What If Diversity Isn't America's Strength?

From Jonah Goldberg, at LAT, "This should elicit some fun email":

Sen. Lindsey Graham says he scolded the president for saying something scatological about certain countries and their immigrants. "Diversity has always been our strength," he allegedly said. By my count, this makes Graham the bazillionth person to proclaim some variant of "diversity is strength."

Is it true? I think the only close to right answer is, "it depends." Specifically, it depends on what — often clichéd — analogy you have in mind. Diverse stock portfolios are more resilient. Diverse diets are healthier. But that doesn't mean picking bad stocks will make you richer or that eating spoiled foods is good for you.

I once heard Jesse Jackson explain that racial integration of the NBA made it stronger and better. He was right. But would gender integration of the NBA have the same effect? Would diversifying professional basketball by height? Probably not.

All of these analogies can take you only so far. Thomas Sowell once said, "The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department."

There's a growing body of evidence that even if diversity— the kind that results from immigration — once made America stronger, it may not be doing so anymore. Robert Putnam, a liberal sociologist at Harvard, found that increased diversity corrodes civil society by eroding shared values, customs and institutions. People tend to "hunker down" and retreat from civil society, at least in the short and medium term.

I think the real culprit here isn't immigration or diversity in general, but the rising stigma against assimilation. Particularly on college campuses, but also in large swaths of mainstream journalism and in the louder corners of the fever swamp right, the idea that people of all backgrounds should embrace a single conception of "Americanism" is increasingly taboo.

Anyone of any race or national origin can be an American, but it requires effort and desire from both the individual and the larger society. There's a shortage of both these days...

More.

U.S. Highway 101 to Stay Closed for at Least Another Week (VIDEO)

At the video from KSBY Santa Barbara above. And at USA Today below:

Many evacuated residents don’t yet fully grasp how badly their town has been damaged or how long the scars will remain. https://t.co/qTDtsIqOor

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) January 16, 2018

Danielle Gersh's Dense Fog Forecast

Well, there go those mid-'80s temperatures we've been having.

This foggy weather is chilly too.

And here's the lovely Ms. Danielle, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Tiffany Watson in Sizzling Lingerie Photo Shoot in London

At London's Daily Mail, "MIC's Tiffany Watson sets pulses racing in plunging lace bra and barely-there thong as she poses between the sheets in sizzling new shoot."

Parents Arrested After 13 Kids Found Chained to Beds and Starving in Riverside County Home (VIDEO)

House of horrors.

A report at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "13 Children Ages 2 to 29 Found Shackled to Beds In Perris Home, Parents Arrested."

Twenty-nine years old? I can't believe it, man.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Children found shackled and malnourished in Perris home; parents arrested":

The 911 call came in at 6 a.m. Sunday. A teenage girl was on the line with an unsettling tale.

She had managed to escape from her family's home in Perris, where her parents had been holding her captive. Her brothers and sisters were still locked inside — 12 of them. Some were chained to their beds, she said.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to find the 17-year-old girl. When they saw her, they were struck by her small size and emaciated appearance. She looked to be only 10, according to the sheriff's account released Monday.

The nightmarish scene deputies discovered when they entered the house on Muir Woods Road was as bad as the girl had described. They found "several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings," the statement said.

The parents, David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, "were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner," deputies wrote. The couple were arrested on suspicion of torture and child endangerment and each was being held Monday night in lieu of $9-million bail.

The youngest child was 2. At first deputies assumed from their frail and malnourished appearance that all in the group were minors, but they later determined that seven of them were adults ages 18 to 29, the sheriff's statement said.

It was not clear from the statement how many of the children were found locked to their beds.

Deputies provided food and drinks to the children, who "claimed to be starving," before they were admitted to hospitals.

Public records show the couple own the tract house where the children were found. Its address is also listed in a state Department of Education directory as the location of the Sandcastle Day School, a private K-12 campus. David Turpin is listed as the principal.

During the last school year, the school was listed in state records as a non-religious and co-ed institution. There were six students enrolled — one each in the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th grades.

David Turpin's parents, James and Betty Turpin of West Virginia, told ABC News they were "surprised and shocked" at the allegations. They said their grandchildren are home-schooled, and that they had not seen their son and daughter-in-law in four or five years.

Public records indicate the couple have lived at the address for several years and lived in Texas for many years before coming to California. They declared bankruptcy twice, public records show...

And note as well:

Ivan Trahan, an attorney who represented the couple in their latest bankruptcy in 2011, said Monday he was shocked at news of the arrests....Trahan said that David Turpin, who worked as an engineer at Northrop Grumman, an aeronautics and defense technology company, had a "relatively high" income, but had trouble keeping up with his expenses because he had so many children.

Well, one would think two or three kids would be sufficient, although I'm not one to impose mandatory family size like leftists, heh.

Still more.

Kelly Rohrbach on Vacation in Hawaii

Following-up from the other day, "Kelly Rohrbach Invites You to Explore (VIDEO)."

At Taxi Driver, "Kelly Rohrbach Topless on Her Vacation."

And at the Sun U.K., "PHWOAR-BACH: Baywatch star Kelly Rohrbach does topless yoga on the beach in Hawaii - Kelly, 27, is enjoying some downtime on the island after her success in the latest Baywatch film."

Jennifer Delacruz's M.L.K. Day Forecast

It's been record warm temperatures this last few days, and while it's supposed to be cooler today, it was roasting outside already when I stepped out to get the newspaper.

Here's lovely Ms. Jennifer:

Racial Injustice Today

I saw this last week but neglected to post. Racial injustice just ain't what it used to be.

Behind the making of this weeks NYer cover. #NewYorker #Magazine #magaazines #illustration #gouache #MLKDay2018 #MLK https://t.co/3sOwENSMrd pic.twitter.com/pGLn6UoVci

— Mark Ulriksen (@MarkUlriksenArt) January 9, 2018

Where Can a Black Person Get Their Hair Done?

When I had an Afro back in the day, my mom used to take me to a black barbershop in Santa Ana, which was the only place where they knew how to give me a haircut. And when I was college in my 20s, even though I wore my hair short and close-cropped, some of the barbers at the local barbershop in Costa Mesa used to groan as I sat down in their seat. I don't know why you're a barber if you don't like giving a mulatto man a haircut?

At the far-left Affinity Magazine (and I do mean far-left, *smh*):

I'm tired of being rejected from hair salons for being black. How can a "professional" hairstylist not be able to do black hair? https://t.co/KBBk64EvVl

— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) January 11, 2018

Moira Donegan

I meant to post this earlier. It's good:

Whatever you thought of the Shitty Media Men List, this honest, clear piece, by its creator, should not be missed. https://t.co/Ca9kv4ALco

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) January 11, 2018

Books from 'Shithole Countries'

Heh, I'm hip with the entrepreneurial exploitation of the president, lol.

