Charles M. Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom

Holiday gift ideas: Some civil rights books for under the tree!

At Amazon, Charles M. Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle.

Also, John Egerton, Speak Now Against the Day: The Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement in the South.

And, Robert J. Norrell, Reaping the Whirlwind: The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee.

More, Richard Kluger, Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality.

BONUS: Mark Engler, This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century.

Shop Amazon Home

Here, Home Gift Guide.

I love the Keurig Coffee Makers.

And don't forget your Cuisinart fine products.

BONUS: Bernard Bailyn, The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America--The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675.

12 Days of Deals

It's the twelve days of Christmas deals, at Amazon, "We’ll see your turtle doves, and raise you bookworms and music hounds. Whether the people on your list love the smell of a new bestseller, turning pages with a swipe of their finger, or just rocking out to the movie version’s soundtrack, we’ve got stuff for them all. Oh, and we’ve never been the types to read the last page first, but we do have one spoiler alert: today’s deals are awesome."

BONUS: Steve Fraser, The Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America.

Please Say 'Merry Christmas'

It's December everybody!

It's a wonderful time of year!

Merry Christmas!

From Dennis Prager, one of the better Prager University videos I've seen:

U.S. Flights Hit by Major Weather Delays Ahead of Christmas (VIDEO)

At WSJ, "U.S. Flights Hit by Major Weather Delays":

Fog and storms triggered major flight delays in pockets of the U.S. ahead of Christmas, while airlines were bracing for a winter storm predicted to sweep across much of the country over the weekend.

A line of storms stretching from Louisiana to New York held up arrivals on Thursday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest U.S. airport by traffic, by an average of 2½ hours as of 2 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said on its website.

At least 11 people were killed across the South as springlike storms mixed with unseasonably warm weather and spawned rare Christmastime tornadoes, according to the Associated Press.

Delta Air Lines Inc., which operates its largest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson, was the most affected carrier, with a third of its mainline flights nationwide delayed, according to FlightAware.com, a tracking service.

The Atlanta-based carrier said it had started to cancel some flights as the storms forced planes to divert from Hartsfield.

While earlier delays at airports around Washington and New York caused by the weather had abated by early afternoon, Delta said they could return because of air traffic congestion in other parts of the country.

Nationwide, 3,049 flights were delayed and 349 canceled as of 5 p.m. Thursday on the East Coast. That came after weather issues in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest had triggered the above-average delays and cancellations earlier in the week. Almost 11,000 total flights from Tuesday through Wednesday were delayed, and around 750 canceled, according to FlightAware. On typical winter days, there are about 4,000 delays and 150 cancellations in the U.S.

Dozens of regional jet flights operated on behalf of major airlines by SkyWest Inc. and other carriers have been canceled, according to FlightAware, as well as more than 60 Southwest Airlines Co. services.

American Airline Group Inc. said it had canceled four mainline flights, alongside 84 flown by regional partners. United Continental Holdings Inc. said it wasn’t experiencing major disruptions...

More.

Powerful Storm System Across South and Midwest Kills at Least 11 (VIDEO)

At WSJ, "Dozens injured, homes destroyed after tornadoes touch down":

A powerful storm system that tore across parts of the South and Midwest claimed at least 11 lives, injured dozens of people and destroyed homes and businesses just as final preparations for Christmas celebrations were under way.

The system spawned more than a dozen tornadoes, including a potent one in Mississippi on Wednesday that remained on the ground for roughly 50 miles, an especially long stretch for a December twister, said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.

Mississippi was hit especially hard. At least seven deaths were reported there as of Thursday afternoon, and storms caused widespread damage to houses, mobile homes and other structures, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. More than 1,400 power outages occurred, and storm debris forced numerous road closures.

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Thursday and toured damaged areas in several counties. “Mississippians are resilient in difficult times, and we will meet this challenge head on for those that are in need,” he said.

