Thursday, December 21, 2017

Dore Gold, Tower of Babble

At Amazon, Dore Gold, Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos.




President Trump Warns the United Nations: 'Let them vote against us. We don't care...' (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Nikki Haley Confronts the U.N.'s 'Jackals'."



Nikki Haley Confronts the U.N.'s 'Jackals'

This piece is getting all kinds of action on Twitter, plus it's linked at Memeorandum.

From Eli Lake, at Bloomberg:

Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama

I'm collecting the "Rama" trilogy.

At Amazon, Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama.



Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Janet Fitch, The Revolution of Marina M.

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Janet Fitch, The Revolution of Marina M. (A Novel).

Battle for Conservatism

This is good, from Jacob Heilbrunn, at the New York Review, "Donald Trump’s Brains":


The Political Theory of the American Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom
by Thomas G. West
Cambridge University Press, 420 pp., $99.99

American Greatness: How Conservatism Inc. Missed the 2016 Election and What the D.C. Establishment Needs to Learn
by Chris Buskirk and Seth Leibsohn
WND Books, 272 pp., $25.95

Billionaire at the Barricades: The Populist Revolution from Reagan to Trump
by Laura Ingraham
All Points, 307 pp., $27.99

How the Right Lost Its Mind
by Charles J. Sykes
St. Martin’s, 267 pp., $27.99

The Spirit of Liberty: At Home, In the World
by Thomas O. Melia and Peter Wehner
56 pp., available at gwbcenter.imgix.net
Among the many anomalies of Donald Trump’s presidency has been the near invisibility of institutions that for many years served as a bulwark of Republican policymaking. Though many on the right like to quote Ronald Reagan’s assertion from 1981 that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” his administration in fact began its bold work with a comprehensive playbook—the twenty-volume Mandate for Leadership, published by The Heritage Foundation. It contained a variety of proposals for slashing federal income taxes, boosting defense spending, and rolling back business regulations. It was widely seen as a blueprint for the administration, and Reagan gave a copy to each member of his cabinet. A redacted paperback version even became a best seller. “Of a sudden,” Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared, “the GOP has become a party of ideas.”

In subsequent years, Heritage and other conservative think tanks continued to formulate sweeping proposals. It is well known that the Affordable Care Act, so reviled by Trump and other Republicans, emerged from a market-based model that was developed by Stuart Butler, the director of Heritage’s Center for Policy Innovation, and adopted in 2006 by Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts. During the George W. Bush presidency, foreign policy experts at the American Enterprise Institute, such as Richard Perle, a Defense Department official in the Reagan administration, helped shape Bush’s response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including, most notoriously, the war in Iraq.

Under Trump, however, these institutions are struggling to adjust. Though Heritage has played an important part in recommending nominations to the judiciary, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, its actual influence on policy seems negligible, and its members have conflicting views of Trump’s nationalist agenda. Something similar can be said about a number of other conservative think tanks in Washington, including the American Enterprise Institute, which has a number of fellows such as Jonah Goldberg who are highly critical of Trump.

The result is that many neoconservatives and establishment conservatives—ranging from Eliot A. Cohen, a former adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to David Frum, author of the new book Trumpocracy, to Stuart Stevens, the campaign strategist for Mitt Romney in 2012—have vociferously united in their loathing for Trump. They see him as a sinister mountebank who is destroying true conservative principles from within the GOP and who, incidentally, threatens to exile them to the political wilderness.

A battle for the future of conservatism is in effect being fought between these anti-Trump conservatives and pro-Trump conservatives associated with the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank based in California, which for years has been discussing the Federalist Papers, the dangers of progressivism, and, above all, the wisdom of the German exile and political philosopher Leo Strauss, who taught for several decades at the University of Chicago. For some both in and out of government, the Trump presidency is a deliverance—or at least offers tantalizing promises of an audacious new conservative era in domestic and foreign policy...
Keep reading.


Emma Roberts Shape Magazine (VIDEO)

She's a hot chick.

Watch:



Sexy Santas

Via Theo Spark:


Sheer Jessica Shears

At Taxi Driver, "Jessica Shears Braless in See Through Top."

Alexis Ren 2017 (VIDEO)

Nice.



Shop Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And especially, Calvin Klein Men's Undershirts Cotton Classics Multipack Crew Neck T-Shirts, and Calvin Klein Men's Undershirts Cotton Classics 4 Pack V Neck T-Shirts.

Also, Men's Memory Foam House Slippers Winter Warm Soft Slip-on Shoes Indoor/Outdoor, and RockDove Two-Tone Memory Foam Warm House Slippers for Men w/Indoor Outdoor Sole.

Plus, Dickies Men's Big-Tall Sanded Duck Sherpa Lined Hooded Jacket.

More, Sweet Dreams Luxury Satin Pillowcase with Zipper, Standard Size, White (Silky Satin Pillow Case for Hair) by Shop Bedding.