A New York bookstore is featuring books today by writers from #ShitholeCountries including Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai pic.twitter.com/CrQa5oFSoY

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 13, 2018

This is How Radical Leftists View the President, at Home and Abroad

At Der Spiegel:

New Der SPIEGEL Cover: The Age of Fire and Fury https://t.co/jxgHScxKrO pic.twitter.com/wVKK5aHrcE

— SPIEGEL ONLINE English (@SPIEGEL_English) January 12, 2018

Peeled Pomegranates

We used to eat pomegranates off the trees in my neighborhood back in the day. Oh boy, what I'd have given for one peeled, lol.

Seen on Twitter just now:

Someone sent me a picture of these completely peeled pomegranates and brb I have fainted pic.twitter.com/bLUB5FAXu0

— Helen Rosner (@hels) January 15, 2018

Aziz Ansari

Honestly, I'm just glad I'm married and I'm not dealing with society's sex panic as an everyday participant in the dating market. It's bad enough being at far-left college for my day job, although it's been like this on campus for a long time already, so I don't have to adjust my orientation too much. (My rule has been to never be alone with a woman in a closed room, and that's been the rule since graduate school, when we were told that's the rule; it's a good rule.)

Anyway, I think Mr. Ansari is more aggressive than I ever was dating, but it's not abnormal at all.

See Caitlin Flanagan, at the Atlantic, "The Humiliation of Aziz Ansari."

The allegations of sexual misconduct against @AzizAnsari amount to "3,000 words of revenge porn," @CaitlinPacific argueshttps://t.co/FV55XuBFaX pic.twitter.com/i0rf0Qhrv2

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 15, 2018

And here's the piece itself, on "Babe.net", of all places, "I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life."

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This has turned into racial virtue signalling day for the radical left. Here's the New York Times, attacking President Trump, at Memeorandum, "Donald Trump's Racism: The Definitive List."

And WaPo's taking the president to task for golfing, although President Obama golfed all the time, and it was never a problem. At Memorandum, "On MLK Day, President Trump visits Trump golf course."

So, with that, here's President Trump's M.L.K Day greeting. We're lucky we have this president:

Robyn Lawley Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)

Nice.

Death Toll from Montecito Mudslides Rises to 20

This is from yesterday's paper, too true, "Hope fades for those still buried by Montecito mudslide."

And from just a little while ago, at LAT, "Death toll from Montecito mudslides climbs to 20, as authorities continue search for the missing":

The death toll in the Montecito mudslides climbed to 20 on Sunday, as officials continued to work to clear the mud and debris-strewn 101 Freeway, which has been closed indefinitely.

The body of the latest victim, who has not been identified, was discovered as authorities continued to search for several people still missing from the deluge, officials said. At least four other people are still unaccounted for.

On Saturday, search and rescue crews recovered the body of Morgan Corey, 25, who was found in debris near Olive Mill Road about 9 a.m., officials said.

At an afternoon news conference at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Eric Peterson spoke about the difficulties and challenges faced by emergency responders in their search for survivors.

"I have felt the heartbreak of knowing that even with all of your skill and all of your training and all of your planning, you couldn't save everybody," he said. "No one could have planned for the size and scope of what a 200-year storm immediately following our largest wildfire could bring."

A candlelight vigil for the victims of the mudslide is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday in the sunken gardens area outside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

CalTrans crews continued to work Sunday to clear a two-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway in Montecito that was initially expected to re-open Monday. But officials said cleaning up one part of the freeway at Olive Mill Road was proving especially difficult.

Aided by private contractors and the Army Corps of Engineers, crews have been working around the clock to clear the freeway, a major north south artery that carries about 100,000 vehicles through the Central Coast each day.

The cleanup is focused on what CalTrans calls "dewatering" — using pumps to suck up the mud and rainwater. Once all the mud and debris is removed, the pavement and overpasses must be evaluated for structural safety, and then signs and guardrails reinstalled and lines repainted.

"It's really an overwhelming situation, and we don't want to give an estimate that isn't accurate," said Colin Jones, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation, said about the freeway re-opening.

In addition to the 101, many local roads are blocked. Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy said the big push on Saturday was to clean roads in the Santa Barbara and Montecito areas in order to improve vehicular access.

"As it stands, we're still having to go in on foot in many areas," he said.

State Route 192, which cuts across the foothills, is also unsafe in places, and officials are trying to establish an alternative route as soon as possible.

With the 101 closed, hundreds of people have taken to traveling the coast by boat. Two sightseeing companies, Island Packers in Ventura and Condor Express in Santa Barbara, have worked together to turn their vessels into a ferry service between the cities.

Tickets on the Condor Express, a 75-foot catamaran that normally takes tourists whale watching, were in high demand last week, with many trips packed with the maximum 127 passengers, assistant manager Katie Fitts said.

The 90-minute trip over the water was significantly shorter than the more than four-hour detour on the 5 Freeway, and ferry passengers included firefighters, city workers and medical personnel from Cottage Hospital, she said.

"There are people trying to get to their families that have been struck by this tragedy and people trying to get to work … surgeons and nurses," Fitts said...

More at that top link.

New History of the Ukrainian Famine

This is Sophie Pinkham's review of Anne Applebaum's Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine. It's really good, dang!

(Pinkham's the author of Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine.)

At the Nation, "The Candle of Memory":

In 1928, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union had a food problem. Because of policies that gave farmers little incentive to sell their grain, the state could no longer feed the urban population. Stalin became convinced that counterrevolutionary “kulaks”—a mostly imaginary class of fat-cat capitalist peasants—were hoarding grain. He ordered requisitions that angered the peasants and discouraged production, leading to further grain shortages, which in turn were followed by even more requisitions. Stalin had quickly made his own suspicions come true: Peasants began to hoard and hide grain—in protest and as a means of survival.

In response to this crisis, the Communist Party’s Central Committee decided to collectivize agriculture in 1929. Collective farms were to function like state-owned agricultural factories, with peasant farmers transmogrified into workers. The fantasy was that scientific innovations would vastly improve productivity, providing bountiful food for the cities, with plenty left over to export in exchange for the hard currency needed for rapid industrialization.

Though some high-ranking members of the party (notably Nikolai Bukharin) opposed forced collectivization, Stalin chose to employ the most coercive and violent methods available to him. He began by having millions of “kulaks” deported to distant collective farms, depriving them of the ties to community that would aid them in a rebellion. Many peasants chose to destroy their crops and slaughter their livestock rather than turn them over to the state; some of the more religious ones came to believe that the Soviet Antichrist was ringing in the end of the world. Others, more accurately, saw collectivization as a form of “second serfdom.” Peasants lynched and murdered Soviet officials and volunteers in charge of collectivization.

