Carly Fiorina Jumps Out to First-Place, Tied with Donald Trump, in Post-GOP Debate Poll

This is not unexpected, at all.

From Nice Deb, at Pajamas, "Post-Debate Poll: Fiorina Surges to First Place, Tied With Trump":

A post-debate poll conducted by Gravis Marketing for One America News Network (OAN) shows Carly Fiorina jumping to first place at 22%, tied with Donald Trump. In their previous poll, Fiorina ranked 7th with 2.7% of the vote.

The poll, taken immediately after Wednesday night’s GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, has Marco Rubio rising to third place with 15 percent...

Keep reading, via Instapundit, who writes, "It’s a real (robo-)poll, not an online poll."

PREVIOUSLY: "Carly Fiorina Should Expect Greater Scrutiny After Powerful Debate Performance (VIDEO)."

Carly Fiorina Should Expect Greater Scrutiny After Powerful Debate Performance (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Carly Fiorina's post-debate moment is just a start: She needs support but faces more scrutiny":

Carly Fiorina fought and scraped her way to the top of the male-dominated business world, becoming chief executive of one of the tech industry's iconic companies.

She fought and scraped her way from an afterthought in the crowded Republican presidential field to the hands-down winner of Wednesday night's Reagan Presidential Library debate.

The question, now that Fiorina is having her moment: Does her underfunded campaign have the capacity to reap the benefits of her newfound momentum?

“We'll see if she capitalizes ... meaning raising some money so she can go out and begin making her case in the early states and beyond,” said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP strategist who is neutral in the Republican race. “The calendar has not changed. This is still a marathon and only candidates with the financial means are going to be able to go the distance.”

The first nominating votes in the contest are set for just over four months from now in Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Then comes a sprawling succession of primaries and caucuses.

Larry Gerston, a longtime Fiorina watcher and emeritus professor of political science at San Jose State, said after her widely acclaimed debate performance that the hard part is just beginning.

“This will be her moment. Not [Wednesday] night, really, but the next two-three weeks, assuming the next few polls show she's moved up,” he said.

Fiorina had won positive reviews after the first debate in August and has been well-received in the early-voting states. But that has not translated into strong fundraising, key endorsements or the organizational strength needed to seriously compete for the nomination.

Republican donors, notably in California, have been intrigued by Fiorina's rise from an asterisk in the polls to the top tier of candidates, but many have held off on opening their checkbooks. Her debate performance could convince them to donate.

Fiorina's campaign declined to provide details about fundraising, but the candidate headlined a fundraiser Thursday night in Los Angeles hosted by notable GOP donors, including former Univision chief Jerry Perenchio.

“Mr. Perenchio is very proud of her; he thinks she won the debate and he will continue to support her,” said Cassandra Vandenberg, a political advisor to Perenchio, who has donated more than $1 million to the super PAC backing Fiorina.

The super PAC, Carly for America, said Thursday that it had already seen an uptick in donations since the debate.

“We have definitely seen an increase in fundraising, an increase in Web traffic and an all-around surge of support,” said spokeswoman Katie Hughes, though she declined to provide details.

For all the raves, there is the risk of getting too carried away...

Keep reading.

Jennifer Lawrence for Christian Dior

At Vogue Australia, "Poppy Delevingne designs shoes with Aquazzura; Jennifer Lawrence’s new Dior campaign."

And watch, "Dior Addict, the new lipstick – Jennifer Lawrence’s Interview."

Donald Trump Responds to Man Saying Obama is Muslim During New Hampshire Event (VIDEO)

Watch, at AP, "Trump: No Correcting Man Saying Obama is Muslim."

And at CNN, via Memeorandum, "Trump declines to correct questioner who says Obama is a Muslim."

Maxboost iPhone 6 Screen Protector

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Plus, Ann Coulter's in the news, so here's a link to her new book, Adios, America: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole.

Hottest Surfer/Singer Catherine Clark (VIDEO)

At Playboy, "Catherine Clark is the Hottest Surfer/Singer You'll Meet."

And on Instagram.

Hot-Rodding Qatari Sheikh Flees the Country (VIDEO)

Good riddance.

At LAT, "Qatari sheikh at center of Beverly Hills speeding case flees the country."

While the Getting's Hot: Carly Fiorina, Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey

She made mention of the themes in her book at last night's debate, but if you haven't read it you wouldn't pick up on them.

So, since she'll no doubt be dominating the news today, here's another plug for her book, at Amazon, Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey.



IMAGE CREDIT: O.C. Register.

More blogging tonight.

Will Donald Trump's Poll Ratings Collapse After Second #GOPDebate?

Personally, I think Carly Fiorina won the debate, and I'm not the only one. See Mark Hemingway, at the Weekly Standard, "Carly Fiorina, The Anti-Hillary."

And while Fiorina's going to get some kind of bump in the polls, the $64 million question is whether Donald Trump's going to take a dive. Some folks thought he gave a fine performance, at WaPo, for example, "Fiorina emerges in GOP debate, but Trump still dominates conversation."

In any case, let's see if the polling trends I mentioned yesterday hold firm. See, "No 2012 Frontrunner Polling Collapse Problem for Donald Trump."

Fiorina's been in single digits so long I'm skeptical that her moment on the big stage, no matter how impressive it was, will launch her up into Trump's territory. If anything, Ben Carson will fade a little bit, with Fiorina picking up some of his supporters. But well see. We'll see.

BONUS: Still more at the New York Times, "Candidates Use Second GOP Debate to Taunt Donald Trump."

Here's Ryan Anderson's New Book on Homosexual Marriage

They got into the debate on homosexual marriage and religious freedom at last night's debate, as well as the ideological fidelity of Chief Justice John Roberts. (On Twitter, some folks pointed out that Ted Cruz was hypocritical.)

In any case, here's Ryan Anderson's book, at Amazon, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom.

I really disagreed with Mike Huckabee. Folks need to flesh out the distinctions between Kim Davis' obligations as a public servant and elected official vis-à-vis her rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. It's a complicated question, because while she has rights to freedom of religion, as a public official she could be violating citizens' protections against state sponsorship of religion.

'Peg, it will come back to you...'

From yesterday morning's school drop-off time, at the Sound L.A.

Too Much Time On My Hands
Styx
8:46 AM

London Calling
The Clash
8:35 AM

Peg
Steely Dan & Tom Scott
8:16 AM

Immigrant Song
Led Zeppelin
8:01 AM

Jeremy Corbyn During Prime MInister's Question Time (VIDEO)

Britain's Telegraph UK requires a subscription after you've reached your monthly limit, so just scroll down the topic page for the "Labour Party" for stories on yesterday's question time in Parliament. Apparently, new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn used questions from the public while confronting Prime Minister David Cameron.

And see, "Jeremy Corbyn's day: From national anthem 'disloyalty' to 'brilliant' PMQs battle with David Cameron."



Also at Toronto's National Post, "New U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refuses to sing national anthem, accused of disloyalty." And from Anne Perkins, at the Guardian UK, "The national anthem may stick in Corbyn’s craw, but it is his job to sing it."

More, at the Independent UK, "Jeremy Corbyn will have to kneel before the Queen and kiss her hand - despite wanting to abolish the monarchy."

Donald Trump on Carly Fiorina: 'I think she's got a beautiful face and she's a beautiful woman...' #CNNDebate

Ms. Fiorina looked spectacular last night, even regal.

She didn't go as hard at Trump as some media reports indicated she would, but she did get in a zinger.

Here's the video of the exchange. Trump praises her beauty, which I think was the right thing to do, even a bit classy, considering that Trump's not known for being classy. Watch, "Trump on Carly Fiorina: 'She's got a beautiful face ..."

3-Year-Old Xander Poore Donates $20.00 to Charity Fund for Fire Relief Effort (VIDEO)

It's was his birthday money.

At KCRA News 3 Sacramento, "3-year-old donates $20 to fire fund, melts everyone's heart."

