She loves her body.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
'Starving Student' Cliche Becomes Reality, or So They Say
Actually, this is bull.
We've got a strong economy. Unemployment's low. If students can't find a job to help pay the bills, whose fault is that?
So, FWIW, at the O.C. Register, "More colleges add free food pantries as ‘starving student’ cliche becomes reality":
More at the link, in any case.
We've got a strong economy. Unemployment's low. If students can't find a job to help pay the bills, whose fault is that?
So, FWIW, at the O.C. Register, "More colleges add free food pantries as ‘starving student’ cliche becomes reality":
Steve Hoang had more than schoolwork to fret about his first year of college. He went hungry.This is leftist socialist culture taking over. It's not as if "food insecurity" is a new thing. If you don't have enough to eat you get a job. You don't worry about college classes. You work to support yourself. It's pretty basic.
“I lost 25 pounds,” said the UC Irvine sophomore. “It was one of my biggest worries, that I wouldn’t have enough to eat.”
The tall, thin 18-year-old was among hundreds of students who lined up this past week to take a peek at UCI’s newly expanded food pantry, intended to help students like him.
Across Southern California and the nation, colleges and universities no longer view the concept of the starving student as an inevitable joke, but a serious issue. To address what’s become known as “food insecurity,” campuses are opening up free pantries.
Some are as small as closets. In fact, UCLA’s pantry is called the Food Closet.
Others began small and grew.
Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday dedicated their renamed Obershaw DEN pantry, which was remodeled and has added refrigeration for perishables.
A day earlier, the UCI campus celebrated the opening of a remodeled pantry touted as the biggest in the UC system. At more than 1,800 square feet, it features not only free food and toiletries but sitting areas, a “kitchenette” with small appliances and a space for weekly food demonstrations and nutrition talks.
There are more than 540 campus food pantries across the U.S. registered with the College and University Food Bank Alliance, which is tracking the trend.
All UC campuses – and all but one of the California state universities – now have food pantries, as do many community colleges.
Even some pricey private colleges, including Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and Chapman University in Orange, say they have students who simply can’t afford to cover the cost of tuition, books, labs, transportation and food.
“Some LMU students were surprised to see that kind of need at LMU,” said Lorena Chavez, the university’s assistant director for community engagement. Then, they began inquiring about it for research papers and to offer donations.
“For me, it was that ‘aha’ moment,” Chavez said. Need isn’t restricted to any one campus, she said, “especially when it comes to food insecurity.”
Going Hungry
For some students who visit local campus pantries, the free food is more than a supplement. It’s a necessity.
Studies indicate a significant percentage of college students are experiencing various levels of food insecurity, ranging from going hungry to poor diets:
A 2016 UC survey of nearly 9,000 students found that 42 percent experienced food insecurity; 23 percent had diets of reduced quality, variety or desirability; and 19 percent weren’t getting enough food because they couldn’t afford it.
A 2017 Community College report found that about 12.2 percent of students experienced food insecurity.
A 2016 Cal State University system study reporting preliminary data based on Cal State Long Beach respondents suggested 24 percent of students were experiencing food insecurity. A second phase of the survey of all the system’s 23 campuses is expected to be released next year.
“The narrative of the starving student is part of the problem,” said Rashida Crutchfield, a Cal State Long Beach assistant professor and lead investigator on the CSU report.
“A lot of people believe that struggle and eating a cup of noodles is just part of the college experience,” she said.
For many of the students, it’s not easy navigating the new terrain of college life. Some don’t want to burden their parents by asking for more financial help. Others know their parents, perhaps struggling themselves, can’t give more.
Today’s students don’t all fit the stereotype of an 18-year-old, single person. Many are returning to school as older students, some with families to support.
Whether there are more students today going hungry or awareness of a long-existing problem is growing is unclear. But officials cite factors that could be contributing to an increased need, including changing campus demographics and more students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as while higher costs for tuition and housing.
“Because no one has been doing this research, we don’t have comparable data to know whether it has changed over time,” Crutchfield said...
More at the link, in any case.
Satellite Phones Running Short in Puerto Rico
This is interesting.
At USA Today, "Puerto Rico's cell service is basically nonexistent. So this is happening."
At USA Today, "Puerto Rico's cell service is basically nonexistent. So this is happening."
Puerto Rico's cell service is basically nonexistent. So this is happening https://t.co/Vesqx3oYKD via @USATODAY
— Blue Alert (@BlueAlertUs) September 30, 2017
Hurricane Maria Aftermath: President Trump 'Lashes Out' After Mayor's Criticism of Administration's Relief Effort
Yawn.
More of the same old, same old.
The president's right of course: Thousands of federal officials are working to help Puerto Rico's recovery. This controversy is all politics.
Screw leftists. They're all hate, all the time.
At LAT, "Trump lashes out at Puerto Ricans after mayor's criticism of administration's relief effort":
More of the same old, same old.
The president's right of course: Thousands of federal officials are working to help Puerto Rico's recovery. This controversy is all politics.
Screw leftists. They're all hate, all the time.
At LAT, "Trump lashes out at Puerto Ricans after mayor's criticism of administration's relief effort":
From the comfort of his New Jersey golf resort, President Trump lashed out Saturday at the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the ravaged island’s residents, defending his administration’s hurricane response by suggesting that Puerto Ricans had not done enough to help themselves.More.
Trump’s Twitter assault, which began early Saturday and lasted until evening, was set off by criticism from Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who on Friday had criticized the federal response since Hurricane Maria’s Sept. 20 landfall.
“Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help,” Trump tweeted. He added: “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job.”
The president’s comments were a breathtaking and racially inflected swipe at residents who have labored for more than a week to survive without electricity, running water, food or medical supplies. Media reports have shown residents in the city and villages sweltering in line for hours with gas cans, hoping for enough fuel to run generators. Nearly every hospital in Puerto Rico lost power in the hurricane, though many have crept toward a semblance of operation. Thousands of crates of supplies have arrived in Puerto Rico, but their distribution has been slowed by destroyed roads and trucks and a shortage of drivers to deliver the goods around the island.
Media reports also have shown Puerto Ricans working together, a visible contradiction of the president’s suggestion that they and their leaders had avoided helping themselves. Cruz has been seen frequently on television reports, including wading through hip-deep water to help people and embracing sobbing constituents as she pleaded for more help.
“I am begging, begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying,” Cruz said Friday. “We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”
Minutes after broadcasts showed Trump telling reporters at the White House on Friday that “we have done an incredible job,” Cruz asserted on camera that the world could see Puerto Ricans being treated “as animals that can be disposed of.”
The controversy created an awkward backdrop for Trump’s plans to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, and perhaps the American Virgin Islands, also hit hard by the hurricane.
As has been common in other Trump disputes, Democrats immediately condemned the president while Republican leaders — including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — remained silent. But some conservatives lamented the president’s reflexive attacks.
“The people of Puerto Rico are hungry, thirsty, homeless and fearful,” conservative writer and radio host Erick Erickson wrote in an essay. Erickson predicted, accurately, that Trump supporters would contend that Mayor Cruz deserved Trump’s treatment because she criticized the president first.
“Yay, President Trump punched a critic — a critic who is on an island trying her best to help others where most of the people now have no homes, no power, and no running water. What a man he is!” Erickson wrote.
Later in the day, Trump appeared to go out of his way to show some sympathy for the 3.5 million citizens on the island, blaming the news media and Democrats for any suggestion that the recovery effort had been faulty.
“Despite the Fake News Media in conjunction with the Dems, an amazing job is being done in Puerto Rico. Great people!” he tweeted, adding later, “To the people of Puerto Rico: Do not believe the #FakeNews!”