The result of Stalin’s policies was a man-made famine of terrifying scale. By the spring of 1932, peasants in the grain-growing districts of Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, the Volga region, and western Siberia were starving. Applebaum draws on oral testimonies and memoirs that offer a vivid look into the transformations wrought by famine. One Ukrainian survivor described his brother as “alive but completely swollen, his body shining as if it were made of glass.” An activist from Russia remembered Ukrainian children looking “all alike: their heads like heavy kernels, their necks skinny as a stork’s…the skin itself like yellow gauze stretched over their skeletons.” Some parents abandoned or even killed their children, unable to bear watching them starve to death. There were instances of cannibalism, usually necrophagia. Though this horror was the result of Soviet policy, the police arrested those who succumbed to it. Applebaum quotes a Polish woman who wrote in her gulag memoir about being transferred to a prison island populated by “Ukrainian cannibals”:

They described how their children died of hunger, and how they themselves, very close to starvation, cooked the corpses of their own children and ate them. This happened when they were in a state of shock caused by hunger. Later, when they came to understand what had happened, they lost their minds.

People died in the streets, and no one had the strength to bury them. Peasants were forbidden to enter the cities in search of food, and the areas most affected, including Ukraine, were closed off. Policemen and party activists searched village households and confiscated any remaining animals or food they saw, even crusts of bread. Harsh penalties—execution or 10 years’ hard labor—were imposed for any kind of theft. By the end of 1932, less than six months after the new law had been passed, 4,500 people had been executed for violating it, and more than 100,000 had received 10-year sentences.

Party members, ordinary people, and cultural figures like the author Mikhail Sholokhov wrote to Stalin, describing the horrendous situation and imploring him to help. Moscow party boss Martemyan Ryutin released an opposition platform denouncing the Soviet leader and aggressively criticizing coercive collectivization and the anti-kulak terror; he and his family were soon arrested and executed. Members of the Ukrainian Communist Party pleaded with Stalin to lower the quotas and provide food aid; some quit in protest. Many paid for these protests with their lives, and others committed suicide.

In May of 1933, the Soviet authorities finally approved substantial food aid, sent in workers to help bring in the harvest, stopped the arrests of peasants (in part because the prisons and camps were overflowing), and ended the policy of food confiscation. Grain quotas were reduced. But the damage done was almost unimaginable: Between 1931 and 1934, at least 5 million people starved to death across the Soviet Union...

RTWT.

CNN's Alisyn Camerota Starts Bawling on Live TV During Coverage of President Trump's Comments (VIDEO)

I guess tears-on-demand is one of the more genuine measures of leftist virtue signalling. (*SMH.*)

Jennifer Delacruz's Sunday Weather

It was 19 degrees at game time in Pittsburgh this morning, but it's sure nice in Southern California.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer from last night:

Britney Spears Yellow Bikini on Vacation in Hawaii (PHOTOS)

At Egotastic!:

It may not have polkadots but we still love @britneyspears's itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow bikini.
More pics: https://t.co/TEduhK4MIx pic.twitter.com/2k9h3O49M8

— Egotastic! (@egotastic) January 11, 2018

Doutzen Kroes on Vacation

At Taxi Driver, "Doutzen Kroes Caught Topless on Vacation."

Those sneaky paparazzi photographer, heh.

BONUS: From Christmas 2016:

Merry Xmas to you!#Xmas #DoutzenStories #hunkemöller pic.twitter.com/veMhB8W2mO

— Doutzen Kroes (@Doutzen) December 24, 2016

Blanca Blanco Hits the Beach in Malibu

At London's Daily Mail, "Topless in Malibu: Sizzling Blanca Blanco has nip slip as she hits the beach in nothing more than bold red jacket and underwear."

BONUS: At Fox News, "Blanca Blanco responds to criticism after ignoring all-black dress code at #GoldenGlobes: 'Shaming is part of the problem'."

REPORT: President Trump Lawyer Allegedly Paid $130,000 to Silence Former Porn Star Stormy Daniels Over Sexual Encounter; Daniels Denies

Isn't this where it's all headed, really?

I mean, how many Hollywood moguls, movie stars, and film icons have to be thrown under the #MeToo bus before the biggest prize is captured? I mean, c'mon, we learned a week or so ago that Democrat operatives were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to accusers of the president. Now we have a top-tier media report alleging that porn stars were paid off for their silence? And you've got a smiling photo with President Trump and the former adult star Ms. Stormy?

Oh boy, it's been a busy news day.

Stormy Daniels denies the allegations, at least according to this screen-cap of a letter on Twitter and as reported at the New York Post:

Stormy Daniels herself denies this story, but we can't expect the mainstream media or the twits on liberal twitter to spend 2 seconds fact checking something. pic.twitter.com/jHaXuZex2G

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) January 12, 2018

JUST IN: Trump team paid porn star $130K to keep quiet about extramarital affair https://t.co/dRplGULnzv

— New York Post (@nypost) January 12, 2018

And see WSJ, "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence" (and Memeorandum):

A former porn star reached a $130,000 deal just before the 2016 election to stay silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trumphttps://t.co/uztUVwrPAm

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 12, 2018

A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Cohen, who spent nearly a decade as a top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged payment to the woman, Stephanie Clifford, in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Cohen, these people said.

Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Mr. Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, these people said. Mr. Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.

Mr. Trump faced other allegations during his campaign of inappropriate behavior with women, and vehemently denied them. In this matter, there is no allegation of a nonconsensual interaction.

“These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election,” a White House official said, responding to the allegation of a sexual encounter involving Mr. Trump and Ms. Clifford. The official declined to respond to questions about an agreement with Ms. Clifford. It isn’t known whether Mr. Trump was aware of any agreement or payment involving her.

In a statement, Mr. Cohen didn’t address the $130,000 payment but said of the alleged sexual encounter that “President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels.”

Mr. Cohen added in the statement, addressed to The Wall Street Journal: “This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client. You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011.”

The Journal previously reported that Ms. Clifford, 38 years old, had been in talks with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the fall of 2016 about an appearance to discuss Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. In that article, the Journal reported the company that owns the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model three months before the election for her story of an affair a decade earlier with the Republican presidential nominee, which the tabloid newspaper didn’t publish. The company said she was paid to write fitness columns and appear on magazine covers.

Mr. Cohen also sent a two-paragraph statement by email addressed “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” and signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying that she had a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Mr. Trump.

“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the statement said.

Ms. Clifford didn’t respond to multiple emails seeking comment.

After the agreement, Ms. Clifford’s camp complained the payment wasn’t being made quickly enough and threatened to cancel the deal, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

The payment was made to Ms. Clifford through her lawyer in the matter, Keith Davidson, with funds sent to Mr. Davidson’s client-trust account at City National Bank in Los Angeles, according to the people.