Nina Agdal's New York Apartment

She a crazy hot-mess babe.

At Sports Illustrated, from 2013, "SI Swimsuit model Nina Agdal's New York apartment."

PREVIOUSLY: "Nina Agdal on Instagram!"

Substance Made a Comeback in Second #GOPDebate

Following-up from earlier, "Donald Trump Goes Quiet When #GOPDebate Turns to Substantive Issues."

At WSJ, "Candidates fielded questions ranging from immigration and national security to the economy":

Very substantive #GOPDebate. #CNNDebate.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 17, 2015

Attitude met substance on a California debate stage Wednesday night. And if substance didn’t win, it at least made a comeback.

For two months, the Republican presidential race has been dominated by Donald Trump, whose approach has been to boast about his leadership style—“I’m a winner, I’ll negotiate great deals”—while skirting past detailed policy discussions.

The remainder of the field was left fuming, talking about Mr. Trump and seeing media coverage flow his way. What they weren’t doing was talking about their agendas.

That changed in the debate at the Reagan presidential library in California. While many of the questions posed by the CNN moderators began with a recitation of comments Mr. Trump has made, which left him still at the center of the conversation, his competitors managed to launch a conversation that, for the first time in weeks, got beyond the Trump orbit.

Sen. Marco Rubio got limited face time but made the most of it, explaining, for example, why he wouldn’t support President Barack Obama when he proposed limited airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops: “If the United States military is going to be engaged by a commander-in-chief, it should only be engaged in an endeavor to win. And we’re not going to authorize use of force if you’re not put in a position where they can win.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush got his first chance on a debate stage to explain his immigration plan in detail and talk about judicial appointments. Ohio Gov. John Kasich got to explain his record in Ohio, as well as his determination to run an upbeat campaign that will give people “a sense of unity” in which he won’t attack others. Retired surgeon Ben Carson got to explain his health plan. Sen. Ted Cruz got multiple chances to strike a tough tone on Iran.

Indeed, the other candidates seemed to relish the chance to not talk about Mr. Trump. And, after having endured his criticisms of their records, energy, styles and even appearances, to begin striking back. Mr. Bush asked Mr. Trump to apologize to his Mexican-born wife for saying she influenced his thinking on immigration. (Mr. Trump declined.)

Still more.

Carly Fiorina Speaks Truth to the Depravity of Drug Abuse at #CNNDebate (VIDEO)

Watch, at CNN, "Carly Fiorina gets personal discussing drugs."

BONUS: ICYMI, Ed Gogek's new book, Marijuana Debunked: A Handbook for Parents, Pundits, and Politicians Who Want to Know the Case Against Legalization.

Jackie Johnson's Forecast for Thursday

From last night, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles.

It's going to be a nice day.

Best Donald Trump Zingers at #CNNDebate

At CNN, "Best Trump zingers of the CNN Republican debate."

Donald Trump Goes Quiet When #GOPDebate Turns to Substantive Issues

Funny thing is, this is exactly what my wife was saying during the debate.

At the O.C. Register, "Trump turns quieter once GOP debate turns substantive":

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – Amid the back-and-forth bickering over Donald Trump, the Republican presidential contest took a substantive and serious turn in Wednesday’s prime-time debate, with candidates wrangling over immigration, gay marriage and foreign affairs.

The policy shift quieted Trump, the brash billionaire who has roiled the GOP field, for long stretches during the debate that stretched past three hours and it appeared to come as a relief to other candidates who have struggled to break through.

Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP field, was one of the main benefactors, launching an emotional plea for defunding Planned Parenthood, touting her experience in business and taking aim at Trump for derogatory comments he made about her appearance. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who came into the debate facing questions about whether he had the grit to take on Trump, also engaged directly with the real estate mogul while still trying to fulfill his promise to run a joyful campaign.

In one exchange that typified the broader battle within the Republican Party, Bush and Trump clashed over the influence of big-money donors who have helped the former governor raise more than $100 million. Trump, who is largely financing his own campaign, said of campaign contributors: “I understand the game, I’ve been on the other side my entire life and they have a lot of control over our politicians.”

At another point, Bush pressed Trump to apologize for comments he has made about Bush’s Mexican-born wife. Trump refused and called Bush “weak on immigration.”

As the contest lasted deep into the night, the candidates were polled on such matters as their choices for a woman to be depicted on the $10 bill and what their Secret Service code names would be if elected president. Bush drew the biggest applause when he picked “Eveready,” then turned to Trump to note it was a “high-energy” name — a nod to Trump’s criticism of Bush as a low-energy candidate. They smiled and slapped hands at that.

Trump’s unexpected rise and surprising durability is seen as a reflection of voters’ frustration with Washington and career politicians. As the son and brother of presidents, Bush more than any other candidate is seen as a representative of the status quo...

More.

Evelyn Taft's Got Your Wonderful Wednesday Forecast

Here's some lovely Evelyn Taft eye-candy to hold you over while I watch the GOP debate.

I'll have all your hot take updates a little later.

Exclusive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Intimates Video from Kate Upton's Rookie Shoot in the Philippines

Some afternoon Kate Upton Rule 5.

Watch, at Sports Illustrated, "Exclusive: Kate Upton's HOT Shower (VIDEO)."

CNN Moves Prime-Time GOP Debate to 8 p.m.

Well, the "undercard" is lame. They should get rid of it.

At Politico, "The shift shortens the window between the main event and undercard debate:

CNN has moved its primetime Sept. 16 Republican debate from 9 p.m. EDT to 8 p.m., eliminating the long gap between its main event and the earlier forum for second-tier candidates, the network told campaigns in a conference call Tuesday afternoon.

A CNN spokesperson confirmed the time change.

The earlier debate with candidates who polled at least 1 percent in three national polls will start at 6 p.m. EDT, ending at 7:45 p.m.

According to sources who were on the call, candidates will not give opening and closing statements though they will have a 15- to 20-second window to introduce themselves. Candidates will also have one minute to respond to questions and 30-second rebuttals, if their name is invoked by another candidate.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper, as moderator, will ask the majority of questions, supplemented by questions from CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt...

Ho hum.

Let's just get on with the main event. I guess Carly Fiorina's gonna rip Donald Trump a new one!

Poll: Sixty-Eight Percent of California Democrats Want Free Healthcare for Illegal Alien Criminals!

Well, here's some fodder for tonight's debate, from the home state electorate.

Migrant crisis? What migrant crisis? Democrats will take in everybody and give them luxury Cadillac health benefits on the public's dime. Must be nice to live in the left's Utopian never-never land, heh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "California voters sharply disagree on low-cost healthcare for immigrants":

California has adopted a series of laws in recent years to help people in the country illegally, and polls show broad support for a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 2 million such immigrants living in the state.

But it's a different story when it comes to providing them healthcare benefits.

California voters are sharply divided over whether free or low-cost health insurance should be granted to those who reside in the state without legal status, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

The poll found that about 48% of voters believed that immigrants who live here illegally should be eligible to receive free or low-cost health insurance through Medi-Cal or a similar program. A statistically equal 47% said the group should not be eligible, while about 6% said they didn't know or refused to answer the question.

Backing for the benefit is split along ethnic lines, with 69% of Latino voters but only 39% of white voters responding that the group should be eligible. And it had an ideological cast as well: 68% of Democrats supported eligibility, yet only 19% of Republicans agreed.

Opposition was most passionate among supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, 90% of whom opposed eligibility. Opposition among backers of other candidates ranked substantially lower.

Support has been growing for years among Californians for new immigration policies that would offer a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally. But Californians have remained somewhat conflicted, as the poll underscored, when it comes to offering costly services to those immigrants before they attain legal status.

Immigrant rights activists have pushed a proposal to provide state-funded healthcare for people who reside in California without legal status. They came close to succeeding this summer, but lawmakers scaled back the proposal after cost estimates ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Instead, legislators set aside $40 million in the most recent state budget to provide Medi-Cal coverage to children younger than 19 years old, regardless of legal status.