Trump’s comments marked the second straight weekend he has set off a national furor with tweets and comments that targeted nonwhites for criticism. Since last weekend — including on Saturday — he has gone after African American athletes protesting police violence by declining to stand when the national anthem is played. He has demanded that the National Football League fire all such protesters...
ICYMI: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye
I picked up a copy, and this is cracking me up.
It's been so long since I read this book, it's crazy. I can't remember why I liked science fiction so much back in the day, but I read a good handful of sci-fi thrillers.
I've got this one at the bookshelf next to my bed. I'll get to it pretty quick.
At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
It's been so long since I read this book, it's crazy. I can't remember why I liked science fiction so much back in the day, but I read a good handful of sci-fi thrillers.
I've got this one at the bookshelf next to my bed. I'll get to it pretty quick.
At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
The Populist Insurrection Spinning Beyond Anyone's Control
And beyond the president's control in particular.
From Robert Costa, at WaPo, "With or without Trump, GOP insurgency plans for a civil war in 2018 midterms":
From Robert Costa, at WaPo, "With or without Trump, GOP insurgency plans for a civil war in 2018 midterms":
A political insurrection that is with Donald Trump in spirit but entirely out of his — or anyone’s — control. https://t.co/mU25YE7Odk
— Robert Costa (@costareports) September 30, 2017
The next Republican revolution began last week on a bright blue bus parked at a nighttime rally in Montgomery, Ala., days before a firebrand GOP candidate won the state’s Senate primary.Still more.
But unlike previous Republican revolutionaries, the hard-line figures who stepped out to cheers did not want to yank the party to the right on age-old issues such as taxes or spending. They wanted to gut it and leave its establishment smashed.
Fury infused these insurgents’ raw remarks as did a common theme: The Republican Party has failed its voters, and a national cleansing is needed in the coming year, regardless of whether President Trump is on board.
Longtime Republicans see a charged civil war on the horizon.
“There is an emotional component,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R) said of the frustrations of Trump’s core backers, who have grown increasingly vocal. “They want someone to kick over the table. And my advice to every Republican is: You better have an edge, or you become the problem.”
That populist rage in the base as Trump struggles to enact his priorities — which lifted former judge Roy Moore to victory on Tuesday against Trump’s ally, Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) — now threatens to upend GOP incumbents in 2018 as the latest incarnation of Republican grievance takes hold.
Stoked by former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and his incendiary media platform, Breitbart News, a new wave of anti-establishment activists and contenders is emerging to plot a political insurrection that is with Trump in spirit but entirely out of his — or anyone’s — control.
Central command is the “Breitbart Embassy,” a Capitol Hill townhouse where Bannon has recently huddled with candidates, from House prospects to Senate primary recruits. Hedge fund executive Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah — Bannon’s wealthy allies — have already pledged millions to the cause, said people briefed on their plans.
In the last seven years, the Mercers have emerged as some of the biggest political donors on the right, plowing tens of millions into GOP committees and super PACs. Their money has gone both to shore up the national Republican Party and to finance outside groups taking on the Washington establishment.
So far this year, the Mercers have contributed $2.7 million to federal political committees and campaigns, finance filings show.
Beyond cash, Mercer and Bannon also offer GOP rebels a vast media and advocacy ecosystem that generates attention on social media as well as small-dollar donations. Run by Rebekah, the Mercer family foundation has given $50 million to conservative and free-market think tanks and policy groups from 2009 to 2015, according to tax records compiled by The Washington Post and GuideStar USA, which reports on nonprofit companies.
And that blue bus — sponsored by the Great America Alliance and carrying former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, among other conservative celebrities, across Alabama — is scheduling stops across the country.
“If you don’t do your job, you’re going to see the bus, and you’re going to get bounced,” said Ed Rollins, the group’s strategist.
Rollins and Eric L. Beach, another adviser to the advocacy group, insisted that money would not save their elected Republican targets, pointing out that in Alabama they spent about $200,000, compared with the more than $10 million spent by the national GOP and Strange-aligned groups...
Friday, September 29, 2017
About to Start: Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
I'm almost done with Lidia Yuknavich's, The Book of Joan.
I've got so much great stuff to read, but I decided to go for Cormac McCarthy next, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West — A Novel.
I bought it brand new back in July. I might as well plow though it. Folks say it's one of the best American novels ever written. I'll let you know.
I've got so much great stuff to read, but I decided to go for Cormac McCarthy next, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West — A Novel.
I bought it brand new back in July. I might as well plow though it. Folks say it's one of the best American novels ever written. I'll let you know.
'Remember when conservatism involved principles instead of hair extensions? ...'
From Bethany Mandel, on Twitter:
PREVIOUSLY: "Tomi Lahren on National Anthem Protests in the NFL (VIDEO)."
Now she's doing the final thoughts for Fox. Everything is awful. Remember when conservatism involved principles instead of hair extensions? https://t.co/uhYfmD9ZUV
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) September 12, 2017
Watch this clip from @TomiLahren's Final Thoughts on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. https://t.co/kxnnvDYc6g pic.twitter.com/taxiM11nFj
— FoxNewsInsider (@FoxNewsInsider) September 11, 2017
PREVIOUSLY: "Tomi Lahren on National Anthem Protests in the NFL (VIDEO)."
Lucy Pinder
Hey, what the heck?
She's fabulous.
She's fabulous.
#Lucy @Stacey_poolefan @LucyMichelleGLM @BabeDepository @exxxcitement @5tayFro5ty @imperiotetas @Wildcard095 @Coach0302 @arg2012tumblr 🔥👌 pic.twitter.com/GdchbuQPCU
— JCG (fan Sophie) (@buquet1000) September 13, 2017
Stunning Elle Macpherson
She's 53!
Dang, what a woman!
Dang, what a woman!
Three litres of water a day, probiotic powder and sunscreen: Elle Macpherson shares her beauty regime https://t.co/ha02JzMvWd
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 18, 2017
Kirsten Powers Deleted Tweet Shaming Hugh Hefner Moments After Announcement of His Death
Sometimes you just need to chill on those hot takes.
Kirsten Powers wisely deleted this tweet about Hugh Hefner. pic.twitter.com/NFr7bDB1VB
— Brittain for Senate (@SenatorBrittain) September 28, 2017
New Demi Rose Bikini Pics
At London's Daily Mail:
Demi Rose shows off her famously curvaceous figure and TINY waist in a plunging blue bikini https://t.co/3eribdqZDz
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 28, 2017
Steve Scalise Returns to Congress Three Months After Assassination Attempt (VIDEO)
Standing ovation. Very emotional, triumphant moment.
Via PBS News Hours, a full 18-minute segment:
Via PBS News Hours, a full 18-minute segment:
'Matilda' Ignites Violent Protests from Russia's Religious Right
At LAT, "A movie about a czar's love affair ignites violent protest from Russia's religious right":
Polish actress Michalina Olszanska plays the role of Matilda Kshesinskaya, a young ballerina in a love affair with future Czar Nicholas II, in Russian director Alexei Uchitel's movie "Matilda."
A movie about a czar's love affair ignites violent protest from Russia's religious right https://t.co/SvcBoRpA3X pic.twitter.com/qtMxhdeQUo
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 29, 2017
Puerto Ricans Evacuate on a Cruise Ship
What a nightmare.
At LAT:
At LAT:
"We don’t even know when we’re coming back": Puerto Ricans evacuate to Florida on a cruise ship https://t.co/dXoip3ixUm pic.twitter.com/iHOHlNBn7S
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 29, 2017
It Shouldn't Be So Easy to Go to Grad School
Well, it wasn't particularly easy for me to to go grad school.
I wasn't funded my first year. I took loans. After doing very well that first year, the university gave me a full four-year ride: tuition fellowships, minority fellowships, and teaching assistantships, etc. I was so happy: I was overjoyed when the letter from the graduate division arrived!