“I previously represented Ms. Daniels,” Mr. Davidson said, referring to Ms. Clifford’s stage name. “Attorney-client privilege prohibits me from commenting on my clients’ legal matters.”

A spokeswoman for City National Bank declined to comment.

The agreement with Ms. Clifford came as the Trump campaign confronted allegations from numerous women who described unwanted sexual advances and alleged assaults by Mr. Trump...

Still more.

The 'Lowest Day' of Trump's Presidency (VIDEO)

It's Lou Dobbs and Ann Coulter, two of the right-wing media's biggest anti-immigration hardliners. (Remember Dobbs was fired from CNN for his comments on illegal immigrants.)

I mentioned the other night that folks like Michelle Malkin and Laura Ingraham weren't going to let the president slide on amnesty, and Coulter's arguing for the death of this presidency, right now. Watch:

CNN Talking Heads Have Completely Lost It Over President Trump's 'Shithole Countries'

I've blogged this story already, "President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'," and "African Nations Angry as President Trump Disses 'Shithole Countries' (VIDEO)."

Just now I checked CNN's YouTube page to see if any of their people were actually saying "shithole countries" on the air last night. So far I've only seen Anderson Cooper use the word (at the video below), although I did catch Ana Navarro literally lose her shit over the president's "shithole" remarks.

This is unreal.

At the link, "Navarro: No other way to interpret Trump's comments." (She's wearing an "I Am An Immigrant" t-shirt on the air as well, which of course provides BIG credibility to her vicious unhinged rant, sheesh.)

And watch Mr. Anderson practically start bawling on air, signalling his virtue about how he just loves all those poor Haitians down there. (*Eye-rolls.*)

Rhian Sugden for Obsessive Lingerie

On Twitter:

New campaign and catalogue shot for Obsessive Lingerie....

Here’s to another year in Poland! 👏🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/oGDXDjK4lM

— Rhian Sugden (@Rhianmarie) January 12, 2018

African Nations Angry as President Trump Disses 'Shithole Countries' (VIDEO)

Following-up, "President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'."

At CBS This Morning, Debora Patta, in Johannesburg, South Africa, refers to "expletive" countries.

President Trump Asked Why We Should Take Immigrants from 'Shithole Countries'

I don't know sometimes. All the problems in the world and the biggest political blowout is whether or not the president actually said "shithole countries."

I broke my boycott of television news this morning, as I was getting my son ready for school at 7:00am, and tuned into CBS This Morning. They led with it, although they would not say "shithole" on the air, with the generic "expletive" countries used in instead. Hilariously, though, now the Washington Post is having to defend itself for actually using "shithole" in it's coverage.

I guarantee you the president knows what he's doing. Stable genius indeed.

At WaPo, via Memeorandum, "Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries in Oval Office meeting."

And at the New York Times, "Trump Alarms Lawmakers With Disparaging Words for Haiti and Africa."

Trump lashed out at Haitian and African immigrants in WH mtg w lawmakers on DACA, asking why US should take people from "shithole countries." WH isn't denying it https://t.co/gxWNsn8pHv

— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) January 11, 2018

Handcuffed Lucy

Yum Lucy Pinder!

Happy Friday @skywest6365 @buquet1000 @Stacey_poolefan @HollyIndoFan_ @teo_campa @RhianSFans @LucyMichelleGLM @LucyPinderFan2 @Cdric91 @aaronmatthewf @curvyonly @CatchHD @BabeDepository @Wildcard095 @Page3Classics @LuckyDragon99 @ds_161_4 @nuffinbutgirls @bigboobsfansite pic.twitter.com/riNOU4EuIo

— World Class Beauty (@LoveLucyP) November 24, 2017

Drunken Steplinks

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

Also, at Director Blue, "Larwyn's Linx: The DOJ and FBI Worked With Fusion GPS on “Operation Trump”."

And at Maggie's Farm, "Friday morning links."

BONUS: At the Other McCain, "Democrats Love ‘S***hole’ Countries, and They Want America to Become One."

pic.twitter.com/IWX1OxJKih

— 🔥Perfect² Hotties🔥 (@nyxxxguy2) December 18, 2017

'Darkest Hour'

Well, I kept my promise and bumped out for a bit to take in "The Darkest Hour." I'm delightfully pleased. It's far from the greatest or near greatest war (or war-ish) film, but next to Daniel Day Lewis in "Lincoln," it's the best biographical portrait of a democratic leader ever.

I read a half dozen reviews right now, and you can check Google yourself if you wish. Here's the New York Times' rather harsh take, "Review: ‘Darkest Hour,’ or the Great Man Theory of History (and Acting)," and Kenneth Turan's, at the Los Angeles Times, "Gary Oldman's bulldog performance as Winston Churchill lifts Joe Wright's overwrought directing in 'Darkest Hour'."

I definitely recommend it. Indeed, a day of great movie-watching would be to watch this one right after "Dunkirk." I love the populist moral clarity here, which is what A.O. Scott at NYT attacks. Indeed, I mostly go to the flicks for exactly this heroic patriotic fare.

Today's Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals. New Deals. Every day. Shop our Deal of the Day, Lightning Deals and more daily deals and limited-time sales.

See especially, Precor EFX 222 Energy Series Elliptical Cross Trainer.

Also, Gnarly Nutrition Whey Sports Protein - All Natural New Zealand Grass Fed Whey Protein (Chiseled Chocolate).

More, Odoland Snow Ski Goggles S2 Double Lens Anti-fog Windproof UV400 Eyewear - Skiing, Snowboarding, Motorcycle Cycling and Snowmobile Winter Outdoor Sports Protective Glasses.

And, Davenport Leather Backpack.

Plus, UGG Women's Classic Cuff Short Winter Boot.

Still more, Ray-Ban Men's 0RB4165 Justin Sunglasses.

Here, CLIF BAR - Energy Bar - Blueberry Crisp - (2.4-Ounce Protein Bar, 12 Count).

Finally, Samsung Curved 55" 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model) - UN55MU6500 w/ TV Cut The Cord Bundle Includes, Durable HDTV & FM Antenna, 2x 6ft. High Speed HDMI Cable & Screen Cleaner for LED TVs.

BONUS: Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream.

Arctic Doomsday Bunker

I need a doomsday bunker to survive the radical leftist apocalypse in California, sheesh.

At the Daily Mirror U.K.:

Arctic doomsday bunker holds the keys to human survival against warshttps://t.co/ynZmyd0fWe pic.twitter.com/8VKXA8ulPJ

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) January 8, 2018

Kendall Jenner for Harper's Bazaar

She's a sensation.