The responses might have been different if the question had focused on only children who are in the country illegally, said Drew Lieberman of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Democratic firm that conducted the poll with the Republican firm American Viewpoint...

Hey Dems, it's the land of milk and honey!

Free healthcare for the entire world! Come on people now, just flood our freakin' borders!

More.

Republican Candidates Must Win Support of Disaffected Americans

At WSJ, "GOP Candidates Must Win Over Dissatisfied Voters":

SIMI VALLEY, Calif.—Whether or not Donald Trump remains the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, his supporters will be a potent political force that other candidates must confront.

The billionaire real-estate developer’s unexpected rise—and surprisingly durable popularity—is pointing to a surly mood among GOP voters that is not going away soon.

Mr. Trump’s detractors have spent weeks trying to devise the best line of attack to dethrone him. Now, some of his rivals are turning their attention to addressing the voters whose anger, frustration and mistrust of politicians seems to have elevated him to the top.

Jeb Bush recently described himself, as governor of Florida a decade ago, as a “disrupter” who upended the status quo in Tallahassee. Sen. Marco Rubio, reaching for ordinary-guy authenticity, is airing ads with “unedited” footage of him driving around Miami. Sen. Ted Cruz amplified his own anti-establishment message by inviting Mr. Trump to join him at a protest rally on the Capitol lawn.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a time when Washington has been more out of touch with the lives of everyday people than it is right now,” Mr. Rubio said in Iowa last weekend. “Both parties quite frankly are to blame. People want leaders who know what life is like in the real world.”

Wednesday night’s televised CNN debate will give GOP candidates another chance to attack Mr. Trump, empathize with his supporters, or both. Their calculations could carry big consequences down the road: If the party’s nominee moves too far to the right on issues such as immigration or bashes Washington with too much gusto, the GOP could lose general-election support from minorities and swing voters who are less hostile to government.

In the six weeks since the first GOP primary debate, there has been growing evidence of deep voter disaffection with Washington and the political establishment. In the shifting polls since then, candidates with the most experience have tended to lose ground while the least experienced candidates have surged.

According to polling averages compiled by Real Clear Politics, the candidates drawing more support are Messrs. Trump and Cruz, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina. Those who have lost ground include Messrs. Bush, Paul, and Rubio, as well as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
“I like that Trump is throwing things out there,” said Gaige Gill, a social studies teacher in Mapleton, Iowa, as he waited to catch a glimpse of the real estate mogul at a tailgate party at Iowa State University last weekend. “I don’t know if that makes him a good president.”

The stiffest challenge to Mr. Trump’s dominance now is from Mr. Carson, another political amateur. In the latest New York Times/CBS poll, Republicans who favored those two candidates alone accounted for half of those surveyed...

No 2012 Frontrunner Polling Collapse Problem for Donald Trump

Well, this explains it.

At WSJ, "Donald Trump’s Enduring Lead Shows 2016 Not a 2012 Replay":

Ever since Donald Trump gained altitude as a presidential candidate, experienced political hands have predicted that his balloon would soon pop.

As evidence, they cite the 2012 primary. Republicans flirted with a rotating cast of candidates from outside the political mainstream before settling on Mitt Romney, a member of the party’s establishment wing.

But polling now says that a different story is unfolding this time around.

The Republican electorate seems much more unsettled than in 2012, suggesting a more difficult path for this cycle’s set of establishment candidates. Three polling measures show how different the 2016 cycle is from 2012.

To being with, Donald Trump has spent more days leading the Republican presidential field than did any of Romney’s challengers in 2012.

That’s one sign of how strong the hunger is among Republicans this year for a nontraditional candidate. Here’s another: Neither the first- nor the second-place spot in national polls is held by an establishment candidate.

he top two slots belong to Mr. Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Jeb Bush is a fairly distant third in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

In 2012, Mr. Romney faced repeated challenges from competitors, but throughout the campaign he was never lower than second in the RCP average. There was a distinct pattern to the 2012 numbers, with Mr. Romney in either first place or in second, with a new competitor rising or falling around him. That dynamic so far isn’t being repeated this year.

A third trend that marks 2016 as different from the last campaign: Establishment candidates have fallen to single-digit support in national polls...

Still more. And click through for the graphics.

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Plus, from Donald Trump, Time to Get Tough: Make America Great Again!

Open-Border Scumbags Call Out CNN, Demand Republicans 'Tone Down Rhetoric' on Illegal Immigration

Fortunately, I expect CNN's jonesing for some huge ratings, and will likely go all Lou Dobbs on these despicable "migrant advocates," a.k.a. far-left reconquista open-border thugs.

At LAT, "Advocates ask CNN to help tone down Republicans' rhetoric on immigration":

A large coalition of immigrant rights groups is calling on the moderators of this week's Republican presidential debate to help tone down the heated rhetoric on illegal immigration that has dominated the GOP primary race.

In an open letter to CNN, which is hosting the debate, 62 pro-immigrant organizations from around the country voice concern about "the increasing hatred and vitriol being directed towards both people of color and the immigrant community by certain presidential candidates."

"The upcoming presidential debate will be a test as to how much leeway can be given to the language of hate," the letter says, while calling on moderators "to help bring back a civil debate."

Republican front-runner Donald Trump soared in the polls this summer after making immigration a focus of his campaign. Trump has drawn attention to several immigrants in the country illegally accused of committing crimes and has vowed to build a border wall and end automatic citizenship for children born to immigrants without legal status. He has called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists.

The letter cites a recent attack on a Latino man in Boston in which the suspect may have cited Trump as an inspiration. That and other recent episodes are evidence that "these harmful words will turn into violence against our communities," the letter says.

Signed by groups including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the National Immigration Law Center and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, the letter also suggests a hashtag for those who will be tweeting the debate: #NoHateDebate.

When the crowded field of GOP candidates descends on Simi Valley for the debate Wednesday, they will be met with protesters from both sides of the immigration issue.

About four dozen organizations that support immigrants plan to rally outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where the debate is being held, according to Jorge-Mario Cabrera of CHIRLA.

They will be competing with protesters who have likely been happy with the tone of this summer's debate.

The second rally, organized by tea party and anti-immigration groups, will be centered on the need to revoke birthright citizenship, according to organizer Ted Hilton. He said he and others had been working for years to end the practice, which most believe is a right protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, with little results...

La Raza scumbag communists. Fuck 'em.

Still more.

Donald Trump Speaks at USS Iowa (VIDEO)

Full coverage at the Los Angeles Times, "Trump zeroes in on immigration in national security speech aboard battleship."

And watch, at Fox News 10 Phoenix, "Donald Trump speaks on the USS Iowa."

Hungary Arrests Migrants in Border Crackdown (VIDEO)

It's pretty interesting, at NYT, "Hungary Detains Migrants in Border Crackdown."

The crackdown is almost continent-wide at this point, because compassion!

Plus, video at Euronews, "'First arrests made' as Hungary cracks down on immigration."

Lady Gaga at Brandon Maxwell's Debut Show in New York (VIDEO)

At London's Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga displays extreme cleavage in black pantsuit as she and designer pal Nicola Formichetti hit up Brandon Maxwell's NYFW show."

And watch, at AP, "Gaga Supports Brandon Maxwell."

At Least 15 Killed in Southern Utah Flash Floods (VIDEO)

Most reports indicate that 12 people died, like the CBS Evening News video below.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "At least 15 killed, including nine children, in southern Utah flash floods":

Before they turned deadly, the storms were a wonder.

Waterfalls spouted from the sides of the mountains. The rain came down so hard that some residents in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. -- most famously known as the home of a fundamentalist Mormon sect -- had trouble seeing their backyards.

"It's crazy!" Lydia Wyler, 38, said as she shot video of the wind and rain thrashing the trees outside her Hildale house, laughing a little as her kids gaped in amazement.