In any case, I don't recommend my students go for the Ph.D. in political science, not in this job market, unless it's a die-hard dream for them, something to achieve out of love of the discipline. It's probably better to get a master degree in a professional program, like public public policy or international relations.
In any case, at Instapundit, "HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Megan Mcardle: It Shouldn’t Be So Easy to Go to Grad School: Universities are milking the huge loan sums from grad students to subsidize the cost of undergraduate degrees. This system is broken."
I wasn't funded my first year. I took loans. After doing very well that first year, the university gave me a full four-year ride: tuition fellowships, minority fellowships, and teaching assistantships, etc. I was so happy: I was overjoyed when the letter from the graduate division arrived!
In any case, I don't recommend my students go for the Ph.D. in political science, not in this job market, unless it's a die-hard dream for them, something to achieve out of love of the discipline. It's probably better to get a master degree in a professional program, like public public policy or international relations.
In any case, at Instapundit, "HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Megan Mcardle: It Shouldn’t Be So Easy to Go to Grad School: Universities are milking the huge loan sums from grad students to subsidize the cost of undergraduate degrees. This system is broken."
Shop Today
At Amazon, Today's Deals.
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BONUS: Dave Canterbury, Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival.
See, especially, Waste King Garbage Disposals.
More, Elite Cuisine EMC-001 Maxi-Matic 1.5 Cup Mini Food Chopper with Stainless Steel Blades and Safety Lock Cover, White.
And, Paderno World Cuisine Puree Maker.
More, Elite Gourmet EMT-503B Maxi-Matic 130 Watt Die-Cast-Aluminum Electric Food Slicer, Black.
Here, Weber 46110001 Spirit E210 Liquid Propane Gas Grill, Black.
Also, Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker: Slow Cooker, Brown/Saute, Steamer.
Plus, Craig Claiborne New York Times Cook Book.
Still more, DeLonghi EW7707CM Safe Heat 1500W ComforTemp Portable Oil-Filled Radiator.
BONUS: Dave Canterbury, Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival.
Demonizing Heterosexuals
Actually, this op-ed doesn't appear very supportive. In fact, the author demonizes normal people as grotesque monsters. And she spews fake "research" suggesting the most successful family arrangement for raising kids is lesbian partnerships. So stupid.
I get angry reading these leftist screeds sometimes. They're so fucked up.
I get angry reading these leftist screeds sometimes. They're so fucked up.
Let's consider frankly an aspect of the same-sex marriage debate not adequately covered so far: heterosexuality https://t.co/IOiCUBwsed
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) September 29, 2017
My wife and I have six children. Gonna bet that's six more children than Dr. Pryor has.
— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) September 29, 2017
Tomi Lahren on National Anthem Protests in the NFL (VIDEO)
At Fox News.
I think Ms. Tomi's lucky to have landed that gig at Fox. She burned some bridges going on the View. So stupid.
I think Ms. Tomi's lucky to have landed that gig at Fox. She burned some bridges going on the View. So stupid.
Garth Kemp's Weekend Weather Forecast
He's a cool guy.
It's been pretty hot in the afternoons, and nippy overnight.
For CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
It's been pretty hot in the afternoons, and nippy overnight.
For CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
Thursday, September 28, 2017
By the Book with Jennifer Egan
I posted the other day, "Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad."
She has a new book out next week, at Amazon, Manhattan Beach: A Novel.
And at NYT, "Jennifer Egan: By the Book."
She has a new book out next week, at Amazon, Manhattan Beach: A Novel.
And at NYT, "Jennifer Egan: By the Book."
Jennifer Egan doesn't read memoirs. "My feeling is always that I’m saving them for later." https://t.co/xCyPgLfkR6
— New York Times Books (@nytimesbooks) September 28, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Jerry Pournelle Remembered at Instapundit
Mr. Pournelle died September 8th.
The New York Times' obituary is here, "Jerry Pournelle, Science Fiction Novelist and Computer Guide, Dies at 84."
And check Instapundit for all kinds of commemoration.
Here's the link I posed a couple of minutes ago, for Niven and Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
Also, The Gripping Hand, and The Legacy of Heorot.
The New York Times' obituary is here, "Jerry Pournelle, Science Fiction Novelist and Computer Guide, Dies at 84."
And check Instapundit for all kinds of commemoration.
Here's the link I posed a couple of minutes ago, for Niven and Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
Also, The Gripping Hand, and The Legacy of Heorot.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye
I read this years ago --- decades ago --- when I was about 19.
I'm getting fired up again about science fiction. It's a trip, heh.
At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
I'm getting fired up again about science fiction. It's a trip, heh.
At Amazon, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye.
Amanda Holden's Plunging Dress on 'Britain's Got Talent'
She was almost topless up there, so I can understand all the complaints.
At the Telegraph U.K., "Amanda Holden's plunging Britain's Got Talent dress attracts the most Ofcom complaints of the year."
At the Telegraph U.K., "Amanda Holden's plunging Britain's Got Talent dress attracts the most Ofcom complaints of the year."
Today's Deals New Deals.
Shop, Today's Deals at Amazon.
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BONUS: Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere.
See, especially, Klipsch 12" 400 Watts Wireless Subwoofer Brushed Black Vinyl (R-12SWi).
Also, Yamaha MusicCast R-N402 Hi-Fi Network Receiver.
Plus, Save on Logitech Accessories.
And, Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone.
More, J.B. Icelandic Artic Trail -40 Below Winter Sock (2 Pairs).
Still more, High Sierra Long Trail 90 Internal Frame Pack.
Here, Camping Cookware Mess Kit Backpacking Gear & Hiking Outdoors Bug Out Bag Cooking Equipment 10 Piece Cookset | Lightweight, Compact, & Durable Pot Pan Bowls - Free Folding Spork, Nylon Bag, & Ebook.
BONUS: Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Spectacular Samantha Hoopes
At Sports Illustrated:
Mondaze with mega babe @SamanthaHoopes... 😍 https://t.co/zPrhYFAU6T pic.twitter.com/dzfaHdAZc8
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villanueva Apologizes for Standing for National Anthem (VIDEO)
We're in a bad place in America, where you have to apologize for standing up for your country. And it's especially bad that this guy groveled: He served in Afghanistan. Three tours. Three f***ing tours. Mike Tomlin, the entire Steelers organization, and the NFL need to apologize to him.
Folks are saying they're done with the NFL. Lifelong fans as saying they're through. The higher-ups surrounding Roger Goodell need to do some serious damage control. This is getting existential.
And I was angry today talking about this with my wife. I felt pure anger.
Folks are saying they're done with the NFL. Lifelong fans as saying they're through. The higher-ups surrounding Roger Goodell need to do some serious damage control. This is getting existential.
And I was angry today talking about this with my wife. I felt pure anger.
#Villanueva Says He Made A Mistake
— Dr. Marty Fox (@DrMartyFox) September 26, 2017
Standing For The Anthem
Watch The Hostage Video
You Can Return Your Jerseys Nowpic.twitter.com/3IPhBITTUh
John M. Del Vecchio, The 13th Valley
At Amazon, John M. Del Vecchio, The 13th Valley: A Novel.
A work that has served as a literary cornerstone for the Vietnam generation, The 13th Valley follows the strange and terrifying Vietnam combat experiences of James Chelini, a telephone-systems installer who finds himself an infantryman in territory controlled by the North Vietnamese Army. Spiraling deeper and deeper into a world of conflict and darkness, this harrowing account of Chelini's plunge and immersion into jungle warfare traces his evolution from a semi-pacifist to an all-out warmonger. The seminal novel on the Vietnam experience, The 13th Valley is a classic that illuminates the war in Southeast Asia like no other book.
