservative media outlets seeking to flip the script on portrayals of the Bush administration as having “politicized” the Justice Department.

I could stop right there, but there’s more:

In January 2009, less than two weeks before the Bush administration left office, the civil rights division invoked a rarely used section of the Voting Rights Act to file a civil lawsuit alleging voter intimidation by both men, the party chairman and the party.

“Rarely used.” Just before Bush left office. Suspicious!

Never mind how blatant the intimidation was. Let’s focus on how often the law is used.

In April 2009, the division seemed to win the case by default because the New Black Panthers failed to show up in court.

Seemed to win?

The case became a cause célèbre in the conservative media world, and the Civil Rights Commission opened an investigation. The eight-member panel, which has the power to issue subpoenas and issue reports, is controlled by a six-member conservative bloc appointed during the Bush administration.

So you can discount them safely.

The Obama administration took office amid widespread allegations that the Bush administration had politicized the civil rights division.

Everyone was saying it at the water cooler!

(There are some allegations that the Obama administration has politicized the division, too. Whether they are “widespread” is, I suppose, in the eye of the beholder.)

The New York Times: the Louis Vuitton of news! Accept no substitutes!