.@KendallJenner opens up about pushing boundaries and what inspires her in an interview with @Caradelevingne for our February issue: https://t.co/TSwbhlvIq1 pic.twitter.com/5tzGM4u1vr

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) January 11, 2018

"I like people who push the limits of what's expected." —@KendallJenner https://t.co/ll18cV90oi

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) January 11, 2018

Sensational Rosie Huntington-Whiteley After Giving Birth

At the Irish Sun, "Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks sensational as she shows off her post-baby body in bikinis on a photoshoot in the Bahamas."

She's married to Jason Statham, the lucky dawg, lol.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks sensational as she shows off her post-baby body in bikinis on a photoshoot in the Bahamas https://t.co/OugCsl8FDl

— Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) January 11, 2018

Also, at Taxi Driver, "Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Breast Exposed on a Photo Shoot."

Madison Beer Flashes Perky Underboob

At Taxi Driver, "Madison Beer Steps Out Flaunting her Perky Underboob."

And at Hawt Celebs, "Madison Beer for Nude Magazine – April 2017."

BONUS: At Egotastic!, ".@MadisonBeer = Boobtastic."

Laura Ingraham Warns Trump: You Promised a Border Wall, Not an 'Opaque Electric Fence' (VIDEO)

The problem for me is that even if Trump gets his wall, a DACA deal with the Democrats won't pay off at the ballot box. I doubt many leftist voters will switch over and vote GOP just because Trump caved to political correctness. Leftists won't see Trump as compassionate. They hate him with the heat of a million suns. That's just fact. Playing to the base has been the key to winning for this president, and he risks alienating those voters. I don't know if independents will give him credit. We'll see. Some conservatives like Lori Hendry and Linda Suhler will stick with Trump no matter what, but movement media conservatives like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and Michelle Malkin won't be pleased. They'll excoriate the president on this issue, and rightly so.

In any case, here's Ms. Laura, from her show last night:

'New Rose'

Since The Sound L.A. went off the air my drive time music listening has become decidedly more eclectic. I guess that's good, because for all of The Sound's greatness (and it was especially great from the point of view of building a fanatically loyal radio-listening community), the weekday 9-5 playlist was actually pretty boring. You heard super popular hard rock hits all day long, with very few off-beat or underground songs (songs you would hear, though, on the weekends, at the odd hours of the day, or during special programming).

So yesterday I had KLOS 95.5 on while doodling around town, and a little before I came home I listened to Guns & Roses' "New Rose," which is a cover of The Damned's original hit punk rock single "New Rose" which came out in England in 1976, when I was in 10th grade.

So, yes, KLOS does have a bit more diverse daytime programming that The Sound used to have. In fact, it turns out that Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones has a daily two-hour show on the station, from Noon to 2:00pm, called Jonesy's Jukebox, which is hilarious because he literally does "whatever he wants."

So, change is good, as they say.

Here's Guns & Roses:

Victoria
The Kinks
12:33

New Rose
Guns N' Roses
12:25 PM

Miss You
The Rolling Stones
11:57 AM

Urgent
Foreigner
11:52 AM

Learn to Fly
Foo Fighters
11:49 AM

All Along the Watchtower
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
11:44 AM

Comfortably Numb
Pink Floyd
11:38 AM

RLRP_SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (BONO)
U2
11:33 AM

You Give Love a Bad Name
Bon Jovi
11:29 AM

Man In the Box
Alice In Chains
11:25 AM

Hangman Jury
Aerosmith
11:10 AM

Changes
David Bowie
11:06 AM

Pour Some Sugar On Me
Def Leppard

'No, You Move...'

Seen on Twitter in August, upping it now, in case I haven't upped it, lol.

#JamesDamore you are a hero for being brave enough to dare to have a "wrong" opinion/thought, and openly sharing it. I salute you. pic.twitter.com/jEIwZHStnL

— Danacuss (@DAWoodPangaea) August 8, 2017

Fast and Sexy

Seen earlier:

#FastNSexy pic.twitter.com/sSRVoC17JV

— Mary Cute (@MAcuteRY) August 4, 2017

Winston Churchill's Brevity

I'm hoping to go see "Darkest Hour" today, so in the spirit of things:

Winston Churchill's note to his cabinet on brevity. pic.twitter.com/YVWdbMgzGo

— Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) November 30, 2016

Montecito Cellphone Emergency Alerts Didn't Go Out Until After Mudslides Began

Here's the story, at LAT, "Emergency cellphone alerts didn't go out until after mudslides began in Montecito."

I just had to post a screen-cap of the mudslides: Man, that's up to the rooftops.

From the article:

It's unclear how many people would have heeded an emergency evacuation order had it been issued earlier in Montecito. Numerous residents said they knew about the mudslide risk from warnings but decided to stay in their homes anyway. Some said that after fleeing from fire in December, they doubted the rains would pose much of a risk.

David Cradduck, 66, was one of many people in his Montecito neighborhood who stayed.

"I think all of us have learned our lessons on this one. We were all bad children and ignored the warning," he said.

After the fires, some said they had disaster fatigue.

The #MeToo Movement Has Become a War on Men

Following-up from Monday, "The #MeToo Moment Has Now Morphed Into a Moral Panic That Poses as Much Danger to Women as it Does to Men."

Here's Heather Mac Donald's take on the #MeToo moment, at City Journal, "Too Close for Comfort":

The #MeToo movement may have begun as a justified backlash against grotesque predatory behavior and its institutional support, but, predictably, it soon evolved into a war on men and a moral panic over the male libido. Sexual harassment has become an infinitely expandable concept to take down difficult leaders, but history has been made by driven males; they created casualties aplenty but left the rest of us with art, intellectual advances, and the exploration of the unknown. The #MeToo movement will result in a new wave of quotas for females and the marginalization of men. No amount of political and social reengineering, however, will solve the problem of taming and integrating Eros in a world that denies male-female differences.

RTWT.

That phrase "moral panic" keeps cropping up. I think it's going to stick.

Toni Garrn on the Beach

She's a beauty!

At London's Daily Mail, "Sending temperatures soaring! Toni Garrn goes completely TOPLESS as she catches rays during sun-soaked getaway to Hawaii."

And at Taxi Driver, "Toni Garrn Topless on the Beach."

Favorite beach on the island 🥥 #Kauai pic.twitter.com/W7GN3G62ua

— Toni Garrn (@ToniGarrn) January 5, 2018

Danielle Gersh's Storm Watch Forecast

I lived up in Santa Barbara for 7 and a half years. It's an epicenter of natural and weather-related disasters.

And that's to say nothing of L.A. County, which is currently under all kinds of emergency mudslide warnings as well.

Here's the lovely Ms. Danielle with today's forecast, for CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Many Montecito Residents Ignored Warnings, Stayed in Their Homes Until It Was Too Late (VIDEO)

I don't know? I don't think I'd want to leave either. But after the worst wildfires in state history, folks in the area had to know the worst flooding ever was imminent. They just had to know. And now look at the death toll: at least fifteen killed and rescue personnel still looking for survivors.