The Politicization of Everything
At WSJ:
"This is the kind of rant you’d hear in a lousy sports bar." https://t.co/d4JqjHSCX9
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 25, 2017
No doubt most Americans agree with Mr. Trump that they don’t want their flag disrespected, especially by millionaire athletes. But Mr. Trump never stops at reasonable, and so he called for kneeling players to be fired or suspended, and if the league didn’t comply for fans to “boycott” the NFL.And at Instapundit, "WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Politicization of Everything."
He also plunged into the debate over head injuries without a speck of knowledge about the latest brain science, claiming that the NFL was “ruining the game” by trying to stop dangerous physical hits. This is the kind of rant you’d hear in a lousy sports bar.
Mr. Trump has managed to unite the players and owners against him, though several owners supported him for President and donated to his inaugural. The owners were almost obliged to defend their sport, even if their complaints that Mr. Trump was “divisive” ignored the divisive acts by Mr. Kaepernick and his media allies that injected politics into football in the first place.
Americans don’t begrudge athletes their free-speech rights—see the popularity of Charles Barkley —but disrespecting the national anthem puts partisanship above a symbol of nationhood that thousands have died for. Players who chose to kneel shouldn’t be surprised that fans around the country booed them on Sunday. This is the patriotic sentiment that they are helping Mr. Trump exploit for what he no doubt thinks is his own political advantage.
American democracy was healthier when politics at the ballpark was limited to fans booing politicians who threw out the first ball—almost as a bipartisan obligation. This showed a healthy skepticism toward the political class. But now the players want to be politicians and use their fame to lecture other Americans, the parsons of the press corps want to make them moral spokesmen, and the President wants to run against the players.
The losers are the millions of Americans who would rather cheer for their teams on Sunday as a respite from work and the other divisions of American life.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Sarah Sentilles, Draw Your Weapons
At Amazon, Sarah Sentilles, Draw Your Weapons.
A single book might not change the world. But this utterly original meditation on art and war might transform the way you see the world—and that makes all the difference.
“How to live in the face of so much suffering? What difference can one person make in this beautiful, imperfect, and imperiled world?”
Through a dazzling combination of memoir, history, reporting, visual culture, literature, and theology, Sarah Sentilles offers an impassioned defense of life lived by peace and principle. It is a literary collage with an urgent hope at its core: that art might offer tools for remaking the world.
In Draw Your Weapons, Sentilles tells the true stories of Howard, a conscientious objector during World War II, and Miles, a former prison guard at Abu Ghraib, and in the process she challenges conventional thinking about how war is waged, witnessed, and resisted. The pacifist and the soldier both create art in response to war: Howard builds a violin; Miles paints portraits of detainees. With echoes of Susan Sontag and Maggie Nelson, Sentilles investigates images of violence from the era of slavery to the drone age. In doing so, she wrestles with some of our most profound questions: What does it take to inspire compassion? What impact can one person have? How should we respond to violence when it feels like it can’t be stopped?
Shop Deals
At Amazon, Today's Deals.
And see especially, GermGuardian AC4825 3-in-1 Air Cleaning System with True HEPA Filter, UV-C Sanitizer, Allergen and Odor Reduction, 22-Inch Air Purifier.
And, Buck Knives 0119 Special Fixed Blade Knife with Leather Sheath - 75th Anniversary Edition.
More, Honeywell HCE840B Heat Genius Ceramic Heater, Black.
Also, Suavecito Pomade Firme (Strong) Hold 4 oz.
Still more, Apple MD827LL/A EarPods with Remote and Mic – Non Retail Packaging – White.
Here, Hershey's 36ct. Plus 1 Bonus Bar (37 Bars Total).
Plus, Mr. Coffee ECMP1000 Café Barista Premium Espresso/Cappuccino System, Silver.
BONUS: Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).
And see especially, GermGuardian AC4825 3-in-1 Air Cleaning System with True HEPA Filter, UV-C Sanitizer, Allergen and Odor Reduction, 22-Inch Air Purifier.
And, Buck Knives 0119 Special Fixed Blade Knife with Leather Sheath - 75th Anniversary Edition.
More, Honeywell HCE840B Heat Genius Ceramic Heater, Black.
Also, Suavecito Pomade Firme (Strong) Hold 4 oz.
Still more, Apple MD827LL/A EarPods with Remote and Mic – Non Retail Packaging – White.
Here, Hershey's 36ct. Plus 1 Bonus Bar (37 Bars Total).
Plus, Mr. Coffee ECMP1000 Café Barista Premium Espresso/Cappuccino System, Silver.
BONUS: Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).
General Martin E. Dempsey: Why We Stand for the Flag
At USA Today:
Why we stand for the flag: Gen. Dempsey https://t.co/AA4DEzYRqH via @usatopinion
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 25, 2017
In the course of everyday life, there are very few opportunities for the people of the United States to come together, pause and reflect on the hope that is only possible with freedom and democracy. Our national anthem is a statement of respect for this hope, not a declaration that those present agree with everything our nation does or fails to do.More.
That’s why members of the military and other public servants love sports and why sports love them. As the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I witnessed the public ritual of playing the national anthem at sporting events dozens of times and saw Americans rise above their own self interests and celebrate something that is greater than themselves. More recently, I was in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics and stood with enormous pride as our flag was raised and the anthem played when outstanding athletes across a variety of sports were moved to tears by the honor of representing their country.
National anthem doesn't belong only to the military: Dan Carney Life presents plenty of opportunities for us to disagree with one another and seemingly fewer opportunities on which we agree. Standing together during the national anthem at sporting events should be one of those times when we agree, when we focus on the things that bind us together, even as we prepare to let our voices be heard in disagreement about which team is the better team...
David Conn, The Fall of the House of FIFA
Here's a change of pace for you.
At Amazon, David Conn, The Fall of the House of FIFA: The Multimillion-Dollar Corruption at the Heart of Global Soccer.
At Amazon, David Conn, The Fall of the House of FIFA: The Multimillion-Dollar Corruption at the Heart of Global Soccer.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Jennifer Delacruz's Warm Sunshine Forecast
Some folks on Twitter have been saying fall's their favorite season of the year, and with this weather, who can blame them?
Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:
Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:
Neal Stephenson, Reamde
I'm still working on Cryptonomicon, which is about 900 pages long. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, though, and it's perhaps the best book I've read all summer.
I mention it since I just saw Reamde while out to Barnes and Noble just now. I hadn't seen it before, but it looks like another great book.
At Amazon, Neal Stephenson, Reamde: A Novel.
I mention it since I just saw Reamde while out to Barnes and Noble just now. I hadn't seen it before, but it looks like another great book.
At Amazon, Neal Stephenson, Reamde: A Novel.
Gold Box Deals
At Amazon, Today's Deals.
Also, Men's USC Trojans 100% Cotton Long Sleeve Hoodie.
More, Wahl Elite Pro High Performance Haircut Kit.
And, Buschman Set of Four Dark Gun Metal Gray 24 Inches Counter High Tolix-Style Metal Bar Stools, Indoor/Outdoor, Stackable.
Plus, Craftsman 6 Drawer Heavy Duty Top Tool Chest, All Steel Construction & Smooth Glide Drawers.
Even more, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.
And, GreenWorks 24252 G-MAX 40V 150 MPH Variable Speed Cordless Blower, (2Ah) Battery and Charger Included.
BONUS: Jesmyn Ward, ed., The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race.
Also, Men's USC Trojans 100% Cotton Long Sleeve Hoodie.
More, Wahl Elite Pro High Performance Haircut Kit.
And, Buschman Set of Four Dark Gun Metal Gray 24 Inches Counter High Tolix-Style Metal Bar Stools, Indoor/Outdoor, Stackable.