In Tennessee, three fatalities were reported, and state and local officials were conducting damage assessments on Thursday, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. One death was reported in Arkansas as a result of a tree that crashed on a house, said Barbara Hager, manager of the Arkansas Response and Coordination Center.

Apart from tornadoes, the system produced storms with heavy rain and winds of 50 miles an hour and higher, Mr. Carbin said. It was generated by a combination of a powerful jet stream with a mass of warm, moist air over the region, he said. Storms extended across a swath of territory from Arkansas to Ohio...

More.

Garth Kemp is Back!

Garth Kemp was fired for tweeting about the Kardashians --- unfavorably tweeting --- earlier this year.

See AdWeek, "Veteran KABC Weather Anchor Out."

Seems like an extremely minor discretion, but ABC's loss is CBS's gain.

One-Day Shipping by Christmas — BUMPED

For last minute shoppers.

At Amazon, Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide.

And New Year, New You: Personalized Gifts for the Holidays.

Also, ICYMI, from David Horowitz, The Black Book of the American Left - Volume 5: Culture Wars.

BONUS: Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And the American Left.

Rising Package Volumes and Costs Have Strained Amazon's Relations with UPS

Well, online retailing is bigger than ever, so no surprise at the tension between Amazon and UPS.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Amazon Seeks to Ease Ties With UPS":

As the clock counts down to Christmas, workers at United Parcel Service Inc. are busy hustling packages along loading docks and conveyor belts at its Louisville, Ky., hub—part of a costly, intricate system built in part to cater to Amazon.com Inc., its biggest customer.

But the symbiotic relationship between the two giants has come under increasing strain, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former UPS and Amazon executives.

Rising package volumes and costs have Amazon seeking alternative delivery routes—shifting the online retailer’s role from key ally to a potentially disruptive competitor.

Amazon has held talks with air-cargo companies to lease airplanes and build its own freight operation. The company is already using its own trucks, drivers and a fleet of couriers for the final and most-expensive leg of an order’s trip.

It has been making its own deliveries in certain high-density regions and relying more heavily on the U.S. Postal Service. Eventually, it hopes to get drones to drop packages into backyards.

Such steps are part of a much broader plan at Amazon, which counts shipping costs as one of its fastest-growing expenses, totaling 11.7% of revenue in the third quarter, up from 10.4% a year ago. The goal is to reduce its reliance on carriers like UPS, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Amazon’s interest is not in doing what may be good for UPS,” said Satish Jindel, a parcel-industry analyst with SJ Consulting Inc. “Their interest is in getting control over logistics.”

Amazon declined to comment. A spokesman for UPS said “we will continue to work closely with Amazon and all our customers to help them solve their growth and customer service challenges.”

There is more than loyalty at stake for Atlanta-based UPS. This year, its Amazon account exceeds $1 billion, say former Amazon and UPS executives. That is roughly a fivefold increase since 2005, according to an estimate by a former executive with direct knowledge of the company’s spending.

While UPS investors generally view growing volumes as a sign of health, the company’s cost-per-package has actually risen since more than a decade ago, putting margins under pressure.

The average cost to handle a parcel was about $8 last year, up from roughly $6.50 in 2000, according to the company. Much of the increase was attributed to a growth in e-commerce, as UPS has invested more than $11 billion over the past five years to upgrade and expand its network.

It hasn’t helped relations that Amazon was a factor in UPS’s last two back-to-back Christmas snafus—each of which cost UPS an unexpected $200 million. Two years ago, Amazon overwhelmed UPS with hundreds of trailers of last-minute Christmas orders. It later got UPS to help underwrite millions in customer refunds.

Last year, UPS increased capital spending by 10% to be ready for a prolonged holiday surge that never came.

This year, the company is expecting record volumes and has already seen parts of its network strained from a surge of online holiday spending over the days before and after Thanksgiving...

Keep reading.