Previously, "101 Freeway in Montecito Buried Under Tons of Mud and Debris."

And more, at LAT, "Many in Montecito ignored mudslide warnings — until it was too late."

Many in Montecito ignored mudslide warnings — until it was too late https://t.co/jP52LjXU8c

— Andrea Castillo (@andreamcastillo) January 10, 2018

And at KSBY Santa Barbara News 6:

101 Freeway in Montecito Buried Under Tons of Mud and Debris

The freeway up there is four lanes, two heading north and two heading south. It's got both a rural feel to it and a coastal feel. Sometimes the ocean views break through while you're driving through tufts and boughs of old growth trees. It's some of the most scenic coastline in the state. And now the freeway there is just buried, and bad!

At the Los Angeles Times, "101 Freeway, buried under tons of mud and debris, remains closed."

The 101 Freeway, buried under tons of mud and debris, remains closed https://t.co/J3QNKaIBD7 pic.twitter.com/muRdrIhDOW

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 10, 2018

Ralph Peters on the North Korean Nuclear Crisis and Diplomatic Negotiations (VIDEO)

Well, his analysis is right on, but I was drawn to his very dapper attire. I don't recall Colonel Peters ever looking this sharp, heh!

(I love that spread collar, his tie and knot, and the soft-shoulders on his suit. Nice color coordination as well. Very sharp indeed.)

With Sandra Smith on Fox News:

Wave of Republican Congressional Retirements in California

A year ago I would have thought the GOP had a strong chance to retain the House this year.

Not now.

Too much has happened, and with this wave of GOP retirements in Congress, Democrats have got to be fired up for massive gains in the November elections. This is more than tsunami territory, as far as I can see. This is going to be an earthquake with world shattering implications. Worlds are colliding!

Roll Call called it in September, "House Retirement Tide Is Coming."

Ed Royce of Buena Park announced he was retiring on Monday. And now today we have the news of Darrell Issa's retirement. These two aren't noobs. They're powerful GOP congressional veterans. Plus, Royce has a huge war chest of over $3 million in the bank, and Issa's independently wealthy --- so campaign finance isn't the issue. It's two things: (1) Donald Trump's iconoclastic presidency has shaken up American politics and many Republicans will be the target of ire as surrogates for all kinds of voter disenchantment with politics, and (2) California's formerly solid Republican majority in Orange County is history. Both Royce and Issa are running in districts that Hillary Clinton won, and while Royce won reelection in 2016 with 57 percent of the vote, Issa won just 50.3 percent and is considered the most vulnerable Republican in Congress.

California's a one-party Democrat state. It's a basket-case state, for that matter. Conservatives talking about a right-wing or populist rebellion in the once-Golden State are deluding themselves. Cast off the dead weight and fight battles elsewhere. As noted many times, I'd move out of state if I could right now, but I've got at least 10 more years at my job. I'll be thinking about greener, more conservative/libertarian pastures over the next few years, and then we'll see...

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times, "Rep. Darrell Issa to retire."

And more at Roll Call, "Darrell Issa Retiring, Opening Up Competitive House Seat."

More at Memorandum.

The Truth Behind Female Orgasam

Is this even "news you can use"?

I don't know?

Maybe Maxim's hurting for traffic, because some of the stuff they post over there is truly bizarre. If it get clicks I guess it's a go?

See, "SCIENTISTS AND PORN STARS REVEAL THE TRUTH BEHIND FEMALE EJACULATION: What does it mean when she squirts?"

Alessandra Ambrosio January Bonus! (VIDEO)

For LOVE Advent:

Hannah Ferguson Uncovered Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 (VIDEO)

Flashback: "Hannah Ferguson takes you behind the scenes of what she had deemed the best photo shoot 'of her entire career' in 2016."

The Weeknd Says Goodbye to H&M Over Racist 'Monkey' Sweatshirt Advertisement

This is the most un-'woke' thing ever --- and it's in the supposedly 'woke' fashion industry, man.

At USA Today, "Seriously: The Weeknd says goodbye to H&M over 'monkey' sweatshirt ad."

woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore... pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018

Danielle Gersh's Dangerous Rain Forecast

It's going to be a rough day in SoCal.

See the Los Angeles Times, "At least 5 dead as heavy rains trigger flooding, mudflows and freeway closures across Southern California."

Here's Ms. Danielle:

Tua Tagovailoa

I was thinking about this guy this morning. Stunning isn't enough to describe this guy's play, his impact. What a game.

Tua-mania 😉That didn’t take a minute. @SInow cover today pic.twitter.com/qHbrkNKrRq

— Liz Habib (@LizHabib) January 9, 2018

Something to Make Your Day

This is truly the best thing I've seen on Twitter in a long time:

If you have a case of the Mondays, watch this adorable video of baby sisters hugging. pic.twitter.com/UdEY208BHF

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 8, 2018

Devin Brugman Workout

That how she keeps that bikini body in shape!

I am so sore today from this workout 😩😩😩 @bodybygilles it hurts so good pic.twitter.com/WkGfdju8sJ

— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) December 15, 2017

Out here living 🌴 @FSMaui @MONDAYSWIMWEAR pic.twitter.com/E1Ciehxd7e

— Devin Brugman (@devinbrugman) December 17, 2017

Happy Birthday @DevinBrugman, thank you for showing us all how to wear a bikini AND a smile with so much grace. You are a timeless beauty! X pic.twitter.com/HtPNMGcyQw

— Monday Swimwear (@MONDAYSWIMWEAR) December 26, 2017

Nice Abs

Heh:

🙌🙏🙌 pic.twitter.com/v7D5ck30r8

— Country Girls (@DownHomeGirls) January 8, 2018

James Damore Sues Google, Alleging Discrimination Against White Male Conservatives

This is mind boggling. Jordan Peterson highlights the legal documents last night, and see the Guardian's report as well (FWIW):

James Damore and his lawyers @JamesADamore deliver a damning document. Read it and weep, boys.... https://t.co/zyUtjagNDJ pic.twitter.com/pp5Iz0vdhf

— Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 9, 2018

Google will be fighting a class action that alleges discrimination against white male employees whilst simultaneously fighting a class action that alleges wage discrimination against female employees. #Popcorn https://t.co/nW56SNRHWg

— Claire Lehmann (@clairlemon) January 9, 2018

Oldest McDonald's Restaurant

It's at Lakewood Boulevard and Florence Avenue in Downey. I drove by last week when I was going over to Pico Rivera to shop for used books. Amazing. Turns out there's a museum on site as well.