The joy didn't last. At least 15 people -- including at least nine children -- were killed in flash floods that struck southern Utah on Monday.

In Zion National Park, at least three visitors were killed while exploring Keyhole Canyon when more than half an inch of rain fell in less than an hour, park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said Tuesday.

“It would have flashed right after a rainstorm,” said Baltrus, who added that the group had a canyoneering permit for the area.

Four others who were exploring the canyon were missing Tuesday, and Baltrus said rescuers wouldn’t be able to go into the small canyon until conditions improved.

Tragedy also struck Hildale and Colorado City, the border cities together known as Short Creek.

Officials say that as two families were returning Tuesday from a visit to a nearby park, the group of three adults and 13 children stopped to watch the floodwaters that had blocked their path back to town. A wall of water suddenly came from behind and swept their vehicles away, killing at least 12 members of the group.

Three children survived, including one who was hospitalized overnight. One person is missing, and it's not clear whether the person is an adult or child. The youngest child in the group was 4 and the oldest a teenager.


"We're just greatly humbled by this, but we realize this is an act of God, and this is something we can’t control," said Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow. "We have to take what we receive and do the best we can."

But after describing the thousands of phone calls the community has received and the arrival of more search dogs to look for the missing, Barlow fell silent a few moments.

"Just never experienced this before," Barlow said softly...

More.

And at USA Today, "Death toll rises to 12 in Utah flash flood; 1 still missing."

ICYMI: Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes' Definitive Biography of Jack Kemp

So, I've finished The Devil's Pleasure Palace, which was excellent.

I've got a lot on my plate, with all these great books, but I'm going start tearing into Morton Kondracke and Fred Barnes' new book today.

Check it out, Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America.

More blogging tonight!

'We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert...'

I haven't been posting the drive-time music segments much, since Mark in the Morning premiered last year at the Sound L.A. It's a talk show. He doesn't play that much music. I'd much rather have Uncle Joe Benson on, but he's moved to the afternoons.

Oh well. Go with what you know, I guess.

From last Thursday's drive-time, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey."

Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney
6:57 AM

The Boys of Summer
Don Henley
6:46 AM

Hey, Hey, What Can I Do
Led Zeppelin
6:32 AM

Dreams
Fleetwood Mac
6:13 AM

America's Reckless Refuge for Jihad

Yeah, here's a follow-up, and corrective, to Julia Ioffe's entry, "America Can — And Must — Do More to Help Europe's Migrants. Really?"

From Michelle Malkin:

On the anniversary week of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama is rolling out the welcome mat to tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees. What could go wrong?

There’s no need to hypothesize. Our nation remains utterly incapable of screening out legitimate dreamers from destroyers, liberty-seekers from liberty-stiflers. Indiscriminate asylum and refugee policies rob the truly deserving of an opportunity for freedom — and threaten our national security.

It’s shameful that our leaders in Washington, sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution and our people, suffer chronic amnesia about the fatal consequences of open borders. I’ll keep reprinting my reminders. Maybe someday someone in a position of power will pay heed, throw political correctness out the window, and stop hitting the snooze button...

Keep reading.

Plus, buy Michelle's first bestseller, Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists Criminals & Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores.

Bernie Sanders Is Now the Democrat Party Frontrunner (VIDEO)

Well, Grandma Clinton's still ahead in national polling, but those first-in-the-nation caucuses and primaries are campaign killers. Remember, Hillary's getting clobbered in New Hampshire especially. Sanders could come off with so much momentum that he ends up mowing her down in South Carolina and beyond.

From Stephen Miller, at National Review, "Bernie Sanders Has an Inconvenient Message for the Democratic Party":

At Bernie campaign rallies, media almost always report crowd sizes like they’re reporting on a U2 concert, but the second he opens his mouth the tweets and the stenographing magically stop.

There is little to no curiosity among our media elite about how a Democratic candidate for president is able to campaign on a shrinking middle class, record highs of unemployment, record lows of workforce participation, record wage stagnation, and record entitlement dependency, while a Democratic president simultaneously travels around the country touting his economic success on all counts. How is it allowed to go unnoticed that this candidate suggests that economic growth was better under Richard Nixon than under Barack Obama?

Last week, Obama administration officials took victory laps on social media and cable news over a new low in unemployment of 5.1 percent (a lower rate, they claim, than at any point during Reagan’s presidency). Meanwhile, Sanders, as a routine part of his campaign stump speech was lamenting that the real unemployment level is 10.3 percent, and that youth unemployment, including African-American youth unemployment, is hovering around 50 percent. How can both be true? It’s simply which rates the administration chooses to report, and more important, which rates the media choose to cover — or in Sanders’s case, not to cover. 


It seems newsworthy that in the run-up to a pivotal election, a presidential candidate is not only actively campaigning against the record of a sitting president of the same party, but gathering auspiciously large crowds by doing so. Of course, if the media were to report on the fiery John Reed–inspired rhetoric Sanders is blasting out to his zombie hordes at sold-out arenas, the carefully crafted Hollywood script of Barack Obama’s successful presidency would come tumbling down.

Yeah, that's pretty interesting. Funny too, come to think of it.

More here.

And yesterday's full Liberty University speech is here, "Bernie Sanders FULL SPEECH at Liberty University (C-SPAN)."

Katy Perry Handprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood (VIDEO)

Big photos at PuffHo, "Katy Perry Leans In and Busts Out at Hollywood Handprint Ceremony."

And watch, at AFP, "Pop star Katy Perry has hands imprinted in Hollywood."

Donald Trump in 1989: 'Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!'

Via Ann Coulter, who just loves her some Donald Trump.

And see Dana Pico, "#DonaldTrump and the White Working Class Voter."

Read this DJT full-page ad from 1989 and tell me @realDonaldTrump is a Johnny-Come-Lately "fake" conservative: pic.twitter.com/WF9ruXQkAS

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 14, 2015

Hillary Clinton's Obsessively Stage-Managed Campaign Events (VIDEO)

Shoot, it's not even a campaign. It's a holding pattern.

Watch, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, "Halperin, Heilemann Poke Fun at Clinton's Obsessively Stage Managed Events."

They're the authors of Double Down: Game Change 2012.

Holly Williams Update on Greek Authorities Sabotaging Refugee Boats at Sea (VIDEO)

The Greek government is "investigating." But they won't confirm if it was their personnel who attacked refugee boats last week.

Watch, "Migrants attacked at sea: Migrants attempting the perilous crossing to Europe must now also risk harassment and sabotage. Holly Williams has the latest."

Russia's Land Grab in the Arctic

Boy, Russia's make land grabs, and power grabs, all over the place, heh.

At Foreign Policy, "Searching for Leads in the Opening Arctic: Disappearing ice, Russia’s newest land grab, and a new great game at the top of the world":

The Arctic is opening. Can the U.S. play in a new arena? http://t.co/ZpzQR6kdz0 pic.twitter.com/6rq1I37Fey

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) September 14, 2015

ABOARD THE COAST GUARD CUTTER HEALY, IN THE ARCTIC–When you plow into a 4-foot-thick chunk of sea ice at 3 knots, even in a 16,000-ton state-of-the-art icebreaker like the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy, it’s hard not to notice. The whole ship shudders and seems to lurch sideways. Metal cabinets rattle. Californians swear it sounds and feels just like an earthquake, with deep rumbling booms and tremors. Others say it’s like hitting turbulence on a jetliner, the shivering and rattling accompanied by the overdrive whine of 30,000 horsepower. If you’re down in the galley, right on the waterline, what you hear is the nerve-wracking scraping of shattered ice along the side. Five stories up, on top of the bridge, you feel the bump of the collision over the strain of the engines pushing the ship through a sea of drifting white, blue, and dirty gray ice.

That’s when there is ice. But thanks to rising global temperatures, especially acute in the Arctic, there’s less of it now than there used to be. And that creates its own problems for a ship that seeks out the stuff.

