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Mark Steyn uses the Costa Concordia and "women and children first" as a metaphor for the decline of civilization, which is fine as far as it goes. However, in the case of a literal evacuation, I'm sure it's far more efficient to load everyone based on their proximity to the lifeboats rather than their age or gender. Just imagine the chaos if the crew (or someone?) were to attempt to separate families in the midst of an urgent disaster.

In any event, more than 99% of the passengers and crew escaped with their lives. That is pretty spectacular. I don't think that a "women and children first" policy -- even if perfectly implemented -- would have done any better.

As usual the Daily Mail has the best pictures, this time of the capsized Costa Concordia. Yet another reason I will never go on a cruise.

Inside account of Bin Laden raid.

OSAMA BIN LADEN was killed within 90 seconds of the US Navy Seals landing in his compound and not after a protracted gun battle, according to the first account by the men who carried out the raid. The operation was so clinical that only 12 bullets were fired.

The Seals have spoken out because they were angered at the version given by politicians, which they see as portraying them as cold-blooded murderers on a "kill mission". They were also shocked that President Barack Obama announced bin Laden's death on television the same evening, rendering useless much of the intelligence they had seized.

Chuck Pfarrer, a former commander of Seal Team 6, which conducted the operation, has interviewed many of those who took part for a book, Seal Target Geronimo, to be published in the US this week.

Interesting read and insight into Seal Team 6, but take it with a grain of salt.

And all that, of course, assumes that Pfarrer's book truly is based on interviews with today's DevGru SEALs and is correct in its remarks on the helicopters. The Pentagon and CIA spokesman George Little are adamant that at least some of the book is wrong, and the SEALs on the raid have reportedly told their superiors they did not talk to Pfarrer.

Herman Cain says that sexual harassment claims against him are "baseless".

"I have never sexually harassed anyone, let's say that. Secondly, I've never sexually harassed anyone, and yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association, and I say falsely, because it turned out, after the investigation, to be baseless. The people mentioned in that article were the ones who would be aware of any misdoings, and they have attested to my integrity and my character. It is totally baseless, and totally false, never have I committed any sort of sexual harassment," Herman Cain told FOX News about claims from Politico that he was involved in the sexual harassment of two former employees.

Anonymous sources, nameless accusers, zero evidence. Is a black conservative man so dangerous to the Left that they're willing to attack him with such insubstantial claims?

Bonus question: Cain and Clarence Thomas... why are black conservative males always hit with dubious sexual harassment accusations? Isn't this racist?

Happy Halloween! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and is the culmination of October, one of the best months of the year. October 1st through January 2nd is my favorite quarter, and we're already one-third through. Alas!

What's up with the packs of motorcycles rampaging across St. Louis?

Drivers have reported huge packs of motorcycles swarming the highways around St. Louis, with the bikers pulling stunts, making hand gestures and forcing cars off the roadway.

There has been no official word yet from the state highway patrol or other public safety officials.

The reports started coming in around 2 p.m. from various spots on I-270 and I-70, most recently in the north St. Louis county area. Some claimed to see as many as 800 to 1,000 motorcycles in a pack.

Some sort of biker flash mob?

Oh noes! Irene is shaping up to be a real national emergency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is keeping a line open to President Obama and the First Family as they vacation on Martha's Vineyard and Hurricane Irene -- growing both in size and strength -- appears destined to pelt the Bay State sometime Sunday.

An early POTUS pull out has not been ordered, but FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told the Herald this morning, "We briefed the president yesterday and are keeping him and his team updated."

If Obama goes back to Washington and starts "working" again expect to see the economy plummet.

(HT: RB.)

As a California native, yes, the East Coast Quake was rather weak. The real danger wasn't the moderate shaking, but the zillions of brick buildings.

Joanne Razo, a legal assistant who lives in Washington, D.C., has lived through an earthquake in Los Angeles and said she knows that a 5.8-quake is mild by West Coast standards. But for her, the scary part was not the ground shaking but that "this area is not equipped to handle anything like this."

I never want to live in a brick house anywhere.