.@SalenaZito Had to pull over to the corner gas station to get photos of this original McDonald’s, at the corner of Florence and Lakewood Boulevard, in Downey. pic.twitter.com/HZlj8InV5S

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 5, 2018

Also has a sign saying, “Welcome to the world’s oldest-operating McDonald’s.” pic.twitter.com/aTPvfo9U2k

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 5, 2018

Tomi Lahren on California's Sanctuary State Laws

On Hannity from last night:

San Francisco's 'State of Emergency' for Black Students

I'm doodling around online and was looking at articles about the failure of progressive education models, and this piece came up at RealClearEducation.

Remember, this is the most progressive city in the state, and this whole state is supposedly progressive, run by so-called progressive Democrats in Sacramento. But everywhere you look, it's failure all the way down for impoverished minorities.

It's really sad, when you think about it.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Inside the fight over how to address San Francisco's 'state of emergency' for black student achievement":

Black students in San Francisco would be better off almost anywhere else in California https://t.co/107akUpBJ1

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 2, 2018

Black students in San Francisco would be better off almost anywhere else in California.

Many attend segregated schools and the majority of black, Latino and Pacific Islander students did not reach grade-level standards on the state's recent tests in math or English tests.

A local NAACP leader called for declaring a "state of emergency" for black student achievement, a problem the city's school board acknowledged. "The problem cannot be reduced to one sickness or one cure," said Rev. Amos C. Brown, San Francisco's NAACP branch president. "Black students have been underachievers. They're living in toxic situations. It's amazing they've done as well as they have done, but it's criminal that sophisticated children in progressive San Francisco are performing at these levels."

But is the solution to fix what's broken, or to start schools anew? Answering that question has unveiled a heated political debate in Northern California.

The district's strategy targets changing instruction, hiring, school culture and instilling the belief that all kids can learn. Vincent Matthews, San Francisco Unified School District's superintendent since May, is expected to present a detailed strategy for improvement early in the new year. An opposing plan from a controversial nonprofit called Innovate Public Schools calls for starting new schools — traditional public or charter — from scratch.

For decades, San Franciscans have called attention to the achievement gap. Following an NAACP lawsuit regarding discrimination, the city entered into a 1983 consent decree mandating desegregation. Since then, the district has changed its school assignment rules.

More recently, a group of organizers from Innovate, which has brought some charter schools to the San Francisco Bay Area and receives money from the Walton Family Foundation, has been convening parents and calling renewed attention to the problem.

In September, Innovate released a report sounding the alarm on San Francisco's achievement gap — and called for the city to establish new schools as a remedy. Innovate's organizers and parents held a news conference outside City Hall and organized a parent meeting with Matthews.

On the most recent round of tests, 87% of San Francisco Unified's black students performed below standards in math, as did 79% of Latino students and 78% of Pacific Islanders. Ninety-six percent of districts in California that serve black students had better reading scores for low-income black students than San Francisco did, Innovate found. Many minority students attend schools that are highly racially concentrated in neighborhoods such as Bayview-Hunters Point, with high rates of staff turnover and relatively inexperienced teachers.

These factors, according to a recent district report, produce "a form of academic segregation that can be especially hard to overcome."

And after decades of gentrification and displacement by tech workers, black families are moving out: In the 1998-99 school year, black students comprised 16% of SFUSD's students, compared with just under 7% last school year.

Some parents were shocked when they saw these statistics — individually, they knew there were issues, but they didn't realize their problems added up to a larger whole. The poor educational outcomes stand in stark contrast to the reputation the city has built for itself as the country's center of technological innovation.

"It's been broken for a long time," said Geraldine Anderson, a mother of three who saw local schools cut back on hours from one child to the next. "I see IT companies coming to San Francisco and so much money coming in for the city, but our kids won't be able to live here or participate."

Innovate has found advocates in parents struggling to find adequate schooling...

It's criminal. Really. Progressives are criminal. Their policies are criminal. I have to shake my head: Ironically, Marx's idea of "false consciousness" explains how generations of disadvantage minority groups have been brainwashed to believe that leftist-Democrat institutions and leaders are protecting and promoting their best interests. Mind-boggling. Man.

More.

The #MeToo Moment Has Now Morphed Into a Moral Panic That Poses as Much Danger to Women as it Does to Men

I might or might not blog about the epic Hollywood hypocrisy of the Golden Globes last night.

In the meantime, here's Claire Berlinski, at the American Interest, "The Warlock Hunt":

Recently I saw a friend—a man—pilloried on Facebook for asking if #metoo is going too far. “No,” said his female interlocutors. “Women have endured far too many years of harassment, humiliation, and injustice. We’ll tell you when it’s gone too far.” But I’m part of that “we,” and I say it is going too far. Mass hysteria has set in. It has become a classic moral panic, one that is ultimately as dangerous to women as to men.

If you are reading this, it means I have found an outlet that has not just fired an editor for sexual harassment. This article circulated from publication to publication, like old-fashioned samizdat, and was rejected repeatedly with a sotto voce, “Don’t tell anyone. I agree with you. But no.” Friends have urged me not to publish it under my own name, vividly describing the mob that will tear me from limb to limb and leave the dingoes to pick over my flesh. It says something, doesn’t it, that I’ve been more hesitant to speak about this than I’ve been of getting on the wrong side of the mafia, al-Qaeda, or the Kremlin?

But speak I must. It now takes only one accusation to destroy a man’s life. Just one for him to be tried and sentenced in the court of public opinion, overnight costing him his livelihood and social respectability. We are on a frenzied extrajudicial warlock hunt that does not pause to parse the difference between rape and stupidity. The punishment for sexual harassment is so grave that clearly this crime—like any other serious crime—requires an unambiguous definition. We have nothing of the sort.

In recent weeks, one after another prominent voice, many of them political voices, have been silenced by sexual harassment charges. Not one of these cases has yet been adjudicated in a court of law. Leon Wieseltier, David Corn, Mark Halperin, Michael Oreskes, Al Franken, Ken Baker, Rick Najera, Andy Signore, Jeff Hoover, Matt Lauer, even Garrison Keillor—all have received the professional death sentence. Some of the charges sound deadly serious. But others—as reported anyway—make no sense. I can’t say whether the charges against these men are true; I wasn’t under the bed. But even if true, some have been accused of offenses that aren’t offensive, or offenses that are only mildly so—and do not warrant total professional and personal destruction.

The things men and women naturally do—flirt, play, lewdly joke, desire, seduce, tease—now become harassment only by virtue of the words that follow the description of the act, one of the generic form: “I froze. I was terrified.” It doesn’t matter how the man felt about it. The onus to understand the interaction and its emotional subtleties falls entirely on him. But why? Perhaps she should have understood his behavior to be harmless—clumsy, sweet but misdirected, maladroit, or tacky—but lacking in malice sufficient to cost him such arduous punishment?

In recent weeks, I’ve acquired new powers. I have cast my mind over the ways I could use them. I could now, on a whim, destroy the career of an Oxford don who at a drunken Christmas party danced with me, grabbed a handful of my bum, and slurred, “I’ve been dying to do this to Berlinski all term!” That is precisely what happened. I am telling the truth. I will be believed—as I should be.