“I just wish there was more ice. It’d be good training for this crew,” said Chief Warrant Officer Tim “Tugboat” Tully, the Healy’s bosun. The 85-person crew could use it. This month, they attempted something the ship had never done before: smashing through solid ice to the North Pole itself, unaccompanied by any other vessels. The July trip would have been an ideal time to get the crew used to plowing through some heavy stuff, but the ice was patchy much of the trip. We steamed north through the Bering Strait, passed the Diomede Islands, and got near the northwest tip of Alaska before we spotted our first chunks of ice in mid-July. “Ten years ago, this was heavy going,” the bosun said.

The Arctic is melting. Summer sea ice that used to cover the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait isn’t there, where it used to be. Summer ice coverage in the Arctic hit a record low in 2012; this past March, it registered an all-time winter low. As the ice recedes, something new is popping up in its place: oil rigs and commercial ships. Whatever the debate about climate change looks like in Washington, it’s sadly clear up here. At least for part of the year, thanks to rising temperatures, a once-closed ocean is now open for business.

That doesn’t mean it’s always easy sailing. Less ice is more ice, the Alaskan natives say: As ice melts, it opens things up just enough to get you into trouble.Less ice is more ice, the Alaskan natives say: As ice melts, it opens things up just enough to get you into trouble. That’s as true for native whalers and seal hunters as it is for specialized drilling rigs that are starting to head north for a few months each year. Polar seas are not like other oceans. You need a survival suit just to work on deck, even in the summertime. “Man overboard” drills in freezing water have a uniquely sickening undertone; the ship’s pipe’s intonation “Man has been in water for six minutes” becomes a virtual epitaph. Communications and navigation equipment that works fine at other latitudes doesn’t near the pole. And, even if there’s less ice than there used to be, there’s still plenty of it bobbing and knocking and crashing around; what sank the Titanic is constantly looming out of the fog, posing a mortal danger to ships that aren’t ice-hardened.

“Everybody thinks you can do up here what you can do in the Lower 48, and it’s just not so. It’s a whole different environment,” says Capt. Jason Hamilton, 44, a 22-year Coast Guard veteran who just took over command of the Healy, one of two operational icebreakers the United States has. The other, the heavy icebreaker Polar Star, operates in Antarctica.

As the Arctic melts, it is birthing a new global battleground, with huge economic, environmental, and geopolitical implications for the United States. Oil companies are moving north, even though cheap crude makes pricey Arctic drilling a tough sell for now. Shipping companies are eagerly eying a fresh northern route that can trim thousands of miles off voyages between Asia and Europe. Russia, which has a fleet of six nuclear-powered heavy icebreakers, with 11 more planned or under construction, is revamping scores of Cold War-era military bases inside the Arctic Circle. Moscow, eight years after planting a symbolic flag on the seabed at the North Pole, just handed the United Nations an expansive claim to almost half a million square miles of Arctic seabed potentially rich in oil, natural gas, and minerals. The United States would be hard-pressed to make a similar claim, since it has never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty, which codifies international maritime law. And China, which isn’t even an Arctic nation, is busy dipping its toe into the icy waters — launching its very own icebreaker, currently building a second, and for the first time sending navy ships into Alaskan waters...

Pretty fascinating, no matter what your take is on climate change.

Keep reading.

Bernie Sanders' Socialist Agenda Would Expand Government to the Tune of $18 Trillion (VIDEO)

Now that's impressive!

At the video, MSNBC's Chris Hayes is getting a woody!

At the Wall Street Journal, "Price Tag of Bernie Sanders’s Proposals: $18 Trillion":

WASHINGTON—Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose liberal call to action has propelled his long-shot presidential campaign, is proposing an array of new programs that would amount to the largest peacetime expansion of government in modern American history.

In all, he backs at least $18 trillion in new spending over a decade, according to a tally by The Wall Street Journal, a sum that alarms conservatives and gives even many Democrats pause. Mr. Sanders sees the money as going to essential government services at a time of increasing strain on the middle class.

His agenda includes an estimated $15 trillion for a government-run health-care program that covers every American, plus large sums to rebuild roads and bridges, expand Social Security and make tuition free at public colleges.

To pay for it, Mr. Sanders, a Vermont independent running for the Democratic nomination, has so far detailed tax increases that could bring in as much as $6.5 trillion over 10 years, according to his staff.

A campaign aide said additional tax proposals would be offered to offset the cost of some, and possibly all, of his health program. A Democratic proposal for such a “single-payer” health plan, now in Congress, would be funded in part through a new payroll tax on employers and workers, with the trade-off being that employers would no longer have to pay for or arrange their workers’ insurance.

Mr. Sanders declined a request for an interview. His campaign referred questions to Warren Gunnels, his policy director, who said the programs would address an array of problems. “Sen. Sanders’s agenda does cost money,” he said. “If you look at the problems that are out there, it’s very reasonable.”

Calling himself a democratic socialist, Mr. Sanders has long stood to the left of the Democratic Party, and at first he was dismissed as little more than a liberal gadfly to the party’s front-runner, Hillary Clinton. But he is ahead of or tied with the former secretary of state in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, and he has gained in national polling. He stands as her most serious challenger for the Democratic nomination.

Mr. Sanders has filled arenas with thousands of supporters, where he thunders an unabashedly liberal agenda to tackle pervasive economic inequality through more government services, higher taxes on the wealthy and new constraints on banks and corporations...

Still more.

Donald Trump Supporters Line-Up 10 Hours for Dallas Campaign Event (VIDEO)

Gary Tuchman interviews Trump supporters who lined up for 10 hours in Dallas, at CNN, "Why are people waiting 10 hours to see and hear Trump?"

At at Fox News 10 Phoenix, "Donald Trump Dallas Rally FULL Speech."

And at Fox New 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, "Trump rally expected to draw huge crowds," and "Crowds arrive at AAC for Trump rally."

Jackie Johnson's Got Your Tuesday Weather Forecast

Watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Jackie Johnson's Weather Forecast (Sept. 14)."

It could rain today.

More here, "Southern California Preps as Weakened Cyclone Brings Rain."

Tony Abbott Makes Outgoing Speech as Australian Prime Minister (VIDEO)

Following-up, "Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Ousted in Liberal Party Revolt (VIDEO)."

Now, at CNN, "Tony Abbott makes final speech as Australian PM."

Also at ABC News Australia, "Tony Abbott addresses media for the last time as prime minister," and "Former Liberal Party leader John Howard pays tribute to outgoing prime minister Tony Abbott and congratulates new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull."

REO Speedwagon Guitarist Gary Richrath Has Died

Just saw this right now, at the New York Times on Twitter, "Gary Richrath, Guitarist and Songwriter for REO Speedwagon, Dies at 65."

Also at USA Today, "REO Speedwagon guitarist Gary Richrath dies."

I blogged REO in 2013, "'So if you're tired of the same old story...'"

Hillary Clinton Flack David Brock's 'Majestic' Hair (VIDEO)

This is a riot.

From Mary Katharine Ham, at Hot Air, "Video: David Brock and his hair get serious blowback from Scarborough on ‘Morning Joe’":

The extent to which this man is willing to flack for the Clintons is amazing, operatic in its denial, majestic in its sheer devotion. Almost as majestic as Brock’s hair, which let’s face it, gets more spectacular every time I see it...

Click through for the video, heh.

Wall Street's Latest Panic: Trump Could Win

Of course he could win, heh.

Interesting though that Wall Streeters would be panicking at a Trump win. For all his bluster, he's much more likely to be a friend of markets than the Democrats, especially Bernie Sanders, with all his diatribes against "billionaires."

At Politico, "With Bush and Clinton taking their lumps, financial executives face populist critics in both parties":

NEW YORK — Wall Street is growing increasingly terrified that Donald Trump — once viewed as an amusing summertime distraction — could actually win the Republican nomination for president.