London looters are not only organizing via social media, they're also sharing images of their plunder.

(HT: Gizmodo and RC.)

"The Trouble with Trillions" is one of the best Simpsons episodes, but that doesn't mean we should actually mint a trillion dollar coin. Just watch the episode to see how badly it turns out.

I just watched a few minutes of Congressman Anthony Weiner's apologetic news conference and it was one of the most humiliating things I've ever seen. It was a "high quality" apology in which he accepted responsibility and explicitly admitted to the online relationships he had developed over the past three years and to lying to cover them up. He said all the right things and seemed sincerely contrite, in my opinion. I bet some commentators are saying that it's all an act, but my gut tells me that Weiner is sorry for what he did and has learned a valuable lesson that is often difficult for those who are used to getting away with things.

Uh oh!

Anyway, the story is so stupid. It's obvious to everyone that Weiner sent the picture to the girl. I think the matter would have disappeared over the weekend if he hadn't issued such an implausible denial.

Thank you to all the soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen who have given their lives for our country. My family and I are extremely grateful and blessed by your service.

The Daily Mail, a U.K. paper, routinely has some of the largest and highest-quality news photographs on the internet. Today they beat out all the American news sites with high-resolution satellite photos of Joplin from before and after the recent tornado.

Seriously, we need more stuf?

I guess the real break-through is to increase the stuf-to-cookie ratio yet again.

• Regular Oreo: 1:2
• Double-Stuf Oreo: 1:1
• Triple-Double Oreo: 4:3

Hopefully our stuf tolerance is up to the task.

(HT: James Taranto.)

Pics here.

Video from inside the Joblin tornado.

Lots of St. Louis people indirectly affected. Pray for those who were hit and those who are working to clean up and recover.

Charlie Martin has the best explanation I've yet read about the Fukushima reactor meltdown. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the media is over-hyping the danger. Martin does a great job explaining the processes going on in and around the reactor, as well as highlighting the anti-nuclear agenda of many of the "nuclear power experts" that the media is running to for analysis.

Note: don't interpret my anti-sensationalism as a complete pass for the nuclear industry. It's pretty foolish to put a nuclear plant right near the ocean without sufficiently protecting the coolant supply from contamination by tsunami.

California Representative Jane Harman is resigning from Congress. I lived in her district for many years. She is a liberal Democrat, but she has generally been sensible and mostly hawkish on security issues. She is almost certain to be replaced by a far more left-wing local politician.

Los Angeles is fortunate that the Los Angeles Air Force Base was revitalized before Harman's resignation.

It's hard to blame her for the move, considering she'll earn a lot more money in the private sector and probably have more influence than she would as a member of the House minority.

Los Angeles-area Democrats scrambled for the chance to fill a rare open seat in Congress after veteran Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) announced Monday that she would probably resign to run a Washington think tank. ...

Harman's announcement came three months after her reelection. She told constituents in an e-mail that she had been in discussions to become president and chief executive of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the center's decision was imminent. An official announcement was expected Tuesday.

Carlina White was kidnapped as a 9-day-old infant and solved the case herself 23 years later.

On Aug. 4, 1987, worried parents Joy White and Carl Tyson took their feverish baby daughter to Harlem Hospital's emergency room. The visit turned into horror when little Carlina, 9 days old, was kidnapped.

The family says a mystery woman who had been hanging around the hospital for weeks disguised as a nurse was responsible for the kidnapping.

A $10,000 reward was offered for the safe return of the baby girl, but years passed without her return. The parents never gave up hope. They took the money won in a lawsuit from the city and established a trust fund for their daughter in the event of her return.

Carlina was taken to Bridgeport, Conn., and, later, Atlanta where she was given a new name, Nejdra Nance, and was raised by a new family, unaware for 23 years that her biological family was actually in New York City.

"Nejdra Nance was very suspicious of who she was and what family raised her," Lt. Christopher Zimmerman of the New York Police Department said. "There was no paperwork to follow her such as a birth certificate or social security card. In her late teens she became suspicious of who she was."

I can't even imagine the emotional journey that must have been for Miss White. Nice work.