Bestselling Safeco Workspace Office Products

At Amazon, Shop - Safco Office Deals.

Also, Shop Amazon Fashion - Holiday Sweaters.

And from Donald Trump, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again.

BONUS: Books in Soviet History.

Today's the Last Day for 2-Day Shipping at Amazon, If You Want to Put Your Gifts Under the Tree

You better get shopping, heh.

Here, Books in Russian History.

You can still get one-day shipping tomorrow.

BONUS: Star Wars Trilogy (A New Hope / The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi) (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc), and Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (Widescreen Edition).

Save 60 Percent Off Singer Products

At Amazon, Shop - Save 60% off Singer Products.

Plus, Shop Amazon - Sports Gifts for Kids.

And ICYMI, William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era.

William Taubman, Khrushchev

Remember, as I was finishing up Stephen Kotkin's Stalin, I was wishing I could start on volume 2, but it's not out yet.

So imagine my luck last night when I came across William Taubman's Pulitzer Prize winning biography on Stalin's successor, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era.

I've got almost a half dozen books I'll be ordering after Christmas, and recall that I just started Orlando Figes', A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924, last night.

So, I better quit blogging for awhile and get back to reading.

You can get two-day shipping today at Amazon, so your gifts will arrive in time for Christmas. Have a good one!

Amazon Offers Package Delivery in Two Hours or Less (VIDEO)

You need an Amazon Prime membership, but still, I love these guys.

At CBS This Morning:

30% Off Verbatim LED 'Warm White' Light Bulbs

At Amazon, Shop - Verbatim LED Bulb Promotion.

Plus, check out Susan Pedersen, The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire.

And Richard Pipes, The Russian Revolution.

BONUS: From David Priestland, The Red Flag: A History of Communism.

Buy The German War with Two-Day Shipping

I think my mom's going to give me Nicholas Stargardt's, The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939–1945, for Christmas.

Well, at least I asked for it, lol. Who knows what she picks up, heh.

Remember though, if I like it, it might take me weeks to read Orlando Figes', A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924, so we'll see. It's really long, but I'm fascinated by Soviet history right now, for some reason.

Actually, I've been meaning to get back to reading Nazi history. I started Michael Burleigh's, The Third Reich: A New History, a year or two back, and I've been meaning to return to it. It's also one of those massive Tolstoy-esque tomes, so it might not be for awhile. I'll go for Stargardt first and then decide. Not only that, there's a lot of good works in American political science I need to read, especially on the voting patterns of Millennials.

More on that later though.

Shop for Stargardt at Amazon. Click two-day shipping to receive it in time for Christmas.

Starting Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy

I've finished Stephen Kotkin's, Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928.

I'm going to pick up now with Orlando Figes', A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924.

It really needs to grab my attention, for it's another lengthy tome (longer than Kotkin's book, excluding notes, at 824 pages).

In any case, I love this time of year!

Shop for it Amazon.

Finished Stephen Kotkin's Stalin

An amazing book.

It's projected as the first of three volumes, and if volume 2 was available, I'd start reading it right now.

In any case, if you're still shopping, Amazon's got two-day shipping in time for Christmas.

Here, Stephen Kotkin, Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928.

Remaining Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Amazon

Heh.

Following-up my previous entry, "Holiday Shoppers Wait Until the Last Minute for Deals."

Here's USA Today, "Heads up! Amazon holiday shipping deadlines near."

It's too late for standard shipping, if you want to put your gifts under the tree; but you can opt for two-day shipping, and there's lots of additional fast shipping options if you're an Amazon Prime member.

And thanks for all the readers who've shopped Amazon through my links at American Power. It's greatly appreciated.

More here, Take 25% Off Holiday Shopping.

Holiday Shoppers Wait Until the Last Minute for Deals

Online retailing has forever changed the nature of holiday shopping.

At WSJ, "‘Super Saturday’: Holiday Shoppers Wait Until the Last Minute for Deals."