The real estate billionaire, who took another populist shot on Sunday by ripping into lavish executive pay, continues to rise in the polls. Would-be Wall Street saviors like Jeb Bush are languishing in single digits. The belief that Trump's candidacy would quickly fade is now evaporating in a wave of fear.

“I held four lunches for investors in August and at the first one everyone assumed Trump would implode,” said Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners and a senior figure on Wall Street. “By the fourth one everyone was taking him very seriously. He taps into frustrations that are very real and he is a master manipulator of the media.”

The CEO of one large Wall Street firm, who declined to be identified by name criticizing the GOP front-runner, said the assumption in the financial industry remains that something will eventually knock Trump off and send voters toward a more establishment candidate. But that assumption is no longer held with strong conviction. And a dozen Wall Street executives interviewed for this article could not say what might dent Trump's appeal or when it might happen.

"I don't know anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. They are like this huge mystery group,” the CEO said. "So it's a combination of shock and bewilderment. No one really knows why this is happening. But my own belief is that the laws of gravity will apply and those who are prepared to run the marathon will benefit when Trump drops out at mile 22. Right now people think Trump is pretty hilarious but the longer it goes on the more frightening it gets."

Well, as they say, don't hold your breath.

Keep reading (via Memeorandum).

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Ousted in Liberal Party Revolt (VIDEO)

Wow, this was out of the blue.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Malcolm Turnbull Ousts Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott":

CANBERRA, Australia—The party coup to install Malcolm Turnbull as Australia’s fourth prime minister in just over two years has exposed deep unease about the resource-dependent country’s sharply slowing economy and a political system that lets small groups of politicians oust elected leaders.

The 60-year-old former investment banker unseated Tony Abbott as leader of the ruling Liberal-National coalition government late Monday in a party rebellion, as voter surveys pointed to defeat for the ruling Liberal-National coalition at federal elections due next year.

He now faces many of the same challenges as his predecessor, first among them how to revive an economy in which a recession may be imminent after 24 years of avoiding one. Australia’s economy expanded just 0.2% in the second quarter from the first, the slowest pace in four years, as China’s slowing economy translates into less construction of skyscrapers, bridges and railways—hurting demand for raw materials like iron ore.

“We need to have in this country…an economic vision, a leadership that explains the great challenges and opportunities that we face, that describes the way in which we can handle those challenges, seize those opportunities, and does so in a manner that the Australian people,” Mr. Turnbull said.

The latest ouster caps nearly a decade of instability in Australian politics that has splintered both major political parties.

The Liberal-National coalition came to office in a landslide election victory in September 2013, in part because of voter discontent over the leadership contests that roiled the former center-left Labor government. Former Labor leader Kevin Rudd was ousted by his own party in 2010 and succeeded by Julia Gillard, before being returned to power by his colleagues three years later amid dwindling voter support for Ms. Gillard.

Some conservative party elders spoke out against the latest leadership challenge, saying it risked inflaming political divisions within the party and repeating the tumult of Labor rule.

“This act by Malcolm Turnbull is one of gross disloyalty and extreme egotism,” said Jeff Kennett, a former state leader and conservative party elder, on Australian television. “He is without a doubt the Kevin Rudd of the Liberal Party. He has consistently proved himself not to be a team player, but one who pursues self interest.”

Mr. Turnbull said he was mounting the challenge because Mr. Abbott hadn’t been able to provide effective leadership and persuade skeptical voters to accept the overhaul of taxation and rigid labor laws that could unlock growth in the 1.6 trillion Australian dollar (US$1.1 trillion) economy.

But he said he wasn’t expecting to hold snap elections—instead giving voters time to adjust to changes—and wouldn’t shift course on climate policies already agreed by the party ahead of global climate talks in Paris in December...

Still more (and be sure to check that cool graphic on the Liberal Party's "stability to volatility").

Also at the Guardian UK, "Australian leader Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull after party vote," and "Liberal leadership spill: Malcolm Turnbull ousts Tony Abbott to become Australia's 29th prime minister – politics live."

Professor Ethan Schmidt Fatally Shot at Delta State University in Mississippi (VIDEO)

Not only is this horrible news, it's frightening.

I pride myself on keeping open office hours --- with my office door literally wide open --- so, unfortunately, anyone could walk right in and start firing.

At ABC News 13 Houston, "PROFESSOR DEAD AFTER SHOOTING AT DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY IN MISSISSIPPI."

Also, watch at CNN, "Delta State University professor Ethan Schmidt killed."

More, from WLBT News 3 Jackson, Mississippi, "Dr. Shannon Lamb is officially a suspect in DSU shooting":

CLEVELAND, MS (Mississippi News Now) - Forty-five year old Dr. Shannon Lamb has been upgraded from person of interest to suspect in the murder of DSU history professor Ethan Schmidt.

Lamb is also the suspect in the murder of Amy Prentiss in Gautier this morning. MHP says they believe Lamb is driving a black Dodge Avenger with Mississippi tag # STF 015.

Lamb is a Geography teacher at the university. He joined Delta State in 2009 and just recently received his doctorate in 2014.

Prior to working for Delta State, Lamb taught geography at Mississippi Valley State University (2006-2009.)

He was also previously a math teacher at Riverside High School in Avon, MS (2006-2009), Murrah High School in Jackson, MS (2005-2006), and Greenville-Weston High School in Greenville, MS (2003-2005).

Schmidt was shot and killed in his office. According to the Delta State’s website, Schmidt was an Assistant Professor of American History.

He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas in 2007. Before coming to Delta State, Schmidt taught for six years at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX .

Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Glenn Boyce issued the following statement on Schmidt's death:

“The Board of Trustees and I are extremely saddened by the passing of Delta State University professor Ethan Schmidt. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. We commend the Delta State University police and leadership for the quick response to the situation and their efforts to keep students, faculty and staff safe. We would also like to thank the other law enforcement agencies who have responded for their immediate and ongoing assistance to the university. We are in constant communication with the campus and are working with campus officials to provide assistance where needed.”

Delta State says that all classes are canceled for the remainder of the day and night...

Also, "Victim in Gautier murder identified as Amy Prentiss."

Still more at the Mississippi Press, "UPDATED: Gautier police identify victim in shooting, suspect vows he will `not go to jail'."

Israeli Forces Storm Al-Aqsa Terror Mosque (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "20 Palestinians hurt in clashes with Israeli police at Al Aqsa holy site":

Clashes broke out Sunday morning between Israeli police and Palestinians at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, leaving more than 20 Palestinians injured and damaging the windows and carpet of the mosque, according to police and Palestinian officials.

The violence occurred after Israeli police allowed Jewish worshipers and tourists to visit the hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, revered by Muslims as their third holiest site after Mecca and Medina and by Jews as the site of their ancient temple.

Palestinians were preparing to disrupt attempts by the Jewish visitors to hold prayers at the compound to mark the impending Jewish New Year, which began at sunset Sunday. Israeli policies allow Jews to visit the area outside the mosque during specific hours, but forbid them to pray there.

Police had recently shut down the mosque to Muslim worshipers, mainly women, during the Jewish visiting hours to prevent confrontations.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves inside the mosque early Sunday and threw rocks and firecrackers at police. He said police did not enter the mosque but removed barricades around the building.

There also were reports of a Jewish man in a prayer shawl being attacked nearby.

Police released video showing lit firecrackers and other objects being thrown by Palestinians inside the mosque at the officers outside, with some exploding within the holy site. The Jerusalem police website said pipe bombs were seized near the entrance to the mosque.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 Palestinians were injured, none seriously. No arrests were reported...

Still more.

Plus, at the Times of Israel, "Abbas decries Israel’s ‘attack’ on al-Aqsa mosque."

Well of course he's going to complain. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is the leading Palestinian terrorist organization, a tool of both Fatah and the PLO. Next he'll be running to the United Nations about human rights abuses, or something.

More video here, "State of Palestine: Israeli security forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosque for second day running."