But here is the thing. I did not freeze, nor was I terrified. I was amused and flattered and thought little of it. I knew full well he’d been dying to do that. Our tutorials—which took place one-on-one, with no chaperones—were livelier intellectually for that sublimated undercurrent. He was an Oxford don and so had power over me, sensu stricto. I was a 20-year-old undergraduate. But I also had power over him — power sufficient to cause a venerable don to make a perfect fool of himself at a Christmas party. Unsurprisingly, I loved having that power. But now I have too much power. I have the power to destroy someone whose tutorials were invaluable to me and shaped my entire intellectual life much for the better. This is a power I do not want and should not have.

Over the course of my academic and professional career, many men who in some way held a position of power over me have made lewd jokes in my presence, or reminisced drunkenly of past lovers, or confessed sexual fantasies. They have hugged me, flirted with me, on occasion propositioned me. For the most part, this male attention has amused me and given me reason to look forward to otherwise dreary days at work. I dread the day I lose my power over men, which I have used to coax them to confide to me on the record secrets they would never have vouchsafed to a male journalist. I did not feel “demeaned” by the realization that some men esteemed my cleavage more than my talent; I felt damned lucky to have enough talent to exploit my cleavage.

But what if I now feel differently? What if—perhaps moved by the testimony of the many women who have come forward in recent weeks—I were to realize that the ambient sexual culture I meekly accepted as “amusing” was in fact repulsive and loathsome? What if I now realize it did me great emotional damage, harm so profound that only now do I recognize it?

Apparently, some women feel precisely this way. Natalie Portman, for example, has re-examined her life in light of the recent news...

She's a great writer.

Hard to pin down ideologically, though, interestingly. She's been a pretty vocal critic of President Trump but on many issues you'd think she was a neocon culture warrior.

Smart lady. And a knockout with that blonde hairdo!

Keep reading.

The Warlock Hunt https://t.co/J4HeCxTGof via @aminterest This was, to my surprise, by far the most widely-read piece I wrote in 2017, and I suspect the most widely-read piece I've ever written.

— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) December 31, 2017

White House Adviser Stephen Miller Escorted Out After Heated Interview with Jake Tapper on CNN (VIDEO)

This is so lame.

Stephen Miller's a patriot who refused to kowtow to the leftist press. And idiot progressives have already started a campaign to have him banned from television news, to say nothing of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's call to have Miller "removed" from office.

At Free Beacon, "CNN Source: Miller Escorted Out by Security When He Refused to Leave After Heated Tapper Interview."

And watch:

Jennifer Delacruz Rain and Snow Forecast

This is good. We need the precipitation.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer, for ABC News 10 San Diego:

Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, 20, From Portland, Oregon, Became a Viral Sensation After She Took Revenge on Man Who Groped Her Glittered Breasts at Rhythm and Vines Festival on New Year' Eve

The culture these days. *SMH.*

At the Sun U.K., "'THEY'LL MAKE A COMEBACK': ‘Glitter boobs’ woman, 20, who attacked festival groper vows to go topless again and says shaming her ‘promotes rape culture’- Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller vows that the 'glitter t**s will be coming back'."

And watch, "The Glitter Boob Chick Speaks Out on Being Topless Covered in Glitter Getting Boob Grabbed."

Melissa del Bosque, Bloodlines

At Amazon, Melissa del Bosque, Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI, and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty.

Yvette Felarca Ordered to Pay $11,000 for Filing Frivolous Civil Harassment Restraining Order

This makes me happy!

At Legal Insurrection, "Antifa Leader Ordered by Judge to Pay $11,000 to College Republicans Leader."

And at Breitbart, "Court Orders Antifa Organizer to Pay $11,000 for Filing Frivolous Restraining Order."

Trump on Twitter Not as Bad as Everyone's Freaking About

From David Gordon and Michael O'Hanlon, at USA Today, "President Trump's Twitter-fueled foreign policy: Not as bad as you might think: Yes, Trump is a maverick and populist. But thanks to him, 2017 witnessed less of a dramatic departure from the norm in foreign policy than has been alleged."

Jennifer Delacruz's Sunday Forecast

It's been cool in the morning, overcast with clearing. And then warm and sunny in the afternoons. I can't complain.

Here's the lovely Ms. Jennifer with more:

Barbara Palvin for LOVE Advent 2017 (VIDEO)

Stunning.

Bori Kreutz

Oooh, who is this amazing woman?!!

At Editorials Fashions Trends, "BORI KREUTZ BY JULIEN LRVR."

Lili Reinhart

I don't know how, but I just came across this piece at Harper's Bazaar, "'Riverdale's Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart Look Adorable on Vacation Together in Hawaii."

I know Cole Sprouse from the old Disney show "The Suite Life," which I used to watch with my kids. I don't know this woman, though. She's beautiful.

They're just kids. Oh, to be young again.

Wowzers! #Riverdale star, Lili Reinhart, for Cosmopolitan February 2018 Issue. Can't wait to see more photos from her feature!! #BettyCooper pic.twitter.com/9CnXWPjyav

— Riverdale Fans (@RiverdaleFansOL) December 29, 2017

Sarah Silverman's Response to a Twitter Troll

She shows compassion.

Most-read today: Sarah Silverman's response to a Twitter troll is a master class in compassion. After a troll lashed out at Silverman, she found him help for his pain. https://t.co/9qVh97yvUH #Trending pic.twitter.com/ivlMAuzMK6

— CBC Radio (@cbcradio) January 6, 2018

I believe in you. I read ur timeline & I see what ur doing & your rage is thinly veiled pain. But u know that. I know this feeling. Ps My back Fucking sux too. see what happens when u choose love. I see it in you.

— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) December 29, 2017

Click the blog link for the whole exchange. The key here is the Twitter troll was open to a dialogue with Silverman, and she was able to help him. That's one-in-a-million these days. Most trolls will just keep calling you a cunt and telling you to fuck off.

BONUS: "Nude Scenes: Sarah Silverman - 'I Smile Back'."

Psycho Psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee Declares President Trump Unfit for Office (VIDEO)

They're all psycho, inflicted by Trump Derangement Syndrome.

At Legal Insurrection, "Unable to Defeat Trump at the Polls, Dems Enlist Yale Psych Prof to Diagnose Him Mentally Unfit," and "WATCH: Sarah Sanders Slays Media on Trump Mental Health and Bannon Feud."

Rep. James Raskin at the first video below looks like he stuck his fingers in a light socket. These people are f--king twisted.

Roger D. Hodge, Texas Blood

At Amazon, Roger D. Hodge, Texas Blood: Seven Generations Among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers, and Smugglers of the Borderlands.