Plus, Craftsman 6 Drawer Heavy Duty Top Tool Chest, All Steel Construction & Smooth Glide Drawers.
Even more, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.
And, GreenWorks 24252 G-MAX 40V 150 MPH Variable Speed Cordless Blower, (2Ah) Battery and Charger Included.
BONUS: Jesmyn Ward, ed., The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race.
Jennifer Delacruz's Happy Fall Wishes
And she's got a segment last night on Puerto Rico's failing damn. Watch, "Thousands evacuated near failing dam in Puerto Rico."
PREVIOUSLY: "Jennifer Delacruz's Warming Weather Forecast."
Happy Fall! I’ll be in the weather center tracking your weekend forecast all night long. Join us live right now on @10News #SanDiegoWX pic.twitter.com/lf4OMdDt4t— Jennifer Delacruz (@10NewsJen) September 23, 2017
PREVIOUSLY: "Jennifer Delacruz's Warming Weather Forecast."
Jennifer Delacruz's Warming Weather Forecast
It's beautiful fall weather. Really crisp and clear out today in Irvine.
Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:
Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:
President Trump's Righteous Outrage at NFL 'Kneelers'
On Twitter:
EIGHT tweets in two days about Trump's feelings about NFL/athletes. pic.twitter.com/l7ETBbiiKJ
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 24, 2017
Michelle Malkin Blasts NFL 'Kneelers' (VIDEO)
Following-up, "Judge Jeanine Slams Roger Goodell and Millionaire NFL Players Taking a Knew Against Our Country (VIDEO)."
Here's Michelle from the show:
Here's Michelle from the show:
Ana de Armas for Vogue Magazine Spain October 2017
She'll star in "Blade Runner 2049."
And at Vogue Spain, via Egotastic!, "Ana De Armas Sexy for Vogue Magazine Spain October 2017."
And at Vogue Spain, via Egotastic!, "Ana De Armas Sexy for Vogue Magazine Spain October 2017."
Ana de Armas – Vogue España October 2017 https://t.co/f9ky7eHa3Z— Celeb Pictures 📸 (@celebrity_hive) September 20, 2017
Justine Nicolas for Lui Magzine
She's wonderful.
See, "SUBLIME JUSTINE."
Also, "The Liaison Fatale Collection with Model Justine Nicolas."
See, "SUBLIME JUSTINE."
Also, "The Liaison Fatale Collection with Model Justine Nicolas."
Judge Jeanine Slams Roger Goodell and Millionaire NFL Players Taking a Knew Against Our Country (VIDEO)
This is the big story today.
I'm not watching NFL football. I'll boycott the fuckers. Too many Americans have paid the ultimate price for the right of these idiots to disrespect the flag. It's their right to kneel. And it's my right not to watch.
I'll have more, but tune in for this entire opening statement from Judge Jeanine. Rarely is she more pissed off. I love her. And I love President Trump:
I'm not watching NFL football. I'll boycott the fuckers. Too many Americans have paid the ultimate price for the right of these idiots to disrespect the flag. It's their right to kneel. And it's my right not to watch.
I'll have more, but tune in for this entire opening statement from Judge Jeanine. Rarely is she more pissed off. I love her. And I love President Trump:
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Far-Left David Remnick Slams President Trump for 'Racial Demagoguery' After NFL Comments
Who cares?
Who seriously even cares what idiot left-wing coastal elites like David Remnick have to say. He's the guy who completely lost it on election night last year, "David Remnick: 'An American Tragedy'," and so his screed tonight is just more fodder for leftist haters.
It's a Memeorandum, linking Remnick at the New Yorker, "The Racial Demagoguery of Trump's Assaults on Colin Kaepernick and Steph Curry."
Actually, it's not "racial demagoguery" --- at all. The truth is far-left athletes are out of touch with the people who support them, and the president's giving the rock-ribbed patriotic masses their voice. Stupid media hacks like Remnick and so many other don't speak for the regular folks who want politics out of sports. No, it's no surprise both attendance and ratings are down for NFL games. When the players hate the fans, expect the fans to say FU.
Also at Twitter, "Trump stokes a bilious disdain for every African-American who dares to protest the injustices of this country."
Yeah, it's a culture war, and the radical left brought it on. Suck it up, Remnick, you disgusting pig.
Who seriously even cares what idiot left-wing coastal elites like David Remnick have to say. He's the guy who completely lost it on election night last year, "David Remnick: 'An American Tragedy'," and so his screed tonight is just more fodder for leftist haters.
It's a Memeorandum, linking Remnick at the New Yorker, "The Racial Demagoguery of Trump's Assaults on Colin Kaepernick and Steph Curry."
Actually, it's not "racial demagoguery" --- at all. The truth is far-left athletes are out of touch with the people who support them, and the president's giving the rock-ribbed patriotic masses their voice. Stupid media hacks like Remnick and so many other don't speak for the regular folks who want politics out of sports. No, it's no surprise both attendance and ratings are down for NFL games. When the players hate the fans, expect the fans to say FU.
Also at Twitter, "Trump stokes a bilious disdain for every African-American who dares to protest the injustices of this country."
Yeah, it's a culture war, and the radical left brought it on. Suck it up, Remnick, you disgusting pig.
Nelson DeMille, The Cuban Affair
I've been shying away from espionage thrillers. It's not that I don't like them. I just suppose they're guilty pleasures, and perhaps not as intellectually enriching as the literary fiction I've been reading (to say nothing of the classics). That said, I used to read Robert Ludlum back in the 1980s. Yep, The Bourne Identity, The Holcroft Covenant, The Matarese Circle, and just about all the others. I love that stuff, but I got away from the genre.
Well, I was out browsing books in Costa Mesa during the summer, and a woman asked if I'd read Nelson DeMille. I mentioned it the other day, at my earlier entry, Nelson DeMille, By the Rivers of Babylon. I've been collecting his books in paperback. I still need about four or five and the collection will be complete.
But now here comes his latest in hard-copy.
At Amazon, Nelson DeMille, The Cuban Affair: A Novel.
It looks like a page-turner!
Well, I was out browsing books in Costa Mesa during the summer, and a woman asked if I'd read Nelson DeMille. I mentioned it the other day, at my earlier entry, Nelson DeMille, By the Rivers of Babylon. I've been collecting his books in paperback. I still need about four or five and the collection will be complete.
But now here comes his latest in hard-copy.
At Amazon, Nelson DeMille, The Cuban Affair: A Novel.
It looks like a page-turner!
Jennifer Delacruz's Weather Forecast for Saturday
From last night, at ABC 10 San Diego, the lovely Ms. Jennifer:
Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
I think this is the best of all Hemingway books, and I've read most of them.
I read my mom's old hardback copy in 1984. It was so moving, I think it's what convinced me to go back to college. (I'd dropped out for a while. I returned to community college when I was 24. James Jones was also a big influence.)
I haven't seen a copy of this one while out during my used book hunting trips, which is weird. I guess there's not too many old paperback copies in circulation, which seems a shame.
Whatever.
At Amazon, Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Novel.
I read my mom's old hardback copy in 1984. It was so moving, I think it's what convinced me to go back to college. (I'd dropped out for a while. I returned to community college when I was 24. James Jones was also a big influence.)
I haven't seen a copy of this one while out during my used book hunting trips, which is weird. I guess there's not too many old paperback copies in circulation, which seems a shame.
Whatever.
At Amazon, Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Novel.
ICYMI: Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan
*BUMPED.*
My mom bought me a copy for my birthday.
As always, I've got a couple of other books to wrap up, then I'll start out on this one. I'm looking forward to it. The jacket blurbs are ecstatic.
[I've started it. I'm enjoying it very much, and it's a quick read so far. Definitely worth it for purchase.]
At Amazon, Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan.