Russia Shipping Tanks Into Syria (VIDEO)

From Michael Totten, at World Affairs Journal, "Russia Moves Into Syria":

Russia is shipping massive quantities of offensive weapons, materiel and soldiers to Syria....

The only thing surprising about this is that it took so long...

More at Memeorandum,

And at the New York Times, "Russian Flights Over Iraq and Iran Escalate Tension With U.S." (At Memeorandum.)

And watch, at RT, "Are you Syrious? ‘Putin admits Russia’s aiding Syrian army in war’ – western media claim."

Novak Djokovic Wins U.S. Open 2015

The match was scheduled for 1:00pm Pacific, and I wasn't planning on watching because the Angels were up against the Astros at 12:30pm, and this home stand had tremendous playoff implications.

So later I'm tooling around on my remote channel guide and I see that ESPN was switching Sunday Night Baseball over to ESPN2 because of rain delay at Flushing Meadows, so I'm like great! Time for some tennis!

In any case, at the New York Times, "Novak Djokovic Defeats Roger Federer to Win U.S. Open."

And he's interviewed at CBS This Morning, "Novak Djokovic on second U.S. Open and 10th Grand Slam win."

America's Legal Order Begins to Fray — #FergusonEffect

Remember, here's the trend, "Ferguson Effect: Murder Rates Rise Sharply in Urban Areas Across the U.S."

From Heather Mac Donald, at WSJ, "Amid the escalation of violent crime are signs of a breakdown of basic respect for law enforcement":

After two decades of the most remarkable crime drop in U.S. history, law enforcement has come to this: “I’m deliberately not getting involved in things I would have in the 1990s and 2000s,” an emergency-services officer in New York City tells me. “I won’t get out of my car for a reasonable-suspicion stop; I will if there’s a violent felony committed in my presence.”

A virulent antipolice campaign over the past year—initially fueled by a since-discredited narrative about a police shooting in Ferguson, Mo.—has made police officers reluctant to do their jobs. The Black Lives Matter movement proclaims that the police are a lethal threat to blacks and that the criminal-justice system is pervaded by racial bias. The media amplify that message on an almost daily basis. Officers now worry about becoming the latest racist cop of the week, losing their job or being indicted if a good-faith encounter with a suspect goes awry or is merely distorted by an incomplete cellphone video.

With police so discouraged, violent crime has surged in at least 35 American cities this year. The alarming murder increase prompted an emergency meeting of the Major Cities Chiefs Association last month. Homicides were up 76% in Milwaukee, 60% in St. Louis, and 56% in Baltimore through mid-August, compared with the same period in 2014; murder was up 47% in Minneapolis and 36% in Houston through mid-July.

But something more fundamental than even public safety may be at stake. There are signs that the legal order itself is breaking down in urban areas. “There’s a total lack of respect out there for the police,” says a female sergeant in New York. “The perps feel more empowered to carry guns because they know that we are running scared.”

The lawful use of police power is being met by hostility and violence, often ignored by the press. In Cincinnati, a small riot broke out in late July when the police arrived at a drive-by shooting scene, where a 4-year-old girl had been shot in the head and critically injured. Bystanders loudly cursed at officers who had started arresting suspects at the scene on outstanding warrants, according to a witness I spoke with.

During anticop demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo., last month, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris opened fire at police officers, according to law-enforcement officials, and was shot and wounded by police in response. A crowd pelted the cops with frozen water bottles and rocks, wounding three officers, while destroying three police cars and damaging businesses, Ferguson police said. “We’re ready for what? We’re ready for war,” some protesters reportedly chanted.

In Birmingham, Ala., an officer was beaten unconscious with his own gun last month by a suspect in a car stop. There was gloating on social media. “Pistol whipped his ass to sleep,” read one Twitter post. The officer later said that he had refrained from using force to defend himself for fear of a media backlash.

Officers are being challenged in their most basic efforts to render aid. A New York cop in the Bronx tells me that he was trying to extricate a woman pinned under an overturned car in July when a bystander stuck his cellphone camera into the officer’s face, trying to bait him into an argument. “You can’t tell me what to do,” the bystander replied when asked to move to the sidewalk, the cop reports. “A few years ago, I would have taken police action,” he says. “Now I know it won’t end well for me or the police department.”

Supervisors may roll up to an incident where trash and other projectiles are being thrown at officers and tell the cops to get into their cars and leave. “What does that do to the general public?” wonders a New York detective. “Every time we pass up on an arrest because we don’t want a situation to blow up, we’ve made the next cop’s job all the harder.”

That's actually kind of depressing.

More at the link.

One Person Dead as 'Incredibly Fast' Valley Fire Scorches Hundred of Homes (VIDEO)

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Valley Fire grows to 61,000 acres."

Also at the Los Angeles Times, "Hundreds of homes and structures destroyed; blaze not yet contained in any area."

Evelyn Taft's Got Your Monday Forecast

Hmm... Looks like she's expecting.

Watch, "Evelyn Taft's Weather Forecast (Sept. 14)."

Blue-Collar Support, Not Ideology, Underlies Donald Trump's Spectacular Rise

The Democrats have been bleeding blue-collar support, and dangerously so. And thus Donald Trump's huge backing among that demographic's gotta be a major fear for the post-Obama Dems heading into 2016.

From Ronald Brownstein, at National Journal, "The Billionaire Candidate and His Blue-Collar Following."

There's no sweet pullout quotes at the piece.

Just read it all at that link.

One point, though, is important: Brownstein notes that it's not likely that Trump's support will fade any time soon, and thus his challengers in the Republican field are going to have to find a way to "eclipse" him. But as long as Trump sticks with the issues that have driven his surge thus far, it's not likely that we'll be seeing a political eclipse in the short term. As noted above, however, the longer term fear's going to be with the Democrats. If Trump wins the nomination he's got the potential to strip white working class voters from the Democrat coalition once and for all. And that could be murderous to the left's electoral hopes, since much of the Democrats' so-called "coalition of the ascendant" just doesn't vote in numbers anywhere near those of traditional white constituencies.

But we'll see. We'll see.

Timothy Snyder's 'The Next Genocide' is Crackpot Leftist Hysteria That's Better Off Ignored

I posted last week, "Edward Rothstein Reviews Timothy Snyder's Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning."

The review is here, via Google, "The Frying Pan and the Fire."

Rothstein says Snyder's work was basically magisterial, but then wrote this about the author's final chapter:

The Holocaust, like no other act or example of human evil, has inspired legions of lessons and “warnings,” as if they were required to justify the attention. The enshrinement of “tolerance” is only the most egregious example, but the Holocaust didn’t take place because of intolerance, and it would not have been prevented by tolerance. Why the compulsion to make comparisons with other atrocities? It would be like concluding a history of World War II by emphasizing that there were other deadly wars too, and we should all learn to be peaceful creatures. Somehow, in the case of the Holocaust, this approach has become conventional. Why the persistent straining at homily? Is there an element of shame involved? And why is the Holocaust so relentlessly invoked in irrelevant situations? Is that, too, some form of self-exoneration or alibi?

I wondered about some of this when encountering Mr. Snyder’s last chapter, “Our World.” He writes: “The planet is changing in ways that might make Hitlerian descriptions of life, space and time more plausible.” He suggests that now, as then, there is a sense of imminent apocalypse. Just as the Jew disrupted the global ecology for Hitler, something has now “diverted nature from its proper course.” And it may well cause a similar series of events. What is the contemporary threat? Climate change. And the irony, Mr. Snyder suggests, is that it could again place Jews in a precarious position. Mr. Snyder points out that the Holocaust proved the need for a strong nation-states, and Israel’s existence is essential for Jewish survival. But, he argues, “the continuing desertification of the Middle East might generate both regional conflict and the demand for scapegoats” (the Jews of Israel, of course). And the irony is that “some of Israel’s American political allies”—the Christian Right, if I understand correctly—“tend to deny the reality of climate change,” which, along with many other peculiarities, makes apocalypse more likely.