Still more, G.H. Bass & Co. Men's Larson Penny Loafer.

Plus, Samsung Electronics UN65MU7000 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model).

BONUS: Stewart Patrick, The Sovereignty Wars: Reconciling America with the World.

Trump's Tax-Cut Triumph

The House has to vote again on the bill, but it looks like just a formality. This is a huge victory for the White House.

At Axios, "Trump triumphant: a consequential, lasting end to 2017" (via Memeorandum):

President Trump takes a beating in the media, but he's ending 2017 on the high note of his presidency.

The big picture: You might not like his words or actions. But measured in terms of what Republican voters want and expected, he's winning on important fronts:
* The tax bill passed with almost unanimous Republican support, before the end of the year, and in keeping with mostly mainstream conservative orthodoxy. Trump won a bigger corporate tax break than either Bush ever got, and will sign the most consequential new tax law in 30 years. And he followed through on cutting taxes for most small businesses and most Americans. He did this without losing a single GOP senator — even his harshest critics.

* He failed to repeal all of Obama's health-care law. But Trump axed the individual mandate with the tax bill, and has chipped away at other parts of the law's foundation. Again, you might hate the outcome. But it's a significant step to blowing up a program most Republicans demanded be destroyed.
* Axios health-care editor Sam Baker emails: "The smaller administrative steps Trump has taken — an executive order, cuts to enrollment outreach, ending a critical stream of funding for insurers — [are cumulatively] weakening the ACA's insurance exchanges and prompting some insurers to question whether those markets are worth the trouble."
* Trump has tilted the court rightward in lasting ways. Justice Neil Gorsuch was a substantial, conservative addition to the Supreme Court. And it wasn't a one-off: The dozen new U.S. Circuit Court judges he has named is the most during a president's first year in office in more than a century.

* Trump has followed through on eviscerating regulations, many of them imposed by Obama. He has revoked 67, and delayed or derailed more than 1,500 others.

* No matter that much of it is not of his doing, the economy has grown consistently under his watch.

* ISIS is in retreat. The N.Y. Times' Ross Douthat calls it "A War Trump Won."

More.

'Nikki Haley is on track to be our Margaret Thatcher...' (VIDEO)

It's Ralph Peters, on Fox:



Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Melissa del Bosque, Bloodlines

This looks great!

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



Erin Heatherton Wears Nothing (VIDEO)

She's so dreamy.



Kate Upton for LOVE Magazine (VIDEO)

Well, no doubt the moment we've all been waiting for.

And did you know, Kate Upton's now a married woman. Yep, that lucking dog Justin Verlander nailed her down after the World Series.

At LOVE:


Michaela Wain Swim w/ Belle Lucia and Steph Raynor (VIDEO)

At Editorials Fashions Trends, "VIDEO: MICHAELA WAIN, BELLE LUCIA AND STEPH RAYNER FOR MICHAELA WAIN SWIM."

Sofia Resing for Lui Magazine

At Taxi Driver, "Sofia Resing Topless for Lui Magazine."

More at Hot Celeb, "SOFIA RESING – LUI MAGAZINE NAKED PHOTOSHOOT (DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018) (NSFW)."

New Deals. Every Day

At Amazon, Today's Deals.

And see especially, Arlo by NETGEAR Security System – 3 Wire–Free HD Cameras - Indoor/Outdoor  -  Night Vision (VMS3330), and Nest Cam Outdoor Security Camera, Works with Amazon Alexa.

Also, Beanie Hat for Men and Women Winter Warm Hats Knit Slouchy Thick Skull Cap by W.L., and HindaWi Womens Slouchy Beanie Winter Hat Knit Warm Snow Ski Skull Cap.

More, KIND Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter, Gluten Free, 7.1 Ounce, 32 Count, and CLIF BAR - Energy Bar - Blueberry Crisp - (2.4-Ounce Protein Bar, 12 Count).

Still more, The Leather Factory Men's SWORD Black Genuine Lambskin Leather Biker Jacket.

Here, Brightech Litespan LED Reading and Craft Floor Lamp - Dimmable Full Spectrum Natural Daylight Sunlight LED Standing Light with Gooseneck for Living Room Sewing Bedroom Office Task – Havana Brown, and Natural Sunlight Desk Lamp, Great For Reading and Crafting, Adjustable Gooseneck, Home and Office Lamp by Lavish Home, White.

More here, Cuisinart SS-15 12-Cup Coffee Maker and Single-Serve Brewer, Stainless Steel.

BONUS: David Armitage, Civil Wars: A History in Ideas.

Lisa Bloom Sought Cash Payment for Trump Accusers (VIDEO)

She's such scum.

From Mark Tapscott, at Instapundit, "JOHN SOLOMON SLICED AND DICED LISA BLOOM MONDAY NIGHT: 'Facts Refute Lisa Bloom’s Denials on Paying Trump Accusers, Reporter Says'."