My mom bought me a copy for my birthday.
As always, I've got a couple of other books to wrap up, then I'll start out on this one. I'm looking forward to it. The jacket blurbs are ecstatic.
[I've started it. I'm enjoying it very much, and it's a quick read so far. Definitely worth it for purchase.]
At Amazon, Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan.
James Jones, The Thin Red Line
A monumental achievement.
He's one of my favorite writers.
At Amazon, James Jones, The Thin Red Line: A Novel.
He's one of my favorite writers.
At Amazon, James Jones, The Thin Red Line: A Novel.
Democrat Mania for Single Payer
California's leading the push for nationalized, socialized medicine. Bernie Sanders is lending his name to a nationwide effort.
At LAT:
At LAT:
The push for single-payer healthcare just went national. What does that mean for the California effort? https://t.co/IzhfGCLq2X pic.twitter.com/XMduqLGCkW
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 22, 2017
Time's Deep Dive Into the Ever-Shrinking Democrat Party
From Matt Vespa, at Town Hall, "Collapse: Time Magazine's Brutal Deep Dive Into the Ever Shrinking and Regional Democratic Party."
I read the Time piece, a lengthy cover story. It's good.
I read the Time piece, a lengthy cover story. It's good.
This week's @TIME cover: A divided Democratic party debates its future https://t.co/qNeN9ZfPQw via @Philip_Elliott pic.twitter.com/jJbVIEMHM6
— TIMEPolitics (@TIMEPolitics) September 21, 2017
Demi Rose Jaw-Dropping Bikini Photos
At London's Daily Mail:
Demi Rose Mawby drops jaws while displaying her bombshell curves during sexy Ibiza bikini shoot https://t.co/DxobxGaiOX
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 20, 2017
TOPLESS Demi Rose covers her ample bosom with her hands as she poses for photoshoot in Ibiza https://t.co/RVWxbDeGUm
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 22, 2017
Portuguese Model Locas Diego
At Editorials Fashion Trends, "LOCAS DIEGO BY JOSE LUIS CUNHA."
Also, at Elusive, "Locas Diego by Kid Richards: Portuguese Model Captured by Photographer in Lisbon (PHOTOS)."
Also, at Elusive, "Locas Diego by Kid Richards: Portuguese Model Captured by Photographer in Lisbon (PHOTOS)."
Sultry Lais Ribeiro Pictorial
At Editorials Fashion Trends, "LAÍS RIBEIRO BY ADAM FRANZINO."
And at Sports Illustrated:
And at Sports Illustrated:
Get intimate with our girl @Lalaribeiro16... 👀 https://t.co/WF7Qr3YuH2 pic.twitter.com/YgqAIu2GwY
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) September 17, 2017
Valerie Plame Apologizes for Tweeting Anti-Semitic Article Blaming Jewish Neocons for America's Wars
I'm not linking directly to the vile Unz Review. You can click through at Memeorandum if you want, "America's Jews Are Driving America's Wars."
No one would have seen this except loads of Jew-hating leftists if it weren't for the idiot Valerie Plame tweeting it. She's apologized now, after taking enormous flak.
At the Daily Caller, "Valerie Plame Wants to Warn You About the Jews."
And at Mediaite, "Ex-CIA Officer Valerie Plame Apologizes for Promoting Article Blaming ‘America’s Jews’ for War."
No one would have seen this except loads of Jew-hating leftists if it weren't for the idiot Valerie Plame tweeting it. She's apologized now, after taking enormous flak.
At the Daily Caller, "Valerie Plame Wants to Warn You About the Jews."
And at Mediaite, "Ex-CIA Officer Valerie Plame Apologizes for Promoting Article Blaming ‘America’s Jews’ for War."
OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
I’m not perfect and make mistakes. This was a doozy. All I can do is admit them, try to be better, and read more thoroughly next time. Ugh.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
Apologies all. There is so much there that’s problematic AF and I should have recognized it sooner. Thank you for pushing me to look again.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
I missed gross undercurrents to this article & didn’t do my homework on the platform this piece came from. Now that I see it, it’s obvious.
— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 21, 2017
Friday, September 22, 2017
Novelist Alexandra Fuller Accused of Cultural Appropriation
Of course.
I just shake my damn head sometimes.
Here's her book, Quiet Until the Thaw: A Novel.
It's on my wish list, and then now I see this, accusations of "cultural appropriation," at the New York Times (where else?), "Alexandra Fuller’s Novel of Lakota Culture May Stir the Appropriation Debate":
A white writer, born in Britain, raised in colonial Africa and residing for years in Wyoming, writes a novel about the Oglala Lakota of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In a prefatory note included with advance copies of the book, she cites a three-month visit she made to Pine Ridge in 2011. “For the first time since coming to the United States in the mid-90s, I neither needed to explain myself nor have this world explained to me,” she says. Being on the reservation felt like an “unexpected homecoming, if home is where your soul can settle in recognition.”
I just shake my damn head sometimes.
Here's her book, Quiet Until the Thaw: A Novel.
It's on my wish list, and then now I see this, accusations of "cultural appropriation," at the New York Times (where else?), "Alexandra Fuller’s Novel of Lakota Culture May Stir the Appropriation Debate":
Keep reading (FWIW).
The writer is Alexandra Fuller, and from this jolt of recognition she fashioned “Quiet Until the Thaw,” a novel that dives deep into Lakota culture and history. An author of six books of nonfiction who made her name with a searing memoir of her African childhood, Fuller is here a careful inventor: Many of the events she describes, at least one of her central characters and more than a few snippets of dialogue are rooted in fact. The novel is peppered with Lakota words, not all of them easily translatable, and the story she recounts, of a pair of Oglala boys whose lives on the reservation become fatefully entwined, is an impassioned allegory of the long-suffering Lakota people. More subtly, it’s an awed meditation on the lofty conundrums of time and being, and on the ways oppression seeks to blind us to the fundamental interconnectedness of things. Fuller’s novel is like a delicately calibrated tuning fork, resonating at a cosmic pitch.
That she wrests such sweep from a couple of hundred odd pages is itself a bit awe-inspiring. Like Rick Overlooking Horse, one of the two Oglala boys, who speaks only when necessary — by the time he turns 10, “he had uttered, all told, about enough words to fill a pamphlet from the Rezurrection Ministry outfit based out of Dallas, Tex.” — Fuller is terse. She doesn’t narrate so much as poetically distill, into chapters seldom more than a page and a half long, the beauty, violence, poverty, humiliation and resilience that have marked Lakota existence for several hundred years. In one, a young tribal activist travels to Palestine, where she dines on camel with Yasir Arafat and speaks at an event honoring leaders of indigenous groups. “They can rewrite history, and erase our stories. But what my mind hasn’t been allowed to know, my body has always known,” the activist tells her audience. “I am an undeniable, inconvenient body of knowledge. Read me.” She proceeds to stand before the crowd in silence for 15 minutes.
The punch Fuller’s book packs is visceral, but it wears its righteousness with tact, its tone more consolation than jeremiad. At its heart is a bifurcation. Orphaned at birth, Rick Overlooking Horse and another parentless boy, You Choose Watson, are raised in a tar-paper lean-to by Rick Overlooking Horse’s grandmother, Mina, the local midwife. Although not prone to chattiness herself, Mina is disposed, especially when high on Wahupta, to recount to her young charges tribal myths and battle tales, and to instill in them an appreciation for key Lakota precepts regarding the “eternal nature of everything.” “They say you’ve been here from the very start, and you’ll be here to the very end,” she tells her stupefied grandson. “Like that breath you just took. In the beginning, a dinosaur breathed that breath. Then a tree. Then an ant. Then you, now me.”