After reading this chapter and seeing its ritualistic homilies and sweeping comparisons, I became concerned that somehow I had been wrong about the intelligence, vision and insight that had characterized the rest of the book. But no, I am not wrong. Just skip the warning.

In other words, just skip the hysterical warning about the coming climate change apocalypse. It's truly bizarre, and Snyder's seriously mucking up his scholarly reputation.

I mean, he's really invested in this. See his op-ed at the New York Times, "The Next Genocide."

The guy's nuts.

More from William Teach, at Right Wing News, "NY Times: Climate Deniers Have “an intellectual stance that is uncomfortably close to Hitler’s”."

Anastasia Ashley for Maxim

I blogged this lady in July, "Surf's Up with Anastasia Ashley."

And here she is for Maxim:

Charlotte Proudman Lashes Out Against 'Misogynistic Sexism' After Complemented for Her LinkedIn Proflie by Alexander Carter-Silk

This is an old story by now.

The background's at the Guardian UK, "Barrister hits out over sexist comment on her LinkedIn photo by legal expert."

But I wanted to throw a link to Robert Stacy McCain, at the Other McCain, where you always get the unvarnished truth about radical feminism. See, "Objectified by the Male Gaze - UPDATE: Allegedly Heterosexual?"

BONUS: There's video at Sky News, "Lawyer Accused of Misogynistic Behavior on LinkedIn," and "Charlotte Proudman Interview - LinkedIn Sexism Row."

America Can — And Must — Do More to Help Europe's Migrants. Really?

I don't know?

I'm sure we can take some, but we should be careful not to take too many. As Andrea Tantaros has warned, it'd be national suicide.

But see Julia Ioffe, at Foreign Policy, "Je Suis Refugee":

The reason I’m writing this in English — and that I have a column in Foreign Policy at all — is that 25 years ago, on April 28, 1990, my family arrived in the United States as refugees from the Soviet Union. It is a day the four of us mark every year because it was the beginning of a new, free, and prosperous life. Had it not been for the American Jews lobbying Congress and the White House on our behalf for years, had it not been for the Jackson-Vanik amendment, had it not been for the fact that the geopolitical struggle against the USSR was hitched up to its humanitarian ramifications, had it not been for Mikhail Gorbachev wanting to put a human face on socialism, I would be writing this in Russian. More likely, I probably wouldn’t be writing this at all.

I think often about April 28, 1990, and the two years my parents spent waiting in lines at the U.S. embassy in Moscow. It’s a moment that splits my life in two. What would my life have been like if not for all those political forces — and my parents’ foresight and dedication — that snapped my 7-year-old self on a radically different course?

I don’t know that my life would have been terrible, but I know that I would not have reconnected with my family’s Jewish heritage. I would not have gotten to follow my passion for history with some of the world’s leading scholars at Princeton. I would have a lot more health issues, and I would also probably be divorced with a couple of kids, living in a country that is increasingly hostile not only to its neighbors but to its own citizens. If I would’ve been anything like the friends and family we left behind, I would probably be scrambling for an exit — to Israel, Latvia, anywhere where the walls aren’t closing in like they are in Moscow.

Sometimes, my American life still feels like a dream and an accident. And in the course of it, I’ve come across many people whose lives are accidents, too — accidents far starker and more implausible than mine.

One of my closest friends is the son of a man who, at the age of six, was whisked out of prewar Prague by Sir Nicholas Winton as part of the Kindertransport that saved so many and yet so very few Jewish children. A friend from high school recently posted the desperate letters her German-Jewish grandfather sent to the United States, hoping someone would sponsor him as a relative, trying to escape the swelling sense of danger that was slowly squeezing him of oxygen. One of the first friends I made at college was a Bosnian Muslim refugee. We spoke sometimes of the sheer wonder that the two of us, two refugee kids randomly plucked from a bad place and planted in a good place, should end up at such an elite institution. Last fall, I attended the wedding of a friend, the granddaughter of Armenian refugees from the genocide, and a Bosnian refugee who had escaped Banja Luka on his own as a teenager.

All of these people’s lives in America are accidents of history and politics. Had war not come to Banja Luka or Prague or Berlin, had there not been rumors in 1988 that there would be pogroms in Moscow to celebrate the thousandth anniversary of the christening of Rus, we would’ve lived on in those places. Some of us would have been born as other people, sure, but we would’ve found a certain blinkered happiness in things because we would not have known an alternative life...

Hmm... Very moving, but it's not Jewish refugees by the tens of thousands --- even hundreds of thousands --- now flooding Europe's borders, and soon our as well. It's Muslim refugees, and if folks think they've got "no-go zones" in Europe now, just wait until after this latest wave of migration plays out.

It's a warning for the United States, that's for sure. Even warmhearted stories like Ms. Ioffe's can't mask the dangers of untrammeled migration flows to the U.S. Think of Kathyn Steinle, and then imagine Charlie Hebdo-style attacks on top of that. That's what's awaiting the U.S. if we succumb to suicidal compassion and open our borders to the Third World hordes.

Still more at the link.

Eastern European Nations Protest Massive Flood of Third World 'Refugees' (VIDEO)

All's not well with the migrant crisis in Europe, especially in Eastern and Central European countries.

Here's video, at Ruptly, "Czech Republic: Thousands rally against EU refugee policy," and "Poland: Thousands of nationalists rally against refugees in Warsaw."

At the New York Times, "Eastern Bloc’s Resistance to Refugees Highlights Europe’s Cultural and Political Divisions":

WARSAW — Even though the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been asked to accept just a tiny fraction of the refugees that Germany and other nations are taking, their fierce resistance now stands as the main impediment to a unified European response to the crisis.

Poland’s new president, Andrzej Duda, has complained about “dictates” from the European Union to accept migrants flowing onto the Continent from the Middle East and Africa.

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, says his country will accept only Christian refugees as it would be “false solidarity” to force Muslims to settle in a country without a single mosque. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s hard-line prime minister, calls the influx a “rebellion by illegal migrants” and pledges a new crackdown this week.

The discord has further unsettled a union already shaky from struggles over the euro and the Greek financial crisis and now facing a historic influx of people attracted by Europe’s relative peace and prosperity.

When representatives of the European Union nations meet on Monday to take up a proposal for allocating refugees among them, Central and Eastern European nations are likely to be the most vocal opponents. Their stance — reflecting a mix of powerful far-right movements, nationalism, racial and religious prejudices as well as economic arguments that they are less able to afford to take in outsiders than their wealthier neighbors — is the latest evidence of the stubborn cultural and political divides that persist between East and West.

When joining the European Union — as the former Communist countries have done since 2004 — nations are asked to pledge support to a raft of so-called European values, including open markets, transparent government, respect for an independent media, open borders, cultural diversity, protection of minorities and a rejection of xenophobia.

But the reality is that the former Communist states have proved sluggish in actually absorbing many of these values and practicing them. Oligarchs, cronyism and endemic corruption remain a part of daily life in many of the countries, freedom of the press is in decline while rising nationalism and populist political movements have stirred anti-immigrant tensions.

“People must remember that Poland has been transitioning from communism for only 25 years,” Lech Walesa, who led that country’s independence movement, said in an interview. “Our salaries and houses are still smaller than those in the West. Many people here don’t believe that they have anything to share with migrants. Especially that they see that migrants are often well-dressed, sometimes better than many Poles.”

Few migrants, in fact, are particularly interested in settling in Eastern Europe, preferring to head to Germany or Scandinavia, where social welfare benefits are higher, employment opportunities greater and immigrant communities better established. In that sense, migrants are aligned with leaders in Eastern and Central European capitals, who frequently argue that the 28-member bloc should focus first on securing its borders and figuring out a way to end the war in Syria before talking about mandatory quotas for accepting refugees...

More.

Photo Credit: London's Daily Mail, "Eastern Europeans complain about the new migrants: 'Go Home!'"