Mina’s teachings suggest a vision of politics as enlightened forbearance — since what goes around comes around — and Rick Overlooking Horse, assisted by some Wahupta experimentation of his own, comes to embrace this view. He gets sent to Vietnam, where he survives the casual racism of his fellow G.I.s, along with a friendly-fire napalm bomb that solders his dog tag to his chest and vaporizes the rest of his squad. He returns to the reservation resolved “never to lay so much as the tip of a single finger on the diseased currency of the White Man,” and installs himself in a tepee on a patch of empty land.
You Choose, meanwhile, channels his rage into violence. He feigns diabetes to escape the draft, and wanders north, dabbling in odd jobs and drug dealing before returning to the reservation and getting himself elected chairman of his increasingly restive tribe. Here, the disparity between the two men comes into sharp relief. Rick Overlooking Horse, acquiring a reputation for spiritual wisdom, is sought out by addicts, wounded veterans and the lovesick, while You Choose becomes a figure of terror. Like Richard (Dick) Wilson, the notorious chairman of the Oglala Lakota from 1972 to 1976, whom he closely resembles, You Choose plunders tribal funds, sidelines opponents and surrounds himself with a private militia, the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs). There are bloody clashes over purity (like Wilson, You Choose is of mixed blood) and over colonization (tribe members whose lifestyles are regarded as too white are referred to as “Colonized Indian Asses,” or C.I.A.). The murder rate surpasses that of New York and Detroit.
The conflict culminates in the novel as it did in life, with the 1973 siege at Wounded Knee, where Rick Overlooking Horse and hundreds of other protesters demand You Choose’s removal as tribal chairman and the resumption of treaty negotiations with the federal government. United States marshals descend, thousands of rounds are fired, and both Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose end up doing jail time...
Herta Müller, The Hunger Angel
I'm reading all kinds of good stuff, but I still come across the most amazing, fascinating things sometimes.
At Amazon, Herta Müller, The Hunger Angel: A Novel.
It was an icy morning in January 1945 when the patrol came for seventeen-year-old Leo Auberg to deport him to a camp in the Soviet Union. Leo would spend the next five years in a coke processing plant, shoveling coal, lugging bricks, mixing mortar, and battling the relentless calculus of hunger that governed the labor colony: one shovel load of coal is worth one gram of bread.
At Amazon, Herta Müller, The Hunger Angel: A Novel.
In The Hunger Angel, Nobel laureate Herta Müller calls upon her unique combination of poetic intensity and dispassionate precision to conjure the distorted world of the labor camp in all its physical and moral absurdity. She has given Leo the language to express the inexpressible, as hunger sharpens his senses into an acuity that is both hallucinatory and profound. In scene after disorienting scene, the most ordinary objects accrue tender poignancy as they acquire new purpose―a gramophone box serves as a suitcase, a handkerchief becomes a talisman, an enormous piece of casing pipe functions as a lovers' trysting place. The heart is reduced to a pump, the breath mechanized to the rhythm of a swinging shovel, and coal, sand, and snow have a will of their own. Hunger becomes an insatiable angel who haunts the camp, but also a bare-knuckled sparring partner, delivering blows that keep Leo feeling the rawest connection to life.
Müller has distilled Leo's struggle into words of breathtaking intensity that take us on a journey far beyond the Gulag and into the depths of one man's soul.
Rams Beat 49ers 41-39, Kindling Excitement in Los Angeles (VIDEO)
Could this be a breakout season for the Rams?
Hey, they're a lot better than last year.
At LAT, "Jared Goff, Todd Gurley lead Rams to a wild 41-39 victory over the 49ers."
Hey, they're a lot better than last year.
At LAT, "Jared Goff, Todd Gurley lead Rams to a wild 41-39 victory over the 49ers."
Danielle Gersh's Fall Weather Forecast
It's the first day of fall season.
Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle's forecast from last night, for KCAL 9 Los Angeles:
Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle's forecast from last night, for KCAL 9 Los Angeles:
Mexico Earthquake: Scenes of Desolation and Hope (VIDEO)
At LAT, "In Mexico, scenes of desolation and hope as the death toll reaches 274":
Scenes of desolation and rejoicing unspooled Thursday at the sites of buildings crumbled by Mexico’s deadly earthquake, which killed at least 274 people and galvanized heroic efforts to reach those trapped.More.
But a parallel drama transpired as the government announced that there were no missing children in the ruins of a collapsed school — after the country was transfixed for a night and a day by reports of a 12-year-old girl feebly signaling to rescuers from under the rubble.
Outrage ensued over what many Mexicans believed was a deliberate deception.
On Thursday afternoon, the Mexican navy reported that there was no sign that any child was missing and alive in the rubble of the Enrique Rebsamen school on Mexico City’s south side, where at least 19 children and six adults had died. One more adult might still be trapped in the rubble, navy Undersecretary Angel Enrique Sarmiento said at a news conference.
“All of the children are unfortunately dead,” he said, “or safe at home.”
Mexico’s larger tragedy continued to unfold as rescuers in three states, battling grinding fatigue and mountains of rubble, raced against time, keenly aware of ever-dwindling odds of finding people alive beneath the debris after Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 temblor.
The overall confirmed fatality count was expected to climb as more bodies were recovered. Rescuers at sites across the sprawling metropolis of Mexico City used search dogs and calls to the cellphones of those trapped to try to pinpoint the location of anyone who had survived two nights under the remains of damaged buildings.
The harrowing rescue effort at the Enrique Rebsamen school had become a social media sensation when news outlets began reporting intensively about the search for a trapped girl thought to be named “Frida Sofia.”
By Thursday afternoon, authorities said that at least one boy or girl was believed to be alive in the wrecked building but that they were not sure of the child’s name. Then the navy’s announcement dashed any remaining hopes for small survivors.
The confusing Frida Sofia saga took another strange turn Thursday night, when a grim-faced Sarmiento went on live television and sought to explain earlier statements by the navy about the girl. He ended up confusing matters even further.
Earlier Thursday, Sarmiento had insisted that the navy never had any knowledge of a girl who was supposedly trapped in the rubble.
In his evening news conference, however, Sarmiento contradicted the earlier statement, conceding that the navy had distributed reports of a girl surviving inside the school “based on technical reports and the testimony of civilian rescue workers and of this institution.” He offered no explanation for the conflicting accounts, but apologized.
“I offer an apology to Mexicans for the information given this afternoon in which I said that the navy did not have any details about a supposed minor survivor in this tragedy,” Sarmiento, dressed in military fatigues, told reporters at an outdoor news conference.
Sarmiento repeated his earlier assertion that it was possible that someone remained alive in the rubble. But Thursday evening he did not rule out the possibility that it was a child. Mexicans and others following the matter were left perplexed.
“Nonetheless,” Sarmiento added, “the Mexican people should know that as long as the minimum possibility exists that there is someone alive, we will keep on looking with the same determination.”
Both he and a colleague, Maj. Jose Luis Vergara, denied any effort to mislead the public...
Shop Deal of the Day
At Amazon, Today's Deals.
And see, especially, Avantree 40 hr Wireless / Wired Bluetooth 4.0 Over-the-Ear Headphones / Headset with Mic, aptX Hi-Fi, Extra COMFORTABLE and LIGHTWEIGHT, NFC, DUAL Mode - Audition [2-Year Warranty].
Also, Venture Horizon Media Tower-Triple White.
More, 10 Spring Street Burlington: 4-Compartment Storage Cubes Organizer, Multiple Colors (White).
Here, Sauder Multimedia Storage Tower, Cinnamon Cherry.
And, Case Andrea Milano 3-Piece Microfiber Faux Leather Sectional Sofa with Ottoman, Hazelnut.
Still more, Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Party Rainbow Chip Cake Mix 15.25 oz (Pack of 2).
Plus, Jungle Costa Rican Coffee Ground Organic Dark Roast Ground 1 lb Gourmet Best Ground Coffee 1 Pound Fresh Roasted Arabica Coffee.
Finally, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.
BONUS: Günter Grass, The Tin Drum.
And see, especially, Avantree 40 hr Wireless / Wired Bluetooth 4.0 Over-the-Ear Headphones / Headset with Mic, aptX Hi-Fi, Extra COMFORTABLE and LIGHTWEIGHT, NFC, DUAL Mode - Audition [2-Year Warranty].
Also, Venture Horizon Media Tower-Triple White.
More, 10 Spring Street Burlington: 4-Compartment Storage Cubes Organizer, Multiple Colors (White).
Here, Sauder Multimedia Storage Tower, Cinnamon Cherry.
And, Case Andrea Milano 3-Piece Microfiber Faux Leather Sectional Sofa with Ottoman, Hazelnut.
Still more, Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Party Rainbow Chip Cake Mix 15.25 oz (Pack of 2).
Plus, Jungle Costa Rican Coffee Ground Organic Dark Roast Ground 1 lb Gourmet Best Ground Coffee 1 Pound Fresh Roasted Arabica Coffee.
Finally, Mountain House Just In Case...Breakfast Bucket.
BONUS: Günter Grass, The Tin Drum.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
'Crazy on You'
At the Sound L.A., from yesterday morning's drive time.
Heart, "Crazy on You":
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Police
8:37
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
8:34 AM
Don't Stop
Fleetwood Mac
8:31 AM
Sledgehammer
Peter Gabriel
8:26 AM
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
8:21 AM
Somebody to Love
Queen
8:16 AM
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
8:12 AM
Crazy On You
Heart
8:08 AM
Light My Fire
The Doors
8:01 AM
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Pat Benatar
7:58 AM
Cold As Ice
Foreigner
7:54 AM
The Boys of Summer
Don Henley
7:53 AM
Legs (Edit Version)
ZZ Top
7:36 AM
Rock'n Me
Steve Miller Band
7:33 AM
Black Dog
Led Zeppelin
7:28 AM
Heart, "Crazy on You":
Starting with an acoustic guitar intro called "Silver Wheels," the song turns into a fast-paced rock song that was the signature sound of the band in their early years. "Crazy on You" attracted attention both for the relatively unusual combination of an acoustic guitar paired with an electric guitar, and the fact that the acoustic guitarist was a woman – a rarity in rock music during that time. According to co-writer/guitarist Nancy Wilson, who discussed it on an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard that devoted an entire episode to the Dreamboat Annie album, the rapid acoustic rhythm part was inspired by The Moody Blues song "Question."
The song's lyrics tell of a person's desire to forget all the problems of the world during one night of passion. During an interview on Private Sessions, Ann Wilson revealed the song was written in response to the stress caused by the Vietnam War and social unrest in the United States in the early seventies.
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Police
8:37
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
8:34 AM
Don't Stop
Fleetwood Mac
8:31 AM
Sledgehammer
Peter Gabriel
8:26 AM
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
8:21 AM
Somebody to Love
Queen
8:16 AM
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
8:12 AM
Crazy On You
Heart
8:08 AM
Light My Fire
The Doors
8:01 AM
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Pat Benatar
7:58 AM
Cold As Ice
Foreigner
7:54 AM
The Boys of Summer
Don Henley
7:53 AM
Legs (Edit Version)
ZZ Top
7:36 AM
Rock'n Me
Steve Miller Band
7:33 AM
Black Dog
Led Zeppelin
7:28 AM
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Jackie Johnson's Chance of Showers Forecast
Ms. Jackie's filling out with her big baby bump.
At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:
Big Shopping Today
At Amazon, Today's Deals.
And especially, Dyson Small Ball Multi Floor Upright Vacuum, Iron/Satin Yellow (Certified Refurbished).
Plus, LIFE Home - 4 Person - 5 Piece Kitchen Dining Table Set - 1 Table, 3 Leather Chairs & 1 Bench Espresso Brown J150232 Espresso.
And, LG Electronics 49UJ6300 49-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model).
More, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 1.8 Ounce, 32 Count.
Also, The Bradford Exchange Al Agnew's the Spirit of the Wilderness Leather Jacket Black.
Still more, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters), Black.
BONUS: Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback).
And especially, Dyson Small Ball Multi Floor Upright Vacuum, Iron/Satin Yellow (Certified Refurbished).
Plus, LIFE Home - 4 Person - 5 Piece Kitchen Dining Table Set - 1 Table, 3 Leather Chairs & 1 Bench Espresso Brown J150232 Espresso.
And, LG Electronics 49UJ6300 49-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model).
More, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 1.8 Ounce, 32 Count.
Also, The Bradford Exchange Al Agnew's the Spirit of the Wilderness Leather Jacket Black.
Still more, AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters), Black.
BONUS: Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback).
How to Exploit the Left’s National Nervous Breakdown
Here's Ace, via Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "NEWS YOU CAN USE: The Left’s National Nervous Breakdown, and How to Exploit it Ruthlessly."
Deadly Earthquake Strikes Mexico
Kate Linthicum was in Mexico City and she's lucky she wasn't killed in the temblor.
Here she is, et al., at LAT, "At least 248 killed as powerful 7.1 earthquake strikes central Mexico":
Here she is, et al., at LAT, "At least 248 killed as powerful 7.1 earthquake strikes central Mexico":
The earthquake nearly toppled this building across from me in Mexico City. People fled screaming as buildings crumbled. Scary as hell. pic.twitter.com/PDCFm8vh0B— Kate Linthicum (@katelinthicum) September 19, 2017
A powerful 7.1 earthquake rocked central Mexico on Tuesday, collapsing homes and bridges across hundreds of miles, killing at least 217 people and sending thousands more fleeing into the streets screaming in a country still reeling from a deadly temblor that struck less than two weeks ago.More.
Entire apartment blocks swayed violently in the center of Mexico City, including in the historic districts of El Centro and Roma, crumbling balconies and causing huge cracks to appear on building facades.
Panic spread through the city's core; rescue vehicles raced toward damaged buildings, and neighbors took on heroic roles as rescuers.
Firefighters and police officers scrambled to pull survivors from a collapsed elementary and secondary school where children died.
"There are 22 bodies here — two are adults — 30 children are missing and eight other adults missing. And workers are continuing rescue efforts," President Enrique Peña Nieto announced Tuesday night.
At least 86 people were reported killed and 44 buildings severely damaged in the capital alone. Twelve other people died in the surrounding state of Mexico, 71 across the state of Morelos, 43 in Puebla state, four in Guerrero state and one in Oaxaca, according to Mexican officials.
The temblor struck 32 years to the day after another powerful earthquake that killed thousands and devastated large parts of Mexico City — a tragedy that Peña Nieto had commemorated earlier Tuesday.
Around 11 a.m., Julian Dominguez heard alarms sounding in the neighborhood of Iztapalapa, part of a citywide drill to mark the anniversary of the magnitude 8.0 quake. Schools and other buildings evacuated, but he kept working at his computer.
About two hours later, Dominguez, 27, started to feel the building move, and alarms sounded again.
"It started really slowly,” he said, but within seconds it was clear that this was no drill.
Dominguez raced down a flight of stairs. Crowds of people already had gathered outside. Parents were crying, worried for their children still in school.
"It was strange that it fell on the same day … as another earthquake that caused so much damage," Dominguez said.
The federal government declared a state of disaster in Mexico City and dispatched 3,428 troops to affected areas there and in nearby states.
"We are facing a new emergency in Mexico City, in the state of Puebla and Morelos, following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake,” Peña Nieto said, adding that he had asked all hospitals to help care for the injured...